Red Nova
Chapter Thirteen

Separated on Sepas IX

Nesha awoke several hours later in the observation deck. She could hardly move, and her body ached all over. She thought to herself, No, God. Please don’t let me be paralyzed. All she could move were her eyes. She then saw the view from the window, which was a cavernous lair of snow and ice. Nesha could see her own breath dissolve in the cold air. She groaned in pain, desperately trying to move her body. In due time, she felt her jumpsuit crack and could rotate her right arm.

She quickly used her arm to click her UND, activating its heating system. The heat spread to her jumpsuit, and the ice around her sportswear softened, warming her body until she was finally able to move again. Hearing some of the surrounding ice crumble, she looked up and realized that the starship had been torn in half. She also noticed that McKenzie lay unconscious on the other side of the chamber, snow covering him.

Nesha immediately ran to McKenzie and clicked his UND a few times. It didn’t work at first, so she used his fingers and activated its heating system. Without wasting time, she walked over to the observation deck’s doorway, where the Malvakarian had been torn in two. Ahead lay a huge cavern where the starship had crashed into. The other half of it was nowhere in sight.

“Hello?” she called out, hearing her voice echo. “Is anybody there? Can anyone hear me? Please help us! We’re stuck inside this cave!” She checked on McKenzie again. She touched his armor, which started getting warmer. Moments later, he started moving. He eventually opened his eyes. “Thank God,” she said. “Are you all right?”

“Wha-what happened?” asked McKenzie.

“I think we crashed on a planet,” said Nesha. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, thanks,” said McKenzie. He stood up with Nesha’s help and bobbed his head. “I remember now. We were on our way to Fe’lora when the Black Moon syndicate attacked us. The last thing I remember was that we were falling into one of the planet’s nearby moons: Sepas IX.” McKenzie slipped but managed to balance himself. He then whacked his forehead. “How rude of me. I’m Bryan McKenzie, a soldier in your father’s fleet.”

“I kind of figured you were,” she said. “You probably already know my name, but I’m Nesha.”

“Yeah,” he said, smiling. “So, are you feeling all right?”

“Well, this isn’t exactly what I call a rescue, but I’m grateful to still be alive,” she said, observing the cavern.

Rotating his shoulders, McKenzie sighed. “Same here,” he said. “Grateful to be alive, that is. Do you know where the others are?” He glanced at the observation deck’s doorway and flinched. “My goodness.”

McKenzie limped over to the ruptured hull and looked out into the glittering cave of ice. He saw numerous stalagmites in the form of columns. Icicles hung on the cavern’s ceiling too. The duo saw traces of light above them, but the icy ceiling prevented more light from entering. A violent tremor suddenly struck the cavern, yet it ceased as fast as it started.

“What was that?” asked Nesha.

He looked at her and shrugged. “I don’t know, but we’d better replace a way out of here fast. This part of the Malvakarian doesn’t seem to have any power, and with no power source our UNDs will eventually turn off.”

“Are you serious?”

“Very serious,” he said. “But don’t worry. I’ll get us out of here.”

“Great, so you have a plan?”

While rubbing his helmet, he muttered, “Um, well, no. But I’ll figure it out. You just stay warm and relax while I search around.”

“Actually, I’d rather help since it’s only the two of us,” she said.

“Okay,” he said. “Just be careful and watch your step.”

“Thanks, I’ll try,” she replied, stepping out of the starship.

Clicking his UND a few times, McKenzie activated flashlights on his armored spaulders, helping him see better. Even though Nesha wasn’t clad in military armor, she had her robotic maid. She ported the automaton via her UND and programmed it to hover beside her.

“Gina, it’s really hard to see in here,” she said, walking slowly. “Can you turn on your nightlight?”

“Yes, Ms. Bisel,” said Gina.

“Whoa, you’re pretty handy,” said McKenzie. “I always wanted to buy one of those but never got around to it since I’m hardly home. The UEC always sends me off-world.”

Nesha smiled and continued to walk along the icy ledge where the ship had crash-landed. McKenzie followed her since she had a stronger source of light.

“How come you have that out?” she asked, glancing at McKenzie’s gun.

“What?” he said, confused. “Oh, my rifle? Habit I guess.”

She felt satisfied with his answer and decided to trust him. The duo continued to walk along the snow-covered ledge. The ice underfoot crackled while they walked onward, wind whistling in the sealed cavern.

“Damn, it seems like a dead end,” he said.

“Gina,” she called out, “can you move your light down?”

The automaton beamed its light down to the lower cavity. It looked like a frozen cascade of steps, though extremely jagged.

“Do you think it’s safe?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “Stay here. I’ll check it out. Oh, and can you hold this for me?” Nesha nodded, holding his gun. “Thanks,” he added, reaching the first step of ice. He slipped again but held on to an icy piece of stalagmite before falling. “Close one,” he said, wheezing. After a moment, he started to descend as slowly as possible, carefully placing his hands on the jagged treads of ice.

“Gina, please follow Bryan until he gets down to the bottom.”

McKenzie was able to see better when Gina hovered beside him. He eventually reached the bottom of the chamber and gave Nesha a thumbs up. Gina floated back up while McKenzie walked forward, searching all around.

“There doesn’t seem to be another passage here,” he said.

“What do we do now?” she asked with a sigh.

“Well, it looks like we’re in pretty deep, but there’s some light up there,” he said. “I think our ship lost two or three wings during that battle. Zar probably lost control of the Malvakarian after it entered the atmosphere. So, I’m going to assume we turned upside down when the ship split in half because I have no idea how we ended up here without the others. I say we climb out of this cave and replace a way to the surface of this moon.”

“What if it’s even colder out there?”

“It has to be,” he replied. “But I’m pretty sure the others are out there and could use our help.”

“What if they’re already dead?” she said in a tone of despair.

“That’s possible too,” he replied. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely safer here. Though, if we stay here our UNDs will eventually shut down. So we really should try to replace a way out. Besides, it’s not good to second-guess. We need to at least replace out if the others are alive. Now, if I could just replace higher ground…”

Nesha sighed again. “Gina, can you come closer?” The robot maid didn’t respond to her. Instead it turned off its light and hovered away. “Gina?” she called out, staring at it strangely as it blurted out different languages. Gina suddenly shut down, falling into the lower chamber where McKenzie stood. All of its apparatuses smashed and broke apart. “Gina! Oh my God. I can’t believe this.”

“I’m sorry, Nesha,” said McKenzie, glancing at the robot. “I guess it malfunctioned.”

The cave trembled again, yet this time the tremor escalated into a fierce quake. McKenzie slipped, landing on his rear. A few icicles above snapped and fell beside him.

“Is it an avalanche?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said, groaning while trying to get back up.

Nesha lost her balance and nearly fell off the cracked ledge. She quickly grabbed a rock for leverage and leaned against the jagged wall, wheezing. Then the ground beneath McKenzie shattered, a gargantuan frost vesper emerging. It resembled a snake but had the fur of an ancient mammoth. The hairy frost vesper roared, revealing fangs and poisonous saliva. Nesha shrieked when she saw the beast arise from the cave’s depths. She dropped the rifle in a panic. McKenzie took two steps back, a look of horror on his pale face.

The frost vesper lunged at McKenzie when an explosion went off from above. Nesha gasped. The ceiling collapsed as Teri jumped down in her UHAT, grabbing the beast’s squirming body.

“Not so fast, skimpy,” said Teri.

Xelvakron towered over the frost vesper and held it back as it attempted to gnash its teeth into McKenzie. Teri held it with one hand while she rotated her controls to smash the creature’s face with Xelvakron’s fist. It roared ferociously, plummeting against the glaciers. Afterwards, the frost vesper slithered out of the shattered tunnel and coiled around Xelvakron; however, Teri had already ported her prototype LP-14 Gatling gun and shot laser beams at the beast. She then clicked the giant gun’s second trigger, launching a plasma torpedo into its white-furred body. The torpedo exploded and lit the cavern up as though fireworks went off, covering the jagged walls of the cave with the frost vesper’s azurite-colored blood.

“Need a lift, fellas?” asked Teri.

Nesha hid in a corner, shocked. She didn’t say anything. McKenzie, on the other hand, grabbed his gun and sprinted over to Xelvakron.

“Teri, your UHAT is a god!” he said.

“Yup,” said Teri, giggling. “I’m mighty grateful ta have him. Now, me tinks it’s time to skedaddle. The others are waitin’ on the surface.”

The steel abdomen of Xelvakron opened, allowing McKenzie and Nesha to enter it. Once they got inside the UHAT, Teri sealed it and steadily moved the controls upward and sideways, climbing out of the mountainous cave. They were outside in no time and saw the other half of the vessel, which had apparently slid down the massive heap of snow on the moon’s surface.

Sepas IX was nothing but a complete sheet of ice with snow covering its entire surface. The moon itself had countless glaciers, ice-covered mountains in the distance, and was beset by a blizzard so severe that it gave Nesha and McKenzie an impression that the storm would probably remain indefinitely.

“Sweet mother of mercy,” said McKenzie, looking at the landscape. “Why must I always get stuck in these horrible places?”

“This happened to you before?” asked Nesha.

McKenzie nodded and replied, “Yeah, we were stuck on some crazy planet called Aydis before we came to your rescue. But it was far worse than this. Though, I somehow doubt there’s a hidden Casimir here. Damn it, is my karma that bad?”

“If that’s the case, then we all have bad karma,” said Nesha, hopelessly looking at the moon’s desolate icescape.

“Leave it ta me,” said Teri cheerfully. “I’ll fix our ship in no time and get us out of here in a jiffy! Well, that’s if I can fix the second engine’s energy converter and reroute the shaft’s couplings into…anyway, just leave it ta me!”

Teri plowed through the snowstorm, toward the Malvakarian. Her UHAT was a giant in size—thirty-eight feet high—yet there was so much snow that its feet were covered. The UHAT moved rather well considering the terrain, but the snow was still slowing it down. Teri eventually escaped the treacherous valley of mountains and reached the other half of the Malvakarian.

Upon arriving, Shiva disabled the starship’s force field. Teri motioned Xelvakron inside and parked him into the semi-crushed shuttle bay. Snow was already settling onto the chamber’s floor. Shiva turned the force field back on while Teri exited her UHAT.

“Welcome back,” said Shiva.

“Hey, leader, look who I found,” said Teri, pointing at Nesha and McKenzie. “They were trapped inside a cave in the valley.”

Shiva gazed at them and responded, “Excellent work.”

Rena had just stepped into the chamber. The moment she saw Nesha by the UHAT, she rushed over to her.

“Rena!” called out Nesha.

“I’m so relieved,” said Rena, hugging her. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay, thanks.”

“Geez, what about me?” said McKenzie.

Shiva shook his hand. “It’s good to see you in pieces,” she said.

“Uh, you mean in one piece?” said McKenzie, raising an eyebrow.

“You still have all your organs intact, correct?” asked Shiva.

“Yeah,” said McKenzie.

“Excellent,” said Shiva. “Teri...noble Zar and master Gahza are waiting for you in the engine chamber. They need your brilliant expertise to repair the Malvakarian so we can continue our voyage to Fe’lora. Please help them after you have revitalized.”

“Aye aye, Captain,” said Teri, saluting Shiva.

Teri and McKenzie walked up the ramp and entered the engine chamber while Rena stayed with Nesha, holding her. Shiva bowed and then walked away.

“Wait,” said Nesha. “May I ask you a question?”

“How may I be of assistance?” said Shiva.

“Well, I just want to know why you pretended to be my father,” said Nesha.

Shiva responded, “It was the same reason that VC00108-Marutas pretended to be Detective Renfred.”

“I see,” said Nesha. “Is my father waiting for us in Fe’lora?”

“Yes,” intervened Rena, lying. “We’re supposed to meet him there and then seek an audience with the fe’lorian council. Isn’t that right, Shiva?”

Shiva twitched, staring at Rena. She eventually gave Rena a faint nod; then she turned around, exited the shuttle bay, and joined the rest of her crew in the engine chamber.

“What was that about?” asked Nesha.

“She seems to be malfunctioning,” said Rena, coughing.

“Are you okay?” asked Nesha, noticing that Rena was beginning to look awfully pale. “Aunt Rena?”

Rena finally stopped coughing and nodded. “I’m okay, sweety,” she replied. “It’s just a little too cold for my own liking.” She faintly smiled and put her arm over Nesha’s shoulder, walking over to the EP. Nesha, however, stopped because she couldn’t help but notice Rena looking abnormally pale.

“Maybe we should go to the medical wing,” she said, worried.

“Unfortunately, it got destroyed when we entered the planet’s atmosphere,” said Rena. “It was the cause of our crash.”

“What about Doctor Surandes?” asked Nesha.

“Oh, Margaret?” said Rena. “Don’t worry, she’s fine. And she’s quite lucky too because she was meditating in the only part of the wing that didn’t get destroyed when the syndicate attacked us.”

“Meditating?” said Nesha with an absurd expression.

Rena laughed. “She’s a bhikkhuni, so she meditates a lot. But since the medical wing is ruined, she’s using the laboratory wing. Though, I think right now she’s preparing something to eat for us. Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” said Nesha. “I’m starving.”

They went into the EP and ported over to the Malvakarian’s cantina, which was all that remained of the residential wing. In the meantime, Teri and McKenzie entered the engine chamber. McKenzie walked in a sluggish manner while Teri gaily skipped over to Zar’kara and Gahza who were both trying their best to fix the starship.

“Have no fear, Teri’s here!” she said chirpily.

“About time,” said Zar’kara. “None of these wires are working.”

Teri looked at the panel he had opened and saw all the dangling and entangled wires, which didn’t have any power.

“Eww-okay, this looks bad,” said Teri. “But I’ve got an idea! You and Gahza can take Xelvakron over to the other part of Mal and scrap up whatever’s there. It’s not too far. Ya just go to the mountain and voila.”

“You mean to tell me you’re not going?” said Zar’kara in disbelief. “I thought you were married to your UHAT.”

McKenzie laughed while Shiva entered the chamber.

“Hey!” snapped Teri playfully. “No teasin’ me, Zarry.” She glanced at Shiva and went on, “I’d totally love ta go, but I reckon sparky here is overdue for a bit of maintenance.”

“Is that so?” said Zar’kara, snarling.

He and Gahza examined Shiva, particularly her shoulders and arms, which looked as though they were about to fall off.

“I think she’s right,” said Gahza.

Zar’kara snorted. “Let’s get this over with, brother.”

“Okay, sparky,” said Teri. “Come on over.”

Shiva complied while Zar’kara and Gahza left the engine chamber. Rena and Nesha eventually came in with some food rations and approached Teri.

“Here’s a sandwich Margaret made for you,” said Rena.

“Oh, yummy,” replied Teri. “Tanks a bunch.”

She climbed her workstation and started munching on the sandwich.

“I take it we’re going to be here for a while?” said Rena.

Teri noticed Rena staring at the mess of wires and said, “I sent Zarry on a mission to get some supplies from Mal’s deck, which should help. But yar, I say we’ll be here for a bit unless someone picks up my distress signal.”

“The fe’lorians might spot us,” said McKenzie. “I mean, Fe’lora is in the same star cluster, right? There’s a good chance they’ll rescue us.”

“That is an eleven percent probability,” said Shiva firmly. “The magnetosphere and meteorological blizzard are already distorting our signal, and they will continue to weaken the signal since there are no stable power sources here.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” said Nesha, sitting down.

“Shiva, what can you tell us about this planet?” asked Rena.

“According to my stored databank, this is not a planet but actually a moon. Sepas is within the Zortega Star System, but it’s the farthest planet from its O-Class star, which is why it has an indigo albedo. It also has a ring with eight shepherd moons.”

“And we’re on one of those?” assumed Rena.

“Negative,” said Shiva. “We are actually on the ninth moon: Sepas IX. But it has a retrograde orbit. Its trajectory has created a gravitational perturbation, which is causing it to cast away from the planetary ring.”

Rena coughed again. “Sooner or later we’re going to run out of our food,” she said. “I need to know if this moon has edible food and water.”

“Such information is currently unavailable,” said Shiva, thoroughly observing her UND’s data. “I can, however, hypothesize—based on the moon’s icy composition—that organic life is possible.”

“Nothing else?” asked Rena.

“I can offer a technical analysis of possible habitat formations so that you may theorize yourself,” said Shiva. “Shall I pull up the rest of the data?”

“Yes, anything’s helpful at this point,” said Rena.

“Sepas IX’s lithosphere consists of a crust frozen with nitrogen over an icy layer formed by means of the meteorological phenomena,” answered Shiva. “It has caused the temperature to approximately be negative one hundred and fifty-six degrees Celsius. The moon contains traces of oxygen, but not enough for humans to sustain themselves. Your helmet will be needed at all times if you are to leave the ship. It is possible that Sepas IX once had oxygen, but if any oxygen still exists it is trapped deep within the moon’s core. There are also numerous tectonic shifts despite the core’s cryovolcanic state. This leads me to deduce that the tectonic shifts are caused by frost vespers.”

“What’s a frost vesper?” asked Nesha.

“It’s that worm creature from the cave we encountered,” said McKenzie.

Nesha felt sick to her stomach just thinking about the beast.

“Well, there’s no way we’re hunting those for food,” said Rena.

“How come?” asked Teri, finishing her sandwich.

“Because those are the same creatures that killed all the colonists on Vindor,” said Rena. “And, according to Keith’s report, they’re poisonous.”

“Yikes,” said Teri, continuing to fix Shiva.

“Whoa,” began McKenzie, gulping heavily, “those are the alien creatures that infested Vindor?”

“That’s what it says in Keith’s report,” said Rena.

“Correct,” said Shiva. “Scientists claimed that the species on Vindor were deep within the planet’s core, but evidence proved otherwise. They appeared to have adapted to Vindor’s ecosystem and were most likely brought from another planet or moon—such as this one we are on—and bred for research. Yet the IGF and UEC have always denied these accusations.”

“Sounds just like ’em,” said Teri, shrugging.

“Well, screw us!” moped McKenzie. “If they’re more of those things out there then we’re already dead!”

“In any case,” said Rena, trying her best to ignore McKenzie, “we’d best wait here for now and be as patient as possible—perhaps even pray that someone from Fe’lora will pick up our distress signal.”

The crew started losing hope fast, even Rena who had previously tried to be optimistic. They stayed inside the engine chamber, anxiously waiting for someone in the Zortega Star System to pick up their distress signal. Zar’kara and Gahza eventually returned to the vessel after a few hours of excavating the necessary resources in the Malvakarian’s other half. They brought mostly wires with them and then rejoined Teri, trying to fix their ship.

“Was that everything you found, Zarry?” asked Teri.

“Everything,” said Zar’kara.

“Hmmm,” uttered Teri. “This is bad, very bad.”

“We’re running out of khlium too,” said Gahza.

“Uh, Margie won’t like this. I think we have no choice but to shut down the laboratory’s power to sustain the rest of the ship’s energy mass,” said Teri. “Zarry, can you fix this shaft? I still need to do some touchups on Shiva’s arms and these supplies look just about right for the job.”

Three days passed, and though it was getting colder, Teri was at least able to fix Shiva who then attempted to reestablish a connection with Vishnu, the ship’s integrated AI. Vishnu, however, had malfunctioned after the crash because it wasn’t responding.

On the fourth day, Shiva shut down all power in the laboratory wing. Though it was a bit noisy at times, Tathagata sat on her zafu, which was placed on top of her zabuton, and meditated in lotus position inside the engine chamber. In the meantime, Teri tried to repair the vessel with Zar’kara and Gahza. Nesha ate some rations while sitting next to Tathagata. She watched the bhikkhuni meditate in the midst of the noise and shook her head.

“How do you meditate with all this noise?” asked Nesha.

Tathagata didn’t respond. It was as though she was ignoring the question. Getting upset, Nesha kept to herself and finished her food.

“The human mind,” whispered Tathagata, “is like a garden. And like any garden, it will grow weeds. Those weeds will eventually entangle our flowers: the flowers of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.”

“The four immeasurables?” said Nesha.

Tathagata nodded. “If we don’t guard the garden, our flowers will wither away,” she said. “But when we are always mindful, we have the chance to water our garden and ensure that those weeds do not grow. And if they do—if they’re weeds of rage, noise, or frustration—we’ll notice them right away and replace a way to transform them into peace.”

“And you’re at peace now?” said Nesha, sullen. “Even though we’re hopelessly stuck on this moon?”

“Hopelessly?” said Tathagata. “Dear child, not hopelessly. There is always hope. Teri’s doing the best she can. And we have a distress signal, which the fe’lorians may very well receive.”

“What if they don’t?” said Nesha. “What if the signal gets weaker and the ship stops working because of the weather? How do we replace peace then?”

“Nesha, life is an everlasting flux: the nature of impermanence,” said Tathagata. “You may resent the groundlessness of our situation, but we are nevertheless here and must have hope if we are to survive. The truth is we don’t know what will happen. So yes, maybe we will always be stuck. There is also, however, a possibility of us being rescued. Life is such: a balance of joy and sadness. This is just a moment of sadness, but we will have our joy too. Have some hope in this moment, Nesha. It may put your mind at ease. Douse the flames of fear and let go.”

That was all Tathagata had to say. Nesha had far too much anxiety in her to be as calm and collected as the old bhikkhuni, yet those words channeled into her mind. She sat there and listened to the sounds of Teri’s drill, watching Zar’kara and Gahza crawl up the duct to reroute and connect new wires. Leaning against the wall, she tried to regain some lost peace and closed her eyes. Not more than a minute later, she fell asleep.

Nesha found herself in Earth’s Atlantic Ocean. She drifted passively in the sea. Upon looking at herself, she realized she resembled a fe’lorian. Nesha had skin as blue as a sapphire. Even though Nesha panicked, she eventually calmed down and started to swim. She could see Earth’s sun shining down on the warm sea. Smiling at its brightness, she gracefully swam past coral reefs, polyps, and several schools of fish.

She drifted deeper into the sea like a mermaid while marine life followed her. Nesha felt no need to breathe in the ocean since she was a fe’lorian and swam through the water as though it were always her home. The ocean, like all fe’lorians, was her true abode. A few minutes later, however, the marine life around her hurtled away as the sun’s light vanished.

The abyss of water darkened. Nesha felt anxious as her aquatic companions abandoned her. It was getting darker and colder in the ocean despite the fact that she was in the warmth of Morocco’s summer climate. Then she choked as if she’d been drowning. She swiftly swam up to the surface, but by then the ocean’s top was already covered by a layer of ice.

The more she choked, the faster she shifted back to her human form. Somehow the light had vanished and Earth was shriveling. Within seconds, it was a dead rock like Sepas IX. No matter how many times Nesha banged against the sheet of ice, she couldn’t break through it. All she could do was gasp and choke while the water filled her lungs.

Not a second later, Nesha woke up in the engine chamber. She clenched her chest, wheezing. Tumbling over the cold floor, she took heavy breaths and wiped away her sweat. Nighttime had arrived, and only Shiva sat in the chamber with her.

“They say your dreams are as dark as the Earth’s hadopelagic zone,” said Shiva. “But deep within the neural network of your brain lies a conscious dream—a vision of memories guiding you unconsciously toward Mother’s enigmatic psychosis.”

“What do you know of my dreams?” asked Nesha suspiciously.

“More than you may understand,” said Shiva. “Like a maze woven through the cosmic web of your ancestors—never to be forgotten—your dreams and power connect from a lineage of Mother to the cortex of Liagon. You are the keeper of it all, an eternal source of energy. This is something your father didn’t want you to learn of, but it has become unavoidable because of Liagon.”

“How do you know of my dreams?”

“As Doctor Surandes expressed earlier, let go of your fear,” said Shiva. “I am not your enemy, Nesha. Your father, Admiral Niralus Bisel, married a woman who was only half human.”

“That’s not possible,” said Nesha. “No, my mother was…”

“You know what the other half is, Nesha,” added Shiva. “You’ve seen it in your dreams. I am sure you have seen Liagon. If you wondered why, it’s because of a shared consciousness fe’lorians have, beginning with Mother Fe’lora.”

“Why didn’t my father tell me this before?”

“Because your mother was very special,” said Shiva. “Elsa was born human, but she was barren and had a rare disease that would have killed her by the age of thirty. She had volunteered to join the UEC’s research, which showed promise to cure her disease.”

“Mom still died young,” said Nesha depressingly.

“Indeed,” said Shiva, “though not as young as her doctor had predicted. She was part of a biological experiment that combined fe’lorian G-DNA in an attempt to prolong human life, but it was said to be a failure. Unknown to the scientists, the G-DNA injections cured Elsa’s infertile womb. In addition, it gave her a decade more to live. Yet this data was never discovered because your father kept it a secret, and Liagon destroyed the research facility. So, there was nothing left for the UEC to replace.”

“How is it possible that Liagon can enter my dreams?” asked Nesha.

“Remember, the fe’lorians can tap into each other’s dreams,” said Shiva. “Liagon has entered your dreams only because both of you are a result of the same experiment and have a genetic connection to Mother Fe’lora’s consciousness.”

“And you’re telling me Liagon was in the same research facility that my mom was in?”

“Correct,” replied Shiva. “It was during the vel’pheasian invasion in 2678. Your father, who was a general at the time, had been charged with managing Project Nova, an experiment that turned Liagon into a herculean being. Liagon was meant to be a weapon used by the UEC against the Vel’pheasian Empire, but the experiment backfired on them. Your father managed to escape with your mother. That was how they first met.”

“All this time I thought these dreams meant I was crazy,” said Nesha.

“Far from it,” said Shiva. “Your mind unconsciously contains all the memories of Mother Fe’lora.”

“But how does that link me to Liagon? The thought makes me sick. He’s always trying to kill me.”

“Both of you are capable of tapping into the fabric of Mother Fe’lora’s power, as well as her memories,” replied Shiva. “Nesha, you have the same strength as Liagon. He is planning to use his power to destroy Earth, but you can use yours to save the planet. You can continue Admiral Bisel’s mission.”

“Stop!” snapped Nesha. “Just stop! I don’t have any power. All I have are nightmares. I don’t even know you! The only reason I came aboard this freaky ship is because Rena’s here. She’s like a second mother to me. I’m not in the military. I’m not some experiment you can play with. And I’m not going to take orders from you! So just leave me alone!”

Shiva bowed and exited the engine chamber.

Nesha looked out from one of the ship’s windows and glanced at Sepas IX’s sky. With the exception of a few stars and the blizzard that only seemed to be worsening, she could barely see anything outside.

“It must be midnight,” she muttered, sighing.

She continued looking through the window, staring at the stars and cosmic dust that surrounded the moon’s atmosphere. She thought to herself, seeing the galaxy was always her dream, but not like this. Running for her life and being stranded on a deadly moon with a group of strangers was the opposite of what she’d hoped for. I was so happy before, conceded Nesha. Everything was so perfect. Then my life went to hell when Rick cheated on me. How long was he cheating on me? She remembered what Talia had told her, about how all men are the same. Then she thought, I wonder if Keith was the same? Or was he my dream come true? Well, I’ll never know because he’s dead. Mom, Tali, Hannah…they’re all dead. Nesha started to cry, sliding down in the corner of the chamber. And as she cried, her innocence faded away.