9
Bahran was anticipating seeing Princess Caoimhe again, but not like this.Anticipation, coupled with fear for the princess and her party, warred in his spirit.What could make her want to blow up her own ship?There had to be more than what she spoke of.Something else was at work.
While he hoped to know the answer, he was still afraid for her and the others.
In the short time he'd communicated with her, his personal craving grew.Which had bewildered him at first because his craving was the tiny bit of the primitive side of the Rhimodians left from before they became cyborgs.Their protocols and nanites were supposed to control those hard urges.At least, that was what they were supposed to do.Some of the Rhimodians, especially in later generations like he, Kian, Wrathin, and Jedriek, were more susceptible to the Craving and occasionally had to release it in some way.Jedriek preferred to visit the pleasure women on Disguised Serenity.Bahran had done it before himself, but it was not enough for him.
If that made sense.
None of the others had the same complaint, but for Bahran, it seemed he wanted more.
Maybe it was his slightly different programming structure.He and Kian were both -Ans.Different construction, prototypes in a way.The design was supposed to use the natural humanoid emotions as another avenue when it came to logic and reason.
The idea was that the -Ans would have more adaptive reasoning and share that knowledge with the Rhimodians through their connection with Master System.And in theory, it was an intriguing design.Instead, some cyborgs had arrogance, like Kian could be.
Others, however, had worse flaws.Bahran had some of those worse flaws.He was fortunate he wasn't ended when his flaws started to show, instead marked Tarnished.
One of the reasons he hoped these peace talks worked.It might help him get his shine back.
And save some lost Rhimodians.
He sighed as he looked out into the stars.In the distance, he could see the gas giant Sol hovering like a giant striped ball, shifting around.The darkness spread over the side, and he knew the eclipse would be coming soon.All the moons would dim and exist in a low-light state for a few days.Part of the reason that Master System wanted this date was that it would hinder any communications, preventing the Terran Empire from leaving Sol in frustration.
Not that the Rhimodians planned on being too frustrating in the negotiations.
Regardless, this wasn't about peace but about getting his people back.
He followed along at the slow pace required by the Terran ship.He was on the lower corner, near the rear of the vessel.They all surrounded the ship at different points.This was where Bahran had been assigned.
He could see windows that looked in on the vessel, but he could not see any people moving about inside.A ship of that size should have an enormous crew complement.
Maybe that was part of the Terran Empire's latest technological advancement.To have large ships with very little crew needed to run them.He would ask Caoimhe about that the next time they spoke.
Though he still was trying to understand what she'd said before.
Why she was crying.
And why she felt like she had to blow up her own ship.Surely, he'd misunderstood.Perhaps it was a turn of phrase that the Terran Empire hinted at some kind of fight or sad thing?He did not want to believe that Caoimhe would blow up her own ship.
But regardless, he'd done as she asked.
"We are recording, Master System," Bahran said.
All system sensors are recording all available input.
He nodded to himself."I do not know why---"
Just as he said that the bottom of the Terran vessel exploded.The light blinded him until his optical nanites corrected for it.He blinked a few times and was greeted by flames slapping at his ship as the air burned.The explosions burst from the ship, blowing out windows as it moved through.It resonated like some kind of sonic blast, a tidal wave of energy shot all over the starfield.It rattled his ship and sent him flipping over.He felt like he'd been punched in the face.His fingers flew across the ship controls to recalibrate and recenter and bring up all available data.
The ship had been severely damaged.
Lifesigns were negligent.
He saw no one left alive.
Was she dead?Caoimhe?
The question hit him harder than the blast, and he felt physically ill.He blinked and tightened his scans all through the area, trying to pinpoint life somewhere.There had to be a mistake.She had to be out there somewhere.
