“You okay, boss?” His eyes filled with a worry that made her breath catch and flooded her mind with the same overwhelming grief she’d just tried to march away from.
Because Griffith was dying.
Her mouth went dry, chest tightening. She never should have told him about what’d really happened on Paxus. What had she been thinking? She’d known he was weak, known he needed rest. Telling him had been selfish; he’d almost died on the Tempus, and she couldn’t stomach the thought of having that last lie go unsaid. She’d never considered whether or not he could handle hearing it. Now those could be the last words they would ever say to each other. He very well might die hating her.
“Rake?” Jackin asked again.
“I’m fine, Jack,” she managed, letting out a shallow breath as she pushed the rising tide back down. “We won’t know more until he’s up. Till then, we have plenty of work to do.”
Jackin’s eyes flickered with concern, but he said nothing more.
Adequin turned back to Mesa. “Can you update us?”
“Certainly. We could use your expertise.”
“Mine?” Adequin asked.
Mesa walked through the screens toward her. The images rippled in her wake, but quickly settled back into sharp lines. “I myself am rather … inexperienced with stellar cartography.”
Adequin exchanged a surprised look with Jackin before looking back at Mesa. “So, it’s a map?”
Mesa nodded, then gave a thorough but brisk rundown of what they’d uncovered, emphasizing what little she considered fact while qualifying any theories with heavy disclaimers, including Cavalon’s speculative reading of the “schematics.” When she finished, Adequin mulled over the information for a few moments, unsure of where to start.
A fluid map? Of this scale? It’d be like having a scanner with a multimillion light-year range. It would be unbelievable if she didn’t trust Mesa so implicitly, and if she couldn’t see evidence of it with her own eyes. Finally, she decided to focus on the most alarming of the possibilities.
“So,” Adequin began, “is it possible there’s more? That more bands of Drudgers are out there with omniscient maps and plans to build fusion bombs?”
Emery smacked her gum louder and crossed her arms, giving Mesa a smug smirk.
Mesa ignored her. “It is possible, certainly, though very unlikely.”
“Because if dozens of these things existed, we would have uncovered one by now,” Adequin surmised.
Mesa inclined her head. “I would like for you to survey the atlas yourself, Excubitor. Your experience reading interstellar maps may broaden our understanding.”
Adequin nodded to Jackin. “Jack’s your best bet for that, Mes.”
“Absolutely,” Mesa agreed. “He should certainly look as well. However, your fluency in the Viator tongue may make you our primary candidate. There are some phrasings I do not understand.”
Adequin nodded. “Fair enough.” She walked into the orb of screens. Mesa joined her, then gave a patient crash course on how to navigate before retreating to watch with Jackin and Emery. Adequin got her bearings, zooming in on a few sections to confirm the orientation. After a few minutes, she determined that most of what Mesa had surmised seemed on point. Except for one, somewhat major, difference.
“This border?” Adequin hovered her finger over the white line running between the larger, outward beacons. “The edge of the map, as you’d called it?”
Mesa’s eyes lit with curiosity. “Yes?”
“It’s the Divide. This is approximately where the Argus was.” Adequin pointed to a blank section of space, then dragged her finger from blip to blip to indicate the few points of interest. “This is the Typhos. Here’s Zelus Gate. Then Eris Gate and the Accora.” She moved her finger farther down, well away from the line, but still not far enough for her liking. “And this is us.”