[EXCLUSIVE] Gaia Gear Ch.09 (Full)

Chapter.09
INERTIAL FLIGHT

１

　The shuttle, occupied by Affranchi Char and Miranda Howe, traced an ephemeral orbit, dancing on the gossamer strands of gravitational forces woven by the celestial trio: the Earth, moon, and sun. A waltz of inertia, the sensation of velocity masked by the void.
　During the flight, both Affranchi and Miranda shrugged off their normal suits. Subtly, Affranchi studied his suit's architecture, careful not to alert the ship's other occupants. Miranda, meanwhile, found solace in her practiced routine, her secretarial instincts kicking in amidst the brewing tension.
　In an effort to ease the tension amongst their three male companions, she busied herself in the galley, brewing tea and arranging light meals. However, the two men in the cockpit didn't seem inclined to relax. Just as Affranchi had, the captains seemed to sense something or someone lurking in the shoal zone of Side 4 behind Miranda.
　"This shuttle's being watched, isn't it?" asked the captain, turning towards Miranda, who brought the refreshments.
　"As long as you cooperate, we have no intention to take your lives," Miranda answered, wheeling the cart into the cockpit, attempting to offer a tray.
　"Is it poisoned?"
　Returning the tray to the cart, Miranda dismissed the insinuation with a gesture, "Choose as you please; we aren't playing Russian Roulette here."
　"Hmm… We'll see about that." scoffed the captain, nudging his co-pilot to choose first before taking his portion.
　"Can we expect a rendezvous in the shoal zone?" He inquired.
　"Whether it happens or not, even I can't tell. You know how vast the universe is..." Miranda replied, securing the cart next to Affranchi, both nibbling on sandwiches.
　"I was hungry..." Affranchi realized, the cold sensation of his juice reminding him of something long forgotten.
　Then silence took hold.
　Navigating the balance point between Earth and the moon's gravitational pull—an area littered with the remnants of destroyed colonies and shards of meteorites—was like a paper balloon trying to navigate a rocky terrain. Affranchi would have to don his normal suit again.
　By this time, he'd begun to think that his senses were inherently designed for life in space.
　"I'm starting to forget the name Everly Key…"
　It was a realization that solidified his perception of space.
　Tick!
　Tick, tick, tick...
　Subtly, a pulsation began resonating somewhere in Affranchi's head, the rhythm of the sound stirring a revival of knowledge. It held the qualities of not just mere knowledge but a valuable experience. From the minor ongoing experiences, Affranchi was activating all his memories, bringing back to life the embedded experiences into his present body.
　Affranchi found himself without words. His thoughts no longer had a flutter of words. Instead, every inch of Affranchi, down to his fingertips, was absorbing the reality he was experiencing and acquiring it as an undeniable realization.
　"Affran? How's the normal suit?"
　"Huh...? Ah, it's secure."
　He was taken aback by being called by such a casual version of his name, but it wasn't egregious enough to reprimand. Smiling at Miranda, Affranchi checked the display on the panel attached to his suit's arm.
　In that instant,
　WHAM!
　The shuttle trembled sharply. Affranchi found himself floating, hitting the ceiling. He hadn't put his helmet on yet. As he descended back to the floor, Affranchi swiveled the helmet attached to his backpack forward.

2

　"Even though we're under radar surveillance!"
　Miranda fluidly moved her body into the cockpit, all the while speaking in a difficult turn of phrase.
　"It's bloody impossible to spot a five-centimeter rock!" The captain retorted. For the rapidly moving shuttle, colliding with a floating stone in space could deal as much damage as a direct hit from a cannon.
　"We'll deploy the dummies," The co-pilot began the process of deploying dummies before he even finished his sentence. The enormous moon visible in the front view suddenly disappeared.
　Defensive balloons unfolded around the shuttle. Dozens of these balloons, each wrapped in a flexible, durable plastic membrane, deployed several kilometers in every direction from the shuttle's front, protecting it. If a rock were to hit, the dummy would burst but also explode, scattering small meteorites and debris from the destroyed colonies.
　This has been used even on the orbital track of artificial satellites around Earth. Countless minesweeping operations for the artificial satellites launched since the last century had been carried out, but there was no way they could be perfect. This was why there often arose situations necessitating defensive dummies. Such was space in the Earth's sphere.
　"We've got an air leak!"
　"No surprise there! It's a miracle we're not repairing the electrical system!" The captain's retort came as he scanned the damage to the shuttle.
　"Is it easy to repair?" Miranda Howe glanced at the console panel's display and said.
　"You know quite a bit, don't you, hijacker?"
　"I'd be ill-prepared if I weren't," Miranda quipped back, a devilish smile playing on her lips. The captain released a defeated sigh.
　"Why this? We could have been allies."
　"Leave your wife and kids, and you're in," Miranda responded with an unsettling level of calm.
"With the Neo Zeon?"
　"Well, yeah…"
　"What are you trying to do?"
　"I can't tell you that unless we're allies."
　"You're going to keep us on this course?"
　"No, up to this point. Can you read it?"
　"Don't mock me. The asteroid belt map for the mining workers is the same as the flight map." The captain input the numbers from the handheld computer display that Miranda presented into the autopilot computer and started discussing the course with the base computer of the shuttle.
　"No good! No matter how we fly, we'll either die of starvation before reaching the moon or run out of oxygen. Warnia is screaming she can't keep up."
　"Who's Warnia?"
　"Warnia! Our computer is not the most adaptable."
　"That's why, just until here," Miranda conceded.
　The shuttle dropped to a whispering hum of subsonic speed as hours slipped away into the cold oblivion of space.
　Bishh!
　Once again, the spacecraft shook slightly. Things floating in the shoal zone are not fixed. The shuttle's forward dummy is effective only against objects in the direction of the shuttle's progression. Objects hurtling in from the sides could easily breach the thin dummies, causing further damage to the hull.
　A hiss echoed, the unnerving sound of air escaping.
　"Affranchi."
At his name, Affranchi activated the birdlime sprayer situated at the cabin's center. The adhesive substance snaked along the air stream, adhered to the cabin wall, and stiffened. Air leakage ceased.
　On warships in combat, this was auto-set to plug the air leakage parts for the time being. Small, invisible damages could be perfectly patched with birdlime.
　"Should we refill cabin air?"
　"We've enough for now; we don't know how much time we have..." Miranda voiced her concern, and once more, time slipped by. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she floated beside Affranchi.
　"Youngin."
　Affranchi's weapon trained onto the voice in the cockpit.
　"Hm... holding up, are you?" The captain's voice revealed his attempt to ascertain their situation.
　"I'll have you know. I won't hesitate to shoot you both if circumstances call for it."
　"The meal was good. Russian Roulette is a game played with a gun, isn't it?"
　Knowing Miranda was asleep, the captain said, "We're both on edge, aren't we? The co-pilot says he wants to change the urine bag. Is that okay?"　"No, it's not. You have a spare, right? I don't want to wake her now."
　"Hmm...."
　The captain snorted and looked forward, where nothing but darkness could be seen. Then, more time passed.
　"...?!"
　Affranchi noticed a subtle movement in the captain's shoulder. Surely, he couldn't be transmitting a signal. Affranchi looked up. Miranda's body bumped the ceiling and gently began to fall back.
　"..."
　Silent tension etched across the captain's face as he turned towards the co-pilot. Affranchi moved into the cockpit.
　"....?"
　The captain swiveled, forehead gleaming in the dim light, toward Affranchi.
　"That radar! It's detecting something, isn't it?! Why didn't you tell me?"
　Feeling the weight of his cowardice, Affranchi pressed the gun muzzle to the captain's temple and grabbed the co-pilot's receiver wire. It was challenging to restrain them both. He subtly shifted his lower body towards the cabin.
　"I just found out it's not a rock. I couldn't identify it until now."
　Soon, everyone was going to be in a state of hysteria.
　"Enough with the excuses! If you ignore the dynamics and facts surrounding this shuttle, taking action without considering them, I will consider it an act of rebellion."
　"That way of speaking is so outdated. I want to believe it's a relic of a bygone era," the co-pilot said, smirking.
　"That just shows you don't understand others, doesn't it? While it's true that it's somewhat questionable for one person to judge another, unfortunately, humans have been judging others knowingly. And at that moment, in that situation, the one with power holds sway. Whether you call it a childish mindset or call it old-fashioned, I, for one, prioritize adhering strictly to the facts."
　"I understand your youthful spirit, but are you aware of the backlash that will come?"
　"My very existence is a reaction to the stagnation of the Earth Federation government over the past century. And I intend to prevent a reaction in the next era. You specialists probably don't understand that."
　"I didn't expect to hear such a speech from a young man."
　There was anger in the captain's voice.
　"Rebellion is also good, isn't it? You two are no longer necessary. You should realize the time to beg for your lives has come."
　Affranchi gambled.
　If the approaching blip on the radar wasn't related to the Earth Federation Forces...
　However, if it is and Affranchi becomes a prisoner, how should he explain what he just said?
　Why did he talk like that? It wasn't because of Affranchi's self-consciousness. It was something like a fantasy to intimidate.
　However, Affrancy was aware, to some extent, of the flaws in this reasoning, but explaining it now was difficult.
　Beep, beep, beep.
　"Affranchi, I'm sorry. It seems like our welcome party has arrived."
　Miranda's voice came through the receiver of the normal suit's helmet. Miranda slipped past Affranchi and peered at the console panel, giving Affranchi a smile.

3

　"What the...?!"
　A shadow flickered on the starboard side of the shuttle, too fleeting to identify before it vanished from the viewport, concealed by the deployed decoy. Moments later, a shuddering impact sent a jolt through the shuttle's body.
　"They're here!"
　Affranchi, after ensuring the two in the cockpit wouldn't move, signaled to Miranda in the back.
　Awaiting his signal, Miranda inserted the key to open the rear hatch.
　"What's the plan?"
　"Your lives are assured."
　"And where do I send the bill for the shuttle repair?" The captain's tone wasn't purely for reassurance. His character was fundamentally honest.
　"Rest assured, we'll discuss your return, and the shuttle's repairs, when the time comes."
　Affranchi, his pistol primed, ensured the shuttle's surveillance was deactivated, heeding Miranda's caution about their imminent guests remaining unseen by the crew. Now it was his duty to surveil.
　"Is it them?"
　That voice crackled in his receiver.
　However, Affranchi, anxious and unable to afford the crew any attention, couldn't turn around.
　"Don't turn around!"
　Seeing the captain's helmet shake violently, Affranchi touched helmets and shouted.
　Conversations using the vibrations from touching helmets were colloquially known as "contact conversations."
　Since it didn't use radio waves, it allowed for private communications.
　As the radio of the two crew members was now sealed, shouting was necessary to keep them in check.
　"But..."
　"Hold it together! One slip up here could be fatal!"
　His words served as a warning to the captain and, to some extent, a reminder to himself.
　The fragility of human emotions was palpable.
　Half a day of tense confinement in the small space had started to fray their nerves, spurring erratic actions. Affranchi was acutely aware that any lapse in his control could result in an unintended pull of the trigger. "Don't falter," he coached himself silently.
　He fervently believed in the vast potential humans held. If one aspires to realize their ideals, one must confront obstacles and naysayers with unwavering resolve. If he couldn't do that, he might as well retreat back to his distant island, away from the grand ideals he espoused. "That's the normal way of life..."
　However, having breached the barrier of Every Key, stepping into the boundless expanse of space, Affranchi had transcended 'normal.' He needed to stay true to his ideals.
　If he couldn't do that, he would have to return to being 'normal.' But such a return would be different from normal people doing normal things - it would be a fall.
　Choosing to fall with resolve is worse than being ignorant; it's a state of decay, a life spiraling directly toward death.
　These swirling thoughts and fears were pushed aside as he faced the unknown figures lurking in his ambiguous reality.
　He would just endure…
　Perhaps he was becoming stolid in his dullness...
　"Your Excellency Char Aznable!"
　The formal moniker echoed in his receiver. Affranchi reacted instinctively to the sound, swinging around towards the source. His body tensed, ready for whatever might unfold. He yearned to escape the wearying role of being the watchman at the heart of the incident.
　The trio of men approaching Miranda were outfitted in normal suits, pistols secured at their sides. Their faces were hidden behind dark visors... Actually, he wasn't certain they were all men.
　"We'll take it from here."
　The man in the lead gestured for Affranchi and Miranda to move aside. Uncertain, Affranchi moved past the man and made his way to the rear. He glimpsed a face behind the visor, a face that respected him yet was poised to fulfill its duty. Their movements were swift.
　"Affranchi!"
　Guided by Miranda, he approached the rear hatch, following the trail of her suit.
　A jolt of surprise seized him.
　He had been careless.
　For a moment, Affranchi felt like he'd fallen into a pit.
　He hadn't anticipated the spacecraft's armor in front of the hatch nor the gaping void below. Earth's gleaming crescent seemed perilously distant. A cold dread seemed to leak from his pores.
　If he hadn't been holding onto the handrail by the hatch, he would have thought he was "falling." Affranchi's upper body floated away the length of his arm.
　"Affranchi!!"
　He heard Miranda's voice from the hatch on the other side.
　"...?!"
　"Grab the wire and make your way here! Are you okay? Can you manage?"
　Miranda's normal suit floated back towards him.
　"Yes, I..."
　Affranchi vaguely answered.
　Fear still clung to him, but he managed a response. Miranda's hand gripped his shoulder, and through her visor, he saw the determination in her eyes soften.
　"..."
　"Relax... you'll acclimatize soon. I apologize for the sudden situation. You were doing so well as a partner, I forgot that you're new to space... Come on!"
　Miranda grabbed Affranchi's arm and helped him grab the wire.
　Affranchi held onto Miranda's shoulder and drifted towards the opposite machine.
　"..."
　It was a ship equipped with a manipulator for mining minerals. Of course, it was something Affranchi didn't know about. It had equipment for minesweeping.
　"Over here."
　"Y-yes..."
　Like a young boy, Affranchi responded and sat on a rather spacious bridge seat.
　"Is that him?"
　Another voice came through his headphones, and Affranchi turned towards the source. In the backseat, another normal suit was seated.
　"Yes, this is Affranchi Char."
　With Miranda's introduction, Affranchi turned his head to nod in acknowledgment. However, the normal suit stood and saluted Affranchi.
　Just like in the military...
　"...?"
　Affranchi frowned.
　"No, don't. He's not fully awake yet. Such formalities might be too stimulating."
　"Right!"
　The man raised his hands, a gesture of surrender, and sat back down. A chuckle, then a comment followed.
　"Hard to believe this is the same man who piloted the suit in Hong Kong."
　"Does he look like a trembling pigeon?"
　Miranda, not intending to insult, said this as she made visor contact, "Affranchi... Your sensibility is... Yes, it's very likable."
　"Ready!"
　The voice signaled the return of the others.
　"Great! Let's move out."
　Miranda issued the cheerful command.
　"Then..."
　The two men sat in the seat in front of Affranchi.
　"What happened to those pilots?"
　"They're just taking a short nap. They will wake up in a few hours and can send a distress signal."
　"I see..."
　Affranchi glanced over and saw the humanoid suit he had operated detaching from the shuttle's cargo attachment.
　"Well then!"
　The man in the center seat offered a word of parting before accelerating the ship. The shuttle, and the past, were now behind them.