Moonflower- A Lunar Chronicles Fanfiction

Chapter 24

The ships split again when they came into range of Luna. Cynthia had joined her father, the Thornes, and Professor Dianem on the Rampion. Kinney took the controls of the Spindle to lead the group toward Luna, and Thorne was under strict orders to follow close behind. They approached the dark side of Luna where the very farthest parts of the Artemisia dome reached. It was hard to make out the port, especially since the Spindle was leading, and Cynthia wondered what kind of contact Kinney might have that is so loyal that they would let a foreign delegation in when the entire moon was on lockdown.
"Aces, what is that?" Exclaimed Thorne from the captains seat. Cynthia looked to see what he was staring at, and it made her wonder too. A cluster of unidentifiable objects was floating toward them. As they got closer Cynthia could make out a few of them. A crushed juice carton, a crumpled piece of paper, and a pencil snapped in half floated past the ship.
They kept going and the clumps of trash became thicker, bouncing lightly off the ship. Suddenly the plan dawned of her, they were headed to the garbage disposal site.
Huge metal airlock door came into view past over the top of the spindle. They appeared to be locked tight, and it struck the princess as very odd when Kinney's voice echoed in the cabin.
"We're speeding up," he called gruffly, and Cynthia watched as the Spindle's thrusters fired up more and the rampion began to fall behind. The doors remained closed.
The captain muttered something under his breath about Kinney that earned a sharp glare from Cress, but they began to speed up. The doors were growing larger and larger, but the doors were still not opening. The Spindle was now streaking toward the moon and what Cynthia thought was utter destruction, the Rampion close behind.
"What is going on" demanded her father, clutching the arms of his chair so tightly his fingers were turning white. "We're going to hit those doors!"
"Kinney...?" Said Cress into her mouthpiece as the ships picked up even more speed.
"Just trust me, this will work," he huffed, clearly annoyed at them for disrupting his concentration.
The doors were now just ten ship lengths away, then five, then three...
Professor Dianem covered his eyes, and Thorne made to do the same before Cress shoved him and he grabbed the controls once again. Cynthia braced herself and
Just moments before the Spindle in front of him would have hit the metal doors with a sickening crunch they sprang open wide and the two ships zoomed through.
"Slow up! Slow up!" Yelled Kinney over the speakers and Thorne yanked back on his controls. The Rampion slowed to a halt just inches before another metal door, hovering above the ground. The Spindle was several feet behind them, setting down its landing gear. The door they had just entered through snapped shut with a loud CLANG.
The emperor let out a long sigh of relief as the Rampion landed. While they waited for further instructions from Kinney Cynthia looked around the room.
The first most notable feature was that it was giant, probably large enough to fit three of her palaces in length, width and height. The second was the trash. There were piles of it, much of it was in bags but it seemed from the clumps of trash they had seem on their way in that the bags were escapable. She knew, of course, that Luna had trash disposal sites, but she had never dreamed of the amount of trash that was in this room. The closed domes didn't allow for any trash burning, and they couldn't dig landfills on the already crowded surface. This made sense, but it still amazed her.
"We're headed out. Follow me," came Kinney's voice over the speaker before cutting out. Cynthia, her father, the Thornes, and Professor Dianem all climbed out of their seats and down the Rampion's ramp. Kinney was walking toward them as they reached the bottom. He had his finger raised to his mouth in a hushing motion, then waved for them to follow toward a small door next to the large iron one. It seemed that no one else was in the trash hold.
Cynthia did her best not to breath in, but the smell penetrated her nostrils whether she did or not. She did not complain even a little when Kinney went from a brisk walk to a jog. The sooner they got out of there, the better.
The old Lunar war heroes and their children fell in line behind the guard. Kinney reached out and yanked open the door, and Cynthia had to admit she didn't expect it to. Still, they climbed through and into a small room covered in screens showing all aspects of the giant room they had left behind, except one thing. Their ships did not appear.
"I swapped today's footage with one from last week, in case someone is watching up at the palace," came a deep voice behind him.
Cynthia stifled a gasp, and she saw Scarlet pull out a gun from her holster. They all whipped around to see who was behind them, ready to bolt at any minute. Everyone that is, except Kinney. Instead he did something very rare, he smiled.
"Avery, good to see you." He exclaimed clapping the newcomer on the back. He was a very large, very strong looking man, but his face was light, almost mocking. "Thanks for letting us in, but I'm sure you know this crew. They can't help but save the world."
The guard nodded at the bunch appreciatively. "We can't have a thaumaturge ruling us again here on Luna. Shells like me would be put back in those tanks." His eyes flickered with something the princess thought might be a terrible memory, but he quickly shook it away.
"You'd better get going. I think Nyx is expecting you. She's made me promise to only let the gate lift every two hours. Me, specifically if you can believe it. She's bound to figure out that your ships are here soon. If you go that way," he said pointing down the hall, "You should get to the collection tunnels. You'll know which one is Artemisia palace when you see it. Good luck."
Then Kinney once again took the lead and led them down the way Avery had pointed. Cynthia waited behind quietly letting the others go ahead of her.
"Have there been any other broadcasts of my mother?" She asked Kinney's friend. She had to know if her mother was any better.
Avery's face drooped. "Yes, Princess Cynthia isn't it?" She nodded. "They sat her up there on that throne and she spoke in a single tone slumped against it like a rag doll telling us... well, telling us that they have declared war on Earth again. They looked like they were trying to get her to say something else, but she kept shaking her head. Then she called out for the emperor before they could cut out."
Cynthia lowered her eyes. What were they doing to her up there in the palace?
"I'm really sorry your highness," said Avery.
"No," she said, surprising herself when her voice came out clear and dangerously controlled. She may have imagined it, but she felt something sparking between her fingers. "They'll be sorry."