Truthsome, Part IV: Darkness

Shadows (follow link)
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Confessions (follow link)

“Shadow was gone.” It appeared to require repeating. Uncomprehending expressions met him on every face. All except Zoe and the Shepherd. Both had heads down in an almost identical prayerful manner with hands folded. It was a mite unsettling.

“Gone?” Jayne, of course. “How can a planet get gone?”

“Still a rock there, spinning in space. Nothing else.” Mal stopped. He'd never said that out loud before. The words rested strangely on his ears. Unreal. We're all dreaming.

The Shepherd stirred. “I'll tell it, if you want, son” he said softly. Mal shrugged and refilled his cup with whiskey.

“Shadow was the only terraformed moon of a gas giant,” Book said. His voice sounded to Mal like a school teacher talking about something from the ancient past, not a place he could see in his head as bright and alive as the day he'd left. “Tide locked so the days and nights were about sixty hours each.” He glanced at Mal for confirmation. He nodded.... days of light with the shadows of twilight long and deep. Endless nights of stars stretching on and on...

“The sun...” the Shepherd hesitated.

“Go on,” Mal murmured.

“It flared. Not quite a nova but incredibly hot for days on end. Burned that world. I recall it said that the oceans reached the boiling point, and the sand on the shore fused into glass. There were,” he paused, his analytical tone shaky, “no survivors.”

Mal nodded. “No survivors,” he repeated. “Except for the entire Alliance garrison, which had pulled out a week earlier.”

“My God,” Book breathed. Mal felt the Shepherd’s shock like a physical thing, like the preacher had just taken a slug between the eyes. “You bla