Cars in the sky

David Brin's running this little contest on his blog for a 100-word story about What happens to Starman and the Red Roadster. So when I couldn't sleep last night (as usual), I couldn't get it out of my head. And once it arrived, it had to get written...

Here's the result:

Grint checked her eyepiece before scribbling the numbers on the parchment. 

She slid the notes into containers. Too much to hope that all of them would make it, but even one would be enough. Outside, the wooden gate shattered. Not long before the mob reached her. 

Digits trembling, she released the homing bats into smoke-heavy air.

Fists pounded on her door, then axes. It didn't matter. She'd been right. Skyfires were worlds like her own. One day her people would learn to value those who sought the truth. And then they too would send a red chariot into the sky.