Short Story: CoRD, Broken Strands pt 2

The Chronicles of Revy Daidros

Introduction
Who is Revy Daidros?
Broken Strands: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9
Rough and Tumble: The Rush
Rough and Tumble: Chasing the Prize
Rough and Tumble: Ransom
Remembrance: The Beginning
Remembrance: Graduation Day
Remembrance: Beloved
Remembrance: Data Trails


Broken Strands: Part 2, The Dust

Several hours later, Revy Daidros leans forward, looking out over a vast debris field. She stands just over 5’7” and her dark brown hair is set up into her signature style. She wears marroonish form fitting pants, and a dark red sleeveless shirt. A thick black belt wraps around her supple waste, holding dozens of small data chips and utility tools. Her face is bathed in a red glow from the system’s only star. The ship is close to it and would normally need to run advanced thermal subsystems to manage its heat, had it not been for this dust… Chokingly it dims the light and seems to cool the suns energy. A dark and vast shadow suddenly overtakes the chamber.

An immense super structure, built by drones, looms into view, thousands of kilometers out. It blots out the sun as if it were a drain, swallowing the light and heat, digesting it, and spewing out… this dust. The structure is now in ruins, she traces back thru the mysterious events of two weeks passed. She remembers its destruction.

“This is where it happened. I will not leave until I find it. Something. Anything.”
Revy says to herself.

She returns to her seat, and begins to scan the area, moving the swift ship ever closer to the structure, in moments she will be in cam-range. Looking out to it, she merely concentrates on an area of the structure, and the camera in her left eye begins to bring close-up images of the structure to her. She blinks in amazement and with astonishing haste, immediately moves across to the large window in front of her.

“That can’t be- they were destroyed- this was destroyed!!"

She stands in disbelief as she watches large maintenance drones moving across the massive surface. Hundreds of them. They move chaotically, but with some great purpose in mind. Then the drones begin to multiply, pouring out from deep within the broken structure, skittering over it. Like a plague of machinery a disease to true life.

The ship hurtles toward the structure, beginning an orbit of forty-thousand kilometers when suddenly she screams:

“Ahh-aahh stoooop!”

She collapses in pain and holds her ears, that sound… Doubled over in apparent agony, she manages to move toward the helm, and pulls herself into the seat. Massaging her temples and wincing in pain her vision blurs, the high-pitch siren is stronger than it was earlier. But the same, somehow connected. And just as suddenly as it had come, the sound dies out, leaving with it a massive ache.

Moments pass by, streaks of light spiral wickedly up and down within her vision, slowly thinning until she can see again. The sound is not there, but a hollow ringing remains. Almost immediately, she turns her attention back towards the drone hive. She looks back up to see nothing.

The structure is desolate, there is no movement… No drones… just an immense and foreboding structure amid an endless debris field. And dust.

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