Flashes
Could she discover the
truth within herself before the Yannoneth Hunter found her? Tanya
Was she a new enemy, or a long awaited ally? Or something else entirely? A Bottle of Wine - He lovingly held the bottle as the tears
started. He longed to walk the Highlands again. the Bombardment began. Father and Son -
What will a father do to protect his son from madness?
He opened the single carry bag that he had been
allowed to bring with him and gently pulled out the single thing of value
within. The bottle was still slightly dusty from long years in the family
wine cellar.
He held it close to his nose and inhaled. Not to
try to detect the aroma of the wine sealed inside, but to breathe the air
of a place that would very shortly cease to exist so utterly that it was
impossible for him to conceive of it.
The dust, of course, wasn't very representative
of the Eoneth Highlands. But his d'na'tnek filled in the details. The
genetic memory allowed him to reach back through the lives of his
ancestors for millennia. He remembered when the soil was turned to plant
the first vines, the celebration of the first harvest, the day this very
bottle had been laid in the cellar. And he could remember the
embarrassment when an ancient ancestor, enjoying the fruit of the vine a
little too liberally, had attempted to seduce a neighbour's daughter. Not
entirely unsuccessfully as it turned out, since the girl had eventually
become his several times great grandmother.
He lovingly held the bottle as the tears
started. He longed to walk the Highlands again. He knew that his parents
were there at this moment. The closing of the Shelter had severed his
n'es'tahh, his link, with them. But he knew what they were doing. His
father would be opening the very finest vintages, his mother preparing the
most sumptuous of meals. They loved to entertain, and were known as the
most gracious of hosts.
This would be the last occasion they would ever
host. And there was no joy in it. When the Bombardment reached Yannoneth
there would be nothing and no one left. The very air of the planet would
be torn asunder, and the land would be so thoroughly devastated that it
would be as though his people had never inhabited it.
The Danaereans had lost control of the
Disintegration days ago. The orderly crumbling of the ancient home world
into a string of rocks following the planet's orbit became a catastrophic
rending that would launch huge chunks of debris at every body in the solar
system. Including this one.
He and the rest of the Sheltered would soon be
all that was left of the Yannoneth.
The Shelter, buried many thousands of feet below
the surface of Yannoneth, suddenly shuddered. He dropped the bottle and it
shattered on the floor.
It was fitting.
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