2.4.2

Lightning Bug

Despite a laundry list of tasks to get the Aldebaran back in shape, Astrid’s busywork did little to detangle the knots in her stomach. Each day that brought her closer to Endra made her more stressed, not less. In the last twenty-four hours leading up to the arrival, she all but disappeared into her work.

Thankfully, her friends seemed to understand, and other than the occasional chat over meals and menial tasks, they accepted her unshakeable introspection.

But eventually Romo and Dell came to offer an outlet for her anxiety.

Astrid shifted on the balls of her feet in the cargo hold. The engine now spun at a steady pace. And stable, she determinedly pushed it from her senses to feel herself and her own burning core instead.

Slung on her waist sat a fresh pack of batteries. She no longer needed to hold them directly, accustomed to the sensation of where dormant power lay for the draw. Her hair pulled pack, she focused across the room to the empty space at its center. Well off to the side, Anders and Romo watched her move.

Behind them, Dell and Tenya bent over the workbench to inspect her new weaponry.

But Astrid inhaled deeply.

“I’m ready.”

“You sure about this?” Romo called.

“You wanted a demonstration,” she tossed back, firm.

“You know if you miss and hit something with power—”

“I won’t.”

Romo and Anders looked to one another before the lieutenant-commander folded his arms over his chest and gave a little shrug. “Okay, then.”

Romo whistled low. “Alright.”

The intel agent reared back a compactly muscled arm and whipped a foam ball, taken from the medical supplies, into the air and across the deck.

Astrid watched the flash of red sail through the air, a casual lob, and her hand lit up in pale blue.

Rahna inadvertently taught her the right sensation, the right feeling to summon a tighter form of energy. It felt good to use it again, and it almost thrilled Astrid to feel the power tingle over her skin in the precious second before she thrust the energy forward in a glowing bolt.

Sparks lashed around the ball in midair. The foam scorched black when it absorbed the shock and diffused the energy into benign material.

A charred ball dropped straight to the floor, a smoking puck.

Astrid smirked to herself. “Again.”

Now more confident in her skills, Romo pitched the next one faster. She zapped it, too, and it joined the first with a dense thud.

“We’re going to need more balls…” Romo blinked.

Behind him, Tenya snickered.

“This is amazing.” Anders straightened. “You learned this from Polaris?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Astrid fell out of stance. “It’s not like she meant to show me how. It’s like I could feel it, through her. We were… connected, while we were fighting. All that energy flowing from one into the other, it was like a bond. I could feel what she was feeling. Physically, emotionally.”

“And that’s how you were able to replicate it?” Anders pressed.

“And you could teach others in the same way, right?” Romo continued. He stalked to the fallen targets at the center of the room. “I mean, when it comes time to train others. If you could spar with them, we could work up a whole squad of these? Like Channeler artillery.”

“In theory, but it’s not exactly something I’d want to do with just anyone. There’s no emotional barrier. I could feel everything. Her hate, her fear. And who knows what she picked up from me. It makes both sides vulnerable.”

“But Astrid…” Romo collected the marked balls from the deck.

The material burned, contracted, and hardened.

“This power, like this?” he continued. “This is it. This is the weaponized ability that people feared, and the military hoped for. You don’t need a gun with this, do you understand?”

“That I’m walking hazard?”

“You’re a fucking badass!” Romo argued. “You’re a one-woman weapon! The types of ops you could do if you could keep this up—"

Dell and Tenya joined them to examine the damage for themselves.

“It’s like you concentrated all your cone energy into a more concise point,” Dell postulated. “The same amount of power, but more potent. And at greater distance. Imagine what you could do if you could get it even tighter.”

“Astrid, they literally can’t disarm you,” Tenya concluded excitedly.

“You’re doing it, Lightning Bug,” Romo affirmed, nearly gleeful. “You’re changing everything.”

Something in Astrid’s stomach wriggled. And she could no longer tell the difference between excitement and trepidation. With the Aldebaran, they too often coincided.

“Yeah, about the ‘Lightning Bug’ thing…” Astrid changed the subject.

“It’s affectionate,” Anders ribbed. “Promise.”

Flummoxed, Astrid shut her arguing mouth.

“What about your augmented hand-to-hand?” Romo passed the toasted targets for Dell and Tenya to examine more closely. “On Tetris, you were going hit for hit with Rahna. Like the first time you and I sparred, and you kicked me back. You can do it on purpose now?”

“Want another demonstration?” Astrid provoked him.

“Heh, no, I’ll believe you.”

“It’ll be fun to see what you can do in the field now.” Tenya and Romo shared conspiratorial grins.

Anxiety and pride clashed when Astrid unlatched her energy pack.

“Dell, would you check these? Make sure I’m not draining them any faster than the last time? If I start going through batteries too quick, we might get in a jam halfway through an op.”

She’d have to start looking for improvised sources in the field, and only use her reserves when necessary.

Long fingers took the pack with a nod. “Good idea.”

Dell traded the balls to Anders, who rotated them in his fingers to study their remains.

“I’m going to update the captain. I think he’ll be pleased… Lightning Bug.” Anders grinned before he made for the stairs.

“Great…” The Channeler shared. “So glad that’s catching on.”

~~~

Astrid carried herself to the Bridge when Ricks finally announced their arrival. She skipped every other stair to the pilot’s deck and took position beside his chair.

The curvature of Endra’s rocky grey surface spread wider to form a horizon line when Ricks flew them in with ease.

“Miss it?” Ricks looked up to the way her eyes widened with a faint glisten.

“I… don’t know. I think a part of me never expected to see it again.”

Fire flared over the windows when they broke into airspace. When the glare dissipated, the planet sprawled below them.

Ricks drove them over the terrain to the smooth valley in which the Sanctuary resided. Astrid’s stomach clenched with her hands while she peered over the landscape. Her breathing shuddered when her eyes finally fell on the elongated angular statue that stretched above the facility from the largest of its courtyards like a pinnacle.

How many days did she spend in its shadow, completely oblivious to the world above?

“It must have been one hell of a year for you.”

Astrid’s lips parted at the timely comparison. But she found no words. Whether she left a year ago, or a lifetime, it didn’t matter. She could never have imagined those sculptures, larger with each passing moment, would feel so foreign to her.

“Better gear up.” The captain imposed on her thoughts.

“They’re not going to attack us.” Astrid scowled. “We’re safe here.”

London insisted. “How they see you matters. Being a peer won’t help them feel protected. Being a soldier will. If you mean for them to follow, show them your sovereignty. Their potential. We’ll need their confidence moving forward.”

The Channeler took a deep breath. The idea didn’t delight her, but the captain’s foresight already afforded them every possible advantage. She’d have to trust.

Astrid beat feet back to the hold while Ricks settled them onto the polished slate marked for visitation.

Tenya and Anders already strapped each other into their gear by the time Astrid arrived. Their conversation died when she hastened to the lockers, but she ignored it.

Anders busied himself with checking his weapons while Astrid quickly stripped to slip into her underarmor. Tenya moved in to help her latch her outer plates into position. The chief’s own lavender gear shifted in the dim light while her fingers worked the various clicks and snaps.

Astrid tugged her tags and crystal up her neck to lay outside rather than hide them. Tenya watched her but said nothing while she patted down Astrid’s arms to make sure everything lay secure.

The woman’s fingers grazed along the insignia of chevrons over the Channeler’s shoulder, and a weak smile graced her lips.

“The Service-camo looks good on you.”

Astrid’s teal eyes nervously shifted to Tenya’s dark ones. “It’s weird to be here again. Like this…”

She raked her gaze over her own gloved hands. Her body felt as much a shell as her armor. A stranger. The two sides of herself collided in confusion to be on Endra and yet wrapped in the cover of a soldier. Like she wore a costume.

Tenya compassionately reached to tuck stray hairs behind Astrid’s ear, as if the Channeler were one of her sisters. “You’re still here. You’re still you.”

The deck of the hold split open, and the ramp sloped downward. Endran air wafted into the vessel.

Astrid shivered, met with the smell of dust and stone she’d forgotten. Anders stalked to the head of the ramp and looked back in silent question if they were ready.

The Channeler’s mind went to Karth. To how smoothly he built the bridge between Endra and the Aldebaran. Without him, the way back felt a gaping chasm.

But Tenya gently pressed at her back, and she marched forward and into the nigh-perpetual dusk of her origin.