Looking at the diagram on the table, Murrue nodded in thanks once more. Then she pointed first to the butter dish in front of her, and then to the one between herself and Mu, near his left hand.
"The butter dish in front of me represents L3—that is, Heliopolis, Artemis Fortress, the 'Celestial Being' fleet, and the region where we are now.
"And that one over there is L4. It used to have Nova and Mendel, among others, but after the Battle of Nova in July last year, our forces were defeated and ZAFT withdrew after the battle. They should all be abandoned now."
Following Murrue's explanation, Badgiruel offered her opinion.
"Then the safest route would be through the Fourth Space Domain, where L4 is. We could make a fast push along the lunar orbit, then either continue along the orbit to headquarters on the Moon or cut inward first and head for the 8th Fleet's base."
Murrue gave a slight nod at Badgiruel's suggestion.
But Mu gave a wry smile, drawing both women's attention to him.
"Lieutenant Badgiruel's suggestion would normally be sound, but I have one small question.
"'Celestial Being' doesn't seem to have a base at L3 in the Fifth Space Domain, and it obviously can't be on Earth, the Moon, or Plant.
"So, time for a little no-prize quiz. Given that a support fleet could arrive so quickly, where do you two think 'Celestial Being's' lair—or at least its forward base—is most likely to be?"
Though Mu phrased it as a question, there were only five markers on the table, apart from the bean representing the 8th Fleet. Mu had already ruled out four of them in one go, so there could only be one answer.
"So if we take the L4 route, we might run straight into 'Celestial Being,' which has presumably occupied L4 at some point since the Battle of Nova?"
Murrue phrased it as a question too, but she had clearly already accepted Mu's judgment.
Mu answered with a joke that wasn't funny at all.
"Maybe the 'Celestial Being' fleet will be right behind us, heading home. We might even get a warm welcome from both sides."
As Murrue gave a helpless smile, Badgiruel also ruled out another route.
"That takes the fastest and most convenient lunar-orbit route completely off the table. L5, on the other side, is even more dangerous because it's near Plant.
"The Archangel can only head toward the First Space Domain. Our choices are how close to the Debris Belt we go, and whether we take the side nearer L4 or the side nearer L5."
Mu and Murrue had no objections to Badgiruel's analysis.
After all, the Archangel had only the Strike Gundam, now without its Aile Pack, and the Moebius Zero, still undergoing major repairs. Even a small ZAFT squadron with just one ship would be difficult to deal with in the short term, let alone the Creuset Team or the 'Celestial Being' fleet.
"Then we have no choice but to travel alongside the Debris Belt, right?
"Even in the worst case, we could use it for cover and buy ourselves some time."
After a brief moment of thought, Murrue and Badgiruel both nodded in agreement with Mu. That settled the route question, leaving only one final choice:
Should they travel in the direction of Earth's rotation, toward L5 and Plant, or against it, toward L4 and the suspected 'Celestial Being' base?
Faced with this dilemma, Murrue thought it over, then shared her decision with Mu and Badgiruel, who were just as undecided.
"Since either route carries similar risks, let's take the closer, faster route toward L5!"
Neither Mu nor Badgiruel had any objections to Murrue's decision or reasoning, so they both nodded.
Now that they had settled the urgent matter of their route, the three of them reclaimed their sugar and butter dishes and hurried to replenish their energy.
Once they had more or less finished their meal, it was time to discuss another important matter:
How to deal with Ensign Kira Yamato's "disobedience of orders";
or how to ask Mr. Kira Yamato, "the Prince of Orb," to keep helping the Earth Alliance ship Archangel;
and, along with that, how to handle the "volunteers"—or "Orb civilians"—who had boarded at Heliopolis.
Until now, they had thought their relationship would be a short-term one, ending as soon as they reached Artemis Fortress, so everyone had made do as best they could.
But now the road ahead was long and fraught with danger, and Kira Yamato had revealed his "hidden identity." He wasn't someone a few majors could simply push around.
When the topic came up, even Mu, who had been cracking jokes while they discussed the far more urgent matter of their route, couldn't help rubbing his temples hard.
"First, let me make sure of something. Let's set aside the question of young Yamato for a moment.
"Compared with our trip from Heliopolis to Artemis Fortress, which was just a short voyage circling around L3, could this ship make the long journey from one end of the Earth-Moon system to the other without the help of those boys and girls?
"Some people from Artemis Fortress stayed aboard, didn't they?"
Murrue turned to Badgiruel as well.
Under the gaze of her two colleagues, Badgiruel hesitated for a long while before reluctantly answering.
"If we could take the relatively simple lunar-orbit route, the crew we have, together with the Eurasian Federation personnel, could probably manage with two shifts.
"But since we have to follow the Debris Belt and take a winding route, we'll likely need extra hands along the way just to deal with changes in gravity and correct our course in time.
"Without those boys and girls, in theory we'd have to rely on some crew members working multiple shifts, or even going without shifts, to ensure we could respond when it mattered.
"That would cause serious fatigue, though, and we might not be able to handle unexpected risks properly—let alone a battle."
Though Badgiruel had made it sound barely possible, what she really meant was that it was practically impossible.
And if even Badgiruel, who was most opposed to involving civilians, said so, then the reality was clear.
As a third party who, in theory, wouldn't be taking shifts on the bridge, Mu didn't hesitate to spell out what they all knew but hadn't said.
"In other words, without the young people's help, we might not be able to get the Archangel home safely even if we never encounter a single battle.
"That makes things simple, then.
"Since we've chosen not to surrender to 'Celestial Being,' we have to accomplish our goal. Even if we have to get down on our knees and beg, we'll have to get Kira Yamato, 'His Highness the Prince,' and his friends to help us.
"That's about the size of it, isn't it, Lieutenant Natarle Badgiruel? Major Murrue Ramius?"
Faced with the brutal truth Mu had laid bare, Badgiruel clenched her fists but couldn't manage to offer a rebuttal.
After a moment of silence, Murrue suddenly smiled.
"Yes, that's exactly how things stand.
"So let's go together and ask those young people for help, Major Mu La Flaga."
Seeing Mu's expression after his joke had come back to bite him, Murrue and Badgiruel shared a laugh despite their situation.
With the plan settled, the three picked up their meal trays and headed for the cafeteria where the young people were likely to be.
Before you continue