Aftermath

Night falls upon the camp. Clara, still awake, sits next to the fire, silently watching it. Oniv and Dern have already fallen asleep at their posts, leaving Angel with me, lying against the pod and asleep on my shoulder, or on standby. Honestly, I don't know what she is doing. Do AI's even sleep? Do they dream? Anyways, I attempt to stand up, gently holding up Angel's head before placing it against the pod. She squirms around attempting to keep me from moving and talks in her sleep.

"No, don't." She says.

"I got to go. I'll be right back."

"But you are so...warm."

"What? Just...just, lay over here. Ok?"

"Aww, but why?"

I place her head and shoulders against the pod, and she gently shuts back down, closing her eyes. She looks so peaceful as she lays there, almost like she's smiling in her sleep. I pat her on the head and her ears twitch a little in excitement. Then I head to the fire where Clara still waits and sit beside her.

"How are you holding up?"

"Fine. I'm just trying to keep it together."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't. I know, you were just doing your job. I expected this was going to happen."

"I see. So what now?"

"She hates my guts. We are going to be hunted now."

"By who?"

"Everyone."

"What did you do to her?"

The ground shakes again. I can Clara becoming a little annoyed by it but before she could say another word, Angel suddenly wakes up. She glances left, then right, then left again. She stands up and walks toward us, still looking left and right. Her ears twitch at the slightest sound. A deep rumble appears and starts to grow louder with each passing second.

"It was just a quake, Angel." I said

She continues to look around, causing our concern to rise a little.

"What is it, Angel?" I ask.

She unsheathes both of her pistols, but keeps her arms by her waist, still looking side to side. Her fingers lay on the trigger.

"What is it?" I ask again

"Someone is coming." She says.

"How many?" Clara asks.

"I don't know."

Angels then bots for the nearest tree and uses it for cover. Clara and I sprint from the log and grab our rifles from the edge of camp. Oniv, waking from all the noise, peaks over the pod to see what's going on.

"What's going on? Angel report." He says.

"Bogeys inbound, don't know how many." She says.

He too sprints into action, grabbing his rifle and jumping from the top of the pod, and runs to cover with Angel.

"Where are they coming from?" He asks

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

The entire area lights up in a bright white light. A spot light from above, shining over the entire camp. Several ships, buzzing from all directions, have surrounded us. More lights activate, everyone freezes in place. Dern, who has woken from the action doesn't get the change to grab his rifle. He stands with his hands in the air. The ship in the center of the group lands, shutting off its light in the process. Its legs at the bottom open up, kicking up dirt as the thrusters approach the ground. when it touches it doesn't shut off, instead a door opens and several armed men exit at once. They out number us 15 to 5, but we could take them, if only we could coordinate, but not over all this noise. The armed men start to yell at Clara and I, telling us to lay down our weapons.

I turn to Oniv who nods his head to the other group of men. We surrender our weapons, and are soon guided to join the everyone else. We all face the ship, and another man exits. He isn't armed, but well protected, though wore no helmet. He is clean shaven, light skinned and almost bald. He looks to be the same age as Oniv, maybe a little older. He walks up us and scans the group, looking from top to bottom. Then he turns his attention to the center.

"You must be the Brotherhood, my lucky day." He says.

"Who the hell are you?" Oniv asks

"I'll be your caretaker today, so long as you behave while you are on this planet."

"You didnt answer my question."

The man stomps toward Oniv and stands in his face. He stood so close; they look as if they were breathing each other's air.

"I'm not going to answer it either. Besides, I am not the one requesting your audience. That's the one you need to be worried about."

"The Queen?" Clara asks

"That crazy woman? You let me know when she is planet side, I'll kill her myself."

He turns his attention to the men behind him, who have since lowered their weapons. "Get them abord the ship, let's get out of here before the queen knows we are here."

 The men approach us and guide us onto the ship. Its small and cramped. There were no windows to look out of, only the ramp in the back of the ship, which stayed open as we lifted off the ground, kicking more dust into the air, and sails away. The other shuttles follow behind us, all except one. The doors along the sides on the front cockpit of the single ship open, revealing missiles. One fires at the pod below, detonating it and sending a huge plume of smoke into the air. Then it continued to fire all over the place, blowing up trees, out camp site, and any other evidence of our existence. After its work is done, it too flies away, and nothing but fire is left standing, as it spreads through the rest of the area.