CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

A message across the vastness…

Location: 5414 Erde-Tyrene Research Installation

Date: September 14, 2004 (estimated)

Michael came rushing into the lab as he heard his name being called over the installation's communication system.

"What's up Virgil? You called?

Virgil's cheerful voice spoke up, "Yes Michael … I have good news today."

"That's great! What is it?" Michael asked eagerly.

"I have completed final repairs on your combat skin … or battle armor as you refer to it. It should be ready for a full power up test and then you should be able to put it back on and perform some field testing of all systems."

Michael could swear that he heard pride and excitement in Virgil's voice as he spoke. Either way for Michael it was a good way to start off the day—to finally get his battle armor back in working condition.

"You didn't change the paint job on it did you?" Michael said jokingly.

"I did not make any changes to the color of the armor … Did you wish to have the armor color changed Michael?" the AI responded somewhat confused as he didn't get the joke.

"No Virgil … I like the green color." Michael said smiling, shaking his head.

"Your armor should be ready for you to wear within the hour."

"Thanks Virgil. It's much appreciated."

Michael found himself restless and anxious as he waited for the hour to pass by as Virgil completed his tests. His eagerness was apparent when he finally received word from Virgil.

"Your armor has successfully completed all power up tests. I certify that the armor is ready to wear and will function to its full capabilities … however limiting they are." Virgil replied with the excitement and pride still in his voice.

"Be nice Virgil … That armor has saved my life on more than one occasion." Michael said jokingly

Michael quickly made his way to the lab where his battle armor had been since arriving at the installation. He'd only been in this particular lab once to look at his battle armor since arriving here. When he saw how damaged his armor was, he hadn't been holding out hopes that it could be successfully repaired. But here he was now looking at his armor standing in a holding rack. It looked like it had just come straight off the factory production line.

"If you like, you may now begin field tests of the battle armor to check for any abnormalities or deficiencies." Virgil said with the pride still evident in his voice from the job he had performed.

Michael quickly stripped and started putting the armor on by slipping on the Titanium Nanocomposite Bodysuit first. After getting the rest of the armor components on, he could feel his neural interface activate and connect with the suit.

"Whoaaaa … What a rush!" Michael said. Putting on his battle armor had never felt like this before and it caught him off guard.

Immediately Michael knew that something was different with his armor, "What did you do Virgil?" he asked with some hesitation as he wasn't sure that he really wanted to know the answer.

"Michael, I was quite worried about the limitations of this combat skin … armor design. I took it upon myself to make some 'minor' modifications to your armor to get as much efficiency out of this design. I am sorry I could not do more.

"Do more? This feels great! I actually feel stronger … I have got to go outside and try this out." Michael said excitedly as he felt the power coursing through his body.

He grabbed his helmet and raced down the ramp and outside the installation like an excited boy going out to play.

As he headed out the installation's main door, he heard a familiar voice stopping him in his tracks.

"Hello Michael…."

oOoOo

Michael found himself hesitating even inside his battle armor with this new feeling of power flowing with him as he found himself facing Tala.

"Hi Tala. " he replied with some awkwardness.

Michael had been dealing with conflicted emotions and feelings ever since Tala and he had spent the night together … and she declaring her love for him. He had tried to brush it off and continue on as if nothing had happened, at least until after the second time they slept together. After that second encounter, which had been more intense, passionate and longer had scared Michael. It was becoming hard to spend time around her without having thoughts and feelings. Finding himself thinking back to her body on top pressed against his—her skin glistening with sweat and hot to the touch.

He wasn't directly avoiding her, but being around her constantly was making it so tempting to repeat it again—and again—and the guilt of betraying Faith was weighing on him. He tried to rationalize his actions that with him being away for so long that Faith might "probably" forgive one indiscretion—maybe two at a stretch. But if it happened anymore times, then it would probably be safer for him to do an orbital drop naked on to a Covenant home world than face an angry Slayer.

"I see that you have your ... What did you call it? Battle armor back. The temple Guardian has fixed it?" Tala said looking up at Michael expectantly.

Michael removed his helmet. She deserved to see his face.

"Yeah … Finally … I had felt out of place without it." he replied feeling awkward and out of place not knowing how to respond or deal with this situation.

"So this means you will be leaving soon?" she asked with some hesitation.

"I don't know Virgil … uhh … I mean the Guardian hasn't had much luck finding my home yet."

They both stood there in awkward silence, trying to find the words and the courage to speak them.

Tala spoke first breaking the awkward silence, "Did I do something to offend you or make you mad?" she asked with sadness in her eyes.

Michael was having difficulty dealing with this type of situation. He'd only had one intimate relationship in his life and that was with Faith. It was a different feeling with Faith—it felt natural, like they had been meant to be together and there was an intensity and closeness to their relationship that he couldn't describe. With Tala there was a closeness and friendship there. She loved him and to be honest the sex was getting better, but that wasn't enough to change how he felt and his determination to get back to Faith.

Michael approached the situation with Tala as he did with any standard military operation. March straight into the guns and deal with it.

"Tala … You've done nothing wrong … In a different place or different time I would be happy to be with you, but I told you that I loved Faith." he said looking into her eyes and seeing the sadness there.

He saw tears forming and her voice caught as she spoke, "Do you love me? Do you even care for me?"

Michael paused as he wanted to give it serious thought before he replied.

"I do care about you … I think a part of me loves you, but it's just that my feelings and heart belong to Faith. She is where I need to be and who I need to be with … I never lied to you about that." he said hearing his voice catch with emotion catching him by surprise.

Tala had tears running down her face, but she didn't look away as she met his eyes, "Michael … I will always be grateful to you for saving my life and my brother's life. I will always treasure this time and the times we shared each other, but I don't know if I can see you anymore … It breaks my heart to look at you."

Tala turned to leave. Michael reached out and grabbed her hand. With his battle armor on she was as light as a feather to hold on to.

He moved closer to her his face clouded with emotion, "I would hate to lose a good friend such as you … I … I know I hurt you and it will take time to get over it, but I still want to be your friend." he said honestly.

"I … I don't know. I will need to think about it." she replied hesitantly and sounding unsure.

"That's all I can ask ... Thank you." Michael said as he leaned down and kissed her deeply. This time he was thinking of Tala when they kissed.

oOoOo

Michael watched as Tala walked away back to her village. He stood there confused, conflicted and feeling guilty watching her hold herself as she moved out of sight. He knew that she was sobbing and he was feeling pretty shitty about how the whole situation had gone down.

He knew that he could love Tala and probably stay here and be happy, but he knew that he had to find Faith even if he had no idea how long it would take—if ever. It wouldn't be fair to Tala to leave her here waiting on a slim hope that they might be together. She was no second place prize, she deserved happiness from someone that was going to be there for her.

Michael filed the moment away as another learning experience on his road of emotional and relationship development. He hoped that he wouldn't encounter anymore landmines on that road, but he doubted he would be so lucky.

He put his helmet back on. It was time to put this suit through some paces. He started doing some running and jumping around the installation when a com light came up on his helmet display.

"What the hell?' he said puzzled.

Michael accessed the message. He could hardly believe what he was reading.

"You brilliant sons of bitches!" he yelled out.

He found himself looking at a message that was coming in on a Spartan-only com channel and it was addressed to him. It had an IFF transponder signal imbedded in it and Michael had his com system lock on to the signal and had the NAV system plot which direction it was coming from.

Michael saw the NAV point on his display, the signal was coming from the installation. He was puzzled and confused over what he was reading. He was trying to figure out what was going on when the signal suddenly died. Now he was puzzled, confused and frustrated.

He opened a com channel and called Virgil, "What are you doing right now?"

"I am currently opening mini-portals to scan other dimensions for signals." Virgil replied.

Michael wasn't sure what was happening, but he had a feeling and went with it.

"Virgil, this is very important … Did you just close a portal?" Michael asked trying not to get his hopes up.

"Yes, I've just closed the portal. I was just about to open and scan another dimension. Is there something wrong?" Virgil asked with some concern in his voice.

Michael tried to keep his excitement in check as he asked Virgil another question, "Did you pick up any electronic signals or traffic from that last dimension you scanned?"

"No … I picked up no electronic traffic of any audio or video sources using the parameters you provided." Virgil replied still puzzled at the line of questioning.

Michael was hit by a realization of what had happened, Damn … It's my fault.

He realized that he had been so focused on finding his way home that he never gave it any thought that Faith, Adriana and the rest would come looking for him. He'd been too rigid in his search parameters, so Virgil wouldn't have been looking for any UNSC or Spartan signals, but his battle armor picked up the IFF signal.

"Virgil … Don't move and don't lose that last universe's co-ordinates … I'm coming up to you!"

Michael ran quickly to the installation to get back inside and up to Virgil.

Virgil had concern in his voice as he spoke, "What is wrong Michael?"

"Nothing's wrong Virgil … I think you just found my way home!"