Star Shooter

A blaze of light flashed across the night sky, then another. Soon the sky was filled with burning lights and the sound of them falling. Shawn grabbed his camera and ran.

Tonight's meteor shower was a prime subject for his work, but photographing the stars was becoming more and more dangerous.

Shawn reached the bunker just as he felt the heat from the meteor reach his back. Quickly he opened and closed the door, and ran down the stairs toward his underground home. Explosions pelted the ground outside, making the Earth shake.

Shawn stumbled, catching himself with his free hand on the concrete wall. This shower was worse than the last three he had photographed. They seemed to escalade with every event.

Wonder what the Scientists will say about this one, Shawn thought as he ran down the stairs.

It was dark in the tunnel, but that was part of living underground. Shawn had learned how to get just about anywhere without light. Frequent power outages due to the meteor showers left his underground colony like the blind far too often.

Another explosion rocked the bunker, Shawn stopped, steadying himself with the walls. It was times like this when panick set in. How many times had he wondered if he might be barried alive?

The Scientists had said over and over again that the walls were secure.But how did they know? Last month the Scientists had said the showers were coming to an end, that everyone could go back to the surface.

Today's meteor shower made all of the other ones look like a game of dodge ball.

The shacking stopped and Shawn continued his walk down the stairs.

Five thousand twenty two..., he counted, five thousand twenty three. Shawn stopped and felt for the door, closing his eyes.

Light filterefiltered through his eyelids as he stepped into the Decontamination Room. It's blinding white lights making Shawn feel like a vampire. He hissed at it's brightness squeezing his eyes tighter.

A buzzer sounded, and he stepped forward. Water washed over him, then a fire exstiguishing chemical, then more water. Finally the room went dark.

Shawn eyes popped open, as they turned the fan on to dry him off. With a jolt, he was sent forward on the Horizontal Plate.He stumbled agian.

A pale light shown over a door at the end of the tunnel, slowly it's brightness grew, giving Shawn time to adjust. When he reached the end, the Plate stopped with a jerk that almost sent him into the door. Shawn sighed, these Scientist couldn't even get their mechines to run smoothly, much less predict the stars.

He opened the door, not at all surprised that most of the huge underground colony was dark. He felt his way down the street to the Scientist's Quarter. There was light in this sector of the colony, because they used genorators when the power went out.

Turning to a large blue house he knocked on the door.

"Come in Shawn," a deep voice from inside called.

He turned the knob and quietly opened the door. Quiry was immanent on the silence of his quarters, and since he was the top Scientist, Shawn obeyed. Scientists here had become like the government, and Quiry was the President.

Shawn moved through the sea of papers and chemicals to the back of the huge house. Though it was late, Quiry was still awake. To Shawn, it seemed like the old man never slept.

He reached the back room were Quiry sat, his white coat and gray hair were the only part Shawn could see as he slumped over his desk.

Shawn cleared his thoat, making Quirky jump.

"Sorry sir-"Quiry held up his hands to silence the young man.

"Just upload the imiages. I don't feel like chatting now," he said tiredly, his blue eyes drooping.

Shawn nodded and moved to the computer. Quickly he connected the camera to the computer, and started the download.

A knock sounded at the door, and Anna entered. Her withered face brightened when she saw Shawn.

"How's my favorite Star Shooter? You didn't get burned did you?" she asked ammused.

Shawn smiled," Not this time Anna. Though it got pretty close."

The old woman shook her head,"You Star Shooters are crazy. You know that, right Shawn?"

"Yes ma'am," he smiled at Quiry's wife. Anna was right, his job was crazy. He spent his nights taking pictures of the stars with his teloscopic camera, since the meteor showers had burned up the satellites. No one but Scientist and Star Shooters were allowed on the surface now, because no one could predict when a shower might happen. Shawn remembered playing on the surface as a kid. They were short visits with school teachers, kind of like field trips. Now kids didn't even know what the surface looked like, exept for books.

The computer beeped, turning everyone's attention to the screen as the pictures uploaded.

Quiry pressed some buttons on the keyboard, pulling up an image of a clear night sky sparsely dotted with stars.

The man let out an exasperated sigh,"There are only a third of the stars since last shower. We've lost most of our stars. I could count how many stars are in the sky."

Anna rubbed her husband's shoulder,"There is nothing you can do about it. If God wants those stars to fall, they will fall."

Quiry jumped up, sending his desk chair crashing to the floor, and Anna scurring backwards.

Shawn tensed, and instinctively moved infront of Anna.

"Don't talk to me about God, Anna," Quiry boomed as he slammed his fist down on the desk,"God has long ago failed the world by sending fire from heaven to destroy us."

Quiry turned his blazing eyes to Shawn, "Get out! Go take more pictures, but I don't want to see you again tonight." With a huge sigh, Quiry picked up his chair and slumber back into it. He lay his gray head in his hands, and wept.

Shawn turned Anna and guided her back threw the maze of papers until they reached the door.

"You'll be alright here?" he asked glancing at the back room.

Anna smiled,"Of course I will child. Quiry doesn't really mean what he said. After all, God said this would happen."

Shawn searched the woman's face for sincerity. Was she serious? Did Anna really think that her husband believed in God, or was this just an old lady consoling herself?

Anna smiled, revealing pearly white teeth, and bright green eyes. Shawn didn't have the heart to tell hr Quiry would never share her faith.

"I'll be seeing you Miss Anna," he said as he opened the door. Her smile broadened,"See you tomorrow Shawn. You be careful now."

He nodded, hurrying out the door and into the dark streets. He tried not to think about the conversation he had heard before he left, as he climbed the stairs again.

Slowly he eased open the door to the outside world. Fresh air hit him, and he sucked it in. No matter how long he had lived underground, surface air was still better.

His sences were assulted by smoke as the wind shifted. Rutts as deep as canyons and burning craters filled the landscape, like holes in Swiss cheese. Except this wasn't cheese, it was the Earth, his home. The only planet he could survive on. Shawn took a shaky breath, and started taking pictures.

He photographed the craters, the rutts, the fires.

Finally Shawn turned his camera up to the sky. Quickly he shot every visible angle, then checked for blurs.

Nothing. Good, he though as he scanned the photos.

A light blazed across the sky, and Shawn started running for the bunker, but when he looked up he realized it was only a shooting star.

He sighed in relief, and watched as it quickly made its way across the sky. He though back to what Anna said. Maybe God made stars fall for beauty, but only certain people could see it.