The Edge

Gideon: Part Two

Not that he'd tell Tola that. That was the kind of thing she didn't like to hear.

"I'll ask for help if I really need it. I promise." He could make that promise, though it was with the understanding that his really needs it and her really needs it were probably at two different levels. He'd deal with that problem later. "Let's focus on getting...wherever it is we're going. Where are we going?"

"I think they decided to go to Omega first. There's a lot of radio broadcasts coming from there and not much regulation. Everyone thought it would be a good place to blend in."

Made sense. "Shame Arian wasn't able to get more of those recordings," Gideon noted as he started dumping sugar into his coffee. "I'd love to hear more from this guy. Try to get a feel for him."

Tola nodded in agreement. "Maybe he'd have a message for us, too."

"You don't actually believe what they're saying about this guy, do you?"

"I don't know...maybe?" Tola shrugged. "He could. Maybe not from God, but the way Matteo does."

"Matt only sees a few seconds."

"True, but a vague feeling can't be too dissimilar, right?"

She had a point. Longer range but less detail versus shorter range and more detail...might be about the same mental strain. It'd be something he'd never heard of before, but he was encountering a lot of that on this trip. "If he does know something, I hope it's not too vague," Gideon said. "I'm getting sick of vague."

Never go into a situation without intel, kid. It was one memory he didn't grimace at, probably because it was one of the only good pieces of advice he'd gotten back then. He just wished he'd been able to take it into consideration before leaving to find Cassandra.

He took his first sip of coffee. Tola looked at it with concern. "That seems like a lot."

"This is a normal amount of coffee. You just don't like coffee." She was the kind of person who could only drink coffee if it was drowning in milk and flavor syrups, and even then she'd take a cup of tea first. That was probably better for her in the long run. He might've been durable, but Gideon knew he tested the limits of his caffeine intake more than he should. "And I think I'm entitled to have a lot. It's been a long few weeks."

Tola couldn't argue with that.

Gideon wandered to the front of the ship, coffee in hand, trying to keep his mind in the present. It was always harder when they were traveling. Yes, he was surrounded by good things, good memories, but the inaction of moving from point A to point B could be hell. When things were really bad, he needed to keep himself occupied. He could have tried interacting with the others, but right now his options were people who would fuss over him too much and people too on edge for socializing. That didn't help much.

Well, either that or they're afraid of you...

Gideon shook that thought off.

Helen was in the cockpit. It felt like she'd been glued to that seat since this all started. She only left when absolutely necessary. Helen had always been businesslike, but this felt different. Gideon wasn't going to bring it up, though. Not his style, and anyways, she was probably on defense after the fight Arian had picked with her. "How are we looking?" he asked.

"Making good time. We should get there tonight." Helen rubbed her eyes. "I'll need you to keep your head on a swivel. I don't like how this place feels."

"That bad?" Gideon asked as he sat in the copilot's seat. He was surprised Matteo wasn't there; maybe he'd been smart enough to take a break. Gideon knew he could learn a thing or two from that, but chose not to.

"I don't know. That's why I'm nervous. I'd leave the others behind, maybe just take you and Matt, but I know Tola and Arian won't want to stay put."

"Yeah, and it might be better to keep them close." Gideon finished off the dregs of his coffee before adding, "We can put Arian on a leash if we have to."

He'd hoped to get a tiny smile out of Helen, a laugh, something. She just kept staring ahead. He wasn't sure if she was zoned out or seriously considering his suggestion. "Helen, are you okay?" he asked.

Helen sighed and glanced his way. Her eyes were exhausted. "Cassandra is still missing and we're climbing a mountain to find her. I'm not, but I have to be. Okay? So we're going to focus on planning for whatever is down there and not on fixing me."

At least she's admitting it? No, that still didn't make him feel better. "Okay," Gideon said, because he wasn't sure what else there was to say. "So, there's a lot of stations there. Do we have a plan for narrowing things down?"

"I'm still working on it. They seem like freedom of information types, but in an annoying way. If they think we're trying to shut this guy down, they might shut us out. But after everything on Jupiter-7, I don't think passing ourselves off as fans will help any."

"Probably not. I'd be lying low if it were me. Especially if he knows about that knife lunatic."

Helen nodded in agreement. "Do you think he's legit?" she asked. "That he really does know things about people?"

"Tola thinks he might be like Matteo but with more range and less detail. I can see that. He could just be a con man, but if he's a con man who knows something, I'll take it."

"Agreed." Helen checked a display, but didn't actually seem to register anything on it. Gideon double-checked it, just to be sure. Everything still looked fine. "I'll take what I can get at this point."

Gideon leaned back and stared at all the displays. The windows closed when they entered FTL, leaving them with not much else to look at. He always wondered what was on the other side, but never enough to try and look. He wasn't trying to make himself blind or insane.

Well. More insane than he already felt these days.