a/n My deepest apologies for the appallingly long time for this update. I had the most dreadful case of writer's block, then my email didn't work, and finally my computer and ffnet apparently conspired to refuse to let me upload anything. sighs That aside, I wanted to thank everyone for reviewing, and my beta for finally getting back to me (and taking the time in the first place). I hope that you'll enjoy this installment.

Chapter 9.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a well-placed kick in the ass.

---

The water always looked black. At this depth, there was no visible difference between the obsidian bulk of the massifs and the inky darkness of the ocean itself. Even so, the slightest miscalculation in navigation would clear up any confusion in a heartbeat. These were dangerous waters to travel, and under ordinary circumstances, the de Danaan would be kept well clear of them. Sadly, circumstances were far from ordinary.

I'm tired. She felt the icy ocean against her hull. She heard the distant pinging of sonar, even as she dove to hide beneath an outcropping. She trembled at the rippling compressions which signaled the end of her solitude in this canyon. But over and around it all was the aching weariness of a shift gone on far too long.

She had originally removed herself to the Lady Chapel as they entered the canyons to better control their navigation of the treacherous topography. Sub-surface cliffs and trenches provided numerous ways to confuse enemy sonar and evade torpedoes, but with the damage to port-side propulsion the increased responsiveness provided by the Chapel's interface became a critical advantage. Tessa had been linked to the ship for the past eight hours, guiding Dana away from the Chinese submarine 'People's Hidden Strength,' and had finally succeeded in losing them among the formations. The de Danaan's "sensations," however, were beginning to feel indistinguishable from her own senses, and Tessa knew she'd had enough. A burst of effort flitted a message to the bridge. The commander would send someone down to pull her out of the Chapel soon. She would have to trust her crew and her subordinates for an hour or two in this vicious game of hide-and-seek.

A rumbling noise echoed above her, and she felt the canyon wall begin to crumble. Like the strange bastard offspring of a manta and a shark, she glided sideways and down, away from the tumbling rock and further into the darkness.

"Bridge to the Captain: helm controls remain locked. Is it still your intention to relinquish them?"

She ignored the strong temptation to make her way to the bottom to take a nap, and carefully disengaged her mind from the ship's control systems.

"You have the helm, Commander. Please see that I'm taken to my quarters." And she lay back in the chair, her eyes closed and her mind finally surrendering to sleep.

---

"How do you feel?" The alarm clock resting on the floor beside her read 12:04, and Sousuke was leaning over her. The sergeant was already dressed, his hair damp from a shower or a swim. It figured that he'd gotten up before she, but she didn't mind. His tone was familiarly neutral, but the tiniest hint of concern lurked in his eyes. "Do you require analgesics for your head?"

Kaname did have a headache this morning. The stitches itched, and that temple throbbed dully. Further, her eyelids felt stiff and encrusted with dried tears. I must look awful.

"Aspirin would be good." She watched as he retrieved a pair of tablets from one of their many assorted packs. He filled a cup with water and brought all three items to her. She accepted them and downed the pills, grimacing at the lukewarm, slightly off flavor of the sterilized water.

"The lacerations appear to be healing well," Sousuke observed. "I took the liberty of checking your resting pulse and respiration rates before waking you. You'll be happy to know that both are normal." She stared at him, not at all certain why this fact should make her happy, but willing to go along with it. At least he wasn't condemning her or bringing up her confessions of the night before. "Are you at all dizzy?"

"Why would I be dizzy?" She got to her knees to roll up her sleeping bag, only to discover that she did feel a bit dizzy, not to mention nauseous and grimy. "Uhng," she groaned eloquently.

"It is a common side-effect of the drugs you were given. Exertion will raise your endorphin levels and reduce the strength of this symptom. I've arranged to begin today with swimming." His tone was light, matter-of-fact. She almost wondered whether the night before had even happened. Then she noted the somewhat more serious cast to her companion's eyes. He was concerned about more than her health, but in typical Sousuke fashion, didn't seem to know what else to say. Then again, she didn't really know either.

She moved over to the sink to brush her teeth, and was surprised to feel a slight tug on her hair. Sousuke had picked up her comb from the little toiletries case Kyoko had packed and was beginning to brush her hair. Seeing the question in her eyes and the toothbrush in her mouth, he paused. "If I may?" She nodded, bemused, and continued her toothbrushing as Sousuke first combed then re-braided her long hair into a neat queue.

"Where'd you learn how to braid?"

"It is a useful skill when fashioning rope from materials at hand." He was blushing, but she decided not to comment on it, smiling inwardly. For all the chaos in her life, at least Sousuke had not changed much.

"Speaking of useful skills, do you think we could go fishing this afternoon? I'd rather not eat MRE's two nights in a row."

"That would be enjoyable. I will attempt to allot time for it." He looked at his watch. "I will meet you on the beach. Please do not forget to apply sunscreen," and he opened the door, preparing to leave her in privacy.

"Sousuke?" At the sound of his name, he paused, turning back to look at her.

"Kaname?"

"About last night... Do you think less of me?" What a very odd way to put it. Then again, she couldn't really find words for the uneasiness rippling in the back of her head.

"Negative. Your behavior was understandable. For now, however, you are overdue for exercise." He waited for her nod of acceptance before exiting the room.

---

"Our Chinese friends have expressed displeasure at the reluctance of the target to be caught. It seems de Danaan is leading them a merry chase around the Ring of Fire."

"The terms of the agreement said nothing about ease of capture. With the coordinates they're being given, the bulk of the difficulty has been removed." A low chuckle. "Were they expecting gift wrap?"

"De Danaan's speed and maneuverability do make her a challenging prize, even with coordinates every six hours."

"You're suggesting the piccadores should season the bull before any further ventures on the part of our matador friends?"

"Sabotage should be a relatively simple matter, albeit somewhat risky to our pilot."

"How is Agent Maerek?"

"Stable. Saya reported something about pilot integrity dropping below acceptable levels, however I am not certain how to avoid this. In the mean time, Mr. Maerek is interacting with her primarily via the external computer link we established."

"You did thank Mr. Leuenduyck for obtaining that set of plans, correct?"

"Of course. He believes the rest of the cypher is only a session or two away."

"Hmm. Very well. Please inform Agent Maerek that his services will be required tonight. The integrity problem should be dealt with before then if at all possible. He shall place a barb or two to slow down our quarry, and return to us as he can." A pause. "By the by, have we located the girlfriend yet? A spare pilot would come in useful, should ours expire."

"No. But we're still looking."

---

When the contrails signaled that their isolation was at an end at three o'clock that afternoon, Sousuke and Kaname were jogging through the forest. They were carrying backpacks (in case of mishaps on the trail, according to Sousuke), and following what appeared to be an old sentry trail. Their path had led them into a small clearing when Sousuke noticed the white streaks in the sky.

"Kaname, you need to hide here, and wait for my signal." He grabbed her arm and pushed her, face-down into a thick copse of bushes. She glared up at him, a small fire sparking briefly in her eyes before being extinguished by memory and sadness. He relented a little, clarifying, "We have company. I will determine the nature of the newcomers and radio you if it is safe. If it is not safe, I will--"

"If it's not safe, I'm screwed anyway, Sousuke," she interrupted in a resigned whisper. "We're on an island."

Her uncharacteristic pessimism bothered him, but he had no time to banter with her. Suppressing his irritation and worry, he simply nodded and waited a moment while she hid herself more carefully. Then, marking the spot, he headed in the direction indicated by the contrails to get a better look.

Company was not entirely unexpected. The captain had warned him that Mao and Weber would be joining them on the fourth day of Kaname's respite. This, however, was only the afternoon of the third. Furthermore, there were six distinct trails, rather than the two he'd been expecting. Various possibilities sifted through his mind as he ran, but years of experience kept him from deciding on one; it was better to wait for concrete facts.

The trails were generated by long range missiles of the type occasionally used by the de Danaan for transporting arm slaves. When they were almost directly above the island's main artillery range, they began to burst open, disgorging giant robots equipped with trios of parachutes. Sousuke reached the presumed touchdown location well before the first one landed and pulled a pair of binoculars from his pack. MITHRIL equipment was seldom marked as such, but the M-9's were all of the appropriate colors and configurations. The first two that landed appeared to be unmanned, coming to a halt as they did and failing to exhibit any further signs of motion. The third immediately moved to check on the first two, and Sousuke noted it, keeping a closer watch from his hidden vantage. The fourth seemed to be another unmanned M-9, but the fifth made fairly typical scouting motions the moment it landed and the sixth... They sent the Arbalest?

Seeing the familiar yellow-and-black markings of the unique A-S, Sousuke was tempted to immediately get on the radio and hail the visitors, but he restrained himself until such time as the fourth M-9 had come to a halt roughly thirty feet from him and his radio squawked.

"Urzu-7, this is Urzu-6. Hey Sousuke, that's all of us. You can come out now!" The voice was unmistakably Weber's.

"Copy that, Urzu-6. The location is secure. Feel free to eject." He strode into the clearing, and watched as the third A-S's hatch opened. Weber's M-9 went over to it and offered a palm to the occupant, helping Mao down to the ground before ejecting himself. Approaching her, Sousuke noted that the Sergeant Major was clearly not fully recovered from her injuries, but just as clearly would not take kindly to his making any mention of this fact. That she had accepted Weber's help was confirmation enough of her condition. "You're early."

She nodded. "Yeah, but we've just been stuck in those tubes for the past three hours, so explanations are going to have to wait." She gave him a pointed look, and he directed them back to the station. It was a very short walk, but Mao was still breathing a little hard when they reached it. She excused herself. Sousuke retrieved three bottles of water from the storage cupboard. He offered one to Weber, and they sat on the station's porch.

"So where's the lovely lady?" Weber's leer was not quite up to his usual standard, but given the fact that he was exhausted, Sousuke refrained from commenting.

"Hiding. I left her at a concealed point in the jungle." He quickly retrieved his radio, adjusted the frequency, and called the woman in question. "It's safe. Please return to the station."

There was a mumbled "okay, see you in a few" and the line closed.

"How's she doing?" Kurz asked, taking a long pull on the water bottle.

"She is experiencing some minor side-effects from the drugs, however her overall physical condition is good. Her head injury is healing as expected," he stared out at the ocean. "I am not qualified to assess her mental state."

"How are you doing?" For someone as frequently dense as Kurz was, he could be uncannily perceptive at precisely the wrong moments.

"Acceptably." Kurz snorted at that.

"Sure you are. Oh well. I guess you should wait to report until Melissa gets out here."

"Is the Sergeant Major truly fit for duty?" Sousuke asked.

"Damn straight!" The sergeant major in question moved from the doorway to join them on the porch, and gave Weber a say-anything-otherwise-and-you're-dead glare. "Anyway, Tessa ordered us here, so we're here. Sorry we had to move things up a bit, but it's getting pretty hairy out there." She sat down beside them carefully, leaning her back against the station wall and stretching her legs out in front of her. "The Captain's playing 'Hunt for Red October' all over the Pacific with the rest of the world's navies. As of about ten hours ago, she had to re-establish contact with MITHRIL and when they learned of the situation, they ordered her to offload all non-essential equipment." She paused to help herself to the remaining water bottle, grimacing as the taste of a liquid which was not beer made its way to her palate. "I guess they figure if she goes down, there'll be less to salvage that way. Pretty damn pessimistic if you ask me, but whatever Kaname did to target de Danaan, it looks like the bad guys can do it too." She looked around. "Where is she anyway? I didn't think you'd be letting her out of your sight."

Sousuke repeated his explanation and Mao nodded. "Paranoid as always. Probably for the best, though. Do you think she's up to answering questions yet?" Seeing uncertainty waver on Sousuke's features, she decided to clarify. "I know Tessa said to give her 'til tomorrow, but they're getting pounded. So far the de Danaan hasn't taken any direct hits, but the damage from the indirect ones is pretty bad." She sipped more water. "Tessa and Madukas are geniuses at sea combat, but the odds aren't good for a sub that can't hide." She outlined the situation for him, detailing the four attacks they'd survived so far and making note of the crew's attempts at finding the transmitter. "So you see, we really don't have a choice. If they don't find a way to stop this thing soon, they're going to die out there."

"Wherever she hid that thing, she did a damn good job of it," Kurz agreed. "SRT personnel mostly got assigned to searching, since we're not good for much else in underwater engagements. I looked everywhere she ever went on de Danaan that time she visited. Zip."

"I'm not certain that she herself will know, until the medication wears off. It seems to effect her technical memories somewhat." Sousuke went on to report on his observations of Kaname, her performance in exercises, her occasional mental lapses and the frustration which accompanied them. With regards to her confessions of the previous night, he found himself uncertain of how much to say. Mao seemed to sense it, and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have to tell us everything. Did she tell you anything about the accident that would help us re-capture this thing? Or at least know what we're up against?"

"I believe her A-S is capable of some form of ultra-fast, long distance movement. It is also able to somehow withstand large amounts of damage, and--"

"It's called co-location," Kaname interrupted emerging from around the jungle-facing side of the station. Seeing Kurz and Melissa, she smiled brightly, before frowning and appearing to become suddenly shy. "Hi guys."

"Hi, Kaname!" Kurz flashed her his best lady-killer smile, and Melissa elbowed him in the ribs.

"Down boy," she murmured out of the side of her mouth. Refocusing on the beautiful, and curiously subdued young woman standing before her, she smiled. "Long time, no see."

Noting the way Kaname's eyes strayed to Melissa's bandages, and the guilt that was rapidly resurfacing on her face, Sousuke leaned down to offer her a hand up to the porch. Pulling her up, he took the moment of incidental closeness to whisper to her. "They are glad to see you. The sergeant major's injuries are not your fault, so please do not concern yourself with them." He caught her gaze, and she nodded before moving to sit between himself and Melissa.

"So you're here to talk about Saya?" Her voice was light, but there was a brittle quality to it that the others couldn't help but hear.

"Actually, we're here because the Captain thought you needed a chaperone." Kurz saw Kaname's shoulders relax slightly, and took his joke a step further. "We couldn't leave you all alone on a desert island with Sousuke, now could we?" He noted the way his teammate's eyes darkened at this explanation, and he grinned.

"Oh, I wouldn't have taken advantage of him... much," Kaname replied, with perfectly played sincerity. Kurz nearly choked and Melissa smirked while Sousuke's eyebrows disappeared beneath his bangs. Kaname laughed at their reactions, finally relaxing the rest of the way. "So how is Tessa, anyway?" Kaname noted the expressions passed between the Urzu team members, and sighed. "It's bad, isn't it?"

---

"--dame Captain. Please wake up. You need to take this call." For a moment, Tessa was deeply disoriented, feeling parts of her brain calculating hull stress while other parts focused on new hydrodynamic propulsion systems and still others registered hands on her shoulders and Kalinin's concerned face roughly twenty-two centimeters from her own.

"Lt. Commander...?" She sat up in her bunk, and her subordinate handed her a comm unit and a cup of tea. She took a deep swallow of the latter.

"It's Kaname. The Urzu team has arrived at their assigned coordinates, and the Sergeant Major put her on the line for you." He motioned to the comm unit in her hand, and she nodded, flipping it on.

"Miss Chidori, this is the Captain. Can you please tell me where the transmitter is?" It seemed more than a little blunt as the first thing to say to someone with whom she'd not actually spoken in over three years, but military priorities were what they were.

"Are you okay??" The voice on the line was pure Kaname, and Tessa inwardly cursed herself for not managing to sound more energetic.

"I'm fine, just tired. I will be considerably happier once you tell me where the transmitter is, however, so that I can destroy it and just possibly get a full night's sleep before the next person decides to take a pot shot at us." There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Tessa nearly screamed in frustration. Now was not the time for emotional dilly-dallying. "Kaname?!"

"There is no transmitter."

"Can you repeat that?" Tessa was almost certain she'd heard correctly, but the tears of despair threatening the borders of her eyelids demanded one last hope that a different answer might be given.

"I am so sorry, Tessa, but there is no transmitter. You are being targeted by Saya via her destination library." Kaname's voice was agitated and laden with guilt. "There is a mylar sticker of a smiley face with the letters 'TDD' on it stuck to the maintenance clipboard of the Arbalest. That was her initial point of reference. She has since plotted twenty-six additional points, and as such, can trace you with or without the initial point." Another pause. "I'd explain it to you better, but I can't seem to remember exactly how it works."

I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. "Is there any way to get rid of these reference points?" She had a sinking feeling that she knew the answer even before the comm crackled again.

"At least six of them are on pieces of equipment that you can't afford to deface enough to make a difference."

"The reactors."

"I'm so sorry. I never meant to make you a target. It wasn't supposed to happen like this." Tessa could hear Kaname's voice breaking under the weight of regret, and felt a moment's pity for her. Then the cold resignation of command took over.

"Whatever you meant by it, eighty-three lives are now at stake because of your actions." Her voice was hard and pitiless. It helped to hide the fear. "I need to know how to save my ship, Kaname. I can't defend her indefinitely under these conditions."

"You have to get Saya back. As long as they've got her, they can track you." The voice was quiet and Tessa refused to hear the anguish in it.

"Understood. Listen up, Kaname. I'm a little busy keeping de Danaan afloat at the moment, and MITHRIL has never had good luck tracking down the Venserre Consortium. You turned my ship into a target, therefore I'm giving you the responsibility of dealing with your invention." She heard a gasp on the other end. "Make sure Urzu-2 can hear me."

"I'm here, Captain."

"Roger that. Effective immediately, I am assigning Urzu-2, -6, and -7 to Miss Chidori to act in whatever capacity she requires. All A-S's, munitions, supplies and weapons at your current location are at her disposal for the purpose of finding and retrieving or destroying the A-S designated Saya." Kalinin's eyebrows were threatening to migrate to his crown, but Tessa ignored him. "Kaname, this is all the help I can give you. Is there anything else you'll need?"

"Tessa, I can't command--"

"AND I CAN'T BREATHE UNDER WATER!" She wasn't quite hysterical. Captains do not get hysterical. "If the only way to save my ship is to get rid of that A-S, then you must find some way to do it. If the traces I got from our resonance are even close to the truth, you are the only one who can. Unless you want to add another eighty-three to your death toll... SO IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'LL NEED?" The other end of the line was absolutely silent, then Mao's voice came on.

"We'll call if she thinks of anything, and I'll report back with our progress every eight hours."

"Thank you, Sergeant Major. De Danaan out." Tessa closed the line and dropped the comm unit, then sat for a moment in her bunk and gulped the last of her tea. "Commander Kalinin?" she inquired, looking at his booted feet on the floor beside the bunk.

"Madame-Captain?"

"Why is my floor under water?"