A CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Chapter 11: "All's Well That Ends Well?"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic
By Bill K.
In the infirmary room she was now sharing, Hotaru glanced over at her friend. The Princess Usagi Small Lady Chiba (though everyone knew never to call her that) had a sterile, chemically treated bandage wrapped around her waist. The chemicals in the bandage would stimulate cellular regeneration and help heal the knife wound that had sliced through part of her large intestine. It would also provide an antiseptic field in her body to inhibit peritonitis. And, given the Princess's lack of inhibition when it came to displaying her young body, the fact that reconstructive surgery would remove all traces of a scar was welcome news as well.
But Usa's expression was anything but happy.
"Usa?" Hotaru squeaked. "Are you mad at me?"
"I'm mad at me," Usa replied without looking at her. In fact she wouldn't look anywhere except straight ahead. "I handled that guy like an amateur. I was over-confident and I almost got killed for it. And I almost got you killed, too." Finally she turned to her friend. "What were you doing down there anyway?"
"I felt the explosion," Hotaru explained. "I wanted to help."
"Hmm," Usa replied and went back to brooding.
"I didn't want to just sit back and do nothing when people needed help," Hotaru argued.
"At least you did some good," Usa said. "When it came down to it, you did just what you had to do to take that guy down."
"I didn't do it," Hotaru shook her head. "Not consciously, anyway. It just came. I saw the knife and I got scared because I didn't know if I could transform." Her lip quivered. "And the mind bolt came. I didn't want to do it. Mizuno-Sensei says I hurt him permanently. I didn't want that."
"Sometimes people force you to go where you don't want to go because they're too selfish or rotten to stop. It's not your fault. He brought it on himself." Usa pounded her fist into the mattress weakly. "If only I hadn't been so cocky! I was so proud of myself for finding that photo that I forgot who I was dealing with. This guy killed hundreds over his life."
"Usa," Hotaru began.
"I should have known! I should have been smarter!"
"You can't know everything," Hotaru told her. "Even Sherlock Holmes got surprised every once in a while."
"Sherlock who?" the pink Princess asked.
"The detective novels? Don't they have them in the thirtieth century?"
"I guess. I never really was in to ancient literature."
"Thanks. Now I feel a thousand years old," muttered Hotaru.
"Sorry," chuckled Usa. Hotaru glanced at her with a smile and both girls realized that the bonds of friendship were as strong as every. "You don't look it."
"Thank the gods for that!" gasped the girl.
Jaime Ruiz lay in an infirmary bed in the Central Defense and Protection headquarters outside Crystal Tokyo. He didn't move. He couldn't, really. His arms were gnarled and useless. His face was twisted and grotesque. His legs, while still functional, were held to the bed by magnetic shackles. All he could do right now was stare at the ceiling and eat through a tube.
Outside the room, looking at him through an observation glass, were King Endymion and Queen Serenity, along with Chief Nakamura and Theodore Garcia. It was a tense gathering.
"How soon will he be available to transport back to Colombia?" Garcia asked.
"The CDP physician wants to keep him for forty-eight hours to make sure infection doesn't set in," Nakamura explained in his usual blunt manner. "After that, he'll be released into your custody." The Chief glanced at the royal couple. "Provided there are no objections."
"You're certain that he is Ruiz-San?" Serenity asked.
"Our genetics forensics team confirmed his identity to within one-one thousandth of a percent chance for error," Nakamura replied. "Those figures were confirmed by your Dr. Mizuno."
"He's Ruiz," Garcia added. "I can tell by the look in his eye."
"You were sure that other man was Ruiz, as I recall," Endymion pointed out.
"Obviously I was mistaken," Garcia replied with some difficulty. "Perhaps I've been at this too long. Or perhaps I was too anxious to see a murdering butcher like Ruiz come to justice."
"Or maybe your vision was clouded by memories," Serenity offered. "It's understandable. And while his capture won't help the dead, perhaps it can help the living to finally know some peace."
"Maybe so," Garcia responded curtly.
"Garcia-San, may I ask what you intend to do with him once he's back in Colombia?" Serenity asked. "You're not going to execute him, are you?"
"As I said before, that's up to the courts to decide," Garcia responded. "Given all that he's done, I'd say execution is very likely."
Everyone could sense Serenity's distress.
"Would you rather he serve out a prison term like this?" Garcia asked, gesturing to the gnarled, broken man. "I admit, it would be justice of a sort, but if you're thinking is mercy, I hardly think it qualifies. And we're still struggling to recover from Almonte's heel. Caring for him for thirty years in that state is money that can be used to help our poor."
"Our medical technology could restore a lot of his physical abilities," Serenity began.
"We have the technology, too," Garcia cut her off. "But the cost, again, would be better used helping the innocent than the guilty. Queen Serenity, if it seems like I don't care about him, you're right. I don't. I would go in there and shoot him between the eyes if I could. But it isn't what I fought and sacrificed for. However I'm also looking at this from a practical side, rather than an idealistic one. If it comes down to choosing between helping innocents and helping him, I'm going to choose the innocents. Maybe you have the capacity to help everyone. We in Colombia don't. My apologies if that offends you."
"It isn't you giving offense, Garcia-San," Serenity replied charitably. "I suppose it's the situation that offends." She glanced at Endymion and he nodded. "When he's ready to travel, you may take him back to Colombia." She reached out and gently grasped Garcia's sleeve. "But if you can find it in your hearts and in your situation, have mercy. Mercy can be a miraculous healer, Garcia-San."
Nearing the gate, Ves could see a male figure standing with the guards at the front gate guard station. The closer she got, the more she was certain that she didn't recognize this obviously Japanese man.
"Yeah, you wanted me?" Ves challenged him as the guards looked away.
"Vanessa," the Japanese man said with a Spanish accent, "I'm so glad you're not hurt."
"Rodrigo?" she mumbled in shock.
The Japanese man walked up and wrapped his arms around Ves, hugging her to his body. The guards seemed surprised and more than a little curious. However, Ves's reaction was one of conflict. She had given up on seeing him again and she wasn't entirely certain of his feelings. But her body couldn't help but respond.
"I heard about what happened last night," Rodrigo said from behind his holographic disguise after he finally pulled away. "Mother Maria be praised that you're all right."
"Yeah, it got hairy there for a little bit," Ves murmured, her manner subdued. "But I'm OK. What's with the get-up?"
"I'm still a wanted man, remember?" Rodrigo same surreptitiously.
"So I thought your 'business' was done and you were hitting the road?"
"I've hurt you. I apologize for that," Rodrigo offered. "I don't blame you for your suspicions. But at least now you know I'm not Jaime Ruiz. And though I've given you little reason to trust me, I do find you a very attractive woman. I wish things could have been different, but if wishes were beans and rice . . ."
". . .we'd never go hungry again," Ves finished the thought. "Didn't know they had that one in Ecuador, too."
"I think it's common to any place of poverty," Rodrigo mused. "Well, I won't keep you any longer. But if you're ever in Ecuador . . ."
"Look you up?" Ves asked with an arched eyebrow. "I'd have to know your name, first."
"Yes. I suppose," Rodrigo chuckled. "More evidence that it wasn't to be. Well, good-bye Vanessa. Try to think of me fondly one day."
"Hold on a minute," Ves said. Rodrigo turned to her curiously. "This 'business' of yours. It didn't involve King Endymion's computer, did it?"
"Why, Vanessa, I . . ." he began.
"Because you know I can turn into animal forms," Ves continued. "It's one of my 'things'. And I was in animal form last night. And guess whose scent I caught in King Endymion's computer room."
"Really?" Rodrigo replied calmly.
"So maybe you're not Jaime Ruiz," Ves scowled. "Maybe you're just working with him."
"Or maybe," Rodrigo began, "there was a second person after the King's famous computer system. Someone who didn't want to destroy it. Someone who wanted to steal it. Hypothetically, of course."
"Steal it?" Ves said, low enough for the guards not to hear. "Pretty big thing to try to fit in a sack, don't you think?"
"You don't have to physically remove a computer system to steal it," smiled Rodrigo. "All you have to do is copy the data banks and the operating system."
"Why?" Ves gasped in confusion.
"A crude person with little imagination would sell it for money," Rodrigo explained. "Of course, someone doing it for the reputation it would bring him worldwide as the greatest thief of this century, perhaps any century would be something else indeed. Imagine it, Vanessa. To pierce one of the greatest security systems in the world and steal the single greatest computer system the world knows; do you know how utterly famous a person he would be? Of course, he'd have to sell copies of the system at least once in order to prove he'd done it . . ."
Ves seized him by his left arm.
"Did you?" she asked fiercely.
"Unfortunately," Rodrigo smiled, gently pulling her hand from his jacket, "I had some competition. Last night's unfortunate business provided me with the chance to gain access to the palace. Once inside, I headed straight for the computer room, which I'd previously managed to pinpoint from my research."
"And nobody saw you?"
"I'm a professional," Rodrigo assured her. "But once I got there, I found this Ruiz madman preparing to blow the computer up. Well that would never do. You don't allow people to destroy great accomplishments. That computer, in its own way, is a work of art. It would be unconscionable to allow it to be destroyed."
"And you couldn't make your rep on it if it was destroyed," added Ves cynically.
"There's that, too," Rodrigo smiled. "So I tried to stop him. And ended up with a scar on my face for my trouble. Then your Sailor Moon showed up and I decided that it was time to leave."
"Good thing you did," Ves responded. "Otherwise you might have got hurt."
"By Ruiz?" Rodrigo asked with a sly grin.
"Yeah, him too," Ves replied. Her eyebrow was cocked, but she couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from curling up.
"Ah, I wish I'd met you under different circumstances," he chuckled. "You are such a little wildcat. If only I were twenty years younger."
"Why? You're not so bad," Ves told him, her mouth surrendering to the humor of the situation, "for an old guy."
"And you're not so bad, either," Rodrigo volleyed back, "for a young pup." The smile faded. "Well . . . I guess I'd better go before the palace guards realize who I am. Thank you for shining some sunshine into my life, Vanessa."
"Hey," Ves said suddenly, stopping him. "Just what is your real name?"
Rodrigo thought for a few moments and Ves prayed for an answer.
"Enrique," he murmured. "But if you prefer, I can always be Rodrigo to you."
The door to the King's computer room hissed open and Endymion found himself glancing warily at the newcomer again. How long would it be until he was comfortable in this room again? Only when he saw it was Ami and Makoto did he relax.
"Did Serenity send you?" Endymion asked.
"No, Serenity is in the infirmary with Usa and Hotaru," Ami answered. "I came out of my own curiosity."
"How close is Usa to a blow-up?" the King smiled as he pressed some crystal studs.
"You know Serenity and Usa," chuckled Makoto. "Get them in the same room for more than a half hour and they're at each other's throats - - especially if Serenity's worried about her." She unveiled a tray of sandwiches. "I figured you were too obsessed to eat right, so I brought a few things."
"How did you know?" Endymion asked, plucking one of the sandwiches from the tray.
"This one gets the same way," Makoto replied, nodding at Ami. Ami blushed momentarily.
"Was there any damage done to your computer system?" the doctor asked. "I checked in with maintenance on the repairs to Environmental Control and they've still got a few days before they can go on-line."
"Everything seems fine so far," Endymion told her. "Ruiz didn't have time to access the mainframe and the pulse shielding did its job. I'm running diagnostics to make sure none of the systems suffered any damage from the pulse." He pressed more studs. "Anything going on that I should know about? I get hourly updates from Chief Nakamura and the impression I get is that things are returning to normal."
"The attack on the palace has the populace concerned, naturally," Ami summarized. "And they became particularly concerned when they learned that Usa had been injured in the attack. Luna handled communications and things have calmed."
"Good. I have to remind myself to check with Luna and find out when the funerals are for the palace guards who died in the attack," Endymion told himself. "Though I'm sure Serenity has already made plans in that regard. She's good about that."
"Endymion," Ami began hesitantly, "far be it from me to suggest that you're - - um, inattentive - - but perhaps . . ."
"Perhaps I should tear myself away from my toys and visit my daughter?" Endymion surmised sheepishly. "I suppose I have been in here a little too long. I should stop in - - if only to referee between my wife and my daughter." Endymion pushed his lanky frame out of the chair. "No time like the present. I can pick this up later."
Accompanied by Ami and Makoto, the King exited the room. Not long after, a window popped up on his screen with a diagnostic warning.
Concluded in Chapter 12