Chapter 25 Children of the Moon

Chapter 25

Children of the Moon

  Drifting away from the shining crystal window Alexander turned toward Kia, his handsome features clenched with concern and confusion.  “Why would they do that,” Alex asked, running his fingers through his long blonde hair.

 “They made me Alex, they made Captain Marks,” she said, her violet eyes darkened as she spoke. They were almost black as she continued. “They don’t see us as people, just toys to experiment with. They gave us leather garments to wear, before we knew better just for fun, just to see what would happen. They are evil, cruel. They could have killed the Captain; instead, they stripped him of everything he loved. This is who they are. They are evil children devoid of empathy or respect, corrupted I can only assume by power and ego. They have Kian, Penny and Kress, who knows what they have in store for them, but we can’t help them now.”

  “But we can help the Captain,” Alex said.

  She nodded yes and turned back toward the window. Laying both her hands on its cool crystal surface, she willed it to seek out the Captain. A cloud of unseen Nano bots swarmed through the forest. Suddenly Kia and Alex were whipping through tree limbs, over underbrush, skimming ponds and careening over grassy fields until a small male figure curled up at the base of a great bushy oak came into view.

   His essence struck their hearts. They staggered away from the window but only for a moment. However, his appearance drew them closer.  

 Gone was his bold red and black uniform, replaced with dull green fatigues and black combat boots. A mop of dark brown hair cushioned his head as he lay trembling on a twisted nest of rock hard oak roots.

  “At least they didn’t return him naked,” said Alex.

  “Not on the outside anyway. We can’t stay here any longer.”

  Alex nodded as she sailed off toward the exit. He struck off behind her…   

   In human years, Kress was fifteen, but that did not keep her from insisting on a nightlight. Darkness was still an issue for her. A remnant of her Sprite past obviously remained. Kian was happy to oblige her childish request, knowing it as not childish at all, but hopeful.

 He had no desire to make them at home on the Moon. The Technocrats knew it, even if the girls didn’t. Still they were all here and he had no idea if they would ever return to Chimera. Making the best of their dangerous situation was all he could for now, it might well be the only way he could keep them alive. He put nothing past the Company. If that meant taking them to some heavily edited mockery of their blissful lifetime on Chimera, he would do it…

  Lugging a glum expression, he led the girls to his truck a few ‘nights’ later. ‘Chimera, The Alien Threat’ was finally showing at the local ‘Emmys’, what the locals called the Mind Movies. He wiped his face clean of any disgust as they climbed into his truck and sped off through the artificial night and tried to catch some of their enthusiasm. However, after a few minutes of listening to them chatter about seeing themselves as Emmy stars, he realized he was utterly immune.  

  “I’m guessing you want popcorn and soda when we get there,” he asked.

  “Popcorn,” Penny asked.

  “Yeah,” Kian replied, “I’m guessing this mind movie thing is like the movies they had on Earth a really long time ago.”

  “If it’s old Earth,” Kress chimed in, “then of course.”

  “Is popcorn some kind of meat?” Penny asked.

  “No its just corn,” Kian said. “You girls are really going native aren’t you?”

  “If that means living in the real world,” Kress shot back, “then yes.”

  “Yes what Kress,” Kian asked, rather firmly.

 “Yes sir. I’m sorry Kian, I mean James. I know you think we can go back, but that’s not going to happen.”

  “Well, maybe, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you two turn into brats, understood?”

 Kress leaned over and kissed Kian on the cheek, “I forgot to thank for not laughing at me the other night. My room was so dark, but you made it light, without making light of me, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome sweetie.”

 “That’s what you called me when we first met,” Penny said.

  “You remember that,” Kian said through a spreading smile.

  “Feels like a remembered dream but yes I do.”

  Kian nodded as the bright lights of the Camelot Crater Mall came into view. After finding a well- lit park, they got out of the truck and followed a string of fellow mall goers under the Malls gleaming neon blue archway entrance.

  “This does remind me of home,” Kian said as they made their way across the malls clay red tiled floor toward a brightly lit box office that was short walk off to their right.    

  Threading their way through a shifting knot of people, they finally claimed their spot at end of a rather long line that had formed at the ticket window.

 Several minutes later Kian pressed the tip of his right index finger against glass screen of the ticket desk. A plump young lady dressed in white blouse and black trousers, welcomed them to Camelot Emmys and politely asked how many.

   “Three please.” He answered just before she reached down and came up with three dull orange tickets.

  “Either side of the of the concession is fine.” She said motioning them toward the movie entrances, “Thank you for your patronage, enjoy your movie.”  She smiled and they headed for the concession…