Redemption

Chapter Three

Earth

Cooper felt strangely relieved after they had visited their friend's families and especially Shane's sisters. Now after more than six weeks of travelling through space and across the country, he was sitting beside Nathan on a flight to the West's farm house in Maine. The young Marine had been surprised that Nathan had asked him to accompany him and he was a little nervous about the trip. When he had first joined the Corps, he and West had some quarrels together but eventually they had buried their enmities towards each other and had become friends.

Nathan sensed that Cooper was nervous about meeting his family and he could understand why. He was nervous as hell himself and he did not know what to expect of his parents. Since the death of his younger brother Neil, he had had no connections with his parents. The pain of loosing his baby brother KIA was too fresh and deep inside his heart, Nathan knew that his parents held him responsible for the death of his brother.

If I hadn't joined the Corps to be able to search for Kylen, perhaps Neil would have never got the idea to follow in my footsteps in the first place, Nathan thought and closed his eyes for a short moment. There was no use denying it. His actions had caused his parents great pain. The young Marine looked out of the window and when the Captain of the plane announced they would land soon, he grimaced.

Both men groaned when they left the plane, flexing their muscles awkwardly. After being accustomed to their state of the art space-crafts they were not used to the more conservative way of travelling anymore. In their SA-43 transatmospheric attack jets they could travel almost with lightning speed, never being aware that they covered thousands of MSKs in only minutes. But back on Earth, there was a different way of commuting, more slowly and the Marines were unnerved by it.

When they approached the comfortably built farmhouse, West stopped still for a moment, taking in the peace and calm of the scenery. In a flash he remembered the last time he had been here. Shane had walked beside him and his brother Neil had come out of the house, throwing his arms around him in a bear hug. That would never happen anymore, both were gone.

Nathan reluctantly knocked on the door and when he heard soft stirrings inside of the house, he opened the flydoor and stepped inside. With Cooper close at his heels, he entered the hall.

"Nathan!" His mother had appeared in the doorway and almost slipped a plate of china she had been currently drying with a kitchen-towel.

Before he was able to greet his mother, Mrs. West embraced her eldest son and started weeping. Drawn to the commotion, Mr. West and Nathan's youngest brother John entered the hall and after John had calmed his mother, the Wests greeted their guests properly.

Cooper was surprised that the Wests had no recriminations towards him, on the contrary they seemed to be eager to make him feel comfortable. Especially Mrs. West made a fuss over him after Cooper had commented that he could check into a hotel for the time they stayed with the Wests.

"I don't want to hear about this, Lt. Hawkes," Mrs. West exclaimed.

"We are delighted to have guests in our house, especially now after Neil ..." she broke off and wiped her eyes in embarrassment.

During dinner Nathan was determined not to talk about the Corps but John swarted his valiant stand and asked a continuous flow of questions which were directed at him and Cooper. He was surprised that his parents seemed at ease with their youngest offspring's interest and when he helped his mother preparing the dessert in the kitchen, he gently pried her for an answer.

"Mom, if it hurts you too much to hear about the Corps I'll shut John up ..." he said as he picked up the plate with the cake.

"No, no, Nathan. I think ... I think we should honour Neil by talking about a subject which was very dear to his heart," she gave him a crooked smile and petted his arm awkwardly.

"I just hope John won't join the Corps ..."

"Fleet-Command has pressed the Congress to put through an amendment bill that younger brothers of serving officers will not be recruited any longer," Nathan replied, trying to reassure his mother that John would not be able to join the Corps.

"I just hope that will be put through soon, John is so much like Neil," Mrs. West said, suppressing her tears.

"You joined the Corps to look for Kylen ... Now ... that she is back you could discharge yourself..."

"No, mom," the young man shook his head.

"It's true that I joined the Corps because of Kylen but I cannot leave now, the war is still at large and the Corps needs every serving officer. I'm a Marine, sworn to the Corps ..."

Mrs. West watched her oldest son. Nathan had changed considerably over the one and a half years he was away now. When he was one of the Tellus settlers, he had been a cheerful young man, always ready to laugh but now there was a gloomy countenance about him and he was distant to her. Although Kylen had returned home a week ago, Nathan had not asked about her. It seemed as if with rescuing Kylen, his purpose had changed. He was not the young boy any more. Mrs. West saw a tough Marine who had seen more atrocities over the past months than any other of her family. New tears welled up in her eyes but she suppressed them nevertheless. She smiled at her son and they both walked over to the living-room.

After their meal they watched the newscasts on TV. After the anchorperson had briefed the audience of the newest incidents of the war, there was a short commercial break before the station showed a short interview with Colonel McQueen. Cooper bent forward when the strained face of his commanding officer showed up on the screen.

The interviewer, a young blonde woman, asked him about his experiences during combat and both Marines were surprised when they listened to him while he told the audience about the Wild Cards.

"The five-eight was the best squad the US Marine Corps had and I'm proud that I've been their commanding officer. But despite the fact that Fleet-Com thinks that three officers are supposedly MIA, I'm convinced that there will be no need to recruit new officers for the Wild Cards," McQueen's soft voice boomed from the loudspeakers.

The Wests were silent as they listened to it but Nathan jumped to his feet and stormed outside. Cooper watched him go but he was not able to offer him any comfort because he felt as lost and as alone as West.

"What makes you so certain that there is no need to recruit new officers, Colonel?" the interviewer asked. "Do you have any knowledge about the missing Marines or will the five-eight be disbanded because they gave away compartmentalised information to an Alien?"

"No comment!" McQueen said and the camera changed its focus and the interview was interrupted and when Cooper looked up, he saw that Nathan had rejoined them again.

"What do ya think?" Cooper queried, clearing his throat. "Does McQueen know anything we aren't aware of?"

"Obviously," Nathan replied. "But I don't understand why he agreed to be interviewed in the first place. Does that mean he'll be coming back or what?"

"Perhaps you two should visit this Colonel McQueen," Mr. West suddenly said and both Marines watched him expectantly.

"Something's up that's for sure. In the interview they said that the Colonel stays at a house a few miles away from here. You two should pay him a visit ..."

"Don't you think Nathan should visit Kylen and her family first?" Mrs. West inquired rather sharply but her husband dismissed her with a shrug of his shoulder.

"What the Colonel said sounded more like a coded message to the remaining officers of the 58th squadron, perhaps he knows something interesting ..."

At the end of the interview Cooper's gaze was caught by a slender, young woman, clad in a flightsuit of the RAF. When the interviewer turned towards her, he was struck by the sight of Flight Lieutenant Meg Chambers, McQueen's godchild.

"I understand I have to congratulate you, Squadron Leader Chambers," the woman introduced the officer. "Isn't it unusual that someone given your family background is promoted to Sqdr. Ldr. so soon AND awarded with the Victoria Cross? As your father is an In-Vitro, don't you think that your promotion was a PR trick to calm the somewhat heated discussion about In-Vitro civil rights especially in the RAF?"

"My squadron, the seven-ninth RAF Flight Wing, received the VC for their fight at the battle of Ixion, ma'am," the young Squadron Leader answered sternly. "But I don't think that my father was the reason that I was promoted to Squadron Leader. I joined the RAF to pursuit an officer's career before the war broke out. It is common rule that senior officers are promoted because of their performance in battle and not because it is good for publicity, ... ma'am!"

"Yes, of course," the interviewer cut in. "I didn't want to imply that, Squadron Leader."

The interview was interrupted by another commercial break again and Nathan watched Cooper as he shifted uncomfortably on his seat.

"Wasn't this the young Sqdr. Ldr. you wrote us about?" Mr. West asked his son and Nathan nodded.

"Yup, that was Chambers alright. I'm amazed that she remained so cool and calm when the interviewer implied she had only been promoted as a PR ploy ..." Nathan shot Cooper a glance but the young Marine held his gaze closely to the ground. West sighed inwardly and rubbed his neck wearily. He knew that Coop and Meg had been more than mutual acquaintances once. Not that they had an affair or something, far from it. McQueen would have grilled Hawkes if they had but for some time Nathan had thought that his friend would get lucky for once, he even had coached him with the letter writing until the IV had been confident enough to write to Meg on his own. The fact that Coop didn't seem touched by Megan's sight, made him nervous.

If I just could only find a way to get him out of this damn' depressive state, Nathan thought.

Soon, Cooper retreated to the guest room but he wasn't tired really. He stood in front of the window and stared into the darkness. Seeing Meg after so many months had given him a definite start. Suddenly, he remembered all the little details about her. How she had laughed and made fun of him, how she had tasted the first time they had kissed. He shook his head. It was no good, thinking of Meg made him miserable and it scared the hell out of him.

There was a knock at the door, Nathan hesitatingly came in and sat down on the bed.

"It's funny, you know, almost every night over the passed months I've wished to have a room to myself at the 'Toga and now ..." he shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I guess it's not so important any more..." he looked up at Cooper expectantly who still stared out of the window.

"It's so silent without the others breathing ..." the young Marine commented and turned towards Nathan. He massaged his temples wearily. "I've been thinking about what your father said ..." Cooper started. "McQueen sounded kinda strange during the interview as if he wanted to say that he knows something about Shane and Vanessa. Tomorrow I'll go visit him."

"I'm coming with you. If McQueen has any information about Shane and 'Phousse then I want to hear it ..." Nathan said.

"What about Kylen? She expects to see ya ..." Hawkes inquired and watched Nathan as the man closely inspected his hands.

After so many months of doubts Nathan was not sure how to face Kylen. The short intermission aboard the Saratoga had been strange and he had felt at a loss. He still loved her but he had changed.

"I'll ask her to accompany us ..." Nathan said, not sure if this was a good idea after all. He went to the door but after a moment of hesitation he turned back to Cooper, staring hard at him.

"Coop?" he asked and Cooper's head jerked around. "You have to tell her!"

"Tell who?" Cooper answered defiantly and turned towards the window again.

"Tell Meg what happened before our R&R on Bacchus, I can imagine she is worried sick about you ..." Hawkes turned around and clutched his fists angrily.

"To hell with ya, West!" he hissed. "How da ya think I'd explain to her that I'm just like any other stupid tank? That I almost screwed up the lives of the five-eight because of some damn pills!?"

"For crying out loud, you stupid tank!" Nathan shouted and his temper flared. "Do you think that you're the only one who was affected by the accident? More than once I wished myself to hell for almost KIA you ..." Nathan watched Cooper's rigid face. Even yelling had no effect on him. The young man sighed and tried to calm himself.

"You came through alright," Nathan said. "What happened back then wasn't your fault. The medics who gave you the meanies are to blame and I know Meg will understand. If not for her sake then do it for yourself and talk to her. Coop, you have to stop this! I don't want to loose you as well ..." After that West left the room and Hawkes turned back towards the window.

Yeah, he had come through alright back then. But he still had doubts about their mission 'Homeward Bound'. What if he had not stayed with the POWs back in the transporter? What if he had been with 'Phousse and Shane, would he have been able to prevent their deaths?

They had helped him through his addiction and when they had needed his help, he hadn't been there for them ...