A funeral ceremony was held. For Velsil's body to be buried in a beautiful location, Ilya scanned the map of an entire region. It took a long time, as her eyes were bloodshot and she was crying constantly while doing it. Finally, she found a hill. The soil of that hill was naturally suitable for growing flowers. If we buried Velsil there, the flowers on top of her grave would never wither; they would continue to grow even if we were gone.
I was the one who wrapped Velsil's small corpse. Neither Goma, Alora, nor Ilya was brave enough to do it. I wasn't either. I was crying constantly... I felt continuous pain. The others might not have wanted to ruin themselves this much, but I felt I deserved it.
Everyone left something they valued at Velsil's grave. My brother went to his spaceship and left his latest model lighter. Goma left her favorite gloves. Ilya left her favorite book. Alora left her staff, which she held sacred. The most valuable thing for me was now that bloody rabbit leg in my hand. At first, I thought of throwing it away but then changed my mind. It would go everywhere with me. It would remind me of Velsil, allowing me to carry Velsil with me wherever I went. Instead of the rabbit leg, I knelt down and left my gun. Everyone was surprised at first that I didn't leave the rabbit leg. Then they agreed with me. After all, it was a weapon whose pieces I had spent half my life gathering...
When Alora arrived, Old Jack and his colony also came. Kael was initially surprised to be on another planet. The spoiled kid was about to crack jokes and make a nuisance of himself until he saw me—my face shattered, carrying Velsil's corpse in my arms. He approached Velsil, took the girl's severed hand, but, horrified by what he saw, he cowered and retreated back to his ship, crying.
Just a few minutes ago, everyone except my brother and me had left the planet. They kindly promised to safely incorporate our crew into their own colonies. I even pulled Kael aside and asked, "Will you look after the girls, Kael?" I told him, "I can't go with you. If the SWR doesn't catch me, they will hunt down everyone. They will hunt you too. They need bait."
Kael didn't say anything; he just hugged me, crying. I kept forgetting that the pervert was still a young boy. Perhaps the burden I placed on him was too heavy, or maybe he couldn't speak because he felt sorry for me. But I could see him sobbing uncontrollably.
They took most of the robots and the spaceships that were still intact. They took the supplies, and they took Ilya's book collection. Transporting all of this took nearly half a day. "What if the SWR comes after us for these things?" asked Engineer Hank.
"Don't worry... I will pay the price for these as well," I simply said.
I only nodded and hugged the team as I said goodbye. I knew they had to leave, so I kept the farewell as minimal as possible. But as soon as their spaceships began to rise into the darkness of the night, I started to weep my heart out. Almost the entire night... ceaselessly...
It would take more than half a day for the SWR to arrive. So, I went into the facility's scrap heap, retrieved two chairs and a lantern, sat down next to Velsil's grave, and watched the suns for a long time. Occasionally, I hummed a little song and reminisced about the past with Velsil, as if she had never died. The bandages on my face were soaked with tears, so I had to change them twice.
"Hey..." said my brother, slowly climbing the hill with two bottles of whiskey in his hands. He had a cigar in his mouth. He had changed his shirt and put on a different pair of trousers. He walked quite comfortably despite having only one arm. "...I thought you might want a drink."
My brother sat down on the chair and offered me the drink. "No, I won't drink," I said. My brother was surprised but wanted to hide his astonishment. No one wanted to draw attention in times like these.
"I know you want to be alone, but even if you are my stepbrother, you are still my brother, and..." He grimaced. "...and I don't want you to hurt yourself too much. You know."
I wanted to say, with great anger, "What would you know?" and burst into flames, but I was so weak from crying that I couldn't respond. I was only this tired during the times of torture I endured for years.
My brother, Lucius Varden, opened the bottle and began sipping next to me. He took another puff from his cigar. Then he buried the bottle deep into the soil to secure it.
"What will you do now?"
"It seems I don't have many options..."
"Right... The SWR will be here by morning. They will bring you to trial on the planet Jolkien. It's forbidden to transport criminals via hyperspace jump... The SWR cannot track and instantly intervene inside their spaceships during a hyperspace jump. Many criminals were executed by guards that way. That's why they are transported via simple jumps, accompanied by escort ships. Let me explain why I told you this. I will go to Jolkien, our home planet, before you. I will thoroughly analyze the court. If necessary, I'll talk to our father... to get you the most suitable sentence..."
"There's no need," I said. "I want to serve a long time in prison. I need some peace of mind."
My brother opened his mouth to speak but stopped. "You will travel for approximately 2.5 standard years to Jolkien with simple jumps, without hyperspace."
"A 2.5-year journey, huh..."
"You are not the only criminal. It's a massive spaceship that collects many criminals from different planets. If there is anything you want from me during that time..."
"Nothing..."
"Okay... But what about the thing Marcin Grom wrote?"
"What?"
"Marcin Grom carved something into the ground before he died? What was that?"
"I don't know..."
I don't know exactly who Marcin Grom was or what kind of person he was. Perhaps if circumstances had changed, we wouldn't even have had to fight him. Although he looked dangerous, was incredibly strong, and almost killed my brother... he was an honorable man. Maybe the right word isn't honorable. Perhaps he was a merciful man.
My brother hadn't understood what Marcin Grom had carved into the ground with his claw. But I was quite aware. Even before he died, Marcin was thinking about his unfinished answer. I had told Marcin Grom, before my brother came and interrupted, that I wanted to bring about the end of the Weisshafens. Or we were talking about something like that, I don't quite remember. Before dying, Marcin carved a coordinate into the ground with his claw. I didn't have a computer or a drone assistant to ask... But I could swear that coordinate was on the old world.
The unfortunate thing was that I would soon be a prisoner, perhaps for centuries. If there was a secret hidden in that coordinate, I wouldn't hear much about it. I just hope someone else can reach that secret before it disappears.
Lost in all these thoughts, it was already morning. As my brother handed me over to the SWR team officers, a handcuff was placed on my hand. With my neck bowed forward, I was boarded onto the spaceship in the middle of the convoy that would take me away, while my brother was boarding his private spaceship.
My clothes were changed. A healing robot fixed my body. I was placed in a small cell with only a television. A toilet, a bed, and me... A voice rose from the wall next to me. "I've never had such a noble cellmate. They say Weisshafens taste delicious."