Thought it was high time I shared some fiction writing on my blog!
Remember! This isn't the guaranteed final incarnation, so don't be surprised to see a tweak or two in the final draft :)
Mechalarum
Part 1, Chapter 1
“They’re not going to let you graduate. You’re not going to flight-test the first
Mechalarum suit.”
Kiellen, crouched on the plasticrete floor of an open platform high in the Citadel’s
tallest tower, blinked at Taim as if not able to process his words. She unwound
herself from her stretch and carefully rolled her shoulders in silence. Her eyebrows
furrowed, and Taim cringed at the gathering storm on her face.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
Taim lowered himself to a squat and looked her straight in the eyes, willing her
to believe. “It’s over. You need to get out of here. They’ll be after you soon.
There’s no way they’ll let a loose cannon like you wander the Citadel knowing
they’ve just trashed your dreams. And you basically have no reason to live by
their rules anymore. I mean, to the extent that you did so before, I guess.”
Kiellen put her thumbs under her chin, clasped, her hands, and stared at him for
a long moment. Finally, she said, “But they can’t do that. I’m the best.”
“Don’t you get it?” Taim jumped to his feet in frustration. “I’ve lost count of the
times I told you to at least pretend like you can follow directions. They don’t give a
damn about the height of your jumps and the tightness of your rolls if they don’t
have control over your.”
“Hold on a sec,” Kiellen said as extended her left leg and leaned into the stretch.
“I’m sure they know that we’re friends. If they really wanted to catch me off
guard, wouldn’t they be more secretive about releasing that information to the
whole Science sector?”
“They didn’t release it,” Taim dropped his gaze. “I overheard some people
talking, and when they wouldn’t tell me what was up, I hacked a little in the
system to find out the truth. Here’s the memo they posted.”
Taim stroked two fingers across his left wrist, and a soft light pulsed to life
beneath his skin. He looked at his palm, curled his fingers to shape the resulting
three-dimensional projection, then used his right hand to manipulate shapes and
symbols within it. In a moment, Kiellen’s face popped up in the projection, along
with the words “Top Secret” and a lengthy description, the summary of which
matched Taim’s words exactly.
Taim had braced himself for Kiellen’s rage. He’d even prepared for her fear,
however unlikely that emotion might be. He knew that, in her situation, he’d be
terrified by the prospect of the Council hunting him down and banishing him to the
will of the constant dust storm that raged just outside the protective nanofiber
dome above their heads. But this taut, calculating silence of hers wasn’t
something he’d expected, and he didn’t know how to proceed.
From high above them, a low keening started, and soon grew into the wail of an
alarm. Taim sucked in his breath and Kiellen’s face paled in the dim glow from the
light panels around them. “Are they after me already?”
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