Redemption

Chapter Four

Kylen Celina had watched the interview with Colonel McQueen as well. Ever since she had come back from the POW camp, she had felt restless. Now that all colonisation programmes had been stopped on Earth, she did not know what to do with her life. When she had first seen Nathan on board the shuttle transporter, she had been relieved. The young woman had thought that Nathan would accompany her back to Earth where they would have married but he had opted to stay in the Corps instead and she felt rejected.

What was she about to do? The last few years she had given up her life for the Tellus-Programme and she was not properly educated for a civilian life. In this time of war no-one needed a technician who had been educated in the peaceful sciences of terra-forming. The young woman opened the back door of her father's house and stepped outside into the silent night. Deeply, she inhaled the soft summer breeze into her lungs and closed her eyes for a moment. Unconsciously, she petted the crumbled piece of paper Nathan had given her before the launch off of the Tellus rocket. During the desperate months as a prisoner of the Aliens, Nathan's letter had given her hope and now as she stood there in the glinting light of the stars above she recited the words she knew by heart.

Elsewhere stars are born ... Other systems, older, larger continue to breathe. The solar system dies of cribdeath ...

Suddenly, she heard a noise behind her and she swung around. Squeezing her eyes, she could make out the figure of a man standing only a few yards away from her in the darkness and when the man stepped into the dim light coming from the porch, her heart began to race.

"Nathan ..." she whispered and before she knew if she was dreaming or not, she felt his arms around her.

"Nathan, Nathan ..." she murmured again and again, kissing his dear face.

"Kylen, my love," Nathan said and took her face into his palms, taking in every curve of her face.

For minutes they just stood there, whispering meaningless endearments to each other, but after their first urge to reassure themselves that this was real, Nathan led her to the porch where they sat down close beside each other.

"I needed to see you before I move on tomorrow morning," Nathan started and gently caressed Kylen's hands. "Cooper Hawkes and I want to visit McQueen ..."

"I saw the interview ..." Kylen replied, trying to hide the hurt in her voice. Nathan nodded and kissed her hands.

"We think that he knows something and we have only little time left before we return to the Saratoga...'

"Your mum thought you would leave the Corps, Nathan," she said, searching his eyes for the soft glimmer of love she had always been able to detect when she had been with Nathan in former times. It was still there but it was guarded carefully. Too much time had elapsed and both were unsure of each other.

"I can't leave now, the Corps needs all its officers ..." he fondled Kylen's hair and buried his face into the golden mass of her blonde curls.

"Do you want to accompany me to McQueen? We could spent time together..."

Kylen's heart began to race again and she blushed. The thought of being with Nathan, although only temporarily, was more than she had imagined.

"Yes," she whispered as she offered her lips to him.

Early the next morning, Nathan and Cooper said good bye to the Wests and after they had picked up Kylen, they took the bus to Harmsville where McQueen was staying.

As they reached the drive of the small farmhouse, they came across several Army vehicles. Two MP guards stood on either side of the entrance and when the three new-arrivals trotted up the steps they were halted by them.

"I'm sorry, Sir. But you can't enter!" One of the guards said.

"Sergeant, we've come to visit our commanding officer Colonel McQueen, we're the Wild Cards ..." Cooper said and pushed slightly forward.

The MPs barred the way and were determined to use force if the two Marines and the woman didn't step back. Suddenly, the door flew open and a high-ranking officer appeared. Before Nathan and Cooper could salute, the General ushered them inside.

"Miss," he said and nodded towards Kylen. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenants!" the tall man in his late forties greeted them cheerfully.

Cooper and Nathan exchanged a puzzled look with each other but both remained silent. The Major General led them into the living-room which was decorated with Japanese Katana-swords and paraphernalia. Colonel McQueen sat by the window and when they entered, he turned his head. Five weeks had passed since the Marines had seen him last and Nathan was surprised that the Colonel looked almost healthy again, not like the defeated man they had seen on board the Saratoga. But then again he had heard that In-Vitroes were genetically manipulated to heal quickly and seeing McQueen like this the rumour was confirmed.

"West, Hawkes," he greeted them and when he saw the woman beside them, he shot her a smile. "Miss Celina ..."

"So, you're the Cards ..." the General said and walked over to a sideboard and poured scotch into glasses.

"Ray, I guess you scared the hell out of 'em," McQueen replied and nodded towards the Marines. "What's wrong with you, are you so awed by Major General Chambers that you forgot your good manners?"

"Sir, no, Sir!" Both Marines snapped to attention and saluted correctly.

CHAMBERS, that was Meg's father, Cooper thought and blushed when the man handed him a glass.

The men and woman in the room fell silent for a moment when they heard a short commotion at the door and after some seconds of an argument, the door opened and Meg Chambers entered. Cooper's pulse quickened as he saw her and when their eyes locked he nodded towards her and she answered his greeting with an uncertain smile.

"Congratulations, Chambers," Nathan said and petted her shoulder after she had seated herself alongside his own chair. "Now we have to salute ya ...with the VC and everything"

"Thank you, West," Chambers replied then she shook her head. "You and saluting? You and Hawkes would rather kick my butt ..." The young Squadron Leader felt edgy and nervous.

To be in the same room together with Cooper Hawkes after so many months, she was not sure what to expect. Seven months ago they had met for the first time back on the 'Toga. He had helped her getting over the deaths of her old squadron mates and at that time she had flirted with the idea that perhaps he liked her as much as she liked him. But now sitting in the same room together, breathing the same air, she felt as if they were strangers. She glanced over at Cooper but he held his gaze steadily down onto the floor. He looked different, she thought. When she had first met him he had been like a grown-up child, his hair unruly falling into his eyes but now when she looked at him, she saw a cold Marine with his standard crew-cut and she wondered what had brought on this change.

After her father and McQueen had exchanged a glance, the Colonel cleared his throat.

"I'm glad that you have come immediately. I was not sure if you understood that I wanted to see you ..." McQueen said and picked up the glass and saluted them. "Welcome back!"

After they had exchanged more niceties, McQueen picked up a thick manila envelope. Chambers and McQueen exchanged a glance with each other and both men watched Kylen. It was always a risk to speak about a mission considered to be code red when a civilian was present and neither men were sure how to break the news to her that she should leave the room. Meg had witnessed the exchange and she bent over to Kylen.

"Do you like to see the house and share a cup of tea with me, Miss Celina?" she asked Kylen and the young woman nodded. When Meg looked back again at McQueen and her father, both men shot her a grateful smile. After the door had closed behind both women, Nathan and Cooper bent forward and West absentmindedly put the glass on of the nearest tables.

"Sir, may I speak candidly, Sir?" he inquired and McQueen nodded in confirmation. "Why weren't we court-martialled?"

Chambers and McQueen exchanged a look and it was Chambers who stood up and walked over to the window.

"A good question, Lieutenant West," the man said. "Two days before you were sent out to retrieve the POWs, the Department of Intelligence received a somewhat disturbing message. It said that some corporations have questionable relations to Silicates. A small group of high-ranking officers believe that AeroTech is trying to undermine the Armed Forces to be informed about every move the war is taking. It seems as if they want to prolong this war, that they even instigated it. Unfortunately, our informer was mysteriously killed and I believe that you'll be the next on the list because of your little stunt back on Anvil. Investigators found out that the bomb which exploded in the meeting room must have been carried by Wayne and as he was from AeroTech, they wanted to make sure that no peace talks would commence. I don't know what would have happened at a court-martial but I'm sure that AeroTech would have found a way to silence you one way or the other ..."

Cooper and Nathan exchanged a glance with each other and Nathan's look said: I should have known.

"Ross and I have pulled every possible string to get those charges dropped against you but it seems Fleet-Com still considers having your heads served on a platter. We don't know if the whole executive of AeroTech is involved in this but we have confirmed information that they have already infiltrated some top-brass of the Army throughout the United Forces," Chambers inhaled deeply.

"I don't have to tell you that all we talk about here in this room is strictly confidential. So consider this compartmentalised!" he said after that McQueen opened the manila folder he had given him.

"As you can see, we cannot trust anyone. Chambers' team found out that Fleet-Com has received coded messages from the Chigs telling that they have allegedly taken prisoners on Anvil and yet only two SAR teams were sent out and soon after called back again."

Nathan and Cooper exchanged a glance with each other and Cooper bent forward.

"Sir, do you want to tell us that they deliberately aborted a mission to retrieve the missing Marines? That they could have found Captain Vansen and Lieutenant Damphousse by now, Sir?" He queried in a tight voice.

"We are not sure ..." Chambers replied. "According to what our Recon-services were able to pick up before aborting their mission, there is a crash-site on Anvil but we are not sure whether it is one of ours or a vehicle from the Chigs ..."

"Fleet-Com doesn't believe that Vansen and Damphousse are still alive but Ross has received confirmed information that the Chigs indeed have captured five of our officers. The problem is that we had several skirmishes during the past weeks and we have lost five attack jets in the Anvil area ..." McQueen stated.

"So, the reported POWs could be these pilots, Sir?" Nathan inquired, bending forward. "And Fleet-Com didn't do anything to retrieve them ..."

"Yes, Lt. West, that is the case. But what I can't understand is that we have received messages BEFORE we lost the Hammerheads ..." General Chambers replied. "So their reluctance to send SAR teams could be that they don't want us to find out that Vansen and Damphousse might be alive. Officially, Fleet-Command said they're not willing to sent any SAR teams into the area for the planet is still hot. But I pulled a few strings and from what I learned I discovered that at least two high-ranking Generals have connections to AeroTech ..." he looked at both Marines expectantly. "What exactly did you do on Anvil when you encountered the Alien?"

After both Marines had given their statements about the time when they happened to encounter the 'friendly' Chig, the men in the room were silent. Nathan was surprised that Cooper had given them every detail of the encounter, even stating the almost exact conversations of that moment. It was always spooky, when Cooper did something like this.

McQueen rubbed his eyes wearily and stood up. After sitting down so long, his leg was stiff and he paced the floor in long determined strides.

"Do you still have the 'mud', Cooper?" he asked suddenly and swung around, facing the Marine in question.

Cooper shrugged his shoulders.

"It was just muck, Sir. The Alien gave it to me in exchange of one of my comics and when we retreated I, uh, just let it drop ...Sir"

Chambers shook his head at that and grinned.

"There goes our possible clue, Ty," he commented and shot his friend a crooked smile.

"It was just a thought, Ray ..." McQueen said. "What I can't understand is why AeroTech thinks it is so important?! It doesn't make sense."

"Nothing AeroTech ever did made any sense, Ty."

"So, what do we do now, Sirs?" Nathan inquired. Chambers let out a sigh and poured himself another scotch.

"You all will return to the 'Toga in a week's time. Boss Ross knows you're coming, so there will be no suspicion. Once aboard the 'Toga, you will take two Hammerheads and an ISSCV to 2063-Yankee. In the northern hemisphere of the planet SAR has located a bunker and they picked up short signals of various PLBs. But due to the high rate of atmospheric interference they couldn't make a clear ID. But Squadron Leader Chambers has brought a new non-AeroTech designed SRR and she will accompany you on this mission," the General said. Cooper shot Chambers a glance and let out an expletive beneath his breath.

"My feelings, exactly, Lieutenant Hawkes," Chambers said. "My daughter is not a Marine but she's the only one we can trust right now."

McQueen watched Cooper's and Nathan's reaction to this, especially Hawkes did not look happy about his new crew-mate and he presumed to know why.

"We need at least four Marines for this Op and Chambers is our only possible choice," he said and turned towards the General. "After all the trouble you've gone through to get her those nine weeks R&R."

Chambers shrugged his shoulders and tried to look innocent.

"In fact it was her mother who pulled the strings to get her on leave, Ty. All I did was to persuade her CO to ship her back to Earth immediately ..." Chambers replied.

Cooper shook his head slightly at this. He didn't want Meg on this mission. It was dangerous and he didn't want her to die. When he looked up at Nathan he could see that West's thoughts were on a similar level as his own.

"This mission is non-existent and therefore we will not have any back-up ..." McQueen's stern voice was heard and Nathan and Cooper drew their attention back to the Colonel.

So now Nathan knew the reason why they hadn't been cartered off to court-martial immediately but he felt not relieved. All along he had suspected that AeroTech did not play fair but that they had this kind of influence ...? Nathan shook his head. This particular mission could mean that he would not return safely, but the prospect of finding either Shane and Vanessa or the four Marines was worth the risk.

After their short tour of the house, Meg led Kylen into the kitchen.

"You are going on a secret mission, aren't you?" Kylen Celina asked suddenly and Meg eyed her in surprise. Kylen laughed shyly and shrugged her shoulders. "With so much brass gathered in one room, it's the only possible explanation ..."

"Do you think that Nathan shouldn't take part?" Meg inquired and Kylen shook her head. "Are you afraid for him?"

"It's not that... Watching Nathan like this makes me feel as if I don't know him any more," Kylen answered wearily. "He acted so differently. Suddenly, he wasn't my Nate but one of them. He's a stranger ..." Meg sat down beside her and touched her gently on the shoulder.

"West is a Marine and with McQueen and my father present he thinks and acts like one. But his other, more gentle side is still there. When I was about seven years old my father held a briefing at our house. I had the same feeling back then, suddenly there were all these hardened soldiers conversing in our living-room and my father was one of them, it scared me," Meg laughed in an embarrassed way. "I hid in my room the following days and didn't want to see my father. I was afraid and I wished that I could have my daddy back again ..."

"Do you still feel that way?" Kylen asked in a shivering voice.

"In a way, yes," Meg replied. "But for the past seven years I have been a soldier myself and now I understand why my father had scared me so much when I was still a child ..."

"I don't think I can cope with this as well as you do ..." Nathan's girl-friend replied and took a sip of tea. "It is so difficult. Nathan is so withdrawn and he never had this streak of ... of cruelty ..."

Megan sighed and rubbed her eyes wearily.

"It's not cruelty," Chambers said slowly. "Those who have lost a squadron are driven by an unknown force to make up to their dead crew-mates ..." The young Squadron Leader closed her eyes for a split second. She had experienced the same when her old squad had been erased.

"Eventually you will understand, Kylen. You know when I was part of the five-eight, Nathan's every waking moment was filled with thoughts of you. He loves you but he has seen too much brutality and for almost a year he had doubts of ever seeing you again," Meg's voice trailed away when she noticed a movement at the door. She stood up when Nathan entered the kitchen.

"Just him," she whispered and left.

Nathan slowly came over to the table and sat down beside Kylen.

"The briefing is finished ..." he commented and massaged Kylen's neck gently. The young woman smiled sadly and cuddled closer to his side.

"When do you have to leave?" she asked in a low voice, afraid to be parted with him again.

"In a week's time, McQueen has to go to a med's examination tomorrow but I guess he'll be declared fit to do what ever he intends ..." Nathan replied and took her into a tight embrace.