The Ramarian Crisis
By DarkHorse

Chapter 3: Secrets and Suspicions

*Green Bank, West Virginia, United States*


  Just like many before her, Joan Rumsen preferred to listen to
interstellar radio waves outdoors instead of indoors. And so
there she was lying on the grass, her hands behind her head,
just outside the SETI Institute with her heavy duty but very
comfortable earphones connected to a receiver, which in turn
was tuned into the transmitters found inside the National
Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia,
home of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Institute since the late 1960's. To a casual observer, Joan
would be dismissed as one of those tree-hugging, hippie
wannabes trying to be one with nature, instead of what she
really was, which was a reputed astrophysicist by occupation
and an exobiologist by vocation.

  Joan has always been fascinated by the possibility of
extraterrestrial life. She had all the arguments that
supported this possibility so that everybody who knew her
knew they would never win a debate with her. She was even
featured once on the Discovery Channel to give her expert
opinion about the subject. Joan smiled at the memory but
immediately frowned when she remembered the number of calls
she got shortly afterwards from crackpots and the so-called
New Age Movement members. What a nuisance they could be! The
real good thing about that exposure, she remembered with a
smile again, was that SETI did receive a sizable
contribution to its research that should keep it alive for
the next few years. Because of this, she had an almost
"child of god" status that allowed her to do--

  With a shriek Joan ripped the headphones off her head and
bent over, her hands cupping her ears, her eyes squeezed
shut. In spite of the pain, Joan shakily got to her feet and
screamed: "Bill!!!"

  Inside the building, Bill Winters heard Joan screaming
his name. Fearing the worst, he dashed outside to where he
knew Joan usually monitored the waves. When he got there he
saw Joan holding her head with her left hand, groping her
way towards the building with her right hand extended.

  "My God, Joan. What happened!?" Bill rushed to Joan's
side to support her.

  Joan's response was to hold Bill's head on either side to
hold it steadily facing her. With eyes still squeezed shut,
she uttered the words that everyone at SETI has always
wanted to hear: "I got a signal."

                          * * * * *

  Rogo, Grat, Crata and Dasma were seated around the large
round table in their rented Tokyo apartment. The table was
cluttered with a cornucopia of various electronic equipment,
more than half of which would not be recognizable by even
the most brilliant of Earth's rocket scientists. However,
none of the four were focused on their state-of-the-art
computers but at each other. They were heavily into the
discussion of what they've discovered about the three girls
they've been staking out the past week.

  "These girls seem to lead very normal lives," opined Grat
after a pause in the discussion.

  "Not really that normal," Dasma offered. "These girls
seem to have more extracurricular activities of a �martial'
nature than what would be deemed as normal for girls their
age. For example, this Hikaru Shidou is a state champion in
kendo; Umi Ryuuzaki is captain of her school's fencing team;
and finally, Fuu Hououji is on her school's archery team."

  "Have they been emitting power?" Rogo directed his
question to the team's chief technology expert.

  "Not in the same intensity that we saw last week but
definitely still higher than normal," Crata replied. There
was another pause around the table, each member deep in
thought. "Do you really think it was a wormhole these girls
created?" Crata finally asked.

  "What else could it be?" Rogo answered without looking
up. He was about to offer additional comment when the
computer on another table came to life. As one, the team
turned to look at it, its significance initially failing to
register in its collective awareness. Finally, Rogo turned
back to the computer in front of him and punched a key.
Rogo's eyes, which normally were always expressionless, were
now wide with surprise.

  "What is it, Rogo?" Grat asked, looking intently at the
team's leader. As a reply, the computer each of them had in
front of them came to life revealing the same information
Rogo had.

  "Looks like we're about to receive reinforcements," Rogo
announced blandly.

  "They're sending Lam," Grat said with dismay. "That could
only mean one thing." Grat turned to look at the other three
in turn. In a few days, their expeditionary team will turn
into an assault team.

                          * * * * *

  At the far end of the dojo, Satoru Shidou breathed
heavily, holding his shinai in a two handed grip in front
of him. Across the dojo was his baby sister, Hikaru,
standing erect, her shinai held by her left hand pointing
downward and away from him. Watching them were Masaru and
Kakeru, his two other younger brothers.

  The sparring match was at Satoru's insistence to prepare
Hikaru for the upcoming Kendo state match for her age level.
She was currently the reigning champion, as all the Shidous
were in their respective age levels. It was a foregone
conclusion that each of the siblings would want to keep it
that way. So it came as a surprise to the three brothers
that it took a whole lot of cajoling and persuasion to
convince their only sister to register for the competition.
It also took an unusually abundant amount of energy to get
her to practice.

  The practice itself was a different story. Hikaru seemed
to get into it with gusto. Usually, it was the two younger
brothers who sparred with their red-haired sister. But after
regaling Satoru with the latter's prowess, well, Satoru just
had to see for himself. None of them, of course, were able
to beat him in the past.

  Facing Hikaru now, Satoru was realizing something else.
Although her face was covered with the traditional men, it
was clear that she wasn't breathing heavily the way he was.
He even had the sneaky suspicion that Hikaru wasn't even
giving him her all. They had been sparring for five minutes
already, with neither one scoring any points. *I guess the
kid gloves come off now*, Satoru thought. His eyes narrowed,
not with anger or frustration, but with determination he
usually reserved for opponents he face in national
competitions, he charged.

  Masaru and Kakeru were startled by the kiai coming from
their elder brother. They quickly turned to Hikaru and
noticed that she had not changed from the "resting" position
to the "defensive" position. It took all their will power to
keep from jumping up and stopping Satoru. He had reached the
point of no return, the point where if Hikaru doesn't move
to defend, Satoru would not be able to stop the downward
strike of his shinai causing serious harm to their sister.

  Then all of a sudden, at the last possible second, in a
blur of white, moving in speeds none of the three brothers
thought possible for a human, Hikaru parried the blow that
would have cracked an unprotected skull, and launched
herself into the air, twisted then landed behind Satoru, her
shinai pointed forward, touching the middle of his back.

  "Point," said Hikaru as she lowered her shinai.
  
  For several heartbeats, nothing else was heard until
  
  Satoru finally turned to face Hikaru, slowly removing his
men as he did so. Hikaru followed suit and likewise removed
her mask to reveal her triumphant grin.

  *Well at least she's her old self again*, mused Satoru. As
he earlier suspected, Hikaru wasn't even sweating!

  "So, little lady, do you mind telling me what that was
all about?" Satoru asked.

  "Yeah, Hikaru, where did you learn to move so fast?"
Masaru interjected.

  "I must say though, that was a pretty neat trick," Kakeru
chimed.

  All three looked at Hikaru waiting for an answer.
Hikaru's smile disappeared. "Well, I've practicing on my
own," answered Hikaru, giving a nonchalant air that was as
fake as the shinai they use.
  
   Satoru gazed into the sienna brown eyes of his sister,
testing its depths, trying to extract the mysteries they
obviously held. The intense scrutiny made Hikaru
uncomfortable, causing her to lower her head. She,
therefore, did not catch Satoru give the other brothers a
glance, which clearly meant that he wanted to talk to Hikaru
alone. Hikaru sensed the departure of her brothers, making
her look up at Satoru, apprehension on her face.

  "Elder brother?"
  
  "Please," Satoru smiled gently and gestured that they sit
down. Hikaru did so, tucking her knees under her and placing
both her shinai and men on her right side. Satoru did the
same, their knees almost touching.

  "Hikaru," Satoru began. "I would just like you to know
that I'm extremely glad that you are your old self and not
the Hikaru that I found sitting here alone that day after
your field trip to Tokyo Tower. Ever since that day though,
I, together with your brothers, have noticed�certain
changes."

  "Elder brother--" Hikaru began but Satoru raised his
hand.

  "Please, let me finish." Satoru said, lowering his hand.
"I'm not angry at all. These changes are all good. Your
teachers at school have nothing but praises for you. You
were already a good student then but even more so now."

  Satoru looked slightly up at the ceiling, as if trying to
remember something, before looking down at Hikaru once more.
"Aside from these...physical changes, including your prowess
in Kendo, there are some very subtle changes in you too.
You've...matured. These are all very good things. Masaru,
Kakeru and I are extremely proud of you, you know that.

  "Hikaru, if you really wanted to keep whatever secret you
have, you wouldn't have done what you just did earlier."

  Hikaru, who was looking down on her hands, finally looked
up and found Satoru patiently waiting for a response. "Elder
brother," Hikaru began then looked down at her hands, which
were now gripping the white material of the gi on her knees.
"I do have something to tell you but..." Hikaru looked up at
her eldest brother, the one who practically raised her. "I
just don't think now is the right time."

  Satoru sighed inaudibly. All Shidous have stubborn
streaks in them and Hikaru was certainly no exception. It
would only be a waste of energy to try to pry it out of his
sister. Satoru reached out and planted a hand on her
shoulder. "Hikaru, I have always trusted you. And," Satoru
had a conspiratorial gleam in his eye. "Between the two of
us, I trust you more than I trust Masaru and Kakeru." That
earned him a chuckle from Hikaru, something he was aiming
for.

  "Anyway, as I was saying," Satoru continued. "I know you
will do the right thing."

  "Thank you, Elder Brother," Hikaru's eyes became misty.
  
  "One piece of advice though," Satoru leaned forward a
bit. "That point you got earlier was no point at all. Don't
do that during the tournament."

  Hikaru smiled brightly. "Well, I suppose I should leave
you to do what it is you usually do in this dojo when you're
alone." Satoru winked as he said that, teasing his little
sister.

  "Whatever do you mean, Elder Brother?" Hikaru said a tad
too innocently. Satoru chuckled at that on his way out.
Hikaru watched the receding form of her brother and sighed.
She will have to tell her brothers soon. There was no way
she would be able to hide her secret for long.

  After awhile, she stood. Closing her eyes, she scanned
her surroundings making sure that there was no one to
witness what she was about to do. Satisfied, she allowed her
power to come to fore. She stretched her arms outwards, palm
forward. Immediately, Hikaru began to glow. Liquid fire
began to encompass her whole being. Rays of light began to
burn through her gi until in one instant she was a blinding
light. Gradually, her glow subsided. Where before she
wearing a white gi, now she was in a body suit with patterns
of red and white resembling fire all over. On both her
wrists and forearms were white bracers. She also had on
white calve-high boots. On her head was the Cephirean Crown
of the Pillar.

  Hikaru opened her eyes, looked down at herself and
grinned. "Alright!" She had been experimenting with this for
the past few days and she discovered she could change her
outfit at a whim. It was, in fact, getting easier and
easier. After preening some more, Hikaru was ready for
business.

  She turned to face the wall farthest from her. After
taking a deep breath, she burst into a run heading straight
for the wall. She was total blur of red and white, almost
like the Flame Arrow spell she casts. At the last possible
second before hitting, she planted a foot upwards and began
scaling the wall at a run. She did the same when upon
reaching the ceiling and exhilarated at the fact that she
was now running upside down. She could only do it with a few
steps until gravity took hold. She allowed herself to fall
straight down, hands to the side, feet pointed upwards. Once
again, at the last possible second, she stretched her hands
over her head, allowing the fingers of her hands to break
her fall. The moment she felt the floor touch her middle
fingers, she tucked her head inwards, smoothly rolling on
her neck and back until she was back on her feet and
breaking into another high speed run towards another wall.
When she reached that wall, she twisted a bit, planting a
foot on the wall and broke into a run across the length of
the wall. Again, she could only do this for a few meters
before allowing the forces of gravity to take hold. Back on
the floor, she started to cartwheel, then tumble hand over
feet until she reached the very center of the dojo. Once
there, she executed a somersault and a twist before landing
with feline grace on her feet.

  The whole exercise took less than a minute. Hikaru
smiled. It was indeed getting easier and easier. She was
hardly winded at all! Hikaru stretched out her hand, palm
up. In another burst of otherworldly fire, her Flame Sword
appeared. The broad sword she now held firmly in her hand
never ceased to amaze her. As heavy as it looked, it was
truly light as a feather. She swung it once forwards and
backwards, slicing it through the air. The sound it made was
sonorous and musical to Hikaru's ears.

  She spent the next several minutes going through Kendo
exercises with her sword. At last, satisfied that she has
done her part to keep in top form, she dismissed her sword
and suit. After putting away her shinai and men, she walked
to the center of the dojo and knelt once more.

  Closing her eyes, Hikaru thought of the two people she
knew who were close by, who could provide her with the
comfort and advice she needed. "Umi. Fuu." After a few
moments, she smiled seeing with her mind's eye the faces of
her best friends responding to her call.

  "Hey Hikaru!"
  
  "Hello Miss Hikaru. Is everything alright?"
  
  "Yes," Hikaru said, smiling serenely. "Everything's
alright now."

                          * * * * *
                              
  It was the day of Umi's fencing tournament. That fencing
tournament she had lamented about that first day she found
herself in a strange world. Umi had just finished giving her
team the expected pep talk and was pacing back and forth.
She was waiting for her best friends to arrive. It wasn't
that she was nervous. It was more that she wanted to them to
be there with her. The more she thought about it, the more
she realized that she was not worried about the tournament
at all. Her many adventures in Cephiro had equipped her with
both the confidence and skill she knew was needed to emerge
triumphant in today's match.

  She smiled as she thought back to the last seven days
since she had come back from Cephiro. It was if time hadn't
moved at all and she actually had those seven days to even
practice for this very match. Much to the surprise of her
teammates, she didn't immerse herself in practicing for her
own match. Instead, she used all of those days to help
prepare her teammates, coaching them to perfection. The
typical Umi would mostly just hone her own skills to ensure
her personal victory, not so much caring for the overall
performance of the team. That she had deviated from her norm
was a totally unexpected if not welcome change for her
teammates. *Another thing to be thankful about Cephiro I
guess*, thought Umi.

  "Umi!!" cried both Hikaru and Fuu. Umi whipped around and
happily ran to her best friends, hugging them tightly.

  "Hikaru! Fuu!" cried Umi, tears of happiness threatening
to spill. "I'm so happy you made it!"

  "Hey we wouldn't miss it for the world!" Hikaru said
enthusiastically, stepping back to examine her statuesque
friend. "Wow Umi, you look cool in that outfit."

  "You think so?" Umi pirouetted for her friends in a
exaggerated way making all of them laugh.

  "So Miss Umi, are you ready? Nervous?" Fuu asked.
  
  "Not at all Fuu. After battling monsters, not to mention
Tarta and Tatra, this should be a piece of cake." Umi
declared confidently.

  "Don't overdo it though," warned Hikaru. "I mean you
wouldn't want anybody asking questions about your
extraordinary skill or something."

  "Don't worry. I'll remember that."
  
  "Miss Umi, what kind of fencing tournament will this be?"
asked Fuu looking around the competition area.

  "What do you mean what kind of fencing tournament,"
Hikaru looked at Fuu puzzled.

  It was Umi who supplied the answer. "This will be an �p�e
fencing tournament. There are three kinds but this is the
hardest because the entire body is a target."

  "As opposed to..." Hikaru looked at Umi, waiting for her to
finish her sentence.

  "As opposed to, say, foil fencing where only the area
between the neck and stomach are targets." Umi positioned
one hand palm down under her chin, while the other hand was
palm up against her stomach to illustrate the target area.

  Fuu began to smile at Umi's explanation. Umi looked at
her, puzzled. "Why are you smiling, Fuu?"

  "Well, Miss Umi, you think �p�e fencing is harder because
there is more of your body that you will need to defend."

  "So?"
  
  Hikaru was grinning by this time, already getting the
reason for Fuu's smile. "She means that you've not been very
good at defense!"

  Umi pouted her cute pout. "Well, I guess we'll just have
to see about that." At that moment, a voice on the PA
announced that the tournament was about to begin. Umi turned
to her friends. "You can seat here beside me."

  "Are you sure about that Miss Umi?"
  
  "Yeah, I'm the captain of the team after all." Umi smiled
proudly.

  Presently, the voice on the PA announced the participants
for the first bout. Umi stood to talk to the first member of
her team that will compete. Hikaru and Fuu watched her
friend proudly. Shortly after, their attention, together
with those of others in the stadium, were drawn to the
competition area to watch the first bout.
  
                          * * * * *

    There was another one that watched among the spectators
crowding the school stadium. Dasma, who was seated at the
very top of the bleachers, did not need binoculars to zoom
in onto the competition or onto the three girls she was
tasked to watch. *Those girls seem to be really close*,
thought the slender, blonde woman.

  To keep herself from being too obvious, she did watch the
competition every now and then. It appeared that human
beings also engaged in war games. However, this particular
type of game seemed utterly puny. What good are those thin
swords in actual combat? And why limit the fighting in a
tiny strip of floor area? She wondered for the umpteenth
time why they didn't just go ahead and invade this planet.
Then again, she remembered, for the umpteenth time also, the
answer to that particular question: the three girls.

  Dasma was herself an accomplished fighter. Able to wield
the trama, a double sword connected to a single hilt, with
skill very few in the battle group that was left of her
civilization could equal. That she was later discovered by
the scientist Higon to have the aptitude for higher learning
was an unexpected advantage. Here, today, was an opportunity
to prove herself; to provide for herself a singular
distinction her parents before her were unable to attain for
themselves. She would make sure that the opportunity would
not go to waste.

  Dasma willed herself out of her reverie to pay attention
to the tournament. It looked like it was the young Umi
Ryuuzaki's turn to compete. She knew that this young girl
was the captain of the team. This probably meant that she
was the most skilled of the others. This she would have to
see. After all, there could very well be an encounter
between the two of them. Although, this Ryuuzaki girl would
have to find a more suitable weapon than the thin sword she
now held.

  The two combatants were now on the on-guard position. The
opponent was the first the lunged but was easily parried by
Ryuuzaki. The opponent lunged again but from a different
angle. Ryuuzaki parried and gave a thrust on her own, which
resulted in a score as the tip of her sword touched the
center of the opponent's chest. Dasma was suitably impressed
for the girl Ryuuzaki was fast and light on her toes.

  Once again, both combatants took up their on-guard
position. The opponent, apparently more determined this
time, lunged and thrust with gusto causing Ryuuzaki to fall
back. Emboldened, the opponent charged and lunged forward.
The Ryuuzaki girl should have easily parried this. Instead,
the tip of the opponent's sword succeeded in making contact.
The score was now tied. Dasma knew that the first combatant
to score five points won.

  In the next round, it was Ryuuzaki who scored. The next
it was her opponent. On and on it was until the score was
tied at four points each. It was clear to Dasma that
Ryuuzaki was downplaying her skill. If she were into
gambling, she would have bet her entire money down on
Ryuuzaki for this final round.

  And she would have won.

                          * * * * *

  Umi smiled behind her facemask. This was too easy. To be
sure, her opponent, a girl named Masato, was good, the best
in their school in fact. But she was not a Tatra. It was, in
fact, more difficult to downplay her moves to allow her
opponent to score. But now that the score is all tied, it
was time to win the bout.

  Her opponent, ever the aggressive one, lunged. Another
opponent might have paled at the skill and speed by which
the attack was executed. To Umi, it all appeared in slow
motion. She easily countered it with a *stop-thrust* counter
stroke, which connected right at the center of her
opponent's chest. The score indicator buzzed indicating the
end of the bout, and the end of the tournament. She won but
more importantly, her whole team won!

  Umi lifted her facemask and turned to see her jubilant
teammates rushing to her for a victory hug.

  "Umi you did it!"
  
  "Three cheers for Umi!"
  
  All around, she could see the happy faces of her
classmates, friends and even caught a glimpsed of her
parents beaming with pride. But the faces she wanted to see,
which appeared presently in her scope, were those of Hikaru
and Fuu. Hikaru was jumping up and down in her usual
exuberance; Fuu, always composed, had her hands clasped
together in front of her and smiling brightly.

  Umi excused herself from the spontaneous celebration to
run to her best friends. Upon reaching them, the Magic
Knights clasped arms, basking in victory.

  "You were great Umi!" Hikaru exclaimed. "Although it was
quite obvious the way you allowed the other girl to score."

  "I'm sure you were the only one who noticed, Miss
Hikaru," Fuu noted.

  "Well, although I'm happy we won, I'm not so sure I
should continue competing," Umi said with a twinge of
sadness.

  "I understand perfectly how you feel," Hikaru said. Both
Umi and Fuu knew about their leader's upcoming Kendo match.

  "I suggest we just enjoy the moment," offered Fuu. "We
will deal with these other issues later."

  "Agreed!" Umi announced for both Hikaru and herself.
  
  Hikaru was smiling at her two friends when, for some
reason, her attention was drawn to the bleachers where a
blonde woman was intently watching them. Other than the hair
color, her features were indistinguishable because of the
distance. Nevertheless, Hikaru knew who that woman was. As
she always suspected, they were being watched.

                          * * * * *
  
  With a groan, Joan Rumsen threw herself back against the
backrest of her swivel chair. She held her head up towards
the ceiling and started massaging her temple with one hand.
She was exhausted. The longest sleep she had was for three
hours and that was two days ago. She thought that if she
closed her eyes for just a few seconds, she would be able to
continue. It was a mistake of course because closing her
eyes for those few seconds made her want to keep them closed
for another two hours. With another groan, she straightened
herself to face her computer anew.

  Joan's ears have long since recovered from her discovery
of extraterrestrial intelligence the painful way two days
ago. So she didn't have trouble hearing Bill's voice calling
to her.

  "Joan, are you still in there?" Bill's face finally
caught up with his voice as it emerged to peek into the
computer lab. "Jesus, Joan," Bill breathed. "There are
better and faster ways of killing yourself."

  Joan had to laugh at that. "You're a hoot Bill."
  
  "The people at NSA are already analyzing the signal,"
Bill said as he walked towards her until he was behind her.
Without warning he spun her swivel chair to face him, away
from the computer.

  "Dammit Bill! You know I hate it when someone disturbs my
train of thought," Joan moaned in frustration, trying to pry
Bill's evil grip from her chair. "Let go!"

  "Joan," Bill was now squatting down so that his eyes were
at level with hers. "Do you think you can do more here with
your puny Pentium 5 computer than the people at NSA can with
their Super Cray?"

  "Well, they don't know what I know."
  
  "Uh huh, yeah sure," said Bill mockingly. Joan merely
glowered at her colleague. "I know what this is all about
Joan. You know what your problem is?"

  Joan's eyes narrowed. "No, but I'm sure you're going to
tell me."

  "You've got some kind of star complex."
  
  "Oh, I have star complex!" Joan raised her hands in the
air, rolling her eyes. "That's really brilliant Einstein.
You think that I'm doing this just for the credit."

  "Are you telling me that you're not?"
  
  "Listen Bill, you've got some nerve--" Joan never
finished her sentence as her computer began to beep
incessantly.

  "What the hell is that?"
  
  Joan turned her chair to face the computer. "Oh my God."
  
  "What!?"
  
  "I think I might have decoded the message."
  
  "Oh c'mon, stop pulling my leg."
  
  "No, really! Look!" Joan punched a key. The message that
appeared on the screen made the blood on Bill's face drain
away.

--------------------
NEXT:
Chapter 4 - Reinforcements

--------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Some more definitions:

Shinai - Bamboo sword used in Kendo.
Men - Facemask, also used in Kendo.
Kiai - Explosive sound cried out during Kendo matches intended to
inspire courage in the utterer and fear in the opponent.

C&C are very welcome. Please e-mail them to
darkhrse0714@yahoo.com

--------------------
DISCLAIMER:
Magic Knight Rayearth and all the characters in that
anime/manga are properties of CLAMP.  These are used here
without permission.


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