Astrid stood in shock, listening to what Mist had said over and over. Then she glanced back at Rune, who was still calling out commands. She obviously wasn’t supposed to see this. A wave of emotions pummeled her. She listened to the speech once more, chills running down her spine. Rune is my friend, I can’t just abandon him because his twin brother, who I’ve never known, implies that he is underhanded. I’m loyal. I won’t abandon him. And Rune having...a soft spot for me? What did Mist mean, “She’s mine to protect?”
There were two things that kept ringing through her mind over and over and over again. The first was the expression in Mist’s eyes as he laid her on the ground. The softness they gained when he looked at her. The second was the last thing he’d said. It kept coursing through her head. “I just hope she won’t be fooled by your lies.”
What lies? Is Mist lying in hopes that I would see this? Probably not. Rune didn’t tell Ris and the other nurse about this. They were surprised when I said Mist brought me here.
It all made her wonder about everything. Mist. Rune. The Paradise. Rune’s plan. Her friendships. Confusion rushed through her. She knew she wasn’t seeing the whole picture, but she didn’t know how to find it. Everything felt so unsure. I am truly alone. Rune might be worthy of my trust, but I can’t bring myself to give it to him right now.
At that moment a particularly loud blast shook the underground operations center, reminding her of the present. Another one crashed right after it. The ground began to shift and shake in the equivalent of a small earthquake.
“Hold on, Astrid!” Rune shouted as a blast threw him out of his chair and onto the ground next to her.
She bent down next to him in alarm. “Are you alright?”
“I think my arm is injured,” he said, rubbing it and hissing through his teeth. The blasts kept coming. She sat down next to him as dust began to float from the ceiling. Then all of the lights went out, leaving them in darkness, except for one of the monitors. She felt on edge, very on edge, but Astrid didn’t feel afraid anymore.
“Come in, Spark. Come in. Come in,” he said into his wristband. It only bubbled with static. “Our computer and com systems are down. We can’t do anything.”
No, we have to do something. This feels like giving up. “Couldn’t we go up there and help?”
“No, the Veleens have certainly broken through the dome by now. We wouldn’t be of any use,” he said firmly.
The blasts continued, coming closer. Anger blazed in her chest. Despite what he said, she knew she should be helping. Her fear for Ris and Honor rose. She stood up. “My friends are up there. I can’t just let them die. They are fighting a war and the very least we can do is be with them.”
It was a fight for her to get the words out, she was so used to doing what she was told. That’s what she was expected to do in Akayta, and that mindset took time to break.
He stared at her in the dim light. “We have to accept our inability to help. There’s a point where we can’t do anymore, and this is that point.”
She sank back down, tears beginning to spill as she struggled to quash down her frustration.
His good arm lifted up and reached toward her face. He hesitated a second before brushing her cheek with his fingers. Her heart rose into her throat at his touch.
“I hope we can get out of this, Astrid, but I don’t know if we will. I want you to know...I’ve admired you for a long time.” His hand moved through her hair. “What I’m trying to say is that...I love you. I have since the first time I saw you.”
Astrid nearly gasped. He loves me? Her feelings mixed. Do I love him? She wasn’t sure about it. The shock took over. She was speechless. This is not the time for this conversation.
“You just need to know that.”
His hand lowered from her face. He didn’t seemed disappointed, he seemed content. So much was happening at once. Her heart yearned for that love, but she wasn’t sure whether he was the one. She didn’t know how long it would take to figure out when the right man came along, but she didn’t want to force something that wasn’t there. At that moment another boom shook the bunker. She fought the urge to swim out the hatch and help, somehow.
Guilt settled in her soul as she sat there, even if it had only been a few minutes. No. This isn’t right. Astrid couldn’t stand it anymore. She got up and, using the light from the monitor, began swimming towards the hatch.
“What are you doing?” Rune asked in confusion.
She turned back to him. “Helping my friends.”
“Astrid, stop.” He stood up. “You can’t. You’ll die,” he said forcefully.
She had to make herself move. I have to learn to act for myself, not blindly follow orders.
“I’m going,” she choked out, then swam toward the hatch.
She came to the hatch, took a deep breath, and threw it open. Instantly, laser fire flew over her head. She looked around in horror. She’d emerged into a flurry of white dust and sand. Most of the buildings were in ruins. Two fronts were fighting, the Veleens and the Star. The Veleens were shooting lasers and holding large metal shields. The case was the same with the Star, except for the fact that they didn’t have the will to fight. Morale was down and they weren’t receiving any orders. The situation seemed absolutely hopeless. The shield of a fallen mermaid lay near the entrance of the hatch. She pursed her lips, snatched it, and swam out of the hole. Instantly lasers were hitting the body length shield. It surprised her so much that she nearly fell back.
“There’s a hatch here! Star, swim down the hole!” She yelled at the top of her voice.
She’d done a quick calculation, and all the tribe members in the immediate vicinity would fit in the room. Yes, it would be crowded and yes, it would be dark, but at least they would be safe for a little while. It’s our best chance.
Astrid was almost on the front lines as she stood in before the hatch. I have to guard it. If the Veleens get past this point, then it’ll be hard to get back here. Merpeople wearing the black Star shirts, giving her both confused and relieved looks, began to swim down the hole. She heard a swish behind her. Turning her head, she caught sight of Rune, who had taken up a shield.
“Everyone. Down the hatch!” he shouted.
The flow of merpeople going down the hole continued. The Veleens closed in as merpeople at the front lines began dropping their shields and plunging down into the bunker.
“I told you not to come up here!” Rune said angrily as they defended the hatch from the advancing Veleens.
“I can’t let innocent people die while I cower in safety.”
He looked sideways, his eyes dark. Astrid glanced around, Only one more person to get into the bunker… She took one last glance around to make sure there were no others nearby. Her eye caught a mermaid wearing the black shirt of the Star.
The girl was still fifty feet away from the entrance, and the Veleens were gaining on her fast. The mermaid turned her head to look at her goal. Her pale, young face and familiar blue eyes caught Astrid’s attention. Ris. Another group of Veleens moved in to cut her off. Her back was exposed because she was holding her shield in front of her body. She would be shot down in an instant, Astrid realized. No! She rushed towards Ris, getting there just before they were cut off by the Veleens.
“What are you doing?” Ris asked in panic.
“Helping you. Back to back. We can get through them.”
“It’s impossible! They’ll shoot us down!” she cried out, her voice rising in pitch with panic.
“We need to move,” she replied firmly
They were back to back, Astrid facing the hatch. She pushed through the Veleen merpeople with her shield as hard as she could. Lasers pounded against them. They were only thirty feet from the entrance, fifteen, they were there. Rune was there and joined in.
“Go down, both of you!” she shouted.
Ris plunged down, then Rune. Finally, she entered the dark hole once again, locking the hatc
h. Pounding instantly began raining down on it. I hope it’s strong, Astrid thought, shaking her head about the precarious nature of the situation. Rune swam up beside her and stuck something onto it.
“This will lock it more securely,” he said, his voice tired, the anger completely gone.
“Are you mad at me?” she asked, turning to him.
“Not anymore. You did what was...right.”
He sounds almost...grudging. Astrid thought. Then they swam down into the dark room.
Chapter Ten
The room was dimly lit by the computer monitors. They were all standing in the extremely crowded space. Small murmurs of conversation floated about in the water. Astrid stood by Ris. It had only been a short while since the retreat.
“Thanks for saving me. I was like a wounded animal out there,” Ris said, her light blonde hair hanging in tangles, covered with the sand thrown up during the attack.
“No problem.” There was no way that I was going to do nothing, she thought.
A couple of engineers were tinkering with the computers, trying to access the cameras so that they could tell whether the Veleens were gone. The pounding had long since stopped on the sturdy hatch. It had held.
Astrid made her way over to them. “Maybe I could help?” she asked shyly.
“Give it a try,” replied one of the mermen.
She bent down and looked under one of the computers. The wires were a mess. Whoever put this computer together, pieced together the sines way too quickly. Let’s see...first the reactional circuits...then the delows...then the sayor lines. She began pulling out wires and attaching them to others. Suddenly the monitor and computer blinked on. The engineers stared at her, dumbfounded, as she sat up again and the computer began to reboot.
“You’re really good,” one said, his eyebrows raised.
Astrid began turned red. She didn’t know how to reply, so she quietly made her way back to Ris, then watched as they got the cameras online and started switching through the views. Words were failing her after such a day.
After a minute, Rune turned back to the crowd and began to speak, “We are all clear. The Veleens have left, meaning we can go to the refuge complex.” Murmurs quickly spread through the group, but Rune continued. “Some of you may not have heard of it. The refuge complex is an exact replica of this complex, but it’s there in case of emergency. If the Veleens were to follow us, they would take that one down the same way they took this one down. We need to be very careful. I’ll lead the way. It’s only forty-five minutes from here by swimming, but well hidden in the Eddessian Hills.” With that he began to move.
Slowly everyone began to funnel up out the hole and through their broken town. The image of her fallen comrades made Astrid’s stomach sink. She tried to ignore it, tried to look away, but it was her reality—and she had to deal with it. Silent tears poured out. Such an unspeakable destruction of beauty and life. She kept an eye out for signs of life among the dead. To her relief, they ran across several other large groups of survivors. Astrid trailed at the back.
What Mist said in the clip ran through her head. “I just hope that she won’t be fooled by your lies.” What Rune said about loving her...the fact that Ris almost died...it all seemed so hard to process.
Then her thoughts drifted to another subject. How can I get the message about the melions across to such a bloodthirsty people? The Veleens will kill me if I try to say anything. But surely there are good people who need to hear it…People like Delta.
The swim was tiring for Astrid, who’d been through so much that day. She touched her black messenger bag. It held the disk Effie gave to her. She liked to keep it with her as a reminder of her loving sister, and because of her note. It too, seemed mysterious. Whatever you do, don’t let this fall into anyone else's hands. There is more to this than it seems.
What could that small disk contain that was so important?
The water flowed against her hands. It was water that had surrounded her for an entire lifetime. It was familiar. It had mocked her, given relief, and witnessed all of her struggles firsthand. It was always shifting, changing. She looked ahead, all of the Star were tired. They’d just been brutally attacked by the Veleens and lost the battle. It is their suffering I should be thinking about, not mine. Nonetheless, the sights of the battle seared their pain into her mind and made it her own.
Finally, a white dome identical to that of the complex came into view among the purple hills. After Rune unlocked the door, the exhausted string of merpeople filtered in. The only difference that Astrid could see was that this dome smelled and felt completely new. It had never been lived in.
A voice beside Astrid spoke, bringing her out of her thoughts. “You saved us all.”
It was a disheveled and dirt-covered Honor. Her long, dark hair hung in clumps, and the frown on her long face was deeper than usual.
“No...just...”
“You don’t have to pretend it didn’t happen. You were brave enough to save us.”
Astrid couldn’t bring herself to smile at the compliment. There was a fact she’d been avoiding. Rune was going to let them all die. If she hadn’t stepped in, they would’ve been killed. The Rune I knew would never do anything like that. She tried to stop that line of thought. Maybe I misunderstood him. In her heart she knew she hadn’t. Astrid glanced at Honor. Her face and bearing said it all. She’s not meant to be a soldier. Her shoulders were slumped and she looked so disheartened that Astrid wanted to cry. She understood the need for each person in such a small community to be a soldier...but still.
She put a hand on Honor’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”
Honor turned to her, desperation filling her eyes, “How can you say that? The Veleens will just keep attacking! We want to believe we’re making progress, but I don’t see it. I feel like we’re going around in circles.”
Astrid shook her head. “We have to hope, Honor. Without hope we will fail.”
“I don’t know. This doesn’t feel right.” She lowered her voice. “I feel like Rune needs to tell us all his supposedly glorious plan. Every last detail of it. Or even just a general outline would be fine. I don’t like feeling like I’m blind and I hate being in the dark. Besides, what would happen if he died? All of our work would go to waste.”
Astrid agreed with her. “Then you need to talk to him about it.”
Honor gave one of her snort laughs. “He may be accessible to you, Astrid, but most of us can’t talk with him unless he summons us.”
This shocked Astrid. In a situation such as this, a leader should be accessible to his own people.
“I’ll talk to him then.”
“Talking isn’t going to change anything. He’s going to continue doing everything the way he’s been doing it. The way he’s always done it.”
Astrid shook her head. “I’m not sure about anything right now. He hasn’t always been this way, Honor.”
She went to her assigned apartment and, after freshening up, headed down to the cafeteria. At the unspoken requests of the cafeteria workers, everyone pitched in to begin breaking out the backup supplies. Soon they were done, and the room was packed with people eating. Astrid swam to a corner and sat down on the ground since there were no open chairs. She barely touched her food as she watched everyone swim around and talk, oblivious to her presence. She finally placed her uneaten food on the ground beside her and hugged her fin to herself, sighing.
She brought the silver disk out of her bag and examined it once again. So beautiful, but not anything to guard with your life.
A voice suddenly spoke, startling her, and causing her to drop the disk.
“I’m sorry,” Rune said as he bent down and then handed it back to her with a curious glance.
“Oh. It’s alright.” She turned red as she got up.
“I need to talk to you about something,” he said, looking her straight in the eye.
For some reason a feeling of dread began to fill her stomach. “Yes
?”
“I’ve given you an assignment.”
Chapter Eleven
Rune continued, “We’re going to begin training you tomorrow.” With that he abruptly turned to go.
Astrid stared in amazement. But...it’s so soon. She swallowed and called after Rune, who was moving away. “Wait…”
He turned back.
“What’s the assignment?”
“You won’t know until after you’ve been trained. That way we can get a better idea of your strengths and weaknesses. The mind is very powerful, Astrid. If you know what your goal is, you won’t strive to be better than that goal requires.”
“But…”
“Astrid. I know what you’re capable of. You have no excuses. Meet me tomorrow morning at six sharp, right outside the central building.” His voice was hard as he turned and swam away, leaving her gaping in astonishment.
I don’t know why he thinks I’ll be good at whatever job he’s giving me. I’d better go get some rest. Why is he so aggravated? She slowly got up, and after disposing of her food, headed back to her apartment to sleep. One thing is for sure. I’ll do my best.
As she was about to enter her room, the door to the next room opened and Honor emerged.
She looked up in surprise. “Astrid. I was actually just coming to find you.”
Astrid went ahead and opened the door to her apartment, then ushered Honor inside. They both sat down in silence. Honor stared out into the distance, her black hair moving in front of her face. Her mind is occupied. After several minutes Honor glanced up, startled, and remembered where she was.
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