EVENING, EPSILON RING
Natasha muted the screen in frustration. She was just over three days away from the Election, and she still had nothing.
“This is your last chance, Natasha. Your last chance.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Breathing, whispering, thinking. “Last chance… last chance… last chance.”
Natasha walked to the mirror in the makeshift ready-room and looked at herself, seeing the familiar face of disappointment.
“Last chance , Natasha . If he wins by the margin he wants there’s no telling what he’ll do. Failure is not an option.” But even as she uttered the words she knew them to be false; as of right now, failure looked to be the inevitable option. Again.
She stood for a moment, then grabbed her acid rain– proof olive-khaki jacket from the coat rack in the corner and walked down the tunnel toward the surface exit for some fresh air. Perhaps the twilight sky would have her answer . Emerging silently into the deserted park, Natasha quietly closed the gate behind her and moved to the fenced grove of willow trees. The air always smelled a bit better, a bit fuller, by those trees. She slowly closed her senses to the sounds of crickets and buzzing night insects and opened them to the quarter moon smiling down on her, almost mockingly.
“What does it really matter? Everyone’s safer now. Let go and move on…” She said softly to the night sun, and to anyone who dared be out past Epsilon Ring curfew. But the silence of the evening echoed back, unconvinced by her tone, and the moon’s unwavering expression reflected what she feared, what she knew most deeply: of course it mattered. Now more than ever, perhaps.
Loosening the snaps on her boots, she sank to the ground and leaned back against a rock. Natasha turned her eyes downward to the uncut blades of wild grass wafting back and forth in the soft wind, her legs outstretched and crossed at the feet, her arms folded across her chest. She inhaled slowly, closing her eyes to meditate. Now more than ever.
YOU ARE READING
Haline
Science FictionNatasha has four days to stop the Election or she'll die! She uncovers a secret so big that even President Jemmer is willing to personally kill her. Who will prevail? Read what happens in the next four days in Haline!
