CHAPTER 11: HOMEWARD BOUND AND GAGGED
Ed simply walked off the bridge, lost in his own thoughts. He wanted to see the Lunar Colonies again, to be among the glorious machinery and hard-working people he spent all his life with. To fly among the fleet in the Black Star. To get back on firm ground, familiar ground. Maybe even look up some (literally) old friends. The apartment blocks, the pleasure domes. Something stirred in him, something so powerful he could not resist. Edward van Dyke was feeling homesick. A longing for walks in the forest colonies, exploring the crevices of a factory colony or games of space ball suddenly took precedence. Then came the accompanying pain in his skull, followed by the screams. His room was never more confining.
Meanwhile, Pyoro was talking to Hibiki about Ed's colonies. According to him, the Lunar Colonies had supplied them with the Vanguard prototype, but a dispute over contract issues led to them selling the Dread prototypes to a group of pirates under Rebecca, Magno' s protégé. The pirates were then arrested and the government of Mejale soon put the Dreads into mass-production. Though they escaped, the original Dreads became property of the state. Magno led a daring raid on the storage and stole them back- meaning that Meia, Jura and Dita were in fact piloting the original three Dreads. He went on to say that the Lunar Colonies disapproved of Mejale' s continued insistence on beauty over functionality and left them as well. No one ever saw them again nor ever heard from them.
Meia stood outside Ed's door, her finger hovering over the doorbell. There was now nothing but silence. Her finger just wouldn't touch the blue button. Instead, it moved down to the green opening button. The door somehow hissed open, with Ed lying on his bed staring into the ceiling. A bottle hung from his hand, already half-empty.
"You're not thinking of literally going home…are you?" Meia' s tone was softer than usual.
Seeing that he was obviously drunk, Meia returned to a more serious tone. "You aren't thinking straight. I'd better leave. I'll come back later."
She turned, but Ed gripped her wrist.
"W-w-wait…Meia…what would you do ?"
She couldn't look at him. Meia shook off Ed's hand and moved out the door, leaning on the adjacent wall. She hung her head. She cursed herself for caring so much about this guy. How did he come to mean so much to her? Why was his leaving such a big issue? He came onto the Nirvana looking for a way to get back home. And only she knew how the very notion of his memories would lead to the screams and pain. But Ed had become such a vital part of the ship's merry family. He would be missed indeed. How Jura would weep for the loss of a potential baby man! Meia found herself chuckling. But the dripping tears told another story altogether. She shuffled back into his room and yanked him off his bed. He offered no resistance, his haggard expression saying it all. He had been neglecting his duties as of late, obsessed with the return to the Lunar Colonies. Perhaps it was some latent cyborg program, or a deeper malaise that nobody could fathom. He looked more like a homeless bum than a swashbuckling pirate, his hair in a mess and the lack of shaving clearly showing.
"I don't want you to be like this, " Meia tried to sound authoritative
"But I am...I mean…" Ed sighed, sitting on the mattress, "I look like shit, don't I?"
"Tell me what's wrong, Ed."
"I…I want to go home. And I mean go…I'm being flooded by all these memories as of late…being on board is like…like an act of withdrawal…I'm confused…I want to go home…" he fell into Meia' s arms, trembling. Meia wrapped her arms around his head and lay her cheek on his scalp.
"I'm here, Eddie…don't be scared."
"I' m scared…so scared…I don't know what these new images mean. I'm supposed to think this woman is too fat, but I have no idea who she is. I don't know this guy in overalls, but I remember he owes me some money. I'm going nuts, blue-eyes. I have no idea who or when or however. I'm lost in my own memories."
"So what are you going to do, Eddie?"
His answer forced her eyes open. " I'm leaving the Nirvana."
"Leaving!?" Jura was as surprised as everyone on deck. Ed stood firm, looking right at Magno. Everyone heard that he had a message for the crew, but nothing this dramatic.
"Yes. I'm leaving this ship as soon as we meet up with Lunar 21. And the Black Vanguard is coming with me."
"Why do you want to leave?" Magno looked down at him from her captain's seat.
"My mind is a mess, Boss. I think that if I stay on board this ship any longer, I'll be endangering everyone on board. I think it's best that I remain on Lunar until my condition can be repaired."
"So you're coming back then!" Dita smiled.
"No. I'm not." Dita' s smile turned upside down. "My core memories are flooded and mismatched. My condition is terminal. I'm…" he looked at Meia, "I'm sorry. I don't even know if I can remember all of you for much longer. To put it short, my mind is dying. It's been like this since you woke me up. I'm sorry."
Magno sat in her chair, amazed but also saddened by the news. She looked at BC and Bart, who had the same despondent look on their faces.
"No! We can fix you!" Pyoro cried , " Pegasus can fix anything!"
Hibiki turned to Meia, "Meia! Get him to change his mind!"
"He's made up his mind. I can't stop him, and none of you can," she coldly replied.
Magno sighed. " Your request is granted. If that's what you really want, Ed. You have every right to go home, just as much as we do. But you're not taking the Black Vanguard. That stays with us."
"Why not?"
"You can leave. But the rest of us are still fighting the Harvesters. We need the mecha."
"Very well. Thank you for your time." Ed turned round, glancing at everyone around him. They moved back as he went towards his quarters.
"Edward!" Magno boomed ," you're still on board. I didn't say you could leave yet. Get to your station."
"That's where I'm going, Chief." He changed his position and sat in a vacant hole on the bridge, the comm ring appearing around him. Everyone dispersed, not wanting to get emotionally involved anymore. If Ed was going to leave, the so be it. But each left the bridge with a heavy heart. Not so much for Ed, but for Meia. Hibiki could see the pain in her face, masked by her iron expression. Jura remembered his advice on finding a male partner and regretted not asking him more.
The Nirvana was ready to jump to the coordinates, which Ed translated into the computer via his console. The stars elongated and turned into straight white lines as Bart controlled the flow of time around the ship . In a matter of minutes, the stars returned to being dots in the sky as the ship emerged from the jump intact. Almost instantly, a swarm of biped mecha surrounded the ship, weapons primed at the bridge.
"Identify yourself," a robotic voice ordered.
"Commander Edward Van Dyke. Signature Epsilon Vega Delta. Password: Juicy Fruit," he replied in similar monotone.
The mecha stood down as the robotic voice confirmed the password.
"Welcome back, Commander van Dyke. State your business."
"System refurbishment and repair of client craft," he said, referring to the Vandreads, "re-stocking of supplies as well."
"Are you in command of the vessel?"
"Negative. This is a client's ship. I am acting as interpreter and emissary."
"Confirm, Edward Van Dyke. Prepare for FFFC."
"Roger. Please look away, ladies. This isn't pleasant."
Ezra shielded her baby's eyes as well as her own. Belvedere flinched at what she saw as a small green beam swept across Ed's face , triggering a reaction on his skin that seemed to melt it away. What remained was a shining metallic skull which was displayed on screens, broken down into wire frames and other representations. His eyes glowed red as if to confirm his identity again. Numbers ran up and down screens on both ends , corresponding to clicking noises on the consoles.
"Full Frontal Face Scan successful. Commander of vessel will report to dock-32A. Please follow the VanStrike squadron."
Ed raised the ring around him and his skin re-synthesized itself, wrapping around his cheeks and forehead. In no time, he was back to the same old Ed, though Ezra shielded her baby Karu from the metamorphosis. Belvedere was frozen, gripping her comm ring like a piece of driftwood on the open sea.
The Nirvana followed the VanStrikes into a colony dock, setting down after two minutes in dry dock. The Strikes left the ship and Magno opened a channel to the authorities.
"This is the commander of the Nirvana, Magno Vidan. Edward Van Dyke is on board. Request permission to disembark."
"Permission granted. Please enjoy your stay, Client Vidan."
The crew spent their time on the Lunar Colonies relaxing and refreshing themselves. The locals were very eager to give them history lessons and Duerro in particular wanted to know more. The stories Ed told were all true, from the Moon being the main 'Home' colony with thousands of satellite colonies, a travelling industrial complex supplying weapons to anyone rebelling against Earth. The mecha that had escorted them earlier, the VanStrikes were the next generation of Vanguard technology, with the agility and maneuverability of the Talark breed but with higher speed using large appendages running down their back. Some had fins while others had ceremonial squadron banners, bright red or blue standards wobbling about in space. There were others, the next generation of Dreads known as Thunder Dreads, but they were still in R&D.
Ed himself was sitting beside a gravestone he knew too well.
Here lies Dana Marshall, lost in space but never to our hearts.
"Dana…I'm finally back. I hope you haven't missed me much." He was silent as he poured a bottle of wine over the stone slab. The colony had no wind, but if there was any, it would be rustling the leaves around Ed. The memory he first showed to Meia came back to him. Him and Dana flirting in the engineering block. The raid by the Techno Guild. The sight of the usually cool Dana yelling, screaming out for help. Ed leaned over and kissed the tombstone, smelling the wine.
"Because I missed you. You and everyone. But I'm back, for good."
"Ed?" a voice came from behind him.
"Carlos. It's been ages. 30 years, and you've still got that beer gut."
"Nothing changes, buddy," the man patted his sagging belly, "I just got older."
Carlos Rex was another of those involved that day, hiding behind the door during the wall breach. He was 23 at the time but the three decades had grayed his hair and given him a slightly lowered posture. Like Ed he had cybernetic implants ,metal strips showing on his neck and wrists. Ed simply imagined the young Carlos with a change of hair color and a back ache and smiled, hugging his old friend.
"Is anyone else…you know…"
"I know that most of us survived that raid. But most of us gave up on the tech life after that. As you can see, I'm the only one not retired, " Carlos patted his belly, " After you disappeared , we thought you had died as well…but the computers refused to acknowledge you were dead. Some glitch kept saying you were alive…"
Pegasus? Ed thought.
"There was this weird green glow every time someone even thought of it. Long time ago we simply gave up on it. I thought that well, if the computers say you're alive then you're alive. That's why I'm not surprised, old man. I always knew you were alive."
"Carlos?" Ed got up to face him.
"Yes, Ed?"
"You owe me ten bucks."
They both laughed as they left the cemetery, the bouquet of flowers and the bottle of wine left to accompany young Dana Marshall. Ed looked back and saw someone else in the distance. It was a woman, but he couldn't make out who. Carlos turned him around as they went to their old bar to repay the old debt.
The woman stood in front of the tombstone and she opened her mouth to speak.
"Can we talk?"
In another part of town, Duerro and Bart were living it up in a casino, where Gascgone was beating everyone inside at cards. Seeing that they were both first-class citizens of Talark, the women flocked to them. Knowing that Bart was a member of the Garsuss family drew the majority to him as he sat on a poker table (naturally, far away from Gascgone).BC sat next to him and shoved a few chips onto her betting block. The coward he was, Bart got up only to have his forearm clasped by the vice commander. He reluctantly sat down again as the dealer handed out the cards. His hands shaking, he declared his hand.
"Four Kings. Man's a winner!" his groupies announced.
"Three aces. What did I do in a past life to lose to you, Garsuss?" BC grinned at him. He gulped, seeing the ace she hid under her bracelet.
Jura and Barnett were walking the streets of Ed's home colony, taking in the sights and sounds. Poor Barnett was overloaded with Jura' s shopping as she gazed at yet another item in the window. She made unwise decision of wearing her flight suit in public, leading a horde of male admirers past every shop she visited. When she looked round, they all seemed to be ignorant of the two, biting on apples or turning to chat to each other. It seemed too weak a disguise, as the apple man suddenly ran out of apple and the chatters ran out of chat.
"What are you perverts looking at!?" she almost bit her tongue screaming.
"Two beautiful visitors , come to shop for…shoes," a male voice rang behind them.
"Hello…" Jura looked him over. He was slightly taller than her, with chiseled features any male model would kill for. He reminded her of Ed for some reason, though he had no visible cybernetic influence on his skin. He had short ,cropped black hair ,though there was a hint of brown.
"Robert's the name, pretty lady. Robert Marshall," he stuck out his hand.
"Marshall..?" Barnett gazed at him.
"Yes, Robbie to my friends. Pleased to meet you too, young lady."
"Her brother?" Ed gripped Carlos' collar. "My God…I don't remember her having a brother…."
"You don't know, it happened after you went MIA."
Ed dropped Carlos . "Talk to me, Carl."
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but Marshall and his wife were getting more and more lonely. They applied for a surrogate mother and bam , child. I think you'd best be avoiding him- he looks too much like Dana…10 million people on this colony, what are the chances?"
Bart lay on the chair in a heap, the chips he won already exchanged for cash. BC sat next to him, a beer in each of her hands.
"Next time you want to scam the dealer, do it on your own!" he wailed.
"Oh, come on Bart. Live a little. We won, right? Come, have one on me."
Bart grabbed the mug and downed half of the pint in one gulp. "How did you find out?"
"Find out what?"
"That it was my birthday?" he wiped the froth from his lips.
BC raised an eyebrow. "I didn't. What does it have to do with poker?"
"It's my 21st. On Talark, that's legal age. This, my first beer."
"Oh, right. So nobody's going to arrest me for getting you drunk?"
"Oh, no. I'm driving a starship, remember?"
"Your loss, Bart. Go check on Gascgone for me while I drink your beer."
"Oh no. You check on Gascgone. I only have one birthday. Let me spend it any way I want," Bart grabbed a bottle.
"Whatever. I can't move either." BC grabbed her own bottle, " Race you."
Magno sipped her tea, sitting at a table in her bridge outfit. Her hood was down, showing her white hair. At the table with her were Pyoro and some of the bridge bunnies, facing the President of the Colonies , George David Marshall and his deputies. He looked very similar to his image on the colony message, save for a trimmed ginger-colored beard. Many of the Colonials had streaked hair ; Pai thought it was the sort of norm around there. Parfait eyed the view from the large windows, gigantic colonies of all shapes and sizes moving around the Moon in what the Colonials called "changing orbits". Ships larger than the Nirvana moved slowly past, blue plumes flashing past the meeting table. VanStrikes whizzed past, flies buzzing around the nest.
"Magno Vidan, it is an honor to meet you at last. I hope you find our facilities to be adequate?" Marshall began the meeting.
"I was thinking you'd arrest us, we being pirates and all. But yes, my crew and I appreciate your help."
Marshall laughed. "We've done business with Mejale proper. We split from them because of the same reasons you formed your pirates. So we have a bit in common. I also have news for you from our contacts on both planets. Not good, I can tell you."
"What news?" Parfait asked.
Marshall activated a button , opening a screen in the center of the table. It showed Magno' s message to the Home Worlds. "I'm afraid only we didn't delete the message. Our contacts on Talark and Mejale confirm it. Grandpa and Grandma personally deleted them. I'm afraid you're all alone."
The pirates' faces betrayed all their hopes. Marshall's face was stone cold; his fellow colonials were just as serious. Marshall showed them newspaper headlines on both planets, lines such as "Pirate Joke" or "Women resort to lame stories" prevalent. Magno put her hood back up and stayed silent. Underneath the table, clenched fists shook in a mixture of anger and disappointment. Pai wondered how the pilots would take it. Magno suddenly gripped her chest and fell to the floor as aides rushed to catch her.
"She's having a heart attack! Get her to hospital!" Marshall boomed, now on his feet. Others were on their communicators, frantically dialing the same number. The bridge ladies followed Magno as she was quickly stretchered out of the meeting hall, together with Pai. Parfait beeped her wrist communicator and Duerro' s face appeared.
"Doctor! Emergency! The Boss…she's…she's…"
"Understood . Tell me where to meet you."
"Get the vice commander and everyone else!"
Duerro looked at the heavily drunk BC and Bart, playing a card game despite being less than conscious. "I'll get them later," he said as he got up and ran out of the casino.
Meia ran towards the nearest transport station, barking orders at the transit droids to get to the hospital. Jura and Barnett left Rob holding all the shopping as they too grabbed a transit droid. The two droids whizzed through the colony's wide streets, catching up to a running Ed whom they ignored. It didn't matter, as Ed was soon in Carlos' car. They arrived almost simultaneously, with Hibiki and Dita beckoning from the lobby. The five were taken by Colonial agents to a lift, which connected to the ward Magno was in. An oxygen mask was put over her mouth as medics prepared IV tubes and primed syringes. Marshall sat in the room, flushed with sweat and his shoulders heaving with deep breaths.
"President Marshall! What happened?" Ed howled.
One of his deputies stood up and explained the message and Magno' s reaction. Ed shoved the man aside and looked at Marshall.
"Leave the dramatics for once, old man! How could you do that to her?"
Marshall couldn't face his one time son-in-law to be. "I…I…didn't know."
"Control yourself, Ed! There was no way he could know!" Meia held him back.
"You…you're right…I guess blaming you' s an old habit…George."
"Ed…What a time for you to show up…30 years it's been."
As BC and Bart belatedly made their entrance, the medics thankfully announced that Magno was in a stable condition. Everyone breathed sighs of relief as the nurses put away the syringes and tubes, as well as the more unorthodox equipment. Dita would have been horrified if they had to use that drill in the corner.
"She's a tough old lady, this boss of yours," a nurse remarked.
"You can bet on it," BC joined in, "but what happened?"
"We…we're doing this alone…" Belvedere murmured, "Grandma's deleted our message…"
BC and the Dread pilots' mouths stood wide open.
"And Grandpa too," Pyoro announced. Bart and Duerro grimaced as Hibiki punched the floor.
"She's out of trouble, but I suggest we leave her alone for a night, " a doctor concluded, looking at Duerro.
"I'm a doctor. I'll stay with her just in case."
"Alone…?" Jura was close to tears, "We're all alone."
"Edward…how in God's name did you survive those 30 years? You don't look a day older," Marshall leaned on the balcony of the presidential palace.
"You know the story, George."
"I still don't believe it. The Pegasus kept you alive? Miracles do happen, son. I just wish you came back under better circumstances," he put his hand on Ed's shoulder, "I take it you've seen Dana already…her grave…everyday it looked like it was waiting for you. Carlos was always telling her you'd come back. I stopped years ago."
" I stopped too. That day was too painful for me. But my memories are shoving themselves into my head. I can't forget her face…her eyes…" Ed hid his gaze underneath his hair. "It hurts, George…I couldn't do anything…"
"No one could, Edward. But you're home now, so you can start fresh. We wiped out the Techno Guild a long time ago. You can see the Cyborg section of the hospital about your mechanics and memories. But you- no, we all have a struggle against Earth to think about. Are you sure you want to stay here and not leave with your friends?"
"This is my home, George. I've missed so much, left too many people and things behind. I'd feel comfortable nowhere else. " He stared at the cityscape below him with its bright lights , topped with the clear holographic sky. He pointed to a statue in a park nearby ," I remember I ate my first commuter sausage there. I also remember some dog barking at me , stealing the sausage."
"That dog has a bench named after him, right there on the statue's end. Ed, everything will change, even if you're here all the time. I've seen it all myself. Are you making the right choice?"
Ed swallowed and looked to the stars for inspiration.
"Your friends are following a noble cause. We here on Lunar 1 are amazed by your exploits, like that star you helped birth. They're good people, son. Good people. My old bones feel young again around them. It was like you and your bunch all those years ago. Carlos, with his overalls and stubble , my Dana with her smile, you and every other young pup out there, working to keep us alive. And to think I was happy in that office!" he coughed.
"I know, George. There are a lot of good people here , too. Like your son."
Marshall poured a glass of water and swallowed a pill before continuing.
"Ah, you've heard of Robbie. I wish I could have told you earlier, but…after you disappeared Joan and I became lonely. We'd already lost our daughter, now we had lost one we called a son. I'm sorry, Ed…but I'm old. Children mean the most to me, you know that. You're the future. We old folks are just here to remind you what you're leaving behind."
"I'm 53 years old myself, George. I look at myself in the mirror and see 30 years left behind. I've made up my mind, I want that 30 years back. I want to repair my mental circuitry and remember it all- the good as well as the bad. I have to go now, George. Give my best regards to Joan and your son." He walked out of the room as Marshall finished his glass of water.
"You fool. You've got 30 years extra of your life….you don't know how lucky you are."
The temporary quarters on Lunar 1 were quite to Jura' s liking, being made out of marble and sleek lodestone. To her, it resembled some ancient palace despite Barnett' s differing opinions. With the news that the Boss was stable and well on the road to recovery, the Nirvana crew was ready to leave. But not before Jura had exhausted her film and/or credit card. Since she found out Mejale currency was accepted here, she had gone all plastic-crazy with the department stores all happy to greet her a second ,third and fourth time.
"Don't you realize it looks like a bathroom?" Barnett mumbled as the doorbell rang. There stood the man they had met earlier in the week, with a load of bags at his feet.
"Robbie Marshall, with your purchases from the other day," he bowed as he re-introduced himself, "you gonna let me in?"
"Oh, hello!" Jura chirped from inside, grabbing Robbie by the arm and tugging him in, Barnett' s face almost cracking in shock.
In a flash, Jura was offering him cookies, biscuits, ashtrays, footrests and even flowers she shamelessly stole from the living room vase. Robbie crumpled under the weight of the gifts, three gingerbread men in his mouth. Barnett simply stood there, dragging a heavy bag of dumbbells (oh, Jura!) into the living room.
Fawning over a man again! Hasn't she learnt anything?
"Tell me, Robbie…are you available?" she twisted the necklace he wore.
Barnett almost fainted.
"Um, yes…as a matter of fact, I'm looking…damn, these cookies are good."
Of course they're good! I made them for Jura! Barnett was at boiling point.
"I'm glad you like them!" Jura hugged Robbie, giggling endlessly. Suddenly, Barnett dropped the heavy bag and dragged Robbie to the door, almost judo flipping him out.
"Out, out! Thank you for the bags, but no thank you for the company!"
"Wait!" he stuck his foot through the door, " Don't you want to go out sometime? Saturday, maybe?"
"We're here till Sunday!" Jura tried to muscle past Barnett. The look on her face changed as Robbie took Barnett' s hand and kissed it, much to her surprise.
"I knew it, your hands smell of dough. You gotta make me more before you leave. So ,Saturday?"
Barnett went all red and shut the door, breathing heavily.
"Seven PM!" he was heard hollering, "and bring that blonde friend of yours!"