Chapter Thirty-Three - The Third Piece of the Puzzle
***
"Tamashiiro..."
Prince Tamashiiro already knew this was going to be a bad day. He had woken up with a splitting headache - the royal guest room he occupied was comfortable enough, but being in this strange new place with all its responsibilities was unnerving.
What was even more unnerving was that Delta Aiyana's bedroom - the pretty lavender one - was just two doors down the hallway, on the other side. The seven Delta and he were all staying in that guest wing, and she had immediately chosen that room. Her being the only female Delta, they allowed her to have it, choosing rooms that were decorated in darker, more masculine hues.
At this point, however, he wasn't in the bedroom that had become his. He was in the "casual" throne room towards the back of the first floor of the palace, as opposed to the formal throne room towards the front of the palace. The formal throne room was a wide, spacious, magnificent room, much like a sitting room or a parlor - it was lined with many smaller thrones and then the two ornate thrones of the king and queen thtemselves. There was a lectern for speeches and space for extra seats to be set up.
The prince had spent quite a bit of time exploring the palace, as he liked to acquaint himself with new and unfamiliar places. The palace was six stories high, made entirely from a white crystal substance Aiyana described as quartz. She had done quite a bit of studing for this mission at a university on Centauri, and Tamashiiro was almost sorry he had missed out on studying this primitive but magnificent planet - he always skirted around academic work on partnered missions.
The first story of the palave was devoted almost entirely to major public rooms of the palace. The two throne rooms were located there, as well as the huge ballroom and slightly smaller formal dining room. Then there was an informal dining room and a colossal kitchen, complete with four refigeration closets and six room-temperature storage pantries. The palace was like a ghost town - the whole staff had vanished, probably alerted by the sky patrols of their proximity. It was no matter, though, because the emperor had ordered another envoy deployed with enough staff to attend to their every need. At the moment the kitchen maids and chefs were probably working on their lunch.
On the second floor were several parlors and sitting rooms - large rooms, but smaller than most of the rooms on the first floor, and filled with elegant furnishings and beautiful paintings. There was also a huge library on the second floor, large enough to do massive research projects. It seemed almost like a public student library, because there were several computers in the room. The library contained everything from ancient poetry to yesterday's edition of the Crystal Tokyo newspaper.
The third floor held the bedrooms of the royal family and many, many guest rooms, divided into several wings. The wing the prince, the Delta, and the emperor were staying in was obviously where the royal family slept and also where they held their most honored guests. There seemed to be a room in every motif - Aiyana, of course, had the lavender/purple room; Delta Reizei occupied a room done in red; Delta Shigenoi was staying in a verdant room; the seventh Delta had selected a room in bright blue; and Prince Tamashiiro himself was staying in an aqua-colored room. It was also obvious that the rooms were designed for females, or at least married couples. There were feminine touches all over - and they were personal touches. These were permanent guest rooms.
Over in another wing was where the Epsilon, the lower-ranking members of the military, were staying, as well as the Eta pilots and the Lambda doctor. There were twenty-two Epsilon and six Eta on this mission, which was just enough for them to sleep two to a room save the First Eta, First Epsilon, and the Lambda doctor, each of which got a single room. Those rooms were for the less privileged guests of the palace, no doubt. The Zeta scientists they had brought to engineer the Psi and work on the computer systems of Earth - Earth geologists to assess the resources, geneticists to work on the Psi and research the humans' makeup, engineers to keep the ships working properly, so on and so forth - stayed in a third wing. There was also a servant wing, large with smaller roms, where the staff brought on the mission was kept.
They were a task force.
The fourth and fifth floors were of little consequence - offices, functional rooms, small libraries divided by subject - but the sixth floor was massive...it was where they mainframe computer of Crystal Tokyo was kept. The large computer system spanned four huge rooms, and there were also three smaller laboratories where scientists and other technicians obviously worked. The scientists the Alpha force had brought along worked there during the day, running tests on the Earth's soil and the atmosphere and the Psi...
The Delta had jobs to do as well. The Delta were researches as well as assassins and spies, and they were required to do a certain amount of research per every mission they were sent on. They now reassumed that role - they were to peruse the vast libraries and archives to which Aiyana had led them in order to put together the story of Earth and prepare a general report of Earthian scientific, technological, and medical advances. They were diligent in their work, each devoting at least two hours a day, sometimes more. Aiyana seemed the most absorbed, but then again, she was always the strongest in the research department for any missions the Delta went on.
"Yes, Father?" Tamashiiro answered. Once again, he had that ominous no- good-very-bad day feeling, just from the mischievous tone of his adoptive father's voice.
"Have you debriefed Delta Khalidah yet?" he asked
Tamashiiro groaned. Emperor Omega knew very well that Tamashiiro had already debriefed Delta Khalidah; he'd asked him three times yesterday and six times the day before that. The emperor simply used that query as a tool to segue into a conversation about one of two things - his role in their mission, or his relationship with the pretty young Delta. Tamashiiro suspected it was the latter this time.
"Of course, Father. I also gave you a detailed description of what she told me."
"Of course you did." The emperor was tuning up to attempt a joke; Tamashiiro could feel it coming on. "Did you happen to find out where she obtained the short skirt and pretty sweater?"
Tamashiiro couldn't help but burst into laughter at the emperor's hopeless humor. The emperor grinned. "Seriously, now. You should consider courting her while you are here."
The laughter came to an abrupt stop. "What?!"
"You heard me." The emperor shited in his throne. "How old are you?"
"Twenty."
"Twenty." The emperor stroked his chin. "That's old enough to be married. I'm up in years, my son. I'd like to see you settled and married before I pass on."
The prince was saved from replying by the entrance of two burly Psi warriors, holding Princess Lady Serenity bas delicately as possible between their arms. It was a comical scene - she was kicking and fighting and getting absolutely nowhere.
The Psi warriors were the Zeta scientists' special projects. They were genetically engineered blends of Andromedan and Alphan DNA, parts that were common to a great deal of the population of the Omega Star Empire. However, what made the Psi different and gave them their Titan-like power were the scraps of foreign DNA the Zeta had meticulously scrapped and saved from hundreds of different species of sentient creatures all over the galaxy - military prisoners, extinct subjects of the empire, to name only two of the many situations and varieties. Tamashiiro knew for a fact that at least three of the thirty-two Psi warriors brought on the mission had slips of Delta Khalidah's DNA in them, and were consequently smaller yet faster than the rest of the Psi.
They were super-warriors, blends of technology and magic. The Zeta were delighted with them and were always working to find new ways to make them even stronger than they already were. They were nearly indestructible by all physical means, but the discovery of the only Sailor Senshi known to the Andromedans - Sailorcaph - opened up new possibilities. The Zeta went farther, testing sentient species for magic, abducting Senshi of several other galaxies to experiment with their power.
They devised ways to detect magic on other planets...
***
"So, you plan on experimenting with the prowess of the Earthian races to boost the Psi's power?"
"Not just the Psi," the Nineteenth Zeta said enthusiastically. Aiyana had sidetracked the young scientist into a conversation by complimenting him on his scientific advances while twirling a lock of violet hair around her finger. In no time at all she had him gushing gratuitously about the Zeta's plans and aspirations - aspirations that were supposed to be top- secret, but were perfectly all right to tell Aiyana, since she was the head of the military anyway...right?
"We also plan on blending the mutated - or rather, altered. Mutated is such a negative word, isn't it? I prefer altered, don't you?"
"Definitely," Aiyana said, leaning forward and propping up her head with her hands and her breasts with the lab table. The Zeta was almost panting. Sometimes it was useful to be one of the few females in the military.
She was one of eight women on this mission, five of the other Epsilon and the final two Zeta scientists. The one was a geologist that had next to no contact with the genetic engineers; the last, who did happen to be a genetic engineer, was about twenty years older than the Nineteenth Zeta - who looked like he could be much older than Aiyana, perhaps even younger than the prince.
"Yes, altered is a better word. In any event, we plan on blending the altered DNA with every Alphan - therefore creating a super-race, if you will. The Earthian body structure is mcuh stronger than both the Andromedan and Alphan body structure - I'm a mix myself. What are you?"
"Andromedan."
"Yes, you appear to be almost wholly Andromedan. Except your eyes - they are very bright. Andromedans usually have dull-colored eyes. And your figure is too...lush, shall we say? For an Andromedan woman, I mean." He laughed, as if what he had to say next was absurd. "One could almost say you were an Earthian test subject."
It took all the restraint Aiyana had not to jump to her feet. This was something new! "Earthian test subjects?" she asked casually.
"Yes, the Zeta were experimenting with humans quite a while ago."
"How long ago?"
"I don't remember all the details...we didn't study that too much in university, and I was still in university when they mentioned the test subjects...let's see if I can convert. For the sake of science, although I believe our calendar is much more efficient. Why have some ikkagetsu - excuse me, months - with more days than others? It doesn't make much sense to me."
"Me either." She gave him a strained smile. "How long ago?"
"Let me think. Point seven two...multiply...hmm, I'd say it was a little more than five Earthian years ago."
The third piece of the puzzle.
***
"Take her on a walk around the palace or something," the emperor encouraged. "I've heard that this palace's courtyards were modeled after the White Moon Kingdom's. Were you told that legend as a boy?"
"Yes." The White Moon was a legend every Andromedan had grown up with. It was very likely that every child in the universe had grown up with stories about the White Moon, or at least in the galaxies adjacent to the Milky Way. It almost seemed as if the legend could be true now, because there was a white moon in the skies of the Earth. The Zeta had plans to explore it.
"Yes, you've heard it, or yes, you'll engage Delta Khalidah-"
"Father, leave me alone about Delta Khalidah!"
"Don't get all worked up with me," he said. "You can't very well be serious about this little pink-haired devil's spawn, can you?" he added in a low voice, turning to the two Psi in front of him. "What has she done now?"
"She's the princess," Tamashiiro said. "She'd give legal sanction to rule this planet. Besides, the Zeta want her for something - they say she's got magical powers."
"Caught trying to escape again," one of the Psi said in a low, mechanical voice, completely ignoring Prince Tamashiiro. "Somehow she broke the seal that the Delta put on the door."
"She does seem to have some sort of magical power."
"Would you prefer for us to seal her back up?"
"Get that Caphian scientist - you know, the one with the magic? - to do it," said Tamashiiro. "Which one of you blockheads is going to go retrieve her?"
"I will."
First Delta Khalidah slink into view, advancing towards Princess Lady Serenity. She had changed from the short skirt and fluffy sweater into the black and grey uniform of the Delta. She bowed to the emperor deeply, then swung her line of vision to Tamashiiro. Stiffening, she executed another bow to the prince - deeply, the ones reserved for the royalty, rather than the customary bows comrades executed. As soon as she turned her back, the emperor elbowed his son in the side.
Ouch, he mouthed fiercely, glaring at his adoptive father.
"Hand me the girl, please, Psi," Aiyana said, holding out a hand. Watching the eight-and-a-half-feet Psi acquiesce to the five-foot-seven female Delta was hilarious, but they solemnly set Princess Lady Serenity on her feet in front of Aiyana, who grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked her off towards the stairwell. The Psi followed her.
Once at the stairwell, Serenity protested stridently. "I thought you were supposed to be on *my* side!"
"*Shhh!!*" Aiyana exclaimed in a whisper. "Would you like the whole palace to know? Because none of them are on *our* side!"
Usa snapped her mouth shut.
Aiyana yanked the princess closer to her. "I'm going to find a way to get you out of here. Give me some time. In the meantime, stop trying to escape. Eventually they'll get tired of it and kill you," she whispered quickly.
They had climbed the stairs, were in front of Usa's room in minutes, the Psi close on their tails.
"Why should I trust you?" Usa exclaimed loudly. "Why should I believe-"
"Shut up!" Aiyana yelled, lightly slapping the princess on her cheek. It was an accident - she hadn't meant to - but she couldn't stand the girl's screaming, which would have eventually given them both away. Usa recoiled, shocked.
"That's it!" she screamed. "I don't care what my father said, I'm not-"
"That's all I'll need of you," Aiyana said quickly to the Psi, shoving Usa into her bedroom. "Please return to your posts."
The Psi shrugged and followed orders.
***
"Tamashiiro..."
Prince Tamashiiro already knew this was going to be a bad day. He had woken up with a splitting headache - the royal guest room he occupied was comfortable enough, but being in this strange new place with all its responsibilities was unnerving.
What was even more unnerving was that Delta Aiyana's bedroom - the pretty lavender one - was just two doors down the hallway, on the other side. The seven Delta and he were all staying in that guest wing, and she had immediately chosen that room. Her being the only female Delta, they allowed her to have it, choosing rooms that were decorated in darker, more masculine hues.
At this point, however, he wasn't in the bedroom that had become his. He was in the "casual" throne room towards the back of the first floor of the palace, as opposed to the formal throne room towards the front of the palace. The formal throne room was a wide, spacious, magnificent room, much like a sitting room or a parlor - it was lined with many smaller thrones and then the two ornate thrones of the king and queen thtemselves. There was a lectern for speeches and space for extra seats to be set up.
The prince had spent quite a bit of time exploring the palace, as he liked to acquaint himself with new and unfamiliar places. The palace was six stories high, made entirely from a white crystal substance Aiyana described as quartz. She had done quite a bit of studing for this mission at a university on Centauri, and Tamashiiro was almost sorry he had missed out on studying this primitive but magnificent planet - he always skirted around academic work on partnered missions.
The first story of the palave was devoted almost entirely to major public rooms of the palace. The two throne rooms were located there, as well as the huge ballroom and slightly smaller formal dining room. Then there was an informal dining room and a colossal kitchen, complete with four refigeration closets and six room-temperature storage pantries. The palace was like a ghost town - the whole staff had vanished, probably alerted by the sky patrols of their proximity. It was no matter, though, because the emperor had ordered another envoy deployed with enough staff to attend to their every need. At the moment the kitchen maids and chefs were probably working on their lunch.
On the second floor were several parlors and sitting rooms - large rooms, but smaller than most of the rooms on the first floor, and filled with elegant furnishings and beautiful paintings. There was also a huge library on the second floor, large enough to do massive research projects. It seemed almost like a public student library, because there were several computers in the room. The library contained everything from ancient poetry to yesterday's edition of the Crystal Tokyo newspaper.
The third floor held the bedrooms of the royal family and many, many guest rooms, divided into several wings. The wing the prince, the Delta, and the emperor were staying in was obviously where the royal family slept and also where they held their most honored guests. There seemed to be a room in every motif - Aiyana, of course, had the lavender/purple room; Delta Reizei occupied a room done in red; Delta Shigenoi was staying in a verdant room; the seventh Delta had selected a room in bright blue; and Prince Tamashiiro himself was staying in an aqua-colored room. It was also obvious that the rooms were designed for females, or at least married couples. There were feminine touches all over - and they were personal touches. These were permanent guest rooms.
Over in another wing was where the Epsilon, the lower-ranking members of the military, were staying, as well as the Eta pilots and the Lambda doctor. There were twenty-two Epsilon and six Eta on this mission, which was just enough for them to sleep two to a room save the First Eta, First Epsilon, and the Lambda doctor, each of which got a single room. Those rooms were for the less privileged guests of the palace, no doubt. The Zeta scientists they had brought to engineer the Psi and work on the computer systems of Earth - Earth geologists to assess the resources, geneticists to work on the Psi and research the humans' makeup, engineers to keep the ships working properly, so on and so forth - stayed in a third wing. There was also a servant wing, large with smaller roms, where the staff brought on the mission was kept.
They were a task force.
The fourth and fifth floors were of little consequence - offices, functional rooms, small libraries divided by subject - but the sixth floor was massive...it was where they mainframe computer of Crystal Tokyo was kept. The large computer system spanned four huge rooms, and there were also three smaller laboratories where scientists and other technicians obviously worked. The scientists the Alpha force had brought along worked there during the day, running tests on the Earth's soil and the atmosphere and the Psi...
The Delta had jobs to do as well. The Delta were researches as well as assassins and spies, and they were required to do a certain amount of research per every mission they were sent on. They now reassumed that role - they were to peruse the vast libraries and archives to which Aiyana had led them in order to put together the story of Earth and prepare a general report of Earthian scientific, technological, and medical advances. They were diligent in their work, each devoting at least two hours a day, sometimes more. Aiyana seemed the most absorbed, but then again, she was always the strongest in the research department for any missions the Delta went on.
"Yes, Father?" Tamashiiro answered. Once again, he had that ominous no- good-very-bad day feeling, just from the mischievous tone of his adoptive father's voice.
"Have you debriefed Delta Khalidah yet?" he asked
Tamashiiro groaned. Emperor Omega knew very well that Tamashiiro had already debriefed Delta Khalidah; he'd asked him three times yesterday and six times the day before that. The emperor simply used that query as a tool to segue into a conversation about one of two things - his role in their mission, or his relationship with the pretty young Delta. Tamashiiro suspected it was the latter this time.
"Of course, Father. I also gave you a detailed description of what she told me."
"Of course you did." The emperor was tuning up to attempt a joke; Tamashiiro could feel it coming on. "Did you happen to find out where she obtained the short skirt and pretty sweater?"
Tamashiiro couldn't help but burst into laughter at the emperor's hopeless humor. The emperor grinned. "Seriously, now. You should consider courting her while you are here."
The laughter came to an abrupt stop. "What?!"
"You heard me." The emperor shited in his throne. "How old are you?"
"Twenty."
"Twenty." The emperor stroked his chin. "That's old enough to be married. I'm up in years, my son. I'd like to see you settled and married before I pass on."
The prince was saved from replying by the entrance of two burly Psi warriors, holding Princess Lady Serenity bas delicately as possible between their arms. It was a comical scene - she was kicking and fighting and getting absolutely nowhere.
The Psi warriors were the Zeta scientists' special projects. They were genetically engineered blends of Andromedan and Alphan DNA, parts that were common to a great deal of the population of the Omega Star Empire. However, what made the Psi different and gave them their Titan-like power were the scraps of foreign DNA the Zeta had meticulously scrapped and saved from hundreds of different species of sentient creatures all over the galaxy - military prisoners, extinct subjects of the empire, to name only two of the many situations and varieties. Tamashiiro knew for a fact that at least three of the thirty-two Psi warriors brought on the mission had slips of Delta Khalidah's DNA in them, and were consequently smaller yet faster than the rest of the Psi.
They were super-warriors, blends of technology and magic. The Zeta were delighted with them and were always working to find new ways to make them even stronger than they already were. They were nearly indestructible by all physical means, but the discovery of the only Sailor Senshi known to the Andromedans - Sailorcaph - opened up new possibilities. The Zeta went farther, testing sentient species for magic, abducting Senshi of several other galaxies to experiment with their power.
They devised ways to detect magic on other planets...
***
"So, you plan on experimenting with the prowess of the Earthian races to boost the Psi's power?"
"Not just the Psi," the Nineteenth Zeta said enthusiastically. Aiyana had sidetracked the young scientist into a conversation by complimenting him on his scientific advances while twirling a lock of violet hair around her finger. In no time at all she had him gushing gratuitously about the Zeta's plans and aspirations - aspirations that were supposed to be top- secret, but were perfectly all right to tell Aiyana, since she was the head of the military anyway...right?
"We also plan on blending the mutated - or rather, altered. Mutated is such a negative word, isn't it? I prefer altered, don't you?"
"Definitely," Aiyana said, leaning forward and propping up her head with her hands and her breasts with the lab table. The Zeta was almost panting. Sometimes it was useful to be one of the few females in the military.
She was one of eight women on this mission, five of the other Epsilon and the final two Zeta scientists. The one was a geologist that had next to no contact with the genetic engineers; the last, who did happen to be a genetic engineer, was about twenty years older than the Nineteenth Zeta - who looked like he could be much older than Aiyana, perhaps even younger than the prince.
"Yes, altered is a better word. In any event, we plan on blending the altered DNA with every Alphan - therefore creating a super-race, if you will. The Earthian body structure is mcuh stronger than both the Andromedan and Alphan body structure - I'm a mix myself. What are you?"
"Andromedan."
"Yes, you appear to be almost wholly Andromedan. Except your eyes - they are very bright. Andromedans usually have dull-colored eyes. And your figure is too...lush, shall we say? For an Andromedan woman, I mean." He laughed, as if what he had to say next was absurd. "One could almost say you were an Earthian test subject."
It took all the restraint Aiyana had not to jump to her feet. This was something new! "Earthian test subjects?" she asked casually.
"Yes, the Zeta were experimenting with humans quite a while ago."
"How long ago?"
"I don't remember all the details...we didn't study that too much in university, and I was still in university when they mentioned the test subjects...let's see if I can convert. For the sake of science, although I believe our calendar is much more efficient. Why have some ikkagetsu - excuse me, months - with more days than others? It doesn't make much sense to me."
"Me either." She gave him a strained smile. "How long ago?"
"Let me think. Point seven two...multiply...hmm, I'd say it was a little more than five Earthian years ago."
The third piece of the puzzle.
***
"Take her on a walk around the palace or something," the emperor encouraged. "I've heard that this palace's courtyards were modeled after the White Moon Kingdom's. Were you told that legend as a boy?"
"Yes." The White Moon was a legend every Andromedan had grown up with. It was very likely that every child in the universe had grown up with stories about the White Moon, or at least in the galaxies adjacent to the Milky Way. It almost seemed as if the legend could be true now, because there was a white moon in the skies of the Earth. The Zeta had plans to explore it.
"Yes, you've heard it, or yes, you'll engage Delta Khalidah-"
"Father, leave me alone about Delta Khalidah!"
"Don't get all worked up with me," he said. "You can't very well be serious about this little pink-haired devil's spawn, can you?" he added in a low voice, turning to the two Psi in front of him. "What has she done now?"
"She's the princess," Tamashiiro said. "She'd give legal sanction to rule this planet. Besides, the Zeta want her for something - they say she's got magical powers."
"Caught trying to escape again," one of the Psi said in a low, mechanical voice, completely ignoring Prince Tamashiiro. "Somehow she broke the seal that the Delta put on the door."
"She does seem to have some sort of magical power."
"Would you prefer for us to seal her back up?"
"Get that Caphian scientist - you know, the one with the magic? - to do it," said Tamashiiro. "Which one of you blockheads is going to go retrieve her?"
"I will."
First Delta Khalidah slink into view, advancing towards Princess Lady Serenity. She had changed from the short skirt and fluffy sweater into the black and grey uniform of the Delta. She bowed to the emperor deeply, then swung her line of vision to Tamashiiro. Stiffening, she executed another bow to the prince - deeply, the ones reserved for the royalty, rather than the customary bows comrades executed. As soon as she turned her back, the emperor elbowed his son in the side.
Ouch, he mouthed fiercely, glaring at his adoptive father.
"Hand me the girl, please, Psi," Aiyana said, holding out a hand. Watching the eight-and-a-half-feet Psi acquiesce to the five-foot-seven female Delta was hilarious, but they solemnly set Princess Lady Serenity on her feet in front of Aiyana, who grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked her off towards the stairwell. The Psi followed her.
Once at the stairwell, Serenity protested stridently. "I thought you were supposed to be on *my* side!"
"*Shhh!!*" Aiyana exclaimed in a whisper. "Would you like the whole palace to know? Because none of them are on *our* side!"
Usa snapped her mouth shut.
Aiyana yanked the princess closer to her. "I'm going to find a way to get you out of here. Give me some time. In the meantime, stop trying to escape. Eventually they'll get tired of it and kill you," she whispered quickly.
They had climbed the stairs, were in front of Usa's room in minutes, the Psi close on their tails.
"Why should I trust you?" Usa exclaimed loudly. "Why should I believe-"
"Shut up!" Aiyana yelled, lightly slapping the princess on her cheek. It was an accident - she hadn't meant to - but she couldn't stand the girl's screaming, which would have eventually given them both away. Usa recoiled, shocked.
"That's it!" she screamed. "I don't care what my father said, I'm not-"
"That's all I'll need of you," Aiyana said quickly to the Psi, shoving Usa into her bedroom. "Please return to your posts."
The Psi shrugged and followed orders.