Ken was desperately studying specs for the power generating complex, and he had a plan now. They would fly the God Phoenix into…

Dr. Nambu appeared on the screen again.

"I have news! Katse discovered that we gave him false Mantle Project data but I was able to see Jun briefly during our communication. She is alive, although Katse was apparently hoping to make me believe otherwise!"

Ken felt himself go almost limp with relief. Ever since Joe had gone tearing off half-cocked to find her, he'd been plagued with doubt, wondering if he should have gone too. But she was alive; Galactor hadn't killed her.

Or at least, he realized, not yet. This was far from over.

"We believe she's under New Jork's power generating complex, Doctor. I'll take the God Phoenix in immediately; I have a plan for how to do it."

"Yes, do that, Gatchaman." And Dr. Nambu was gone.

They were in the air again, flying low, and nearing the complex from the direction Ken had determined would make their approach as inconspicuous as possible.

"Aniki!" said Jinpei, "A ship just took off from the complex and it's flying away very fast!"

"Bring it up on screen!"

He, Jinpei and Ryu stared in horror; only Galactor could make a ship that looked like that.

"Could Galactor have Jun on that ship now?" asked Ryu.

Ken raised his bracelet, trying to reach Jun yet again, but he received no response. That probably meant she was still a prisoner.

He tried contacting Joe but there was no answer there either. Were they both prisoners, or was Joe just refusing to answer?

Where was Jun? Was she in the complex or on that mecha? Damn it! Which one should he choose?

He'd spent a near-sleepless night, brooding about Jun, and now he couldn't seem to think straight about this mission either!

But he had to make what could be a life or death decision about her! He rallied all his concentration, in order to think logically.

It made sense that Katse, realizing that he wasn't going to get the Mantle Project data by threatening to kill the Swan, would try to flee but bring Jun along as a prisoner.

He would pursue the mecha. Granted, they wouldn't be able to fire missiles -and that was Joe's fault!- but he still had his G-1 jet.

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"Where would Katse put that bomb?" Joe muttered, pacing the small space within the sphere, heedless of the goon bodies he was crushing beneath his blue boots. "If I were an evil madman..."

Jun's face frowned in concentration as she stared at the computer screen in front of her. This information had to be in the Galactor systems. It had to! If only she could find it...

She turned around to speak to Joe, and then she saw it.

She was outside the sphere, and from this vantage point she could see that it was sitting on some kind of metal platform. Some kind of docking station, where it connected with the rest of the base...

She turned back to the computer screen, and quickly found what she had been seeking.

"Joe, the sphere has two bombs!" she cried. "There's a high-yield bomb which I already defused, and a second, smaller one which is now set to go off. It's connected to another system and when this one explodes, it will remotely set off the power generator!"

"You defuse this small bomb, and I'll go for the one at the power generator." Joe ordered.

"No, we don't have time." Jun shook her head. "We could never get there in the few minutes we have left. You defuse the small bomb in the sphere, and I'll try to disconnect the sphere from the system, so that it doesn't trigger the power generator."

"Agreed." Joe nodded curtly, getting to work. It was another win-win for Galactor. If the bomb under the power generator didn't go off, the smaller bomb would, killing two members of the Science Ninja Team.

He couldn't afford to fail now.

Knowing it was there, the Condor was now easily able to see an indication of the armed bomb aboard the sphere's control panels. He wasn't as good as the Swan was at this kind of thing, but he had to try. She had certainly taken on the more difficult task of the two.

He located the appropriate panel and literally ripped it off of the wall, exposing the tangle of wires there. He had to cut them, in order. First, the charge line, then the power source, then the detonation line, and then the secondary power source. All of the boring lessons he had sat through at the ISO training sessions came back to him in a rush, and he thanked every higher power he could think of for his photographic memory. Pulling out a feather shuriken, he searched through the mess of multicolored wires and found the first one he was looking for.

Snap! The charge wire was cut, using the tip of the shuriken. Now for the main power source... He cut that wire and began searching for the detonation line.

"I did it!" Jun shouted happily. "The sphere is disconnected from the power generator! What about you, Joe? We have another twenty seconds, I think..."

But the Swan's count was off. Just as the Condor was reaching for the detonation line, the bomb exploded.

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Jun screamed as the bomb went off, instinctively throwing herself away from the blast and attempting to cover herself with her wings. But she didn't have her wings. She was still wearing the environmental suit over her Birdstyle. The hallway that she was standing in shook, and large rocks and boulders crashed around her. She pushed herself into a small cavity under the control panel, which protected her from the worst of the damage, but all of these things were done unconsciously, out of habit. Her mind was focused on the horrifying sight in front of her.

Rocks and earth were showering onto the pile of goon bodies that lay between the Swan and the Condor. She cried out, but could not hear him respond. With growing horror, she feared that in coming here to save her, Joe had offered up his own life instead. And just as she had realized...

No! No! It couldn't be true!

But as the dust settled and she stared at the wall of stones in front of her, a terrifying doubt took root in her soul.

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"Ken, that mecha's only one kilometer ahead of us now. It's fast, but we're just a little faster." gloated Ryu.

"Onechan, Aniki-Joe, we're coming to save you!" sang out Jinpei.

"What are you going to do, Ken? We can't fire missiles without the G-2, and even if we could, we couldn't take the chance of blowing that mecha up with them still on board." said Ryu.

"No, but we could have used missiles to cripple it enough to make it easier to infiltrate," said Ken. "As it is, though, you'll have to try to get me close enough to be able to soar to it and find some way to get inside."

"Roger." said Ryu. "It won't take long to… Whoa!"

He abruptly lurched the God Phoenix to port, sending Jinpei and Ken tumbling out of their chairs, but dodging a Galactor missile.

"They're firing on us, Ken! It's not going to be easy to get near that thing!"

Damn you, Joe, thought Ken, We wouldn't be having this problem if you'd stayed here!

"Do the best that you can, Ryu. I'll head for the dome."

As he ran from the bridge, into the corridor behind, his bracelet chimed.

It was Jun.

"Ken, where are you?" She sounded frantic, nearly hysterical. He needed to get to her quickly!

"Jun, stay calm. I'm coming to get you; I'll be inside the mecha in less than a minute!"

"Mecha? Ken, I'm not in any mecha!"

What? He'd been so certain...

"I'm with Joe! I'm driving the G-2 through an underground tunnel from the power generating complex back to Times Square. You have to meet us at Times Square, Ken! Joe's hurt! I can't get him to wake up, and I think he's got internal injuries -I don't know- there was an explosion and... and... God, Ken, he's so pale and he's barely breathing! And he saved me, Ken! He can't die! He can't!"

The God Phoenix pitched again, sending the Eagle staggering into the wall of the corridor.

"Ken, answer me!"

Ken's mind was spinning. If he turned back to Times Square, the mecha would escape. Katse would escape...

But the sound of utter anguish in Jun's voice...

And Joe. However angry he'd been with Joe, at that moment Ken knew that whatever was happening lately with Jun, Joe was his friend. Joe had fought at his side more times than he could count, risked his life for him, and more than once, saved his life.

Today Joe had listened to his heart, followed his instincts, and he'd saved Jun.

Ken knew that he had to do the same thing. He would call off the pursuit of the mecha, and go back to New Jork.

"Jun, we'll be right there to meet you, as fast as the God Phoenix can go!"

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