Page 6 of The Cerulean Sister
"Oh . . . well, it normally has flowers on it." He laughs.
I can tell he is trying to distract me from 99 being urgently called away. The way Commander Yeva walked toward us like there was something terribly wrong obviously took root inside my nerves and he noticed.
"Thank you for showing me, but I'm fine. I—" I cut my sentence short when I look up and see Commander Wesley inan on-guard posture. His helmet snaps to the side like he is listening to something, then he glances behind himself as if checking in that direction.
It sends a chill over my skin, and I step back, getting ready to brace for whatever happens next.
But then a bleating alarm begins in the distance, making him snap his attention.
"This way, Priestess." He steps forward and clutches my arm as the grating sound catches me off balance.
"What is it?"
He doesn't answer, just pulls me along, his hold not as tight as it could be but enough for me to be almost dragged as I shuffle along in shock.
An alarm goes off right above us, and the domed ceiling lights up with orange flashing lights, blinking to get our attention for whatever is coming.
We both pause, glancing up at the warning before he guides me down another pathway.
"What does the alarm mean?" I shout.
"It's not good! We need to get somewhere safer."
A slow rumble begins like the world is splitting down the middle, the ground itself groaning as if waking from a deep slumber.
I wince as the alarm seems to crest its pitch, piercing my eardrum as it prepares us for the incoming danger.
The thought crosses my mind that the vibrations beneath my feet are from an approaching ship, one from Cosima coming to take me back.
My body switches from confusion to an overwhelming instinct to flee from my pursuers.
And then I am running with him, forcing myself to follow his lead and to trust he knows the best route. He has sworn to protect me, but if a ship has arrived, then there is little asingle commander can do to stop them. My heart feels like a fist pounding against my chest from within as we sprint down another walkway.
Commander Wesley stops us near the glass display of the Frithian flower and pushes me into an archway of the metal doors that warn against entry, standing with his arms on either side of my body.
He pounds on the door and curses anyone on the other side who will not let us in.
We are stuck here, waiting in the threshold, praying to be let inside to presumed safety.
I press my head back into the metal, trying to put room between me and his close but necessary proximity.
"Forgive me, Priestess," he shouts, apologizing over the sound of the world grumbling for the accidentally intimate pose, his arms coming down to encase me.
"Is it a ship?" I'm afraid to ask, shouting over harsh, rhythmic tolling.
The alarm screams so loud, I can barely hear the sound of a glass panel falling from the domed ceiling and crashing to the floor.
I jump as the greenhouse shakes and Commander Wesley tucks in closer, protecting me from more of the architecture threatening to crumble around us.
"It's a tremor!"
Of course.
I have never heard the alarms go off while outside the capital building. Our room and the library exude a pleasant chime from the door panels to warn of an incoming conjunction tremor.
I noticed the conjunction tremors have been calmer here compared to the building shattering ones on Cosima or the ones that feel like the entire world is being rolled around on Frith, but this is different.
"Why is this tremor so—" My question is cut off by another panel falling.
