Chapter 2: Lost

"Let's take a break." Ambrose called, setting his pack down and taking a drink from his canteen. Wolfen happily let his own pack fall and sat down wearily next to it. He waited patiently for Ambrose to finish his drink, then took the canteen from the man's outstretched hand. Dios trudged up beside him and bent forward, his breath coming in gasps. He wasn't as physically fit as his two companions, and he had the extra load of medical supplies.

The three had been walking in the black, dreary desert for three days; they were able to determine days because of a strange change in the world's brightness that they assumed came from what little sunlight could penetrate the constant black overcast. They had managed to acquire rations and water by searching the ship, and Dios kept his equipment with him, just in case. Wolfen had spotted what appeared to be smoke in the distance, and assuming it to be the Captain's escape-pod they made their way towards it. Yet now they faced a large problem; the smoke was gone.

"I don't know about you two," Dios muttered as he gazed out into the distance, "But I wonder if there's any point in this." Ambrose gave him a sour look; he was growing very tired of the man very quickly. "I saw the Captain get into the escape-pod, Doctor."

"And if the Captain is alive, clearly we have to find her." Wolfen added, "Regardless of who's in the pod, four minds are better than three."

Dios sniffed agitatingly. "I don't know if I'd want her mind along. What kind of Captain abandons her ship, anyways?" He plopped down and took a drink from his own canteen, which was noticeably less full than the others'. Ambrose gave him another ugly look and turned his back to him. "It's not like she wanted to. The Signature Officer practically had to throw her in. He was a good man, that one."

"Apparently not good enough; you don't see him with us, do ya?" Dios muttered, massaging his sore feet. Ambrose ignored this, but his hidden face was filled with loathing for the Doctor. Wolfen, who was starting to get fed up with the man himself, tried to ease the tension by passing out the day's rations to them. Ambrose shook his head at the offer; he had reduced himself to one meal a day. Wolfen was worried about the man's health, but when he had tried to argue before it got nowhere, so he didn't try this time. Dios, on the other hand, had no qualms about eating three of the ration packs a day. He took the meal and slowly began to eat the contents. Wolfen sat himself back down and began to eat the tasteless stuff, himself.

There was a short period of silence among them, the sound of their eating the only noise their ears could note. Occasionally thunder could be heard in the clouds, but there was never a flash or a streak. One of these rumblings resounded softly above, and Ambrose stared up at the black sky grumpily. "Don't those clouds ever fade?"

Wolfen looked up at the sky gloomily. "Remember seeing the planet on the Explorer? All black." He looked down again, letting the complete gloominess of the land affect him. "I don't think those clouds are going anywhere."

"No, they cover the entire planet." Dios interjected, "You better get used to the image. We're going to be seeing it for the rest of our natural lives."

"You don't know that." Wolfen replied, but his face revealed his fears. "The Commander set up a distress signal. Surely…"

"You soldiers seem to make disappointment a trend." Dios interrupted again, giving Wolfen a sharp look. "The survey beacons of my men couldn't penetrate those clouds, and they are of a far superior power compared to that pitiful little messenger signal."

"If you've developed a better idea with that genius mind of yours, feel free to share." Ambrose grumbled at him sourly. He looked about once again, squinting his eyes. There was nothing in sight, save the mountains that loomed far in the distance. Already the ruins of the Explorer were beyond their vision, mostly due to the incessant darkness. He turned to Wolfen desperately. "Are you sure we're going in the right direction?"

Wolfen stood up and scanned the area. "Well, from the Explorer I saw that the smoke was just to the right of that mountain range." He pointed out to the grey rocks far in the distance. "So I know we're going in the right direction."

"You mean the right general direction." Dios corrected, "But let's face it; we don't have a clue."

"The smoke was in this direction." Wolfen countered simply, straining his eyes in hopes of seeing the smoke once again.

"No, the smoke was in this direction." Dios stated with a huff. He stood up and crossed his arms, his eyes accusing. "For all we know, we've already passed the damn pod! Or maybe we're about to. If you're just a little bit off in your direction, we could miss the thing by miles!"

Wolfen turned to face him defiantly. He was beginning to lose patience with the man. "This is the only course of action we have. Would you have preferred to stay on the Explorer and wait for the rations to run out?"

"At least there we would have had more rations and a better chance of figuring something out!" Dios barked back, "As it is, we're walking in God knows what direction, and now we haven't a clue were the Explorer is! All we have are these stupid rations, some water, and my tools!" He threw the empty pack down angrily and stomped on it, as if to emphasize his point. "We don't have any of the resources we could have had if we had stayed on the Explorer, and now we don't have any hope of even getting back to it!"

"We can't just ignore the pod! The Captain's there, and nobody knows the ship better than her." Wolfen argued, stepping over to his pack and slinging it on. He turned about authoritivly, as if the argument was over, and began walking.

"We don't even know that the Captain survived the pod's landing!" Dios shouted. He ignored his pack and chased after Wolfen as Ambrose slowly stood up and grabbed his own pack. "For all we know we're searching for a dead woman! I'm not even certain there really was a smoke-cloud!" He was right beside Wolfen now. He lowered his voice and spoke in a taunting tone right into the man's ear. "Look up at the sky, Mr. Pilot. All that black, all those clouds. Looks an awful lot like smoke doesn't it?"

"What are you accusing me of?" Wolfen questioned through gritted teeth. He kept walking, trying to control the loathing that he was developing for the man.

"I don't think you actually saw smoke." Dios replied, "It was just an illusion. The tragic loss of your little bitch made you see hallucinations designed to give you false hope. You've led us out here to die, Mr. Pilot. To die for nothing."

It was too much. Wolfen turned about and punched the man to the ground. He stood hovering over Dios, his eyes threatening, waiting for him to say another word. Dios wasn't afraid of him, though. No, the doctor's eyes weren't afraid or even in pain from the hit. They were laughing. Laughing.

"Ever the soldier," Dios scoffed as he wiped away blood from his nose, "So violent."

Rage brewed inside Wolfen, and he came down on the Doctor in a torrent of fists. He didn't get to strike the man too many times, however, before he felt himself being lifted bodily off the man. He squirmed and struggled against Ambrose's strong arms, screaming and spitting curses at Dios the whole time. He hated the man, he loathed him! What right did he have to speak that way, what kind of horrid creature was he? How dare he call Miki a bitch!

As if this last thought gave him strength, he broke free of Ambrose's grip and charged at Dios again. Just as he reached the man, however, he felt his world go spinning and he fell on his back, hard. The air burst out of his lungs and he went into a fit of gasps while Ambrose stood over him, gazing down. "Sorry boy, but you need to control yourself. He's the only doctor we have."

"What an excellent throw!" Dios stated, getting up tenderly. He was bruised in a few spots and the wound on his chin was bleeding again, yet still he was smiling. He placed a friendly hand on Ambrose's shoulder. "You surprise me, Commander. I expect you to join our young friend, and instead you…" He didn't finish his statement; Ambrose's fist knocked him out cold.

"You still deserved it." Ambrose said calmly. He turned about and gave Wolfen a hand. "Are you alright, Fallion?" Once on his feet Wolfen bent forward, gasping still. He gradually straitened, then nodded.

"Thank you, I think I needed that." He replied. He turned to the unconscious Dios and then, restraining himself visibly from kicking the body, turned away. "I don't know how we're going to keep from tearing him apart. What kind of person could talk like that?"

"I wouldn't know." Ambrose answered, setting himself down on the ground, "And I don't really know if I want to. What I do know is that it's starting to get a bit darker. Guess it's dusk."

Wolfen looked about and realized that Ambrose was right, the world did seem a little darker. It was strange to him, because it seemed not too long ago that it was morning, if you could call it morning. He turned and saw that Ambrose was lying down on the dusty ground. "Are you going to sleep already?"

Ambrose gave out a bitter laugh. "I'm an old man, and we've been walking for God knows how long. Wish we could tell time on this blasted black rock." He tucked his sack under his head and closed his eyes. "I gotta admit, though, it's just the right temperature here, and with all this quiet it's not hard to get any sleep."

"I disagree." Wolfen said, crossing his arms. He was used to hearing the constant noise of a space ship. It just wasn't the same without the sound. "I think I'll stay up a little longer."

"You shouldn't think too much, Fallion." Ambrose opened one eye and watched his pacing. "It'll just deprive you of sleep."

"I'm not tired, anyways." Wolfen answered, "And I don't like the idea of both of us sleeping with that, that… person around." He cast an ugly glance at Dios. "I don't trust him at all."

"C'mon, Fallion, what's he going to do?" Ambrose yawned, "He's a goddamned scientist, for Christ's sake, we're two trained soldiers."

Wolfen knew his Commander was right, but he simply couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding. He glanced at Dios, then slowly gazed all about. He was going to say something more, but he realized that Ambrose's breathing had changed; he had fallen asleep. He turned away from the two men and gazed out into the black desert, letting his mind wander. Despite himself, Dios's words cut him deeply. What if they had passed the escape-pod? What if they really were destined to die in this desolate, lonely place?

Wolfen shook his head violently, trying to disperse these thoughts. He started to focus, instead, on a place he could always use for escape: the past. Fond memories flurried past by his eyes; his days at the academy on Earth, his fellow pilots and friends, all the women he had met, his mother and father. Yet out of all these Miki was the most dominant.

Wolfen still couldn't believe the truth: that Miki was dead, and he would never see her pretty green eyes again. His memories began to focus on her, to circle around her image like a hurricane. The day he met her on the Explorer, her hair all around him, the sweet smell of her perfume, and her eyes, always her emerald eyes. There were her friends, her brother Jacob. He saw the photo of her family, saw her bedsheets, heard her voice, felt her bare skin, could taste her lips, could see her sword… her sword?

Imagination cascaded into reality, and suddenly there was a man standing before Wolfen, with a long, thin, and twisted sword in hand.