a Tale Among the Stars

Capter 9: Danger on the Horizion; Final part

The very large creature just continues to stare at William as he branded the welder as if it was a weapon.

"Come on Luna..." william whispered, gently pulling luna with him as he began to slowly walk towards his land cruiser. Suddenly, the creature (he still didn't know what to call it- it was like Luna, but also different ) reached down with its gigantic hand and grabbed his welder.

"Shit! No let go of that-" william hissed, pulling back.

However, the creature was far stronger than he was and ripped the welder from his hands. It made a deep cooing sound similar to Lunas. However, unlike Lunas it seemed to be more throaty, and have a different tone. More curious, less...well he didn't know what. But it did give them the chance to make it to his cruiser. He picked up Luna and ran for the cruiser, motioning quickly for Lily to get out of there.

"Alright!" She shouted, startling the large creature. This in turn caused the welders flame to brush against its fingers. It yelped in pain and dropped the welder, reteating into the ocean once again. Suprised, william paused as he went to put his leg over the side of the cruiser and watched. There were several large bubbles, then nothing. It seemed to have left for good, but he couldnt be sure.

"Lily?"he asked, looking to where Lily had retreated.

"Yeah?" She answered, crawling out from beneath a pile of rubble.

"I think its gone... I'm not sure though. I'm going to head to work-I know it's your day off today so do think you could watch Luna? It will be less suspicious if I head in like normal."

Lily nodded and William sighed I relief and set Luna back down. Luna, however, cooed and tried to crawl back into his arms.

"Luna- no- i have to go." He gently pushed Luna away and got the rest of the way onto his land cruiser.

"Be careful," Liky warned, holding luna back as she cooed and tried to hop onto the cruiser as well. "The tunnel you were in yesterday had a visit from some strange guys in suits. They seemed to take all of that liquid acid..."

William nodded and turned on the bike, the familiar glitched logic greeting him.

"Domt worry." He replied as the vehicle rose above the concrete. "I'll just act like I usually do."

And with that, william speed off towards the mines, making a sharp turn to the left. He wouldn't take this usual route, that's for sure. If they were watching him (though, if it was GenTech or not he couldnt tell, or even garuntee that he was being watched) he had to be careful.

He pulled up to the mines and parked his cruiser in its usual spot. Well, the spot that his cruiser usually was in when he brought it to work. He usually walked, but he wanted to be able to get out of there fast if he had to. He hopped off the cruiser and walked upto the gate.

"Morning Hal." He said as per usual. However, the gate did not open.

"Hal it's me, William. Open the gate please."

Hal remained silent for a very more moments before he finally answered.

"William Hawtalon. You have been summoned to appear before your employer. Please head to their office immediately."

William blanched as the gates swung open. They knew. They had to. He walked forward slowly as he turned away from the safety of the mines. He was just some insignificant miner, hardly worth notice. And yet his employer is looking for him.

As he climbed the stairs, he could feel the sweat drip off of his fingers. He had to call down. Perhaps they just wanted his yearly check in and progress- but why in person? He couldnt get it out of his head that they could have found our about Luna. Why he was so worried? He didn't know. He had only met her two days ago. He shouldn't feel this protective over her. And yet he did. Why was that? However, as he stood in front of his employers office, William took a deep breath and opened the door.

"You summoned me?" He asked nervously.

His employer, a large, balding native American, motioned for him to sit.

"Ah yes I was waiting for you. We have some...matters, to discuss."

Willam gulped and sat down in the chair facing him, shaking from head to toe.

"Oh dont look so apprehensive. It's good news. So you know about the strange blue acid you found...correct?"

William nodded and he began to shake a little less. Of course it was about the weird blue liquid, what else would it be about. He let out the breath he had been holding and became more relaxed.

"Yes, and I got injured as well." He pointed to his half covered face and tapped the hard surface of the foam.

"Yes I can see that," his employer said, leaning in."the thing is, that blue liquid isn't just an acid. You've discovered a new, extremely powerful liquid form of Crylian Crystal's, as well as a large vein of Helium 3."

William's jaw dropped. His luck couldnt be this good, could it? Was his life finally looking up?

"So I'm here to promote you. See I told you that it wasn't a bad thing." He stood, and William stood with him.

"William Hawtalon," he saidx and William stood up straight. "I hereby promote you to a site manager. You will be issued an on site apartment. Please move in as soon as possible- oh and you have the rest of the day off. Your uniform will arrive when you move into the cubicle. That is all."

He held out his hand, and William shook it. Dazed, he walked out of the room, his heart lifted. Not only did they not know about Luna, but they had promoted him. He was beyond overjoyed as he hopped into his bike and sped home. However, he left so quickly he didn't notice his boss staring at him through the window on the Holophone. The only words he might have overheard were lost to the wind.