Natsuki
By J. L. Young

We have been cut off from the rest of the system. Long have we been scrutinized from afar. Like worms under a magnifying glass. I think that’s the idiom. Maybe it’s bugs. No matter. We have no idea about the capabilities of their sensors and how deep they can penetrate, but they know we have dug deep into the crust of this isolated moon. To our knowledge, our newly built ships will form a blockade around our moon and remain vigilant until we build our capital ships to defend us from the onslaught to come.

Or have they forgotten about us? It has been nearly two decades Universal System Time, since the bombardment that killed thousands of our people. Shall we venture out? That question has plagued the minds of many since the bombs stopped falling.

A young woman on the morning of her adulthood scooted back her stool to relish the completion of a project that has taken the majority of her teenage years. She took a breath before bounding from the stool and entering an adjacent room. There, her father sat in an overstuffed chair, asleep while the vid player played.

“Dad,” she did her best to attenuate her excitement.

His eyes opened and rotated toward her. “What is it, Natsuki?”

“It’s done! It’s ready to be fired up!”

He sat skeptically. “You’re serious.”

She nodded her head emphatically. She assisted him out of the chair and he followed her out to the project. Natsuki proceeded to pull back the old tarp, revealing an old space fighter and climbed into the cockpit.

“Don’t fire that up, it may bring them back.”

“Relax dad, I took the old transceiver and transponder out long ago. And the thruster is one of ours.”

“I’m still not convinced it’s safe.”

She tapped the hull. “I figured out what the material on the hull is.”

“What?” he asked.

“It reduces the radar cross-section and deflects ladar.”

“The council’s not going to let you test it. It’s too dangerous. It’ll bring them back. We’ve lost too many of us. I have learned to enjoy the quiet, all the while knowing it may not last.”

“We’ve put thousands of ships in orbit and nary a peep from the infamous they. And none of those relics are half as capable as this one.”

“How do you know it’s capable of even flying, escaping Eileithyia’s gravity well, supporting your life while doing it all?”

“I have done the tests. The simulations….”

“The simulations! You haven’t run a real test.”

“That’s why I need the council’s approval. You can get me an audience with them.”

He looked away from her large glistening eyes. “I have voiced my displeasure with this, Natsuki. But I know determination when I see it. I wish you would have put it to use somewhere else.” He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. “I’ll get you an audience with the council. You are as manipulative as your mother.”