Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

"Hey! What're you doing!"

I started forward suddenly, seeing the impossible. Honiara was still intact! I couldn't believe my own eyes. She lay on her front surrounded by a close canopy of trees and split bows where I had assumed Honiara and I would meet our doom.

I was roughly stopped by a large man wearing a pair of brown overalls, with some kind of motif across the chest pocket. He pulled me short with a sharp tug at my collar. Pain blazed through my shoulder and my upper arm, but I bit back a retaliating scream. He narrowed his eyes at me fiercely. "What're you doing here Cadet?"

I pulled away from him. "I'm no Cadet! What do you think you're doing with that machine! Who gave you the right to…!"

"You will not speak to me like that!"

"Sergeant Vierte!" Gershom skidded to a halt beside me. My sprint had come as a little of a surprise, I noted with a certain satisfaction. "Sir," he continued. "Let me explain."

"Start talking, Cadet. I don't appreciate this." He seemed to be speaking to Gershom, but kept his gaze locked on mine the whole time. I glared back defiantly.

"Sir, she's the pilot."

Vierte's gaze snapped away from mine as he looked to Gershom in bewilderment. "What?"

"Miss Liushu is the pilot of that mobile suit."

"A Gundam pilot…?" He breathed in wonderment. I hated that word – Gundam – but it seemed to be the only way you could gain anyone's attention at fifteen years of age. "Miss… Liushu?"

I met his eyes calmly, now that some kind of order had been established. My green irises diluted as I bestowed a dignified air. "I would appreciate if you'd not tamper with my suit without my acknowledgement, Sergeant."

"I'm sorry ma'am, I had no idea…"

Gershom turned from the Sergeant to me, with something of humour in his grey eyes. "May they continue?"

I nodded. "They may. But I would like you to tell me exactly what they're doing." My eyes travelled to Vierte's feet then back to his face. "Why're you still standing there?" I said, hoping I had masked my enjoyment of the moment. I wasn't meaning to be rude but from the reaction of the other men, who had stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle, I guessed Vierte didn't get bossed around too much.

Vierte, dismissed, went back to what he was doing. I couldn't hope to guess what it was he was doing. I knew what would probably need doing, but I left it to people who knew how it was done. Besides, some nagging feeling told me I shouldn't know what was wrong with Honiara…

"I've been wanting to see someone do that to him for years! Thank you!"

I smiled at Gershom. "Superiors are that much of a pain?"

He shook his head at the ground. "I went through my first two years with that guy. Just because we were twelve, didn't give us any concessions. Vierte was a pain in a bad place the whole time he tutored us. It's about time someone put him in his place!"

"Happy to help, I guess…" Then another thought, which I'd neglected, bobbed to the surface. "Do you know what happened to the other pilots?"

Gershom scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "They went in pursuit of the transport. I assume they thought you were on it."

"Damnit!" The curse came as an involuntary hiss. So stupid! If there was a prize for stupidity, I would win it hands down! "I need to find them."

"No matter what we do, the Gundam is going to be in no position to be flying anywhere any time soon. The whole fuel tank went up in flames – literally. The nearest town with a shuttleport is several miles away. If we started now, we could make it there by nightfall."

I considered the options carefully. What choice did I have? "Where would we go?"

Gershom shrugged. "Wherever you think they're most likely to be going, I guess."

"Why not just stay here and wait for them to come back?"

Gershom paused slightly at the question, but it barely threw him from his line of thought. The grey eyes, once large and humorous, were now downcast in thought. "How long is it going to take them to figure out that you're not there? If they do at all? That was an OZ transport, your friends are going to meet heavy fire when they get to wherever the transport is headed. Our best bet is to try and meet them halfway."

I nodded slowly. He was right. It was our best option.