Hey guys, sorry it's been so long! I've been busy doing stuff *(Got caught up in RPGing)* so I haven't really had time to finish chapter VII. FFN's being a pisser to me right now-- am I alone? I'll be at my cousin's in Reno until July 7 (Sunday) but I'll still be able to get emals, so please don't make me lonely! I'm going to try to work on my fic there (I'll probably be mostly editing my old chapters and finishing up AC 207's Chapter 15) but I don't know how much time I'll have on the computer there ^_^; Well, regardless I'll try. Thanks to all my loyal fans out there!
AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VI)
"Hope Doesn't Die Easy"
Relena reached up and tried to straighten her husband's hair, but whatever she did it just fell back into its original shape. Heero smiled, rolled his eyes and caught her wrist gently. "Haven't you learned yet? That doesn't work." he asked playfully.
"Oh, and what does?" She met his stormy blue eyes, wondering again how they seemed to hold all that he knew right there. It made him seem so very sorrowful.
"Nothing." He kissed her forehead and put his arms around her. "You know, there is one advantage to not having the children around," he said.
"We get more alone-time," she replied, spoiling his joke. "But isn't every moment laden with sorrow and grief?"
"We'll have them back soon, Saiai." It wasn't a guess. "They're getting closer with every word we speak."
"Hey, you two, time to get this show on the road!" Duo shouted, Sophie following and looking a little embarrassed for interrupting. She was so quiet you'd miss her, and Relena wondered if things between the couple weren't more strained than either of them was letting on.
Heero sighed and let his wife go, casting Duo a slightly irritated look. The speech could wait as long as he was going to take.
This trip was a bit more informal. Shyla had told them to expect only a few supporters here (they still had a big debt to the lab for everything) because it was mostly factory workers and industrial technicians, very few of whom had families or were even married. He was still willing to ask, though.
He stepped up to the podium, brushing his hair form is face (it stayed out of his eyes) and surveying the people. They were men and women who lived hard lives, but not unhappy ones. They were busy, is all, but hundreds of them were still willing to come and watch, and he had the feeling that it wasn't just because he was famous.
"How many of you have children?" he asked, looking out into the crowd. There were a few timidly raised hands.
"I suppose you all know why I'm here," he continued. They were a quiet crowd, intent on listening. That was good. "My children mean everything to me. I wouldn't give them up for anything. They're so beautiful, my two little daughters, mine and Relena's. I lost them Christmas Eve, lost them to someone so cruel as to deprive a family of their pride and joy. Duo and Sophilia Maxwell lost their son.
"I've often asked myself why, when Erik Beliv is after my wife and I, would he target my children? I've arrived at many conclusions over these last two months, many of which I wish I'd never have imagined in the first place. I was taken from my own parents the way our children have been taken to us. I now know how it feels on both ends, and the pain is almost too much to bear sometimes. Some days I think the only thing keeping me standing is the search for truth and the quest for justice that I've started and so desperately want to conclude.
"A month ago we had to celebrate Raina and Vincent's first birthdays without them. I never want to feel such despair again, let me tell you. Some days it feels like they've died and we'll never see them again. It's so hard to have hope when they keep getting further away. All I can think of these days is how it used to be. I remember the days they were born, the happiest days of my life. I've lost purpose since they've been taken. I see them sometimes, and all I can do is pray they're all right." That was a lie, because he knew they weren't. Relena hung her head, knowing if he'd told the truth they'd have lost so many hangers-on. Heero hated to lie, she knew, and she hated to hear him forced to.
"I'll conclude briefly," he continued, and Relena knew he'd intended to stay longer. This was the first time he'd had to cut himself short. She wondered if he'd had another vision. "Nothing I've ever felt before is as strong as the ties I have forged within my family. Those of you who have that know what I mean. This crusade has been very personal all along, for me, my wife and the Maxwells, but there is a part of the human race in us that won't allow us to give up this battle, no matter how long and how costly it becomes. We are getting close to our children, but we need your help. All the donations given to our charity organization will go to finding my children and finding other children who have been taken from their parents. We've found, in our searches, many of them. Perhaps none of you have ever felt the pain of losing a child, but I beg of you, have pity on those who suffer. Nothing is worse than losing them, but when you know they are still out there it is devastating. Please, any small donation will do. People with large donations will receive a small plaque as a token of our thanks. Anonymous donations will have the benefit of knowing that you've made a family very happy.
"We know who took our children, but we cannot do everything we'd like to get them back. Erik Beliv of the Colony Alliance has never denied being an evil man, but we can't touch him. Is that the way the world should work? Part of our donations will go in support of finding a way to end the war, if the patron so chooses. An end to this terrible, bitter war will help bring so many of those children home. Thank you."
Not until Heero had stepped down from the stand did the applause start. It was only one or two at first, but like the first echo signaling an avalanche, the noise to come was indeed gratifying. Grinning, Heero bowed again, knowing that perhaps Shyla McMillin had been wrong about this colony.
As he was making his way back, he felt someone tug on his pant leg. He looked down to find a little blonde boy looking up at him with sad eyes. "Can I be your kid, Mr. Yuy? I don't want you to be sad."
Heero smiled at the sincere little face and looked for his mother. She was standing a few layers back, looking at him with a mixture of panic and embarrassment on his face. He took the child up into his arms. "Oh, aisoku, I wish you could, but wouldn't that make your parents awfully sad?"
He looked back at his mother. "I guess."
"Thank you for the offer, little one, but you'd never replace my own daughters." Heero handed the boy over to the woman and smiled. "Don't let him lose that forwardness," he told her. "You have an adorable child."
Relena wiped a tear from her eye and embraced her husband for the cameras, Duo and Sophie hovering in the background smiling and waving. There would be some things to wrap up, and they would be at the colony a few more days taking care of the donations, Relena making obligatory diplomatic visits, Sophie making arrangements for the next stop, and the boys updating their records.
There had been no more reports about their children, Dr. McMillin had confirmed, and Heero knew that they were no longer in Beliv's possession. They weren't dead, though, because he could feel his connection to Akiko getting stronger. Wherever they were, they were being cared for.
He confided this in the others, but he could see that Duo and Sophie were nowhere as pleased at that suspicion. Relena admitted that she'd been sensing tension between them, and finally that night they could hear what was truly wrong.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
"Hon, what's wrong?" Duo asked. She'd been pacing about like this for about a week now, and she refused to tell him what was bothering her.
"Nothing," she said again, twisting a stand of curly hair around a finger. "I said I'm fine."
"You're not fine," he said firmly. "You never act like this when you're 'fine.' What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"Don't sweetheart me," she warned him. She hated being called names like that when she was angry, but before it had only been at him. What could she possibly be angry with him for?
"What did I do?" he asked, trying to sound sincere. He sat himself on the end of their bed, watching her. Heero had warned him that she'd been acting a little off, but he hadn't really had the time to notice.
He'd never heard her sound so bitter. "What did you do? What haven't you done? Come on, think! Do you think I'm having the time of my life, here? God, we've lost our son!"
"We'll get him back, Soph. You know we will. Why the panic attack?" That didn't make sense that wasn't all, but she often left him to guess like this.
She stopped her pacing and glared at him. "Men! Sometimes I wonder why we can't survive without you! I thought you knew me better than this!"
She may have joked, but she never insulted like she was doing right now. Duo knew he'd messed up seriously. She was never this upset.
"Hey, I can't figure out those weird moods you get sometimes, okay? How do you expect me to know what's wrong if you don't tell me?" Their voices were escalating, both of them angry and tense and worried for each other and their son. There was nothing he intended to do about it, either. If they needed to yell about things to settle whatever had come up, he was willing to risk a few complaints.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure this out, Duo! We're being torn apart, and if you can't feel it I don't know that we can fix it!"
That was upsetting. Duo hated to admit that he hadn't felt that way, but he had been very busy coordinating things. All of them had.
"We haven't slept in each other's arms for months," she said, quieter now that she knew he was starting to understand. "We've both been busy, but I've been so exhausted that I've almost forgotten what it's like to be in love with you. I can't see the joy that we used to have anymore, Duo!"
Which was true, in a large part. For the better part of a year Vince had been so draining that they didn't have time for anything except work. Once he'd been stolen, it had been like they hadn't known what to do with themselves, and they'd both thrown themselves into the search so much that they hadn't made time for each other. Heero and Relena had managed to maintain something essential that he and Sophie had not. He'd never had a family crisis before, and he'd been feeling very lost ever since.
So very tired of being on her feet, Sophie dropped down beside him. "It seems like so very long since I've heard you say you loved me."
And it had, he realized. Sometimes it felt as if they were two strangers living in the same house, sleeping and eating like zombies, working like machines. The last few months had been full of trying to suppress emotion, lest it get out of hand and make them do something they would regret. Now it was all coming out. They were tearing themselves apart from the inside.
He put his arms around her as best he could and tried so very hard not to hold himself back. "Sweetheart, you know I love you. You've got to tell me when you're feeling alone like this."
"It's so hard," she said. "You know it's hard. I miss us, you know. I miss what we used to have. We've lost it."
And the question is how do we fix it? he asked himself. He gave his wife a little squeeze and let her go. "You go get ready for bed, huh?"
He smiled at the sound of the water running, knowing she was okay (even if she wouldn't admit it in case he stopped being overly affectionate).
He stared at his reflection, carefully unraveling his braid, still a little damp from that morning's shower. How had he been so blind, not to notice what was happening? Maybe he'd denied the fact that there was something wrong. She had been acting off ever since they'd started on this hunt. She was right, though. Duo'd been so hung up on finding his son that he'd left little time to pay attention to his wife. That was the one thing that was always so hard to work out between them; Duo was a back-from-retirement pilot with a vengeance and she was, well, a woman.
He turned out the lights just as Sophie opened the bathroom door, and she looked at him curiously. He grinned and pulled her into a tight embrace, pressing her against him in an attempt to restore what had been lost. "You complained that I haven't held you," he said half-teasingly.
She nuzzled his homespun shirt and said nothing. He ran his hands over her back, noticing for the first time how tense she was.
"I'm never going to lose this weight," she sighed.
Duo blinked. "What?"
"Oh come on, don't pretend you haven't noticed. I'm never going to lose those pounds Vince gave me. It's not fair— Relena's had two and she's still as thin as she was ten years ago."
"I wouldn't trade you for a million Relenas," he said. "How many times have I said that it doesn't matter to me? You're beautiful for other things besides your thighs, and you know that." Some women were so sensitive about those things, but she didn't normally say anything.
It was a test, he realized, and he'd passed with flying colors. He laughed good-naturedly, but he hated how she did that!
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "But I had to make sure."
~~@[~*,~]@~~
Wufei sat on Shenlong's head crest to think. They'd all been frantic with worry. Mariemaia hadn't returned, and Cam had rushed off without thinking when he'd heard they were going to leave her. It had been days, and since there had been no word they were most likely dead. Something bothered him, though. That red gundam had looked familiar, and Shenlong had outright requested to get away when it appeared.
He slipped into the cockpit and closed the hatch, starting his mobile suit's systems. "I want to know what that red one was," he said.
There was a long moment before the gundam answered. SOMEONE VERY DANGEROUS.
Wufei felt himself growl. "You know, a person would think they'd put up with just about enough of you," he spat. "Nothing seems to let you tell me a damn thing about anything! We've lost crucial people. I'm millions of miles from my wife and she'd being hunted like an animal. Trowa's going to murder me when we get back home and we keep getting powerful new mobile suits from out of nowhere, and you're still hung up about me letting Phailin mess with your head! What the hell am I supposed to do, huh? How can I fight an enemy that I can't see, hear or know? How do I survive when I can't fight. If I go down, I'll be taking you with me!"
IT WAS NOT YOUR WIFE, Shenlong said. I CHOOSE NOT TO SPEAK FOR MY OWN REASONS.
"And what reasons might those be?" Wufei asked. "What reasons could be important enough to keep me in the dark when both of our lives are in danger?"
I DO NOT THINK YOUR PEOPLE ARE READY TO KNOW WHAT I KNOW.
Now that was interesting. It, of course, just tempted him to ask, instead, he said, "And how does that qualify me as unable to know about that damn red thing?"
. . . TOUCHÉ.
"Aha!" Wufei crossed his arms and sat back. "Do tell, friend. Do tell."
Shenlong was silent for a moment, as if formulating thoughts. HER NAME IS INIMICUS. SHE IS SIMILAR IN DESIGN TO FORTUNA AND SIMILARLY LADEN IN WEAPONRY TO ZERO. A WOMAN WITH TASTES FOR EFFICIENT DESTRUCTION AND PAINFUL DEATH, ONE MIGHT SAY. I CAN ONLY SPECULATE ABOUT HOW SHE CAME TO BE WITH THE COLONY ALLIANCE, BUT SHE WILL BE A POWERFUL ALLY.
"She is an ally, not one of their own then?" Wufei caught the slight phrase manipulation and pointed it out. He didn't say that Shenlong sounded awfully like he thought she was an independent being. Not to mention he'd called Inimicus a woman.
I WOULDN'T TRUST INIMICUS TO BE OUR ALLY, EVEN THOUGH I PREFER NOT TO BE HER ENEMY. HER LOYALTIES CHANGE TO WHEREVER WILL HAVE THE MOST IN IT FOR HER.
"Then she can be beaten. Her weakness is a lack of support. We can work to that."
I WARN YOU NOT TO TEMPT HER TO DO ANYTHING. SHE IS LIKE AN ENRAGED DRAGON. EVERYTHING SHE SEES SHE WILL DO HER DAMNED BEST TO DESTROY.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
+Connection Success+
+Downloading Updates+
Welcome home Fortuna. We have long been awaiting news from you. How goes it?
NOT AS WELL AS EITHER OF US WOULD LIKE.
Please, elaborate.
BUT YOU'D MAKE ME IF I DIDN'T VOLUNTEER, WOULDN'T YOU?
Yes, I would.
HEH. WHERE TO BEGIN . . . SO MUCH HAS GONE WRONG SINCE WE LEFT. YOU KNOW NOTHING, AND IT'S GOING TO BE DEVASTATING.
I will keep it as confidential as possible.
THE GOOD NEWS FIRST, I SUPPOSE. THAT WILL BE EASIEST. I MAY HAVE FOUND THE ONE.
That is good news.
I'M ALMOST AFRAID TO ASK IF SHE'S ALL RIGHT.
If she was the one, you'd be able to communicate with her.
SHE'S BEEN LOST. I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG. SHE LOST HER LOVER . . . PERHAPS. SHE'S DRIFTING.
DON'T SAY ANYTHING. I NEED TO UNLOAD BEFORE I BREAK. WE LOST EPYON, BUT NOT BEFORE HE GOT THROUGH TO SOMEONE. THAT PERSON, NAMED TREIZE KHUSHRENADA, FOUND ME BRIEFLY. IT IS HIS DAUGHTER WHO I HAVE FOUND, BUT SHE REFUSES TO FORGIVE HIM FOR THINGS HE HAD DONE. IT IS DIFFICULT. THE CHILD IS SO LOST BUT WON'T ACKNOWLEDGE IT. I HAVE TO BURDEN THAT NOW, TOO.
You have always been giving. I always thought you would be a good mother, given the opportunity.
WHICH MAKES MY GRIEF ALL THAT MUCH STRONGER. I LOST NULLES. GOD, I LOST HIM TO THE PRESSURE AND THE GUILT. HE WAS BARELY ALIVE, AND IT FEELS LIKE I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HIM. I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM IN SO LONG, AND EVERY WORD HE SAID BURIED HIM DEEPER INTO WHATEVER RUT HE FOUND OUT THERE. HIS BOND . . . HIS BONDED WAS SO DIFFERENT FROM HIM, BUT HAS CHANGED SO MUCH SINCE THEY FIRST MET. I THINK THAT PERHAPS NULLES TRIED TO CHANGE HIMSELF FOR THE GOOD OF THE MISSION. BUT I LOST HIM BECAUSE OF IT.
It is all but impossible to break a bond such as that. I don't know how you feel, but I can sympathize. All you can do is keep trying.
SOMETIMES I WONDER IF I'LL DIE TRYING. SOMETIMES I WONDER IF DYING WOULD BE BETTER.
That's a sober way to think, little one. Don't give up. I'll never forgive you if you did.
THAT KEEPS ME ALIVE. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE DAY WHEN THIS WILL ALL COME TO PASS. IT MAY KILL ME, BUT AT LEAST I WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT EVERYONE ANYMORE.
Fate has a funny way of playing tricks.
FATE. YOU KNOW THAT'S WHAT MY NAME MEANS IN AN EARTH LANGUAGE CALLED LATIN? A BIT OF AN IRONY, SEEING AS HOW I'M NOT REALLY DOING ANYTHING.
You are doing so much more than you realize. If it weren't for you, catling, I would not be here.
IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, I WOULDN'T BE HERE.
I named you what I did knowing that they'd want you for this. They knew it was coming. I learned that Inimicus's name perhaps shouldn't have been what it was.
SHE'S BETRAYED US. THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE SENT HER. SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN IN IT FOR HERSELF. I TOLD THEM. I WARNED THEM, BUT THEY DIDN'T TRUST ME ENOUGH. THAT IS A FRUSTRATION BEYOND ALL COMPREHENSION!
They listen to you more than you think. They wanted you to command this mission because they knew it would give you time to recover. Broken bonds are hard to cope with, and you found someone new.
FOR A WHILE. THEN I LOST HIM.
But you have the girl.
I LOVE HER, YES, BUT SHE COULD NEVER REPLACE NULLES. IT IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF BOND. YOU KNOW THAT.
Alas, I do.
~~@[~*,~]@~~
It felt strangely like falling, she thought. In fact, it felt like she was being pulled back. But there was still the light at the end. The tunnel was just so incredibly long . . .
She hadn't wanted to return. Death offered an absolution that she dearly wanted. Her lover was dead. The one man who truly understood who she was had fallen. She didn't want to live without him. She didn't want the light after all, she understood then. The light meant life.
No wonder she hadn't met her father's colorful friend Death.
Golden-brown eyes met hers when she opened them, and it wasn't a very comfortable position. "Good," said a high, melodic voice. "You're awake."
"Unfortunately," she sighed, putting her arm over her eyes. The bright overhead light was giving her a headache. Surprisingly enough, nothing really hurt like she'd expected after being shot. I'm sorry, Cam.
"Well, now that you've acknowledged that you aren't going to die, I can report you healthy again," the woman said. Slightly intrigued at her strange voice, Marie took a second look at her. She incredibly tall and thin but with rounded joints— Marie wasn't aware it was physically possible to be that wispy— a shallow nose and large eyes. She wore a white uniform that was foreign to her, although it resembled a nurse's. She was very dark-skinned, copper as if tanned beyond anything Marie'd ever seen. But the most amazing thing by far was her hair. It was green. It wasn't green like a blonde that had been spending too much time in chlorine, either. This green was the color of moss, solid green.
She noticed Marie gawking as she messed with something on the door and smiled with thin lips. "They warned me about this. This must be the first time you've really seen me, isn't it? I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say much about us. I wish I could, but I'd be violating diplomatic relation codes. I can tell you about anything we've done to you medically."
Marie stared for a moment before the words registered. She shook her head vigorously, as if trying to ward off demons. "How— I thought I died." She stammered.
She laughed softly, the sound musical, like a violin on three strings. "We thought we'd lost you, too. Not physically, no. We saved your body with time to spare, but we thought we'd lost your mind. You've been going for ages calling for "Cam" and Fortuna's been— Oh!"
"Fortuna's here?" Yes, she could feel the gundam's presence in the back of her mind.
She urgently pressed her fingers to her lips. "Don't tell them I said anything! No, I can't answer. As soon as my superiors are notified, you can have all the information you want about the sweetie, but I'm not supposed to talk!" She tried to distract her. "But your mind was still wishing death upon your body when it was healed. You gave me quite a few scares."
She was all healed already? How was that possible, unless . . . "How long have I been out?" she demanded, looking down for signs of a scar. She remembered the bullet going all the way through, too. She was suddenly aware that she was devoid of any kind of cover. She was floating on air, literally. "And where the hell are my clothes??"
"That I can answer," the dragonfly-woman said, still good natured as if she'd never said a thing. "You've been out for about a week. We have special techniques to quick-heal a body and prevent scarring, even remove old scars."
It was true, then, because the scar she'd had for eleven years from her first gunshot wound wasn't there anymore.
"And we had to strip you to do it. I've personally ordered recreations of your old clothes that should be done sometime today. You shouldn't be able to tell the difference."
That was impossible, wasn't it? No, you can't heal a gunshot wound in a week! She looked at the woman again, taking in her features, her clothes, the room itself. "You. You aren't human, are you?" My God, love, you were right!
She tapped the side of her nose with a secretive grin. "Again, don't tell them I said anything, okay? My people are called Henkilo, and we have been intrigued with you humans for a very long time. Welcome to the Laiva, Ms. Khushrenada. My name is Oma, and I will be entirely at your service as soon as my superiors see you."
"And I can't have clothes?"
"Trust me, honey. After our treatments, your skin's so sensitive you won't want them. She placed a hand on Marie's arm. It was ever so light a touch, but it felt like she'd laid a stack of bricks on her. She removed the pressure when Marie gasped. "Our treatment makes touch-sensitive nerves hyperactive. Our diplomats are highly civilized people, Mariemaia. We are quite informal people, as a rule. They will not think any less of you for not wearing anything. Comfort dominates formality, we always say. Well, I'll go tell them you're awake."
Oma left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Marie to stare at the pleasantly-patterned ceiling with a sour taste in her mouth. Dennis had said that everyone was getting strange messages from deep space, but she'd never imagined that actual aliens existed. There was no use denying it now, when she'd seen it with her own eyes. Cam, if you could only see this, she thought longingly.
The realization that he was really dead slammed her down with a weight of great sorrow. The denial was gone, now, but the great guilt remained. If she'd just fought a little harder she could have reached them in time. If she'd just dragged herself a little harder, she could have saved him. She hadn't even seen his body before she'd passed out. He'd saved her in so many ways. He was one of very few people she not only didn't wish death on, but willingly wanted them to be alive with her.
::He'll always be with you, catling,:: came a voice from her head. Marie realized it was Fortuna. But how? She hadn't even said anything.
Can you read my thoughts?
::You've always known that,:: came the slightly patronizing reply. ::I don't know what happened, but I have a hard time believing Beliv really killed the boy. He thrives off deception, Marie.::
I heard the bullet, Marie thought. As much as I hate to admit it, he's dead. I wish he wasn't, but he is.
There was a kind of mental sigh. ::I'll pray to any gods I know that luck was with him.::
The door opened, and she unconsciously tried to cover herself, only stopping when she realized it wouldn't work. The first to come through was a child. A human child, naked as well. Marie looked at her hard before realizing that it was the girl Wufei had tried so hard to find. Her hair was cropped so short that her face looked radically different. "Akiko!"
She didn't respond to the name all at once. She finished taking in the surroundings before looking in Marie's direction. "Are you talking to me?" she asked with a strangely black look to her features. "Hey, you're different from them."
Marie watched to see if anyone entered after the girl, but she appeared to be alone. "Have you been wandering around?"
"They didn't tell me to stay," the girl said defiantly, obviously making the most of her newfound freedom. "Do you know me or something?"
"My name's Mariemaia." She said it, but Akiko recognized it no more than she knew her own.
"There you are!" A nurse carrying a dark-haired and feisty one year-old came in. "You didn't tell me you were going for a walk, little!"
"Oyabunhadanohito," the girl muttered.
"Are you going to stay in here? You don't mind, do you Ms. Khushrenada?" The nurse gave her another one of those odd, pleasant smiles.
"Not at all," Marie told her.
The nurse left and Akiko pulled herself on top of the air cushion. "You're like me, a stranger, right?" She asked. The question sounded so innocent, but so heartbreakingly lost.
Marie sat up, finding she could do so with ease. "Yes. We've been looking for you, little one." She touched Akiko's shoulder despite the pressure on her own fingers.
"Who?" Her violet eyes suddenly looked confused. "I don't remember, Mariemaia. I don't remember who!" Akiko obviously wasn't having the same "treatment" that Mariemaia was, because she threw herself into the young woman's arms with a sob.
Marie winced, as it felt like a bear had landed on her chest, but held the child. ::Her memory must have been wiped,:: Fortuna said. ::The poor thing.:: Marie gripped her tighter. What kind of mind devised such tortures? And to what end? What evil purpose had Beliv had in mind for this child?
That baby must have been Vincent, she knew. They were all here. These aliens had to have raided the Gayla.
To relieve the weight, she laid back down and cuddled the child until she fell half-asleep and stopped sniffling. Akiko seemed to relish the physical comfort, and she realized that she must have sought out her sister and Vince to combat the loneliness of being a prisoner.
"Ihminen, I don't see why she needs to know anything," she heard outside. "She's barely graduated from childhood. She's not old enough to comprehend—"
Said the spoken-to, "Her father was plenty old enough, Menslik, and he was no older than she. Don't be a pessimist. Someone needs to know, and she's here. You know that as well as I do."
There was grumbling, but no sooner had the first speaker surrendered than the door was opened.
Ihminen paused as he saw Mariemaia holding Akiko gingerly, trying to ignore the pain she felt from the pressure. He was tall and thin, like Oma was, but just as obviously male. His features were similar, but individual as well. His voice was deeper, but equally melodious. "Ms. Khushrenada, Oma told us you were ready."
"Yes, I'm ready to ask and to be asked of," Mariemaia confirmed. "Akiko just came in here, looking for someone to be human with. How could I deny her?"
"Akiko, is that her name?"
"Yes, she seems not to know it."
He gave her another one of those smiles, and she knew that Ihminen was a gentile . . . Henkilo. He had an aged, wizened look about him. Of course, they wouldn't send someone harsh for interracial relations. "You may go, Menslik."
Grumbling, the other left.
"Now, Mariemaia, I'm sure you have many questions. Why don't you let me say something, and then you can ask anything I haven't made clear, hmn?" he introduced his species again, and told her that they were traveling aboard the Laiva, a spaceship of similar build and size to her own cruiser. He told her a bit of history, but left out anything about their intentions toward her.
But there was a more pressing question she needed to ask. "Where is Fortuna?"
"I thought we'd come around to that." He glanced at the door. "She was damaged in battle, as you probably well know. I'm expecting word from the chief mechanic any minute that the repairs have been finished. As soon as you feel fit to walk you can see her. You have no boundaries here, and my intent is not to hide anything I would not hide from my own crew."
That was reassuring, and further enforced a good opinion of these people in her mind. There was something that occurred all of a sudden, too. "How do all of you speak Basic so flawlessly?"
"There's an interesting one!" he laughed, sounding like a cello on three strings. "Well, as Oma probably mentioned— yes, I assigned her to you knowing she'd slip up at one point or another— we have been studying your people for quite a long time. I grew up speaking Basic. It's become a second language to us."
Incredible. Just incredible.
"Is there anything else?" Ihminen raised a thin dark green eyebrow, as if he'd been expecting a question that hadn't been asked.
Marie couldn't help but smile at his subtle humor. "All right, I'll ask. When do I get to go home?"
"Just as soon as we think you're ready," he said bluntly. "We have some things to tell you before you must leave— some things that I know you won't like, after speaking with Fortuna— but it must be done. You're also going to need a few days to finish recovering from your healing treatments, and from the looks of things you might want to spend a few days with Akiko here. She seems to have taken to you quite quickly, and rushing you two apart might traumatize her at this stage. Basically, Fortuna is freely available to you as of this moment, but I might insist you ask me before you leave. We brought you here because we have things to tell you."
"Which brings up another point," she said before he could go further. "Where will Akiko, Raina and Vincent be taken?"
"They will be returned to their parents as soon as circumstances allow." He said. "These poor children need to be with them as soon as possible, I think."
"That's good to hear," she sighed. "I was afraid you were going to want to keep the cute little things!"
"That would be very saddening to their parents, I would think." He seemed appalled at the very idea, though he laughed at the sideways joke. "But when you think you've rested enough to bear a long and grim tale, come seek me out. I'll be on the bridge."
He left them to their peace.
Marie propped herself up on an elbow and held Akiko close. The child's eyes opened and she looked up at her protector. "Tell me what that means," she said. "Tell me everything!" She was so close to tears that Marie found herself saying everything she knew about herself and what had happened, who Akiko was and that her parents missed her very, very much.
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Okay, so Marie's alive the kids have been rescued and Duo and Sophie are okay after all. Now, how are they going to get the kids back home without arousing suspicion? I don't really want to reveal too much about the next chapter: AC 208: The Search for Truth (Part VII): "Shinjite."