Chapter 8
Jun the Swan sat her console listening to the conversation taking place between Ken and Joe.
"This is bullshit Ken and you know it." The Condors angry voice came as he stood with the Eagle at his station on the Gatchaspartan.
"We do our Job first, we had to take down that Mecha Joe, and we needed the Hypershoot to do it. We all want to find her, but million of lives are at stack if the mecha got near a population…" Joe seemed to take on Ken's calmer manner as the Eagles voice went up an octave and aggression crept in.
They had to use the Hypershoot weapon on a mecha that couldn't be destroyed any other way, and when Ken came in from the top rear of the ship were he used the weapon his aggression levels were always a lot higher.
This was causing Jun a lot of worry for the man she loved. It was affecting him in a way she didn't like.
They had three leads, that lead them to "bases" if you could call them that, large estates taken over by Galactor troops and commanding offices. More like a World War II move by the Nazi's than Galactor's elaborate bases in previous wars.
At the last base they even found items that belonged to them, a yo-yo bomb and set of Jinpei's boulers, and a bird rang.
Someone had collected souvenirs from the first war. How they got them in the first place left the team wondering.
Then there was the mecha they just ran into.
Jun looked at the yoyo in her hand. She hadn't used this weapon in a long time and found herself missing the simplicity of it, yet effectiveness it could be during battle.
So she decided to keep it on her anyway, just in case so needed it during a battle.
She listened to the argument, picking her moment to intervene.
It had been two and a half days since they left Madeline's apartment, and they didn't seem to be getting anywhere in the search for her.
Every "lead" they had, drew up a blank.
She sighed at her own frustration, she felt a kinship with Madeline that she had not had with another woman, a sisterly bond forming between them. This was something Jun had always wanted; she was like a sister to Jun already.
They had common interests, and she could see how much Joe loved her. It was wonderful to see them together;
Joe's attitude changed after he meet Madeline, his fatigue and sense of hopelessness that had plagued him after the end of the second war seemed to lift enabling him to come on missions again, even if they were only escorts.
That was before he ended up in hospital again for two weeks because of his heart not functioning properly, and he was unable to come with them on the mission that they lost the God Phoenix. But as always with Joe if Galactor was involved then there was no holding back from being on the team.
She got up from her station and walked over to them. Ken turned to look at her, his hard as ice blue eyes spoke volumes about how this new weapon was affecting him.
She hoped this was only temporary while he got used to using it. She licked her dry lips before speaking.
" Ken maybe we should contact head quarters and see if they have any more leads on new bases before we head back." He assessed her idea for a moment before looking back at Joe who had hinted not to head back to base straight away, a second before Ken grabbed his mantle as if to hit him.
That was not normal behavior for Ken; he was normally the level headed one out of the two of them.
Then he she could see him start to back down from Joe as he spoke to her.
"O.K see if any activity has been spotted or potential bases if that's what they call them" He was a little calmer now and had let go of Joe's mantle.
Then she walked back to her station to carry out the order or suggestion when she looked up to see Joe's tired haggard looking face. "Thank you" He said simply before heading back to his station. The sadness and pain in his eyes was heartbreaking and she felt a stab of pain in her own heart.
We'll find her Joe she silently sent the thought to him. The she sent the signal out to the base for more information.
A few minutes later they were given another location of possible activity in a small Kingdom, a spy had only moments before sent through Intel on a Castle recently taken by Galactor in the small Kingdom of Germia.
Ken order Ryu to set the course and the Gatchaspartan turned and headed towards the castle.
Madeline stood in the darkened room;
The goons taking her there had heard Count Egobossler's words and had made snide remarks about hoping she'd try to escape, then they took of her bonds and left.
She wondering how long it had been since she was captured, time had no meaning since she walked into her apartment still fuming at Joe to be greeted with intruders, a woman wearing a mask and two men in Galactor uniforms.
She tried to run but the woman laughed and the next thing she knew she felt a sting on her neck and she tried to fight them as nausea and dizziness took over and the world went black.
They had let her come to a conscious state a few times; put food in her mouth and water, then drugged her again. She was barley conscious enough to chew on the bread they gave her.
How long had it been?? She couldn't tell, so she tried to focus on her current situation and how to get out of it so she took in her surroundings.
The windows had been painted black and from what she could see through patches there was bars on the window, it had been nailed shut and by the looks of things liquid nails had been used as well. The room had been well prepared for her.
She switched on a light, it was better than sitting in the dark.
The room had a feel of luxury to it, a king sized bed with four posts and a net draped over it, rich cream coloured carpet with mahogany timber furniture.
The last owner of this Castle spared no expense in decorating. There was an ensuit that had no windows but was very spacious. The bathroom was fully equipped, and when she looked at the bed again she noticed there was an elaborate gown made of creamy white silk that was heavily beaded in a black detailed pattern and along with beautiful lingerie set, slip on sequin black shoes and jewellery. The dress looked to be her size as well, how did they know?
She was puzzled by this. She was his prisoner, he hated her father, but he was treating her like she was a guest?
Father…Madeline felt a sudden sense of grief washed over her, and she sank to the side of the bed and leaned against it.
She began to think of her father, Egobossler said he died at Cross Karakoram.
Her memories of that time were still vivid in her mind…the events that lead her to take a trek into the Himalayas, a place that was so eerie she wondered how she survived it.
Madeline closed her eyes as the memories come flooding back into her mind like a tidal wave….
Three months of investigating hanging out at bars that pilots were known to frequent in foreign countries, to find them talking quietly about a special squad dressed in red.
Those conversations always got her attention;
Direct questioning never got her anywhere they seemed to clam up then, but a few drinks and flirting and acting dumb and they were putty in her hands.
They talked and answered questions put them in a fun non threatening fashion, and she learned that two red fighter planes had been spotted flying around the Himalaya's. That's when she decided that was where she needed to go, the pilot of one of those planes had to her father.
Her flute came in handy in that region, she earned a few meals through her playing and a few people in the area opened up when she played them a tune on an elegant solid silver instrument that they rarely saw.
That's when she learned about the activity that some locals had spotted on the other side of the mountains. It was a place that either you flew into or had to trek too, she spent days looking for a pilot who could fly her there.
In the end she couldn't find a pilot that would fly anywhere near the place. No amount of money that she offered the local pilots who had told her about the red planes that had been seen flying near those mountain ranges could persuade them.
So she had no choice but to trek across the perimeter of mountains. Finding a guide who was willing to take her there had cost her a small fortune.
It was a long journey taking her weeks.
She had a backpack with a few essentials including her flute case and a CD, she figured she trade the CD if needed and play the flute for meals if it came to that. Lucky for her that she kept that she was fit and playing a woodwind instrument helped her lung capacity for the trek into the mountains.
So she found the two red fighter planes on a side of a mountain. The pilots were no where to be found, so she decided to stay and wait for fighter pilots to return, so the guide set up camp near by, she sat down near by and waited for them to come back.
She hadn't given any thought to what he might think of her being there, really none at all.
She just wanted to find him and convince him to come home with her. The foolish thoughts of a lonely young 18 year old girl, but there she was full of determination to have some control in her life.
Darkness fell and they slept lightly until the early morning, when she woke the planes were still there. She got up to see that dense fog had settled into the plains area bellow them. That's when she saw the warship landing in the distance. It was dark blue with red trimmings, it was rumoured that Science Ninja Team's warship was that colour.
That's when she decided to go down into the rocky grassy plains to investigate.
It took most of the morning to get there, and her guide had fled at the sight of one of the huge statues. Crying out as he ran in broken English that they were bad omens, and this was an evil place that brings death.
So she found she was on her own, she took out a small gun that she had purchased not long after she had set out for the Himalayas, a girl could never be to careful, though she never thought she would never use it, then she looked at the ground and noticed an odd looking feather and picked it up. It had a sharp metal tip and a metal shaft, she could tell it was a weapon and decided to keep it just in case.
Madeline walk slowly through the fog her heart was pounding and her senses on high alert as to what could be here, then she saw a man in green up ahead and she ran around the side of an impressive stone statue with a forbidding look on its face.
It was then that she almost tripped over him, a young man who looked a little older than her lying on the ground wearing casual jeans and numbered shirt, he was holding a strange object in his hands.
At first she thought he was dead.
She checked his breathing and air was coming out and he had a weak heart beat. A moment later she looked up to see men in green running towards her and she panicked as she lay down behind him in an attempt to not be noticed, but they ignored her kept running, and she heard something about the Science Ninja Team being in Headquarters as she heard it.
She checked him again, he had stopped breathing so she gave him the kiss of life, them he began to breath lightly again and she sighed with relief for some reason.
"Ohh good you're breathing again" she had muttered.
She looked back at the man, he was not dressed in green so maybe he was a victim of Galactor and she could help him.
So she decided to drag him when she heard the deep rumbling from within the earth. There was an explosion but she had gotten him far enough away that he didn't end up the gapping whole that had formed in the earth.
Dust covered them and she threw herself over him to protect him.
She had decided to drag him further away not knowing what to do next with him, so had thoughts that maybe she should wait for the Science Ninja Team, if the made it out of there, when a strange looking man in a white coat and grey beard came up to her.
The place that she was in was scary enough, and she had lost the gun, her guide and she felt her mind as well. The strange object that the man in the number 2 blue T-shirt had in his hands had fallen some where, so she and think fast…..
So she fudged her reason for being there.
In the end she agreed with Dr. Raphael to take this man away from here, and even go with him to the lab he had set up for when he escaped Galactor.
She was still sitting at the base of the bed when she came back to were she was now and her brows knitted together in concentration as Madeline thought more about the man's face.
She pulled at the memory; there was something there was suddenly something familiar about him.
She tried to picture his features. It had been six years after all. Then she remembered his thick dark auburn coloured hair and cleft chin.
She had studied him when Dr Raphael put him on life support in his van and she had helped the Doctor move him when they reached his lab were he continued to be in comatose state on life support.
She would spend hours playing her flute and having one way conversations to pass the time over the two weeks she was there. Dr Raphael was not a conversationalist so she found.
The man had a square Jaw line and dark auburn coloured hair that she would run her fingers through. He was so ruggedly handsome. But she had not thought of him much at all over the last two years. As she thought more about his face as another man came to her mind.
The Doctor had asked her to sponge bathe him when they first got to the lab. She cringed at the thought of doing it not that he was unattractive, just the opposite really, it was just something that she had never done before.
He had a hot looking body, well toned muscles, but lots of wounds and deep bruising and she wondered with tears in her eyes what had they done to him. He must have been tortured for this amount of damage to his body.
The doctor didn't seem to worry if he lay naked on the table, but she threw a blanket over him to keep him warm so she told the doctor, even though it sent warm fuzzy feeling through her just looking at his naked body.
Madeline was still sitting on the floor when the realization hit her, Joe?
When she thought about the man's features they were so similar to Joes, and his body was the same build. Could it be possible that they had kind of met before?
Her thoughts on him were confusing; she saw the pain in his eyes when she accused him of cheating. The expression on his face that she saw in the rear view mirror as she sped away from his trailer. Doubts were in her mind now as to what he really was hiding; maybe he didn't cheat on her…Maybe he did have something that he felt she would run from if she knew.
She still loved him even after all the pain she felt, could he be the man that she found that day?
It could not be possible… could it?
She was bought out of her state of despair by those thoughts. Joe had something going on his life that was for sure. If he was the same man she found at Cross Karakoram, than he had artificial organs and enhanced muscle tissue and cybernetic implants. He was made very different from the other Cyborgs that Dr Raphael told her about.
It bought her back to reality that's for sure.
Madeline got up of the floor, she had to get out of this some how and find Joe again to ask him about Dr Raphael. Joe had started to question her about the doctor. He knew Dr, Raphael she was now sure of it.
If that was the case then he was made into an advanced type of Cyborg, mostly human but with cybernetic abilities and artificial organs and extra abilities.
Then the penny dropped!
She was so upset at the time with him that she missed that vital clue. It had to be Joe. Maybe that was why he was so secretive about his life.
Count Egobossler had something in mind for her fate and she would find out tonight, but she held onto Joe and she found herself believing in him again and hope.
She may as well have a shower and freshen up. She thought.
If she had the wear that damn dress that he thought she would like, than she would until she found a way out of there.
It didn't mean Count Egobossler would get her full cooperation though.
She had to survive if only to see Joe again. They had a lot of talking to do.