Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

-39 – All Along The Watchtower-

Allison stared at the lighter in its cradle, considering the open ramp, the mechanical assemblies being loaded aboard it, and the people in gray on white uniforms doing the loading. She was less than ten meters from them, but they gave no sign of her presence, not even any sign of nerves. It was an odd sensation, spending so long among so many people and yet passing unnoticed, more obvious than it usually was when she was training with the Cloak. But she was getting used to that, and comfortable enough to trigger the telepathic/computer relay cobbled onto Gallóglaigh and ask, 'Are you sure about this?'

There was a long-suffering sigh in hear ear, and Halley muttered, 'Do you want me to run through the probabilities again? I can, you know, I've got reams and reams of data just for you. You'd know that, if you hadn't slept through it the last time I tried to explain it.'

Allison rolled her eyes. Great, two days without sleep in high-stress conditions, of course I conk out for a bit when I'm relatively safe. But does little-miss-ghost-in-the-machine cut me any slack? Hell no. She's worse than Vita-sensei. To her 'ally', she sent, 'No, I'm not interested in probabilities, I just hate walking into traps.'

'It's not a trap,' Halley insisted. 'Yosho's a political animal, not a soldier, he'd never think of it, and his people all copy him like mirrors.'

Allison found that hard to believe. The Protectors were not the Guard, no, but no one could function as a police force and be that inept, not in the real world. So she considered the lighter for another fifteen or twenty minutes, watching, waiting, debating. It was only when the last folded-up beacon was loaded aboard and secured that she mentally cursed, and moved. The entire back end of the lighter folded down into a long ramp, rising up into the bed of the craft, and she ghosted up it just as it started to close. The silence with which it moved was a little disconcerting – it looked like a solid metal slab a little over an inch thick, with hinges as thick as her thumb – but Allison was up it before it was even level with the ground.

Inside the lighter was rather tightly packed. The cargo bay was ten feet or so wide, about twenty or so long, and just over eight high. Expansive as it was, though, it was full of folded-up beacons that, even stacked efficiently atop one another and secured to each other by some sort of magical tractor-beam coin things, left only a narrow aisle down the center. There was a two-person control cabin forward of that, with a single small door in it, but there were two Protectors in there. Allison had almost argued for riding in the other lighter involved in this mission, the one carrying the installation crew and their tents and supplies, but there would have been even more people, and thus more chances for someone to notice her presence.

She settled for waiting in the aisle, right at the door to the crew cabin. The door was closed, and too solid to hear through, so she crouched down to wait. According to Halley it would be about twenty minutes from lift off until the lighter was clear of the shield. After that, Allison would be free to teleport out whenever she wanted and head back to school.

She was somewhat surprised at how much she was looking forward to that. It had only been two days and a bit, and Allison had been out in the wilderness, even out alone, for longer than that. She usually loved being out and about longer than that. But this was not the deserts and hills of the Reservation, or the woods around the school. This was a city, just about as alien as a human-built city could be, and everyone in it was a serious threat to her continued freedom and life. She had been very confident of her ability to do this, and was proud at how well she had done, but it was proving to be far less thrilling than she had expected, and far more frightening.

A few minutes after boarding the lighter Allison felt a slight jolt as the landing locks released, and heard a faint whine that she presumed was the engines. Five minutes after that, time Halley told her would be used to maneuver clear of the Protectors' hangar at the base of Kerrel Tower, another sound intruded. It was faint, a hissing sound, but Allison was twitchy and paranoid, and she traced it quickly enough. It was coming from one of the beacons, just visible at the back of the forward most stack on the left. She could not reach it, but there was enough gap between the forward wall of the cabin and the stack of beacons for her to see a small piece of metal flapping in an intense breeze.

Gas cylinder, she thought, shit, I knew this was a trap. She was not worried about the gas, whatever it was, confident she could hold her breath long enough to escape, unless it was something really nasty – chemical weapon nasty. She needed to know to decide what to do, so half-heartedly, she asked, Gallóglaigh, analysis?

Patch to Halley active… A set of symbols popped up in her vision, a ring around the opening and a series of elements, then Gallóglaigh replied, Composition – Nitrogen seventy-seven percent, Oxygen twenty percent, Argon one percent, carbon dioxide zero point nine percent, usual trace elements within standard parameters. Analysis – compressed atmospheric gasses, mildly anomalous levels of standard gasses insufficient to constitute danger.

Atmospheric… what? She hesitated, unsure what that meant. What kind of idiot gases someone with regular air?

Then the hatch in front of her cracked, and slid open. Reaction took over, and Allison slammed her shoulder into whoever it was coming through. The woman grunted in surprise and stumbled back, giving Allison enough time to get Gallóglaigh up and around, and she lunged into the control cabin.

Gallóglaigh went against the surprised woman's throat, bending her backwards over the control panel, and Allison's free hand lashed out, grabbing the other Protector's hair. She wrenched his head back against his head-rest, and snarled at him, "Keep flying. You report the cargo bay's clear and you have no problems, or both of you die here and now."

00000

Ahmu considered the pair of lighters, frowning slightly. They had exited the hangers in good order, took up formation together, and were now hovering some twenty meters above the ring park. The trailing lighter had maneuvered directly behind the lead lighter, and the pair had stopped in mid air. There were no technical problems with that, the nature of the lighters' drive systems made hovering no different than flight, and their maneuverability made the positioning immaterial. But lighters were intended to carry sensitive cargoes over long ranges efficiently, and there was rarely a reason to have one hover immediately after launching, especially in the city.

"Now is the time, Ahmu," Ollan murmured.

Ahmu glared at the younger woman a moment. "Kids," he muttered, "you always leap before you look, always so eager, never understanding the significance of where you are, what you are doing… or what you are about to do."

Ollan, white-haired and maybe twenty years his junior, matched his glare, "Kid? My grandson would beg to differ on that, you decrepit old has-been. And what's so hard about this? We have committed treason before, we will again. At least this time we are not going to murder the majority of the human race."

"We did not murder them," Ahmu replied, then cut off her protest with an irritated wave, "Yes, yes, semantics. Our fellows in Al Hazred may have arranged or allowed that disaster, and we definitely allowed the Cataclysm through our own willful blindness, therefore we share responsibility for their deaths as if we had sabotaged that generator ourselves. But treason is never easy, child, and just because this leads to the least unpleasant course does not make it pleasant."

"I'm aware of that, Ahmu," Ollan snapped. "Do not lecture me merely because I do not revel in my own angst. Are we going to do this, or are you going to whine about it like a spoiled little boy some more?"

"I think I'll whine a little more," Ahmu commented lightly, "it's remarkably relaxing, pretending there's a slight possibility of finding someone who might actually show a little sympathy."

"Try that child your son brought you, she might be ignorant enough to believe your whining. If you won't…"

"You do it," Ahmu said, "I've betrayed my people enough."

Ollan rolled her eyes, but Ahmu said nothing more, walking away. Their plan was based on Ollan's visions, her readings, and Ahmu was the first to admit that she was better at teasing out the best rout forward than he was. But, as he had told Ollan, he had committed enough betrayals, large and small, and while he supported the current course, he had no need to implement that course himself, especially given his own doubts about it. Ollan would see the girl safely on her way, and once again the Forecasters would correct the failures of the present.

Besides, he had arranged through his own visions and plans for…

"Father," Yosho said, as Ahmu stepped through the door from the overlook into Hineth Tower. "Would you care to explain why you and your friend out there are interfering with the Protectors capturing a spy?"

Ahmu considered Yosho for a few moments, then huffed. "No, I do not care to explain. Much as I have never explained why I do not share what I know of Lord Protector Gelan's death at the hands of the primitivists' saboteurs. Do not presume to judge me, Yosho. I've been at this game longer, and played it more deeply, than you ever have. I also know far too many of your secrets."

Yosho did not even twitch at the threat, merely cocked an eyebrow at Ahmu's last comment. "I don't play games, Father, and you were never one for politics. That spy…"

"Hah! Politics," Ahmu said, almost spitting the last word. "Ollan is too focused on what is to come, to see what is before her. You, Yosho… you are too focused on what is before you, to see what is to come."

"And what I see at the moment is treason. The only reason I haven't already called down squads to take both of you into custody is because you are my father. Journeyman Turo is standing by, however. He thinks he is preparing to spring his own trap for the girl, but I think I'll be bringing him in for you."

Ahmu shook his head slowly, regretting once again that his son had never followed the Forecaster's path. Ahmu had discouraged him from it, quite deliberately, despite recognizing how well Yosho would take to the skills. He had discouraged Yosho for other reasons, and mourned the necessity in the way of any father whose son was not up to following in his footsteps. "Too much focused on the moment," Ahmu repeated. "The girl must be allowed to escape the city. Hence my arranging for your little trap's first stage to fail, and Ollan now arranging for the second stage to fail. If she does not escape, worse yet than we have experienced will befall us."

Yosho started slightly, making Ahmu grin. Even my own son believes me to be obsessively obtuse. Ah, the wonders of a reputation, when even your own son believes it. I wonder if anyone other than Ollan will ever figure out that I'm being direct more often than not?

"If you have seen something," Yosho said, warning surprisingly light in his tone, "You have a duty to report it, to me, to Szash, and to the Conclave."

Ahmu chuckled at that, "Do I, now? You may not be a Forecaster, Yosho, but you know the laws and traditions concerning us. 'For the Forecaster the vision, and the action necessary. For the Conclave the judgment and collection of the price.' No Forecaster can be compelled to reveal what they have seen, or to act on what they have seen, to safeguard our independence and neutrality. Only what we do can be judged before the Conclave, and we are specifically barred from offering our visions in our own defense. The visions of others, yes, but our own are forbidden. You can arrest me, Yosho, and I will stand trial next to Ollan, and we will face our fates safe in the knowledge that we have served our people far better than any others have."

"What have you seen?"

Ahmu shook his head again, "I have seen enough, Yosho. Now, if you will excuse me, I have an apprentice to check up on. She got some rather upsetting news recently, and her brother did not help matters, understanding as he is trying to be."

He brushed past his son, heading for the nearest lift, but Yosho stopped him again, "You arranged that meeting, didn't you? You're the one who suppressed my wards and delayed the alarm when the spy disabled Adept Cobol. Yet another operation you foiled."

Ahmu paused frowning slightly, then turned back to Yosho. "I suppressed no wards, Yosho. I knew the meeting would take place, yes, and that the Caeghlin girl would escape it, at least for a time. But I did not arrange it."

"Then one of your fellows did."

Ahmu shook his head, thinking it over as he explained, "There are not so many of us as you think, Yosho, and none of them discussed arranging such a meeting with me. They would have, if only because the girl is my apprentice now. No, I did not arrange it, though I am perfectly willing to take advantage of it. Her Mastery Trial will be rather harsher than is the norm, and that meeting began it. As for who arranged it… There were two interesting children in that meeting, Yosho. One is of interest to me and my fellows, but we already have her in hand. Who would the Caeghlin girl be of interest to, I wonder?" He chuckled and resumed walking towards the lift, "Tell me, Yosho, how much luck do you think you will have tracking down the Ghosts to ask them?"

He reached the lift and called the car, but before it could arrive, he heard exactly what he expected. "Master Adept Ahmu Elasesh, I arrest you in the name of the Masters of Vision under my authority as Lord Protector, on the charge of high treason. You will be held in custody until such time as a council of your peers can be assembled, where you will be permitted to plead in your own defense. Be warned, I am authorized to meet resistance with lethal force should it prove necessary."

Ahmu turned, to find Yosho standing in the center of the hall, right hand raised and glowing with waiting power. He considered his son for a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "You still fail to surprise me, Yosho."

"I would hardly expect to surprise the Keeper of the Pasts."

Ahmu chuckled, thinking of two conversations the day before. He had been surprised more yesterday than he had in decades, and it had been an invigorating experience, even if the second conversation had been nothing but bad news. "You're not supposed to know that, Yosho. Or at least, you weren't supposed to know that. Fortunately for me, it is no longer true. I found my successor yesterday, and saw no reason to retain the post any longer. Good luck finding them, though. You never did understand the Forecasters well enough to understand how our hierarchy functions."

"I could not care less, father," Yosho said, walking slowly forward. "You are suppressing my communications with Journeyman Turo's units. You will cease such interference or I will consider it resisting arrest."

Ahmu smiled and shrugged. "You can take it however you like, son. You always do, and yet you are so often wrong, to be so confident of your judgment. I am suppressing no communications. Ollan, now, she might very well be up to something along those lines, but by the time you get to her, those lighters will be outside the shield, and the girl will be safely back among her own people."

Yosho glared at him a second, started to turn as if to charge out and try to stop Ollan, then stopped, turned back, and sighed. "You set off the fire containment barricades, didn't you?"

"Something like that," Ahmu said, chuckling. "I could not bear to let all of Ollan's hard work come to naught, after all. As for being under arrest," he pulled a small cube out of his pocket and lifted it between two finger tips. "Not today, Yosho. I may no longer be the Keeper of the Pasts, but I am still a Forecaster, and you know how hard we are to catch. You never could catch your sister, after all. Ah!" Yosho had started to shape a spell, but Ahmu held the cube out further. "You also know how unsecured controller batteries react to magic, Yosho. You used that very trait yourself fifty years ago, didn't you?" Yosho did react to that, glaring slightly, and Ahmu shook his head. "You never surprise me."

He let go of the cube, pulling miniscule magical strands with his finger-tips. It shattered open even as it dropped, revealing the blue diamond of a controller battery, concentrated power bound in a form just shy of self-awareness. Even as it fell, he triggered a teleport of his own, one structured and built to standby specifically for the moment.

The explosion, blowing out every window on three levels of the tower and almost bringing the tower down, was the last bit of cover and confusion needed to distract the Protectors from two lighters going about their business, and two Master Adepts on their way elsewhere.

00000

Chrono opened the door to his apartment with a wave of his hand, then locked it behind him with a twist of magic that barely required conscious effort. He dragged himself over to the small couch in the main room, dropping his bag halfway there, and dumped himself across the couch with a groan. For a few minutes, he just lay there, forcing his mind to go still, feeling tired muscles relax.

He was no stranger to exhaustion, no Enforcer was, even if he had been promoted out of the field. But this was not the exhaustion of combat or long pursuits, not even the tiredness of a drawn-out and complicated investigation. This was the result of long, stressful, and ultimately futile opposition to the Bureau's current policies on one hand, and long stressful and ultimately futile attempts to justify those policies on the other.

The original diplomatic problem had been bad enough, and was still going on. Many more member worlds than Chrono would have believed had felt themselves neglected by the Bureau, even more had chafed at Bureau restrictions, and all of them were making trouble as best they could. The outrage of a few truly aggrieved parties gave excellent cover to the malcontent and power hungry, and there were always factions that opposed the Bureau on every world. Few were talking secession, but they were all making waves, all creating 'brushfires', that ate up Bureau resources. The fact that one of the few real tools the Diplomatic Section had was Operations' ships meant those ships were still being sent on near-useless 'show the flag' patrols. That was bad enough, as attempts to placate the needy and suppress the adventurous were playing havoc with everyone's schedules and manpower.

Worse than that, however, were a small but growing number of worlds that had the exact opposite problem – word of Al Hanthis had finally leaked, in part but not in full yet, and several member worlds had begun questioning – 'informally' at the moment – why the Bureau had not already dealt with the situation. Chrono had hoped that such inquiries would get High Command to finally let him loose, but the exact opposite had occurred. High Command had met the inquiries with precisely-worded responses to the effect that Bureau forces were monitoring the situation, that 'local resources' were containing the matter, and that 'local authorities' had not yet requested Bureau assistance. Never mind the fact that Hayate had requested such assistance – as she was not the head of any Terran government, she was not considered 'local authority', or so Chrono had been informed.

Chrono's response to that particular insult had not made him any friends, may have actually cost him his chances of future promotion, but he was well past caring about that. He and a few others – unsurprisingly, all of them current or former Enforcers – could see exactly what this situation was doing to the Bureau's standing and reputation, what it was going to do the longer it continued. But violating their orders would only worsen the situation, and High Command had long since handed down orders regarding officers slipping past the blockade to Terra. Chrono was tempted to take a fleet of like-minded officers to Terra anyhow, and force the Bureau to send more ships to take them into custody, but he did not think he would get enough time to make a difference on Terra, and was certain whoever the Bureau sent to retrieve him would deliberately ignore the situation in accord with High Commands efforts to placate the louder member worlds.

Chrono and that growing collection of officers had all come to the conclusion that someone as yet unidentified was orchestrating all the unrest, playing on old resentments and long-under-ground factionalism. Whoever was doing it was still being very subtle, very quiet, but it was plainly obvious they were doing everything they could within those bounds to fan the flames. In Chrono's opinion, it had to be the same Bureua officer that had orchestrated the original diplomatic flare-up, but they had not yet managed to get their hands on the initial correspondence from those first worlds.

So he was stuck in half-command of a sector so tied up in 'temporary' diplomatic accommodations and High Command directives that he may as well have not been there. Most of his time was spent on those very diplomatic maneuvers, and he had just returned from Falldown, one of the worlds that threatened to consider secession but had yet to actually do so. There he had spent two days talking with their legislators and military officials, reassuring them as best he could that the Bureau was still the Bureau, that their concerns were being addressed at the highest levels, and that yes, he would increase the patrols in their vicinity.

Not that any of the slick bastards were willing to pony up the funds for more ships so those 'increased patrols' could actually amount to anything, he mentally snarled. No, no one was at the stage of increasing their allocations to the Bureau to offset the costs of their interstellar temper-tantrum, or giving him the resources to answer their demands and still accomplish the Bureau's mission.

After a few minutes lying on the couch, though, he reminded himself he still had to unpack, and should probably check in with Amy. She no doubt already knew he was back at Headquarters, and he was not due back on duty until the next day, but there was probably something explosive and toxic sitting in his in-bin.

He hauled himself to his feet, then snagged his bag and half-carried half-dragged it into the bedroom. His apartment at Headquarters had never been particularly large, not even close to the suites Graham had maintained, mostly because he had never felt the need. He had grown up on ship-board, and was used to the limited personal space there-on, and he had no familiars to provide space for. He did not object to larger quarters on any philosophical grounds, he simply found it personally unnecessary. Fate had mostly shared his view, though Nanoha had convinced her, over the years, to 'expand her horizons'. Now he was just as grateful he still had small quarters – the distance from the door to his bed was shorter.

Once he was unpacked, he headed for the tiny kitchen, activating the comm. screen on his way by and ordering it to contact Amy. The connection chime sounded just as he pulled open his refrigerator, but the voice that came out of the screen was a surprise.

"Hello, Admiral Hallaoun."

Chrono frowned in confusion, and stepped back out into the main room. The screen was live, but the code line at the bottom was gibberish, not Amy's office-code. The woman staring out of the screen at him was also, most definitely, not Amy. She was taller, for one thing, obvious even while she was seated. She was dressed in unrelieved black, a high-necked dress with some sort of netting over it that reminded him of spider-webs, and a black cloth tied across her eyes. It matched her short black hair, and highlighted her pale skin and the glowing tattoos beneath her eyes, and he almost missed the device resting against her shoulder. It was a long staff, the bottom half of it lost off the screen, the top ending in a long three-pronged frame around a clear crystal. She reminded him of Precia, for some reason.

Chrono considered her for a moment, then demanded, "Who are you, and how did you override my comm.?"

She smiled slightly, and a shift in the cloth revealed something glowing beneath her left eye. "While we have met in passing, Admiral, we have yet to be properly introduced, and this is not the time for such things. My associates call me Master Adept, most people call me Witch. You, I'm afraid, are going to have far worse names for me, as do most of those I speak with frequently. As for how I accessed your systems… I have not. I am, as usual, bending the rules as far as humanly possible, and perhaps further than is wise, but I cannot explain how to you, not precisely. You lack the training and the traditions to understand."

"And now you're being insulting," Chrono muttered. She really reminds me of Precia, he thought, but the face is wrong and she's not… maniacal enough. "What do you want, and how is failing to answer my questions going to get it for you?"

She laughed softly, giving him a superior sort of smile. "I do not want anything from you, Admiral. Quite the opposite." The smile faded into a serious look, "As Keeper of the Pasts, certain information has come to my attention. It is in my best interests, and my Emperor's, that this information be placed into your hands at this juncture. Legally, I cannot even contact you, but in this instance, I decided to interpret such rules loosely. I can not pass on to you new information, but…" She made a throw-away gesture with one hand, and continued, "I have two things – one piece of intelligence, and one piece of advice on what to do with that intelligence."

That piqued Chrono's curiosity, less because of the titles she used – Keeper of the Pasts was new, but sounded like a fancy title for an historian, and Chrono knew of too many 'Emperors', real and imagined, to be impressed by such a claim – than because of the offer of intelligence. The only reason he could think of off-hand for someone he did not know to offer him 'intelligence' at the moment was if it had bearing on the Terran crisis. "I'm listening."

The superior smile returned briefly. "Second Admiral Durio Triann, Time Space Administration Bureau Diplomatic Corp, was once Lieutenant Durio Triann, Time Space Administration Bureau Enforcer. While at that lowly rank, Durio Triann was saved from an untimely death, and given advice and a transfer, both of which saved him from a painful divorce, by one Third Admiral Wilhelm Kriegsen, then captain of the Time Space Administration Bureau warship Deva. I believe he transferred off the Deva just days before your friend Shimazu transferred aboard. Since that time, Triann's family and career have grown appreciably, steadily, and happily. His eldest son and daughter are Bureau officers, and his two younger sons are well on their way to the same. He has comfortably overseen the Bureau's diplomatic efforts in Releyas Sector for the last five years."

Outwardly, barely, Chrono managed not to react. Mentally, however, all the anger and annoyance he had built up over the past months finally got a solid grip on his sense of justice, and connections exploded in his mind. It had been obvious from the start, to him and to Investigations, that whoever had set this off had done it to keep the Bureau off Terra. There were only a few people Chrono could think of who would want that, and Kriegsen's name headed that list by a very wide margin. Chrono could not get his hands on Kriegsen, but for months now he had wanted whoever set off this mess, whoever was keeping it going, and as the Bureau's internal and diplomatic situations worsened, that desire had only grown stronger. Whoever had done it, whatever their reason, they had betrayed the Bureau and forced him to betray his friends and his own convictions, and now he had a name to bring to justice.

No, he managed, barely, to restrain himself. I have a possibility of a name. One random woman is not evidence. "You have proof of what you are suggesting?"

That smile came back, causing another spurt of annoyance. "Suggesting? I have suggested nothing, Admiral. I merely informed you of a fact that is public record. Though, as I said, I also have some advice. Would you care to hear it?"

Chrono shrugged, "why not? Without evidence, nothing you've told me is worth a damn."

"Do not investigate or arrest him for his crimes against the Bureau," the woman told him. "If you do, he will disappear. You will still get the information he possess, which may mitigate your current diplomatic crisis, but he himself, and all the people whom he utilized to enact this travesty, will vanish."

"The Bureau does not disappear people," Chrono countered.

The smile grew wider, outright patronizing. "My dear Admiral, do you honestly believe that Gil Graham managed his deceit by himself? Yes, he used his own funds, but there is no direct connection between Terran and Bureau economies, only covert Bureau connections maintained for the rare Terra-born personnel such as himself, Takamichi-san, and Yagami-san. He had to use Bureau resources to monitor Yagami-san as a child, Bureau resources to insure the local authorities did not place her in anyone else's care, Bureau resources to support her, Bureau resources to trigger the Book at the appropriate time, Bureau resources to create the device that even now rests in your pocket. Do you honestly believe he did all that, for five years and more, without anyone noticing? Without any of the audits you yourself endure on a yearly basis discovering what he was up to? That Wilhelm Kriegsen built an entire warship to pursue his jealousy? Are you truly that naïve? Yet who but Gil Graham paid for the crimes against Yagami-san? Did he truly pay, for all that she forgave him? You have yet to truly meet me, Admiral, but I know you quite well, and I do not believe you to be that naïve, however young. Good day, Admiral, and good hunting."

The woman vanished, and suddenly Chrono found himself glaring at a very confused looking Amy. "Um… Chrono-kun? Something wrong?"

Chrono blinked and shook his head, "Sorry, Amy, I was just chatting with someone else, but I have no idea who. Someone who could override our internal comm. net, at least."

"Is that what happened? I got your call request, but then just a blank gray screen."

Chrono shook his head, "Doesn't matter. She gave me something to look into regarding our predicament. I just wish she didn't look so much like Precia."

Amy blanched at that, asking softly, "Could… could it have been her? Al Hanthis survived the null-space, could she have done so? With all those Jewel Seeds?"

Chrono shook his head, "Al Hanthis has shields, generators, life-support systems. Precia had nothing to protect her from the null-space's draining effects. She's dead. But that doesn't mean there aren't still people out there who admire her, or might even seek to emulate her. Do me a favor, and look into the phrase 'Keeper of the Pasts'. That was the most unique title she claimed, though she also claimed the 'Master Adept' rank the Terran Circles and Al Hantheans use."

"A lot of organizations use the rank, outside the Bureau," Amy reminded him. "It's an old tradition, even if it's not all that precise. But I'll look into it."

"Thanks," Chrono said, then waved tiredly, "Anyhow, originally I was just calling to check in, let you know I'm back at Headquarters. If there's nothing urgent, I'm going to get something eat and then hit the sack."

"Go get some rest, Chrono-kun. Your mother would frown at me if she knew I let you wander around looking that ragged."

Chrono chuckled at that, "Ah, yes, Mother's frowns. We can't have that. I'll see you in the morning, then, Amy. Oh, and if you could, quietly get me everything you can on Durio Triann, an Admiral over in the diplomatic section. I'll want to go over it in the morning."

00000

Hayate frowned at the screen Vita brought up for her for a few moments, then sighed and shook her head. "That shield is going to take all of us to crack, given how many mages they have deployed beneath it."

"It's worse than that," Vita said, highlighting two points just visible through the hazy shield. "Those first portals they used destabilized and collapsed as soon as the Seed were through. In fact, I think they lost a couple Seed to portals that collapsed too soon. But these two here, they're just trace signals now thanks to the shield, but they're two more portals, stable ones. They can reinforce at will, Hayate-sama. Replacement shield platforms, replacement mages, more of either, all of it only a few seconds away."

"More time than that, I think," Hayate said. "They'll have a few mages on standby to reinforce, yes, but not a lot. If we can cut them off and capture them now, they won't have time to get any more reserves into the battle. Excuse me, I'm going to call Hughes and make the arrangements."

Hayate walked out of the monitoring bay and down the hall into the living room. It was early afternoon and classes were just being released, so she and Vita had the house to themselves. Even Shamal was up and about, though her usual smiles and calm energy were missing. Hayate would have been down on the campus herself, save that half an hour before Vita had detected Al Hanthean portals opening in up-state New York. Now she picked up the phone on her way past and walked out onto the deck, dialing Hughes' cell number from memory.

He picked up on the third ring, "Hayate. I'd say good morning, but it's too dark here for me to see the clock."

"My apologies to be calling at this hour," Hayate began.

Hughes' chuckling interrupted her, "Don't worry about it. Esien, from Yellowstone, woke me up fifteen minutes ago, and I'll be heading into the office as soon as we're done talking. All she told me was there was something in upstate New York I would have to deal with."

"The town of Potsdam has been seized by Al Hanthis," Hayate told him. "About half an hour ago. We detected some thirty portals opening, all of which promptly failed."

"Seed," Hughes muttered.

"That is what we think. Five minutes after that, two more portals opened, and have remained steady ever since. Al Hanthean shield platforms, the same as they used over Hong Kong, began appearing followed by Guard mages, and the town center is now under a fairly strong shield. I am gathering my people now. I think we can push them back, if we strike hard enough."

Hughes was silent for a few seconds, and when he resumed, his voice was cautious. "I'll pass the offer up the chain of command, Hayate, but please don't rush in immediately."

Hayate blinked, confused as to why he would not want them to act immediately. There was no concentration of Circle mages in the area, and no conventional forces either. All such forces had been pulled south to New York City weeks before. "We will wait for authorization, I suppose, but we both know it will be coming. Don't we?"

"No, we don't," Hughes said after a second. "Hayate, I asked you to back off and calm down after the Rhode Island strike, but you insisted. The President of the United States and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are not used to being lectured to like school children, and… well, let's just say you earned no points and made no friends there." Hayate sucked in a breath to object, all the anger and fear she had felt after watching that horrific blast rising up again, but Hughes cut her off.

"Don't go snapping at me over it, Hayate. I disagree with you, but I also tried to give you the best chance to make your point, and you railroaded right over me. You don't understand politics, Hayate, not well enough and sure as Hell not American politics, and it's entirely possible that that is now going to bite us all on the ass in the worst possible way. I'll pass your offer up the line, but at the moment I'd give even odds to your assistance being politely declined. By the time New York City is attacked, things will be different, but right now you're not very popular and the Navy thinks they've proven we can handle Al Hanthis without you.

"Get your people ready – who knows, the President might actually engage his brain on something other than getting re-elected. But don't get your hopes up, either. And don't try to pull a hero and show up anyway if the offer's refused. All that will accomplish is to convince the President to eject you from the country. Potsdam we might be able to manage on our own, or the Seed while they're heading overland. New York City is going to be a whole lot worse, though, and I can't protect it without your people. I'll call you when I get some more info or an answer."

He hung up, and all Hayate could do was stare at the phone for a few seconds, shocked beyond words. Hughes had never been that abrupt with her, not even when she was delivering her ultimatum to the Circles. He had been too scared of her then, but now he sounded annoyed, almost disappointed.

Fate stepped out, giving her a concerned look, "Hayate-chan?"

"He… he hung up on me," Hayate muttered. "Hughes hung up on me."

"None of them were very happy with us," Fate said, "But I'm sure they'll do what's smart. Do you want me to get the Volunteers moving?"

Hayate shook herself all over once, looking away from the phone. "Yes, please. I'll get the second-years together. I think we'll take the girls on this one, give them a chance to work together, while Yussef's Myrmidons help Tai-yu look after the school. Could you please have Maunders gather her Circle fellows? We'll leave them here, but I want to let them know what is going on."

It took ten minutes to gather every device mage on the campus, and another half hour to brief them on the situation and put together a more formal plan than Hayate's initial reaction. The plan was simple enough – Fate and Nanoha had proven they could breach the Al Hanthean's mobile shield generators at Hong Kong. Once that shield was down, the Volunteers and Wolkenritter would attack the Guard mages, while the girls evacuated the civilians and held off the Seed.

Hayate was just about to wrap it up when the phone rang. Aria answered it, then handed it to her. She nodded her thanks, and said, "Hayate here."

"You're not going to Potsdam," Hughes said. "The President feels that the United States Army and Air Force will not require outside assistance to deal with one small incursion."

"Hughes…"

"Don't bother, you're preaching to the choir," Hughes interrupted. "Right now, Hayate, the Air Force is putting together a sustained bombing campaign to beat down the shield prior to the Army's arrival. The Army is moving a combined arms brigade north from New York City, and they're taking two hundred Circle mages with them to form wolfpacks. The Army will be on site in eight hours, the Air Force will begin bombing in two and continue until the shield falls.

"If you go there now, you'll be fighting the US as well as Al Hanthis. Yes, you probably have the strength to do it over Potsdam, but you won't be able to do it over New York next week, not unless you abandon London. I tried to talk him into accepting your offer, and I managed to convince Admiral Dahvid, but the President refused. Stay in Kyoto. Watch, study, inspect, but do not attempt to intervene."

Hayate was so shocked, so surprised, she could not begin to formulate a response. Hughes gave her a few seconds, then told her he would be in touch when he had more information and hung up. Her expression alone was apparently enough to tell Nanoha and Fate, and they broke up the meeting, over vociferous objections. Hayate was vaguely aware that Maunders was one of the louder voices, but she was too distracted to pay attention.

She managed to relay the information Hughes had provided, but then closed herself in her office. She had to respond, had to act to try to stop what was happening in Potsdam, to prevent the Al Hanthis attack on New York City. That might delay the attack on London again, but even if it did not, defending one city would be much easier than defending two.

Hughes was right, though. Hayate had no doubt that she and her people could handle the United States armed forces, short of their nuclear arsenal. They could ignore the American's refusal of their assistance, strike at Potsdam themselves, and probably succeed, barring some new surprise by Szash. He was also right that doing so would lose them any chance of intervening in the US ever again.

She had decided, when she retired from the Bureau, that she would abide, as much as possible, by the will of the various governments. She had lived by that to the best of her ability, and even now she found herself loathe to break that standard. As important as Potsdam's situation was, it was not as urgent and critical as rescuing her kids last year had been. The civilians – some seventeen or eighteen thousand, almost half college students – would not be in any danger from Al Hanthis, and the US military would never get through the Al Hanthean's shield.

I can't afford to ignore their refusal, she decided, God help me, I want to, but I can't. I have to make sure some of us are there for New York and London, and for wherever else Al Hanthis attacks next.

But… Inspiration wormed its way into her mind, a crazy idea that might work. We can't go to Potsdam… but maybe we don't have to. She shoved up from behind her desk and strode out of her office. Her pace was steady, and she did not pause when she reached the balcony and headed for the stairs to the library's common room. 'Tai-yu, please monitor the Americans, let me know when their ground forces are half an hour from Potsdam. Half an hour, no more.'

'Ah… yes, ma'am,' Tai-yu replied, surprised and probably confused.

"Signum," Hayate called aloud, "please gather the Wolkenritter, Volunteers, and Second Years. In about seven hours, I'm going to want all of you on aerial defense here at the school. I have an idea to assist at Potsdam, in spite of the Americans' refusal, but it will probably draw a counter-attack from Al Hanthis."

00000

"He did not reject you, Natalia."

Standing before the wide window looking south over Al Hanthis and Egypt, Natalia narrowed her eyes slightly. "No. That would have been easy. And do not call me that."

Standing in the kitchen, Zacha – still somewhat transparent, but far more real than he had been at the Academy – frowned at her a moment, then shook his head. "You expect too much too soon. He just woke, after years of change. He loved Katerina, and your parents and grandparents. Now they're all gone, and for him it has been very abrupt. You last spoke to your parents years ago, for him it was mere minutes before he woke. Give him time, Natalia…"

"Do not call me that," she repeated. "I am aware of the difficulties Sasha faces, and the low probability of his ever comprehending the reasons for our decisions. No, Sasha has not rejected Natalia, but he will not accept us, either. We have our brother back, yet we have lost him as well. This is going to be very difficult for her to deal with. I wish to be alone."

"Give me a moment," Zacha replied.

Natalia smiled at that, feeling him working his own magic. He could not maintain coherence for more than a few hours, less if he worked magic, but the pseudo-core he used was one of her proudest creations, and allowed him to exist independently of her for a time, and his memories stored within Koschei meant she did not have to re-educate him every time she summoned him. She intended Zacha – renamed now that her brother was awake once more – to be a fully realized construct in the future, self-supporting but subordinate as Takashi's Akira was, but for the moment he was still immensely useful.

"The monitors are suppressed," Zacha told her. Before he could fade away, though, Natalia stopped him with a raised hand, and gestured for him to return to the stove.

"Sasha will not accept the price we paid to regain him, that much is clear. Perhaps, however, he will accept a balancing of the scales in recompense. We are not prepared to lay down our life, but there are other ways to make good the debt. First, we must survive Szash's trap and Laura's reprisals over New York. After that… after that, we utilize whoever spoke to Allison to deliver this city to Hayate. You are critical to my plans in this, Zacha. You will find Allison's accomplice for me while I distract the Protectors, make contact with them, and tell me as much as you can about them. I must know them very well indeed, if I am to turn them to our purposes."

"It will be difficult," Zacha told her, "especially given my time limit."

She smiled at that, "Oh, don't worry about that. Your time shall be limitless, for we are Legion. The difficulty will be making contact. Whoever they are, they are justifiably cautious. But they are also not from Al Hanthis. The references were too Terran for them to be from the city. There have been no physical penetrations other than Allison, and none who would have aided her have the skills to conduct such a physical penetration. But a cybernetic intrusion, that is entirely possible. Allina will be seeking vengeance for her better half, and if Allison did not lie to us, she will have Niranjana's assistance. Na-chan, of all people, is fully capable of subverting Al Hanthis' cyber security. So, seek a computer intrusion, seek someone in Al Hanthis' computers who should not be here, someone who avoids the Protectors somewhat, yet avoids the Guard religiously. That is your mission, Zacha. Finish dinner, then you may begin."

Zacha hesitated a moment, then grimaced slightly and nodded. "Yes, Mistress."

"You object?"

"It is not my place."

"We granted you sentience for a purpose, Zacha. If all we desired were a mindless weapon, we would recreate and improve upon the Seed. Speak."

Zacha stared at her a moment, then shook his head. "You have betrayed one allegiance, and thus damned yourself in the eyes of the world. To betray yet another allegiance… you would have nowhere left to turn, Mistress. Al Hanthis will never trust you, no, but they will protect you from those who hunt you. If you betray them as well, everyone will be your enemy and there will be no place to run, nowhere to hide. I will obey you in all things, but this is a bad idea. Just as bad as your first betrayal."

Natalia actually smiled at that, amused that he thought she had anyplace to turn now. "I understand, Zacha, and we have considered that point." She fingered the pouch of coins again, smile widening. "Considered it carefully. We have gone on as we have for Sasha, to return him to us. If we lose him because of our prior actions, it will all have been for naught. We are prepared to lose the world entire to regain our brother. You have your mission. You may release the monitors. I am going to rest, Natalia needs to do some work for Ahmu. Remind her when dinner is ready."

00000

GeshronTyler: Last chapter and this are informational rather than action oriented – things are setting up for New York/London and the climax of the story. Ahmu is, quite deliberately, confusing, both from his own perspective and because of how I write him. Sasha's reaction and Ahmu's comment are both reflections of Natalia's own guilt. Sasha's not happy, but he is her brother, and as Zacha commented above, it's all hitting him cold.

Kell Shock: the subject of the 'empty air' sentence was Natalia, the part in dashes did break it up. Natalia was speaking to the jewel seed, basically. Yup, it was supposed to be 'continued singing'. There are two problems with Natalia being informed of Allison's presence. The most obvious is the fact that nobody trusts her enough to inform her of anything except, maybe, Ahmu, and he had his own reasons for keeping her in the dark. The other reason, referenced above, is that Yosho is just enough of a bastard to use her as bait and leave her completely unaware of that fact. As for asking her about Hayate and her students, that would be a good idea, except the only people with real access to her already have that information (Szash and Yosho), or don't care (Ahmu). Szash would not trust anything Natalia told her about something that personal, and Yosho has already done that questioning (off-screen in the days right after she came to Al Hanthis). Information on things like nuclear weapons can be verified, enough to make Natalia's personal observations on the subject somewhat more trustworthy. I intended Sasha to recover ever since I settled on Natalia as the traitor from the school, mostly because it generates the greatest degree of guilt and pain for her. Cidela hasn't quite managed time-travel in the classical sense of going there, more along the lines of projection – which Chrono just got to experience the annoying side of, and Al Hanthis… is a very complicated mess, temporally speaking. The lighters the Protectors are using are basic civilian cargo carriers – useful as teleporting is, there are frequently places it can't go or things it can't transport (Seed, jewel seeds, etc), and for a long-term steady-course project like placing the border markers (which is as much surveying as placing), it's simply more efficient to use a field transport. They could teleport from Cairo to the emplacement location, place the beacon, then return & repeat at a new location fifty or a hundred miles away, but then they'd have no idea about the intervening hundred miles. The lighters themselves are unarmed and lack anything beyond emergency crash-shields, and rely entirely on the crew for defense. In the event of a fighter going after the border marking team, a couple of the mages would disembark from the lighters to deal with the threat.

PokemonJoe1: Natalia is in for a world of hurt, yes, but she's warned now, and forewarned is forearmed.

hignum: Cidela's return, as such, is all planned out, but not for a while. She's got a few more stops to make before certain people figure out how to help her. Signum has her part to play, but I'm not sure yet where her battle is going to come. I've got some ideas for New York/London, but they may fit better later on. Natalia's fate is sealed, as are those of Yosho and Szash, all in due course.

Nijiru: Natalia did break, but before her brother woke up. The process simply took some time. I could make some arguments that she was broken even before Hayate began her school, though that would be stretching it. I did have Cidela marked out as 'the Green Lady' before writing Scar the Soul, yes, and that scene was included largely to let me work out how she manifests during her wanderings. Halley is a melding of Allina, HAL, and Master Haen, but not a multiple-personality. Where the merged loyalties will take her is still up for grabs, though.

Templar Prime: Hmmm, while I'm willing to acknowledge that here is a band claiming to be Nightwish out there, they are a poor imitation of what they were. Not that Tarja's solo stuff is as good as Nightwish's was, either. I miss my Nightwish, but Ghost Love Score was an epic way to go out. Sorry for the confusion in Ahmu's discussion of the futures he saw, the one labeled 'third' (… taking her offer to return to school…) should have been and is now labeled 'fourth'. There were four: One she dies fighting Allison, Two she kills Allison but also dies, Three she escaped Allison but burned out and subsequently committed suicide, and Four she attempted to flee Al Hanthis with Allison and was killed. Laura's opinion on fate would probably be a shrug – fate or not, she deals with the now and leaves heavy thinking for those who enjoy it. The thing is, Ahmu wasn't talking about fate, he was talking about possible futures, all different. Allison hasn't seen any of the Star Trek movies, probably, as they're not her style. Regarding the demolition of the platform, I thought it was clear – it was a restaurant frequented by the Guard, open for business at the time of the blast. That scene is supposed to be a bit schizophrenic from her viewpoint – she's essentially committing a terrorist act to cover her meet with Halley, but trying to live up to Hayate's standards by not outright killing anyone. Rescuing those on the platform then distracted the Protectors who were supposed to be capturing her. Regarding the Rhode Island, I was unaware of the motto. I simply looked up the Ohio class, and picked one of the newer boats that was also in the Atlantic Fleet, and the dart hit 'Rhode Island'.

Daughter of Ether: I'm glad you've liked the story so far, and thanks for the reviews. Regarding Megan's device activation scene – the violation of Japanese grammar was deliberate. While I freely admit I'm not perfect, I'm something of a grammar nazi myself. In that scene, the 'dueling nee-chan' is because of a conflict in how Lotte and Megan see one another. In strictest terms, Megan was correct and Lotte should call her imouto-chan or, at a stretch, kohai. The thing is, to Lotte's way of thinking, Megan's more of a 'super familiar' than a student (remember, Lotte thinks of Yuuno as a familiar as well). Admittedly it's entirely background to the main story, but including tidbits like that help me feel like there's a complete world instead of just the disconnected events of the story. Lotte and Megan's relationship will come up again just before/during/after London, though it may be a Side Story. As for what parts of Nanoha canon are germaine – anything from the first two series (the series, mind you, not any of the manga our sound stages or that stuff, just the actual animated series), though I will admit to not having a perfect memory. Still, I have those series available and enjoy watching them again, whereas I can't stand StrikerS and can't get interested enough to spend the time finding and then reading the manga.

Filraen: Thanks for reading, and for the reviews, I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far. The Twins' reasoning for choosing a Velka device is them going for a worst-case-scenario: 'look, these are the most difficult to control, but see how easy it is for us?' Also, there's Laura's influence to consider – she is quite thoroughly obsessed with Velka devices and magic. Regarding how Al Hanthis won the war against the rebels but were banished – they didn't. No one really 'won' the war that preceded the Cataclysm, mostly because of the Cataclysm. The thing is, not everyone will agree with that. What you need to keep in mind, in every scene, is that you're getting one character's viewpoint, even if it's written in third person. Nobody knows everything that is going on, and everyone is making assumptions that are wrong based on the information they do have. Thus scenes from different characters, especially characters on different sides, will present conflicting information and analysis. The average lifespan in Al Hanthis varies by mage-strength – stronger mages tend to live longer for a variety of reasons (it's easier for them to take care of themselves, they have better care available due to higher rank, they tend to be in less dangerous positions, they have the experience to mitigate risks, etc). Your average Master Adept (such as Yosho and Szash) can expect to live two hundred years or so. It's not in story, but Ahmu (Yosho's father) is pushing one-eighty, Yosho himself is somewhere around one hundred to one-ten, and Szash is in her fifties. Turo, by contrast, is in his lower thirties, and Uli (Halley's friend) is six or seven. Cidela could be considered Hayate's granddaughter in a round-about way, but it would be odd. Mostly, I always picture Hayate's relationship with the Wolkenritter changing over time into a complicated cross of aunts/uncle (including Hayate as an 'aunt' depending on the occasion). Hayate basically considers Cidela a niece. Natalia's 'Precia' persona has been appearing much more frequently. She used it originally to hide, and she has had more and more reason to do that recently. Now that it's a full-blown separate personality… you'll have to read on to see where that goes:). As for the corrections, thanks and I'll update my files, but I'm not sure I'll ever work up the energy to go back that far – I've found corrections I would have to make to basically every chapter. Updated chapter 37 & the Lost Logia conflict, though. Thanks!