Destiny's Arrow
The window was cool, even through the gloves on her hands.
She remembered the cold, and the light that shone in the darkness like the stars outside, illuminating nothing but providing small comfort nonetheless. Cold, and a single light in absolute darkness were all she remembered of the time before everything changed, and she grasped them with all her might. Cold, and the light in the darkness. The only memories that never changed.
There had been a time when she had thought she had found a place for herself again. She knew if she only had time to stop, she could anchor down the floating bits of memory. Once, she had known a place of peace. There she gathered her thoughts, and they protected her. She had named that place Haven, and she had thought she would find her answer there, where none could assail her. But her foes had torn down the mountains to ruin her, and her thoughts were scattered and beaten back, and she had abandoned them and fled. She hoped to find them again someday.
“Are you all right, miss?†a voice asked her.
“Yes, Clarence, thank you,†she responded without looking away from the window.
“We’re approaching the Gate now, miss. Where to?" it persisted.
“Wherever it takes us, Clarence.â€
Clarence nodded, knowing there would be no further explanation from his passenger. Though he had never asked her name, he had carried her on these trips many times before. Her name never seemed important, anyway. He remembered the day he first met her. She looked like she had just come from a funeral, dressed all in black, with a thick black veil obscuring her face. She had asked him to take her with him, and he had responded without thinking.
It was so easy to do that, with her along. If he didn’t think, everything would turn out fine. He had no reason to expect much from life. He was pudgy, balding, and knew he wasn’t particularly intelligent. He had gotten into the dead-end business of being a charter pilot by purchasing a ship that was too small to carry many passengers and lacked the luxury of even the most Spartan of the starliners these days. But ever since he had taken that job for free, things had worked out for him.
So he had never asked her name, or why the Gates always opened for her and why they were never stranded in the middle of nowhere when they passed through without a destination. And had he never asked who she mourned for, or why she moved around so much. Nor would he ask now. He leaned back in his chair and aggressively ignored the sudden, looming shadows created by the brilliant light of the now-active gate.
Behind him, the woman closed her hand against the window, as though to rescue a bit of starlight from the blaze ahead. And Destiny’s Arrow silver hull gleamed in the reflected glow of the Gate, and was gone.
******
Elsewhere, the daily administrative tasks of managing the successes of a thriving organization were disrupted, and the normal chaotic clamor of operations dulled to a long, anxious hush by a single brief message, appearing on all readouts and screens:
Please be advised. The Mourner has moved.
(edit)Adjusted for better wording(/edit)
-White Knight <p>
Behold! Sig figs!</p>Edited by: White Knight Delta
at: 6/3/03 11:37 pm
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