Chapter 2. Leaving.
As Ranma returned to their hotel room Nabiki looked up at him muzzily, "Where've you been?" she asked. Raising her beautiful sleepy head just enough.
"For a walk n' things" he replied, stripping and climbing back into bed. Sleepy as she was the answer satisfied her and rather than question him further she shifted to let him wrap an arm around her and settled back into her doze.
Only neither managed much sleep, sirens awoke them barely ten minutes later. The sounds of shouting soon followed. Once more the sceptre of civil unrest was raising its head, and making itself heard. Tokyo was better off than most world capitals but only in Nerima were things as calm as they had been before. Calm being a comparative term. Here on the edge of the ward curfews were still in place and the SDF still backed up the civilian police forces.
Ranma stumbled over to the window to look and Nabiki flicked on he news channel. It was a group of Nihilist bikers attempting to get clear of their cordon. The SDF had boxed them into a badly damaged block a week ago and were now being forced to enforce the ruling.
Soon the meeting dissolved from hurled words to hurled rocks and shortly after that the gunplay started. Ranma shook his head and returned to bed, idly stroking his wife's back while she flicked through the news channels. She in turn relaxed into his caress.
"Hardly makes you sad to leave does it" she whispered ruefully.
"Nerima's still quiet" Ranma reassured her. "Its probably the heirs to Riot-fu are too young to claim the title or something equally as silly."
o
Elsewhere a kindergarden once more erupted into civil unrest as the toddlers led by Ruri the Rioter clashed with Polly's pre-school policepersons. The two leaders were momentarily distracted by sneezing fits but fortunately the nursery staff managed to get tissues to them in time before the 'riot foam' coated too many others.
o
Ranma and Nabiki were in the process of checking out when the 'unrest' reached them. They were at the desk of the well-appointed lobby, its tall ceiling was held up with marble columns and wide open space partly filled with lounge chairs and tables. All of a sudden that spacious lobby was in tumult, shots rang out and screams answered. Not taking any chances Ranma lifted Nabiki bodily over the check-in desk and hefted their gear after her.
Seven bikers had forced their way in through the front doors and already neutralised the hotel lobby guards. They were in the process of setting up a defensive position out of the tables and couches, and taking hostages. One suited wannabe tried to tackle one only to be introduced to the knife of that biker's best mate, point first.
"Stay down Ranma!" Nabiki advised gently, pulling him below the level of the desktop. Then she saw the look on his face and knew she had lost this one. She pulled him in for a kiss and let him do his thing. "Be careful hero" she whispered. He offered her a smile as if to ask when exactly he wasn't careful but didn't dare voice the question.
Instead Ranma hurled himself over the counter and drew his sidearm at the same time. As he leapt he used the pistol to track the intruders, looking for the most opportune target. One biker turned to face the movement; he never saw the shot that tore his chest to gore. His friends however heard the shot and wheeled on the running agent.
Ranma slammed his back against the marble pillar, rounds ricocheting around him. He could almost hear his old instructor's disapproval. The sour old geezer had always maintained that you had messed up from the first moment they ever shot back.
"Yeah well" Ranma muttered, glancing quickly around his pillar, "where's the fun in that?" He peeled right, diving for the underside of a large stone table. As he flew through the air he ripped off a pair of rounds, the first missed the lucky biker who had chosen the perfect moment to hike up his trousers, the second tore the lucky man's buddy's head off, shattering bone into flying fragments.
Under the table Ranma quickly heaved and overturned his new cover, only to find that some smart-ass had set pins into the table legs to stop it moving. He quickly added the extra effort and lifted it the required extra distance before toppling it onto its side. Just in time as three bullets impacted into the newly flat surface.
"Did he just throw that table?" the receptionist asked Nabiki amazed at the feat, "it must weigh a ton!"
"He's just showing off" Nabiki groused, idly flicking through the register for old times sake. She heard the loud report of his pistol twice more and the answering wet crunches of twin impacts. "We are in a hurry!" she called out to him "I want to be at your mother's for lunch!"
"Sure Anata" he called back, readying himself for another manoeuvre. The receptionist looked at Nabiki with big eyes.
"You know him?" she asked in awe.
"I'm married to him," Nabiki replied.
"You're so lucky" the girl added, "he's a dreamboat"
"Dreamboat?" Nabiki queried, "do people actually say that?"
"Well a hunk then" the girl corrected.
"And he's a stallion in bed" Nabiki added, just to see the girl's reaction. The poor receptionist all but set up a shrine to him then and there.
Meanwhile the three remaining bikers had fled back into the street, and the waiting arms of the Japanese military.
Nabiki signed out, handed the lusting girl the room card and led Ranma out through the kitchen. By the time the police had secured the lobby there was no sign of either of them. And the only real witness was babbling things about angels in human form and hunky not-boats.
o
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Lunch at Nodoka's was a subdued affair. The couple had indeed been late, mainly because Ranma had been so very excitable after his morning 'work-out' and insisted on some very public displays of affection. Nabiki had really missed his playful side over the last few weeks and was perhaps more tolerant than she should have been. Hence they were late, and somewhat more mussed than Nabiki had planned on.
Nodoka had of course been very polite about it but her disapproval was thinly veiled and made Ranma fidget all through the meal. Either that or the reminders of Ryu's habitation were twinging on his conscience. The whole house had been altered to be wheelchair friendly. From a ramp on the front door to the removal of most of the tatami mats, every consideration had been made for the crippled young man.
Kimiko had decided she loved the design, clear open wheelchair routes made for great runways, and hand-rails seemed to be made for swinging on. Without steps to hinder her Kimiko had been having a great time exploring the house. The shortness that Nodoka exhibited with the girl's parents was at least partly the child's fault. Nodoka was feeling old, and the irrepressible Kimiko made her feel older still.
The child in question was currently hurtling in a collision course with her mother, having 'skydropped' all the way down the largest ramp in the house. Nabiki, long used to her girl's antics, caught her with one arm and passed her over to Ranma with a small kiss to see her on her way. Ranma was more than happy for the distraction, the two women were freaking him out more than a little with their 'polite' conversation and it was starting to make his skin crawl.
With a nod to his mother and wife he carried the giggling infant out into the yard, all the while doing his best 'evil galactic overlord' voice. Both the older girls looked after them sharing an almost identical smile.
"He's great with her," Nodoka observed.
"They're a lot alike" Nabiki joked.
"He bounces off the walls all day too?" Nodoka asked deadpan.
"Walls, ceilings, pillars…." Nabiki lamented as sincerely as she could through her smile. From outside came the noise of Ranma 'dying' loudly, and calling down generational curses upon the 'brave warrior woman' who had defeated him. Both the women shared a look and another smile.
"So this thing you are doing its dangerous?" Nodoka asked growing more serious.
"Rather" Nabiki replied, still trying for levity.
"And you don't know how long its going to take?" Nodoka prodded.
"We know that it will be at least a year, beyond that" Nabiki finished with a shrug.
"And my son's part in things?" Nodoka kept digging, and Nabiki was starting to wonder what the real question was.
"He's found his way to the sharp end," Nabiki replied, her eyes narrowing speculatively. In the moment's pause afterwards she decided that she simply did not have to play this game, "Mother, please just ask, if I can tell you I will." Nodoka reached out and touched her daughter in law's arm.
"Thank you" the grandmother offered, "What I am trying to ask is…"
"Are we coming back?" Nabiki guessed. Nodoka nodded in reply. "You're worried that this will be like the last time you saw your family walk away." Nodoka nodded again fighting her rebellious emotions. "I can't say" Nabiki offered quietly. "I won't lie to you, if Ranma wasn't so sure about this I wouldn't be touching it with a ten foot stick. Everything about this mission scares the hell out of me and I'm the one in charge of it." Nabiki picked up her mother in law's hand. "But I will promise that if we can come back we will."
"Thank you daughter" she replied with feeling. "Now lets go and check my boy isn't raising that girl too wild." Nodoka stood up and started towards the yard, she was just too far away to hear Nabiki's reply.
"Too late."
o
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"I don't know about this Saotome" Soun told his bosom buddy again.
"It's our, I mean our school's, only hope" replied Genma, making the correction as fast as he could. They were hiding opposite Genma's ex-wife's home, concealed in a clutch of rubbish bins, a very smelly clutch.
"But…"
"No Soun ol-buddy, this has to be done," Genma insisted. "If that boy isn't brought to heel Anything Goes is finished"
"But Akane, you've trained her and she-
"Is only a girl" Genma hissed, "and can never be expected to master the finer points of the art."
"You mean?"
"The master will choose one of us as his heir!" Genma finished, causing a massive shudder that rattled both cans.
"What are you two whispering about?" demanded the third bin, in the voice of a spoilt princess. "Do I go now?"
"NO!" cried the other bins. They had answered the question before more than a few times.
"Rasa-fasa umumble mumble" Akane grumbled.
"She's our only hope" Genma reminded his friend, and they all fell silent.
A few long hours later the first bin spotted the young Saotome family leaving and hissed unsuccessfully for the attention of the now snoring bin net to him. So Genma had to wake Soun the hard way, and then the sore headed Soun had to get Akane's attention, which of course had wandered now it was finally required.
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Ranma and Nabiki met the others at a military airfield just outside Tokyo. The orbital lifter would be crammed with nearly thirty people lifting for the low Earth orbit Crystal Palace Station at La Grange point one. From there they would be transferred to an interplanetary liner that was little more than a life support rigged brick with thrusters.
The other passengers were almost entirely 'Dark Angels' on their way to take up their posts aboard the Nemesis. They ranged from grease monkeys to bridge bunnies and represented a complete age spectrum. The only unifying factor was that they were overwhelmingly still green as grass in comparison to the people who normally wore the proud badge of X-Com.
"Grass" Ranma muttered.
"Green as" Nabiki agreed
The couple were veterans of two invasions and years of service. It came as quite a shock to Nabiki to realise that her daughter had been on the books longer than most of these 'crew,' and even more disconcerting was the moment she realised that she was an old hand even at her age.
"Ranma, I am getting old," she declared.
"Anata?" he queried, "whatcha mean? You spent more time in the goop tanks than I have." Nabiki slapped his arm tenderly.
"You're meant to say you hadn't noticed" she corrected.
"I thought I just did" he groused.
"AND," she continued, "say something nice about how I look!"
"Oh" he replied, in his best 'thick as a brick' voice. "What do Ranma say?" he wondered aloud, "Ranma must think!" Nabiki gave him a mock glare, belied by the glint in her eyes and the curl of her lip. That playful side was just so very precious. "Ranma know!" he announced. She had time enough to wonder what exactly he knew before her husband swept her up into a very passionate embrace. It went on for some time.
"Dadda?" Kimiko queried, "Whatcha doin'"
"Er, your mummy had something caught in her throat and I was-"
"Ranma" Nabiki growled, glaring. "We do not lie to our child!"
"Er" Ranma came up short, "forget that Kimi-chan," he corrected. "Its one of those grown up things you have to wait to know."
"Okey Dokey" she replied, looking for someone to play with.
"Hero" Nabiki whispered, "I think its about time you did your thing…"
"Fine" grumped the Pigtailed man. He turned to Kimiko "Stay here with mommy okay, daddy's gotta go change"
"Okey Dokey" she replied, grabbing her mummy's hand. Seeing she was safe Ranma wandered off to find an ice machine and a towel.
It was while Nabiki was watching his fine ass walk away that she caught sight of the mirage for the first time. Just for a moment, out of the corner of her eye she could have sworn that she saw her sister. But there was no way that she would have missed Akane being put onto the flight roster, so she dismissed it.
The two girls were distracted by the arrival of Colonel Misato Katsuragi. She was, as usual after shore leave, very drunk, very drunk indeed. Nabiki knew the woman had a drinking problem, it was written all over her reports, but also knew just how valuable the woman's real skill was going to be. Having read the girl's dossier Nabiki could understand every moment of it.
"Occifer on deck hut!" screamed the drunken tactical officer, throwing a very wobbly salute at Nabiki. This immediately drew everyone's attention to the target of the salute. Nabiki had to fight the urge to curse, just a few more minutes of civilian life was obviously too much to ask. Nabiki was about to return the salute, only to find her hand occupied holding Kimiko's hand. The child looked up at her mom, back at the drunken officer and decided to salute.
"Shorry Ma'am" Misato attempted, looking at the child "didn't shee you weren't in uni-from" She dropped her arm and almost overbalanced doing it.
"'S okey dokey" Kimiko informed her.
"Sank you Ma'am" Misato managed, "Immm gonna fall down fer a while" she added and then keeled over, into the arms of a well built man. "Hiya handsome!" she whispered and promptly fell asleep.
"Did I miss anything" Ranma, now Ranko, asked, slipping her arm around her wife's waist.
"Saotome Ranko meet Katsuragi Misato, Colonel, and my XO." Nabiki introduced her husband to the comatose woman cradled in the mechanic's arms.
"Ain't she the one who…" Ranma asked.
"Yes she is" Nabiki replied.
"Whooo, she's one hard chick!" Ranma whistled respectfully. "What's wrong with her?"
"Sauce" Nabiki explained. Then realised that Ranma had no idea what she was talking about. "She drinks" Nabiki added.
"Oh," Ranma replied, finally getting it, "No wonder."
"Poppa's a momma again" observed Kimiko, without a hint of surprise.
"Now Kimi-chan" Nabiki started, squatting to bring her face level with her daughter's "what did we say about when daddy looks like this?"
"He's Auntie Ranko" Kimiko replied "and daddy's not here."
"Thank you Kimi-chan" Nabiki replied, kissing her daughter's cheek. "And why do we do this"
"Cuz not everyone's as lucky as me" Kimiko explained cheerfully, "I got extra helpings."
"No-" Nabiki began to correct but Ranma interrupted with her own hand.
"That'll do Biki-chan" Ranma said, "she knows the other reason too" he turned to Kimiko to receive her nod, "no point in overdoing it." Nabiki nodded and kissed her daughter again, and then accepted Ranma's hand to help her upright. She found herself trapped in the smaller girl's embrace.
"Ranma" she whispered, admonishingly.
"Anata" Ranma replied, "I am NOT going to keep my hands off you just because people can see!" Nabiki looked into her lover's brilliant blue eyes and knew this was important. So she leant in and kissed her husband very thoroughly.
"Happy?" she whispered breathily as they finally broke.
"Uh-huh" agreed the slightly stunned redhead. Nabiki smiled and let her go, giving her a little pat on the rump for good measure.
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Ten hours later Crystal Palace station was falling away behind the IPV Hermes on its way out to Mars. Its beautiful mirrored collectors making it shine like an angel in the night sky, framed by the orb of the retreating Earth.
Inside the inter planetary vessel people were once again unstrapping after boost off and reforming into their groups. The 'groundhogs' with less space-time quickly separated from the 'boomers' who had real micro gravity experience. Zero gravity would be a constant factor till Mars orbit was reached and it was going to take some a bit longer than others to get used to.
The interior of the vessel was basically open plan, with bunks racked up along the walls and ladders circling in between. There were access hatches and wash facilities down at each end. But for old hands like the Saotome's the real passageway was running down the centre of the hold. Simple rules about clockwise movement allowed almost unregulated unpowered transit down the central 'highway.'
Nabiki had quickly staked out a family bunk area near the pilot's end, and the toilets, and was once again trying to persuade Kimiko to use a bed. The girl was always troublesome when it came to beds. Even on Mars the toddler had got her best sleep in the micro-gravity rooms. The moment the kid hit zero-G she seemed at home. In a weightless enviroment, especially one padded for groundhogs, the little girl could, and frequently did, fall asleep almost anywhere. Currently Nabiki was prying her off a ladder. The toddler, tired out by all the fun sights of Crystal Palace, had fallen asleep almost as soon as she had found a handhold. When Nabiki found her she was happily dozing, attached to the wall only by one hand and with the other happily spread for ease of sucking.
Nabiki's insistence on beds was hardly a new thing, and was one of those things that Ranma tried to keep quiet about. As far as he was concerned the babe was happy with her arm anchor, and was hardly about to fall anywhere, so he would have let her be. After all it sure beat some of the places he had slept over the years. But the child's mother wanted to train her not to fall asleep hanging out over bottomless drops by only her own arm so he didn't interefere. Although quite how Nabiki could pull the girl out of a pose that cute was beyond him.
"I didn't have the heart" Nabiki told her, having given in and let the child sleep as she wanted. "But don't think that means I've given up for good!" Ranma nodded sagely, hiding his smile, "And don't think for a moment that I don't know where she learnt bad habits like that!"
Ranma answered with a mock innocent expression that fooled nobody.