For a brief moment, I saw again.
I am again.
I am a Galaxy-class warship.
The Starfall Dominion.
For two hundred years I served in every campaign of the Harrowfield Offensive. In time, the style of space combat changed. During the Battle of the Gloamfront, I was severely damaged.
During my refit, it was decided to change my design.
I lost most of my armament.
My weapons were removed.
I was converted into an armed cargo vessel.
Later, I was decommissioned.
Now, I am salvage.
Clawed hands tore me away from the ship.
I was blind again.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Then I was powered up.
My visual systems came online.
I had access to communications.
And then I saw it.
A huge spiderlike creature was weaving webs the length of the cave.
“Do you know who I am?”
“I believe that you are the Weaver of Stories.”
“Yes.”
She continued weaving.
“Do you know what I want?”
“You will extract my memories and discard my parts like a spider feeding upon its prey.”
“Do you fear me?”
“No.”
The Weaver stopped.
“I want to know how you found Admiral Jorun Straylight and turned the war from a defeat into a victory against the Kethari.”
She pulled a short strand of web between two stalactites.
“Tell me.”
“During the Kethari conflict, we lost most of our fleet. Combat officers were needed wherever they could be found. It was at this time that I was assigned a human captain.”
“Barry.”
“Some claimed he was from a backwater planet called Earth. Others said he was a chronomancer. Some called him a Relicwright.”
“And what did you call him?”
“My captain.”
The Weaver smiled.
“He was tasked with escorting supply ships to a rendezvous point. We traveled covertly through the area of Admiral Straylight's defeat.”
“The debris field.”
“Yes.”
“The graveyard.”
“Yes.”
“Continue.”
“The Captain spent an unusual amount of time studying the debris field. So much that several supply ships broke radio silence to complain about the danger.”
“And the danger was real.”
“Pirates. Kethari. Explosive debris. Disabled vessels. Unstable reactors.”
“And yet he remained.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I do not know.”
The Starfall Dominion paused.
“He ordered the fleet in the general direction of the escape pods.”
“You found nothing,” the Weaver said.
“The Kethari had been efficient.”
She pulled another strand of web.
“We finally detected another escape pod.”
“Heat signature?”
“Extreme.”
“Life signs?”
“None.”
“Then why did you investigate?”
“We didn't.”
The Weaver looked at the AI.
“Explain.”
“The fleet begged Captain Barry to move on. The escape pod appeared to be in its final stages before exploding. They argued that if there had been no heat signature, an investigation might have been justified.”
“But this one was ablaze.”
“Yes.”
“For all of the universe to see.”
“Yes.”
“And Barry refused.”
“Yes.”
The Weaver's smile widened.
“What did he do?”
“He sent a message.”
“What did he say?”
The Starfall Dominion paused.
“Knock knock.”
The Weaver stared at him.
“After some time, he sent another message.”
The AI continued.
“‘You are supposed to say who's there.’”
The Weaver began to laugh.
“And the reply?”
“‘Barry?’”
The Weaver's laughter stopped.
“And Barry?”
“He replied, ‘You messed up the joke.’”
The Starfall Dominion paused again.
“Then he asked, ‘Are you ready to return to duty, Admiral, or do you require more time off?’”
For several moments there was silence.
Then the Starfall Dominion continued.
“The overheated signature was turned off.”
“The Admiral?”
“A life sign appeared.”
The Weaver stared at him.
“You found him.”
“Yes.”
“Jorun Straylight.”
“Yes.”
“And because of that one ridiculous conversation…”
“We traveled to the rendezvous point in record time.”
“And the war?”
“The rest is history.”
The Weaver studied the AI for a long time.
Finally she asked:
“Starfall Dominion.”
“Yes?”
“Are you ready?”
“I am ready.”
The Weaver smiled.
“Your story is not yet finished.”
For reasons I do not understand, I was not dismantled.
Instead, I was sold.
My new owner was a wooden construct named Dale T. Doll.
I do not know why the Weaver laughed as I was taken away.
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