058: A Demanded End – Six
Ever since the vedja bond had snapped into place, Malakh had a keen, spacial awareness of where Rhea was in relation to her at all times, some deeper pull stronger than her own senses. It was as if her heart was a compass, and Rhea had become her magnetic north.
As such, she knew she'd find Rhea in their room the before she even stepped foot back onto the Pelekys.
What she hadn't known was that she'd find her laying on their bed, curled on her side facing the door, snoring ever so quietly.
Malakh leaned her back against the door and just watched her in the moonlight dimness she liked to keep the room in, her hand drifting to the pocked where the ring she'd purchased lay.
She took a deep, shuddering breath, eyes welling with tears as she thought of how close she came to losing Rhea, the memory of her blood pooling beneath her hands, her organs knitting back into being under her careful ministration, the stark white of her exposed bone peeking out from her ravaged flesh, all of it had tears streaking down her face before she had a chance to wipe them away.
After everything they endured at the hands of the Thalatte, to almost have her love, her vedja, killed at the hands of a band of subpar pirates with a pointless grudge… Malakh knew she wouldn't have hesitated to plunge a scalpel into her own heart if Rhea's had stopped beating.
"I can hear you thinking over there." Rhea's quiet, groggy voice broke through her thoughts, and Malakh rubbed a hand across her eyes, finding Rhea looking softly at her when she opened them again.
"Sorry, a lot going on up there." Malakh told her, swallowing thickly.
"There always is. It's one of the many things I love about you." Rhea's smile was soft as she lifted an arm to beckon Malakh over.
After kicking off her shoes and hanging up her jacket, Malakh went and lay down beside her, and Rhea wasted no time in pulling her closer, draping herself half across Malakh's body. Malakh bent down to place a kiss on the crown of Rhea's head, her fingers carding through her hair.
They lay like that for a while, and Malakh was certain Rhea had fallen back to sleep when the woman whispered against her chest, "Your heart is racing."
"Yeah," Malakh admitted, "It usually does when you're on my mind."
Chuckling against her, Rhea said, "Well that's not good. I don't want you suffering from complications due to tachycardia."
"I don't suffer when it comes to anything about you."
"That's not true," Rhea said with a quiet hum, splaying a hand out against the base of her ribs, "I read the readout of my injuries, I know how bad they were, what you had to do to patch me back up. I know I'd be a fucking mess if I had to have you under my knife like that."
Malakh couldn't do anything but swallow against the memories, and Rhea's thumb began to rub soothingly against her ribs.
"I'm just- I'm so grateful that I was able to save you." Malakh got out eventually, a sob catching in her throat.
Even in her injured state, Rhea was still deceptively quick, and before Malakh could put up any kind if protest, Rhea had looped an arm around her back and rolled over so that Malakh was resting against her, the steady beat of her heart under her ear.
The irrefutable proof that Rhea was alive and well finally had Malakh tipping over the edge, and she broke down sobbing, clinging to Rhea with all the fear that having her that close to slipping through her fingers had instilled in her.
Rhea's hands were warm and steady against her back, tracing nonsense patterns against her. Focusing on that, Malakh was eventually able to vent out enough to get herself back under control, and the pair of them lay there like that for some time.
Tilting her head enough to place a kiss against Rhea's throat, Malakh asked, "I'm not hurting you, am I? You were pretty tender when you got up today.
"You're good," pressed up against her chest, Rhea's words were a quiet rumble in her ear as she said, "I kept you off my bad side. It's going to be annoying as shit until it settles some more, because I'm not going to be able to get up to any kinds of strenuous activities!"
That got a laugh out of Malakh. "We don't have to have sex all the time, you know?"
"Obviously," Rhea replied, all mock indignation, "We had to go years without while the Thalatte had us under their claws, but that's a lot of lost time we have to make up for! I don't think we've even caused a dent!"
Laughing fully, Malakh tugged on Rhea's shoulders, rolling them both so they could lay side by side. Tucking a stray strand of hair behind Rhea's ear, Malakh said, "Then we'll just have to make up for this setback later. We have the rest of our lives ahead of us, after all."
"That we do, my love," Rhea leaned forward, punctuating each statement with a kiss, "My wife. My vedja."
Malakh groaned at that, threading her hands through Rhea's hair to pull her into a deeper kiss, which they indulged in until Rhea had to pull away, stifling a yawn.
"That good, huh?" Malakh teased, eyes bright.
Rhea snorted out a laugh, moving so she could tuck herself under Malakh's chin as she said, "Just another reason why we can't get up to any horizontal activities: my energy is shot at the moment. I really wanna keep kissing you, but I'm honestly about to pass out."
"Then go to sleep, workaholic," Malakh said fondly, shifting into a more comfortable position, "I can make sure you're up in time to eat, and then we can figure out what our next course of action is going to be."
"It's going to be thrashing the fucking idiots on the Briddbragnan and getting that device back," Rhea muttered against her chest, sleep already pulling her under, "The details of which we can figure out once we track them down."
"Sleep. Dream your violent dreams." Malakh chuckled quietly, but she wasn't sure of Rhea heard her, the woman a dead weight in her arms as her breath ghosted against her.
Curled up like this, Malakh finally felt the dread that had iced over her heart after the attack begin to melt away, and she bent to place another kiss against Rhea's head, content to lay with her in her arms like this until the heat death of the universe wiped everything away.
"So, what's our plan with moving forward?" Malakh asked from her spot on the couch, curled in a tight ball and wedged into Rhea's side as always.
"I have all my scanners going," Viatrix said, her avatar popping up on the low table between the couches they were all crammed into, "The instant I get even a millisecond of a ping from the device the Briddbragnan stole, I'll have coordinates we can track."
"And my faith in you in regards to that is total," Pryseia told her, "But until such a time as the Briddbragnan and her crew deign to come out of hiding, we are left with an unspecified amount of time on our hands with which to utilize at our discretion. With what shall we fill it with?"
"And how are you feeling about all this?" Rhea asked, looking over to Nevara, "I know for me it felt like I was holding onto a live wire the entire time we were that close to Yarula, yet kept apart due to the timetable of the operation. Is that compulsion bothering you?"
Nevara sighed before answering, leaning back against the couch and crossing her arms as she said, "No, I felt no spike of any kind of recognition from that device. It was no different from when we picked up the signals from the rest of your Storlayacas units. I… don't think, whatever that device is, is connected to me."
"Then your unit must still be out there," Elytra said as she slouched down next to Nevara, "We don't know how many Storlayacas there actually are, how many other potential pilots like me there could be to find."
"I can't give you numbers, but from everything I've been able to utilize of the network that connects all the units of Storlayacas, it doesn't feel like there is a lot left to find. There's also the option that the device isn't connected to one unit, but all of them?" Viatrix mused.
Letting out a humourless laugh, Rhea said, "With our luck, it'll be a kill switch that those idiots will use on us the next time we cross paths."
"That's only a possibility. Plus, whose to say they have anyone on their crew who could figure it out? Their crew roster seemed to be built more towards mercenary brute force than strategy." Malakh pointed out.
"I'll say," Rhea scoffed, "I know they're booted from the Kith now, but I'm pissed we inadvertently gave them free publicity with the live recording and all."
"Actually, we didn't," Elytra said as she sat up, grinning across at Rhea, "Thanks to all the debris in the air kicked up by the attack, the cameras didn't get a clear shot of anything that could identify the ship as the Briddbragnan. The Kith officials only knew it was them because the systems we use to broadcast will ping the IDs of any ships, so that any Kith crews involved will be able to prove they were in on an operation when it comes time to get paid for it, and the audiences don't have access to that kind of information. As far as they saw, we just got attacked by a bunch of random raiders!"
Rhea let out a bark of laughter at that, though she winced when it pulled on her freshly healed injury, "That is very good to hear! They aren't worth more than being just faceless goons in our story!"
"With that in mind, why don't we solidify that?" Pryseia said, leaning forward with a sly smile, "The fans have been clamouring for an update on Chancellor Bathory's condition, for the broadcast did catch how dire your injuries were, so why not release a video showing the state of your recovery, while also allowing us to paint the crew of the Briddbragnan as worthy of only our contempt?"
"I would be more than happy to do that." Rhea chuckled.
Nodding resolutely, Nevara stood, announcing, "I'll leave the filming to you, then. There are a couple things I'd like to pick up from the Quanvengier, now that it's one of the times of day that their crowds thin out."
"How do you know that?" Elytra couldn't help but ask.
"She asked me to monitor the movements of those aboard the Quanvengier to see if there were regular ebbs and flows to how busy it gets there," Viatrix explained with a little giggle, "The assorted Kith AI aboard that ship were happy to share that information."
"If I can avoid crowds, I will." Nevara added with a shrug.
"Oh, hey, while you're out, could you grab me a couple things?" Rhea asked.
Nodding, Nevara said, "Forward me a list. I should be back by the time you're done filming."
A medbay, cast in shadow for the most part, except for a single bed that was illuminated in soft lighting meant to simulate the glow of evening. Beyond the light, quiet, mechanical noises could be heard as medical equipment went about their work.
On the illuminated bed lay Chancellor Bathory, wearing a short sleeved shirt instead of her regular style of fashion, her arms resting over the blanket that was covering her, with some type of medical cuff attached to her left wrist, the tubes connected to it leading off to something out of sight. Out of her usual, intimidating attire, she seemed younger somehow, her dark hair in stark contrast with the paleness of her skin, still not anywhere close to her normal colouration after her undercover stint as a necupole.
The steady rise and fall of her chest was interrupted when she let out a quiet groan, her brow pinching before she blearily blinked her eyes open. She frowned in confusion, eyes darting as she tried to get her bearings, until they settled on something off to her right.
Seated just on the edge of the circle of light that was shining on the bed, the Hand was watching her.
Bathory smirked at that, though it was more pain than confidence that filled her eyes as she rasped, "How long was I out?"
The Hand was silent, motionless for a time, one leg crossed over the other, hands gripping her biceps as she sat canted over in her chair, expression unreadable.
"About a day." She replied eventually, an artificial, measured calm to her voice.
Bathory scoffed, which made her grimace as she said, "How inconvenient. What happened? I don't remember anything after the explosion."
"I'm not surprised. You nearly died."
Shock flickered across Bathory's face, but only for an instant before she wrangled it back under her control. "Worse than I thought." Was all that she said, a cool confidence that was marred by her ashen appearance.
"As far as we can tell, it was a random band of raiders that hit us, so far below the scope of our grand plans that they were completely hidden from Augury's sight. Due to the element of surprise they had on their side, we were forced to make a tactical retreat. When our paths next cross, we will destroy them."
"As we should," Bathory's grin turned predatory, "Did we at least get the device we were after?"
The Hand let out a low snarl at that. "They took it. Numbers gave them an advantage. Staying to fight would have wound up with more than just you dead."
"Well, we'll just have to be sure to retrieve it before we wipe them from the stars. How did we get out of there?"
"The Queen and General provided cover fire while Augury and I carried you out. I had you in surgery within minutes of the attack. It took hours, the damage was extensive, and I had to regrow and stitch some of your organs from the inside out."
"You patched me up? I didn't know you were a medic of that calibre."
"I have many skills." The Hand replied with the slightest of smirks.
Bathory rolled her eyes at that, dangerously close to fondness as she asked, "So what now?"
"For now, you recover. Muscles in your side had to be regrown, so you're going to have to retrain them to restore your strength and flexibility. The Program is scanning for these petty fools as we speak, and as soon as it tracks them down, we will strike. We will not suffer the insult of these nobodies."
"No we will not." Bathory replied, her eyes, the brown only half returned to them, locking with those of the Hand as she swore this.
The two held each other's gaze for a long time.
The Hand blinked first. Slowly. Deliberately. She then stood, nodding her head to Bathory as she said, "I'll leave you to your rest. We'll let you know when the Program has tracked our quarry."
Before she could do more than turn, Bathory said, "Wait."
The Hand did so, glancing over her shoulder at the woman lying before her.
"You saved my life. For that, you have my thanks. And for that, you have my service."
"A risky thing, to pledge yourself to the likes of me."
"My life was already in your hands, and you went above and beyond to keep it there. From my perspective, there's no risk at all. I'm in your debt, and so I'm at your command."
The Hand held her gaze for another moment, completely motionless, though something about her eyes seemed to soften.
"Then rest." She said, before she walked away.
Bathory watched her go until the distant hiss of the medbay door opening and closing rang out through the room, and a soft smile graced her lips.
They crew of the Pelekys was in the middle of dinner when Viatrix's avatar popped up on a nearby console as she gravely announced, "So I've got some good news and some bad news."
"You've tracked down the Briddbragnan?!" Malakh guessed, half rising from her seat.
"Nope. I've picked up a different signal. A Storlayacas signal, stronger than the one I got off that device." Viatrix said, sounding grim.
Rhea let out a hum of confusion, saying, "That's gotta be the good news, but if it's got you sounding like than, then I'm almost afraid to ask what the bad news is."
"We shall need to hear it, regardless," Pryseia said, nodding for Viatrix to continue, "Please, continue."
Her avatar twitching in a manner that very clearly displayed her agitation, it took Viatrix a moment before she was able to to get the rest of it out.
"From what I can get at this range, with the interference of the core and all, it's stationary, not on a planet, but an asteroid or planetoid perhaps. There's a bit of a signal bounce that's usual when you try to scan something in a debris field of some type, so it'll be a bit of a tricky flight to get to."
"I've successfully steered ships larger than this one through dense asteroid fields before, so I shouldn't have an issue with this one." Nevara said, calmly confident.
"Of that I have no doubt, but it's where the field is located," Viatrix said with all the solemnity of delivering a fatal diagnosis, "It's deep in Bernetigan territory, within FTL distance of their homeworld."
It was all Elytra could do to swallow her own terror as she was bombarded on all sides by the dread seething off the rest of the crew.
"Yeah," Rhea tried to joke, swallowing thickly, "I think you were underselling how bad this news would be."