By David C. Daoust
Harper knew she did not need the turbo mode, not for such a short jaunt. She also knew that Ratchet would not know how to use it, which, ultimately, was the only reason she’d engaged it. The arachnid-like machine’s abdomen dropped down to reveal a set of rockets that thrust her forward. She jetted out front like it was business as usual, if not for the satisfied smirk on her face.
Ratchet’s silence said more than any protest.
The duo had set out to scout the deserted starship in the desert.
Harper’s delight, with the much less experienced pilot’s inability to ‘keep up’, was quickly replaced with puzzlement as the shadow suddenly blotted out their surroundings. She located the much larger starship above them. Her display flashed red as an alert went off! Followed by an exponential increase of targeting reticles which popped up on her screen as a small wing of starfighters tore through the darkened skies. A wall of weapons fire blocked their path. All of which turned that puzzlement into fright.
Harper’s fun was over- she told Ratchet to retreat, she knew he was further behind and the pair swung wide in separate directions as Ratchet quickly caught on… she didnt really have time to teach him how to engage the turbo boost.
Harper was sure that one, if not both, of the Drones would be blown out of the sky, then and there.
Harper had zero apprehension of where exactly she should take the machine, the urge to take cover behind the massive Rover won out. This was before the sudden afterthought that the weapons fire she was trying to avoid, would instead strike the Rover itself… The sudden fear, once she had actually taken the action, filled her.
“What are you doing??” Ratchet came over the comm, as he struggled to catch up.
She knew what he was going to say, she really didn’t need to hear about it. Luckily, the fighters did not pursue, or seem to have any interest in blowing them out the sky. Which was good- Harper was convinced, she had not only handled that horribly, she had also put her younger sisters and all those aboard the rover, which included herself, at risk— by affectively ‘hiding behind them’.
“I know, okay,” Harper answered, trying to eat as little crow as possible, “I made a bad call—”
“What is it, what’s wrong?” Olivia’s voice could be heard over the comm.
“You’re not seeing this?” Hugo asked, “Where are you guys?”
“We’re still out scouting for the next wave of drones,” Olivia answered. “We think we found their base…”
“I don’t see how they could get passed us…” Wilford piped in, speculating what might be going on at the rover.
“It’s not a drone wave, Wil,” Hugo informed, “We got a whole new mess brewing.”
“Do I need to come out there?” Dicey, who was actually repairing drones on the roof, asked.
Harper located Ratchet from her hiding spot behind the Rover. He had flown out wide, -yet not behind the Rover. It was a learning experience for the First Wave teen, though she clearly got off light as the crossfire on the rover, she so feared, never came to pass.
“It’s okay, they are just circling the half-buried ship out there,” Ratchet informed “Who do you think they are? What do they want?”
“I’d bet it has something to do with who actually owns that ship out there,” Hugo answered over the comm. “Not only that, but the owners of the drones themselves.”
The conversation continued on- all pure speculation. Harper gave up her hiding spot, landed her spider behind the massive pile of wrecked drones stacked on top of the rover. She was actually sitting on a bean bag chair in her room as she peeled the visor off her head and dropped it at her side. She cared more about where her little sisters actually were at this point, than anything else.
The First Wave girl made it out of her room and up to the family room in a matter of minutes.
“Hugo wants us to hide!” Grace approached with, urgently, as Harper entered the room.
Harper’s younger sister looked worried, like she did not know how to deal. Grace was looking to Harper to lead the way. Harper did not want to tell her she had no idea what to do. She regretted giving up her visor as Ratchet confirmed what was going on over the comm in the brief few minutes it took her to go from her room to the family room. The larger ship was preparing to take them within their hold.
“Why don’t we just attack?” Dicey asked from her place on the couch, head still buried in a visor. “We can totally take them— easy!”
“These aren’t drones, Dicey,” Harper knew Dicey didn’t really get what she was saying, “There are people in those ships… it’s not a game.”
“They fired on us first!” Dicey protested.
“Just stop, Dicey,” Ratchet stated firmly, “We’re not attacking them.”
It was the first time the two teens had agreed on anything in a quite a while.
Olivia and Wilford were controlling their drones from elsewhere on the Rover, Harper assumed in their quarters. And Margo and the bunny were still sound asleep. They could not seem to wake them.
Hugo insisted that he and Hamlin would take care of the sleeping bots, and not to worry over the Laurens. Just go. Just hide, now. Despite this, Harper still hugged the sleeping form of the bunny clutched within her arms.
Truth was, Harper was looking to Hugo the way Grace was looking to her moments before.
Hugo told them to hide, so they hid.
Ratchet knew of a place, a small alcove above the engine room. A small alcove, so hard to find, none of the girls even knew about it, and they’d lived there all their lives. Luckily, the First Wave Rovers were all the same model, and the Haul boys had a bit more experience with the engine room, than the Blue sisters ever did. Ratchet insisted no one would ever find them there.
The group of children were hidden away when the rover was hauled into the larger ship.
When thugs invaded to question those aboard, they stayed extra quiet.
And when the next wave of battle drones, finally arrived, and started murdering thugs within the much larger ship, the lot of them witnessed the gruesome sight through the eyes of the spiders on the roof, from under what visors they had brought with them…
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