Missing Peace: Chapter 28
Crystal Gem house:
Steven awoke with a start, to the sight of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl leant over him in anticipation.
"Well?" asked Pearl. "What did you find out?"
Steven looked up at them with tears in his eyes. "They're at the human zoo."
"The human zoo?! What on Earth are they hoping to accomplish there?" Pearl wondered out loud. "It never had any tactical significance."
"They're not thinking about tactics" replied Garnet flatly. "The human zoo is a symbol of Pink's attachment to Earth. Whatever they're doing there, they want to send a message."
"They're holding the humans prisoner" Steven interjected, panic creeping into his voice. "I was so shocked when I saw them; I lost my hold on Rose. I couldn't find out what Facet 31 was actually planning there. I'm sorry, I-"
"Steven." Garnet reassuringly put her hand on his shoulder. "You've already done plenty. We know where to find them now. We'll go there, save those humans, and put a stop to this. That's all thanks to you."
Steven gave her a small smile, and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Thanks Garnet."
"Don't mention it. Now, we need to form a plan."
This time round, Steven knew they'd have to bring pretty much everyone in. Pearl set about contacting the Diamonds, while Garnet got hold of the various human leaders. Steven and Amethyst set about collecting together every Gem communicator they could find, as well as a few TV monitors that Peridot had modified into long-distance communicators while bored one evening.
Before long, Steven was sat in front of an array of screens; some physical; some holographic. He gazed up at the clock near his bed. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 11AM. As soon as the clock hit 10:59, the screens blinked into life. White, Blue, and Yellow each appeared on screens emanating from Diamond Line communicators, while the leaders of multiple countries appeared on all the other jerry-rigged screens.
Steven recognised Dalton, Azarov, Bujold, and Cowell immediately, as well as the Chinese leader, who Steven didn't remember the name of, and who had been strangely silent during Steven's last communication with Earth's governments. The faces of many other national leaders were also present. While Steven recognised them all from the Beach City conference, he again couldn't match names to faces. He'd just have to hope they either came up in conversation, or wouldn't be necessary to get through the discussion. This was going to be hard enough to explain as it was…
"...and that's how we know how to find them." Steven concluded his explanation and surveyed the bemused faces on the screens before him. The Diamonds had become so used to his bizarre behaviour by this point that none of them looked all that shocked. The humans however were going to be harder to win over.
The topic of the human zoo had been among the things that White had explained to them at the Beach City conference. She had done this knowing how detrimental it would be to interplanetary relations for this information to be discovered less officially. This had proven to be a very wise decision, as it now meant that Steven hadn't had to explain the zoo's existence to the listening humans before getting to his explanation.
Still, even with that issue out of the way, they remained incredulous. He couldn't really blame them. No-one who wasn't a major part of his life could really be expected to put much stock in his dreams.
Dalton spoke up first. The look in his eyes was more sympathetic than those of the other leaders, but he still looked concerned. "Look, Steven; I've given you a lot of autonomy concerning your handling of Gem-related issues, but you can't seriously expect us to just put our trust in a vision that came to you in a dream."
"What's more:" Cowell interjected "this whole business of you controlling other people's bodies; I'm not sure whether I even believe it, or how terrified I should be if I do."
Steven understood where he was coming from. After all, humanity had been suspicious enough of him when they first found out what he was. The knowledge that he could effectively possess people wasn't exactly going to set anyone at ease. It had taken a lot of effort on Dalton's part to prevent Beach City from becoming overrun with paparazzi, or worse, more anti-Gem protestors. It was clear now that even the leaders' patience with his explanations was beginning to wear thin.
The German leader spoke next. "I'm deeply concerned about the extent to which this may have jeopardised our security. Can you be sure that your taking control of Rose Quartz didn't alert her to your actions?"
"We're pretty confident" said Steven, putting it as assuredly as he could force himself to. "The people I move my mind into (he still didn't like saying "possess") don't have any memory of the time I spend in their bodies."
Though he said this, Steven wasn't all that sure himself. While she wouldn't remember what had happened, Rose would still be aware of the fact that she'd apparently forgotten a period of her day. Whether she traced that back to him or not, she would at least be suspicious.
"So you're saying you can't be sure" Bujold shot back. "Don't misunderstand us; we're not blaming you for the threat. We're well aware that this was precipitated by a…human action." On one of the other screens, Azarov wore an expression of sheepishness uncharacteristic of someone so large and menacing. He loosened his tie slightly, obviously still sensitive at the effect his slip-up had had on his reputation.
"However" Bujold continued, "we simply aren't sure that we want to greenlight actions that might worsen the situation. Your previous mission to Homeworld failed. Facet 31 escaped, and continues to threaten us. We have no assurance whatsoever that you and your 'Crystal Gems' will perform any better this time."
Steven was trying to think up a response when Blue Diamond spoke up from her monitor. She had stayed quiet during the previous meetings, content to let Yellow and White do most of the talking. But something about seeing these humans ganging up on Steven got to her. If she had had blood, it would have been boiling at that moment.
"Alright, now you listen to me. We've been very respectful and stayed out of human affairs until now. I don't think it's too much to ask for you to do the same with matter involving Gems."
Bujold looked like she'd just been slapped across the face. Her indignation overrode any sensible fear of the Diamonds, and she shot back: "When those Germs have made a direct threat against Humanity, it is too much to ask. Don't presume that just because you're more powerful than us you can-"
"And what do you actually propose?" Blue cut her off with an icy tone, her usually soft features now looking so angular and severe that even Steven felt a chill down his spine. He hadn't seen her like this since the battle at Garnet's wedding.
Blue continued before Bujold could respond. "Do you even have a plan for dealing with Facet 31? No, of course you don't, because your weapons can't scratch them, and you wouldn't have even been able to find them without Steven. All you seem able to do is wait around and hope for the best, so kindly continue doing just that, and leave this to the people who know what they're doing."
Bujold sat open-mouthed, unsure of how to respond. The sheer venom in Blue's tone had cut through her anger enough to remind her that she was dealing with a being who could break her in half with one finger; and while they were billions of miles apart, the thought alone was intimidating enough to shut her up.
Yellow wore a similar expression, but hers was out of awe rather than fear. She had almost never seen Blue like this. That speech had almost sounded like something Yellow herself would have said. Indeed, she'd been thinking it, but had stifled it for the sake of diplomacy. Still, she would have been lying if she'd said it wasn't exciting to see Blue like this. Yellow could get very used to this side of her.
Dalton wasn't quite sure how to feel. On one hand, this sort of talk certainly wouldn't be beneficial to relations between Homeworld and Earth, but on the other hand, it made it more likely that the leaders would be pushed into deferring to Steven's plan, thus expediting the counterattack against Facet 31. And, on a more personal note, he found it very satisfying to see Bujold put in her place by an even more formidable woman. He found himself having to stifle a chuckle at the thought.
After an awkward period of silence, the Chinese President, who Pearl had reminded Steven was called Liu Wei, finally spoke up. He seemed the only one not in any way rattled by the discussion, or at least if he was, he wasn't showing it.
"Very well Blue Diamond, Steven; we will consent to your plan." Some of the other leaders looked taken aback that he was speaking for them, but were clearly unwilling to challenge the Diamonds themselves after Blue's outburst.
"However" Liu continued, "there are conditions. As we now know that there are human hostages aboard this 'zoo', this matter does concern the human race. Therefore, I must insist that you bring at least one human observer on your mission; one who is not affiliated with your 'Crystal Gems'. In addition, you must conduct this mission in a manner that does not put humans at unnecessary risk."
"And how do you propose we do that?" Yellow asked indignantly. "We'll be sending a whole fleet to attack Facet 31. We can't exactly approach them undetected."
"Actually" Steven piped up, "The Crystal Gems and I had an idea for that…"