The Waiver (16)
It was six centuries ago, on a planet with no name. The Blue claimed that Planet Glowstick always was. They could cite no time or method of origin. No explanation of why that planet was either mutated or spawned completely of acidic radioactive rock. All they knew was that six hundred years ago, they were not the Blue, but the Stor'dia.
The planet of the Stor'dia was slowly losing the mirror-like atmospheric shell which protected the surface from intense radiation. While the Stor'dia themselves were breaking also. The world leaders had jumped into the world's only starship and split. An even balanced crew of males and females, so that the world leaders could repopulate once another planet was conquered. Leaving the rest of the population to fend for themselves.
Political tensions had risen, none could agree on how to defend themselves from the spreading sickness. The two political parties were the Blue, who had recently discovered a metal which warded off the sickness. And the Red... who discovered that some who were born had not been affected by the radiation. They were healthy and strong and could bear viable young.
So the Blue and Red split, each ceding from a joint government. Those of the Blue tunneled deep underground and lined the walls of every tunnel with the miraculous rock. Lead. Not understanding that they had traded one evil for another. Still not knowing.
Should I tell them?
The Red slowly died one-by-one, but survived each time by more and more children. Somehow adapted to the radiation. Under such small doses under the thinning atmosphere, though they did not survive, the genes that would protect their species thrived in their children. So did their vendetta. They would destroy the Blue no matter what the cost. The world would be united under one government, one species.
The Red.
Sick and dying underground, but still not open to Glowstick's radiation, the Blue collected shiny meteors that had fallen from the sky. They believed these to be gifts from planet Glowstick. As the Lead would ward off radiation, this beautiful green metal would stop whatever was still making them sick now. Lead poisoning.
The Blue would be dead in another century or so, with or without the Red trying to kill them. They were killing themselves. But with this new Tunnel-Lord and his magical stones, they had taken on a new life, with pride. Now they were hunting the Red. And it was much easier to kill something above-ground then below.
As the Red's missiles would only impact the surface, not harming the tunnels underneath, the Blue had a much more sinister and clean way of eliminating the Red.
The air below ground was super-filtered. Only the cleanest air in. Freshwater came from deep wells, food from grubs in the soil, making them completely self-contained. Meanwhile the Tunnel-leaders had brought new technology to the Tunnel-Lord. A satellite which would orbit their planet, reflecting the radiation and diverting it to clouds nearby.
Making the rain deadly poisonous.
The two sides were so firm in their belief that the other was choosing the wrong way to survive, that they were going to kill each other and leave the planet in ruins.
Which is why the moment it was just us, when the Blue Tunnel Lord's friends had left, Marco jumped to his feet.
"Okay, I dub this 'Planet Politix'... and I'm never coming back here."
I ignored him and tried to get my facts straight. "Maybe that's why the Red shot at us. They must have thought we were a satellite?"
Marco nodded. "That or Politix's old leaders coming back to see if they were all dead yet after six hundred years."
"I do not understand," Jeanne interjected. "Vere this technology goes? If zey have spaceships many years ago, vere iz it now?"
Conversation stopped and all eyes were on Jeanne.
Marco touched a finger to his lower lip. "Would six hundred year old parts be usable, Mendy?"
Menderash ignored the barb at his name, "I do not know. I would have to test the materials. It all depends on the metal's longevity and maintenance."
He looked up at me. "I don't know," he said, solemnly shaking his head.
"Okay, so we have to find out if spaceships still exist on this planet, can they be used for parts and can we get a hold of them." I said, preparing to dole out instructions.
"Not in that order, sir." Menderash disagreed. "I would need to have the material close by to test it. Finding it, however, should be the simplest task."
Marco snorted.
"While main sensors are temporarily disabled," Menderash persisted, "we do have the capacities to send a small seismic wave to the center of the planet.
At our blank looks he continued, impassioned to get the idea across to us. "...resulting in a primitive three-dimensional radar... with all points of interest displayed in a holographic schematic... Do any of you understand what I am describing to you?"
Santorelli alone raised his hand, and the rest of us slowly succumbed to a fit of giggles.
"There has to be something in the air down here, I don't care what that scanner says."
As we filed out of the room, to see if it was still raining out, Cassie's irritable quip made me look to the green tiled room a few doors over. Maybe it wasn't the air we should've been worried about.
The rain had passed. My team had filed into our crippled ship to go about some semblance of business as usual. I took a break to get a breath of fresh air. As I stepped out the dock, I was struck by Politix's nighttime sky. The stars were barely visible, overshadowed by Glowstick's illumination.
I slumped onto the stiff golden grass with a sigh.
Crunching footsteps nearby alerted the soldier's reflex in me. Shooting my arm out quickly, I grasped a jean-clad leg.
"Oh. Sorry, Cass."
Smiling down at me... she never looked more tired. I gestured for her to take a spot next to me and she did, sliding her hand into mine. She followed my gaze to the stars above. I saw the fear in her eyes, reflecting the glow of the radioactive planet above us.
She stifled a cough. "That can't be healthy, Jake. Pretty. But not healthy. We should get inside."
"Yeah." I hesitated. "Cassie, are you all right? You don't seem yourself lately."
She released my hand. "We all don't act ourselves sometimes, Jake." I lowered my head a bit. I wasn't exactly the greatest guy to be around after the war ended.
"I know. But beside that, you act as if you have something on your mind bothering you. I thought maybe you'd want to tell me what."
"No. Nothing. Just stress." I could tell she was forcing her smile as she kissed my cheek. But I didn't want it to end at that. What if I had done something to upset her or was making the wrong decisions again? Every time Cassie had tried to stop me from doing something and I went and did it anyways... I just always regretted it.
I turned my face so that her lips slid to mine. She made a low little sound as we kissed and I waited until she opened her eyes to speak.
"Just know. If you have anything to tell me, do it. I may not like it at the time, but I'll get over myself, okay?" I tried to make myself voice as comforting as possible, looking her straight in the eyes.
She gave an exasperated sigh. "You can be really sweet when you want, Jake. Let's go inside now. Please?"
I nodded and stood, pausing to help Cassie to her feet. We held hands until we boarded, then parted to resume our separate duties. It disturbed me how Cassie was acting. I felt like I was being brushed off. But it was understandable. If for no other reason than I deserved it.
Marco tapped me on the shoulder, breaking me from the thought. "Hey, Santorelli and I have something to show you below decks. In the hangar. You gotta see what we did down there, dude. You're freakin' gonna love it."
I shook my head. "Nah, thanks, Marco. I got stuff on my mind right now, man. I can't be playing around while my ship is out of commission."
"Jake, didn't I prove to you I'm your best buddy in the world?" he said monotonously.
Oh no.
"And aren't I solely responsible for creating an atmosphere in which you and your lover-lady can reconcile?" he continued, still straight faced.
I nodded slowly.
"Then get your ass downstairs, fearless leader! You owe me."
"All right, but this better be worth my time."
"You bet it is, you aughta see what we made a basketball out of and-"
I gasped, startled, "Basketball!"
Playing basketball with Marco, Tobias and Santorelli gave me a lasting adrenaline rush. We had switched around teams a couple of times, due to Marco's complaint that Santorelli and I had an advantage. So Tobias and I matched up and eventually won, but Marco claimed we were cheating anyways. Laughing as Marco yelled out insults, we had split apart for some of us to start our shift and others to bed.
So I can say that I was feeling quite chipper as I rapped on Cassie's door. Though we had lived together for some time before embarking on this rescue mission, I still felt it wasn't polite to just walk in on her. Which seemed like it was going to be a problem, because she wasn't answering her door.
"Uh Cassie?" I shouted through the door. "Hello? Okay, well, I'm coming in!"
I used my Captain's Privilege, overriding the lock on her door, to find her peacefully resting in bed. "Cassie?" I asked again, whispering now to not wake her if she was asleep. Noticing no reaction, I perched on the side of her bed and watched her for a while.
She was curled up on one side and hadn't even bothered to change into her nightgown. Must've been exhausted for that to happen. Cassie mostly didn't care what she wore or looked like, but loved that nightgown and was pretty insistent about wearing it every night. Not that I minded... actually the neckline on that thing was kinda low and-
Something was wrong. Her breath seemed to be shallow and broken. I leaned in closer, aiming my ear to her mouth. I'm not even close to the doctor of the group, that was more Cassie than I, but I have the common sense to know a sick person when I see one.
I gently rubbed her shoulder. "Hey, Cassie? Are you all right?"
". . . Cassie? Cassie!"
End of Chapter Sixteen (16)
REVIEWER RESPONSE:
Quillan: Thanks so much, Dude! Come on back to the review corner again and for this chapter don't be so freakin' nice!
Elwing: Welcome back to my Review Corner, Elwing! It was strange? Crap. Okay, flip me an e-mail with what erked you in the last chapter, please. I won't argue with whatever you tell me, lol. Nah, just radiation poisoning. Guess she doesn't have a very strong immune system or something. Hey, don't look at me, man, I just write it.
Victim-of-his-own-design: May I say, kickass penname there. I totally abandoned character development a few chapters ago and have been regretting it. So this and next couple of chapters are equally my retribution and proof that you can have action, drama and angst in one chapter. Whereas I usally put those in separate chapters... because I am a hack.
RaspberryGirl: AHOY! If it isn't the other skeleton in fanfiction's closet! Hey, um, what do you think about me... rewriting said controversial smut chapter again? and, oh I dunno, reposting or something like that? Eh? Huh? I'm in a "dry spell" right now (because apparently fanfiction authors aren't sexy, who knew?) So I'm totally in the mood for writing smut lately. Plus, I'm a review whore and sex always delivers. Well, what'd ya think?
The vote is back, people!
(Even though I have since edited my chapters to delete the old votes. Which has resulted in strange reviews where people have only typed numbers)
Vote #1: Reader ignores Early and changes to the Worship Channel- "Aughta be ashamed, this is a children's story!"
Vote #2: Reader switches to the Playboy Channel and gives Early the thumbs up.- "Hey, I haven't seen a child in the Animorphs section since '98. Rock it, bro!"
Your Author in Crime,
--EARLY