Until I See You Again: War Of The White Lion

Out Of Balance

Adam's POV

You would think that I'm unfit to work at the Garrison. If you do, I whole heartedly agree. But I work anyway. There has been a shortage of teachers at the Garrison and because I am the last remaining senior officer from my year, the Garrison has decided to keep me. But the day I get fired is the day I pack up, and kiss this place goodbye. I can hardly stand it here. The pristine white marble floors, the plaster walls, and the high glass ceilings haunt me with everything I lost.
If it couldn't be worse, I'm not much value anymore. I can't really teach, and I refuse to go near an air craft. Now here is why I have Lyla, my Australian Shepherd service dog. True to who I used to be, I absolutely adore dogs. I spoil Lyla with treats whenever I can in return for her comfort during my loneliness and anxiety.
The Garrison decided I needed her when I was scheduled to go on the rescue mission to Kerberos, but when the plane left the ground, something changed within me.
All the various buttons, switches, dials, graphs, stats, they all no longer made sense to me. I couldn't read anything, I felt like I was suffocating. The walls were closing in on me! Tighter and tighter and tighter. They nearly squeezed the life out of me. Like he vacuum of space taking the breath away from Takashi.
The aircraft nearly made it five hundred feet in the air. It was only a few minutes before my world fell apart. So they took me out of flying service and put me to teaching air craft maneuvering.
I lasted one class. The first class was fine. I was teaching the younger students who were cooperative and understanding of my situation. They were still in the simulation phase.
But when I had to teach teens who were about to actually fly an aircraft and I had to teach in an aircraft, I lost it. I don't remember much but I know what people told me about what happened. I was told I lost my shit. And when they put it like that, that means I caused mayhem like when I was a child. Apparently I started screaming at everyone to never go near a aircraft in real life because it would kill you. I think I cursed a lot. I got much better at curbing my bad habit of cursing right and left. But I didn't reign it in enough that day.
That day six kids dropped out of the Garrison I scared them so badly, I got ruthlessly lectured, I got Lyla, and I was put on guard duty.
Hey, you win some you lose some.
Usually, I stand in the Hall with Lyla at my heels and make sure no fights brake out but lately I got a promotion. Some gifted students have a fear of flying or they have anxiety like me. I bring Lyla and teach mindfulness. It's been a huge benefit to me. Remember when I was going on and on about how life sucks a few chapters ago? That was me going though one of my moods. I'm okay now. And I'll be that way as long as I have Lyla to keep me sane.
Enough backstory.
Currently I'm getting ready to go to work. My shift is during the later hours of the day.
I pull on my grey boring uniform, put Lyla on her leash, grab my apartment keys and leave with my hand in my left pocket where I keep a Polaroid photo of me and Takashi. It was the last photo we took together before he went on the mission and died.
That's all I need from day to day, besides food and water.
I walk from the dormitories to the front doors of the Garrison, but Lyla starts pulling me forward, and she starts barking. I can tell she senses that something is wrong. She pulls me through the doors and to a crowd of people and pushes through them.
"Lyla, chill. I'm so sorry I don't know what's gotten into her." I say to someone I accidentally almost push over.
"It's quite alright. But she has good scenes. Just in from the Garrison atmosphere report there has been a disturbance."
"A disturbance in the force?" I m tempted to ask.
"What kind of disturbance?"
"Well, the orbit of some asteroids have been drastically changed by impact. We think it's from an unusually bright and abnormally colored comet."
"Bright and colored?" I ask.
The shooting star from last night! It was unusually bright, and tinted purple.
"Is it purple?" I ask.
"Yes. Do you know much about it?" He asks me.
"I thought I saw a purple shooting star last night, but I thought little of it. I didn't realize it was such a big deal."
"Go report what you know to Kovu."
Yes kovu is still alive but he's older. He doesn't do as much as he once did but he is of very big importance in the communications office so I need to get my info to him quickly.
With that, Lyla leads me down one of the left halls. She knows this place almost as well as I do.
Walking though the halls I hear bits and pieces of the conversation about the comet.
"No, id day it's more fuchsia tinted...
It's material is very strange...
The shape of the comet is irregular...
The path it's taking is very odd...
I've never seen something like this...
Will it hit us? Will we evacuate?"
"I sure hope we don't die." I think to myself.
By now I take out my keycard and request to see Kovu. The metal sliding doors illuminate and let me pass.
Lyla pulls me through with intensity, and I stop at Kovu's desk.
"Sargent Kovu." I say saluting him.
"Ah, Senior Officer Watten, It's a pleasure to see you again."
"Sir, I have witness to the irregular purple comet."
"Okay. Spill it."
"Last night around hour five hundred last night, I thought I saw a unusually bright shooting star. It was tinted purple and heading East."
"First of all, you need to go to bed at a regular time, but your information matches the data we have so far. Come with me."
Kovu and I leave his office and go down a corridor to the atmosphere communications room where everything about space movement in and out of our atmosphere is collected.
Upon entering the room, everyone stand up and salutes to kovu.
"Sargent Kovu, you have news?" One of the control panelist operators asks.
"Senior officer Watten has a report to make."
Quickly I explain what I saw to him, then the control panelist operative brings up an image of the comet zoomed in. It's blurry but I make out the general color and shape.
"That's it! That's the comet I saw."
Suddenly, Lyla starts barking. And jumping up on me.
"Lyla get down!" I order. But she doesn't listen to me.
Out of my pocket, I get some dog treats to keep her content but she refuses.
"Lyla, if your asking for bacon I don't have any." I say to her but she doesn't quiet down.
Suddenly, everyone in the room is watching us. I can feel their stares locked onto me.
"Lyla, please be quiet!"I beg.
I kneel down to her but she is going crazy!
"I'm so sorry about this, I'll keep her under control." I bashfully announce to the atmosphere communications operators.
Pulling on her leash, I get Lyla outside the room but she isn't staying quiet.
"Lyla! What the hell!" I say but suddenly, Lyla grabs the leash from my hand and takes down a corridor.
I run after her yelling. Some people stop to stare at me. Others laugh.
"This is it." I think. "This is where I loose my job."
Lyla suddenly stops at an open window and lays down.
"Lyla, if you wanted fresh air, you didn't need to be so crazy about it!"
A gust of wind kicks up and nearly blows the glasses on my face off.
Readjusting then I look out the window. And then I freeze.
Glasses still in hand, I look out in the distance to see the comet. But it's not moving, rather, it's stationary. Floating, hovering in the air. My hands are shaking as I put on my glasses. What I see, is not a comet. Hell, what is it?