The Ruins of Alpha Centauri (The Tes Simms Anthology, Book 2)

The Flowers

I bolt upright, sweating, grasping at the air in front of me. It takes my eyes a long time to adjust, due in part to the tears blurring my vision, but it takes my heart longer.

I'm not even safe from my recurring nightmare in an alternate universe.

When I finally calm down, the muscle aches I knew would come after two-and-a-half long days of exhaustion kick in.

There was no visiting the scientists yesterday. In fact, there wasn't even another visit from Sola. Holly and I sort of just stopped when the other farmers did.

Dinner was quiet, and we both felt the need to shower, so we did.

It was Holly's turn on the bed, so I curled up on the couch tonight. No point in waking up more sore than necessary.

And now I'm stuck trying to figure out maybe the hardest part of this new future: what time it is.

Well, maybe not the hardest part. The galvaknights aren't exactly an easy feature to deal with. I rest on the couch for half an hour longer before deciding I can't fall back asleep, but it's still way too early in the morning. Maybe I'll go up on the surface and do some scouting. Or figure out how to get Aurora working.

On cue, she comes hopping out of the bedroom.

Interesting. These things can't read thoughts, can they?

I quietly slip into the bedroom to find some clean clothes and then head to the front door. Aurora's waiting patiently for me.

It's just you and me. Let's make the most of it.

I'm confronted with two options: down the stairs to the technology lab or up the stairs to the surface. If Aurora has an opinion, she doesn't say anything.

Screw it. Surface it is. If things get rough, we'll DEAR on out of there.

The two of us climb to the surface, which isn't easy, given my muscles crying out in agony. When make it to the crumbled first floor of the building where the entrance is and step out into the looming night sky, there is no moon or stars to greet us. Just darkness.

My visibility is limited to one or two broken streetlights, but otherwise, I can't see at all. I won't even know if I step on something.

Beside me, Aurora's eyes light up an incandescent yellow color.

"What?" I say out loud, immediately cupping my hand over my mouth. She looks at me, her two glowing pupils seemingly unfazed by this development.

I only pray this won't attract any galvaknights. I motion for her to lead the way and she hops forward, being careful to point out any sharp pieces of scrap in the ruin.

We travel together to the same fishing rod factory as yesterday, but I think back to our adventure earlier. There probably isn't anything good left on-site. We should move to a place with a lot more untouched territory.

Aurora must have the same impression, because she leads the way to a new spot, although not totally sure what we're hunting for. Me neither, to be fair. We inevitably loop back around and decide on a tall flower shop roughly five minutes from the entrance to Omega Centauri.

Remembering what Sola said about alarms, I step through a shattered window on the first floor, carrying Aurora with me. The glass crunches, but softly enough to not alert anybody or anything. Hopefully.

The first thing I notice are empty bouquets, with dust lying inside. These flowers have been dead for twenty years. I don't know why I was surprised to find them all gone.

Compared to the rubble that was a fishing rod factory, this place is in good shape, but is still a complete mess. Broken vases and other things vaguely flower-related are scattered everywhere, laying in heaps on the floor and on shelves. The only thing orderly is a sealed bookcase, which has informational packets on gardening and maintaining plants. I grab a stack of those for the garden. Maybe the farmers can find use for them.

I continue a sweep of the first floor, but nothing really interesting comes to mind.

To the second floor we go.

The aesthetic completely changes when we reach the top of the stairs. There's carpet on the floor, and beautiful decorative wallpaper lining the walls. A quick look at one of the rooms shows that this floor must be somebody's home. They likely owned the entire building and set up a shop downstairs.

In the only bedroom I find, I take a peek in the jewelry box on the nightstand. There's a few scattered rings and necklaces, as well as a floral pin. It's a rose, but has a stripe with the colors of the rainbow. I decide to pocket everything I find, except for the pin, which I clip to myself, because why not?

Right as I close the jewelry box, I hear a loud metal scraping sound outside. My heart jumps, and my whole body freezes. Please don't be a galvaknight.

This sound stops for a moment, seemingly right outside the building. I hold my breath, as if that will somehow help. Aurora also stands motionless, aside from her little bunny nose sniffing the air.

An unnatural screeching noise pierces the open windows of the building, emanating from the metallic beast outside.

It's a galvaknight.

Its heavy feet once again start stomping, except this time, it sounds like it's coming from downstairs. To confirm my fear, the sound of a vase smashing triggers another scream, followed by a lot more smashing.

If it can detect heat, I'm a sitting duck. We've got to get out of this building from the second floor, or it'll meet me in the staircase.

I try to take steps towards the window at the same time the machine takes its own step, masking the sound under its own. It's not a fast way to move, but at least it's safer. Eventually, I reach the window and look down. There's a windowsill with dead potted plants, unsurprisingly, but aside from that, it's a steep ten, maybe twelve-foot drop. There's no way I could get down without breaking my legs.

Unless...

I stick my head out the side of the window, seeing as the glass has also been long shattered, and find what I was looking for: more planters. Though the plants are long dead, and the windowsill isn't strong enough to hold me for long, I could hop down to the ground safely after. Plus, if the soil is the same, it might be soft enough to cushion my landing.

I try miming the plan to Aurora, all the while knowing the galvaknight's stomping closer by the second. Aurora, apparently understanding, hops onto the windowsill and down to the next one, a five-foot drop. It creaks softly under her weight, prompting the galvaknight to stop moving. It won't be coming up the stairs anymore. I have to jump down before it goes for Aurora. Otherwise, I'll be right in its arms.

I carefully step onto the planter, which bends on it screws under my weight. Then, while crossing my fingers, I aim for the one below and jump down. It completely crumbles, sending me and it the rest of the way to the ground. Aurora is there waiting, ready for me to pick her up and whisk her away.

The galvaknight lets out another scream. It's on its way.