Back to Week 1, Episodes 1 thru 7
Episode 8: Hang On Tight Prompt: Stuck in a Memory
Bright flashes. Pain. Memories wrenched from deep down. I scream in my mind.
I find a memory of Jackson. Limbs entangled. The taste of his sweat. The coarseness of his scruff. Ecstatic bliss.
Hang on tight while my psyche is dredged and torn. The softness of his kiss. The gentleness of his touch. His laughter. His soft breath as he sleeps.
Hang on tight while the hot spike of light digs deep. His strong arms to protect me.
Hang on tight to Jackson. My rock. My love.
I collapse.
Awake to Jackson’s face close. I reach and hug him fiercely.
Episode 9: Standing the Midwatch Prompt: An Evening Job
While l’Kebrill recovered in the med-bay, Nic stood Jackson’s midnight watch.
The Reaper remained at station keeping. The space beacon was silent. All was quiet.
“The woman will recover.”
Nic leaped from her seat to confront a tall, lavender humanoid.
“What the …”
The being raised a calming hand. “I needed to know if you were noble creatures. You may call me The Watcher.”
“Just what the hell were you watching?”
“For eons I have watched your kind. But when the Designers arrived, I was unable to act.”
The being walked farther onto the bridge. “But now I have you.”
Episode 10: Temporal Flux Prompt: One Year Anniversary
Dashing onto the bridge, Renée stumbled to a stop. “What the hell is that?”
Nic took a breath. “A visitor from the zombie beacon. Calls themself The Watcher.”
“Well, it’s never boring around here. A year ago, 4x-warped time I think the kids were stealing this ship with two dead ancient aliens, last year 1x-time it was you busting me out of jail. Confusing. And now this.”
Nic moved to join Renée. “I know. The interdimensional travel screws with anniversaries in the timeline.”
Renée warily stepped forward. “What do they want?”
“I don’t know for sure. They want us apparently.”
Episode 11: Who’s Watching the Watchers Prompt: About a Traveler
Before Renée could respond, a glowing, ovoid ship popped into reality off the starboard bow of the Reaper.
A snap, a sizzle, another intruder materialized, ray-gun in hand. Human-looking except for the green skin and twitching antennae.
“Not another one,” said Nic.
“We are The Searchers. Ever wonder why other species are humanoid? We believe, like many before us who have made the trek, that an ancient race seeded the galaxy. We travel the cosmos, searching for the beginning. But the Designers disrupted galactic progress. The beacon’s activation alerted us. We’re here to help.”
Renée’s eyes narrowed. “With a gun?”
Episode 12: Technical Malfunction Prompt: Well-Known Story with a Twist
Gesturing towards the beacon entity. “They can’t be trusted.”
“And you can be?” asked Nic.
“I hope so. We placed sentinels in your system. We’ve been waiting for a signal.”
Ace entered the bridge. “He must mean the black monoliths early explorers found buried at Tycho and orbiting Jupiter.”
“Those things?” Renée and Nic asked in unison.
“There were three,” said The Searcher. “On our odyssey through space, we encountered HAL piloting a Designer ship. He explained the problem.”
“That giant baby is legendary.”
“The last Sentinel clearly malfunctioned.”
“That was some malfunction,” said Ace. “It’s confused people for centuries.”
Episode 13: When is an Offer of Help Not an Offer of Help? Prompt: About a Question
The Searcher pulled the trigger, vaporizing the beacon construct.
Jenny and Jackson rushed onto the bridge, drawing up short.
“What the hell was that?” asked Jackson.
“That was merely an artifact replicated by the beacon using your ship’s fabricator.”
“And you are?” asked Jenny. “And was the blaster necessary?”
The Searcher ignored the remark. “You need to split your team. One to Mars, one to help the Librarians.”
Renée stood toe-to-toe with the Searcher. “Who put you in charge?”
“You’ll need my ship to deal with the Martian authorities.”
“It’s got a point,” said Nic. “We could use some help.”
Episode 14: Through a Glass Darkly Prompt: Looking in a Mirror
Jenny sat at the mirror in the quarters she shared with n’Kebron. She didn’t usually worry about her appearance, but she noticed.
Now her long, dark-blonde hair was lustrous, her skin softened, the lines on her brow less marked.
Reflecting on all that had happened since Jackson’s return, she couldn’t quite define why the change. Was it leaving the corrosive and stressful environment of Mars? New purpose in the rebellion? Family reunited? Or the new love she’d found with ‘bron?
As if through a glass darkly, a clear answer eluded her.
Jenny shrugged off the thought. Enough of that already.