No Tendo: A Fusion Tale
by Greylle (Kestral) and Kender_Sci
DISCLAIMER: all rights, copyrights, dittorights, implied rights, etcetera are owned by the original owners of such. Even if they are altered significantly, they'll be returned at the end of shooting before you know it.
Chapter 25: Bases and Burdens
One might not have thought of it as a place to rush about, but the hospital had seen such activities. Family members and friends of injured or sick people did tend to want to see them soon, though most didn't run unchecked through such a place for long. This was especially true in this facility, due to the fact that it was a military one, making it so that the rules tended to be enforced.
But then, there usually wasn't someone who barely waited for a car to stop before shoving the door open and leaping out.
This led to another odd occurrence, as it made it so that people wound up having to hurry out of the way so that they didn't get underfoot. As not doing so would have resulted in them either being run over, or getting slammed into, it was perfectly logical to take the action. What was terribly strange about it was that the individual in question didn't seem to be the sort to have the physical strength to do something like that.
Not that she particularly seemed to care. Instead, she kept to her purpose, and charged down the hall like a firefighter rushing towards a blaze. An observer might have thought that she would risk getting lost, but she never wavered from heading towards that one spot that that would get her to where she was going.
That was why the nurse at the admitting desk was surprised to the point of almost jumping out of her seat as a pair of small hands slammed onto the top of her desk and violet eyes bored into hers.
"Which room is Ranma Saotome's?" Hotaru Tomoe asked, looking so determined that it was clear that 'no' was not in her vocabulary.
Gauron wasn't normally someone who affected the whole 'cool guy in sunglasses' thing, but he still wore them anyway. As it was, he just had them on when he felt like it, or needed them. To him, trying to put on air of 'cool' like that was stupid, considering what it would cause them to miss.
In his case though, it was less of a 'look' that he was going for, and was more to handle small little issues. He already knew that he was a tough guy, and merely liked wearing sunglasses, but this time it helped cover up the effects of his travelling. Having gone from Japan to his latest assignement, he needed to get something that would help his eyes relax with the different light and the long hours in planes and such.
To tell the truth, he could have gotten some help, and still could have right then. If he called the two sisters, they would have certainly come running, and given that they were attractive young women, he could even have them tease and tempt some idiotic young soldier into getting himself into the position that they wanted from him. Of course, the problem with that wasn't that they wouldn't sleep with someone that he told them to, but that it was entirely likely that they'd want to kill the man for what he'd done, once they had no more use for him.
Perhaps he'd use that later, but right now, he had better things to do, and he could handle the situation himself for the time being. Those two might have been eager, but they weren't as experienced as he would like. Having them might cause him more of a mess than he'd like, and he really didn't want to have to deal with guys getting cold feet over being with teenaged girls, or said young 'ladies' slitting their throats for it. No, it was better to just come and do the job that he'd been given.
It was what he'd come to Colorado for, after all.
To be honest, Ranma was finding that being in the hospital wasn't as bad as he might have thought it would. The fact that he wasn't terribly hurt or sick did help in that regard, but the truth was that he had found some things to enjoy about it. After all, he'd gotten to know Sosuke there, and he did seem to be a pretty nice guy. They had a lot in common, what with being raised outside of 'normal channels', moving around a lot, and being trained in fighting their whole lives. That wasn't to say that they were totally the same, as Sosuke was a soldier, and he was a travelling martial artist.
What he hadn't expected for a slim young woman to rush in towards him. "Ranma!"
"Hotaru?" he murmured, blinking in surprise.
"Ranma!" she sobbed, and, looking less than a possible force of destruction, and more like a relieved young girl. "It was so awful! They told me that it seemed that you were dead!"
"Nope. Wound up in another dimension, got ta train some, and wound in a fight. But me? I'm just peachy."
"Then... then...."
"I'm okay."
"I'm so glad!" Hotaru admitted... before giving off another little cry as she leaned into his chest and clutched onto his shirt with both hands. "If anything happened to you.... That time was...."
Uncertain as to what the protocol was for such a situation, Ranma carefully slipped his arms around her, taking note about comfortable that really was nice.
Setsuna held the remote as the videotape she'd made was paused. "Okay. This is a Asgard warship."
"Aliens?" asked Haruka, a little surprised. "Little green men?"
"No, actually they're not green," said Setsuna. "They're a technologically advanced alien race, no magical capacity to speak of, and they are more or less on our side."
"'More or less'?" asked Michiru.
"They have laws against interfering with backwards cultures," said Setsuna. "Including ours. This" click "is Urd. She's of a related species."
Haruka looked at the amount of skin showing, the dangerous curves, and frowned thoughtfully. "Dark General?"
"No," said Setsuna. "More annoying and she likes to tease. Oh, great moons, DOES she like to tease. Also has a Noninterference Treaty, but she seems to forget about it on an irregular basis. More or less on our side. As I may have indicated, the situation is complicated."
"Are there two moons behind her or is that a problem with the tape?" asked Michiru.
"Two moons," said Setsuna. click "Okay, I'll give a general summary. A Japanese national named Soichiro Tomoe got involved with an American project involving something called a 'Stargate' - which can be linked to another Stargate somewhere outside our solar system. If you have the right address, you can use it to reach any similar Stargate within our galaxy. Possibly further, I'm unclear on the exact capabilities and limitations.
"Soichiro got his daughter involved, whom you know as Sailor Saturn. The Destroyer, the Silence, the End Of The World."
"Who is currently a teenage girl with a boyfriend," said Michiru, looking at the footage of the young girl and boy.
"This is just SO wrong," said Haruka, trying to reconcile the shy-looking girl on the video with the Sailor Saturn she'd seen in the Silver Millenium.
"Her boyfriend or fiance, though he's just her bodyguard if you ask him," said Setsuna. "Is Ranma Saotome, heir of the Saotome School Of Indiscriminate Grappling." She took out a piece of paper. "He's been trained extensively in tai chi, shotokan karate, wing chun, jeet kun do, ninjitsu, Force Marine Special Ops Style, goju ryu, a few others I'd never even heard of before."
"He couldn't be old enough to have studied all that," said Haruka.
"He's a natural at that sort of thing," said Setsuna. "Picks up new martial arts styles quickly and thoroughly. Not above using weapons either, though his school teaches not to rely on a single weapon or tactic."
"So he's a martial arts guru, not exactly what I'd expect for the Senshi Of Death to find intriguing," said Haruka.
"She's mainly the Hotaru of this life," said Setsuna. "As such, things are a little different."
"So we'd gathered," remarked Michiru.
"The Americans using the Stargate found out a few things, such as the fact that there are several menaces to our planet," said Setsuna. "Whereas the Senshi approach has typically been to let menaces come to us, the approach there is to go fight on the enemy's terrain wherever possible."
"How American," said Haruka with a certain disdain.
"This is one such menace," said Setsuna, advancing the video. "They are called the 'Goa'uld' and they are a parasitic lifeform that invades a human body. Once inside, they send out hair-thin tendrils of at least four different types. Some carry nutrients from the host's body to the parasite, some allow the parasite to assume control of the body, one sort is photosensitive link that goes to the subject's eyes, and the fourth carries certain poisons it will release if it is killed prior to the host."
"Yuck," was Haruka's first impression of a dead Goa'uld on an exam table.
"Yes, that is the general impression most people have," admitted Setsuna. "They give their hosts greater strength, increased healing ability, can filter out a wide variety of diseases and poisons, and have really long lifespans. They are not inherently magical or psychic, though if they inhabit a host with those talents they can use those."
"So they don't have any special defenses against 'psychic or magical' assaults," said Michiru.
"I wouldn't try a psychic attack if it were available," said Setsuna. "They are old, thoroughly evil, and have a very strong will. Though the Asgard told me of a group of Goa'uld that are less interested in the whole 'Evil Monster' role and seeking more along the line of symbiosis."
"But they're still fugly things that invade people's bodies?" asked Haruka.
"Yes," admitted Setsuna.
"Hmmmm," hmmmed Haruka. "Well, we-"
"-have an experimental ship built from what the JSDF and Mithril were able to put together from scraps of Ancient and Silver Millenium technology, that an Asgardian named Skuld was able to make functional," finished Setsuna. "Urd and Skuld are sisters. Urd knew about the little private project. Urd and Skuld are here because of these two."
"Keichi Morisato?" asked Haruka, looking fairly surprised.
"You know him?" asked Setsuna, who WAS surprised.
"Racing circuit, competitor, one of those who wasn't a prick," said Haruka. "Stopped attending about a year ago. Heard he was paying off student loans."
"Essentially," said Setsuna, pausing the tape again with the picture showing a young man and young woman having a picnic with some medieval-looking village in the background. "The woman is another of the Asgard, who has settled into the role of 'alien psychic girlfriend' or something as if in some manga series. Her name is Belldandy."
"What about the 'noninterference treaty'?" asked Michiru, feeling an unexpected pang of something. Not jealousy or envy, of course, but the woman on the video screen seemed to have a serene elegance that was at least the level she herself strove for.
"This is a work-around," said Setsuna. "Mind you, that wasn't stated directly, merely something I've inferred from various comments. Apparently they've got their own enemy, and that enemy is here on Earth and would very much like to see the human race knocked down a few pegs."
"You mentioned a 'Mithril' earlier?" asked Haruka.
"International secretive organization, apparently very interested in alien technology," said Setsuna. "I mostly know about that because Urd was rooting for some girl named 'Teletha' who is pursuing a young soldier named 'Sagara' who is himself assigned to guard some girl named 'Chidori.'"
"I take it that this 'Urd' likes soap operas," said Haruka in a dry voice.
"I got that impression myself," said Setsuna in an equally dry tone. "There is also THIS."
"Is that a mountain?" asked Michiru.
"Is that a tank?" asked Haruka.
"Yes," said Setsuna. "Another of humanity's 'allies' apparently. It is called 'the BOLO' and it is a planetary defense unit that was shut down by another enemy. Whom I have determined to be an evil Senshi."
Sosuke Sagara, Rei Hino, and KOS-MOS were present. Sosuke was fascinated, never having encountered this sort of situation before. Rei was embarassed and feeling as if she were peeking on a private moment. KOS-MOS was coolly observing and making note of the events in progress, part of her observation-emulation routine.
KOS-MOS noted a number of things about the situation and determined that male/female interaction was complicated. Apparently some subjects were taboo, which was not logical but eminently human.
The situation wasn't one that Ranma was entirely sure about. That wasn't to say that he didn't understand the concept of comforting Hotaru as she'd been clearly distraught. Rather, he didn't exactly know what he was supposed to do to make it better for her. His training had always been focused on physical matters, and so his counselling ability wasn't exactly expansive.
He wanted to give it his best shot though. "Hey... um.... At least it's ended well, ya know."
"I didn't want it to have happened in the first place!" Hotaru sniffled, glancing up at him as she pressed her cheek against his chest. "To even have it possible that you... you...."
"I'm here now...."
"That's the only thing that makes it okay. If you were to really go...."
"Actually, that ain't 'xactly in the plans for my future, if I have anything to say 'bout it," he informed her matter of factly.
"It wasn't planned for that time, was it?"
"Well... no, not really...."
Her hand tightened, clutching the fabric into her fist. "Why then? Why'd you go and let yourself get into danger like that?!"
"'Cause of you."
"What?"
"Listen. There were only a couple of choices," the pigtailed boy told her, all trace of mockery, joking, and teasing gone from his voice. What he needed was to get the facts out in a serious matter, and he knew that much at least. "I coulda waited, but then that'd have risked your life. Since that wasn't an option, I hadta get ya outta there. But if I carried ya, I might not make it. And it could be slow."
"So you threw me?"
"Only way ta be sure that ya'd get there safe. Ya mighta gotten a few bumps and bruises...."
"More than a 'few'," she corrected him, just a bit sourly.
"Sorry 'bout that. But I hadta do it. Between the choices of ya gettin' killed, and ya gettin' a little discomfort, I'd be willin' ta let ya feel a bit of pain. Much as even that bothers me, I ain't gonna let ya die, no matter what."
"Oh."
"That's it?"
"Ummm...." she hummed for a bit, shyly ducking her head against him. "Really? You don't know how much that means to me."
"That so?"
"Uh-huh. I've always liked how you want to protect me. Though.... If you were okay, why not let me know?"
"Couldn't."
"I guess that it wasn't possible then...."
Giving a small shrug, the martial artist nodded. "That too."
"Huh? What's that mean?"
"Ta be honest?"
"Yes?"
"I wasn't 'bout ta contact ya from there."
"WHAT?!" yelped a feminine voice that was certainly not Hotaru.
Everyone else turned to face the speaker, and frown in admonishment.
Rei's cheeks turned a bright shade of red and she winced a little. "Sorry."
"She is right though," Hotaru murmured, staring worriedly up at Ranma. "Why wouldn't you do that?"
"Simple. If I coulda sent a message, then I had a chance ta get out. And if I coulda chosen ta simply tell ya that I was okay in a message, or actually show up in front of ya, I'd do the second one."
"I... would want that too."
"Trust me, Hotaru. The two of us ain't gonna just be leavin' each other without somethin' outside of us gettin' in the way. If I can still find a way ta get back ta ya, I will."
"You will? You don't know how much that means to me," the short haired girl admitted as she rested her forehead against his shoulder.
"You're that happy 'bout that?"
"I've always wanted you to be around me. Ever since I was little, I knew that you were the most important person that I could think of."
"What 'bout your dad?"
"Okay, so he's important to me too. But he's my Dad. It's not the same thing."
"'Cause I'm your friend, not a relative."
"Ah.... something like that."
"'Best friend', then?"
"More than that...." his childhood friend whispered, letting her hair block her expression at that moment.
"Wow. I didn't think that ya'd hold me up that high."
"You didn't?"
Ranma gave a bit of a self mocking grin. "It ain't like I'm gonna know a lot 'bout how ta do a lotta stuff. But so long are ya happy...."
"I'm more than 'happy' about you...."
"Hey.... Didn't think that we were doing so well as friends...."
"I'm not talking about 'friends'!" the girl in his embrace bit out.
"Then what are ya talkin' 'bout?"
Hotaru pulled back just a bit from him, and seemed to take a measure of him from their shared gaze. For a moment, indecision crossed her features, and when it firmed up, she was obviously intent on doing something.
A blushing Rei, a fascinated Sosuke, and an observant KOS-MOS all watched as the petite and delicate looking girl placed her small hands onto either side of Ranma's face, pulled his head gently towards him, and leaned up to press a soft, yet emotional kiss upon his lips.
'Is she doin' what I think she is?' the pigtailed boy thought to himself as the shock wore off, and the reality got recognized. 'This.... This is pretty good.... Feels nice.'
Apparently Hotaru agreed, as she showed no signs of stopping it.
"Each of the ships delivered to our allies is being prepared, and we are currently at work with building upgradeable starfighters that will still allow us to maintain an advantage," said Colonel Maybourne. "Have you seen these?"
Colonel O'Neill took the stack of photographs, flipped through them, then handed them off to Daniel. "They look... interesting I suppose."
"Kind of birdlike," stated Daniel Jackson.
"Between the BOLO, our mechanical canine advisors, the new parts facilities on two worlds that you yourselves recently assisted in getting us - this last being why I'm showing you this, we've jumped designs several times," stated Colonel Maybourne. "Officially it's called the F-302. One of the main features is that it uses a modular design where we can easily upgrade sections without replacing the whole fighter. We're not able to build them as fast as we'd like, but with the parts coming in from Xeno - we can average two per week."
"Sounds interesting," said Jack, acting noncomittal.
"We know about the Goa'uld scoutship in lunar orbit," said Colonel Maybourne. "They are apparently planning to attack us. We're just trying to find as many resources as we can before it all goes up."
"So why did you call us up for this?" asked Daniel. "Oh, I understand you feel we've been doing an adequate job."
"'adequate'?" asked Jack.
Colonel Maybourne nodded, his smile vanishing. "We've learned of an enemy here on Earth. They recently made an attempt at capturing people of interest to the JSDF, and hence to us."
"So they're getting intel from somewhere over here?" asked General Hammond. He didn't trust Maybourne. Nobody did. Still, Maybourne had played as straight with him as he was likely allowed to.
"There are leads we're exploring, but I've got a favor to ask in that regard," said Colonel Maybourne. "Specifically, lending us the use of one of your allies..."
The videoscreens all displayed different scenes. There was one that was the main focus of everyone involved.
"Okay, who won the betting pool?" asked one of the watchers as the scene in a certain hospital room continued.
"Someone named... Lieutenant Mayo," said another watcher.
Ranma wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand, he did like Hotaru. Hotaru was a very nice girl whom he trusted and he'd devoted a great deal of time and effort into protecting her. He had NOT seen her as other than a friend and an important one.
Except now she was kissing him. This seemed to kickstart all sorts of warring impulses and drives off, most of which were all heading in different directions.
"Whoa, I think he just froze up completely," said Rei with a very amused tone in her voice.
"I... see," said a nearly as frozen Sosuke.
"Interesting," observed KOS-MOS.
"Hey guys, I... huh?" said Kaname Chidori as she entered the room and came to a complete stop. "oops."
Gauron looked at the photograph, then at the sidewalk cafe, then again at the photograph. This person was Japanese, but among those working at the facility, and considered to be of considerable interest to his clients.
"I don't get it," said Gauron. Kid was young, fresh out of college, not exactly what he'd call 'military-grade', and obviously just a young boy out with his girlfriend. He looked about as likely to be a threat as a bag full of kittens - something you could drown in the nearest canal without effort at all.
Yet SOMETHING was causing his instincts to keep flashing warning signs at him whenever he started getting close. Something more dangerous than Kassim.
If the boy was alone for a few minutes, that would probably be all that was required. Then maybe he could get the answers he needed.
"Fast?" asked Haruka.
"Quite," said Setsuna.
"Manueverable?" asked Haruka.
"More than anything I've seen," said Setsuna.
"Large guns?" asked Haruka.
"Huge," agreed Setsuna.
Haruka managed to do the dreaded Puppy Dog Eyes manuever. "Can I fly one?"
"You'd have to take that up with the Asgard," said Setsuna.
Codename was Wraith. Suitable for a Covert Ops specialist.
Disguised, with a voice changer, and equipped with everything necessary to do the job.
"Rotten filthy incompetent idiot."
There was a fly in the ointment though. An idiot who only knew military responses to any situation and was entirely too close to the person being watched. Every rule about this sort of operation was being broken if not actively flouted.
Well, there could be some momentary amusement.
A sniper rifle was brought up, the scope adjusted, the laser targetting engaged, and a faint touch on the trigger. If experience was any indication, that 'fly' would go completely spastic in response.
Wraith really did believe in the 'cause' that Mithril stood for. That was certainly better to fight for than the sort of thing that previous employers had tried for. Otherwise, the money would have been enough for the sort of black ops mission that would have had civilians placed into torture chambers simply because someone felt like it. Not that there was any particular fondness for any of the others involved.
So, it wasn't a hard thing to jerk Sosuke Sagara's 'chain', so to speak, as he was something of a blockhead. The guy couldn't understand simple things about blending in with civilians, but he was amusing. All it took was one simple aim with a rifle to make him ready to jump up, knocking desks over, and winding up in rather embarrassing situations.
When one didn't exactly get a lot in the way of 'breaks', one took one's 'fun' where it could be found.
That being the case, the scope was pointed right at the head of the 'marionette', ready to yank on his 'strings', certain that there would be yet another instance of Sagara's spastic reactions.
As soon as the hair prickled on the back of his neck, Sosuke knew that something was wrong. Danger was nearby, and his instincts told him that he had to act fast. With the sort of life that he'd lived, this resulted in him bypassing conscious thought, and merely reacting.
From her point of view, Kaname just got the shock of her life as the soldier boy leapt from his bed to onto her, knocking her to the floor. For a long moment, she lay wide eyed with him laying on her body, her breasts squashed against his chest. But then he sat up slightly, straddling her thighs as he turned to look at the window behind him.
Of course, that also allowed her to see two dark haired girls fingering something in their hands, the pigtailed boy looking ready to pounce from behind his bed, and the blue haired girl literally changing her right arm into a cannon with a laser sight, pointed at the window.
She didn't know which freaked her out more, the fact that they were ready for battle, or that Sosuke was still on her, in a position that could be taken as 'kinky'.
Being invisible should have blocked any attempt to lock onto Wraith's form somewhat. Having the dot of a laser sight pointed right at the chest made it clear that such a defense wasn't going to work. As it was, the cloak had little effect on what could have been a 'Mexican stand-off'.
However, Wraith had a rifle that allowed for super accurate shots with a close view of the target.
The girl on the other side had a cannon arm that looked like it would just have to hit the roof to make a rather painful explosion happen.
Given what was known about the 'girl' in question, and wishing that the 'girl' hadn't been concealed from view until just now, discretion seemed to be the better part of valor for the day.
Gauron had always been someone who disdained those who simply fought with 'instincts'. That wasn't to say that he dismissed such things, but what didn't like were the people who didn't bother with actual thoughts in fighting, and just jumped into a situation. In those instances, they'd get some inkling and leap to a conclusion where they'd either run from something that wasn't dangerous, or would run in when death was assured. In his case though, his instincts had been honed through battle, and experience had tempered and strengthened them until he knew that they worked by taking note of his training, and what he had already gone through.
At the moment though, he had a sense that something was wrong with what was going on around him.
Not that he could particularly see anything that would be a reason for concern. The kid was not exactly 'tough' looking, and didn't even seem to need to be nagged into doing something. Of course, his girlfriend was a lovely young thing, with long legs and big breasts who managed to look 'innocent' even with the tattoos on her face. She could provide the mercenary with plenty of enjoyment, and he knew it, so he was also aware that he could see why the guy was willing to let her lead him around. But other than her, the guy didn't have much in the way of company, and when she left, likely to 'take a powder', or some crap like that, he had an opportunity to have a 'chat' with the boy.
"Looks like you're having a nice time," he murmured, coming out from behind the youngster.
There was a moment of panic in the kid's eyes, but he settled down rather nicely. "I guess so. I'm kind of out with my... my...."
"'Girlfriend'. I noticed."
"You did?"
"Oh, yes, I did... Mister Morisato," Gauron murmured, his fake 'friendly' smile turning predatory as he leaned in towards the younger man. "I, and my employers, have noticed a lot about you."
"You.... You know who I am. Who are you?"
"Not anyone that you need to know, other than that we're going to have a nice talk, you and I."
"Why would we do that?" Morisato asked, pulling away from the bulky man.
Smirking, Gauron grabbed the Japanese man's arm. "Who said that you'd have a choice?"
"You can't just do what you want!"
"Oh, but I can. And I want to find out about all those wonderful toys that your bosses have waiting in that base of theirs. You see, my employers would like to have their pick of that stuff, and you're the key to that. Or just a stepping stone. I don't really care what happens to you, so long as you give me all that you can."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you will really regret that choice, now won't you?" the mercenary asked rhetorically, tightening his grip so much that tears started to spill from the corners of Morisato's eyes.
"Don't you hurt Keiichi!" cried out another voice, this one feminine and beautiful, even in anger.
Recognizing the speaker as the short guy's girlfriend, the tall man turned to face the obviously furious young woman... who was currently gathering some sort of energy in her cupped hands.
"Oh, hell," was all that Gauron could think to mutter as a force slammed into his gut so hard that he went flying backwards, losing his grip on his target, and recognizing that things had just gotten rather screwed up again.
And as he crashed into a wall hard enough to both knock him senseless, and crater the surface, he wondered if this was a sign of regular future 'woman trouble.'
Sergeant Hiroko Natsumura was a mechanic, and a pretty darn good one in her own opinion. She'd been with the Japanese Self Defense Force Reserves for over thirty years now, and found the time spent doing those activities a welcome break from being an aging Office Lady. Unlike her work at the Toyoma Sewing Machine Company, she got a fair amount of respect in the JSDF.
She was short, somewhat squat, and had a few brief affairs that never went anywhere because she didn't handle the 'demure little flower' act terribly well.
There was a comfortable routine to her life now, with no surprises or changes she could see coming.
At this very moment, for example, she was having a little bento that she'd prepared earlier. A cup of herbal tea (she cut back on her caffeine after the initial morning three cups of o-cha to avoid getting jittery) while she lunched and watched the planes she loved taking off and landing a few runway lengths away.
BOOM!
The quietly sipped cup of herbal tea dropped from her fingers as a large overweight man leapt down from a rooftop, losing a rifle in the process, landed heavily and began to run.
Hiroko Natsumura blinked.
A FLYING girl soared up over that building, except that one arm looked to be some sort of cannon which had blue fire spurting from the business end?!
BOOM! went another explosion as a section of pavement came apart.
A little bit of rice dropped from Hiroko's chopsticks.
A boy (in a hospital gown) and a girl (in a cheerleader costume but carrying a polearm) leapt into the air from the building the other two had come from.
Watching the chase going on as it rounded a building, Hiroko wondered what had happened to her nice quiet routine.
"Yes, ah, that's nice. I'll be by in a few hours," said Setsuna, flipping her cellphone closed.
"Who was that?" asked Michiru.
"I just won a betting pool," said Setsuna with a mysterious smile.
"Getting back to the menace at hand," prompted Haruka.
"Ah yes." Setsuna considered carefully. "There are several active menaces on Earth that I know of, though details are sketchy at best. Some of our allies are... not completely trustworthy."
"In league with the forces of darkness?" asked Haruka, her tone indicating she was half-joking.
"Not so much that sort of thing," said Setsuna. "More that they will act in what they perceive as their own best interests, which will often overlap with our own but sometimes diverge. As an example, there is a Colonel Maybourne in the American military. A scoundrel who has been into 'black ops' for many years. From what I've overheard, he is playing factions against each other and has been pulling strings in the shadows for as long."
"Bad guy?" asked Haruka.
"Sometimes," said Setsuna. "Not as much as one might expect. Now THIS" click click "was where I first encountered Colonel Maybourne."
"Power Armor?!" said Haruka, a note of envy entering her voice. "Where is this?"
"The assault on a base of a major menace named Beryl, you might just remember her," said Setsuna.
"She's still around?" said a frowning Michiru.
"Oh no," said Setsuna. "She was quite adequately removed." click-click went the on-screen slideshow. "A massive assault that coordinated efforts from MITHRIL, the United States Armed Forces, the Sailor Senshi, and the JSDF."
"Overkill," stated Michiru.
"'It's only overkill if there's civilians or friendly forces in the blast radius,'" quoted Haruka from some obscure source.
"There was neither present," said Setsuna. "There were side effects though."
"Being together in an organized assault against a common enemy would likely cause many of those present to view each other as comrades," said Michiru.
Setsuna shifted her position a little on her chair, trying to get a kink out. "That just touches bases briefly, but my reason for visiting was to let you know about THIS."click-click
"That's... nice," said Haruka. She certainly wasn't one to make statements derogatory about big guns.
"It's under construction," said Michiru.
"We expect one of the Goa'uld to attack any day now," said Setsuna. "When that time comes, all I ask is that you put aside whatever differences you may have with the various allies and fight alongside them."
"So who is he?" asked General Hammond.
"Name is 'Gauron' - not his real name, more a reference to his being considered a citizen of nine different countries," explained Harriman, glancing in the little window into the hospital room. "According to the military net, he's a mercenary. Hires on to various groups, but the bodycount is as important to him as the money. Terrorist. Nobody's quite sure if he's Japanese or Asian though there is some indication he's Cambodian."
"He's in a body cast, and shackled," noted General Hammond. "That dangerous?"
"Apparently he's been 'killed' seven times," said Harriman. "Including once by Sergeant Sosuke Sagara - one of the JSDF forces who fought alongside us in that little Arctic operation."
"Ah," said the General, knowing that meant the assault on Beryl's base. "He's not an alien or have a symbiote?"
"No," said Harriman. "No supernatural abilities shown and tests negative for Goa'uld parasite. Unusually high healing factor, but not outside human limitations."
"Do we have any idea why he attacked Mister Morisato?" asked General Hammond.
"Not yet," said Harriman. "Refuses to talk."
"Keep someone on it," said General Hammond. "I'll need you back at the SGC."
"Something up?" asked Harriman.
"SG-1 just came back from one site where everything seemed perfectly normal but their medical scanners gave some bizarre results," said General Hammond. "We're sending scientific teams in more detail since all three scanners gave identical results."
"Oh? SG-1 isn't investigating?"
"No, the next world they're scheduled to visit is P3R-233," said the General.
Gauron smiled under his bandages.
Agents of one of his organizations had already infiltrated this hospital, and a listening device in the hallway outside his room had proven far more useful than he'd thought it would be.
This was going to be very interesting indeed.
He was a cop. He was a damn good one in many people's opinions. He was a husband and father as well and considered that his most important job, though he was quite dedicated as a police officer too.
He knew damn well there were things going on that did not at all fit with this situation. The attempted assault had been well documented. However the security footage available didn't show what happened after that woman had returned to see her boyfriend getting assaulted.
The patrons of the restaurant close enough to see it were giving odd stories, and then military police had come in and sewn everything up. Now the lawyers were going on between the two, but the result had been this particular perp was being guarded by military police with an outer layer of city police, a few federal agents, and (after a visit to Mister Gauron's room at the Best Western) ATF agents.
No details were being given out but he'd heard enough to know that the prisoner was some kind of international terrorist, and considered to be Heap Big Dangerous.
So why was Tall Dark & Nasty after a technician for NORAD?
There was SOMETHING going on that wasn't right. If his instincts were right, there was a LOT of somethings that were going on and about to hit the fan in HIS city. Hell, he'd just come down here with his family from his previous posting in Detroit. Colorado Springs was HIS city now though. It was certainly a lot better a place to raise a family.
Not that he had anything against the military. He understood one of his neighbors had a grandfather who was a General up in that mountain. His daughter was playing with their daughters regularly.
Still, if something was going on that was illegal - and it threatened to spill over into the city like those explosions the other night - he needed to keep investigating. Especially after having seen that prisoner. The guy practically radiated Sociopath.
He'd figure out what was going on, or his name wasn't Alex J. Murphy.
Rubbing at her eyes, Kaname began to wonder if she'd been dropped into some sort of strange alternate dimension, like on one of those science fiction shows. She could understand the concept that bad guys were around, and that they might want her for reasons that she was still unclear on. After all, her father did work for the UN. But the fact that there were strange people with powers beyond human norms, herself included, wasn't what made her wonder about which world she was in. Rather, her reason for doubting where she was came from the amount of damage that these new people in her life were willing to do to the scenery around them.
Eyeing the big hole where there had once been a window, she blew out a breath and scowled. "Don't those guys know anything about actually thinking before blowing things up?"
"Sometimes it is important to act before thinking, so that your opponent doesn't get the chance to act before you do," Sosuke murmured from his position near the enlarged opening. "In fact, I really should move now, and assist with...."
"Not a chance, moron. The only place that you are going is back to bed. Really, have you even thought about how injured you are?" the blue haired girl grumbled as she caught the teenaged soldier by his ear and dragged him over to his bed.
"There is a threat currently out and posing a risk on the base."
"Which is being very ably dealt with by the girl with the cannon arm, and the two who thought it best to go running after them. On the other hand, you are going to rest and recover."
"I have taken more damage than this before."
"And that is... pretty scary to know, but it isn't going to change my mind."
"I have orders to follow," Sosuke replied, giving her an insistent look, even as she pulled the covers up over his chest.
"Then take my orders. Stay there, and shut up. Now."
"You can actually manage to handle him," drawled a voice from the only other bed currently occupied.
"I wouldn't say that."
"I would. When he was around me, the idiot couldn't manage to keep himself under control."
"Hold on a second," Kaname responded, blinking slightly as she did so. "You dealt with him before?"
"He used to be my guard. And now, he's your headache, from what I'm hearing. You... You're that girl!"
"Eh?"
The brunette on the bed leaned herself up on her elbows and gave the other girl a serious look. "You look just like that 'ghost girl' that I spoke to at the school. She told me all about what those creeps were going to do to the girls there...."
"I didn't talk to many people there that would be here. About the only one that I did say something to was a girl in a red version of what that other girl was... that was you?"
"That's what I'm telling you."
"Then you and that other girl are related somehow? Is there some sort of special club of girls who can blow things up?"
"We don't blow things up!" the injured girl protested, but then looked away. "At least, not usually. And not on purpose."
"Then what...."
"We're called the 'Sailor Senshi'."
"You mean those stories from Juuban are real? And you're one of them?"
Smiling, the girl in the hospital gown nodded. "Rei Hino. Also known as 'Sailor Mars'."
"And that girl was...."
"'Sailor Saturn'. From what I know of her, she seems to be normally a bit quieter...."
"Ah. Well, the other girl was the one who did the 'blasting' thing. Still, it's all a bit much to take in. Until recently, I thought that the biggest problem that I'd have was dealing with this idiot," Kaname admitted, jerking a thumb at the sole boy in the room.
"Don't I know it," Rei agreed, giving a small snort. "He does tend to go overboard on everything, doesn't he?"
"He thinks that blowing up his shoe locker is a good idea when faced with someone putting a letter into it. And it was a love letter at that."
"I can imagine it. Though, I do have to admit that there is worse out there. There was one guy that they sent to watch us who should not be around any girls at all. I mean, if the jerk wasn't flirting with us, he was chasing after every girl who came to buy a fortune at my shrine."
That got an understanding look from the blue haired girl. "I know what you mean. Why, there's been this guy who's been watching over me ever since that... attack at my school, and he's such a pervert. If I didn't think that it'd be impossible, I'd swear that he's turned on by everything in a skirt, what with how he's hit on ever girl that we've passed."
"Sounds like you've had to go through the same thing that I have. It is pretty hard to go through having someone whistle with approval when you're buying lingerie, or something like that. All with a twinkle in those blue eyes of his."
"True. And I actually met the jerk earlier, and didn't know that he was a soldier. If I had, then I'd have been even more disgusted by the sight of a blond man coming on to schoolgirls out of the blue, when they were doing nothing but eating at a restaurant...."
"He probably would have.... Wait. 'Soldier'? 'Blond'?"
"'Blue eyes'?"
"Kurz Weber!" yelped both girls, as their eyes grew wide, and their mouths dropped open in disgusted shock.
"You really should get that checked out," Melissa Mao murmured as she glanced over at the young man standing next to her.
Kurz wiped at his nose and grinned. "I didn't know that you cared that much about me, my dear...."
"I don't. It's just that the paperwork to request a temporary replacement for you if you fall ill is a bitch to fill out. I'd much rather not have to deal with the aggravation."
"Ah, but what would you do without me?"
"Probably worry less about the young female recruits."
"You wound me, you know that?" the blonde man mock-accused the other soldier. "I mean, I'm not all that bad. And, besides, it might not be some sort of bad cold. You know what they say is happening if you sneeze out of the blue like that. Someone is probably talking about you."
"Who would want to talk about you?"
"Probably one of my many admirers...."
The room was a place where many people could eat, but unlike a restaurant where explanations would have to be given, the mess hall could be closed without telling anyone the specific reason for it. If someone were to question as to why the military would want to shut up one of its facilities for a few hours, then there were plenty of individuals in nicely pressed uniforms all ready to give vague and unrevealing answers. And if that questioner came from a military unit, it was quite easy to send that person off to another duty, and even to another posting.
Still, Kaname found it to be fairly... odd to be in such a place, and not have lots of noise around her. She'd been in more than one cafeteria in her lifetime, and she didn't feel quite at ease without the sound of voices in conversation, clanking dishes, and other activity. Not that she was looking to force anyone to open the place for business, given what was going on.
"Here we are," Rei said from her wheelchair, waving a hand at the small group that had been waiting for them. "My friends, and other guests."
"You are okay, aren't you, Rei-chan?" asked a girl with the oddest hairstyle.
"I'm fine, Usagi."
"But the chair...."
"Is only because I hurt my leg, and the doctors don't want me to walk on it yet."
"Oh...."
"Friend of yours?" Kaname asked, raising a brow at Rei.
"You can call her that. She's 'Sailor Moon'."
"I see...."
"Then there's Sailor Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter. Ami, Minako, and Makoto. And over there is Saturn, Hotaru Tomoe, and Ranma Saotome."
"The girl I saw kissing her boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," the Senshi of Saturn blurted, and then looked embarrassed. "Well, not right now, he isn't. And it isn't like I don't want him to be that for me. I'd really like for him to be my boyfriend...."
Ranma merely sat still and looked a bit overwhelmed by what was going on.
"Like I said," Kaname drawled.
"I wish that I had a guy here," 'Venus' pouted. "Not that this isn't really cute, and nice to see."
"At least you gave them that, Mina-chan," Ami softly commented, wincing slightly as she did so.
"You think so? I was just trying to be true." "What about that guy that.... The one," Makoto began, and then looked down. "The one that I zapped."
A dawn of realization appeared on Kaname's face. "Oh, so you did that."
"You're mad, aren't you?"
"Not really."
"But I hit someone you know with a attack, like he was an enemy."
"I never said that I wasn't annoyed, what with you not paying that much attention. But the idiot is fine, and I'm sure that you didn't mean it. You didn't mean to blast him, did you?"
The idea clearly horrified the green eyed girl. "No, of course not!"
"Then, that's good. What about you?" Kaname asked, glancing at the youngest Senshi. "Going to run off with your boyfriend again?"
"Not right now...." Hotaru murmured, blushing brightly and fidgeting as she recognized what she said.
"Good to know. And who is she? I know that we met earlier, but it wasn't long enough for introductions."
"This is KOS-MOS," Ranma managed to get out. "She's... different."
"Thank you for that... rather obvious comment. You did tell me her name though. Nice to meet you, KOS-MOS."
Red eyes focused on the girl with the long blue hair. "Understood."
"Okay.... You're not looking to blast any more windows, now are you?"
"There are no threats detected on my sensors at this time. No such action is necessary."
Kaname gave a weak smile and laugh as she tried to figure out what to make of the rather stiff girl.
The ship hung there in space, an insignificant bit of junk just on the other side of Earth's moon. It listened and analyzed and tried to make sense of the various EM broadcasts.
"So many languages," said one Jaffa. "So much anger and hate directed at each other. This will be easier than stirring up a grak nest."
"Mighty Heru'ur wants us to pinpoint the leaders of this world so that his vengeance might be swift," said another Jaffa, referring to their latest communication. "The only problem is - they don't actually seem to have any."
"Rather say they have too many. These Tau'ri are insane," said the third. "Look at this."
The three watched for a time, trying to make sense of the video broadcast.
"I don't get it," said the first Jaffa.
"The females are inticing enough, but that male seems to... what is this?"
"This is Sheila McDonnagal, BBC News. There are many strange things that have come out of Liverpool. This is one of the strangest yet - a small manufacturing company has begun constructing a yellow submarine in one of their bays."
"It's an outrage," said some chubby woman. "I've always shown up - mostly on time, and now they've taken my office up for building this damn thing and fired me!"
"When we contacted the business, Adamantine, for details," said the reporter, "they stated that they have gotten a government contract and anyone not signing the forms and passing lie detector screening is being let go. The yellow submarine, a prototype with a name and design similar to the one in the old Beatles' film, is to be used for deep sea exploration and excavations."
"That's a scoutship," said the first Jaffa. "I have no idea what they're talking about - but THAT is a scoutship of some kind."
"-following this, there have been picketers who protest trying to exploit the oceans," said the BBC reporter.
"They've raped the land, now they're going after the sea, we won't have it!" said a sign-toting protester.
"Blowing them up is too good for them," said the second Jaffa. His symbiote protected him from having physical ailments, but he could swear these Tau'ri were nothing but a headache.
"Where is this?" asked Sailor Mars.
"Secret underground dockyards," said the soldier.
"Why are we being relocated here again?" asked Sailor Mars.
"Because this is a safe location, secure, and nobody's likely to take your picture with a cellphone camera here," said the soldier. "Ah. Captain!"
Sailor Mars looked around briefly for the captain. It was a moment or two before she realized the young girl in the uniform was apparently the captain. "HER?!"
"Hi. Sailor Mars, isn't it?" asked the young girl. "I met everyone else during that little assault on the Dark Kingdom access point."
"Captain Teletha 'Tessa' Testarossa," said KOS-MOS.
"I'll take over from here," said Tessa to the soldier. "Let's get you situated, shall we? The ship's still being put together but the infirmary area is finished."
"Ship?" asked Sailor Mars as they headed towards some golfcart that had a trailer.
"Yes, and we... soldier?"
"Ma'am," said the soldier. "Are you SURE you're going to drive. You remember what happened the last time."
"Oh, right," said Tessa. "I'm sure it will be fine."
Setsuna Meiou, aka Sailor Pluto, alias Lieutenant Susan Mayo JSDF liason, tried not to smirk in amusement nor grimace in annoyance.
People were working frantically to complete ships in mostly top secret locations. At any moment the Goa'uld were going to attack, attack hard, and either destroy or conquer every nation on Earth. That was one heck of a motivation. This was complicated by two factors.
One, and it was one that Setsuna had observed before, was the primate pack reaction. Surprise a pack of primates, say chimpanzees with a stimulus they'd never had before like a gunshot nearby, and the group would break into a number of reactions. Some would screech and go to threatening postures. Some would run. Others would freeze. Still others would weave from side to side, chattering. So on and so forth. A survivor trait, as some of the group would pick the right reaction and survive to pass on their genes.
It was annoying as hell when humans did the same thing.
The reason for keeping the looming doom quiet was quite simple. People would panic. There would be resulting economic crashes, rioting worse even than at some soccer matches, people would start blaming the news for anything from a lost cricket match to 'new tensions' between any number of existing groups, serious-sounding commentators would offer up various soundbites in the hopes that something would increase their ratings, and so on and so forth. The news that not only was there a Someone Out There but they were coming with hostile intent would shift all sorts of worldviews and be a right royal mess.
Since the supply lines were moving right along without major problems or holdups, it was in everyone's best interest not to broadcast the information.
So she looked at the Yellow Submarine, actually a four-man exploratory spaceship being constructed by one of MITHRIL's branches. She looked at the massive Tuatha De Danaan, which was a little over 200 meters long, and nodded with some approval.
She walked by the Armslaves, the beetle-like "giant robots" that had initially not been made for combat - but for construction. The initial designs had been thrown out by those robot doggies from the BOLO, with voice activation and 'reflex systems' so that people with minimal training could operate them. Naturally, every region that had them rushed out the initial units and followed up with regional 'upgrades' they'd come up with after the current emergency was done.
Stepping from the shadows of an undersea base off of Japan, she briefly reappeared in another base.
There she watched as a decrepit ship that had become a 'tour site' and then closed for 'structural repairs' was quietly refitted for a more active role.
Japan, England, Scotland, Germany, Australia, South Korea, Ireland, Pearl Harbor, Norfolk, Liverpool - each was visited in turn. Each was left alone before security forces could notice one of the shadows was occupied.
She raised an eyebrow at some of the goings-on, but was more bemused than anything else. The Senshi could certainly handle the average magical menaces that came in their sentai villainry fashion. Someone parking a cruiser thirty planetary diameters away and launching missiles - another thing altogether.
Then she beheld something being built at Groom Lake and teleported away before she could laugh about it.
"WHAT IS THIS?!" asked a General, stabbing a finger down at a photograph.
"A very top secret project, General," said Colonel Maybourne.
"Why wasn't I informed?" growled the General.
"As I said, VERY top secret," said Colonel Maybourne. "I'm not even allowed to tell myself about it."
The General glared some more, shifting the cigar in his mouth, as he considered plans of attack. "So what IS Shiva?"
"Not allowed to say," said Colonel Maybourne. "Have you seen our SAMAS? They look to be quite useful."
"Never mind about the power armor," said the General. "What of this tank?"
"I am not at liberty to say," said Colonel Maybourne.
"What about this gun?" asked the General.
"It looks like a railgun meant to fire a carbon-coated depleted uranium javelin about 0.3c," offered Colonel Maybourne.
The General stared.
"Not that we have such a thing," said Colonel Maybourne. "This is just a CGI concept photo."
"What?!" exclaimed the General.
Selective Howitzer Interface Vehicular Artillery was the actual name, simply because the sucker could load one of several shell-types with the DU rounds being standard. It was a nice design though. Looked suitably menacing and the little itty bitty trucks next to it gave a nice sense of scale.
Pity it was just something that one of the technicians had worked out to test his CAD program. Then appropriated to use for trying to find a leak.
"You know," said Kaname, "I think I'm handling all this really well."
"Oh?" said Teletha.
"Yeah," said Kaname. "A few weeks ago, I had no idea about any of this stuff. Now look at where I am."
"In a secret undersea temporary construction facility with a pair of Sailor Senshi, a mercenary soldier with no common sense, a psychic teenage captain of a submarine-dash-spaceship, an alien robot-girl, and a warrior-ninja?" asked some tanned soldier with really long hair as the group filed past her.
Kaname blinked a couple of times before looking at KOS-MOS. "Oh. That explains what I was feeling from you."
"Telemechanics," said Teletha. "So, we've got androids and psychics and aliens and ninja."
"I ain't a ninja, I just know ninja-stuff," grumbled Ranma mostly under his voice.
"All we need are some..." Kaname's voice trailed off as she looked to the side. "Okay. Put a checkmark next to the giant robots."
"They're very handy for large scale construction," indicated Teletha happily.
"Uh huh," said Kaname. "I'm going to scream if there are time travelers involved."
The woman soldier with the tan and long hair seemed to find this inordinately amusing for some reason.
"Or catgirls," said Kaname, wondering if she should be worried about the soldier's snort of amusement.
"Well, we're pretty sure that the attack on the school involved a secret international conspiracy," pointed out Teletha. "Is that close enough?"
Simply standing outside what was to be his home and savoring the ability to take a deep lungful of air wasn't something that Genma had ever really thought would be something that he'd enjoy, but that was currently the case. Truth be told, he'd always wanted a simple life where he could live out the remainder of his days just being a 'wise old master' that people sought out for bits of help. When he'd made his arrangement with the Professor, he hadn't thought much about the place, but had always been certain that his grandchildren would be showing off their skills for him as he watched with a pleased eye.
Being on an alien world during what amounted to a cold war between the Earth and a hostile extraterrestrial race wasn't exactly his dream life.
Still, it was turning out to be somewhat satisfying, and he did have to admit that it gave him a lot of things to appreciate. He was going to have his own dojo, and even if it was going to not be the most modern or luxurious thing around, he did have to admit that he liked the idea of his legacy being there for all to see. There were some things that he didn't like, but he also knew that he couldn't change them, and he could only hope that they weren't true.
"Teacher!" called out a voice that took him a moment to place.
He did recognize it though, and he turned to look at the long limbed young woman with a bemused expression. Korri was certainly a... healthy young woman, with many a soldier coughing as they caught themselves staring. Not that she took note of that, as she continued to run and... bounce without bothering with the modesty that a lot of women traditionally held to. However, she also was quite capable of handling any unwanted advances on her own.
As one gunnery sergent pointed out, if some system lord had wanted to have a guard who could be as lethal as she was decorative, that Jaffa girl was certainly it.
Of course, Genma didn't have any desire to betray his wife, even in his imagination, especially with a mere teen, or at this time in his life. "Yes? What is it?"
"We have just gotten word from Earth, sir," she panted, sliding to a stop, and leaning down as she tried to get her breath back. "We thought that it was important that you know as soon as we could."
"Is that so? What could I need to know?"
"There was a fight a military base where you come from."
"Really? That sounds interesting, but...."
"That's just it. From what they told us, it was a major clash where two great fighters destroyed many buildings!"
"I see," the martial artist murmured, stroking his chin. "Perhaps one of them could help teach here."
"Actually...."
"What?"
The Jaffa girl shrugged a bit, looking uncertain as to how to continue. "It seems that one warrior... absorbed her enemy into herself at the end of it all."
"'Absorbed'?"
"Exactly! And...."
"This is what I should know?"
"It's why I had to run here. They came from what the Tau'ri call a 'rift'... along with your son. The warrior known as 'Ranma' is not only alive, but is supposed to be stronger." Whatever Korri had expected as a reaction from the much respected teacher of the fighting arts, it had not been... laughter, but that was what she got as the man tilted his head back and gave of a deep chested chuckle. "This is... amusing?"
"No, this is me being pleased."
"I... see...."
"Trust me, you can understand it later. Right now, I have things to do."
"Then you head off to see your son now?"
"No, I go to my sleeping quarters."
"You wish to... nap, rather than seeing your child?" she asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"No, I go to change my clothes. Can't be wearing this when I go to see that disobedient son of mine...."
Korri didn't particularly understand his reasoning for not being satisfied with the black outfit that he was wearing, but put it down to some Tau'ri social concern that she didn't understand yet.
Daniel Jackson knew that he had gone through a great many things that had changed him in ways that he didn't even recognize himself. Only recently, he wouldn't have been able to shoot a gun with confidence, hadn't exactly been thrilling anyone with his theories, and barely had any success since he'd gone public. But now he was the 'go to' guy for 'decoding' the cultures that they came across, and was seen as an authority in one of the most important projects known to Earth's humanity. He'd grown stronger, learned new skills, and was making the sort of discoveries that an archeologist could normally only dream of. Added to the amazing things that had come from the use of the Stargate, including his marriage, and the association with the BOLO, and he had to admit that things were going quite well for him.
Yet, as he had walked from the Stargate into the darkened room that was all that he could see of P3R-233, he had to admit that he was still like a child at heart. In a room full of artifacts from a variety of cultures, he could sit there and catalog it all for weeks and be content. Sure, filming it helped, but he really wanted to get to the work of discovering just where all of these wonderful things had come from.
Why, just looking around, he saw things like this big, oddly shaped mirror with what looked like rocks around the edges that just 'screamed' that they had secrets that he had to find out.
Feeling like a kid in a candy store, he gave a small smile, and glanced over at where Carter was standing.