Chapter 35

Derk's POV

After waiting what seemed like a century, we finally landed on Rasurzan. I walked off the aircraft and onto the concrete runway. I breathed in the old fumes of home. Letting it out I smiled.

"It's good to be back," I said, looking around at the camp.

"Well, Plank is sitting up in his tower of glory, so why don't we go up to speak with him?" Fou said, motioning Shira forward. A large hover vehicle approached, stopping in front of us. "Well let's all pile in. Plank seemed like he was in a hurry."

"In a hurry huh?" I asked, sarcastically. "So he's making us hike clear up to his throne?"

"Derk, you of all people must understand," Fou said, opening up the cars door. "Mr. Plank is always got his arms full."

I laughed to myself and stepped in. Glancing back, Fou gave Shira a hand into the vehicle. She sat awkwardly next to me, holding her right arm with her hand, shyly. Fou took a seat in the front and told the driver to take us to Plank. We sat in silence for several minutes. Not being able to stand the awkwardness I turned to the girl and broke the silence.

"So… how is it staying in the luxurious Orange Terran Citadel?" I asked, resting my hand behind my head.

"Eh, it's not as good as you'd think," she said, avoiding eye contact.

"Hmm, you have a boyfriend?" I asked, scratching my chin.

"No," Shira answered, turning to the window.

"Is this how our entire dialogue exchange is going go, all the way to Namco?" I asked, trying to get some sort of emotion out of her. She remained silent. Are right let's start at the basics.

"What do you want to do for a career?"

"Eh," she replied, unenthusiastically. I mentally face palmed. Well, this trip is gunna to suck.

"Come on, give me something women," I said, losing patience. If you weren't Planks daughter I'd could just psionicly search myself, but nooooo Plank only allows us to read the enemies mind. "What do you like to do, what's your favorite color, what's your—uh… middle name?"

"I-I'm not good at talking," she replied, looking at the floor. I dropped my shoulders and gave her a "you serious" look.

"You're not good… at talking," I said, rubbing my temples. "Okay, okay fine. You sit in your corner alone forever, and I'll go spark a conversation elsewhere. Alright?"

I turned forward and slapped the back of Fou's seat.

"Okay let's hear it, how's it being a Colonel?" I asked, leaning forward. He turned and looked me in the eye. I sat for a moment waiting for an answer.

"You don't wanna know," he said, looking back out the window. I laughed and sat back in my chair.

"So, we there yet?" I asked, knowing it shouldn't take very long.

"In fact, yes we are," Fou responded as the car came to a halt. I opened the door and stepped outside. In front of us was a bulky metal gate which surrounded the large building. I walked forward approaching the wall.

"Knock knock," I said, nodding up to the soldier on the barricade. He signaled to someone on the other side of the wall. The gigantic gate let out a loud release of white gas. Metal clanged with metal as it lowered itself into the ground. On the other side stood Plank, waiting.

"Look who it is," he said, opening his arms. I smiled, approaching the commander. I shook his hand and slapped his back. I laughed.

"We were just coming to meet you," I said, following him back to the car.

"Now how rude would I have to be to make you hike clear up to my office," he said, saluting to the Colonel. "Well I'd love to stop by the bar and chat, but if it's not crime I'd like to get you guys on the road. I don't want you gone for long Derk, your squad needs you."

He turned back to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He spoke in a lower voice.

"I would also like to apologize about the whole situation. We'll make sure that next time you'll have… more experienced ghosts with you," he said, leading the way back through the gate. "Now if you all will follow me. All except for Fou, you may now go back to Jinksole."

Shira moved up closer to her father, and glanced back at me. I nodded, only to receive a timid smile. Eh better than nothin'. Not that I should really care.

"So what's the plan?" I asked, from behind. "Do I get a partner?"

"No, I think you can manage," Plank said, turning right and over to an airbase. "I don't want you flying any sort of Terran vehicle. So I went out of my way to buy you a quite nice looking two man ship."

I grinned seeing a jet black, triangular shaped vessel. It almost looked like the front of a hellion. I marched right up next to it and rubbed my hand on the side. The vehicle wasn't much larger than a siege tank. I pulled the lever next to the frame down, popping the hatch. The window opened to the side revealing the interior of the ship.

"You know how to fly right?" Plank said, putting his hands behind his back. I shrugged.

"Yeah for the most part," I said, rubbing my hand against the seat. "How hard could it be?"

"Huh, that's what my friend said before he went crashing his ship into the ground," he said. I chuckled turning back to face him. "Alright so I sent the path I want you to take, to your transmitter."

I laughed, shaking my head.

"You went as far as giving me directions," I said. "Plank come on I'm not handy capped."

"I knew you would say that," he mumbled, folding his arms. "Derk you are going through Blue Zerg territory. The last thing we need is for Blerk to come yelling and screaming up to us saying you were trespassing. Heck I'd be more comfortable having you go through Red Protoss area. At least we're already at war with them."

"Yeah like the Blue Zerg leader is going to call full out war against you because a ghost stepped into his territory."

"I wouldn't be surprised. He's always trying to find an excuse," Plank said.

"Trust me Plank, I just assassinated a Protoss Executor. I think I can handle this," I said, jumping into the cockpit. Mr. Plank huffed.

"Well don't plan on coming back if you fail," he said, laughing. I knew at the time he was joking, but part of what he said was true. If I returned to tell him his daughter was dead, I might just consider bookin' it for the hills. Plank turned giving his daughter a hug and whispered something into her ears. Me being a ghost I couldn't resist listening.

"You have to be strong Shira. I know your mother won't allow me to train you, but you've got to do this. If the situation requires you to take a gun to a man's head, you do it ya hear me?" he said, rubbing the back of her head. She nodded, breathing hard.

"I don't want to do this dad," she said, not letting go.

"Derk'll protect you. I trust him," Plank reassured. "He's just a little hard headed is all. Hmph watch, he'll be crying for ya when he leaves."

This got a laugh out of Shira. I small tear ran down her cheek.

"I love you daddy," she said, letting go.

"I know," he said, whipping her tear away. "Hey what'd we talk about? No crying. You'll embarrass me," Plank joked, looking over at me.

"Now go on, we're attracting attention," he said, motioning her toward me. "And remember, call me the moment you get there."

She nodded and jumped in the passenger seat.

"Don't look back," he said as I started the engine.

"Hey Plank," I called out. "I wanna see my squad when I pull back into the base."

He shook his head. "We'll see about that."

I smiled and pulled the ship into the air. We turned toward the sky and flew away. It wasn't long before we had reached space. I checked the coordinates on my transmitter.

"Dang how far do we have to go?" I asked out loud.

"I don't know, you're the one with the map," Shira said. My mouth dropped open. Did she just willingly speak? I turned to look at her. Taking the opportunity I asked her a question.

"Have you ever been to Namco?"

"Yeah once, when I was younger," she said, seemingly comfortable. The heck is going on?

"You excited to be gone or something?" I asked, taking the ship into warp space. She smiled.

"I don't like talking when I'm around other people," she said, shrugging. "My parents don't like me speaking with strangers so I don't."

"Oh, but it's okay all of a sudden," I replied, confused.

"My dad says he trusts you sooo… I trust you," she responded, looking at me. I laughed.

"Huh so are you deprived or something?" I asked, jokingly.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Shira said, truthfully. I was taken aback.

"Wait what? So you are?" I asked, flying passed a meteor. "I mean I was kind of joking when I asked that."

"My parents, er, well my mom won't let me do much of anything. I mean I have friends and everything, but when they go out and do stuff I can't go."

"You're kidding?" I said, sincerely surprised. Why would Plank do that? "What in the world do you do for fun?"

"Eh, read books, watch T.V," she replied.

"Well, I'm gonna have to show you how to have real fun, before I drop you off," I said, pondering on which Tavern I would take her to. I looked over at her to see her shift uncomfortably. I didn't need to use psionics to tell she didn't like that idea. "What? You can't seriously go through life without a little fun."

She shrugged. "My parents just don't let me do that stuff," Imagine if they were to find out."

"Huh, I didn't say Plank wasn't going to know. He's probably monitoring this conversation right now," I said. "Plus, he told me to protect you at all costs. He did not however tell me we couldn't go down to the bar along the way."

Before she could say anything else an incoming transmission popped up on the window screen of the ship. Accepting the call, General Fou's face popped up.

"General," I acknowledged.

"Hello Derk, I am here to inform you on something that had slipped my mind," he said, hands behind his back.

"Alright what is it you need to tell me?" I asked, worried they actually had been listening to the conversation.

"You're going to need to stop by one of our bases."

"What for?" I asked, uncertain of why I would need to. I carried everything I needed on me at all times.

"Mr. Plank wants you to avoid any type of brawling or fighting and he especially does not want them to know who you two are," Fou said. "So you are going to need to drop by one of the barracks and leave your suit there."

I straightened up in my seat, alarmed. But before I said anything foolish, I thought through how smart the plan actually was.

I nodded, remaining silent.

"Derk, I can see the doubt in your posture. I want you to know that Plank had not found it easy to give that order. He thought about it for quite some time."

"I understand General," I said. "But what about my weapons?"

"Plank couldn't bring himself to strip you of your guns, but he would like me to advise you to use them only when necessary," the general said. "It is a much more believable story that a man stole a gun from a ghost rather than a suit."

"Alright sounds like a plan," I said, bringing the ship off course. "I will land on the nearest planet, Urthe and drop my stuff off there."

"Good, but I have one more thing to tell you. We will not be monitoring you every second of your trip. Mercenaries are very good at picking up those signals. We don't want to be the ones causing you conflict."

"Understandable, I will speak with you later the," I said, tipping my head to him. He did the same and then closed the transmission. I smiled and looked over at Shira. "Heh, what do ya know. Pretty lucky aren't ya?"

She looked away from me, but I could see her smiling. Alright, with this new change in attitude, this mission might not be half bad.

What up homies! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to review!