Part 13: Night Outing

There is goon participation in this chapter!



: And shoot, I've been on the phone with Dad for so long that the sun's gone down.

: ... Wow, Saturn looks pretty good tonight. It's not often we get to see it at this angle, this close up. I bet Isol would love–

Saturn is really, really close, and Ezra's father mentioned being on a moon 1.6 billion kilometers away. Aerodrome Galilei must be on one of Saturn's moons!

: Isol? Where are you?





: Did you find anything interesting?

: It's the aether. It's all concurrently exceedingly interesting, and horrendously hollow.



: Not that I could do that, either. Although the starseeker is unrestricted to society, it's still on alert, in case the Riklid recur. So we can look through it, although we can't turn it.

: I guess that's... better than nothing. So, what, is it just staring at nothing right now? At the Riklid's last known location?

: It's looking at the sun, actually. Straight on towards the sun.



: Though, that's why I study nutrition and not the stars, I guess.



: Yeah! So, big news out of nowhere: my rike and my kier are coming home tomorrow!

: Aww, that's cute that you'd do that, Ezra.



: Well, not a lot other than that, really. The most relevant piece of news is that, since Mars is currently a little closer to Saturn than the Earth is, my mom – my kier will be coming home tomorrow evening and my rike will be coming home around noonish.

: Haha – don't stress, Ezra. Just say 'dad' and...



: ...The other one.

: Heh... well, in any case, that was all the new info my dad had to give me. The rest of the phone call was just us catching up a bit.

: My dad's a software engineer based on Mars, and my mom was a soldier that's stationed on the Moon, so I never had a lot of opportunities to speak with them when they weren't on leave.

: It was tough hanging up on him, even when I know he'll be home tomorrow and we'll have all the time in the world to talk then.

: Your kier was the soldier? I understand that's... uncharacteristic, considering Earthling gendered traditions.

: Mom was never really the 'trophy wife' kind of mom. She can cook exactly six dishes. Dad usually did the washing and drying.

: The one time I had bullying problems in elementary school, my dad was the one to tell me to go to an adult and try and solve the issue diplomatically. My mom taught me, as a last resort, if all else failed, to go for the nose.

: Hah! At last, an Earthling with guts and sense!

: I take it you exercised her teachings?

: No. Because Carla did it for me.

: Now that I think about it, some of the toughest people in my life have been women.



: Don't... don't go picking fights for my sake, please.

Ezra: forever the maiden in need of rescuing.

: So, what's your strategy now?

: What do you mean?

: Your guardians are returning soon! This isn't the occasion to star-seek – it's not like they'll get here any quicker with your eyes searing holes into their lorries a whole galaxy away.

: Surely there are other issues that would require your attention, right?

: Well, yeah, I was thinking that a little earlier, actually. But I didn't want to leave you out to dry like that – I was the one that called you and asked you if you wanted to hang out, after all.

: Yes, and then things changed.

: I enjoy our occasions together, Ezra, yet, in reality, we only encountered each other two nights ago.

: To be fair, we did a little more than 'encounter' each other that night.

: That's true! To say that our relation only started with a chance greeting is selling it short.

: That doesn't change what I was going to say, though.

: Should you rather return to your house to ready it, I'd understand entirely. The next day is a large day, and all.

: ... Isol, the second you started talking about me standing you up to go home, you haven't looked me in the eye.

: Tell me the truth. I'm sure you'd be okay if I left to go home and start cleaning it or whatever – but is that what you want?



: What I want and what I would understand as your urgency are two unalike things. What I 'want' and what you 'need' aren't always going to coincide.

: We're wholly-grown adults, you and I. I'll endure one night alone.



: ...

: Look at her. She'd be crushed if I left her alone. And even if she wouldn't be, I'd be crushed by seeing her looking like that when I turn to leave.

: Dad told me to party – to have fun and socialize. He and Mom fought tooth and nail for the opportunity for me to have fun and enjoy my life. It'd be a spit in their face if I took this opportunity that they fought for and used it to go home and do chores.

: I'm not going to leave her. Although now she'll think that I'll just give her anything she wants as soon as she hits me with the puppy dog eyes.

: The better question is, what do we do tonight? I don't know if Isol strikes me as the kind of lady that enjoys quiet walks in the park. Maybe downtown? That is where we first met. And we were both really drunk at the time, so she might be game for bar hopping.



No offense, Ezra, but Isol took you to the park the very next day after you met, remember? Talk about channeling your inner party animal! It's Carla-shaped.

* * *

Goon participation!

Ezra's not about to leave a pretty alien hanging. Where should we take Isol tonight? Do we go downtown and enjoy the nightlife, or hit the bar once more to carouse?

* * *

Databank: Riklid

On March 26th, 2311, the Earth was visited by another species.

Giant, black, angular ships appeared in the skies high above the continent of Africa at exactly 7:00 AM UTC. Two of them were significantly larger than the others. All attempts to communicate with them were met with static. The ships' designs were neither earthling nor Ghian: these had come from someplace else.

They remained in the sky for forty-eight hours, tidally-locked with the Earth as it spun on its axis. There was no sign of any form of movement.

On March 28th, 2311, at 7:00 AM UTC, after exactly forty-eight hours to the second, one of the two larger ships deployed a superweapon that caused the Earth’s atmosphere to behave erratically. Tornados struck at unusual locations; hurricanes would form closer to the poles, a previously-thought-impossible occurrence; tsunamis would form without tectonic movement, striking anywhere along a coast and sinking whole islands. Continents began to bake under the intensity of the superweapon; others froze solid.

The Earth could not mount a defense: any attempts to combat the new alien threat would first have to breach their own atmosphere, and any ship fortunate enough to power through the raging storms would be intercepted by the smaller enemy ships. The very Earth was turned against humans, Ghians, and all other form of life upon it. The aliens rarely descended upon the Earth’s surface personally, and when they did, it was often to attack resistance holdouts. It’s not certain whether the alien ships were even being piloted – Earth didn’t know if their enemy had a face.

The motivations of the invaders were never made clear. Nor was their name.

Humanity had taken to naming their enemies the Riklid.