"You said prisoners....You don't mean this is a prison?" Gabriel asks as we follow hope outside.

"I did mean. Skyring is the place where they send people to atone for their sins. Ok, this garden was one of his. We have to start planting soon if we want to harvest before winter. Come on- we need to find him." Hope explained

"Slow down. What are you talking about?" I demand

"From the looks of our new friend hes surviving on jellies alone. Eating like that, he won't make it five years, and we need him too." She says

"Why?" Gabriel presses

"Because he's a way to bardo. When the timer on his arm hits zero, the disciples come for him." she answers

"Right, and you'll think they'll take us too?" Gabriel asks, skeptical.

"Of course not. No. We kill them, take their suits, jump to bardo" she said.

I roll my eyes.
"There she goes talking about killing again." I mutter

"What's the matter? Are you afraid? Octavia said you were brave, you didn't back down or runaway from a fight." Hope challenges me

I stop, leveling her with a look.
"I'm afraid when it comes down to the moment, you wont be able to pull the tigger. You talk a big, but I can read people. You don't have a face of a killer" I say

She stares back, silent.

"I cannot and will not wait five years" I tell her firmly

"Funny. Octavia said that too" she mutters, then walks off.

"Not bad for a prison. Though unfortunately, isolation is the prison" I say as we walk

"Like a solitary. Now depending on the time dilation relative to bardo, you could serve a 20 year sentence here on a weekend. It's efficient." Gabriel's says

"I take it you've dealt with these prisoners before?" Echo asks Hope.

"One. Yes" she nods

"Dangerous?" I ask

"It's depends. Everyone on bardo is raised to be a disciple. Every single one of them a warrior, not like the flower children who worshiped you" hope says, her eyes flicker to Gabriel.

"Fortunately, they send people here who aren't pulling their own weight. Not devout enough, not strong enough. If everything I've heard about you two is true, we'll be fine" hope kneels, brushing the ground.

"All right, be quiet. We're close." She says

"Who taught you how to track?" I ask

"The girl you swore was a sister then went against when you were commander" she says without hesitation

I scoff.
"It's a little more complicated than that." I say

"Sounds like a good story" Gabriel mutters

"You just heard it. Heda swore her boyfriend's sister was her own, then betrayed her rule. And don't get me started on you, echo" Hope said

I sigh, shaking my head.

"He went through here." Hope points ahead and walks on.

I wait a beat before following. 
"I liked you better without you memory" I mutter under my breath

We come into a clearing. Skeletons litter the ground, a chess broad set up between them.

"He dug up the dead to have company. How comforting" I say grimly

Hope crouches by one of the skeletons, but before she can touch it, the man from earlier bursts forward.

"Leave us alone!" He screams, falling to his knees beside the bones.

"I didn't invite them here, I swear it. I didn't invite you." He whispers to the skeletons, voice breaking.

"Isolation madness." Gabriel says under his breath

The man's shoulders shake.
"Broke into our home. I tried to save hope. I tried but I couldn't. I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he cries

"Hey. I'm hope. I grew up here." Hope says softly

But my eyes are already locked on the jacket one skeleton is wearing. Gabriel and echo notice too.

"Wait" Gabriel says, but the man bolts, disappearing into the trees.

"No, no, no, no-Damn it. I told you we need him" hope snaps

"Maybe we don't." Gabriel counters, stepping toward the body.

I move beside him.
"Collin, last name Benson" Gabriel says

"C.B. That was on the walls next to the stone." I recall

Gabriel nods, pulls his knife, and carefully extracts something from the back of the skull. A small device in his hands.

"A mind drive? How?" Echo breathed

"Eligius 3 was here. We're on planet beta." Gabriel says

"Skyrings better." Hope mutters

"Everyone on the Eligius 3 mission got one. Becca Franko designed the mind d- I mean memory drives to be a data retrieval system so the mothership crew could determine what happened if they returned to find a mission team dead, you know like a lien a airplane black box. Russel and I reverse-engineered their tech to hold an entire mind." Gabriel explains

"Wait. That'll play his memories?" Hope asks

"Yeah" he nods, setting the case down.

I see one, pausing for a second.
"Josephine?" I ask

"Yeah. I needed to make sure she was really gone." He said, then placed the drive inside.

We wait.

"Just-just wait. It's repairing corrupted data." He says

I cross my arms.
"So what are the odds that Eligius 3 randomly chose two planets connected by anomaly stones?" I ask

"Heh, long. I'd say it suggests that the people in bardo descend from Eligius as well. If I'm right it could mean that the species they created the stones thousands perhaps millions of years ago were looking for a new home too. I mean think about it right? No need for spaceships or- or cryo or mind drives. You could explore a entire universe" Gabriel says

"Not to point out the obvious but if your friend here figured it out how to operate the stone he'd have used it to leave. He wouldn't be here playing chess with the dead." Hope cuts in

"Heh, no, no. Collin was a quantum physicist, a fields medal winner. If anyone could figure out how to-" he starts

The box flares to life. A video blinks on the screen.

"Becca? God, I had a crush on her." Gabriel breathes

We listen.

"The black hole of course. That's why time is so accelerated here." Gabriel whispers

"Can you fast forward?" I ask

"Just- quiet." He says sharply

I roll my eyes, standing up.
"This is gonna take a while." Echo mumbled, sighing down.

"That guy out there is gonna come home. Unless we want to wind up as guests at his picnic I think-" Hope starts

"I was getting up to go take first watch. Not my first time in this type of situation. Sadly, its probably not my last" I cut her off

I sling the gun at my side, walk out, and let the cool air hit me- already calculating my next move.