The bright morning sun shone onto the Presidential mansion located in the midst of the winding maze of highways and buildings in Frontier City. A garrison of local security forces stood in place at key checkpoints, while a very large group of protesters peacefully demonstrated their disapproval of the government's most recent decisions. Several news crews worked their way amongst the crowds, interviewing attendees to get their opinions on the issues.
A reporter approached a sign-wielding protester. "Why are you here today, sir?" "The Frontier Government has seen fit to misappropriate colony resources to help the Zentraedi fleet build their factory. They haven't even done anything to earn their share around here. Why do the rest of us citizens need to be inconvenienced while we appease the warmongers?" The reporter turned back to the camera to issue his opinion on the matter. "Strong words, indeed. Does this crowd of protesters represent the growing dissatisfaction amongst the populace? Several reputable political groups and their supporters have locked horns in the debate. Is this a question of right or wrong? It will be up to the people to decide and express their opinion in a local forum such as this." The reporter opened his palm out to show the expanse of the crowd gathered outside of the mansion's grounds.
Cathy Glass sat in her home watching the news in her civvies. Today was her day off, but it looks like she will be enduring a little bit of stress over the recent protesting. The news channel changed over to a round-table debate between political commentator heavyweights. One commentator had already begun talking while the others patiently waited their turn. "My opinion on this is that we should welcome the Zentrans with open arms. So what if they need resources to build a factory and their base? I welcome the addition of their grand fleet to help us secure the system from anyone who dares to attack us. The construction is creating thousands of jobs for our populace to work in."
Another commentator butted in to retort, "But at the cost of what? Now that means that we will not be able to complete several of our projects in Frontier City until the factories on Island-1 can catch up to the production of the raw materials we need. That means that Frontier City's growth remains stagnant, while Laplamiz will explode in size. Does that seem fair to you?" The next commentator decided to add his opinion, "If the Zentran population would just miclone themselves, we wouldn't be having so many problems trying to accommodate their living situation. I think the government should just mandate the micloning of them all and we'd be done with the issue once and for all."
The mediator and host of the show interjected. "Be careful of what you say, sir. It's firebrand statements like that that get people in a lot of hot water." The fourth commentator decided to finally speak up. His expression was somewhat angry at the things that were being said all around the table. "I think that too many people have lost sight of what it means to be 'free'. If the Zentrans choose to live their lives in their natural sizes, so be it. We did just fine during our voyage through space to get here. Why is it such a big deal, all of a sudden? A government mandate to have the Zentrans miclone themselves would be completely unconstitutional."
One of the previous commentators re-entered the conversation. "Then why don't we just find a way around the constitution for the good of the people?" The last commentator responded, "The constitution was written in a way to prevent the abuse of power by the government. The people can overwhelmingly vote to change it, but to circumvent its safeguards entirely would only lead to further abuses by anyone who wanted to use this as precedent. It's not just an issue of 'doing what's right', it's an issue of making sure that there will be no exploitation in the future..."
Cathy had heard enough of their jibber-jabber and turned off the television set. Her fears of public outcry were beginning to manifest and there seemed like little she could do to fight them. However, there was a handful of people she knew very well who could do a lot to assuage the dissent amongst the citizens... not to mention a certain individual who was at the front of the lines out there fighting to secure more resources for the colony to use. Cathy picked up her cell phone and began to punch in a text message.
...
While he sat on a bench in the park, the PDA on Cal's hip began to notify him of an incoming call. Picking up the PDA and putting it to his ear, he answered. "Hello?" "Calvin..." The voice was familiar again. Cal casually leaned back on the bench to relax. "Hey, Marie. What's going on?" The voice did not answer right away. "Hello? Are you there?" "...you need to wake up." Cal pulled the PDA away from his head and looked at it with a confused disposition. Suddenly, he realized that he was stuck in a dream again.
The park that he was in slowly turned to black. A series of memories started to flash by in front of him. The occasional familiar face would appear off to the side and give him a cheery look. Each image that sped by was reminiscent of some of the most recent events that had transpired. It's as if his mind was reclaiming its memory and putting events back into order. The last picture that appeared was the last thing he saw before losing consciousness. Klan stood over him as the image began to blur out of focus and eventually turned to black again.
As he fought to regain control over his body, Cal strained to open his eyes and become aware of his surroundings. The darkness of his vision split at the middle and expanded in each direction, revealing a very blurry image once again. A few moments passed while his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the lights on the other side of the room. As the infirmary came more into focus, his mind began to wonder if he had been dreaming for a long time and he was back in the hospital on Aimo. His body established its surroundings as unfamiliar, though. The feeling told him that he was in a different place than he had originally thought.
Several moments passed as his motor skills began to check in as "green". A movement here and there reminded Cal of how to operate his body once again. He sensed a presence to one side and turned his head to see what it could be. Jen Wentz sat patiently, keeping herself busy by either drawing or writing on a notebook that she held in her lap. Upon seeing Cal coming out of his unconscious state, she put the notebook down on the table next to her.
"Hey, you..." she said with compassion in her voice. The lights were still a bit bright for Cal's eyes and he squinted to control the brightness of what he was seeing. Feeling a tightness on his arm, he looked down to see the hypodermic needle from the IV firmly placed under his skin. Two pieces of medical tape formed an 'X' over the entry point to hold the needle in place. He felt several leads from the EKG machine attached to his chest, wrists, and ankles. Suddenly, the sensation of pain returned as that part of his brain checked in "OK".
Cal winced at the massive headache he was now feeling. Both the hit to the head from his fall and the dehydration he suffered contributed to this King of Hangovers. He put his arm up to his head and felt the bandages wrapped around it. The ice pack covering his bruises and cuts returned the slight ache of coldness. Jen reached over and pulled his arm down away from his head. "Don't fuss with it. You need to keep those on." "Argh... what happened?" Cal asked. Jen frowned at him in pity. "I was hoping you could tell me. All I know is that you fainted in the hangar and smashed your head on the deck. Lieutenant Berstein told me you were massively dehydrated and exhausted. What were you doing before you fainted?"
Cal tried to remember what was going on, but was finding it hard to pull up those specific memories. He tried to laugh, "Must have been one hell of a party!" The laughing only made his head hurt a little more. Jen smiled at the fact that his sense of humor was alive and well. She pulled her phone out and quickly punched a text message in. After sending, she put it back on her hip and continued to talk to Cal. He was trying to sit up to get more comfortable. "How long was I out?" Jen reached over and manipulated the controls on the bed so it would prop up his upper torso. The mechanical whirring of the bed's motor positioned Cal to where he wanted to be. "It's only been a couple of hours, but they seemed like much longer."
Cal looked back over to Jen. "Have you been sitting here all this time?" "No, but I have been here for some of it. I have to keep watch over you so we know when you finally come around." Jen leaned back in her chair after changing the setting on the bed. "I'm glad you're doing better now. When I heard the news, I got down here as quickly as possible." Cal's memory began to return to him and he started to piece together the chain of events that led to him being in a hospital bed again. Jen continued speaking, "The word is that you were just overworked. You flew your entire escort shift while sick with the flu and you never tried to request to be relieved. I don't know how you couldn't think that it wasn't a great idea to be out there flying your RVF after you started throwing up in the cockpit. You're one crazy fool, you know that?" Cal realized that she didn't know the whole truth. His issues were with Klan and only her. It was nobody else's business, except maybe Commander Lee's.
Jen continued to keep Cal company for a few more minutes. She couldn't let him fall back to sleep quite yet. Her reasoning was explained when Nene and Will walked through the door. Jen saw them come in and gathered up her things to leave. "Where are you off to?" Cal asked. "I need to return to duty. I am just glad that I was the first person you saw when you woke up. I'll come by to see if you're awake once I get off my shift. Bye!" Jen stood up and gently patted him on his shoulder. Will and Nene approached his bed as Jen walked out the door. Their faces showed concern and a bit of pity for the condition that Cal was in.
"What's wrong?" Cal asked, in reference to their dispositions. "I asked Lieutenant Wentz to let me know when you woke up. We have to talk briefly. I am sorry if we're keeping you from catching up on your rest, because I know you need it badly," Nene said. Cal shifted in his bed. "Surprisingly, I don't feel tired... yet. It might just be because I still have some crossed wires up here," he said while pointing to the side of his head. The two visitors smiled briefly in response as they each took a seat next to his bed. Their faces turned serious once again.
Nene spoke first. "We know most of what happened between you and Klan over the last day and a half. Needless to say, we're concerned enough to have to step in and mediate here. I want to apologize on behalf of my sister. I am not sure what she's going through, but it's definitely manifesting itself in a very dangerous way. It looks like this is the result," she said pointing out Cal in the hospital bed. Will spoke up to put his two cents in, "Nene and I talked about what to do about this and we agree that we want to try to handle this internally before reporting it to Commander Lee. We have to iron this out before he returns from his escort shift, or there'd be too many questions for us to have to answer and contain the situation. That's why we're here bugging you so soon after being admitted into the infirmary." Cal nodded, indicating that he understood.
"Do you mind if I call you Cal?" Nene asked. "Sure, knock yourself out," he responded. "Okay... Cal... I need your help in figuring out what the disconnect is between you and my sister. Honestly, I think this may turn out to be more of a personal conversation, so if you're okay with a little prodding from me..." Cal looked at Will for a moment before agreeing. Will got the message and got up to leave. "Alright, dude. I'll see you later." He left the room and Cal returned his gaze to Nene; followed by a nod.
"For awhile, I noticed you were showing attachment to Klan. Given your history together and how you came to meet each other, it's almost mind-boggling to me how you seem to just keep coming back for more punishment. I know she has not been receptive of anyone lately, and I doubt you were any exception to the rule, right?" she asked. Cal nodded in agreement. Nene continued with her questioning, "In my mind, there's only one reason someone would continue to put up with my sister when she's like that. Do you like her?" she bluntly asked.
Cal's heart thumped at the question, leaving that temporary burning sensation in his chest. "I used to, kinda... Needless to say, a lot of that has changed." "How much did you like her?" Cal stopped for a moment to remember the conversation he had with Klan the week before. It was hard for him to explain his preoccupation with her without making it sound like he was some kind of stalker. He just felt a bit of a kindred spirit in her, seeing as how they had been living similar, almost parallel, lives lately. "I told her I kind of saw her as a bit of a role-model as far as being a pilot goes. Also, I could sense that she was still dealing with losing someone close to her. Having experienced the same thing myself, I wanted to offer my help as collateral for being able to learn from her on how to be a better pilot. She just doesn't seem to want any help, though. I know she's still hurting a lot and I fear that it may become self-destructive if she doesn't get off of the path that she was on back then."
Nene was surprised to hear that someone was almost unconditionally wanting to help her sister. Even before Michael's death, Klan was kind of overbearing to people whom she did not consider to be a friend. Right now, Nene felt that her sister had, in fact, degenerated to something to be very concerned about. She knew that the result of that degeneration was lying in a hospital bed in front of her. "Will has told me a lot about you and your past. From what I know of you, you and my sister have a lot in common. We had jokingly intended on trying to match you two together in a more personal way, but it looks like that's out of the question now. Right now, the priority is to make you two stop fighting with each other. We don't want to see you have to leave the team or for Klan to get into any trouble over this. What do you think is the best course of action?"
Cal thought about Nene's question for a minute. He could easily remedy the situation by reporting the truth about Klan overstepping her bounds with him. The result would probably lead to some sort of punishment being handed down to her for illegally putting one of her pilots' lives in jeopardy. On the other hand, Nene was more concerned about keeping the team together than protecting her sister. The ends may justify the means, in this case. Cal reminded himself of how important of a role that Klan had played in his life when he was fighting to earn a spot in Skull Squadron. Then he remembered that there seemed to be something more powerful at work in drawing his attention towards her. The brief moments of vulnerability he experienced in Klan from time to time showed him the true form of her inner self. That's a person he'd like to see more often. His desire for retribution melted away when he reminded himself of that sweet center of the hard shell that was Klan's personality. Coconuts certainly make a good treat, but they're hard to crack open without the proper tools.
He looked back at Nene before answering, "Let's do it your way." They smiled at each other after his response. "It looks like everything that Will has told me about you is true. You certainly are a big person for wanting to look past my sister's faults. Ha ha... I never thought I'd use the term 'big person' to refer to a miclone," Nene responded with a laugh. Cal smiled as he realized the paradigm shift between Nene and her sister. Although he had only guessed about her relationship with Will, Cal had to return the favor with a prying question of his own.
"So, what's going on with you and Will? I noticed you two spending a lot of time together lately." Nene looked to the side with a smile on her face before she answered. "I don't want to say anything definitive right now, but we enjoy talking to each other and I appreciate his willingness to help me out here with this issue we're dealing with now. He's a nice guy and... I like nice guys." A hint of red started to fade into her complexion. "I gotcha. Well, good for you two. I'll have to keep an eye out for you guys once I get out of here, huh?" Nene tried not to laugh out of embarrassment.
She shifted in her chair to get back to the subject at hand. "Okay, I am going to go talk to Klan about this now and see what she thinks. I'm the only person she'll probably talk to at this point, so let's be glad that I'm her sister." Cal gained a look of seriousness on his face. "You're not going to tell her everything I said about her here, are you?" Nene had started to get up from the chair and stopped midway from standing for just a moment. "Well, I'll have to use some of what you said. Don't worry, I'll try to censor the really mushy stuff so you can keep your little secret." Nene winked as she stood all the way up. "What are you talking about? What secret?" Cal demanded as she walked away. Nene didn't answer and walked out of the infirmary. Will could be seen sitting on the bench on the other side of the hallway. With nothing else to do, Cal rolled over and pulled the covers up to his shoulders. He found the bed controls and lowered it into a sleeping position before closing his eyes again.
…
The door to Klan's quarters resonated the knock coming from the other side. "It's open," Klan hollered from her couch. Nene opened the door and walked in to take a seat. "Oh, it's Professor Freud. What's up, Doc?" Klan said with a smarmy voice. She put down the book she was reading and folded her arms to receive the stern talking-to that she was expecting from her sister. Klan's smartass comments only steeled Nene's resolve to break this recent string of acting-out from her sister. She took a seat in the chair across the coffee table from Klan's position.
A sarcastic look of interest remained on Klan's face as Nene prepared to speak. "Klan, you're my older sister and I love you dearly, but... right now, I feel like I'm the one who's behaving more like an adult." "Ohh, so my little sister has grown up faster than I have, has she?" Klan rhetorically asked. Nene didn't have time to deal with her childish behavior. "Would you listen to yourself speak?? You're so convinced that you're in the right, that you won't give a second thought to the things you do and say. I love you, sister, but your attitude is getting kind of embarrassing. This isn't the typical behavior from you that I've grown accustomed to. What is going on with you?!"
Klan folded her arms and shifted her legs to the side a bit so she could comfortably look off to the side. Nene continued with the assault, "See, right there. You look like you're pouting. You're like a child who isn't getting what she wants and she's going to ignore everyone until someone comes along and fixes the problem." Klan looked back at Nene aghast at what she was just told. "This, coming from the one who always got her way when we were growing up? Every time you didn't get what you wanted, you'd cry over it until mom or dad appeased your desires." "That was over ten years ago!"
Klan scoffed at the audacity of her sister's accusations. Nene took a deep breath before moving on. "Don't you think that you're just being hyper-sensitive to the things he does and says?" "What's that got to do with it?" "Well, you are determined to 'break' him of his insubordination, but at what point has he actually been insubordinate while on duty?" Klan turned back to her sister to quickly answer. Her mouth opened, but nothing initially came out. "Um... I don't remember right now, but I'm sure it will hit me any second." "Or it won't at all? So, tell me, what started this spat in the first place?"
Klan reluctantly told Nene the details of the prank that Cal had orchestrated in her bathroom. Nene had to cover her mouth to hide the giggling at the story. "It's not funny. He broke in here in the middle of the night to do his business. That's downright scary." "So what? They broke into my quarters to put that damn anesthetic into my toothpaste. I didn't feel violated or anything... It was all in the spirit of hazing." "I'm glad you seemed to enjoy it so much. I don't feel the same way, though." Nene nodded in agreement. "Alright, you're entitled to your own opinion. I was just saying that it's not as ghastly as you make it out to be." Klan continued on with the details of the incident while Nene listened attentively..
"So, I decided to return the favor by forcing him to clean my quarters. What's the big deal?" Klan asked. Nene shrugged when she answered, "I don't see anything wrong with that, per se, but I do think you violently overreacted to his every objection to what you were putting him through. He had good reason to complain about it, seeing as how it's part of his duty to show up for his shift fully prepared to execute his responsibilities. You think he's going to do a great job when he hasn't slept, has been doing hard labor for 24 straight hours, and is sick with the flu?" The logic of sense of duty filled Klan's head when Nene put it in that context.
Looking down before answering, Klan shifted back towards Nene in her chair. "You're right about that. I wouldn't want to go into battle fighting off fatigue and the flu, either. He should have said something, though." "He did! He told you he was already being shorted some of his sleep so he could have that meeting with Luca. You forgot about that, didn't you?" Nene sternly asked. The cold reality of the truth began to set into Klan's mind as Nene continued with her point, "I do think he should have said something about being sick before or while we were on our shift. In that respect, I place the blame mostly on him. I think you and I can both imagine why he'd refuse to admit he was inundated with his condition at the time. You, of all people, would understand what it's like to be too proud to admit when you need help. Look what it got him and think about what your stubbornness may yield some day as well."
Nene sat back up with pride, knowing she had just knocked it out of the park. Klan continued to stare at the ground while she thought about things for a moment. She began to speak without looking back up, "Okay... let's just say that you're right about this for a moment. Why not just let this incident play itself out naturally? I obviously must shoulder most of the blame for his condition, especially considering it's my job to ensure that my team is at 100% effectiveness before putting them into a combat-ready situation." Nene leaned forward to tell her sister about the agreement that she, Will, and Cal had made previous to their current conversation.
"Because, I know that Will and Cal are good people. They're also good pilots and good soldiers. I don't want to see your career taking a hit because of this. If this plays out naturally, one or more of us will most definitely be reassigned to new teams. I know that's what I'd do if I was in Ozma's position." "How can you be so sure of the kind of people that they are, Nene?" "Because, I took the time to sit down and get to know them. Being stationed on this ship is not all about performing your duty 24/7. You should know that... you didn't have any problems understanding it before Michael passed away. His death has been the crux of all of your current problems. You need to get past it to return to your former self."
Klan looked up with glazed eyes. Each time someone brought up Michael's death, it was just as hard for her to keep from crying a little bit. "Why does everyone keep telling me that??" she desperately asked. Nene focused her gaze onto Klan's face once again. "If so many people keep telling you the same thing, maybe they're right! Sometimes, you can't come up with the answers by yourself." Accepting the truth of the statement, Klan nodded her head and sniffled the tears back inside. "Alright. What do you want me to do?" she asked. "Well, we don't have a lot of time, so it's going to have to happen right now..." Nene responded.
…
Cal was awakened by someone tugging at his shoulder while he slept. "Hey, wake up." He grunted and slowly opened his eyes. Rolling over to see who it was, he could see a lot of blue before his eyes could even focus on any details. Realizing it was Klan, he rolled back over away from her. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?" His anger towards her could still be easily read in his voice. Klan looked back at Nene, who was standing farther back with Will at her side. Klan shrugged her shoulders and gestured at why the heck she was even trying this. Nene oscillated her wrist in a rolling motion with her index finger pointing out, as if to tell Klan to move forward.
"Look, um... I'm not really good at this sort of thing and I'm mostly here at the behest of my sister..." Klan struggled to say. Her sentence was being cut off by Nene making a choking noise and doing a slash-the-throat gesture with her hand. Klan sighed at Nene's reaction to her words. "Um, I'll admit that maybe I did go a little too far earlier. I just... I don't know. I just want you to show some respect, that's all." Cal waited a moment before rolling back over to respond.
"But I do show you respect. I even told that to you in person. The problem is that you can't take a joke. I didn't complain when you started making me clean up your quarters. To me, I was happily paying an indulgence; in the hopes that I could receive absolution from you over the prank. Unfortunately, you pushed things too far and it started to get out of hand when I expressed my disapproval over you handing down even further punishment. I told you I needed to get to sleep, and yet you didn't care. That's where my problem started with you over this," he said. Klan realized that his words mirrored the ones that her sister had told her back in her quarters.
Before she could say any more, the infirmary doors flew open and Ozma walked in. He was none too happy, considering that Kanaria had just informed him of the situation for the first time. "What's going on in here?" he demanded. Klan, Will, and Nene began to answer simultaneously. "We were just visiting." "Nothing out of the ordinary." ...and so on... Their erratic behavior tipped Ozma off that something was not quite right about this. "Alright, I want everyone out of here. You too, Klan." The three saluted Ozma before hurriedly leaving the room. It looks like they were just short on time to resolve the issues internally.
Ozma continued over to the chair next to Cal's bed. Cal saluted and greeted the squadron commander. Taking a seat, Ozma made himself comfortable before talking to Cal. "What happened?" he simply asked. Cal had already started searching for an answer to that question before it was even asked. "I just overworked myself. I started to feel sick at the beginning of my escort shift and thought I could finish it out without having to get someone to replace me. I guess I was wrong." He tried to not let his eyes dart around, which would indicate that he was fibbing a bit.
Unfortunately, this conversation was not going to be easy for him to snake through. "You know, my Bullshit Alarm is going off right now," Ozma said while pointing at his head, "I heard reports that you were being put through some PT by Klan in the hangar. I also heard that you were seen cleaning the bathrooms again in the middle of the night. What did you do to piss her off now?" Cal calmly answered, "It was just a minor disagreement. You know how it can be sometimes." Ozma shifted up in his chair and looked down his nose back at Cal.
"So, that's what caused you to black out in the hangar?" "No, it was just bad time management on my part. I had that meeting with Luca in the middle of the night and I could have gotten some rest at any point in between. It's nothing to blame Commander Klang for. She was just doing her job." Ozma leaned forward to respond. "I'm not sure why you're protecting her, and quite frankly, it concerns me. All you have to do is tell me what happened and I'll get to work on fixing it." Cal laid silent for a moment as he thought about everything as quickly as he could before answering. "It was just bad time management on my part and I made a bad decision to fly my mission while I was experiencing flu-like symptoms."
Ozma knew at this point that he was not going to get what he wanted out of Cal. He stood up from his chair to say his final words before leaving. "Alright. Get some rest. If you think of anything that you need to bring to my attention on this matter, you know where to find me." Cal saluted Ozma as he turned. He knew that Ozma suspected something more than what had been said. The invitation to tell the truth was extended to Cal, should he feel that it's the best option.
As soon as the door slid open and Ozma walked out into the hall, Klan, Nene, and Will stood up from their seats and saluted. Ozma began to further suspect something was amiss, due to their quiet nature and quickness to stand at attention without even being asked to. Guilt was written all over their faces. "If any of you have anything pertinent to say about the matter, you'd better say it now," Ozma demanded. The three pilots continued to stand at attention, with nothing to say. He made it a point to stare at each one of them in the eyes, as he paced back and forth a couple of times. "If I find out that this was some sort of hazing prank, your asses will be mine. Walk with me, Klan," he said, casually gesturing to her with his finger to follow him as he walked away.
Will and Nene exhaled in relief as they watched Ozma and Klan go down the hall and out of sight. They wouldn't dare go back into the infirmary to talk to Cal about what was said, lest they arouse even more suspicion if Ozma came back and caught them. Kanaria looked up at the two from her computer at her desk. She continued to type away at the keyboard as she watched them go the opposite direction from Ozma and Klan. Even her instincts were telling her that they were up to something.
As they walked down the hall, Ozma kept silent for a few moments to give Klan some time to stew in her own juices. He started to shake his head before speaking, "I don't know why, but my instincts tell me that your team is protecting you. I intend to find out a little more about this on my own. You guys had better hope that I don't hear any more about this incident." "Yes, Sir." "Lieutenant Wagner says that he just did a poor job of time management and it caused him to overbook himself to where he didn't get any sleep. I confronted him about the reports I got that said you were PT'ing him in the hangar and that he was seen cleaning the bathrooms in the middle of the night. He simply wrote it off as a bit of a tiff between you two and he was the one who started it." Klan could only nod, seeing as how this was news to her at this point. She remained indifferent, due to the fact that her team was trying to keep this an internal matter, and the alibis had not yet been fabricated.
"Also, he blamed himself for trying to serve out the rest of his shift when he was obviously suffering from flu-like symptoms." Ozma stopped walking to make his point to Klan. "Since I have no evidence or testimony to corroborate with any of my crackpot theories here, all I can do is tell you that you will be reprimanded only for allowing one of your pilots to fly into combat while he was suffering from the flu. You know that part of your job is to ensure that your team is as prepared for combat as possible. You need to write him up for failing to report his sickness and for putting his team at risk because of it. If I find out anything else that makes me believe that something more is going on, I will be coming after you. I'm tired of hearing about you and Wagner butting heads all the time. This will be the last I hear about any disagreements you two get yourselves into, or I will step in and take care of it myself. Do I make myself clear?" Klan waited a moment before answering. "Perfectly, Sir." "Alright, then. Go get some sleep." Klan saluted Ozma as he continued down the hall without her.
She was a bit angry that her team would not allow her to be responsible for her actions. However, she knew that if the truth had come out about this, it would serve as a glaring blemish on her near-perfect service record. Unable to resist the urge, Klan ran back to the infirmary once she saw Kanaria leaving the desk to go to her quarters. Something was burning inside of her... something she had to ask, or she would have difficulty sleeping that night.
Cal had not yet fallen asleep since his mind was preoccupied with what was taking place right at that moment. He heard the infirmary doors open and close. Soft footsteps signaled the approach of someone. The reflection in the window showed a short, blue-haired figure taking a seat in the chair next to him. Still turned away from his visitor, Cal sighed before speaking, "What is it that brings you back here so quickly, Commander?" A moment of silence followed as he could hear her shifting in her chair a couple of times. This must be quite uncomfortable for her.
Her voice broke the silence. "Why do you keep on protecting me?" Initially, Cal didn't know how to respond to the question. He rolled over to face her, after thinking about it for a few seconds. "To be honest with you, I don't know why, for sure. At this point, I really don't have any reason to protect you, do I?" Klan shook her head in response. Her temper and stubbornness were partially responsible for his current condition. Cal kept on talking, "I don't blame you for asking that question. I'd probably be just as bothered by these events as you are now. Something keeps telling me that I'm doing the right thing, though. Your sister had to make a good point to get me to go along with her plan, so don't be too flattered."
With a mischievous grin, Klan responded to Cal's little cheapshot, "I never would have dreamed of taking it that way." Both of them were unsure if they should laugh or just stay quiet. Klan reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out Michael's glasses. She kept them folded as she held them in her lap with both hands. Cal studied her body language as she looked down at the floor to think of what to say next.
"His name was Michael." "Commander?" Cal said, unsure of what she was talking about. She looked back up at him to continue, "The blonde-haired guy in those pictures you found in my quarters... These belonged to him." Cal now understood some more specifics of the source of her inner pain. "Oh..." he said as he looked at the glasses in her hands. He knew he wouldn't have to ask her of the details. The expression on her face said that she was about to say more on the subject.
"We first met at a very young age, and we grew up together. I was a couple of years older than he was, but he was the first miclone child I had met who didn't run away scared of me. We instantly formed a bond and became quite inseparable over the next several years. This may sound a little weird, but when you were a child, did you ever have a toy or doll that you took with you everywhere you went, and you anthropomorphized it into something like your best friend?" Cal thought about all of the toys he had as a child and remembered several of his possessions where he did the same thing. "Yeah, I had a few..." "It was like having your favorite toy come to life and become your best friend. I know that sounds weird, but the closest way I can think of to describe it, without making it seem sort of perverse..." "No, no... I understand."
Klan smiled and continued her story, "Anyway, to me, he was my most valued possession. Being older and so much bigger, I sort of served as his guardian.. his protector. If anyone was picking on him, I was always the first to come to his defense. Eventually, the years passed by and as he got older, he became more independent. I started to see less and less of him because he was making other friends who were more like him... other miclones. It was hard to accept, but I was happy that he was finding his own identity and learning to live amongst people who were more like him." Cal interjected because he wasn't sure of why this would be an issue, "But who cares if you two are that different? I don't understand why he'd choose to exclude you simply because you and he came from completely different backgrounds."
She shook her head and responded, "No, it was okay. We still remained good friends. I was getting to the age where I needed my independence as well. We both understood that it was slightly socially awkward for us to be seen together at all times. I was a couple of years older and Zentran-ized. We would frequently visit each other and we had no qualms talking out our problems with each other, so it was not like you think it is." Cal looked downwards as he spoke, "Well, I just don't like it when people think that just because you're a different race and the difference in physical size is so much, it's taboo to be seen hanging around together. Especially when you two had such a good friendship."
Those words slightly struck a chord inside of Klan. From his point of view, it's only the bond that mattered between Michael and her. She went on, "When I turned 17, I joined SMS as a pilot. My love of flying took over as the most important thing in my life. I saw very little of Michael, since I was spending so much time working and still going to school. For those two years, we slowly drifted apart. Then he applied to join SMS a few years after his sister's death. His love for her fueled his desire to become a sniper pilot just like she was"
"What happened to his sister?" Cal asked. Klan shifted herself to hit on the side-subject for a moment. "Um, long story short, she was the one raising him. They both had lost their parents when they were little, so she took care of him. Jessica was kind of like an older sister to me... I mean, we were both taking care of Michael together. I was more or less just keeping him out of trouble, though. About... five or six years ago, she passed away. I can tell you the details some other time." Cal nodded as he understood.
She returned back to the original subject, "When he joined SMS, he was all grown up. In the two years that we didn't see each other very much, our old relationship dissolved. However, seeing him once again, now as a man, made me form a different set of feelings. Using our past as a foundation, we became the best of friends again, but my point of view was different. I was still in love with flying, but he was also a good pilot and loved flying just as much as I did. We had a lot of good times serving together and as the weeks went by, I began to hold a torch for him." "You were falling in love with him?" Klan nodded at Cal's question before continuing.
"When I joined SMS, I was required to undergo the micloning process for the first time. I understood that it was necessary, since I was to be serving on ships designed for miclones... especially after construction on the Quarter was completed. Imagine my surprise when I emerged from the tank with the form of a much younger version of myself," she said as she pointed at her body. Cal smiled, but tried not to stare while Klan kept on talking. "I had my heart set on being able to finally live life alongside Michael, no longer a giant. Unfortunately, you can imagine how insecure it made me about myself and how uncomfortable it might have made Michael when I was around him. It was a significant change to have to get used to... for both of us."
Cal could begin to feel the frustration of the situation coming from Klan. "There was always the option of him macronizing himself..." Klan shook her head and responded, "At the point that we were at in our relationship, I wouldn't have dreamed of asking him to undergo the process. I still didn't know if he felt that strongly about me. I continued to probe his personality to see if I could get an inkling of his true feelings. It made me so jealous how he'd ogle other women with fully-developed bodies, unlike my own when I'm micloned. Because of his wandering eyes, I knew that he might have a problem with being with me in the way that I wanted. It's completely understandable... I was too afraid of having him reject me because of my appearance."
Frowning at her story, Cal put his opinion out on the table, "Again, it shouldn't be about the differences. I guess it is something to be uncomfortable about, but what matters is the bond you shared." Klan rolled her eyes as she responded, "If only it were that easy... Anyway, things were rocky in a social setting. We still flew together, but outside of our service, it was obvious that we were unable to overcome those barriers to get closer together. Even I became frustrated at myself for not being strong enough to admit my feelings to him. By the time I had mustered up the courage to admit to him that I loved him, it was too late. Shortly after I told him, he was mortally wounded by a Vajra larvae and subsequently blown into outer space through a hull breach. He died protecting me while I was in the micloning tank, returning myself to my natural size so I could help fight the Vajra who had invaded Island-1. All those years, I protected him without fail... but when he needed me the most, I was helpless to save him. With his last breath, he apologized that he didn't tell me sooner... that he loved me."
Cal laid on his bed with his mouth hanging open while Klan finished her story. Upon seeing her begin to cry, he closed his mouth and winced his eyes shut. After a few moments, he opened them back up and sniffled up the tears that were trying to come out. "Wow. That's an incredibly sad story. I understand a little more about the pain you're going through. Now I'm beginning to think that not everybody's pain is the same--" "But it's close enough," Klan interrupted with a smile. She sat back up to put herself back together and wiped the tears from her eyes.
It was refreshing to Cal that Klan would willingly place the magnitude of her pain at the same level as his. She really was trying to come to an understanding. "I'm sorry I've been so tough on you. I don't want to blame it on the pain I've been experiencing, because when it really comes down to it, only I am to blame in the end. Nene says that you and I have a lot in common... and she's right. Maybe we can give this 'friends' thing another try, huh?" Klan extended her hand outwards towards Cal. He looked at it for a moment and put his hand in hers to shake it.
The two remained silent after shaking hands. Cal continued to watch Klan, as if something strange was about to happen. She started to wonder why he was staring. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Cal laughed and looked downwards. "It's just that you've never really apologized to me before." Klan turned her face to the side and looked at him out of the corner of her eyes while wearing a smile. "Don't push your luck, chickling." She got up from her chair and prepared to leave the room.
"Alright, I've kept you awake long enough. You need to rest so you can get back into your bird. I need to find myself a replacement RVF pilot until you get out of here, so don't take too long recovering." "Okay, Commander." Klan stopped for a moment and turned back to Cal. "You can just call me 'Klan'... only informally, though. If we're on duty and you need to refer to me formally--" "I understand completely," Cal interjected. "Okay. Get better soon," she said as she leaned over and mussed up his hair. Cal recoiled and winced in pain because she mashed the bruise on his head. "Oops, I forgot... ha ha..." Cal put his hand up to his head and laughed back.
He opened his eyes again to speak. "Thanks, Klan." She turned around before leaving the room to respond. "Hey, you do know how to say 'thanks'!" With that, she left with a smile. Cal laughed at the fact that she could take his little jab from earlier and return it back at him with a calm delivery. All he had left to do was to follow her orders to recover quickly... a duty he'd wholeheartedly perform without question.
It looks like Pixie Team is going to be able to stay together, despite having weathered quite a storm in the last 24 hours. Their leader, Klan, is starting to show signs of finally recovering from her emotional scars. She and Cal have come to a more mutual understanding, thanks to the efforts of Nene and Will. It should only be a matter of a couple of days before Cal will be able to rejoin his team in their duties. All four members of the team can now rest assured that the bickering has stopped for now. They can now focus on being teammates; and even friends while they are off-duty.
