Chapter 11

"How much longer, Ryu?" Ken asked impatiently. It had only been thirty minutes since the Science Ninja Team had received Jun's Birdscramble, but each second felt like an hour to the Eagle. Glancing around the bridge of the God Phoenix, he could see that he wasn't the only one. Joe's face was a mask of tension, and Jinpei's bore an expression of joyous hope.

"Another couple of minutes, Commander." replied the Owl, the calmness in his voice not betraying his emotions. It would be miracle to have Jun returned to them.

"That's presuming that she hasn't moved, since we received the signal." Joe added. As always, he had to be the dark cloud, raining on all of their hopes. But Ken understood where he was coming from. It was extraordinarily painful to have their hopes raised, and then dashed again. If they didn't find Jun this time… Ken didn't even want to contemplate how much it would demoralize the team… how much it would devastate him.

Jun's signal had been frustratingly short, but at least this time they had been able to trace its location. Jun's location. The location of a Galactor base? Galactor headquarters? Ken's head was spinning from the possibilities of what they would find.

The signal had emanated from an area of unpopulated scrubland in Wyoming, close to the Continental Divide. As they raced toward their destination, Ken barely saw the mountainous beauty rushing by. He could only focus on their goal.

They had to retrieve Jun alive. Nothing else mattered.

The Condor saw the grim look on the Eagle's face, and understood his emotions. Joe was feeling the same way. He had always felt close to Jun, but he had been surprised by the depth of his emotions over these past few days. He was having trouble concealing his feelings from his teammates, especially Ken. In fact, Joe was certain that it had only been Ken's preoccupation with Jun's disappearance that had saved him from the Eagle's scrutiny.

Joe had always regarded Jun as a friend… a sister… or had he? It was this thought that was the most troubling. Joe had always known that Jun was the one he could talk to, share his feelings with, even when he wouldn't have done so with anyone else. It was never anything he planned; she just always seemed to be there when he needed to talk. She would smile at him, and somehow Joe would find himself pouring out his innermost thoughts, gazing into her intent face, appreciating her carefully considered advice.

Joe had felt Jun's absence strongly over the past few days, because he wanted to talk… he needed to talk… but she wasn't there. The irony of the situation: the fact that his missing teammate was the source of these conflicting emotions, and his subsequent need for conversation, was not lost on Joe.

That night, when Joe walked into his favorite restaurant, only to learn that Ken and Jun were going on a date, he had pushed his initial feelings aside with the immediate concern for Jun's whereabouts. But over the past couple of days, he had had time to reflect, and he realized that the whole idea of Ken and Jun going out together bothered him, more than he liked to admit.

What Joe wasn't certain of was why this bothered him. Was he feeling protective of Jun? Was he worried about the team dynamic? Or was it something else altogether?

Jinpei beamed from his seat. He felt like dancing across the bridge of the God Phoenix. Jun was alive! And they were going to get her. There was no doubt in the Swallow's mind that he would be hugging his Onechan inside of an hour. And then he could make sure that she and Aniki went on that date they had been intending. If they got married, he would have a real family. Damn Galactor for messing things up, just as Ken had gotten his head on straight!

Ryu kept his eyes on the approaching mountains. The signal was coming from that area, and they would be there before long. He scanned for a landing site as he thought about Jun. Ryu had been convinced that she had to be dead. Even now, with the signal, he only held out a small bit of hope that she was alive.

In the past, Katse had used captured Science Ninja Team members as bait. He always advertised that he had them, taunting the ISO, and the public, with his prisoners. The fact that he hadn't done this meant that something had gone horribly wrong. Ryu could feel it. He knew he wasn't the brightest person on the team, but he suspected that at this moment, he had the most realistic expectations of what they might find. After all, a Birdscramble was just a signal from a bracelet. There was no guarantee that Jun had been the one to send the signal.

Ryu sighed. He hoped he was wrong. He really did. But he was afraid that he wasn't.

As the monotonous brown landscape rushed by, the last thing any of them expected was a giant orange fireball surging into the sky.

"What the hell was that?" shouted Joe, jumping to his feet.

"Ryu, where are the co-ordinates of the Birdscramble signal?" Ken asked quietly.

"Right where that explosion occurred, Commander." Ryu glumly replied.

"Zoom in!" Ken ordered, "Maximum magnification!"

Jinpei hurriedly input the new settings, and the fiery blaze appeared before them. It was a terrifying view.

Greasy black smoke belched into the air, fingers of orange-red flame licking through, almost seeming to reach the sky. Blackened, twisted metal littered the landscape, scattered among the rocks and brush of the scrubland. Here and there, a tumbleweed that had gotten too close to the blaze flew across the dry terrain, a streak of orange across the dusty countryside.

Through the oily haze, they could see green-suited goons fleeing in all directions. Strangely enough, there weren't nearly as many as Ken would have expected, for a conflagration of that size.

In the distance, they could make out the shape of Katse's Devil Star escape pod, whirling away from the rapidly spreading inferno.

"So it was a Galactor base!" Jinpei whispered in hushed tones. "Do you think Jun did all this?"

Joe had the same thought. Jun wasn't their explosives expert for nothing. But where was she? Why wasn't she signaling for them?

A smaller blast manifested itself on the left side of the larger inferno. It was followed by a succession of similar blasts at regular intervals, only seconds apart.

"Where are you, Jun?" Ken muttered, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.

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Jun didn't see the jet fuel ignite, but when the first canister exploded she threw herself to the ground. Red-hot shards of metal fell around her, a few landing on her clothing. She quickly shook them off, ignoring the second degree burns on her skin. Then she got up and ran like hell, oblivious to the incredible pain in her feet.

The remaining canisters blew apart in a bizarre form of fiery ballet, each one detonating exactly five seconds after the previous one. Jun smelled the fuel, felt the smoke, and grinned with excitement.

Damn, she loved her job.

As she exited the clouds of thick, black smoke, she was able to make out the shapes of a few fleeing goons. They were moving in all directions. There didn't appear to be a common destination, other than away from the raging inferno behind her.

Sighing, Jun began to sprint. She hoped that the adrenaline pumping through her veins would hold out until she found some form of civilization.

The sun was beginning to go down, and Jun was starting to limp. She resigned herself to soon walking in pitch blackness. As she turned to look at the breathtaking sunset, a familiar shape appeared on the horizon, heading straight for her position.

Jun activated her communicator and spoke.

"Man, if I'd known a pickup would take this long, I'd have called days ago!"

"We'll be right there, G-3!" the Owl replied. Jun could hear Ryu's grin in his voice.

"At last…" she whispered to herself, sinking to the dusty ground in relief.