Transforming Doom

Chapter Four: First Introductions

After my conversation with the stranger, I went over to where Will was standing and took his arm. Will looked down at me in surprise. "Oh, hey. You were zoning out over there...Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I was just thinking...I still need to meet all the crew members. So far I've only met you and Zeke. And I know there are still a bunch of people that I still have to meet. Would you like to come with me?"

Will looked at me in hesitation. "As long as you don't zone out on me as you did a minute ago. I don't want to be stuck carrying the conversation.

"Oh please," I nudged him with my shoulder. "You and I both know that you can carry a conversation perfectly well without me. You just pretend you can't, so you can listen to me talk all the time."

He looked like he was trying not to smile. "Well, I would try to deny it but I think your ego could use a little boosting."

"Then thank you, from my small ego to your ginormous one," I said poking his head. "Now, let's go greet the masses."

Will reluctantly let me drag him across the room to a small cluster of people that looked about our age.

I turned to look at Will. "I say we divide and conquer, we can meet more people that way."

He nodded. "Sounds good to me."

I was taking in the people around me trying to decide who to approach first when I noticed two girls standing off to the left of the drink table who looked remarkably similar. I made my way over to them, trying not to trip on my dress. As I got closer, I could hear what sounded like an argument. I hesitated. I wasn't sure I wanted to get in the middle of whatever that was, but as I came closer, the girl with the shorter hair noticed me and nudged her friend. The other girl looked at me and nodded in acknowledgment.

I smiled hesitantly. "Hi, I just came over to introduce myself. I'm Luna James."

The girl with cropped strawberry blonde hair smiled back. "I'm Dusk and this is my twin, Dawn. We're honored to be a part of Mission Falcon with you as our Captain."

My interest piqued, I asked "Twins? I had heard a rumor there would be twins on my team. What are your positions?"

Dawn spoke. "I'm your Chief War Officer. I graduated top of my class in weaponry and warfare." She pointed to her sister. "Dusk is your Chief Science Officer, and she's the best there is. She would never admit that of course, but you couldn't have anyone more knowledgeable in that field on your team."

"I believe you. I'm glad to have both of you on my crew. This mission is going to take everything we've got so it is crucial that we have the best of the best. Have you both had a chance to meet the others?" I glanced between the two.

Dusk nodded. "Yes, we've both met Alice the Medical Officer and Franklin the Historical Officer. We haven't met the Pilot or the Communications Officer, and then there are the many other crew members who will be assisting each of the Officers in their field during the mission."

I frowned. "Pilot? I haven't heard anything about there being a Pilot? I thought that was part of my responsibilities as Captain."

Dawn rolled her eyes in a frustrated manner. "I keep saying that the communication around here sucks. It figures that they haven't mentioned anything to the team as a whole." She turned her eyes to me. "The Commander wanted someone else as the Pilot. Apparently this guy got perfect marks in all of the training and trial runs. Our cousin assists with the test trials and he said that the guy's a natural-born Pilot, almost like he's been doing it for decades. " She shrugged. "He's not supposed to get here for a while though. From what I've heard he's going through extra training on top of our other team-building exercises."