PLOT PROLOGUE: Teague

Posted on 13 Sep 2023 @ 8:05pm by The Narrator

379 words; about a 2 minute read

Mission: Miranda
Location: Merchant Vessel Kamon

By the time the small civilian merchant vessel was a full day away from the Federation convoy, Teague hadn't been able to keep down a single thing he had tried to eat or drink for six hours. Not even water.

He leaned back in his seat, skin on fire even as sweat poured down in marked rivulets from his hairline until it dripped off his chin. He wasn't concerned, however, because he knew this was how it would go. He'd already stripped down to just his pants, but it didn't help. He knew it wouldn't help, but instictive drives are funny things that way. No matter how hard you tried, you could never squash or resist all of them. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead before it could drip into his eyes.

That was something he didn't really need to do either, since he wasn't even steering his own ship. It was on autopilot, heading off on a course into the unknown. Well, someone knew it, but he didn't know and didn't care.

Some small pleasure came to his mind about the fact that most of his cargo hold was empty. Nothing like a mostly empty hold to make a merchant happy, even if it was pretty pointless as well. Anything to hold onto, really. It wasn't like he could talk to Mitra beside him. Well, he could...but would he really? It wasn't terribly clear anymore. He had that vague sense that maybe it had been clear before, but it wasn't anymore. When had it gotten so fuzzy? He couldn't even remember that now.

What did it really matter? It didn't. He did remember that much.

"You did good, Teague," Mitra said from beside him. Or not.

"Thanks," he said, leaning his head back against the headrest of his pilot's chair in his empty cockpit. Vaguely, from his blurring peripheries, he could see Mitra reach out to touch his face, but he didn't feel anything. Just the weakness and stiff muscles that kept him from moving any more than he already had. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he closed his eyes.

The ship continued to drift onward until it reached a star that consumed it.

 

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