Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

TWENTY-TWO

We met belowdecks with the others after dark just as we'd planned. By then, the rest of the crew was in their quarters aside from the night watch up on deck, so we had the cargo bay all to ourselves. Dinner had been a little while ago, and thanks to our disguises, we'd all been able to grab something from the galley without anyone catching on. Now that we were alone, we could finally unwind a bit.

"Whew!" Jessie said as she took off her helmet. "So glad to get this thing off. I don't know how soldiers can stand them."

I shrugged as I did the same. "Training. You get used to it."

She glanced curiously at me. "I thought you said you'd never worn one of these until today, Cloud. That right?"

"Yeah..." I said, rubbing my head where it hurt.

"You okay?" Tifa asked as she removed her own helmet.

I nodded. "I'm fine, Tif. Just tired, I guess."

"It has been a busy day, hasn't it?" Aerith agreed, taking hers off as well and unwinding her braid. "We all oughta get some rest soon. We'll need plenty of it to keep up the act tomorrow."

"How we gonna do that?" Barret wondered. "This place ain't really got no beds. An' all the crew quarters are full."

I pointed to a stack of crates nearby. "There's some camping gear in there—sleeping bags, pillows, that sort of thing. Even a few hammocks. Noticed it when Jessie I went through here earlier. It's all military issue, probably for the troops to use when they're in the field overnight. But I think we can use them in here easily enough."

Jessie giggled. "Good thinking, merc! And I know the perfect place for you and me to snuggle. It'll be great!"

"Wait, what?" I gaped at her.

"You'll see," she smirked. "I'll show ya in a bit."

I blinked. "I, uh... alright."

"Awesome!" Jessie winked, pumping her fist. Then she looked over at the others. "So anyway, we have some idea of what Shinra's gonna be doing next. Cloud and I did a little eavesdropping on the Turks back in Junon just before we came aboard. Plus we got a few tips from a friend of his, the trooper from the Shinra Building."

"I remember him," Tifa said. "He recognized Cloud. I didn't realize he'd been transferred to Junon, though. But I'm glad he helped you two out. So he had some information for us?"

I nodded. "Yeah, from Kunsel. Rufus intends to attack us from the inside soon. Through a spy. My friend didn't know who it was, though, only that we haven't met him yet. Or her."

"Then we better watch close for anyone who's actin' jus' a little too friendly," Barret grunted. "Gotta keep our eyes open."

"I doubt it'll be that easy," Aerith said.

Yuffie, looking little better now though still not happy about being on the ship, glanced at Jessie. "Speaking of inside info, any word yet on Hiroshi? I know it's a pretty long shot, but..."

Jessie sighed. "Not too much, I'm afraid. But I only just got word to Kunsel to start looking for him while we were still at Fort Condor, so it hasn't been very long yet. Don't give up."

"I won't," she promised. "What's he found?"

"A strange gap in Shinra's military personnel files," Jessie explained. "As if one of them had been deleted. Kunsel's working on recovering it, but he's gotten enough so far to see the entry was forged. He messaged me while we were still in Junon, but I couldn't check it until just about an hour ago what with all that's happened."