[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 43 -
Sturm und Drang signifying . . . nothing
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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http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/type/Sic-Sem
per-Morituri
(these are the original versions)
What has gone before:
About Book 11 of the Tankoubon Manga, Akane and Soun Tendo throw Ranma
out of the house. Nabiki, in the guise of a wish, follows him. They meet
EVA pilots Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu Langley and Jeffrey
Davis.
At the welcome home party for Nabiki and Rei, the Azores mission is
revealed. Three shoggoths, once fragments of Ritsuko, fight and are
defeated by combining Ritsuko, Ranma and Jeff, there are some side-effects
as the trio's personalities temporarily bleed into each other. Among them:
Jeff, under the influence of Ranma, confronts Belldandy sending her, then
her sisters, into a tizzy, Keiichi managed to defuse it. Ranko, under the
influence of the others, gives Jeff the passionate kiss from the bet he
lost to Asuka at the carnival. Then Asuka and Jeff tickle Nabiki
remorselessly.
To help Misato and Hiro's relationship, Asuka, Rei and Shinji throw
together a Sunday in the park picnic. Asuka begins teaching Ranma both
sword fighting, and how to teach. Only he believes his first class with
the others was an unmitigated disaster.
Asuka contracts Keiichi and his sister to construct several bicycles
for the pilots. She shoots a bug and has her second clash with Skuld.
All four senators from Wyoming and Massachusetts begin investigating
the Boston incident and Misato's part in it. Aboard the Bennington, Jeff
meets with one of his patrons and receives an update on Sharon. Nabiki is
coming to realize the differences in the way the military treats her and
the other pilots.
Major ggreg and Adam Smith arrive, to cover their `spying` on NERV,
they will teach Nabiki and Jeff about explosives. Ritsuko investigates the
unusual way Jeff syncs with the EVA, she is terrified by the contact.
Later she realizes the spirits power the EVAs. Nabiki and Maya train to
operate firearms. Nabiki adds hand-to-hand training with the rifle.
Jeff and the Scholarly Dragon teach Nabiki about control of her
dreams, the Scholarly Dragon prevents a dream attack by Usagi and company.
The pilots and guards reminisce about the events of the previous weeks
with Belldandy, Sora and Megumi while taking a cooking lesson. The day
ends with a bug attack on Keiichi's home being destroyed by the pilots and
their guards.
Usagi and company summon a strike force of Dark Young, dholes,
shantaks and Hunting Horrors. The Twins watches the summoning and draws
its own plans against the EVAs, pilots and NERV. For a short time the EVAs
and the pilots are caught off stride. Once they regained the upper hand
they never released it. The pilots go over Misato's head to participate in
rescue operations.
Nabiki continues to train in controlling dreams, concentrating on
infiltration. Bad dreams continue to plague her. The Azores Mission heads
through the Panama Canal, and the principals are treated to the effect of
their celebrity. Nabiki and Maya don't like it.
The Russians go over a newsreel of the Azores team, and discuss their
growing maintenance problems.
The Azores group discover a second entry plug port in Unit 04 and
begin select Maya and Captain Madison of SAR to accompany the pilots to the
bottom.
The recovery itself goes off without serious problems, Nabiki carries
the Great Old One back to the EVA. She is revolted and horrified by the
experience.
Something is killing the leaders of the project.
What she has taken looks like a fried egg, Nabiki is ashamed of her
weakness and terror in the face of a Great Old One.
The creature awakens and the battlegroup is surrounded by clouds and
all the pilots are plunged into a dream, Rei awakens, but the others do
not. Shinji dreams of a city deep in the ocean, and then to the city he
designed in the dream challenge. Rei is with him and they lead the human
race of planet and to the stars. Then Shinji heads off to battle an enemy
on the Moon.
Ranma, Jeff and Nabiki find themselves in a faceless Nerima duplicate.
They join the group who repairs Nerima from the marital arts battles.
Asuka finds herself walking through the spectrum, eventually falling
to hunger and dehydration.
Rei and Erin temporarily move in with Sammi.
Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains
Within the sound of silence.
The Sound of Silence - Paul Simon
In restless dreams I walked alone narrow streets of cobblestone,
July 27, 1947
"That was fun," Nabiki commented as the light ran red-hot pokers
through her eyelids and out through the back of her skull. She sat up,
opened her eyes and immediately collapsed again. "Please tell me I died."
"Sorry," Maya said, "You're still alive, still aboard the boat, and
we're still heading for Boston. I think."
" 'I' - I'm going to speak softly, it hurts less, 'I think.'?"
"Yes, none of the navigation gear is - "
The crash, that shook the entire ship, woke Raccoon, he sat up. "Oh,
that hurt." And collapsed back down immediately.
"Not - so - loud," Nabiki admonished, very quietly.
Raccoon slipped out of bed, managed to remain upright for five full
seconds, before sliding bonelessly to the floor.
"You never change," Nabiki told him as he pulled himself up and back
into bed.
"I think we're in a lot of trouble. It takes a lot of force to shake
a ship this size," he told her as he pulled the covers back over his body.
"We've been in trouble for days," Maya told them, then retreated from
the pilots' gaze. She must have realized the only way out was to tell them
everything, "We've been caught in a hurricane, since both of you
collapsed."
"Oh God!" Jeff pulled the covers over his head.
"I'm sure everything will be all right," Maya assured them.
"Don't stay that." Nabiki struggled to sit up, managed to stay there
on her third try. "Anger, fear resentment?" she asked Raccoon, who pulled
the covers down long enough to nod his agreement, then covered himself
again.
"Evidently family is one thing that holds, or at least a possible link
to immortality," he said from under the blanket, "Can you turn down the
lights? They're so loud."
"What are you talking about?" Maya asked, then more quietly when both
pilots winced, "I don't understand." She stood to turn off some of the
infirmary's lights.
"Daddy is not happy, but he doesn't want his baby girl harmed,"
Raccoon said.
"I'll talk to the Navy," Nabiki said as she stood. Just remaining
upright took considerable force of will. "You argue with _Doctor_ Akagi.
She won't be willing to give up her specimen."
"I'll do it." Raccoon stood. He was a nauseating shade of green.
Nabiki looked away quickly.
"What are you talking about?" Maya demanded, easily restraining both
pilots.
"Our specimen is Cthylla," Nabiki said, "Cthulhu's blood kin." She
smiled at Maya. "Daddy wants his little Princess back, and right the Hell
now couldn't be too soon."
Maya blanched and released both pilots. "You'd better change clothes
though."
Nabiki glanced at her hospital gown and was glad these didn't leave
you wide open at the back.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki looked across the hanger deck, the front portion had collapsed.
Maybe that was the crash we heard, she ignored the damage control parties
running here and there. The EVA was in the middle of the hanger, where
Raccoon had left it. So they could still use it.
The pitching and heaving of the ship made her queasy, she wondered how
much of her unsteadiness was nerves and sheer terror, and how much was the
heaving deck. Oh don't say heaving! she admonished herself.
"The storm's been tracking us?" she asked Master Chief Cole as he
walked up to her, he looked even worse than she felt.
"You're awake - I mean, yes ma'am. The Group's been scattered, Brits
and the Spanish too. The Brit's battlewagon had the Frenchies in tow, they
lost their bows, damn tinclads, beg pardon, ma'am. In this weather you
need a stout ship."
"Would you say it's been trying to drive us back to where we were?"
she asked calmly, she was fishing, she hadn't the faintest idea how to
convince the Admiral of what was happening. All she had were the memories
of the scream of rage and pain that dropped her to her knees. She hadn't
been aware of anything in the real world, until she awoke with her current
`hangover`. The look of desperation on the Master Chief's face told her
everything she needed to know.
"You know how to get us out of here?" he asked worriedly, hopefully.
"Or get us sunk, I can only hope," Nabiki admitted. The Master Chief
took her towards the stairway to the bridge, it was much noisier than she
remembered.
"We lost most of the glass on the bridge."
"Lost?" she shouted her question over the growing noise.
"A wave hit us broadside," the Master Chief explained.
"That's 30 me - 100 feet easy!"
"Yes, Miss Tendo, we know that."
Nabiki decided making her case might not be as difficult as she
thought. Then she realized she didn't know exactly what her plan was. She
glanced up the stairwell and heard the storm raging along. She realized
that she had just that far to come up with what she wanted to do, and what
she would have to do to threaten, cajole or negotiate with the Admiral, to
get him to do what she decided they had to do.
Terrific, she thought, I'm going to give orders to an Admiral. It
might be fun if thousands of lives weren't at stake.
Her decision of what she wanted came as she walked into the teeth of a
gale racing through the bridge's shattered windows. Only a few officers in
rain gear stood watch here, looking about with binoculars, and using the
sound-powered phones. She was instantly soaked to the skin and chilled to
the bone. She saw none of the escorting vessels around them. No other
carriers, no battleships. The sea was so rough, she couldn't have seen a
cruiser or destroyer unless she could look straight down on them. She
spotted her quarry using the pedestal-mounted binoculars.
"Admiral Adams!" she thundered over the din, "We have to talk."
----------------------------------------
"You are out of your mind," Admiral Adams shouted at her in his day
cabin.
Admiral Simson would have let me finish before he said that, Nabiki
thought, she looked at the walls, enjoyed looking like she in control.
Ironically, she had the explanation, and the wedge to use on Adams.
"I thought the EVAs were to kill these things, if one of them's gone
crazy, we should hunt it down and kill it." The man continued to
fulminate, she let him go, let him use up his energy on useless anger.
Nabiki debated revealing that 'Brother Jonathan' had told her some
were enemies, some were threats, and some wanted to be left alone. She
doubted that she'd have any luck with those explanations, let alone
justifying how she knew. She took a different, far more effective tack.
"Admiral, do you know how much power a hurricane represents? About
100 megatons a minute, that means over a hundred of Hiroshima bombs a
second. This one is disordered because it's trying to herd us. Now, we
can oppose something that can control and generate that kind of power, or
we can give in. Someone told me military troops aren't suicide troops."
She paused to let that filter in. "Of course, they could just sink us and
loot the ship once we all drown, but they haven't. The Castor and Pollux
were sunk when some of their minions were able to slip aboard. Speed was
our defense and we don't have that now, do we? How deep does the
disturbance a hurricane makes go? Could something say, swim under us and
rip open the hull in a few dozen places, and let us sink?" Nabiki had to
remind herself that Admiral Adams wasn't a bad man, he just wasn't Admiral
Simson. The man was out of his depth. She'd hammered him from one
direction, now she'd hit him from another, and then give him an honorable
way out.
"Or worse, it lets us take this storm straight to Boston, then after
it devastates that city, it turns south and destroys New York,
Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. It was called up out of nothing and
directed, doing the same over land would be trivially easy. I don't see an
alternative, if you do, tell me."
She watched him struggle and fail to come up with another way out.
"All right," he said in a beaten tone, "We'll do it your way. I'll
set things in motion." He paused, stared at her. "I don't like it."
"Sir, _I_ don't like it, neither of us has to like it, but we do have
to do our duty. The vow is 'protect and defend', not kill your enemies."
She nodded to him and turned away. She figured Raccoon would either
instantly agree, or laugh himself sick when she told him.
If he wanted a particular outcome, she thought defensively, He should
have told me beforehand.
----------------------------------------
'neath the halo of a street lamp
"How are we going to convince Sempai to return the specimen?" Maya
asked as they proceeded towards the lab. She was hovering around him, he
still looked ill.
"With logic and reason," Jeff suggested, "If that doesn't work, I tear
off all your clothes and you make passionate love to her while I run off
with the specimen." He headed down the ladder to the next deck.
Maya stared in shock at him.
"Well, would it also work if I tore all my clothes off and -?"
"NO!" Maya insisted as she scrambled after him.
"Okay, then you do it."
She frowned at him. "There are times I want to strangle you and the
rest of the pilots," she told him. Especially when you all think my crush
on Sempai is `cute`, read to be exploited, she silently added. "I'm
certain it won't come to that!" she insisted.
"Is that hope or despair?" he asked with upraised eyebrows.
"Aren't you scheduled for a full physical and range-of-motion exam?"
Maya asked carefully, "Do you want to be?"
"Oh really, with high heels and everything?" he enthused at her,
sparkling eyes and hands clenched under his chin.
So much for intimidation, Maya thought darkly as they entered the lab.
Sempai was standing next to the specimen, staring down at it. The
banks of equipment ignored. A trick of the light made it look like her
face was glowing an unnatural color. The illusion vanished when she
turned. Maya drew back. Sempai's face was blank, her eyes searching for
something randomly, just like the specimen did. Maya didn't know why she
made that connection.
"Sempai, are you all right?" she asked as she started forwards again,
"Is there a problem?"
Ritsuko whirled and picked up a gas cylinder and hurled it at Jeff and
Maya.
"Sempai! Please stop!" Maya yelled as Jeff pulled her out of the way
of a second heavy gas cylinder.
"She can't," Jeff yelled at her, "She's being controlled."
"She'll hurt herself lifting all those heavy pieces!" Maya stared as
Sempai tore free a piece of equipment bolted to the floor.
"Hurt _herself_?_" Jeff asked, "We're on the receiving end!"
Maya couldn't explain it, somehow she couldn't imagine Sempai trying
to hurt them, scare her yes, but not hurt her. The heavy desk missed them.
"She's trying to miss us, not hit us!"
"Once that thing realizes that, it will direct her not to see us, just
see a target!" Jeff told her as they dodged to a more secure position
behind a heavy workbench.
Now Maya was frightened.
"I can stop her without injuring her, but I'll need a distraction, be
ready to dodge when she doesn't see _you_ anymore."
"You promise she won't be hurt?" Maya ducked as another piece of
hurled heavy equipment bounced off the lab table they were now hiding
behind.
"She'll be surprised and embarrassed, but that's it. I give you my
word."
Maya stood up and walked to Ritsuko, who had a liquid oxygen cylinder
over her head, "Please, Sempai, you know me." She saw the look of confused
recognition, it held for a few seconds, then it vanished, but it was long
enough.
Jeff stabbed his hand against Sempai's back. She paled, then became
transparent, like a statue of water. Then the water crashed onto the deck,
scattering as droplets splashed everywhere. Jeff caught the cylinder and
managed a controlled crash on the deck.
"You . . . " Maya's mind was dropping through horror to despair.
"_YOU_KILLED_HER_!_"
"She's just stunned," Jeff shouted back. The water was already
turning black and bubbles appeared, becoming like semifluid pumice.
"_STUNNED_!_" Maya shrieked as she advanced in fury and anguish.
Jeff stared right into Maya's eyes, there was something odd in his
expression, something inhuman behind those eyes. "Get a bucket and start
collecting her, all of her."
'Get a bucket and start collecting her, all of her. Get a bucket and
start collecting her, all of her.' Maya heard the voice echoing in her
head, saw the eyes boring into hers. The combination drove all other
thoughts, all other volitions out of her mind. Maya bent down and
collected the pieces of slimy, sticky black gel that pulsed and throbbed in
her hands as she dropped them into a bucket.
Maya felt the tears of sadness and rage streaming down her cheeks.
She couldn't give voice to her rage at the betrayal, He'd promised she
wouldn't be hurt. How could _anyone_ recover from being reduced to this?
she wanted to scream. She looked up as a half-dozen Marine guards forced
their way into the room. She wanted to tell them to arrest him, shoot him,
but the voice and those eyes bored into her mind, she could only do as the
voice said, to keep collecting . . . Sempai. Some tiny part of her mind
watched all this, wondering why Sempai had attacked them, why Sempai hadn't
screamed when she dissolved, she looked more surprised than anything else.
She wondered if Jeff _hadn't_ betrayed her and Sempai, if he'd been rougher
than necessary because he needed it done quickly.
Like shooting at Ranma, Maya remembered, as her hands moved and her
eyes searched without any input from her.
"What the Hell is going on here?" the Marine lieutenant demanded.
"Lieutenant, we need an open-topped drum, 55 gallons or so, a clean
one," Jeff told him, in the same alien monotone he'd used on Maya, "Do you
speak English? Or am I standing on your beard? Now move it, Marine!"
The Lieutenant saluted, turned and ran from the room.
"Help her police up these fragments, they look like tar or pumice,
every scrap!" he ordered the others, the sense of alienness coming from him
increased. In an all-too-human gesture that seemed to accent his eldritch
manner, he moved his hat forward. "I have to go threaten our `guest`."
Maya watched as the bewildered Marines helped her collect the pieces.
"Maya-san?" one of them asked her, "What is this stuff?" He lacked
the vacant look she was sure her eyes showed.
"Dr. Akagi," Maya told them tearfully, just saying it overwhelmed the
voice and the image that had been dominating her for several minutes. She
broke down sobbing.
The sergeant paled and sent two additional men after the lieutenant,
echoing and amplifying Jeff's demand.
Free of the compulsion, Maya watched Jeff walk up to the specimen, his
mask of fury matched her own. He held his hand over what they had taken
out of the temple at the bottom of the sea. The area between his hand and
the specimen shimmered and fogged up, as if the air itself were trying to
escape from between them.
After a few moments, he relaxed and stepped back, falling to the deck
in exhaustion. "Where's that drum?" he asked woozily.
"It's on its way," the sergeant told him, trying to make sure they had
all the bits and pieces, "What happened?"
"I couldn't let Dr. Akagi kill us. When she escaped that - thing's -
influence, she'd never forgive herself." Jeff dropped to his hands and
knees, peering into corners and crevices, searching for any traces of the
pieces of Dr. Akagi.
The bucket was more than filled, but the pieces seemed content to
remain in the amphistylar pile they'd made of them. It disturbed Maya how
it pulsed and quivered, changing as she watched. It was clearly alive, but
it wouldn't combine and flow together, just separate bits all struck
together, sitting there like a pile of jellied stones.
Nabiki entered with Captain Casey and Major ggreg, they looked at the
ruins of the lab.
"What the Hell happened here!" the Captain demanded.
"Dr. Akagi fell under the influence of that thing," Jeff said tightly,
"We're waiting for a drum so we can put her into it," Jeff gestured at the
pile of glistening, pulsing pumice they had in the center of the room.
Nabiki turned to the Captain, "Sir?" Major ggreg turned, turning
green as he left.
The Captain paled, then turned green himself, he looked ready to throw
up. "Get that thing off my ship. I'll order the course change, we'll be
at the site in three hours." The Captain looked around. "Do what you can
for her!" He turned and rushed from the room, covering his mouth with his
hand.
A few moments later, with a great deal of noise, a team of Marines and
sailors brought in a tub that looked like they'd made it by cutting a steel
barrel in half, top to bottom, and welding it together top to top. They
laid a tarpaulin inside, then carefully poured and placed the semi-liquid
rocks into the long tub.
"What happened?" Nabiki whispered to Maya and Jeff, in Japanese, when
she got close.
"Not here," Jeff whispered back.
Maya was fretting as they all scoured the room to find every last
piece and bit of . . . Dr. Akagi, and set it into the tarp-lined steel tub.
She also kept glaring at Raccoon, then looking away in shame.
Nabiki dragged both of them over to a corner, "Look, I'll accept this
silence for now. There'll be a couple of hours during the descent, _then_
I expect full and complete disclosure, or I'll beat it out of both of you.
Is that understood?"
Maya was even more afraid of Nabiki's tone than she had been of Sempai
and Jeff.
They shooed the military out and sealed the door, then Maya gave full
vent to her emotional typhoon, with a fury to match the storm raging
outside. "What are you going to do now?!" She shoved Jeff into a corner.
"You said you wouldn't hurt her!" Maya felt herself on the verge of tears
and violence, and she was strongly considering both.
"I told you she's just stunned, she will recover," he said carefully.
"Then what are you going to do?" Maya shook him. "Recover, from
being disintegrated! From being reduced to a puddle! No human . . . no
human could survive that." She covered her mouth and backed away, the
obvious answer was too terrible to contemplate. "No, no, no, no! No! NO!
NO!"
"I'm not, _you_ are," Jeff told her sternly, "Or is all that 'sempai'
stuff only for schoolgirl daydreams. The EVA changes you, and she's been
working with them longer and closer than anyone."
Maya felt her anger override her horror. How dare he!? she thought as
she raised her fist, then she calmed. She still felt miserable. "What can
I do?"
"Provide a template, when the pieces relax enough to flow back
together, climb in. You'll provide a guide for her."
Maya's eyes felt as big as saucers, she shook her head. This is
impossible, she thought in horror.
"The liquid will be like oxygenated L.C.L., you'll be able to breathe
it."
Maya covered her face in shock at Jeff's suggestion. "I can't," she
whispered in dread.
"You have to," Jeff replied, "She needs an adult female, that means
you. It's best that it's someone she trusts, who trusts her."
"But . . . ," she paused, glanced at Nabiki who nodded to her. She
steeled herself. It's for Sempai, she reminded herself. "I have to, don't
I?"
"You could leave her like this," Jeff told her heartlessly, "Or trust
she'd figure it out from a teen-aged boy or girl." He changed to a more
sympathetic tone, "We'll be with you for the start, then we'll take the
thing back where it belongs. Then we'll be back."
Maya nodded warily. "It won't . . . hurt her?"
"She'll be fine," he continued in his sympathetic tone, he smiled at
her, "A little embarrassed, but fine. Just like I promised."
"Okay." She blushed. "Do I have to take my clothes off?"
"Only if you want to, but the liquid will penetrate everywhere."
She squirmed at that, and worse at the pilots' 'friendly and
sympathetic' smiles.
----------------------------------------
"Pilots report to the EVA," the 1-MC blared, "All hnads make
preparations to launch the EVA."
Maya had been 'in the tub' for over an hour. Nabiki and Jeff had been
holding her hands, now she patted their hands, urging them to go.
She'd felt very strange as the thick liquid had crawled all over her
and into her. She'd panicked slightly when it entered her lungs. She had
difficulty breathing, but she was still breathing. She could hear the
blood rushing in her ears, and the random pulse of the liquid . . . of
Sempai, around her. She was glad she couldn't see, the stuff was still
nasty to look at, bubbling evilly.
From inside, Maya thought, The bubbles tickle. She tried her best to
relax. She always dreamed of being alone with Sempai, being intimate with
her. She'd even accidentally drawn her into one of those dreams. But this
wasn't what she had envisioned, not when it was life and death for either
or both of them. She knew Sempai would never intentionally hurt her, but
the occasional increase in pressure, like a tentacle tightening around her
leg, her chest, it alarmed her. She hoped the pilots would be back soon.
She prayed Sempai would recover.
----------------------------------------
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
The massive EVA descended through the dark water, Nabiki was
`driving`, Raccoon would return that thing. She couldn't bring herself to
come in contact with the thing again. The storm had been raging as they
returned to the site, but the sea was smooth enough for normal operations.
Somebody wants this to happen, Nabiki thought worriedly.
She had let Raccoon rest in the plug as they descended. The dive
captain wasn't aboard, and Maya was otherwise occupied.
"What is a 'tinclad'?" she began, to lull the topside listeners into
complacency, Raccoon could lecture endlessly and encyclopedically about
seemingly _anything_._
"The French Duquesnse-class cruisers were designed to be the fastest
Washington Treaty cruisers, to do that, they had a maximum armor thickness
of 30 millimeters."
"Centimeters," Nabiki corrected.
"_Mill_imeters, 1.18 inches, maximum armor."
"That's thinner than the armor on a Sherman!" Nabiki exclaimed, she
didn't have to feign her disbelief.
"Thinner than the armor on a Stuart," Raccoon amplified, "Hence the
sobriquet 'tinclads'. I take it they didn't do well in the storm."
"The British had to tow them back to port," Nabiki explained. She let
the discussion of the relative values of the various solutions to the
Washington Naval Treaty continue, she was confused that the French also
produced the best, the Algeire, sunk at Toulon. Lose the best, keep the
worst. I thought only Ranma had luck that rotten, she thought. She winced
at the commentary on the Mogami-class, even cheating they were weak. I
wonder if Kuno's ancestors were handing warship design? she wondered, she
was now satisfied the surface monitoring crew would be bored out of their
minds.
"What happened?" Nabiki asked after she assured herself she'd cut all
the communications with the surface.
"A mapulo is used to control shoggoths. This creature has a similar
power. Maybe it is the source of the control mechanisms."
"Over humans?" she asked.
"No."
"Oh . . . " Nabiki thought furiously, felt her throat tighten up.
Ritsuko-as-mother, had been as tender as Kasumi had ever been, but more
stern with discipline. It made it seem that Ritsuko cared about them more,
of course Kasumi hadn't been preparing soldier/warriors. Does NERV know
the truth? Rather, does Gendo, does Misato? she wondered. She boggled at
the contradiction, the warm woman who let Nabiki cry for her loss and pain.
She isn't human? That can't be possible! If she isn't human . . . what
_is_ she? I can't believe she's a threat to us! Shoggoth, isn't that one
of the things that attacked Rei and me aboard the Coral Sea? her mind
whirred through the possibilities.
Nabiki finally decided to ask no more questions until they reached the
cave, and the sepulcher. There'd be more time for questions on the return
trip.
This time, finding it was no problem, creatures: shoggoths and things
out of deepest nightmare; hung like a pair of parallel walls forming a
perfectly square corridor straight to their destination. An honor guard,
was all Nabiki could think of, Leading us in. I should be terrified of all
these things. But I feel nothing, maybe I should be afraid of that. She
didn't relax her vigilance, she did note that they didn't close in behind
them. The path to the surface was left wide open, the honor guard peeling
off after the EVA passed them.
They arrived uneventfully at the sea floor. An immense crowd of alien
. . . things arrayed around them, more like a concert or sports crowd than
an attack group. "You okay with this?" she asked Raccoon through the
tether line as he swam out.
"Yes, just be ready to get out of here _FAST_!_" He sounded far too
calm for her piece of mind.
"Should I leave you behind?" she joked.
"If it's you and the EVA or me, get out of here. Suffocation is
preferable to whatever they might have in mind. Maybe we have amnesty, if
we act in good faith."
Nabiki lost sight of him as he entered the cave, "Be careful, two big
. . . tentacled somethings - followed you in."
"I see them. They're avoiding the tether. I don't think they want me
getting lost," he still sounded a little too calm for events. She'd be
screaming, she wondered what was wrong with him. She barely kept herself
from striking out at the creatures surrounding her and her EVA. She
thought it ironic that once more she was in the EVA, and once more she was
not in _combat_ in the EVA.
Nabiki heard something through the line, but couldn't decipher it,
"Raccoon!"
"It's okay. They wanted the specimen. I insisted I had to put it
back myself," the voice on the other end of the line was icy cold,
composed, somehow less human than the things around her.
The problem as far as Nabiki was concerned, was they were thousands of
meters deep in the ocean, all alone. There was literally no help
available. Nabiki looked around nervously. She couldn't see far through
the darkness, but she could sense the motion around her and Unit 04 well
beyond her visual range. Something moving out there was _huge_, she
couldn't see it clearly, but it was at least five times the size of the
EVA. She was getting nervous, and there wasn't just one of them amid the
restive crowd of other indescribably things around her.
She heard the plug's outer hatch open and the system cycled, "Lucy I'm
home, I'm alone, get us out of here!" Raccoon told her, they'd agreed the
first phrase was the 'okay' signal.
Nabiki accelerated the EVA towards the surface, as the inner hatch
opened. She could feel the cold radiating off Raccoon, she remembered how
cold she'd gotten during her brief dive that started this entire fiasco.
"You're freezing!" she told him, she already had a counter to whatever
argument he raised.
"I'm fine," he said, disdaining her concern, "I - YAWP!"
She didn't have to tolerate that, she dragged him to the command chair
by the tether line and its attached facemask. She pulled him into her lap
and wrapped her arms around him. He was shivering from the cold, she was
shivering from the sight of the things of the `honor guard` forming a wall
behind them. Whether they were guarding them or waiting for a moment to
pounce, was immaterial. Nabiki was terrified. She'd been in an EVA three
times now, in each case she'd done little more than drive it to its
destination. She didn't know how she'd perform in combat. Failure now
would only kill the two of them, instead of the entire crew of the carrier,
some 2500 people.
She hated failure, No, I _fear_ it, she admitted to herself, the cold
of that realization matching the cold from the form held in her lap, That's
always been my real problem. Now I've lost nearly everything: home,
friends, Hiroko, Ranma; without anyone really making a mistake. What can
making a mistake do to me that hasn't already been done. She shivered
violently with those thoughts, barely keeping the sobs that came with them
in check. Raccoon wouldn't say anything about her breakdown. That he
hugged her back was okay too.
----------------------------------------
The force behind them dropped away as they entered the lighted waters.
Unit 04 broke the surface of a glassy sea, into a cloudless sky.
"What the . . . " Nabiki looked around. The very calm of it, after
days of relentless, pounding storm, was more terrifying than the hurricane
had been. The other ships of the escort group bobbing there, more like
toys in a bathtub than warships in the ocean. Nabiki could clearly see the
storm damage to the carrier, it was heavy and extensive. Most striking was
the collapse of the forward and rear of the flight deck. When she'd gone
over the side, she'd thought the damage aft had been a trick of the light.
"Stand by to reboard," she told Raccoon, as he woke, still curled up
in her lap. She suspected she'd resurfaced too quickly, but neither the
EVA nor the pilots were having any problems.
Unit 04 leapt out of the water and landed on the deck, adding to the
damage. It wasn't as graceful as Ranma or Raccoon could manage, but she
didn't break through the battered flight deck.
"Let's get back to Doctor Akagi. Maya is probably panicking a little
at this point," Nabiki told Raccoon as she lifted him out of her lap. Then
she crawled Unit 04 through the deck lift to its maintenance spot at the
center of the hanger. The groan of the metal should have worried her, but
at this point, she no longer cared.
----------------------------------------
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
Going from sound sleep to full wakefulness is never easy, doing so in
midflight is difficult. Doing so before you crash to the deck is probably
a necessity.
Jeff wondered why his mind took such strange turns when he was in
danger of imminent injury. He managed to get his feet under him as he
managed a controlled crash. Ranko and Ranma would have landed on their
feet, he thought as he tried to attach the present with his last memories,
of lying on a cot with Maya's hand in his, Nabiki holding the young woman's
other hand as Maya lay submerged in the tub of still-fluid Dr. Akagi.
Jeff hadn't managed to complete his analysis before an interruption by
the scream of rage and betrayal, being hoisted into the air and thrown at a
bulkhead by a very angry, naked Rit-chan. It returned his attention to the
here and now, and surviving the next few minutes.
Ritsuko looked furious as she charged after her projectile. Behind
her, Maya and Nabiki were just awakening. He doubted he could reason with
Rit-chan, so he manifested an AT field. It won't stop her, he realized as
he scrambled to his feet, But it might give her pause.
She tripped on the sharply-sloped field, grabbing its unseen edge for
support. Jeff was glad then frightened as he saw the transformation of her
expression from rage to something else. It told him his `little wall
trick` had had an unexpected side effect, and he shouldn't repeat it. A
moment later, the rage returned. She tore the field apart with her bare
hands, then continued her charge. Jeff felt incredible pain as the field
came apart. He ignored the cries from Maya and Nabiki, as Ritsuko was also
doing. He tried to retreat, but the smallness of the lab and the pain of
his field's destruction offered little refuge, and he'd have to get past
her to get to the door. However angry she was, Ritsuko moved as if she
knew that too.
She covered the last yards with a wild spring. He wound up flat on
his back on the floor, staring up at her. He glanced down, considering the
absurd thought, Blonde with short brown roots is her natural hair color.
She drove her fist into the deck next to his head. Rather than panic, he
automatically relaxed, he `knew` that he couldn't fight her, even if she
had been a human. Knowing that he was probably going to die, gave him the
steadiness he needed, his death he'd recover from. He couldn't bring
himself to do the things that he'd need to do to win a conventional fight.
He had other tools that wouldn't harm her. Either they would calm her
down, or she'd vent all her rage on him, the others would be safe. He was
also beginning to realize he'd hurt her quite a bit already.
He closed his fingers around her wrist, caressing it. If he couldn't
fight, then he'd use another method. He reached up past her heaving
breasts, he knew what staring or touching there would induce right now,
maybe safer later. Instead he touched her jawline, running a finger along
it. Ignoring her other, upraised fist. He knew he couldn't stop the
descent once it started, all he could do was prevent the plunge. His
finger continued down her throat, her initial amazement at his
irrationality was giving way to enjoyment of the touch and confusion about
her own reaction. His finger circled the hollow of her throat, and her
back and neck began to arch in response.
Suddenly she grabbed his collar and slid him away across the floor.
She shivered at her own reaction. "What have you done?!" she demanded,
"Are you insane?! How _could_ you? I trusted you!" She stood and brushed
Maya aside. "What did you do to me?!"
It suddenly dawned on him that she wasn't talking about disintegrating
and reintegrating her. "How much do you . . . ?" he asked as his horror
grew.
"Remember? Everything," she said miserably. Maya took advantage of
Ritsuko kneeling and hugging herself, to drape a lab coat over her
shoulders and give Jeff a venomous look. Ritsuko looked back into the two
women's eyes.
"I . . . I . . . " The enormity of what he'd done plunged down on
him. He hadn't meant to, this was a disaster.
"I _know_!_" she shouted, "Don't you think I know? You _knew_ I'd
never forgive myself if I hurt you or Maya. You knew that you couldn't
bring yourself to use that black crystal, or the other spells." She
sighed, drew in on herself. "You didn't expect your AT field to have that
effect on a nonhuman." She sobbed as she knelt on the deck. "But it did,
as bad as Asuka, worse than her because it was more . . . intimate." She
looked up in him, looked totally lost.
Jeff was torn between rushing forward to comfort her or running from
the room.
"Please stay," she said, smiled mirthlessly, "See. I know, I also
know you know." She laughed desperately. Nabiki carefully knelt behind
her and put her arms around her shoulders. Ritsuko put her head on
Nabiki's arms and wept uncontrollably. Maya stared at the others without
understanding.
"Asuka and I discovered a side effect of the AT field. She climbed up
on top of mine and rolled up her sleeves and exposed her legs to increase
the surface area in contact . . . because the contact was so enjoyable.
But since Rei and Ranma have encountered the AT field Rei can generate, she
didn't have the effect on him . . .."
"You mean Ranma encountered the field Rei can generate, and it didn't
have the effect yours did on Asuka," Nabiki said brittlely.
Jeff gulped, nodded, wondered if he was going to get out of here
alive. "We also encounter the AT fields of our enemies all the time, so I
thought . . . that it was safe to use a diffuse AT field to disrupt Dr.
Akagi and free her from Cthylla's hold on her," he told them leadenly.
"You were wrong," Ritsuko reminded him, "I got the full affect, maybe
worse than Asuka's."
"I'm sorry."
"So am I," Ritsuko said, "I'm also sorry I didn't realize." She
raised her head, stared at him. "You really did love her . . . me."
"Yes." He stared at the deck and wished he could drop through it.
"And you are wondering if you subconsciously did this on purpose, to
regain who you lost."
"Exactly," he admitted, her automatic certainty unnerved him.
"Well, put it out of your mind," she ordered as she stood, "You
didn't, I know. If you'd seriously considered it, you would not have done
it." She buttoned the coat.
"I'll get breakfast for everyone," Jeff told them and left quickly.
He needed to escape, he had never considered he _could_ screw things up
that badly.
----------------------------------------
"Coward," Nabiki said, staring angrily at the door.
"No." Ritsuko knew what was driving him. It was terrifying for
someone as private as he was, and as private as she was, suddenly realizing
everything you felt, thought, knew and hoped was completely known by
another person, even one you trusted and cared for. It was that emotional
nakedness that had made her so angry when she awoke. She didn't want
anyone to know her that way, even more, she didn't want the responsibility
of knowing about someone else. Previously, he had scrupulously not taken
advantage of what he knew, because he dreaded someone might do the same to
him. Now it wasn't a remote possibility, but a definite probability. He'd
used a tiny portion of it to shock her enough not to kill him, to gain time
for her to come back to herself. She'd gloried in that touch. If we'd
been alone . . . perhaps - she abandoned that thought. Ritsuko looked
into Nabiki's and Maya's eyes, she still saw only concern for her, not the
revulsion she expected.
"So you saw," Ritsuko said bitterly.
"Only what he did to you." Maya stared daggers after Jeff, then
hugged Ritsuko. "I'm so glad you're all right."
Ritsuko reluctantly returned her affection, then pulled her away.
"Maya, what you saw . . . he didn't 'do' anything to me, except render me
unconscious and revealed to all of you - my true form."
Maya, wide-eyed, shook her head. "That can't be."
To Ritsuko's chagrin, Nabiki replaced Maya hugging her. Pulling _her_
loose required more effort.
"Don't you understand? That thing, that was the real one, the real
me. That's what I am."
"What you don't understand, Doctor," Nabiki said, craftily resisting
being pried loose, "Jeff already told me. I don't care. Let me tell you
what - who Doc - Rit-chan is." She smiled at Ritsuko. "Rit-chan is an
overworked, lonely woman who without time or training, took in three
near-orphans and tried to make a home for them," Nabiki told her, "Someone
who was worried about grades, and if we were eating and sleeping properly.
About whether we were pushing ourselves too hard. Someone who cared about,
Nabiki . . . and Ranma, and even Raccoon and Shinji. Not because she had
to, but because she wanted to."
Ritsuko sadly realized that they really didn't understand what the
real problem was. "Miss Tendo, what did he tell you that convinced you to
give up your blackmail attempts? On everyone?"
"That he'd slit my throat." Nabiki covered her neck with both hands
and looked unhappy. She hadn't realized how `Rit-chan` knew all about her
'Ice Queen' activities.
" 'Slit your pretty throat,'" Ritsuko reminded her, enjoying her
shocked reaction. "How would _you_ deal with someone suddenly knowing all
'Mercenary Girl's' secrets? You'd run away too."
Nabiki gulped, nodded almost against her will.
"And the plans you had for Maya and me?"
Maya gasped, but didn't run, then glared at Nabiki. Nabiki looked
like she wanted to run after Raccoon, or disappear into the steel around
them. Ritsuko didn't continue to press, she had no desire to be alone.
She put on the clean clothes someone had provided for her. She wondered
what she was going to do. She wanted to run and comfort Jeff, she wanted
to check on Ranma and Ranko, `the twins`. She knew that `Ritsuko-Nabiki`
doted on the eldest, Kyoko, who looked and acted like Nabiki, the next
eldest, Sakai and Kairi, Jeff doted on.
That explains how 'Raccoon' can resist Ranko, she is his `daughter`,
she thought. She shook her head, it wasn't fair, it was completely unfair.
She had wanted someone, had for so long, now she had them complete for the
asking, and she couldn't ask. She couldn't come up with a logical,
rational reason, she just knew it was wrong.
The memories of Samuel's death hit her. She suddenly broke down
sobbing, it _hurt_, just remembering. She couldn't imagine surviving the
pain of the actual occurrence. Her loneliness was a drawn out ache, this
was a railroad tie shoved in and twisted. These weren't her memories, but
reminding herself of that did nothing to alleviate the ache the memories
brought with them.
It seemed several minutes later when she recovered. Nabiki had draped
herself across `Rit-chan's` back like a cloak, hugging her, like Kyoko
always did with mommy. When she needed it or she thought mommy did. That
is going to take even more sorting out! Ritsuko thought bitterly.
Maya, shier than the pilots, was holding Ritsuko's hands in hers and
staring worriedly at her Sempai. The image of a selfish, deeply
frightened, hair-triggered girl who could barely cook or sew,
Ritsuko-Nabiki's younger sister, the one Ritsuko-Nabiki and
Jeff-Ranma/Ranko kept having to bail out of scrapes. Ritsuko wondered how
accurate the portrayal really was.
"Are you all right?" Maya asked, clearly Maya, not Maya-Akane.
"No, I'm getting ambushed by some of the worst and best memories.
Including memories of living in Nerima, courting and marrying a girl named
Tendo Nabiki, and raising a family together." Ritsuko wondered what Ranma
would do when he learned all the things that `Raccoon` did as Ranma, both
the incredibly violent and astonishingly tender and loving. Ranko would be
astonished, then laugh herself sick about the last, Ritsuko thought, then
remembered Ranma and Ranko were the . . . Were not the same _person_, but
transformed back and forth. "You, rotten -!" She clamped her mouth shut,
it was one of the few mind games Ranma had to use on Nabiki and the others,
she wasn't going to spoil it for him/her. "It's a lot to absorb."
Yes, three entire lifetimes, awake, which wasn't exactly uneventful;
the Dreamlands, where I - he was a mage and a general, paperwork, yuk; and
the dreams of Nerima, I can't believe those people could ever survive to
reach puberty, especially the adults, she let the thought drift away as she
shook her head.
"Pilots have had a more eventful life than I have had," she told them,
"And that's saying something. Your sisters Kasumi and Akane, your father
Soun. He knows, the dreams where he married Ritsuko-Nabiki were very
similar to the dreams you just had." She felt a pang of jealousy at the
time `Nab-chan`, Ranma/Ranko and Raccoon had shared. That she knew all
about it, all Jeff felt about events, the people, especially his roommates
. . . bedmates. I'm jealous that a `little girl` spent time with `my
husband`, she laughed inwardly at that, It's not as if any of them did
anything. She wanted to tease Nabiki about that, then she remembered _why_
they had spent every night clustered together. She remembered Ranko's
worries and the almost daily discussions with Raccoon. She remembered her
job.
"Nabiki, please report to the infirmary, we need to run some tests,
then to the EVA, we'll run a sync test," Ritsuko told her.
That's as close to a test of your 'ki' as I can manage, she thought as
Nabiki stood.
"You're back to normal," Nabiki said sourly.
----------------------------------------
That split the night and touched the sound of silence.
Weeks ago, they'd detected something odd in the region. The reports
that had caused the incursions were hard to believe. A 40-meter tall
manlike thing walking around? Anna thought, It could only be an EVA or an
Angel. And since it had been reported several times during the height of
winter, they had to wait until they had better weather to send a team in.
She'd volunteered, it was that or be volunteered. Besides, I am Chief
of Scouts, I'd like to think I still have some of my Dreamlands skills and
inclinations in the Waking World. She'd gone in, if the American Alpine
troops had been caught, they were just chasing a runaway and she was just
having fun leading her minders on a merry chase. Then we found the
footprint, she thought, With the ridges exactly like the upgrade that had
been planned for Unit 02. But by the time we were captured, it had been
superseded by an American innovation. Secret weapon by Goodyear. So there
are only a few people who should have known that design: me, Asuka, and Dr.
Schikelgrubber. I've been held by the Americans, Asuka by the British then
NERV, the Doctor is dead. So how did they get it? The second, larger,
incursion had been laid on in a hurry.
Anna looked over the troops assembled. She wasn't certain changing
the force level from 'lost patrol' to 'training accident' was such a swift
idea. 'Neither Dick nor Richard', she remembered, too many and too few,
something to be avoided. The weather had closed in so rapidly, so
conveniently, they couldn't retreat if the Swiss defense forces came upon
them.
So here I am in the Swiss Alps, with French- and German-speaking
American Alpine troops, she thought, And we haven't found anything. Even a
patrol sent specifically to where the footprint was. Either the six of use
were hallucinating, or somebody cleaned up the evidence. Either way she
wasn't happy, for a whole host of reasons.
"I don't like it," Major Mason, her minder, said quietly.
"We should get out of here," Anna agreed, "Hang the orders and the
weather."
"Orders are not to get caught," Mason said, laughed mirthlessly, "If I
hadn't seen it with my own eyes . . . I doubt we'll find anything."
"Better question," Anna said, "What do we do if we _do_ find
something, or something finds us?"
The man had no answer, Anna headed out from the shelter of the trees
and into the storm. Her `guard` stayed close. She walked to a rock
scoured clear of snow by the bitter winds. She stood on the only high
ground and looked over the camp. It was the best that could be done.
There were too many to effectively hide, and too few to fight something
serious.
She felt something under her feet. She knelt down and removed her
glove, touching the freezing stone with her bare hand. The vibration was
faint, and only seemed random because it was several rhythms out of phase
with each other.
"Something's coming," she told Mason, "Several somethings." She
motioned him onto the rock.
"Several big somethings," Mason agreed as he stood where she had and
felt the vibrations, "Let's go." They rushed back to the CP.
----------------------------------------
The troops threw themselves into the slit trenches, others assembled
the mortars they'd brought with. Anna noted the line throwers were also
being deployed. Basically mortars that fired a grappling hook and heavy
rope.
To trip something, she thought as she stood by. If the weather had
permitted, they would have shipped her out, possibility even calling in a
light plane. It was impossible now. She wouldn't have wanted to run away
anyway. She scanned the falling snow, saw no evidence of anything. Her
discovery had brought the scouts a few minutes warning.
"Unit seven," a voice in French crackled on the radio, another
disguise, "We've spotted something on the east."
So much for sounding French, she thought of the bad grammar and wrong
attitude. She couldn't see anything. Her guard mutely handed her his
binoculars, his face slack. She didn't try to read his expression, just
adjusted the binoculars before looking at what he had seen. She felt her
own face go slack. Not an Angel, but three EVAs in winter camouflage,
barely visible until they moved, advancing in a standard overwatch pattern.
One leapfrogging ahead, then the next, etc.
"I thought EVAs were scarce," she whispered, barely audible above the
wind, she handed back the binoculars.
"So did I," Mason told her as he took them.
She considered, "If I can capture one, can I go to Japan?"
"If you catch all three," Mason said, "I can arrange for immediate
transport for all four of you."
Okay big mouth, how do I take down three EVAs? she thought furiously,
not just to rejoin Asuka, but to stay alive. She stared, and saw the
standard infantry in winter camouflage deployed with the EVAs. The
Americans began firing on the incoming troops. The battle was destined to
be one-sided. None of the EVAs had a tether, but none were manifesting an
AT field. Probably that would attract too much attention. But the light
weapons we're carrying will have little effect on the EVAs' armor, she
thought. And all of them were moving very poorly, as if the pilots could
barely control them. Ikari did better on his first run, she thought, then
smiled at the implication, they had a chance if all these things were . . .
were just big, walking scarecrows.
Several American teams had worked themselves into a position to fire
the line throwers. The propelled grapnels caught one EVA, tangling its
arms and legs. One line so entangled it, it went down on one knee. But
those gunners came under heavy fire from the supporting infantry.
"Come on." Anna had an idea. The base would be overrun, but she
could get some valuable intelligence.
----------------------------------------
The spider hole was a bit cramped. The line thrower was going to
serve another purpose. The hand grenades would be very useful. She would
have preferred a knife, but Anna Alice wasn't who she was in the
Dreamlands. She had to compromise.
The infantry had passed. The tramp of an EVA's footsteps approached.
She waited in silence. She hoped it wouldn't step down too close, that
would crush or bury her. Her luck held, the machine passed, she popped up
and fired. The knotted line following behind the grapnel which landed and
seemed well set. She didn't think about it as she scrambled up the rope,
looking at any details about the machine to report later. She also
concentrated on the exercises Asuka had helped teach her about syncing with
an EVA, if she had sufficient surprise on her side, she might beat both of
her other enemies. Only the welded handholds on the arms appeared
nonstandard, which was how they carried the troops. The carapace over the
entry plug was also slightly different. She had only a little space to
reach the hatch covering a nonstandard entry plug. The end hatch didn't
use the turn wheel but a simpler, quicker undogging mechanism. She decided
to recommend keeping the turn wheel and inner hatch, it would prevent what
she was doing as she undogged the hatch, dropped two hand grenades into the
L.C.L. and quickly resealed the hatch. The blast pounded on the hatch.
She undogged the hatch again and climbed inside as the EVA stumbled and
fell. Inside the plug was the safest place to be.
She removed the A10 nerve clip from the corpse in the command chair.
She was able to see the other EVA coming towards her as the third freed
itself.
Probably thinks it's coming to help a comrade, she thought, she could
barely make the Unit move, but she was gaining more control every moment,
Too bad. She slammed the edge of the Unit's hand into the approaching
EVA's throat as it leaned down. It staggered back. She knew that what the
EVAs felt, the pilots felt, so the other pilots should be out the fight for
a while. She turned towards the third.
Suddenly she was thrown against the control column as all the feeds
went dead.
"Ejection by remote, clever," she grunted as the g-forces crushed down
on her. They'd never gotten the remote ejection to work properly. She
knew enough to wait until the rockets cut out before trying to sit back,
she hoped she landed in Allied rather than SEELE territory, she also hoped
that disabling one EVA and driving off another bought the Americans time to
escape.
----------------------------------------
And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more.
Ritsuko sat in her cabin and considered her options. She should have
been angry with Jeff for what he had done, except she knew exactly why he'd
done it. She could work through and analyze every detail as he would and
as she would. It made it worse that way, she agreed completely with every
step of his reasoning and his `choice of weapon`. That didn't help her
feelings of helplessness over the entire situation.
Maya suddenly burst into the room and walked unsteadily towards her.
Only her falling back against the door as she staggered kept what followed
private. "Sem - pai!" she slurred, "We need t' talk."
"You're drunk!" Ritsuko realized as she stood up to confront her
assistant and roommate.
"Don' change th' subject," Maya insisted, one word per careful step
forward, " 'm not _that_ drunk. Only some berumate."
"Vermouth," Ritsuko corrected.
"They tried to mix it into maratiniii with that awful gin. So I dran'
it plaiiiin," she `sang`.
"How much?" Ritsuko could smell the alcohol.
"Third, fourth, fifth!" Maya told her. Now she was practically
breathing in Ritsuko's face.
Ritsuko was glad she wasn't smoking, the detonation of all the alcohol
fumes would have finished off the damaged carrier. Ritsuko couldn't
imagine downing a straight fifth of vermouth.
"Wa I wanna know. . . ." Maya reached up and tore her uniform open.
"Wa's wron'? Huh?"
"Maya," Ritsuko said as she tried to back out of the reach of Maya's
questing hand. Maya's other hand tore her own bra down around her waist.
"I don't think you should do this," Ritsuko insisted.
"Why not?" Maya abandoned her quest for Ritsuko's blouse and dropped
her hand to Ritsuko's skirt and tugged.
Ritsuko was glad she'd been practicing. "That isn't clothing, that's
part of me, attached."
Maya's eyes lit up. "May sem - pai walkin' 'round naked in fron' a
all th' sailors." Maya fell against Ritsuko and giggled at the contact.
"So ris - risk - Riskuto - risque! And da - daring." She tried the
stretch up to kiss Ritsuko.
Ritsuko leaned out of the way. "Maya!" Ritsuko scolded, "Stop this
immediately!" She pried Maya's hands off of her.
"Or wha'?" Maya asked as she pressed herself again Ritsuko. "You'll
sen' me 'way? You' hav' me kill'? You don' wan' me, you don' wan'
'efffri! You' looonely, sooo sad!" Maya caught Ritsuko again and sobbed
at the pathos of it all. "You - you're hurtin', 'gnore me, no one wan's
Maya, do as tell, stay 'way. No more mouse, kick or kiss, least you
noticed." Now Maya was crying.
Ritsuko didn't know what to do. She had limited personal experience.
You do have another set, the treacherous thought passed through her mind.
Another girl who looked like Maya, hair-triggered and deeply jealous of
attention paid to others, and terrified of attention paid to her. The
gentle hand on the tiller was the way Ritsuko-Nabiki and Jeff-Ranma had
dealt with her. I can't do that, Ritsuko thought. "Maya, you have to
understand - "
"I do I do!" Maya said eagerly, then her legs collapsed, Ritsuko had
to let go of Maya's questing hands or wrench them from their sockets. Maya
held tight to Ritsuko's legs to stay partially upright. She looked up.
"White's a good color." Maya rubbed her cheeks on Ritsuko's knees while
she laughed herself silly. "I can look," Maya defended her peering up
Ritsuko's skirt, "You looked all over. You know I'm still virgin."
Ritsuko froze, she knew she'd examined Maya and what she could reach
of Nabiki and Jeff, minutely. But she hadn't considered that, she was
barely sentient until she awoke.
"Save myself for someone special," Maya said tenderly from her
position holding Ritsuko's knees. "Wan' som'n smart, som'n special," Maya
added quietly, "Want m' sempai who thinks she's monster. Got her." Maya's
hand was gently stroking the back of Ritsuko's leg. "Soft, 'n' smart, 'n'
clean, wouldn't hurt me. Knew it. Eev - ven big-bad couldn't make Sempai
hurt Maya."
Ritsuko wasn't sure if she should comfort the girl weeping on her
legs, or throw her out of the room and into the brig for her effrontery.
She knew she'd never tolerate this behavior from Misato.
"Give Sempai children, know the biobibliology for that!" Maya
declared. Maya smiled and tried to stand, pulling herself up hand over
hand on Ritsuko's lab coat. "I know!"
The breath was still as bad as Ritsuko remembered.
"Don' cut off Rak-kunin, loves Sempai toooo." She pushed off from
Ritsuko stood there unsteadily, like a tree in a hurricane. She threw her
torn uniforn shirt on the floor, then ponderously turned to the door.
"I'llll get 'im, then it'll be all - all right."
Ritsuko practically jumped to the door to block Maya. "I don't think
you should do that!"
"Sempai wants me all to herself!" Maya announced at the top of her
lungs, then slid to the ground.
Ritsuko covered her face and wondered if they heard her all the way to
Boston.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki heard Maya's exhortation as she walked the corridors. She was
glad few of the Marines spoke Japanese well enough to understand Maya's
drunken ramblings. She'd heard Raccoon and Maya had been wandering
aimlessly all over the carrier. Maya had evidently gotten some 'engine
room hooch' from the snipes. On 'further inquiry' Nabiki had verified it
wasn't as strong as what you could buy. She doubted Raccoon had gotten
plastered at all. If he had, she thought angrily, Somebody ought to look
after him. She was far too angry to even consider blackmail. So physical
violence would be her preferred tool, hurting someone else to make her hurt
and confusion go away. Best take it back to the source, she thought. The
problems were too reminiscent of the idiot plans the two fathers tried to
spring on Ranma and Akane. She couldn't believe what happened was anything
except intentional. He specifically told Maya and Capt. Madison not to
touch the field, she raged silently, And he didn't expect any effect on
Ritsuko? Bullshit! Even Genma isn't that stupid. She remembered the
comment on slitting her throat, so she ignored the potential for blackmail,
out of self-interest.
Raccoon didn't answer the knock on his cabin door, but she didn't feel
like respecting his privacy. She entered. He was sitting on the floor,
staring at the wall. Not an intense gaze, just something to focus on. He
didn't seem to focus on her as she sat down in front of him. His
expression was slack.
She put her anger aside for a moment, she could tear him apart later,
she'd let him damn himself before she attacked. She thought herself as a
good judge of character, however she wasn't sure if he was currently sad,
bored, plastered, or something else. "You alive in there?" she asked with
false joviality.
His gaze didn't change, he didn't focus on anything. "I'm not good
company."
"Did I ask?" Nabiki asked, "We saved Ritsuko, saved the world, saved
ourselves, you look like someone - " She stopped as he stared at her. She
was fairly sure he wasn't angry, but the intensity of the gaze disturbed
her.
"Her name was Kyoko, she looked a lot like you, although she actually
acted more like Asuka and Ranma: always arguing with her father, always
pushing against every limit. She was the eldest, but she didn't want to be
the heir, she wanted to go out, learn from other masters, bring the
techniques back to the dojo, back _home_. Regale everyone with her stories
of foreign places and people, and bask in their their respect and
adoration. Like you. Sakai looked like Ranma, quiet and intense, like me,
or Rei. Everything was to be studied, analyzed, examined and mastered.
Superb technical marital artist, won every tournament, not as good as his
twin sister in a real fight. Kairi was the spitting image of Ranko. She
could fight like a wildcat or charm a butterfly into her hand. Daddy's
girl, had me wrapped around her little finger." He paused, the intensity
of the gaze faded. "When it was all a dream, all _my_ dream, it was just
embarrassing. My wife was named Nabiki Tendo and looked exactly like
Ritsuko would at 17 years old. We dated, fought, sometimes each other. We
went to college together. I took and passed the exams a year early. We'd
been married two weeks when the Musk and the Phoenix People stole her and
Gendo's wife, Yui. Gendo and I exterminated the Musk, from the
pseudo-dragon princeling to the lowliest peasant, then we rescued our wives
and obliterated Phoenix Mountain. We methodically killed any survivors of
our initial - nuclear - attack. It was all an illusion inflicted on me by
a Great Old One or Outer God." The intensity had returned and redoubled,
Nabiki was afraid.
"I remember, perfect detail. I can tell you Kyoko's first word:
goggie, doogie or mommy, Sakai's expression at winning his third
consecutive karate championship, how my wife likes her coffee, and how I
have to make it when she's pregnant. You want to know Kyoko's reaction to
Soun's emotional blackmail, of his 'do it or I'll cry'? She threatened to
sell him to Saudi Arabia as a water plant."
Nabiki had to smile at that, miffed she hadn't thought of it.
"As long as it was just mine, just a memory . . . I could put Dr.
Akagi's attitude aside. I knew she wasn't my wife, I knew she owed me no
special attention. It was all a joke, painful, but a joke. Not anymore.
To keep Ritsuko from killing Maya and me, I used my AT field against her.
Just like how the EVAs destroy our enemies. Except I didn't intend to
destroy her, just shock her. That she'd recover. You're angry because you
think I did it all on purpose, I should have known better." He looked
straight at her. "You're exactly right. Now if you want to tell me that
falling on my sword will somehow make this all better, I will do so."
"I think you ought to . . . ," she bit back her first response,
anything to tone down that gaze. So you blame it on `NERV school` not
having the right curriculum on AT fields? Once you don't have all the
facts at your disposal you start screwing up? she thought. Nabiki stood up
and left, she didn't have a way to make it all better, not even by hurting
him like she'd planned to do. She paused at the door. "If it's real to
her too now," she let her bitterness show in her voice, "Maybe you should
actually sit down and _talk_ to her about it, instead of sitting here 'Mea
Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa.'" She left before she said more, said
something _she'd_ regret.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki thought the dreams were over, or should have been over when
they returned Cthylla to her temple. She'd found herself in the same
situation: deep under water. She'd thrashed to the surface while silently
screaming in terror. It evidently wasn't so silent in the Waking World,
because as she awoke, Ritsuko and Jeff were both trying to fit through the
door without touching or waiting for the other.
She also wondered what it meant that she'd broken the surface as the
dream faded out, if this was the last one. If it was all over.
"I'm fine," she told them as she stood, wringing out her nightgown,
"If you two are going to wrestle or dance around, I'm leaving. Are there
any tests to determine if this is sea water or just sweat."
"There is the sea-life in your bed," Ritsuko said, "I didn't think
tentacles were to your taste."
Nabiki stared back at the bed, turned on the light to see better.
Nothing there except the moistened sheets and dampened mattress. "I'm
going to get a shower," she told them, "Since you two are here, why don't
you talk?" She collected a clean change of clothes and headed for the
shower. Jeff was already walking away, Ritsuko following him. Two sailors
were removing the mattress and bedding.
Coward, she thought as Jeff moved out of sight, pursued by Ritsuko.
----------------------------------------
People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening,
July 28, 1947
Ritsuko tilted her head back to expose more of her throat to those
passionate kisses. Her hands roamed through his hair and over his body,
she drove her hips against this, grinding into him, feeling his body
responding eagerly. His hands and lips touched all those places that
excited her so. She couldn't believe such ecstasy and wild abandon was
possible. Her mouth found his and the focus changed. Playful, passionate
teasing while she felt their body swaying and twining with the rhythms of
her kisses. She slipped out of her lab coat and skinned off his jacket.
As her hand pulled his tie off and reached for his belt, some rational part
of her mind screamed the alarm.
She disentangled herself from his arms and her own emotions. As she
backed away, she saw the look of disappointment on his face. Then it
became realization and shame. She wanted to go to him, tell him it was all
right, but she doubted either would be able to disengage if they gave in
this time.
"I'm . . . I'm sorry I -" he stammered, backing away.
"No, stay!" she said firmly, "My fault." It was this time, she'd
thought she could tease him into talking the way Nabiki often did to get
him out of his bad mood. But he'd reacted very differently, kissing and
caressing her back. Things had rapidly spiraled out of control with both
of them. Like a pair of long lost lovers, she thought, disgusted by her
lack of self-control. The memories of how to please the other had come
flooding back, the 'memories' of passionate nights and days together had
also come racing back. Only the knowledge of what they were working up to
caused her to break off.
She'd nearly submerged herself in those false memories. They were
wonderful memories, she would have loved to act on them as if they _were_
real and _had_ actually happened. But it was just a dream and not even
_my_ dream, she reminded herself of what was fast becoming a mantra.
But I _know_ all those things, she lamented inwardly.
"You didn't do anything wrong," she assured the stricken boy as he
pressed back against the bulkhead. She also knew how he felt about her,
how strong and deep the passion ran. She also knew how disgusted he was
with himself and his actions right now. If he'd been Nabiki instead, she
could have offered a mother's comfort, but she couldn't separate things
that well, and right now neither could he. Where normally she could have
cared less about most people, being the one and only beloved . . . that was
a powerful aphrodisiac. It was also extremely dangerous.
"It wasn't your fault," she told him, again.
"Then whose fault is it?" The normally cold face was gone. This
raging emotion would be more typical of Ranma. "I chose to do this!
Because I knew you'd be ashamed of hurting me or Maya, so I overlooked
other changes and the possibility of this very thing happening," he was
shouting now, "So how is this not my fault? I'm so Goddamn smart,
shouldn't I have figured out all the angles. Or did I mess up your life
because I _wanted_ this to happen?!" He turned and ran from her, leaving
his coat abandoned on the deck. She couldn't hope to catch up to him. She
hung her head, she didn't know what to do about it. All the jokes about a
'war-bride' and all that would go with it cascaded through her mind as she
picked up the suitcoat, grunted at the weight. It all left a bad taste in
her mouth. She still thought of herself as what she was, a monster
plodding along in the disguise of a human. But as least now she saw and
understood that Maya, Jeff and Nabiki saw her as who she acted like and
tried to be.
She let out a long sigh. She sadly understood what would happen if
she tried to give in and live the life she remembered, the more comfortable
illusions she could share with someone who loved her. It was the most
exquisite torture - especially deciding to ignore the gentle illusion and
try and live the `real` life. She didn't know what to do, or who to ask to
get the advice she needed. She could guess Maya and Nabiki's advice on the
subject. She didn't even want to _think_ about Misato's reaction.
Am I avoiding what would be good because I'm stubborn? Because I'm
afraid? Or because I don't want to be loved as completely and devotedly -
or because I'm afraid I don't deserve it? She left the passageway, she
knew that with parents' permission, that marriage was possible as young as
12 in America, and he was an emancipated minor, and miracle of miracles,
they were sailing straight to Boston where his principal guardians lived.
She sighed again, she'd have to find him, preferably with Maya and
Nabiki in tow, to discuss the situation with him rationally. Who am I
kidding? she thought disgustedly, I know what both of us want, and it is
physical and emotional, not rational.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki watched Raccoon charge past her at a run, she thought for a
moment he was crying. White man cry like we do!? she thought of her
too-too-composed teammate as she dried her hair. She didn't see what the
big deal was. In Japan, 12-years-olds could marry, he was an emancipated
minor, the rest of her thought mirrored Ritsuko's. She also knew they
could telegraph the other parents about the situation and get their advice
or blessing for the marriage.
It's not as if I don't want `mommy` to be a spinster, she thought,
laughing at the image, But they do go well together. She wondered how much
of this was her frustration at never being able to `fix` the Kasumi/Tofu
situation. Making people look ridiculous was tremendous fun, but those two
were just painful to watch. She'd looked in on them during the dream, and
they were just the same. And there was nothing I could do about it, she
lamented. She hung her towel on her neck and marched after him. She hated
being confused. Best to selected a course and press forward into clearer
circumstances.
She concentrated on the problem before her, she could guess how it
would all work, And to Hell with anyone who spoke against it, she thought
angrily. She stopped, slapped her head. A shoggoth can take _any_ form,
she reminded herself, I've seen pictures of Rit-chan as a teenager, we just
had a run-in with a Great Old One, the effect was worldwide. If Rit-chan
suddenly became, say 14 or 16 . . . that would eliminate half the problems
right there. Then it wouldn't be a `Christmas Cake` robbing the cradle,
but a couple of teenagers dealing with their problems and getting married.
Of course there would be problems, but those could be ironed out later.
She smiled at her cleverness, trying to ignore it had taken quite a while
to realize this obvious solution. She wondered if Rit-chan should daily
get younger and have the condition `cured`, or if there should be a `lab
accident`. She wondered if she should bring Adam and Major ggreg in on
this, and if so when. Well they were sent here to kill him, she
considered, I wonder if being married will make him more suitable in their
eyes or less? she considered as she jogged to find her quarry. Why is this
much more satisfying that being angry at him? she wondered as she broke
into a run. Nabiki Tendo wanted to hurt him for what he did, Nabiki
Ritsuko's `daughter` wanted `mommy` happy. I'm being as schizo as Ranma
and the neko, she told herself.
----------------------------------------
Maya was searching for Sempai, Jeff or Nabiki, in that order. A
hangover cure would also be nice. Considering all the things that had been
happening, she wasn't happy about being alone, especially at night. She
wasn't one of the pilots, she had no trouble with admitting she was
_terrified_._ She walked through the hanger deck, in the work lights she
saw the immense sections of the flight deck that had collapsed in the
storm. A tribute to the power of the creatures they fought. She wondered
why none of the others had exhibited such powers, if one could, they all
should have. That wasn't all that worried her, the media would no doubt
ask all kinds of questions about what had happened. They might even have
someone who spoke Japanese, and they might ask _her_ to explain what
happened. She knew it was silly to be worried about such a triviality when
so much was happening, but it frightened her more than facing Sempai had,
than remembering her drunken confession did.
Getting squashed or exiled is less frightening than speaking in
public, she thought, Talking is scarier than Angels. She laughed at her
own foolishness, but it did nothing to alleviate her fears. She loved her
job, and was well aware of the security concerns, a misspoken word would
get her fired, Commander Ikari made sure everyone knew that. She didn't
want to leave Sempai, she didn't want to lose the money and good she sent
home every week either.
The other thing that bothered her was that the technique `Raccoon` had
used on Sempai had other effects. She didn't know if she should support
their relationship, or should she encourage their mutual foot-dragging so
she could have Sempai all to herself. She was also terrified of the
possibility Sempai would come to her of her own free will. If - Sempai
came to me, said she loved me, that she needs me, she thought, cursing her
own cowardice, I'd probably fall apart, dissolve in tears, and that won't
help anyone, not me, not Sempai, not the pilots, she wondered if there was
a simple solution wasn't too uncomfortable, I might as well wish for a way
to cook food in few minutes or wish for beer in cans that don't require an
opener. She laughed at the impossibility.
If I'm going to be ridiculous, I might wish for a part of Sempai's
love affair, she considered how she would handle being the `other woman` or
worse, being both Sempai _and_ Raccoon's `other woman`. That was a
particularly frightening thought.
----------------------------------------
People writing songs that voices never shared
Nabiki gotten the details about the blow up between the two. As she'd
trailed her target, she hoped the tales were just sea stories or wishful
thinking. She wondered what would have happened if they'd just gone ahead
and given into their impulses. Like you did with Ranma? she couldn't
believe she'd wasted four _months_ of chances that way. "I guess I'm not
one to talk," she told herself.
She had an idea where Raccoon would run to. It didn't take genius to
realize that. She was beginning to wonder if the only thing those people
in Nerima could do was fight, and if all other actions were either
miscalculations or trying to 'get even' with some other person or group.
The pilots' briefing room was dark and empty, there was a hollow behind the
lectern that would completely hide someone from prying eyes. There weren't
too many places aboard a carrier where someone could hide and sulk
undisturbed, especially not one undergoing extensive repairs from storm
damage, like this one.
Ah ha! she thought as she stopped a short distance away from the
lectern, peering in at the figure within, Non-Euclidean geometry, she
thought about how anyone so tall could fold himself into the small place.
She sat for a while, simply getting Raccoon used to her presence.
Then she started slowly moving towards him. Patience, patience, she
thought, it was the one advantage she had over all the Nerimaniacs, she'd
not only settle for 'half a loaf', she'd settle for one slice now, and the
rest of the loaf slowly over time.
"I don't know why you're hiding," she said quietly from less than half
a meter away, "Everybody knows about it." She let the shock settle on him,
his only reaction was to pull his legs tighter against him. "You act like
everybody doesn't approve," she said, "They don't know the details,
speculation is rife, but everybody knows how pretty she is and that you
started it, so all the sailors are cheering you on."
"You aren't helping," he finally said.
Ah, goal! Communications.
"Was I supposed to be making you feel better?" she asked innocently,
"I thought I was just keeping you up to date. You know, considering what
she is, I have a plan to alleviate a lot of your problems."
"You don't know what my problem is. Start from a false premise, and
your conclusion won't be valid."
"Oh?" she asked, leaned a little closer, "Maybe I'm leaving something
out . . . but I think Ranko will understand, you could send a radio
message, or in a few days, a telegram."
"Your jealousy isn't helping," he replied, "If you're so worried about
measuring up, that you have to tear others down, you're no better than the
others in Nerima."
Nabiki hid a grimace and avoided squirming. How did _he_ know I was
jealous of him and Ritsuko, and him and Ranko? she thought.
"If you're so afraid I'll take Ranma away from you, then maybe I
should concentrate on getting you two together, take your nimble,
overactive, little mind off things that don't concern you," Raccoon told
her coldly, staring at her for the first time.
"Oh, I'm just bubbling over with helpfulness," she said cheerfully to
hide the sting she felt. There were plenty of opportunities she'd missed
with Ranma, the last thing she needed was someone trotting out all her
failures. "So enlighten my nimble, overactive, little mind," she said, a
lot more sternly than the light tone she had intended.
"Fine, can you imagine how you'd feel if Ranma had walked into the
'pick a daughter', and he knew absolutely everything about your
activities?"
She couldn't help but blanch at that possibility.
"And then he knew absolutely everything else about you, all - you -
did - all - you - thought - all - you - hoped - for?" He smiled at her.
The idea was horrifying. There were things she'd done and felt, she
hoped _nobody_ever_ found out about.
"Or better, if it was your sister who had that connection, and Ranma
had the same connection with her? And she still had her attitude towards
'BOYS!'?"
Nabiki had to shake her head at that. "It can't be that bad," she
said.
"Do you know - really understand what Ritsuko actually is?"
"Yeah," she said instantly, "I saw."
"But you don't know," he countered, "The Elder Things made surly
slaves, but when they broke away, the shoggoths mainly wanted to be left
alone. They almost always attack anything that disturbed them. So how do
you explain Rit-chan's behavior? Why would she tolerate the social
requirements of Japanese society, why would she encourage the interaction
with you, Ranko and Ranma? Why would she feel so lonely?"
Nabiki heard the barely controlled emotion in his voice. She shook
her head, then nodded to encourage him to continue.
"She's an aberration or an experiment, to increase the tractability of
the species. They manufactured a more social version, perhaps they wanted
a leader or administrator for projects that they didn't want to cover
themselves, an arranger. Sound familiar?"
She nodded, it _did_ sound a lot like her, both Ritsuko and Nabiki.
"Well I had time to learn all the ins and outs, all the ways she'd
want to be touched, all the words she'd want to hear." He leaned close to
her, she leaned away. "All the ways she'd want to be treated. Can you
imagine how someone with so many secrets would feel about someone knowing
all that?"
She could, all too easily. "But you didn't . . . do anything wrong,"
she said half-heartedly. If Ranma had shown up with that knowledge, it
would have _terrified_ Nabiki, especially if he knew what she was and still
`courted` her or chose her as his fiancee.
"Not a problem yet? Okay, now add this. Now you know _him_,
everything he feels, thinks, until you can guess whatever he'll do, and you
get that all in an instant, including all the reasons he cares about you,
his entire history. All the secrets including all the things he's done to
. . . for you."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Nabiki said weakly, it actually sounded
like a school girl's dream, a boy who knew all about her and still wanted
her. All it would cost was every secret she had. Maybe not so good a
trade, she thought. "But - "
"But when we were attacked by another improved-type shoggoth - "
"You absorbed it! Like the EVAs do!" Nabiki realized, she was
horrified by the implication, "But . . . why? How?!"
"One practical reason, to gain their near invulnerability, similar to
what you and Ranma enjoy."
"So when she . . . splattered you all over . . . ?" Nabiki asked,
appalled.
"A loss of concentration more than an injury," he explained, "But you
still don't know the real reasons. Shoggoths, as big as they are,
reproduce asexually like bacteria or yeast, splitting or budding. They use
meiosis, not mitosis, a single long-chain molecule, a collection of
substituted aromatic bases: hydroquinone, phenylenediamine, aminophenol,
tetrahydroxybenzene, phenylenetetramine, and their diazine, pyridine and
metadiazine analogs. All with different activating and deactivating groups
making them meta or para directors, so reversing the orientation of the
ring, providing it's not a meso-compound, anyway . . . despite the chemical
differences, the effect is not completely unlike the amino-acids we use."
Nabiki hadn't the faintest idea what he'd just said. "Well it's clear
you went to great lengths to research this," she said sourly. He didn't
seem to notice. She let him talk.
"Being a massive aromatic molecule, they're more stable than ours,
inhibiting mutation and age related damage. Her genetic code hasn't
changed in millions of years, where as ours changes significantly in the
century we live. Their single chromosome is a palindrome, so it can loop
back on itself like a hairpin and error check itself. Preparation for a
new cell for division, first the palindrome breaks into two equal pieces,
next half goes with each cell, last the palindrome is rebuilt in the newly
split cells and the process continues. That's meiosis."
And why is _that_ important? Nabiki asked herself, Patience! You
wanted him to talk. And he _thinks_ it's important.
"You don't see do you?" he asked, chuckled, "Humans reproduce
sexually, they exchange genetic information, we're so big we have special
cells and organs to handle the function, but in smaller organisms the
transfer is much simpler. We also use mitosis, the various pairs of
chromosomes duplicate themselves and the old ones stays with the cell, the
duplicate goes with the new. I'm getting to the point."
Good, she thought, keeping her expression neutral, Why do I need a
primer on chemical nomenclature and cell biology . . . ? He couldn't be -
?
"Somehow they prevented the break up of her palindromes. She has
enough to maintain cell structure, but not enough for major growth or
reproduction. But that division wouldn't be necessary is something
penetrated all of her cells, or enough of them, and provided the base
materials to duplicate the existing chromosome. Mitosis replacing the
sabotaged meiosis process, enabling reproduction. But aromatic compounds
are toxic to humans, so to do that, you'd need something capable of doing
both, having a chromosome structure that wouldn't interfere and supply the
builder molecules to perform the mitosis-type assembly."
Nabiki felt her stomach drop. He did . . . KAMIS! she thought.
"But only humans can do the mitosis and only shoggoths have the
palindrome, so you'd have to be both," she said monotonously, because the
implications took her places she did not want to ever think about. "You'd
also have to mix on a cellular level."
"Congratulations, Miss Tendo, got it the first time."
"But - why, and how?" she stammered, shaking her head violently. No,
it _can't_ be! she desperately thought, trying to drown out the conclusions
she was coming to.
"Because a social creature was denied the ability to reproduce or
interact with others, a person I loved. Wouldn't you do what you could to
alleviate that misery?" he asked, "They `fixed` her when they realized
they'd created a dangerous subspecies, a creature capable of thinking,
planning and acting in concert with others, not just her own kind, but with
other species."
Nabiki backed away, those weren't the implications she'd considered.
This was no mere shy schoolboy crush, or interracial, May-December problem.
He'd sought out a way to assuage her real suffering, and made the massive
and necessary physiological changes in himself to carry them out. He acts
like it was easy, risking his humanity like that, she thought, Except _he_
isn't human either!
"So the operation the Elder Things did made sure there would be no
more. However, Chaugnar Faugn was an expert in genetic manipulation, and
guess what, not just aminoacid/DNA genetics. You felt the intellect of
that thing when it was asleep and you held it in your hands. Awake and
dying, the knowledge and experiences try to earth themselves somewhere,
hopefully intact, to coopt the new host. In battle, the EVA's pilot is the
only possible vessel."
Nabiki gulped, the new conclusions were more shocking with each new
realization she came to. "You _knew_ you could absorb that thing so you
could cure Ritsuko's condition, or bypass it."
"Good try, but not complete, remember meiosis versus mitosis."
"Oh . . . my . . . kamis . . . you were going to merge with her . . .
both of you broken into tiny pieces, merge with her to duplicate . . . "
Nabiki felt the wall touch her back, she hadn't realized she had been
retreating, and that he'd been advancing.
"Exactly. It wasn't my plan to have relations with just her human
form, but allow her initial form to produce offspring."
Nabiki covered her mouth, she wasn't sure if she should be laughing or
screaming. It was incredibly thoughtful, and inconceivably obscene. She
wondered if even being able to think that way had something to do with
absorbing part of the monsters they fought.
"If you think that's funny . . . now Ritsuko knows all about my plan.
How I studied her problem, and why I did it."
"W - w - wh - why?" Nabiki stammered.
"Because I love her!" Raccoon thundered at her in fury, then withdrew
to a safer distance. Safer from her point of view. "Haven't you ever
cared about anything enough to throw away everything to help, to ease
someone's suffering, to make them happy?! It goes a little beyond a school
crush or a little bit of infatuation. When I was in the dream, I saw
Ritsuko-Nabiki, Maya-Akane and Misato-Kasumi. I fell in love with the girl
who tried to make a difference, who tried to deal with the boy with the
cloud of unwanted fiancees and rivals. Maybe you've noticed I am not
always the warmest and most open person. 'Emotionally controlled,' I
believe I've heard you mutter, and worse, but then in that dream I had
Ranma's emotional range, and I still have _those_ feelings for the people
from the dream. Hate, love, despair, joy, all greater than I usually feel.
So when the woman I loved was in trouble, the cold calculating me took
action to ensure she could be happy, to give her what I knew she most
desperately wanted. Now she knows my feeling, why I did what I did, and
what I wanted from her as well." He was shouting by the end. Nabiki had
wanted to draw him out, she had, he was confronting her directly as she
tried to press herself back through the bulkhead.
He sighed, mastered himself, returning to the morose tone. "So, go
ahead and laugh, it ought to be hilarious. How stupid can I be?! `Dumb`
ole' Ranma would never think himself into a corner like this one. Mister
'I am in control and I understand' blew it worse than the rest of you, and
I did it all to myself. Ritsuko at least has the solution she needs, well
Maya or anyone else with a little chemical knowledge can provide it. Why
should she trust me?"
"You don't know that she's . . . " Nabiki couldn't put together the
thoughts that would have helped Raccoon, or Ritsuko. The problem was
bigger than she ever realized, and the idea of bringing them together
wouldn't solve it. "If she knows you are . . . care that much - "
"Oh, true love will win out?" he asked bitterly, "I always thought you
were smarter than that. I did that to her! It wasn't an accident except
in that it went farther than I intended. I got the journey of a thousand
miles in one step, this is what I really wanted, and she knows it!"
Nabiki tried to say something, anything, but all the easy
rationalizations or hurtful things she had bottled up inside that should
have come so easily, all died before she could speak them. She wasn't even
sure how much of what he said was true, and how much was hysteria and
despair talking, and she wouldn't know until she talked to Ritsuko.
Assuming _she's_ rational about all of this, Nabiki thought morosely. She
moved away from him, standing and walking to one of the pilots' chairs.
She sat down and tried to collect herself. Too many problems came up
against her plans. Part of it was embarrassment, part of it was shame,
those she understood, they'd been good weapons in Nerima. Now they were
her enemies. The idea that you'd give up your humanity for love, to help
someone else, it seemed too much out of a fairy tale or romance of the kind
she despised, it wasn't something she understood.
The whole thing was suddenly too big a question and it wasn't
something she could break into pieces and gnaw on. She needed to discuss
it with someone.
The simple solutions won't work, she thought, The problems that would
occur after a simple solution were the _real_ problems, those would matter
for a lifetime. She remembered the warmth of the bodies holding her in the
dream of only a day or two ago. She wanted that, she wasn't sure what
would happen if someone asked her to abandon all she was, more than just
her family, more than just her honor and history. She'd given up all she
thought she had, now she had a clear chance with Ranma without any serious
competition. Yet she couldn't close the deal.
What about Ranko? she wanted to ask Raccoon, What about me? She
_really_ didn't want the answer to that. She shook her head, 'if only he
knew the real me', was the usual call, here they knew the real other, and
it didn't help.
"It's never easy," Nabiki said as she stood up. She suspected Ritsuko
knew what he felt, but Nabiki was going to tell her anyway. Maybe Ritsuko
will have an idea, she thought.
She found a Marine sentinel before she started her search, he'd stand
guard to keep an eye on Raccoon and see to it he was left alone. She could
almost hear the Marine's unasked questions, about all the rumors flying
about. 'That monster can put things in your head, compulsions, entire
other life times, she wanted to tell them, but she knew she shouldn't.
----------------------------------------
The man paced the small office. "Ah signore! You-a wound me! I-a
bleed, you-a see how-a I bleed?" the man complained to the room's other
occupant.
"Luigi," Jeff said sternly, from his position leaning against the
wall, "Save it for the tourists. Your English is as good as mine."
"Okay, _Mister_ Davis. But these nice ladies. I don't see why I have
to do this."
"For the same reason you do the rest. Being the best means
occasionally having to prove it," Jeff told the man calmly, he'd reached a
decision, action had to be taken, soon.
"There's a lot more to this that you're telling me."
"There are some special preparations I want made. Special materials
you'll have to have." He handed over the list he'd produced.
"This is some pretty weird stuff," Luigi said, looking over the list,
"Are you sure about that, I mean is it really necessary?"
"Absolutely. I know them far better than you do," Jeff explained as
he stood up, "You'll need everything on that list to do the job. Do you
know how to use it at all?"
"I still have a few contacts from the war," Luigi explained as he
seated himself behind his desk, "If I run into trouble, I can ask them.
Don't worry, I'll be discreet. They won't know what happened until it's
all over. I still think my usual specialities will do the job." He held
up his hands. "Since you are paying, I'll do it your way. You also
avoided my question, why? One I can understand, but all three, all at
once?"
"Problems have arisen, problems I can't easily deal with given the
current situation and resources. You have a better chance of bringing this
to a more satisfactory conclusion. That's also why I'm here rather than
doing the job myself. Hard as it is to admit, you are better than I am.
Few are. And, it's personal."
"When it gets personal, hire a professional," Luigi said, "I take it
you don't want me to simply walk onto the carrier, and do my job?"
"No, of course not! There are limits to my risk taking - how's the
restaurant doing?"
"It keeps me flush between paying jobs like this one." Luigi
shrugged. "Right in the restaurant . . . they'd never expect that."
"You want to try that?" Jeff asked, "Awfully big risk."
"Life is risk. I think I can manage it. Besides, the blame will be
yours, I suspect you have a plan for that too," Luigi told him with
confidence, "I still think you're overreacting."
"Gives me a background to plead insanity. Trust me, you'll know
different pretty quick," Jeff assured him.
"Quick and unexpected, not the first time I've done this. You've
heard there's been trouble at the Institute, reports sound more like a mob
war."
"I don't know anything I can tell you, other than don't get mixed up
in it."
"Fighting at the Institute, you here ordering a special. It feels
like I'm already part of it," he said disgustedly.
"How so?" Jeff asked.
"Well reports put you aboard the carrier. Yet here you are, in my
office, talking business. That's something to wonder about."
"Reports can be faked, besides they call it an _aircraft_ carrier for
a reason."
"Okay." Luigi nodded. "Keep your secrets. I don't want to meet you
unhappy in a dark alley some night," he chuckled, "Now about my fee, in
advance if you please." He smiled.
"Of course. I never thought otherwise. Have you ever considered
another line of work?" Jeff counted out the cash.
"Are you kidding?! I love to see the look on people's faces when I
tell them who paid. It's almost worth doing jobs free to see those
expressions."
----------------------------------------
And no one dared disturb the sound of silence.
Nabiki wondered at the situation as she wandered the carrier, unable
to sleep. She had changed to work clothes, she gotten tired of questioning
looks as she'd walked around in her pajamas. Dreams, she thought, They
never used to be important. She remembered the dream she kept having had
within the dream. Immersed in icy water. She was beyond drowning as the
pressure squeezed the life and breath out of her. The terror of cold, of
dying alone. Then she'd wake up, covered in sweat, in the arms of Ranma
and Raccoon. They'd never say anything, although the occasional bruise and
the way they had restrained her made it clear she'd been thrashing
violently in her sleep, as frantically as she'd been trying to swim to the
surface. As she relaxed, one would carry her to the shower and rinse her
off in her pajamas then leave her to finish, while the other would be
changing the sodden bedding. She'd come out of the shower and there were
clean underwear and pajamas in the bathroom to change into, outside were
hot tea and concerned looks.
She rarely talked about the dream, they never pressed her to. The
first times she'd been frightened by the implication that the two of them
could have cooperated and - taken advantage of her - while she was lost.
They never had, they never even copped a feel. They just held her immobile
and kept her warm. Later she worried about them getting tired of it and
leaving her, leaving her to die alone.
And sometimes waking up to find Ranma as a girl or boy, drawing lines
on my arms, legs, on my back or face, she thought, Always with that look on
his face. She'd never understand. It was a little disappointing neither
boy took advantage of the situation, Raccoon never took advantage when
`Ranko` snuggled up in his arms. But I would have been terrified if either
of them _had_ tried anything. And I probably would have screamed bloody
murder if they tried something with each other, she thought and wondered if
Ranma's reduced nervousness was due to the neko-ken being stronger,
'perversion' of him by absorbing the Great Old Ones, or something else
entirely. She was glad they had only gone as far as they had, and no
further.
She shuddered at the idea of being raped or molested while asleep.
And I used to think the Hentai Horde was funny, she shook her head, then
smiled. She could guess Ranma's or Raccoon's reaction to the Hentai Horde,
no matter how either felt about `dear` Akane-chan. " 'There are certain
things that just aren't done!'" She laughed at that, and the
ridiculousness of her earlier plan. The feelings and apparent ages weren't
the real problem. She kept turning the idea over in her mind, she found
that reality interfered with her plans, and that offended her.
The people and the universe should simply bow to my will and accept
they should be together, she thought, and decided a Kuno-like pose would
get her thrown in the brig, politely of course, More to work on. Well
maybe I found the weak point, and I'm not so happy about it.
She also didn't like the portrayal of her home. Or more correctly,
the _accuracy_ of the portrayal from the outside. Maybe I don't like
looking at things with my new eyes, she thought. She did wonder _why_ she
was so intent on playing matchmaker, while she hated what he'd done to the
person she was trying to match him up to, and why she didn't want him for
herself. Ranma was nice, both of them were better. Yet, she also wanted
`mommy` happy, and there was a way. They seemed good for each other, if
they really knew each others' mind and hearts . . . But it isn't working
that way, she thought, I _hate_ not being able to fix this! she thought as
she marched through the carrier. A few sailors took one look at her
expression, and got out of her way.
"Miss Tendo," Adam Smith approached.
"I thought you would have left already."
"In the storm?" he asked, implying the question was humorous, "I'm
afraid you're stuck with us, and I must apologize for my curiosity. Major
ggreg told me some things, and the grapevine has said others."
She was sorely tempted to tell him and get his advice. But she also
remembered his mission was to kill Jeff, if necessary. She didn't know if
she wanted that to happen just yet. So she couldn't really trust him. "I
discovered two plus two equals four, went to the source, and they said two
plus two equals orange, and I'm completely color-blind."
"Frustrating. But are you certain it's a math problem and not a
psychological problem?" he asked quietly, "Or better, a question of faith,
in people or destiny."
"I don't believe in fate or karma or anything like that. I believe in
human action," she replied firmly, "People act, choose not to act, or fail
to act, that's what really matters. Outside forces can't change the
person."
"Odd, considering your experiences, even odder considering your fate.
Miss Ibuki seems very taken with her `sempai`, I can't say I approve of
their relationship, nor will many people," Adam told her.
Boy are _you_ barking up the wrong tree, Nabiki thought but kept her
features neutral.
"Well, if you want to talk . . . " He moved off.
I do, I do, I just want to talk to someone I can trust, she thought,
I'm just not sure it's you. She stopped, sighed. How do I contact Brother
Jonathan? Genus Loci, I should be able to figure that out, she thought.
She spotted Sergeant Kilrain and took off after him, she doubted that he'd
understand why she was asking, but she'd get an answer. I also have
another way, she thought as she smiled to the sergeant, who was looking
very worried, Mind and instincts . . . I have another source of answers.
If he's gone back to sleep.
----------------------------------------
Fools said I, you do not know, silence like a cancer grows.
Nabiki walked half-asleep along the dark paneled halls, across the
white rugs and in the diffuse white light from above, wearing her flannel
night shirt. The heat coming off the floor and through her slippers felt
good on her bare legs. The play of light and dark was as striking as
always, it gave the house a surreal look, one of the reasons she and Jeff
had designed it. The smell of breakfast and coffee made itself insistently
known, of course Jeff had made breakfast. She walked into the kitchen,
enjoyed the admiring look she got from her husband, even though she knew
she looked terrible in the morning. She headed directly for the coffee, or
would have except for an intercept by a small missile with a potent
warhead.
"Mommy, mommy, mommy!" A small redhead crashed into her, grabbing
both legs in a powerful hug, nearly toppling her. Nabiki grabbed the
kitchen counter to steady herself. In a detached part of her mind Nabiki
surveyed her `attack` into Jeff's dreams, it was already twisting out of
her hands, she hadn't imagined kids, or what appeared to be a stately
mansion, still she would go with it, `memories` of this existence flooded
her mind as she woke up to it.
"Kairi, can mommy get her coffee?" she asked. A blue-eyed Eurasian
face looked up at her, full of mischief and love. Kairi released one leg
and hugged tightly to the other. It made walking possible, and very
difficult.
"MommycanIgotoMaria'shousetomorrowshe'shavingaparty."
She looked over to Jeff, who was wearing a smirk. If I could get over
there, she thought, I'd wipe that right off your face, one way or another.
"Can I have a translation?" she asked in her 'dangerous sweet' tone.
"Maria is having the Three-Tailed Dragons at a party tomorrow, it's
the latest band. Kairi wants to go there, instead of Francine's sleep
over."
"NOT INSTEAD OF! Please, mommy, please, please, please."
"Maria who was supposed to have a pony at Christmas, Maria who was
supposed to have movies for summer break, that Maria?" Nabiki instantly
realized the fallacy of arguing logically with a 5-year-old.
"That's why I want to go to Francine's after, please mommy, please."
Kairi hugged her leg more tightly.
"Isn't Yui going to be disappointed?" Jeff asked innocently.
"Yui's going to Francine's?" Kairi shouted, "Never mind, mommy."
Nabiki picked the girl up, "Well I don't know, you made a good case."
"Nonononono, I want to see Yui." Kairi held on tightly around her neck
as Nabiki walked to the table. Scrambled eggs and a salad awaited her.
Separate from the large omelet for the rest of the family. "Your father's
sense of humor could use some work."
"Maya said you needed more vitamins." Jeff picked up a paper from one
stack, scanned it for a second, then set it in another of several stacks.
"There are pills." Nabiki got an upraised eye brow for that. Arguing
chemistry with a chemist, she thought, How smart is that? At least he made
the eggs runny enough. She dumped the eggs in the salad and mixed them one
handed with a fork, the other arm holding Kairi.
"Oh mom! That's gross!" A rangy twelve-year-old entered, opened the
refrigerator, selected a quart of orange-juice and drank from the carton,
"I'm not going to put it back, I'm going to drink the whole thing," Sam
told his father, "What did you ever do to piss Toji off so much?" He
poured the rest of the carton in a large glass.
"He was his training officer." Nabiki sampled the egg/salad mix,
reached for the pepper and salsa. "I thought you hated Asuka. You were
complaining about her last week."
"I hadn't met Toji yet." He dropped into the chair and shoveled a
large helping of the omelet on his plate. "Der Generrrl is a stickler and
a martinet, but Toji is just crazy. Being dead sure didn't mellow him."
"At least he didn't beat you up, like he did Shinji." Jeff smiled at
him as the boy shoveled down the food.
"He beat up the Director?" Sam asked, "Why?"
"Shinji's first battle, ah, didn't go too well." Nabiki set Kairi on
the floor, the youngster immediately tore out of the room. She looked at
Sam shoveling down the food to fuel his latest growth spurt, he was already
taller than her and would overtop his father soon. She saw a lot of Tomiyo
and Jeff in the boy's Amerasian features. "We did pray for healthy
children."
"I told you, God has a sense of humor."
"What's up with Yui coming here?" Sam asked, "NERV Japan should be
able to handle anything, right?"
"Not transference to the Dreamlands for full training and survey
conditions, your parents are still the best way to do that." Nabiki
finished her meal, concentrated on her coffee.
"So, the Director's daughter gets to go on the embassy," Sam grumped,
"Why can't you pull strings for me like that?"
"She earned a 98% on the readiness tests, you got an 85, you've got
some catching up to do, mister," Jeff said without sympathy.
"Yeah, I get tested out in two months."
"Three, I pulled some strings." Jeff hid the smile. Nabiki kept her
face strictly neutral while she drank her coffee, awaiting the exchange.
"Three! Yui's going to be ahead of me by three months! She and Franz
are _never_ going to let me hear the end of it! Thanks dad."
"Remember what _else_ happens in three months," Jeff cautioned.
Sam's face scrunched up in thought, then brightened. "The Rodia, its
shakedown cruise!"
"If your grades stay good, guess who's assistant to the deputy
tactical officer," Jeff said nonchalantly. Sam pointed to himself, not
trusting his voice. "Of course she'll be escorted by two EVAs, but they're
old models. Yui will tease you about her testing in a brand-new Unit 35,
and you'll have to settle for testing in old Units 04 and 06."
"WAHOO!! Captain ggreg'll let me get plenty of time in those, WAHOO!
Thanks dad!" Sam left his empty plate behind as he went out punching the
air and shouting.
Jeff picked up the plate, took it to the sink. "I know we ate like
that, but did we act like that?"
"We were at war, and had grown up in a war. This is all a game to
them," Nabiki remembered something. She whispered as he returned, "Isn't
the Rodia and 2d cruiser squadron going straight into a war game?"
"Yes." Jeff sat down at the table, a big grin on his face, "He's going
to be running around like a chicken with his head cut off."
"And _who_ is the aggressor force?"
"Four of the new model EVAs, Scott Davidson commanding."
"You're kidding!" Nabiki nearly fell on the floor laughing. "You are
cruel at heart. If Sam keeps his head and listens to Unit 04 or 06, he
could defeat Davidson's force all by himself!"
"True," Jeff said offhandedly, "That should put our Sam back on equal
footing."
"You're as bad as Asuka!" she denounced him, he shrugged.
"I would point out." Jeff ran a foot up her bare leg. "That both Sam
and Kairi will be gone _all_ tomorrow afternoon, and tomorrow night, Mrs.
Davis."
"I want a little sister this time." Kairi had walked back into the
dining room. Nabiki caught herself before she spit up her coffee.
"I told you that summers at the ranch would be educational," Jeff said
offhandedly. Nabiki considered strangling him, settled for a glare.
"What makes you think mommy wants to get pregnant again?" Nabiki
managed.
"'Having the children six years apart enhances in-te-lec-tu-al
devel-op-ment and sync rate', that's what Asuka-san and Maya-chan said,
I'll be six in four months."
"She's definitely our kid." Jeff was as startled by the deduction as
Nabiki was, especially because it followed the same logic they had used.
"I want a baby sister," Kairi insisted.
"We don't pick," Nabiki explained, "We let it happen."
"Rei-san picks."
"And Rei has a girl and a boy, just like us," Jeff told her, "We want
to be surprised."
"All right." She sat at the table, disgusted with the idiocy of all
adults. "Can I name her at least?"
"What if it's a him?" Jeff asked, making trouble.
A father should be more mature than his five-year-old, Nabiki thought.
"Let Sam name him."
"No," Jeff explained patiently, "If you want to help with the naming,
you have to pick boys' and girls' names."
She sighed, looking forward to the dreary task like looking to her
execution, "I'll do it." Another sigh, chin on the breakfast table, a look
of abject misery.
Definitely her father's daughter, Nabiki thought.
"Abby and Kyle."
"Ah, we don't need the names for several months," Nabiki told her.
Another long sigh at the foolishness of grown ups.
"When do you have to be in Washington?" Jeff asked, clearing the
table.
"Eleven, I'll Travel in, I hate flying commercial. If that jerk
Kennedy tries to put the moves on me, like he did to Maya - " Nabiki heard
a utensil snap, Jeff stared apologetically at the broken metal fork in his
hand. She smiled. "Relax, if he tries anything I'll be polite. And ask
him if he wants the bugs from Martin Luther King's house back, or if we
should send them to the Washington Post."
"Miss Kelerby says Kennedy's the greatest President and it's just like
Camelot," Kairi quoted her favorite teacher.
"Tell Miss Kelerby that she's right, and that she's never read the
original stories," Jeff commented angrily. President Kennedy, and
especially his assassination, were a particular sticking point with Jeff
and Nabiki, who knew what was his real legacy, not what Johnson did and
Kennedy got credit for. Let Goldwater win in '64 and never go to the moon,
or let the martyrdom propel the U.S. of A. through the 60's, good and bad
things. She didn't agree they should do nothing that next November.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki stepped into the bedroom, she loved the feel of sliding silk on
her skin, she loved what this nightgown did to Jeff, that's why she wore it
only on special occasions, she didn't want to spoil the magic. Two layers
of silk that iridesced when she moved. So tight that only the elastic
clips at the hip and shoulder let her move or breathe without tearing it.
Yellow silk decorated with wings under a nearly transparent layer of silk
decorated with a red and a blue dragon that wound around her body, one head
on each shoulder. When Aratara had presented it to her at the bridal
shower, Misato called them Rei and Asuka and she'd also warned that the
dragon only feared the yellow bird. Nabiki had dismissed it as Misato
being silly, until Rei's ectopic pregnancy and everyone's subsequent panic
over Nephilim. For fourteen months, Jeff and Ranma had searched everywhere
for answers, Jeff went as far as using contacts within Elysium itself.
Finally, he returned with the answer, the attitude of the parties
conceiving had more to do with the child than genetics, essence not
physical matter was the controlling element. His seeming blaming of Shinji
and Rei for the failure had started the first knockdown drag out fight
between the pair of them that anyone had ever seen.
Nabiki walked across the thick rug, towards where Jeff lay face-down
on the floor. A completely foolish position if someone had even the
slightest hostile intention and any martial arts skills. A blow to the
base of the skull would `kill` him just long enough for something permanent
to be done. Comparable to the vulnerable position she had taken earlier
when he washed her hair and anointed her with oils. Against a man who
could bend EVA armor in his bare hands and could concoct tremendously
lethal poisons out of seemingly anything, such behavior was suicidal, even
for one as durable as she was. That was the point, Rei had admitted she
and Shinji had been so frightened of the future, that they had wanted to
conceive a child. In retrospect, it was arguably the worst thing they
could have done. That admission, and Rei's liberal use of her natural
abilities and skills, had calmed things down, eliminated the hostile
feelings among the participants, but not the inflamed passions. Yui,
Nodoka, Franz and Sam had been conceived that night, metaphysical
contributions from all the pilots went into the first four 'children of the
Children'. Officially all of the injuries were in response to the battle
between Nabiki and Jeff, and not the enthusiastic participation afterwards.
She stepped onto his back, feeling the muscles and bones shifting,
relaxing under her tread. Jeff enjoyed letting her `walk all over him`,
she found it relaxing as well, digging her toes into the hard knots he
always seemed to develop, proving there was something she could always fix.
Neither spoke. Normally they teased each other with word and touch
mercilessly, but not now. Too easy to say what would kindle a resentment
that normally wouldn't detract from the evening, or an action to put the
other on their guard. Tonight, like for Kairi and Sam, that had to be
avoided. Absolute trust, no stray thoughts, worries or concerns. As Jeff
lowered her on the bed, brushing open the clasp at her hip she touched its
match on her shoulder and decided the world could go howl tonight.
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