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PHASE 05: Edge of the Universe
(A/N: This and subsequent chapters would have to be read on the assumption that after 2 years, the wreckage of Junius 7 on the Debris Belt would now be somewhere between LaGrange points L1 and L5. It takes roughly a day to travel from the PLANT to Junius 7 in a moderate-sized vessel.)
On board the Acis, C.E. 73 4.21
They had double-checked everything, catching errors, correcting mistakes. The systems had to be locked down for their absence. The radio transceivers had to be set up to receive, encrypt and relay transmissions to PLANT. The onboard computers had to be left in a condition to be accessed remotely.
So, when they finally sat down to their second breakfast on board the ship, there was a sense of calm reconciliation with whatever might come later. On his part, Kira tried to keep the conservation light-hearted, reminiscing about the weeks they spent on the PLANT prior to the voyage.
“You could have pretended to lose, or at least played substandard,” he said in a mock scolding tone. “It would have saved us the trouble of cleaning up later.”
Athrun raised his eyebrows. “What’s the point? Yzak would have been able to pick up on that. Besides,” he grinned, “I can’t resist driving him over the edge.”
Kira laughed. Yzak had invited them to his apartment on October 2 the day before the voyage, and then – to maintain the wholesome ferment of their ongoing rivalry – had insisted on challenging Athrun to a console battle of Mobile Suits. Needless to say, the outcome was disastrous and only good breeding dictated that the three unfortunate guests remained to deal with the chaotic aftermath.
“You’re a paradox, you know. You claim to hate competing, yet you can’t bear to lose,” Kira narrowed his eyes sensuously. “Or maybe it doesn’t matter to you as long as you come out on top.”
It took a while for the joke to sink in. “Kira! You’re impossible!” Athrun cried.
They had a good laugh over it, before returning to their barely edible morsels of nameless carbohydrates and proteins. His friend thus occupied, Kira took the opportunity to observe the play of light on the dark hair. The ways of the world are strange and unpredictable, he mused. Kira remembered a time when he was almost jealous of his best friend: Athrun was the kind of boy who was simultaneously a heartthrob in school and a teacher’s pet, adorable but with an obnoxious tendency to turn his papers in early and get A’s on them. He had everything going for him: he could have had anyone, yet he chose…
“Eh… I don’t suppose it is my good looks which have attracted your attention; it must then be some defect – may I know what? A cancerous growth on my forehead?”
Kira was confounded but not with an irrecoverable confusion. “Erm… No… no –,” he started, waving both hands vigorously to emphasise his point. “I was just wondering why you didn’t ask Cagalli along.”
“Oh, that.” Athrun shrugged. “She was too busy, what with those peace conferences. I couldn’t possibly ask her.”
“Cagalli…”
“Huh…?”
“What do you think of my sister?”
Athrun stared at him. “Are you feeling alright? You’ve been acting real strange lately.”
“No, really. What do you think of her?” Kira persisted, trying to keep his voice firm and even.
Shaking his head, Athrun relented. “She is interesting, not exactly docile or amiable; but like you, she is quick – it is hard not to like her.”
“Oh.” A curious sensation had struck through Kira – a disagreeable presentiment – but he had no time to analyse or dwell upon it.
“Kira. Did you hear something?”
“Wait,” Rice began. “You are saying that you believed someone had remote access to the – ” He consulted his notes. “Acis’ controls, and had set the vessel to self-destruct?”
Athrun laughed, but it was not a good sound. “What was I supposed to think? That the Acis had a mind of her own and had decided, on a whim, to detonate and take her occupants along with her?”
“But, there is always the possibility that the Acis’ controls had malfunctioned,” Dearka frowned; like many engineers, he had a precise and orderly mind.
“No. That would have been highly unlikely, to say the least. Kira and I had checked just before breakfast and everything was functioning smoothly.” There was a decisive finality in Athrun’s voice. He added, scrupulously accurate. “It was eight-thirty in the morning relative to PLANT, approximately fifteen minutes before the Acis self-destructed.”
The source of the elusive beeping turned out to be the control board. Kira dropped into his seat, fingers flying over the instrument panels. He stopped after a while, staring in dismay at the scanner.
“What is it?” Athrun’s voice was husky with uncertainty.
“The ship…” Words would not come; Kira’s throat was dry. “It will self-destruct in five minutes.”
“What?!” The green eyes widened. “Can you stop it?”
Kira glanced futilely at the control panel, shaking his head. They had less than five minutes and there didn’t seem to be a single thing he could do about it. “No. The self-destruction sequence is irreversible once activated.”
There was a moment of rigid silence, then Athrun grabbed Kira’s arm. “Come on. We have to get out of here.”
They suited up quickly before heading to the stern where the escape pod was kept.
“Get in.” Athrun’s voice came over the suit’s communication channel. Kira hesitated: the escape pod had room for only one.
“Go on. We can share it.” And Kira found himself more or less shoved into the pod. Within seconds, the hatch had closed over both men and the escape pod was launched from the vessel.
Somehow, they managed to steer the pod to a position from which they could observe the ship at a safe distance. They did not have long to wait: the Acis exploded in a blinding flare of white brilliance; a force like a blast wave briefly buffeted the tiny pod, and was gone. Shards of metal, all that was left of the Acis’ hull, shot in every imaginable direction, ricocheting off the wreckage of Junius 7. The pod had remained intact beneath the singular protection of an asteroid, which acted as a shield of sorts against the deadly shrapnel.
Kira lay still, breathing fast. All around them was the open night sky, like a great depthless hemisphere, and in it blazed the stars, thousand upon thousand brilliant prickles of fire. Kira felt a wave of giddiness; it was as though they stood on the last edge of the universe, and if they fell, they would fall out of time…
He felt Athrun shift slightly and turned to look at him. Jade eyes regarded him calmly for a moment, their helmets almost touching.
“What do we do now?”
“But this is unthinkable,” Cagalli said. “Who could have done this, and why?”
Athrun fixed her with a neutral gaze. “If I had known, the person would have died many times over.” He said. The voice was toneless, devoid of expression.
“I’m sorry, Miss Attha.” Rice put in. “But our first order of business, I’m afraid, is to deal with the allegations made here. I will report this very troubling event to headquarters first thing tomorrow. For now, I think we would like to hear about what happened after the ship exploded.” He nodded at Athrun, giving him tacit permission to continue.
This, Yzak thought, is going to be exceedingly interesting.
Kira was feeling calmer, somehow not much afraid anymore. He wondered how much oxygen was left in his suit. Probably not more than an hour. He said, “I don’t know. Maybe we should contact the PLANT.”
“I tried to, just now. But the radio transceivers are down.”
It just isn’t fair, Kira thought; he doesn’t seem the least bit affected by our close proximity.
“I can’t think of anything else to do, Athrun.”
His friend stirred, “I know. I can’t, either.”
... ... End of Phase 05 ... ...
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