Darkness

Leaving the the orbital, the signal of several Reaver boats inbound, I don't know if what I am going to attempt will work. It is, admittedly, a long shot. I can't logically or rationally explain why AuroraBlue is comatose. The station can take care of itself though, that I'm sure of. They're well armed and the Sinkov is already aware of the situation. The frigate will be there before the Reavers can do much damage. Even if they get aboard, the station personnel know what to do. I just won't be there to see them do it.

The Reaver boats won't see us on the way out. Their own drive flares are hot enough to overwhelm Wave Equation's signature, even if the hull hadn't been blacked out with the drives damped. She's an ELINT boat and I know the game better than they do. But right now, the Reavers are the last of my worries.

I can't use full burn because of the damping, so it takes a longer than I'd like to move my boat a couple light seconds from Hale's Moon into the greater Lagrange point trailing Penglai. Beetle's Baily is on the other side of the formation, ahead of Hale's in the large gravitationally stable region that makes up the L5 point. It's quiet here. As quiet as we're going to get without spending a week burning out the Deep Black. Out between the stars. Hopefully, it'll be quiet enough.

With the boat holding steady, roughly co-orbital with a hunk of rock half a kilometer wide 5 clicks off, we go silent. It's why we came out here. Wave Equation's hull can passively damp out all the RF and signal noise. But the distance serves another purpose. It isolates us from any people who might be loud enough to cause a problem.

I can't hear them, of course. I'm not a Reader. Whether I understand, or even really believe, doesn't matter. Lily's said the Cub needs quiet. Real quiet. And that is something I know how to give her.

With Wave Equation set to dead silence, I set up the program. Even Blue's not here with us now. He'd need my boat's small high-performance Frame to be with us, and the Frame is powered down. Everything is powered down except auxiliary life support running from emergency power and a couple of tiny E-Lights providing barely enough light for me to not trip over anything in the dark.

She'll need hot, then cold, and silence. It takes a bit of work to program aux life support to run the thermal control program I need, but it's the kind of challenge I'm well equipped for. With everything set, I make sure AuroraBlue is comfortably resting on the bed then settle in to meditate and wait.

It's the kind of deep meditation most people never achieve. It's hard for a person, even a trained and naturally calm one, to completely quiet their mind. But it's what I have to do. Absolutely blank my mind. Silence. Ignoring any sensation as the cabin first heats up to what would be considered "uncomfortably hot" then, after a time, cycles back through "almost painfully cold." I've set the temperature range carefully to be stressful, but not threatening for the duration we'll be exposed.

All the while my mind . . . blank.

For a moment, a fleeting moment, I know what it is to be the Buddha. My mind at peace. One with the 'Verse around me. Before I can fix it in my mind, it's gone. My awareness picks up movement in the cabin and my eyes open to see AuroraBlue stepping towards me in the darkness then settling to the deck in front of me. She doesn't speak or look to either side. She just stares ahead, wide eyed and frightened.

I don't know if she understands where we are or what we're doing, but she's awake and I take her gently into my arms to hold her close.

"Welcome back, Tiny Dragon. Mother is here for you."

Tiny Dragon, wakes.

Stares into silent darkness.

Finds mother's embrace.