Lunar Rising

“Mr. Lancrux, sir, welcome to the Teacup.”

I wave my hand dismissively at the guard standing by the ticketing gate. “I need a private transport to the labs, please.”

He looks alarmed at the request. “The labs aren’t stable, sir,” he stammers. “It’s the middle of the lunar rising!”

“We are well-protected underneath the Capitol, are we not?” The glare from my mechanical eye quiets the guard, and he looks down at his feet in shame.

“My apologies. Right this way, sir.”

We walk away from the main Teacup station, where passengers are getting off and on, and towards a separate, small station, where a Teacup awaits with room for up to four. I climb in and secure my seatbelt. The guard walks up to the controls and enters in my destination.

“Do you require today’s passcode for entry?” he asks.

“I already have it, thank you.”

As the guard preps the Teacup for a swift departure, I take advantage of the few seconds and analyze him. His uniform is spotless. His gloved hands are efficient and move fast, but by the uncertain look on his face, he must be a new recruit. Flickering glances towards me show that he is wary of my watching him. His hair sticks up a bit, but I can tell that he has made an effort to have his golden-blonde streaks matted down and slicked to the side.

As the Teacup whirs to life and slowly inches forward, getting ready to go to hyper speed, I inquire, “What is your name, young man?”

He stops and looks up. “My name is Ellison Stone.”

The Teacup speeds away into a blur, and Ellison Stone’s figure disappears into the distance as I zoom through the city.

“Ellison Stone…” I mutter, trying to remember where I had heard the name before. I know most of the government people who work in Tylius. Somehow, I must’ve missed this one.

Within less than a minute, I arrive by Teacup in front of the lab’s secret entrance. The passcode is tapped in, and the automatic doors slide open. I am greeted by a woman, one who I personally know very well.

“Ms. Mortini.” I step forward and grip her hand in a firm handshake. Her hair is in a tight bun and her glasses are pushed into place, high on her ridged, upturned nose. As she looks up at me, I can see through her piercing eyes that she is angry.

“Might I ask, Mr. Lancrux, if you know how long you have kept me waiting?” She frowns and pulls out a crumpled dark-wash document. Smoothening it out, she hands it to me. “We found this in our investigation in the tunnels. I assume it belongs to the little group of criminals that Charlotte Blacksand has formed?”

I take the paper from her and look at it closely. The words, which are in code, have already been revealed. My disgust for their cleverness is quickly masked by careful indifference.

“How long I’ve kept you waiting, miss, I do not know, but I tried to arrive as soon as I could.”

“I need details on Charlotte’s whereabouts, and I need them now. Did you upload all the information to the government database already?”

“The report still needs to be finished, Ms. Mortini.” I shake my head at her and smile a little, a smile with coldness shrouded all around it. “I think it is important to remind you now that although I respect your high position in the government, recently promoted, I am in charge of this city of Tylius, and I will not be spoken down to. Is that clear?”

I’ve known Ms. Mortini since we were both very young and sent to work as interns in a government-run business. She has always had a bit of a temper, but over the years, maturity and the strict knowledge of civility has helped her reel it in. I also understand her desire to feel higher-ranked. Since I, too, have the same ambition, I’ll not have her undermine my position here on Tylius.

Ms. Mortini swallows uncomfortably and chuckles. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Mr. Lancrux.”

“I sent backups to the greenhouse.” I continue. “There’s a young boy there by the name of Neil who agreed a while ago to help us in the search. I think Charlotte and that other boy, Raven, stole a government tech jet.” Disappointment settles in my heart. If these two had been working for our cause, then they could’ve been a great contribution to society and to the world. “I almost pity them. They will get into so much trouble when we capture them.”

I hand Ms. Mortini the dark-wash document and nod to her. “Have this kept safe somewhere. It has no information useful to me or to my Tylius team, but I hope it can be of some use to your search for your charge.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lancrux.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” I say, clearing my throat. “I was called here for business. I suggest you take your leave and make haste. There will be an inspection at your apartment later today.”

“What?” She scampers away, clutching her bag tightly. As Teacup rushes her away, I hurry in the opposite direction down the hallway.

It is almost time for the launching of the bombs. We will capture the powerful, eerie energy of space for the first time! It’s very dangerous to do this in the atmosphere during a lunar rising, but it’s the fastest way for us to gain energy to power Tylius for the next couple of years.

I walk through the hallways, jogging down stairs, checking on each room. The scientists are hard at work, making sure everything is ready for the final process.

A few engineers and scientists look up from their work and catch a glimpse of me checking in on them. Their faces are determined and battered with exhaustion, with heavy rings around their eyes. There is a very strong feeling floating in the air. Tension, or a sense of duty, perhaps?

Feeling confident in the government’s plans, I head to the control room next to the bomb shuttle room. Upon entry, I can tell that something is wrong. The people crowded around the computer screens are whispering frantically like mice trapped in a corner.

“What’s the matter?” I ask.

A young woman with black, cropped hair and a white coat straightens and greets me. “Good afternoon, Mr. Lancrux. We have a slight malfunction with the automatic solar-powered lids…a delay is required before launch.”

“A delay?” I lean forward, narrowing my eyes at this woman. Does she have no sense of the importance of this mission? “We cannot afford any lost time. Do what you must but make it quick. The government gave orders and I intend to follow them.”

“How long will you give us, sir?”

“Hmm…” I pause and consider the current time. The lunar rising would be over in just eight more hours. “I will give you two hours, but no more.”

The woman’s eyes are skeptical. “Two hours?”

“If you choose to repeat everything that I say--”

“Sorry, sir.” She sighs a little and turns away. “Two hours it is.”

I scoff at her attitude and turn to see the main recruiter, Mr. Emios Ire. Dressed sharply, he pulls his hand from his jacket pocket and clasps mine in a friendly handshake.

“Mr. Lancrux. Good to see you.”

“Same to you.” I motion at his polished look. “You appear to be quite ready for something. Are you here on government orders? Flaunting your promoted position as head of your department now, aren’t you?” I laugh and pat his back. “You do good work here, Mr. Ire, I’m very glad to see you as excited for the launch as I am.”

Emios shakes his head. “I’m certainly excited, but I have been called here for a different reason. You see, just a few hours ago, a very important piece of machinery was stolen from us. One of those capturer bulbs that harness energy. I was supposed to be taking a break today with my wife, but now I’ve been assigned to locate this intruder. Have you seen anyone suspicious today?”

Remembering earlier today, I cannot say that I have. All the people that I’ve talked to and noticed passing me… each and every one of their memorized faces flashes in my mind. Their voices speak words that I can almost hear. Nothing escapes my superior memory.

“I don’t recall meeting anyone suspicious, but I will definitely give you a call if something comes up.” Then I throw a quizzical glance at Emios. “A capturer bulb? What could the intruder want with it? Don’t we have several hundred replacements?”

“Yes.” Emios looks very uncomfortable, and my tensions rise. “For some reason, they only took one.”

Before he leaves, I stop him.

“Mr. Ire, I have to applaud your recruiting decisions. Your very recent recruit, Ellison Stone, has my approval. I saw him with a government badge working the private Teacup transport.”

“Ellison Stone? New recruit?” Emios looks worried. I wonder what I have said wrong. Unless… “I haven’t recruited anyone in the last two weeks, and nobody I recruited ever carried that name.”

I have two hours until the delayed launch is scheduled to happen. During these two hours, I use the time wisely and try to track down this “Ellison Stone.”

I log into my computer and put on my privacy-mode glasses. Typing onto the holographic keyboard, I search the name in the government databases for everyone living in this city.

“Ellison Stone, resident in apartment number 4005. Occupation: former musician, currently unemployed?” I read the descriptions aloud under my breath. “What?”

Looking up from my desk in my office, I see two military officers, panting and leaning against my thick glass doors. Gathering their composure, one of the two officers brings his fist to the door and knocks twice.

I beckon for them to come in. They stumble past the sliding doors and collapse onto my long couch.

“What is the matter, gentlemen?” I ask calmly.

“The… the neighboring foreign cities! They’ve begun a dispute with us!” one stammers. “We came as fast as we could. We haven’t decided to use military force yet, because we’re short on people, but we don’t want any trouble between countries during the lunar rising. Can you send an ambassador to talk this out?”

“We don’t have an ambassador currently available here.” I stand up quickly. “Lead me to the area of discord,” I command them. “Hurry!”

We run down the halls and exit the government buildings. I pull my parked hover board out from its box shape and jump on, following the officers on their hover-scooters. The city flies by us in a blur as we zoom over citizens’ heads.

As we reach the city dome’s second largest exit, I catch a glimpse of the dispute through the thick, paneled glass dome itself. A small force of military backup is lined up in rows, protecting the dome from being damaged. Rows of the military force are in the air, holding the line with their hover-vehicles and Discs. There is visible tension creeping through the ranks. I squint my eyes, just barely making out the other city’s forces lined up against ours. Their bright, foreign badges glisten in the artificial light in the Capitol’s under-dome.

The huge metal doors slide open, several layers of impenetrable steel slinking away. The officers flank me as I slowly steer the hover board through the exit. Surrounded by lots of stationary military men and women, I can almost feel as if I were back in the past, fighting in war as a commander. The battle that I’d lost my arm in…

I chase away the memories and bring my focus back to the present. Soldiers part the way to allow me through the line.

Once I pass them, I motion for the officers to stay behind and leave me to reach the other city alone. They reluctantly stop and turn around. I continue onward.

The air is heavy with hostility. I approach the commander of the other city, a relatively small man with tanned skin, a thick brown beard, and eyes as black as a raven’s feathers. By a closer look at their colors and the tiny flag stitched on the commander’s uniform, I can tell that the country we are facing is Brazil, one of the most powerful countries on Earth, and the country who owns four cities, the most cities that a single country owns on Tylius.

The commander glares at me and refuses to shake my hand. Before I can get a chance to introduce myself and ask for the problem, he speaks, as though impatient.

“One of our soldiers received evidence that the Reformed States of America’s Tylius city is planning to bomb neighbors during the lunar rising.” His gaze is like a needle, trying to push through stubborn cloth. But he cannot push through me. I remain motionless back at him, even though his words send a small shiver of alarm down my back.

Bombs during the lunar rising? This doesn’t make any sense. How did Brazil know of top secret government plans? I know that our perfect government plans to harness space energy from dark matter has not been revealed to other countries. This is why this commander of Brazil assumes that our bombs are to hurt others, rather than help.

It’s just a misunderstanding, I realize.

“You have evidence that during the lunar rising, which is occurring now, we will bomb you and other countries whose colonies are on Tylius?”

“This is exactly what the tip told us.” The commander snaps his fingers. A woman with her dark hair tied into a tight ponytail jogs up to him, holding a thin tablet. The commander takes the tablet from her and waves it in the air, making sure I can see it. “All the evidence has been saved onto here. You cannot destroy it, nor can you deny it.”

“Look, sir,” I say. “We don’t want any trouble. Our plans are not what they seem. The RSA has no intention of hurting others. I can assure you wholeheartedly that your tip was false and that we will not be bombing people today.”

The commander raises an eyebrow, amused. “Who are you, anyway? An ambassador? A secretary?”

“Mr. Lancrux, the RSA’s highest-ranking government official on Tylius. I am the head of everything that goes on in my city.” I offer my hand for a second try at a handshake.

“Nice try, Mr. Lancrux, but you’re going to need to explain yourself thoroughly before I let my people stand down.”

I spend the next hour talking while holding back the secrets I’ve vowed to keep. The government plans must not be revealed I remind myself constantly. Somehow, I have to tell the truth to this man without letting go everything that we’ve worked for.

Once I’ve finally managed to persuade him that the RSA is currently in a state of peace regarding Tylius cities, the commander motions for his people to retreat. Slowly, rank by rank of soldiers march and fly back into their domed city.

Tipping his hat at me, the commander rumbles, “By the way, I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but you were in the middle of something. A plane flew from your city exit gates and flew out from underneath the Capitol’s under-dome.”

Confusion struck me. “What?”

“I hope you are true to your words with me. If that tiny plane happens to carry some kind of bomb that hits our protected city, you have every right to fear the wrath of the Brazilian army. Good day to you.”

After the commander has returned to his city, I fly back to my own RSA city and tell the officers to send their troops back inside. Once everyone is moving in, the flow of the people rushing past me both over my head and around me, I stare at the large, steel exit gates of the RSA Tylius city. Could a small jet really have snuck past the masses of military power?

I decide to let it go. An entire hour has passed, and the launch is almost ready. The delay only has one hour left.