Senshi Sabers

Chapter 33

"How many targets did they hit?" Ami Mizuno asked, sounding somewhat dismayed. The slick looking businesswoman was in a conference call with Hotaru Tomoe and clearly wasn't enjoying the experience.

Hotaru Tomoe looked equally unhappy, the younger black haired woman sitting at her desk. "The bio-boomers used the military types attack as cover," she revealed, "and successfully kidnapped two other Infinity scientists. We didn't even realize they had struck for two days."

Ami sat back, her thoughts racing. Their being taken by surprise really shouldn't have been stunning, honestly. The AD Police had been slaughtered in the attacks, and as a organization it would be months before they recovered. At this point they were stretched horribly thin...

"Who did they get?" Ami had to ask.

"A weapons designer, and one of the last survivors of the original Bio-Boomer development project," Hotaru admitted. "They also assassinated three targets they couldn't successfully kidnap. The only major target left is Madigan."

"Oh, lovely," Ami muttered.

Hotaru hesitated a moment then added, "You might consider the possibility of yourself being a target too."

That made Ami look at her curiously. "Oh?" she asked.

"There is that hobby of yours that I won't say I know about," Hotaru noted with a slight smile, "but your mother is publicly known to have been a Infinity employee and was known to be brilliant. There is every possibility that Mistress Nine might think you either have data she needs or could be used to GET that data."

Ami did not acknowledge the hint that Hotaru knew about the Senshi Sabers, but did say, "I agree it's possible I could be targeted, but I think we can handle it."

"Fair enough, but please be careful," Hotaru urged.

Afterwords Ami sat back at her desk, her expression thoughtful. She felt that Hotaru was probably wrong... Ami had built a image of a rich but useless woman without a thought in her head, and she was fairly confident Nine hadn't seen through that.

However, Ami's mother had been very, very proud of Ami's intelligence, even when she had been a little girl. She had boasted to her coworkers, as well as other staff. It was not impossible that could linger n their minds, especially if Nine used some forms of exotic information gathering.

Yes, there was no reason to get careless. Ami logged onto her computer and started to set up a new set of security protocols...

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Rei Hino sighed in relief as the doctor took a saw to the cast on her arm. "I'm doing this against my better judgement," he noted as he cut the plaster off with dust flying around them, "you really need more healing time."

"It's knitted together enough, right?" Rei said impatiently, sitting on the cool and slightly uncomfortable table.

"Yes," he conceded reluctantly, nodding as she shut the device down. "I would like you to wear a protective sleeve on your arm for a bit, though. Just to be safe."

"Knowing my friends, they'll insist on it," Rei admitted with a sigh as he peeled the material away and wiped down her arm with a sponge. It looked annoyingly shrunken, the muscles having atropied somewhat from disuse "Can I ride my motorbike?" she asked.

"Just be careful," he advised, his grey hair alling into his eyes.

"Yeah, right," Makoto noted with a laugh, pushing her head into the curtained off cubicle. "Just about done?" she asked.

"Just about," the old doctor, a friend of Makoto's family noted with a smile. He helped strap the brace on Rei's arm as he said, "Just don't strain it too much, and you should be fine."

"Thanks, Doc," Makoto smiled as she lead Rei out.

"Nice guy," Rei noted as they headed out to the parking lot where Makoto's little hatchback waited for them.

"Yeah, and very discrete," Makoto noted as she explained, "this little visit won't hit anyone's official records."

"I guess you needed that back in your fighting days," Rei said thoughtfully as they climbed into the car and set out.

"And after too," Makoto agreed. She started up the car and they were off in a squeal of tires. "Thanks for keeping me company today," she added, "Mina is so busy with the ADP lately I'm barely seeing her."

"I should thank you for the ride," Rei said with a shrug, "sorry you had to do this."

"Well, with the general panic going on no ones been coming out to my dojo," Makoto noted, "I've got time on my hands."

"Tell me about t," Rei agreed, "the guys in the band tell me all our gigs in town are canceled." She looked thoughtful, "Think all this panic is part of Nine's plans?"

"Probably," Makoto admitted after a moment, "but why? Does she just want Bio-boomers on top? Or is there something else she's after?"

"That's what Ami is spending so much time trying to work out," Rei noted with a sigh. She gave Makoto a sympathetic look, "While we're stuck high and dry."

Makoto snickered at that comment. "Yeah," she agreed, "but while you're cute, no way I'd ever cheat on Mina."

"And Ami would find out and murder us," Rei noted as they reached their headquarters the Silky Doll.

"That too," Makoto agreed, only half joking.

They entered the underground garage as usual, then waited for the scanners to wash over them. There was a laser, some kind of ultrasound and other exotic scans, all accomplished in a few seconds. It was kind of eerie, but at least it wasn't too invasive.

"Thank goodness she hasn't added blood tests," Makoto noted as they entered the elevator up to Ami's apartment.

"Give it time," Rei noted dryly.

"Don't be mean," Makoto laughed as the elevator opened onto Ami's apartment and the living room where the team often crashed after missions.

Haruka and Michiru were there, as was Ami and Setsuna was there too, the tall, black-green haired woman looking rather serious. Of course she ALWAYS seemed rather serious, so it was hard to say if there was anything unusual.

"Welcome back," Ami nodded, her gaze lingering a moment on Rei. "I see your arm is mostly recovered?" she asked.

"I'll need to keep a brace on it, but yeah," Rei smiled back.

"Good," Ami flashed a warm smile.

"We having a meeting?" Makoto asked as she shrugged off her jacket then settled on a open spot on the couch.

"Sorry I can't be there," Mina's tired voice came over the speakers, "but work is insane right now. Good news is, I'm getting lots of data for Ami, assuming I can ever get back there."

"We appreciate your sacrifice," Ami said with a slight smile.

"We have a potential situation, with the latest bio-boomer sighting," Setsuna said flatly, frowning at the humorous byplay.

Rei hid a eye-roll, knowing she'd get in trouble. "So what's gone wrong this time?" she asked as she sat down by Ami.

Setsuna gave her a mild glare. "As you are all aware, Nine has interests in Madigan," she said.

"Considering we stopped a kidnap attempt, we're well aware," Makoto sighed.

Ami gave her exhausted troops a look as she continued, "There was another attempt at getting Madigan, or possibly a scouting mission at the Three Lights club. The bio-boomer was undetectable to standard screening methods."

"But they did spot it," Rei noted. "How?"

"Certain... exotic scanning technology provided by a associate of Seiya Kou," Setsuna said mysteriously, then spoiled it by nodding to Ami.

"You're in bed with Starlight?" Makoto asked, surprised.

Minako burst into laughter at that and Rei smirked. "I didn't know you were that kinky," she noted wryly.

"NOT what I meant," Makoto said, "sorry Ami."

Ami shook her head wryly. "Clearly, we're all too tired for this, but we're going to finish," she said. "I've maintained a connection to Starlight because, while I disagree with some of their projects, I think their the closest to actually doing what my mother wanted."

"Other than the sexaroids," Rei noted.

"Point," Ami conceded.

"So, they've got a upgraded covert bio-boomer that conventional means can't detect," Haruka summarized. "I take it that was why you upgraded security again?"

"Correct," Ami agreed, "and I'm working on some other additions too." She looked at Haruka and Michiru, "Now that Rei has recovered, would you like to continue working with the team?"

"Hey!" Setsuna protested.

"If I asked you, you'd say no," Ami noted calmly. She looked back at the two girls, "Well?"

"If we get our own gear, yes," Michiru beamed.

"Oh yeah," Haruka agreed.

Setsuna scowled, but she didn't object. Clearly she understood the kids had to make their own choices, even if she disagreed with them. "We need to find where Nine is hiding," she changed the subject, "and we can't expect much police assistance."

"You have a suggestion?" Mina asked, clearly not liking her tone.

Setsuna shrugged, "Enlist Infinity and Starlight to do the legwork for us..."

To be continued...