Chapter 22

  Inessa stared off ominously, watching the clouds sail past the bridge of the Litvyak. The massive white plumes dissipated once they graced the hull of the ship, scattering through the air while the vehicle continued to ascend. Behind her, Vic remained silent, feeling his head trembling while what was left of his body screamed for a pyrazine capsule. It had been over a week since he last took a capsule, and the withdrawals seemingly became more agonizing each day.

  Megumi being out in the world with Liberation was almost fantasy to him. He was not certain if she was alive or dead at this point. Since he heard the news at Aiga, she had not left his mind. The past week continuously became disparaging with each stop. Reformation Day was a week out, and the Litvyak with its full militia would be on display over the skies of Kashmir. This year, he was prepared to appear without her. The only hint of her being alive were the reports from Liberation’s failed operation in Aiga, but he was not certain if they were real.

  The thought of the troops taking her uniform and badge to infiltrate the base was sickening. The reality of her defection was beyond grasp. He knew that she was struggling when he last saw her. Every moment since only made him more regretful of his decision to send her to Nojiri. He unconsciously began to rub his face with his hand, feeling the tungsten limb beneath his glove give him a sense of relief.

  Inessa started to look down towards the console in front of her, taking notice of a small blip. It was faint. The light on the radar screen gave a quick flash, only prompting her to delve further. She reached towards the adjacent keyboard and began to furiously type away. With a few quick commands, the display began to expand, causing the reach of the radar to increase. The revelation before her caused her to perk up.

  “Sir,” Inessa called out to Vic. “I’m picking up a signal coming from the southwest.”

  Vic found himself starting to drift off for a moment but let out a soft grunt before rising to his feet. He began to walk over towards her to look at the control panel before her. The dimly lit screen was hardly visible from his perspective, further adding to his confusion while he tried to decipher it.

  “Is it one of their fighters?” he asked.

  “No, sir, it’s bigger,” Inessa replied. She leaned into the display, gently using her thumb to brush her white flowing hair aside. After a close observation, she turned her gaze to him. “That’s one of our ships.”

  “That’s a demilitarized zone, why would one of our ships be there?”

  “No idea,” she muttered. After a few seconds of silence, she quickly sat up and flickered to life. “That’s a dropship.”

  “What’s the significance?”

  “Sir, we confirmed there were reports a dropship was stolen in Aiga. This could be it!”

  Vic’s brows furrowed. He started to slowly piece together the information, his thoughts started to bounce around. Inside of his skull, the mechanical enhancements started to whir, causing him to light up. Inessa continued to stare at the panel, taking notice of additional blips starting to come into view.

  She looked back up to him, quickly asking, “We’re currently four hours from Kashmir and it appears there’s another ship with it, do we keep on course?”

  “I don’t understand why they needed the dropship.” he murmured.

  The next thing to come to his mind was Delta, which at this point was considered lost. He lifted his hand towards his chin to gently stroke the stubble growing across it. There was a flicker in his eyes, a small thought that cast across his mind.

  “What do we know about the missing dropship and the seized Mobile Carrier?” he asked.

  “From our intelligence, we were only able to get a few logs before it went offline,” Inessa responded. She continued to go through the motions while the circuits in her brain continued to send data. “It appears as if it were an inside job.”

  “Do we know who could have done it?”

  Inessa turned to him once more, cautiously replying with, “Megumi.”

  Hearing the name caused Vic to ball his fists, quickly deducing what happened in Aiga. He reached down to her, giving her a quick tap on the shoulder. The thought of Megumi defecting was brushed aside, instead his heart started to flutter at the thought of her still being alive. Now, it was possible she was in reach.

  “Correct course,” Vic declared. He started to step away from her before assuming his usual demeanor. “Prepare ground and air troops, we’re going to pounce on them.”

  “I feel so helpless,” Megumi said, chuckling softly as Nomad pushed her through the ship. She was compelled to leap from the wheelchair and finally walk on her own two feet again. However, she grew tired of hearing their berating, and decided to just enjoy the stroll. “I’m sorry you got stuck with me.”

  “It’s nothing, I had a few hours of downtime. Why not go for a walk?” Nomad replied.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “It would be a lot better if you weren’t pushing me the whole time.”

  “I told you, it’s nothing,” he said again. “I’m a big strong guy, I can handle it.”

  “More like a big strong dork.”

  She smirked while lying in wait for Nomad to finally poke back. Instead of a quick retort, he forced out another laugh before continuing to push her through the hall. After a few sharp turns, he started to head towards one of the several balconies on the outside of the ship. The two passed into the outside world, first becoming greeted by a chill from the ancient city. Megumi quickly cradled her arms, trying to shield herself from the air.

  “I hate to do this, but the dork talk has pushed me over the edge.” Nomad said humorously, slowly pushing the chair towards the edge of the balcony.

  Megumi grabbed onto the arms of the wheelchair, letting out a quick belt before feeling her body come to a stop.

  She laughed, quickly saying, “You are a little bastard.”

  “You know I was joking. I was just waiting for the moment to get you back for all those little pranks.”

  “Calling you a dork isn’t a prank, you dork,” She stared ahead towards the desolate city in the distance. The haunting feeling of the empty buildings paired with the grass covered streets gave her a sudden rush. “As bad as Kashmir was, when you see the outside world, it feels like something I’ve taken for granted.”

  “I wouldn’t say that around Paxton or Ginger, they might just hang us.”

  She shrugged, thinking of Ginger’s piercing blue eyes and hair ripping into her only made her more unsettled. Nomad reached down towards the wheels of her chair to engage the lock before finally taking a seat next to her.

  “I don’t even want to think about that guy.” she remarked.

  “I’m going to be honest, there’s something about this whole operation that is off putting.”

  “Sometimes I think about it. I know the G.E.I. has done some terrible stuff, but to be fair a lot of it’s reactionary,” she cut herself short as Nomad lifted his hand to her. The moment he laced his fingers with hers, she quickly stuttered and tried to continue, “There’s just something about enforcing a rule of law centered around a piece of paper onto people. To be fair, the G.E.I. still let a lot of small towns and cities outside of Kashmir set their own rules as long as they played along.”

  “It’s complicated,” he said after a long-winded sigh. There was much still on his mind, pulling him further away from her. “I’m sort of in for the long run now, I’ve been on the outside once and I don’t know if I could easily go back again.”

  Megumi looked down to see his gaze focused on the balcony, not giving the city of the outside world peace of mind.

  She curiously looked to him and asked, “What happened on the outside? The first time?”

  “My dad took me and Shirow out of the city,” he said unhesitant, peering back towards memories long repressed. “He was wanting to have us go to one of those little towns outside of the city.”

  “Where was that?”

  Nomad could faintly remember the name. The way Shift spoke of the town seemed fanciful, almost like paradise on Earth. He wasn’t sure if it was real or not, but he searched inside for the name.

  “Ural Vale.” He said.

  She stopped to ponder the name, only to find herself lost in a sea of memories. Inside of Kashmir, learning the names of these territories was not exactly elementary knowledge. There were still thousands of small cities and towns scattered through the world, each just dots on a map to her.

  Nomad continued, “He was ill. We didn’t think we would make it. One of the last things he wanted us to do was to go back to Kashmir and try to climb the rank structure. With me and Shirow on the outside, I guess you can say that opportunity has since passed.”

  “I don’t even know if my dad would take me back when he finds out what I’ve done for Liberation.”

  “I hear he’s one cold bastard, but nobody’s that cold,” he replied, slowly turning to face her again. “Do you get second thoughts about creating those weapons for Liberation?”

  “That took a left turn,” she laughed again. She started to look back towards the city once more, taking a soft breath. “Creating stuff and helping people is just something that drives me. If I can make a difference in the world, why not do it? Do you ever think about going to that town and walking away?”

  “Sometimes, but I think that’s something for whenever all of this is over, whenever that is.”

  “If anybody is going to fix it, it’s going to be us.”

  He nodded in response, smiling before saying, “You seem to be in better shape than you were when we first met.”

  “Well, I was a mess,” she looked at him again, slowly feeling her heart flutter as he stared back. Her cheeks flushed red while her eyes filled with warmth, nervously saying, “I still want to have you test that robe.”

  Nomad quickly rose to his feet, reaching to unlock to the wheelchair. As the gears clicked free, Megumi reached over to him, trying to grab one of his hands.

  “It’s pretty cold, so we might as well give it a shot.” Nomad said.

  “Not right now, dummy,” she said, getting his attention again. “I need a change of scenery, bad.”

  He took notice of her fingers wiggling towards him before finally reaching out to her. With a soft chuckle, he reached back, finally grasping hold of her. The warmth of her of fingers laced with his brought him a quick rush, finally bringing him to his feet.

  “Get me out of this chair, you dork.” She said again.

  Nomad relented, reaching his other hand towards her to gently lift her from the seat. Her smile remained unchanged, not so much as a wince as he pulled her towards him. At last, he reached behind her to finally plant a kiss. Their lips finally met, speaking volumes of the emotions the two had felt for each other without a sound.

  For a moment, time seemed to stand still as Megumi started to melt into his embrace. Her heart soared with joy at the realization she was finally able to stand on her own two feet. However, as their kiss deepened, the blaring sounds of the alarms on the Deck Hall came to life, jolting them back to reality with a sense of urgency. Nomad finally released his hands, gently starting to guide her back into the chair.

  “This,” Nomad stuttered, still feeling his heart race. He quickly brushed his thumb across her cheek, frustrated that one of the best moments of his life had come to halt before finally muttering, “To be continued.”