The two aliens climbing in froze for a second. Then one said, "They set the bomb! Run!"
They climbed all the way into the pod and shut
the door. The pod began to hum as it started up. Crane, suddenly being able to
think again ran over, pulling Rosethorn behind him. He hit the ship where the
door had been and tried to pry it open again.
"Open up! This is the Captain!" said a voice,
sounding almost exactly like the Captain.
The door opened. Crane turned around. Rosethorn
grinned and winked at him. Crane stared but he didn't have a chance to ask
question. Turning back to face the ship he stared inside. The two aliens were
huddled at the far end. Crane reached in and pulled them out and threw them to
the floor. In one quick motion he crawled inside himself and scooted over to
make room for Rosethorn.
She crawled in after him and pulled the door
shut, switching the lock as soon as it was shut. Then she leaned back against
the back wall and sighed in relief. Crane shoved his hair out of his eyes and
stared at the controls of the ship. It was humming beneath him so he knew it
was on, but how to work it?
There was just buttons, buttons, and more
buttons. And a view screen. Right now it showed that they were facing a large,
unopened door that the escape pods would leave by.
Crane pressed a blue button. Just his luck,
large door opened, revealing the cold emptiness of space. Pressing another
button they flew out into space. A computer voice said, "Setting auto-flight to
Earth. Alert in Two Hours for landing."
"Well that's convenient," Rosethorn said
suddenly, making Crane jump.
"Yes," he said, nodding, now leaning back
against the back too, his head turned towards Rosethorn.
"What's a bomb?" Rosethorn asked, just as the
escape pod turned at the angle where they could see Earth and the Mother Ship
at the same time.
Crane smiled grimly, "There was instructions for
making bombs, God knows why. They apparently blow up things. I told it to set a
bomb in the ship to go off in five minutes…"
Crane trailed off and stared as a silent nuclear
bomb went off. This was far more amazing then seeing Earth from above or seeing
aliens and their space ship. He reached out and took Rosethorn's hand in his,
never once letting his eyes leave the scene. It took about two seconds for the
shock wave to hit them.
The escape pod rocked and flew over. Crane and
Rosethorn both hit their heads and were knocked unconscious. Little did they
know you had to be awake in order to land the ship properly.
Two Hours Later…
"Ten minutes to landing. Please activate landing
sequence."
"Nine minutes to landing. Please activate
landing sequence."
"Eight minutes to landing. Please activate
landing sequence."
By then Rosethorn woke up. She put her hand to
her head and touched wetness. Pulling it back she saw blood on her fingers.
Sighing irritably she pulled herself up into a sitting position, putting a hand
on the wall to steady herself and looked at the controls.
"Seven minutes to landing. Please activate
landing sequence."
Rosethorn was wide awake now. She stared out the
window. They were in Earth's atmosphere and hurtling down at a speed she had
thought unimaginable before. But what was the landing sequence?
Rosethorn jumped as a hand rested on her
shoulder. She turned her head and saw Crane, looking very worried as he stared
down at the continents becoming ever larger.
"To think, Niko always said the world was flat,"
Crane muttered.
"How do you activate the landing sequence?"
Rosethorn asked, unconsciously leaning back and resting against Crane's shoulder.
Crane pressed a button.
"Landing Sequeerrjlkh…" there was a strange
popping noise and some smoke drifted up the controls.
Crane looked at Rosethorn. Rosethorn looked at
Crane.
"Uh oh," said Crane.
"Please Prepare For An Emergency Crash Landing."
"Uh oh is right," Rosethorn said, dread sitting
at the pit of her stomach.
"Six minutes to landing. Please Prepare For An
Emergency Crash Landing."
Crane unconsciously put his arm around
Rosethorn's shoulder, a grave look on his face.
"Ever seen a meteor?" Crane asked suddenly.
"Five minutes to landing sequence. Please
Prepare For An Emergency Crash Landing."
Rosethorn shook her head, "Is this going to
comfort me or make me more worried?"
Crane grimaced, "Well, it depends on whether or
not you think we're going to die right now."
Rosethorn shrugged, and stared out the window,
"Keep going."
"I saw a meteor once. It was a small piece of
rock, flying down from space. About as big as this ship. It landed near my home
when I was a boy. When it landed it wasn't as big as this ship. It was as big
as (Crane made a circle with his arms about two feet across) this. And there
were lots of little bits of rock all over the place."
"Ah," said Rosethorn, "that didn't comfort me.
So I suppose you think we're going to die?"
Crane shook his head and looked at Rosethorn, "I
really don't know. This ship isn't a meteor… but we're going pretty fast."
Rosethorn turned to face him, "So this is
probably our end."
Crane shrugged and said, "At least we got to
save the world."
A small smile played about his lips. Rosethorn
saw it and started to smile too, "And at least we're dying with each other."
"About that…" Crane started.
"I know," Rosethorn whispered, leaning closer to
him, "I love you too."
"Four minutes to landing sequence. Please
Prepare For An Emergency Crash Landing."
"You do?" Crane looked mildly surprised.
"Of course I do!" Rosethorn said, "Not to smart
eh?"
Crane smiled, and then glanced at the earth
coming closer and closer.
"Three minutes to landing sequence. Please
Prepare For An Emergency Crash Landing."
"Crane," Rosethorn said, turning his face back
towards her, "You do love me?"
"I love you," Crane told her, then leaned down
to kiss her.
"Two minutes to landing sequence. Please Prepare
For An Emergency Crash Landing."
Rosethorn kissed him back and wrapped her arms
around him.
"One minute to landing sequence. Please Prepare
For An Emergency Crash Landing."
They pulled away from each other and looked out
the window. They could see clearly the mountains and forest beneath them, and
Winding Circle! Crane's jaw dropped.
"We're landing near Winding Circle," he said,
amazed.
"Just our luck," Rosethorn said with a grin, "We
get to die near all our friends."
"Emergency Landing Sequence Activated."
Rosethorn scooted as close as she could get to
Crane and leaned her head against her chest.
"I love you so much Crane," she whispered, the
beginnings of tears in her eyes.
She didn't want to die know… not when she just
found that her true love was the one person she had known for years. After all
they say the best relationships start with friendship.
"I love you too Rosie," Crane whispered in her
hair, his breath warm on her head.
There was a bang as the hit the ground.
Rosethorn felt them sliding across the earth, cutting down trees. For some
reason she couldn't see anything and was having trouble breathing. After what
seemed an eternity they stopped moving.
Rosethorn struggled and pushed Crane off her. He
was knocked out. She opened the door to the ship and pulled him outside into the…
dusty air… of their home. It wasn't normally dusty. She couldn't see but four
feet in any direction. She looked down at Crane and felt for his pulse. It was
faint, but it was there.
Suddenly his eyes opened. His pulse sped up, and
a smile spread across his face as he saw Rosethorn leaning over him. Crane
climbed to his feet and pulled Rosethorn up with him.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he brought her close
to him.
"I am, but really I should be asking you that,"
Rosethorn whispered.
"I'm fine… just a bit dizzy," Crane said and
shook his head to get the hair out of his eyes. Blast hair, he should get it
cut shorter.
"What do you say we finish that kiss now?" asked
Rosethorn.
"Good idea," Crane replied.
And so they kissed and the dust cleared,
revealing all of Winding Circle staring with their jaws hanging down,
especially the jaws of Briar, Sandry, Daja, and Tris.
The Not Quite End… (Ever heard of an Epilogue?)