The next morning, Fiona was still asleep and Van had crept down into the kitchen to have a quiet cup of coffee and reflect over the last few weeks. Sitting at a small wooden table in the kitchen, he sighed remembering the dream that had started his journey to Cronos Base.
Stirring his coffee, absently, he wondered if, as far fetched as it sounded, he was meant to find Leith. After all, he, Fiona, and Adler were just in time to save the boy from a serious infection and starvation. Had Raven, actually, sent him to Cronos to save the kid? Van sighed, it was ridiculous, Raven couldn't have possibly known about Leith, and even if he had why would he have sent Van to find him. That just wasn't like Raven.
Suddenly, Van noticed something out of his eye. He turned his head, slightly, to stare back at the pair of light blue eyes that were carefully scrutinizing him from just above the edge of the table.
"Shouldn't you be resting?"
Leith ducked down out of sight as though startled by Van's voice. After a moment the top part of his head slowly resurfaced, a look of interest and suspicion on his face.
Van chuckled, "Don't worry, I don't bite."
"What?" Leith's head tilted to one side in a comical fashion.
"I won't hurt you," Van translated, trying, desperately, not to laugh at the boy's expression.
"Oh."
"Now, how 'bout answering my question. What are you doing down here?"
"I was bored," replied the boy, quietly, only a second before his stomach rumbled, ". . . And hungry."
Van smiled, "Well, the mayor told us that we could help ourselves to the food whenever we wanted so how 'bout I hunt around for something to eat. What do you like to eat?"
Leith blinked, curiously, "What does that mean?"
Van stared at him in surprise for a long moment before responding, "Um, it means, uh, 'What sort of foods do you think taste good'?"
Leith shrugged, "Not sure."
"What about Papayas?"
"What's that?"
Van shook his head, "This will not do at all."
The captain made his way to the refrigerator and dug around until he found his prize. Turning he found the silverware drawer and, after hunting around the drawer a bit, a knife with which he cut the fruit up into cube-shaped pieces. He split the fruit pieces up onto two separate plates setting one in front of Leith and keeping the other for himself.
"Try it," he said, sitting back down his his place, as Leith stared, curiously, at the amber colored fruit, "It's really good."
Leith reached out, cautiously, and took a piece of the fruit from the plate. He examined the cube, carefully, before taking a small bite. Immediately his eyes lit up with interest and enjoyment, "It's good."
"Told ya," Van chuckled.
The pair sat in silence for a long moment as they each reduced their shares of the papaya to nothing. Once Leith had finished his share, though, he turned his eyes back on Van and asked, "What's gonna happen to me?"
Van stopped nibbling on his final piece of fruit and stared at the young boy, "What do you mean?"
"Mom's gone, Dad's . . . somewhere, maybe, Mom's Zoid can't take care of me anymore. So, what's gonna happen to me?"
Van sighed and stared at the last piece of papaya in his hand, "We'll figure something out, but, I do have to say, I don't think it would be a good idea for you to stay in those ruins any longer. You'd be safer in a nice warm house with a nice family. You know, someone who can take care of you."
Leith stared at Van, his eyes dull and distant, "You mean, somebody like you?"
Van shrugged, "I . . . don't think so."
Leith didn't make any indication of whether he was relieved or dismayed by Van's statement. He simply looked down at the table. A thoughtful expression crossed his face, briefly.
After a moment, he sighed, and climbed down from the chair, a grim look on his young face.
"What?" questioned Van.
Leith shook his head, turned, and left the kitchen without speaking.
Van took a drink of his coffee, contemplating following the boy but deciding against it. Leith wasn't going anywhere and, even though the house seemed incredibly quiet, there were people all over the place who could keep an eye on him.
Van sighed, maybe this trip hadn't been worth the hassle. I blame you for this, Raven, he thought glancing upwards.
The rest of the day was fairly quiet, Van saw Leith from time to time as the boy wandered about the mayor's manor, but neither spoke to the other.
Later that evening Van was outside with Zeke when Adler's Command Wolf came loping up to the manor followed by a large Dark Horn. From the Dark Horn Van could hear Gilbert's voice calling, "Kevin Matthias Adler, for the very last time, slow down!"
"It's not my fault you pilot one of the slowest zoids known to man," Adler laughed, as he stopped his Command Wolf a few yards away from the Blade Liger.
"That is it, when I catch you-!"
A female voice interrupted at that point, "Gil, he's right, you're slow."
"Not you, too!"
Adler laughed as he leaped down from his zoid's cockpit and the Dark Horn came to a stop beside the Wolf, "Ha ha, Abby, you are a demon, ya know that?"
"Of course," the Dark Horn's canopy opened revealing Gilbert and the woman speaking, "After all they used to call me 'The Sky Devil'."
She was slender and tall with long dark hair and mischievous, blue eyes. Her movements seemed passive but there was an air about her of roguery. She seemed the total opposite of the calm and down to earth Gilbert, who sat, with a tired look on his face, behind the Dark Horn's controls.
Abby leaped down from the zoid and walked over to Adler, "Now, straighten up, you look like a dog that just got beat."
"Sorry, Ab."
"Stop that, yeesh, we don't see you for two years and you come back acting like Gil!"
Adler smiled a little. Gilbert just shook his head, "Stop picking on Kev, Ab, you know very well what army life is like."
"Yeah, but we were actually in a war, Gil. He doesn't have that excuse!"
Abby straightened the collar of Adler's shirt, "There. Now stand up straight."
"You sound like my mother, Abs, stop," Adler said with a chuckle. Finally, the lieutenant noticed Van watching the whole occurrence with a bemused expression.
"Oh, hello, Captain."
Van nodded to Adler, "Welcome, Adler, Gilbert and . . . Abby, is it?"
"Ah, yes," responded the woman, "You must be the famous Van Flyheight, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Likewise, I'm sure."
Adler sighed, "I was coming to tell you that the crews took the Zaber to the research facility where Gil and Abby work, we contacted the Empire and they told us that it was stolen several months ago by a blue organoid, but they were as much interested in having it back as I am in Abby's cooking. These two decided to tag along."
While Abby glared at Adler over the cooking comment, Van began putting the pieces together. A boy about six years old with dark hair and blue eyes, whose father had been wanted by the Loyalists and had not returned for several months, and now the information that the Zaber they had fought was stolen by someone with a blue organoid. Van put a hand on his forehead, "How did I not see it?"
"Captain?" Adler was looking at him with his head tilted to one side.
Van looked over at Zeke, "It makes perfect sense!"
Adler, Gilbert, and Abby were now thoroughly confused, but Van didn't feel like explaining. He gave Zeke a pat and ran into the manor to find Leith.
It didn't take long, the boy was being ushered back to his room by Fiona. Van quickly caught up with them and asked, "Leith, your parents, did they both have organoids?"
Leith nodded, slowly, "Yes."
"What were their names?"
The boy paused, sending Van a hesitant look, ". . . Their names were Shadow and Specula."
Author's Notes
Finally, got that off my chest, Phew! And, yeah, I know, you all probably guessed this outcome from the start but having had Leith as a character since I was about thirteen or fourteen years old it would just feel wrong to change this part of his story now. So there it is in all it's predictable glory. On another note, we finally have a clear statement of Adler's full name and we have now had the pleasure of meeting Abby Fairbairn, if only briefly.
To be continued . . .
