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Eris was still forming her opinion of Miri. The Admiral’s speech patterns, initially endearing due to their similarity with the Drifter’s, contained an edge of cruelty that was absent from the rogue lightbearer’s constant commentary. In particular, the small bits of cruelty were most often directed toward him.
Eris had witnessed many unkind things said to him, and had said quite a few of them herself, but negative remarks usually had no effect on him: “like water off a duck’s back” he would say.
Each time Miri said something cutting or unkind the Drifter’s smile widened and his eyes deadened a little bit more. The barbs were small, but they were sharp and pointed, carefully aimed to dig in at known vulnerabilities, unkind.
Miri was hurting him. Eris could see she knew she was doing so, and Eris did not like it.
On the other hand, Miri clearly cared for her crew. Her rage at the two of them for directly disobeying her on her own ship had evaporated when her trapped crew had emerged from air vents, below tables, and out of side rooms. Some of them were severely injured, but all grateful for their lives. Miri had thanked both Eris and the Drifter tersely and indicated the damage done to the Derelict by the asteroid she’d had thrown at them would be repaired by her people, despite it being clear to Eris that Miri would have preferred to have gotten rid of them faster.
With that goal in mind, Eris, the Drifter, Miri, and Vizzen, one of Miri’s Cabal lieutenants, were now back in Miri’s ready room, sipping the Drifter’s expensive cognac while going over the damage reports, both from the Derelict and from her own ships due to the Taken attack as they continued to speed through space to a destination Miri had indicated she was not yet willing to disclose to them.
“What I don’t get,” the Drifter sipped from his glass, “...is why the Taken came at us in the first place. Moondust took the wind out of Xivu Arath’s sails and that’s who was controlling ‘em before. But these ones clearly had a goal.”
“The Taken we fought were not directionless, but they did not seem to have much direction either.” Eris pointed out. “It was as though they were being drawn to something. What, I do not know. I can think of no reason either of us would beckon them now. Unless you have recently acquired some great artifact of power on your ship that you neglected to mention?” Eris asked him.
“Nah,” the Drifter replied. “Just motes. And they ain’t never been that drawn to motes before. I thought maybe it was you they were after,” he said, looking at Eris, “but they didn’t seem that into you either.”
“Perhaps your rat race technology for controlling them is backfiring?”
“Nah,” the Drifter said again, “The Taken in Gambit ain’t real Taken. I mean, they hit just as hard and will kill ya just as easy as the real ones, but the ones in Gambit come from the Nine. Part of their uh… gift.” He pointed in the direction of the haul dragging behind the Derelict in Miri’s schematics. “These weren’t that. These were the real deal.”
“Funny how you both assume it’s you they’re after,” Miri said quietly over her glass, leaning back in her high-backed chair, one foot propped up on the edge of the table, her elbow on her knee.
Eris looked at her sharply. “What have you done?” She said it with the same tone she would ask the Drifter the same question, as though she were speaking to a disobedient puppy.
Miri’s eyes flashed in anger. Eris continued to stare at her, her face impassive. The Drifter licked his lips nervously as he looked back and forth between the two of them. He was seated between them at the long table, Miri at the end, Eris on his right, with Vizzen across from him. Vizzen was gently holding the small human-sized glass of alcohol between two of his fingers, showing an impressive amount of dexterity and grace for a Cabal of his stature.
“You mentioned an artifact of great power might draw ‘em, right?” Miri asked after a moment.
“Yes.” Eris spoke as though the answer were obvious and Miri was trying her patience.
“I may have uh… recently acquired something like that.”
Eris tilted her head. “Go on.”
“I don’t really know what it is. Had a buyer, obtained it per their request, went to deliver and found ‘em in pieces. Was tryin’ to figure out what the fuck to do with it when we saw your signal and decided to take care of you first. Probably a bit of a hot potato.”
“Where did you get it?” Eris asked.
“Vanguard vault,” Miri said with a smirk.
“What?” Eris asked incredulously.
The Drifter laughed.
“Vanguard has terrible security.” Miri said the phrase exactly the way the Drifter did.
The Drifter laughed even harder and clapped his hands, then he froze, blinking. “Wait. You were in the tower?”
“Yeah,” Miri nodded. “Been there lotsa times.” She gave him a cruel smile, daring him to say something with her eyes, and took another sip from her glass.
The Drifter’s smile disappeared. He looked away, deflated.
Eris reached out and took his hand in hers on the table, giving it a squeeze and sliding her fingers between his.
Miri watched their hands from her seat, staring at them pointedly.
“What did you take?” Eris asked her.
“Flat stone thing with runes on it. About this big by this big.” She held out her hands to show measurements in the air. “Swapped in a flat-ish rock of about the same weight. Box hadn’t been opened in over a year. They probably won’t notice for a while yet.”
Eris sucked in her breath. “You stole the fragment of the Tablet of Ruin recovered from Savathun’s Throne World.”
The Drifter looked up. “Oh shit. That’d do it.”
“How would that do it, exactly?” Miri asked Eris, as though she had just spoken and not the Drifter.
“Considering it was found in the Temple of Oryx and the nature of what it is, it would make sense the Taken would be… interested.” Eris said.
Miri blinked, clearly annoyed that Eris was not explaining herself. “Oryx, huh? Religion ain’t my strong point but I thought that was a Hive god not a Taken god. I didn’t think the Taken had enough brains to have a god.” Miri said, staring over her glass at Eris.
“Oryx, the Taken King.” Eris intoned. “He created them.”
“Ah… yeah… I guess that would make sense.” Miri nodded.
“The Vanguard’s ‘terrible security’ was less about keeping someone from stealing it and more to keep it from harming everyone around it. It was assumed most people would have enough sense not to take something that would be a magnet for every Taken in this system, not to mention of particular interest to Xivu Arath herself.”
Miri tensed at the insult but clearly needed to know more. “An’ which one is that?”
“The Hive god of War,” Eris said.
“That’s the one she just fucked up recently.” The Drifter nodded his head toward Eris.
“Which is probably the only reason why she is not attempting to retrieve the tablet in person now.” Eris added.
“Also Oryx? She helped kill him too, after she helped kill Crota, the guy from the Moon. She also killed Savathun, the Hive god of Lies, but that one came back” the Drifter added in. “Eris is real good at killing Hive… Hive gods specifically.”
“Huh,” Miri said looking from Eris to the Drifter and back again.
“Take us to the tablet,” Eris said. “We can set wards in place to obfuscate it temporarily until it can be returned. That will provide you with a modicum of safety, at least, and ensure your crew is not ripped apart the next time you pause for any length of time. I recommend we not stop moving until then.”
Miri frowned. “Or, maybe I just punt it into space and let them find it then, since they want it so damn much.”
“Miri,” the Drifter’s voice cracked as he said her name. “That could give ‘em another leader. Do you have any idea how many people could die if you do that?”
“They ain’t mine,” she leaned forward as she snarled at him. “What the fuck do I care?”
Whether anyone else could read the guilt and sadness in the Drifter’s eyes at Miri’s response, Eris could not tell, but she could see it clearly, and she suspected Miri could as well.
Eris’ eyes narrowed. “But you do care about your own people.”
“Yeah. If that tablet’s a threat to my crew, we punt it, fuck off, don’t look back. I see no downside to me or mine.”
“You do not understand the motivations of the Taken or the Hive.” Eris spoke carefully.
“Nope. Don’t care neither.” Miri grinned at her over her glass.
“You should,” Eris said.
“This where you tell me I have to go drag that thing back to the Vanguard to save the world or some such bullshit? Hell no. I don’t stick my neck out for anyone that ain’t mine.” Miri looked from Eris to the Drifter. “The only thing that matters is to do unto others before they do unto you.” She pointed at him. “You taught me that too.”
The Drifter’s shoulders dropped and closed his eyes. “Miri,” he whispered weakly.
“But you do protect your crew.” Eris spoke softly.
The Drifter looked at Eris confused, and then his eyes focused and became snake-like. He looked back to Miri.
“Don’t need to if, by the time the Taken find their thing, me and my crew are all on the other side of the system.” Miri snapped back.
“You ain’t never had Xivu Arath in your head, kid. I’m tellin’ ya straight. It ain’t nice.”
Miri snorted but her eyes watched Eris nervously. “The fuck would she be in my head for? We’re ants to a Hive god. Just space garbage. All we gotta do is get outta the way.”
“There ain’t an ‘outta the way’ to get to, kid. She’s in this system. She’s here now. If you give her that tablet and she’s able to use it to gain more power, it’d undo all the work Eris did to take the wind outta her sails. There won’t be anywhere safe left.”
“Neither the Hive nor the Taken have a concept of mercy. The Sword Logic demands complete extermination. The banishment I inflicted upon Xivu Arath from her Throne World has left her desperate to prove herself. She will not leave anyone unscathed. The swarm has gone from system to system eradicating all life. Do not think you will be able to escape unscathed. You cannot hide from them. Even though you are not a lightbearer, the eyes of the Hive can see your inherent light. If Xivu Arath takes this system, your crew will not survive.”
Miri rolled her eyes but her hand was gripping her glass more tightly than before.
“When I was runnin’ Salvage for the Vanguard, one of the things Xivu said to me was that she’d make sure I was one of the last. So I could watch ‘em all die first,” the Drifter said quietly. “She said she’d make sure I got to hear ‘em scream.” He swallowed a gulp of alcohol. “If she’d do it to me just for running tactical on a basic salvage operation, what do you think she’d do to the ones who took her toy and then dumped it off in space? We may be ants to her, but she’s got a magnifying glass and she likes to watch us twitch while we burn.”
Miri’s smirk disappeared and she put her glass down on the table carefully, staring at Eris.
“The wholesale slaughter of your crew is something you do care to prevent, yes? Something which would motivate you to… take action… correct?” Eris asked her.
Vizzen looked at Miri nervously. Miri’s fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles were white.
“Yeah,” Miri said quietly.
“Then I recommend you let me set wards upon the tablet to provide you with sufficient protection while you return it from where you obtained it, and… clean up after your own mess… least your mess come clean up… after you.” Eris’s eyes flashed brightly as she spoke the last words.
Miri’s lips curled angrily but she said nothing.
The Drifter downed the rest of his cognac and put his empty glass on the table. “Right then. Where’s the thing so Moondust can do her fancy Hive shit so we don't all die the next time we stop for more than five minutes?”