Fate of Terra - Rise of Empires

Chapter 8.4 - Rewrite

Tika felt sick. The nauseating waves of sound had ended, yet the high ringing in her ears lingered.

'Focus your mind on something else,' Tika told herself, remembering the stern words of her training master. The woman never spoke much, never more than was needed. You paid attention, you got results. If you didn't, it was your own fault.

Tika pushed her awareness away from herself, back into her memories. She focused on what she'd learned, going over in her mind the layout of the decks beneath her. Trying to remember the sporadic connection between the rail stations, elevator shafts and what lay on each platform. After the first handful of locations, she gave up, having forgotten most after her introduction to potential life aboard a Terran Starport.

She'd watched appreciatively as aspects of the station were revealed on their tour. The complexity of the flooring was kept to a minimum, while the overall layout seemed to follow a rough pattern. The lower decks, those that held the trade hub of the station, were the largest. One couldn't see from end to end due to the hulking walls that supported the floors above. Some were open, balconies ringed sections and gave views down into the belly of Michael's creation. The long glass tube that radiated light was perhaps her favourite encounter so far.

Within, she saw fields of flowers, grass and babbling brooks, a paradise location. She'd never seen a 'park' before, but if the Terran home planet was rich in these such creations, it would become a popular tourist location for many races within the galaxy.

Perhaps that was why the B'Amuf desired it.

Her mind swam back to the present when someone's hand cupped her elbow, the flotsam that her mind had been turned to, also returned. The escape into her memory was blessed, but brief.

Michael spoke to her then, it sounded like his voice was coming to her through cotton wool. It took her a moment to comprehend his words. As she answered his demand, she saw the gears turn in his eyes. The rapid focus and dilation of the pupil while the corona flared brightly. They narrowed quickly before he turned to the others. The rapid exchange left Tika feeling dizzy, which in her current state, had her swallowing heavily.

"Everyone, back to the Command Centre!" He shouted, before blurring away towards the elevator.

'What?!'

Tika's eyes hurt from how wide her gaze became. She blinked, just in time to watch a flurry of movement as the others dashed afterwards.

"Come on," Dejah appeared before her. The sudden appearance was predated with the light blur of blue.

Tika would have recoiled from the brash woman's sudden appearance, but the iron grip she felt wrap around her arm stopped that. Then, they were moving.

Tika's legs windmilled like a child's cartoon character. Her body was almost perpendicular to the floor, head straining backwards to keep her upright. It did little. Her vision able only to watch the floor as it swept beneath her

As one foot careened up into the air from the force, her other flopped like rubber back to the floor. Her flailing form bounced and hopped from foot to foot, the juxtaposition of her light frame rebounding, to be yanked down moments later by the anchor strapped to her wrist.

Tika felt she was a parade balloon, yanked along on her tether by an unruly child. The downward plummet was barely saved by her toes catching on the stations surface. It only served to pivot her further into an uncontrolled half-fall, her foot whisked away to meet it's partner trailing like a streamer in the air behind.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Tika plead, trying to fall to the ground, but the combination of her momentum and Dejah's strength kept the floor beyond hands reach. "Slow down! I can't run this fast!"