Chapter 12
Shinra did a crap job of training its pilots, Cid had decided. The airship's crew, while earnest and intelligent, were far too inexperienced to be flying. He had to keep a sharp eye on them to make sure they didn't screw something up, all the while wondering how the hell they had managed without him. They were damn lucky he had been around when they'd had to hightail it out of the crater.
Vincent and Cait Sith had long since left the bridge. He guessed that his shouting profanities as his crew was a little too much for their delicate sensitivities, but he didn't give a shit. They couldn't do anything but get in the way.
Fort Condor, their destination, was coming into view. He took over the wheel, not trusting the fledgling pilot to land the Highwind properly, even if the kid had done it before.
He found the other three out on deck, Yuffie still looking green. He didn't understand how she could get sick while flying, and the only reason they were getting off the Highwind was so she could get her bony ass on solid ground. Normally Cid wouldn't have bothered, but, as Vincent had pointed out, there were only four of them left, and the kid had a brain in there somewhere. Anyway it couldn't hurt to hole up with people actually on their side for a while.
"All right, you numskulls, let's go scare the locals." He threw down the ladder and started down first, wondering only then that he'd somehow become the leader. Captain of a crew was fine, he thought, but leader of this bunch of wanna-be heroes and freaks was the last job he would have asked for.
But until they got the others back, it looked like he was stuck with it.
The others followed him down, and they headed for the entrance to the fort. Yuffie began whistling, and when they reached the guard stationed out front, she called out a cheerful "Hello!"
The man looked past Cid, nodding as though at a pleasant surprise. "Oh, hello, Miss Yuffie."
Cid shot her a look. "You never said you'd been here before."
"You never asked," she told him pleasantly.
"Where are Cloud and the others you were with?" the guard asked, looking over the rest of the small group.
"I dunno," Yuffie said, "but we need a place to crash for a while. D'you mind?"
"Not really. Only, would you mind introducing your new friends?"
"This is Cid Highwind, and that's Vincent Valentine, and the cat is Cait Sith. They all used to work for Shinra, but now they don't."
"I see." The guard paused, mulled over her complete lack of explanation for a moment, and then stepped aside. "Well, go on in. Tarin will fix you up with a room and a meal."
"Thanks," Yuffie said, and practically skipped on inside the fort.
On second thought, Cid reflected with a scowl, maybe I should just let the brat lead. She seems to be doing a good enough job.
Some middle-aged man with an odd-looking hat, presumably Tarin, went off to fix them a late lunch almost as soon as he saw Yuffie. He returned about fifteen minutes later, and soon they were sitting around a small table, Cid and Yuffie tearing apart whatever he'd brought like starved animals. Even Vincent ate something.
Once they'd stuffed their faces enough to slow down and talk in between, Cid sat back. "So," he said, "what're we gonna do about Aeris and the others?"
"Damned if I know," Yuffie muttered.
"Taking them back by force is obviously out of the question," Vincent said as though she hadn't said anything, which was fine by Cid. "We will need to get in and out unnoticed."
"Well, you just ruled out half of us for this mission," Cid observed. "No way're you and Cait gonna be able to disguise yourselves."
"I can when I need to."
"I'm good at sneaking around, too," Yuffie put in.
"What's your contribution, cat?" Cid asked, turning to the member of the group who really brought their freak show to new levels.
"I'm your information man. Floor plans, access codes, whatever you need."
"And we just trust you it's all good?"
"It's good, I promise."
Cid was unconvinced, and it was probably only partly because he was talking to a stuffed cat. "We don't even know who you are."
"I know who he is!" Yuffie exclaimed suddenly, and the cat looked at her in alarm. "And y'know, I think maybe he's okay," she went on. "Rufus isn't real thrilled with him, so I think we've kinda won him over to our side."
"Well, who is he?"
She looked to Cait. "You gonna tell 'em, or should I?"
The cat slumped on his moogle and gave a little sigh. "My name is Reeve," he said, the tone of his voice changing. "I'm head of the Urban Development Department, though that's been little more than a joke since the late President had Sector 7 destroyed. Rufus assigned me to spy on you all. I never wanted to do it, if that counts for anything."
"You're higher up than I thought," Cid observed with an appreciative whistle. "Still don't trust you though."
"I thought we were past all this," Cait said.
The pilot snorted. "Sure, you've helped us out, but like hell if I'm gonna leave somethin' this fuckin' important in the hands of some Shinra spy."
Before Cait Sith could reply, Vincent interjected, his voice as level as always. "None among us is without cause for mistrust. I am a former Turk, Yuffie has in the past been less than loyal, and you yourself once worked for Shinra. I suggest you lower your standards."
Once Cid got over Vincent saying more than three words at once, he gave the point a little serious thought. Okay, so he'd had his connections with Shinra even as recently as the past two weeks, waiting to hear on that damn space program. And from those years of association, he knew better than the next guy that not everyone working for Shinra was a complete asshole. He trusted his crew, and they'd left the company only a day earlier. Cait Sith had been with the group longer than he had, and he hadn't bailed out even after being discovered.
Cid ran a hand through his hair. "Shit," he announced. "I guess we'll just have to give this a shot."
"Thank you," Cait said, bowing gratefully over his moogle.
"Just cut to the chase, cat. What can you tell us about Junon base?"
"It's not going to be easy. The holding cells where Aeris and the others should be is on the second floor of the base, off the main control room--so it'll be tough getting everyone out through there. No chance for a quick getaway either; the airfield's on the other side of the compound."
"Aren't you supposed to have ideas on how to get around this shit?" Cid demanded. If he was their information man, he damn well better have something useful to offer.
"I'm trying to think, but it'd be a lot easier if Shinra had a distraction."
"I don't think there're gonna be any parades this time around," Yuffie said dubiously.
Cait Sith shook his head. "No. But why don't you two get some rest while Vincent and I talk it over? You both must be pretty tired."
Cid let out a sigh and decided that was probably best. He wasn't good at this planning stuff anyway, and he trusted Vincent at least to think outside the box even if he'd spent most of his fucked up life inside one. He stood, scraping back his chair, and nodded to Yuffie. "Lead the way, brat. I can't wait to get back on a fucking normal sleeping pattern."
"I think that goes for all of us," she replied as she took the lead for wherever they were crashing for the night. "This saving-the-Planet shit is really tiring."
"Didn't Tifa tell you to watch yer fucking language?"
"No, she told me to watch my language."
"Oh, shut up, brat."
Nanaki woke with a sharp headache from the blow which had knocked him out. Flat grey walls surrounded him, white light from above catching their metallic sheen. A single cot marred the sterility of the room, its occupant still unconscious. The door leading out, he knew, was operated by an access panel on the outside. From inside the cell, a red light above it assured him they were locked in.
He recognized the place immediately. They were in a holding cell on the 67th floor of the Shinra building in Midgar, scant minutes from Hojo's main laboratory. He required no explanation for their being here rather than still in Junon; he was only surprised at the speed of their transfer.
He looked back to Aeris, lying on the cot, and slowly picked himself up, crossed the short distance to her side, and sat back on his haunches to wait.
It was not long before she woke, giving a start before she recognized the cell as swiftly as he had, and lay back. She glanced over at him, unsurprised by his presence. "We're back here again," she said.
"So it seems."
"At least we're friends this time. We can keep each other company, instead of scaring each other half to death."
He nudged her shoulder with his nose. "I am sorry about that, really."
"You apologized then, and I don't hold it against you." She offered him a tired smile, and then turned her gaze to the ceiling. "Do you think they'll come rescue us again?"
"As soon as they're able."
"Only, it'll be a different group of rescuers," she said, any trace of the smile fading. "Cloud's missing, and they took Barret and Tifa."
"Them, too?" Nanaki asked, his own spirits sinking. That put half of them in Shinra's hands; were the ones who'd escaped really in any position to come after them?
"You were out when that happened, weren't you? But, probably they're still in Junon." Aeris sat up and slid her legs over the edge of the cot. "I hope they get rescued first. Shinra may want them dead..." He could see the shadow of worry cross her face, and then she shook her head. "We... may have to deal with Professor Hojo, but at least he'll keep us alive."
It really was a grim situation, he reflected. "Perhaps we should try to escape on our own first," he suggested, preferring to avoid any dealings with Hojo if he could.
"How?" she asked. "There's no way to open these doors from the inside."
Nanaki sighed. "I suppose we weren't able to escape on our own last time either."
Aeris's voice grew quiet. "Sephiroth won't be coming to get us out of here this time. He's summoning Meteor, or maybe he's summoned it already."
"You cannot tell?"
She shook her head. "Not here. I can't hear a damned thing in Midgar, and I couldn't hear anything on the airship either."
He thought this was probably the first time he had ever heard Aeris curse, and he watched her carefully as she went on.
"He must be using an incredible amount of energy. If I were on the ground, even here, I'm sure I could feel it, but I get... nothing. For the Planet's sake, I wish I could talk to it." Her voice held a strain of frustration now. Not worry over being in Hojo's custody, but anxiety over not knowing what was happening and being unable to do anything about it.
"Does the Planet get frightened?" he wondered.
Aeris looked at him in surprise, as though he had asked a silly question, but then understanding crossed her face. "Yes, it gets frightened. At times it's very... human, if that's even the word for it. Like a child who's lived a very long time."
"Do you think there are other planets like ours, Aeris?" he asked, at the same time thinking that this was not the time to pursue such idle curiosities. He should have been asking after what troubled her and trying to ease her worries.
"I'm sure there are," she said. "Just none nearby that I or the Planet can hear. Maybe, when it's older, it can call out to them. I'm sure it'll be glad for the company."
Then again, he realized, if he asked the things of her he really wished to know, she probably wouldn't answer any more than she had already. She had always kept her worries to herself, even making the decision to leave them entirely on her own. No, she would only confide in them when she'd decided of her own accord, and until then they could only be patient. In the mean time, she seemed more comfortable with his idle curiosity. If pretending that nothing about her had changed might aid her recovery, he would play along.
"And do you think," he went on, "that those other planets have beings like us?"
"They must. Jenova came from one, after all."
"Hopefully we'll see no more of her kind."
Aeris nodded. "Hopefully." She paused before saying more. "I wonder sometimes, what her motives are. Sephiroth wouldn't even tell me his, much less say a word about hers."
"What do you mean?" Nanaki wondered, tilting his head. "He believes he has been wronged and wants revenge, doesn't he?"
She looked at him, and he felt that however close they were, in this instant they were as far apart as strangers. "Do you really believe that?"
The door slid open before he could reply. A pair of Shinra soldiers stood in the doorway, ready guns forbidding any thought of escape. "The Professor wants to see you," one said to Aeris.
The Cetra hadn't even turned her head to look at them, but Nanaki could tell by the way her body tensed that she knew they meant her. "All right," she said, and got to her feet. She walked to the doorway and let them escort her out without a backward glance.