Retrieval
Homeworld Yellow Diamond's Base
Yellow Diamond strode into to her conference room. Her large height and yellow coat made the tyrant look intimidating. Her ministers and generals gave a sharp salute as soon as she sat down at her desk. Though she wouldn't admit it Yellow Diamond swelled with pride at her council. They all looked smart well disciplined, except for one gem.
Yellow Diamond rounded on a Yellow Zircon, "Your appearance is atrocious. Explain why you dare appear before me in such a shoddy state."
Her Minister of Morale glared at her, "It couldn't be helped since you requisitioned my body servant."
The Zircon was in a terrible shape. Her hair looked like a mass of wiring. The minister's cloak was stained and her jumpsuit was little better.
"Yes, well we all must make sacrifices in these difficult times," Yellow Diamond cleared her throat. " Topaz tell me how goes the reconstruction effort."
"Terrible, my Diamond. The Pearls we requisitioned are no replacement for the Peridots," replied Topaz.
Topaz activated a holoscreen. On it showed a group of domestic Pearls working on the repairs of a war ship. Two Pearls struggled to position a piece of equipment into place while above them worked another Pearl. A large chunk of the ship fell off, crushing the Pearls down below. The Pearl above minced in fear at what she had done.
"This is to be expected. Standard issue Pearls have intellectual limits placed on them since the civil war," continued Topaz. "They were made that way to prevent them from rebelling like the renegade."
Yellow Diamond felt a headache coming, "Fine tell me how the Ruby program is going?"
The Minister of Manufacturing a Citrine spoke up, "The Ruby program is not going well. Even with the use of training robinoids the rubies can't handle even the simplest of tasks."
Another Citrine the General of Infantry Production spoke up, "To make matters worse the attempts at increasing the intelligence of rubies has been a failure. What we end up getting are sapphires and as soon as one emerges she says 'this is a bad idea' before jumping out the nearest window."
"Fine what how is progress going on our technological development?" sighed Yellow Diamond.
"Not good," cringed the Minister of Technology and Research. "Even taking into consideration the reassignment of some of our scientists and technicians into lower castes research and development is slower than expected. Apparently many scientists were taking credit for the work of their Peridot assistants."
Snowflake Obsidian the Chief of Intelligence stepped up, "Throughout your ranks there are rumbles of discontent. The list is too large but many are questioning your fitness to lead. In fact I have just learned of one defection to Blue Diamond's court."
Yellow Diamond slammed her hand on her console. Her staff visibly cringed.
"This is unacceptable. Pearl patch me in to Blue Diamond right this instant!"
The Pearl stammered a yes. The image of Blue Diamond appeared of the screen. For once the Blue Queen was not sitting in her palanquin instead she was standing.
"I'm busy, what is you want?" said Blue Diamond. Was she in a shipyard?
"I just heard that one of my court just defected over to your side. Is this true?" accused Yellow Diamond.
"Yes it is."
"This is unacceptable. I demand that you return the miscreant to me right now."
Blue Diamond's hair literally bristled. This was the most angry and energetic Yellow Diamond had seen her in millennia. "Who do you think I am, one of your Peridots? No I will not be handing over that Purple Agate. She is under my protection."
"That's not how it works. Why are you really keeping that scum?"
"Simple. That Purple Agate has the only functioning space station. Apparently the Peridots in her care simply decided to steal a ship instead of trashing the station. So if you want to clean up the mess you made you'll back off."
"How dare you speak to me like this!"
"Well somebody should. I saw the video of what you did to those youngsters. It is your fault your Peridots fled. It is your fault that the Peridots sabotaged our infrastructure and our fleet. We wouldn't be in this mess if you could control yourself. Now leave me be and let me do my part in reconstructing Homeworld."
Blue Diamond snapped the screen on her end. She did not want to have to deal with her sister's nonsense right now. The Blue ruler heard a voice speaking.
"My Diamond construction of the retrieval fleet does not go well," repeated a Blue Agate.
"Explain yourself," Blue Diamond said the chill apparent in her voice.
"It's just that we have no idea on how to build a warship. I mean where do we place the murals and sculptures?"
"Oh for the love of-," shouted Blue Diamond harshly. The Agate visibly cringed."Use Gem shui."
The large burly gem scurried off leaving Blue Diamond alone. The Matriarch put her hand on her forehead. She could feel a headache coming.
Rossmore, Earth
"Steven let's go to the day you contained the cluster," said Dr. Smith softly.
They were in a back room of Dr. Smith's office. Steven lay down on a plush red couch while beside him Dr. Smith sat in an armchair.
"Steven where are you?" asked Smith softly.
"Outside by the drill," said Steven. "I was using my mind diving to keep an eye on Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl."
"Who else is there?"
"Peridot and Connie?"
"Then what happens?"
"The ground starts shaking. Peridot is scared. She starts screaming like a coward. Connie takes charge and slaps Peridot in the face. Then she forces us into the pod. She makes Peridot drive down to the center of the earth."
"Are you sure? What is Connie wearing?"
Steven scrunches his eyes, "Her green dress, no her tank top and shorts. I'm not quite sure."
"Steven what color is the memory?"
"It's purple."
"That's not a real memory. Steven wipe the memory away."
Inside Steven's head, Steven wipes the purple away. The images in his head flickers. Now he remembers. It was just him and Peridot. She got him into the drill while the earth was shaking. Connie was nowhere near the barn. Images of Peridot charging into the center of the earth. How she kept her cool while the gem mutants attacked and despite everything the care she showed him when Steven came into contact with the fractured minds of the cluster. How could he forget all of that?
Steven opened his eyes and sat up, "Thank you doctor. You've opened my eyes."
"Don't take on too much at once," cautioned the older man. "You should go through a few more sessions with me before you try sifting through your memories alone."
Steven thanked the man and drove to his ice cream store.
"Hello Stu ball," greeted his father from behind the counter. "How was your session today?"
"Good we made a breakthrough. I got rid of some memories that Garnet created," Steven stepped into the shop. "Say Dad how about we make some wild and crazy flavors?"
His father brightened, "Steven that's great. You're showing interest in the business again."
"Well, it helps when we went through my memories of gem battles. I can't believe how many times I could have died," laughed Steven nervously.
"I guess its only a matter of time until Peridot moves back in and you can stop looking at my ugly mug. Right?"
The two laughed and got back to work. Just after lunch Greg waved to someone outside. Steven turned around and jumped a little.
"Er Peridot. Good to see you," squeaked Steven.
"You're still seeing me as a monster aren't you," said the slavering thing. In her arms was Jenny their daughter.
"No,"lied Steven. He did not want to hurt her anymore.
"Steven, I understand what Garnet did to you. I don't expect everything to be fixed right away," assured the insectile thing. "Tell me the truth."
"I got some of my real memories back but no you still look like a monster."
More not to see Peridot's hurt expression Steven leaned down to look at his daughter. Jenny seeing him howled in fear. Flustered Steven backed off.
"Steven I just didn't come for a social call. Bismuth is having problems with her latest batch of patients. They're not responding to treatment. Bismuth wants you to look into their minds and see what the block is."
"I'll come in on Monday."
Their was an awkward silence until Peridot said her good bye. The two men worked alone until 8 then the two left for Steven's home.
While Steven was preparing dinner. Greg fiddled a little looking uncomfortable.
"Steven from what the gems can tell your recovery has been remarkable but I can't stay here forever. Steven I feel bad leaving you all alone but I have to go back and run my own business."
"That's alright Dad. Thanks to you I've hired a couple of people and I'm doing much better too. When to do have to go back?"
"Er, tomorrow. It's just that Peedee is running the business all on his own."
"Dad, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'll patch things up with Peridot and then we can be a family again. Say do you want a beer?"
His Dad said yes. They ate the dinner Steven made and then watched some TV before going to bed early. Sunday promised to be a busy day.
That night as Steven lay in his bed he thought about his daughter. Even before is marriage troubles Jenny seemed to be afraid of him. He had no idea why. With the damage Garnet did Steven wondered if he would ever get close to his daughter. Still thinking about Jenny Steven drifted off to sleep.
It was more of impressions rather than images that came to Steven. He felt himself hanging in a sling of some sort. Impressions of warmth and security came to him as he heard Peridot's voice speaking, felt Peridot next to him. He looked up and saw a huge green face above him. The face of Peridot no longer monstrous smiled down at him. It grew dark. The baby nursed drinking in love and warmth. Finally the mother laid Jenny down. Now
Jenny was alone. She fell asleep.
Later Jenny's little ears pricked up. She heard something coming. The bad thing loomed over. It shook her crib roaring and shouting. Jenny tried screaming but Mommy wouldn't come. The baby looked into the face of the three eyed father monster as it slapped and pinched her.
Steven woke in a cold sweat. Fumbling for his phone he called his wife. "Peridot, I was just in Jenny's mind. It's awful Peridot."
"Steven, what's the matter?" he could hear the concern in Peridot's voice.
"Peri, I think Garnet was abusing Jenny."
The line was silent. "I was afraid of something like this. How could it possibly happen?"
"Doesn't matter Garnet would find a way to do what she wanted."
"The question is what do we do now?"
"I don't know Peri. I really don't know."
The next morning Greg gave a hasty goodbye. Steven drifted through the day. His mind reeling at what Garnet did to his daughter. He closed up early, the evening was quiet and he was in no condition to continue. He ate a slice of pizza before heading home.
The house that Peridot worked so hard to build felt so alone. It hurt to look at the homey little touches that Peridot did. He walked into the bedroom. Feeling tired but not able to sleep Steven pulled up his ukulele. His fingers strummed a tune that he was working on before that mess.
He looked in up and saw his reflection in the mirror. Steven had cut his hair and was clean shaven. He wore a red t shirt with a yellow star and he was beginning to get a paunch. He looked like a big kid again. Where was the man who stood up to the gems, protected Peridot and made a life with her? He glared at his reflection.
'You stupid kid. You think a song is going to make everything better? While you were in your own little world Peridot was hurting but you didn't want to see it. Well I'm sick of looking at your face."
Steven screamed and smashed the ukulele again and again. He turned to face the mirror and looked at his face again. This was the monster that Jenny saw. This was the monster he had to kill.
"I'm going to a wig," Steven said to himself.
The next morning Steven warped to Bismuth's farm. He was slightly taken aback with the fact that Peridot was there. Peridot was taken aback for another reason.
"Steven, you're much hairier than the last time I saw you," said Peridot.
Over the night Steven's hair had grown back along with a luxuriant beard. Peridot also could have sworn that Steven's body hair was coarser.
"Yeah I thought that if I grew back my hair maybe Jenny wouldn't be so afraid of me. My body just went into overdrive last night," admitted Steven.
"Well I Jenny is with your father right now. Maybe after we're done our job you can see her," said Peridot. "Let's go see what Bismuth has for us.
Steven followed Peridot to a large pen in the middle of farm. Bismuth looked at her patients who wandered around aimlessly inside.
"These are the worst cases," Bismuth said not taking her eyes off her patients. "I tried all sorts of ways of trying to jog their memories but they won't respond."
"This isn't exactly an enriched environment, Bismuth," chided Steven.
"I know but if I didn't fence them in, they would wander off."
"These were the first corrupted gems ever captured correct?" asked Peridot. Bismuth nodded. "well then it stands to reason they must have been the most affected by the corruption wave. Hand me over one of your patients will you."
When Bismuth handed the robinoid with what looked like a quartz Peridot smashed it open revealing the gem inside. Steven gasped in shock. What was Peridot thinking? Taking the gem up to the sunlight Peridot hmmed as she looked at the gem.
"I don't like the look of this gem," said Peridot.
"What's wrong with it?" asked Bismuth.
"I don't know. There's no chipping or cracks it just looks wrong, duller maybe. Steven can you see inside this gem," asked Peridot as she handed the gem over.
Finding a comfortable spot, Steven sat down he focused his mind on the gem. The next thing he knew he floating in the dark.
"Hello," Steven called out softly. He felt very uncomfortable. This was all wrong. "Is anybody there?" No response. Just unending blackness. There was nothing there. Then Steven knew exactly what was wrong.
In the daylight he sat straight up. Peridot cried out his name. He realized he had fallen. He saw the concerned look on the faces of Bismuth and Peridot.
"Did you reach the gem's mind?" asked Bismuth.
"No," replied Steven. "I couldn't reach that gem's mind because it has no mind. The corruption must have been so severe that the gem's data was wiped clean."
"So it's dead," a tear welled up in Bismuth's eye. "Guys I'm so sorry. I couldn't heal these gems. I failed."
Peridot patted Bismuth's large back, "Hey you have nothing to apologize for. This isn't your fault. They were already gone. Focus on the good you've done. The patients you've healed."
"But there are so many."
"But you helped heal so many more," added Steven. "Think about it. You were made as a construction worker but you exceeded your role and became something more. The first gem doctor ever. Hundreds of gems are free because of the good you did."
"Still what are we going to do with them?" asked Bismuth as she wiped her nose.
"Oh I have an idea," said Peridot with her eyes glinting.
As Bismuth and Peridot bubbled the rest of the penned in gems. Steven walked up to Peridot.
"I'm sorry," said Steven.
"Steven none of this is your fault," replied Peridot. She didn't look at him pretending to be absorbed in the task of bubbling.
"But whether I meant to or not I hurt you. For that I'm sorry." Peridot turned around to look at him. For a second he saw her as the beautiful gem she was. "Are you and Jenny ready to move back home?"
"No, Jenny's still shaken up. Let's just just see how she reacts to you." It wasn't what he wanted but it was enough.
After they had bubbled all the gems and placed them back into the burning room again. Steven and Peridot walked into town. When they reached the end of the boardwalk, there was proud grandpa holding little Jenny as he chatted with Yellowtail. Catching sight of the two he waved at them.
"Steven what happened to your hair? Have you two patched things up?" called out Greg.
"Not just yet. We're still seeing how it goes. How was little Jenny?" asked Peridot as she picked up her baby.
The baby gurgled in her arms, happy to see her mother. Who would have thought Peridot would have been such a good mother? Steven looked on as his wife doted on their child.
"Oh Jenny was as good as gold. There was a little hair pulling incident but that's just like her old man at that age. Right Jenny?"
The baby cooed in agreement. A little off to the side Steven watched as Peridot and his father played with his daughter. He felt a lump on his throat.
"Can I hold Jenny?" asked Steven softly.
"Okay just hold her head. She still can't support her head yet," said Peridot as she handed Jenny over to him.
Steven looked down at the baby in his arms. Though Jenny was big for her age she looked tiny in Steven's arms. Jenny looked into the eyes of this hairy stranger. With one large finger Steven stroked Jenny's little cheek. She gave him a gummy smile.
"Hello Jenny," Steven said softly.
The spell was ruined. Recognizing his voice Jenny howled in fear. Peridot ever the protective mother scooped up the baby.
"How about we have a few sessions with Yellow Jade first?" asked Peridot.
"Is this really necessary?" asked Steven. His voice was muffled.
It was two days later. Steven sat stiffly on the floor as Jenny lay on his legs. He wore a full teddy bear costume which covered his face.
"Yes, it is," insisted Yellow Jade. "Because of what Garnet did, Jenny is afraid of you. In order to bond with your daughter again you must appear as nonthreatening as possible.
"I get that. It's just that it's hard to breathe in here. How long must I keep this up?"
"We should be done these sessions in a couple of months. But for now your time is up. Peridot pick up Jenny. It's time to run the iced cream shop together," ordered Yellow Jade.
Steven was never so glad take off his costume. He lead his family to the van. No one said a word as they drove to the ice cream store. When they finally got in Peridot placed Jenny in her car seat on the counter, facing away from Steven. Time seemed to drag on as the two kept shop until lunch time. Then the lunch time rush came. Steven and Peridot put on a brave face as customers cooed and looked at the baby. Jenny smiled and gurgled being the perfect hostess. For a while it seemed like they were a family. Then the lunch time rush ended and they were left alone one again.
"So I hear you hired some employees. Does that mean you'll be spending less time here?" asked Peridot.
"Er yeah, a couple of high school students. They'll be working after school," Steven rubbed the back of his head. "Say Peri, you've been rather busy. Did you finish that project you were working on?"
"Actually I have. I guess I'll be spending more time in the workshop."
The atmosphere was thick and stilted. Steven practically leaped up when he saw a familiar face.
"Sheriff Bertram, go to see you. What will you have?" the smile faded on his face as he saw the serious expression on her face.
"I'm not here for ice cream. Connie's been declared missing. She was last seen when your lion chased her," the woman stared stonily at the couple.
"Well you already know where I was," laughed Steven nervously.
"But I don't know where your wife was. Peridot you seem rather calm. So where were you last week Tuesday between 12 and 5 pm?"
Peridot looked at her fingernails "I was hunting down a criminal on the moonbase."
Bertram pulled out her handcuffs, "Enough, this is not a joke. A young girl is missing. If you don't tell me now where you were I will forced to ask you again at the station."
"Actually she was on the moon," sweated Steven. "We have a series of warps that can take a gem pretty much around the world."
"Yes that's right. I can even take you there myself," added Peridot.
"Anybody to back up that story?" Bertram wasn't buying this.
"I was with Pearl, Peridot number 3, Nephrites 13m1970, 1931m2 and 1935j29, Biggs and Speckles to name a few."
Bertram sighed, "You know as soon as you guys moved into town I knew that my life would get a whole lot weirder but I never expected you would harm someone. What you just told me is quite frankly unbelievable but I have to. Now Peridot, Steven, until this mess is cleared up don't leave town. I'm going to talk with your Prime Minister and see if any of what you told me is true.
Oh and Steven, my daughter won't be working for you any time soon."
The sheriff stormed off. Leaving a distinct chill in the air.
Once Bertram had left Scary Hairy's she met up with the search party by the Canyon of Souls. Her deputy a small man stood with a clearly shaken up Priyanka Maheswaran. This was not going to be pleasant. Bertram had dealt with more than her fair share of missing persons. Steeling herself Bertram prepared to meet the mother.
"Hello you must be Mrs. Maheswaran. You must be so distraught but I must ask you a few questions," said Bertram softly.
The woman looked up. Her eyes were dead looking, "What is it you want to know?"
"Well you and Connie only recently moved here and yet she was seen flirting with Steven as his shop on several occasions. Can you tell me what that was about?"
Priyanka's eyes hardened. "I can tell you exactly what was going on. Connie met Steven when she was a child. At first I was glad Connie made a new friend. They spent almost all their time together. While I thought they were playing simple children's games Connie was actually learning how to fight by Steven's foster mother Pearl. That woman changed my child from a shy bookish girl to a ruthless soldier I could barely recognize. They brainwashed her. When Steven lost interest in her and started seeing that green freak my Connie was devastated. So yeah we moved out here, only to find that Steven had moved here a few months earlier.
What happened to Connie was all Pearl's fault. I can tell you that."
Bertram could see that she wasn't getting the entire story. She pulled Rogers aside, "Any luck on finding a trace of Connie here?"
"It's still early on in the search but no we haven't found anything yet," replied Rogers.
"And the lead that Mrs. Maheswaran gave us points to the Prime Minister of the Crystal Gems, lovely. I am so looking forward to interviewing her."
"This is waste of time. Go arrest Steven and find out whatever he did to Connie!" interrupted Mrs. Maheswaran.
Saved by the bell. Bertram's walkie talkie crackled. She picked it up.
"Yeah we're hearing reports of a child abduction and a dangerous animal roaming loose downtown " said Stubbins on the other side.
"Just what I need. We have most of our men in a search party here. What's going on?"
"Not quite sure but the reports suggests it involves the Universes."
Steven wasn't quite sure what happened. One moment he was making a batch of Malteser Madness while Peridot served up ice cream cones. The next thing he knew a huge yellow monster broke through the window and snatched Jenny. Steven didn't know what he was going to do. He just chased after the thing as it ran through the town. Behind him he could hear Peridot shouting after him.
More concerned for his daughter Steven chased the monster through the Alien Museum, Close Encounters and back to the town square. He had almost reached the monster when the thing climbed up a nearby building and perched itself on the roof. Steven glared up at it.
The thing was obviously a corrupted gem. Bright yellow the huge cat like thing peered down with its single eye. In its mouth Jenny screamed in fear. In the background he heard the police sirens blaring. The police didn't know how to deal with a corrupted gem. Steeling himself he prepared to climb up the building.
Behind him the siren stopped and a door slammed. Halfway up the wall he heard Peridot call out.
"Don't shoot you'll hit the baby." Steven scrambled up even faster.
When he got near the top he saw a glint in the monster's eye. The thing leaned over and dropped the baby. Steven didn't think. He just reached out and caught Jenny. From the corner of his eye he saw a stop sign sail through the air. The monster poofed.
Looking down Steven saw Jenny crying and hiccuping. He held her close.
"It's okay Daddy's got you," Steven crooned.
Steven's heart melted. Jenny finally smiled – at him. He stepped down onto the ground.
"What the hell is going on here?" shouted the sheriff. She straight up to him.
Steven looked down. He realized that his legs were stretched to over twice its length. He shrank his legs back to normal.
"Steven, Peridot you better have a good explanation for this!" said Bertram though gritted teeth.
"We were trying to rescue our child from that monster," said Steven hotly
"And that thing just appeared from nowhere right? You two seem to be spending a lot of time with dangerous animals lately."
"That's not fair! We had no part in bringing that corrupted gem here."
"I tell what's not fair. The trail of destruction, the thousands of dollars worth of damage. Who's going to pay for that?"
Ignoring the two arguing, Peridot walked over to where the corrupted gem was lying on the ground. It looked strangely familiar. It started to glow and reform. Peridot stepped back a little to give it room. Behind her the arguing stopped. The form shifted and set. When the glowing stopped there stood Yellow Jade.
Steven and Bertram stopped arguing.
"Who is that?" said Bertram with a chill in her voice.
"That is our family counselor," sighed Steven.
"Yellow Jade what in the name of the Goddess are you doing?" blurted out Peridot.
"What does it look like? I was working on repairing your family bonds," said Jade.
"By snatching Jenny? You endangered her life!" shouted Steven.
"The best way to reform bonds is to introduce a common enemy. Besides Peridots are extremely durable," said Jade proudly.
"So you took the form of a monster to get Steven to bond with his baby?" asked Bertram.
"I sure did."
"That's all I needed to hear." Bertram pulled out her handcuffs and clamped them down on Yellow Jade's wrists.
"What what are you doing?" cried a panicked Jade.
"Arresting you," replied Bertram. "Yellow Jade you are under arrest for child endangerment, child abduction, public mischief and destruction of both private and public property. You have the right to remain silent.."
Bertram continued her speech as she pushed Yellow Jade into the police car. Before she left, Bertram turned towards Steven and Peridot. "This Connie matter is not over. Don't leave town in the near future."
Three days later Bertram waited outside the Gem Prime Minister's office. The middle aged woman had been waiting for twenty minutes when a small green girl left the office. The girl carrying a backpack looked up at the sheriff. Of course- school was starting.
"You can come in now," said the green girl.
When Bertram went through the door she was surprised at what she saw. This was not an office. Instead it seemed to be a small underground apartment. Off on the far wall was a small kitchenette. There was an overstuffed sofa and a couple of chairs. The walls appeared to made of wood. On them were fairly good paintings of seascapes. The effect was homey not at all what Bertram was expecting.
"Over here," called out the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister was not at all what she expected. Sure Bertram had seen pictures of her in Time and Newsmonth but it in no way prepared her for what she saw. Pearl was in a light blue dress. She sat by a small kitchen table as she poured a cup of tea.
"What would like in your tea?" repeated Pearl.
"Sorry this isn't a social call and you needn't have put on an act for me," replied Bertram.
Pearl expression hardened, "Oh that wasn't an act. Now let's down to business. You've been searching around this city and Jet and Emerald's home."
"I'm just following all leads. An innocent girl just disappeared and nobody know what happened to her."
"Innocent I think not," Pearl said vehemently. "I can tell you exactly what happened to that bitch. Once Lion had chased her away Connie decided to make life difficult for us. No doubt she's hiding somewhere waiting for this mess to blow up in our faces."
"You sound so sure of yourself."
"I trained Connie myself much to my regret."
"To become sort of bodyguard for your foster son. Do you feel in anyway responsible for what happened to her?"
"Connie isn't the innocent little girl her mother portrayed her. Did you know in Beach City she has a history of assaulting people? I turned a blind eye because I thought she was a good person. Yet when Steven fell in love with Peridot Connie became obsessed with him. She attacked Peridot injuring an innocent bystander in the process.
Before Steven ran away to Rossmore. Connie was almost killed by Lars' girlfriend. When she was found, she blamed Steven and Peridot. Her father was in the police force hunted them down and drove them out of town to here Rossmore. We didn't hear from them for an entire month. That is the person Connie was."
"Before Connie disappeared Mrs. Maheswaran said you broke into their apartment and threatened them."
"I was retrieving the sword that Steven gave her. I told her to leave town. By some miracle Steven and Peridot had made a good life here. I was not going to let Connie destroy that."
"I see Madame Prime Minister you realize this is not looking good for you. I have enough to get a search warrant to search this city. But first, hand over Connie's sword."
"Here take it. Keep it for all I care. That sword has brought nothing but misery. Before you come back here again read Newsmonth."
When Bertram left Pearl's quarters she noticed how vast the city was. As a guide lead her back to the surface she noticed that she was the only human there.
"So are humans not allowed here?" Bertram asked the bluish person.
"No your species does not feel comfortable so far underground. We do have facilities for our human employees on the surface though."
"So you would notice if a human came wandering in here?"
The bluish woman turned around. She seemed to be a petite woman wearing some sort of ballgown. "You are the only human who has come this far. But if you don't believe me go check our records at the gates."
"Oh I will."
Lion decided he had gone into hiding long enough. He warped to Steven's house but instead of being greeted warmly Steven and his mate gave a chilly reception.
Steven glared at him"You have a lot of nerve showing up here. Do you know how much trouble you caused?"
Lion looked up at him with a hurt expression on his face. How could he explain that he was trying to help?
Steven was not moved, "Don't give me that look. Whatever you did to Connie just made things worse. Now the Sheriff is breathing down our neck and the town is afraid of us. They think you killed Connie. Look just go before you make this any worse than it already is"
Lion mewed pitifully trying to get Steven to change his mind. Suddenly something leaped on his back. It was Jasper.
"Good soldier, hold her still," shouted Peridot. The technician held some sort of gun.
Lion not taking this anymore flung Jasper off. The corrupted gem got back on her feet and charged at Lion. The two grappled and rolled on the ground. Jasper fought well but she was no match. Lion soon poofed her. He turned to the next menace. Before Peridot could fire he swiped the gun out of her hands and pinned the technician down.
A blinding pain filled his being. He turned around to see Steven holding the smoking gun, a disruptor of some sort. Instinctively Lion charged, only to stop himself. He wanted to patch things up not hurt Steven. As the gun charged again Lion created a portal and leaped out of the home. It would be a long time before Lion could even show himself among the gems again.
Bertram was drinking coffee after the big dinner her daughter prepared. She had no illusions. Her daughter, Beatrice was trying to bribe her into changing her mind about not letting her work at Scary Hairy's. Not that she would but it was still nice of her to try. She took another sip of her coffee when the door pounded. Beatrice had her hands full washing the dishes. Bertram got off of her comfy seat and opened the door to find herself face to face with Connie's mother.
Priyanka Maheswaran "I heard Connie's sword tested positive for human blood. Why haven't you arrested Steven and Peridot yet?"
"How did you find out about that? Never mind, then you must also know that the blood wasn't Connie's. There is no evidence that Peridot and Steven had anything to do with your daughter's disappearance."
"How disappointing. I wonder what the press will make of this when I tell them of your incompetence."
Bertram chuckled lowly "Oh go do that. Mrs. Maheswaran you seem to be hiding something. You see I read Newsmonth." Priyanka's jaw dropped. "Your Connie was no angel. In fact she was something of a bully At least 4 assaults to her record and let's not forget she framed Steven for attempted murder. And that's not all is it? I talked to Connie's classmates. They were afraid of her. For someone so young she had a talent for making enemies. So unless you want your daughter's name dragged through the mud you will keep quiet. Goodbye Mrs. Maheswaran."
Sheriff Bertram slammed the door. She could feel her daughter staring at her. "Hey little Beet I think there's an opening at the Frying Saucer."
Lunar base Common Room
Not all the gems were hard working but they were still expected to contribute. So when an opening came for a sweet assignment watching gem transmissions all day at the moonbase, Seaglass, a Lapis Lazuli and Apatite jumped at the chance. With what little technical know how they set up a bank of monitors into the common room right in front of the sofa- a perfect little earth invention.
They spent their days hard at work watching TV programs from Homeworld. Seaglass was fond of Cycles of Our Lives. They never expected hear something this important.
Apatite was preparing nachos when sports transmission cut off.
"We interrupt this program to give this important news," said the news announcer a Soldalite with a gem on her throat. "The treacherous Peridots have been found. A recent tip off has revealed the Peridots escaped to the Star system where the site of an obscure failed colony. The despite all attempts to destroy our way of life we have managed to rebuild our fleet." The screen showed some rather clunky looking red eyes and hand ships floating in space. "Grand Admiral Topaz is leading the fleet herself to retrieve and punish these miscreants. All hail the Diamond Authority."
Apatite dropped the nachos. The screen flicked back to the sports program but the three gems were no longer interested in the game.
"We- we better inform Pearl right away,"said a shaken Seaglass.