Chapter 8

Knockin' on Heaven's Door.

'Ah, Knives,' greeted the Doctor as the plant staggered into the Medical Centre that morning, 'I'm glad to see you here, I've just discovered something interesting. Did you have a good rest?'

Knives struggled to keep a civil tongue, he'd only had three hours sleep, he was (secretly,) sick with worry over Vash and to top it all off the old man, who had even less sleep than he, continued to be obnoxiously awake and cheerful.

He was not in the mood for pleasantries.

'What did you find out?' he grunted irritably.

The tall, dark haired man who was standing by the Doctor snorted angrily, displeased by Knives briskness. Knives recognised him as Rex, the man he'd met just outside the city.

'Well,' said the Doctor, ignoring both Knives' and Rex's irritation, 'I was thinking about our little conundrum and I recalled that, to make nano-bots such as these one would need certain tools. And amongst these is a Diatom Programmer. Now, only a very few of these were taken along on the SEEDS ships, being expensive and of highly specified use. Luckily this ship was one of those which carried them and I recalled that it was still in our High Storage facility, where our most advanced technology is kept. On a hunch I went down there last night, just after you'd left, to check that it was still there. It wasn't.'

'So,' said Knives, sleepily, 'what you're saying is that someone stole it from under your noses and used it to create the nano-bots?'

'Exactly,' said the Doctor, smugly, 'it's not much, granted, but as far as I know ours was the only Diatom Programmer to survive the fall. I've not touched it in years, though when I last did an inventory of our stores it was still there. It's not much, but it is a start.'

'Is there any way of finding out who the culprit was?'

The Doctor sighed and shook his head wearily, for a moment looking his age, 'no,' he said, 'I've honestly no idea how the culprit or culprits as it might be, stole it. It should be impossible.'

'Don't you have guards?' snarled Knives, not really meaning to sound so snappish.

'Of course we do!' it was Rex who was talking now and his voice was full of righteous anger, 'but there weren't any posted round that area.'

'Why not?'

'Because they aren't needed,' spat Rex, his fists balling at his sides, 'the High Security Storage area is a room near the centre of the city, surrounded on all sides by Adamantiumn(1) walls. The door will open only upon the voice recognition and security code of high level SEEDS Scientists and officers. That means the only person alive who could open that door is the Doctor.'

'Could someone force their way though?'

'Almost certainly not,' replied the Doctor, 'and defiantly not without alerting the entire city. No, the only person who could have removed the Diatom Programmer is myself. And, although my memory is far from perfect, I'm sure I did no such thing.'

'So how the hell did it get in the hands of the filth that infected my brother! And how does any of this advance our investigation!'

'Come now, we know the culprit came here, which means that he or she might have left some clue. Those two women who travel with you seemed vary excited when I told them the news.'

Knives blinked, 'you talked to them?' he asked, curious.

'Of course,' replied the Doctor merrily, 'when I made this discovery I contacted your quarters. You were asleep, of course, so those two lovely ladies came instead. The short one in particular, as I recall, was very interested in the news. She actually asked if she could start her own investigation.'

'She did?'

'Why yes, she asked if she could borrow one of our vehicles to do some exploring of the surrounding area. I thought it best to humour her. I leant her one of the Hover Discs.'

'Oh,' said Knives, blankly, not sure what to make of the news. He wondered who'd look after Vash… still, it would get them out from under his feet. He wondered if they were smart enough to pilot of Hover Disc? Probably; it would be too much to hope that they'd crash and die of thirst in the desert.

He let out a long suffering sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He needed coffee.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

'Wasn't it nice of the Doctor to lend us this Hover Disc?' said Millie as she leaned out over the edge, 'it's wonderful! I never thought I'd fly!'

'Yes,' agreed Meryl, working the controls, 'this is amazing. But don't loose sight of our mission, Millie.'

'Yes Ma'am! Um… what was our mission again?'

Meryl sighed, she wished Millie would keep her mind more on the job, 'to find the source of those ghost stories BDN's men told us about.'

'Oooh, scary! But why are we looking into those? I thought you said ghosts don't exist.'

'They don't Millie,' Meryl explained patiently, 'but I was thinking. Mr Knives mentioned a ghost sighting back at our old town and I was wondering if the two were linked. Especially now we know our target has been to Sky City.'

'That's smart thinking ma'am!'

'Thank you Millie, now keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual. Really it would be best looking at night, when the "ghost" comes out, but I doubt we'd be able so see much then…'

Millie nodded and peered once more over the edge of the disk, gazing down at the endless dues below. Meryl continued to work the controls. She was lucky they were so simplistic, as it was it didn't take all that much knowledge to drive a Hover Disc and having an air vehicle to scan the land below was invaluable.

She just hoped that they weren't on some wild goose chase. Still, after all, it was better than doing nothing.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Rex was not a happy man.

He couldn't think but that it was somewhat demeaning that he, security chief of Sky City, should be relegated to baby sitting.

The Doctor had politely asked (or rather, ordered,) him to go and visit Vash, to check he was alright. This small task had been enlarged when Vash had requested him to take him out on a walk.

He might have refused but for the fact that the Doctor had told him to be as helpful as possible. Still, Rex found himself disliking the gunman intensely. He was a security, chief, a sheriff as the primitives on Gunsmoke would term him, he loved order and if history had taught them anything, Vash was never a source of order.

Still, Vash had saved his life, knocking him out of the way of that stray bullet, so Rex supposed he owed him some courtesy if nothing else.

It was strange, to stride round the familiar corridors of Sky City with a legend half draped across his shoulder. Vash was now too weak to walk easily by himself, but in every other respect he was the picture of liveliness. He waved and greeted everyone he met, recalling many by name. Some shrunk back into their quarters upon seeing him, but quite a few recognised him and returned his greeting. The occasional person even started small conversations with him.

'Ah,' Mrs Green, an old lady who seemed to spend her days knitting numerous jumpers for her grandchildren, 'Vash! How long has it been!'

'Too long Anita,' laughed Vash, 'how are you? Any more kids?'

'No, no, but a few grandchildren. Hold on a moment,' she turned to call to someone inside her quarters, 'Jenny! Jenny! Come out here a moment!'

At her summons a young, teenage girl with flaming red hair skipped out into the corridor. She stared at Vash as if he was some sort of bizarre alien.

'This is Jenny, my grand daughter,' introduced Anita Green, 'Jenny, you've heard of Mr Vash! Once, many years ago, when I was your age, Mr Vash was the one who gave me my first kiss, weren't you Mr Vash?'

Vash blushed bright crimson, 'really Anita,' he muttered, 'I thought we were gonna keep that a secret! What would Benjamin think!'

'Oh, my husband died last year,' informed Mrs Green in a matter of fact manner, 'his heart gave out, you know? Happens to the best of us.'

'I'm sorry,' said Vash softly, lowering his head.

'Come now dear,' soothed the old lady, patting his hand, 'don't let it bother you. Now, would you like to come inside for a drink or some such? Catch up on old times?'

'I would,' sighed Vash, 'but I'm on my way to visit someone else.'

'Alright then, maybe some other time. Don't be a stranger!'

'Bye!' returned Vash happily as old Mrs Green hustled herself and her daughter back inside their home.

It was strangely disturbing, Rex thought, to think that this young looking man had known Mrs Green when she was a girl, had kissed her even. Yet… it was also oddly comforting. This man, this strange, chaotic man would live long passed him and everyone here, if he was not struck down by disease or bullet. For the first time Rex appreciated why he was such a legend, why the Doctor was so keen to heal him. He was more than a man; he was history. He was a part of Sky City, of Gunsmoke itself.

'Are you sure you want to do this?' he found himself saying as they reached their destination, 'she… well, whilst I don't really disagree with what she did, she is a bit… unhinged.'

'Maybe,' replied Vash, sounding utterly solemn, 'but if I am really dying I don't want to leave any more bad feeling behind than I have to. I need to talk to her, anyway. I need to know why…'

Rex nodded, he understood.

Vash sighed and smiled, 'thanks very much for taking me here,' he said, 'but you don't need to come in with me. If you'd just stay outside the door, ready to take me back…?'

'Of course, call me if you need anything.'

'I will.'

Rex nodded and punched the security code which would unlock Jessica's room. Vash moved inside and the door closed behind him. Rex then took up position outside the door, waiting for Vash to remerge.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Vash was glad he had good night vision, it was pitch dark in Jessica's room. He would have thought it empty if it wasn't for the sound of her rapid breathing.

The heavy ornament which was slung towards him from out of the darkness was also a clue.

He ducked quickly, wincing as the object shattered on the wall behind him.

'Aw, Jessica!' he whined, 'don't be like that!'

There was a pause, for a moment the sound of breathing stopped entirely, the lights came on.

Jessica was standing in the middle of the room, wearing a simple, blue and green trouser suit.

'Vash…' she said softly.

'That's my name!' he replied, carefully positioning a grin across his face, 'don't wear it out!'

Jessica lowered her head, seeming not to hear, 'you hate me,' she whispered.

Vash blinked, then sighed, 'nah,' he said, 'I don't hate you, not now. I was pretty upset when I saw you before, I've got to say, but that was a bit of an extreme situation.'

'I'm sorry for nearly shooting Meryl. I didn't mean to.'

'I know.'

'She would have died for him, would have died for that filth… just like Brad…'

'Yeah, Brad didn't think too much of me, either, but he still saved my life, and argued for me in front of everyone else. He was a good man, just like Meryl is a good woman.'

'Do you love Meryl?'

Vash did not reply, his expression was unreadable.

Jessica smiled softly, 'she loves you, I think,' she continued, 'very much so. I think… that was part of the reason why she tried to save Knives, so that you wouldn't be sad.'

'Meryl and Brad are very alike,' responded Vash, 'they were both willing to die for someone they believed in, even if they didn't like them very much.'

Jessica looked up at him for the first time during their conversation, her large green eyes bored into his, 'does she believe in Knives? Does she think he's… he's not a monster?'

Vash paused for a moment, he knew it was best to tell the truth, 'I don't know,' he said, 'she's beginning to, I think. Though he still scares her. I won't pretend he's a saint now, I can't even promise he won't continue his evils someday, but I think he is learning. He finally understands that maybe he was wrong, that he judged humans too quickly, that they can be better. Given time perhaps he'll walk the same road as me, perhaps he'll help you. For now at least he's promised that he won't hurt anyone.'

'And if he breaks that promise?'

'I'll kill him.'

There was silence after that, both parties unsure of what to say next. It was Jessica who spoke first.

'I just wanted to make it up to him,' she said, 'Brad, I mean. He was always so nice to me, he liked me so much and I never… I never even looked at him… I was too busy fantasising about you.'

Her voice quaked with unshed tears and when Vash moved forward to hug her, she did not protest.

'I thought,' she sniffed, 'that by killing Knives I would be helping people, I would avenge Brad…'

'There's no use in revenge,' murmured Vash softly, holding her close, 'it just breeds more death and suffering. You missed Brad because you were too busy chasing after me, don't miss something else because you were too busy plotting against Knives. It's just a waste.'

'Can you forgive me, Vash?'

'Of course.'

With a final sniff, Jessica moved out of Vash's embrace and at last a smile, a real smile lit up her face and Vash found himself struck by how much she had changed. This was no longer a love sick girl, but a mature, capable woman.

'You know,' she said, 'if you want I could make you a new coat.'

'Thanks,' laughed Vash, 'but that's part of my life I've left behind. It's shirts and jeans for me now!'

'A pity,' giggled Jessica, though her voice was still a little horse from crying, 'you looked very good in it. Would you like something to drink…? I'd like to talk to you… really talk…'

Vash nodded, 'sure,' he said, grinning. He stepped forward but at that moment his strength gave way and he stumbled, only just catching himself from falling.

Jessica ran to his aid, 'Vash!' she cried, 'oh, I'm and idiot! I forgot you were sick! How is your illness, have they found out what it is yet?'

'Yeah,' sighed Vash, allowing her to help him to a near by couch.

'And? How are they going to cure it?'

'They don't know.'

'Well then… when are you going to get better? You are going to get better, right? Right?'

Vash paused, then gave a wide, wide grin, 'of course!' he said, 'of course I'm going to get better!'

To his relief, Jessica did not say anything further on the topic.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Meryl Strife tore her eyes away from the control panel of the hover disk long enough to rub the sleep out of them. She was completely worn out. They'd been flying over the desert, searching for clues, since early dawn and now it was sunset.

She gritted her teeth, she didn't want to give up, she knew that they might not have much time to spare but it was getting dark.

'Millie?' she called. There was no reply.

She turned to see her tall partner splayed out on the floor of the hover disk, her head and one arm flopping over the side, the wind tugging at her long hazel locks. Now she listened closely Meryl could just detect the sound of her soft snores.

'Millie!' she yelled.

Millie awoke with a start, 'no more spiders in my pudding!' she shrieked, jumping up. She blinked a few times lazily, readjusting herself to the waking world.

'Oh ma'am!' she said, 'thank goodness you woke me up! I was having the most dreadful dream!'

'Never you mind the dream,' snapped Meryl, 'you were meant to be keeping an eye out for clues.'

'But,' whined Millie, 'there's nothing here! Just a whole lot of sand… I'm sure no spooks would want to live there.'

Meryl sighed, 'that isn't the point. We've got to keep looking, Millie. Vash is depending on us!'

'Yes Ma'am,' Millie said despondently, 'but it's getting dark. I don't think I can see much in the dark.'

'I know. If we don't find anything soon we'll turn back. But let's keep on going for a little longer.'

Millie sighed and nodded forlornly, poking her head back out over the rim of the disk, scanning the endless tracks of sand, now tinted red with the light of the setting sun.

It wasn't that much later when Meryl, stifling a yawn, heard something.

'Millie,' she said, 'do you hear dogs howling?'

Millie jerked her head upwards, also pricking her ears. The sound came again, a sort of high moaning, carried by the wind.

'No,' she said, 'I don't think that's dogs… or it doesn't sound like the ones that used to live on my farm, anyway.'

Meryl was inclined to agree, the howling, moaning sound was too consistent, not varying in pitch or tone. It sounded strange, almost… ghostly.

'Let's follow that sound,' she said, 'I bet it's what those people heard!'

'Ooooh, Ma'am!' shrieked Millie, looking rather scared, 'don't you think it's a bit dangerous, going to investigate ghosts?'

'Millie,' sighed Meryl, 'for the last time, there's no such thing as ghosts,' but even as she said this she couldn't deny a small twinge of fear in her chest.

Both women kept their ears pricked, trying to follow the source of the sound. Matters were not helped by the slight desert breeze, which carried the sound hither and thither, making it difficult to get a lock on its location. Meryl wondered if the source of the sound was the wind, perhaps this was a wild goose chase after all.

Despite all this it was only a few minutes later than they found it.

Millie was first to spot it, pointing to a distant shape, a sparkle of reflected moonlight (for the suns had sunk below the horizon by now,) and they moved in for a closer look.

What they saw astonished them both.

It was a ship.

It was almost but not quite cylindrical, it must have been three or four times the size of the average car along and twice as high and broad. It seemed to be made of the typical Lost Technology metal, its colour was a mixture of silver and white with bold, blue letters on the side.

These read: Shuttle 1.2, The Lazarus

'Where do you think it came from?' asked Millie, her voice breathy with awe, 'is it from Sky City? Or maybe it's just another piece of wreckage…'

'No,' muttered Meryl, 'I don't think so. We're not all that far from Sky City, surely they would have detected it if it had been here any length of time. And I doubt its debris from the fall, the condition is perfect! We need to examine it.'

Heart thudding in her chest, Meryl landed the hover disk to take a closer look. She grabbed her Derringer laden cloak and fastened it about her shoulders, feeling the comfortable weight of the guns settle there. Millie hoisted her Stun gun, a look of determination on her features.

The two of them stepped out onto the sands and marched forward, approaching the ship wearily.

It was defiantly the source of the noise, the air practically hummed with the strange, high moan. Tentatively, Meryl brought one hand forward to touch the bulkhead of the craft. She briefly felt it vibrate under her fingers before she leaped backwards. A door had opened up at the side of the craft, sliding open much as the ones in Sky City did.

She was just pondering whether or not to enter when Millie made the decision for her, striding forward with her Stun Gun at the ready.

'NO!' cried Meryl, appalled at such recklessness.

'It's OK Ma'am,' her companion called from inside the vessel, 'there's no one here!'

Meryl scowled and stalked inside the ship, meaning to berate Millie for her actions, but immediately forgot all about it when she studied the insides of the craft.

She was by no means an expert in Lost Technology, but she knew that this was some of the best on GunSmoke. No where outside of Sky City has she seen such an amount of working computers! Lit by bright, florescent lighting the consoles shone and glittered with tiny LED's, and it all looked fully operational. What was more, the condition was almost perfect. Even the highly maintained computers and equipment of Sky City showed more wear and tear than the clean, flawless electrics here.

'It's amazing!' whispered Millie and Meryl felt inclined to agree.

She moved to examine some of the control panels, gazing blankly at the blinking lights and strange symbols. Some of the wording she understood, but most of it seemed complete gibberish.

She heard Millie fumbling about behind her, no doubt investigating the instrumentation also.

Once again Meryl tried to think where this vessel could have possibly come from. Certainly, she'd never seen anything like it. It could be a piece of Lost Technology that had been hidden under the sands… like those strange robot monsters Vash and Mr Wolfwood had fought all those years ago. The thought sent a shiver of recollection down her spine. It was possible but… but… even the most secret and hidden of old Machinery had felt the passage of time. Either suffering rust, sand erosion, heat problems… nothing could be as well kept as this. It might have been built yesterday.

Could that be possible? Could this have been built by someone on Gun Smoke? No… no that couldn't be right, surely. Even if there was someone alive with the knowledge, many of the metals needed to create such a construct simply could no longer be found on Gunsmoke. Or else, if they were, they were so incredibly rare it would cost a fortune to collect them.

One thing was for certain, whoever managed to get hold of this was smart. Very smart.

Meryl's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the tone of the ship's moaning changed, going up a notch. The floor rumbled below Meryl's feet and she struggled to remain steady.

'What's happening?' she asked, turning towards her companion. She gaped in shock.

Millie was sitting at a seat in the front of the craft. For the first time she noticed that there was a window in the front of the cockpit and it was currently showing a moving landscape.

The ship was moving.

And Millie was at the helm.

The tall girl chuckled and her fingers pressed a few more buttons.

'Millie!' shrieked Meryl as another shaking judder wracked the ship, sending the short insurance girl sprawling.

Suddenly the view of golden sands moving beneath them changed so that the sand disappeared and the screen was filled by the dark blue sky, now strewn with stars. Meryl rolled backwards a little as the tilt of the shuttle changed, it was taking off. Millie laughed joyously, she was like a child with a new toy.

'Millie!' she screamed again, 'what the hell do you think you're doing! You don't know how to fly this thing, you're going to get us killed!'

'I don't think so Ma'am,' replied Millie merrily, 'most of these controls are just like the ones on the Hover disk, and the ones that aren't are pretty easy to understand. Besides, we won't crash. I put us on Autopilot.'

Meryl scrambled over to her, grabbing the back of the pilot's seat as the ship continued to ascend.

'What do you mean, Autopilot?' she asked quizzically.

Millie pointed to a small screen containing several numbers which looked very much like a location grid. Above it, in glowing green letters the words, 'Destination Locked. Autopilot Activated,' shone out.

'I just pressed the button here,' Millie pointed to a small green button which read, "Systems Ready: Begin Take Off," 'and this button here,' she gestured to the "Activate Pre-Destined Auto Pilot."

Excitement flooded Meryl's veins, 'do you realize what this means?' she squeaked, 'if this is right then this ship might well take us to wherever it came from! The scoundrel who poisoned Vash was probably on a return run. This could well lead us to wherever their hide out is!'

'Oh Ma'am!' Millie squealed, 'I never thought of that! Shall I see if I can make it go faster!'

'No,' sighed Meryl, 'we'd best be safe. Millie… do you think you can re-direct this thing? Or at least land it. We've got to go to Sky City and report this to Knives and The Doctor.'

'But I thought that we were taking care of matters ourselves,' protested Millie.

Meryl opened her mouth to reply to her partner, but no words would come out.

She imagined returning to Sky City, turning over the shuttle to them. Seeing Knives smile smugly and, perhaps, make some snide remark about how remarkable it was that spiders such as themselves were able to drive it. She imagined being stuck back in those quarters with an ailing Vash whilst Knives went off and claimed all the glory. Being helpless and hapless whilst that annoying, smart ass, arrogant murderer got all the credit. The smug bastard hadn't even thanked her for saving his butt, for being willing to take Jessica's bullet.

'You've got a point Millie,' she said, 'we can't turn back now… never the less it would be irresponsible to go off somewhere so dangerous without telling anyone.'

'Why don't we use the communications system?'

'Excuse me?'

'The communication system,' said Millie, pointing to a small control, just below a largish, dark screen. By the button, in white letters, were the word 'Coms.'

'I'm sure we could get a message through to them using this.'

'Alright then,' said Meryl, shrugging, 'I don't suppose it could hurt. Just don't press any buttons marked Self Destruct. That never ends well.'

………………………………………………………………………………………….

When the communiqué came in the main control room of Sky City turned into an ant hill of activity. Having some idea that this might involve the Plant twins, the Doctor summoned them there quickly.

Vash came in, supported by his brother. Or, to be more accurate, carried by Knives, as speed seemed to be of the essence.

As soon as they entered the control room the Doctor nodded, 'I'm glad you're here,' he said, 'I've no idea where this came from, outside of our operatives and yourself, Vash, we've not received any incoming communication for over one hundred years.'

'So who could it be?' asked Vash solemnly.

'I've no idea,' responded the Doctor, 'but it might well have something to do with your condition. I'm going to activate the communications consol now.'

He pressed a button and the large screen which dominated Sky City's main control room lit up.

It showed the large, pail and friendly face of Millie Thompson.

Vash and Knives goggled.

'Oh, Miss Thompson,' said the Doctor, as if this kind of thing happened every day, 'it's you! How did you get hold of communications equipment?'

'We found a ship!' replied the tall girl merrily, but the vision of her face was quickly supplanted by Meryl's serious face.

'Doctor,' she said simply, 'we found a shuttle in the middle of the desert.'

'You found a what!' exclaimed Vash, clearly astounded.

'A shuttle,' reiterated Meryl, 'we found it by following the sound of its engines, it is in astonishing condition. Also, we've managed to activate the autopilot, we think it's taking us back to where it came from.'

'You're trying to find the base of whoever owns it,' surmised the Doctor, 'perhaps the same person who has infected Vash.'

'Exactly,' replied Meryl.

'This is idiocy!' spat Knives, 'you could be flying straight into a trap! You've no idea how to use that technology properly! Return here immediately!'

'We seem to be doing a pretty good job of it,' snapped Meryl coolly, 'besides, since when did we follow your orders, Knives? We can manage this just fine by ourselves.'

Knives seethed, his face turning white with fury. He probably would have said or done something rather nasty had not Vash put a steadying hand upon his shoulder. He, by contrast, bore a mixed expression, one both of pride and worry.

'Miss Strife,' said the Doctor pleasantly, 'I understand your willingness to take this task on alone, very creditable and understandable. However I do think that it would be wise to take someone more knowledgeable in computer systems with you. I imagine that it's quite likely that, if this personage, whoever they may be, has a fully operational shuttle and is can utilise Nanotechnology, then they will probably have still more machines in their base, wherever it may be.'

Meryl frowned at the Doctor's speech, 'you're right,' she sighed, 'but… it would be a waste of time to return now!'

'That's not necessary my dear,' assured the Doctor, 'we actually have a shuttle of our own. If you could read out the location your Auto Pilot is set to then we can follow you.'

Meryl sighed, obviously reluctant, 'very well then,' she said, 'the location is…' her large grey eyes glanced to the side, obviously reading a control panel, '53 by 2859 by 1749. I hope that helps.'

'It does,' assured the Doctor, 'when you approach the base stay inside the shuttle and wait for backup. Understood?'

'Understood,' replied Meryl curtly, clearly unhappy.

She turned off the communications and the screen when blank.

'Idiots!' swore Knives, 'stupid, damned, filthy-'

'That's quite enough, Knives,' said the Doctor, a stern look on his wrinkled features.

Vash privately agreed with him and tightened his grip on his brother's shoulder. Knives fell silent, though the stormy expression remained on his face.

'Is your shuttle still working?' asked Vash, curiously.

'It should be,' replied the Doctor, 'we do our best to keep it in good condition. Though we don't use it much. Shuttles are of little use inside the atmosphere, we only use it to keep some of our satellites repaired.'

'Can I use it to follow those two stupid women?' snarled Knives.

'Of course, just set the autopilot to the coordinates they gave and it should take you to the same destination. But we'd best hurry, I doubt Miss Strife will follow my final instructions.'

Knives nodded curtly and, still propping Vash up, strode out of the control room.

'Tell me where the shuttle is kept,' he ordered Vash who complied, giving instructions as they walked.

'So,' he said, between directions, 'what's all this about 'I'.'

'Don't tell me you're thinking of coming, you can barely stand!'

'It's my disease,' replied Vash simply, 'my battle, I'm the one that's going to fight it. I'm not risking anyone else.'

'Then you're being even more stupid than usual, Vash. You're taking me to the shuttle and then you're remaining here where you can be cared for.'

'I am damn well coming!'

Knives turned to face him, Vash looked angry, no… he looked furious. Knives couldn't believe his usually easy going twin was so angry, what could have caused this? He hid his concern well, however, saying, 'you know, at over one hundred and thirty you're a bit old for these childish tantrums.'

'This is not a tantrum,' snarled Vash, 'I am not just going to lie here wasting away. I am going to find out whoever did this to me and… and… and…'

'Yes? And what exactly? Wiggle your finger at them disapprovingly? I doubt you have the strength for even that.'

'Knives,' Vash growled, 'if you know one thing about me it's how hard it is to change my mind on something when it's set. Well it's pretty darn set now.'

'And if you know one thing about me, brother,' returned Knives, feeling his own ire rise, 'then it's how difficult it is to change my mind also!'

The twins glared at each other for a long moment and, if one was to look at them right then, one would think how strangely alike they looked, for all their philosophical differences.

Knives was the one to finally turn away, 'very well then,' he grumbled, 'it's your funeral. But I'm still coming and don't you dare argue or I swear I'll smash your knee caps!'

'Good,' said Vash, the rage draining from his face a little, though he still looked grim and determined, 'let's get to that shuttle.'

………………………………………………………………………………………….

They found the ship in a dingy storage bay. Obviously unused, they left footsteps in the thick dust which carpeted the floor.

The first thing they noticed was that, to their relief, Shuttle 4.1, The Arimathea, wasn't in bad condition for its age. Sky City had maintained it well though it still showed signs of wear and tear.

The second thing they noticed, to their displeasure, was that they were not alone.

Sky City's security chief, Rex, was there with a small contingent of guards.

'We're coming with you,' he growled in a voice that brooked no argument.

Vash and Knives exchanged glances.

'Ok then,' said Vash happily, 'help me in while Knives checks the controls, will ya?'

Rex nodded curtly and, as he'd done earlier that very day, he put his arm round Vash. With Knives leading the way, they hobbled into the shuttle.

Knives went straight towards the cock pit. He sat down and began to study the controls, wiggling his fingers in mid air as he worked out what was what. He'd never actually driven a shuttle before, but their operation was simplistic enough.

If those two female humans could do it so could he!

Meanwhile Rex, supporting Vash, had just entered the shuttle.

'Thanks,' said Vash, letting go of Rex and slumping against the wall near the door, 'you know… I'm really sorry about this.'

'What do you-?' Rex's question was interrupted as Vash's hand (his organic hand thankfully) slammed into his face.

He toppled backwards, out of the shuttle hatch and down, back onto the floor of the storage bay.

His men cried out in alarm and rushed forwards but Vash had already activated the door's closing mechanism. He waved and grinned cheerily at the men as it slid shut, relishing the shocked expressions on their faces.

'I love doing that!' he giggled when it was completely closed.

Knives merely grunted in reply, pressing a sequence of buttons. The shuttle started to make a strange, high pitched moaning sound. Vash could feel the floor and walls start to vibrate slightly.

'What's that?' he asked, 'are we about to take off?'

'Idiot,' muttered Knives, 'don't you remember? These things need a while to warm up, about five to ten minutes engine warming time.'

'Oooh,' said Vash, 'well I hope we're off soon, I don't want those guys out there to try to force the door open!'

Knives nodded, 'don't worry,' he said, 'I doubt they could… not without a very hot blow torch…'

………………………………………………………………………………………….

It was just under ten minutes later when Rex, still clutching his head, stumbled back into the main control room.

'Doctor,' he gasped, 'those damn twins have gone out unaccompanied! That bastard Vash hit me, threw me out and closed the door before anyone else could enter the shuttle. They've left without anyone else!'

'Really?' asked the Doctor serenely, 'I rather expected something like that would happen. Ah well, can't blame an old man for trying…'

The floors shook slightly as the shuttle took off, the force of the engines shaking the entire of Sky City.

The Doctor turned on the viewing monitor and watched the shuttle rise up high into the night's sky.

'I do hope they manage to bring it back in one piece,' he sighed, 'it's the only shuttle we have…'

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Meryl glared at the computer screens, trying to decipher the technological jargon displayed there. She'd been lucky she'd managed to access this information at all, just pressing likely buttons seemed to do the trick. Never the less, she was a trifle worried she might cause some damage to the craft. Not something she wanted to do at the height they were cruising at now.

She'd not known it was possible for any ship to go so high, certainly they were well above the cloud level. Last time she'd looked, Sky City was a small speck beneath them and, in front of them, they could see the large forms of the moons and the glimmering mettle of satellites and other metallic debris left over from the Great Fall, which had remained suspended in the atmosphere.

The ship seemed to have increased in speed, the engines humming louder than ever. Anxious to know what their destination was she scanned through the closest thing she could find to a 'users manual,' hoping to find out where the auto-pilot co-ordinates lead. It would be just her luck if they took them out into deep space.

'Coffee Ma'am?' asked Millie, proffering a plastic cup of the potent liquid.

Meryl took it without thinking and had a sip.

Moments later the brown liquid was spewed out onto the console.

'Millie!' she growled, 'that was almost cold! And it was far too sweet. Why are you passing out coffee anyway? We should be concentrating on finding out where we're going.'

'Oh that's easy!' replied her partner merrily, 'we're going to the fifth moon.'

'How exactly to you know that?'

Millie pointed mutely to the view screen window which was now dominated by the pail pink form of the fifth moon, its single, large creator glaring out at them like some huge, malevolent eye.

'Oh,' said Meryl weakly, somewhat shocked despite herself. For a start she hadn't realized they'd come so far. In the comparatively short time she'd been gazing resolutely at the information screen, they'd moved much further than she could have dreamed. They seemed to have left Gun Smoke, clouds and all, far behind them. Now they seemed to be cruising in space and, what was more, towards one of the rocky orbs which rotated around their home.

Of all the destinations she thought her assignment to follow and guard Vash the Stampede might take her, the fifth moon, (or any other moon come to that,) was certainly not one of them.

She shook her head, trying to grab hold of herself, 'well then,' she breathed, 'our villain must be located there… but where there? He or she would need some sort of base to-'

'We're slowing down!' exclaimed Millie and, sure enough, Meryl heard the ships engines start to wind down somewhat. They were still moving but not nearly at the speed they had been.

'We must be getting near our destination,' said Meryl, her eyes scanned the control panels again. Sure enough their speed was going down. Several thrusters at the front of the ship had been activated. These would push the ship the other way, counteracting their propulsion.

'Look!' cried Millie pointing at the screen. Meryl also looked, straining her eyes to catch what her companion had spotted.

Their, in the distance was… something. A pail, silver something stuck onto the dark side of the fifth moon.

As they ship drifted closer details of the object became more apparent and, right then and there, several of Meryl's questions were answered.

For, half buried on the dark side of the fifth moon, was one of the SEEDS ships. Several of its portholes sparkled with internal light and, upon its side in bold letters, were the words SEEDS SHIP 1.

(1) Yep, that's taken from X-men and Marvel comics. Well, why not?

Notes:

Sorry for any problems/spelling/Grammar errors in this chapter. I'm very much rushed for time at the moment and I had no time to go over it to re-check it. So please be forgiving.

Please check my LJ for your readers replies, but leave a review here.

NEXT TIME:

Knives and Vash are in for an unpleasant surprise, Meryl realises a mistake and meets a legend. And the past comes up to bite them all in the arse.