The Nagraitan Chronicles

Ascent to Power, Part 3

The words just spun around in Seersha's head, over and over. She suddenly felt weak--she wasn't sure if she could remain standing.

"What did you say?" asked Seersha hoarsely. "What do you mean?" She got the sensation of falling. In all of her pondering of what was going on, why there were these similarities…she never considered this. Nothing could have prepared the girl for such a major shock. She could barely speak, the voice barely above a scratchy whisper, and her eyes…she looked like a caged animal that was looking straight at the barrel of a rifle, watching a finger slowly pull back the trigger.

Desiny noted these reactions, of course. They were basically what she'd been expecting, though maybe not quite so much of a helpless look. Perhaps her younger sister didn't have as much potential as Desiny had originally thought. "What I mean, Seersha, is that we have the same parents. Hello, my dear little sister."

"No," whispered Seersha. It was rather obvious, however, that she didn't really believe what she was saying. "You lie. You lie." The very fact that she repeated this, both times with the sound of terror in her voice, showed how very shocked the young girl was. She seemed to keep whispering those two words, over and over, without end. You lie, you lie, you lie, you lie… The words no longer had much significance to Seersha, the separate sounds blending together until it was just a steady pulse of syllables with no actual meaning attached to them.

"Do I?" Desiny seemed amused. In reality, she wasn't quite sure what she was feeling about the scene in front of her. How weak was Seersha? Could it be that she'd been mistaken in assessing her sister's power?

"You, you are! I mean, you do!" burst out Seersha suddenly, getting over the shock of hearing what the girl in front of her said. Why am I even listening to this? Seersha asked herself. There's absolutely no reason to think that I can trust Desiny, and many reasons to think that I can't. True, there were those small things, the similarities in appearance and the fact that Desiny wouldn't kill Seersha, but who knew that that wasn't all set up to fool Seersha into believing this? It could mean any number of things. They might be trying to make Seersha a trader by telling her this, giving her a false sense of loyalty to Desiny! "Show me one piece of proof! Why should I believe you?"

To Seersha surprise, Desiny smiled. "Good, I was hoping you weren't stupid enough to just believe me." This was actually true. The statement that Seersha had just uttered had relieved Desiny to no end; perhaps Seersha could begin to live up to the expectations that were put onto her. At least she's not whimpering like an idiot anymore, thought the older girl. "However, I am telling you the truth. Do you…" she paused. "No, you do not have that type of eveliri. You don't have healing either, not much, or else you would have instinctively been able to save that-- what was her name?-- oh, yes, that Sebari. You are certainly not all that I had expected. Pity, really." Of course, even Desiny didn't have all the eveliri; the only people who had all the types were the gods. The older sister had her doubts about how strong Seersha really was, of course, but the doubts were weaker than they'd been a few minutes ago.

"Pity?" Seersha whispered, not really knowing what to say or do. This helpless, weak feeling…it was new to Seersha, and she wasn't really in control of what she was saying or doing. "You should feel lucky. It means that I'm not a match for you after all."

"Hmm," Desiny seemed to be thinking. She abruptly changed the topic. "How did you survive the crash? And even if you found a way…this is a completely separate planet." The girl's eyes narrowed. "You couldn't be able to 'port…you got help, didn't you? Someone saved your life."

Seersha remained tight-lipped. She wasn't going to let this girl know anything about what was going on, not until Seersha herself had a clearer idea of everything.

"I can pull it from your mind, you know. It would be a simple process. Possibly painful for you, depending on how much you try to resist. I can rip it mercilessly from your mind, if you won't let me have it. What happened?" Desiny's voice was more insistent, with a more than a hint of threat mingled in.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" Seersha didn't particularly want to learn what it felt like to be deep-probed right now. "So why not correct that mistake and kill me?"

Desiny raised one eyebrow at Seersha. The latter was surprised at this gesture; wasn't it simply something humans did, not Nagraitans? She had the instinct that it meant the same thing, and also that it wasn't a gesture normally used around here. Had Desiny been to Earth? Seersha shook her head clear, she had bigger things to worry about right now.

"Now, now, Seersha, I'm starting to think that in your years on Earth you became as stupid as a human. Have you not heard repeatedly that I will not kill you? If I wanted you dead, my dear sister, then you would not be here to be having this conversation. In fact, you wouldn't ever have been brought up, would never have lived. Remember, I had possession of you when you were a baby."

Seersha had completely forgotten about that! She berated herself, knowing that she should have remembered more things. It had been Desiny who had stolen her, brought her to Earth! She had obviously gotten the child to a good adoption agency, and made sure that Seersha would be adopted… The girl's mind was really pumping in overtime here. What did it all mean? Was it true; was Desiny her sister?

"Desiny…if you're my sister, then, your mom is…Aurel?" Seersha was really hesitating as she said that. "Not that I believe you, of course, but I want to get this straight," the girl added hastily, so that--the traitor, Seersha was quick to remind herself--didn't get false ideas.

The older girl chuckled at the last quick reminder. "Yes, of course she is. Slow, aren't you?"

"Then, who is our dad?" Finally, the question was out. Even if Desiny answered, Seersha wouldn't believe it, of course. But any answer, even a false one, will bring me a little closer to the truth, right? the tall dark girl thought to herself. If nothing else, the answer would serve as a motivator for Seersha to find out the truth. Not that she needed any more motivation.

Desiny herself looked disappointed. "Actually, I was hoping that you would know," she sighed a little, though the gesture did not betray any of the emotions that the girl might be feeling. "Our mother never saw it fit to tell me. She always told me that she'd let me know when I turned six enewe. Of course, I got impatient before then."

"Impatient?" questioned Seersha, her voice bitter. "You mean, you decided to betray your entire species."

Desiny snorted. "You! You all, with your notions of right and wrong, betrayal! It was a quick leap to power, dear sister. The Vikrah are no more right or wrong than the Nagraitans are. But with the Vikrah, I could easily get into power." Couldn't Seersha, of all people, understand this? Desiny had seen her sister, her stubborn attitude, the arrogance, all of it just like her older sister. She also must understand the lust for power, for control. "Think back, Seersha. You must have studied the war, right?"

Seersha nodded guardedly, having the sinking feeling that she knew exactly where this was going to end up.

"Well, have you ever, ever," the voice cut across Seersha's mind, the scathing, sharp tones, "come across the cause of the war? Have you ever read about why it all started?" It wasn't a question. Seersha didn't bother to respond, knowing that both of them were aware of the answer.

"So, almighty Leaper to Power," Seersha's voice was dripping with heavy sarcasm, "I'm sure that you can tell me why it's not there?"

"You already know why it's not there, Seersha. If you don't, then you're a lot stupider than I originally thought." Desiny was sure of herself now; she knew that her younger sister had already figured out why this was the case. "So. You tell me." She waited a minute, while Seersha remained quiet. "Well? You know the answer, you must."

Seersha mumbled something, wishing even more that she had never agreed to go on the stupid trip.

"What was that, my dear sister?" asked Desiny once again.

"I said," cried Seersha, halfway between sobbing and screaming, "that it's because we don’t know anymore, we're just lost in the war and not worrying about why it got started!" She suddenly felt like all the air was taken out of her, and the girl sagged, leaning against a tree for support. I won't cry, she told herself, I won't let her see me be as weak as I really am.

Desiny nodded, approvingly. Perhaps there is hope for her, she thought to herself.

Suddenly, another thought occurred to Seersha. "So, you know who your mother is, who happens to be the parent who I know about. In fact, I had already mentioned her just now! But of course, the parent who I don't know about, who I don't mention first, you don't know who that person is!"

Desiny remained calm. She'd been expecting to hear that, in fact, and was half disappointed in the predictability of her sister. "Why don't you know who our father is? Because it's a secret, a very tightly kept secret. Its is common knowledge about our mother. Anybody over fifteen enewe knows that I'm Aurel's daughter, but they never talk about that." Desiny didn't bother hiding the bitterness that she felt at that.

Oh, as if you expect something different? Seersha snorted in her own mind. It was idiotic to think that they'd be proud of having a traitor be the daughter of their fleet leader.

Desiny caught the thought coming from her sister's head. "And of course," she said, responding aloud to the flow of thoughts, "you're going to make them proud. Special Seersha, working for the good of the people. Earning their respect and admiration, so that everyone will be proud to have her be part of their species. The pillar or society." The contempt coming from the voice was quite obvious. "Face it, that's never going to happen. They're afraid of anyone better than them, just like back on Earth."

"I'm not better," Seersha quivered a little. She'd considered herself better back on Earth, and deep down she still did here. But that little bit of arrogance was buried underneath all the layers of humility and modesty that Seersha felt that she had to develop in order to get along in this society. "There are plenty of people smarter than me. Kenez, for one, and in many areas Kasin and Onemed are. I don't even know that many people, either."

"Smarter…maybe a little. But not much, and only a few." Desiny nodded. "But as far as eveliri, I've felt your power. It's off the charts, Seersha. I know it, and if you looked at yourself a moment, you'd know it too. As I said, I'm not sure who our father was…but whoever he was, he's powerful, more powerful than anybody we know of."

It wasn't cool on this particular planet, but Seersha shivered and felt freezing cold suddenly. Could it be true? What Desiny was saying…the implications were enormous. Could she possibly mean what Seersha thought she meant?

Desiny again heard the thought. "That is a possibility, of course," she acknowledged, "though I'm not sure that it's good to leap to conclusions on something like this. Of course, I doubt that you're right now completely convinced that we even share the same parents."

"Not at all," agreed Seersha bluntly. She looked around, wondering what to do. She suddenly felt trapped again, and was amazed that she'd been having such a conversation with the enemy. It had been like they were friends…almost as if the two of them really were sisters. Now, however, the younger girl was all more acutely afraid. Her eyes nervously roved around, taking in all of the plants, the tree-like objects and the vines hanging down. A new thought entered Seersha's head, starting to terrify her: If I need to run away, there's nowhere to go. I'm trapped here, I can't escape.

"Nobody landed on this planet," Desiny stated abruptly. The thought had just occurred to her; how had Seersha gotten to this planet? "We didn't detect any vessels landing."

Seersha nodded slowly. She was still looking around. Green, everything was green. Just like it had been back on Earth. The Nagraitan girl figured that plants probably needed chlorophyll anywhere that they were. She hadn't taken any botany courses, she was too bogged down in everything else; and besides, she hadn't been at the Academy long enough, anyway. Seersha suddenly shook her head, disbelieving that she was letting her thoughts stray, wondering why the plants were green, of all things, in this situation!

Suddenly, the full force of what Desiny had just said hit the younger girl. "You mean…I'm alone on this world?" she whispered, even more frightened. "There's no way for me to get back?"

"Well, there's a way," corrected Desiny, "however it would mean trusting me. You don't seem to have a choice, of course."

Seersha sighed and nodded. That much was obviously true.

"However, there's something that I'm much more interested in," Desiny continued. Seersha had to bite back a sarcastic comment as she listened to her "older sister" talk, deciding that now really wasn't the time or the place. "How did you get here? You had help from someone, someone very powerful, didn't you? Don't insult me by trying to deny it."

Seersha nodded, acknowledging what Desiny had said. "Yes, I did."

"Who? It was a god, wasn't it?"

Seersha nodded again, sighing. "Dauhec."

"The god of intelligence," breathed Desiny, sounding as if she were in a trance. "That’s extraordinary. It also means that you must have a very high level of intellect in order for him to have any interest in your life."

"No," Seersha took a deep breath, convincing herself that what Desiny said wasn't true, and that she shouldn't be swelling up with pride, "no, I more got the idea that he was speaking for all of the gods. I don't think that it was any sort of interest that he'd taken in me personally."

Desiny smirked, and Seersha suddenly realized the multiple meaning that her statement could have had. She flushed, but the older girl had already realized what Seersha had meant.

"No, the gods are very much into their own agenda," disagreed Desiny. "If someone was speaking for all of the gods, it would be Uwepandan, the leader of them."

Seersha shrugged, not liking this turn of conversation. Of course, she was highly uncomfortable about this entire ordeal. "Can you send me back, please?" pleaded Seersha, knowing that she was pleading and hating herself for it. "I told you what you want to know, now just…can't you transport me back or something?"

Yes, I can, and now Desiny was simply thinking at Seersha, but the latter heard it. Alright, I suppose that I can send you to the place where our censors say that the ship crashed. Be prepared for a jolt…

Seersha sighed, looking at the older girl…her older sister. Will I ever be able to understand people? she asked herself, highly doubting it. Then, for the second time that day, the world spun around Seersha and the dizzy feeling overcame her as she everything became black.

Needless to say, the trip had been cut short. A rescue vessel had to go to the planet to pick up all of she survivors. None of the children had died, but a few of the adults had. Seersha hadn't known any of them, although she had been invited to the memorial service. All of the students who had been on the ship were required to go.

Seersha was asked question after question about what happened to her. She'd appeared in the middle of a little yard, with many people milling around, waiting for a ship to come and pick them up. The only people to whom Seersha had been honest with so far was the Master, since he'd know if she was lying.

"Look, I've told you all that I know," Seersha exclaimed in an annoyed tone.. That wasn't true; in fact, it was a flat-out lie. She hadn't told the Master what Desiny had said. Then again, it was obvious that the Master was hiding some things from her as well about this situation. Suddenly, Seersha realized something: Desiny had said that adults would remember, and they would all know, who Desiny's parents were. Probably counting on the fact that I'd want to keep it a secret, Seersha snorted mentally. Well, either way, this was a way to find out the truth. "No, wait, I haven't," Seersha sighed.

The Master looked at Seersha, a questioning look on his face. Yes? He asked.

"Please, tell me the truth about what I'm about to ask?" pleaded Seersha, "But…Desiny…she claimed that, well…"

That she's your sister? the Master supplied. You wish to know if this is true?

Seersha stared at him and nodded mutely. He knew what she was trying to ask, but that could just have been the fact that he could poke around in her head, not necessarily--

Yes. Yes, she is, the Master's mental voice came through into Seersha's head, ripping everything apart. It was true! Desiny was her sister, they both had the same parents…

Which reminded Seersha. "Master, who is my father? You must know." Her eyes looked into his pleadingly, and her voice had the ring of desperation in it. "I know that it must be some sort of delicate situation, and I respect that. But please, can't I just know?"

The Master tilted his head to his side, with an expression on his face that showed that he was considering something. Seersha held her breath, hoping, praying to whatever gods there were that he'd tell her.

Of course, one god did hear this prayer, and his laughter exploded in a place where no mortal went. He laughed fully and heartily, and in hearing what had happened, the rest of them laughed as well. However, Seersha knew nothing of this. All that she knew was that the man in front of her knew who her father was, and was considering sharing this information.

However, soon bitter disappointed flooded the girl as the Master shook his head. "No, no. If Aurel hasn't seen it fit to inform you of this, then it is not my place to tell you. She should be the one to tell you."

Seersha slumped back in her chair, feeling deflated. She was so close, but she knew that it wasn't worth it to try and argue with the Master after he made a decision. Not that she wouldn't have tried to argue him into telling her; she'd do practically anything to find out. However, even in her anger and disappointment, she knew that it would be pointless. What wouldn't Seersha have given to know?

Another thing that the dark girl was dying to know was what had been in that infochip that Desiny sent to Aurel. Could Aurel be a traitor? In the past month, even though Seersha hadn't seen her much, Aurel got be a big mother figure for her daughter; the thought of Aurel being a traitor was an uncomfortable, scary thought. But she did raise a traitor, after all, and something had to have made Desiny the type of person that turned on her entire race. Could it be that the leader of the fleet was really working for the enemy side?

Seersha shook her head and forced such thoughts out of her head. It wouldn't do to have thoughts like that; they couldn't be true, they couldn't. She turned her mind back to the Master, who was dismissing her. Seersha nodded and stood up, leaving the room and clanking out into the hall. It was the same hall as always: gray, metallic, dull. It had a rather cold feeling about it. However, everything seemed so different to Seersha, now that she knew the truth. I will find out who my father is, she vowed to herself. I will.

After that, Seersha balanced things slightly better. It wasn't much of an improvement, but the girl did have some of a social life. She did a lot of things with Onemed and Kasin, both whom were turning out to be good friends. They also helped her a lot with her studying, since they had both taken the classes years before.

"I still don't get it!" Seersha banged her head against the desk in frustration. All of her classes were so hard, especially the science ones, where she had to understand scientific theories that remained way over her head, no matter how much she memorized or studied.

Kasin looked up from her own computer. Sighing, she put it aside and walked across the room to her friend. "Alright, what are you having trouble with?" she asked, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"I just don't understand." The expression in Seersha's voice sounded suspiciously like a whine. "It's so confusing, and strange, and I don't see how it works!"

Kasin took a deep breath. She knew that her tall friend was used to everything being easy, and so now it must be difficult for her to do all this stuff that wasn't easy. Be tolerant, Kasin, she said to herself. Just take this a step at a time. "Exactly what don't you understand?" she asked.

"The entire thing!" wailed Seersha. She shook her head and her head fell into her hands as she sighed in frustration. "I just don't understand any of it."

Kasin remained calm. "That can't be true. There must be specific parts that you don't understand, that the connection isn't clear about." Seersha's face had no understanding in it, just that frustrated look. Kasin shook her head. "Alright, let's go through it a bit at a time. Do you understand the relation of the particle accelerators to this theory?" she asked, pointing to the specific piece of mathematical data.

Seersha looked at it for a long moment, getting that look in her eyes that she always got when thinking hard. "Yes, mostly. But why is it in relation to that? I don't see the connection!" Her jaw clenched, and Seersha suddenly felt so angry, and the anger was currently centered at the computer, which held the information that the girl couldn't grasp. She felt like throwing it across the room. However, she wasn't that immature, or that desperate. Yet.

Kasin suddenly nodded, slowly. "Yes, I see what you're doing wrong. Okay, your problem is your way of approaching the problem. You're looking at it the wrong way, from the outside. You have to imagine you're inside, as if you're looking out…get it now?"

Understanding dawned in Seersha's eyes, like a light suddenly coming on in the middle of the darkness. "Oh, yeah, I see what you mean! I didn't take into account how the view from inside would change, with the matter differentiation between inside the event and outside it…" Seersha started whispering furiously, words appearing on the screen. Seersha brought up a projection, and showed it from all sides, recording still more information into the computer.

Kasin smiled, knowing that Seersha would be busy with this new theory for a while. She walked away quietly, and everything besides the simulation went unnoticed to the dark girl sitting down in her seat, completely entranced in her work.

Even with all of the difficulty with the classes, Seersha was definitely enjoying her time at the Academy. She was glad that the classes were hard, and after a few months she stopped whining so much. She got so used to challenging work that she practically that at one point, everything had come easily to her. Now, she had to work for her knowledge. In the classes themselves she was the oldest, and with her friends helping her she was normally the highest scorer on tests and papers.

There were, however, also contests and projects that were done with age peers, and there she had to deal with people who knew more than she did, and many who were just as smart as, if not smarter than, Seersha herself. Here she struggled to make her place, and earned scorn as well as respect.

Still, she preferred these kids to the ones back on Earth; there were the bad ones, of course, like Mystahsi and her followers. However, there were also a lot of people who had much in common with Seersha, and were interested in the same things. Seersha savored the company of these people, and was often meeting new people who could almost be considered friends. It was amazing, other people who thought that performing science experiments and coming up with scientific theories was fun!

However, Seersha still kept the same two friends the closest to her, and all of them were often seen sitting together, working. They were always working, on some project or another, not all of them assigned by teachers. Many of them were self-assigned, the three trying to figure things out simply from curiosity. Seersha enjoyed studying Nagraitan literature, most of which she thought was amazingly well written, and while some was boring, other pieces were wonderful and imaginative. Kasin's work was very good, and the girl was looking to get published somewhere, as soon as she finished the novel she was working on.

A free day would often find the three friends working together, with some foot and hot drinks beside them. Seersha became interested in writing and began her own novel, which she had to learn lots about Nagraitan culture in order to write it. However, much more often she'd be working on theories.

"How does this seem?" Seersha asked, showing Onemed a bunch of mathematics. She wasn't sure that the girl would be able to say anything; she hadn't come up with any theories. She was fine with experiments, intelligent certainly, but she found something else to do whenever Seersha wanted to work on scientific hypothesis.

Onemed suddenly looked much less uncomfortable as she grabbed the small computer. "Hmm, that's true," she said, "but see, here, there's another answer, do you see that here?" she pointed. "And therefore, the entire theory could be changed around so that this means this, and…" she suddenly stopped, but Seersha didn't notice.

"Yeah, I see that! Onemed, you are a genius!" she squealed excitedly. Onemed gave a small, ghost of a smile, but Seersha didn't see the quick flash of sadness in her friend's eyes. What she did see was the theory, and only the theory; she set back to typing furiously into her small computer, refining it with complete concentration

Kasin looked at the two girls with an expression akin to sadness. Neither of them was very sensitive at all; she marveled that they, each with their weaknesses, could even remain best friends with the other one so blind.

Or maybe that was why they were best friends.

Seersha did other things besides activities related to school and science, of course; she simply didn't do many of them. She was so engrossed in school, and in her new-made friends that she didn't even notice that Elodie had gone home until she'd been gone for a few days.

Never had the teachers seen such a focused, driven pupil-- except Desiny, but they never mentioned that. Still, all of the teachers at the Academy were intelligent. They couldn't help but notice the fact that Seersha was remarkably like the traitor, from her drive to succeed to her very appearance.

Seersha knew that they thought this, but she was definitely not going to offer an explanation, especially not an accurate explanation, of the strange similarity.

If there was one thing that the tall, dark-haired girl was, it was goal-oriented. By the end of the year, it looked like if she kept working as hard as she was she might just be able to achieve her goal of graduating at the average age. Her focus, her hard work, it all paid off when she saw that she was in fact a bit ahead of schedule; she had passed through the classes at a little more than twice the normal rate.

Of course, she worked almost twice as hard as a Normal Academy student did. She declined almost all of the social events, the breaks that were offered in favor of doing schoolwork. That was okay with her, though; she had the friends that she needed. Besides Kasin and Onemed, she also got along well with Leie and a few other people. Seersha didn't want a lot of skin-deep friends, like those popular airheads had back on Earth.

By the end of the term, however, Seersha was ready for a break. The terms at the Academy were much longer than on Earth; they were about three velsic long, which was almost an entire Earth year. Her hard work had paid off, true, but it had also exhausted her. All of her instructors had told her that they thought that she should take a break before she started up again in the next term. At first Seersha fought them, until she discovered where she'd be going on her vacation.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you, Seersha," Aurel's voice came through the speaker, and her face was on the console. "I'm sure that there's a lot to talk about."

Seersha nodded towards the screen. "Yeah…a lot to talk about," she agreed.

Aurel nodded. "Yes, I heard about what happened with Desiny. I'd have talked to you about it, but it's not the sort of thing that should be said when the messages could be intercepted. Not much can be said, over any channel."

Seersha nodded. She understood the security that had to be taken in the military. No matter how secure a channel was, it could still be hacked into. Their enemy's technology was better than Nagraitans' in some respects, and other Nagraitans might just have more advanced computer skills than the ones in the military did.

"Alright then, I'll see you soon."

Seersha nodded again. "Yeah, see you…Aurel." The display blanked, and tall, dark girl turned away. She hadn't been sure what to call her mother; the word "mom" had almost been released from her mouth, but she wasn't sure if that would be right to say…everything was so confusing when it came to Seersha's family.

Jeez, and I thought that my family on Earth was messed up! This, though, is off the scale of weirdness. Seersha sighed as she walked out of her dorm room, towards the spaceship. But I am going to take away one of the mysteries, she promised herself. By the end of this trip, I'll know who my father was…even if I have to rip it from my own mother's head.

She made this oath, never for a moment wondering whether or not she would be ready to learn the truth.

Just like on the way to the Academy, Seersha was glued to the computer console every moment she was allowed. It was mostly different schoolwork that she'd volunteered to do ahead of time, or extra stuff that she'd volunteered to do for more background information.

Some of the time, however, was used to read Nagraitan literature and to write the novel that Seersha was slowly working her way through. She would a couple not working on it, getting an idea of exactly what she wanted to write, then she'd go and get it all down, working for several sernae straight.

The plot of the story began to develop, gaining a life of its own. The setting was on Earth, since Seersha knew much more about Earth than most Nagraitans did. It took Earth fairy tales and wrote it from the point of view of the creatures in the mythology that did exist, such as the Fae and pixies. A non-Earthling who was on Earth was a theme, and it was quite easily recognized as taken off of the author's feelings.

Without the encounter that her last trip from the Academy to Cetoudi had contained, didn't take many Nagraitan days to get to Cetoudi. The time flew for Seersha, and before she knew it she was waking up on the day that they'd arrive at Cetoudi.

Contrary to her normal custom, Seersha stayed in bed after she woke up. She knew that it was illogical, but the nervousness still was a bit overwhelming for the young girl. She'd seen her mother before, of course, and talked to her…but never for more than a few minutes. To spend weeks with her--which was how long Seersha perceived as the amount of time staying there, even though "week" wasn’t a Nagraitan term-- well, that was something different. What if Aurel hated her?

Seersha just stayed lying down in bed, trying to calm herself down. Stop worrying, you're being silly, thought Seersha. If she doesn't like you, then that's that, and worrying won't do anything. Besides, she's my mom, I doubt she'll hate me. The girl made a mental note to try and wipe out all of these irrational fears that she kept having. If I want to end up leader of the fleet, I have to learn how to control my emotions.

Seersha blinked. Leader of the fleet? She asked herself, confused by her own thoughts. She hadn't even realized that that had been her goal. Thinking a moment, though, she realized that yes, becoming fleet leader was her goal, even if she hadn't realized it.

Realizing that, the girl also began to understand what she was so scared of. Her mother was leader of that fleet, at the position that Seersha wanted to be when she was old enough. In order to achieve that, Seersha would have to be at least as good as, if not better than, her mother was. Now that she'd be spending time with her mother, she might actually be able to find out whether or not Seersha could live up to her ambition.

What if I can't? Seersha asked herself, not feeling any better now that she realized the cause of her anxiety. What if I'm not good enough?

Seersha laid back down and turned over, deciding to get up late today. She fell into an uneasy sleep, a gnawing feeling eating at her stomach.

Seersha didn't sleep for long; she never did in the morning. When she woke up again, she splashed some water on her face, told herself sternly that worrying wouldn't change anything, and got dressed. She dressed in her normal attire, the uniform of an Academy student, even though it was a vacation. It felt uncomfortable to dress in anything else, all other clothing felt…wrong. Plus, she didn't exactly have a huge wardrobe.

"Hey Unies," Seersha smiled as she walked onto the command deck of the small vessel, "how long before we get there?"

"Not long, just a few sernae," replied the officer amiably. He looked her over. "Maybe you'd better get ready."

Seersha shrugged. "I don't have anything else to wear, and besides, she's my mom, I'm not going to make this a big production." Biting her lip, she looked at Unies again and quietly asked, "This won't be a big thing, will it?"

Unies didn't answer, but his silence gave Seersha all the reply that she needed. "Great," she muttered to herself, "just perfect." The girl turned over towards her console, still muttering under her breath. Why did everything always turn out this way?

She buried herself in writing as she tried to block out what she knew was further ahead in the day. What she'd earlier been looking forward to she was now dreading; seeing her mother was one thing, but if it was going to be made into a big event…? What sort of event, anyway? How big? Much as Seersha loved attention, she really didn't see why it'd be a big deal…perhaps because it was bringing Aurel away from her work, but didn't everyone have some sort of vacation? Even the admiral of a fleet?

Seersha caught herself dwelling on the upcoming ordeal and forced her mind back onto the story, although she certainly wasn't getting anywhere on it. The girl typed a few sentences, then sighed and erased them again. Damn, she groaned inside her own head.

"We're almost there," Unies broke into Seersha's thought. "Docking right now."

The girl nodded and turned back to her console, trying to seem nonchalant. She typed a few sentences into the keyboard and kept them there, nodding to herself. Now if she could only figure out this scene…

There was that slight jolt that Seersha had come to recognize as a ship connecting to a dock. The doors at the side slid opened, and Seersha stood up uncertainly, walking towards the door. It would probably be the one for special crafts, the door that opened up onto the command deck of Cetoudi. Great, Seersha was sarcastic even in her thoughts.

Swallowing visibly, trying to calm the butterflies that flared up inside her stomach, Seersha stepped cautiously over to the corridor and noted with relief that it was a main entrance, not the command deck. Maybe this wouldn't be very big!

For once Seersha actually seemed to get her wish. Before she even got to the door, Aurel came inside of the ship with a suitcase. "Change of plans," she said shortly when Seersha and Unies tried to question her. "We're going on an outside vacation, alright?"

"Where to?" asked Seersha curiously, following her mother to the other room that was in the craft. "And why? Not that it matters to me, but…"

"Then don't ask, because I'm not at liberty to tell," said Aurel sharply, then gave a smile. "Sorry, but they're confidential matters. I didn't mean to snap at you. Um, to where…have you seen the planet Helein yet?"

Seersha blinked, feeling a bit dazed by this all. "No, I haven't…so that's where we're going?"

"I suppose so, if you want to go." Aurel answered, as Unies walked into the room.

"I don't know anything about it," Seersha shrugged. Seeing the questioning look on the pilot's face, she clarified, "Aurel wants to go to the planet Helein for a vacation."

"Alright, then, plotting a course right now," Unies smiled. "I'll apply for the fuel needed for the fastest course to Helein immediately." She sounded almost like a well-programmed computer herself; Seersha always balked when people got that tone, they sounded so…so not real.

Aurel picked up on the thought and looked at her daughter. "But Seersha dear, Unies is a computer. She's an android. Artificial Intelligence."

Seersha didn't have a chance to respond, because Unies left and Aurel turned around to put her things in the corner of a room, leaving her daughter with her jaw hanging open. Seersha realized her position and quickly shut her mouth, looking embarrassed. "…oh" was all that she could think of to say.

"Anyway," said Aurel brightly, turning back around, "How has the Academy been?"

"Well, fine, I guess," answered Seersha, sitting down in a chair slowly. "I got through the first and second classes, and I'll start the third once my vacation is over."

Aurel nodded, making a noise to indicate that she was listening. "Your teachers informed me that they think you're pushing yourself too hard," she commented, not showing whether she agreed or not. "What do you think?"

"Well, I think I'm keeping up pretty well, I do leave some time for friends and all, but since I have such a late start I have to work hard so that at the end I won't be too far behind. Right?"

"Seersha, there's nothing shameful about graduating the Academy late, especially in your case." Aurel tried to seem helpful and understanding, though both of them knew that this wasn't Aurel's strong suit. It wasn't Seersha's either. "You don't have to prove anything. Especially not after facing Desiny."

"I know the truth," said Seersha, suddenly sounding sullen. "Desiny is my older sister, she told me."

Aurel paused, obviously trying to figure out how to reply. "Well?"

"I want to know why you didn't tell me, I think I deserved to know. And I'd also like you to tell me who my father is." Seersha's jaw jutted out in the way that started to be characteristic of her. It showed mostly stubbornness.

Seersha's mother seemed to decide to tackle the questions in the order that they were given. "I didn't tell you for multiple reasons. First, I wasn't sure how you would react, whether you were ready for the information. Also, I didn't really have much time in which to tell you, we never had any meetings that weren't decked with officers of every sort." There she paused, trying to figure out how to get through the next question. "Seersha, I don't think that--"

"No, no, no!" burst in the girl angrily. "I think I deserve to know who my own father is! You told Desiny that when she was my age, you'd tell her, so why not tell me now that I'm this age?" The jaw jutted out even farther, and a glint went into Seersha's eyes. "Or do you even know who my father is?"

"Seersha!" exclaimed Aurel angrily. "If you think that offending me will make me tell you, then think again! That was out of line."

"Was it? Anyway, how do you know that I even knew that stuff like that is a taboo in this culture?" Seersha did the Nagraitan equivalent of raising one eyebrow, which was rolling her head forward and back again in a waving motion. "I don't see you answering the question."

"Yes, I know who your father is!" the woman snapped angrily. "I just don't think that you're ready for the information!"

"The information of who my father is? Of course I'm ready, it's not like--" Seersha stopped, and sighed. Her eyes got a pleading look. "Please? I am the age that you thought that Desiny would be ready…"

Aurel sighed as well. "Well, the beginning might seem weird, but just answer, alright?" As Seersha extended her claws briefly, in an affirmative gesture, her mother continued. "Well, how much do you know about the Nagraitan gods?"

"I know that they're real…I met, who was it, 'Dauhec', when he saved my life. I don't know much else besides that, I guess, though I do remember most of them, which are which." Seersha cocked her head to the side, wondering exactly where this was going.

"Alright, then," said Aurel, making a note to later ask Seersha about when Dauhec had saved her. "So you don't know what the gods are?"

"Not really."

"Okay. Well, they started out, evolved on the same planet, as we did. Somewhere in their evolution, though, they broke off and got other powers. Sort of like the Eveliri Nagraitans, but to a much higher degree. To the point where they could barely be considered Nagraitans anymore. Over time, folklore started naming them as 'gods', and the title never quite wore off." As Aurel paused for a breath, Seersha gasped suddenly.

"Omigod!" she breathed. "They can still--you mean--" she faltered. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?!"

Aurel smiled thinly. "If you think I'm saying that your father was one of these 'Gods', then yes." She paused to let that sink in, while Seersha sputtered, trying to find something to say.

"Who?" she finally got out in-between her choking.

Aurel hesitated, trying to decide how to go at this. She decided for the short way. "Xandlo."

"The god of war?" Seersha was calming down, but her tone still sounded strangled as she tried to breathe. In and out, Seersha, in and out… she reminded herself. "Then…I mean…" she tried to find something else to say. "That's possible?"

"Strictly speaking, they are Nagraitans. They're to strong eveliri Nagraitans what normals are to the extremely high points. While it is questionable as to whether a god and a non-eveliri could have offspring, most Eveliri are actually kind of a mix between normal people and Gods, though granted that most are closer to normal people."

Seersha slowly extended her claws, that sort of nod becoming second nature to her. "O--okay," she gulped. "You know…I think that I'm going to go to my room for a while. To let this all sink in. Thanks for telling me." The words and sentences were choppy, and Seersha had to get out of the room on shaky legs. Watching her daughter go, Aurel made a half-amused, half-worried gesture before she turned around to her console and started working. There was never a time when she didn't have something to get done, even on vacation.

It only took Seersha about a day to get over the shock. In her room, though it can't quite be said that she was sulking, because she was doing useful things the entire time. After all, lying in bed trying to get to sleep was useful, right?

Yeah, Seersha, you keep telling yourself that, she thought as she turned over in bad again, a bleary look in her eyes. Not asleep, but not quite awake either. She rubbed her eyes again, and sat up in the bed. Okay, now you're going to get up and do something that's actually useful, she told herself sternly as she swung her feet over the side of the bed and attempted to stand up. She swayed a little, and grabbed out to steady herself, leaning against the wall. Taking a deep breath, she stood upright again and turned to the mirror.

Seersha observed, with a small amount of relief, that her day in bed only affected the clothing she wore. She stripped out of her wrinkled uniform and left it as a heap on the ground as she went over to the storage unit to get another one. Still half-asleep, and feeling slightly dehydrated, she rubbed her eyes and went to the door. Before she opened it, Seersha took a deep breath. I wanted to know, she told me, so do not sulk anymore or do anything that will seem immature. She straightened her uniform, then opened the door and walked out briskly. Seersha turned and headed towards the common room of the small vessel.

"Hi," she said casually as she breezily walked into the room. "What's going on?"

"We'll be to Helein today," answered Unies as she was cleaning up the room. "Just about ten serna. Or approximately seven and a half human hours."

Seersha nodded in reply, then walked over to the food dispenser. "What's on the menu today, hmm?" she asked as she punched in her choice. "So…Aurel…how are you?"

"Fine," the woman answered lightly, picking up another piece of the meal that she was eating and placed it in her mouth daintily.

Seersha's meal appeared in the dispenser, and she picked it up, smelling it a little. Content that it was the dish she wanted, the girl walked over to the table and sat down across from her mother. "So, why was there the sudden change of plans about my vacation? Going to this planet and all?" She popped a piece of the ingeie into her mouth.

Aurel hesitated, then turned back to her food without answering.

"Come on, please? I think I should know why my own vacation is changed."

Aurel calmly placed her eating utensil down on the table and regarded Seersha with a slightly hostile glare. She sighed in an annoyed tone, but her voice sounded calm, almost too calm. "Seersha, I don't feel like explaining all of my agenda to you."

"You're embarrassed about something."

This time, Aurel slammed her utensil on the table. It fell with a clatter, and Seersha winced but held her stare. "Seersha."

"Yes?" she asked innocently. She smiled sweetly as another piece of the ingeie was popped into her mouth.

"Drop it."

"So I'm guessing it's not something I could find out with research?" Seersha stood up, leaving the rest of her food on her plate. "Well, I'm going to try anyway." She turned towards the door that led towards the command deck, and she set off towards it at a brisk pace. Aurel called sharply after her, but Seersha ignored it and headed towards a computer console.

"Computer, search recent military news--both open and classified--for the word 'Helein'." Scanning the results, Seersha decided that there was nothing there that would be relevant to what she was trying to find out. "Okay, search in the same category, but with the keyword 'Cetoudi'." The results were numerous, too many to go through all of them. "Alright, under these results search-- um-- 'Aurel Patrenoi'."

Scanning the results again, it was obvious that the answer was not there. "Okay, reverse that…search for predicted attacks on Cetoudi?" She doubted that would be what would make Aurel run away, but she was getting desperate--

One match popped up. She noted that it was classified, then opened the document. Her eyes got wide just as Aurel barged into the room.

"Seersha!" Aurel's voice was calm and stern, but Seersha could note the unstable note in it.

The girl looked up at her mother, and stepped back from the console wordlessly. Aurel walked over, took a look at the article, and sighed, looking at the wall. She shook her head and turned to her daughter. "Well?"

Seersha nodded slowly, and walked past Aurel to the common room.

"Seersha! Listen…"

"No, I understand," Seersha spun around, her arms crossed. "You don't want to be there when they kill your daughter. I'd accept it if you prevented them from killing her. I'd accept it if you disowned her and did kill her, or didn't avoid it. But you have to find some sort of illogical mix; you tell your army to kill her, but you can't be there."

"You want me to tell you things, then you go on a rage when you find out!" Aurel's hands went to her hips in a very human-looking stance. "And you wonder why I don't think you're ready! Now which one of us is illogical?"

With a gulp, Seersha realized that her mother was right. "Okay, so both of us are being immature. But your strategy makes no sense."

"Maybe for someone who is a computer!" Aurel shook her head. "I'm not going to stand here arguing this with you. Desiny has to be killed if she goes after Cetoudi, but I thought that someone could understand that I wouldn't have to be the one to pull the trigger. Maybe if you had any sort of emotions, you'd understand."

"So now you've decided to use petty insults against your daughter?" Aurel was right, but Seersha wouldn't admit it. She never would. "Look…yes, let's drop it. I'll forget all about it." With that, she turned around again and left the room, still irrationally angry. She was angry with Aurel, with herself, with the entire universe. She felt the urge to kick something, and even though she was angry with herself for being so childish, she couldn't help it.

Lying down in her bed, Seersha used some relaxation techniques that she'd picked up at the Academy. As she calmed down, her thoughts began to wander. Earth came back to mind, and the girl marveled at how she'd forgotten the planet so quickly. It felt like years, an entire lifetime, since she was on Earth. Like it was all just some sort of dream.

Idly, she wondered what happened to Elodie. She'd ignored the girl after she'd gotten into her courses and made friends; Seersha felt kind of bad about that, now that she looked back. What was her old friend's life like now? Was her life getting better?

Seersha considered using eveliri to contact her friend, but after a moment of thought she shook her head. No, Earth and everything about Earth was in the past, and it should stay there.

A knocking on the door brought Seersha back to right then. "Hello?" Unies's voice came through the door.

"Yes, Unies?" Seersha rolled out of bed, catching herself with telekinesis a split second before she hit the hard floor. She made a rolling motion, and stood upright in a show of amazing acrobatics.

"We've arrived at our destination, the ship is docking at Helein's docking bay and we should be on the planet very soon. Leave your stuff by the right side of the door and come out now."

"Alright, I'll be out in a moment," Seersha called. She heard Unies's footsteps leaving, and with a quick gesture all of her stuff went into the packaging and flew to the door in acrobatic motions similar to the ones that Seersha had performed a few moments before. It was becoming to be almost a sort of art form for the girl.

Stepping out of the door, the first thing Seersha noted was that the temperature was slightly higher than it normally was. She paused, wondering if the ship's climate control system was malfunctioning. Stepping out of the ship into the "bay", though, she knew why it was so hot. The planet was like Hawaii--hot and humid. "Whew, this place is hot." Looking around, she felt the need to add, "It doesn't seem very technology-based, either."

It was true, the "docking bay" was really just a big field that had some large outdoor computer consoles and a few buildings, as well as a transport tube to the city that was right by the field.

"Yes, well, that's why people like to come here for vacation here," answered Aurel as she came out. She didn't seem very affected by the heat. "Now, Seersha, they don't know who I am, and my picture doesn't exactly circulate the entire galaxy, so just call me 'Mom' or something, alright?"

"They don't know who I am?" she asked, hopping down to the ground and feeling oddly relieved at the feeling of real earth under her feet.

"No, we've made sure that your picture doesn’t circulate either. It's a precaution taken for everyone who might be a focus for any sort of threat."

"Alright, then, Mom." The word came out awkwardly as Seersha turned to the transport. "At least it's cooler in here. Isn't the heat making you uncomfortable, too?" It was obvious that she was just trying to make some sort of conversation, and failing miserably. She abruptly asked, "So, how much are you going to work this 'vacation'? As much as you normally do, or are you going to cut out a few hours a week for your daughter?"

Aurel gave her a stern glance. "I'm not going to be working much, I've made sure that my second-in-command knows what to do, so most of my time will be entertainment. This is my first vacation from work in over five human years."

Seersha gave a low whistle. "Whoa, talk about being a workaholic. How do you even survive it, all that stress without any release from it?" She sat down in the transport, and Aurel sat down across from her on the padded seats.

Her mother's eyes did not soften at all. "My work is necessary. I adapt, and I learn to manage all of the stress. When your job is needed, that's all that you can do. If you want to take a position in the world, you have to get used to it and be prepared to do work." Aurel's voice sounded pointed.

"Hey, you're the one saying about how much my teachers are saying I'm pushing myself too much. I know how to work." Seersha started to sound very defensive.

"Well, then, if you're working as hard as your teachers say, then you should be able to understand how you manage the work." She shifted, still looking irritated. The transport started moving through the tube quickly.

She's feeling regretful, that they're going to kill Desiny, Seersha realized. She's scared that they will and she's just as scared that they won't. "Yes, but for five years straight…" She struggled to find something that would end the cold discussion. "I admire that."

"Thank you." Aurel still sounded cold.

"Look, I'm sorry," Seersha mumbled.

Aurel looked up. "I didn't hear you," she said. After a moment, Seersha saw that she really didn't hear it, and tried to get it over with.

"I'm sorry!" She burst out loudly. Right then, the door to the transport opened to the city, so Aurel didn't have a chance to answer. It probably didn't make much difference, because Aurel had looked pretty speechless at her daughter's outburst.

Looking out, Seersha could tell that the entire city was designed for being a vacation resort. It didn’t look technological; the computers were all flat and were camouflaged to look like part of the houses and complexes. There was a large body of water at the side of it--in fact, Seersha couldn't see to the other side of it. This is like a beach resort, I guess. Like Cape May.

Immediately, those thoughts that she'd just banished, the ones of Earth, rushed back. Stepping off of the transport and following the guide, Seersha tried to figure out why those memories affected her the way they did. It wasn't that she wanted to go back to Earth; for a fact, she feared that this might be a dream, was almost terrified that it wasn't real and she was still on the old planet. She knew it couldn't be true, not after all this had happened, but she definitely didn't want to go back.

Then why did she feel sad when thinking about Earth? There weren't even that many good things about it in the first place. Maybe the fact that it had been her home, even though she'd hated it. Oh, well. She was going to forget about it, leave all that awful past behind. Forget she ever lived on that awful planet.