NOVEL NEXT Book 2. Chapter 71. Epilogue 2
Ten days after we made it back to the Bloodhound, we were hanging out in orbit around Triton, a moon of Neptune. A few days after we jumped away from Boutlerien, I gathered everyone together, and we had a memorial for Claire, Jax, and Elvis. We had intended to return Claire's body to her family, but found out that they had most likely been killed by the Lacertines or shipped off-world as slaves. It was time for closure and time to show respect for all of their sacrifices.
Matty thanked me in private afterward. We all knew what Jax had done, but we also knew who he had been in the beginning. That was the man we honored, not the twisted thing he became in the end.
Michael and Kinthragor were going to stay with the Bloodhound. Michael said he would explain it to Natalie when we got back home, but he insisted he needed to do his part and wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let me do this alone.
Kinthragor mostly kept to himself but proved to know his way around a starship, already finding ways to chip in and help out.
C.J. had been in the VCR nonstop. He didn't say it, but I think he was taking Elvis's death pretty hard. The two of them were always going at it, and as much as C.J. complained, I knew he had a soft spot for the big guy, and the loss was hitting him hard.
Kaj reminded me that loss was part of leadership and that strong leaders were defined by how they picked up the pieces and rebuilt after a loss. He was always the stoic guide, and this would be no different. He hadn't been in the cargo bay after we escaped the arena; instead, he was tending to our new prisoner, Naeve. I had tried to speak with her a few times, but she was completely unwilling to have a civilized conversation; instead, she would hurl threats and insults every time I approached her cell.
Oh yeah, we had a fully fitted out brig now. Natasha had absorbed the Council containment vessel when we returned. It would have been nice to have another ship to bring back to Earth, but we had no way to tow it and no time to figure it out. Instead, the Bloodhound ate it and was able to add about another thirty percent to the ship's overall mass. We also got the brig, and she was even able to upgrade the cargo bay with force fields in the bay doors, so we could enter and exit in the PUP without having to wait on the outdated and slow doors to open and close. We didn't gain any weapons or navigational capabilities, but I was sure that would come with time.
The overall look of the Bloodhound had now changed dramatically since the first time I had seen her; instead of a big, boxy bus of a spaceship, our ship now resembled something more like an actual weapon of war. It was approximately the length of a football field. The nose of the ship was comprised of two extending columns that flattened near the tips. These columns housed our primary ship-to-ship weapons as well as the generator for the Trojan shields. About a quarter of the way down, the arms led into the main body of the ship, sleek and grey armor covered the long body of our vessel, and made way for the two massive propulsion engines comprising the aft of the ship. The bridge was located on the bottom hull, right where the two columns met the rest of the ship. We also now had room to house up to 100 crew members, though most of those cabins were currently empty, and we had a brig that could house up to ten prisoners.
After a long day of meetings and discussing next steps, we agreed that it was time to go back to Earth. Natasha had ensured that humanity would have the upper hand when we left, but it was still going to be a long fight, and we could help with that.
Ses had been fairly quiet since we found out that the Seed was capable of initiating people into the system. I had tried again with Michael, but for some reason it hadn't worked yet. When I asked Ses what was going on, he simply inferred that he was recovering. I had so many questions. If the Seed was capable of giving powers to anyone, we could build an army to help us fight the threats that were piling up. I needed to figure it out, though, and I was running out of time.
I had an idea about the Tower of Power as well. If I could figure out a way to get back there and bring everyone with me, we could use it as a sort of grind station. Again, Ses was silent on the subject so far.
I got dressed after showering and decided to go sit down in the cargo bay for a while. The new field generators really made for an awe-inspiring view. Neptune was a beautiful planet, not a menagerie of color and geography like Earth; instead, a deep blue that made you feel like you were looking into the eye of an eternal god that was hovering silently in the void, watching and waiting. I walked into the cargo bay and saw that Tiff was already there. She had backed the Rover up to the edge of the cargo bay and was sitting cross-legged contemplatively on the back.
"It's your ship," she motioned to an empty space beside her, and I sat down.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, just soaking in the beauty of the empty planet hovering before us.
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"It's beautiful," I said after a while. "I never thought I would be sitting here doing this; it's crazy to me."
"It's easy to forget the beauty that just exists out here, away from the violence, chaos, and politics," she said.
I sighed and fidgeted with my fingers. "I need to say something, Tiff."
"Alright, go ahead."
"I'm sorry," I shook my head at the inadequacy of the words. "You never should have gone through what you went through. I saw you, you know. I saw what Jax did to you. I…I just wish I had been strong enough, smart enough to see it coming." "Andrew, you can't always be the savior. There are going to be things that you can't stop. People who are stronger than you. That is what we all signed up for here. You are a good man. You are a good friend and growing into being a good captain, but you have to understand that it's not all on you. Don't you get that?
"Honestly?" I looked at her, "I am finally getting it. As strong as I am, as strong as I will get, I am going to need my friends. Hell, I am going to need people that aren't my friends but believe in fighting this fight with me," I shrugged. "But the thing is, when I saw you there, I felt something else, Tiff. I was angry, sure. I wanted to help you and couldn't, but more than that, I was scared."
"It's natural, Andrew. I have been with you since the beginning. Nobody likes to see a friend in trouble."
"No, that's not it, Tiff."
She chuckled, "So we aren't friends?"
"Do I?" she said as my heart pulsed and she looked into my soul with those beautiful, electric blue eyes.
I felt like my heart was about to explode in my chest. My mouth was getting dry, and I felt like I was about to start sweating. "You should, Tiff. Everyone on this ship is my responsibility now. We will fight together, we will win together, but what do we do when it's over?"
Tiff looked down at her crossed legs, "I think you may be getting a little ahead of yourself, Andrew."
"No, I don't think so, Tiff." I scooted ever so slightly closer to her until I could feel the heat emanating from her arm. She relaxed slightly, inviting the gesture. "There has been something different about you from the beginning. I played it off at first and made excuses. We were just friends, I was imagining things, the looks, the small touches didn't mean anything."
Tiff continued to look down in silence.
"But when I saw you, when I saw what Jax was doing to you, it broke something in me. The walls I had built, the excuses I had made, those were gone in that instant."
"Andrew, don…" Tiff started.
"No, I need to say this, Tiff. You are my friend, but you are so much more. Even before the Drop, I didn't allow myself to invest in anyone. I didn't want the responsibility of being cared for, being loved. I ran from those feelings and locked myself away; it was just easier that way. But I realized something when I saw what Jax did. I would burn this galaxy to the ground for you if that is what it took to keep you safe. I have a reason now, a reason to get stronger, a reason to be the person that can keep you and everyone else safe."
"You don't want me, Andrew. You don't know who I was before, the things I have done just to survive."
Those words stabbed into my soul as I looked at the strong woman sitting beside me. I realized that I was too far gone to stop myself, and I didn't want to ever again.
"I'm gonna touch you now, is that okay?" I asked softly. Tiff nodded her head in response as she looked at me wantingly. I placed a hand on her thigh, and she grasped my hand in response.
"I was searching for a reason to be better, Tiff. I wondered why the galaxy kept kicking me when I was down. I thought the answer was anger, rage. I thought I needed to be a weapon. I thought I could kill enough to fill this hole." She grasped my hand tighter, "But every time I looked in your eyes, every time I accidentally brushed your hand or passed you in a passageway and smelled you in the air, something inside me knew that you were what could make me better."
I stood up and moved around in front of her, grabbing her by the hips and pulling her closer to me. I gently placed a hand on her cheek, sliding my pinky under her blonde hair and ear. I looked into her eyes as she began to cry.
"I want all of you. I need you to make me whole. Don't you see that? I don't care what you were, I don't care what you think you may have done. I know who you are, and I know that I will never let you be taken from me again."
I closed my eyes and pulled her in, feeling the softness of her lips on mine. She melted into my embrace, wrapping her legs around me and kissing me with a beautiful wave of emotion that crashed into me like a tsunami.
After what felt like an eternity that I gladly would have submitted my soul to without regret, she pulled away. I wiped a tear from her eye, and she smiled. "You have me, Andrew, and I will be yours until the suns of this galaxy burn themselves to ash."