Nova Babylon: Nova Babylon, #1 2r7014

Nova Babylon

Nova Babylon, Volume 1

Nathalia Books

Published by Nathalia Publishing, 2021.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

NOVA BABYLON

First edition. August 13, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 Nathalia Books.

ISBN: 978-1393347316

Written by Nathalia Books.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Lessons from the past

The Slum

Fallen Angel Marion

War at home

The training

War in the streets

Wounded pride

The Suqnad fight

Night in the Slum

Peace

Back at HQ

New sword for Mardion

Catia

Silence before the storm

The last fight

Epilogue

Dedication

Further Reading: The Steria

Also By Nathalia Books

About the Author

About the Publisher

Lessons from the past

The classroom smelled musty as usual. Robin laughed at a joke one of her classmates made about their teacher, Mr. Knopf. The voices rose to the point where no one could hear each other. Suddenly there was a loud bang from the front of the room. The sound stopped and everyone looked forward. Mr. Knopf stood in front of the class, his arms folded. The loud bang came from a thick book now on his metal desk. “Well. Now that I have your attention, let's get started. Today we dive into the history of the planet, where most of us come from, Earth.” said Mr, Knopf. A loud sigh echoed through the class. Most of the students were born here on the space station 'Nova Babylon'. Robin was one of the many who sighed. She was actually born on Earth, but had come to Nova Babylon with her parents. She looked at the holographic screen on her table, it showed the earth. She closed her eyes and breathed in the stale air. “Earth was a planet in the first solar system. It was a planet with an atmosphere that allowed humans and other life forms to breathe.” Mr. Knopf continued. Robin opened her eyes and looked back at the screen. She touched the screen with her fingers and enlarged the image. She continued to enlarge the image until she reached her native, Scotland. She enlarged the picture again until she saw the estate where she had grown up. A smile lightly appeared on her mouth as soon as she saw the vast grasslands. In her mind she saw the mountains in the distance. As the river near her house and the paved road, where several vehicles were parked against the side of the road. “Earth had six continents. Can someone tell me which continents they were?” Mr. Knopf asked. Robin didn't even hear the question. She heard the song of a robin very faintly at first, then getting louder. She could feel the cool spring breeze playing with her reddish-brown hair. She closed her eyes again and was back on the planet of her youth.

ROBIN STILL HEARD THE robin, but she also heard the voices of her parents and younger brother. She stood by the white-painted gate. A large red moving van stood in front of the gate. Three men were busy loading the small furniture. "Are you sure we don't have to bring anything else, Robert?" Mathilde asked. She turned her head slightly. her mother and father stood behind her. Her father nodded. “If we forget something, we buy it there. Do not forget Mathilde, we are going to build a new life there!” Robert replied. He pointed up. The moon was already visible, even though it was in the middle of the day. Robin looked at it and felt a pang in her heart. A fit of homesickness came over her before they left. Her father had said it earlier that he wanted to go to one of the spaceships. When he received an offer to come to Nova Babylon, he didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately accepted it without consulting. A small cry could be heard. A green bouncing ball rolled past her to one of the movers. "Rohan, are you all right?" Mathilda asked. Robin didn't have to turn to know her little brother was on the floor. He fell more often. Usually because he's tripping over his own feet. "Yes mama, I get stronger with every fall." Rohan replied. That was what her father always said when he fell again. "You have a strong boy, madam." a mover said. The mover had the green bouncing ball in his hands. Rohan shot past her towards the man who handed him the ball. "If you don't watch out, he'll be a Nova." the mover continued. Rohan looked at his father in surprise. "What is a Nova?" Rohan asked. "That's the police unit on Nova Babylon." told Robert to him. Rohan started to jump. Robin rolled her eyes and was sure her little brother couldn't wait to enroll at the Nova Academy if he was older. "We have to go." It was her mother putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it lightly. "Are you ready little bird?" Mathilda asked. Robin shook her head.

"Is there really no way for me to stay here?" Robin asked softly. Her mother turned and looked straight at her. “I'm sorry little bird, but unfortunately that won't work. But one thing is clear. You have a strong mind.” said Mathilda. She looked away from her mother's face and looked back at the house. A robin sat on the frame of the window where her bedroom was. It looked at her in surprise, then flew away again. She watched the bird before it disappeared from view. She immediately thought of the story her mother told every birthday. That she saw a robin in the window of the hospital during birth, and that she straight away knew what she wanted to name her baby. Robin loved that story and ed it every time she saw a robin. “Come on Robin, stop delaying. We have to go." Said Robert very loud. Her father was already at the cab that would take them to the Sherwood Shuttle. He looked a little exasperated and sighed when she still didn't move. "Little Bird?" the voice of her mother, made known that it was not up for debate. She looked back at her mother, who was now also at the taxi. Her little brother was already in the vehicle. "Come on!" Rohan yelled. She knew she had to give in and walked to the taxi with her head bowed. In the vehicle she watched the house until it disappeared from view. "Are you going to miss it?" Her brother's voice drew her back to the vehicle. She looked straight into his bright green eyes and nodded. "Aren't you?" Robin replied. He shook his head. "Dad says we had no future here." Said Rohan. Robin sighed, it was not surprising that Rohan used their fathers words. Even though he didn't know what those words meant, but she wasn't sure what the words meant either. Why they couldn't have a future on Earth. All she knew was that she was following her father's dream and had to leave home for it. They drove until dark and the Sherwood Shuttle became visible. This shuttle would take her away from her home, Earth. "Can I sit next to the window?" Her little brother was already pushing her aside

as he asked. Robin sat down next to him with a sigh. She looked around the ship with a slight curiosity. It was very much like a normal airplane flying from country to country. She had seen it in a museum with school, but this one was smaller and did not have many seats. They had plenty of legroom. Her mother took her hand. "We will come back one day, little bird." Robin looked past her brother. In the distance she saw a forest line. "When is ever?" Robin asked, her mother did not answer this question. Maybe she didn't know the answer either. Since her mother didn't answer, she just looked forward. A book of the history of Nova Babylon layed on her lap. She had already read it a few times, but closed it after she read the first paragraph. She didn't care that Nova Babylon was floating in the third solar system, much less that it was close to a desert-like planet. It was not the earth and it was not her home. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Welcome aboard the Sherwood shuttle.” The pilot's voice was clammy and he explained clearly what was going to happen. “When we are in the atmosphere of Mars we will move to the speed of light. We will remain in that until we are in the third solar system. I want to wish you all a pleasant flight.” the voice of the pilot continued. Several engers started to clap. Robin looked around in amazement, not knowing why people were so happy with the news that they were leaving Earth. The shuttle started moving and headed for some sort of ramp. The shuttle began to speed up, once at the ramp it went so fast that Robin could not even see the forest border anymore. Just faint colors of green and brown. The shuttle took off in a straight line until they could see the earth from their window.

"ROBIN, ROBIN!" ROHAN tugged on her sleeve. "What's the matter?" Robin looked at him bored. He couldn't see that she didn't feel like looking. Of course not, he was four and full of energy. He pointed fiercely at the window and Robin looked at the blue ball, which was getting smaller and smaller. "Goodbye, I will come back to you." said Robin softly. It was then that she saw something she could never forget, even if she wanted to. A bright light filled the normally black canvas and when the light went out, the earth floated through space in small pieces. A lump formed in her throat. "Mama!" Robin yelled tasting the salt of her tears. The other engers also looked dumbfounded at the space debris, which was once Earth. Robin heard people crying around her and some shouted the names of those who had stayed behind. Not everyone on the Sherwood shuttle went to Nova Babylon to move. She looked at her father, who looked pale at the window and he cursed softly. "Robert, not with the kids present." said Mathilda, while slowly rocked her back and forth. She closed her eyes and buried her face. Her eyes grew heavy and before she knew it she was dreaming of her old house again.

"LITTLE BIRD, LITTLE bird wake up." her mother said. Robin slowly opened her eyes again. "We're here." Mathilda said. Robin looked at her mother, not knowing when she had fallen asleep, and looked around. Rohan sat with his face glued to the window. She quickly looked at her father, who was surrounded by tiny scraps of paper. She just couldn't tell from his face whether he was tense or scared. She had never seen him like this and it scared her. The shuttle jerked to a stop at Nova Babylon. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. We have arrived at the final destination.” This time the pilot's voice was full of emotion. Rohan jumped up and was about to run out of the shuttle, but was stopped by her father. "Calm down tiger." He also looked at her for a moment and sighed. The other engers exited the shuttle. “We will see a lot of new things here, such as Catians. They are the inhabitants of the planet Catia. I would like you to treat them with the same respect as you treat Humans, am I clear?” said Robert fern, Rohan nodded fiercely. Her father looked at her for a moment. "Robin?" It didn’t sound like a question, she sighed and gave him a smile. "That's my girl." said Robert. She looked up from him to see a flight attendant waiting. Her father turned and jumped up quickly."My apologies, ma'am we will disappear out of your hair." He said. The woman gave him a smile. “It doesn't matter, sir. I like to make time when someone wants to teach their children something.” Her mother also got up and pushed her father's back with a flat hand. They walked past the flight attendant out of the shuttle. In the hangar they were met by a large crowd of people and the aliens her father mentioned earlier. The aliens looked a lot like humans, except they had a tail and feline ears. Her mother took her and Rohan's hands and walked them through the crowd. Robin stared at the Catians eyes and found out that the Catians also had feline eyes. A few men in gray uniforms walked along the walls, Rohan points to them. "Are those the Novas, Daddy?" Rohan asked, his father looked at the men and nodded. "You saw that correctly." said Robert. A man looked in their direction

and then approached them. Robin looked at them suspiciously and almost dived into her mother. "Good day." said the man. The man came to a stop at them, Rohan stepped forward and looked at the man's uniform iringly. "Are you a Nova, sir?" Rohan asked, Robin rolled with her eyes. She didn’t understand why he asked it again, their father already gave him the answer. The man looked at him and nodded with a smile. “I am, my name is Jan Nomina. Welcome to Nova Babylon, we don't often see children arriving at the station.” said Jan. Rohan's jaw dropped, this was the first time she had seen him speechless. Jan got down on his knees. "And who are you?" Jan asked, Rohan gasped and a smile appears on his face. "Rohan, Rohan Hood." He said proudly.

JAN'S SOFT LOOK HARDENED. "Hood?" Jan asked, Jan looked up at her father. "Not entirely coincidental, Robert and Mathilda Hood?" Jan asked again. Robin saw her father tighten. "And what if it does?" The words had left Robin’s mouth before she realized it. Jan looked at her and studied her carefully with his poisons green eyes. "Then I have to separate you from your parents, young lady." Jan answered. Her mother gasped as two Novas approached her. A few arms enclosed her and a few others pulled Robin away from her. Jan standing close to Rohan, held him by the arm. Rohan looked at the hand on his arm in surprise and pain. " Why? Let me go!” Mathilda yelled. Robin looked around anxiously. The great crowd had formed a circle around them. "Robert and Mathilda Hood, you have been arrested on charges of blowing up planet earth." Jan answered. Her mother's mouth fell open and she looked in amazement at Jan, who was still squeezing Rohan's arm. Rohan's face twitched a little in pain and now began to pull it gently. "You don't have any evidence for that, so let us and our children go." said Mathlida, Robin's gaze went straight to her mother. She stood there with a straight back. Jan walked over to her and pulled Rohan with him. "I have all the evidence I need to detain you and your husband, ma'am." Jan said. Rohan now started to pull harder and he came free, quickly he ran away from Jan to his father. Robin saw Jan pull out his gun, point it at Rohan and pull the trigger. The sound echoed in her ears.

"ROBIN HOOD!" THE VOICE of Mr. Knopf rung in her ears. Robin looked up from her screen, Mr. Knopf was standing next to her table. His eyes shoot fire. "Where were you with your thoughts?" Mr. Knopf asked, she quickly glanced at her screen. The image of Scotland was on display again. "Back home, sir." Robin said. Mr. Knopf looked at her screen and nodded. "Well, then you can write a paper about it." Robin looked up, startled. "About Scotland?" Robin asked and he nodded. "Is something wrong?" Mr. Knopf asked, she shook her head quickly. "No, Mr. Knopf." Robin replied. "Don't forget to say that your parents destroyed the planet." said someone in the class. Her gaze darkened and looked straight at the person who had made the comment. Her eyes immediately met the pale purple eyes of Mardion Lionel. "My parents were never convicted." Robin snapped at him, Mr. Knopf raised his hand to prevent further arguments. "Robin Hood is right and you should know better." He addressed Mardion. “Your father may be the leader of Nova Babylon, but you remain one of my students and so you too get to make a paper, Prince Lionel. A country of your choice and let's say 36864 words.” The two looked at the man in surprise. "When should it be finished?" Mardion was the first to speak. "Next week." Mr. Knopf replied. Robin wanted to argue, but the bell rang and class was over.

The Slum

“H ow can Mr. Knopf do this to me? So many words about Scotland!” Yelled Robin, she heard a collective sigh behind her. She turned and looked at her three friends, all three of them folded their arms and looked straight at her. "Well Robin, you weren't paying attention." Robin looked at the girl with black hair and green eyes. "Tini. I knows that, but still." replied Robin, one of the others gave her a guilty nod. “We will help you. We have not received homework, there is nothing that the Fallen Angels do not do together.” said Johanna, Robin sighed and looked at Johanna whose blue eyes twinkled mischievously. Now everyone was looking at the last angel in the group, Ruby, clenching her fists. "That Lionel, he shouldn't have told you that." Ruby raised her fists and Robin nodded approvingly. She straightened her back as she had seen her mother do to Jan. “As a prince he should have known better, but now I really feel like going to the Slum.” Robin said, the Fallen Angels nodded their heads one by one. "Shouldn't we bring apples then?" asked Tini, Robin shook her head. “The Novas are now on every corner of the street. Unfortunately we can't steal anything, because they were lucky yesterday.” All four of the girls laughed, they thought about the failed escape attempt after stealing apples from the local supermarket. "They will understand that we keep quiet." Johanna was, as usual, the wisest of the Fallen Angels. As Tini's father called them when the four of them first went to church where he works, the name then stuck. "Excuse me?" said someone, the four turned and looked into a pair of pale purple eyes. The eyes looked a lot like Mardion Lionels' eyes, but they belonged to his younger sister Miala. "What do you want?" Robin looked steadily at the girl, who answered her question with a smile. "I heard what my brother said to you and that's why I come to apologize for my brother's behavior." The girl bowed her head slightly so that the light blond strands of her hair fell forward. Robin snorted through her nose and glanced at the others, who nodded. Miala was a nice girl, a little too nice for her own good. "Where is that cowardly brother of yours now?" snapped Robin towards her. Miala's head shot up. "I." Miala started. Robin immediately saw the uncertainty in the girl's attitude. "You

have to let him do his own battles, Miala." Tini took a step forward, Robin knew she knew her best, because they share a room in the Locksey girls' house. The others nodded in agreement. Miala moved back slowly. “I know that, he doesn't even know I'm here.” said Miala softly.

"MIALA?" MARDION CAME around the corner. "What are you doing here with them?" He didn't even look at them as he talked about them. Slight anger bubbled up in Robin, she clenched her fists. Miala saw this and folded her arms. “I'm cleaning up your mess. Father has told you several times that you should be nicer to others.“ She said fern, but he looked at Robin and then back at his sister. “This girls here is a convicted criminal. She brings nothing but grief where she goes. Just ask her parents. ” He started. Robin took a step forward and hit his stomach with her clenched fist. He collapsed, gasping for breath. "You can say as much as you want about me, but you leave my parents out." Robin snapped at him. With anger in his eyes, he slowly got to his feet. "You will pay for this." Mardion said, she gestured to be waiting. He jumped forward, but she easily avoided him and yawned. He let out a cry of frustration and came back to her. This time she stopped, but caught his fist with a flat hand. "Rich boy, give it up. The Novas train for years to keep up with me. Don't think you can do it in a few minutes.” The other Angels laughed and walked towards them. “Come on Robin. We promised Mother Marion that we would be home on time.” said Johanna. Robin shrugged. "And I very rarely break a promise." She turned away from him and walked of the schoolgrounds with her friends. "You can say he tried."said Robin proudly. "Robin, you shouldn't be so cocky" said Johanna, Robin looked at her and shrugged. "You may be right." Robin sighed. Robin looked ahead and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. The white sun gave off a lot of heat as usual, but thanks to the transparent membrane that surrounded the spaceship, most of the heat was transformed into power. "Pff, I understand why Catia is a desert planet." Robin complained. Ruby nodded as they ed two Novas. The girls waved at them with a smile, and a little insecure the men waved back. "Poor bastards." The others nodded in agreement with Johanna. They walked on and, as they had predicted, encountered many Novas. Robin recognized one of the Novas and they decided to have a little chat with him. "Are you doing things again, aren't you?" said the Nova. The girls shake their heads, Robin folded her arms. "We wouldn't dare." A thin smile appeared on the face of the young man they had spoken to. “I mean it Robin. Stay low-key as much as possible. If not for yourself, then for Mother Marion.” said the young man. Robin took a small step forward. no one was allowed to speak a bad word

about Mother Marion. "Are you threatening her?" Robin asked. Johanna put a hand on her shoulder. “That's not what Karl meant, Robin. He says others might do that.” Robin nodded and took another step back. "I'm sorry, I had a bad day at school.” said Robin, if that explained her bad behavior. Karl shrugged and smilled. "Fair enough. However, there is nothing I can do about it. You know my heart goes out to Mother Marion. Even though I was not placed in the Locksey house for girls because I am a boy. My sister could go to her when my mother was ill.” said Karl, Johanna nodded. "How is Nora?" she asked. “Can always be better. She is now taking care of my mother, while I guard the streets against the four of you.” he replied. The girls shrugged and the five of them laughed, his colleague looked their way bored. "Nova Karl, get yourself together and get to work." She snapped at her, he nodded to the colleague. “You have heard the lady, Fallen Angels of the Locksey house. It is time for you to move on. Give Mother Marion my regards.” Karl said to them. "We do Nova Karl." they said in choir and they walked away. "It was nice that we bumped into him, wasn't it, Johanna?" Tini drilled her elbow into Johanna 's side, who pushed her aside in response. "We all know you have a crush on him." Robin added. Johanna shook her head in denial, Ruby jumped from behind. "We're not saying it's a bad choice, but he's a Nova now." Johanna shrugged. “Everyone has their own talents. We steal from the rich shopkeepers and then give it to the poor in the Slum.” Robin nodded and turned her gaze to the gate that marked the beginning of this neighborhood. It was actually the space station's engine room and was home to all the machines that kept them alive. "Come on." Robin beckoned to the others and ran to the gate, which consisted of a rusty railing, crooked in its hinges. They slipped through the gate and entered Nova Babylon's tented camp, the colored canvases hung between the gigantic machines. Small children ran through the narrow streets of the camp. When these saw the fallen angels, they ran towards them screaming. Robin felt her heart leap for joy, she gave the children a smile and patted some of them through their hair. "Do you have apples with you again?" some off them asked, Robin shook her head. "The Novas had a good day, yesterday." The children lowered their heads somewhat disappointed. “It doesn't matter. We really appreciate what you do for us.” An old woman stumbled over to them too. "Arabella, how are you?" Robin asked, Arabella

waved the question away. “You know that I don't like these kinds of formalities. I am doing fine." said Arabella, Tini shook her head. “You're lying. My father said your health is deteriorating.” Arabella glared at her. "Pastor Goberd should interfere in his own affairs. He should have stretched his back, when he was told you couldn't live with him from that backward church of his.” said Arabella a little bite cranky. Tini lowered her head “I am lucky to see him, even if it is only on Sundays.” said Tini. Arabella's eyebrow shot up, but she went no further. “Widow Walker just bottled some of her creations. Just go to her.” said Arabella to change the subject. The girls walked away from the woman and the group of children, further into the camp.

NEAR THE WIDOW WALKER'S tent, a smoke of various spices and alcohol came their way. "We're too young for the brews," said Johanna, while the others three received a tin cup in their hands. Robin nudged her friend. “Come on, Fitzwarin. Live a little, one drink doesn't hurt and then we go home, because I still have a paper to write about Scotland.” said Robin, Johanna shook her head with a sigh and took her tin cup from the Widow and drank it. "Don't you really want another one?" Widow Walker had a filled bottle of her brew in her hands. The girls all shoke their heads. “No thank you. It was wonderful, but we still have homework.” said Ruby, the woman nodded gently. "Yes you have to do your best there, girls. You don't want to end here.” She gestured to the tents around her. Robin shrugged slightly and started to say something, but was stopped by Tini. "We will see you again soon."Tini said quickly, Widow Walker nodded and then walked back into her tent. Robin glanced at Tini and gestured for what was there, Tini waved her head. “I know you wanted to say that this is not too bad compared to prison. But , this isn't much better. These people literally cannot go any other way.” reminded Tini her. Robin nodded and sighed. “You don't have to remind me of that. My parents were murdered in prison for that fact and my little brother...” She swallowed the last part of her sentence. They walked past the tents again, but this time out of the camp. At the gate they were again met by Arabella. "You are always welcome here, that." the woman cackled, Ruby took the woman's slightly wrinkled hands. “It is thanks to you that I have my sisters. Why would I ever forget you?” The woman pulled her hands free and turned around.

THEY WALKED THE STREETS of Nova Babylon. The transparent membrane that provided the heat and light slowly turned into a milky substance, making it dark. The street lights flickered one by one. "Mother Marion, would be disappointed since we didn't go home right away." Johanna bit her thumbnail nervously, Robin looked at her and sighed. "Don't worry. When we tell her that we have been to the Slum.” A siren interrupted her, the sharp sound echoed through the streets. The girls looked up in surprise, they hadn't heard the siren before. A spaceship flew over them, they looked at it in surprise. It was not normal for spaceships to fly through the skies of Nova Babylon. "What's going on?" Robin asked. Several objects fell from the ship. "To the ground!" Johanna yelled. The girls all huddled together, holding their arms above their heads. Enormous explosions were heard, the smell of methane gas entered their noses. "Is it over?" Tini asked, hopefully, there were a few more explosions in the distance. "Do we still have to answer?" Ruby exclaimed sarcasm. "Johanna!" Nova Karl's voice made them look up, he came running to them. “What are you doing here on the street? You have to take cover quickly.” He pulled Johanna to her feet. “Go to the church where Tini's father works. You must be safe there.” There was a lot of crackling from his radio. “Nova Karl, the neighborhood near you is in ruins. I am now in the Kingsway and only a few houses are standing there.” said a cracking voice. Robin took a few steps away from the others. “You go to church. I'll see you there.” she said, before she turned and ran away from them. She could still hear Nova Karl cursing loudly, but she didn't pay much attention to it.

SHE HAD TO GO HOME.

Fallen Angel Marion

She ran into her street , Karl's colleague hadn't lied. Most of the houses looked a lot like dented cardboard boxes. She felt her heart tighten at every house she ed. Finally she came into the street where the Locksey house stood, she could feel heat from the multiple fires coming out of the beat houses. She never looked at it, for she suspected the worst with every fire she felt on her skin. Finally she saw the house she had lived in for the past nine years. She quickened her pace until she reached the small steps that led to the front door. The roof had come down. She couldn't smell smoke, so there was no fire in the house. A little desperate, she put her foot on the bottom step of the stairs. Still, she climbed further up the stairs and pushed open the front door with great difficulty. "Mother Marion?" Robin yelled. There was no sound, except for the loud creaking of the protesting wood. She walked further into the house and looked around carefully. "Gwen, Eiria?" she yelled. The two young girls, who stayed here temporarily, did not answer either. She walked through what was once the living room. The furniture was covered with a thick layer of dust. Again she called the names to get the same result. She carefully pushed aside a few wooden beams above the cellar hatch. She bent down to open the hatch. "Robin?!" She turned to the person who had called her. It was Mardion walking into the living room. She frowned and sighed loudly. "What are you doing here?" Robin asked, he didn’t answer but instead pointed to her. “I can ask you that too. Why aren't you in church?” She shrugged and looked around. “This is my house. I wanted to make sure Mother Marion and the young girls who should have been here got away.” said Robin. Mardion sighed and shook his head. "And all the while I thought you were heartless." said Mardion. She did not respond and leaned over to the hatch, she put her hand on it. "While you're here, can you help me?" said Robin. His footsteps came closer, He entered her view when he stooped. His hands, like hers, searched for a way to raise the shutter.

"GOTCHA." MARDION PUSHED open the shutter with one hand. Immediately two redheads protruded from the hole. "Robin!" They yelled happy. Gwen ran out of the basement and straight into her arms. “Is Mother Marion with you?” Robin asked when, Gwen let her go. Eiria wasn't that affectionate yet, and she was watching them from a distance. She slowly shook her head. “She talked about getting something else. We were not allowed to follow her, but then there was a loud bang.” said Eiria, Robin looked at the girl and immediately her eyes began to search.She got up. “Come on, let's go to church. There Johanna and the others are waiting for us.” Robin said, hoping, the girls were not noticing the fear in her voice. Robin looked at Mardion for a moment and he nodded. "It's safer there." He said. The girls looked at him and nodded slowly. Mardion got up and held out his hand to Eiria, the four-year-old girl took it on hesitantly. Mardion slowly pulled her along. Robin followed him to the front door, she looked at the stairs for no reason and suddenly she saw Mother Marion lying under the rubble. Robin gasped in shock, Mardion turned and saw where she was looking. She wanted to walk over to it, but he stopped her on her shoulder with a single hand. “Leave me." Mardion said. She said nothing, but he didn't wait for an answer either. Mardion was already walking towards Mother Marion. She turned away from them and walked out with the two girls. A moment later he ed them. She looked at him hopefully, but he shook his head. The two girls burst into tears, she cursed softly. “Why didn't she stay with them? What did she have to save if necessary?” She asked him, he reached out his hand. In that hand he held a green bouncing ball, she took it from him carefully. It was her brother's bouncing ball. Tears came to her eyes, but before she escaped, she swallowed them quickly. She had to be strong for the girls, who stood next to her and also for the other Fallen Angels. "We're going." said Robin loudly, quickly putting the bouncing ball in her zip pocket and took the girls' hands. She did not wait for Mardion to move and pulled the girls with her. She heard him run after her for a moment. "I'm sorry." Mardion said, she gave him a puzzled look. “Why are you sorry? You can't help the fact that she's dead.” Said Robin dry. He looked at her in shock, this was not the answer he expected. But she could not do otherwise. He shouldn't think she was weak, nobody could see it.

THEY WALKED INTO THE street where the church was. "You see there it is." Robin pointed, she started to walk a little faster. They were almost there when sirens sounded through the streets again. She looked up and saw more lights from spaceships again, she looked at Mardion and he nodded at her. He leaned down and picked up Eiria, she did the same with Gwen. Together they ran to church, the doors were closed. She pushed them both with their free arms, but the doors were locked. She clenched her hand and hit the oak door. "Let us in!" Robin yelled. Explosions were audible again and were getting closer. She looked at Mardion, who was now also pounding hard on the door. “We have children with us. Open that damn door.” Mardion now also hammered against the door. Robin heard the key turn in the hole before the heavy door opened slowly, an uncertain face of Father Goberd became visible. Robin didn't wait a moment and put all of her weight against the door. The door flew open now and they could enter. "Robin!" Tini and Johanna ran to her. "Where have you been?" Johanna asked, Robin put Gwen down again and put a hand on her head. "What does it look like." Robin answered, with a bit of sarcasm. Johanna looked at Gwen and gave her a warm smile. Robin walked away from them and sat on an empty bench, far away from the others. She heard Mardion softly inform the Fallen Angels, she unzipped her bag and took the ball out. She looked at the green color, the ball was always on her bedside table. Ever since she moved into the Locksley house. It had rolled over to her after her brother was shot by Jan Nomina and she picked it up, nobody paid much attention to that. Only Mother Marion had noticed when she came to pick her up from the Novas office. Mother Marion often noticed things that others would not see or hear. Robin closed her hand around the object and squeezed it gently. "Robin?” Startled, she put the ball back in the pocket where it came from. It was Ruby standing next to her. Ruby looked nervous. "May I?" Ruby asked and pointed to the sofa, Robin nodded and Ruby came sitting next to her. "You know what Mother Marion meant to us, so if you need to let go of your emotions, do it." Ruby said. Robin nodded slowly, then looked around uncertainly. Several people looked at them. "Why do people look at us?" Robin asked. “They don't look at us. They look at me.” Said Ruby, Robin looked at her a little surprised. "There are rumors that Catians are behind the attack." Ruby continued, now Robin understood. Ruby was a Catian and therefore she was often looked at with

the neck, as a result. Robin often had to the flight attendant's words after her father spoke to them about the Catians.

THE EXPLOSIONS SUBSIDED and everyone prepared for the night ahead, Johanna and Tini helped the nuns distribute soup and blankets. Robin and Ruby kept their distance from this, Mardion came to them after he finished reading a story to the children. “You better get some rest while you still can. Of course we don't know when new bombs will fall on us.” said Mardion, Ruby lowered her head. "Please, let's hope it's not Catians behind it." Ruby prayed, Mardion went to his knees. “And even if they are. Nobody would blame you for that.” he said. Ruby put her ears flat on her head. “They do. Have you taken a good look around you? There is a reason the Catians and the humans are separate. More than usual." She snapped at him. Mardion looked around for a moment and sighed. “You are right. I hadn't noticed that yet.” He itted, Ruby nodded en turner her head away. Robin wrapped the blanket around herself one more time and sat down a bit more comfortably on the hard wooden bench. She looked around for a moment, several people and Catians were already sleeping or talking softly to each other. Mardion sat down next to her, she looked at him a little surprised. "Are you okay?" Mardion asked. Robin wanted to answer honestly, but that was impossible. She had lost her home today for the second time in her life, but she nodded and looked away from him. Johanna and Tini walked up and they sat on the floor in front of the bench. "Didn't you get a blanket?" Johanna looked questioningly at Mardion, who nodded. "But one of the kids was cold, so I gave mine away." Mardion replied. Johanna wanted to get up to get him a new blanket, but he motioned for it not to be necessary. Johanna shrugged and let her head fall against Tini's shoulder, and fell asleep. Tini, who was sitting with her back against a pillar, also fell asleep. Robin didn't have to look sideways to see that Ruby had curled up into a ball and was lying next to her. Robin just looked sideways at Mardion, who took in the church. “It's beautiful in here. There is also a church near the town hall, but it is decorated with rich paintings and statues of gold.” Mardion said with amusement, he shook his head in disbelieve. "Here it is much simpler and that just means that the faith is a bit purer." he continued. Robin also looked around for a moment. She had been to this church several times with Tini and the other

Fallen Angels, she did not see the beauty in it. Just a building with statues of the Virgin Mary, her eyes grew heavy and she felt herself slowly sinking.

THERE WAS A KNOCK ON the heavy door, Robins eyes flew open. She lay with her head on Mardion's lap, she came up quickly. Pastor Goberd hurried to the door. New daylight came through the stained-glass windows, he opened the door and immediately jumped to the side so that two men could enter the church. The men watched the people waking up, Mardion got up. "Father?" he said. The man he spoke to breathed a sigh of relief. “I was starting to fear the worst, boy. Don't want to scare me like that anymore.” the man said to Mardion, who nodded. " This was the only time, father. I promise you." Mardion replied. Robin looked at Richard Lionel. She'd seen him before, but never compared Mardion to him. Perhaps it was because the two only had the same eye color. The other man also glanced at the father and son, then looked her way. Robin gasped, he looked a lot like Jan Nomina, only he was a bit older. “Dear residents of Nova Babylon, it is safe for the time being. The attack has been claimed by the Catians of the planet Catia.” addressed Johannes Nomina the occupants. Immediately there were looks at the Catians in the church, Richard had seen this too. “As Johannes Nomina said, folks. It is the Catians of Catia, not the ones who lost their homes in the attack like you.” Richard said. One of the men sprang up. “But they can still go home. We can't.” he yelled. Meanwhile, he pointed to Ruby. Now Robin sprang to her feet. "My sister was raised by a human and lost her in the attack." Robin yelled, to defend Ruby. The man walked over to her now. "Don't compare that alien to us, girl." He was now right in front of her, she could feel his breath on her skin. Robin clenched her fists, but she did nothing and straightened her back. “Like I said sire, my sister, like you, has lost someone she loves dearly. So show a little respect.” "Hood, stand down!" Johannes was already coming to them. The man had a furious twinkle in his eye. “Hood, so it was your parents who were responsible for the fact that we have nowhere to go? That's why you side with this alien.” he said. It turned black before her eyes.

THE NEXT THING ROBIN saw again was the man lying on the floor bleeding and two strong arms holding her down."Calm down first." That was Mardion's voice. Why was he still here? "Let go of me!" Robin yelled, Mardion pushed her closer. "Do you know how much effort it took to get you off him?" Mardion replied. She looked at the man and tears began to flow down her cheeks, he released her and she turned to him. Robin rested her head on his shoulder and began to sob hard. Mardion folded his arms around her, and she also felt the hands of her friends on her shoulder. Robin sat defeated on the wooden bench, her friends sat around her.Mardion was sitting with the man she had just beaten up, a few nuns dabbed the blood from the wounds and a few others bandaged the wounds. The man regained consciousness and glared at her, she was ashamed to look at him. Richard knelt by her. "Are you okay?" Richard asked. Robin wanted to nod, but when she looked straight at the man, she saw that he already knew the answer. Finally she shook her head. Her hand went to her pocket where the ball was still in it, she took it out and showed him. "Mother Marion would have been in the basement with Eiria and Gwen if she hadn't gone to get this." Robin sobbed, he looked at the ball. "Do you know why she risked her life for this?" he asked and she nodded. "It was my little brother's favorite toy. It's all I got from him." Robin tolled him. Richard sighed, Johannes also ed them. “I that story. Shame and that because of my own son.” Johannes said angerly, she looked at him. "That won't bring them back to me now that the home has been destroyed." Robin looked at her friends, who also lowered their heads. They had no home now, not even Tini could move in with her father because the church forbade it. Suddenly she had an idea and she looked at Johannes. “I have read in history that in the past civilians were also called upon to help with the fight. Is that going to happen now?" Robin asked, Johannes looked at Richard and he nodded slowly. "I'm just not sure if the four of you will come into with it." Richard said, before Johannes started to laugh. They looked at him now. “Well Richard, these Fallen Angels as they call themselves, I think are your best assets, I need an extra pair of hands to see how many times this girl has made it difficult for the Novas.” Said Johannes, Richard lowered his head with a sigh."That's what I mean." Robin looked at him pleadingly, then he nodded. "Welcome Fallen Angels to Nova Babylon's Army." Richard sighed.

GWEN AND EIRIA RAN to them. "There is a lovely lady here who wants to take us in until we can live with Mommy again." Gwen said, Robin looked at the woman who gave a quick wave. She knew the woman. Like Mother Marion, she ran a home for children. The girls ran to the woman without saying another word, Johanna watched them with a sigh. "Well that has also been resolved."

War at home

Johannes walked in front of the girls as they ed through the gate of the nova's headquarters. Several Novas stopped what they were doing and looked at the girls, who often made their lives miserable. Nova Karl came up to the group laughing. “What am I hearing now? Are the Fallen Angels coming to reinforce our troops?” He said still laughing. Johannes cleared his throat. "You know the girls personally, I see, Nova Karl." it was an observation, not a question. Nova Karl nodded. “That's right, sir. My sister was allowed to stay in the Locksey house for a while.” Nova Karl replied, Johannes nodded. “Then you will be part of their training team from now on. You teach them how to handle weapons.” Johannes order, Nova Karl bowed his head and nodded. Johannes beckoned them along. “Then I will now show you your bunkers. Your training starts tomorrow and do me a favor, don't fight my agents.” In the latter he looked at Robin. She couldn't answer him, because someone came up behind him, who until then had only appeared in her nightmares. " Father, what is this?"Jan looked at the girls, his gaze fixed on Ruby. "Why is that Catian here?" he yelled, Johannes raised his hand. “These are volunteers, Jan. These girls are here to help us.” Johannes said calmly, bur fern. Jan's eyes were on a thunderstorm and Robin stept in front of Ruby. “She's a good fighter. You will not be bothered by her, Mr Nomina.” Robin straightened her back and stared at him, hoping he would recognize her. Jan didn't look at her, he only had eyes for his father. “In all the years that the Novas have existed, no Catian has ever been a member of this force. And now you want to break through this tradition?” Jan said loudly so everyone could hear. Johannes sighed. "One day you'd understand, my son. Right now we are at war and can always use extra hands, these girls signed up and I honestly see no reason to refuse them. I knew the person who raised at least two out of four personally and know that they have a good heart.” Johannes motioned for the girls to follow him. They did, but as she walked by, Jan took Ruby's arm. “You can follow the rest, this one turns around and walks back home.” He said to Robin walked to him. Ruby ripped her arm free and put her ears flat on her head. Jan took his gun from its holster and pointed it at her, Robin reacted quickly, punching him in the face with a fist.

JAN’S HAND MOVED SLOWLY to his nose, which was now dented. Clearly Robin had broken it. “You attacked a Nova, how dare you!" Jan yelled. Jan looked at her, his eyes full of rage. She looked back at him with the same emotion. “Jan, go wash your face. Hood, you've already broken your promise to me.” Johannes interrupted them. Jan looked first at his father and then at her. "Hood?" He said with disbelieve, Robin nodded and took Ruby's arm. Robin drew her with her and let Nova Karl and Johannes lead them further into headquarters. They did not pay attention to the Novas who were gazing, Robin did hold Ruby tight and anyone who moved the wrong toe would have a hard time. Johannes stopped at a small building on the edge of the site. There were several doors in the building, probably leading to several rooms. “You're lucky. Each room has a maximum of four barracks, so you can stay together.” Explained Johannes to them, the girls looked at the building in amazement. It was completely made of wood. Not like the main building, which was made of white rock. “Don't look so surprised. Where else did you think you would end up? In a five-star hotel?” Johannes asked, three of the four girls looked at him in surprise. "What is a hotel?" they asked, he waved it away. "That was something of earth." He said before he walked away. Robin nodded for a moment, she knew that. Then looked back at the building. Not many of these buildings were on the property. "Do all Novas stay here?" Robin asked, Nova Karl burst out laughing. “No. We go home at the end of each day, that is, if there is still a home left standing.” Nova Karls voice darkened. Johanna looked a little sad when she heard it, but opened the nearest door anyway. "Where are the bathrooms?" Tini asked, Nova Karl pointed to a small building attached to it. They walked through the door one by one into the room and looked around. Robin was the last to step inside. She looked at the four beds, facing each other two by two. Each bed had its own reading light on a bedside table, she sat down on the bed closest to the door. "Johanna, you and I make the beds at the door. Tini and Ruby you take the other two.” Said Robin, will pointing at the beds. Nova Karl entered and while Ruby and Tini sat down without hesitation on the beds Robin had pointed out to them. “This has always amazed me. You follow her blindly.”

He pointed to Robin, Johanna shook her head. “We don't follow her blindly, but she brings out the best or the worst in us. It's just how you look at it. But because of the collision just now, it's just better for Ruby to take the back bed. Should something happen at night, Robin and I are light sleepers, so we take the front beds.” Johanna said and Nova Karl looked at Tini. "And you?" Tini shrugged. "There are no other beds left, so I'll take what's left." she said. He thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Sounds logical. I hadn't looked at it that way yet.” He itted. Robin took the bouncing ball from her vest and put it on the bedside table.

"I'M GETTING HUNGRY." Nova Karl said, he got up from Johanna's bed. Robin now played with the ball by throwing it up and down, she looked at him and her stomach started to growl. Everyone was looking at her now and she sighed, being hungry was not a sign of weakness. She started to get up, but changed her mind. "Is Jan also in the canteen?" Robin asked, Nova Karl nodded slowly and sighed. “You just have to ignore him. He's nothing more than a bully.” Robin shook her head, Jan was more than a bully. Ruby jumped up from her bed. “I'm going too, I will not let him win and certainly not when food is involved.” Robin gave Ruby a smile and stood up. They followed Nova Karl with the others, when he took them into the stone building. They didn't look up or around, because they had been here before. On the right side of the building were the one-day cells and they had been there several times before, until Mother Marion came to pick them up. This time they went up the stairs, which led them to the next floor. Immediately the smell of roast meat and steamed vegetables entered their noses. The hall was completely made of the same white stone as the outside of the building, even the tables where several Novas sat were made of the material. They walked past the tables to an opening, there was the kitchen. Robin tried not to look at the angry looks of the people who were already eating. "Are these the girls I've heard so much about before?" An elderly lady standing in the opening of the kitchen approached Nova Karl and nodded. “Completely correct Mrs Puidreach. These are the Fallen Angels and they volunteered to lend us a hand.” he explained, Mrs. Puidreach looked at them and nodded. "Are they staying in that dilapidated shed?" she asked, he nodded again and Mrs. Puidreach disappeared for a moment. “Go back there, girls. I will come to you with food and new clothes.” Mrs. Puidreach said, waving them away. Robin glanced at the others and realized they were still wearing their school uniforms. "Thank you, ma'am." Johanna bowed her head and the woman waved it away. "It's not to serve you girl, but I don't want any trouble in my cafeteria." Mrs. Puidreach wasn't looking at Johanna, but at Robin. She raised her shoulders and turned. Behind her, was Jan leaning against the wall. Robin stiffened for a moment, but was pulled out of the cafeteria by Nova Karl. "What do you have with Jan and he with you?" He asked. Robin just shrugged her shoulders and held him to tell too. "Not here." said Tini put a hand on her arm and she nodded.

"OKAY. IS SOMEONE GOING to tell me what's going on?” said Nova Karl. They were back in the bedroom, waiting for Mrs. Puidreach. He leaned against the wooden wall. Robin sighed and looked at her hands, which were in her lap. "Are you open to rumors?" She asked him. He narrowed his gaze."Do you mean the rumor that Jan shot a boy of four years old?" Robin nodded and he raised his shoulders. “I don't know. It's quite an incredulous story.” He said after a while. Robin picked up the bouncing ball and threw it at him, he caught it with ease. "The bouncing ball you are holding now, belonged to my little brother." Robin told him, he looked at the toy. "I didn't know you have a little brother?" he said softly and she nodded."I don't have a little brother anymore." she said. Nova Karls eyes widened and he looked at the bouncing ball. Robin could see from him that he didn't know how to respond. "Were you there?" Nova Karl asked, Robin nodded. “It was the last time I saw my family. A few days later my parents were murdered in prison.” Robin said, with dry eyes. he closed his eyes and sighed. "And that without any evidence?" Nova Karl said angerly, he opened his eyes again and stared at her. "It was nine years ago and you are now..." “Seventeen. I was two years older than Rohan.” Robin completed his sentence. Nova Karl pushed away from the wall and walked over to her. He crouched down by her and reached out to her with the hand that held the bouncing ball, she took it and put it back. “I know that you don’t want to hear it, but I am sorry for your lose.” Nova Karl said.

THERE WAS A KNOCK ON the door, Johanna walked over and opened it. Mrs. Puidreach and a kitchen assistant entered the room, in her hands she held a tray with five plates from which the warm fumes came from. The kitchen maid was holding a pile of clothes, Johanna quickly picked up the pile and the kitchen maid ran away. Tini, in turn, took the tray from Mrs. Puidreach. “We know you're not doing it for us, but thank you for the food anyway. It smells delicious.” Tini said, Mrs. Puidreach nodded and sighed. “Have a nice meal, girls and I hope the clothes fit you. Sorry about before, but I already saw Jan coming towards you in one of his moods. And I know from hearsay that especially you, girl, don't shy away from a fight.” She looked back at Robin and Robin nodded. "Maybe that's because I haven't lost a fight there yet." Robin said proudly, Mrs. Puidreach gave her a smile. “Then it's about time. Then the person can put some sense into your brain.” said Mrs. Puidreach and turned, left the room. They sat on the floor in a circle and carefully ate the hot stew. Then Karl apologized, he talked about having to prepare some things for tomorrow. Johanna sighed as he left the room. "Should we leave you alone next time?" Ruby cocked her head and Johanna's face slowly turned red, Tini got up and stretched for a moment. “Let's try on the clothes and then take a shower. We undoubtedly smell.” Tini said with smile on her face. The others nodded in agreement and not much later several pieces of clothing flew across the room. "Robin, try on this green T-shirt." said Johanna, it flew through the air and she caught it. Robin pulled the garment over her head and pulled out her red hair. "It fits well and I can move freely in it." Robin said, immediately a skirt in a slightly darker green flew against her face. She narrowed her eyes at Tini, who was completely clad in a dark red top and skirt. She had put on brown stockings to match, Robin quickly put on the skirt and nodded. "I'm going to wash myself." said Robin. Robin walked to the door and looked back quickly, but everyone was wearing something. She quickly slipped through the door and sighed with relief when she was outside again.

"HOOD!" SOMEBODY YELLED, Robin looked up in alarm and saw that Jan was standing in front of her with a gun out. "So we see each other again after nine years and from what I have heard you have not been idle." Jan said, Robin looked around for a moment. If she jumped away, he might hit the girls in the room. "There's nowhere to run, girl." Jan said with a smile on his face, Robin swore. He saw that she was looking for a way out. He got closer and closer, and she straightened her back. “Weren't my brother and my parents enough, Jan? Do you still need me?” She asked, trying to sound brave. He got a mean grin on his face. "Your little brother was an accident, girl." She shrugged her shoulders. "Was it an accident? You pointed your gun at him and pulled the trigger. Don't forget that I was there.” Robin succeeded in sounding brave, the grin on his face disappeared. "How can I forget?" Jan replied. Robin took a step back, but her back touched the door. She knocked it gently, first five fast once and then three times fast. The sign that the others were not allowed to open the door, they had come up with this code as little girls, when they did something that was not allowed. Jan studied her, and the look in his eyes didn't bode well.“Nine years and look how you grew up. You're seventeen now if I'm not mistaken.” The look in his eyes didn’t go away, she nodded. “That's right. So what?" "Jan, lower that weapon!" Both looked aside, startled. Johannes came running and Jan quickly lowered his weapon. "Father." Jan said quickly, Johannes eyes shot fire. “What are you doing.? She's here to help and then you point a gun at her. How should she trust you in the fight?” Johannes yelled, Robin took a step forward. “Don't worry about that. I've lost confidence in him for nine years.” Johannes sighed and shook his head. "You two are on the same side, act like it." Jan put his gun back away, then folded his arms. "Is that so, father? I seem to her parents paying tribute to the Catians and she now to someone of their kind.” Robin took a step forward. "That has never been proven, and Ruby is my sister." she said angerly and Johannes nodded. “She's right about her parents, Jan. It has never been proven and that about Ruby. She never had a Catian education, but a human one. She actually knows almost nothing about her

own race, other than what she sees in the mirror. So let it go Jan and focus your energy on training your men. We're at war, son!” said Johannes. Johannes wanted to run away when something visibly shot into him. “Oh and Jan, this girl now has a rank. So you no longer address them with Catian or girl, but with Angel and then the first name. Am I clear?"Johannes asked ,Jan nodded and walked away cursing. They both watched him. The door was opened and the heads of Tini, Johanna and Ruby stuck out. “What's the matter? Why weren't we allowed to come out?” one of them asked. Robin nodded in the direction of Jan, who had not yet reached the main building. She breathed a sigh of relief, she could collapse to the floor, but instead she straightened up and stuck her chin out.

"I WAS GOING TO WASH." Robin said and she strode away and did not dare to let her tears when she had turned lock on the shower cubicle.

The training

Something made of metal was hit hard on something. Startled, the girls shot up. "Get up, sleep-beautiful, it's time for a light breakfast and then time to run a few laps around the site." said the voice of Mrs. Puidreach. Robin rubbed sleep from her eyes, Mrs. Puidreach was standing in the doorway. She was holding a pan lid in one hand and a ladle in the other. "Was that really necessary?" Robin asked, Mrs. Puidreach nodded and looked around for a moment. "And don't you dare go back to sleep." said Mrs. Puidreach before walking away, Robin looked out the door. The membrane around the spaceship hadn't even changed to transparent, which meant it was still early morning. She fell back onto her pillow with a sigh. "What did I say about falling asleep again." said Mrs. Puidreach when she came back in. "I'm not sleeping." Robin quickly got to her feet and threw off the sheets, she was wearing simple pants and a top, she got up and stretched. Mrs. Puidreach nodded approvingly, while the others followed suit. “Some sandwiches and coffee here. I also brought some rubber bands for your long hair. Do it in a ponytail and not in a bun like the female Nova's.” Mrs. Puidreach put a tray on Robins bed and walked away. Robin examined the sandwiches and reached for one of the four pewter mugs of coffee. "I don't want to be difficult, but do you also have sugar and milk for it?" Robin asked. Mrs. Puidreach planted her fists in her hips. “Don't you call that difficult? But no, I don't have that with me now.” Robin shrugged and took a sip of the strong, bitter goo. It might not be how she likes it, but it woke her up. Robin quickly ate the sandwich and did her hair with the help of Johanna. There was a knock on the door. "Is everyone dressed?" Nova Karl's voice came through the door. "Just one more moment!" said Johanna, she quickly removed her ponytail from her T-shirt and headed for the door. Johanna looked at the others and they

nodded, she opened the door, and Nova Karl jumped for a moment. "Jesus!" he screamed, the girls burst out laughing. "Yeah, laugh." Nova Karl shook everything for a moment. "Well, now that we've had that heart attack, we can start your training." Robin pointed her finger in the air. "Let me guess a lap around the ground." He nodded and clapped his hands to tell them to move.

HALFWAY THROUGH, ROBIN raised her hand, panting heavily. She leaned against the metal grid fence. "Come on Robin, you were in such good shape, right?" Robin nodded that she had, only what he didn’t say was that they already where in there fourth round. "Give me a minute." She said trying control her breathing. Nova Karl shook his head. “No way. The others don't get a minute either.” "Well we can use it." Ruby collapsed to the ground, panting, her tail was around her legs. He looked at them in surprise. "You were chased all over the spaceship by me and my colleagues and then you were not bothered." Robin looked at him, she felt her head turn red. "That were, short distances." He thought for a moment and nodded. "Hide, run and so on." Robin continued. Nova Karl nodded again and walked over to Ruby, he reached out to her. Ruby took it and he pulled her to her feet. "Then let's start at the beginning." Robin walked over to him. "Do you want to tell me, this wasn't the beginning?" He shook his head, laughing. “I'm afraid not. This was just a small test that I had to take from Johannes.” Robin gave him a playful shove. “Stop it man. Johannes probably only said one round and not four.” Nova Karl burst out laughing. "You know me too well Robin." Robin pushed him again. "Bully!" She fell to the floor laughing, her lungs still hurt from the lack of oxygen. "What's so funny?" somebody asked, Robin recognized the voice and looked up

in surprise, it was Mardion. Next to him stood Johannes, who was looking at them with a strange smile. "It looks like my prince that Nova Karl made the angels run briskly and more than they are used to." Said Johannes whille focusing on Nova Karl. “I think I had said one round. How much did they walk before she collapsed?” Robin raised three fingers. "And a half." Johannes's eyebrows shot up. "Well done Angels. Go ahead and prepare yourself for weapon training.” Johannes said before he walked away. Robin got up and helped Tini to get up. Mardion walked over to her, but Nova Karl cut him off. "Prince Mardion, Johannes has already walked on."Everyone looked at Mardion. “Oh, he didn't show me around. He brought me here because I want to train with the Angels.” Mardion explained. Robin frowned in surprise. "Why?" she asked. Mardion raised his shoulders. "If you volunteer to protect strangers, it's not a bit weird if the prince doesn't." Robin sighed and walked past him. “I thought I was finally rid of you. You know the reason we gave up was purely because we had nowhere else to go.” He shrugged again. “The reason doesn't matter. It is the actions that count.”

THE SIX OF THEM WALKED to the field, where they were going to train, according to Nova Karl. “You get different weapons than we use Novas, because you're not Novas. You will therefore have access to our old-fashioned weapons.” Nova Karl took the gun from its holster. “This is what sets you apart from us. I've always heard that the Catians also use old-fashioned weapons.” He gestured to a rack against which several weapons were placed."You can choose your own weapon." All five of them looked at him. "And how do you choose a weapon?" Mardion asked Nova Karl went to the rack and took a sword from it. “That is actually quite simple. You pick one up and train with it for a while. If it doesn't feel right, exchange the weapon, Prince Mardion.” Nova Karl threw the sword at Mardion, who caught it. Mardion waved it several times and nodded. "That's easy indeed." He swung the sword again, then let it balance on his open hand. “I think this will be my weapon. It fits comfortably in the hand and is not too heavy.” Karl nodded approvingly, then looked at them. "Now it's your turn Ruby." Ruby looked at the rack of weapons and sighed. Karl gave her a smile and turned to the rack. "Try this one." He turned and held two round knives in his hands. Ruby took them desperately. "What am I doing with it?" Nova Karl picked up two others from the rack and gestured to Mardion. "Could you help me?" Mardion raised his sword and the two attacked each other. Nova Karl blocked Mardion's attack, then shot sideways. It was more like a dance than a fight. Ruby's tail wiggled back and forth. "That's great." Ruby walked over to Mardion and indicated that she wanted to try too. Mardion lashed out at Ruby and she

dodged gracefully and then lashed out at him. He could barely jump aside and she got to her feet.“These are great. What are these weapons called?” "They are Chakrams." Nova Karl answered. Ruby looked at it and nodded.

"TINI." SAID NOVA KARL, indicating it was now her turn. Tini immediately went to the rack and took out a spear. "I am quite small and with this spear I can bridge greater distances." Karl nodded, visibly impressed. "Good choice, but let's see what you can do with it." Tini looked at him in surprise, but had to quickly duck. He attacked Tini with two swords. He fell at her again and she raised her spear horizontally, the metal tube stopped the attack. Still, she had to use a lot of force to push the swords away. He stopped pushing, fearful of hurting her. "It's a good choice, but we have to do strength training." Tini nodded and got to her feet. Robin could see from her face that she was disappointed in herself. She wanted to make her feel better. “Tini, you are stronger than you think. He gave a lot of power to those swords and you managed to keep them away from you.” Tini gave her a watery smile. "That is true, but it must be better." Robin nodded in agreement. That's true, they were at war after all. Even though it was now not noticeable, all day long, no bombs had fallen on the inhabitants of Nova Babylon. Robin looked at the sky, the white sun was shining brightly. "Now it's my turn." Johanna walked over to Nova Karl and held out both hands to him. "May I try this one?" Johanna asked, Nova Karl nodded and handed the swords to her. “These are twin swords, so you use it as a weapon instead of two.” Nova Karl walked to the rack and picked up another sword. He beckoned her and she charged, with both swords out. He had to go to great lengths to avoid the swords. "Okay, I think you've got the hang of it." He walked away from her and puffed. Robin hadn't waited for the two to be done, she had watched the exercise with half an eye. Robin had her eyes on a bow from the moment they walked up the field, she walked to the rack and picked up the bow. Robin hoisted the quiver on her shoulder and took out an arrow, she put the arrow down and pulled on the

string with great force. She looked around for a moment, looking for something to shoot at. Her eyes caught sight of a large bag of unknown contents, she aimed at it and released her arrow, it flew right into the bag. Nova Karl came over to her and nodded approvingly. “Nice shot, if you had waited a while, I could prepare a target for you. Now there is a hole in Mrs. Puidreach sack of grain.” Robin looked at the bag."Grain?" Nova Karl nodded, smiling from ear to ear on his face. "Try to bring the bag of contents to her and tell her you missed the target." Robin sighed and slid the bow over her head, she walked over to the bag, shoulders hunched and picked it up carefully. To be on the safe side, she left arrow in it so that she didn't leave a trace of grain.

ROBIN FINALLY REACHED the cafeteria, she walked to the kitchen as fast as she could. "Mrs. Puidreach?" Mrs. Puidreach looked up from her pan, which was on the stove. "What is it Angel Robin?" Robin put the bag on the floor. "You shouldn't have brought that bag." said Mrs. Puidreach, But then her gaze hardened. "What's that arrow doing in that bag?" Robin dropped her shoulders slightly. “The target was pointed in the same direction. I got distracted, so I missed.” Her head bowed slightly. "I'm sorry. Nova Karl thought it better that I brought the bag to you myself.” Mrs. Puidreach folded her arms. "Well, I can only praise you for your honesty and not for your shooting ability." Mrs. Puidreach walked over to the bag and drew the arrow from the bag, a stream of golden grain poured out of the hole. "Julienne, give me a pan!" The kitchen maid rushed over with a large pan in her hands and placed it just below the hole. The tapping of falling grain echoed on the metal bottom of the pan until a small layer of grain covered the bottom. "Angel Robin, you and the other angels can bring the rest of the supply here as punishment." Said Mrs. Puidreach. Robin gave her a small nod and left the kitchen, but she stopped at the doorway. “If you don't mind, I'd rather do it myself. I'm the one who made the mess, so I have to clean it up and not it on to my friends.” Mrs. Puidreach looked dubious. “I appreciate your sense of loyalty, but it's going to take you all day. So first ask your friends if they agree with you.” Robin walked away without saying a word, she really wasn't going to ask her friends. They would drop anything to help her. No, this is her responsibility.

ROBIN CAME OUT OF THE building and walked to the delivery, she bent down to get a crate full of cans and spices. "How did it go?" Nova Karl was standing next to her, in the distance she heard the tapping of metal beating together. “It couldn't be better. I now have to take the entire delivery to the kitchen for punishment. " Robin lifted the crate. Nova Karl had crossed his arms. "Only you?" Robin nodded and started to walk away. “Robin, I know you. Mrs. Puidreach would never let you do that job alone. She said we all had to help and you, with all your stubbornness, don't want to burden the others.” Robin glared at him. "I shot that arrow and only I have to pay for it." Nova Karl shook his head and then called out to the others, the beating of metal stopped immediately. "You are now going to help Robin bring this delivery upstairs and then Robin is going to run two more laps around the site before we eat." Robin sighed. "This delivery is my job." Nova Karl shook his head. “Not anymore. You're part of a team, Robin and sacrificing yourself so the others don't suffer isn't going to help you in this war. It borders on a form of arrogance and I like you, so don't get me wrong, but it annoys me immensely.” Robin looked at the others, who looked a little insecure. “I'm not going to ask Mardion, because I already know the answer. But do you think so too?” Her friends didn't answer but didn't look her in the eye either. "Never mind, I have my answer.” Robin walked away angrily with the crate in her hands.

War in the streets

Robin came back sweaty to the dilapidated cabin, as Mrs. Puidreach called itThe membrane had turned into the milky substance again, she had trained all alone after dinner. She could have organized her thoughts, the others were probably eating in the cafeteria or taking a shower. Robin was amazed at their response, she let herself fall on the and picked up the green ball from her nightstand. She threw it up a few times, until a huge explosion could be heard outside. Robin put the ball in the bag containing the arrows and ran out with the bow, spaceships zoomed over the inhabitants of Nova Babylon again. She watched the bombs falling from the ships, she ran to the gate. Where the Novas stood together waiting for their orders, she quickly sought out the Angels For a moment the fact that what had happened earlier that day had been put aside. Johannes came running with Jan behind him. As quickly as Johannes could, he divided everyone in. “Angels, you go to your own neighborhood and keep order there. Everyone who walks outside has to go to a church, Nova Karl you go with them.” They nodded and ran out of the gate.

THEY WALKED THE STREETS, which were completely deserted. "Robin?" Mardion's voice broke the silence between the bombs. “I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it. We are on a mission and I want to accomplish it.” Robin snapped at him. Mardion took her arm and forced her to stop. "Wasn't I clear, Angel Mardion, or should I say Your Highness." He shook his head. "You were crystal clear, but you need to hear what I have to say." An explosion was heard again, it was close because the ground was shaking beneath their feet. She looked in the direction of where it came from. "Let's be sure there is nobody hurt." Robin pulled her arm free and ran away from him. She didn't know why she was so blunt with him, she had expected it from him. They arrived where they thought the explosion was coming from and she was probably right, three houses were on the verge of collapse and one of them was on fire. She watched the others rushing in."Nova Karl, we have to quickly see if there are still people inside." She pointed to the burning house and he nodded. “You and Tini enter the first house, Ruby and Johanna the third house. Mardion and I will take the burning house.” There was no waiting for a response. Everyone immediately took action. Robin ran into the house and looked around quickly. “Tini, you look in the basement and on the ground floor. I am going to take a look on the upper floors.” This time too, Robin did not wait for an answer and stormed up the stairs. She heard Tini breathe behind her, but she didn't look up or around. She crashed into a few doors with all her body. "Hello, is anyone there?" There was no answer, but after what happened in her own house, she didn't want to risk it. Robin walked quickly to the next room, the wood under her feet began to crack violently. She called again and this time there was an answer. As fast as she could, she ran towards the sound. "Keep calling." The noise came from a closed door, she kicked in the door.

A young woman was wedged against the wall. "Help me!" Robin looked into the room and saw that there was a large gaping hole in the floor. The ledge was also too small to jump properly. Robin dropped to her knees and crawled to the hole, it led to the lower floor. "Tini!" It took a while, but Tini came into the picture. She looked up in surprise. “Tini, there is a lady here on the other side of this hole. She can't jump to me, is the floor under you solid?” Tini pounded the floor for a moment and nodded, Robin looked up at the woman. “Okay. I know it's scary, but you have to jump. My colleague is downstairs to catch you. Before you jump, I need to know if there were others in the house.” The woman nodded. “My children, they were in the basement. My son has medication and I went to get them.” The woman pointed to the medicine cabinet on the wall. Robin got up and walked carefully to it. She quickly took the boxes from the cupboard and put them in the bag with the bouncing ball. "Now you have to jump." The woman gasped and jumped, Robin looked quickly through the hole and saw Tini put the woman down. “Tini, you and madam are getting the children. I'll see you outside the house.” Tini raised her thumb and walked out of her view with the woman, with a sigh she got to her feet. Robin walked with her ears open, down the hall of the house. Again the wood protested under her weight. She looked forward, the stairs were already in sight. "Robin, we're outside." She heard Tini call. Robin gasped, the creak under her feet grew louder. Robin closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, she started to run. The crackling was replaced by several bangs. She didn't want to, but she looked behind her anyway. The floor she ran over collapsed behind her. Robin looked forward and saw that this was also the case. She jumped to the stairs, but missed. Robin hissed, her ankle screamed in pain. Still, she scrambled to her feet and stumbled to the door of the house.

"ROBIN?" MARDION LOOKED at her and probably saw her stumbling, he ran to her and put her arm around his neck. "Lean on me." Together they stumbled farther away from the house that collapsed behind them. "What happened?" Nova Karl ran to her too. "The floor broke under my feet." Robin said, Nova Karl shook his head. "My bag contains the medication for the boy." Nova Karl walked around her and she felt him open the pouch. "Ah here." He closed the bag and then walked over to the woman and her children. "Please, go now to the church. You and your children are safe there. " The woman took the medication and nodded. "Come on, guys." The woman took her children by the hand and took them with her. Nova Karl turned back to her. "How bad is it?" he asked while walking towards her. Robin looked straight at him. "I'm stronger than I look, so don't hold back from me." She lied, but he most know who much. He swore. "Angel Robin, let's be honest." Robin glared at him. “I am honest with you, only you choose not to believe me.” Robin looked at Mardion. “Let go of me. I can stand on my own two feet.” Mardion looked at her uncertainly, but still did what she said. She staggered for a moment, but stopped. “You see, I'm alright. Let's go on now.” Nova Karl shook his head. “No, we will continue. You and Mardion go back to HQ and you get checked. That's the last thing I have to say about it.” Robin opened her mouth. She wanted to argue, but then she caught sight of her friends, who now looked with pity. She shook her head. “Robin, I'm not going to argue with you. Mardion take her.” Nova Karl turned away from her and motioned for the others to come with him. They looked at

Robin for a moment and she could read the thoughts in their eyes, they found her weak.

ROBIN STUMBLED THROUGH the streets next to Mardion, she hissed with each step. "So you kept yourself bigger than you actually are." Mardion said. She looked at him and nodded reluctantly. "I only allow the pain when no one is looking." Mardion looked at her in surprise. "Why would you do that?" Robin shrugged her shoulders, she took another step and her ankle nearly gave out. He caught her just in time and she cursed softly. "I hate it when someone sees me like that." Robin itted, with a heavy heart. "Why do you hate that someone sees you like that?" Robin heard the surprise in his voice, did he really care? Robin glared at him. "I am not weak." He shook his head. “You are not weak Robin. You are one of the strongest people I know, but what you're doing now is pushing people who love you away, and that makes you vulnerable. But you are anything but weak.” Robin looked at him for a moment and then left. “Can we stop for a moment? My ankle is killing me.” Mardion looked around for a moment and nodded. "Sure, you can sit there for a while." They walked to a block of stone, Robin sat on it. “Can you help me take off my boot? Then I can see what the damage is.” Robin asked, when Mardion sighed. "You're not demanding, aren't you?" Mardion joked, Robin shook her head with a thin smile. He bent down and untied the laces. As he slowly took off the boot, she just didn't scream in pain. He looked at her, but

continued what he was doing. He didn't rise until the boot was off. She pulled her leg up slightly and looked at it in the light of the streetlights. "Is it broken?" Robin shook her head with a heavy sigh. “No, it's worse. It's badly bruised.” She cursed when she looked at her swollen ankle. Mardion hissed and she couldn’t blame him. "Can you walk on it?" Mardion asked. Robin hung her head slightly. "Not really, but I can't expect you to carry me." She raised her head to look at Mardion, who nodded. "I'll be able to do it for a short while, but not all the way to headquarters." Mardion said, Robin sighed and he helped her put her boot back on.

ROBIN STUMBLED THROUGH the gate, immediately a few Novas came running her way. "Please worry about me, but don't worry." Robin started, Mardion looked at her in exasperation and she shrugged. She was picked up by a few men and taken to the infirmary, she was put on a bed and the doctor came. "It's badly bruised and it needs rest." The doctor looked at her and she nodded. Robin looked at Mardion, who indicated that he had heard what the doctor was saying. "I told you." Robin said, glowing with some kind of pride and Mardion nodded again. “I know, but now you have to listen to the doctor. Do you think you can handle that?” Mardion joked and Robin shook her head. He burst out laughing, the doctor who had walked away to his own office looked around the corner. This made Mardion laugh even more and he was slightly short of breath, he sat down on the bed next to her. "Are you two okay in there?" The doctor had risen from his chair and was now standing in the opening of the office, Robin looked past Mardion and nodded. "My friend here just asked for something he knew the answer of and laughed at the response I gave him." Robin said with a smile on her face, the doctor said he understood and left them behind. She sighed and looked back at Mardion, his face flushed. Small tears were in his eyes and he gasped violently. "Are you okay again?" She asked, he nodded and stood up again. "I'm going to see if I can do something?" he said, Robin watched him walk away. Something in her wanted him to stay and she didn't know why. Robin lowered herself into the pillow, which rested against the metal headboard. She closed her eyes to what seemed to her like a moment. When they opened her eyes again, Nova Karl, Tini, Ruby and Johanna were around her bed. She looked at them in surprise for a moment.

How could they have come in without her hearing? They looked at her and slowly got to their feet.

"ANGEL MARDION HAS TOLD us what the doctor said." Nova Karl looked at the others, Robin put her hands in her lap and looked at it. "A day of bed rest and then I can start training." Robin said with so much confidence, that she almost believed it herself. Nova Karl shook his head violently. "You stay in bed until the doctor says you can start exercising." Robin gasped. "I know my body better than the doctor in that office." She pointed to the doctor's office and the others glanced at it. “At least let me practice with the bow, as they can tell you, I can't do nothing. Even if you give me a book, I'll read a few pages and put it away again.” Ruby was the first to nod and sigh. "It is better that you let her practice, because if you don't, she will do it herself." Ruby said to Nova Karl. Nova Karl sighed for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, just shoot. No running or other training that the other angels have to do.” Robin nodded and he left the infirmary.

THE ANGELS STAYED WITH her. “Mardion has told us about your concerns, we will say exactly what he said. You are the strongest of all. You don't have to hide yourself and certainly not from us, we know when you do. You are our sister and we know you through and through.” said Tini, Robin looked at them one by one and then closed her eyes. "It is not only for you, but also for outsiders, like Jan." said Robin reluctant. Johanna dropped to her knees and took Robins hand. "Then do that, but don't shut us out." Robin opened her eyes, looked at her friend and nodded. "I'll try anyway." Johanna released her hand. “Thank you for earlier, that you wanted to protect us from the punishment Mrs. Puidreach had given you.” Robin shook her head. “It was what I said, I was the one who shot the arrow so I had to pay for it and not you. You are my friends, no you are my sisters. As you know me and I know you. My punishment then automatically became your punishment and I could not let that happen. In addition, you were busy with training and you enjoyed it. I didn't want to disturb you.” Johanna put a hand on her shoulder. “We love you, Now you are going back to dreamland, we'll see you tomorrow.” Robin gave them a smile and closed her eyes.

Wounded pride

Robin was tossing and turning in the hospital bed, this was her first time sleeping alone since she was at Nova Babylon. She sighed and turned back, she had counted the tiles on the ceiling as far as she could see. She closed her eyes and let her thoughts wander, but nothing seemed to help until she was suddenly back in the hangar with her parents and brother. She looked around in surprise, she was still seventeen, but everything else was the same as when it happened. Jan had her brother by the arm, her parents were held by two older Novas. It was the moment that her brother broke free from Jan's grip, she shouted at Rohan. "Rohan, stop!" But Rohan didn't seem to hear her and ran away. Jan took his gun and pointed it at her brother. Robin squeezed her eyes shut, still she heard the shot. She knew better than to open her eyes, but she did. Rohan lay face forward, his blood flowed from the wound and spread across the floor. Robin heard her father curse and her mother screamed her lungs out, calling out Rohan’s name. Robin put her hands over her ears, but she could still hear it. She tasted the salt of her tears on her lips. She looked at Jan, but his face was blurred from her tears. He stood there with his back straight, his body turned to her and walked towards her.

"ANGEL ROBIN?" ROBIN heard Jan’s voice so clearly, this was no longer a dream. She slowly opened her eyes and looked straight into the poisonous green eyes of Jan Nomina, she gasped in shock and pushed herself up. But he pushed her back into the pillow. "Sorry to wake you up, but it seemed you were having a nightmare." Jan said. She toyed with the thoughts of spitting in his face, but quickly changed her mind. He sat on the edge of her bed and studied her."Now that I have you alone for a moment, I want to tell you that I'm sorry about your little brother." Robin clenched her fists, it seemed as if he knew she had been dreaming about the murder. One thing she knew, she could never forgive him for ripping her family apart. "You only do this because I cannot stand on my leg now." Robin snapped at him, hoping he would hear the anger in his voice. Jan sighed. "I can't win with you, can I?" Is he playing with her, it most be otherwise he was stupid. Robin shook her head. “I would like you to leave me alone, is that so difficult?” she asked. Jan shook his head, but remained seated. “As my father told us. We are on the same side.” He stroke a sting of her hair out of her face, before she slapped his hand away. “Mark my words, Nomina. We will never be on the same side. You will pay for what you did to my family. I don’t know if it would be my hand of that of a Catian, but you will pay.” He nodded and stood up. “If that is how you what things to be.” with does words Jan left the infirmary.

QUICKLY ROBIN TROW the thin sheets off her and did her best to stand up. She almost screamed out of the pain. The dochter run out off his office, clearly she had woken the man up. “What in gods name are you doing?” he asked. Robin rolled with her eyes, what does this look like. The doctor looked at her if she was crazy. "Why?" Robin told him what had happened that night. "I feel better when I am near my friends." she told him the truth and maybe she would sleep better. The doctor nodded. "Then I'll take you to the dilapidated cabin." He pulled her gently along and she limped with him.

THE DOCTOR AND ROBIN went down the stairs and across the lawn, he knocked on the door at the wooden building. Johanna opened it not much later. "Robin, Doctor? Why?" she tried to make a solid sentence. Robin pushed the door. “Can we talk inside? My leg is still killing me.” Johanna opened the door further and Robin limped to her bed and sat on it. Tini and Ruby had now also woken up. Johanna turned to the doctor. "We'll take it from here on doctor." The man nodded and left the room to retire to his office. Johanna closed the door and sat next to her. "Couldn't you sleep?" Johanna asked, Robin ed the promise she had made to them earlier and she nodded. “That is not all. When I finally slept, I was plagued by a nightmare and was awakened by Jan Nomina.” Robin said rubbed her temples. Johanna stiffened for a moment. "What did he want from you?" Robin lowered her head a little, she didn’t bother her friends with it. But she made them a promise to tell them everything. "He wanted to apologize for what happened nine years ago, but I can't forgive him." Johanna took her hand. “You don't have to forgive him either. What he did is beyond redemption.” Robin looked at Johanna with tearful eyes. “I told him that I will never forgive him. I also told him that he left me alone in this universe. That I was glad I had with you gals, but that it was not the same.” Robin looked at Ruby and Tini now. "And I regret that I fell this way." Tini also sat on the bed. “You don't have to, it's not the same. In any case, we are sisters.”

Ruby nodded in agreement and so did Johanna. "What do we always say, sisters of friendship." said Tini, the others nodded in agreement.

“NOW LET'S GET SOME sleep. Tomorrow the three of us will continue training and you will sit on a chair and watch.” Said Johanna, she and Tini got up and walked to their own beds. Robin wrapped the blankets around her. "Girls, thank you." Robin said, but did not know what the answer was, because she immediately fell into a deep sleep.

THE NEXT MORNING THEY were awakened again by Mrs. Puidreach. "I already heard you were here Angel Robin, that's why I brought your breakfast here." Mrs. Puidreach put the tray on her bed. "I also brought coffee creamer and sugar." Robin pushed herself up. Johanna was already out of bed and standing next to Mrs. Puidreach. “Let me Robin. You must rest.” While Johanna spoke, she added the sugar and the milk to the coffee before handing it to Robin. She blew a few times before taking a sip. The stuff gave a familiar feeling, the start of the morning. Mother Marion, who had prepared coffee in the kitchen of their home before they had to go to school. Robin missed Mother Marion almost as much as she missed her own mother, she lowered the mug and looked at Ruby, who also took a sip of her coffee. Robin has always found it funny that Ruby's tail always thickened when she drank coffee. Mother Marion had once told her that Catians didn't drink coffee. This is because the heat provokes a kind of reaction in them. Ruby saw her looking and gave her a smile. "Ladies, are you ready?" Nova Karl entered the room and slowly turned red. The girls were all still in their pajamas. Robin took her bow and arrow and aimed it at him. "I'll give you exactly five seconds to turn around and leave this room." He nodded and ran away. The girls looked at each other for a moment and immediately laughed.

THEY WERE OUT ON THE field not much later. Robin was hanging between Ruby and Johanna, Nova Karl gestured to a chair. "Angel Robin, you will sit here." Robin limped to the chair, with the help of Ruby and Johanna, and sat down. Nova Karl clapped his hands and they looked at him now. "And who are we waiting for?" “I'm already here. My apologies. My father needed me for something.” Mardion came running. "I was already afraid that I had missed the warm-up lap, so I came running from the town hall." Karl nodded and looked at the others. “That is a round around this site. The ladies ran three and a half laps yesterday.” Nova Karl looked for a moment and sighed. “Two rounds for the ladies and another round for Angel Mardion.” Nova Karl clapped his hands and everyone ran except Nova Karl, he stayed with her until the others returned. “Looks like Mrs. Puidreach's order has been delivered. It's good strength training so I suggest you bring it back to her. When you return, we will see further.” The girls nodded and jogged off, Mardion paused. "Are you going to hold out like that?" Mardion asked, Robin nodded. "Shall I bring a drink when we get back?" Robin gave him a smile but shook her head. "Angel Mardion, back to work!" Nova Karl commanded. Mardion jumped up and ran to the delivery. "It was a nice gesture. What happened yesterday?" Robin looked at Nova Karl and sighed. "I know, but it's a bit too nice and nothing happens except for him dragging me across the spaceship." Nova Karl squatted down. “I'm sorry about yesterday, by the way. I have said things that I should not have said.” Robin nodded in agreement. "You were telling the truth and that can hurt." She watched her friends pick up the bags and crates one by one and disappear into the main building. She yawned exuberantly and put a hand over her mouth just in time.

"Am I that boring?" Nova Karl joked. Robin laughed and slowly shook her head. “I didn't sleep very well last night. I was bothered by a nighttime visitor.” Nova Karl sighed. “I heard that, did you really threaten him?” Robin sighed and folded her arms. "So it wasn't a private conversation. I am wondering who was at the door listing. My credits are on Cadfed, what do you think?" Nova Karl's eyes widened. "Jesus Christ." “He has nothing to do with this” Robin says. “It doesn't matter, are you totally out of your mind? Jan is not an enemy you want to have.” Nova Karl said and shook his head. She shrugged her shoulders. “I am not out of my mind. But let's hope that I never have to walk the walk and that the Catians are ahead of me.” Nova Karl cursed softly, but he couldn't go any further, because the others came running again.

NOVA KARL GAVE THE Angels various assignments throughout the day, they did strength and conditioning exercises. Until the membrane turned milky. The Angels Slumped wearily next to Robin, who had her bow in her hands, shot over Johanna's head, straight into the target. "Looks like you've gotten better at shooting and you're not even standing yet." Mrs. Puidreach was standing in the field with a tray. Robin lowered her bow so Mrs. Puidreach could enter the field. She came to a stop at the chair and set the tray on the grass. “Your dinner is served, tomato soup with some bread.” Warm steam came from the tin bowls. Robin bent down and picked up one of the bowls. "I had to make an effort for your Angels and Nova helper." Robin looked at Mrs. Puidreach and nodded. "Jan has ordered to put poison in this food." Robin could have guest, that Jan would stood so low. Mrs. Puidreach nodded. “Not enough to kill you, but just enough to get sick. Girl please watch out with him. He is dangerous.” Robin nodded. “Tell me something I don't know, but thank you so much Mrs Puidreach.” Mrs. Puidreach walked away and the others looked at her in surprise. "Why would he do that?" asked Mardion, looking to the others. Robin squeezed her eyes, she hoped to keep this a secret. Nova Karl glared at Robin. “You didn't tell them? Thanks to you they are in danger.” Robin sighed and opened her eyes. "It turns out that way." She looked at her friends. “Yesterday when Jan visited me, I may have said that I hope he dies soon. That at my hand or that at the Catians, for what he did to my family.”

Johanna gasped, startled. "By the Holy Virgin Mary." Tini brushed her hair with her hands. Robin wanted to make a smart comment about the virgin, but she could barely contain herself. She had concealed this fact from them and for good reason, but now they were in danger, through her mouth and sense of honor. "I can apologize, but unfortunately I meant every word." said Robin, she looked at the faces of her friends. Ruby nodded and walked over to her. "You did it to protect yourself, but you should have told us." Robin nodded and closed her eyes. "If he wanted to kill you, he would have done it then while you were sleeping." Ruby continued. "I think he had other plans for me and not those kinds of plans that go hand in hand with faith." Said Robin. Tini cursed for a moment, then walked away from her until she reached the edge of the field. Tini turned and walked back. "Are you sure?" Robin looked straight at Tini and nodded. "That look in his eyes told me what I needed to know." Tini nodded and looked at Nova Karl, who clenched his fists. "I should have known when you came back to the dilapidated cabin in the middle of the night." Johanna picked up a bowl and pressed it into the hands of the petrified Mardion. "Let's eat and then we'll talk futher."

The Suqnad fight

Robin felt wonderful , they had gotten a day off. Because they had been training for the past three weeks. The Fallen Angels, Mardion and Nova Karl walked through the Catian Quarter were there was a market going on, they smelled the Catian food and incense. There were all kinds of rugs on the floor, the merchandises in baskets. Except for the rugs that Robin compered with the Persian rug that she had seen on earth. She loved this place, it never occurred to her to steal from here. On some of the rugs were standing low tables with kettles, where from Catians sell food and drinks that were native on the planet Catia. The six of them where standing by one off those stalls. Robin took a bite of a paste from a fish and rice that was common on Catia. The sales Catian looked at her with hope, she closed her eyes. "This is delicious." it was not a lye, this was the best she'd eaten in ages and Mother Marion did know how to cook. “I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that. You and your friends are part of the few humans who visit our little Suqnad.” The salesman jumped up and down excitedly. Robin looked at him not understanding. "Sorry what is a Suknak?” Nova Karl burst out laughing, Robin glared at him. "Forgive my laughter, so it must be when humans learn another languages. Suqnad is the Lucha word for market.” Nova Karl said. Ruby took a bite of the porridge now. “Are you sure we can taste this for free? We don't mind if we have to pay for it.” said Robin, she wanted to make sure she was not offending anybody. The seller nodded violently. “Very sure, Robin. Like I said, you and your friends are always nice to us. Even though I know you steal food from the other shops every now and then.” He said with a rolling r. Robin lowered her tin bowl slightly, she thought about it when they entered the market. “We never really thought about stealing here. Maybe it is because you are not on the route from school to the Slum.” she its, without feeling guilty. The salesman pointed at them with a trembling finger. "You are right about that."

They quickly finished the porridge and thanked the seller, the group walked to the end of the street. Mrs. Puidreach had asked them to get some spices for her and after she took so much risk, the Fallen Angels saw no reason not to do it. They stopped at a rug that had a small table with different bars of soap in different scents and colors. Robin picked up a bar of green soap and began to take in the smell, it smelled of freshly cut grass and it reminded her of Scotland. As she was talking with the shop owner, she heard screams. She put the soap down and looked in the direction from which the sound was coming. The noise came from the other end of the Suqnad. "Nova Karl?" Robin looked at him and he nodded. "Angels, I think we are needed." he said putting down the shopping bags. Robin looked at the others and turned to the seller of the soap. "Can you put these bags behind please and if something should happen, send them to the Nova's HQ." The seller gave her a small nod and took the bags. “I will send my kitten now to the HQ.” His son came out off the house behind the store, he most have heard his father talking because he took the bags. “Son don’t come back until I send for you.” said the owner, his son nodded and run away.

AFTER THE KITTEN HAD disappeared with their bags Robin ran towards the sound. At the other opening of the street was a whole group of people holding metal clubs in their hands. It reminded her a lot of an old painting of an angry crowd with pitchforks and torches. A group of male Catians stopped the crowd, with nothing in their hands. A group of women and kittens were behind them. "Please our kittens, we have been touched by this war just like yours." Robin looked at the group of people and saw that they would not flinch, she quickly turned to Nova Karl and Mardion. “Get the kittens and women out of here, this is bound to explode.” she said, Nova Karl looked at the group and gave her a small nod. He and Mardion run to the group of women and kittens. "Ma'am, are these all women and kittens?" Robin heard the boys ask this question several times, but they spoke to the deaf woman's ears. Robin looked at Ruby, who nodded and also ran to the group. “Listen, all the women and kittens of the Suqnad, follow these men. We are helping the Nova’s and we are here to protect you and yours.” The oldest woman looked at Ruby and nodded. "Thank you, but we will stay with our men." Ruby shook her head. “You can stay with your husbands, but let your kitten go with my friends. They are safe with them, this is not the case here.” Ruby pointed at the group with metal clubs. The woman nodded and pushed her kittens towards Nova Karl and Mardion. “We take them to the town hall. If this is over, you can pick them up there.” Mardion looked at Robin and she nodded. The town hall was close by and was a good place to hide the kittens. Relieved that at least the kittens were save Robin walked past the women and through the crowd of men until she stood next to the first male Catian. “People of Nova Babylon, I stand here before you as one of you, but also as one of them. We are not enemies on this space station, the bombs hit not only our

homes and our neighborhoods, but theirs too. The ones who, like us, have left their home planet behind and are trying to build a new life here!” she stared, hoping to talk some sense into their heads. A man pushed forward, it was the man she fought in the church and he pointed to her. “You and your sisters are traitors to your own race! You hang out with a Catian and call her sister.” he yelled towards her. Robin nodded and straightened her back. “That's right. I grew up next to her in the same house and I see her as my equal. Not only that, but she is also fighting in this war. Not on the Catia side, but on ours.” Robin continued. The man turned to the already enraged crowd. “Don't listen to her, only lies come out of her mouth! She's a Hood, her parents are the ones who blew up the earth!” Robin shook her head, this went wrong. Why had she just sent Mardion and Karl away? “If you don't believe me, that's fine. But Johannes Nomina, leader of the Novas, believes in me and my sisters. He has taken us into the army and at the moment we are the only ones who the Novas as much as possible in battle.” She turned her attention to the man. “I haven't seen you at headquarters, you have not signed up.” The man spat in her face. “The Novas? The Novas don't do anything against the attacks and neither do the Lionels!” She wiped the spit off her cheek with the back of her hand. So that meant that both Nova Karl and Mardion couldn’t have helped her. “The Novas and the Lionels are doing everything they can, but wars are not won overnight." Robin glanced over her shoulder. Tini and Johanna were standing next to her now, but Ruby had not yet ed them. “You see. She wraps you with her sweet talk, but in the meantime she protects those who are or our enemies!” The man didn’t give up, she should have hit the man harder when she had the change. “I protect you all. During the bombing, my friends and I rescued families from

there collapsed homes.” Robin said, but it was to deaf men’s ears. "Lies, you have never saved anyone in your entire life!" Robin thought for a moment that the woman she had saved would not agree, but it was no use, because now to defend. She felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned quickly. Ruby was behind Johanna now and nodded, the kittens were at least out of the Suqnad. “Look at that Catian, she carries weapons!” The man pointed, Ruby looked at her chakrams hanging from her belt. “You see, there you have your proof! She talks beautifully about peace and tranquility, but that is a lie!” The crowd raised their metal clubs in the air and began to scream. Robin looked at Johanna and she nodded.

“WHATEVER HAPPENS, DON'T draw your weapons. Don't give them a reason to take it away from you.” Johanna had understood her without saying a word as usual. The crowd approached them without warning. Robin pushed the first pair back, but was soon pushed to the ground. She put her arms over her head to protect it from possible feet, she felt a pair of arms around her and was pulled up by a force. She looked at those and it was the Catian man she had stood next to. "Are you okay?" he asked. She wanted to nod, but then watched the fights in the street she shook her head instead. "Where are my friends?" Robin asked, the man pointed to it and only now did she see Tini and Johanna trying to protect Ruby. Robin turned to the man, wanted to make sure that the Catians would be not blamed for this fight. "Is it true that the Catians can change shape?" The man nodded. "We can, but we will never use it when we are fighting humans, only against our own race." Robin nodded in relief, that was one thing she didn’t have to worry about. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a group of men who had pressed a Catian woman to the ground and started kicking at her. The woman was clearly pregnant, Robin cursed and ran to it. She pulled the men away from the woman one by one. Just in time, she grabbed one leg that went towards the stomach. The man glared at her. "Traitor," he whispered. She clenched her fist and hit him in the face, while trying to keep the men away from the woman. "Thank you." the woman got up and held her hands against her belly. Robin knocked a man to the ground again. "Thank me later, though." Robin said against the woman, who needed to get out off here. The male Catian also came running. "Come Atena, you have to flee." The Catian easily pulled her out of the fight.

"Go to the town hall, there are all the kittens!" Said Robin Atena nodded and ran away from the Suqnad. "Get that woman!" Robin looked at the person who had said that, he ran towards the woman with a metal club. She ran to him and tackled him to the ground. “Are we to the point of attacking pregnant women? How sad are you.” Robin knew she should have kept that comment to herself, because the man struggled from under her and stood up. Robin jumped up too and resisted the blows he wanted to give her, this only infuriated the man. "You are a traitor to your own race." he snapped at Robin who saw a small opening and planted a fist in his stomach, the man collapsed. "That may be the case, but I don't attack women and kittens." Robin turned away from him.

IT FELT AS IF ROBIN had fought off an army on her own, several women had entered their houses. Some of those houses were set on fire, Robin had no time to wonder about where the fire came from. Her friends and herself ran without thinking into the burning houses to get the women out. "Hopefully Nova Karl has warned the other Novas!" Ruby stood beside her panting, face smeared with soot. Robin nodded and looked at the people trying to beat up a Catian man. She took a deep breath, before she ran over to it and leaned against the man's back. The man didn't even look, she fought some of the man off. “We cannot win this. Most of the women and the elderly have already fled the Suqnad. Now the four of you also have to flee.” the Catian man said. Robin shook her head. "We cannot flee, we will abandon the inhabitants of Nova Babylon and I have not signed up for that." Again she hit someone in the stomach, who sank to the floor with a loud groan. "We are grateful to you, but if you get hurt..." He didn't go any further, because she heard a cry next to him. Her gaze drifted towards it, Ruby had thrown herself over something and was hit with a metal club for it. "Ruby!" Tini already ran to Ruby and pulled the man who hit Ruby away from Ruby. Tini picked her up carefully and Robin saw that she was protecting a kitten, who had probably withdrawn from the group that had been taken to the town hall. Robin swore, now they had to get that kitten to safety. "Tini, is Ruby okay?" Robin yelled, while running toward her friends. Tini looked at her and shook her head, another curse escaped Robins mouth. "Johanna!" Johanna just knocked down a man and then looked her way. "Ruby is injured. We have to get out of here!” Johanna nodded and ran to Ruby. “Where are you going? The road to the town hall is blocked.” one of the Catian man was standing next to them. Robin closed her eyes for a moment so she could think. "The only place where we are welcome, the Slum." said Robin after opening her eyes.

The Catian man nodded. "Take the kitten with you." Robin bowed and picked up the kitten. "Let's hope I'm right and that Arabella welcomes us with open arms." Johanna and Tini carried the unconscious Ruby between them.

THEY WERE ALMOST DOWN the Suqnad when she heard someone shouting behind them. "There are the traitors, trying to escape!" Robin looked aside, Tini and Johanna were unable to run because of Ruby. "Go, we'll stop them." The Catian man whose back she had covered was now also standing by them. Robin nodded politely at him and quickly followed Tini and Johanna, who had walked on. Robin ran until she was ahead of them, looking around every corner to see if an angry crowd was waiting for them.

"THERE THEY ARE!" THEY were almost at the Slum until a few men spotted them. Robin quickly looked back, Tini and Johanna couldn't go any faster than they already could. She put the kitten down and let it look into her eyes. “Now you have to listen to me carefully. You now walk with these women up to the Slum. You don't walk away from them, am I clear?" Robin asked. With tears in his eyes, the kitten nodded and then walked over to Johanna and Tini. "What are you going to do then?" Johanna asked. Robin got up and took her bow from her back. "Give you more time." Robin didn't wait for her friends' protests, she prepared the arrow and pulled the string. “What are you waiting for? Walk! Get Ruby and the kitten to safety.” Robin trusted that Johanna would actually continue, because the men were already in the picture. "Take one more step and I'll shoot!" Robin yelled towards the men who didn't stop, so she fired an arrow, which landed right in front of the lead man's feet. As soon as she could, she prepared another arrow and tightened the string. The men looked at it in surprise and then at her. "How dare you shoot your own kind?" one of them yelled towards Robin. She shrugged slightly. “I doubt we are of the same kind after what I saw today, adult males attack unarmed women and kittens. I am disgusted with you and at this moment what you stand for.” The men didn’t even lower their eyes in embarrassment. Their only reaction was to clench their fists. In the time she faced them, she never lowered her bow. Not even when she got cramps in her arms.

"ROBIN, LOWER YOUR BOW." Arabella's creaky voice was clear and filled with rage, she did not lower her bow. "Arabella, are you my eyes in my back?" Said Robin, the woman put her hand on her shoulders. “You don't have to. Because I didn't come alone, so let that arch down and go to the Slum.” Finally she did what Arabella asked her to do. Robin looked at the woman and nodded, the other inhabitants of the Slum stood next to the woman. She gave them a warm smile and ran to the gate of the Slum. Once everyone was in, the gates locked for the first time in years. Robin looked at it and the feeling that she was locked up came over her. Robin looked away from it and looked at Arabella instead. "Where's Ruby?" Robin didn’t want to wait. Arabella closed her eyes. "In Widow Walker's tent." Robin ran to the tent without saying a word. Outside the tent, Johanna and Tini sat on the ground. Blood slowly flowed from the wounds they had received during the fight. Without saying a word, she sat down next to them, waiting for the Widow to come out of her tent.

Night in the Slum

Night set in slowly , they should have handed over their weapons from Arabella to Reech Gof. "Those weapons only provoke violence and you don't need them here." Was Arabella’s response when she saw the weapons. Robin went to the old blacksmith on her own, Robin wanted to be alone with her own thoughts. She was about to kick herself, if she had left Nova Karl in charge. There might not have been a fight, but unfortunately it was too late for what-if questions. Yet she could still hear the women screaming while the house in which she hid from the metal clubs was set on fire. Every time Robin closed her eyes, she saw the grown men kicking on that pregnant Catian woman Atena. "Are you all right, lassie?" Reech Gof's cheerful yet concerned voice was a welcome distraction. “Not really, Reech. Here are our weapons, Arabella wanted that we gave them into your custody.” Robin handed him the weapon, he took up them form her one by one. "Good stuff, lassie." Reech took a good look at them. "Oh, I see it. I made these weapons myself.” He beckoned her closer and pointed to a small mark on Johanna's twin swords. "You see? That is my sign, all the blacksmiths used to do that before they started working with all that alien junk.” He started to laugh. “Including myself. If you want, I can take care of these beauties, lassie. I won't even charge anything for it.” Robin looked at him in surprise and his shoulders began to shake. "If I say no, you will do it anyway, right?" Robin already knew the answer. He nodded. “I have never been a saint and I’m not going to start with that. While I'm at it, I'm going to make sure that none of you lassies look like poor Ruby.” Robin could hear the anger in his voice, she walked up to him and gave him a hug. "You may not be a saint, but you are getting pretty close to one." Robin sighed.

Reech pushed her away. “It's no trouble, Lassie. I just have to see if I have enough of that alien junk to work with.” He turned and entered his tent. “Are you still standing there, lassie? Go back to your sisters and let this old blacksmith go to work.”

ROBIN DIDN'T KNOW HOW long they'd been waiting outside the tent or when she'd fallen asleep, but when she woke up a blanket was covering her. As she scrambled to her feet, the Widow Walker came out of her tent holding out a tin cup. "Good morning Robin, the others are still asleep." Robin looked at the others and they were indeed leaning against each other, their eyes were closed and their breathing was slow. "How's Ruby?" Robin asked, the Widow beckoned her into the tent. Afraid to wake the others, she got up carefully and followed the Widow into the tent. “Ruby is doing well, she took a few hits. I gave her a drink for the dizziness and possible internal bleeding.” Widow Walker explained. Robin looked at the woman and nodded. “The drink into your hands is almost the same one, only yours is for the outside wounds. My beloved husband may have been a doctor, but even he itted that my herbal drinks often work better than his medicine.” Robin took a sip, a rather bitter taste filled her mouth. "It can use a good scoop of sugar." The Widow laughed and walked out of the tent. Robin sat down next to Ruby and took Ruby's bandaged hand. "I'm sorry, I should have left the lead in Nova Karl's hands. Then this might not have happened.” Robin said softly, her hand was squeezed slightly. Robin looked up and looked into Ruby's blue cat eyes. “Don't blame yourself. I was there, you .” Robin nodded, but still wanted to argue. “I also knew I could stay away and go with Nova Karl and Mardion.” said Ruby, tears stung in Robins eyes and she quickly looked away from Ruby, Robin knew Ruby was right. Maybe Nova Karl was no luckier than she was, but Nova Karl had the uniform and crest of a Nova and they had old-fashioned weapons. “Don't cry about me. You know that I will then crying with you.” Robin began to laugh through her tears. "Trust me. it's more of relief than

anything else.” Robin shook her head. "It could have turned out differently." Ruby struggled to nod. “That could have been done, but that did not happen. Where is the kitten I rescued?” Robin shrugged. "Here somewhere in the Slum, but I must it that I haven't seen him since I sent him with Johanna and Tini." Ruby tried to push herself up, but Robin pushed her back. "I know it sounds strange coming from my mouth, but you have to stay down." Robin cracked out a little smile. Ruby laughed slightly. "It does sound strange, but if you say it then I can, better listen." Ruby closed her eyes and immediately fell back to sleep.

ROBIN LEFT THE TENT with a huge sigh. Tini and Johanna were awake now, each holding tin mugs. Their faces twisted slightly with each sip, Robin thought it was funny to watch. Johanna was the first to see her. "How is she?" Robin sighed. “She was awake for a moment, we talked and she fell back asleep. With that said Ruby is one tough kitty, Widow Walker says she has no permanent damage and that is some good news.” Johanna studied her. "You blame yourself." Robin nodded reluctantly. "I took the lead. I went to the front before the crowd exploded. I did sent the boys away.” "And we listened, including Nova Karl." Said Tini, putting her cup down. Robin saw that she wanted to stand up, but Johanna held her down. Robin squeezed her fists and hung her head. “Look where we are now, like rats in a trap. I feel so useless. That man was right, I’m not saving anyone, I’m only putting Humans and Catians in danger.” Johanna got up this time and walked over to Robin. The next thing Robin knew was her cheek was glowing. "Now you have to cut down, self-pity does not suit you." snapped Johanna at her. Surprised, Robin moved her hand to the afterglow spot. “Thank you , but I don't think it helped. I still feel guilty.” Johanna sighed and sought help from Tini, who was now standing next to Johanna. “If you weren't there, more Catians could have been seriously injured and there might have been deaths. You had those kittens evacuated, you ran without thinking into several burning buildings to rescue trapped women from the conflagration. Robin that's not nothing. Yes, Ruby and maybe a few others were injured, but it could have been so much worse.” said Tini. Robin lowered her head slightly again. "And that is playing through my mind." Robin turned and walked away from the other.

"SO YOU BLAME YOURSELF for what happened to Ruby and the fight on the Suqnad?" Said Arabella. Robin nodded and sat across from Arabella. “I'm ashamed of that feeling and I don't know why I feel that way, it is not the first time that I have failed.” Arabella raised her hand and looked ashamedly at her fists on her lap. "This time was different, this is not about the fight and the injuries that have fallen as a result. You saw what hatred and envy can do to a person and you saw yourself in it.” Robin looked at Arabella in alarm, the soft green eyes were not surprised. “You live practically with the man who killed your family. You hate the man and you can't bring it in your heart to forgive him, but you're not acting on that anger, Robin. That makes you different from those men of yesterday who are still standing outside this gate, waiting for you.” Robin shook her head. “I just don't know if I'm better. I have openly wished him death and told him it was by my hand or that the Catians are ahead of me.” Arabella's gaze remained unchanged, so the news of her threat had clearly already reached her. "Yet saying it and it actually do are different aspects." Arabella said with her cracking voice. Robin got up with a sigh. "I'm going to ask Widow Walker if she has anything for dreamless sleep, because those images keep haunting me." Arabella just nodded, Robin paused at the flap out. "Thank you Arabella, I feel a lot better already." Arabella gave her a smile. “I'm here when you need me. Besides, I sent some street rats to HQ. It's not that we want you out of here or anything. but you have a task to accomplish and you can't do that from here.” said Arabella. Robin could only nod and then left the tent.

ROBIN WENT IN SEARCH of Widow Walker, she found her in front of her own tent. “The others are inside. You can go in too, but don't make it too long. Ruby needs her rest.” said the Widow, Robin nodded and glanced at the tent. “Mrs. Walker, I wanted to ask you something. Do you have something for dreamless nights?” Robin with one eye on the flaps of the tent. Wondering if her friends heard her. Widow Walker nodded. "Of course child, I'll make you a small supply right away." Immediately the Widow got up, Robin heard some of the bones crack. “Ah, that gout. I should have to drink that nasty stuff I gave you this morning more often. But even with a kilo of sugar, that stuff is still hard to swallow.” ranted the Widow, Robin laughed at the woman. “You don't have to hurry. I don't know how long it will take before we can go to HQ, without getting attacked in the streets.” Robin said, but she already knew it was pointless. Widow Walker began to laugh. “That will be faster than you think, girl. You go to your friends.” Without saying another word, the Widow left. With a little reluctance she entered the tent, Johanna looked up at her immediately. "Have you talked to Arabella?" Johanna asked. Robin nodded and Johanna looked back at Ruby, who was lying on the bed with her eyes closed. "Are you feeling better now?" "Yes, she put her finger on the sore spot." answered Robin, Johanna didn't look back at her. Tini did that in her stead. "Then you can now give it a place." Tini looked at her hopefully, but Robin shook her head. “If I have to give it a place, I should start by forgiving and forgetting. That's something I can't or don't want to do.”

Tini closed her eyes and sighed. "My father says that forgiveness is part of life, but it is difficult and takes time." "I'm sorry to say it Tini, but your father speaks from a religious point of view and you know I don't believe that nonsense." Tini nodded and opened her eyes. "Normally I don't, but I think he's right about this." "Me too, by the way." Johanna kept looking at Ruby. “I also know that some things are unforgivable. Still, I am grateful that you have gotten rid of your selfpity.” Robin walked towards Johanna and put a hand on Johanna's shoulder. "It's not that I didn't want to listen to you, it was just because I didn't know what was going on with me and now that I know..." “Everything I told you is suddenly true. Robin, hopefully you know that this is pure nonsense. Believe me, I'm glad you confided in someone. It only hurts to know it's not one of us.” Johanna snapped again. Robin took a deep breath, she knew this must be painful and normally she would confide in one of them too. She didn't know why she didn't do it this time, Tini probably saw the thoughts that haunted her head. “Maybe it wasn't a matter of trust, but a matter of getting too close. Arabella is further away from you and may see more.” Robin looked at her friend. Since when had she become so wise. "I think you are right Tini." said Robin, the flap of the tent opened and the Widow entered. “You better go, Ruby is now asleep. A tent has been set up for you, in the middle of the Slum.” the Widow said. Robin was the first to leave the tent.

THE TENT WAS MADE OF white cloth, which was strange for the brightly colored tents in the Slum. At least it was easier to recognize. Robin entered the tent, three low camping beds stood against the cloths. She sat down on one of the beds and quickly took off her boots to lay on it. The others also entered and sat down on the two remaining beds without saying a word. Robin glanced at Tini, who lay on her back and saw that she closed her eyes. Only Johanna lay with her back to Robin and heard Johanna sigh, but Robin could tell by Johanna's breathing that she wasn't sleeping. "Johanna?" Robin started. "No Robin, I don't want to hear that you're sorry." Robin heard a sigh again.“I think that Tini was right. You'd just needed someone who is not so close to your. " Another sigh was heard. "Give me time, I will come around." Robin looked at Johanna's back. "Then I'll give you that time." Robin said. She closed her eyes, but she didn’t fall asleep.

"ROBIN!" SOMEBODY YELLED. Robin pushed herself up from her bed and walked out of the tent barefoot. The Widow was standing in front of the tent, she had in her hands a crate filled with small brown bottles"Here's the drink you asked for." The Widow pushed the crate of bottles into Robin's hands. "One tablespoon a night." The Widow held up a tin spoon, she put the spoon on the crate and walked away. All Robin could do was watch her until she was out of sight. Robin turned and entered the tent, Johanna had stood up and looked at the crate in amazement. "Widow Walker has made me a drink so that I can sleep a bit more peacefully." Robin explained. Johanna nodded and dropped back on the bed. Robin picked up one of the bottles and opened it carefully, slowly she poured the stuff into the spoon and put it in her mouth. A sour taste filled her mouth and the muscles in her face tightened. "I hope it works." She lay back on her chosen bed.

Peace

She was on her back . She watched the rays of the sun shining softly through the cloths . She considered getting up, but she quickly dismissed these thoughts. She had never slept so well in years and she thanked the Widow's drink. She turned and looked at the sleeping bodies of Tini and Johanna. Still, she pushed herself up and quietly walked out of the tent. The sun's rays caressed her face. She closed her eyes and let in the warmth. " Tomorrow lassie, did you sleep well?" She looked around for a moment and saw Reece Gof approaching. She gave him a warm smile and nodded. He came to a stop at her and put his big hands on her shoulder. " Are you still plagued by guilt?" She sighed. Her morning started so well. " Never mind lassie, I'm sorry I brought it back." She lowered her head. Her hair was now hanging loose at her head. “ It's not your fault. What about our weapons? ” Reece Gof gave her a smile. “ Nice change of topic, but your weapons were ready yesterday. I am now working on that protection, which I mentioned before. ” His face stiffened. “ If I get those men in my hands ... You were only doing your job. But Ruby, she's like a daughter to me. I'm the one who found her at the gate. She was just a baby. Her parents lay lifeless next to her. ” He sighed and shook his head. “ I took her to my tent. I wanted to raise her, but Arabella convinced me that a man of age could not raise a kitten. If she hadn't been a Catian I would have kept

her. The next day, I took her to Mother Marion Goldenheart, who had just started her shelter. I was afraid she would reject her, but it was not in Mother Marion's nature to do so and she took the kitten into her home. She asked me if I had a name for the little one and I then gave her the name Ruby. ” Robin listened carefully to the story. She had heard the story once. She liked to listen to it. Still, she had a question she'd been wanting to ask for a while. " Why did you call her Ruby?" Reece shrugged. " It's my mother's name and I've always said, if the gentleman gives me a daughter, I'll name her Ruby." Robin laughed and he laughed with her. Robin saw Johanna come out of the tent. She was sitting next to Reece opposite the tent. She was holding a tin mug. She took a sip of the hot coffee. " Tomorrow, Lassie." He threw a tin mug at Johanna, who caught it just in time. " Here's some coffee, for the slow start." He rested his hand on a cylinder tube from which she had just had coffee and stood up. “ I just have to get to work. I suspect that you will sleep in your own beds again tonight. ” Johanna looked at her questioningly and she shrugged. " Do you know anything we don't know, Reece?" He looked at them and started to laugh. Laughing, he walked away. Johanna sighed and sat down next to her. " You don't get it from me, but I think he knows more than we do."

Johanna nodded in agreement. " I will not it on, but I think you are right." She took the cylinder barrel and poured coffee into Johanna's mug. Johanna took a sip of it. “ He's right. This is good for a slow start. ” Robin took a sip of the coffee too. " He has done something with our weapons and is now working on protection." Johanna looked at her in surprise. " What has he done with our weapons?" She shrugged and took one last sip of the coffee. Johanna did the same, but she kept looking at her, hoping for an answer she didn't have. “ Stop it, I don't know what that old blacksmith is doing in his tent. He talked about alien stuff and junk a few times. I suspect that he means Elpeanyx and Drockum. ” Johanna sighed and got up. " I'll go and have a look, because I want to know what the old man is doing with our weapons." She watched Johanna as she walked to Reece Gof's tent. Normally she would have gone with Johanna, but something in her told her to wait for the blacksmith to call her herself or the Novas to come and get them. Tini was still asleep when Widow Walker approached. " Robin, Ruby is awake and I let her leave the tent." She jumped up and ran past the Widow to the tent. Ruby just came out of the tent. " Robin, I can finally get off that bed."

She laughed and hugged Ruby. " It is good to see you awake and to see that you are doing well." Ruby nodded and pushed her away. " I'm happy too, but not nearly as happy as you, it seems." She shrugged and lowered her head slightly. " Do you still feel guilty?" She shook her head. “ I spoke to Arabella. She opened my eyes. ” Ruby nodded, then looked hard at her “ I heard that, but you have to be careful. Now that you've seen where that anger can lead to. ” Robin nodded and sighed. " I know and it is correct because I have seen it." She saw it in Ruby's eyes that she didn't have to go any further. “ My parents were murdered just like yours. Just like you, I hate whoever killed them. The only problem is I don't know who they are. Now Reece Gof is my dad and Marion my mom. They have given me my name. He my first name and she my last name. ” Robin sighed and turned away from Ruby. " I know you and I have a lot in common." She shook her head. " Come on, we have our own tent and Tini wasn't awake when I left." Together they walked through the tents. When they finally arrived at the white

tent, Tini sat in front of the tent and drank the coffee. " Hey, Ruby. How do you feel?" Ruby shrugged and sat down next to Tini. “ I'm fine. Especially when you consider what happened. ” Tini nodded and took a sip of her coffee. Robin sat opposite them against the white sheets of the tent and listened to the conversation Tini and Ruby had with each other. " That old man, I can hit him!" They looked up and Johanna walked up. Her face was red with rage. " Let me guess. You are not allowed to enter Reece Gof's tent and he does not want to tell you what he is doing. ” Johanna nodded and sat down next to her. She sighed. " I just want to know if he's not doing anything dangerous." She looked a little incredulous. “ The man was a blacksmith when he was still young. That in itself is not a safe profession and I have not included Elpeanyx. ” Johanna closed her eyes with a sigh and nodded. " I know that too, but he doesn't have the resources here that the other blacksmiths have." She shrugged her shoulders. “ I think he has those resources you talked about in his tent. And if he doesn't, then he knows the risks. ” Ruby nodded in agreement. Of course, she knew her adoptive father best. “ He often speaks negatively about Elpeanyx, but that is more because of the

nuclear aspect of the material than the material itself. He knows what he's doing, trust him. ” Johanna sighed and dropped her head into her hands. “ Trust in him, because he trusts in you. You wanted to say that, right? ” Ruby nodded and resumed the conversation she had before Johanna walked. Johanna looked at Robin, who gave her a smile. " Girls, girls!" They looked up from their conversation as Arabella walked their way. They saw a man walking behind her. " Isn't that Nova Karl?" Johanna almost jumped up. The others also got up. Arabella's male company waved at them. " It's Nova Karl!" Johanna shot up to him and ran past Arabella to come to a stop right in front of him. Robin looked at the others and laughed. Arabella also looked at the girl who had just run past her. " Girls, Nova Karl is here to take you back to HQ." Robin nodded. " Then we should just go to Reece Gof and say we need our weapons." Nova Karl walked past Johanna and Arabella. He looked at her. " Robin, I would like to talk to you before we leave the gate here." She nodded to the tent and he walked in. She looked at the others for a moment. " Go to Reece, when we're done here, we'll follow you." She nodded and the girls walked away. She entered the tent. Nova Karl was

sitting on one of the beds, holding a bottle of the drink in his hand. When he saw that she was inside, he motioned to one of the beds. " Sit down." She did as he said. After what happened, she didn't want to argue with him. " You certainly wonder why it took so long before we came to get you." She shook her head. " No, I can imagine that the fighting was not limited to the suqnad." He nodded. “ You are right about that. The fight on the suqnad was the biggest, but that's not all. A few men who were at the suqnad fight had gathered outside the gate of the Slum. ” Robin felt a shock through her body. " So we were literally locked up here?" He nodded. She lowered her head. " I already had the feeling that we were trapped." He straightened up and took her arm. " I spoke to several Catians who were there and they all told me how you fought until Ruby was injured." He squeezed her hand for a moment. " A certain pregnant Catian woman, Atena was very grateful to you." "Hey Reece, is my bow ready?" The girls were waiting outside Reece's tent. She looked at Ruby, who shrugged. She ed Ruby and then entered Reece's tent. The man sighed.

" Couldn't you wait for me to come out, Lassie?" She folded her arms. “ No, Nova Karl and a few others are waiting for us. We have to go and that's why we want our weapons back. ” Reece turned to her. He had a big smile on his face. “ I'm just teasing you, lassie. I was done long ago. Even with your girlfriend's break. ” Johanna entered the tent. " I heard that." " That was the intention, lassie." He pointed his thumb to a table behind him. " There are your weapons." Ruby and Tini also entered the tent. They walked to the tent, where the weapons were. One by one they picked up their weapons and looked at them in amazement. Robin also looked at her now metal bow. “ Aye, lassie. Your bow is now a gem at work. ” He reached for it. She handed the bow to him. “ That old wooden arch is, destroy. Sorry lassie, but I couldn't work with it. This bow here is made entirely of steel and you can see this string ... ” His finger ed it. " This one has traces of Droclum and if I pull the tendon back ..." He pulled back the string. A ray of green light became visible. He did not let go of the tendon, but relaxed the tendon again.

“ This light is a dangerous ray. It is the Droclum that gives the color of the beam. What I didn't know, however, was that it was Droclum, green Droclum. ” He gave her back the bow. " Angels, we really have to go now." Nova Karl entered the tent. His jaw dropped when he saw the weapons. " I don't know if Johannes is going to like this." Reece laughed. “ Give my name, and you'll be fine. I supplied weapons to the Novas when your mother was a little girl. D ate I can t hope enminste. " Nova Karl looked at him in surprise, but Reece went no further. Robin glanced at Reece and couldn't help but smile. “ That's not all, lassies. I have protection for you here. We don't want to see you beaten up again. ” He gave each a pair of breast and shoulder plates and leather gloves. “ Those gloves are because your hands come into with Droclum. I don't want to say it's dangerous, but it never hurts. ” Robin immediately put on the guards and put on the gloves. " Nova Karl, we just have to go to the tent to pick up my drink." As they left the tent, Arabella was waiting for them with the crate in her hands. " Please Robin and bring peace back to Nova Babylon." Nova Karl took the crate. " We will try and especially now that we know that there are always people we can rely on." Arabella nodded but said nothing. Nova Karl led the way and the girls followed

him. They walked out of the iron gate and saw for the first time in three days what had happened outside the gates of the Slum. Lampposts had been demolished, house windows had been smashed. The pungent smell of smoke stung Robin's nose. Tears filled her eyes. These were images of books about wars that took place on Earth. " Come on, let's move on, it just gets worse."

Back at HQ

She breathed a sigh of relief as the headquarters gate closed behind her. The city behind the gate was something she never wanted to see. The city was divided between the Catians and their friends, and the men they had attacked earlier. She walked into the main building with the angels. " Johannes is waiting for you in his office on the third floor." She looked at Nova Karl. " Aren't you coming then?" He shook his head. " He wanted to talk to you, not me." She nodded and walked to the stairs. She slowly climbed the stairs, followed closely by the other friends. They walked past the cafeteria. A few Novas looked up. She saw that Jan also looked up. She didn't want to look at him and walked briskly. " Are you okay?" She waited a moment until she was out of sight of Jan, then shook her head. Johanna walked next to her and took her arm. " You are not alone." She glanced at Johanna and she looked straight ahead. They arrived at the second flight of stairs. They went up the stairs. The stairs ended at a door. Robin raised her hand and knocked. " Inside!" Robin pushed the door, which creaked open. The creaking left her hackles on end. “ Maria, I don't have time for this. The city is in ruins and the angels are here. ” She saw Johannes standing behind his desk. He didn't look at them, but to the

left of the office. She looked at it quickly, but saw only a door slamming. “ Come on angels, forgive me if you just received that. My wife and I don't have the same ideas about how to fight this war, but that's not why you are here. You are here because of the fire in our backyard. ” There was another knock on the door. They looked up and Mardion entered the office. “ I'm sorry Johannes. My father had sent me here. ” He looked at the angels and gave them a smile. " It is good to see you and in good health." He looked at the arch and then at Ruby's chakrams . " What happened to your weapons?" Johannes also looked at the weapons now. “ I'd like to know that too. The whole purpose of your old-fashioned weapons was that you couldn't do too much damage with them. ” She took her bow from her back and gave it to Johannes. “ Reece Gof thought that was a problem and could not wait to work on our weapons. We didn't ask for it. He brought it himself. ” “ Reece did you say? Then I believe you immediately. ” He examined the bow carefully and tightened the string. The ray reappeared. He looked at it before relaxing the tendon. " Solid work as usual." He handed the bow back to her. " It's good that you are here." Johannes turned his attention to Mardion.

“ You were not at the suqnad fight, but unlike the angels here, you have seen the fighting in the streets. Because these angels are now going to be mentally tested here, I actually want you to undergo that test too. ” Mardion nodded, then looked at her. A chill shot through her body. Johanna had probably seen the shiver. " What does that test mean if I can ask?" Johanna stood in front of her. “ Simple. I'll talk to you one by one and see if it's wise to put you back in. I also make notes for the report, because I have enough stories about the suqnad fight. The only thing I don't have is your story. ” She took a few steps back. She didn't want to be here. She gasped and took another few steps forward. " Who do you want to speak to first?" Johannes looked at her. “ I think I'll start with Mardion, because he wasn't directly at the suqnad fight. But with a few other, small fights. ” They were in the now empty canteen. Mrs. Puidreach had given them a cup of soup. But she hadn't said anything, so the girls were on their own minds. " Robin." She took the last bite of her soup. Mardion stood at their table. " It's your turn." She nodded and got up. She walked back to the office. She opened the creaking door. Johannes typed something in on his computer. He didn't look up as she entered the office. " You may oil your door." He kept looking at the screen. " Why should I treat it, when I'm always told when someone comes into my

office." She sat down on one of the chairs opposite the desk. “ Let's start at the beginning. You see that group of men and you send Nova Karl and Angel Mardion away to take the kittens away. ” She nodded. " Not all kittens, one had escaped their attention." He nodded and retyped. He said nothing else, which made her nervous. She sat up straighter. “The boys had help from Ruby, because the women did not want to listen to the boys. She walked with them to make the kittens feel safe. In the meantime, I tried to calm the men down, but the man I beat up in church was among the men and he was just making the men up against me. It was like speaking on deaf ears, but they didn't do anything until Ruby came back and the man saw her guns. ” She gasped for a moment. The images played one by one in her head again. " Are you okay?" She nodded. " It's going, where was I?" He studied her. " You were at the point of Ruby's weapons." She lowered her eyes. “ Oh yes. They saw her weapons and attacked the Catians and us. I had indicated that we were not allowed to draw our weapons. This is to prevent further unrest or to prevent them from being taken away. ” He frowned for a moment. “ Tini and Johanna were holding some men away from Ruby when I saw some

men who were kicking on a pregnant woman. With a lot of effort I fought those men off her and she was able to flee. As the fight continued, some women began to hide in the houses, but they were set on fire. I don't know how the men came to the fire, but without thinking about it, I ran into several houses. To save the women. During the fight, Ruby saw the kitten, which I mentioned earlier. She wasn't the only one to see him. E ome men saw him and shot it down. Ruby shielded the kitten with her body, Johanna and Tini pulled the men away from her. ” She swallowed for a moment and gasped for a moment. “ A Catian man told me to get out of there and we took the kitten with us. The only place close to where I knew we were safe was the Slum. So we went there. Unfortunately the men had followed us. Johanna and Tini were carrying Ruby and could not walk quickly. I had the kitten in my hands. After some quick thinking I had put the kitten down and ordered it to go with Tini and Johanna. ” He raised his hand and she paused. " Where did that kitten go?" She shrugged her shoulders. " I have to it I don't know, but I believe he was picked up by his parents, or to be honest I hope, because I haven't seen him in the Slum again." Johannes quickly typed this into his computer and then looked back at her. “ I stayed behind while the others went on. Against my better judgment, I took my bow from my shoulder and fired an arrow at a few men, as a warning not to get any closer. I stood there for a while until Arabella and a few other inhabitants of the Slum came to get me. ” He sighed and then looked at her. “ I have to it that I am not happy that you went through this. Nevertheless, I would like to thank you for this report. I still have a few questions. ” She nodded. She had expected that.

"Just ask." He gave her a smile. " I understand you wanted to be careful with your weapons, but in the heat of the battle why didn't you pull them?" She thought for a moment. “ I can't speak for the others, of course, but in my case I hadn't thought about my bow anymore. Until the moment close to the Slum. ” " How has your night's sleep in recent days been?" She closed her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them again, she was sure not to tell him about the drink. " I no longer sleep the way I slept before the fight, but I am not plagued by nightmares." He nodded. " You can go and you can send Ruby here." She got up and walked to the door. She turned again to see him typing again, so she decided to continue down the stairs. She walked to the table where the others were sitting. " Ruby, it's your turn." Ruby got up from the table and wanted to walk away, she stopped her for a moment. " Can we please keep my conversation with Arabella for Arabella and me." Ruby nodded. She looked at the others and they also nodded. Mardion looked puzzled for a moment. Ruby left for the office. She sat down and looked at Mardion. " When we were in the Slum, I was plagued by something and thanks to Arabella we knew what it was."

He glanced at the others and they lowered their heads. " What was it?" She sighed. For a moment she looked at the others and they nodded. " I've come face to face with pure hate and what this could do to people." He closed his eyes and sighed. " So you have come face to face with your own hatred." She looked around quickly. There was no one else in the cafeteria. " Let's keep this between us." He nodded and got up from the table. She watched him go as he left the cafeteria. She also got up. " I'm going to find Nova Karl and if I can't find him, I'll do some training." She did not wait for an answer and walked away from the table. She went down the stairs to the field in front of the dilapidated cabin. Nova Karl was sitting on the grass. She walked up to him without saying anything. " Hey Nova Karl." He jumped up, startled. " Have you gone mad!" She shrugged her shoulders. " You are infected by the ones you associate with." He glared at her and folded his arms. She looked at the target, which had always stood there now since she had picked her bow. " Can that disc handle my bow?"

He looked at the disc and took his pistol from its holster in response. He fired on the disk. The disc immediately caught fire. " I'm going to look for a disc that can handle it." He wanted to run away and she stopped him. " Nova Karl, what's wrong? You can't be so mad about the joke just now. ” He closed his eyes and sighed. " Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me." She looked at him intently. “ I do. For a time you thought that something bad had happened to us and you felt responsible for it. ” He sighed. " How do you know that?" She kept looking at him. " Do you really think I'm taking that drink for pleasure?" He shook his head. “ I also felt guilty. Certainly, because I was the one who sent you away. ” He lowered his head. “ I'm going to get two targets. I could also use some training. ” They were shooting at the discs together. Him with his gun and she with her bow. " Jesus this feels good." She looked at him with a smile.

" I didn't tell Johannes about that drink." He looked at her in surprise. " Why would you keep that hidden?" She shrugged and fired again. " I think for the same reason that you don't tell him about your nightmares." He aimed his weapon and fired. " You are right when you said we are being infected by those we associate with."

New sword for Mardion

Although they had been declared mentally healthy by John, he did not let them leave the premises. Purely because of the fear that they would end up in such a fight again. D ate was t enminste statement that Nova Karl had given them. But she did not want to believe him, there was nothing for it but training. She got up earlier than the others herself and ran past the fence. The same rounds she normally ran, but this time the other way. " Nice and busy, lassie!" She came to a stop at the closed gate. Behind the gate was Reece Gof. " Tomorrow Reece, what are you up early?" He nodded to her. “ Aye, but I'm not alone. Looks like you, lassie, have also made some progress. ” She took hold of the iron bars and wanted to pull it. “ Never mind, lassie. I won't be staying long. ” Still she opened the gate. “ Come in, old blacksmith. I wanted to ask you something. ” He sighed but entered the grounds anyway. " Quick then lassie, as you know it's not good for someone from the Slum to get through this gate." She nodded and shrugged. " I know that all too well, but I've been living here for a while and I'm fine too, right?" He nodded. “ Aye, but you're not from the Slum. You're just from town lassie. What was your question? ”

She saw that he was uncomfortable. " I just wanted to thank you for our weapons, but we are not the only one who has to make do with antique weapons." Reece nodded. " You're talking about Mardion Lionel, right?" She nodded and he winked at her. “ I already have something for the Lionel, lassie. I'll get it. Then I'll bring it later. ” She gave him a warm smile. " Thank you Reece." He shrugged, turned and walked out the gate again. "Where were you?" She ran up the stairs to the cafeteria. Johanna, Tini and Ruby came out of the cafeteria. They ate a little earlier than the other Novas. “ I ran and then I ran into Reece. He was outside the gate. ” Ruby immediately pricked up her ears. " What was he doing there?" Robin shrugged. “ I didn't ask. I asked if he could make something for Mardion. ” Ruby nodded. " That's nice of you." She shook her head, then shrugged.

“ Well no, we have special weapons and he doesn't. So it just seemed fair to me if he had that too. ” Johanna sighed and she had a smile on her mouth. " I'm going to eat something." She ed them and entered the cafeteria. Mrs. Puidreach looked up as she sat down at the table near the kitchen. " Good morning Robin, I saw you from the window." Mrs. Puidreach came over to her and set down a tin mug of coffee. " All I have for you is porridge." She nodded and sighed. " I have to eat anyway and if all you have is porridge, then I will eat porridge." Mrs. Puidreach walked away and took a sip of her bitter coffee, which she had grown accustomed to now. Mrs. Puidreach returned and set the tin bowl of porridge on the table. " Delicious." She pushed the bowl closer to her. She put her spoon in the porridge and the spoon remained in it. She took a bite of the dry porridge anyway. " Are you there honey b ij?" Her head shot up. Jan was at the table. He had a yellow jar in his hand and he looked at her questioningly. She shook her head. " Thank you, but no thanks." He raised his shoulders. " It was just a question, but okay." He turned and walked away. She quickly ate her porridge.

She ran down the stairs and walked around the grounds one more time. During that round, she ran into Ruby, Tini and Johanna. " By the Virgin Mary, you often run too." She shrugged and ran with them. " This is my fifth round, but after that I'm going to do some strength training." Ruby sighed. “ You are really crazy, Robin. But I do understand why you are so restless. ” The dilapidated cabin came into view. " The suqnad fight was over a week ago and we haven't left the gate." She closed her eyes for a moment. She did feel a bit restless. Something was about to happen and she just didn't know what. " You are already doing well ladies, I cannot say that about your male Angel." " Are you talking about me?" Mardion sprang from behind him. Nova Karl jumped a little bit with fright. " Jesus, will you leave that." Mardion nodded. “ No problem, just going back to what you just said. I run every day from the back hall to the headquarters and forth, but I think it's time I pull into the tabernacle. " She looked at him in surprise. " What do you mean, do you have problems at home?" He shook his head and looked at the gate. " It's just getting dangerous for me to come here and go home every day."

Nova Karl nodded. " My mother shares your opinion." He sighed. She jumped from one leg to the other. " What's the matter?" She turned and walked to the lawn. She sat down on the field and began the strengthening exercises. Nova Karl walked over to her and sat by her feet. He took hold of her feet. " Thirty sit-ups." She nodded and started the exercise. " You are restless and I cannot blame you." She sighed. " I'm just training." She saw him nod as she came back up. " Will you still have your drink?" She nodded and lowered her body back. " It only helps at night." He looked at her with concern. " Are you sure you're okay?" She finally shook her head. He let go of her feet and they both got up. She brushed off the remnants of the grass. " Angels, Nova Karl!"

A female Nova came running their way. " What is it Julia?" Nova Karl looked at the woman. She came to a heavy panting. “ Johannes has asked me to go and get you. Richard Lionel was with him. ” Robin looked at Mardion, who looked at the woman in surprise. " What do you mean?" She looked at him bored. “ What I mean, Angel Mardion. Is that your father was in Johannes's office and that he asked me to go and get you. " Mardion nodded. He looked at everyone. They started moving and all walked to headquarters. When they entered the house, they went back up the three flights of stairs to Johannes' office. They entered the office. Johannes was sitting at his desk and Richard Lionel was sitting in the chair where they last sat. “ Ah angels, it is good that you are here. King Lionel needs you. Although I am against it, he can explain it to you better than I can. ” Richard stood and looked at them one by one. He sighed. " I confess that I am not happy having a Nova with you, but Johannes has promised me that you can be trusted Nova Karl." Nova Karl hung his head. " I don't know if his confidence in me is well placed, but I'm doing my best." Richard nodded approvingly. “The six of you are taking a spaceship to Catia today, where you meet the Catians pride. You are going to talk about peace there. ” Mardion nodded, but Robin stiffened.

“ Sorry to ask. But why us? We are nothing more than volunteers. ” Richard looked at her. " And that is precisely why you go to Catia. All you have to gain is peace and you are going there with my son. ” He pointed to Mardion, who was now looking at her too. " We will do our best, father." Mardion walked over to Robin and put a hand on her shoulder. " I can promise that from all of us." They pushed his hand off her shoulder and looked at Richard. “ I'm sorry, my king. It was not my place to ask those questions. ” Richard waved the apology away, then looked at Johannes. " I prefer to send them away now." She could see that Johannes disagreed. " You know how I feel about it, Richard, so you don't have to ask my permission." Richard nodded and turned back. " Report at the gate of the headquarters in an hour, then you will be taken by a car to the spaceship." She took her bow. Her hair hung wet on her back. She quickly put her bow back against the wall. She sat on the bed and lowered her head into her hands with a sigh. " Robin?" Tini entered the room. Robin raised her head and reached for her towel. She frantically dried her wet hair. Tini shook her head with a sigh. The others also

entered the room. Robin combed her hair and put it in a ponytail. With a sigh she looked back at the others. " Well, here we go." She clapped her hands. Johanna looked at her. " Robin, are you nervous?" With a sigh she lowered her head. " Is it that clear?" Everyone nodded and she swore. “ That was not the intention. This will be the first time that I will fly since I arrived here. ” Johanna got up and walked over to her. She put her hands on Robin's shoulder. “ We are with you now. Nothing is going to happen to us. ” Robin looked at her friend and took her arms. " How can you be so sure?" Johanna shrugged. " I don't, but I have that feeling." Robin sighed and turned away from her friends. They were at the gate. Mardion kept looking through the bars of the gate. " Can you stop that?" He looked at her and nodded, she narrowed her eyes. " Sorry, I just want" " What do you want lassie?"

Reece appeared. Mardion looked at the old blacksmith and Robin gave him a smile. " Reece, I was afraid we would miss you." Reece shrugged. “ I told you I would come back later, lassie. But now that I see you like this, I'm glad I didn't wait too long. ” Mardion looked at her and sighed. " Here laddie, I have a new sword for you here." Reece held out a scabbard with a sword at Mardion. " And I have some protection here too, which the lassies have too." He gave him the breast and shoulder plates. Mardion looked at it in surprise. He quickly put on the protection and then removed the sword from its sheath. The blue glass sword became visible. “ This is Elpeanyx. I cannot accept this sword. ” He wanted to return the sword, but Reece shook his head. " You can accept it and you will." Mardion shook his head. " E lpeanyx is so expensive and I can't afford it." Reece laughed. “ Do you really think those lassies paid me? I am glad that I could work with my hands again. ” He turned back to walk away. " Your Highness, I'm sorry I delayed your team, but I had a special weapon for your son and I wanted to give it to him." Richard appeared in the opening of the gate.

" It's okay." He reached out his hand to Mardion, who gave him his sword. Richard looked closely at the sword. “ This is a good sword, but I didn't expect anything else from you Reece. You were the best blacksmith we've had. I would soon offer you a blacksmith shop again. ” Reece shook his head. “ I had that time Lionel. I am too old for that job, but sometimes I work for my own pleasure. ” Richard smiled and looked at the sword. " D at tinkering is good quality. I am glad you provided my son and the angels with better weapons and protection. ” Reece nodded and looked at Ruby. “ These lassies have done a lot for us, more than you know. This is just something I can do back. ” He looked back at Richard and walked away. Richard looked at them. " Are you ready?" He gave the sword back to his son. Everyone nodded. He pointed to a black van that Robin had not seen. “ This is your transport to the spaceship. I will see you in Johannes office when you return. ” They walked to the van and sat in it. The van door was slammed. They couldn't see the driver, but the engine was started and the car started to move. Mardion looked at her for a moment, then at the sword in his hands. " I asked Reece to make you a weapon." He looked at her, then at the sword again. She closed her eyes and sighed.

" Sorry, but you were the only one with an old-fashioned weapon and that might be useful against the Catians, but not against the people of Nova Babylon." She opened her eyes and saw that he was looking at her. “ I'm not angry, it just is. This i s expensive material and I was just amazed that I got the gift. " The car stopped. The brakes squealed and the occupants shot forward. " Why are we stopping?" Nova Karl tried to look out, but the windows were blinded. His hand went to the door. " What are you doing?" Johanna took his hand, Nova Karl looked at her. " I'm going to see what's going on." Johanna didn't let go of his hand and shook her head. He gave her a hard look. " Someone has to do it, Johanna and you heard what Richard Lionel said, he didn't want me to go with you." Johanna slowly let go of his hand. " Be careful." He nodded, opened the door, and leaned toward Johanna. He gave her a slow kiss before jumping out of the van. " Oh, can you just call me Karl instead of Nova from now on?" But before they could answer, the door slammed. Robin looked at Johanna, who was petrified diagonally behind her. " It was time for one of you to take the first step." Johanna looked at her. Fear was in her eyes. Robin quickly took Johanna's hand.

“ He knows what he's doing. He's the youngest nova out there and he's a smart guy. ” She nodded and the van started moving again.

Catia

She stepped into the cramped spaceship. It was tighter than the shuttle she took to Nova Babylon. She sat in a chair and constricted herself, while the others also sat in a chair. A voice echoed through the speakers. “ Dear engers of the Zlia.” She sprang up. She recognized the voice. " I am your pilot for this trip." She closed her eyes and considered where she had heard this voice before. The spaceship jerked into motion. Tini let out a little cry. She gasped too. This spaceship was smaller and the start of the journey was a bit more difficult. She wanted to get out, but she knew she couldn't. " Robin, look." She opened her eyes. Johanna pointed to the small window. The different stars shot past them. " I don't think it will take long." Mardion's knuckles were white, his hands clasped tightly around the sheath of the sword. She wanted to tell him it could be an hour before they got there. She'd heard that from the Catians on Nova Babylon, but when she saw him like that, she thought it better not to mention it. " I think so too." He looked at her and nodded gratefully. She looked at Ruby, whose ears were flat on her head. Her tail was a bit thicker than usual. Her eyes darted back and forth quickly. " Ruby?" Ruby's head shot towards her. A small blowing sound came from her mouth. Robin raised her hands.

" Never mind." Ruby shook her head and blinked a few times. " Sorry, I'm not very comfortable." Robin rolled her eyes. Ruby had seen this clearly and put a little smile on her face. Robin unbuckled her seat belts and walked past her friends. " What are you going to do?" She turned to Johanna. " I'm going to check on the pilot." Johanna nodded a moment and turned her attention back to the window. She shrugged and knocked on the door that led to the cockpit. " Come in." The pilot's calm voice came through the door. She opened the door and sat down next to the pilot. " What can I do for you?" She looked forward. “ I just wanted to have a look. I have only been in a spaceship once before and that was not a pleasant trip. ” The pilot looked at her for a moment. It was an older man with brown eyes. “ That is annoying. Was it a ride from Nova Babylon to Catia? ” She shook her head. " From Earth to Nova Babylon." The man looked shocked.

" When?" She sighed and knew immediately when she had heard the pilot's voice before. He was the pilot of the shuttle that brought her to Nova Babylon. " You know what day it was." He gave a short nod and his brown eyes filled with tears. “ I know what day you mean, that day I lost my family. My wife and daughter. ” She closed her eyes and sighed. " I lost my parents and brother." She opened her eyes and he nodded. " You're that Hood girl." Now she nodded. He gave her a hard look. " I don't think your parents did it." She looked at him in surprise. " You're the first to say it to me, except for myself." He shrugged for a moment. " Even though I'm not the only one." She looked through the windows and saw the white planet getting closer and closer. " I hope you are right, but I certainly am not." Out of the corner of her eye she saw that he was doing it too. "Do you see that big pool of water?" She nodded.

“ That's the Baruri, the only lake on Catia. There are a few rivers, but the Catians made them themselves. This also applies to the river that runs through the city of Adra Kula. ” He pointed to a green patch on the edge of the Baruri. Buildings slowly came into view as she approached. A large city was distinguished from a few small villages around it. “ We land just outside the city walls. You have to walk from there. ” She watched him as he landed the spaceship. Several Catians and kittens walked towards the ship. She got up and waved to some of the kittens standing close to the window. The kittens just didn't wave back. She dropped the pilot. " Are you ready?" The others rose from their seats. She put their weapons, which they had taken off before the ship left, back on their oars and she hung her bow on her back again. " Angels, we are the outsiders here now." Mardion went to the door and started to move on, but she shook her head. " Let me tell you so we all understand." Everyone was looking at her now. “ We are here on a mission, bring peace to Nova Babylon. What are we going to do to achieve that goal? Mardion as our prince does the talking. We girls will shut up. Everyone agree? ” She looked first at her friends, who nodded. Then she looked at Mardion. " I agree, because if you disagree with this, we will do it differently." He thought for a moment, but nodded. " I agree with your plan." He turned and opened the door that separated them from the Catians.

Sweat formed on her forehead. She wiped it with the back of her hand. She walked next to Ruby, just behind Mardion, and had to refrain from looking around. The Catians were scantily clad. She could only agree with this with this heat. Robin looked straight ahead. The Catians, walking through the dusty roads, looked their way in amazement. Mardion looked back for a moment. " Now we are the stranger." She nodded. He looked forward again. They arrived at a market. It was a lot like Nova Babylon in the market. Now her gaze went past the many dresses. " Could we shop after the conversation?" She looked at Ruby, who shrugged. They stopped, looking over the suqnad. " Can I help you with anything?" A large male Catian stood directly in front of Mardion, who took a step back. The Catian looked at him and grinned. " Normally, no one of your race comes to this town, but if I have to believe the rumors, you are here for a reason." Mardion nodded. " That's right, I am Mardion Lionel and I was sent here by my father to talk to Samuel Rwor." The Catian's eyes narrowed a little. " Are you Richard's kitten?" Mardion nodded and the man shrugged. “ Then you look more like your mother, just follow me. I'll take you to the Catians pride. ” The Catian turned. Mardion turned quickly and gave Robin a questioning look. She sighed. Had he already forgotten that he was in charge? She took a step forward and gave him a little shove.

" Do you know where we have to go?" She asked Mardion and he shook his head. " No, then follow that Catian." She looked at Catian's back, which was slightly tanned by the white sun. Yet she doubted that, because not only his hair, but also his ears and tail were light brown. " Sir, I'm sorry, but I didn't hear your name." The Catian laughed. " Are you saying Richard's own kitten doesn't know who I am?" The Catian turned and looked over his shoulder at Mardion. " Are you pretending to be Prince Saladin Nureddin?" Saladin laughed again and looked straight ahead. They entered a castle. " This is the Catians Pride, where the Catians pride gather." He pushed open a wooden door that led to a large round room. In the building she escaped the heat for a moment. Several men filled the room. A man sat on a chair looking out across the room. " My cousin, who are you with you there?" The black-skinned man with short black hair looked at them. " Richard Lionel's kitten, my king and some women accompanying him." Robin wanted to react to it, but was able to keep himself just in time. " Prince Mardion, what an honor, but I must confess I never expected to see you here." Mardion stepped forward. She turned to Johanna and Tini.

" Stay at the doorway." Johanna nodded. Robin walked forward with Ruby too, to stop just behind Mardion. “ Mardion, who are your friends? If my eyes don't deceive me, there is a Catian with you. ” Mardion turned to them. “ This King Samuel Rwor, are the fallen Angels. Robin Hood and the Catian is Ruby Foxpawn. ” Robin bowed her head in politeness. When she looked aside, she saw that Ruby didn't. " Fallen Angels did you say? Isn't that that gang of petty thieves? ” Robin nodded in response. " That's right, your King Samuel Rwor." King Samuel sat on the edge of his seat. " K oning Samuel, we're here to talk about peace." Samuel looked at Mardion. " I know why you are here and unfortunately I have to disappoint you." Mardion looked at the Samuel. " Sorry, I don't know what you mean." Samuel went back to his chair. " You know that all too well, you just want to hear it from my mouth." Mardion sighed for a moment. “ I must indeed hear it from your mouth. With the fallen angels as my witnesses.

” Samuel nodded. " The Catians of Catia have nothing to do with the attacks on Nova Babylon." Robin looked at the king and something in her told her the man was right. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ruby walking forward. "Then how do you explain the attacks with Catian spaceships?" Samuel shrugged. " I can't explain that yengi, but what I do know is that we have nothing to do with it." Ruby shook her head. " Forgive me if I don't believe it." Saladin took a step forward. " Show some respect yengi, you face your king." Ruby shook her head. " He's not my king." Steam almost seemed to come from his nose. Robin turned to Ruby. " Ruby, stick to the plan." Ruby kept her eyes on Saladin. " If you're not behind the attacks, then who is?" Ruby was now in front of Mardion, who immediately walked over to Robin. " This is going to go wrong, but don't draw your weapons." Robin nodded and she looked at Johanna, who also nodded.

" Yengi, I'll teach you respect!" Now smoke was really coming from his nose. His whole body was covered in it until a loud roar was heard from the smoke. The smoke disappeared and a lion became visible. Robin grabbed Mardion's arm. He walked back and she followed him. She looked at Ruby, who looked at her for a moment. After that, her body was also covered in smoke. Eventually the smoke cleared from her too. A smaller cat than the lion was now in place. The cat had a small tail and feathers on the ears. The cats walked towards each other. The smaller cat, which she recognized as a Lynx, started to puff. The paw lifted up and struck the lion, which did the same. " Enough!" Samuel's voice echoed across the room. " Prince Saladin, let that Yengi alone. She is not one of us and knows nothing of our customs. ” The lion looked back at Samuel, who shook his head. “ She may be a Catian, but she was raised by people. She is nothing more than a newborn kitten with very sharp claws. ” The lion looked back at Ruby, who had now sat down and licked her paws. The smoke reappeared from the lion's body. In the smoke Robin could see the lion disappear and the man appeared. Saladin walked from the smoke to the platform and knelt. “ I'm sorry, my king. My anger got the better of me. ” Robin let go of Mardion's arm and walked over to Saladin. " Prince Saladin, how do you learn to live with it?" Saladin got up slowly. " What do you mean?" She went to stand next to him.

" With your anger." He glanced at Samuel, who nodded. “ I will not. I don't live with it. I carry my hatred everywhere with me. ” She sighed. That was not the answer she had hoped for. Samuel nodded and gave her a hard look. “ You carry hatred with you, yengi. But how you live with that is up to you. ” She looked at the king and only now saw that he was quite old. ' N you have to you. " She turned and Ruby had returned to her human form. Mardion also looked at Ruby and nodded. " Still, I want to thank you for your time." Samuel looked back at Ruby. “ It was no effort and don't worry about it, yengi. You are forgiven as I would forgive a young kitten. ” Ruby shook her head wildly. Robin looked at her friend. The long fluffy tail her friend had before was gone and now there was fluff on her ears. “ What got into you? Didn't we agree that I would do the talking? ” Ruby sighed and now walked ahead of the group with her head bowed. " I'm sorry, but I couldn't stand him." Mardion started to speed up and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. " He's a king." She put his hand away.

" I know and if it was your father I would have done the same." He shook his head in disbelief. " Mardion, let her." He looked at her now. " Aren't you mad?" She shook her head. " No, I am not angry, because without her we would not have gotten further than the suqnad." He looked surprised now. " What do you mean?" She shrugged her shoulders. " Saladin, came to us. I think he came to have a look because Ruby was with us. ” He nodded, then lowered his head. " You are probably right, but still." She shook her head. " Yes we had a plan and what happened there ..." She pointed to the building they just came out of. “ Didn't go to plan, but now we have a different problem. If the Catians of Catia aren't behind the attacks. Who is responsible for it? I'm afraid we'll find out when we get back to Nova Babylon. ” She looked at Mardion, at Tini, and from Tini to Johanna. Finally she looked from Johanna to Ruby. Everyone nodded. She exhaled with relief and turned around. Saladin was behind her.

" You're a smart one, yengi." She shrugged her shoulders. " I hope my feeling is wrong." Saladin nodded. " And who do you suspect?" She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. " Jan Nomina."

Silence before the storm

Mardion looked at her and sighed. " Is that you hate speaking?" She shook her head and clenched her fists. " I wanted it to be my hate so we could put it aside." Saladin folded his arms. " You know what to do." She nodded and looked at the Catian. " We have to go to Nova Babylon and prepare for the worst." Saladin grunted a little and nodded in agreement. " I wish I could go with you, but my honor holds me again." She looked at him. " What do you mean?" " He means the fight between my father and him." Saladin nodded. “ Your father may have forgotten and been forgiven, but my honor won't allow it. We were both young and our hot-headedness didn't help. ” She looked at the male Catian. “ If my fear is true, Jan will focus on the Catians first and then on the people. Can they go here? ” Saladin turned. " It's not my place to judge that, but I'm going to submit it to Catians Pride."

He reentered the palace. Mardion looked at her again. " If you're right, we are in serious trouble." She nodded and turned toward the spaceship. " We trained for that." She ran to the spaceship. The pilot looked at them in surprise. “ That was fast. How did it go?" Robin shook her head. " It wasn't them, they didn't attack us." The pilot's gaze darkened. " Richard already suspected this." She looked back and looked at Mardion's startled look. "Then why did he send us here?" The pilot looked at him. " Because your father trusts you." Mardion's chest swelled with pride. Robin walked over to the pilot. “ We have to get back as soon as possible. We are needed there. ” She pointed to the spaceship hovering in the sky. The pilot nodded and jumped into his spaceship. She turned and let the others get in too. She looked toward the city, waiting for the pilot's signal or for Saladin to run up. " Robin, we're ready to go!"

She sighed but just as she was about to turn around, she heard a loud roar. A lion ran out of a cloud of dust. " Wait a minute. We have news from the Catians Pride! ” The lion pulled up to the spaceship and Ruby ran out. " Saladin, what's the news?" The lion growled and Ruby nodded a few times. " Thank your king for his cooperation." Robin looked from Ruby to the lion and back again. " You're not going to tell me you understand him, are you?" Ruby looked at her. " Then I won't tell you." Ruby's face had a playful smile, but it was only for a moment. “ If you suspect is correct, you can send the Catians here. The Pride will set up a refugee camp. By the love of Jesus Christ, that r is boring. ” Like all Catians, Ruby now also spoke with a rolling r. Ruby turned and walked back into the ship. Robin looked at the lion and shrugged. " There's only one thing I can say to that, and that's Amen." She was sitting next to the pilot again. She had her finger on the radio button. " Nova Babylon, this is Robin Hood on the Zlia." There was no answer. She looked at the pilot, who was also looking at the radio in surprise. " We are close enough to ." She nodded and repeated her call, but there was silence. She took her finger off

the knob and swallowed. " I'll wait until we're closer." She looked at him and he shook his head. “ I don't think it makes sense, Robin. I'm starting to think you're right. ” She nodded and looked straight at him. " Which pilots do you trust?" He sighed. " You mean to evacuate the first shipment of Catians?" She nodded and his lips began to form names. Only he didn't mention them aloud. " Not many, but I'll be calling them up now." He leaned toward her. His fingers began to turn knobs. “ If you do, I'll get Ruby. We must warn the Catians on Nova Babylon without Jan finding out. ” The pilot nodded. She opened the door. " Ruby, we need your cat shape." Ruby looked up. " What's the matter?" She quickly explained what was going on. " It seems sensible to start the evacuation now." Ruby looked at Mardion, who just nodded. " Robin, I trust you and put your plan into action."

He dropped his face into his hands. " I just can't believe it." Robin walked over to him. " I'm sorry Mardion." He lifted his head from his hands and gave her a thin smile. " You're not sorry, but thank you." She closed her eyes and turned away from him. Ruby had already changed to her feline form. She saw the lynx run into the cockpit and she followed her. “Okay, Robin and Ruby I now have you on the radio for all of Nova Babylon. I am so glad that Richard has entrusted me with this code, but we are not talking about that. ” Robin nodded and hit the radio button. The lynx made small and short sounds. When she was done, the lynx looked at her and took her finger off the button. " Thank you, Ruby." The lynx narrowed her eyes and began to purr. Robin sat back in her chair. " Thanks." She looked at the pilot. The man shrugged and looked glassily at the space station. She followed his gaze. The membrane was in its milky color. She looked at the clock in surprise. “ That is even stranger. It is late in the afternoon, but the membrane is on night mode. ” " I have a bad feeling about this." The pilot's gaze remained on the station. " Me too," she sighed.

He flew into a hangar without ing Nova Babylon again. A few other pilots waved at him. " Those are my friends and it looks like they are getting ready to bring the first Catians to Catia." Only now did she see the line of Catians lined up by the spaceships. Tears came to her eyes as she saw the kittens' frightened looks. " I will go back immediately, now that I have dropped you off." She took his hand and nodded. She saw in his eyes that she didn't have to thank him. Instead she got up and left the cockpit. “ Here's the plan. We just do what Richard Lionel asked us to do. We're going to the Nova's headquarters. We keep our hands close to our weapons. We're not putting down the weapons Reece gave us. Mardion, you have to take into that your sister or your father will be held captive. ” He nodded. " What if that is the case?" She closed her eyes for a moment to think, but quickly opened them again and looked at him. “ That is your choice. Only if it's your father I wouldn't put your gun down. He wouldn't have wanted that. ” Mardion nodded in agreement. " I follow your Angel Robin." She looked at the others. " Johanna, you keep your eyes open for Karl." Johanna nodded. " He is part of our team until proven otherwise."

She nodded and hoped for her friend that this was not proven “ Tini and Ruby you form the hindquarters, Johanna, Mardion and I the forehand. But the most important thing is that we keep ourselves dumb. ” Everyone nodded and turned to the door, which now opened. They walked into the formation, which they had previously discussed, to the black van that had taken them to the spaceship earlier. This was already ready. They quickly sat in it and as soon as she slammed the door, the van drove off. She looked at Mardion, who was staring intently ahead. She considered taking his hand for a moment. For a moment she dismissed that idea. They had become friends. Since he got her out of it Locksley home, she had come to see him in a different light. He probably noticed she looked at him and turned his head to her. “ Are you okay? You look pale." She nodded and gave him a smile. " Thanks, I was worried about you." She spoke a little softly. It wasn't that the others weren't allowed to hear what they were saying. That could not be said for the driver. Now it was his turn to smile. He took her hand. " I'm fine too, thank you." She tilted her head slightly. " For what?"

He raised his shoulders. “ It may sound strange, but because you are my girlfriend. You no longer see me as the spoiled prince. ” She frowned. That's true, that's how she saw him. Since when had that changed? Probably since the Locksey house. " Mardion, by the way, why were you at the Locksey house?" He looked at her in surprise. " Where does that question suddenly come from?" She kept looking at him intently. “ I ed by Karl and he told me you had gone home. I had been told by another Nova that other ships had been seen, so I went after you. ” She nodded and looked back at the metal partition that separated them from the driver. Why did she suddenly want to know this? She had plenty of chance to ask this question. She shook her head for a moment. There were more important things that took her mind. She squeezed her hand, which he held. " Thanks, I just wanted to know." He nodded, then pulled his hand from her grip. " No problem." The van stopped and she got out one by one. “ I don't trust it. It's too quiet. Stick to the plan. ” They walked straight through the gate to the main building. They entered the building. E ome Nova's office walked in and out. From her eyes she saw that someone was in one of the cells. She wanted to turn her head to see who it was, but suppressed that urge. She put her foot on the steps first. " The man in the cell is Karl."

She felt Johanna's breath on her ear. She nodded slightly to indicate she heard. " Later." She continued up the stairs. There were only a few Novas in the canteen, much less than usual. They looked up for a moment as the group ed, but threw their gaze down a little faster than usual. Her hackles sprang up. " Where are the other Novas?" This time it was Mardion who spoke. She shrugged her shoulders. " I have no idea, but pretend you don't care." The others followed her. They arrived at the stairs that led to the office. " Mardion, you or me." He pointed to her. “ You have been in charge the entire mission. I don't see why that should change now. ” She nodded and walked up the stairs. They arrived at the door and knocked. There was no answer. She knocked again. " Are we going?" She looked back at the others, who nodded. She pushed the door. The squeak from the hinges had disappeared. " Robin Hood, Mardion Lionel, Johanna Fitzwarin, Titania Goberd and obviously Ruby Foxpawn. What a surprise." She swallowed. Jan sat behind Johannes's desk. Still, they walked further into the office. “ It is indeed a surprise Nova Jan. Where's your father?" Jan got up and never lost sight of them.

" Are you saying you don't know yet?" She cocked her head. “ What do I need to know then? You haven't told me yet. ” He started to laugh. " You have always been smarter than you look." She walked to the desk. " Thank you, but I don't buy your compliments." She put her hands on the desk. " Jan, where is your father?" His smile faded. “ While you were gone there was an attack. My parents both went there to help. The Catian prince Saladin was there and killed them. ” Robin's hands were still on the desk. She clenched these into fists. “ Are you sure Jan? Were you there yourself? ” He shook his head. " My own men were there and they gave me this report." She began to shake. “ Don't be afraid. I don't hold you responsible for it. You were on a mission. A mission for which I unfortunately do not have the specifications. ” His finger was placed under her chin. " Z is O to be common. The Novas are now under my command. ” He pushed her chin up.

" That includes you, fallen Angels, so give me the specifications." She slapped the hand. " I'm not one of your Novas." She looked at him. “ You are lying, by the way. Do you want to know where we were? We were on Catia and we were face to face with Prince Saladin. ” Jan took a few steps back. " What?" She nodded. " I sat in the cockpit the whole time on the way back and didn't see any spaceships ing by." He started to laugh and spread his arms. " I underestimated you, but I still win."

The last fight

She tightened the string of her bow and aimed it at Jan. “ Won? You just lost. We know what you did. ” He started to laugh. “ You are right. You five know, but who will believe you? ” He pointed to her. " You are the daughter of the people who blew up the earth and the rest of your friends are known as petty thieves." He started to laugh. " My father, my father would believe her." Mardion came to her side. " And I'm not a thief, so people do believe me." Jan looked at him as if he had forgotten Mardion, then laughed. " There you have a point, my prince." Jan bowed slightly to Mardion. The door to the left of the office flew open. Likewise, the door they just came from. Several Novas entered the office, all of them had their weapons drawn. “ Did you seriously think I didn't think about that? Your father is missing boy. My best men couldn't even find him. ” The sound of guns drawn came through the air. However, she did not take her eyes off Jan. “ Then people can still believe him. His father is not the only one who enforces credibility. ” Jan nodded. He pointed his gun at her.

“You see men, the Lord works His way. There was always something w I had wondered. Why did I let this girl live? While I had no problem killing her fouryear-old brother. ” She stiffened and felt the anger grow inside her, but he went on. " H spike let me live and see how it has dried. She is a strong gorgeous young woman. ” She heard murmurs of approval from the group of Novas. " I've already told you this isn't going to help you." Jan nodded and gave her a mean smile. “ I know, because you are not only beautiful. You also have a strong will. ” He kept the gun pointed at her, but walked around the desk. " T walked my better judgment, I'm still asking the question." She shook her head. " Let me spare you the pain." She let go of her tendon. The arrow shot past him. It ended up in the window, which immediately shattered. For a moment he looked shocked. " You missed me." She shook her head. " That was the intention." Johanna, in turn, jumped to the group of Novas with her twin swords. The others also jumped into the fight. Anger turned Jan's face red. " Witch!" He fired, but Mardion blocked the shot with his sword.

" Sorry Jan, but I can't miss her." Jan screamed and wanted to shoot again. Robin now aimed her bow at his weapon and released the arrow. The gun shot out of Jan's hands. He looked at the gun, then at her. She watched a few Novas run towards them. She fired a few arrows at the men. The men fell to the ground. She didn't look after them, but turned her attention to Jan. His eyes were on fire. She knew he had underestimated them. She gave him a smile and strangely enough he also gave her a smile. " Lower your weapons." She looked at him in surprise. " Why should we?" Jan pointed to the door. " Mardion!" She looked quickly at the door. A Nova held Miala. The girl's face was bruised. " What have you done with her?" She heard her own unbelief in her voice. She looked at Jan, who started to laugh. “ We haven't done anything with her. She didn't want to cooperate. ” The Nova grabbed Miala's hair and pulled it. Miala cried out in pain. " Lower your weapons!" She looked at Mardion and he nodded. She relaxed the string of her bow. She looked at Jan again. " H et looks like nothing you've changed." Jan shrugged and then walked up to her. " How sweet of you that you say that."

He took her by the neck. " You should have let me finish, but no, impatient little bird." He grabbed her chin with his free hand and turned her face to him. He forced her to look him in the eye. “ What a shame. You are so beautiful, but I still have to kill you. ” She pushed him away with great difficulty. " Jan!" Their attention was caught by Mardion. " Let them go. You have me and my sister. ” Jan nodded. " W at you saying, young prince?" Mardion shrugged. “ Do you actually think that people from Nova Babylon would follow you. You need me and my sister because you don't have my father. ” Robin looked at him and shook her head. “ Mardion, don't forget people will soon find out. D at you no more than a slave. You will lose credibility. ” He nodded and then looked back at Jan. She cursed briefly, raised her bow, and fired at the Nova that Miala was holding. Miala immediately shot forward and ran to her brother. Robin turned for a moment and looked at the door that led to freedom. She loved H spike tendon tense and focused on John. She walked slowly to the stairs and as soon as she reached the door she slammed the door into the office. " Run!"

There was no need to shout, because when she turned around, the others were already running ahead of her. She heard the door bang open behind her and decided to skip the last steps. She jumped down and ran past the empty cafeteria to the stairs that led to the ground floor. The others were already on the stairs when she turned and shot the first novas that came into view. The Novas running behind it tripped over their fallen comrades. " Johanna, what are you doing here?" Karl's voice echoed across the room. " Run Johanna and leave me here." Robin ran downstairs to see Johanna hit the lock of the cell with one of her swords. The deafening screech of the meeting metal filled the room, silencing Karl's further protests. Robin ran to her friend and held her arm for a moment. “ Johanna, I know you love him, but we don't have time for this. Jan's men are right behind us. ” Johanna shook her head. " I'm not leaving him, if we do, he's probably dead." Johanna jerked her arm free and was about to hit the bars again, when a cry filled the room. Robin turned quickly. Jan was behind Miala. Mardion lay unconscious on the floor. Jan had pointed his gun at Miala's head. Robin tightened her tendon. " I wouldn't do that, little bird." He pressed his gun to Miala's head. Robin lowered her bow with a curse. "Good girl." Another Nova walked forward, drew his weapon, and put it against Miala's head. Jan now walked over to her. " I warn you little bird, take a wrong step and the girl dies."

He walked around her and took her arm. "You see, with the right motivation you can follow my orders perfectly." He was right behind her. His body pressed against hers . A shiver ran down his spine. She felt uncomfortable and dirty. She felt his free hand run through her hair and she heard him smell something. " Maybe I won't kill you after all and still get some pleasure from you." She shook her head. " I don't know what you mean by pleasure, but I don't surrender that easily." His free hand dropped to her other arm. " I know and that's part of the fun." He pushed her and she flew forward. Her head hit hard against the iron bars. She immediately fell to the ground. Her ears buzzed and her vision went blurred. She felt a pair of slender hands pulling her up. She had to shake a few times before her vision became clear again. Karl stood opposite Jan with two pistols in his hand. Johanna and Tini pushed her slowly toward the exit. " If you shoot Wolff, the princess will die." Karl shrugged for a moment. " Then I have her blood on my hands, but I can sympathize." He slowly walked back. She was now standing outside the main building with her friends. Karl pushed the wooden door shut and shot the lock, which immediately melted. She was dragged through the gates by Tini. Her head throbbed terribly and her vision faded again before it became sharp. " That alley there." She was pushed into the alley and was pushed against the stone wall by Karl. She heard faint footsteps run by and felt Karl's relieved breath. Her legs

were shaking and her head was about to explode. Karl studied her. " Robin are you okay?" She saw his lips move, but she didn't hear the question. She blinked and shook her head once too. That only made her dizziness worse. " She has a concussion." The others crowded around her and looked at her with worried looks. Karl looked at Ruby and sighed. " Ruby, you go to the hangar as soon as possible and get off this space station." Ruby shook her head. “ You're not my boss Karl. I will stay here!" He let go of Robin, who nearly collapsed until Johanna grabbed her. “ Ruby, those Catians are strange there. Most were born here. They need someone there who can keep order there. That someone is you, so you go and use your training. ” Ruby looked at Robin, whose head hung limply on her chest. She nodded and ran out of the alley. A few shots echoed in her ears , but she didn't see Ruby again. She clung to Karl now as he made his way through the dark streets. It was slow, but they had not yet been discovered by the novas as they crept into the Slum. " Are you still okay?" Johanna's concern was evident in her voice. Karl nodded, holding Robin tightly. “ I'm fine, Johanna. I just wish we were there already. ” Johanna nodded. She knew what he meant and she wished that too. Robin looked at her friend. Vaguely she got what her friends were saying and wanted to help them by standing on her own two feet.

" Robin, you're not helping." She let herself hang again for a moment. " There they are!" She looked back for a moment. Four novas came running their way with weapons drawn. Some shots were fired their way. Karl was now running with her. She tried to put her feet under her body to help him run. Suddenly he fell forward. A loud hiss between his teeth became audible. She slowly scrambled to her feet and looked at him a little surprised. A dark red spot slowly became visible on his gray uniform. Robin quickly looked back. Johanna and Tini came running back. Johanna knelt by Karl and pushed herself up over Johanna's shoulder. Still staggering, she takes her bow and fired at the four Novas. “ Tini, Johanna. Take him with you and run. ” She didn't look back, but heard Johanna sob softly. She felt a hand on her shoulder. " Are you sure?" She nodded and staggered for a moment. Voices rang again in the street. She looked aside and looked into Tini's green eyes. “ I'll be fine. Don't I always do that? Take him to Widow Walker. I'll follow you. ” Tini looked at her uncertainly again, but nodded and walked over to Johanna. " Come on, just like then with Ruby." Robin heard Johanna's sobbing fade. The Novas she heard earlier now came into the picture. She aimed her bow at them and shot the first. Without realizing it, she fired again. This time the shot flew past the Nova, which looked at her for a moment in surprise. She shook her head and fired again. This time her shot hit the target, but a sharp pain filled her body. She looked down for a moment. A stain, like Karl's, became visible in the dim light of her arrow, which stood on her bow. She swallowed and looked again at the next Nova, which was running

her way. She blinked a moment and fired her shot. Multiple Novas now filled the street, and with every Nova she shot several took their place. She was shot at again and the pain in her body got worse. Slowly she felt her strength disappear from her body. Tears streamed down her face. She couldn't give up. She dropped to her knees, but kept shooting until another pain shot through her body. She fell to the side and her bow let the last shot fly. Her eyes were wide open. The pain was excruciating. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes. A few Novas came running to her. She was turned onto her back. One of them knelt. Her bow was pulled, but with the last bit of strength she held on to it. " Jesus, even in death she is stubborn." The tug of her bow stopped. She turned her head slowly to the Nova sitting next to her. He looked at her and was startled. "She's not dead yet!" He jumped up and picked up his gun. She closed her eyes waiting for the shot, but the shot didn't come. Instead, she heard him run away. She opened her eyes again, but she didn't see much. She saw the Novas run away with the milky membrane behind them. She was tired and wanted to sleep. She closed her eyes for the last time.

Epilogue

She stood up in alarm . A cry escaped her throat. Pain cut through her body. She looked around anxiously. " Quiet lassie, quiet." She was slowly pushed back by a pair of large rough hands. “ Tini, get Walker. She's here! ” Carefully so that it didn't hurt, she turned her head and looked straight into Reece's eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was scared. Afraid of the pain that shot through her body. Afraid the dream she had had happened. Reece took her hand and shook his head. " Don't worry about that now, lassie." He squeezed it gently, then released her hand. A gust of wind ed over her. " Thank you Jesus and his father, you are awake." Reece got up and the Widow sat in his seat. She looked at her closely . " You don't look well, and that is not offensive." She stroked her head. “ Talk as little as possible. Blink me to answer. Blink once for yes and twice for no. ” She blinked once. The Widow nodded. “ I'm not going to lie to you. You were hit by three shots. Two on your side and another just below your lungs. Those of your lungs has it damaged. " She blinked again to let them know she understood. “ You were lucky, that friend of yours is not. He's been in my tent for a week,

fighting for his life. ” She widened her eyes a little further. " A week, " she thought. Has she been here for a week? Where were Tini and Johanna? Was Ruby safe from Nova Babylon? Widow Walker raised her hands. “ Don't worry. Ruby is safe. She has let the street rats know that she is in charge of the refugee camps and that she is doing well. Johanna cannot be beat away from that friend of yours. And Tini helps with the wounded who have entered the neighborhood. ” She breathed a sigh of relief and immediately regretted it. She doesn't know when she fell asleep or how long she slept this time, but what she did know was that when she woke up, her mouth was dry. Reece was sitting next to her again. He held up a tin mug. " Would you like something to drink, lassie?" She blinked once. He put the tin mug to her lips and carefully poured some water into her mouth. She took a few sips. He took the tin mug away from her again. She sighed slightly. “ I'm sorry, lassie. The protection I gave you was no match for those shots. Can you forgive me? ” She blinked again and he nodded visibly with relief. “ We need you, lassie. You and your fallen angels. ” She closed her eyes and cleared her throat for a moment. " I do my best." He nodded for a moment, then stood up. " I know you're doing your best and I don't want to force you to do anything." She shook her head.

" Don't." He walked away. “I'll be back later. Rest as much as you want. Because as soon as you're back on your feet, I'm afraid you won't get much rest. ” She gave him a painful smile. He nodded and left the tent. She closed her eyes. He was right when he said that they do not rest would get if they were better because they had to make sure it was okay. She along with Tini and Johanna, now that Ruby was no longer there to help them. Karl couldn't help her either now that he was seriously injured in Walkers' Widow's tent. She closed her eyes and her nightmares took over her thoughts.

Dedication

Iwant to thank everybody who have worked on the book until the point of release.

COVER DESING: Charon Winqvist

EDITING: Kimberly Laurrensen Dennis van Peppen

MORAL : Dennis Authorgoddes Siobhanthewritter Charon Winqvist

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT Nova Babylon, please visit: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/nova-babylon-nathaliabooks1993

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About the Author

Nathalia Books is a real dreamer and turns these dreams into stories. Each with their own world and charm, she prefers to write all day long, and she loves to forget the world around her. Her worlds take you to deserted places and new unknown cities. She introduces you to new unknown races and beliefs. Read more at Nathalia Books’s site.

About the Publisher

Natalia's publishing is the name Nathalia Books gives to her indy work. Working at a kitchen table with a good cup of coffee, the books come together,