[Danny]

hurray! i have reached the 3-PAGE mark! unfortunately, i am less jubilant than i should be, since my computer is currently acting like a git and not letting me online for more than a few seconds before it crashes, but if you're reading this it has obviously finally worked...

CHAPTER 54

“So what do we do?”

Int sighed. “We wait, I guess.”

Crim looked down. “Do you really think they’ll be able to win this?”

Int fell silent. The two of them were sat in the main room of Int’s hut, having just put the children to bed. Outside, the night was dark. “I hope so,” he said at last, quietly.

Crim was insistent. “But do you think they will?”

Int sighed. “I honestly don’t know. You probably know better than me; you’ve been in that factory. So what do you think their chances are?”

Crim shivered. “I don’t know either. There’s miles and miles of that logging operation, and I don’t know how many people they’ll have to fight there.”

They sat in silence for a while, watching the flames dance in Int’s fireplace. It was Int who finally broke the silence once more.

“Do you think the sligs will join them against the factory?”

Crim didn’t reply for a while, seemingly absorbed in observation of the flames. When he did speak, his voice was very quiet, and he seemed very small. “I’m not sure. Some of them will, but some of them won’t. I just don’t know how many there will be on each side.”

Int decided not to press the issue, and the two of them unconsciously moved closer to the fire. They sat together for a long while, not speaking, each thinking their own thoughts.

“Int?” Int looked up at the voice coming from the stairs. Dis, the oldest of the children, was stood framed in the doorway. “Ela says she saw something in the sky outside. I couldn’t see it, but Art said Ela was making it up and she started to cry, so could you come and look, please? Ela’s pretty scared, I think she must have had a bad dream, unless there really is something there…”

Sighing, Int stood up to follow Dis back upstairs. Crim’s voice rose from the chair he was sat in. “Hey, don’t forget me!” Picking Crim up, Int followed Dis up to the bedroom. Ela was sat on the side of her bed, crying, while Art tried clumsily to comfort her. Int set Crim down on the bed and crouched before Ela.

“Okay, Ela, what was it you saw?”

Ela sniffed. “I did see it! It was in the sky!”

“I believe you, Ela, but what was it you saw?”

“I… I don’t know, it was flashing, and not really moving much.”

Art snorted. “Just a star!”

Ela began to wail, and feebly hit Art on the arm. “It wasn’t! There was something there! I promise!”

Crim’s voice came from the window. “I think she’s right.” Turning, Int saw Dis at the window, Crim in her arms. “Look!”

Int and Art followed Crim’s finger. After concentrating for a few seconds, Int saw a small dark shape apparently hovering above the horizon. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw that it had a light at each side, one red, one green. He looked down at the slig, whom he knew had better eyes than most mudokons. “Do you see what I think I see?”

“I see a Flyer. And it’s heading towards us.”

Int nodded, and bit his lip. “We’d better raise the alarm…”

[ October 11, 2001: Message edited by: Rettick ]