Gears grinding. Brakes engaging. With what felt like much labor, The Golden Age Express came to a stop. Kora's stop.
She exited the train by herself. No incoming passengers. And the train, with much fuss, gas-powered engine coming back to life, left.
She stood on the platform, which was a concrete slab, and looked around.
Surrounded by dirt, flat field of overgrown weeds, no people or buildings in any direction. There wasn't even a bench here.
Kora, after a few minutes, sat on the hot concrete, under the blazing heat of the midmorning suns. She thought of journaling but felt too hot.
So she waited.
*****
It was twenty minutes later when she saw the SPEEDER in the distance. Saw it before she could hear it. It was coming in fast, going at least one-hundred-fifty miles per hour. Arcing towards her. Floating three feet over the ground, stirring up the dust beneath it.
As it neared, Kora could see a girl was piloting it, shirt flying out behind her.
As the girl neared, Kora could see it was Scarlet.
And then Scarlet came to a stop alongside the concrete pad, took off her helmet, admonished Kora.
"Finally," Kora said.
"Sorry," said Scarlet. "There's a helmet attached to the back."
Kora worked her way to her feet, donned the helmet and climbed onto the back of the speeder, sitting behind Scarlet and holding onto her, tight.
"This thing books," said Scarlet.
"I saw."
And, without another word, Scarlet throttled them forward.
The magnet power whined and the craft shot across the land like a bullet. Slight adrenaline came into Kora's veins, waking her up, making her feel good. Speed always made her feel good.
Excited in one sense.
Relaxed and focused in another.
*****
They shot across the barren land.
Nothing to see here.
Until they reached the base of some foothills. Scarlet slowed as she took them up onto of the hills and down the other side, following a road cut out in the side of the hill. Then they were in a canyon. Scarlet came to a stop beside a ancient-looking grass-built hut.
A smoke-stack rising from the top.
They climbed down from the speeder.
Kora followed Scarlet inside.
A man was there, cooking steak and eggs and boiling a pot of coffee over a fire.
"Impressive, right?" he said.
Wiping his hands on a towel that fell from his back pocket, he shook Kora's hand.
"I'm TJ."
"Kora."
He continued his labor over the food.
"Smells great," Kora said.
And not long after that, without words passing between them, he served them plates of food. Pillows served as their seats. They lounged on the floor and ate.
Kora and TJ made small talk, and he was very sweet. Talked about his favorite foods and told stories about his wife and kids. He was middle-aged, good looking, laugh lines around his eyes. Kora didn't ask what this was all about, because she already knew.
They were waiting for Felicity.
Kora's questions wouldn't be answered until Felicity arrived.
Felicity did arrive.
At sunset.
*****
With the golden rays pouring over the top of the mountains on either side of them, Felicity's ship arrived, eclipsing some of the light. Scarlet sent Kora out from the tent.
The ship was modern-built, unlike Kora's ship and many of the ships that piloted the skies. Kora's ship had formerly been a wood-crafted sailboat, retrofitted for flight. It was cheaper that way—not only to do the retrofitting, but the sails saved the magnet-powered engines some work.
Felicity's ship was of the aerodynamic kind, pointed, no sails, more like the propeller plans of old, sans propeller.
The plane was hovering thirty feet from the ground. And then it happened, Felicity dropped from a hatch and landed on the soft dirt just ten feet from Kora.
Kora didn't say anything, only stared.
Starstruck to see the leader of the Resistance.
More than she realized she would be.
Felicity regarded her with a tilt of the head. Since Kora had only seen her in posters for the past fifteen years, she couldn't help but stare at her likeness. It was like looking at a lioness—Felicity was larger than life. Pink lips with light dimples on either side. Green, haunting eyes. Dark eyeliner and eyelashes. The woman was small, but had a strong demeanor. Her presence was immediate, filling the air, extending towards Kora in no uncertain way. This was a woman who'd been around, more than any Kora had met. A woman hardened and yet soft. Kora couldn't figure it all out, but seeing her was striking. Awe-inspiring, even.
"We're glad you made it," said Felicity. "I only have a few minutes, but I wanted you to know this is real. This is the Resistance. Welcome."