The Final Showdown - The Moon Trilogy - Book 3

Chapter thirty-one:

   Clarity was gone. Rachel felt her heart skip a beat. She whirled around and searched the whole rooftop, but the younger girl was nowhere to be seen. The spaceship, zipping away in the sky, made the faintest whining buzz as it ascended. Within seconds, it was out of sight, and with it—Rachel suspected—was Clarity.

   Gone. Once again, Clarity's absence was a hole in the team. What was she thinking, trying to be a hero?! Didn't she realize that they had more strength in numbers than they ever did alone? Why on earth hadn't she taken at least one other teammate with her?

   Rachel stopped and forced herself to calm down, reasoning with herself and taking deep breaths. She couldn't freak out every single time Clarity got herself into a pickle.

   She'll get Johnathan and the two of them will be back in no more than a few minutes. She'll be fine, and we'll all go on a nice big Eric-hunt when they get back to finish off the day. Simple, easy, nothing to worry about.

   She couldn't shake the feeling that the thoughts were nothing but lies, no matter how many times she tried to convince herself. The rest of the team was only now realizing that Clarity had disappeared along with the spaceship. Two teammates missing. Bad.

   "Scarlett, do you think you can catch up?" Alex asked, though there wasn't even a speck of conviction in his voice.

   "They're probably long gone, judging by how fast they were when they were still within range of earth's gravity. So, suffice it to say: Definitely not." Scarlett was gazing up at the blue expanse, decidedly empty of any space craft.

   "So there's nothing we can do?" He persisted.

   "Not that I can think of. Sam?" Scarlett peered over at Sam.

   "I know it sounds cliché, but they probably have some sort of warp drive. Even if we had any ideas, chances are they're too far gone anyway. And on an unknown route, too." Sam shrugged helplessly. "It's up to Clarity, now."

   "Don't tell her I said this, but that doesn't fill me with much confidence." Scarlett sounded just slightly sick.

   "At least they took care of our alien infestation. No offense, Rachel." Sam gestured to the center of the roof, where their alien guests had been a moment before.

   "None taken." She grunted. She hadn't even realized they'd taken the aliens along with Johnny and Clarity. Those guys were obviously professionals and that didn't bode well for Clarity's chances.

   "So, if there's nothing we can do, then we should get back to work. Eric is still out there, no matter how many teammates are missing." Scarlett's vague sickness had fled, and a business-like tone had replaced it.

   "Do we even know where to look?" Sam countered. "We can't just run around anymore. Who knows what Eric has planned?"

   "Ellie said she'd contact us..." Alex trailed off, clearly not too enthusiastic about getting any help from Ellie. Rachel couldn't agree more.

   "She hasn't said anything, yet, and it's been days. We have to come up with a plan by ourselves." Rachel sighed. Her mind kept straying back to Clarity. She could have—should have been back by now. Is she okay? Did she fail?

   "We have nothing. Unless someone thought of something brilliant since our last talk." Alex was apparently more supportive of Ellie than she'd thought.

   "So how do we contact her?" Scarlett asked. "It's not like she gave us a phone number."

   "The TV." Rachel murmured, suddenly recalling all at once what had happened with Ellie.