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Chapter 2: Double Impact.

    She was sitting in front of the bay window of her room, in a small egg-shaped chair. The snow was falling in large flakes that day. Mei was unconsciously looking at it, falling like a white waterfall in front of her window. She was wondering what it was that had affected her so much the past couple of days.

The rush of victory ? The crash of Genesis ? The stress of the matches ? Her future at stake ?

The fear and anger in Thran's eyes...

There was a knock on the door. Mei sat upright, dispelling the concern in her eyes as she pressed the switch near her chair to open the door. D'Jok appeared on the threshold, but she didn't even give him sideways glance….

- "How are you Mei? We didn't see you much these days..."

- "I'm thinking…"

- " 'bout what ?" her boyfriend resumed, approaching. "Don't you want to talk with me ?" He added with a smile.

Mei slowly turned her seat around until she faces him…

- "It's a bit complicated ... I'm not feeling very well here right now. I haven't felt well since the Cup to be honest....." She added, toying with her hair while as she thought, trying to hide a brief stab of guilt.

D'Jok sat on her bed.

- "Sorry about the other day, I didn't think you were really serious ..."

- "That's the problem. " His girlfriend said. "I feel like I'm the only one who needs a break right now, but everyone else wants to give it their all... Because of that I don't dare saying too much about going on a break in front of the others..."

- "I don't think Aarch will like this ..." D'Jok sighed, scratching his neck. "And I don't think I will either…" He added, pouting a little.

Mei sat on his lap and hugged him.

- "I just need to patch myself up a bit. I won't give you up. I won't let you down..."

- "You bet ! Otherwise I'm gonna get me some pirates to come after you, even it means I have to face your mother!"

- "Stop badmouthing my parents! They're not as bad as you think! "

Silence was restored for a moment.

- "Mei ?"

- "Yes ?"

- "You won't stop football eh ? You will come back right? "

- "... Let's just say that I have some choices to make, and I'll have to prioritize…other things..."

A second knock on the door indicated another visitor had come.

- "Hi !" Shouted Micro-Ice, appearing at the entrance." Oops ... sorry to bother you ... I just came to see how our princess was doing"

- "It's okay." Mei said, standing up. "I was going to join you guys anyway." She added with a smile.

The three players left the room and walked quietly through the hallway towards the common room.

"By the way..." Mei asked hesitantly. "Do you have any news on Ahito? "

Micro-Ice lost for a moment the childish spark which usually shone in his blue eyes.

- "Let's just say that Thran didn't come out of his room much either..." D'Jok replied.

- "So I think we're also gonna have to worry about the 'big bro' here !" Added Micro-Ice with a smile in a vain attempt to comfort Mei.

Mei did not press the issue any further. Before arriving in the last corridor leading to the common room, she stood still and observed the elevator which ascended to the office of their coach. D'Jok stood beside her.

- "Do you want me to go with you? " He asked.

Mei did not blink at all at that question but kept her gaze fixed. He knew that expression.

- "Thank you D'Jok, but I prefer to go alone. I will join you later. "

- "As you wish ... good luck Mei. "

- "Good luck ?"  Shouted Micro-Ice, surprised. "Good luck doing what? "

The three Snowkids parted at the corner of the hallway as the tall defender took the elevator, stepping inside with less confidence than her posture might let on otherwise.

    The common room was already occupied by Mark, absorbed by some program on the holo-TV, Rocket and Tia who were talking about an upcoming rendezvous, and Yuki, who was listening to a song with her headphones, looking pensive. Micro-Ice and D'Jok quietly entered.

- "So, what's going on with Mei ?" Micro-ice said, attracting the attention of everyone in the room except for Yuki.

D'Jok left himself fall on the sofa with a sigh.

- "She wants to take a break ..." He said.

- "A break ?" Micro-Ice repeated. "Does it mean she will leave… ? " He added meekly.

- "Quiet you guys! " Mark shouted while turning up the sound of the holo-TV.

A special edition of the afternoon news was broadcasted.

- "Good evening, and welcome back to our special broadcast on the crisis shaking the Koran's station at the north of Mebaï. In case you just tuned in, a few minutes ago a major explosion occurred on the surface of the second major moon orbiting Akillian. The number of serious injuries is an estimated one hundred amongst the miners and is expected to rise. The total number of casualties is unknown as of yet. As to the cause of the accident, experts say they have no explanation as of yet…"

Despite the horrible announcement from the broadcast, the room was unusually silent for a moment.

- "My parents are there…. " Mark said, that one sentence betraying the turmoil of emotions inside his chest.

His cellphone rang at that very moment.  He answered the call, relieved at the appearance of his mother face.

- "Mom..." He sighed. "I just saw what happened on the holo-TV..."

- "Don't worry honey, we're okay..."

She was barely audible above the noise of rescue teams and sirens filling the air.

"Your father has a broken leg and some additional minor injuries, but otherwise nothing serious, don't worry ..."

Mark did not answer immediately, knowing from the way his mother talked that that wasn't all she had to say.

"But ... our house ... our neighborhood ... everything is completely destroyed ..." She said, tears welling up in her eyes as her voice cracked. "It was so horrible ..." She continued, now crying without restraint.

- "I'm coming!" Mark shouted determinedly.

- "No ! You stay where you are. Your friends need you... "His mother replied.

- "You need me." The young Snowkid countered. "I'm coming as fast as possible. Take care of yourself in the meantime."

Mark ended the phone call and let himself fall on the sofa, obviously upset. Rocket turned off the holo-TV, turning the room even quieter. Yuki, who had removed her headphones, looked at Mark with a sorry look full of pity.  Mark was usually one of the main positivists in the team and certainly one to loosen a tense atmosphere. But now he was sitting there in the same state of despair as Thran had been four days before, in that exact same spot on the sofa.

    Aarch office was spacious and clean. The glass floor covering most of the room gave whoever walked upon it a scarily good sense of exactly how far up they really were. All around, large windows intersected the space otherwise made up of brick-red walls, the former through which the snowy plains of Akillian could be seen. Right next to the entrance facing the desk of the coach hung a holographic screen displaying the upcoming matches and the data of the opposing teams.

While standing in the center of the room, Mei explained her decision to the coach.

- "So that's what you wanted to talk about the last time? Aarch asked.

Mei nodded. The coach stood up, folded his hands behind his back and faced the white plains over which a light breeze of air was blowing.

It had stopped snowing.

"It is true that I noticed you were rather distant towards the others, which is not like you at all…"

He turned around.

"I received the results of your physical examination, and it appears that your natural energy has run low since the Cup final. On the other hand, you know it will be difficult for us to play without you on defense, especially with the upcoming match against the Wambas approaching…"

- "But, Coach ..." Mei interrupted. "Mark would also be a good defender; you know that as well as I do. And after that match we'll have a long break before the start of the next season…."

- "A season in which you won't play without training ?" Aarch asked, irritated. "But... as you said Mark would make a good defender to replace you … and we DO have a long period of relative inactivity ahead of us… plus, Dame Simbaï would have insisted you'd rest anyway…"

Mei felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She knew that despite the coach's tough-guy attitude, Aarch was more sensitive to his team's feelings than he would let on normally.

"I know that you have other projects which you want to engage with... but whether they allow you to still prepare for the next season in time…"

He turned silent.

"You have two months Mei. After that you're free to rejoin the team, or decide on another path…"

Mei couldn't help but release a sigh of relief.

- "Thank you Coach ... I really need this. And I'll be back by then, don't worry. "

- "I hope so."

She reached the doorway while thanking her coach again. When the door opened, she suddenly came face to face with Mark. Her smile faded when seeing how distraught and worried he looked. Something was wrong.

- "Can I see Aarch? " He asked.

- "Of course, I was just leaving... "

Mark rushed into the coach's office. Mei was alone in front of the metal door, suddenly wanton for company.

    The rest of Snowkids occupying the common room tried to make sense of all the bad news. They had to admit to themselves that the joy of the past couple of days now suddenly had a bitter taste and even their victory seemed insignificant compared to the drama that was unfolding before their eyes.

- "I can't believe this is happening... First Ahito, then Mei and now Mark." Micro-Ice yelled, feeling overwhelmed.

- "Yeah ... I'm almost wondering who's next." D'Jok sighed.

- " Come on, there's nothing to worry about…." Rocket said, trying to lessen the tension of the situation.

- "But if Mark and Mei are leaving, who will be on defense? We have no-one to take that place…" Tia asked.

- "That's an excellent question… " Yuki replied.

- "Mark is leaving? " Mei asked as she entered the room, looking worried.

- "Mei !" Tia's exclaimed. "How are you ?"

- "How did things go with Aarch?"  D'Jok asked.

- "He allowed me a two-month break to think about my projects, but only on the condition that Mark would replace me….so if he's also leaving....."

- "And there's no doubt about that… " Rocket added.

- "What's going on ? I just ran into him, he looked so nervous. " Mei said as she sat down on the sofa.

- "There was an explosion on the moon where his parents live. They're okay, but their house was destroyed and his father has a broken leg. " D'Jok explained.

Mei grew more anxious as her bad feeling turned out to be justified.

- " Speaking of which…" Tia added." The Mebaï moon falls within domain my parents are working as diplomats. I could ask them for details on the explosion, and maybe they'll be able to help Mark's parents. "

- "Don't worry Mei; we will manage to find another defender…" Rocket said.

Mei seemed to have collected her wits at that one.

- "No... Mark's problem is much more important than mine. If I have to stay I will stay, I won't let you guys down…. "

- "Unless we recruit someone !" Micro-Ice exclaimed. " Whadda ya think, Captain ?" He added in an exited voice, eyeing D'Jok expectantly.

- "I said it's too early to talk about finding replacements.  Plus, I think we have to take care of Thran first… "

- "What do you mean ? » Yuki asked, worried.

- "I know he is more occupied with worrying about Ahito right now, but there will be changes in the team and I want him to be part of it like everybody else in the team. We can't allow him isolate himself now, he needs us… "

With these words, D'Jok gave Mei a pointed look.

- "You're right." Rocket replied. "We're resuming our training tomorrow…. and a distracted defender is a bad defender." He added, smiling.

- "Well, aren't you guys coming to fetch the big brother ?" Micro-Ice exclaimed, already impatient.

The players stood up one by one, happy to have restored at least a sense of their usual careless mood.

- "Wait ..." Yuki shouted out, despite her feeling of guilt… "... He's not... in his room... "

The snow came falling down once again.

****

Mebaï moon.

The dark purple and blue shade of the planet's surface has earned it the nickname of "Black Pearl". It was a small moon orbiting Akillian at some million miles away, a place inhabited by middle class people and with few mineral resources. Overall, it was a small place of little importance to the interplanetary system.

Except today. Today all eyes were on her.

The small station B-2, called Koran, was still asleep. Technically, the nights were short here, about four hours, as were the days. In order to not disturb the biological clock from its inhabitants, Technoïde had created holographic emissions which illuminated the sky at 'normal' daytime hours and which went out at times it was supposed to be 'night'.

At the current hour, the holographic shield was slowly charging up as the first faint light of the artificial 'day' began illuminating the orange streets. A little girl, woken early, stepped into the school's hover bus on her way to class. The sky was clear, as there were no clouds to be seen on the moon. Only the giant planet of Akillian took up the whole view, seemingly so close…

The shuttle left. Sitting near the window, the little girl watched the sky to see if any vessel was leaving for the stars. What she saw that day, however, would remain with her for the rest of her life…

A white light came down from the sky.

- " W-what the - !? "The shuttle's driver shouted out…

Boom.

    When she woke up, the vehicle in which she left that morning had crashed to the ground. The windows were broken. Gradually, the sound of alarms started filling the skies. Though distant at first, they came closer and closer. Through the dust-soiled window, the little girl saw a black smoke rising up into the sky. The Shuttle's pilot helped her friends get out of the wreckage as best as he could, but his emergency instructions were barely audible due to the lingering ringing in her ear caused by the explosion.
Yes, that day, Mebaï became famous. Or rather, infamous. Despite its small size, this was the first place to be hit. Disfigured by a black crater, the Koran station was reduced to a place of panic, alarms, shouting and fire.

The journalists arrived in the afternoon, moving as close as they could to the security perimeter around the crash. A journalist, talking to a small floating camera was explaining the gravity of the situation to the millions of viewers. Somewhere in the streets, a man sitting on a sidewalk had his broken leg treated, a woman was crying at his side. His face was bleeding.

Aiur, Senate seat.

A door opens noisily; two people walking quickly to the central hall, their footsteps echoing through the gigantic black corridor. One of them is a woman wearing an elegant jade-colored dress; the other is a man with hair as white as snow. They walked so fast they were almost running. Following them was a counselor trying to catch up with them.

- "We were waiting for you! And don't forget! All the members of the Senate are present ! Choose your words carefully !" He yelled after them.

The two people hurried into a small dark room with two guards and a small shuttle.

- "I hope things will be fine..." Sighed the green-robed woman in an exceedingly anguished tone of voice.

- "Don't worry." Replied her companion with white hair." The Akillian President will support us. "

As they entered the small shuttle, the base lit up blue. An entrance opened in front of them and chased away the darkness, revealing an immense hall consisting of bleachers and seats filled by hundreds of people. Small balconies overlooking the crowd down below had especially important guests seated in them. Not just the head of the Senate, but also representatives of all known races, all species, all planets, moons and islands groups, from the farthest corners of the known galaxy.

A small Cyclops standing on a balcony hovering over the entrance quickly announced the arrival of the long-awaited guests.

- "Mrs. and Mr. Dalma, Akillians, Ambassadors of the Obia moon ! "

Murmurs of relief buzzed through the crowd before it fell silent. The shuttle slowly came up to the largest balcony, belonging to the seven members of the Senate. The secretary to the senate, standing at their side, stood up for exchanging formalities. He was a very well dressed Wamba with a rather high-pitched voice.

- "Dear Obia's Ambassadors, at the occasion of this highly important report, we cordially invite you to divulge the specifics of your finding with the prestigious members of the Senate, and…"

His speech was cut short representative from Unadian, a woman, imposing by both her size and her hollow, metallic voice.

- "Enough with the fancy talking ! What the hell happened ?!"

- " Well, well... aren't we concerned all of a sudden..." The representative from the Wamba's explained sarcastically." And exactly HOW long did you say you had an interest in their little moon…? "

The Unadian glared at him with eyes glowing red in anger. Her people weren't exactly known to be patient.

- "The mines from Mebaï are vital in providing us with Tridirium ! It's an essential metal for my people ! " She bit back with a growl.

-" Come on... let's stay calm everyone. Let these young people explain themselves" The secretary said, slightly worried at the growing tension.

The white-haired man spoke.

- "All we know for now is that, according to eyewitness testimonies, the explosion on B-2 Koran was caused by… an unidentified projectile... "

At these words the crowd let out cries of amazement and shock, and heated debates and speculation flared up again, filling the room with noise.

- "Silence ! Quiet please !! " The secretary cried out.

While the secretary managed to restore some order in the room, the Unadians' representative had her eyes locked on the two Obia's ambassadors, looking accusingly..

- "You mean ... that the Mebaï moon was the target of an attack ?"

- "That's not what he said..." The second ambassador said. "My husband here only said that this disaster was caused by some external object, which means that there is likelihood that this was not a man-made projectile, maybe something like a meteorite escaping the radar system. Let's not give in to panic and paranoia so soon…. "

- "She's right." the Xzion spokesmen spoke firmly. "Let us carefully contemplate this before doing anything rash. Making accusations just assuming that this was an attack could be catastrophic…"

Opposing the Senate's balcony sat the most important person after the senators. Sitting in the shadow of the latter's balcony, the Technoïde's director was delighted to see these big shots quarrel amongst each other over such trivial matters. He motioned to Harris, who stood near him, to ask their secretary the permission to comment on the discussion.  Complying, the secretary announced the director's call to attention.

- "The Technoïde's Director would like to comment on this issue."

The members of the Senate looked at each other curiously, wondering what Maddox had to say. After exchanging some approving glances, the representative of Akillian, an elderly woman with an air of dignity and wisdom, activated his speaker by gently pressing a button on her holographic lightened table.

- "Permission granted. What say you, Director Maddox? "

He stepped out of the shadow hanging over his seat and spoke.

- "Why should we speculate over something so obvious ?!" He shouted angrily, almost patronizingly. "Who of you is so naïve as to believe this explosion was a natural occurrence !? I don't believe it for a second ! A small meteorite ?? We have hundreds of satellite's monitoring the skies !!"

- "What's your point, Director ?" The Wamba's representative asked.

- "My point is that this was NOT an accident ! There are criminal minds behind this tragedy, I know it ! And be assured I will find them! Do you have any idea how much money Technoïde lost because of this disaster ?? Of course..." He added quickly. "…there are also the victims…"

- "It is true that the projectile impacted near your main structures..., Are you saying that this attack was directed against your firm, Director ?" The spokesmen of the Xzion asked.

- "Hey ! Don't forget that this attack also deprives MY people of a part of its necessary Tridirium! " The Unadian woman exclaimed.

- "But director….who would want to openly oppose Technoïde in such a gravely destructive act ?" Added the Wambas' senator.

- "No doubt the pirates make the top of the list, wouldn't you agree… ?"

Suddenly breaking his usual silence, the voice of the Obscurantis' Shadows representative continued in a macabre tone;

"There is no indication or evidence as of yet to prove that they were NOT involved in the attack on shadow archipelago.. " He Continued.

The murmur in the crowd continued, and the room was abuzz once more. Nobody wanted to talk about Sonny Blackbones's scheme shortly after the attack on the Shadows' archipelago, a strategy which had greatly humiliated the Technoïde and caused the two Akillian ambassadors to testify against the Director. The senators, therefore, preferred not to directly oppose the indirect accusations from their Obscurantis counterpart.

- "Don't be so sure of that master Shaloon 'Sha. " Maddox continued heatedly. "I know my enemies. The pirates operate in the shadows, not anywhere near Akillian. I would rather look for the guilty party much closer to Mebaï…to those who fear Technoïde... "

The whole room held its breath.

"For me, it is clear that the tribe Awa 'tokai is the true culprit of the attack! " Maddox concluded.

The Wambas' representative leaped up, roaring from the depths of his throat. The head of the Xenons rose too, looking furious.

- "You have no proof!!"

Though his gaze was unbearable, Maddox did not blink.

- "I think we all agree this tribe is no longer your concern, not since this incident ..."

- " How DARE you accuse the Awa 'tokai! These Xenons are a proud people! They knew very well of your lust for their metal and refused your sneaky business deals, and for that you hunted them down and chased them off their own planet like a bunch of animals!"

- " And exactly WHAT part of your story DOESN'T eliminate them as prime suspects in this obvious attack on one of Technoïde's primary metal mining moons?!" The director countered.

The Xenon spokesman grunted and exhaled through his widened nostrils.

- "Mr. Director ..." The Wamba senator timidly replied. "Do I have to remind you that the members of the tribe you mentioned were also closely related to the Wamba people ? You cannot accuse both the Xenons and our race without any evidence…. "

- "I will soon have all the evidence AND the political support I need to bring these criminals to justice, senator Woo-Bashi ..."

The Obia's ambassadors felt well useless now. Useless… and worried. The director proved himself to be capable of achieving anything he set his mind to. Except that, this time, the stakes were higher than normal… and due to their disagreements, the members of the Senate weren't unified in stopping him either…

- "While waiting for any leads in your investigation, we first must find a solution to the Unadien people's Tridirium problem. That is the crisis at hand, and this should be our main priority. Let us focus on this for now instead of wasting time accusing people, if there are guilty parties at all." Replied the old Akillian's representative.

- "No matter…. I am a patient man" Maddox said smugly.

The meeting was adjourned. The Xenon chief left the room, his heart overflowing with hatred. The other members and the rest of the crowd left as well, feeling lost, confused and dismayed.

Only Maddox left in good spirits. He knew exactly where he was going.

To be Continued…

Description
Chapter 2: Double Impact.

    She was sitting in front of the bay window of her room, in a small egg-shaped chair. The snow was falling in large flakes that day. Mei was unconsciously looking at it, falling like a white waterfall in front of her window. She was wondering what it was that had affected her so much the past couple of days.

The rush of victory ? The crash of Genesis ? The stress of the matches ? Her future at stake ?

The fear and anger in Thran's eyes...

There was a knock on the door. Mei sat upright, dispelling the concern in her eyes as she pressed the switch near her chair to open the door. D'Jok appeared on the threshold, but she didn't even give him sideways glance….

- "How are you Mei? We didn't see you much these days..."

- "I'm thinking…"

- " 'bout what ?" her boyfriend resumed, approaching. "Don't you want to talk with me ?" He added with a smile.

Mei slowly turned her seat around until she faces him…

- "It's a bit complicated ... I'm not feeling very well here right now. I haven't felt well since the Cup to be honest....." She added, toying with her hair while as she thought, trying to hide a brief stab of guilt.

D'Jok sat on her bed.

- "Sorry about the other day, I didn't think you were really serious ..."

- "That's the problem. " His girlfriend said. "I feel like I'm the only one who needs a break right now, but everyone else wants to give it their all... Because of that I don't dare saying too much about going on a break in front of the others..."

- "I don't think Aarch will like this ..." D'Jok sighed, scratching his neck. "And I don't think I will either…" He added, pouting a little.

Mei sat on his lap and hugged him.

- "I just need to patch myself up a bit. I won't give you up. I won't let you down..."

- "You bet ! Otherwise I'm gonna get me some pirates to come after you, even it means I have to face your mother!"

- "Stop badmouthing my parents! They're not as bad as you think! "

Silence was restored for a moment.

- "Mei ?"

- "Yes ?"

- "You won't stop football eh ? You will come back right? "

- "... Let's just say that I have some choices to make, and I'll have to prioritize…other things..."

A second knock on the door indicated another visitor had come.

- "Hi !" Shouted Micro-Ice, appearing at the entrance." Oops ... sorry to bother you ... I just came to see how our princess was doing"

- "It's okay." Mei said, standing up. "I was going to join you guys anyway." She added with a smile.

The three players left the room and walked quietly through the hallway towards the common room.

"By the way..." Mei asked hesitantly. "Do you have any news on Ahito? "

Micro-Ice lost for a moment the childish spark which usually shone in his blue eyes.

- "Let's just say that Thran didn't come out of his room much either..." D'Jok replied.

- "So I think we're also gonna have to worry about the 'big bro' here !" Added Micro-Ice with a smile in a vain attempt to comfort Mei.

Mei did not press the issue any further. Before arriving in the last corridor leading to the common room, she stood still and observed the elevator which ascended to the office of their coach. D'Jok stood beside her.

- "Do you want me to go with you? " He asked.

Mei did not blink at all at that question but kept her gaze fixed. He knew that expression.

- "Thank you D'Jok, but I prefer to go alone. I will join you later. "

- "As you wish ... good luck Mei. "

- "Good luck ?"  Shouted Micro-Ice, surprised. "Good luck doing what? "

The three Snowkids parted at the corner of the hallway as the tall defender took the elevator, stepping inside with less confidence than her posture might let on otherwise.

    The common room was already occupied by Mark, absorbed by some program on the holo-TV, Rocket and Tia who were talking about an upcoming rendezvous, and Yuki, who was listening to a song with her headphones, looking pensive. Micro-Ice and D'Jok quietly entered.

- "So, what's going on with Mei ?" Micro-ice said, attracting the attention of everyone in the room except for Yuki.

D'Jok left himself fall on the sofa with a sigh.

- "She wants to take a break ..." He said.

- "A break ?" Micro-Ice repeated. "Does it mean she will leave… ? " He added meekly.

- "Quiet you guys! " Mark shouted while turning up the sound of the holo-TV.

A special edition of the afternoon news was broadcasted.

- "Good evening, and welcome back to our special broadcast on the crisis shaking the Koran's station at the north of Mebaï. In case you just tuned in, a few minutes ago a major explosion occurred on the surface of the second major moon orbiting Akillian. The number of serious injuries is an estimated one hundred amongst the miners and is expected to rise. The total number of casualties is unknown as of yet. As to the cause of the accident, experts say they have no explanation as of yet…"

Despite the horrible announcement from the broadcast, the room was unusually silent for a moment.

- "My parents are there…. " Mark said, that one sentence betraying the turmoil of emotions inside his chest.

His cellphone rang at that very moment.  He answered the call, relieved at the appearance of his mother face.

- "Mom..." He sighed. "I just saw what happened on the holo-TV..."

- "Don't worry honey, we're okay..."

She was barely audible above the noise of rescue teams and sirens filling the air.

"Your father has a broken leg and some additional minor injuries, but otherwise nothing serious, don't worry ..."

Mark did not answer immediately, knowing from the way his mother talked that that wasn't all she had to say.

"But ... our house ... our neighborhood ... everything is completely destroyed ..." She said, tears welling up in her eyes as her voice cracked. "It was so horrible ..." She continued, now crying without restraint.

- "I'm coming!" Mark shouted determinedly.

- "No ! You stay where you are. Your friends need you... "His mother replied.

- "You need me." The young Snowkid countered. "I'm coming as fast as possible. Take care of yourself in the meantime."

Mark ended the phone call and let himself fall on the sofa, obviously upset. Rocket turned off the holo-TV, turning the room even quieter. Yuki, who had removed her headphones, looked at Mark with a sorry look full of pity.  Mark was usually one of the main positivists in the team and certainly one to loosen a tense atmosphere. But now he was sitting there in the same state of despair as Thran had been four days before, in that exact same spot on the sofa.

    Aarch office was spacious and clean. The glass floor covering most of the room gave whoever walked upon it a scarily good sense of exactly how far up they really were. All around, large windows intersected the space otherwise made up of brick-red walls, the former through which the snowy plains of Akillian could be seen. Right next to the entrance facing the desk of the coach hung a holographic screen displaying the upcoming matches and the data of the opposing teams.

While standing in the center of the room, Mei explained her decision to the coach.

- "So that's what you wanted to talk about the last time? Aarch asked.

Mei nodded. The coach stood up, folded his hands behind his back and faced the white plains over which a light breeze of air was blowing.

It had stopped snowing.

"It is true that I noticed you were rather distant towards the others, which is not like you at all…"

He turned around.

"I received the results of your physical examination, and it appears that your natural energy has run low since the Cup final. On the other hand, you know it will be difficult for us to play without you on defense, especially with the upcoming match against the Wambas approaching…"

- "But, Coach ..." Mei interrupted. "Mark would also be a good defender; you know that as well as I do. And after that match we'll have a long break before the start of the next season…."

- "A season in which you won't play without training ?" Aarch asked, irritated. "But... as you said Mark would make a good defender to replace you … and we DO have a long period of relative inactivity ahead of us… plus, Dame Simbaï would have insisted you'd rest anyway…"

Mei felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She knew that despite the coach's tough-guy attitude, Aarch was more sensitive to his team's feelings than he would let on normally.

"I know that you have other projects which you want to engage with... but whether they allow you to still prepare for the next season in time…"

He turned silent.

"You have two months Mei. After that you're free to rejoin the team, or decide on another path…"

Mei couldn't help but release a sigh of relief.

- "Thank you Coach ... I really need this. And I'll be back by then, don't worry. "

- "I hope so."

She reached the doorway while thanking her coach again. When the door opened, she suddenly came face to face with Mark. Her smile faded when seeing how distraught and worried he looked. Something was wrong.

- "Can I see Aarch? " He asked.

- "Of course, I was just leaving... "

Mark rushed into the coach's office. Mei was alone in front of the metal door, suddenly wanton for company.

    The rest of Snowkids occupying the common room tried to make sense of all the bad news. They had to admit to themselves that the joy of the past couple of days now suddenly had a bitter taste and even their victory seemed insignificant compared to the drama that was unfolding before their eyes.

- "I can't believe this is happening... First Ahito, then Mei and now Mark." Micro-Ice yelled, feeling overwhelmed.

- "Yeah ... I'm almost wondering who's next." D'Jok sighed.

- " Come on, there's nothing to worry about…." Rocket said, trying to lessen the tension of the situation.

- "But if Mark and Mei are leaving, who will be on defense? We have no-one to take that place…" Tia asked.

- "That's an excellent question… " Yuki replied.

- "Mark is leaving? " Mei asked as she entered the room, looking worried.

- "Mei !" Tia's exclaimed. "How are you ?"

- "How did things go with Aarch?"  D'Jok asked.

- "He allowed me a two-month break to think about my projects, but only on the condition that Mark would replace me….so if he's also leaving....."

- "And there's no doubt about that… " Rocket added.

- "What's going on ? I just ran into him, he looked so nervous. " Mei said as she sat down on the sofa.

- "There was an explosion on the moon where his parents live. They're okay, but their house was destroyed and his father has a broken leg. " D'Jok explained.

Mei grew more anxious as her bad feeling turned out to be justified.

- " Speaking of which…" Tia added." The Mebaï moon falls within domain my parents are working as diplomats. I could ask them for details on the explosion, and maybe they'll be able to help Mark's parents. "

- "Don't worry Mei; we will manage to find another defender…" Rocket said.

Mei seemed to have collected her wits at that one.

- "No... Mark's problem is much more important than mine. If I have to stay I will stay, I won't let you guys down…. "

- "Unless we recruit someone !" Micro-Ice exclaimed. " Whadda ya think, Captain ?" He added in an exited voice, eyeing D'Jok expectantly.

- "I said it's too early to talk about finding replacements.  Plus, I think we have to take care of Thran first… "

- "What do you mean ? » Yuki asked, worried.

- "I know he is more occupied with worrying about Ahito right now, but there will be changes in the team and I want him to be part of it like everybody else in the team. We can't allow him isolate himself now, he needs us… "

With these words, D'Jok gave Mei a pointed look.

- "You're right." Rocket replied. "We're resuming our training tomorrow…. and a distracted defender is a bad defender." He added, smiling.

- "Well, aren't you guys coming to fetch the big brother ?" Micro-Ice exclaimed, already impatient.

The players stood up one by one, happy to have restored at least a sense of their usual careless mood.

- "Wait ..." Yuki shouted out, despite her feeling of guilt… "... He's not... in his room... "

The snow came falling down once again.

****

Mebaï moon.

The dark purple and blue shade of the planet's surface has earned it the nickname of "Black Pearl". It was a small moon orbiting Akillian at some million miles away, a place inhabited by middle class people and with few mineral resources. Overall, it was a small place of little importance to the interplanetary system.

Except today. Today all eyes were on her.

The small station B-2, called Koran, was still asleep. Technically, the nights were short here, about four hours, as were the days. In order to not disturb the biological clock from its inhabitants, Technoïde had created holographic emissions which illuminated the sky at 'normal' daytime hours and which went out at times it was supposed to be 'night'.

At the current hour, the holographic shield was slowly charging up as the first faint light of the artificial 'day' began illuminating the orange streets. A little girl, woken early, stepped into the school's hover bus on her way to class. The sky was clear, as there were no clouds to be seen on the moon. Only the giant planet of Akillian took up the whole view, seemingly so close…

The shuttle left. Sitting near the window, the little girl watched the sky to see if any vessel was leaving for the stars. What she saw that day, however, would remain with her for the rest of her life…

A white light came down from the sky.

- " W-what the - !? "The shuttle's driver shouted out…

Boom.

    When she woke up, the vehicle in which she left that morning had crashed to the ground. The windows were broken. Gradually, the sound of alarms started filling the skies. Though distant at first, they came closer and closer. Through the dust-soiled window, the little girl saw a black smoke rising up into the sky. The Shuttle's pilot helped her friends get out of the wreckage as best as he could, but his emergency instructions were barely audible due to the lingering ringing in her ear caused by the explosion.
Yes, that day, Mebaï became famous. Or rather, infamous. Despite its small size, this was the first place to be hit. Disfigured by a black crater, the Koran station was reduced to a place of panic, alarms, shouting and fire.

The journalists arrived in the afternoon, moving as close as they could to the security perimeter around the crash. A journalist, talking to a small floating camera was explaining the gravity of the situation to the millions of viewers. Somewhere in the streets, a man sitting on a sidewalk had his broken leg treated, a woman was crying at his side. His face was bleeding.

Aiur, Senate seat.

A door opens noisily; two people walking quickly to the central hall, their footsteps echoing through the gigantic black corridor. One of them is a woman wearing an elegant jade-colored dress; the other is a man with hair as white as snow. They walked so fast they were almost running. Following them was a counselor trying to catch up with them.

- "We were waiting for you! And don't forget! All the members of the Senate are present ! Choose your words carefully !" He yelled after them.

The two people hurried into a small dark room with two guards and a small shuttle.

- "I hope things will be fine..." Sighed the green-robed woman in an exceedingly anguished tone of voice.

- "Don't worry." Replied her companion with white hair." The Akillian President will support us. "

As they entered the small shuttle, the base lit up blue. An entrance opened in front of them and chased away the darkness, revealing an immense hall consisting of bleachers and seats filled by hundreds of people. Small balconies overlooking the crowd down below had especially important guests seated in them. Not just the head of the Senate, but also representatives of all known races, all species, all planets, moons and islands groups, from the farthest corners of the known galaxy.

A small Cyclops standing on a balcony hovering over the entrance quickly announced the arrival of the long-awaited guests.

- "Mrs. and Mr. Dalma, Akillians, Ambassadors of the Obia moon ! "

Murmurs of relief buzzed through the crowd before it fell silent. The shuttle slowly came up to the largest balcony, belonging to the seven members of the Senate. The secretary to the senate, standing at their side, stood up for exchanging formalities. He was a very well dressed Wamba with a rather high-pitched voice.

- "Dear Obia's Ambassadors, at the occasion of this highly important report, we cordially invite you to divulge the specifics of your finding with the prestigious members of the Senate, and…"

His speech was cut short representative from Unadian, a woman, imposing by both her size and her hollow, metallic voice.

- "Enough with the fancy talking ! What the hell happened ?!"

- " Well, well... aren't we concerned all of a sudden..." The representative from the Wamba's explained sarcastically." And exactly HOW long did you say you had an interest in their little moon…? "

The Unadian glared at him with eyes glowing red in anger. Her people weren't exactly known to be patient.

- "The mines from Mebaï are vital in providing us with Tridirium ! It's an essential metal for my people ! " She bit back with a growl.

-" Come on... let's stay calm everyone. Let these young people explain themselves" The secretary said, slightly worried at the growing tension.

The white-haired man spoke.

- "All we know for now is that, according to eyewitness testimonies, the explosion on B-2 Koran was caused by… an unidentified projectile... "

At these words the crowd let out cries of amazement and shock, and heated debates and speculation flared up again, filling the room with noise.

- "Silence ! Quiet please !! " The secretary cried out.

While the secretary managed to restore some order in the room, the Unadians' representative had her eyes locked on the two Obia's ambassadors, looking accusingly..

- "You mean ... that the Mebaï moon was the target of an attack ?"

- "That's not what he said..." The second ambassador said. "My husband here only said that this disaster was caused by some external object, which means that there is likelihood that this was not a man-made projectile, maybe something like a meteorite escaping the radar system. Let's not give in to panic and paranoia so soon…. "

- "She's right." the Xzion spokesmen spoke firmly. "Let us carefully contemplate this before doing anything rash. Making accusations just assuming that this was an attack could be catastrophic…"

Opposing the Senate's balcony sat the most important person after the senators. Sitting in the shadow of the latter's balcony, the Technoïde's director was delighted to see these big shots quarrel amongst each other over such trivial matters. He motioned to Harris, who stood near him, to ask their secretary the permission to comment on the discussion.  Complying, the secretary announced the director's call to attention.

- "The Technoïde's Director would like to comment on this issue."

The members of the Senate looked at each other curiously, wondering what Maddox had to say. After exchanging some approving glances, the representative of Akillian, an elderly woman with an air of dignity and wisdom, activated his speaker by gently pressing a button on her holographic lightened table.

- "Permission granted. What say you, Director Maddox? "

He stepped out of the shadow hanging over his seat and spoke.

- "Why should we speculate over something so obvious ?!" He shouted angrily, almost patronizingly. "Who of you is so naïve as to believe this explosion was a natural occurrence !? I don't believe it for a second ! A small meteorite ?? We have hundreds of satellite's monitoring the skies !!"

- "What's your point, Director ?" The Wamba's representative asked.

- "My point is that this was NOT an accident ! There are criminal minds behind this tragedy, I know it ! And be assured I will find them! Do you have any idea how much money Technoïde lost because of this disaster ?? Of course..." He added quickly. "…there are also the victims…"

- "It is true that the projectile impacted near your main structures..., Are you saying that this attack was directed against your firm, Director ?" The spokesmen of the Xzion asked.

- "Hey ! Don't forget that this attack also deprives MY people of a part of its necessary Tridirium! " The Unadian woman exclaimed.

- "But director….who would want to openly oppose Technoïde in such a gravely destructive act ?" Added the Wambas' senator.

- "No doubt the pirates make the top of the list, wouldn't you agree… ?"

Suddenly breaking his usual silence, the voice of the Obscurantis' Shadows representative continued in a macabre tone;

"There is no indication or evidence as of yet to prove that they were NOT involved in the attack on shadow archipelago.. " He Continued.

The murmur in the crowd continued, and the room was abuzz once more. Nobody wanted to talk about Sonny Blackbones's scheme shortly after the attack on the Shadows' archipelago, a strategy which had greatly humiliated the Technoïde and caused the two Akillian ambassadors to testify against the Director. The senators, therefore, preferred not to directly oppose the indirect accusations from their Obscurantis counterpart.

- "Don't be so sure of that master Shaloon 'Sha. " Maddox continued heatedly. "I know my enemies. The pirates operate in the shadows, not anywhere near Akillian. I would rather look for the guilty party much closer to Mebaï…to those who fear Technoïde... "

The whole room held its breath.

"For me, it is clear that the tribe Awa 'tokai is the true culprit of the attack! " Maddox concluded.

The Wambas' representative leaped up, roaring from the depths of his throat. The head of the Xenons rose too, looking furious.

- "You have no proof!!"

Though his gaze was unbearable, Maddox did not blink.

- "I think we all agree this tribe is no longer your concern, not since this incident ..."

- " How DARE you accuse the Awa 'tokai! These Xenons are a proud people! They knew very well of your lust for their metal and refused your sneaky business deals, and for that you hunted them down and chased them off their own planet like a bunch of animals!"

- " And exactly WHAT part of your story DOESN'T eliminate them as prime suspects in this obvious attack on one of Technoïde's primary metal mining moons?!" The director countered.

The Xenon spokesman grunted and exhaled through his widened nostrils.

- "Mr. Director ..." The Wamba senator timidly replied. "Do I have to remind you that the members of the tribe you mentioned were also closely related to the Wamba people ? You cannot accuse both the Xenons and our race without any evidence…. "

- "I will soon have all the evidence AND the political support I need to bring these criminals to justice, senator Woo-Bashi ..."

The Obia's ambassadors felt well useless now. Useless… and worried. The director proved himself to be capable of achieving anything he set his mind to. Except that, this time, the stakes were higher than normal… and due to their disagreements, the members of the Senate weren't unified in stopping him either…

- "While waiting for any leads in your investigation, we first must find a solution to the Unadien people's Tridirium problem. That is the crisis at hand, and this should be our main priority. Let us focus on this for now instead of wasting time accusing people, if there are guilty parties at all." Replied the old Akillian's representative.

- "No matter…. I am a patient man" Maddox said smugly.

The meeting was adjourned. The Xenon chief left the room, his heart overflowing with hatred. The other members and the rest of the crowd left as well, feeling lost, confused and dismayed.

Only Maddox left in good spirits. He knew exactly where he was going.

To be Continued…