Chapter 8: A New Dawn
I woke up that morning warm to the sensation of being touched. I blinked a few times to clear my vision. Peter's green eyes started delicately back into mine, filled with wonder like they used to.
I smiled at him and the corners of his lips turned up in a grin. We were going to be okay, that I knew. I leaned in slowly and pressed my lips to his in a simple, soft connection. He sighed happily as I wrapped my arms around him.
"Hey." He said softly after our lips came apart.
"Hey to you too." I said. He turned around and snuggled back into me.
"God it's been too long, Tony." He took my arm and pulled it over him; I graciously squeezed.
"I can agree with that." The room was lit to some extent now; Peter must have turned on some light. "Too damn long." I squeezed him a little tighter.
"Last night was the first time I've been touched since we last saw each other." He said. His words didn't have any feeling to them except a small smig of sadness and that made me frown.
"No one on the station..." my words trailed off as he shook his head.
"No one was you, Tony. No one was even close to you... I couldn't. I had already felt like I had betrayed you so much that I just..." I covered his mouth with my hand. I looked down at him and his eyes went sideways to see me.
"I'm here now and so are you. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to pick up where we left off if that's okay with you." I said. I could feel his lips curling into a smile. He removed my hand and leaned up to kiss me.
"I think I missed that the most." I said as we both sat up.
"Kissing?" he asked.
"Partly, but mainly just the feel of your lips on mine. That's always been something I've cherished.
"Oh..." he said, a little pink.
"Last night was the first for me too." I said quietly. Peter's head shot up with a look of shock.
"Really? But your sex drive was always off the charts back then." He said and I couldn't help but chuckle. We did screw constantly in those 6 years. I sighed heavily.
"After I was told you were killed, I got sick thinking of anyone else but you." I said. I reached out and grabbed his hand. "I couldn't go to your funeral, I was still on deployment. Your mother had called me several times and I still keep in loose contact with her now. I had to grieve in private and by the time that I was over it enough to try again, work consumed me and the only thing I could have had time for was a one night stand but, I was never into that." When I looked up at him, it looked like someone had hit him with a white glove.
"Mom..." he said like a starving child would say to food. His eyes darted to me. "You... you still have contact with my mom?" he asked almost desperately. I nodded and smiled.
"I haven't seen her in person since later last year but we holochat whenever our schedules line up." I said and I saw a tear coming to his eye. "I could see what she's up to right now... I know she misses you a lot. We used to talk about you in our talks but it got painful sometimes and you started coming up less and less. I think it would be fantastic if she could see you alive and well again, Peter." I said. He nodded and came into me for a hug.
"I was all she had left, how I could leave her behind!" he yelled into my shoulder.
"I hate Wade." He said and I snorted,
"Welcome to the club mister."
We both got up out of bed and started to the bathroom.
"Why don't I message your mom and see if she responds by the time we're all ready for the day. Sound good?" I asked and he nodded enthusiastically. God I hope she's free right now. I told Peter to get the water started while I sent out a request. I threw on my pants from last night and walked out the door.
"Commander!" Opal gasped. Shit...
"Hey, Opal." I said awkwardly. She looked at me, then what I was wearing... or how little I was, and then where I came out of.
"You guys make up last night?" she asked all too knowingly. I nodded.
"Great! But the reason I came up here... Dr. Savannah's assistants say they are almost out of the small amount of supplies the government gave them, we need to stop at a service station." She said.
"Alright. Alert Parker to divert to the nearest station. It wouldn't hurt to stock up on supplies for the ship either if we're going to be going to the other side of the damn galaxy soon." I said, the slight edge to my voice building from Wade's stupid mission. Opal nodded and turned to head back down the stairs.
"Don't have too much fun now." She said as she descended the stairs. I would never admit it to her, but I blushed.
I typed my passcode into my door and went inside. I sat down at my computer and send out a quick message to Mrs. Savannah... shit, Peter's mom even remarried in the time he'd been gone, I'd even gone to the event. She responded back quickly saying she'd be home in ten; she was out doing grocery shopping. All because it was morning for us on the ship, doesn't mean it's not mid-day or even night back on earth. Standing up, I walked into my bathroom and turned on the water. Once it steamed up I stripped off my sweats and hopped in. Memories of last night came flooding back to me as the warm water bathed me in its warmth, like Peter's warmth... how tight he was, fuck, how tight I was. Reconnecting with him again on that level was perfect. I missed it all more than I even thought I did. Hearing him moan under the pressure, when I kissed his neck, grabbed his butt, thrust into him... it all felt like it should; loving and wonderful.
I shut the water off and got out. As I wrapped the towel around my waist, I heard the door to my bedroom open. Weird since the only other person who... Peter. I walked out the door and Peter stood just beyond the bathroom, almost to the 3 stair staircase.
"Hey." I said and he turned around, eyes widening for just a moment at the sight of my body. "You look nice." I said and I meant it. He was in the Savannah's standard crew outfit but it was sized nicely on him.
"I can't keep wearing this every day." He said. "But thanks." His smile made me grin.
"Your mom will be ready to chat in just a few minutes. I just need to throw some cloths on and we can head down." I said as I walked past him, not without giving him a quick kiss.
"I'm so excited, Tony!" he said and the overly excited kid-in-a-candy-store look made my heart melt.
"Peter... she doesn't know you're alive yet. It's going to be a shock to her, so don't be surprised if she seems a little dumbstruck." I warned him. She had taken the matter even worse than I did. It helped when she got married; Leon was a very nice man who seemed to love her a great deal. He too had lost his daughter at a young age and then later his wife, so he understood her and they could both comfort each other with their losses. Peter looked like he had been punched.
"Yeah, I know it's going to be... shocking for her." He said and sat down on one of the steps. I quickly got dressed in some of my Commander uniforms and walked up to him, sitting next to him on the step. Once my arm was around him he bucked up some.
"She will be happy, just shocked that you're alive... just like I was." I said and he nodded. I rubbed his arm and stood up, holding out my hand.
"Come on, let's go see her, shall we?" I said and he smiled, grabbing my hand. I picked him up and we walked hand in hand out of my room.
The hologram just had a phone insignia as it contacted his mom. Peter stood just out of view while I was in the shot. We both agreed it would be easier for everyone if he was introduced into it. I gave him and thumbs up and he smiled. Right then, the hologram of his mom appeared. She was a woman in her mid-fifties. She looked tired but happy, but after years of lose and stress, that can do it to a person. Her eyes were green like Peter's and they shared some the same facial features like her nose, eyes, and, lips, but facial structure and head shape differed. Her hair was graying bit still long and brown.
"Hey, Rose." I said with a smile on my face. She looked at me and clasped her hands together.
"Oh, Anthony, it's been way to long since our last talk." She said with her motherly smile on her face. I nodded my head.
"Yeah, I agree. How's Leon?" I asked. I could see Peter's shock at me mentioning another person, but he quickly figured it out, leaving him somewhat subdued.
"He's good, he's good. He's on his way home from work now so he should be here in a few minutes if you wanted to stick around and say hi. I know how busy you are though..." she said leaving it somewhat open ended.
"Actually Rose, I'd actually like to talk to you about my last mission." She raised an eyebrow at that.
"Aren't all of your missions classified, Tony?" she asked and I nodded.
"Yes, they are but I believe this one is free to be discussed since what my team and I found directly affects you." I said. Her face took on a more serious tone and just a tad bit more ridged.
"How would it directly affect me?" she asked.
"Rose, what I'm about to tell you is confidential for the time being so you can't discuss this with anyone, Lean being an exception." She nodded as though she understood. "Alright. On my last mission, we were doing a recon on a secret lab base on Europa." I said.
"They had a science facility on a frozen moon?" she asked and I nodded.
"Amazing what they can cover up so close to home." I said and she rolled her eyes slightly and huffed... she knew what I meant.
"The science facility was completely destroyed. It was weakly protected and was blown to crap by a Mombasa Corp. cruiser." She stomped her foot on the ground infrusturation.
"Those damn rebels! First my son and now..." she lost words for a second. "How many?" she asked suddenly.
"At least two hundred." I said and she whimpered. "Rose, there was one survivor." I added and she gave me this look... call it intuition but something told me she had a glimmer of hope.
"W-w-who-o." she choked out. I looked over at Peter smiling, nodding for him to come over. Peter took a first tentative step into view. It was so quiet you could hear a feather float to the floor. They stood there just looking at each other for several minutes, just in shock.
"Hi mom." Peter nearly choked out. Rose's lips trembled and her hands hid her mouth.
"Oh my god!" she nearly yelled and then began to cry. "Peter, oh my god, Peter!" she shrieked. She leaned back in the chair as she tried to catch her breath. I put my hand on Peter's shoulder.
"I'll be outside when you're done." I whispered to him. He nodded and put his hand on top of mine and mouthed `thank you'. With tears in his eyes I kissed his cheek before I left the room.
"Tear jerker?" Cynthia asked.
"Yeah, just a little. His mom has been thinking he's been dead just as long as I have." I said. She raised an eyebrow.
"So the rumor is true then." She said.
"What rumor?" I questioned, going a little bit on the defensive.
"The rumor that you and Dr. Savannah were together." She said and grinned slightly. I nodded affirmatively.
"Yes, we were together for quite some time back on Earth..." I looked back at the communications room door and back at Cynthia. "And we are again now." I finished. A delicate smile grew on her face.
"I'm glad the two of you were able to find your ways back to each other. With everything that's been going on... I think it happened at a good time." She said, giving me another smile.
"Thanks..." I said a little bit more awkwardly than intended. "Could you tell Patrick to head to the nearest supply station. We're going to need some stuff to keep this ship going." I said and Cynthia nodded, then walking away, tapping away on her Paper-Pal. I looked down the hall and leaned against the wall. All that was left to do for now was just wait for Peter to come out.
It was a little under an hour later when I heard the doors slide open and Peter stepping out. I could tell he's been crying with how puffed up and red his cheeks had been. I stood up from the crouching position I was in and opened my arms for him. He walked into them and just leaned on me, letting out a long puff of air.
"Good talk?" I asked. I could feel his head nodding on my chest.
"Mom wants me home as soon as possible to see her. I told her that might be a little bit since the government forced our hand on this mission." He leaned back from me and stood on his own. The ship was oddly quiet; no beeping, clanking, or talking in the background, just a soft hum.
I slid my hands up his arms until they rested on his shoulders.
"You're okay though? No damage done?" I asked, my eyebrows raised. He gave me a half smile and hugged me full on this time.
"Yeah, I'm all good." He said as he looked up at me.
"I need to get going to the lab. The others are probably waiting for me."
"Make a list of things you need. We'll be doing a supply run soon enough." I said as he started to walk off.
"Eye y, captain!" he said doing a mach salute. I pointed at him and said,
"That's Commander to you!" he laughed as he walked on. I smiled.
***** "We're just outside of Payton Station. We'll try to get clearance one we're in range." Cynthia said. We were in the watch room as we slowed into the Payton star system. The watchroom sat on top of the ship and was a large 180 degree view of whatever was in front of you. Couple chairs, communications computers... it kept you updated and aware. Payton Station was a mega stop for everyone under President Wade's control. Shaped like a massive white diamond, if floated around the blue and purple gas giant Letum.
"Patrick told me to access clearance." She said as she sat down at a computer. The blue tinted screen popped up in front of her as she opened up a com network.
"Payton docking station, this is cruiser Savannah requesting permission to land, over." When she stopped talking an elongated beeping was what was returned to us. Baffled, she looked up at me and I looked at the station. There wasn't any traffic flying around like there should be, odd.
"Try again." I said.
"Payton docking station, this is cruiser Savannah requesting permission to land, I repeat, we are requesting permission to land, over." She said and again we were greeted with the noise. Concern was on both of our faces.
"Something's not right." I said.
The Payton Station floated ghostly around Letum. It's usually sparkling white panels now seemed lifeless and pale. The violet blue hue from the gaseous atmosphere of Letum making the now empty station that much more ominous.
"Something defiantly isn't right here." I said this time mainly to myself. My voice was a bit gruffer than I wanted it though. Cynthia looked up at me from the computer where she sat. She held her emotions back but her eyes waivered nervously.
"What do you want to do about this Commander?" she asked. I walked up to the window of the observatory room and peered out.
"Cynthia, zoom fifty scale at Payton Station. I want to get a better look." I said loudly, "And send a message to Parker to enter orbit around Transit, but don't go any closer to the planet; I'm not taking any unnecessary risks with civilians on board. They didn't sign up for a gun fight." I could hear the computer beeping away while she did the commands I had given her. Soon enough, the majority of the window blackened except for a single focal point. The only lights that existed were those from red supergiant Payton, gleaming it's harsh light more towards the top of the station, especially the port.
"Damn." I whispered hoarsely. Cynthia looked at me, her worried expression broke through.
"Should I make a damages report?" she asked shakily.
"And a mortitioner..." I added. She uttered a hollow,
"Oh..." I continued to look around, looking more closely at the station itself.
"There's heavy structural damage towards the upper sectors. Probably plasma cannons." I said and I heard her typing.
"That's never a fun fix." She said.
"It means that nothing it touched can be salvaged, that's the fun part." I said sarcastically and sighed. I looked away from the scope as the windows turned back to normal and the almost too white natural light filtered back into the room. It caused and eerie hue to hang through the room.
"Call Opal up here." I said and Cynthia got out of her chair, smoothing her cloths.
"I'll get her here as soon as possible." She said curtly, her eyes slightly glossed over with tears. She never liked hearing of casualties but they were a thing of war and she held it together usually. Swiftly, she grabbed her Paper-Pal and walked out of the room, her heals tapping at every step.
Alone in the room, I turned back to the window, looking back out at Payton feeling much like I did staring at the science facility, wondering what lay inside its walls... before we found Peter. It makes me wonder what mysteries laid beneath it's surfaces as well.
"Here it goes again..." I said to myself out loud.
"Here goes what again?" Opal broke my thought as she entered the room. I turned my head to look at her and then nodded out the window. Her eyebrows perked as she approached.
"It's a ghost town." She awed as she peered out the window with me. I looked at her.
"In the way that there's no one moving around or that there's a graveyard of ships in orbit." I asked gravely with a slight bit of sarcasm. Her face tightened at the thought and then released.
"Both." She sighed and turned away and walked towards the center of the room.
"How do you want to approach this?" she asked me unmoving.
"I called for Patrick to orbit Transit but not to go any closer. He should probably keep the ship in cloak mode as well, just to be safe if anyone in wanted is still around out there." I said as I turned away from the window, slowly pacing. Opal turned around as well, looking at me with apt attention but there was a slight look of skepticism.
"Bu with Skeeter still down, we will need to be careful and stick together, watch each other's backs. We're on our own if one of us gets hurt in there." I said and she nodded affirmatively. "We'll take the pods down. They are the fastest way in and out of a zone like this, quiet too..." I said as I was still in thought, thinking on how we were going to pull this off. Opal gave her imput,
"What about Dr. Savannah?" she asked. So there was that skeptic part of the look she was giving me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, eyes narrowing.
"Shouldn't he be down there for this little shopping adventure?" she asked. I knew my eyes widened.
"That's way too dangerous for a civilian!" I blurted out. She held up her hands up in defense.
"Sorry, sorry, I was just merely making a suggestion." She said calmly but I could hear the agitation underneath. "I'm just wondering how we are going to get all of his things when we don't know what the hell they are? I don't know about you but I didn't go to school for bomb making." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"We'll make sure that it's safe before he goes down there. We're not losing him." I said, voice low, gruff, intense. She raised an eyebrown, challenging.
"You mean so you don't lose him... again." She said, prying. I felt like someone just lit me on fire.
"Excuse you?!" My voice rose, neck tightening. She wasn't fazed by my rage, she knew what she was doing.
"It's not the fact that there are civilians, it's the fact that Peter is finally back to you." She walked closer to me and put her hand on my shoulder, "I get it, you thought he was dead for six years, that screws with anyone. You're trying to protecting him but he's a big boy, he can take care of himself." I knew she was right but I was fuming. When I spoke, my voice was low.
"We're going down there to scope things out. When we mark it as cleared, we will bring him down to get supplies. I'll see you in the armory." I pushed past her and walked out the door.
The dark lights of the armory forced my eyes to adjusts. When they did, the figure looking into one of the weapons lockers looked at me.
"Peter?" I asked, slightly confused.
"Hey." He said sheepishly, closing the locker. He still held a semi-automatic beam rifle in his hand.
"What are you doing down here?" I asked him as I walked towards him. He held the gun a little tighter, more confident.
"Getting ready to go to the station. I know what we need to keep the study going... plus Opal told me." He said. Christ, not this again!
"Look Peter, it's too dangerous for... you... too..." I shut up. The look he gave me wasn't anything too pleasant.
"You think being on that rock for six years I didn't learn how to use one of these things?" he said, shoving the gun at me. I looked at the gun in my arms and then to him.
"But, all the personnel..." he cut me off,
"... died because of rapid decompression and suffocated to death, You saw that for yourself. No, it wasn't pretty, death never is but I'm not going to sit here any longer and do nothing but worrying about you when I could be next to you, knowing you are okay." He said, placing his hand on my cheek. He put his other hand on the gun lightly, looking me in the eyes with his own, strong yet soft. I unclenched my fingers and allowed him to take it back. I hope I didn't just make a massive mistake.