I don't own Zone of The Enders or any of the characters in this story. Blah blah, the end. Read now.
Chapter One
It was dark, it was always dark. Lights shone brightly around him, but they couldn't ward off all the shadows. They were as much to him as stars were to the blackness of space.
Green flowed around him in a world of blue. Jehuty's complex circuitry glowed in waves of information constantly being spread to every piece of the powerful frame. Leo Stenbuck grips the controls beneath his hands tightly, not sure what he is doing here. Everything is blurred, nothing had exact detail and he struggled to focus on anything before him.
There was a flash of red, something shot by, something not quite pieced together, held with an invisible force. Fingers twitched instantly, giving the command to turn Jehuty quickly to the left. In a blur of blue, one thing came into view. A single point in a sea of indistinction.
Zombie Neith.
With a quick, fluent movement, the red one flew forward and extended a whip-like arm, a blow that would tear apart Jehuty.
"Aaaaah!"
Leo awoke in his room, aboard the spaceship Atlantis.
He'd had many dreams since his piloting of Jehuty. He'd had dreams about fighting raptors, mummy heads and special programed cyclopses. He'd had dreams about saving civilians and earning approval of ADA, dreams of fighting Tempest Slash and Nightrade. Those were all either exhilarating or somewhat pleasant. Other dreams included Viola, the killer who threatened everything he had and yet he still couldn't bring himself to beat absolutely. He dreamed of her returns in his nightmares, though he knew she was gone now.
Then there was the dream of Anubis, and those were both frightening and confusing. The frame was practically invincible, untouchable to any of Jehuty's arsenals, even the new ones he'd acquired on his journey. The words of ADA echoed in his head... "You two are not destined to meet yet."
A small alarm went off, Leo glanced at the halo-clock to his right: six thirty in the morning.
He didn't have to get up this early. He could lay in bed all day if he wanted, he had no duties aboard The Atlantis; but it was when he would wake up anyway if he were still living on Antilia and he wanted to try and keep things the same. It was one of few things that comforted him now days.
He got up and made his bed promptly like his father had taught him. He picked up some loose laundry on the floor and deposited the garments into a rectangular slot. After that he selected digits of numbers according to an index nearby, the panel lit up, "Washroom" and a glass barrier slid down as the clothes were sucked up a tube.
The room he'd been assigned was bigger than his room at home, but small compared to other quarters he'd seen on the ship. The bathroom was right behind where he stood; Leo quickly decided he needed a shower today instead of just dressing.
After toweling off and fully dressed in clothes Elena had found that matched his own, he was ready for his day, but what to do? He was hungry, he could just eat something here, he had all the supplies he might need in the small kitchen he had; but he thought otherwise and headed out the automatic door, it locking behind him with a vacuum tight seal. He would eat in the cafeteria today, he could take something to Celvice and visit with her for a while. That always took care of a few hours.
Leo walked down the gray, lighted hallways of The Atlantis. He'd been aboard transport ships like this before, but never one of this company. He passed people by, civilians like himself, all survivors of the attack on Antilia. There was no way The Atlantis could have taken all the survivors, it was more of a cargo unit. Elena told him there were other ships of the same company that made it before and after they left. They would be heading to Mars too.
He made it to one of the elevators. "Destination?" a computer voice asked, not unlike ADA's.
"Third deck," the elevator came to life, gravity forces adjusting so the swift movements wouldn't press his body against the ceiling.
There were five decks aboard The Atlantis. The first two were for storage, then came its giant cargo hold which presently housed Jehuty, then two quarter decks and a bridge. Both the cafeteria and the medical bay were on the same floor, he wouldn't have to switch levels for a while once he got off.
The elevator suddenly slowed to a complete stop. "Deck Three," the voice rang as Leo stepped off.
A week ago, thoughts of the fate of Jehuty and ADA would have bothered him. By now he'd numbed himself and focused all his energy on being normal again. Elena told him this company had a program that could help him find his mother or father once they reached the Mars station. He tried to concentrate on what he'd do then, even though he knew neither of them really wanted him.
The hall entered into the cafeteria. It wasn't exactly big, The Atlantis was made to hold less than two hundred people, only needing about twenty personals to run it efficiently. It was still quite early, about seven, and people were only now starting to enter. Leo hopped into a buffet line before it got too crowded, displaying an I.D. badge on his jacket with a sticker that let him use double rations for another who was unable to make it to the cafeteria.
Soon he was exiting again, carrying a tray of food with him. It wasn't a whole lot, he knew Celvice liked bagels and he got some pancakes for himself, along with milk and juice. He turned a corner and came up to a counter run by a kind looking, fairly sleepy nurse.
"Hello Leo," she said with a yawn. She knew his face easily due to his many visits. "I'll just have to see your card again please," he flashed the badge and she nodded with approval, too tired to ask how his friend was doing.
When he entered Celvice's room, he found the girl already awake and reading a book of some kind. She looked up from her reading when she heard the whoosh of the doors and greeted her visitor with a warm smile.
"Good morning," Leo said, taking a glance at her charts. The girl's wound had finally started to heal properly and she could move about freely in her bed.
"Breakfast? How kind of you Leo!" she said excitedly.
He laughed and set the tray on her lap, taking his own plate for himself and sitting in the chair by the bed.
"What are you reading?" he asked her.
"Just a book of poems. One of the nurses lent it to me when I stopped sleeping all day," and from there, their conversation went on as usual; talking about things they did when they were away from each other and what they planned to do once off The Atlantis. Rarely did they talk about their experiences on Antilia anymore, unless it was a distant memory of happier times, but even a thought like that was scarce.
They had been talking for two hours when a voice came over the intercom. A human voice.
"Attention all crew members aboard The Atlantis. We are entering the asteroid belt and will at times be firing the cannons. Do not be alarmed, repeat, do not be alarmed by the fire of the cannons. Thank you."
"That means we're almost to Mars," Leo said quietly, a choke reaching his throat. He quickly suppressed it. He'd held off these emotions thus far, he could make it a few more days. And then a sudden rush of guilt swept over him, how could he repress these emotions? Something he cared about would be destroyed in the name of war. He began to fight back tears in front of his friend.
"Leo," Celvice said softly, reaching a hand to touch his shoulder.
He shied away from contact. "I have to go, see you later." And he hastily walked out of the room, Celvice watching mournfully after him.
Leo trotted down the hall and past the front desk. He quickly jumped into the door of the elevator and ordered it stay shut. The boy sat there, leaning against the hard wall, tears dripping from his eyes.
"ADA..."
"Please select the desired location," the computer voice came to life.
"Huh?" Leo asked stupidly.
"Select the level in which-"
"I know what you said," he stared at the control panel for a while, trying to make a decision. Finally, "Main Cargo Bay."
"Roger," and the elevator shot downward.
Leo stood up, not sure what he'd do when he got there. He'd just get there first, then figure something out after that.
"Main Cargo Bay," the voice rang. "please be aware that there is no gravity on this level. Take caution, thank you."
Leo felt the touch of gravity release him, his hair and loose clothing rising slightly. He wiped off his tears and they spun wildly before splattering on the wall. He pushed off behind him gently, grabbing the handrail to assist his maneuverings. The elevator door closed behind him and immediately left for another passenger.
The boy soon came to an airlock door, manned by a guard who wore the same clothes as Rock Thunderheart with the exception of a helmet with a tinted glass visor that hid his eyes.
"May I see your I.D. card?" the man asked suspiciously. Children almost never went into the Cargo Bay unless they were entering or leaving The Atlantis.
"Please, I have to see the orbital frame," Leo pleaded.
"Sorry kid, you can't go in without the right clearance."
"It's all right Officer," Leo turned around and found Elena floating up behind him. "let him pass."
"Sir," the guard made a quick salute before stepping aside and opening the lock for the two.
"Thank you Elena," Leo sighed gratefully.
"It's fine," she said with a laugh, surpassing him to look at the boy face to face. "you should have told me if you wanted to visit the Cargo Bay. I'll arrange to have your badge updated, what are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm not quite sure," Leo admitted.
There was silence for a while. Elena tried to start the conversation again, "I'm just here to supervise everyone once the cannons start firing."
"Will they start soon?" he asked.
"Very soon, in fact the first volley should start right about..."
There was the sound of whirling engines and the gathering of energy, followed by several high pitched tones signaling the fire of the cannons. It was strange, after each shot there was sudden silence once the beams made it to the vacuum of space. Leo knew he couldn't hear what came after the shots, but outside The Atlantis asteroids were surely exploding left and right into harmless dust the transport ship could fly through.
After about five minutes the sound of cannon fire ceased. Elena brought her wrist close to her face which had some sort of communication device on it. One Leo had seen other crew members use, "How'd we do?" she asked into it.
"Fine, we're clear for several hundred miles." Rock's voice came out of the communicator. "How's everything where you are?"
"As well, the cannons didn't shake anything."
"Right then, over and out."
"Roger," she lowered her wrist and turned to Leo, "now, let's see what you came here for."
She didn't have to offer any suggestions, they immediately headed for Jehuty.
The two passed several loads of metatron on their way. Leo wondered what it was all being used for, but all other thoughts fell away once he saw the blue orbital frame again.
"Jehuty," he whispered, only now noticing how much he'd actually missed the giant robot.
"Jehuty has been fully repaired," Elena started, "we even had them shine it up a bit. The frame was quite dirty after you were through with it." Elena tried to joke around. The boy was obviously troubled with something.
"Why bother when you're only going to destroy it?" he asked glumly. He found himself in the same mood he'd once been in back on Antilia.
"Let's not go through this again," Elena was both sad and angry. She had to admit as sweet as the boy was, Leo could be a brat at times. A wave of grief washed over her as she thought of Alan, her boyfriend who was to pilot the frame originally. "Appreciate what you have an-" she was cut off as everything around them began to shake, explosions popping up everywhere. A case of metatron toppled over tumbling all over the floor dangerously close to a group of volunteer workers.
"What's happening?" Leo cried.
"I don't know!"
"Elena? Elena do you read me?" Rock's voice came out of Elena's wrist communicator.
"Rock, what's going on?" she demanded.
"BAHRAM forces are emerging from the asteroids, they're attacking the ship!"
"BAHRAM?" Leo asked timidly.
At the same time the computer voice came over the public intercom, "Please remain calm and report to your stations. Please remain calm and report to your stations."
"They've surrounded us," Rock again, "I can't get at'em with the cannons. I'm coming down to take the frame out!"
Chapter One
It was dark, it was always dark. Lights shone brightly around him, but they couldn't ward off all the shadows. They were as much to him as stars were to the blackness of space.
Green flowed around him in a world of blue. Jehuty's complex circuitry glowed in waves of information constantly being spread to every piece of the powerful frame. Leo Stenbuck grips the controls beneath his hands tightly, not sure what he is doing here. Everything is blurred, nothing had exact detail and he struggled to focus on anything before him.
There was a flash of red, something shot by, something not quite pieced together, held with an invisible force. Fingers twitched instantly, giving the command to turn Jehuty quickly to the left. In a blur of blue, one thing came into view. A single point in a sea of indistinction.
Zombie Neith.
With a quick, fluent movement, the red one flew forward and extended a whip-like arm, a blow that would tear apart Jehuty.
"Aaaaah!"
Leo awoke in his room, aboard the spaceship Atlantis.
He'd had many dreams since his piloting of Jehuty. He'd had dreams about fighting raptors, mummy heads and special programed cyclopses. He'd had dreams about saving civilians and earning approval of ADA, dreams of fighting Tempest Slash and Nightrade. Those were all either exhilarating or somewhat pleasant. Other dreams included Viola, the killer who threatened everything he had and yet he still couldn't bring himself to beat absolutely. He dreamed of her returns in his nightmares, though he knew she was gone now.
Then there was the dream of Anubis, and those were both frightening and confusing. The frame was practically invincible, untouchable to any of Jehuty's arsenals, even the new ones he'd acquired on his journey. The words of ADA echoed in his head... "You two are not destined to meet yet."
A small alarm went off, Leo glanced at the halo-clock to his right: six thirty in the morning.
He didn't have to get up this early. He could lay in bed all day if he wanted, he had no duties aboard The Atlantis; but it was when he would wake up anyway if he were still living on Antilia and he wanted to try and keep things the same. It was one of few things that comforted him now days.
He got up and made his bed promptly like his father had taught him. He picked up some loose laundry on the floor and deposited the garments into a rectangular slot. After that he selected digits of numbers according to an index nearby, the panel lit up, "Washroom" and a glass barrier slid down as the clothes were sucked up a tube.
The room he'd been assigned was bigger than his room at home, but small compared to other quarters he'd seen on the ship. The bathroom was right behind where he stood; Leo quickly decided he needed a shower today instead of just dressing.
After toweling off and fully dressed in clothes Elena had found that matched his own, he was ready for his day, but what to do? He was hungry, he could just eat something here, he had all the supplies he might need in the small kitchen he had; but he thought otherwise and headed out the automatic door, it locking behind him with a vacuum tight seal. He would eat in the cafeteria today, he could take something to Celvice and visit with her for a while. That always took care of a few hours.
Leo walked down the gray, lighted hallways of The Atlantis. He'd been aboard transport ships like this before, but never one of this company. He passed people by, civilians like himself, all survivors of the attack on Antilia. There was no way The Atlantis could have taken all the survivors, it was more of a cargo unit. Elena told him there were other ships of the same company that made it before and after they left. They would be heading to Mars too.
He made it to one of the elevators. "Destination?" a computer voice asked, not unlike ADA's.
"Third deck," the elevator came to life, gravity forces adjusting so the swift movements wouldn't press his body against the ceiling.
There were five decks aboard The Atlantis. The first two were for storage, then came its giant cargo hold which presently housed Jehuty, then two quarter decks and a bridge. Both the cafeteria and the medical bay were on the same floor, he wouldn't have to switch levels for a while once he got off.
The elevator suddenly slowed to a complete stop. "Deck Three," the voice rang as Leo stepped off.
A week ago, thoughts of the fate of Jehuty and ADA would have bothered him. By now he'd numbed himself and focused all his energy on being normal again. Elena told him this company had a program that could help him find his mother or father once they reached the Mars station. He tried to concentrate on what he'd do then, even though he knew neither of them really wanted him.
The hall entered into the cafeteria. It wasn't exactly big, The Atlantis was made to hold less than two hundred people, only needing about twenty personals to run it efficiently. It was still quite early, about seven, and people were only now starting to enter. Leo hopped into a buffet line before it got too crowded, displaying an I.D. badge on his jacket with a sticker that let him use double rations for another who was unable to make it to the cafeteria.
Soon he was exiting again, carrying a tray of food with him. It wasn't a whole lot, he knew Celvice liked bagels and he got some pancakes for himself, along with milk and juice. He turned a corner and came up to a counter run by a kind looking, fairly sleepy nurse.
"Hello Leo," she said with a yawn. She knew his face easily due to his many visits. "I'll just have to see your card again please," he flashed the badge and she nodded with approval, too tired to ask how his friend was doing.
When he entered Celvice's room, he found the girl already awake and reading a book of some kind. She looked up from her reading when she heard the whoosh of the doors and greeted her visitor with a warm smile.
"Good morning," Leo said, taking a glance at her charts. The girl's wound had finally started to heal properly and she could move about freely in her bed.
"Breakfast? How kind of you Leo!" she said excitedly.
He laughed and set the tray on her lap, taking his own plate for himself and sitting in the chair by the bed.
"What are you reading?" he asked her.
"Just a book of poems. One of the nurses lent it to me when I stopped sleeping all day," and from there, their conversation went on as usual; talking about things they did when they were away from each other and what they planned to do once off The Atlantis. Rarely did they talk about their experiences on Antilia anymore, unless it was a distant memory of happier times, but even a thought like that was scarce.
They had been talking for two hours when a voice came over the intercom. A human voice.
"Attention all crew members aboard The Atlantis. We are entering the asteroid belt and will at times be firing the cannons. Do not be alarmed, repeat, do not be alarmed by the fire of the cannons. Thank you."
"That means we're almost to Mars," Leo said quietly, a choke reaching his throat. He quickly suppressed it. He'd held off these emotions thus far, he could make it a few more days. And then a sudden rush of guilt swept over him, how could he repress these emotions? Something he cared about would be destroyed in the name of war. He began to fight back tears in front of his friend.
"Leo," Celvice said softly, reaching a hand to touch his shoulder.
He shied away from contact. "I have to go, see you later." And he hastily walked out of the room, Celvice watching mournfully after him.
Leo trotted down the hall and past the front desk. He quickly jumped into the door of the elevator and ordered it stay shut. The boy sat there, leaning against the hard wall, tears dripping from his eyes.
"ADA..."
"Please select the desired location," the computer voice came to life.
"Huh?" Leo asked stupidly.
"Select the level in which-"
"I know what you said," he stared at the control panel for a while, trying to make a decision. Finally, "Main Cargo Bay."
"Roger," and the elevator shot downward.
Leo stood up, not sure what he'd do when he got there. He'd just get there first, then figure something out after that.
"Main Cargo Bay," the voice rang. "please be aware that there is no gravity on this level. Take caution, thank you."
Leo felt the touch of gravity release him, his hair and loose clothing rising slightly. He wiped off his tears and they spun wildly before splattering on the wall. He pushed off behind him gently, grabbing the handrail to assist his maneuverings. The elevator door closed behind him and immediately left for another passenger.
The boy soon came to an airlock door, manned by a guard who wore the same clothes as Rock Thunderheart with the exception of a helmet with a tinted glass visor that hid his eyes.
"May I see your I.D. card?" the man asked suspiciously. Children almost never went into the Cargo Bay unless they were entering or leaving The Atlantis.
"Please, I have to see the orbital frame," Leo pleaded.
"Sorry kid, you can't go in without the right clearance."
"It's all right Officer," Leo turned around and found Elena floating up behind him. "let him pass."
"Sir," the guard made a quick salute before stepping aside and opening the lock for the two.
"Thank you Elena," Leo sighed gratefully.
"It's fine," she said with a laugh, surpassing him to look at the boy face to face. "you should have told me if you wanted to visit the Cargo Bay. I'll arrange to have your badge updated, what are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm not quite sure," Leo admitted.
There was silence for a while. Elena tried to start the conversation again, "I'm just here to supervise everyone once the cannons start firing."
"Will they start soon?" he asked.
"Very soon, in fact the first volley should start right about..."
There was the sound of whirling engines and the gathering of energy, followed by several high pitched tones signaling the fire of the cannons. It was strange, after each shot there was sudden silence once the beams made it to the vacuum of space. Leo knew he couldn't hear what came after the shots, but outside The Atlantis asteroids were surely exploding left and right into harmless dust the transport ship could fly through.
After about five minutes the sound of cannon fire ceased. Elena brought her wrist close to her face which had some sort of communication device on it. One Leo had seen other crew members use, "How'd we do?" she asked into it.
"Fine, we're clear for several hundred miles." Rock's voice came out of the communicator. "How's everything where you are?"
"As well, the cannons didn't shake anything."
"Right then, over and out."
"Roger," she lowered her wrist and turned to Leo, "now, let's see what you came here for."
She didn't have to offer any suggestions, they immediately headed for Jehuty.
The two passed several loads of metatron on their way. Leo wondered what it was all being used for, but all other thoughts fell away once he saw the blue orbital frame again.
"Jehuty," he whispered, only now noticing how much he'd actually missed the giant robot.
"Jehuty has been fully repaired," Elena started, "we even had them shine it up a bit. The frame was quite dirty after you were through with it." Elena tried to joke around. The boy was obviously troubled with something.
"Why bother when you're only going to destroy it?" he asked glumly. He found himself in the same mood he'd once been in back on Antilia.
"Let's not go through this again," Elena was both sad and angry. She had to admit as sweet as the boy was, Leo could be a brat at times. A wave of grief washed over her as she thought of Alan, her boyfriend who was to pilot the frame originally. "Appreciate what you have an-" she was cut off as everything around them began to shake, explosions popping up everywhere. A case of metatron toppled over tumbling all over the floor dangerously close to a group of volunteer workers.
"What's happening?" Leo cried.
"I don't know!"
"Elena? Elena do you read me?" Rock's voice came out of Elena's wrist communicator.
"Rock, what's going on?" she demanded.
"BAHRAM forces are emerging from the asteroids, they're attacking the ship!"
"BAHRAM?" Leo asked timidly.
At the same time the computer voice came over the public intercom, "Please remain calm and report to your stations. Please remain calm and report to your stations."
"They've surrounded us," Rock again, "I can't get at'em with the cannons. I'm coming down to take the frame out!"
