| Jovian APAworks | Volume 1, Number 6 | May, 2001 |
They had planned on entering as quietly as possible, but upon their arrival, Carolyn and Colleen discovered that everyone was still awake, just going to bed themselves. The ritual of goodnight kisses and embraces soon finished, and the family went to their individual rooms for the night, all shutting their doors for privacy.
Having removed her formal gown, throwing it across the back of her chair, Carolyn now sat on her bed for a long while, pondering the evening and listening to the soft rustles and conversation as everyone settled into sleep. She could just make out Colleen talking on a late vidphone call and her mother lecturing her father about something important, the words and sounds from each hidden drama were too soft for specifics, and Carolyn was too tired to eavesdrop.
Standing up in only her undergarments, Carolyn moved to her dresser and started brushing her hair. The evening's events were still haunting her thoughts. "Why is an owl pin affecting me like that? Clotho is supposed to be everywhere anyway, right? They can’t be interested in me. No, it's psychological fulfillment that I must be adopting as a result of everyone else's suspicions. …And then, there are these strange, haunting dreams of the hospital, the Mnemosyne and…." Switching hands with the brush, Carolyn continued to herself, "…And what was going on with Colleen, with everyone? Is there something I'm missing? Have I been away too long to notice? Have things changed so much in five years? Did I change?"
Carolyn furloughed her brow, perplexed, and sighed, placing her brush back on the dresser. Changing into her pajamas, she crashed back unto the bed and crawled under the covers. For a long while still, Carolyn stared up at the ceiling, remembering the memories of her adolescent years in this room. She began to make out patterns of familiar forms and silhouettes in the subtle, surface textures that covered the ceiling above. There was the gorilla on Io, the silhouette of her father's face, and even the section of ceiling that reminded her of a school of Jovian Floaters. She remembered them all as she had remembered them before. She smiled in simple pleasure of fond, introspective memories.
Drifting out of her trance, Carolyn noticed that Colleen and her parents were now quiet. The only sound that could still be heard was Christine's punk music. Carolyn smirked aloud in reflective humor. Christine had always listened to her music while going to sleep, annoying Carolyn to no end. However, tonight, the pounding beat of electric bass and the ethereal hum of the emulators were strangely soothing to Carolyn tonight. Carolyn let her head sink into the pillow, eventually drifting softly into sleep.
The atmosphere was clearly venting in the ship; Carolyn could see the condensation form as the temperature dropped rapidly and a strong breeze began blowing past her toward the port side. At that point, someone handed her a survival suit in the commotion of sirens and flashing lights.
Hurriedly putting the survival suit on, Carolyn began moving down the hallway toward the starboard side, away from the compromised portside. The linear point perspectives of the multiple corridors leading to the nearest airlock formed dizzying views, throwing her off balance as she scurried along. As she finally sealed the suit's helmet and activated its environmental controls, the sound of the sirens grew muffled. Rounding the corner, the airlock lay just ahead, the inside door already open, another crewmember signaling for her to hurry. As she entered the airlock, she turned to see a massive explosion pushing its way down the single, extensively, long corridor leading to the airlock. Instinctively, she hit the emergency release panel for the outer airlock doors.
When the explosion hit her, she was propelled head over heels into the silence of space. Her only audible sense coming from her panicked breath. Trying to gain her bearings, she began to slowly gain her equilibrium, halting her spinning and righting herself to look back as the transport exploded in a strange, gray fireball that quickly diminished, except for a few burning embers.
Just then, in eerie silence, a flight of Pathfinders streaked past her, their thrusters at full burn. She could see tens of JAF ships seeming locked in battle against an enemy that must be behind her, their weapons unleashing furiously on their targets. The exterior of Elysée Station lay in the backdrop; large impacts could be seen striking the station.
Turning away to look behind her, she saw a huge CEGA invasion force charging forward, two Narwhal Bombards leading the line with their spinal rail-cannons firing in repetitive succession. Marine Assault Ships accelerated alongside, while tens of Wraith fighters and Syreen Exos stormed ahead of the line.
The nearest Narwhal fired again. She watched, following the massive warhead as it streamed past and raced toward an Elysée Station already in flames. The impact lit up the station in brilliance as the warhead tore into the south side's docking bays, igniting the still, untouched fuel reserves, tearing open the station in silent, gray fire.
Then a flight of Lancers came into view, seeming to fly out of the fiery brilliance below her. Her vision started tunneling, focusing in on the approaching Lancers. They were thrusting straight for her, their missiles blazing past her. A collision seemed imminent; she threw up her hands and screamed at the dark void that instantly consumed her---
She pushed herself out of bed, still screaming, screaming at the darkness of her little room. As Carolyn tried to collect her senses, panting heavily, her father came storming into her room, flipping on the light. Carolyn jumped, startled and scared, her eyes wincing from the light.
"Carolyn," her father exclaimed, in a panic. "What's wrong? Are you OK?"
Pressing her hands to her chest, Carolyn tried to speak, but could not breathe; there was no air. The weight of hundreds of chains covered her body. Then, everything blacked out again as she began to fall into the vacuous darkness below.
Authors Note: This multi-part piece on Carolyn is intended as a prequel to her stationing on Stevenson Station described in Carolyn's bio, published in the V1R1 issue. You can also read the previous part, Part 3, or the next part, Part 5, of Carolyn's prequel story .
| Jovian APAworks | Volume 1, Number 6 | April, 2001 |
Jovian Chronicles is © 2001, Dream Pod 9, Inc. All rights reserved. Jovian APAworks is not affiliated with Dream Pod 9 in any way. Submitted material remains the property of the creator.