Celestial Bodies

[CHAPTER 2] - CASTOR : FLORENCE WOLFE

All frustration and aggression in Zara evaporated, her thick eyebrows no longer forming a V, but rather quivering, holding back worry. Aurelia stood quietly; gaze distant as she played with a splintering HB pencil.

Abruptly, I stood, taking leaping strides to the door, which I flung open and rushed through, no account for my fear of the hall. I must warn the boys. Ripping off my raised platforms, I ran, sprinting down to where the dorms lay. My mouth opened to shout, but I thought better of it, the short clip of the figures moving around our building chilling my very bones.

The world around me blurred as I planted one foot in front of the other, the thought of anything happening to Leo and Adrian spurring me on. My calves ached.

There were two routes, once inside the facility, that the intruders could have taken to reach the file vault. One, the direct route, weaves through the isolated laboratories and testing areas. Whereas the other, the route that passes by the valuable Wolfe telescope, takes them right past this awfully long and straight corridor.

Unable to defend ourselves, we could not afford to confront them, leaving our only option: survive. But I could not let them ruin us.

First, I must ensure my colleagues' safety. Reaching the boys' bunks, I knock frantically, bordering on slamming as the sealed porthole rattled.

"Boys! Leo! Adrian! Get out here, you idiots!" I tried to keep my voice low, but the severity of the situation was leaking out, transforming what I meant to be a whisper into a desperate hiss as I consistently checked the far end of the corridor.

The crimson wash of light was messing with my vision, and I was convinced that every blur was the intruders coming to kill me. Or worse, to steal decades of work. Please Marco, please have sent the security team. Please can they be here now. A buzzing jolted me in my skin, the overhead lamp jerking me to a halt. I felt a weight on my shoulder. I opened my mouth to scream, finding a hand clasped tightly over my mouth. They have come the second route.

Elbowing my assaulter in the midsection, I span, rolling out from their grasp. In one fluid motion, I pivoted on a heel, throwing the hardest kick my body could muster, coiling all my weight and releasing it into a lashing thump. A wheezing filled the hall, disregarding the silence, as the contacting of knees upon marble rung out.

"I... I think you broke my ribs." My heart dropped. Guilt came up like bile. Leo kneeled on the floor, and then fell, his breathing coming out pained as he clutched his midsection. I rushed to his side, lowering myself next to him. Lucy, still holding Pix, and Adrian stood in the doorway to the girl's bunks, aghast. They must've been searching for us.

"I'm sorry. You're going to be okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Guilt choked my words, any concern for the intruders banished as Leo became my primary responsibility.

"I am so sorry." I consoled, embracing the injured man who just half an hour ago was looking out for me. His eyes fluttered open as he began to stir.

"Yep. I'm good. You. Beat me. To. Your office." He grunted between words, raising himself up, using me as a crutch. Adrian remained staring, rooted to the spot, focus not leaving his fallen friend.

"Getting slow in your old age, Leo." I smirked, though the humour hardly hid my remorse.

"I'm only four years older than you, asshole." The lean engineer rose to his full height, yet still rested on me for support. We shared a half-hearted chuckle.

"How many?" He quizzed, strategic mind hungering for variables and information.

"Six, uniformly black, couldn't see faces, coming in the garage. Looks like they are going for the files. I can't let them get there." Leo pondered the information, staring at the end of the hall as he rotated the new data in his finely tuned mind. His eyes refocused.