Unlike her, I hesitate, surprised by her smooth readiness at listening to my command. Just then the sun lightens up her dark form in a soft halo of faint, morning light. Watching as her long, ebony locks gleam with a hint of brown, I am reminded of whatit felt like to have her tucked in my arms, to have her thick waves brush over my shoulder.
She was weaker then, more frail. She could not stand on one of her feet.
“Krellix?” Her gaze narrows, searching mine. “Is something wrong?”
I do not answer her, instead, I shake my head, turn, and give chase after Zaku and Sada, suddenly alarmed by how badly I want to stay with her at that moment and offer my protection. Putting as much distance between us as possible as fast as I can, I push out the tempting thought and focus on the crumpled path ahead, more prepared to take out Sada and be done with this confusing situation entirely than ever before.
SIX
FALLING STARS
Julia
Morning brightensthe yard and banishes the last of the night across the trees outside. Without looking away for more than a brief flick of my eyes, my gaze never leaves the glass and the forest, making certain I’m alerted at the smallest movement within.
Feeling more at home than I have since I’ve gotten here, I relax into my stake-out, having done many missions of the like before. Being able to hold position in the bowels of a war-torn colony ship, sometimes waiting days for a single person to move through an abandoned elevator shaft, patience and focus are two of my best attributes.
Holding a gun—a gun that’s mine—calms me as well.
But as the early morning shifts towards noon, my focus wavers, and the lack of sleep from the night before catches up to me. I eye my survival pack with a sense of gloominess, having shoved it between two of the seating chairs to keep it out of sight. Daisy comes out to check on me briefly and ask for newsbut she doesn’t stay long, choosing to keep the kids high on the mountain today and away from the house’s front.
She grabs food from the refrigerator, and glances out the window nervously before heading back to the boys.
No one other than Shelby and I—outside Zaku and Daisy—know about the hidden pathway and the reactor at the top of the mountain, or the massive storage rooms between us and there. This house—Zaku and Daisy’s home—is supposedly a front to maintain it, which is also why there are special robots here when, according to the others, there are none anywhere else. At least anywhere else they’ve been.
I watch them now repairing the door, lasering through the glass and taking out the pieces with the fractures and fitting in new pieces in their places. Heating the glass, the robots reshape and buff it until it almost looks brand new. All the while, I keep my rifle straight, waiting to add another bullet through it.
Somewhere, deeper in the house, I think I hear one of the boys start shouting, and with my finger twitching on the trigger, I wince. Rolling my shoulders, I try to relax as the bots finish up with the door.
I spot movement in the trees and I swiftly stand for a better view, raising my gun and walking to the newly-made glass.
Seeing the grayish green naga from the evening before emerging from the forest, the one with the tousled, short brown hair, I call out to him when his gaze clashes with mine. “I will shoot you if you come any closer,” I warn loudly.
He peers at my weapon, his eyes dropping to the bots in front of me before returning to my face. His gaze roams over the rest of the house and I stiffen, wondering if he heard what I said.
When he opens his mouth to speak and I can’t hear him, I point at the window away from the door, aiming with my gun. “I’ll meet you over there,” I shout.
He tilts his head and I slowly walk deeper into the house along the glass and towards the seating area. After a moment, he looks around again and moves towards me from across the yard, seeming to not fully trust that I’m not baiting him into a trap. Still stepping back several paces and keeping my distance from the window, I frown at him. “What?” I ask, reminding him he’s the one that appeared out of nowhere, not me.
He scans the glass and leans back to take in the door before re-facing me. “Are you okay?”
My frown deepens, not sure if I heard him correctly.
“Y-yes,” I answer with some hesitance. “Why?”
He gives me a nod, scanning everything again like he’s assessing it.
With his short, slightly-curly brown locks around his neck and ears, I wonder why I haven’t given him much notice before despite seeing him outside last night and on other occasions. “What’s your name—” I go to ask, getting cut off by a loud humming noise.
He twists and turns to the sky.
Unable to see what he’s looking at, I strain my neck and move up against the glass as the noise gets louder. What sounds like a spaceship flying overhead, I disregard it as such when the ground trembles beneath my feet. Loudening by the moment, I release my gun and let it drop to my hip to cover my ears, hoping Daisy is okay and the kids are not frightened. It’s been a few days since the last spaceship flew by, and it wasn’t nearly as loud as this one.
The noise passes but it’s soon followed by more. Beginning to see smoke streaks in the sky above some of the pines, the ground starts trembling again when several more ships fly overhead. Seeing some flash above and through the branches, I start to grow nervous after I count the third ship and then the fourth one, knowing I’m hearing even more ships out of sight.
My eyes flick to the naga outside, who’s now poised in the middle of the yard, staring upward, a deep furrow lining his brow. “What do you see?” I shout but he doesn’t hear me.
The ground starts shaking again.
