Chapter Five
Pacing
up and down the length of the living room, Alana wrung her hands, frustrated at
her helplessness as she watched her home get taken over. Romelle watched the screen silently, but her
hands were clenched into tight fists on her lap. Sven, Ian, and Jason were all involved in IAF
business, but Romelle kept in contact with them the entire day. Jason was frantic, not having heard a single
word about his family, and she had tried to find out information but all
communication to and from Arus was completely cut off. The Lotorians had set up some kind of signal
jammer that succeeded in cutting off the planet from the rest of the
Alliance. However, the intrepid news
media continued to monitor the situation and provided more intel than IAF intelligence
could. Romelle also recognized it as a
scare tactic on the part of the Lotorians to inform the rest of the Alliance of
the kind of power they wielded. It was
working.
With
the planet under attack, Romelle was excused from the Senate and though she
knew she could force them to let her stay, she wanted the time to find out all
she could about what was happening.
Asking the other Alliance planets for help was a given, but she doubted
a significant number of them would. Sven
was having difficult time convincing the leaders that the IAF could make a
difference on Arus, but as the planet had left the Alliance, it was a losing
battle. His detractors had the easy
argument: the IAF was for the defense of Alliance planets. Despite the fact that most of the IAF leaders
wanted to aid Arus, the Alliance leaders refused to let them. But Sven continued to lobby and she was proud
of him for that. Their daughter was on
Arus, their friends…too much was at stake and Romelle hated having to watch it
on the telescreen.
“There’s
millions of them,” Alana said, her voice on the edge of a sob. “Aunt Romelle…they’ve taken Arus.”
“It’s
not over, Alana,” Romelle said. “I can
feel it. The Lions turned tail and
ran. They don’t do that, not unless
there’s a good reason.”
“What
possible reason? The Castle of Lions has
been taken!”
Romelle
stood and grabbed Alana’s arms, giving her a shake. She heard the hysterical note in the girl’s
voice and was reminded that regardless of Alana’s gifts, she was still a young
girl who had just seen the only home she knew come under enemy control. Romelle had lived through worse, that did not
mean she could watch the proceedings with no emotion. If anything, she felt everything sharply
because she had been working so hard to make sure this would never happen
again—not to her family again.
“Have
faith in your parents,” Romelle said, almost harshly. “They’re up to something. I know this.”
“Did
they tell you?” Alana asked, suspicious.
“Not
in so many words, but the last time we spoke, Keith told me to trust them. And I do.
So should you.”
Alana
sat on the couch, covering her face with her hands. “I just want to know they’re okay.”
Romelle
put her arms around her and Alana buried her face in her aunt’s neck. She began to cry, her body racking with sobs,
and Romelle was tempted to join her, but she kept her tears at bay. She would cry later, alone, but for her niece
she would be strong. Alana needed that
much from her.
“We
have to do something,” Alana said, even as she cried.
“We
will,” Romelle said, an idea having already formed in her head. “I promise, we will.”
The
Arusian desert of the Parcifi continent was arid and desolate. It took up three-quarters of Parcifi and made
it difficult for anyone on the ground to make it from one coast to the
other. There had once been nomads in the
days before high-speed travel but they had long since left for better climates. The coast was dotted with cities and filled
with people, but the desert…the desert was theirs.
The
Lions landed in the center of the desert in the perfect darkness that lack of
electricity could provide. They had
flown as close as they dared to the sun in order to avoid the Lotorians’
sensors and went back to Arus when night had fallen over Parcifi. With Yellow Lion leading the way, they began
to dig into the sand. Matt kept his eyes
on his sensors to make sure he didn’t cut into the cavern they were going to,
but instead to the smaller connecting tunnel that his sensors told him would
not collapse if he made a little opening for the Lions.
The
caverns underneath Parcifi were well-known because of the part they played in
many old folktales, usually involving smugglers and buried treasure. The pilots knew them well, having sat at
Nanny’s knee and listened to her tell the stories. It had been Ethan who had suggested they use
the caverns as a hiding place and no one had disagreed. Some said the tunnels stretched from coast to
coast, but it was hard to say for sure because there was something in the sand
that prevented them from getting a proper sensor scan of the area. Another reason why it was an ideal place to
hide.
Yellow
Lion broke through the thick rock floor of the tunnel as the Red Lion used the
lion torches to seal up the tunnel behind them.
Its metal claws echoed as it walked carefully to the larger cavern and
Matt turned on a light to illuminate their way.
“There’s
a metal mixed in with the rock,” he told them.
“It’s slightly magnetic so our sensors aren’t going to be so great from
down here.”
“Can’t
win them all,” Jack said. “How good are
our communications going to be?”
“No
long-range or deep space, but in-planet is possible.”
“So
we’ll have to go back to the surface to get in touch with Earth,” Bethie
said.
“Could
we put some kind of antenna up there?” Jack asked.
“Not
without giving ourselves away,” Matt said.
They
broke off when the Yellow stepped into the cavern and they were relieved to see
that it was not empty. Hunk and Olivia
were already there with all the equipment from the repair bays set up. They also had five stations for the Lions,
each station containing a portion of a Lion’s lair so that they would be able
to recharge. A first aid station was in
one corner as well as a long table with benches to eat on and two portable
bathrooms were tucked into opposite corners, one for each gender. There were three make-shift bedrooms: two
with two twin beds and one with a bunk bed and a twin, each room curtained
off. The cavern was nearly as big as the
docking bay and gave them all the room they needed.
As
soon as Matt set a booted foot down on the rock floor, Hunk pulled him into a
tight hug.
“I’m
alright, Dad,” Matt managed gasp. “I’m
alright.”
When
Hunk released him, Olivia reached up and clung to her baby brother’s neck,
close to tears. Matt patted her back.
“I’m
glad you’re here, Liv,” he said.
“Me,
too.”
“Have
you heard from Mom?” he asked.
“She’s
with Uncle Lance,” Olivia answered.
“Where
are they?” Jack asked, overhearing his cousins.
“Underground
and Uncle Pidge is with them,” she said.
“Where else?”
“Castle
Control and the bases,” Bethie muttered.
“Has there been any word?”
“At
last report, Keith and Allura are being held there. All the bases have surrendered, Oceania has
fallen. We’ve got all the information so
far ready for you,” Hunk replied. “How
was it…”
Bethie
looked away as she struggled to gain control of her turbulent emotions. Jack slid a look towards her, watched her
pain, and wanted to reach out to her but knew that it would not be
appreciated. She hadn’t hinted at all of
her true relationship with Skech and he was not going to volunteer his own
knowledge of it. But he wanted to, if
only to ease some of her pain. He looked
away.
“I’m
going to have nightmares about it for the rest of my life,” Ethan said
wearily.
“You
must be hungry,” Olivia said, winding her arm through her brother’s as if
afraid to let him go for a moment else he disappear.
Leading
them to the large table set up in one corner, they let themselves be sat down
and plates of food were placed in front of them. Bethie took the report that was handed to her
and opened it, even as she was filling her plate with food. Jack had the report as well and he was
completely ignoring his food.
“What
kind of supplies do we have here?” Jordan asked.
“We
won’t be eating like for much longer,” Olivia answered. “But we have plenty of those ready-to-eat
packets.”
“MREs,”
Jordan said dryly. “Yummy.”
“At
least we’ve got a doctor around,” Ethan said.
Olivia
smiled, but her eyes could not quite meet his.
“I
just hope I won’t be needed all that much,” she replied.
Bethie
tried to swallow her food, but found she had a hard time getting it past the
lump in her throat. There was no listing
of casualties from Oceania Base and she doubted they would ever have one. She had had plenty of time to think in the
Red Lion and she thought that she would be able to put her emotions on the
backburner to get through this. She knew
she needed to; her parents, her life, everything she knew was on the line, and
she was helpless to stop it. They
simmered near the surface, threatening to overflow and cut off all rational
thought.
She
didn’t know how her parents had lived through this for years, the fear, the
sense of urgency, the helplessness…it made her admire them even more. They were the heroes. Not her.
She glanced at Jack, saw him reading the report as if it was a technical
handbook, and wished she knew how he had become the reason instead of the
rhyme. Forcing herself to focus on
taking in the information, she pushed aside all thoughts of her parents and of
Skech…but all she could see were their faces floating in front of her
eyes.
“I’m
surprised they’re not trying to get to the underground base,” Jack said,
looking over at Hunk.
“They
might very well be doing that,” Hunk said.
“Our news is at least five hours old.”
“The
underground bases are still secure,” Ethan said. “Mom made sure of that. The military may have gone to the dogs, but
the bases were the one thing she never overlooked.”
“We
need to communicate with my father, mother, or at least Alana,” Jordan said. “They have to know what we’re doing so that
they can prepare the IAF.”
“We
can’t risk that yet,” Hunk said. “The
Lotorians will be scanning communications and we need to find a break in their
routine before we act.”
“Routine
means we’ll be here for a while,” Matt said nervously.
“That’s
the plan, Matty,” Bethie said. “The
goddamn risky plan.”
“I
guess that’s what we’re going to call it from now on,” Jordan mumbled.
They
sat, numb, staring at each other. Hunk
looked exhausted and tense, while Olivia’s green eyes were huge on her pale
face. Jack unzipped his flightsuit, the
neck suddenly tight, and he put the report down in front of him. Ethan sat with his arms crossed, his eyebrows
knitted together. Jordan had one foot up
on the bench, her chin resting on her bent knee and dark circles underneath
eyes that were dark with worry. Matt
simply sat, his fingers twisted together and his eyes were on the Yellow Lion,
sitting not far from where they were.
Bethie pushed her plate away, the food sitting heavily in her gut, and
rubbed her eyes.
“Let’s
have a look at the Lions,” Hunk finally said tiredly. “They look a little scorched from the heat.”
“Does
the equipment work alright down here, Uncle Hunk?” Ethan asked.
“Just
fine. We ran three diagnostics just to
pass the time.”
“I’m
going to bed,” Jordan said, pushing back from the table “I can’t think anymore.”
“You
all should,” Olivia said. “As the
doctor, I’m ordering all of you to get some rest. Even you, Dad.”
“We’ve
been doing nothing but rest, Liv,” Hunk argued.
“No. You all look like you’re dead on your feet,”
she said firmly. “Nothing more can be
done tonight and tomorrow is another day.”
“She’s
got a point,” Ethan said.
“Don’t
have to tell me twice,” Jordan mumbled.
They
moved around the cavern, settling down wherever suited them. The Yearlings took the room with the bunk bed
and Olivia and Matt settled in. Without
having to ask, Bethie and Jack automatically moved in the same direction,
leaving Ethan and Jordan with the other pair of twin beds. Hunk continued to linger by the Lions, unable
to go rest without making sure everything was in order.
Bethie
sat on the edge of her bed and she untied her boots quickly, wanting them off
her feet as quickly as possible. Jack
just sat, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his thighs, his hands
dangling loosely between his knees. He
watched her, a corner of his mouth quirking upward.
“You
mind sharing a room?” he asked. “I
suppose I should have considered your wanting some privacy—at least from
males.”
“Not
at all. I figure this way we can bond as
leader and second-in-command.”
“That
and Ethan snores.”
“Yeah.”
In
unison, they laid back against the single pillow on each bed. Jack’s breathing became steady and deep a
moment later and Bethie turned on her side to face him. If he appeared to be in full control while
awake, all that was lost as he slept.
His countenance was troubled and there was a wrinkle between his
eyebrows as he frowned. He looked
exactly how she felt and for some reason she found that comforting.
“Goodnight,”
she murmured.
