2521
Stowik sat in the chief Elder’s seat in the empty Tribunal room. He looked out across the rows of seats arranged in front of him. He had taken Phoenix and left the Arksent. Imbria also left with him in the Phoenix, though she had yet to say a word to Stowik. After Stowik led the Arksent to the Opposition headquarters, resulting in the defeat of the entire Opposition, Stowik couldn’t blame her. He had enough trouble looking at her as it is: she’s Dalrin’s daughter. The man Stowik blamed for everything that had happened to him since he first left the safety of the Concrete. Stowik knew he couldn’t stay here though Not without fuel, and not with all the bodies. For the first time in years, Stowik ventured out of the Concrete and walked through the Blocks, forcing himself to take in what he had refused to believe for the past twenty years of his life. He finally opened his eyes and saw what was left of the dead colony. The bodies had long rotted away, leaving hundreds and thousands of still forms lying in the same position they had suffocated in during the Fire. Bushbaby’s eyes focused on the empty chair in front of him, where he remembered his own trial at the hands of the Elders in the Tribunal. A dream. Every last bit. And Dalrin used me like a pawn, giving me false hope. Bushbaby clenched his hands into a fist involuntarily. But I know the truth now, and I still have my hopper. His thoughts shifted to his new crewmate, Imbria. Dalrin’s daughter. Living with her in the hopper was going to be excruciating for both of them. While Stowik knew Imbria had sworn her father as an enemy, her presence was a constant reminder of the man Stowik hated. It didn’t help that Imbria appeared to stand his presence even less. Stowik’s shoulders slumped as he thought of all the Opposition murdered in the battle at Headquarters. And it was all his fault. Stowik shook his head; he needed to get out of the Blocks. They brought nothing but bad thoughts and worse memories.
Stowik wandered through the halls until he reached the exit, forcing himself to take the long way so he could suck in as much of the dilapidated colony as possible. He needed to see the colony, to really see it. The oxygen masks hung freely at the walls, just out of reach of the rotted corpses below them. The plastic lining of the icy walls laid in curled burnt heaps on the floor. Stowik pulled his facemask over his mouth and nose as he exited the Block and saw Imbria sitting on one of the struts of the hopper. He was surprised when she spoke.
“I’m going back to the Arskent,” Imbria stated coldly. It wasn’t my fault. It was Dalrin’s. Stowik frowned, a thought slowly forming in his mind.
“They’ll kill you, you know. You can’t take Dalrin on alone,” Stowik said.
“I don’t see any other volunteers,” said Imbria. Stowik cringed, a flash of a memory coming to the forefront of his mind. Logan said that the day of the Fire. After Dalrin’s confession, Stowik’s past had been coming back to him in bits in pieces.
“Let me come with you,” said Stowik.
“You? .You led hm right to us,” accused Imbria, her face contorting into a sad grimace. Tears were threatening to fall from her cheeks. “You only want to help me because you feel guilty. Well guess what? You are guilty, and I don’t want your help.” Stowik looked away. “You want redemption?” Imbria asked mockingly, “Find it in there!” Imbria yelled, pointing at Alpha India.
Stowik’s brow furrowed and he took a step closer.
“Redemption won’t erase my past, and it won’t bring Alpha India back. I don’t want redemption.” Stowik stormed up the hopper’s ramp, “I want revenge.”
Stowik made his way into the cockpit. He sat in the pilot’s chair and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He had nothing left. Alpha was gone, and Arksent was the enemy. The only other person he had contact with hated him. Did Dalrin think he was doing him a favor, telling him the truth and sending him off with Imbria? Dalrin took everything. Stowik heard the co-pilot seat next to him squeak and he was surprised to see Imbria sitting next to him. She wouldn’t look at him, but she was there. She knows she needs my help. He didn’t have his family, he didn’t have his memories, and he wasn’t sure he still had his sanity. But he was part of a team now, and while Imbria may not have wanted to join, she was there, and that counted for something.
Dalrin was going down.
I hope you enjoyed reading Anastomosis, part 1 in The Hysteresis Chain. I would very much appreciate it if you could leave your feedback—it really helps out us authors a bunch. Feel free to check out my other books listed on my Amazon Author page.
Comments? Questions? Insults? Feel free to contact me at
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Tessellation, part 2 in The Hysteresis Chain is currently available.
Huge thanks to my editor, Flanner Winchester at The Word Weeder. Thanks to Katelyn Ward and my Dad for helpful comments.
David Kutai Weiss received his bachelor of science in geology in 2012 from the College of Charleston, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in planetary geosciences at Brown University. When David isn’t writing about himself in the third person, he enjoys wilderness backpacking.
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