[FFML] [fic][Tenchi][AU] Aggelos kai Daimon

[Ngan Nguyen]

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I'd like to thank in advance anyone who reads and comments on this fic. =
I've been working on it for some time, but have been hesitant to post it =
to the ffml. Any C&C is appreciated.=20

Following chapters can be found at www.dragonsfolly.com (if the server =
stops being on the fritz).=20

Forgive the formatting; indented portions were originally italicized.


-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: ak01.txt

There was nothing here. No light. No life-no life at all, despite the
pitiful sounds: a trembling indrawn breath, a soft exhalation, a sob, a
hiccup, a choking scream, on and on in an interminable pattern, rolling
together into one bittersweet melody.

That lovely song of anguish, fear, and pain would end when at last the
creature was too exhausted to try anymore. Then the waiting would begin.

For one abused, frightened, and weary girl and her softly calling
guardian angel the wait would be an eternity.

******

"Aggelos kai Daimon"

Chapter 1: The Road Less Traveled

Story and concept by Ngan Nguyen Based on the series Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-
ohki, copyrighted by Pioneer and a whole bunch of other people other
than me. In other words, I don't own it. I do own the original ones
though.

******

With a flourish, the lavender cape billowed out behind the tall,
imposing figure as he sat down. He paused a moment and adjusted the
gloves on his hands, interlacing his fingers to pack the material
snugly. He bowed over the organ, eyes closed, breathing regular. His
fingers found their way to the white keys, caressed them lovingly,
glided over them with familiar ease, the contact burning through the
gloves. His fingers came crashing down decisively without warning and
the room swelled with melancholy music, a serenade of power and passion.

With an undetectable hum the very air came alive suddenly. Screens
hovered above the ground, winking into existence, displaying smiling
faces and bright eyes seated behind desks, tables, and countertops,
lounging in chairs and sitting upright on stools. Lips moved but no
sound came forth but for one screen, the light-haired woman's words
clearly and pleasantly enunciated.

He listened with half an ear, glancing back once to review the date and
time on the screen: Chara 9, 15589, 19:04:23. The newscaster was pretty,
he supposed, but he had long ago found little use for such trivial
things such as sexual lust. His eyes immediately found her flaws: her
smile was too waxen, the makeup too heavy, and her country accent still
detectable. A picture of Jurai's emblem appeared to float beside her
head.

"Emperor Azusa and Empress Funaho are proud to announce the birth of
their son, Crowned Prince Yosho Jurai, born yesterday at 2139 hours.
Congratulation to the Emperor and the Empress and may Tsunami grant
their family the best of health."

He paused in his playing and considered this new development. He
dismissed it as irrelevant for now and returned to his music.

"In other news, the infamous felon Kagato has struck again." A
spectacular picture of drifting debris highlighted by a burning star in
the background replaced Jurai's emblem at the newscaster's shoulder.
"Early this morning, at around 0400 hours Juraian time, the starship
Soja attacked the planet of Thisavrizo. An hour later, the planet was
found destroyed by the Galaxy Police and the Soja disappeared without
any trace. This is the fifteenth planet Kagato has destroyed..."

"Hmph, " Kagato sniffed and the screens blinked out of existence. His
fingers came to a rest and he thought for a time. A smile slowly formed
on his lips. Once he became a god, no one could stop him. As it were, no
one could stop him presently anyway.

******

Her prison was neither cold nor warm. It was neither dark nor bright. It
was nothing. She felt nothing. It was like floating with her eyes
closed, all sense of time and space lost. She had floated in this way
for a long time before finding an anchor to keep her from drifting away,
drifting into indifference and somewhere beyond into comatose.

It had not taken long to learn to hate the monster that had stolen her
life from her. "Hate" might have been too nice of a word. Despise.
Loathe. At times, she felt like she should just let go of her grasp on
reality and float away again, to forget everything she had seen, to be
vindicated of the guilt, hate, and anguish.

How could she have let this happen? How could she have been so blind?
This was her fault, both indirectly and directly. She had no right to
run away, and so she couldn't. So she wouldn't. She'd redress her
mistake and atone for her sins. She knew she couldn't do this alone, but
she wouldn't have to if she played the game correctly.

Soon, she'd make him pay and when she did, she'd show Kagato just what
an idiot he really was to have underestimated her.

*****

She hugged herself and focused on the cold floor against her skin. Her
eyes were open, but she could see nothing, just darkness in front of
her, beside her, behind her, like a blanket that had yet to absorb her
body heat and reciprocate the favor.

The tears had stop coming some time ago. As usual, when the hysterics
and the fear had subsided, she berated herself for crying like some
weakling. She couldn't let Kagato see her like this. Never again. She
squeezed her eyes shut, folding in on herself as if she could ward off
the pain, the fear, and the revulsion.

Innocent, wide eyes stared up at her...

Her teeth chattered, not from the cold, but something dark inside of her
that caused her to tremble.

"Stay away from her, you monster!"

She accidentally bit down on her tongue as she tried to still the
clattering. Blood filled her mouth.

White petals trembled in the wind as small hands raised a flower up to
her as a gift, or perhaps as an offering in the child's stead.

She clamped down on her lip to keep from crying again.

A flash of blazing orange and the acrid smell of burnt flesh filled the
air.

She took a breath to steady herself.

The man who had been running towards the child stopped and dropped to
his knee; shocked lined every aspect of his handsome features. He turned
to her with anguished eyes. A silent "why" lingered there for the moment
his face still existed, before the orange ball of energy smacked into
it, obliterating all life present.

The tears came hesitantly then, as if unsure if the moisture in her body
was expendable for such a frivolous show of regret and pain. The wounds
she had inflicted upon herself-her nails digging into her flesh
unconsciously, nearly biting off her tongue, and drawing blood from her
lip-began to heal slowly, using whatever resources were available.

It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair that she should be able to heal and live.
It wasn't fair that she should have to kill. It wasn't fair... that she
couldn't stop herself.

It wasn't fair that she didn't want to stop herself.

The tears stopped again and she lay there and held herself. She blanked
her mind so that she didn't have to think. She could have no peace
though; he never gave her peace, even in memories.

"What did you feel, Ryoko, when you killed that girl? How'd you feel
when you saw her father's crushed expression?"

There was no time for thought. A powerful rage directed her hand through
the air, but before it would have blemished his skin or misplaced a hair
on his head, it stopped. He tsk'ed aloud, moving her hand aside without
any effort.

"I see that you still need disciplining. What shall it be this time,
Ryoko? It's been quite a while since we've had any quality time
together, wouldn't you say? Or would you rather be alone?"

She did not say a word, but he read her easily enough.

"Very well. You've made your decision."

Just as he had long ago, years and years and years ago-how long, Ryoko
couldn't remember-he had extended some display of affection for her by
granting her wish of being put here alone. The very thought of being
alone with him when he was in one of his moods was enough to make her
rubbery in the knees. Anything could happen and whatever it was, it
usually ended with her laying on the ground, in too much pain and too
afraid to move. Then Kagato would disappear, usually to play the organ
in his cathedral, or so he referred to it as, and she would have to
listen to it, dreading that he would return any time and begin again.

Discipline, he called it. Sometimes it was reeducation. Either name, it
was still just an excuse to beat the bloody hell out of her.

So now she was alone. Not even Ryo-ohki was speaking to her out of fear
of being lashed out at.

"Ryoko..." a voice carried to her from somewhere in the darkness.

Ryoko opened her eyes and stared straight ahead. Maybe she had imagined
it.

"Ryoko."

It was not Kagato's voice, that much she knew. It sounded feminine, but
it wasn't Ryo-ohki either.

"Ryoko, " the voice drifted much more forcefully this time.

Ryoko sat up slowly and braced her back against the wall. In a breathy
whisper, she inquired, "Who's there?"

"Ryoko, " the voice wavered for a moment upon saying her name. "Ryoko,
can you hear me?"

"Who's there?" Ryoko repeated slowly.

"Ryoko, you need to listen to me, " the voice said.

"Answer, dammit!" Ryoko shouted and jumped to her feet, a blade of
energy forming in her hand. The darkness was illuminated for one
brilliant moment before Ryoko let her concentration fall out from under
her.

No one was there. That made perfect sense, Ryoko realized, because the
voice was in her head.

"Get out, " Ryoko said between clenched teeth, backing up until her
shoulder blades pressed into the wall. "Get out of my head!"

"Please, Ryoko-"

"Get out!" She bent over double and slapped her hands over her ears,
intensifying the pressure until the pain pounded against the insides of
her skull.

"Listen to me, dammit!" the voice screamed right back. "Listen to me if
you want to change your life!"

Ryoko relaxed her grip, daring for just a moment to believe the
unbelievable. "Who the hell are you?"

"If you listen to me, I can save both of us."

Ryoko was silent. The strength went out of her legs and she slid down
the wall.

"That still doesn't answer my question, " she groused, but she couldn't
keep the note of hope out of her words.

She thought she heard the owner of the voice faintly laugh, a sound so
pleasingly foreign Ryoko almost wanted to cry again.

******

Kagato meandered through his halls, hands folded behind him, eyes closed
and shoulders back. He should have been thinking about the upcoming
mission he was going to send Ryoko on, but instead he was thinking of
Ryoko. As of late, he had been finding himself pondering actual concerns
about Ryoko.

Ryoko was powerful, very powerful, more powerful than he could
accurately gauge at the moment. She was certainly more powerful than she
herself knew, which could be in his favor or perhaps, if realized, would
have worked against him. If he could control Ryoko at her full
potential, she would be an awesome weapon. At the same time, he did not
want her power to surpass his. She would turn on him then, he could
sense it in the occasional open glare, the burning need she had to lash
out at him, and the unpredictable acts of defiance.

Kagato did believe Ryoko hated him. Hate was a rather strong emotion,
such things Kagato himself did not bother with, and Ryoko, being as
flawed as she was, might not have been possible of feeling hate anyway.

She was becoming difficult to control. Damn Washu. If only he knew how
to read her thoughts, then he'd be able to keep her in line absolutely,
indefinitely. At this rate Ryoko would soon deduce that he could not
read her mind-contrary to what she let herself believe. Then things
would get tricky and Kagato found no pleasure in the thought of having
to daily beat Ryoko to keep her submissively under his control.

He had more important things to do after all.

Kagato stopped at the door behind which Ryoko had spent the last day and
a half. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the cowering form of
Ryo-ohki, another odd creation of Professor Washu. Kagato admired
Washu's odd sense of humor and inventiveness; Ryo-ohki was neither
rabbit nor cat, but some demonic mating of the two. At the moment, it
was trying to hide from his gaze behind one floppy ear. Kagato ignored
it and opened the door.

The hallway was bright; it wasn't usually so, but Kagato had made sure
to activate the lights before opening the door. It was not hard to find
Ryoko in the small room. She was lying huddled against the far back
wall, head cushioned on an arm. She flung up her free hand to hood her
eyes as the light flooded in, casting Kagato's shadow before him with
not quite enough angle to reach her.

She was beautiful, perfectly proportioned for maximum sex appeal, and if
Kagato had felt any type of lust for her, he would have had his way with
her a long time ago. As it were, she was as appealing to him as a dog
might be and that thought was fairly disgusting.

The light glittered off her gems, one at each wrist and one just above
her sternum. They had been the last gift Washu had given Ryoko and they
had inadvertently become the key to his greatest weapon.

"Tell me, Ryoko, " he addressed her openly, "did you learn anything from
this exercise?"

She propped herself up on an elbow and stared at him, her uncanny yellow
catlike eyes stabbing into him as if they could deal him a mortal blow.
He stared into their depths emotionlessly, waiting. Ryo-ohki broke their
stalemate by darting around his legs and into the room. It leaped into
its master's open arms. Ryoko absently stroked its fur, eyes never
leaving him.

A bold one, this one was. How he wished he could read her mind, strip
her very thoughts from her and lay it bare for her to see, show her his
power. But, no, that would take more time to learn and he was busier now
than ever. He was partaking in a galactic game of treasure hunt and the
clues were beginning to amass now. Ryoko would have to wait.

He held a hand out to her. "Get up and come here, Ryoko."

She nearly flinched, but managed to catch herself. He could sense the
fear she had of him; she was so easy to read, like a book, projecting
her feelings for anyone so much as inclined to care to be able to
decipher.

She finally obeyed him with a minimum of fuss. She got up, stroked Ryo-
ohki while she cradled it in her arms, and approached him. She blatantly
ignored his hand.

It was a small thing, he knew, but he stared down at her. Her shoulders
were thrown back, her chin was up in the air, and her eyes were
smoldering pits that barely checked the flames of abhorrence. He smiled
at her condescendingly and dropped his hand. He would let the offense
slide for now.

Later, when she screwed up again, he would thoroughly remind her of this
incident.

He turned without a word and began to walk back to his favorite thinking
place. He wanted Ryoko to listen to his new composition. He wanted to
introduce it to her now so that later, when he played and she would have
plenty of time to appreciate it, she could think back on this time and
remember just how much better off she had been.

Ryoko fell into step behind him and to his right. Her steps were
disguised in his, soft and nearly silent. She had all the traits of a
natural killing machine. At first, she had been perfect. She had not
questioned anything he had asked her to do, and because of that he had
cared for her. Then she became inquisitive and things had changed
progressively since then.

Indeed, he was running out of ways to suitably punish her.

Kagato was suddenly struck by a bit of inspiration.

"Ryoko, " he said casually as they walked, "you've been unhappy lately.
You should be contented with the life you have. I take care of you. I
provide everything you need. Not many people will do that for you. You
know that?"

If she was touched by his words, she was extremely unforthcoming.
Ungrateful brat. Kagato stopped without warning and spun on his heel.
His fist backhanded her across the cheek and sent her reeling. She
stumbled back but managed to remain standing. She didn't bring a hand up
to touch the spot where he had hit her, though it had to sting. She
stared at the floor unresponsively. Ryo-ohki meowed piteously.

It was the reaction Kagato had expected.

"I asked you a question, Ryoko. Do you think you're above answering me?"

Ryoko shook her head. Her eyes were hidden underneath her wild bangs.

"Did you say something?" he demanded.

"No, " she mumbled.

"What?" he repeated forcefully.

"I said no, " she said clearly.

"Good, " he said dismissively and turned about. She followed him once
again. Casually, informatively, he spoke into the silence. "We're going
to be arriving at our destination in twenty-eight hours."

"And where's that?" Ryoko asked after a pregnant pause.

"The planet Sotiria."

******

"You're going to have to trust me on this one. I know that's hard for
you, but you have to do exactly what I say. I don't know what Kagato's
doing right now, so you'll have to work fast. If he catches you..."

Ryoko nodded absently, not even acknowledging the insinuation with a
response. She knew perfectly well what would happen.

"So, " Ryoko thought to her mind's companion to distance herself from
what she was about to do, "tell me something."

"What?" Washu answered telepathically.

"Are you really my mother?"

"It's a long story and, even if I told you right now, you probably
wouldn't believe me. I'll tell you when this is all over and we can talk
face to face. But that's beside the point, right now. First things
first, we need to get a message out to Sotiria. If they don't come,
we're all in trouble."

"Do you really think this will work?" Ryoko thought, unable to hide the
worry she felt.

There was the impression of a sigh. "If it doesn't, at least we tried.
We won't know unless we try, Ryoko."

"That some sort of science philosophy?"

"No, life's philosophy."

"I'll have to remember that. For you know, when we're free."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, " Washu admonished.

"I'll have to remember that, too, " Ryoko thought smugly.

It was a good try, but both were keenly aware that Ryoko was only
attempting to mask the profound fear in her very bones.

******

At the headquarters of Sotiria's proud Sokirtnek Inysomion Aieposorpitna
(SIA), deputy director of Operations Matthias Brackert was just
beginning his day. He was young looking; yet there was a liberal
sprinkling of gray atop his head to betray his years. He'd already given
fifty of them to the SIA alone and in that time had pretty much seen
everything there was to see and done everything there was to do.

To be honest, he had to admit those fifty plus years were beginning to
take their toll. He loved the SIA and its entire package: long hours,
political juggling, an unglamorous lifestyle of coercion and deception.
He probably loved it more than anything he had ever possessed in his
life, but even then it was just catching up with him. He was only one
man and his conscience was already burdened enough to include the sins
of ten souls.

Brackert felt, just a bit, guilty about the satisfaction he experienced
when he conjured up thoughts of retirement. He had given the SIA his
all, but somewhere in his heart he believed the SIA had given him more.

There came a time for everything, though, and Brackert knew his time was
fast approaching when he looked at the ambitious up and coming men and
women entering the SIA and felt the heavy load of exasperation weighing
his thoughts. True, he didn't mind the occasional kiss up but it was
getting ridiculous at this point. It didn't help that Brackert knew that
all any of them wanted was to take his position.

Brackert had plans, though; he always had plans. Unfortunately for those
particular men and women, they didn't include them. He'd already decided
whom he would ask the director to consider when it came time to find his
successor.

There were still a few years yet before that would happen. As things
stood it was quiet around the universe-well, as quiet as spying on
intergalactic networks and governments could get. If things remained
like this, his concluding years with the SIA would be smooth sailing all
the way.

This morning was like any other morning of the past few years. He
stretched stiffly in his executive chair and sniffed suspiciously at his
mug of coffee. He took a sip at his own risk and winced. As usual, it
was too strong. Miki had been his secretary for five years now and
everyday she made his coffee too strong. Not once in a while, every day.

Brackert had given her some slack, though, and had tried to drop some
subtle hints about his preferences. When that didn't work, he tried
telling her politely. Did things change? If his morning coffee were any
indication, not even a gun pressed to Miki's head would change her
habits.

It was hard to stay mad at Miki. Whoever said good help was hard to find
had never had a Miki employed. There was a very good reason Brackert had
hired her; she was the most efficient being he had ever met. Every
morning he was greeted by the welcome image of his desk neatly piled
with stacks of papers. Miki went so far as to color code much of his
work, labeled each folder, and made small notations on small post-its in
her neat, flowing handwriting.

His life had gotten ten times easier with Miki flittering about.
Brackert leisurely flipped through one of the folders before him. He was
careful not to spill the too strong coffee on his pristine, wrinkle-free
suit. It clasped over the left breast with each and every button done.
Like all SIA employees, Brackert dressed conservatively to kill. He was
ready at a moment's notice to defeat politicians and lawyers and look
good while doing it.

With a sigh Brackert leaned back and smoothed at imaginary wrinkles. His
life amounted to his office, replete with certificates, pictures, and
his network port. He booted up his system while he tried to organize his
day in his mind. He had a meeting this afternoon with some politician or
another and later in the evening he had dinner planned with a potential
asset.

In its charming female voice, the SIA computer AI asked him to state his
name, rank, and authorization number. Brackert did so while he played
with his collar. He was verified and given a very nice and thoughtful
salutation, which he answered with a noncommittal grunt. With the
thoughtlessness born of habit, he checked his e-mail.

His inbox suffered a chronic disorder of being perpetually bogged down
with superfluous messages that Brackert usually just perused and replied
with vague responses. There were of course the few gems that he read
thoroughly and instantly, and he recognized them enough now to
automatically make them his top priority. He was specifically looking
for these when he came across an unusual occurrence.

The reason Brackert was deputy director of the Operations Directorate
was because of his good instincts, not his observation skills. The
deputy who had given him the position had known the trade off that had
to be made but had gone through with the nomination anyway. In the
offices of Matthias Brackert the rumor mill often focused on him. There
was the story about his children, his divorce, even his alleged affair.

Women found the stories to make Matthias Brackert more attractive in a
dangerously alluring way, the type of man you go into a relationship
with knowing that it'll end badly but the ride will still be fun. Men
saw the deputy director in a shadier light, feeling anything between
admiration, jealousy, and disgust. And what about Matthias Brackert? The
office talk went completely unnoticed. Had he known, he might not have
cared much anyway.

No one outside of the government should have known about his particular
e-mail account or should have access to it, and so at first he thought
the message marked "URGENT" and having no listed sender might have been
some joke one of the agents had decided to play. Maybe it was some kid
in the Science and Technology Directorate pulling his leg for the time
he had managed to embarrass a bunch of them.

On the other hand, maybe it was something important. Whatever it was,
Brackert wasn't going to take any chances. Were he a weaker man of will
he might have opened the message to see what it said. Instead, he was
Mr. Calm and sat staring at his monitor with a look of fierce
concentration. Finally, having made his decision, he leaned forward in
his chair and stabbed at the intercom button on his desk. Miki answered
him almost immediately.

"Sorry to bother you, Miki, but are you busy?" Brackert asked in his
deep, slower than average speaking voice.

"Not really, sir. What can I do for you?" Miki's energetic voice emitted
from the speaker.

"I need a technician sent to my office immediately."

Miki paused. "Would you like me to send for someone from Science and
Tech?"

Brackert frowned in the solitude and protection of his office. "How long
do you think it'll take you?"

"An hour? Maybe less?" Miki offered hesitantly.

"Make it ten minutes and get me Ryce, " Brackert said with finality.
This wasn't said without a little bit of guilt; Miki was a hard working
woman and it felt cruelly sadistic to make her deal with the stuck up
brat pack over at the Science and Technology Directorate. It was a bit
of a consolation that Ryce was a good kid, one of the few Brackert liked
from over there, and he'd come without argument.

Brackert hoped he would anyway.

"Will that be all, sir?" Miki interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, yes. Oh, and if anyone gives you crap, just tell them you have
permission from Langley."

He heard Miki sigh, but there was something like laughter or a smile in
her voice. "The last time you told me to do that, sir, Mr. Langley
stormed over here and had the whole office talking about it for weeks."

"I'll deal with it then, " Brackert said dismissively.

"If you say so, sir, " Miki teased lightly. "Okay, ten minutes."

Miki closed the line and Brackert did the same. The Langley episode in
the office hadn't been of any major importance. Langley hadn't been
angry, not really, but if there was one thing he loved, it was drama.
Besides, Brackert and Langley were close enough friends that Langley
could admit he'd gotten stuck with a handful of upstarts this generation
around.

He wondered what Langley would say if he saw Brackert like this.
Probably would amount it to paranoia bred from years working Operations.
He'd said so the last time something like this had turned up and,
thankfully, it had been a false alarm. Langley was probably right about
the paranoia thing, but Brackert didn't have time to worry about that.
If this turned out to be another false alarm, then he'd take Langley's
advice and go on a long, overdue vacation. Hell, maybe he'd just retire.

Who knew what could happen?

******

The SIA director of central intelligence Tashmiat Rikahas stared dourly
over his glasses at the deputy director of the Operations Directorate,
Matthias Brackert, and one of the computer engineers of Science and
Technology, Keenan Ryce. Both men stood bathed in the sun's light
filtering through the partially shaded windows. Brackert was a picture
of calm; his features carefully neutral while his placid brown eyes
carefully studied Rikahas. By contrast, Ryce was a nervous wreck,
wringing his hands and looking anywhere but at Rikahas.

There was one man missing from the impromptu meeting, Peter Langley,
deputy director of the Science and Technology Directorate. Apparently he
had been present during the whole incident but had had to run off for a
moment to placate a politician he had been scheduled to meet.

Rikahas rearranged some papers on his desk and glanced at the wall
clock. 0811 hours. He frowned briefly, conscious that Brackert was
watching him. Rikahas had not appointed Brackert, but had learned to
appreciate the man's managing skills. Ryce was apparently an invaluable
engineer and hacker, praised for his ability to eradicate viruses and
trace lines. Years ago, when Rikahas was still on the move up, he had
been part of the party supporting Langley's appointment. As young as
Langley had been, he had shown extreme promise and had given substance
to everyone's expectations when he delivered with excellent service.

There was a polite knock at the door and Peter Langley entered. He stood
next to Matthias Brackert and the contrast was so great that it was
shocking. Langley still looked like he'd come straight from university,
slim, svelte, and devilishly handsome and fair. Brackert was high school
weightlifting big, broad shoulders and chiseled mature features, skin a
shade darker than tan.

The eyes betrayed them both. Langley's danced with excitement and a
plethora of knowledge. Brackert's were calm and for the most part
unreadable. Rikahas discounted Ryce entirely for the moment and
addressed the two deputy directors.

"Would someone like to tell me what this is all about? If I may say so,
your message was vague and largely uninformative."

"Sorry about that, sir, " Langley was quick to say, a smile on his face
and ever genial. "Please understand that we didn't want anything leaking
for..."

"Security's sake, " Rikahas said blandly. "I know all that, Langley. I
say that enough myself. I must say I don't understand your overly
cautious approach; our lines here are secure and..."

Rikahas trailed off when he noticed Langley had shifted his attention to
Ryce. Langley quickly snapped back when the talking stopped.

"Care to explain?" Rikahas asked dryly.

Langley opened his mouth to say something but Brackert raised his hand
to forestall him. A look passed between the two. In the silence that
followed Langley nodded just a bit to consent to some unasked favor.

"Sir, " Brackert addressed him in his odd, slow way. "At approximately
0700 hours this morning I arrived at my office and checked my e-mail, as
I usually do. However, I found a message with no sender information and
the word 'URGENT' in the subject headline in capital letters. Thinking
that it may have a virus or something other potentially dangerous, I
requested to have a specialist come and examine it."

At Brackert's pause, Langley cut in. "Miki, Mr. Brackert's secretary,
contacted me to obtain permission to borrow one of my boys. I consented,
and intrigued, I went along with Keenan. I wanted to ensure that this
was nothing serious; there had been a previous incident similar to this
one a few years ago, at which I was also present. However, that had been
a false alarm."

Langley looked to Ryce who suddenly grew a spine. "Mr. Rikahas, sir, I
went with Mr. Langley and arrived at approximately 0720 hours. I ran a
diagnostics of Mr. Brackert's system before I began and then scanned the
message itself. Finding no potential threats present, I opened the
message and ran another scan. After a few more tests, I was positive
there were no viruses of any type.

"The content matter was an entirely different affair. I believe Mr.
Brackert has the message?" He looked inquiringly at Brackert who was
already reaching into his pocket and extracting a folded piece of paper.
He stepped forward and handed it across the desk to Rikahas. Rikahas
held it in his hands without moving for a moment, during which he pinned
each man with a look not unlike a glare. Brackert and Langley seemed
completely unfazed but Ryce shriveled like a wilted rose.

With deliberately slow movements, Rikahas unfolded the paper and
smoothed it out on the tabletop. His eyes blinked owlishly behind his
spectacles and he adjusted them to focus the words before him. It read:

To Whom It May Concern:

The infamous felon Kagato is en route to the Dorean Solar System.
Estimated time of arrival is 19:39:09, Chara 12, 15589. Target is the
planet Sotiria. The starship Soja is heavily armed and dangerous. At
19:45:00 defenses will be down for ten to fifteen minutes. Please
contact Galaxy Police.

You have one chance. Good luck.

Rikahas lowered the paper with a skeptical expression briefly written
across his face. He looked at the three men sternly. "Is this some sort
of sick joke, gentlemen?"

Ryce hesitated before he slowly shook his head negatively. "After
reading it, I immediately tried to trace the path back to the sender,
but I couldn't find one. It was almost as if it was planted directly
into Mr. Brackert's inbox using his own terminal. But that doesn't make
sense, because that would leave a trace as well."

Ryce looked ready to explain just about every little step in the process
he had taken, but Langley shot him a strained smile and the young man's
jaw stopped working. Rikahas turned to Langley.

"What about you, Langley? I understand you were quite a whiz in your
day."

Langley crossed his arms and tilted his head back a bit. His longer than
usually approved of hair fell behind him. "To be honest, Mr. Rikahas,
it's been a while since I've gotten down and dirty with things like this
myself. The SIA isn't exactly the resource for trained technicians of
any sort. The SOA gets the really skilled men and women.

"But it makes me wonder when someone contacts the deputy director of the
Operations Directorate of the SIA. We're not an organization to be taken
lightly."

Rikahas said nothing but turned to Brackert. In turn, Brackert spread
his hands.

"Kagato's ship was last seen at the remains of Thisavrizo. The time of
arrival seems to make sense if he made a course for Sotiria straight
from there. I have had many of my agents try to keep tabs on Kagato at
one point or another, but the man-and his ship-are as hard to find as a
Juraian in our streets."

Rikahas sat back with a sigh. "This is very troubling, gentlemen."

"Are you going to take action?" Langley ventured, allowing himself to
forget a little decorum. He stopped himself from asking anymore and
looked to Ryce. The man's eyes had widened somewhat, but managed to
catch his superior watching him.

Rikahas took the cue. He stood up and held out a hand. Ryce, trying to
hide his obvious disappointment, stood as well and shook the proffered
hand. They exchanged pleasantries and then Ryce made to leave. Langley
stopped him with a hand on his arm and whispered something in his ear.
Ryce nodded and exited Rikahas' office.

Rikahas waited a minute then scoffed. "Is that your best there,
Langley?"

Langley shrugged and helped himself to one of the two seats in front of
Rikahas' desk. Brackert helped himself to the other one.

"He's smart, knows a lot about the binary world, but sometimes he loses
himself there. If he had some social skill and charisma, I'd consider
trying to move him up."

Rikahas gave a short laugh and shook his head slightly.

"What're you going to do, sir?" Brackert tried to bring the talk back to
the subject at hand.

"There's not much I can do, " Rikahas admitted. "This is a matter of
planetary security, so of course I must make it known to the president.
He'll most likely have something arranged."

Langley put his ankle up on a knee and grabbed his shin. "Will this
become public knowledge?"

Rikahas shook his head. "There's too much of a possibility that this is
just some prank."

"Will the Galaxy Police be notified?" Brackert managed to squeeze in at
a normal pace.

Rikahas considered it then nodded. "If we are going to be dealing with
the likes of Kagato, we'll want the Galaxy Police with us. They know the
most about him."

"You know the GP will pull that whole jurisdiction crap, " Langley said
with disgust.

"Perhaps it would be better to use one of our contacts, " Brackert
suggested.

"You have someone in the GP?" Langley asked and turned to the other
deputy director. Brackert had a ghost of a smile.

"You'd be surprise what resources we have. We have a reliable man in the
GP, a defector in place who gives us information regarding galactic
criminals that interest us. In the past he has provided us with
information about Kagato."

"Unwise, " Rikahas said definitively. "The political backlash if this
got out would do us more harm than good. I'll advise the president to
contact the GP through open channels. Our airspace is our jurisdiction;
the GP will have to accept that and offer their support rather than take
the reins."

Langley and Brackert said nothing, knowing that at this point offering
any suggestions would be futile.

"That'll be all-"

Brackert spoke up before Rikahas could finish his sentence. "Wait, sir,
I do have one concern."

Rikahas frowned but remained silent. Langley once more turned
interestedly to this friend.

Brackert spoke slower as if considering each word more carefully than he
did in his normal speech. "If Kagato does come and we fail, will steps
be taken to evacuate the public?"

The question hung in the room like a death sentence. Rikahas waved
dismissively, seemingly shrugging off the feeling of doom that had come
to rest on them all.

"That won't happen. We'll succeed-we have no other choice."

"That doesn't answer my question, sir, " Brackert said quietly, his eyes
piercing pinpoints.

Rikahas glared at the deputy director. "Don't you trust the government
you work for?"

Brackert gave a small shrug. "The Soja is just one ship, but it's
managed to get this far with impunity."

Rikahas didn't reply and Langley and Brackert took that as a clue to
leave.

******

"Were you trying to get yourself fired?" Langley asked Brackert as they,
along with Ryce, stood outside the skyscraper building that served as
the headquarters of the SIA.

"No, " Brackert answered him calmly. "I was curious and wanted an honest
answer."

Langley frowned. "Sometimes things are better left unknown."

They left it at that.

******

Melanie Kimet pulled her car into a reserved parking space, put the
vehicle into park, and leaned on the steering wheel wearily. The
pounding in her head had only gotten worse from the moment she had
stepped out her door and her sunglasses weren't blocking out the deadly
rays of the sun. They stabbed right into her eyes and tweaked the nerves
in her brain for instant torment.

She couldn't fight nature so she tried to ward it off with a pitiful
moan. A knock resounded off her window, invaded her eardrums and played
a punk rocker song in her head. She straightened up and turned to glower
at the instigator of her great pain. A handsome man stood outside her
window, leaning against her car with a hand braced on the top, and
waved. He indicated that he wanted her to roll down her window. Putting
a curse on his head, Melanie complied with the request.

"What do you want?" she demanded irritably.

"You look like shit, Mel, " Casey Poway informed her with entirely too
much glee.

Melanie ignored him and groaned. Her head fell forward until her
forehead came to rest on her steering wheel, her hair, most of which had
fallen out of her unsuccessful attempt to tie it back, draped across her
face. She closed her eyes and felt the tremors of the car's engine
through her skin. It was a masochistically pleasant feeling, something
Melanie was finding herself coming more and more to enjoy lately.

"Leave me alone, " Melanie slurred in a groan.

"Damn, you won't believe it, but I was having breakfast with this hot
chick when I got the call to come in. It's so friggin' unfair we get
called in on our vacation time. Don't these people know what that
means?" Casey kept up his running commentary.

"Shut up, Casey, " Melanie muttered. "You're making my headache worse."

"Here, " she heard Casey say and so she opened her eyes. His fist
hovered in front of her face and instinctively Melanie pulled back. She
sagged back into her seat with a groan.

"Why the hell did you do that?" she demanded angrily and would have
probably shouted it if her head didn't hurt so much.

"I just wanted to give you some Ambrosia."

The magic word "Ambrosia" made Melanie look up. Lying in Casey's open
palm were two small, round pills with A's stamped into them. Ambrosia
was the miracle medicine for hangovers and could be bought over the
counter. Once upon a time, Melanie had owned Ambrosia herself. Then a
month went by and it was all gone.

"Take it, " Casey prompted her and she accepted the gift with relief.
She popped them into her mouth, ignored the chalky taste her taste buds
sent to her brain, and swallowed convulsively. It went down grudgingly
but got where it needed to go.

"Thanks, " she muttered and adjusted her sunglasses to prepare for the
lighter world outside her car. She turned off her engine, which cooled
down and lowered the car gently back to the earth. She rolled up her
window, amused by Casey's arm retreating at warp speed, puller her keys
out of the ignition and got out. She locked the door before closing it
and took out the ineffectual tie in her hair. She vainly tried to make
herself somewhat presentable, but it was a lost cause at this point.

Casey smiled lopsidedly and somewhat roguishly. He reached out and
tucked a lock of dark green hair behind her ear, taking the opportunity
to trace her chin. Melanie pulled back and tried to mask her uneasiness
by playing with her hair again. It gave her a little trouble because of
its unassuming black appearance in most indoor lighting and its shocking
dark green in the sunlight. More than one date had done a double take.

Casey was another case altogether. He had made his interest very clear
and Melanie had laid her own feelings out in the open. It hadn't
discouraged him from admiring, though, which Melanie didn't mind much
until he tried to take it to another level of intimacy. Sotiria had an
open-minded society, and Melanie considered herself to be a free-
spirited girl, but there were limits even for her.

In a friendly manner, Casey draped an arm over her shoulders and led the
way into the IOS building. Although it was located on the Army base of
Camp Tarsost, the IOS had no affiliation with them whatsoever. The IOS
was a special division in Sotiria's military. It was largely under the
command of the Houses and often assisted with domestic matters and
county police all over the planet.

They were men and women trained for dire and dangerous situations. Most
had questionable pasts and had at one time served in the Army, Navy,
Marines, or the Star Fleet. The IOS targeted their prospective employees
and offered them generous pay and the promise of dirty work.

Most, like Melanie and Casey, accepted. The other military organizations
hated them like the prodigal children they were.

They went through the whole security thing: ID check, weapons inspection
(they both carried firearms), and then some polite pleasantries with the
guards. The hallways were confusing and seemed often to lead to nowhere
for no reason. Melanie and Casey picked their way with confidence,
walking in a companionable silence that was due more in part to Melanie
than Casey. By now he'd learned when to stop pushing her buttons.

"So, Casey, do you have any idea what this is about?" Melanie asked in a
much more pleasant tone. Like a charm, the Ambrosia had gone into work
within minutes, having dissolved wonderfully in her stomach and gotten
pumped through her system.

"No idea, " Casey said with a wide smile.

"What do you think then? Hostage situation? Drug bust? What?"

Casey laughed and looked down at her sideways. He was three inches
taller than Melanie's 5'4" and shorter than the regular guy in the IOS.

"Bigger, I think."

"Bigger?" Melanie repeated as they paused outside the briefing room. The
door was opened and the noise of multiple conversations drifted out into
the hallway. Melanie glanced in and noted that most of the room was
full. Muscle packed men with barrel chests exchanged manly banter, while
the smaller ones tried to simultaneously look tough and speak. There
were few women in the room, four or five that Melanie could see right
off.

"Yeah. I heard from Franklin that this goes right up to the top, " Casey
said smugly and his gorgeous blue eyes sparkled. He reached out, took
her by the bicep, and hauled her into the room. They swiped two seats in
the back row on the left side.

"The President is sending us out?" Melanie asked incredulously as she
settled in. "No way."

Casey pitched his voice lower. "I heard the Star Fleet is being
deployed."

Melanie frowned. "What the hell's going on?"

Her confusion only became greater as she noticed the seemingly perfect
number of people in the room. Thirty-five men and women, seven to a
squad, making five squads in all. Casey and Melanie belonged to the Blue
Squad.

Casey shrugged, apparently so absorbed in her to care about any of the
peculiarities of the situation. "I told you already; I have no idea.
It's all very hush-hush."

Melanie fixed Casey with her dark-eyed "intense" gaze and was about to
drill him for some straight answers but the assembly suddenly grew
silent. General Wren Gordon stood behind the podium on the dais and had
used his presence alone to bring about order. Everyone stood, saluted,
and then sat down again. Melanie casually crossed her legs and folded
her arms.

"Good morning, everyone, " the general greeted them all. "First of all,
I would like to apologize to all of those who were on vacation. I know
this is an inconvenience and it will be made up to you, I promise. There
is good reason for this, trust me. Our services have been requested to
aid in the defense of our home planet. We are in a state of emergency
and the best men and women are absolutely necessary to protect our home
and our families successfully."

People turned to each other and whispered questions and comments.
Melanie was a bit confused herself; she hadn't heard anything about an
issued state of emergency. If that were true, the entire planet would
have been going crazy.

General Gordon cleared his throats and drew attention back to him.

"I'm afraid we have been given precious little information, but what I
do know I will share with you now. It is to my understanding that early
this morning, the SIA received an anonymous tip. It seems that Kagato is
on his way here, to the Dorean Solar System, and that his next target
will be Sotiria."

There was a collective gasp. The Dorean Solar System was a very small
one, and Sotiria was the only inhabitable planet of five. What interest
Kagato would have in the little system was beyond anyone's ken.

"I know this is shocking, " Gordon said in a surprise moment of empathy.
"But we have been personally asked by President Yosephi himself to
contribute our skills in this time of need. Of course, the best-case
scenario is that we have been given false information and that Kagato is
not coming. However, I have been getting the impression that this is not
the case."

He paused and smoothed his mustache. He pushed a button on a small
remote he held and a three-dimensional holographic display appeared on
center stage. A small red dot appeared in the diagram.

"This represents the Soja, Kagato's legendary starship. The Soja's
estimated arrival time is 1940 hours. Whether or not he makes an
appearance, we, along with the Star Fleet, will be waiting inside the
Bandits' Way." A white dot appeared just inside the asteroid belt that
enclosed the entire solar system. "Keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen,
we have no idea what the Soja itself is capable of, only that it is
heavily armed and dangerous."

Gordon circled the hologram then stopped behind it.

"At 1945 hours, our anonymous informant says that the Soja's defenses
will be down for ten to fifteen minutes. That is more than enough time
to get our Fleet in range of the Soja and board it. You will all remain
in your assigned squads. The moment you board the Soja, you're on your
own. Communications will be cut off and the Star Fleet will retreat
until the appointed time of pickup, which is 1955 hours to 2000 hours.
Ah, and before I forget, the Galaxy Police most probably will be present
with you."

This riled a few sniggers from the group.

Gordon shook his head. "The GP might know more about this than we do, so
don't scoff. Keep out of their way and they'll keep out of yours.
They're professionals, too, don't anyone forget that. Give them the
respect they deserve."

Gordon's mouth became a thin line across his face as he pressed his lips
together tightly. His voice was grave when he continued speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we only have one chance at this. There is a high
risk you might not come back alive. But you have been trained for this;
this is the true and, perhaps, the final test. We do not know what is on
that ship except for perhaps Kagato himself and the space pirate Ryoko.
You are licensed to kill.

"The Soja may have inner defenses. If so, the timetable is ten minutes
in and out. We can't afford to keep our Star Fleet in such close
proximity to the Soja knowing its capabilities. Again, this is a one-
time deal, ladies and gentlemen, and it's our time to make history. Meet
back here at 1750 hours today, in uniform and ready to leave on a
moment's notice. Any questions?"

There were none spoke aloud, but each operative's mind whirred with
crazed and wild thoughts. Gordon's eyes took them all in and saw this.
His eyes were sad, very sad.

"Before I dismiss you, " he said softly, "is there anyone who wishes not
to go?"

The shock was an undercurrent that touched everyone. Not go? The thought
was inconceivable.

General Gordon nodded slowly. "Alright then. Remember to report here at
1750 hours sharp! Time now is 10:38:37. Dismissed!"

He saluted them stiffly and they saluted back. Everyone began to speak
as the occupants tried to file out of the room all at once. Casey
grabbed Melanie's forearm once again and hauled her off her ass. He
dragged her out the door and into the fresh air outside. There he let
her go and they proceeded at a slow clip to her car. When they reached
it, Casey leaned against the driver side door and crossed his arms.

"Man, we've got seven hours to live, Mel!" Casey griped.

"Seven hours to live... what're you going to do, Casey?" Melanie asked
idly only because Casey was blocking any access she had to her door and
she wasn't about to go through the passenger side.

"I was hoping you'd feel a little bit of pity for me and sleep with me,
but that doesn't seem to be working." Melanie scowled and Casey laughed.
He continued mercilessly. "I was going to suggest getting a drink, you
know, getting totally wasted, but we'd probably be dead before setting
foot on the Soja, so no."

Melanie's scowl was a definite frown now.

"Aw, come on, Mel, " Casey chided. "Lighten up! Let's go see a movie or
something. And grab lunch."

"Weren't you spending time with some 'hot chick' before you had to come
here?" Melanie asked testily and tried to bodily move Casey aside.

Casey sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Alright, Mel,
whatever. I can take a hint. But listen, Mel, it's not good to be alone
all the time."

Melanie ignored him and got into her car. As she was pulling out her
hand accidentally slipped on the wheel and she nearly bowled him over.
He smirked at her in his cute way and spread his hands wide.

She could almost hear him saying, "What do you want me to do, Mel?"

"Leave me alone, " Melanie muttered and made for her favorite dive.

******

19:42:18

Kagato was alone, as he often preferred to be, and had entered into a
state of detached calm, where only his music wafted through his
consciousness. His fingers wove with loving ease a mournful song. It
filtered throughout the entirety of the Soja, rebounded off the walls
and echoed for long moments after the notes had faded.

There was something seductive in the music, some incomprehensible allure
in the heartrending tone. It was like the taste of true power, one
moment of indescribable ecstasy that seemed to go on for eternity and
end far too soon.

Yes, it was this that Kagato strived for. Except, when he found his
calling to power, it would last for all eternity, singing in his veins
like the music sang in his heart. Sotiria would yield its answers to
him.

"Ryoko, " he said into the empty air. He sensed her sudden,
instantaneous presence behind him.

Kagato smiled in anticipation.

19:43:45

Cocky bastard, he didn't even bother with cloaking his ship. The Soja
seemed to glide at a snail's pace across the stars, its odd bulk pushing
forward in its quest of destruction. It was impervious, majestic in its
entire awful splendor.

Melanie involuntary clutched at her rifle. She shoved her helmet back to
get a better view of the awesome starship.

"Holy shit, " she muttered. In the silence, the sentiment was echoed in
the hearts of all her comrades.

19:44:33

"Are you ready, Ryoko? Do you know what you must do?"

"Yes."

"Then tell me."

19:45:00

The pinpoints of light seen on the Soja's surface flickered once, as if
the Soja were one big beacon of hope calling out to space's lost
children, and then died in a ripple from the ship's center. The five
small transports turned toward their target and, with a roar, charged
the great beast.

19:45:15

For the first time in his life, Kagato was paralyzed by absolute shock.
The oppressive darkness had spread itself upon him without warning. How?
How had the Soja shut down?

He could not formulate an answer before a blazing orange beam of light
lanced through the air; by its glow he saw Ryoko's cruel smile. In the
next moment she was upon him, but by then Kagato was ready for her.

******

"What the fuck is this place?"

"Damn, it's dark in here."

"Have we been going in circles?"

Melanie scowled behind her breathing mask as she listened to the members
of other squads conversing, annoyed that it had taken someone that long
to put a name to the uneasy feeling that had been nagging at her. For
what had felt like hours she and the Blue Squad, headed by Captain Wayne
Hoight, had wandered through halls that all looked the same filtered
through night vision. Two words: empty and unending.

She could feel herself getting nervous; she was breaking out into a
sweat that made her feel stifled under all the gear. The place had this
odd, creepy feeling; it reminded Melanie of the haunted houses she had
frequented in her younger days. She was beginning to get the idea that
maybe the halls didn't end at all, that they'd be stuck walking in
circles forever until they all starved to death, and it was beginning to
seriously freak her out.

She licked her dry lips and stopped walking, lowering her rifle so that
it pointed to the ground. Casey, who had been covering her back, stopped
too. Soon everyone had stopped walking and was looking at her curiously.

Wayne shouldered his rifle and regarded all of them.

"I know this is beginning to seem stupid, " his voice came through their
earpieces, calm and soothing. "There's something about this place,
something that starts to get to you."

Melanie saw Casey's green outline nod. "Yeah, when do you think
something will happen?"

There was a piercing scream that sounded right into all their ears.
Melanie pitched forward and slammed a hand over her helmet, where her
ear would have been had it not been covered. Casey whipped his rifle up
and swept it around in an arc.

"What was that?" Casey muttered.

There were jumbled voices pouring in now, other squads demanding to have
a status report. Above it all were the anxious and scared voices of the
squad that had screamed.

"What the fuck did you do?" someone male screamed. A beat later the same
voice said, "This ain't the same place we was at a second ago!"

"Guys, " someone else said, sounding calm in a terrible hysterical way.
"Guys, look up."

The Blue Squad listened intently, all of them frozen by some intangible
fear. Melanie had to consciously slow her breathing to hear the words
clearly.

"Holy shit, is that Matthews?" the first voice breathed. He shouted into
everyone's ear, "Why the fuck is he upside down? Where the fuck are we?!
What the fuck did you do to us, man?!"

Wayne gave them the signal to shut off the channel. They switched to
their private frequency.

"Fuck, man, " Keith Manny whispered when they had all transferred over.

Wayne nodded slowly. "I know you probably don't want to hear this right
now, everyone, but our ten minutes are up."

A frightening stillness descended on the group.

"Even if I knew the way out of here, I still wouldn't leave until that
fucker's dead, " Keith muttered.

"Which brings up a good point, " Casey said coolly. "Does anyone know
the way out?"

Everyone looked to Wayne but he shook his head. "If you had asked me
five minutes ago, maybe, but this place is so damn confusing I probably
couldn't find my ass with both hands."

They laughed at their captain's attempt at humor.

"So what do we do now?" Melanie posed.

As if her words were a magic cue, the hallway was suddenly dimly lit.

"What the-?"

"Auxiliary power? Now?"

Wayne shrugged and adjusted his goggles. "Maybe with the power on we can
find some working doors."

"So we're stuck on this ship?"

"For now it seems like, " Wayne blithely said. "Ready?"

"You know, " Casey later put in mildly as they stalked down the halls,
"earlier today I couldn't think of a worse way to go out than fighting a
madman. I think being stuck in this damn ship beats that."

The Blue Squad groaned and Melanie whacked him over the helmet with the
butt of her rifle.

"Just kidding! Just kidding!"

Everyone sincerely hoped so.

******

Washu Hakubi opened her eyes-her physical eyes-and let her prison fall
about her like so much dust. She took a deep breath and filled her lungs
with sweet oxygen, reveling in the freedom of movement. She smiled and
approached the men who had saved her.

All save one of four people stared at her with eyes hidden behind the
red glowing ones set into their masks. She examined their handiwork; the
whole area of the platform was covered in fine white powder, the remains
of the snake guardians.

She lifted her eyes and smiled at the Galaxy Police officer who was
staring at her with his mouth agape. She appraised him openly.

"Thank you, for freeing me... Stanley."

He snapped out of whatever trance he had fallen into and straightened
up. He smoothed his uniform unnecessarily and tried to look dignified.
"It was, uh, my pleasure. You're welcome."

Washu smiled perkily and turned to the other men. "Hi."

The men exchanged glances. One of them, wearing a gold strip of cloth
tied to his bicep, reached up and unhooked his mask. He took off his
helmet, slung it onto his rifle, and leaned on the weapon as if were a
cane. He pulled his right glove off and held his bare hand out to her.

"Charlie Virm."

Washu, taken aback by his straightforwardness, placed her small hand
into his large one. His grip was sure and firm; he wasn't affected by
her appearance, that much was obvious.

"Washu Hakubi."

"Hakubi?" Officer Stanley Gwillim echoed with an odd expression.
"Hakubi... That was the name of the old Science Academy student
kidnapped by Kagato, wasn't it?"

"Student?" Washu choked. "I'm the greatest scientist in the universe!"

Charlie glanced at his men then back to her. "You look a little young."

Washu winked unabashedly. "Aren't I just the cutest thing you've ever
seen?"

Charlie blinked and pushed hair out of his eyes. He seemed to ignore the
comment because he said, "Miss Hakubi, can you tell us where we are?"

Washu studied the young features of the captain and compared them with
the sad and troubled eyes that watched her intently.

She nodded slowly. "This is the reversed world."

"Reversed?"

"This ship has a top and a bottom."

"So how do we get back to the top?"

"We can't. It's a one-way thoroughfare."

Charlie looked immensely distressed. "Is there any way we can return?"

Washu stared right into his eyes. "Destroy Kagato."

"You mean we have to wait until someone miraculously kills that monster?
Isn't there anything else we can do?" Charlie asked angrily.

Washu frowned for a second, but turned and waved her hand. An image
appeared of a heated battle.

"We can watch, " she said simply.

******

Melanie placed a hand on the curved wall to steady herself. She was
breathing hard and sweating like she couldn't believe. Apparently, with
the power had come the activation of a ton of defense mechanisms; the
halls had become the gauntlet of death taken at a full run and her legs
were jellylike, as if she had run a marathon. Thankfully, it seemed
things had let up for now, long enough to take a short breather.

She tried standing up straight to help her respiration, but a stitch in
her side pulled her back down. With clumsy fingers she jabbed at the
clasps for her mask and managed to claw them off. It draped around her
neck and Melanie enjoyed the cool air on her feverish skin.

"Hey, " Casey said at her side and nudged her in the ribs with the butt
of his rifle. She turned her head to look up at him. "Look, the hall
ends up ahead..."

Wayne, who was hanging at the back of the group in case anything should
come back to haunt them, jerked around and squinted ahead.

"I don't see anything..." he muttered.

"Look closer. That stuff there isn't darkness. It's..." Casey pursed his
lips as he struggled to put what he saw into appropriate words. "It's
some strange swirling substance. You can tell because it's black and
white and even gray."

Keith jumped to his feet and laughed excitedly. "I see it!"

Wanting to know what the hell they were all talking about, Melanie
grudgingly straightened up and stared. She was ready to give up when her
eyes didn't find anything unusual but she swore for a second she saw
something move. She looked closer and saw that Casey was right; it was
like a wall of swirling black, white, and gray. She turned to Wayne
uncertainly.

"Any idea what this means?" she asked.

He shrugged ineloquently and reached for his mask. He simply held it in
his hands for a moment, then refastened it to his helmet. Unsure of
themselves, the rest of the team followed suit.

"Whatever it is, " Wayne said, "let's be prepared. We weren't expecting
all this shit in the halls and we could've been killed. Let's not make
the same mistake twice. Everyone ready?"

******

Kagato caught Ryoko's wrist as it sailed toward him, her saber at the
end, with all the intention of cutting his head off. He threw his weight
at her and pinned her against the organ. The pipes blasted off some god-
awful noise, but they were in another world altogether now. The only
ones in existence were the two of them and they were engaged in a
twisted dance of death.

Ryoko's strength was almost enough to force him off, but Kagato held his
place. Using her free hand she managed to form another saber and as she
thrust towards him, Kagato pulled her to him and the blade swung wide.
She phased out of his grasp and reappeared behind him, but Kagato had
expected this and parried with his green broadsword.

"Give it up, Ryoko. You can't win, " he taunted her. "If you could have,
you would have done so long ago. This is a waste of both our time."

"I'll let you kill me first, before I ever let you use me again!" she
screamed at him.

"That can be arranged, " he said coolly and flung a hand out at her,
palm out. The blast pushed her back despite her force field and flung
her across the room. She phased to safety above.

"You want to kill me, Ryoko? Even after everything I've given you?" he
asked her, staring up at her impassively. "What'll you do when I'm dead,
Ryoko? You're everything you are, because of me. Without that, you're
nothing. You're just flawed. You're imperfect."

He pointed at her accusingly. "You're a disappointment."

Ryoko bared her fangs and prepared another energy charge to fling at him
when another attack came from an entirely different direction. It wasn't
even able to penetrate Kagato's force field and curved harmlessly as it
neared him.

Both were momentarily confused by this new development. They both turned
to see a small, heavily armed group pointing rifles at them. Kagato
frowned; he had not invited them into his cathedral.

"It seems that we have guests, Ryoko. Friends of yours?" Her eyes
narrowed a bit but it was worry that pinched the corners of her eyes.
Kagato smiled.

"Tell me, Ryoko, are you willing to kill them too?"

******

Melanie felt a cold hand reach into her and squeeze her heart into
unbearable stillness when she heard Kagato's odd, ethereal voice say
those words. Her eyes jumped from one to the other down the sight of her
rifle. Kagato was imposing in his confidence, shockingly handsome as
well; Ryoko was a wild animal, savage in expression and radiating with
ardent emotions.

They seemed to quickly forget about the Blue Squad, however, as their
gazes only reverted to seeking out each other, exactly how they had
found them before Keith had taken a shot.

Kagato gave a short bark of a laugh. "Give it up, Ryoko! If you stop
now, I'll find it in my heart to forgive you."

"Find it in your heart?" Ryoko growled right back, giving credence to
the wild impression Melanie had immediately been struck with. "To
forgive me?! There's nothing to forgive! You just want to use me for
your own sick purposes, you heartless bastard!"

There was a pregnant pause during which Kagato stared at the indignant
woman. Melanie's finger tightened on the trigger.

"I see how you feel, Ryoko, and I must say that you have fulfilled
everything that I've just said about you. I was hoping that you'd see
the error in your ways, but it seems that you're not capable of such
practical logic. I knew from the very start nothing good could come out
of an imperfect experiment like yourself."

Kagato spread his arms as if he were welcoming her into a hug. "I won't
lie, Ryoko. Sooner or later, this had to happen."

Melanie only saw the shadows of a smile on Kagato's face before the
screaming started. The sound seemed to be ripped out of Ryoko's throat
and supplied with too little oxygen, as it became a choking screech. The
wild haired woman dropped out of the sky like a rock and hit the dais
with a dull thud. The screaming didn't stop, but only seemed to grow in
intensity, rolling one upon the other until it was just one loud,
keening wail.

Maybe it was the screaming or maybe it was the profound disgust Melanie
discovered she felt for this perverse man, but something in Melanie
snapped. Her finger squeezed on the trigger until the muscles in her
hand strained with the sheer intensity. Not a single shot hit Kagato or
even came close, but Melanie wasn't thinking at this point. The horrible
screaming pervaded her consciousness until she realized it was her own
screams ringing in her head.

The normally dark room was bright with the laser discharges of the
rifles, not only from Melanie, but from everyone else in the squad as
well. As if the lights had finally begun bothering him enough that he
might address the problem, Kagato turned to them. His eyes regarded them
behind the tiny spectacles perched precariously on the bridge of his
nose. He smirked slightly and thrust a hand out at them.

There was the sensation of flying, then bone cracking pain exploded
through her shoulders, back and neck. Flaccidly she slumped back to the
floor. She flexed her right hand convulsively and understood that
somewhere along the way she had dropped her rifle. Shit. They always
taught you don't lose your weapon. In the case that you should lose your
weapon, always have an alternative.

At least the screaming had stopped. Now there was just an annoying,
dull, hollow pinging sound.

"So, " Kagato addressed them mockingly and Melanie heard him as if he
were speaking to her through water, "this is the might of Sotiria's
IOS?"

Melanie tried to reach for her pistol strapped to her thigh, but every
muscle protested. Even moving her head pitched her into a new realm of
discomfort.

"What are you here for? To arrest me? To kill me, perhaps? Which? Or
neither?" Kagato asked. Everything swam in her vision and Melanie was
dangerously close to being embarrassingly sick. Of much more concern,
Melanie reasoned with her stomach, was that Kagato was approaching them.
One problem at a time, Melanie told herself and shifted into a better
position; what exactly that was, Melanie wasn't sure.

Kagato stopped directly in front of her and reached down for her. The
realization of the enormous danger she was in hit her from nowhere and
she had to swallow the bile that rose up in her throat. His gloved
fingers brushed her facemask and undid the clasps. The mask fell away
with a tug, but before Kagato could touch her, he was interrupted by the
most terrible sound Melanie ever heard in her life.

It was as if hell had opened up and the cries of a million tortured
souls wailed all at once. It was the screech of a banshee calling people
to death. It was a lifetime of torment, pain, and hatred put into a
sound.

It was a scream.

Upon hearing it, Melanie immediately forgot about all her aches and
pain. Every inch of her flesh broke out in goose bumps and a cold sweat
covered her body. She shuddered involuntary and had a sudden desire to
cry out for her mother.

Kagato stood up and turned around in alarm. He blocked Melanie's view of
what he was looking at, but illuminating his form in electric blue-white
was a light so bright Melanie couldn't look at it directly. The light
and scream faded and the return of the pinging was a welcome sound to
Melanie's agonized ears.

"How?!" Kagato screamed and in his voice was real disbelief and anger.
"It's not fair! You-you're nothing but a failure! You're not worthy of
that power!"

Kagato materialized his sword and charged his opponent. There was a loud
clang, as if the battle had been fought with steel, and then Kagato's
bitter laugh filled the room.

"Well played, Washu, " he said. "I see now the secret you kept hidden
from me. The answer was in front of me the entire time. But why the
Light Hawk Wings? Tsunami, why this girl?"

He went unanswered for all his questing, and within moments his body had
completely dissolved, an unseen wind scattering his remains about his
beloved sanctuary, his great cathedral.

It was all very anticlimactic and even almost disappointing.

There were other things, though, that held Melanie's attention. She only
half heard Kagato's speech. She was staring at the breath-taking and
horrific, serene and impassioned creature before her. There was a faint
glow about her, and she was dressed in white and light red, blue, green,
even purple.

She was an angel. Her beauty was otherworldly. By her actions, she had
spared countless lives.

She was a devil. Her eyes were filled with hate, a frown marred her
features.

She was powerful. The power was felt, seen, and almost heard.

Melanie was struck dumb. She even forgot to breathe. She reached out
hesitantly, wanting to touch this splendid and frightening creature. But
the yellow eyes suddenly widened in surprise, looked right at-no, into-
Melanie, looked down at herself in the odd attire, and then rolled back
into her head until only the whites were showing. She collapsed like a
rag doll.

The clothing faded and was replaced by the clothing Ryoko had worn.
Melanie stared at the woman, unable to reconcile the two images, but she
didn't have much time to contemplate it. Someone shook her violently,
reminding her brain that there were all sorts of aches in her body, and
yelled into her ear.

"This place is going down! Come on, we've got to get out of here!"

Melanie blinked. The words didn't quite register. Even though the person
had stopped manhandling her, she was still shaking as if stuck in an
earthquake.

"But what about...?" She turned to Ryoko and was surprised to see guys
from the Gold Squad and a little girl. "What the...?"

Casey threw her arm around his shoulders, effectively turning her away,
and smiled.

"Fuck, Mel, can you believe it? We're heroes!" He laughed and then gave
a yelp of surprise. "What the hell was that?"

He and Melanie turned around to see an unidentifiable furry thing go
hopping towards the red haired girl, and the Gold Squad's captain, who
had cradled in his arms the unconscious form of the space pirate Ryoko.
Melanie stared at the limp woman, drawn to her out of uneasiness.

"Shit, that thing scared me, " Casey murmured by her ear. "That doesn't
look like anything I've seen before."

"She saw me, " Melanie muttered, completely ignoring Casey.

"What?" Casey shouted to be heard over the racket.

"I said, " Melanie turned to him, but hesitated. "I said I saw a devil
wearing the face of an angel."

Casey laughed. "You're cracking up, Mel. Or maybe you hit your head too
hard. Dammit, I can't believe my visual gear got all fucked up. What the
hell am I going to tell all the reporters?"

Melanie wasn't listening to Casey though. Her own words bothered her. As
Casey half-dragged her to the safety of the transport ships, Melanie
couldn't help wondering if it was the converse of her statement that was
true or if she had been right in her choice.

Devil or angel, whatever Ryoko got involved in after this was bound to
be interesting. And Melanie wanted no part of it.





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