Technarious had given them a week. A seven day vacation from the mess their lives had become.
Dante never left. Kelly returned the morning of the fourth day to check on Sonya. Gordon arrived not long after. Warren was the last to arrive, shortly before noon.
He teleported into the command center in mid sentence. " - narious, couldn't we use the drones - " He looked up from his tablet to see the others looking at him. "Oh, you all came back early." He smiled. Then stopped in confusion. "Why?" He asked.
"Because" Sonya mumbled quietly from the med bed. Everyone turned their attention to her in excitement. Dante shut off the containment field and helped her sit up. "five days ago we were just a bunch of kids with some training, a planet to defend, and a robot to defend it with." She started.
Kelly nodded. "I'm tired of being just a kid barely surviving the world." She added.
"I've finally found something worth really fighting for." Gordon offered.
"This is where I can do the most good." Dante added.
"We've all seen just how hard it is to make it as individuals, we weren't ready to depend on each other, to need each other, but now, we're ready to become a team." Sonya finished.
Technarious nodded. "You telling me or yourselves?" he asked.
Sonya shook her head. "I'm not telling, I'm warning, anyone who gets in our way. We were barely five and oh, thanks to dumb luck, pinch hitters, suicide saves, and really, really dumb luck. All that changes, right now."
"You think the enemies of earth are that afraid of a bunch of kids in a robot?" Mark asked.
Sonya shook her head. "I know they're not, but they're damn well going to fear The Shades of Justice." She stood up on her own two feet.
Technarious nodded again. "Then lets get to work."
Presents
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Blood and Profit: Page 70
It wasn't much longer before the evacuation plans fell apart. The colony was ready to go long before their estimated evacuation date, apparently the population more than believed their lives were in danger and found efficiency to be a very useful survival tool. They had also collected enough data from their network of Satellites to confirm the speed and width of the wave. It would blanket the sky in less than eight months. This wasn't a problem for the human population who had successfully tested the ring and was ready to travel through it. But the Starseed's tree was not yet ready and based on its growth rate, they would be cutting their evacuation very, very close.
The Starseeds sent a representative to the colony senate, the representative urged the humans to leave while they could and assured them that the Starseed population would take care of itself. Their collective consciousness had covered almost half the planet in inky darkness and the sooner the humans had gone the sooner they would have less territory to defend from their own thoughts.
The senate discussed for nearly a day. In the end they voted to leave ahead of schedule. By the end of the week, they would abandon their colony.
Mew and Eamon went home for the last time expecting their father to be in sour spirits, just as they were. But he turned out to be just the opposite. He was ecstatic. He met them at the front door smiling ear to ear. "Come in, Come in!" He ushered them in and shut the door behind them.
"Why are you so happy?" Eamon asked.
Their father sat them at the dining room table and pulled a box out from under the table. "My children are going to outlive me." He pulled the top of the box off to reveal freshly printed books. "And I have finished my life's work." His eyes gleamed as he picked up a copy and handed one to each of his kids. "Not a moment too soon I might add." He laughed at his own morbid joke.
"Dad that's not funny." Mew glared at him. Eamon opened the front cover of his book and his father stopped him. "Don't read them till you've gone through the ring." He demanded. "I want this to be the way you remember me, horrible sentence structure and all." His smile softened.
Eamon closed his book slowly and Mew looked like she was about to shatter into a million pieces. She leaned over and hugged him tightly, crying quietly into his shirt. Eamon gave up, stood up, walked over and hugged his father as well. It was the most affection his kids had ever shown him and it made him smile. "You two best not wear yourselves out. We still have to say good bye later tonight."
Mew squeezed him hard enough to make him groan.
The Starseeds sent a representative to the colony senate, the representative urged the humans to leave while they could and assured them that the Starseed population would take care of itself. Their collective consciousness had covered almost half the planet in inky darkness and the sooner the humans had gone the sooner they would have less territory to defend from their own thoughts.
The senate discussed for nearly a day. In the end they voted to leave ahead of schedule. By the end of the week, they would abandon their colony.
Mew and Eamon went home for the last time expecting their father to be in sour spirits, just as they were. But he turned out to be just the opposite. He was ecstatic. He met them at the front door smiling ear to ear. "Come in, Come in!" He ushered them in and shut the door behind them.
"Why are you so happy?" Eamon asked.
Their father sat them at the dining room table and pulled a box out from under the table. "My children are going to outlive me." He pulled the top of the box off to reveal freshly printed books. "And I have finished my life's work." His eyes gleamed as he picked up a copy and handed one to each of his kids. "Not a moment too soon I might add." He laughed at his own morbid joke.
"Dad that's not funny." Mew glared at him. Eamon opened the front cover of his book and his father stopped him. "Don't read them till you've gone through the ring." He demanded. "I want this to be the way you remember me, horrible sentence structure and all." His smile softened.
Eamon closed his book slowly and Mew looked like she was about to shatter into a million pieces. She leaned over and hugged him tightly, crying quietly into his shirt. Eamon gave up, stood up, walked over and hugged his father as well. It was the most affection his kids had ever shown him and it made him smile. "You two best not wear yourselves out. We still have to say good bye later tonight."
Mew squeezed him hard enough to make him groan.
Lidarion: Page 43
Deciphering the rest of the rhymes, riddles, and stories took them days. They spread throughout the library, following half remembered lyrics, and here say until they were confident they had properly figured out how to reach out to all the paragons.
Squints and Obla'reth compiled everything they had learned into a brand-new book. Something Obla'reth had never done before and was very emotional about. He sat with his copy of the book in the central greeting area of the library as the others packed their supplies for the return trip. He was overcome with joy and equally sad.
"You can come with us you know." Dean offered stepping back into the library to grab more supplies.
Obla'reth looked up from the book. "I'd be dead within days of leaving. Besides, someone has to be here when the new librarians arrive." He smiled.
Dean nodded. "So if you're not ready to leave, why the long face?" He asked.
Obla'reth stood and place the book on his chair. "I have overseen this library for so long that time has lost all meaning to me. Just as I assume it did for every generation of librarian before me. A line so unconcerned with its own history, that I have no way of knowing who came before me, or for how long they were here." He sighed and picked the book which bore his name. "But those who come after me shall know at least part of my story." He explained with a soft smile.
Dean nodded. "Good on you. A legacy you can be proud of is nothing to be sad about." He still seemed confused.
Obla'reth nodded. "What I have begun can not be stopped or undone, but it does leave my heart heavy to realize that in our quest to preserve the history of the world, we sacrificed our own." He took a long look at the endless stacks in the wing to his right. "How could so many generations of us been so blind?" He sighed.
Dean was silent for a moment and then cleared his throat softly. "Where are you standing right now?" He asked.
Obla'reth looked at him. "In the heart of the library." He replied.
Dean nodded. "And did you build this place?" he asked.
Obla'reth shook his head. "Of course not." He answered.
Dean nodded again. "Then they didn't sacrifice their history. You are standing in the middle of it." He pointed a finger at Obla'reth. "You, are the result of it." He smiled. "Not all history can fit in a book or be contained by mere words. Your people are proof of that." Dean gestured to the building they were standing in. "You aren't disconnected from your past Obla'reth, You live in it every day, preserving it for the future." He pointed to the book. "And you've just found a new way to add to it." He said before he walked back toward the grand feast hall.
Squints and Obla'reth compiled everything they had learned into a brand-new book. Something Obla'reth had never done before and was very emotional about. He sat with his copy of the book in the central greeting area of the library as the others packed their supplies for the return trip. He was overcome with joy and equally sad.
"You can come with us you know." Dean offered stepping back into the library to grab more supplies.
Obla'reth looked up from the book. "I'd be dead within days of leaving. Besides, someone has to be here when the new librarians arrive." He smiled.
Dean nodded. "So if you're not ready to leave, why the long face?" He asked.
Obla'reth stood and place the book on his chair. "I have overseen this library for so long that time has lost all meaning to me. Just as I assume it did for every generation of librarian before me. A line so unconcerned with its own history, that I have no way of knowing who came before me, or for how long they were here." He sighed and picked the book which bore his name. "But those who come after me shall know at least part of my story." He explained with a soft smile.
Dean nodded. "Good on you. A legacy you can be proud of is nothing to be sad about." He still seemed confused.
Obla'reth nodded. "What I have begun can not be stopped or undone, but it does leave my heart heavy to realize that in our quest to preserve the history of the world, we sacrificed our own." He took a long look at the endless stacks in the wing to his right. "How could so many generations of us been so blind?" He sighed.
Dean was silent for a moment and then cleared his throat softly. "Where are you standing right now?" He asked.
Obla'reth looked at him. "In the heart of the library." He replied.
Dean nodded. "And did you build this place?" he asked.
Obla'reth shook his head. "Of course not." He answered.
Dean nodded again. "Then they didn't sacrifice their history. You are standing in the middle of it." He pointed a finger at Obla'reth. "You, are the result of it." He smiled. "Not all history can fit in a book or be contained by mere words. Your people are proof of that." Dean gestured to the building they were standing in. "You aren't disconnected from your past Obla'reth, You live in it every day, preserving it for the future." He pointed to the book. "And you've just found a new way to add to it." He said before he walked back toward the grand feast hall.
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