The Adventures of Kolt Lightning: The Beginning

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Crew finished winding through the complex back to his family’s compartment. Upon reaching it, he realized that none of his family was there. He wasn’t really all too surprised to have found it empty. He figured that his sister would have heard the alarm and went to the emergency center right away. And his Mother, being the highest ranking officer on the base, would be in the command center with all the other Generals.

It didn’t matter to him, though. Being the oldest child, Crew was responsible for his family’s compartment. He went around, quickly, turning off all the power supplies to each room. He also had to make sure any valuables were locked in the family safe.

With one last look, Crew grabbed the entry key. He walked over and opened the compartment door. He slid the entry key across the door. The door swung shut and locked into place, sealing the compartment until the drill was over. This was how the base made sure everyone was out of their compartment.

Crew continued down the hall which was now bustling with activity. This was not Crew’s first emergency drill. In fact, they had one about six months or so ago. Usually the complex only had one drill a year, but sometimes they had more than one when it was deemed important. As far as Crew knew, the emergency drill had always been JUST a drill in the 600+ years of the complex’s existence. Crew was a bit confused as why they were having one, but nevertheless, he went along with the crowd and took it in stride.

Eventually, the crowd made it to the emergency center. The center was an enormous hollowed out room that was deep under the surface of Mars. Every family had a specific mark on the floor of the center. When entering, everyone was supposed to go to their mark and await further instructions. Crew went to his mark and sprawled out on the floor.

After waiting for what seemed like hours, but was probably not that long, the nonessential roll call began. Crew was the fourth person called out, right after Maddie’s name. Both of them had answered appropriately in order to let the base know that they were in the center.

Immediately after Crew’s name was called, the official went on to the next family. Crew began to worry. His biggest concern was that Carly was not sprawled out on the floor next to him. His concern faded a little bit when he realized her name was not called at all during the roll call. Crew began to think, ‘Maybe, they know where she is. Perhaps she is with Mother, so she’s not being considered nonessential.’ Even if it wasn’t true or didn’t make exact sense, it helped to calm Crew down a little bit and lessen his worry.

After the nonessential roll call was finished, everyone in the emergency center was allowed to move around and chat. Crew decided that he had better just wait at his family’s symbol, so that when Carly showed up, she would know where he was.

Maddie, seeing that Crew wasn’t going to move, decided to come over to him. When she reached him, she plopped down next to Crew.

“So, what do you think this is all about?” Maddie inquired.

“I dunno. Probably just another one of the complex drills.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But, don’t we usually know about the drills ahead of time?”

“Yes, but I don’t know what else it could really be. We’ve never needed one for real before.” Crew sat in silence. He was thinking about what this drill could really be. All it did was confuse him more. And it made him tired and longing to go to bed.

“I wonder how long they will keep us here for.” Crew yawned on cue to supplement his tiredness.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Maddie shrugged her shoulders. “Oh hey, did you ever find Carly?”