Lunar: Black Star Rising
By Thomas Knapp
Chapter Eight
"Are you SURE this is going to work?" Taras asked suspiciously.
"No… but these people seem convinced that a possible answer to solve this problem lies on the Blue Star." Toras replied, continuing to edit the fuel mixture to the small engines of the escape pod. "If I work just the right mixture of fuel and air, it should be volatile enough to force the pod out of Lunar's gravitational pull."
"It might also cause the engines to detonate, and blow the whole pod to smithereens." Taras noted.
"You know, Jean's right. You ARE awfully negative for a person who lectured me on hope." Toras chuckled.
The elder twin sighed, and answered, "It's just that everything ELSE has gone wrong on this endeavor, why should there be any reason our luck will change now?"
"If you don't believe, you don't achieve."
Taras chuckled, and replied, "Okay… you win, just stop using my own words against me, okay?"
Soon, a small assembly arrived at the scene. Toras stood up, and addressed the group. "Okay… with some luck, we'll be able to reach the Blue Star in this. However, getting back will be another story…"
"That's fine." Lemina replied, "We just need to GET there. Once there, we'll be able to get back just fine. You made sure to calculate a path that will land us near that green splotch on the Blue Star's surface, right?"
"Within a 10-kilometer radius." Toras replied confidently. "There is one problem though. This pod is only designed for four people, but for us to do what I need, I'll need room, and that will limit this pod's capacity to three."
"I'm going." Lemina hissed, as if DARING anyone to challenge her claim.
"Then I'll take the third spot." Jean answered, just beating Ronfar to the punch by less than a second.
Toras looked over the rest of the assembled group, and asked, "Any problems with this party?" When no one voice any serious disapproval, he continued, "All right, then ladies, step inside, and everyone else clear the area. It's gonna get really hot around here at best, and really messy at worst."
Moments later…
A large burst of flame, followed by a small black object zipping into the dusk sky was in indication that things had turned out well. "There they go… I just hope that Toras lands that thing better than he did the shuttle." Taras muttered.
Miria dropped her head, then replied, "I'm glad Jean decided to go along with them. The last thing Toras needs is to be alone with Lemina for any extended period of time."
Taras turned to the magic guild's former leader, and said, "Oh… you noticed that too, huh? As far as I know, Toras has been too obsessed with his studies to really look into the opposite sex. He's in unfamiliar territory, and will probably get himself hurt."
Inside the pod…
Toras made one final adjustment to the fuel flow of the pod so that it would cause just enough spin to propel the small craft into the direction that they needed to enter the Blue Star properly.
"Okay… don't make too many sudden moves. We'll be in zero gravity in a few seconds, and this craft is quite small. A small jolt could have some terrible consequences." Toras stated.
Jean pointed to the straps around her waist and chest, holding her down to the chair. "Can I remove these now?"
"I wouldn't recommend it at the moment. Wait until we've cleared the atmosphere. Once we are in outer space, you can then move about."
Lemina giggled, and said, "I can't WAIT to see Lucia and Hiro again. They'll be totally beside themselves."
Toras remembered what Lemina told her about the pair in question, then interjected, "I hope you two brought something to keep you entertained."
"Why's that?" Lemina asked.
"Well, it's gonna be about four days before we reach the Blue Star."
"FOUR DAYS? What are we going to do until then?"
Toras settled back into his seat, and replied, "Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm going to do some more study with these books I liberated from the Guild Library."
Jean pursed her lips. There was not much room inside here, so it was doubtful that she'd get any training in, at least not without doing damage to the pod, and they didn't need that. Finally, she looked at Toras, and asked, "What exactly are you studying?"
"I am trying to discover the link that our people share. I am now convinced that the people of Lunar were the Tribe of Althena the Black Moon records speak of, but I'm now trying to figure what happened that caused my kind to go to Black Moon, and your kind to go to Lunar, as well as HOW you got here."
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Jean smirked. "Lemina and I can tell you all about that. After all, Lucia knew EXACTLY what happened, and she didn't really hesitate to tell us."
"Really…?" Toras said with a smile, "Go on… I do believe we have found the perfect way to kill some time before we arrive on the Blue Star. Perhaps Lucia would even have some things to add once we get there."