I know there’s nothing the friends enjoy more than taking a break at Starbuck’s. Me too, but, we’ve got to get going, we’re already late as it is.
“You better go inside and get your mother…”
I’m Brother Atticus Lott from the Space City Congregation. We’re headed out just like you and the rest. And we’re running a little late. We were given very clear instructions: At sundown One October, get your family in your escape pod, set the coordinates, take off, don’t stop, and don’t look back. That was it. Don’t pack, just leave, get out.
“Didn’t I tell you to go inside and get your mother?!”
“Yeah, but I thought you were joking…”
“Joking? Do I look like I’m joking?! We have to go…NOW!”
I’m sorry, where was I? Oh okay, so we’re all leaving and meeting there. This whole place is going up in flames, fire and sulphur. We’ve got just enough time to get out of blast range. Where we’re going is very far away, a thousand light years.
“Dad, she won’t come.”
“What?!!...won’t come? What do you mean she won’t come?”
“I got everyone else in the ship; me, John, and the girls. But Mom says this place reminds her of everything we're leaving behind, so she wants to sit just a minute.”
“Click on the voice-com, and the view-screen, too.”
“Abby! I know you can hear me. We have to go, you have to get in the ship, NOW!”
“Dad, she’s saying something. Turn off the hydros so we can hear her.”
“You know I can’t do that. We don’t have time to power back up, and the launch window is closing. We have to leave at the exact time, no sooner, no later, “just so”, remember? Why doesn’t she come? What is she doing?”
“Abby, we have to close the hatch. You have to get in! Hurry!”
“Dad, look! There’s two enemy ships headed straight for us. We waited too long.”
“I show no ships of any kind in the sector except escape pods like ours, those aren’t ships…they’re…”
“They’re what, Dad?”
“I’m reading pure…sulphur…. Son, your nose…it’s bleeding. They’re destroyer angels headed for the city, our city….our home. Remember family, don’t look back for any reason.”
“But what about Mom? She’s…she’ll….”
“I’ll worry about your mom, you just keep that co-pilot's chair warm. I’m going to create an anti-gravity vacuum around the hatch, swing down and pick her up.”
“Dad, it’s too late…here come two more destroyers.”
“No, they’re not destroyers and they’re not headed for the city. They’re…gold, electric-gold...electrum. And they’re headed for your mother.”
They swooped down at an incredible speed, put her inside the pod with us, and literally pulled the ship out of harm’s way. Then just as quickly, they were gone, vanished.
We made it. Next stop: Paradise Planet! Me, my sons, their wives and….my….
Just then, I turned to see my dear wife, crystalized, her face to the window...looking back.
