The Dreaming: Dark Star (Book 5)

19.2. The suit

Liran had explored every locker, drawer and cupboard in the room and finally found a journal. He lay it flat on the table, and asked C7, "I'm allowed to read this?"

"I am powerless to stop you."

That's an odd way of saying yes, Liran thought. Everything about what had happened — everything since the day he'd met Phiona — had an air of destiny about it. He reasoned that if the journal was left here, then it was intended for him to read.

He flipped open the first page and saw a drawing of the chair Liran had slept in. A chair Liran wouldn't get in again — it had something to do with dreaming. This gave Liran shivers, and he skipped through many pages to see if the journal contained any other sketches.

He found many other project notes and sketches. Something about an explosive that worked in a vacuum — there were chemical notes that Liran couldn't read, but he suddenly understood why there were so many chemicals here and a shiver ran up his spine.

What was Grandpa Fiz doing here? he wondered. He saw the word Fendonium and it pulled on the string of a memory — they said that the Praetorian Research Station had been destroyed with an explosive made of Fendonium.

And there were other experiments — something along the lines of making jewelry. It looked like Grandpa Fiz had been involved in making synthetic rubies and emeralds.

Liran realized that's probably how their family land was so big. His father and his father's two brothers had inherited Grandpa Fiz's homestead. The eldest had inherited the original house, and Liran's father, Tashin, and the youngest brother had both received big chunks of land, along with livestock.

Being the only surviving male heir, Liran would inherit all of this, as both uncles had died without living male children.

All this thought about his family made him think about his sister and mother, both of whom he had not seen in four years. It had been so long. Liran could still see his sister's sweet face in his mind, but doubted she looked anything like that now — she would be turning into a woman at thirteen years old. And Hannah, the youngest — she would be eight or nine by now.

Liran remembered that Phiona had said something about Zahra, but his memory was foggy. His father had shot him soon after, and it must have affected his memory. It couldn't be true that Zahra was gone. It just couldn't be.

Liran sat down on the metal steps, and put his face in his hands. More than anything, he wanted to see his sister and mother one last time.

A flame of hope burst in his chest at the thought of seeing them. He was so close — it was only a few hours walk.

"Ahh..." he groaned. He felt so conflicted, remembering that Brother Silas had threatened to clear his entire village.

C7 spoke up. "Are you alright, Liran?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm alright," Liran said in his best Standard. I just want to risk the lives of my entire family just so that I can see them one more time.

He didn't know what was the right thing to do. He took a deep breath.

"It seems you are thinking about something that is upsetting, Liran. Would you like to talk about it?" C7 asked.

Liran rolled his eyes. It was some sort of advanced support program. It was a pale comparison of Phiona, whose aged voice had the power to make you want to scratch your eyes out with her poignant questions and remarks.