Disclaimer: FF:TSW characters are still Square's babies.
Author's note: one down, three to go…and I don't mean chapters either!
Chapter Three: The Awakening
Dr. Sid observed his screen carefully, watching for any changes, for Aki would be awakening at any moment. Her dosage had been timed for fifteen minutes, and Sid was reluctant to administer a stimulant, for the readouts showed her life-signs as strong and steady. He smiled inwardly. His diligent student of many years in some ways had surpassed him when it came to spirit research. A dedicated pupil, she had quickly grasped the rather abstract principles of the waveform theory, and in this respect she was much like her father, who had also been a successful scientist in his own field. Unfortunately, the majority of the scientific community regarded the views of both Sid and Aki to border on that of radicalism; few if any of their fellow colleagues viewed the Bio-Etheric Division as a legitimate branch. Now, though, with all that had happened within the last twelve hours, it was highly doubtful if any skeptics remained.
A sigh and a soft moan interrupted Dr. Sid's ruminations. Aki stirred, slowly raising her a hand to her forehead. Her liquid brown eyes blinked open and focused on the med-lab's low ceiling.
"Gray?" She looked over at him, propping herself up on her elbows, still clasping his hand in hers. "Is he…?"
"As of yet, his condition remains unchanged."
Ignoring her slight headache, she groggily slid off the examination table and went over to look at the screen. Upon it, Gray's body floated in an eerie wireframe graphic.
Her smooth brow furrowed and she whirled to face Sid. Her hands clutched the edge of the console in frustration. "No! Doctor, I made contact with his spirit!"
Now it was Dr. Sid's turn to express astonishment. His eyebrows shot up towards the top of his bald head. "You did?"
"Yes! We spoke…not exactly words, but with some sort of telepathy. I felt…his spirit touch me. When I explained what we were attempting to do, he promised that he would return." She looked at him lying motionless, her eyes growing misty. "Can we initiate resuscitation procedures?" she inquired hopefully
"Not advisable. His system is in a very delicate state right now. If we attempt to employ any sort of stimulant, it may be too much. The shock could very well kill him. Let his spirit find its way back, Aki. You communicated with him, therefore he must be aware of what is happening. Trust him, give him a bit more time."
Aki's eyes remained fixed on the medical monitor. I know you can do it, Gray, she thought fiercely. Where's that legendary Edwardian confidence you were so proud of, that attracted me so when we first met at HMA? The peaks and valleys on the screen remained lifeless still.
And then they moved.
Aki realized that she had been holding her breath when her heart began to pound in her ears with great snaffling thuds. She remembered to breathe and approached the table. When she spoke his name, her voice was thick with emotion.
"Gray…?"
Beneath his closed eyelids, the bulges of his corneas rolled. They stopped and his lids hesitantly opened, exposing slivers of brown irises behind his lashes. Then, as he became more lucid, his eyes opened wider and they shifted to take in his surroundings. His chest rose and fell with each steady respiration, and his lips moved as recognized the nearer of the two present.
"Aki," he said, his voice hoarsely rasping past dry vocal cords. "Am I…?"
A truly beatific smile lit up the young scientist's face. Momentarily unable to speak, her own eyes moist, she could only give a nod as an answer. The apprehension she had been saddled with ever since she recovered the ovo-pack drained out of her, because the one person she had developed true feelings for was here, alive again before her. She gave in to her emotions and embraced him, tears spilling down her face.
Gray returned the gesture as well as he was able, wincing as he felt a bolt of pain lance up his left side. "Ouch! Easy, Aki."
Dr. Sid assisted as Edwards gingerly turned to sit on the table's edge. "It looks like you won't be needing this any longer," he said, indicated the slight lump that Aki's chest plate formed beneath the captain's battered shirt. Gray remained still as the other man carefully removed the device and set it aside, and detached the sensors from his forehead and the back of his hand. "Your vital signs are stabilizing, captain. Once again, welcome back. Try not to make this a habit, hmm?" An ever-so-slight smile was just detectable on his lips.
"How are you feeling?" Aki asked. She stood beside the table, finding solace in the simple act of speaking to him.
"Like hell…I could use some water. Ribs are sore, too." Then he gave a lopsided grin. "Now I know what an HMA combat training dummy must go through."
Gently, Aki helped him to his feet, and together they crossed the small lab to a reclining chair in one corner. It was similar to the zero-g 'couch' that Aki had used in her sleeping chamber when she recorded her dreams. The Deep Eyes leader carefully reclined onto it.
"We'll have to get those ribs checked. Standard medical procedure." Aki opened a nearby cabinet and began to rummage through it for medical supplies.
For some strange reason, Gray found the thought of her being so concerned about a couple of bones over the restoration of his spirit, oddly funny. He started to laugh, but these turned into ugly-sounding coughs, and a bruise on his temple was turning a nasty shade of purple. Aki looked up in alarm as he grimaced and held a hand to his side. "Yep, that's my Aki, always the professional med tech," he managed to say. Gratefully, he accepted the small zero-g container of water from her, breaking the seal and taking long sips as he lay back on the padding.
"What do you remember about the mission, captain?" Dr. Sid asked. Aki had handed him a roll of white field dressing, and he now paused in the midst of unrolling a length of it.
Gray's face became thoughtful as he attempted to recollect his memories. He spoke hesitantly.
"I…recall descending into the crater with Aki…we found the eighth spirit, and then General Hein attacked. That huge alien appeared, and pulled down the Quatro. Earth's Gaia was down there in the crater, too. I gave Aki my rifle's ovo-pack so she could project the final spirit wave. And then, we were caught in a heavy blast." His eyes were haunted. "The shield projector malfunctioned. I…remember us leaving the vehicle, and walking over to the edge of a chasm."
Here he halted, and glanced at Aki, who had crouched beside him. Silently she dropped her eyes; she knew what he was going to say next, and it was difficult for her to listen.
"I took the wave from her, and I… died."
"But it wasn't all for naught, captain!" Dr. Sid said. "Your spirit carried the completed energy pattern that successfully healed Gaia!"
"Then just what, exactly, happened to the phantoms? Were they destroyed, or-"
"Not destroyed, Gray," Aki broke in. "They're gone…departed from the earth."
"Yes. Several satellites were able to track them. Before they vanished for good, they were heading into the direction of deep space."
Gray grunted as he pondered that bit of news. He looked at Aki and Sid, and then his gaze fell upon the blocky shape of the ovo-pack. Power conduits and a few thin cables were still plugged into it. He nodded in its direction.
"So…that's where I was, huh? And Ryan, Neil and Jane are still 'in' that thing? Hard to imagine…but then I've seen plenty of strange stuff lately, so it seems. How do you plan to restore them as well?"
Aki's reassuring touch was light on his arm. "The same way we got you back, but we must return to New York Barrier City, so we can retrieve their bodies." She stood. "Dr. Sid, I'm going to prep the ship, and fill in the Council about just what happened."
"I'm sure that they are more than eager to hear the details. I wonder how they'll take the news about Captain Edwards," Sid chuckled. "Go on and get ready, I'll attend to the captain, his bad ribs notwithstanding."
* * *
Once again the Black Boa cleared the craggy peaks of the Caspian Mountains, but this time there was a third survivor aboard. The thunder of the shuttle's engines echoed against the desolate mountain slopes as it climbed higher into the late-morning sky, dwindling to a dot before disappearing, her pilot laying in a course that led directly to the last human metropolis to fall before the aliens were defeated: New York Barrier City Number 42. After a burn of a mere forty-five minutes the ship completed its injection maneuver and settled into a low orbit, racing the sun as it headed towards the Atlantic Ocean.
Once the autopilot took over, Aki leaned back in the pilot's seat and pressed her palms against her eyes, which had begun to redden and feel itchy. She gave a huge jaw-cracker of a yawn. It had been a very long day, and the end was not yet in sight. She was grateful for the weightlessness, and yearned for a short nap, but even as her body was announcing all sorts of little aches and pains and her growling stomach decided to join in the chorus, she felt an obligation to find the rest of the Deep Eyes first. Ryan's wound had been especially ugly, and he would more than likely require surgery in Houston before they attempted to restore his spirit. She hoped it wouldn't disrupt the spirit restoration process.
As far as her briefing with the Council, of course they were elated that the overall mission had been a success. The phantoms that had been witnessed by those few remaining New York evacuees, had been said to freeze, turn a brilliant blue, and then simply fade away. Head council members Drake and Hee wanted a full report upon arrival at Houston Barrier City, something that Aki felt could wait a little longer. Instead, she requested permission to land at New York Barrier City, and when the Council wanted to know just why she wanted to return to an abandoned metropolis, Aki was more than happy to drop the literal bomb in their laps, and she backed up her story with footage of Gray's recovery. Councilman Drake had not said anything for a very long moment, and Aki was growing fidgety when he broke the silence, his gaze piercing even on a video screen.
"Permission granted, Ms. Ross. Do what you must and then head directly to Houston. We will have the central hospital standing by." Before he signed off, Aki saw him start to turn to someone else just out of camera range.
"You know, Norr," she had heard him say. "I really don't know if I can take any more surprises today…"
Her belly grumbled again. "Oh, all right!" Sighing, Aki reached over and opened the food rations compartment. She found a ration bar, peeled it, and wolfed down half of it in one bite. It was bland, as usual shipboard fare went, but she polished it off regardless. It would have to hold her until she could get to some real food. As she stifled a slight belch, the doors behind her slid open and Dr. Sid floated into the cockpit.
"How is he doing, doctor?" Aki inquired.
Grabbing a handhold and easing his body into the starboard seat, Dr. Sid favored her with a neutral gaze. "Oh, I think that the good captain is pretty much back to his old stubborn self," he said light-heartedly. "I ran a complete physical and asked him some questions to assess his short and long-term memory functions. You'll be happy to know that he passed with flying colors."
Aki grinned, and Sid continued. "Now, he does have hairline fractures of the third and forth ribs on his left side, and a few scrapes and bruises, but nothing serious. He wanted to come up here, but I managed to persuade him to rest for awhile longer." He thanked her when she held out another ration bar, and tucked it into a coat pocket.
"Humph. That didn't sound easy. Ordinarily, you can't keep him still for a moment."
Sid's face turned sly and he appeared to find something of interest on the cabin's ceiling. "I threatened to slip him a sedative if he didn't heed the advice of the head physician."
Aki was momentarily speechless, and then laughed out loud and her companion did likewise. Chuckling to herself, she allowed her eyes to drift to the windows, becoming mesmerized by the smooth limb of the earth's horizon and the starry vault above it. Dr. Sid likewise was drawn to the peaceful blue planet rolling by below. He could detect the coastline of northern Africa coming into view, half-hidden beneath a layer of clouds. The earth was safe once again, thanks to the courage of Aki and Gray. But although the phantoms were gone, mankind still had plenty to do…rebuilding of the population, and the overcoming of old fears. There was an entire generation born who had never known life outside the eternal glow of the barrier cities. They had never enjoyed a sunrise, the feel of the breeze on their faces, or the sight of grassy fields. He wondered where his bio-etheric expertise would lead him now, that the main threat to human existence had been eliminated…he suspected that his responsibility would shift in the direction of re-introducing fauna to the world's nearly-depleted woodlands and natural parks. He turned to ask Aki what her take might be on the matter, but what he saw made him decide that the question could wait.
She was fast asleep. Exhausted, the increasing pressure that she had been operating under for the last couple of months had begun to take its toll, leaving her slightly gaunt and causing her to lose her temper more easily. She really needed some rest, and so Sid let her be. Consulting the flight computer's itinerary, he saw that it would still be several hours before they even got anywhere near the eastern seaboard of the United States. Silently, he vacated his seat and went aft towards the darkened med lab, where he checked in on Gray.
The captain had also allowed the specter of sleep to claim him. The blanket that covered him was secured to the sleep couch, so that he would not suddenly find himself awakening in mid-air. Dr. Sid grunted in soft satisfaction, retrieved two similar blankets and brought them up to the cockpit. Aki had begun to snore softly, and Sid smiled as he unfolded a blanket and draped it across her, securing the hook-and-loop tabs to the retractable buckles on the sides of her seat. She murmured something unintelligible and curled up beneath the blanket. Sid returned to the co-pilot's chair, set the console alarm to sound prior to de-orbiting maneuvers, and covered himself as well. Very soon, he too was dozing, dreaming of a future earth where the barrier cities were no more.
And the Black Boa sailed on towards the Atlantic, on its quest to rescue the rest of the Deep Eyes.
