Aster

Prologue

Aster jumps from the clay roof he had been sitting on while eating his (stolen) lunch onto the next roof. He stuffs the leftovers in his bag and settles down to look for something else he might be able to steal from one of the many refugees and merchants selling their goods in the marketplace.

Aster spots a man with tan skin, brown hair and clever eyes. An expensive looking handgun is hanging on his belt. It’s silver and has a barn owl painted on its side. Aster trails him from the rooftops till he stops and leans onto the side of a building. Ten minutes pass before a girl who looks about Aster's age steps out of the crowd and knocks on the wall then keeps walking as if nothing happened. The man waits a minute then starts walking in the same direction.

Interesting.

Aster follows the man away from the central market to two soldiers guarding the shadowy entrance to the capital’s main headquarters on Kara.

One of the soldiers steps forward.

“This area is restricted.”

“I know.”

The man slams the soldier into the doorway, then a gunshot sounds and the second soldier collapses. The girl and three others walk out of an alley.

“Let’s go.” Says the girl, “It won’t be long till they wake up.”

“He,” says one of the figures pointing to the second soldier, “probably won’t.”

“He’s stunned, not dead.” says the girl.

Aster watches as they step into the building then jumps to the ground. He steps over the two soldier's body’s then slips into the building and quietly closes the door behind him.

Chapter One

The first thing I notice when I step inside is the smell. It smells like bleach and cleaning chemicals. The second thing is the brightness. It's actually starting to make my eyes hurt. Or maybe that's the bleach too.

I creep down the hallways, following the sound of footsteps echoing down the sterile hallways. The footsteps start getting quieter as the creatures draw farther ahead and I have to jog to keep up. I’m so focused on not falling too far behind them that I forget to make sure to watch the ground. The toe of my boot gets caught on a loose floor panel and makes a painfully loud creak.

The footsteps stop.

This is really not good.

I look around hoping to find somewhere to hide. The footsteps start up again.

But they're getting louder.

Scratch this being not good, this really bad!

Why did I ever think this was a good idea?!

My eyes search the walls for a doorway or anywhere I can hide. All I see are empty walls and—

The vents!

I yank out the grate covering a vent and scramble inside scraping my knee on one the sharp edges on the vent. I let out a hiss of pain but force myself to scoot forward on my hands and knees. About four feat forwards the vent changes abruptly from horizontal to vertical and I pull myself up onto ceiling level.

I stop at another grate above the hallway and watch as the man turns the corner into the hallway and stops next to the mouth of the vents, the others are close behind him.

“Someone’s following us. They’re in the air shafts.”

The girl squats down to look into the vent. “Think they’re capital?”

“They wouldn’t have hidden if they were. Whoever they are doesn’t want the capital to know that there here.” Says a woman with four blue streaked braids hanging down her back.

A tall, indigo colored lion-lizard-like creature leans down and whispers in a rough accent, “We know you're in there, come out.”

“If they haven’t come out already, not going to come out just because you ask nicely!”

“So you think—”

“Shush you two, Averett see if you can smell them.” says the man.

I guess the indigo guy’s named Averett.

“Can’t smell him, too much bleach”

“Let’s keep moving, if our ‘friend’ wants to join us they can.”

Then with that they continue to creep down the hallways.

My conscience tells me to go back but my curiosity tells me to keep going.

Spoiler alert: curiosity always wins! I scoot through the vents hoping that no one else discovers me.

Chapter Two

I hate the capital.

They say they’re here to help us.

To unite us.

To keep peace and order.

All they have done since they’ve been in power is destroy our way of life. Anyone who rebels against them is forced to work in the factories that manufacture the weapons that are used to oppress our friends and family. Or invited to public executions.

If they catch us, it will probably be the latter.

“Anwen, can you hack into the system?” Says Rowan, breaking me from my thoughts.

“Depends how much time they put into setting up firewalls, but probably.” I answer, kneeling next to the screen embedded in the door.

As it turns out they didn’t put in much time at all so I quickly bypass the firewall and unlock the door to the hangers.

I level my guns.

“Everybody ready?”

I wait for everybody to raise their weapons before I push the door open. The prototype is there along with several gunships and three cargo ships, all have at least two guards posted in front of them.

Rowan steps out and gestures for us to follow him. We hide behind a pile of crates. I plant an explosive on one with the capitals insignia printed on the side then we crouch under one of the cargoes and take cover. Rowan signals for us to count down.

Three. I really hope this distraction works.

Two. If it doesn’t then the five of us will have to shoot our way out of this hanger.

One. I hope whoever’s following us doesn’t mess this up.

I press the button.

Chapter Three

An explosion knocks me out of the vents and I land on my side on a platform. Pain jolts through my ribs and I grab onto the railing to keep myself from fainting.

I stand up and look over the edge and see the group of misfits sneaking towards some kind of gunship.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do when I hear a click.

I slowly turn around to find a soldier with her gun pointed at my head.

“Put your hands on your head and don’t move.”

“So do you want me to stop moving or put my hands on my head?” I say then I kick her in the knee and jump off the platform onto the ground and run towards the gunship. The soldier quickly recovers and starts firing her gun at me. I grab a smoke bomb out of my bag and turn around and throw it onto the platform where it lets out a big cloud of smoke. I turn around and keep running until I finally reach the gunship. I duck for cover behind it only to find the renegades are already there as well.

“Look who it is, the little vent rat!” Says Averett, as he lifts me up by my coat.

I kick him in the knee and jump on top of the gunship.

If I ever need to escape I guess I’ll just kick someone in the knee, since it works every time!

I start running down the wing of the ship towards the cockpit. There’s a clunk and the ship dips down as the renegades jump on too.

“Get back here kid!”

I make it to the cockpit and swing the hatch open.

I jump in and turn the ship on.

Saluting the renegades I shout, “Captain Vent Rat thanks you for the help!”

Then I lift the ship of the ground watching as the renegades slip off onto the ground and run towards one of the cargo ships.

I shakily fly the ship out of the hanger and over the city. A cargo ship pulls out of the bay and begins to pursue me.

I think I could hit them with one of the electromagnetic bombs in my bag. I reach for my bag only to find it missing.

Along with the journal I made with my parents a year before they died.

“No…”

I think back to the last time I remember having it. Right before Averett grabbed me. He took it.

I need to get it back, it’s all I have left…

I grab the intercom and make sure it’s connected to the other ship.

“Give me my bag or I’ll fire.” I say stopping the gunship above the lake at the edge of the city.

“We will give it back if you trade ships.” Says the voice of the blue haired woman.

“Fine.”

“We’re opening our doors.”

A ramp slides out of the ship and Averett steps out holding my satchel out. I open the hatch and reach for it.

“So this is what you’re looking for? Well go and get it!”

And then he drops it.

For a second I watch it fall towards the depths of the lake. Then I make my decision.

I jump.

To be continued…