Posted by Gamemaster Deus Ex Machina (GM) in Anger and Accountability…Stockholm syndrome or Machiavellian theory…When the past doesn’t match the future or the present

Posted by Civilian Jessa Novar (Child) in Anger and Accountability…Stockholm syndrome or Machiavellian theory…When the past doesn’t match the future or the present

Posted by Gamemaster Deus Ex Machina (GM) in Anger and Accountability…Stockholm syndrome or Machiavellian theory…When the past doesn’t match the future or the present
SNIP
“Rinker....Rinker, she took my bag. She thinks she has it. What if she doesn’t come back? What if she goes home and doesn’t tell anyone I am here.”

“She might,” Rinker had lost track of what was in the bag itself. “But that would make her a liar out of omission.” He stated non-committally. It was best not to take sides when one didn’t have to.

“Good,” Ian snapped. “Be the best thing that ever happened to you. Let’s go,” he snapped and pointed to the door.

“She might. What the hell,” she looked at Rinker. “Why..why would you say that. You are supposed to be the nice one not like Mr. Congeniality over there who is refusing to see why we need her.”

Rinker shrugged. “I don’t control her, and frankly I don’t trust her. So my making promises for her would be dishonest and disingenuous. I believe her to be a bad person and I believe she would do bad things. I am not about to put my reputation, my honesty, on the line for someone I don’t trust.” The shrug repeated.

Jessa felt like she had been gut punched. There was no one here that was going to give the Elders the benefit of the doubt about why they acted as they did. In truth, Jessa had no idea why they had reacted this way since the moment they arrived. Looking around the space, there was no real damage aside from some shattered glass and the mess she caused in the food area. This did not mean there could not have been. The events on Halston proved to Jessa the Elders were capable of immense destruction and death. She did not need to say or be told that if the MECH’s had not been set to civil defense mode, it might be bodies strewn about the deck instead of shards of glass. Jessa stared at Rinker pleading for the man to alter his view.

“If the truth upsets you, I’m sorry. But I believe honesty is the best policy and you are old enough and tough enough to take it.”

“How can this not upset me,” she yelled angrily back at him. “My people died.” The confession made Jessa feel worse than better. Partly because it felt like Rinker was trying to make her think about the situation versus react to it. Until now she never had to contemplate her actions. There were rules in the Union. Right and wrong were crystal clear not murky and ambiguous as it was here in the Federation.

“It was just some glass,” Jessa snapped back. “They felt trapped. You should have tried negotiating with them.” The words felt like bile in her mouth causing her to flinch slightly after she said them.

“We did nothing but negotiate. You have met me, all I ever do is talk.” Even when in the battle suit, he hadn’t raised a finger.

“Your talking is just as dangerous as any weapon. You call it negotiating but it is more expecting me to accept your rhetoric. You don’t listen.”

Ian slapped his forehead as if remembering something suddenly. “Oh my God you are right. We should have been listening because I am sure they would have told us that their next objective was the bridge, main engineering, or the hospital wing you and your people could have attacked. Hell if we listened close enough she might have shared her desire to destroy the ship enough that we all have to use the life pods. We could then make some popcorn. Watch the destruction from the windows like it is a movie.” The sarcasm was thick and the message was still the same.

“Commander,” He started.

“Oh, we are using rank now. Yes, Commander Rinker. Should I salute or just stand at attention of are you going to allow me to assume parade rest when you drop your pearl of wisdom?”

“Ian, it is easy to dismiss someone you only knew for a few days and caused a great deal of mayhem while they were here. It is quite another thing to dismission someone that was a key part of every memory for your entire life.” He looked at him.

Jessa looked at Rinker pleading for him to step in and control Ian.

Jessa Novar.

“Thinking one can make that separation, no matter how necessary or correct instantaneously would demonstrate a level of sociopathy that would be very troubling.”

Rinker

Jessa opened her mouth but no words came out. She had to weigh what Rinker said with the truth and the truth she had told them. Jessa also had to come up with a plan for her own immediate future. With the destruction and violence that had just ensued and Jessa’s part in it, there was no way anyone on the ship was going to just forgive and forget. The battle drug was still clouding her mind and rational thoughts. “Uh-huh,” she conceded with more of a guttural sound than actual words. There would be time later for a more in-depth conversation with Rinker about her attachment to the Elders. Right now her biggest concern was not being removed from the ship as a consequence of the past two hours.

Reaching up to her neck, Jessa activated her armor completely encapsulating her. Instead of raising her hands defensively, however, she blurted out the words “aakrsht karana,” before dropping to the ground.

Ian looked at Jessa and crossed his arms. “Karana,” he repeated her last word. “What is that? Do? Act? To be?” He threw out several words waiting for a response from Jessa. When none came he continued his monologue. “You keep saying that word over and over as you gave your metal monstrosities commands.”

Rinker hadn’t put that level of thought into it. He wasn’t innately good with languages even though he learned three the old-fashioned way. He didn’t connect that word to a verb. He thought it was a curse. Jessa was quite prolific with the curses for a pre-teen.

Jessa felt a knot forming in her stomach. The language of the Elders was exclusive and proprietary. No one but the Divine or members of upper echelons of the Galactic Union government was permitted to use or learn it. The fact Ian was attempting to try would mean a death sentence.

In the naivety of her youth, rules and structure were black-and-white concepts to Jessa. She was too young to embrace the rebelliousness that came with the teenage years. She was pragmatic to think outside the box of what society set down as guidelines. She was too foolish to believe anyone could know what she knew without being directly taught. The only thing Jessa did recognize was the advantage it gave her being able to communicate directly with the other Elders or the MECHs and have Ian and the others not know what she was doing. Her mind raced at how to change the topic cleverly so that Ian was not given more information than he already possessed.

After several long seconds passed without a response, Ian let out a deep sigh and rubbed his jaw. “So we are going with the silent treatment?” Pacing slightly he looked over at Rinker.

“I am not going to let you remove me from the ship,” Jessa announced finally settling on a response from Ian’s questions.

“You would think the universal translator would have figured this language out by now.” Rinker muttered to himself. It was very limiting for them to understand every word the Federation officers said, but between them and their weapons he had a secret code that the computer couldn’t break.

“Why do you care what my native language is? We can communicate just fine using Galactic Basic. You don’t need to know Galactic Prime. In fact, you are not permitted to learn Galactic Prime so just stop because you can’t learn it even if you want to. Our language is too complex for you to learn anyway,” Jessa said in a haughty tone.

“Aside from the fact that you frequently don’t. Your concealment is intentional to evade our comprehension of something.” He shrugged. “I’m not that concerned about that. As far as I’m concerned, I more interested… as always.. as to why its so important to hide.”

Jessa did not reply but pursed her lips tightly. Rinker was right. She had been trying to evade giving anyone a straight answer. What he was wrong about was how many people she was trying to stop from comprehending what she was doing. The weight of it felt crushing. Instead of coming back with a snarky reply, she just shrugged. For all of the Elder’s faults, they were right about Mind Seers. They had a way to get deep into your psyche which was why they were banned from the Union.

“Commander Bordeaux,” an officer stated coming up to Ian and whispering something in his ear. Ian’s face took on a stony quality. “We found the section team. I gotta go deal with them. Rinker can you deal with this,” Ian made a swirling motion with his hand, “and get her out of here.”

Ian Bordeaux CO

“Okay… why?” Rinker asked. There wasn’t any special advantage he could see with her staying on the ship. Certainly not one large enough to warrant attacking the people she just sacrificed her previous life for, metaphorically speaking.

Rinker

Jessa watched Ian turn on his heel and leave with a group of officers. Her body began to break out in a sweat and she suddenly felt like there was no air in the space to catch a deep breath. Looking at Rinker, Jessa’s responded. “Why,” she parroted back his response presumably due to him asking why she had just magnetized herself to the deck and activated her armor. “Because you just killed one of the Elders, kidnapped Zala, and blew Rogan out of your airlock into deep space. Why would you not do the same to me? I am not going to let you get rid of me that easily. I am not moving until Pellan comes for me because he is coming. He is,” Jessa yelled as if talking louder was going to make her statement have greater validity. She could call the MECHs to defend her but hopefully, it would not come to that.

“I didn’t do anything except try to save some innocents and get stabbed a couple of times by that silvered-haired friend of yours.” He said truthfully enough.

“She shouldn’t have done that but you should not have engaged her.”

“Well, that wasn’t my preference. But the alternative was letting her murder a few dozen people so… I decided to talk to her. She then tried to turn me into a Voodoo doll.” He shrugged, “I wouldn’t quite call that an engagement.”

“If you had just submitted to her and not challenged her.” Jessa had the good sense not to debate the idea that Zala was capable of murder. “But that is what you do. It is all any of you do. Challenge everything except nothing.” The aggression component of the battle drug was starting to take over Jessa’s senses. Instead of physical aggression, it manifested more into a dissociative state. Looking around Jessa saw only strangers. No one was going to help her now. She had to make a stand. Everything was riding on her and her alone.

“She started by taking hostages. Hostages are only valuable if you are planning or willing to hurt and kill them.”

“We don’t take hostages. We rescue people.” Jessa felt like she was going to faint. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. As usual, the more Rinker spoke the more confused she became as to who was right and who was wrong. “One can be a host to the light or hostage to the darkness but never to another sentient being. Do not let your captivity become a negotiating point. Only through acts of enlightenment will your oppressors see they are the real captives. Submit to your own Altar of Cleansing allowing your soul to be a beacon of light. Let your bones and blood be the path on the river to guide them from their imbecilic malaise.” The reciting words of Yuan Eskander felt comforting and familiar. She did not have to think when she recited. She could focus on the flow of the words. The Elders had a mantra for every situation. Jessa needed something to hold onto right now or she would break.

“Oh rescue, that was what was.” He said amiably enough. “It was the stabbing, vaporizing, booby trapping, and psychic attacks that threw me off.”

“That was not my fault,” she almost whined. “No one told me they were going to go on the ship. You have defenses. If we tried to just walk onboard I am pretty sure this ship would have tried to stop us. I also never have tried to hurt you anyone else that wasn’t hurting me. I can’t read your mind. If I could this would have been so much easier. Rogan is the only one that can read minds. Zala, the only one that can make people feel calmer. You are safe though because without the crystals they are just regular people sort of but they are,” she could not bring herself to say gone. A knot formed in her chest and Jessa fought back the urge to cry and just give up.

As Jessa drew her line in the sand, she already was regretting it. She had no idea how long it was going to take Pellan to arrive but it was not going to be in the next few hours. If Jessa suddenly gave up, it would make Rinker and Ian think she was not in control of the situation. Glancing about the promenade, she saw no one seemed to be paying attention to her as they righted upturned furniture and set robots to clean up the glass and other debris. On the surface, life was returning to normal as it would be expected. The reality of life never returning to normal for her descended like an avalanche of granite rock. It was suffocating and terrifying. The phencyclidine of the battle drug still in her system only amplified her feelings of isolation, anxiety, and fear. At least the armor and helmet hid the fear on Jessa’s face and the shaking of her body. “He is coming,” she repeated only this time it almost sounded like a question to be answered than a statement of fact. “Pellan is going to come for me. I know it.”

Jessa Novar

“Who is this ‘he’?” What people failed to understand was the majority of therapy was not to do all the talking.

Rinker

Looking around the space Jessa knew she could not stay here. She also could not have this discussion where others could eavesdrop. Rinker’s question allowed her to save face and not beg to leave the promenade after making such a public display to remain there thirty seconds ago. “Not here,” she released the magnetic locks holding her in place on the deck. “We need to go to your office and I will tell you only I am not taking my armor off. Don’t ask me to.” Right now Jessa felt safe clad in the protective suit. She could not stay in it forever. She would have to eat, drink, and use the facilities at some point but for right now no one could make her do anything she didn’t want to do.

Rinker shrugged. =^=Rinker to Atlantis Transporter room. Site-to-site transport for two to my office, please.=^=

As the beam connected with their bodies, Jessa put up her hands as if to defend herself “Wait no.” Faster than she could blink the surroundings had changed from the promenade to the safe, familiarity of Heathcliff’s office. She looked around as if she did not believe their destination was where Rinker actually stated it would be. Lowering her hands she tried to take a calming breath.

“Ugh, I triffing hate when you all do that. It is jarring and invasive. I would have rather,” but Jessa did not finish the statement. She was about to say that she would have rather walked here of her own volition; however, as always, the crew of the Atlantis was still taking care of her even after she unleashed fire and brimstone upon them. Rinker’s act was not meant to unsettle her but protect her. Walking through the halls in her armor could have resulted in the crew screaming for her blood. Her mind raced with all the implications of her actions. How safe was she? Would she ever be allowed to leave whatever space they placed her in? Did she make the crew targets among their own? Now more than ever she was glad she had given Ian and Rinker armor.

“There are many very wise people who dislike the transport beam as well. I’m not sure their dislike is based on scientific fact, but we feel what we feel. That being said, instantaneous transport up to 50 kilometers is a pretty handy trick.”

“How do you always do that,” she snapped at him while crossing her arms over her body.

“Find a way to validate whatever someone is feeling but not show the person how you are feeling. It makes it hard to read and understand you.” She scrutinized Rinker as if he was hiding the answers she needed and her stare would make him share. “I need to learn how you do this because your right,” she let out a breath. “Your light sli…transporter,” she corrected herself with the correct term. “It is handy and has a lot of applications. We should negotiate a technology swap. I have given you a set of our armor. It is very advanced and well worth like a thousand of your transporters and replicators,” she quickly added. Jessa had never had to barter for things. If she could however take possession of these two types of technology it would benefit the Galactic Union in countless ways.

“Its not my job to feel for you. You can’t help what you feel. You can only control what you do about those feelings and to do that correctly you have to accept you feelings.”

Jessa didn’t want to accept or even acknowledge her feelings right now. If she did, she would start to cry and probably never stop. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she felt the small device in the side of her neck. Jessa needed a way to change this subject and this was as good as any.

“If you want to reactivate your suit just touch your neck,” she replied to Rinker as she pointed to the small metal disc embedded in the skin on his neck.

“What do you mean reactivate my suit?” He wasn’t too interested in the suit in the first place.

“To protect yourself against those wishing you harm or protect those weaker than you. It is a gift.” If her helmet was off Rinker would see her confusion with Rinker not understanding what she had done for him. “One day people will understand what just happened here but for now I just need to keep you and Ian safe.”

“I’m sure.” Rinker admitted. “I’m not much of a fighter and medical personnel take an oath to ‘first do no harm,’ people take that oath differently as well. I look at it as to do everything in your power to not harm another, but I have been known to balance the lives of many against the lives of the few.”

============
Rinker’s Office
============

Jessa sat down on the couch in Rinker’s office. Only in the safety of his office did she retract her armor. The blood from Da Mu’s violent end was drying in her hair from when Jessa ran her fingers through it in panic. Against the blonde strands, it was clearly visible. While she could not see it, Jessa could see the drying red smears on her hands which was much darker and far more sticky. She looked at them for a long second swallowing the ball of emotion rising from her belly into her throat threatening to choke her.

“I tried to do that,” Jessa stuck her hands into the hem of her shirt and rolled them up in it. It was childish and immature no different than a toddler trying to hide something behind its back thinking if it was out of sight. She avoided looking at Rinker as she spoke.

“Not to hurt anyone in our escape but just to get out.”

“It is a hard calculation and usually we don’t get a tally sheet so we know the results before we make the decisions.” Nor do these decisions come with a plethora of time so that doesn’t help either.

He glanced at the now back to a little girl. The armor should be taken from her. Not that he was going to be the one to take it. He didn’t have the strength or the inclination at this time. Not to mention she might be the only thing protecting them from her erstwhile allies.

Sinking into the couch cushions felt like a hug. Of all the places on the Atlantis, his office felt safe even with its formal furniture and lack of fun kid stuff to amuse oneself. Having spent a part of every day with Rinker since her arrival, she knew Heathcliff was not going to suddenly turn into a chatterbox peppering her with questions. Taking a deep breath she started. There was little she could control right now except for the flow of information. She would use this small thing to her best advantage.

“I don’t want to talk about what just happened okay? You asked me a question before we got here. Can we talk about that?” The implications of the attack were something Jessa did not want to think about. In time she would not have to. She would be back in the Union where things made sense.

“He is Pellan Vell. The man you asked about,” Jessa stated as if Rinker had lost track of the conversation during their walk. “In…on the promenade,” she stuttered. Rubbing her palms on her pant legs, Jessa was clearly nervous and anxious about the topic. “The man that is coming for me is Pellan Vell. He is the chancellor of the Galactic Union. He is also my Dad or at least I think he is.” Her tone trailed off slightly and her volume lowered to almost a whisper at her last sentence.

“A Chancellor?” He started. “I’m not familiar with that position.” There would be much to gain by finding out whatever she was able to explain. Even her jaundiced opinion.

“A Chancellor is the highest position in the Galactic Union aside from the Rectoress. Pellan sets the rules for the people to follow and makes sure all the other governmental officials get along. He is charismatic and smart and funny.” A smile filled her face as she spoke about the man. It was clear she had some sort of hero worship about the man she was speaking of. “He is really nice and gets along with everyone except Adar Vyce but that is not hard. Vyce is kinda scary most of the time. Pellan told me it is because Vyce spends all his time having to run our armadas to protect us and never gets to have any fun. I guess if I had to fight wars all the time I would be in a perpetually bad mood.”

“Wars tend to have a negative effect on mood.”

“I had never been in a war before Halston,” she admitted. “Pellan brought the entire fleet to save me. I don’t know if I would be here if it wasn’t for him.”

Thinking about all the people that were important to her felt like a crushing weight. Jessa looked down and began to fidget with her shirt as the consequences of all her actions fought for her attention.

“He sounds very important. And your father, you think?”

Jessa looked up at Rinker as he posed the question about her paternity. “Pellan,” she repeated the name. “Yes.” Her tone was confident before she suddenly recanted. “I mean he has never said it directly but,” Jessa shrugged.

“I would think your technology is sufficient to remove any doubt in that arena. If not, ours certainly is.” They certainly could remove any genetic doubt and since they already knew that there was some a direct genetic connection to Ian, this person couldn’t be her father unless we were talking about a multi-universe sort of situation would he suspected and would have explained so many things.

“No,” she yelled out holding her hands up in a visceral reaction that was far more emotional than his comment should have elicited. “That is not necessary. We don’t have family relationships like that. I mean we do but okay I don’t.” Biting the inside of her cheeks, Jessa took a moment to regroup her emotions.

“You have a mother, presumably a father is as important.”

Jessa shrugged not sure what to say. “I think of Pellan in that role but he never really did any of the dad things they are supposed to do except for leave.” As the words left her mouth, Jessa felt a wave of guilt crush her.

“Okay, that is not the truth. My mom said it was her choice to leave my dad. My mom said one day she would tell me about my dad. She said he lived far away and eventually I could meet him. Pellan knew my mom and has always treated me differently than the other Guardians. He tells me I am his special girl and that one day he and I are going to be able to be together without having to hide how much I mean to him. Why would he tell me I am special if I am not? Why would he sneak me out of my bed in the middle of the night to spend time with me in the garden? Why would he bring me golden cakes and kukiharu that are just for me and no one else?”

“Another decision that you don’t really know what the result is, but you try to make the best one you can. But nobody is perfect.”

“Sometimes it is better to not ask questions you don’t want an answer to. It stops people from lying to you.” Jessa had learned a long time ago to avoid asking direct questions to the things she wanted to know most.

“Anyway, he is coming for me because that is what Dad’s do right? They pick you up when you fall and dust you off and say everything is going to be okay.” Her tone sounded more like a question rather than a statement.

Jessa Novar

“Mostly,” Rinker agreed, “But not always. It depends often on the situation. I think there is a lot one can learn by picking your own self up and dealing with the consequences of one’s own behavior.” He said honestly enough. “That is dependent on the nature of the problem and parenting style.”

“You don’t know anything,” Jessa pulled the edges of her shirt up wiping her eyes. The stress of the day and the consequences of all her actions were breaking her. She was struggling not to cry as the edge of her shirt was becoming too wet to soak up the tears she was trying to stop.

“I never said I knew what your Chancellor would do. You asked about what fathers are expected to do… and I offered my best opinion.”

“Can’t someone be both?” Pulling the shirt up over her eyes, she sobbed for a second. Jessa had never felt so lost and alone in her entire life. Until now someone had always been there even if they were not someone Jessa necessarily wanted.

“Of course, that is the best any of us can do. Perfection is an illusion, or for squares, circles, and Borg.” He slid a box of tissues across the table, but didn’t say anything about the crying outwardly.

Jessa picked up the soft paper followed by another one. In a weird way, it felt soothing much like when Rinker tossed the ball to her. It kept her mind focused on a small task. She pulled a third as her movements became more frenzied and rushed filling her hand with the soft, white cloth until she could hold no more. Putting the wad Kleenex to her face, Jessa cried hard for a second using it to both stop her tears from falling and smothering the sounds from her mouth. After a few seconds, she did stop, however. Jessa could cry later. Putting her hand in her lap she looked up at Rinker.

“And I am not crying. My head hurts. I just need a second.” While it wasn’t completely a lie, it wasn’t completely the truth. Her head hurt so bad from blowing herself through the forcefields Jessa could barely hold a thought. The thought she was trying to shake from her head was Rinker’s comment about Pellan not coming for her. She had never even contemplated this as a possibility until right now.

“Maybe if you explain his interpretation of the mistake to me I can better project the response.”

Rinker

“The mistake is that I came here looking for the Prism when he expressly forbade me from doing that.” Looking down at her hands, Jessa hyper-focused on that. She began to alternately rub her palms on her pant legs or use her fingers to wipe off the blood that stained them red. She didn’t think anyone had been killed by the other Elder’s but she did not know this for a fact. The blood on her hands was more than symbolic. It was a visual representation of all the blood that had been spilled today and the blood on her hands if this mission didn’t go as she had planned it. She had to get it off but so far only small flakes from the dried-on thicker clumps were coming off.

Jessa Novar

“It might help my understanding if I knew what the Prism is and why it is so important and then why you chose to go after it while your ‘father’ told you not to.” There were three questions in there and about another two that he didn’t directly request.

GM

“The Prism is a device that will let us control the celestial web. It will make our travel just like your transporter. No more weeks to traverse the universe through its conduits. I could use it to be home in the blink of an eye,” Jessa looked at Rinker desperate for him to understand and accept what she was saying. Moving from her spot, Jessa perched on the edge of a cushion barely able to control her emotions and her own body. Her hands shook slightly and she had to clasp them to try and appear to have some composure. “We could meet and find civilizations faster than any civilization since the dawn of sentience. Ideas, technology, and values could all be brought under the Galactic Union and shared with the universe.” Jessa lost the glazed look she had previously in her eyes and replaced it with one of excitement and hope. “Don’t you see how valuable this could be for everyone everywhere?”

“There was a race, 200,000 years ago that allegedly had that technology, the Iconians. They used it to rule most of the galaxy. If legends are to be believed.”

“I believe science come to us as it should, and we are always just less mature than the science we create. Its just the nature of advancement. It take time to understand the things we create. And to ‘capture’ technology that we don’t have the ability to create… well that is too much for most races. Certainly ours, I think so for yours as well.”

“I don’t know these Iconian,” she admitted, “but that doesn’t mean we haven’t met them. There are more races than any one person could know but how can moving from one place to another be bad. If someone was sick or hungry you could help them immediately.”

The excitement and zeal soon slipped from her eyes as Jessa sunk back hard into Rinker’s couch. “I made the mistake of telling Pellan about the Prism after Halston. He acted a lot like you. That was why I agreed to come here with the Elders. Rogan said he was in contact with a group of people that knew where the Prism was and who to contact to get it. He said they said if we brought it back they would tell us where my mom is. They needed me to come because Captain Bordeaux would only give it to me. It felt wrong to keep this a secret so I told Pellen. I have never seen Pellan so angry as when I told him about this. He wouldn’t listen to me about anything. Pellan said that he was going to take me away from Kublia Tais and my Quad. I could not let that happen.” Jessa pleaded with Rinker as if he had some say in the matter or at least would support her in her choices. “I had to save my mom. So we reprogrammed the course setting on the Beacon of Light and it sent us here. You know the rest.”

Jessa stared at Rinker getting quiet for a long moment. “Commander Rinker,” she used his rank trying to be polite and hoping this small measure of respect to him would help her right now. “When Pellan shows up can you be there? You are good at calming people down and I am pretty sure he is going to be so varped he is not going to listen to a thing I have to say.” Of all the things Jessa had to worry about right now, she was more worried about Pellan arriving than not showing up.

Jessa Novar

“Sure, I’ll be where you want me.” That wasn’t too much to ask for in his book.

Rinker

“Can I stay here with you,” Jessa asked but did not look at the man. “I promise I won’t try to escape. Where would I go anyway,” she tried to make a joke that only ended up making her start to cry again. “I won’t eat or drink anything. I won’t bother you. I just don’t want to go back to sick bay. I don’t want to be alone and Ian only comes at night and sometimes during the day.” For the first time coming to the Altantis, Jessa was scared. These people held all the power and she was helpless. It was a feeling she didn’t like.

“I can tell you about Halston,” she suggested. The story was long and would buy her time. For the first time in her life, she understood Pellan’s quote. All time is as fleeting as prayers on the wind. Do not get bogged down during adverse times. Embrace it and use it for it could mean minutes or hours that will change your life. The next few days or weeks would determine Jessa’s life. She had to use every second in her control to command it.

Jessa Novar