They walked in silence until they reached the emergency gates that marked the edge of the underground campus. Griffon bid them farewell and left for the BPI, presumably to report on the unusual circumstances in person.
"Do you think he'll be fine?" Celeste wondered with a tinge of worry.
"Probably. Rachel might be a bit crazy, but she knows what she's talking about. Probably."
Celeste was quiet as they walked around the passages. Neither of them had a destination in mind, but they somehow ended up in one of the large public parks which dotted the underground city. It was something of a greenhouse, save it was devoid of the typical exotic plants necessary. Large skylights provided the vista of Saturn's rings, backed by the endless depths of space. The whole park was more of a garden, missing the usual playgrounds for the little kids. Cobblestone paths cut through the groves of trees in winding patterns. Occasionally, flower boxes would spring out of the trees in brilliant displays of color, giving a pleasant surprise to couples traversing the gardens.
"I've never been to this one before," Celeste's eyes sparkled. "Look at those flowers!"
Kinson smiled and nodded. Honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he'd spent time looking at flowers, or other simple things of beauty. This time, however, they did seem more vibrant than usual, but he only watched in silent appreciation.
They chatted softly as they strolled through the garden. Celeste stopped at every flowery display, and, as time went on, Kinson found himself enjoying the sight as she excitedly found each new flower, leaning over to take in its scent. He sighed as she called him to check out her newest discovery, but joined her with a light heart.
As he brought the flower to his nose, he accidentally snapped the stem, and the petals came off in his hand. He looked at it for a moment, then reached over and placed it behind her ear. The action had almost been subconscious, but her face flushed a red that would make a rose jealous.
"I-I…" she stammered.
"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have. I just felt like it belonged there," Kinson apologized, blushing himself.
Celeste self-consciously swept a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear. "No, that's not it at all! I just wanted to say that I was sorry to be back in the examination room. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
Kinson's face slowly turned up in a smile, and he shook his head. "Look at us, apologizing all over. I don't know that there is anything you could do to offend me, Celeste," he looked into her eyes, "When we were kidnapped by that Pirate, I was only worried for you. I wish more than anything that it had been me who had to risk it all to defeat him. Somehow, that lot fell to you. In the future, I won't let that happen again."
She giggled softly and reached out to take his hand. He stared at her fingers, wrapped around his. "I'll leave it to you then."
It wasn't till several hours later that the two left the gardens, having traversed each path and found every flower garden. The distant sun had begun to set, casting long, broken shadows through Saturn's rings. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough atmosphere to support a sunset, or it surely would have been beautiful at that moment.
Kinson went several days without news of Trevor. Rachel was tight-lipped, and Griffon claimed ignorance. Gossip erupted on the campus about the mysterious disqualification of the Thunderbrand team from the competition. They won their debut against a favored team, then disappeared after one of their own collapsed. News had somehow leaked that they had been disqualified, rather than just unable to play in the next match. Ultimately, some fifth-year team won the team event, which didn't come as much of a surprise to anyone.
On the fourth day, Kinson returned from his classes to find Trevor waiting in the apartment. His eyes were haggard, his face gaunt.
"How do you handle it?" he whispered, eyes falling on Kinson.
Kinson blinked. "Handle what?"
"It. The cold, the darkness, the Terror."
It was like a bucket of water splashed over his head. Somehow, he had remained oblivious while Rachel and Griffon talked, but it hit him like a train. Kinson staggered to the table and took a seat.
"How?" he asked listlessly.
"I don't know. I don't remember much of what happened after the competition. Everything is all foggy. But something cut through that fog. That lady, Rachel I think, told me it was the influence of a… Nightmare." Trevor's voice was shaky, and he flinched upon pronouncing his final word.
"No way," Kinson rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
"Please, tell me what to do," Trevor pleaded.
"I don't know myself. I guess I just sealed my memories away. I wasn't too old at the time, so it isn't that difficult now. The best strategy is to avoid thinking about it, and any triggers that might bring it up. Even now, I still shiver whenever someone mentions mars," Kinson explained, recalling his own experience.
He didn't know if his words had any impact, as Trevor abruptly changed the topic. "They recommended I take a break from school and settle my mind a bit. I don't know what to do yet."
Kinson sat back and thought for a second. "You know, I decided that I couldn't run from my fear anymore. I did that because of you and Celeste. You always seemed so confident, and I wanted to be that way too. That's the real reason I started working at the BPI. In the beginning, I was mostly worried about being expelled from the University for incompetence. Now, although I'm grateful to be in some form of Advanced Study program, it just doesn't seem to matter to me as much as it did. I've realized how wide the world is, you might say. I'm not trying to say not to take a break, but don't try and run away from it. If there's one thing I know, you can't run from the Terror. What little I do remember remains as vivid today as it did the day after."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind," Trevor nodded, sounding sincere. His gaze sharpened, and a gleam entered his eye. "Now, did you have any dinner plans? They didn't give me much beyond hospital food, and you know how that is."
Kinson shook his head. He didn't, in fact. "Celeste and I were planning on meeting for dinner, like usual. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic to see you."
"Then what are we waiting for? The heart-to-heart is over, so let's move out!"
Kinson smiled but could see the excitement was a bit forced. It would be a long time, if ever before Trevor truly returned to the way he was. Still, he kept his thoughts to himself, allowing himself to be dragged out the door.
"Today, we have a special mission," Andres said as the Deathdream group gathered around in the office.
"Finally! I'm sick and tired of going through old records," Kael complained, if quietly.
Andres looked at her flatly but otherwise ignored her. He had joined her through the past few weeks, finding and reviewing videos, official notes, and journal entries posted by various deathdreamers around the web. It was a tedious job.
Andres opened a folder on his desk and passed a few papers around to everyone. "This mission is another top-secret assignment and might be critical to the safety of Titan. Because of that, we'll be signing another NDA."
Kinson inwardly groaned, but still signed with a practiced flourish. This was hardly the first time, so he was used to the drill. After the others did the same, Andres collected them all with a cool smile.
"Why the long faces? Today offers a bit more excitement. Recently, the Pirate's struck out against a transportation vessel carrying classified cargo. The Titan orbital military responded to their distress call, but the ship had been raided and destroyed by the time they arrived," Andres began.
"Hold up. I told you I'm not getting involved in these types of things," Kael protested.
"I am aware. However, this provides an opportunity to prove our worth. Additionally, there are a few experiments we are going to try as we gather intelligence. The corpse was one of few left on the ship and belonged to an unknown psionic guard, estimated to be class 4. Obviously, we intend to simply watch the deathdream. There is no need to recklessly endanger ourselves walking in it," Andres gave a pointed look at Kinson.
Kinson shrugged. It's not like it was his fault, after all.
"Fine, but just this once," Kael relented. "If they didn't need me to stabilize the deathdream… don't expect me to compromise again."
"If these experiments are a success, there will be no need." Andres nodded.
Kinson raised his head. That wasn't a promise, was it? To be honest, he found Kael's ideas a bit foreign. He let out a sigh, recalling her first experience in a deathdream. It justified her a bit, but it still felt like she was running. Perhaps she needed a chance to overcome her feeling like he was trying to.
"That aside, do you think he can do it this time? Don't forget what happened last time we tried this," Luthier cut in with a condescending glance at Kinson.
"This will be part of the test, as well. He officially advanced to class 2 and hovers on the threshold of class 3. Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be half as much risk as last time you attempted to jump into the deathdream together," Rachel smoothed her hair, "besides, he has some valuable experience deathdreaming now."
"I can handle this," Kinson nodded. "Just give me the chance."
"Fine," Luthier snorted. "But you'd better not fail again."
Andres cleared his throat to get their attention. "Now that that's settled, let's move on to the mission. When you're in the dream, there are several things you should be on the lookout for. First, the identity of any of the raiders. Names, faces, tattoos, anything to identify them. Second is the identity of the cargo. It was sent from a research lab deep in the asteroid belt, but its confidentiality was such that no written record was kept of its content. Unfortunately, Titan is currently unable to communicate with the research facility, so it's all up to you. And finally, our biggest experiment is to see if you can bring Griffon along with you into the deathdream. I've got a few theories, so we're going to try them all."
"If it's so secret, how'd they even find the ship," Luthier asked skeptically.
Andres frowned. "I'm afraid I've heard nothing about that. You're not alone in your thoughts, though. Stay focused on the mission."
Luthier chuckled darkly. "Right, some questions we're not allowed to ask."
"On another note, I'm curious about the situation of the wreckage. How badly was the ship destroyed?" Kinson filled his voice with harmless curiosity.
"Good question. I suppose it's best to prepare yourself for any carnage you might be subjected to watching," Andres nodded in appreciation. "The ship looked to have been boarded intact, as they probably intended on searching for the cargo. It looked like they bombarded the ship with psionic weapons once returning to their vessels. Their target must have been to erase any evidence of their identities and what was taken, as their fire was concentrated on the cargo bay. The cockpit was mostly unharmed, but they didn't find anyone, alive or otherwise, within. Most of the crew was gathered in the cargo bay before the bombardment."
"Thanks. That helps a lot!" Kinson gave him a thumbs up.
"With that in mind, any other questions?" Andres looked about the room. "Then let's get started."
Andres stood and led the way to the isolation room. Kinson remained in his seat, deep in thought. Griffon paused and looked back at him.
"Don't try anything funny," Griffon warned sternly.
"Why does everyone always think I intentionally make things difficult?" Kinson took his hand and complained up.
"Because nothing ever goes well when you're involved," Griffon said flatly.
"Ouch! I feel like it's too soon to say that."
Griffon snorted before walking into the isolation chamber. "You can only die once," he left behind.
Kinson looked down and frowned. "Not always," he muttered, 'Not always."