I may not get many reviews, but I love this story too much. I can't stop myself from updating! LOL

SnapShot

By Ryuu no Taiyo

Chapter Seven

Jade rubbed her red eyes. They were hurting because she had been crying for a little while. She put her long raven hair behind her ears and looked up at the bed where Pey'j was sleeping at. She bit her lip as she watched the fire crackle next to them. Outside there was no light, even the numerous stars where hidden in the black sky.

"Hang on, Jade!" yelled Pey'j over the uproar as he put the hovercraft into full gear. Jade covered her ears and almost closed her eyes as her uncle started speeding.

"What's gonna happen?" she yelled.

"We have to keep movin'! If we're lucky," he paused as the hovercraft was jerked sideways by a wave. Jade had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming as she was thrown off her seat.

"-if we're lucky…" he said again, "we'll survive and not get hit…" he was wheezing.

Jade looked at the sky through the hovercraft's front window panel. Gulping, she grabbed hold of a pipe that was lounging the wall and held on.

During attacks, under the New Alpha Section mandate, the doors to the garage's of the city, shops, islands and even their lighthouse were to be closed to protect the people. So those who were stuck outside…were…well…stuck outside.

Pey'j was thanking his stars that the hovercraft was hanging in. It never did fare too well with brusque manoeuvres.

His ears picked up a heart-wrenching sound, and both Pey'j and Jade's hearts sank…

Put…put…clonk…

"Argh! You stupid hunka' junk!" Pey'j yelled in frustration as the hovercraft came to a stop.

Jade couldn't believe her eyes. Her heart sped up incredibly, beating by far its previous velocity.

He opened a smoky panel to his right under the handles and started fiddling around.

Fweooosh!

Splash!

A meteor landed right next to them, catching them both by surprised. Pey'j closed the panel shut and tried starting the engine.

"Com'on you big piece of dog-wire!" Pey'j yelled. Jade closed her eyes and was silently praying. A phrase rang in her head over and over again…

'I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die!'

Put…Put…

Pey'j breathed in relief as the turbo-motor came back into gear.

He pressed one of the pedals and swung the hovercraft around.

Jade smiled in relief, but her smile and happiness would not last long. The hovercraft crashed into a wave, and for a moment Pey'j lost control.

Jade noticed the sound of the attacks weren't as intense as they had been before. She dared open an eye and then the other as she realized the sky was reverting to its normal end-of-day-blue.

"We made it! We made it Uncle Pey'j!" she screamed in delight, jumping up and hugging the half-pig.

They had made it.

But Pey'j had not been feeling too well.

"Don't yell…Jade…Don't yell…" he huffed; out of breathe as he stopped the hovercraft from moving.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice filled with a frightened concern.

"I'm…alright…" he said slowly.

Jade gulped.

They had come back to the lighthouse and Pey'j had practically collapsed on his bed near the fire and still hadn't woken up.

It had been hours…

Jade rubbed her arms, cold even though she was sitting next to the fire.

She glanced at the source of heat, and realized it was burning down…No wonder it was getting cold.

She suddenly heard her uncle grunt beside her.

"How long have I been out?" he asked groggily, eyeing Jade. "And shouldn't you be in bed?"

"But I was worried." Answered Jade in a small voice.

He smiled ruefully and sat up, back aching.

"No need to worry about me, it takes more than that to bring Pey'j down."

Jade shrugged. "Still…" she said.

"You should be in bed." He cut her off.

Jade glared.

"It's not even late!" she argued, the previous concern gone from her voice.

"Well, it's bedtime anyway!"

Jade looked at her uncle, annoyed, with her best Jade-is-not-happy look.

Pey'j laughed, but sent her to her room anyways with a cheerful 'good night' that was replied with a 'hmph'.

Pey'j looked after Jade as she climbed the circular ramp to head upstairs.

He sighed, deciding to go take a look in the stove or the refrion for something to eat, he was very hungry.

"But..Ming-Tzu! You gotta help me!"

"I'm afraid not. I know that last time…Last time was last time, Pey'j. You have to let go of that past."

"But if you don't believe me-"

They both heard a crash.

Jade had interrupted them, quite by accident, as she was spying on them.

She really had the grace of an ox, that girl. Pey'j smirked. He knew she hadn't heard anything. She was much too curious and was the type that had trouble keeping a secret she didn't understand.

He wondered why his mind had ventured back to that time. It had been a while ago.

The attack smelled like old rotten fish. And where had been the Alpha Sections?

Pey'j hadn't seen any. He didn't even manage to use the new shield over the lighthouse. He would have to inspect for damage on the island later.

He walked out of the lighthouse.

He had to call Gary. Maybe he would believe him.

The half-pig hybrid walked down to the hangar and then into his workshop. He flicked the lights on and went to the computer, placing his Synthetic Atomic Compressor on the table and playing with some buttons.

Last time he had seen the Cary, who was probably much older by now, was about nine years ago. The old gang had separated rather quickly after everything had resolved.

Pey'j sighed.

The screen before him changed from the usual mono-channel TV broadcast and someone's dark face appeared through.

Pey'j didn't have a camera, so the man on the other side of the screen couldn't see his face.

"Gary?" Pey'j asked through the audio com.

"Gary…isn't here anymore…" replied a steady, deep serious voice.

This young man was wearing sunglasses. He looked a little like Gary.

"Where is he?" asked Pey'j.

"My father is dead." Answered the other.

There was an awkward silence as the words sunk in.

"What?" he asked, taken aback, "How?"

"About a month ago. During the DomZ attack before last, he disappeared."

Pey'j was silent. "I'm sorry."

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"My name…just call me chief."

"Alright Chief. What do you want?"

"This is going to be a long story…"

The pig-man sighed once more.

"I hope you have the time."

"I do."

"Good, so listen up…"

¤¤¤

Hahn sat in his chair, having just caught of the communication with this so-called Chief. Should he believe what he was saying? It definitely made sense and would explain how the attacks had becoming more frequent with the Alpha Sections mysterious arrival. But maybe it was just a coincidence? Hahn realized that a lot was resting on his shoulders at the moment. A whole lot of things depending on choices he was going to make.

This Chief knew his father. Gary Johnson had been a strong, outgoing man, who somehow managed to elude inquiries about his past just as well as a Whale eluded being taken a picture of.

Well…sort of.

His father's disappearance had been…shocking, to say the least. Hahn was in his early twenties and he missed his father. He wasn't supposed to leave. Not yet, in any case. But he had been taken by the DomZ during that attack a month ago.

The Alpha Sections where the ones to tell Hahn and his sister about it. They had tried to save hi, but it had been too late. Hahn started resenting the Alphas since. They had proclaimed themselves so powerful, yet suddenly they were powerless to stop a kidnapping?

The Alpha Sections had explained that the changes of seeing him again where very slim, as the DomZ are very obstinate about their prey. They don't give up. They would probably suck the life force out of Gary, thus killing him at the end of a certain period of time. The Alpha Sections could give out no more information, as it was classified.

Hahn lived in one of the wealthier neighbourhood's in the Pedestrian District. From the window next to the communication device, he could see the Back Bay and Black Isle. They say the old mines were still bustling with activity; a looter's base seemed to have been installed there.

Hahn sighed, his mind returning to the task at hand.

"Hahn?" her sister, only two years younger than he was, called from the kitchen, "Are you alright? Who were you talking to?"

"It's alright, Jennifer. Everything is fine. Go to bed."

Jennifer nodded slowly, deciding to obey her brother's wishes for once. She was too tired to argue anyways. And she knew her stubborn brother. He took after his father in this manner, he was extremely stubborn. In reality a hard nut to crack. But a nice nut all the same. Jennifer rolled her eyes at the way her mind was processing her thoughts and decided it was time to hit the sack.

She walked down the small hallway contentedly, feeling sleep already overtaking her. She shut her door behind her, leaving Hahn in the living room.

The man stretched, taking off his sunglasses. He knew that nobody would believe him if he revealed his opinion about these newcomers, the Alpha Sections. He started writing an e-mail to Pey'j, agreeing with him but suggesting that for now, they take extreme precaution in revealing their opinions. They should keep to themselves and observe, and if their convictions were right, take action.

He pressed the blue 'Send' button on his machine, and erased the copy on his hard drive. He knew Jennifer would sometimes sneak around the computer while Hahn wasn't looking. No need to have her worry any more. Her father's disappearance had affected her greatly, wither she chose to display it or not.

Hahn sighed, rubbing his eyes and then stared out the dark window once more before making his way to his own bed.

¤¤¤

The days rolled on slowly. Jade continued her schooling with Seven and Nouri, enjoying life as a young girl should. Pey'j soon abandoned his job at the factory, his account full for the moment. He was getting bored of it anyways. He put an add in the paper, saying he could fix anything, from little gizmos to Air ships, and got a few demands. None lasted too long however.

Soon, fall passed and the Hillyan winter rolled by, but they lived in a more or less tropical climate and snow was extremely rare. Jade knew what it was, but had never seen it. The closest she had seen was the ice in the Refrion, the refrigerator they had back at the lighthouse.

Mrs. Mowsey got as unpleasant as ever as the days grew colder and she even took a sick leave for two weeks. Well, needless to say, it was official party time for Jade's class, class 001.4!

For some reason, there were no new attacks.

Jade enjoyed the piece greatly.

The ten year old girl decided to invite her friend's over to the lighthouse one day. She invited Seven, Nouri, Francis and unfortunately Rufus tagged along.

There was to be no school the next day so they were all extremely happy.

"Alright, so…" Jade started, getting everyone's attention.

"What do we do?" Seven asked, hyper as ever, her black hair held up in pigtails bouncing up and down as she jumped excitedly.

"I dunno. What do you wanna do?"

"Can we go to the top of the lighthouse?" Rufus asked, eyeing the stairs from where he was standing.

"Not allowed." Jade shrugged, knowing fully well that Pey'j wasn't around to notice.

"Who cares?" added Francis, his curiosity now awakened.

The boys made their way up the ramp so Jade and the other two followed. Jade scoffed into Rufus' back. That boy was a real prick.

She placed her hand on the panel with the luminescent hand print on it and watched as the door opened.

"Com'on. It's up this way." She said to the other's who had been looking around the second floor.

They reached the top of the lighthouse and were all, except Jade who was used to it by now, blown away by the beauty of the view. They could see a lowering Solaris beyond the ocean, near the Third and Fourth Racetrack.

"This is awesome!" said Nouri, smiling brilliantly. Jade beamed.

"It is so totally cool!" Seven said in a sing-song voice, twirling around in a circle.

"Look! You can see the 4rth and 3rd racetrack from here!" Rufus exclaimed, pointing towards the far, yet large, island. "My dad raced there yesterday!"

"Really? My dad did too!" Seven exclaimed. "What position did yours come in?"

"Second." Rufus beamed proudly.

"Mine came in first!" Seven chirped, smiling happily.

"What?" Rufus yelled.

"Yup! He even got a pearl! It's so pretty!" She said joyfully.

Rufus sulked for quite a while after that, his pride rather damaged. Seven, of course, was completely oblivious to this.

"Let's go back down." Jade said, and they followed behind her. She closed the door leading to the lighthouse, and they all piled into her room.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Francis in his funny accent.

"Let's play a make-believe game!" Jade exclaimed, and Nouri and Seven nodded. Francis looked as his big brother. Rufus scoffed.

"A baby game?"

"NO!" Jade yelled, getting riled up by his sneer, "We choose a person who we want to be and then we play in a make-believe world!"

"It's fun!" Seven smiled.

"Yeah, maybe. For babies."

"We're not babies!" the three girls yelled simultaneously.

"Suit yourselves."

Jade looked furious. She went over to him and slapped him.

"Get out of my room, you shark-head!" The half-shark boy snarled and was about to retaliate when the others, including Francis, came in between.

Rufus and Jade didn't speak to each other for the rest of the evening, but other than that, everything went fine. Pey'j dropped of Nouri after Seven and Francis' parents picked them up, and when he returned, he found Jade in his workshop, playing around with the M-Disk decoder.

"Jade! Don't touch that!"

"But I found the disk under a Starkos in the Refrion. I just wanted to check it out. I don't know how this thing works though…"

"It's late Jade, you should be in bed."

"I have no school tomorrow and I already finished my homework. I am not going to bed yet."

Jade looked as stubborn as she could look, and Pey'j knew he was going to loose this battle before it even started.

"Fine…only for fifteen minutes though."

"Forty-five."

"Thirty."

"Deal." Jade smiled happily, all traces of determination gone from her face. Her green eyes looked at the M-Disk. "There's nothing on it."

"It's probably a blank one. Give it to me. They're valuable."

"Ok…" she said slowly, handing it to him.

"How about you show me some of your pictures and we print them?"

Jade grinned. She had three rolls of film to develop.

"Ok!" she agreed, reaching to her side to grab her camera and the film from the SAC.

She handed the film to Pey'j, she closed the lights and the started develloping all of her photgraphs.