Chapter twenty-one: Saving the Queen
Prompt: #62 Irregular Orbit
Universe: Sci-fi AU
Rating: T
A/N: Part 3 of my 'reincarnation' series, most likely the last one. Again, it is split up. Silicis is latin for 'hard rock' or 'stone'. This was heavily inspired by Orson Scott Card's novel, Ender's Game. It's a great read and I recommend it for sci-fi fans! Ironically enough, Mr. Card is actually a raging homophobe.
x
Captain Berlitz stood ramrod straight, observing the stars below with her arms crossed. Her gaze was vacant and her expression was passive. She wore a metal space suit, made for battles and intergalactic missions. Her right shoulder was denoted with five stars forming a circle, which showed her status as captain of the Twinleaf Cruiser. The Twinleaf Cruiser, or TC, was the main hitter for many missions. But they no longer did missions for humans...
There was a war raging now, not that it surprised Captain Berlitz. Many decades ago, a satellite from Earth had made contact with foreign beings, several light years away from Earth, but within the same galaxy. They were intelligent, resourceful beings. They looked like humans, had two different genders and reproductive organs, but had bulkier bones, longer lifespans and excellent immunity systems. What was strange about them was the fact that they seemed to get along better than humans, they could survive in outer space for a few hours without oxygen and their skin was made of pure cold white stone. They weren't as intelligent as humans and were not the best fighters, but their cooperation was key to their battle strategy, unlike humans.
The collective governments of Earth had, unsurprisingly, decided to exploit these new beings and had sent out several galactic teams from different regions to communicate and establish trade relations. The humans were amazed once they landed on the foreign planet; it was an exact replica of Earth, but with different animal species that seemed to be hybrids of the ones back home. One key difference between the two planets was the abundance of resources available, unlike Earth, which was quickly running out of diamond, oil, rubber and gold.
The explorers aboard the Rainbow Pallet had tried to reason with the natives and set up a justified trade system, albeit with the homosapiens profiting far more than them. However, the beings, now known as homosilicis, or stonemen, were very aggressive towards the humans. They spoke in images drawn on stone slates, and did not take kindly to other beings taking away the wealth of their home. Thus started the fight for resources, once more, on the home planet of the stonemen: Planet DORG.
Captain Berlitz was a descendant from a long line of captains, sailors, pilots and starship leaders. Her father and his fathers and mothers before him, dating way back to when her family had migrated to the Hoenn region from Sinnoh after the coup, were always related to travel. One grandfather was a hardy sailor, who sailed all the seas of Earth but had perished in a storm in Kanto waters. Another co-piloted the first airplane, then went on to make history as the man who set the record for fastest world travel. The first woman in their family to make a debut in travel was Captain Berlitz' great-great-grandmother, who had aided in the development of intergalactic starships and cruisers. Her great-great-grandfather had been allowed to test drive it, her at his side, and they had been the first people, and couple, to travel around their galaxy and back.
Today, in the year 2256, Captain Dawn Berlitz was continuing to uphold her family's name and reputation by climbing ranks in the space military and reaching Captain and official pilot of the TC. Her subordinates adored her and she treasured them dearly. Her brother, Lucas, was her co-captain, aiding her in planning new battle strategies and navigational points. He kept her head in the game. Her best friend Barry was her corresponder back on Earth and he had saved their lives many times already by locating checkpoints to stock up on supplies and dangerous projectiles to avoid.
"Hey."
However, the most important person on the ship was the one who was currently kneading her shoulders. With a low moan, Captain Berlitz turned around and greeted the taller woman with a kiss, meeting cold, hard lips. She stood on the tip of her toes to wrap her arms around her strong shoulders, pushing harder and moving her mouth.
The woman pulled back with a laugh and set the captain back on the floor. "What, you missed me that much?"
Captain Berlitz glared, and shoved the woman's shoulder. "Shut up, Cynthia. You had stupid conferences all week long, of course I did," she replied venomously. The captain may have been kind to her subordinates, but she had a short fuse and often lashed out when angry. Her only means of cooling down was away for a week, so she had taken up the habit of her predecessor: staring out the deck of the starship.
Cynthia chuckled and pushed back a lock of blue hair that had gotten loose from the Captain's ponytail. Ignoring the glare she was getting, she hugged the Captain tightly, wincing at the scrapping noise she heard when her arms wound around the titanium armour.
"I can take off my armour, if you want," the Captain murmured, running her hands through long, blond hair.
"No, it's fine," Cynthia paused, "actually, let's do that; in your bedroom."
The Captain pulled back, smirking. "Fine, then, let's have it your way."
Later, with Cynthia asleep and the Captain wide awake and curled up in the blonde's embrace, did she start thinking. She thought about the stupid wars and the vain sacrifices her people were making. She thought about all the pointless death and destruction and how the one person who could solve it all was in her bed, sound asleep.
This person was the one who kept her head up whenever Lucas brought back a negative status report from his patrol. She was the one who whispered words of encouragement whenever the Captain had to personally pilot the ship through an asteroid field. She was the one who wiped her slate clean of worries with a touch, a kiss, a murmur. She was the one who kept her orbited around the mission of bringing peace back to the world. She kept her orbit regular, her eyes on the prize, her goal centered and clear. She prevented the Captain from getting knocked out of balance and ruining her perfect, elliptical orbit around the main objective.
The Captain sighed, making the taller occupant shift slightly in her sleep. Everyone knew of their relationship, and though some of her friends avoided her a while, it was the age of progression... no one was blatantly homophobic or discriminated others for simply loving. They came back after some soul searching and remained loyal to their Captain, renewing their pledge of allegiance.
After all, the Captain's girlfriend wasn't just anyone...
...she was the Queen of the stonemen.
x
"Dawn, honey, wake up. It's time for breakfast," a voice spoke in a hushed tone.
"Mmm.. gimme a few more minutes," the younger woman replied, groaning.
The older woman sighed and smiled fondly, brushing blue strands away from her lover's face. She was sitting on the edge of a bed with a navy theme, watching her beloved return slowly from the Land of Dreams. She observed the soft skin on the woman's shoulder and neck and bent down to trail feathery sensual kisses, chuckling when the occupant shot up.
"C-cold," the Captain stuttered, shivering slightly.
"C'mon, they're serving breakfast already," Cynthia tugged on the Captain's arm as she spoke, pulling her out of the bed.
"Alright, alright.. I'm coming," she muttered, standing on her own feet and shivering from the biting cold on her naked body.
"A bit too soon for that, but don't worry, I'll take care of it later," Cynthia coyly remarked, winking.
The Captain flushed, face red and stomped to the shower, turning the knob to 'Cold' instead of 'Hot'.
Laughing, the blonde joined her, marveling at how easy it was to rile the young Captain.
x
Up on the front deck, Captain Berlitz was munching on a sandwich and reviewing reports sent to her from Barry, warning her of a fleet of humans coming their way. Swallowing, she brought out a folded map of the galaxy and jotted down notes, marking the coordinates Barry included. Lucas sat opposite her, going over an inventory check and assigning the missions for the day. This was how a normal day was for the siblings. They would meet up, sit at their table on the front deck with the stars below and above them, and make plans.
Lucas was often in charge of assigning the proper missions for the crew, since everyone had to pull their weight the minute they became a rebel ship. For associating with the Queen of the stonemen without consent of Headquarters, and for refusing to hand her over, the Twinleaf Cruiser was deemed a threat to humanity and a target.
He sent out patrols every day, who would venture to checkpoints set up by humans around the galaxy and pick up supplies. They were always in disguise and, occasionally, recruited other members to their ship and stationed around the galaxy. Those who were sympathetic to their cause joined them, those who weren't alerted home base and the TC had to hightail it out of there instantly.
Today wouldn't be the day to recruit, Lucas decided, since they had enough members already here and placed around the galaxy. Not to mention there were some stowaway stonemen who needed to be relocated immediately.
Looking up, he noticed his sister nervously chewing on her bottom lip, a worried look in her eyes. He put down his papers and placed a hand over hers on the map, making her look at him.
"Is something wrong, Dawn?" he asked gently.
"No.. well, yeah, some humans coming straight to meet us. We need to use it to avoid them again," she answered, trembling under Lucas' palm.
Lucas paled and exhaled, his breath shuddering. "No.. we can't use it again. We nearly destroyed the Cruiser last time," he said, voice firm.
The Captain stood up, slamming her hands on the table. "We have to use it! We can't go around the humans and we can't turn back; they've got a sniffer!" she argued.
Lucas stood as well, pushing his chair back. "How many humans are after us? How many ships?" he questioned loudly, close to shouting.
She plopped down, face miserable and head in her hands. "Ten thousand humans, five ships. They've got two hundred fighter jets."
Lucas cursed and started to pace, his armour clinking with his movements. "All of this for a person? Dawn, one life is not worth the entire crew. You need to hand her over or we're dead."
"NO!" she yelled, standing up, "I'm the captain, I have final say. We are using it whether you like it or not!"
"And she's not just a person," the Captain added, gathering her things under her arm. He stopped pacing and turned to her. "She's the Queen of the stonemen, our only hope of ending this war, and the love of my life. I'm sorry, Lucas, but I'm not handing her over while I'm alive."
She left, leaving her brother to ponder over her words. She was right; if they gave up the Queen, then their only hope of ending this war was gone. Besides, who could guarantee they would be spared should they surrender her? They were wanted just as much as the Queen was, if not more.
With a sigh, Lucas descended below to prepare the engines.
Elsewhere, the Captain was fuming, stomping around the star ship to find a place to concentrate. Her brother infuriated her at times, but this was just plain dumb. What kind of a question was that? Dawn would never hand over Cynthia to those traitors. How dare he even suggest such a thing?!
She opened her bedroom door and closed it when she entered, dropping her things on her desk. Her room was built to mask the sounds on the inside from the outside, so no one could hear her when she thought out loud or made embarrassing noises with a certain someone.
The Captain fought the blush from her cheeks and sat down, spreading out her maps and reports. She made some quick calculations and estimations over the map, doing it over and over again when the results were unsatisfactory. By the tenth time she reconstructed her formulas and equations, a knock had sounded on her door. She dropped her pencil and stood up, opening her door to greet Professor Rowan.
"Hmm... I heard what you are planning to do. Are you certain it's wise?" he said, entering the room and approaching her work.
"Professor, don't question me. I know you invented the thing, and you know how dangerous it is, but if we don't use it, everything is screwed," she answered tiredly, slumping against the doorway.
Rowan picked up the paper with her calculations and frowned. "What have you been doing for the last two hours?" he asked, a curious layer over his tone.
She walked next to him and plucked the paper from his hands, looking it over. "Trying to calculate ways to go around or over the fleet. I really don't want to use it, and trust me, I would've found a way to pilot the TC around, but there's nothing. I've tried ten times and nothing works. We need to teleport or we're caught in a web."
Rowan sighed but nodded. "You do what's right, and keep us alive, and I'll focus on inventing new toys for your mechanics to play with," he stated, exiting the bedroom. The Captain, in a fit of rage, took all of her work and shoved it in a compartment designed for incineration. She kicked her door closed and screamed her anger, pounding her fist against the wall beside the door. She cried silently, allowing the tears to stream down her face. She continued to cry, even after Cynthia entered her room worriedly and took her in her cold, strong arms.
Dawn sobbed into Cynthia's neck, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. They collapsed on the ground, holding onto each other, and Cynthia's thoughts drifted dangerously.
"Are you crying because of me?" Cynthia asked lowly.
Dawn pulled back and wiped her tears, pouting. "N-no..." she muttered, sniffing.
"You're a bad liar. It's because of me we have to teleport again, isn't it?"
"No! It's those damn humans!"
"You're a human, too!"
"I'm ashamed to be associated with those monkeys! And that's not the point!"
"No, you're right. The point is they're after me and you're all suffering because of it."
"Cynthia..."
"Enough is enough. I need to end this."
"Cynthia, wait!"
But it was too late; Cynthia had already exited, leaving the broken Captain on the floor
x
Hours later, Dawn had pulled herself together enough to stand up, albeit a bit shaky and still sniffing. She shuddered and exited her bedroom, locking it behind her. She ran, her armour clinking, and stopped a passing subordinate.
"Lyra."
"Captain," Lyra greeted, nodding her head.
"Have you seen Cynthia?"
Lyra shook her head, giving the Captain a worried look. "No... did something happen? Did you two fight?"
"No, but... have you been briefed by Lucas yet?"
"Uh huh... wait, don't tell me she's feeling guilty again?"
Dawn nodded and sighed, rubbing her eyes. "She's had enough. Lyra, I'm scared... I don't know what to do and I don't want to lose her."
Lyra smiled and her eyes softened. She wrapped her arms around the Captain and rocked her back and forth. "There, there. You'll find her, I don't think she's quite ready to leave yet, but if you're worried she left the ship we'll send out patrols."
Dawn pulled back and gave a shaky smile. "Thanks, but no, I have to find her. Thank you, May, I don't know what I'd do without you." Dawn raised a hand and ran down the hall.
Lyra just scratched the back of her neck and closed her eyes, laughing lightly. "Oh goodness, the Captain's such a softie around her. Haha.."
Dawn was rushing, running through the halls, adrenaline pumping in her veins. She had to find her, or else her heart would explode. She panted and bumped into another person, knocking her back.
"Ow! Watch where you're.. oh, Lucas," Dawn spat, narrowing her eyes.
Lucas gave a sheepish smile and stood up, extending his hand to Dawn. She ignored it and stood on her own, huffing and crossing her arms. He may have been physically taller than her, but Lucas felt pretty small against her anger.
"Hey, Dawn. Umm... I thought about what you said and I realize you're right and—"
"Lucas, there's no time! Cynthia's missing!" Dawn interrupted, moving around Lucas and walking briskly. Lucas caught her hand and pulled her back, eyes wide.
"What?"
Dawn struggled against his grip but he glared and held tighter. "Where is she?" he demanded.
"I don't know! I'm trying to find her! She's blaming herself for the attack, again, and left before I could say anything," Dawn explained tearfully.
Lucas started forward, pulling Dawn with him. "Then she's probably already left the ship. I'll go look for her—"
"No! I'm going," Dawn exclaimed angrily, frowning.
"You're the Captain, you can't just leave!" Lucas argued.
"I don't give a damn. I'm going, you're staying. You can lead for me. If I don't come back in five earth hours, teleport without me," Dawn declared, shoving Lucas against the wall and running to the hangar, where they kept all the patrolling and fighter jets.
Lucas watched his younger and only sister leave, speechless, and slumped down, head in his hands.
"God help us all," he whispered, closing his eyes.
Dawn had strapped her seat belt and unlocked her oxygen tank when the engineers opened up the hangar and gave her the 'OK' to go. She smiled and waved, then ignited the engine and sped forward, narrowing her eyes at the speed. She wasn't aware of the mechanics behind the patrol jets, but she knew they were made of an alloy resistant to rust and radiation, making them excellent in space. They were light and travelled fast, but they were not durable and would easily crumble if under fire for too long or hit by a projectile. The feature that made Dawn choose a patrol jet over a fighter jet was the light refractor, which made the jet invisible for long periods of time, though it consumed more fuel.
She zoomed past asteroids and dwarf planets, avoiding their gravitational pull, and flicked her radar, inputting code: STONE_MAN_RETRIEVAL. The radar would then detect the frigid energy stonemen exuded, making it easier to locate Cynthia. Dawn took a deep breath and pressed the refracting switch button. Dawn felt more comfortable knowing that she was invisible to others, and relaxed slightly, setting the jet on autopilot. Her helmet was secured tightly on her head, resembling that of a motorcyclist but with buttons on the outside to control a display system on her screen.
She heard a loud beeping and started, manually taking control of the pilot and following the radar's instructions. She noticed she was approaching an ice dwarf planet and shuddered, adjusting her suit to withstand extreme cold. She landed her ship right on top of the planet, noticing how it was so small she could run around it in three hours. She locked her oxygen tank and jumped out.
Standing, she allowed the metal armour to make its proper calculations and adjust her weight so she could walk normally. Walking briskly, she approached a pale white woman with long blond hair and hugged her tightly around the middle.
"You scared the hell out of me, you jerk," Dawn muttered, sniffing and choking back tears.
Cynthia sighed and turned around to wrap her arms around the girl, wishing she could touch her face. "I'm sorry.. I thought about it a lot, but I'm turning myself in. I can't let this go on for any longer. I'll tell my people to stop fighting and go someplace else."
Dawn pushed Cynthia away and glared at her. "No! Why does everyone insist on taking the easy way out? First Lucas, now you... Cynthia, I'm not giving you up. I love you, I love you so much it hurts when I think of what those monsters would do to you. You've heard of their experiments already, and I will NOT take that chance."
Cynthia simply stared at the passionate Captain, and sighed shaking her head. "Part of being Queen is making sacrifices. If this will help my people to freedom, then so be it."
"You're so fucking selfish!" Dawn screamed, "don't you realize? You're our key to ending this war! If you give in to their demands, your people will get screwed in the ass. We have to fight until our dying breath and demand peace on our terms. You are the leader, the bridge between us and them. Why do you think Professor Rowan taught you English after we met you? It wasn't so you could flirt with me, it was so we could communicate!"
Dawn stepped forward and clasped Cynthia's hands in her gloves, tears streaming. "I love you, I love you, I love you! Please, don't do this to me. Lucas is going to teleport us in a few hours, and hopefully we'll make it in one piece on the other side of the galaxy. Come with me, we'll free your people soon. We're planning a big invasion in a few months and I can't do it without you."
Cynthia sniffed and nodded, lowering her head. She gasped and choked on her tears, allowing Dawn to tug her back to her jet. Dawn's suit made the necessary adjustments and she unlocked her oxygen tank once more, closing the door and taking off her helmet. She sat Cynthia on her lap sideways and allowed the woman to rest her face in the crook of her neck, exhaling crisp, cool air. Dawn shuddered and ignited the engine, waiting and allowing the system to warm up.
Dawn pressed a button. "Computer, take us back to Twinleaf Cruiser undetected. I want the shortest route possible."
"Of course, Captain. Navigational system booted, awaiting response from base... Base prepared for landing. Computing shortest route... complete. Refracting system... on. Enjoy the ride, Captain."
"Aye, aye," she responded, and let go of the button.
Cynthia had been busy listening to the sound of Dawn's heart beating, her breathing and the way her throat vibrated as she spoke. She lightly traced down the Captain's neck and smirked when she felt her shiver. She planted light kisses along her collarbone and chuckled at the moan.
"Don't you think you're being a bit too forward?" Dawn asked, giggling.
Cynthia straightened and smiled. "No, I think this is just right."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just wait 'til we get back, Lucas is gonna tear your head off."
Cynthia grinned. "I'm counting on it."