Preparing for Glory 2

Chapter 2

            Seth and Phoebe met, as was their custom, on the hill overlooking the spaceport.  Seth arrived first, and he waited anxiously, running his hands through his short dark hair, until he caught sight of Phoebe weaving through the trees.  She was wearing her mechanic’s uniform of grease-stained overalls with wrenches and screwdrivers sticking out of her pockets, and her long auburn hair, streaked with gold, was tied back in a ponytail.  Seth’s face split into a grin.  He never knew he could love someone so much until he met Phoebe.  He started towards her, and Phoebe in turn skipped up the hill and practically launched herself into his arms.  They kissed long and deep, until Phoebe broke away and said, “Well hello there, Officer Parker.”

            “Officer?” Seth mumbled.  “I’m just a simple pilot.”

            Phoebe tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “Really? I thought for sure you’d be an officer by now.”

            “Nah,” said Seth, “An officer must go where the military commands, but a free pilot—”

            “—goes wherever the stars may shine,” Phoebe finished with him.  She pecked him on the cheek once more, and they held hands as they walked up the path to their usual lookout point on the hillside.

            Vista Spaceport was in the middle of a forested canyon in the northern Rocky Mountains. Though it was somewhat out of the way, many forest-dwelling extraterrestrial species felt more comfortable coming to such an underdeveloped location.  Seth had always loved the view from his and Phoebe’s special lookout point, the shiny metal of the shuttles and cargo ships landing and leaving juxtaposed against the deep green of the Douglas Firs and the craggy mountain spires.  He and Phoebe clambered on top of their boulder and leaned shoulder to shoulder, their pinky fingers intertwining.  Seth sighed.  As much as he loved space travel, it was good to be home.

            “I’ve missed you so much,” said Phoebe.

            “Me too,” Seth replied.  “Space was getting too lonely.”

            “I bet you’re glad you planned this two-week break.”

            “Yeah,” Seth said, “but if I keep taking vacation time there will be no time left for when we get married.”

            It slipped out before Seth even realized it.  Phoebe turned to him, her hazel eyes growing wider and wider and a smile slowly spreading across her face.  Seth felt his cheeks burn red.  They’d talked before as if they would spend their whole lives together, but neither of them had ever said the “M” word.  He hadn’t even discussed it with Phoebe’s father yet.

            “Married?” Phoebe yelped.  She covered her mouth with her fingers and squealed, hopping off the rock and bouncing on the balls of her feet.  “Really?  Do you mean it?”

            Seth scrambled off the rock.  He ran his hands through his hair, suddenly unsure of what to say.  “Yes.  I mean…if you’ll have me.  I know I’m not much, but the ship will be paid off in six months, and then we can go anywhere, do anything.  You can be my mechanic and I’ll be your pilot and…”

            Phoebe shut him up by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.  She pulled away.  “Yes.”

            “An—and what?”

            “Yes I’ll marry you,” she said, giggling.  She poked one finger into his chest.  “But you’d better give me a proper proposal, because I won’t stand for anything less than scattered rose petals and a candlelit dinner.”

            The proposal!  Seth groaned inwardly.  There was so much he’d messed up just now, from forgetting to ask the permission of the father to casually dropping the word in conversation instead of having a proper proposal.  Yet one thing was right—she’d accepted him.  She’d said yes.

            “This calls for a celebration!” said Phoebe.  She drew away from Seth and held his hand.  “I’ve kept our hoverbikes in ready-to-go spit-shine condition, if you want to go for a spin.”

            The shock of Phoebe’s acceptance finally passed, and happiness bubbled in Seth’s chest.  “Sounds perfect.”

            They headed down the trail, hand in hand, both giggling and nearly falling over each other like foolish schoolgirls.  Then Phoebe stopped, and her giggles ceased.  She clenched Seth’s hand.

            Seth followed Phoebe’s gaze.  They had nearly arrived at the spaceport, and they could see the cargo pads.  A figure in a long brown cloak shuffled along the empty pads, glancing furtively behind it.  The hood of the cloak was up, and the creature beneath the cloak was misshapen, humped.  The hump moved, and Seth wondered what it was.  Perhaps the creature was an insectile extraterrestrial, and the hump was its extra legs.  But why was it bothering to walk on two legs?

            Then Seth noticed what was worrying Phoebe.  Scurrying like rats, moving stealthily from crate to crate in a silent effort to approach the creature, were five men.  They wore black leather jackets with the emblem of a burning Earth emblazoned on the shoulders.  Earthkeepers.

            Earthkeepers felt that all extraterrestrial species were abominations, that Earth should be for Earth, and they were constantly protesting humans’ trade with other sentient species.  Though they rarely performed on terrorist levels, there were always a few cases per week of some poor visiting alien that was mobbed in the name of the Earthkeepers.

            When the hooded creature was in the middle of an empty pad, the Earthkeepers slithered out of their hiding places and attacked.  The creature whirled around and tried to escape, but it was obvious it couldn’t walk very well.  It tripped on the hem of its cloak and fell to the ground.  There was a flash of blue as one of its limbs slipped out from under the cloak, then the Earthkeepers surrounded the creature and Seth lost sight of it.

            Before Seth fully realized what was going on, Phoebe’s hand slipped out of his and she took off running towards the Earthkeepers.  Seth ran right behind her, but he stumbled to a stop in shock when the Earthkeepers started kicking and punching the creature.  It shrieked in pain, and he heard the sickening snap of breaking bones.  Bile rose in Seth’s throat, and he jerked himself back into action and started running once more.

            Phoebe had never stopped.  She took a wrench from the pocket of her overalls and started swinging it wildly, yelling at the top of her lungs.  The Earthkeepers stumbled back, surprised at her ferocity, before moving to surround her.

            “Stop this!  Stop it right now!” Phoebe screamed. “You lay one more finger on that person, and I’ll shove each of you into a cargo hold that isn’t atmospherized.”

            “That’s no person—it’s an alien, and it has no right to be on our planet!” said the leader.  He grabbed Phoebe’s shoulder.

            “Hey!” Seth yelled.  “Get your filthy hands off her!”

            The leader turned towards Seth, and his eyes automatically fell on the bright red V emblazoned on Seth’s pilot uniform.  The pilot and security uniforms looked almost identical, and Seth could sense the Earthkeeper trying to decipher which Seth was.  If he was security, Seth only had to press a button on his belt and backup would rush to his location.  Unfortunately, he was just a pilot.  Seth squared his shoulders and did his best to tower over the Earthkeepers.

            Finally, the Earthkeeper shoved Phoebe away.  “Let’s go,” he said to his crew.  They scattered and disappeared into the forest.

            Phoebe flashed Seth a relieved smile, then knelt down next to the collapsed cloak-shrouded person.  One clawed foot, relieved of the odd-shaped shoe that sat next to it, stuck out from under the fabric, as did a long white feathered tail that ended in a fan of blue feathers.  Phoebe carefully lifted the cloak off the person and scrambled back in surprise.

            It took a moment for Seth’s mind to register what he saw.  Two wings with long, blue feathers, one wing crumpled underneath the body while the other lay at an awkward angle.  Limp arms, hands held near a blood-spattered face that was half-hidden underneath long feathers. The long tail and birdlike feet.

            He was looking at a Seraphim.