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Chapter Five: Unorthodox Approach
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"Do you think it'll help?"
Jim? Is that you?
"It worked when Gene was injured..." came a calm, female voice.
W-where am I?
"But Melfina was with him at that time. We aren't sure it will work with just Hilda, even if she does have the DNA of both parents."
"What are you going to do?" asked Hilda, finally finding the strength to open her eyes slightly. The light hurt her head, and she felt sick. Nauseous. And cold. Oh god, I'm losing blood. I'm going to die.
"Don't worry. You'll be better in no time," replied Jim, seeing the tears that collected in her eyes. He knew she thought she was going to die. "We'll take care of you."
Hilda felt herself being lifted up. She saw the small trip in stages. The resident halls...then the corridor to the cockpit...When they reached the cockpit, Jim knelt down and opened a small hatch. "Mom's..." murmured Hilda, recognition replacing the scared look in her eyes. "But..."
"Don't worry. It'll be all right."
Hilda was lowered into the small hatch and it was closed over her. Then... liquid began to seep into the capsule, and for a moment, Hilda panicked. Then it closed over her head and she realized that she could breathe the substance. She let herself float in the tank, and suddenly she began to tingle. The cut on her head and the few cuts on her arms began to grow warm. The comforting sensation lulled her to sleep and she found herself asleep before long.
Z
Jim sat in his chair in the cockpit, his arms folded across his chest and a worried expression on his face. The stars passed slowly outside the window, reminding everyone that they were once again in space, and very much alone. Systems had been offline since Hilda had gone in for recovery, and Jim had little to no idea how to bring them back up.
Suddenly, the screen came alive with figures. "What the..?" murmured Jim, turning to study it. It looked like Gilliam was trying to chart a course for something. When it stopped, Jim turned to see Hilda climbing out of the chamber. She offered him a small smile.
"What's this a course to?" asked Aisha.
"Why, the Galactic Leiline, of course."
All four members of the crew...were speechless.
Z
"Dammit Harry, how many times have I told you not to be so reckless?"
Harry glared up at his brother, but said nothing as the automated machine worked the synthetic flesh back onto his newly reconstructed arm. He was getting sick and tired of listening to his brother complain. "You know what? It's not my fault, okay?"
"Then whose fault is it?" snapped Ron, crossing his arms over his chest.
Suddenly, the comm blinked. Ron turned and pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, authorizing the incoming call. "Now is not the best time for sibling rivalry."
"Yukio, when will you learn to mind your own business?" asked Ron, setting a disdainful gaze on the young Kei pirate.
Yukio narrowed his eyes a bit, as if he were about to blow a small tantrum, then he relaxed. "I'm going to make it simple for you. I'm no longer funding your Galactic Leiline project. I have had a vision that told me nothing good can come of this endeveaor. I do not want to waste the time or the manpower it would take to persue this. You're on your own." Without another word, Yukio broke the connection.
Ron's expression had turned thoughtful. "Hmmm. The Kei pirates pulled out. That's surprising. I wonder if we should continue on too."
Harry stood, and flexed his new arm. "Of course we're going to keep going."
Ron held up a hand to stop his brother, deep in his own thoughts. "I'm not so sure."
"Are you saying we should give up?"
"No I'm not. I'm simply saying we should give serious thought to persuing this any further. Something serious must be involved. Kei pirates don't turn tail and run over just anything."
"Oh, we'll pursue it all right," said Harry, a slow grin twisting his features. I will make you mine Hilda Starwind.
Z
Hilda lay in her bunk, staring up at the ceiling with a mixture of sadness and anger. In her mind, she was ran through all the things that had happened in the past few days. Sleeping with Harry, being betrayed, the whole experience in the chamber, and finding the Leiline...It was an awful lot for a person to absorb, all in one week.
"Hilda, is something wrong?"
Hilda glanced down to see the small pink capsule that Gilliam traveled in. "A lot of things Gilliam. I don't think it's anything you can help with though."
Gilliam seemed to study Hilda for a moment, then he connected himself to one of the tracks that ran along the ceiling. "Actually Hilda, there is something that I think it's time you possess. It might help you on the road ahead."
"Oh? And what's that?"
"It's something your father left for me to give to you. Follow me."
Hilda swung her legs over the side of the bunk and lowered herself to the floor, landing silently on her feet. She didn't want to disturb Jim, who was snoring rather loudly on the bottom bunk.
Silently she followed Gilliam as he traveled along the track, taking turn after turn until she was in a part of the ship that she didn't know existed, or if she had she couldn't remember it. Gilliam lowered himself on a box in the far corner of the room. "Open this."
Hilda nodded and lifted the lid, making sure that Gilliam was already off it. Inside was another box. This one smaller and more beat up. She unlatched it and opened it, and she gasped.
It was her father's Caster gun.
She lifted it out of the box reverently, her eyes wide with wonder. "I can't believe it..." Memories flashed in her minds eyes, hundreds of times when her father was cleaning the Caster, counting bullets, and complaining about the fact that most gun shops no longer carried Caster shells. She browsed through the shells quietly. There were only sixteen: four number threes, six number twelves, five elevens, three thirteens and two tens.
"Why do you keep those things?" asked Melfina, watching her husband count and clean his gun supplies.
"What? The nines?"
Melfina nodded, worry shining in her eyes. "You know what they do. The same shells almost killed you back then..."
"I believe he would have wanted you to have it."
Hilda snapped out of the past and turned at the sound of the new voice to see Jim, leaning against the wall, a smile on his face. "I can't think of anyone whose more qualified to handle that thing."
Hilda bowed her head, then slowly removed the gun and holster from the box. She strapped the holster on and slid the gun home, placing the shells in their individual carriers. It felt good, comforting, like she belonged with the weapon, and it with her. "Thanks Jim," she said, standing. She turned and offered him a small smile.
"Hilda, we have reached it," announced Gilliam.
"Reached what?" asked Hilda. "You can't mean we reached the Galactic Leiline already..."
"No. We've reached Dragon."
"Not the ruins," sighed Jim, running a hand over his face. "We have to go through the steps, don't we Gilliam?"
"Yes. Everything in the universe has it's order, and we must follow it."
"Wait, wait, wait! What are you two talking about?" asked Hilda, getting slightly annoyed at the way they talked as if she wasn't even there.
"You'll see," murmured Jim, turning and walking back the way he came. "You'll see."
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