Thrissko

The last Brist still screamed and writhed at my feet. The sound of it reverberated off the walls of the bay. To anyone who hadn't gone through it themselves, it would have sounded horrific like he was going through the worst terrors every imagined as he died. But we had all gone through it and he wasn't dying. He was going to know life now as wasn't possible before. It was a beautiful thing.

The Brist was stubborn, but the miasmids would have control of him soon. We had stopped on Brist and offered work to any Brist who wanted adventure and advance payment. More than a hundred had boarded our ships - innocent, naive creatures.

Sally sat next to the screaming Brist. The miasmids had allowed her to cut herself when we were onboard the ship. She did so now. A knife cut the skin on her forearm. A thin, red line of blood oozed out of her flesh. She smiled.

"I think you're genuinely crazy, little human girl," I said. I sat next to her and the Brist.

She placed the palm of her hand over the barbs on my hand. Her fresh blood ran down the back of my hand. My orange coloring was becoming slightly more and more red the more she did this. It didn't matter how often I washed my hands.

The Brist's yells grew quieter. Papa walked up to us and sat down next to Sally. He patted the top of her head, but he watched me.

"We've learned that the Armstar and Fallfrost usually take the back line of the G.E.F.'s formation. Unfortunately for you, the Shadow is usually at the forefront. You won't get your revenge quite yet."

My teeth mashed together. My fists clenched. I had dreamed every night of tearing Vai's flesh, of breaking his bones, of ramming my fist through his heart. Pain washed through me at the last thought. The miasmids didn't want him killed.

Fine. I sent my thoughts to them. Not kill him. Just hurt him. Really, really badly.

Pleasure tingled through me and I smiled.

"How long must I wait?"

"I don't know. The captains of the Armstar and Fallfrost are already connected with the miasmids. Their stellar navigators are also with the miasmids. We will come up from under them and attack them. Before the other ships can turn to help, the captains and navigators will have the Armstar and Fallfrost fall back with us. Once we are safely away and the captains have the Aether fields dismantled, we will board. You will personally lead a troop. You need to infect as many as you can with the miasmids. Those that refuse or are too difficult, kill them."

The pleasure increased at the thought of building the miasmid's army. "Understood," I said.

Papa didn't specify that Sally would be in my troop, but since she never left my side, I assumed she would be. I had no idea why she had decided to cling to me in the first place.

"The miasmids say there is an ancient enemy nearby. In the past, they've taken care of them themselves, but since we are already nearby, we will go kill it. Then we will go after the rest of the G.E.F. with our old and new ships and you will be able to have your revenge."

The Brist stopped screaming completely. A strange smile formed on his lips. He was one of us now.

"He'll be in your troop," Papa said as he pointed to the smiling Brist.