Molly - Part 4

Chapter 46

Sarah watched the ship arch into the sky, the white line curving down and towards the launchpad. Nothing more than smoke, fire propelling them to the very corners of existence.

As she was coming back she was stopped by Sinclair.

"I just got a call."

They hurried inside; Percy and Washington were arguing about a sequence. Sammy was on the feed. His cockpit had been specially made to house his frame, and while it was about as large as it could be without compromising the hull Sammy still didn't have much room to maneuver.

"Focus on the controls, Sam," Sarah said into the receiver, noticing one of the numbers spike: Sammy's heartbeat. "It'll jostle you--it's fine."

"It's really--"

The feed lurched, but Sammy managed to get hold of it, grunting as the ship leveled out and he penetrated the atmosphere.

"Good job," Sarah said, putting the receiver down and nodding at Sinclair.

"Who was it?"

Sinclair glanced at Percy and Washington. Percy glanced at Washington who eventually resumed tampering with the machine, telling Percy to help him.

"From a potential benefactor."

"Who?"

He motioned for her to follow, going back onto the launchpad. The fire where Samuel's ship had scorched the ground was still there.

"You're not going to like it."

"Sinclair, just tell me."

"I think it's the feds."

Sarah said nothing. It took time to put the pieces together. To realize just how far it went.

"They want out. I can't fucking believe it."

Sinclair hurried her away as if she'd said some outrageous thing.

"You need to calm down," he said. A thin slab of glass between them and the outside, crammed in a room full of abandoned metal boxes.

"Sinclair, it was their fault. They're the ones who okayed the bombs. On a whim. They thought they had a plan and then they failed and now they want out."

He sighed sharply, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"You're being ridiculous. Who do you think has the resources that we need to make an expedition work? You think we just need ships and pilots? We need food, we need water, we need more power supplies, we need people Sarah."

"They'll come. We'll tell them and they'll come."

Sinclair's answer was apparent on his face.

She was tired of being here, in the shadows. She came out of the room, hesitated, then sped fast towards the dock.

"Sarah."

He only tried once; Sarah didn't blame him. They had reached something like an impasse.

Outside the world was hurried, dark in its frame, the clouds back as well as the wind. Some of the smoke of the city bled through and absconded even this place. Tendrils lapsing then slowly meandinger forth, seeping into the indents in the ground, down to where the ships lay.

Sarah closed her eyes.

"Hey."

It was Kelsey. A knee up as she flicked a piece of metal from a stack of rubble she'd made next to her.

"I didn't know--"

"I come out here," Kelsey said, looking up and smiling. "Usually when no one's looking."