File 13.3 - Into the New World

A low steady beep echoed in her ear. The room hummed softly almost like a cat’s purr that might have been soothing to hear were it not for the anti-septic smell in the air. Her body seemed to be the last thing to wake as her senses already had a jump start on her. She knew that she was in a hospital room long before her eyes opened.

“Su!” shouted a familiar voice calling to her. The pressure of their hand on the bed alerted her to his presence.

Shizuka turned her head slowly to Edgar, a welcome sight from the last thing that she remembered. Her body recalled the memories of the desperate battle to protect the city. It forced her mind to relive the violent fighting with the shaking of the cockpit coursing through her hands to cycle through her body.

He kept staring at her waiting for her to say something, the worry on his face all too apparent. “Seems we traded places again,” she joked.

It got a slight smile from Ed for her comment. “I’d prefer that’d be me.”

“Well maybe it’ll be your turn next.” She sat up in the hospital bed testing out her body. Her body felt responsive and there was no pain. Shizuka could not remember clearly what happened between the end of the fight and waking up. But once she started to put her surroundings together she caught up to the important matter. “The city’s still safe.”

Ed leaned back with heavy thoughts weighing his shoulders. “…yeah…”

“That’s not a definitive answer. What’s wrong?” She stared at Ed wanting an answer while he remained cagey. The fact that he hesitated to give her any clear answer only made what she imagined it could be worse. “Edgar! Answer me, damnit!”

Still reluctant to answer her, he instead handed over her computer pad. Shizuka glared at him, not having the backbone to just answer her himself. ‘What is it? I’m guessing the news will have the answers that he’s holding back on…’

She tapped at the screen and quickly navigated to get her news feed. Before she could carefully read any of the headlines, her feed rapidly scrolled through all of the updates. Only brief glimpses of words flashed for her eyes to pick up. Her hands tensed up as the words ‘captured’, ‘dead’, ‘destruction’ and more appeared.

Slowly taking each piece in, Shizuka paused with each headline. Her finger accidentally tapped on one of the articles starting the report playing.

“As though straight out of science fiction, the entire Earth fell under attack. In only an hour enemy forces captured all major metropolitan areas and began moving to outlying areas. It’ll only be a matter of days before everything north of Antarctica City belongs within enemy control.” Shizuka pressed her finger to the screen, stopping it before it could go on any longer.

“How long?”

Still hesitant, Ed looked away, but still felt the daggers of Shizuka’s eyes on him. “Two days.”

“Everything…everyone is…”

“Yeah.”

“Do we know anything more about them?”

“Not terrorists as the bastard old men have been tellin’ us.” Edgar managed to find the strength to face Shizuka with the truth directly. He tapped on the device at his wrist and quickly cycled through videos for the one he wanted. It linked with the monitor in the room transmitting the video. “They gave this declaration yesterday.”

An oddly young appearing man in a well dressed suit and a magnetic charisma that seemed effortless appeared on the monitor. “Hello citizens of Earth, my name is Myrilan Lapin, I’m the President of the Earth Colonial Federation, a unified state of all Earth Sphere colonies. Our arrival is no doubt sudden and surprising as certain truths have been withheld from you. I shall explain our purpose by revealing these truths.”

‘Truths?’ Shizuka looked over at Ed for some sort of confirmation of what the man boldly declared. All she got from him was a motion to keep watching the screen. While she never completely trusted what the General and the others told her before the battle, it felt like it might have been closer to the truth. She felt that they were still hiding things from all of them. That they were only telling them what fit for their needs. But she had no proof of it.

The bait of another truth or different sort made her curious. She wanted to know what they might still be hiding from them. “The reality is that we are humans like yourself, but since the nuclear holocaust on the Earth we have been separated. Living in space, we were free from the wars that raged on Earth and were spared the self destruction of Earth. However, in the silence of what we believed to be a dead planet you survived.

“Silently, the organization you know as the Healing Organization for the Planet Earth, HOPE, worked and created a system cutting you off from us. It created an electromagnetic field that destroyed electronic systems. This system also serves to prevent the further use of nuclear weapons, which destroyed the Earth before. As HOPE knew when they activated the system, all colony systems were nuclear based at the time resulting in the death of millions.

“Our arrival now is because we’ve been able to break through the system they created. Our purpose now is two-fold. For the crimes against our people so many centuries ago, we demand the dissolution of the current government and all political and military figures turned over for criminal trials of crimes against mankind. Second, we will bring all of the people of Earth into the Earth Colonial Federation as a provisional state. You are brethren like us, as citizens are not to be blamed for the crimes of your government and we will accept you all into the Federation with no prejudice.”

“Bullshit!” barked Ed ending the speech from President Lapin.

Shizuka snapped back to Ed still feeling like she was missing details on what happened while she was out. However, what that man had to say was very different from what she heard from the General. “He makes it sound like we’re the villains and they did nothing wrong.”

“Jes more lies.”

“So you believe what General Nornland said, that they attacked us with nuclear weapons?”

“I don’t believe those bastards either.”

“But someone’s gotta be telling the truth.”

“Or they’re both lying to fit their needs.”

That thought gave her pause. It was a scary thing to think. She thought that she might have been getting closer to the truth. But if Edgar was right, they were only getting further away. “If they’re both lying, then how are we supposed to know what’s the truth?”

“Dunno,” he replied simply. A short answer, but not with that she could really challenge. They were working with powers far above them controlling nations. It came as a frustrating point that none of it could be challenged. “Whatever’s the case we have to protect the people.”

Shizuka nodded quietly. It was the only reason that she agreed to fight for them before. They manipulated the whole situation so that they had no choice, but to fight. She hated everything about it. They remained in control the whole time and sent them out to do their fighting, yet she could not say no.

“Is there anything wrong with me?”

“Huh?”

“Medically? The doctors say anything about me?”

“Um, no? Jes exhaustion.”

Ripping off the sensors and tubes, Shizuka stood up out of bed letting the computers complain about no longer getting any readings from their patient. “Then I don’t need to be here any longer.” She looked around the room for any signs of her uniform or pilot suit, but there was nothing. “Got anything for me to wear that doesn’t leave my butt hanging out?”

Edgar looked away from Shizuka, reminded that even being two years younger than him, she was still a girl. “Wasn’t planning for somefin like that.”

“Fine, just give me your jacket then.”

She stood in front of him making it hard for him to respect her modesty, though there was nothing for him to really see. The medical gown covered everything, but he had not seen her as exposed since her being in a dress. He had grown accustomed to seeing her in a strict uniform. “I think that’ll only make things look worse.”

“Then give me your pants as well if you’re that worried about gossip.”

“Then what’ll I wear?!”

“Give me your jacket.”

“Damnit, I forgot how much of a pain in the ass ya can be.”

Dropping her hands on her waist, she glared at him. “Now that you remember, hand it over.”

“Fine.” As he started to unbutton his uniform’s jacket the door slid open, the doctor and nurse finally reached them. They stared at the two trying to figure out what was happening.

“What are you two thinking you’re doing?!” the doctor yelled with an indignant tone as though they were offending his practice.

An annoyed glare shot over to the doctor from Shizuka interrupted before she could make a completely clean escape. “Quick off with it already.”

“I will not allow this!”

Edgar had stalled in his motions trying to not give any further misunderstandings. However, Shizuka leaned down and undid his last button, getting a gasp from the nurse. She then tugged on the jacket collar forcing Ed into action to relinquish his arms. Once freed from him, she threw it over her shoulders and slid a button through to close it.

With enough to cover her, she pushed through the stunned adults. “Out of my way, I’m discharging myself.”

She only made it out to the hall before the doctor recovered and understood what was actually happening. He grabbed her forearm to stop her from leaving. “You aren’t going anywhere, Petty Officer! I haven’t cleared you for active duty.”

“Do you really want to be going against orders from General Nornland and Doctor Kitawara?”

“There’s no such orders!” he countered, calling her bluff. The doctor tried to pull her back into the room, but Edgar stopped him by putting a hand out. “What are you doing?”

“Why do ya think I’m here? Order’s are orders, give it up, doc.” Ed saw the pleased look in her eyes that he went with her lies. He pushed through the doorway trying to get the doctor off Shizuka. His grip tightened on the man’s arm finally getting him to release her.

The doctor quickly retrieved his arm trying to keep the pain hidden. “I’ve heard nothing about this!”

“Yeah, well they need us back at tha AESIR. We’re at war ‘member?”

Shizuka marched away from the doctor, finally released. She refused to entertain anymore from the adults. Thanks to Ed’s efforts on her behalf, it seemed that they were no longer coming after them. Ed quickly rushed after her to catch up.

“I’m going to call Command right now!” the doctor threatened.

Ed glanced partially back at the doctor, already a distant view from them. “Sure that was smart?”

“He can call them as much as he wants, I don't care. And I’m sure they don’t either, they only want pilots.”

“Prolly right about that, damn bastards.” They made it out of the hospital wing and outside as the only way to quickly get back to the apartments. Shizuka still required proper clothes rather than the misleading jacket with her bare legs exposed. “Still can’t believe ya used yer old man’s name.”

“I needed someone important. I didn’t have a choice.”