Mindshard (ON HOLD)

Under the Light of a Dark Star

     Finn gave the tunic he now wore an experimental tug to straighten it across his shoulders, frowning at how it felt.  Now alive longer than he had previously been in this re-engineered version of himself, he was still getting used to the additional muscularity.  Having been wiry all his life, Finn was used to having his clothes fit loosely.  With the added bulk, however, things fit him much more snugly and he wasn’t quite sure he liked the change.

     The clothing itself was another story.  Woven from some alien fabric he couldn’t identify, it was comfortable beyond belief, soft and soothing against his skin.  Along with the tunic, a heavy, sweater-like garment, he was given a long sleeve shirt in pale cream, breeches in kid glove-soft leather, dyed a dark green and sturdy boots in black leather which fit him so well it was like he wasn’t wearing them at all.  In fact, each item fit him as if custom made.

     The human chuckled softly at the thought.  With the number of times he’d been cloned and re-engineered, they should know his measurements by now.

  “Something amuses you?”  The female Sidhe reappeared out of the shadows without warning nearly at his elbow.  Thankfully Finn was able to restrain himself before jumping in surprise.

  “Only the irony of the situation, Praetor.”  He retorted.  “Now that we’ve embarked on this journey, let’s be done with it quickly.”

     The Halinor smiled thinly inside her cowl.

  “An admirable sentiment.”  She softly said.  The heavy fabric of the cloak she still wore rustled softly as she spun abruptly to her right.

  “Follow.”  Then she was stepping back into the gloom, forcing Finn to follow or risk being left behind.  Since he figured he’d get a zap from the collar if he didn’t stay in her footsteps, the human didn’t hesitate to do as the Halinor directed.  Together they exited the small chamber Finn had been kept in and stepped into a broad corridor, dimly lit at regular intervals along its length by dully glowing light globes set high on the walls, alternating from one wall to the other.

     Turning to her left, the woman led them smartly along the corridor, making her way swiftly despite the fact the lighting was so poor.  That spoke to some familiarity with the corridor itself, or, in the least, the lighting conditions.  When they strode from the corridor into an antechamber of some sort, its far walls lost in shadow, Finn found himself wondering if the entire building was in a similar state of darkness.

     A heavy double door irised silently open and the two of them walked from the building, down a brief but broad flight of stairs and into the open air.

  “Huh.”  He breathed.  “The entire planet is in shadow!”

     And indeed it was, the open air lending no relief to the dimness despite having what appeared to be a sun of some sort dominating the southern sky.  Instead of the coin-sized ball of fire he was used to, both from time spend on Earth and Icarus Prime, it was a massive ball that occupied most of the ever-twilight sky, dully glowing with muted light.  Eyes wide, he stared at it in wonder, watching purple-tinted flames dance across the ember-red surface, pulsing knots of brighter light speckling the mottled ball.

  “A neutron star.”  The Halinor in front of him named it, as if to speed his lagging feet with an explanation.  “Emitting deep into the nesid band, x-rays, ultraviolet mostly.  Perfect for the Teserin that make this world their home.  The planet sits nearly on top of the star just outside its PNR to receive enough radiation to make it habitable.”

     Finn glanced at the cloaked Halinor.

  “So what brings you here then, Praetor?  Your precious rebellion has no legs amongst the Teserin, from what I’ve heard.”