I'd like to thank those of you who have read and reviewed this story. I've had a busy life lately and so haven't been able to keep up with the writing/ However, chapter seventeen is finished and is posted right now.
So I hope you enjoy the return of this story (and yes, this includes the troll. Yay, I'm big enough to get a troll! XD)
Chapter Seventeen: Miss Murder
The end of the battle did not relieve the stress and worry that was filling my heart. The only consolation was that I had finally gotten used to zero-G enough to not get spacesick, I didn't need the pills anymore. But I was in a panic. Desperate.
I had to make sure Dorothy Eliarez was okay. I had promised Elle she'd be fine. I hadn't protected the ship well enough.
It didn't matter that we had managed to win. Everyone had wanted to make it to the fleet completely intact, with no casualties. So the people who started the journey with us at the wreckage of Heliopolis could see their homes again.
I wish we could say we had become a band, forged by fire, but we really weren't. We were just out for the same goal: safety. As long as that goal was in sight, we could make it. Sure, we volunteered for things and for the most part tolerated people we didn't like, but it wasn't like any civilians were going to stick around to become soldiers, and that the soldiers of Artemis weren't going to land in hot water for what they tried to do to us.
If something happened to remove that safety, I wasn't sure what would happen. But we were a powder keg that would become ready to blow the moment something resembling a fire broke out.
But first and foremost I had to check on Dorothy Eliarez for the sake of her daughter. As I made it to the medical bay, I found a soldier entering something into a datapad. I figured he was as good of a potential source as any and I approached him.
He looked at me. "Hey, ain't you the-"
"Yes, I'm the GUNDAM pilot. Do you have the casualty list?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Say wha?"
"The casualty list. There's someone important to me who was in the Gottfried that got hit and I need to know that she's okay."
"Oh." He cycled through his datapad, highlighting something I couldn't see with his tiny plastic stick. "Uh, I got eleven casualties plus one MIA. Four KIA, seven WIA."
"Just give me the names. I know who I'm looking for."
He nodded. "Uh, okay. Um, do you want the wounded first or the-"
"Just start with the dead and unaccounted for," I said. I could barely keep myself from yanking the datapad out of his hands and look through the list myself. Already, I could feel my breathing bordering on the frantic, and I could audibly hear my heartbeat.
I was on the verge of completely freaking out in front of this guy.
"Uh, Seaman First Class Jorge Ramirez, Seaman First Class Jacqueline Vermor, Seaman Second Class Kolei Carmelson, and civilian Hans Cooper. MIA is civilian Seamus Kucinich. No one's seen him since the Gottfried got hit."
So at least Dorothy wasn't dead. That made me feel a lot happier inside. "Okay, it's none of them."
He ran down the list of wounded. Just as I thought Dorothy wasn't going to be mentioned, on the fifth name he said "Civilian Dorothy Eliarez."
So, she had been hurt. I stopped him just as he began reciting the sixth name. "That's who I'm looking for. How hurt is she?"
"Uh, burns, mostly. Nothing serious. Why? She a relative of yours?"
"I'm her daughter's babysitter."
He just gave me a look but I didn't care. I moved past him and went as fast as I could through the medical bay. It seemed pretty well-organized, but the medical bay looked like it could hold a lot more than seven wounded. Even with the manpower issue it looked like they could capably take care of seven wounded.
There's nothing I could do for the dead, and I figured what had happened to Seamus Kucinich was that he got sucked into space or something. Crappy way to go but there's nothing that could be done about that. I was sure he'd be "presumed KIA" very soon.
When I finally made it to Dorothy Eliarez's room, she was not only conscious, but wide awake, her left arm draped in burn bandages but nothing else seemed amiss.
Her nurse looked up at me and asked "May I help you?"
Thankfully, I didn't have to answer, because Dorothy spoke next. "It's my daughter's babysitter. It's all right, she can come in. She's been a big help."
The nurse looked at Dorothy, then back to me, and then did a double take. "Wait, you are the-"
"Yes," I said, "I am the Coordinator, and I babysit your patient's daughter. Is that such a big deal?"
The nurse couldn't come up with a response to that, and Dorothy mercifully spoke. "It's all right. Leave us alone for a few minutes, please."
The nurse, whose face was beet-red, looked grateful for the opportunity. "Uh, yes, ma'am."
She left the room without saying a word or even looking at me. I went to Ms. Eliarez's bedside, and she looked at me and smiled. "Why're you here?"
"I failed to protect the ship. I'm sorry," I said. My voice was strong and clear. I had no clue whether that was a good thing or not. I wasn't normally the type to choke up unless things got really bad, but you would think my voice would at least weaken a little bit in this kind of situation, show some inner vulnerability.
"Don't be stupid. What hit us was a shot from a ship, not from a Mobile Suit. That's not your fault."
"Maybe-"
"There's no maybes, Ms. Yamato. That ship was too far away to fly to. I don't even think Lieutenant La Flaga, as good as he is, could've handled all of those GUNDAM-things all at once. You made the right decision. And, anyway, I'm still alive, right?"
"Not everyone's all right," I pointed out, thinking about the dead and other wounded.
Ms. Eliarez shook her head. "Look, not everything's your fault. You did what you had to do. I-"
"Mommy!" That was undoubtedly Elle, and there she charged, into her mother's free arm, which quickly wrapped itself around her.
The nurse I had encountered earlier dutifully followed Elle in here. "Please, she's wounded, there's . . ." She looked at me again, and her face flushed once more. She turned around and left as quickly as she came in. I couldn't tell whether she was angry at me or simply embarrassed.
Elle was wailing, and there was nothing I could say. It was clear that this wasn't my moment. I was not a member of their family. I was an intruder upon them, a guest, an acquaintance. Nothing more than that.
The fact that Elle had just charged past me without saying a single word spoke volumes as to who meant more to her.
I had gotten my confirmation as to how badly Ms. Eliarez was injured. There was no other reason for me to be here, I would just be getting in the way. So I left, and silently floated down the hallway, hoping that in the end Elle wouldn't completely hate me for her mother being hurt.
Even though Ms. Eliarez herself said that I wasn't to blame for the injury, I couldn't help but feel that it was. In the end, my effort to protect the ship hadn't been perfect, and after the end of this horrific journey, it would've been really something for all of the military personnel and civilians to make it to the end.
But I guess that such a thought is unrealistic in the end.
Still . . .
It really would've been something. Something truly special.
That night, I settled down with Miriallia on what I was hoping would be our last night onboard the ship. We were still en route to Haliberton's main force. It wouldn't be until tomorrow morning, Greenwich Mean Time, that we'd make it to the main force and be able to disembark. That would be February 12th.
Two days from the anniversary of the Bloody Valentine. My God, and I would spending it up here, in space, rather than in the comfortable, warm home of my parents.
I still feel a kind of kinship with the Coordinators. I went to Coordinator academies for years. I was one of them. I may not have lost anybody dear to me in the Bloody Valentine but still, it was a massacre of my kind. My people.
At the same time, though, these were my people too, even though they were all Naturals. Tolle, Miri, Kira, Badgiruel, Ramius, La Flaga . . . they were people too.
In the end, I think that we're all humans. We may be different genetically but there's no hiding the real fact that Coordinators and Naturals are both human beings, despite such a genetic difference.
So why do we feel the need to kill the other just because we're different? Seeing this war shows that both Naturals and Coordinators have the same emotions, the same fears, the same flaws, and unfortunately, the same hatred.
This is such a disgusting war.
Thankfully, I was going to see the end of my participation in it. Or so I thought.
Miriallia laughed softly from above me. "Hard to believe it's the last night, isn't it? We're going back into our civilian clothes, we'll be going home, back to Orb."
"I'm looking forward to it," I said. "Which island do you live on again?"
"New Guinea."
"Oh. I live on Onogoro."
Miriallia chuckled again, but this time with a hint of sadness. "Yeah, kinda makes seeing each other difficult. Tolle lives on New Guinea too."
After everything I had been through, that fact did not surprise me at all. "I see."
"Of course," Miriallia said, "That's if Prince Kira even lets us get off."
This was new. "What?"
"Kuzzey says that he heard that Kira's trying to prevent us from getting off this ship," Miriallia said. "He's really arguing with his father personally."
"You mean . . ."
"Yeah, the Lion of Orb himself. 'Course, this is just what Kuzzey's saying, I don't know how much to buy."
"Why would Kira not want us to leave? I don't think he wants to be here anymore than we do. I mean, he said to me best, that he's a diplomatic incident waiting to happen."
"I don't know. Again, this is just what Kuzzey's saying. He's not so good as explaining motivations and crap."
Now this was making me ill. The thought of remaining stuck on this ship fighting ZAFT forces . . . no way in hell. I wanted to go home. I had served my time, now it was time to let me go. Let me be a civilian again.
But would the Earth Alliance forces just so amicably let me go?
After all, Orb was neutral. I could fly anywhere in the Earth Alliance, or indeed right into the ZAFT. Conceivably, I could wind up shooting at the Earth Alliance. I would never do that, I was going to stay neutral, but how would the EA know that? Or care if they did? I was of the same kind as the enemy.
Natarle Badgiruel, by far the creepiest of the Archangel personnel, loomed in my mind like a demon. I could see the dark manipulations she was planning behind those violet eyes. She had already gone against Murrue Ramius' orders before. Who said she wouldn't go rogue completely in order to get me?
Thankfully, stealing my attention away from possible Badgiruel manipulations was Melanie.
The door shuttered open softly, and I asked "Who's there?"
Elle. "My mom told me to sleep with you tonight."
I could hear Miriallia groan from up above. "Come on. Isn't your mom aware that someone besides Cagalli sleeps in this room?"
"I-I'm sorry. Just doing what Mom told me to do."
I sighed. "Elle, it's all right. You can share the bed with me."
"Thank you," she said, and I let her crawl into bed right beside me. I could tell she was nervous. Why wouldn't she? Her mom had just gotten badly hurt.
"You're taking responsibility for her, including if she wets the bed," Miriallia said.
"I don't wet the bed," Elle said, a defensive tone creeping into her voice.
"Just sayin'," Miriallia said, and I decided to let that one slide. Miriallia had a right to be cranky just like the rest of us.
I wrapped my left arm around Elle and tucked the covers around her just enough so most of her body was underneath. "It's okay. You'll be safe here tonight. There's me and cranky old Miriallia up there."
"Who's cranky and old?" Miriallia snapped.
"You are. You're a cranky old woman even though you're younger than me," I said.
"Gee, thanks. Remind me to sic some cats on you. If I'm gonna be old I might as well be the crazy old cat lady," Miriallia grumbled. That made Elle chuckle a little, which was what I wanted. Anything to keep her mind off her mother.
After a brief period of silence, where I thought Elle would just go to sleep, she said "I tried to stay with Mom but the nurses insisted I go sleep somewhere else."
"The nurses are being smart," I said. "They don't want you to get hurt accidentally. It's been crazy on this ship."
"Probably gonna get crazier," Miriallia unhelpfully added from up above.
"Yeah, I know, but . . . I just feel weird about leaving Mom alone. I don't know why," Elle said.
Now she was beginning to creep me out. "Your mom's gonna be fine, Elle."
"That's what she said too, but . . ."
"If your mom says she's gonna be okay, then that's how it's gonna be," I replied, this time trying to sound final.
"I guess," Elle said, and this time, I heard a small sigh from her. She was finally ready to sleep.
And frankly, so was I.
I wasn't going to deal with any trouble until the morning.
And, it turned out, there was gonna be a ton of trouble.
Picture this avalanche of bricks crashing upon your house, crushing it underneath the immense weight. Picture yourself in said house as it crumbles right on your head.
That's what happens to a child who loses a parent.
Everything is crushed by death and there's no escape from it.
The moment Elle and I stepped outside to face the new morning, that's the news I got to hear.
The soldier pulled me aside, away from Melanie. "What's going on?" I asked as we were separated. Another soldier, a woman, was bending down and whispering to Elle, whose eyes were increasingly widening in horror, and her hands were rising in front of her mouth.
"We've been looking everywhere for Elle Eliarez," the soldier said. "Somebody said she'd be with you because you're her babysitter."
"Yeah, so? Can't you tell me what's going on?" I asked.
The soldier looked away from me. "Dorothy Eliarez was murdered last night."
"What?" I shouted. That startled both Elle and the woman, who both looked at me for a moment before the woman began speaking to Melanie again.
The soldier just shook his head. "Her throat was slashed open. We don't know who did it. Just . . . just come with us. You're the closest thing that girl has to a guardian onboard this ship . . . you have to."
He then led me down the hall, away from Elle, who looked increasingly fearful and helpless as I turned the corner, away from her.
My place wasn't by the corpse, it was by her.
But I'm a soldier, at the same time. So my place is by a corpse, ironically enough.
Which one was I, the soldier or the college student?
When I did make it to the hospital room, I dreaded seeing the cover being lifted up to reveal Dorothy Eliarez's face. I hoped against hope that it was a case of mistaken identity, that someone would burst into the room claiming that the real Dorothy Eliarez was still alive and this person was a lookalike or something.
But no, when the cover was lifted up, I saw Dorothy's face. It was pale, and her eyes were still open, staring at some unknown enemy with terror still evident.
I just stared. I could barely even fathom the sight. Finally, I tore my eyes away from it. Murrue Ramius was in the room now, looking vaguely melancholy. "Who . . . who did this?"
"I don't know," Murrue said softly. Her brown eyes looked at me then, now with tinges of faint suspicion. "Do you have an alibi, Cagalli?"
"I was sleeping in my bunk last night," I said. "Both Miriallia and Elle herself can vouch for that. In fact Elle was in the-"
"I had to ask," Murrue said. "There's no telling who of us is the suspect. So far everyone has an alibi."
This was just great. Now not only were there rumors that everybody on this ship was gonna be stuck on it, but now there was a murderer on board too! Only thing that would make this better was a surprise ZAFT attack.
Knowing my luck, Rau Le Creuset was planning a surprise attack right now.
Murrue placed her hand on my shoulder. "You knew Ms. Eliarez better than most people on this ship. We're questioning everybody who knew her, including everyone who worked with her that survived. We need to know anyone who might've had a grudge against her. Please, come with me."
"Who's doing the questioning?" I asked.
"Natarle Badgiruel," Murrue said, confirming my worst nightmares.
As she led me out of the room, I saw a brief flash of red hair to my left. I turned, and saw Flay Allster for the briefest second.
My glimpse of her wasn't very long, and I didn't get a good look at her face as she rounded the corner, but I thought I saw the slightest smile cross her face as she vanished.
Was it her? Could it really have been her?
Why?
Murrue tugged on my arm, this time just a bit forcefully. "Cagalli, please. I want you cleared as a suspect as soon as possible so you can get back in the Strike if something happens today."
"I thought I was done with the Strike," I said.
"That's up to the prince and his father," Murrue replied cryptically.
So, the rumors were true that Kira was trying to keep the Orb civilians onboard. Why the hell would Kira do that?
No, the greater mystery was the murder of Dorothy Eliarez.
And I had a feeling I had just seen not only the primary suspect, but the perpetrator.
Flay Allster.
