Chapter Fourteen: Lying is Hard, Telling the Truth is Impossible
As she expected, the Ran was unable to hide from the Tower's ship, it changed its direction almost as quickly as they had taken off and ignored the now immobile Dama.
Still, she pushed the engine to its max until even more distance was between them. Laughing fanatically, she ripped off her helmet and grinned widely.
Something had snapped inside her. All the fear and remorse was gone, as was the desire to give up. She no longer felt any of those paltry emotions, all she felt was elation.
It always returned. Like clockwork.
The thrill of being in control of a ship.
Even if she no longer was the captain of the Suzeren, she still had the Ran to fly, and fly she did.
"Hold on, this might be a bumpy ride!"
She didn't have to look at him to know that his face was alternating between looking as though he was about to puke and looking as though he was shocked.
She guessed that he wasn't used to going so fast.
Typing something onto the control panel, she brought up a screen. On it was the attacking ship, still behind them and gaining.m. A bright light was building in the distant and she sneered.
"Plasma cannons, huh? How nice, but still not enough to catch me." Her laughter escaped her again. In the reflection she saw Dis body grow stiffer and stiffer.
3...2...1 with skill that was all her, she slammed to a stop and turned with a ferocity that she could only explain as vomit inducing.
The light shot past them, missing by a fraction of an inch.
With haste she accelerated once again as another shot narrowly missed hitting them.
"Your turn," esastic, she pointed to a group of buttons in the middle of the control console. "Press one, it'll be fun."
A third shot from behind rocked them violently, but she held steady and kept smiling.
While their opponents may have had the better weapons, she had the faster ship.
Dis, without hesitation, took his helmet off and nodded, his face a shade of sickly green.
It only took him a moment, his long fingers pressed with accuracy.
"Ooh, the smoke screen."
It was clear he had no clue what she was talking about, but as he lifted his head he realized exactly what she meant.
Surrounding not only them, but a vast area was a field of red smoke. Shimmering in their lights, he couldn't help but stare. Unfortunately, his eyes didn't stay long.
Within a blink of an eye, Ashra had sped off once again.
*
Three hours had passed since they'd left the Dama and only an hour had gone by since they'd finally shaken off their pursuers.
Dis sat exhausted in his seat, head back and eyes closed. His chest rising and falling with his breath. His dark brown hair hung barely a few inches away from the floor.
Despite his aversion to her speed, he dutifully helped her when he could, deploying all kind of traps as she evaded their advances and attacks until they'd made their get away. And when they'd finally stopped, he seemed to just deflate.
She herself had gotten up to check on all her instruments. Quite a number of them had been used with such force that she worried that she had broken them. Most would still work, only a few needed a tune up. She got to it and after half an hour she'd finished, only one still blink red. There wasn't anything she could do for it at the time and so she stopped.
Dis still lay in his chair, black clad arm covering his eyes.
Oh yeah, he said his head was killing him. I wonder if it still hurts? Wait... How long has it been since he's slept?
She tried to sit back down silently, but her chair creaked. She hoped she hadn't woken him, but her hopes were dashed as she saw his mouth twitch.
"You," his voice was deeply exhausted. "I think I've lost half my remaining years just by being around you."
She rolled her eyes. "Sure."
He still didn't remove his arm, but she was sure he was smiling, or something equivalent.
She found herself smiling and leaning back in her seat. It wasn't super comfortable but it was the closest thing she had to a bed at the moment.
"I see now why they call you the pirate queen. You truly are a forced to be reckoned with."
The smile slid of her face but she didn't move.
Chuckling, she put her hand to her mouth, as if she found what he said hilarious.
"You're such a joker." She giggled a bit more.
"I guess you're going to pretend like you're not. That's fine. I honestly don't care either way." His arm slid off his face halfway to reveal an eye, staring at her, unblinking.
"I wasn't so sure you know, all the information said you were a wrinkled old hag in her seventies. I thought to myself. It can't be, this little girl couldn't be the great pirate queen. She just couldn't be. But something was off, you may have looked and acted like young woman, but every so often your eyes went dark and you showed this expression as if you'd seen this all before."
He stopped, not moving. Sighing, he began again.
"I was a little more sure when that Dama's power was sabotaged. Everything about you seemed to change completely in that moment. The woman I saw was not a child, she was proud, she was steadfast, and most of all she knew exactly what to do. Even I was at a loss. When I saw the information that had been on the android, I was even more sure. All that travel space know your penchant for antagonizing the Tower of Bel. Still, I still had my doubts."
She held up her hand, signaling for him to stop.
"I see the credence in your words, but still, there are some holes in your theory. If I was 'Ashra' then why am not on the Suzeren? I would be the most important person, so me being missing for so long would definitely be a problem. And if I was her... Wouldn't I be an old woman? Clearly I am not." She swept her hand across her whole body. "Anyways, if you really knew anything, you'd know Lady Ashra has golden hair, not-" she yanked a strand of her ash colored locks. "This color."
Dis let out a little chuckle and sat up.
"I've seen her before you know?"
Ashra almost spoke but held it back. The words heavy on the tip of her tongue.
"I was not a member at the time, so correct me if I'm wrong, but the envoy sent for the truce was not you, was it not?"
He nodded. "But you see, I was there, I was an attendant to my predecessor. You see my father had the same moniker as me, and although I had long since been in control of the Dama, he was the rightful Captain. He went and your people had the gall to name him an imposter." He laughed. "But I digress, simple fact of the matter is that I have seen you before. You may be younger, you may be more... Rambunctious, but I have seen you before. "
He tilted his head and smiled softly.
Irritation welled inside her. How was she supposed to get herself out of such a situation. Cursing his uncanny ability to see the truth almost instantly, she smiled too, though strained.
"And if I really was her?"
His grin spread even farther, his eyes clear and vibrant. He was obviously amused.
"It doesn't really matter. I just wanted to let you know that in the end, even if you lie to me, I'll always figure it out, Ashra."