I know where I am. This isn’t Tucana. This is the Draco Dwarf Cluster, the new colony, the paradise world Shambhala. I’m where Axel should’ve been.
I’m not Axel, either. Why do I have his memories?
The first thing I said was “I am.” A mistake. The first thing I should’ve said was, “Who am I?”
I’m not one of the names on that list.
But the woman in that locket. Tara. The admiral’s wife. The triumphant man’s lover. The source of all light. I don’t have a locket because I’m supposed to have her. She’s here. That’s the only reason I can think straight. “Her Eminence is back on the flagship.”
All right. Find the flagship. Somehow I sense that Tara can tell me my name. Tara can make sense of the strange bits of Axel’s story. Tara can put everything right.
The people are coming out of the building now. It isn’t much of a building. It looks like it was slapped together quickly.
“I told you,” says the triumphant man. “Total waste of time.”
“We’ll try again in the morning.”
My first thought is to greet them, but then I hold back. There’s something not quite right. I don’t want them to see me, not yet. I hide by the base of this enormous tree. No, it’s not a tree. It’s a nau’gsh. A Cu’enashti – a sentient house for the spirit of a mothman and the personalities he uses to animate his animal form.
The personalities he uses to animate his animal form: Axel, Daniel, Malachi, Tommy, Admiral Cillian Whelan. There are others.
Me.
In the evening light, I catch a glimpse of the triumphant man’s face. I do know him. His name is Rivers, Clive Rivers. And the good cop is a buxom blonde woman wearing an incredibly tacky jacket, shot through with tubing containing a glowing gas. I recognize her also, Captain Suzanna Noviik. The last time I saw both of them was at a party.
A party?