Mospeada Fan Fiction / Macross Fan Fiction ❯ Invid Lullaby ❯ Night Watch ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Robotech or its characters. This fan fiction was written for entertainment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

 

Chapter 9
Night Watch

 

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Admiral Rick Hunter and Dr. Emil Lang needed some answers and fast. Not only was pressure mounting from the media after the closure of and entire section of the base, but also, the Council itself was uneasy. Marlene, her hybrid baby and the attempt on their lives were bound to become public.

 

Finding out Kralea Drrak's whereabouts, motives and possible accomplices was a priority before facing and easing the Council's increasing mistrust.

 

"What's the situation?" Admiral Hunter asked to his security chief.

 

"All transport carriers to and from the base were grounded within minutes of Dr. Lang's alert. I can assure you, Drrak hasn't left the satellite."

 

"Has the ground search started?"

 

"The forces scrambled over three hours ago, sir. The search is taking place as we speak,"

the chief explained.

 

"Excellent." Lang commented.

 

"Unfortunately, we haven't found any clue yet. That rat found himself a good dark hideout. But we'll will find him. Sooner or later his tracks will surface."

 

"Hopefully sooner, chief. I'm counting on you." With that, Rick dismissed his subordinate; the security chief saluted and left.

 

Rick was pensive. Karbarrans don't just vanish into thin air.

 

"De investigation may need to reach into de diplomatic section of de base, Rick." Lang said gravely.

 

"Security will have my personal clearance to expand the search if Drrak doesn't turn out anywhere else." Lang nodded, understanding. This was a touchy subject; it could cost Rick's his position to search diplomatic quarters and find nothing.

 

"Drrak will be found," Rick promised himself, even it meant he would have to search the Ambassador of Karbarra's private chambers himself!

 

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Marlene felt a profound mental distress. Aching all over, she opened her eyes. An invisible force seemed to be holding her down onto the bed. It was heavy, painful, nauseating.

From head to toe, sensation returned. She could tell something was different; something was missing. The sensor tracking her heartbeat plunged into a frantic tune. Where was her baby?

 

She moaned lowly. Almost immediately, she felt a weight on her right hand. Scott.

 

"She's waking up!" he yelled to someone in the room. Marlene heard Dr. Lang's name being called and the hiss of a closing door.

 

"My baby?" she struggled to speak.

 

"He's very close."

 

"I need to see him!" She attempted to sit, but her effort ended in a painful wail.

 

"Calm down, my love, please. You can hurt yourself." He held her with one hand and arranged the pillows on her bed to support her higher with the other.

 

"Our baby's right over there," he told her and pointed to a cribbed-shaped box that stood by the end of her bed. Marlene seemed to relax. Scott saw silent questions in her eyes.

 

"He has to be inside there for now because he came before time." Her eyes grew wider. "But... but he seems to be okay," he added quickly, although his tone failed to conceal his doubts.

 

"What happened?"

 

"I don't know. I'm waiting for Dr. Lang's explanation."

 

"Can I hold him for a little?" Marlene's eyes were fixed on the distant crib.

 

"Uh..."

 

"Please!"

 

He looked down, thinking of how to prepare her. "Marlene, our baby is not as we had imagined..."

 

"What's wrong, Scott?"

 

He opened the incubator's transparent cover and carefully took the baby out of it. Marlene was awestruck. He came closer.

 

"This is our son." He sighed, worried and presented her with a pale, iridescent egg.

 

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"Can you believe this?" yelped Admiral Lisa Hayes Hunter while she handed her husband the latest issue of Mars Base's Enquirer. Rick took the cyber-journal in question and read from it.

 

"Admiral's Love Affair Forces Medical Section Closed." He hadn't recovered from the bluntness of such a title when his eyes reached the piece's header. "Famed singer-actress Lyn Minmei and Head of RDF Council spotted together in out-of-limits wing of Moon Base."

 

Half way through the infamous article, Rick exploded. "What shameless lies! I'm gonna sue their asses!" He tossed away the offending object, knowing that if he had continued reading, he wouldn't have been able to contain his anger. Through his irate episode, Lisa was quiet, too quiet.

 

"Lisa?" She sighed. An absurd doubt crossed his mind. "You can't possibly believe that Minmei and I... not now... not ever..."

 

"Of course not, darling. I trust you, you know it." It was highly unlikely that Lisa would be jealous of Minmei after all these years, yet he was relieved to hear her state her confidence. "But we'll be forced to give an official statement soon. We can't let the rumor-mill to continue like this," she added.

 

Rick glared at the journal on his desk. "As soon as the security chief reports new findings, we'll call for a press conference."

 

Lisa's sight followed her husband's. Emerald green twinkled. "Then we'll sue their asses." Or whatever is left of them.

 

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Marlene cradled the baby in her arms. The egg's luminous surface had instantly reacted to her touch, warming up slightly, relaxing. It was as if the baby knew he was safe. She examined the shell attentively, surprised that it wasn't bluish-green. Oddly, this egg was pale orange surrounded by irregular twirls of pink. It possessed a thick but transparent outer layer, glossy like enamel. It was soft, receding slightly under pressure, but at the same time resistant, definitely meant to avoid damage to the baby in case of a fall. Unfortunately, she thought, underneath it's protective coating, the cocoon lacked the fluid transparency typical of Invid eggs. A ghostly screen prevented her from seeing what her baby really looked like

 

Being outside from her body, she couldn't protect her son like before. He was a separate entity now, completely. She felt a void and it scared her. An intimate link had been broken between them.

 

Scott observed. The situation was so distant from what he could have ever foreseen as his first moments with his child. From the moment Marlene told him that they would have a son, he had been truly happy. However, right after the initial glee faded, worries spattered his contentedness.

 

At that moment, the egg looked out of place in Marlene's arms. She looked perfectly human, but the alien oval shape that she had given birth to reminded him of her true origin. For a brief moment, the hint of subconscious rejection traversed Scott's heart.

 

For many months stationed on Mars, he had mulled over his feelings for her. Much before he finally got his ticket back to earth, he had seen it clearly. Invid or human, it didn't matter. He loved her. Now he would love their son; no, he loved him already. He wouldn't backtrack now.

 

Marlene had been watching him silently. When his gaze met hers, he uncovered fear. Will you love him, Scott? Her eyes seemed to ask. Immediately guilt struck him.

 

He dreaded that she could have perceived his doubts. I love him! I love you both! By instinct, he reached out to touch the baby. Marlene gently guided his hand. The mother hummed an ancestral lullaby, embedded into her subconscious along with her collective Invid memory. Everything will be all right.

 

Dr. Lang entered the room. With a cough and a tinge of guilt, he broke the family moment. Urgent things waited.

 

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After checking mother and baby, Lang confirmed they were both doing all right. He also noticed some changes the egg had gone through. It was now less solid, slightly bigger and heavier.

 

The doctor appraised the parents anxious faces. "I know you both must have many questions. I varn you that I may not have ansvers to all of them. I kan only offer my best guess until more tests are konducted on your son."

 

The obvious inqury didn't take long to be worded.

 

"Why the egg?" Scott asked. "I... I mean, I know Invid have cocoons," he held Marlene's hand, "not that it bothers me in any way..." She smiled reassuringly. He hadn't offended her. "But it didn't show on any scan you showed us... and you certainly never mentioned it."

 

"It disconcerts me too, Scott. Und yes, nothing like it appeared in any previous test. De shell must have formed just before ve operated. A protektive mechanism triggered by the proximity of birth eez vhat it seems right now."

 

"When will it hatch?" ventured the mother.

 

"I kan't tell vith certainty but it shouldn't be much longer."

 

"Oh," the parents replied together.

 

"Now ve must talk about vhat really happened at de lab during Marlene's last skan." His remark immediately gained him back the attention of the young couple.

 

He talked about the Karbarran feeling for the Invid in general and Moon Base's guest, Marlene, in particular. He went on to mention the factors that contributed to force Karbarran experts into his team. Lang sighed, bracing himself for Scott's reaction to what had to come next: the foiled attempt on Marlene and her baby's lives. That did it. If it wasn't because Marlene had clutched Scott's hand firmly as soon as Lang finished recounting Kralea Drrak's actions, Scott would have stormed out of the room, searching for revenge. That alien was doomed.

 

"What's been done about this?" the father asked enraged.

 

"Both admirals Hunter vere summoned und issued urgent orders to seal off de entire medical wing for Marlene's and de baby's safety. I just had a meeting vith Rick und de base's sekurity chief. A thorough search eez going on. So far, it ezz known that de Karbarran hasn't left de moon."

 

"Bastard!" I just need a minute with him... "Where can I find the security chief?" Scott's vengeful thoughts gave Marlene the chills.

 

"Let sekurity handle this, Scott. They vill flush Drrak from wherever he ezz hiding. You better focus on protekting your family." Scott reluctantly calmed down. "Arrangements vere made for you to stay vith them tonight."

 

At the sight of Marlene's scared eyes, Scott surrendered. "All right, doctor. I'll let them handle this... for now."

 

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Moira was not under suspicion. She was Garudan. Her race and the Karbarran people never had close alliances. Not openly, at least. The innocent and shocked act she put on when security interrogated her granted her freedom. She kept her access to Lang's lab, just as usual. As well, her seniority with the human scientist's staff gave her access to the chemical storage room. The human trusted her. How convenient. She grinned as he door snapped shut behind her.

 

She skillfully mixed chemical compounds. Liquid and powder came together in exact proportions and temperatures. Ready. Her hard work and knowledge produced exactly what she wanted. She allowed herself a moment to imagine how Baraka would reward her.

Her home planet's air was poisonous to human and Invid just like earth's atmosphere was poisonous to her people. Poetic justice. Garudans were condemned to use masks to provide them with replicas of their home planet's air while abroad. The gadget was accepted; it was necessary and in this particular case, it'd be more than useful.

 

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While Marlene and the baby rested in one room, Scott lay in the adjacent chamber, awake. He had checked up on her several times and finally found her asleep. He was angry and had foreseen that he would spend the night thinking of revenge. Drrak would pay. He let himself examine various methods of torture; frustration, at not being able to take action to find the son of a bitch, was eating at him. After a while he started analyzing the situation a little deeper.

 

A sudden pressure on the bridge of his nose reminded him of the growing tension within the Council's walls. The Hunters and Lang seemed to be doing all they could to protect Marlene and the baby, but for how long? The situation could spin out of control at any minute given the unrest the Karbarran delegates were seeding.

 

Their hatred for the Invid had sent one of them on a murderous quest. They opposed any form of peace or integration between themselves -or their allies- and their old Opterran foes. Somehow, no matter how long it took, they wanted revenge from the Invid. The conquest of their planet, forced servitude of their people, torture, imprisonment of their children had all contributed to their resentfulness. In fact, the Invid had been ruthless, not only with the Karbarrans, but with all the sentinel races. But they also had saved earth. Strangely, a faint mossy smell reached the Captain's nose.

 

All wars had victims; without forgiveness, durable peace was impossible.

Scott realized his son stood on the way of the Karbarran's plan to engage in another war with the Invid. He was a symbol of integration. Invid and human could come together... He yawned. Who knows, the baby could be the key to swing the Regiss will into signing a peace treaty.

 

The father understood the Karbarrans would do anything to destroy... his baby.

Despite his earlier energetic state, Scott felt very tired suddenly. His body was rapidly ceasing to respond to his wishes. He had been completely alert a few minutes ago; ready to jump of that bed at the smallest sign of trouble. Inexplicably he had a lot of trouble concentrating now, worse, moving. His eyelids were falling.

 

Between blinks, he distinguished sneaking shadows. Who's there! He forced his eyes open in the dimly illuminated room. There they were again. Maybe he was just imagining feline, agile forms entering Marlene's room.

 

Then he heard the sound of shattering glass. The cribb! He couldn't move. That smell! He'd been drugged.

 

He collected all his strength and managed to rise from the bed. He walked heavily towards the adjacent room and pulled out his Gallant. He saw Marlene was unconscious; glass shards were covering the floor around the crib; the egg's bright light was nowhere in sight. His son was gone.

 

The shock brought some of his senses back. He managed to see fleeing shadows on a corner and he attacked one. They struggled. He pressed the weight of his finger on the trigger and he fired. A booming sound filled the room; he fell unconscious.

 

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