Superb Surprise

Chapter 3, In Which Zircon Makes a Debateable Decision

No one saw it coming. No one knew it was going to happen. The shaking, the cutting, the abduction. It all started when a large ship had gotten to close for comfort with the very small Roaming Eye. There had been a communication with the ship. A female had appeared in the screen and ordered the pilot to halt. Navy, being the pilot, refused at first. "We will not obey you.", she had said indignantly. The female frowned and restated her order, with an added threat. "Halt your vessel or we'll be forced to do it for you." Navy faltered, but still remained determined. The creature huffed. "So be it." The ship shook violently, causing the gems onboard to fall to the ground. Then, as soon as it started, it stopped. It seemed as if nothing happened, But that was quickly disproven, as a loud scraping sound echoed in the room. A hole was being cut in the side of the ship. Two creatures stepped into the ship. One was the female from earlier. The other was tall, orange, and otherwise rather odd looking. They started ordering them around. "Show us your gems and no one gets hurt!", the orange one shouted. Navy spoke up. "Now see here! I don't know who the two of you think you are, but we are soldiers of the Diamonds! We are not going to take orders from y-" Navy was suddenly cut off by a burst of plasma radiating from the orange creature's arm, which had turned into a cannon. The blast destroyed her physical form. The orange one barked, "Anyone else want to voice their concerns? I said show your gems!" Everyone complied. The two of them started checking the Rubies' gems. They found what they were looking for eventually. "That's her. She's the one Dementia's been looking for." They grabbed Eyeball and placed restraints on her hands. The two of them carried Eyeball and walked back through the hole they made. The orange one picked up what they cut out and sealed it back onto the wall. The only evidence anything had happened was the absence of Eyeball, and Navy's gem lying on the floor.

Zircon's a bounty hunter. He's done things like that more times than he can count. But kidnapping a Ruby? It really hit home. Remember, he's partially Ruby himself. And what's more, he's an empath, meaning he can feel others emotions. And one emotion was being projected throughout the room: Fear. "It would be pretty scary, alone on an unfamiliar ship, taken from your friends, death able to come at any minute... What am I doing?! She's afraid for her life and here I am sitting here indifferently!" He stood up and walked into the restroom, out of sight of the brig. He took off his belt, bandolier, and boots. He relaxed.... and unfused. It wasn't hard, it's just he liked being together. Softie and Yellow Peridot, who Softie called Mel, were hugging, what they were doing when they last fused. "Softie, are you sure about this? She could react badly.", Mel asked as she let go of Softie. "She's alone, she's scared, she needs to see a familiar face. E.g., me." Softie walked out of the restroom. She walked into the brig of the ship, where Eyeball was being kept in a cage. Eyeball noticed the Ruby, and spoke up. "Hey, you need to hide. Those creatures will have your gem in pieces if they catch you!" Softie's eyes grew wide, but she tried remained calm. "Don't worry, they know I'm here. I work for the orange one. They're a gem.", Softie said, sitting in a chair near the cage. "The orange one is a gem? What kind?", Eyeball asked. "Jasper, I believe. Facet- E7, Cut- P4. They were considered defective because of how they identified themself." Eyeball sat back. "Why do they want me? What did I do?", she asked. The Ruby sighed. "You claimed you witnessed the shattering of Pink Diamond. The Jasper is receiving a reward for turning you in. Their superiors will question you, and then you'll be returned to your friends." Julie shouted, "Oz? What's happening back there?" Softie ran back into the restroom and quickly fused with Mel, then Zircon put his clothing back on and walked out of the cramped compartment. "Just wasn't feeling to well. I'm okay, now." The sight of a large, tube shaped star ship appeared in the distance. "The D.J.S. Troi. A judiciary ship."

Zircon then got an idea. As far as his ideas go, he's had worse, and he's had better. One could argue it was bad, but one could just as easily argue it was good. As soon as Julie's shop docked with the station and a Dementian guard boarded the ship, Zircon had a request. "If it's possible, I have someone who could probably get answers out of the Ruby faster than a Dementian officer." The guard radioed his commander. She responded, "Anything for answers." Later, he walked into a waiting room, and the secretary asked, "You here for the Ruby?" He nodded and he replied, "Room 1001. Good luck." He walked through a door and down a hallway. He was going to get to the bottom of this. Hopefully.