Hitomi sighed with relief as the cafe emptied. It had been another hectic lunch-rush but she was grateful for the income. And her part-time job gave her a welcome distraction from the tensions of final exams and college applications. Her track accomplishments were promising but there was never a guarantee. Her work also distracted her from other things. Her social life, what little she had had the past year. And her seeming loss of touch with the man she loved. She knew Earth was where she belonged, but could never forget Van. Yet now she could feel him less and less. What if he had forgotten all about her? She shook the thought from her head and forced back tears before snapping back to work.

She vigorously went about clearing the tables and wiping them down. When that was finished she gave the floor a good sweep, then began dusting. Was so caught up in her work she barely noticed the door swing open and the customer come inside. Moments later she caught a foreign accent and turned to see a middle-aged man with short gray hair placing an order at the counter. He wore civilian clothing, but like most Japanese, Hitomi had learned the difference in frame and stance between military and civilians. Indeed foreign servicemen often visited the cafe. Thankfully only a few had hit on her, and none had been jerks.

The man turned to take a seat beside the window, she looked in time to notice he was looking at her. She awkwardly fumbled about bowing and greeting, which he returned with a warm smile and a reply in her own language. He had a firm but kind face, which dismissed any danger of him being a creepy old-man trying to hit on her. Yet something about his gaze felt off. Like he was examining her, but more like a math equation or a mystery novel.

Hurrying behind the counter, Hitomi helped prepare the man's sandwich and hurried it out to him with a glass of water. "Thank you, Hitomi," he said with a smile. She returned it with a bow. Briefly grimaced that he knew her name, then giggled that he must have seen her name-tag. "Terrible, isn't it?" the man said. She turned to follow his gaze to the TV set mounted on the wall. It was another story about the nuclear explosion in America.

"Yes! Awful!" she agreed. And all this just after the war! Like most, she followed the war between America and Russia with tension. Especially as it spread to Alaska and South America. Thankfully it hadn't touched Japan. Hitomi had personally, had enough war to last her a lifetime.

"Um, Ms. Kanzaki," the man said. She blinked at being greeted formally, and by her last name! "Sorry to bother you with this at work, but the circumstances are significant. My name is William Braidwood and I'm with the U.S. Army. And there's something urgent I need to speak to you about." He paused to let her take his words in, while he bit into his sandwich. It was an odd request, but he acted very casual about it. "For starters, I understand you speak English?" he asked in his own native tongue after swallowing his first bite.

"I do," Hitomi replied.

"Please, join me, Ms. Kanzaki, there's something you should see," he drew a folder from his lap and placed it on the table beside his dish. Hitomi turned to her boss at the counter, who only smiled and gave a goofy wink, to which she could only sigh. Her boss was lenient by Japanese standards and constantly badgered her to accept date requests from men at the cafe. She clearly thought Braidwood was coming onto her. Putting her frustration aside, she indulged her curiosity about the American and sat down across from him in the booth. For a moment he was silent as he took another bite and chewed it.

"Is this a recruitment?" Hitomi asked, struggling with the last word less than most Japanese. Braid would only chuckled.

"No, actually. I have a picture to show you, I'd like your opinion." He drew a large photo from the folder and placed it down in front of her before she could reply. She gazed down at the picture and her breath caught in her throat. She went cold, could feel herself pale. There in the photo stood a bipedal vehicle she had thought she'd seen the last of. A guymelef! She knew the color and cape attached in an instant, it was from Zaibach! It must have been a still-shot, as it was aiming it's weapon at an American tank.

Hitomi began to pant for breath as her lungs heaved. She felt like her eyes would burst from their sockets. Sweat flowed from every pore. She was on the verge of tears when Braidwood broke the silence. "See something familiar, Ms. Kansaki?" he asked with a casual sip of his water.

"Where...was this taken?" Hitomi asked as she grappled control of her breath.

"In Nevada, last week. Not too long before a nuclear bomb hit it," he answered. Hitomi's breath caught again. So that was what caused the explosion! "Nothing else worked on it. Fifty-cal, rockets, missiles, tanks, choppers, didn't do a thing! Only the big one got it. I see you've got some experiences with inter-stellar travel, Ms. Kanzaki." he finished, a statement not a question. Hitomi could only look back helplessly. She knew her reaction made it obvious she recognized the guymelef. Cursed herself for not having more control. But it was so unexpected!

"A certain light-show appeared in the sky as the alien vehicle appeared."

"The guymelef," she brainlessly let slip.

"Oh? Is that what it's called?" Hitomi nodded. "Well this 'guymelef' appeared in the aftermath of what looked like a shooting star. Many of the locals in the vicinity of your High School reported such a light show about three years ago. But I don't suppose you'd happen to know anything about that," Braidwood said with a smug grin.

"Please, I…" Hitomi's voice trailed off as she shakily stumbled up from the seat. Braidwood caught her hand as she tried to pass him. His grip was firm but not forceful.

"Please, try to understand, Ms. Kanzaki," he said with a soothingly voice. "Whoever owns that guymelef, whoever sent it here, is only just getting started. But this you already knew. More will come, and we can't drop nuclear bombs like so much candy. I need to know everything there is to know about this guymelef and about this enemy. And you need to tell me," his words were plain and without anger or urgency. But all she could do is look down into his stern eyes with terror.

"If I can't convince you to stay and talk this out, that's fine. I won't force you," he paused to reach into his pocket and pull out a business card. "But please take my contact information. I cannot stress the importance of you telling me everything. What's more, my people aren't the only ones who know what happened, and they're not the only ones turning over rocks looking for info. And some of them might not be as polite as I've been. Alright?" he finished, holding the card out to her. She took it with a shaky hand and he released her immediately.

Hitomi's mind was in such a frenzy she could only turn and run. She ran like she was running for a new record. She said nothing to her boss, did not look back, paid no heed to any cars or fellow pedestrians. Before she knew it she burst through her front door and slammed it shut before crumbling to her knees and crying her eyes out. Soon her mother was at her side, pleading her to explain herself. All Hitomi could do was throw her arms around her. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong and she did not know what to do.

Hitomi never noticed the black van following her slowly home. Or the hardened stares of the driver and passengers behind tinted glass. Or the silenced pistols in their shoulder holsters. Even as the rest of the day dragged on, the van never moved. No one stirred in the vehicle until hours after sunset.

…

Preston's defeated acceptance of his fate vanished as he stirred in one of the cockpit seats. His seat-belt buckled, his spacesuit worn uncomfortably over his combat fatigues and his breath bursting so hard from his mouth it fogged the glass of his helmet. A red light was blinking on the control console he was forbidden to touch. And adjacent to him Sarge, Sweetwater, and Haggard were also clenching and panting for breath.

The shuttle was mere seconds away from the rift. The shuttle's systems fired bursts of air to slow down their approach somewhat. The autopilot had already fired some sensory probes. More would launch once they were through; assuming they didn't explode on impact once they hit what was on the other side.

"This is not good, this is not good!" Sweetwater panted. "This is the opposite of good! This is bad! Real bad! ALL BAD!"

"Soldier, did I give you permission to belly-ache?" Sarge snarled.

"I got one!" Haggard broke in. "We're going in deep, and we're going in hard…" he said, his voice trailing off to see if someone would pick up the quote.

"Surely you can't be serious…" Preston said with a huff of nervous laughter.

"I'm serious...and don't call me Shirley," Haggard finished with a wink. Everyone managed a chuckle. "Best get good with the J-man upstairs, Sweets!" he called to Sweetwater, whose atheism was well-established.

"Um, if a certain someone is overhearing this," Sweetwater said faintly. "All those things I said about Hags here and church-goers...um...you knew I was just messing with them right?...um...right?" his voice held a slight whimper.

"That's right, you just messing!" Haggard jeered. "Had a feeling you'd crack like all the rest of them!"

"HAGS! I swear if we make it out of this I'll pray the rest of my life that you drop dead!" Sweetwater roared as the light of the rift engulfed them. With a flash the rift was gone. The cockpit was undisturbed. Several more probes were launched automatically and Preston found himself blinking in disbelief out the windshield at a rapidly approaching planet.

"Holy shit!" Sweetwater gasped.

"What in the wide-wide-world of hell?" Sarge grunted in disbelief.

"Are we back home already?" Haggard asked.

"No, Hags, that's impossible!" Sweetwater scolded him. "It took us eight days to get this far!"

"What planet is that?" Preston blinked. "It couldn't be Mars or Venus!"

"Hell if I know, but It looks like we're about to find out!" Sarge growled.

"WARNING! ENTERING PLANETARY ATMOSPHERE!" the computer system blared in a neutral female voice.

"Well, the good news is, we didn't blow up!" Haggard shrugged. "Divine intervention, Sweets?"

"I will concede one thing, THAT was a miracle!" Sweetwater sighed.

"No, a miracle would be us landing this thing!" Sarge growled.

…

Van stood atop his re-built palace of Fanelia. Not as lavish as it once was, but it stood strong and tall. The night air was chilled and somber. He trembled lightly, but steeled himself to his weakness. He had to be strong for his people. Gazing up at the Mystic Moon he held Hitomi's pendent up and watched in swing from left to right. Letting it hypnotize him.

Hitomi's image flashed before his eyes. The last time he saw her in person, three years ago, as a brilliant light carried her up and back to her home. Van cursed himself for not grasping her arms, holding her close and begging her not to go. Once a fool, always a fool! He closed his eyes and focused on the woman he loved. Then with a deep breath he gasped her name, like a prayer.

"Hitomi!" his voice carried in the wind so it was almost a shout. In the same instant he opened his eyes. To his astonishment, the crystal swung off course! Stabbing sharply in the direction of the Mystic Moon. Then another image flashed before Van's eyes. It was Hitomi, but not as he saw her last. She was crying! Trembling and sobbing in the arms of an older woman; her mother, he presumed. Worse than what he saw was what he felt. He felt her heartache as sure as it was his own. She was afraid! Hysterical with uncertainty and longing.

The shock and pain hit Van like a ton of bricks. He tightened the pendent in his fist and slammed it against his heart. Gasping with pain as he nearly lost his footing and fell. Something was wrong! Hitomi was in trouble! He felt something he had hoped he'd never feel again. Rage! And with it came a furious blood lust! Whatever danger Hitomi was in, he wanted nothing more than to retrieve his sword and hack down the danger. He no longer cared that Hitomi would be disgusted with him! He could bear the thought of her in danger!

Another flash caught his eye, jarring him from his trance of rage and despair. A shooting star? Could it be Hitomi? No! Nothing like the light that carried her home three years ago. Something in the sky was plummeting towards the ground, catching fire as it fell! What could it be?

…

Celena blinked in astonishment into her telescope. From the roof of the royal palace of Asturia, she had a breath-taking view of the heavens. She had been following this strange object in space for over a week. And now it had reached Gaia. First it seemed to break through some invisible barrier, which brought a blinding flash to the entire sky for a fraction of a second. Then it seemed to burst into flames, like a shooting star.

As the burning object fell from the sky, it seemed to take a shape. Almost like a bird, yet it shone like a metal statue. What in the world could it be?