After the Drift

Chapter Eleven: The New Home

Hong Kong, December 14, 2023

As soon as my feet hit the tarmac, I wanted to go home.

This place was all doom and gloom. The sheets of rain falling around us didn't help the environment. The friendly twinkling lights of the Academy seemed so far away now. For the first time since joining the PPDC, I was scared of the unknown.

I felt a big hand on my shoulder, I looked up to see my Dad looking at me with a warm look. "You've got this, gem." He squeezed my shoulder and walked first into the elevator to take us down to the flood we would live on.

I swallowed hard and grabbed the duffle bags that sat beside me.

The elevator clunked and rattled all the way down. The other techs and officers in the elevator were also quiet.

I just wanted my Dad to hold me like he did when I was little and upset. Lucie stood in the corner with a blank look on her face. She had been even quieter lately. We hadn't been called on to be anyone's backup in awhile due to our instability.

Poor Sovereign Brave and Romeo Blue stood outside in the rain, waiting for bays to open for them. I missed our big girl.

We finally stopped on our floor, ushered by a girl named Mako Mori to our private quarters. Mom and dad were together, as were Lucie and I.

Mako shared a small smile with me, maybe we could be friends...

"I was asked by Marshal Pentecost to give you a tour of the dome, to get yourselves familiar with the layout." She nodded to my sister and I.

Of course our parents already knew. They'd been here tons of times.

I nodded and looked at Lucie. She nodded as well, so we left our things in our room and followed after the petite girl.

Mako was quiet except for the occasional bit of information about where we were or what we did there. Everything here was very utilitarian. Including most of the people.

We came up to what looked like a lab, where a crazed little man covered in tattoos what running around checking multiple computer screens and other devices. "This is Newton Geiszler. He is our K-Science Officer-"

"Just call me Newt!" He yelled from behind a large tank full of... something.

He came back out and waved at us. "More new residents? Good good. Here is where all the big questions about Kaiju come to be answered." He gestured to the lab that looked like it been blown up.

"Lucie Blackwell, and this is my sister Ruby." My sister gestured to me. He nodded quickly, paying her little attention causing he to scowl, I held back a laugh.

"And I am Hermann Gottlieb. I work alongside Newton here." The other man came over to us, shaking each of our hands.

"You're the one who wrote those journals detailing prior attacks?" I said a little mystified.

A small smile came to the man's face. "Yes yes, I did. I'm glad someone reads them..." Newt then took Hermann over and they began discussing some new development in the research they were doing into the Breach.

The tour brought us to the main LOCCENT control room. It overlooked the entirety of the bays and all the Jaegers living there. I saw Romeo Blue being loaded onto an empty dock. My parents must be down there somewhere.

I also saw the edge of Stryker Eureka and felt my chest tighten up.

"Hey! You must be the Blackwell Girls!" A man in a bow tie swiveled around in his chair and had a huge smile on his face. "Hello! I'm Tendo Choi, Chief LOCCENT Officer. You can just call me Tendo, though."

He took my hand tightly and shook it. "You must be Ruby, your father spoke of you often. That you take after him. And you must be Lucie, you look just like your mother!" His warm smile put similar ones on both our faces.

A throat cleared behind us, turning around we saw the Marshal standing there. "Well, it has been some time since I've seen you two trouble makers."

My sister and I broke out in grins. Stacker Pentecost was a stern man but his fatherly side spread to more than just his own children. He had seen both my sister and I grow up into what we were now.

"How are you, Marshal?" Lucie asked of the man who was basically our uncle.

He gave the briefest of half smiles. "I would be better if the entirety of the PPDC wasn't in jeopardy and giant monsters weren't destroying the world, but I can't complain too explicitly."

We both knew of Marshal Pentecost's condition, how it was worsening. I looked down to my feet.

"Well I would expect you are both exhausted from your journey. I can assure you Sovereign Brave will be docked carefully. You should eat then rest up. Unfortunately, that may be all I can assure you of at the time being."

We nodded together and went to leave, thanking Mako as we passed her.

Lucie was quiet as we went to where we thought this dome's cafeteria was. It was smaller than the academy's but was still packed we realized when we finally got there. A few other teams were scattered around eating.

The Kaidonovskys were off to the left, speaking rapid fire Russian to each other. It might have been a squabble... or reciting love poems to each other but I really didn't know the language.

The Wei Tang Brothers were at another table conversing with each other, one of them looked up and had a smile as soon as he saw my sister. The two other brothers looked and got the same reactions.

Oh boy. Here we go.

Lucie started to grin, she was already starting to feel at home here. She lived for the attention. At least one of us felt better about being here.

"I'll grab something for us, you mingle, Luce." She looked at me a little surprised. "Really?" I nodded and walked away from her.

I soon heard a lively conversation with the Brothers and my sister's tinkly bell laugh. As much as I hated her flirting, something inside me had changed in the past few weeks. I wanted us to work out our problems and be better partners.

I stood in line with a tray for the both of us. She ate like a bird, so I picked a few bits of fruits and veggies. I didn't feel too hungry so I just doubled up on what I got her.

Just as I was about to swipe our new keycards for the first lunch we would eat here, I saw a flash of dark reddish brown hair and khaki.

That tightness in my chest swelled like a baby kaiju was using it for a nap.