Yay! Here's chapter one.... Thanks go to my sister, for putting up with me constantly
asking her "how does this sound?", to Syrinx for some excellent comments and suggestions,
to Mukazuki for her plot idea, and to Naoko Takeuchi for letting us play with her universe.
Lurker 8/09/03
~~
The office was nicely furnished, with marble countertops and floors that shone under the
lighting. As he waited, Coren noticed the lack of dust on every surface. This Hold, at least,
was possessed of either an impeccable cleaning staff or a surplus of cadet trainees, he mused
with an inward grin. Even the areas too high for most people to see easily were scoured
clean.
Coren, with his lanky body and long legs, often took an interest in spying out 'hidden'
places and determining whether the janitors had been up to par lately. An inane pastime, he
readily admitted, but then he did need something to keep himself occupied when he had to
wait around - as happened often when you kept company with someone like Mila. This
occupation, at least, was relatively harmless. Lately, Coren had taken to keeping a running
tally in his head, and out of the five Holds he'd had occasion to visit in the last few years, this
was by far the cleanest.
He glanced at the pudgy lieutenant - Stan, wasn't it? - behind the desk, noticing with
satisfaction that the officer avoided his gaze and nervously shuffled through some papers.
Coren's height and fiery red hair often belied his rather mild interior, and to his way of
thinking, that was all to the good. In situations like this, when a bit of intimidation could speed
up a lot of red tape, it paid to look intimidating.
He was startled out of his thoughts when a junior officer appeared, trailing Mila behind
him. She looked none the worse for wear, although he could tell she wasn't in the best of
spirits. That was only to be expected, after all.... Who would enjoy a week's stay in the
Hold?
Coren folded his arms and leaned back against the white wall, ready to settle in for
another long wait while Lieutenant Stan sorted through paperwork. He purposely avoided
looking at Mila for too long. It wouldn't do to be anything but business-like and deliberate
here.
"Hiya, Stan!" Mila grinned. "Didja miss me?"
"I'll be glad when you're out of here, girl."
"Aw, Stan...." She pouted. "And here I thought you liked me."
The hapless Stan coughed and turned back to his desk, taking up a pen to mark on the
proper forms. He was finished in quite short time. "I'll just need your signature here, sir, and
here, and the fifty gold fee, please."
Coren obliged, laying a small pouch on the desk. He took up a pen and signed while the
Guard counted out the small gold pieces.
"Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty. Looks like it's all here. All right, Karl, let'er off the binders."
The young Guard nervously did as he was told, fumbling with the key before discharging
the energy cuffs that kept Mila's hands pinned behind her back. She rubbed at her wrists
absently.
"Thanks," Mila said shortly, the irritation clear in her voice. She stalked past him to the
door, her boots squeaking on the floor, and paused with her hand on the brass doorknob
when Stan's voice reached her.
"Try to stay out of trouble for a while, Mila. Karl here's been talking about naming the
Hold after you."
Mila's eyes darted to the younger Guard, who flushed red at the comment. He moved his
mouth wordlessly for a moment, looking like nothing so much as a beached fish, until he came
up with an explanation. "Was a joke," he said briefly.
"Of course," Mila nodded gravely. Coren sighed inwardly in relief at her response - it
wouldn't be a great idea to offend members of the Guard right now, and Mila was usually
more... careless in how she expressed herself. He'd half expected her to burst out laughing at
the young Karl's obvious crush on her.
Mila glanced over to where Coren was standing, silently, watching the byplay. "You
ready?" she asked. "Let's go." She tossed her long ponytail over a shoulder and pushed the
door open.
They walked side by side down the Corridor for a while, obeying a silent injunction not to
speak until well away from the Hold. Although the walls of the tunnel were painted, the
ceiling had been left untouched, and the natural rock overhead sparkled in the artificial light. It
became more and more crowded as they moved towards the nearest market area. Mothers
carrying toddlers on their hips pushed past businessmen talking anxiously into communicators
- and of course, around and through it all was the inescapable presence of the Priesthood.
Men and women in the traditional red and white were on every corner, overseeing every
aspect of Martian life: recording business transactions so the tithe could be levied later, settling
disputes, or simply providing an unmistakable reminder that the Priesthood was watching, no
matter where you went. Coren shuddered. The sooner they were off Mars, the better. It
had been a misfortune that they were so close to the planet when stopped by a patrolling
Guard - although, he admitted, it had worked in their favor in some ways. Mars' religious
leaders, wary of losing too much influence to a secular organization, had stripped the Guard
here of most of its powers long ago. The most they could do now was hold Mila for a week,
and levy a stiff fine.... If they'd been caught farther from system center, the Guard there might
have mistaken them for the pirate raiders that had become more and more prevalent in recent
months, and then he and Mila would have found themselves mining ore on Pluto for the next
twenty years.
The fine had been plenty bad enough, though.
Mila enjoyed the companionable silence for a while, reveling in her newly-won mobility. A
week in the Hold was a mild punishment, compared to what could happen on other planets,
but she had never enjoyed being cooped up. After the torturous time spent in her cell, even
the underground Corridors where most of Mars' population lived sparked none of her usual
claustrophobia, as long as she didn't think about all the weight of dirt pressing overhead. This
last week was not an experience she was anxious to repeat.... She'd just have to make
doubly careful that she didn't get caught next time.
It took her a moment to realize Coren had spoken. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Mila, I don't think it's wise for you to be flirting with the Guards like that."
"Aw, it's just some harmless fun," Mila grinned. "Stan and Karl are old friends by now."
He shook his head. "That's what I'm afraid of...."
Mila stopped listening. There was nothing wrong with having friends in a place like the
Guard - in fact, couldn't it come in handy someday? For now, though, she didn't want to
stand around arguing about it when there were other things to worry about. Thoughts of the
Hold had reminded her of something. "So, where'd you dock the Kestral? I met someone
who gave me a lead, and if we can make it to Kinmoku by next week, there's two hundred
gold in it - Hey, what's wrong?"
Coren seemed unwilling to meet her eyes. "I had to sell the Kestral to get the fifty gold."
She stopped short in the middle of the Corridor. "Oh." This was disappointing news, but
the optimist in Mila quickly reasserted itself. "That's okay! We can make it up with a couple
of jobs onplanet, buy it back....."
"Mila, are you crazy? Pull a heist on Mars? The only real money around here is in the
Priesthood, and even you should think twice before taking them on." Coren began walking
again, anxious not to be overheard. "Besides, the guy who bought the Kestral already took
off for Saturn."
"Well, then we'll just have to find another ship. You go scope the registry, I'll grab a few
things from the market." Mila started to walk back the way they'd come, then glanced over
her shoulder. "Meet you up topside at the Dock tonight?"
Coren frowned at his friend's sudden enthusiasm. "Are you sure you want to jack a
ship now? You just got out of the Hold, or did you forget already?"
"Don't worry so much, Coren. It'll be fun!" She grinned at him, her eyes bright.
"That's what I'm afraid of...." His words faded off into the noise of the crowd as she
pushed away from him down the Corridor.
~~
It was late in the morning, and Endymion was still half-asleep. He rolled over, eyes
squeezed shut in denial of consciousness, and reached across the bed to find only soft pillows
there. He groped about blindly before finally sitting up and reluctantly opening his eyes to
squint into the light.
"Lane?" Endy peered about the small cabin. He was, unexpectedly, the sole occupant of
the bed. His dark clothing still lay where it had been carelessly tossed to the floor,
intermingled with paler articles of a more feminine nature. He could hear a sound of running
water coming from the open door to the bathroom. As the water cut off, Endy leaned back in
the bed, only to miss the pillows completely and hit his head on the wall.
"Ow! Dammit, Lane!" He sat up quickly and rubbed at the bruise, hearing her giggle
through the doorway. A moment later, she sauntered into the bedroom, clad only in a fluffy
pink towel, and sat down on the side of the bed.
"What's the matter, honey? Need me to kiss'n'make it better?"
"Hell, no! You sound like my freakin' mother!" He said it irritably, but without any real
heat. Lane was his first fling since he'd left Earth, and he was enjoying the fun enough that he
didn't want to make her really mad.
Besides that, he didn't want to be reminded of his mother.... Queen Lianne was the main
force behind Endy having to leave Earth's court on this blasted diplomacy mission. He'd
never been too concerned with politics, except so far as they'd affected him personally, and
this jaunt around the solar system, trying to reestablish polite negotiations with each planet,
was the worst kind of politics as far as Endy was concerned. He blamed his mother for her
unusual attack of common sense in deciding he needed 'practical training' in the duties of the
throne, and for all the fun he was missing back home.
Lane put a hand on Endy's head and rubbed too hard. He hissed at the renewed pain,
and she pulled back immediately.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" She began rubbing his shoulders instead. He wished she'd just leave him
alone - she hadn't known him long enough to realize that sometimes he just got into a foul
mood, and when that happened he wanted solitude to properly enjoy it.
"So what's eating at you, Endy? You've been cranky since last night, ever since we ran
into that military guy at the restaurant."
Hmmm. Maybe she was more observant than he'd first thought? She seemed sensitive
enough to his moods, even if she didn't know the right way to handle them yet. "That 'military
guy, as you put it, is Nephrite. He's one of my generals-slash-bodyguards-slash-jailers, and
he reminded me of responsibilities I'd rather not have anything to do with."
"Oh, so that's why we were hiding behind the bushes?" She seemed overly excited at
having figured this out all by herself.
"Yes, Lane."
"And that's why we came back to the ship without dessert?"
Endy quickly revised his opinion of his lover's intelligence back downward. "Yes, Lane,"
he said deliberately. "That's why we came back to the ship without dessert." She was flaky,
definitely, so how had she managed to own her ship? He figured Daddy must have bought it
for her. It was a nice ship, too.... She'd shown him the control room last night, before they
came back to the bedroom, and he could tell it had speed.
She slid her hands from his shoulders to wrap around his waist and leaned into him.
"You'll have to go home sooner or later, Endy," she mumbled reasonably into his back.
Endy was in no mood for reason. "Call it a game, if you like. Hide and seek. They have
to try and find me, or they lose. So I take off after the meetings and hide."
"They're gonna find you, aren't they? I'd imagine they always do, eventually." One hand
slipped lower.
That was the problem. They always did find him, eventually, and they would haul him
back to the Phoenix like some kind of criminal. Jadeite, in particular, was especially cocky
and rude every time Endy reluctantly returned home with them. Just once, Endy thought it
would be nice to wipe that smirk off his second general's face....
"I've got an idea." He twisted in Lane's embrace to grab her arms. "Let's go. Right now.
I'm sick of being dependable, so let's get out of here and really surprise them."
She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Have you ever been dependable in your life,
Endy?"
"You know what I mean. I've always got to be where they want me, when they want me,
how they want me.... I'll tell you, being prince is like being in jail. I don't have any freedom."
Lane's brow furrowed as she pondered this. "You're here, aren't you? I mean, they don't
have you locked away on the ship or anything."
"That's only because they haven't found me yet. Listen, Lane. I'm tired of being Mr.
Responsible. Let's - let's go on a vacation. We could be off seeing the galaxy!" That would
do quite nicely. Not only would Endy finally get away from all the long meetings, elaborate
dinners, and excruciating politeness he'd had to endure ever since their diplomatic mission
began, but Jadeite would surely get his panties in a bunch searching for him.
"Endy, that's ridiculous! I've got a week's berth paid up here, I've got commitments,
you've got commitments...."
"Screw'em all."
"What about the Moon Princess, and your engagement party on Earth next week? And
what about the generals? Game or not, there could be trouble."
Endy muttered a suggestion under his breath as to what the generals, Princess, and party
could all go do with themselves. It wasn't as if he'd asked for the engagement, after all, and if
everyone thought they could just bully him into it....
"Now that sounds intriguing." Lane waggled her eyebrows at his comment. "Are you sure
you wouldn't rather....?"
He tangled his fingers in her dark hair. "Say we'll go."
"The generals?" she insisted. "I don't want to be arrested for kidnapping." She shrugged
away from him, losing her towel in the process.
"I'll call them. Say we'll go." Endy wasn't about to let his chance for freedom slip away
easily.
"Endy....."
"Say we'll go!" His voice allowed for no argument. His grip on her hair tightened, pulling
on her scalp.
"Call them now, and then we'll go." Lane agreed reluctantly.
Endy leapt from the bed and dashed out the door. "I'll be right back!" he hollered, as he
turned into the control room. He could hear her voice floating down the hall to him, telling him
to hurry. He grinned as he connected to the Crimson Phoenix's communit, and....
"Out of service?" He frowned at the offending display on the screen before him. "What
the hell are they doing over there?" He tapped a few keys, rerouting to the message banks,
and hit record. "This is Endy. I'm taking a vacation, so don't bother me for at least a week.
Oh, and tell Jadeite to stay out of my wine stash - I'm saving it."
There, he thought as he hit the save key. They'll find that sooner or later.... And the later,
the better.
Lane's voice came floating down the hall to him, more impatient now. "Endy? You'd
better hurry or I'll start without you!"
That sounded intriguing.... But he closed out the comm circuits and started back to the
bedroom.
~~
A shrill beeping woke Mamoru from what had been a very pleasant dream. He flung an
arm toward his nightstand, only to realize the noise wasn't coming from his scheduler. He
tried to change trajectories at the last moment and hit the floor with a loud thump, tangled in
his sheets and sporting what felt like a huge bruise on his elbow. He reached up to flip on the
light on his nightstand and was rewarded with a glow that lit the small room.
His roommate groaned, half asleep, and pulled a pillow over her face. Mamoru could
barely make out her words through the cloth. "Geez, Chiba! Can't you give a girl some
warning?"
"Sorry, Keri...." He finally found his belt on the floor and pulled the small communit loose.
"This is Mamoru, go ahead."
"Mamoru? I thought you'd never answer! Listen, there's a bit of an emergency. Those
hotshots in C-2, you know, the Crimson Phoenix from Earth? They managed to bust their
main communit, and I need you to get down there."
The young man squinted at his scheduler. "I worked all last night, Ahmet. Earl's there
now, bug him to do it! I'm off duty, if you hadn't noticed, and I really need some sleep...."
"Earl's busy on level G right now, and besides, I wouldn't trust him with this anyway.
Unless you want a diplomatic incident, like last time?"
Mamoru shuddered at the memory and reluctantly stood up. "You're gonna owe me big
time for this, Ahmet. Be there in a few."
He closed the circuit and grabbed his clothes from the closet, then threw a glance to where
Keri lay, still hidden beneath her pillow. "Don't peek," he warned.
"I wouldn't dream of it...." She mumbled into the fabric. "When are you coming back?"
"Hopefully it won't take too long. These kind of people call Services for the littlest thing....
And they usually complain about everything you try to fix it with, too." He tightened his belt.
"Why do you ask?"
"Mmmm...." Keri sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. "I've got a date tonight. I was
hoping you'd come along, 'cause one of my friends wants to meet you. I could pull a few
strings at the restauant, get you two a good table...."
"Aw, you know I haven't got time for that. I've got work, I've got class, projects to
finish...." Mamoru looked towards the door, where he thought he'd left his tool kit the night
before, but it wasn't there. It was amazing how easily things always got misplaced in a room
this small, he thought. But then, it was pretty amazing that two people could fit into a room
this size, especially with all their belongings. Keri's side of the room was usually pretty messy,
and he couldn't say much for his own half right now.
She sighed. "I worry about you sometimes, Mamoru. Don't you want to meet girls, have
some fun? I haven't known you too long, but you don't seem like a creep. I mean, it's not
like you're one of those guys just out for a one-night girl, and you aren't bad looking, either.
I'd be interested in you myself, if Daryl and I weren't so serious." She started then, as if
coming to a realization. "Oh! Are you - do you - um...."
He shook his head, a little embarrased at the implication. "No, that's not it. I want to find
the right girl eventually, but that's gonna be pretty far in the future.... If I'm going to be a
healer someday, I've got to make it into the Collegium, and they're pretty selective. Between
work and my studies, there's no free time for anything else." It was all too true. Entry to the
Healer's Collegium was difficult enough on any planet, but on Mars it not only required
passing extensive examinations, but also recommendation by a qualified Priest. Accquiring
that recommendation often meant having friends in high places, a great deal of money, or
both. Mamoru was possessed of neither, and had often considered emigrating to another
planet to make the process easier, but had never been able to afford the move.
"That, unfortunately, makes sense. Too much sense. You're entirely too smart for...." she
glanced at her own scheduler. "Eleven in the morning. Ugh." She flopped back down to rest
on the pillow. "I'm not awake enough to talk right now."
Mamoru grinned perversely, always eager for a chance to tease his roommate. "Eleven?
That's not early. It's a beautiful day, the Corridors are already swept, and I'll bet if you went
up to the surface you could find birds singing." He lifted a pile of papers and discovered the
missing tool kit. "Ha! There you are."
"Birds? Come on, Mr. Sunshine! You were as tired as me a minute ago...." Keri hurled
a pillow into Mamoru's chest and finally grinned back at him. "You'd better get going before
Ahmet calls, wondering where you are."
"Right. See you later. Oh, and have fun tonight." He scooped the pillow off the floor
where it had landed, lobbed it gently back onto her bed, and slipped out into the Corridor just
as his communit started beeping again. Keri shook her head in disbelief and rolled over,
grumbling to herself.
"He didn't even turn the light out...."
~~
Sere leaned over her dressing table and applied another layer of color to her cheeks,
carefully watching herself in the mirror. These nightmares were really starting to get to her -
her face looked drawn and tired, even with makeup on. She shook her head sadly. She
didn't want to face her fiancee like this, but if the pattern of her dreams held during the trip to
Earth, she'd have no choice. She almost hoped he'd take one look at her and send her
straight back home - but too much was riding on this engagement for her to let personal
feelings get in the way.
She had laid down the cosmetics brush and was fastening her earrings when a knock came
at the bedroom door. "Come on in," she said.
Princess Minako pushed the door open and stood on the room's threshold. Her back was
stiff, her senshi uniform immaculate, and her expression perfectly neutral. Sere thought sadly
that this seemed to be typical behavior for her friend lately. "Are you ready, Your
Highness?" Minako asked formally. "The Queen awaits an audience with you before the ship
leaves."
Sere took one last look at herself in the mirror. Her appearance was about as good as it
was likely to get. "I'm ready." She gathered her skirt in one hand to rise, stepped away from
the dressing table, and paused.
"Minako? Do you - I mean -"
"Your Highness?" The look on Minako's face was studiously calm and distanced. She
had always been the most outgoing and carefree of Sere's friends, with a heart much larger
than her willingness to stop and think. Ever since the Venusian princess was named leader of
the Senshi Guard, however, she'd thrown herself into her responsibilities with a frightening
passion. As a result, Minako had become reserved and cool around her friends, as if she felt
friendship had to be sacrificed to duty. Sere had been meaning to sit her down and talk about
it for a while now, but had always had to put it off in favor of more immediate matters. Now
she would be leaving for Earth, with all the business and confusion of planning her wedding,
and their talk would have to wait even longer. Sere sighed to herself. Just when she was
facing a life on a whole new planet, surrounded by people she didn't know and couldn't trust,
she needed all her friends more than ever before. Minako seemed determined to push
everyone away.
For now, though, there was nothing for Sere to do but follow her friend to Queen
Serenity's audience chamber and prepare to say her goodbyes. She walked through quiet
white marble corridors with high ceilings and huge arching windows, the trademark
architecture of the Moon Kingdom, and caught herself wondering whether Earth had anything
similar. I can't think about that, she told herself. If I don't expect anything, I can't be
disappointed.
As she reached the audience hall, Sere slowed in her tracks. Her heart rebelled - I don't
want to say goodbye! I don't want to leave! - but her mind reasserted control. Aside from
the importance of the engagement itself, she had an itinerary of stops to several other planets
before finally arriving on Earth. She couldn't just call those off without offending the
dignitaries with whom she was scheduled to meet.
Her mother rose gracefully from her throne and glided forward, meeting Sere in the center
of the room and embracing her closely. Then the queen held her daughter out to take a good
long look at her. She nodded, evidently pleased with what she saw.
"Are you ready?" Queen Serenity asked.
Sere nodded. "I think so. I'm all packed, everything's finished."
"Is something wrong, Sere?" The Queen fixed her daughter with the look that had sent
chills down Sere's spine when she was younger. It still never failed to intimidate her. "You
can tell me." The look echoed: 'You'd better tell me.'
Unable to withstand her, Sere glanced at the floor. Was it a power of all mothers to inflict
this mandatory obedience on their children, or only of those born to rule? Think fast, she told
herself. This alliance is too important for your fears to destroy.
"I'm okay," she finally said. "It's just - I haven't seen Endy - Prince Endymion, I mean,
since we were little. I'm kind of nervous." There, that ought to hold her mother.
Queen Serenity nodded. "That's understandable. I wish it could have been otherwise,
Sere, but you know relations with Earth haven't been all that close in the last few years. Their
withdrawal -"
"I know, I know." Sere imitated her instructor's voice. "The Earth has absented itself
from nearly all system interactions since the death of King Baldur. I do pay attention in
studies once in a while, Mother...." She immediately regretted the sharp tone that had crept
into her voice, and deliberately softened it. "I do understand why things happened as they
did. I just wish it could have gone differently. If I'd gotten to know him better before
now...." Maybe I wouldn't be having these nightmares, she finished the thought silently.
"Oh, Sere.... I'm sure you'll be fine. I know it's a big change for you, but you're a very
strong, beautiful, courageous young woman that anyone would be proud to have for a
daughter. I'll miss you...." Tears appeared in Serenity's eyes - not a queen, just for a
moment, but a mother. She hugged Sere close.
"I'll miss you too, Mama. It's not like we're never seeing each other again." Sere tried to
convince herself as much as her mother. "You'll come to the wedding, right?" She knew the
answer, but needed to hear it again.
"You know I am, Sere. I would never miss it." Serenity wiped her eyes. "I'd come with
you now, but the Council would never manage without me. That group couldn't find their
own shoes without a map and a resolution in triplicate...."
Sere giggled at the rare candor from the always-politic Moon Queen. "Maybe I'm better
off away, then.... I wouldn't want to deal with them anymore than I've had to!"
"Selene go with you, and protect you, my daughter." The traditional farewell took on new
meaning from the inflections in Queen Serenity's voice. For a moment, Sere almost thought
she could see the Moon Goddess superimposed on her human avatar.
"Goodbye, Mama. I love you...."
Sere quickly turned to leave, not looking back as she strode out of the audience hall.
~~
Endymion lay sprawled across the bed, bored out of his mind. Lane had left thirty minutes
ago, mentioning something about Dock bureaucrats and paperwork. Those were two
phrases that normally caused him to automatically turn off his higher brain functions, so he
hadn't paid enough attention to figure out exactly what was going on, but she'd promised to be
back within the hour. Meanwhile, he was left with absolutely nothing to do.
Endy swung his legs over the side of the bed, grunting, and pulled himself up. He leaned
down and grabbed his pants off the floor where they'd been discarded not too long ago. He
stood up to pull them on, fastened his belt, and stepped toward the bathroom, tangling his feet
in the forgotten bath towel Lane had left on the floor and managing to crack his head on the
bedside table.
When he finally came to, he wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious. He lay still,
extremely reluctant to move at all. The pain spread through his nervous system, making his
spine tingle and feeling like nothing so much as a line of elephants turned can-can dancers
pounding through his head. He groaned, nearly missing the voices through his own agony.
One male, one female, both sounding very agitated.
"What was that noise? I think someone's here."
"You said Lane flies alone, no crew."
"She does!"
"So there can't be anyone here. Come on, we aren't even past the gravity well."
"You can handle it, can't you? I know I heard something in the back."
"I didn't hear anything, but you can check it out if you want."
Endy could hear footsteps tapping down the hall toward the bedroom. It occurred to him
that this might be a very good time to get to his feet - unfortunately, his nervous system
seemed to be malfunctioning and his feet weren't getting the message. He was still flat on his
back when a large, red-headed man appeared in the doorway.
The man seemed as startled to see Endy as Endy was to see him. "Hey, Mila?" He called
over his shoulder. "You might want to come back here!"
~~
"No can do, Coren! I'm a little busy right now!" Mila hollered over her shoulder, then
focused all her attention on the vidscreen where two Guard ships had appeared out of
nowhere. One of them was hailing her.
"Jade Matrix, Captain Lane Zhaki, this is Guard serial 549-C4. You are not cleared to
leave the planet at this time. Please acknowledge."
"What now?" Mila depressed the speak button and leaned forward. "Guard, this is the
Jade Matrix. I'm sure there's some mistake here...."
"Jade Matrix, please confirm your Dock protocol number and ship registration."
Mila released the speak button. "Coren! I need those stats you hacked!" The last thing,
the very last thing she needed was to be apprehended by the Guard again. She didn't think
she could handle another week in the Hold.
"Give me a second!"
"I don't have a second, Coren!" She warned.
"Jade Matrix, please acknowledge. Are you receiving me?" came the voice once again.
"ARRGH!" Mila screamed - retaining enough presence of mind to release the speak
button first. "I can't deal with all of this!"
Coren appeared in the cockpit a moment later. "We've got a little problem in the back...."
"Not now, Coren. The stats, please!"
"Okay, okay. Watch out." He pushed her gently out of the way so he could reach the
console.
"There! Finally!" Mila leaned on the speak button once more as Coren punched the final
code sequence in. "Transmitting now."
"Jade Matrix, we are receiving the data. Please wait for Ground confirmation."
Coren stood anxiously, watching Mila manipulate the control panel. "What are you
doing?"
"Just making sure the engines are hot," she answered as she worked. "If they decide to
chase us, I want a head start."
The console's speakers squawked with the notification of incoming text. Mila scrolled
through it quickly, then read it again in astonishment. "Guard, is this information correct?"
"Roger, Jade Matrix. I apologize for the confusion, and you are clear for departure."
Mila shook her head, but didn't argue. "Right, Jade Matrix out." Had they benefited from
a fluke in the system, or was something else going on?
She swiveled her chair to face Coren. "It says clearance was just approved. I didn't
request clearance, did I? What do you make of that?"
"I say let's get while the getting's good.... And as soon as you've got the course charted,
come to the back. We've got a stowaway."
asking her "how does this sound?", to Syrinx for some excellent comments and suggestions,
to Mukazuki for her plot idea, and to Naoko Takeuchi for letting us play with her universe.
Lurker 8/09/03
~~
The office was nicely furnished, with marble countertops and floors that shone under the
lighting. As he waited, Coren noticed the lack of dust on every surface. This Hold, at least,
was possessed of either an impeccable cleaning staff or a surplus of cadet trainees, he mused
with an inward grin. Even the areas too high for most people to see easily were scoured
clean.
Coren, with his lanky body and long legs, often took an interest in spying out 'hidden'
places and determining whether the janitors had been up to par lately. An inane pastime, he
readily admitted, but then he did need something to keep himself occupied when he had to
wait around - as happened often when you kept company with someone like Mila. This
occupation, at least, was relatively harmless. Lately, Coren had taken to keeping a running
tally in his head, and out of the five Holds he'd had occasion to visit in the last few years, this
was by far the cleanest.
He glanced at the pudgy lieutenant - Stan, wasn't it? - behind the desk, noticing with
satisfaction that the officer avoided his gaze and nervously shuffled through some papers.
Coren's height and fiery red hair often belied his rather mild interior, and to his way of
thinking, that was all to the good. In situations like this, when a bit of intimidation could speed
up a lot of red tape, it paid to look intimidating.
He was startled out of his thoughts when a junior officer appeared, trailing Mila behind
him. She looked none the worse for wear, although he could tell she wasn't in the best of
spirits. That was only to be expected, after all.... Who would enjoy a week's stay in the
Hold?
Coren folded his arms and leaned back against the white wall, ready to settle in for
another long wait while Lieutenant Stan sorted through paperwork. He purposely avoided
looking at Mila for too long. It wouldn't do to be anything but business-like and deliberate
here.
"Hiya, Stan!" Mila grinned. "Didja miss me?"
"I'll be glad when you're out of here, girl."
"Aw, Stan...." She pouted. "And here I thought you liked me."
The hapless Stan coughed and turned back to his desk, taking up a pen to mark on the
proper forms. He was finished in quite short time. "I'll just need your signature here, sir, and
here, and the fifty gold fee, please."
Coren obliged, laying a small pouch on the desk. He took up a pen and signed while the
Guard counted out the small gold pieces.
"Forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty. Looks like it's all here. All right, Karl, let'er off the binders."
The young Guard nervously did as he was told, fumbling with the key before discharging
the energy cuffs that kept Mila's hands pinned behind her back. She rubbed at her wrists
absently.
"Thanks," Mila said shortly, the irritation clear in her voice. She stalked past him to the
door, her boots squeaking on the floor, and paused with her hand on the brass doorknob
when Stan's voice reached her.
"Try to stay out of trouble for a while, Mila. Karl here's been talking about naming the
Hold after you."
Mila's eyes darted to the younger Guard, who flushed red at the comment. He moved his
mouth wordlessly for a moment, looking like nothing so much as a beached fish, until he came
up with an explanation. "Was a joke," he said briefly.
"Of course," Mila nodded gravely. Coren sighed inwardly in relief at her response - it
wouldn't be a great idea to offend members of the Guard right now, and Mila was usually
more... careless in how she expressed herself. He'd half expected her to burst out laughing at
the young Karl's obvious crush on her.
Mila glanced over to where Coren was standing, silently, watching the byplay. "You
ready?" she asked. "Let's go." She tossed her long ponytail over a shoulder and pushed the
door open.
They walked side by side down the Corridor for a while, obeying a silent injunction not to
speak until well away from the Hold. Although the walls of the tunnel were painted, the
ceiling had been left untouched, and the natural rock overhead sparkled in the artificial light. It
became more and more crowded as they moved towards the nearest market area. Mothers
carrying toddlers on their hips pushed past businessmen talking anxiously into communicators
- and of course, around and through it all was the inescapable presence of the Priesthood.
Men and women in the traditional red and white were on every corner, overseeing every
aspect of Martian life: recording business transactions so the tithe could be levied later, settling
disputes, or simply providing an unmistakable reminder that the Priesthood was watching, no
matter where you went. Coren shuddered. The sooner they were off Mars, the better. It
had been a misfortune that they were so close to the planet when stopped by a patrolling
Guard - although, he admitted, it had worked in their favor in some ways. Mars' religious
leaders, wary of losing too much influence to a secular organization, had stripped the Guard
here of most of its powers long ago. The most they could do now was hold Mila for a week,
and levy a stiff fine.... If they'd been caught farther from system center, the Guard there might
have mistaken them for the pirate raiders that had become more and more prevalent in recent
months, and then he and Mila would have found themselves mining ore on Pluto for the next
twenty years.
The fine had been plenty bad enough, though.
Mila enjoyed the companionable silence for a while, reveling in her newly-won mobility. A
week in the Hold was a mild punishment, compared to what could happen on other planets,
but she had never enjoyed being cooped up. After the torturous time spent in her cell, even
the underground Corridors where most of Mars' population lived sparked none of her usual
claustrophobia, as long as she didn't think about all the weight of dirt pressing overhead. This
last week was not an experience she was anxious to repeat.... She'd just have to make
doubly careful that she didn't get caught next time.
It took her a moment to realize Coren had spoken. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Mila, I don't think it's wise for you to be flirting with the Guards like that."
"Aw, it's just some harmless fun," Mila grinned. "Stan and Karl are old friends by now."
He shook his head. "That's what I'm afraid of...."
Mila stopped listening. There was nothing wrong with having friends in a place like the
Guard - in fact, couldn't it come in handy someday? For now, though, she didn't want to
stand around arguing about it when there were other things to worry about. Thoughts of the
Hold had reminded her of something. "So, where'd you dock the Kestral? I met someone
who gave me a lead, and if we can make it to Kinmoku by next week, there's two hundred
gold in it - Hey, what's wrong?"
Coren seemed unwilling to meet her eyes. "I had to sell the Kestral to get the fifty gold."
She stopped short in the middle of the Corridor. "Oh." This was disappointing news, but
the optimist in Mila quickly reasserted itself. "That's okay! We can make it up with a couple
of jobs onplanet, buy it back....."
"Mila, are you crazy? Pull a heist on Mars? The only real money around here is in the
Priesthood, and even you should think twice before taking them on." Coren began walking
again, anxious not to be overheard. "Besides, the guy who bought the Kestral already took
off for Saturn."
"Well, then we'll just have to find another ship. You go scope the registry, I'll grab a few
things from the market." Mila started to walk back the way they'd come, then glanced over
her shoulder. "Meet you up topside at the Dock tonight?"
Coren frowned at his friend's sudden enthusiasm. "Are you sure you want to jack a
ship now? You just got out of the Hold, or did you forget already?"
"Don't worry so much, Coren. It'll be fun!" She grinned at him, her eyes bright.
"That's what I'm afraid of...." His words faded off into the noise of the crowd as she
pushed away from him down the Corridor.
~~
It was late in the morning, and Endymion was still half-asleep. He rolled over, eyes
squeezed shut in denial of consciousness, and reached across the bed to find only soft pillows
there. He groped about blindly before finally sitting up and reluctantly opening his eyes to
squint into the light.
"Lane?" Endy peered about the small cabin. He was, unexpectedly, the sole occupant of
the bed. His dark clothing still lay where it had been carelessly tossed to the floor,
intermingled with paler articles of a more feminine nature. He could hear a sound of running
water coming from the open door to the bathroom. As the water cut off, Endy leaned back in
the bed, only to miss the pillows completely and hit his head on the wall.
"Ow! Dammit, Lane!" He sat up quickly and rubbed at the bruise, hearing her giggle
through the doorway. A moment later, she sauntered into the bedroom, clad only in a fluffy
pink towel, and sat down on the side of the bed.
"What's the matter, honey? Need me to kiss'n'make it better?"
"Hell, no! You sound like my freakin' mother!" He said it irritably, but without any real
heat. Lane was his first fling since he'd left Earth, and he was enjoying the fun enough that he
didn't want to make her really mad.
Besides that, he didn't want to be reminded of his mother.... Queen Lianne was the main
force behind Endy having to leave Earth's court on this blasted diplomacy mission. He'd
never been too concerned with politics, except so far as they'd affected him personally, and
this jaunt around the solar system, trying to reestablish polite negotiations with each planet,
was the worst kind of politics as far as Endy was concerned. He blamed his mother for her
unusual attack of common sense in deciding he needed 'practical training' in the duties of the
throne, and for all the fun he was missing back home.
Lane put a hand on Endy's head and rubbed too hard. He hissed at the renewed pain,
and she pulled back immediately.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" She began rubbing his shoulders instead. He wished she'd just leave him
alone - she hadn't known him long enough to realize that sometimes he just got into a foul
mood, and when that happened he wanted solitude to properly enjoy it.
"So what's eating at you, Endy? You've been cranky since last night, ever since we ran
into that military guy at the restaurant."
Hmmm. Maybe she was more observant than he'd first thought? She seemed sensitive
enough to his moods, even if she didn't know the right way to handle them yet. "That 'military
guy, as you put it, is Nephrite. He's one of my generals-slash-bodyguards-slash-jailers, and
he reminded me of responsibilities I'd rather not have anything to do with."
"Oh, so that's why we were hiding behind the bushes?" She seemed overly excited at
having figured this out all by herself.
"Yes, Lane."
"And that's why we came back to the ship without dessert?"
Endy quickly revised his opinion of his lover's intelligence back downward. "Yes, Lane,"
he said deliberately. "That's why we came back to the ship without dessert." She was flaky,
definitely, so how had she managed to own her ship? He figured Daddy must have bought it
for her. It was a nice ship, too.... She'd shown him the control room last night, before they
came back to the bedroom, and he could tell it had speed.
She slid her hands from his shoulders to wrap around his waist and leaned into him.
"You'll have to go home sooner or later, Endy," she mumbled reasonably into his back.
Endy was in no mood for reason. "Call it a game, if you like. Hide and seek. They have
to try and find me, or they lose. So I take off after the meetings and hide."
"They're gonna find you, aren't they? I'd imagine they always do, eventually." One hand
slipped lower.
That was the problem. They always did find him, eventually, and they would haul him
back to the Phoenix like some kind of criminal. Jadeite, in particular, was especially cocky
and rude every time Endy reluctantly returned home with them. Just once, Endy thought it
would be nice to wipe that smirk off his second general's face....
"I've got an idea." He twisted in Lane's embrace to grab her arms. "Let's go. Right now.
I'm sick of being dependable, so let's get out of here and really surprise them."
She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Have you ever been dependable in your life,
Endy?"
"You know what I mean. I've always got to be where they want me, when they want me,
how they want me.... I'll tell you, being prince is like being in jail. I don't have any freedom."
Lane's brow furrowed as she pondered this. "You're here, aren't you? I mean, they don't
have you locked away on the ship or anything."
"That's only because they haven't found me yet. Listen, Lane. I'm tired of being Mr.
Responsible. Let's - let's go on a vacation. We could be off seeing the galaxy!" That would
do quite nicely. Not only would Endy finally get away from all the long meetings, elaborate
dinners, and excruciating politeness he'd had to endure ever since their diplomatic mission
began, but Jadeite would surely get his panties in a bunch searching for him.
"Endy, that's ridiculous! I've got a week's berth paid up here, I've got commitments,
you've got commitments...."
"Screw'em all."
"What about the Moon Princess, and your engagement party on Earth next week? And
what about the generals? Game or not, there could be trouble."
Endy muttered a suggestion under his breath as to what the generals, Princess, and party
could all go do with themselves. It wasn't as if he'd asked for the engagement, after all, and if
everyone thought they could just bully him into it....
"Now that sounds intriguing." Lane waggled her eyebrows at his comment. "Are you sure
you wouldn't rather....?"
He tangled his fingers in her dark hair. "Say we'll go."
"The generals?" she insisted. "I don't want to be arrested for kidnapping." She shrugged
away from him, losing her towel in the process.
"I'll call them. Say we'll go." Endy wasn't about to let his chance for freedom slip away
easily.
"Endy....."
"Say we'll go!" His voice allowed for no argument. His grip on her hair tightened, pulling
on her scalp.
"Call them now, and then we'll go." Lane agreed reluctantly.
Endy leapt from the bed and dashed out the door. "I'll be right back!" he hollered, as he
turned into the control room. He could hear her voice floating down the hall to him, telling him
to hurry. He grinned as he connected to the Crimson Phoenix's communit, and....
"Out of service?" He frowned at the offending display on the screen before him. "What
the hell are they doing over there?" He tapped a few keys, rerouting to the message banks,
and hit record. "This is Endy. I'm taking a vacation, so don't bother me for at least a week.
Oh, and tell Jadeite to stay out of my wine stash - I'm saving it."
There, he thought as he hit the save key. They'll find that sooner or later.... And the later,
the better.
Lane's voice came floating down the hall to him, more impatient now. "Endy? You'd
better hurry or I'll start without you!"
That sounded intriguing.... But he closed out the comm circuits and started back to the
bedroom.
~~
A shrill beeping woke Mamoru from what had been a very pleasant dream. He flung an
arm toward his nightstand, only to realize the noise wasn't coming from his scheduler. He
tried to change trajectories at the last moment and hit the floor with a loud thump, tangled in
his sheets and sporting what felt like a huge bruise on his elbow. He reached up to flip on the
light on his nightstand and was rewarded with a glow that lit the small room.
His roommate groaned, half asleep, and pulled a pillow over her face. Mamoru could
barely make out her words through the cloth. "Geez, Chiba! Can't you give a girl some
warning?"
"Sorry, Keri...." He finally found his belt on the floor and pulled the small communit loose.
"This is Mamoru, go ahead."
"Mamoru? I thought you'd never answer! Listen, there's a bit of an emergency. Those
hotshots in C-2, you know, the Crimson Phoenix from Earth? They managed to bust their
main communit, and I need you to get down there."
The young man squinted at his scheduler. "I worked all last night, Ahmet. Earl's there
now, bug him to do it! I'm off duty, if you hadn't noticed, and I really need some sleep...."
"Earl's busy on level G right now, and besides, I wouldn't trust him with this anyway.
Unless you want a diplomatic incident, like last time?"
Mamoru shuddered at the memory and reluctantly stood up. "You're gonna owe me big
time for this, Ahmet. Be there in a few."
He closed the circuit and grabbed his clothes from the closet, then threw a glance to where
Keri lay, still hidden beneath her pillow. "Don't peek," he warned.
"I wouldn't dream of it...." She mumbled into the fabric. "When are you coming back?"
"Hopefully it won't take too long. These kind of people call Services for the littlest thing....
And they usually complain about everything you try to fix it with, too." He tightened his belt.
"Why do you ask?"
"Mmmm...." Keri sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. "I've got a date tonight. I was
hoping you'd come along, 'cause one of my friends wants to meet you. I could pull a few
strings at the restauant, get you two a good table...."
"Aw, you know I haven't got time for that. I've got work, I've got class, projects to
finish...." Mamoru looked towards the door, where he thought he'd left his tool kit the night
before, but it wasn't there. It was amazing how easily things always got misplaced in a room
this small, he thought. But then, it was pretty amazing that two people could fit into a room
this size, especially with all their belongings. Keri's side of the room was usually pretty messy,
and he couldn't say much for his own half right now.
She sighed. "I worry about you sometimes, Mamoru. Don't you want to meet girls, have
some fun? I haven't known you too long, but you don't seem like a creep. I mean, it's not
like you're one of those guys just out for a one-night girl, and you aren't bad looking, either.
I'd be interested in you myself, if Daryl and I weren't so serious." She started then, as if
coming to a realization. "Oh! Are you - do you - um...."
He shook his head, a little embarrased at the implication. "No, that's not it. I want to find
the right girl eventually, but that's gonna be pretty far in the future.... If I'm going to be a
healer someday, I've got to make it into the Collegium, and they're pretty selective. Between
work and my studies, there's no free time for anything else." It was all too true. Entry to the
Healer's Collegium was difficult enough on any planet, but on Mars it not only required
passing extensive examinations, but also recommendation by a qualified Priest. Accquiring
that recommendation often meant having friends in high places, a great deal of money, or
both. Mamoru was possessed of neither, and had often considered emigrating to another
planet to make the process easier, but had never been able to afford the move.
"That, unfortunately, makes sense. Too much sense. You're entirely too smart for...." she
glanced at her own scheduler. "Eleven in the morning. Ugh." She flopped back down to rest
on the pillow. "I'm not awake enough to talk right now."
Mamoru grinned perversely, always eager for a chance to tease his roommate. "Eleven?
That's not early. It's a beautiful day, the Corridors are already swept, and I'll bet if you went
up to the surface you could find birds singing." He lifted a pile of papers and discovered the
missing tool kit. "Ha! There you are."
"Birds? Come on, Mr. Sunshine! You were as tired as me a minute ago...." Keri hurled
a pillow into Mamoru's chest and finally grinned back at him. "You'd better get going before
Ahmet calls, wondering where you are."
"Right. See you later. Oh, and have fun tonight." He scooped the pillow off the floor
where it had landed, lobbed it gently back onto her bed, and slipped out into the Corridor just
as his communit started beeping again. Keri shook her head in disbelief and rolled over,
grumbling to herself.
"He didn't even turn the light out...."
~~
Sere leaned over her dressing table and applied another layer of color to her cheeks,
carefully watching herself in the mirror. These nightmares were really starting to get to her -
her face looked drawn and tired, even with makeup on. She shook her head sadly. She
didn't want to face her fiancee like this, but if the pattern of her dreams held during the trip to
Earth, she'd have no choice. She almost hoped he'd take one look at her and send her
straight back home - but too much was riding on this engagement for her to let personal
feelings get in the way.
She had laid down the cosmetics brush and was fastening her earrings when a knock came
at the bedroom door. "Come on in," she said.
Princess Minako pushed the door open and stood on the room's threshold. Her back was
stiff, her senshi uniform immaculate, and her expression perfectly neutral. Sere thought sadly
that this seemed to be typical behavior for her friend lately. "Are you ready, Your
Highness?" Minako asked formally. "The Queen awaits an audience with you before the ship
leaves."
Sere took one last look at herself in the mirror. Her appearance was about as good as it
was likely to get. "I'm ready." She gathered her skirt in one hand to rise, stepped away from
the dressing table, and paused.
"Minako? Do you - I mean -"
"Your Highness?" The look on Minako's face was studiously calm and distanced. She
had always been the most outgoing and carefree of Sere's friends, with a heart much larger
than her willingness to stop and think. Ever since the Venusian princess was named leader of
the Senshi Guard, however, she'd thrown herself into her responsibilities with a frightening
passion. As a result, Minako had become reserved and cool around her friends, as if she felt
friendship had to be sacrificed to duty. Sere had been meaning to sit her down and talk about
it for a while now, but had always had to put it off in favor of more immediate matters. Now
she would be leaving for Earth, with all the business and confusion of planning her wedding,
and their talk would have to wait even longer. Sere sighed to herself. Just when she was
facing a life on a whole new planet, surrounded by people she didn't know and couldn't trust,
she needed all her friends more than ever before. Minako seemed determined to push
everyone away.
For now, though, there was nothing for Sere to do but follow her friend to Queen
Serenity's audience chamber and prepare to say her goodbyes. She walked through quiet
white marble corridors with high ceilings and huge arching windows, the trademark
architecture of the Moon Kingdom, and caught herself wondering whether Earth had anything
similar. I can't think about that, she told herself. If I don't expect anything, I can't be
disappointed.
As she reached the audience hall, Sere slowed in her tracks. Her heart rebelled - I don't
want to say goodbye! I don't want to leave! - but her mind reasserted control. Aside from
the importance of the engagement itself, she had an itinerary of stops to several other planets
before finally arriving on Earth. She couldn't just call those off without offending the
dignitaries with whom she was scheduled to meet.
Her mother rose gracefully from her throne and glided forward, meeting Sere in the center
of the room and embracing her closely. Then the queen held her daughter out to take a good
long look at her. She nodded, evidently pleased with what she saw.
"Are you ready?" Queen Serenity asked.
Sere nodded. "I think so. I'm all packed, everything's finished."
"Is something wrong, Sere?" The Queen fixed her daughter with the look that had sent
chills down Sere's spine when she was younger. It still never failed to intimidate her. "You
can tell me." The look echoed: 'You'd better tell me.'
Unable to withstand her, Sere glanced at the floor. Was it a power of all mothers to inflict
this mandatory obedience on their children, or only of those born to rule? Think fast, she told
herself. This alliance is too important for your fears to destroy.
"I'm okay," she finally said. "It's just - I haven't seen Endy - Prince Endymion, I mean,
since we were little. I'm kind of nervous." There, that ought to hold her mother.
Queen Serenity nodded. "That's understandable. I wish it could have been otherwise,
Sere, but you know relations with Earth haven't been all that close in the last few years. Their
withdrawal -"
"I know, I know." Sere imitated her instructor's voice. "The Earth has absented itself
from nearly all system interactions since the death of King Baldur. I do pay attention in
studies once in a while, Mother...." She immediately regretted the sharp tone that had crept
into her voice, and deliberately softened it. "I do understand why things happened as they
did. I just wish it could have gone differently. If I'd gotten to know him better before
now...." Maybe I wouldn't be having these nightmares, she finished the thought silently.
"Oh, Sere.... I'm sure you'll be fine. I know it's a big change for you, but you're a very
strong, beautiful, courageous young woman that anyone would be proud to have for a
daughter. I'll miss you...." Tears appeared in Serenity's eyes - not a queen, just for a
moment, but a mother. She hugged Sere close.
"I'll miss you too, Mama. It's not like we're never seeing each other again." Sere tried to
convince herself as much as her mother. "You'll come to the wedding, right?" She knew the
answer, but needed to hear it again.
"You know I am, Sere. I would never miss it." Serenity wiped her eyes. "I'd come with
you now, but the Council would never manage without me. That group couldn't find their
own shoes without a map and a resolution in triplicate...."
Sere giggled at the rare candor from the always-politic Moon Queen. "Maybe I'm better
off away, then.... I wouldn't want to deal with them anymore than I've had to!"
"Selene go with you, and protect you, my daughter." The traditional farewell took on new
meaning from the inflections in Queen Serenity's voice. For a moment, Sere almost thought
she could see the Moon Goddess superimposed on her human avatar.
"Goodbye, Mama. I love you...."
Sere quickly turned to leave, not looking back as she strode out of the audience hall.
~~
Endymion lay sprawled across the bed, bored out of his mind. Lane had left thirty minutes
ago, mentioning something about Dock bureaucrats and paperwork. Those were two
phrases that normally caused him to automatically turn off his higher brain functions, so he
hadn't paid enough attention to figure out exactly what was going on, but she'd promised to be
back within the hour. Meanwhile, he was left with absolutely nothing to do.
Endy swung his legs over the side of the bed, grunting, and pulled himself up. He leaned
down and grabbed his pants off the floor where they'd been discarded not too long ago. He
stood up to pull them on, fastened his belt, and stepped toward the bathroom, tangling his feet
in the forgotten bath towel Lane had left on the floor and managing to crack his head on the
bedside table.
When he finally came to, he wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious. He lay still,
extremely reluctant to move at all. The pain spread through his nervous system, making his
spine tingle and feeling like nothing so much as a line of elephants turned can-can dancers
pounding through his head. He groaned, nearly missing the voices through his own agony.
One male, one female, both sounding very agitated.
"What was that noise? I think someone's here."
"You said Lane flies alone, no crew."
"She does!"
"So there can't be anyone here. Come on, we aren't even past the gravity well."
"You can handle it, can't you? I know I heard something in the back."
"I didn't hear anything, but you can check it out if you want."
Endy could hear footsteps tapping down the hall toward the bedroom. It occurred to him
that this might be a very good time to get to his feet - unfortunately, his nervous system
seemed to be malfunctioning and his feet weren't getting the message. He was still flat on his
back when a large, red-headed man appeared in the doorway.
The man seemed as startled to see Endy as Endy was to see him. "Hey, Mila?" He called
over his shoulder. "You might want to come back here!"
~~
"No can do, Coren! I'm a little busy right now!" Mila hollered over her shoulder, then
focused all her attention on the vidscreen where two Guard ships had appeared out of
nowhere. One of them was hailing her.
"Jade Matrix, Captain Lane Zhaki, this is Guard serial 549-C4. You are not cleared to
leave the planet at this time. Please acknowledge."
"What now?" Mila depressed the speak button and leaned forward. "Guard, this is the
Jade Matrix. I'm sure there's some mistake here...."
"Jade Matrix, please confirm your Dock protocol number and ship registration."
Mila released the speak button. "Coren! I need those stats you hacked!" The last thing,
the very last thing she needed was to be apprehended by the Guard again. She didn't think
she could handle another week in the Hold.
"Give me a second!"
"I don't have a second, Coren!" She warned.
"Jade Matrix, please acknowledge. Are you receiving me?" came the voice once again.
"ARRGH!" Mila screamed - retaining enough presence of mind to release the speak
button first. "I can't deal with all of this!"
Coren appeared in the cockpit a moment later. "We've got a little problem in the back...."
"Not now, Coren. The stats, please!"
"Okay, okay. Watch out." He pushed her gently out of the way so he could reach the
console.
"There! Finally!" Mila leaned on the speak button once more as Coren punched the final
code sequence in. "Transmitting now."
"Jade Matrix, we are receiving the data. Please wait for Ground confirmation."
Coren stood anxiously, watching Mila manipulate the control panel. "What are you
doing?"
"Just making sure the engines are hot," she answered as she worked. "If they decide to
chase us, I want a head start."
The console's speakers squawked with the notification of incoming text. Mila scrolled
through it quickly, then read it again in astonishment. "Guard, is this information correct?"
"Roger, Jade Matrix. I apologize for the confusion, and you are clear for departure."
Mila shook her head, but didn't argue. "Right, Jade Matrix out." Had they benefited from
a fluke in the system, or was something else going on?
She swiveled her chair to face Coren. "It says clearance was just approved. I didn't
request clearance, did I? What do you make of that?"
"I say let's get while the getting's good.... And as soon as you've got the course charted,
come to the back. We've got a stowaway."