Welcome back dear readers. I had meant to get you this chapter a few days early and blow your minds, but I didn't get around to doing an editing check. Oh well, it is Monday, so chapter 11 is here for the normally scheduled delivery! So let's see if that ship was a trap or not...
Chapter 11: It's a Trap (or is it?)
Inside the battered ship, Yuki and her crew found a mess.
"Analyzer, there is no way you can get around in here." She looked at the broken walkways and debris that would make it difficult to get the robot through in a timely manner. It might be difficult for some of the larger men of her small crew to follow towards the bridge as well. Clearing the way would just take too long. Her captain's orders of a quick operation meant that they needed to get in and out.
Knowing that this all could be a well-placed trap to dwindle their numbers, Yuki decided on her course of action.
"Lieutenant Ishida, you and Analyzer will remain here guarding our return path. The others and I will try and navigate to the bridge." Pulling her blaster up, she and three others traversed the wreckage.
The minimal lighting – more of a blue glow along the walls – barely provided enough for the group to see ahead. External lights from their suits aided in the precarious path, but it was still slower going than she would have liked. Climbing through small openings in debris, they continued.
Eventually, they found their destination- the bridge. An access panel outside of the sealed door appeared to be functional. Walking up to the console, Yuki began typing in commands to see if they could open the door without force.
So far the group remained alone on the ship- no signs of humanoids or anything alive. Her gut feeling once more made the situation appear to be pointing in the direction of a trap. And yet, she couldn't just assume that was the case.
Finding the right electrical circuit she needed, the power easily diverted from elsewhere to open the door.
They now had access to the bridge and hopefully the information they needed. Taking in the small room, she noticed the computer screens still aglow. It looked much better than the rest of the ship; no wires or sparks at all. The destruction and chaos did not appear to impact this area. Instead, it appeared like it merely awaited its crew to return and pick up where they had left off.
Swallowing her hesitancy, Yuki needed answers and took the first step. Noticing several androids scattering the floor, she found no sign of their masters on the silent bridge. The other officers looked similarly confused at the empty ship.
"This doesn't feel right." One spoke as he poked his head into the bridge, afraid to go any further into the ghost ship. The other two entered and began to check the machines sitting in a few of the seats.
"I agree," Yuki spoke in a calm voice, trying to lessen the youngest member of the team's fear. The blonde woman sat down at what she thought would be the communication station, and began typing into the computer.
Her ability to read and understand the foreign language still amazed her as she quickly gained access to the log files.
As she did, a bright beam engulfed the bridge and suddenly everything came to life. The door to the bridge swiftly shut, catching the frightened officeron the other side of the entrance and Yuki and two others locked in.
Startled, Yuki looked up from the data screen to find the two trying to pry open the door - with no success.
"It was a trap," one swore as he pounded his fist on the door.
"Hey, Amiro, get your ass back to the Seagull and get a torch, will ya?" The other called as the two gave up on the door.
Yuki remained in the seat, trying to find out what was happening. It appeared that the vessel wasn't crippled after all. In fact, the majority of the systems on board now came back online from their mask of dormancy.
"Greetings," a familiar voice sounded from the ship's speakers all around them. She instantly went on the defensive, every nerve in her body ready for whatever was to come. "Welcome to my little trap. You mentioned, my dear, that humans are not to be underestimated, but so far they are fairly predictable."
"Dessler," she hissed looking around to find the source of the sound of laughter now visible on all of the ship's monitors.
On the screens, his image appeared, the scar on his blue face still the only noticeable difference in the man's appearance. His military uniform and billowing red cape still signified his title, no matter how little his actual power or territory remained.
"While I had wished to greet you in person, I can wait for you to come to me." His voice continued and a loud explosion rocked the ship. Yuki watched as the two others tumbled to the ground as she braced herself on the station in front of her as the ship shook.
"Which won't take long at all, please to wave goodbye to your friends, I doubt you will ever see them again."
Kodai's sensors caught the strange power anomaly before the giant burst tilted the limp vessel. Instantly he broke formation and moved closer, trying to get a better look at the situation. A flash of engine output and then nothing – he was too late to stop whatever happened.
The blast blinded those around them momentarily and when the distraction was over, nothing but a debris field remained.
"Yuki!" Kodai screamed as he scanned the area for any sign of the Gamila ship or the Seagull.
"What the hell just happened?" The soon-to-be-father and fellow fighter squadron leader, Kato asked noticing his friend's distress.
"Evasive maneuvers! Don't let the debris hit you." Kodai shouted as the newly created objects left over came at the squadron of Cosmos ships. The matter tumbling towards him provided an important distraction to the conflicted feelings bubbling inside him. "I want a tracer on all the members of the away team, NOW!" He bellowed into the com link.
Aboard the Enterprise, several of the bridge staff furiously attempted to trace the team. Watching from the large screens had many of the crew holding their breath with worry for those on the away team.
"We're picking up Analyzer's tracker," Niimi spoke, sending the coordinates to the fighters. "The Seagull with one crew member is drifting off to the left, they aren't responding."
"Roger that, I see it," came a voice of one of the Cosmos pilots. "Moving to intercept now."
His brown eyes frantically scanned the area before him - where his wife had been only seconds ago. The logical side of his brain kicked in and tried to assure himself that Yuki was safe – Dessler wanted her alive, not dead. Also, the amount of scrap metal before him could not possibly be the whole Gamilan ship.
Unfortunately, their gut reactions of it being a trap rang true, but there was nothing he could have done to convince her to not try.
Stay safe me love, he closed his eyes and prayed.
"Cosmos Squadron, return to the Enterprise with the Seagull immediately." Captain Sanada said, looking over the read outs from the moments before the strange explosion. "We'll debrief shortly after you dock."
The meeting room for executive officers felt tense. Almost reminiscent of the meetings after Yuki's capture from the Yamato, the brown haired man stood silent and brooding. No one knew exactly what to say to him, and any voiced assurances did little to ease his worry.
"We registered a thermal signature shortly before the explosion," Sanada spoke, pulling up a holographic map of the area that the deserted vessel had rested. The thermal pictures showed the moment the engine took to life and powered the ship away.
"So they warped away with half the ship?" Shima asked to clarify the remark. "That was kind of risky, not knowing if we were going to be in the way or not."
"It was, but we can only attribute that to the superior technology they must still possess." Their acting Captain sighed. "And we find ourselves in a similar situation." The worry was well masked for those who did not know the short haired man better, but Kodai knew it was there.
"Dessler wanted her from the beginning," Kodai spoke up, causing everyone to go silent. "Don't we have some way of tracking them?"
"We do have one possibility," Sanada began as he thought over his idea in his mind before sharing with the group. "She normally has that data disk with her, right?"
Kodai blinked for a moment, knowing the gold plated device well. Yuki hardly left it behind.
"She carries it everywhere. I remember her having it before she boarded." The co-Captain smiled. "Then we should be able to track her by looking for that signal?"
"We'll need help from Yurisha and the others. Once we make contact with the Alliance, they should be able to do so," Sanada nodded, his hand scratched his chin in thought. "Our sensors should be able to reach them soon. Until then…"
"There's nothing for us to do," mumbled Kodai going silent again.
There really wasn't anything they could do but wait and pray. It said a lot about his faith in his wife's abilities that he wasn't going insane with worry or raging about the inability to act at the moment – or at least that is what he tried to project for those around him.
The group slowly left the room after the new course of action took shape. On the outside, everything would continue as normal. The rendezvous with the others would happen as scheduled, but now there was an added complication with stopping Dessler – he now had three UNCF hostages and one of them possessed the information to make a devastating weapon.
Kodai felt a supportive hand on his shoulder from Sanada. The silent man didn't speak but instead offered support.
"I need you rested and ready to get her back," their leader added. "We will get her back once more."
"Thank you, sir. I know she will keep herself safe. I just can't help but worry, you know?"
"I do. She's become an important part of my life as well. We'll do everything we can to make sure she comes back."
With a nod, Kodai left the older man's side and walked out of the room.
"You look like you could use a stiff drink," Shima, his best friend caught his attention. The navigation officer waited for Kodai to leave the meeting, learning up against the wall.
"I don't know if I'm in the mood, but thanks." The married man replied, getting a worried look from the man in the green accented flight suit.
"Think of it as a chance for a guy's night out. It will do you good to keep yourself occupied and not barely living like last time."
"Thanks, really. I just think I'm going to get some sleep."
"My friend, you know that Yuki will get angry with you if you go into hermit mode again, right? Besides, sulking in your bunk right now won't make things better. Come on."
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. Normally drinking in the ship's recreation room didn't sound like his thing at all, but the other man had a point.
"Thanks, Shima."
Placing an arm over Kodai's shoulders, the ship's pilot led them to a quiet little corner of the ship. The brown haired man was slightly surprised to see Kato waiting for him with a bottle of an amber looking liquid.
"This one's for you," his fighter pilot comrade said, handing him the drink.
Downing the liquid, Kodai remembered the words of Admiral Hijikata about drinking. Right now, he didn't want to savor the taste… he wanted the burning liquid to allow him to escape the world that had once again put his wife in danger… and with nothing he could do about it.
"I don't know how you do it," Kato took a sip of his drink. "I wouldn't blame you if you were raging through the corridors like a mad man."
"Yuki's a smart lady," Shima spoke up. "She'll probably end the war herself if we give her enough time. We'll have to turn the boat around and head home way ahead of schedule."
A smile once more graced Kodai's lips thinking about the possibility of that very notion.
"I'm glad you both came along for this mission," came his response after downing another drink. "And for always backing me up."
"Ah, if you recall correctly, I was skeptical of you in the very beginning," the other fighter pilot corrected.
"Details, details." The navigation officer smiled filling up both of his married friends' glasses. "What is important is that we keep things together here until Yuki gets back, and then you can go back to ditching your single friend again." The joking tone in the man's voice told the others he wasn't angry. "Apparently married life is good, some of us seem to enjoy the activities quite a bit." The nudge went to Kato, whose wife would be the first woman to give birth aboard a UNCF ship. "What about you?" He turned his attention to Kodai, who was blushing a bit.
"Yeah, any plans for starting a family?" Kato grinned, enjoying seeing his commander flustered.
"We haven't been married all that long," he reminded the men.
"But you've been spending a lot of time together even before that…" The slightly intoxicated smirk from his friend reminded him of all the times the couple had indeed relished in the comforts.
"We've mentioned it briefly," Kodai admitted, thinking back on the image Yuki had described with the two girls. While it had been a memory of the past, he still found peace in the imagery of their children running on a field on Earth. "But with all that has been going on since and the problems that came with the information leak…"
"Yeah, that wouldn't have been easy. It's a shame that you've been through so much… I wish there were more we could do." Daisuke Shima turned serious and the group went silent for a time.
With a group sigh, the three finished their drinks and suddenly the co-Captain felt not so social.
"Thank you guys for this, but I think I need to be alone for a bit."
"We'll see you on shift tomorrow."
He nodded before standing up. Waving to his friends Kodai walked back through the halls trying to think of anything else. He was in decent spirits for the better part of the walk- mulling over the conversations he had with his closest male friends. However, the closer he got to the little space on the Enterprise that he shared with Yuki, that confidence and calm lessened.
Once more he would fall asleep wondering if she was ok, if she was safe...
The force of the warp initiation sent all three of the bridge inhabitants flying. Putting her hands out, Yuki tried to stabilize herself once more, but the power in the sharp movement was too much.
Falling from her chair to the ground, she closed her eyes as the clear visor hit the steel of the floor and cracked.
The feeling of the pressure changes from the warp and now her compromised suit caused her to feel dizzy and sick. Staying flat against the ground, Yuki closed her eyes and rode the effects on her body the best she could. Grasping onto the metal, she anchored herself onto something solid.
Minutes felt like hours and her breathing became more and more labored as the ship continued it accelerated course. Strange sensations filled her mind and a bad feeling of dread grew in the pit of her stomach.
Without warning, the ship stopped, causing the two others to tumble once more. The far-off rumbling of what she thought was something docking against them added to her worries.
They won't have much to track us with, she thought as she remained laying on the ground. It was only a matter of time before their captors would board the ship and take them. Pretending to be unconscious might give her an added opportunity to attempt escape.
Pushing down the familiar fear that came with once more being in the presence of that mad man, Yuki focused her hearing on the two men with her in the room and the sounds from the ship.
Her thoughts went back to the other crew member caught on the opposite side of the bridge and if he weathered the warp. It worried her that he had yet to make any noise or attempt to enter the room.
A jolt took her mind off the missing crew mate and back on the fact that they were no longer alone on that wounded vessel.
The sounds of multiple footsteps approaching had her utmost attention and soon the doors to the bridge opened. Remaining still, Yuki could only slightly see the body fall to the ground and boots of the Gamila soldiers.
Shouts in a language that she knew the others could not understand rang out and blasters pointed at the two human men caught in a dangerous situation.
Listening to the conversations the soldiers had among themselves, Yuki remained still. Closing her eyes, she allowed one to roll her onto her back.
Protests from the two Earthlings caused tension and soon guns were raised. Understanding that if she didn't act, those trying to help her might die, she called out.
"Stop!"
So you might have called it- totally a trap.
Yeah, I know it wasn't super original to have the good guys walk right into it... but since they are good guys, they usually do have to give the benefit of the doubt... if I ever found myself in a movie or situation like that and it was obvious, I'd just blow up the ship and be done with it.
Anyway, so now we've got Yuki in the hands of the Gamila once more... who wants to bet that she'll once more prove to be a handful for her captors? Go Yuki Go!