Chapter Text
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are arriving at London Intergalactic Spaceport. Please check that all items are properly stowed and your safety harnesses are securely fastened ….”
Though his thoughts were focused inwards, John heard the announcement and crossed it off his mental checklist. It was a process, or a part of one. A bridge taking him from Point A to Point B. Necessary. Routine was something he was used to having in his daily life thanks to parents who served. And yet, it did little to reassure him, as evidenced by the way his left leg bounced up and down at a constant, rapid pace. It was a clear indication that anxiety had the edge in this particular battle, and John sighed when he recognized it. Closing his eyes, he willed the movement to stop.
Final approach and landing took all of fifteen minutes, but John considered it the longest fifteen minutes he’d lived in his almost eighteen years. Toss in the mandatory customs check for passengers arriving from off-world, and by the time he exited the London spaceport, he practically burst through the doors onto London’s busy streets. The desperation to start moving towards his main mission finally found purchase and refused to let go.
The SSV Einstein had been out on patrol in the Terminus Systems when John received Jane’s message; weeks from any port where he could catch an Earthbound ship. John responded immediately, of course, to her message -- the announcement that her grandmother to whom she’d been sent to live passed away. Her reply returned just as quickly. I’m all alone now.
Those four words sent a panic through him so swift and strong, it was all he could do to wait for the Einstein to eventually make port for reprovisioning. Six months into a nine-month deployment to some of the farthest reaches of space, there was no way he could get anywhere resembling civilization any sooner, let alone a foreign spaceport with access back to the Sol System. Still, he’d written back immediately hoping his words would reassure her she wouldn’t be alone for long.
While she’d responded to his first message, the second time he received only silence. One hundred and two days and counting of gut-wrenching, worry-filled nothing. Given the closeness they shared, that set off all sorts of alarm bells screaming warnings in his head. This was too out of character for her behavior to go overlooked!
Stuck aboard ship, it drove John crazy at first. He tried to find distraction in planning and used that as a way to kill the time he’d have to wait. Detailing his own personal S&R mission for his best friend, he researched, pulled up maps, sought ways to obtain the basic equipment he needed, and made sure his financing was in place. He left nothing to chance; everything, down to three potential arrival times and location depending on which port the Einstein made first and when. Every last detail had shape and form. So focused on his mission was he that the thought of informing his parents never even crossed his mind. He was almost eighteen, an adult practically, with plans to enlist on his birthday in a couple of months. It wasn’t like he had told them about that either, though they knew because they knew him. DUTY was bred into him as it had been them at his age. In the end, John finally did send them both a quick note just before his first flight left port, and hoped they would understand when next they met in person.
Fourteen weeks, four days, nine hours and sixteen minutes from her last contact with him they’d finally made port. Docking procedures weren’t even completed by the time he’d left the Einstein and was boarding the first Earthbound flight.
Now came the real test of patience.
Out on the streets of London, John hefted his pack over his shoulders and took a good look around, trying to get his bearings. There was a huge difference between weeks of studying overhead viewing maps versus seeing it live and up close in person. It was almost fifteen weeks now, since he first received her message. He had an address, a starting point: her grandmother’s apartment. He doubted Jane would be there, but it was as good as any place to begin. Perhaps someone else in the building could tell him where to find her or offer something in the way of information. And if not? Well, that was why he’d planned it all out, wasn’t it?