Greets all,

			This is what I've done with Ops since the last 
time....you might notice it's not much. I haven't had time to spell check or 
grammar the last part of the second chapter or the third so shred it to death 
with C+C. ;)
			Any comments and crits can be send to the ML or to me at 
 phantomr@spynet.com






	Phantom Riders: Forbidden Ops
	Written by R. Bentley
	(c) 1996 R. Bentley

	The doors of the lift opened into darkness.
	Hitomi switched on her hand held light and panned the light beam out of 
the lift. The circle of light played over the far wall of one of the Dock�s many 
stacked to the rim cargo bays. She stepped out of the lift and waited for the 
doors to close. She pulled out her scanner and played it over one of the cob 
webbed computer terminals. She waited only a few seconds until the computer came 
to life, a shaft of blue, red and green light erupted from the computer screen 
and blinded her for a moment. The scanner beeped and the terminal started to 
work.
	She looked around while the terminal looked for the answer to her 
question. Over the years more and more mecha had been getting dumped in the 
Dock�s lap, either for construction purposes or upgrades. All of the lower 
grades of machines were transferred to the lower levels. They would sit there 
until someone needed parts and broke in or when a riot or worse appeared on the 
Dock�s door step. This cargo bay was filled with shuttles and Dropships. The 
smaller one man shuttles started at the front of the room, then the five man 
transport pods and then the Secoian Dropships used by the militia on raids and 
such. All of it sat here, covered in dust and cob webs, all of it ready for use.
The computer spit out her answer. She looked at it and then played her light up 
towards the ceiling. Hung from the ceiling were the ID�s, all the names and ID 
codes for all the ships that were processed and stored in the bay. She started 
to walk back towards the end of the room.
	She took a left at the VTOL HWPDS or Heavy Weapons Personal Dropships 
and walked between to burned out wrecks, she started to see the end of the room 
when the scanner beeped and she stopped and that�s when she saw her.
She slowed her pace and craned her neck to see her. She panned her light up and 
towards the ship that hung from the rafters via cables. She whistled quietly 
while she ran her light over it from stem to stern. She had only seen the ship 
once in a dream. She stopped her light over the gray/white underbelly of the 
ship and saw in paint the name of her: Dropship 3. She stepped back at the sign 
of movement, a small paint droplet fell onto the floor. She let out her breath 
and panned the light down to the floor. All around the ship there were droplets 
of fresh paint on the floor. She frowned, no sign of the paint can eh? She 
thought and followed the droplets of paint with her light until the light fell 
onto a much large paint droplet. She knelt down in front of the large droplet 
and got a closer look of it. There was a blue boot mark on the floor, two or 
three of them. She panned the light left them right, in both directions they 
disappeared into nothing. She then turned around and looked for more when her 
light beam flashed passed a pair of boots?!
	Hitomi jumped inwardly as she rose the light up to see the owner and-
	�Admiring my handy work?� Her breather hissed.
	Hitomi blinked while her the hairs on the back of her head stood on end. 
She shined the light into her face for a little too long, her right arm raised 
up and covered her eyes, which has already dilated and had started to glow. �I 
see you made it.�
	Hitomi swallowed hard. She hadn�t see her in years and after all this 
time she had still snuck up from behind her. She couldn�t sense her, why then 
could she have sensed her before and not now?
	�Because I�ve gotten better since the last time we met,� she replied and 
lowered her arm. �Do you mind, the light?�
	Hitomi snapped back into reality and lowered the light and then shut it 
off. �It�s nice to see you again too, Captain.�
	Captain�s eyes smiled in the dark while she moved to get something, it 
was a light which she activated and dropped onto the floor. �This is a little 
better on my eyes and yours,� she commented. �I know you want to know something 
but first,� she held out a gloved palm. �I�d like to have what you�ve been 
keeping for me.�
	Hitomi opened up her duffel and pulled out the item with her right hand. 
She looked at it for a moment and placed it in Captain�s palm. �There�s 
something you should know about that thing.�
	Captain froze in mid motion, the item almost back into her hip holster.
	�That thing�s alive.�
	Captain�s eyes didn�t meet hers. �I know.�
	�You know what that thing is for?�
	Again their eyes didn�t meet. �Yes.�
	�Does it know?�
	Now their eyes met. �I�ll say it again it doesn�t belong to you.� Hitomi 
narrowed her gaze. �Don�t screw around with the balance.�
	�If you haven�t noticed, it already has.� Captain slid the item back 
into her holster completely and latched the cover closed.
	�What, Mark and the others, the Tendor Main Fleet? Are they part of the 
balance?� Hitomi hesitated a step closer. �Do you know where their going?�
	�Yes.�
	�Then who is the weapon for?�
	Captain�s gaze narrowed behind her breathing helmet this time. �How do 
you know?�
	�It�s a little hard not notice, if the Tendor Fleet hadn�t been busy 
with other things they would have taken it back,� Hitomi blurted out. 
	�The fleet is gone, Captain started.
	�The fleet is headed towards the center of the universe,� Hitomi 
corrected. �We got stopped by the Secoian Guard, boarded and searched. While 
they searched the fleet folded in and disappeared again like nothing.�
	Captain looked down at Hitomi. �They what?�
	�She is telling the truth, Captain.� A voice replied from no where. 
Hitomi whirred, unholstered and aimed in one motion at the area where the voice 
was coming from.
	�I thought I told you to power down Usino.� Captain hissed over her 
shoulder.
	�I�m sorry but my sensors detected an abnormal energy signature.� The AI 
replied from the Dropship that hung above them. �It�s a pleasure to meet you 
Hitomi, Captain has told me much about you.�
	�She has, has she?� Hitomi felt like a fool, she holstered her sidearm 
and glared at Captain. �What the hell do you make that hull out off? Black Arts 
metal???�
	�Well what she did-� Usino stopped as Captain glanced up at him. �I�ll 
power down now.� And he did.
	�I see someone has been busy,� Hitomi commented dryly. �Did you give him 
any endowments too?�
	�Just my curiosity.�
	�I would you suggest you get curious about the Tendors and what their 
doing. There�s a pair of Satyrs here looking for D�Scean.�
	Captain hesitated and for a moment the horns on her helmet glowed. 
�D�Scean is not my problem, yet. Getting Sapphire out of here in one piece is 
though.�
	�Aaron is already on it. Wolf is on his way here, after that we�re going 
to pull chalks and disappear for a little while.� Hitomi said, she looked up at 
the Dropship one more time and turned back towards Captain. �Which brings me to 
my next question: When are you going to take away your little gift you gave me?�
	�You know I can�t do that.�
	�Yes you can, you did for her, why can�t you do it for me!�
	�Because,� Captain looked her straight in the eyes. �She was different. 
I can�t remove it because I don�t know how. I knew how to rid her of her 
problem, I don�t know how with yours.�
	�Sure you take away her empathic abilities but you can�t take away my 
immortality.�
	�We talked about this before, I�m busy with other things at the moment.� 
Captain turned towards the control panel marked Dropship 3 controls and tapped 
in a code. The chains that held the Dropship creaked for a moment and slowly 
pulled the ship down towards the other end of the room. �You know where to reach 
me if anything else happens.�
	�I think something already has.� Hitomi murmured. �I think the gift you 
gave me is starting to wake Aaron.�
	Captain stopped in her tracks and turned around slowly.
	�And I think,� Hitomi finished. �The Satyrs know about him.�

				Chapter 3
				Pandora�s Box
			Hail, Hail the gangs all here

	�The Secoian First Senate will now come to order!� A voice bellowed in 
the Grand Senate Hall on Seco. �Please be seated, any and all recording devices 
will pass strict inspection before being allowed to record. If any illegal 
transmissions either mechanical or Black Arts related will result in the users 
being removed from this hearing. Is this understood?� The Secoian Guard turned 
his eyes down to the reporters then to the heads of state and to the religious 
sects. �This hearing will now come to order.�
	�Captain T�Fravea, Second Division Secoian Royal Guard.�
	�Present,� a rather young looking Secoian Guard Captain stood up and 
walked down from the top row of the Senate Hall bleachers and stepped onto the 
Senate Floor. His black and white uniform matched his white skin and red hair. 
His soulless black eyes looked upon the Senators and saluted.
	�I will get straight to the point Captain,� one of the Senators from one 
of the many districts that sat behind the curtain of shadows narrowed her 
gleaming green eyes and tapped her long finger nails on the counter top of the 
high Senate table. �Where is your quarry?�
	�She escaped my men ma�am.� T�Fravea replied briskly. He tried to calm 
himself while looking up from one Senator to the next. �She used a fold gate to 
fold to her ship and eluded one our Troop Ships.�
	�You mean she fooled you Captain?� One of the many sets of eyes asked.
	�Fold Gates on planet sides are not allowed by Secoian occupied worlds. 
Although Calisia is in no man�s land between the Secoian and free space I 
treated it like any other world.� T�Fravea responded, he put his hands behind 
his back and prepared for the worst. 
	�Did you treat your quarry like just another convict or enemy of the 
state?� The Senator in the middle of the table asked, his high backed chair 
adorn with native Secoian birds of flight.
	�I deduced that my quarry would be cornered and would have to surrender. 
She did not, instead she folded from the second level of Alizerin�s Den to her 
ship the Aloi Jade and blasted her way out of Calisia.�
	�Why did you not try to stop her gating from the bar to her ship?� Asked 
the Satyrs representative to the left of him, three other Satyrs each 
representing their own clan watched from behind their ever concealing cloaks.
	�We did, the equipment we have did not stop the Fold Gate. Nor did it 
stop her ship�s fold drives from working.� T�Fravea glared daggers at the 
Senator who had cut his budget for new equipment. �In fact none of our weapons 
seemed to work against the �gate�s shielding.� He kept his tone down, the hair 
on the back of his head standing on end. �The Troop ship I was given was in need 
of repair. Her engines needed to be retrofitted when we de-folded in orbit. We 
lost the quarry due to lack of funds.�
	�You lost her because you underestimated her.�
	�I didn�t sir, you did!� T�Fravea nearly shouted it to the Senator. �We 
had this planned for weeks and what do you do? You cut my budget, we could have 
had her. I did my best and it wasn�t good enough because she is a jack of all 
trades and we are not.� He turned to the rest of his squad sitting in the 
bleacher seats high in the back of the room. �They did their best but guess 
what, they failed. We need better equipment and we need it now!�
	�Are you quite finis-�
	�No I�m not,� T�Fravea hissed and turned back to face the Senators. �Do 
you have any idea what we�re dealing with? Any clue?�
	The Senators were quiet and thus the room became like a tomb. One of the 
man in his squad shifted and was immediately silenced by two others. 
	�I�ll take that as a no. Have you even seen her record. No. You haven�t 
been tracking her for most of your life. Is there a reason why I needed to bring 
her in now. She was a sitting duck in that bar. Why?� He gestured to his squad 
and three of them stood. Two females and a male. The male struggled slightly 
down the stairs and onto the Senate floor. The two females pushed the male into 
the light, he was handcuffed. A band of energy around his head glowed and hissed 
quietly. �This is the reason why.� He put his hand around the man�s shoulder and 
pinched his cheek. �Tell the judges why Lt. S�canti.�
	Lt. S�canti only looked up at the judges for a moment and then down at 
the floor. His green skin was covered with sweat, blue hair was plastered to his 
face. The band on energy quieted down as his pulse quickened. His mouth opened 
for a moment but then closed.
	�I plan on putting into my report that someone who has been with my 
squad for only two weeks and thus decides to jump the gun and also use his 
little skills to influence others into it. I would like to know why he was not 
tested before he entered the Acedemy.� T�Fravea asked. He took a deep breath and 
let it out slowly while he looked from Senator to Senator. �Ah yes the entire 
Senate closes ranks once again. We can do this one of two ways people, either I 
get my budget back or the Lt. here will be persuaded to write a book.�

	�They�re going to rake him over the coals,� D�Ract cursed from outside 
the chamber�s door. He leaned his ear to the door but didn�t hear a thing. He 
went back to pacing while the four other squad members sat either against the 
wall or on the comfortable chairs that sat against the far wall of the corridor.
	The windows above the chairs looked out upon Seco�s capital city. The 
suns had already started to set and the street lamps outside started to warm up. 
D�Ract and the rest of T�Fravea�s Squad waited patiently while the Senate 
decided what to do with T�Fravea and S�canti, behind closed doors and no media. 
D�Ract was the mechanic for the Squad and inwardly cheered when T�Fravea brought 
up the budget cuts. He ran his hand over his bald head and sighed loudly. �What 
do you think going�s to happen, sis?�
	�We did our jobs, she escaped,� D�edo flipped through the fashion 
magazine she had begun to read while the Senate had gotten their acts together 
before the session started. �Rumor mill mentioned something about a squad 
heading to Baker.� The purple tattoos on the Squad�s resident computer hacker�s 
face shifted around her body as well as color. �They didn�t even have time to 
pack.�
	�Sergeant D�edo has good ears,� X�anda commented from one of the rather 
large comfy chairs. She scratched her little furry feline�s neck while she 
munched on her supper. She broke off a piece of meat and gave it to her pet. 
Dia, her pet sniffed the meat for a moment, extended her claws and began to 
feast. The Squad�s Tendor Satyrs sipped some of her drink and watched the clouds 
turn shades of red and yellow while the stars began to slowly emerge. �Two of my 
people have been sent to Baker as well,� she sighed while Dia began to make 
little noises for more. She pulled a small container of milk from her cloak and 
opened it. Dia�s tail swished happily while she lapped it up. �Although I don�t 
know why.� She finished.
	�Strange things go on in Baker, Satyrs,� J�ene Rald replied. The Squad�s 
Dropship pilot scratched her chin at the hand of poker she had. A small 3-D 
image of her room mate floated in front of her, a much large image of cards 
floated in front of that. The Secoian/Human hybrid shook her head of blonde/blue 
hair and sighed. �Something like how you keep winning my dear,� she grumbled and 
showed her hand. She dipped her head and chuckled, the magic bond between them 
wavered for a moment. �I know I owe you dinner, thank you for reminding me.�
	�Speaking of which,� X�anda spoke up. �I�d like to apologize for 
knocking you out back on Calisia, J�ene.�
	J�ene shrugged and smiled. �Don�t worry about it, S�canti is to blame 
not you. Would love to know why he didn�t send D� ole boy after me though,� She 
winked at him which in turn made him blush. �Must be my lucky day, get busted 
for regs and get knocked out by a Satyrs.�
	�I�m glad he was more worried about our quarry then how hard he had to 
hit a C-5 Pryor,� D�Ract returned the compliment which got a slight blush out of 
J�ene. �So we�re minus one second in command.�
	�Make that minus one CO,� T�Fravea closed the chamber door and walked 
out into the middle of the corridor. �It would seem I�ve been busted and will be 
spending some time on the fringes for a while.�
	�How long is a while?� X�anda asked and got up. Dia padded over to 
T�Fravea and purred around his legs. �They could not have possibly have given 
you life.�
	�A life sentence is a chance for improvement,� J�ene countered, she 
settled her card game and stood. �Where are they dropping you boss?�
	�Signari Charlie Zimal Nine.�
	The entire corridor was quiet.

	�Don�t be afraid,� the Athena told Sapphire. She raised her hands in 
front of her in a peaceful gesture.
	Sapphire tried to slow her hyperventilation. �Who are you!�
	�You don�t remember me?�
	�No.�
	The Athena fluxed for a moment, the pure whiteness turned gray for a 
moment and then back to white. �I see someone has taken away your sight,� the 
Athena replied, a slight cord of sadness in her voice. �Your eyes are closed but 
your not completely blinded.� She took a step forward, slowly. �What do I remind 
you of?�
	�A Huntsman.�
	�Correct, that I am and forever shall be. A Tendor First.�
	�Then switch forms!� Sapphire cursed.
	�If I did the others would know and that is something I can not deal 
with. My race is supposed to be dead just like yours Sapphire. We�re perhaps one 
of a kind.� The Athena stared her down. �Lower your weapon.�
	Sapphire seethed while some thing in her mind surged. She weighted the 
options slowly, this thing could take her down with out breaking a sweat. Her 
weapon was no good. She slowly lowered the weapon and holstered it. �I did 
something you wanted, now you do something I want.�
	�Anything.�
	�Why are you here.�
	The Athena smiled somewhat, if you could call that a smile. �To give you 
a present.�
	Sapphire frowned, her brain began to chug away and the card in her 
pocket came up as the answer. She pulled the card from her pocket and looked at 
it quickly then back up at the Athena. �This?� She asked, a puzzled look on her 
face. �I was told to get here-�
	�And instructions would be waiting for you. Kara Masters was a good 
friend of mine. She told me to give them to you. The card is not from her but 
from me.�
	�So there�s a PO Box somewhere in this universe where you can pick the 
tab for this?� Sapphire gestured the card around until it started to glow. She 
nearly dropped it on the floor. She held onto it while it bubbled and glowed 
until it stopped. The smoke cleared and a door key was in it�s place. Sapphire 
blinked. �What the hell?�
	�It�s a high security card key lock out. Something you should have 
gotten a long time ago, but certain people were afraid of what might happen.� 
The Athena had gotten closer to her while she had watched the card do it�s 
thing. �Some of the answers you are looking for are there.�
	�Where?�
	�Where the card key works.�
	�Where is that?�
	�Here.�
	�Here where?�
	The Athena cocked a slight eye brow. �You�ve got something between those 
furry ears use it.�
	�Your no fun you know that.� Sapphire laughed for a moment then settled 
down and looked at the Athena. �Who are you?� She whispered, something in the 
back of her brain, where the darkest of her memories had begun to stir. She took 
a step back from the giant light bulb and nearly fell onto the deck. �Why me? 
Why not someone else?�
	The Athena tried to find the words, the shifting of colors was a dead 
give away. �It�s your destiny.� She murmured. �Ever since the first day we met.�
	Sapphire swallowed hard as the Athena started to shift forms, the 
brightness fell away as Sapphire backed against the wall once more. She felt her 
heart beat faster and faster while the thing in her mind surface and the person 
in front of her became real and not something in her darkest dreams. Something 
with a name. �Cassi?� Sapphire was on the edge of a break down as the thing in 
her dreams engulfed her and she found herself back on the Callipso��

	The outer doors of the Senate Hall closed and were locked by the guards 
inside. The energy containment field was activated as the guards retired to 
their posts. The crisp night air flowed through the city streets while hover 
cars and other mecha moved by. The high speed roads looped between buildings, 
long necked lamps and high speed billboards went every other as cars and mecha 
went to and from the city. The planets in orbit dot the sky along with the 
stars, small shooting stars move from left to right, up to down. These stars 
were orbiting space craft along with the planet�s defense force.
T�Fravea�s Squad formed out on the second landing of the Hall�s stone steps. 
They all fixed their collars and donned what ever apparel needed to warm 
themselves.
	�Are we being reassigned sir?� D�Ract asked, he shoved his hands into 
his thick furred duster and looked at his former CO.
	�They didn�t mention anything about you,� T�Fravea made a motion to 
encompass the entire group. �I was the one who put a hot coal up their asses.�
	�They deserved it,� J�ene pulled the cap down over her ears, her long 
hair tucked into her coat. �I feel like fire bombing some houses, anyone want to 
come with?� She winked and got a chuckle from all. �I�m heading back to the 
dorms, I have a dinner to make. D ole boy, you want in?� Her eyes smiled at him 
and he nodded.
	�I would take you up on the offer, Lt. Rald, but I have better things to 
do,� a voice replied from the street level. They all turned to see a tall blonde 
haired woman leaning against a hover car. She wore a black jumpsuit and blue 
boots, the jacket she wore had insignia of a group J�ene had been thrown out 
off. The Phantom Riders.
	�Blackstarr,� D�Ract muttered and smiled crookedly. �Didn�t know you sun 
worshipers came out this time of night.� His raised voice made her push off from 
the car and begin to walk up the steps towards them.
	�That�s Captain Carrie Blackstarr, Phantom Rider Elite, Sergeant 
D�Ract,� Carrie Blackstarr�s height threw a shadow over J�ene as she stepped 
onto the second landing. �Most of us have already heard, Captain. Who�s idea was 
it to bring out our trump card so early, eh?�
	�Mine solely,� T�Fravea replied, he slid on his fur lined gloves and 
wrapped his scarf around his neck. �When our trump card decides to take control 
of three of my crew and storm the LZ with them. He should have his powers 
stripped and sent into the ruins.�
	�And I agree,� X�anda replied. She stood at least a good arms length 
away from the Secoian. �Since when does an Ops Squad need a rogue Black Arts 
user?�
	Blackstarr�s eyes narrowed at the Satyrs and a rush of hot air formed 
steam in the night air. �Because I said so and that�s all you need to know.� She 
turned to T�Fravea. �When you have a moment, we need to talk.� She then looked 
at the rest of the Squad and then added. �Alone.�
	�Aye.� He watched her walk back down to her car and slide into the 
driver�s seat. The car activated with her palm print and the engine turned over 
and the lights flamed to life. �I would suggest you all get some sleep, there�s 
going to formal hearing on starting at the beginning of next week. They aren�t 
too pleased with me.� He noted that no one had replied to him because he was 
staring. He turned to face his Squad and noted that either everyone was 
whistling or quickly looked in the other direction. �And no one follow me, 
understood?�
	�Your no fun, you know that?� J�ene faked a salute and pulled D�Ract 
along down the steps and around the building towards her car.

	�What do you mean they knew?�
	�They knew.�
	Captain snorted. �So this is another one of your hunches?�
	�Sapphire is here, so is the cargo, so are me, Brett, Aaron and a few 
more nameless frozen chicken Tendors,� Hitomi made a motion with her arm to mean 
everything around them. �You don�t find this a bit odd? And please tell me it�s 
not true that no one has heard from the Tendor High Command since they lost 
contact with the Flagship.�
	�It�s not true,� Captain replied emotionlessly.
	Hitomi kicked one of the cargo containers with her foot and walked off 
the slight pain. �There goes our hideaway.�
	Captain turned slightly from her crouched position. �You mean you were 
actually going to hide there?�
	�Where do you think I hide out when someone�s looking for me?�
	�I always thought you hid out in the ruins on Charlie Sigma Zimal Nine 
actually.�
	�Once, but you saw how fast that blew up in my face,� Hitomi paced 
slowly in circles while Captain wired the last control panel she needed. Scaly 
hand felt around the surfaces of the panel, long finger nails made little noises 
as they seemed to be testing for current. Captain nodded somewhat and pressed 
her index finger down on a wire and watched as the nail flared up and welded the 
connection into place. For a brief moment the panel surged to life and light 
danced across the gloss of Captain�s helmet. She placed the panel down onto the 
floor and watched it disappear into nothingness. She looked over her shoulder 
and found her gloves. She slid on one and was about to put on the other when it 
hit her.
	She tensed up for a moment and began to slide on the other glove but 
then the wind picked up around her. She snapped her head around, her arm blades 
quickly snapped out and extended completely. The wind swirled around her and 
whispered��
	��her name.
	She caught sight of Hitomi as she jumped back against waist high cargo 
containers the expression on her face one of pure fright.
	�What did you call me!� Captain hissed!
	Hitomi tried to scramble up onto the second layer of container, her head 
shook wildly left to right. �Didn�ttouchathing! Notme! Don�thurtme!� She 
stammered!
	The item in Captain�s holster surged as well but this time spoke to the 
alien in a soft voice. The voice seemed to be work somewhat, Captain stopped in 
her tracks and slowly calmed her breathing. Her eyes still glared at Hitomi who 
had backed up against the second level of containers by now and had pulled her 
knees up to her chin. Her eyes like cup saucers as the rather menacing alien 
turned quickly on her heal and headed towards the door, once she was out of the 
light and back into the darkness her shape shifted into something smaller. The 
shape was still humanoid, wearing what appeared to be knee high boots, civilian 
clothes and leather duster. Hitomi�s nose caught the sniff of Black Arts Magic 
and something else as the sound of the footfalls got father and father away.
And a rather musical voice echoed behind the footfalls. �Usino I�m putting 
Hitomi in charge until I get back, there�s someone I have to pick up.� The 
figure only turned once to make sure Hitomi had moved, she waited only a second 
in the light her eyes focused. �Don�t worry Usino will take good care of you 
until I get back,� the figure disappeared into the light and then that too 
disappeared.
	Thus leaving the now active Artificial Intelligence and Hitomi alone.

	Gustavo waited for the elevator to stop and then watched as the two 
people get off at the shopping level of the Dock. He leaned forward from his 
spot in the back of the car and pressed the button for the buttom level, again. 
He heard the voices of two coupled aliens running for the elevator but he raised 
his security badge and waved them away by showing them what was under his 
duster. The aliens stopped in the tracks and very quickly walked in the 
direction they had just come in. He sighed as the doors closed, and brought the 
riot gun out into the open again.
	He opened the breach and sagged against the back window, the store level 
passed, then the mech bays and then solid rock. Helps if you loaded the damn 
thing before you left, he thought. He closed the breach and punched the computer 
terminal on his right and located the nearest weapon storage closet. The 
computer found one near the stasis bay he was headed for. He counted quickly how 
many of his people he had been able to gather together for this little raiding 
party. Windlily still wasn�t answering his calls and Sage was no where to be 
found.
	Why me? He thought as the lift came to a halt. The level number binged 
and the doors started to open. He frowned, looked up at the number and was about 
to hit the level button he wanted in anger as the doors hissed open and two 
people stood there. His eyes looked up at the two cloaked people as they entered 
the elevator and the doors closed behind them.
	The elevator continued on it�s way down into the bowels of Space Dock 
Baker.

	Sapphire shook herself out of the dream and met Cassi�s eyes. �Can�t be 
you,� her first words were. �You�re dead.� She blinked the tears from her eyes 
and almost fell over but the ghost in her dreams rushed to her side before she 
hit the floor. Sapphire felt her heart beating as Cassi steadied her against the 
bulk head and dusted herself off.
	�I�ve been dead for most of this century,� Cassi counter happily. She 
stretched slightly. She smiled at Sapphire�s expression. �You�d be surprised at 
how well a outdated stasis chamber keeps you fit,� she winked and placed a 
finger on Sapphire�s temple. �I see she did a good job on your memory.�
	�Memories,� Sapphire mrred, she felt a slight pang of anger inside her 
but it was quickly forgotten when a dozen questions entered her mind. �Where�s 
my mother,� was the first and second �Where are the others?�
	Cassi�s expression changed slightly, she swallowed and took a deep 
breath. �I don�t know where your mother is, she was the last one off the ship. 
As for the others, I would think you would have seen them already, no?�
	�Besides Wolf and a few others, I�ve seen no one, zip, nada of anyone 
from the Callipso besides you of course,� she threw her arms around Cassi and 
hugged her. �I�m glad you made it out.� Sapphire didn�t seem Cassi wince 
slightly at that remark, she mearly hugged the blue feline back.
	�Well now,� Sapphire took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. �Where does 
this key fit into?� She looked at Cassi, she frowned when she didn�t answer her. 
�Oh come on, you know I�m horrible at these games,� she looked at the little 
card key and sighed. �You�re not even going to give me a hint are you?�
	Cassi shook her head, slowly. �I�m sorry I can�t. I�m not supposed to 
enter into that realm, not yet anyway.� She hesitated for a full second and 
sucked in her breath. She shuddered for a moment then shifted from the Athena 
and then back to her humanoid form. �Ow that hurt,� she sagged against the 
table.
	�What happened?� Sapphire was at her side the second she was back to her 
normal Tendor form.
	�Defense system, proximity detection alarm. She�s here.� Cassi 
controlled her breathing. �You have to go now.�
	�Who�s here?� Sapphire shook her head, it was bad enough with her 
memories coming back but this was too much too quick. �What the hell is going 
on?�
	�My Keeper, she�s here. Get yourself and the cargo out of here, now!� 
Cassi gather enough strength to stand on her own and prepared her self for 
another transformation. She was about to close her eyes when she saw Sapphire 
still standing next to her. �Didn�t you hear me, get out of here,� she hissed.

	Up in Gustavo�s office the security camera for Keeper�s Inc. fluxed for 
a moment, a wash of snow across the screen as someone stepped into the store. 
The person in a leather duster took one look at the camera and-

	�I�m not going to leave you,� Sapphire put her hand on Cassi�s shoulder 
and a millisecond later Cassi�s hand whipped up, grabbed Sapphire�s hand and 
gripped it a little too firmly. Sapphire�s surprised expression was met by 
Cassi�s fiery white eyes. �Wha?�
	�I told you once nicely, now if you don�t move your blue furry ass out 
of here I�ll escort you our personally!� Cassi�s form began to flux slowly. It 
began around her eyes and slowly started to drip down like water onto the rest 
of her body. �Go find the others and get the hell out of here. NOW!� The 
transformation was complete and Cassi�s grip truly started to hurt. Her white 
glowing hand burned Sapphire�s skin making the Tigress jerk her hand back.
	Sapphire nearly walked backwards and tripped over her duffel bag. She 
hurriedly grabbed the bag then the key and yanked the door open. She felt her 
heart beat faster as she turned to the left only for a moment then turned right 
and began to run. She slid the key into one of her vest pockets and got the 
duffel�s shoulder strap onto her shoulder as she broke into a dead run. She 
vaulted over a few cargo containers and made a bee line for the back door of the 
store. She only looked over her shoulder once as the foot falls of boots echoed 
in the tomb, the boots stopped at the door where the light was the brightest.


	To be continued.....

	phantomr@sprynet.com