THE HOSTAGE BRIDE
Chapter 11: "The Price of Disarmament"
By Bill K.
"I can't believe it!" fumed Ves-Ves as she paced angrily in the quarters she shared with her 'sisters'. "'You're not good enough. You'd only slow me down!'"
"Ves, let it go," Jun-Jun groaned, her head lolled back onto her chair in frustration.
"He disrespected us, Jun!" Ves-Ves snapped. "He said we weren't good enough - - twice! We're senshi, aren't we? We're supposed to be the Princess's guardians, right? Or did they recruit us just to be her friends?"
"He's got a point, Ves," Cere-Cere said - - unenthusiastically. "I mean, look who he took with him: The Queen, The Princess and Saturn. We're not exactly in their league."
"We do all right! Maybe if we got a chance, we could prove we are in their league!"
Out of frustration, Ves-Ves kicked one of Palla-Palla's holographic storybooks across the room. It bounced off the far wall.
"Hurt your foot?" Jun-Jun asked after noting the grimace on her sister's face.
"Shut up," huffed Ves-Ves.
"Look, Ves, I'd rather be doing my job than sitting here wondering," Jun-Jun began. "But they call the shots. That's what we agreed to when we signed on. The only thing we can do is roll with it and wait for them to give us a shot." She reached out and snagged Ves-Ves's hand. "OK, they don't trust us to be able to do the job. It's up to us to earn that trust, so we can't just sit around and pout. We have to be ready for when our chance comes."
"I'm not pouting!" growled Ves-Ves. "And this is just one vicious circle! They won't trust us to do the job because we haven't proven that we can - - and we can't prove that we can because they won't trust us!"
"Hey, it beats the orphanage," Cere-Cere chimed in.
"Does it?"
"Yes it does," Jun-Jun told her. "Once you cool down, you'll remember that."
Just then, Palla-Palla entered the room from her bedroom. She walked straight past everyone without acknowledging anyone, and headed for the door.
"Where you going, Stupid?" Ves-Ves asked.
"They're back," was her only reply. And out the door she went.
"Already?" Cere-Cere gaped. "I guess they didn't need us." And out the door went the other three.
Waiting on the rooftop landing pad were Ami and the cats. They were looking up into the sky. The Asteroids looked up as well, expecting to see a multicolored energy sphere. Instead, they found a medium range air car approaching from the general direction of the space craft launch facility outside Crystal Tokyo. The craft expertly set down on the pad. When the engines silenced, the passengers emerged. It was Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune. When they spotted the Asteroids, Mars, Venus and Jupiter ran up to them.
"I thought you meant the King and Queen were back!" fumed Ves-Ves, turning to her sister. "Why didn't you tell me it was the Elder Senshi?"
"You didn't ask," Palla-Palla replied innocently.
"I gotta start being more specific," muttered Ves-Ves.
"Is Usa OK?" Mars asked anxiously. "Did you four get her home safely?"
"Yeah," Jun-Jun nodded. "She got home safe."
"Good job, girls," Jupiter smiled as Mars breathed a huge sigh of relief. The Asteroids beamed with pride. "Is she resting?"
"Um . . ." Jun-Jun grimaced.
"Endymion and Serenity went to Zachar to make sure Earth isn't attacked again," Ami informed them. "They took Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn with them."
Anxiety swept over the five elders. Uranus looked up to the heavens.
"Idiot!" fussed Mars. "We just got Usa away from them and Serenity's going to march her back into their hands - - and herself besides?"
"I'm surprised she's taking the offensive," Neptune mused. "It must have been Endymion's idea."
"How can you be so calm?" Mars fumed. "What if one of them doesn't come back? What if it's Saturn?"
Mars could sense Neptune struggling to keep the control she so highly valued.
"They're senshi, Mars - - just like we are," Neptune replied. "It comes with the job."
"Excuse me," Mars said, brushing past them all and heading for the palace. "I have praying to do."
"She's taking it well," quipped Venus. Neptune barely noticed. She moved to Uranus.
Ami watched Mars stalk off. Then she sensed a presence next to her. Turning, she found Jupiter reverting back to Makoto.
"Ami," Makoto whispered shyly. "A-About the way we parted . . ."
"You did what you thought was right, Makoto," Ami told her gently. "I don't hold it against you." She looked down. "I hope you don't hold my decision against me. I was doing what I thought was right."
"I don't, Ames," Makoto said. "You were probably right anyway. You are a lot smarter than me."
"Well, from what I can surmise, Usa might not have gotten home if you and they hadn't been there," Ami countered. "You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for."
"Thanks," Makoto smiled sheepishly. "Forgiven?"
Surreptitiously Ami's hand sought out Makoto's and clasped it tightly.
"Pop, these guys aren't the type who are going to appreciate us landing in the middle of their palace," Sailor Moon thought-cast to her father as they, Serenity and Saturn rocketed through space in their transport bubble. She had to thought-cast, because she couldn't speak in this energy form. Fortunately this energy form made thought-casting possible.
"At the moment, I'm not really concerned with what they'll appreciate," Endymion replied. He seemed calm, but Sailor Moon and Serenity both knew that tone.
"Well, it might be easier to sneak in the back way," Sailor Moon persisted.
"If they're as militaristic as they seem, the back way will be guarded as well," Endymion countered.
"Endymion," Serenity chimed in. "Is a confrontation wisest?"
"Would you rather wait for them to come to Earth again? Another confrontation is inevitable, Serenity. I'd rather have it here than on Earth. I'll give them the chance to end this. If they don't, I'll end it - - with your help."
Serenity expelled a sigh of resignation.
"I think the King is right, Queen Serenity," Saturn offered up demurely. They glanced at her. "I'd rather not fight if I can avoid it. But if they're a threat, I'd rather fight them now than hope that they never attack Earth or abduct Sailor Moon again. I know what it's like living in fear. It's not fun."
Saturn caught the sympathetic look from her best friend. Her grip tightened on Sailor Moon's hand.
With defense claxons blaring in advance of them, the transport bubble landed in the courtyard of the Royal Palace. Amid the scramble of troops, the two young senshi allowed Serenity and Endymion to convert their energy forms to human. No sooner had they done so then they found themselves surrounded by two dozen Zacharian troops. Their weapons were drawn and trained on the four travelers.
"We're here to speak with King Sallaar," Endymion told them. He had a neutral posture and expression, but stood tall and firm and projected as much regal bearing as he could muster in order to lend weight to his words. The gleaming white armor and the sheathed sword at his hip didn't hurt.
"DROP ALL WEAPONS AND SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY OR WE WILL FIRE!" roared one of the soldiers, probably a squad leader.
"We come in peace," Serenity spoke up. "We don't want a confrontation. Please take us to King Sallaar."
"PRISONERS WILL NOT SPEAK UNTIL SPOKEN TO!" bellowed the squad leader. "PRISONERS WILL NOT MOVE UNTIL PROPERLY SECURED!"
"Must we go through this?" Serenity asked, stepping away from Endymion's side.
Instantly the squad opened fire on Serenity, using projectile-shooting sidearms and swords that fired energy arcs. But all their fire was caught by a shield Serenity erected around herself and the others. The energy was dissipated, while the projectiles were caught and dropped harmlessly to the cobblestone courtyard. When they all realized they were having no effect on her, the squad ceased firing.
"NOBODY TOLD YOU TO STOP FIRING!" the squad leader roared. Obediently the soldiers brought their arms up to fire again.
"Oh, poo!" huffed Serenity. She closed her eyes and scrunched her features in concentration for a moment. The soldiers then discovered their weapons no longer worked. "Now may we see King Sallaar?"
"FIRE, DAMN YOU ALL!" shouted the squad leader.
"Weapons malfunction, sir!" reported a squad corporal. This wasn't good news to the squad leader.
"YOUR SWORDS STILL HAVE EDGES! CLOSE QUARTERS BATTLE! HACK THEM TO PIECES!"
"Silence Wall!" Saturn called out.
The soldiers charged the four strangers, their swords drawn and ready to use. But they encountered Saturn's force shield and were stopped in their tracks. Repeatedly the soldiers hacked at the shield while Saturn doggedly kept the shield up. No progress was made at all. Finally, one by one, the Zacharian blades began to break against the invisible shield. Perplexed, the soldiers fell back and turned to their squad leader for guidance.
"SUICIDE RUN!" he barked. "DON'T LET THEM NEAR THE KING!"
Instantly the soldiers charged the four visitors. They had their hands on their belts and it brought back unpleasant memories to both Endymion and Serenity. They each moved to act.
"Moon Princess Halation!" Sailor Moon shouted, holding the Moon Scepter up high. Pink tendrils shot out from the scepter in all directions, each one seeking out one of the soldiers. Once caught and wrapped up by a tendril, the soldiers all fell to the ground. They struggled for a short time. Then the healing energy of the tendrils began to work on them. Each soldier stopped struggling. He smiled dreamily and sagged with utter contentment.
"Very good, Usa," Serenity smiled at her daughter. "You do that much better than I ever did." Sailor Moon averted her gaze in embarrassment and it made the Queen's eye twinkle.
The four were about to head to the interior of the palace itself, but stopped short. From the palace, a massive contingent of soldiers emerged. They were ten across and marched out of the building eight deep. Each soldier had his weapon drawn and ready to use and each marched like a mirror image of the one beside him.
"Endymion?" Serenity thought-cast to her husband.
"I can deal with them," he replied with his mind.
"I'm nearly exhausted," Serenity told him. "And I can sense that you're not much better."
"That's why I let Usa and Saturn come," Endymion responded. "Hopefully we won't need them."
Reaching a point about twenty yards from the four from Earth, the soldiers stopped in a crisp, precise formation. The ten columns took a single pace to the side in unison, like a sea parting, revealing a single man in the middle. He walked forward with an easy gait, his uniform precisely tailored and a cloak flowing behind him. Two men walked behind him and to either side. They could have been guards, subordinates or advisors. He walked like he was above the soldiers, above the visitors from Earth, above everyone. As he drew closer, he was recognized.
"Mehaat," Sailor Moon whispered. Saturn detected just a hint of unease in her voice, for Mehaat's eyes were locked on Sailor Moon.
"Prince Mehaat," Endymion began. "This is not meant as disrespect to your or your position. But we must speak with King Sallaar."
"That will be difficult," Mehaat said, still glaring at Sailor Moon. Finally he broke the stare and focused on Endymion. "Sallaar is dead. I am King of Zachar now."
"I'm so sorry," Serenity offered with immense sympathy.
"Don't be," Mehaat sneered. "Sallaar was a tyrant and a parasite. The universe only mourns that he didn't die sooner." Mehaat's eyes narrowed. "And you will address me as 'Your Highest Majesty'."
Everyone could sense the anger mounting in Sailor Moon. Serenity, on the other hand, merely bowed politely to Mehaat.
"Your Highest Majesty," she said, sweetly and kindly, "we have come to ask you to end the hostilities between our worlds. We don't wish to fight with you, but we cannot give you what you want. What you ask for isn't right. It would adversely affect the lives of so many people on my planet, and I doubt it would do you much good. Please, stop all of this before more people are hurt and killed, both your people and mine."
"Death does not frighten us," Mehaat told Serenity as if lecturing a child. "We do what we must to survive. It is the duty of the strongest to survive and prosper. It is the duty of the weak to be the source of that prosperity."
"An interesting philosophy," Endymion replied. "Perhaps the problem here is your definition of 'strength'. Strength does not always, by definition, equal ability to conquer. Is the person who refuses to take advantage of a superior position and instead uses that superior position to bring peace and help others less fortunate no less strong? After all, any mindless brute can fight."
Mehaat stared at Endymion, as if his words had triggered a memory within the newly crowned monarch.
"Those are the words of the conquered," sneered one of the advisors. Sailor Moon recognized him as the second-in-command from Mehaat's ship. "I've seen more convincing begging."
"Would begging change your mind?" Serenity asked. She felt Sailor Moon grab her arm, but shrugged it off. "If my begging will avert this terrible conflict between us, I'm not so proud that I won't do it."
"Are you that fearful of war?" Mehaat asked, intrigued.
"I prefer life to death," Serenity told him. "I prefer peace to conflict. My pride is a small price to pay. My life is a small price to pay to ensure the lives of others - - on both our worlds."
Mehaat thought. Serenity met his gaze, a beacon of pacifism that he didn't quite know what to make of.
"And what if my price is bigger?" he asked.
"I don't understand."
"I offer you the peace you desire," Mehaat began. "Your freedom from the Alliance and a pledge not to attack your world for your effrontery of disobedience." His gaze shifted to Sailor Moon. "My price in exchange is her."
"Unacceptable," Endymion replied immediately.
"So there is something you value more than your precious peace?" Mehaat surmised.
"How can you stand there and try to barter with human lives?" gasped Serenity, stunned by the offer. "I wouldn't give you men for your conscription before. What makes you think I would trade my daughter for peace?"
"I am a soldier," Mehaat responded. "I trade lives for objectives as a matter of course. It's what I've been taught to do since I was six. The first thing a soldier learns on the battlefield is how cheap and fleeting life is. Conquest lasts far longer than life does and is much more tangible. You're King and Queen of an entire world. How many lives did you climb on in your ascension to your throne? Are your hands any less bloody than mine?"
"What kind of childhood could you have had," Serenity murmured, shaking her head in shock, "to bring you to this point in your life? What kind of family life did you have?"
Mehaat scowled.
"If you spurn the offer, then it is war. Surrender yourselves immediately," Mehaat said coldly, though he seemed to stumble on the next part, "or be destroyed." Suddenly Sailor Saturn lurched forward, her glaive poised.
"No!" she hissed angrily. "You surrender immediately or be destroyed, along with the entire planet!" Her glaive blade began to glow violet.
"By yourself?" snickered Mehaat.
"I have the power," Saturn said resolutely and for a moment Mehaat seemed to see death itself in the slight girl's eyes. "I'll use it if I have to in order to protect them. I'll destroy everything to keep Sailor Moon out of YOUR hands! So YOU surrender! Don't make me destroy this planet!"
Then Saturn felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned and found Queen Serenity beside her.
"No, Saturn," Serenity said. "That's not our way."
Saturn's cheeks colored. The strength and fury washed out of her slight body. She lowered her glaive and her gaze.
"Yes, ma'am," Saturn whispered contritely.
"If you're going to appeal to my mercy," Mehaat piped up, "I have none."
Serenity locked eyes with Mehaat again. Suddenly her gaze seemed very startling and unnatural to the newly crowned king.
"I think you sell yourself short, Your Highest Majesty," Serenity told him. "I've met your father. Now that I've met you, I can see the difference. Despite all his efforts to mold you in his likeness, I can see a quality of intelligence and mercy in you. Your mother must have been a remarkable woman."
Mehaat ground his teeth, trembling with rage and something else. The emissaries from Earth all saw the conflict raging in the youth. Was Serenity's innate charm working on the young king? Sailor Moon wondered if it was this mysterious "spell" he'd referred to earlier that he accused her of working on him. And was it just that? The turmoil seemed to have been triggered by mention of Mehaat's mother.
"Mehaat, we can work this out," Sailor Moon spoke up, easing to the forefront of the group. "We don't have to be . . ."
"Enough talk," Mehaat choked out gruffly, his teeth clenched. Sharply he turned to the formation of soldiers behind him. "Destroy them all!"
Continued in Chapter 12