Five Star Stories Side Stories 2
Part 4
by Shawn Hagen
Five Star Stories is the property of Mamoru Nagano and this work is in no way a challenge to those rights.
Elenoin let the guards pick her up and carry her. The contact was not pleasant but she did not do anything to let them know she was not stunned.
"So how do we get rid of her?" one of them asked.
"Let's toss her off one of the cliffs, people hike, it happens."
"She was hiking in the middle of the night?"
"Hell, Machiko brought her up here. She tells anyone that they had a disagreement and this girl decides to walk home."
"That's not bad."
"Easier then trying to make it look like an overdose."
They carried her out of the building through a rear entrance. Once outside she was unceremoniously dumped in the back set of a digg.
The two guards got into the front seat and soon the digg moved off.
Elenoin considered making her move there. She could kill both of them easily enough, but when they failed to return or check in? She was not sure. It would be best if they thought her dead and did not expect any sort of reprisals.
She remained motionless in the back seat, waiting for them to reach wherever it was they were going.
Some time later she felt the digg slow and stop.
"Here?"
"Nice, deep, river at the bottom, maybe it will take the body away," the guard who had come up with the plan said.
"Okay, lets do it."
Elenoin felt herself again picked up and carried. She thought she could take the fall but could not be sure. Part of her wanted to attack right then, that it would probably destroy any chance of surprise hardly mattered to her. She managed to keep herself calm though.
"Drop her."
Elenoin was falling; she bounced off a ledge and continued down. In a moment the top of the cliff was lost in darkness.
She twisted around, grabbing for handholds, controlling her descent. Then suddenly the face turned shear. Ten meters below her was a small ledge; she managed to hit it, but it began to crumble away. She leapt from it, aiming for a larger outcrop of rock below her.
Her feet slipped as she landed and she slid off the ledge, falling into a pile of jagged rocks. One of them tore a long gash in her upper left arm.
She pushed herself up, feeling sore, but not too bad. Other than the wound to her arm she felt all right. Nothing broken.
Up above her she heard the sound of the digg driving off, she took that as a good sign.
She ripped the torn sleeve of her blouse off and used it as a dressing. She tore the other sleeve off as well and used it to hold the make shift dressing in place. It was not very good but it helped slow the blood flow.
Now all I have to do is get back up to the road and then to the campus, Elenoin thought, looking up to where the road was.
It turned out to be a bit easier than she had thought. She discovered a trail leading back up the road; not much but it was certainly easier than trying to free climb. It took her several minutes to reach the road.
After a short break she set off towards the campus, running as fast as she could.
When his teams had lost both Elenoin and Machiko, Edward had not been pleased. Machiko often disappeared, but he was not sure if it really mattered. Both of them going off together, that had been interesting.
He had ordered his people to watch the roads out in hope of catching them when they returned. It was not anywhere near as good as knowing where they had gone, but it might still prove useful.
Then one team had spotted Elenoin coming out of the mountains, apparently wounded and moving fast. That was certainly interesting.
He had ordered his best team to keep an eye on her and not to loose her.
After that he had to wait.
Elenoin made it into her dorm, and more amazingly into her room, without anyone seeing her. It was not too late and she had been worried. Explaining her wounded arm would have taken some work.
She opened her closet and began to pull empty luggage from the top shelf. At the very back was a shielded lock box. She put it on her bed and unlocked it with her thumbprint. She dumped the contents out on the bed, grabbing the med kit from the pile.
Her arm was not too bad-the wound looked ugly but was not very deep. She pulled the dressing free and it started to bleed again. She used the tissue stapler to seal it, then a low powered surgical laser to cauterize the areas where it was bleeding the most. The end result was not very pretty and she knew she was going to have to get a doctor to look at is soon if she did not want a scar.
After Packing away the med kit she rifled through the rest of the items, separating her spaud, a radio, a set of keys, a shoulder holster and an automatic pistol from the rest. She put everything else back in the box, locked it, put it on the floor and kicked it under he bedr.
She changed into a pair of black tights and a long black shirt then put on the shoulder holster. On her left side she hung the spaud on a snap hook. She put this pistol into the holster on her right. When she pulled on a jacket both weapons were hidden.
After transferring the rest of the things she needed into the jacket's pockets, then pulling on a pair of ankle high boots, she left the room.
Edward climbed into the digg, looking at the map. He took a seat beside Sif who was wearing her Fatima cloak. They would meet Elenoin about 10 kilometres from the villa she had said was their target. Timings would be tight but he had expected no less. Everything would happen quickly from that point on until they left the planet.
"Morrin, is the rest of the team ready?"
"A couple of minutes. They have a lot more people to move and they are still being watched. They won't be able to sneak out. Should they take out the watchers?"
"Might as well, though it may not make any difference."
"Lethal?"
"Up to them. Lets go."
Elenoin pulled the cover from the grav bike. It was one of several vehicles that had been placed around campus for her use in case of an emergency.
Kneeling down beside it she entered the passwords, ran the start up programs and finally put the key into the slot below the speedometer and turned it. The generator started up smoothly and the bike rose into the air, about a meter off the ground.
She put her right foot onto one of the pegs and swung her other leg over the seat. The bike rocked gently, but otherwise remained stable. Turning around in the saddle she reached behind her opened a small storage compartment. From the space she took a pair of smart, light amplification goggles and put them on. Slapping the compartment hatch closed, she turned back and placed her hands on the handlebars.
She pulled out of the parking lot then accelerated smoothly, heading towards the mountains.
"So that's it," Edward said, looking down at the building.
"What do you think?" Elenoin lay beside him on the ridge.
"They've fortified that place pretty well. Head on attack is out of the question."
"We go in stealthily?"
"That's my plan. You'll go in with Terrant's team."
"And do what?"
"Take out anyone who gets in your way, quietly. We are here for information first. Once we got that we'll send a couple of missiles into that structure. Should do the trick."
"Okay. Which one is Terrant?"
"Short guy, bald."
"Understood." Elenoin pushed herself back from the ridge, careful not to lift herself up above it.
Sif was waiting for her near the bottom of the ridge.
"Ready to go?" Elenoin asked her.
"Yes Master."
"Good. Come on, we're going in with Terrant's team," Elenoin said as she led Sif to the man that Edward had described.
A few minutes later the 12 man team was making its way down a wooded slope behind the house. Sif and Elenoin were in the back, probably because they were making the most noise. It wasn't that they were loud, quite the opposite really, but compared to the men and women they were with they might as well have been crashing through the forest.
The woman in front of them suddenly held her hand up. Sif and Elenoin stopped. It seemed they waited for a long time but Elenoin knew it was only for a minute, if not less. As suddenly as the advance had stopped it started again. A short time later Elenoin was in a tight circle with the rest of the team.
"We've taken out two guards," Terrant told them, speaking softly. "I figure we have about twenty minutes before an alarm goes up. Not much time really. The rest of the way to the house looks clear so we are going to dash. Cerri will be on point, she gives the signal you stop and go down. Got it?" He waited until he got quiet affirmations. "Okay, lets go."
Again Elenoin was at the rear of the line as they crossed the open space to the side of the house. She wondered why they were not worried about cameras. Maybe there weren't any. Maybe there was just nothing they could do about them if there were.
They reached the wall without incident and one of the team members had a window open in a few seconds. He went in first and as soon as the all clear was given the rest of the team was inside.
"There is a lock on this door," the man who had opened the window called out.
"Open it," Terrant said.
"Give me a couple of minutes," he said as he began to work.
Markus leapt into the digg as it pulled up beside him, Namia a step behind.
"Tell me again," Markus said, taking a seat beside the man in the rear.
"This Hashita girl meets up with an force, about fifty people, and they head towards this old villa and set up observations," Mikail said.
"Looks like I was wrong about how she was tied up in this, but she is involved."
"So what are we going to do?"
"Our people ready to go?"
"Heading up there right now."
"Well, we follow them in. Hopefully they will have softened up the opposition for us."
Vallam's radio beeped softly. He took it from his pocket and opened it up. "Yes."
"Security has been breached, we have people inside the house," one of the guards told him.
"Set up and ambush, tell Kievar that we might have to run very soon. I'll be down there in a minute," he shut the radio off and returned it to his pocket.
As he got to his feet he wondered if things were indeed to come to an end.
The door opened, light flooded the room, the team went through. They were met with an ambush that cut half of them down in the first few seconds.
Elenoin looked to Sif who already had her spaud in hand.
They went out into the hall, leaping over the bodies, moving as fast as they could. The guards were surprised by their speed, giving both headliner and fatima time to assess the situation.
Two groups of guards, set up so both had a field of fire that included the door. They were armed with rifles.
Elenoin took the group on the left, Sif the one on the right. Both quickly cut through their opponents.
"This way," Elenoin pointed down the hall, giving up on the rest of the team. Sif followed her as Elenoin sprinted down the corridor.
Elenoin turned right when the corridor branched. She ran up a set of stairs, almost running into two men carrying boxes.
"Try not to kill them," Elenoin said as she flipped her spaud over to stun.
It was over in a matter of moments. Neither man had had a chance to even try to defend himself.
While Sif used a set of plastic restraints to secure the men Elenoin looked through the boxes. They were full of papers and memory chips. Elenoin left the paper, but gathered all the memory chips and put them in her pockets.
"Do you think those will be useful?" Sif asked.
"I hope so. Feel stupid if I went to all the trouble for records of food purchases and someone's porn collection. Come on." Elenoin set off down the hall as a quick walk.
"We've been hit," Edward heard Terrant's voice come over the radio. They know we're here."
"Hang tight, we're coming it," Edward ordered as he shut down the radio. "Salk, open us a way in, don't be subtle."
"Right," he said, prepping one of the portable missile launchers he had brought along. He aimed and fired, the missile blowing a hole through one of the walls.
"Okay, lets go," Edward shouted out.
Vallam felt the explosion a moment before the alarms started to go off.
"Cut that noise," he ordered. "Where is Madrin-hakase?"
"Gathering up his notes," someone said.
"Tell him he has a minute, send someone to get him."
"Yes sir."
"I want defensive positions set up here, here, here and here," he said, stabbing at a map of the house with his finger. Activate automatic defences here and here."
Around him the team he had put together went to work. They could not hold the building, but they could buy time and they could make it costly for the attackers.
Vallam took the radio from his pocket and flipped it open, setting a new frequency and activating the encryption protocols. "Mireen, I want you to shadow me."
"Hai Master," the voice on the other end said.
Vallam nodded, and put the radio away.
Machiko sat up, feeling a little sick. She had been crying for some time, so sorry for what had been done to Elenoin. There were alarms going off, she could hear shouting, and gun fire, and the house shook. Something had happened. She got to her feet and walked over to a small chest in the corner of the room.
Inside the chest were a few weapons, including a plain spaud. She picked the energy sword up, turning it over in her hands. She smiled as she left her room.
Edward and his team were making their way towards the centre of the house when the lights suddenly went out.
"Lo-lites now," he ordered, reaching for his own goggles.
It was at that moment they were hit.
The attackers did not bother to hold their ground after the ambush, they just retreated. Some of his men were about to pursue but Edward shouted them to a stop.
"This is their ground," he snapped, "come on, we go the other way."
They had retraced their steps and were heading down a new corridor, one with the lights still on, when she appeared. Edward recognized her. Machiko Indelis.
She moved before he could give any commands, killing two of his people with the spaud she held. She was moving fast, in-between them. Some one panicked and began to fire, missing Machiko but hitting friendly targets instead. Edward and Salk fell back and opened up with controlled bursts. They didn't hit her, though neither did then hit any of their own, but the fire forced her to disengage.
"Shit," Salk cursed.
"Oh yeah, that was bad," Edward agreed. "Get the inured out of here," he ordered. "then we go on."
Machiko was looking for another fight when she met Madrin-hakase in the villa's old ballroom.
"We're getting out of here Machiko-kun," he told her. "Come on."
She looked at him, his armed escort, the briefcase he held tightly in his arms. She remembered how he had done nothing when Kievar had ordered Elenoin killed. She put her spaud blade right through him.
One of the guards opened fire, a bullet grazed her arm. She spun to the side, kicking over a table, lashing out with her spaud, cutting him in half at the torso. She laughed as she continued the spin, killing several other guards before her blade was brought to a stop by another.
Kievar stood there, looking down at her. Behind him stood Calri.
"See to the doctor," he ordered the surviving guards. "Take him and his notes out of here."
The guards were all too happy to obey. They picked up the doctor, thought it was obvious he was dead, and his briefcase and ran from the room.
"You killed the man who gave you what you wanted," Kievar said.
"The price was too high."
"You don't know how high yet. Lets see if you have learned anything."
Machiko pulled back and then moved in again, slashing repeatedly with her blade.
Kievar blocked them, moving back as he did so, waiting for her to over extend herself. She never did though, her balance was perfect. He forced it, suddenly going offensive and it was she who was falling back.
"You killed my friend," Machiko snapped, and suddenly Edward found himself working to block the savage attack. He almost tripped as he backed into a chair, throwing up his blade to stop her attack. Then suddenly she was faltering, her hatred quickly burning out.
Kievar knocked her blade out of the way then back handed her, knocking her to the floor. He lifted his sword.
"Don't move," someone called out softly.
He looked up. Standing in the doorway he himself had entered the room from was the same woman he had ordered killed. She held a pistol in her hands. Beside her stood a fatima.
"Well," Kievar laughed as he put thing together, "it seems your dear friend is a headliner."
"Elenoin?" Machiko stared up at her.
"I'd say that this is a good test for you Machiko-kun," he kicked her spaud to her. "Why not kill her, she did betray you after all."
"Don't listen to him," Elenoin said.
"You lied to me," Machiko picked up her spaud.
"I did, I had to," Elenoin told her.
"You lied! You're everything I hate," she ignited her spaud and charged Elenoin.
Elenoin let the pistol drop and drew her own spaud, igniting it almost in the same motion.
Machiko swung at her and Elenoin blocked it easily, she knew exactly what Machiko planned, like the other times but stronger. She blocked twice more than shifted her spaud to stun and moved through her next block, slashing her blade through Machiko.
Machiko did not go down, though her body jerked, and as she stumbled back she lashed out with a slash that passed close to Elenoin's leg.
If the stun wouldn't work, Elenoin thought, she was going to have to hurt Machiko.
She blocked the woman's next blow then brought her sword around quickly, taking Machiko's hand off, halfway between the wrist and elbow. Machiko fell back, gripping the stump with her left hand.
"Give up Machiko," Elenoin said.
"I'll kill you!" Machiko gasped the words out.
Elenoin hit her. Thrust kick to the solar plexus. She followed up by sweeping her legs, dropping her heavily to the ground. She switched her blade to stun again then thrust the blade into her.
Machiko convulsed several times before finally going still.
"Very nice," Kievar said, clapping. "You should have killed her."
"It wasn't her fault." Elenoin looked from Machiko to the man.
"Do you really believe that? She chose it all for herself. She hates us."
"It is not her fault."
"Then whose is it?" Kievar asked. "Ours? Society's? Whose? In the end she got what she deserved."
"No." Elenoin said. "She didn't."
"So little knight, what will you do?"
"Kill you perhaps," Elenoin said.
"Well, you had better," he ignited his spaud. "I will certainly be trying to kill you."
Sif and Calri stared at each other across the room. If they fought one would die and then so would the dead fatima's master. Neither were quite willing to take the chance and as they had no orders they watched each other, ready to stop the other if she should try to get into the fight.
Elenoin and Kievar circled each other once, then twice, looking for an opening. Kievar moved first, surprising Elenoin who did not see it coming. Her block was slow, he almost hit her. She leapt back, holding her spaud up defensively. She had gotten use to somehow knowing what her opponents were about to do. With Kievar she seemed to have lost that edge. She stopped trying to second guess and prepared to simply react.
When he came at her again she met each of his swings, blocking, then countering. He had the advantage of height, reach and strength but she seemed to be a little more skillful. The only reason she was still alive with all her disadvantages.
He swung his blade down at her, she thrust hers up to block. Then he lifted his knee, driving it towards her stomach. She twisted, maintaining her block and the knee grazed her side, she thought one of her ribs might have cracked. The man was a monster.
Kievar was impressed by the young woman's skill. If only some of his students had had half of it. Still, he did not doubt the ultimate outcome of the battle. It was only a matter of time.
Elenoin fell back as he attacked, unwilling to get close to him. It turned out that being close was not necessary. He threw the round house with his back leg, snapping it out. It hit her in the shoulder, knocking her back against a wall.
He followed up, leaping at her. Elenoin let her legs go limp and dropped. The blade cut through the wall where her chest had been. She stared up at Kievar then surged to her feet, slamming her head into his stomach. It was sort of like banging her head against a wall. It did force him back though and gave her room to maneuver.
She attacked fast and hard, forcing him to give up ground, as she tried to force an opening. Suddenly they were close again, he brought his sword blade down. She lifted hers to block and realized he was driving his knee up again. She lifted her right thigh, blocking the attack and wishing she had instead jumped back. It hurt so much for a moment she feared he had broken the bone.
His leg was still lifted when she drove her foot down into the crotch behind his knee. Elenoin was not sure what she had been trying to do. It was a move of desperation. She pushed down with her leg, trying to unbalance him but instead went up, climbing the man.
With the force of her leg muscles she pushed his sword up, then brought her left leg up, driving it into his stomach as much as she could, using his belt as a toe hold. She pushed up, beginning to fall backwards, and slammed her right knee into the bottom of his jaw.
He staggered back as she back flipped away from him, landing on her feet. She did not waste time being impressed by the attack she had managed to make work but leapt forward, bringing her blade up, cutting him from left hip up the his right shoulder.
For a moment Kievar stood and Elenoin wondered if he was going to continue fighting. Then he fell over backwards.
Calri watched it, all her emotions, fear, anger, grief, all of it, tied up tightly, kept behind a wall of mind control. She walked slowly over to Kievar's body and knelt beside him.
"Come on," Elenoin said to Sif as she turned away. "Let's go."
As they left she looked down at Machiko. She wondered what would happen to the girl but could not think of anything she could do to help her.
Vallam looked down at Madrin's body and shook his head. "Leave it," he told the guards as he reached for the briefcase.
"What are our orders sir," one of the guards asked.
"Evacuate," Vallam said as he walked to one of the diggs.
"Yes sir," the guard said.
Edward linked up with more of his team near the garages when he saw the diggs heading out.
"They're bolting," he said into his radio. "Cut off the exits."
Part of Edward's force moved quickly, putting diggs across the roads, forming a road block. Edward realized that there were more diggs and men there than he had brought with him. Allies of the moment, to become enemies as soon as they had dealt with the common enemy? More complications he did not need.
Markus jumped from the digg as it pulled to a stop.
When he had seen the other diggs moving off he had decided to order his people to follow. Then it was obvious what was happening and he joined in the roadblock.
He had no idea whether these people would treat him as an ally or not but for the time being it was in his interest to help them.
"Ready Namia?" he asked the fatima.
"Ready," she told him.
Vallam pulled his digg to a stop when he saw the roadblock, the other diggs behind him doing likewise.
There were a group of men coming up behind him on foot.
"Out of your vehicles," someone ordered over a loudspeaker.
Vallam waited a moment then got out. The odds were not currently good.
Edward ran up behind the man, keeping his rifle on him. He was not wearing a uniform like the guards, hence he might be important.
"Get your hands up," Edward ordered. Vallam did as he was told. "What's in that briefcase?" Edward asked, looking into the car.
"My dirty laundry."
"Right. Get away from the vehicle."
Vallam would have preferred to be close to the briefcase but he decided not to argue. Hopefully he would get a chance at it before leaving.
"Here," Edward tossed him a set of hand cuffs. "Put those on."
Vallam caught the hand cuffs looked around. Most of the guards had been disarmed by that time. He fumbled with the cuffs, buying a little time. He had no intention of putting them on but he would have to wait to make his move.
Markus watched the man that had been in the first digg, the man without a uniform. Something about him, the way he acted, made him a little worried. He began to look around.
Elenoin and Sif had come out of the house, a little behind the majority of guards. Elenoin saw all the diggs forming a road block and thought there were more there than had come with her and Edward. Seeing Edward she began to walk towards him.
The Mortarhead seemed to come out of no where. It was dark, blood red in fact, and it came from behind a hill. It opened up fire with a set of high speed guns, firing into the diggs that were blocking the road.
Vallam wished that Mireen had come a little sooner as he ran for his Siren, giving up the case. Someone was firing at him but he was moving erratically and Mireen was putting down a lot of fire, some of it too close for his comfort. Of course covering fire was of little use if it was not close.
He heard the booming of the big 100mm's mounted on the MH's shoulders as his fatima decided to increase the stakes.
Markus and Namia moved away from the vehicles as soon as they saw the MH appear. It was the right move it turned out. A hail of 16mm shells ripped through the area, tearing the vehicles and the people apart.
"Fuck," Markus said, he and Namia had reached the cover of some rocks. "We really could use our baby now," he said. "Who would have thought?"
"Master," Namia said. "Someone is trying to flank us."
"What?" he looked to where she was pointing. "Great. Come on, we'll have to deal with them."
The MH stopped firing long enough to bend down, allowing Vallam to climb to his cockpit and enter the war machine.
The first thing he did was fire on the digg he had been in. If the briefcase was still in there it would destroy the evidence. Then he fired on the villa, the less things left the better. Then he sanitized the area with the high speed guns.
"All right, let's go," he said. He would have preferred to stay longer but it was not an option. The longer he stayed the greater the chance he would be caught and he could not afford that.
The Siren turned and headed back the way it had came, soon lost behind the hills.
Elenoin and Sif had been separated by one of the first 100mm blasts. Elenoin's ears still rung and there was blood running from her nose. The blast wave had been quite powerful.
She pushed herself up, wincing slightly from the pain of the abrasions on her right side. The house was burning, so were many of the diggs. She saw bodies all around her. Then the sound of gunfire told here things were not over yet.
She ran for cover first, not wanting to be hit by any stray fire, then searched her pockets for her lo-lite goggles. She found them and while one of the lenses was cracked that did not seem to affect their function.
Moving with the cover she began to search for Sif. The fatima could not be too far.
Sif looked around then down at the long gash in her leg. She has a small first aid kit on her and was able to stop the bleeding but it still hurt. Getting to her feet she began to search for her master.
It was her poor luck to stumble upon a group of the guards from the villa. While neither she nor the guards wanted to fight one man, surprised by the sudden appearance of a fatima, fired.
That was all it took and suddenly Sif was among them, fighting for her life.
She was hampered slightly, Elenoin had told her to try not to kill any of the guards.
Two of them were down when a bullet grazed her upper arm, throwing her off stride. The guard she had been about to cut down managed to swing his rifle butt up, catching her in the stomach, knocking her back. He moved after he, lifting his rifle again, ready to swing it down at her head.
Something flared up in Sif, she had no words to describe it. All she knew was than man was trying to kill her and she could not kill him.
The next thing she knew she was on her feet, the man who had been about to strike her lying on the ground in two pieces, several other dead men about him as well. Sif could not remember what had happened.
She felt a burning in her shoulder then heard the gun shot. Her spaud fell from her fingers and she stumbled forward.
Elenoin came over small rise and found Sif. She stood among five or six guards with another five or six lying on the ground about them. Sif seemed to be holding her own, but ELenoin did not know how long that would be the case. She began to run down the hill. She was a hundred meters from Sif when the fatima was shot.
Elenoin could see one of the men getting ready to kill her. She was too far away to do anything, did not have enough time to do anything. All she could do was watch Sif die, she realized, still running towards where Sif lay.
The desire to do something burnt hot in her chest, it almost hurt, and suddenly she was no longer there.
It was a memory, and old one, long buried, long hidden.
Her mother, another woman, talking, talking about her. She was seated on her mother's lap.
"I don't want them to know about this," her mother said.
"The signs will be pretty obvious soon, you won't be able to hide it."
"That is why I need your help."
"You are asking me to cripple this child," she sounded almost angry.
"For a time."
"It may be forever!"
"Better that than her being used. You know what will happen. She won't have a choice."
"I would think that you could trust her at least," the woman said.
"I don't know if the blood tie is strong enough and she loves him I think."
"So, you think you can hide her?"
"I have to. Will you help?"
The woman sighed. "Only because if I don't you may get to someone who will do the job poorly."
"Thank you."
"There will still be indications you know?"
"As long as it is nothing that anyone will notice."
The woman leaned forward, putting her hand on a very young Elenoin's head. "You will remember this when the time comes, and that your mother does this out of love. I give you lessons as well for those you will miss," she said and there was a tingling behind Elenoin's eyes then it was gone.
Elenoin kept running forward, suddenly in the present once again. Still too far to save Sif. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. She lifted her left hand, pointer finger extended from her fist, like she was holding a gun.
Then something strange happened. It was like she could see filaments of light running through the air, running into her, running into everything. Then they seemed to converge on her hand, on her finger. The vision was gone in a moment but there was still a glow around her hand.
From her finger a bolt of energy exploded out, splitting several times, hitting each of the man around Sif. They fell.
Elenoin slowed to a walk, then stopped, looking at the bodies lying on the ground, wondering what had happened.
Sif got to her knees and looked around herself. The men were all dead, holes burnt through their chests. She had seen a flash of light and something else, a feeling, like a presence, like Elenoin.
She stumbled to her feet and turned around, her Master was standing fifty meters away, the light of the burning house illuminating her. She was staring at the bodies. Sif looked at them then walked towards her.
"I'm sorry Master," Sid said. "I killed some of them."
"What," Elenoin looked up at her fatima. "That's all right, as long as you are alive," Elenoin said distractedly as she looked away from the bodies to Sif. "You are hurt."
"I'm fine."
"Sit down," Elenoin told her as she took her first aid kit form one of her jacket pockets.
Elenoin started with the wound on her leg, it looked the worse. She cut the stocking away and began to improve on Sif's earlier work.
"Master, what happened?" Sif asked.
"I think our world just changed," Elenoin told her.
Elenoin's feat had not gone unnoticed. Both Edward and Markus and some of their men, had gotten a good view of the show. Edward through the site of a rifle, Markus just because he was fairly close.
Edward felt sorry for Elenoin, knowing her life was going to change more than she could have ever expected.
Markus knew he had some interesting information to add to his report.
The two groups ended up cooperating. They did not have the time to fight over the data, the house was burning and the authorities were coming. Within a few minutes they had salvaged anything of value, made an equal spilt of what they had then each group was heading off along the back roads.
The pounding on his door woke Phale, it also woke Liesha.
"Friends of yours," she asked.
"I can't see my friends being up at this time of night. Or if they were, sober enough to find my place."
"Well you better go answer it," Liesha told him.
"Yeah, yeah," he got out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe before walking to the front door.
He pressed the intercom button. "Who is it?"
"Elenoin, I need to talk to Liesha," some woman said.
"Just a sec," he said, taking his finger from the intercom button. "Liesha, there is an Elenoin who want to see you," he called out.
"What?" Liesha called out. She came from the room a moment later, wearing a T-shirt that went down to her thighs. "She's here?"
"Right outside," he walked by her. "I'm going back to bed."
Liesha opened the door to find Elenoin standing there. She looked a little rough, covered in bandages and such.
"Ele-chan, are you all right!?"
"I'll live," Elenoin smiled at her friends concern. "May I come in?"
"Of course," Liesha stood aside so Elenoin could enter.
"I just stopped by to say goodbye Esha-chan," Elenoin said.
"Goodbye? Why? Where are you going?"
"Your the best friend I have had in a long time Esha-chan, so I have to tell you the truth, thought I think you will not believe it."
"What are you talking about Elenoin?"
"I'm a headliner, I was on campus basically as a spy."
"Are you all right," Liesha reached out and placed her hand on Elenoin's forehead.
"I'm fine," Elenoin smiled. "And it's the truth. I am a headliner."
"But, but..."
"I really have to go. I'll try to get a letter to you or something to explain it," Elenoin moved forward suddenly and hugged Liesha. She stepped back and walked to the door. "Oh," she looked over her shoulder. "I've already taken the stuff out of our room that I want, you can have the rest. And if the authorities ask any questions about me just answer them truthfully."
"Elenoin, is this the truth?"
"As close as it gets. You really are one of my best friends Esha-chan. If you ever need anything, well if I hear about it you will have help." Elenoin opened the door and walked out of the apartment.
Liesha stood where she was, wondering if it was some joke. Ele-chan, a headliner. It seemed so impossible.
Osamu woke to a rapping noise, like someone tapping on glass. He sat up and turned on the bed side lamp then pulled open the curtains. Outside was Elenoin, knocking on the window pane. He was more that a little shocked. He was on the fourth floor after all.
"Elenoin," he said as he opened the window. He could see that she used one of the trees to get up there. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry to wake you, may I come in?"
"Sure," he stepped back from the window and reached for his robe.
"This is a nice room," she commented, looking around.
"Well, I have been trying to get you up here." In sup rose he fell back on flirting.
"I have to leave," she told him.
"Leave where?"
"The planet actually."
"What?"
"Osamu, you have come to mean a lot to me, I think, well, I think we could become very close."
"Thank you but what does that have to do with you leaving the planet?"
"There are two things I have to tell you."
"What?"
Elenoin took a deep breath, held it in for a moment then let it go. Felling prepared she said it. "I was raped," she paused. "It was," she stopped suddenly and dropped her gaze, no longer able to meet his gaze. "It was bad," she began to shake. "I was so stupid," she began to cry. It was all hitting her so hard now that she spoke it out loud to someone she cared about.
It was at that moment that she realized how much Osamu had come to mean to her and how much she cared about what he thought of her. She had been preoccupied with what others thought of her for her whole life, she realized. People whose opinion should have meant nothing to her but had, like her father.
Osamu though, she cared for and cared for what he thought of her. Admitting it to him was like saying it for the first time.
She dropped to her knees, putting her face in her hands.
The sound of Osamu walking away from her was like a physical blow. She cried harder, feeling abandoned. Then a new sound came to her, a dull, thumping sound. It was repeated several times. She looked up.
Osamu was pounding the wall, hitting it again and again. She saw blood beginning to appear on the yellowish paint.
"Osamu?" she said.
"Who?" he turned to face her. "Who?"
"Someone dead now. I handled the vengeance myself."
"Elenoin," he moved across the room and knelt down in front of her. "Elenoin," he reached towards her then checked his hands. Part of his training included counselling for victims of crime and accidents. He was not sure if she wanted close contact.
Elenoin had to lean forward into his hug. It scared her a little but it felt so good. She put her head on his shoulder and began to cry again.
"It will be all right," he told her. "It will be all right. I still care for you. It wasn't your fault."
"But I don't believe that yet," she sobbed. "I should have been more careful, I should have realized the kind of man he was. I deserved it," the last part was new to her and took her by surprise.
"Don't ever say that," Osamu pulled back from her and gave her a shake. "It was not your fault and no one deserves it."
"I killed my brother," she told him. "I was happy when my father died. I deserved it," Elenoin was lost, everything hitting her at once.
"You did not deserve it," he told her. He was not sure about what she meant when she said she killed her brother but he was certain Elenoin was not a murderer. "Rape is not some cosmic punishment. It is a brutal crime."
"That's what everyone says," she leaned into him again.
"Maybe everyone is right on this one."
"But, I feel, so dirty, so weak, so..." what ever else she might have said was lost as Osamu kissed her. He kissed her for a long time.
"I love you," he said when he ended the kiss.
"But how...?"
"How could I love you? You were raped Elenoin. It was horrible, it should never have happened but don't add to the crime by turning this into the defining point of your life. There is so much good that could happen. Don't let the bad become the centre of your existence. I love you because you are beautiful and smart and kind and perfect. I only care that you were raped because it has hurt you. It does not cheapen you in my eyes. Anyone who thinks less of you because of this is not worth your time or concern."
She looked up at him for several seconds then placed her head on his chest. "Thank you," she said softly.
Osamu held her like that for several minutes, holding her, feeling her close to him, loving her. He did not want it to end, he wanted to die with her in his arms. Still, reality began to intrude.
He looked up when he heard a creaking sound but was unable to place it. He looked back at Elenoin.
"I'm not sure I can take it but what is the second thing you have to tell me?"
"I'm a headliner," she told him simply.
"What?"
"Master, we have to go," someone said.
Osamu looked up. A fatima was looking into his window. A real fatima, staring back at him.
"You know how to spoil the mood Sif," Elenoin said, sniffing.
"I'm sorry but we are in a rush."
"I know. I'm sorry Osamu, I really have to go."
"You really are a headliner," he sounded shocked.
"Does that matter?" Elenoin almost smiled. The thought that he could love her even though she had been raped but hate her for being a headliner was ironic.
"No, its just that, well, It was not what I would have expected."
"If anyone comes asking about me don't bother trying to lie," Elenoin got to her feet.
"But..."
"Don't worry. There is nothing that you could tell them that would harm me," she kissed him quickly then moved back to the window and threw one of her legs out so she was straddling the sill. "Take care." She was completely out the window.
Osamu stuck his head out the window and watched the Elenoin and her fatima make their way to the ground. Once they were gone from his sight her went and sat on his bed.
He wondered if he would ever see her again. He wondered what his parents would think about him marrying a headliner.
Elenoin sat in the back seat of the limousine, leaning up against Sif. She was tired and wanted to sleep. She missed Osamu already and wanted to cry.
"So, a headliner and a diver," Edward said.
Elenoin opened her eyes and looked at him. She did not want to be reminded of it.
"Not too many of them," he said, it sounded like he was thinking aloud rather than talking to her. He said nothing more.
Elenoin close her eyes and moved even closer to Sif.
She had just become unique, a valuable commodity in a way. In the cluster, what commodity was not fought over, not lain claim to, she wondered?
BREAKBREAKBREAK
Namia opened the door and leaned into the bed room. "Master, we have to go," she told him.
"Okay," Markus slid free from the young woman's embrace. One of his students whose offer he had finally taken advantage of. There were three more in the bed. It was impossible to get out without waking them.
"Where are you going?" Patricia asked.
"Away from here," he told her as he began to get dressed. "I did say that earlier."
"I thought you were joking," one of the other girls said.
"Really, do you think I would invite four women to my bed if I was planning on sticking around? I respect anyone who could maintain such a relationship long term but I am not one of them."
He walked over to Namia and took a bundle of flowers from her hand and went back to the bed.
"I thank you for a wonderful evening and wish you all the best. You are truly wonderful lovers," he handed each several flowers then dropped the rest except for one that he attached to his coat. "Good bye," he said as he left the room.
"Master, does that always work?" Namia asked him as they exited the house. Pick was waiting for them in a digg.
"Have you ever seen if fail?" Markus asked as he took the flower from his coat and slid it behind Namia's ear.
"I think it will one day."
"Let's hope not." He smiled at her.
Epilogue
Addler, the Nation of Narsten, 2990
The house was quite beautiful, sitting on the northern coast of Knales, a large amount of land around it ensured privacy. It was L shaped, three stories, with a high, peaked roof covered in green ceramic tiles. Large windows gave almost every room a spectacular view of the ocean or the jungle around it.
Mariko Saunders had thought it inviting when they had pulled up in front of it. Inside was a different story. No one was there. All the furniture was covered in dust cloths, everything packed neatly away.
Elenoin had obviously spent a lot of money, thought not really that much considering what she was worth, on repairing the house, re-furnishing it, and she had just left it.
"When did she go?" Mariko spun on Heldrick, her red hair floating around her.
"I don't know," Heldrick told her. He was not quite afraid of the diver but he knew enough to be wary around her. The divers guild was not a group he wanted to be at cross purposes with.
"You did not suspect she would leave?"
"No."
"I did," Edward said.
"What?" Heldrick asked.
"I only suspected," Edward told him.
"Why?" Mariko asked.
"She wanted to be left alone, that was the deal she made. But that was when she was just a rich headliner. Now she is a rich Baia. That news has got around. Everyone wants her. She knew that would happen."
"You didn't tell me this," Heldrick accused.
"I only suspected after all."
"She took her MH," Mariko said.
"It would not be too hard bring a ship down here. The ocean only is about two meters deep almost a hundred meters out that way," he pointed to the west. "You could land a ship in that. Come down on a really stormy night, and there have been a few, and you would be almost invisible."
"I think you did more than suspect," Heldrick told him.
"You promised her a safe haven, we owed her something."
"Very loyal," Mariko said. "Can she hide?"
"As a headliner, no." Edward said. "As a MH technician, or just a rich young woman, or just a no one," he paused to think about it, "she could disappear."
"Prince Heldrick, I would like hire your services to find Karimon-dono. I want her delivered to me."
"You have a new project Panzer-kun."
Edward shrugged his shoulders. He was not entirely pleased with the job but he would do it to the best of his ability. He had helped Elenoin all he could.
"Where will you start looking?" Mariko asked.
"In the records of all the ships that could have carried off an MH," he told her.
"Keep me informed," Mariko said, walking toward the front doors.