Episode 34: Chasing the Storm

"We've been stuck here for three weeks since that pilot left…" Mark thought as he stared out the front viewport at the monstrous phenomena they'd come across almost twenty-one days ago.

The thing was huge, so huge in fact that if they tried to go around it, the entire trip would have taken over a month. They hadn't anticipated running into something like this and the map Starsha had left for them in her message capsule hadn't mentioned it either.

Mark shivered at the thought. What if she'd purposefully left out some information? What if she was luring them all to their doom?

He shook the morbid thought away. How could he think things like that? After all this "Starsha of Iscandar" had already proved herself to be on their side in this conflict. She'd given them a way to save Earth – wasn't that enough to earn at least a little bit of his trust?

He looked up at the bright orange and stark black mass of stormy clouds swirling before them.

The sight was stranger than anything else they'd yet seen on this journey. It was almost like four stars had turned black and were revolving around one another in some sort of sick dance. The orange clouds seemed to be some sort of byproduct of the four black masses' revolutions.

They had yet to get a decent sensor reading from the clouds or the black spheres. Sandor had tried sending in some sort of probe, but everything he'd sent in never came back out, and the signal was so bad that they hadn't been able to receive any of the telemetry the devices were transmitting.

They were stuck.

Mark sighed and stood to go since his duty shift was now over.

His replacement nodded to him as Mark passed the other young man on his way off the bridge.

"What're they doing?" Colonel Gantz demanded of one of the crewmen.

"I – I don't know, Colonel." The man replied, "They're just sitting there, like they don't know what to do."

Gantz shook his head, "Perhaps they're not as intelligent as they first seemed." He quipped, "We made it through the storm without incident. Can they not see what's right in front of them? There's a completely open channel." Gant looked at the displayed image of the Eratite ship with derision.

"I don't think they're sensors are as good as ours." The crewman replied quietly, not wanting to agitate the Colonel more than he already was.

"I can see that." The Colonel snapped, "Just do whatever we have to do to make them come through that channel. It's time we faced the Eratites. And defeated them."

Dara felt strange back aboard Rakiah Cobel. Her encounter with the Eratites three weeks ago had taken a lot out of her and she'd slept a whole twelve hours upon her return.

Her shipmates had understood her fatigue and let her be.

She'd nearly died of fright though when, upon her waking, she was summoned to the Captain's quarters to give a report on what had happened to her.

She'd explained as well as she dared leaving out such things as her newfound semi-friendship with them and the fact that she'd told them some things of value.

It was hard work not telling Raphan what he wanted to know. Several times she'd almost slipped and mentioned something she shouldn't. All the while she felt the eyes of the second-in-command boring into her, evaluating her every word.

She knew they were trying to find out if she was dangerous to keep aboard ship now that she'd been under the "care" of the enemy for any length of time.

Dara did her best to allay their fears telling them that the Eratites couldn't even understand her. This set the two men at ease a bit as they were assured that, had she said anything important, they wouldn't have known it anyway.

Raphan finally dismissed Dara and she hadn't been called back again to talk, so she was fairly certain that her answers had met with their approval.

She sat on her bunk again, staring at the floor, thinking about a thousand things she now wanted to know about the Eratites. Why did they look so much like her own people? What had compelled them to come this far out into space chasing the message of a woman they knew nothing about? Why did they think there was any hope in resistance against such a power as Gamilon.

She wished she'd asked more questions when she was aboard that ship – "Argo" they'd called her. So far she knew that they'd come because Queen Starsha of Iscandar herself had offered to help them by giving them the Rophi Shamayim to cure their ailing world of the poison that now polluted it.

Dara's mind raced at this one thought. Did Desslok know about this? If so, had he taken measures to ensure that they didn't reach their goal? She couldn't imagine that he would ever do anything to injure the Iscandari Queen. What little interaction she'd witnessed between her brother and Starsha had been the farthest thing from militant that she could imagine, in fact, she was sure that her brother had a great deal of fondness for the woman. After all, he had overthrown his own twin brother to save her world from the plague that had been unleashed on Iscandar during that Usurper's reign.

A sudden yawn cut off her thoughts and she realized how tired she was. A day of more flight drills than she could count on top of her regular duties had sapped the energy out of her.

She was just about to curl up on her bed and go to sleep when she heard a chime.

"Computer, who is it?" Dara asked.

"Emma Meir" replied the ship computer.

"Come in." Dara invited.

The door hissed open and Emma stepped in, the door closing immediately behind her.

"Hey." The girl greeted cheerily. "How've you been?"

Dara sat back up in bed. "Fine." She replied casually, "Just tired from everything."

"Yeah, I can imagine." Emma replied, coming over to sit on the bed. "What was it like on that ship?"

Dara's heart started to beat a little faster, "Well…" she began, "It was… different, I guess. Not anything like our ships."

"And what about the Eratites? What were they like?" Emma probed.

Dara didn't reply for a moment, the faces of the men and women she'd met aboard that strange ship rolled through her mind in a continuous loop. Finally she said, "They were… a lot like… us."

Emma drew back, her eyes wide, "What are you talking about?"

"They looked like us, okay!" Dara exclaimed, suddenly irritated at the girl, "What's so weird about that? We didn't know what they were like before, and now we do!"

"Yeah…" Emma's shock seemed to ebb a bit, "I just didn't expect that…"

"I didn't either." Dara admitted softly, "I'm tired. Maybe we can talk later, okay." She looked away from the young woman ashamed at her outburst, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Emma reached over and patted Dara on the shoulder. "That's okay. I shouldn't have barged in this late anyway. See you tomorrow."

Emma stood to leave and was about to go out the door when Dara called after her, "Breakfast tomorrow – oh six hundred."

"You got it." Emma replied, then stepped out the door.

Dara sighed and laid back down. What was it about that girl that made her want to talk to her? Usually she didn't like the bubbly friendly type, but Emma seemed a bit more… solid somehow, like there was more to her than just the cheery exterior.

She closed her eyes and was thinking about what to tell Emma in the morning as she dozed off to sleep. Just before she lost consciousness completely the thought occurred to her that, as soon as she could, she should contact Admiral Dietz and tell him everything she'd learned while aboard the Eratite ship.

"Captain, how soon until we rendezvous with General Lysis' fleet?" Pauker asked Raphan. "The information Miss Dietz was able to give us isn't much, but perhaps it could be useful."

The Captain nodded his agreement, "On this, we agree, Pauker." Raphan summoned their flight plan from the computer and displayed it on one wall, "We should meet up with them before the day is out, then from there we go back to Gamilon with them. After that, I can't say where we'll be assigned." The Captain sighed, "I just hope that leaving Gantz and his fleet to deal with that Eratite ship was a wise move."

Pauker looked at his captain in horror, "You would question the Leader's orders?"

"No." Raphan shook his head, "But I wish he would explain himself more often. He scatters us about as though we were chess pieces to be moved to suit his whim. What is the bigger picture? What is our goal in all this? I wish I knew. If I did, perhaps it would be easier to obey him."

Pauker accepted this, "I see." He nodded, "Perhaps he will explain in time."

Raphan let out a curt laugh, "I doubt it." He smirked, "That man never did explain himself, even when we were trekking through the wilderness on the way to overthrow the Usurper he didn't explain himself. Why would he start now?"

"Y-you were there during the rebellion?" Pauker stuttered.

"I was." Raphan replied, "I was indeed. The difference between then and now though is that I knew what we we'd set out to do, and I wanted to do everything I could to help the Leader accomplish that goal. Now…" Raphan shook his head, "It is said that we must destroy the Eratites – that we must take their world as our new home… But it just seems that we do as we're told and no one knows much of anything anymore."

Pauker nodded, suddenly much more solemn than Raphan had ever seen him, "We need a change for the better, Captain. Maybe it will come soon, before too many more of us die.

"What're we still doing here?" Wildstar asked, frustrated more than he could ever remember being in his life. "Why haven't we done something by now?" he kicked the nearest wall, regretting it as a sharp pain shot through his foot. "Ow!"

Nova raised an eyebrow at him from her seat at a nearby table. "Settle down before you hurt yourself." She chided, "Nobody wants to get out of here more than the Captain."

"Then why aren't we doing something?" he growled at her.

She gave him a look that said he was acting like a three-year old, "Some things take time, Derek." She replied, "Not everything can be solved in thirty seconds."

"It's been three weeks though." He continued, pacing back and forth, "You'd think we'd at least know whether or not to start going around this thing,"

"Derek, just sit down and eat." Nova said, "Mark'll be here for your chess game in twenty minutes."

"Ah, so what." Derek dismissed, "Can't concentrate enough to play that anyway."

"Okay." She said, "You still need to eat. You've been picking at your food for three days now. Even Homer noticed you haven't been eating, and he hardly ever eats with you."

"He ate with me and Mark last week." Derek defended.

"I didn't say he never ate with you." Nova replied, Wildstar's mood starting to wear at her patience. "Just eat. If you don't sit down and eat right now I'm going to go sit with Peter* and the rest of the Tiger pilots."

"Okay, fine." Wildstar grudgingly went to sit down in front of his food and started picking at it with his fork.

Nova accepted the small victory and let Derek be, hoping he would actually put something in his mouth instead of just staring at it while it got stone cold.

Fifteen minutes passed like this with Nova finishing her food long before Derek even took his first bite.

"I can't do this!" Derek exclaimed, slamming his fork down on the table and drawing a number of looks form others in the mess hall, "I can't sit here and do nothing while we waste away waiting for the Gamilons to find us, or for our time to run out! I'm going out there. If there's a way through that storm, I'm finding it!"

"Derek, don't do that!" Nova started to get up; she tried to reach out to stop him, but he streaked out of the mess hall like a man on fire."

"Captain." Nova dialed Avatar's comm number. He answered right away and she continued, "Wildstar's headed for the hangar. He's going to try to find a way through the storm out there."

The Captain didn't say anything for a moment, then he replied, "Let him. Perhaps he'll find something we haven't seen before. I'll call the hangar and tell them he's coming."

"Thank you, Captain." Nova replied, not entirely sure of the wisdom in letting Derek go out in that storm in his current mood. But, then again, the Captain had ordered stranger things before and they'd all turned out for the best. Perhaps that would be the case this time too.

She sipped at the rest of her tea and prayed that the combat chief would come back from his suicide run in one piece.

Leader Desslok stood looking over the gathered crowd who now chanted the name of the man who he'd appointed commander over all his armed forces – General Dommel Lysis, his trusted ally.

The entourage bearing the General up to the level on which the Leader stood was simple: a single vehicle surrounded by a dozen armed guards. The Leader would have made the show more elaborate, but Dommel had been less than enthusiastic about a ceremony at all.

The vehicle stopped at the base of the stairs. Dommel exited the aircar and took the steps slowly, letting the gathered crowd see the man who'd been lauded as a hero for his efforts on Gamilon's behalf. He'd been the one whose face they'd seen associated with all the efforts to find the people a new home. His face was now synonymous with hope. Desslok wanted it this way – at least for now. With Dommel as the face of the push towards Erats, it was unlikely that too many would try to undermine the effort.

"Lysis" was a name well remembered from the time of Rea Atid and the Marad so many years ago. As a veteran from those awful days, Dommel had earned both respect and sympathy from the masses, making him the ideal candidate for the endeavor Desslok now wanted him to embark on.

Dommel finally made it to where Desslok stood.

He bowed before the Leader, dropping to one knee, head low as a sign of respect.

"Rise, Dommel." Desslok bid the man, "No need for that. Today I honor you for all you've done thus far to aid our people in claiming their new home."

Dommel stood and looked the younger man in the eye, then in a voice low enough not to be heard by any of the by standing councilmen and women he said, "This isn't necessary, Leader Desslok. I would have been happy to return home without such ceremony."

"I know." The Leader replied quietly, "But the people need someone they can look to in this time of uncertainty."

"They look to you, Sire." Dommel replied.

"Yes, but my name is not as well-known as yours, my friend. At least, not yet." Desslok said as he motioned for Celestella to approach with the medal of honor she held.

Desslok took the medal and, with finesse Dommel hadn't known the young Leader possessed, affixed the sign of approval to Lysis's uniform. Celestella stepped back to her place within the council.

Dommel was about to turn and face the cheering crowd when Desslok said, "I have another assignment for you, old friend."

"If it will help our people, then I will accept any task you have for me." Dommel replied.

Desslok nodded appreciatively, "I thank you for your willingness; I will not forget your great service to Gamilon and to our people." He took a moment to begin again, then said, "I have need of your presence at Balan. The commander of that facility has proven… less than competent and the Eratite ship will arrive there in two weeks' time. Face it and bring it to its knees. It must not stop us from conquering Erats – nothing must."

Dommel absorbed the request, then with a hearty nod, accepted it. "I will do whatever I can to stop them, Leader Desslok. You have my word."

"Thank you, Dommel. I hope you enjoy the three days you have here on Gamilon before you leave for Balan."

Dommel nodded, "Yes, Leader Desslok."

With that the big man turned and faced the adoring crowd, receiving a multitude of praise for his efforts on their behalf.

Elisa watched the proceedings from her place in the council. She was overjoyed to see her husband home again. It had been too long since she'd seen him last and there was much she wanted to talk with him about.

Perhaps he would know what to do about the Leader's increasingly aggressive stance on the Eratite ship. Admiral Dietz was growing more and more concerned now that he'd heard something from his daughter Melda. Yesterday, before her ship made it to port the girl contacted her father and told him of a strange event. She'd been captured and held aboard the Eratite ship for nearly three days.

Elisa was at the Dietz residence at the time of the conversation and heard most of it as Gul invited her to listen.

Melda described the Eratites as stunningly similar to the Gamilon people. Though their skin tones came closer to matching the Iscandarians', everything else about them seemed identical. Then there was the strangest thing of all. There was a woman aboard the ship who looked like Astra of Iscandar, but when asked, she'd said she wasn't the Iscandari princess. Though she had no doubt the woman was telling the truth, something about the encounter chilled Elisa, but the chill was not one of fear. Instead, a strange anticipation now lingered in her heart – a desire to meet this woman – to see whatever Melda saw that made her assume the woman to be Astra.

The ceremony came to an end, jerking Elisa back to the present.

She waited for the crowds to clear out, then started off towards the place Dommel said he would meet her.

As she went, her thoughts continued to return to the things Melda said the day before. Everything was getting stranger and stranger by the day. All she could do now was what she believed was right, and defending the Eratites was what she knew in her heart she needed to do. Hopefully Dommel would understand…

Episode 34 Notes:

*Peter - Conroy

Author's Note:

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You'll also find a list of future stories for my AU telling of the Star Blazer/Yamato universe, so feel free to stop by anytime.