Twenty-Four
It hadn't been easy by any stretch of the imagination. It had taken several phone calls and a few words from Yurika's father to persuade Commander Yano of the UEAF to grant them permission to board the decommissioned Nadesico, which was now dry-docked in the UEAF's main Hiratsuka facility. He had conceded reluctantly and only because of Commander Misumaru's standing in the forces. Nevertheless, Yurika and Akito had achieved the appointment they needed and had celebrated with a hearty fried breakfast at a buffet in the city centre.
Having assured Minato and Yukina that they'd contact them at the hotel if they found anything, Yurika and Akito had set out for the UEAF facility later that same morning. They'd arrived at eleven o'clock sharp and had been shown into a lounge where they were told to await Commander Yano, who would then escort them to the ship. So they'd both taken seats and waited, but it hadn't taken long for the minutes to batter down the walls of their patience. Yurika had paced back and forth, absently chewing her thumbnail, while Akito had pretended to read a magazine, succeeding only in making small, nervous tears around the edges of the pages.
Eventually, three-quarters of an hour later, Commander Yano had come for them. The UEAF officer with the shiny scalp and lizardine eyes had looked distinctly unapologetic as he'd gruffly announced that the delay had been caused by some problems with the security system which had been a major nuisance all morning. Now though, he was confident that all the bugs had been ironed out, so their visit could now proceed. As they'd followed him out of the room, Akito had caught Yurika's excited gaze and knew she was thinking the same thing he was. Had those problems been caused by Ruri breaking in?
They'd find out soon enough.
Now they had just been shown into the Nadesico surveillance room, which overlooked the lifeless Nadesico in its hanger. Three UEAF men were sat at consoles and computer screens covered all of one wall, each one showing a different shot of a room or corridor inside the Nadesico. Akito deliberately avoided looking at them, but Yurika couldn't resist. Her eyes flitted from one to the other, desperately searching for any sign of the missing girl. None where present, but Akito squeezed Yurika's hand to reassure her. If Ruri was onboard, she would have made sure that no-one could see her from the outside.
"We may board the ship as soon as our final scan of the security system is complete," Yano was saying.
"How long will that take?" asked Yurika tensely.
Yano turned to one of the men sitting at a computer. It took him a few seconds to realise they were all staring at him, but then he looked up and replied, "Oh, around five to ten minutes. Then if it all checks out like it should, you'll be able to go ahead."
"Great!" said Yurika, her enthusiastic voice dampened by a slight trace of impatience.
Yano turned away from them to look at the monitor over his subordinate's shoulder. Seeing that they'd have to wait a short while longer, Akito wandered over to the windows, taking Yurika with him. From here they could survey the whole interior hanger in which the Nadesico was being kept. What had once been the most powerful battleship on the planet now looked like a museum piece – no life emitted from it whatsoever. In the poor light of the hanger, it was like looking down at some relic of the past which had just been shoved into someone's attic to be forgotten for eternity. Akito had to admit it was pretty depressing, seeing his former home like this.
"Huh, it really looks dead, doesn't it?" he murmured. At his side, Yurika nodded glumly.
"Do you really think Ruri is down there?" she asked, softly enough so that the UEAF personnel couldn't hear.
"Can't tell from here," Akito replied, equally quietly. "We'll see, but for now we should keep quiet about it,"
"But what do you think Commander Yano will do if he sees her? Do you think she'll be arrested for trespassing?"
Akito scratched his cheek uneasily, having not thought that far ahead. "I don't know," he admitted. "I guess we'll work out something if we find her in there." Suddenly another thought occurred to him. "But don't worry too much. She's too young to be detained or imprisoned remember?" he added with a knowing smile. Yurika returned it, reassured.
Out of the corner of his eye, Akito saw Yano regarding them, suspicious of their hushed conversation. He remained silent and quickly brought his gaze back into the Nadesico hanger, trying to act as normally as possible. The last thing they wanted to do was give Yano an excuse to get them out of his hair. Or lack of it.
Looking down at the Nadesico again, he saw something he'd missed the first time around. Yurika had obviously just seen it too, since a second later she thrust her finger against the window, pointing down at it and speaking up.
"Hey, that large box next to the cargo bay door. Isn't that the bosun-jump computer we picked up on Mars?" She looked over to the UEAF commander inquisitively.
After a brief moment of indecision Yano put aside his instincts and continued. "Yes, that is the artefact which was extracted from the Martian ruins. We have not yet received authorisation to move it and so it must remain here for the time being. Nergal wish to take acquire it for research purposes, but as of yet the Earth Government is unsure of what should be done with it."
"Hmm, I suppose it is a bit of a dilemma," said Yurika. "Nergal have brilliant research facilities and know more about bosun-jumping than anyone else on the planet. It would seem logical that they should study it, but I guess it's probably not a good idea to give them such a powerful device. Who knows what they'll do with it?"
"They've proved to be untrustworthy allies," admitted Yano. "They trod a fine line with us throughout the war and even today they are not to be relied upon. Why, just this morning I heard rumours that they were constructing a new battleship without consulting the authorities."
"Really?" said Akito and Yurika, simultaneously feigning surprise. Both of them knew that this must be the battleship that Ruri's roommate had told them about. The one which Ruri's refusal to join had nearly killed her.
Yano nodded. "If that is the case, the Earth Government will want it shut down immediately. Our objective is peace now, not destruction."
"Amen!" chirped Yurika, beaming enthusiastically.
"I just wish everyone thought like that," mused Akito, rubbing his chin. If a certain tyrannical tycoon had taken that attitude they would have already found Ruri by now. They wouldn't have to grope around in the dark, desperately hoping to find any possible trace of her like they were currently doing. Once again Akito felt anger rise inside him as remembered who was responsible for this whole mess, then fought to quell it with the words Yurika had spoken earlier – that Ruri was their most pressing concern at the moment. Wincing as he quenched his inner rage, he cast his eyes back to the Nadesico once more.
"We'll find you Ruri and when we do, I promise that bastard will never harm you again."
* * *
Ruri knew, as she pulled the door to the bridge open, that she was running a great risk by being here, even with all her precautions. But she'd also realised that by now that she was beyond caring. She'd done what she'd come to Hiratsuka to do. At this point, her plan had trickled out and she'd come here simply because she had nowhere else to go.
It had taken her nearly the whole morning to break in here. She gained access to the facility using many of the same tricks that she'd used to enter the Nergal building. This time it had been even easier since, much to her surprise, the security had been not nearly as tight. Once she was in the compound, it had been a simple matter of hacking into the security system and playing around with it to suit her needs. Ironically the hardest part of the security to bypass had been the one human guard posted at the entrance of the tunnel leading to the Nadesico itself. Ruri had waited a deathly dull hour in a ventilation shaft for him to take a bathroom break and allow her to sneak past into her former home.
She'd found the Nadesico as dead as she had left it. In order to power up Omoikane, she'd had to activate the emergency generator, which was there as back-up for the back-up power, only to be used in the case of a total system failure. The amount of power it actually produced was miniscule, especially when compared to a P-T engine. It was only enough to sustain the life-support systems, such as oxygen and heating, on the bridge section of the ship – the idea was that it provided enough energy to keep the crew alive in space until assistance came. It suited Ruri's purposes well, since it was the only power source that could be activated without the Nadesico's Master Key and it produced too little to be detected from outside the ship, unless someone looked really closely.
Since they were no longer in space, Ruri had diverted the power from the life support systems, which were unnecessary while in Earth's atmosphere, to Omoikane. It had taken her nearly two hours, but eventually she'd succeeded in getting the ship's computer running, albeit at a reduced rate. Though it was working at a tiny fraction of its former glory, its personality was still there and that was what Ruri needed right now.
It had been glad to see her, and Ruri had told it likewise. She'd also apologised for not booting it up fully and explained her reasons. As ever, Omoikane had understood. It was too happy to see her again to care. To Ruri, however, this condensed version did not seem to be quite the Omoikane she'd come to know and love. It felt like talking to a person who was half-asleep and groggy. Nevertheless, it was the only friend Ruri had left to turn to, so she sat there at her post in the darkness, conversing with the computer about the one overriding issue on her mind.
"Omoikane, where do I belong?"
The computer's response appeared onscreen in green letters on a black background. "Sorry, I don't understand the question. Could you rephrase it?"
Ruri sat up to move closer to the display. "I've been trained most of my life to be a crewmember of a battleship. In many ways, it's what I'm best at," She lowered her head. "But the war's over now. I don't want to kill people anymore." She closed her flawless eyes despairingly.
"But if I'm not going to do what I was created to do, then what else is there for me? I think I've proved that I'm not suited to a normal girl's life. I'm just too different from the rest of them to fit in. But what else can I do?"
Omoikane displayed an image onscreen, which Ruri recognised as the main gate to Peaceland. "You could return to your parents,"
Ruri blinked, then shook her head slowly. "They are not my parents,"
"My records state that your are the genetic offspring of the King and Queen of Peaceland."
"Yes, I know. But there's more to family then just genes."
"I don't see how."
"No, I wouldn't expect you too," said Ruri. "It's more about feelings."
"Please explain,"
Ruri exhaled in exasperation – at times Omoikane could be as bad as Mikoto. "I don't know them and I feel no emotional connection to them at all," she stated. "If I went back to them now, it would be just as if I was living with some random foster parents. Let's not even mention the fact that I spurned their offer of family once, to return to the Nadesico. I doubt they'll want me as a child now, even if I did go back to them."
"I still see it as the most viable option. If you are not taking that option, then I suggest you go to your former crewmates." Omoikane displayed a picture of the whole crew onscreen.
"No, I can't do that either. They're all being detained by the UEAF and in any case…" Ruri trailed off and sighed.
"What?"
"I-I can't just impose myself on them. I am not their responsibility. It would be unfair to expect them to look after me, even if they are my friends."
"Perhaps they would want to look after you. If they truly are your friends."
"That's enough Omoikane." Ruri said, signalling a closure to the conversation. This wasn't helping. The computer was not giving her the answers she needed to hear.
"But what other answers are there?" she uttered aloud, but to herself. Looking back, she recalled the few paths that had been available to her since she'd left the Nadesico. None of them suited her at all. She could have become a lonely orphan, a tool of Nergal or a dead corpse. Those had been the roles offered to her. But there was nothing available for the true Ruri, nothing for the trapped child inside of her which longed for love, freedom and happiness.
Sigh.
She sat alone and silent for several seconds, which turned into several minutes. Omoikane had been her safety net. Now she really knew there was nowhere for her to go. Nothing for her to belong to. No home for Ruri-Ruri.
A distant sound suddenly brought her out of her miserable trance. Her ears pricked up as she heard faint footsteps coming from the corridor behind her. With a slight gasp, she brought her head up so she could hear more clearly. Yes, someone was coming. Chances were that someone had detected her presence and was now coming for her. Though her instincts told her to hide, she overrode them and stayed in her seat. There was nowhere else for her to go – she might as well let whoever was coming do what they wanted with her.
The door to the upper bridge squeaked as it was pulled further open, but Ruri couldn't yet see who had entered. Leaving her post, she walked over to the stairwell to see the newcomer, who was slowly descending the steps to the lower section where she was.
As it turned out it was someone she knew.
"You?!" she blurted, not believing what her vision was showing her.
"Who'd you think?" raged a very familiar scarred assassin, dashing down the last few steps and advancing on her. Ruri took a few tentative steps back, mouth slowly dropping open in disbelief and dread. Her oppressor slowly bore down on her, his uncovered eye blazing with malice.
"You thought you could lose me you little bitch?!" Surging forward, he struck her across the face with the butt of his pistol. The force of the hit caused her to stagger backwards and fall hard on to the floor. She frantically pushed herself up on her arms, but collapsed again when the assassin kicked her hard in her mid-section. She moaned in pain and rolled with the blow so that she lay on her front.
"You completely screwed me!" yelled her assailant. "You brought me to fucking rags!" He kicked her sharply in the ribs again, causing her to cry out. Tears of pain filled her eyes as she braced herself for another blow.
"You think you could just piss on my reputation and then just run off, leaving me to rot in the gutter?" He grunted loudly and put his boot into her again. "Not fucking likely!"
By now Ruri's body was a hive of hurt and pain-induced tears rolled down her face like rain on windows. She tried to lift herself up again, but failed when agony wrenched through her side. With a gasp of suffering, she collapsed to the ground again. This time she lay there with her face to the floor and spoke, every word giving her a fresh stab of pain.
"W-Why are you doing this?" she whimpered softly. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Be silent, runt!" thundered Matador.
Ruri heard the sound of something being assembled behind her. With great effort she looked around and saw that the assassin was loading a gun, slowly and pleasurably pushing each individual bullet into its slot. Terror invaded her and she struggled to move away, but once again was foiled by the pain. There was no way out this time – she was a sitting duck, a lamb in the slaughterhouse. A cat in a bag even.
"You should have died long ago." murmured her oppressor, gradually bringing down the pistol to aim at her head. A perverse lust for murder glinted in his good eye and his gun-hand quivered fitfully from a mixture of fury and anticipation. All hope lost, Ruri emitted a tiny whimper, screwed her eyes shut and braced herself for death.
Several seconds passed and nothing happened. Ruri slowly opened her eyes again as she heard Matador speak again, his crazed tone now replaced with something more level and professional.
"No. No, this isn't the way,"
He brought the gun back up away from her and she heard him replace it in its holster. Confusion temporarily overrode her terror and she lifted her head up in puzzlement. Craning her neck as far as she comfortably could, she saw him bring out something else from the side-pocket of his trench-coat. She couldn't see what.
"You'll be the perfect guinea pig,"
Trading pain for a better view, Ruri wrenched her head right around. What she saw made her gasp in horror. Matador was filling a tiny syringe from a vial of clear, colourless liquid, being very careful not to spill any of the sinister substance on to his hands. Once he was satisfied, he held the needle, point upwards, triumphantly. Ruri's pale lips trembled in fear as she saw what he intended to do.
"No. Oh please, no."
"My own recipe," Matador sneered. "You'll be the first to die by it. I swear, once you've had a taste of this stuff, you'll wish I'd killed you the first time!"
Ruri could barely breathe, let alone form words – her throat seemed to have closed off completely. "Please don't do this," she sobbed feebly.
The assassin laughed out loud. "Finally showing fear! How delightful!" He stamped on her back, forcing her face down to the floor, then crouched down next to her. Ruri could feel his warm breath against her ear as he spoke.
"Time to leave, bitch."
With that he forcibly grasped her hair, rammed her head against the floor and thrust the pin into the base of her neck.
She felt its effect instantly – her vision blurred into a child's painting and her mind caved in on itself, her thoughts scattering around like papers in the wind. Nausea hit her like a tidal wave and what little strength she had left gushed out of her in an instant. She lay prone on the floor, using the one shred of consciousness she had left to jump to the logical conclusion.
"Poisoned?"
Yes, that was the only possibility. Then it truly was the end for her now.
She became vaguely aware of someone laughing behind her. The sound seemed faint and distant now, as if she was hearing it from underwater. Bright colours were flying everywhere now in elusive streaks of light. It was all too much to take, soon she would black out. Her grip on reality was ebbing at an alarming rate and it wouldn't be long before she lost it altogether. There was only time for one last action.
Using strength on credit, she latched onto the edge of her console, pulled herself part of the way up and planted her trembling palm onto the control surface. Her implants started glowing as the computer registered her presence.
"Omoikane?" she whispered weakly. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the input screen flashing, signalling that the computer had heard.
"Omoikane," Ruri repeated, her voice now faint as a breeze. "Go to Red Alert."
Those final words spoken, she slithered off the console and fell lifelessly to the floor, finally succumbing to the darkness.
