Author's Note: As I said in my note for Space Between, I might not be updating for a couple of weeks due to my show being in its final weeks of rehearsal and performance. Please don't think I'm abandoning it.
Chapter 6: The Rubik's Cube
"Oh my god…this is our ship?" Kid stood on the launch pad, staring wide-eyed at the Athena. It was larger than most of the former Resistance fleet, cobbled together from pieces of retired ships, including what had been salvaged from the Nebuchadnezzar.
"Her ship," corrected Neo, taking a step closer to Trinity.
"Come on now, I know how to share," said Trinity, grinning. The circumstances of the mission were far from ideal, but she had secretly wanted a ship of her own since she had first been brought aboard a Resistance vessel. She wasn't entirely sure why she'd allowed Kid to be the rookie on her ship, but the look on his face when he'd approached her the night before was so full of disappointment that he would never have a chance to serve that she simply could not refuse. Besides which, despite his tendency to be annoyingly happy, Kid had done everything possible in his own way to help her through the past year.
Trinity managed at last to tear her eyes away from the outside of her ship and turned to the rest of her crew. She had ended up with the very best group she could have imagined, though she was a little wary of how they might get along. Niobe had humbly agreed to act as first officer, though it meant temporarily giving up her rank. She had never been the kind of person to openly share her emotions, but it was obvious that Morpheus' sudden illness was taking a heavy toll on her. They had become more than close over the year since the war's end, though neither would speak about it to anyone. Ghost had insisted on coming with her, along with Sparks, who claimed he was going just to get out of Zion. Link had once again reluctantly signed on as operator, though he was wary as always.
"Come on guys, let's take a look at this girl." She started toward the ship, pausing at the entrance ramp to make sure Neo managed to get up it all right.
The inside of the Athena was laid out like all other Resistance vessels, though it did not have quite the same cramped, enclosed feeling she'd grown accustomed to. The computers in the core were slightly updated, the viewscreens larger and the graphics clearer. The customary seven seats slightly larger than before. The lower deck seemed almost empty, as the ship had been outfitted with all the most efficient technology and no longer needed as many engine rooms.
"Holy shit…" gasped Kid, looking around.
"Careful," scolded Trinity. She was fully aware that with the crew she had Kid would be spouting profanities like a sailor from the Matrix within a matter of days, but she couldn't let it go without at least attempting to keep him on the right track.
Kid blushed, suddenly filled with respect.
"Yes, sir. Uhh…ma'am."
Trinity fixed him with an icy glare.
"Captain!" yelped Kid.
"Kid," she said slowly. "Do something for me."
"Yes, captain?"
"Go check the mess hall and make sure our food and water spigots work. Then go make sure everything in your cabin works. Above all, make sure I do not see you for at least the next hour."
"Yes, Captain!" said Kid, and ran off.
She smiled at Kid's retreating form. She knew she was being harsh wit him, but it would be necessary if she was to take this fidgety over-eager teenager and turn him into a useful officer aboard her ship. In a way he reminded her of Mouse, though she was not entirely sure that this was a good thing. The thought brought with it a pang of sadness, both at the memory of fallen comrades and the ever-present knowledge of Morpheus' condition, the entire reason for this mission.
"Shall we?" asked Niobe, jarring Trinity out of her thoughts and gesturing toward the cockpit.
Trinity nodded and led the way up the small ladder to the cockpit, leaving the others to their own devices. Sparks' voice echoed up through the hallway the minute they were out of the room, relating some tale of his masterful endeavors in a Zion bar to a very disinterested Ghost.
Niobe slipped into the copilot's chair, eyeing the controls greedily. Trinity sad beside her and began the customary preflight systems diagnostics, her heart beating a little faster as each green light flickered to life on the console.
"You know, I don't think I'll ever get tired to flying these things."
"I know the feeling. For years all I thought about was how soon I could get out of the fleet…now I realize how much I miss it." She checked the indicators on the control panel one more time, then turned back to Niobe. "All right. Let's see if this bird can fly."
Niobe picked up the intercom with one hand and strapped in with the other.
"All right, boys. Time to go. We don't want to be cleaning body parts off the new equipment once we're in the air, so strap down back there."
"Well with you flying…" came Sparks' voice up through the grated floor.
"You couldn't be in better hands," Trinity yelled back as the ship began to lift off the landing pad.
It rocked a little as it gained altitude—the low, tight passage through the gates was one of the hardest maneuvers a Resistance pilot was required to learn. The idea was to allow only the Resistance ships and nothing else in or out. The ships, however, flew smoothest at a good fast pace, and tended to tip and shake when forced to move slowly.
Trinity glanced over to make sure Niobe was doing all right with the controls, then punched in the com frequency.
"Zion Control, this is the Athena, requesting leave at Gate Four."
The voice that came back over the comlink was distinctly female, though it crackled with static.
"Athena, this is Zion Control. You are cleared for takeoff."
"Damn right," muttered Niobe. "They don't wanna open those doors I'll bust right through them."
Trinity smiled a little at that as the gates began to rise, the metal groaning loudly. Niobe never lost her spirit, no matter what. A small crowd was visible on the rear viewscreen as the Athena glided through the iron gates, though Trinity could not tell if they were wellwishers or an angry mob. Regardless, the sight of them left a feeling of vague unease in the pit of her stomach.
"Should be smooth sailing now," muttered Niobe as the ship found a path in the middle of the main tunnel.
Trinity nodded and unbuckled her safety harness. She'd always hated the thing, it made her feel trapped, though she realized it was necessary in combat.
"You okay up here?" she asked Niobe, standing up. The sudden feeling of the deck vibrating beneath her feet took her by surprise, and she had to grab the back of the chair for balance
"Go check on the boys," said Niobe, smiling a little.
Trinity nodded and made her way to the ladder, keeping close to the wall.
She found the rest of the crew in the mess hall, gathered around Sparks, who was putting on a show as always. He had what appeared to be a brand new Rubik's cube, probably from one of the Zion shops. Since there was less worry about the need for supplies recently, the craftsmen had been focusing more on comfort and entertainment items than ever before. The cube was gorgeous, rubber and perfectly symmetrical, the colors hand painted.
"So," said Sparks, holding up the cube. "Who will be the one to scramble this?"
"Let Kid do it," suggested Link, "he's good at mixing things up."
"I am not!" yelped Kid, flushing red.
Trinity leaned back against the corner of the wall, watching them silently. Ghost raised an eyebrow at her slightly, but no one else seemed to notice her intrusion.
"Well, if no one ever mixes it up, we can't solve it, now can we?" said Sparks, attempting to goad them on.
"It will get scrambled eventually," said Ghost mysteriously.
"How do you figure that?" asked Sparks.
"The principle of entropy states that everything in nature is moving toward chaos. Therefore, even if someone were to scramble the cube and then solve it again, it would retain some of the chaos. It will never again be as ordered as it is now, and it is not as ordered now as it was five minutes ago."
"Well, shit, Ghost," said Sparks angrily. "Now no one's going to want to scramble it. They might jinx our entire mission the way you talk."
An uneasy silence fell over the room, no one wanting to be responsible, but everyone wanting to see it done.
"I'll do it," said Neo at last. There was an air of finality in his voice that somehow made the task at hand seem much more dire than a simple game. As he took the cube from Sparks and began to twist it, Trinity felt the knot of unease in her stomach tighten into all-out dread.
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