"It's about damned time . . . "
"Are they alright, Nabiki-chan?"
Nabiki sighed. She was relaxing in Rinrin's seat on the
"Windrider's" pilotage, the link connecting the solar-sail barque to
Negako's communicator unit directly tied into the intercom unit
located on the panel before her. "I think so, Onee-chan. At least
Marie-chan seems a little more open to the idea of being closer to
Akane-chan." A frown turned her lips. "And if what I sensed about
Marie-chan is true . . . "
"It will do them both well," Negako cut in from Nerima.
"At least you got something of your sister back," Inu Chigaiko
added. "You'd probably want a lot more -- hell, ANYONE'D want a lot
more in cases like this! -- but sometimes, Fate can throw you all
sorts of curve balls."
"True." Nabiki took a breath. "Pity I didn't find out about what
the Staff did before everyone headed to Earth. I could've caught a
ride back to Nerima. If we're bringing this Akane 'back' into the
fold . . . "
"Yes, that is true, isn't it?" Kasumi acknowledged.
"Nabiki-san?"
Nabiki looked over to see Seiko gazing curiously at her. "What is
it?"
"If you want, you can ask Shogai-san to give you a ride to Earth."
"Would she be allowed? She's from Benten's home planet,
right . . .?"
"She doesn't have to land in Nerima if she doesn't have to," Seiko
noted. "She could trans****t you down right from orbit and no one in
Nerima or Tomobiki would be any the wiser. If you want, I can ask her
to give you a ride."
"If it wouldn't be any trouble," Kasumi noted.
Nabiki nodded. "Okay, it's a plan, then. I'll see you guys in a
while."
"All right, then," Kasumi called back.
The link was cut. Nabiki stood. "If you'll all excuse me,
minna . . . "
"Don't worry about it, Nabiki," Sakuya spoke up from the central
chair. "We'll be back before you guys know it."
"Right. Be careful, huh?"
With that, the middle Tendou daughter stepped off the pilotage, she
heading for the gangway to board the "Windrider Dreams." Stepping
aboard the Zephyrite battlecruiser, she then paused, turning back to
gaze on the solar-sail barque through a nearby view ****t. Fortunately
for her, the ****thole opening into Marie's cabin was within her line
of sight. Akane's head then came into view, the replica of Nabiki's
late sister gazing directly at her. *See you soon, sis,* Nabiki
telepathically called out.
Akane nodded. Nabiki then turned, quickly finding the hallway that
would connect her to the other side of the battlecruiser's
superstructure, where the "Goddess of Luck" was docked. She then
smirked on seeing Ranma and Ataru standing by the gangway leading to
the Fukunokami-built frigate, they chatting with Nassur and Shogai
Dakejinzou. Smirking on seeing Ranma demonstrate some kata to the
expat Vosian, Nabiki then decided to give in to her curiosity and
focused her empathic senses on the two bounty hunters.
Dakejinzou was hard to read -- no doubt, that was because of how
alien she seemed in comparison to her former partner, much less the
other humanoids Nabiki had encountered since she first met Morobo****
Ataru. From what she could sense, though, the elfin-eared woman was
the epitome of serenity. It was as if she had come to accept whatever
pains and tribulations Life tossed at her as simple obstacles to be
overcome. No doubt, she could probably teach senior Buddhist clerics
some things about internal peace and harmony.
Nassur was pretty much the same way, yet Nabiki was quick to sense a
cloud of sorrow looming over his heart. An extra push with her
empathic powers quickly garnished an image for Nabiki's mind to see,
that of a lovely woman that seemed to be a blonde, Vosian Oyuki. *His
wife?* Nabiki mused as Ataru glanced her way before he walked over to
stand beside her. Yes, a tragic loss, quite recent. *Amazing how
many people I know who've lost their spouses.* Still, Nassur seemed
willing to press on. Good for him.
"Found out about Akane, I see," Ataru whispered as he stopped beside
her.
"Had no choice," Nabiki admitted.
"Did you tell your sister?"
"Hai. If we're going to welcome her 'back,' so to speak, into the
family, I've got to get back to Nerima and make arrangements. You
think your friend there can give me a lift to Earth while you're out
in the vast unknown?"
Dakejinzou's ear twitched as her cat-slit eyes focused on Nabiki.
"You need a ride to Earth, Tendou-san?" she asked.
"You heard me?!"
The hunter pointed to her elongated lobes. "As you might notice, my
ears are built for it," she declared with a wink.
Nabiki laughed. "I can use the ride!"
Dakejinzou nodded before she stared at Nassur. "You mind?"
The Vosian nodded his permission. Nabiki grinned as she nodded
before heading over to step aboard the "Goddess." She then paused as
she was about to walk past Ranma. They gazed on each other, a
question crossing Nabiki's face. Ranma blinked before she breathed
out, "I need some time, Nabiki-chan. It ain't her fault by any sense
of the imagination. But I . . . " She then shrugged, pointing at her
own heart as she gave her a knowing look.
Nabiki nodded. "No problem."
She kissed Ranma's cheek before heading through the gangway to the
"Goddess." With that, Nassur and Dakejinzou parted from Ataru and
Ranma. The latter pair then turned to head back to the "Windrider."
"We better get a move-on if we're going to get to that wormhole the
Staff told us about so we can get to this Dyson sphere and find the
Genesis Wand," Ataru mused.
"Will we be able to get back to Earth by tomorrow?" Ranma asked.
"It should be no problem . . .! WHOA!" Ataru cried out as he stopped
himself before he ran over a familiar figure in a hakama.
"Kunou!" Ranma snapped on seeing the kendou-ka.
Kunou turned to gaze on them, and then his eyes glazed over for a
second before they cleared up. "I beg your pardon, good sir, fair
madam, but you should be more careful running around these hallways,"
he declared before turning to stare on the Inquisitor -- it was
Inquisitor-Archdeacon Sunwind Skyrain, Ataru realized, the man who had
accompanied Highridge Malefire to Earth to escort Lum, Ran and Jariten
out of Tomobiki -- behind him. "Now, good sir, where exactly could
the most fair Anna du Kolhn be at this time?"
Skyrain beckoned him down the hallway. "This way, Young Master."
Kunou and the Inquisitor headed off, the former not bothering to look
at Ranma as he went. Ranma and Ataru watched him go, remaining rooted
in place as they vanished around the corner, and then they exchanged
looks. "What the hell happened to him . . .?" the former hissed.
"Don't ask," the latter asserted. "Remember when you told me about
Souun and Genma not wanting to speak Happoosai's name?"
Ranma paused, and then she nodded. "Right. Let's get outta here."
They ran off for the waiting "Windrider."
* * *
Minutes later, the "Windrider" and the "Goddess of Luck" unlocked
themselves from the "Windrider Dreams." Both smaller ****ps soared
away from the Zephyrite battlecruiser, the solar-sail barque deploying
her mainsails as she angled her prow in the general direction of
Karasutengu space. Some distance beyond that was a wormhole that,
according to the Staff of Gihan as it had explained to everyone
through Hi****o prior to the final encounter with Elle, would take the
"Windrider" into an unexplored quadrant of the galaxy.
Waiting there, parsecs beyond the wormhole's exit, was a Dyson sphere
constructed by parties unknown millions of years ago. Inside that was
a crystal palace where, a century before, the Genesis Wand of Parah
had been deposited almost two millennia after it had been found by the
Vosian unification leader Lecasur -- among Vosians, the Genesis Wand
was known as "the Sceptre of Lecasur" -- and used by every president
of the Confederation until a military leader known as the Mikado
seized power in a coup d'état.
The Genesis Wand, according to what the Staff had said, was
relatively intact, its link to the Te'a still quite strong. All it
seemed to require was a new controlling mechanism, which could be
fabricated, and then Aria would get the chance to become the first
true controller of Parah's Haijo-ju prototype for the first time in
fourteen thousand years.
"How's your arm, Aria-chan?" Mamoru asked.
A Zephyrite medical technician had tended to the young Parisian's arm
after Ataru's former classmates had been escorted off the
"Windrider." It was still currently in a sling. "It still hurts,
Mamoru-chan," she admitted before yawning. She had woken up when the
sounds of the barque unlocking from the "Windrider Dreams" had echoed
through her cabin.
"Aria-sama, do you want to go back to bed?" Orin asked. "It'll be
several hours before you'd be needed to deal with Tsue-san."
Aria blinked, and then she yawned again. "Aria is tired . . . "
"All right, then," Orin asserted as she reached down to pick Aria up.
Aria wrapped her good arm around the older woman's neck as Orin
carried her off the pilotage. "Nee-ya is so nice to Aria . . . "
"You get some sleep, Aria-chan," Hi****o called out.
"Hai . . . "
The doors closed behind her. "Darling, all systems show green.
Gallants and staysails ready to deploy," ****nobi declared.
He tapped a control on his chair. "Sail control, this is the
pilotage."
"Hai! Everything's okay down here, Aniki!" a familiar voice chimed
back.
"What are you doing there, Rinrin-chan?"
Laughter responded from forward. "What do you think?!"
Snickers and guffaws echoed over the pilotage. "Set course for the
wormhole, Reiko-chan," Ataru declared. "Warp speed!"
"Hai, Papa!"
* * *
"There she goes."
Dakejinzou, Nassur and Nabiki watched as the "Windrider's" smaller
sails deployed before the barque disappeared in a flash of energy. To
the middle Tendou daughter, who was familiar with "Star Trek," it was
like watching the "Enterprise-D," the "Defiant" or the "Voyager" leap
into hyperspace; the "Windrider" seemed to stretch like an elastic
band before it disappeared. "You should've told me it was the Planet
of Shadows they're going to," Nassur noted. "I could've helped them
find this Genesis Wand."
The older hunter sat back in her chair. "I didn't realize that this
habitation they were heading for was the Planet of Shadows until I had
a chance to think about it," she admitted before her eyebrow arched.
"Why? Are you worried they might find the Sceptre of Lecasur by
accident?"
Nassur took a deep breath before he sat in the co-pilot's chair.
"Dake-chan, I've heard some rumours from Vos . . . "
"So have I. His Stupidity-ness is contemplating sending a team out
to get the Sceptre as a way of 'legitimizing' his rule over what's
left of his petty empire." Hearing that name for the Mikado, Nassur
smirked. Dakejinzou NEVER addressed the dictator by his *nom de
guerre* and few people knew his birth name. "Matter of fact, I've
heard of who might be leading that trip."
"Who?"
"Mujanba and Varena."
Nassur's eyes widened. The Special Hunter Corps' elite operatives,
Mujanba and Varena were natives of the Confederation's "witches'
planet," Colony Nine. They were also the only members of the Hunter
Corps who hadn't been "recruited" in the normal way, as Nassur and so
many others could readily attest to: Kidnapped after birth, then
subjected to a fourteen year-long training regimen in camps that would
make the Gulag of Iosef Vissarionnovich Stalin's Soviet Union look
like the vacation resort town of Sochi in comparison. While he had
never faced either Mujanba or Varena in battle, Nassur respected their
reputations and their desire to serve the Mikado; both joined the
Hunter Corps shortly after radical rebel groups had destroyed their
homes early in the Confederation's three-decade old civil war. "Have
they already left?" he asked. "If the Mikado wants the Sceptre . . .
"
"I'm not sure," Dakejinzou replied as she looked at her console.
"****p, set course for Earth. Engage warp when ready."
"*Understood,*" the on-board computer replied.
The "Goddess of Luck" swung its prow around as it angled itself on a
direct vector for Earth. As the ****p's engines began to power up to
accelerate the frigate into warp, Dakejinzou took a deep breath.
"From what I did learn of what His Buffoonish-ness' plan was all
about, he originally came up with the idea of targeting you, Lum and
some of Lum's friends from Earth to force you to go on the trip to the
Planet of Shadows. Turns out, in fact, he managed to locate a clone
of Cinba -- her name was Junba -- whom he had brainwashed into hating
you enough so that she could've served as overseer of such a trip.
Fortunately, Junba was dealt with sometime ago."
Nassur's jaw dropped. "Someone made a clone of my wife?!"
"Yes, they did," Dakejinzou replied. "No one knows who, by the way."
"And this Junba . . .?"
"Dead."
He frowned. "I see . . . " He considered that before he breathed
out, "Why didn't the Mikado elect to find someone else -- say Mujanba
or Varena or perhaps Grisur -- to take charge of a trip involving Lum-
chan and I . . .?"
"The whole thing between Noukiios and Uru started up at that time,"
Dakejinzou answered as the "Goddess'" engines roared to full power,
sending the small frigate into hyperspace. "Just after it started,
several of the older Lost Stars were sent to Lecashuto to deliver a
strong 'message' to His Idiot-ness. That was the fight where Junba
and a few others in the Corps were killed. The message was two-fold:
His Moron-ness keeps his nose out of Noukiios' business or else when
Noukiios got finished with Uru, she AND Zephyrus would openly sup****t
the rebels with materiel AND troops if it was deemed necessary to
bring the civil war to a speedy conclusion."
Nassur blinked. "And the second message?"
"That you, in light of your service to the various smaller powers in
the galaxy, especially Gomiana, were now under the Dominion's
protection. And that any act against you or those you cared for would
be seen as an act of war by His Stupidity-ness against Noukiios."
Silence fell as the expat Vosian hunter took that in. "I see . . . "
"I didn't realize you were so popular," Nabiki then spoke up.
Both hunters gazed on her. "Are you always this quiet?" Nassur
asked.
"It's my trade in life, Nassur-san," Nabiki replied with a titter.
"Granted, with the way things are going concerning Earth's relations
with its galactic neighbours, it might not matter. But to me, not
knowing about certain things that might come to bite us in our
collective butts has always sat wrong. And if Ataru-kun, Ranma-chan
and the sisters are about to run headlong into this monster's troops
if they go to this Planet of Shadows place, I'm damn hell concerned.
Ataru-kun just came out of a war and Ranma-chan just had her whole
life turned inside out and upside-down thanks to her fool father and
everything else she's run into. So yes, Nassur-san, I WOULD like to
know a lot more about what's going on here. My friends are
potentially flying into harm's way."
"Understandable." Nassur nodded approvingly. "I wouldn't really
worry about it, though. Seiko-chan's there to help out. Ataru-san's
experience with the Dominion will help out, too. And they also have
the Cyborg and this 'cat' version of Ranma-san to call upon if things
got really out of hand. Not to mention that Staff-thing young Hi****o-
san currently has in her possession."
"And the Sagussans."
Nassur and Nabiki blinked; Dakejinzou had barely whispered those
words. "Excuse me, Shogai-san?" Nabiki asked.
The hunter stared at her guests. "Tendou-san, before I explain, tell
me this: Do you consider yourself a friend of Morobo**** Ataru, yes or
no?"
"I'd like to be his friend," Nabiki answered. "And I do care a lot
for his girlfriend. If it affects Ranma-chan, it concerns me. And if
it might end up reflecting on everyone Ataru-kun and Ranma-chan knows,
better to nip it in the bud. Agreed?" Her eyebrow arched as she
gazed on her host.
"Agreed," Dakejinzou acknowledged before she stared at Nassur. "You
know I've kept one thing from you since we decided to work together,
Nassur-chan."
"The Maidens of the Eternal Voyager . . . " His voice then trailed
off as his eyes went wide. "Ataru-san?" he gasped.
Dakejinzou nodded. "It's time for you to learn about a planet named
Sagussa, a war worse than even Varanko's darkest nightmares, a plan to
restore a dead world to life that's been ongoing for the last ten
millennia . . . " She paused before her eyes fell on a picture posted
on the T-frame dividing the view ****ts of her bridge. "And how
Morobo**** Ataru relates to all that."
A wry chuckle escaped Nassur. "I see."
* * *
Outside the closed door connecting the frigate's bridge and lounge, a
wide-eyed Benten stood there. Despite the fact that Nassur could have
detected the Fukunokami's presence with his tracking powers -- had he
already sensed her? -- she hadn't made her presence known to the
people on the bridge. And she had overhead almost everything they had
said.
*Morobo**** . . .?!* she mentally railed as she turned to stagger to
her guest room. *He's the Chosen One of the Eternal Voyager . . .?!*
Ye gods, the Universe couldn't be THAT cruel!
Could it?
* * *
"So they're on their way."
"Are you having someone trail them, Lady?"
Noa blinked as her mind absorbed Firesky Owleye's words, and then she
shook her head. "You need not call me *that,* you know."
"You are who you are," the Inquisitor insisted. They and the other
Sagussans who had accompanied Noa aboard the "Windrider Dreams" from
the cloaked "Hasei'cha" -- the warpsloop was currently several hundred
kilometres away from the Zephyrite formation, off the battlecruiser's
****t beam -- were standing in a private reflective lounge high in the
superstructure, one normally set aside for senior clerics. They had
just watched the "Windrider" and the "Goddess of Luck" warp out. "You
are simply who you are."
Noa tittered in amusement as she shared a knowing look with Catty,
and then she ran a hand through her shaggy chestnut-brown hair. Born
originally as Aruka Noa, one of the legendary Maidens of Aruka who had
helped Uru liberate itself from the hordes of the Seifukusu Dominion
nine centuries before, the woman who had been later designated
Dai****'cha #19282 was seen by everyone on Sagussa these days as the
Elder Mother of the Fifth Republic. While she didn't have any true
political power to exercise in the day-to-day affairs of the Republic,
her moral influence on the other Dai****'cha could not, for a moment,
be discounted. After all, it had been Noa, eleven years before, who
had convinced a young boy from Earth named Morobo**** Ataru to come
visit their planet. And, in the space of two months, had done more to
advance the cause of the Grand Design to levels its creators couldn't
have hoped to envision.
"And sometimes, I wonder what I've ever done to truly earn that level
of respect," she admitted. "I'm not a living goddess as many on Uru
might look on me these days if they ever met me. I'm not a devil like
some of your Scripturalists might see me as. I'm a normal mortal
woman with my own dreams and desires, my own hopes and ambitions."
Noa took a deep breath. "There's no need to send someone after Ataru-
sama and his family. With his experience and the Staff of Gihan on
his side, retrieving the Genesis Wand of Parah should be simplicity
itself. What we should have to worry ourselves about now is the
Avalon bioroid factory and Oogi's continued control over it."
"Nene's still doing a detailed diagnostic of the factory's sub-
systems," the third Sagussan, a raven-haired, blue-eyed double of
Seikou Mie, currently dressed in the dark blue-red-and-light green of
a defence force medical officer -- Catty was likewise dressed --
declared.
"We best get an update," Noa mused. "In the meantime, we'll . . . "
A communicator sounded off. "Hotaru here," the third Sagussan
declared as she tapped her wrist-bracelet. "What is it, Eluza?"
"Problem," the "Hasei'cha's" ****pmistress declared over the comm-
link.
"What is it, Eluza?" Noa asked.
"It's Makoto."
Silence fell over the lounge as the Sagussans exchanged shocked
looks. "Oh, Lyna, no!" Catty moaned for them all.
* * *
"Makoto, what in Lyna's name are you doing?! That warp's
open . . .!"
Makoto grunted as her finger flicked off the communications link
connecting her Gladiator to the "Hasei'cha." Then, with a slight
****ge of the control stick, she sent the Boeing 747-sized mechamorphic
fighter -- like its mother****p, Makoto's mount was equipped with a
cloaking device to mask its presence from Zephyrite sensory -- in the
direction of the point where the "Windrider" had disappeared into
hyperspace. This manoeuvre, if she succeeded, would allow her to ride
the crest of warp energies the barque was using to carry it on its
trip to the Planet of Shadows. If she succeeded, that is; no pilot in
the Sagussan Navy would try a crazy stunt like THIS even in the direst
of circumstances. But to Makoto, things had gone past THAT point long
ago.
"Mie . . .!"
Keeping her eyes locked on the heads-up display before her, the brown-
haired, green-eyed Pirpirsiw'r tilted her stick a little bit more to
the left, aligning the Gladiator's nose right at the centre of the
warp hole. It was fading right before her eyes; if she didn't get
into that bend in hyperspace, her chance at reuniting with her beloved
would be lost and she'd catch all sorts of crap from Eluza and Noa as
a result. Losing her commission -- Makoto was a flightmistress, the
fleet fighter arm's version of a watchmistress, in rank -- and most
likely her career was the LEAST her superiors would do to her. If her
Gladiator was wrecked and if Makoto survived its destruction, Patty,
the "Hasei'cha's" Terran-born chief engineer, would personally tan her
a new hide.
But still . . .
Mie . . .
*Makoto, stop!* Noa's voice boomed in the flightmistress' mind. *You
don't have to do this now! Come back . . .!*
"NO!" Makoto screamed as she forced the Elder Mother out of her mind,
her finger flicking off the cloak as she slammed her foot into the
accelerator. "I've waited eleven years, Noa! She's out there! AND I
WON'T WAIT ANYMORE!"
As the Gladiator wavered into existence, it setting off all sorts of
sensory alarms in the Zephyrite fleet behind it, the fighter's nose
caught the rolling end of the warp wave from the "Windrider."
In a flash, it disappeared into hyperspace.
* * *
"Lyna's Soul, she actually pulled it off!" Eluza exclaimed.
"If she survives that, she's the luckiest idiot in the universe!"
****ldy, the "Hasei'cha's" first officer, exclaimed.
"If she survives that, she'll wish she hadn't!" Patty snarled from
her station on the bridge's ****t side.
"Can she survive?" Rumy, the ****p's young science chief, asked.
Eyes locked on the raven-haired, brown-eyed Patty. The "Hasei'cha's"
chief engineer's brow furrowed as she considered what could happen to
a non-****elded Gladiator caught in the warp wake of a Noukiite solar-
sail craft moving at transwarp speeds, and then she shook her head.
"There's nowhere close to enough anti-radiation ****elding on that
crate to protect her from the 'Windrider.' If they don't spot her
right away . . . "
A grim silence fell over the bridge as Patty's ****pmates considered
that. "Could we hope Mie would remember enough to rescue her if Ataru-
sama or any of his sisters spot Makoto?" Spea, the ****p's combat
officer, asked.
Eluza grimaced as she considered that. Seikou Mie's obvious amnesia
where it concerned her life on Sagussa had been one of the factors
that blocked the "Hasei'cha's" crew from retrieving their missing
****pmate when Noa -- ironically doing what Mie herself had suggested
before Ataru had been sent back to Earth eleven years before --
learned of her true fate just before the First Tag Race changed
everything for the whole local cluster. "I'm not taking that chance,"
she then declared. "Amy, pursuit course!"
"Aye-aye!" Amy, the "Hasei'cha's" coxswain, said as she tapped
controls.
"Noa, Catty, Hotaru, get ready!" Eluza said. "We're beaming you
aboard!"
"Understood," the A****'cha replied.
* * *
"Good luck, Ladies," Firesky Owleye bade his guests with a nod.
Noa stared at the Inquisitor, and then she gripped his hand. "I am
-- and will always be -- Lyna, your sister," she declared in the
classical tongue of Tere'na, from which modern Sagussan and Zephyrite
had evolved from, before stepping back from him to stand beside Catty
and Hotaru.
In a flare of trans****ter beams, the Sagussans were whisked off.
Firesky watched them go, and then he perked as a knock echoed from the
door. "Enter!"
The door opened, revealing Sunhair Windrider. "Your Grace, we . . .
"
"I know, child," Firesky cut her off with a stern wave of his hand.
"Pass the message to the other captains. I will brief them about this
matter as soon as we've repatriated the Ellsians. Until then, they
are NOT to speak of this, especially in communiqués back home."
Windy took that in, and then she whispered, "The Holy Birth
Mot- . . .?"
The Inquisitor shushed her. Windy tensed for a moment before she
nodded.
* * *
"Eh?"
Mamoru looked up from the video game she had been playing at her
console to see a confused look on Kaneko's face. "What is it, Kaneko-
chan?" the tomboy asked, walking down to stand beside her niece's
station. "Something wrong?"
Kaneko blinked as she stared at her readouts, and then she glanced up
at her aunt. "I'm not sure. But aft sensors seem to have picked up
something that came into warp behind us. I'm trying to figure out
what it is . . . "
Mamoru took that in before she started to tense. "Is it dangerous?"
"I can't say."
* * *
"Here you go! Your first meal as an Avalonian! Bon appétit!"
Akane sighed as she stared at the bowl of Hakata-style ramen with
rice cakes that ****rayuki just laid out before her. The newborn
Avalonian's stomach had started to growl the instant the "Windrider"
had entered warp. It didn't take her or Marie long to find the galley
and get something to eat. Along with the ramen, ****rayuki had
prepared a Caesar salad, a glass of orange juice and some cut pieces
of toast with butter. "Is this a normal type of breakfast for her,
Marie-chan?" the youngest Tendou then asked.
"Pretty much so," Marie affirmed before she lifted her cup of tea.
"Okay! But I'm DEFINITELY learning how to cook for you, Marie-chan!"
The crowd around Akane and Marie exchanged looks. "Akane, I don't
think ****rayuki-chan's gonna like the idea of letting YOU loose into
HER kitchen!" ****n**** warned, his arm wrapped lovingly around
Yotsuba's shoulders.
Laughter filled the galley as Akane's cheeks went red. "It's okay,
****n****-san," Karen said. "If anyone can teach her how to cook,
****rayuki-chan can. She's learned from some of the best chefs you
could imagine."
"Hai desu no!" ****rayuki then asserted as she clapped her hands.
"Hime's Special Cooking School is always open for new students!"
Akane stared at the chef before she bowed. "Arigatou, ****rayuki-
sensei!"
****rayuki shuddered. "Oooh! Hime LIKES being called 'Sensei!'"
More laughter filled the room before a voice called out, "Hey,
Ataru!"
Everyone looked to see Ranma scamper down the ladder from the deck
above. "What is it, Ranma?" Ataru asked.
Ranma pointed aft. "There's someone following us!"
Silence.
"SAY WHAT?!" Ataru exclaimed.
Ranma beckoned him to follow. "C'mon and see!"
The two scampered up the ladder, and then ran aft to Ataru's cabin.
They were soon followed by everyone else. Once there, Ataru knelt by
his nightstand to draw out a pair of macro-binoculars from a storage
shelf, and then he poised himself by the large windows to take a look
at the storm of warped stars flowing past the "Windrider." Putting
the binoculars to his eyes, he focused his attention at the point of
bright light that marked the end of the warp stream being produced by
the solar-sail barque. "Ah . . . " he uttered on seeing a dark object
that could only be some sort of space****p, though it was barely
visible in the surrounding bright light. "Who the hell is
that . . .?"
"Anegimi-sama, you were able to sense a ****p following us?" Haruka
asked.
"Actually, Haruka-chan, I was the one who sensed someone back there."
Eyes focused on Izumo Seiko. The raven-haired Nendo-kata was
standing to Ataru's right. "Who is it, Sei-chan?" Ataru asked.
Seiko shook her head as her eyes glowed. "I can't really tell from
here, Darling; warp space tends to muck up our telepathic powers,
especially at a distance. But from what I can tell, she desperately
wants to get aboard the ****p. I can't say why, though . . . "
"Um, Ataru-kun . . .?"
Ataru turned to see Mie standing beside him. Her hand was out.
"Oh!"
He handed the binoculars to her. She put them to her eyes. Hi****o
had joined the crowd in Ataru's cabin by that time. Making her way to
Mie's side, the youngest sister took a look out. "Sure are a lotta
stars . . . " she mused before she glanced up to see the binoculars.
"A-ri-ri? Can Hina look through the binoculars, Mie-san?" she asked
as she held her hand out.
Silence answered her as Mie's hands lowered the binoculars away from
eyes that were presently as wide as saucers, a mixed look of disbelief
and shocked recognition crossing her face. Seiko was the first to
sense the amnesiac Sagussan's mood. "Seikou-san . . . " she asked.
Mie's mouth fluttered for a second before a whispered
"Aoaiuiui'io . . .!" escaped her, the binoculars dropping from numb
hands.
Ranma snatched them before they hit the deck. "Hey, you okay . . .?"
The response surprised them. "Where's the trans****ter on this ****p?"
Ataru blinked in confusion. "What . . .?"
Mie spun on him, the horror and panic on her face freezing everyone
else in place. "***THE TRANS****TER!***" she screamed loud enough to
rattle all the windows of Ataru's cabin as she leapt over to grab him
by the collars of his top. "***YOU'VE GOT ONE ON THIS JUNKHEAP, DON'T
YOU?! WHERE IS IT?!***"
"This way, Mie!"
Gasps filled the room as Chikage grabbed Mie, and then they both
vanished in the flutter of the sorceress' cape. Silence fell before
people began to exchange shocked looks. "What was THAT about?!"
Sakuya demanded.
"Ah! Hina understands now!"
Before anyone could ask her, Hi****o ran out of the cabin.
* * *
"Can you pick up Makoto's Gladiator?!" Eluza demanded.
The "Hasei'cha" was a light minute behind the "Windrider." "I'm
trying, Eluza!" Spea answered as her hands flew over the controls at
her console.
"Try harder!"
* * *
The trans****ter room on the "Windrider" was located on the same deck
as the galley, it right below Ataru's cabin. Chikage and Mie phased
back into existence, the latter lunging over to the control panel.
Hands that remembered much more what the conscious mind currently
could not flew over the buttons as Mie powered up the system and
activated the life-sensor tracker that would allow the trans****ter the
chance to lock in on the mortal life presently in dire danger aft of
the solar-sail barque. As footsteps heralded the arrival of many of
the crowd from Ataru's cabin, Mie then tapped the intercom switch.
"Reiko-chan, it's Seikou Mie! Get ready to break this ****p out of
warp!"
"Eh?!" the young Noukiite called back. "What are you talking . . .?"
"Reiko, don't argue about it! Do it!" Chikage barked.
"Ah . . .! H-hai, Auntie Chikage!"
Mie blinked before relief crossed her face as trans****ter lock was
made. "Okay! Reiko-chan, in five seconds, mark!"
She tapped a button to energize the system on saying that.
* * *
"Mie . . . I'm sorry . . . "
Danger alarms were ringing loudly in Makoto's ears as waves of
intensive pain, the type of agony that could only come from hard
exposure to hyperspace radiation, burned through her flight suit. The
Gladiator's structural integrity field was rapidly failing; once it
was gone, the tidal forces in the warp stream would rip the fighter to
shreds. As her hand tried to steady the fighter's control stick, she
squeezed close her good right eye; the left one had started to bleed
profusely not seconds before. "Mie-vayae . . .!" she moaned as she
braced herself for what was about to come. "I love you . . . "
Just as structural integrity failed, a trans****ter beam seized her.
* * *
The crowd at the doorway leading to the trans****ter room gasped as a
column of vertical light heralded the arrival of a tall, slender woman
dressed from neck to toe in a dark blue bodysuit complete with crimson
gloves and boots, a flight helmet covering her head. As the
trans****ter beam faded, the "Windrider" shuddered as it slipped out of
hyperspace. The newcomer then collapsed to the deck, a shower of
blood escaping her nostrils and mouth as her head bounced off the hard
surface. "AOAIUIUI'IO!" Mie screamed out.
* * *
"Eluza, the 'Windrider' just came out of warp!" Rumy called out.
"De-warp us, now!" Eluza barked.
"Hai!" Amy replied as she pressed controls.
* * *
The "Windrider" coasted along as her gallants and staysails were
furled in. On the bridge, Reiko and Kaneko manipulated controls to
break the ****p further. "What do you suppose is going on, Onee-chan?"
Kaneko wondered.
"I dunno . . . huh?!"
Reiko perked as something seemed to warp out of hyperspace dead ahead
of the "Windrider." A ****p roughly three times the length of the
solar-sail barque, it was shaped like three railroad boxcars (sans
wheels) set in an inverted-V formation. Thick sup****t pillars
connected the lower hulls to the main hull. The upper hull came
complete with warp and impulse drive, plus a small superstructure.
Locked on the underside of the lower hulls were two Gladiators,
doubles for the craft that had followed the "Windrider" into warp
thousands of parsecs away. Painted an overall tan-brown shade, the
****p bore a golden phoenix-like sigil on the upper hull close to the
main pilotage.
A sigil that was all too familiar to the Noukiite twins.
"The Maidens . . . " Reiko and Kaneko gasped together.
* * *
"Onii-sama, is she okay?!"
Ataru grunted as he, Ranma, Chikage and Mie carried the bleeding
newcomer from the trans****ter room to the "Windrider's" cockpit, the
****p's sickbay. "I really don't think so, Sakuya!" he replied as they
carried her inside. "On the diagnostic bed!" he ordered his
companions.
"Hai!" the others chimed as they boosted her onto the examination
table.
Once she was in place, Ataru began to flip controls to activate the
life-sup****t systems built into the bed. While his ****p's android
crew was well programmed to deal with most of the normal operational
demands a vessel like the "Windrider" imposed, none were programmed
for medical duties. Given that he had just received the solar-sail
barque from the Noukiite government not two weeks before -- and that,
until Kaneko had revealed the "Windrider's" presence over Earth when
Elle had kidnapped everyone earlier in the day, he had not thought
about it -- Ataru had not taken any time to figure out what medical
requirements he would need for his ****p. "Okay, doing a life-scan
now . . . "
"Her ki's almost gone," Ranma warned.
"I hear you, Ranma. Chikage?"
"Mie, hold her hand," the sorceress ordered. "Let her touch you."
"Right." Mie grasped the other woman's hand. "Aoaiuiui'io . . . "
"You know her?" Ataru wondered.
"I can't fully remember," the amnesiac Sagussan replied.
A cough. "It's . . . " Another cough. "Okay . . . "
"Aoaiuiui'io!" Mie cried as she gazed worriedly into the newcomer's
eyes.
A light smile. "It's Makoto now, Mie-vayae . . . "
Another cough escaped the Pirpirsiw'r. Mie sighed, and then she
asked, "You're using *anime* characters for names?!"
"Can't you tell who I look like?" Makoto asked before she coughed
again.
"Makoto, please be quiet," Chikage ordained. "Save your strength."
"Aye, ma'am . . . " The pilot then closed her good eye.
Chikage then looked up and forward. "If there are doctors and nurses
on your ****p, send them over now!" she clearly called out.
The onlookers at the doorway exchanged confused looks. Who was
Chikage yelling at? A second later, their answer came with the ring
of trans****ter beams, they heralding the arrival of the "Hasei'cha's"
whole medical team. Along with Catty and Hotaru came Pony, a lavender-
haired, blue-eyed, dusky-skinned woman with tapered ears; Ataru
recognized her as Tookonokooen, a native of a planet located in the
centre of the triangle formed by Vos, Yehisril and Ipraedos. All
three had field medical bags with them. Without hesitation, they
moved to either side of the diagnostic bed as Pony drew out a
tricorder to do an initial scan. Ataru and Ranma got out of her way.
After her initial scan, Pony then sighed as she showed the tricorder
results to Catty and Hotaru. "Makoto, much that I do understand why
you wanted to be with Mie so badly, but could you have chosen to do
something less stupid than flying a Gladiator into the warp-trail of
Ataru-sama's ****p?" the doctor wondered as she leaned over the pilot's
head to gaze into Makoto's good eye.
Makoto ruefully chuckled as Catty drew out a hypodermic to inject
into her neck. "You'd do the same for Eluza, Pony."
Another spasm of coughs. "Less talk, more work, ladies," Chikage
warned.
Catty stared at her. "Are you a doctor, Chikage-sama?"
"Chikage's many things, Sensei," Ataru spoke up from behind Pony.
"Ah!"
The onlookers were quick to notice the slight blush crossing the
lavender-haired, Tritonian-born doctor's face as she turned back to
dealing with Makoto. By then, Hi****o had rejoined the others, leaning
past the doorway. The still-dark Staff of Gihan was in her hand. The
youngest sister was quick to recognize one of the newcomers. "Ah,
Catty-san!" she called out.
Catty flashed Hi****o a friendly smile before turning back to her
patient. "Please don't interrupt us, Hi****o-sama."
Hi****o blinked as the doctor's words sank in, and then her eyes
turned to the woman on the diagnostic bed. She gasped on seeing the
severity of Makoto's wounds, and then she found Mie's hands on her
shoulders. "Don't interrupt, Hi****o-chan," Mie advised as she guided
the youngest of the sisters away. "Catty doesn't like to be
interrupted when she's dealing with a patient."
"A-ri-ri?! Catty-san's a doctor, Mie-san?"
"Hai. As is Pony. And . . . " Mie then closed her eyes. "What in
Buddha's name took you so long, Imooto-chan?"
Hotaru's hands fell on her sister's shoulders. "We weren't going to
take you away from your family, Onee-chan."
The onlookers blinked. "Mie-san, who are these people?" Karen asked.
"I'd like to know the answer to that, too," Ataru added.
"Still . . . "
"Please, Ataru-sama, don't force your memories," Catty advised. "As
soon as we're done with this de'ne, Pony and I'll look at you."
"You've met Anigimi-sama?!" Haruka demanded.
"Eleven years ago," Mie responded, a hand reaching up to grasp
Hotaru's.
The sisters exchanged shocked looks. "That was the time Nii-sama
disappeared from his house!" ****rayuki then declared.
Sakuya spun on the visiting Sagussans. "You mean to say
that . . .?! Onii-sama went to your PLANET back then?!"
"At the invitation of our Elder Mother, of course," Hotaru confirmed.
"You, of course, realize that was kidnapping," ****n**** then noted.
Rueful chuckles escaped the Sagussans as they recalled that time.
"Back then, we were so naive when it came to emotions and everything
beyond pure logic, it wouldn't have mattered to us what other people
thought," Hotaru explained before she gazed on Ataru. "Your brother
changed that."
The sisters turned to gaze on Ataru. "Onii-chama . . .?" Kaho
whispered.
Ranma turned to look into his eyes. "Hey, Ataru, you okay?"
Ataru's gaze had turned inward as he went over Hotaru's explanation
about an event that had come to influence his life in so many ways
since an encounter he had with a pretty girl in a rose garden. "I'm
not sure, Ranma . . . "
"It'll be alright," Pony said. "Like Catty said . . . uh-oh!"
"Wonderful!" Catty hissed as she noted what was wrong on her
tricorder.
Mie tensed. "What?!"
In answer, a stream of racking coughs escaped Makoto. "Her immune
system's breaking down!" Catty warned.
"On it!" Pony said. "Prepping for suspension!"
She tapped controls on the diagnostic bed. Makoto's body was then
shrouded from head-to-toe in a blue field. The onlookers watched as
Makoto froze. "Suspension field active and nominal," Pony declared
before she looked on her co-worker. "This won't help her for long,
Catty."
"I know!" Catty declared.
"Do you have something that can help her?" Chikage asked.
The doctors exchanged a rueful look. "Not on the 'Hasei'cha,'" Catty
answered. "The regeneration unit we'd normally use in instances like
this could help. But we don't have the mental ****elds that can
protect her spirit when her body is placed inside the matrix. The
nearest place to get them is on Sagussa. But we don't DARE move
Makoto from this place until we can guarantee her safety. And thanks
to all the radiation that bombarded her when she followed you into
warp, we can't perform tre'cha . . . "
"What's tre'cha?!" Ranma wondered.
"It means 'the passing-on,'" Catty replied. "When a Sagussan -- or
Avalonian . . . " -- her eyes fell on ****n**** to emphasize her point
-- " . . . senses when death is near, she will mind-link with her bond-
mate, a child-mate or a very trusted friend to bestow her mei'na, her
living spirit, onto so that her knowledge and memories are passed on
to a future generation. Mie did that with Hotaru just before she came
to Earth as a safety precaution." She indicated Mie. "But if we
can't link into Makoto's mind . . . "
"Makoto-san'll go to the Very, Very Bright Place."
Eyes locked on Hi****o. "Yes. Her spirit will be lost to the Te'a,"
Catty finished with a tired nod.
Stunned silence fell over the scene as everyone else took in that
awful news. Marie then began to sniff. "She'll die . . .?"
Pony nodded. "Hai."
"Then . . .?" Marie's hand shakily rose to point at the unmoving
Makoto. "Wh-why did sh-she come h-here . . .? Wh-why . . .?"
"Because of me, Marie-chan."
Eyes locked on Mie. "Mie-san . . .?" Akane whispered.
Mie gave them a weary smile. "Makoto's my lover, Akane-san. We've
been separated for eleven years."
Hearing that, Marie shuddered as the hoarse finality of Mie's words
sank in. "She . . .! She came to be . . . w-with . . . "
Her eyes rolled into her head as she sank toward the deck. "MARIE-
CHAN!" the other sisters and Akane screamed out.
Chikage grabbed Marie, and then she tele****ted away. "Her cabin!"
Ataru barked as he waved the others out of the cockpit.
Everyone scampered out of the cockpit. The Sagussans remained in
place as they watched their Daimon'cha and his family race out to look
in on their sibling. Catty then sighed before she gazed on Hotaru.
"Go look in on her."
Hotaru indicated Mie. "But what about Onee-chan . . .?"
"Don't worry about me."
The three medical officers stared at their amnesiac ****pmate. "Worry
about Makoto and Marie-chan first," Mie insisted.
Catty gazed on her, and then she nodded. "You have your orders,
Hotaru."
Mie's sister braced herself to attention. "Hai!"
Grabbing her field medical bag, she raced out of the cockpit.
* * *
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