The Rage Of A Child

the Pin Hole

Mal felt herself shaken awake. Opening her eyes, she glared at Tu, who stood over her.

Man, he thought, she's got that good look in her eyes down.

She whipped up, any sluggishness she would have eradicated by her red lantern warrior training.

"What's the sitch?" She sighed.

What would happen if she couldn't use her hands, Tu wondered. But they didn't have time for that.

"Pin hole. Zeta quadrant. A pleasure ship is caught in its filed of gravity--"

"Zeta Prime. Hate pleasure ships--rich people waste. What did the Interceptor crew do last time?" Mal signed.

Zeta Prime? Was that from the fandom Mal liked? Transformers? NOT THE TIME TOMAR-TU.

It was a very good thing there wasn't a telepath on the ship or his jumbled thoughts would be giving them a large headache.

Laveria came barreling into Mal's room, stopping as she took in the clutter of the human's room.

Lego sets, transformers toys, video games, comics....

She stared into Mal's eyes. "You and Quin are very odd red lanterns. Get to the bridge."

"I think she just complimented me." Mal signed. Then she flew ahead. "Hey, I give the orders on this ship."

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"I mean, Quin is a peppy blood-thirsty murder. And she's a nerd who murdered her dad." Laveria was speaking to Niuq as Tu and Mal entered the bridge.

"And proud of it." Mal said as she sat in the captain's chair.

They were just outside the pin hole's range of gravity. The spiraling vortex glowed like an inverse volcano, and the large spaceship was a town being sucked into it.

A voice rang out through the comms. "Please help. We are a civilian vessel. We have children and family aboard--"

"Yeah, yeah we know. Hold your horse, we're coming." Mal said, then shut off the comms.

She wasn't one to give comforting words.

"So I assume we just repeat the interceptor crew?" Mal asked, as if waiting for a consensus.

"Not very original." Laveria muttered, but nodded.

Nuiq agreed with a sneer. Personally, the blue lantern unnerved Tu.

"Okay then," Mal signed. "Let--"

She stopped. They all turned to see that the girl was frozen, eyes empty, but somehow reflective, making it look like they contained pin-holes of their own.

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"Mal of earth." The voice echoed through her mind.

"Oh great, a telepath." Mal groaned. Actually groaned. She could speak, in this landscape of her mind, with her voice. "Should dig deeper mind reader. You'll find I don't file Earth under my list of residence."

"You were born of it, and you will soon return to it."

Mal snorted. Return? She couldn't even think of trying without breaking out into a cold sweat. She'd tried before, but her panic attacks always caused Mal and Bleez to call of visits to the tiny blue dot.

Saved by crippling trauma.

"We do not have time for this." The voice said, though it sounded more like it was chastising itself.

"Hey, you must be pretty tough get in this steel-trap and not have your brain explode." Mal joked.

"You are taking your mind being invade far too well."