THE PRICE OF FREEDOM,
Part Nine: "The Rebirth of Opposition"
By Bill K.
Haruka Tenou sat in the corner of the perfumed, satin and silk apportioned dormitory, her head in her hands. The other harem slaves, the other possessions, the other pieces in Queen Desiree's collection of the exotic and the beautiful, ignored her as they usually did. Haruka was an off-worlder and those from off-world were looked down upon, even among slaves. It didn't matter to Haruka that she was ignored. She was used to it. Just like she had gotten used to so many things on this hellish world.
That point had been brought to her attention again when she saw Queen Serenity again. For a fleeting moment, Haruka thought that an end to her humiliation had come. She thought Queen Serenity and her band could do the miraculous once again and liberate her from her purgatory. Instead the effort had only led to their capture while she lay on the floor and cowered in the face of the black uniforms that haunted her dreams. And now she was back where she started, a human plaything in silks and chains.
Oh, how far she had fallen.
"Michiru," she whispered absently to herself, "I'm glad you're dead. It means you can't see what I've become."
Serenity had seen - - that was almost as bad. Serenity had sensed her shame, sensed all the memories Haruka tried to suppress. Even if she hadn't witnessed everything Haruka submitted herself to, every act that the once proud senshi would have reviled someone else for committing, she sensed Haruka's self-loathing. Serenity seeing her broken was almost as bad as Michiru seeing it.
"And now it's going to happen to her," Haruka whispered.
The thought chilled Haruka. Serenity was too delicate, too pure to fall into Desiree's foul hands. She meant too much to too many people. If she fell, what hope did anyone have, for Serenity was hope. And the others who were with her - - the younger ones looked familiar, but Haruka couldn't place them any longer - - they'd suffer the same fate. Except Sailor Mars - - Haruka knew what would happen to her. Mars' black hair would be a death sentence in Desiree's eyes. She'd seen it happen before, too many times before.
It couldn't happen. She had to stop it. But what could she do? What little of her spirit that hadn't been broken by Desiree's police force was submerged by the metal around her throat. If she tried, they'd harm her. They'd do the awful things to her again. Haruka found herself breathing harder at the merest memory of them.
But it was Serenity. She'd risked all to come for her. Haruka felt she had to do something.
But what could a slave do?
Her fingers absently felt along the seam of the collar at her throat. If something could be wedged into that seam - - and, as expected, she felt the nip of the collar at her brain, warning her away from such thinking. But if something could, and it was strong enough to force the jaws of the collar apart, then it might break apart.
Nip, nip, nip, replied the collar.
It was hopeless. She didn't have anything to wedge into the seam that was strong enough to pry the collar open. She'd be caught and punished. But another thought began prying its way into her mind like she imagined doing to the collar: Serenity. She had to try, didn't she? If she had a single shred of humanity left in her, she had to try.
Nip, nip, nip, replied the collar. It hurt worse than before, but Haruka shunted it aside when she spied the hairpin on the dressing table. Ignoring the nip of the collar, Haruka forced herself up and trudged over to the table. The slave at the table spied her and shied away. Haruka ignored her. She seized the pin between fingers that tried to rebel. Sagging against the wall, fighting off artificially induced nausea, Haruka allowed herself to slide down into a sitting position. She waited cautiously until the other slaves in the harem returned to ignoring her. Then she stuck the hairpin under her chin and wedged it against the seam of the collar.
The collar was a faint blue now. She didn't have to see it - - Haruka could feel its discipline. She wanted to quit, but found a little bit of strength left inside her and kept at it. All the while part of her mind worried and fretted, telling her that the guards would catch her and she'd be punished.
Maybe she'd get lucky, she told herself. Maybe they'd kill her.
It was the proverbial choice between two evils. Sailor Vesta barely had the strength left to carry herself to the mine elevator and freedom. Maybe she could carry tiny Pallas or Saturn. But she couldn't carry all of them at once. And the collars they wore prevented the other senshi from walking on their own.
Saturn looked at Vesta. She could see Vesta wanted to save Pallas first, but resisted the impulse. That would mean leaving Saturn and Sailor Neptune helpless and exposed in the mine. What if more guards came? They'd be captured for sure. She couldn't do that to Saturn. Saturn saw this in Vesta's eyes and was grateful.
The violet senshi wanted to send Vesta out with Pallas. Better two of them escape than none, for the longer they delayed, the better the chance all of them would be caught by more guards. But she knew as well as Vesta did that leaving the pair down in the shaft risked their recapture, for they were helpless to adequately defend themselves while shackled with the mind-sapping collars. She didn't want to condemn Neptune to falling back into the guards' hands, not when she was so close to freedom.
What to do? Saturn looked to Vesta, hoping her fellow senshi would make the decision. But Vesta passed the decision right back to Saturn.
"Nnnnnnnhg!" they heard Neptune moan.
At first Saturn thought more guards had been spotted. Seeing nothing, she turned to her adoptive mother. Neptune was gesturing to Saturn's glaive, still sticking out of the back of the guard Neptune had impaled. Her collar was glowing a faint blue and discomfort was etched in her face. Insistently, though, Neptune pointed to the glaive.
"The glaive!" Saturn gasped. "It can cut us loose!"
"Are you sure?" Vesta asked.
"Yes! And once I'm free, I can carry Mama!" Saturn felt the collar start to dampen her enthusiasm, but she pressed on. "You'll have to do it, Vesta. This collar won't let me."
Vesta looked like she wanted to bolt. But her better instincts won out and she pulled the glaive from the guard's body. Saturn pulled back her hair, exposing her neck to Vesta.
"This'll cut that metal?" Vesta queried, the bloodied blade quivering in her hands.
"It'll cut anything," Saturn assured her. "Just - - be careful, huh? Cut slowly."
"Sure!" Vesta swallowed. Saturn looked up at her. Ever since her attack on Sailor Moon, Vesta had been a shell of herself, wracked with guilt and doubt. Saturn could tell she didn't trust herself with the responsibility.
"You have to do this, Vesta," Saturn urged.
Grimacing, Vesta nodded. Saturn felt the still-fresh blood on the blade press against her neck and fought down revulsion. She glanced over at Neptune and saw the woman staring intently at the proceeding, trying to will it to work. Vesta moved the blade across the edge of the collar in a sawing motion. The blade bit into the metal while Saturn felt it slide against the skin of her neck.
"Damn!" gasped Vesta. "It does cut anything."
Emboldened, Vesta pushed in again, then drew the blade toward her. The blade bit further into the metal of the collar while Saturn held perfectly still. Using a sawing motion, it took five passes before the blade cleaved the collar. As it fell away, Saturn winced. Her hand went up to her shoulder and felt blood where the blade had grazed her.
"Oh damn, I cut you!" Vesta gasped.
"It couldn't be helped," Saturn told her. She held out her wrists. "Now cut these chains please."
Once she was free of the chains, Saturn reclaimed her glaive. Her first order was freeing Neptune. By now Pallas had regained consciousness. Vesta immediately went to her.
"You OK?" Vesta asked.
"Pallas's head hurts," moaned the senshi, "and she feels sick."
"That's the collar," Saturn told them. "Once you're free of it, you'll feel better."
Her blade cleaved the collar around Neptune's neck and made short work of the chains. She turned to Pallas and in seconds had her fellow senshi free. Pallas and Vesta hugged and it was hard to tell who was happier to see the other. Then a noise caught Saturn's attention. She turned to it.
Neptune was on her knees. She had a rock in her hands and was pounding on the collar with it. The look of naked bestial fury on her face was astounding. Saturn was taken aback watching Neptune pound on the collar in a sudden burst of ferocious hatred. Oblivious to anything else, Neptune just pounded on the now twisted metal.
"Mama," Saturn whispered, crouching behind Neptune and holding her shoulders. Neptune's fury seemed to drain out of her body and she let the rock fall to the ground. "We have to go."
"Mmmmm," Neptune nodded.
With Saturn on one side and Vesta on the other, they helped Neptune to her feet. Following Pallas, the battered senshi headed down the shaft, barely noticed by the remaining slaves.
The four senshi eased up against a rocky expanse at the foot of the mountain. At the head, Sailor Venus glanced around to make sure no one was watching them. They had purposefully avoided the mountainous area with burrows, since Sailor Mercury had detected life signs in them and concluded they were crude shelters for the mine slaves to sleep in when they weren't in the mines. Now Venus was seeking to avoid being spotted by any guards as they neared the mine.
"There's a squadron of six up ahead," she whispered to the others.
"That is what my visor reported," Mercury reminded her.
"Then your visor gets a gold star," Venus shot back. "They look like they're suspicious of something. You suppose there are sentries missing?"
"Hard to tell. Wait, look over there." Jupiter pointed past the mine entrance. Another guard was on the ground attending to three guards. "Figure Saturn and Pallas went through them getting in there?"
"Yeah and left a mess for the others to find," Venus scowled. "Sloppy."
"Well, they had other things on their minds. Any sign of them on your sensors, Mercury?" Jupiter asked.
"I've got a fix on Saturn, Pallas and Vesta," Mercury told them. "They're in the second level south shaft, but they're all together. They seem to be moving toward a vertical shaft, perhaps an elevator, with a fourth entity."
"Neptune?" Jupiter proposed.
"I sure hope so," Venus muttered, staring at the guards from their secluded spot. She winced suddenly.
"Your wound?" Mercury asked, sensing the wince without actually seeing it. "How does it feel?"
"Burns like anything," Venus replied.
"Oh dear, I hope it's not becoming infected. Let me have a look."
"Later," Venus said. "I don't want anything to distract me. Those four could be coming out of that mine at any time."
"They're going to run into those guards when they leave the mine, aren't they?" Sailor Juno asked.
"Unless they know a second way out."
"Well," Juno wondered aloud, "shouldn't we take the guards out now?"
"No."
Juno looked at Venus like she was crazy. When she got no reaction, she turned to Jupiter and silently asked for an explanation.
"I think Venus wants to play it cautious," Jupiter began. "You see, we don't know who's with them down in that shaft. It might be Neptune - - but it might be a guard holding them at gunpoint. If we take out this squadron now, it could . . ."
"It could warn the other guard holding the others!" Juno nodded.
"And the situation could quickly degenerate into a hostage situation," Mercury said, finishing Juno's thought.
"I see," Juno nodded. "But if it is Sailor Neptune, aren't we risking the guards up here firing on them?"
"That's why Jupe and I are going to wait until the last second and nail any drawn weapons we see pulled," Venus told her, concentrating on the guards all the while. "They all have those shock sticks, but there's only two hand weapons. It's going to be close, but we can take them out before they get off a shot. Right, Jupe?"
"Just remember, I've got the one on the left, Blondie," Jupiter replied.
"You keeping watch with that computer to make sure we don't get flanked?" Venus asked Mercury.
"Of course," Mercury replied, her eyes glued to her computer's display.
"You three are just so efficient," Juno marveled.
"Well, we have been working together for about a thousand years now," Jupiter smiled.
"What have I told you about telling people my age," Venus quipped as she stared at her target.
The elevator car brought the four senshi to the next level with a mechanized whir that echoed far too loudly for any of them to be pleased. Saturn thought about levitating everyone again, but decided against it. There were four to carry now and Pallas still looked a little woozy from her bout with the concussion grenade earlier.
"Pallas," she whispered. "When this elevator gets to the top, be ready for trouble."
"Yes, ma'am," Pallas said. The thought frightened the girl, but she put up a brave front.
"Don't be scared," Vesta whispered. "You can do it." Pallas beamed back at her.
Saturn glanced up at Neptune. She noticed rivulets of tears streaking the grime on the woman's cheeks.
"Mama?" Saturn asked. Neptune shook her head, embarrassed.
"She's crying because she's happy, Miss Saturn-ma'am," Pallas told her.
"Probably happy to be out of those chains and out of this awful mine," Saturn mused.
"Well that, too," Pallas said. "Pallas thought it was because she was with you again, Miss Saturn-Ma'am."
Saturn peeked over to Neptune. In response, the arm that was draped over Saturn's neck tightened against her ever so slightly. The corners of Saturn's mouth twitched upward.
"We'll get you out of here, Mama," Saturn choked out. "Don't you worry."
The car reached the top of the shaft. Its occupants braced for hostile fire when the gate went up. When that didn't occur, they exited the car and headed for the mouth of the mine.
Neptune let out a soft moan when the bright entrance to the mine was in sight. How long had it been since she'd seen the light of day, Saturn wondered. To think of her Michiru-Mama enduring this brutality just made Saturn see red.
"Nnnnhh!" Neptune moaned sharply. She gripped harder on Saturn and Vesta's shoulders, bringing the girls to a stop. Pallas looked around curiously.
"What's wrong, Mama?" Saturn asked.
"Guh," Neptune stammered out, her mouth still refusing to work properly. "Guh-hards!"
"Guards?" Vesta asked.
"We took care of the guards when we came in," Saturn said.
"But there were more out there when Sensei Venus-sama and I came up," Vesta reported. "Maybe I better scout ahead?"
"No, I can't hold up Mama alone!" Saturn cried. "Pallas, can you sense anything ahead?"
"No. When Pallas tries to listen for people's thoughts, they don't come," Pallas said apologetically.
"Nnnn," Neptune hissed. She gestured up ahead. A shadow had crossed into the mouth of the mine.
"Pallas will protect you, ma'am!" Pallas shouted. "Beautiful Incantation!"
At her mental behest, a rock about the size of a fist flew up from the ground and launched itself down the tunnel. At the entrance, it audibly struck something. A groan was heard and the shadow fell away. Suddenly Pallas whirled on them.
"Everybody get down!" she squealed. "Pallas heard a thought! They're going to fire on us!"
"Supreme Thunder!"
"Crescent Beam!"
The four senshi in the mine looked at each other with growing elation. Hurrying to the shaft entrance, they could see five guards. One had a nasty wound on her forehead. A second was quivering from electric shock while a third held her hand as if a weapon had been shot from it. Sailor Mercury was freezing the other two to the ground.
As the two groups reunited, Saturn eased Neptune to the ground. Mercury was by her side immediately, checking her as Saturn looked on with worry. Venus, Juno and Jupiter approached Vesta and Pallas. Instantly Vesta lowered her gaze.
"I'm sorry for disobeying you, Sensei Venus-sama," Vesta said contritely. "I know you told me to wait - - but Pallas was in trouble. It turns out they all were. I know I could have made things worse, but I had to help them! Anyway, I'm sorry."
"It's OK, kid," Venus said, a timid grin working onto her face. "Sure, what you did was dumb and reckless - - but you were doing it to help someone. Sometimes the only way to help someone is to be reckless. Comes with the job. I'm not going to slam you for that." Then she tried to affect a stern look and jabbed a finger at Vesta. "Just don't get cocky, kid. It worked - - THIS TIME. Next time you try it, you could get your head handed to you."
"Yes, Sensei Venus-sama," Vesta nodded. However, she seemed almost reassured by the words than chastised.
"How is she, Mercury-san?" Saturn asked.
Mercury examined her, using her visor to take bio-telemetry from her.
"Physically," Mercury began, "she's suffering from acute malnutrition. There's loss of bone density, degeneration of cartilage in all the major joints, even her tongue has shrunk from the condition. There's also multiple contusions, scarring and other evidence of physical mistreatment."
"Can you help her?"
"If we can get her back to Earth and into one of my medical units, I can relieve the effects of the malnutrition and regenerate her bone and cartilage damage. It won't be easy." She spoke directly to Neptune. "Michiru? Can you understand me?"
Neptune nodded.
"This is going to be a long process, probably a painful one. You've lost at least 15 kilos from the last time I saw you and most of that is muscle mass and bone density. I may not be able to bring you back to what you were. It will take a lot of work to get you close. Do you understand?"
Neptune's mouth curved in an emotional frown, but she nodded.
Then from out of their field of vision two hands seized Neptune by the arms. Mercury looked around and saw Sailor Saturn. Her eyes were rolled up into the back of her head and her shoulder length black hair flew out from her head like it had a static charge. Neptune gulped audibly, then her head drooped back and her eyes rolled up. The woman's mouth opened in surprise, but no sound came out.
"Saturn!" gasped Mercury. Jupiter and Venus edged closer.
"She's just trying to make her mommy better, Miss Mercury-ma'am," Pallas said.
"Saturn, no!" Mercury gasped as she tried to pull Saturn away from Neptune. "The damage is too extensive! You'll hurt yourself!"
Mercury pushed at the slight girl, but she suddenly became immovable. Jupiter leaned in to help, but together the two of them couldn't seem to budge Saturn. Stopping to glance at Saturn, Mercury found it was as bad as she feared. Stress lines were forming under Saturn's eyes and around her mouth. Deep furrows appeared in her forehead, distorting the Saturn kanji that appeared there as well.
Juno and Vesta noticed Neptune's head slowly pulling erect. Her eyes were still rolled up in her head, making the woman still seem grisly and supernatural. But they could see her form filling out a little. The deathly blotches on her skin were healing, as was the ugly bruises and scars. Her sunken eyes began to look more normal as her cheeks filled out and even her matted green hair, though still dirty and stringy, was fuller and less brittle.
Her shoulders began to shake. Slowly Neptune brought her hands up. They came to rest on Saturn's shoulders and pushed. At first there was no effect. Then the combined force of three adult senshi finally shoved Sailor Saturn away. Saturn rolled over onto her stomach, her arms curled up under her and her chest heaving like she'd run twenty miles. Mercury was instantly by her side.
"Hotaru!" Neptune cried fearfully, her speech no longer slurred.
"All her vitals are incredibly accelerated!" Mercury told them, feeling along Saturn's throat as she spoke. "Her body's going to burn out if they don't come down soon!" Mercury rolled to her feet, standing over Saturn. "Sparkling Tsunami!"
With pinpoint control, Mercury coated the ground around Saturn's body with a thick layer of ice, surrounding Saturn with it in hopes the reduced temperature would slow her body metabolism and take her out of danger. Kneeling again, she returned to Saturn's side to monitor her while Neptune looked on in anguish.
"Hotaru," Neptune sobbed. "Why? Don't you know I'd rather never be well than risk losing you - - not after we've just found each other again!"
And everyone else could do nothing more than wait.
Continued in Chapter 10
Part Nine: "The Rebirth of Opposition"
By Bill K.
Haruka Tenou sat in the corner of the perfumed, satin and silk apportioned dormitory, her head in her hands. The other harem slaves, the other possessions, the other pieces in Queen Desiree's collection of the exotic and the beautiful, ignored her as they usually did. Haruka was an off-worlder and those from off-world were looked down upon, even among slaves. It didn't matter to Haruka that she was ignored. She was used to it. Just like she had gotten used to so many things on this hellish world.
That point had been brought to her attention again when she saw Queen Serenity again. For a fleeting moment, Haruka thought that an end to her humiliation had come. She thought Queen Serenity and her band could do the miraculous once again and liberate her from her purgatory. Instead the effort had only led to their capture while she lay on the floor and cowered in the face of the black uniforms that haunted her dreams. And now she was back where she started, a human plaything in silks and chains.
Oh, how far she had fallen.
"Michiru," she whispered absently to herself, "I'm glad you're dead. It means you can't see what I've become."
Serenity had seen - - that was almost as bad. Serenity had sensed her shame, sensed all the memories Haruka tried to suppress. Even if she hadn't witnessed everything Haruka submitted herself to, every act that the once proud senshi would have reviled someone else for committing, she sensed Haruka's self-loathing. Serenity seeing her broken was almost as bad as Michiru seeing it.
"And now it's going to happen to her," Haruka whispered.
The thought chilled Haruka. Serenity was too delicate, too pure to fall into Desiree's foul hands. She meant too much to too many people. If she fell, what hope did anyone have, for Serenity was hope. And the others who were with her - - the younger ones looked familiar, but Haruka couldn't place them any longer - - they'd suffer the same fate. Except Sailor Mars - - Haruka knew what would happen to her. Mars' black hair would be a death sentence in Desiree's eyes. She'd seen it happen before, too many times before.
It couldn't happen. She had to stop it. But what could she do? What little of her spirit that hadn't been broken by Desiree's police force was submerged by the metal around her throat. If she tried, they'd harm her. They'd do the awful things to her again. Haruka found herself breathing harder at the merest memory of them.
But it was Serenity. She'd risked all to come for her. Haruka felt she had to do something.
But what could a slave do?
Her fingers absently felt along the seam of the collar at her throat. If something could be wedged into that seam - - and, as expected, she felt the nip of the collar at her brain, warning her away from such thinking. But if something could, and it was strong enough to force the jaws of the collar apart, then it might break apart.
Nip, nip, nip, replied the collar.
It was hopeless. She didn't have anything to wedge into the seam that was strong enough to pry the collar open. She'd be caught and punished. But another thought began prying its way into her mind like she imagined doing to the collar: Serenity. She had to try, didn't she? If she had a single shred of humanity left in her, she had to try.
Nip, nip, nip, replied the collar. It hurt worse than before, but Haruka shunted it aside when she spied the hairpin on the dressing table. Ignoring the nip of the collar, Haruka forced herself up and trudged over to the table. The slave at the table spied her and shied away. Haruka ignored her. She seized the pin between fingers that tried to rebel. Sagging against the wall, fighting off artificially induced nausea, Haruka allowed herself to slide down into a sitting position. She waited cautiously until the other slaves in the harem returned to ignoring her. Then she stuck the hairpin under her chin and wedged it against the seam of the collar.
The collar was a faint blue now. She didn't have to see it - - Haruka could feel its discipline. She wanted to quit, but found a little bit of strength left inside her and kept at it. All the while part of her mind worried and fretted, telling her that the guards would catch her and she'd be punished.
Maybe she'd get lucky, she told herself. Maybe they'd kill her.
It was the proverbial choice between two evils. Sailor Vesta barely had the strength left to carry herself to the mine elevator and freedom. Maybe she could carry tiny Pallas or Saturn. But she couldn't carry all of them at once. And the collars they wore prevented the other senshi from walking on their own.
Saturn looked at Vesta. She could see Vesta wanted to save Pallas first, but resisted the impulse. That would mean leaving Saturn and Sailor Neptune helpless and exposed in the mine. What if more guards came? They'd be captured for sure. She couldn't do that to Saturn. Saturn saw this in Vesta's eyes and was grateful.
The violet senshi wanted to send Vesta out with Pallas. Better two of them escape than none, for the longer they delayed, the better the chance all of them would be caught by more guards. But she knew as well as Vesta did that leaving the pair down in the shaft risked their recapture, for they were helpless to adequately defend themselves while shackled with the mind-sapping collars. She didn't want to condemn Neptune to falling back into the guards' hands, not when she was so close to freedom.
What to do? Saturn looked to Vesta, hoping her fellow senshi would make the decision. But Vesta passed the decision right back to Saturn.
"Nnnnnnnhg!" they heard Neptune moan.
At first Saturn thought more guards had been spotted. Seeing nothing, she turned to her adoptive mother. Neptune was gesturing to Saturn's glaive, still sticking out of the back of the guard Neptune had impaled. Her collar was glowing a faint blue and discomfort was etched in her face. Insistently, though, Neptune pointed to the glaive.
"The glaive!" Saturn gasped. "It can cut us loose!"
"Are you sure?" Vesta asked.
"Yes! And once I'm free, I can carry Mama!" Saturn felt the collar start to dampen her enthusiasm, but she pressed on. "You'll have to do it, Vesta. This collar won't let me."
Vesta looked like she wanted to bolt. But her better instincts won out and she pulled the glaive from the guard's body. Saturn pulled back her hair, exposing her neck to Vesta.
"This'll cut that metal?" Vesta queried, the bloodied blade quivering in her hands.
"It'll cut anything," Saturn assured her. "Just - - be careful, huh? Cut slowly."
"Sure!" Vesta swallowed. Saturn looked up at her. Ever since her attack on Sailor Moon, Vesta had been a shell of herself, wracked with guilt and doubt. Saturn could tell she didn't trust herself with the responsibility.
"You have to do this, Vesta," Saturn urged.
Grimacing, Vesta nodded. Saturn felt the still-fresh blood on the blade press against her neck and fought down revulsion. She glanced over at Neptune and saw the woman staring intently at the proceeding, trying to will it to work. Vesta moved the blade across the edge of the collar in a sawing motion. The blade bit into the metal while Saturn felt it slide against the skin of her neck.
"Damn!" gasped Vesta. "It does cut anything."
Emboldened, Vesta pushed in again, then drew the blade toward her. The blade bit further into the metal of the collar while Saturn held perfectly still. Using a sawing motion, it took five passes before the blade cleaved the collar. As it fell away, Saturn winced. Her hand went up to her shoulder and felt blood where the blade had grazed her.
"Oh damn, I cut you!" Vesta gasped.
"It couldn't be helped," Saturn told her. She held out her wrists. "Now cut these chains please."
Once she was free of the chains, Saturn reclaimed her glaive. Her first order was freeing Neptune. By now Pallas had regained consciousness. Vesta immediately went to her.
"You OK?" Vesta asked.
"Pallas's head hurts," moaned the senshi, "and she feels sick."
"That's the collar," Saturn told them. "Once you're free of it, you'll feel better."
Her blade cleaved the collar around Neptune's neck and made short work of the chains. She turned to Pallas and in seconds had her fellow senshi free. Pallas and Vesta hugged and it was hard to tell who was happier to see the other. Then a noise caught Saturn's attention. She turned to it.
Neptune was on her knees. She had a rock in her hands and was pounding on the collar with it. The look of naked bestial fury on her face was astounding. Saturn was taken aback watching Neptune pound on the collar in a sudden burst of ferocious hatred. Oblivious to anything else, Neptune just pounded on the now twisted metal.
"Mama," Saturn whispered, crouching behind Neptune and holding her shoulders. Neptune's fury seemed to drain out of her body and she let the rock fall to the ground. "We have to go."
"Mmmmm," Neptune nodded.
With Saturn on one side and Vesta on the other, they helped Neptune to her feet. Following Pallas, the battered senshi headed down the shaft, barely noticed by the remaining slaves.
The four senshi eased up against a rocky expanse at the foot of the mountain. At the head, Sailor Venus glanced around to make sure no one was watching them. They had purposefully avoided the mountainous area with burrows, since Sailor Mercury had detected life signs in them and concluded they were crude shelters for the mine slaves to sleep in when they weren't in the mines. Now Venus was seeking to avoid being spotted by any guards as they neared the mine.
"There's a squadron of six up ahead," she whispered to the others.
"That is what my visor reported," Mercury reminded her.
"Then your visor gets a gold star," Venus shot back. "They look like they're suspicious of something. You suppose there are sentries missing?"
"Hard to tell. Wait, look over there." Jupiter pointed past the mine entrance. Another guard was on the ground attending to three guards. "Figure Saturn and Pallas went through them getting in there?"
"Yeah and left a mess for the others to find," Venus scowled. "Sloppy."
"Well, they had other things on their minds. Any sign of them on your sensors, Mercury?" Jupiter asked.
"I've got a fix on Saturn, Pallas and Vesta," Mercury told them. "They're in the second level south shaft, but they're all together. They seem to be moving toward a vertical shaft, perhaps an elevator, with a fourth entity."
"Neptune?" Jupiter proposed.
"I sure hope so," Venus muttered, staring at the guards from their secluded spot. She winced suddenly.
"Your wound?" Mercury asked, sensing the wince without actually seeing it. "How does it feel?"
"Burns like anything," Venus replied.
"Oh dear, I hope it's not becoming infected. Let me have a look."
"Later," Venus said. "I don't want anything to distract me. Those four could be coming out of that mine at any time."
"They're going to run into those guards when they leave the mine, aren't they?" Sailor Juno asked.
"Unless they know a second way out."
"Well," Juno wondered aloud, "shouldn't we take the guards out now?"
"No."
Juno looked at Venus like she was crazy. When she got no reaction, she turned to Jupiter and silently asked for an explanation.
"I think Venus wants to play it cautious," Jupiter began. "You see, we don't know who's with them down in that shaft. It might be Neptune - - but it might be a guard holding them at gunpoint. If we take out this squadron now, it could . . ."
"It could warn the other guard holding the others!" Juno nodded.
"And the situation could quickly degenerate into a hostage situation," Mercury said, finishing Juno's thought.
"I see," Juno nodded. "But if it is Sailor Neptune, aren't we risking the guards up here firing on them?"
"That's why Jupe and I are going to wait until the last second and nail any drawn weapons we see pulled," Venus told her, concentrating on the guards all the while. "They all have those shock sticks, but there's only two hand weapons. It's going to be close, but we can take them out before they get off a shot. Right, Jupe?"
"Just remember, I've got the one on the left, Blondie," Jupiter replied.
"You keeping watch with that computer to make sure we don't get flanked?" Venus asked Mercury.
"Of course," Mercury replied, her eyes glued to her computer's display.
"You three are just so efficient," Juno marveled.
"Well, we have been working together for about a thousand years now," Jupiter smiled.
"What have I told you about telling people my age," Venus quipped as she stared at her target.
The elevator car brought the four senshi to the next level with a mechanized whir that echoed far too loudly for any of them to be pleased. Saturn thought about levitating everyone again, but decided against it. There were four to carry now and Pallas still looked a little woozy from her bout with the concussion grenade earlier.
"Pallas," she whispered. "When this elevator gets to the top, be ready for trouble."
"Yes, ma'am," Pallas said. The thought frightened the girl, but she put up a brave front.
"Don't be scared," Vesta whispered. "You can do it." Pallas beamed back at her.
Saturn glanced up at Neptune. She noticed rivulets of tears streaking the grime on the woman's cheeks.
"Mama?" Saturn asked. Neptune shook her head, embarrassed.
"She's crying because she's happy, Miss Saturn-ma'am," Pallas told her.
"Probably happy to be out of those chains and out of this awful mine," Saturn mused.
"Well that, too," Pallas said. "Pallas thought it was because she was with you again, Miss Saturn-Ma'am."
Saturn peeked over to Neptune. In response, the arm that was draped over Saturn's neck tightened against her ever so slightly. The corners of Saturn's mouth twitched upward.
"We'll get you out of here, Mama," Saturn choked out. "Don't you worry."
The car reached the top of the shaft. Its occupants braced for hostile fire when the gate went up. When that didn't occur, they exited the car and headed for the mouth of the mine.
Neptune let out a soft moan when the bright entrance to the mine was in sight. How long had it been since she'd seen the light of day, Saturn wondered. To think of her Michiru-Mama enduring this brutality just made Saturn see red.
"Nnnnhh!" Neptune moaned sharply. She gripped harder on Saturn and Vesta's shoulders, bringing the girls to a stop. Pallas looked around curiously.
"What's wrong, Mama?" Saturn asked.
"Guh," Neptune stammered out, her mouth still refusing to work properly. "Guh-hards!"
"Guards?" Vesta asked.
"We took care of the guards when we came in," Saturn said.
"But there were more out there when Sensei Venus-sama and I came up," Vesta reported. "Maybe I better scout ahead?"
"No, I can't hold up Mama alone!" Saturn cried. "Pallas, can you sense anything ahead?"
"No. When Pallas tries to listen for people's thoughts, they don't come," Pallas said apologetically.
"Nnnn," Neptune hissed. She gestured up ahead. A shadow had crossed into the mouth of the mine.
"Pallas will protect you, ma'am!" Pallas shouted. "Beautiful Incantation!"
At her mental behest, a rock about the size of a fist flew up from the ground and launched itself down the tunnel. At the entrance, it audibly struck something. A groan was heard and the shadow fell away. Suddenly Pallas whirled on them.
"Everybody get down!" she squealed. "Pallas heard a thought! They're going to fire on us!"
"Supreme Thunder!"
"Crescent Beam!"
The four senshi in the mine looked at each other with growing elation. Hurrying to the shaft entrance, they could see five guards. One had a nasty wound on her forehead. A second was quivering from electric shock while a third held her hand as if a weapon had been shot from it. Sailor Mercury was freezing the other two to the ground.
As the two groups reunited, Saturn eased Neptune to the ground. Mercury was by her side immediately, checking her as Saturn looked on with worry. Venus, Juno and Jupiter approached Vesta and Pallas. Instantly Vesta lowered her gaze.
"I'm sorry for disobeying you, Sensei Venus-sama," Vesta said contritely. "I know you told me to wait - - but Pallas was in trouble. It turns out they all were. I know I could have made things worse, but I had to help them! Anyway, I'm sorry."
"It's OK, kid," Venus said, a timid grin working onto her face. "Sure, what you did was dumb and reckless - - but you were doing it to help someone. Sometimes the only way to help someone is to be reckless. Comes with the job. I'm not going to slam you for that." Then she tried to affect a stern look and jabbed a finger at Vesta. "Just don't get cocky, kid. It worked - - THIS TIME. Next time you try it, you could get your head handed to you."
"Yes, Sensei Venus-sama," Vesta nodded. However, she seemed almost reassured by the words than chastised.
"How is she, Mercury-san?" Saturn asked.
Mercury examined her, using her visor to take bio-telemetry from her.
"Physically," Mercury began, "she's suffering from acute malnutrition. There's loss of bone density, degeneration of cartilage in all the major joints, even her tongue has shrunk from the condition. There's also multiple contusions, scarring and other evidence of physical mistreatment."
"Can you help her?"
"If we can get her back to Earth and into one of my medical units, I can relieve the effects of the malnutrition and regenerate her bone and cartilage damage. It won't be easy." She spoke directly to Neptune. "Michiru? Can you understand me?"
Neptune nodded.
"This is going to be a long process, probably a painful one. You've lost at least 15 kilos from the last time I saw you and most of that is muscle mass and bone density. I may not be able to bring you back to what you were. It will take a lot of work to get you close. Do you understand?"
Neptune's mouth curved in an emotional frown, but she nodded.
Then from out of their field of vision two hands seized Neptune by the arms. Mercury looked around and saw Sailor Saturn. Her eyes were rolled up into the back of her head and her shoulder length black hair flew out from her head like it had a static charge. Neptune gulped audibly, then her head drooped back and her eyes rolled up. The woman's mouth opened in surprise, but no sound came out.
"Saturn!" gasped Mercury. Jupiter and Venus edged closer.
"She's just trying to make her mommy better, Miss Mercury-ma'am," Pallas said.
"Saturn, no!" Mercury gasped as she tried to pull Saturn away from Neptune. "The damage is too extensive! You'll hurt yourself!"
Mercury pushed at the slight girl, but she suddenly became immovable. Jupiter leaned in to help, but together the two of them couldn't seem to budge Saturn. Stopping to glance at Saturn, Mercury found it was as bad as she feared. Stress lines were forming under Saturn's eyes and around her mouth. Deep furrows appeared in her forehead, distorting the Saturn kanji that appeared there as well.
Juno and Vesta noticed Neptune's head slowly pulling erect. Her eyes were still rolled up in her head, making the woman still seem grisly and supernatural. But they could see her form filling out a little. The deathly blotches on her skin were healing, as was the ugly bruises and scars. Her sunken eyes began to look more normal as her cheeks filled out and even her matted green hair, though still dirty and stringy, was fuller and less brittle.
Her shoulders began to shake. Slowly Neptune brought her hands up. They came to rest on Saturn's shoulders and pushed. At first there was no effect. Then the combined force of three adult senshi finally shoved Sailor Saturn away. Saturn rolled over onto her stomach, her arms curled up under her and her chest heaving like she'd run twenty miles. Mercury was instantly by her side.
"Hotaru!" Neptune cried fearfully, her speech no longer slurred.
"All her vitals are incredibly accelerated!" Mercury told them, feeling along Saturn's throat as she spoke. "Her body's going to burn out if they don't come down soon!" Mercury rolled to her feet, standing over Saturn. "Sparkling Tsunami!"
With pinpoint control, Mercury coated the ground around Saturn's body with a thick layer of ice, surrounding Saturn with it in hopes the reduced temperature would slow her body metabolism and take her out of danger. Kneeling again, she returned to Saturn's side to monitor her while Neptune looked on in anguish.
"Hotaru," Neptune sobbed. "Why? Don't you know I'd rather never be well than risk losing you - - not after we've just found each other again!"
And everyone else could do nothing more than wait.
Continued in Chapter 10