Read Part 1

----- A drop of water, sky-black. Two. Five. Eleven. The drops are now a cascade, a torrent of blackness raining down, circling, spiralling, dragging her down, choking her, drowning her… “SIMON!” She gasps and sits up on an unfamiliar bed, shedding the tangle of silken sheets clinging to her. An eyelid pulses distractingly as she takes in her surroundings. An elegantly dressed courtesan speaks in whispered tones with an elderly veteran wearing a protestant’s collar in place of dog tags. They do not look her way.

“simonsimonsimon…” Images flash through her head, resonating deafeningly behind her eyes – large, rough hands that reach at her from the dark – Her father lifts her high into the air, smiling proudly up at his ballet prodigy. Simon rolls his eyes. She sticks out her tongue at him – the cold metallic glint of the CTC seventy-one eleven – River collapses dramatically over Simon’s pad, mortally wounded by one of the independents’ pterodactyl lancers. Simon elbows her off the couch – the hard grate of a midbulk transport cargo bay, digging crosses into her skin – Simon cradles his shivering sister, concern etched across his face. A man asks what the hell is this? “This…is my sister,” he replies defiantly, unashamed of the tears running down his face.

“Simon?” She looks about the small shuttle, confused. Blue sky shines invitingly through a crack in the curtains. She closes her eyes and smiles. She wants to play, to run, to feel the grass between her toes. Where is Simon?

“What about us?” Simon’s nearby voice calms her. But why can’t I see him? Other voices, raised in anger and concern.

“You wanna throw me out the airlock, fine, but River's not a part of this.” River gasps, clutching the sheets to her sweat-drenched robes. The images are spinning past her faster now: a girl on an operating table, the shepherd with his head bowed to his Bible, a confrontation in the cargo bay, Simon running to the infirmary, the captain at the airlock controls, the companion screaming as she strains to reach the airlock door, the scenes blur together as they crescendo into a deafening roar.

Blackness takes her once again.

-----

Continue to Part 3