Lost Change

Chapter 79

A terrible scream woke me. Instinct took over and I felt my wings spreading out around me in preparation to fly from whatever threat was nearby. I raised my head and tried to get an idea of what was going on.

The surface beneath me jerked upwards and threw me into the air. I squawked in indignation and beat my wings to stop my momentum, instead hovering in place above the bed. I looked around and tried to make sense of what was going on.

Minna had jumped out of bed at the noise. The screeching was still coming from somewhere in the distance, vaguely above us, and it was growing painfully louder. My ear tufts dropped in the growing discomfort. Minna lunged towards the nightstand by her bed and retrieved the large knife that she typically wore on her belt from it, then dashed out of the room.

"Nate, come here!"

I darted through the hastily-opened door and caught up with Minna, landing on her outstretched fist. She shifted me to her shoulder as she raced to the living room. I clung to her shirt carefully, still half asleep but aware of how easily my claws could pierce through her nightshirt.

Terron was already in the living room when we arrived. Minna came to a stop and glanced around warily. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure; it sounds like a ship-" Terron broke off as the screech ended in the resounding crash of an explosion.

The room shook around us.

One of Minna's hands came to my back to steady me while her other found the wall to help with her own balance. Terron stumbled but stayed on his feet. The shaking gradually stopped.

Both Kymari looked worried. I warbled nervously, feeling scared myself. What was going on? The closest thing I could think of was when an airplane had crashed in one of the cities I had lived in while growing up. Did Kymari shuttles have accidents like that?

Terron turned to the low table in the center of the room and tapped a sequence on the device there. The screen came on and an announcer's excited voice filled the room. "-details still coming in but appears a vessel has lost control during its landing approach and is descending at unsafe velocities. It is projected to land in... we are receiving new reports now... the vessel has missed the spaceport and has crashed into a residential area. Emergency teams are being dispatched to the site now. Residents are urged to remain indoors at this time until the situation is resolved. Again, for those just joining us, a freighter has fallen out of control during its landing approach and has crashed into a residential area; response teams are approaching the site of the crash now. All individuals not involved in the official response are encouraged to remain indoors at this time. More details will be provided as-."

Terron pushed a few more buttons on the controller and the volume cut out. "A ship crash? Here?"

Minna looked out the living room window and frowned. "That doesn't make any sense. There are all sorts of safety measures in place that would warn a pilot of problems; how could somebody mess up badly enough to-" Minna broke off as a loud beeping came from back down the hallway.

She followed the sound of the beeping back into her room. The tablet beeped again from her nightstand, making a loud noise that hurt my ears almost as badly as the terrible screeching had. I hissed in discomfort and lowered my head in a wince. Minna tapped the tablet and the beeping cut off.

I relaxed and let my ear tufts rise back to their resting position. That noise had been really annoying.

"This is Minna speaking, can I help you?"

"Bond Handler Minna? With the fire lizard?"

Minna glanced at me with a frown, then looked back at the tablet. "Yes?"