Out of Orbit

by Fiona Fargazer

AU Saturn is found as a boy and brought in by Akagi (Cyrus) so that he can use him for his natural skills. Later when Akagi disappears not all the team is too thrilled about letting 15-year-old Saturn run the show. What happens after they get rid of Saturn and Akagi returns? This is connected with my other stories.

2. P2

CHAPTER ONE:

-Seven Years Earlier (Continued)

"I want to make this brief," said Commander Akagi as he met Jupiter in the now cleaned and fresh lobby. The most unsightly thing to see now in the front of this base was the faded imprint the "R" logo left behind after its dismantling. "I don't like leaving Phaeton and Pluto alone at Headquarters for very long.

"Understandable," agreed Jupiter with a prompt nod, and turning she took her hands out from behind her back as she motioned to the base around her. "As you can see, Commander, everything is quite under control. Actually we were hoping you brought a Galaxy emblem with you."

Commander Akagi closed his eyes with slight irritation but replied in his usual tempered manner, "It will have to wait, Jupiter." He paused. "But from what you've told me there is not much here to waste our time on."

"Not much," admitted Jupiter. "Location more than anything is what's valuable here, but it is interesting to note that this was the base where Team Rocket created the red gyarados."

Akagi's brow perked with interest.

"There is actually some salvageable equipment that the technicians you brought will have a fun time with," said Jupiter with a smile.

Akagi nodded. "Good."

"So, I'll give you the grand tour now, if you wish," said Jupiter, "just as soon as—"

CRASH!

Some shouts and then a piercing scream.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Both commanders had to stop and look down the hall with eyes wide as a door burst open at the opposite end of the corridor. Out from it, a female grunt rushed forward with a pair of wings to boost her; though aside from her panicked speed, something else looked odd about her. As she reached the lobby, it then became clear that her head to her waist was covered in a thick black goop.

"Idiots!" hissed Jupiter.

The grunt did not seem to notice Jupiter or even the leader of Team Galaxy himself as she continued to shriek unintelligible things with arms flailing above her head. She tore through the front door not bothering in the least to close it behind her as she sailed into the nearby wood and disappeared. Not entirely though. Her scream still echoed in the distance.

"Practicing battling with sludge attack down there?" asked Akagi stewed in rich sarcasm and mockery.

Jupiter flashed her eyes back to Akagi, but before she could answer, Nobu hurried up from the corridor, but unlike the grunt, the moment he saw Akagi, he stopped to bow with reverence to his master.

"Master Akagi!" said Nobu.

"What's going on?" said Akagi crossing his arms.

Jupiter, behind her superior rolled her eyes.

"It's just the grunts, sir," said Nobu with apologetic pleading. "They're spooked. They—"

"They think Team Rocket ghosts are haunting the place," muttered Jupiter.

"Yes, sir," said Nobu, "and though I doubt the place is truly haunted, I do believe now that something is living in the base."

"A pokémon?" asked Akagi.

"I don't know, sir," admitted Nobu, "but we've been looking for it for the past few days now with no result, except that Commander Jupiter and I did find the remains of some rice somewhere in a far corner."

"It could have been one of the grunts," Jupiter pointed out.

"They would not dare," Nobu protested. "They're scared out of their wits about going anywhere the light doesn't shine."

"So what was that that just ran past us?" asked Akagi, showing more amusement than anger.

"One of the grunts was just dumped with something like molasses, sir," said Nobu.

"Hontou?" said Akagi

"Hai!"

"Hmph, stupid grunts," Jupiter muttered. "But don't worry, Commander Akagi. We'll find out what's going on."

"Hmm, yes." Akagi gave Jupiter a thoughtful glance. "Come. Why don't you give me my tour." His professional manner returned.

Jupiter nodded.

So after showing the head commander about and trying her best to forget the antics of superstitious grunts for the time being, Jupiter took the liberty of calling for lunch. They had the kitchens working again, and though they had not brought any cooks with them, they found a grunt capable enough for the job.

Unlike most of the rest of the building, covered in shadow and quite metallic like the inside of a submarine or rocket fuel hull even with the electricity back on, the dining room brightened any dark mood. After the dining room had been cleaned up even the yellow walls turned from sickly and dreary to pleasant and warm. Broad windows opened to a sheltered wood blocking the view of any intruder outside but allowed enough light from the sun to trickle through. Some of the wooden tables had lost their gloss and were falling apart, but the best table had been moved to the best window view, and here the pair sat down to eat a simple meal.

They ate mostly in silence for a time; though occasionally Jupiter had some comment to make about the base. She said that it was quite a wonder that they might actually get the motherboard computer to work. The great, clunky, nineties screen in the lab which stretched from the floor up to the balcony above only needed some new light bulbs, but if Team Galaxy really wanted to take over this base they would probably update it with a new digital screen.

After a pause in which Jupiter drank from her glass and looked thoughtfully out the window Akagi closed his eyes in thought of his own. He did not hear anything that would have caused him to think that they were not alone. Creaks and groans and squeaks abounded in this old base, and anyone superstitious would shudder, but he did become alarmed when he felt a small touch. It was as faint as the wing of an insect brushed against his leg and as silent as the paws of a cat.

With an instinctive flash of muscle, Akagi's hand snapped to the touch, and he did not feel the least bit surprised to find that his grip latched onto a small wrist.

"Ack!" cried a squeak of a voice.

Jupiter's head snapped up in alarm, and her eyes grew wide as Akagi lifted the skinny, little arm above the table and found this limb to be attached to a scrawny neck and body topped by a thick mop of vibrant cerulean hair atop; beneath this mop a pair of wide blue eyes stared out in horror at his being caught like a cat in the jaws of a dog.

"Lemme go!" cried the little boy.

Akagi laughed. "Here's your ghost, Jupiter!"

"It's just some lousy kid!" cried Jupiter. "I might've known!"

"Too young to be a trainer though," Akagi mused, his hand still clasped upon the squirming boy's wrist. He smiled. "So this has been what's scaring the whole party. A slippery little kitty cat, aren't you? Are you alone, kid?"

Instead of answering the question the boy again just cried to be let go.

Akagi dropped him.

"Siddown," he commanded.

The boy stared in defiance for a moment or two, but seeing the futility of fighting, he consented and plopped down on the bench, whereas the two commanders sat in chairs at each end.

Jupiter leered at the child. "What are you going to do with the punk?"

Akagi ignored her.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The boy gulped. "Tsubasa."

"Just … Tsubasa?" Akagi pressed.

The boy nodded.

"Are you the only one here?" asked Akagi again. "Or are there others?" He pushed some rice to the boy for him to eat.

The boy looked him wide-eyed with uncertainty, but after a nod from the man, the child took up a pair of chopsticks and began to eat.

"Just me, Ojisan," murmured the boy, head down into his food.

"I am High Commander Master Akagi of Team Galaxy," Akagi corrected, "and this, though you may know already, is Jupiter. She is the youngest and wiliest of the commanders."

Jupiter smiled with a proud strut of her head.

The boy looked to Jupiter and then to Akagi then lowered his head.

"Hajimemashite, Akagi-sama," he murmured softly. "Jupiter-sama."

Akagi grinned. "You see, Jupiter? He's alright. Aren't you Tsubasa? How old are you? Where are your parents or have you been living here?"

"At the orphanage, sir," said the boy.

"And honest too."

Jupiter did not look nearly as amused as she shoveled a whole poached egg into her mouth and glowered.

"But you hang out here a lot, I imagine, and without getting caught until now, quite impressive," said Akagi leaning forward over the table with hands folded in front of his chin, "And what are you, seven?"

"Eight!" exclaimed the boy in his defense.

"I could almost hire you right now," added Akagi with a sinister chuckle.

It was all she could do to keep from choking on her food as she lurched forward and glared at Akagi.

"Nanda?" she crackled as she just barely managed to swallow down the right tube.

The boy did not look all too thrilled either and scowled in confusion.

"Do you like the orphanage?" asked Akagi.

"No, Akagi-sama."

"'Commander Akagi' or "Master Akagi" will do."

"Commander Akagi."

"Commander …"Jupiter whispered.

Still Akagi ignored her.

"How would you like to come with me on my return to Headquarters?" he asked. "I promise you will have a far more fulfilled life with Team Galaxy than growing up rotting away at some orphanage."

"Sir?" asked the boy trembling a little.

"You've already proven you're better than most twenty-some year-old grunts," said Akagi. "You've even outsmarted Nobu and Jupiter here."

Simmering steam rose from Jupiter's head.

"Commander, no," pleaded Jupiter.

His resolve seemed to only grow stronger. "You could be at my side fighting the world with your skills honed and put to good use."

"What about Phaeton?" Jupiter suddenly asked.

Akagi threw a hand aside. "I'm in charge of Team Galaxy," he warned. "Not Phaeton, and not you. What I want to know is why female commanders won't know their place."

"This has nothing to do with gender!" gasped Jupiter.

"Enough!" snapped Akagi in return, and he glanced back at the boy as Jupiter recoiled into silence.

Tsubasa glanced at Jupiter warily and then turned back to the penetrating eyes of Akagi. Even at a young age he understood the conflict already starting about him, and he did not like it. Still, he could not help but ask, "You mean, you're gunna adopt me, Commander Akagi?"

"If you want to call it that," said the high commander with a careless shrug. "But you need a name."

"What about 'Tsubasa', sir?" asked the boy.

"A code name," grinned Akagi. "A new name for your new life. Hmm, I suppose we don't want to reuse X or Neptune, and you certainly can't be a Venus. Uranus? The color matches your hair. No. Saturn. I've always been partial to that planet."

"Saturn?" Jupiter demanded.

"Is there a problem, Commander Jupiter?" asked Akagi lightly.

Jupiter shook her head. "Iya, sir."

"Saturn …" Tsubasa repeated slowly to himself.

"Do you like it?" asked Akagi.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Commander Akagi," said the boy with a nervous bow.

"Good. Come, Saturn. We'll get you a proper meal."

#

The first thing Tsubasa knew was the feeling of descending into darkness. The blue and gold trim did nothing to brighten the surroundings, and although they had been meant to be imposing and bold and perhaps even vibrant, all it succeeding in doing was to give off an oppressive aura lacking all life. Perhaps that was their goal, though. Team Galaxy wanted their base to be nothing less than a space station brought to earth until the day they would live among the stars themselves, for no doubt, they could have no bigger dream than to rule the planet from the stars like celestial bodies of space after which their commanders had been named. Saturn was too young to think all this at the time, of course, but he did feel the effect of being withdrawn from the world of sunlight, breeze, and the vivid green of trees and hills that he knew so well in the countryside of Johto. All life had been forgotten in this cold void, this, the Headquarters of Team Galaxy.

An emptiness and a fear gripped his heart as the light of day shut from him, and he was left with the ruler of the Galaxy. Looking up at Akagi now, Tsubasa felt a shudder run through him, and he wanted right then for nothing other than to be able to run away even back to the orphanage, but the life of Tsubasa had to clear the way for the birth of Saturn. There would be no backing out now.

"This," said Akagi as he led the child along the passages of the base, "is the entrance to the main hall. The auditorium and planetarium is beyond. Come, I'll show it to you."

The main hall was more of a large anteroom. Circular and empty, it seemed to serve no purpose but to look impressive, which it did with its high ceiling and gleaming floor; though many doors led out from here, reminiscent of a futuristic version of the room in which Alice had first found the tiny door that led to the garden of the Queen of Hearts.

The auditorium could be found through the largest door. A massive screen hung behind a high podium, and the stylized, metal bleachers formed a semicircle to view it. But judging by how these were placed, grunts were meant only to stand not sit as they listened to any massive scheme worthy of the size of this lecture hall. A balcony formed a square all the way around it, and it was up a flight of steps the pair went to this upper level.

Here another small flight of spiraled steps led up light house fashion to the planetarium. The roughly-cut metal clanked with each footstep and echoed in all directions. Then passing one last black turn they reached the top.

Certainly the prize chamber in the base, a great dome met the pair, bigger than both the auditorium and the main hall. Upon the flip of a switch (by order of the commander to a grunt) the planets glowed on in their holographic wonder. They spun in full dazzling colors which swirled inside the great orbs like crystal balls amidst the speckling of stars and the blotches and sprays of color and shapes the universe had to offer.

"I expect much from you, Saturn," said Akagi, his eyes on the planet whose name now belonged to the child. "I did not take you in just to have you taken care of, and I don't want you to think that even now. I don't believe in charity. In return for my friendship, I expect hard work and deep loyalty."

"Hai, Commander Akagi."

"As much as many would like to think, Team Galaxy is not a joke," said Akagi, "I own fighters, strong and resilient. One day I will show the world this. I am too big for them and will not be contained. You, Saturn, will help me."

Saturn stepped back and could not have been more moved if he had been invited into a spaceship to see the real universe itself. Overwhelmed, he lost himself in the planets and the glowing of the sun, which blinded him after having gotten used to the dimness of the rest of the base.

With a knowing glint in his eyes, Akagi smiled down at the boy, but the boy did not see this, his blue eyes wide upon the spectral orbits.

When they descended back into the dark corridors, Saturn felt as one waking from a dream, yet though he tried to listen, his groggy mind wandered when Akagi continued his tour.

"This leads to the grunt wing. Their dorms and showers are there. Near this is the dorms of the commanders, except for mine" (he did not elaborate on this) "Nobu has his room in between the two wings. On the far side of the grunt wing you'll find your way to the greenhouse. A bit primitive at the moment, but it will make us completely self sufficient in time, so with our own food, and already our own power supply nothing will stop me."

"Hai, sir," said Saturn softly.

"And this way will lead to the kitchens and dining hall. Nearby is the sickbay. Our medical staff is limited in number but vast in knowledge, and with Team Galaxy work you will be there yourself no doubt, no matter how good you are. As a reminder to everyone that this is the reality of things and not to take anything lightly, the training wing is also down past that way. Pokémon in storage as well as other equipment not used for now is down a flight of steps near the computer lab. And down these steps or this elevator shaft is the main laboratory. That is where Commander Pluto lives and works. You are not to go down there alone."

At this, Saturn did look up at the door with curiosity.

"Commander Phaeton," Akagi went on, "also often dwells down there in the secret chambers beyond the lab. You are never to talk to her under any circumstances whether down there or otherwise. She does have her dorm up here with the other commanders, and she will go on missions that suit her abilities, so you will see her before long. I won't lie to you, but I'll tell you that she is the most dangerous of all who work under me."

With a face full of bewilderment Saturn turned to face Akagi.

"You'll know her, when you see her, trust me," said Akagi. "And you probably won't want to talk to her. In time, though, you will more than outrank her. I promise you. This is a secret, Saturn, between you and me, but you will outrank them all. Is that understood?"

Saturn gave a vigorous nod.

"Never lose your wits. Never. Nothing in this line of work is ever as it seems."

Then quite abruptly, Akagi straightened himself, and smiled almost kindly. Saturn was taken a little aback at such an expression on such a man, and he could only stare wide-eyed in return. That was when Akagi placed his hand on the child's shoulder.

"I know you won't disappoint me," he said.

"No, sir," Saturn promised. "I won't."

#

Saturn scratched at his head and winced.

The clothes he had understood. For daily duties he had been given a uniform of sorts to wear; though one that properly fit him would be given to him soon enough, Akagi promised him. However, now in a nightshirt, he still could not escape what had resulted from running into Jupiter on her brief return from the base in Johto that afternoon …

"He can't go around in those rags!" she had pointed out, "He's been wearing those since we found him, and his hair! If he's going to stick around here, he might as well look his part, and since he's not a commander—"

"He's not a grunt either," pointed out the dark figure of Phaeton.

Saturn did not see at the time how she was any more dangerous than Jupiter. After all Jupiter seemed to be the pushier and less loyal, but he obeyed Commander Akagi's command. Not a word did he speak to Phaeton, but then he did not say much to Jupiter either.

Jupiter threw a hand aside.

"Fine he won't have to dye it bright teal or whatever, but we still need to take care of that blue tangella on his head," snorted Jupiter, and turned to a grunt. "Hey you! Get some scissors, will you?"

"Hai, Commander Jupiter. Uhh … does it matter what kind?"

"The hair scissors."

"Right!" laughed the grunt. "I'll go do that, right now."

And she hurried away to obey the command.

"Ug, I hate grunts," Jupiter muttered, and returned to the boy. "Now! We'll have your hair cut into something appropriate."

Saturn squinted. "Commander Jupiter. You mean like the grunts?" he asked timidly.

Phaeton rolled her eyes, but continued to watch with interest crossing her arms in a manner that seemed to intend to form a barrier against her and involvement in the situation.

"Of course, like the grunts," laughed Jupiter. "Silly, little boy. Except we won't dye it, and you won't have to wear those contacts they're always griping about."

Saturn sighed, and blamed the hair spray that remained in his hair for most of the irritation. But he quickly forgot it all as he slipped on his clothes and out his room.

The first night had been terrible. After having rolled around in bed restless he had left his room to wonder the halls of his new home. Unfortunately he had he gotten himself lost, and most unfortunately he had started to feel very miserable and helpless and he had wanted more than anything to go back to the orphanage. Instead, he had run into a grunt going to the showers to get ready for bed. The moment he saw the boy, his first thought had been that Saturn was an intruder, but the moment he began to demand what he was doing here, the child grabbed him for dear life, tears streaming down his face and into the outer shirt of the grunt's uniform …

"Waaah!" cried the grunt in surprise. "Get off! What's the matter with you!?"

Saturn did not stop, but clung to him harder.

"I hate it here!" Saturn sobbed. "I wanna go back!"

Knowing then that this must be the boy that Akagi had brought back, the grunt did not dare attempt to pry the boy from his body, and he wondered what in the world he should do with him crying on him like that. It was not as if he knew anything about children, after all, nor was he expected to.

"Go back! Are you crazy?" he asked with a nervous laugh. "When you can stay here at Team Galaxy and be meant for something?"

That did little to help.

"Uh! C'mon! Stop crying! Please! Kid!" he gulped. "Stop." He looked around and spied another grunt coming from the opposite direction. "Hey, you! Help me here, will you?!"

"What is that?" cried the grunt in surprise.

"Commander Akagi's boy he found in Johto," explained the first.

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"I donno, doesn't anyone know where he's supposed to go?"

The second could not help but laugh at his coworker's predicament as he took it in now in full.

"Ne! Ne! This isn't funny!" cried the first.

"Go call Nobu-san about it then," said the second.

"How can I?" demanded the first.

"What? Can't you handle a little kid?"

"Shut up!"

By this time however, Saturn had recovered somewhat and removed himself from the grunt; though he still choked and sobbed inwardly. Mostly he had just become too embarrassed to handle this situation anymore, and after a moment or so he collapsed into a heap on the floor where he buried his face in his arms.

"Poor kid," muttered the second.

"Now see, this is why the rule normally is that no one can sign up for Team Galaxy until age sixteen," said the first with a sniff, but he did look down with pity on the child too. He sighed. "I'll take him to Nobu-san. He probably knows what to do with him."

"Hai, good idea," his companion agreed.

The boy could not be urged to go no matter how hard the grunts tried to calm him, so in the end, the first grunt ended in simply picking him up and carrying him under his arm to Nobu …

That had been a few weeks ago now, most fortunate for Saturn, for that was not a night Saturn wanted to remember. For the next few nights after spending his first night in Nobu's room, he slept in his own room exhausted from days of getting acquainted with Team Galaxy and the base. He had been ordered to follow around Nobu on inspections, and to be introduced to pokémon training with a few grunts, who had difficulty in explaining it properly. But he had been given his first pokémon, a zubat, and although he had protested that he was too young to be a trainer, all of Team Galaxy insisted that the outside rules of the Nation did not apply here. Physical training had already started with Jupiter, which Saturn could not say he was too fond of, but he was determined to prove himself in this regard and never to let Jupiter make a fool of him. He also spent time with Akagi, of course, and Akagi would explain how he ran Team Galaxy and some things about his expansion into Johto, the Orange Islands, and beyond. He happened to be in the process of making plans to take part of Kanto which the Rockets did not watch too carefully. So there happened to be the best police station in the region stationed in that area, but that would not daunt Akagi — Oh, no! The police did not scare him. The trainers did not scare him. Not even Team Rocket scared him. "A broken team. They had their chance," he often said. Saturn could only listen in silence and try to understand Akagi and remember what he told him. Any free time he spent wandering or watching grunts at their more menial work such as working in greenhouse, or taking their turn cleaning or doing kitchen or garbage duty (they had few people paid to do such things as Old Team Rocket had). Life seemed to gain a rhythm of sorts anyway, and Saturn found himself restless again from time to time when most of the lights went out.

That was when a few nights ago he had caught his first pokémon of his own. Commander Akagi had never said anything against such an activity. Perhaps it had not crossed his mind, as busy man as he happened to be. So Saturn, who for the first time had dared to wander outside by himself and embraced his long unseen sky and trees, and feel his long needed breeze, he found to his surprise an injured pokémon. He did not know what kind she was as he had lived his short life in Johto not way up in Sinnoh, but he had taken her in to the doctors to have her cured. They in turn had her taken to be helped in the lab, and at Saturn's request had returned her to him. Akagi had given him a pokéball to keep her in, and told him that she was a shinx and that he was to train her well.

Tonight, a few nights after that night, Saturn had taken to the corridors again. Although physically, the routine of this life was becoming near normal, his heart and mind still did not know what he had gotten himself into, and sometimes, though as the weeks passed these became fewer and fainter, he would think of the orphanage, of his friends there, of the kind but frankly rather busy people who ran it, but he hardly remembered his parents. In fact the little he did remember of them was fading away the longer he was here, yet the fact that he had once had a normal life haunted him at night when the thoughts of one's mind grew louder.

Thus, wandering out of his room, he had a mind to go to the grounds outside, but he never made it there. On his meandering way, he chanced upon the elevator shaft, and he saw that it was in use. Ducking into the shadows he watched with wide eyes in hopes and dread at the same time that he would see the mysterious Commander Pluto. He would have hated to see Phaeton coming out of that sliding door, but it turned out to be neither one. A trio of grunts was all that emerged, and they looked weary and irritable.

Saturn watched until they disappeared down the next corridor; then he crept out of hiding to look at the elevator, but as he turned to the side, he saw the open door-less entryway that led to the stairs.

Akagi's words echoed in his mind, yes, but he also remembered Akagi telling him to learn what he could and to be a strong asset to Team Galaxy. He had only seen the laboratory once with Akagi and not for very long, and the laboratory was expansive with many smaller rooms attached. Would it not be beneficial for Saturn to have a look and know every room in base? Surely, an old man like Pluto would be asleep in bed by this hour no matter how dangerous. That would make the only danger Phaeton, but he just was not to speak with her not to not see her.

He paused, then with a wily smile dove for the stairs. Tiptoe, down he went until he reached the blackness of the bottom step. The sound of air vents echoed in the height of its round, Saturn felt almost as if the base did float in space, and that below his feet at this bottom level of the base, infinite stars and planets and space forever. The feeling overwhelmed him a moment, but in some ways it added nicely to the drama of it all, and as he crept up to the laboratory doors he felt quite invigorated for his adventure.

The doors slid open at his presence, and slid behind him as he stepped with care inside and hoped the sound of the door would be quiet enough not to disturb anyone.

Lit by a dim lighting system along the floor for the night, everything held a mysterious aura that Saturn had not seen the first time he had visited when full lighting had bathed the room. Now blank computer screens on sleep mode, lab tables and a gurney or two with metal clasps, not to mention the sinister machinery that would make a non-team member shudder to see even in broad daylight, all looked nothing less than diabolical.

A little boy could not help but feel the thrill of fear and a little excitement run through his body. Except that now that he was here, Saturn did not know how to proceed. He walked along the computers and ducked down to see the coils of wires like squid limbs tied together in clumps. Then glancing up, he felt a hunger to know what lay beyond those doors to the rooms beyond. Finding one locked, he decided it better not to try the other, but as he turned around he forgot all about his fun when he beheld with a start something very alive and blinking back at him.

Saturn let out a gasp and shrunk back.

The man only glared harder over his round spectacles at the end of his nose. These spectacles reflected a rosy-orange in the queer lab-light. Arms hang loose at his sides in his stooped posture. A lab coat draped over his uniform similar to that of the other commanders, however odd it look on his short and stocky form. In fact it seemed that the coat may have been the only thing keeping him from looking completely idiotic in it. Except his face which held stiff and grim in comparison, his glare, which seemed to Saturn to be the glare one may give to a nyaasu scavenging in the garbage, but instead of merely chasing the creature away, that same "one" decided it better to pull out the shotgun or better yet the syringe dart.

Saturn gulped, and stepping back he found himself pressed up against one of the locked doors.

"So you're Saturn?" said Commander Pluto.

The boy did not answer but stared in return.

"You're not much," the commander grumbled. "You're more like an Enceladus or an Iapetus or maybe even a Mimas, but Saturn seems to be a bit of a stretch for you."

Still Saturn only stared quite blank with confusion.

A slow smile grew on Pluto's face, and Saturn wished that he had just kept right on scowling, for his smile proved far worse than any scowl that man could make.

"Are you afraid?" he asked.

"No, sir," said Saturn, shaking his head.

"No, of course not, after all, what did Commander Akagi say?" Here he tapped his head in mock thought and looked upward before returning to the boy. "Oh, yes, that you were the brightest and gutsiest little boy that he had ever seen. And that is saying something coming from a man who usually doesn't care spit about any human being much less about their character. Still, one could question why a little boy as smart as yourself would be stupid enough to wander about alone after dark, especially down here."

"Commander Akagi said this was just the lab," said Saturn.

"Yes, he's been telling you many things, hasn't he?"

"Yes, sir."

In obvious habit, Pluto put his hands into his pockets as he continued, "Yes, this is 'just the lab.' But perhaps the high commander has not told you that the laboratory is the heart of every team."

Of course, he would say something like that, he was the scientist. Science just oozed out of him like puss from an old wound. Even his hair has been cut and groomed to look as if wires stretched behind his head from his temples.

"Don't you know what happens here 'just in the lab?'"

"Science, sir?" Saturn offered.

Pluto released a sinister chuckle. "N-yeas, and not just any science experiments, little boy. Things happen in the lab that would give you nightmares for the rest of your life. Things you couldn't even imagine. Do you know what you've really gotten yourself into, little boy, wandering about like you own the place, and then calling the heart of the team 'just the lab'."

"G-g-gomen kuda …" Saturn started to say, but then cleared his throat. "I'm not afraid, sir. I understand."

"That we steal other people's pokémon? That we make little kids cry? That we want to rule the world?"

The pause proved longer than Saturn would have liked, but clearing his throat after a moment or two, he tried to answer, "I …"

"Doesn't that bother a tender, little soul like yours?" Pluto said with a deep frown. "Maybe not. Your probably still so innocent that you understand words but not their true meaning. What do you think those gurneys are for, or those wires overhanging those machines? Or those tools, hanging in that corner?"

"I work for Commander Akagi," said Saturn. "I don't work down here."

"But Commander Akagi is high commander and therefore is in charge of this too, and as this is the heart of the team …" He stopped abruptly as a sudden thought struck him, and with hands wrapped around his back he drew closer until he reached Saturn's side. Here, reaching out one hand he pointed to the child; though he seemed hesitant to actually touch Saturn as if he were somehow diseased and rather contagious. "Saturn … I suppose you don't know why you are here?"

"To work for Commander Akagi," said Saturn simply.

"He wants you to be his special agent," said Pluto the shrug. "He's raising you to be his secret weapon, and you will be the coldest-hearted creature that ever walked the earth. And I know another secret about Akagi. He likes his little projects. Jupiter was one of them, but he's forgotten her. I would say he may forget you, but I truly doubt that. Jupiter never got the attention you're getting, and I knew exactly what he has in store for you from the moment you arrived."

"Nani?" whispered Saturn, noticing for the first time how hard his heart beat within him as the man rambled on like a madman who at any moment could decide to bring out the scalpel, whatever that was.

"Jupiter is on Phaeton's side," said Pluto. "Our dear boss would not have that, so he had to find someone else. You're his little prince."

Saturn squinted.

"One day you will rule as master over Team Galaxy," the scientist went on.

The cynicism in his voice made Saturn tremble.

"Then you will be in charge of the lab and make the orders to torture little pokémon, and you will have to guard it well, or else."

"Or else what?" breathed Saturn.

"Or else you will bring the downfall of Team Galaxy just as the fall of Team Rocket."

"Team Rocket?"

"You've heard of it?"

"Yes, sir. They used to pick on people in the Johto Region, but they don't anymore," said the boy.

"And do you know why?"

"Because they were fighting with the other teams, and uh … they're leader got killed?" asked Saturn. He did not know anymore than that.

"Yes, sort of, but really it was the heart of Team Rocket that had already gone awry. Their last project was in the Orre Region. They pulsed pokémon with a juice that was originally invented by Team Shadow AKA Cipher to brainwash pokémon and to make them stronger through perpetual rage that would make them potentially unstoppable. Team Rocket perfected it, and their shadow pokémon were the darkest, most deranged pokémon that ever existed, but that was not enough for Team Rocket. The heart of the team was not satisfied. It thirsted for more. It lusted for it with an insatiable desire that led to their ultimate demise, for they got the permission from the head, Giovanni himself, to make the shadow agent. Human experimentation. One of the most heinous offences in the nation, and though they began testing on such trash as street scum and teams more spit than human, they eventually became a disease attacking their own members. As if the agents were really to blame. I know what the problem was. Maybe they did too. It's simply that the many trainers are so obsessed with their training that the only way for an agent to be a match for them is to have them train as much as the trainers they hope to face. What team has time for that? Even Team Rocket? But that's neither here nor there. The heart, I'm sure did not really believe that shadowizing agents would make them harder to defeat in battle. They wanted to simply see what would happen, and they wanted to strike fear into the Nation. They wanted to show them what they were capable of, and their agents would never complain or do anything except follow orders and look scary. So locking them away in the laboratory, sealing them in tubes, running shadow juice through their veins and hearts … that is the heart of a team. The driving force. Without the heart, the team would not run, the ambition of the heart never ends, and if not carefully controlled it will destroy it all."

"Not Team Galaxy …" whispered Saturn.

"Even Team Galaxy."

"But Commander Akagi wouldn't allow that," Saturn squeaked, forcing himself to keep from crying, for although the stuff spilling out of Pluto's mouth would have seemed like drivel to anyone else in Team Galaxy, Saturn's age and inexperience was against him in this. He felt helpless before this monstrous presence, and the full weight of the heart of the team pulled like an anvil looped around Saturn's own heart.

"Commander Akagi," said Pluto. "He's as coldhearted as all the other team leaders. He has to be in his line of work. To reach his goal he will do anything. He's an ambition, calculating, heartless fiend. He is a megalomaniac. He doesn't even care enough to change the uniforms of his grunts. He barely gives them enough pay to keep them on and doesn't care what they think. He wants to rule the galaxy as the star around which everything orbits. You're just another part of his plan. Just a silly, little pawn. He likes your spirit, but only to use it and conform it to his purpose. He doesn't love you." He smiled with satisfaction. "And I may be the furthest away hidden away in the darkness, but I complete it, and I don't care what they say about dwarf planets, the end of this Galaxy is Pluto. The drive of the sun ends with me. What hope does even Saturn have to keep everything in orbit once the red light of Akagi goes out?"

Lowering his head Saturn again tried to keep his courage, but tears welled in his eyes. He tried to blink them away, but he felt so utterly alone and lost, like a small satellite floating aimlessly through space without its orbit. The eternity of the universe swallowed him in the surreal glow of the lab. He could not move. He felt so cold and sick. The only option besides staring into the floor of the lab was to look back into the mocking eyes of Pluto, but when the boy lifted his head, he found that his fear of meeting those eyes again had been in vain.

Pluto had turned away and now seemed to have lost interest in him. Picking up a clipboard and ruminating through the pages it held, he seemed to have pretty much forgotten that Saturn was there. No doubt this was an indication that Pluto wanted Saturn to leave, but Saturn had no desire to stay. He would have left long ago. Now freed from the oppressive force of the scientist, Saturn lost no time in hurrying for the door as fast as he could.

The door shut behind him and Pluto glanced up from the clipboard and smiled with much confidence that he would not be seeing child ever again. Nor would anyone else in Team Galaxy …

#

Unfortunately for Pluto, however, Saturn did not run away. He had no idea where he could go, and besides that a part of him felt already strong loyalty to the man who had taken him in when no one else save a few orphanage workers thought of him as anything other than a nuisance and a burden. To disappear on Akagi would be to betray everything that Akagi had done for him. Any other fears or guilt could be ignored far better.

As he huddled in the darkness of his corner with hands wrapped around his knees, he sighed wondering when he could ever come out again. For a long while he had drifted in and out of troubled sleep amidst the mops and push crates that lodged there with him. Closing his eyes and curling up on the floor, he felt himself drifting off again when he felt a bright light in his face.

Saturn opened his eyes.

"Saturn?"

With the flashlight withdrawn, Saturn could see outside his hideaway under this staircase, and the face of Nobu met his.

Although he sat up again, Saturn lowered his head and looked away.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Nobu. He looked as though he must have felt awful to find Saturn here since the commander had put the child under his charge, and he took everything that the commander charged him with quite seriously.

"Nothing," Saturn murmured, but as tears fill his eyes again, he could not contain himself as he sobbed, "Nobu-san?"

"Nani! Nani!" cried Nobu. "What is it, are you sick?"

He crawled under the staircase now after the boy, and tried to coax him out.

"Come on, I'll talk to Commander Akagi," he said. "If you're not feeling well. You can stay in bed today, but the boss won't like you sitting under here, and you know it. Now come on. Please, Saturn. There's just a few hours before dawn. Get some sleep in bed."

Sniffling a little, and trying to choke down his tears, Saturn gave a little nod, and allowed Nobu to lead him out into the open corridor.

"Nobu-san …" whispered Saturn. "Will Commander Akagi be mad at me?"

"No," said Nobu. "You were just under the staircase."

Saturn shook his head. "I mean, I … He told me not to go down there, but I did anyway."

"Down where?"

"The lab."

Raising a brow, the man studied the boy, and shook his head. "That's why you're upset?"

Again Saturn shook his head.

Nobu groaned. "Come on," he said taking the boy by the hand. "I'll take you back to your room. You can calm down for a while, alright?"

"Hai," agreed Saturn.

In silence they walked for a time, but as they neared the sleeping quarters, Saturn asked, "Would Team Galaxy ever do experiments on people like in Team Rocket?"

Nobu stopped and squinted. "Nanda? Where did you hear that?" Then thinking a moment, he nodded. "Commander Pluto told you that."

Oh, would Commander Akagi have a thing or two to say to Pluto when he found out that he had been tormenting Saturn, even if the boy had been told not to go down there, thought Nobu.

"Hai."

With a roll of his eyes, Nobu kept leading the way to Saturn's room. "Don't listen to Pluto. That's probably why Commander Akagi did not want you down there. Commander Akagi needs his men. He wouldn't do anything like Team Rocket did. They were just too big for their own good. Commander Akagi, even if he wanted to, can't afford to sacrifice his men to science, especially you or me or his comman—Well, what am I saying? He wouldn't order anyone to be experimented on. What would be the point?" He stopped in front of the door. "Does that help?"

"I guess so," said Saturn.

"Okay!" said Nobu and pushed open the door. "So just get into bed and go to sleep."

"I'm tired to being alone," Saturn sobbed as the tears swelled up again in his eyes to see that miserable, military-styled room.

Nobu closed his eyes, and inhaling a moment, he then said with a last sigh. "Oh, fine, I'll stay with you a little while, but just a little while, understand?"

"Hai," said Saturn with a nod."You don't have to if you're gunna be—"

Nobu pushed him into the room and closed the door behind them. "Go on," he said, "get into bed."

Saturn threw off his boots and slipped under the covers.

"So you think you can relax, now? You're gunna be worth nothing in the morning, you know?"

Wide, cat eyes stared back at him, and Nobu in defeat sat on the foot of the bed. An awkward silence followed, but after a moment or two, an idea occurred to Nobu. It was a strange idea at least for him; though perhaps eerily normal outside a team base.

"Did your mother sing you to sleep?" asked Nobu.

"I don't remember my mother," came the quick reply.

"Oh. Well, do you like music?"

Saturn shrugged.

"Well, how 'bout I sing to you?"

Those wide eyes just grew wider as the boy stared at Nobu in disbelief.

"No, seriously," said Nobu. "Just relax, and I'll soothe you with the little I remember from music lessons before I joined Team Galaxy."

Saturn blinked, still in disbelief and now quite alarmed as he realized that Nobu meant it. Those eyes looked as big and round as a pair of tennis balls.

Nobu ignored him, and telling the boy to lay back in bed, he began to sing, and it was indeed the strangest experience Saturn had ever had. No one could claim that Nobu's voice sounded soothing in the matter of perfect vocals, but he knew enough about singing not to sound teeth-setting. Besides the song he chose was a simple one, with a simple, though slightly haunting melody, and good singer or not, it was nothing Saturn would have expected from a military-like grunt captain in Team Galaxy.

It is possible that Nobu had anticipated and wanted this shocked reaction, for with Saturn occupied on such a strange thing as a singing grunt, he would forget his other troubles for a time, but as the song got going and Saturn relaxed, the boy felt rather comforted by the song. He let it take him to green hills far away and clear, starry nights, of quiet firelight, a warm hearth, and the smells of homey spices and burning wood. Before he knew it he had fast been lost to sleep …

---

Pluto: Charon's name in Japanese

Akagi: Cyrus' name in Japanese

JAPANESE PHRASES:

Arigatou gozaimasu : Thank you (formal)

Gomen kudasai : sorry (formal)

Hai : yes

Hajimemashite : Understood (formal)

Hontou : Really

Iya : No

Nanda : What the …

Nani: What

Ne : Hey

Ojisan : (formally addressing a male stranger)