Chapter One: Cloudy Recall

Where were you when the world ended? Set in the fantastical world of Gemina, the St. Caterina - humanity's last hope for a new world - crashes straight into the Veldskarlish Empire. Hailed as a cal

So....where were you when the world ended, reader?

Yeah I know, it s a heavy question. But this is a heavy story. I hope your ready.

The Fall of the St.Caterina is not for the faint of heart, its not a book that is going to hold your hand. It won't make you feel good. But it will make you feel. And that's the goal of every good writer, isn't it? To make you feel...something. So here goes. I hope that, whatever you end up feeling, you enjoy the feeling for what it is.

Also, don't forget to Vote or Comment if it jives with you, and Follow me if I jive with you in general. It's always appreciated.

-ADKD

"So....where were you when the world ended?"

Raeburn struggled to crack open a bleary, bruised eye from behind the bars of his cell. He had seen better days, that was for sure, but today was certainly holding his attention. He couldn't help but peer as he might, from out of his cell, straining to find someone in the dark. For all his misery, at least he wasn't alone. There was someone with him in that dark, humid prison cell.

"I don't remember...I don't want to...remember." Came the voice, it was blunt and had a husky tone to it, as though the speaker was a weatherworn old man. But Raeburn knew better. He chuckled at the thought; a man! Now wouldn't that be a treat. To see another human being...just one ...other, person.

"Huh...I remember." He croaked back, his throat dry and parched. He tasted his mouth and could only catch the dark timbre of black earth. He tried to remember the texture of water, the cooling, brisk taste of liquid. But he couldn't quite recall it; the memory seemed cloudy and dank, like the dark, musty air around him. He felt as though he were swimming in frozen water, black water, with no light but the dying sun far above his head.

Raeburn shifted his shoulders around on the floor, groaning when he put weight on his bruised shoulder. But he wanted to turn to see who he was talking to. He couldn't see very well with his one eye; the room was darker than the darkness of space. The only light was a sliver of white noise that cut through the dusty air from a window high above him. But he wanted to, at least, be sure that he wasn't talking to himself again.

"I thought it was important...to you ...people."

Again, Raeburn could sense movement, on the other side of the bars. Then he heard it again; that same churlish, crusty voice; like a crab crawling up from the water for air.

"Well my people are different from their...people. I don't bother thinking about the past."

Raeburn felt a surge of relief; he had gotten the words right. After spending so long in the company of such creatures, he had picked up a bit of their language here and there. He groaned and leaned over so that he could scratch furiously at the scars on his legs. With his few remaining fingernails, brown and splitting, he picked at the scabs; tearing off the dry, discarded skin and rubbing the raw, red sores beneath. He shivered naked on the cold stone floor; his toes were black with numbing frostbite. But

It was dark in the cell, and Raeburn had only one eye with which to see. But even so, Raeburn could see him. The Canid creature...Skarlish, they called themselves...all fangs and skin and black, lusterless eyes. It reminded him of a hairless mole rat, or a dog that had outlived its lifespan. It made him feel sick to look at it, made him want to turn away. But right now, he wasn't feeling all that picky about the company he was going to keep.

"Different...I understand."

Raeburn coughed and it felt like his throat was on fire. He was so thirsty... so very thirsty.

"Hey...you...you got any water... Canid?" He groaned, rolling onto his side and reaching for the bars. He felt the cold metal on his blackened fingertips. He saw the Canid's head turn in his direction, illuminated by a sliver of white light. Its black eyes drilled into him...but Raeburn couldn't tell if the Canid was angry or sad. He could never tell how they were feeling really; he wasn't used to seeing their bare faces.

"No." Was all that it said to him, before turning away again. Raeburn let his head sink to the floor and felt the stone on the side of his face. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Damn...oh well." He muttered to himself, before his head hit the floor. He could feel the darkness overtaking him, felt sleep coming to him. Sleeping was all that he really had strength for anymore.

"Where were you?" that same, hoarse voice shook him from his dreams of blissful unconsciousness, forcing him awake. He grinned sheepishly, lifting a hand to rub his eyes.

"Huh...where do you think?" He answered with a laugh that quickly turned into a cough. But the canid creature didn't seem to find it funny. He turned towards the bars again and stared down at Raeburn, lying their prone on the floor.

"What was it like? The Skybreaker...it must have been...hoorambash." Raeburn didn't quite understand the last word, but he could guess at its meaning. The Canids were a simple people; primitive, unsophisticated. They looked at things like the mighty St. Caterina and thought of the things that they saw every day; the clouds, the mountains, the mighty rivers. The powerful forces of their world that changed everything, that ruled their lives. Now the Skybreaker had joined those powerful forces. Yes, she was very...hoorambash.

"Yeah...I guess it was." He whispered back. His one good eye peered into the empty darkness, but in his mind a vast landscape of metal and energy stretched outward from his blackened fingertips. A world unto itself; beautiful, beloved. An ark for the hope of mankind, a home and a promise for a better future. Towers of glistening steel, glass, pristine grey fibers and powerful light. Numberless faces all merging into one another, some beaming with hope, others darkened with concern.

He recoiled and bit his tongue in a spasm of pain. The endless reaches of steel were melting before his eyes, dribbling globs of molten metal sluicing holes through glass, ropes of glittering fibers burned away, along with flesh. Lights flashed in the dark, screams echoed through wide hallways to be answered by uncaring silence.

"It was my life for so long." He cried, but no tears would come to him. His eyes blinked dryly in the dark.

"I've wondered what it was like inside. All I ever saw was the outside. Through the smoke."

Raeburn nodded; smoke. Smoke had become their lives. Smoke was the air the breathed, the food they ate and the water they drank. They woke up to smoke; they went to bed still smelling the acrid fumes. It had choked him, strangled him and startled him to new life. Smoke had nearly killed him, and it had saved him countless times.

"It was too big to see the whole thing, I think. I only lived on one, small part. I guess that's not something I should be proud of though...considering it was my ship and all."

Raeburn peered through the thickening mucus in his eye to look at the Canid. It was leaning against the bars of his cell, scratching absentmindedly at the floor with a glazed look.

"And you were the Alpha then?"

Raeburn nodded slowly. He had never quite gotten the hand of the Canid word for "Captain", but he didn't think the differences in their dialect were too great to bar understanding. Alpha simply meant "Leader" and he had been that, if nothing else.

"Yeah...I was..."

Raeburn struggled to sit up, his tired, bone thin muscles pushing him up until he was slightly off the floor. He looked up at the Canid through his one good eye, the other bleeding dark fluid and cold tears. With a shaky hand, he reached up to his head and gave a curt salute to the ugly creature, a cheeky smile on his face.

"...Captain Raeburn Blackson... reporting for duty."

The Canid looked at him blankly, clearly not understanding the meaning of his words. But he didn't really care. He chuckled to himself and lay back down, feeling the warm memories wash over him, giving him comfort.

"And you? Who are you?" Raeburn asked, still smiling up at the Canid creature.

"Who?"

"Yes. You. Who are you?"

The Canid scrunched its face for a moment, staring into the dark and trying to remember. Raeburn was surprised; at least he could still plainly recall who he was. He hadn't forgotten that yet.

"I am...Júunadgrand....Zeta Júunadgrand." It replied after a moment of recollection. Raeburn nodded; he could at the very least, respect the Canid's commitment to their social ranks. It wasn't that different from the ranks of the navy, when he thought about it.

"Well...good to meet you then...Zeta Júunadgrand. I wish it were under better circumstances but...you know." Raeburn shrugged, thinking his joke was good. But Júun didn't get it.

Júun turned to stare down at him. "We wouldn't deserve any better."

Raeburn couldn't help but laugh. "Yes...you're right I suspect...You're right."

"Do you think we have much longer? Before..." Júun asked, but he wasn't looking at Raeburn anymore. He was looking up, to the window where the tiny sliver of light was leaking out of. It seemed to pour down on them like water, holy water from on high. But it was only ever light, and nothing so nourishing as a drink of cool...clear water.

"Don't get your hopes up Mr. Júunadgrand..." Raeburn warned. He had learned a long time ago not to hope anymore. For death, or for anything else. He didn't have anything left, except perhaps his memories.

Júun lowered his head to his chest and sighed. "I didn't think so..."

"So...who were you...what were you the Zeta of, if I can ask?"

"...I think... I mean...I know...that I was the Zeta of a Warpack. That I know, for sure."

At this, Raeburn's eyebrow shot up; he felt his body go stiff. Deep within him, like a distant memory, he felt a burning feeling; a tiny ember of anger deep within him somewhere, struggling against the cold of his barren prison cell. He smacked his lips and looked up at Júun.

"Which one?"

Júun screwed up his face again, as if he were struggling to pull the information out from the depths of his own mind.

"It was...the Oorgomanadgreer. Teeth of the Greer. Yes...that was it." Júun put an arm up to his face and coughed viciously into it, as if he were hacking up his own lungs.

Raeburn searched his memory...did he ever fight a Warpack like that? He didn't pride himself on knowing the names of each one. He didn't pride himself on his knowledge of Carnid Warpacks. But this one didn't seem to ring a bell with him.

"Really? Wha- What battles were you in? What years?" Raeburn leaned closer to the bars, he wanted to know more. He had to know more.

But Júun was struggling to remember basic things, he couldn't recall all the battles he had fought in, or the years he had struggled through to survive.

"I...I don't remember. I' m sorry...uuhhh...Alpha Raeburn-Blackson."

"You don't have to call me that...just call me Raeburn, its better."

Júun looked at him quizzically. "I don't understand. Are you not an Alpha?"

"Oh never mind..." Raeburn waved the question away wearily; he didn't have time to navigate Carnid social protocol. He had enough trouble with human beings, let alone some freakish alien species from another entire world. But then again, he had a lot of time on his hands...maybe he could try and understand. Raeburn decided to ask a simpler question, one that Júun might still be able to answer.

"Where are you from?"

If Carnids could smile, then Raeburn thought that Júun might have smiled at the question. At the very least, he answered it enthusiastically.

"I'm from Hurg. It is Arothareez. Not far from here."

Raeburn scratched at his face, confused. He shifted over onto his side to look at Júun. "Arothareez? What is that?"

Júun raised his hands and pushed his digits together, leaving a space between his palms.

"Many. Homes. Den-place."

"Ahhhh..." Raeburn sighed, finally understanding. Hurg was a city. Raeburn had known the city of St. Caterina intimately and the cities of Earth before that.

"D'you miss it?"

Júun made a strange, gurgling sound as though he were choking. With a start, Raeburn realized that he was laughing.

"No! I don't." Júun answered through laughter, shaking his head. Raeburn cracked a smile at Júun, wondering what the story behind that laughter was.

"Not a good home I'm guessing?"

Júun shook his head again. Raeburn got the message.

"That's too bad. St. Caterina was a good home...good place..."

Júun shifted uncomfortably against the bars, his mouth opened and closed as though he were trying to remember something. But whatever it was, it was eluding him.

"I...I do not...It wasn't..."

Raeburn was silent; he let Júun gather his thoughts.

"It wasn't that bad really. There were...some good things about it."

"What ...what do you mean?" Raeburn asked curiously. Júun was acting so strange, it was the first sign of any tangible emotions out of the stoic Carnid creature.

Júun stuttered and stalled, searching through his muddled mind for the right memory. It wasn't easy; all that Júun could remember any more were feelings, emotions, but not the events that tied them all together.

"The day the sky broke...I left the city. I've never gone back since then. I think I left behind....someone." Júun was slogging his way through the thick clouds in his head that hid his memories from him, pushing them aside one by one.

"A loved one?"

Júun was about to say no, then stopped.

"Yes. Someone very dear to me."

Thus concludes Chapter One: Cloudy Recall.

If you enjoyed the feelin' don't forget to Vote for the story and leave a Comment.or failing that, Follow me and get regular updates of the story.

Love you all,

-ADKD

Author's Note

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