Here is another installment in the Tales of the Solar Storm, courtesy of my beautiful and loving wife who enjoys contributing short stories to my Writer's Corner. Like the previous story, this one was written for a monthly challenge. I'm leaving you to guess what the topic was.
In this one you will get a glimpse at some of the magical super soldiers that make up the core of the Solar Storm forces while they're still in training and up to some mischief. Their target is the one and only hickish space rogue, Tune.
“Shh! Here he comes!” Tucker held up a finger over the front of his helmet as he gestured for his teammates to be quiet. Behind the darkened glass visor, his teal-green eyes sparkled with excitement.
“It’s not like he can hear us with our speakers off,” commented Caroline dryly.
Sykes shifted in discomfort besides Tucker. “Don’t underestimate Tune. He’s scary with what he picks up.” He shot a disdainful, yet unseen glare towards Tucker as he continued,
“Why did the delinquent pick this guy to play a prank on?”
“Because he’s the least likely to get us in trouble,” snapped Conner. “Now hush.”
The four stilled their movement in a smaller side hall as their target, a weatherworn human hybrid known as Tune, approached his room door. A broach on his leather shoulder guard designated him as being a part of the leadership team under the commander of the base.
He paused for a long moment and rubbed his hands together before punching in the key to his room door, grumbling under his breath about cold fingers. The sleek door slid open with a slight hissing noise.
The four watched the ghostly outline playing across the inside of their visors indicating Tune’s movement as he disappeared into his room. A few seconds later, Connor disabled the team’s wall-pierce tracking and sent the signal for listening mode only.
They listened in tense silence as Tune slowly got ready for bed. Tucker grumbled under his breath while the minutes marched by. Caroline shifted her stance slightly to keep her muscles at the ready. Still the minutes slipped into an hour before the long awaited sound reached their ears through the microphones of their helmets. A nearly inaudible popping noise followed by a loud yelp and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Tune’s cursing was loud enough to hear without the amplification.
Connor gave the signal and Caroline slid a basket full of dry sheets and blanket down in front of the door. The team backed down the side hallway, scattering in different directions as Tune bolted out of his room, half dressed. His foot hit the basket before he noticed it was there and he went down, dumping the contents out onto the tile floor.
“Damn it!” Tune cursed again as he rolled off of the sheets and basket. He scooped them up and darted back into the room.
“Well..” gasped Caroline over the team’s frequency. “That was well worth the effort!”
Connor laughed. “Yeah, we can tell the tech team that their little invention works.”
“See? I knew this would be awesome!” Tucker rubbed his hands together gleefully as he slipped towards the bunk he shared with Sykes. “One pile of snow … Delivered! HAH!”
“I still think it was a bad idea,” grumbled Sykes.
Stay tuned for more great stories in the coming month and maybe a further glimpse at the magical races on the world of Terebethia as well!
Enjoy and read on!
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