Seraph’s Gambit- Episode 33
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Vlasa
“This is not how I expected to die.” Serene mused.
“We’re not going to die. We still have at least twelve hours of functional life from our air filters,” Vlasa replied.
The pair drifted in open space. They rotated around each other, the taut safety line connecting them. Vlasa watched the stars flow in a continuously repeating pattern. Without his cybernetic eye functional, he couldn’t identify anything that might be out there. He knew this system had at least two planets, but they were too far away to distinguish from the stars.
“I don’t have to know how to calculate our odds to know that they get worse the longer we’re out here. Every second we drift further away from the derelict, and that means a greater search area.”
“As long as we are not dead, there is a chance. The captain will not give up on us.”
“No, I suppose she wouldn’t just abandon her love toy to die.”
“Her what?”
“Oh please. You and Ariana are clearly shagging. Everyone knows.”
“What…?”
“It’s clear I’ve flustered you. Proving my point.”
Vlasa let out a heavy sigh of exasperation, “There is no point in my attempting to dissuade you. Anything I say will be twisted to serve your narrative.”
“So you don’t deny it?”
“Proving my point. Why don’t you just quietly enjoy the view?”
“Low blow. You know I can’t see anything.”
“Oh, my apologies. I forgot.” Vlasa said, disappointed Serene could not see his sinister grin.
The pair lapsed into silence for several minutes. At first, Vlasa enjoyed his victory, but as the silence dragged on, he started to feel guilty. In truth, it was a lovely view, and Serene was indeed missing out. If the crew never found them, he would slowly slip into death while admiring the vastness of the cosmos. Serene would spend her last hours blind and alone.
“No, Ariana and I are not together, nor do I desire to be.”
“Ah, so she does then. I can sympathize. Humans are always trying to bone us. It is the curse of the Echani.”
“I do not believe she has any interest in me, though I can not speak for her. Nor have I had any other human lusting after me. I do not think you are correct that this is a curse of our species.”
“Maybe it’s just me then.”
“I would not call Noah lusting after you a pattern. Noah would engage in sexual relations with anything capable of such.”
“You’re just jealous he hasn’t propositioned you.”
“As I am fully capable of sexual relations, I stand by my statement.”
Serene went silent for another long pause. This prompted Vlasa to ask, “How did you and Noah meet?”
“From across a crowded room, our gazes locked and we both flowed through the crowd, oblivious to the world around us. We had eyes for nothing but each other, and we both knew it was love at first sight.”
“How romantic. Especially considering, as you reminded me only moments ago, you have no eyes with which to maintain eye contact. Noah must have been quite smitten.”
“Oh fine. I was working in a whore house, and he became a regular.”
“I am still not buying it. I believe you would sleep with anyone to gain an advantage. But not for money.”
“I was a slave and he valiantly rescued me.”
“Try again.”
“We were both hired for some grunt work by a crime boss and fucked after our first job. He didn’t suck, so we kept doing it.”
“That sounds plausible.”
“I’m glad I could provide a backstory that meets your approval.”
Again, the pair slipped into silence. This time Vlasa was content to enjoy the silence. His earlier guilt about how he treated Serene had been satisfied. He could now die without a guilty conscious.
“Vlasa?”
“Yes, Serene.”
“I have to pee.”
Continue to Episode 34
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