The Far Side of the Moon

Chapter seven.

The shuttle's engines roar to life, and we slowly, slowly, ever so slowly begin rising in the air. I press my forehead and palms flat against the windows, watching the station below. Cadmus is in the spaceport windows, his hand pressed flat against the glass, watching the shuttle leave.

I hate myself for wishing he was beside me, where Finn sits. Finn's been with me through so much, done so much for me. But Cadmus...it's ingrained in my DNA to love him unconditionally.

Finn taps my arm, and I turn to look at him holding up two movies. One is a romance film, set in the days humans didn't have soulmates, while the other is a thriller based on the colonization of Pluto. Pluto's famous for its "shadowy figures," and is said to be haunted. I don't believe that to be true, since there haven't even been enough people on Pluto to allow for death.

I point to the thriller (I can't think of romance right now) and turn back to the window. And scream. Well, I scream as much as I can with my vocal cords messed up. It sounds more like I'm being strangled.

Cadmus is lying on the floor where he'd been standing only seconds before, clutching his arm where blood is pooling beside him. He's staring at someone behind him, someone I can't see.

And the shuttle is still rising slowly, away, and would soon be shooting away from Europa, towards Mars, and then I would be far away from him and completely unable to help.

A flight attendant who heard my strangled scream appears. Finn is staring out the window beside me much too calmly. His face is blank, though I swear I see a muscle twitch.

"Miss, what's wrong?" The attendant asks, her brows bunched up. I point furiously out the window, and she gasps, running away and down the aisle.

"Pilot! Call the Uniforms!" She calls, running towards the cockpit. A door opens and closes, and there's some yelling. The shuttle, crammed full of refugees fleeing the dangers of Europa, is silent, the only noise a baby's cheery babbling.

The shuttle changes course, slowly drifting to the ground. I press myself against the window. Cadmus is bleeding so much, and the closer we get the worse it looks. Cadmus...

Men and women clad in dark blue appear in the glass, and Cadmus is dragged out of sight. The flight attendant appears again.

"Miss, do you know that man?" She asks.

I nod. "Soulmate." I whisper, my voice scratchy. Her eyes widen a tiny bit.

"Come with me." She motions for me to step into the aisle. But Finn suddenly intervenes.

"No, wait." He says smoothly. Too quickly. "I'll go. She can't speak. She's hurt."

The attendant looks at me. "Miss?"

I shake my head. Finn frowns...something's off about him. Something's been off since I introduced him to Cadmus, since he found out we were mates...

"Can I come, at least?" Finn asks. I shake my head.

"Only a few minutes." I whisper. I step over him, following the attendant out of the shuttle. Murmurs of the people on the shuttle follow me out.

Everything's silent. Or maybe I just can't hear anything over the buzzing in my ears. It feels like my chest is caving in on itself. I can't have lost him. I can't.

The attendant and I reach an empty terminal, the floor streaked with blood. My fingers grip the edge of my skirt, and I bite my lip.

"I'll find him." I tell the woman, my voice raspy. She frowns at me. "I can follow the blood."