Nadesico Fan Fiction ❯ Chasing the Darkness ❯ [03] More Trouble Than It's Worth ( Chapter 3 )

Author's note: Due to a rather loose fansub translation, I made a mistake about Seelie's name. It's really Itsuki or something like that from what I can tell listening to the raw version. But I think I'll keep calling her Seelie just because she sort of acts like a Seelie and the only Itsuki I've ever known was a boy. ^_^

Disclaimer: MBN does not belong to me. None of the characters belong to me either. They should, but for some reason the current owner refuses to give them up. Go figure…

PART THREE: More Trouble Than it's Worth

"A tribute to Xellos."

"Faster!" Ryoko ordered impatiently. Saburota, in a contrary mood, stopped dead in the middle of the tunnel, turning to face the others with a wicked smirk.

"So you like things fast, huh, Ryoko?"

Ryoko shrieked her rage while Izumi and Hikaru smothered their giggles. Saburota smiled charmingly and continued on his way. "Don't worry so much, Chief-- we're here."

With that, he disappeared. Ryoko rolled her eyes. "He always has to put on a show, doesn't he?" she asked, peering down over the hole the Jovian had jumped through. Ryoko slid her feet through and eased her way out of the air ducts back into the corridors of the Nadesico, ignoring the outstretched hand Saburota proffered. Saburota ignored her in return and helped Hikaru and then Izumi down from the shaft. Then he started off again, leaving the others to follow.

"Hey, genius." Ryoko snapped. When he turned, she was red with irritation. "Why are we here?" She jerked her hand in the opposite direction. "The escape pods are that way and five levels down!"

"I know," Saburota replied, undisturbed. "I'm going to get my Aestivallis."

"Yeah!"

"Wha..." Ryoko spluttered as first Hikaru and then Izumi danced over to join Saburota. "But that's crazy!"

"I thought you said you hated doing nothing?" Saburota taunted her. "And in an escape pod you'll be doing exactly that for a very, very long time."

"Well I... you... we... I hate you!" she exclaimed, brushing past them and on down the hall. Hikaru and Izumi exchanged looks.

"Hatred is the way to Ryoko's heart!" Hikaru chirped, grabbing Saburota's hand and pulling him after Ryoko.

"Hated hearts..." Izumi began. "Happy hints...Ha ha ha, Hikaru."

Hikaru felt like she had regressed to Sesame Street for a moment, but shook off the feeling and tried to focus on the matter at hand. The hangar would be pretty much free of Successors due to the unsightly hole that was only marginally patched in the side. No one could possibly want to risk being there if it broke. And Hikaru was pretty sure they could get there before Shizuka discovered what was going on. But only if Saburota would move a little faster! she thought, tugging at the Jovian's sleeve.

******

Nagare Akatsuki slowed his pace even more, drinking in every detail of the hallways and rooms. "Ah, the memories..." he stated, though he didn't sound very sincere. "When will she be ready for launch?"

"Oh, she's ready now." Jun said absently, also lost in thought. "We just need to find a complete crew."

"Eri has agreed to work communications." Akatsuki commented. "And Mikako will be taking the helm-- she scored surprisingly well on the simulations. And I'll be here, of course."

Jun didn't answer. If only...

"Sir!" a young officer's window popped up directly in front of them. "There's been an unusual energy flux in the ship-- we think it's a boson jump!"

A sharp cry echoed throughout the corridor. Akatsuki's eyes narrowed. "Come on." he ordered Jun, and turned back towards the origin of the yell.

******

Yurika was shaking badly when she finished her jump, but at least she was away from that horrible place.

"Observation deck." Ines commented, overwhelmed with a sense of deja-vu. "Interesting." she snorted, the action causing a sudden fit of coughing. Yurika tried to catch her as she collapsed, but only managed to fall over with her.

"Ines, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly, when she suddenly realized that her hand was getting wet. Under closer scrutiny, she found that red liquid was staining Ines's lab coat and her own gloves. "Blood...?" Her eyes widened in shock-- she quickly covered the wound with both hands to try to stop the bleeding. "Ines!" Other than that, she didn't know what to do. She couldn't leave to get help, she couldn't do anything to help the doctor besides stop the blood flow (that was all she could do by herself.) And it wasn't as if she had a free hand to work with, either. She didn't know how long she would have been sitting there if her jump hadn't been detected.

******

"What do you mean they've all escaped?"

Shizuka quailed at Aritomo's furious tone. The larger-than-life quality adopted by the full screen main window only made the commander's anger more frightening.

"Sir, I..." Shizuka stuttered brokenly.

"Sir, we underestimated the crew's ingenuity. As soon as we breach the firewall, we'll pursue and destroy the escape pods." Nina broke in with a soothing voice, shooting Shizuka a look of thin condescension. Aritomo refused to be calmed.

"I don't care about the crew." he snapped. "Someone explain to me how the A-class jumpers managed to boson jump from under a bionet that should have blocked all activity of the kind."

"That's Yamasaki's department, sir." Shizuka stepped aside to let Yoshio take full responsibility for miscalculating. Yoshio, however, was not about to go down unless he took everyone else responsible down with him.

"The nearest I can figure, sir, is that Ms. Misumaru had some sort of transportation device directly on her person, which would have nullified the effects of the bionet." Yoshio explained as eloquently as he could. Shizuka could look like a fool if he so chose, but Yoshio did not enjoy being viewed as an idiot. "Had I been allowed to oversee the entire operation, I would undoubtedly have discovered this and taken precautionary measures. However, I was called to the bridge to try and break through the firewall. The A-class jumpers escaped in my absence."

Aritomo's scowl carved itself deeper into his face.. "What exactly is this thing that Ms. Misumaru used to escape?"

"A device of some sort-- impossible to tell, sir." Yoshio shrugged. "We don't have access to Nergal's classified files, so we don't know what they've discovered how to do. It could be anything from an implant to a piece of jewelry. All someone of her caliber needs is a tiny bit of TC, and the possibilities for jumps are practically endless."

"And both of them had this implant or whatever?"

"No, sir, I believe only the admiral had it." Nina interrupted. "The doctor waited until she had physical contact with Ms. Misumaru before jumping, and got shot in the meantime." Here the small woman developed a smug expression suspiciously reminiscent of a cat that has just scratched up all the curtains. "She would not have risked that if she had been able to jump herself."

"Next time we'll take care of the problem immediately, sir." Shizuka assured Aritomo, who was finally beginning to regain some of his normal color. The commander rested his head in both hands and ran his fingers through his hair.

"You let one jumper escape and killed the other one. At least tell me you managed to override that pesky firewall." he muttered tonelessly.

The three on the bridge shifted uneasily and remained silent. Aritomo started to grow red again, and all prepared themselves for another outburst. But at that exact moment, a young yeoman shouted excitedly from the corner of the room, "I've got it! We're in!" He stood up, still typing frantically. "Just a quick reboot and the whole system is ours..."

Aritomo's window vanished in a momentary blackout.

"Oops," the yeoman said sheepishly.

Shizuka immediately promoted the man to lieutenant and the rest of the crew went gleefully about trying to take over the rest of the system.

******

Omoikane, overpowered and uncertain, wrapped its consciousness into a personal file and went into an extended hibernation in an attempt to preserve itself. It did remember to scramble the coordinates of the escape pods before retreating into the background, though.

******

Jun found himself getting more and more suspicious as Yurika tried to explain what had happened to the Nadesico C. Her limited knowledge indicated that she had not been on the bridge during several crucial moments; all she knew for certain was that an unidentified fleet had attacked them. After that she had launched the Aestivallis and jumped to save the engineers and hadn't gone back to bridge at all-- she also didn't seem to understand what Jun meant when he asked how she knew the ship was being boarded before the actual jump.

"There was a jump coming through-- a strange Aestivallis." was her only comment on the matter. Jun could only figure that it had something to do with being an A-class jumper.

It wasn't Yurika he was suspicious of. It was Akastuki. How he had suddenly decided that renovations of the Nadesico A needed to be completed immediately, how he had rounded up a rag-tag crew made up of several of the original crewmembers who weren't currently on the Nadesico C... How his Aestivallis had gotten sudden upgrades and they'd hired that new girl, Mayumi...

"You knew." he accused the president of Nergal when Ines had been secured and stabilized and after Yurika had finally fallen asleep in the sick bay.

"Of course I did." Akatsuki said, giving Jun a look that clearly insinuated that that fact should be obvious. "Since yesterday when the Martian Successors informed me that they had captured the Nadesico, the A-class jumpers and the Artifact. Pretty good work for under 36 hours, isn't it?"

Jun wished he wouldn't be so calculated all the time, but kept his disgust to himself.

"Because, of course, after we finished the renovations on this ship, Nergal still has the most advanced battleship. " Now he was practically purring. Jun bit his lip. "And I've received word that the escape pods are all away. Quite an escape Miss Hoshino managed to pull. Of course, I knew Shizuka was incompetent anyway-- that's why I stationed him under Seiya."

"Well, it was lucky that Yurika managed to get herself and Ines away." he commented ostensibly.

"Not luck." Akatsuki's smile broadened. "In her state, the observation deck of the original Nadesico would be the only logical place for her to go. It reserves a major place in her memories."

You've just got us all figured out, don't you, Nagare? Jun thought sharply. Someday someone will figure you out, and you won't like it one bit.

"And how did we manage to get the Artifact out from under their noses?" he asked aloud.

"Oh, they've still got the Artifact." Akatsuki replied quite cheerfully. "There's only so much I can do in one day."

******

"Aquamarine!!" the man on the video screen yelled. Lapis observed the show quietly from the doorway, watched Akito with his knees pulled up under his chin for a moment, and then took a hesitant step forward.

Akito picked up the remote and rewound the tape.

"Aquamarine!!"

Lapis took another step. Akito rewound again. Lapis gave up this game and sat down at a safe distance. He hated it when she touched him.

"What is this?" she asked.

"A show."

The memory popped up in her mind. "Gekigangar? I haven't seen you watching it before."

"I haven't watched it since before you were born." he answered shortly, and rewound the tape again.

Lapis wanted to ask why he watched the same woman die over and over again, but she had a sneaking suspicion that she already knew.

"This Ken-- you identify with him?" she asked quietly. Akito didn't answer. They sat in silence a little longer. Akito hit a button and the scene changed.

"Joe!!"

"He screams more than you do." Lapis commented, trying to lighten the situation. Akito turned the video off abruptly, his body language clearly telling her to get out.

She had never had much of a sense of humor.

She set about preparing to jump the Eucharis. It was hard to do, considering Akito refused to tell her when they were going or where. She would have taken a nap, but his nightmares prevented her from trying to rest until lack of sleep began affecting her health. So she busied herself studying Nergal files about the Artifact and reading the Nadesico's flight logs. She felt like these people were family, she knew them so well. But she didn't know them at all, and they barely knew her name.

Wondering what having a real family would be like, she settled into her own private hell and let Akito deal with his alone.

******

"There!" Nina shouted, pointing. The small, white escape pods, all making a beeline for Earth. "Let's shoot them down."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." A blond man appeared in a window directly in the center of the main screen. "A psi knife can cut straight through this ship's barriers and into the hull almost instantaneously. Oh, and since you locked down the exits, we had to repunch a hole in the hangar. Sorry."

"So you might want to see about fixing that first!" a cheerful brunette popped up next to the blond.

"Would you two shut up and get moving?" A third face snapped.

"She wants to move faster..." the first one commented as all three windows disappeared.

"Just shoot me now." Shizuka sighed, face in hands.

"If you insist..." Nina began.

"IT'S A FIGURE OF SPEECH!!"

Nina knew Shizuka was an idiot when it came to, oh, say, taking over a battleship, but she was no fool, and she knew better than to mess with him in that sort of mood.

******

"Shut up!" Ryoko shouted as they cut their connection with the Nadesico.

"Ryoko's never had a guy try to pick her up before." Hikaru confided to Saburota-- on an open line.

"He can take his pick up lines and stick them up his..."

"Pick up sticks!" Izumi yelled, repelling a sudden burst of laser fire from the Nadesico.

"Do you think they'll use the beam cannon?" Hikaru asked, moving to cover the last of the escape pods.

"Nope," Saburota assured her. "'Cause then we'd have to go back and beat them up."

"To bad none of us really has a psi knife." Ryoko retorted cuttingly. "Tenkawa's model was the only one."

"Only the bluff counts in chess and poker." Saburota replied, completely at ease. "If they tried to use the beam cannon, they'd be assuming that we'd let it hit us to prevent losing any of the pods. They may be idiots, but they know that it only takes one to be a shield."

"I vote for you." Ryoko muttered.

"I'm touched by your confidence in me."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know."

After that, the lines were dead for a while.

******

"Captain?" Mayumi asked. "Um... this waiting is causing some major stress in the engines."

"What's she doing?" Eri asked, swiveling to stare.

"Shh!" Erina warned everyone. "She's sensing the jump."

"But there's nothing to sense! The chulip is there, the portal is ready, all systems are go..."

Yurika remained oblivious to the chatter going on around her. It would take a while... she hoped her hunch wasn't incorrect or things could get very unpleasant for the crew.

She thought about the new additions to her fleet. Were those lost ships doomed to travel back and forth in this circle endlessly? What kind of afterlife was that?

Some of us can't accept the loss. Seelie had told her. After all, we're as real as you are. But we don't belong here any more.

Yurika shivered. Just who had built that Artifact, and whose big idea was it to put in such strange loopholes?

A slight ripple touched the air around her ears. Her eyes snapped open. "Prepare for jump."

******

Jun stared at the master key. The rest of the crew had assembled on the bridge-- the only people missing were Akatsuki and the captain. He wondered who would be turning that key; he'd never imagined anyone but Yurika commanding this ship.

"Come on, Mr. Aoi!" a bright voice chirped. "Life can't be so bad!"

Jun sighed. "Sure it can."

Mikako's smile deepened. "Come by the kitchen later and we'll make you the house special."

"Beef curry but light on the spices!" Eri added. "Just the way you like it."

Jun managed a grin. "Sounds good."

"Will you share it with an old friend?" a voice asked from behind him. Jun whirled around in shock.

"Y-Yurika?" he asked. "What are you... shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Oh, don't be silly!" she laughed, and for a moment everyone could convince themselves that things were back to the way they should have been. "It's my ship. Who else but me would run it?"

"Are we ready for launch, Captain?" Akatsuki asked, stepping out from behind Yurika.

"All set!" she smiled brilliantly.

"Everyone please return to your stations!" Erina shouted, her voice still cutting in spite of her recent revival. Yurika's fingers rested on the master key for a moment before she turned it, savoring the hum of power as all the systems came on line.

"Hello, Omoikane." she said hesitantly.

Hello, Captain. the computer returned. Yurika glanced up, looking at each of her crew members as they watched her in return. Then the silence was broken by the captain's infectious laughter.

"Well, let's go!" she said. "Mikako, let's jump!"

"Coordinates laid in, Captain!" Mikako replied. "Six minutes estimated travel time."

******

"Captain," Eri said, "General Azuma is hailing us. He says if we're not going to jump then to get the hell out of his way."

"A little longer..." Yurika said, almost to herself. "Get in position."

******

"You're cleared for jump, Nadesico." the attendant in the tower informed them.

"Thank you!" Eri said happily. "Captain, the fleet reports they are standing by to follow us."

"How many?" Yurika asked Akatsuki.

"About thirty-five-- all we could scrounge up on short notice."

"It'll more than do." Yurika said. "Countdown to jump time."

"Fifty seconds and counting." Mayumi reported, her IFS linking up to Omoikane. She wasn't as fast a Ruri, but Jun had a hunch it was partly because Omoikane was a little bitter.

******

"Now!" Yurika ordered, and the Nadesico entered the chulip's field.

******

Yurika blinked twice as the ship shuddered underneath her. This wasn't a normal jump.

******

"Jump successful." Mayumi said, slightly breathless.

Yurika smiled. "We should be just in time to take Osaka back from the Successors."

"There's no way-- they'll be long gone with the Artifact by now!" Erina protested.

"No, the Nadesico C hasn't been here yet." Yurika corrected. "Perhaps I should explain in Ines's absence?"

"No need." the doctor entered the bridge. "I've figured it out myself."

******

"Jump successful." Mayumi said, slightly breathless. "We've reached Serandala safely."

"Wonderful." Akatsuki broke in. "Now let's find the Nadesico C and blow it out of the sky."

"Um, Captain?" Mayumi interrupted suddenly. "You're not going to believe this, but the fleet has sort of tripled in size."

"And you'll never believe who's trying to page us!" Eri cried.

******

"What do you mean they've already left?" was the first noise to reach Ruri as she woke up.

"It was imperative that they leave immediately-- we simply couldn't wait to see if you all showed up." General Misumaru's booming voice sliced through her head.

"It's not fair!" Harry continued. "The captain should be there! It's her ship!"

"On the contrary, my boy, it's my daughter's ship to run as she pleases."

"Ship?" Ruri asked, sitting up. Instantly, Harry was at her side. She was pleased to note that he had found a shirt to wear.

"Captain, the admiral and everyone went chasing the Successors without us!" he complained, looking to her for vindication.

"You understand, don't you, dear?" General Misumaru pleaded, taking her hand. "There just wasn't time, and it was so important to us that Yurika be given her old command... what's wrong?"

Ruri's eyes went wide and blank. "The Nadesico...A?" she asked, careful not to choke on the words.

"Yes, of course." Koichiro blinked.

Ruri and the general stared at each other for a moment, while Harry stood by getting more and more pissed off because he knew nothing and he didn't like knowing nothing. Then Ruri swung her legs over the side of her capsule and took off down the corridor at a run.

"Captain!" Harry called after her. "Cap-- oh, forget it." She could hear his footsteps echoing hers down the hall, but didn't check her stride. If she hurried, she'd be just in time to catch the fleet when they arrived in Osaka. And Akito... A tentative smiled brushed her face. He would show up sooner or later, no doubt.

******

Akito was, at the moment, preparing to make an appearance. He couldn't help but smile a bit-- and he had tried very hard not to let Lapis see it, but she sensed the change in his mood.

It wasn't fair, of course, and he knew he was being malicious, but he loathed Lapis. And loved her. He couldn't help but love her for being so patient. So damned patient that he wanted to scream.

Stop it, he told himself. You're becoming schizophrenic.

She glanced at him expectantly every time he came into the room, but he didn't tell her what he was planning. She already knew, having access to most of his memories, but it hurt her that he wouldn't explain. It made him feel better and made him hate himself for being so cruel. Was it really even possible to become schizophrenic if you were split into two people?

*******

"S-Seelie!" Yurika exclaimed, after a period of stunned silence. "But I thought you were... I mean, why aren't you..."

"It's a strange loophole." Seelie replied, smiling slightly. "I didn't die during that jump-- no one who went missing during the Jovian War actually died. The Artifact sort of just collected us. And your jump triggered something that brought us out of that void for a time. So we've decided to help you."

"What was so special about this jump?" she asked.

"Sore wa himitsu desu." Seelie answered. "It's a secret. Can't tell you."

They continued in that line of questioning for a few more minutes, until Yurika realized that Seelie wasn't going to let anything slip. It was as if she already knew everything that Yurika was going to ask. The blue-haired captain sighed.

"Should we hold our position?" Mikako asked cautiously.

"No, stay on course." Yurika sighed again and shook her head, putting on a smile. "All right, Seelie, let's go look for the Successors."

"We'll find them. I'm sending you their coordinates now."

Realization dawned on the bridge. "Seelie, just how many times have you done this?"

Seelie grinned, but her eyes were sad. "It's a secret." And then her window disappeared.

******

Ruri entered the air station docking bay with Harry quickly recounting the events of the day beside her and discovered that many of the others had reached the same conclusion that she had. Nergal and UE employees and officers were milling around nervously, waiting for the Nadesico B to be ready for lift off. Harry skidded to a stop next to her, looking around in annoyance.

"Everyone figured it out but me, huh?"

"You weren't on the original Nadesico, so don't beat yourself up over something you can't help. It's stupid." Ruri answered, scanning the crowd for her crew. She spotted Yukina and Minato deep in conversation near the vending machines. Harry, following her gaze, misinterpreted her intentions.

"I'll go get us something to drink." he muttered sullenly before scampering off. Ruri let him go, continuing her search. When she finally located Megumi and Prospector, she was satisfied that every one of the escape pods that had left had made it to Earth. She made a mental note to write a commendation for the Aestivallis pilots later for outstanding performance. Even if Shizuka had been an idiot, getting everyone to Earth safely had been a feat. It seemed the only hang-up was Ines getting shot, but she was obviously well enough to lift off with the Nadesico. In truth, she was surprised. Even against Shizuka, it shouldn't have been that easy. But then again, the Nadesico's Aesti pilots were famous for random brilliance.

A quick search placed Izumi near the plaza fountain. She seemed to be composing a song in honor of the Nadesico's...what, second christening? Hikaru was seated at her feet, taking frantic notes of the occasion for her next doujinshi. Ryoko... she thought she saw a glimpse of Ryoko's outfit near the cafe, and, seeing Harry paying for two cups of coffee, made her way through the crowd to the secluded spot. Yes, Ryoko was there, buying a bagel or something.

Ruri waited until Harry got out of the line before waving to him and sitting at the nearest open table. Then she focused out, skimming the crowd looking for a shock of blond hair. Where was Saburota, anyway?

"BOO!"

"AHHH!"

*Splash*

"Oops, sorry Harry. I thought you were Ryoko."

"You did not!"

"So you were trying to scare me?"

"I don't waste my time with any other Ryokos. Ow."

Well, that answered that question. Ruri sighed. "Bakabaka." she muttered.

When the voice over the intercom finally announced that the Nadesico B had been refueled and was now ready to begin boarding, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Except for Harry, that is, who was strangely reminded of an airport terminal.

******

"There it is, Captain, exactly where Seelie said it would be."

"All right." Yurika took a breath. "Ruri will never forgive me for this..."

"This is no time to be sentimental." Erina snapped. Yurika shot her a blank look.

"All right, let's attack-- but try to disable it, if you can. We don't want any unnecessary deaths if some of our crewmen are still on board. Akatsuki-san, please go prepare to launch."

"Of course." Akatsuki gave a brilliantly devious smile and left the bridge. Jun followed, with considerable more reluctance.

"Jun," Yurika said quietly, "You don't have to go-- I know you hate piloting..."

"I should do something to make myself useful." he muttered sullenly.

"Jun..."

He glanced back and almost said something else, but of course he would never say that and besides, he wasn't sure what he felt about her anymore. It had been a long time since his first flight in a Delphinium, and a lot had changed since then.

"Jun, good luck, then, okay? And thank you." She flashed him a hundred-watt grin and Jun left before he succeeded in confusing himself any worse.

"They're bringing up the distortion field." Mayumi reported, the animation in her voice a stark contrast to Ruri's calm appraisal of every situation.

"Right." Yurika acknowledged. "This is a straightforward fight. There isn't much strategy involved. Eri, tell those ships with the stronger lasers to try and wear down the distortion field. Mikako, bring us up over the top and out of their line of fire. Charging beam cannon..."

******

**Nadesico B has cleared the launch area**

The announcement was heralded with less good wishes than it should have had. No one was sure what was going on-- except Ruri, who had puzzled it out for herself. Other than her, the most informed people were the members of the crew who had been on the bridge before the Successors took over.

Minato was one of those people, but all she could tell an impatient Yukina was that it had something to do with time travel.

"Time travel isn't possible." Yukina had retorted hotly.

"Yes it is." Megumi contradicted her. "Akito went two weeks into the past on a jump."

"But he couldn't do anything." Yukina said. "How could the Nadesico A launch today, go to the past, attack the Nadesico C yesterday before the Successors took over in the first place, and then get back here to meet the same Nadesico C in Osaka?"

"I don't know." Minato sighed, and without Ines to try to explain, everyone was lost.

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