Chapter 24
582 Words
Her eyes opened as her shoulders were shaken furiously. Emelia looked up blearily into the face of an angel.
“Olivier?” Her voice was hoarse, still thick with sleep.
“Emelia. Get up!” He sounded panicked.
Her vision cleared. She could see the fear in his face, hear the urgency of his tone. Her body went cold.
“What’s going on?”
Olivier looked over his shoulder. She heard the sounds of people hurrying through the corridor outside her room. Voices were raised, too many to distinguish the words any single one said. The overall feeling of panic was palpable. She felt its fingers slipping around her throat.
“Get up,” Olivier repeated. “Something’s happened. Something bad.”
“You’re scaring me,” she quivered.
Her head was still filled with fading images. She’d been dreaming she was somewhere else. Somewhere dark, cold. Black towers craned over her…
“We’ve got to go!” Olivier shook her again and she gave a little whimper.
“Where?”
He didn’t answer immediately, but let her go, stepping across her small quarters to pull clothes from a draw. Emelia sat up, letting her covers fall away and feeling the pressure of fabric against her skin. Olivier turned back.
“You need to get—” He stopped, staring. “You’re already dressed,” he stated.
Emelia looked down at herself. He was right. She was fully clothed. Fully clothed and asleep in her bed. It didn’t make sense. She’d undressed to sleep like always. She was sure of it. Olivier dropped the bundle and reached out to grab her hand. He pulled, harder than she was ready for and she cried out with the shock.
“We’ve got to go now, Emelia,” he said, still pulling.
She allowed him to drag her from the bed’s warmth, coming to her feet and falling against him as his strength took her balance. He walked to the open door, sticking his head out to glance left and right. The flood of people passing seemed to have stopped, but she could still hear the noises they made.
“Olivier,” she whispered, squeezing his hand. “I’m frightened.”
He turned back, his green eyes filling her world as he looked into hers.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he promised.
He ducked his head out, checking again and then gave another tug on her arm.
“Come on,” he said as they stepped into the brightness of the corridor.
He moved right. Emelia stopped, pulling against him.
“Didn’t everyone go this way?” She asked timorously, gesturing left.
Olivier looked past her.
“Yes they did,” he replied. “They’re heading for the Luna-side bays.”
“Shouldn’t we follow them?”
He shook his head.
“There’s not enough space for everyone, not with the kids as well.” He pointed ahead to where the corridor stopped in a ‘T’ of connecting spaces.
“Earth-side bay is down there. We’ll get in ahead of the rush before they all realise.”
He started to walk again, but Emelia pulled back.
“I don’t know—” she started.
Olivier came close, changing his grip to hold her hand between them. She could feel her heart beating fast, but he seemed calm, composed.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said again. “But we need to go.”
Emelia looked into his eyes, seeing the truth of his promise and believing it. She nodded. Olivier gave her a brief smile, then turned and set off.
Emelia allowed him to pull her along, glancing back over her shoulder and wondering how long it would take for the rest of the crew to follow.
- Writer
