Erimentha lies on her bunk
and the door is open.
NICODEMUS: Chosen of the Order?
She rises to stand next to the bunks
while Nicodemus stays in the doorway.
ERIMENTHA: Mr. Clemence, is it?
NICODMEUS: Yes, Chosen.
ERIMENTHA: Miss Perdeus, to you.
NICODEMUS: Yes, ma'am.
ERIMENTHA: Hmm, a Prestmoor. I thought your
kind were disbanded when the Empire dissolved.
NICODMEUS: A man has to go somewhere,
Chosen of the Order.
ERIMENTHA: Perdeus. Leave us, Prestmoor.
NICODEMUS: At once.
Tulia walks into frame
of the doorway.
TULIA: How do I get him to do that?
ERIMENTHA: The old hierarchy is drilled into
blunt instruments like him, I'm afraid.
I am surprised to encounter one again.
TULIA: You don't look like you have
very much to unpack.
ERIMENTHA: No. I really don't have
very much at all. I'm sorry...
am I in the wrong quarters?
Mr. Ross said-
TULIA: You'll be bunking here with me.
ERIMENTHA: I see.
TULIA: So what does Nick mean by
this chosen one business? I don't
understand everything, but I'm starting
to grasp that you don't have full control
of your powers, whatever they are.
ERIMENTHA: Because they're not mine. The blood belongs
to the Masters. I was trained, you understand; but narrowly.
And I did try to go against the Masters to help you.
TULIA: I appreciate that, now.
And this blood comes from...
ERIMENTHA: An infusion from the Masters.
They have the distinction of being
born with such abilities and are
the wisest among the Order. Most are only
touched with their power, if that much.
I have been chosen for the purpose
to locate the fallen Samael.
TULIA: A former Master?
ERIMENTHA: A Master cannot fall.
TULIA: Very well. And one final thing.
That attack that nearly killed us when
we arrived on the asteroid...
ERIMENTHA: A self-defense technique given to
me as a meditation for when I am in danger.
It is potent against the Touched.
I had thought Samael sent you.
TULIA: You'll be wanting to teach
that meditation to Ross and Aaron and
maybe Rune now that they've been
touched. Right?
ERIMENTHA: Of course.
TULIA: Good.
She comes back.
TULIA: Never mind turning down the bunk.
We need you in the cockpit, Miss Perdeus.
ERIMENTHA: Erimentha, if you please.
Tulia leaves again and Erimentha follows her.
Rune is sitting at the controls.
TULIA: You should still be resting?
RUNE: Don't you start with me, too.
ERIMENTHA: Am I responsible for this?
She crouches down next to him and
stretches out a hand to probe his face.
Rune briskly slaps it away.
RUNE: That's Nick's handiwork.
Rising.
ERIMENTHA: That makes sense.
RUNE: Who is she?
AARON: The answer to a lot of questions.
And here's another. Do you know why
we can't stay on course?
ERIMENTHA: What do you mean?
RUNE: The ship has got a mind of its own
about what course we take. It lets me turn
away and then corrects itself.
Always back to the same heading.
ERIMENTHA: I don't see how I could know.
She looks pleadingly at Tulia.
TULIA: Is there something that you
can try? We're all pretty new at this.
RUNE: And the ship flew fine
before we went and got you.
Erimentha glances around at the various faces watching her. She elects to sit down in the middle of the cockpit. The others, apart from Rune, crouch down to examine her closely. With closed eyes she sees them. They fade out of sight. And then the ship falls away. She sits alone in the void of space. Small wisps of gas swirl by and the distant stars begin to move. She is moving faster.
Perdeus arrives and comes to a sudden stop at a debris field. There are no large hulks. Every scrap of metal has been reduced to at least the size of a car. Within the debris field there is a space devoid of stars. The void moves. And a handless arm reaches out for her from the void. She is engulfed in darkness. Then, Erimentha sits once more alone in the Shadow's Heart bathed in red light and shadow and opens her panicked eyes, gasping.
AARON: What happened?
ERIMENTHA: I am being drawn toward something.
There is a terrible darkness. A graveyard of ships.
That must be where I will find Samael.
ROSS: What about the ship?
ERIMENTHA: The ship?
I didn't see any ship still intact.
TULIA: (gentle) This ship.
ERIMENTHA: Oh... that's when I turned away.
I felt something. I think... I reached
back out to the darkness.
AARON: Try turning the
Shadow's Heart
away again.
ERIMENTHA: What did you call it?
AARON: Do you know something
about this ship?
Erimentha reaches a hand to the floor.
She closes her eyes with a tear down
her cheek. She moans and leans into Tulia.
Valory huddles around them as well.
VALORY: What's wrong?
Nicodemus arrives for the first time
and discovers the state Erimentha is in.
NICODEMUS: What did you do to her?
ERIMENTHA: (fighting tears)
I do not want you here, Mr. Clemence.
I do not want you here, Mr. Clemence.
He tightens a fist.
NICODEMUS: I will be when you do.
He leaves.
Tulia lifts her face up to make Erimentha
look her in the eye.
ERIMENTHA: Too much show of weakness and I suspect
he'll turn. The Prestmoors were originally disbanded because
the Order didn't trust them to stay loyal.
TULIA: All well and good.
But what did you see?
But what did you see?
ERIMENTHA: This ship is an abomination. It is one
of Samael's crimes. It is powered by the power of the blood
that was stolen from the Masters. Many Chosen must have died
at his hand to make such a monstrosity. I only heard it as a rumor.
Masters, it's true!
She begins to weep.
Erimentha speaks, muffled by
Tulia and Valory.
ERIMENTHA: I did not sense any darkness.
I must have subconsciously connected with the ship.
I am the reason we are headed toward the graveyard.
Have I fallen so soon?
Everyone else stands around shocked at the display.
Tulia shrugs at Aaron, both out of their depths.
AARON: Maybe now that you are conscious of it...
The tears stop.
ERIMENTHA: If Samael is there then that's where I must go.
This anathema will deliver me to his destruction.
Erimentha Perdeus' eyes become fixed and she rises to stand and stare out the view port.
Rune sits uncomfortably on the opposite side in the pilot seat.
RUNE: Umm... do you need me any more?
ERIMENTHA: (matter-of-factly) I'll take it from here.
The Shadow's Heart accelerates
though she hasn't moved.
ERIMENTHA: You can fly when I'm not here.
Rune turns his chair and is the first out of the cockpit.
In the oppressive silence, the rest soon follow.
The crew pass the time equipping themselves in the cargo hold. Nicodemus has disassembled his minigun to clean it. Rune examines the sights on his rifle. Ross opens a crate to discover grenades. Esben admires his new rifle and has fashioned a strap to carry the sword on his back. Desdine has been banished to his closet. Valory watches solemnly as Tulia buckles two holsters to her and stands limply as the belt is tightened.
TULIA: You never play with these. You will be
giving them back when we're done. And you're going to be
staying on the ship the whole time. You do not pull them out
unless you intend to use them. And you do not hesitate to use
them if you even suspect that someone is trying to kill you.
Do you understand me?
Valory nods meekly.
TULIA: Good. Now... do you want to take
the time to try a little more target practice?
She nods again.
TULIA: Alright then.
RUNE: So I probably missed something that makes
this a stupid question, but why don't we just kill her?
Not that it's my first choice or anything. But, I mean,
am I wrong or isn't she the only reason we're all
sailing straight off to our deaths here?
NICODEMUS: I wouldn't recommend it.
RUNE: You said to me about your angels, sure.
But didn't she say she's still in training?
Maybe we can take her.
ROSS: Shut up, Rune.
RUNE: You too?
TULIA: Him and Aaron, both. They want to see this through.
I still haven't figured out if they just feel they owe it
to her or if she can cast some kind of spell.
NICODEMUS: So if you turn a gun on her
you won't just have me to deal with.
She's my ticket to an audience.
RUNE: Four against one, hu? That seems fair.
VALORY: If this Samael guy is as bad as
she says he is I sure don't want to go,
but maybe it's for the best.
You know? The greater good?
AARON: To Rune's point about her still
being in training, she sure seems convinced
that she can beat Samael. Maybe we shouldn't be.
NICODEMUS: Leave that to me.
ROSS: What makes you special?
NICODEMUS: I've seen'em die before, too.
The coms squeak.
ERIMENTHA: Would everyone please report to the cockpit?
The debris field is right outside the window as the crew files in. The micro fragments clear the way by being drawn in by the environmental force field, which allows the pieces to pass near the hull and jettisons them behind. This creates a plume of shards in the ship's wake.
Ahead, there is a massive derelict that crescents into a bit of light from Janriel's star before dipping back into being obscured by shadow. Rune and Ross both assume control stations.
ROSS: A ship that big should have been
able to see us long before we can see them.
RUNE: I'm not seeing any change in trajectory.
ROSS: No heat readings. It looks dead in space.
ERIMENTHA: The power cores must be shielded.
The Prestmoor can tell you all you need
to know about that ship.
NICODEMUS: It's an Atlas Class troop carrier. As in, just one
of these is big enough to house and deploy an army for a
planet-wide campaign. These saw heavy use by the
Prestmoors. Usually is escorted by a supporting naval
contingent to secure orbital superiority.
AARON: They aren't ship killers.
Which doesn't explain the debris field.
Everyone turns their heads.
AARON: Would you rather pretend that I don't
know the first thing about Imperial assets?
Why wasn't this mopped up by the blockade?
ERIMENTHA: Maybe that's your debris field.
The blockade cut off all escape and now
Samael is hiding where they already
looked for him.
NICODEMUS: Assuming you're right about someone
being over there, they could have easily made
a run for it by now. The Atlas Class is built
to be tough. Prestmoors were responsible
for dealing out the damage.
VALORY: So someone has some
unfinished business here.
Everyone falls silent
with contemplation.
Esben steps forward and makes
a long series of meaningful growls
that no one interrupts and immediately
look to Valory for translation when finished.
VALORY: Esben says one of these came to his home.
No other ships because their enemy didn't
respect his people's ability to resist.
He says, he wants to go over there.
That many brave warriors died in the
final battle and he wasn't with them.
ERIMENTHA: I hope your friend can control his need
for revenge until we find the one responsible for all this.
The blockade, the Shadow's Heart, everything.
VALORY: He won't let you down.
Esben grunts his approval.
AARON: Mr. Starling, look for an open
docking port on that Atlas troop carrier.
RUNE: Aye... ay, yi, yi, yi.
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