Disclaimer: Nadesico is not mine and I take no credit for it.
RURI: We stopped at Mars for gas and sandwiches like Mister Warren said, but also picked up some more bakas. With the countdown to the unknown ticking fast, we only have a little time to get ready. But how does a ship full of bakas get ready for something they have no idea how to be ready for?
Nadesico: Oysters and Pearls
Chapter 3
Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes
"Well?" Lieutenant Commander Hideki Amano asked, gesturing to the robot expectantly, "What do you think?"
"At least it's all the same color," Ryoko remarked. The Aestivalis sitting on the flight deck was dark green and looked heavily modified. "What kind of changes?"
"Well," Hideki began, "The major problem on this one was that its energy transfer module wasn't working right. So I swapped out one from an atmospheric flight model."
"But a flying model has different systems..." Ryoko began to argue.
"True!" Hideki told her. "That's where the modular transformation comes in." He took out a remote control and pressed a blue button.
Before her, the green Aesti seemed to hunch down. Doors on its back opened, and metallic wings unfolded from within. Two stabilizers emerged from the legs and moved back and forth in an automatic test. The wings were a substance Ryoko hadn't seen before.
"What are the wings made of?" she asked.
"A mercury-based smart metal," Hideki answered. "Basically it allows the metal to revert to liquid form, then change and harden again as a solid.
"That's amazing," Ryoko whispered. "It can fly in air and space."
He nodded quickly. "I also used some leftover titanium to reinforce the armor so it could withstand re-entry."
Ryoko patted the Aesti's leg. "Does it work?"
He gestured to the cockpit. "See for yourself."
QQQ
"So explain to me how this is going to work again," Jun asked tiredly as he circled the metallic chair in the center of the room. The chair was eerily reminiscent of a dentist's chair, only with metallic clamps for the arms and legs. It gave Jun the creeps just looking at it.
Inez placed a hand on the headrest and began. "It's rather simple, actually. When boson jumping first became a method of travel for the UE, it required a Mars-born human to direct it. That the jump itself could happen was never a doubt, but a Martian was needed to control it. We have since learned that the Jovians have come up with technology that allows people to control it more easily."
"The chair," Jun said, circling around it. The two of them were the only ones in the small, egg-shaped room. A lone computer sat nearby, unused, and a screen directly in front of the chair showed an image from outside the ship.
Inez nodded. "Boson energy is focused into this room, and the person sitting in that chair directs where the jump occurs. In most cases, that person can simply picture it, like Akito, Yurika and I picturing Mars. In this case, it'll be a little more complex."
"How so?"
"Picture Epsilon Eridani," she ordered suddenly.
Jun gave her a blank look. "I can't. I've never been there."
"Correct. Since we have little to go on, getting there is going to be difficult. The person in the chair is going to have to think of star charts, coordinates, telescopic images and HOPE that it's enough."
"And if it's not?"
"Ever hear of an ancient Earth TV show called 'Voyager?'"
"It's not going to be THAT bad, is it?" he asked, alarmed at the possibilities.
"Thankfully, no," Inez told him with a smile. Jun sighed in relief. "Since I'll be the one in the chair..." She turned to him and offered another smile. "You have nothing to worry about."
QQQ
The door opened, and Megumi looked up, removing her reading glasses. A very exhausted-looking Jun entered and collapsed face first on the bed. Standing up, she walked over to the bed and sat down next to him.
"Long day?" she asked.
"Mmm hmm," he answered through the pillow.
She sighed and began to rub his shoulders.
"Remind me why I agreed to this again?" he asked.
"Because," she said quietly, "It's a chance to go where no one has ever gone."
"Right, right..."
She sighed again. "Jun...about the other day...I know you don't like talking about it, but maybe if you did..."
Her voice trailed off, and he lay quietly. "Some wounds don't completely heal, Megumi chan," he whispered. "If it weren't for you...this one wouldn't have healed at all."
"Jun chan, talk to me," she begged quietly.
"What am I supposed to say, Megumi chan?" he asked tiredly. "That sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night because I could swear I can hear them coming to take me away for another session?"
"If that's what's happening, yes," she replied painfully. She hated seeing him like this. Hated what they had done to him.
"Well I do," he whispered. He rolled over and looked up at her. "But then I remember that it's not real and I go back to bed. It's all I can do, Megumi chan."
She leaned down and kissed him. "You want something to eat?" she asked with a slight smile.
He shook his head. "I'm going to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."
She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Good night, Jun chan. Lights."
The lights in their room dimmed, and darkness surrounded Captain Jun Aoi...
QQQQ
Captain Jun Aoi's eyes opened and found the alarm clock next to the bed. It was going to go off in two minutes. He hated when that happened. He could either get up or close his eyes and try to squeeze what rest he could into those two minutes.
Sighing, he got up.
He walked to the closet and found a fresh uniform. Laying it on the couch, he undressed and stepped into the shower.
It was going to be a long day.
QQQQ
Megumi yawned and opened her eyes to find her husband in the final stages of dressing. "Today's the big day," she remarked sleepily.
"Yep," he said.
"How do you think the crew is handling it?" she asked, sitting up in bed.
Jun finished fixing the last button on his collar. "I imagine they're scared out of their minds," he told her with a smile. "What about you?"
"It's..." she began, searching for words. "Different," she finally finished.
"I'm going to give every member of the crew ten minutes on the transmitter today," he warned her. "I don't want anyone going on this adventure without a chance to say goodbye to a loved one."
"That's awfully cryptic, Jun," Megumi said quietly. "Are you okay?"
He offered her a smile. "Megu chan," he said. "It's going to be a great year."
QQQQ
"This year is going to blow," Ryoko breathed as she made a final adjustment to her report. Although Hideki's alterations to the Aestivalis had proven workable, she still wasn't convinced it was the best thing to do.
She heard the lift door open behind her and someone step into it with her. Turning, she ended up eye to eye with Rikari.
The two nodded at each other. "Colonel," they both greeted before resuming the uneasy silence.
Ryoko still had an off feeling about Rikari, and the last time she had tried to express it, the bridge crew had laughed at her. Except for Jun, who had a slightly more cynical view on things than he did when the war first broke out. Perhaps it was time for a little impromptu investigating.
The teal-haired woman discreetly undid the top button of her uniform and turned to the squadron commander. "So, the big day, huh?" she asked.
Rikari smiled but didn't seem too excited. "Yeah. A year in the unknown."
"Must be hard for some people," Ryoko remarked. "Leaving wives and girlfriends behind."
"I suppose so," Rikari replied noncommittally.
"What about you?" Ryoko asked. "Wife back home? Kids?"
Rikari shook her head. "Nope."
"Huh," the Aestivalis pilot replied. "This assignment must be a sweet deal for you then," she went on. "I think it's the only ship in the fleet where single women outnumber single men."
Rikari gave her a suspicious look. "I...suppose...some people could see it that way."
Ding!
The lift door opened.
"This is my deck," Rikari told her.
Ryoko nodded. "See you around, Colonel," she said, plying the statement with a little innuendo and wink.
Rikari stepped off the elevator and watched the doors close. She took a deep breath.
"Goddammit."
QQQQ
Genechiro Tsukuomi looked at the control boards on the bridge and frowned. A good portion of the data on the screen in front of him was superfluous, the kind usually filtered through robots before ever getting to a ship commander. Earthers were sloppy.
"Lieutenant Hoshino," he began, turning to Ruri. "What is our present status?" His hands were behind his back and his nose turned upward. He had always been taught the pose looked regal and inspired subordinates.
Ruri hardly looked inspired.
"Course two-seven-zero mark zero-one-five," she remarked, not looking up from her video game. "Standard speed. All ship's systems are functional. ETA to launch point, fifteen minutes."
"Good," Tsukuomi congratulated her. "Mister Warren, increase to two-thirds."
"All ahead two-thirds aye," Chase repeated dully.
"Lieutenant Hoshino, what is our new ETA?"
"Ten minutes, Sir."
Tsukuomi did some calculations in his head. "An increase should have halved our ETA. Mister Warren, are you sure we're at two-thirds?"
Chase looked at the man currently sitting in Megumi's chair and gave him a "what the fuck?" look.
"Mister Warren!"
"Yes, Sir, we are at two-thirds."
Tsukuomi snorted. "I'll have to have Engineering look into that."
At that point, the lift door opened, and Jun and Megumi stepped onto the bridge. "Good morning, everyone," Jun greeted.
"'Morn'n, Skipper," Chase replied as Megumi took the comm seat next to him.
Tsukuomi saluted Jun slowly. "Captain," he began. "We are on course. Preparations for the jump to Epsilon Eridani are on schedule."
"Good," Jun replied. He nodded to Tsukuomi for a moment, then asked, "Commander, can I see you in my office? I want to have one last sit down before we leave."
Tsukuomi nodded and followed Jun to the lift. The doors closed behind them.
"Asshole," Chase muttered.
QQQQ
"Have a seat, Commander. I never asked, is it okay to call you Genechiro?" Jun asked as he sat behind his desk.
"I'd prefer you didn't... Sir," Tsukuomi replied.
"Ah, okay." Jun folded his hands in front of him and searched for a way to begin. "Commander, I get the impression this isn't the career path you would have wanted."
"I have my orders... Sir," Tsukuomi told him.
"Yes, but if you're not going to be happy on this mission..."
"It's not about being happy, Sir. It's about following orders, and I'll follow mine," he seethed.
Jun nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Commander. Dismissed."
Tsukuomi stood up and huffed out the door.
"That one's going to be trouble," Jun remarked after he had left.
QQQQ
Jun was back on the bridge just as Megumi was turning to look for him. "Kanchou, Erina's on the line." Her voice was tinged with a bit of distaste as if she had just bit into a rotten apple.
"Let's see her," Jun ordered. A vid panel appeared at the front of the bridge.
Erina appeared absolutely tickled today. "Jun, I just wanted to call and make sure you had everything you needed for today."
"We're ready, Erina," Jun told her. "Don't suppose there's anything you want to tell US before we go?" he hinted.
She shook her head. "Nope. Make us proud, Jun. Be safe." With that, she waved and was off the screen again.
Megumi shook her head. "That woman..."
"Kanchou, it's time," Ruri interrupted.
Jun paused and looked at the clock. So it was. All eyes on the bridge were turned to him. He thought for a moment, then nodded to Megumi.
"One MC," he ordered.
Megumi's fingers danced over the comm board, and a moment later Jun's face was all over the ship.
"This is the captain," Jun began. "In a few moments, this ship and everyone onboard will take mankind's first step to another solar system."
QQQQ
On the flight deck, Izumi smushed her cigarette against a bulkhead and leaned against it to listen to Jun's speech. It was obvious that he was really into this.
"I say it's mankind's first step because Earth and her colonies are not the only ones going, but our friends, the Jovians, are joining us. For the first time in our history, we will join together and step out into the galaxy."
She searched her soul for that same enthusiasm, but couldn't find it. To her, Epsilon Eridani was just as good as hiding anywhere else...like Cuba.
Izumi pulled out another cigarette and her lighter...
QQQQ
In the galley, Houmei and her staff watched the speech with interest.
"Most of you were on this ship when it first launched, during its first battle," Jun continued. "It was a ship designed for one purpose: to win a war others thought already lost."
Houmei frowned. She wasn't sure it was the best idea to phrase it like that with so many Jovians aboard.
"But like the rest of us since the war's end, it has found a new, peaceful calling. And it is my honor to serve aboard her again and with all of you."
She smiled.
QQQQ
Inez strapped herself into her chair as Jun's voice, so full of hope and optimism, surrounded her. She felt a pang of guilt and suppressed it, tightening the straps around her ankles.
"Whatever your reason for coming along," she heard him say, "We all appreciate the hard work and sacrifices we'll all be called on to make."
Inez looked up as Aurora helped her strap her arms down. She gave her student a smile and saw her smile back.
QQQQ
Megumi smiled at her husband as his speech wound down.
"Let's make sure history never forgets the name, 'Nadesico," he finished. He gave Megumi a silent nod, and the screens disappeared. "Ruri chan, let's go find a better tennis shoe."
Ruri cracked a smile as she ran through the final checks. "Moving to condition three," she said. "All sections report in."
Jun looked down at Megumi and gave her an excited smile. She couldn't help but return it. He was living his dream, and she was there with him. As long as she could say that every day, she knew things would be all right.
Ruri turned to Jun. "Dr. Franssenge says she ready."
Jun sat on the command bench and took a breath. "Let's go."
The girl's hands glowed against the keyboard. "Feeding all data on Epsilon Eridani into Dr. Franssenge's neural system."
Jun took a deep breath.
"TC release in five..."
Megumi swallowed.
"Four..."
Tsukuomi sighed.
"Three..."
Inez closed her eyes.
"Two..."
"I'm going where the weather suits my clothes!" Chase screamed.
"One! TC release!"
Outside the Nadesico, TC crystal compartments opened, spraying thousands of the tiny black diamonds into the distortion field. The field crackled as a response, and lightning danced along the edge of the ship. It was as if the ship were suddenly in the center of a thunderhead, surrounded by fire and ice all at the same time.
The ship disappeared.
QQQQ
Ryoko didn't know if it was different because of the power involved or the distance, but it was the weirdest experience of her life. She would often try to describe it later, but the best she could do was say,
"It was like the ship and everyone in it were squeezed into a baseball, then batted across the universe by some heavy hitter. It was like brushing up against everyone at once, but in your head."
And suddenly, the ball was in the outfield, bouncing to a halt.
QQQQ
Aurora watched as Inez, sitting in the jump chair with her eyes closed, began to glow a bright white. The light seemed to come from within her and went through everything around her, including the young student. It culminated in a bright flash.
The student turned away with a squeak, covering her eyes. Then, she, like everyone else on the ship, blacked out.
QQQQ
Jun opened his eyes and blinked at the ceiling. Rolling onto his hands and knees, he stood up and rushed to Megumi's chair, where the young woman was slouched forward unconscious.
"Megumi chan?" he whispered, shaking her shoulder.
"Hmmm?" she replied sleepily, sitting up. "What?"
Below them, the rest of the bridge crew was waking up.
"They ain't paying us enough for this," Chase complained, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
The only one who appeared fully awake was Ruri, and Jun couldn't tell if it was because she had remained awake during the trip or if she was just quick at recovering. Her hands were dancing across the keyboard.
They hadn't expected unconsciousness. And if that had hit them, there was no way of telling what else had.
"Sound general quarters," he ordered.
The klaxon went off as Megumi announced battlestations over the intercom. Jun walked down to the pit where Ruri was still compiling data.
"Ruri chan?" he asked.
"It was a rougher trip than we thought it would be, Kanchou," she declared. "Propulsion is off-line. So's the trans-light transmitter Aurora san was going on about." She bit her lip. "And so is the distortion field."
"What's our position?" he asked.
From in front him, Chase replied. "Not fucking Kansas, I can tell you that."
Jun turned to ask him what he meant when he saw it. Chase was staring at the viewscreen...
At twin suns.
"Kami sama," Megumi whispered.
"Ruri," Jun whispered, unable to tear his gaze away. "Confirm our position. Is this Epsilon Eridani?"
The young girl snorted. "I can't confirm it, Kanchou. Navigation is offline. But Epsilon Eridani IS a binary system."
"WOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chase screamed.
The bridge exploded in cheers and back-slapping. Everyone was congratulating everyone else.
Jun put a stop to it. "Quiet! We still have a situation here!" He turned to Megumi. "Megu chan, get Ryoko up here, then put me on the One MC. Ruri, I want a complete damage and status report from every section, including casualties. Mister Warren, dead stop."
The crew set to work.
"Jun chan, One MC," Megumi told him.
Jun took a breath. "Crew of the Nadesico, this is the captain. Those of you near a window may have noticed that we are no longer in our star system. We are still trying to ascertain that this is, in fact, Epsilon Eridani, but we've suffered damage to several systems. Please remain calm, listen to your section chiefs and do what you can to get this ship mission ready again. That is all."
As he was finishing, Ryoko was walking onto the bridge. "What's up, Jun?" She leaned over the guardrail.
"Ryoko, we're dead in the water and blind as a bat. Long range scanners and LIDAR are off-line. I want you to launch the Alert Five and send up a Rivet Jack and an SWACS to help us get a better picture of what's going on out there." She nodded along with him. "And while you're at it, get a couple of Gekigangars ready to back up the alert birds."
"You got it!" Ryoko told him, then rushed off the bridge.
Jun turned back to Ruri's screen when he heard Megumi call him. He walked over to her station and leaned over to hear her.
"Jun chan," she whispered. "Is it a good idea to send out fighters? This is supposed to be an exploration vessel," she reminded him.
"We still have to look out for Indians," he said quietly.
AAAA
Izumi performed the last few cockpit checks and looked to her right. She gave the deck officer a thumbs up and a salute, then braced herself. A second later, the magnetic catapult launched her off the flight deck and into space.
"House, Alert One," she said into her mic. "Good shot."
Her scanner changed as three more signals joined hers. Her wingman, an SWACS alert and control spacecraft and an RC-55 Rivet Jack signals intelligence spacecraft were moving to join her. The SWACS, Cat's Eye, would use its powerful sensors to act as the Nadesico's LIDAR and coordinate action between the spacecraft. The Rivet Jack, Snoop One, was a listener, equipped with receivers capable of deciphering thousands of different types of radio and light signals.
From outside, Izumi could see the damage wrought by the Nadesico's journey across light years. Lights were out almost every other deck, and the ship was listing slightly. She knew the distortion field was down. If there were hostile natives in this solar system, the Nadesico was in trouble.
She clicked her bone mic. "Cat's Eye, Alert One," she announced. "Take up position angels ten and hold there. Snoop One will go devils ten and circle."
"Roger," she heard from the SWACS.
"Roger, Raven," the Rivet Jack replied, addressing Izumi by her callsign. She knew the pilot of the Rivet Jack and didn't envy her. The Rivet Jack was basically a refitted cargo ship. Unarmed and slow, it took a great deal of nerve to fly to the very edge of enemy space and listen for communications between the enemy forces.
The two larger ships split off, one going ten thousand feet above the ecliptic, the other ten thousand feet below. Izumi clicked her mic again.
"Alert Two, Alert One. Let's start our sweep. House, Alert One."
Megumi's image appeared before her. "Go ahead, Alert One."
"The cards are dealt," Izumi said. "Razor and I are starting our patrol."
"Roger that. Good hunting."
Izumi signed off and turned her attention outside. It was time to see what this solar system had to throw at them.
AAA
Genechiro walked up to Jun and spread out a chart of Nadesico's systems on the table between them. "Here's the situation, Sir," he began curtly. "Power is off every other deck. Minor injuries are being reported, but so far nothing serious."
Jun breathed a sigh of relief.
"The propulsion systems, it looks like, aren't damaged," Genechiro said. "It looks like they were shut down and kept cold. The chief engineer..." He made the title a curse. "Says it looks like they've been offline for years. He's going to do a check then restart them."
Jun nodded. "What about..."
Aurora's face suddenly appeared between them. "Kanchou! I..."
"Can this wait, Aurora?" Jun asked. "We kind of have a situation here."
"Um, Kanchou? It's very very important!"
Jun smiled. "Okay, Aurora, what is it?"
"Inez is missing!"
AAA
The grasshopper sniffed the deck with its electronic snout again, then whimpered pitifully.
Hideki shook his head. "I'm sorry, Kanchou. But if Fluffy says she didn't go out this door, then she didn't."
Jun, Hideki, Aurora and Genechiro were assembled in Inez's lab. The chair, the last place Jun had seen her, stood empty in the center of the room.
"Maybe your grasshopper has something wrong in the head," Genechiro suggested frostily.
Hideki shook his head vehemently. "Fluffy is equipped to detect and identify scent molecules. She did not go through here."
Jun turned to Aurora. "Tell me again."
Aurora took a deep breath. "I was monitoring her vital signs while the jump was happening. I blacked out, and when I woke up, she was gone."
"This isn't good," Jun muttered. "Deck by deck search," he ordered. I want every nook and cranny of this ship checked. It's possible she reappeared somewhere else on the ship and is injured."
Genechiro rushed off to coordinate the search. Jun turned to the chief engineer. "Thank you, Hideki. I'm sorry I took you away from the engine room."
"Sorry Fluffy and I couldn't be more help," the bald man said apologetically.
"It's okay. It's not your fault." He ran his hand through his hair and turned to Aurora. "Aurora, do you know how to use this thing?"
"Me!" the student squeaked. "Well, no, of course not! This is Dr. Franssenge's masterpiece! I wouldn't know where to begin!"
The captain sighed. "Aurora, until we find Inez I need you to act as my scientific advisor, okay?" He waited for the girl to nod. "Now I want you to go to Inez's quarters and start going through her notes about this thing. If we can't find her, you're going to be our one chance of getting home again."
Aurora squeaked again.
He put his hand on her shoulder and spoke gently. "You're the explanation lady now."
AAA
Megumi's face appeared in front of him as he was heading back to the bridge. "Jun chan! Come quick!" It disappeared again.
Jun rushed to the lift and mumbled the whole way up, urging it to go faster. After what seemed to be an eternity, the doors opened again, and Jun leapt onto the bridge.
"Status!" he demanded.
Megumi turned to him, her hand on her earpiece. "The SWACS has something."
Jun was shocked. So soon? So soon after coming to this solar system, they had made contact. He shook himself mentally and got a grip. He put an earpiece in.
"Cat's Eye, this is Nadesico Actual, what've you got?" he said excitedly.
"Three shallow sensor contacts," he heard. "Six hundred miles, bearing zero-nine-zero your position, angels three. One heavy, two light. Should we move closer?"
"Negative," Jun said despite his fierce desire to learn more. The SWACS, like the Rivet Jack, was unarmed and clumsy. "Keep scanning, report back any change."
"Roger."
Jun put the earpiece down and faced his wife. "Get Izumi over there for a look. Tell her to avoid detection, but I want a visual."
Megumi nodded and switched frequencies. "Alert One, House," she said. "Investigate unknown sensor contact vector zero-nine-zero. Bogies flying low and slow, your signal is 'buster.' Repeat, your signal is 'buster.'"
AAAA
Izumi digested the new information and veered right, kicking in the afterburner for a few seconds to build up extra speed.
"Roger, House. Bets are on the table." She switched frequencies. "Razor, stick close and watch your trigger finger."
"Yokai."
AAA
Genechiro found Jun on the bridge again. "Amano said he's close to restarting the engines. He needs another hour."
"What about the other systems?" Jun asked.
"Some will come back on with the engines, but he said the distortion field might need more work."
Jun nodded. "Whatever or whoever he needs to speed that along, give it to him. The only exception is security forces. I want them looking for Inez."
Genechiro nodded and walked to the comm center to relay the orders.
"Jun chan!"
He turned back to Megumi.
"The Aestis are over the contact."
He quickly put his earpiece back in. "Alert One, this is Nadesico Actual. What's your status?"
"Two small ships," he heard Izumi say. "Fighters by the look of them."
"Any idea how advanced?" he asked.
"I'd say primitive if I had to venture a guess. I'm not even sure they have radar or lidar. We're in the sun at their six o'clock, I don't think they're even aware we're here."
"What about the third contact?"
"Coming up on that now. The fighters are flying by it." There was a pause. "It's weird, Kanchou."
Jun nodded to himself. The fact that Izumi wasn't making a sad pun was a reminder of just how much she had changed, and how serious her statement must be.
"It looks like a big piece of crystal, pinkish." Another pause. "It's hard to make out engines or other structures."
"Not like the fighters, though?" he asked.
"Negative," Izumi replied immediately. "There's no way they're related."
"All right. Stay on..."
"HOLY SHIT!"
"Izumi! What is it! Alert One, respond!" Jun called into comm. The rest of the bridge crew looked up fearfully as they heard his tone.
"House, Alert One!" Izumi called back. "The fighters just strafed the crystal ship!"
AAA
"Raven! Raven, what should we do!"
Izumi quickly switched frequencies. "Razor, stay cool," she said said quietly. The fighters banked around again and opened fire, launching missiles at the crystal ship. The rockets struck the ship along its left side, leaving black, pock-marked holes in the smooth crystal.
Izumi switched frequencies again. "House, Alert One," she began gravely. "Request permission to engage."
"Negative, Alert One," Jun's voice came back.
AAA
"Do not fire unless fired upon," Jun continued.
"Jun chan," Megumi whispered.
The captain didn't look at her. "I didn't come twenty light years to start another war with people we've never met," he whispered back.
She bit her lip and looked down at her terminal.
AAA
"Raven?" she heard Razor's voice question. 1st Lt. Ronnie "Razor" Razetti came in after the war, and she knew he was inexperienced. It was her call.
"Stand fast, Razor," she told him.
The crystal ship blew up, sending pieces of crystal through the sky like razor-sharp snowflakes.
"House, Alert One," she said deadpan. "Bogey Three destroyed."
She could almost see Jun's pause on the other end. She didn't envy him. "Survivors?"
"Hold one," she replied. She ran a quick scan and to her surprise, found something. "Roger!" she exclaimed. "One May West." Her scan showed something else. "Jun, they're coming about. They're gonna strafe it in space." She licked her lips. "Request permission to..."
"Negative," Jun cut her off.
She slammed her palm into the IFS interface. "Jun, they are going to strafe a LIFEPOD!"
"Izumi, do not fire unless fired upon."
AAA
"Jun chan, come on," Megumi begged.
"We don't know the first thing about them," Jun told her.
"Kanchou," Ruri broke in. "I would point out that attacking a lifepod is considered an act of piracy, not war."
"We're not here to get involved with the internal politics of aliens," Genechiro said.
AAA
Izumi slapped the interface again. "Fuck this," she hissed. "Razor, you're with me."
"What are we gonna do?"
"We're going to draw them away."
"Raven, the captain said not to engage."
"He said don't fire," she corrected him. She adjusted her harness. "Just keep your weapons safe. So far I haven't seen anything to make me believe they're faster or more maneuverable."
She nudged her Aesti forward into the fray.
AAA
"Goddammit, Izumi," Jun hissed.
"What do you want to do?" Megumi asked quietly.
Jun shook his head. "Have the SWACS coordinate for them. The least we can do is give them a shot."
AAA
A shadow grew over the lead alien fighter until it enveloped the cockpit, forcing the pilot to look up...
Right into the eyes of a giant robot.
Izumi could see the panic through the pilot's visored helmet. The alien rolled left and dove away, and Izumi went right after him. She watched the afterburners on the alien ship light up, but had no problem keeping up with him. Her assessment of their ships was correct, it seemed. They were much more primitive than the Aestivalis.
The chase was on.
AAA
Gilad saw the two security forces members come through the door and gave a quick hand signal to Doc.
The other laundryman nodded and went into the back. The security police strode up to him.
"We're searching for a missing crewman," the higher ranking one, a technical sergeant by his stripes, said.
"Haven't seen anyone," the chief said with a shrug.
"We need to check."
Gilad shrugged. "Knock yourself out."
The guards started checking rooms. When they came to the back storeroom, they stopped.
"What's in these crates?" the tech sergeant asked.
"Industrial strength cleaners," Gilad explained.
The sergeant nodded. "We're gonna have to open them up," he announced.
The older sailor paused. "There's nothing in them but ammonia tri-sulphide," he lied. "Highly toxic in its pure form."
"We still need to see it."
Through the corner of his eye, Gilad could see Doc slowly draw a combat tanto. He took a breath. "Fine," he said. "Doc, go get us some gas masks."
"Gas masks?" the second security guard asked.
"Yeah," the chief said. "Like I said, this stuff is toxic." He turned back to Doc. "And try to get some better masks then the one you gave Luke, okay? He's still in sickbay coughing up pieces of lung."
The second guard looked absolutely panicked now. "Come on, Sarge," he said quietly. "We really need to check there? I mean, if she were in there, she'd be dead, right?"
The sergeant nodded. "Okay." He nodded to Gilad. "Thanks, Chief. We're not going to need those masks."
Gilad saw Doc silently put his knife away.
"Hope you find that crewman," the chief told them.
The security guards left. Gilad let out a breath. He kicked the crate of weapons. "Stow that somewhere out of sight," he ordered.
AAA
Izumi threw her Aesti into a steep climb after the alien ship. So far the gambit was working. The alien ships couldn't break away to attack the lifepod as long as they believed they were a second away from being shot down, and as long as Izumi and Razor stayed behind them, they couldn't get a shot off at them.
As primitive as the fighters were, the pilots were exceptional. Izumi was impressed and rather glad they weren't on more even technological footing.
All in all, it was going very well.
AAA
Megumi handed Genechiro a print-out. "Report from the SWACS," she said quickly.
Genechiro read it. "Two-two-zero." He checked the chart. "Great," he muttered. Walking quickly to Jun at the command station, he handed it to him. "Your pilot is chasing them right toward us," he said accusingly. "And we're still a sitting duck."
Jun sighed. "Dammit." He led Genechiro to Megumi's station and put on his earpiece. "Alert One, Nadesico Actual," he said. "Splash the bogies. I say again, splash the bogies."
"Yes, Sir!" Izumi replied.
AAA
Izumi throttled back to give the alien more distance and switched her weapons to "armed." She followed the alien through another roll and lined up the reticule.
Smooth as silk, she fired. Twenty millimeter depleted uranium slugs tore through the alien ship, ripping through the fighter's armor like tissue paper. The ship broke up, and a small explosion in the cockpit signaled an ejection.
She turned away and went to back up Razor, but quickly found that she didn't need to. The young man's Aestivalis was lined up behind the other ship. A quick flash, and Izumi saw the Starsparrow missile fly toward the target. The explosion sent pieces of alien ship everywhere.
Izumi clicked on the comm. "House, Alert One," she said. "Splash two. Repeat, splash two." She saw the ejected alien appear as a blip on her scope. "One survivor in the water."
"Roger."
AAA
Jun listened to Megumi's report and sighed again. "Not the way I wanted to make first contact, but I guess it'll have to do. Get me Ryoko."
Ryoko's face was in front of him a second later. "Whatcha need, Jun?" she asked.
"We have survivors out there, Ryoko. I need two Starhawks to go get them and some security for them."
"Well, the Starhawks check out, but Chief Aragon is in sickbay. Cracked his head during the trip, so we're a pilot light."
Chase turned to face Jun. "Sir, I did my first four in search and rescue."
"You can fly a Starhawk?" Jun asked for clarification.
"No sweat, Sir."
Jun gave him a nod, and Chase started for the lift. "Mister Warren is heading to the flight deck."
Ryoko nodded. "I'll have a couple of Gekigangars go out with them."
The wing commander's face disappeared, and Jun turned to Genechiro. "Commander, take command of this mission."
The XO stalked off the bridge. For the first time since they've arrived in this solar system, Jun relaxed for a minute.
"I wonder why they were fighting," Megumi mused.
"Oh! Oh! Wait! That's my cue, right!" they heard. All eyes on the bridge turned as Aurora ran to the front of the bridge carrying a bunch of charts and graphs. She took a moment to set up, pausing a moment later to make sure the charts were standing up on their own. The largest chart had the heading, "Potato crop yield in Idaho."
"Okay!" she started again, turning to them and clearing her throat. "Here...is MY theory!" She paused for effect. "They don't like each other!"
"Baka."
"I think you need a little more practice at this," Megumi said sympathetically.
AAA
Chase strapped himself into the left seat of the Starhawk landing craft and buckled in. Hearing the snap of the buckle, he put on his flight helmet, the word "Banjo" emblazoned on the front. As he was starting the engines, someone put themselves in the co-pilot's chair. Looking up, he nodded at him.
"Colonel. You com'n?"
Rikari nodded and put on a helmet of her own. "Probably not a bad idea to get checked out on one of these."
"No IFS in this bird," he said with a smile. The whine of the engines was getting louder. He placed his hand on the flight stick and made a couple of quick checks. "Let's see if Megumi's listening," he muttered, placing a small data crystal in the comm port. Smiling, he turned the volume up as high as it would go. "Good morning, Lieutenant Aoi!"
"EVERYBODY JUST BOUNCE!"
AAA
Megumi cried out and tossed her earpiece against the comm panel. "ASSHOLE!" she screamed at him through the music.
AAA
Rikari arched an eyebrow as Chase bounced his head to the more... unorthodox lyrics... coming from the comm system. The warrant officer didn't seem to mind. He was too busy taxiing onto the launch pad.
"I
open doors takin pours doin tours then i come again,
run'll be
runnin up in the sukas I be runnin dem feindish, dj run'll be
comin
and gettin feindish, I tap your back and my it serves a mean dish
I've got my mike in my hand and my plan to come,
official
dj rapper known as dj run,
all of ya sucka rappers well you
dissed my son,
I went behind the insta freeze I froze ya numb,"
Out the window, Rikari saw four of her Gekigangars lift off the deck, turn to the right as one and disappear in a boson jump.
Chase bounced his head and gave the deck officer a salute and a thumbs up.
"...and
if you find of the dime that I left behind,
I come fast with my
cash, I must rewind..."
Rikari was knocked to the back of her seat as the Starhawk leapt into space. A Gekigangar appeared on either side of their ship and took up covering formations.
"What IS that, anyway?" the colonel asked.
"Colonel," Chase began, "It is my opinion that musical evolution stopped in 2002. What you are listening to is musical genius."
"Right."
Chase continued to bounce.
AAA
Jun turned as Ryoko entered the bridge. He gave her a crooked finger, and she approached. He led her to a secluded part of the bridge and whispered to her.
"Izumi just did a very noble thing," he told her. "What she should have done is stay put. Have you been monitoring this?"
Ryoko nodded. "I'll handle it."
AAA
"That you, Banjo?"
"Put up your cards and your backgammon boards," Chase gave the old speech. "Lucky Banjo's back."
"Whatever," he heard the other Starhawk pilot say. "We're going for the lifepod. Think you can remember how to recover a pilot?"
"I'll wing it," he said.
The other Starhawk split off from his, taking two Gekigangars with it. Chase eased the aging drop ship toward the smoke plume that indicated the downed fighter.
"You see the pilot, Colonel?" he asked Rikari.
The Jovian shook her head. "No, I... Wait. Over there, three o'clock." She pointed out her window.
The helmsman nodded. "That's him, alright."
Chase pulled back a set of yellow handles, opening the ventral doors.
"How is this supposed to work?" Rikari asked.
"Pretty simple," Chase told her, hitting some switches on his panel. "Gravity being the way it is, the pilot is pretty much unable to assist in his own rescue, therefore we just put the ship on top of him and give it a little nudge with our dorsal thrusters."
Chase watched the heads up display and used the instruments to guide the dropship over the ejected pilot. Once he was sure the pilot was near the doors, he tapped the dorsal thruster. The Starhawk moved downward slowly.
"And...there," he said, pushing the handles back. He hit a few more switches. "The bay is pressurized...woah!"
His last word came as Rikari drew her service revolver.
"Really think you're gonna need that, Tex?" he asked, half-joking.
"It shot at our pilots," she told him deadpan.
"HE or SHE," he corrected, "Is probably collapsed on the deck, recovering from space sickness." He hit the auto-pilot and climbed out of his seat. "Come on, he might need medical attention."
Rikari shook her head. Only an Earther would have thought to include "she" into Chase's phrase. She stood to follow him.
The helmsman reached the hatch and hit the button to cycle it open.
An eight-foot werewolf met him there.
"What the..."
The creature howled and reached for him.
AAA
"Raven, slightly left," Izumi heard in her ear. She automatically adjusted, lining up her Aesti with the running lights on the Nadesico's flight deck. "Power...Power..." She throttled up slightly. "You're on the money."
She lurched forward slightly as the ship's magnetic net snagged her and drew her into the ship's hangar deck. Ritualistically, she began to shut down the robot's systems. Just before she cut the main power, Ryoko's face appeared before her.
"Colonel, I want to talk to you," she said simply, then disappeared.
Izumi frowned. She'd had a feeling this was coming. As her robot was moved into its cradle, she popped the canopy open and removed her helmet, tossing it to the technician on the catwalk next to the Aesti's head.
As she climbed out, another tech scurried up to her Aestivalis, a decal of a grey, large-eyed alien's head in his hand. He moved to the area just below her cockpit, next to the several small Gekigangar heads.
"Hey!" she cried to him. The tech looked up. "Don't you dare," she told him. The sheepish tech nodded and hurried away.
She shook her head. The squadron commander knew she was in enough trouble without causing Jun diplomatic trouble with a people they didn't even know.
Razor met her on the way to Ryoko's office.
"Raven?" he began. "Ma'am?"
She sighed. "Razor, go file your after action report," she told him. "This isn't about you."
"But, I mean," he stuttered. "Did we do right?"
Izumi stopped outside Ryoko's office. "Yeah," she told him. "We did right." With that, she stepped inside.
Razor watched through the office window as Izumi saluted Ryoko, and the teal-haired woman began to lay into her. The office was sound-proofed, but the young man knew it was 90 plus decibels in there.
"Don't worry, kid," one of the older pilots told him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "She probably had that one coming."
"Yeah, but..." Razor replied, stuttering again. "You should've seen it."
"Kid, take some free advice," the older pilot went on. "Don't feel sorry for Colonel Maki. She deserves whatever she gets."
"Whaddya mean by that?" the young pilot asked indignantly.
"Come on, kid," the other pilot continued. "They don't call her the Coward of the Belt for nothing."
AAA
Chase felt someone grab the back of his collar and yank. The next thing he knew, he was on his butt staring up at a nightmare. The werewolf growled down at him. Its fur was grey and scraggly, unwashed. It wore a grey flight suit with hoses protruding from different parts of the body.
The helmsman couldn't move. The creature reached for him when Chase heard Rikari's voice over him.
"BACK!"
The werewolf looked up and found Rikari's service revolver pointed at him. It growled. The Jovian pulled the hammer back, causing a sharp click to reverberate throughout the cabin.
The creature paused.
"Yes, you know that sound, don't you?" Rikari whispered. She waved the gun at the cabin from which the creature stepped. "Back in the cargo area," she said with another wave.
The wolf growled and reluctantly stepped back.
"Good boy," Rikari said, slapping the close switch. The door sealed shut. "How do you lock this thing?" she asked Chase.
"Yellow button," Chase breathlessly told her. "Hey," he added. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," she told him, heading back to the cockpit. "Tex."
AAA
Hideki's face appeared before him, and Jun looked up from the grid map he was studying.
"Boss, the Distortion Field is back online, and the engines are up and running."
"Good work, Hideki," Jun said with the first real smile he had shown in hours. "What about long range communications? Any good news there?"
The bald engineer could only shake his head. "The long range antennae is fried. If Inez were here, we might be able to jerry-rig something, but there's stuff in there I wouldn't know where to begin with."
Jun sighed, but kept his smile up. "Well, maybe Aurora will have more luck. Right now, get the rest of the primary systems up and running."
"You got it, Boss."
"Jun?"
He turned and found Megumi with her hand on her earpiece. "The Starhawks are landing," she said. "They have... passengers."
Jun stared at her for a moment as the full weight of her statement kicked in. Aliens... aboard his ship... The sheer history of it was kicking at the doors of his mind.
It must have had the same effect on the others, because the bridge was silent now. "Tell them," Jun said quietly, "I'm on my way." He stood up and walked deliberately to the lift, afraid that if he let his guard down, he'd launch himself into a gleeful run in front of the bridge crew.
As the bridge doors shut, it took him a moment to realize that Megumi had followed him. For a moment, he thought she had come for the same reason he had, and it took him a second to recognize her "worried face."
"Meg chan?" he began.
"Jun," she began quietly, "Call the fighters back."
He blinked in confusion. "What?"
"Don't you see, Jun?" she asked quietly. "All you could talk about before the jump was how this was a peaceful mission, and ever since we got here, you've treated it like a military campaign!" She stepped forward and put her hands on his chest. "We've only been here a couple of hours, and we've already killed one alien, captured another..."
"And saved another's life," he finished for her, irritation in his voice. "Meg chan, I didn't want it like this!"
"I know," she said, trying to head off an argument. "But this isn't our home, and we have no idea what things are like here." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "How do we know we did the right thing?"
"I guess we don't," he told her solemnly. "But you were on Izumi's side up there, remember?" he asked her. "You wanted me to stop them from strafing that lifepod too, remember? Well we all have to live with that now. And unfortunately, it could mean we pissed off the wrong race of aliens. But we're not going to know until we meet them."
At that moment, the lift door opened, and Jun stepped out, leaving Megumi there to wonder again if she had done the right thing by encouraging her husband to come out here.
AAA
The two Starhawks had landed side by side on the flight deck. Jun approached as Chase and Makoto were hopping out of the side hatch and onto the deck. As Chase removed his helmet, he gave the captain a short nod.
"Well, we got him here, but I ain't goi'n back in there without some security forces guys. Motherfucker's big!" He quickly cleared his throat. "Pardon my French, sir."
Jun ignored it. "Um... So what is it?"
"Big," Chase answered before starting for the pilot's ready room. Makoto stayed behind.
"It's an eight foot creature, Sir," she told him. "Of the canine variety."
"Are you telling me we shot down an eight foot golden retriever?" Jun asked incredulously.
"It's fully possible that these..." Before she could finish, Amara's voice screeched from across the room.
"WAIT!" The two officers turned in surprise and watched the young woman sprint across the width of the flight deck carrying two large cardboard signs.
She reached the two of them and bent over at the waist, breathing heavily. A raised finger warned them to wait a few moments before saying anything. Finally, the grad student picked up one of the cardboard charts and began.
"It's fully possible that these aliens evolved from a woodland planet where life forms didn't progress past that of scavengers like wolves or hyenas," she said breathlessly. The chart she held up as evidence showed a picture of two worlds, one was earth and was marked by a picture of a human. The other was green and had a picture of Lassie over the top of it.
"I see," Jun said nonjudgementally. "What about the other alien?"
He said this as Genechiro walked up to them. "Sir," he greeted Jun with a weary salute. "The recovery operation was successful."
"What have you got, Commander?" Jun asked, stepping toward the other Starhawk.
"It's... a little hard to explain, Sir," he replied. "It's..."
"A child," Makoto finished in a whisper, her gaze locked on the small alien standing at the top of the Starhawk's ramp.
The child, a girl Jun thought, stood only three feet high. Her skin was a pale pink and glittered like wet sand at the beach. A thick tuft of dark pink hair covered her head, framed by two pointed, elongated ears. Her eyes were a deep blue and had the same glitter effect as her skin, but the beauty the effect caused couldn't hide the fear in her eyes.
"She's said a few things," Genechiro continued as if the girl weren't even there. "But of course, we have no idea what's she saying."
Jun smiled, his gaze never leaving the girl. "In the movies, all the aliens spoke English," he noted.
"That's because the movies were made in America," Chase pointed out.
"Or Canada!" Amara added defiantly.
"Has anyone tried?" Jun asked.
"What? Speaking English?" Amara asked. "If you think it'll help..."
"No, I mean just communicated." When he didn't receive an answer, he walked up the girl, who stepped back a pace.
Of all the momentous words Jun imagined himself saying upon the first contact with another species, he never thought he'd start with, "Hi there. My name is Jun."
The girl replied in her own language, a musical sound that made Jun think of harps and flutes.
Well, it was a start.
With a sigh, he turned to his new answer lady. "Amara?"
"Well...," she began with her finger on her lip. "We could try the translator matrix. But in order for it to work, she has to talk a lot until the computer has enough information to make a stab at translation."
Jun nodded. "Sounds good. Why don't you take her down to sickbay. You can get the computer going and the doctors can check her out."
Amara nodded and stepped forward, offering the girl her hand. After a moment's hesitation, the girl took it and let Amara lead her away.
Noting how easy that was, Amara turned back to them. "Not all communication is verbal," she said with a wink.
She turned again and led the child toward the door. As they passed the other Starhawk, a loud bang made them both jump. Amara and the girl turned as another bang shook the hangar.
From inside the Starhawk's hull, the werewolf was pounding the walls in fury.
To be continued...