"How much longer till we're there?" I snapped into the vacant room.

Silence greeted me, a deafening nothingness. The disembodied voice had long since vacated though I knew better than to take the absence of speech as evidence I'd been deserted. I needed definitive proof, something I wouldn't receive.

"Logan Smith, your lack of patience and self-preservation are beginning to alarm us. What is the rationale behind rushing to an early grave?"

Shocked that the voice had returned I paused mid-pace and took a moment to contemplate the question. Was that really what it looked like to others? Did they honestly believe I had no regard for myself or my life? Looking back at my most recent activities it did appear like to some degree I had given up, but on what I couldn't quite place.

"Why would my captor care about my well-being? Seems a bit counterintuitive if you ask me."

Even though I asked the question I didn't require an answer, I honestly could care less why they were so damn concerned. If anything, it sprung an insidious scheme within my mind to use this interest as a way to unmask them. To gain any knowledge in this scenario would, in fact, be pure raw power.

Unfortunately, my captors knew me too well.

"Your antagonistic approach may have worked on others in the past Miss Smith but it will do you little good here."

A deep frown etched its way onto my face. I could hear the invisible laughter like an eerie tune inside my skull, despite there being none. This was part of their plan all along, it had to be. I'd been alone on the ship the last twenty-four hours now and already I'd fallen victim to the mental mind games they played.

Not today Satan.

With an angry huff, I left my bed chamber and stomped down the corridor to the main control deck. If the bastards weren't going to enlighten me on where we were headed or when we'd arrive I'd sit by the window until I figured it out myself. If I was feeling super ballsy, I might even pull up the navigation system.

Throwing myself into Nix's co-pilot seat my eyes scanned the darkness that dwelled beyond the glass. From Terra, it was hard to tell that not all stars were the bright white perceived them to be from the surface. Out here the specks all shone like multi-colored glitter, acting more like snowflakes, each with its own unique hue and design.

Would anyone else out there appreciate this beauty if they could witness it?

It was this reflection that gave rise to the all-consuming feeling that proceeded to take hold of me. An overwhelming weight of indisputable solitude. How was it that in a universe as massive as this I managed to be so utterly alone?

"We're going to ghosts aren't we?"

The question slipped out past my lips, fueled by my deepest desire. I wanted my mother. Even if it were the worst possible circumstances, at least if I saw her, we're able to hold her, maybe then I wouldn't feel this hollowness in my heart. Maybe then I'd finally be complete again.

"If you're referring to the vessel whose blueprints are currently in your possession the answer is yes."

The hope that fluttered in my chest must have reflected in my expression because the moment their words echoed around the vacant space a second message was uttered and with it came a cautious warning.

"This is only temporary Miss Smith. We are well aware that we have in possession a certain life-form you hold in very high regard. This is merely a pit stop in the long journey."

"She's not just some life-form, she's my mother, " I snapped back, my temper flaring before my hold on it could be secured. Regarding another life as just another life-form was revolting but it was the outlook almost every Yarmeran had. We were all lower life forms in their eyes.

"It seems you do not realize the stakes in the game you're now a part of."

I snorted. "I don't recall signing up for any sort of game."

"You claim to be intelligent Miss Smith and yet you're operating under the assumption that we are something we are not."

The words confused me more than my current thought spiral was. Assuming something they weren't? I couldn't think of anything I'd assumed that they hadn't already proved to be accurate. Except that I missed something obvious once again and it seemed like an identical miscalculation to my original one back on Terra.

Mother fucker...

"You're not Yaemeran..." I breathed out as clarity knocked the wind out of me. "You never were."

"We knew you'd come to the understanding one way or another Miss Smith."

My heart raced in my rib cage as my mind tried to process the new information. The whole reason I was in this shit storm stemmed from the hypothesis that the ghost ship was a Yaemeran vessel. It was the reason that the micro-code had gone unnoticed by me, I never thought to check. The Yaemeran race was too egotistical to set a booby trap for anyone.

"Who the hell are you?"

"We are nothing and yet we are everything. You will uncover the truth soon enough Miss Smith."

"That sort of response is not winning you a fraction of cooperation."

"On the contrary Miss Smith. If we were to unveil that the absence of cooperation would rip away all you hold dear, would you still resist?"

There wasn't a whole lot I held dear, not really. Sure I held my mother close but at this point, it was more her memory than the actual person. Rip away all I hold dear? Who did they think they were, God?

Laughter began to echo but not within the room I occupied. It ricocheted in my skull causing me to bolt upright in alarm. It wasn't the imaginary voices that I sometimes created but rather an actual voice, a phantom voice, inside my consciousness.

"We are not anyone Miss Smith, much less God. We simply are and we are here to correct the mistakes of this universe. Your allegiance is highly sought-after by us. Yield to the cause or you'll pay in the blood of those you call allies."

words - 1058
total words - 13930
written - 04/10/2020
last edited - 04/27/2020