FanFic - DP/UF - Crossroads [3]
MegaZone
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"Shared joy is increased; shared pain is lessened."
--Anonymous
On a small planet several thousand light years from anywhere,
a man made a decision. The communication had reached him a couple of
days before, and he had been soul-searching ever since. Now was the
time, he decided; damn it, if he could go off and bravely face his
fears, admit his mistakes, and so on, then so could he. Besides, he
couldn't let that bastard think he was better. He got up from the
table, folded down the computer thereinstalled, and headed toward the
back of his house, pulling on the gloves of his flightsuit.
He opened the door to the garage with a keypad and stepped
out, putting on his helmet. Now was the time. He kept repeating that
phrase in his head. Now is the time, now is the time. No turning
back. No regrets. He opened the door to his starcraft and settled
into the pilot's seat. Tapping control codes with practiced ease, he
rediscovered long-dormant routines still came easily and keyed the
door open.
The strange starship rose on a cushion of air and blasted out,
reaching escape velocity posthaste and streaking into deep space. It
appeared to have a pair of superluminal warp nacelles built into a
small living cabin, much like the executive transports the megacorps
used. However, the nose section strongly resembled an old Terran
surface vehicle. The entire craft was a resplendent fire-red and
weapons ports could barely be seen. On its side, in fading black
letters, could be seen the words:
WARPZONE W.D.F. WAYWARD SON COMMAND WWWA-101162
The man laid in the coordinates for Musashi and kicked in the
superluminal drive. Four days later he emerged from hyperspace near
Musashi. He, like Ben, came in the most exciting way possible,
needing the adrenaline rush to stiffen his resolve and make it ever
harder for him to back down. He established a geosynchronous orbit
and contacted the planetary officials for permission to land. With
said permission, the starship did something most unusual. The nose
section extended down and forward from the superluminal drive section
on twin arms. A blue glow flared around the aft section of the nose,
and it streaked away from its moorings toward the atmosphere.
It looked for all the world like an ancient Terran Dodge
Daytona.
<<< Riggs: Radar Rider >>>
The man grounded the Daytona outside the Vesper dome and raced
out across the sand at its maximum speed.
Lovely Angel's sensors picked up the incoming vehicle four
miles out and immediately tossed a picture of it onto a viewscreen.
Kei, Yuri, Mughi, and Ben were crammed into the cockpit watching, and
as the image of a fire-red Dodge Daytona streaking across the Musashi
ash filled the main screen, Ben leaped in the air and let out a
triumphant whoop. He felt better than he had in nearly a century--he
and the woman he loved were together again, and here came one of his
best friends out of hiding--life was sweet, life was goddamn sweet.
Yuri felt as Kei had four days previously, as she contemplated
talking with Ben about what had transpired--full of annoyingly
fluttery insects who refused to keep still. Unlike Kei, she didn't
slam down over that feeling a lid of bravado and coat the whole thing
with a thick layer of tough; part of Ben and Kei's relationship was
melting through layers like that. Yuri had no intentions of shooting
at this new arrival.
(Although it bears pointing out that Kei had no intentions of
hitting Ben.)
The Daytona landing craft thus roared unchallenged up to the
ramp of the larger starship and ground to a halt inches from one of
the landing gear. The door opened and its pilot, resplendent in a
tasteful, if antiquarian, WDF Wayward Son flightsuit sporting
captain's bars, stepped out. He pulled off his helmet and shook his
head; it had been a long flight. He then pulled off his gloves, threw
them into the helmet, and dropped both in the seat before closing the
door and marching up the ramp, his Nikes looking oddly out of place.
He too gave a perfect WDF salute and inquired after permission
to board, which was promptly granted. Then, with no preamble, no
small talk, and no awkwardness at all, MegaZone gathered up Yuri in
his arms (which was simple enough, as he topped her height by a foot,
probably doubled her weight, and was met with no resistance) and
carried her into the ship.
Kei and Ben shared a small smile between them, and Kei reached
over to squeeze his hand; everything was all right again. Or at
least, as all right as it could ever
be.