Well as of now: Homecoming is 147 pages.
Darkside: Extinction was 180 odd pages by the end.
At 147 pages...Homecoming has barely started.
Yowza! I think I either am crazy or ambitius or both. Well everyone keep reading, keep enjoying...and PLEASE post! Pretty pretty please...
Miles closed his eyes knowing at this range the enemy fighter could not possibly miss.
Then.
He opened his eyes, obviously still alive, and looked out the window. The enemy fighter was smoldering, flaming as it spun, its right engine blown apart by a cannon shot. Then three more rounds slammed into it and the thing was torn apart in a fiery explosion.
Miles blinked. Then the Michaelangelo darted past, Teresa's voice crackling over the speakers of the Kitty Hawk.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou really need...to fix your damn shield├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa sounded incredibly tired, her voice tight with pain, ├óÔé¼┼ôSo...├óÔé¼┬Ø
She trailed off.
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa?├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles took the controls of the Kitty Hawk and spun it to the Michaelangelo, which was going off without direction, its speed slowly being bled off by its automatic correction engines. Miles brought the Kitty Hawk close and scooped the Michaelangelo up as gently as possible, wincing at the sounds that reverberated from the cargo hold.
├óÔé¼┼ôStay here├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said to Chess, running out of the room.
Teresa swore as she got onto the deck. Her injured leg was no longer working quite right, the artificial tendon given up the ghost, the painkillers it automatically pumped into her system preventing her to tell exactly how bad things where.
Miles ran into the cargo deck and slid across the floor, coming to a stop next to Teresa.
├óÔé¼┼ôHi├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôCan...we please put Chess somewhere safe? I need a vacation├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI'll give you a vacation├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles kissed her, hands pulling her close.
├óÔé¼┼ôOw├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa winced as her leg was jostled, but she didn't move as Miles kissed her again. Then, realizing that this was not the best place, Miles stood and picked her up.
Teresa, tired and wounded, decided that maybe for once in her life...she could be the weak one. She lay her head against Miles' shoulder, enjoying his warmth. Then she fell asleep.
---------------
Dobson, much to his annoyance, was quite alive. He woke up, dazed and wounded, a trickle of blood running down his forehead. The last thing he remembered...was trying to find Chess in the city. Then someone attacking him. Now his hands were tied behind his chair, where ever he was sitting, the only thing he could see was a circle of light cast by a flickering lamp.
Then a rectangle of light opened, a door sliding aside. A silhouette of a man stood there, leaning against the side of the door.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo...you were a lot easier to take down then I expected├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôPeck? Is that you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson laughed, grinning, ├óÔé¼┼ôI have to say...you are a bit more tenacious then I would have thought. Seeing one's men run into one of those...things is a bit distressing to the unprepared├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was...until I realized that I had one chance to kill it. My man should be shooting it's ship down right...├óÔé¼┬Ø Peck checked his watch, ├óÔé¼┼ôNow├óÔé¼┬Ø
Dobson laughed.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Peck snapped.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou underestimate how hard it is to kill these things├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson said, ├óÔé¼┼ôNow that you've tried to kill her...her 'loved' ones... you've sealed your own death warrant. These things don't stop when someone annoys them. The human race was almost destroyed because we annoyed them, momentarily. They are as capricious as gods and twice as deadly because they actually act. And there is nothing more deadly then a god who acts├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôA very pretty speech├óÔé¼┬Ø Peck said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut-├óÔé¼┬Ø
A man ran to Peck's side and whispered something in his ear. Peck, from what little Dobson could see of his face, looked furious. Then he ran off without a second word. The door closed behind him. Dobson laughed, bitterly in the darkness. Chess, for the moment was alive. Then he snapped his bindings as easily as a grown man breaks a child's toy. Dobson stood, his joints smooth and well oiled. The pretense of age had dropped completely from his shoulders, cane now unnecessary. Dobson cracked his neck and walked to the door.
├óÔé¼┼ôHey├óÔé¼┬Ø The guard turned at the voice. Then a hand smashed into his jaw, dislocating it loudly. The guard fell, his robes twisting to reveal the CCHS uniform underneath it. Dobson took the robe off of the guard with series of quick jerks. Underneath he smirked at the 'uniform' which was little more then a Navy uniform with a red star on it. Dobson stood, buttoning up his new robe. He picked the guard's gun and holstered it, tempted to shoot the guard...but the bang would attract too much attention.
Dobson sighed, slowly, trying to work out what he could do. Revenge...no longer seemed quite as present on his mind as it had in the past. Atomics, especially when they were set off in an atmosphere, were always messy. But Atomics against a civilian population...
Dobson walked out onto the street, his legs carrying him while his mind was working. The guards hadn't even questioned him, they hadn't even noticed the newly unconscious guard. They deserved Chess, if that was the best they could do.
Dobson suddenly realized what he had to do. He squared his shoulders and walked towards the Tattooed castle, eyes fixed on the damaged structure.
--------------
Teresa woke, slowly, and looked at the newly familer celling of the Kitty Hawk. She was warm, in a bed that actually had thick blankets and a pillow. It was a nice feeling, and she felt like drifting off to sleep again. For a second she thought she had.
Then Miles' face came into view. Teresa smiled, absentmindedly, ├óÔé¼┼ôHey.├óÔé¼┬Ø
Then- ├óÔé¼┼ôMiles!├óÔé¼┬Ø she jerked herself up, her injured leg complaining. Teresa blushed furiously, remembering what she had done in the half euphoria half exhaustion of a success full battle.
Miles laughed, sitting back on the chair he had brought to the side of the chair.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...I wasn't thinking, I├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa stammered.
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa...shut up├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles smiled as he spoke.
Teresa shut up. Them, searching desperately for something else to talk about, she asked, ├óÔé¼┼ôHows Chess?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôFine├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said automatically, then changing his words too, ├óÔé¼┼ôAngry, scared and surprisingly snappy├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôShe's...she's been talking?├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa asked, her voice hushed.
Miles suddenly felt like a parent telling a child that Santa Claus was not real. How could he...what right did he have, telling Teresa the truth about Chess? What right did anyone have, deface another's Messiah.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, ├óÔé¼┼ôShe's been talking├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat...what about?├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa strained, not wanting to jostle her leg any, ├óÔé¼┼ôHas she said what we need-├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôShe's mostly been talking about how her...parents want her back├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd how she was born├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI have to talk to her├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, her face suddenly grasped by conflicting emotions.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou-├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles stared.
Teresa grabbed his arm, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou are going to help me. And I am going to talk to her├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôLay down!├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles forced her back. Teresa, without leverage, fell back.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou are going to stay here. The mountain is going to come to Muhammad this time├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, turning around.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa asked, but he was already gone, walking out of the door.
---------------
Dobson walked through the Tattooed castle, head hunched over. Vindict was sitting behind a desk in the main lobby, working tirelessly over a mountain of papers. The entire planet had to subside on what was left after the attack, as the war had thrown the shipping lanes into complete disarray. The war was only a few days old and its effects were immediately felt galaxy wide. Dobson smiled, remembering an ancient age...an age where wars could begin and end hundreds of years before other planets even heard about them.
Vindict looked up, seeing something strange about the man walking towards him. Then the hood was thrown back and the man looked straight at Vindict. Vindict, after a half second of seeing, saw a similar face seen across five decades. He had been younger then, a Cardinal rather then a High Illustrator.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou bastards know what happened! TELL ME!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôYou├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict breathed. Dobson, however, did not reach for a gun, he did not reach to strangle Vindict. His face was impassive, a compete contrast from the memory that had leaped into Vindict's mind.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson stammered, ├óÔé¼┼ôAm here...to beg pardon├óÔé¼┬Ø
Vindict was caught completely by surprise, unable to say a single thing. Then he saw the milling people in the lobby were staring.
├óÔé¼┼ôCome├óÔé¼┬Ø He said, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe should discuss this in private├óÔé¼┬Ø
Dobson stood stiffly in the office as Vindict sat slowly behind his desk.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou are Paladin Michael Dobson, right├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said.
Dobson nodded.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd you...you've been trying to kill the Messiah. I...├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict's mouth quirked, ├óÔé¼┼ôI can't say that I blame you├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôYou're damned right├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson hissed, his voice deadly. He thought he could keep the rage under control, after seeing the flash blinded, the burnt, the dead and the dying in this city. But seeing Vindict there, so calm, so...smug in his belief. It made the anger bubble to the surface before Dobson could stop it.
Vindict rubbed his face, ├óÔé¼┼ôThat which you see around you├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, ├óÔé¼┼ôThe bombs, the dead and the dying...its all what we've sown, just three hundred years ago. The latest, and probably most undeserving, of the casualties...was your wife├óÔé¼┬Ø
Dobson stood, not trusting his tongue.
├óÔé¼┼ôI have to ask you...why?├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict asked, ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy come back?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôRevenge├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson said, his voice trembling, ├óÔé¼┼ôI came back to hurt you. To hurt every single member of your order as best I could...but...I'm a coward├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson looked at his hands, wrinkled and weathered, ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen someone else does my job for me...I feel sick, looking at what's been done here├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôDobson├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict stood, ├óÔé¼┼ôI would gladly take your help. Your leadership qualities and your legend could-├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI said I'd help. I never said that I'd lead. I just wanted to tell you about those that attacked├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThe Communists, Hawk has told me├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, not sitting down.
├óÔé¼┼ôExactly├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson said, ├óÔé¼┼ôThe Communists and you have one thing in common. You've both betrayed me. I can't decide which is worse, not now...├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIf it...makes any difference├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sorry├óÔé¼┬Ø he laied his hand on Dobson's shoulder.
├óÔé¼┼ôSorry├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson said softly, hands clenching, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou're...sorry!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôHere├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict either didn't notice or ignored the violence in Dobson's voice and stance, ├óÔé¼┼ôI saved this holograph. It is about two hundred and fifty years old, when you brought...that...├óÔé¼┬Ø
Vindict stared at the holograph, trailing off.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...I don't believe it├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict passed the hologram to Dobson, ├óÔé¼┼ôI can't believe I never noticed!├óÔé¼┬Ø
Dobson realized what had been bothering him ever sense he saw Chess. He stared.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm an idiot├óÔé¼┬Ø Dobson breathed.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo am I├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said.
Homecoming
Moderator: Moderators
dun dun dun duuuun!
Here is the new episode!
A shell roared down out of the otherwise calm sky, exploding on the street. The ground heaved up, then tossed Staff Sergent Lares into the air. She landed on her back, then rolled to her front and started to run again.
The city, the capital city that Lares had spent her childhood in, was on fire. The enemy ships had done a good job of devastating it, zipping overhead and dropping bombs. A mortar squad was firing off smart-rounds, searching out any and all personal communication systems. Lares' was abandoned five blocks away, undoubtedly still drawing sporadic fire.
She got to cover, ducking into a damaged and battered alleyway. The rest of her 'squad' was ducked in there, a smattering of technicians she had scrambled together in the first panicked minutes of the attack.
Then she realized, with a jolt, that two of the men were missing.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere are Trent and McKay?├óÔé¼┬Ø She asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThey...went off to find you├óÔé¼┬Ø A battered man named Gideon said, his head hunched. Lares was not quite sure if he was a civilian or something else entirely.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd no one stopped them?├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares sighed, rubbing her forehead. Another shell dropped nearby, shaking the place, ├óÔé¼┼ôI said I'd be right back!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThat was a half hour ago├óÔé¼┬Ø Pvt. Johnston said, still nursing a shrapnel wound that decorated his chest.
Lares sighed. Then she heard loud footsteps, dashing down the street towards their position.
├óÔé¼┼ôThunder!├óÔé¼┬Ø Trent's voice carried into her hearing, a breathless, panicked shout.
├óÔé¼┼ôFlash├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares shouted back, and Lares, McKay and a strange woman ran into the alleyway.
├óÔé¼┼ôLieutenant Commander Weathers├óÔé¼┬Ø The woman said, tipping her head. Lares saluted, as did the others in the group with the exception of Gideon, who simply tipped his head. Weathers saluted back and they went to rest.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo...what are our orders?├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers asked, looking at Lares.
├óÔé¼┼ôI just checked in with our local station├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares said, looking daggers at Trent and McKay, who looked suitably unabashed, ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd our orders stand as...resist to the best of our abilities├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThats...vague├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers sighed, feeling very naked without five hundred tones of starship between her and the enemy, ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm a Navy officer, so...I think you should take over Marine├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThank god├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe're going to have to silence that mortar-├óÔé¼┬Ø
A bomb dropped in the building that made half the alleyway. The smoke cleared and McKay lay dead on the ground, his skull caved in by a large bit of rubble. Weathers gulped, the pit of her stomach dropping out from under her.
Another bomb hit, this time in the street down the way from the ally, blowing a new crater in the damaged and destroyed street.
├óÔé¼┼ôShit!├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares muttered, ├óÔé¼┼ôLets get out of here├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôMcKay-├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers said,
├óÔé¼┼ôLater├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares stood, picking up the rifle she had set down when she had arrived, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe've got to get a bit of pay back├óÔé¼┬Ø
The 'squad' slipped through the alleyway, then out into another street. Lares sent Trent, who still looked completely shell shocked at the death of his friend, and Johnston forward to check the sights. When no one shot at them, Trent gestured to the group and Lares lead them forward. They scrambled across the street, gunshots and explosions roaring in the distance. Then a enemy fighter, emblazoned red and white, zipped over head and strafed the street with its machine guns. The group ducked down, and the bullets tore apart the ground around them.
├óÔé¼┼ôMOVE MOVE MOVE!├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares shouted, standing and running. The squad dashed forward, heading for the next bit of cover.
Weathers stopped, panting heavily as she stared at the wall of cover the squad was behind.
├óÔé¼┼ôWe're almost there├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares sighed. Then Tent was shot. He fell back, blood splattering as bullets ripped through his chest. He slid down the wall of the ally, blood bubbling at his mouth. Weathers pulled her gun, remembering her training at officer school, and ducked into a firing stance and fired off a few rounds.
Lares and Gideon opened fire with their weapons, Johnston just looking confused. The enemy were invisible, hidden away by smoke and darkness, night quickly advancing. Weathers felt, for a moment, complete despair. The enemy was in the home city, the last bastion. Then a bullet bounced off her cover and her survival instinct bounced back into action. Weathers fired and an enemy soldier screamed.
├óÔé¼┼ôWeathers, Johnston, flank!├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares hissed.
Johnston just stood there.
├óÔé¼┼ôJohnston...FLANK!├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares took him by the shoulders and shook him. Johnston snapped to attention, as if suddenly realizing where he was.
├óÔé¼┼ôCome on├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers followed a pattern of rubble, cover fire from Lares and Gideon tearing through the air. Weathers ran, hoping that Johnston had his head together enough for follow. A bullet bounced near her, but then she saw an enemy. She fired, ducking down. The enemy squeezed into his cover, hitting the deck. Weathers saw another enemy soldier starting to move to her side.
Lares fired a few shots from her rifle, but instead of bullets coming out...nothing did.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm out!├óÔé¼┬Ø She said. Gideon fished through his pockets and came up with nothing.
Lares ducked behind cover as the enemy started to fire again.
├óÔé¼┼ôWe're going to die, right?├óÔé¼┬Ø a soupy voice asked her. Lares looked down and saw that Trent was still alive, barely.
├óÔé¼┼ôDo you have any ammo?├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares asked. Trent laughed, no matter how painful it was, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a magazine. Lares took it. Trent gave one last gasp, then died. Lares spared a moment to frown. Then she loaded her gun, bullets continuing to rain around them.
Weathers was laying on her back, bullets starting to blow away her cover. Where the FUCK was Johnston!
A grenade clattered over the edge of her cover and landed in her lap. Weathers stared at it, suddenly wondering why. It was a simple question. Why?
Then a hand grabbed the grenade and hurled it away. It flew halfway through its parabolic arc and exploded. Weathers curled up as the fragments of the grenade bounced around her.
Then a gun roared above her. ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry I'm late├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnston gasped, ducking next to her.
├óÔé¼┼ôMy gun's dry├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers said, blinking. A mortar dropped into a building that stood nearby and an enemy solider started to scream, wounded.
Then a tank burst through the wall in front of Weathers. Weathers thought, for a moment, that the Commies were being unfair. Then she saw the banner of the USHS flying on the turret, which turned to the enemy infantry and opened fire with a smart gun, the gun rooting out the enemy soldiers and tearing them apart. The tank stopped, turned, and fired its machine gun again, not wanting to risk collateral damage with the main cannon.
Weathers whooped. Johnston joined her, standing up. He fell back down, screaming as a round went right through his kneecap. Weathers pulled him back under cover as an enemy fighter roared overhead, machine guns raking the tank ineffectually. Then, to her shock, it was quiet.
Then a series of explosions tore apart a block about a half a mile from Weathers position. Two USHS bombers roared away, their cargo dropped.
Then it was quiet again.
Weathers lay there, panting. The sudden silence, aside from the faint crack and boom of the distant battle, was as shocking as the noise of the attack. Bombs fell in the distance, more tanks rolled through the streets. Then the enemy were gone, their drop ships darting through the atmosphere as quickly as they had arrived.
Weathers sat up. The tank's top hatch opened and a man looked out.
├óÔé¼┼ôI think we won├óÔé¼┬Ø He said, grinning like an idiot. Then the side of his head exploded open, a sniper rifle ringing.
---------------
Janet picked her chair up, putting it right way up. Her office was a mess, the bombings and gunshots doing nothing to help its normal state of affairs. Carter stood by the door, his left arm in a sling.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet sat down behind her somewhat scorched desk, ├óÔé¼┼ôHow bad was it?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBad├óÔé¼┬Ø Carter slipped a PDA out of his back pocket and thumbed through it, ├óÔé¼┼ôOver a thousand civilian casualties, millions of credits worth of damages...its a mess out there├óÔé¼┬Ø
Janet nodded, placing her hands on the desk, ├óÔé¼┼ôSo...lets get started. How did they slip through so easily?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWe're still changing out codes├óÔé¼┬Ø Carter said, ├óÔé¼┼ôThe entire mainframe is being screwed with, bringing out operational efficiency down to about half├óÔé¼┬Ø
Janet nodded, ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd...did we hear back from the Tatts?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Carter said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut we might have missed the call├óÔé¼┬Ø
Janet sat back in her chair and tried to enjoy the comfort, even if it was momentarily. Then she sat up and turned her desk on. It staticed into life, the screen blurry. Janet kicked it and the entire thing snapped into focus.
├óÔé¼┼ôLets get to work├óÔé¼┬Ø she said.
Here is the new episode!
A shell roared down out of the otherwise calm sky, exploding on the street. The ground heaved up, then tossed Staff Sergent Lares into the air. She landed on her back, then rolled to her front and started to run again.
The city, the capital city that Lares had spent her childhood in, was on fire. The enemy ships had done a good job of devastating it, zipping overhead and dropping bombs. A mortar squad was firing off smart-rounds, searching out any and all personal communication systems. Lares' was abandoned five blocks away, undoubtedly still drawing sporadic fire.
She got to cover, ducking into a damaged and battered alleyway. The rest of her 'squad' was ducked in there, a smattering of technicians she had scrambled together in the first panicked minutes of the attack.
Then she realized, with a jolt, that two of the men were missing.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere are Trent and McKay?├óÔé¼┬Ø She asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThey...went off to find you├óÔé¼┬Ø A battered man named Gideon said, his head hunched. Lares was not quite sure if he was a civilian or something else entirely.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd no one stopped them?├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares sighed, rubbing her forehead. Another shell dropped nearby, shaking the place, ├óÔé¼┼ôI said I'd be right back!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThat was a half hour ago├óÔé¼┬Ø Pvt. Johnston said, still nursing a shrapnel wound that decorated his chest.
Lares sighed. Then she heard loud footsteps, dashing down the street towards their position.
├óÔé¼┼ôThunder!├óÔé¼┬Ø Trent's voice carried into her hearing, a breathless, panicked shout.
├óÔé¼┼ôFlash├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares shouted back, and Lares, McKay and a strange woman ran into the alleyway.
├óÔé¼┼ôLieutenant Commander Weathers├óÔé¼┬Ø The woman said, tipping her head. Lares saluted, as did the others in the group with the exception of Gideon, who simply tipped his head. Weathers saluted back and they went to rest.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo...what are our orders?├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers asked, looking at Lares.
├óÔé¼┼ôI just checked in with our local station├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares said, looking daggers at Trent and McKay, who looked suitably unabashed, ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd our orders stand as...resist to the best of our abilities├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThats...vague├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers sighed, feeling very naked without five hundred tones of starship between her and the enemy, ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm a Navy officer, so...I think you should take over Marine├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThank god├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe're going to have to silence that mortar-├óÔé¼┬Ø
A bomb dropped in the building that made half the alleyway. The smoke cleared and McKay lay dead on the ground, his skull caved in by a large bit of rubble. Weathers gulped, the pit of her stomach dropping out from under her.
Another bomb hit, this time in the street down the way from the ally, blowing a new crater in the damaged and destroyed street.
├óÔé¼┼ôShit!├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares muttered, ├óÔé¼┼ôLets get out of here├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôMcKay-├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers said,
├óÔé¼┼ôLater├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares stood, picking up the rifle she had set down when she had arrived, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe've got to get a bit of pay back├óÔé¼┬Ø
The 'squad' slipped through the alleyway, then out into another street. Lares sent Trent, who still looked completely shell shocked at the death of his friend, and Johnston forward to check the sights. When no one shot at them, Trent gestured to the group and Lares lead them forward. They scrambled across the street, gunshots and explosions roaring in the distance. Then a enemy fighter, emblazoned red and white, zipped over head and strafed the street with its machine guns. The group ducked down, and the bullets tore apart the ground around them.
├óÔé¼┼ôMOVE MOVE MOVE!├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares shouted, standing and running. The squad dashed forward, heading for the next bit of cover.
Weathers stopped, panting heavily as she stared at the wall of cover the squad was behind.
├óÔé¼┼ôWe're almost there├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares sighed. Then Tent was shot. He fell back, blood splattering as bullets ripped through his chest. He slid down the wall of the ally, blood bubbling at his mouth. Weathers pulled her gun, remembering her training at officer school, and ducked into a firing stance and fired off a few rounds.
Lares and Gideon opened fire with their weapons, Johnston just looking confused. The enemy were invisible, hidden away by smoke and darkness, night quickly advancing. Weathers felt, for a moment, complete despair. The enemy was in the home city, the last bastion. Then a bullet bounced off her cover and her survival instinct bounced back into action. Weathers fired and an enemy soldier screamed.
├óÔé¼┼ôWeathers, Johnston, flank!├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares hissed.
Johnston just stood there.
├óÔé¼┼ôJohnston...FLANK!├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares took him by the shoulders and shook him. Johnston snapped to attention, as if suddenly realizing where he was.
├óÔé¼┼ôCome on├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers followed a pattern of rubble, cover fire from Lares and Gideon tearing through the air. Weathers ran, hoping that Johnston had his head together enough for follow. A bullet bounced near her, but then she saw an enemy. She fired, ducking down. The enemy squeezed into his cover, hitting the deck. Weathers saw another enemy soldier starting to move to her side.
Lares fired a few shots from her rifle, but instead of bullets coming out...nothing did.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm out!├óÔé¼┬Ø She said. Gideon fished through his pockets and came up with nothing.
Lares ducked behind cover as the enemy started to fire again.
├óÔé¼┼ôWe're going to die, right?├óÔé¼┬Ø a soupy voice asked her. Lares looked down and saw that Trent was still alive, barely.
├óÔé¼┼ôDo you have any ammo?├óÔé¼┬Ø Lares asked. Trent laughed, no matter how painful it was, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a magazine. Lares took it. Trent gave one last gasp, then died. Lares spared a moment to frown. Then she loaded her gun, bullets continuing to rain around them.
Weathers was laying on her back, bullets starting to blow away her cover. Where the FUCK was Johnston!
A grenade clattered over the edge of her cover and landed in her lap. Weathers stared at it, suddenly wondering why. It was a simple question. Why?
Then a hand grabbed the grenade and hurled it away. It flew halfway through its parabolic arc and exploded. Weathers curled up as the fragments of the grenade bounced around her.
Then a gun roared above her. ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry I'm late├óÔé¼┬Ø Johnston gasped, ducking next to her.
├óÔé¼┼ôMy gun's dry├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers said, blinking. A mortar dropped into a building that stood nearby and an enemy solider started to scream, wounded.
Then a tank burst through the wall in front of Weathers. Weathers thought, for a moment, that the Commies were being unfair. Then she saw the banner of the USHS flying on the turret, which turned to the enemy infantry and opened fire with a smart gun, the gun rooting out the enemy soldiers and tearing them apart. The tank stopped, turned, and fired its machine gun again, not wanting to risk collateral damage with the main cannon.
Weathers whooped. Johnston joined her, standing up. He fell back down, screaming as a round went right through his kneecap. Weathers pulled him back under cover as an enemy fighter roared overhead, machine guns raking the tank ineffectually. Then, to her shock, it was quiet.
Then a series of explosions tore apart a block about a half a mile from Weathers position. Two USHS bombers roared away, their cargo dropped.
Then it was quiet again.
Weathers lay there, panting. The sudden silence, aside from the faint crack and boom of the distant battle, was as shocking as the noise of the attack. Bombs fell in the distance, more tanks rolled through the streets. Then the enemy were gone, their drop ships darting through the atmosphere as quickly as they had arrived.
Weathers sat up. The tank's top hatch opened and a man looked out.
├óÔé¼┼ôI think we won├óÔé¼┬Ø He said, grinning like an idiot. Then the side of his head exploded open, a sniper rifle ringing.
---------------
Janet picked her chair up, putting it right way up. Her office was a mess, the bombings and gunshots doing nothing to help its normal state of affairs. Carter stood by the door, his left arm in a sling.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet sat down behind her somewhat scorched desk, ├óÔé¼┼ôHow bad was it?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBad├óÔé¼┬Ø Carter slipped a PDA out of his back pocket and thumbed through it, ├óÔé¼┼ôOver a thousand civilian casualties, millions of credits worth of damages...its a mess out there├óÔé¼┬Ø
Janet nodded, placing her hands on the desk, ├óÔé¼┼ôSo...lets get started. How did they slip through so easily?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWe're still changing out codes├óÔé¼┬Ø Carter said, ├óÔé¼┼ôThe entire mainframe is being screwed with, bringing out operational efficiency down to about half├óÔé¼┬Ø
Janet nodded, ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd...did we hear back from the Tatts?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Carter said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut we might have missed the call├óÔé¼┬Ø
Janet sat back in her chair and tried to enjoy the comfort, even if it was momentarily. Then she sat up and turned her desk on. It staticed into life, the screen blurry. Janet kicked it and the entire thing snapped into focus.
├óÔé¼┼ôLets get to work├óÔé¼┬Ø she said.
damn I am faster..After you read this episode...you will go "woah"
If you don't go "woah" then you are either
A) Blase, you bastard
or
B) Are good at guessing...you bastard
Miles leaned against the door, Teresa and Chess inside the bed room, Chess sitting on the chair, Teresa still in the bed. Miles' listened with half an ear until Chess got to where she had left off with her story.
---------------
Aika figured it out two days later. She had been horribly confused when she had woken the next day and turned on the screen and found that the news caster was speaking of strange events completely removed from the events he had spoken of before. The date had been completely wrong as well...as if the date had been moved forward a year. Aika turned the screen off, disturbed. The next day, she found that the date show on the screen was another year.
Was the data being fed into the screen being manipulated? Or was each night a year long for her? Aika wasn't sure which was more frightening. The days past, each one giving her a sweeping, if somewhat scattered view, of the universe outside her tiny cabin. Religious strife, wars, bloody piracy and new inventions were wracking the so called ├óÔé¼┼ôUnited States of Human Space├óÔé¼┬Ø, the government that seemed to have taken over for the former Colonial government.
Then, a week later, a voice muttered in the cabin.
├óÔé¼┼ôIt seems├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice of the man that had taken here to this place echoed, ├óÔé¼┼ôThat humans need more then just a screen. Would you like a companion?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôAny one would be better then you├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika snapped, despair starting to spike to the surface of her mind, the loneness and strangeness eroding her normal self decorum.
├óÔé¼┼ôFine├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice was gone. Aika sighed, wondering what monster he would summon for her...
There was a resounding crack, rippling through the upper atmosphere of the planet. Then a roar shot over her house and smashed into the ground about a miles down the way. Aika leaped to her feet, eyes wide. What in Hades had been that?
She ran out into the yard in front of her house and found, to her shock, the sky was different. Aika hadn't even stepped outside over the week, and the house was without windows. Why should she have stepped out? It was just a bleak wasteland outside with an acrid smelling fog in the air. But now it was clearer, with a hint of green fungi surrounding the rocks. Life was starting, somehow.
Then Aika's eyes traced the line of smoke and flames that marked whatever had hit the planets atmosphere and she tracked it down to a crashed spacecraft. Her elation at seeing a spacecraft was destroyed, immediately, by the ruined engines and wrecked hull. The door blew open, explosives on the rims forcing it outwards and sending it flying. A space suited figure crawled out, it's spacesuit silvered and gleaming under the harsh sun.
Aika ran to him, for his skin tight suit did not show the lumps of breasts, and helped him to his feet. The face she saw through the foggy faceplate was very male, with pale blond hair and striking blue eyes.
├óÔé¼┼ôCome on├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said, jerking her head to the hut. The man, who seemed to be in a state of shock, followed. Aika opened the door and he walked in, his voice muffled as he said, ├óÔé¼┼ôIs there O2 in here?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI don't know├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut I'm breathing├óÔé¼┬Ø
The man shrugged and cracked his helmet. The pressure's were different, so air blew out of his newly cracked helmet, blowing Aika's hair back. The man placed the helmet on the ground and looked around, slowly, his eyes wide with shock.
He saw Aika, fully and cleanly.
├óÔé¼┼ôOh shucks├óÔé¼┬Ø He bowed slightly, ├óÔé¼┼ôUh sorry to crash on your planet mam├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThank the gods you're here├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika breathed, ├óÔé¼┼ôCan we fix up your ship! I need to get out of here! We need to-├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWoah├óÔé¼┬Ø The man stood, holding his gloved hands up, ├óÔé¼┼ôFirstly, we need some introductions. Troy Mankowski├óÔé¼┬Ø he held out his hand. Aika took it, saying, ├óÔé¼┼ô Aikatreina├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere are you from?├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy asked, brow furrowing.
├óÔé¼┼ôProxima Colony├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said.
├óÔé¼┼ôProxima? That...that colony was evacuated over two decades ago├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy said, still looking shocked, ├óÔé¼┼ôNo one's alive there...not that many's left alive anywhere. Where is your ship? How did you get here├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôLater├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said, not knowing what he'd think of her if he knew how she had gotten here, ├óÔé¼┼ôFirst your ship├óÔé¼┬Ø
Aika sat on a boulder, looking at Troy as he clambered over the ship. He had changed from the spacesuit to a shirt and pants, both military looking and a flag insignia. After a few minutes he shook his head.
├óÔé¼┼ôMy Kliners├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, ├óÔé¼┼ôOne of them blew and took out the engines. We're going to need to yank the whole fusion core. And unless you have space dock around here...we're well and truly...messed up├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôCome in and I'll tell you about what happened├óÔé¼┬Ø
Troy's reaction was not what Aika had hoped.
├óÔé¼┼ôHoly shit!├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy backed away from her, the chair he had sitting in clattering down as he jerked up.
├óÔé¼┼ôTroy?├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika stood, concerned.
├óÔé¼┼ôHoly shit├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy was starting to pace, ├óÔé¼┼ôShit shit shit!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTroy!├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika shouted, ├óÔé¼┼ôShut up and tell me what is going on!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôRight├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou...you know what the Sanders are, right?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThey are the black things, right? They look like blobs?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBasically...yes├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut when a Sander gets really powerful, then it becomes like us, smart. But not just smart. They get these powers, like the ability to slice someone in half...and teleport around. The one that took you put you here...and that might explain how I got here├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôHow...how did you get here?├óÔé¼┬Ø I asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI had just graduated from the Navy Academy, Fighter Pilot division. I was getting ready to do my first warp test without an instructor on my back. Then a warning went off and my left Kliner was starting to overload. My right one tried to bleed off the energy automatically, but then it went off when my auto lock system failed and I warped over this planet. I cut my left Kliner off, but it exploded and took out my back engines. I barely had enough time to maneuver to a halfway decent orbit before my front engines gave out. Then I hit the ground and you came to me├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI only understood a third of what you just said├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said.
Troy sighed, leaning back in his chair, ├óÔé¼┼ôSo we're stuck here...damn├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWant to watch the screen?├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika asked, ├óÔé¼┼ôThere's...not much else to do├óÔé¼┬Ø
A week passed. Aika and Troy salvaged material from the spaceship, supplementing the somewhat basic food in the pantries.
Another week passed. The boredom was starting to take its toll on Aika. She would wake up, sometimes from the floor, sometimes from the bed and stair at the celling for a few hours. After that she would have some form of energy, enough to shuffle around. Troy was often outside by this point, exercising. After a few hours he would be back in, sweating and untalkative.
Then they would watch the screen. Troy was against when he learned that a year passed for each day, knowing the world he had left was aging without him. It was not the same for Aika, who knew that her world was dead the instant she had arrived here. It didn't make it hurt less though.
Aika was sitting at the table, a day after that, when Troy walked into the room, sweating and tired from his exercise.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, as he always did, ├óÔé¼┼ôhow was your day├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTroy...please kill me├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said.
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was fine├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy said, already responding to her expected answer. Then-
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI can't take this anymore├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika hissed, ├óÔé¼┼ôI just can't!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy sat down at the table, taking her hand, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe can't give up. That would just be giving into what it wants. Surviving every day is our victory├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIf this is a victory├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika sobbed, ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't think I can take it├óÔé¼┬Ø
Troy stood and put his hand on her shoulder. Troy leaned over and kissed her.
├óÔé¼┼ôThat was nice├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika murmured.
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was, wasn't it├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy murmured, ├óÔé¼┼ôThis might give us something to do├óÔé¼┬Ø
It did.
Aika woke the next morning, blinking. The man who had abducted her was standing in the room. Aika sat up, her heart pounding in her chest.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere...How did├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika looked for Troy. He wasn't there, the warmth in the bed gone. Not even a residue left.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sorry. The...real Troy Mankowski died when his ship's Kliners malfunctioned. This has been a fascinating exploration of humanity. Thank you├óÔé¼┬Ø
Aika felt the blood drain from her face.
├óÔé¼┼ôGods├óÔé¼┬Ø she gasped, her lungs not quite working.
├óÔé¼┼ôHave a nice day├óÔé¼┬Ø the man vanished.
Aika looked at her hands, her mind stuck on the words ├óÔé¼┼ôread Troy├óÔé¼┬Ø. Then she stood, dressed, slipped her shoes on. She felt remarkably calm, now that she had decided what do to. She started to walk, pushing her door open and striding over the rocky wasteland that surrounded her house. It seemed like she was walking for hours until she found just what she needed.
Aika looked over the edge of the chasm. It looked deep enough. She was just worried it wouldn't be deep enough to kill her outright.
Aika raised her hands and quite calmly threw herself over the edge.
She hit the floor of her cabin, her nose smarting as she stood, blood dribbling down her face.
Aika whipped the blood away, really crying for good this time. She entered a dark time, a time of sobbing and raging, incoherent sentences. Her hands beat against the walls of the cabin, her fingernails scratched bloody trails on the door. She ended up in the bed, curled in a ball sobbing. She cried herself to sleep.
When she woke up something was crawling over her back. Aika didn't roll over, not wanting to hurt whatever it was. The thing crawled off her back and onto the bed. Aika rolled over and found.
A baby.
It looked about a year old at this point, giggling and gurgling. It was also nude, without a popper diaper covering its female genitalia.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou're another trick, aren't you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôGaga├óÔé¼┬Ø The baby gurgled. Aika sighed, remembering her mother teacher how to take care of a baby. She cleaned it and tore a diaper out of the bed cloth. The baby seemed to enjoy all of this until it needed a burping, when it started to cry. Aika sighed, glad that she had something to do.
The next morning Aika woke to find the baby noticeably bigger, more mobile and generally energetic.
├óÔé¼┼ôDid she age a year?├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika asked, ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere did this baby come from!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôSo you've stopped being anger at me?├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice asked
├óÔé¼┼ôNo you fucking bastard├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika snapped, using some of the words she had heard Troy...the fake Troy use, ├óÔé¼┼ôI just...I have no one else to talk too├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThe baby is ours├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice said, ├óÔé¼┼ôA simple hybridization, rather easy once I tweaked the genetic structure of your eggs├óÔé¼┬Ø
Aika almost dropped the baby, staring at it.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd yes, it will age to a slightly more interesting year, probably six or so, before it hits the same time stream I've put you in├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThank you├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said, ├óÔé¼┼ôNow go away├óÔé¼┬Ø
The voice, rather obligingly, did so. Aika stared at the baby in her hands, fury boiling in her.
But she couldn't...couldn't kill it. She set the baby down on the table and sighed. Each day that passed made the little girl age. She was taking by day three, or at least making vague sounds of ├óÔé¼┼ôma-eha├óÔé¼┬Ø or something. She stopped aging a year a day at day six. Aika realized she had to name the girl, who was not talking. Aika was beginning to think about the logical problems of the baby. If she was sleeping for a year, then how did it survive the intervening time?
Aika decided to not think about it.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm going to call you├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika murmured, looking at the six year old, ├óÔé¼┼ôAthena├óÔé¼┬Ø
A star ship warped into the system, the Kliner warp dissipating as the ship's engines moved it forward. It was a bulky ship, it's name stamped on the side written in a simple, hand painted scrawl...├óÔé¼┬ØEve├óÔé¼┬Ø
Michale tapped the bleeping indicator on his dashboard. ├óÔé¼┼ôShut up├óÔé¼┬Ø He muttered, rubbing his hair, ├óÔé¼┼ôShut up!├óÔé¼┬Ø
The bleeping kept going.
├óÔé¼┼ôI know!├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale stood and smacked the bleeping light. It stopped bleeping.
├óÔé¼┼ôHave we made it to the system?├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox's voice drifted into the bridge, the pattering of shower water making the words hard to distinguish.
├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale sighed.
The shower door opened and Fox peeked out.
├óÔé¼┼ôShould I get dressed?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Michale turned the chair around, standing. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou don't need to be in such a hurry├óÔé¼┬Ø I he murmured, stepping towards the shower. Fox slipped back into the shower and Michale followed her in, pulling his shirt off.
The beeping started again.
├óÔé¼┼ôGod and the Saints damn it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale stuck his head out of the shower cubical. It was cramped with just Fox in it, nearly suffocating with both of them in it. Not that Michale was complaining.
├óÔé¼┼ôThis time I'm going to shut that stupid computer up for good├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale walked out of the shower, taking the sucker and sucking the water off his skin, where it was fed back into the recyclers. The shower shut off and Fox started her very long dying off process, her fur making it difficult at best to get the water into the recycling systems. Why she insisted on showers ever week, when Michale was fine with once every two weeks was a mystery he had given up trying to figure.
The computer was bleeping. Michale sat down behind his desk, his shirt laying forgotten on the ground, pants pulled up to his hips. He turned on the screen and the information blinked on, Latin script drawing swiftly. The black box was getting louder the closer the ship got to the planet. Michale thought about that black box and sighed, slowly.
Mankowski Senior had almost had a heart attack when Michale had told him the news. The Church had picked the black box from Troy Mankowski, their radar dishes being in far better shape then the USHS or the Muslim Empire, and Michale had been looking for a way to get him and Fox away from the increasingly...threatening feelings from the other members of the Church.
Michale shook his head. It wasn't that bad. Just some...residual feelings over the Betrayal.
Then he realized the computer wasn't complaining about the ├óÔé¼┼ôFIND ME FIND ME├óÔé¼┬Ø message coming from the black box. It was from the cameras. He turned on the viewer.
├óÔé¼┼ôHoney├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said, staring at the screen, ├óÔé¼┼ôCome in here├óÔé¼┬Ø
Fox walked out of the shower, her fur dripping miserably, her long ears drooping pathetically.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is it?├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked. Then she saw the screen.
├óÔé¼┼ôWow├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox peered, almost bumping her muzzle against the screen as she tried to get a good view of it.
There was life on the planet. Telescopes back in Outreach had taken spectroscopic readings of the light they were seeing and...it had shown the planet was most definitely not life bearing. Something had evolved in the past hundred years, a...improbability at best.
├óÔé¼┼ôMaybe Troy is still alive├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox said.
├óÔé¼┼ôTen years, even on a life bearing planet...maybe├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôget yourself cleaned up and in a suit. Were going down there├óÔé¼┬Ø
The shuttle, the Elizabeth, dropped out of Eve's hanger and shot towards the planet. It entered the thick atmosphere and touched down with relative ease near the black box. Michale strapped a Z-gun to his hip, knowing it was probably unnecessary. But you could never be to sure. Fox had a more conventional assault rifle and knife.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo if there are Sander's here, we run├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said.
├óÔé¼┼ôI know├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox sighed.
├óÔé¼┼ôIf there are Third Stage's...we run├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said.
├óÔé¼┼ôMike├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox snapped, her wet fur making her snappy, ├óÔé¼┼ôI know!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôSorry├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôJust don't...just be careful├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôMike├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox said, ├óÔé¼┼ôIs there something wrong? You've been...antsy the past week or so├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo...nothing├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said, smiling, ├óÔé¼┼ôIts...nothing├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIt's not nothing├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox said, standing and tapping the shuttle door. After a second a scanner bleeped and a green light flashed. Fox opened it, slinging her rifle into one hand and bracing it against her shoulder. Michale backed her up, his pistol out.
A barren land scape with scraps of algae and a faint smell of acid drifting in the air.
Then, to Michale's surprise, a woman suddenly ran over the horizon. She had long, very long, black hair and fine, well cut features. She was also carrying a child, about six years old, who was clinging to her piteously.
The woman ran to the shuttle.
├óÔé¼┼ôAre you Human!├óÔé¼┬Ø She almost sobbed, staring at Michale.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said.
├óÔé¼┼ôSort of├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox said, lowering her rifle. The woman gasped, staring at Fox.
├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale cut in.
├óÔé¼┼ôNo time├óÔé¼┬Ø The woman said, ├óÔé¼┼ôTake my daughter. Take her far away from here, as far away├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôUh├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale blanched, holstering his Z-gun and taking the offered daughter, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe have room for-├óÔé¼┬Ø
The woman jerked the Z-gun out of Michale's holster. She shoved the barrel into her mouth and-
Suddenly her legs fell back, a wind whipping past Michale's head, Fox's fur rippling in the sudden breeze. A meter by a meter of air had ceased to exist, along with most of the woman.
├óÔé¼┼ôOh god├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox backed up, staring at what was left of the woman. Michale turned the child's head into his chest, shock plane on his face.
A man appeared in thin air, his face livid with rage.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou! YOU HAVE-├óÔé¼┬Ø was as far as he got before Fox opened fire with her rifle. Bullets tore through the man's chest, black grit flying in the air.
Michale ran to the head of the shuttle and placed the child roughly on the floor, not having time to be gentle. The man looked at his bullet wounds, then up at Fox. He focused, ready to rend her limb from limb.
Then the shuttle shot forward, the air lock slamming close. The man stood on the surface of a world he spent centuries turning into a world livable for his experiment. He looked at the bits of his experiment that were left. Then he started to cry.
Michale docked to the Eve, Fox panting with adrenalin.
├óÔé¼┼ôWarm up the Kliners├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said. Fox nodded, looking at the little girl they had rescued.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere's mommy?├óÔé¼┬Ø The girl asked, ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere's mommy?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Michale sighed. What was he supposed to say?
The Eve darted through space, the primitive Kliner engine's needing quite a while to charge. It was not attacked, much to Michale's gratitude. A day later it warped away, leaving a faint distortion in space. Within an hour that distortion faded, gone forever.
If you don't go "woah" then you are either
A) Blase, you bastard
or
B) Are good at guessing...you bastard
Miles leaned against the door, Teresa and Chess inside the bed room, Chess sitting on the chair, Teresa still in the bed. Miles' listened with half an ear until Chess got to where she had left off with her story.
---------------
Aika figured it out two days later. She had been horribly confused when she had woken the next day and turned on the screen and found that the news caster was speaking of strange events completely removed from the events he had spoken of before. The date had been completely wrong as well...as if the date had been moved forward a year. Aika turned the screen off, disturbed. The next day, she found that the date show on the screen was another year.
Was the data being fed into the screen being manipulated? Or was each night a year long for her? Aika wasn't sure which was more frightening. The days past, each one giving her a sweeping, if somewhat scattered view, of the universe outside her tiny cabin. Religious strife, wars, bloody piracy and new inventions were wracking the so called ├óÔé¼┼ôUnited States of Human Space├óÔé¼┬Ø, the government that seemed to have taken over for the former Colonial government.
Then, a week later, a voice muttered in the cabin.
├óÔé¼┼ôIt seems├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice of the man that had taken here to this place echoed, ├óÔé¼┼ôThat humans need more then just a screen. Would you like a companion?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôAny one would be better then you├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika snapped, despair starting to spike to the surface of her mind, the loneness and strangeness eroding her normal self decorum.
├óÔé¼┼ôFine├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice was gone. Aika sighed, wondering what monster he would summon for her...
There was a resounding crack, rippling through the upper atmosphere of the planet. Then a roar shot over her house and smashed into the ground about a miles down the way. Aika leaped to her feet, eyes wide. What in Hades had been that?
She ran out into the yard in front of her house and found, to her shock, the sky was different. Aika hadn't even stepped outside over the week, and the house was without windows. Why should she have stepped out? It was just a bleak wasteland outside with an acrid smelling fog in the air. But now it was clearer, with a hint of green fungi surrounding the rocks. Life was starting, somehow.
Then Aika's eyes traced the line of smoke and flames that marked whatever had hit the planets atmosphere and she tracked it down to a crashed spacecraft. Her elation at seeing a spacecraft was destroyed, immediately, by the ruined engines and wrecked hull. The door blew open, explosives on the rims forcing it outwards and sending it flying. A space suited figure crawled out, it's spacesuit silvered and gleaming under the harsh sun.
Aika ran to him, for his skin tight suit did not show the lumps of breasts, and helped him to his feet. The face she saw through the foggy faceplate was very male, with pale blond hair and striking blue eyes.
├óÔé¼┼ôCome on├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said, jerking her head to the hut. The man, who seemed to be in a state of shock, followed. Aika opened the door and he walked in, his voice muffled as he said, ├óÔé¼┼ôIs there O2 in here?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI don't know├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut I'm breathing├óÔé¼┬Ø
The man shrugged and cracked his helmet. The pressure's were different, so air blew out of his newly cracked helmet, blowing Aika's hair back. The man placed the helmet on the ground and looked around, slowly, his eyes wide with shock.
He saw Aika, fully and cleanly.
├óÔé¼┼ôOh shucks├óÔé¼┬Ø He bowed slightly, ├óÔé¼┼ôUh sorry to crash on your planet mam├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThank the gods you're here├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika breathed, ├óÔé¼┼ôCan we fix up your ship! I need to get out of here! We need to-├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWoah├óÔé¼┬Ø The man stood, holding his gloved hands up, ├óÔé¼┼ôFirstly, we need some introductions. Troy Mankowski├óÔé¼┬Ø he held out his hand. Aika took it, saying, ├óÔé¼┼ô Aikatreina├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere are you from?├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy asked, brow furrowing.
├óÔé¼┼ôProxima Colony├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said.
├óÔé¼┼ôProxima? That...that colony was evacuated over two decades ago├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy said, still looking shocked, ├óÔé¼┼ôNo one's alive there...not that many's left alive anywhere. Where is your ship? How did you get here├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôLater├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said, not knowing what he'd think of her if he knew how she had gotten here, ├óÔé¼┼ôFirst your ship├óÔé¼┬Ø
Aika sat on a boulder, looking at Troy as he clambered over the ship. He had changed from the spacesuit to a shirt and pants, both military looking and a flag insignia. After a few minutes he shook his head.
├óÔé¼┼ôMy Kliners├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, ├óÔé¼┼ôOne of them blew and took out the engines. We're going to need to yank the whole fusion core. And unless you have space dock around here...we're well and truly...messed up├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôCome in and I'll tell you about what happened├óÔé¼┬Ø
Troy's reaction was not what Aika had hoped.
├óÔé¼┼ôHoly shit!├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy backed away from her, the chair he had sitting in clattering down as he jerked up.
├óÔé¼┼ôTroy?├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika stood, concerned.
├óÔé¼┼ôHoly shit├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy was starting to pace, ├óÔé¼┼ôShit shit shit!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTroy!├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika shouted, ├óÔé¼┼ôShut up and tell me what is going on!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôRight├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou...you know what the Sanders are, right?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThey are the black things, right? They look like blobs?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBasically...yes├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut when a Sander gets really powerful, then it becomes like us, smart. But not just smart. They get these powers, like the ability to slice someone in half...and teleport around. The one that took you put you here...and that might explain how I got here├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôHow...how did you get here?├óÔé¼┬Ø I asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI had just graduated from the Navy Academy, Fighter Pilot division. I was getting ready to do my first warp test without an instructor on my back. Then a warning went off and my left Kliner was starting to overload. My right one tried to bleed off the energy automatically, but then it went off when my auto lock system failed and I warped over this planet. I cut my left Kliner off, but it exploded and took out my back engines. I barely had enough time to maneuver to a halfway decent orbit before my front engines gave out. Then I hit the ground and you came to me├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI only understood a third of what you just said├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said.
Troy sighed, leaning back in his chair, ├óÔé¼┼ôSo we're stuck here...damn├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWant to watch the screen?├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika asked, ├óÔé¼┼ôThere's...not much else to do├óÔé¼┬Ø
A week passed. Aika and Troy salvaged material from the spaceship, supplementing the somewhat basic food in the pantries.
Another week passed. The boredom was starting to take its toll on Aika. She would wake up, sometimes from the floor, sometimes from the bed and stair at the celling for a few hours. After that she would have some form of energy, enough to shuffle around. Troy was often outside by this point, exercising. After a few hours he would be back in, sweating and untalkative.
Then they would watch the screen. Troy was against when he learned that a year passed for each day, knowing the world he had left was aging without him. It was not the same for Aika, who knew that her world was dead the instant she had arrived here. It didn't make it hurt less though.
Aika was sitting at the table, a day after that, when Troy walked into the room, sweating and tired from his exercise.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, as he always did, ├óÔé¼┼ôhow was your day├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTroy...please kill me├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said.
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was fine├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy said, already responding to her expected answer. Then-
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI can't take this anymore├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika hissed, ├óÔé¼┼ôI just can't!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy sat down at the table, taking her hand, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe can't give up. That would just be giving into what it wants. Surviving every day is our victory├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIf this is a victory├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika sobbed, ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't think I can take it├óÔé¼┬Ø
Troy stood and put his hand on her shoulder. Troy leaned over and kissed her.
├óÔé¼┼ôThat was nice├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika murmured.
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was, wasn't it├óÔé¼┬Ø Troy murmured, ├óÔé¼┼ôThis might give us something to do├óÔé¼┬Ø
It did.
Aika woke the next morning, blinking. The man who had abducted her was standing in the room. Aika sat up, her heart pounding in her chest.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere...How did├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika looked for Troy. He wasn't there, the warmth in the bed gone. Not even a residue left.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sorry. The...real Troy Mankowski died when his ship's Kliners malfunctioned. This has been a fascinating exploration of humanity. Thank you├óÔé¼┬Ø
Aika felt the blood drain from her face.
├óÔé¼┼ôGods├óÔé¼┬Ø she gasped, her lungs not quite working.
├óÔé¼┼ôHave a nice day├óÔé¼┬Ø the man vanished.
Aika looked at her hands, her mind stuck on the words ├óÔé¼┼ôread Troy├óÔé¼┬Ø. Then she stood, dressed, slipped her shoes on. She felt remarkably calm, now that she had decided what do to. She started to walk, pushing her door open and striding over the rocky wasteland that surrounded her house. It seemed like she was walking for hours until she found just what she needed.
Aika looked over the edge of the chasm. It looked deep enough. She was just worried it wouldn't be deep enough to kill her outright.
Aika raised her hands and quite calmly threw herself over the edge.
She hit the floor of her cabin, her nose smarting as she stood, blood dribbling down her face.
Aika whipped the blood away, really crying for good this time. She entered a dark time, a time of sobbing and raging, incoherent sentences. Her hands beat against the walls of the cabin, her fingernails scratched bloody trails on the door. She ended up in the bed, curled in a ball sobbing. She cried herself to sleep.
When she woke up something was crawling over her back. Aika didn't roll over, not wanting to hurt whatever it was. The thing crawled off her back and onto the bed. Aika rolled over and found.
A baby.
It looked about a year old at this point, giggling and gurgling. It was also nude, without a popper diaper covering its female genitalia.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou're another trick, aren't you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôGaga├óÔé¼┬Ø The baby gurgled. Aika sighed, remembering her mother teacher how to take care of a baby. She cleaned it and tore a diaper out of the bed cloth. The baby seemed to enjoy all of this until it needed a burping, when it started to cry. Aika sighed, glad that she had something to do.
The next morning Aika woke to find the baby noticeably bigger, more mobile and generally energetic.
├óÔé¼┼ôDid she age a year?├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika asked, ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere did this baby come from!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôSo you've stopped being anger at me?├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice asked
├óÔé¼┼ôNo you fucking bastard├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika snapped, using some of the words she had heard Troy...the fake Troy use, ├óÔé¼┼ôI just...I have no one else to talk too├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThe baby is ours├óÔé¼┬Ø The voice said, ├óÔé¼┼ôA simple hybridization, rather easy once I tweaked the genetic structure of your eggs├óÔé¼┬Ø
Aika almost dropped the baby, staring at it.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd yes, it will age to a slightly more interesting year, probably six or so, before it hits the same time stream I've put you in├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThank you├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika said, ├óÔé¼┼ôNow go away├óÔé¼┬Ø
The voice, rather obligingly, did so. Aika stared at the baby in her hands, fury boiling in her.
But she couldn't...couldn't kill it. She set the baby down on the table and sighed. Each day that passed made the little girl age. She was taking by day three, or at least making vague sounds of ├óÔé¼┼ôma-eha├óÔé¼┬Ø or something. She stopped aging a year a day at day six. Aika realized she had to name the girl, who was not talking. Aika was beginning to think about the logical problems of the baby. If she was sleeping for a year, then how did it survive the intervening time?
Aika decided to not think about it.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm going to call you├óÔé¼┬Ø Aika murmured, looking at the six year old, ├óÔé¼┼ôAthena├óÔé¼┬Ø
A star ship warped into the system, the Kliner warp dissipating as the ship's engines moved it forward. It was a bulky ship, it's name stamped on the side written in a simple, hand painted scrawl...├óÔé¼┬ØEve├óÔé¼┬Ø
Michale tapped the bleeping indicator on his dashboard. ├óÔé¼┼ôShut up├óÔé¼┬Ø He muttered, rubbing his hair, ├óÔé¼┼ôShut up!├óÔé¼┬Ø
The bleeping kept going.
├óÔé¼┼ôI know!├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale stood and smacked the bleeping light. It stopped bleeping.
├óÔé¼┼ôHave we made it to the system?├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox's voice drifted into the bridge, the pattering of shower water making the words hard to distinguish.
├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale sighed.
The shower door opened and Fox peeked out.
├óÔé¼┼ôShould I get dressed?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Michale turned the chair around, standing. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou don't need to be in such a hurry├óÔé¼┬Ø I he murmured, stepping towards the shower. Fox slipped back into the shower and Michale followed her in, pulling his shirt off.
The beeping started again.
├óÔé¼┼ôGod and the Saints damn it!├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale stuck his head out of the shower cubical. It was cramped with just Fox in it, nearly suffocating with both of them in it. Not that Michale was complaining.
├óÔé¼┼ôThis time I'm going to shut that stupid computer up for good├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale walked out of the shower, taking the sucker and sucking the water off his skin, where it was fed back into the recyclers. The shower shut off and Fox started her very long dying off process, her fur making it difficult at best to get the water into the recycling systems. Why she insisted on showers ever week, when Michale was fine with once every two weeks was a mystery he had given up trying to figure.
The computer was bleeping. Michale sat down behind his desk, his shirt laying forgotten on the ground, pants pulled up to his hips. He turned on the screen and the information blinked on, Latin script drawing swiftly. The black box was getting louder the closer the ship got to the planet. Michale thought about that black box and sighed, slowly.
Mankowski Senior had almost had a heart attack when Michale had told him the news. The Church had picked the black box from Troy Mankowski, their radar dishes being in far better shape then the USHS or the Muslim Empire, and Michale had been looking for a way to get him and Fox away from the increasingly...threatening feelings from the other members of the Church.
Michale shook his head. It wasn't that bad. Just some...residual feelings over the Betrayal.
Then he realized the computer wasn't complaining about the ├óÔé¼┼ôFIND ME FIND ME├óÔé¼┬Ø message coming from the black box. It was from the cameras. He turned on the viewer.
├óÔé¼┼ôHoney├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said, staring at the screen, ├óÔé¼┼ôCome in here├óÔé¼┬Ø
Fox walked out of the shower, her fur dripping miserably, her long ears drooping pathetically.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat is it?├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked. Then she saw the screen.
├óÔé¼┼ôWow├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox peered, almost bumping her muzzle against the screen as she tried to get a good view of it.
There was life on the planet. Telescopes back in Outreach had taken spectroscopic readings of the light they were seeing and...it had shown the planet was most definitely not life bearing. Something had evolved in the past hundred years, a...improbability at best.
├óÔé¼┼ôMaybe Troy is still alive├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox said.
├óÔé¼┼ôTen years, even on a life bearing planet...maybe├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôget yourself cleaned up and in a suit. Were going down there├óÔé¼┬Ø
The shuttle, the Elizabeth, dropped out of Eve's hanger and shot towards the planet. It entered the thick atmosphere and touched down with relative ease near the black box. Michale strapped a Z-gun to his hip, knowing it was probably unnecessary. But you could never be to sure. Fox had a more conventional assault rifle and knife.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo if there are Sander's here, we run├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said.
├óÔé¼┼ôI know├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox sighed.
├óÔé¼┼ôIf there are Third Stage's...we run├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said.
├óÔé¼┼ôMike├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox snapped, her wet fur making her snappy, ├óÔé¼┼ôI know!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôSorry├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôJust don't...just be careful├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôMike├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox said, ├óÔé¼┼ôIs there something wrong? You've been...antsy the past week or so├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo...nothing├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said, smiling, ├óÔé¼┼ôIts...nothing├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIt's not nothing├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox said, standing and tapping the shuttle door. After a second a scanner bleeped and a green light flashed. Fox opened it, slinging her rifle into one hand and bracing it against her shoulder. Michale backed her up, his pistol out.
A barren land scape with scraps of algae and a faint smell of acid drifting in the air.
Then, to Michale's surprise, a woman suddenly ran over the horizon. She had long, very long, black hair and fine, well cut features. She was also carrying a child, about six years old, who was clinging to her piteously.
The woman ran to the shuttle.
├óÔé¼┼ôAre you Human!├óÔé¼┬Ø She almost sobbed, staring at Michale.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said.
├óÔé¼┼ôSort of├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox said, lowering her rifle. The woman gasped, staring at Fox.
├óÔé¼┼ôWho are you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale cut in.
├óÔé¼┼ôNo time├óÔé¼┬Ø The woman said, ├óÔé¼┼ôTake my daughter. Take her far away from here, as far away├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôUh├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale blanched, holstering his Z-gun and taking the offered daughter, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe have room for-├óÔé¼┬Ø
The woman jerked the Z-gun out of Michale's holster. She shoved the barrel into her mouth and-
Suddenly her legs fell back, a wind whipping past Michale's head, Fox's fur rippling in the sudden breeze. A meter by a meter of air had ceased to exist, along with most of the woman.
├óÔé¼┼ôOh god├óÔé¼┬Ø Fox backed up, staring at what was left of the woman. Michale turned the child's head into his chest, shock plane on his face.
A man appeared in thin air, his face livid with rage.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou! YOU HAVE-├óÔé¼┬Ø was as far as he got before Fox opened fire with her rifle. Bullets tore through the man's chest, black grit flying in the air.
Michale ran to the head of the shuttle and placed the child roughly on the floor, not having time to be gentle. The man looked at his bullet wounds, then up at Fox. He focused, ready to rend her limb from limb.
Then the shuttle shot forward, the air lock slamming close. The man stood on the surface of a world he spent centuries turning into a world livable for his experiment. He looked at the bits of his experiment that were left. Then he started to cry.
Michale docked to the Eve, Fox panting with adrenalin.
├óÔé¼┼ôWarm up the Kliners├óÔé¼┬Ø Michale said. Fox nodded, looking at the little girl they had rescued.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhere's mommy?├óÔé¼┬Ø The girl asked, ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere's mommy?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Michale sighed. What was he supposed to say?
The Eve darted through space, the primitive Kliner engine's needing quite a while to charge. It was not attacked, much to Michale's gratitude. A day later it warped away, leaving a faint distortion in space. Within an hour that distortion faded, gone forever.
-
Guessmyname
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And then BAM there was a new episode!
Janet looked at her cabinet. Not that there was much left of it. Entire portions of her staff had been killed, including the secretary of Education. General Livingston had his arm in a cast, just like Carter, and was smoking what he called a 'victory' cigar. The secretary of Intelligence, a lean young woman named Tanya, sat with her feet up, also smoking a 'victory' cigar.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat are you celebrating?├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet snapped, looking at her PDA, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe have over a thousand dead civilians!├óÔé¼┬Ø
Livingston sighed, pulling his cigar out and tapping it slightly to get the ash off, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe still won├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWe lost├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet gestured to the window behind her, the window that looked over her once beautiful city. Smoke still boiled from raging fires and corpses were still being carted away, the homeless wandering the streets in a state of horror, ├óÔé¼┼ôA Pyhrric victory, at best├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBut not only did we win├óÔé¼┬Ø Livingston said, not looking out the window, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut the enemy lost. They lost a huge amount of troops. Despite surprise being on their side, our after action report shows that they were mostly a gaggle of poorly trained fanatics. And no matter what the Tatts, Muslims or Commies say...fanatics make terrible troops├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd what are you so happy about?├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet looked at Tanya.
├óÔé¼┼ôI've snuck spies into five different CCHS worlds and we have heartening news. Wide spread unrest is sweeping those planets├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWide spread unrest is sweeping these planets├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet gestured to her PDA, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe're getting reports of anti-war protests and general feelings of hopelessness and despair. Its only been four days!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThe public only sees the death tolls. Its been the same ever sense the early 2000's, over a thousand years ago. People die and that is all the media reports. Its what we get for having 'free speech'. Yes a thousand and two civilians are reported dead from enemy action and friendly fire. Yes millions of credits worth of damage has been cause. But we've learned something that can and will win us the war├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThe enemy are very weak on the ground. Our Navy officers did better then their average enemy troopers. This Lt. Commander Weathers, for one thing. She lead an enemy squad through he worst of the fighting and managed to keep over half of it alive. And, I suppose the greatest irony would be Captain Harry Lowman...├óÔé¼┬Ø
----------
├óÔé¼┼ôSo are they going to give me a medal, or are they going to shoot me?├óÔé¼┬Ø Harry asked, leaning against the bars of his cell. Weathers was on the outside, crossing her arms over her chest.
├óÔé¼┼ôI think both├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers said, sighing, ├óÔé¼┼ôThey gave me a medal, along with five hundred other people who just did their damn jobs. Maybe they'll let you off the hook├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Harry turned his back, ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm not feeling very patriotic or loyal├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWell you should├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers snapped, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou did something really stupid and the government was ready to punish you├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI-├óÔé¼┬Ø Harry started, turning around.
├óÔé¼┼ôWas a stubborn man who couldn't back down when the enemy was firing. Its not about winning. If we just win, no matter the cost...then its not worth fighting. It was not worth sacrificing the Andres Swarm for your 'victory' and the only reason you are being so damn stubborn is because you don't want to face the fact that you killed half the people in the Andres Swarm├óÔé¼┬Ø
Harry looked at his feet.
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was an accident├óÔé¼┬Ø He sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôA stupid fucking accident├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôMost things are├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers turned to leave, ├óÔé¼┼ôCall me, if they let you out├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI will├óÔé¼┬Ø Harry said, sitting down on the small cot that was in his cell. The cell next to his, Weather's old cell had a huge hole blown it it. Harry strained, trying to slip through the tiny bit of the hole that was left open on his side of the cell. It didn't work. Harry sat back down and sighed.
-------------
Teresa stared at Chess, a strange expression on her face. Chess paused in her story telling, looking at her.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa gasped, her lungs not quite working right, ├óÔé¼┼ôI think I'm going to be sick├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa...├óÔé¼┬Ø Chess said, reaching to comfort Teresa, ├óÔé¼┼ôIt's not your-├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôGet away from me├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa stood up, revulsion playing across her face.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sorry├óÔé¼┬Ø Chess felt an inch tall, looking at her feet. Teresa backed into the wall, then turned, as if in a daze, and walked out of the door. Chess chewed her lips. It was happening again. She started to cry
├óÔé¼┼ôI don't want to kill you, Miles├óÔé¼┬Ø Chess gasped, covering her face with her hands.
Teresa walked into the hall with the strangest look on her face.
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa are-├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôShut up├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa hissed, ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you happy? You've destroyed...everything I believe in. Thats what you want, right? To wake me from my 'disillusion?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Miles supposed, when he had first met her...he had wanted her to 'wake up'. But...
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, closing his eyes and looking away, ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't...I didn't want you to-├óÔé¼┬Ø
He trailed off. Teresa's hands were clenched into fists, her jaw trembling in fury.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...can't believe...that they would lie to me like that├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, her voice choked. Miles reached to comfort her. Teresa's fist slammed into the wall, blood spreading from knuckles that were cut on the metallic wall, ├óÔé¼┼ôGod damns all liers!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, a bit scared, ├óÔé¼┼ôCalm down├óÔé¼┬Ø
Teresa's muscles went slack, her anger transmuting instantly into a deep cutting sadness.
├óÔé¼┼ôMy messiah is a daemon's bastard├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI have to go├óÔé¼┬Ø
She turned around and started to walk down the hallway. Miles ran to catch up with her and hugged her around the stomach.
├óÔé¼┼ôDon't go├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, turning her around.
├óÔé¼┼ôLet go of me!├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa jerked herself out of his hands, ready to slap him. Miles kissed her, his hand grabbing her wrist and stopping the blow before it could strike him. Teresa backed into the wall, the slap turning into a hand that pulled Mile's closer to her. They broke the kiss, long enough for Miles to breath ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't go├óÔé¼┬Ø again.
Teresa kissed him, hand running along his back. Miles' lips moved down her neck to the coller of her shirt. Teresa's hand pressed into his chest, pushing him back slightly.
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø she sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôNot...not like this. I...I can't├óÔé¼┬Ø
Miles stepped away, ears burning. ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry├óÔé¼┬Ø he and Teresa said at the same time. That struck Miles as funny, so he smiled. Nothing about this was funny to Teresa. She wanted Miles in a...base way that made her ashamed of her own body, feeling the heat under her heart and the desire in the animal part of her mind. For a moment she had almost sinned without the consent of the Church. Slaying an enemy of the Church and God was not a sin. It was a civic duty. Dropping your pants for a handsome ex-Muslim...that was a sin.
Teresa started to walk down the hall again. ├óÔé¼┼ôI can't stay├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI can't...risk...good by├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôRisk what?├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles asked, striding after her, ├óÔé¼┼ôRisk being in love?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa snapped.
├óÔé¼┼ôRisk being in love with a Muslim, a heretic?├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles snapped, ├óÔé¼┼ôHave to realize that...I need you. I don't know how it happened, but...├óÔé¼┬Ø
Teresa stopped, shoulder's hunching.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'll come back├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, turning around, tears glinting behind her eyes, ├óÔé¼┼ôI promise.├óÔé¼┬Ø she turned to walk into the hanger. Miles ran forward and kissed her. Tereas hugged him back, clinging to him hard enough to make him wheeze for air. It hurt, but Miles couldn't let go. Then she slipped out of his arms, walking into the Michaelangelo. Then she was gone, Miles having to leave the hanger.
Teresa touched down on Outreach. Despite the time she had to think about things, she was still not calm. In fact she was even more excited, her skin crawling as if it was trying to escape her body. Her mind kept drifting back to Miles. She shook her head and opened the airlock door. The cold air of Outreach blew onto her skin, calming her slightly.
Teresa walked down the streets of Outreach, glad to see repairs were slowly bringing the place back together. It had only been four days, and yet shelters were already constructed across the place. Tattooed had many workers used to helping those caught in war zones. Teresa had never thought their expertise would be used ere, in the holy city of the Tattooed.
Vindict looked up from his desk. Teresa stood in the doorway, bowing slightly.
├óÔé¼┼ôAh...Teresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôCome in├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôYou lied to me├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, her voice deadly, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou lied to all of us. Chess isn't the Messiah├óÔé¼┬Ø
Vindict sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou...you must have been told that from Chess herself. I recently discovered things about Chess...look at this├óÔé¼┬Ø
He handed her an old style photograph. Teresa looked at it. It was a picture of a young girl...Chess, standing next to a Tattooed man. And what a man...he was large, strong looking and very handsome. His face was also scrawled with tattoos, covering it completely, his hands and arms shown to have tattoos as well. Teresa recognized him, with a jolt, as...Paladin Michale Dobson! Next to him was doubtless his...
Teresa dropped the photograph. ├óÔé¼┼ôIs...is that...Paladin Michale?├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked, feeling as if she had been punched in the stomach.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict nodded.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd is that his...his wi...his wife?├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa sat down, her legs unable to support her.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict nodded.
├óÔé¼┼ôOh God...God and the Saints├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa hung her head, her temples pounding, ├óÔé¼┼ôThis is too much!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôLife is not perfect. Neither are our heroes. Paladin Michale did great things. He also loved a genetically engineered woman. Chess was born of a...unholy union. She is also our Messiah├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBut-├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict stood, ├óÔé¼┼ôBeing a Messiah is not a matter of blood. It is not about who your father is. It is not about who your mother is. It is about who you are. God is not literal├óÔé¼┬Ø
Teresa mulled this over. Then she shook her head, ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm...not so sure. I need to think about this├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWe all do├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut first I have a mission for you├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI have another problem...one that is a bit more personal├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôUh├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa stammered, her ears burning. She could barely tell Miles' that she was afraid she was falling in love with him, how could she.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...think...I think...I might love...Miles├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa's voice was hushed, the last word almost inaudible.
Vindict laughed. Teresa stared at him, eyes wide.
├óÔé¼┼ôOh my dear├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôMiles has been Knighted for returning Chess to us. He is, technically a member of the Tattooed. No matter what anyone says, you can love him and he can love you. There is no sin in that├óÔé¼┬Ø
Teresa realized she hadn't through of that. She started to laugh too. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou're right├óÔé¼┬Ø she said.
├óÔé¼┼ôI try├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôNow...please return to the Kitty Hawk and bring Chess back to us. I think I can help guide her to enlightenment. The Savior herself had to be taught by her Mother...maybe I can do the same for Chess├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôVery well├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, standing.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd I need you to report to the capital world of the USHS, New Terra and say that we have an entire fleet to lend to their cause. We will not stand with godless communists...so I suppose we will stand with godless democratics. At least they believe in freedom of religion.├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIt shall be done├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa bowed, and turned to walk out of the office.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd...be careful, will you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou know me├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, closing the door behind her.
-----------------
├óÔé¼┼ôHey Miles├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa's voice bounced off the walls. Miles jumped in his chair, shocked that Teresa was calling him.
├óÔé¼┼ôHey...uh I mean, Hi Teresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, ├óÔé¼┼ôChess is locked in the room. Seems to think I'll try to kill her├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWell tell her...tell her I'm sorry. I'll be there in two minutes├óÔé¼┬Ø the link cut out. Miles stood and walked to his chambers.
├óÔé¼┼ôChess├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, ├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa's coming back...she's really sorry for what she said. She was just surprised and...you know how Teresa doesn't really think things through very well? Well...├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôChess?├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles asked after a pause. He pressed his ear to the door. He didn't hear anything.
Miles pressed the lock override button and whispered the keycode. The computer opened the door. Chess was gone, the bed empty, her tears still staining it.
├óÔé¼┼ôSon of a bitch├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles muttered, walking into the room.
Janet looked at her cabinet. Not that there was much left of it. Entire portions of her staff had been killed, including the secretary of Education. General Livingston had his arm in a cast, just like Carter, and was smoking what he called a 'victory' cigar. The secretary of Intelligence, a lean young woman named Tanya, sat with her feet up, also smoking a 'victory' cigar.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat are you celebrating?├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet snapped, looking at her PDA, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe have over a thousand dead civilians!├óÔé¼┬Ø
Livingston sighed, pulling his cigar out and tapping it slightly to get the ash off, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe still won├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWe lost├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet gestured to the window behind her, the window that looked over her once beautiful city. Smoke still boiled from raging fires and corpses were still being carted away, the homeless wandering the streets in a state of horror, ├óÔé¼┼ôA Pyhrric victory, at best├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBut not only did we win├óÔé¼┬Ø Livingston said, not looking out the window, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut the enemy lost. They lost a huge amount of troops. Despite surprise being on their side, our after action report shows that they were mostly a gaggle of poorly trained fanatics. And no matter what the Tatts, Muslims or Commies say...fanatics make terrible troops├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd what are you so happy about?├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet looked at Tanya.
├óÔé¼┼ôI've snuck spies into five different CCHS worlds and we have heartening news. Wide spread unrest is sweeping those planets├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWide spread unrest is sweeping these planets├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet gestured to her PDA, ├óÔé¼┼ôWe're getting reports of anti-war protests and general feelings of hopelessness and despair. Its only been four days!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThe public only sees the death tolls. Its been the same ever sense the early 2000's, over a thousand years ago. People die and that is all the media reports. Its what we get for having 'free speech'. Yes a thousand and two civilians are reported dead from enemy action and friendly fire. Yes millions of credits worth of damage has been cause. But we've learned something that can and will win us the war├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Janet asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThe enemy are very weak on the ground. Our Navy officers did better then their average enemy troopers. This Lt. Commander Weathers, for one thing. She lead an enemy squad through he worst of the fighting and managed to keep over half of it alive. And, I suppose the greatest irony would be Captain Harry Lowman...├óÔé¼┬Ø
----------
├óÔé¼┼ôSo are they going to give me a medal, or are they going to shoot me?├óÔé¼┬Ø Harry asked, leaning against the bars of his cell. Weathers was on the outside, crossing her arms over her chest.
├óÔé¼┼ôI think both├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers said, sighing, ├óÔé¼┼ôThey gave me a medal, along with five hundred other people who just did their damn jobs. Maybe they'll let you off the hook├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Harry turned his back, ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm not feeling very patriotic or loyal├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWell you should├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers snapped, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou did something really stupid and the government was ready to punish you├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI-├óÔé¼┬Ø Harry started, turning around.
├óÔé¼┼ôWas a stubborn man who couldn't back down when the enemy was firing. Its not about winning. If we just win, no matter the cost...then its not worth fighting. It was not worth sacrificing the Andres Swarm for your 'victory' and the only reason you are being so damn stubborn is because you don't want to face the fact that you killed half the people in the Andres Swarm├óÔé¼┬Ø
Harry looked at his feet.
├óÔé¼┼ôIt was an accident├óÔé¼┬Ø He sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôA stupid fucking accident├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôMost things are├óÔé¼┬Ø Weathers turned to leave, ├óÔé¼┼ôCall me, if they let you out├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôI will├óÔé¼┬Ø Harry said, sitting down on the small cot that was in his cell. The cell next to his, Weather's old cell had a huge hole blown it it. Harry strained, trying to slip through the tiny bit of the hole that was left open on his side of the cell. It didn't work. Harry sat back down and sighed.
-------------
Teresa stared at Chess, a strange expression on her face. Chess paused in her story telling, looking at her.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa gasped, her lungs not quite working right, ├óÔé¼┼ôI think I'm going to be sick├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa...├óÔé¼┬Ø Chess said, reaching to comfort Teresa, ├óÔé¼┼ôIt's not your-├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôGet away from me├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa stood up, revulsion playing across her face.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sorry├óÔé¼┬Ø Chess felt an inch tall, looking at her feet. Teresa backed into the wall, then turned, as if in a daze, and walked out of the door. Chess chewed her lips. It was happening again. She started to cry
├óÔé¼┼ôI don't want to kill you, Miles├óÔé¼┬Ø Chess gasped, covering her face with her hands.
Teresa walked into the hall with the strangest look on her face.
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa are-├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôShut up├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa hissed, ├óÔé¼┼ôAre you happy? You've destroyed...everything I believe in. Thats what you want, right? To wake me from my 'disillusion?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Miles supposed, when he had first met her...he had wanted her to 'wake up'. But...
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, closing his eyes and looking away, ├óÔé¼┼ôI don't...I didn't want you to-├óÔé¼┬Ø
He trailed off. Teresa's hands were clenched into fists, her jaw trembling in fury.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...can't believe...that they would lie to me like that├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, her voice choked. Miles reached to comfort her. Teresa's fist slammed into the wall, blood spreading from knuckles that were cut on the metallic wall, ├óÔé¼┼ôGod damns all liers!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, a bit scared, ├óÔé¼┼ôCalm down├óÔé¼┬Ø
Teresa's muscles went slack, her anger transmuting instantly into a deep cutting sadness.
├óÔé¼┼ôMy messiah is a daemon's bastard├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI have to go├óÔé¼┬Ø
She turned around and started to walk down the hallway. Miles ran to catch up with her and hugged her around the stomach.
├óÔé¼┼ôDon't go├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, turning her around.
├óÔé¼┼ôLet go of me!├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa jerked herself out of his hands, ready to slap him. Miles kissed her, his hand grabbing her wrist and stopping the blow before it could strike him. Teresa backed into the wall, the slap turning into a hand that pulled Mile's closer to her. They broke the kiss, long enough for Miles to breath ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't go├óÔé¼┬Ø again.
Teresa kissed him, hand running along his back. Miles' lips moved down her neck to the coller of her shirt. Teresa's hand pressed into his chest, pushing him back slightly.
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø she sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôNot...not like this. I...I can't├óÔé¼┬Ø
Miles stepped away, ears burning. ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry├óÔé¼┬Ø he and Teresa said at the same time. That struck Miles as funny, so he smiled. Nothing about this was funny to Teresa. She wanted Miles in a...base way that made her ashamed of her own body, feeling the heat under her heart and the desire in the animal part of her mind. For a moment she had almost sinned without the consent of the Church. Slaying an enemy of the Church and God was not a sin. It was a civic duty. Dropping your pants for a handsome ex-Muslim...that was a sin.
Teresa started to walk down the hall again. ├óÔé¼┼ôI can't stay├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI can't...risk...good by├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôRisk what?├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles asked, striding after her, ├óÔé¼┼ôRisk being in love?├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa snapped.
├óÔé¼┼ôRisk being in love with a Muslim, a heretic?├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles snapped, ├óÔé¼┼ôHave to realize that...I need you. I don't know how it happened, but...├óÔé¼┬Ø
Teresa stopped, shoulder's hunching.
├óÔé¼┼ôI'll come back├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, turning around, tears glinting behind her eyes, ├óÔé¼┼ôI promise.├óÔé¼┬Ø she turned to walk into the hanger. Miles ran forward and kissed her. Tereas hugged him back, clinging to him hard enough to make him wheeze for air. It hurt, but Miles couldn't let go. Then she slipped out of his arms, walking into the Michaelangelo. Then she was gone, Miles having to leave the hanger.
Teresa touched down on Outreach. Despite the time she had to think about things, she was still not calm. In fact she was even more excited, her skin crawling as if it was trying to escape her body. Her mind kept drifting back to Miles. She shook her head and opened the airlock door. The cold air of Outreach blew onto her skin, calming her slightly.
Teresa walked down the streets of Outreach, glad to see repairs were slowly bringing the place back together. It had only been four days, and yet shelters were already constructed across the place. Tattooed had many workers used to helping those caught in war zones. Teresa had never thought their expertise would be used ere, in the holy city of the Tattooed.
Vindict looked up from his desk. Teresa stood in the doorway, bowing slightly.
├óÔé¼┼ôAh...Teresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôCome in├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôYou lied to me├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, her voice deadly, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou lied to all of us. Chess isn't the Messiah├óÔé¼┬Ø
Vindict sighed, ├óÔé¼┼ôYou...you must have been told that from Chess herself. I recently discovered things about Chess...look at this├óÔé¼┬Ø
He handed her an old style photograph. Teresa looked at it. It was a picture of a young girl...Chess, standing next to a Tattooed man. And what a man...he was large, strong looking and very handsome. His face was also scrawled with tattoos, covering it completely, his hands and arms shown to have tattoos as well. Teresa recognized him, with a jolt, as...Paladin Michale Dobson! Next to him was doubtless his...
Teresa dropped the photograph. ├óÔé¼┼ôIs...is that...Paladin Michale?├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked, feeling as if she had been punched in the stomach.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict nodded.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd is that his...his wi...his wife?├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa sat down, her legs unable to support her.
├óÔé¼┼ôYes├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict nodded.
├óÔé¼┼ôOh God...God and the Saints├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa hung her head, her temples pounding, ├óÔé¼┼ôThis is too much!├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôLife is not perfect. Neither are our heroes. Paladin Michale did great things. He also loved a genetically engineered woman. Chess was born of a...unholy union. She is also our Messiah├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôBut-├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict stood, ├óÔé¼┼ôBeing a Messiah is not a matter of blood. It is not about who your father is. It is not about who your mother is. It is about who you are. God is not literal├óÔé¼┬Ø
Teresa mulled this over. Then she shook her head, ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm...not so sure. I need to think about this├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWe all do├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôBut first I have a mission for you├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, ├óÔé¼┼ôI have another problem...one that is a bit more personal├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôUh├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa stammered, her ears burning. She could barely tell Miles' that she was afraid she was falling in love with him, how could she.
├óÔé¼┼ôI...think...I think...I might love...Miles├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa's voice was hushed, the last word almost inaudible.
Vindict laughed. Teresa stared at him, eyes wide.
├óÔé¼┼ôOh my dear├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôMiles has been Knighted for returning Chess to us. He is, technically a member of the Tattooed. No matter what anyone says, you can love him and he can love you. There is no sin in that├óÔé¼┬Ø
Teresa realized she hadn't through of that. She started to laugh too. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou're right├óÔé¼┬Ø she said.
├óÔé¼┼ôI try├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict said, ├óÔé¼┼ôNow...please return to the Kitty Hawk and bring Chess back to us. I think I can help guide her to enlightenment. The Savior herself had to be taught by her Mother...maybe I can do the same for Chess├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôVery well├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, standing.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd I need you to report to the capital world of the USHS, New Terra and say that we have an entire fleet to lend to their cause. We will not stand with godless communists...so I suppose we will stand with godless democratics. At least they believe in freedom of religion.├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôIt shall be done├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa bowed, and turned to walk out of the office.
├óÔé¼┼ôAnd...be careful, will you?├óÔé¼┬Ø Vindict asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou know me├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa said, closing the door behind her.
-----------------
├óÔé¼┼ôHey Miles├óÔé¼┬Ø Teresa's voice bounced off the walls. Miles jumped in his chair, shocked that Teresa was calling him.
├óÔé¼┼ôHey...uh I mean, Hi Teresa├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, ├óÔé¼┼ôChess is locked in the room. Seems to think I'll try to kill her├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWell tell her...tell her I'm sorry. I'll be there in two minutes├óÔé¼┬Ø the link cut out. Miles stood and walked to his chambers.
├óÔé¼┼ôChess├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles said, ├óÔé¼┼ôTeresa's coming back...she's really sorry for what she said. She was just surprised and...you know how Teresa doesn't really think things through very well? Well...├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôChess?├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles asked after a pause. He pressed his ear to the door. He didn't hear anything.
Miles pressed the lock override button and whispered the keycode. The computer opened the door. Chess was gone, the bed empty, her tears still staining it.
├óÔé¼┼ôSon of a bitch├óÔé¼┬Ø Miles muttered, walking into the room.