Earth, Crystal Tokyo, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) The initial bombardment had ceased hours ago. Over half the inhabitants of Crystal Tokyo were dead or fled. The remainder crouched amidst the ruins and waited to be conquered. Except for a few who were either too brave or too stupid to give up. It will be left as an exercise to the reader to determine which category the following account falls into. Tsubasa Kuonji was hacked off. Someone had blown up his shop. He wasn't quite sure who, but they were DEFINITELY going to pay for it. At least he thought they had blown up his shop. He was pretty sure he hadn't done it himself. It was just his luck that the attack had come at the worst phase of his memory cycle. He wasn't nearly as bad as his grandfather had been, but every 28 days, he cycled from having perfectly normal memory abilities to near amnesia and back again. The best magicians he could afford couldn't do much for him except to briefly restart the cycle. It was some sort of curse that was slowly fading with time. By the time it got to the seventh generation from his grandfather, it should wink out entirely. That was of little help right now, though. Still, his anger helped him to arrest the sapping of memory that tried to tear away his knowledge of what he was doing. Which was mainly running down the street looking for someone who looked guilty so he could stomp them. When the beautiful house he was running past suddenly started to blow up, that caught his attention. Actually, it was only the top floor that blew up, and only part of that. He could see four strange blue and green humanoids firing energy blasts at a woman with short, bright pink hair. Maybe they blew up my shop, he thought. The woman reminded him of someone. Mom? Aunt Yoko? Maybe that concert I went to. Whenever that was. He gave up on his memories and ran across the street, and leaped to the upper story. He had been trained in martial arts and okonomiyaki cooking since he was old enough to hold a spatula. The woman was rather skinny, he saw when he got closer. And a little boyish looking, too. The four humanoids were female, scaly, and had red gems in their forehead. Some kind of monster, he thought. Wombats, right? Yeah. Best way to deal with them...break the gem. He threw one of his mini-spatulas at the first one. It's gem shattered and the monster howled, dissolving into a red mist that dissipated with a final screech. The other three...wombats? paused and stared at him. The woman said, "You couldn't have picked a better time to drop in, Tsubasa!" She picked up a crystalline chair and it flowed like water in her hands, becoming a pair of spears, which she hurled at a second ...critter. It got impaled and dissolved away. They turned to the remaining two, which vanished in a spiral of darkness. Tsubasa turned to the woman, "Do I know you?" "That time of the month, eh?" She gave him a knowing nod. "It's me, Miki. Miki Matsuura." She paused. "Architect of the Crystal Palace?" He gave her another blank stare. "Do you remember what city you're living in?" Pause. "You always eat Shrimp and Beef Okonomiyaki, and usually get the saffron sauce, right?" She nodded. "Do you remember what city you're living in?" He looked around. "This is LA, right?" She face faulted as was her right. ****************** Black Moon Rising Chapter 7: Crystal Tokyo Under Siege By John Biles ****************** Earth, Low Earth Orbit, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) Demand frowned. Endymion had escaped him. Somehow he had gotten onto Demand's flagship, fought him, then vanished before Demand could kill him. Vanished back into the area being shielded from his assaults. Serenity was in there. He had to free her from Endymion. It was his destiny. The door of Demand's quarters opened. It was his brother Saffir. "I have bad news." He sighed. "Is Rubeus making more excuses?" Rubeus had been sent to the past, but had already reported three failures in half a day. The surreal part of it was that it had been nearly a week for him in the past since he had arrived. Rubeus is going to fail, he thought. He shook away the premonition. "Our efforts to capture the architect of the Crystal Palace failed. We should have known Serenity wouldn't let someone who knew its weak points fall into our hands." "Send more people after her. We have to have her. And send troops to grab the key points of the city. We can redirect the nodes and choke their magical power." Saffir frowned. "I think we should reinforce Rubeus. If we can wipe out Serenity in the past, it won't matter what happens here. We struck too soon. Once Serenity's subjects outside Crystal Tokyo regroup, we may be crushed. We can't even occupy Crystal Tokyo properly." Demand frowned back. "You're my brother, but I am the King. I am the Chosen One. I do not wish to destroy Serenity. We are destined for each other. Do you understand, MAGNI?" Saffir's birthname was Magni. Technically, he was Demand's older brother, older by 13 years, but his brother had been born of prophecy. The Wiseman had prophecied that Demand would marry the Queen of Summer and end the Great Ice, but somehow, Endymion had usurped Demand's rightful place as the King of the Earth. Supposedly. "I do not TRUST the Wiseman's prophecies. What if she rejects you?" "She will not." He paused. "I suppose you are concerned for Petz." Saffir blushed and looked nervous. "I would be concerned for any of us sent back in time. It must all be quite alien to her. Indeed, just going back a hundred years would put most our nation into a world they no longer understand. How many of us have ever pushed a plow, cut trees, or hid from monsters?" He sighed. "We haven't heard anything from the agents Jade claims she slipped into the Palace before the shield went up." "Do we have any idea how the Excelsior was destroyed?" Demand asked. "The one surviving crew member says that a woman with a character on her forehead and bird wings appeared in the engine room and proclaimed something about the vengeance of heaven, then hurled a spear of fire into the main power crystal. Then she and some black-haired fellow with a pony-tail beat up everyone who tried to approach the crystal until it went critical, then vanished right before the ship exploded." He shook his head. "I don't believe it. If they could blow up one ship, they'd blow up multiple ships." "What about the Juraiian embassy?" "A bloodbath, sir. Apparently our spies failed to realize the Emperor's son had dropped in to visit his wife." Demand frowned. "We now know that our landing craft blow up on contact with the Radiant Hawk Wings." This was not the sort of thing Demand really wanted to learn. "Any survivors?" "Twenty three out of five hundred. One assault landing shuttle out of ten. Now they've managed to raise the Dune Shield." Demand frowned. Dune Shields were hideously expensive power-wise, which was why they didn't use them. A good hour running a Dune Shield would drain most of his ships of power. They could stop virtually any attack, with one exception--anything moving slower than a fast punch could get through. So you could walk right through them at a relaxed pace. Only a ground assault could take down a facility protected by one. Normally you could just wait a few hours for the power to go out, however. Also, they usually took close to an hour to fully charge up from a standing start. "Monitor them." He stood up. "I have rested long enough. Have Esmeraude bring me a diplomatic report." Saffir nodded. "I will." *************** Moon, Silver Palace, Year 6 of the Silver Millenium (23995 BC, 23245 Years before the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year -3832, Federal Year -26130) Serenity sat around a table with eight of the nine children she had selected to share her power. One of them had been sealed away to sleep until she was needed; the Saturn experiment had been a mistake, but it was too late to undo it. They had the power, but the risk of a paradox destroying everything was too great. And it wasn't clear if Pluto could actually travel to a time before her empowerment, anyway. Their existence was a comfort to her, and a relief. Her power had been too great for her peace of mind. Now they each possessed a part of it, indeed each of them would grow in time to where the nine senshi plus Serenity together would be far stronger than Serenity had been alone. As she gazed on them, they reminded her of how young she and her friends had been at the beginning of their adventures. Each of these children was at least twelve, though, and she had been only around eight when her adventures had begun. Still, she it brought back memories. She remembered the day she and Metallia had been chased three miles by bees and laughed. We could face down horrors from beyond space and time, but a swarm of angry insects still terrified us. I miss you, Metallia, she thought. She tried to gather her thoughts. I was never very good at speeches, she thought. Pluto, a young girl with long greenish-black hair said, "Incoming." "What?" Serenity blinked. A set of doors appeared over the table. The gate of time. Three unconscious women tumbled out, along with an unconscious man. A blonde woman who bore a vague resemblence to the young Sailor Jupiter was the last to come out. She was clutching a small golden key. Looking around, she turned to Serenity. "Saturn is coming! She's going to try to change history! She..." She looked around the table and her eyes widened. The gate quietly shut and vanished. When her gaze met Pluto, her eyes widened. "I knew you'd be younger, but...iya." The young Pluto blinked. "Should I know you?" The woman's lips quirked. "You will." Serenity stared. How had these people gotten into the Time Tunnel? Only she, or one of the other Ruling Wizards, or Pluto could open it. Unless they were from..."Are you from the future?" "Yes! Saturn's going to try to change the results of her creation or something. We're not sure, but Pluto...the next Pluto sent me. We're from about...um...a really, really, really looooong time in the future." She paused. "Oh, I'm Hikaru Hiyama-Quest and this is Princess Nene Romanova-Habuki-Masaki, Noa Izumi- Shinohara, Dan Hibiki, and Jenni Ognatz." Serenity glanced over at Mercury, who was already hard at work on her computer. Mercury said, "The key she is holding is filled with Silver Power attuned to Pluto. She herself is attuned to the Silver Power, but not by any of the attunement types my computer can recognize. They are all supernatural to some degree. One of them has a ghost in her. My truth analyzer indicates she believes she is telling the truth. She is a human being. Her hair is three degrees lighter than Sailor Jupiter. Her clothing is composed of..." "Thank you, Mercury," Serenity said. "The Saturn experiment has already been concluded. That happened nearly a year ago. Let us consult and make plans." That took a while. *************** Mars, Mons Olympus City, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) Arcadia woke up in a nice comfy twin bed with Chibi-Ami zonked out next to her. By the time she sat up, Neptune walked in. "Here's some food. Get dressed. We have to go make our next strike." She put down a plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs with orange juice. Arcadia ate hungrily. "If we're gonna blow up Black Moon bastards, I'm your woman. Where are we?" "Serenity's vacation palace on Mars. Don't worry, Chibi-Ami will be safe here. Safer than if she was still on Earth." Neptune's voice softened a little. "I just wish I knew what had happened to our daughter." "I'm sure Parias got Titania to safety. I'm pretty sure all of the Senshi have living descendants in my time. Some people like to brag about it." She kept spraying crumbs as she talked with a mouth full of food. "So where are we gonna kick butt?" "As soon as Saturn regains enough of her power that Wiseman stole, we're gonna teleport to him and clean his clock. Right now we're just giving directions for growing a new fleet of ships as fast as we can. I wish we could wait for Saturn to fully recover, but we can't spend that long." She sighed. "Don't worry. We win. I know the Black Moon gets its ass handed to it on a plate. The only question is how fast," Arcadia said. "I wish I could be so sure," Neptune said. *************** Earth, Crystal Tokyo, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) "Dammit, I hate waiting." Prince Ryu Hakubi-Masaki of the Juraiian Empire said as he circled the room for the three thousandth time. Lord Ken Asagiri sighed. "I wish Mom was here. With her fleet." Ryu laughed. "I think the people she's protecting from the Khunds would disagree. I wouldn't mind having your father here, though. Or Mom. Or Aunt Wasyuu, even. We've only got eight hours of power for that shield, and now the Palace is behind a shield, so we can't take refuge there. And Nene-chan..." He sighed and settled down onto a chair. "Who knows where Pluto has sent her. Damnit, I shouldn't have let her go!" "She had to go. I'm not happy about Hikaru having to go either." I'm surprised she went. She and Pluto really don't like each other, but she won't ever tell me why. Ryu laughed. "Rarely have two allies disliked each other so much, eh?" Suddenly, he was right next to Ken. "So when are you two getting married, HMMM?" Ken started. He should be used to it by now, but even with centuries of experience, Ryu STILL startled him. "I...umm...soon, I hope. I should get up the guts to ask in a few years." "Seize the day! I suggest you propose the next time you see her!" Ryu wiggled his ears. "My prophetic powers tell me she'll say yes!" "Why didn't they tell you about the attack?" "My muse was out partying too late." Ryu laughed a little, then said, "Did I mention I hate waiting?" ************************** Deneb VI, Low Deneb Orbit, Juraiian Year 23224 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, SY 68, Federal Year -926) From the main conference room of the Ramadana, Emperor Tenchi's command ship, he, his wife Aeka, Admiral Priss Asagiri, and his Science Advisor, Anri, were communicating by subspace radio with his other wife, Ryoko, and her team of miscellaneous allies of the house of Jurai. "Are you sure there's no other way to release the thing closer to the Planet-Eater?" Aeka asked. "This is going to be really expensive." "The longer we delay, the greater the odds that the Planet- Smasher will repair all the damage to itself and move on to an inhabited system, killing everyone," Wasyuu said. "It could take me days to figure out how to release the Planet Bomb elsewhere, and by that time, the Planet-Smasher could jump anywhere. Like Jurai." Aeka twitched slightly. "Can we really tow it fast enough to catch up with the Planet-Smasher?" "If we start NOW," Wasyuu said. "What do you think, Anri?" Tenchi asked quietly. Anri cocked her head. "Why can't you just put a jump drive on it, Mom?" "Because that could cause it to go off." Wasyuu said. "We'd need someone very, very lucky to pilot it." Skuld slapped her forehead. "That's it!" "You're volunteering?" Wasyuu said. "I'll give you the Wasyuu medal of Bravery if you say yes." "That's what we need the guardians of Karma for! To bring us the luck we need to successfully move this thing with a jump drive!" "The what?" Tenchi asked. Admiral Asagiri frowned. "You'd have to be a nutcase to drive a planet sized bomb with a jump drive slapped onto it. Even in my most suicidal days, I had more sense." "Mihoshi is one of them," Linna said dryly. "Oh, right. Go for it then," Priss said. ************ Wasyuu's lab, Subspace, Juraiian Year 23224 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, SY 68, Federal Year -926) Wasyuu looked at the room. It was an utterly blank featureless cube except for the two doors and the wall mirror. Perfect. She ushered everyone in and closed the door. "Okay, now, everyone remember. Don't let any of these people near anything fragile." She paused. "Well, Kiyone can touch things, but anyone else even looks at something, even if it's armor plated, stomp them." Skuld blinked. "I've never seen you this scared." "I can only imagine the sheer horror that is about to ensue. Mihoshi nearly destroys all of creation every time I let her in my lab; combined with the Dirty Pair, she could destroy all of creation without even ENTERING my lab." Wasyuu sighed and assumed her adult form. "This time, I will MAKE them take me seriously." The mirror shimmered and Belldandy stepped through, ushering two shining figures of light with golden wings, clad in rainbows. One had dark hair like the night sky, speckled with stars, while flames wreathed the head of the other. Wasyuu felt a strong urge to worship them, and she saw Ryoko was on her knees, staring in shock. Skuld was blinking, and Linna looked amused. They spoke and their voices echoed off the walls, a voice heard in the mind as much as the ear. "BE NOT AFRAID. WE ARE THE LOVELY ANGELS. WE HAVE COME TO AID YOU." Belldandy sighed. Linna laughed. Skuld said, "Hey! No using aura on mortals unless you have a direct order!" The one wreathed in flames hmphed. "YOU'RE NO FUN." They suddenly became much more ordinary looking. Ryoko blinked, looking confused. Wasyuu felt the urge to worship wink out. "Well, the Lovely Angels are here," Kei said. "So what do you need us to do?" Wasyuu grinned. "We need someone with precise piloting skills." "You've got the right Angel!" Yuri said. "Lead me to it." Kei looked around casually. "I heard that Mihoshi and Kiyone were being called in on this." "They arrive in about ten minutes," Wasyuu said. Watching two people try to hide in a featureless room gave Wasyuu one of the best laughs she had had in quite a while. *************** Deneb VI, Low Deneb Orbit, Juraiian Year 23224 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, SY 68, Federal Year -926) The Emperor, his wife, and Admiral Asagiri had retired to more comfortable private quarters to continue their discussion while Anri was off consulting with her mother again. Admiral Asagiri's husband, Lord Leon McNichols, had joined them for a pleasant meal and strategy session. He was Asagiri's chief security and intelligence officer. "We estimate at the current rate of attrition, we should destroy the Khunds' naval capacity in three to five weeks. I can hardly believe they attacked without building up larger ship reserves. By Friday, we'll have driven them back across their borders." He sipped his cali, a Juraiian alcoholic beverage that tasted somewhat like a gin and tonic with strawberry juice added. Priss was sprawled across the pile of cushions that concealed the long couch she and her husband were sitting on. Her uniform's hat was tossed to one side, hanging off the arm of a statue of some famous Juraiian. She had seen the statue a hundred times. One of these days she was going to find out who it was. Not today, though. "Either they've gone suicidal or they must have been counting on that Planet-Smasher. Maybe the Black Moonies somehow convinced them they'd send a fleet to aid them." She chugged her entire glass of cali in one gulp. Damn glasses are too small, she thought. "Once we push them back across the borders, we can send a fleet to go stomp the Moonies. Heck, we could send Daley with the Lightning Squadron right now. Do we have any idea how big the Black Moon Fleet actually is? It's only one planet, after all." Daley was her oldest son and second oldest child. Her oldest was named Celia in honor of her friend, and she was second in command of the fleet watching the border with the territories of the Dominators. Aeka shook her head. "Anywhere from sixty to three hundred ships of indeterminate strength." Priss boggled. "THREE HUNDRED? I mean, Jurai could build three hundred warships in weeks, but they only had one planet, and it's a hell hole from what little we know of it. Not to mention manning them...we're talking capital ships?" "They only have a handful of ships of the line, but most of them are the next step down," Aeka said. "How big is the Lightning Squadron?" "Two ships of the line modified for extra speed, twenty cruisers, five dockers, three transports and fifty thunderbolts. Each of the dockers carries 150 fighters, 30 bombers, and 20 scouts. Each of the transports carries a thousand troopers standard, but can hold up to ten thousand. But if they carry at full capacity, they get too slow. These are basically stripped down transports." Priss thought for a moment. "It used to have thirty ramships, but we moved all those to a seperate unit. Oh, and the transports have standard assault landing craft." Tenchi said, "Send him to scout out the situation. We need good intelligence. Just remind him we don't need a repetition of the battle of Faran III, okay? He is not to engage them unless they assault him or we give authorization." Leon sighed. "Like he'll listen. He's such a hothead." Aeka muttered something about kettles, and Priss laughed. "And you're the Iceman, Leon?" "To quote Priscilla S. Asagiri, 'It's only a hundred Khunds. We can take them. Come on, you wimp.' Those who live in glass houses shouldn't drive their motorcycle into the wall, dear." "So where did we go wrong with Ken?" Priss asked. "I think we wanted to make sure ONE of our children would outlive us. Linna's nearly died....fifty five times?" "She's been in more fights than that," Priss said. "I'm not counting fights. I'm talking things like trying to jump a motorcycle across an unfinished bridge over a chasm." "A hundred minimum, then." She shrugged. "If I had a yen for every time I did something crazy, I could buy my own planet." She got another glass of cali. "Then I could be an Empress too." She grinned. "Yeah, but then we'd have to do your hair up in odangoes like your sister." Leon grinned, and reached over, playing with Priss' hair. She batted him away. "Don't you think she'd look good like that, Tenchi?" Tenchi laughed. "Perhaps I should order all the admirals to get that hairstyle as a tribute to our ally." Priss howled in pain at the thought. ************ Tenchi lay in bed with Aeka curled up half on top of him. They were trying to go to sleep, but they'd had too much cali, which was a stimulant at first, then caused a sudden crash. Drinking it a few hours before bed was fine, but right before bed made it hard to sleep. "I think we can safely leave this to Priss and head back to the capital. If the Khunds were going to pull some miracle out of their pocket, they would have done it by now." "I suggest you send Celia with Daley. She'll keep him in check, and I'm sure she's worried about Ryu." Aeka idly ran a finger round and round Tenchi's chest in a circle. "We need to get him out of there before the nobility realizes your heir is trapped in the middle of a civil war and throws a fit." Tenchi nodded. "I know." He thought a moment. "Next time we contact Wasyuu, we should see if she can open a subspace portal. Given her daughter Sylvie is on Earth too, she probably already has." "Mayor of Crystal Tokyo, right?" Tenchi nodded again. "I suppose she's probably organizing the defense of the city right now." **************** Earth, Crystal Tokyo, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) Crystal Tokyo was in a state of anarchy. While Serenity possessed an army capable of restoring order, not much of it was normally present in the capital, and the Black Moon forces had destroyed all the major transportation routes into the city. The Troubleshooters were stretched too thin to keep order, and panicked citizens were running amok or hiding in terror. Mayor Sylvie Hakubi had things under control around the Town Hall, or as much under control as things are ever likely to get in a town being slowly blasted to rubble from above. The Town Hall had already been blasted, but thanks to her mother's technology, most of it had existed in another dimension and was undamaged. At least until the Black Moon forces tried a ground assault. They wouldn't live to regret this. They were quite superior to the Troubleshooters defending the Town Hall. The mayor herself was another question. She had practiced far more politics than combat of late, but her boomer body possessed more armnaments than some warships, thanks to her mother and her own experiments. In her normal mode, she looked like an attractive young woman in her mid twenties with long ash-blonde hair and brown eyes, fairly slender with just a little muscle tone. She dressed in fairly conservative clothing, a nice suit that would have looked quite normal in the century that gave her birth. However, in combat mode, she wore a tight red bodysuit that covered everything but her face, which was itself lined with black stripes that gave her a resemblance to a tiger, and her hair became spikey. She flew, hurling bolts of energy. Droids and Black Moon Cultists alike were blown to bits. Finally, she reached the commander of the attack squad, a man named Topaz, who had blonde hair and matching golden eyes. She lifted him two hundred feet off the ground and grinned feraly at him. "You're in charge?" "Yes, you monster!" He spat in her face. Bravery and stupidity. Just what she needed. Her eyes glowed faintly as she stared into his eyes. "I'm not a monster." He nodded, his face going blank. "You're no monster." "You're going to take me back to your ship." He nodded. "I'm going to take you back to the ship." "Well, let's get going!" "You're holding me 200 feet in the air, mistress." Sylvie almost dropped him to his death when she impulsively slapped her forehead. *************** Earth, Crystal Tokyo, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) Serenity sighed. One of the hardest tasks of her entire career was upon her. This was the moment where her burdens weighed on her most heavily. She had to go outside and freeze herself in a block of crystal. She knew this had to happen because she had lived through it. And yet...was it really necessary? The thought of being paralyzed when her friends needed her horrified her. But it had happened, and so it must happen. She began to stride through the palace. It was looked like a crumbling ruins, cracked and broken. She sighed. It must look like home to Arcadia now. I hope she's safe. She turned to check on the people in the shelter, but stopped herself. It was just an excuse. Endymion's projected image appeared next to her. He was badly hurt and tucked away in an autodoc, but he was strong enough to project his astral form as he had once done to create the Moonlight Knight. She hugged his body, her arms passing through it. "We've played our part. Ready to greet us when we arrive, dear?" He laughed. "Yes. I...wait...I didn't send the nightmares!" "Night...oh, THOSE nightmares." He turned to run back to the dream machine he had specially ordered from Wasyuu, but stopped before he got more than three feet. "Oh blast it. I can't turn it on without a solid body." "I'll do it for you, dear. Where is the dream machine?" He led her through the palace down into one of the lower levels. A large white chamber held a huge cubical machine with a slot on one end and a jumbled mess of controls for it with several liquid crystal displays. The palace butler, a well dressed middle- aged man with dark black, slightly curly hair was busily chewing out his assistant, a scruffy ill-kept man with short brown hair. "Baldric! What are you messing around with the Dream Machine?" "Oh, I was just trying to send a message to his majesty. You see..." Dramatic pause. "I have a cunning plan on how to defeat the invading forces!" The butler sighed. "Baldric, the last 'cunning plan' you had was to use a sand blaster to clean off the palace walls! Those scratches will never come out, you know." Endymion said, "What's your plan, Baldric?" Serenity went over to the machine. It was set '1996' and 'Endymion', along with a lot of other settings that didn't make sense. "Well, you see, Sailor Pluto travels through time. So I thought she could go to the past and get your past selves, and bring them here, and then you'd have twice as many Sailors and it would be easy to beat the Black Moon Cult because you could sneak up on them from behind while they were looking at you in front of them. At the same time, you see." He looked hopefully at Endymion. Endymion blinked. The butler rolled his eyes and thwacked Baldric in the head. "What an entirely LUNATIC idea!" He looked over at the machine, then turned to Endymion. "I apologize for him, sir. He gets these delusions that he has a brain." He turned to Baldric. "Now, Baldric, I want you to go and clean the tops of the Crystal Spires." "But they're bombing us, sir! I'd get blown to a zillion bits." "Hope springs eternal, Baldric." "Actually, Baldric is partially correct," Endymion said. "Thank you for your suggestion." Serenity read the paper as it fed back out. It was a virtually unreadible scrawl, even worse than her own handwriting. She glanced over at the control panel again. The machine was now sending hideous nightmares based on what little it could understand from the paper to Mamoru in the past. She smiled faintly. The butler staggered with the look of a man who has seen the universe suddenly turn entirely purple. He took out a q-tip and cleaned his ears. "Can you repeat that? I had the sudden hallucination that you actually said Baldric was RIGHT about something." "I'm expecting vistors, Blackadder. Can you help me pick an appropriate outfit?" Endymion said. Blackadder was a good butler, but a bit too harsh on the poor boy, although Baldric seemed to attract abuse by some sort of cosmic law. They has asked Baldric if he wanted another job, but all the little man had said was that his family had served Blackadder's family for generations. "Well, considering you own fifty identical lavender suits, that could be tricky, but I'll see what I can do," Blackadder said, turning and heading out of the room. Endymion followed him. Baldric looked at the machine. "Did I mess up again?" Serenity smiled. "Not this time." She turned from the machine. "I suggest you go to the garage and fire up the forklift. You'll be needing it soon." "Planning to take advantage of this to rearrange the furniture? Good idea. All those holes in the walls will mean we won't have to try to fit the sofas through the doors." With most people, that would have been sarcasm, but not with him. He headed out of the room, leaving Serenity alone with the machines and her thoughts. ************* Wasyuu's Laboratory, Subspace, Juraiian Year 23224 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, SY 68, Federal Year -926) Everyone else lounged around, waiting for Kiyone and Mihoshi, who were late, and watched Anri and Wasyuu argue. "But Mother, if you slam two huge hemispheres of matter and anti-matter together, only the surfaces will explode. The rest will simply be dispersed by the explosion. If you break it up into suspended packets and slam THOSE together, you'll get the full effect." "Yes, but that would be the equivalent of the power output of an average star for eleven days. I might accidentally blow myself up." Wasyuu replied. "And there's a more important reason." "What?" "It just doesn't look cool like this does." Anri sighed. She always lost her arguments with her mother, mostly because she was a little shy, not very agressive, and not willing to start lying and making stupid statements to win. She was perhaps the only Hakubi of whom this could be said. At least in full. Her sister Sylvie was fairly honest, but much more aggressive than Anri. "Okay, mother." Wasyuu frowned. "You can do better than that! Don't give up so easily." "But you'll just come up with another stupid reason to waste all that anti-matter." "Yeah, but that's half the fun!" The doorbell rang. Anri teleported over to the door. "I'll get it." It was Mihoshi and Kiyone. Kiyone was dressed in her full regalia as a Knight of Jurai and looked rather regal. Mihoshi was wearing a trenchcoat and fedora and was carrying a cello case. "Hihihihihihi!!!!" She hugged Anri, then ran across the lab to Linna, knocking over three computers and a machine that went ping en route. The machine fell, knocking down a row of shelves full of chemicals. They flew across the room as they fell at unnatural speed, dousing Linna and Mihoshi. At the same time, the shelves snagged a high cord, which ripped loose from a ceiling power socket, which discharged a bolt of electrical energy into Linna and Mihoshi. A bucket of paint on the top shelf vaulted even further and upended on Kei's head, turning her green. She fell onto Yuri, who dropped the soda she was drinking, hurling it onto Wasyuu, who became sticky and sweet. Skuld leaped back to avoid the chemicals, and bumped a button on another keyboard. "Self-Destruct sequence initiated. Please move to a 3000 KM safe distance. Fifty Nine Seconds. Fifty Eight. Fifty Seven." "Ack!" She looked at the button. It was labelled, 'Irreversible Self-Destruct.' For lack of a better idea, she began to bash the machine with her mallet, turning it into metallic slag. "Twenty...urk." It died. High powered jets kicked in, hosing down Wasyuu, who soon was no longer sticky and sweet, but now dripping wet. She was also being driven across the room by the force of the jets towards a door marked 'Airlock'. I knew this would happen, she thought. But I let them in here anyway. Some genius scientist I am. Mihoshi ran over and grabbed Wasyuu, then brought her back over to where Linna was in a single second. "Areyouokay,Wasyuu- sama?Istheresomewaytoturnoffthejets?" Kiyone walked over. "Slow down, Mihoshi!" She put her hand on Mihoshi's shoulder. "You sound like a high speed record." Kei and Yuri felt a faint jolt run through them. There was a loud sproinging noise and the jets suddenly spun and hosed down the rest of the room, which was full of electronics. Lightning began to spark everywhere. Mihoshi grabbed Kiyone and Wasyuu and ran for the door. The wrong one. It was labelled 'Deathtrap #5'. "We'llbesafehere!" She ran through the door, which slammed shut behind her and locked as the electronics finished fritzing out. For a moment, all was silent. Then Kei said, "That wasn't our fault, right?" Linna shook her head. "Notthistime." She blinked. "Not...this...time. Geez, I'm having to force myself to go slow." Anri clapped her hands. "Wasyuu-mama has been trying for centuries to get that experiment to work. I'm sure she'll be happy to study you and Mihoshi." "What experiment?" "Some method for giving people super-speed." "Mihoshi now has super-speed?" Kei asked. "Looks that way to me," Skuld said, hoping the dead machine had really died before it could set everything to blow up. And that no one had noticed her setting it off. Explosions made the door to Deathtrap #5 shake. Kiyone was screaming something incoherent they couldn't quite hear. Linna shook her head. "We don't even let her look at the Planet-bomb, okay?" Everyone nodded in unison. ************ Earth, Crystal Tokyo, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) Gabrielle woke up. She wasn't dead, which surprised her. The last thing she remembered was being bathed in silvery fire. Her friends were scattered around the room, still unconscious. Nothing remained of the droids but ashes. The room was empty except for rubble, but she could hear the sounds of continued bombardment in the distance. Footsteps disturbed the silence and a distant grinding noise. Something smashed through a wall far away. The person making the footsteps soon entered. It was Serenity. Gabrielle paled and fell to her knees. "Queen Serenity. A pleasure to...meet you." Serenity looked at her and blinked. It wasn't every day a Black Moon Cultist bowed to her. Three more were knocked out. I wonder who did this, she thought. Arcadia or Parias, I suppose. "I fear you have the advantage of me." "I'm Gabrielle, your highness." Her body was shaking. She wanted to live. She wanted to get away from all powerful beings. Maybe Serenity WAS a goddess. She and her minions always knew when to turn up. "We were just...umm..." "I promise that if you leave quietly, I won't tell anyone. It's not like there's anywhere to hold you prisoner." Serenity sighed. "I never wanted a war." "You...you're going to let us go?" Gabrielle boggled. "But we're your enemies! We tried to kidnap your daughter and steal your crystal and let loose droids in your house twice and..." A thought struck her. "Who is that Purple haired girl, anyway? She was going to use the Silver Crystal to destroy our fleet and..." She paused. "I guess I passed out." Serenity blinked. "She had the Silver Crystal?" "She and your daughter stopped us from stealing it. Is she your love child or something? She had your crescent moon." "That would explain much. I suppose she is a future descendant of mine." "But if you have descendants that means..." "You lost before you ever began," Serenity said quietly. "I've already lived through Wiseman's defeat and death. He cannot win because he has already lost. I go now to play out my part, to say what I have already said, to do what I have already done." Gabrielle frowned. "What, is this just a play for you? You're just acting and waiting for it to end because you've read to the end of the script?" "Real people don't die in plays. I spent sixty years trying to make sure as few people would be hurt as possible, praying that somehow I could change it. That's why I let you all leave in peace. That's why I never sent my army to strike first. I knew your attack was coming. I didn't know when, but I knew it would come." Her voice hardened slightly. "I had it in my power to obliterate you all with no loss to me whatsoever. You don't look old enough to remember the end of the Liberation war. How old are you?" "I'm twenty four. I was born in Demand Year 281." Gabrielle said quietly. "Demand Year 1 was the year we arrived at Nemesis." Serenity's eyes widened slightly. "But it's only been sixty years for us." "Time flows differently on Nemesis. Something the Wiseman did." "Do you know why your people went to Nemesis?" Her voice rose. "We had done no wrong! We were exiled, forced by you and your husband to leave our homeworld because we wouldn't bend our knees to you!" Serenity shook her head. "I made no one leave. After we defeated the Winter Queen, your ancestors tried to overthrow me, hoping I would be weak from the struggle. My people and my Senshi defeated them, but I was willing to let them keep their homelands they had built up during the Great Ice. Many of the people who warred on me took that offer and dwell there still. But your ancestors fled instead." Her voice dropped slightly. "I only wanted to heal the world. That's what the Great Purification was. Not a plot to control people. The world had to be made whole." "You're lying!" Gabrielle shouted. It couldn't be true. Nemesis was a living hell. It was Serenity's punishment of them for not wanting to obey her. It had to be. She sighed. "Fine, then. Take me to Demand. The truth will out." Gabrielle boggled. "What?" Serenity walked over to her. "Take me to Demand. If he wants revenge on me, that's fine. As long as he stops attacking the city and hurting innocent people, I will face him and let the heavens judge between us." Gabrille frowned. It had to be a trap. And yet... "I can't leave my friends here." Winds swirled and the three unconcious people floated over. The golden crescent moon on Serenity's brow was shining. "Let's go." Gabrielle led her outside into the garden, so she could try to contact one of the ships to beam them up. She was too tired to teleport. Her communicator had a hard time getting through the static, and she had to repeat herself, worrying this was some kind of trap. "I repeat, I have captured Serenity. Bring us up." "Bzzzt...crackle...snap...bzzzt...Serenity?" "Yes! Serenity! Can you get a fix on our coordinates?" "Bzzzt...crackle..." The static suddenly ceased. "This is the Wiseman. Serenity is with you?" "Yes! Bring us up." "I shall relay the order," Wiseman said. There was an odd tone to his voice. He sounded amused. She looked over at Serenity, who stood quietly. "You're going to get what you deserve." "In the end, everyone gets what they deserve. One way or another." She didn't sound worried at all. "We're not all kind and cuddly to our prisoners like you people pretend to be, you know," Gabrielle said. "If you're lucky, they'll kill you quickly." "I spent over nine hundred years dreaming of the tortures the world was undergoing because I was too weak to stop it from happening. Death would have been a mercy," Serenity said quietly. "I've always wondered if there was some way I could have stopped the Winter Queen entirely, prevented her from covering the world with ice. If only I'd been more prepared or studied harder or been less of a clutz or learned to fight better, I might have been able to stop it. But no matter how I come at it, I can't see what I could have done differently. Not without betraying what I stand for or knowing things I couldn't have known." "What the hell are you talking about?" Gabrielle asked. Why are they taking so long to beam us up? She looked up and saw one of the larger ships moving closer to the palace. There was a field shining around the palace, protecting it, and it was hard for the ship to get close without hitting it. Serenity looked up. "Do you know Petz and her sisters?" "Yeah. They're pretty famous for their skills. I think they got assigned to work with Rubeus lately." "I never did find out who killed Rubeus," Serenity said idly. "Does it normally take this long for them to transport people?" "No." "Does it involve pointing a long glowing spike at us with black energy swirling from the end?" Gabrielle's eyes widened. "No." She spotted the spike. "Do you want to live?" "Yes." "So do I, but there comes a time when we must risk our life for another." The winds suddenly wipped around, carrying Gabrielle and her friends off across the garden to the small white gazebo that stood in the middle of a heart shaped patch of red flowers. The sleepers landed gently on the benches that had somehow survived the widespread devastation around them. An instant later, black energy stabbed down from the heavens in a great beam, engulfing Serenity. When the blast ceased, she was encased in a great chunk of crystal. A second blast dissipated harmlessly against it. Seconds later, with a crashing noise, a forklift drove out of the palace, piloted by some yutz. He kept trying to lift the huge block of crystal, but only succeeded in batting it around, knocking down trees. "What the HELL was that?" she shouted into our communicator. "You tried to kill us!" "You were in the way," a voice said. It was the gunnery commander. She didn't know his name. "Your life is less significant than a leaf, which at least shows the passing of the seasons." Crunch. The forklift knocked a tree down. She saw it coming, Gabrielle thought. She was willing to risk dying to save me. Me and my friends. I was going to hand her over to Demand. The cannon would fire again in a minute or two when it recharged. The idiot driving the lift would never get her into the palace in time. She ran over to the forklift. "Let me show you how it's done." ************* Wasyuu's Laboratory, Subspace, Juraiian Year 23224 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, SY 68, Federal Year -926) Wasyuu spent her time in the autodoc thinking of how to refine Deathtrap #5, and more importantly, how to make sure it would NEVER function against herself ever again. Anri spent the time lecturing her on why leaving those deathtraps lying around was a really bad idea and how sad it would make Sylvie if Mom had died again. The Lovely Angels and Kiyone and Mihoshi seated themselves at opposite ends of the room and watched each other warily while Linna and Skuld prayed for a summons from Kamisama. "At least Urd didn't get assigned to this mission," Skuld said. "Don't tempt her," Linna said. "At least she wouldn't...Don't tempt her." Silence dragged on and on. A tiny storm began to form in the middle of the room between the two pairs, slowly growing in size and beginning to fire little lightning bolts. Linna glanced over at Skuld, who had whipped out a pocket computer. "The storm will grow in three minutes to where it begins to strike sensitive equipment, at which point this entire lab will explode." "So how do we stop it?" "Seperate them." "How are we gonna get anything done if we have to keep them seperate?" "I'm starting to think we just have to land them on the Planet-Smasher and sheer coincidence will destroy it," Skuld said, getting up. "Hey, Mihoshi, Kiyone, come with me. I'm gonna brief you on the Planet Bomb." They followed her out of the room. Linna walked over to the Lovely Angels. "Hey, Wasyuu's got a great shooting range. Wanna give it a try while we wait for her to recover?" "Sure!" Kei said, getting up. "Did you REALLY work with those two?" "Yeah, I did a stint in the Galaxy Police with them for a few decades. It was kinda interesting, seeing the other side of it. Nene wanted to join too and be my partner, but she was too busy being a princess by then." The range was a short walk, since you could get just about anywhere from anywhere in Wasyuu's laboratories, if you knew how to work the doors. Linna got each of them a handgun out of the gun locker, and they went to work. Linna got 300 points out of 300, completely destroying the chest and head inner circles. She went over to look at theirs. Kei had 300 points but only 3 holes, and Yuri had only two: one in the head center, and one in the chest center. Linna blinked. "How'd you get 300 with only two hits?" Yuri smiled. "Every shot hit at the same point." Linna's jaw dropped. "Urg. You're good." Yuri said, "I hear you do martial arts?" Linna grinned. "Just a bit." "Wanna spar? I'll go easy on you," Kei said. Linna crackled her knuckles. "How kind of you." Once they got to a suitable room, she had to spend ten minutes convincing them to both come at her in once. Then she spent five more peeling them off the walls after their first charge. They took her more seriously after that. It didn't help. Linna had been practicing martial arts for a thousand years. There were still lots of arts she didn't know, but she had a strong central repertoire of seventy-eight arts along with the weak points of three dozen species. She knew counter measures against four dozen more arts. The Lovely Angels were fearsome fighters, but they'd always relied far more on weapons. Linna began running through the list of arts in her head in alphabetical order, trying out some attacks she hadn't used against a live opponent in decades. She'd reached the letter L when Yuri flopped down. "Okay, I give up." Her face was red and her breathing was rapid. Even a third-class goddess didn't get that way easily. Kei would have fallen down, but Linna was holding her immobile with one finger. Linna found pressure point techniques to be rather amusing. "Don't give up! We've got her on the run!" Kei said, straining, but unable to move. "She's not even sweating, Kei. Give it UP." Yuri panted for a while. "At least THEY didn't see this." "So why do you four hate each other anyway?" Linna asked. "Okay, about five hundred years ago, we worked for the 3WA as troubleshooters. We were the Central Computer's best team. Sure, we got bad press, but we always succeeded and the collateral damage wasn't our fault. After about ten years of working for the 3WA, we got assigned to one of our hardest cases: tracking down Professor Zoom." Kei said, "Do you think you could let me go now?" Linna removed the finger, and Kei jumped her. She idly tossed Kei across the room with the same finger. "Then what happened?" She thought a moment. "Professor Zoom?" "The fastest man alive in the twenty-fifth century. He somehow gained lightning speed, and he could run faster than light. Theoretically." Linna boggled. "Faster than light? Teleportation?" Kei came at her again from behind. Linna spun and swept Kei's legs, then caught an arm as she fell and rolled forward, tossing Kei over Yuri into the wall again. Yuri laughed. "No, running. He had to have a surface to run on, although he could run across water, but he couldn't run on a gas. Also, he usually couldn't use his full speed, because even though he had vastly improved reaction times, if he splatted into something, he'd have become a pancake at that speed. He was no dummy, either. He outsmarted our first three traps, then crossed half the planet in a few seconds and hopped a ship to another system. We chased him for three months." Kei charged at Linna again, who simply backflipped away and let Kei charge across the fairly small room, nearly hitting the wall. Kei finally gave up and flopped down. "So then he stole the royal jewels of Cygni Beta, this little independant kingdom of about three star systems that owed fealty to Jurai. So the Juraiian government calls in two knights of Jurai. Mihoshi and Kiyone. We get told to work with them." "You've worked with Mihoshi, right?" Yuri asked. "So what blew up?" "First she nearly caused the Lovely Angel, our ship, to plunge into a star. Then she tried to feed Mughi and poisoned him. Then when we tracked down his false id Zoom was using and found the flight he was going to leave the system on, she ran into an old friend at the station when we were watching for him to board. She told the old friend what we were doing. Same friend gets given a plushie of herself she found somewhere. Zoom spots the plushie before he boards the flight and takes off. This sort of thing goes on ad-infinitum." Kei sighed. "So then we track down more false identities and discover he is purchasing parts for some kind of huge treadmill. What he plans to DO with a treadmill, we had no clue. At the time, no one knew how fast he was. Things were getting worse. Three friends of mine from college spotted me at a stake out and started waving. Yuri got mistaken for some idol singer during a fire fight and got mobbed. Finally, one day, while we were eating, Zoom simply showed up and beat the hell out of us. Then he taunted us with how he was going to use his treadmill to go back in time and rob the past blind. It had something to do with tachyons," Yuri said. "Inverted tachyons," Kei pointed out. "Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "Had to do with running faster than light sent you backwards in time or some such thing. However, by luck, while he was beating the hell out of us, Kiyone somehow managed to plant a tracer on him. So we passed the info to the local police. Normally, we'd have gone after him ourselves, but none of us could do much more than twitch feebly. We're all lying in our beds, listening to the police band radio. They botched it. Don't EVER trust the police force of Hamalon II. He vanishes into the past. Then things went whacko." "Boom, all signs of civilization VANISH, and we're stranded in a forest, swathed in bandages. A second later, the bandages vanish and we're all fully healed. And lost. Then these three guys show up: Green Robes, Orange Robes, and Purple Robes. Well, I think they were guys. Their voices kept changing and you couldn't SEE anything about them." "We've met," Linna said quietly. "So they tell us that Zoom accidentally changed history. All he wanted to do was to rob the past blind when there was no one who could stop him. The problem was that Zoom THOUGHT his powers were scientifically based. He thought they'd work right in any century. But they were actually magically based, and the mana level of Earth in the eighties was too low to sustain people running faster than light. He was stuck. Zoom started stealing magical artifacts, trying to find one that could augment his powers enough to get out of that century. In the process, he changed history. He made off with this thing called the 'Tenchi-ken'." Linna's eyes widened. "Ack!" "Various forces closed in to recover it. So he destroyed it somehow. Or sent it away. The Three were a little vague on that. So emperor Tenchi ended up as Kagato's slave, history changed, and it made a mess. However, the Three were able to save the four of us from the effects of the change in history, and put us back together again. They had detected the change as it was happening, or something like that." Yuri thought for a moment. "Anyway, so they sent us to stop Zoom. We finally beat him in the early eighties and that fixed history. OR at least made it recognizable. Then we brought him back to the right time, and they imprisoned him on a no-mana world. That's why we don't like those two. Our luck goes to hell, and Mihoshi is a walking disaster zone. And now SHE has superspeed." Yuri shuddered. "At least she's not a goddess, eh?" Linna said. "Let's not tempt Kamisama," Kei said. ************ The Time Tunnel, 815 Years after the founding of Rome, (64 AD, SY -2925, Juraiian Year 21228, Federal Year -3918) The time tunnel was cold, foggy, and windy, but it beat waiting for the Black Moon forces to attack. "I take it you can open the gate inside their ship?" the Commander asked. Pluto nodded. "Entering will be easy. It would be best to simply send them back to their own time, but they will not fit into the tunnel. However, if we can reach their engineering room, we can duplicate the accident and send them back to their own time." "Can you send us back too?" Imra asked. "Yes. Once we get rid of them, it will be easy. The real question is whether the gate will open directly into their engineering room, or whether it will decide to be persnickety. Once we do enter it, I will need about ten minutes undisturbed. It will be up to you three to secure me that time." They nodded. ******************* Moon, Silver Palace, Year 6 of the Silver Millenium (23995 BC, 23244 Years before the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year -3832, Federal Year -26130) Hikaru walked quietly through the gardens. Her friends were scattered around, seeing the sights. Each of them had been assigned a senshi to act as tour guide, and she was sure, as a watcher to keep them out of trouble. Her guide was the young Mercury, a serious looking girl with long brown straight hair cut short in front. Her name was Diana, and she was from Vulcan's tribe, which was in the process of settling the planet Mars. Hikaru liked her, even though she was a complete and total geek, giving a full botanical report on every plant they passed or the history of every bench. Hikaru's long academic career had given her the ability to listen without listening, so she largely ignored the little speeches and soaked in the beauty of it all, gazing on the huge Earth in the sky. She'd seen it before, visting the Lunar colony, but it was twice as beautiful as she remembered it being. "So what is the future like?" Mercury asked Hikaru, who jumped. "What?" "What is the future like?" "Beautiful. Horrible. Good and bad. Just like the past. But completely different too." Mercury frowned. "Could you be a little more vague? You sound like Pluto does when I ask her this." "One day, we'll travel to the stars and dance among the heavens," Hikaru said. She glanced over at the girl. She wanted to know something specific. Hikaru could read minds, but she didn't need psychic powers to tell this. Should I pry? She argued back and forth. I'll just ask her. "Is there something specific you want to know?" "Do I ever get married?" "Yes," Hikaru half-lied. She didn't know for SURE it was true, but Diana seemed like a nice girl, and she was sure Diana would find someone someday. "Who?" "I can't tell you. It's better not to know too much about one's own future. You count on it too much if it's good, and it paralyzes you if it's bad. But you will have much happiness. This is a joyful time." She smiled, then paused to sniff some flowers, which smelled like sweet honey. "I'm glad I got to visit it." "Have you ever been married?" Hikaru stood back up. "I was married for over sixty years to a wonderful man and never regretted it." Well, almost never. "We had two wonderful children and a long happy life together." Mercury boggled. "You're...you must be at least eighty! But you don't look it!" "Don't you all have long lifespans in this time?" Hikaru was surprised. "Not that long. Not yet, anyway. We're working on it." "I had a time travel accident. And now I have access to aganathics. My new boyfriend is likely to live a pretty long time, and I want to try and make sure I'm around for as much of that as I can. Do you have a boyfriend, Mercury?" "Um...well..." She began hemming and hawing. Hikaru smiled. This will probably change history...oh well. I can't resist. The little matchmaker in her mind went to work. ********** Jurai, Royal Palace, Juraiian Year 23224 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, SY 68, Federal Year -926) "Lord Rodrigo." Celia said. She was sitting at her desk in her office, while he was standing at attention on the other side. "Feel free to sit." He sat down, and the chair molded itself to his form. "Is this good news or bad?" "Good and bad. I can offer you a commission, but it may not be quite what you wanted. I need someone to find the spies betraying us to the Khunds. It's almost certainly someone high placed." "I would be happy to serve the empire in that way, but I warn you that I have little experience in spying. I think I would be better as a..." "You are trained in military intelligence, however, correct?" "Scouting and that sort of thing, yes." "That will be your official job. Your unofficial job will be to put your ear to the ground. Find out who is grumbling, needs money, etc. Report what you learn." "Alright. I'll do it." You'll make a good lightning rod, Celia thought. They won't dare kill you, because your father is almost certainly one of their allies, but they'll try to do something to throw you off their trail. They may even suspect the Duke is double-dealing them. She smiled. "You serve the Empire well and loyally. Would that we had more men of your quality." "I'm sure Father will be proud. Can I tell him?" "Go right ahead. But make sure he tells no one." This spares me the trouble of leaking the information, she thought. "My lips are sealed." Celia frowned and felt a small pang of guilt. He's a good boy...probably. He'll be fine, she assured herself. Just a diversion for the enemy. They won't dare hurt him. I hope. *************** Earth, Low Earth Orbit over Crystal Tokyo, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) "Sir, I have bad news," the crystal radio operator said. Prince Demand frowned. "What bad news?" It seemed to be piling up. "The Fungi have wiped out the diversion we arranged for them." "What, the entire army of the Insects from Shaggai?" "To quote the transmission our scout ships picked up 'Send More Bugs'." He sighed. "Any news of the Planet Eater?" "It's set a course for Jurai, according to our spies." That was one small ray of light. "What of our agents in the past?" "I can't exactly radio them and ask, sir." Demand sighed faintly. I knew that. ***************** Moon, Silver Palace, Year 6 of the Silver Millenium (23995 BC, 23244 Years before the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year -3832, Federal Year -26130) Hikaru knelt before Queen Serenity. "Have you come to a decision?" "I have a gift for you." She handed a small tear shaped crystal to Hikaru. "With this, you can force the Saturn Power out of the corrupted bearer and force it to return to its proper time. It will also guide Pluto in sending you through the time tunnel to where you must go." "How do I use it?" "You must press it to her forehead." She saw Hikaru frown. "I'm sorry. It was the best we could do. We really...don't fully understand what Saturn is. Our creation of her was a ...a mistake." "I will do it." "You serve your Queen well. May the Lady of Light shine her blessings upon you." Hikaru looked at the tear. I'm gonna need them. *******************