| Phase 19 � Shouldn�t we wake Kris?� Fei looked at his sister, who was sitting in the chair in front of a communications panel. Her knees were bent over one arm of the chair and her back was braced against the other. She had been sleeping ever since she and Elly had gotten to the bridge. � No. Grahf�s after her too. Besides, since she didn�t wake up I�m inclined to think that she�s pretty tired.� � Won�t she be angry?� � I don�t care if she�s mad at me later. I�m not going to wake her up so she can get aggravated and trigger-happy.� � . . . Okay.� *>*<* . . . Even asleep I can�t shake the feeling that I�m being watched. I opened my eyes and looked around, but no one was looking at me. . . . Damn it. I hate this. . . . The Goliath shook from an impact and began to dive. � Everyone out!� Citan ordered. � I will try to keep it in the air as long as possible!� Fei ran to me and saw that I was awake. � Oh, good. Come on!� I jumped up and chased him down to the Gear bay. I climbed inside Axyl�s cockpit and jammed the helmet on. Axyl, start up! � Enter control code.� Control code: 5-2-7-1, input! � Control confirmed to Krista-Lyn Wong. Welcome aboard, Kris!� Axyl, we have to get out of here! [Compliance.] I engaged the flight engines and her wings spread, crumpling the stall in a pile of scrap. [Oops.] Forget about it! The thing�s going down anyway! [My, that brings back a sense of deja vu.] Once I thought about it, it did. I�d told her almost exactly the same thing when the Yggdrasil was sinking. The Yggdrasil . . . . . . Focus, stupid! Axyl went to the open tail and leapt out just as the Goliath hit the water. The tail came down and smashed Axyl into the ocean. Because I wasn�t strapped in, I was thrown across the cockpit and into a screen. As Axyl floated down to the ocean bottom, I was enveloped in darkness. *>*<* � . . . I . . . err . . . I�m really sorry, Citan.� The doctor sighed lightly. � I suppose it cannot be helped. It is your nature. However, I hope you will not be so presumptuous as King.� � . . . So where is everybody?� � I do not know. Fei and Elly disappeared somehow.� � What about Kris?� Citan shook his head. � I do not know about her, either. Axyl was not in the Gear bay, but . . .� He could see the younger man was placing all the blame on himself, but there was nothing to be said. Kris just may have died because of his impulsive decision to fire. Devastated beyond belief, Bart went to his Gear and flopped in the seat. � I killed her, Brig.� [You can�t honestly say that . . .?] � I can because I did. Kris wouldn�t joke like this.� [*sigh* Then there is nothing I can say to assure you otherwise.] � Not hardly.� [. . . Axyl once told me that Kris had sworn to never be far from you. That you were her hope because you refused to give up when she would have. She said that Kris has learned so much from you that her attitude has done a complete about-face.] � Think that�s sappy enough?� [It may be sappy, but it�s the truth.] � Besides, if Kris swore never to be far from me, why is she always gone?� [It was not meant in a physical sense.] � . . . You�re weird.� [That is only what I was told.] � Then Axyl�s weird too. Kris never would�ve said anything like that.� [You would be surprised. There are sides of everyone that no one has seen before. Maybe she shows hers when she is alone.] � Yeah. Right.� [I am not going to argue with you.] � Been doing a good job so far.� *>*<* Devon? Her tail snapped back and forth irritably from under the chair. I am beginning to dislike Gears. I slowly climbed to the chair and sat. The helmet was--miraculously--intact, so I put it on. Axyl? You still with me? [I�ve been waiting for hours.] Sorry. [Where to now?] I looked around. Can you find Citan and the others? [Processing . . . Negative.] Oh no, I groaned. The panel beeped. [There is a large vessel moving toward us.] What is it? [Beats me.] Well, might as well check it out. Axyl, engage flight engines. Axyl, wings flapping slowly, rose toward the surface. There was another beep from the consol. [They are attempting to make contact.] Okay. A small screen appeared in the upper left corner of the helmet�s screen. It was static, so I only had audio. � . . . This is the Yggdrasil. You are on a collision course with us. We ask that you please change your direction.� That was Sig! Not sure what the water would do to my power, I narrowed the channel and intensified it a little. Sig! I could hear him suck in a surprised breath. � Kris?!� I�m coming up, Sig! Axyl sped up and ducked around the Yggdrasil�s body, exploding from the surface and showering drops of sparkling seawater everywhere. I had her land on the ship�s nose and face the bridge. Hey, aren�t you going to invite me in? Sig gave out several orders. � Just a minute, Kris.� The sheet metal skin and the visor for Axyl�s eyes that had appeared as she hit the water all slid away, tossing more water off. � All right, Kris. The doors are open.� Thank you! I called sweetly, entering the bay. I put Axyl in her customary stall and frantically freed myself. I rushed out, Devon hot on my heels, and dashed for the first person I saw (it happened to be Maison, who was talking to Citan and had no idea I was running for him at full speed). Maison! He turned and I all but knocked him over as I hugged him. � My, Kris,� he chuckled. � It wasn�t that long, was it?� No, but it felt like forever! � It�s about time you got here. Axyl must be slower than ever.� Sig! I rushed over and nearly tackled him as well. He hugged me and kissed my cheek, which I returned. � I hope we can all stay together this time.� Me too. Now there was only one person missing. But Sig had said the Yggdrasil had landed on him. Was Brigandier still here . . .? I almost had them all. Maison, Sig, and--- � Hey, what about me?� Bart! I pulled away from Sig and raced over to him. He opened his arms wide, then caught me and swung me in a circle. � Hiya, Babe. Long time, no see.� I started to cry and hid my face under his jacket. The left side of my face scratched along his shirt and the burns flared angrily, but I ignored them. He stroked my back softly and lowered his head to rest it soothingly on mine. � Those better be happy tears,� he said quietly. They are, I assured him. They are. When I finally brought my head out from under his jacket, he caught my chin in his hand and held my head that way. � What happened?� In Nortune . . . the building I was in caught fire in an attack . . . some of the ceiling fell on me. And contrary to Fei�s hysterics, Bart only nodded and made a worried sound. � I�m going to bandage your head up if you don�t stop burning it.� I brought my left hand up to free myself and he immediately let go to grab my forearm and look closely at my wrist. � You were going to tell me about this, right?� Axyl cracked it by accident and the fallen ceiling broke it. I reset it and wrapped it. What do you think you can do that�s better than that? � Put it in something that I�m sure won�t let it move.� You�re almost as bad as Fei. � But I don�t scream like a girl.� Look, I don�t need three doctors. One is plenty. He snorted. � If you�re only talking about yourself, you�re dead wrong.� I�ve more certification than you. � Well I�m still going to have to ask you to come with me.� He stepped back, then bowed deeply and offered his arm. � My lady?� Slightly surprised, I hesitated before taking his offered arm. I noticed Sig�s and Maison�s jaws drop and swallowed a giggle. Bart smirked at them. � See? Told you I was paying attention.� Maison was still unable to speak, but Sig regained his voice. He pointed dramatically at Bart. � You were asleep!� he declared. � So what if I was? Doesn�t mean I wasn�t listening.� Bart turned and escorted me out of the bay. Once the door had shut behind us, he put arm around my shoulders and guided me to the elevator. � Kris, Fei and Elly are missing. We can�t find them and we don�t have a clue as to where they are.� Oh? Why didn�t you tell me sooner? I could�ve checked on them in the bay while everyone was there. � No!� He was clearly worried. � You�re exhausted, I can tell! It might tax you too much and I don�t want you to die!� I smiled at his concern and cupped his face in my hand. It�s all right. As long as Fei�s mind is open, I can check on he and Elly without using excessive energy. Calm down. � Everybody�s been telling me that recently!� he fumed. Because an angry captain is a blind captain. He blinked cutely at me as the elevator stopped. � Gee . . . I didn�t think of that . . .� I stepped off the elevator and went to my room. Let me make sure everything is in place and then I�ll check. He rolled his eyes (oddly enough, I hadn�t even caught a glimpse of his eyepatch--maybe he lost it and decided to let it go). � No need. Sig moved every last one of your things piece by piece and made sure it was as close to your other room as possible.� I looked the room over from the doorway. Some of my miniature monster statues were slightly out of place, but it most certainly was not anything to complain about. Piece by piece, huh? � Memorized the placement and fixed it that way.� Bart politely nudged me inside and gestured to the room. � All your clothes . . . All of it�s here.� I looked at the well-made bed. Who did this? � Maison. He doesn�t like the way you make your bed.� That�s because I thrash so much. I�ll have this ruined by the middle of the night. It�s nice, but it was a waste of time. � You think Maison cares?� Point taken. I closed my eyes. Now please be quiet. I�m going to check up on Fei and Elly. <--Phase 18 Phase 20--> |