I sat with the group of elders, musing amongst themselves about the timeframe of our stay. The solar flare had been far larger than anticipated and many had grabbed little before coming to the evacuation caves. Supplies were sufficient but it was a point of anxiety. I listened, watching the faces with the low light available. ‘Should be no more than a week.’ Notes of concern etched in his face. ‘Oh Ned, that’s a stretch. Even with a large flare a day or two should be sufficient. This isn’t any larger than the one 7 years ago.’ She placed a reassuring hand on his thigh then turned back to the group. ‘These things happen, overestimating only sets all to worry.’ Nona looked over and stole a wink at me. I gave a small smile back, swallowing back some of my worry. ‘It is true, but this one was different. The grid was struggling even before the warning. I’m sure it’s been tripped now and hopefully not on fire.’ Miriam pipped in, looking over. ‘I do think we may be in here some days yet.’ She dropped her gaze from Nona and nodded at a few of the others who were offering their agreements. ‘Nonsence! I plan on going out tomorrow. By then everything should be calm and our sun should be without issue.’ Nona scoffed, looking about the group. ‘The grid is designed for this ionization. Batteries will be charged and nothing’ she looked directly at Miriam ‘will be on fire.’ Miriam frowned then glanced over at Gene. He spotted her gaze and shook his head with his hands up. She was on her own if she tried to argue the point. Nona had been wrong with past flares but that was before the changes to the grid. There had not been a flare of this size since the village had added the new sheathing to the batteries and charge wires. I had apprenticed with the engineering group for the installation not more than a month ago. Although there had been issues with some imperfections in the material the engineering team had been able to fix the issues before today. The elders did not offer an argument to Nona’s statement. Peggy stood. ‘We should know by tomorrow. I will personally check the grid myself with Nona. In the meantime speak with those around us. They seem worried and reassurances would be of great help.’ She opened her palms. ‘May we flourish.’ I stood with the rest of the elders and repeated with them ‘and do so in harmony.’ She looked to the others who nodded and slowly dispersed into the dim cave. Nona walked over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in close. ‘You have no reason to worry, I can see it all over your face. I assume that is why you came over.’ She kissed my cheek and I hugged her back. ‘With the fixes to the sheathing material what if we missed one? And of course the extra heat will hurt the crops closest to the day side.’ Nona gave me a squeeze. ‘Oh goodness, you have nothing to fear. Your mother lead the engineering team and you know everything was fine. Ignore what they said, just a bunch of worry warts with nothing else to do. The underground dark makes everyone crazy. The heat will dissipate, some crops may be damaged but we plan for this.’ She turned to me ‘Our village has survived much worse.’ She stood in front of me and smiled. ‘You need something to take your mind off of this. Go to the livestock, see if Greg or Neal need any help. I will speak with your mother and see if there is anything we missed to put you at ease.’ ‘Grandma, I’m part of the team. I’m not a scared little kid. I don’t need chores, I just want to be sure.’ ‘Then be sure.’ She gave me a look. Argument over. Point taken, if I’m going to be a part of the team then I need to support the team. I had graduated not long ago, this was a big responsibility and I was one of the youngest to be allowed on the team. All of the teams had a parts to play in any village but engineering was one of the most prestigious. I had the mind for it and the aptitude from a young age. I nodded my head and she gave a warm smile, giving one last squeeze around my shoulders. She turned and walked towards the group near the supplies, no doubt to tell them tomorrows plan. I did have the advantage of having both my mother and grandmother on leadership of the engineering team. Admittedly I was scrutinized far closer by my family then other members of the team. This was a fact that was made apparent often. I was determined to prove that I was where I belonged. I went over to where the cots were, laid down on mine. Most of the small children were sleeping and families were settling into their areas. Evening was upon us. The emotions of the day crushed into me, making the fatigue I had been fighting back seem overwhelming. I looked around at the people in the village settling in for the night and saw my sister. I waved over at her. She slowly jutted through the maze of people and plopped next to me. ‘So, how long are we waiting?’ I relayed the elders meeting to her with Peggy and Nona checking the grid tomorrow. She seemed satisfied with the plan although slightly surprised that the check would happen so quickly. ‘Nona must be pretty confident in the new sheathing material.’ ‘She is, besides the imperfections it did perform well. She has every reason to think it won’t fail. The team did well with the repairs.’ I attempted to swell with confidence. My sister saw through it immediately. She was always better at reading others than I was. ‘Okay there engineer. I get it, the team is on track. Let’s hope you all don’t have to mine more of that stuff. The dark side was rough, don’t know if all the frostbite was worth it.’ She still had yet to graduate but we all knew she would be accepted as a healer. She was starting to do rotations at the clinic as an aid. She was playing with her hands, eyebrows furrowed. Without looking up she asked ‘Do you think we may have to move to the dark side after this? If the flares are this strong, twilight may not be safe.’ She looked as tired as I felt, both of us were feeling the crash after the rush. ‘Nona thinks all is well, I don’t think we have to shelter on the dark side. We will see what she says tomorrow. You’ll see, everything will be fine.’ I sat up and rubbed her shoulders, she turned to hug me with tears in her eyes. I held her close feeling her silent sobs. I couldn’t help but let my sadness rise to the surface. Our village had been forced to take shelter on the dark side of our world when we were small for a year. Our small red sun had spit solar flares aggressively, pelting the face of our close world the ionization and heat for months. Our tidally locked world orbits the sun as the moon did for our ancestors Earth. Only one face shows itself to our sun, a red dwarf by official terminology, while the other is frozen in perpetual night. We live at the boundary of these two, the twilight. I felt my sisters sobs and felt the tears run down my face. Our brother and grandfather had succumbed to the cold after an accident had left them stranded while traveling, a large flare cutting off communication. Many others in our village were lost during the extended dark and cold. It was a grueling loss for our small village, the only colony on this world. For those old enough to remember it is the fear that freezes us when the flares start again. I held her allowing the relief of emotion we have been holding onto for so long to spill. I wiped away my tears as she did the same. ‘How about you get some sleep? You can have this bed if you want something away from the middle.’ I offered. She gave a half laugh, wiping her face and nose. ‘Like I can sleep now, plus you look terrible.’ I laughed, trying to contain the mucus from my nose. Hopefully all would be fine. Nona thought so, and the elders were not so worried. There was every case that the flares would calm and we would be able to return to the village. All of this worry would be for nothing. It had to be. She moved her cot close to mine and we spent the night side by side. The morning would bring us the answers. Everything would be fine. I fell asleep holding on to hope. If I knew how wrong I was, I don’t think I would have ever slept at all.