TERRAHAWKS:
"ACCEPT THE UNINVITED"
WRITTEN BY INTES. STEIN
Kate Kestrel took a peek behind the curtain and looked outward to the teeming mass of humanity awaiting her performance.
"I'm quite the hot ticket aren't I?" she remarked to her producer Stu Dapples.
"Go-go-got in-in one, if one were a million, you'd still be the only one to count in the million, so th-that would make the one-one million ve-very much a minority, not a majority, or-or something like that" Stu nervously rambled, trying to contribute an intelligible and profound reply to show how in-sync he was with Kate.
"You sure have a way with numbers Stu" said Kate, pinching Dapple's cheek ever so slightly, before taking a seat, turning around, and steadily placed her fingers on the piano keys.
"Ten seconds to curtain" replied a stage hand.
"Rai-raise the roof Kate" said Dapples.
In the crowd, the remainder of Kate's teammates and friends were seated, themselves full of concern.
"I hope all goes well tonight" said Mary Falconer, co-pilot of the Battlehawk,
"If not, I'll blame it on nerves" said Hawkeye.
"When have you ever known Kate to have nerves?" Mary asked him, slightly cross.
"Flaming Thunderbolts, will you two pipe down? I'm in the middle of an important phone call" replied Tiger Ninestien
"Tiger, don't be rude" lectured Mary.
"Sorry sir" Hawkeye responded.
"Who are you calling at such a crucial moment anyway?" Mary said.
"We've been hearig from intel that there's been a mass exodus from Planet Guk"
"Zelda's domain?"
Ninestien cautioned her to keep her voice down.
Suddenly, the curtain rose, Kate's show was about to begin.
"Tiger, the show's starting, your call will have to wait" Mary responded.
"Not now Mary, I'm about to get intel on where the Guk exodus is heading...there's only two viable options, and like it or not, Earth Defence wants them touching down on our fertile ground. Heaven knows why"
Ninestien felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked to see a tall, bald black bouncer towering over him.
"Excuse me sir, it's advised that all phones be turned off while the concert is in session"
"I'm currently in session, so you'd best back off tiny" Tiger responded.
"Ok, I'm not one to warn anyone twice, come with me sir"
"Do you know who I am?" Tiger spoke
"I know trouble when I see it" the bouncer replied, and picked up Ninestien by the scruff of his neck, dragging him from his chair and pushing his way through the crowd towards the exit. Mary covered her hands in embarrassment.
"Look, there's Kate" Hawkeye said excitedly, holding up a card of well wishes hoping she would see it.
Kate took in a deep breath, briefly closed her eyes, the spotlight dimmed, obliterating the crowd and leaving a single solitary spotlight that illuminated her and her instrument.
Her fingers danced across the piano keys, and from her tender lips slipped out a song.
When you call out at the midnight hour
The moonlight bides it's time
Wait until the day in motion
Has no place as yours or mine
This moment belongs to one and all
Never shed it on this date
The creatures of the sky and Earth
Bask in this fine gift from fate
And you forever see reflections
Of the world within your eyes
Giving in to your temptations
Pure tension in disguise
You reach out for my tender kiss
And you hope it hits the spot
But in her mind, love is precious
And forever's what it will cost
As the piano fell silent, so too did the crowd. Until one solitary clap approving the song caused the whole room to become awash with clapping, commotion and adulation as Kate's audience let it be known to her
"Ha, it's like she's never heard of nerves, I guess you were right Mary" said Hawkeye, but Mary was distant, troubled by Ninestien's phone conference, and what it could mean for the Earth.
"You'd best inform Kate of what Tiger's been up, I'd best tend to him, I hope ''Tiny'' didn't rough him up too much. He does have a bit of a lip on him"
""Yes Ma'am" said Hawkeye, and headed over to the podium to give Kate the 1:0 on the situation.
Mary stepped outside where she saw Ninestein nursing a bloody nose besides his chameleon-like limo Hudson.
"Tiger, you're hurt"
"Just the pride, I'm still capable of leading the charge on this pack" said Ninestien, blowing hard into the tissue and genlty carressing it's bloody contents on Hudson
"Oh that's perfectly proper sir, now I must stay in crimson mode until I have a proper clean-up at Hawknest" Hudson desparingly lamented.
"Tiger, are you certain about the Guk exodus? What if it's a ploy from Zelda?"
"I've tried telling the defense council that, but they see this as the first true test of their open doors policy, they want to show Zelda's people that we somehow aren't the savages she would have us believe we are"
"You said back there only heaven knew why the defense council would want them touching down here, do you still believe in that? That Zelda's people, some of which might be innocents, from the men to women to children, are all to be tarred with the same brush?"
"I guess we'll find out if a leopard's spots all form the same old circles" said Ninestein, refusing to directly answer Mary's challenge.
He opened Hudson's left back door, inviting Mary to step in with him.
"You always instruct us to expect the unexpected, maybe it's now time to accept the uninvited" said Mary.