Nebula's Music by Aubrie Dionne Page A

and Kale, now only a few feathers floated where he’d last been standing. The bird was flat on his back with a fiery hole in his belly.
    The lasers had caught the attention of the other guards. The Gryphonites flew toward the ridge and Nebula hoped Radian and Kale could hold them back. One by one, the birdmen were struck and fell to the cavern floor, landing on the conveyor belts like fallen angels. The Gryphonites wouldn’t sacrifice one pair of hands if they thought they could capture any prisoners alive. Their mines needed all the slaves they could get.
    Nebula continued to free worker after worker. The freed slaves tore the Gryphonites’ keys from their dead bodies and ran around her, freeing others in a chain effect rippling through the cavern like dominos. The zombies wandered confused, creating more of a scene.
    She saw a clear path to Mora. Her long-lost sister was trying to yank her hand through the shackle chaining her to the wheelbarrow. Nebula ran and called out her name, her voice heightened by mini speakers in her throat. “Mora, over here!”
    Mora looked up, bewildered, and her face changed from shock to recognition. Nebula closed the distance and caught her in her arms. Mora’s thinning blond curls fell onto Nebula’s hair, co-mingling like halves of the same person. Her tears landed on Nebula’s shoulders. Nebula held her close as her sister sobbed.
    It was long moments before Mora spoke. “Mirilee, you came to save me.”
    The mention of the name sent a shockwave through Nebula’s system. Nebula hadn’t thought of the fact Mora had no knowledge of her sister’s death. Now was not the time to tell her either. Instead, she started fidgeting with the shackles, setting her free. “Do you have enough strength to run?”
    Mora’s voice was tinged with sadness. “I’ll try. I haven’t run in years.”
    Nebula smoothed Mora’s hair. “How do you feel?”
    Her sister’s eyes lolled. The pupils were dilated and the whites striped with broken blood vessels. “The nothingness seems greater everyday, luring my thoughts into oblivion.” Her words trailed off and she looked away as if she were lost or blind. Nebula wondered if her sister saw something far beyond the cavern walls or if she saw nothing at all. Either way, she didn’t like the sound of Mora’s words.
    “If you fall, I can carry you.” As if she could take it all away, Nebula ripped a piece of fabric from her UPA uniform and wiped some of the blue off her sister’s arms. The substance, toxic to humans, would be as potent as dust on her skin.
    “You can’t carry me. You’re smaller than I am.”
    Nebula didn’t explain. “Come on.” She took Mora’s hand and they made their way back to the ridge where Radian and Kale had been blasting Gryphonites like no tomorrow. Bodies piled on the floor underneath their ledge.
    Nebula reached the ground below Radian and Kale’s sniper position just as the Gryphonites managed to land around the ledge. It was like a hornet’s nest, smothered by winged bodies. Nebula fired at their feathered backs and they dropped to the ground. “Radian? Kale?” There was no movement, only darkness and stone.
    Her heart flipped in her chest when no one answered. Was she too late? Had she found Mora only to lose Radian? She felt every circuit in her body freeze and the chaotic scene raging around her seemed to swallow her whole. Her sense of purpose wavered. Was it all hopeless?
    Mora tugged on her arm. “Look, up there.”
    Nebula saw a blast go through the dirt wall of the cavern. Then she saw the butts of the lasers pushing through the soil. They must have retreated back into the tunnel before the cavern closed in. Thank goodness they found the bend taking them close to the room itself. When the men broke through, Nebula and Mora were there to greet them.
    “Radian, it is you!” Mora ran to him in ragged steps and he caught her just before she fell, hugging her. “I knew you and Mirilee would come for