Return to Earth
Chapter Two
By Mercutio
The Queen Relena sped through space, gently coming closer and closer to the glowing frozen orb that was her destination. The general stood on the bridge, silently staring out towards the Earth. Although she could still see the giant Lunar City and two of the colonies in the background, Solopolis was out of her line of vision. She wasn't sure she wanted to see it anyway; it would be too bittersweet a comfort.
"Ma'am," Rua said, approaching her.
"Go ahead, Dr. Kushrenada."
"I just wanted to know how long it would be until we arrived to the Earth, ma'am. The others were curious, so they sent me to go ask."
"A little less than seven hours," Noin said.
"Thank you, ma'am," said Rua. She saluted, even though Noin hadn't turned around to face her, and left.
She walked through the hallway into the small lounge-like room where her colleagues and escorts were all crammed into several plastic chairs and an uncomfortable-looking metal sofa. "The General said that we have a little less than seven hours left," she announced as she came in. There were not any chairs left, so she just sat on Maxwell's lap.
No one heard what she had said, however. They were all busy furiously debating something that she couldn't catch. She turned slightly so she could see Maxwell's face and asked him what was going on.
"Czelise here is one of those crazy computer psychologists who thinks it's possible for machines to have free will. Everyone else seems to think she's an idiot. Even the guards do," he said quietly.
"I'm telling you, there's no way to disprove it! It is completely possible," Czelise desperately said. "It's perfectly possible to make a machine that can think and react on it's own."
Aalin snorted. "Then why are machines created for the purpose of fulfilling a task?"
"It isn't even possible to make a machine that can think," Ferdinand added. "That technology doesn't exist, and when it does... well, that would make humans like God. And what use would machines be by then anyway?"
"But the possibility exists! Hidden within the-"
"Oh, to hell with the possibilities," said one of the guards, a dark-skinned woman with greenish-blue hair that must have slipped past the Imperial inspectors. "Possibilities are useless in this day and age."
"Science is founded on possibilities, you know," Rua added.
"Oh, don't you get on her side," another guard, a tall thin blonde man, said.
"I'm a scientist too," she retorted. "I'm more capable in the field than a common soldier."
"Rua," Maxwell said.
"What?"
"Stop. Don't get involved," he whispered into her ear.
"Why not?" she asked. "You've always loved arguing with stupid people," she whispered back.
"We have to spend God knows how much longer with these people on a frozen planet hunting down crazed robots. We might as well make the best of it," Maxwell said, still talking into her ear, but loud enough for everyone else to hear.
Rua couldn't help but smile, despite the situation. "Aw, my little Maxwell's growing up to be all nice and mature."
"Shut up." He then stood up, dumping her out of his lap.
"Ow!" she exclaimed when she fell on the floor. She saw him leave through the door and turn left. "Hey, come back here!" She ran after him, leaving the others in an awkward silence.
After a few minutes, Czelise spoke up. "Well, I guess he was right. We might as well make the best out of it." No one replied, and a few moments later she continued as she nervously twisted her blonde hair with her fingers. "I mean, we could all put aside our beliefs and professions and-" Her sentence was cut off by a glare from Aalin. "Never mind." She turned and left as well.
~ * ~
Maxwell walked through the badly painted halls of the Queen Relena, staring at the beat-up ship. The metallic walls showed through the cheap whitewash in some spots, and the whole vessel gave an impression of living a long, tired life.
"Maybe I can just duck into the bridge or something. It's bound to be quiet there," he said to himself. He walked in, only to see Noin standing there as well, with an expression on her face that made it look like she wasn't looking at the stars, but rather, beyond them. She must have seen his reflection in the glass of the window.
"What do you want, Maxwell?" she demanded.
"Nothing. I just wanted to take a look at the bridge. I hope there's not a problem with that, ma'am," he said.
"Show some- what did you say?" she said incredulously as she turned.
Maxwell turned around to walk out. "Screw it. I'd rather go see the engine room anyway."
Noin sighed and faced the window again. Rua came in a few moments later. "He's in the engine room," Noin said as soon as she entered.
"Um...Thank you, ma'am."
Rua left and Noin looked at the stars again. The Earth was invading her field of vision slowly but steadily when suddenly an unfamiliar voice cut through the silence.
Geza…
Geza…
"Who said that?" Noin questioned loudly. "Who called me that?"
"No one has said anything, General Noin," one of the perplexed pilots said. "Are you quite all right, ma'am?"
Noin put her fingers to her temples and massaged them gently. "...Yes, I'm"
nothing
"quite"
but
"fine, thank"
temporary
"you."
nothing but temporary nothing but temporary nothing but temporary nothing but temporary
do you hear me
nothing but
"Stop it," Geza whispered. "Just... stop it."
…temporary
* ~ *
"Maxwell, what are you doing down here?" Rua said, her voice trying to overcome the roar of the engines, but inevitably failing.
"What?"
"I said, 'What are you doing down here?'"
"I can't hear you," Maxwell said with a grin. "You'll have to speak up."
"What was that?" Rua asked. "You want me to kick your ass? Well, if you say so."
"Okay, I get the hint," Maxwell surrendered. As they walked out, he asked "What were you doing down there?"
"I should be the one asking that. You were the one who went down there in the first place. I was just looking for you. Why did you run off like that?"
Maxwell shrugged. "I just wanted to take a look at the engines. They're fascinating, really."
"And is that why you went to the bridge first?" Rua said with a grin that basically said 'ha ha, I've been following you.'
"I wanted to go somewhere where I could think. It was too noisy in that lounge."
"Yes, I'm sure all those bitchy scientists can just plain drown out the deafening roar of the engine room," Rua said sarcastically.
"What can I say, General Noin had already taken the bridge," admitted Maxwell.
"Figures," sighed Rua. "Maxwell, if you expect a bunch of stuffy scientists like me to get along with each other, you're going to have to learnt to get along with her. It's not her fault that she's here, that's what I've been telling you ever since we got start-"
"It isn't that, Rua," Maxwell said. The he fell silent.
After a moment, Rua finally said "Well, are you going to say anything, Maxwell?"
He started fingering the cross hanging around his neck. It large for a necklace; the cross itself was almost two inches long. It was of a simple Roman design and looked liked it was made of gold, but the bottom tip of it had some sort of strange flowery design that Rua had never seen in a cross before.
Maxwell still hadn't said anything, so Rua finally said "Where did you get that cross, Maxwell. It's so pretty."
"It was my grandfather's. He said there was something important about it, but I don't remember what," said Maxwell.
"Maybe it's a family heirloom or something," Rua suggested.
"No, he made it. He said that there was something important behind it, and if it ever fell into the wrong ha-"
Rua suddenly cut him off. "Maxwell, if this is about the damn metal detector, I'm sorry. You had to get through somehow. It's not as if I'm going to take your cross and start attacking people on the street with it or anything."
"I know that. That's why I gave it to you," Maxwell said.
"That's flattering, but I'm sure the guy who operated the metal detector wasn't going to do anything with it either. If General Noin can trust him with her handgun, I'm sure you can trust him with a harmless cross."
"But Grandfather said-"
"Maxwell, I knew your grandfather. While he was certainly eccentric, he never struck me as the type of person who'd be afraid to let a metal detector operator handle a cross for five seconds just because there was some long story behind it," Rua said.
"Rua, stop interrupting me," he griped. "You're not getting it. You know Grandfather's... er... political affiliation."
"Oh... Oh!" exclaimed Rua suddenly. "You think this-"
"Shut up! Someone will hear, you Rua!"
Rua sighed. "Don't be so paranoid. No one's going to care about it. All I was going to say was that it might be some sort of symbol or something. Are you trying to hint that it's mo-"
"Shut up, Rua," Maxwell repeated.
Rua rolled her eyes. "Fine. When did you mature and become such a wet blanket all of a sudden?" When Maxwell didn't answer, she rose and started to leave. "You can go back in the engine room if you want. I'm going to go get a little sleep before we get there."
~ * ~
"Mom?"
"Yes, dear. What is it?"
"Where's my grandpa?"
"What?"
"Jessen has two grandpas. Grandpa Duo on one side and Grandpa Bill on the other. I don't have any at all."
"I never knew your father's father. He was one of your grandpas. Your other grandpa died a long time ago, dear."
"How long?"
"When I was just a little older than you."
"What happened to him?"
"Shhh... don't worry about him, dear. That was in the past. The present is more important."
"Always?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is the present always more important?"
"I... I suppose so. That's what Empress Claudiana says."
"Oh. Why won't you tell me about him?"
"What?"
"Is it something bad? Was he a pirate? Was he a thief? Was he an adulterator?"
"That's 'adulterer', dear. And it's not important."
"Not as important as the present?"
"No, dear. Not as important as the present."
* ~ *
Rua woke up suddenly. What an odd dream. She had almost forgotten about that moment. Funny how dreams could bring the past back like that. Her mother never did tell her about her grandfather. Since her mother was so against telling her the truth, Rua decided that her grandfather was indeed someone notorious and looked in every history file she could to see if she could locate the infamous Kushrenada the bandit, or Kushrenada the anarchist. She couldn't find a thing, so she decided that her grandfather must not have been as evil as she hoped. Rua eventually gave up.
It didn't take Rua long to find out that discovering her family tree was hopeless. She never knew her father, and she wasn't even sure if her mother had. The Empire didn't provide genealogy-tracking programs, and in fact condemned them.
"Dr. Kushrenada?" rang the general's voice over the intercom, snapping Rua's train of thought like a twig.
"Yes, ma'am?" Rua said, with a trace of sleepiness still in her voice.
"Are you awake?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"We've arrived. We're on Earth."
~ * ~
Her own words chilled her blood. Geza felt like she had been punched in the stomach as she announced that the ship had arrived to its destination.
Why had Tybalt dumped her here? Did he find a lover and was afraid she would get in the way? Did he feel like he needed to be more independent from her? Did he think she was just
temporary?
"Stop it," Geza said softly.
"Stop what, ma'am?" asked Private Winner, the green-haired lady who had claimed possibilities were meaningless in the earlier discussion. Noin turned around to see the scientists and soldiers gathered around, waiting to leave.
"Nothing," Noin said. "We leave for the base immediately. Your escorts know where it is," she stated, trying to keep her composure.
"The base?" Aalin asked. "What base is that, ma'am?"
"It's one of the few bases that houses the computer system that controls- well, controlled- the IOMSes. We're going to be going there to see if we can detect what went wrong."
"Will we be in any danger?" asked Czelise.
"Most likely not. The IOMSes travel in large packs and are quite easy to identify on our radar. There are no packs in the area right now. Although the environment is hostile, there may be some indigenous wildlife in the area, however, it is speculated that any life forms would not be large enough to attack due to the fact that maintaining such a large body would require more food than the frozen wasteland can provide. We are all armed and able to defend you in the case of an attack from either threat," reported Private Falcon, a short pale man with long black hair and piercing green eyes..
"Thank you," Czelise said quietly.
"Any other questions before we head out?" asked General Noin.
Maxwell raised his hand. "What's with these suits we're all wearing?"
"These suits are made to maintain a normal body temperature in all conditions," Noin said. "They also provide a constant flow of oxygen to the body, however, we will not be using those features. Earth, for what it lacks in comfortable temperatures, does provide breathable air. Anything else?"
No one spoke.
"Let us depart, then. Remember, we must stay together. The base is on a hill only about half a mile's march away from here."
With that, they gathered together and exited the ship, and walked out into the frozen storms of fate.
To be continued
La la la... Chapter Three's coming soon. Thanks for reading this far. Don't forget to review, okay? PLZ DEWD???/// PURTEE PLZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!@@
~Mercutio