Pompods

26

Elder Ino awoke suddenly. He could still feel the residual shaking of his home and sensed something was very wrong. The tremor had shook things violently and many of his pots lay broken on the floor. He exited his home to find several mid-sized Memees around the village. They entered homes and exited with Pompods in tow. They would gesture the villagers towards the ship.

"Bomf!" said one as it approached him.

"What is happening ?" Elder Ino asked as the Memee rested a fin on his arm.

"We must leave, now!" it said as forcibly as it could.

"What is happening?" he restated.

"We... do not know. Something is very wrong. We calculated more time, but... the instability of this world has worsened."

A crack of thunder caught their attention as smoke rose up in the distance.

"We must get the engine driver," it said, "or all will be lost."

Elder Ino sensed the panic in its monotone voice. He looked at the plump being and its copies as they plodded along after the villagers. "Get everyone on the ship, I'll send someone to get them," he said and ran towards one hut in particular.

"Bomf," it said as he rounded a corner.

Elder Ino burst into the home to find Toko yelling at his sister who was sound asleep.

"Gato! Wake up!"

"Toko."

"Elder Ino."

"We need Gato. She needs to go get Zaree and Oku."

"I'm sorry elder, she's always been a sound sleeper. She can sleep through anything, especially since I grind my teeth when I doze," Toko said sheepishly as if it was his fault his sibling had ended up being such a profound sleeper.

"We know, Toko. It's not your fault, but we need her to wake up. Now!"

Toko grabbed his sister and shook her vigorously as her tentacles flapped around in every direction. He drew in a deep breath and boomed at her, "WAKE UP!" so loudly that her tentacles flew backwards from the force of his voice.

An eye slowly blinked open as she rubbed the other one. "Hmm, is it morning already?"

"Gato," said Elder Ino as he pressed his face close to hers. "You need to go and get Zaree! We need to leave, now!"

As if to punctuate the urgency of the situation, everything in the hut shook and sent pots crashing to the floor. She blinked wide-eyed for a moment at the two staring at her, released herself from Toko's grip and bolted out the window.

"Now, Toko," said Elder Ino as they exited the hut and watched Gato swiftly swing away, "get to the ship and see if you can assist with anything."

"Yes, Elder Ino." said Toko as he rushed towards the ship.

Elder Ino watched as one of the Memees dismantled itself into its smallest counterparts and raced into all the huts in the village. Some returned alone as others rode out on the shoulders of the villagers to direct them towards the ship. A tiny sea of Memees flowed alongside the podlings, younglings and elders. He picked up two podlings that had stood frightened and crying amongst the crowd.

"Fear not, little ones," he said as comfortingly as he could. "Soon we will be on the ship and all will be well."

Their crying subsided but he could still feel them shaking.

He stopped at the village's edge to look back at the home they had ever known. It would be the last time any of them would see it. He did not linger as the ground shook once more as he continued towards the ship.