Opportunities
by Jacque Koh
Beta-read by Lori McDonald
The Kagaku Ninjatai sat in tensed silence in the cockpit of the God Phoenix as Dr. Nambu started the briefing.
"We've suspected Galactor activity around this region for some time now." The doctor was explaining as he showed them the charts on the monitors. "And now our agents have eyewitness verification of Galactor presence on this island."
"What a coincidence," Joe muttered sourly, sotto voce.
Jun shot him a look and quickly looked back towards the front of the ship, but Ken gave no indication that he heard the comment as he lounged in his command chair with his eyes closed as if in sleep. They all knew he hadn't slept that night. But, despite appearances, he wasn't napping at present either. It startled them slightly to hear him speak for the first time since he took his seat.
"What do we have there that might be of interest to the Galactors, Hakase?"
"Saltpeter."
"Sodium nitrate?" That got Jun attention. "But I thought the only remaining natural deposits were in Chile?"
"As the UN would have most believe, since these islands are protected ecological grounds. But there appears to be mining activity taking place there now."
"That would destroy the natural wildlife of the island. What's so important about Sodium nitrate that the Galactors would mine it anyway? I thought it's just a fertilizer."
"It's also used for solid rocket propellants, Jinpei."
Nambu nodded to Jun's explanation. "We suspect that the Galactors are building a missile production facility on the island in conjunction with the mining."
"The Galactors have already caused enough disturbances in the ecology of the island." Ken looked up at the monitor. "We can't engage them directly. This is a stealth mission. We enter, shut down operations and demolish the base. What status is the base completion, Hakase?"
"Our agents indicate operations are at seventy percent of capacity."
"So there will still be incomplete sections. We have our entry points."
Nambu swallowed nervously. "Y--you know what to do. Good hunting, team."
Ken stood up to turn towards his team as Nambu's image blinked off.
"Jun, pull up the maps of the area. We need a hiding place for the God Phoenix. Ryu, ready her for lock down. Joe, Jinpei, equipment check, we need scuba gear for a sea approach. Jun, when you're finished with the maps, you need to arm us with explosives that will do the least harm to the natural environment."
"Hai!" Their response was automatic.
Ken frowned at his team as he got ready to pull on his dive mask and breather. They had stayed unusually quiet through the preparation.
"Out with it. What's the problem?"
"Ken, a--are you sure you've--recovered sufficiently?" Joe blurted out at Jun's encouraging poke.
"I sat through detox at least three times and I had no physical injuries. I'm fine." His eyes were hard, as if daring them to refute his claim.
"Of course." Joe pulled on his dive mask to hide his flush of uncertainty.
They quickly joined him on the platform that would bring them out to the bubble portal topside.
The swim to the beach proceeded without incident and they were back in bird style by the time they reached the tree line. All was quiet as they flitted through the natural undergrowth. There were a few guards and surveillance cameras scattered around the area, but nothing that created any great difficulty in avoiding.
"Ken?" Joe reached out to grip his commander by the shoulder. "This whole setup reeks of a trap."
"Don't we know it?" Ken looked back to nod at him. "It's not like Galactor to be this careless."
"Ken... you--you realize that Katse's trying--"
"What of it?" Gatchaman turned his attention back to the base. "Be on the alert, the Galactors must know that we're out here."
"But we're protected from gas attacks now. The Galactors can't drop us in our tracks."
"Don't be too sure, Jinpei."
Ken's eyes narrowed as he studied the milling Galactors. "We're not using this entrance. Like you said, Joe, this reeks of a trap. They'll expect us to enter through here."
"So we use the front door?" Jun couldn't hold back her gulp. "But--but we'll have to leave bird style to--"
"It's not like we haven't done it before, Jun." Ken turned away from the base and started herding them back into the undergrowth.
Once they were a safe distance away, the commander of the Kagaku Ninjatai confronted his team.
"What is wrong with you? We've done this countless times and suddenly you're all jumpier than a cat on a hot tin roof."
"Ken, are you sure you're rea--"
Gatchaman sucked in a deep breath and let it out again slowly. "Ready for what? We have always been exposed to that threat. That Galactor managed to carry it out once doesn't increase or decrease the probability of the event occurring."
His voice turned cold as he looked each of them in the eye. "Do you want to turn back?"
Joe snapped his head back up at the suggestion. "No! We can't do that!"
"Then *we* go in." Gatchaman's tone brooked no argument.
Nothing untoward came to pass when Kagaku Ninjatai entered the base dressed in stolen Galactor uniforms. They would be lying, however, if they did not admit feeling a slight prickle of anxiety to be out of bird style.
The Kagaku Ninjatai were observing their leader apprehensively. From all appearances, Gatchaman was still in control. He moved with professional grace and ease born of confidence in his ability. But every so often, Ken would pause and they could tell that he was trying to arrest the tremble in his lithe frame.
"Ken?"
"We split up, you have your assigned targets. Rendezvous outside in 25 minutes."
"Ken?" This time Joe caught his shoulder.
"What is it?"
"I-- Just be--careful."
Gatchaman grinned at his chief gunner. "Never."
It felt too easy to return his grin. But the smiles were all too quickly lost when two panels slammed down the corridors to trap them and a red mist started seeping into the enclosed space.
"Closed systems! Bird Go!"
The Galactor uniforms disintegrated as their bird styles flared into existence.
Ryu tapped on the full-faced visor experimentally, it certainly felt strange to not be able to feel the edge of a beak.
"Is your mask working okay?" Ken waved the red mist from his vision to look towards him.
"Yeah, it just takes some getting use to." Ryu shrugged. "Don't want to have it on too long though, can't eat with it."
They coughed back a laugh and turned their attention back to the serious business of freeing themselves.
"Onechan, it's stuffy." Jinpei touched his visor in distress. "I can see my breath fogging it."
"Hush. I can use one of my specials, Ken."
"Go to it. Not down the corridor. The Galactors know we're in so let's blaze our own trail."
Joe watched Ken carefully through the red mists that swirled around them. He could see a bead of perspiration on his face. Though the full visor was a touch stuffy, it wasn't sufficiently warm to cause any of them to break sweat. As he watched, Joe puzzled over why Ken was reaching into his utility pouch.
So intent was Joe in watching his commander that he almost missed the movement above them. Something shot out of the ceiling towards them. Grapplers!
"Down!" Ken was already moving before the steel claws even came close, his right arm having made a throwing motion before he rolled away from the grapplers' target site.
The astro-bombs struck the steel appendages and mini explosions ranted the air as the claws were severed.
"Jun, set the charge. We're loosing visual capacity with all this gas," Ken murmured tightly as he watched the grapplers spasm at his feet. The severed ends of the steel tentacles sparked and spluttered as the red gas made contact with it.
"Okay, it's ready. I've set it to blow out. Shield yourselves, the gas hasn't reached saturation point enough to ignite but it'll still spark."
As promised the charge blew out the wall but it only led to an adjoining room, which was also filled with the red gas. Jun wordlessly began prepping another charge.
Joe watched his commander intently. Even through the blue color of his visor he could tell that Ken had turned a shade paler.
"Ken? How did you know there were going to be grapplers?"
"I--It's what they used the last time. I--remembered I--felt something grab me just before I lost consciousness."
Joe was slammed back by the revelation. Ryu had mentioned a red knockout gas, which the Galactors had used on them. They had just performed a sea approach and in combination with the grapplers, it was suddenly clear to him that the Galactors were determined to try and unnerve Gatchaman. Ken had closed his eyes and his breathing was slightly sharper.
"This whole setup reeks, Ken. They're out to get you." Joe strode to him and caught his arm in his grip, startling Ken with his proximity. "This is one big trap!"
"We knew that before we ventured in. It still needs investigation."
"Ken... maybe--"
"Stop trying to coddle me, Asakura."
"Ken, we just--" Ryu reached out to try and touch his arm.
"You're not helping. Keep your mind on the mission." Ken avoided Ryu's hand and pulled his arm free of Joe's grip.
"Aniki no Ke--"
"I'm fine!" Ken confronted them. "Look, don't think I'm ungrateful for your concern, but it's misplaced. You're allowing it to affect our work. Jun, is that charge done?"
She started guiltily, having stopped a moment to listen to them. "I'm--I'm on it."
So engrossed were they that no one noticed the telltale sparking under the billowing clouds of gas.
Without any further warning, the severed steel tentacles had shot out to encircle each of the ninjas. A surge of electricity ran through the appendages before any of them could react to the attack.
Ken groaned as he slowly swam back into consciousness. He had no idea how long he had been out, or where he was this time. His nerves still tingled from his near electrocution.
He kept enough sense in him not to move or display any indication that he was now conscious. Instead, Ken slowly eased himself back into awareness of his surroundings. A growing fear pounded in him as his senses started to feed information of his physical state to him.
The room was too dark for him to see anything. He was secured to the metal floor. His arms once more drawn over his head, while his ankles were secured to another restraining bolt. Terror gripped him in its icy embrace. The situation mirrored his captivity of two days ago. The nightmares crushed down upon him.
{"He's a tight one."}
His skin crawled as phantom hands slid down his chest and intimately tried to tease his nipples through his uniform.
{"Enjoy him while you can, boys. There won't be much left once Katse-sama is through."}
He relived the feel of fingers entangled in his long hair as his assailant gripped his head.
{"Carry on."}
He remembered the pain as he was stretched during some entries.
{"Come on mate, give the rest of us a chance t' have another go."}
Phantom hands touched and teased him, trying to bring him off as he choked in the grip of another man.
{"Startin' t' relax, ain't he?"}
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!>
Ken barely held back his scream of terror. No! He had refused to give the Galactors the satisfaction of hearing him cry then. He wasn't going to give it to them now.
He concentrated on breathing evenly, keeping it steady, gentle. Certain facts started to filter through the fog that terror had cast in his mind.
He still had his helmet, it was still in closed systems mode, and his belt was still around his waist. The restraints had him stretched out and allowed him almost no play with the chains. The manacles were certainly of a better quality, but not impossible to escape from. He wasn't blindfolded, but the room was pitch black.
He was alone. The rest of the team didn't appear to be in the same room. A small blue light was the only thing to relieve the pitch-black room, probably a camera.
"Infrared vision," He whispered and waited for his visor to adjust.
By pretending to turn his head as if he was in the throes of a nightmare, Ken allowed himself a sweep of the room. He was truly alone with a small camera that moved slowly to capture the room in a steady sweep.
He was alone and he was waiting for the slide of the door to signify the entry of the soldiers.
There were many things Condor Joe enjoyed waking up to. The smell of freshly brewed coffee with breakfast on the stove... the sweet-salty air of the beach at Crescent Coral after a night of sleeping under the stars on a whim... a kiss and the warm embrace of a lover...
The hated visage of Berg Katse was not anywhere on that list. This awakening had a better placement on his 'the worst' list.
"Finally glad to have you join us, Condor. And here I was thinking you had as weak a constitution as the Eagle."
Joe turned away from Katse's gloating visage to find the others similarly secured to the wall with wrist cuffs and leg manacles. He looked at each of them, pleased to see defiance shine in their eyes more than the fear he knew they must feel as well.
"Where's Gatchaman?"
"Your commander is not a well child, is he? Or did we really tax him beyond endurance when he was last our guest?" Katse twirled a familiar boomerang in his hand teasingly.
Joe wished he could rip the Cheshire grin off the Galactor leader's face. "Where is he?"
Katse's grin grew wider as he directed their attention to a darkened screen.
"Change to infrared filters."
The team gasped at the scene. The white winged figure lay rigid across the floor, secured by restraints at wrists and ankles.
"You--you son of a bitch! You recreated--"
"Even unconscious, we could tell he remembers." Katse chuckled. "Do you care to wager that Gatchaman is still unconscious, or if he is immobilized with terror, just waiting for the cell to fill with our soldiers? And do not think I have not arranged for soldiers to walk pass the entrance of his cell at random intervals."
"F$%k you, Katse. If we were free--"
"But you aren't, and my, what an interesting proposal."
They stiffened in their restraints.
"I was certainly bitterly disappointed to lose the original recording. But now we have this new delicious opportunity."
Ryu's voice was hoarse with rage as he strained against the chains. "Don't you touch him."
"And what can *you* do about it?" Katse laughed at their helplessness as he switched off the monitor to focus their attention back on him. "We have some interesting plans for your Eagle. However, I see that the ISO have made improvements to your uniforms, in response to--your commander's experience, I suppose. We were *so* disappointed when we realized we couldn't remove either helmet or belt this time. But perhaps you could show us how."
"Sod off."
Katse only grinned. "You really give me such interesting proposals."
A group of grinning soldiers wheeled in a large, covered contraption.
"I do confess that I should apologize to your commander for his extreme discomfort and inconvenience on his last stay with us. But, I had not given much thought to the idea then." Katse studied them carefully as he glided over to the covered apparatus. "I'm sure he would approve of *this* design."
The Kagaku Ninjatai couldn't stop their cries of horror and outrage when Katse pulled the covers off. The contraption he revealed was straight out of a sadomasochist's dream.
Joe tore his eyes away from it to look at Katse with eyes full of hate and disgust. "You sick bastard, you can't do this to him."
"Oh, but I can and I will, Condor." Katse slid closer to him and let his hand glide over Joe's chest. "But it hasn't been tested yet. I don't suppose *you'd* like to have first go."
Joe tried not to react, but he could feel the terror build within him. And from the curl on Katse's lips, he knew that the Galactor commander could see that fear.
"We might even go live." Katse's smile broadened as he waved his hand towards a soldier who was setting up a camera.
"You degenerate beast! Why are you doing this?" Jun yelled at him, mercifully taking his attention from Joe and giving him enough time to get his thoughts back under control.
"Because you *children* have humiliated me enough times that I have the greatest desire to return the favor." Katse swung towards her angrily. "Because it would crush the morale of the UN to see their oh-so-special-elite strike force of children broken by a torture so infrequently used on their own soldiers."
He walked up to her to grip the chin guard of her helmet in his hand. "Because I can."
Jun just bared her teeth at him in a snarl of defiance.
"Do you want to volunteer to test our prototype, Swan? Or should we try it on the Swallow?"
"NO!"
Jinpei shrunk back and started to whimper. Katse had them all in the grip of fear and there was nothing they could do about it.
"Leave them out of it!" Joe yelled bringing Katse's attention back to him. "I volunteer."
"No, don't listen to him, Katse." Jun called to him. "Your men would be more interested in me."
"Katse! Don't you touch *any* of them!" Ryu threw his full weight on his restraints to no avail.
"Leave us alone!"
This sudden change from fear to hostility almost threw Katse off. He retreated to the contraption to gather his thoughts and play with the pivot. Around him, the soldiers were licking their lips and waiting for his decision with eagerness that was almost palpable.
"Decisions, decisions."
"Leave the Swallow be, Katse. You hate me almost as much as you hate the Eagle." Joe told him evenly. "You've had him. It's my turn."
"Your men would prefer to have a woman, Katse." Jun locked her unwavering gaze at the Galactor leader. "I doubt there is even one man here who would prefer a willing man over a willing woman."
"And are you *that* willing, Swan Jun?" Katse looked up at her in surprise.
"Try me."
"Jun, don't!"
"Try me," She told him steadily.
"And will you dance for us then? Remove your uniform and entertain us?"
"JUN, DON'T DO IT!"
"Yes."
"Done." Katse released her restraints.
Jun landed on the floor and almost stumbled as her numbed limbs tried to support her.
"DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER!"
"Jun." Joe's voice trembled as horror overtook him.
She straightened and looked back at each of them. Her stance was determined. Joe's eyes caught hers and he tried to pour all his sorrow and regret in them. She had offered him a gift, and he refused it. There would never be another opportunity. She was willing to give it up to save his sanity, but this was infinitely worse.
"Katse, don't listen to her. *You* want me."
"Such entertainment, you fight among yourself for the honors?" Berg Katse was almost beside himself with mirth. "However, I don't believe we would be as entertained to see *you* dance, Condor. Begin the transmission!"
Nambu spilled his coffee over his table when his television leaped to life with the Galactor transmission.
"Greetings citizens. This morning we have a special treat in store for you. A live telecast."
No! Please God, NO!>
Anderson was on his feet and his arms trembled as he rested the palm of his hands on his desk.
Red Impulse sank into his chair as Masaki surreptitiously removed all possible projectile objects from around him. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the monstrosity which stood behind the pale Swan.
"We have for your entertainment the lovely Swan, who shall be beta testing something for us. I ask you now to sit back and enjoy. Maestro, some music if you please."
Jun could hear Jinpei cursing and crying behind her, but she refused to look back at any of her teammates. As a low whistling tune started softly, she steeled herself to move. But her hands stopped short of reaching for her belt as recognition sank in.
Katse, who had been frowning at the less than orchestral performance, suddenly swung around him, his face paling in shock. Such was the violence of his movement that he dropped the remote control and the item bounced unheeded to land almost at the feet of the Swan.
The haunting melody was familiar and unmistakable. It was frighteningly familiar to the Galactors.
"Gatchaman?"
"He's loose?"
"We broke him. We must have."
The Galactor soldiers unconsciously bunched together with growing fear.
"Where is he?"
The haunting tune came to a close and an eerie laugh echoed in the vast chamber.
"You thought you could break me, Berg Katse? The white shadow which slips in unseen? Broken by such a trivial activity?"
The voice seemed to fade in and out around them, making its direction indistinct. The Galactors stumbled over themselves to grab their guns, but they had no idea where to point them.
"Where is he?!"
The haunting laughter resounded against the walls, occasionally punctuated by the sound of explosions in the base.
After she got over the initial shock, Jun started to grin when she realized that she had been all but forgotten in the onslaught of fear that gripped their enemies. No one paid any attention to her as she reached for the controls and released her teammates.
The Galactor soldiers started to scream as they became belatedly aware of the suddenly freed and highly dangerous Kagaku Ninjatai.
"You presumed too much, Berg Katse." Yet another explosion rocked the base.
"You had me in your power and at your mercy for over forty-eight hours." The soft purr carried over the sounds of battle and the explosions that roared through the base. "You could have destroyed me, Berg Katse. Cut my flesh, broken my bones, mutilated my body and spirit."
They couldn't pinpoint the direction the voice was coming from. The Galactors could only recognize the malice in the words and the flames of terror they stroked within them.
"Had you even thought of it, you could have irreversibly crippled Gatchaman and I would have been powerless to stop you, Berg Katse."
The Galactor soldiers dwindled to almost nothing around him, but Katse didn't care. The voice had captured his attention like a fly in a spider's web. The smooth, almost silky malevolence caressed his senses, feeding his fear as he cowered beside his latest creation.
"Well over forty-eight hours, Berg Katse. And all you have to show for it is twenty-four minutes of an uninspiring blue movie."
As the last of the Galactor soldiers fell to the Kagaku Ninjatai, an outline of a bird styled figure made its appearance surrounded by a halo of flames.
Berg Katse started to cry and he tried to hide himself behind his nightmare contraption. The Kagaku Ninjatai did not attempt to approach the Galactor commander as Gatchaman sauntered into the room. His very entrance seemed to charge the air with omnipotence and strength.
Gatchaman walked around the object with barely a glance and caught Katse by his collar. His other hand relieved the gibbering Galactor leader of his bird rang.
"It was a waste of time, Berg Katse. You will *never* have another opportunity with me, or with any of us again."
Katse started to scream in terror as Gatchaman pulled him off the floor.
"Sosai! Sosai X-sama! Save me!! Save me, please! SAVE ME!!"
Ken flinched from the blinding blue light, which suddenly surrounded the Galactor leader.
"SOSAI!!" The relief in the Galactor leader's voice was unmistakable.
"What?!" Ken's grip on Katse's collar disappeared.
"I CANNOT LET YOU HAVE HIM, GATCHAMAN. KATSE IS MY BELOVED PROTEGE AND I STILL HAVE NEED FOR HIM."
"Katse!" Ken swung around in fury when he realized that Katse had escaped them again. "Sosai X? Then the master makes his appearance, heh? I know you can hear me creature, and we *are* forewarned of your existence now."
"I'LL MEAN BUSINESS WHEN NEXT WE MEET."
"Do your worst," Ken twirled his bird rang in his hand before slipping it back into the holster. "We'll be waiting."
The mysterious voice said no more and the Kagaku Ninjtai Gatchaman were left alone in the ruined base. Joe had an expression of innocence on his face as he corked an eyebrow at his commander.
"The cameras are still rolling, commander."
"The *what*?"
"Over there." Ryu grinned as he reached past him to break and tear Katse's apparatus into as many little pieces as he could manage.
Jinpei had a huge grin on his face as he pointed behind Ken. Jun waved her hand at him from behind the camera which she had commandeered from the Galactor soldier.
"We're on live?!!!"
A crowd gathered at a wall of televisions at an appliance store.
"Ha! Look at them cower!"
"Hasn't even appeared yet, and he's got 'em quakin' in their boots."
"See any yellow puddles?"
"Galactors' made up o' a bunch o' cowards. Shows us you can't break Gatchaman!"
Their cheers and whoops as they watched the ISO sponsored playback carried clearly across the street to the cafe, where five youths were seated at a table with the remains of a mid-afternoon snack.
"I thought I killed all transmissions before I reached you. I have *never* been so embarrassed in all my life," Ken groaned from behind a pair of sunglasses.
"But you lap up this sort of thing, Ken. You're a natural showman." Ryu sniggered as he sipped the last of his coffee.
"It was ostentatious!" Ken leaned over the table and hid his head under his arms. "This sort of thing is between Katse and me. *Not* for public viewing."
Jun tousled the hair of his blond wig playfully. "What have *you* got to be embarrassed about? They're cheering for you."
"Yeah." Joe slumped in his chair with a petulant pout. "You hardly lifted a finger and Katse was ready to pee in his pants. Yak-yak-yak-yak-yakety-yak. You have a shoo-in career as a politician when this war is over."
"Yuck. That's a sub-species I want nothing to do with."
"Speaking of politicians... Anderson looked ready to kiss both your cheeks when we got back this morning." Jun grinned at him.
"That has got to be the best propaganda recording the ISO ever got their hands on." Ken groaned again. "I am soiled! The Public Relations department is going to pounce on it for *commercials*."
Jinpei snorted in laughter. "Hey, we could go into advertising! Get a line of kick ass athletic wear. We can get paid for this!"
Ken threw him a pained look. "No. We're ninjas and we're on public television. Sensei is going to kill us."
"Hopefully, he won't notice." Joe looked around nervously as if worried for a moment that the redoubtable old man might suddenly appear behind them. "He eschewed technology thirty years ago, he won't find out."
"We can hope."
They left unsaid the real reason behind the frequent playbacks by the United Nations. The Galactors still tried to use the videos of the rape, but countered with the ISO's showing of the Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman's total intimidation of Berg Katse, the earlier event was losing its impact.
"So tell us about your new job, Ken?" Ryu asked as he pushed cake crumbs around his plate.
He and the others were dying to know what Nambu and Anderson had managed to put together, to give Ken back some semblance of a private life.
The further improvements Nambu had made to their bird style meant they only needed to keep the bracelet, belt, shoes and a chain necklace. Their outing this day, with a wad of cash generously supplied by both Nambu and Anderson, was for the expressed purpose of clothes shopping. In general, the Kagaku Ninjatai's release from having major clothing restrictions would make it easier for them to disappear into crowds. They were in heaven.
Ken, though, had added needs compared to them. The team had earlier stood by in amusement to watch the confrontation between him and Nambu.
{"I am *not* wearing makeup!"}
{"It's a disguise."}
{"You want to give me foundation, an eyebrow pencil, green contact lenses and a pair of scissors to cut my eye lashes." Ken had stared Nambu in the eye in exasperation. "With all due respect, Hakase. I was wearing a blindfold, I don't see how the general public will be able to recognize me from my eyes."}
Nambu dropped the issue on the makeup, but Ken conceded to wearing a blond wig and sunglasses. Besides, Joe claimed that he seemed to turn more eyes as a blond.
Ken leaned back in his seat with a smile.
"You're looking at the ISO's newest and brightest tech-jockey. I have a regular salary for once in my life and I get to play with all our prototype equipment."
"Regular? Does that mean you'll finally pay your tab?"
"I'm working on it," Ken promised her.
"Not too shabby." Joe looked at him with a touch of jealousy. "But you're also saddling yourself with tons of paperwork."
A pained expression flashed across his face, "Don't remind me. The paper work has to be done triplicate. On the other hand, I get to direct feed back the scientists and designers for all our equipment before we have to suffer them on the field."
They noticed his involuntary shudder.
"A--are you okay, Ken?"
"Hmmm? Oh, it's nothing. I was--just flashing back to a couple of designs I managed to derail before I came out to join you."
"Dare we ask? Or would we rather not want to know?" Joe looked at him cautiously.
"Would you believe the chicken ship from hell and a paper airplane were on the drawing board as replacements for the God Phoenix?"
"What? Replace my girl?! I'll mutiny!"
"You're kidding?" Joe punched his shoulder playfully.
Ken shook his head.
"You're not kidding?" An expression of abject worry crossed his face.
Ken nodded.
"So if I piss you off on any more missions, I stand a chance of being saddled with my worst nightmare for future equipment?"
Ken looked at Joe over the lowered rim of his sunglasses.
"Be *very* afraid, my friend."
To be continued...