Dark Fall

Chapter 2 - Atonement

Standing in an empty hallway, Terra gazed at the door latch before her. Twice she reached for it but pulled back. Resigning to the inevitable, she grasped it.

This is where the feces contact with the rotating air mover.

The open door revealed a stark white room with another door in the back, presumably the location of her scolding. Afraid to break the silence of this place, Terra tip-toed to a plain desk beside the inner door. A woman seated there stared down intently at a tablet viewer propped before her.

The woman's stylish black dress, immaculate blond hair, and artful makeup contrasted sharply with Terra's casual attire, consisting of a wrinkled gray tank-top and black leggings. Having overslept, Terra barely had enough time to throw on some clothes and tie her frazzled long hair into a ponytail. At one time, this might have bothered her.

After a moment of awkward silence, the woman glanced up to Terra, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow as if wordlessly asking 'what?'

"Agent Terra Lorr to see Walt."

The woman casually pointed toward two empty wooden chairs along the wall and then looked back down at her tablet viewer.

Well, that was friendly. Where does Walt find such sociable assistants?

Terra sat on one chair, found it uncomfortable, then moved to the other. Equally uncomfortable, she slumped down, splaying her legs out. Her eyes flitted around the room but found nothing that might distract her from the queasy feeling in her stomach nor calm her fingers drumming on the chair arm.

Not even a tacky propaganda pamphlet exalting the virtues of our Blue Uprising and the evils of the Sage Dynasty.

She moved her fingers to the silver and gold half-heart pendant that hung from a gold necklace. Anna had one also, but a mirror image, gifts to each other years ago to symbolize their friendship. Terra's eyes moistened and a persistent grief darkened her heart as she stroked the jewelry.

If only Anna were still here.

The continued wait gave Terra a chance to go over once more in her mind the events that led her to this point. At least her story should be consistent with her report.

Terra snapped out of her thoughts as the door at the back of the room swung open, shuddering as it banged against the doorstop. Out stomped an older bald man with a sour scowl on his face, who Terra recognized him as one of the Blue Uprising Governors, and definitely not one to give her a glowing performance evaluation. Hissing, his eyes shot a menacing glare at her, to which she responded with a small wave and sweet smile that dripped with sarcasm. His scowl deepened, and he clomped out through the outer door, slamming it shut hard enough that even the disinterested administrative assistant at the back of the room jumped.

I probably shouldn't have done that.

"Lorr!", a male voice shouted from the back office.

Ah, Walt summons me to my beating.

Terra ambled in and plopped down in a padded chair in front of the desk. Laying flat on the otherwise empty desktop, a tablet viewer displayed her report of the errant mission. Walt, a stocky man with messy balding hair, let out an exasperated groan and rubbed his forehead. Obviously, she had been the subject of a heated discussion between him and the foul-tempered governor.

"So, Walt, how have things been going?" Terra said.

Ignoring her question, Walt glared at her. "Terra, why do you do these things to me? I've been your supervisor for a long time and we've worked well together, haven't we? The mission directives were clear, weren't they? I usually let you get away with bending them a bit, but this time you threw them out. You could have made contact before going rogue."