Angels at the Left Hand...
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The Dirty Pair and Dirty Pair Flash are owned by Takachiho Haruka and Studio Nue and Nihon Sunrise Productions. I get nothing but the pleasure of storytelling and the hope that someone likes it. Oh, and a big thank you to Janessa R., who requested this story be restored after I pulled it from ffn.
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Chapter 1.
Consciousness tickled at the edges of Yuri's being. The cozy warm place where she had been was slowly being replaced by the chill of minimal life support. Yuri became conscious of her breathing - she slowly shifted position. Where was she? Then the pain hit. Her left arm wouldn't move like it was supposed to. She tried to lift it - the flash of sensation in her brain almost knocked her out again. It had to be broken. She weakly lifted her right hand to her head. Dried blood caked on the side of her face. She became more aware now. More awareness. She remembered... she... was in one of the Lovely Angel's escape units. What? What was that flashing indicator saying?
MALFUNCTION IN CRYOSTASIS - PROTOCOL 254B83 CRITICAL LIFE SUPPORT REMAINING - 33HRS 15MIN
She gasped. She was awake! But how? She scanned through the pod's view- port. Black space. The memories came rushing back. She recalled fleeing Savaruis battle cruisers where she was hopelessly outgunned. She had made it to the mouth of Wormhole G-63n252 when the Lovely Angel's left engine pod was hit and destroyed by enemy fire. Losing pitch, yaw and roll control too quickly for her to recover, the Lovely Angel entered the wormhole at the wrong azimuth. With no established lock point, the warp algorithm failed, and the ship exited the wormhole not through the other end, but burst through the side, 2.6 parsecs away from the intended exit point.
The Lovely Angel's neural network had just recently been updated by Toma. As close to human consciousness as had ever been achieved, it still "lived" by the 3 Laws of Robotics. Sensing impending disaster, it sacrificed the last of its power to sustain the lives of its occupants. The force field allowed Yuri just enough time to grab Mughi, get to the pod and escape seconds before the Lovely Angel imploded. Her final thought before losing consciousness was that the cryostasis system would keep her and Mughi alive for up to 3 weeks until the pod could be retrieved. But somehow the system malfunctioned, perhaps as a result of the damage sustained in battle. In their waking state, they would use up the life support resources at a much more rapid rate.
MUGHI! Where was he!?
"Mughi? - Mughi?"
"Meooow".
Yuri felt the small furry body crawl as far up her torso as space in the pod would allow. She sighed. He was awake also.
"There you are - are you o.k.?"
Yuri used her good hand to prod and poke Mughi, feeling for any injuries. Not eliciting any hisses or scratches, she petted him and pulled him to shoulder level so he could also see out the view-port. It was a tight enough fit as the pods, barely larger than coffins, were designed for one person, not a person and a pet. None of the Team 9 retrieval ships were anywhere in sight, as they were waiting for her at the other end of the subspace portal.
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Basile was getting worried. He and half of the Team 9 squadron were waiting to take Yuri's pursuers into 3WA custody as soon as they came into range but she was 20 minutes later than she should have been, given her position at the time of her last contact. "Nnnngggg" - he grumbled. "that little - she always makes things difficult! This was already an intricate operation, and timing was critical.
"Chief Basile!" came the crackle over the comm unit. "An unmanned outpost station in sector 3t45n has relayed to the 3WA central computer a signal it picked up and decoded an hour ago - it's a distress beacon from one of the Lovely Angel's escape pods sir!"
"What?!"
Something had gone wrong, and now Yuri was stranded. They had to get moving. Yuri had 3 weeks of life support, but that damned cat-thing pet of hers would reduce that by 3 or 4 days.
"Alright! Call for backup at this location - just in case any of our 'friends' show up unannounced."
Basile was now really concerned. He would be the one to update Chief Gustav on the mission's current status. This was not something he looked forward to. Since the destruction of Siren two years ago, Gustav, albeit grudgingly, had a change of heart regarding those two Trocons. He saw them as the fearless warriors they were; ready to put themselves on the front line at a moment's notice. Basile winced at the buzz going on around headquarters that Gustav's growing admiration of Yuri and Kei now meant that you had to watch what you said about them in his presence. He recalled the new inside joke. There were now nine words you couldn't say - and two of them were "dirty" and "pair". Gustav had grown quite protective.
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Kei was in a daze. She hadn't eaten in 20 hours - that's how long it had taken the doctors to retrieve a sample of Keitaro's bone marrow and subject it to the tests needed for the donor screening process. She hadn't slept for even longer than that. She sat next to his bed in the ICU, exhausted from pacing and fidgeting for so long - and crying.
"What a goddam cosmic joke!" she moaned. "The poor kid has his parents taken away from him, then his life is threatened by contract killers, and now this!"
Though technically a ward of the state until he reached 18, Kei was able to get the 3WA brass to pull strings to allow her custody on a part-time basis. She couldn't believe how much stability and meaning he added to her life in so short a time.
He, and Yuri. Yuri had been there for her through the whole process and was nearly as ecstatic as Kei was when the decision came through in her favor. Yuri coordinated the baby shower and had worked very hard to help Kei find a suitable apartment with the facilities for raising a baby.
How did that happen? Kei marveled. They couldn't stand one other when they first met, and now Yuri had become the sister she never had.
He had cried for what seemed like hours after the surgery. He was sleeping soundly now. Kei stroked his little face and kissed him softly on his forehead.
"Don't worry, Keitaro, auntie Kei is right here".
She sat back and sighed. The breakfast and lunch the staff brought her earlier were piled up on one of the tables, having long grown cold. It was growing dark outside and she could begin to see the crescent moon fragment. A nurse came into the room as quietly as she could.
"Miss, would you please take a few moments for yourself now?" she asked empathetically. "Our facilities are down the hall second door on the left. I promise I will not leave his side until you return".
Kei considered. She COULD use a shower and her stomach had been talking to her for some time now. She relented. She took the towel from the nurse and bowed her thanks. The staff understood the situation and had treated her with great kindness. Kindness. Kei still had difficulty acknowledging the best in people. She was trying her best to change, because she now had family.
Walking down the hall, she thought about Yuri and recalled their last conversation.
"Yuri, I - I feel like crap that I can't be your backup. But Keitaro is..."
"Don't worry, Kei. Everything will be fine. Remember, I found you on Gaisumao by myself and I also found you when Flight 701 crashed with you and ..."
Yuri winced at her mistake as soon as she saw Kei's reaction. Kei looked down at her feet and her shoulders were trembling. The old Kei would die before she would ever let anyone see her cry. But she could lose Keitaro now after all they had been through. This was the hardest thing she had ever gone through in her life. Not growing up on that backwater planet without parents, not playing bodyguard to a mobster, not chasing down Flair. This. How had she become so attached to him? Her eyes were red and dry from the tears she had already shed. And now, Kei was forced to make a choice between the two people most dear to her in her entire life.
"I know you need to be here. So don't let anything happen to 'Little K' and I'll be back as soon as I can."
Yuri reached for Kei and held her in her arms, stroking her hair as Kei's sobs began anew.
"I'm sorry, Yuri. I'm your partner. My oath... My duty... I'm so sorry". Yuri took a deep breath to fight back her own tears.
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Monsuud, prince of Savaruis-3 was seething. 17 of his fleet had been destroyed by that...that BITCH! And they allowed her to escape, albeit spinning out of control into that wormhole. In all likelihood, she was dead. But his pride wanted to be certain. NO ONE makes a fool of him the way she did and lived. Hitting the review button, he watched again and again the replay of her battle against his forces. He rubbed his chin as he grudgingly allowed admiration of her dog-fighting prowess to percolate. One 3WA ship against my armada of 50 and they couldn't take her. His ministers would have to spin this just right. The last coup attempt had cost him dearly.
"Prince Monsuud! Your Highness. We have located a distress beacon not far from the last known signature emanating from that ship."
Monsuud was shaken from his contemplation. He couldn't believe his luck. She was still alive! He knew it. He would have his revenge. He momentarily zoned out as he imagined his hands around that beautiful throat - her eyes trembling in fear as he slowly snuffed the life out of her. But not before he had his way with her. Yes. He would break her down in every way. She would call him master before her death. He snapped out of his reverie. He would have to move fast. Now that he knew she was a Trouble Consultant, he also knew the 3WA would be coming for her. He stood and barked his commands.
"Deliver that pod to me, but be reminded that its contents are extremely valuable. To the one who harms a hair on her head I shall personally slay his entire family". The lieutenants bowed and rushed off with their orders.
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Trying to move her injured arm as little as possible but wincing anyway, Yuri reached across her body and opened the medic-kit. There were yellow and red pain killers, bandages, compresses, antiseptic napkins, and, in its own separate tamper-proof section, one black cyanide capsule. Yuri took two of the red pain pills, and in minutes, her arm calmed down to a dull throb. It would have to be set soon or... She threw that thought out of her mind. She then took a napkin and wiped as much blood from her face as she could.
'I'm glad I don't have a mirror', she thought.
'I can just imagine how awful I look right now.' She closed the kit, but not before glancing once more at the black capsule. A shudder ran down her spine at its implication.
She checked the countdown timer again - 33 hours 7 minutes 25 seconds. Above that indicator was the beacon status marker. At least IT was still working. She closed her eyes and hugged Mughi tighter as she fought the claustrophobia and begged for sleep.
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District Captain Poporo slammed his fist on his desk, his worst fears realized. He had allowed a 3WA agent to work solo undercover, and that agent was in danger now with the nearest backup 3 days away from her. As Gustav had said, he wasn't worried so much about her condition - the beacon was working so he had to assume the best case scenario.
"No." He mused. "Although we technically have almost three weeks, Savaruis would be just as eager to get its hands on her as well."
The 3WA retrieval squadron was already on its way.
"Chief Gustav, I..."
The two men were startled when the door burst open and Class 1A Technical Specialist Toma rushed in. Bowing his apologies at the glaring faces, he intercepted Poporo's rage before it could manifest.
"So sorry chief! But I've just decoded the last transmission from the neural net upgrade I deployed to the Lovely Angel last week. Its log shows the energy it redirected from the core to erect the force field and... and..."
"And WHAT!" the two seated men shouted in unison.
"There wasn't enough power left to calibrate the cryostasis subsystem properly before she ejected..."
Gustav almost crushed the wooden chair railings under his powerful hands.
"What are you saying, Toma?".
Toma took a step back and swallowed, measuring his words.
"Yuri is out there and she's fully conscious. By my calculations, she will only have about 30 hours of life support before all systems fail!" The two older men looked at each other.
It would be a race.
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The doctor's words seemed to echo and fade away from Kei, as if she were falling into a time tunnel. Keitaro needed a donor match desperately, but with no known living relatives, that was going to be a challenge. Kei slumped back in the chair. Sleep kept advancing and she kept beating it back.
'Please hurry back, Yuri. I'm so confused right now that I can't even think straight.'
There was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in".
The door eased open as Gustav peered inside. The look on his ashen face caused Kei's exhausted heart to drop through the floor.
"Yuri! Something's happened to Yuri!"
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The Dirty Pair and Dirty Pair Flash are owned by Takachiho Haruka and Studio Nue and Nihon Sunrise Productions. I get nothing but the pleasure of storytelling and the hope that someone likes it. Oh, and a big thank you to Janessa R., who requested this story be restored after I pulled it from ffn.
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Chapter 1.
Consciousness tickled at the edges of Yuri's being. The cozy warm place where she had been was slowly being replaced by the chill of minimal life support. Yuri became conscious of her breathing - she slowly shifted position. Where was she? Then the pain hit. Her left arm wouldn't move like it was supposed to. She tried to lift it - the flash of sensation in her brain almost knocked her out again. It had to be broken. She weakly lifted her right hand to her head. Dried blood caked on the side of her face. She became more aware now. More awareness. She remembered... she... was in one of the Lovely Angel's escape units. What? What was that flashing indicator saying?
MALFUNCTION IN CRYOSTASIS - PROTOCOL 254B83 CRITICAL LIFE SUPPORT REMAINING - 33HRS 15MIN
She gasped. She was awake! But how? She scanned through the pod's view- port. Black space. The memories came rushing back. She recalled fleeing Savaruis battle cruisers where she was hopelessly outgunned. She had made it to the mouth of Wormhole G-63n252 when the Lovely Angel's left engine pod was hit and destroyed by enemy fire. Losing pitch, yaw and roll control too quickly for her to recover, the Lovely Angel entered the wormhole at the wrong azimuth. With no established lock point, the warp algorithm failed, and the ship exited the wormhole not through the other end, but burst through the side, 2.6 parsecs away from the intended exit point.
The Lovely Angel's neural network had just recently been updated by Toma. As close to human consciousness as had ever been achieved, it still "lived" by the 3 Laws of Robotics. Sensing impending disaster, it sacrificed the last of its power to sustain the lives of its occupants. The force field allowed Yuri just enough time to grab Mughi, get to the pod and escape seconds before the Lovely Angel imploded. Her final thought before losing consciousness was that the cryostasis system would keep her and Mughi alive for up to 3 weeks until the pod could be retrieved. But somehow the system malfunctioned, perhaps as a result of the damage sustained in battle. In their waking state, they would use up the life support resources at a much more rapid rate.
MUGHI! Where was he!?
"Mughi? - Mughi?"
"Meooow".
Yuri felt the small furry body crawl as far up her torso as space in the pod would allow. She sighed. He was awake also.
"There you are - are you o.k.?"
Yuri used her good hand to prod and poke Mughi, feeling for any injuries. Not eliciting any hisses or scratches, she petted him and pulled him to shoulder level so he could also see out the view-port. It was a tight enough fit as the pods, barely larger than coffins, were designed for one person, not a person and a pet. None of the Team 9 retrieval ships were anywhere in sight, as they were waiting for her at the other end of the subspace portal.
&&&&&&
Basile was getting worried. He and half of the Team 9 squadron were waiting to take Yuri's pursuers into 3WA custody as soon as they came into range but she was 20 minutes later than she should have been, given her position at the time of her last contact. "Nnnngggg" - he grumbled. "that little - she always makes things difficult! This was already an intricate operation, and timing was critical.
"Chief Basile!" came the crackle over the comm unit. "An unmanned outpost station in sector 3t45n has relayed to the 3WA central computer a signal it picked up and decoded an hour ago - it's a distress beacon from one of the Lovely Angel's escape pods sir!"
"What?!"
Something had gone wrong, and now Yuri was stranded. They had to get moving. Yuri had 3 weeks of life support, but that damned cat-thing pet of hers would reduce that by 3 or 4 days.
"Alright! Call for backup at this location - just in case any of our 'friends' show up unannounced."
Basile was now really concerned. He would be the one to update Chief Gustav on the mission's current status. This was not something he looked forward to. Since the destruction of Siren two years ago, Gustav, albeit grudgingly, had a change of heart regarding those two Trocons. He saw them as the fearless warriors they were; ready to put themselves on the front line at a moment's notice. Basile winced at the buzz going on around headquarters that Gustav's growing admiration of Yuri and Kei now meant that you had to watch what you said about them in his presence. He recalled the new inside joke. There were now nine words you couldn't say - and two of them were "dirty" and "pair". Gustav had grown quite protective.
&&&&&&
Kei was in a daze. She hadn't eaten in 20 hours - that's how long it had taken the doctors to retrieve a sample of Keitaro's bone marrow and subject it to the tests needed for the donor screening process. She hadn't slept for even longer than that. She sat next to his bed in the ICU, exhausted from pacing and fidgeting for so long - and crying.
"What a goddam cosmic joke!" she moaned. "The poor kid has his parents taken away from him, then his life is threatened by contract killers, and now this!"
Though technically a ward of the state until he reached 18, Kei was able to get the 3WA brass to pull strings to allow her custody on a part-time basis. She couldn't believe how much stability and meaning he added to her life in so short a time.
He, and Yuri. Yuri had been there for her through the whole process and was nearly as ecstatic as Kei was when the decision came through in her favor. Yuri coordinated the baby shower and had worked very hard to help Kei find a suitable apartment with the facilities for raising a baby.
How did that happen? Kei marveled. They couldn't stand one other when they first met, and now Yuri had become the sister she never had.
He had cried for what seemed like hours after the surgery. He was sleeping soundly now. Kei stroked his little face and kissed him softly on his forehead.
"Don't worry, Keitaro, auntie Kei is right here".
She sat back and sighed. The breakfast and lunch the staff brought her earlier were piled up on one of the tables, having long grown cold. It was growing dark outside and she could begin to see the crescent moon fragment. A nurse came into the room as quietly as she could.
"Miss, would you please take a few moments for yourself now?" she asked empathetically. "Our facilities are down the hall second door on the left. I promise I will not leave his side until you return".
Kei considered. She COULD use a shower and her stomach had been talking to her for some time now. She relented. She took the towel from the nurse and bowed her thanks. The staff understood the situation and had treated her with great kindness. Kindness. Kei still had difficulty acknowledging the best in people. She was trying her best to change, because she now had family.
Walking down the hall, she thought about Yuri and recalled their last conversation.
"Yuri, I - I feel like crap that I can't be your backup. But Keitaro is..."
"Don't worry, Kei. Everything will be fine. Remember, I found you on Gaisumao by myself and I also found you when Flight 701 crashed with you and ..."
Yuri winced at her mistake as soon as she saw Kei's reaction. Kei looked down at her feet and her shoulders were trembling. The old Kei would die before she would ever let anyone see her cry. But she could lose Keitaro now after all they had been through. This was the hardest thing she had ever gone through in her life. Not growing up on that backwater planet without parents, not playing bodyguard to a mobster, not chasing down Flair. This. How had she become so attached to him? Her eyes were red and dry from the tears she had already shed. And now, Kei was forced to make a choice between the two people most dear to her in her entire life.
"I know you need to be here. So don't let anything happen to 'Little K' and I'll be back as soon as I can."
Yuri reached for Kei and held her in her arms, stroking her hair as Kei's sobs began anew.
"I'm sorry, Yuri. I'm your partner. My oath... My duty... I'm so sorry". Yuri took a deep breath to fight back her own tears.
&&&&&&
Monsuud, prince of Savaruis-3 was seething. 17 of his fleet had been destroyed by that...that BITCH! And they allowed her to escape, albeit spinning out of control into that wormhole. In all likelihood, she was dead. But his pride wanted to be certain. NO ONE makes a fool of him the way she did and lived. Hitting the review button, he watched again and again the replay of her battle against his forces. He rubbed his chin as he grudgingly allowed admiration of her dog-fighting prowess to percolate. One 3WA ship against my armada of 50 and they couldn't take her. His ministers would have to spin this just right. The last coup attempt had cost him dearly.
"Prince Monsuud! Your Highness. We have located a distress beacon not far from the last known signature emanating from that ship."
Monsuud was shaken from his contemplation. He couldn't believe his luck. She was still alive! He knew it. He would have his revenge. He momentarily zoned out as he imagined his hands around that beautiful throat - her eyes trembling in fear as he slowly snuffed the life out of her. But not before he had his way with her. Yes. He would break her down in every way. She would call him master before her death. He snapped out of his reverie. He would have to move fast. Now that he knew she was a Trouble Consultant, he also knew the 3WA would be coming for her. He stood and barked his commands.
"Deliver that pod to me, but be reminded that its contents are extremely valuable. To the one who harms a hair on her head I shall personally slay his entire family". The lieutenants bowed and rushed off with their orders.
&&&&&&
Trying to move her injured arm as little as possible but wincing anyway, Yuri reached across her body and opened the medic-kit. There were yellow and red pain killers, bandages, compresses, antiseptic napkins, and, in its own separate tamper-proof section, one black cyanide capsule. Yuri took two of the red pain pills, and in minutes, her arm calmed down to a dull throb. It would have to be set soon or... She threw that thought out of her mind. She then took a napkin and wiped as much blood from her face as she could.
'I'm glad I don't have a mirror', she thought.
'I can just imagine how awful I look right now.' She closed the kit, but not before glancing once more at the black capsule. A shudder ran down her spine at its implication.
She checked the countdown timer again - 33 hours 7 minutes 25 seconds. Above that indicator was the beacon status marker. At least IT was still working. She closed her eyes and hugged Mughi tighter as she fought the claustrophobia and begged for sleep.
&&&&&&
District Captain Poporo slammed his fist on his desk, his worst fears realized. He had allowed a 3WA agent to work solo undercover, and that agent was in danger now with the nearest backup 3 days away from her. As Gustav had said, he wasn't worried so much about her condition - the beacon was working so he had to assume the best case scenario.
"No." He mused. "Although we technically have almost three weeks, Savaruis would be just as eager to get its hands on her as well."
The 3WA retrieval squadron was already on its way.
"Chief Gustav, I..."
The two men were startled when the door burst open and Class 1A Technical Specialist Toma rushed in. Bowing his apologies at the glaring faces, he intercepted Poporo's rage before it could manifest.
"So sorry chief! But I've just decoded the last transmission from the neural net upgrade I deployed to the Lovely Angel last week. Its log shows the energy it redirected from the core to erect the force field and... and..."
"And WHAT!" the two seated men shouted in unison.
"There wasn't enough power left to calibrate the cryostasis subsystem properly before she ejected..."
Gustav almost crushed the wooden chair railings under his powerful hands.
"What are you saying, Toma?".
Toma took a step back and swallowed, measuring his words.
"Yuri is out there and she's fully conscious. By my calculations, she will only have about 30 hours of life support before all systems fail!" The two older men looked at each other.
It would be a race.
&&&&&&
The doctor's words seemed to echo and fade away from Kei, as if she were falling into a time tunnel. Keitaro needed a donor match desperately, but with no known living relatives, that was going to be a challenge. Kei slumped back in the chair. Sleep kept advancing and she kept beating it back.
'Please hurry back, Yuri. I'm so confused right now that I can't even think straight.'
There was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in".
The door eased open as Gustav peered inside. The look on his ashen face caused Kei's exhausted heart to drop through the floor.
"Yuri! Something's happened to Yuri!"
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