Chemekti sat motionless at the central region of the shuttle. To each side reclined one of his most recent students. A sterile silence occupied the cabin, an absence of fans and pumps and gyros and electronics that would concern anyone familiar with the demands of life in space. As minutes ticked by, the chests of the three did not rise and fall a single time in a cycle of inhalation and exhalation. The atmosphere was like the quiet of a grave.

Finally, the chime of a clock broke the silence. Chemekti opened his eyes and looked towards the woman on his right. He took a deep breath to re-expand lungs that had mostly collapsed, using a touch of gravitas to break the surface tension in the avioli. "Tessara, that was the alarm to cease decelaration."

The woman attempted to respond, discovered her lungs weren't able to pipe air past her vocal chords, and went about fixing her respiratory system. When her lungs had inflated once more, she spoke. "Are you sure about this? If the computations were wrong, we're going to be nothing but a crater when we hit ground. Same problem if me or Veranus don't get the last-minute braking right."

Chemekti smiled. "I have faith in both the plan and those who will execute it."

Tessara nodded. Her corona ceased its fierce decelaration efforts and withdrew. "I still think we should reclaim the Angelship immediately instead of looking on the planet for allies."

"The Angmari have no doubt spotted our approach by now. They will be ready to defend their vessels. The planet, on the other hand, is too large for them to guard. Once we arrive, I am certain that we will find allies who are unhappy with the Angmari."

The man sitting to Chemekti's left opened his eyes, apparently waking from a nap. He partially expanded his lungs to gasp out a sentence one word at a time. "What. About. Remnant."

Chemekti's eyes narrowed. "I will have a talk with Erik. His behavior can be managed to some extent. I am confident I can convince him not to obliterate another planet."

Tessara looked around the cool interior of the shuttle. "What do we do now?"

"Rest," Chemekti responded. "The two of you need to be ready to slow the shuttle in the final minutes before we hit atmosphere."

"I'm bored, teacher."

Chemekti nodded. "Take your daily walk around the room and have a sip of water. When you are done, we can resume our lessons on longevity treatments."

Tessara grumbled to herself as she unbuckled and pushed off to float above her seat. She moved her lethargic limbs in a pantomime of swimming as she navigated the interior of the vessel, stopping briefly to take a sip of water from a canteen before continuing her slow circle. When she completed the circuit, Tessara returned to her seat and buckled in again. "Can we go over your anti-breathing technique instead of longevity? I am so tired of destroying senescent cells and stimulating stem cell production."

To the other side of Chemekti, Veranus gasped a single word. "Agreed."

Chemekti harrumphed. "Apparently the two of you are under the mistaken impression that our study group has become a democracy." He paused for a moment. "However . . . the technique for hacking cellular respiration is good practice for honing the teleotic talent. I will agree to teach one lesson on it now. In the future, when I believe you both are competent at the basic longevity treatments, we will return for a more in-depth exploration what you call my 'anti-breathing' technique."

Both of his students shifted to see him better. One corner of Chemekti's lips twisted into a wry smile. "The lesson will, of course, begin with a lesson in microbiology. We cannot effectively manage a biological process without first understanding what it is we wish to control. In every cell, there are tiny organelles that metabolize caloric molecules and oxygen to produce energy. This energy is stored in the form of a molecule that has the ability to release it when a phosphate group is displaced."

Chemekti began to gesticulate as he lectured. He had taught this very lesson back on his homeworld before the crews of the ten Angelships departed to attune the human worlds being seeded throughout endless sky by the Outsiders. He had taught a lot of lessons, both back then and more recently. As the third paragon ever to exist, he had enjoyed a small amount of fame from the start. His scientific approach to the talents and willingness to share his discoveries had ballooned his status to a degree he often found perplexing. Not because he doubted his contributions in some way -- he had done more to advance understanding of the talents than anyone else. His confusion came from the fact that no one else made a serious effort to walk the path of a researcher.

It boggled his mind. An entirely new field of inquiry existed, discoveries just waiting for anyone willing to ask the right questions. Yet everyone who achieved the requisite ability to pursue the answers to those questions became obsessed with secret-keeping. They held onto tiny scraps of knowledge rather than sharing in a collegiate manner for the benefit of all. At times, he wondered if he would be the same as the others if he had managed to ignite and gain the overwhelming power of a full paragon. That line of thought never went far, though. If he kept even half of his knowledge to himself, he could parlay it into financial and political power second to none. Again and again, he chose instead to disseminate what he knew. Perhaps that was the fault of his pre-Outsider background as a professor of philosophy.

"Cellular metabolism is a complex sequence of chemical reactions. They can mostly be abstracted away for our purposes by considering them a method of moving hydrogen ions across a membrane to create a proton gradient. The calories and oxygen you consume is used at the cellular level to pack a bunch of hydrogen ions together. Then, those ions run through a channel in a specific molecule, causing it to spin. When that molecule spins in its channel, it attaches a phosphate group to the energy carrier of the cell. It's somewhat of a mechanical process, turning a turbine just like in a hydroelectric plant."

Chemekti twirled his finger in a circle as he continued his explanation. "So what I do, by virtue of process manipulation, is cause that molecule to spin around without using any protons. The cell goes on about its normal activities with plenty of energy, but virtually no oxygen or food are needed and carbon dioxide is not produced. Actually, when this technique is being used, you would be fine if your heart stopped beating for a small amount of time. Just a short time, really. The cells still need nutrients to build structures and there are waste products created by means other than respiration that need to be eliminated."

Suddenly, Chemekti paused. "There is one serious drawback to my method that you should understand. The normal process of cellular respiration produces water as a byproduct. The lack of water production is somewhat balanced out by the fact that not as many waste products are being produced that require elimination, but I know from experience that issues develop in the lymph nodes and kidneys if increased water consumption isn't practiced in conjunction with my method."

Tessara's eyes blinked rapidly. "That doesn't make sense. We've been rationing water our whole trip. Unless . . . we are accepting these issues as a price that must be paid for our mission . . . ."

"I would not subject you to harm without your consent." Chemekti folded his arms. "Think about potential methods of preventing water loss."

"We haven't needed to use the facilities as much as usual," Tessara replied.

"Urine volume is decreased as a result of the body being mildly dehydrated. Think again."

Tessara shrugged. "Maybe a hint?"

"What are you doing now that we rarely do on the trip?"

"Talking?"

Suddenly, Veranus jerked upright and croaked out a single word. "Breathe."

"That is the answer I wanted. A significant loss of moisture occurs through the lungs. Because I have encouraged the two of you to sit in mediation without breathing, you have not been losing hydration that way. I have also had the internal temperature of the shuttle kept low so that we are not perspiring. We may still have to deal with calcifications in the urinary tract, but those are a simple matter to fix. So far I don't detect any buildup of toxins in any of our kidneys and lymph swelling hasn't been a problem yet."

"We're less than a day out," Tessara said, "can we drink water and start eating again?"

"Let's wait until we land," Chemekti said. "I'm a little concerned about how our digestions will react to the reintroduction of food. I would prefer not to be stuck in an enclosed place when we run that particular experiment."

Veranus grunted. "Think. Success. Likely?"

Chemekti's smile faded. "Our mission has to be a success. Otherwise, our people will be dead before the fleet enters the solar system."