Dante had gone home along with the others and tried to get some sleep, but now it was almost dawn and all he had done was stare at the ceiling of his room while the computer echoed in his head. "Neither Technarious or Lumarion are on earth." over and over again, stuck like the chorus of a pop song he couldn't forget. By first light he had dressed and teleported to the command center.
He found Sonya sitting in a chair, watching Blinding Light's recharge timer count down. She was fighting to stay awake and had been crying at some point in the night. "Hey you, we all promised to go home and get some sleep. Why are you still here?" He asked softly.
Sonya flinched and wiped her eyes and cheeks before she turned to face Dante. "Someone needed to stay in case of emergency." She said
Dante nodded. "Someone, or you?" He asked.
She looked back at the console. "I'm someone." She replied.
He nodded. "You are more than 'someone' Sonya." He paused she looked at him in surprise. "You're our leader." he continued "And we're going to need you rested." He smiled. "So go home, get some sleep. You've got the time." He nodded at the timer which showed thirty six hours until completion.
She looked from the timer to Dante. "You'll stay?" She asked. Gordon nodded and Sonya got out of her chair slowly. "Look I know things have gotten weird, actually for us I guess they got weird a while ago no -"
Gordon leaned on the teleport button that sent Sonya home in a flash of light. "Sorry, but you'll thank me later." He said to himself as he sat in her chair. "Computer?" he asked the empty command center.
"Online" the computer responded.
He took a deep breath. " you said Technarious and Lumarion were no longer on earth?" He asked.
"Correct" the computer confirmed.
Dante started to swivel in the chair. "what's the nearest extra terrestrial location? like a secret outpost or hidden colony or planet or what ever." He asked.
"There is a galactic trading post in the Kepler Belt." The computer confirmed.
Dante stood up. "Is it close enough to teleport to?" He asked.
"Barely" the computer confirmed.
Dante glanced at the Blinding Light timer. "without effecting the Blinding Light timetable?" He asked.
"Correct." The computer confirmed.
Dante put his shades on and his suit appeared in a small flash of light. "Do it." he commanded and then disappeared in a flash of light. Once the light dissipated everything in the command center shut down except Blinding Light's recharge timer.
