Broken Time: Tales of a Bounty Hunter Book 3

Chapter 4 - Memorabilia

Eurilia

It was rather sad that she was trailing after him again. At least, that's what the other scientists thought. But Novah had secluded himself in the wreckage looking for answers that, cearly, weren't there and Astrid was the only one who cared about him enough to knock some sense into him. She maneuvered around the debris awardly. It was hard to find a path to move. No one had bothered cleaning the crash sight, or at least put the more heavy rabble away. Her foot caught on a wire that was lying undetected and her body jerked forward causing her to almost fall onto the sharp end of a broken iron pole. Astrid saw her life flash before her eyes. Coming so close face to face with what would\ve been her end, the Dinneilean swallowed hard and blinked her widened eyes. Her heart raced a hundred miles per hour at the fright and she briefly wondered what she had thought when she decided to walk through this death-trap. She decided to be extra careful the remaining of the way And fortunately, no more accidents befallen her.

The inside of the crashed spaceship was in a slightly better condition than the outside. In hindsight, that was probably because all the inside rabble were thrust outside. Astrid had not been inside the spaceship since they crash-landed. She hadn't even wanted to look at it. But after Novah's back healed from the accident, he became obsessed with the place. He had been gone for days...or atleast, Astrid thought it was days -it was hard to measure time when time didn't exist in Eurilia. It was ironic really, Astrid mused. That the birthplace of time was void of it.

It was easy to locate Novah. Astrid followed the only sound that came from inside the spaceship to where the scientist was working. When his form came to view, it surprised Astrid how easily she could read him. Even with his back to her, she could see the tousled hair, like a rat's nest. His clothes, that were wrinkled and dirty, spoke of sleepless nights. He was mumbling to himself like some kind of crazy person. Astrid sighed with sorrow.

"You know sleep is fundamental for both body and mind." she anounced her presence.

Novah jumped a little from fright. A testament of how absorbed he was in his thoughts. He turned to look at her and she could immediately see the dark circles under his eyes.

"You'll be no help to anyone -much less yourself- if you fall apart by your own stupidity." she told him smartly.

Before this, before they crashed, she would've been horrified to speak to him like that. Now she found that she didn't care. Someone had to tell him the truth to his face. Plus, she had grown familiarly close to him over their stay in Eurilia.

A tired chuckle left his lips. A lopsided grin graced the corner of his mouth and despite his obvious exhaustion, his green eyes sparkled a little with mischief.

"If it isn't my favorite apprentice. What are you doing in these parts?"

"Looking for my wayward teacher. You are way too smart to be acting this stupid, Novah." she scolded disapprovingly.

"I need answers."

"You're not going to get them if you run yourself to the ground. When was the last time you slept? Or ate, or had a bath?" she demanded. "I can smell you from here."

Novah's lips curved into a frown. "I don't have time for any of this. I need to make sence of what happened."

Astrid felt the fire in her veins flare. "It's been MONTHS and you haven't found anything." she raised her voice. "Taking some time off to take care of yourself won't make the data go away." she reasoned. "On the contrary, it'll clear your head. Right now, you can't even see straight."

Novah lowered his head in shame. His fingers tightened on the equipment he was holding. A piece she couldn't see properly. She took courage from his posture and approached him.