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Lerris
Author of 10 Stories |
Ice Squared
by Lerris Smith
Thinking back to her dream, she sighed in relief. Her sister and Ranma were fine. The terror she felt at seeing their danger in the dream was fading now. Besides, she knew that Ranma would protect her sister. He was always protecting them, and really, if he could beat Saffron, he could beat anyone, right?
Akane was still in a state of disbelief about so very many things. When she thought back, it was obvious that he did not love her, at least not with the all consuming love she thought relationships were made of. She had sat quietly and watched Ranma tending her sister for hours with so much care, so much tenderness, that she had been sure he did not have in him. It was certainly far more care than he had ever shown her, yet she was also sure that there was no attraction between them, at least not then. Her sister was dying, and through sheer force of will he had stayed death's hand. It sounded like something out of one of the silly stories she sometimes borrowed from Kasumi, but it wasn't.
Of course it was all so different now. It seemed that he did love this new person that was, somehow, still her sister. Certainly her sister did care for him greatly. She would have never expected Nabiki to defend someone like she did during the last crazy wedding attempt, yet she did it. It made her both proud of her sister and annoyed, at being in some way outdone by her.
With a grumble she tossed the broken piece of technology in the trash can, as she gathered her resolve to face a new day. A grim smile came to her face as she thought of the inevitable confrontation with Tatewaki Kuno that was due in about an hour. With luck, perhaps even the horde would volunteer again. It seemed it would be time, once again, to work off some stress. In some ways, she hoped he never learned.
She yawned and stretched as she got up off the bed, carefully missing a few of the stray plastic pieces from the recently deceased alarm clock. She hoped that the store still had the clocks that took batteries. The last time she accidentally crushed one that plugged into the wall had really hurt.
“Great granddaughter,
I had hoped, that this day would not come, at least not in your lifetime, yet it has. As the Amazon who went the furthest in the last tournament, the duty and the honor is yours. You are to begin your journey within a day.
I'm sorry. -Cologne, Matriarch of the Joketsuzuko.”
Tears fell from Shampoo's eyes as she read and reread the letter. There could be no marriage to Ranma now. It was over. Even if he came through the door and proposed, she could not marry him, for then he would be the Amazon who won the tournament and she would not pass this duty on to him. If only, he had been male at the time, things would have been so much simpler. In a broken voice she called out, “Mousse, put out the closed sign. We have things to do.”
For probably the hundredth time since the battle, Canal wished she was whole again. While she had split herself intentionally, she had never intended it to last so long. She wondered how long she had left if she did not become whole again. She did not want to die, so perhaps she had a bit more incentive to hurry, not that she needed it of course. just being split in two slowed repairs somewhat, and there were some things that could not be done in parallel, despite Swordbreaker's exceptional repair ability.
Canal first recovered the severed part of Swordbreaker's electromagnetic rail. A complete restoration would take some time, but before long, enough operation was restored to use it, at least for salvage operations. The operation, reminded Setsuna of nothing more than a seven course dinner, which, in an odd way she supposed it was. The charged particle lasers were certainly effective knives, and the service drones were forks, of a sort. The complex fields generated by the electromagnetic rails were even a bit like a mouth.
Setsuna stopped her errant train of thought and focused back onto more important things. With the heavy exotic alloys Canal was recovering from the engines and plating of the other ships, Canal hoped to reinforce the weak points that had developed in Swordbreaker since the initial battle that had cost her previous captain's life. It seemed fitting that the same type of ships that caused the damage were being used to bring Swordbreaker back to a state of perfection.
Setsuna took particular note of the brief moments of almost happiness when Canal found a weapon she thought was cool or just her general surprise at the high quality alloys she was acquiring. The moments never lasted though, and it didn't take Setsuna's long years to guess what, or rather who she was worried about. Canal never even took solid form, saying simply that there were better uses for that energy now.
It was perhaps no surprise that when Dr. Mizuno offered Makoto and Haruka a mild sedative to help them rest, that they readily accepted the offer, especially after what they had seen. On the other hand, Ann was a bit surprised that Setsuna passed, but given the fact that she herself needed sleep it worked out well.
Her patients, with the possible exception of Hino-san only needed rest now, and Canal would know and wake her right away if her help was needed. As she drifted off to sleep, Ann once again dreamed of having all this wonderful technology available in all the hospitals on Earth. So much could be done just with something so seemingly simple as the medical scanners here. They made MRI scanners seem like mere toys.
They say every silver lining has a cloud, well, that is what they would have said, had Setsuna been the author of that particular quote. Certainly it was true in this. On the plus side they managed to recover what appeared to be one of the type A ship's master data crystals and one of the high energy weapons from the same ship. Other weapons were recovered, some even intact, but Canal had the service robots break them apart and recover some parts that were apparently useful in Swordbreaker's repairs.
The one weapon they kept appeared to be partially based on magic, at least from the little Setsuna had been able to puzzle out. It was also the only one they found that would fit the shuttle, so the choice was an easy one. Unfortunately, anything beyond basic mounting would have to wait for Nabiki to wake, since Canal was hesitant to connect things she didn't fully understand. The silver crystal had given her enough control to manipulate Pandora's planetary mana tap, but other than that her knowledge of magical theory was next to non existent
On the minus side, they recovered a pair of nuclear missiles and scans for radioactivity appeared to make it likely that they stocked the things for general use. An enemy willing to use scorched earth tactics was definitely not a good thing. The real question was what they were going to do with the missiles now that they found them. The ever practical Setsuna favored saving them but the recently awakened princess had other ideas.
Usagi exclaimed, “No! Get rid of them! Nuclear weapons must never be used again!”
Thinking out loud, Setsuna mused, “They might come in handy though.” Privately Setsuna was proud that her princess had learned of their true terror, even if she was too young to have been alive during that terrible day. Still, a weapon was a weapon. It was the use they were put to that was important, and while their may be no sane use for one between the nations of Earth, they were facing altogether different threats.
Setsuna's thoughts were interrupted, when Canal said in a soft yet sad voice, “There have been times I wondered if the universe would not be better off if the last of the so called lost technology was finally destroyed. In terms of destructive power, Swordbreaker could probably destroy a planet, yet I too see little reason to keep these things. If nothing else, they present a risk to the crew if the ship were to be hit where they are stored.”
Usagi reached her hands out to take hold of Canal's right hand. The faint soft glow that came from Usagi's hands, as she took hold of Canal's hands surprised Setsuna, but she gave no indication of her surprise other than a slight widening of her eyes.
Canal's surprise, on the other hand, was substantial, as she gaped at her hand, yet it too passed quickly. Her body should have been less substantial than mist, since she had chosen not to waste energy on a solid projection.
As she held her hand, Usagi said softly, “You are a friend and the Senshi never give up on friends, or allow friends to give up on themselves.” She smiled as she said it, trying to will her encouragement to the light green haired young seeming woman.
Usagi continued with, “My mother made the final decision to give the Senshi of Silence the power to destroy a planet. Many thought that it was intended for her to have to risk death to use it, so as to give a check on that power. That was not intended. Mother would never do such a thing and neither would I. It was just how the magic worked. Yes, Hotaru has a horrible responsibility that I dearly wish she could put down, yet the reason for that power has once more been proved true. Power is always a responsibility, and great power doubly so. I dearly wish that everyone with power was so concerned about its misuse.”
Setsuna looked on. There seemed so little of Usagi left anymore. She quickly suppressed a sigh and waited for the conversation to continue.
Canal said, “You don't understand. Battles come to Lost Ships. My mere existence, and especially the use of Lost technology in battle brings with it the chance that all the evil brought forth by the others will begin again. Those battles costs billion of lives.”
In a burst of Usagi like frustration, Usagi let go of Canal's hand and threw up her hands before turning to Setsuna and saying, “You tell her!”
Setsuna could not resist cracking a smile. It was good to see a little of the old Usagi there, flustered by what, to her, was just Canal being silly. Setsuna pondered Canal's words for a few moments before saying, “I have lived a long time and studied history as I suspect you have done. People often wonder if some of the great wars would have been better to avoid even at the cost of surrendering. The people would live, and quite often the bad guys are really not quite so bad as the people who write the history books make them out to be.”
Canal gave a brief half nod before Setsuna continued with, “Yes, sometimes, in hindsight, that may have been true, and sometimes it has certainly been false. There was a time when I almost lost myself and worked to bring Crystal Tokyo, our perfect vision of the future, into existence by using any means necessary. I did many things I'm not proud of then.” Privately she could think of more than a few things she had done recently she was not proud of, but nothing quite like before.
Usagi gave a half nod. Given their past, it was no real surprise, although she thought it was the first time Setsuna had admitted it. Setsuna continued with, “Usagi reminded me of a simple truth. You cannot build a perfect society on lies and manipulation.” Canal gave a nod. She had lived through more than enough to know the truth in that.
Setsuna continued with, “Just as you cannot build on lies and expect it to endure, you cannot expect to protect what you built with words and kindness alone. Your strength is needed. Yes, there is risk. There is always risk. We will always try for peace, but for there to be a hope at peace, it is the sad fact that one must have the ability to protect oneself. You are needed Canal, and as the princess said, You are a friend and the Senshi never give up on friends.”'
Canal smiled a small smile. It lacked much cheer, but her last sentence brought back to the fore the real dilemma. They had to save the others as soon as they could. Hopefully, it was not already too late.
A mental review of the tasks' progress revealed that her analysis of the missiles control systems was complete and that she had collected the raw material she needed to finish repairs. A second thought reprogrammed the missiles as the service robots nudged them in the direction of the collected debris field.
The engines roared to life as Swordbreaker turned and moved away. Canal said, “I'm proceeding to Earth. I'll complete repairs as we go. The phase drive will be repaired in thirty minutes.”
As they moved away from the graveyard of ships, Canal sent the activation signal to the missiles. They came to life and sped toward their final destination. The screen showed their activity and the resulting devastation. The graveyard was vaporized.
Usagi yelled, “What was that for?”
Canal said simply, “I will not give them any advantages I can avoid. It is possible that data of this ship's abilities still has not reached their command, and if so, I want to keep it that way. I also see no reason to leave all that nuclear material just lying around for someone to salvage.”
Setsuna said, “You targeted some of the other damaged missiles you found, and caused them to detonate.”
“Yes, I did.” Privately, Canal hoped that Nabiki woke soon. The psi energy reserve was nearly depleted, and then the rate of repairs would slow down. They needed to get the Leap rail gun on-line, and despite her jury rig replacement of the severed rail, a large quantity of psi energy was needed to regenerate the complex matrices that the system required for full operation.
No one had ever seen a gate destroyed. Even the Empire's enemies avoided damaging them. They were incredibly useful relics of another time, and almost as important, many of them were close to populated planets. Just the thought of that happening to his home world gate was enough to make him shudder in fear. Still, they could hardly blame people for defending their home, and in this case the gate was not close enough to be an issue anyway. There was also the nice sitting target they made, but then they had just got done waiting for their vip.
Of course, the less said about General Finch's brilliant move in destroying the probe the better. It never hurt to talk, at least until you had targets locked in. Oh well, at least the idiot paid for his stupidity, but then so did his crew.
In the end, none of that mattered. Their duty was clear, as were their orders. Any world that refused to accept Imperial rule must be destroyed, lest insurrection spread. The fact that nowadays the Empire typically invaded first and then invited people to become Imperial citizens was irrelevant, and besides any group that could field that much resistance was a threat to the Empire and must be destroyed.
Of course, even returning to the Empire might be impossible now. The gate was gone, and while the Empire had made great strides in understanding the underlying technology, the practical problem remained of how to build a new one, since it would take a massive amount of resources that they now had no way to get here in under a century. A few toyed with the idea of a ship that could generate its own gate, but the last he knew no one had a plausible theory of how to do it.
The really odd thing was that the main ship that had attacked was, according to the database, one they had captured years ago. According to the records, they had managed to extract the ship's name from its computer system, but little else. It was called Swordbreaker, and it seemed they had great trouble just getting the ship to even navigate and had wrote it off as almost completely useless. Of course, no one had expected this system to have the resources it had either.
Two habitable worlds, yet one was mysteriously missing now. Clara Pinyar, his ship's engineer, had really hoped to examine that world. A terraformed hollow world based on science and magic was incredible, and Panar suspected, she rather hoped to get credit for figuring out the details. Clara was, of course, equally as exuberant to examine Swordbreaker again, and was seriously irritated with how incomplete the records were. Panar, for his part, just hoped someone would destroy it, before he had to face it.
The interesting thing, to Canal anyway, was the very fact that the escape pod had a double sealing mechanism. Escape pods took up space and weight, and generally were not made bigger than they absolutely had to be for reasons of efficiency. This one seemed to be the size of two normal escape pods, yet the interior was, if anything, smaller than normal. It was something to keep in mind, especially when added to this person's somewhat flamboyant dress. Just who was this person?
The violet clothed, blue eyed, white haired young man came through the hatch carrying a pair of rectangular cases in each hand. His silver diadem seemed to shine in the shuttle's artificial lighting. The trefoil shape of the part that centered on his forehead, looked a little like a three leaf clover, but the symmetry of it made it seem as if it was created with some kind of mathematical function. The cases he held were made of a dark, yet polished silvery metal, and were a bit larger than the size of a typical briefcase.
Sailor Neptune made a mental note of his lack of any particular reaction to seeing several people, instead of the fake display Canal put up. Even the display of Kasumi quietly petting Ranma-chan didn't seem to cause him to react. Somehow she doubted he was a complete fool, and it also seemed unlikely he actually knew who would be here, so why was he so calm?
In an confident, yet soft spoken tone he said some words in an odd language that no one, other than Canal, could make out. Canal said, “He said, Here is my emergency supplies, as we agreed.”'
Neptune replied, “Set them down and move over to that end of the shuttle.” She motioned him to an empty spot away from the others as Canal translated her words.
The stranger calmly did as instructed before Canal walked over to him and patted him down. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she sat down to open the boxes and examine their contents. In a neutral voice she said, “Everything seems to be in order. What do you want to do with him?”
Neptune said, “Can you tie him up somehow?”
Canal said, “There is some bandaging material in here that I think will work.” She proceeded to quickly tie his hands behind his back with his own bandages before bringing the boxes over to the others.
Neptune took note of the swirl of color that seemed to float around his wrists. It seemed Canal had a backup plan, in case the impromptu ties failed. It was really kind of nice to have someone around that was immune to physical threats, well at least those that didn't destroy her ship or shuttle anyway.
Sailor Venus asked, “So, what's your name?”
Canal quickly translated his words. The odd language he used seemed to be spoken slower and use softer sounds than they were used to. When Canal finished, he smiled and said something that sounded like, “Alex. Alex Trent.”
As she pondered what she had heard, she looked over on the figure of Rei's grandfather who had still not awoken. He had sacrificed his strength somehow so that she was healed. She briefly considered trying to figure out what was wrong with him with the scanners in the Mercury computer, but dismissed it just as quickly. Canal's own medical scanners and know how were superior, and her mother was here.
Nabiki turned to Makoto before saying, “Mako-chan, can you please get me something lite to eat?” Makoto said, “Sure,” as Nabiki swayed and grabbed a handhold on the medical bed.
Her mother said, “You may be disoriented for awhile daughter. You should rest more.”
Nabiki smiled a small smile at her mother as she turned towards Setsuna, “Can you help me to the bathroom, and then we will go work on the shuttle.”
Ann frowned as her stubborn daughter ignored her advice and pushed her body onward. Oh well, at least she was smart enough not to try to walk by herself just yet.. According to Canal, she was healing fine, but a mental disturbance of the level she had, even healed as it was, took time to fully recover from.
Setsuna gave her a small smile before quickly going to help Nabiki. Canal had pressurized the path to the shuttle, so space suits would no longer be needed. The rate at which Swordbreaker repaired itself was truly extraordinary, and went far beyond anything they had in the Silver Millennium.
A tired Nabiki and Setsuna joined the others on the bridge, that was now also pressurized. After Nabiki sat down in the pilot seat and set the Mercury computer in place, Canal said, “The psi system reserve has reached the level required to activate the phase drive. We can go now, if you are up to it.”
Nabiki's sighed. A couple key presses on the Mercury computer showed that the phase drive had been repaired hours ago. Canal had been waiting on her to recover enough to provide the required psi energy. Nabiki made a note using her laptop to try to figure out how to get the phase drive to work without psi energy, or at least to fight fewer insane battles. Yes, she said to herself, fewer of those battles would be a very good thing. Out loud she said, “Let's go. Ranma and the others need us.”
Nabiki felt the pressure of the psi system come online as the engines tore a hole in the fabric of subspace to make the journey home. The pressure was like a feather compared to the insanity of their last battle, but it was still uncomfortable, especially to Nabiki's fatiqued mind.
A few seconds later, Canal said, “Phase out in four minutes.”
Setsuna said, “We should get to the shuttle.”
Canal said, “There is time yet. Even if we turned around now, the leap rail gun would not be ready to fire for almost a day, and without that we cannot follow them.”
Sighs could be heard around the bridge, as thoughts of what could have happened, or be happening, to their friends on the shuttle.
A few minutes later, Canal said, “Phase out in 5,4,3,2,1. Phasing out into normal space.”
Nabiki tapped a few keys on her laptop and said, “We are still several hours away from the planet.”
Canal said, “Sorry, the phase drive still needs calibration. I had to be somewhat conservative with our phase out point.”
Nabiki nodded. Certainly the idea of phasing out inside the planet would have been a very bad thing. Still, it was nice to know that when Sworbreaker was functioning normally again they could phase out right next to earth. That still left hours to reach a point where they could activate the phase drive on journeys that left the planet, but, she supposed, you couldn't have everything.
After a short discussion, Setsuna, Rei, Makoto, and Mamoru boarded the shuttle, along with Rei's grandfather who was strapped in carefully. Mamoru had not wanted to leave Usagi's side, but he could not ignore the feeling that he was needed there.
Nabiki was only slightly envious of the parting kiss Mamoru gave Usagi. It was still hard to believe that her and Ranma were married, and Usagi and Mamoru were not. Of course, the more she thought about it, the more she suspected that her princess had guided events there, at least a little. Yes, that bit of scheming made her feel proud of her princess. Of course, she would have to be careful to never let Ranma know. She may have wanted it anyway, especially, she thought, the part of her that had been Ami, but, well, Ranma never reacted well when he noticed he was being manipulated, even for a good cause.
The shuttles departure was anticlimactic and followed promptly by Nabiki's mother coercing her daughter to eat something followed by more sleep. Her mother didn't really have to argue much. Nabiki needed the additional rest badly, and Canal could finish the repairs with the psi energy she had.
Left unsaid, was that Canal could work faster if more psi energy was available, but Nabiki tried not to think about that. The best she could do for them now, was to rest and recover as fast as possible. After her mother closed the door, Nabiki said out loud to the empty room, “Canal, please wake me up, as soon as I am needed.”
Canal appeared before her and said, “As you wish, Master. Sleep well.” Nabiki had already fallen asleep by the time Canal pulled the covers up over her.
Canal wished the repairs could go faster, but she was guessing as it was on how to breech the gulf into their version of hyperspace. If she rushed too much, the attempt might tear them apart. Actually, she thought, it might tear them apart anyway, but she would at least make sure they were as ready as they could be.
Of all the questions Shampoo was waiting for, she was surprised when Ukyo asked, “So, why is this written in Japanese?”
Shampoo answered, “It written in several languages. Elders did not want to take chance of losing important lore.”
Ukyo flipped through the book and gave an absent nod before saying, “So why are you showing me this sugar? I mean we aren't exactly the best of friends. Why trust me with this?”
“We not friends, but rivals, which important to Amazon. Shampoo invite Ukyo to go on journey with her. It great honor.”
Ukyo said reflexively, “I can't go anywhere and leave Uchan's...” As she spoke, the pages she read before began to sink in. Ukyo exclaimed in a rush, “Journey! You mean like the one in the book. The one where...”
“As said, is great honor. I'm sure great grandmother can find someone to watch your store. Please, come with me?”
Ukyo listened to the entreaty in her voice. It was quite obvious that Shampoo did not want to do this alone, and given the unparalleled importance of Shampoo's task, she realized that she could not let her alone either. Maybe just once, it wouldn't be Ranma who saved the day, but if Ranma were here, maybe he could find another way. Ukyo broke off her train of though and said, “Uchan's will be okay. I'll explain it to Konatsu. He can look after the place.”
Shampoo smiled and said, “Thank you Ukyo. I'll come here after I see the kitchen destroyer.” The words, “Kitchen Destroyer,” were said with a fondness that surprised Ukyo. Ukyo smiled, and wondered if that was the first time Shampoo ever called her by her name. A part of her wanted to see how the meeting with Akane went, but it seemed that was for Shampoo alone.
A tiny voice wondered, if perhaps this was some elaborate plot to get Ranchan, but that seemed unlikely. Simply put, if the Amazon truly wanted her out of the way, she suspected she would be out of the way, permanently. No, she very much feared, that the path Shampoo must walk would be the only way to save everyone, well, she corrected, almost everyone.
She sighed as she walked into the dojo where Shampoo sat waiting. When she arrived, she saw the beautiful lavender haired woman sitting in the middle of the floor. She seemed peaceful.
“Akane,” she said simply.
“Shampoo. Um, what are you doing here?” Akane almost seemed to regret not having anything acerbic to say to Shampoo, but without Ranma they really didn't have any reason to fight.
The discussion went much like it had with Ukyo, except Akane had no illusions about winning Ranma anymore, and was not really sure that she wanted to anyway. The contents of the book were very surprising, like something out of legend. Somehow she knew that Ranma was linked into this mess somehow. More surprising than the book, although not by much, was Shampoo, and like Ukyo, she could not even think of refusing. Some requests could not be refused.
She hoped her father would not react too badly to hear the news that the last of his daughters had left home, but there was nothing she could do for that now. As she walked through the threshold, she wondered where Kasumi was, whether Nabiki would return. She doubted the story of camping. Kasumi's voice was, well just soft enough when she said that to her on the phone, that she figured Kasumi was fibbing, but the part of her being with Ranma and Nabiki was almost certainly true, so she was likely fine. Yes, Nabiki would keep Ranma from doing anything stupid, and Ranma could deal with anything else, right? She dearly hoped it was so.
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