Chapter 9
'the black crystal'
Lita rubbed her eyes wearily before glancing back at Reika. Reika was still passed out on the Medi-Unit bed from the anaesthetic. Lita's gaze moved to the large wound stitched together in Reika's pale back. If Greg hadn't had that vision when he did… she shook her head, refusing to even consider that possibility. Lita let her head flop back against the edge of the chair she was sitting on. She had no idea what she was meant to do now. According to Greg there were three of these Rainbow Crystals on board the Makoto. One inside Reika, one inside Luna's cat, and one inside Greg himself. And that meant there would be even more government agents coming after them. And then what would they do? Surely they couldn't keep running and fighting them off forever.
Lita sighed and turned her thoughts back to Reika's injuries again. She knew that as Captain of the Makoto she should try and get in contact with Reika's fiancée and let him know what had happened. But how was she meant to explain that the government had tried to kill her in order to retrieve a crystal that resided inside her body. Who in the 'verse would ever believe a story like that? Although Reika had once mentioned that her fiancée was a bit of a conspiracy nut so maybe he would believe her.
The door to the Medi-Unit slid open and Luna popped her head in. With a sigh she asked, "How is she?"
Lita shook her head sadly. "No change yet. Hopefully she will wake up soon."
"Well, there's nothing we can do right now." Luna nodded her head towards the corridor. "Come on Leets, dinner is ready."
"But-" Lita tried to protest.
"No buts. You have to eat. Don't make me come in there and drag you out by your ear. Because you know I will."
Lita smiled weakly. "Okay, I'm coming. No need to turn violent on me Luna. I'll meet you in the galley."
Luna nodded and left as Lita stood up. She lightly touched Reika's forehead and murmured, "I'll come back later." With one final glance behind her Lita went to join the others for dinner.
The mood in the galley was sombre that night. Luna and Artemis were constantly exchanging serious glances. Chad was silent, still in pain due to his own wounds caused by the two government agents. Lita glanced over at Greg, who was deep in thought, no doubt thinking about the dark crystal he had been examining. Even Jed and Hotaru were quiet, simply pushing food around their plates rather than cracking their usual jokes in order to keep the whole crew entertained.
The silence finally made Lita snap. "Okay, that's it. Someone needs to start speaking." She looked around at her crew, having grabbed their undivided attention with her sudden outburst. "Reika would not want us moping around like this. I mean, what is it that she's always telling us? Well?"
"That laughter is the best medicine," a soft voice spoke from the doorway behind Lita.
"Exactly," Lita said emphatically before realising just who it was that had answered her question. She spun around in her seat and shrieked, "Reika!"
Jed quickly jumped up to lend Reika his support and guided her to the table. "You shouldn't be up and moving," he chastised her. "You haven't mended completely yet."
"Jed's right sweetie," added Luna. "You should still be resting."
"I've done enough resting Luna." Reika smiled and leaned her head against her hand. "I feel like I've been asleep for hours."
"You have been," Greg murmured, only half aware of the conversation.
"Hotaru could you please get another plate and put some food together for Reika?" Artemis asked his daughter.
"Artie, don't worry about me please," protested Reika weakly. "I'm really not hungry."
"You have to eat. You need sustenance," he replied. "Hotaru put the plate together, just the light salads and some bread."
"Yes, sir!" Hotaru saluted her father and smiled at Reika.
"So what have I missed?" Reika glanced around the table.
"We'll get you caught up later," Lita answered. "Right now you should just get some food into you and get your strength back."
Greg was chewing his food slowly while he stared off into space. He had spent most of his afternoon experimenting with the dark crystal but he still hadn't figured it out. He wasn't sure if it was some new device that scientists had cooked up or if it was a natural element that was attracted to the Rainbow Crystals. Greg was more inclined to think it was the former rather than the latter. Did it require magical powers to operate it? From what Artemis had described to him it sounded like the agent had used telekinesis to keep the crystal floating in mid-air.
Greg finished his meal and rinsed his plate in the sink. He lightly touched Reika on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay," he murmured. "If you feel up to it, come see me after you eat and I'll explain what's going on. But if you start feeling drowsy then please go sleep instead. I'm sure you need it."
She granted him a smile and patted his hand. Reika nodded. "Thank you Greg."
When he was back in his bunk Greg took out the black crystal again. It was about ten centimetres long with sharp points on each end. He could see the tiny crack in the crystal where Lita had shot a bullet at it. Otherwise it was completely flawless. It looked like onyx but Greg had a feeling that it was something else entirely, something that he had never encountered before, neither in his visions nor in reality.
As Greg stared into the crystal he could see a small image beginning to take shape in the dark depths. It was a young woman with short blonde hair hanging into her eyes. Her eyes were blue, such a soft, sorrow-filled shade of blue, and her skin was like porcelain it was so delicate and pale. As he watched she lifted a finger to her lips, as if she was trying to tell him to keep quiet. The image slowly faded away. When it had completely disappeared Greg suddenly dropped the crystal and pitched forward with his head in his hands as a vision forced its way into his mind.
The blonde girl from the crystal was lying on a bed sleeping peacefully as a blue-haired girl, a teenage boy, and dark-haired man watched over her. The boy and the man exchanged a glance as the blonde girl shifted and murmured in her sleep.
The scene changed and now the blonde girl was trapped in a small room, surrounded by four bright, white walls. There was no way out, no way to escape, no doors or windows. She clenched her hands around her head and screamed, "HELP ME!"
Greg woke up and found that he was lying on his floor shaking. With his head pounding as if a jackhammer was trying to split it open, Greg dragged himself across to his nightstand and grabbed a couple of painkillers from the drawer. He fell back against his bed; his legs sprawled out in front of him, and stared up at the ceiling. Who was that girl? Greg glanced over at the crystal sitting innocently on his desk. With a sigh he shook his head and closed his eyes.
***
Jed was lying in his bunk, trying (and failing) to fall asleep when he heard a timid knock at his door. "Come in," he called out to whoever it was and slowly sat up.
The corners of his mouth turned up as Hotaru slipped into the small cabin. He jerked his head to the side, inviting her to sit down next to him on the bed. "Sorry," she muttered. "Did I wake you up?"
"No I was still up." Jed took in the dark circles just starting to appear under the teenager's eyes. "Couldn't sleep?"
Hotaru shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest. She rested her head against her knees and replied, "Had a bad dream."
Curled up as she was Hotaru looked more like the quiet eleven year old he had known when he first came aboard the Makoto, rather than the outgoing, cheerful fourteen year old she had grown into. She looked so small and scared, more so than Jed had ever seen her. He rubbed her back gently. "What was it about?"
"Being followed. Being attacked." Hotaru's voice was hollow. "Everyone dying and I wasn't good enough to save them." Her voice suddenly cracked and a lone tear slipped down her cheek.
Jed pulled Hotaru into a hug. "Hey, what happened today is not your fault, okay? I'm sure you felt helpless while your mum, dad and Lita went out to search for Reika and Chad. And you probably feel guilty that you couldn't do anything to help."
With her hands clenching around Jed's shirt Hotaru glanced up at him. "How did you know?"
"What do you think has been keeping me awake?" he smiled, trying his best to comfort her. "The exact same thoughts that you've been having."
"You'd make a good big brother, you know that?"
Jed chuckled lightly. "I should hope so, since I've had quite a bit of practice at it." He winked. "But thanks for the compliment nonetheless."
Feeling somewhat better than what she had done Hotaru pulled away from Jed's arms and leaned against his wall. "Practice?" she raised an eyebrow. "What are your siblings like? How many do you have?"
"Three. All of them girls."
"Wow." Hotaru snickered, and then met his questioning glance. "I bet that must have been so much fun for you growing up. All those dolls, and make-up, and tea parties."
"Hey!" Jed punched her jokingly on the arm. He watched as she began to yawn. "You know, when my sisters used to have bad dreams I would tell them a story to get them back to sleep again."
"That's sweet." Hotaru yawned a second time and could feel her eyes falling shut. She looked up at Jed again. "Tell me a story?" she murmured.
He smiled softly. Jed shifted onto the floor and gently pushed Hotaru to the side so that she was lying down with her head on the pillow. As her eyes closed Jed pushed her fringe behind her ears. "Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in a large castle…"
***
Luna stepped into the cockpit and slipped her arms around Artemis. After pressing a kiss to his temple she whispered in his ear, "Aren't you coming to bed?"
Artemis made a non-committal sound in reply. Furrowing her eyebrows, Luna moved to the co-pilot's seat and sat down so she could get a better look at her husband's face. He was looking worried and kept glancing at the radar screen as he flew the ship. She directed her eyes to the radar and could see a couple of dots on it, but she had no idea what that meant. Luna had never been very good with the technology of actually flying; she had always spent more of her time down in the engines and patching up the outer frame after a firefight. But now Luna was starting to feel nervous as well. Artemis only got worried when something was really wrong. "What is it?" she asked hesitantly.
Artemis pointed to a dot that was in approximately the centre of the radar screen. "This is us," he stated. He then moved his finger to the other dot and glanced up at Luna. "This is another ship. It has been flying in the same direction as us and continually at about the same distance behind. It's been there for a while now."
Luna felt a cold shiver run down her back. "So you think someone might be following us?"
Artemis frowned as he glanced once more at the radar and then turned his gaze back to the windshield in front of him. "No Luna, I don't think so. I'm certain that someone is tailing us."
