They dared not perform the cremation ceremony for fear of the baron's patrols spying the funeral smoke. Instead, they laid him, wrapped in preservation cloth, in a stony alcove in the back of the cave. It was overfull now with the rest of the Teretha from the containment camp, and now the joining members of the town of Sinclair. These were mostly children and the elderly, alongside some mothers. A few professionals, like a barber, a banker and the innkeeper, were male; their professions had saved them from military service. Preacher stood with these still in the mouth of the tunnel. They appeared lost. Teretha family members wept and embraced each other and soon Doc was organizing rations. With the tunnel closest to the town collapsed and the town beyond that destroyed, food would be scarce for a while.

  The dream singer found Alec near T'sala, placing the last stones on Tusongs grave. "I didn't think it to be true, I do not know how this miracle came to be. But do you stand before us now? T'sala of the Aamaranth blood."

  She turned to the dream singer, and her face was relieved as if welcoming a father. The voice Alec heard was rich and full of a soulful timber that drew his ear and pulled at his heart. "Dream singer," She replied, "I do stand here after many long years thanks to this man." She gestured to Alec and then to the suit she was wearing. "It appears as though he wears something akin to the chamber I was kept in, but much more sophisticated." She twirled about and fell to the ground, tripping on a rock. The dream singer drew in a gasp of expectation and nearly cringed.

  The suit did what it was supposed to do and reached out to cradle her impact perfectly. In the suit, she posed no danger of explosion. The dream singer marvelled and then looked to Alec. "How is this possible?"

  "I can't say I'm all that sure. When there's time, I'll go over the specifics with you." Alec looked to T'sala with the last statement. "It's one of a kind, so we have to preserve it." The thought made Alec think of himself. Without that suit, they could call him immortal all they wanted. One stray bullet in his heart or head, and Alec would be as dead as any of them. He may be able to heal quicker with the Aamaranth, but when it came to flesh and blood destroyed, it meant game over. His augmentations would also be exposed and could be knocked off programming or off of Alec in the same respect. He felt naked.

  The woman indicated her head to Alec in a noble acquiescence, "I would like to learn of it. I never expected to walk the earth again, to hold my brother or any of my family. You gave me that gift before he died, and I thank you." Alec and her looked to the grave as she took a sombre tone. "If it is safe, I would like to find who yet remains with me and find rest with them. I have not slept at my choice in years, and it has taken its toll."

  The strength in her voice and demeanour despite her brother's grave before them was incredible. Alec also marvelled at the grace she displayed. She was holding things together well. He knew from his own experience that it was easier to do when others looked on. It was those moments of being alone where those thoughts pounced. "In the morning, then, come to my ride." Alec pointed to the Quip, and the woman nodded. The dream singer guided her towards a collection of people who embraced her in the Teretha way. At first, all were hesitant out of fear of an explosive hug, but as the dream singer explained the gifted protection, they seemed to relax.

  Alec let out a sigh and walked over to Quip, then climbed in. He didn't grab a happy flare this time but instead flopped onto his mattress in exhaustion.

  “Urm Alec…” It was Quip's voice.

  “Yes Quip?”

  "Are you ok?"

  “Yes, Quip… Why do you ask?"

  "Well, you are… changed, more vulnerable now. Does that cause unreliable human emotions?"

  "Don't worry, Quip, I'm not melting down. My emotions are fine, I'm still the fastest thing they've ever seen". Alec looked at the vial in his arm, down to half a vial of the pure Aamaranth and four vials of the standard left.

  "For how long?" It was as if Quip read his mind.

  "Long enough to figure out how to get more."

  "But with the town and the mine destroyed."

  "That can't be the only mine. We need some more information, but a big planet like this has to have more than one."

  "According to my initial scan, Alec, within the system, I noticed three major hubs, including the town of Sinclair, connected to the rift-station communications."

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "And I don't expect the baron to give up his Aamaranth, it seems to get him all the special treatment he needs."

  "Does that make you nervous?"

  "It's a reality". Without his impact suit everything currently made Alec nervous. It's why he didn't go for the happy flares. What would it feel like to stub a toe or bang his head on something? He couldn't recall the memory of it.

  "It makes me nervous," Quip continued, "The four riders were enough, if he's fortified the rift station, they could keep it open and bring in battalions of Earth Prime soldiers. Those are a struggle at the best of times." Quip let the thought hang, and Alec refused to acknowledge it.

  "We'll find a way. Hey Quip?"

  "Yes, Alec?"

  "I need some sleep." This time, he did not go for the mute switch he had installed, but left the channels wide open. Saddling a recently free beast did not seem like a gesture of trust to Alec. Being vulnerable made him appreciate those around him whom he could trust. Quip did not respond, and Alec considered his surroundings more. Being here in this place right now was the safest he could be. He closed his eyes and tried to rest. The days, no weeks, events would not let him drift off.

  After lying there for nearly an hour without finding sleep, Alec decided to get up and go for a walk about the cave. He gathered a pack of happy flares and placed the two revolvers fully loaded in their holsters. It didn't give him comfort in the same way his suit did, but it did increase his confidence. He stepped out of Quip and into a mostly quiet village. It seemed as though the entire cave had succumbed to exhaustion of the day.

  He heard a clatter of rocks behind him and spun with two guns raised in an instant. It was her, T'sala, glowing soft purple in the darkness.

  "I fear shooting me may have disastrous effects." She smiled. Her voice was a nostalgic song welcomed by Alec's ears.

  "Not in that." Alec indicated the suit. He searched for something to say as she stood there considering him. "Uh, what's it like to eat again?" Alec found himself feeling stupid. He wondered, though, as someone who had never required sustenance like that due to his Aamaranth blood, Alec only ever ate for enjoyment or duty. Others were unnerved if they ate while you did not at a banquet.

  "I do not feel a need to try, if I'm honest, the thought makes me sick. I think this body, though in my shape, is no longer mine." She pouted at this, and Alec got the image of a spoiled child who did not get the results they wanted after much argument. "There is much I wish to do, and try to see. There is much living I would like to do. But with this new form, those are not for me any longer."

  Alec knew the feeling, and his jaw fell agape as someone voiced words he had only considered to himself for millennia.

  She continued as she stepped closer to Alec. "I fear in your saving of me, you have converted me. I could not sleep, I could not eat, and I truly don't believe I require either anymore. I am no longer Teretha but something new. I am a tool of the baron's destruction."

  Alec could see the longing for revenge in her eyes as she looked across to where Tusong's grave was. "He will pay for what he has done, his presence, "She looked over to the remaining tunnel where the baron hood citizens had set a rough camp. Their presence does not even allow for proper funeral rites. My brother is not joined to father or mother but lies here in limbo. I will bring Sinclair down so he may find peace."

  She was glowing more intensely now; it seemed linked to her anger. Her red hair and purple skin, offset by the deep hazel eyes, looked like a phoenix angel, ready to bathe the world in fire. Alec stepped forward and took her hands in his. He locked eyes with her and saw her internal flames subside as she got lost in his gaze. He breathed, slow and true, like he did in the days past when the world seemed about to implode. Then he heard himself say something that took him aback. "Maybe, just maybe, if one of us stops having the need for revenge, you could bury your brother in peace. From what I've seen, and it's been a lot, a man like Tusong is honoured in peace, not bloody revenge."

  He could see he had gotten to hear her heart, but it was not pleasant for her. He understood. Her desire was probably to run to the rift station and throw herself at it as she discarded the life-giving suit, wiping it and him from the planet. The same thing Tusong had thought. If he were honest, the same plan Alec had agreed to, but that was before he had seen a way for T'sala to live free. He knew within his heart what Tusong would want. "It's a plan for sure. Same one your brother had." Alec looked around the camp overflowing with refugees. "Didn't seem to go so well for him. Your people, and them." Alec indicated the baronhood citizen camp. "They're gonna need someone who leads differently. Sinclair has a fortress with unlimited resources, and more soldiers could come through the gate at any time. You need to do different. It's what he would have wanted."

  Alec hoped the last had sunk in. She still glowed with hatred but seemed to be considering. All of a sudden, her eyes lit up. "He may be able to get more soldiers, but he will need to feed them and the children, too. The train to the fields, if we can get to that, we can get to him."

  She was clearly still on a path of revenge, but at least she was thinking about the impact and not going all scorched Aamaranth on the planet. She pulled him closer till their noses were almost touching. "I will not lead, I am no messiah. I'm the same person who was taken and broken." She paused at this. Alec was stunned by how closely she thought of him. "We will gather the others, and you will lead us as the lost warrior." The last was said with sarcasm. It would seem the dream singer had been spreading the legend that served as propaganda, and T'sala was not buying it. His understanding of her intellect, respect for her wit and the feeling of being in her presence swept Alec up. His heart may have even beat one single beat out of rhythm, indicating to his brain that this woman, despite very little interaction, had a place deep within his heart before time began. He wondered what that would mean for the future.