Chapter four – Anastasis

The order came shortly after Raff stuck the last spoonful of steak in his mouth.

"Sgt. Romero!"

Beside him Gin snickered. "You're up again, Raff. Who'd you piss off?"

Raff hit him upside the head then pushed off the table. "Sir?"

Lieutenant Iber marched down the aisle his artic suit without any sign of silt or dirt. Three months tops he'd be out of here and in a new command that'll be a damn sight warmer than this frozen hell.

Raff forced his scowl down, he'd been on guard duty since 0600 hours he didn't need more to do. His artic suit was acting-up and his feet ached, also the damn blue lights were driving him ape shit.

He didn't sign-up for the Planetary Guards to end-up on guard duty for this death trap.

"There's a supply caravan arriving in 1500 hours," Lt. Iber had a man to man expression on his face that made Raff uneasy. "Pick eight men, you'll play escort. Prisoner transfer to Galag 7."

That was just dandy. Galag 7 was about eight hours land time, and Raff suspected, it would be land travel. Risking flight in this storm season was suicide.

"Sure pick the good one's, don't you, sarge?" Gin said after the good lieutenant exited the mess.

The other soldiers round the table guffawed. Raff turned an annoyed glare at the laughing soldiers, their

faces shadowed in the gloom. Three weeks 'til his leave, Raff told himself. Meantime... "You're right, Gin I can sure pick 'em. Is why you and these three clowns are goin' to pack your bags. Y'all can join my misery."

The laughter ended abruptly and Raff walked away smiling.

There were five names and profiles in the slim. Sometimes he wondered about the prisoners, who they were what they did to end-up in this godforsaken hell.

There were one or two faces in the crowd of dirt stained and desolate faces that stood out that brought to mind a powerful ruling house that vanished. But mostly Raff tried not to see anything familiar in their faces, better that way, easier.

Sometimes.

He'd entered the prison quarters with Gin and Seram guns and rods cocked and ready. Desperate and angry prisoners were dangerous prisoners.

The prison quarters were dark on purpose, a crazy, psychotic purpose but he could be wrong. Raff slapped the rod engaging the light function.

Three beams of light cut a swath in the dark, motes of dust danced and tumbled as they moved their light this way and that. The glare caught dirt stained faces and occasionally eyes that glittered in the face of the flare. The two men with him moved forward and he followed checking the bunk numbers.

"Shit!" Raff jerked to a stop, for a second his heart stopped beating as something he took for a bed post moved and detached itself and into the light. "Gods on a stick! Stop with the sneaking!"

"May I be of service?" The old woman said, nonplussed.

Raff scowled and waved to Gin to stand down. He did and so did Seram they were both familiar with the old bat.

"None of your business." He said but the old woman shifted her head to the side and he remembered the old woman's leathery hand on his forehead, fever shaking him so hard he didn't need to be told he was dying. That was before Doc Hep called for her.

She was one of the best doctors in Mars, Hep told him and still was. Otherwise he wouldn't be here glaring at her, would he? So he caved and said: "Prison transfer."

There was a change in her expression that made him lift the light to the rusting plaque of the bunk next to her.

The red-orange rust ate through the plaque but the alpha numeric shone in the light: C175.

"Don't," she implored in a soft tone.

"I got my orders," Raff said finding it difficult to look her in the eye. "Gotta do my job."

Gin shone his light at the prone figure on the bunk it was a girl but the dirt and the strip of cloth that served as a bandage on her forehead made her as indistinguishable from the other prisoners.

"Let me," The old woman stepped into the light blocking their view of the girl. She shook prisoner C175 lightly, the girl stirred and jerked on seeing them but the old bat held her shoulders and said something Raff didn't catch.

C175 embraced the old woman and rose but not before Raff saw a suspicious glistening in her eyes.

Seram stepped forward and cuffed C175's wrist. Raff noted a huge fading yellow bruise on her cheek and lowered his light. "C'mon, we're outta time."

She was being transferred it could be random Usagi's seen a few dragged away and never seen again but there was something in the purposeful stride of the guards that made Usagi think otherwise.

Even Anima, who Usagi had seen talk a guard out of beating a person to death, couldn't do anything. So here she was dragged by her forearms and thrown unceremoniously to the vehicle. She didn't complain she was used to falling flat on her face without any help from anyone. They walked through corridors that were better carved than the mines Usagi was used to. The ground was even with the occasional out crop of rock that made her stumble, the support beams looked sturdier than the tacked on iron bar she was accustomed.

She glanced up and saw light bulbs, naked and projecting the same depressing blue found everywhere.

She and the guards met-up with the others; five guards, three prisoners.

The guards greeted each other with a nod then bullied them into a rickety elevator that made Usagi doubt its stability.

"Got any problem with yours, sarge?"

The tall lanky man with a broken nose stabbed at a button. "Eyes front, 'Dro."

The elevator doors screeched to a close, gears clicked and then they were being launched upwards by the grind and kick of the elevator. No one spoke, not until the sergeant pulled on a helmet and said.

"Helmets on."

The guards tossed extra helmets and gloves to Usagi and her fellow prisoners, the helmet was smooth and cold and it looked like a rejected head of a bug-eyed monster. But then Anima made her promise to follow the guards orders so she put it over her head and almost choked at the foul air in the helm and the way it clung to her face. It was suffocating.

And she was being pushed out the elevator and instantaneously halted from the skin flaying cold.

Usagi was not alone in this, she could see through the muggy fish eye lenses the guards and other prisoners stop short and hug themselves under the neon blue lights.

"I hate above level!" Expressed the sergeant and proceeded to swear up a storm that made Usagi blush.

The further they went the colder it got every step was punctuated by chattering teeth and shaking.

Another guard with bulkier winter clothes met them. "Into the transport!"

Usagi clambered on the platform on her hands and knees, shaking so hard her fisheye worldview very nearly made her sick.

The others followed her in, huddling together as soon as they entered. Then her blurry blue world faded to darkness with the clicking of the door lock.

"I think we can take these things off," a muffled voice said that gradually turned to a clear deep voice. "It's not as cold."

Usagi hesitated for a second, inhaled the stale air and gagged before she removed her own. The air in the transport wasn't any better it smelled like burned wires but it was far better than the suffocating helmet. There were shouts and a sudden jerking rumble and over the din Usagi heard the hum of the heat generators.

"And we're off." The clear, deep voice said. Usagi stared toward the direction of the voice, it was hard to tell who was with her, there was no such illumination in the transport. Usagi wasn't quite sure she should be glad of this development but it was a break from the hellish blue lights, so that was something.

There were rustling and a hiss as decompressed air escape from the helmets. The other prisoners finally joined the circle of the helmetless. There was something tugging at her, below the breastbone, she pressed her right fist to her stomach, when was the last time she ate?

"Where are they taking us?" Usagi asked and clenched her jaw after to keep from shaking.

"It doesn't matter where they'll bring us," began an old, bitter voice, so different form the clear voice of the young man sitting opposite Usagi. "It'll still be hell."

That… wasn't what Usagi wanted to hear. The young man opposite Usagi stirred, she felt something ghost over her face Usagi pulled back in surprise.

"Don't mind him," the young man whispered to her, his breath tickling her ear. "He's just being a nasty ol' fart."

"It's alright." Usagi said, feeling a hitch on her breastbone. She tapped the area with her closed fist again. "Where did you come from?"

"What?" The young man pulled back, in the gloom Usagi could make out a figure sitting on his haunches. A blush crept its way up again and Usagi had to hastily say:

"I'm Usagi, by the way."

The transporter rocked and swayed, there was a low grumble from the three other prisoners but they remained quite. Stupid. Idiot. Of all of the harebrained ideas—

"What's your name?"

"N-nothing. I have no name."

"You are now the property of Her Majesty the Queen, you no longer exist outside of these mines. You are now C175, do you understand?"

No. Names.

Not outside of the company that Anima provided.

"I'm Eli." Came the answer, and Usagi felt her breath slide out of her, felt her shoulders ease as she realized her error won't gain punishment.

Suddenly there was a loud, loud explosion and the world turned upside down a startled shout worked its way out of Usagi's mouth as another loud explosion toppled her once more onto the young man and then off again as the whole transporter rocked and she hit the ceiling, which was only moment's ago, the floor. "What's going on?"

"We're being attacked!" Eli shouted over the din. The other prisoners were also screaming, curling into themselves. "We won't survive if they puncture this side of the transport!"

And it did.

Freezing air swept in, it was colder than anything Usagi had ever felt. Cold bit through what little protection the suit offered. She could barely feel her arms and legs. Breathing was hard, air was fire in her lungs.

"C-come c-c-closer." Someone said. An arm pulled her into an embrace but it was a useless. The cold was everywhere, flaying her insides, her exposed face. She could feel her face start to freeze.

Her teeth chattered, clicking together so fast she imagined it would break and shatter. Usagi tried clenching her teeth but she shook so much it hardly seemed worth the effort. Her face, her face burned with the cold. Where was her helmet? Her hand flailed in search for the helmet, pulling away from the embrace, gasping as the cold flayed her throat, her lungs.

Her eyes were weighted down and her whole body felt heavy. She tried to move her hand but it felt like she was carrying lead and she felt… she felt so sleepy… A languid calm overcame her, why was she fighting this? Why not let go? She's been so tired and alone and Mamo-chan could be dead… Usagi's head lolled to the side, let go…

No!

Her numbed mind could not register the words but the voice resonated through every fiber of her body and she jerked, gasped, her lungs burned. Mamo-chan? I'm coming….

Not yet!

Her vision phased out and then, suddenly, she was in the Moon gardens, the grass greener than ever and from above, she saw the Earth hanging, compacted in ice and glass. The very sight chilled her, she turned away she couldn't take seeing the planet she loved so much look so… dead.

There she saw the senshi far away from her, unnaturally still. She could see, clearly, Venus's arm raised a cup in hand and Mercury who was pouring the tea from a silver pot. The liquid was suspended, frozen.

But none of it mattered because he was there robed in his Prince's armor, looking strong and healthy and so very far from dead. A sobbed rose from her and she flung herself to him. He caught her, strong arms circling around her.

"I'm finally with you."

"No, my love, you can't be here yet."

Usagi looked up at him, stricken. "Why? You have no idea how hard it is…"

"You can't die." His embrace was strong, with a hint of desperation. "I won't let you."

"What?"

Endymion looked down at her, intense and willing her to understand something she couldn't understand, then he lowered his head and whispered to her. He was telling her… secrets, names, words and purposes for a brief moment she understood and her eyes went wide but then his voice grew softer and his hold less tangible and she was straining, trying to keep him in place but his words seemed so far away… and she was being….

One more time! One… two… three!

wrenched away.

Again!

Usagi gasped out loud, her throat constricting, her chest hurt. Air was fire in the lungs… and there was something hard, a mask on her face, air rushed in on her, forcing her to breathe.

Mamo-chan was gone again, and she was alone, still here in this life…

"She's revived." A voice said, muffled with something. It was then she realized she wasn't alone, she looked around, in fact she wasn't even in the transporter. She was in a cave filled with the hellish blue lights but instead of black clad guards she was surrounded by white, fur clad men with the similar masked helm with rifles trained at her.

"What—" She began then felt a sharp blade braced under her throat.

"Congratulations, you're alive again." The person with the knife to her throat told her. "Now, give us a valid reason why we shouldn't have kept you dead?"

Usagi cowered as the biggest man in the group, the leader, advanced towards her. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up, dislodging the fur covering, and she dangled a foot from the floor.

"Why do you look like the Queen?" He asked, his voice rasping like an overused microphone.

"Answer, are you her daughter?" The hold on her wrist was unbearable. Usagi knew beyond doubt that this big bear of a man could, if he chose, break her arm with no effort.

Yet amid her fear Usagi felt the glimmerings of anger she raised her eyes and defiantly stared at the masked face. She jerked her hand away and glared at masked man.

Usagi blinked, bleary eyed death fogged, felt the mask on her face, warming her. She stared up at the masked face of her knife wielding savior and laughed, laughed hard, laughed so much it hurt, and laughing she launched herself to her guard, pouncing on him. He fell on his back, she braced herself on top of him and wrapped her hands on his knife hand, pressing it deeper on her throat, drawing blood.

"You want to kill me? Come on kill me!"

"Are you mad!" Screamed the man beneath her.

"Why not?" Usagi stopped laughed and hissed. "Since I woke-up in this blue hell I've been beaten, branded and enslaved. Getting killed isn't anything new. Heck, it'll do me a favor!"

"We don't want you dead!"

"Could have fooled me!"

"We were curious."

"About what?"

"You look like the queen, we wanted to know why!"

Usagi went still. The other guards came forward, their guns aimed at her head she ignored them. "What queen? Where am I?"

"What?" The man asked.

"Where am I? What did you mean I look like the queen?"

"You really are mad! What do you mean where are you? You're in a cave."

Usagi twisted his arm, felt the blade bite into her throat. "Stop being smart and answer me!"

"You're in the slave planet of Charon."

"Charon." Usagi repeated, her mind twisting from one corner and the other. "Charon. You mean, the satellite moon of Pluto."

"What else?" It was hard to tell what her captive's expression was but she was sure he was sneering.

"How long has this queen been ruling?"

"Are you for real? She's been ruling for three hundred years."

Usagi's hand was nerveless. Three hundred years. Everyone she knew was dead. Everyone. The ice cream man, her parents, Shingo, Motoki. Everyone.

No. This wasn't how it's supposed to happen. "You're lying!" She screamed, dropping his arm and wrapping her hands on his throat. "You're lying!"

"Why should I lie to you!" Screamed the man, his throat working under her hands.

"Because you're evil!"

"The only evil in here is you!"

Three hundred years. Charon. Time Gates. Then his words registered in her mind. She recoiled, jumped away from him, saw the guns track her.

"I'm not evil." She whispered.

The man stood-up, "You have the face of the tyrant queen."

She clutched her head, shaking. Her throat was so dry she had to work to swallow, heard her heart pound so loud it was amazing the others didn't hear it. "What queen?"

"You should know, shouldn't you? You have her face." The man said, his voice scratchy like a back feed of a microphone, probably because of the mask. "What's your relation to her?"

"Show me the queen."

The man didn't move.

Usagi removed the mask on her face, "Please."

Finally, the man moved his head, there was movement behind Usagi, she turned and stopped, when suddenly a flash of something appeared before her then the light formed into a familiar figure that couldn't possibly be.

She looked down, saw the shoes, stiletto, white; the soft blue gown; the long, long staff of office held by slim fingers; then the head held by a long swan like neck and then the face—Usagi gasped. She went around the hologram. The woman could be her, the face, the crescent sigil, the distinctive hairstyle that was the mark of the Royal Moon Family.

But it wasn't her.

Circling around it, floodgates of memory opened in her mind and she was lost in the past, couldn't believe that she had forgotten something so important.

"Do you remember now?"

"Yes." She stopped directly behind the image, looking through identical blue colored eyes. "I remember now. This is my sister. Celeste."

Notes: Anastasis – Gk. resurrection