| Phase 22 My COM crackled. � Krista! You traitorous wench!� I am traitor to no one! I snarled. You accuse the wrong person, Dominia! � Ramsus trusted you and you turned on him!� I have never had any dealings with that Gebler trash! There was a pause, then a smug, � So it�s true. I thought you were playing the first time.� What�s true? � Did you know that you used to work for Solaris?� I stiffened at that and she apparently sensed it. � Yes, it�s true. You were an Element for Ramsus, one of his personal guards, even though you were only four. You and your three teammates, who were all men. It was the most ludicrous thing to see the four of you, though no one dared say it at the time.� You lie! � Ha. I do not. Question your equally treasonous teammates if you do not believe me. They are all here on the surface with you.� Who are they?! � Well there�s Jesiah, Fire; Hy---!� Brigandier had reached us by now and attacked right away. � Shut up, you stupid Solarian! I�ll rip out your tongue for such lies!� I sat stunned. Why did all that sound like truth? I had no reason to believe anything Dominia said, yet . . . yet it all sounded correct. Dimly, I heard two splashes behind me. Axyl scanned them. [Two ally Gears approaching from the southwest.] That was around the Yggdrasil. Had Citan and Rico finished the repairs that quickly? � Kris! Bart!� Fei? � Fei! You�re alive?� Bart asked. � Isn�t that my line?� Fei replied. � So, Krista,� Dominia continued, �do you believe me? Or will you go on in your utter Lamb�s ignorance until it leads to your death?� You call me a traitor, I growled, sensing a whole other part of me rise to take my place, yet you are the one who turned your back on your people and joined the enemy. You have done the -Lamb- thing by turning and running from hardship. I was born a Lamb and continue to be a -Lamb- by staying with my family and friends. You ran away from your home and beseeched Solaris for protection. You are the one who tucked your tail between your legs and gave yourself up to them. Your soul has become black with all that you have done and when the Judgement falls on us all, you will burn in the pits of Hell with those thrice-damned Solarians because you are now one of them. Dominia shrieked hatefully and activated the electric arms. � I am one of the Divine now!� Axyl dodged the arms and rushed forward. She sliced along Haishao�s side, tearing a hole in the Gear�s fuel tank. Can you fight me now? I dare you to try. � Young Master!� Sig called over the COM. � The depth charges are ready! Get out of the way!� Bart, Fei, and Elly backed off, but I remained facing Dominia. Your end is near. It may not be this fight or the next, but it will come. � Kris!� Bart shouted. � Get out of there!� The depth charges hit the ground around Haishao and Axyl. The sand stirred around us, obscuring our cameras� views. Haishao, even more badly damaged than before, grabbed Vierge, then turned and fled. We returned to the Yggdrasil, where Fei began to go on and on about how he should have saved Elly. We�ll get her back, Fei, I promise. He lifted his head and looked at me over the visuals. � You can�t promise stuff like that, Kris.� I rolled my eyes. Why do you and Citan have that nasty habit of being pessimistic? � Why not?� I rolled my eyes again and sighed. Men are so difficult. Look, Fei. Dominia took her to Ramsus. That particular jerk is always roaming around in an airship. We�ll run into them sooner or later. � I guess . . .� I went back into the Gear bay and shut Axyl down. And you stay that way until I put you online. The others entered the Gear bay. Brigandier and Weltall paused at Axyl�s stall and I heard the cameras whir as they focused. � Kris,� Bart�s voice asked. � Are you okay?� I nodded. Yeah. Why? There was a lengthy pause. � No reason. You look a little pale, that�s all.� I shrugged. I�m all right. I left to check in with Sig at the bridge, wondering what that had been about. *>*<* � So how about an explanation, Citan?� Bart asked, jumping to the floor from the repair shelf. � What happened to her?� The doctor shook his head. � I only assumed this from her survival of the depth charges. What did she look like?� � Her eyes were gray and her hair was black,� Fei told him. � The wings were out and she had . . . fangs,� Bart added, confused. Citan nodded thoughtfully. � I have seen that once before.� � When?� Fei demanded. � In the desert, when the Aveh unit was arresting us. You did not see it, but I did for just a brief second. It seems to happen only when she is very, very angry or frightened.� � What does it mean?� Bart questioned. � I do not know. Perhaps it is an alternate personality of her that she created when she was younger.� � Kris has multiple personalities?� � There is such a disorder, but it hardly seems to be such with Kris. This other Kris appears under control--most of the time they are not. It may be something that she can call on unconsciously or it may be a completely separate personality that has some semblance of sanity.� � She won�t cause trouble like this, will she?� � I do not believe so. Since she knows the ship and crew so well and they are not who she is angry at, we should all be perfectly safe even with her in this condition. I do not feel there is any danger.� Bart twisted the microphone of his headset down and said, � Sig, if you see Kris, don�t panic.� � . . . Why?� was the suspicious reply. � What have you done now?� � I didn�t do anything. She just has a new look.� � Bartholomew . . .� � You�ll know what I mean if you see Kris. I�ll be up there in a minute so if she stops by, stall her, would you?� � . . . I suppose.� � Thanks.� Bart turned and ran from the bay. Sigurd rolled his eyes at Bart�s words. � Lunatic. This is the kind of thing that gets us into trouble. How am I supposed to work on such a small amount of information?� The door opened and someone walked up and stood almost right beside him. We�re back, Sig. He looked up and, startled, stepped back. He covered the surprise at seeing her �new look� by placing his hand over his heart and pretending she had scared him. � Don�t do that to me!� Sorry. I thought you heard me coming. The door opened again and they both looked over at Bart, whose total focus was on Kris. Her wings, which had been out ever since she had left Axyl, stretched behind her languidly and then folded themselves against her back once more. � Hey, Kris. Can I talk to you about that freak we fought?� Her eyes glinted hatefully, but she nodded. Sure. Talk away. He put his hands on her arms. � All I wanted to say is that she was lying to you. There�s no way you ever could�ve worked for Solaris. No way that you were an Element. Not that you don�t have the power to be, but what I�m saying is that they never would�ve let you go and escape would�ve been nearly impossible. Back in Nisan, didn�t you tell me that you only escaped the third time you tried? If you really had worked for them, you would still be there.� She looked at him and gave a short nod. Yes, you�re right. I guess I�m getting too worked up about it. As she said that, her hair and eyes became brown finally and her wings folded themselves up and returned to their pack. She blinked and looked around. ? How did I get here? Bart frowned. � Don�t you remember?� She looked panicked. Remember what?! Behind Kris, Sig shook his head frantically and made slashing motions across his neck. Bart took the hint and shrugged. � Forget it.� That�s apparently what I did! What happened?! Tell me! Please! The last thing I remember is Dominia saying something about me working for Solaris! Bart stroked the side of her head. � She works for Solaris. You can�t trust any of what she says. If you had worked for Solaris, you would still be there. They wouldn�t just let you go like she said, right?� I nodded nervously and Bart hugged me, making soothing noises. � You�re not one of them,� he assured me in a low voice. � You don�t look like one, you don�t act like one. Don�t let anybody tell you otherwise, okay?� Okay. Bart looked up. � Sig, set course for the Thames over there. Fei says they�re the ones who helped he and Elly. Ask permission to dock so we can work on the repairs.� � Yes, sir.� *>*<* � It was you who shot down the Goliath?� Fei asked after Margie blurted that tidbit of information. You did it? I questioned. Bart nodded guiltily and I tried to hold back my laugh, but couldn�t help it and just leaned against his shoulder, chuckling mirthfully. Bart looked horrified. � Kris, are you sick or something?� Fei added his own rant. � How can you laugh?! He could�ve killed us!� My face still pressed against Bart�s shoulder, I waved my brother away. No, it�s just . . . It�s so Bart. I don�t know why I didn�t think about it sooner! Once I�d calmed down I looked to my brother. Don�t be hard on him, Fei. Think of it this way: we probably never would�ve seen him again if he hadn�t done it. Bart shook his head. � It�s all right, Kris. You don�t have to defend me.� Fei was very upset. As I watched, his control snapped and he lunged forward, socking Bart right in the middle of his face. Bart stumbled back, his hands trying to protect his nose. I let out a snarl and returned the favor, immediately giving my brother a bloody nose in return. � Stop it, you two!� Bart held up one hand. � You stay out of it, Margie, unless you want a black eye and some broken bones!� Fei growled at me and drew back his arm. I caught his fist and twisted his arm until it cracked, then shoved him. He struck me a glancing blow on the side of my face and I repaid him with a punch to his gut. That ended the tussle. I left Fei kneeling on the floor and turned to Bart. Let me see. He moved his hand and I inspected the dealt injury. I don�t think it�s broken. � It feels like it.� I touched his nose gently in different places. No, it�s all right. Go ahead and wash your face. He left and I whirled on Fei. How dare you! That was totally unnecessary! � He could have killed us!� Fei protested. Bart doesn�t like to kill! He aims specifically so he won�t kill! At least not directly! Just because you�re ticked off about Elly doesn�t mean you can go around beating people up! Think about it, Fei! You swear you don�t like to fight, but that�s exactly what you just did! It was petty! And yes, you could�ve beaten the living shit out of Bart because he would�ve let you! He feels bad enough about you and Elly being stranded out in the middle of the ocean and then you berate him for something he�s already belittled himself for! I turned and stomped into the elevator and went down to the Yggdrasil and to Bart�s room. Bart? � In here,� he called from a side room. I went over and leaned in the doorway. Still bleeding? � No, it quit.� He wiped his face. � You didn�t need to do that.� Yes I did. Fei was being totally irrational just then. Somebody needed to knock some sense into him and I accepted that. <--Phase 21 Phase 23--> |