Cosmic Crisis 3 - A New Enemy

Chapter 14 - The Flight, part 2

Trunks was the first to wake. It seemed strange, trying to sleep on the pod, when there was no concept of day or night in space. But, his circadian rhythm was still in tune, so he managed a few winks. He credited the low hum of the ship to his ability to drift off. Low, lulling sounds seemed to have an affect on his sleeping patterns.

He lay in his makeshift bed for a few moments, blankly staring into the blanket of darkness that covered the cabin area. Everything seemed so distant and cold to him. The thought made him shudder in his thin blanket. He heard Goten stir next to him. All five of them were sleeping on the floor. There were separate beds, of course, but somehow they had all managed to huddle together, as if they found strength and comfort in their numbers.

Trunks sat on his elbows first, not wanting to get completely out of bed. He wanted to prevent the onslaught of vertigo that overtook him on mornings such as these. He muttered a couple of weak coughs, just to clear his airways of any blockage that may have developed during his period of sleep. Goten stirred again, huddling under his warm blanket like a small child.

He finally found the strength to stand on both of his feet. He could tell by the lightness he felt all over that this was going to be a particularly rough day. Not in the emotional sense, but physically. Though, the emotional stress probably wasn't helping. His mind wandered again. He knew it wouldn't be very long before he thought of her again. The thought of her, Natalie, stirred such a foreign mix of sensations within his heart. He almost hated the way it made him feel vulnerable. He could see his father saying to him, "Listen boy. You are a Saiya-jin. Saiya-jins don't care for anybody. If you care for someone, it will render you weak." No, Vegeta had never really said those words, but the fact that it was so easy to imagine them coming out of his very mouth made it almost as bad. He knew that Vegeta loved his mother. Hell, anyone could tell.

By now, Trunks was once again becoming frustrated with himself for being so weak. He wondered, was it really worth such anguish? Did the great Vegeta himself ever feel this way? Was this normal? He couldn't tell for sure. He had had a couple of contrite relationships previous to meeting Natalie. He wasn't new to the concept of love. But those others, did he feel true love for them? Or was it what he thought, or what he wanted to be love. In contrast to his feelings of her, the others were only grains of sand in the hourglass, and Natalie was time itself. He wondered if she had the same feelings for him as he had for her.

His mind raced, gathering precious memories. Memories of her. He recalled the way she always smelled good. She never wore any fragrance; it was just a natural scent. It was just her. He remembered the sparkle in her eyes when she laughed. It was almost surreal. As these thoughts came flooding back to him, he scolded himself internally for having doubts about their relationship, for questioning his feelings. He knew deep down that he truly cared for her. Yet, there was something nagging at him. Something was indefinitely gnashing and tearing at his heart.

"Trunks what are you doing awake already?" Goten mumbled. Trunks turned around and witnessed Goten sitting up in his bed, still enveloped in the blanket.

"I woke up, and didn't want to lie in bed." Trunks replied. "Besides, it's about time to get up anyway, isn't it?"

"Hai." Goten replied. "We should wake the others. What time do we arrive?" Trunks' heart suddenly sank. He had been so preoccupied with the thought of Natalie that he had completely forgotten about the mission. They were to arrive on Vela today!

"I...I don't know." Trunks stammered. "But they should know." He said, thrusting a finger in the direction of the sleeping Sidra-jins. Ceres stirred, as if she recognized that she was being acknowledged.

"Man, what a bunch of shit we're in." Goten commented. He then proceeded to turn on the overhead lights, which took some adjusting to after being in darkness for several hours. Trunks looked down at his clothes, and then at Goten's.

"Tousan gave me some Saiya-jin armor to wear. I have an extra set for you too." He said. "In my bag. There are two capsules." Trunks hurried up to the main level and grabbed his bag, and ran back down to where Goten was still standing. Goten cracked his knuckles as Trunks removed the capsules from his bag, decompressed them, and threw then at the floor. As soon as the customary cloud of smoke cleared, there were two pairs of new Saiya-jin armor. But, the bodysuits were black, and the torso armor had shoulder-guards on them similar to the ones on the more primitive armor. Goten and Trunks stood, looking down at the armor for a few seconds of silence before shrugging their shoulders and picking up their respective sets. They immediately slipped into the snug armor, shifting their weight several times just to adjust to the new feel. Reena rolled over and yawned lazily before slowly opening her eyes. Since it was still moderately dark, she could only make out the figures of the two Saiya-jins, and, since they were wearing armor, she jumped away in shock.

"Relax, Reena." Goten said. "It's just us." He extended a hand to help her up from the cold floor she was now sitting on. She happily accepted it, and stood to her feet. She extended her arms above her head and stretched, proceeding to wake the others. Ceres and Sirius were obviously heavy sleepers, because all three of them had to literally drag them out of bed. They were still wearing their bodysuits, which were also black.

"You three need to get your armor on." Trunks said. "And, do you have any idea of what time we arrive?" Ceres' eyes opened wider as she forced herself awake.

"We should be within targeting range." She said groggily. "Remember, we have a lot of preparations to make. I was thinking last night about the Vela-sei defense stations, and, since we are allies with Vegeta-sei, we shouldn't have to worry about you two. We will just have to stop by the station to check you in. They shouldn't have a problem with it, since Saiya-jins are not a threat to us."

"That is all great, Ceres, but what about the landing?" Trunks said, trying to get an answer out of her.

"Oh, the landing. Well, like I said, we should be within targeting range. That means that we will have to manually land on the planet, since there is no specific target locked into the ship's autopilot, and we don't just want to go crashing haphazardly onto the planet." She explained. "There are certain inter-spaceports that we can land safely in. Sirius and I thought about the city of Hespera, since it is rural and not densely populated, but, since the Vela-sei defense station will monitor us, I think we should land at one of the spaceports." She said, and turned to Sirius, who was having trouble keeping his eyes open. "What do you think? Should we land near the capital city where the princess is located or no?" Sirius nodded his head.

"We need to land at spaceport Alpha-Sidra, since it is located on the outskirts of the main city of Sidra itself." He replied.

"Sidra is the city that Nat lives in?" Trunks questioned. Sirius nodded, his eyes staring into nothingness, as he was deep in thought. "Then approximately how much time to we have left?"

"I need to consult the control panel on the main level to determine our position in relation to Vela." He said. The five, without words, picked themselves up and walked up the small flight of stairs to the upper level. Sirius walked towards the control panel and pulled up the system's coordinates of the pod. He studied the map for a few minutes before speaking. "We have roughly two hours until we are close enough to see the planet from our position. We then have to go through the defense stations and target out landing point, which should only take about an hour."

"Until then, we need to be preparing." Trunks said. "There are food and showers on the lower level. Does anyone need anything before I get in the shower?" Everyone shook his or her heads no. Trunks nodded and headed back downstairs. Within a few minutes, the sound of water flowing through the pipes could be heard. Trunks would be quick about it, since they had a limited supply of water aboard.

"We have to be very inconspicuous on the planet, because we don't want to cause another time paradox." Sirius explained. Goten wasn't paying much attention, he was carrying on a conversation with the Sidra-jin girl Reena. He caught himself staring into her blue eyes dreamily a few times, and looked away in embarrassment. Reena hadn't noticed, or, she was masking the fact if she did. After a few minutes, Trunks returned up the stairs, his hair glistening in the low light with water drops running down his neck. He was wearing the black bodysuit of the armor set, but not the actual armor itself. Ceres did a double take, but immediately regained her equanimity and turned around. Reena and Ceres also looked up at him. Trunks stood, frozen in discomfiture, unable to gather words to speak. Goten finally broke the ice and spoke up.

"Hey Trunks. Nice shower?" he asked, sitting on the floor in his armor. Trunks just grunted in reply. "Well I'm next. I don't know why we bothered putting this stuff on." He said, and stood up on his feet, taking off his chest armor as he headed for the stairs. As he walked downstairs, Trunks took a seat against the far wall, flexing his biceps as in preparation for some "battle". His mind wandered, and he felt numb all over, like he was floating aimlessly in space. Ceres' voice brought him back to reality.

"Trunks, are you listening?" she asked. He shook his head to clear his mind and looked up.

"Uh...what?" he said.

"I said, are there any private or enclosed rooms on this pod?" she repeated, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh...iie. There aren't." he replied. "Why?"

"Reena and I have to get ready as well, and you boys are always scurrying about." She said.

"Don't worry, the shower walls are translucent, and you can't see anything. Besides, if we go down to the lower level, it won't be to look at you two." He said flatly, not intending to insult of compliment her. He was indifferent. Ceres showed a hint of desolation on her face in response to the comment. Goten ascended up the stairs, his hair wet as well, wearing the black bodysuit.

"We have about 3/4 of the tank left, so there's plenty of water for the three of you." Goten said to the Sidra-jins. Sirius traveled down to the lower level, without words. Goten and Reena followed his tracks with their eyes.

"Is there...something bothering him?" Goten asked.

"That's just the way he is." Reena answered. "You'll have to get used to it. I think he's just preoccupied. He feels responsible for the four of us, being the oldest and all." Trunks wondered exactly how old the warrior was. He looked to be around Orion's age, but he couldn't tell for sure, with artificial aging and all. His maturity was around the level of a 30 year old, and Trunks assessed that it had to do with the kind of life he had lead.

Ceres was leaning against the central control unit, watching Trunks and Reena diligently, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. Trunks wondered if this turn of events would affect the fate of Kira. He hoped like hell that it wouldn't.

"Something wrong, Trunks?" Reena asked. Goten, who was sitting a few feet away from Reena, and across from Trunks, looked at him, and then back at her.

"Oh...gomen. I'm just... engrossed in thought, that's all." He replied, partially lying. He was juggling the series of events in his brain, trying to make sense of it all. After all, they couldn't kill Hermes, original or clone, in the past, because they risked causing conflict with set events, which could not be reversed. Yet, if they killed him in the present, how would that affect the outcome of the past events on Vela? His mind was going around in circles, causing the development of a stress-induces headache. He desperately wished that there were separate chambers with gravity simulators, so that he could reduce stress, but his mother had not added the required elements into the computer.

Trunks felt like he was going to explode. All of the residual water that had embraced his skin after the shower had now dissolved, whether it be from natural evaporation, of the heat of his skin which was flushed by anger.

The stabilizing device on his temple was exasperating him, and he had to fight off the endeavor of ripping it off and hurling it into the wall before blasting it into oblivion. His mind started to roam again, and he began to manifest the events that led up to the death of Carina, his princess. He envisioned several scenarios, all of which were either too grisly to tolerate, or excessively quick and violent, leaving no trace of her behind whatsoever. Trunks was torturing himself...purposely. He told himself that he deserved the punishment for his actions. He still held onto the notion that if he hadn't malevolently attacked her, she would still be alive. He knew that he hadn't acted rationally. He recalled the strange entity almost, that overcame him, but at the same time, he was still present in mind and body. He also remembered the way he had attacked and insulted Goten, his best friend, without thinking twice. And the way he shunned his father. What had come over him? Was it sheer rage, or was it, perhaps, the not-so-prevalent, inexplicable effect of the time warp?

"Trunks, I know what you're thinking about." Goten said, seizing him from his thoughts, where he was slammed forcefully into the harsh, bittersweet reality. "I want you to stop this."

Trunks glared. Who was Goten to tell him what he should and shouldn't be doing?

"You're going to hate me for this, but you can't let your emotions get in the way of this mission." Goten continued. "The last thing we need is you to become irrational and totally blow this mission for all of us. I understand why you feel the way you do, but if you look at the grand scheme of things, there is still hope." Trunks snarled and forced himself to his feet with quick, steadfast moves, and headed downstairs, mumbling something about getting some food. After he left, Ceres sat down and joined Goten and Reena. They looked at her critically, but made sure that she didn't notice their indignant expressions.

"I wonder what his problem is." She spoke up, obviously desperate to be part of their conversation. Goten took the opportunity to emphasize the relationship between him and Natalie.

"He misses her terribly." He said casually, though smirking inwardly. "I don't know what he would do with himself if she never returned." Reena noted his actions.

"Oh yeah, it's really obvious that they have a strong bond." She said, squeezing Goten's hand. Ceres looked crushed, but immediately retaliated.

"Well it sure wasn't apparent when he hit on me in the gravity room." She said, trying to ease her way back to the top. "I mean, not to get in the way of their relationship, but I don't think he's very loyal." Goten tried not to slap her right then and there. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"I know Trunks better than any of you." He said, trying to control his anger. "I can promise you that he is not the disloyal type." Ceres narrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh really?" she said malevolently. Reena interjected.

"Ceres stop!" she said, becoming angry for the first time since Goten had met her. "You have no right to accuse Trunks of something like that!" Ceres stood up and hovered ominously over the two of them.

"You just can't accept the fact that he doesn't love her like you want to believe! You are in denial!" she said in a harsh tone barely above a whisper. Just as she said this, Trunks walked up the stairs, carrying an armful of food, apparently having brought some for them as well. It was evident that he had heard what she said, based on the degree of shock that was written all over his face. However, much to the surprise of Goten and Reena, instead of hurling the food into the wall and shouting a slur of irrational words at her, he quietly and calmly approached. Ceres had a look of fear on her face now, not able to predict what his next plan of action would be. She took half a step backward as Trunks neared them. He crouched down and set the food next to Goten before standing up. He coolly approached Ceres and placed his hands on her shoulders, keeping his arms fully extended. She clenches her teeth and turned her head a 45-degree angle to the left to avoid direct onslaught.

"You know, Ceres, I'm not going to let this get to me, because you are lying, and I am not." He said. Ceres turned to him in shock. "Now, if you just drop it, I'll forget it ever happened. Okay?"

Goten and Reena were both looking on, their jaws dropped. Ceres, not able to draw words, just nodded her head slowly.

"Good." Trunks said, and let his hands fall from her shoulders. He then turned back to Goten and Reena, and winked at them. Ceres timidly muttered something about having to talk to Sirius before departing from their presence and descending down the stairs. As soon as they were sure she was out of sight and hearing range, Goten and Reena looked up at Trunks in astonishment.

"Trunks I never knew you had it in you." Goten commented, still not over his initial bout of shock.

"Life's full of surprises, isn't it Goten?" he said, sitting down where he had been residing previously, before going downstairs to retrieve food. Goten was unsure of how to reply. Reena laughed lightly. Sirius now returned to the main level, dressed in his complete set of armor.

"Is Ceres showering?" Reena inquired. He offered a quick nod in her direction, not really expressing much enthusiasm either way.

"Hungry?" Goten asked, offering him a capsule. He took it into his hands and studied it.

"This isn't of edibility." He said, looking back at Goten, who facefaulted.

"No, no, no!" he said, and took the capsule from Sirius' hands. "You have to decompress it first."

Sirius watched as Goten compressed the top of the capsule and tossed a few feet away as a large cloud of smoke and vapor exploded into the air before them. Sirius was still hardly amused. When the smoke cleared there was a package of ramen noodles lying on the ground. Sirius moved to pick them up, when suddenly the lights dimmed and a red emergency light began to flash while an alarm sounded. The four warriors immediately jumped up and became very alert.

"What the hell is going on?" Goten shouted over the siren. Sirius ran to the control panel and did a quick scan of their surrounding areas.

"Oh, shit." He said.

"What is it?" Reena cried.

"It's the asteroid field! I completely forgot it was here." He said, clenching his fists. Reena produced a look of fear on her face.

"Don't sweat it, we can just maneuver through." Trunks said, and approached the control panel.

"I hope you're experienced with this thing." Sirius commented. "You haven't seen the asteroid field."

"Relax. We have an asteroid belt too." Trunks said, and switched off the autopilot. Immediately, the pod lurched, and everyone, with the exception of Trunks, fell to the ground. He switched to manual controls and continued to feed power into the main generator. The ship careened through space, and Trunks switched on the visualization screen to monitor their surroundings. He could see the field as they drew nearer. When he saw how many rocks there were floating aimlessly through space, he began to get nervous.

"Something wrong Trunks?" Goten asked. He was standing against the wall next to Reena, her hand in his.

"I've got it under control." Trunks said through clenched teeth.

He ran his fingers down the panel, desperately searching for the shield generator.

"Damnit, where is the button!?" he cried. Goten murmured something to Reena before turning around and sprinting downstairs. She started to reach her hand out to stop him, but she forced herself not to. Trunks turned to her.

"Reena where is he going?" Trunks asked.

"He said something about a spacesuit. That's all I heard over the alarm." She explained. Trunks jerked his head in the direction that Goten had just exited.

"That baka!" He cried. He knew he couldn't risk leaving the controls, but Goten had to be stopped.

"What is he planning on doing?" Reena shouted over the blaring danger signal. Then, a bleeping noise from the control panel signaled that the airlock had been opened. Trunks looked at it for a few moments, frozen in disconcerted anger.

"Sirius, take over the controls." Trunks barked, and then ran down the stairs. He literally jumped down to the lower level, accidentally walking in as Ceres was stepping out of the shower with an infuriated look on her face. She screamed and covered herself up with a towel, but Trunks just ignored her and ran to the airlock. Goten had suited up and gone out into space. Kami knows why he embarked on such a suicidal mission.

Trunks ran back upstairs, passing a blushing Ceres, and skidded to a halt in front of the control panel where Sirius was standing. Trunks knew that there were microphones in all of the spacesuits, so he was going to activate Goten's and demand a legitimate reason for his actions. He pressed a sequence of buttons to pull up the main menu and activated Goten's mike. He then pressed the button to communicate through the port in the suit.

"Goten! What in hell are you doing!?" Trunks cried. After a short pause, there was a reply.

"Oh, hi Trunks." He said casually.

"Goten..."

"I'm just saving your ass, that's all."

Through the slim windows that ran along the walls of the ship, an enormous wave of light was seen. Goten was trying to destroy the asteroids.

Trunks was somewhat relieved, but he didn't like the idea. Still, there was no stopping the kid, now was there?

He shuffled away from the controls, allowing Sirius to resume his position, and slumped onto the floor. Reena stared intently at him for a few seconds, and then walked over to the window, looking out ahead of them, as Goten fired blast after blast, pummeling the rocks and exploding them into a million pieces.

"Have you known him long?" she asked, looking back at Trunks.

"Well yeah...we grew up together." Trunks replied. "Why?"

"He seems sweet." She replied. "But...I don't think..."

"What? You don't think what?" Trunks asked. Sirius had left the room so it was just the two of them.

"I don't think I should get so attached to him."

Trunks looked at her as her lips quivered and she struggled to keep her emotions at bay.

"Goten is a good kid, Reena. He wouldn't-"

"That's not what I'm worried about. You know about Belsevi. I just don't think I should become attached to Goten, because, well...I'm still holding on to the past, that's all."

"But, you can't hold on to the past. If you do, you are blinded and can't see what's right in front of you."

Trunks said. Suddenly, the intercom blinked on and a voice was attempting to contact them. Reena snapped out of her daze and ran to the control panel. She could hear static and a faint voice, which was barely audible.

"Trunks how do you work this thing?" she asked frantically. "I think...that the Vela-sei defense station is trying to contact us." Trunks stood up quickly and joined her.

"You have to hold down this button to speak." Trunks said, showing her how to work the panel. "And then let go to receive. It's not too complicated." He joked. Reena obviously hadn't been paying attention to his attempts to lighten the mood and was trying to reach the station. After several attempts, Reena was ready to give up.

"Damn piece of junk!" she cried, kicking the central column where all of the controls were. Trunks kept his distance...he knew the wrath of an angry female.

This is the Vela defense station. State your position." The voice rang through, clear as crystal. Her kicking must have jarred it back to normal!

Reena's face lit up and she pressed the speaking button.

"This is Reena, I'm returning from New Vegeta-sei with Sirius, Ceres, and two Saiya-jins." She replied. Trunks looked at her in confusion.

"Reena?" the voice replied. It was the gruff voice of a commander. "We weren't aware of your departure from the planet."

"I know, it was a spur of the moment thing. Anyway, we are requesting landing permission at the Alpha-Sidra base." She replied.

"You'll have to pass through the station first. It's a mandatory routine." The voice replied.

"No problem." She replied. "Thanks." And with that, the transmission ended. Reena turned back to Trunks, her face alive with joy.

"We made it!"