Shadowrun: Return to Sender Chapter 9: Nanciscor Astralis, a shadowrun fanfic

Thank-you to those still sticking with my story. I hope you all enjoy.

Return to Sender Chapter 9: Nanciscor Astralis

As Akiko entered the bedroom, Susie was snugging up a pair of black tights. She started pulling a pair of stretch pants over the tights as she said to Akiko, "There's a problem with the crate."

Akiko digested that for a moment and asked, "What sort of problem?"

"Somehow the crate got disassembled," Susie replied.

Akiko crossed her arms and asked, "What do you mean 'disassembled?'"

"I mean every plank and nail that made the crate is stacked off to the side," Susie replied.

As Susie pulled a sweatshirt out of a drawer, Akiko considered her next question. "And what is inside?" Akiko asked.

Susie sat down on the clothes and equipment-cluttered floor. "There's a sarcophagus inside, and it's absolutely glowing with magical energy," she said as she slipped her foot into an athletic shoe.

"So what are you going to do?" Akiko asked.

Done with her first shoe, Susie crawled around in the disorderly mess of the floor. "Where the hell is my other gym shoe?" she said under her breath. Susie yanked an athletic shoe out from under the bed with a fierce, "Ah-HA!" As she laced it up she said, "First I'm going to heal up our street sammy, and then I need to astrally project and see what the sarcophagus is about."

Akiko knew from experience with mages that magical work was often draining both physically and mentally. She knew from long experience with her friend that Susie was likely to extend herself past the limitations of her body. "If you are casting many spells today you should finish your breakfast first. You will need your strength," Akiko said.

Susie pulled her head through the neck of her sweatshirt, her mass of curls bouncing. The front of the black sweatshirt was emblazoned with silver cursive script which read 'Tops and Bottoms' with the subscript '(for the discriminating individual)'. Susie grabbed her armband and Briosaid from the top of her dresser. She rolled her heterochromic eyes dramatically and patted Akiko on the cheek. "Yes, my Nee-chan," she said amenably.

Susie had used the intimate Japanese address for 'big sister'. It was sometimes an inside joke between them, especially when Akiko was trying to caution Susie. Akiko sighed and said, "I am barely a year older than you."

Susie gave her friend a grin and said, "I know," as she breezed past Akiko down the stairs. Even though the news still droned on from the trideo it seemed everyone was ignoring it. Susie laid the still sheathed Briosaid on a side table and slid her armband onto her wrist beneath the cuff of the sweatshirt. Before Susie could sit down to resume her breakfast, Neon snatched up her plate and popped it in the microwave to reheat it. As the oven dinged Neon refilled the mage's cup with fresh soykaf.

As Susie wolfed down the remainder of her breakfast Kill Switch shook his head and said. "Very classy."

Susie shot him a dirty look. "What?" she asked around a mouthful of food. "We've got a lotta stuff to do today so I figured I'd hurry up and finish."

The twins jerked their heads around in surprise. "What all do we need to do?" Zag asked.

Akiko reappeared from upstairs, fully dressed in borrowed clothing. As she silently resumed her seat at the table, Cole took a sip of his soykaf and said, "Well I think we need to figure out a way to get our gear from the unfinished house up in Greenwood," he said. "If we don't," he added, "then most of us need to hit our doss or the mall for some more clothes."

"I have equipment there I would rather not leave behind," Akiko said. The twins nodded in unison.

Kill Switch sighed and said, "Eish, this is so totally befok...but you're right." The dwarf half-shrugged and added, "Ah well, I needed to run by my workshop and grab something for the truck anyway."

"Well since you're going out, howzabout you and Zag run out to Greenwood and grab the gear?" Cole asked.

Kill Switch sat thinking for a few seconds, his face screwed up in concentration. "Sure. We can hoof it in on foot from the trees on the north side of the complex, then run out a few bags of gear."

"Please make sure my case is among them?" Akiko asked.

Kill Switch nodded and pushed himself back from the table. Cole flicked a glance at Susie. She raised an eyebrow and imperceptibly shrugged. As the dwarf was about to heave to his feet, Cole held up a hand and said, "Hang on a sec', chummer, there's more." Everyone looked at Cole as Kill Switch sat back in his chair. The ork cleared his throat and said, "I have something I need to tell you all."

A particularly annoying commercial came on the trideo, advertising for 'Nor-Pac Wireless, for all of your Matrix surfing, computing and simsense entertainment needs! (a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuchi Industrial Electronics)'. The volume sounded cranked up all the way to eleven. Even though the old USA had passed legislation for feature/commercial volume transition back in the 2010's, the megacorps simply started ignoring it by the '30's.

Cole winced noise and asked, "Neon can you shut off this drek?" Neon glanced at the trideo screen, sending the signal to cause it to go blank. Cole took a deep breath and said, "All right...this morning, when I woke up, I noticed that something was...different...with our stolen cargo."

Kill Switch looked around the table at the faces of his team members and asked, "Different? Howzat?"

The ork looked uncomfortable as he said, "It seems the crate has...sort of come apart."

Everyone stared at Cole, digesting what he had said. Neon was the first to speak. "'Come apart' how, exactly?" she asked.

Cole glanced again at Susie. She took the hint and said, "Magically." Neon gasped quietly. Susie shrugged and added, "Exactly how it occurred, I haven't had time to figure out, yet."

Kill Switch narrowed his eyes in anger. He crossed his arms and harshly asked, "Really? And why not? What could possibly more important than figuring this out?"

Susie faced the dwarf, her heterochromic eyes flashing in irritation. She started to drum her fingers on the table, the crimson-painted nails chattering with an almost glass-like sound. "Hmm...let's think about that, shall we? 'What could possibly be more important'? Maybe I needed to eat to recoup some energy after dueling with that spirit, or after swatting that helicopter last night." Susie paused, crossing her arms before spitting out, "Twice." She cocked her head to the side and asked, "Did you think either of those was easy?"

The dwarf glared back at her. "I never said they were,"he replied through clenched teeth.

Susie cupped her chin, placing a finger across her mouth in an imitation of thinking. "Or maybe I felt it was critical that I use some of my regained energy to heal up Zig," she said. "Unless you'd like to jander on in to Seattle General." She paused as everyone watched Kill Switch's anger vanish into embarrassment. In low voice, Susie added one last thing. "Or maybe, just maybe, instead of rushing into this problem, swinging my sword over my head like some crazed, retarded banshee, I thought it was a good idea to carefully and methodically inspect what happened to the crate."

The dwarf looked down at his lap. Cole uneasily cleared his throat into the silence and said, "Why don't we all run downstairs so you can see what happened to the crate while Susie works on Zig?" There were a few murmurs of assent from the group. Everyone except Zig and Susie rose to their feet and tromped down the stairs, Cole in the lead, Akiko in the rear.

Once the group was out of sight on the stairs, Susie rose and claimed the seat Zag had just vacated. She sat down in a huff and asked almost to herself, "Why is it every time I think the dwarf shows some signs of being human, the bastard suddenly surrounds himself in a cloud of pure asshole?"

Zig cleared his throat and said, "I've noticed you give as good as you get...sometimes more." When Susie made no comment Zig quickly added, "I'm just sayin'..."

The mage looked up at him through her lashes and sighed. Shrugging her shoulders she said, "I guess you're right. I should probably cut him a little more slack. We're all a little edgy about this situation."

Susie took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She caressed the armband on her wrist to activate it. The magical power contained in the armband came to life, increasing her abilities. Susie began speaking in Irish Gaelic, using it as a centering ritual to help her resist the drain of the healing spell.

"How long will you need?" Zig asked quietly, so as not to break the mage's concentration.

Susie paused in her chanting and said, "I'm never completely sure, but I'm feeling pretty good about it this morning." She pursed her lips to the side in thought and added, "Maybe twenty minutes or so." Susie gathered her power again, drawing the mana into herself. She slipped one hand inside Zig's shirt, touching the bandages covering the gunshot. The other she lay on his ribs below the wound. Susie took a quick breath and then started passing the power through his body.

With healing magic, the recipient had to be willing to receive it. This willingness made the overall ambience and experience of using healing spells different than combat or manipulation spells. For Susie, the sensation of using light to moderate healing magic was often like a good workout session. It left her with a slight feeling of contentment, pleasantly tired, her muscles tingling. Many that received healing magic were often at death's door, unconscious and unable to fully appreciate the experience. The feelings and sensations experienced varied widely: each person was different.

For Zig, the power flowing through him at first felt like a cold drink of water on a hot day. All of his nerves suddenly became alive, but in a most pleasant way, much like standing exposed to the breeze on a summer afternoon, or taking a dip in the pool. A deep sense of satisfaction, lassitude, and euphoria settled into his body and psyche. Slowly glancing around the room he noticed the entire world seemed to have a sparkle and glow he had never seen before. The lamps in the room had brilliant glowing starbursts around them. The pale daylight coming through the windows was stunningly pearlescent.

His gaze settled on Susie as she worked her art. She was no longer speaking, quiet as she channeled the healing power into him. The writing on her sweatshirt dazzled like burning silver, and she seemed limned by a rainbow. Susie glanced up at him, one dark eyebrow arched. Her eyes glittered and sparkled with an almost gemlike light: the right one a chip of green agate, the left a nearly indigo piece of lapis.

"I never noticed your eyes were two different colors," Zig said in a dreamy, far away voice.

"It's the Mark of the Fey," Susie replied. Zig had no idea what that meant, but he was entranced by her voice: she seemed to speak music. "How are you feeling?" Susie asked.

"I feel good," Zig said. "I mean really, really good." He had never been conscious for healing magic before, and found the experience deeply satisfying on a level he never imagined. Unable to drag his eyes away from the light show surrounding the mage he said, "The dwarf called you Irish. You don't sound like you're from Tir na nOg?" he asked.

"My grandmother was Irish," Susie replied. Adopting a thick Irish brogue she said, "But I ken sound like her, iffn' the mood takes me, boyo."

"Wow..." Zig said, entranced with the sound of the foreign accent. He stared at her a moment more, watching the nearly kaleidoscopic radiance of her eyes.

She caught him staring, gave him a half smile and said, "What is it?"

"Your eyes are just...so...pretty," he breathed, hoping she would speak again.

Susie gave him a knowing look and chuckled as she said, "Oh, so you're one of those ones." Zig gave her a goofy smile in return, not sure what she was talking about. "Just close your eyes and relax," she said. "You might find what's going on in your mind's eye more interesting." Zig did as she suggested, and found he could not disagree.

When Cole and the team reached the bottom of the stairs, and most got their first look at the altered crate, Neon gasped. The group walked over to get a closer look, although no one dared to touch the sarcophagus. They stared at it in rapt attention.

Kill Switch's hand clutched his shirt, just below his throat. "It was just like this when you woke up?" he asked Cole. The ork slowly nodded. "And you didn't hear anything?" Kill Switch asked.

"No, nothing," Cole replied quietly. He was getting a bad vibe from this thing.

Zag said nothing. He slowly walked around the truck, hands on his hips. Cole noticed that Zag, while giving an outward appearance of calm, was continuously fiddling with the right side of his waist. "He's twitching for the gun he usually wears,"Cole thought.

Neon was breathing heavily, refusing to get any closer than ten feet away. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, either in protection or from the chill in the air. Taking a shuddering breath she asked, "Can we get some pictures of this thing? I want to see if I can find anything about it on the Matrix."

"I can record some images," Akiko said. From her pocket she removed the recording chip she had brought from upstairs. Akiko slotted the chip into her jack and slowly circled the truck, using her eyes to record images of the object to the chip, making sure to focus in on each of the carved symbols. Akiko felt a vague sense of unease around the sarcophagus, an odd disquiet, but the feeling was fleeting. She finished taking images and video, disengaging the chip from her jack. Akiko held it out to Neon who took it without a word.

Kill Switch blew a breath past his lips, his head twitching back in surprise at his visible breath. Checking his timepiece he said, "I'm gonna run to my shop and grab some tools and stuff." He glanced and motioned to Zag as he continued, "Once I get my crap, I'll come back and pick you up so we can run out to Greenwood."

"I can help you with your gear, if you want," Zag said absently, his attention still mostly consumed with the sarcophagus.

Suddenly looking more uncomfortable the dwarf said, "Uh...that's all right. I can get it myself." He paused, then shrugged and said, "Besides, the place is a mess since I gave the maid the week off."

Zag nodded and said, "So ka."

Kill Switch fished around in his pocket for the remote to the roadster. As he opened the driver's door he turned back to the group and said, "Anybody need anything else while I'm out? Now's your chance 'cause I think Zag'n me will be all full up on the next trip."

"I'll probably be in cyberspace when you leave again, so please make sure you bring my bag when you get the rest of our gear." Neon said to the dwarf. She prevaricated for a moment and then blurted, "It has my meds inside, and if I don't get them back, I'll need to get more ASAP."

"Uh...yeah sure. I'll make sure I bring your bag," Kill Switch said, looking and sounding slightly confused. "Which one is yours, girlie?" he asked.

Neon gave him a slight smile and said, "I don't think you can miss it. It should be the only completely fabulous bag in the house. Just be gentle with it: the meds are injectable."

"Null sheen," he said. "Fabulous bag: be gentle." Kill Switch slid behind the wheel and slotted the control cables. He started up the roadster and turned it around while Akiko tripped the door from the controller in her pocket. The dwarf stopped next to Cole on his way out. Kill Switch jerked his head and said, "Aweh, Cole." The ork took the hint and leaned in the open window. "Try and make sure our spell-singer gets on this as soon as she's done playing doctor," the dwarf said. Cole nodded and stood back up straight, backing away from the roadster. Kill Switch closed the window and gave them all a wave as he drove out into the grey December daylight.

Cole sauntered over to where Neon, Akiko, and Zag were standing staring at the sarcophagus. Neon abruptly started shivering. Through chattering teeth she said, "I didn't know Seattle got so cold!" She shook her head and added, "I'm going back upstairs where it's warm." Neon turned back at the first landing and said, "I'll jack in and try and scope some info on the sarcophagus."

"Would you please ask Susie to come down when she and Zig are finished?" Cole asked. Neon nodded and then finished climbing the stairs.

At the top of the stairs Neon saw Susie had moved Zig to the loveseat, her spell complete. The blonde man's chiseled features were slack as his large body leaned back into the cushions.Neon tiptoed overto where Susie stood and whispered, "Is he asleep?" Before the mage could reply, Zig's eyes popped open. He rubbed his face and looked around the room, tentatively pressing his fingers against where his wound had been. He smiled at the lack of pain.

"I can't help much with the scarring, but all of the actual damage is completely healed," Susie said. She turned back to the to the table, picked up her mug and swallowed the last of her soykaf.

As Susie was drinking her caffeine, Neon read off the back of Susie's shirt that Tops and Bottoms supplied everything for "all of your fetish needs". The address was over on Seneca, in the Downtown District. "Is that a magic shop?" Neon asked the mage.

Susie snapped around and said, "What?"

"Your shirt," Neon said. She gestured at the writing and asked, "Is it a place where you get fetishes and potions and magic ingredients?"

Susie smiled mysteriously and said, "No, not exactly."

Neon lowered her voice and quietly said, "Cole wanted me to ask you to please come downstairs when you and Zig were done."

Susie nodded as she moved into the kitchen and dropped her mug in the sink. She flicked her gaze across the epic-level destruction of the kitchen from breakfast. Susie was not always quick to clean up, but even she could not leave a mess of these proportions for later. As Susie started to collect the various cups, plates, and silverware from breakfast, Neon rushed over and said, "Oh, please let me do that. You've got other stuff to do."

"Uh, thanks," Susie replied. Neon shooed Susie out of the kitchen and started clearing the breakfast mess, turning on the music.

Zig stood up and headed across the living room area to the kitchen, stopping in front of Susie. Zig rotated his arm and shoulder and said, "Thanks. This feels great."

Susie shrugged and said, "Null sheen. That's my job."

As she moved past Zig towards the stairs, Zig cleared his throat loudly to regain the mage's attention. She turned back at the top of the stairs. Blushing slightly Zig said, "Uh...about how I was acting earlier..."

Susie shook her head. With a ghost of a smile she said, "Don't worry about it. Healing magic effects everyone differently. Some get the giggles, a rare few sleep immediately, and some get frisky. You're one of those people that have a bit of a psychedelic experience."

Zig nodded in thanks and turned to help Neon with the dishes as Susie opened a closet next to the stairwell. She slipped on a white winter vest, pulling a pair of gloves out of the pockets. Susie donned the gloves, grabbed her sword from the side table, and went downstairs.

Zag passed her on the stairs. He nodded and said, "Good luck." Susie smiled in thanks and continued down to find Cole and Akiko sitting at the bottom, waiting for her. Susie sat down with them on the stair above, pulling out a pair of white earmuffs. Cole took in her cold weather clothing and lightly asked, "Are we heading to the Yukon?"

Susie snorted and said, "Well it is pretty cold today for Seattle, even in December." As she tucked some earmuffs around the back of her head under her hair she continued, "I don't know how long I'll be gone. I just wanted to make sure my body doesn't suffer down here."

Akiko was familiar with Susie astrally projecting. She had often watched over her friend's body during the exercise. With a hint of concern Akiko said, "You could simply project from your bedroom where it is warm and safe."

"Believe me, I considered it," Susie replied. "But I have this feeling I should be near it when I'm on the astral." She stared at the flatbed and its cargo for a moment and said, "Maybe we should move the truck a little closer to the stairs."

Cole jumped to his feet and crossed the floor to the flatbed. He maneuvered the truck to park it at an angle, less than ten feet from the bottom of the stairs. The sharp, pungent odor of gasohol fumes wafted around the sitting women. As Cole climbed out of the cab he said, "Kill Switch said he was getting 'something for the truck'. I think I know what he's going to do, but I'm not positive so I wanted to make sure he would have room to get all of the way around it."

Looking slightly apprehensive Susie said, "He can't move the truck with me on it while I'm gone. I don't want to have to hunt around for my body."

"I will make sure the truck does not move," Akiko assured her.

Susie smiled her thanks. She placed her sword on the bed of the truck and climbed up to sit behind the cab. Susie sat cross-legged, back braced against the rear window. She drew Briosaid and set the leaf-shaped blade across her thighs. In the pale grey daylight, the orichalcum edges of the sword flickered with a strange orange-gold radiance. As Susie shifted around to get comfortable for the duration, she could feel the chill from the metal diamond-plate bed, even through her pants and tights. "My butt is going to be so numb before I'm finished," she ruefully thought.

Cole stood at the bottom of the stairs. He had had little chance to be present when a mage or shaman had gone fully astral. "Is there anything you need me to do?" Cole asked.

Susie opened her two-color eyes and looked at Akiko and Cole. "No nothing special: just don't move me, or let my body be harmed physically," she replied. "You can sit and keep Akiko company." Susie shrugged and added, "Or you can go upstairs and help Neon with the dishes."

Cole coughed and said, "I think I'll just hang out down here for a bit."

With a knowing smile Susie said, "Suit yourself."

"Be careful," Akiko said.

Her smile turned to a impish grin as she nodded and replied, "Yes, my Nee-chan. You know I am the soul of discrete caution." Susie winked at them and closed her eyes saying, "Catch you later."

The world changed for Susie as she entered the astral plane. Anything non-magical or non-living faded, becoming vague like shadows yet still opaque. All artificial things shifted into varying shades of grey. Any natural objects had a washed out appearance, the colors faded and pale. Living beings, while appearing as they actually were, also had a similar washed-out look. The colorful surrounding aura was the most visible aspect of living beings. Most spirits appeared in their true forms, although they could enhance those forms. Only very strong spirits, mostly free, or Great Aspect, or the most powerful elementals could appear as they liked. Those types could drastically change their appearance although they could not hide that they were spirits.

Susie stood over her physical body in her astral form of Morrigan the Phantom Queen. She looked over at Cole and Akiko, spending a moment viewing their auras. Cole's aura was brighter, a gold-tinged red. It carried only a few black spots to indicate where his cyberware had destroyed his vital essence. Akiko's blue-green aura was nearly non-existent. Large black splotches were scattered all over her aura from her extensive bodyware. Susie was glad that Akiko's enhancements were all newer generation machines. It was unlikely her friend would ever suffer from the same sort of cyber-replacement mental instability that had plagued her Charles.

Susie turned her perception to the sarcophagus. The cloud of surrounding magic was much more diffuse than earlier. The sparkling bands of energy that wrapped around the stone slowly throbbed in sequence. She squatted down next to it to get a better look at the hieroglyphs. Some of the symbols that adorned the rim of the sarcophagus glowed ever so faintly, declaring them as spells of some sort. Susie recognized none of the spells around the lid and box. Clearly the energy bands were some sort of powerful dweomercraeft to keep the lid closed, but she had never seen their like. She dredged all of the knowledge she had learned in her time at MIT&T for anything resembling this enchantment and came up with nothing. How or why this stone box had been prepared and sealed was beyond her knowledge. Susie glided around to the other side of the sarcophagus to inspect the thread of power passing to the west. She passed her astral hand close to it, feeling the energy of the spell reverberate. Despite its apparent thinness, it certainly felt powerful...powerful enough that she should probably not actually touch it. Her gaze marked its trail out through the wall of her building, still pointing west.

"Isn't it interesting, Tabitha?" a whisper asked. The voice was sibilant, icy, and inhuman.

Susie took a deep breath and turned to the whisper. Piru had chosen to manifest in one of its less repulsive astral forms. It sat on the back of the flatbed behind the sarcophagus: a shadowy vaguely saurian shape crossed with a winged humanoid. It very much gave the impression of something demonic. Its eyes were still two bright bits of glimmering fire: one green the other blue.

She guessed that Piru was only manifesting here on the astral as Cole and Akiko did nothing to indicate they heard or saw the spirit. Susie gestured at the stacks of lumber and fasteners. "Are you responsible for this, Piru?" she demanded.

The spirit made a sound that Susie took as a chuckle. "And if I am?" it hissed.

Susie's eyes sparked in anger. "Do not push me! What the hell were you thinking? If you did this you may have endangered us..."

Piru cut her off saying, "Did you enjoy your dream, little Tabby-Cat?" When Susie didn't answer the spirit continued, "I have to admit: even though it was...unexpected...I enjoyed you experiencing it. So much of what you are makes more sense to me now."

"One day, Piru," Susie growled, "and you're going to go too far with me."

The strange chuckling noise came from the spirit again. "Maybe so, little Tabby-Cat, maybe so...but not today." As it started fade it said, "I hope you have fun on your trip...at least as much fun as I'm having right here."

Once Piru was gone, Susie looked back at Cole and Akiko. They still showed no sign of sensing her interaction with Piru. She flexed her glossy black wings and took flight, following the tendril out through her walls, over the railyards and beneath the viaduct. The silvery-white thread was difficult to follow through the buildings, forcing her to traverse astral space much slower than she normally did. Ordinarily, she was capable of astral speeds in the thousands of kilometers per hour. Once she cleared Harbor Island, she could see that the power trail led southwest rather than due west. Without so many buildings in the way, Susie was able to follow the trail faster across the Sound before skirting around the Bangor Trident Naval Base. Susie flew above the Sun-a-doh Forest, what was formerly the Olympic State Forest before the Treaty of Denver gave those lands back to the Salish tribes. Even though the trees in the forest were more numerous than the buildings of the city, Susie found it easier to navigate to follow the trail. She flew through the mountains, The Brothers passing on her left and Mt. Constance on her right. Susie could see the glow of some sort of ritual magic taking place out in the forest, but it did not lie on her course.

And then suddenly the land gave way: she was over the Pacific Ocean. The tendril of power stood out prominently against the heaving water. Susie increased her speed as she flew across the sea. The path of the energy was more southwest than west, towards the Kingdom of Hawai'i. Susie was able to fly in sprints and periodically slow down to make sure she was still following the trail.

After nearly two hours, Susie passed over one of the main north-south energy lines. Since the Awakening (and the return of higher levels of mana) all of the old ley lines, energy points, and magical vortices became much more active. A network of magical energy now wrapped around the Earth. The strands of the net could be sensed, and in some places tapped, particularly at a juncture. When Susie crossed the line she felt an instant of disorientation, and then flew onward.

The silvery thread of energy had vanished beyond the energy line. Susie carefully backtracked and found the power tendril had split, roughly following the main energy line north and south. "Well, damn," Susie said to herself. "Which way do I go? North or south?" She examined the silvery thread, and could detect nothing different about the two branches. North and south seemed identical.

Susie hovered thinking: to the north were Yakut...Russia...the Athabaskan and Aleut Council lands...and the Arctic Circle, to the south were Hawai'i... Samoa...Ponape...Nan Madol...Antarctica...the Pacific pole of inaccessibility...and supposedly under that pole, Cthulhu's sunken city of R'lyeh. Abruptly Susie turned and followed the tendril north. With visions of Lovecraftian monstrosities filling her head she thought, "NOTHING good ever comes out of the South Pacific."

The thread followed the energy line into the North Pacific. It followed closely enough that Susie ramped up to her full astral speed and just rode the powerline. The water blurred beneath her as she sped north to find whatever was at the end of the thread. In about an hour, Susie could see the glorious blaze of the Aurora Borealis across the horizon. Even though the Aurora was normally invisible by day, it was easily visible by day or night on the astral plane. Today it swirled in pink and yellow.

Susie came to a stop once she saw the Aurora. Less than a hundred kilometers north of her position was the old Amchitka Island Nuclear Test Facility. Wherever there had been nuclear detonations, either for war or testing, the Earth and her network of mana had been severely disrupted. Detonation sites and the surrounding areas often produced a very high magical background count. The magical community adopted the term 'Null Sites' or 'Null Zones' for places of catastrophic directed damage or hideous psychic misery. In any place with a high magical background count, practicing magic became difficult if not impossible. Mages and shamans had found mental fatigue set in quickly, occasionally their abilities ceasing to function, and sometimes particularly sensitive practitioners actually suffered physical damage.

Susie slowly advanced north, seriously doubting whatever was at the terminus of the thread was actually on Amchitka Island. Any place with such a high background count would make magic of this order nigh on impossible. "It must be nearby," she thought. That actually made a great deal of sense. All of the permanent Null Sites were relatively well known, and mages, shamans, and sometimes even spirits avoided them. Whatever was at the end could be using Amchitka Island as camouflage.

Susie flew wide to the east to avoid the Null Site. She could see how the island disturbed astral space, the disturbance bearing a striking resemblance to a multi-tiered mushroom cloud. However, not as far along the Aleutian chain, just east of the Site, Susie perceived a small, brightly glowing area, just along the edge of the Null Zone. She smiled at the cleverness of whoever was responsible for this setup: it was pure genius to hide it in the glow of a nuclear test site. Susie flew down from her height, anxious to see what was anchoring the power thread.

Before she had gone far, she saw two dots approaching, fast as thought. Susie perceived in an instant that the dots were a pair of air elementals, coming on fast. She pulled up short and turned as they streaked towards her. Susie was unsure if these were the only spirits protecting the place, or merely the first of many. Susie was very far from her body. She did not want to run the risk of being unable to vanquish the elementals, or be delayed long enough that her physical body expired without her astral form. She only had about three hours left before her body would die.

As fast as she could she fled, streaking southeast towards Seattle and her physical body. She flew backwards to keep the elementals in view. Their speed was incredible, easily a match for her own. In a few moments they had caught up to her, their grey wraith-like forms fully visible. Susie felt one of them trying to use its abilities to slow her down. She resisted the slowing effects, immediately changing direction and moving to attack them, realizing she needed to disperse them as the elementals could outrun her. Briosaid leapt from the scabbard, bursting into golden incandescent flame as she attacked.

As beings of purely astral form, both elemental spirits were faster than Susie. Eyes glowing a brilliant white, they swirled around her at lightning speeds, not refusing a 'physical' fight. As she defended herself from their attacks, her astral form shifted slightly with the changed conflict: glittering black armor manifested on her torso and shoulders, indicative of the power she was using for magical resistance. The spirits tore at her, ripping her metallic indigo robe, knocking her about the sky. She made no attempt to parry, instead using all of her energy to attack one of the elementals with Briosaid.

The leaf-blade swung around too fast to see, leaving a halo tracer across the astral sky as Susie cleaved the elemental. It keened in pain, shedding off some of its essence as her magesword struck home. The second elemental took the opportunity to strike her again. Susie's astral body reflected what the blow would have been like in the material world by loosing a double handful of feathers from her wings, and leaving a deep dent in her now-cracked back-plate.

Susie spun and cast a spell at her attacker. On the astral plane, spells took on the forms of living creatures. Her mana bolt manifested as a miniature glowing azure jaguar. It leapt, snarling and slashing at the elemental. The air elemental tried to evade it but was unable. The cat latched onto the spirit's side and raked down the torso with its hind claws, the spell doing its damage, hurling away chunks of the elemental's essence. In the blink of an eye the jaguar was gone, the energy of the spell consumed.

Susie took the opportunity to try and escape, flying once more closer to her body, hoping the damage she inflicted slowed them down. The air elementals gave chase again and within minutes they caught her again. Both air spirits suddenly manifested long whipcord arms, their fingers tipped with talons of milky ice. They both grabbed the mage, slashing her legs and wings, leaving deep rents in her armor, shredding her robe further. Susie shrieked in pain as her mind mimicked the physical damage. She had a moment to slash one of the elementals with Briosaid, clipping off more of its essence.

The other elemental made a clasping motion with its arms. The spirit's engulfing power manifested as a pitch black manta ray. The manta flashed across the short distance and caught Susie around her hips, torso, and one wing. She immediately shunted some of her power to resist the manta, but was only partially successful. It tightened and then vanished, its eldritch energy dragging a groan of pain from the mage. "I'm sure by now Akiko and Cole can tell that I'm fighting," Susie thought. Surely they could see some damage appearing on her physical body.

The first elemental came back at her, trying to slash her with its talons. Susie swung Briosaid to parry, the orichalcum edge blocking its attack. She whipped the sword around in a glowing arc, once again fast enough to leave a tracer. Susie snapped it around at the last millisecond, turning the slash into a thrust, and Briosaid's leaf-shaped blade pierced the armpit of the spirit. It gave a whistling wail, and then vanished.

She had scant chance to savor her victory. The remaining spirit shoved out with both of its fists, using its psychokinesis ability to batter her. The power manifested as a dog-sized gorilla. Susie tried to parry with Briosaid as the gorilla pummeled her. She was able to fend off most of the gorilla's attack, only getting grazing blows to her head and shoulder. The energy of the psychokinesis dissipated, leaving her to face the elemental. Susie was beginning to tire.

"Piru!" Susie yelled in desperation. "Piru, please I need you!" she yelled again. When the free spirit did not appear she called, "Please, please come help me!" The mercurial spirit still did not answer her plea. With a deep breath, Susie steeled herself to try and destroy the last air elemental on her own.

Abruptly she felt a small surge of energy pushing back her fatigue. Akiko or Cole must be performing first aid on her physical body. Susie was glad Akiko had so much experience with situations like this, recognizing when Susie's body was being injured from astral combat. Her friends fixing up the damage her body received was vital if she was going to be able to finish off the second air elemental.

Susie took advantage of the new strength and fled again, her attacker immediately in pursuit. As before, it was simply too fast for her to evade it for very long. "I need to end this fight soon," Susie thought. She flipped herself around, again flying backwards, watching the spirit close the distance between them. Susie's fury rose as she decided that, no matter what, this elemental would soon be dead and gone. With a cruel smile she whispered to herself, "Keep on coming, you son-of-a-bitch. I'm going to sink my teeth into you and not let go."

Susie gathered her power, drawing in so much it almost hurt, and then abruptly stopped her flight, arms held wide. Once again the air elemental did not refuse a physical fight, crashing into her, the icy talons trying to wrench away Briosaid. They fell as they struggled, whirling and spiraling in the long fall to the sea. Susie grabbed the elemental with both hands and wrapped her legs tightly around its wraith-like form. She released the sword grip, letting Briosaid hang from the wrist thong, her armor falling away as she pulled in the last of her power, leaving none to resist the drain. The spirit gave a howl and tried to escape. Susie held it tight and shrieked, "I'M TAKING YOU OUT!!" Then she released her power, casting the spell.

From the earlier visions of Lovecraftian Elder horrors in her mind, her Death Touch spell manifested as masses of black-green tentacles slithering out from Susie's body. The slime-tinged tentacles wrapped around the air elemental, writhing all over the spirit's form. Screeching, it tried to resist, tearing at her arms and wings. Susie matched it with a vicious shout, forcing the octopoid tentacles tighter. The spirit gave a keening wail, unable to escape, crushed smaller and smaller by the spell. At last, with a small burst of energy, her spell finally won out and the elemental vanished as the Pacific rushed up to meet them. Susie screamed in agony as the drain of the spell sucked out her vital energy. The drain pushed her into unconsciousness at the very instant her limp astral form plunged into the sea.

Susie awoke floating in the astral shadow of the Pacific Ocean. As was typical on the astral plane, she was not in the precise spot where she lost consciousness. Astral space had its own currents and flows. Only through strength of will could one resist the slight drift and Susie lost that ability once unconsciousness took her.

Luckily she had drifted roughly to the south, and while she was not necessarily closer to Seattle she was not further. Susie quickly looked at the sun and realized she had been unconscious for at least an hour. She guessed she only had about forty-five minutes before her physical body expired. Susie gathered her meager strength, sheathed Briosaid, and launched her battered astral form out of the water.

Susie flew as fast as she could, not quite matching her normal top speed, but fast enough to get home before her body expired. In less than twenty minutes the familiar shapes of The Brothers, Mt. Constance and Mt. Olympus rose from the horizon. She absently noted the ritual magic in the woods from earlier seemed to be finished. Seconds after that her converted warehouse home was visible. Susie flashed through the ground floor wall. As before, the silvery thread from the sarcophagus still projected through the wall. Besides the tendril she could see the auras and forms of Akiko and Kill Switch. The dwarf was working on the truck, his short body half sticking out of the cab, head and shoulders thrust up under the dash, his aura showing he was working diligently to push aside his worry. Akiko was on the flatbed, crouching next to Susie's physical body, her aura tightened and tuned up in genuine fear. There was no sign of Cole.

Susie took one last moment to check the sarcophagus. The silvery thread of energy was still intact, writhing slightly as if in a gentle breeze. The electric-blue bands of power still throbbed in synchronization. Susie looked for Piru, glancing around the lower level, but the spirit was nowhere to be found. Barely able to keep her astral feet, she leaned down and fell into her physical body.

Akiko crouched protectively over Susie's physical body, hoping she would return soon. Akiko had a countdown running in her eyes. Susie had told her many times that she could only astrally travel for about seven hours at a time before needing to return to her body. The time was nearly finished, the cold grey day almost having surrendered to twilight and soon to night.

Hours earlier, Akiko and Cole had watched in shocked horror as blood started oozing out of Susie's nose and mouth. Luckily, Kill Switch and Zag had already returned from the Greenwood house with most of the team's gear, including the Medkit. Cole, whose first aid skill was greater than Akiko's, immediately took charge of treating Susie's injuries. In conjunction with the Medkit diagnostic computer they had treated her wounds enough to prevent the comatose mage from having any permanent injury. Every member of the team had offered to help, even Kill Switch. Cole and Akiko had to refuse them, as the space on the flatbed was too small. That touched off a short argument on whether or not to move Susie upstairs.

Akiko stressed that Susie might return with only seconds to spare, and could not waste any time searching for her body even if only moved a few feet. Zag has sounded incredulous about that statement, but surprisingly, Kill Switch had supported Akiko. The dwarf quickly explained that Susie's physical body would have no aura as it was with her astral body. She would literally have to trip over her body to find it.

Once Susie's injuries started, Akiko had applied a stim patch to counteract magical exhaustion. Wherever her friend's astral body was located, Akiko was certain she was burning up the magic. Once Susie's injuries had stopped progressing, Cole had taken a break to go eat. Akiko could not leave her friend, not even for a much-needed trip to the bathroom.

Suddenly Susie's back arched, startling Akiko. The two-color eyes shot open and a gasp escaped her mouth. Akiko grabbed Susie's shoulders to hold her down. Susie slumped back down immediately, her body limp. She groaned loudly and said, "Holy shite do I hurt."

"We did not dare give you pain killers while you were gone," Akiko said as she quickly removed the oxy-hoses from Susie's nostrils and peeled back a slap patch. "Cole and the Medkit diagnostic were afraid you might slip into a real coma." Akiko stuck the pain killer patch to Susie's neck. The mage was visibly relieved as the medication took almost immediate effect. "Do you want another stim patch?"

"No, I just need some sleep," Susie said to her friend. Akiko simply nodded. The Asian woman dropped off the flatbed and supported Susie as she eased down to the ground, the magesword clattering onto the bed of the truck. As she stood upright Susie nearly swooned, but Akiko prevented her from falling to the concrete. She grasped Briosaid and sheathed the magesword.

Kill Switch crawled out from under the dash and said, "Hoi, girlie. Welcome back."

Susie nodded weakly and said, "Thanks. It's good to be back."

Cole appeared on the stairs, munching on a PowerSoy energy bar. As soon as he saw Akiko helping Susie, he stuffed the remainder of the bar in his mouth and rushed down to them. Cole immediately slipped under Susie's arm to help Akiko support her, but the disparity in height between the ork and Asian woman was too great. "This isn't going to work," he said. Clucking his tongue he jazzed his muscles, changed positions, and simply picked Susie up off her feet.

Cole grunted softly as he picked her up. He was surprised at Susie's weight, knowing she had no cyberware. "You're heavier than you look," he said.

Kill Switch snickered. "It's all those doughnuts," he quipped through his smirk, unable to resist.

"I have thick bones," Susie said, "plus I'm still carrying Briosaid." Kill Switch chuckled as he followed them, hefting the Medkit. Susie passed her magesword to Akiko.

Cole carried Susie up the stairs, Akiko and the dwarf right behind him. As he carried her, Cole was surprised at how much heat she radiated. "How do you feel?" he asked.

"Like somebody threw me out of a moving car," she replied. "I just need to sleep off my fatigue and then heal myself up." As the ork rounded the landing at the living room Susie heard the trideo and the quick murmur the twins gave as they saw Cole carrying her. Neon made no sound, her consciousness out in the Matrix.

Cole shook his head slightly at the twins' unspoken questions as he climbed up to the next level. "What happened out there?" Cole asked her quietly.

"I had a run-in with a pair of elementals," Susie replied in a drifty voice. She suddenly gave a huge yawn and said, "Once I get some sleep I'll give everyone the lowdown on what I found."

As the yawn moved her head against his chest, Cole caught a brief hint of her shampoo: almonds and vanilla. Cole digested her information as he stood at the top of the stairs. Akiko walked past them and said, "Her room is the first on the left. I will return in a moment." Akiko walked quickly to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Cole carried Susie into the indicated room, Kill Switch right behind. A motion sensor turned on the bedside light, dimly revealing the disorder. The ork stepped through the mess of clothes and equipment on the floor and deposited Susie on the side of the bed with the alarm clock. He noticed she was already deeply asleep. Cole pulled off her gym shoes and flipped the covers over the lower half of her body. Kill Switch raised his bushy eyebrows in question and hefted the Medkit to Cole. The ork shook his head, preferring to let the mage sleep naturally. Cole surveyed the room for a moment: despite the mess the room looked and smelled pleasantly of female.

He and Kill Switch absently watched her sleep for a moment, her chest rising and falling smoothly. "She's gotta halfway decent rack on her," the dwarf said conversationally.

Without volition Cole's mind flicked back to earlier this morning, when he had seen her nipples denting her shirt. A little uncomfortable talking about her as if she wasn't there Cole replied, "Yeah, they're okay."

Lowering his voice conspiratorially the dwarf asked, "Could you tell if they were natural?"

"I have no idea, chummer," Cole replied a little exasperatedly. "I didn't grope her, I just carried her up the stairs." A little guiltily, he did remember his appreciation at the heated firmness of her breast against his chest as he carried her, contrasted by the sharpness of her bra underwire poking his arm. Shaking his head the ork said, " Come on let's go."

As he and Kill Switch turned to leave the room, the dwarf turned back and gestured at the sleeping Susie. "You think she'll be okay like that?" he asked. Cole looked confused so Kill Switch continued, "Well, what I mean is: she's still got her cold weather gear on and all...maybe we should...you know..." The dwarf jiggled a thick eyebrow up and down as a lecherous grin stole across his face. "Maybe we should just...loosen her clothes for her, you know, so she's comfortable."

Cole's mouth dropped open in shock. He grabbed the dwarf by the shoulder and dragged him out of the room. Akiko was just exiting the bathroom and coming towards them, still carrying Susie's magesword. Cole propelled the dwarf with a small shove. As they descended the stairs the ork thwacked Kill Switch on the shoulder and whispered, "Jeez, man! You are such a friggin' perv!"

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