I forgot the important bits in the first chapter – Not mine….Sandy Frank….no profit being made…don't sue me….well you all know the rest.
Deep in the bowels of Centre Neptune, where the towering structure met the ocean floor, a small unused room existed. It must have held a purpose at some point, yet it contained no furniture, fittings or fixtures. Princess discovered it by accident when they'd been allowed to explore the undersea edifice in the weeks following its commissioning. G-Force, protectors of the galaxy, needed to be familiar of every inch of their new secret base in the fight for survival of the human race.
The war with Spectra forced the people of Earth and every other planet in the Alliance to recycle as many resources as possible in the continuing effort to defeat their combined enemy. In this particular marvel of modern technology, over 99.5% of the refuse created could be reused in one form or another. The remaining portion, broken down to constituent molecules exited the underwater edifice via a pipe built beneath this very room. Princess often wondered if the function of the space lay in tracking the effluent pouring into the ocean.
The remnants of the human debris, a life line to several forms of coral, pooled in the local vicinity. Coral spawn attracted by the pocket of high density nutrition set up residence within weeks of the structures completion. Growing slowly, it multiplied, feeding and recycling the remaining waste. In the years since Centre Neptune's commission, the east facing foundation became a micro cosmos, offering one of the most spectacular views of a living coral reef left on a depleted Earth. Fish, attracted by the plentiful supply of food increased the area's diversity. Perhaps some clever designer hoped for this outcome, because the room incorporated a transparent plasti-glass bubble, allowing a wonderful view into the pristine aquatic wonderland.
Princess always meant to share this peaceful retreat with her team mates. Each time she opened her mouth, something stopped her. A sense of tranquillity overtook her when she entered the room, giving her a complete sense of solitude in her hectic, war torn life. Training for her position since the age of seven, her cerbonic hardware implanted before her tenth birthday, life had almost always been about duty towards others. Here she didn't feel the need to be a part of something else, something big and important and responsible and necessary in the fight for the freedom of the earth. Here, in this room she could just be, well herself, an oasis of quiet in a mad world. No competing with four male comrades, fighting to keep her place in G-Force as the token female. No expectations of saving the galaxy from the evil Spectran hordes. Contact with the outside world non-existent. Princess's mind her only companion. Sometimes she even mentally turned her implant off to be completely and utterly alone.
That's how Jason found her. He couldn't use his internal tracker to locate her distinct signal. In some ways he felt closer to Princess than the other members of the team. He'd put it down to the differences between their genders. To the best of Jason's knowledge, the other male members of G-Force would claim the same intimate link with Princess.
'Or maybe,' he muttered under his breath, 'it's just that she plays the nurturing role of a mother with all of us. Princess cares, more she allows her emotions to show, openly and without hesitation. She can be impetuous at times but it's all part of the same need to be emotionally honest.'
Jason stared, watching her stand, legs shoulder width apart, hands on the plasti-glass bubble, staring into the most beautiful scene he ever witnessed. Aware she occasionally needed down time, he'd once followed her to this room. His curiosity satisfied, he came to a startling realisation. The only female member of their team gave so much of herself, she needed a place to reflect and recharge without the testosterone brigade around. Finally understanding how much emotion she extruded on them, he respected this special place she claimed for herself.
'Princess?' Jason spoke softly so as not to startle her. Her stance seemed more completive than he could remember causing him to wonder what triggered this level of total introspection.
Coming out of her trance, she turned to the offending sound. A deep frown marred her brow. Realising Jason hadn't stepped over the threshold into the room proper, Princess refused to invite him in. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind, offering to share this space with a male member of the team despoiled her privacy.
'The view's spectacular,' he commented, eyes motioning to the watery backdrop. Watching her response, the young woman turned back to the calming vista and sighed heavily. Before she could open her mouth to invite Jason in, he surprised her. 'I know this place is very special to you, that you come here to be alone,' he continued in an understanding voice, 'so why don't you come out here and talk to me?'
'Jason,' Princess, at a loss for words, took several seconds to work through the issues currently crowing her mind. The fact Jason waited patiently for her sort out her next words without attempting to hurry her or losing his cool, bespoke the depth of his worry. Nodding to no one in particular, she stepped towards the open portal.
'Tell me what's on your mind?' Jason once again used a soft gentle tone. Something in her body language said she needed to get this off her chest. Whatever the reason for seeking such solitude, it ate at her psyche.
Bitting her lower lip with indecision, Princess wondered how she could possibly start discussing the enormous revelations she'd discovered in the past few days. Taken by surprise at an off handed comment, she couldn't stop thinking about it, about the content of the overheard conversation. Locked away in the bases extensive library, it hadn't taken long to make the tenuous connections. In the end, the evidence pointed to one indisputable conclusion.
The entire team would be affected by the information. However it'd lock Jason into an intimate relationship with her the others couldn't understand. Mark, she worried about how he'd take the change in their emotional convergence. Stoically, Princess believed, but it'd change the dynamic between them, affecting all of G-Force. This secret, indirectly, led to the earlier incident with Chief Anderson.
Finally hitting on an opening, she asked, 'tell me what you remember of your Father?'
'My Father,' Jason asked, astounded. A feather could have knocked the most aggressive G-Force member over. Looking into Princess's troubled eyes, he reluctantly gathered his early childhood memories about him. Like the other members, they consisted of loss and abandonment at an early age. None of the team spoke about their time before becoming orphans in the care of Anderson. An unspoken truce developed into a defining bond, linking the young people.
'I don't remember mine,' she inserted, hoping to force Jason to continue, 'he left before I had the capacity to remember him. Mother told me stories, showed me pictures but it never seemed enough.'
'I try not to remember my father,' Jason warned, feeling compelled to divulge his hurtful past. Understanding it to be important, the look he gave Princess demanded she keep this information to herself. 'He worked from home but I rarely saw him. A string of hired help brought me up so he could focus on his work. I think he pre-empted the war coming to Earth. He and Chief Anderson often held meetings at our house way before G-Force formed. I became a nuisance, not to be seen or heard when he invited important people to discuss his ideas. We didn't interact much, so I may as well have been placed in an orphanage years before he died.'
'I'm sorry, Jason,' Princess swallowed hard. Obviously she hadn't expected this tale of abandonment. 'What about your mother?' she continued in a softer but still demanding tone.
'Even less,' he returned, aggrieved. Yet something in her words, forced his mind to recall a long lost memory. Closing his eyes, he tried to capture a moment almost twenty years in the past. Unable to say why, Jason knew it to be important to Princess. Slowly he analysed the pictorial in his mind. 'I just have one. I guess you'd call it an image really. Dad held my hand. I couldn't have been more than three.' Shaking his head in an attempt to make the picture clearer, he continued, 'I don't remember him ever being that happy or being so affectionate with me. We stood at one end of a long hallway. Mother stood at the other end, a baby in her arms...'
'Jason,' the normally calm tone returned to her voice. The one saying I care, I understand and I'm here for any of my G-Force brothers when you need me.
'I had a sibling,' Jason's voice sounded unsure. Yet the more he considered it, the surer he felt. It made him feel sad, to remember the tiny life extinguished before getting a chance to really live. 'I guess the memory is from the time just before she died. My father never spoke about her or the baby from that day on. I guess...I guess my...they must have died together.' Swallowing hard, Jason's subconscious wondered why Princess asked these questions and why it seemed to bring her out of the funk she'd been in all day. 'Why,' he suddenly demanded, an idea forming in the back of his mind.
'I don't remember my father,' Princess confessed. 'I was too young when my parents divorced, not even a year old. Mother never placed the blame for the marriage breakdown on anything but circumstance. She never talked about her husband outside of our home or developed a relationship with another man. By the time I started school and became old enough to ask what happened to my father, the war with Spectra started. At first, they decimated the earth, until we started to fight back. Mother left me with Chief Anderson for my protection. She captained one of the first waves of space battle ships. I never saw her again.'
'My father died in the attacks,' Jason broke in. The idea's running through his head took centre stage and he had to make subtle reference to them. Through the hurt caused by the remembrances, he forced the words between clenched teeth. 'What did your Mother look like?'
'She had dark hair,' Princess took several steps toward Jason. Now close enough to touch him, she reached out a hand. Placing it on his long locks she stated, 'almost the same colour as yours. Black but not as dark as mine. Her eyes were the same shape as yours, but a touch more green in the brown. Not quite hazel.' The hand slipped to his face, her warm palm on his cheek, 'she looked very much as you do now, the last time I saw her.'
'Prin...' stuttering over his words, Jason found it hard to get out. Another name came from the fog of his long unused memories of his early childhood, 'Kyrra, my sister's name was Kyrra. Are you...are you saying...'
'Yes,' she nodded, slipping her hand further down his body and allowing both to circle his broad chest.
Reflexively, Jason accepted the offered comfort, pulling her into his embrace. Neither saw the figure further down the hallway, half hidden in the shadows. He'd come from the Chief's office just in time to see Jason disappearing into the distance. A glance into the ready room and Mark noted the loss of Princess as well. Annoyed and more than a little intrigued, Mark followed. Observing from his hidden vantage point, he'd been surprised by the length of conversation between Jason and Princess.
Not close enough to hear the soft words they'd spoken to each other, he allowed his imagination to fill in the gaps given the intense body language he witnessed. When Jason took Princess into his embrace, the nonverbal communication between them shimmered, taking on a life of its own. They'd connected on a level deeper than just friends. Then Jason's head dipped, his lips delivering a kiss to the crown of Princess's head. Mark couldn't stand by any longer, the scene creating a maelstrom of unresolved emotions to swirl through his mind. Allowing the darkness to swallow him whole, he retreated back to the ready room with a heavy heart.
Completely unaware they'd been watched, Jason and Princess took comfort in each other's embrace. Time stood still for the young couple. After what seemed like an eternity, they broke apart, an understanding cemented between them. These revelations still too fresh, they needed time to come to terms with the momentous changes occurring in their lives before they included the rest of the team into their secret.
'What,' Jason asked, his hands still holding Princess's forearms to stop her from returning to her sanctuary, 'did you argue with The Chief about?'
'I suspect he's always known about us,' Princess confessed, lowering her head, 'about the history of all the G-Force members before we became a team. I didn't confront him. My reason...it's more personal.'
Embarrassed, she lowered her eyes. The new relationship between them demanded she open up. 'I wanted to know why I had to wear a skirt as part of my bird uniform. It makes me feel...different from the rest of the team, unique in a way that draws attention to my gender.' Raising an eyebrow in askance, Princess felt she needed to justify her answer to Jason. 'It has nothing to do with being a girl, at least not directly. It shouldn't matter what gender I am when we're working. I have my place in the team, yet my uniform makes me feel expose at times. That's why I requested the change. The chief turned me down flat without any explanation.'
Arching an eyebrow, Jason requested, 'what about,' pointing to her ubiquitous pink and white striped pants, he wrinkled his nose and said 'those?'
'That's the other part of the problem,' she stated with rancour in her tone, 'in civilian clothing, when I want to be different, I look like one the guys. There's nothing but my anatomy which differentiates me from the male gender. That's the time I want to be able to feel feminine. I'd like to dress...well...more like a woman.'
'Hoping to capture someone in particulars attention,' Jason teased. He couldn't help roaring with laughter at the irony. For her part, Princess didn't look pleased with the completely correct summation of her objective. It only made Jason laugh harder. Somewhere in the gagarious exchange, his mind hit upon an idea. 'Do you trust me?' he questioned.
'About as far as I can throw you!' she exclaimed.
'I really shouldn't be helping you with this,' Jason returned. Taking several steps backward, he utilised the wall to achieve his characteristic stance. 'After all, with this new thing between us…another's attentions towards you might bring out a very protective side in me.'
'Jason,' she pleaded, very effectively with sorrowful green eyes.
'Won't work,' he teased lightly. 'I have an idea, so don't say I never do anything for you. Transmute,' he ordered, watching her expression carefully.
Confused, Princess's green gaze questioned. Seeing only determination in Jason's stare, she reinitiated her implant. The wisp of his idea moved through her mind. What surprised her more, the newly found intensity of the link between them now they both knew the truth. For the last three days, Princess found it easier to read her usually rescinding team mate.
'Transmute,' she stated, hand coming up to her face. In a flash her bird uniform appeared. 'What now?'
'This is where the trust comes in,' Jason grinned. Approaching his target he needed to use both hands to force her skirt away from the bodice of her uniform. Once done, Princess didn't wait to change back into civilian clothing. 'You might like to put this back on,' Jason offered the strip of pink material. Her horrendous trousers magically vanished.
Quickly using her belt to hold the scrap, she returned to birdstyle. The change she'd been hoping for appeared. Pink leggings filled the gap between her white belt and boots. Sleeves connected her shoulders to her gloves covering her body from head to foot. Feeling less exposed, a smile covered Princess's face at the much improved uniform. A final transmute found her in a t-shirt dress. The huge number three still graced the front and the horrible colours hadn't changed. Yet the more feminine attire displayed her attributes with her clingy skirt falling to just above her knees. A belt revealed her hourglass figure and her legs showcased in knee high boots.
'Even I have to admit,' Jason teased at the same moment their communicators chimed, 'that looks much better on you. Just don't go teasing the boys too much. I don't want to be spending the rest of the war defending my sister's honour.'
OK – so not cannon but I never could get past the obvious similarities between Princess and Jason. It seems a natural conclusion to make and helps other plot lines I have for future chapters.
And Jason gets all the best lines – not intentional but I suspect not the last time he'll have the last word.
