Page 5 of Eclipse Bound
“Eclipse Bound,” Bob fumbled to change the picture.
Eclipsyionic looked at his face transposed on the Earth documentation in horror. No part of him wanted to go on this trip. “That is not necessary. I will not be traveling to Earth. I?—”
“The contract says three,” Bob stated. “We’re to abduct any who do not go willingly.”
“You are the mediator who will report on the trip,” Gary said. “Your council was very clear about that. They would not sign the contract otherwise.”
“If we must go, you must go,” Solarestabinian smirked.
“Yes,” Luniaren agreed. “As you said, the fate of our planetary peace depends on it.”
This was what these two finally agreed on?
Eclipsyionic looked between the men. A star journey trapped with them?
Perhaps it would be better if he just jumped into a lava pit. It would make for an easier end.
"Wonderful!" Gary beamed. "So it's agreed."
Chapter
Two
One Earth Month Later…
"Have you tried hitting it again?" Bob suggested helpfully from the ship's communication screen.
Eclipse gripped the safety restraints as their vessel shuddered through Earth's atmosphere. The ship's stabilizers had failed twenty minutes ago, shortly after Gary's voice had assured them that minor turbulence was perfectly normal. Now the entire control panel flashed with warnings that Eclipse couldn't read because someone, probably their pilot Harris, had set the display to something other than the star language.
"I do not believe additional hitting will help," Eclipse said through gritted teeth. He sat next to Harris with Solar and Lunar locked in chairs on opposite sides of the small landing craft.
"Perhaps if you let me—" Solar tried to reach for the controls, trailing sparks of agitation.
"Touch nothing," Lunar snapped from his chair. "Your light energy has already fried half the systems."
"At least I'm trying to help instead of lurking in the shadows like a?—"
The ship dropped suddenly, and Eclipse’s stomach lurched toward his throat. The communication screen flickered. Bob's yellow face became distorted. Bits of metal rattled around them.
"Not to worry," Bob's chopped voice yelled. "This," the screen went black, "normal… worried," static, "first-time landings."
"Did he say crash landings?" Solar asked.
"First-time landings," Eclipse corrected, though he was beginning to wonder if there was a difference in Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides' vocabulary.
Harris’ communicator had only worked for about five minutes on the trip, not that the trainee seemed to know much about what was going on. He smacked the controller. Alarms started blaring in warning, and smoke curled from the console.
Through the flickering viewscreen, Earth's surface rushed up to meet them. A cluster of red rock formations loomed ahead, their jagged peaks less than welcoming. Eclipse could make out small structures below, gathered around what appeared to be a circular landing dock.
“Is the ship cloaked?” Eclipse demanded, pushing frantically at the controls. The cloaking indicator light didn't blink.
"That's the yoga retreat we were telling you about with the bendy females," Gary's voice crackled through the speakers. "Try not to destroy too much of it. Earth insurance paperwork is worse than actual murder."
The comms went dead.
"We're coming in too fast," Lunar observed calmly from his shadowed corner. “You should slow the ship.”
"Do you think?" Solar's golden skin flared with sarcasm. "I hadn't noticed with all the alarms."
