Star Spangled Sky

Rain can signify many things. It can show hope, for new life and revitalisation, shown with the washing away of fears and dirt. It can show a balance, between good and evil, because we need both sun and rain to survive. But it can also show depression and desolation. For Captain Holly Short, leaning against a tree just outside the Tara shuttle port, the rain meant nothing. She was numb, deathly numb and barely felt anything.

Lying further back against the tree, Holly pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. The tears rolling slowly down her cheeks went as unnoticed as the rain mixing with them. The whole world seemed to have closed in around Holly's mind. Memories, feeling and sensations of the past few years came flooding back. They swam around inside her head, confusing her. Good memories, bad memories, euphoria and heart-wrenching pain. It was all too much, too fast and she felt swamped, drowning in her own past.

Shaking her head, she tried to dispel the memories encroaching on her mind, but this only brought her thoughts to the present. What had been, but an hour ago, was no more. Her boss, the only man who she…………

"No!" She told herself forcefully, but it didn't work, the pain and emptiness remained. Pushing herself upright, her knees buckled and she was forced to grab the coarse bark of the old tree, cutting her exposed hands. As the blood dribbled thickly from the shallow cuts on her palms, Holly bit her lip. She had had enough of crying, it did nothing but make her look weak. And if there was one thing Holly hated, it was being made to loo weak. "He" had never made her look weak, he had understood her in a round-a-bout way. Now he wasn't around anymore and that ripped her heart open again.

Blinking, Holly wobbled away from the tree out into the open air. For the first time that night, she raised her face to the star spangled sky. She heard the stars mournful cry and tried to cry out in reply but the words got stuck in her throat. The beauty of the night sky enthralled her and she realised she wanted to touch the stars. All logic leaked from her brain as she fired up her wings and kicked off from the ground. Nothing told her to stop……….

Foaly's voice crackled into life, telling her to come back, fly home but she didn't listen. Someone had called her name, someone from the stars and all she wanted was to be near them.

"Holly?" It sounded again, almost questioning her, her loyalty, her love, her passion. The voice wasn't cross or pitying as the others had been, it was warm, caring and wonderful. It surrounded her, calming her rapidly beating heart and drawing her towards its source. It was like a hand being extended to her, to help her, to guide her. Holly closed the COM link as Foaly pleaded again and the air became impossible to breath. Two warm, strong, cigar-smelling arms enveloped Holly as her brain became dark.

Line

In Police Plaza, Foaly terminated the helmet's camera before he saw Holly stop breathing. Turning to one of his many computer screens, he closed Captain Holly Short's file and moved it to the folder marked "Missing In Action". If Holly wanted touch the stars, she could, but she would have to pay the ultimate price. Foaly sighed, she had followed "Him" to the edge and over.

"And," thought Foaly, "So might I………………….."