Chapter Sixty-Seven

Choe was still listening to Viktoriya when her mother pulled the phone out of her hand and disconnected.

“Mommm, why the—?” she shouted, but her mom gave her a look that caused her to shut her mouth almost instantly.

Then she turned to walk away.

“Why did you do that?” Choe finally barked. She had not meant to spit the words, and honestly, her mother was acting somewhat distant since the death of Aura.

Her mom glared at her, then said, “Every single word of that conversation sounded like either dangerous or dead or both. And we, we. We are not doing that.”

The unsaid words lingered behind her statement. The very same words she heard loud and clear after they lost Aura. “Never talk to that girl again. The last time the both of you were together; your aunt literally fell out of the sky.”

Choe gritted her teeth, trying hard not to let the anger escape into the open as she stormed to her room, bringing her violin with her.

“We have a chance to be friends again. She was my best friend, the only one that understood me, and you’re ruining everything! I hate you!”

Her violin had become her best companion, and honestly, it felt as though it had traded places with her dear friend. She gripped it so tightly she worried it might crack.

She recalled the first time Viktoriya came to their school, and Aura pulled her close and motioned to her, “You see that girl? She is lonely and also has no friends. So, you may want to try to become her friend. Her name is Viktoriya. I know her parents. She’s a good girl—but she also has a really hard time making friends, just like you.”

Choe happily shared a dessert from her lunchbox with her that day.

Even when Viktoriya lectured her on bacteria and said it wasn’t sanitary to share, Choe belted out a laugh at her that made the whole class glare at them.

Her laughter had come as a surprise.

Viktoriya first just stared, but then joined her, laughing out loud. Their laughter always infected one another once it started from that day forward.

That was the beginning of their remarkable friendship. The two were inseparable.

Even when Choe started music class, Viktoriya wasn’t interested at all in playing music, only listening to what selection her friend would play for her. They always found a bond, and now it had all but disappeared.

Everything was torn from underneath them, and all that was left was the falling.

The endless falling pushed them further and further apart from one another. Choe picked up her violin and played something spontaneous and graceful to distract and calm her feelings.

* * *

Viktoriya located her parents in the lab drop-in bunker. They were busy studying the remnants of the alien and a sample of the hull material with several other scientists.

“Mom, Dad. You need to warn Halikkon defense right now. There are more of these guys headed to Earth. It will be some time before they get here, but they will not stop until they have destroyed the ark,” she said, belting out the words as she walked in.

At first, they stood in awe at their daughter’s confidence. Indeed, she had grown so fast; it was almost impossible to recognize who spoke behind that face.

She was always so closed off, isolated, and seldom felt confident enough to air her opinion. But now, she commanded the entire room with such authority that they even did not dare speak when she did.

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Pride swelled inside of her mom, and she had a bittersweet moment—seeing her girl was not as dependent on her as she would have thought.

She let out a smile as she arched Viktoriya into her arms. She hugged her back, then led them to where the others of the team gathered, saying, “We need to tell Mike.”

The rest of the scientists who began extracting the materials from the ship they had come for, and Aura, now standing solo, kept working. No one cast a glance her way as they came with different findings, muttering into each other’s ears.

Aura was itching to speak, staring at the faces of the people she used to know and trust. All had worked with her at one point, and all now stared at her like she was a traitor.

No doubt she was on their terms even though her intentions had been pure, but there was no need to explain intentions now. She had cost them dearly and betrayed them. They might cast her out and leave her to live the rest of the days surviving as a scavenger in the cold until she finally gave in, or perhaps, they would spare her the misery and put a bullet through her head here and now.

But either way, she desired to know her fate. She needed to explain that she was truly sorry for all they had endured. To tell them her trust was misplaced. They moved and spoke as though she was nonexistent until the point when they wished for her to speak; they cast glances her way before whispering what they were about to say.

“Aura, please do not touch that,” a Halikkon team member said.

Aura had already given a signed admission of her actions to the UiN. She explained every detail and had emails, texts, and video to back up every statement, including those which proved that Argosys’ original intent and code was intended to reverse TITAN’s Frost. Their leader, Azid, had deceived them all and was determined to secretly destroy TITAN instead of reversing it.

Another official walked in, and the routine continued. Finally, Aura could not take it anymore and said, “Look, everyone. I’m sorry. So sorry for what I’ve done before. I know it was wrong, and I won’t try to make any excuses, and whatever the punishment is, I will accept it. But please stop looking at me that way, like I am some sort of monster from the deepest parts of hell. I already do enough to myself. I’m ready to accept my punishment.”

Viktoriya and her parents walked into the room in time to hear Aura’s declarations.

“No! Hell no!” Viktoriya snapped from behind, as the entire room turned to look at her.

“Viktoriya,” Aura whimpered.

“No one… Is punishing… Anybody,” she said, her gaze narrowed at the commander, each word heavier than the next.

Mike stared with a smile curled upon his face. Was he wondering how she’d gained the confidence to say such things? Then again, he knew exactly what extraordinary feat she had done here already.

A group of mere men and women would not be capable of stopping her now.

“Viktoriya, it’s fine. I deserve whatever they—” Aura started to say, but Viktoriya cut her off, making her across the room to stand in front of the commander whose hands remained set on the map on the table.

“Nope! None of us would be here right now if Aura hadn’t come, swooping us up to the ship,” she said, her gaze still fixed on the commander—a contest of will.

Yes, I can look you in the eyes.

She held Mike’s gaze unflinchingly until a thought crossed her mind, and she turned to Aura.

“Hey, wait a minute! How did you even survive TITAN’s fall? What happened?” she asked. She realized she hadn’t asked when she initially saw Aura and never had the chance afterward.

Her aunt smiled in response. “I packed a carbon-chute and glider thrust-wings, of course! It wasn’t pretty—But it was survivable.”

Viktoriya smiled, then turned to the commander. It was not until a wicked smile crept up her face that Aura understood why she had broken the contest of wills to ask the question.

It was a question that spoke volumes.

From the alien attack, it was clear to everyone they were in a deadly war against all of humanity, and the hidden question which Viktoriya had posed to them now was this: Are you willing to let go of such a skillful asset who survived the impossible and outsmarted the entire team?

It was not a question of how she had survived certain death, but how she had proven herself to be more than capable of overcoming any obstacle.

Mike seemed to understand the same as he glanced between Aura and Viktoriya.

She shouted, “Aura never tried to destroy anything or anyone! She only did what she believed was best, and to do the same thing we all are right now, trying to save us all!”

“That’s enough! All clear, Vik; and all security clearances re-instated. Aura is Sec-11 enabled, per Viktoria’s authorization,” he exclaimed, winked at her, then returned to map reading. Viktoriya turned to Aura, who smiled back at her as she wrapped her hand around her, giving her a tight squeeze, then whispered into her ear, “Thank you! I’ll never let you down again, never. Thank you for saving me, Vik. Thank you for saving me, in more ways than you know.”

Aura’s smile finally touched her eyes, even though she was crying more than she ever had before.

The lying wolves of the world which had pursued and devastated Aura her entire life hunted her for the last time, and were no more. She was finally free, indeed.

Once they met Viktoriya, their fate was forever sealed. And they would hunt her dear friend no more.