Chapter
Four: Once the Wheel Starts Turning
Waking up in a frozen box was not fun.
Finding someone with a gun looking for you minutes later is just annoying.
But when push came to kick, Trance Gemini walked away from the situation in
complete control. ...Sort of...
"There's nothing I can do!" the young woman insisted sharply. Trance
was beginning to wonder if she was broken like the records Harper had told her
about; she kept repeating herself.
"I have to get off this planet," Trance told her again. "There
must be some way to arrange that."
She shook her head. "I'm afraid not. And I'm not inclined to help with
that blaster in my face either."
Trance had forgotten about that. "Oh," she murmured, and placed it at
arm's reach. "What's your name?"
The question seemed to frighten the woman, and she looked like she was debating
whether or not to answer for a period afterward. Trance stayed extremely
patient, and smiled encouragingly at her. Finally, she muttered,
"Briani."
"Briani," the purple girl said sweetly, "could I at least send a
message to my friends? ...I'm sure they would come and pick me up."
"No." Briani didn't even pause long enough to consider it.
"Why not?"
~~~
Ha! Use the communications system? ...Who ever this girl was, she was obviously
either very stupid, or incredibly smart. The communications channels used by
the outside galaxy were never touched by members of the Resistance, solely for
security reasons. Sure, the Resistance had its own web of communications relays
on a specially created, ultra secret frequency, but the channel was not opened
unless it was an emergency. Breaking code to satisfy this girl would have been
out of the question. Briani would have died first.
Briani's gaze was tugged toward the blaster. She had been more than shocked
when the girl had put it down. Right at that instant, though, it presented a
tempting escape.
But for the moment, she decided to stay calm, and try to understand the one who
claimed to be Trance. Oh, she didn't believe her for an instant. Trance Gemini
had left Svorog's Anvil with the rest of the off-worlders, leaving her tail
behind.
If she wasn't Trance, then what did she want with the tail? And how was the
tail now attached to her? ...It didn't make sense.
"Who are you?" she asked curiously.
"I told you already. My name is Trance, and I would very much like to
leave."
Interesting. "Trance Gemini?" Briani chuckled. "That's
impossible. She left this planet with her friends eleven months ago."
~~~
Trance hid her surprise well. Inside she was bubbling over with questions and
conflicting memories, and outside there was no change in her calm expression.
"No, I didn't leave. If I had left, I wouldn't be here. But I'm here, so
you must be mistaken."
"Why don't you just tell me who you really are and what faction you're
working for? You're going to do that before you kill me, aren't you? Most
villains do," Briani growled, glaring at her.
"My name is Trance!" This wasn't happening. It couldn't have been
happening. Her friends wouldn't leave her. Harper wouldn't leave his
"pixie" behind... Would he?
She didn't want to believe that Briani was right. Didn't want to face the fact
that something terrible had happened to her, and possibly her friends. There
had to be a sensible explanation for all of it, but Trance couldn't see that
right then.
"Please," Trance pleaded, tears beginning to collect in her eyes.
"I just want to find out what happened to me. Where my friends are.
Please."
"Prove it."
Trance blinked, curiously watching Briani. "Huh?"
"Give me proof that you are Trance Gemini, and I'll do anything I can to
help you."
The purple girl paused, considering the offer. When she looked up again, there
was a sheer determination in her eyes. "I'll do it."
------------------------
"I don't care what the regulations are, Brit. I have to speak to Isabella
Ortiz."
Briani sat at the one communications relay in the basement, leaning forward so
far that her nose almost brushed against the screen. All the red tape was
supposed to be a good thing, but lately, she had found it to be far more
troublesome than it was worth.
"I'm sorry, Tiez, that's just not possible. You know what would happen if
we let every person who wanted a word with her to have it. We'd never get
anything done," Brit, a very military-looking woman, told her firmly.
"Ortiz is very busy as it is. And besides that, it wouldn't be safe!"
"I'm not asking for much -- just a few minutes of her time," she
countered, frowning. She already knew the other Resistance officer's answer.
"I would help you if I could. Believe me."
She had been hoping to avoid revealing anything to Brit, or anyone else over
the communications channel, but it looked like she had no choice. "Look,
this could be a matter of life and death. I've tried to gain access to a
Resistance transport, but my clearance level's not high enough! I have no where
else to turn."
"Have you tried talking to General Tarandus or Military Advisor Godeskian?
Maybe they could help you." Brit was trying to help out, and Briani knew
that, but her suggestions only made the situation look that much more
desperate.
"I've tried everybody who ever owed my family a favor, even some friends
of the family - no one is willing to take the risk." She's been at this
for hours, and it was starting to show. She would have to play her last card
soon, and hope for the best.
Brit sighed, and Briani could see the helplessness in her face. She really
wanted to help, but there was nothing she thought she could do. Briani decided
to change that.
"Your sister's name is Jadis, right, Brit? ...And wasn't her life saved by
a certain purple visitor?"
She made a face, but nodded. She was obviously wondering what that had anything
to do with Briani.
"What if I told you I had Trance Gemini here, and she's the one who needs
your help, not me?"
"Trance...Gemini? Briani," Brit sighed loudly, "I know you mean
well, but dragging her into this isn't going to help you. I know for a fact
that she is no longer on the planet."
Briani grinned. "But if she was, would you arrange for the chat with Ortiz?"
"That really doesn't matter, since she's not there."
She knew a good opportunity when she saw one, and this was it - her best shot
at finding her way off this forsaken planet. Motioning for the girl to step
into the view of the screen, Briani backed up to make room. "They say
seeing is believing..."
Trance shyly peeked at the screen, waving. "H-hi."
On the screen, the woman gasped, her eyes wide as saucers.
"Well, Brit? What do you think now?"
The woman was silent for several moments, and when she spoke, she sounded
shocked. "I'll...send someone over right away."
----------------------------
Trance climbed into the shuttle gracefully, looping her tail around her ankle.
Ortiz had been kind enough to supply the SHOOTING STAR after a very long chat.
It seemed as if she was still very grateful to Trance for helping her all those
months ago, and was as puzzled as everyone else to find her back on their
planet without any knowledge of how she got there.
The "missing" memories taunted Trance. That had to be the answer,
though. The thought that her friends had abandoned her there was just not
believable. Somehow, something had happened to her, that much was certain. But
the hows, whys, and whos were as of yet a mystery, even to the purple one.
~~~
"Course, Miss Gemini?" the pilot requested.
"Smirk, Morgan. You know you want to," Briani teased him. That man
had been grinning ever since he saw Trance. Briani couldn't blame him, though.
They were meeting a living legend among the Resistance. She and her friends had
saved Ortiz's life, it was told, and for that, the whole community was
thankful.
"Oh shut it," Morgan muttered, rolling his eyes.
Mercury's Winter, a female Amber Than serving as the STAR's environmental
systems officer, tapped a computer panel along the wall. A chart of neighboring
systems popped onto the screen.
Briani watched as Trance crept toward it, and finally pointed to a seemingly
random area of the map. "There. We should go there."
"Winter, what's in that region of space," Briani asked curiously.
"A few inhabitable planets, a dragon-class star, and Luzmaria Drift."
Trance smiled calmly at Briani, giving a little nod at the end.
"Then by all means, set a course for Luzmaria Drift," she said
quickly, sitting down in a comfortable chair and strapping in. This was going
to be an interesting trip.
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Hehe Sorry about the looooooooong wait! Hehe… Been busy applying to college and such, so… Hehe ^,^