Chapter 8

Gabriel soon found out that the diet of the crew consisted almost entirely off of fruits and vegetables. After being knocked out for an indeterminate amount of time, he was hungrier than he had realized. the 'Kitchen', that Silas had led him to was more like an orchard with various kitchen appliances strewn around the space. Branches protruding from the walls had various fruits hanging from them. Some Gabriel recognized. There were apples, pears, and oranges, easy fruits to grow, but then there were fruits he had never seen before. One was a spiral shape like a cinnamon bun, but it was a bright blue color. Another took a conical shape and was a fiery red. Gabriel was unsure how the crew typically did meals, but he picked up a basket and began harvesting various fruits. He didn't want to sit down to a full meal right now, especially since he didn't want to get in the way of whatever the culture of mealtime was to these people. The fruit seemed like a safe enough bet. He stayed with what he knew, but he decided to be a tad adventurous and pick one of each of the alien fruits. After he was done, he bit into a pear and found it the same as he was expecting, firm and juicy. He decided that sitting in the kitchen and eating alone probably was not a good image, and he really didn't want to be alone with his thoughts at the moment, so he decided to try and make his way to the bridge. He picked a few more fruit so he could fill his basket and entered back into the shifting maze of verdant corridors. He looked up to foliage forming the roof of the corridor and saw a mix of colorful leaves. He singled out a few blue leaves noticing that the tips of the leaves were pointing in a specific direction, so he began walking. 

After a few minutes following the blue leaves, Gabriel made it back to the bridge. It was quiet here now, almost everyone was gone except for Azriel. He seemed to be lost in thought staring through the membrane at the void beyond. Gabriel had seen little in the way of scanners or other positional equipment on Talitha. Azriel had said that they had picked up a signal, presumably his signal, but Gabriel could not see how they would have done so? That probably was too far to ask considering Silas's attitude to him asking questions about the working of the ship. Instead, he placed the basket of fruit down on the desk next to Azriel and stood beside him considering the space beyond. The captain seemed surprised at the gesture but picked up an apple and bit into it. They were a way away from the wreck of the Fortuna now and seem to be heading in the same direction his old colony ship was. That is, towards Aureolus. Even now the thought of the planet filled Gabriel with anticipation. Could they be heading there even now? What secrets does the planet hold for him? It would be best to ask after the heading of Talitha, but that might invite questions about where the Fortuna's destination. He would tell the crew of Talitha in time, but he wanted to send off his old crew first, now that they were all collected for him to do. It seemed an unusual thing for him to want, but something told him that they needed to be respected after what had happened. He also needed to make sure. 

"Can I ask, how did humans make it to this part of the void? I asked Silas, but he told me that he didn't know exactly. He told me to ask you." Gabriel asked. Stuffing down his grief. 

"I wonder why he thinks I know." Azriel chuckled. "It is a bit of a mystery how we originally came to be in Teval. Many people think we originated from the galaxy, and others think we were led here on a grand pilgrimage. There are some who claim to know the truth, but we don't have any concrete evidence."

"What do you think?" Gabriel pressed. 

"I think that it doesn't matter, we are here now and all we can do is decide what to do with that. The past is a useful teacher, but at some point, it becomes a waste of time living there." Azriel answered. The two sat in silence for a spell, both fixated on the void. Gabriel moved to grab an apple from the basket when the voice of Tonii made him jump. 

"Sorry to interrupt your contemplation, but I am really hungry. Gabriel, do you think you could bring one of the gwirls down here?" Gabriel didn't think he would ever get used to hearing her voice echo through the room like that. 

"Sure... uh which one is a gwirl?" He asked confused. "Also where are you? I can't see you."

"I am on the bottom floor, and the gwirl is the blue swirl. I guess you probably don't have any where you are from? I thought since you spoke the same language you would have similar fruits. Unless you call them something different?" Tonii's voice boomed through the room. 

"No we don't have them where I am from. Sorry, I only picked a couple. I wanted to be at least a bit adventurous." Silas replied as he brought the basket down both levels and finally saw Tonii. She was almost fully swallowed by the bulbus base of the tree that spanned the vertical length of the bridge. Gabriel had thought it was only support, but apparently, it was also some sort of organic cockpit as well? The only parts of Tonii's body still visible was her torso and her chin. Her limbs disappeared into the tree bark, and a wooden helmet grown over much of her face including her mouth. Gabriel had no idea how she was going to pick up the fruit let alone eat it, but as he approached the trunk began to move and shift around her. Her shoulder worked and she was able to free one arm, then two from the trunk, and finally she pulled her head from the helmet. Gabriel caught a quick glimpse of wire thin vines disappearing into the helmet and shuttered thinking of the implications of how Talitha was controlled. He handed her the Gwirl and she began ravenously tearing at the fruit. Taking massive bites and wolfing it down in a matter of seconds. She moved to connect herself back into the tree, but Gabriel offered her the last of the blue spiral fruits. She looked at him with a smile and a shrug and gobbled the second one down then went back into the trunk, but before the helmet enclosed over her head, she said

"I think I am starting to like you, Gabriel." Gabriel turned away to go back up the stair and smiled to himself. He liked Tonii as well. He liked almost all of the crew, they definitely had their quirks, but he had a feeling that they were good people. He stood back beside Azriel who was paying keen attention to the interaction it seemed. Gabriel shot him a quizzical look, but all he did was shrug and take a bite of the red conical fruit he had picked. Gabriel looked back at the basket. He picked up the second red conical fruit and took a bite, and he immediately cringed. The fruit was spicy like a pepper but had a strange sweetness to it. The flavor was strong and almost assaulted his senses. he could feel his eyes start to water, but the sweetness made it taste good. Azriel laughed out loud.

"I guess you don't have pepper berries where you come from either then? It definitely has a unique taste." He said through a grin. Gabriel put the basket of fruit down and couldn't help but laugh himself. He hadn't laughed for what felt like ages even if he knew it was not that long ago. Tonii also burst into musical laughter and Gabriel almost lost his feet. He felt her laugh in his bones, and it rocked him to his core.

"With that." Gabriel said, recovering from his fit of laughter and adopting a more somber tone. "If you don't need anything else from me I am going to say farewell to my crew." 

"Actually, there is one thing. I would like to know where the Fortuna was heading, and what your mission was?" Azriel said. Gabriel took a long moment to consider. He really should tell this man, it wasn't some insane secret, but it felt precious. Like the last thing he could keep from his old life, and if he told someone, then he would lose it. His mind told him that this was ridiculous. 

"After I say goodbye to my crew I will tell you everything, but I need to do this first. I don't know why, but it feels like a betrayal if I don't send them off first. I know it sounds insane, but I just need to do it this way." Gabriel said quietly. 

"I understand. It can wait, but we will be making land in the next two days, and I would like to know before that happens Gabriel. It informs what we will do next." Gabriel nodded in agreement and then left the room. 

Back in the corridor of foliage, he once again looked at the celling. How was he supposed to determine which leaves were green if all leaves were green? Except for the specific-colored ones that is. He studied the ceiling until he noticed that all the green leaves pointed in a single direction. Gabriel shrugged and followed them. As he moved, he passed by other branching corridors and through vine walls, but he never saw anyone else. It was as if the ship was letting him be alone with his thoughts. He welcomed the solitude. It was probably time to seriously confront what had happened to his crew. He felt in his gut that if he remained with this crew, he would not have much time to mourn. In truth he didn't know the majority of people on the ship. The passengers who had come for a new life had paid their way onto the ship. Many of them had sold everything they had just to fund the expedition. The crew however was given a free ride, they were not paid traditionally, but where they were going money was not going to be needed. That was the idea anyway, a place away from bottom lines, spreadsheets, and company policies. A place where a small group of brave people could start a new life. That hope was gone now. 

Gabriel walked up to another wall of vines that parted to reveal what looked to be a large garden. Like other rooms in the ship, this one took the shape of a clearing surrounded by impossibly thick forest. In the center of the room was a bulbous trunk with various vines and roots enclosing around it. They were a shield to protect what was underneath... or they were a cage. The ground was the grassy cover he had seen before, but around the room were various flower beds and root systems that seemed more than just decoration. Streams crisscrossed in and out of walls and the floor in aqueducts shaped from wood and bark. This part of Talitha had an air to it that others did not. The smell was earthy, and it felt teeming with life more than the rest of the ship that was already strikingly organic. In the back corner, the short, red haired woman named Ruth who had called herself a mechanic, was standing over something that looked like a small stream. Gabriel stepped closer and realized what it was. A conveyer belt for the dead. Gabriel froze in his tracks when he saw the bodies, or what was left of them. Those with holes in their chests or burn marks were the lucky ones. Their bodies were still intact and recognizable. The sheer volume of severed appendages made his stomach drop. Could he face this? Even if she was here, would she even be recognizable? This shot a lance of fear through his body. Until now he had told himself that she was dead. He couldn't let himself think otherwise, but he had still not confirmed it with his own eyes. He couldn't bear the feeling of never truly knowing the truth. 

Gabriel almost turned around and fled, but he saw that Ruth was not just observing the bodies, she was trying to put them back together. She gently guided an arm to its shoulder or a leg to its hip. This strange gruesome act of kindness pulled Gabriel out of his fear. He had not expected this from her, had not she been the one campaigning for the bodies reuse? It seemed there was more to this woman that he had initially thought. Gabriel approached behind her, not wanting to bother her, but as he got close, she jumped.

"Don't scare me like that!" She screamed while giving him an accusatory look. 

"I didn't want to interrupt you. I can take it from here if you wish." He said solemnly, unaffected by her outburst with the bodies of his people spread before him.

"Oh? Yes well. I wasn't sure about the logistics of this, but uh..." Ruth stammered. 

"What would you like me to do with them after I am done?" He asked. 

"You can let the current take them." she pointed to the end of the stream that was currently closed by roots. "Talitha will let them pass on and to a place where they can be... uh... useful." She stumbled over the unsavory wording. She was being less brash than before. Absentmindedly Gabriel wondered if it was because Levi was not here? Or for some other reason. It mattered little. He needed to get this over with, and he needed to find Shannon. He nodded to Ruth and she left him alone, the growing of roots heralding her exit.