A few days had passed since we arrived at the cosmodrome. Primis and I hadn't spoken much about our plan - or lack thereof. He hadn't even made the effort to try and figure one out; and, he certainly wasn't the type to go blindly into something. I wondered if he had begun to doubt that I would follow through on what I promised to Maxis. Or perhaps he had been suspicious from the start? Either way, I had to keep such thoughts out of my mind.
We had established a living quarters in the centrifuge room; more specifically, the area where the lunar lander docks at the beginning of the game. The small room where the Juggernog machine is located seemed so cosy; but instinct and habit had caused us to seek out somewhere which would prevent any unexpected ambush of undead.
There was really not much to do; we simply had to wait. We sat on our makeshift beds as I tried to wrap myself in my blanket whilst in deep thought. It must have been close to the 6th of November by now - the day when Richtofen and the guys would finally arrive at the cosmodrome. But it also meant that it was going to be Christmas soon - back home. I had made sure to count the nights I spent here since I arrived in this universe. I figured you would lose track of your own time otherwise - especially when you're travelling between different time periods.
My heart sank at the thought of Christmas coming and going with my family still not knowing where I was. In fact, it made me feel absolutely awful. And the knowledge of this had made me quieter than usual; which Primis had taken note of. But, I knew he was not good talking about feelings and emotions.
Primis sat beside me and was trying his best to occupy himself with notes and paperwork; which he had scribbled on as he tried to figure out why no one had arrived to meet us yet. But it was more than evident that the impatience was gnawing away at him.
"Verdammit! Vhere zhe hell are zhey?!" Primis exclaimed in frustration. I was torn from my thoughts before turning to look at him.
"Don't worry, Edward. They should be here any day. I know it's boring having to wait but--", I stopped as I let out a sigh. Primis turned to face me with a look of concern.
"Kiana, please tell me vhat is wrong?" Primis asked as he looked into my eyes with compassion and concern in his own.
"Oh, it's nothing. Really", I responded dismissively - I really did not want to worry him further. Primis looked away and we sat in silence. But, just as I was about to immerse myself in my thoughts; he turned to look at me again and took a deep breath to compose himself before speaking.
"Jou have been quiet since ve arrived. I know jou made zhe promise to Maxis but I vorry zhat zhe veight of zhis burden is too much for jou to bear", Primis finally blurted out. He really was awkward with emotional matters. But regardless, I always appreciated his efforts.
"I can deal with that, Edward. It's just-- it's just... I'm feeling down thinking about back home. It'll be Christmas soon there; the same day Richtofen is fated to arrive here in this universe. I've been keeping track of how many days have passed in my universe by counting the nights I spend in this one. It's just sad to think my that family have been worrying about where I am for all this time. And I'm not even there to celebrate the holidays with them", I quickly blurted out in return.
I felt bad overwhelming him but I selfishly wanted to talk about it. To be honest, I felt relieved just saying how I felt out loud. I didn't really need any kind words - they couldn't really change things anyways.
But, suddenly, Primis put his arm around me as he tried to comfort me. I knew it was hard for him to do but I appreciated him going outside of his own comfort zone. Yet, I still felt so awful for complaining about not being able to see my family... when he never really had one at all. I hated times like these where I felt needy.
"Zhere zhere, I know it must be hard", Primis whispered in his deep German accent. I put an arm around his waist as I battled to hold back the tears. We sat there quietly without as much as another word before our ears pricked up. There was a low rumbling sound which bellowed in the distance. It was almost like the sound of an aircraft - or a lunar lander.
"I think that's them!" We both said at the same time before looking at eachother in surprise.
"Quick, ve must grab our zhings! Ve cannot alert zhem to our presence!" Primis exclaimed. We jumped to our feet before hurriedly grabbing the blankets and belongings.
"Where will we hide?!" I asked with panic. We couldn't exactly open any doors in the map without giving away our presence. Primis and I looked around the room as we tried to find a hiding spot. Then, his eyes fell on something.
"Look! Ve need to hide in zhe centrifuge!" Primis finally responded. I turned to look at him in horror as I felt nauseous at the sheer thought of being flung around in it. Especially since it comes to life whenever a lunar lander docks in the room.
"But!" I tried to protest before conceding that there was simply nowhere else to hide. I allowed him to drag me up into the chamber of the centrifuge.
"You know, this really isn't safe bringing loose objects into the chamber with us. I'd rather not get taken out by my own bag", I said dryly with a smile as Primis realised and agreed.
"Give me jour bag", Primis asked quickly before climbing back out of the chamber. I watched as he ran over to one of the barriers and threw our stuff behind some debris. He sprinted back over to the centrifuge before climbing in and closing the hatch.
"Quick, zhe restraints!" Primis ordered as we both buckled up. The sound of the lunar lander was steadily approaching the cosmodrome facility. I began to fill with panic as I anticipated the lander setting off the centrifuge. My feelings must have been written all over my face as Primis now turned to look at me.
"It vill be okay", Primis tried to reassure me as I felt ill at the mere thought of being spun around in this torture machine of doom. I felt the colour drain from my face as I knew it was going to be far from okay.
"I get motion sickness on a bike nevermind this stupid thing!" I replied hyperbolically in my sarcastic Scottish tone - always resorting to saying something humorous in bad situations.
"I promise, jou vill be fine. It's just going to be some vertigo und nausea und dizziness... und digestive upset--", Primis whispered as he tried to reassure me again before I cut him off.
"Not helping!" I said sharply - through gritted teeth - as the rumble of the lander was now deafening. It hovered above us as it prepared to dock.
"Zhey are docking!" Primis murmured with an involuntary grimace as we listened to the lander begin to descend. Suddenly, the centrifuge came to life and power began to flow through it.
"Oh no..." I whispered aloud before Primis suddenly put his hand on mine. And, as soon as we began to see the smoke from the spent rocket fuel, the centrifuge flung us back in our seats.
"Fuuuuuuuuuuu--", I screamed at the top of my lungs. The strength of the force became suffocating. The sheer weight of it sunk us back into the heavily padded seats and pushed against our chests.
Then, when the lander finally docked, we felt the centrifuge slow down before finally coming to a stop. Everything was spinning as I tried to focus my vision and check on Primis. It took a minute of two before I could finally see his face - which was practically green with nausea.
"Are you okay, Edward?" I whispered quietly as we heard male voices begin encroaching towards us.
"J-ja", Primis managed to reply as he closed his eyes and tried to ignore the symptoms.
"Where the fuck are we now?!" A gravelly American voice bellowed - it was definitely Dempsey. But no sarcastic German voice followed up with a smart-arse reply.
"Ahhh, back in the Motherland!" Another voice slurred in a Russian accent - it was Nikolai. But still, no German voice followed.
"This place has no honour!" A Japanese voice spat as I turned to Primis. We both agreed that was definitely Takeo. But again; no German voice.
"Do you hear Richtofen?" I whispered to Primis in confusion.
"Nein, he is not vith zhem", Primis replied with suspicion in his voice. The three men outside began to walk around before another Russian voice called out over the tannoys.
"Please, help me. She's coming! The mechanism must be repaired!" The voice pleaded to the new visitors. I then caught Primis frown as he seemed to recognise the voice.
"It's Gersch", I said - which seemed to jog his memory.
"Ahh, yes. Hmph, he vants zhem to fix zhe kasimir mechanism. Pity, I vould have been much more useful... if only he had asked me", Primis whispered irritatedly. His ego seemed bruised.
We had stopped with the chamber window facing away from the lunar lander. As we tried to peer out to catch a glimpse of the men; Nikolai came into view. I quietly kocked on the window to get his attention; which took a while before Nikolai finally realised to look up.
"Ayyyy, leetil woman! Long time no see! We thought you were dead! What are you doing up there?" Nikolai asked with a confused frown.
"Nik, is Richtofen with you?" I whispered through the glass.
"Nope, he went off on one of his little holidays. He just told us to take the lander to here before he left", Nikolai slurred. Primis and I looked at eachother in confusion.
"What the heck? We play as Richtofen in Ascension", I thought to myself. When I looked back at Primis; he was looking at me expectantly.
"I don't know. We play as him in the map..." I said before pausing.
"... ahhh, yes! The poster for the map had this bald guy on it and we all wondered who he was at the time. Then, years later Treyarch tried to explain it by saying that when the guys get here they arrive without Richtofen and fight with Gersch until Richtofen finally arrives", I explained.
"But they never explained where Richtofen went during that time", I said dejectedly. I had absolutely no idea where he would even go.
"Hm..." Primis hummed as he mulled over my words before finally speaking.
"Vell, ve vill have to shimply vait for him to arrive zhen", Primis mused.
"We didn't even need to jump in here..." I laughed before frowning with the dizziness and nausea that still persisted.
"Ja, ve could have avoided all zhat", Primis huffed in frustration. We grimaced at eachother; but, we were both beyond annoyed at subjecting ourselves to a completely avoidable torture.
"Are you coming out of there, leetil woman?" Nikolai shouted up. I leaned forward and put a thumb up before Primis leaned forward to open the hatch.
"Ayyyy! Is other Richtofen, what were you doing in there with leetil woman? I thought you were both dead!" Nikolai slurred before squinting up at Primis. As Primis and I jumped out the centrifuge, Takeo and Dempsey spotted us and ran over. We both felt wobbly on our feet as we instinctively grabbed onto eachother for support.
"No. Fuckin'. Way!" Dempsey spat as he clenched his teeth with anger.
"That BASTARD! I told you guys that I was RIGHT!!!" Dempsey shouted as he glared at Takeo and Nikolai. I could see he was seething with hatred but for now - that would have to wait.
"Will- explain- later... feel- sick" I managed to say before Primis and I ran past everyone and dropped our belongings. We quickly lay down on the blankets and stared up at the ceiling.
"ZHE ROOM IS SHTILL SHPINNING!" Primis exclaimed aloud. The shouting seemed to be therapeutic for him.
"I feel... SO SICK" I shouted alongside him. We just lay there feeling sorry for ourselves as we groaned in unison. It was not until the air hit us and we stood up that we had realised how bad we really felt.
"Vhy couldn't ve be in jour universe celebrating Christmas inshtead of suffering zhis infernal vestibular disturbance! As if zhis place isn't bad enough to exisht in..." Primis cried out with discomfort.
"We could've been having such a nice day eating--" I suddenly stopped in my delirium.
"NEIN! DON'T MENTION--" Primis shouted out as he recoiled in horror.
"FOOD! WHY DID I MENTION IT?!" I cried out as my stomach turned.
"ZHE ZHOUGHT OF IT IS TURNING MEIN SHTOMACH!" Primis shouted and groaned. The vertigo was so bad we could not even move our heads to look at anything except the peeling grey paint on the ceiling. Meanwhile, Takeo, Nikolai and Dempsey all stood around us as they watched the spectacle unfold.
"What's all this about Christmas?" Dempsey asked.
End of part seven...