Astrophysical (completed)

Chapter 18

Cassie had never heard SA get frustrated before. It scared her a little, but she suddenly knew what she needed to do. Looking towards the mountains, Cassie nodded. "You're right. Sorry, first let's get out of here and then I need to explain what's really going on here."

She looked back at him, and SA just nodded and began to march off, Cassie in tow. They carefully made sure that no one was following them as they made their way to the furthest point of the valley. Here a thicker forest of trees began to make the valley denser which was more optimal for private space.

The pair must have walked at least an hour outside of town before stopping and settling on a location. SA stood firmly with his arms crossed while Cassie leaned up against a tree and looked down at her feet. After a couple of moments to herself breathing deeply, she began to relate the entire story of how and why she had come to find herself on that original planet and why she needed to research all she could on Channing's studies and machines.

To his credit, though she expected no less since he was a machine, SA stayed quiet the entire time. He raised an eyebrow here or there occasionally and his eyes began scrolling very quickly when she finally admitted to being from Earth, but otherwise he stayed quiet. When she had finished Cassie now stood straight and waited patiently to find out what his response would be.

It took a few minutes but then SA said softly, "Well wonders don't cease do they? I never thought I would ever get to meet an actually Earthling." Cassie smiled a little at that and looked down at her feet. "You really care about this guy then?"

Thinking about Ash once again made her feel pain in her chest, but she nodded. "Especially after watching that video. I had my regrets about leaving him before because he never struck me as a murderer before, but that video confirmed for me that he still is just a genuinely amazing man."

"He did technically kill her though if I might point out. Ceyona Hollands is gone."

"True, and while I don't know exactly why the options were death or that machine, I know Ash wouldn't have done that just for nothing. It has to do with the fact somehow she thought she was being used as a weapon and as he told her, this was better than death."

"This is why we are here then," SA said nodding. "We're going to find out from the people here what happened to her."

"I don't think they know," Cassie said solemnly. "I mean the picture I saw of her on the space station that had the report of her death was a younger version of her. Somehow the Sovereigns are trying to cover up what they really did to her and told everyone, even her parents that she had just simply been murdered. In truth, Ash would be the only one I would trust to tell me the truth."

SA shook his head. "Then why come here? I mean anywhere would be dangerous, but really, if you are just trying to leave, we could have gone anywhere else with less people following us if you wanted to steal a ship and get back to the outskirts."

She bit her lip and then looked back towards the town. "But there is one thing I wanted to do which is why I asked to come here." She paused and looked back to him, but then said, "I have a guess that since this is her hometown, that it is Ash's too. As a courtesy to him, I want to just see how his parents are doing. I know it sounds silly and ridiculous, but I know he cares a lot about them and wonders a lot about how much he screwed them over by doing what he did. If you can spare just a little bit of time, I would appreciate it if we could just check in with them."

Silence filled the small thicket as a breeze ran through the trees. Cassie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then waited to hear his response. Surprisingly, he had turned out to be such a good companion through all this that she came to welcome his advice. If he said they needed to go then she would listen. But SA must have recognized her emotions and instead smiled a little.