Empyrean Iris

Chapter 42

 Chalan stood on the 'bridge' of the ship just behind the captain's chair where the human Adam Vir sat tapping his Drev foot nervously against the ground. The creature called 'dog' was sitting next to him, its head resting against the man's leg, its large ears straight up and attentive.

However, neither she nor the human were paying attention to the dog. Instead they stared out into the vast darkness of space, and the rainbow orb that hung there.

Anin.

She had not expected to see her own planet so soon, and it was likely the human never expected to see it again.

Chalan stepped forward as if a simple step was enough to give her a better view.

Under the murmuring voices around the bridge, things seemed oddly quiet.

The human leaned back in his seat, "Out of all the places in the galaxy, this is the one that I never expected to see again..."

And likely one he never wanted to see again.

Her heart grew sick.

The chair before her swiveled to face her, and the human's warm green eye fell on her, "Where might it be best to look?"

Her hands tingled, "Near my home on the fertile belt, there is a Tesraki mining station and docking port. Seeing that entities other than Drev are involved, the best places to look would be there."

"Alright."

He stood and barked an order at his communications lieutenant. It was important that the GA and UNSC know where they were if they were to find something. He was not going to go into this unless backup was nearby.

A marine, the one named Ramirez, walked over to stand next to the Commander. He rubbed a hand through his dark, spiky hair, arms crossing over his chest, "How do we want to go about doing this?" He asked.

Captain Vir nodded to the planet, "A single shuttle and one six man fire team plus me and the Drev." He jerked his head back at Chalan, "She knows where we are going, and I don't want to risk docking the entire ship there if there is something bigger going on.

Ramirez nodded, "Don't want another Noctus incident."

The captain shot him a look and Ramirez grinned, his pearly white teeth sticking out in contrast against his darkly tanned skin.

"No, we don't." Captain Vir mused.

Chalan closed her eyes. It was best not to think about the future though she felt like a coward as she tried to hide the thoughts from herself. What was she even doing?

She shook herself, she knew what she was doing.

It was for the greater good.

A face appeared in her vision as she thought, and she flinched under the eyes of her mother, which –even in memory – were capable of beating her down and making her feel low.

"Take us into a low orbit." The captain ordered one of the crew members to initiate an automatic system that brought them closer to the planet. Rather than an orb hanging in space the horizon rose closer to a tight parabola outside the viewing screen.

Looking down Chalan could see a patchwork of colorful mossed, towering volcanoes, volcanic glass, and –in the southern hemisphere, great lakes which dripped a splash of blue onto the colorful surface.

In the north, she could see towering mountains covered in ice.

She shivered. Just thinking about it made her feel cold.