Celestial Bodies

[CHAPTER 3] - ORION : FLORENCE WOLFE

"Well, this is fun. We get to meet the whole crew!" The larger Canis smirked, though no one could see behind the hideously impassive mask.

Aurelia and Leo stood dumbfounded, going weak at the knees as weapons stared into their faces. Orion looked irritated; the new variable clearly not wanted in the commander's plan. His head drifted between the mauve egg and my colleagues. I guessed what was coming.

"Leave." I brought the egg to my lips, bluffing the counterattack. And he took it, not willing to risk the consequences, at least not today. Larger plans were afoot.

The intruders exchanged focus, silenced communication no doubt debating what their next play was. Marco's unit must be so close. They need to be. Orion stood up from a knee, standing over me. With a nod, his weedy soldier slid forwards, hunting Leo and Aurelia, who burst into movement, the courageous Leo going for a tackle on the advancing intruder. Aurelia looked as though she was going to throw up, a distant gaze processing the cosmos interrupted as her innocent, youthful face soured at the conflict.

Collision. Leo bent double to get his shoulder onto the smaller man's waist, taking him to the ground with a sturdy thump. Despite the Canises sharing an amused glare, the one called Orion appeared furious, and further agitated, his fiddling with the piece on his suit starting up again, this time as if he was rolling an invisible ring.

They concentrated their guns, trained upon my best astronomer.

With a crackling burst, three rounds pierced the air, smacking into the torso of the unbelieving Aurelia. My mum's understudy hit the ground, the electrical buzz leaving vibrations throughout the hall. Orion held a finger to his ear, tapping his cheekbone once. After a second, he flashed an open palm with his free hand to the Canises, who jogged past me and picked up the frail body of Aurelia. The weedy man joined his commander, having left Leo collapsed upon the wet marble just a few feet from me.

"No... not her. Don't take her. Take me. Take me." The engineer's lips quivered as blood flecked on the marble floor. The shorter Canis stepped on his splayed calf on the way back to their leader, eliciting a squeal from my poor friend.

"No one likes a hero, Arnie, anyways, you've got a telescope to fix." He teased my German engineer, moving past me. I held the mauve egg helplessly, letting it roll to the floor. The intruders teamed up behind Orion, who remained standing over me.

"Die Sterne flüstern geheime Geschichten." And with that, they departed, leaving only spilled blood. I looked back to Leo, and we drowned in our sorrow, a final breath escaping my body as gun crackles faded into the distance.

#

The elder paced back and forth, his usual composed façade shattered with distress. He was as scared as I, and it worried me more than the look his medical team gave me when they saw the knife wound.

"Dear Florence, I cannot... I do not know what to do. The best course of action here is first assessing our losses. As difficult as that is going to be." Heavily pigmented hands roamed his Santa's beard, drawing a reassuring image of age and experience.

Shortly after Orion and his invaders had departed, Marco's security arrived, almost tragic in their timing. They found Leo and I unconscious on the floor, our blood staining the stone floors, carrying far in the sprinkler's water to create a horrifying pool of rose. Soon after, they found the others, anxious and afraid. They reported hearing three buzzing shockwaves, but otherwise nothing. I hadn't spoken to them yet, having just woken in a hospital bed, my lower back tender and the smell of antiseptic burning my sinuses. Marco had personally taken care of us all, keeping the Wolfe Centre team within his facility in Pisa. The nurse, a rather blunt woman, told me that he had not left my side.