Moonstruck Pt.4
Choral ended up on the street when her parents died. She had several adult siblings but none took her in. She was close to starving when Bennor found her. He took her in. Now, as the second oldest member of the gang, she was his second in command. Bennor walked up behind her.
“Choral.”
“Yes Bennor.”
“Here it is.”
She turned to face him. There were tears in her eyes.
“Bennor, I can’t do this.”
“You’re right.” That got her attention. He stepped nearer. “At least, not on your own. But you aren’t alone. We’re all going to give this our all so all of us survive. OK?”
“I’m so scared.”
Bennor stood right beside her now, looking out over the city. She didn’t turn to look with him. He glanced at her but her eyes were glued to the patch on his jacket sleeve. He looked back over the city. The sky was beginning to lighten as dawn approached.
“Bennor.”
“Yes?”
“We’re just kids. We aren’t supposed to be heroes.”
“No.” He turned to face her, “We’re supposed to be a team. No heroics. Just survival. Besides, we’re the oldest. They follow our example.”
“But we’re literally trying to save the world.”
“Thinking like that will just overwhelm you. Look at me.” She only stood a few inches shorter than him. She lifted her gaze to his.
“Rely on your team. They have your back.”
She slipped her arms around his waist and held on tight.
He gently wrapped his arms around her and held her firmly.
She breathed in, breathed out. She loosened her hold and he let her go.
“OK.” She said, “Let’s go.”
The Star Compass was still in his hand. It hung on a golden chain. He put it over her head and let it settle around her neck.
“You’ll probably move it to a pocket but…”
“Probably… Thank you.” She seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then she spun away and hurried to the waiting endo-exo shuttle.
I wonder what she wanted to say just now.
“OK. Calyx, M-1 you there?”
“Here Bennor.”
“Affirmative.”
“What have we got?”
“We’ve got access to the monitoring room and we found the cause of the power outage. We’re rewiring the backup power now.”
“I’m on my way.”
Bennor turned to look out across the city. In the distance was the Capital Shield Generator. A monstrous dome with a two mile high, steeple-shaped tower that ended in a needle point. Even from this distance it dwarfed the city around it. But it couldn’t stop a Space Fortress.
“OK Calyx, send me directions to the monitoring station.”
“They’re sent.”
“Got ‘em.”
Bennor saw a boy step out of a house as he walked past. Bennor paused.
“Hello, I’m Bennor. What’s your name?”
“Evan.”
“Nice to meet you Evan. The Orbital Invasion Alarms will be going off soon. Maybe get a good book and an extra snack in your backpack.”
Evan’s eyes widened as he turned to go back inside. Bennor hurried on.
Evan’s only going to suffer a minor inconvenience today if we get this right.