Chapter 14: Remember
Renton couldn't help it, he found himself counting the minutes. How much time would pass, he wondered, until Eureka would be seen again? Minutes turned into hours, hours into days, and soon days into weeks. The feeling felt impossible inside of him, and his chest ache with a dull pain.
Xellien, for the most part, remained completely reserved. He talked to Renton every now and again, but he mostly kept himself apart, concentrating on some other far more important task. They settled down in cities Renton didn't recognize, places where the buildings were of an older architecture. He could only recall them in pictures taken before the First Summer of Love. These visions of the past left something cold in his heart. He didn't want to be here anymore. It felt like being around a man who would be executed the next day. You couldn't stop it, and that didn't feel right.
In the few opportunities he had, when Xellien seemed to be resting, Renton decided to do a little investigating.
"What exactly is it you're planning on doing, Professor?" Or at least just blatantly ask.
The elderly man glanced at him briefly and then continued glancing back at his small book. "Do you really want to know?"
Renton hesitated by surprise. "Would you tell me?"
"If you're that curious, I don't see what harm it will do." Xellien closed his book, folded his arms, and settled himself into a more comfortable position. "I plan to fix everything."
Renton felt perplexed by what he said, unable to comprehend the specific plan in such a broad statement. "How?"
"Quite obvious, don't you think? Change the past."
"But what are you doing in the past?" More than likely, Xellien was just toying with his nerves to see how he reacted.
"Honestly Renton, the plan is really quite simple in its complex design." He smiled. "Would you like to hear it?"
"Haven't I practically asked that question." Xellien merely smiled opened to his mouth to speak, but stopped. A light on the console began to blink a bright lime green. He swiveled in his pilots chair and tapped the screen, which then lit up the face of a small map. The land mass which consisted of their planet left little to be seen of water. Seven red dots popped around the map of the planet.
"What are those?" Renton asked.
"These are the seven locations where major battles that took place between the United Federation and several other countries." He swung his foot over his leg and clicked a button. Six of the red dots flickered yellow and the other two turned blue. "The majority of those battles ended neutrally."
"Neutrally?" The two green blue dots were close so the east. "And the blue ones?"
"The only battles that made a difference in the war. Didn't you ever study history, Renton?"
"Yeah," he said and thought back to his last days in schools. He could have probably spent more time paying attention in class. Little difference it made now that he was in the past. "Actually, no," he corrected bashfully.
Xellien shook a finger on him as he slid on a pair of thin rimmed glasses. "You ought to. Your Father certainly made the Thurston family stand out in it." The elderly fellow stood straight and went silent.
"Hey, aren't you going to tell me the rest?" Renton asked.
"The rest of what?" he said without giving a returning glance.
"You know, your plan." It irritated him how this man treated him like a kid. Holland never treated him like that. Well, at least not after he left.
"You mean my secret plan about resolving all of our problems? Yours and mine? Renton, don't underestimante me. I've been given a gift, and with this gift I will," he said and stopped as though something caught in his throat. Renton turned to see that he was no longer looking at the computer screen but down at his hands. He tried to raise his head up and see what it was, but Xellien quickly closed his hand and slipped something into his pocket. "Just trust me, child. I know what I'm doing.
Xellien stood up and moved to the back of the ship. "Night time is approaching, I'll prepare you a bed. In a few hours we'll pass over Johntown. Once there, I will wake you."
Renton scowled as he started making his way to the back. Now that he thought about it, he didn't like it how he called him child either.
The hustle and bustle of the airport bothered Eureka. She could handle herself on a battlefield for hours and be tossed back and forth by gun and wind. However, she just couldn't seem to handle herself in places where the local vicinity breached a hundred people. Her eyes darted and glanced at every person that bumped into her, checking their sides for guns or hands for knives.
"Are you alright?" Shara asked as she calmly yet briskly stepped around an older woman.
"Yes," she said, the lie sizzling in her stomach.
"You're not much for crowds, are you?"
She looked off to the side and let out a stuttered huff, "I've never been in a place with so many before."
"Relax. These people are just your average joes. The worst they'll do is give you a pamphlet or ask for your number."
Eureka frowned and looked back at the people as they broke from the line and starting heading towards one of the large windows. "Why would they ask for my number?"
Shara wrapped an arm around her shoulder and said, "come on now, Eureka, you're a cute girl. Didn't you know? You got to be careful in parts like these."
She didn't understand, but supposed it wasn't really important. Why would a cellphone have anything to do with her ability to be cute? Perhaps it had something to do with make-up.
The idea sort of bothered her, so she pushed it out of her head. There were more important things to worry about.
"There she is," Shara said, a bit of the excitement leaking through her voice.
Eureka looked out the window and saw a large arrow shaped ship sitting on the ground. Small black dots moved around beneath it, people moving about getting in and out. "What's that?"
"The flagship, and we're getting on board."
Eureka felt a shiver of surprise run up her stomach. "We're going to get on the flagship? The security will be unbreakable" Eureka said quietly. She never had much experience with infiltration. Her talents lied with the proper "shoot and kill" technique. It was often effective.
"Don't worry," Shara gave a catty wink as they approached the military wing of the airport, "I have a secret weapon."
"What's that?" Eureka intently walked closes to her in case she whispered.
"Good looks and charm, Sweet Heart," a man called over from one of the security passes. He looked at Shara like a wolf might at fresh meet.
Shara giggled and almost pranced her way to the stand. She held her hands out together. "Guilty as charged."
The man returned with a smile that Eureka didn't quite understand. She also wondered why Shara had doubled the amount of times she blinked her eyes.
"Shara, is something wrong with your eyes?"
The red head patted her shoulder, "not now, Sweety."
The man stood tall, broad shouldered, and probably enough muscles to rip right through his shirt. The tailor really ought to have assigned him a bigger shirt. It couldn't have been comfortable, or so she thought.
"The names Fork," his voice sounded unnaturally low, almost force. He must be recovering from a sickness, she though. "What ship you going to?"
Shara excitedly pointed out to the large black flagship outside the windows. "I'm going there. I was just reassigned. Could you do me a favor and give a call to my friend in room 205, deck three? They're going to show me around."
"Let me take a look," he clicked over a touch computer display. On it Eureka was able to see an outline of the ship and its many rooms. He clicked through it until one portion of the ship enlarged. "What's the name?"
"Clarrisa," Shara said a little too sweetly.
"Yup, that's her," he said, reaching under the stand and pulling out two passes. "You know, missy. I'm just two decks down, room fifty three. My break shifts are between 6:00 and 9:00 o'clock, you should drop by."
"Thank you for the pass!" She said, not hearing his comment, or ignoring it all together. She started her way down the hall. Eureka glanced between the man whose eyes dimmed slightly after she left, but quickly followed.
"Why did he let you pass without identification?" Eureka said as she caught up with her.
"Like he said, good looks and charm."
"That's a powerful weapon," Eureka said, slightly awed by her manipulative abilities, although she didn't fully understand them.
"That's not the weapon I was referring to, Sweetheart. Besides, the UF may have the majority in weapons and soldiers, but the majority of those are half-brained hunks. Also, we're registered soldiers, you and I. The only problem that we face is whether we can get on this ship, seeing as we're not assigned to it."
They passed the several soldiers leaving and entering their individual ships. On either side of them were large paneled windows where they could see numerous military ships. Battle cruisers, frigates, and other types of aircrafts sat on ground level like animals ready to leap at their prey. A shiver ran down her spine. This is how their world revolved around a military government, through a devastating war.
As her eyes looked out over the far off horizon something deep inside her stirred. For a just a moment, she thought she could see herself walking across the bridge of the Gekko-Go, looking out over an ocean of puffy white clouds. The green fields turned into a green glittery trapar, sparkling like a school of fish in the ocean.
"Eureka," Shara said, breaking into her thoughts. She looked forward in time to see Shara enter the ship and follow after her. Pushing the thoughts beside, she followed her into the ship port. However, a tight sadness touched her stomach as she thought of the kids and Renton.
After passing several halls and doors, they entered into the hanger. The room was filled with an assortment of aircrafts, certain ones she didn't recognize. She saw strange arrow shaped flat crafts placed in rows of seven. "What are those?" Eureka asked as she admired their elegant shape. It reminded her of the Mach 2 of the Nirvash.
"Those? You've never seen one before," Shara asked, partly surprised, "they're jet fighters. So," she took a breath, "where you come from, there aren't any of those?"
Eureka admired their simple design. The hair on her skin raised a little as she looked at the row of them. Their arrow tipped heads, sleek metal padding, and with wings as tight as a knife startled her slightly. "I haven't seen one before. I think."
"What do you use?" She asked.
"LFO's and KLF's," she responded and started slowing down as the neared the exit from the hanger.
"L.F.L.'s? nevermind, sorry I asked."
"Hey, you two," came a voice from the side of the air traffic station. A gangly fellow with thinning white hair stammered his way out and adjusted his glasses. "Where are your tags?"
Eureka frowned and looked to Shara, but on her face was the smallest smile she'd ever seen. "Hey big gu-,"
"Shut it, I want to see your tags now. Where are they?" The man was quickly approaching them, despite his age worn body. He seemed like the type who lost his patience for anything, or anyone for that matter, a long time ago.
The smile of Shara's face vanished and she took a small step back. Eureka had a sudden idea, "Shara, use the secret weapon."
"Sorry sweety, I'm not sure that's going to work right now."
"Shara?" Another voice came from behind them. They both turned around to see a medium sized fellow with military cut hair. He had subtle blue eyes, brown hair with glances of blond in the right light. "Hey sweetheart, I've been waiting for you."
Shara let out a small shriek as she hopped up and landed right into his arms. "Darling!"
"Honey Cake!"
"Buttersweets!"
"Dark Chocolate Dip!"
She hesitated and squeezed her eyes at him, "oh, you're good."
With a wink he said, "Just don't start purring."
"Captain Stillicker," the grumpy skinny man cracked, "can you explain why they don't have tags?"
"Sorry John, they just transferred in and no official documents have been prepared. I'll get right on it, but they belong to me, the both of them."
The old man looked between the two of them, his eyes looking for some sort of sign of suspicion. But Shara's face was far too giddy to really reveal anything. And Eureka, well, expressed nothing.
"Bah, what do I don't care," he waved a limp hand at them and turned back to his office, "don't be gettin' me in trouble, Stillicker."
Eureka curtly walked up, feeling a little more a like a distraction at how much these two were concentrated on the other. Their eyes sparkled from the light pouring from the open hanger door. The look drew her back to those wonderful last moments she had with Renton before coming to this time. She reached a hand out but quickly pulled it back. "Uh," she said, "who's this?" she said and tried to stay polite.
"This," Shara said and rapped her arms around his kneck, "is my husband, Still."
The man winked, "At your service."
"Are you awake?" a small voice whispered across the small room. Renton's eyes shot open and he sat up. Something felt different than before, but he couldn't quite see what it was. He looked around the room and everything seemed fine. Then he realized that things were oddly quiet. The growling sound of wind battering against the hull was non-existent.
"Xellien?" Renton called out but didn't even hear the tiny echo of his voice. He felt as though he were standing in open field. The absence of sound unsettled his stomach.
"No, I'm not him," the voice returned, quietly and gently. This time he noticed the female tone. He didn't remember there being a woman on the shuttle.
His heart jumped a beat, though impossible the thought was, "Eureka?"
The girl, or what he assumed to be a girl, giggled, "not really. But I think we're related. I feel something special about her too. Like you Renton."
The hightlights of the room began to shift colors. The greys and blue started become more pink and red. A glow poured out from the viewports and from within the cracks of the small lockers. He felt his heart pick up a bit at this strange change of setting.
"Relax, Renton. You don't have to be afraid of me," the girl said soothingly.
"I don't feel like I have a choice."
"Just look over here," the voice came from the doorway leading to the cockpit. He turned to see a bright light standing at the door, which tightened the muscles in his kneck and nearly threw him from his bed. But when his eyes adjusted, the glowing light solidified and revealed a woman. She wasn't exactly like other woman, with everything, including her strange clothing, glowing a soft pink. As a matter of fact, she almost seemed transparent. A light pulsed through her body like a gentle heartbeat.
A scream began making its way from his stomach to his throat and nearly made it out before the pinkish woman placed a finger on his lips. A familiar feeling washed through his body and he felt like, for reasons he couldn't understand, he knew her.
"I've never seen a human respond so quickly and correctly to the trapar before. You are special, aren't you?" The woman smiled kindly, her glow washing a warm ray on his cheeks.
"Do I know you?" Renton asked.
The woman's eyes widened, "I don't believe I've met you before."
"Why do you seem so familiar then?"
The woman sat down next to him, leaving him feel slightly crowded on the small bench bed. Something about her also reminded him of Eureka, but he hadn't the slightest as to why.
"I'm what I think you call a spirit," she said confidently.
"You're a ghost?" The shiver started up in his stomach again like a startled squirrel.
She giggled again and shook her head, "No, I haven't been born yet. But you can see me, Renton, that's why I came. That's you're gift. I'm like your friend who came with you."
Renton frowned and started thinking. How could she be like Eureka? His eyebrows raised slightly as the realization turned on in his head, "you're a coralian?"
This time she nodded. "I've been sent to watch over you."
Then it hit him. During the torture, something had reached out to him, keeping him from falling into insanity at the end of the torture. It made him smile against the pain. "You're the voice I heard while I was being tortured, right?"
"Yes," she responded, the glow in her body dimming slightly. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. Some humans are more responsive to the trapar than others. The captain was the only one in the ship who could feel me, and all I could motivate him to do was be concerned."
Renton wasn't sure how to react, not having heard anything like this from Norbu, Eureka, or Holland. However, he did remember the thousands of people he saw inside of the command cluster. Maybe she was like that? Whatever she was, she had saved his life. "Thank you."
Her glow picked up again. "You're welcome."
A grin touched his face, "for a second I thought that was Eureka reaching out to me, not you."
"She could, if she wanted to. You're both like me, more than you know."
He frowned, "what do you mean?"
She stood up, or rather floated up, and her glow began to increase. She moved over to the window and looked out. "That body you have isn't really yours, is it?"
Now that he remembered, it wasn't. This body belonged to a man whose name he wasn't even sure he remembered correctly. Supposedly, according to Norbu, physically moving matter back in time was nearly impossible, but the mind or spirit of a person, not so much. "Why are you here?"
"To watch over you, of course!" she said with a patter of admiration, more towards herself. "Isn't that what I said? I'm sorry if I didn't."
The innocence in her tones and expressions reminded him of a small child. He stood up as well, feeling oddly light and numb. "No, I mean, why now?"
"To let you know that you're never alone. So long as you can trust what you feel, then you'll never drift apart."
"From you?" Renton asked. The ship suddenly shook and the reddish and pinkish glows suddenly began receding back into their places. The woman looked up , startled and wary, but it quickly faded back into a small smile.
"No, from her."
He suddenly felt gravity turning over, forcing him to fall through the door and back towards the cockpit, "Wait!" he yelled and then felt himself fling from his bedside. He quickly looked around and noticed that he was back in his bed as though he had never left it. The growling walls filled his ears and the bluish grey setting returned to normal.
"I'm Rose," a voice whispered into his thoughts.
"What? Rose?" Renton echoed back.
"Is something troubling you?" Xellien appeared at the door way, his skinny body but impressive height towered over Renton. "A bad dream?"
"Uh," he muttered and tried to procces the question. He wasn't sure if you could call that a dream or a vision. "No, just sleep talking, I think."
Xellien eyed him a moment more, but then gave the slightest calculated shrug. "Very well, we've arrived anyway. Get ready, we're about to land for resupplies-," the ship shook before he could finish his sentence. The light turned from cool white to a harsh blinking red. "That was unexpected," Xellien said.
"Shouldn't we check it out?" Renton asked.
"Ah, correct." He shook his head as though in a daze and arrived at his terminal. The screen, which displayed more like a hologram, flickered and showed their current location over the planet. Renton assumed that the tiny red dot approaching the coastline was them. Farther down, he could see blue much larger dot quickly gaining behind them. His stomach turned a notch.
Outside the viewport, an explosion flashed across the screen and shook the ship.
"Why are they shooting us?" Renton yelled as he slammed against the other side of the shuttle.
"They're not shooting at us but around us. They're warning shots. I think they want us to dock in their ship."
"Haven't they sent a communication?" He asked and rubbed the right side of his back which began to sting from the bump.
"Oh yes, they've been trying to communicate with us for the last thirty minutes. I haven't responded." He raised a hand before Renton could ask why. "I have been checking their ship idea for the last half hour and I can't find a match in any of our databases," he said and let out a shaky breath, "which is never a good sign. Could be pirates, smugglers, or other undesirable company."
The ship shook again, nearly sending Renton to the floor. "What are we going to do then?"
"We don't really have a choice, at this point. This ship is not equipped nor designed to escape a situation like these. It's just a classic long distant transport shuttle." He rubbed the edge of his nose as his eyes flickered between the screen and a blinking communications button on the keyboard. He reached for it. Renton shivered. "We board."
"So as you can see, that's how you pull the Jerry Swing Maneuver," Stiller said from the front of the class. They were situated in the hanger with three rows with about ten students each row. Amongst them was Eureka and Shara, sitted in the front row near Stiller, at the insistence of Shara. Next to her husband was a large blackboard, and on that was a mesh of arrows and poorly written notes. It looked more like a doodle by Linck than a diagram by a grown man.
"Alright," Stiller said giving the group a hard stare, like a commander would to his students, "who here doesn't understand?" Everyone in the class raised their hands. "What? Come on guys, this is the third time I've explained it. Either you're not listening or I'm just not teaching well. Which is it?"
A scraggly haired man at the back raised his hand.
"You who looks like they just woke up."
"I think it's you're teaching, captain," the boy said honestly and curtly. Eureka halfed expect the class to laugh, but they all sat politely. For a new group, they appeared to at least respect their captain despite his terrible handwriting, drawing, and teaching abilities. She actually wondered why they listened at all.
"Blast, sorry kids. Fine, I'll just show you. We'll get back together at test flight hour and we'll perform an example flight. Better?"
"Yes sir," they all responded simultaneously.
"Alright, dismissed," he lazily waved their hand at them and they all stood up at once and filed out rather orderly. He sat down in his chair and let out a big sigh and stared at the white board. "I don't get what I'm doing wrong. I explain it as clear as day. I say it how it is."
Shara walked over to him and forced him to make a little room on his chair so she could sit with him. "Honey, it's not your word choice, it's the overall presentation. It's just terrible."
He nodded. "I know."
She pecked his cheek with a small kiss and began rubbing his back. "Don't worry sweety, you'll eventually get better. Someday."
One of his eyebrows popped up, "why do you say it like it's not going to happen for the next few years?"
"Oh," she patted his back, "don't get your hopes up. It'll take longer than that" They stayed silent for a second and then burst out laughing.
"I think you're the only person who knows how to cheer me up through indirect insults."
"Isn't that why you married me?" she said with a little light in her eyes.
Eureka didn't feel comfortable watching anymore. She was starting to get tired of the love demonstrations in front of him. All it did was constantly remind her of the chilly air beside her. She too wanted to hear from Renton. She wanted to hear his childish humor, talk to him, feel his arms around her. Sometimes she really worried how he was and what he was doing. Was he still alive?
She shoved the dark chilling thought from her mind. No, Shara said Xellien could be trusted to protect Renton. She had to believe that was true, but she didn't really have anything else to believe in. It was her in the middle of nowhere following a love struck lady who looks like she's forgotten the whole reason they came.
She looked over in time to see the two stand up from their own little world.
"Shara," Eureka said, trying to keep the iciness from her voice. It didn't really work. "What are we doing?"
Shara shifted weight and touched her hands together, looking as though her center of gravity had just reversed. She nervously glanced at Stillicker and sighed. "I guess I can't ignore it much longer, can I?"
"Sorry Eureka," Stiller chimed in for the first time. She and him hadn't really talked directly one to other, at least not more than polite getting-to-know-you conversation. "It's been a year since we've seen eachother and, well, you can imagine. We didn't want to bother you, it just kind of flopped out like that, I guess. Have you ever been separated from a love one before?"
A twang of guilt and surprise nipped at her stomach and she looked away. "Yeah."
"Well, it's kind of-," he stopped as Shara bumped his knee. It was meant to be descreet, but Eureka caught it out of her eye. She probably shouldn't be so sensitive.
"I just want to know why we're here," she said, keep her eyes on the floor and fighting images of Renton.
"Actually," Stiller shifted his attention back to Shara, "why are you here?"
With the attention now on Shara, she straightened up and brushed back her hair. The frilly giddiness melted from her face, replaced with a familiar professional stare. Love time was over.
"Is it safe to talk here?" Shara glanced at Stiller. He nodded before sitting down. "Well Eureka, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but neither of us belong to UF. We're here to check on things. How much do you know about the war?"
She gave a lifeless shrug. "I don't know anything."
Shara erased the board and began to draw a simple map of the world. She marked out eight territories and pointed at the largest which made up more than a third of the eight all put together. "This is UF space and is made up of six nations who joined the United Federation near the beginning of the war. The agenda is to unite the countries into one, but the rest," she tapped the other seven, "are not so inclined. They're resisting for independence, but the UF consists of states wealthier and more developed. They're of the remaining royal states."
The world royal sizzled inside her thought. Now she was beginning to understand. It made sense. People dressed in flashing suits and clothes flashed before her eyes. The royals had major influence, but eventually the military would overpower them in the end. On their back, the military would become the overruling force in the world and the royals would become mere funding projects.
"The UF is winning the war, and will continue to do so, unless something is done."
"Then what are we doing?" Eureka repeated.
She shrugged sharply, "waiting until we get there."
"You're coming a little late into the game, Eureka," Stiller said quietly, trying to introduce a softer tone in the heat building between them.
She ignored it. "And Renton?"
"You know," she said, teeth tight, "that's all I ever hear from you. You just sit there worrying your pale little face off instead of trying to help us keep a low profile. The idea is simple. We wait."
Eureka rushed to her feet. "Wait? That's all we ever do. You with your flirting, and kissing, and acting like everything is okay. I'm missing Renton! We have to be together." She could hear Norbu's word's inside her head poking at her guilt. If she had listened to Renton and trusted him, then none of this would have happened.
"Could I add something?" Stiller said, his voice like a block of ice in boiling water. She and him had rarely talked, despite having spent much time together. But it wasn't really his fault. Wherever Eureka was, so was Shara, and Wherever Shara and Stiller were in the same place, Eureka might has well have been invisible.
However, there was a true genuiness that calmed the storm raging within her. It partly reminded her of Renton.
"Look, Eureka. I know you're worried about Renten," he continued.
"Retern," Shara mistakingly corrected him.
"But you have to understand how this is going to work. This man you two mentioned to me before. What was it, Xellien? He has said he'll meet us there tomorrow."
"Exactly," Shara breathed out. "That is exactly the case. If there is anyone who can help us with Renton, it's him."
She didn't sit well with the idea of trusting in Xellien again. The whole problem started with him in the first place, since before either of them were aware of any of this. But she couldn't share information like that. Not with running the risk of saying too much.
She looked away. "Where are we meeting him?"
"Gingrich," Stilled said.
The name rang inside her head as she played through the images and thoughts it brought with it. Without a second more, it all clicked. "The turning Battle."
"The what?" Stiller said, looking at Shara.
She shot Eureka warning glare and then looked back at him with a smile empty of threat. "Nothing, just something we talked about the other day.
She had forgotten that Shara instructed to share very little about anything time related to Stiller. He didn't even know that she was from the future. It was better that way, probably. The less people knew the less doubt and confusion it would cause.
Her eyes drifted to Shara, who's face was still slightly red from her brief break of temper. The woman had tightness about her that brought Talho to mind. She certainly seemed professional and smart, and knew how to keep a secret. Over these last few days, she barely mentioned Xellien, but their two whole weeks together revealed that she was fully committed to helping him out. In her experience both in the military and Gekko-Go, it was impossible to find someone willing to dedicate much to a person without condition or force. So what was forcing Shara? What did Xellien have on her?
Renton squinted as light spilled through the edges of the shuttle door. It slid down with a sharp thump. Despite their dire situation, Xellien kept to himself and appeared completely calm. His plain expression and the faint touch of his everylasting smile came more a reassurance this time than an irritation. Maybe he had things undercontrol.
Once his eyes adjusted, he saw a three sets of two military dressed officers, or at least what appeared to be military officers. Xellien had his doubts, but told him to treat them as though they were from the military anyway. Showing any suspicious would only risk their chances of escaping or leaving without having too much taken, if anything, at least their lives.
Two of the officers slowly made their way towards the door and peared inside. A flashlight glanced across them both, it bright beaming burning at his eyes. He blinked away a tear and tried to make out their faces, but they were practly shadows against the outside lights.
"Your names," a deep voice called from one of the two. The sound of it sent a shiver down his spine, but he wasn't too sure altogether why. Something about the voice seemed familiar.
"Dr. James," replied Xellien coolly, not showing an speck of the nerves Renton felt.
"You, what's your name?" the man said in a voice layed with suspicion and the light flicked over at him, catching his eyes that hadn't adjusted quite yet.
A thin layer of sweat formed on his forehead, "officer Gerald, sir," he said in a shaky tone.
There was another pause and then the light switched off. "Our apologies, gentlemen. Just taking some excessive precautions. Step down,"
They quietly made their way off the vehicle, and for the first time Renton could see they were in a hanger very much like the one on the first ship they had boarded. He looked around and saw several fighters and other attack vehicles. Older designs, but brand new here in this time. Probably a detail he shouldn't voice out loud. However, the hanger seemed much smaller than it should have. He looked at either end and couldn't put his finger on it, but it seemed outside of proportion.
The man they had been talking to was a tall man with long white hair. When he turned around, Renton nearly jumped from his position.
"I'm Moreck Derwin," he said, but Renton knew that that wasn't his name. The man standing before him was none other than Dewey Novack.
"Ah, Captain Moreck Derwin," Xellien said, "I should have recognized your style."
The other gave a curt nod and gave a sharp glance at Renton. "Well, Dr. Jame, I'm sure you're all to familiar with a low profile. Although this situation isn't related to your projects, we'll have to keep you aboard."
For the first time, Renton felt Xellien stiffen beside him. "May I ask why?"
"Classified matters not related to you, nothing else. You'll be assigned room of stay and confined to your quarters until our operation is done." His eyes coolly looked over Xellien, "and please, Doctor, don't give us trouble." He took a small step forward and dropped his voice to a near breath. "I'm aware of your unusual activities, Doctor. I tend to stay out of other people's ways, if they stay out of mine."
Without giving Xellien a chance to respond, he turned around and walked away, his hair tail waving tauntingly back at them. Renton opened his mouth to speak, but Xellien bumped him with his foot, and decided it would be best to wait.
"I can't believe it," Renton said as they sat in the medium sized personel quarters. The officers had literally blind folded them and escorted them directly to their room without further word. They mentioned meal schedules and locked the door behind them.
It was equipped with the essentials, such as four beds, two small desks, and several drawers. But it left him feeling quite trapped and claustiphic. He was used to having room, which is why his personal quarters on the Gekko-Go had never been equipped with a bed. It made the small room feel more open, even when Holland had offered to buy one for him.
"It's De-," he started before Xellien bumped his foot again. He lifted his finger as if to itch it's nose, but made the slightest sign to keep silent with his index finger before looking forward. Renton then understood why. He scanned the room with his eyes and saw black shiny box at the top corner, a camera.
"Well, this reminds me of another time in the war," Xellien said as he stood and stretched his arms. "We were on our way to rendezvous with another ship when we were jumped by pirates. We nearly made it out with our lives. Here we'll be okay."
His tone was unusual, more like a poorly acted soap opera than his usual curt tone and accent.
"Okay?" was the only thing Renton could think to say.
The other sighed and pulled something out of his pocket. "Your know Officer Gerald. It's going to be a long trip. You should get some rest."
It wasn't a matter of just of his behavior to be unusual, it always was, but right now he seemed to be a high. But the look in Xellien's eyes told him to turn over and lie down. It occurred to him that Xellien had a plan of some sort and it somehow involved him going to sleep.
"Don't worry about getting up. I'll wake you when dinner comes," Xellien said and then went silent. He heard some strange clicking sounds and small pop. He was tempted to look around, but decided to keep himself lying down, facing the wall. He could hear Xellien doing the same on the bed bunk above him. "There we go. That should do it."
"Can we talk now?"
"Yes, we can. It's a little device I conjured when I first arrived. I figured I would need a moment just to myself, so it release a super sonic hum that mimics the whitesound of an empty room while simultaneously blocking out all other sounds."
Renton thought about it for a second, but didn't really understand. "I don't hear it though."
"Well of course not," the other said cheerfully, "it's on a frequency neither of our ears can pick up."
"And you sure it works?" The last thing they needed was their positions exposed.
Xellien sighed with boredom, "So, I'm guessing you're wondering about Dewey Novak, aren't you?"
"Actually," Renton said, the image of the man playing through his head again. He'd only seen the man once, but his face played across TV screens all over the world. His is a hard voice to forget, especially considering the times, "yes."
Xellien shifted in his bed above him. "Well, it is that time, isn't it? When it all began, or when most of it ended. The summer of love."
"We're close to it?" Renton said. He was just a kid when his father had disappeared, around the age of four, which put their time twelve years back. "Then what is Dewey doing here?"
"Doing as he usually does. Get his hands in anywhere they don't belong, all for a purpose, of course. This war, at least the magnitude of it, was his fault."
Renton tried to process that one, but his lack of historical knowledge made it difficult to remember what his teachers had said. As a matter of fact, he had never heard Dewey Novak in relations to the war, only his father and a few other military officers, never Dewey Novak.
"Naturally he did a lot of things under the table, even to changing his name," he said, responding to his unspoken thought. "His strategic and manipulative military skills made for a dangerous combination to his prior connections to the royal families. Yes, certainly he may have been, for a time, the proverbial scum of their society. But, with the right words of flattery and certain business opportunities, they were on his side."
"But I don't understand-,"
"Naturally," the other but in quickly.
He decided to ignore that one. "Did he sign a contract? Or ask for the war?"
"Don't be so naïve, Renton. The royals are a business heavy people. They don't keep their wealth on status and titles. The Voderak homeland is wedged between two very crucial nations, both of which would benefit from certain trade routes that don't exist in this time."
"So this whole thing started from a trade route?"
"Hardly," the other scoffed, sounding as though he muffled a hard laugh. "War is profit for the right people, and the Royals were those right people. They gave him the funding to gain recognition he needed to climb to more influential positions in the military. And start his radical ideas against the Voderak homeland. Eventually, the royal nation began putting hard economic pressure on the Voderak, and the radical Voderak reacted more quickly." His voice got wispy. "And just like that, with one shuttle attacking briefly stealing a supply from a trade ship, Novak had all he needed. He used the media to blow the incident out of proportion, and they got their control. Tge war against the Voderak started much with the same propaganda used against the Coralians nearly two decades later. "
"And what about the Voderak? What was Dewey's intentions there? If the war was to put pressure on the Voderak, then they had something he wanted. He raced through his memories in Ciudades del Cielo and his many conversations with Holland, but nothing came to mind. That is until, he remembered Norbu.
"He wanted to stop us," Renton said, answering his own question.
"Precisely. The Voderak were the closes to forming a relationship with the Scub Coral, they knew about the "companions", although they didn't entirely understand their function."
The vision of the destruction in the holy city flashed through his mind. Hundreds of thousands of people dead, tens of thousands of homes destroyed, and eventually, an entire race banished from its home. Dewey was either completely mad, or he honestly believed what he did was right, in some dark obscure way. Better chance would be that it was both, which would just make him insane.
"So he began climbing through the military, he gained too much control, and when the Sages caught wind of what his real intentions were, they threw him in a place where he wouldn't get out of control. The accusations made against him were just that, accusations. Evidence was generated, lies placed, and he was kept quiet in a little prison tucked away in the capitol."
"Just like that, huh?" He could imagine Xellien nodding with that strange smile of his. "So, then what is he doing here?"
Xellien hopped down from the bed suddenly. He walked over to the door and put his head against it, as if listening for something. Strange as it was, Renton could tell he was intentionally ignoring his question.
"Xellien, what is he doing here?"
Xellien glanced at him, but his eyes showed that we wasn't going to say another word. For whatever reason, it was best he didn't know. It didn't matter, eventually he would find out.
"It's about time, I think."
"Time til-," the whole room shook. The lamp light quickly grew bright and then burst, sending their room into darkness. Renton instantly knew it was a power surge, one caused by either a hard collision or a loud explosion. He was guessing a latter.
"What's going on?" Renton said as he fumbled his way through the darkness.
"Everything is going exactly as I thought it might. Thanks to my gift, I perceived all of this."
Another explosion shook the room, this time somewhere from much higher up in the ship. Judging from the sounds, he could tell now that they were under attack.
"We need to get out as quickly as possible," Xellien said from far behind him. "Before we leave the room, you must make me a promise."
It was an odd request, but considering the situation, he didn't think to mention that. "What?"
"Whatever you might see or hear you must follow me and nothing else. Do you promise?"
Renton rolled his eyes, glad that Xellien couldn't see. "Sure."
"Do you promise?" his said more sharply this time.
The sharpness jolted him. "Yes."
"Good. We have to go. The heat of the battle is starting." When the door opened, the vision of chaos pilled through. Soldiers charged down the halls, guns ready at their sides. Those wearing engineer outfits shouted into their communicators ongoing orders and medics ran along frantically. The whole ship was in a twist.
"This is it. Stay close."
They pushed and shoved their way through the ongoing crowds of personnel. Although the crowd made it hard to keep track of anything, Xellien's height made it easy to keep track of him and keep with him. His head towered over the other like a harmless beast.
The entire hall shook, sending Renton off his feet and slamming into the wall. It knocked the breath out of him and he struggled to get it back. Looking down the hall, his eyes filled with terror. No more than a few meters away, a large gaping hole had formed to the outside. Several soldiers dangled from the edges, but the twisted metal and wiring tugged at their clothes like teeth through the flesh.
He wanted to help, but these people were the enemy, and he couldn't risk getting too involved. He turned around and started to leave.
"Help!" The voice stopped him. It was oddly familiar, and he froze to look back.
A woman struggled to keep herself up from the hole, red hair, and a lot younger than he remember.
"Mischa?" His lips gaped in disbelief. "It can't be."