Maiden, p.40
MAIDEN, page 40
“You would know.” She positioned her arms down by her sides, palms up, the splints removed.
Crystal pressed buttons on the ops panel. A delicate monitoring net draped Scrounger’s body. Warm air blew through the couch. The pumps beneath chugged to life.
“I don’t blame you,” Scrounger said. “For what happened. I should never have left the Sibly. I should have trusted you not to...” She clenched her jaw on a sob.
“Shhh. It’s okay. You did what you thought best.” How Ympress knew to play the one card that would draw Scrounger out of the Sibly even Yrten couldn’t say.
“But— You would have stayed, right?” She raised her voice. “You would have stayed?”
Crystal bit back her reply. Scrounger would know if she lied—she was good at that. “Don’t move. You’ll tear the netting.”
Scrounger’s eyes widened. Her breathing became ragged as she fought the anesthetic. “Tell me. You would have stayed.”
“Shhh. Relax. Close your eyes.” She placed her hand on Scrounger’s forehead.
“I— It— Not for nothing. Tell me. Please.”
“Relax. Just close your eyes.”
What could she say? The Ruling Council had sent their most insane brethren to kill her? Because it would not relinquish its knight? A knight that, according to High Drone, had probably been equally insane?
They even offered to let Cllaw rule over this sphere. There’s a working alien artifact on one station. Do they really want a brethren like Cllaw to get hold of that? Plus, if I believe High Drone, they’re growing a new batch of knights. So they’re still terrified.
Sydren had been adamant they leave the artifact behind. “We know where to find it if we need it.”
Crystal had her misgivings, but let the matter drop. As a group, they already had their share of troubles.
Eyelids fluttering, Scrounger settled. Her breathing mellowed. Crystal adjusted the net.
“I’ll be here when you wake, my friend.” She placed her hand on Scrounger’s forehead again. “Rest. You’ve earned it.”
“I failed.” She sighed. “I failed at everything. Lis. Sibly. Nomnen.”
“You did your best. And Sibly’s getting stronger. Its life-light is brighter. That’s good, right?”
“Still... failed.”
Breathing shallow, she went limp. Her head twitched. Crystal checked the readings on the ops panel. Looks ready.
Then Scrounger inhaled. “Crystal.” Her eyelids fluttered.
“I’m here.” She leaned into the couch to hear Scrounger, and to be heard. “I’m here.”
“Don’t leave me.”
Crystal tensed. Then she placed her hand on her suffering friend’s forehead. “I won’t. Promise.”
She waited, but Scrounger said no more.
I’ll be waiting.
She bent to the ops panel and activated the hibernation sequence.
The upper dome settled and locked. Monitoring tabs moved into position. A blast of warm air fogged the windows. The pumps chugged louder. Thick, clear fluid filled the chamber.
Scrounger twitched as the fluid rose above her nostrils. Her readings stabilized.
The lights atop the upper dome changed from blue to white to green.
When the lamps inside the chamber dimmed, Crystal stood. She touched the warm window. “You didn’t fail at everything, my friend. I’m alive, thanks to you. I promise to do good with that.”
Killing one knight and an insane brethren was a promising start. Having another die—the Keeper of the Repository, no less—was a welcome bonus. Now they just had to figure out where to go before they continued the fight.
“I’d really like to find Quiet Crescent,” Sydren had confessed.
“All I know is it’s between the sliprings,” she’d replied. Maybe somewhere in her core, Creator had left instructions...
She’d look later.
For now...
You were right, Creator.
I am worthy.
She dropped her core into standby mode and left the pod.
THE END
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Acknowledgments
THE FIRST ten thousand words of this novel won the 2018 Strongest Start Contest at the online critique website that I've been frequenting for well over a decade now. (www.thenextbigwriter.com) I finished the first draft of this in 2018. Since then, it’s been collecting dust. I finished several manuscripts in between, some of which have also been collecting dust. I plan to publish all of them this year (2023).
To those who reviewed my posts, I extend my appreciation for your time and review prowess as this story took shape, both five years ago and today.
In no particular order, they are: (2023) Dirk B., Lauren G., Barry C., Dominique, Mike Davis, Glen Robinson, Jody Marshall, Carol Oaks, Bobbie R. Bird, and dagny. (2017/2018) Duncan A. Jackson, Sideman, HYung, Terrydp45. Pamela Monson, amy s., GPyrenees, S.L. Garber-Ortiz, arianna cordelle sofer, Rayner Jamie Ye, m w mccoy, Bill Lee, Dan2661, Roxanne, David Aurelius, Randall Krzak, Lawrence Burdik, Pat Leo, jack the knife, R.M. Keegan, Temple Wang, Dirk B., Sherry V. Ostroff, Sideman, Marilyn Johnson, K.dot, c.a. collins, c. Langley, R D Van, and rstilskinz.
Please forgive me if I left anyone out. That was unintentional.
Outside of the few members of my critique group, no one has read this latest manuscript. I am curious to learn what they think of the story. I really enjoyed putting this one together. The original draft five years ago I wrote in WordPerfect. This year, I shifted that focus into Scrivener 3, because it handled generating e-books better than WordPerfect. Along the way, I discovered all the helpful features that make Scrivener a better tool for writing. I will still use WordPerfect to create the softcover editions of my stories. But I think from now on my main writing software will be Scrivener 3 for Windows.
Also, this is my first bit of writing where I’ve used ProWritingAid to help find and fix the bulk of my minor issues I can’t seem to get straight despite being corrected on them repeatedly. I’m still exploring all the bells and whistles that come with this software, but so far I think I’ve gotten my money’s worth. I may explore other tools as their sophistication increases, but things are happening so fast in artificial intelligence that I may wait a bit and let the dust settle before I devote time and energy to learning a new piece of software.
Finally, I would like to thank JD&J for their cover design. I still have one more cover to design before the end of the year, the first book in a trilogy. I’ll be taking care of that within the next couple of months. Subscribe to my newsletter, and you may partake in the sneak peek I may do come late November.
About the Author
CHARLES BRASS works as an imaging technologist in the hospital of the small city where he lives, some thirty miles west of Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Writing has been his passion for more than twenty years. Writing well has always been his dream.
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Charles is currently at work on his next project.
Charles Brass, MAIDEN
