Before I get into this and let all you nice folks read
this, I suppose a few question have arisen. First
off... Where the heck have I been? Truth be told, I've
been everywhere. I've finally gotten around to sorting
my life out, and I'm feeling _GREAT_ about myself.
Over the past seven months, I've lost nearly seventy
pounds, finally moved out on my OWN, and become
generally a much happier person. My writing has
suffered, but I am going to make that up. :)
Hence, the teaser.
Anyway, since it's been so long since I've written
anything, I thought I'd send this out and see if
there's any interest in it. I don't have much written,
just what you see, but if there's enough interest in
it, I'll continue it.
Anyway, ttyl!
****
Ranma 1/2 and all of its characters and
situation are property of Rumiko Takahashi. I use
these characters and situations without permission.
Consequence of Believing
By Kyle Emmerson
Chapter One: Right Behind You
****
Night was a veil. A dark, ochre tarp that covered the
landscape for as far as the eye could see. For the
criminal element, it was an alibi. For children, it
was filled with both fears and wondrous dreams. But
for some, night held no purpose. For some, it meant
nothing but just the time where the sun hides behind
the opposite sides of the Earth, and that was it.
For Kahna DeLorius, it was the point of entry. The
specific point, would have been several kilometers
over the east coast of a large island located just
southeast of the world^�s largest landmass. But that
wasn^�t her concern at the moment. At that specific
time, she was focused more upon other activities.
Namely, survival.
"Justive, I need a damage report," she barked into
nowhere. There was nobody else around, in the physical
sense. In the spiritual sense? That was still under
much consideration, not just by her, but by the
council of Parse, Kahna^�s home-world.
"We^�ve lost nearly ninety percent of our aft
shielding, but fore shielding is mainly intact.
Inertial dampers are struggling to hold on, but that^�s
not our main concern," her wrist-watch, if it could be
called a wrist-watch informed her.
Justive was a state-of-the-art personal ^�assistant^�.
Not a true, physical being, but one made purely of
data. But, unlike conventional data, this data was
sentient. Justive, as he was named, preferred to be
known as a symbiote. A being that latches on to
another for survival, but gives his ^�host^� an
advantage. He had a personality, hobbies, and was even
capable of reproduction, so long as certain supplies
were provided. He was essentially human.
"And our main concern?"
"Our rate of descent is far too great for our current
engine power to withstand. We^�re going to crash."
"And you choose to tell me this NOW?"
"It didn^�t seem to be a problem before we were
attacked."
"Great, just when you think you^�re out of the frying
pan^� So how do we put out this fire?"
"I see two options that are available to us that
wouldn^�t draw the attention of too many Earthers, and
prevent the destruction of the ship."
"And they are?"
"Turn off the inertial dampers and reroute power to
shielding," Justive announced.
"You^�re nuts. We^�d become road waffles once we hit
the water and you know it," Kahna sighed, watching the
rapidly approaching surface of the ocean. Off in the
distance, she could see the lights of a large city.
"The second option involves igniting the Dross Ore,"
Justive continued. "But while it may not draw the
attention of the Earthers^�"
"We^�ve got no way of telling what it would do to
their physiology. We^�re not here to hurt them,
Justive."
"Then I suggest we go with option one. It would be
the most intelligent course of action."
"How the hell are we going to help them if we^�re
dead, Justive?" Kahna barked.
"Did I forget to mention that this ship came equipped
with an escape bubble?"
Kahna blinked. "I despise your sense of humor,
Justive," she said, scowling.
"I had thought you^�d known," Justive said,
innocently.
Kahna ignored him for the moment, and quickly pressed
a barrage of buttons on the console before her. "Okay,
escape velocity?"
"Six hundred and fifty-three," Justive replied.
Kahna set the velocity and sat back in her chair. As
the blue field erupted around her, she thought of
something.
"Justive?"
"Yes?"
"This model of escape bubble DID have portable
dampers, right?"
"Oh dear," Justive announced.
Before Kahna could reply, the ceiling opened up for a
brief moment and sucked Kahna, Justive and the chair
she sat in through it at an incredibly rapid speed.
Kahna was jerked with tremendous force, enough force
that no human being could withstand, it was like tying
a rope around your waist and hooking the other end to
a bullet train.
Fortunately, Kahna was no human being. All she felt
was a few moments of discomfort as her eyeballs nearly
fell back into her stomach, following her intestines
down to her feet.
"The next time you do that, I^�m finding a new SPM
unit," Kahna warned.
"As if you could find one as charming as me," Justive
taunted. "Besides, we did make it out alive."
Kahna watched from her chair high above the ocean as
it hovered in place, to the ship she had used to reach
Earth as it crashed into the ocean with amazing force.
The impact sent large waves spreading out in all
directions.
"Did it make it?" she asked.
"For the most part. The shields managed to protect
the hull as it splashed down, but there is too little
power now for it to be retrieved later," Justive said.
"So you^�re saying we^�re stuck here?"
"Perhaps I miscalculated a little," he replied.
"If I have to go back up there in one of the Earther
shuttles, I swear I^�ll throw a hissy-fit," Kahna said,
scowling.
"Too late," Justive said.
"Hardy-har-har, Mr. Scrap Data," Kahna said, the
looked toward the city in the distance. "We^�d better
make the best of it for now. Better to lay low for a
little while, you think?"
"Perhaps," Justive replied. "That city might not be
the best place to set down. Too many Earther eyes."
Kahna nodded in agreement. "Maybe the outskirts?"
"There are several outlying suburbs," Justive said,
examining his data. "Perhaps it would be best to land
there."
"And find something to eat, wouldn^�t you say?"
"Your feed is my feed, Kahna."
"Oh, shush. All I have to do is breathe and you^�re
fed."
"True, but better to keep you breathing for some
time, lest I become a deactivated scrap of sentient
data, wouldn^�t you agree?"
Kahna shrugged. "Let^�s just go before I get too
hungry."
"In the middle of a galactic conspiracy, and she
still thinks of food," Justive muttered.
"A girl^�s gotta eat!"
****
Akane stared with wonder into the night^�s sky from
her bedroom window. The night was beautiful, even with
the ambient light that Nerima managed to provide. But
still, she had quite a light show earlier. Shooting
stars galore, some brighter than others. Some red,
some blue, some green. Still, they were beautiful.
"Ow, Pop! Quit it!"
"Growf!"
Now if only the noise could be kept to a minimum,
then it would be a REALLY nice night. Akane knew that
Ranma often slept on the roof from time to time, but
he was usually quiet about it.
"Would you two keep it DOWN up there?"
A moment of silence. ^�There,^� Akane thought smugly,
then turned back into her room.
"What, you blaming this on me? It^�s the old fool!
Sneaking up on a guy like that! Jeez!"
"Growf!"
"I don^�t care about your stupid training exercise!
It^�s harassment! Nothing more!"
Akane could have been patient. She could have
shrugged it off, or she could have just ignored it.
But then, Akane Tendo was never known for patience.
It took her all of two moments to grab a bucket of
water from the bathroom, and find her way to the roof
from outside. Ranma and his father were in the middle
of another round of ^�let^�s wake up the Tendos!^� and
she, for one, was not going to put up with it^� Even if
she wasn^�t really asleep at the time.
"Go to BED!" she exclaimed, then let the water fly. A
moment later, the fighting subsided, and a very wet,
female Ranma stood staring at Akane, with a very
not-amused look on her face. His father, on the other
hand, simply stood there, staring dumbly at Akane. A
moment later a sign was in his hand, which read: ^�I
was already wet, you know.^�
"Maybe now you^�ll learn to let people SLEEP!"
"You weren^�t sleeping, you dumb tomboy!" Ranma
challenged.
"Oh? And how do YOU know, you Jerk?" Akane shot back.
"Because I was loo^�" Ranma caught herself^� but from
the look on Akane^�s face, the damage had been done.
"You were SPYING on me, you PERVERT!"
And so ended another peaceful night in Nerima.
****
"Hmm^� well, this is interesting," Justive stated in
mid-flight.
"What? You find something I can eat?"
"You wish," Justive said. "No, just^� Strange.
According to my data, the Earthers aren^�t supposed to
have Gene Manipulation technology, correct?"
"Of course not," Kahna said. "They^�re still fiddling
around with cloning."
"Well, I just picked up a massive working of gene
manipulation in the vicinity. It^�s^� jarring, there^�s
something about it that I can^�t quite place in my
databanks."
"What is it?"
"Well, if I knew, I wouldn^�t have just told you I
didn^�t, would I?"
"Get bent," Kahna said. "I don^�t like sarcasm."
"I don^�t like stupidity," Justive shot back.
Kahna and Justive had a great working relationship.
"But seriously, can you make anything out?"
"Not much. Just a massive release of pheromones that
are usually related to gene manipulation, but^� they
seem natural for some reason."
"Natural?"
"As in, not artificial?"
"I know what natural means, you waste of circuits,"
Kahna growled. "I meant, what did you mean by it."
"Well, it^�s almost as if the manipulation was from^�
natural causes. I^�ve never come across a NATURAL gene
manipulation before."
"Is it worth checking out?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps the source of this anomaly might
not be an Earther. He^� or she may be able to help us
retrieve the ship."
"Are your scanners picking up anything edible?" Kahna
asked.
"Oh, get off it."
****
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