Time was
running short. By the calculations of
both Doctor Barkham and the Former Baron they had less than five hours
remaining before the obelisks they had worked so hard, and lost Harker, to
activate would be shut down again and, if what the Doctor had to say was true -
they certainly had no reason to doubt her in this instance - then Lakhma would
not give them a second chance. It was
now or never.
Despite this
there were arrangements which needed to be made, provisions and armaments
sorted and plans finalised before Ember used most of his energy to transport
the Absolution and all aboard to
Shalereef Harbour. There would be no
lingering about - time was of the essence after all - but, in the midst of it
all, Ellis found he had some time on his hands when he wasn't being ordered to
do this or that by Siren, or the Former Baron or, though he hated to obey her,
Doctor Barkham.
And so it was
that he found himself on land, not far from the ship, staring at his hands and
waiting for the next moment of frantic action.
And that was where Sarah found him a few minutes later.
"This
wasn't how I'd planned to find you," she said softly, her shadow falling
over him, her voice making him flinch.
"Oh,
yeah?" he replied, trying to sound casual and yet unable to hide the
quaver in his voice.
"Yeah,"
she replied, and took a seat beside him.
He still
hadn't looked up from his hands, but he was somehow aware of her every
movement, as if he had become sensitised to it.
"I
understand that you aren't on the best of terms with Rosetta," she
continued.
"You
understand that, do you?" Ellis interrupted, looking up at her
sharply. "Do you understand what
she has put us through? Do you
understand what she has done to us all... to me..."
"Yes,"
Sarah replied and now it was her voice that was shaky. "She told me all about it."
"Oh, and
did you have those little chats often whilst you were chumming around?"
"We were
not 'chumming', Ellis. I went with her
only because... only because she promised to save the world... because...
because she said she would lead me to you."
Ellis held her
liquid gaze for a moment, then looked away hurriedly. They sat in silence for what seemed a very
long time before he half-turned back towards her and said in a low voice,
"How did you get here, anyway?"
"It's a
long story. There's probably not time
but... in the end it was because I was looking for you."
"I'm with
Siren now."
"So I can
see," Sarah replied and Ellis wondered if he could detect a hint of
jealousy in her words, but then she added, "I found someone else too. He helped me to get here but... I left him
behind, I guess."
This time it
was Ellis' turn to sound jealous.
"Oh, and what was his name?"
"Thomas,"
she replied, "I met him at.. at a church."
He gave her a
questioning look. "Church?"
"As I
said, it's a long story."
"And now
you're here, travelling around with one of our worst enemies..."
"It
wasn't a choice... no, that's a lie. It
was a choice, but it wasn't an easy one and I'm not exactly proud of
it..." The shakiness came back to her voice once again and Ellis tried to
read what was behind her eyes, so strange and yet so familiar at the same time.
I can't believe she's really here, he
thought.
She must have
read something in his expression because she added, "I betrayed a friend,
Ellis, but I didn't know what else to do.
This has been the craziest few months of my life and it just keeps on
getting crazier!"
"Tell me
about it," he replied with a bitter laugh, "and yet... hard to
believe though it is... this place... Shadow... it really is home for me. I was... I was born here."
"I
know," came Sarah's gentle reply.
"Because
Rosetta told you."
"Because
Rosetta told me. You were her greatest
experiment, to hear her tell of it. She
likes to boast."
"Oh,
great."
"But
you're not just an experiment to me, Ellis.
Whatever we had... for however long we really had it... that was real
and the friendship I feel for you now, that's real too. I'm glad you found Siren. I'm sure you're great together.
"And I'm
glad we managed to meet before the worst of it," she added, "before
Rosetta's butcher's bill."
They were
silent again for a moment longer before Ellis whispered, "You know... those things you said to me
that night, the night I left Earth..."
"I'm
sorry, Ellis. I don't suppose I really
meant them."
"No...
they stayed with me you see and I started to realise, especially once I knew
the truth... they were true. So... I'm
the one who should be sorry. I was a
rubbish boyfriend by the end, I guess."
Sarah
sighed. "Ellis... it's clear there
were reasons for all that... and you know.. at the start... you were a pretty
amazing boyfriend."
"Thanks,
but.. I think I was pre-conditioned for all that."
"There's
only so much Rosetta could have made you do.
SHe made you believe certain things about yourself and you acted
accordingly, but what you did and what you felt was all you. So what if it was based on false information
- the personality behind it was all yours."
He glanced at
her, about to ask her if she could be so sure, but instead reading the truth of
what she had said in her eyes. And maybe
it was true. He didn't know, but he
supposed it no longer mattered. He was
beginning to get a handle on who he was now, and that was the really important
thing.
"At some point
you are going to have to tell me the
whole story of your time here," he said.
"And
you..."
"Well,"
he began, but a voice called out across the quayside - the unmistakable voice
of the Former Baron, and Ellis new he was needed once more.
"I'm
sorry," he said, "I guess that's me."
"Go
on," she replied, "we'll talk again later."
The next half
an hour was a blur of activity. Ellis
wasn't sure he had ever done so much work in all his life. There were munitions to carry, fuel to store,
plans to listen in on and crew members to update with those same, revised
plans. It seemed endless and everything
happened in cycles and circles, rotations and revolutions, so that in the
course of a few minutes he might do three different things he had done some
version of only a few minutes previously.
Eventually,
however, there was nothing left to do and no time left to do it in anyway. The Absolution
was cut free from her berth, to drift out a little way into the channel that
led out to Lake Nightglass, then Ember stood on deck, seemed to concentrate for
a little while and, with no fanfare or drumroll, the world turned white.
The drums came
after.
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