H1CENTERChapter 6: Road to Reunion/CENTER/H1
Private Raguri Omoto sighed. Another boring day on guard duty. On one hand, he was happy that he did not go on the attack on the Zerg base, especially after he saw what some of his friends came back as. On the other hand, he was bored out of his mind. He yawned and activated the bio-scanners for a quick sweep./P
Raguri woke up quickly when the scanner started to beep. Scrambling with the controls, he tried to identify the signatures. He paled then activated his commlink which was directly connected to Central Command./P
"Command here," a voice said over the phone./P
"Uhh...this is Private Raguri Omoto in sector 3. I've got...aw hell! I've got seven Zerg signatures and one..." He hit the scanner a few times. "One indeterminate reading."/P
"Indeterminate?"/P
"That's what I said! This stupid scanner can't tell me what it is. What the hell do I do? They'll be within visual range any second!"/P
"Calm down Private. We're sending reinforcements, and -"/P
"Wait! I've got another reading! An eighth Zerg reading. It's on a straight line intercept course for the first seven, so it's probably a flyer. I need some Goliaths up here!"/P
"Roger that Private. We're sending part of the 9th mechanized division. ETA: three minutes."/P
"I don't have three minutes!"/P
"That's the best we can do."/P
"Great!" Raguri grabbed his machine gun./P
The Zerg came around the bend into visual range, about two hundred feet away. Picking up some binoculars, he attempted to identify the creatures./P
"Command, I have four - no five Zerglings, two Hydralisks, and one...it looks like one infested human."/P
"Roger that. If possible, do not engage until the reinforcements have arrived."/P
"You bet I won't engage," he said. From over a hill, an Overlord appeared and moved towards the small Zerg contingent. "Command, the flyer is an Overlord." To himself, he said, "Now the gangs all here."/P
BR
Kasumi's feet hurt. She had been walking for almost a day and a half, trying to find the human base. She was hungry, thirsty and tired. And how was she suppose to go to the bathroom with this strange suit on? It did not have any zippers or openings. Oh well, she could worry about that after she had eaten./P
The Hydralisks suddenly stopped and turned to look behind them. They hissed, and the bulbous body of an Overlord floated over the ruins of a building. It's tendrils writhed menacingly, and it's jellyfish shaped body quivered as it came close to Kasumi's entourage./P
One after another, Kasumi felt the awareness of her new companions disappeared from her mind. She watched in horror as they turned to her and growled menacingly. A strange voice echoed in her head./P
[Come, join us,] it said. [Become one with us. Join the Swarm and never be alone.]/P
"What are you doing?" she cried./P
[Join us and be with them.]/P
"Let them go!"/P
[They are part of the Swarm, as they were meant to be.]/P
"Let them go! They're my friends!"/P
[They are Zerg. They have no friends.]/P
"They have me!" Untrained, Kasumi pushed her mind outward trying to free the creatures from the Overlord's control. They shuddered, then collapsed, freed from the monster's control./P
[Zerg cannot exist outside the Swarm.] The Overlord fought back. The Zerg trembled and screamed as Kasumi and the Overlord fought. Sweat began to stream down Kasumi's face, and the writhing of the Overlord's tentacles became more agitated./P
[You cannot win. The Swarm is all. Our strength comes from it. It's strength is eternal.] The Overlord managed to wrest control from Kasumi a final time. Kasumi collapsed, her head aching like it had been split open. [If you will not join us, then you will die.] The Zerg surrounded her and growled./P
"If you won't let them go," she panted, "Then I'll take them!" It felt like a floodgate had opened in her mind. She felt a surge of strength fill her, and she directed that power to the Overlord./P
The Overlord's telepathic scream of pain echoed through her mind. Physically, the thing was surrounded by a blue-white coruscating storm of psionic energy. Veins and muscle collapsed as the creature's system was overloaded. It blew apart in a shower of blood and goo, raining down upon the group. Kasumi collapsed in exhaustion./P
BR
"Something happening Command. They've stopped and..." Private Omoto watched as Kasumi ripped the Overlord apart. "Command, the Overlord's...dead. I think the human did it."/P
"Say again, Private?"/P
"The woman, she...the whole group stopped. Then Overlord began to glow blue, and then it...exploded. After that, the woman collapsed. I don't think she's a regular infested human."/P
"Uhh...roger that, Private. Let the Golaiths handle the situation."/P
"I copy, Command. Omoto out." He deactivated his comm link./P
BR
From around a bend in the road near the sentry blind, three Goliaths emerged. Their heavy thudding alerted the Zerg to their presence before their actual arrival. They stopped about one hundred feet away and lined up side to side./P
"This is SergentYuri Amoka of X-Com Defense Force 9th mechanized division," came a voice the center pod's loudspeakers./P
Kasumi barely heard. The mental fight had drained her of most of her strength. She could feel her friends back in her mind again, but their attitude was one of alarm. She managed to roll over to where she could see the Goliaths./P
"I repeat, this is Sergeant Yuri Amoka of the X-Com Defense Force 9th mechanized division. Please respond."/P
One of the Zerglings, confused by the mental battle it had been a victim of, charged./P
"No!" cried Kasumi hoarsely. Weakened by the battle, she was unable to bring the Zergling back under her control./P
"All units, open fire!" The Goliaths opened fire with their twin autocannons. Depleted uranium shells tore through the Zergling. It's exoskeleton shattered under the onslaught, it's innards spilt onto the ground. The Goliaths, anticipating retaliation, turned their weapons on the rest of the group./P
The Zerg surrounded Kasumi, trying to protect her. The Hydralisks managed to fire couple of volleys of spines. One Goliath shuddered and ground to a halt, smoke pouring from it's engine./P
Kasumi tried to get to her feet, tried to tell them to stop. She managed to do one, however, before she was able to do the other, she felt something hit her high in the chest. She was thrown back by the force. Strangely, she did not feel any pain. Only sadness that she was not able to save her friends. Her world became filled with darkness./P
BR
"Well, Doctor, if she's not infested, what is she? And why does she have that biosuit?" asked General Moroto./P
Doctor Horato was so intent on his instruments, he did not even hear him. "Enhanced toughness, natural armour, regenerative capability, -" he muttered to himself./P
"Doctor?" asked General Moroto again, a little more forcefully./P
"Minor neurological trauma, but nothing irreversible, - err - I'm sorry General, what where you saying?" The General repeated his question. "Well, physically, we've got a young woman in her mid twenties with a rapidly healing bullet wound in her upper chest." He pressed a button and a complex display appeared that the General did not understand. "She is encased by a protoplasmic suit comprised of Zerg cells. However, her DNA registers as a human and she shows no sign of Zerg contamination."/P
"So, she's definitely not infested?"/P
"Well, I wouldn't say that. She does have Zerg organics grafted to her skin. It's possible she's been exposed to a new form of infestation."/P
"But why the biosuit? If she's suppose to be a spy, why give her the suit?"/P
"Don't ask me. I'm a doctor, not a counter-intelligence agent."/P
The General turned to address a pair of Caucasian fraternal twins who were sitting in chairs, their eyes closed. Their faces were set in an expression of tense concentration. "What have you found out?"/P
The twins relaxed and sighed. Shaking herself out of her trance, the female twin opened her eyes. "Not much. Every time Darryl or I tried to go in, we basically got slapped."/P
"It wasn't anything powerful," said Darryl. His forehead below his short crop of brown hair gleamed with sweat. "Just enough to say 'Leave me alone.' Right Jes?"/P
Jes nodded, her brown pony-tail waving through the air. "So we ended up doing a lot of passive scanning."/P
"And?"/P
"We think...and remember it's just a theory, but we think she's emitting a telepathic control field similar to an Overlord or Cerebrate."/P
General Moroto felt his jaw dropping. "Are you saying that she's some kind of human...Cerebrate? That she can control the Zerg?"/P
"It would explain why there were Zerg with her and why she and the Overlord fought. She took them away from its Cerebrate, it wanted them back - " started Darryl./P
"-and so it sent an Overlord," continued Jes. "They fight and she blasts it to pieces with psionic energy."/P
"Amazing," muttered General Moroto. "Can we test this?"/P
Jes shrugged. "Sure. Put her in a shielded room with a Zergling, and see what happens."/P
The General though for a few minutes, then turned to Doctor Horato. "Doctor, how long until she wakes up?"/P
"Eh?" The doctor tore himself away from his instruments. "Oh, uh...given the rate of regeneration, I'd give her about four hours. Her regerative ability is amazing! It's been only twenty hours since she was injured, and she'll be conscious and ambulatory in slightly over a day. I doubt Major or Captain Saotome could do that. She'll be very hungry when she wakes, though. The biosuit is drawing mass from her own body to repair the wounds and heal itself. She'll loose about four percent of her muscle mass and most of her body fat. She'll need food to replace it. A lot of food."/P
He nodded. "When you think she's ready, transfer her to biolab three. When she wakes up, call me." General Horato left./P
The twins stood. "Well, I guess that's it for us. Let us know how it goes, okay doc?" Horato nodded absently./P
"By the way," said Jes. "How is Nabiki doing? We heard she was brought in last night."/P
BR
Nabiki opened her eyes. All she could see was light. Was she dead? Was this heaven? Oh, wait a minute, those are ceiling lights, she thought. She moved her head slightly and a pain shot through her brain. Well, at least I know I'm not dead. Her mind wandered back to when she arrived the night before. After being clipped by a photon blast from one of the Protoss's sentry cannons, she somehow managed to get to her bike and drive back to the base, where she had promptly collapsed. She shifted in bed and uttered a muffled moan as her entire left side protested./P
Ranma, who was asleep in a chair beside her, a person who, one time, did not wake up when Ryoga had bellowed a challenge a him from less than a foot away, instantly woke and was at her side./P
"Hi," he said simply. Nabiki was amazed at the love and caring Ranma could put in one word. He still did not say "I love you," but sometimes, he did not have to, to convey how he felt./P
"Hi," she rasped back. Her throat and mouth were dry./P
"I'll get you a drink." Going to the bathroom, he filled a paper cup with water and gave it to Nabiki. She took it and saw that her hand was shaking. She stared at it for a moment, not believing she was this weak. She focused, and her hand ceased it's trembling, and she drank./P
"Much better," she said in a more normal tone. "So, how bad is it?" she asked, glancing significantly towards her injuries./P
"The doc says that you'll be a week recovering. They've opted not to do skin grafts."/P
"Good. I hate surgery."/P
Ranma grinned. "Me too." He paused for a few moments before continuing. "What...what happened?" he asked./P
Tears filled her eyes, and her unconcerned-sardonic facade collapsed to one of grief. "Oh Ranma, she...I..." She sniffed back tears. Glancing around the room, she continued, but used her mind instead of her voice. [I don't want anyone eavesdropping. She...she didn't know me! She's forgotten who we are! The Protoss did something to her. She was in some kind of tube, and when she got out she was so weak. She wouldn't talk to me, she wouldn't listen, and...and...she *hit* me! Over, and over...Ranma, what have they done to my little sister?! What in God's name have they done?!] Nabiki was weeping openly now, the pain and horror of Phoenix's rejection still raw in her memory./P
Ranma held her as best he could without aggravating her injuries. "I don't know," he replied, also holding back tears with a rising tide of anger. [But, we'll get her back, I promise!]/P
They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," said Ranma./P
General Moroto opened the door. Sensing the emotions in the couple he asked, "Am I interrupting anything?"/P
Ranma sighed. "No, General. What is it?"/P
"I need to talk to you for a minute, Ranma. In private."/P
Ranma and Nabiki looked at each other wryly. "Business before pleasure," said Nabiki./P
"You'd know wouldn't you?" teased Ranma./P
"You better believe it. Who kept us afloat back when you and your friends were always ruining the neighborhood?"/P
Ranma groaned. "Please, don't remind me."/P
Moroto cleared his throat impatiently./P
Nabiki smiled slightly. "You'd better get going before he busts you down to Lieutenant. Get back here when you're done."/P
"You're wish is my command," Ranma replied, bowing. He and Moroto left the room./P
"You kids," said the General, chuckling. "You've been married for three years, and you still act like newlyweds."/P
Ranma pretended to buff his nails. "What can I say? When you've got it, flaunt it."/P
"You've never had any problem flaunting anything."/P
"And what you're trying to say is..."/P
Moroto shook his head, smiling with amusement. "Never mind. I need you tomorrow morning. We've been talking with the Protoss since the battle with the Zerg, and they're prepared to meet. Not only that, they've agreed to come here, to us."/P
Ranma looked at him, surprised. "How'd you do that?"/P
"It was surprisingly easy. We made some ingrating remarks, went on about their superior technology, and so on. It got to the point that they had to come here to prove they weren't afraid of us."/P
"So now what?"/P
"They'll be here tomorrow morning at 0930 hours. I want you to accompany me."/P
"Me? Why me?"/P
"Because Nabiki is in a hospital bed. I was going to ask her until she was injured. Speaking of which, what the hell was she doing in Protoss territory? They found an unconscious Zealot with one of our mindblockers, and their Photon Cannons tagged her on the way out. It took a lot of fast talking to smooth over that incident."/P
Ranma fidgeted nervously. "She was going to check out that strange human-Protoss warrior. She looked human, so Nabiki thought she might be able to get her to defect back to our side. But she doesn't have any memory at to who she was or even the fact that she was human once."/P
Moroto stared at Ranma for several moments. Ranma was many things, including a horrible liar. He was not quite lying now, but he sure was not telling the whole truth. "Well of course she wouldn't remember. She's a clone."/P
"WHAT?!"/P
"She was cloned from a dead human, and...'enhanced' was their word...by splicing Protoss DNA to increase her psionic abilities."/P
"But...but...how do you know?"/P
"The Protoss told us when they said that they're bringing her tomorrow. They said she'd be an example of one of the things the Protoss have to offer us. They said they could do it to living volunteers."/P
"And you believe them?"/P
"Why should they lie?"/P
Ranma could not think of an answer./P
"Be at Pad B at 0900, tomorrow."/P
Ranma nodded absently. "Right." A clone? He thought. Then maybe she...it...whatever, really isn't Akane after all./P
End of Chapter 6
Private Raguri Omoto sighed. Another boring day on guard duty. On one hand, he was happy that he did not go on the attack on the Zerg base, especially after he saw what some of his friends came back as. On the other hand, he was bored out of his mind. He yawned and activated the bio-scanners for a quick sweep./P
Raguri woke up quickly when the scanner started to beep. Scrambling with the controls, he tried to identify the signatures. He paled then activated his commlink which was directly connected to Central Command./P
"Command here," a voice said over the phone./P
"Uhh...this is Private Raguri Omoto in sector 3. I've got...aw hell! I've got seven Zerg signatures and one..." He hit the scanner a few times. "One indeterminate reading."/P
"Indeterminate?"/P
"That's what I said! This stupid scanner can't tell me what it is. What the hell do I do? They'll be within visual range any second!"/P
"Calm down Private. We're sending reinforcements, and -"/P
"Wait! I've got another reading! An eighth Zerg reading. It's on a straight line intercept course for the first seven, so it's probably a flyer. I need some Goliaths up here!"/P
"Roger that Private. We're sending part of the 9th mechanized division. ETA: three minutes."/P
"I don't have three minutes!"/P
"That's the best we can do."/P
"Great!" Raguri grabbed his machine gun./P
The Zerg came around the bend into visual range, about two hundred feet away. Picking up some binoculars, he attempted to identify the creatures./P
"Command, I have four - no five Zerglings, two Hydralisks, and one...it looks like one infested human."/P
"Roger that. If possible, do not engage until the reinforcements have arrived."/P
"You bet I won't engage," he said. From over a hill, an Overlord appeared and moved towards the small Zerg contingent. "Command, the flyer is an Overlord." To himself, he said, "Now the gangs all here."/P
BR
Kasumi's feet hurt. She had been walking for almost a day and a half, trying to find the human base. She was hungry, thirsty and tired. And how was she suppose to go to the bathroom with this strange suit on? It did not have any zippers or openings. Oh well, she could worry about that after she had eaten./P
The Hydralisks suddenly stopped and turned to look behind them. They hissed, and the bulbous body of an Overlord floated over the ruins of a building. It's tendrils writhed menacingly, and it's jellyfish shaped body quivered as it came close to Kasumi's entourage./P
One after another, Kasumi felt the awareness of her new companions disappeared from her mind. She watched in horror as they turned to her and growled menacingly. A strange voice echoed in her head./P
[Come, join us,] it said. [Become one with us. Join the Swarm and never be alone.]/P
"What are you doing?" she cried./P
[Join us and be with them.]/P
"Let them go!"/P
[They are part of the Swarm, as they were meant to be.]/P
"Let them go! They're my friends!"/P
[They are Zerg. They have no friends.]/P
"They have me!" Untrained, Kasumi pushed her mind outward trying to free the creatures from the Overlord's control. They shuddered, then collapsed, freed from the monster's control./P
[Zerg cannot exist outside the Swarm.] The Overlord fought back. The Zerg trembled and screamed as Kasumi and the Overlord fought. Sweat began to stream down Kasumi's face, and the writhing of the Overlord's tentacles became more agitated./P
[You cannot win. The Swarm is all. Our strength comes from it. It's strength is eternal.] The Overlord managed to wrest control from Kasumi a final time. Kasumi collapsed, her head aching like it had been split open. [If you will not join us, then you will die.] The Zerg surrounded her and growled./P
"If you won't let them go," she panted, "Then I'll take them!" It felt like a floodgate had opened in her mind. She felt a surge of strength fill her, and she directed that power to the Overlord./P
The Overlord's telepathic scream of pain echoed through her mind. Physically, the thing was surrounded by a blue-white coruscating storm of psionic energy. Veins and muscle collapsed as the creature's system was overloaded. It blew apart in a shower of blood and goo, raining down upon the group. Kasumi collapsed in exhaustion./P
BR
"Something happening Command. They've stopped and..." Private Omoto watched as Kasumi ripped the Overlord apart. "Command, the Overlord's...dead. I think the human did it."/P
"Say again, Private?"/P
"The woman, she...the whole group stopped. Then Overlord began to glow blue, and then it...exploded. After that, the woman collapsed. I don't think she's a regular infested human."/P
"Uhh...roger that, Private. Let the Golaiths handle the situation."/P
"I copy, Command. Omoto out." He deactivated his comm link./P
BR
From around a bend in the road near the sentry blind, three Goliaths emerged. Their heavy thudding alerted the Zerg to their presence before their actual arrival. They stopped about one hundred feet away and lined up side to side./P
"This is SergentYuri Amoka of X-Com Defense Force 9th mechanized division," came a voice the center pod's loudspeakers./P
Kasumi barely heard. The mental fight had drained her of most of her strength. She could feel her friends back in her mind again, but their attitude was one of alarm. She managed to roll over to where she could see the Goliaths./P
"I repeat, this is Sergeant Yuri Amoka of the X-Com Defense Force 9th mechanized division. Please respond."/P
One of the Zerglings, confused by the mental battle it had been a victim of, charged./P
"No!" cried Kasumi hoarsely. Weakened by the battle, she was unable to bring the Zergling back under her control./P
"All units, open fire!" The Goliaths opened fire with their twin autocannons. Depleted uranium shells tore through the Zergling. It's exoskeleton shattered under the onslaught, it's innards spilt onto the ground. The Goliaths, anticipating retaliation, turned their weapons on the rest of the group./P
The Zerg surrounded Kasumi, trying to protect her. The Hydralisks managed to fire couple of volleys of spines. One Goliath shuddered and ground to a halt, smoke pouring from it's engine./P
Kasumi tried to get to her feet, tried to tell them to stop. She managed to do one, however, before she was able to do the other, she felt something hit her high in the chest. She was thrown back by the force. Strangely, she did not feel any pain. Only sadness that she was not able to save her friends. Her world became filled with darkness./P
BR
"Well, Doctor, if she's not infested, what is she? And why does she have that biosuit?" asked General Moroto./P
Doctor Horato was so intent on his instruments, he did not even hear him. "Enhanced toughness, natural armour, regenerative capability, -" he muttered to himself./P
"Doctor?" asked General Moroto again, a little more forcefully./P
"Minor neurological trauma, but nothing irreversible, - err - I'm sorry General, what where you saying?" The General repeated his question. "Well, physically, we've got a young woman in her mid twenties with a rapidly healing bullet wound in her upper chest." He pressed a button and a complex display appeared that the General did not understand. "She is encased by a protoplasmic suit comprised of Zerg cells. However, her DNA registers as a human and she shows no sign of Zerg contamination."/P
"So, she's definitely not infested?"/P
"Well, I wouldn't say that. She does have Zerg organics grafted to her skin. It's possible she's been exposed to a new form of infestation."/P
"But why the biosuit? If she's suppose to be a spy, why give her the suit?"/P
"Don't ask me. I'm a doctor, not a counter-intelligence agent."/P
The General turned to address a pair of Caucasian fraternal twins who were sitting in chairs, their eyes closed. Their faces were set in an expression of tense concentration. "What have you found out?"/P
The twins relaxed and sighed. Shaking herself out of her trance, the female twin opened her eyes. "Not much. Every time Darryl or I tried to go in, we basically got slapped."/P
"It wasn't anything powerful," said Darryl. His forehead below his short crop of brown hair gleamed with sweat. "Just enough to say 'Leave me alone.' Right Jes?"/P
Jes nodded, her brown pony-tail waving through the air. "So we ended up doing a lot of passive scanning."/P
"And?"/P
"We think...and remember it's just a theory, but we think she's emitting a telepathic control field similar to an Overlord or Cerebrate."/P
General Moroto felt his jaw dropping. "Are you saying that she's some kind of human...Cerebrate? That she can control the Zerg?"/P
"It would explain why there were Zerg with her and why she and the Overlord fought. She took them away from its Cerebrate, it wanted them back - " started Darryl./P
"-and so it sent an Overlord," continued Jes. "They fight and she blasts it to pieces with psionic energy."/P
"Amazing," muttered General Moroto. "Can we test this?"/P
Jes shrugged. "Sure. Put her in a shielded room with a Zergling, and see what happens."/P
The General though for a few minutes, then turned to Doctor Horato. "Doctor, how long until she wakes up?"/P
"Eh?" The doctor tore himself away from his instruments. "Oh, uh...given the rate of regeneration, I'd give her about four hours. Her regerative ability is amazing! It's been only twenty hours since she was injured, and she'll be conscious and ambulatory in slightly over a day. I doubt Major or Captain Saotome could do that. She'll be very hungry when she wakes, though. The biosuit is drawing mass from her own body to repair the wounds and heal itself. She'll loose about four percent of her muscle mass and most of her body fat. She'll need food to replace it. A lot of food."/P
He nodded. "When you think she's ready, transfer her to biolab three. When she wakes up, call me." General Horato left./P
The twins stood. "Well, I guess that's it for us. Let us know how it goes, okay doc?" Horato nodded absently./P
"By the way," said Jes. "How is Nabiki doing? We heard she was brought in last night."/P
BR
Nabiki opened her eyes. All she could see was light. Was she dead? Was this heaven? Oh, wait a minute, those are ceiling lights, she thought. She moved her head slightly and a pain shot through her brain. Well, at least I know I'm not dead. Her mind wandered back to when she arrived the night before. After being clipped by a photon blast from one of the Protoss's sentry cannons, she somehow managed to get to her bike and drive back to the base, where she had promptly collapsed. She shifted in bed and uttered a muffled moan as her entire left side protested./P
Ranma, who was asleep in a chair beside her, a person who, one time, did not wake up when Ryoga had bellowed a challenge a him from less than a foot away, instantly woke and was at her side./P
"Hi," he said simply. Nabiki was amazed at the love and caring Ranma could put in one word. He still did not say "I love you," but sometimes, he did not have to, to convey how he felt./P
"Hi," she rasped back. Her throat and mouth were dry./P
"I'll get you a drink." Going to the bathroom, he filled a paper cup with water and gave it to Nabiki. She took it and saw that her hand was shaking. She stared at it for a moment, not believing she was this weak. She focused, and her hand ceased it's trembling, and she drank./P
"Much better," she said in a more normal tone. "So, how bad is it?" she asked, glancing significantly towards her injuries./P
"The doc says that you'll be a week recovering. They've opted not to do skin grafts."/P
"Good. I hate surgery."/P
Ranma grinned. "Me too." He paused for a few moments before continuing. "What...what happened?" he asked./P
Tears filled her eyes, and her unconcerned-sardonic facade collapsed to one of grief. "Oh Ranma, she...I..." She sniffed back tears. Glancing around the room, she continued, but used her mind instead of her voice. [I don't want anyone eavesdropping. She...she didn't know me! She's forgotten who we are! The Protoss did something to her. She was in some kind of tube, and when she got out she was so weak. She wouldn't talk to me, she wouldn't listen, and...and...she *hit* me! Over, and over...Ranma, what have they done to my little sister?! What in God's name have they done?!] Nabiki was weeping openly now, the pain and horror of Phoenix's rejection still raw in her memory./P
Ranma held her as best he could without aggravating her injuries. "I don't know," he replied, also holding back tears with a rising tide of anger. [But, we'll get her back, I promise!]/P
They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," said Ranma./P
General Moroto opened the door. Sensing the emotions in the couple he asked, "Am I interrupting anything?"/P
Ranma sighed. "No, General. What is it?"/P
"I need to talk to you for a minute, Ranma. In private."/P
Ranma and Nabiki looked at each other wryly. "Business before pleasure," said Nabiki./P
"You'd know wouldn't you?" teased Ranma./P
"You better believe it. Who kept us afloat back when you and your friends were always ruining the neighborhood?"/P
Ranma groaned. "Please, don't remind me."/P
Moroto cleared his throat impatiently./P
Nabiki smiled slightly. "You'd better get going before he busts you down to Lieutenant. Get back here when you're done."/P
"You're wish is my command," Ranma replied, bowing. He and Moroto left the room./P
"You kids," said the General, chuckling. "You've been married for three years, and you still act like newlyweds."/P
Ranma pretended to buff his nails. "What can I say? When you've got it, flaunt it."/P
"You've never had any problem flaunting anything."/P
"And what you're trying to say is..."/P
Moroto shook his head, smiling with amusement. "Never mind. I need you tomorrow morning. We've been talking with the Protoss since the battle with the Zerg, and they're prepared to meet. Not only that, they've agreed to come here, to us."/P
Ranma looked at him, surprised. "How'd you do that?"/P
"It was surprisingly easy. We made some ingrating remarks, went on about their superior technology, and so on. It got to the point that they had to come here to prove they weren't afraid of us."/P
"So now what?"/P
"They'll be here tomorrow morning at 0930 hours. I want you to accompany me."/P
"Me? Why me?"/P
"Because Nabiki is in a hospital bed. I was going to ask her until she was injured. Speaking of which, what the hell was she doing in Protoss territory? They found an unconscious Zealot with one of our mindblockers, and their Photon Cannons tagged her on the way out. It took a lot of fast talking to smooth over that incident."/P
Ranma fidgeted nervously. "She was going to check out that strange human-Protoss warrior. She looked human, so Nabiki thought she might be able to get her to defect back to our side. But she doesn't have any memory at to who she was or even the fact that she was human once."/P
Moroto stared at Ranma for several moments. Ranma was many things, including a horrible liar. He was not quite lying now, but he sure was not telling the whole truth. "Well of course she wouldn't remember. She's a clone."/P
"WHAT?!"/P
"She was cloned from a dead human, and...'enhanced' was their word...by splicing Protoss DNA to increase her psionic abilities."/P
"But...but...how do you know?"/P
"The Protoss told us when they said that they're bringing her tomorrow. They said she'd be an example of one of the things the Protoss have to offer us. They said they could do it to living volunteers."/P
"And you believe them?"/P
"Why should they lie?"/P
Ranma could not think of an answer./P
"Be at Pad B at 0900, tomorrow."/P
Ranma nodded absently. "Right." A clone? He thought. Then maybe she...it...whatever, really isn't Akane after all./P
End of Chapter 6