All right! We're on chapter three!
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Mikazuki for her great plot idea, to Syrinx for being an
incredible beta reader, to my sister for helping me even though she doesn't watch Sailor
Moon, and to Dragon Knight Slade for hashing out characters with me on late night chats, and
for pushing my writing that extra bit further. And, as always, to Naoko Takeuchi-sama, for
letting us play in her world!
With that, on to the show!
~Lurker 11/20/03
----------
Chapter Three: In which Zoisite brings news
Sere blinked her eyes, trying to dispel the inky blackness that filled her vision. She
took a tentative step forward, then another, carefully feeling her way in the dark. She
walked on that way for what felt like hours, and yet like scant moments at the same
time, before her foot ran into something.
She stretched her hands out before her to feel a wall. Rough, wooden, with splinters
that threatened her fingertips and a pair of cold metal hinges set on the door.... The
garden shed.
Sere wrapped her arms around herself and sank silently to the floor. She was in the
shed again, alone and abandoned. The knowledge that she was dreaming did nothing
to alleviate her fear. Soon the storm would start, with lightning that would flash
through the single dirty window, outlining every shadow in stark relief before vanishing
to leave her in darkness all the more frightening for the brief moment of light. The
storm, with rain that would begin softly as a quiet patter against the sides of the shed,
but grow until it slammed into the tin roof with a pounding, throbbing rhythm that
would beat its way into her skull; with a sound that would catch and echo, multiplying
itself in the tiny interior until it filled her mind and drowned her thought. The storm,
with the thunder, rolling and booming its way past the walls sturdy enough to keep her
trapped, but too flimsy to keep the noise out; the thunder that would attack her
eardrums with sharp deafening cracks. And then....
With a cry, she leapt to her feet, pounding on the door until her hands were numb,
screaming wordlessly until her throat grew raw and her voice gave out.
Silently, Sere fell against the door, unable to fight the course of her dream any
longer. Tears fell from her closed eyes as the first soft raindrops began to land against
the shed roof.
**
"Molly Guiardo here." The woman swiveled her chair around to face the communit,
bringing her face into view. Her hair was covered with a bright kerchief, and large hoop
earrings dangled from her ears - all in all, a perfect image of the quintessential pirate, Beryl
thought with an inward smirk.
"My name is Beryl. I believe your gentleman informed you about me." It was a statement,
not a question.
Molly glanced to her right, where her second in command stood. His silent nod confirmed
Beryl's identity for the pirate captain. Beryl had never been able to remember the man's
name, but then it wasn't that important. All she had cared for was his ability to put her in
communication with Molly Guiardo, leader of the Black Nebula Pirates who had been
conducting hit-and-run attacks on the outer planets of the Sol system for months - and after
several weeks of round-about negotiations, Beryl had finally attained her first goal. Now all
she needed was to persuade the good captain that alliance could be more rewarding than...
animosity.
"Did." Molly's eyes narrowed. "Also said you didn't tell him much of what you wanted.
You got me curious, though. If you'd hadn't said something to him about a project that's
supposed to be secret, you wouldn't have gotten this far. So, tell. What do you know, and
how do you know it?"
Beryl smiled quickly - too quickly, she realized, and moderated her expression to what she
hoped was one of friendly, yet businesslike camaraderie. "That was merely to get your
attention, Lady Guiardo. I assure you, your activities on Pluto are no concern of mine –
except, of course, insofar as I may be able to be of some assistance to your endeavors. If I
may say so, Lady, I believe we might be able to join forces for our mutual benefit."
Molly leaned back in her chair, her face unreadable. "I'll tell you, Beryl. I've never much
liked people who're too friendly. Always makes me think they're tryin' to sell me something.
Now, you wanta be up front and explain exactly what you want, or do I cut transmission
now?"
Beryl cursed under her breath and reminded herself, once again, not to judge by
appearances so hastily. This pirate captain looked and sounded the part of an ignorant
peasant, but she was obviously more intelligent than Beryl had given her credit for - and might
not be willing to go along with any snowjobs. "But of course. Quite simply put, I am
currently in a position on Earth that affords me certain opportunities.... What I propose is a
merger of forces, as it were. If we combine our strength and coordinate tactics, we could
strike a fierce blow against the Moon Kingdom."
"Interesting, except for one thing." The pirate captain casually crossed her legs and
looked, if anything, even more relaxed than before. "I'm not interested in defeating the Moon
Kingdom or in any of your solar politics. You're gonna be on your own, sister, but good
luck!"
"Wait -" Beryl began desperately. All her current plans depended on this alliance.
"Sorry. Oh, and don't try this connection again. You'll just get the Guard offices on
Jupiter. Bye!" With that, Molly gestured to her second and the screen went blank.
Beryl spun her chair around and slammed her fist onto her knee, ignoring the spike of pain.
Damn! This ruined her plan. Now she'd have to find another bandit with enough resources to
suit, and once again begin the long process of working her way up the ranks to contact him....
"Milady Beryl?" The nervous chamberlain stood hesitantly outside her office door, looking
like nothing so much as a mouse trying to face down a lion. It had taken Beryl some time to
train him, but she thought he'd learned not to bother her when she was in her office.
"Beg pardon, Milady, but Her Majesty wishes to see you immediately," the man stuttered.
"She's waiting in her audience room."
Beryl sighed. The audience room, a small branch-off from the more formal throne room,
was Queen Lianne's favorite place for more taxing conversations. Luckily, the queen was
usually too scatterbrained to pay attention to such encounters for very long, losing interest or
becoming distracted along the way. With the way Beryl's day had been going, however, this
was likely to be one of those rare times when Lianne latched onto a new idea, like one of her
pet terriers to a rat, and refused to let go.
With the recent demise of her careful plans still a fresh wound to her ego, Beryl wasn't in
the mood to deal with the queen's whining. She hoped this wouldn't waste too much of her
day.... She gathered her skirt in her hand as she rose and nodded to the chamberlain. "Well,
then."
By the time she arrived at the throne room, Beryl had schooled her features into a polite
and gracious smile. She made her way through the crowd, nodding to each of the courtiers
who constantly hung about, hoping for some of the Earth Queen's prestige to rub off. For
them, even a brief smile from the queen's second in command was as good as an encounter
with Lianne herself.
Beryl easily side-stepped an especially annoying specimen in the crowd; a large and
heavily powdered gentleman who she recognized as having approached her several times in
the past.... Something about an insult to his pet, if she remembered correctly. It wasn't
anything she'd felt like dealing with, then or now.
She soon found herself at the door leading into the audience room. After a guard stationed
there opened it for her, Beryl quickly made the formal gesture of respect for the royal family's
spirit guardians - it wouldn't do to be seen as impious, of course, and lately the old religions
had become fashionable again - and stepped through the door and into Queen Lianne's
presence.
The tall ruler of Earth looked nothing like her usual graceful, polished self. Her blond hair
was falling loose from its carefully crafted chignon, light strands drifting out from her head as if
statically charged. Her dress was faintly wrinkled, something that Lianne would normally
never allow, and the sight made Beryl more than a little nervous. This was not the same queen
she was used to dealing with, and Beryl wondered whether she'd be able to control her as
easily as usual.
As Beryl made a deep curtsey, Queen Lianne hurried to her side. "Beryl! I'm so glad
you've arrived. Have you heard the news?"
"News, Majesty?" she said carefully, not willing to commit until she knew just what was
going on.
"News, yes, Beryl! News from Pluto! Haven't you heard? The Guiardo Pirates have
attacked Charon. Quickly, now, we've got to send reinforcements!" The queen spun on her
heel and ran back to the table where she'd already assembled some of her top staffers,
including Kunzite, her head general, and Carlie, the unofficial authority on all things
economical.
Beryl sighed. If she couldn't head things off, this promised to be a very long meeting.
**
Zoisite punched his access code into the keypad and waited impatiently during the few
seconds it took for the door hatch to open. He hated being this late in getting back to the
Phoenix, but all the turmoil in the Corridors had delayed him. He wondered what Jadeite
and Nephrite would make of the pirate attacks on the outer system - then remembered that
the communit was broken. Maybe this time he could be the one to bring news!
Zoisite had always been the youngest of Endymion's four bodyguards, and he didn't expect
that to change any time soon. What he did wish was that the others would treat him less like
an annoying kid brother and more like a peer -after all, he might be younger, but they'd all
been chosen as generals at the same time. It wasn't as if Kunzite had to have seniority just for
being oldest, even though he was the unofficial 'leader' of the four - sometimes even the five,
as Endymion would submit to Kunzite's authority more readily than anyone else's. Zoisite put
up with all of his friends' teasing most of the time, but once in a while he felt desperate for a
little more respect....
Being the first to bring such important news would surely make Jadeite pay him more
respect.
Caught in his excitement at the golden opportunity, Zoisite nearly missed the voices coming
from one of the back rooms. It sounded as if Jadeite and Endymion were going at it again.
Curious, Zoisite moved down the hall and stepped into the doorway.
Endymion was, for some reason, dressed in a blue workman's uniform. He sat stiffly in a
chair while Jadeite railed at him, his hands clenched at his knees.
"I don't understand what you're so worried about! Look, it's just going to be for a week
or two. A month at the most. What's the big problem?"
"Maybe because it's illegal, maybe I don't trust you guys, maybe it's just an incredibly
stupid idea? Take your pick."
"It's not stupid," Jadeite said coaxingly, "and you can trust me. Listen! Do you have any
idea what will happen if we can't get Prince Endymion in one form or another to the betrothal
ceremony?"
"I don't care about your little scandals -"
Endymion was cut off as Jadeite slammed his fist down onto the table, finally losing his
temper. "This isn't about some scandal!" he shouted. "If that were all, I'd let the prince deal
with it himself. It might teach him something, although I doubt it. Don't you pay any attention
to the system's current events?"
What was going on? Zoisite slipped into the room, ignored by both its inhabitants. There
was something he didn't understand yet.
"I have classes. I have work. I want to study with the Healers one day- do you think I
have time for politics?"
"Let me explain something to you, then." Jadeite leaned down to rest his arm on the back
of Endymion's chair. "Your government needs this alliance as much as ours does, and I'm not
about to let it fall apart because of Endy's carelessness or your squeamishness. If you don't
follow politics, how about the news? Heard anything about the Guiardo Pirates lately?"
Zoisite, more confused than ever, broke in at the mention of something he did understand.
"They attacked Pluto today, and Serenity's sending the Guard as relief!"
He caught their attention then; both Endymion and Jadeite turned to face him, startled at
the intrusion. Jadeite recovered first.
"When did you get - wait. What? What did you say?" He shoved past Zoisite and ran
down the hall toward the control room.
"And I thought you might not have heard...." Zoisite realized he was talking to thin air,
Endymion having disappeared right behind Jadeite. He quickly followed them, curiosity
driving him as much as his fear of being left out.
When Zoisite caught up to the other two in the control room, Jadeite had already run up the
communit's circuits and was busy looking for a news update. "Come on, come on!" Jadeite
muttered under his breath. "Hurry up!"
"I thought it was broken?" Zoisite said to no one in particular.
"He fixed it," Jadeite tossed over his shoulder with a head jerk in the prince's direction.
"Are you serious? Endymion couldn't -" Zoisite stopped himself, both out of loyalty to his
prince and fear of his anger.
"S'not Endy. Zoisite, meet Chiba Mamoru. Mamoru, meet Zoisite." Jadeite said
distractedly. He pounded a few more keys and watched the news load on the vidscreen.
Zoisite had no time to process this startling information. The official report from the
Guard's office appeared on the screen, and the news was worse than he'd thought. The three
of them read in silence.
The Guiardo Pirates had attacked, not Pluto itself, but a secluded mining community on its
moon, Charon. The Guard was on its way, hoping to arrive in a few hours. Pluto had sent its
own reserves immediately, of course, but being a sparsely populated planet, was calling
desperately for assistance. The death count was reported to be at ninety, with another three
hundred or more critically wounded. The numbers kept going up as more miners and their
families were found among the ruins of their cities.
As text scrolled across the screen with every new update, Jadeite turned to Mamoru
somberly. "Now do you see why we need you?" he asked. "A situation like this one is too
serious for anything to interfere with our planet helping yours. If Endymion isn't at that
ceremony, it'll create a diplomatic incident - and it wouldn't take much to push the bureaucrats
into declaring another withdrawal from system interaction. There are enough of them already
saying our reinstatement of treaty and trade was a mistake...."
Zoisite thought he was beginning to get the picture. Endymion had disappeared on one of
his jaunts again, except this time the generals didn't have the luxury of looking for him. And
somewhere Jadeite had found this look-alike to fill in....
As Mamoru processed this argument, Jadeite continued. "What was it you wanted,
Mamoru? Entry into the Healer's Collegium? When this is all over, I'll get the Queen to
sponsor you. I can tell her you helped us out with ship troubles - which wouldn't even be a
lie. If you won't do it for your kingdom, at least do it for yourself!"
"I like to think I've never been someone who had to be bribed into doing the right thing,"
Mamoru said slowly. "If you're really convinced you need me...."
Jadeite nodded, his eyes never leaving Mamoru's face. "We do."
"Then I'll do it."
**
The audience hall was quiet and empty. With the chandeliers extinguished, the only light in
the hall was a soft, cool grey filtering indirectly through the windows; not enough to illuminate
anything but the basic outlines of objects. Queen Serenity reflected that the room mirrored
her mood quite neatly. Dark, quiet... and empty.
She sat lightly on the wide arm of her throne, looking to the distance at nothing in
particular. Her petition court that morning had been stopped short when news of the attack
on Charon reached her. Serenity had immediately halted the proceedings, cutting
Ambassador Tikal off mid-sentence (for which she would have to apologize formally, later)
and ordering her council members to be sent for. She'd spent the next long hours in heavy
debate and intense planning until finally there was nothing more that could be done. The
council had dispersed, some to hurry after their duties, others to wait until called upon, and
Serenity herself had returned to the now-empty audience hall to wait for news and to think
over the situation.
She was almost ashamed to admit to herself that her first thought had been, not for the
miners and their families, but for her daughter and her friends... even though Sere's scheduled
itinerary took her nowhere near the outer planets. Ashamed, because who could tolerate a
queen whose concern was not with her subjects? Almost, because who could respect a
mother who cared not for her only child?
Serenity's only saving grace was her ability to mask the dead and injured on Charon
behind a wall of statistics. Cold, hard, faceless numbers could not impact her judgment.... If
she once allowed herself to think of the children without parents, the families killed in
explosions, the miners trapped underground until they slowly suffocated, the people she
should have protected, she would be useless... she would be torn apart... she... would....
With a cry, the queen fell off the throne and onto her knees, burying her face in her hands
and loosing the tears she'd been keeping back all day.
A soft sound of slippered feet startled Serenity, and she looked through her fingers to see
Luna standing next to her. "Majesty?" the yellow-garbed woman said tentatively. "Should I
send for someone?"
"That's alright, Luna. We aren't in company...." She wiped her eyes, even though she
knew the tears would return soon enough. Luna was her advisor and closest friend, and
Serenity was glad for the company. She needed someone who wouldn't expect her to be the
stalwart, commanding ruler she so often had to be.
"I hope you don't mind, then...." In a shimmer of light, Luna shrank down into a small
black cat and leapt onto the queen's lap. "It's difficult maintaining a form that big. I wish they
could get used to seeing me like this.... It'd make court so much easier on me."
"And so much more interesting, no? Especially for some of those delegates from Canis
Major." Serenity smiled in spite of herself.
Luna reached out her front paws, dipping her back and carefully unsheathing her claws to
stretch. She settled down and curled up, content to wait if she needed to, or to listen. She
watched Serenity with careful eyes.
The queen absently stroked Luna's back, staring into the distance. Then she seized the cat
up and held her close, burying her wet face in her fur. "Oh, Luna...." she sobbed. "What can
I do? They all expect me to... to.... There's no way to fix this...."
Luna shimmered back into her human form and knelt on the floor next to her queen, her
friend, and wrapped her in a close embrace. "I'm here, Serenity. I'm here...."
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Mikazuki for her great plot idea, to Syrinx for being an
incredible beta reader, to my sister for helping me even though she doesn't watch Sailor
Moon, and to Dragon Knight Slade for hashing out characters with me on late night chats, and
for pushing my writing that extra bit further. And, as always, to Naoko Takeuchi-sama, for
letting us play in her world!
With that, on to the show!
~Lurker 11/20/03
----------
Chapter Three: In which Zoisite brings news
Sere blinked her eyes, trying to dispel the inky blackness that filled her vision. She
took a tentative step forward, then another, carefully feeling her way in the dark. She
walked on that way for what felt like hours, and yet like scant moments at the same
time, before her foot ran into something.
She stretched her hands out before her to feel a wall. Rough, wooden, with splinters
that threatened her fingertips and a pair of cold metal hinges set on the door.... The
garden shed.
Sere wrapped her arms around herself and sank silently to the floor. She was in the
shed again, alone and abandoned. The knowledge that she was dreaming did nothing
to alleviate her fear. Soon the storm would start, with lightning that would flash
through the single dirty window, outlining every shadow in stark relief before vanishing
to leave her in darkness all the more frightening for the brief moment of light. The
storm, with rain that would begin softly as a quiet patter against the sides of the shed,
but grow until it slammed into the tin roof with a pounding, throbbing rhythm that
would beat its way into her skull; with a sound that would catch and echo, multiplying
itself in the tiny interior until it filled her mind and drowned her thought. The storm,
with the thunder, rolling and booming its way past the walls sturdy enough to keep her
trapped, but too flimsy to keep the noise out; the thunder that would attack her
eardrums with sharp deafening cracks. And then....
With a cry, she leapt to her feet, pounding on the door until her hands were numb,
screaming wordlessly until her throat grew raw and her voice gave out.
Silently, Sere fell against the door, unable to fight the course of her dream any
longer. Tears fell from her closed eyes as the first soft raindrops began to land against
the shed roof.
**
"Molly Guiardo here." The woman swiveled her chair around to face the communit,
bringing her face into view. Her hair was covered with a bright kerchief, and large hoop
earrings dangled from her ears - all in all, a perfect image of the quintessential pirate, Beryl
thought with an inward smirk.
"My name is Beryl. I believe your gentleman informed you about me." It was a statement,
not a question.
Molly glanced to her right, where her second in command stood. His silent nod confirmed
Beryl's identity for the pirate captain. Beryl had never been able to remember the man's
name, but then it wasn't that important. All she had cared for was his ability to put her in
communication with Molly Guiardo, leader of the Black Nebula Pirates who had been
conducting hit-and-run attacks on the outer planets of the Sol system for months - and after
several weeks of round-about negotiations, Beryl had finally attained her first goal. Now all
she needed was to persuade the good captain that alliance could be more rewarding than...
animosity.
"Did." Molly's eyes narrowed. "Also said you didn't tell him much of what you wanted.
You got me curious, though. If you'd hadn't said something to him about a project that's
supposed to be secret, you wouldn't have gotten this far. So, tell. What do you know, and
how do you know it?"
Beryl smiled quickly - too quickly, she realized, and moderated her expression to what she
hoped was one of friendly, yet businesslike camaraderie. "That was merely to get your
attention, Lady Guiardo. I assure you, your activities on Pluto are no concern of mine –
except, of course, insofar as I may be able to be of some assistance to your endeavors. If I
may say so, Lady, I believe we might be able to join forces for our mutual benefit."
Molly leaned back in her chair, her face unreadable. "I'll tell you, Beryl. I've never much
liked people who're too friendly. Always makes me think they're tryin' to sell me something.
Now, you wanta be up front and explain exactly what you want, or do I cut transmission
now?"
Beryl cursed under her breath and reminded herself, once again, not to judge by
appearances so hastily. This pirate captain looked and sounded the part of an ignorant
peasant, but she was obviously more intelligent than Beryl had given her credit for - and might
not be willing to go along with any snowjobs. "But of course. Quite simply put, I am
currently in a position on Earth that affords me certain opportunities.... What I propose is a
merger of forces, as it were. If we combine our strength and coordinate tactics, we could
strike a fierce blow against the Moon Kingdom."
"Interesting, except for one thing." The pirate captain casually crossed her legs and
looked, if anything, even more relaxed than before. "I'm not interested in defeating the Moon
Kingdom or in any of your solar politics. You're gonna be on your own, sister, but good
luck!"
"Wait -" Beryl began desperately. All her current plans depended on this alliance.
"Sorry. Oh, and don't try this connection again. You'll just get the Guard offices on
Jupiter. Bye!" With that, Molly gestured to her second and the screen went blank.
Beryl spun her chair around and slammed her fist onto her knee, ignoring the spike of pain.
Damn! This ruined her plan. Now she'd have to find another bandit with enough resources to
suit, and once again begin the long process of working her way up the ranks to contact him....
"Milady Beryl?" The nervous chamberlain stood hesitantly outside her office door, looking
like nothing so much as a mouse trying to face down a lion. It had taken Beryl some time to
train him, but she thought he'd learned not to bother her when she was in her office.
"Beg pardon, Milady, but Her Majesty wishes to see you immediately," the man stuttered.
"She's waiting in her audience room."
Beryl sighed. The audience room, a small branch-off from the more formal throne room,
was Queen Lianne's favorite place for more taxing conversations. Luckily, the queen was
usually too scatterbrained to pay attention to such encounters for very long, losing interest or
becoming distracted along the way. With the way Beryl's day had been going, however, this
was likely to be one of those rare times when Lianne latched onto a new idea, like one of her
pet terriers to a rat, and refused to let go.
With the recent demise of her careful plans still a fresh wound to her ego, Beryl wasn't in
the mood to deal with the queen's whining. She hoped this wouldn't waste too much of her
day.... She gathered her skirt in her hand as she rose and nodded to the chamberlain. "Well,
then."
By the time she arrived at the throne room, Beryl had schooled her features into a polite
and gracious smile. She made her way through the crowd, nodding to each of the courtiers
who constantly hung about, hoping for some of the Earth Queen's prestige to rub off. For
them, even a brief smile from the queen's second in command was as good as an encounter
with Lianne herself.
Beryl easily side-stepped an especially annoying specimen in the crowd; a large and
heavily powdered gentleman who she recognized as having approached her several times in
the past.... Something about an insult to his pet, if she remembered correctly. It wasn't
anything she'd felt like dealing with, then or now.
She soon found herself at the door leading into the audience room. After a guard stationed
there opened it for her, Beryl quickly made the formal gesture of respect for the royal family's
spirit guardians - it wouldn't do to be seen as impious, of course, and lately the old religions
had become fashionable again - and stepped through the door and into Queen Lianne's
presence.
The tall ruler of Earth looked nothing like her usual graceful, polished self. Her blond hair
was falling loose from its carefully crafted chignon, light strands drifting out from her head as if
statically charged. Her dress was faintly wrinkled, something that Lianne would normally
never allow, and the sight made Beryl more than a little nervous. This was not the same queen
she was used to dealing with, and Beryl wondered whether she'd be able to control her as
easily as usual.
As Beryl made a deep curtsey, Queen Lianne hurried to her side. "Beryl! I'm so glad
you've arrived. Have you heard the news?"
"News, Majesty?" she said carefully, not willing to commit until she knew just what was
going on.
"News, yes, Beryl! News from Pluto! Haven't you heard? The Guiardo Pirates have
attacked Charon. Quickly, now, we've got to send reinforcements!" The queen spun on her
heel and ran back to the table where she'd already assembled some of her top staffers,
including Kunzite, her head general, and Carlie, the unofficial authority on all things
economical.
Beryl sighed. If she couldn't head things off, this promised to be a very long meeting.
**
Zoisite punched his access code into the keypad and waited impatiently during the few
seconds it took for the door hatch to open. He hated being this late in getting back to the
Phoenix, but all the turmoil in the Corridors had delayed him. He wondered what Jadeite
and Nephrite would make of the pirate attacks on the outer system - then remembered that
the communit was broken. Maybe this time he could be the one to bring news!
Zoisite had always been the youngest of Endymion's four bodyguards, and he didn't expect
that to change any time soon. What he did wish was that the others would treat him less like
an annoying kid brother and more like a peer -after all, he might be younger, but they'd all
been chosen as generals at the same time. It wasn't as if Kunzite had to have seniority just for
being oldest, even though he was the unofficial 'leader' of the four - sometimes even the five,
as Endymion would submit to Kunzite's authority more readily than anyone else's. Zoisite put
up with all of his friends' teasing most of the time, but once in a while he felt desperate for a
little more respect....
Being the first to bring such important news would surely make Jadeite pay him more
respect.
Caught in his excitement at the golden opportunity, Zoisite nearly missed the voices coming
from one of the back rooms. It sounded as if Jadeite and Endymion were going at it again.
Curious, Zoisite moved down the hall and stepped into the doorway.
Endymion was, for some reason, dressed in a blue workman's uniform. He sat stiffly in a
chair while Jadeite railed at him, his hands clenched at his knees.
"I don't understand what you're so worried about! Look, it's just going to be for a week
or two. A month at the most. What's the big problem?"
"Maybe because it's illegal, maybe I don't trust you guys, maybe it's just an incredibly
stupid idea? Take your pick."
"It's not stupid," Jadeite said coaxingly, "and you can trust me. Listen! Do you have any
idea what will happen if we can't get Prince Endymion in one form or another to the betrothal
ceremony?"
"I don't care about your little scandals -"
Endymion was cut off as Jadeite slammed his fist down onto the table, finally losing his
temper. "This isn't about some scandal!" he shouted. "If that were all, I'd let the prince deal
with it himself. It might teach him something, although I doubt it. Don't you pay any attention
to the system's current events?"
What was going on? Zoisite slipped into the room, ignored by both its inhabitants. There
was something he didn't understand yet.
"I have classes. I have work. I want to study with the Healers one day- do you think I
have time for politics?"
"Let me explain something to you, then." Jadeite leaned down to rest his arm on the back
of Endymion's chair. "Your government needs this alliance as much as ours does, and I'm not
about to let it fall apart because of Endy's carelessness or your squeamishness. If you don't
follow politics, how about the news? Heard anything about the Guiardo Pirates lately?"
Zoisite, more confused than ever, broke in at the mention of something he did understand.
"They attacked Pluto today, and Serenity's sending the Guard as relief!"
He caught their attention then; both Endymion and Jadeite turned to face him, startled at
the intrusion. Jadeite recovered first.
"When did you get - wait. What? What did you say?" He shoved past Zoisite and ran
down the hall toward the control room.
"And I thought you might not have heard...." Zoisite realized he was talking to thin air,
Endymion having disappeared right behind Jadeite. He quickly followed them, curiosity
driving him as much as his fear of being left out.
When Zoisite caught up to the other two in the control room, Jadeite had already run up the
communit's circuits and was busy looking for a news update. "Come on, come on!" Jadeite
muttered under his breath. "Hurry up!"
"I thought it was broken?" Zoisite said to no one in particular.
"He fixed it," Jadeite tossed over his shoulder with a head jerk in the prince's direction.
"Are you serious? Endymion couldn't -" Zoisite stopped himself, both out of loyalty to his
prince and fear of his anger.
"S'not Endy. Zoisite, meet Chiba Mamoru. Mamoru, meet Zoisite." Jadeite said
distractedly. He pounded a few more keys and watched the news load on the vidscreen.
Zoisite had no time to process this startling information. The official report from the
Guard's office appeared on the screen, and the news was worse than he'd thought. The three
of them read in silence.
The Guiardo Pirates had attacked, not Pluto itself, but a secluded mining community on its
moon, Charon. The Guard was on its way, hoping to arrive in a few hours. Pluto had sent its
own reserves immediately, of course, but being a sparsely populated planet, was calling
desperately for assistance. The death count was reported to be at ninety, with another three
hundred or more critically wounded. The numbers kept going up as more miners and their
families were found among the ruins of their cities.
As text scrolled across the screen with every new update, Jadeite turned to Mamoru
somberly. "Now do you see why we need you?" he asked. "A situation like this one is too
serious for anything to interfere with our planet helping yours. If Endymion isn't at that
ceremony, it'll create a diplomatic incident - and it wouldn't take much to push the bureaucrats
into declaring another withdrawal from system interaction. There are enough of them already
saying our reinstatement of treaty and trade was a mistake...."
Zoisite thought he was beginning to get the picture. Endymion had disappeared on one of
his jaunts again, except this time the generals didn't have the luxury of looking for him. And
somewhere Jadeite had found this look-alike to fill in....
As Mamoru processed this argument, Jadeite continued. "What was it you wanted,
Mamoru? Entry into the Healer's Collegium? When this is all over, I'll get the Queen to
sponsor you. I can tell her you helped us out with ship troubles - which wouldn't even be a
lie. If you won't do it for your kingdom, at least do it for yourself!"
"I like to think I've never been someone who had to be bribed into doing the right thing,"
Mamoru said slowly. "If you're really convinced you need me...."
Jadeite nodded, his eyes never leaving Mamoru's face. "We do."
"Then I'll do it."
**
The audience hall was quiet and empty. With the chandeliers extinguished, the only light in
the hall was a soft, cool grey filtering indirectly through the windows; not enough to illuminate
anything but the basic outlines of objects. Queen Serenity reflected that the room mirrored
her mood quite neatly. Dark, quiet... and empty.
She sat lightly on the wide arm of her throne, looking to the distance at nothing in
particular. Her petition court that morning had been stopped short when news of the attack
on Charon reached her. Serenity had immediately halted the proceedings, cutting
Ambassador Tikal off mid-sentence (for which she would have to apologize formally, later)
and ordering her council members to be sent for. She'd spent the next long hours in heavy
debate and intense planning until finally there was nothing more that could be done. The
council had dispersed, some to hurry after their duties, others to wait until called upon, and
Serenity herself had returned to the now-empty audience hall to wait for news and to think
over the situation.
She was almost ashamed to admit to herself that her first thought had been, not for the
miners and their families, but for her daughter and her friends... even though Sere's scheduled
itinerary took her nowhere near the outer planets. Ashamed, because who could tolerate a
queen whose concern was not with her subjects? Almost, because who could respect a
mother who cared not for her only child?
Serenity's only saving grace was her ability to mask the dead and injured on Charon
behind a wall of statistics. Cold, hard, faceless numbers could not impact her judgment.... If
she once allowed herself to think of the children without parents, the families killed in
explosions, the miners trapped underground until they slowly suffocated, the people she
should have protected, she would be useless... she would be torn apart... she... would....
With a cry, the queen fell off the throne and onto her knees, burying her face in her hands
and loosing the tears she'd been keeping back all day.
A soft sound of slippered feet startled Serenity, and she looked through her fingers to see
Luna standing next to her. "Majesty?" the yellow-garbed woman said tentatively. "Should I
send for someone?"
"That's alright, Luna. We aren't in company...." She wiped her eyes, even though she
knew the tears would return soon enough. Luna was her advisor and closest friend, and
Serenity was glad for the company. She needed someone who wouldn't expect her to be the
stalwart, commanding ruler she so often had to be.
"I hope you don't mind, then...." In a shimmer of light, Luna shrank down into a small
black cat and leapt onto the queen's lap. "It's difficult maintaining a form that big. I wish they
could get used to seeing me like this.... It'd make court so much easier on me."
"And so much more interesting, no? Especially for some of those delegates from Canis
Major." Serenity smiled in spite of herself.
Luna reached out her front paws, dipping her back and carefully unsheathing her claws to
stretch. She settled down and curled up, content to wait if she needed to, or to listen. She
watched Serenity with careful eyes.
The queen absently stroked Luna's back, staring into the distance. Then she seized the cat
up and held her close, burying her wet face in her fur. "Oh, Luna...." she sobbed. "What can
I do? They all expect me to... to.... There's no way to fix this...."
Luna shimmered back into her human form and knelt on the floor next to her queen, her
friend, and wrapped her in a close embrace. "I'm here, Serenity. I'm here...."