Chapter 2: To the Wind's Twelve Quarters
"What the hell?!" growled Matthews angrily as everyone was started out of their reverie at the sudden sound. He had almost fallen out of his chair in surprise, and tried to cover up his embarrassment by stomping on the unfortunate Hammer's head. "Hammer!"
"Captain!" Hammer whined weakly. He himself had almost jumped out of his skin when the buzz sounded, and now he had a footprint on his head as well. He sighed longingly at the other consoles to the right, and wondered if there was a way to switch over to the other side.
A loud buzz sounded again.
"Hammer!" Another stomp.
"Ouch! Alright, alright, Captain; I'm onto it," Hammer grumbled, rubbing the back of his head with one hand as he scanned the console in front of him. "Ah, it's from the Durandal. I'll open a channel."
chaos blinked and smiled as he walked forward, "They must have been quite worried."
A screen materialized on the bridge.
"Little Master!" Mary screamed in relief. "You're alright! Thank goodness."
There was a cacophony of sound as cheers, sighs and a barrage of questions deluged the Elsa's bridge.
"Argh!" Jr. yelled, "Pipe down! You people are going to burst my eardrums! Put Gaignun on, would you?"
The noise level gradually died down as Mary moved aside for Gaignun, but those aboard the Elsa could still make out her sulky retort, "Oh, but we were so worried for Little Master! He didn't need to yell at us like that ..."
"Is everything alright? What happened on the Proto Merkabah? We've been trying to get in contact with you ever since it broke apart; were you not receiving the signal?" Gaignun's expression, while calm, held a hint of anxiety.
"Hmm, it must have been the electromagnetic inference, with all the falling debris from the Proto Merkabah," chaos mused out loud.
"Yeah. Anyway, that bastard Albedo programmed the Proto Merkabah to descend into Second Miltia after the destruction of the core reactor," Jr. explained.
Gaignun turned his attention to Jr. He wryly noted the linked hands, but only a slight twitch of his eyebrow betrayed his amusement.
"We had to detach all the sub-compartments so that the debris would be small enough to burn up during descent. By the time we made our escape on the Elsa, we couldn't escape the planet's gravitational pull. It was a close one there, but we made it okay, thanks to KOS-MOS." Jr. gestured towards the android. She paused before nodding curtly.
"I see," Gaignun mused as he acknowledged KOS-MOS with a grave nod. "I assume that Albedo had no intention of going down with the ship?"
"Nah, that bastard fled. He left us to fight a Gnosis fused to the reactor." Jr. kicked angrily at a nearby console to vent his emotions.
"He fused a Gnosis to the reactor?" came the surprised tone of the usually placid Shelley from somewhere to Gaignun's right.
"Well, as long as everyone's okay," Gaignun interjected. "I should go contact Representative Helmer soon and let him know what's happened. So what do you plan to do next?"
"Hmm," Jr. looked around at the others.
"Well," Hammer turned to glance at his captain. "We certainly didn't expect to make landfall on Second Miltia. We aren't carrying enough propulsion to attain escape velocity; we'll need to land and refuel, at least. And we still haven't assessed how much damage the Elsa took during reentry. It may be necessary to repair her before we try to return to the Durandal."
"Yeah," Matthews nodded in agreement. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Repairs? More repairs?! Argh! I knew these people were bad luck the moment I set eyes on them!" he moaned.
Jr. snickered at the man's outburst, and he certainly took his time before he assured the distraught captain, "Don't worry. Put it on the Foundation's tab. And we won't dock it off your pay this time."
Gaignun nodded in agreement, carefully hiding a grin behind one hand.
"MOMO," Ziggy stepped forward, throwing a quick look at the tiny Realian, "is supposed to be dropped off here."
A hush descended on the bridge.
MOMO gasped in surprise; she had almost completely forgotten. Being with Ziggy and everyone else on the Elsa had felt like being with family – or at least, what she always imagined family should feel like. And then, there was ...
Jr. had spun around to look at her. She winced involuntarily as his grip tightened around her hand. His mouth hung open and he looked as if he was struck dumb. She thought she saw something flicker in his deep blue eyes, and she felt that she had to say something. But nothing would come out.
"You ..." Jr. tried to force himself to speak, but his throat had gone curiously dry and his voice cracked strangely in the silence. He cleared his throat and tried again, "That's right. You're ... supposed to go to the U.M.N. Control Center, right?" He struggled to regain his composure as he kicked himself mentally. He knew all along that she would leave soon; he had even given her a special charm to keep her safe once she left. His eyes fell automatically to the item in question, which hung loosely about MOMO's wrist, and despite the somber turn of events, felt an inexplicable flutter of satisfaction.
"Ah yes," Gaignun's voice broke into the uncomfortable silence. "I'll check with the Contact Subcommittee and see how they want to arrange matters."
"I will not be returning to the Durandal either," came KOS-MOS' mechanical voice.
Shion turned to KOS-MOS with a start. That was right; she had intended to accompany KOS-MOS to Second Miltia. She had to admit to herself that her strenuous protest to the director was partly motivated by her own pride, and she had given little thought to the implications.
Second Miltia. Returning was unavoidable, it seemed.
"Ah. Very well. Please let Mr. Wilhelm know that we are very grateful for your service."
"As you wish."
"Jr., keep Shelley informed as to your whereabouts. We'll contact you if there are any developments."
"Okay," Junior waved a lazy salute.
The screen went blank, and the bridge was quiet once more. Eyes shifted tensely here and there, glancing at MOMO and KOS-MOS. Someone cleared their throat. A boot scraped lightly against the floor. It was an awkward moment as they reflected on an unavoidable truth.
With all meetings, there would be goodbyes.
"What the hell?!" growled Matthews angrily as everyone was started out of their reverie at the sudden sound. He had almost fallen out of his chair in surprise, and tried to cover up his embarrassment by stomping on the unfortunate Hammer's head. "Hammer!"
"Captain!" Hammer whined weakly. He himself had almost jumped out of his skin when the buzz sounded, and now he had a footprint on his head as well. He sighed longingly at the other consoles to the right, and wondered if there was a way to switch over to the other side.
A loud buzz sounded again.
"Hammer!" Another stomp.
"Ouch! Alright, alright, Captain; I'm onto it," Hammer grumbled, rubbing the back of his head with one hand as he scanned the console in front of him. "Ah, it's from the Durandal. I'll open a channel."
chaos blinked and smiled as he walked forward, "They must have been quite worried."
A screen materialized on the bridge.
"Little Master!" Mary screamed in relief. "You're alright! Thank goodness."
There was a cacophony of sound as cheers, sighs and a barrage of questions deluged the Elsa's bridge.
"Argh!" Jr. yelled, "Pipe down! You people are going to burst my eardrums! Put Gaignun on, would you?"
The noise level gradually died down as Mary moved aside for Gaignun, but those aboard the Elsa could still make out her sulky retort, "Oh, but we were so worried for Little Master! He didn't need to yell at us like that ..."
"Is everything alright? What happened on the Proto Merkabah? We've been trying to get in contact with you ever since it broke apart; were you not receiving the signal?" Gaignun's expression, while calm, held a hint of anxiety.
"Hmm, it must have been the electromagnetic inference, with all the falling debris from the Proto Merkabah," chaos mused out loud.
"Yeah. Anyway, that bastard Albedo programmed the Proto Merkabah to descend into Second Miltia after the destruction of the core reactor," Jr. explained.
Gaignun turned his attention to Jr. He wryly noted the linked hands, but only a slight twitch of his eyebrow betrayed his amusement.
"We had to detach all the sub-compartments so that the debris would be small enough to burn up during descent. By the time we made our escape on the Elsa, we couldn't escape the planet's gravitational pull. It was a close one there, but we made it okay, thanks to KOS-MOS." Jr. gestured towards the android. She paused before nodding curtly.
"I see," Gaignun mused as he acknowledged KOS-MOS with a grave nod. "I assume that Albedo had no intention of going down with the ship?"
"Nah, that bastard fled. He left us to fight a Gnosis fused to the reactor." Jr. kicked angrily at a nearby console to vent his emotions.
"He fused a Gnosis to the reactor?" came the surprised tone of the usually placid Shelley from somewhere to Gaignun's right.
"Well, as long as everyone's okay," Gaignun interjected. "I should go contact Representative Helmer soon and let him know what's happened. So what do you plan to do next?"
"Hmm," Jr. looked around at the others.
"Well," Hammer turned to glance at his captain. "We certainly didn't expect to make landfall on Second Miltia. We aren't carrying enough propulsion to attain escape velocity; we'll need to land and refuel, at least. And we still haven't assessed how much damage the Elsa took during reentry. It may be necessary to repair her before we try to return to the Durandal."
"Yeah," Matthews nodded in agreement. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Repairs? More repairs?! Argh! I knew these people were bad luck the moment I set eyes on them!" he moaned.
Jr. snickered at the man's outburst, and he certainly took his time before he assured the distraught captain, "Don't worry. Put it on the Foundation's tab. And we won't dock it off your pay this time."
Gaignun nodded in agreement, carefully hiding a grin behind one hand.
"MOMO," Ziggy stepped forward, throwing a quick look at the tiny Realian, "is supposed to be dropped off here."
A hush descended on the bridge.
MOMO gasped in surprise; she had almost completely forgotten. Being with Ziggy and everyone else on the Elsa had felt like being with family – or at least, what she always imagined family should feel like. And then, there was ...
Jr. had spun around to look at her. She winced involuntarily as his grip tightened around her hand. His mouth hung open and he looked as if he was struck dumb. She thought she saw something flicker in his deep blue eyes, and she felt that she had to say something. But nothing would come out.
"You ..." Jr. tried to force himself to speak, but his throat had gone curiously dry and his voice cracked strangely in the silence. He cleared his throat and tried again, "That's right. You're ... supposed to go to the U.M.N. Control Center, right?" He struggled to regain his composure as he kicked himself mentally. He knew all along that she would leave soon; he had even given her a special charm to keep her safe once she left. His eyes fell automatically to the item in question, which hung loosely about MOMO's wrist, and despite the somber turn of events, felt an inexplicable flutter of satisfaction.
"Ah yes," Gaignun's voice broke into the uncomfortable silence. "I'll check with the Contact Subcommittee and see how they want to arrange matters."
"I will not be returning to the Durandal either," came KOS-MOS' mechanical voice.
Shion turned to KOS-MOS with a start. That was right; she had intended to accompany KOS-MOS to Second Miltia. She had to admit to herself that her strenuous protest to the director was partly motivated by her own pride, and she had given little thought to the implications.
Second Miltia. Returning was unavoidable, it seemed.
"Ah. Very well. Please let Mr. Wilhelm know that we are very grateful for your service."
"As you wish."
"Jr., keep Shelley informed as to your whereabouts. We'll contact you if there are any developments."
"Okay," Junior waved a lazy salute.
The screen went blank, and the bridge was quiet once more. Eyes shifted tensely here and there, glancing at MOMO and KOS-MOS. Someone cleared their throat. A boot scraped lightly against the floor. It was an awkward moment as they reflected on an unavoidable truth.
With all meetings, there would be goodbyes.