Chapter 7

'drum beats'

Darien stared intently into Serena's eyes. The most powerful being in the universe? What did she mean by that? The uneasy shuffling of Shingo and Ami behind him drew his attention back to their surroundings. He quickly glanced around. They had to get out of there immediately before any more cops came sniffing around. Darien grabbed Serena's arm and pulled her up with him as he stood. He looked at Shingo. "Shingo, grab the batons," he said, taking charge of the situation. "We need to get rid of them and get back to the ship."

Darien guided Serena past the unconscious bodies of the policemen, keeping a tight grip on her hand. Serena had reverted to being mute once more after her startling claim that she was the most powerful being in the universe. She was staring at her feet as she walked, like a small, shy child clinging to a father's hand. Looking at her now Darien thought that the picture she presented was a complete contradiction to the person she had been less than two minutes ago.

Shingo quickly moved past them to do as Darien ordered. He knew there was no time to waste. They needed to get away before more coppers had the chance to arrive and discover Serena. Ami was standing motionless, still in shock about all that had happened in such a short period of time. She glanced upwards, startled, when Darien laid his free hand on her shoulder. "Ami, are you okay?" he asked gently. She nodded. "We need to get back to the ship," Darien continued. His voice turned serious, "And when we get there I think it's time you tell me exactly what's going on."

Ami and Shingo exchanged glances. They both knew that Mina would pitch a fit if she found out. Ami was wringing her hands as she thought it over. Before she could say anything though Shingo was already answering Darien. "Okay," replied Shingo. "We'll tell you what's going on, but let's get back to the ship already." Shingo glanced around nervously. They had been standing here for too long. They had to get Serena back to safety. And while Shingo wasn't sure if he completely trusted Darien yet he knew he was right though about getting back to the ship. It wasn't safe out in the open any longer.

Sticking to the shadows and the areas with large crowds, they began to make their way back to the ship. Shingo dropped the batons into a shallow pool of water as they casually walked past a water feature. They had almost made it back to the docking areas when they spotted a couple of coppers rushing towards the direction which they had just come from. Darien felt Shingo tensing up next to him and a quick glance backwards showed that Ami's eyes had widened in fear.

The group from the Ice Chamber were going to have to pass right by the policemen. "Keep calm," Darien muttered from the corner of his mouth. "Keep your eyes straight ahead and try not to look shifty."

Ami, Shingo and Darien all released a relieved breath as the cops passed them without even a glance. Ami smiled slightly as, after that final nerve-wracking moment, they stepped into the docking area and began to stroll towards the Ice Chamber. She just hoped desperately that Mina, Kunzite and Neph were already back so that they could get off this station immediately, if not sooner.

As they finally approached the ship Darien noticed that Kunzite, Mina and Neph had made it back before them. He quickly dropped Serena's hand, which he had still been holding to make sure she didn't disappear, before Mina could see it. He didn't want to do anything that might get him thrown off the ship. It was obvious that neither Kunzite nor Mina would hesitate to do so, regardless of how much money he had paid them. Darien casually placed his hands in his pockets and pulled a bored expression onto his face. It was time to deal with B1 and B2 again, to use an old Terran phrase.

Kunzite was frowning at them all when they arrived. "Where have you lot been?" he demanded. "I said one hour."

Ami stepped forward with a nervous smile. "Sorry Kunzite, we lost track of time and got caught up in the excitement of the crowds. We're not very late are we?"

Darien raised an eyebrow at Ami's lie but didn't comment. Better to just stay out of it altogether. Kunzite scoffed at Ami's explanation but accepted it nonetheless, merely muttering, "Late enough." The captain turned away and began to walk up the ramp into the ship.

Darien couldn't help calling out to him from the back of the group. "Managed to pick up some jobs then did you?" he asked. Kunzite threw an icy glare over his shoulder at him and Darien had to resist the urge to snicker.

Shingo glanced up at the older man as he passed by Darien. "Later," he said with an intense look in his eyes that Darien couldn't quite place.

He nodded to the boy and then meandered into the cargo hold of the Ice Chamber. Darien had the distinct feeling that things were about to get very interesting on this little ship. 'Yes,' he thought to himself. 'Later, indeed.'

***

Later that afternoon Darien was walking through one of the ship's corridors looking for Ami or Shingo. He knew that Mina was down in the bottom of the ship working on the engines, so Darien had thought this would be the best time to find out the truth about Serena. But so far he hadn't been able to find either of them. It was as if they had completely disappeared as soon as the Ice Chamber had left Station 5. Surely there couldn't be that many hiding spots in a cargo ship this small.

Darien glanced at the writing on the walls surrounding him as he strolled along the metal gratings that made up the walkway. He paused a moment and frowned when he realised that it was the same phrase repeated over and over again. Can you hear the drums Fernando? Darien looked up above him and to his right at the other wall. They too were covered in the same phrase. Darien tried to analyse the sentence as he continued walking, the words following him constantly along the walls. He didn't know what the name meant but obviously "the drums" had to represent something. He just had no idea what they might be.

He came to an abrupt halt as he rounded the corner and almost walked straight over Serena. The new hallway that Darien had stepped into was completely empty of words, except for the single sentence that Serena was currently writing in tiny letters. When she finished she stepped back and turned to face him, as if she was waiting for him to read the words on the steel wall. Darien raised his eyebrows at her but she simply continued to stare at him. He shrugged to himself and stepped closer to the wall. The letters were so tiny that Darien practically had to squint to read them. But as soon as the words registered in his mind Darien's eyebrows drew together in concentration as he tried to puzzle out this strange girl's meaning.

Darien straightened and faced Serena again. "The drum beats out of time," he repeated what he had just read. He wasn't really expecting an answer at all, let alone one that would make sense, but he could always try. Nothing ever wrong with trying as Grandpa Hino always used to say. Serena merely tilted her head to the side and continued staring straight into his eyes.

He rolled his eyes and released a breath in exasperation. Darien was ready to just walk away and continue his search for Shingo and Ami (because obviously Serena wasn't about to provide him with any new or helpful information) when Serena suddenly reached out and placed two fingers at his temple. He felt a slight shock go through him as her fingertips connected to his face but he didn't move his eyes from Serena's. He didn't even blink. And then, before Darien could do or say anything at all, the walls around him disintegrated and it felt as though he was directly inside Serena's mind.

As he glanced around himself in the dark he could hear boots marching closer. Thousands of boots, all marching in time. In the distance he could make out shapes coming closer. Soldiers. They didn't stop or slow down as they approached him; the soldiers just marched straight over him. It felt like he was being trampled to death beneath the solid, heavy, army-issue boots of thousands upon thousands of men.

All of a sudden the scene shifted, like mists in a breeze, and immediately Darien was in a boardroom surrounded by politicians and high-ranking officers of the military branches. It was just like his vision. As he watched, the people transformed into pigs. Still wearing their top hats and fine coats and expensive dresses, they smirked as the pig-man at the head of the table raised his glass to propose a toast. They all cheered and grunted in excitement as the chief of the pig-people pronounced, "To us and to victory!"

Darien's surroundings shifted again and once more he was plunged into darkness. In front of him the pig-people formed a circle around something he couldn't see. Darien edged closer and sucked in a breath when he realised what they were all watching. There was a young girl strapped to a chair and she was writhing in pain. "No! Please no!" she screamed. "Don't make me do it!" 'Why aren't they doing anything to help her?' He wondered. Darien squeezed between two pig-men and looked around at the group. They were all towering over the girl, smirking and cheering at her. The pig-politicians and pig-officers and the young girl all disappeared and Darien was left in the dark with just the sound of marching boots echoing through his head.

He blinked and was immediately standing in the Ice Chamber again. Serena dropped her fingers from Darien's temple but didn't move her gaze. Darien opened his mouth, intending to make some comment though he really didn't know what he had planned to say, but he never got the chance. Serena's eyes fluttered closed and she fell forward into his arms. "Serena?" Darien said, concerned. "Kuso," he swore when she made no response.

Carefully Darien lowered her body to the floor. For such a tiny slip of a girl he was surprised by just how heavy Serena's unconscious body was. "Serena!" called Darien, feeling more anxious by the second. He shook her slightly and gently tapped her cheeks but still Serena didn't wake up. "Bloody hell," he muttered under his breath. He was really getting worried now. He didn't know what to do. He had never learnt CPR or anything like that. Darien knew that he had picked up a few things over his recent years of being shot at and he was capable of stitching himself back up but he didn't know how to fix other people. He wasn't a trained medic.

It suddenly hit him, like a light bulb going off above his head. Ami! She was the medic for the Ice Chamber. Darien lifted Serena back up into his arms again and began to hurry down the corridor. He was just about to start yelling in hopes that someone would hear him when he heard whistling up ahead. Darien sighed in relief and then started calling out. He was more than happy when the whistling stopped and Shingo appeared from nowhere.

Shingo's eyes widened in fear when he saw Serena lying passed out in the older man's arms. "What happened?" he yelped.

Darien shook his head. "I'll explain after. But first we need to get your sister to Ami."

Shingo nodded hesitantly as he bit his lip. He gestured towards the direction he had previously come from. "Come on. Ami's in her room."

Two minutes and thirty-seven seconds later (Darien counted) Shingo pressed the panel next to Ami's door and they walked into the room. Ami glanced up in surprise from where she was writing at her desk when she heard them enter but gasped when she saw Serena. "Put her on the bed," Ami commanded, already in motion and picking up her medic kit from the top of her chest of drawers.

Darien and Shingo stood back and watched Ami work as she checked Serena's pulse, breathing and lifted her eyelids to check the whites of her eyes. She released a breath and stepped back from the bed after she finished listening to the beat of Serena's heart. Turning to the two males Ami stated wearily, "She's fine. Serena just appears to be in a deep sleep. She should come out of it in a few hours." Ami looked directly at Darien. "What happened?" she enquired. "Did you find her like that?" Shingo also turned to him questioningly, searching for answers in the planes of Darien's inscrutable face.

"No." Darien crossed his arms and leaned against the wall of the small room. "I almost walked into her while she was busy writing. Serena touched my temple and it was like she was showing me a vision or something. When the vision ended she took her hand away from my face and just suddenly fainted. As though she had been drained of energy somehow." The minute Darien said that he realised it must be true. Serena had used up all the energy she possessed in order to show him that vision. A vision that was so similar to the one that had originally led him on this journey to begin with. Why? What did the vision mean? And what did she mean about "the drums"?

Ami sank down next to Serena on the bed and exchanged a look with Shingo as he began to pace up and down the room. Darien raised an eyebrow at them. Obviously he had stumbled onto yet another fact about Serena that wasn't meant to be widely known. That was twice in one day now. It looked like now was the time to have Shingo and Ami divulge the truth about Serena. "Is Serena a Seer?" he asked in order to introduce the subject. "Is that the big secret?" Not that they were in the wrong for trying to hide it if she was one. Darien knew that people were tried and executed for Sedition for doing a lot less than having a couple of visions.

Shingo rubbed a hand over his eyes. "I wish that was all it was," he muttered.

"Shingo," Ami hissed. Apparently she had been rethinking the decision to open up to Darien since they had left Station 5 behind.

Shingo held Ami's gaze for a moment before looking towards Darien. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't." Shingo narrowed his eyes at Darien's quick reply. Darien shrugged. "Look, I'm not going to tell anyone anything. If I even tried the authorities would arrest me long before I mentioned Serena. You guys aren't the only ones keeping secrets you know."

"We'll tell you everything if you agree to tell us exactly who you are and what it is you're running from," Ami interjected.

Darien cocked his head to the side as he gave Ami an once-over. These people would just keep surprising him it seemed. And they obviously shouldn't be underestimated either. He took a moment to consider Ami's offer before deciding. "I'll only tell you what won't incriminate anyone else since they aren't here to decide for themselves," he finally stated.

"That will do I suppose," she replied.

Darien glanced back at Shingo to see him smiling proudly at Ami. "So?" he asked. "What's the deal?"

Shingo hitched himself up onto the desk, ignoring Ami's work, and then leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "So Ami told you about how mine and Serena's parents were burnt for Sedition and how we witnessed the execution, right?" Darien nodded. "That happened when I was eleven years old," continued Shingo, as he stared at his clenched hands. "I didn't notice at the time but when I look back to that day I can remember two men wearing expensive-looking suits standing off to the side. They weren't watching my parents burn though, like everyone else was. They were watching my sister."

Ami glanced down at Serena still sleeping peacefully. She passed a hand across Serena's forehead and pushed her so recently cut hair away from her closed eyes as Shingo continued his story. "Three days later Serena went missing. Six months after that I was living in the slums and streets of Canberranoire. I didn't see Serena or Ami or my cousin Mina for two years. Not until Ami found me rooting through a dumpster in a dirty alley and brought me onto the Ice Chamber claiming that Mina had found Serena. I didn't believe her until I saw Serena with my own eyes lying in the med bay hooked up to a machine.

"For two years Serena was held prisoner on a secret government base. They experimented on her and messed about with her brain. They did something to her, changed her into what she is now. Before they kidnapped her Serena was the picture of ordinary. She wasn't especially good at anything and she certainly didn't have any magical powers. She never used to get visions. You saw what she did to the cops, how quick and strong and coordinated she was. She used to be a huge klutz. Serena would trip over her own two feet just walking down the street."

"Secret base?" Darien asked.

"Mina never told us much about it," Ami murmured. "From what I can gather it's on some secret satellite that is constantly in movement with no known coordinates." Ami paused for a moment before continuing to fill in the blanks of Shingo's story. "Mina turned up at my dorm room about a year ago saying that she needed my help. She dragged me down to the docks at Canberranoire and introduced me to Neph and Kunzite, which at the time worried me a bit, and then brought me on board the Ice Chamber and showed me Serena. I cried so hard when I first saw her lying there looking as if she was dead already. Mina knew that my mother was a nurse and so I'd had training as a medic for all my life and she knew that I was studying to be a doctor as well. It's why she wanted me to come on the ship. She must have known details about what happened to Serena on that base that would require a medic's supervision.

"I've seen the scars on Serena's head where the scientists sliced into her brain. It's not pretty. I once heard Mina talking with Kunzite. She didn't know I was eavesdropping outside. She said something about how the people running the base were trying to turn Serena into a weapon."

Ami stopped speaking suddenly as Darien jerked upright. "A weapon?" he asked urgently. "They were trying to turn Serena into a human weapon? Holy Sihar." Darien ran his hands through his hair as he began to stalk across the small cabin.

"What is it?" Shingo frowned. "What do you know?"

Darien exhaled before turning to face Ami and Shingo solemnly. "I should probably start from the beginning. But I need to know that what I'm about to tell you won't leave this room. You can't even tell Mina."

"We agreed before," Shingo answered. "You don't tell our secrets, we don't tell yours." Ami nodded her head in agreement to Shingo's statement.

"Okay," muttered Darien. "Okay." He dragged his fingers through his hair once more as he began. "My name isn't Darien Hino. It's actually Darien Shields."

"Tuxedo Mask," came the sleepy murmur from Serena. Everyone glanced over at her, surprised that she was already awake and recovered, but they saw that she was still sleeping. Darien's brows creased as he wondered what she might be dreaming about and how it could affect him in the future.

He shook the thought away and continued. "I come from Alintarouge where I grew up with my cousin Rei and her grandfather Hino. When I was seventeen I had this dream about the government and it involved a girl screaming about being forced to do something. I woke up the next morning and realised that it was a vision and I knew that I had to do something about it. This was all five years ago.

"So I immediately left home and set out. At the time I really had no idea what I was looking for. After a while though, I fell in with a small group of conspiracy theorists who were trying to look into something that they called Project: Ginzuishou."

Ami looked confused. "Project: Ginzuishou?"

Darien nodded. "The government decided that they wanted to take over the Silver Alliance and the Crystal Alliance. So the military's engineers and scientists began to develop a magical weapon. From what we've found out it consists of two parts: the first part is some sort of object and the second is one particular person with the power to operate it." He glanced over at Serena and Shingo followed his gaze.

"And you think that person is Serena," Shingo finished the unstated thought.

"Maybe," Darien replied quietly. "Why else would they play around with her brain so much and try and tap into whatever potential they saw in her? But there's no guarantee, not unless we confront Kunzite or Mina or Neph about it all and find out what it is that they've kept from you. But I'd rather not do that right now if I can avoid it. Mina and Kunzite dislike me enough already, I can just imagine their reactions if they knew I knew the truth about Serena."

"What were you really doing on Questacon before we let you on board?" enquired Ami. "I'm sure you weren't the victim of a bad holiday like you told Mina."

Darien let his head flop back against the metal wall with a dull thud. "There's a military base out in the desert. I broke in there hoping I could find something on this guy Wilson's hard drive. But I was discovered before I had the chance to search through his files so then I had to get out of there and get off-world as soon as possible."

Shingo glanced over at his sister still lying motionless on the bed. "So where in nine hells are we meant to go from here?"

Darien frowned and trained his eyes on the frail-looking blonde girl. He remained silent. He had no more answers for them than they had themselves.