by Ethan Bibile
“All systems ready to go Morgan?” Quinn’s father asked the A.I as he flicked a series of levers and switches on the dashboard. He reached up and flicked a switch above his head, turning the engines on.
“All systems are fully functional Captain Fenton,” Morgan responded, his metallic voice echoing throughout the cockpit. “Ready for take-off.”
Quinn’s father ignited the engines, which began to slowly push the Audion forwards. He steered the Audion carefully towards the open hangar door, the spaceship quickly emerging out into the open.
The Audion blasted towards the sky, rocketing up into the clouds, now the city below them simply a place for ant-sized civilians. Quinn’s father upped the speed as he got closer to the end of Nespritia’s atmosphere. A cone of fire surrounded the nose of the Audion as it flew, and they suddenly broke through the atmosphere, leaving Nespritia behind and entering space.
Stars twinkled in every direction Quinn looked, like trillions of gems stuck upon a dark backdrop for the entire universe to see. Despite having seen it many times before, Quinn still marvelled at the beauty of the universe before him.
“Wow!” Quinn’s father exclaimed excitedly. “I can’t believe we made it to space in that time! All systems still going good Morgan?” He asked, looking up at the roof.
“All systems are still fully functional,” Morgan said, sounding half impressed. “Although you have not yet tried out the top speed that the ship can now travel at.”
“Well, that’s what we want to see,” Quinn’s father said excitedly. He turned to Quinn, pointing his index finger at a newly installed set of switches upon the dashboard Quinn had never seen before. “By pressing these levers, we bypass the barrier that puts a limitation on our speed,” The excitement on his face was contagious, almost childlike wonder in some respects. “Ready?” He asked his son.
“Let’s do it,” Quinn said excitedly, grinning at the prospect of an incredibly fast spaceship. His father turned away from him, straitening himself in his seat. He flicked the levers and the hum of the engine below them grew. Quinn, his father and Morgan simply all stayed still for a moment, all waiting for something to happen that never did.
So, Quinn’s father pushed the lever forwards and applied thrust to the thrusters, sending them rocketing off into space, faster than before.
“Woah!” Quinn’s father exclaimed as they blasted through the cosmos. Despite the Audion moving at incredible speeds, the cockpit was still stable and the ride was incredibly smooth for the passengers.
They continued flying at incredible speeds, blasting further and further away through the galaxy. In front of them, a large collection of dots came into view, and as they flew towards them they got larger and larger until they realised they were headed straight in the direction of an asteroid field.
Quinn’s father pulled back hard on one lever and pushed forward on another and the Audion slowed down dramatically as it turned around, before rocketing back in the direction of Nespritia.
At this Quinn’s father released his grip on the two levers and the ship slowly came to a halt.
“Morgan!” Quinn’s father said. “How are the engines going?” He asked and Quinn could tell he was partially terrified that by increasing the ship’s maximum speed and flying at it, he might have broken it.
“All systems are fully functional,” Morgan replied, sounding impressed at the alterations Quinn’s father had made. “Congratulations Captain Fenton,” Morgan applauded, and Quinn’s father smiled to himself.
“Wow,” Quinn’s father said, running his hand through his hair that so resembled his daughter’s. “Maybe you’ll be able to enter some races now that she can fly this fast,” Quinn’s father suggested to his son, patting the dashboard fondly.
Quinn did know how to fly a spaceship, having begun flying two years ago. However, when he began flying a ship his knowledge was superior to other ship flying newbies, as Quinn had previously spent years helping his father with all kinds of ship repairs for the Audion. He knew the ship back to front.
However, no matter how good Quinn actually was, by law on Nespritia, you weren’t allowed to get your full spaceship license until you were eighteen, and for Quinn, this only meant five more months of waiting.
“Mum won’t like that you know,” Quinn pointed out, and his father’s expression in response showed how he agreed.
“Yeah, you're right. Maybe when you're older,” Quinn’s father said as he slowly put thrust back into all of the Audion’s thrusters.
“You know that mum isn’t too big on the idea of making the Audion faster right?” Quinn asked with almost an amused smile on his face, a smile that only increased in size upon seeing his father’s guilty one.
“Don’t worry about that,” Quinn’s father said as they flew back to Nespritia. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Honey we're home!” Called out Quinn’s father as he walked into the Fenton home, Quinn right behind him. The sun was beginning to set, the two having been out all day either in space testing out the Audion’s flight speed or making corrections to the engine.
“Daddy!” A voice called out, and Natalie ran to the door at top speed, jumping into her father’s arms, who picked her up.
“Hello sweetheart!” Their father said, smiling at his daughter. “Have you had a good day today?” He asked his daughter, whose face turned to concentration as she replayed the events of the day over in her head.
“Yes!” She replied, with a grin returning to her face. “What about you?” She asked her father politely as the three walked through the foyer and entered the kitchen, where Quinn and Natalie’s mother was making dinner.
“We had a great day, your brother and I,” Their father said in reply to his daughter. “We made the Audion go faster!” He said, and at these words his wife raised an eyebrow at him, still giving him a smile. He put Natalie down on the floor and went over to his wife, kissing her once he got close to her.
“Hello honey,” He said almost nervously, trying to break some sort of ice. “How was your day?”
“Good, good,” His wife replied. “Didn’t make the Audion go too fast, did you?”
He looked over at Quinn as if for some consolidation on the topic, tilting his head to the side and shrugging lightly.
“It was a bit of an adjustment,” He replied, trying to say it slowly to his wife, who simply just rolled her eyes back at him, smiling.
“Really,” She said as she went back to cooking dinner, yet a smile remained on her face. Quinn’s father looked at his son, giving him a light thumbs up, which Quinn returned with a smile and shake of his head.
The Fenton family ate their dinner not long after, sitting at the table and talking well after they had finished. Once they cleaned the table, Natalie was sent to bed, a task which seemed to take her a millennium to achieve. Quinn ended up spending most of the night in his room playing video games, and only when his clock told him it was eleven at night did he put down the controller, shut down his computer and went downstairs.
He entered the living room where his parents were sitting on the couch, watching some TV show that was being played on their large television which used the same technology as a hoverboard to hover above the ground.
“Goodnight,” Quinn bade his parents, who looked up upon him entering the room. They stood up, each of them hugging their son in turn.
“Nice job today,” Quinn’s father said as he hugged his son goodnight. Quinn smiled at his parents as he left the room.
“Love you,” They called out as he exited.
“Love you too,” Quinn replied, before ascending the stairs to the second floor. He put on his pyjamas and turned the lights out, his room being bathed in darkness. Quinn went over to his bed, hopping in it and pulling the bed sheets up to cover himself, and before long, he was asleep.
FIRE IN THE BLACK OF THE NIGHT
Quinn was awoken suddenly by a loud explosion. He sat up quickly, gasping for air, his senses alert as he fel
t his entire bedroom give the slightest shudder. He could hear sounds projecting through his bedroom walls from the outside world, sounds that were incredibly like screams and explosions.
Quinn looked over at his holographic clock, which told him it was only two o’clock in the morning. He swept his feet over the side of his bed, cold shooting through the soles of his feet as they connected with the floor.
Quinn scurried as fast as he could over to the window without falling. He put his index finger up to the shimmering blue plate on the wall, carefully pressing up, opening his blinds.
The sight that met his eyes was truly horrific.
Unlike any other night Quinn had experienced, the sky was ablaze with fire as if it had been bathed orange. Quinn glanced down to the street below, where people ran for their lives, their vocal cords surly being shredded, as no creature could comfortably make the horrific screaming sounds that they made.
Quinn’s eyes managed to make out offenders within the crowd. Shining metallic robots, their hands clasping guns that fired lasers at the innocent people. Bodies fell to the ground everywhere.
Suddenly another explosion hit Quinn’s house, causing it to violently wobble, which sent Quinn sprawling onto the floor. By the time he looked up, he only just managed to catch a glimpse of a spaceship flying off into the orange painted sky.
Quinn’s bedroom door suddenly burst open, causing him to whip his head around, his heart racing with fear, terrified that it would be one of the robots storming his house.
Luckily, it was only his father.
“Quinn!” He yelled, his eyes flickering over to the window as he ran into the room, pulling his son to his feet. “Come on, we’ve got to get to the Audion!”
“What’s happening?” Quinn asked, his eyes returning to look out the window. In the distance, he could see the heart of the city being attacked. As Quinn and his father looked on, one large tower was hit by some sort of object of destruction, and its top half came crashing to the ground.
“I’m not sure, we’ve just got to go!” Quinn’s father yelled again. This time Quinn didn't hesitate. He and his father ran from the room, only stopping as Quinn grabbed his tan jacket from the end of his bed to protect him from the flames that occupied his world outside, as well as slipping on a pair of shoes quickly.
Quinn and his father came out into the circular vestibule, which didn't turn out to be any better than Quinn’s bedroom. The large, glass skylight gave them a terrifying view of the orange painted sky.
“Where's Mum and Nat?” Quinn asked, but his father was already making his way around the circular banister and down the stairs. He gestured for Quinn to follow, and he quickly did, leaping down the stairs two at a time.
The two turned down into the hallway where the door to Quinn’s mother and father’s bedroom was, as well as the door to Natalie's. They passed the furnished walls and bookshelf and nearly ran straight into Quinn’s mother, who was clutching a terrified Natalie’s hand.
“We’ve got to get off the planet,” Quinn’s mother said, and he could see that she too was terrified. They all were. Him, his father, his mother and especially his sister. All of their eyes were laced with fear.
“Hey,” Quinn’s father said comfortingly, a voice which instantly lowered any defences Quinn had up. Quinn's father crouched down so that he was level with his daughter, whose eyes were wide with terror.
“We’re going to be OK,” He said. Quinn and his mother both bent down as well, eager to hear the words of comfort, words that told them that they would all be OK.
“We’ll get to the Audion, and then we’ll go somewhere else, somewhere safe. OK?” Quinn’s father gripped his daughter's free hand, trying to comfort her.
“OK,” Whispered Natalie quietly, staring intently at her hand that had been enveloped in her father’s. “We’ll be OK,” She whispered, echoing her father’s words.
The terror that had previously occupied all of their eyes seemed to diminish, taking up residence in its place was hope.
Quinn truly believed that they could get off the planet alive.
Suddenly, they weren't all huddled together. Quinn, Natalie, his father and his mother, they weren't absorbing the words of comfort from inside the confines of their home.
Quinn could feel the air rushing by him as he flew. Their home had already taken at least two explosions and had stayed put. It was only a matter of time before a third hit and took the building down.
Pieces of Quinn’s home flew by him as he fell through the air. He was vaguely aware of the sounds of people screaming and the laser shots from the robots that brought death, but his awareness of them was limited.
Quinn’s impact on the ground was hard, sudden and jarring. Every single bone and muscle in his body seemed to ache, and he knew that it was a miracle that he was still alive.
Slowly, Quinn pushed himself off the ground, pieces of rubble falling off his body as he got up. He looked around and realised that where he was standing should have been his living room.
Instead, it was simply a pile of ash and rubble.
Quinn looked around at his entire house, which had been decimated into nothing.
“Nat?” Quinn called out, ignoring the screams from the passers-by, looking around desperately for his family. “Mum? Dad?” Quinn yelled out. He moved from his position in the living room, the rubble crunching underneath the shoes that he had slipped on before he left his bedroom. “Nat? Mum? Dad?”
Quinn felt his entire body being taken over by fear and terror that his family was gone. The terror-free moment he had had with his family only moments before the explosion seemed like a dream now.
Quinn desperately began pulling destroyed objects from the ground, looking for any sign of his family. The thought of his family buried terrified him to death, especially the thought of Natalie buried. Poor little defenceless Natalie…
Suddenly, Quinn saw a person emerge from over a pile of rubble, standing on top of it, looking around at the destroyed home below them. Quinn instantly recognized the figure.
“Dad!” Quinn cried, sprinting as fast as he could over his destroyed home, nearly tripping once or twice. “Dad!” Quinn repeated. “Where’s Mum and Nat, have you found…”
As Quinn neared his father, he noticed the tear tracks going down his face. His father’s eyes were red, shimmering as fresh tears still fell down his face.
“Dad,” Quinn said, trying to sound firm but his voice trembled. “Mum and Nat, did you find them?” He already knew the answer before his father said it.
Quinn’s father merely pointed behind him, too engulfed by the tears to speak.
Quinn slowly looked behind his father, now more terrified than he had ever been in his life, more terrified than he had been when he saw the world seemingly ending outside his window or when he had been blasted through the air. His eyes frantically searched the rubble for what he already knew was there.
And then he saw them. He spotted his mother’s long hair protruding out from underneath a slab of concrete. Next to it, he saw an arm stick out, an arm so small that it could only belong to one person.
“No,” Quinn whispered. He nearly tripped backwards over the rubble, which would surely end in a demise such as the one that his mother and sister had faced. His poor mother and sister who had so much life left, who had deserved to have so much life left. Yet instead that had been brutally stripped away from them.
“Quinn…” His father’s voice barely penetrated his thoughts, only entering his mourning as a tiny voice that he ignored. “Quinn,” The second time the voice was firmer, and it properly registered with Quinn.
“They’re gone, they’re just…” Quinn struggled with his words, tripping over them, no idea what to say. He turned around to face his father, who was staring at his son through watery eyes, which showed no sign of having the tears stop. Quinn, on the other hand, was simply too shocked to cry.
“Come on,” Quinn’s father choked out, doing his best not to look
at the spot where his dead wife and daughter lay. “They wouldn't want us to stay here and die while mourning them. They'd want us to get off this blasted planet.”
He put his hand on Quinn’s back, slowly pushing him forward towards the milling crowd that was full of terrified civilians and robot attackers alike. Quinn ran towards it, his father right behind him.
Just before he made it to the street, Quinn turned around and stared at the ruins of the place he had once been able to call home. The place that now acted as a grave for his beloved mother and sister. For a moment, Quinn and his father stood there, once again unaware of the screaming crowd behind them.
They were only brought to their senses when a dark red laser shot right over Quinn’s head.
Quinn spun around to face the robot, and he felt hatred boil up inside him as he got his first good look at the demonic creature.
It was covered in shining, metallic silver strips that went all around its body creating a perfect armour against opposing weapons. Its body shape resembled a human, Quinn’s best guess would be that the design pattern was on purpose. Its eyes were a pure, dark red colour, seemingly penetrating Quinn’s soul. The silver strips twisted around at the wrists and ankles of the creature. Inside, in between the tightly woven metallic strips was a glowing red orb, which seemed to be what powered the robot. This… thing had assisted in the deaths of his mother and sister. And Quinn absolutely hated it for that.
A beam of blue energy suddenly hit the robot, miraculously going through the gap between the metallic strips and hitting the power source, sparks flying from within it. It fell to its knees as the life drained out of it, its pure red eyes going out showing that it had truly died.
Quinn turned around to face his father, who had some sort of gun out that Quinn had never seen before. It was pure white with a glowing blue section on the back, close to the trigger.
Quinn’s father’s jaw was clenched, and Quinn seriously was going to question how his father had managed to hit the power source of the robot perfectly when his vision was impaired by the tears that still streamed down his face.
