Perfect Sacrifice (62 page)

"Well?" she began as a rather large gun appeared on her Geno's back.  "Let's get this over with."  With all of their remaining ammo, they blanketed the excavation site with bullets, taking out all of the equipment and burying the sacri crystals in mountains of sand and debris.  Before long, the hole in the ground had been completely filled.  It was hard to even tell that the site had even been there.

"Glad that's over," said Jace with a sigh.  He wasn't even supposed to have come here, but Abby and Brian had called for backup, so he had gone out to help them.  Calling Ray probably would have been better, but that hadn't been one of their options.  Her Geno still needed repairs.

"Let's head back," said Abby as she began turning around.  "We have to go report this to Gordan."

They began to walk away, and Leon decided to head back to Torran.  He was going to have some explaining to do.  His Geno had just come out of the repair shop, and now he was going to put it back in.  If Ray found out he had battled in his condition, he would hear no end of it.  She'd lecture him forever.

"Hey Leon," called Jace, causing Leon to look back at the retreating figures.  "Thanks," he began softly, as if he was swallowing his pride, "for what you did back there."

"It was nothing," Leon responded with a smirk that the knight couldn't see.  "Forget about it."

No more words were said as all of them went their separate ways.  It was time for Leon to come up with a plan.  He had to find a way out of telling Ray and his family what had happened.  They'd all ask if he didn't bring his Geno back.  Maybe he would just go back to the base and fix it himself.  No matter what he did, he'd have to tell them what had happened.  He realized there really was no way out of it.  Perhaps it was for the best.  Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought.  Maybe they'd go easy on him. 
Things could be worse, I guess.
  With that thought, he turned around again and began heading back to his base.

* * * *

It was late, and the sky was clear.  Only the stars lit the vast ocean of black, the moon being absent from the night.  It was a beautiful setting, but at the GRC base, no one was really paying it any attention.  It was going on one in the morning, and not many were up at that time.  Gordan was one of the few who were always up this late, but there was another this time.

In the main room of the base, the room with all of their tracking equipment, sat Aaron.  He was still at the same computer, working on the same thing.  He had to fix the system for Gordan, and he'd hopefully be done in a few hours.  It was starting to get hard for him to even keep his eyes open.  He would have killed for some caffeine, but he was alone, and no one was going to bring him any.

He typed in a few more things and then let out a deep sigh, rubbing his face with his hands.  He needed to wake up a bit more, or he wouldn't be able to finish working.  This was just so difficult, and he wasn't exactly a genius programmer.  He only knew what Andy had taught him, which had actually been a lot, but some things weren't as easy to remember.  This just happened to be one of those cases.  He was starting to wish he could just give up as he tiredly rubbed at his eyes to try and keep them open a bit longer.

"Hey," called a soft voice from behind him.  Normally he would be startled, but in his drowsy state, he wouldn't have cared if Ramirez had walked through that door.

Aaron turned around in the desk chair, only to see Abby standing in the doorway.  He was sure that the knights had already gone to sleep, but she was still dressed in her military styled uniform.  Her deep green eyes seemed to glow in the dimly lit room, the only lights coming from the few computers that were still on.

"Hey," he called back softly, not wanting to be too loud at this time of night.  He watched as she walked over and looked down at the computer screen.  A frown spread through her eyes, but it didn't reach the firm line of her mouth.

"Still at it I see," she said, earning her an exhausted sigh from the ex-commander.

"Yeah," he whispered as he turned back to the screen.  "I think I'll be done in a few hours or so, but I'm not sure."  He yawned deeply, covering his mouth to try and stifle it.  He needed to try and convince himself that he wasn't actually tired.  He needed to be awake.  Convincing Abby wouldn't be that bad of a thing either, considering the look she was giving him.

Once he stopped yawning, Abby held out a mug to him.  Inside was the steaming black liquid known as coffee, something chock full of caffeine that he desperately needed.  He looked to the cup and then up at her.

"Here," she offered with a small smile.  "You need it more than I do."  He hesitated before taking the warm mug in his tired hands.  He began steadily drinking the rather hot liquid, not caring that it was probably burning his throat.  He'd care in the morning, but for now it was alright.  He needed a way to stay awake.

Abby pulled up one of the nearby chairs and sat down with him, watching as he drank the entire mug.  He gave a satisfied sigh afterwards, praying that the caffeine would keep him awake for a few more hours.  He really needed to finish fixing the system.  He had to.  He wanted to prove to Gordan that he was on their side, that he would be useful to them.  After all, his only real talent was piloting a Geno, but he really couldn't do that now.  He was supposed to be dead, and they had to keep Ramirez thinking that.

"Maybe you should call it quits for tonight," said Abby, drawing his attention.

"No way," he said as he placed his hands on the keyboard again.  "I'll be done in a few hours.  I can make it."

"You should still get some sleep," she insisted.  "Forcing yourself like this isn't good for your body.  You'll exhaust yourself."

"It's too late for that," he stated as he began typing, his attention now on the screen.  "I have to do this tonight."  His eyes began drooping even more, the caffeine unable to kick in as quickly as he wanted.  "I want all of you to trust me."  Before he could type anything else, he felt a gentle pressure on his hand.  He turned towards Abby, a confused stare on his face.  She only gave him a soft smile.

"We do trust you," she told him gently.  "You don't have to prove anything."  She squeezed his hand gently as if reassuring him about what she had said.  She could see that he was contemplating something, his eyes swimming with different thoughts as he looked away from her.  He seemed somewhat ashamed or maybe disappointed.  He really was trying too hard to impress them.  He had earned their trust long ago, ever since their battle against him.  If Ray trusted him, the others did as well.  She never steered them wrong.

"Let's go," he said softly after a while, drawing a confused look from Abby.

Aaron stood up, and Abby followed suit.  She quickly released his hand as he began pulling away, another yawn escaping him.  She was still confused however.  Where exactly was he going, and more to the point, where was she going?  He had addressed her as well, hadn't he?

"Um," she began sheepishly.  "Where are we going?"

"My room," he answered drowsily, not hearing the question just right.  "I'm tired, and you should get some sleep too."  Abby just smiled as she followed him out the door and down the hallways.  Their rooms were all relatively close, seeing as how only one part of the base was dedicated to living conditions.

"Thanks for the offer," began Abby, deciding to play with his mind a little in its drowsy state, "but I think I'll go sleep in my own room, alright?"

Aaron froze in his spot, his hand on his doorknob.  What had she just said?  More to the point, what had he said when she had asked him where he was going?  He then remembered that she had asked where they were going, and he had given a less than aware response.

"Wait, Abby," he began as she started walking to her own room, now out of his voice range.  "I didn't…"  He just sighed, a small blush playing on his face.  "…Mean that."

He decided to give up, realizing that she probably knew he hadn't meant it.  Still, it was an embarrassing moment for him anyway.  He wasn't like that, not at all.  He just sighed in defeat and went into his room.  It was time for a goodnight's sleep.  He had a lot of work to do the next day, and he didn't know just what else the day would bring along with it.

CHAPTER 31

Kidnapped

It was another new day, and the sun was shining like it almost always did.  That didn't mean it was a good day though, especially not for Leon.  First off, his Geno was still in need or repairs that he would have to perform, and second, his whole family was currently mad at him, along with Ray.  He had explained to them what had happened in the desert on his way back, and he had gotten one really long lecture.  It was nice to know that they worried about him, but he was still alive.  Wasn't that enough?  The way he saw it, all of them were overreacting.

He was currently sitting at the kitchen table, finishing up his breakfast.  Afterwards, he would have to drive Ray into Torran so she could pick up her Geno.  He was bringing Chris along with, since the sixteen year old had nothing better to do with his time.  After all, with Dr. Solaris currently gone, it would be boring to be alone at the base.  Dr. Solaris would be gone for a few days to visit a friend of his in Lore, a city that was about a half an hour away from Torran.  It wasn't nearly as big though.  Torran was probably the largest city on the content, or perhaps even on the entire planet.

"Leon?" questioned a voice from behind him, snatching his attention away from his thoughts.  He turned to see Ray standing behind him, a sweet smile on her face.  "Are you almost done?" she asked him.

"In a minute, alright?" he responded as he shoved a fork full of egg into his mouth.  He was trying to enjoy his breakfast, but it was hard with Ray bothering him every minute.

After one more fork full, he sighed and pushed his plate away.  There really wasn't any reason to keep eating.  He wasn't all that hungry, and with Ray constantly asking if he was done, it just wasn't worth it.  He would rather just take her and Chris into Torran.  He was sick of her begging.

"Are you ready now?" she asked him as he stood up.

"Yeah," he sighed, running a hand through his unruly brown hair.  He turned towards the hallway, but there was no sign of Chris yet.  "Chris!  We're leaving!"

"Coming!" came the quick reply as Chris ran into the kitchen.  "Let's go."

The three of them walked down to the hanger, heading over to Leon's car.  They all got in, and he quickly started the vehicle.  They had a long trip ahead of them.  Driving to Torran took at least an hour.  It was the price they paid for having their base stationed so far away from any city.  However, it did manage to keep their privacy, and that's what mattered.  After all, Ramirez didn't even know where their base was.

"Hey guys?" began Ray as she stared out the window before her.  "When I pick up my Geno, will you two stick around and walk back to the base with me?"  Both Leon and Chris looked to Ray, a slightly confused expression radiating from both of them.  A Geno walked much faster than a car could drive.  What was the point in doing that?

"Why?" asked Leon.

"I don't know," she said, letting the word hang for a bit.  "I just don't like walking through the desert alone, I guess.  Besides, I'll walk at whatever pace your car goes at, okay?  Please?"

"I guess that'd be okay," said Leon, seeming to think the idea over.  True, it wasn't fun walking through the desert alone, but that had never been an issue for her before.  What was different now?

* * * *

Aaron sat in his desk chair, staring at the computer screen before him.  He was so very close to finishing his little project.  Their system was almost in full working order, but he was having a hard time fixing the last error.  The fact that he had a killer headache wasn't helping any.  He hadn't slept well that night, and he felt absolutely horrible.  He couldn't even see straight right now.  The single computer was splitting into two right before his very eyes.

"Aaron," called a deep voice from behind him.  He turned to see General Gordan standing there, accompanied by Abby and Brian.  "Have you fixed it yet?"

"I'm almost done," he answered, starting to feel just a little dizzy.  He was starting to see doubles of them as well.  He just couldn't get his eyes to focus 
Why is everything spinning?

"Aaron?" questioned Brian, trying to get the boy's attention.  He succeeded, but Aaron looked a little less than unaware.  His eyes were drooping, and his skin was just a little pale.  "Are you alright?  You look awful."

"Thanks for the compliment," Aaron grumbled to himself as he turned away from them.  He did look rather awful though.  His hair was still a mess, and he looked tired.  The circles under his eyes were a dead giveaway that he hadn't slept well that night.

"How much longer will it be?" Gordan asked him, earning him a sigh from the ex-commander.

"At least two more hours," he said.  "I just have to wait until everything stops spinning."  He placed his head in his hands, resting his elbows on the desk before him.  He was just so tired, but sleep wouldn't come for him.  He hadn't slept decently since the battle with the knights.  There was something that felt unfinished, as if he still had a reason to be afraid.  Why couldn't he just get a decent amount of sleep?  Why couldn't he let it go?