Title: Rescue Run

Author: Lady Rheena

Genres: Alternate Universe, Action/Adventure, Romance

Rating: R

Disclaimer: If you recognise it from a fandom, I probably don't own it. That includes the world of The Matrix, all its characters and the concepts it entails. The idea of the Fleet and the Planetary Coalition are technically my own, but you'll probably recognise bits and pieces from various sci-fi media.

Chapter notes: Think it was time to up the pace a bit. To go with the history lesson.

Part 15- Remembering To Live

Dena didn't feel entirely comfortable with having so much of her bare skin on show in a public place- the last time she'd worn anything as brief as the cropped linen blouse and mid-thigh wrap skirt was probably a beachside holiday back on Ganymede during her early childhood. But although she was incredibly and uncharacteristically self-conscious about her appearance, she found that if anything she blended in more than usual with the crowds inside the Temple. Her normal dress, the dark blue-black Fleet uniform, always awarded her with many glances of interest and awe because it marked her undeniably as 'the offworlder.' But now, in what closely approximated the costume of some kind of exotic dancer in her own mind, she was barely getting a second glance.

Well no, that was a lie. She was getting plenty of second glances from the solitary men who noticed her carefully elbowing her way towards the crew ledge. But she was willing to bet they weren't intrigued about her flight engineering qualifications.

Spotting Sparks leaning against the rear wall of the ledge with Ghost, she paused to make the most of the opportunity to get a proper look at him unobserved. He was a full head taller than she was, broad across the chest and shoulders like all the native men of Zion, with long legs and strong, muscular arms. His hair was a dark brown-black, cut to the same few centimetres length all over and mussed as always into rough spikes at all angles. He had a sharp profile full of angles that softened slightly whenever he turned enough for his sapphire blue eyes to catch the light; incredibly expressive eyes, she knew, when he wasn't rolling them in sarcastic exasperation at something he found annoying. His long-fingered hands, adept at dancing over a keyboard at inhuman speeds, curled slightly around his elbows where he stood with his arms folded, his back half turned to her as he listened to his companion speaking.

Breaking into a smile, Dena walked towards them slowly, since she had to be careful to emphasise the sway of her hips as she walked or risk losing the skirt altogether. Ghost's gaze flicked up and she caught his eye with a sly wink.

'I'll be damned,' he remarked quietly. Sparks glanced round and then unabashedly did a double-take.

'Holy shit,' he muttered, eyes wide with scarcely-concealed shock. 'Dena?'

'Who were you expecting, Niobe?'

'You…' he stopped and shook his head. 'You look incredible.' Regarding her for a moment, he suddenly added, 'What happened to that diagnostic run?'

Smiling ruefully as she closed the distance between them, Dena slid her arms around his waist and then up his back, tilting her face up to his.

'Sparks, I've opped that diagnostic routine over a hundred times these past two weeks alone. If there is any problem, one more run isn't going to find it.'

'Now that's the kind of protocol I like,' he murmured, enfolding her in his arms and bringing his lips to hers.

'I guess you guys aren't planning on looking for the cider,' Ghost observed wryly.

'I think we'll give it a miss tonight,' Sparks said without taking his eyes off Dena's face.

'Then I'll see you tomorrow up in dock.' With a nod to Dena, Ghost moved off into the crowds. Sparks dipped his head and kissed her again; a long, slow kiss that promised good things to come. She felt for his hands and moved them to encircle her waist, settling her own on his upper arms to hold him close to her.

'Why the sudden divergence, Captain?' he asked in a low voice.

'You could say I got an alarm call,' she whispered, dropping her eyes.

'What does that mean?' he held her off him slightly so he could see her face.

'We could all die in this launch, Sparks. Easily die in it.' Sighing heavily, she laid her head against his chest. 'I just got so wrapped up in the possibility of dying I forgot about the living part. I'm sorry.'

He wrapped his arms around her and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

'Hey, it's okay. We all get a little morbid around here sometimes. Goes with the job.' When she looked up at him again and smiled he jerked his head to indicate the rest of the cavern. 'So you good for a dance?'

'Actually,' she said, lifting one hand to finger the collar of his tunic, 'I was hoping we could skip right to the follow-through, if you don't mind.'

His answering grin was all the response she needed.

'What's that noise?'

'Gate opening in a hurry. Must be a ship coming in.' Niobe tossed Dena a grin. 'What's the odds it's the Neb?'

'I don't bet on definite uncertainties.'

'Ha! You said it.' She snorted. 'Sometimes I wonder how Morpheus ever stayed sane enough to get himself unplugged in the first place.'

'He's quite sane, Niobe. Most religious fanatics are usually the sanest people in history. Moses, Mohammed, Jesus, Martin Luther King, Dervin Engles-'

'Who?'

'Which one?'

'The last one.'

'Engles? Supposed prophet of Kasei Vallis right back at the beginning of the twenty-second century. Managed to bring the whole solar system to a standstill with his followers' demonstrations at the planetside launch sites and in the end he revolutionised the colonisation process.'

'How so?' Ghost asked.

'Way back then the colonies were like the old penal camps in Australasia. Criminals and nonconformists got sent there to break in the new planets as a way of…repaying their debt to society, I suppose. That was all well and good but most of the 'nominated personnel' didn't have anything like the skills or basic physical endurance needed to get a foothold on a new planet. Half the time the colonies ended up having to be put under martial law and permanent Fleet surveillance to stop them collapsing into anarchy. Engles got the system changed so that selection for the colonies became a privilege, not a punishment.'

'And now?' Sparks wanted to know.

'Now we got people fighting for a chance to get in on a new planet and a whole new bureau of the government got created to sort through the requests and select the right people.'

'And yet you're so sure they'll just hand us a planet gift wrapped, Captain?' this was from Mifune, the head of Zion's APU corps, who was standing with them watching a training session with his latest batch of recruits. Dena liked Mifune, a straightforward and outspoken man who'd have been an asset to whatever walk of life he'd chosen. He didn't have the adventurous streak to be a full-time pilot, but he'd have made a damn good deck crew leader on a supership like the Gormenghast.

'I'm sure, sir. Mainly because the mere fact that you all exist, alive and well, defines you as the right people,' she replied with a grin.

'I certainly hope so.' He glanced out over the recruits and their mostly as of yet clumsy handling of the giant mechanical APU bodies. 'Training kids to prove green land rather than fight for their lives appeals to me.'

'I think it does to all of us,' Niobe commented. At that moment there was a loud crash that made them all look up and towards the gargantuan gate, which was currently open almost to its full girth to allow the passage of the Mjolnir, one of the largest ships in Zion's fleet. She was halfway through the gap at standard docking speed, but her gun turrets had abruptly swivelled around and begun firing back into the tunnels. A glint of silver was followed by a fiery blast and then another loud crash. The APU- manned of course by a full soldier, not a recruit- that stood with both guns aimed at the tunnels to prevent any possible pursuit from getting very far inside, had been hit head-on by a swarm of at least a dozen sentinel machines and toppled down from the walkway to the piping below.

'Shit!' Mifune exclaimed, and without further comment leapt over the railing to run towards the formation of trainees, bellowing orders that got lost in the sudden chaos.

'Holy shit, where'd those bastards come from?' Niobe exclaimed. 'Ghost-' but the diminutive gunner was already belting towards the control tower in the centre of the dock to lend a hand to the duty shift who were trying to train their defences on the unexpected invaders.

'What do we do?' Dena shouted.

'Duck and cover!' Sparks hollered back. 'Mifune's men'll handle it!'

She was about to obey, seeing that half of the intruding squids were already down, when she spotted one halt, spin in midair and then suddenly shoot out along the walkway.

It was headed straight for the Logos.

Her next move was made without conscious or rational thought of any kind. She jumped over the railing and sprinted towards the little ship, pausing only to pick up one of the heavy pulse rifles that lay in charging cradles around the dock, put there for that very purpose. Legs pumping, she fired wildly- missing by a considerable margin, but making the sentinel pull up sharply and turn towards her instead.

'You get away from her, you fucking machine!' she screamed, skidding to a halt and hefting the heavy rifle properly in both hands, aiming squarely at the red-eyed head as it arrowed itself towards her at an impossible speed. Reflexively she squeezed the trigger and a blast of electrical energy shot out, engulfing the thing moments before it hit her. It reeled backwards, limbs flailing wildly, and she fired again just as a single one of those metallic tentacles lashed out and caught her squarely in the chest, hurling her into the air and backwards almost six metres before she hit the floor. She heard the gun land with a dull thud a short distance away, heard someone scream her name, and then darkness took her.