Peaks and valleys

I've never been the most social of animals. It's not a secret, really. Never was. Most shindigs, unless I was with someone, I'd find myself off in a corner somewhere, sipping juice, or water, or coffee, watching people be festive and trying to predict who was most likely to get into a fight on their way home. Always felt like an observer rather than a participant.

Sabrina changed that for me, though I'm still an observer. Can't help it. It's part training, and part who I am. But now I'm with someone when I go to a party and it makes a difference. When the party's in Fook's, and Sabrina's one of the folks the part is for I have some actual reasons to feel festive and enjoy.

But I still observe.

I had to hand it to Charly. She'd done a right fine job decorating Fook's for the event. Even being a birthday party for Lily, 'Brina, and Krenshar. I guess Incep anniversary date would be more accurate for Kren and probably Lily too, but it still counted as birthday in my book.

It was good to see all the folks who turned out for it. Some there for Lily, or 'Brina, or Kren. But most there with well wishing for all three.

A lot of folks came over from the Blackburne Enclave, and Imrhien and Duncan made an appearance all the way in from Shadow. Shindig must have meant a bit for them to take time off patrols to come make a showing. Though I missed a few folk, like Gallagher and Leo. Would have thought they'd make an appearance, but something must have kept them away.

Only damper was the Reaver attack earlier in the day, quickly dealt with by the Militia, and the lone straggler spotted on the edge of town during the party. Also dealt with quickly. And then, of course, there was Ben.

Was one of the last faces I expected to see on Hale's Moon again. Ever. But there he was in all his glory, talking to Lily and folk around her, acting quiet and a bit contrite. At least he was being respectful. Well behaved even. Meant it was only a little damper on my otherwise festive mood, which a comfy night with my wife was able to restore quite nicely.

Still didn't mean I was shiny with him associating with her again. At all.

Unfortunately, that festive mood didn't survive the whole of the next day.

I hadn't seen AuroraBlue in a while. Too long, really. But I wasn't expecting her to bite me when she did see me again. Tiny Dragon. Sharp teeth. But an inoculation? Against being turned into a Reaver? How'd that work?

We'd known for a while that the predicted die-off rate for the Reavers wasn't holding. There were simply too many of them left, which meant there were new ones coming into existence. The 'new blood' ones we'd encountered historically, folk driven mad by a Reaver encounter, weren't numerous enough to replace natural attrition in their ranks. While they could breed, it wasn't bloody likely. First: there weren't many females in their ranks. Second: wasn't likely one of them could carry to term aboard one of those leaky, scavanged, boats they called home. Third: Reavers were made, not born, and without more Paxalon Hydroclorate, you don't have more Reavers - even if they did have the genetic predisposition to go batshit insane when exposed to the stuff. And Fourth: even if they were breeding, the oldest of them would be about Jin's age, and we hadn't seen any younguns in the Reaver ranks.

That meant someone was making the bloody things, and it was a safe bet on who that someone was.

According to Aurora, Mindo was making more of the things. Using a compound synthesized in what Lily used for blood. Making more so he could find a cure. But to what end? Why the hell make more of them? And a cure for what? A madness he'd induced in his victims? The original victims of the Pax were innocent people. Thirty million innocent people. Ninetynine point nine percent of them peacefully dead. That remaining tenth of a percent driven into the depths of madness to become Reavers.

And Mindo was making more of them? I'd told Aurora it was wrong to kill. In nearly every case, I believe that. Never mind the blood on my own hands. I've been dealing with that karmic balance for many years. It was little Aurora's hands I wanted to keep clean.

Unfortunately, there are times when there is no other rational choice. One has to die to save a thousand, ten thousand, more. Only Aurora believed it was Lily I would have to kill, not Mindo.

It made me think of a story from a history book. During one of the early Global Wars, the English had cracked a military code used by the Germans. At one point, they intercepted a plan to bomb a town in the countryside. Warning the town would save people, but would have revealed that the code was broken. Their leader chose not to warn the town, keeping the secret of the broken code, dooming hundreds to death. But in the end, they were able to keep decoding messages and thus save thousands more.

Was that the sort of choice I'd been given here? Kill the artificial life I'd come to think of as my own little sister, in order to end the scourge that was the Reavers?

No.

Unacceptable.

There had to be another way, even if it meant not killing Mindo. Yet. Besides, Xoxo had gotten Imrhien's help in sequestering Mindo somewhere on Shadow, which put him temporarily out of reach.

I'd let this go too long, letting the situation grow complicated while I was concentrating on other issues. The Loyalists and the war on Shadow were important, but so were the Reavers. And these people were family.

From what I'd learned, Aurora was planning to release Blue to keep Mindo from getting to him, however that worked. Lily was, if Aurora was right, going to get increasingly violent as the compounds in her body churned out more of Mindo's Reaver-juice, which would make protecting her all that much harder. And we were going to be dealing with an increasing number of Reavers, making this problem a much higher priority.

There wasn't a lot of information at this point. Aurora said my time was at hand. Perhaps it was. Perhaps not. Either way, we would be ready.