Dreamscapes

[Toaster]

Space was on fire.

Plasma streaked across the black skies, missiles burned through the dark, ships shattered and exploded like miniature dying stars, showering the tumbling rocks in metal rain. Chaos itself was unleashed across the asteroid fields.

Voices pierced the angry night, distorted, broken. Olivia could not make out the words they were screaming, if they were words at all. All she could hear was the panic, the desperation, and the fear of her wingmen. She could feel it in her heart, the cold grasp of terror. One by one, their voices faded, their distant ships winking out of existence like lights flicked off.

Soon, only one remained.

"Olivia," a voice rang clearly through her mind. It was a man's voice , one she knew well, one she had grown up with. "Olivia."

"Rob?" She heard herself respond. She sounded different. Younger. Fearful.

"I won't make it," the voice said calmly. There was no fear in it, only simple resignation. Olivia could feel the dread in her heart swell and realized that it was now her own.

"Rob, I'm coming!" She cried, searching the black void for her brother. Everywhere she looked she saw only darkness and death, the lifeless remains of a hundred ships scattered amongst the rocks.

The voice sighed. It sounded almost disappointed.

"No. Run. They need you."

Olivia could feel tears running down her face as the panic within her grew greater and greater. Her brother was out there. He needed her help. And she could not find him.

"I'm not leaving you!" She screamed. "Just tell me where you are!"

There was a moment of silence that felt like it stretched on for eternity. Then, quietly, calmly.

"Goodbye, Liv."

A flash of light caught her eyes. In the distance, between the thousands of tumbling rocks, a new star appeared, shining brighter than all the others in the sky. For an instant, it hung there, a new, beautiful addition to the firmament. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, it faded out.

"Rob?" Olivia heard herself whisper weakly.

Silence answered.

---

Olivia Sable