back, her boss had relocated the shop to a different section of town. The new building was situated next to a waste management facility. Holly hadn’t thought much about it until one night when she’d been asked to stay late to help fill a large order that had needed to go out the following morning.
She and another florist had worked well past close. Noticing her colleague looked tired, Holly had offered to stay and finish up. By the time she’d finished, it was pitch black outside. In this area of the neighborhood there weren’t many heliolamps illuminating the streets, which she’d found odd. Until she’d made a strange discovery.
As she was heading out from work that night, she saw a strange glow coming from the building next to Green Thumbs. It wasn’t odd for that type of business to run twenty-four hours a day, but that iridescent, greenish light radiating from the windows didn’t seem right.
Though she tried to ignore its beckoning sheen as she made her way to her hovercar, curiosity had gotten the better of her. She’d been told she was nosy, and Holly feared that assessment was correct. Turning away from her vehicle, Holly made her way toward the waste management center.
Careful not to be seen in case someone came out of the building, she lurked in the shadows, making sure it was safe to get closer. Finally when she was sure no one was coming, she found a window to peek through. Her gaze was pulled toward the source of her wonder.
There was lots of machinery as she’d expected to see, but something seemed strange about it. Instead of machinery for recycling garbage or purifying water, there was a large space craft in what looked like the center of a landing pad. The weird illumination was coming from the boosters.
A group of Cyrellians, at least fifty by her estimation, were loading the ship with boxes of material. She couldn’t quite make out what they were carrying, but where
8
were the humans? As she stood there trying to figure out what was going on, one of the aliens looked in her direction.
Holly had quickly ducked, hoping she wouldn’t be spotted. Then she raced away from the building, not stopping until she was in the confines of her hovercar. From that moment on, she realized something weird was going on. She began making inquires about the plant, but no one seemed to know much about it beyond it being a place where their recycled products and garbage were sent. Stranger still, Holly didn’t know of any human working there. It had never occurred to her before because she had no reason to think about it.
Her uneasiness with the entire situation only increased, until one night she decided to hang around the shop and wait for nightfall. Again, Holly saw that greenish glow. This time, she chose a different location to spy from. In this area, Cyrellian workers were packing boxes, the same kind she’d seen them loading onto the ship.
They were filling them with gold, silver, coal, quartz, copper, other minerals, and ore.
But why?
For what reason could they be taking the land’s resources and loading them on a ship to goodness knows where? Holly remained where she was for a few hours, watching them pack the material. Occasionally a large truck would come and dump more items into a pile where they were immediately sorted.
Once the items were put in the boxes, they were labeled then taken to another section -- where the ship was to be loaded. She knew she’d have to somehow get inside the building to find out exactly what was going on.
The next day, during her lunch break, she walked over to the waste management center on the ruse of looking for employment. She got no further than the front desk where she was immediately turned away by the seemingly friendly, but unbending Cyrellian receptionist. Holly then asked for a tour on the inside and was promptly told unauthorized personnel were not allowed beyond the front desk. It served to fuel her suspicion.
9
Around that
She and another florist had worked well past close. Noticing her colleague looked tired, Holly had offered to stay and finish up. By the time she’d finished, it was pitch black outside. In this area of the neighborhood there weren’t many heliolamps illuminating the streets, which she’d found odd. Until she’d made a strange discovery.
As she was heading out from work that night, she saw a strange glow coming from the building next to Green Thumbs. It wasn’t odd for that type of business to run twenty-four hours a day, but that iridescent, greenish light radiating from the windows didn’t seem right.
Though she tried to ignore its beckoning sheen as she made her way to her hovercar, curiosity had gotten the better of her. She’d been told she was nosy, and Holly feared that assessment was correct. Turning away from her vehicle, Holly made her way toward the waste management center.
Careful not to be seen in case someone came out of the building, she lurked in the shadows, making sure it was safe to get closer. Finally when she was sure no one was coming, she found a window to peek through. Her gaze was pulled toward the source of her wonder.
There was lots of machinery as she’d expected to see, but something seemed strange about it. Instead of machinery for recycling garbage or purifying water, there was a large space craft in what looked like the center of a landing pad. The weird illumination was coming from the boosters.
A group of Cyrellians, at least fifty by her estimation, were loading the ship with boxes of material. She couldn’t quite make out what they were carrying, but where
8
were the humans? As she stood there trying to figure out what was going on, one of the aliens looked in her direction.
Holly had quickly ducked, hoping she wouldn’t be spotted. Then she raced away from the building, not stopping until she was in the confines of her hovercar. From that moment on, she realized something weird was going on. She began making inquires about the plant, but no one seemed to know much about it beyond it being a place where their recycled products and garbage were sent. Stranger still, Holly didn’t know of any human working there. It had never occurred to her before because she had no reason to think about it.
Her uneasiness with the entire situation only increased, until one night she decided to hang around the shop and wait for nightfall. Again, Holly saw that greenish glow. This time, she chose a different location to spy from. In this area, Cyrellian workers were packing boxes, the same kind she’d seen them loading onto the ship.
They were filling them with gold, silver, coal, quartz, copper, other minerals, and ore.
But why?
For what reason could they be taking the land’s resources and loading them on a ship to goodness knows where? Holly remained where she was for a few hours, watching them pack the material. Occasionally a large truck would come and dump more items into a pile where they were immediately sorted.
Once the items were put in the boxes, they were labeled then taken to another section -- where the ship was to be loaded. She knew she’d have to somehow get inside the building to find out exactly what was going on.
The next day, during her lunch break, she walked over to the waste management center on the ruse of looking for employment. She got no further than the front desk where she was immediately turned away by the seemingly friendly, but unbending Cyrellian receptionist. Holly then asked for a tour on the inside and was promptly told unauthorized personnel were not allowed beyond the front desk. It served to fuel her suspicion.
9
Around that
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