Right, This Time

The droplets appear suspended in the air for a second. Then, land with a concentric splash and are absorbed into a vast body of water. As if they had never even existed at all in the first place. 

She watches as through the veil of a dream, a moment so delicate, so quickly to pass. Her senses are heightened. She can hear the beeping of machines and that old-timey sound they make when they cash in on people’s lives. The sound rises repeatedly over the white noise of continuous conversations. ‘Everyone has something to say’, she thinks. But she’s also far away in a field of wildflowers, jumping, laughing, rolling, diving in.

This fluctuation in and out of reality makes her feel uncomfortable. All these memories flooding in remind her how simple life had once been and how easily she had taken that for granted. ‘Why think back at this now?’ She shifts her attention to Dahlia, whose whole face is a question mark.

- Is that a tear? Dahlia asks.

She gives no answer, just looks back at the calm water. Mostly, she is angry as hell. ‘Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned’, mother used to say. She had never really understood the meaning of it until this very moment.

How could people do this? How could they take away the essence of what being alive meant? Well, for some They take it away and some just get loads of it, more than they would ever need in 10 lifetimes. 

Images flash before her eyes and blend with the blue of the water. She sees her mother jumping in the little artificial pond she’d built them at the back of the surface bunker. On good days, the blue sky would reflect into the pond and they could pretend they’re swimming in a real lake. On bad days, they weren’t allowed within ten meters of it. Mother said it would poison them, but that never really made sense, and then They came and took her away.

And here it was, this huge mass of clean, blue, healthy water anyone could just reach out and touch. And there was no one swimming in it. 

Dahlia’s fingers are shaking at her side and this breaks the memory. They’re under a great glass dome, surrounded by class timers and she detests them equally. Their privileges extend over human lives, humans like her… and her mother. And this is beyond wrong, it’s disgusting.

- Stop it Dahlia, you’ll draw attention, she whispers from one step behind. Not yet!

- I’m sorry, I can’t help it. We’ve been waiting ages. I don’t think I can do this. Please, let’s just leave. Dahlia tries turning but is spun right back around to face the queue again.

- You know we can’t leave. You know none of this is fair, even if you only just found this out 10 minutes ago, it’s no excuse. Her vigilant eyes keep returning to the grand mass of water behind them.

She is doing her best to case the place without looking suspicious. Although, anyone that doesn’t belong here would immediately look up at the immensity of it all, mouth agape. Her mouth had done it too. SHE didn’t belong.

She knows Dahlia is telling the truth. She knows her actions are right up there in the gray area, the same as Them. But she doesn’t know what else to do, and she has to do something, anything. Doing nothing is worse than death, so here she is and here they are, trying to trick death.

She thinks it quaint how fast friendships could bond together when necessity calls. But is Dahlia a true friend or is it just a matter of time until she goes running back to her daddy? She pushes the thought aside, because that’s what you do when you need razor-sharp focus. Push aside the invading thoughts and disruptive feelings, mother used to say: ‘Stay razor-sharp, Azzy!’

- But…

- Dahlia, just do your part and the rest is up to me. You can even say I forced you when they come for the parsing. Just say I was loco. They’ll believe you, princess.

- Yeah! I’ll tell them alright. I’ll tell them you’re Kookoo-Bananas, cause that’s what you are if you think you can go up against my father. Listen, let’s just leave. I promise, I’ll help you out.

- Until next time. Then who will make sure I’ll stay alive long enough for everyone to find out? No! We’re doing this. Now quit your whining and move forward. Sooner or later someone will recognise you and then the fun begins.

- Ugh! Fine! It’s your wipe out. 

Dahlia clasps her hands behind her back to keep them from shaking. But all this does is start her body up, and she’s waving front to back from her heels to her toes, like the tick-tock of a timed bomb about to explode.

- Oh! For Melinoe’s sake, stop fidgeting so much.

- Dahlia darling! I didn’t see you there. What on Gliese are you doing waiting in line. A tall, blonde, flawless woman reaches for Dahlia’s arm, making her flinch.

- Oh, hi Matron Mira. I didn’t even see you. Ha! Ha! Dahlia brushes her hair out of her eyes to keep from blushing.

- Hi, I’m Azrielle, a friend of Dahlia. I think she was unsure whether I’d get through security or not. Azrielle reaches for a handshake but her clasp lingers a bit longer than usual. She stares the woman down with such deep loathing it makes the Matron take a hesitant half step back. 

Before the Matron can figure her out, Azrielle pulls out her mini-cannon and points it straight between the blonde woman’s eyes.

- Alright M&M, I’d like to purchase a murder moment please! Azrielle says with a grin.

- We don’t have time for that! What do you mean? This is a ridiculous request and security will be on you in seconds. Dahlia, what’s going on? The blonde looks at Dahlia waiting for an answer that cannot come.

- It’s not as if you would give me health time, if I asked for it. So gimme the damned murder time before I make a crater the size of mount Shee-Yo straight through your pretty little head. Azrielle is as serious as death and surely the blonde woman can see that.

- You’re bluffing! There’s no way that cannon works. Matron Mira’s eyes narrowed into slits and her mouth pressed into a line. 

The sound is so deafening that everyone in the grossly gigantic glass dome covers their ears. Azrielle feels the same impulse, but her blue-eyed gaze is ice-set on the blonde and she doesn’t flinch. The siren activates the auto-lock-down and the dome gets close to pitch black, save for the intermittent red, strobing lights.

- Give me what I want, Azrielle shouts, trying to overpower the loudspeakers. Her whole face is now a frown so fierce it frightens Dahlia.

‘Is she for real? Is she gonna kill my father? On Melinoe, what have I done?’, Dahlia’s thoughts are racing, bumping into each other at the speed of light. She can’t move a muscle, paralized.

Azrielle moves in closer to the Matron and presses the cannon to her forehead. The holographic screen falls to the ground. It breaks but doesn’t shatter so Azrielle doesn’t let up.

- Pick the damned thing up and put in the order, or by Zelus, I will…

- Azrielle, Azzy! Put the cannon down, love, comes an all too familiar and firm voice behind her.

•••

‘Finally, a perfect day!’

- 1, 2, 3, go!

Two girls busted out of the bunker door and ran without stopping past the secured fence and into the wild. 

They had waited for almost two months and were going stir crazy inside those four walls. Two months of playing all the games, repeatedly, of serious lessons and quality time with mother, ‘momma’, as Zenaida called her. Freedom felt as sweet as a ripe baby chemato. Nothing was going to stand in their way today. 

They skirted the edge of the gray mushroom forest, jumped on top and over the mossy boulders and took care not to slip off them. Azrielle slid under the energy pipes while Zenaida only had to duck to clear them. A right at the grandfather mapple-willow, a left after the fuxsiaberry bushes and a last stretch through the wildflowers, then heaven. Just had to be careful to follow the markers, unless they wanted to become meat dust.

- Look how fast you’re going Zennie. Your legs have grown stronger. I can hardly believe you’re only 4. Come on Quicksilver!

Azrielle pushed forward while Zenaida shot her a devilish smile, perked up, and ran like Melinoe was hot on her heels.

The wind picked up suddenly and both girls stopped in their tracks. A dark shadow passed overhead and moved towards the bunker, lightning speed.

- Mother! Azrielle whispered. 

They booked it back the way they had come, oblivious of the mines this time.

Mother had told them the story of how humans had arrived to Gliese hundreds of years before and how the Big War had thrown them back into agricultural times. Except for the Flyers. They’d never seen a flyer until now.

Tum-tum-tum-tum, her heart was drumming in her ears. Her whole body felt like it was going in overdrive, her legs ached, her arms felt like they were going to swing out of their sockets. Zennie was shouting somewhere far behind her but she couldn’t stop. She had to get to the bunker, that was her sole thought.

In what felt like a fraction of a second, everything was back to quiet. The shadow had disappeared and she knew They had taken their mother.

She frantically looked for Zennie. She bolted back towards the pond.

- Zennie, where are you?

- Here! Came a whispered answer.

- Zennie, no! Azrielle replied, terror in her eyes.

Her little sister stood, eyes swollen and red with tears. Her left foot had triggered a mine and she was frozen in place. 

***

The blonde woman is lying on the floor, head imploded, face as purple as an eggplant, motionless, breathless.

Azrielle has no memory of the cannon going off. Covered faces stare back at her from all directions and she realises she’s surrounded by the Masked Guard. But there’s something else too. The hundreds of people under the glass dome are all lying motionless on the titanium floor. Every single one, except herself and the guards. Dahlia is down too.

- What on Gliese? She catches herself saying this out loud.

A hand on her shoulder makes her jump and swing around. The sight of the person looking back at her makes her feel weak in the knees. 

Her whole body starts to tingle and tiny, bright specks of light form in front of her eyes.

***

- You blacked out! How are you feeling now? The woman is holding her hand and she feels the restrains on her wrists a little too tightly.

Her throat feels dry. Her brain still unable to form a logical thought. Flashes from that day, the day her mother was lost to them, impede her from thinking straight.

- Azrielle, you’re safe. Take a deep breath. Have some water!

The woman puts her hand under her head and helps her drink.

- You’re dead! She manages to say.

- No! You just thought I was. They had to tell you this, so you wouldn’t come looking for me. 

She takes her eyes off the woman that looks like her mother. She can’t stand to look at her. The room is sterile white and Azrielle knows the light around the ceiling is set to high to intimidate her. She notices a two-way mirror wall to the left of the bed. They’re watching.

- Why am I restrained?

- You wiped out Matron Mira, Azrielle! This puts me in a very difficult position. 

The woman that looks like her mother tries to sound calm and collected but there’s an edge to her voice. 

- I have no memory of that! I did not pull the trigger, I’m sure of it. Azrielle’s heart starts pounding and this makes her sound loud and aggressive.

- Azzy…

- Don’t call me that! Only my sister is allowed to call me that. Takes these off me, NOW! She struggles to get free and realises her ankles are also bound.

- I cannot do that, you know I can’t. Her mother’s tone softens to a whisper and she reaches for Azrielle’s forehead but Azrielle doesn’t want to be touched. 

The strange but familiar woman gets up and exists through the door at the foot of the bed. But the door doesn’t close, someone else comes through.

- Azrielle’s eyes go wide.

- What in the name of Zelus is going on here? Let me out! Zennie? How are you here?

- I’m not here Azzy. You’re in a time prison. They contacted me as soon as it happened. I dialed in hollographically. Her sister speaks softly with tears in her eyes.

Azrielle’s brain goes into a spin. She tries to think herself out of this situation but she knows it’s hopeless. A time prison is forever.

- Close your eyes! NOW!

The voice comes as if out of thin air, thundering and clear, but it sounds so much like Tryggve. She shuts her eyes so tightly it feels like she might never open them again.

A flash of light inundates the room. She comes around and realises she’s running down a long white corridor, someone holding her up on her right side.

- Come on Azrielle, we don’t have a lot of time before they discover what I’ve done. Run!

She loves him so much at this moment that tears swell in her eyes and she only manages to give back a head nudge. They run through a maze of white corridors that all look the same and she cannot figure out how the hell he knows where the way out is.

- How did you get to me? She struggles to talk while her lungs feel like burning.

- I just bought some prison time and hacked from the inside. He smirks and pulls her to the left, down another endless white corridor.

- Only you could have thought of that Trygg! Thank you!

- You can thank me when we’re safe in the flyer and out of range! Come on, we’ll have time to talk later. 

He smashes through the door at the end of the corridor with his lightweight alloy smart suit. She just notices he’s wearing this when splinters fly in all directions, white as snow, in perfect opposition to the black and charcoal grey suit.