Missing Peace: Chapter 23
White's ship sped towards earth as fast as its gravity drive would carry it. If Facet 31's fleet was already on its way there, they'd have no chance of catching up, but they could at least get there in good enough time to interrupt their attack.
Steven sat in White's chamber, as Pearl sat next to him fiddling with a Diamond line communicator. If they could contact Earth before Facet 31 got there, then the humans could at least prepare their own armies. It wasn't a prospect Steven was fond of. Humans wouldn't stand a chance against Gem soldiers, but right now he couldn't think of anything else he could do. He nodded at Pearl, and she started the call.
After a few moments, Dalton's face appeared on the projection from the communicator, followed by the faces of about a dozen other international leaders.
"President Dalton" said White, sounding a little surprised. "I wasn't aware that anyone else would be sitting in on this conversation."
Dalton looked uncomfortable, almost like a child that had just been told off by a parent. "The international community… feels very strongly that they should not be left out of any further interaction with your people, hence my colleagues here will be taking part in any further discussion."
Marie Bujold; the French President, spoke next. "May I ask what the purpose of this call is, White Diamond? Do you have news regarding the attempt to negotiate with Facet 31?"
White started looking sheepish, so Steven stepped in: "It… didn't go well. We're calling to warn you that they might be coming for Earth."
Looks of panic washed across all the faces on the screen, some better hidden than others. After a moment, Bujold spoke again: "So, effectively, you've radicalised them further?"
"That's quite enough Marie" said Dalton, in a much steelier tone than he had adopted earlier. "Going at each other isn't going to improve our situation, and either way, it's likely this is what Facet 31 was planning all along, am I right Steven?"
"Yeah" Steven replied in a resigned tone. "They were putting a fleet together in secret over the last few weeks. We couldn't stop them leaving Homeworld."
"How sure are you that they're coming directly here?" The man who spoke was the British Prime Minister; Richard Cowell. Like Bujold, Steven remembered him from the conference. "Scrambling our militaries would spark global panic. We can't do it unless an attack is provably imminent."
It was Pearl who replied this time: "We weren't able to track them when they left the system, so we can't prove that they're targeting Earth, but there simply isn't another logical target. Their feud is with humans. They see Earth as the root of all their problems."
"Alright then" conceded Cowell. "We'll try to put our troops in defending position as discreetly as possible. The public are on edge about Gems as it is. Soldiers in the streets and talk of an invasion would start a wholesale riot."
"It's immaterial anyway" chided Bujold. "Our militaries wouldn't stand a chance against Gems. I take it, White Diamond, that you can offer us the support to make this something other than a futile attempt?"
White noted that this human seemed very pessimistic. "She and Yellow should chat some time" she thought to herself, before replying: "Of course, Madame President. My ship is on its way to Earth now, and we hope to have reinforcements soon after."
"Alright" said Dalton, in a tone that made it clear that he was bringing the entire conversation to a close before Bujold could press any further. "We'll get things in place on our end. I hope we're all still here to speak to you when you get here."
The call shut off, and the Crystal Gems were left in the palpable silence of White's ship.
"So do we" muttered Steven.
White's ship dropped out of galaxy drive above Earth about twelve hours later. They hadn't received any other calls from Earth on their journey there, and weren't sure whether to take that as a good sign or a bad one.
When they entered orbit though, Steven could see that there was no visible damage to Earth of any kind, and, even more bizarrely, no sign of Facet 31's fleet.
"Pearl" he said, "Can you put me in touch with the leaders again?"
Pearl opened the Diamond line again, and within a minute each of the leaders was on-screen. The fact that all these powerful people dropped whatever they were doing whenever he called was convenient, yes, but it did make Steven worried about just how terrified these people must be of White, given that they clearly didn't feel they could keep her waiting.
"Um… hi everyone" said Steven, collecting his thoughts. "Are you all ok down there?"
Over the next few hours, the leaders of Earth explained to the Crystal Gems everything that had transpired since they had last spoken. They had put their armies in place, put all their military bases on alert, but no attack had come. There was no sign of Facet 31.
White's ship remained in orbit of Earth for days, even being joined by an armada of roaming eyes and hand ships, but still, Facet 31 didn't show themselves. The Diamonds' patrols in Homeworld's galaxy didn't turn up any sign of them either.
After a week it was decided that the fleet that had followed White's ship to Earth would stay to help protect the system, but Earth's leaders insisted that they pull back to the outer planets, to avoid panicking the populous. Everyone had to admit that a fleet of Gem ships being discovered in Earth's orbit wouldn't exactly ease the tensions.
The Diamonds agreed to this on the condition that Gems would be stationed on the moon base to observe what was happening on Earth. The leaders had looked more than a little shocked to discover that the Gems even had a moon base (Steven reflected that he probably should have brought that up at the first conference), but had reluctantly agreed.
At the end of that particularly tense week, they had done all they could. White's ship touched down in front of the Crystal Gems' temple. A large bubble carried Steven and the others out onto the beach below.
"Are you sure you want to stay here Steven?" asked White, concerned. "Facet 31 could still attack at any time."
"That's exactly why I need to stay" replied Steven. "If they do come here, Earth will need the Crystal Gems. Besides, until we can find them, we aren't exactly being useful waiting around in your ship. You're gonna be needed back on Homeworld."
White had to admit he was right. Yellow and Blue could only do so much to quell the panic of the Gems back home. She couldn't wait around on Earth forever.
"You're right. I'd better head home. But if you need help-"
"I'll have my Diamond line communicator to call you, and my legs if I need to get to Homeworld" Steven cut her off reassuringly.
White smiled back at him. "Alright. I'll get going then… Be careful Starlight." As her bubble closed around her, she reminded herself to ask Steven if he was still ok with being called 'Starlight' next time they met.
As White's ship jumped to gravity drive, and disappeared from view, Steven stood on the beach and looked up at the night sky. Where had Facet 31 gone? Rose had seemed so furious just days ago. Why wouldn't she be attacking?
Steven certainly wasn't complaining about that part, but it left him uneasy. Something told him it was unlikely Rose had had a change of heart. If she was taking her time, it meant she was planning something, and there was no telling what might happen when she was finally ready to make her move.
He said his goodbyes to Connie as she hopped into his dad's van. Greg had offered to drive her home, seeing as she'd been on White's ship all week, and, even though she had called home every night, her parents were starting to get worried.
As Steven and the three Gems headed back into the house, he looked up for a moment at the painting of his mother on the wall. As he plopped himself onto his bed, he sighed, and though to himself that, even with all the emotional baggage of the last few years, he'd take dealing with his mother over this new Rose Quartz any day.
Author's note: Had to repost post this one twice too, because the site is STILL apparently not bumping the fic when I add chapters anymore. Sorry if any of my followers are
getting spammed with notifications.