Lunar: Black Star Rising
By Thomas Knapp
Chapter Fifteen
Taras solemnly adjusted the communications relay to the Black Moon to the proper channel. "At this moment, the communications satellite Prometheus II has an almost perfect angle at the incoming impact." He then stared at Jean, and added, "It's probably not a good idea for you to watch this."
The dancer shook her head, and replied, "No… I think I should. Have you heard anything from the shuttle?"
"No. From his last open transmission, it appeared that radiation levels were… higher than expected. My superiors on the Black Moon also have reason to believe from readings inside the cockpit that one of the door seals I placed failed about an hour after take-off. I'm sorry…"
Jean jutted out her chin, and grit her teeth, "Then there is no reason why I shouldn't watch. The thing that most concerned me already happened."
"Wait a minute…" Lemina commented, "You are in contact with your superiors?"
Taras nodded, "We have been for weeks, ever since Jean and I salvaged the equipment from the shuttle."
"So they knew about Toras's plans?"
"My superiors admit to knowing about it before we did. Knowing what I do about some of them, I don't doubt they helped placed the lame-brained scheme into his head." The elder twin said in disgust. "Anyway, I digress… it looks like collision is about to occur."
Taras flipped a yellow switch above the large video monitor. The display activated, but only the vastness of uninterrupted space emerged. Toras frowned, then fiddled with some more controls.
"Image magnification… 700 times normal… light enhancement… maximum… there we go!" He announced triumphantly as the planetoid came into view, its alien and rocky surface finally visible. The picture wasn't terribly clear, but it was vivid enough to show its startling features. Immense crags of rock jutted out almost a kilometer out into space, and there were what appeared to be deep trenches into the depths of the planetoid. The entire rock seemed to be a mess of silvers and reddish browns, shining brightly in some places, almost devouring light in others.
Toras then pointed to a small flash of light just to the left of the planetoid, and said, "There's the shuttle. Impact should occur in… fifteen seconds."
One would think that in this situation, time would slow to a crawl, but in this case, it didn't appear to. Jean herself swore that she merely blinked once, and then she saw the impact. The small flash of light disappeared, only to be replaced by a sudden explosion of fire on the surface of the space rock. The ensuing blast was so bright that the crowd had to shield their eyes until the flash died away.
When they focused on the display again, Taras looked over at the various pieces of equipment that had been used to gather data. "Hmm… while they can't say with absolute certainty, initial reports from my superiors seem to indicate that the planetoid's course and speed HAS been altered significantly enough to avoid collision with any body in this planetary cluster."
Taras noted the lack of any jubilant celebration, but that was to be expected. This was indeed what most people would call a bittersweet victory. Only Lucia appeared at all glad, although even her happiness was tempered with concern for her comrades. His glance inevitably fell towards Jean, concern for her warring with his own grief. Surprisingly, she wasn't crying, nor did she appear to be even on the verge of such.
Slowly working his way around the group of saddened heroes, he kneeled down in front of Jean, and asked sympathetically, "You all right in there?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" Jean replied, "You've lost just about everything in this trip, now you've lost your brother."
Toras smiled slightly, and replied, "I've been trained to accept loss. With what I do, it has to be almost expected. Just wait until I'm alone later tonight, and all of this has sunk in. I'll probably be bawling like a newborn then."
"Well… misery loves company, ya know?" Jean said, with a terrible attempt at a laugh. "I might just be joining you… if I can get over looking at you, that is."
Taras didn't even flinch at the comment, knowing instantly what she meant. No doubt seeing Taras, and the almost exact resemblance to his minutes-younger brother, would be hard for her for the longest time.
"Oh come on, people… we've done the impossible! You should be in much more joyous moods than this!"
Several angry glares were turned in Taras's direction, and even Taras himself was wondering if he had just said something, and not realized it. Only Jean and Lucia seemed to recognize the true source of the words just uttered.
Squealing in disbelief, Jean jumped to her feet, just missing kicking Taras in the jaw by the width of a whisker. She lunged for the man who had magically appeared behind her, arms wrapping around his neck, not at all wondering how he had got there. Those sort of questions inevitably took a back seat behind more pressing emotions…
Meanwhile…
Mihall leaned back into his styled chair, closing his eyes, and preparing for another long rest.
Thank you, dear Mihall… A woman's voice echoed in the deity's head.
Mihall smiled ruefully, and replied, "I know for a fact you would not have given me a moment's peace had I not."
What will happen now?
"Well… I do believe that I shall intercede one more time, and take the elder brother back to the Black Moon. He doesn't need to be isolated from his family, and he can help spread the necessary information to bring the people of Lunar and the Black Moon together once again."
So… you wish to renew ties?
"I…" Mihall stressed that pronoun, "never severed them. Outside circumstances did. There is no reason why the two factions of humanity cannot relate with each other, as they did before. No doubt they will both strive to colonize the Blue Star soon. They might as well start learning how to get along with each other now."
What about you?
At that question, Mihall cringed. "I don't expect that I will be pestered with any undue concerns. The number of people who know about my existence are minimal at best, and I think they are quite clear as to what constitutes a valid reason to beseech me."
You were right, though. In my desire to enlighten humans, I merely suppressed them.
"The fault really cannot be placed on you. You learned the error of your ways… though perhaps a little on the late side."
I thank you again.
"And you are very welcome, Althena…"