Heroes of Dreamland, Book 6: Kirby and the Fountain's Fate (OLD)

~Other Time~ The Fall of The GPC and the Rise of the SWA

Stellar's POV:

Yawning a bit, I sit down at my old oak desk and push a few piles of papers and books around until it looks more like it's supposed to. Ever since the Council of One-Hundred (the leaders of Star World, a group comprised of an equal number of Star Warriors from each province that are elected twice a decade) agreed on moving the Star Warrior Academy to a space station, everything's been willy-nilly and topsy-turvy. First the station had to be built, and that took a few years all by itself. And then, of course, everything from the old building down on the surface had to be shuttled up here, and that took a month or two as well. Thankfully, now that we've finally finished bringing all our things up here, things should go back to normal soon. Of course, now we have to unpack everything... Stars above, I don't know why I ever agreed to this.

Supposedly the view of planets and stars outside the large, curved window behind me is beautiful, but I honestly miss looking out at Startropolis City Park. There were always plenty of trees, squirrels, flowers, and birds, but out here? Nothing but dead space, and lots of it. It can really bother a person, to tell the perfect truth.

Just then, one of the double wooden doors swings open, and in comes what looks like a moving stack of boxes. With a tired but proud-sounding sigh, Petal appears out from behind the stack and sets the last few boxes of old paperwork, books, and documents down before looking around herself in satisfaction, gloves on her sides. "Well, ma'am. Turns out a school in outer space is possible after all, huh?"

Rolling my eyes, I glance up at her briefly from a few papers I'm sifting through in an effort to get them back to the way I want them. "I suppose so, Petal, although just because it's possible sure as Honesty doesn't make it best. Building a school in space... what is the Council thinking? Or should I say, what were they thinking three-and-a-half years ago? What are we supposed to do the first time a meteor shower or solar storm comes to pay us a nice visit for tea and biscuits?"

Laughing, she sits down on a closed box and shakes her head. "You know they built the place with a state-of-the-art forceshield that'll keep the meteors out. Besides which, all of the windows are over a foot thick, and as shatterproof as you can possibly get. This place is probably safer from anything and everything than the surface, ma'am."

"Hmph," I mutter, "Assuming we don't run out of oxygen or anything."

Holding up one finger of her glove on one hand, she points out, "Even if we did run out of oxygen, which will never happen, we'd all easily be able to last the few hours before help could arrive from the surface, and that's only if we somehow were unable to get to the starships and get oxygen from them. You just don't like progress, Officer."

With a huff, I half-agree, "Progress-shmogress. I still don't like it out here, drifting around the planet over and over again with no real destination in mind."

Shrugging, she goes over to the window and looks out with a dreamy sigh. "I don't mind it so bad. Star World is so beautiful from up here." Glancing over at me, she points at the planet outside. "What does that look like to you, ma'am?"

With a roll of my eyes, I get out of my desk chair and join her at the window. "It looks, I suppose, like Star World, Officer Petal." Yes, over the years, Petal's worked up to being my second-in-command. She's the only one who does what I ask the way I ask it the majority of the time, plus she's got enough wits to be able to take care of quite a few things on her own.

"Other than that," she chuckles, giving me an amused look. "Think more abstractly."

"Abstractly, hmm?" I mutter, wondering why she must act so much like a child sometimes. "Fine. I suppose it looks like..." I take a long look at it before deciding, "I suppose it looks like where I'm supposed to be, rather than floating in a tin can up here."