Part 3: Birthday Run

"Friday morning at nine o'clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the motor trade"
Lennon and McCartney, "She's Leaving Home"

Friday, March 19, 1999

00:01.

She should get up.

It was past midnight. She had been staring at the clock for little under four hours, now, waiting for midnight – waiting for the date to change. If she'd have gotten up couple of minutes ago then she'd be ready to leave by now, but she didn't.

She really should get up.

It was after midnight. She should get out – no point loitering if she was leaving. She was not one to waste time or to hesitate once she had made up her mind. Was she hesitating now?

Any second and it would be 00:02. It would be two minutes into the new day, and she would still be lying in bed, motionless. Was she afraid? She dismissed the thought at it appeared – precious few things scared her, and none of them was relevant to the current situation. But she was still lying in bed. Was she nervous? She had done more daring things without blinking or looking back once.

00:02.

Why was this so hard?

She'd been trained for awareness for the last eight months: of her surroundings, and mostly of herself. She was acquiring the habit of not acting without understanding the motives behind her will to act. She knew perfectly well her reasons for wanting to do what she set out to do tonight. It was her reasons for not acting that scared her.

Should she or should she not act?

She pushed herself into a sitting position. Get out first, think later. She had had to change into pajamas earlier, but she had a uniform tucked under the mattress. She pulled it out and changed quickly. The emblems on the jacket were clearly visible to her, even in the dark, and she tried hard not to look at them. The uniform was a Megaship uniform, black like Zhane's and with the Megaship's golden M on the back, but it was not an Astro uniform: the Astro uniforms had two mission tags on their right breast and shoulder, and hers had none; the Astro uniforms had a color bar at the top of their left breast, and she had none; and where the Astros' Power Strike went over a triangle of their color, hers went over a muted green background contained within a thin blue ring.

All her school stuff was in her locker at school, and everything of personal value had been transferred to the Megaship a long time ago. Everything else she could easily find in the dark, and it fit easily into the backpack: three pairs of pants, a stack of shirts, a jacket, socks and underwear. She put the toothbrush and toothpaste in a side pocket and tied the sneakers to the back of the bag.

She tugged the bootlaces again – not that they needed it – straightened up and shouldered the bag. All set. She checked her communicator, and frowned. The Megaship was not in Earth orbit. She could page for a glider and it would reach her in a matter of minutes, but now that she got moving she didn't want to delay; and she didn't want to alert anyone on the Megaship, either – there was no knowing what DECA might decide to report.

She'd have to teleport, then. She still didn't like long-distance teleports, but at least they didn't give her hypercharge, anymore. That was a bother, and the reason she had her own glider for over half a year now.

She was delaying again. Once she realized it, the darkened room disappeared in a heartbeat and she was standing in a sunlit kitchen. No one was home – as she expected. It was early afternoon over here, and Rya and the girls had no reason to be home. The house was quiet, and she counted on it staying this way at least for a few hours. Still, it felt weird to be at somebody else's house, all alone and without telling anyone that she would be there.

She walked over to the living room, dropped her bag by the couch, undid the boots, lay down and was asleep in a matter of seconds.

She woke up sharply, as she always did. There was another person breathing next to her – less than a foot away. There were only three people who could get this close to her, while she was asleep, without waking her up first. Emma was asleep in her room on Earth and she would've known if Carlos was this close, and this left only one option.

Karone was sitting on the floor, watching her. This was not where Shiera fell asleep.

She pushed herself up, sharply, eyes scanning the room: wardrobe, ink paintings, armchair, body-length mirror, bureaus at either size of the bed. She'd never seen this room before.

"Where are we?"

"We thought you'd take a glider" said Karone, disregarding Shiera's question. "The teleportation was a bit of a surprise, so you got extra twenty minutes of sleep on top of what we had planned"

"What the hell is going on?"

Karone pulled herself from her cross-legged position into a standing one. "You probably realized already that we're on a spaceship", she said. "It used to be a freighter. Andros and Zhane completely redid the engines, though, so it runs almost as fast as the Megaship, now. Redoing what used to be crew quarters was team effort. You have this unit, and two smaller guest units. There's also a nice training area in what used to be one of the cargo bays"

"You've got all the facilities here", continued Karone. Shiera was still sitting on the bed, frozen to the spot. "You can park it in Earth orbit for school, and set a course for wherever when you want to. Happy eighteenth birthday, Shiera"

Shiera turned her head slowly, taking in the sight of the room, before focusing on Karone again.

"I didn't tell anyone I was going to leave", she said slowly. "Not even Carlos"

"None of us expected you to stay there", said Karone. She set down beside Shiera. "I think I knew you were going to leave before you did"

"Karone, this is huge…"

"It's right", said Karone simply.

Shiera stood up and started exploring the room. She moved slowly, carefully, taking her time to examine each piece of furniture. Karone remained seated, watching her.

A sad chuckle escaped Shiera as she opened the wardrobe.

"You always dress the same", said Karone from behind here. "It was easy. Stocking the kitchen was harder"

Shiera turned. "There's a kitchen?"

"I told you you have all the facilities", said Karone. She got up and stood next to Shiera, facing her.

"Thank you", said Shiera in a low voice.

Karone shook her head. "Happy birthday", she repeated.

Shiera shook her head. She was close to tears.

"Come on, you should see the rest of the place". She took Shiera's hand and tugged her towards the door. The girl was still slightly in shock – not that Karone could blame her. "Don't you want to see it?"

Shiera finally moved. The room's door slid open as they approached it. The kitchen and living room area were essentially one space, separated only by a half-height bulkhead. TJ and Andros were sitting on one of the couches, playing Chess. Ashley was also on the couch, sitting behind Andros, her arm on one of his left shoulder and her chin rested on his right. Cassie was keeping Carlos occupied in the kitchen, and Zhane was apparently trying to distract them both. There were balloons everywhere, and a very large "Happy Birthday" banner.

Everybody turned their heads when they heard the door swish open.

Shiera froze. Karone put her hand on Shiera's shoulder and prayed that the girl won't faint. Then Carlos rushed towards them, and Karone stepped away as he pulled Shiera off of her feet, hugged her and kissed her all in one movement. They only broke the kiss when the catcalls from Zhane and TJ became too loud, but Shiera remained next to Carlos, hands tight on his shirt as if she would fall without this support; which, Karone concluded, may well be true.

Everyone gathered around them, offering birthday wishes and congratulations. It was a good few moments before Shiera found her voice, and her first strangled words were: "I should kill you guys".

The general response was laughter.

"After we have cake", said TJ.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"The sign of a good surprise party", said Zhane cheerfully.

"And nearly all of you have school tomorrow"

"As do you", pointed Cassie.

"We're in transit from Kerova to Earth", explained Ashley. "We'll be in Earth orbit before dawn, even"

Shiera shook her head wordlessly.

"Yeah", said Andros sympathetically. "Happy birthday, Shiera"

School was a haze that day. The little sleep she got before Karone woke her on the ship was the only sleep she got that night – they partied until after they arrived in Earth orbit, and Carlos remained with her even after everyone else dispersed. She hadn't really listened in any of her classes – or rather, she listened even less then she usually did.

Then classes were over, and she caught the bus to "Gung Ho". The dojo had replaced the "Surf Spot" as the team's hangout as months progressed: it was more secure than Adelle's, and the secret chamber Rocky had installed during last summer's renovation proved itself useful time and time again.

She didn't see Rocky when she entered, but that didn't mean he wasn't there. Rocky was always there – Ben, the owner, pulled back from most duties over the time that passed since he hired Rocky full-time, after Rocky's graduation, and now Rocky was the actual manager of the dojo.

There was a huge fish tank by the wall, and Shiera kneeled next to it. It was a new thing, and she wondered where Rocky was going to put it.

He saw her by the fish tank from upstairs, and he smiled. His smile widened as he came downstairs and she didn't yet notice him, busy watching the fish. He stopped four feet behind her.

"Hi, Shiera"

"Hi, Rocky" She turned her head to great him, but immediately returned to watching the fish.

"Cool, isn't it?" he asked. He stepped forward, standing practically over her.

"It's amazing", she said. "I didn't know you like fish"

"Yeah, well"

"Where are you going to put it? It doesn't fit anywhere in the dojo"

"No, it doesn't", he agreed. The smile had long turned into a full grin. "But it's just the right size for the counter you have between the kitchen and the living room"

She spun and stood so fast that she almost knocked him off his feet. The expression on her face was priceless.

"You were on this too?"

"Well, duh. How else could I get the right measurements?" he asked rhetorically. "It's from Adam and Tommy, too, since they couldn't be here today. They send their wishes, though; and the fish"

Any normal girl would've squealed by now, and probably hugged him, but Shiera only laughed a little and shook her head. "It's incredible. Thanks, Rocky"

"You're welcome. Happy birthday, kid"

She plopped down by the tank. "This was a long day"

"So I heard", he agreed. "And it's not over yet. You may want to change into gi"

She groaned out loud. "Class in fifteen. Damn!"

He bent down and patted her knee. "Plenty of coffee in the kitchen"

"I know what you call coffee", she retorted. "No thanks"

"This is good coffee", he told her. "Adam's stuff"

She nodded and pushed herself up. "I'd better change first. But I do hope you meant 'plenty' "

"Sure I did. Can't have you fainting in the middle of class because you didn't sleep enough"

She glared at him. He raised his arms in mock-surrender. "What? It's not like it didn't happen before, you know!"

Carlos met her after class, as he always did. He brought Emma with him. She ran over to Shiera and Shiera picked her up, not caring who might see.

"God, I missed you, baby girl", she said. "Sorry for not telling you"

Emma gave her a Look. "I knew you were going to leave"

"You were in on the entire scheme, too?"

"Duh". Emma rolled her eyes. "I did my room. Now we don't need to order the Megaship each time I wanna visit Melissa or Kirrie!"

"You can stop asking people if they knew", Carlos told her. "Everyone's in who could be told"

"So what did you name it?" asked Emma. "The ship", she added at Shiera's blank expression.

Now was Carlos' turn to roll his eyes. "You had all day, and you didn't think up a name?"

"Why does it need a name?"

"Because we can't just say 'the ship' each time. There are plenty of ships out there"

"Why do I need to name it?"

"Because it's yours", pointed Emma practically. "But I'll name it for you if you want"

"And how would you name it?"

" 'Orbit' " said Emma.

" 'Orbit'?" asked Carlos, amused.

Emma shrugged. "It's the next practical name after naming it 'ship'," she pointed.

" 'Orbit' it is", agreed Shiera. "So, anyone up for dinner on Orbit? I think there's some food left from the party"

"The place was stocked", informed her Carlos. "There's no way we ate everything, even with both Zhane and TJ around"

"Let's check"

They bantered their way through dinner, and everything was so normal that Carlos found it almost physically painful. But Shiera never asked how her parents responded to her disappearance, and Emma hadn't brought it up, either.

This brings about the end of the PRiS part of SL-verse. The next story in SL-verse, "Constellations", will be primarily a Ninja Storm story. The gap between spring 1999 and summer 2002 will remain unbrigded by stories, i'm afraid, but if you're really curious about what happened in that interval, feel free to email/PM me. I do enjoy communication.

Thanks:
- Roie, friend and beta reader, who not only corrected and edited, but also helped develop characters and plots.
- All the people who ever reviewed SL-verse, and particularly the early reviewers (The Fink) and those reviewers who stuck around for all the stories so far (Mara, Jeanka). Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed the ride. See you around!