Fellowship & Fairydust

CLAIR’S POV

Roba 2, 92 years since the Kaiju Awakened

I giggled as I floated outside of the space station. I still couldn’t believe that I was chosen out of hundreds of other students to be a part of Professor Anton Yeller’s space program. It was exciting to think about it because if this experiment worked, then not just Netokan, but the entire world of Harthyn would be one step closer to achieving space travel. Fiction could soon become reality.

I was enjoying the sensation of weightlessness so much I failed to pay attention to my surroundings and bumped into my partner. “Clair, do you mind? I’m trying to work on making the adjustments Yeller sent us out here for.”

“Sorry. I’m just having fun, Jace.” I said as I used the handholds to propel myself up. I could’ve used the mini jetpack, but swimming through the vacuum of space was just more entertaining for me.

I could hear him sigh over our comms. “Clair, I know you’re enjoying all this, but I’m trying to take this seriously. If the radar’s not fixed, we won’t be able to scan for a spot on the moon Bruck for the professor to build a colony. And for the record, don’t call me Jace.”

“Okay, Jason.” I nodded as I opened the panel. Turning on my holo-screen, I looked over the instructions I had been given. “Just think. We’re getting closer to developing a craft that can cruise through space. We’ll be able to find new planets to inhabit, and perhaps other life as well.”

“And pretty soon, as Dad keeps telling me, we’ll be having wars between planets.”

“Professor Yeller says that this space program is a solution to save people from the kaiju. We’ll be able to restart our civilization far away from those monsters. Do you think people would want to start wars up?”

“Have people let go of the resolution to the Last War?”

His question made me pause. The Last War, as the war against the country of Moruga had been termed, was supposed to end the conflict forever. Even though the government was saying the entire planet had finally been united, there were rumors that the rebels known as the Downtrod had grown more active. There had been three public facility attacks in the last month alone, and people feared more. 

Shaking my head, I decided to change the subject. “On a more positive note, our involvement with Professor Yeller’s experiments will help to ensure our academic futures. We’re securing our–“

“Thanks for reminding me.” His voice made me cringe. I hadn’t meant to touch a sensitive spot, but I heard static when I tried to speak to him. He must’ve gone silent to me.

I made the last few adjustments, heard a click, and saw some blue lights turn on. “And done.” I smiled as I closed the panel and the space station whirred as the fixes took hold. Pressing a finger against my helmet, I contacted the professor while my holo-screen turned off. “Yeller. We’ve finished our task out here.”

“Good. Come back inside.” The kind old voice said to both of us. I was certain he overrode the radio silence my cousin put himself under. Holding on to the side of the station, I waited for him to come back up so we’d get back inside together.

He gave a nod as he passed, but didn’t stop. Frowning at him for that disrespect, I began to follow him inside. But I couldn’t stay mad. We just helped secure the next step for Harthyn’s future. Generations were going to remember this moment. Following my cousin, I thought there was no way the universe could destroy this.

I had no idea how wrong I was.

As we made our way to the entrance, the laws of science were broken as space itself began to quake! Grabbing onto the side of the station, I clung to it for dear life. “What’s going on?” 

Jason also grabbed a hold of the station, and I could see his grip on the handhold was so tight he looked like he was trying to break it. “A quake in space? That’s impossible!”

“You can say that when we’re experiencing it now?!” I asked him as I did something I had never done. I began to pray to Gri for a miracle. I had never been religious, but I found myself making a promise that if we got out of this I would start looking into faith.

“Emergency lockdown initiated.” The automated words from the station made my blood freeze like the cold vacuum of space. Jason and I stole a glance at each other before we hurried to the entrance. Unfortunately with alarms blaring, the airlock – our only hope – closed in front of us.

Fear took hold of me as I began to pound on the sealed door. “No! Let us in! We’re still out here! Professor Yeller? Santos? Anyone?”

“Communicators are down!” Jason screamed.

“Then how come we can still communicate?”

Neither of us had an answer for that, but we didn’t have to worry about it for long. There was an ear-splitting sound behind us like a building was collapsing on itself. A powerful suction, more powerful than the weightlessness of space, pulled both of us away from the station while our tethers snapped from the force. Screaming as I had never screamed before, I found myself staring at something I would never forget.

There was just a large tear in front of us. It was like the area between the station and the planet had been a fragile antique, and someone had just punched a hole in it. Now we were being dragged towards that abyss that seemed to pull all light into. The two of us tried to resist, but there was nothing we could do as we were sucked inside that phenomenon.

Inside, I found myself blinded by a light that appeared to be hot and cold at the same time. Gravity turned back on. My heart skipped a beat. No, now it wanted to stop. We were heading straight towards the ground! I screamed again as the grass came speeding towards us! There was a lot of pain and blackness.

Next>