Sub Terra: Et Reditus

Eleven

Gus

The Airship was far more impressive than I imagined. It was an A-Class aircraft, the highest rating there was for non-military sky vehicles. Its middle deck was a hospital-type area, with 10 beds and a sanitation area to keep the place sterile and safe. The upper deck was a lounge area for medical staff and those accompanying the patients; it looked similar to a private jet cabin. The lower deck was a cargo hold which doubled as an escape pod, detachable during times of severe emergency. The cockpit was almost completely empty; it could operate the craft without the need for a pilot. This was technological advancement at its finest.

There were seven of us onboard: myself; Daniel; Devi; the Lee siblings; Thiago, an emergency pilot and mechanic; and Sammy, a nurse tagging along with us to get to her new job with Associated Medicine, the group the doctor we were about to meet was a part of. While Thiago was in the middle deck, the rest of us stayed in the upper deck.

While Sammy and Devi chatted about their jobs and the siblings silently used their Screens, something crossed my mind.

I pulled out a button from my bag, not the type of button someone would find on a shirt, but the type that would set something off.

A detonator.

I turned my head around and waved over for Daniel to sit beside me.

"Whatcha got, Gus?" He asked as he noticed the object in my hands.

"Do you remember that guy that Gianni told me saved you and Devi?"

"Huh-- oh, you mean Martinez? What about him?"

"Well, my brother was snooping around in his apartment... and he found this."

"I see. I... think I remember what that is."

I noticed his fingers twitching. Before I could fully trigger his anxiety, I quickly brought up what I wanted to tell him.

"The battery in it is not a normal battery."

I opened it up and inside was a shining rocklike object, held in place by two thin metal rods.

"What is that?" He asked.

"It's called Hankardite. It's a mineral."

"Ah, that's pretty neat. Is there something special about it?"

"You bet it is. I've done tons of research on it. It's not from earth."

"Not from earth? You've gotta be kidding me."

The tone of his voice told me he was intrigued.

"Nope.  It came from meteorites, which settled on earth over the course of tens of thousands of years. They did analyses on them and it's been shown that Hankardite comes from a solar system 30 light years away. From the same one as the Narkephian home planet. We've only recently discovered them,"

Danny's eyes widened. His shock reminded me of my own when I first learnt that.

"The same one as where the Narks come from? You mean-

"Its properties are found no where in any of earth's elements. It's a hundred times harder than diamond, it can be incorporated into almost any device or appliance to increase its strength, and hear this..."

"I'm listening."

"Legend has that it can even change parts of reality if used in a specific way."

"Woah, hold on there. If it's that powerful, then the reason the Terran-Narkephian War even took place was-

"Yep, it's exactly what you're thinking. They wanted to maximize their Hankardite supply. It was a war for resources, but not for any that we use. That's why they left Earth mostly untouched."

Danny looked at me as if I took a part of him away.

"That's..."

He was struggling to find the words he wanted to say. I changed the subject for him so it wouldn't linger in his mind.

"Crazy? Yeah. I know. I think that's what makes the war so much worse. They hammered us for something we don't even know or understand,"

An awkward silence took hold of us for a few moments, then I followed myself up by asking him a question.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind me bringing this up, but, that Aries guy gives me weird vibes." I said as he leaned back in his seat a few spots in front me, humming to the tune of some R&B song he was listening to.

Danny nodded at me.

"Same here," he said in a quieter, almost whispering volume. "I'm only here to see my dad, that's all. I'm going try to avoid that guy. Just stay away from him as much as possible. If anything happens, I got you, so don't worry." He said, affectionately hitting my shoulder as he smiled. At that moment, I noticed the similarities he had with Gianni. Both had the same intentions, just different ways of getting through with them.  At the same time, I thought of my mom. I didn't want to think about how lonely she'd be with both of her boys out of home for such an extended period of time.

"You got nothing to worry about," Danny said again, as if he knew what went on in my mind. "All you need to do is take a few pretty pictures and show them to your mom when you get home. You see the coastline over there?"

I looked out the window and saw it. A big blue mass clashing with an unmoving red wall. It was the former country of Morocco, which had approached us quickly. We'd reach the village much sooner than we thought.