"Quite a lifetime."

"Yes, it was."

One hundred years and one month later. . . .

Lile kicks her sky-bike into high gear, revs, and races it over, under, around and through the hearts of the small hills of ruins. Late as usual. And as usual, late on purpose, just to have an excuse to fly as recklessly fast as she can. One of the best pilots on Teran just like her great-grandfather Hitt. But, unlike him, she enjoys it.

One hundred years earlier. . . .

The prison shuttle drops her and others down onto the surface of Howarth, the giant boiling rock two planets in from their own.

They tumble out and down. Even in their environmental suits they crawl desperately to try to get to the hatch to the underground before they are sautéed alive by the heat and poison acid atmosphere. The ultimate prison without bars.

Underneath the world of Howarth exists only primitive survival and those who learn to excel at it. Its only law: the strong survive.

Rayn was very weak from the months of testing but she hid it well. She finds the place a lot like her old club the Din and gambles and skill-bets her way into enough money, power and reputation to keep safe.

She helps some, so others start to come to her. Soon she is the godfather to the underdogs. Telling the young gangs how to unite against the overlords and not each other. Telling the weak and feeble how to find and market something they can do that everyone needs. Being needed equals being safe. In the process she makes her share of powerful friends and even more powerful enemies. She wouldn’t have long before one of their attempts on her life finally succeeded.

Some favors she trades for information, like that the prison shuttle only comes once a month. No one goes up, only down. No escape. Except . . . once a year, one guarded maintenance team does come down. Her one chance.

They’re coming now. Only she had figured out when, only she had found out where. Six months she had waited. She goes to a high crevasse just below the surface where she has rigged and hidden a scanning scope strong enough to detect movement above. She watches. But below her, is one who has been watching her all along.

The shuttle tethers down the team. Two minutes and they’ll be inside.

Suddenly, a sharp rock buzzes past Rayn’s head. She looks down. Kindra.

Kindra yells up. "All right. Let’s finish this."

Rayn jumps down. "Didn’t know you were here. Nice reward. Worth it?"

Kindra smiles. "By the sky, I’ve grown to hate you!"

"I don’t have time for this."

"I know. Motivation. Two minutes. Get through me or you don’t get out alive."

Kindra flies at her. They fight, kicking, jabbing, pulling hair. Both are fast. Rayn is better but Kindra is healthier.

The fight goes on, Kindra getting the better. The hatch starts to open. No time. With a last effort, a flying kick to the chest knocks Kindra off and away. But not before the first of the squad enters and sees them.

She had planned to jump the last one quietly, slip into his suit, and sneak up. But now she has no choice but to try and take them all. She flies at one, aiming for his head, reaching for his weapon.

"Stop it’s me!" He takes off his helmet. Rozar! She jumps into his arms. Kindra has disappeared.

"I thought you were dead!"

"Me, never."

They kiss, melting into each other.

They spend a month together traveling back on the stolen shuttle. The best month of her life. It had taken all of them together, Noma, Meena, Myles, all her friends, to plan this, all of their resources.

By the time they return to Teran, Roz and Rayn know what must be done. He must make sure everyone benefits from her forced gift of immortality. She must hide from the thousand prices still on her head.

Rozar asks Myles to "take care of her."

Myles, hating him, jealous, but realizing they share the same love, "I don’t take orders from you. But I will always take care of her."

And then Rayn and Rozar part. Their last words:

Rayn, "You’ll be with me till the day I die."

Roz, "You’ll be with me till the end of time."

One hundred years later. . . .

While Rayn was talking, the coughing and trembling had gotten so bad that Lile had taken her back to her bed in the convalescent home. But she continued talking, though each word a strain.

"Myles and I left. We spent some time together, roaming the planet and moons. Friends, companions, but I could never open up to him or settle down in the way he wanted and I never stopped thinking of Rozar. I saw him and the others from time to time. Spent the rest trying to help people and frustrate any of Shi and the Council’s ever-growing control."

"Please, that part I know, they didn’t know you as Rayn but as the Defender, the Hawk, the Dove, Vengeance, a dozen other names, a dozen other legends. You helped, defended, and protected so many people in so many places. It’s a great story."

Rayn strokes the book. "A hundred years. I guess I did have an adventure or two."

"Or a thousand." Lile smiles.

Rayn lies back, wheezing out the words, trying to finish.

"And I saw everything change. The TriSenate grown strong, though the old council, Tyran, and Shi still pull their strings. The rebuilding, farming, bartering, starting over from scratch. The re-migration from the colonies back home. Some lingering resentments but one race -- no levels, just servicers and facilitators."

Her breath catches.

"Meena became a wealthy healer and mentalist, no more gypsy life for her. Noma’s Dins for refugees spun off that spiritual sect the Ultim. Didn’t see that coming, well . . . maybe. She was always more heart and soul than brass. Krachi passed without us ever. . . Kindra still a criminal, used my plan to later escape Howarth. Came across her a couple more times, neither were pleasant. Myles’s still an artist, his stuff still takes my breath away."

A hacking cough. Lile takes her hand.

"And Rozar?"

"There wasn’t one day when he wasn’t with me, even today. But we were both so busy, so incognito. I heard rumors -- the Veripacs, undergrounders fighting to assure peace, progress, and stability, sounded like him."

"Do you think he took the Vita?"

"The drug? Everyone else is."

"Myles wants you to."

"I know, just because he did. That’s why I came here."

"Hiding out? To die naturally and in peace? To take the easy way out and give up?!"

Lile is crying. Rayn is ebbing, her voice fading.

"Giving up is never easy. I’m not even sure if it would work on me since I’m its mother so to speak. Besides I’m tired. I’ve got a lot of regrets, things I should’ve finished, fought harder for. I don’t want any more regrets."

A figure walks in but Rayn doesn’t see.

"Tomorrow there’ll be a new day, a new world full of virtual immortals. It won’t be pretty like everyone thinks, in fact."

Her glazing eyes turn to the grassy fields outside. "It might destroy everything. And I don’t want to see that. No more struggles, no more battles."

Lile, crying, "I’ll learn, carry on, be just like you! This shouldn’t be the end of your story!"

"Don’t all stories end? . . . Roz--" His name is on her lips as Arayna Zeeyél draws what she believes will be her last breath.

Next Week - Episode 15: New Day, New World