Photo by Mario Azzi on Unsplash

I stepped away from the console, rolled my shoulders and rubbed my neck.  The three of us had been working without speaking since dusk. The lights blinked on my panel and I waited.

Sister Minette glanced at me, pressed two more indicators on her screen, then turned her full attention on me.

“It will work, you know,” she whispered.

“I know.”

We turned to stare at Sister Prudence. Her face, illuminated by the lime-green glow of the screen, almost looked familiar.

She finished the sequence, then looked at me.

“Unless it kills you,” she said.

“Sister, we talked about this. It will work,” Sister Minette chided.

“You’re confident considering what you did to Alfred.”

“Alfred may be fine,” Sister Minette said.

“More likely he is dead. If it had worked, we would have heard. You and your damn optimism killed him. And you’re going to kill tonight,” Sister Prudence said. The veins in her neck popped as she spoke.

Sister Minette only started at her sister.

“This is foolish, and it’s your fault,” Sister Prudence continued.

I placed my hand on her shoulder. I could tell she had forgotten my presence as she jumped and turned ready to attack.

“Listen,” I said, “I know you have your doubts, but I don’t. If we don’t do this now, we will lose our window. Besides, didn’t you say this was my destiny?”

The console pulsed, lights flashed, and alarms sounded as a light filled my vision and the sisters faded from view.

__________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer