"What in the world is that?" Akira muttered, turning his head towards the sky, eyes wide in shock.
A speck of red, shimmering light was falling in their direction. Akira could tell that it was coming their way because it was getting bigger and bigger by every passing second. He turned back to Rin and repeated his question. "What's that stuff?"
Rin gritted her teeth. Instead of answering his question, she crossed her left arm in front of her chest. A black watch materialized on the wrist. The face of the watch glowed bright blue, and a tiny, see-through figure of a woman appeared floating over Rin's wrist.
A hologram? Akira wondered.
"I bet you have noticed it already?" Rin told the woman.
"Yes, we have," the woman replied. Her voice sounded both natural and robotic at the same time. "Unidentified, like the one before it. This one is heading towards your location. You won't be able to empty neighborhood in the next two minutes?"
"I don't believe I can do that," Rin said. "
"Alright, considering that it knows your location, they must have placed a tracker on the kitod's ship--uh, you have new orders. Take the Kitod's ship and lure that unidentified vessel away from human habitation. We are sending backup."
"No need for the backup," Rin said. "I can handle this on my own."
"Don't be stupid, Rin," a man's voice said. A figure of a man appeared next to the tiny, 3D image of the woman. "That thing is big. There is no way you can take care of it."
"But, dad," Rin started.
The holographic man raised his hand. "I have high expectations of you... but you are still new at this. Got it? Just follow the commands. Also, don't call me dad when we are working."
"C-copy that," Rin said and lowered her hand. "Akira, come with me. We need to get away from this city as far as possible. I will also need your help, Pako." She snapped her fingers, and her flying bike zoomed in out of nowhere and stopped next to her.
"My help?" Pako asked.
"You will have to carry your ship and follow me," Rin said, getting on her bike. "That thing is probably coming for your vessel. Akira, come and sit behind me."
"Oh, alright," Akira said and ran toward her. He didn't know what was going on. But it seemed that things had gone from zero to hundred real quick.
The whole day had gone from hundred to zero real quick, Akira thought.
Pako hadn't moved an inch. "What are you doing? Hurry up," Rin told Pako.
"They are coming for my ship," Pako said. "Not for me. This stuff has nothing to do with me."
"We don't have time for this," Rin said as Akira sat behind her. "This is your ship. You brought them here."
"No," Pako said. "I'm not putting my life at risk."
Rin glared at him. "We don't have time. You--"
"Come on," Akira said. "I think the situation has gotten serious, Pako. I saved your life. I bet you can help us in--"
"I'm pretty sure I died," Pako said.
"Uh. How about this? If you help her, she will drop all the charges against you. Her people won't punish you."
"What?" Rin glowered back at Akira.
"Come on," Akira said, lowering his voice to a whisper. "We are running out of time, right?"
Rin gritted her teeth. "Fine. I'll try my best. But no prom--"
"That's a deal then," Pako said, floating up and making his crumpled ship hover next to him. "Please take the lead."
"Fine. But no promises," Rin said and twisted the accelerator. They shot forward and soon began climbing above the trees. Pako appeared next to them, sitting on his crumpled, floating ball.
"I believe there is a vast forested land north the city?" Rin asked. Akira couldn't see her face since he was sitting behind her. All he could see was her short black hair fluttering in the wind like flames. So, he was not sure if she was talking to him. "Akira?" she said.
"Uh, ya, yes," Akira said and glanced behind at the speck of red light. Was the thing following them? He couldn't tell. "What is that thing, anyway?" he asked, turning back to Rin.
"It's either a ship or an attack drone," Rin said. "It's not a scout drone... because we have already dealt with that."
"What's the difference?" Akira asked.
"Scout drones are smaller and faster than the attack drones," Rin said. "Follow the target with a scout drone, and once you know where your target has landed, send in an attack drone to destroy it--that's a rule of thumb. They trailed Pako using a scout and then sent in their attack drone or appeared themselves. It's either of the two. Damn it." She looked to her right at Pako, who was stilling on his crushed ship. "Have you still not remember who they are and why they are following you?"
"No, not yet," Pako shouted back. "I don't know why they are behind me."
"I bet it's because of that stone," Akira said.
"What stone?" Pako and Rin asked in unison. But only Pako added a 'yo' at the end.
"The one that green lad--" Akira had still hadn't learned to seal his mouth.
"Green what?" Rin asked.
"Nothing," Akira said. "Never mind. Can anyone come to Earth and attack us like this? I mean, if there are aliens out there, there must be hostile ones too? How are we safe?"
"No," Rin said. "You can't just barge into a planet like that. There is a body called Galatic Allies, who keeps this kind of activity in check. Thanks to them, Earth is safe."
"Then, what is this?" Akira asked.
"Well, Allies' first job is to stop the big scale wars and total annihilation of life; that part they do well. The last galactic war happened six hundred years ago. Their other job is to prevent galactic crimes... That part is not going that well. I can't blame them though. You can't make everyone obey the rules."
"So people who are trying to attack Pako are galactic criminals?"
"Yes," Rin said. "Probably bandits or pirates."
"Bandits, huh?" Akira muttered and glanced behind, and his heart skipped a beat. The red speck was no longer a tiny dot. It now had mass and shape. Akira glanced below him was not at all happy to see the city lights. "Can't we go any faster?"
"No," Rin said. "This is as fast as we can go. Is that thing following us?"
"Yes," Akira said, "and it's getting closer and closer... and we are nowhere near the forest!"
"Who said that," Rin said. "It's right in front of us."
"Huh?" Akira looked past her shoulder and realized that she was right. There was a large mass of unlit land before them. "That's gre--" He felt the blast of heat before he saw the light. He turned and found himself face to face with an enormous beam of red laser rushing towards them. He didn't need anyone to explain to him that the thing, which had been following them, had attacked.
"Rin," Akira screamed to warn her. But it was too late. Everything flashed white as the energy blast enveloped them.