Chapter Seven: Rescued by the Elsa

When I was playing the video game, it was about 10:53PM...it's gotta be midnight, now...

In the dark depths of space, the A.G.W.S unit floated with Shane inside it. She was thinking about her current situation. She was tired, in a whole lot of pain, and bleeding. Her feet and entire body felt numb and cold, probably colder than back at home.

Home.

The home planet she, her family, and about a billion people lived on for many years. The planet that was turned into a Cathedral Ship gnosis that she destroyed. ..Or did she? She couldn't remember, but the guilt that churned in her stomach was there.

Mom...Dad...baby sister...

''Kuso...I'm so stupid!'' She banged her head against the head cushion. She felt her eyes water up, warm tears streaming down her face. ''God...someone help me...'' Shane looked at the monitor. She didn't know how to operate the machine but she knew how to signal for help.

On board a white and blue ship, a blonde navigator looked at his monitor to see a distress signal on the screen. He immediately started typing. He then looked back to a man sitting on top of a chair with a red cap on.

''Hey, Captain?''

''What is it now? Is the cargo room on fire?'' the captain asked in a gruff voice.

''No...we got a distress signal. It's from an A.G.W.S unit.''

The captain looked at the navigator then took off his hat and scratched his head.

''Alright, Tony? Go to where that distress signal was last heard from.''

From the pilot's seat, a man waved his arm in response then flew to the distress signal.

Damn...my entire left arm is numb now...

..I hope someone got my message...

''..ey..''

Let me sleep for a little bit...

''..ello?''

A...little bit...

A loud banging noise woke up a startled Shane as she looked around. ''I didn't do it!! I didn't kick the stupid ball into that bitch's face!!'' she yelled out. She breathed heavily and looked at her surroundings slowly. She blinked a few times, seeing that she was inside the cargo hold of a ship. She opened the hatch and climbed out of it slowly.

That was when she was greeted with a gun to her face.

''Oh, crap.''

A woman with long blue hair and red eyes stood in front of Shane, a gun to the girl's head. ''Uh, hi lady with the gun to my head...'' ''Analysis complete. The girl is not a threat,'' the woman said in an robotic monotone voice. ''But the girl is wounded from a gunshot wound to the left shoulder. She has lost a substantial amount of blood and is barely concious. She has a fever of 100.'' She groaned, sitting down on the floor. ''Thanks for sharing that...'' The woman lowered her gun then let it go as it vanished. She stepped forward, kneeling down. The girl looked at her.

''What are you doing?''

''I have been asked to escort you to proper quarters so that your wound may be treated.''

''...Alright..'' Shane climbed onto the woman's back as she stood up. She looked at the woman's facial features then realized who it was in her feverish state. ''..You're...KOS--'' After that, she blacked out from blood loss and her fever.

''My goodness, that wound is so bad...it's amazing she was still concious!''

Oh, no, not again...

''Do you think she'll be okay?''

''Yes, she will. But we have to get to a medical facility soon. Allen, pass me another blanket.'' Shane felt a cool blanket go over her body.

''I'll go tell the captain of her condition.'' the sounds of small running footsteps left the room.

Wait, Allen? Shane groaned as she opened her eyes slowly. She looked at the top bunk of a bed. ''..Where..?'' ''Oh! You're awake!'' She turned her head to the sweet voice of a young woman. A woman with light brown hair and green eyes with glasses on her face smiled at her. ''You're in safe hands.'' Shane raised her arm and held her head.

''Are you feeling a bit woozy?''

Now I'm sure of it. I'm not crazy. Then again...

''Yeah, kinda am,'' she said softly. She winced at the pain in her arm then held her shoulder to see it was cleanly bandaged. The woman sat beside the girl as she felt her forehead. ''Your fever's gone down,'' she said. ''You were shivering pretty badly...'' Shane nodded some. Yeah, I was in the coldness of space--again. ''So, who are and where am I?''

''Oh, sorry! I didn't even tell you when you first woke up. I'm Shion Uzuki and your on the cargo ship, the Elsa von Brabant.''

...It could be the fever...

''...That's impossible..'' Shane felt her head get dizzy as she fell back onto the pillow. Shion gasped then shook the young girl. ''Are you alright?! Hey!'' A brown haired man walked inside of the room, walking over to Shion and the now unconcious Shane. ''Is she alright?'' Shion turned to the brown-haired, blue-eyed young man. ''She's alright. She woke up and talked with me but then she fainted when I told her my name and where she was, saying 'that's impossible'. ''

After she got done changing the ice pack on Shane's head, Shion walked out of the little cubical of the sleeping space. She stretched some and walked over to the sink. She washed her hands. ''That girl is so strange'' she said outloud. ''When she heard my name, that is. I wonder why...'' She turned to the sound of the doors hissing open to see a man with dark blonde hair wearing a Galaxy Federation Marine uniform walk in.

Commander Cherenkov... ''Hello there, Commander.''

He looked over to Shion then walked to the cubical where Shane slept. ''Is this the girl who was inside the A.G.W.S?'' The Vector employee walked over, nodding. ''Yes, she was. I'm surprised she managed to get out an distress signal before falling unconcious again.'' Cherenkov looked at her milky white hair.

''Is she a Realian?''

''Huh? No, she isn't. KOS-MOS confirmed it when I was treating her wounds.'' Shion looked to the side some as she rested her hand against her chest some. Even though she looks human, her eyes... She remembered when Shane woke up the first time that her left eye was a red-violet color and her right eye was dark brown. He narrowed his eyes at the sleeping girl. ''Hmph.'' He turned and left out of the room, the doors hissing closed.

''Well, that was..awkward,'' Shion said. She looked to Shane as she stirred from her sleep. ''Miss?'' She groaned and opened her eyes. ''Whoo...what a dream..'' She looked at the light brown-haired woman who smiled at her.

''...Never mind.''

''Are you okay now, miss?''

''Never been better.'' She sat up in the bed and held her head. ''How long...?'' Shion walked over to her. ''You've been asleep for quite a while,'' she told the young girl. She chuckled some. ''Sorry if I fainted on you, Shion...my name's Shane.'' The Vector employee shook hands with her then sat down in the chair next to the bed. ''It's alright. You were still having complications from your fever.''

Fever? Oh..yeah.. Shane nodded in response as she felt her throat was dry. ''..Water, please,'' she said softly. Shion stood up and walked over to the table, picking up a pitcher of water and a glass. She walked back over to her, handing her the glass of ice cold water. Shane took it and drank it quickly.

''Man, that hit the spot,'' she whispered. She handed the glass back to Shion and stood up from the bed slowly. ''Shane, you should sit back down.'' She caught the girl's arm before she could hit face first into the floor. She looked at the light brown-haired woman then put her hand against the wall. ''You must be dizzy from the painkillers.'' ''Maybe,'' Shane told her as she stood upright. She walked--with Shion's help--to the table and sat down again.

''So, uh, where are we going?''

''To the Second Miltian star system,'' the Vector employee said. The milky-haired girl looked at Shion and nodded, laying her head down on the table. ''Oh goody..'' Shion blinked at her response. ''Oh, well...I'll tell everyone your awake now, okay?'' Shane nodded, scratching her head. She stood up from the table and walked out of the room. The milky white haired girl listened to the doors hiss closed. She sat up and looked at the ceiling.

...Hang on, did we enter hyperspace yet?

Shion walked to the bridge of the Elsa as the doors hissed open. She was greeted with ''Is she awake yet?'' from the captain. ''Yes, she's awake. Though she's still a bit incoherant..'' She looked to the brown haired man from before, walking over. ''Is there something wrong, Chief?'' She shook her head.

''No, there isn't. Though when Commander Cherenkov came in and looked at Shane--''

''Is that her name?''

''Yes. When he looked at her, it was a strange look, almost if she had dirt on her face...''

The captain looked at Shion as she spoke. ''Don't worry about it. That commander has a major stick up his ass, that's all,'' he told her. She sighed some. Maybe you're right, Captain Matthews...

Shane stumbled her way to the door, shivering slightly as she walked. She put her hands against the door, breathing heavily. ''Damnit...'' A confused look came onto her face as the doors opened and she fell onto the floor, face first. ''...Ow,'' she mumbled. ''I am having a really bad day..'' She lifted her head and looked around the ship. She stood up slowly, steadying herself so that she wouldn't fall again. Shane walked up the small flight of stairs.

It looked just like it looked on the inside in the game, except she could touch the walls and feel the floor under her feet.

''Wow'' couldn't even put what she saw in mere words.

The happy thought was broken when she heard a man arguing nearby. ''Eh?'' She walked stealthfully to where the arging was coming from. She looked around the right corner to see an U.M.N Terminal (as she saw from the game in cutscenes) and saw something else. She saw a man--the one she heard arguing--talking to an computer screen, his face in a look of distress.

''Please, sir...''

''No, Cherenkov,'' the familiar voice said.

Shane listened to the conversation as her eyes widened. Even though she was past this part in the game, she regconized the voices. She bit her lip then decided to act on her own will. She figured it was going to be risky, but she had to do it. She had to act like her normal self.

''GYAHHH!! PANCAKES, THEY STOLE MY HONDA!!!'' She screamed as she ran past the corridor and onto the bridge.

Cherenkov watched Shane run past him, after jumping from her screaming.

''That girl..''

''What girl?''

''Uh, well, Commander Margulis...the Elsa picked up a young woman inside an A.G.W.S unit, a gunshot wound to her shoulder. Margulis, on the computer screen, chuckled to himself some. ''I see...that girl just so happened to be at Pleroma.'' Cherenkov gasped slightly then gripped his fists some. ''If...I get her back to you--'' ''You will be rewarded, Cherenkov.''

Everyone on the bridge turned to the screaming to see the doors hiss open and Shane run inside. She heard Shion's voice say ''Shane, watch out! You're going to hit--'' She held her head lowered, eyes closed as she ran into a body. She and the person she ran into fell to the floor with a 'thud'.

''Ow...I'm so sorry, but someone--nani?''

She sat up to see that she had hit Allen, Shion's assistant. He was knocked out from hitting his head on the floor. Shane patted his face gently, looking at him. ''..Hey. Hey, wake up, man.'' He groaned then raised his hand to meet a warm and firm--wait a minute. He gripped it slightly to feel that it was soft to the touch but firm nonetheless. He opened his blue eyes to meet the cold glare of Shane.

''Get. Your. Hand. Off. My. A-S-S. NOW, DAMNIT!!''

''Ack!? I-I'm sorry, miss!!''

''You're not sorry!'' She yelled at him as she picked him up by the collar of his uniform, shaking him. Captain Matthews held his face, hiding his laughter from everyone; the navigator looked away, snickering; the pilot, Tony, had put the ship on autopilot to see what happened; Shion blushed and looked away; KOS-MOS watched with no emotion in her eyes or face. Another onlooker watched and smiled to himself.

''Allen, how could you? She's only 17!!'' The Vector employee said.

''B-but, Chief..!! She rammed into me and we both fell!''

Shane looked at him then got off. ''Sorry, buddy. No hard feelings?'' She held a hand out to him as she helped him up. He rubbed his head and nodded in thanks. ''It's okay...you're still suffering from the fever, right?'' She nodded some. Yeah...crazy, ain't I? Shion walked over to her and patted her shoulder. ''Shane, I want you to meet everyone.'' She pointed to everyone in the room.

''That's Captain Matthews.'' The captain nodded his head in Shane's direction. ''Nice to meet you, little lady,'' he said.

Shion pushed Shane to the blonde navigator. ''This is Hammer, the navigator of the Elsa.'' He held out a hand as she shook it. ''Hey there.''

Shion pointed to Allen, who was still shaking some from the fall and accidental groping. ''That's Allen, but you two have already met.'' Yeah...

''The pilot of the Elsa is Tony, who's over there.'' Shane looked to the head of dark blonde hair who held up his hand in response. Shion turned her around to nod to the white haired, dark-skinned boy who stood up.

''Hello there. My name's chaos.'' He told Shane as he held out his hand to her. She blushed slightly and took his hand. ''N-nice to meet you too...'' He smiled at Shane. Shion smiled then looked at her. ''Remember the blue-haired girl that brought you here?''

''Yeah...the scary-looking one?''

''Mmhm. That was KOS-MOS.'' Shane looked at her, trying her best to look confused. ''KOS-MOS? That an abrivation or somethin'?'' Even though, I know what it means... Shion nodded.

''It stands for Kosmos Obey Strategical Multiple Operation Systems,'' the Vector employee told her.

''Uh-huh, cool. Wish I had a name like that...'' Shion looked at Shane then chuckled some. ''At least it would be abriviated, Shane.'' The milky-haired girl nodded, smiling. She looked to everyone on the bridge then looked down some.

I've lost my home, friends, and family...oh crud..

''Hey, you didn't find a cellphone on me did you, Shion?!''

''Uh...well, no...'' Shane groaned and sat down on the floor. Oh man...I must've left at in Pleroma... ''Man, that phone cost me 100 bucks...not to mention the upgrades, too. I still had 2 more payments on it!''

Chapter Seven: End. (Yeah...what a bad/corny ending. Will Shane ever get her phone back? Please R & R.)