A/N: Finished Chapter 40, and boy, it was a long chapter... So, I subsequently went through 37 here to give it my seal of approval to submit to you guys for your entertainment.
On the personal side of things, school's going great and work is keeping the bills paid. However, my car is in need of repairs and I'm having to deal with a stingy service contract underwriter on who's going to fix it. I hope to have this bullshit resolved within a few days, though. Aside from a couple of upcoming projects, my schedule looks fairly clear to continue my writing. I don't anticipate any kinds of writer's blocks for the next couple of chapters, but we'll see...
Enough of my incessant babbling, enjoy Chapter 37! -(11/03/10)
"I'm just going to say this once to you guys," Cal softly barked at Will and Nene, "Don't even mention anything to her about what's going on between me and Klan." All three of them shared the enormous loveseat in Nene's parents' living room. Of course, Nene was in her Meltran form and sat on one side, while Will and Cal sat on the edge of the cushion on the other side. Their feet dangled over a ten-foot precipice leading down to the floor. Cal appeared to be quite upset and made his reasons immediately known before it was too late to talk about it. "Damn you, Nene. Klan looks exactly like your mother. I'll bet that she takes after her mother in personality too, doesn't she? If I find out you lied to me-"
"What, are you afraid of her? Does that mean you're afraid of Klan too?" Nene chided.
Cal became even more incensed by her semi-sarcastic questions. "N- No! I'd just rather not have to deal with two hot-headed Meltrans. Not only that, but Klan's gonna be pissed if she finds out you dragged me here to meet her mother." He turned to Will and forcefully poked his index finger into Will's chest before continuing, "You owe me big for this one, dude."
Nene smiled and turned her face away from Cal, but continued to look at him from the corner of her eye. An inherent smugness could be detected in her voice, "You already act like you know Klan too well. It's almost as if you two are a couple! Did you already forget about the favor I did for you this morning? You still need to tell us how that went, by the way."
Immediately, Cal was bested by Nene's retort. Unable to think of a comeback to defend himself, Cal merely gritted his teeth and forcefully exhaled. He began to look out of the nearby window, focusing his gaze upon something outside.
The living room became quiet again, but there were various sounds of rustling coming from the kitchen area. Nene, Will, and Cal patiently waited in the living room for their company to arrive. There was another couch directly across from the transparent, glass coffee table set in the middle of the furniture arrangement. Several magazines laid on the coffee table, while a single floral arrangement served as the centerpiece. The morning daylight filled the room, while the chirps of birds could be heard outside of the windows.
Eventually, Marjel emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray with a tea set and some breakfast pastries on it. "I'm sorry, boys... I don't have any miclone-sized wares or food, otherwise I'd be able to serve you two something," she said as she cleared a spot on the coffee table and set the tray down. She and Nene both partook of the goodies on the tray.
"That's okay, Ma'am. We'll do just fine," Will said with as much politeness as he could possibly muster. He wanted to make the best first impression as he could.
Cal tried to cheer up a bit before answering. "I just ate anyways, but thank you." Unfortunately, he was absolutely parched from eating the piece of sweetened bread earlier. "If you knew you couldn't serve us, why the hell did you serve anything at all?" Cal thought to himself. Already, he was getting annoyed by Klan's mother's behavior. Cal watched Nene pinch off a piece of the pastry and give it to Will, and it immediately reminded him of the same event occurring during his visit with Klan. It was enough to put a bit of a smile on his face, seeing the same behavior between Will and Nene.
After taking the first sip of her tea and swallowing it, Marjel opened up the conversation. "I'm sorry that my husband isn't here; he left for work shortly before you got here. So, which one of you was it that is in love with my daughter?" she asked with a bit of an accusatory voice. She glared at both Will and Cal, waiting for their response. Cal noticed that same flesh-piercing stare that Klan has, but he didn't let it faze him in the least. However, Will was already feeling a bit intimidated.
"Um..." Will stammered, "Which daughter are you referring to?" Suddenly a smirk ran across his face, knowing what it was that he was doing. Cal quickly elbowed him in the ribs, upset that he was already hinting on the connection shared by Cal and Klan. Nene tried not to laugh, but she briefly snickered at Will's response.
Marjel didn't understand what was going on, but it seemed like there was some chicanery at play. "Pardon?" she asked, focusing her glare on the seemingly-insolent miclones sitting on her couch.
Nene nervously laughed out loud to try and come to Will's defense. "Ha ha... He's just kidding, Mom. This is Will," she said, using her opened hand to point him out to her mother.
Marjel raised her eyebrow, having already formed an opinion of Will in her mind. "Oh?" she said while taking another sip from her cup. She swallowed and looked over at Cal. "So, who are you?" she asked with the same glare.
Once again, Cal knew how to take the "stare" with poise. His past experiences with Klan helped him form an immunity. "I'm Cal. We all fly together in the same unit. These two insisted on me coming with them to visit you... for what reason, I have no idea," he said with a slight shrug.
"Are you saying that you would rather not be here right now?" Marjel asked.
"No, Ma'am. I'm just here so my esteemed colleague here doesn't feel so out-of-place," Cal amicably responded while patting Will on the back.
Marjel responded with a sense of indifference. "How nice of you..." She then turned her attention back to Will. "So... William, was it...? Tell me a little bit about yourself and why you have chosen to be with my daughter." Her composure resembled that of an aristocrat while she sipped from her teacup once more.
Fortunately, Will had prepared himself for this inevitable question. "Well, I joined the NUNS after completing my pilot training in college. Unfortunately, I didn't finish my studies because I was eager to join up and contribute to the defense of the fleet, since we were constantly under attack by the Vajra." He stopped to gauge Marjel's reaction. She simply nodded, inviting him to continue. "After we were redeployed into space three months ago, I was able to earn a spot in Skull Squadron by performing well in the training exercises. I was placed into the same team with Nene and Cal here, and that's how I met your daughter." Will turned his head and looked up towards Nene next to him and smiled. "Nene and I flew together for several weeks and worked well as a team. Eventually, we just found an attraction to each other. I had no idea that she was attracted to me until she asked me about my relationship status out of the blue. It was at that point that I knew that she was interested. I guess you could say that she chose me," Will finished with a laugh. Nene simply smiled in pride.
However, Marjel didn't seem to be terribly impressed. "How come you're still an ensign?" she asked as she inspected the rank insignia on his uniform.
Will was a bit apprehensive to answer, slightly embarrassed that his rank was still so low. "I don't know. Honestly, I'm not really concerned with whatever rank I have. I'm just here to fight and protect."
"How do you plan on protecting my daughter? She needs someone who is strong and capable. Do you think you can fill that position?"
Already, Will could feel the air around him starting to heat up, fueled by the discomfort from such aggressive questioning. "Believe me, I will do whatever it takes to keep your daughter from harm. As a matter of fact, we've been there for each other on several occasions in combat. I save her life, she saves mine... it's a good thing we have going here."
Cal and Nene nodded towards Marjel, hoping that she'd find Will's answer to be of a satisfactory nature. Her eyebrows perked up for a brief moment before she returned to her stoic demeanor. "Hmm... well, that's good. I guess I should be grateful that you were able to protect her up to this point." She continued to keep the same disinterested face while she took another sip of tea. After putting the teacup back down, she continued her assault. "William, I want you to understand that I have high expectations for both of my daughters. We are, after all, pure-blooded Zentraedi."
Following that sentence, Will began to feel more out-of-place, despite having Cal sitting right next to him. Marjel continued to fixate her gaze upon the now-sheepish Will when she heard Cal speak out instead. "So?"
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I should have kept my comment to myself. I am, after all, a guest in your house," Cal responded. He tried to be cordial, but his disapproval over her words was evident.
Fortunately for him, Marjel let it go. "Anyway, there are certain family traditions that you need to be aware of, William. I'm concerned that you won't be able to fulfill them in a proper fashion."
Both Will and Nene appeared whipped and disappointed. However, neither of them would respond to Marjel's monologue. Already, she was asserting herself as the dominant force in the room and Cal was witness to everything that was going on. Even Nene seemed compelled to follow her mother's wishes, whatever they may be.
Cal gave Will a slight shove onto his shoulder. "Say something, dude!" Will stammered, but could barely look Marjel straight in the eye while she spoke to him.
"I'm sure that you love my daughter with all of your heart and she seems to be happy with you. I just wanted you to know that there are certain expectations that I'm afraid you might not be able to meet," Marjel said with some disappointment on her face. Cal continued to gape in amazement while he watched Nene and Will accept Marjel's words as the absolute, irrefutable truth.
Suddenly, his voice interrupted the conversation again. "Wait, wait, wait... You're actually saying that you don't approve because he's not a Zentran, right?"
Marjel became intrigued by this verbal resistance coming from Cal, a miclone. She shifted in her chair to orient herself in his direction before she replied. "That's not what I said."
"But it's what you meant. Just say it!" Cal demanded. After a moment, he placed faced his palms forward in a gesture to calm the situation down. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to get upset. It's just that I don't like it when people can't just say what they mean. Again, I'm gonna butt out of this conversation because I'm trying to be respectful to you, Ma'am." He then turned his gaze towards the window, watching the birds outside.
Having already given him a free pass, Marjel was now getting upset that this miclone had come into her house and called her out on something she was saying. "No, no... I want to hear what you have to say. Continue...!" she said with noticeable frustration and anger in her voice. She definitely was not used to being talked to like this; especially from a miclone... and one with a rank far below the one she held when she was still actively serving in the NUNS.
Cal turned back towards her and fixed his gaze back into her eyes. It was the best way to let her know that he wasn't at all intimidated by her; it had worked against Klan several times. "Alright..." he said as he stood up on the couch cushion, "You have no idea what your daughter and Will have gone through together, and yet you already have decided that he's not the right person for her. Based on your previous actions and statements, I think that you just don't like the fact that your daughter is in love with a Human."
"Previous actions? What did I do?"
"You brought tea and pastries out specifically for yourself and Nene, knowing full well that you would not be able to serve us in the same fashion. The proper thing to do would have been to either ask us if we didn't mind first, or just not serve anything at all! But that's not what you did, you just went ahead and brought out your stuff, assuming that we didn't care."
Nene immediately stood up from her seat. "Okay! I think it's about time we got out of here, don't you?" she said with a nervous laugh.
Will began to tug at Cal and drag him away from his spot on the couch. Unfortunately, Cal felt compelled to stay and prove his point. "Lemme go!" he said as he jerked his arm out from Will's grip. He then turned to Nene and began to scold her. "I told you that this would happen, didn't I? You lied and said that she's nothing like Klan, but here we are... I think you should stay and watch what happens, since this was your idea." Cal began to shake his head, "Nuh-uh! I won't let her sit there and talk to you two like that." He then turned his gaze back towards Marjel, who was now a bit surprised at Cal's intensity over the matter. Not only that, but she was intrigued by his mentioning of her other daughter.
"Oh, so you've met my other daughter, huh? How did that turn out for you?" she asked with sarcasm in her voice.
Cal confidently answered, "It turned out just fine, I'll have you know..."
"Well, since you're still standing today, I guess I will have to take your word for it, then."
"Damn straight," Cal barked.
Marjel then stood up from her seat and approached Cal with her arms crossed. "So, I have this miclone come into my house and tell me that I don't have the right to determine who I want my daughter to be with, is that correct?"
Cal still refused to waver, much like he'd done with Klan in the past. He looked way up at Marjel's face while she tried to intimidate him even more by towering over him. "That's right. You care more about your family tradition than you do about your own daughter's happiness. Even though you tried to be subtle about it, you made it pretty obvious to me what it was that you were trying to say."
"I'll have you know that I am a retired captain of the NUNS. I don't appreciate being talked to like that by a mere... first lieutenant," Marjel said as she bent over to glare at his rank insignia. She then looked Cal up and down before scoffing and standing straight up again.
Cal adjusted his attitude a bit before answering, "I am aware of your previous career in the NUNS and I can confidently say that I have respect for you and your contributions to the military, Ma'am. However, this is something of a more personal nature that has nothing to do with your service nor mine. So, with all due respect, I must insist that your re-evaluate your opinion."
Marjel became more frustrated with every exchange. Every one of her rebuttals had systematically been disarmed by Cal, leaving her with little to continue to use as a defense. "Re-evaluate my-? Why, I oughta..." she said as she reared back and seemed to be on the brink of losing her temper.
Suddenly, Nene stepped in and grabbed her mother's arms. "Mom!" she yelled. She then slowly transitioned to her usual calm nature. "He's right. I can't let you dictate how I run my life. I love you very much, Mom, but I won't let you get between myself and the man I love," she said, looking down at Will on the couch. Will was surprised, and at the same time proud, that Nene was now willing to put him in front of her own mother's wishes.
"Nene...!" Seeing the sincerity and seriousness of her daughter's demeanor, Marjel began to calm down. She took a deep breath and put her arms down to the side. She then glared at Cal before speaking again, "You've got guts kid, I'll give you that. That doesn't mean that you're completely off the hook just yet, though. You watch yourself, you got that?" she said, pointing her finger in a scolding gesture. She then returned to her seat and picked up her teacup again.
Cal managed to assume a more stoic demeanor, taking his seat on the edge of the couch cushion once more. "Ma'am, I have the utmost respect for the Zentraedi people. I just don't like it when I hear about people forming prejudices against the other race, when in fact, we are essentially the same. For fifty years, we've been able to live in peace together and I couldn't be more proud of the fact that many of us hold each other in such high regard. Solidarity is divisive and only leads to disharmony and hatred. If we continue to see each other as different races, we'll never truly be at peace with each other."
Will grabbed Cal's shoulder and shook him a bit. "That was beautiful, dude... thanks!"
"I have my moments..." Cal nonchalantly replied, with a touch of his signature cockiness.
Marjel took another sip from her cup. "Well-put..." she said with a hint of smugness. Regardless, she still seemed disinterested.
…
Ranka sat nervously in her chair as she looked around the room. She was surrounded by many government officials and high-ranking military personnel, each of whom sat in their own chairs around the enormous table in the room. Of all of the people in the room, she only recognized President Mulcahy and Fleet Admiral Perry. However, she had Sheryl and Brera sitting to her left and right. Once she noticed neither of them were unfazed by the amount of top brass in the room, she finally exhaled and did her best to put on a confident composure. By the time she got over her initial fears, the meeting had already begun.
One of the officers in the room had been assigned to manage the meeting and continued explaining the purpose of this gathering. "As you all know, we have convened here to discuss the dangers that the Galaxy fleet poses to our colony. Our deployed fleet was nearly annihilated when it came under attack by a combined force of Galaxy and Vajra ships. Fortunately with the help of some unlikely allies, our fleet survived the attack." The officer turned towards Ranka and Sheryl. "It is because of this development that we have brought you here to attend this meeting. Ranka, Sheryl, we are hoping that we can count on you to help us once more."
Sheryl stood up to give an answer, but she wasn't going to be as succinct as everyone expected. "Before we agree to anything, I want to point out that we're already doing our best to contribute to the cause. We've made sure that our focus is to support the NUNS by holding benefit concerts for the troops and encouraging the citizens to lend their support as well. What more can we possibly do at this point?" Somehow, you could almost sense that she already knew the answer, but she was just saying things to make herself and Ranka look a little better in front of the meeting's attendees.
"We are well aware of your recent work and everyone here is appreciative of it. However, we have reason to believe that you both can do this colony an immeasurable good once more," the officer said. After pausing for a moment, he continued, "Based on the information gathered at the end of the battle that took place a few days ago, we believe that you both can be more effectively used as a medium with which to communicate with the Vajra. We already know that you can, um... 'speak' with them on some level. It is our understanding that they were somehow influenced to assist our soldiers during the conflict with the Galaxy-Vajra fleet. Those Vajra who were not directly under Galaxy's control reacted to your songs and fought side-by-side with our own forces."
Sheryl was still trying to play a little bit of hardball. Years of working in the recording industry has formed a strong negotiator's spirit within her. "How do you know it was us? It was very early in the morning and we were probably still sleeping."
The officer at the front of the room smirked as the projection screen behind him began to playback a recording the fold wave spectrum analysis during the battle. "Sheryl, we know it was you both. We're not here to demand anything from either of you. We're here to request your assistance, since there is nobody else on this planet who can do what both of you are capable of doing."
Ranka barked at Sheryl ever-so-slightly, "Sheryl, just let them get to their point. I'm sure that nobody in this room wants to be in here all day."
Sheryl looked back at Ranka before slowly sinking back into her chair. After folding her hands together on the table's surface, she finally replied to the request. "Okay, what did you have in mind?"
One of the other officers who sat at the table interjected with a question. "Perhaps you two can enlighten us on the nature of your abilities. We are hoping that you are capable of filling certain 'roles' for our plan."
Ranka quickly began to answer, being the one who probably understood the nature of their condition better than Sheryl. "Well, the microbes that inhabit my intestinal tract have formed a symbiotic relationship with me. The V-type virus was created by the Vajra, in an effort to 'infect' people of other races. This intention was not meant to be malicious, but it consistently caused premature death in all of the hosts. Their true intentions are actually quite benevolent; they only wish to learn how to communicate with other races. Since their level of consciousness is completely different than ours, they had no way of directly communicating with us. This is where the V-type virus comes in. Initially, it only allowed me to 'feel' their emotions, but as time went by, I began to unknowingly communicate with them. As it turns out, the virus is meant to bridge the gap between our races. Because of our conflict with them in the past, they have learned that we operate as individuals, rather than as a whole, collective consciousness."
"With all due respect, we already know of the virus's purpose from the xenobiology reports we've read. What we really need to know is what exactly are you capable of doing? Can you learn to directly communicate with the Vajra collective?" another officer asked.
Ranka sighed while she deliberated the answer. She already knew what the truth was, but she was not sure that she should make things more publicly aware. She glanced over to Sheryl, who simply nodded in response. Finally, she looked back to the rest of the room and answered. "Yes, I can already communicate with them at a fluent level." The room began to fill with gasps and murmurs; this appeared to be good news for everyone.
The officer at the front of the room took the floor once more and asked the next question. "Why is it that we cannot duplicate this type of communication using computers? Some of our best scientists have dedicated the last few months in an attempt to mimic what you seem to have accomplished all on your own."
Ranka and Sheryl looked at each other and chuckled. Ranka had an easy answer to give, "Because you need emotion." The officers and government officials looked at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces. Ranka knew that she had to give a more elaborate explanation. "Simply put, you must have real emotions in order to channel your feelings and thoughts to the Vajra. Unfortunately, since the infection has always been lethal up to this point, nobody has been able to prove this fact. What makes me different than the others is that the infection was amazingly passed to me in vitro. All previous attempts failed, but the one that led to my birth succeeded."
"What does that mean?"
"...That it's next to impossible to successfully infect a patient with the V-type virus, and have them achieve symbiosis with the microbes," Ranka concluded.
Sheryl watched Ranka's delivery and seemed satisfied with the result of the exchange. "So you've learned how to properly sell yourself to those who need your talents," she thought to herself while she smiled.
"So, you're both able to communicate with the Vajra consciousness?"
"No, only I can," Ranka replied, "Sheryl's infection is not as advanced as mine is."
Sheryl began to sink in her chair with a feeling of inadequacy. Before Ranka could say any more, she stood up and interjected, "It seems that the nature of my infection is different because it was artificially introduced into my body and control was attempted using Galaxy's biological and pharmaceutical technologies. Now that I no longer live in that colony, I have been cut off from those resources. The only thing that is keeping the infection from becoming fatal within me is Ranka. However, I am determined to beat the odds on this, no matter what."
More murmurs began to fill the room before Admiral Perry decided to say something. "Thank you for your input, ladies. I think we have enough information to make an informed decision. Please remember, don't discuss anything from this meeting until we contact you again. We will let you know if and when we need your help."
The officer who was leading the meeting moved the subject into a different direction. "The other reason we called you here is to gain some insight into what might be going on in Galaxy's colony ships. Questions have been presented that are making us reconsider our original strategy. What we want to know is whether or not the citizens of Galaxy are aware of what is going on. Brera Sterne, as a former citizen and soldier in the Galaxy colony, we were hoping that you could shed some light onto the situation for us."
Brera calmly looked around before standing up to answer the officer's questions. "From my perspective, it might be unique to the rest of the populace. I was a soldier, and was therefore mandated to accept cybernetic enhancements to my body. Ultimately, these implants made me into something of a slave to those who were in charge. Had I known of the true cost, my free will, I would have denied them." Brera forcibly exhaled before he moved into the other part of his reply. "Unfortunately, the Galaxy Government managed to pass the resolution some time ago that mandated implants into all citizens. Even though the resolution was voted upon, even I still wondered if there wasn't any foul play involved. Regardless of my implants, I did retain some of my autonomy and during my moments of humanity, I could tell that the people did not want this."
"Well, can you elaborate on this 'foul play'? Are you saying that the polls were fixed?"
"Yes, but I cannot prove it. That's not how it all started. All it took was for the right people to be in the right places at the right time. Once the proponents of implants gained majority in the congressional body and presidential offices, there was little to stop them from achieving their ultimate goal: full-on cybernetic enslavement. Initially, it was a little here, a little there. Eventually, the administration started taking huge bites out of the public's power, disguising it as simply removing life's little inconveniences. It was once said by a famous historical figure from Earth's antiquity, 'Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both'. Before we knew it, we were literally being protected from ourselves; the mantra of the elitist politician."
Suddenly, President Mulcahy seemed to have a connection with this. With wide eyes, he interjected, "It's just like they taught us in political sciences. People can be easily manipulated if they are offered something for nothing and when they are not informed of the truth of things. It's a textbook maneuver in the radical revolutionist's manual. If you make the people dependent on the government and restrict the amount of information that they are given, they will never learn to be self-sufficient and make decisions on their own."
"That's one way to put it," Brera responded. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the people of Galaxy do not know of what is going on outside of their colony ships. Grace O'Connor and her cybernetic oligarchy do not intend to relinquish their power and crave for more every day. It's only unrestricted human nature to want to be in control of everything around them. Most people know how to find their place in a society, but some people feel compelled to be able to influence everyone and everything."
While this was going on, Sheryl began to sink into her chair more and more. Her hair hung in front of her face, masking the emotional response that was occurring within her at that very moment. "All those people, unable to live their lives the way they choose? How could this happen? I spent so much time away from the colony during my tour, I hadn't realized that all this could happen so fast." A couple of tears streamed down her cheeks after she winced her eyes closed.
President Mulcahy knew exactly what was going on and he nodded his head in response to Sheryl's reaction. "It doesn't take long, that's for sure. You fight hard to gain and maintain freedom, but it can all be lost so easily. All it takes is for people to stop paying attention to politics. One technique that radicals use is to have the media distract the population from real life. When the people care more about the trivial things than they do their government, the corrupted will always use the opportunity to seize power. The only thing that can stop them is the public, so they seek to disarm them of their power by spreading misinformation and using distraction tactics. It's all a bunch of smoke and mirrors."
The room fell silent, following the President's words. It appeared that the rest of the room felt pity for the citizens of Galaxy, but at least they had the power to try and do something about it. Admiral Perry turned to the President and they both nodded to each other with determined looks on their faces.
Suddenly, Mulcahy shot up from his chair. "Alright! Even though the citizens of Galaxy are unable to do anything to help themselves at this point, we can! As free citizens, we stand in the way of the Galaxy oligarchy's ambitions. It's our duty to protect those who are unable to protect themselves," he said as he pounded his fist onto the table. "Sheryl, Ranka, Brera, thank you for your input. We have a lot of work to do and we will let you know what we need your help with as soon as we are done formulating our plan."
It didn't take long for the trio to get up from their chairs and exit the room. Once the doors closed and they had their privacy once again, the meeting attendees began to clamor with each other on what to get working on first.
Sheryl, Ranka, and Brera seemed physically beat as they turned the corner to meet up with the rest of their friends. Alto, Luca, and Nanase patiently waited in the lobby, each of them seated on the couches centered around a single glass table in the middle. It was good for them to see their friends once more, but they knew that there was an air of uncertainty surrounding the upcoming events.
"So, tell us what happened in there!" Nanase inquired.
Ranka hung her head slightly as she answered, "We're not allowed to say..."
…
Several hours passed and the Coral star's light was beginning to take on the familiar orange hue of the evening sky. Cal and Will had met up again to discuss the day's events, at Will's behest.
"Cal, I just wanted to say that if you hadn't come with us to Nene's parents'..." he stopped to consider what he was saying and hung his head for a moment. "Well, I don't know what might have happened. The fact of the matter is that you did what neither Nene nor I could do. Now I know where Klan gets her stubbornness from! I do not envy you at all, dude..." Will put his arm around Cal as they walked down the sidewalk.
"Don't worry about Nene's mother. She may not approve of you being with Nene, but that just means that you will get to prove your worth. She's just going to have to get used to it." Unfortunately, Cal was partially distracted while he spoke to Will. Some of it was due to his mind wandering back to his encounter with Marjel, and that invariably led to the issues that he might run into if Klan decides to do what he hopes she'll do. The other part of his distraction seemed to float above his head, literally.
"What are you looking at?" Will asked as he peered into the sky above them.
Cal quickly snapped back to the present, having been tracking something with his eyes. "Sorry, it's just that... You ever get that feeling that someone's watching you all of the time?" Will just blinked while he stared at Cal. "I could swear that bird has been following me around all day. I started to notice it when I left Klan's place this morning and he was outside of the window at Nene's parents'. Now, I think that's him up there," Cal said, pointing up at a couple of birds who just happened to be flying several meters above them at the time.
Will's expression morphed into one of disbelief. "Cal, you really need to relax. I think your nerves are shot and you should just focus on resting while we're here on Aimo."
"I've got so much to get done while we're here, though. Have we heard exactly how long our stay will be?" Cal asked. Will responded with a shake of his head. Cal then pulled his PDA from off of his hip and checked the time. He clicked his tongue before speaking again. "Damn, it's getting late. I should go check in at the barracks to see if they have any beds left. They won't let anyone back on the Quarter, citing that they're doing maintenance or some such nonsense."
"What...?" Will muttered in disbelief. "Don't you have a place of your own?"
"Hell no. Ever since the colony landed on this rock, I've been in a hospital. By the time I got out, I had already been assigned to a ship. I never had time nor a need to put in a request for housing."
"Dude, do you really think I'm gonna let you stay in those shitty beds at the barracks? Too proud to ask, huh?" Will inquired. Cal now stared at Will while he waited for him to explain whatever the hell he was talking about. "You're a first lieutenant now," Will said as he flicked Cal's rank insignia with his finger. "You don't deserve to live in such inadequacy. You're gonna stay with me at my place, then. I don't have an extra bed, but I have one of those bitchin' instant mattresses you use on camping trips and all that... You can just stay in my living room for the time being."
"Hmm... a bunk in the barracks, or an inflatable mattress in your living room... I don't know which one is better," Cal said while putting his hand up to his chin in a thinking gesture.
"Don't be a jerk, Cal," Will said as he lightly punched Cal in the stomach. "You don't have a choice at this point, so get used to it." He then moved his arm up and grabbed Cal's head in a lock while they walked down the path and towards Will's place. There's only one way to deal with stubborn individuals, and that is to beat the sense into them.
