The mood on the trip home was tense. Cole had kept to himself most of the time, in truth he’d barely spoken. When Gregor walked into the main hold, there he was, still sitting there, glass in hand. Tentatively Gregor approached him. “Sir?”

Cole took a sip.

“I-I’m sorry,” Gregor said. “I should–”

Another sip.

Gregor may have been young, but he knew when someone didn’t want to be spoken to. This was one of those times. He joined Ram and Sol who were seated around a table in the far corner of the hold.

“Might want to give that some time kid,” Ram said, looking over his shoulder at Cole.

Gregor leant forward on the table. “So who was that back there?”

“Just leave it, kid,” Ram said.

“I’m serious, who was he?”

“No idea. Never seen ‘im before,” Sol said, shrugging.

“Me either,” Ram said, “I’m sure Cole will tell us when he’s ready.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, but Gregor was still fidgeting, he’d had a suspicion about the man. “Was he a Conduit?”

Ram rolled his eyes.

“A Condy?” Sol said with a laugh. “I dunno, could have been, we haven’t seen one for a while.”

“I only ask, because how else could he have survived that fall?”

“The kid has a point,” Ram said, becoming a bit more interested in the conversation. “That was quite a jump.”

Sol nodded in agreement.

Feeling a bit more confident in his assertion, Gregor pressed on. “Also, code says that the only condition under which a squad leader can go off mission to apprehend or eliminate a non-mission critical target is if said target is a Conduit, and only if they’re threatening the safety of the general populace.”

Ram and Sol just stared at each other before the former broke out laughing. “Oh no,” said Sol, shaking his head. “He’s a reader.”

Not wanting to let it go Gregor continued. “But he wasn’t.”

“I’m lost. Who wasn’t what?” Ram said, having finally pulled himself together.

“The man, he wasn’t threatening anyone,” Gregor said, “He was just a man, and Cole was the one chasing him, we knew nothing about him.”

“He would have had a reason,” Sol said.

“Code also says, that any and all mission changes are to be confirmed with command and then presented to the squad before any action is taken,” Gregor said, his voice rising in volume, he was all in on this now.

“Kid, you don’t–“ Ram said, trying to quiet him down.

“All I’m saying is that as far as I knew he was ordering me to kill an unarmed civilian that presented no apparent threat. I couldn’t act on that information. I just cou–”

Smash.

The trio turned to follow the noise and saw Cole was no longer seated at the bar. The glass from which he had been sipping was no longer in his hand. It was now mostly on the floor, though some had bounced onto a nearby shelf. 

“Are you saying you missed on purpose?” Cole said, the first words he’d spoken in hours.

Gregor got up from the table and stood his ground. “Respectfully sir” –he regretted the choice almost immediately– “I am. Perhaps if you had followed protocol I–”

“Protocol?” Cole said as he advanced on Gregor.

“Oh boy,” Ram said positioning himself between the two. “Easy Cole, it’s not worth it.”

Ram had to fight to keep Cole in front of him. 

“This is not the academy kid,” Cole shouted, pointing at Gregor over Rams shoulder. “You are on this ship to follow my orders, not your damn books.”

Ram had had enough. He shoved Cole hard enough to finally separate them. “Leave it–” and before Gregor could do anything, Ram had turned to him, “–and you sit the hell down.”

As Cole backed off and turned to walk out of the hold, Ram in tow, Sol got up to follow. 

Ram waved him off. “I’ve got this one,” he said. “It’s my turn anyway.”

Cole fumbled at the door controls to his quarters, he was sure he’d hit the right button at least three times. With a loud and deliberate sigh, Ram reached over his shoulder and hit the right one, which was on an entirely different panel and guided Cole inside.

“Okay,” Ram said, “what the hell was that?”

“What was what?”

Ram motioned to the main hold. “That.”

“A long story,” Cole said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

“I’ve got time.”

Ram’s offer was met with silence.

He could tell he wasn’t going to get this story now so he let it slide. “Alright, well you–”

“I was too hard on him wasn’t I?” Cole said, his face falling into his hands.

“He got some of his own in there, but yeah, you were a bit of an asshole,” Ram said.

Cole started to get back up but was promptly pushed back down by Ram. “Look, I’ll handle him. You should call Liv, let her know you’re okay.”

“I don’t want her to see me like this,” Cole said, “she’s seen it enough.”

“Then where’s your stuff?” Ram asked.

“My what?” Cole asked before realising what he was on about. “Oh, uh, top drawer?”

Ram walked over and retrieved a small packet from the drawer and tore it open to reveal a small capsule. He pressed it into Cole’s arm and then threw it in the bin.

“Give it some time to kick in,” Ram said, “and then call her.”

*

It was some time before Cole slumped into the chair in front of the vidcom and pressed the call button. Got it first go even. He felt a smile creep onto his face as the image of his wife flickered in through the static.

“Did I wake you?” Cole said.

“No, no, perfect timing,” Olivia said. 

One thing Cole knew about his wife was that even if it had been the worst possible time to call, she’d never let it show. Cole, on the other hand, wasn’t so adept at hiding things.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia asked, picking up on it immediately.

“You know I can’t say Liv.”

“I know.”

The silence was backed by the soft whisper of the static from the long distance vid call. The smile had faded from Olivia’s face, and Cole could see a change in subject was in order.

“Zara home?” Cole said, asking after his daughter.

“You just missed her.”

“Damn,” said Cole, “wait, it wasn’t a boy was it?”

“It was.”

“Do I need to kick his ass when I get back?” Cole said, playing the role of overprotective father to a tee.

“He seems harmless,” Olivia said, her smile returning.

“You used to think I was harmless.”

“Fair point.”

They laughed.

“You know, it’s been good for her having you home more lately,” Olivia said. “She’s actually talking to people now.”

Cole sat back in his chair and sighed, and he saw Olivia’s expression drop yet again. Clearly, his had changed too, and she knew something was up. He wouldn’t be able to keep this from her, and they both knew it.

“Something’s–” he shifted uneasily in his chair, “–something’s come up.”

Olivia had heard those three words more times than she could count. Though this time they seemed especially loaded. “Cole, no.”

“It won’t take long,” Cole said. He was on the back foot quicker than usual, something really was wrong. “Couple of weeks–“

“Cole, the last ‘couple of weeks’ ended up–”

“Three weeks. Three weeks max, I promise.”

She knew that Cole knew what these impromptu missions did to her and Zara, and that he hated doing it to them. But she also knew that he could never leave a job unfinished. Even if it was a job that had just ‘come up.’

She sighed, knowing she couldn’t change his mind. It was something she admired him for.

Cole smiled, trying his best to reassure her. “Liv, I’ll be fine. You know I will.”

“I know.”

“And why will I be fine?” Cole asked, still smiling.

She knew this routine by heart.

“Because my husband is a badass,” she said, truly believing it, though it’s repetition never dulled her sincerity.

“Look, I’ll be home day after tomorrow, we can talk more about it then,” Cole said.

“Alright,” Olivia said.

“I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay,” Olivia said. She sat and watched her husband reach for the button to end the call and his image faded from the screen.

“He’ll be fine,” she said to the static.

*

Cole stood staring out the viewport which occupied the back wall of his quarters, but the endless black of deep space wasn’t really much to look at. So much had changed in the last day that he was having trouble processing it all, and the drinking hadn’t helped matters. It never did. As Cole turned to head back to bed, the lights flickered, and he looked back out the viewport and saw his reflection in the glass.

The pale reflection showed a body covered in row, upon row, upon row of jagged scars. They were crisscrossed by longer, more controlled scars, the occasional glint of metal creeping out from beneath the surface. Reminded, Cole picked up a small knife from a nearby table.

Each scar held a story, a memory, a soul. 

He made a short nick on the back of his left hand. 

This was for the Modosian.

Cole ran his fingers up and down the scar on his arm, catching them occasionally on the structure beneath. It too had a story.

“I’ll be fine,” he said to himself.

*

The sun glinted off the hull of the Havok as it shot through the upper atmosphere of Cotari IV and descended towards the surface. It was mid afternoon, and a storm front was rolling across the ocean towards the capital.

The capital, Cotar, was a bustling seaside metropolis, and the central command hub for the militaries of the Federation. It was established forty years ago, during the war, and since then has grown exponentially. It was also home to corporations, banks, and around thirty million citizens.

*

“You still here?” Ram said, poking his head into the command room. Cole sat a desk, his head buried in papers and data pads.

“Yeah, I just have to finish up this report.”

“It can wait,” Ram said, coming into the room. “Go home already.”

Cole let out a loud sigh and pushed back from the desk. 

“I screwed up Ram,” he said, shaking his head.

Ram thought now might be the time to get something out of Cole about the mystery man. “Who was he Cole?”

“He was supposed to be dead,” Cole said.

“He have a name?”

“Tobias Navarr” –Cole got up and walked to the window– “I saw him die fifteen years ago.”

“What happened to him?”

“Nothing good,” Cole said.

“He deserve it?”

Cole nodded.

“Good enough for me.” Ram walked up and stood beside Cole. “Where’d you know him from?”

“From before.”

“Ah the mystical before,” Ram said. “A time of mystery and intrigue.”

Details of Cole’s life before he joined Shadow Point were scarce, and Ram had learned over the years that if you got even a small glimpse behind the curtain, you should consider yourself lucky. They’d always nagged Cole about it and he usually played along, but Ram could tell by the silence that followed his jab that now wasn’t the time for it. Ram could feel Cole’s willingness to share slipping away.

“So what now?” Ram said, breaking the silence. “We going after him?”

“We have to,” Cole said.

“Alright then,” Ram said. “You tell Liv?”

“I did.”

“How’d that go?”

“She was…displeased.”

“What’d you tell her?”

“Not everything.”

“Man, I know that feeling. I’m with her. Consider me displeased too.”

Cole laughed. “Screw you,” he said, elbowing Ram in the side.

The tension that had been building in the room broke.

Ram sighed. “Look. Go home, talk to her, get some sleep” –he motioned to the crap all over the desk– “forget about all this. We’ll work it all out tomorrow.”

Cole listened as Ram left and the door slid shut behind him. He was right, the report could wait until tomorrow, but still he stayed staring blankly out the window, watching the clouds roll in, slowly swallowing the sunset.

*

The wind and rain buffeted hard against the windows of the cab as it trundled along. The ride was rough as usual, which Cole always found surprising for a vehicle that never actually touches the ground. It was dark out by now, and the storm wasn’t helping matters, but Cole could still see the gradual change in the density of the buildings as he traveled out of the city. Cole lived in a part of town that was less built up, where there was grass, and everything wasn’t grey. Everything was grey now though.

The driver was trying to make conversation over the noise of the storm, but Cole wasn’t interested, even if he could hear him. His mind was elsewhere. In the past.

His attention was finally grabbed when the cab swerved and came to a stop. 

Cole looked out the window and saw what appeared to be a large group of people gathered on the side of the road outside his building, so large that they’d spilled over into the street. He couldn’t work out why they’d be out there in this weather.

Cole got out of the cab and through the crowd his eyes saw quick successive flashes of red and blue lights.

Cole’s stomach dropped.

Next Chapter: Chapter 3