[Ranma/NGE/HPL/AMG][FanFic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 54 - Eagles Grow From Eggs (3/3)

[Daniel Gibson]

[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 54
- Eagles Grow From Eggs

Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1 / 2, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these
stories.

C&C, MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
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ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/Sic-Semper-Morituri/

http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/type/Sic-Semper-Morituri
(these are the original versions)

But How Many Ships Do you Reckon My Presense To Be Worth?
Antigonus

Send Me An Angel - Music: Rudolf Schenker
Lyrics: Klaus Meine

---------------------------------------------------------
August 10,1947
Misato woke after midnight, again. This time it is a definite
sound, not a suspicious absence, she thought, Someone opened the
screen door to the patio upstairs. She pulled her pistol and draped a
sheet around her. The patio door was closed and the rest was a solid
wall, preventing her from looking out onto it. But someone is out
there, she thought as she concealed the pistol in the folds of the
sheet.
Rei sat on the balcony, holding a book to catch the light of a
nearby streetlight. She looked up as Misato approached.
That red glow from her eyes, Misato thought, Must have been a
trick of the light.
"Major, I apologize, I was attempting not to disturb anyone."
"You should be asleep. How can anyone read in this light?"
"I cannot and it is easy," Rei replied, "Respectively."
Misato put Rei's answers with the correct parts of her question.
"You should try to get more sleep. Go on." She opened the screen
door.
Rei showed no expression as she picked up her book and walked
back to her room.
Misato glanced around, wondering where Penpen had gotten to.
Probably sleeping in one of the pilot's rooms, she thought.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko looked over the pilot's shoulder through the Avenger's
windscreen to the deck of the U.S.S. Boxer, the huge '21' proclaiming
it's identity as CV-21. Once she'd seen the empty flight deck, she
sat back down in the rear gunner's seat. I hate flying in these dinky
planes, she thought, For more than two people, two should be the
minimum number of engines. Not one. Not that I mind crashing. I'd
probably survive, but _explaining_ my survival, that would take a lot
of talking. She waited until the plane caught the wire and stopped
completely before unstrapping herself. She didn't wait for the
ladder, using the toe and finger holds on the plane to climb down to
the deck.
She was marching across the flight deck, to the ladder she knew
led down to the hanger deck, before the `welcoming committee` could
catch up with her. The wind over the deck rippling her lab coat and
slacks.
"Dr. Akagi! The Captain would like to offer his thanks and
profound apologies -"
"Thank you, ensign," Ritsuko said without turning to face him, or
slowing down.
"Ma'am, I'm to lead you - "
"I _know_ where they are," Ritsuko said sharply, "I only had to
skim the briefing documents to know _exactly_ where they'd be. Plus,
talking to an overly polite toady who's trying to calm me down is not
what I want, she thought as she reached the bottom of the ladder and
marched across the hanger deck, I want a full head of steam when I
deal with them. So I won't have to do anything rash. Maya's
unspoken 'I told you so's were even louder for all their silence. I
don't need to be 'thanked and apologized' into quiescence. Ritsuko
completed the thought as she received confirmation of her suspicions,
and sighted the hatch, beyond which she _knew_ her quarry lurked.
" 'We are poor little lambs, who have lost our way, baa, baa,
baa,'" came through the door in harmony, accompanied by the sound of
an accordion, " 'We're little black sheep who've gone astray,
Baa-aa-aa!'"
"You certainly are," Ritsuko said crossly, glaring at the fighter
pilots and the EVA pilots equally. Jeff and Nabiki were both wearing
VMF-214 flight suits, Nabiki had a leather jacket with the squadron
insignia on the shoulder. The pilots seemed a little subdued,
especially, the two EVA pilots.
"Um, hi Rit - Doctor Akagi," Nabiki said as she and Jeff stood to
face her, "We were almost out of power, nobody would answer the radio,
and we found this carrier . . . " Nabiki glanced around guiltily.
"It did have a battery pack, and they cobbled together a power take
off for the EVA."
"I saw it," she said as neutrally as she could, simply staring at
the pair, drawing the answers out by her silence.
"Well, if it wasn't the correct carrier," Jeff continued the
defense, "Better to board an available ship, than the difficulty of an
EVA recovery. As well as the cost in time and money."
"What of the problem of the squadrons which were _supposed_ to
land here, and instead had to divert to the Bunker Hill?" Ritsuko
asked, as if discussing something of no importance, "They will have to
be transferred again. The Bunker Hill does not carry large supplies
of aviation fuel, as it was never to carry large numbers of aircraft."
"I don't have the figures to make a comparison," Jeff replied,
"We did discover a way to allow the EVAs to use Essex-class carriers
without destroying the flight deck."
Ah, this is the part I wanted to hear, Ritsuko thought without
letting her expectations change her expression.
"The systems still has some bugs to work out. But we can work on
it during the trip back," Nabiki suggested.
Anything to get out of more target practice? Ritsuko thought,
noting that the fighter pilots looked on the verge of intervening.
Their very different, though equally nervous expressions told her
that.
"Any troubles?" Ritsuko asked as innocently as she could. And
both hide their shock and embarrassment, she considered.
"Nothing beyond normal parameters," Jeff said with an absolutely
straight face.
"Very well," Ritsuko said, "How did you confuse a '21' for a
'17'? It's only painted on the side of the island and on the flight
deck."
"We saw a carrier where one was supposed to be," Nabiki admitted,
"We - I didn't look for the number."
Ritsuko sighed, breaking the tension. "Only you two, only you
two." She shook her head. "What am I going to _do_ with you two?"
"If you don't want'em, we'll take'em!" some wit at the back
called.
"Where does a thousand ton EVA sleep?" someone else asked, "Any
place it f- wants!"
A pilot near the front nodded. "Gramps would be proud of them,"
he said.
"No, maybe when we're done with them," Ritsuko said, "What's the
matter `Raccoon`, couldn't get a jacket like 'Ice Princess'?"
"She's cuter than I am," Jeff admitted, getting whoops from the
fighter pilots.
----------------------------------------
"You two slept together in the plug all night?!" Maya teased
Nabiki and Jeff while they walked from the plug to the decontam
showers aboard the Bunker Hill.
Nabiki touched her sleeve, Jeff shook his head 'no'.
"Oh, the Ice Princess and Raccoon, I hope someone got pictures,"
Maya said, her hands clasped under her chin looking cute.
"Eight-by-tens and wallet-sized. Very good job, if I do say so,"
Jeff said dryly, "I doubt we'll let you in the auction though, it's a
silent auction, you can't meet the minimums."
Maya immediately seemed to tear up. "What is _that_ supposed to
mean? Oh boo hoo, I can be as quiet as the next person!"
"Provided the next person is an active volcano," Nabiki retorted.
"Or a howitzer barrage," Jeff added.
"Or Asuka Soryu Langley," Nabiki said. Maya acted mortified by
the last.
"Oh yeah, while you to were making a love-nest in the plug, we
were working," she told them, "Finding places for all the planes you
displaced."
"_We_ didn't move the carrier and not tell anybody." Jeff
brightened. He glanced at Nabiki and nodded, she nodded back. They
immediately both began shaking like dogs, spraying the area,
especially Maya, with L.C.L. drops.
"WAIT!! STOP!! DON'T!" She tried to block or dodge the
loathsome substance from falling on her.
"You only had to ask," Jeff said.
Nabiki smiled at that. "Jeff, coffee after school?"
"Why not, our ANALYST friends needs to clean up," Jeff said, he
waved a hand in front of his face, "She smells just _awful_."
Maya growled at the retreating pilots, trying to wipe off the
offending substance. "_YUCK!_"
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko watched the pair going over the reports on the action of
the previous evening, especially Air Close-support. She smirked that
Jeff was much more concerned with warning Nabiki about _not_ going
beyond her limits. Wonder about that, Ritsuko thought, I don't
understand why they had an additive effect, when all our tests
indicate two people in a plug had a deleterious effect on sync rate.
However, we never had _two_ pilots to check our theories. She watched
Maya hovering over the pair. I was _especially_ surprised about Maya
waking me up with breakfast before I could take off for the Boxer, she
thought, Although she seems to be returning to a more demure
personality, back to `normal`. That may be due to her own increased
confidence, rather than anything else.
Maya was also playing chess with one of the officers in the ready
room. She's actually moving the pieces herself, between looking at
the kids. 'More miracles', the poor officer studies the board for a
few minutes, makes his move, Maya glances back from the kids, makes
her move and immediately looks back at the kids. I think that poor
man may have an attack of apoplexy, Ritsuko thought.
"Atten' hut!" someone called. Everyone in the mess hall were on
their feet. Pilots and NERV personnel included.
"As you were," the Marine Major, who was the commander of the
ship's Marine detachment, stood at the lectern as the audience sat
back down.
"We've gone over the assembled reports from our Intelligence and
NERV security," the man said, "We have no additional information
beyond what we will report here. Additionally, we have no reason to
believe that your families will be in any danger from these people."
The briefing went on. Basically, the attackers existed before
the Security people were in place and Security had their jobs
_because_ of the attackers, he singled out a suspect that could pull
that off, SEELE, NERV's original parent organization.
Good Lord! Ritsuko thought in shock, I've never heard them
mentioned outloud before, and especially not as the chief suspect in
any nefarious dealings!
The rest of the data bore out no conclusions and no patterns,
just speculations, the briefer noted them as such.
Ritsuko glanced over at the two pilots' notes. On Jeff's, there
were a few doodles with a number 6 with various combinations or eyes,
smiles, glasses. Nabiki sketched a six with a raccoon eye mask and a
smile on her notes and circled it. When Jeff spotted it, he gave fair
recompense, a 'na' hirigana with a yen symbol replacing the upper
radical. Nabiki had gotten a multicolored pencil set and colored a
thatch of blue hair on a zero with red eyes. Nabiki had considered
giving it a ghostly halo, then scratched it out, abandoning that idea.
Other symbols, numbers, kanji to develop a `logo` for the other
pilots, Ritsuko realized, Most of them going nowhere. And they
already seem to know most of the elements of the briefing. How? I
didn't tell them. She wondered what the logos were about, and
considered that they might be experimenting with creating a rune
for/of each of them. I'm going to have to find out the implications
of that later, she thought as she assembled the data, and ran the
possible scenarios, and how to tip the game in their favor.
As the briefing ended and the troops were dismissed, Ritsuko
headed through the crowd to the Major. Jeff and Nabiki followed.
"Major, I think we need to talk to the Captain and the Admiral."
"Yes, ma'am," the Major said and saluted.
---------------------------------------------------------
Gendo sat, watching the readouts from the pilots as they
performed the sync test in the test plugs. He heard someone entering,
glanced over and saw it was Admiral Simons, who plugged into the Magi
feeds to see what Gendo was seeing. "I'd forgotten both how relaxing
and how tedious this was."
"I've heard you have to watch Saotome," Simson said as looked
over the virtual desks, "He tends to fall asleep."
The placid faces of the kids displayed from inside the test plugs
seemed to be at odds with what they were each trying to accomplish.
"Shinji is resisting saturation better than the other three,"
Simson commented, checking the output from the Magi against the strip
chart recorders.
"Better than previously as well," Gendo answered, "Have you ever
wanted to try?"
"I tested at Las Vegas. They gave me my third star and this job.
I'm also one of the few general officers who could stand contact with
L.C.L.." He chuckled. "You don't want to know what Bull Halsey
suggested they do when they tried to convince him to get into the
plug."
"I can imagine," Gendo said, "Our General and Naval Staff were -
unwilling to accept the need." He turned to face Simson. "You
suggested that I have become predictable."
"Sorry to say, but it's true," Simson spread his hands and
replied.
"I have an idea to break that certainty, but I need some help
with my plan."
"What do you need?"
"First, how's this for surprising and out of character?" Gendo
asked, smiled, "I want to reward the pilots for their service, they've
exceeded both projections and expectations."
"I think I hear the devil putting on his ice skates now. What do
you have in mind?" Simson asked. Gendo saw he was intrigued.
---------------------------------------------------------
Asuka let the hot water and lemon oil remove the awful smell of
L.C.L. from her hair and skin. "I miss my longer hair," she said
sadly.
"It is quicker to wash now," Wondergirl commented.
"Not _everything_ is about efficiency, Wondergirl," Asuka
replied, "Frankly, if you were _really_ interested in efficiency,
you'd be better off shampooing Spineless's hair and him yours -
_HOLD_IT_!_!_"
Wondergirl blinked, staring back from the doorway to the showers.
"When you're both dressed, Wondergirl," Asuka told her, "Not when
you're naked." "You'd give him a terminal nosebleed," Asuka muttered.
"Why should that matter?" Wondergirl asked, "He will be as well."
"Because it's . . . " Asuka's eyes narrowed as Wondergirl stared
back a little _too_ blankly. "Oh, ha ha, very funny, Wondergirl,"
Asuka told her as Wondergirl returned to the shower stall, "You had me
going."
"Good."
"No reason to be so smug."
"I beat you."
"You don't have to rub it in!" Asuka shouted.
"I do."
"AUGH!"
"A flat."
"I'm going to _kill_ you!" Asuka shouted and chased Wondergirl,
right into a naked Spineless and Horseface.
"Wagh! You did that on purpose!" Asuka shouted as she retreated
back into the shower.
"Yes," Wondergirl told her.
----------------------------------------
Hear This Voice From Deep Inside, It's The Call of Your Heart
August 11, 1947
"They _what?_" Ritsuko looked up from her paper work and asked
the head of the Bunker Hill's Marine detachment.
"I said 'they stood in the middle of one of the ready rooms and
sparred, in the dark, for three hours'." The man smiled. "Too bad
the people who attacked Pilot Langley didn't show up, they would have
chopped them into mincemeat."
"You didn't go stop them?" Ritsuko asked.
"Ma'am, I've taken some fencing, but I wouldn't have gone in
there last night without an armored brigade." The man shook his head.
"Scary doesn't even begin to describe it."
"Yeah," Ritsuko said quietly, "Scary. Where are they now?"
"Davis is in the engine shop," the man told her, "Miss Tendo was
arranging with some of the DI's to continue her shooting lessons."
Ritsuko headed out of her office, feeling none too secure of her
place at NERV or in the world. "Please ask Pilots Davis and Tendo to
join me in the ready room. Insist as necessary."
"Yes, Ma'am." The Marine headed in one direction while Ritsuko
headed in another.
The tension has been growing between those two, Ritsuko thought,
The use of the AT field with two pilots in the plug was bound to cause
problems. I should have realized that with _those_ two, it would
cause more serious problems. Jeff has all the characteristics that
draw Ran_ko_, yet despite having an example, Nabiki can't quite manage
to get around the roadblocks she and Ranma keep throwing up to prevent
them getting closer to each other. So where does Nabiki turn when she
gets frustrated and lonely, and then tears herself up because she's
'being unfaithful' to Ranma. Ritsuko snorted. It is better if Ranma
_has_ someone to learn from and compete against in pursuing Nabiki's
affections, Ritsuko thought, Of course at that age, they're sure that
being rejected is the end of the world. Odd, considering they all
have proof that it isn't true. They've already lost so much, and
survived.
Ritsuko stepped into the room, the various chairs and fittings
pulled to the walls, leaving a wide open area in the center. She sat
there in the dark, considering what she was going to do. It's not
fair, she thought, I can go through nearly every step of what Jeff
will say and do, Nabiki is more of a mystery. But I think Nabiki is
the one having the real problems, both transitioning into being a
`real` pilot, but also getting used to the differences of being
treated as one of the fraternity of warriors. I know both Maya and I
are having troubles doing it. At the same time, while Nabiki is
lionized by gaijin, Asuka was attacked, supposedly because she is a
foreigner. Except, I don't believe that. She was attacked to see
what would happen when a pilot was attacked, so someone else could see
how to beat Security, or how the _pilots_ would react. Bad data,
they'd be reacting differently if all of them were together. I'm just
glad the Captain and the Admiral agreed. We may only be able to shave
a day at most from our steaming time, but that might be enough. Three
carriers, two pilots, an independent EVA, and `Maya's Army` will make
a difference if we arrive unexpectedly.
She watched as Nabiki arrived, looking around the darkness and
spotting Ritsuko. Nabiki sat across the `clearing` from Ritsuko, the
girl said nothing, intent on studying the deck plates. Maya and Jeff
arrived a few minutes later. The Marines closed and bolted the doors,
leaving the `senior` NERV personnel in privacy.
"They posted the area," Maya said quietly as darkness closed
around her, the only one who couldn't see in the darkness of the room.
Jeff had taken a position across from Maya, between Ritsuko and
Nabiki.
"I heard about your sparring last night," Ritsuko said quietly
but firmly, "I've been watching you . . . both, and how you've been
reacting to things, ever since Sharon's death at your hands Jeff, and
your reaction to becoming a blooded pilot Nabiki." Ritsuko lamented
that there was no smoking. I could have used the effect of being the
only face in light, she thought, Good grief, I'm going to wind up as
manipulative as Gendo.
"I've been . . . angry lately," Nabiki admitted reluctantly.
"Lately?" Jeff asked.
Nabiki took a breath to launch an attack, instead she stood up
and began pacing in the darkness. Ritsuko watched Maya try to track
the sound of the girl's steps on the deck. "Okay, for longer than
that." She paused next to Maya, then sat down next to the analyst.
"I have been angry, angry at the whole world, and myself especially.
Since my mother left me, without any explanation, or my permission. I
never could figure out if I did it, or I was being punished."
Maya wrapped her arms around Nabiki. The girl's tension lessened
slightly.
"Ever since, I've been trying to figure out where I belong,"
Nabiki said quietly, settling in Maya's hug, "It turns out . . . it's
here. With that revelation, I find out I'm not so separate and
outlandish as I always desired and feared to be. All my best
characteristics, all my pains and trials, somebody, lots of
somebodies, had them first. I lost my mom, so did the rest of the
pilots; I was always the outsider, compared to what Rei, Asuka and
Jeff have to live through everyday . . . no comparison. So many
others have gone through it, and they aren't whining and moaning about
it. Or beating on everyone around them 'look at me, look at me! But
not too close.'" Nabiki looked up, looked first at Jeff, then looked
Ritsuko in the face. "I'm not fighting anymore because I'm ashamed of
who I am and what I do."
Her eyes narrowed and her expression hardened. "I'm doing what I
have to because I'm obstinate, calculating and vicious, because I'm
_me_, and I'm finally proud of Nabiki Tendo."
She looked around. "So I'm going to do what I have to."
Ritsuko nodded. Okay, part of the problem dealt with.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki sat in the middle of the ready room. The lights on, in
deference to Maya.
I'm as excited as I was during the first lessons, she thought,
glanced at Ritsuko who was prepared to intervene if something untoward
happened. "So what _is_ the answer?" Nabiki asked. Here comes the
gobblygook answer, like Cologne, Genma or Soun would give, she thought
sourly of Raccoon's smile, Something to highlight the student's
ignorance and the teacher's `wisdom`. From Genma and Soun, such
pronouncements had been lies and pretentious most of the time, only
Ranma and Akane were naive enough to believe them. From Cologne, they
were merely irritating.
"Magic is sending out a demand that the universe give us what we
want, and then being a passive conduit of the universe's reply," Jeff
told them. "Because magic is the mixture of willful selfishness and
absolute surrender."
Nabiki boggled at the simplicity of that. But it sounds like the
typical koan/mondo stuff that Zen masters spouted, Nabiki thought in
frustration, And that the martial artists of Nerima used to disguise
their ignorance.
"Simply put, you send a demand out to the universe. By knowing
the shape of the universe, the density and types of ambient energies,
you become the conduit of what is reflected back."
"Magic is a cross between a radar set and a signal?" Nabiki
asked, not bothering to hide her disappointment. It can't be _that_
easy, she thought, There has to be a catch.
"No, the magic _is_, it's everywhere and no where, anyone can do
magic, but the echoes they get are generally too weak to do anything,
or they don't let the echo flow through them."
"Then what's all this 'manipulate external energies' stuff?" Get
to the point, she silently urged.
"That's how you determine the shape of the universe , the density
and types of ambient energies," Ritsuko explained.
"Testing the waters before the spell is cast?" Maya asked, trying
to understand.
"Precisely," Raccoon said, bowed to her, "There are more ways to
'plumb' the waters than I can relate in a day. The junk Gosenkugi
used are some examples. Runes and inscription, incantations,
gestures, materials, all of it is little more than giving the
understanding of ambient conditions. Spell formulae are tried and
true ways of recreating the echo that delivers a certain effect under
most circumstances. An improvised casting takes much more power, time
and luck, but they allow those mages to do _anything_ they can
visualize and empower."
"So what's involved?" Nabiki asked impatiently.
Raccoon spread a deck of very strange cards, a collection of
stones, herbs and dried bugs, pages of diagrams and mathematical
formulae, rune carved rods of various lengths and colors, and a
collection of coins from across the world on the deck before them.
"Each one of these can be used to focus the mind, become receptive to
the subtle changes around you that will tell you precisely what to
send out to get the echo you want."
Don't touch, don't touch, don't touch, Nabiki urged her itching
fingers to stay right where they were.
Maya reached for one of the packets of herbs, turned it over in
her hands and set it back. "It, is safe?" She glanced around. "But
not for the rest of you, right?"
"Yes," Jeff told her, "You could use them as the focus of your
meditation, but not to cast a spell. If Nabiki or Ritsuko had tried
to pick one up, I would have stopped them."
"It's this submission to that echo I'm worried about." I'm not
sure I could `submit` to anything, she thought. "What does the energy
flowing through you . . . what do you do?"
"Nothing," Raccoon told her as he shrugged, "Which is not as easy
as it sounds. If you get out of its way, the spell is cast. If you
don't, that depends on the spell. It could do nothing, it could
vaporize you and turn your spirit into bitty pieces. That's why I
told you not to mess around with spellcasting."
Nabiki frowned and shifted. Okay, message received five by five,
she thought, and got a strong reinforcing impression from Coffee, And
no help from the peanut gallery!
"Like I said, the initial demand is where you get your control,
you can't change your order once it's been made. 'This is the day the
Lord hath made', you can't send it back for a refund."
Ritsuko guffawed once, apologized and tried to keep a straight
face.
"I take it you've never seen this technique," Raccoon commented.
"No. The Elder Things . . . they - sang - and things happened.
The language was different from the one they used for communications.
The idea that they would ever submit to anyone or anything seems . . .
alien to their nature."
Sounds like me, Nabiki thought.
"Arrogant doesn't even begin to describe them."
Ouch! Nabiki thought, Maybe not.
"They also weren't powerful spellcasters. The other powers that
_are_ - generally know the procedure. The ones that develop new
spells are even more adaptable."
"Humans have added spells?" Maya asked.
Beat me to the punch, Nabiki thought.
"Humans have nearly _doubled_ the number of spells available,"
Racoon said. Nabiki was amazed, Raccoon continued, "Other races just
aren't as interested in the research, or aren't as willing to brag
about what they found. Admittedly, most are combinations and
permutations of mightier works, but they are new ideas. A Master's
Thesis, rather than a Doctoral Dissertation."
I'd bet on braggarts, Nabiki thought, It's all I can do not to
burst out with what I've found, and with Coffee's existence. But I've
got to keep my mouth shut, not let them know my full capabilities.
Not that I _ever_ had to do that in Nerima.
"That's one reason necromancy is so popular. Which I'm afraid we
may have to use on Maya if she nods off one more time, she may crack
her head on the deck."
Now she's awake, Nabiki thought. "You mentioned that, it's
summoning up the shade of a deceased wizard and torturing the shade
into giving up its secrets. Seems kind of tawdry, I mean, if you're
dead, can't they just leave you alone?"
"It's gruesome," Maya added, "Have you . . . ever . . . ?"
"Summoned up, yes; tortured, no. I've found that any really
skilled wizard left things undone. It's easy to make a deal. Torture
something and they'll tell you what they think you want to hear. Make
a deal, and they'll tell you what they think will make you do your
best to achieve goals not your own. Often only part of the payment is
received at first, the rest on `delivery`."
"I prefer the sound of that," Nabiki said. Ripping the secret
out of the dead is one thing, she thought, But helping them rest
easier, that's a whole other kettle of fish.
"So neither of you should try to take your secret to the grave,"
Ritsuko teased, "Because someone will just dig you up to get them."
"So what are Nabiki and Sempai supposed to do with all this
stuff." Maya indicated all the paraphernalia, then she looked at the
stunned faces. "I thought you were teaching _both_ of them."
"I am," Jeff said, "What they do, is select what best connects
them with the infinite, as flippant as that sounds, that's what this
stuff is for."
"What connects you?" Nabiki asked pointedly.
"The spirits, the ambient energy of the items around me, the
people, the memories, the forces around me. So I get a continuous
`background hum` which tells me the conditions."
"So you could toss a lightning bolt easily?" Nabiki asked.
"No." He shook his head. "My form of magic doesn't accommodate
itself to attack spells of that form, although I can deliver such an
attack with a touch, so I would not be someone you'd want to punch or
block, or get hit by. Enchantments are my specialty, making magic
items, temporarily or permanently. If I toss a fireball, it's
probably from a device I made, rather than from me."
"Isn't that the whole point of _being_ a mage?" Nabiki asked.
"What?" Raccoon asked disdainfully, "Blowing, people and things
up?" He stared at Nabiki until she looked away. "No, that's not the
point. Is that how _you_ operated in Nerima? That wasn't how I
operated."
I hate it when he's right, she thought, frowning, No, I never
operated like that.
"Touch<MS-8A>," Ritsuko said.
Good gang up on me, she thought. "So, let's begin," she said to
change the subject.
As important as money was to me, she thought as she felt the
coins and concentrated, then dropped them to the deck, They do nothing
for me. "I was just considering using coins for getting readings in
the I Ching," she commented. The cards are what keep drawing my eye,
she thought, Because of my earlier `experience`? Or the strange
kanji-like characters? She found herself reaching for them, then
restrained herself, No, those last.
She picked up and examined the stones. All different colors,
different textures, different weights, but nothing special about them,
she thought. She set down the stones and passed her hand over the
herbs and bugs. The bugs are something I don't want to handle even if
I do become a mage, she thought. She considered the pages of
mathematical formulae. "These are for Asuka," she said as she set
them aside, her head spinning.
"Those are real spells," Jeff said, sliding them away from Maya's
advancing hand, "Not for the uninitiated."
"I can tell," Nabiki said as she waited for the world to settle
down.
"You two may want to study them as a back up," Raccoon told
Nabiki and Ritsuko, "If they had that effect on both of you, they may
be usable. It's always good to have a back up."
"What's yours?" Ritsuko asked, taking the pages to study.
Nabiki noted the woman reeled slightly from just looking at the
pages.
"All of them," he told them with a Machiavellian grin.
The colored wands are next, Nabiki thought, Oh joy, I can be a
magical girl, spreading love and peace and justice to all the world
with a smile in my heart. I can kill Great Old Ones with sugar shock
and diabetes. She stared at the rods as she handled them, the runes
carved in them, the bright colored paints highlighting the carvings,
the tips. Some had stripes and spirals along their lengths. No
connection, she realized as she handled them, Thank God, no Pretty
Soldier Biki-chan and my pet rabbit who turns into a personal suit of
armor.
The cards at last, she thought, I was a good girl, I tried
everything else first. Now I try what's been drawing my eye and my
hands since we started. She glanced at Raccoon, who seemed to be
watching everything.
She picked up the cards. It feels . . . reasonable, I can see a
connection between me and among the cards, she thought as she felt the
patterns and ways of combining then to different effects. She set the
cards down with a stunned expression. "It all works . . . it almost
all made sense," she admitted.
"Typically, the students come slowly to their affinities. You've
pretty much jumped in at the deep end, I could suggest you go back to
the math and work that around, as a backup to the cards and their
runes. Each method has it's advantages and drawbacks. I'll explain
each and you can decide how to get around them or adapt to them."
------------------------------
Close Your Eyes And Your Will Find
Misato looked down at the corpse, very glad it had been found
after the kids were on their way to school. They'd bickered and
argued, laughed, ganged up on each other and complained. Misato
smiled and thought, About back to normal.
Before they removed the body, the medical examiner told something
to an officer of the Tokyo police, Minayo Tendo, who turned out to be
Tomiyo's father. He walked back to Misato.
"The rifle he had was pointed at the apartment, Major. They
don't think it was a coincidence considering that he was probably one
of the people who attacked Miss Langley." Minayo considered his next
words carefully. "The rifle grenade wouldn't have penetrated the
walls, and the patio doors are positioned and blocked so no such
attack would get through them. You'd be better off trying to simply
level the building."
"What killed him?" Misato had seen the reports on the attackers.
They were all ex-army, most were specially-trained: snipers,
explosives experts, the like, she thought, Yet someone or some_thing_
killed this one.
The cop was puzzled. "A single thrust through the skull, whoever
did it, knew enough to damage the bone around the wound to keep us
from knowing the shape of the weapon. There were no signs of a
struggle."
"So a community-minded citizen snuck up on an ex-commando armed
with a rifle and grenades, killed him with one stroke, destroying all
the evidence of how he or she did it, and left." Misato looked across
the busy street to Sammi's apartment building. "Could that rifle have
made an accurate shot from this distance?"
"You'd have to check with your own armament section. The rifle
is neither American, British, nor Japanese, so it's outside my area of
expertise. But the police officers who know about these things seem
to think so, especially with the telescopic sight. Would a rifle
grenade reach there? I'm not sure."
"Time of death?" Misato asked.
"Sometime between 11 and 1 last night. What worries me is the
case he had for the rifle, had space for another, smaller rifle in it,
that was empty. It could have been empty when he came up here, or . .
... " Minayo's voice trailed off.
"Or someone took home a souvenir," Misato concluded, "Our civil
friend, or the person who called in the body?"
"The woman who found the body is being questioned, the police are
taking a discreet look around," the cop told her.
Misato could almost hear the unasked question that had to be on
the minds of every cop and NERV investigator within earshot.
Especially Minayo, who is interested in his son's work. 'How were the
kids this morning?' she imagined someone, anyone, asking.
They were kids, she thought in reply, Loud, disorganized, picking
fights, you know, kids.
Must be your superior mothering skills, she nearly heard the
sarcastic reply, But from Ritsuko, Dafisu or Asuka, I don't know.
Misato returned to staring at the apartment
"Which room's windows face this way?" Minayo asked.
"Nothing, the only thing exposed is . . . the patio. Rei was out
on the patio, at around midnight," Misato breathed. Just when this
was going on! Did she hear something? Was she the target? Misato
growled to herself. "Why else would the sniper have to come up here?
He couldn't shoot down into the rooms from other floors, but to fire
up with a rifle grenade and have it hit inside the balcony he'd need
this location."
"Or he could have come to the only part of the building
accessible to the public with an expectation of privacy," Minayo
replied evenly, "Don't over think this, Major, it may be a
coincidence."
----------------------------------------
The entire school body had been assembled in the gymnasium.
Please, oh Merciful Goddess, not the principal's speech! Usagi prayed,
then she spotted the movie projector and the large screen.
Harumi sat next to Usagi. "Do you know what's going on?"
"No idea," Usagi admitted, "Never had a movie before."
The lights dimmed and the projector came on. The theme and logo
of Movietone News(tm) came up on the screen.
"Tinseltown and the Pentagon joined together to honor real
heroes. Pilots Nabiki Tendo and Jeffery Davis meet the elite of
Hollywood, in a strange twist, young Mister Davis was giving others
his autograph, and Miss Tendo with her casts being signed."
Usagi couldn't believe it. She _had_ to have planned this! she
thought angrily, But there she is, bigger than life, the picayune,
modern `gods` who sparkle through life all playing court to her. I
thought it couldn't get worse, but there she is! Charming those
fools, smiling and chatting. Usagi looked around at the rapt
expressions on the other faces around her. The light of their
adoration clear in the flickering light of the movie projector.
Suddenly it was over, the lights came up. But the mesmerized
expressions continue, Usagi thought in a fury, forcing herself not to
show it.
"Yes," the principal gushed as he stepped in front of the screen,
"And soon they will be attending our school. You saw how they were,
polite and poised, that is what we hope to instill in you. Miss Tendo
was speaking with such expertise, and such skill in English. Is the
next film ready? Oh, good!" He scurried out of the way.
The lights came down again. The Movietone News(tm) theme and
logo came upon the screen. Usagi felt as if someone, one Nabiki
Tendo, was dribbling acid on her heart.
"Pilot Nabiki Tendo at last night's soiree with the elite of
Hollywood - "
Usagi blanked out all but Nabiki Tendo, the wounded heroine. She
appeared bigger than life. She's staring oh so earnestly at the
entire class, Usagi thought, squirming under that gaze that seemed to
look right through her, And me in particular.
"Is there anything you particularly want to do here in the
'States?"
"As you know, we'll be sailing very soon," Nabiki said, looked
down shyly.
Charming all these idiots with how humble and thoughtful you are!
Usagi wanted to scream, What a load of _CRAP_!_ I know you know
_exactly_ what you're doing!
"But I'd like to lay a wreathe at the site of the U.S.S. Arizona,
to remember all the men lost there and in the year's following, who
saved their nation, and mine. We will be fierce rivals in the future,
with the Tokyo Tigers beating the Yankees in the series, and Japanese
cars and radios on the shelves with Philco, RCA, Ford and Chrysler,
each better for the intense competition, but we will never again wage
war _against_ each other."
Usagi ignored the yammering of the reporter and stared hatefully
at that smiling face, the superior yet seemingly humble face, the face
that had reduced all her classmates and teachers to mush. All right,
I lost, then you rub my nose in it, Usagi thought, I _will_ destroy
you. You couldn't just have left me hurt and confused, you had to
kick me too. Very well, I'm still standing, and I _will_ be ready for
you!
The lights came up and Usagi began planning her next move.
"It's so exciting!" the principal gushed, "Let's all see it
again!"
Usagi ground her teeth.
------------------------------
The comments from the boys on Hikari's and Wondergirl's
appearance, especially Wondergirl's new hairstyle, had Asuka smiling.
Just something subtle, a careful going over, Asuka thought, Then jock
stooge had to say 'She looked like a girl for once.' At least Hikari
learned another lesson. Rather than berate him, she'd correctly burst
into tears, standing there while Toji stammered comforting words.
Asuka considered her work and was pleased. Easier than thinking about
what Spineless said last night, she thought, Horseface is such a
pollyanna, of course with _his_ luck, he probably will come through
this all unchanged. Some of us aren't that lucky. She shook her head
and sighed, trying to break her bad mood.
Spineless is embarrassed by his treatment as a celebrity, Asuka
thought then glanced at Ranma, And Horseface is back as `sigh, Ranma`.
Strange, he doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as he used to.
Yes, things are shaping up nicely, she felt all was well with the
world, until Wondergirl motioned her over.
"A dead sniper on the building across from the apartment,"
Wondergirl whispered, "It could also mean a plumber had an accident
with a load of pipes, but the sniper seems more credible."
That's right, tell a joke, Asuka thought as she paled, she asked,
"Have you told the others?"
"Not until we can confirm this. There is no need. The guards
know."
"What about us?" Asuka asked, "Do we need to know?"
"You, and I, can observe. NERV Security must know, there may be
no danger."
Yeah I believe that, Asuka thought, glanced at Spineless and
Horseface. Asuka returned to her seat. Wondergirl had one insight in
that meeting, Asuka thought, She'd guessed the security people's
relatives hadn't been corrupted, the security people had been chosen
_BECAUSE_ their relatives were sleeper agents. I haven't shared that
bit of information, who could I trust it with? Neither have any of
the others. 'Let me get one brick out and I'll pull down the whole
wall', is a piece of advice I've never forgotten, it made up many of
my basic stratagems, now we have a brick to pull out, do I want to
know what is on the other side of this wall?
----------------------------------------
At lunch, Rei set up her chessboard next to Asuka, she moved one
of the pieces, without any prompting from anyone. She waited, staring
at Asuka.
More miracles, Asuka thought as she moved a piece. Wondergirl
studied the board. Asuka noticed some of the kids were quietly
watching them. Great now we're the lunchtime entertainment.
Asuka countered Wondergirl's move and continued munching her
lunch. "Spineless is quite a good cook," Asuka told Wondergirl, who
paused for a moment. Gotcha, Asuka thought.
"Yes." Wondergirl moved.
Okay, where to move, she thought as she studied the board, Where
to -
"Better than you," Wondergirl said.
Asuka blinked, glared at Wondergirl who continued with her placid
expression. Asuka tried to reorganize her strategy.
"Ranma is also better," Wondergirl said.
Asuka grimaced. "Okay," Asuka said, "I'll be quiet, if you'll be
quiet. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Wondergirl said.
Asuka thought she saw the ghost of a smile cross Wondergirl's
face. I'll make you pay for that later, Asuka thought as she returned
her concentration to the board.
----------------------------------------
P.E. is going to be an even more hectic time, Ranma thought as he
tentatively reached into the cold shower, and remained male as the
water hit his arm, although he felt a weird crawling feeling
throughout his body, Okay, I can contra - override the curse. But
something inside me controls whether I'm male or female. That I can't
control. _Yet_!_
As he stepped back into the locker room, more contacts, more
questions, more concerns descended on him and Shinji.
"Look," he announced, "The sniper was on the news, was there a
connection? We don't know. Our guards haven't pulled us out of here,
so it isn't a serious problem."
Soothing Asuka's fears while she completely denies having facts,
Ranma thought, I hope Hikari and Rei are up to doing it. I do _not_
want to become Ranko in the middle of the guys' locker room. He
smirked. I'd have to break too many fingers before I escaped, he
thought, glanced at Tomiyo who waited near Shinji. Okay, so Sammi's
over there with the girls, he realized, But what do we do on the way
home, now that the enemy - what's the word? Escalated - that's it,
escalated their actions. 'Ranma the Invincible!' is no good against
firearms.
------------------------------
The twin faces peered out of the shadows at the Children playing
with the children. The thing's sense of expectation was growing. It
knew the prey would soon be in reach, and would soon be destroyed.
------------------------------
Sammi had excused herself from the locker room, because of the
gender problem. She approached the other guards as they watched the
kids play football. She had a paper in hand when she rejoined the
waiting group. "Forget taking them straight home," she said, "I think
we need to go straight to Commander Ikari with this." She held up the
headline for others to read.
----------------------------------------
Usagi frantically searched under her bed. She heard Tomoe enter.
"Help me find her!"
"Find who?" Tomoe asked.
"The . . . gift," Usagi told her as she dug through the boxes
from under her bed.
Tomoe stared at her sister as the blood drained from her face.
"You don't think - they found it? Or maybe they - stole it, as
revenge."
Usagi's fear turned to fury. "How - dare -they!"
"We have to find - your pet. Or find out who took it, assuming
it didn't just wander off to go hunting."
"If they find - the gift, they'll have our finger prints," Usagi
warned, "They'll know who we are!"
Tomoe paled at that implication.
------------------------------
"I'm sorry," the security trooper told them, "The Commander is in
conference and not to be disturbed."
Rei looked at her fellow pilots worriedly, "Perhaps, if I went
alone." She knew they knew about her more cordial relations with the
Commander.
"I'm sorry, Ayanami-san, he said no one, no exceptions." That
seemed to shock Rei.
"Let's go see Fuyutsuki," the Fourth ordered the others, "
'Attacks made on NERV pilots,'" he quoted the headline, "He's got to
talk to us." The Fourth stormed off in that directions. The demeanor
of the pilots was more angry than frightened.
"Congratulation on being a gaijin," Asuka teased Rei, Rei was too
shocked by the Commander's behavior to reply.
----------------------------------------
"What is your take on this?" Ikari asked Fuyutsuki.
"The pilots assured me they told _no_one_ who would have revealed
the information. The author `Tam` is being investigated, but the only
people with this detailed knowledge of the attack were the pilots, the
perpetrators, and the eyewitnesses, and any of them would have talked
much earlier," Fuyutsuki said, remembering the angry invasion of his
office by the pilots and their guards. "Some of what was revealed in
the article wasn't even known by all the pilots, it is impossible that
anyone without contacts _within_ NERV could have assembled this story.
I can't believe the papers ran this story, all of the evening dailies
have it, decrying our coverup of the attack. Frankly, the Children
were furious about the lack of privacy and the security leaks
required. The guards said nothing, but they weren't any happier. No
one person should have had access to all the information involved,
except you. Even I didn't have it all. And I trust you didn't leak
this to the papers."
"I want the guards checked again," Gendo said quietly, "And the
technical people. We have a security leak, one of immense
proportions. And you're wrong, there is _one_ other person with
access to all this information. Kehl."
Fuyutsuki stared in disbelief, "If they're involved, openly
involving themselves . . . " he left the rest unspoken.
"Wrong, Professor. If they've decided to tip their hand here,
then what _are_ they hiding now?"
----------------------------------------
Kaji caught up with the Commander outside the conference room.
Who the heck was he arguing with, Kaji thought as he glanced around
the empty room, As if I didn't know. I bet you _love_ throwing a cat
among the Committee of pigeons. I _should_ tell them, but I want the
answers you're providing.
"The reporter is on his way to New Guinea, officially. The story
ran as intended. I don't think this will smoke out the attackers, or
get anyone to report them."
"That is not your concern," the Commander said, "Your job is to
see what this does shake out, and bring the information to me."
Yes ,sir, Kaji thought angrily as he walked along. "I already
have one other piece of information. Somebody else has been looking
into things. The organization is large, well-organized, and seems
able to dodge and twist around NERV Security, ONI, Army Intelligence,
etc. without being detected."
"Or they are ignored," the Commander said.
He won't say it, Kaji thought as he moved away, But I'm to look
into it.
------------------------------
The sound of the gunshot made Ranma flinch, Asuka set the
standard .45 down on the range table. "It's too big!" she complained.
Sammi considered, The other pilots aren't technically authorized
for weapons. But knowing how to shoot isn't the same. And their
weapons may be the only thing between them and another disaster. Like
what happened to Asuka, or what happened to Jeff and Nabiki.
"All right." Sammi approached, pulling a .22 revolver and pulling
the target closer on the wire. "Five shots, don't fan it." She
watched Asuka carefully aiming and firing, and Ranma who stood beside
her flinched with each report. The accuracy wasn't good, but she was
only out of practice. "Okay, reload the .22" She glanced over to
where Rei and Shinji were working with Rei's Schofield .45 revolver
under the careful watch of Juri and Tomiyo.
------------------------------
Tomiyo watched Rei step up to the firing line and empty the
cylinder, tearing a tight, accurate pattern in the target. She set
the gun down, broke open the action, slipped a speedloader into place,
and did it again. "I am trained," she said as she reloaded the pistol
again.
Tomiyo merely nodded. "Okay, you help Shinji with the .45, I'll
help Ranma and Asuka with the .22."
"And Asuka's own .45," Rei commented, Tomiyo nodded his
agreement.
"Is this really necessary?" Shinji asked.
"Are you more afraid of the gun," Rei asked as she put her arms
around Shinji, adjusting his posture, "Or me?" Shinji cocked the gun
as Rei instructed.
Shinji is a passable shot at best. Ranma refuses to even touch a
gun, he thought, I wish I could have brought my dad, he's taught all
kinds of people to shoot.
"It's not an honorable thing," Ranma announced.
"Langley, your witness." Sammi checked Ranma's ear protection
and handed the .45 to him. "Safety, grip safety. Good. Only point
it at something you intend to destroy."
Ranma set the pistol down. "No," he said, crossed his arms.
Tomiyo glanced over his shoulder as Asuka advanced and backed
Ranma into a corner by poking him angrily in the chest.
"You're going to do this," Asuka told him flatly as she gripped
his collar, "Because we aren't going to be your gunbearers, because
I'm bigger and meaner than you, and I will pummel you if you don't!"
she was shouting and waving her fist over his head.
Sammi led Ranma away from the fuming redhead. "Okay, just hold
the pistol, don't touch the trigger, just feel the weight. You aim
from here, to here, to the target." Sammi slid the clip in and
chambered a round. "Okay, remember, just _squeeze_ the trigger, you
never know when the gun will fire."
The bullet missed the target completely, even Shinji hadn't done
that badly. "I'll try -" Ranma began.
"Stop," Sammi ordered, "Just relax, you closed your eyes _before_
you fired. Just squeeze the trigger and relax. It won't bite you and
the bang is the worst part of it. If you can't get a good grip, tell
me, we'll switch to the .22 revolver."
"I can do this. But it is kinda big." He sighted again, fired,
hit the target, nowhere inside the rings, but the outer edge of the
paper.
"Again."
He fired, hitting the opposite corner of the paper. He set the
...45 down and shook his hands. "I think I need to try the smaller gun,
I can't control this one."
Sammi nodded, "Miss Langley, if you would." Asuka handed Ranma
her Peacemaker revolver and a box of shells. Ranma approached again,
still frightened by the pistol. He glanced back at Asuka who looked
_extremely_ angry. Ranma concentrated on the target and the pistol.
Tomiyo nodded to Asuka and she nodded back. Okay, use the fear,
he thought.
Ranma fired six shots only hitting the target twice. Asuka
slapped her face but said nothing.
----------------------------------------
They walked to the indoor rifle range, Rei had another five boxes
of .45 ammunition, she wanted to see if anyone was as good as she was.
At least the Fourth is taking my orders to play the clown seriously,
she thought, I hope he is not truly that inept.
"I just think it's funny," Asuka said, "All those reports about
Ice Princess's training on the carrier. The two indomitable, martial
artists can't hit the broad side of a barn with a real weapon. Maybe
I should get a pair of those repeating Chinese crossbows for you two."
"Shinji didn't do much better," Ranma growled.
"Shinji the Great Untrained, did do much better than either of
you two." Asuka defended Shinji, "I could have _thrown_ the bullets
more accurately than you shot them. You have to quit closing your
eyes and flinching, before the gun even goes off."
"How do you know that?!" Ranma asked.
"By how you shoot," Asuka replied.
Rei glanced at Shinji, both of them glanced away, blushing. It
was pleasant having him in my arms, she thought, feeling her blush
rising, Even if it was training.
"I can cure that," Tomiyo said, "I just need a different pistol,
a .357 double action revolver. Spent shell, .38 and .357 in the
cylinder, you're never sure what's going to fire next, it should help
both of them. Until then, Ranma -" Tomiyo patted Ranma's shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"Take the bullets out and throw them at your opponent, then throw
the gun at them," Tomiyo said, "And no, I'm not kidding. You can
throw nearly as far and as accurately as any of us can shoot."
Shinji and Asuka laughed, Rei and the guards smiled. Ranma
flushed from anger and embarrassment.
At the range Rei set up a small bore rifle target at 50 yards,
and hit every target with her revolver.
"Whoa," Ranma said, "That's pretty good."
"Dummkoft! Baka!" Asuka yelled at him, "That's pretty good, if
she was using a rifle! That's impossible with a pistol, that's what
that is."
"I did it, it is not impossible. Roku-kun does the same at 75
yards."
"Somebody can get the target," Sammi told her, "I'll set up one
for both of us at 75 yards, Ayanami-sama. I'm a pretty good shot
myself." Sammi walked down the tunnel under the range.
"Nobody can shoot like that," Asuka assured them, "Wondergirl?
Can you shoot like that? At 75 yards I mean." Shinji was pulling
Rei's target in along the wire.
"I do not know." Rei loaded the cylinder and speedloaders and
awaited Sammi's reappearance. She didn't have long to wait.
"Go ahead," she told Rei as Shinji pulled the target down for the
others to examine.
"It was not my best, but it was good," Rei said as she
concentrated on the target.
Asuka snatched it out of Shinji's hands and paled.
She is no pistol marksman, Rei thought as she fired on the
distant targets.
Rei was having trouble with the targets, a few shots and she set
the pistol down. "I cannot use it at that range."
"I'll set a target on the wire, take it out 60 yards," Tomiyo
told them.
"Much better." Rei sighted at the target, she didn't hit all of
the small bull's-eyes, although Sammi did, but Rei was close to all of
them. "You win," Rei admitted.
"At least I'm good at something."
"Have you _always_ shot like that?" Shinji was incredulous, he'd
been happy to hit the foot-wide bull's-eye at 10 meters with every
shot.
"No," Sammi admitted, "It takes a lot of practice, and a good
teacher. Besides, this is just to keep it a challenge. A pistol
isn't good at much over 15 meters, you really need a rifle for much
better than that. A regular .45 wouldn't be able to reliably hit the
target at that range. All we were trying to do, is get you familiar
with firearms, if - when they hit us again. If you feel comfortable
with continuing, I'll get the Marines to provide professional
instructors."
"Guns are dumb," Ranma told them.
"Says the guy who can't hit a bull in the butt with a bass
fiddle," Asuka said.
----------------------------------------
The Passage Out Of The Dark
Hiro had come to Misato's apartment and found her passed out
drunk. Now she was wide awake and resented it mightily. "Wa's y'
POBLEN?" Misato shouted in his face.
Great, everybody else gets Misato the-happy-drunk, Hiro thought
as he pressed himself against the wall, "I have so many, which one in
particular?"
"Na just agree! You're up here 'gain. _Why?_"
"I wanted to check up on you, so I came by."
She practically fell against him. She hasn't been drinking beer,
he thought, That's whiskey I smell.
"Don' sleep her 't all!" she shouted, pulled the neck of her
dress down to expose her shoulder, "Wha'cha 'fraida?"
Drunken EVA commanding officers, he thought, but said, "We did
sleep together, in your jeep, remember. I was a soldier, remember?"
He hoped the joke would work, old instincts were howling that he was
in hostile territory and should run away. And it's getting harder to
ignore by the second, he thought.
"Was real reason?" she growled, punctuated it with a poke in the
chest with her chest.
"I'm sorry, I . . . "
"Don't start like Shiji!"
"I don't understand the question," he said desperately. The
howling voice is almost impossible to ignore now, he thought, Where
are the others?!
"Y' 'fraid now." Her brow furrowed, "Y' 'fraid me!"
What do you want? I should throw you on the floor and have my
way with you, he censored that thought. "I'm just worried about
what's happening." To you, he didn't add aloud.
"Nah, you 'fraid of _me_, right now."
"I just want to know what I did wrong." And why you're acting
like this, he thought, Shut up! I can get out of this.
"Nothing wrong," she said, "You gues' m'house, m'country, me,
feel welcome." She rubbed herself against him.
"Thank you. You've done a good job with both," he said
pleasantly, put his arms around her shoulders.
She smiled at him.
See, I told you if I kept my head I could get out of this with my
skin, he told his instincts.
"Don' change a subject!"
Whoo boy! he thought.
"Is _me_ ya 'fraid of, yur not 'fraid of Angels, or Gendo, yur
'fraid a me!"
"Well, my job never was to fight, and I'm not Shinji." Oops,
stupid, stupid, stupid! he thought.
"Was 'at suppose mean?!" she shouted again, slamming her palms
into the wall on either side of his head.
"Shinji seems afraid of his father, he's not my father, so I'm
not afraid. And I'm supposed to take pictures and make movies."
She stared owlishly at him. He forced himself to relax, he'd
been inching down the wall to duck under her arms and escape.
"Wha' about me?" she growled quietly, she repositioned her fists
to block his escape.
_HIT_HER_AND_RUN_AWAY!_, his instincts told him, Shut up! Why
don't you just _tell_ her, or do what she wants? Shut up and let me
think! "Excuse me?"
Two fists dented the wall on either side of his shoulders.
"Don't play dumb!"
Hiro pointedly stared at the dent in the wall, "Oh, I know you'd
never hurt me. That's so obvious right now."
"Right." But her arms didn't move.
"We should continue this at another time." Like when you're
sober, he thought, Even if you respected me after I took advantage of
you in this state, I wouldn't respect myself. He carefully put one
finger under her wrist and lifted to give him room to slip under.
The hand turned, grabbing his collar and slamming him into the
corner, "We discuss it _now_."
Fear and anger finally overcame reason, "Doesn't this qualify as
a good reason to be afraid? It's no wonder the kids are afraid of
you." He advanced pushing her back. "How many times has their
commanding officer beat them up in a drunken rage! Who are they
supposed to appeal to?! If one complains, _they_ get punished, if the
officers even believe them!" He knew he should have left it at that.
"One day you'll go too far and one of them is going to put a knife in
you, or maybe they'll just `accidently` step on you in their EVA, or
maybe they'll just let you drown in your own vomit or leave you in the
middle of the street to get run over. Would it have been better if
_I'd_ done that? You want to kill yourself, fine!" he shouted in her
face as he backed her against the opposite wall, "But you've got no
right to take anyone else with you. If you don't want the job
_resign_, the Army could use interpreters and secretaries, so you
won't starve, and nobody will care if you drink yourself to sleep
every night."
She was tearing up and collapsing in on herself, but he ignored
that as he walked away.
I shouldn't have turned my back on her, he thought, She may have
been drunk, but the Major had the element of surprise and is better
trained in hand-to-hand. Face down on the floor with his arm bent
almost to the breaking point, he remembered the old adage from Sun
Tzu, 'Don't fight a battle you don't have to win'. Take your lumps
and survive, he thought , he relaxed, waited as the seconds, then
minutes ticked by. The sound of snoring told him he could free his
arm and resume a sitting position.
"What am I going to do with you?" he asked the snoring woman,
"Would simply drowning you solve everyone's problem? Especially
yours? Do you hate somebody specific, is it yourself? Or do you hate
the rest of us? What do you want of me, to hate you as much as you
hate? Why do you do this to yourself? Because you lived and others
didn't? Or is it something else?"
Rei and Shinji walked in, both of them laughing, Rei saw his
expression, "What has happened?"
"Misato-chan jumped me, then fell asleep." He carefully set the
snoring woman in a sitting position against the wall. "Rei-san," he
said as he passed them, "Don't you do that, it's _very_ frustrating."
Rei blushed slightly as he put his shoes on.
Which means anybody else would melt from embarrassment, he
thought. "You two smell like gun smoke, what have you been doing?"
"Shooting," Rei said.
Hiro nodded and left.
------------------------------
Rei looked after the man as he walked rigidly away, she glanced
at Shinji-kun and felt her own embarrassment growing along with his
blush.
Misato remained against the wall, half-dressed and snoring
soundly.
"The Katsuragi Institute for the Mentally Unbalanced," the Fourth
said as he entered, then he stopped and stared at an object on the
floor, as if trying to fix something in his mind.
He picked it up, turned it over in his hand.
"One of the small buttons that held the collar tabs on the shirt
Hiro wore," she told him as she looked at it. The center section is
broken out, she thought, Curious, somehow the button broke before the
thread or the fabric gave way.
The Fourth dropped the button in her hand, and walked towards
where the Major lay snoring. At a particular point, the Fourth set
his feet apart and placed one fist in each of the dents in the wall.
He looked at her. "Can you step between?"
She glanced at Shinji, who stepped between the Fourth's arms,
looked at where the Fourth's arms were in relation to him. Shinji
slid down the wall until the Fourth's fists were on either side of his
head.
Rei held the button in the Fourth's view. "Terrific," the Fourth
said sarcastically, "Just what we needed. Misato beating up her
boyfriend," he said disgustedly, "She'll be lucky if he comes back. I
wouldn't stay with that." She nodded as the Fourth helped Shinji to
his feet.
"We go after him?" Ranma asked, perplexed by this.
"You? No way!" Shinji told him, the Fourth nodded, "Maybe
Ayanami?"
"You do not have to continue playing the clown," she advised the
Fourth, "Asuka is not here."
What am I supposed to do when I catch up to him? she wondered.
"Now who's crazy?" Ranma asked, frustrated at this turn of
events.
----------------------------------------
At dinner, Asuka and Shinji were arguing animatedly about using
firearms. The other Children and most of us seem content with
silence, Sammi thought as she kept dishing out the food, everyone
around the table seemed ravenous, All of us refuse to be drawn into
the conflict, despite sallies and provocations, from both sides.
Shinji's learning to hold his own against Asuka, with Rei's quiet
support. Although Asuka's trying to be more educational than
confrontational. Both to the good.
She noted that Misato kept up a string of questions about school,
how they were doing, favorite classes, friends, crushes, who was going
out with whom. She received the typical one-syllable non-answers
teenagers gave to such questions.
If I didn't know better, Sammi thought, I'd say she was _trying_
to embarrass the kids, only none of them are taking the bait. Sammi
decided not to intervene.
"So, Ranma," Misato began, "Now that you're a boy again, are you
going to take Mirei-chan out on a date?"
Ranma fixed Misato with a stare and dropped a broken button on
the table, "Would anyone care to explain that? Those don't break
easy, the cloth should tear first."
Misato's false joviality dropped away, she stared at the button
in stunned silence. Shinji and Asuka caught the change in mood
instantly, and fell silent. Ranma stared at Misato.
Don't keep picking a fight if you don't want to get hit, Sammi
thought as she picked it up and looked at it, You keep forgetting he's
ignorant, not stupid. Put things in terms he's used to, and he's
pretty clever, his and Rei's `sign language` for one. "He's right,"
she said, tossing it back in front of Misato.
"It looks like one of yours, Hiro," Ranma said, continuing to
stare at Misato, "Same color, same size."
Hiro turned, carefully displaying both of the buttons intact.
What do you want to bet that if I asked Rei, Sammi thought, She'd
tell me you changed your shirt before you got here, and there's a
damaged shirt in your closet?
"It must have been the same thing that put those two dents in the
wall opposite the bathroom," Shinji added pleasantly, "I guess we'll
have to go over there and fix them, along with cleaning the place up."
Misato blanched, Asuka simply kept eating. The sound of her
chopsticks the only sound as Shinji and Ranma stared at Misato, the
former smiling, the latter frowning.
Take on one pilot, and you take on them all, Sammi thought
approvingly, then caught Asuka's nonchalance, matching or exceeding
Rei's, Oh, you naughty girl. This wasn't happenstance, this was a
cleverly planned ambush. I wholeheartedly approve. She glanced at
her fellow guards, warning them to stay out of it.
"If you were attacked," Rei said, "We should inform Commander
Ikari directly."
Misato looked like she'd been stabbed, looked nervously at all
the pilots who were staring at her.
"An attack on a NERV employee should not be taken lightly," Asuka
added, sounding _so_ sympathetic.
"We're worried about you," Shinji practically whispered with an
earnest expression.
"Leave it alone," Hiro whispered finally, "My mistake."
Misato looked like she was going to say something, but thought
better of it as she stared at her lap.
Rei set down her bowl. "I am going walking." She tapped Hiro.
"Please." He nodded.
"What are he and Wondergirl going to do?" Asuka asked as they
left.
Ranma continued staring at Misato, an eyebrow raised. "He seems
to think the matter is closed. Is he mistaken?" Ranma said
pleasantly,"I can't imagine what he was fighting. Considering what
soldiers are taught."
----------------------------------------
"I desire to make Asuka feel more at home," Rei said as she
walked with Hiro, "You have some experience with British food. This
would be more familiar to her."
"I don't have a lot of experience," Hiro admitted, "They didn't
exactly feed the prisoners kippers and chips."
"You do know what they are," Rei countered.
"I can probably direct you to some better sources," Hiro said,
"Maybe some people who can direct you to authentic German sources and
information."
"I read German. Thank you," Rei said as they walked.
Rei stopped, looked around at the beginnings of dusk. There is
something out there! she worried, But I can see nothing.
"Problems?" Hiro asked, also scanning the area.
"Perhaps," Rei admitted, "Perhaps not."
"I don't think you're being paranoid. There _are_ things out to
get you," Hiro said.
------------------------------
"She saw us!" Mihiro hissed to Jamie.
"She saw two of her schoolmates," Jamie soothed, "That's all,
you're overreaction is more likely to draw her attention."
"But she's - "
"Not even looking in our direction," Jamie interrupted as she
continued walking.
------------------------------
"I know 'This is not a good idea', grandfather," Mirei said, "But
don't you think father would be interested in how many people are
watching?"
"Yes, granddaughter," the old man said, "However, it would be
better if you weren't involved."
"I'm more noticeable, but they'll think I'm mooning over
Ranma-san," Mirei said, she smiled as she raised the telescope to
watch the evening practice, and Ranma especially.
"Aren't you?" the old man teased his granddaughter.
"But _you_ aren't, honored and wise grandfather," Mirei said,
smiled.
------------------------------
Rei and Hiro came back later. Rei saw that the Fourth, Asuka and
Shinji were already asleep. Rather than disturb them, she went to her
room and sat with her back to the wall. She heard Hiro leaving
without speaking to Misato. She frowned at that. I know how
important Shinji-kun, and Asuka are to me, she thought, To fail to
even attempt to repair the relationship, is foolishness.
Rei sighed and walked to the bathroom to wash up.