The Dreaming: Dark Star (Book 5)

The cave

They arrived at the cave late in the day, and Liran dropped the bags beside the girl in the shade. It was then that he noticed she was crying, and looked like she had been crying quite a bit. Her cheeks were stained with tears, sweat and dirt.

The sight made Liran's stomach do a flip. Was she suffering from the loss of her husband? He pushed the thought away, and dug out the entrance.

Liran had a sense of dejavu to be here again. To be with Phiona and this strange young woman, his father's new wife.

He crawled down into the narrow hole, and told Imorah to throw the bags down, and then he helped her inside.

They both sat, exhausted, breathing the cooler air of the cave.

Liran immediately set up the water catcher, and thought about how much he should show the girl — he had originally planned to take her to the underground laboratory, but after further thought, he wondered if he should keep that place a secret — as a last resort.

The girl was or had been an Iddy, based on her perfect, smooth, pale skin. No one living on the surface had skin like that. Maybe she was a part of the rebellion.

Liran's flesh crawled at the idea, remembering what Akim had said — that he was wanted for future crimes and a connection to the rebellion.

Was this girl his connection to the rebellion? By killing his father, had he sealed his fate?

For a brief second, he was overpowered by a strong desire a feeling to run. Maybe he should leave her here with Phiona. Walk away.

But as soon as he faced that possibility, he realised he had no where to go — he was a wanted man. This cave was the only safe place he knew about. Why did I bring her here? he thought.

But then he took a deep breath. He felt cagey, like a trapped animal. No matter where he turned, he was boxed in.

But there was still the residue of last night's 'medicine' and he remembered the visions he'd had. So many, but a common theme ran through all of them: that he hadn't, up until now, been the man he wanted to be.

Liran was deep in thought, absently watching the water catcher fill up, when the girl interrupted his reverie.

"Is it safe to use Phiona here?" she asked. A sparkle of eagerness danced in her eyes, reflected by the dim light coming from outside.

Liran was overcome with irritation. They'd only been here a few minutes — the girl was incredibly selfish! He took a deep breath.

"No," he said, remembering when Phiona had pretended to perform a diagnostic while actually connecting to the Net. "No, it's better you go deeper underground.

The girl stood up and looked into the back of the cave. "How far does it go?"

"Quite a bit. There's a passage that's recently been blocked. Past that the cave enters a big room — it should be safe there."

The girl immediately stood up, picked up Phiona, the battery and her own bag. She started walking into the darkness, without a light.

"Wait!" Liran blurted.

She stopped, and then turned around, looking at him expectantly. "What?" she said, after a moment.

Liran didn't know what to say. He just didn't want her to talk to Phiona. Talking to Phiona would change everything. It was all going too fast.

Suddenly he remembered the water catcher. He held it up. "Don't you want some water?" he asked lamely.

She shook her head, and continued walking, clearly focused on her goal.

"Don't you want a light?" he called after her, getting up and following her.

"No, I can see better in the dark than in the daylight," she said without stopping. She was already bending under the overhang.

"Wait!" Liran yelled, running after her.

She froze, but didn't turn around.

"Wait," he said, catching up to her.

"What?" she sneered.

The way she looked at him made him lose his thoughts. He didn't know what he wanted to say. "I... just thought you should know...."

She dropped the bags, and crouched down, looking up at him. She was clearly impatient. "What should I know? Just spit it out."

Liran finally found his voice, and his words tumbled out. "Do you know Phiona? Because if you don't know her, then you should know that she lies. She will say whatever she needs to say to protect Adell Ahmadi — a known and imprisoned terrorist who killed thirty-seven people. She's his personal android. Not to mention the fact that she's a Class A Banned Material...."

The girl didn't seem phased.

"She's dangerous!" Liran blurted.

They were silent a moment. The girl was looking down. Finally she looked up. "My Grandmother knew Adell Ahmadi. Since she was a child." She looked away, confused. "I didn't know he was a terrorist. What did he do?"

"He blew up an orbiting satellite — a research station. He killed thirty-seven officers of the Praetoria and destroyed billions of official Galactic Records. Look," he paused, trying to figure out a way to tell her. "I don't know how you're involved in all this. How you came to be my father's wife — why you want to —."

"Wait," she interrupted. "What did you just say?"

The girl cut him off — she was seriously annoying. "I was trying to say that Adell Ahmadi is a criminal and Phiona is his accompl —."

"No, no, no," she interrupted again. "Did you say that I was your father's wife?"

Liran was fuming from being interrupted again, and ignored what she was talking about. "If you would just let me finish a bloody sentence!" he yelled.

And then something strange happened. The girl smiled. Then she started to laugh. She got up from her crouched position, shouldered Phiona and the other bags, and turned away. She was still laughing.

Liran was dumbfounded. "Why are you laughing?"

She stopped laughing long enough to say, "You are very funny." Then she broke out in another fit of laughter.

He had a mind to follow her, and demand she tell him why she was laughing, but he didn't have a light and she was already long gone. She wasn't lying when she said she could see in the dark.

Liran kicked a rock, feeling completely confused. What had just gone on there? Why was she laughing at him? He reviewed everything he'd said—there was nothing funny in it. Did she think he was lying about Phiona being anice accomplice to a terrorist?

Eventually, he retrieved a light from his bag and quietly followed after her, careful not to make a sound. He wanted to hear what Phiona told her.

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Author's note

So, Imorah and Liran are on the move. Do you think they'll be able to travel together, or will they kill one another? ;) Haha!!

Next update is a conversation with Phiona. 

Thanks so much for reading! So great to have you on this journey....