Binary Star

Chapter Eleven: Parting

Chapter Eleven: Parting

All I wanted was to protect my partner. All I wanted was to keep him safe. I wanted it, even if I had to sacrifice myself to do so. I didn't know what future awaited me now, but I did know that Jinnai Kobayashi would be safe. Or, at least that was what I thought then.

I stirred out of sleep and peeled my eyes open. An unfamiliar white ceiling greeted me. I sat up, groggily rubbing my tired blue eyes. I felt like a wreck. My short, shoulder-length, sugar-pink hair was matted and tangled, my eyelids felt like lead weights, and my throat felt dry and tight. I could only imagine what I must have looked like. I awoke in a small, sterile, pure-white room containing nothing but the bed I laid upon. My bones creaked as I swung my legs over the side of the bed and staggered upright. I noticed my clothes had been changed during the time I was unconscious. I wore a simple white shirt, black shorts, and matching knee-high socks. Oh, I realized. This is the S.S. Lillium. "Hello?" I croaked, my throat as dry as sand. "Is anyone there?"

To answer my question, the door creaked open. Commander Sigma Hydrae showed up, clad in her Lilliputian military uniform. Her dark green hair was tied back in a ponytail with a white ribbon. Even though I hadn't been gone for that long, I barely remembered what she looked like. "C-Commander Hydrae," I stammered. "What's going on here?" Sigma looked down at a tablet in her hands. She glanced at me with upturned gold eyes. "I didn't expect you to be back here so soon. Even with the queen's declaration, your mission is nowhere near finished. It's only been a little over a month since you arrived on Earth."

It's only been a month? I thought. Looking back, my time on Earth felt like an eternity. "Oh, yes. The prince, Antares Scorpius...he ordered me back here." Strangely, Sigma gave me a lopsided look, as if I had done something obviously foolish but hadn't yet realized it. "He ordered you back here? That wasn't what I was told. The prince doesn't have that kind of power. I was told that the queen herself ordered your return. She's the only one who can declare such a thing, unless you decide to return of your own volition. But still, if you are back here now, that means you must have some personal affairs to settle with the prince. Our staff confiscated your uniform and put you through a thorough disinfection process while you were unconscious, to destroy any foreign pathogens you may have picked up from your...partner."

She uttered the word as if it were a curse. I frowned a little. "Come this way," Sigma beckoned, nodding toward the doorway. "We have some paperwork to take care of." She led me out into the main office, where Berenice was waiting, dressed in the same plain attire. "Berenice?" I asked. "What are you doing here?" She looked concerned. "I came back for you. I'm worried about you, Spica. All of a sudden, you just vanished from Earth without contacting me or anyone else...why?"

I hung my head. "I...I'm sorry. It's...a long story." Sigma cleared her throat, interrupting the two of us. "Well, whatever the case, you both have a lot of explaining to do. Scouts don't return of their own volition without notifying me or another official, your younger sister Chi Virginis managed to steal one of our drones and flee to Earth until you sent her back, the prince has been acting very strange as of late, and to top it all off, there is a human of all things being held prisoner in our ship's basement level. Needless to say, the queen has been very concerned about all this."

I got a sharp pain in my chest. "Wait...there's a human on the ship? Who...are they?" Commander Hydrae stared me right in the eyes. "He is your partner, Ms. Virginis." My blood froze in my veins. I clenched my quivering fists. "But...but why? That wasn't the way it was supposed to be!"

I whirled around and bolted out of the Commander's quarters. I sped down the maze-like ensemble of corridors as fast as my feet could carry me. I made my way to one of the warp pads and stepped on its luminescent surface. I could barely tame my nerves long enough to punch the correct code into the keypad. A droning, robotic voice echoed down the hall. "WARPING TO BASEMENT LEVEL."