Sun in the East, Moon in the West (Rider)

[Deleted]

Rider could see the light in the young man's eyes when he told him that his father was still alive and felt pretty good about himself for a moment.  Family was important and he hoped this kid would find his dad.  It was nice to see a happy ending once in a while.

"The different stars on the helmets also signify ranks.  The Nova Corps is built like an army, well organized with a command structure, or at least it was."

He shook his head and made a dismissive gesture with his hand.

"I can't speak for your Dad, but you don't owe me any apologies.  It looks to me like you are doing your best to follow up on our tradition, and I kind of like that.   As long as you don't end up getting yourself killed doing it."

He looked up and picked up the cloth version of his helmet and as it got close to his head it turned to metal again.

"Space can be a tricky thing.  I don't know if your dad ever told you many stories but did you ever wonder why Novas still use spaceships for long distance travel even though they have speed to burn?  It's because navigation is a bitch and a standard helmet is not equipped for that kind of rapid calculations.  And for the human mind it is just so easy to get lost out there amongst the stars, nebulas and galaxies and never be able to find your way home.  So don't mess around with space travel and whatever you do don't try to hit light speed inside an atmosphere."

Rider slipped his helmet on and stood up.

"Put your lid on kid and I'll give you a little taste of what you have to look forward to."

With that Nova took off going straight up at high speed.

[Sam Alexander]

Well that explained a couple of things now. Rider had managed to answer a lot of his questions and it might've explained how Jesse came to Earth. His mother, Eva had said that Jesse came by a ship but it ended up crash landing, and probably was beyond disrepair so Jesse stayed on Earth for awhile before he had any strength to try and fix it on his own. But it was true that Jesse hadn't told them that many stories, maybe a handful at most. Some that sounded strange or interesting at the same time, like the one where he helped make a ring around Saturn. Didn't Saturn have enough rings? Oh well, he would probably have to ask Jesse again what he meant, it was an odd story.

"You answered a lot of questions, maybe more than I probably could figure out on my own. So I guess following you had been a good idea after all." Sam said as he put a hand on his helmet and rested on it as he watched and listen to Rider. He nodded back understanding that he didn't need to apologize, but his dad probably needed one once he got to him and found him.

"I've got it about space, maybe SHIELD was right about me not leaving so soon. I can see how you'd get lost in space, there are too many stars even when you look up at the night sky in some places." Sam said with a frown wondering if SHIELD had been just trying to protect him. Not to mention he was probably a low man on the totem poll for SHIELD. He was just a cadet as far as he was concerned.

"Heay wait for me!" He called out almost stammering at the sudden action that Rider took. The older Nova zoomed passed him without even much of a warning. Sam quickly grabbed his own helmet and it fit snug on his head. His eyes turned a bright blue as he felt the Nova force flow through him and it wasn't long before he took off. But he hoped it was enough to keep up with Rider, Sam wasn't the fastest of Novas, in fact he wasn't even so sure how fast he could go himself but he was going to find out soon enough.

Testing limits was always a good thing, he'd be able to understand himself, and how a Nova worked too. He felt his competitive side come back for him, and Rider might have to watch out for this, the young teen didn't know when to quit. "Heay mister, is this fast enough for you?" He asked as he was starting to gain and decrease the length that was between him and on the older Nova.

[Deleted]

Rider felt a bit guilty that he had laid all that heavy stuff on the young man. Sam seemed full of piss and vinegar and he had no interest in trying to dampen that spirit in him. Who was he to second guess his father's choice of a heir, even if it was likely out of necessity. It couldn't hurt to give the rookie a little taste of the good stuff.

He smiled as Sam pulled up beside him and did not increase his own pace in an attempt to out distance him. He changed course so they flashed by the SHEILD helicarrier to give them a little show to rattle their cage. He turned his head towards Sam and gave him the thumbs up symbol.

They were approaching the limits of earth's atmosphere quickly and he muttered a request to Worldmind quietly.

"Give me a solution to Teleb II." he said quickly and just seconds later the information poured directly into his mind.  No matter how often he did this it never got old.  It was hard to believe that he had started life just like any other kind in New York state.

He felt the energy build within and aimed with both arms and released a massive, but precise graviton burst.   The sky filled with light and eldritch energy.  Raw but perfectly controlled and placed.



"Field trip is on!" he yelled at Sam and flew into the heart of the star portal looking over his shoulder to see if the young man would follow.

[Sam Alexander]

They continued to fly up to the high altitudes that were unimaginable towards most people. These types of flights could only be achieved by planes or other jets, they were hunks of metal and this was far better than that. Sam enjoyed flying, and sure jets were a good way around but this was the good stuff. Flying here he felt free and could escape the harsh life that some people sometime had and this was no different. Somehow, he had the funny feeling that Rider was trying to test him, or they were just having fun at the same time.

He did chuckle a bit as they flew past SHIELD, it was almost like they were giving them some form of torture right there. But they’d be back and he had a feeling they wouldn’t miss him for a few hours. “Heay where are we-“ He was cut off as he realized that Rider had some other plans for the two. A large ball of energy came from his hands as he fired it up into the empty blue sky.

It erupted so bright he was forced to close his own eyes for a bit and to make matters worse he was thrown a little bit off course. But the young Nova managed to correct himself before being flung back to the point of where he couldn’t keep up with Rider...Did he just say field trip?

As the blast erupted, he could see tiny stars flickering faintly from the light that they gave off. Where they going into space? Well be careful what you wish for, and in this case Sam got what he was asking for. He still couldn’t help but wonder if this was some part of the test. Sam knew better than jumping into space like that, didn’t they need oxygen? And space had no oxygen so he’d probably be dead in a matter of minutes. “Oh yeah better forget the breathing part or I’ll be dead…we might be both dead.” Sam pointed out as a glass part over his face so he could at least keep a decent supply of oxygen with him.

“Are we really going to space? Or is this a dream? Because if it is a dream, you better pinch me and wake me up from it.” Sam said almost in disbelief. Btu he was excited about if this was for real. But before he knew it, it looked like Rider had disappeared into the cloud, and he knew he better follow. A blue blur of light followed after him as he went past to try and keep up with them. He wanted to see what was on the other side, and for a moment, he was gone just like that. Sam was no longer on earth anymore but into the deep part of space. But where was Rider taking them?

[Deleted]

  
Rider emerged from the star portal in a new star system far away from Sol.   Above them was a red giant star glowing dimly, but clearly far larger than earth's sun.   There was a moment of hesitation as he thought of Sam's missing father and his own missing brother, wondering if this was really the best use of their time.  But hell, he had no idea of where to even start looking for either of them, and he figured Sam needed a break from what was likely a pretty grinding schedule living under Shield's tutelage.  On top of that, it was just plain fun.

He turned to watch Sam emerge from the star portal.  The younger man looked just like a bright blue streak.  He had to give it up to the kid, he was fast.  The black helmets were designed for speed and stealth, but it looked like Sam was a natural in that regard. He kept a watchful eye on Sam to make sure there was no trouble.  A lot of people had serious trouble when they first flew in space.  The lack of gravity, and no true orientation of sky and earth could be very disorienting to people who had lived their entire lives on a planet.  He looped back around so he could be close to Sam in case he lost his bearings or became nauseous.  Nothing was worse than throwing up inside your helmet.

As he came up beside Sam he used his helmet to transmit a message directly to Sam's.  

"So here is the first lesson."  he said as he pointed in a certain direction.  "All those stars look alike from here.  Can you tell me which one is our home?  That is why you need to be damned careful when you are flying in space.  No free styling out here."

[Sam Alexander]

“Wow that was something…where are we?” He asked as he looked up he felt his eyes starting to get blurry a bit as he adjusted to the new light that he was forced to focus on. It was almost instinct that he went up to rub his eyes, but remembered his helmet was right there. It wasn’t long before Rider came over to him, it was clear the older man was concerned for him and he was relieved that he wouldn’t be left in space or left by himself. “I’m alright for the most part. I think I got dizzy from adjusting to everything.” He assured the older nova showing that he looked alright now; he just needed a few minutes to adjust. But as he was listening to Rider, it stunned him on what came next. He was being tested again to see how well he knew…well Sam was still new to the job of being a Nova. He had been it what, five, six months now?

Was this a test? If there was one thing Sam hated most was tests especially in school when your whole career or future was put on the line…don’t even get him started on how many times he fell asleep in school on that one also. But it seemed that SHIELD wasn’t going to tolerate those types of things anymore, so they had to get to the nitty, gritty, grimy things that came with the training. Sam seemed to be focused on all the stars, in reality they looked pretty distant and some flickered with different densities. He felt as if this were some kind of trick question as he froze almost as if he got stage fright while he hovered there.

How on earth was he going to guess this one?

He thought of his Nova helmet having an atlas in it, but that almost felt like it was cheating without telling Rider that he could use it. The atlas he had accidently discovered with another SHIELD trainee named Anya as he touched the helmet. He honestly couldn’t remember how he activated it in the first place.

Well from the looks of things, he had to think about it for a bit. They were far away from earth now, so earth was probably a flicker or even a dimly lit match compared to some of these stars. So he probably had to look for something that looked dim. “Uh…” He said as he paused, appearing to be deep in thought. So far he did find a couple of dimly lit stars, but he wasn’t so sure if he was right or not. But he hoped that Rider wouldn’t make him clean toilets or bathrooms for getting it wrong, it was just an honest mistake and he’d learn from it. “Is it that one?” He asked pointing to at it with a black and gold glove towards it.

[Deleted]

Seeing that Sam was okay Rider gave him the thumbs up before he asked him the 'geography' question.

He smiled and shook his head when Sam pointed out a star, seemingly at random.

"Wrong answer." he said "But it was a trick question."

Rider pointed out a star in a different direction.

"That is old Sol over there, but without significant assistance you could never pick it out on your own. Literally never. Every star atlas or picture of the night sky you have ever scene has been depicted from earth as a starting point, and we are nowhere near that. Even if you knew that..." he pointed at another star "was Polaris, the North Star, you still couldn't reason out where earth is in relation to it, because no human, no scientist, artist or philosopher has ever had to figure out the relationship from this view. Make sense?"

Richard had a serious look on his face for a moment.

"But that is not what concerns me. Your helmet should have given you the answer. It may not be anything like the Worldmind built in, but it does house a primitive AI, that will begin to recognize your neural patterns and start helping you with simple tasks like navigation or targeting. In fact the helmet can detect the problem and solution faster than the thought can travel from your lizard brain to your conscious mind, or to put it simply, for simple things it can give you a solution before you have even recognized there is a problem."

Rider turned his head from side to side looking closely at Sam's black helmet.

"It could be that your helmet has a technical problem. Or more likely that you are being resistant to the process You have to relax and let the helmet in when it probes your brain. IT's like you know...romancing a girl. Everything goes better when you are relaxed."

Richard turned towards a large red glow some distance away from the red star.

"Let's go have a look at Teleb II. Actually that makes me think of something. Do you have a girlfriend?"

He started to fly towards the distant red object.

[Sam Alexander]

“I was wrong…I think I get it now.” He said knowing he had heard the star before at one point in time. And then he mentioned something else as well that he had heard before too. “The atlas-Oh that atlas...” Sam was about to ask what it was, as he listened to what Rider had to say. It did make sense, if any map that showed all the stars, they showed Earth as the center part. Humans understood or accepted the idea that Earth was the center of their world, so therefore they had been proven wrong from what Rider had just said. Earth wasn’t the center of the world; in fact they had been so wrong by that it scrambled his brain a bit. But as he thought about it, there was one incident where he did accidentally activate the atlas that was in his helmet in front of another SHIELD agent named Anya Corazon. She really liked the idea of having an atlas in the middle of his helmet, something he didn’t even know about until very recently…and probably forgot too.

THe young Nova noticed that the older Nova was inspecting his helmet, almost from every angle, too. Sam at least tried to keep the helmet in good condition, it was probably sparkling clean...except for the condition of his room was another story... “Oh I think I get what you’re saying. I opened up the atlas by accident, once with a friend of mine back in the SHIELD hellicarrier. I remember hearing a woman’s voice…who must’ve been the AI speaking as it located me on Earth right away. I think that’s what you meant?” He asked probably figuring out that’s what Rider meant. But if he was resisting, how could he stop it? He was still adjusting to earth and feeling the loss of gravity all at once. He tried taking a few deep breaths as his heart rate started to rest again; he might’ve been too uptight or too excited. Whatever was making him like this he needed to stop and stop soon.

“A girlfriend?” Sam asked half wondering why Rider was asking that. Though so far he had been proven that most of what Rider said had a point to everything, so maybe he didn’t need to be so confused all of the time or ask so many questions. “Well in my high school there was a girl that I liked…but she barely noticed me. She acted like I was just some fly buzzing around her ear.” He admitted with a sigh. That was an embarrassing thing to talk about.

“Telleb II? They sure do give some strange names to some of these planets. I have heard of Polaris before from astrology….maybe I should’ve paid more attention in it.” He admitted as he saw that Rider was starting to be on the move again. He didn’t want to be left behind as far as he was concerned. The last thing he wanted was to be left in space. As he moved, the blue nova force went behind him, sparkling almost in the dimly lit parts of space. He was curious to see what this whole planet thing was all about. But as he flew after Rider, he did notice that the atlas was starting to come on his helmet’s hub, maybe he was starting to figure things out…slowly.

Compared to earth this planet gave off a red glow to it’s body, it kind of reminded him of the sunset as the sun went down. But this wasn’t the sun…or Sol as Rider called it. It was totally different.

[Deleted]

"It'll come in time." Richard said about the AI interface as they headed towards the planet. "You just have to learn to relax and let things flow. You can't force it. It's kind of a zen thing."

As they got closer to the planet it became apparent that the planet's surface was not made up of difference substances, rather it was one giant crystal of some sort.   The planet was also much larger than earth, approaching something the size of Jupiter.

"Yeah...I get what you are saying about girls, but I would strongly recommend that you find yourself a girlfriend.  This super hero thing can be a pretty heavy gig and it will do you a lot of good to have someone to talk too about stuff.  Someone to give you perspective.  Parents are okay...but they are still parents right?"

As they got closer to the planet a small light slowly came into view blinking against the black sky that would be above the horizon if one was standing on the planet.

"The cool thing about this planet is that it is completely clear in colour, it only looks red because of the light from that star reflecting off of it.  In fact it is the biggest diamond in the known universe."

The light up ahead slowly came into focus.  It was a huge vessel of some sort.  Gun metal grey and covered with various devices and letters of an alien language, the cigar shaped craft looked to be over two  miles long.

Richard pointed at the craft as they sped along side it lengthwise.

"That is an old derelict of a Xandarian ship.  Their engines failed a few years ago and I came and pulled the crew off and took them home.  Or at least what used to be home.  So that is 5000 tons of amazing alien technology just floating around wasting away in this little corner of the universe."

Rider turned towards Sam and looked serious.  

"Think about it.  The stars are full of stuff like this.  If you get good and earn your spot you can be dealing with stuff like this all the time.  The wonders of space and time will be yours to protect."

Richard increased speed and changed direction heading back towards the portal which remained open.

[Sam Alexander]

The advice was good stuff, Sam really hadn’t had much time to try and focus on finding a girlfriend but maybe if he got to know some of the SHIELD trainees a bit more maybe things would change. For now he mostly spoke to his mom and his sister on a daily basis. They’d be ecstatic to hear that Jesse was alive, but explaining it was going to be the complicated part to them. He’d just have to tell them to trust him on this one.

“I’ll definitely keep that in mind while I go about things. I know I’ve had a hard time with just trying to fit everything with SHIELD. They certainly mean it when they keep you busy.” Sam said, with a sigh as he knew that he was lucky enough again to try and escape from the hellicarrier, he’d get a few hours of peace to himself.

As they centered their focus on the new planet that they were going to look at he could see the planet was a bit different than Earth. The ship that Rider pointed out had laid silent there like a sleeping giant for several years now. A thought came to mind, “Have you ever tried salvaging the ship? It seems like a waste that’s just out here floating in the middle of nowhere. It sure does look different from any earth transport I’ve seen.” Sam offered hoping that he could lend some of his knowledge or advice to Rider. Or if Rider thought it was better to leave it out here that was fine too. The ship was awe inspiring, and it was probably bigger than the hellicarrier itself as he looked at it. Imagine what he could learn from it.

Sam smiled softly as he looked back at Rider as he thought about it; going through space on this short trip had been so much fun! He wanted to do it again some time, but he would keep the knowledge that he learned from Rider here and make sure it got put to good use. “I’ll do my best, sir. You know I was thinking about this…what if my father’s out there somewhere in deep space? If I keep working hard, maybe one day I can go out and get him…but that sounds so tough doing it by yourself…maybe I do need to admit that I need a bit of help.” Sam said almost saying his thoughts out loud through the helmet.

But as Sam seemed to be thinking about this he noticed that Rider had turned back the way he came. For such a short field trip they were already going home, he wanted to protest to see more, but he held back knowing there would be other chances. He took one last look at the daunting ship before flying forward through the portal after Rider; he closed his eyes expecting the bright sun to take over as they were possibly heading back to New York? “Home sweet home on planet Earth,” He said softly but Rider probably heard him. "Maybe I do need a bit of help finding him, but I wouldn't know who to ask, or where to start." He pointed out as they went through the portal.

[Deleted]

Rider froms a bit when Sam mentions SHIELD. His distaste for them is obvious.

"Be careful with those guys, they are not at the top of my list. Compared to the Nova Corps they are like the local dog catchers competing with Seal Team Six."

He focussed on the approaching Star Portal and it still blazed away brightly. Functioning perfectly exactly where he had left it. It took enormous amounts of energy to keep it open and functioning, but with almost all of the Corps gone, Rider has power to burn. He would have been happy to have a few hundred more comrades to share it with, but for the moment that seemed like a pipe dream. He wondered for a moment if the line would end with him or the Worldmind would select someone new to carry on once he was gone. He dismissed the thought quickly, by the time that happened it would be no concern of his.

"Salvaging it was the whole idea. I just took the crew back to Xandar where the plan was to get some equipment and engineers and come back out to repair the ship and go back to their scientific work. Then Xandar got blown to shit. Those guys are all probably dead now."

He shrugged.

"IT would be one hell of a haul for salvage op, but this is an isolated quadrant, and I wouldn't know where to get my hands on some Xandarian engineers and a whole mess of spare parts. The power plant had failed and that is way beyond my capacity. I failed auto shop."

He kept a close eye on Sam as they flew on their course towards the portal. The kid flew straight and fast, pretty impressive for his first time in space. Maybe he would do alright.

A few seconds later they appeared just outside earth's atmosphere above New York City. The portal snapped shut and promptly disappeared, leaving no trace of any sort behind. Rider was sure the heilcarrior and various astronomers had spotted it and freaked out, but he found the whole idea kind of funny.

"I am pretty confident that your dad is out in space somewhere. IF he was on earth one of us would know about it by now. But finding a black helmet out there with any clues? That is a tall order. I will keep my ear the ground and let you know what I hear...but no promises."

[Sam Alexander]

Sam nodded back to Rider as he spoke up about SHIELD, suppose he should be on guard for them. He knew SHIELD attempted to do some good for Earth, to make sure it was at least safe. Who was to say there were spies within the spies? That was some scary idea that came into Sam’s head as he tried to shake that thought. Perhaps he just had to stay on guard when he was with SHIELD. “I’ll keep my eyes out while I’m with SHIELD.” Sam said knowing he should at least take the warning on a serious level. But even Sam had his handful of experiences with SHIELD, especially when he had been trying to get used to it and they thought he was causing trouble. Or even with that time when he got caught jumping out once more and was found by Super Soldier... That at least ended on a good note and he was grateful for that part.

It wasn’t long before they arrived back on Earth, or sorta anyways as the young Nova found himself far out in the atmosphere. As they both arrived, the portal closed behind them… How cool was that!? Now he could tell his friends that he went into space, even if it was a short adventure. But as for the portal closing he too thought it was funny since some people might be surprised by it for those who happened to glance up at the sky and see an unusual object disappear right before they knew what happened.

“Well, that’s too bad that you weren’t able to do it.” Sam said as he listened to Rider while he hovered in place. He wasn’t one to be afraid of heights, but if anyone wasn’t used to such heights like they were at now, this would be a bit terrifying if they had nothing to hold on too. He was sure if Rider had asked maybe some heroes might be willing to help, but if he wanted the ship to stay there like that, that was fine as well. “Maybe one day you’ll be able to get it. You can still hang on to that hope for the ship.” Sam offered hoping that his words would at least some truth to them.

Sam smiled, he was at least glad that the older Nova was on his side, losing a loved one was always rough, but Sam had that feeling too that he wasn’t on Earth, but not to have his helmet? That just seemed so odd since he always remembered Jesse having his helmet nearby.

“Thank you, sir that means a lot.” Sam added as he crossed his arms in front of his chest as if he were thinking hard. 

“I should probably head back to SHIELD. But is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about before I leave?”  The teen Nova asked, half wondering if Rider wanted him for something else. He wouldn’t leave just yet. “You can always contact me in the future if you need me for something…Even if it is for another lesson…Or for space things too.” He said as he sounded excited but he also tried to hold back his excitement, but it was hard. There was a chance he might go back into space again.

[Deleted]

The kid kept surprising him, in a positive way. He had earned the right for Rider to be straight with him on a few things.

"Actually, I can't contact you anytime I want. The whole point of the black helmet is to be stealthy. But the Nova Force within me is like a beacon for your lid, so if you need me don't hesitate to sing out, and I will get there. And don't be a stranger. Even if you just want to shoot the shit I'd be happy to hear from you."

Sam had given him a lot to think about. His younger brother was out there somewhere, or at least he hoped so. And now he wasn't the last Nova anymore, there were at least two more around, Sam and his father. It was just a handful, but better than nothing. And if there were a few of them, maybe there was a chance to rebuild. But it was too soon to think about a project like that. He had a lot of hard questions to answer for himself before he could even think about going down that path again.

He scratched his chin for a moment. When he speaks his voice is cold and hard.

"I need you to promise me one thing Sam. That helmet is your heritage and it is yours until your dad tells you otherwise. But you absolutely cannot let SHIELD examine it, study, test it or experiment on it. How it works is absolutely none of their business. If they do get a chance to study it I will have no choice but to blow that helicarrior of the sky, fry every SHIELD computer on earth and eliminate anyone at SHEILD involved in the project. Am I clear on that?"

He extends his right hand towards Sam, obviously offering him a handshake.

[Sam Alexander]

"I got it, if I do see you on my helmet, I'll see if we can meet up some time." Sam said but he pointed back towards the hellicarrier with his right handed thumb. "That's probably where I'll be most of the time." He added knowing the SHIELD hellicarrier was probably the biggest thing in the sky right now. That giant machine stood out like a sore thumb as well. But Rider sounded like an ok guy even if he was a bit resistant to him at first...it was the same way he had been to Anya by accident. She seemed alright after he started to talk to her.

Sam listened to him this point as he heard the older, more experienced Nova as he spoke. He was serious, dead serious this time and he had both ears listening to what he had to say this time. Rider spoke up about his helmet and not giving it to SHIELD, he nodded, that was none of their business. Just as it wasn't SHIELD's business to look into someone else's powers or past when they didn't allow it. Some of those things were meant to be well hidden. "I promise and understand, sir I won't let them take it." Sam said knowing this would come with a heavy cost if he did some how accidentally allow it in their hands. He'd never be able to forgive himself if this happened.

Sam reached out to put his five fingers around Rider's, and hoped that there was a tough handshake between the two of them. He had heard once from his father that a handshake meant a lot to some people and they could tell a lot as well. So after a bit of practice he hopefully had it right on this time.

"I still consider it my dad's helmet, even if he gave it to me for the time being. So they'd have to get it over my dead body first." Sam said knowing that was something rough and tough to say from such a young kid but he had already been through so much through the past few months of being a Nova. But he would probably look back on this and regret it. As Sam put out his hand he noticed that the sun was starting to set as well, showing how late things had gotten. Maybe he could spend a few more minutes watching the sun from way up here. No one on earth probably saw a view like this, as the clouds started to change colors to vibrant colors of red and orange.

[Deleted]

Rider returned the firm handshake.

"I think you got a good perspective on this whole thing Sam. Just remember to think before you, and always remember that there are plenty of people out there far more powerful than you, and you will do just fine."

Richard turned to go.

"Here's an offer for you. Without using your helmet, figure out who many AU's Titan is from Earth, and how long it will take to get there at 85% of light speed and I will take you there on a field trip a couple of weeks from now."

The older Nova smiled at him.

"It's worth the effort, you won't believe the stuff there is on Titan..."