Shera's Diary
Chapter 17
Intervention
By Kristen Gupton-Williams
Dear Diary,
It's been six days since the captain left again. I've kept my eye on the news, but not much is being revealed about the AVALANCHE situation or Sephiroth. There was an earthquake in Mideel a few days ago, it was reported. I hope that the captain's friends that were there are all right.
He still radios or calls once a day, usually in the evening, but he doesn't tell me what's going on. In his words, "What I don't tell you, Shin Ra can't force outta ya, later. I just don't wanna get ya in trouble, Goddamnit."
Well, I can appreciate that, even with as desperate as I am for information. As long as I get word from him every night that he's still all right, I can sleep.
More or less.
Okay, I'm not hardly sleeping at all.
After that last night that he was here, and being in his bed with him, mine suddenly seems awfully cold and lonely.
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Dear Diary,
There's something visible in the night sky suddenly. It's a horrid orange fireball that looks as though it's on a collision course with the planet.
Although it's been there for the last few days and is the favorite topic of discussion in the town, there was no mention of it at all in the news until today.
The report said that it was just a harmless comet that would pass by us without any fear of impact.
Mind you, the media is all controlled by Shin Ra.
Well, it certainly doesn't look like any sort of comet to me and it's obviously getting closer.
I'm putting my money on it really being something bad.
Very bad.
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Dear Diary,
I was out pulling weeds this morning when I saw a convoy of Shin Ra vehicles roll into town. I was approached by two Turks, and my blood ran cold.
One of them I recognized as the man that had been there when I had found myself evicted from my apartment. It may have been five years past, but there are just some things you never forget. The other was… carrot topped, smaller, and unkempt looking.
I stood up, pulling off my gardening gloves. I remembered the captain's orders to cooperate fully if Shin Ra came along demanding anything. "Can I help you?"
The slovenly one smirked at me. "We're looking for Shera Sakamoto."
"That's me," I readily admitted.
"Hey, you were right for once! That was easy," the smaller one scoffed up to his larger partner. He then turned his leering green eyes to me. "Here's the deal. So, that rocket? You're gonna get all the people in this town that used to work on that rust bucket together and you're gonna repair it, capiche?"
I couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
Once more, the red head turned to his partner. "Do you believe this shit? Why, she asks?"
The larger one just shrugged.
The other turned to me again. "I'll tell you why! Because we need this rocket to launch something into space to blow that fucking meteor outta the sky!"
I knew it! That thing in the sky was something bad. The news had been spun. I couldn't help but feel a little full of myself at that moment. "But it's just a comet, so we've been told, that is no threat."
"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret," he told me, leaning closer. "It is a threat and unless you do what you're told, you're going to die from it. How's that suit you?"
I thought that was humorous on some level since if I refused, it wouldn't be the meteor that killed me, it would be these Turks. "So, I'm to get that rocket ready for launch, then?"
"There, you can learn!" he shot back, smiling. "So, go get your pretty little ass to work!"
"Who's going to fly it, though?" I asked instinctively.
He scoffed at me. "We're just launching it to crash it into the meteor, retard. It's just going to go up on autopilot."
I had to agree that made more sense than sacrificing a pilot. Again, I remembered my promise to Captain Highwind to comply with Shin Ra's requests. If nothing else, I supposed that working on the rocket might help pass the time since sitting around idle wasn't doing me any favors. "All right. I'll get started right away."
"We'll be keeping an eye on you, so don't try anything cute!" The Turk snarked at me, before turning around and swaggering off.
His partner looked at me over the top of his sunglasses before following the other.
After that, the other members of the old project started coming to the rocket and I got to work getting things organized.
I won't tell the captain of all this when he calls tonight since I don't want him to worry about things here. I'm sure he already has enough on his plate.
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Dear Diary,
I'm shocked at how quickly the old project crew and I have gotten this rocket back into working shape. Of course, we did do a lot of restoration a few months ago when we thought that the space program might be reopening. Still, I have to get the autopilot system up and running and then it will be launched.
Those two Turks have been hanging around me an awful lot. They make me incredibly nervous, though. Since I don't trust them not to have gone into the house and have bugged it at some point, I've unplugged the radio and have taken the phone off of the hook. The last thing I would want is for the captain's location and well being to be compromised because they traced a call from him.
I hope he's all right, still.