Intermission ~ Rapid Fire
Luna focused, still trying to make sure that nobody was following them, but there were no suspicious signals. Once the spaceship was far enough and heading towards the next star system, she joined her friend in the recreational room.
She sat down on the sofa and rested her elbows on the table. With her hands intertwined in front of her face, she pondered, trying to understand what exactly had happened.
“Luna...” - Avi uttered quietly. - “...what should we do now?”
“Nothing.” - Luna said, resigned.
“Nothing? Why?” - Avi replied.
“We can't help them. Not yet.” - Luna spoke, her hands slightly shaking.
“Can you at least explain...” - Nicolas began asking.
“No.” - Luna interrupted. - “I don't know anything. If it were a technology, I would know, but this person rules the fundamental aspects of the universe, as if they were an extension of their senses. It's unnatural.”
Nicolas sighed. - “Considering you could say at least that, you still know something.”
“I only know what I've already told you.” - Luna muttered. - “I'm scared to think about what else that person may be capable of.”
Avi lowered her head. - “If it's her... Infinity Witch. She will surely hurt them.”
Virka sat down next to Luna. - “That's more of a reason not to come close.”
“I would like to talk to her. To understand.” - Avi uttered.
“There's not much to be understood.” - Virka warned. - “If what Akel was saying is true, then she fights a battle harder than ours, and seems to be winning. You can't persuade someone who most likely heard your words countless times.”
“I don't know that, because I didn't try. There is always a chance.” - Avi argued. - “Our attempt might still be the first.”
Luna rested her back against the armrest, denying. - “Avi... think about it. She currently lives in many timelines, some of which also originate from this one. According to Akel, their relative time can also be accelerated. It's almost the same as precognition.”
“...but those timelines can still differ!” - Avi protested.
“Even if it was true, you still should understand who we are fighting against.” - Luna said. - “All those paintings, all those prophecies... to her, our future already had happened. It's as if she's manipulating fate itself, as if she wants to let us know what's soon going to happen.”
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
“It's hard to think about it.” - Nicolas commented as he sipped his coffee. - “We really would need a miracle.”
Avi crossed her arms. - “Maybe, but still, we can be that miracle.”
“You don't know when to give up.” - Virka added with a half-smile.
“No, I don't.” - Avi confirmed.
“That's why you have us.” - Luna also commented. - “Someone needs to keep you from always pushing your hands into the thorns.”
Avi had a sour expression. - “I know what I'm doing!”
“If you...” - Luna wasn't able to finish, because the ship's alarm blared. She instantly flashed to a bridge, leaving everyone else.
“What's happening!?” - Avi shouted to her.
The ship's sound system soon transmitted Luna's warning to them. - “They've locked onto us! Four unmanned, armed reconnaissance units. Unknown signatures.”
“Can you lose them!?” - Avi asked.
“Not fast enough.” - Luna informed. - “I have to shoot them down before they mark us. Otherwise, they'll be able to send their entire fleet here. Grab onto something!”
Luna decelerated to match the speed of enemy ships, and soon four grey shapes blinked beyond the windows for a short moment. There was a moment of silence, after which green lasers flashed next to Luna's spaceship. One of them struck the shields, creating a hole, then disappeared somewhere at the back of the engines. The ship tilted slightly, and it appeared that the artificial gravity was destabilized. The cabinet with vinyls almost fell, but Nicolas was able to keep it in place.
“Luna!?” - Avi shouted again. - “They've hit us!”
“I know, but I got one!” - Luna shouted back. - “Stay where you are, no matter what happens!”
Luna's ship accelerated, and there was a loud bang, which reverberated across the interior and shook it violently. For a fraction of a second, metal scraps could be seen passing beyond the window.
“Got the second one.” - Luna informed. - “...and the third one. Their last scout is an advanced prototype unit. If I'm supposed to match its evading maneuvers, then it's too dangerous to keep artificial gravity on. I'm disabling it.”
The table and the dishes began to levitate. Virka grabbed sofa tightly as it started to gradually rise higher. Similarly, the van began to move towards the back of the room and hit the steel wall with a loud thud. Charlotte hugged Nicolas, desperately trying to stay where she was, and extended her hand to Avi, so she could also grab them. However, there was a sudden sharp turn, and everything was pulled towards the van. Then, there was another turn, which restabilized everyone's positions, only to immediately push all the unsecured items and people into Avi's prized belongings. The sofa caused the biggest damage, utterly demolishing Avi's entire collection of game cartridges and CDs.
“Ouch!” - Avi exclaimed as she tried to get up. - “Hey! Luna! Be careful, it's worse than an earthquake!”
“I'm sorry. I got the last one, though. It should be okay now.” - Luna informed, then flashed back to the recreational room and inspected the damage. Bruised Avi was massaging her arm, while Nicolas freed Charlotte from his protective embrace.
“Virka, are you alright?” - Luna asked, seeing that Virka's fingers were still digging into the sofa.
“I think I've broken a fingernail.” - Virka replied, irritated.
“I'll synthesize a replacement.” - Luna suggested.
Virka waved it off. - “There's no need. I think it will be better to clip them.”
Next, Luna's sight turned to Avi, who was kneeling in front of broken furniture, wailing. - “Luuuuna...”
“Eh.” - Luna grabbed her face and shook her head. - “I'll need to remember to install gravitational anchors in the future.”