Tenth Daughter, Part 8

 All the Lights in the Sky

Later than sooner we reconvened by the base of the hill, receiving a scowl from Sargeant. The supplies had been gathered without us and most of the tents were set up. Not ours, and we were last in line for chow. Some electrics had been reconnected and new supplies were due to fall from the sky shortly. But our power suits and laser cannons were useless now. After eating we all gathered around a fire and worked on our suits, bypassing the hydraulics and greasing ball cuffs. To my left Blondie was wetting her blade. Even without a charge it could slice through Octopi leather. But their blue charged shields would twist an ill-timed thrust. We would have to be at our best in the coming fight. 

Night came late in the summer, but soon the blue skies darkened, and foreign stars appeared like flickering candles. We'd never seen these new constellations. Gooney stretched a long finger to the southeast quadrant. The Sun. We couldn't see the Kuiper belt objects we called home. Or the blackened Earth. My sight faded with the sky of this planet, and I thought again of my sister. I impossibly heard the gasps of my parents and screams as the ground came apart. She fell, it was the beginning of the end for us. For the Earth. 

Soldiers gradually drifted away, stowing their suits and weapons, then falling into their bunks. I lingered by the fire and finally stretched out with my hands folded behind my head. There was a small pocket open in the periphery of my mind where I played hearts with a rummy two-toed sloth named Eduardo. Eduardo wore retro Air Jordens, which was ironic if you had any knowledge of Earth history. Also, he spoke with an Eastern European accent that I found hilarious. So droll, so self-deprecating. A little bit putinevil. 

I was winning until the sloth shot the moon. I gave up, closing that pocket, and noticed the stars moving in the heavens. They grew from stars to lights to lanterns falling swiftly. I jumped up yelling along with the blasting claxons that pulled everyone from their sleep.