Here's the next chapter.  I've decided to send out the chapters
singly, since it makes the chunks smaller and hopefully easier to read.
If you haven't been following along, this is a sequel to SM: Gray.
Previous chapters of this, plus all of Gray, are available at
http://bloodgod.pc.cc.cmu.edu/smgray/index.html.  If something doesn't
work for you, drop me a line.

Django Wexler (khaine)
khaine@mindless.com

	"He has issues, doesn't he?"
        "Every single one since September '78."
        -Goats



As usual, I appreciate any and all C&C, even if it's "Why are you
wasting time writing some bizarre Sailor Moon space opera?"  (Answer:
Eh.  =))

Chapter Three
     Ami         
 

     I ducked through the hatchway just ahead of the storm of laser
fire.  The low rumble of the rifles matched the appearance of points of
white-hot metal on the other door of the lock.

     "Kyn, come *on*!"

     She bolted down the corridor on all fours, but when she reached the
airlock she stood up in plain view as though having one's head reduced
to superheated goo was something that only happened to other people.  I
grabbed her by the back of the collar and yanked her out of the line of
fire before smashing the emergency lock release with my other hand.  The
outer door shot closed on its track, and for a moment the thunder of
lasers stabbed at it uselessly.  Once the inner door opened, I ran
inside, tossing the catgirl sideways onto the couch.

     "Wheeee!"  Kyn landed on her head -- of course -- and bounced
upward.  "That was fun!"

     "From that comment and the weapons currently impacting on my outer
hull, I assume we're leaving?"  Zel's voice came from nowhere.

     I slid into the control seat.  "Right.  Don't bother talking to
dock control."

     "Do we ever?"

     Letting the computer's sarcastic comments slide off my back had
become second nature.  A moment later, I heard the pops of the airlock
disengaging, and we were away.

     "Cylinders at thirty percent and climbing.  We'll reach null in two
minutes, and cruising speeds five minutes after that."

     "Thanks."  I leaned back in the chair, letting leather and wood
take up my weight.  "So much for that experiment."

     Kyn popped her head up next to me.  "Good!  That station was boring
anyway until they started shooting at us.  Why do we always leave just
when things are getting fun?"

     I put my head to one side to look at her.  Kyn was shorter than me
by a good six inches, with a mop of blue hair, huge green eyes, and
expressive feline ears that twitched whenever she was excited.  The same
went for her tail, which was currently lashing back and forth.

     "Why'd they get so mad at us, anyway?"  Kyn put on her 'puzzled'
expression, and I had to force my voice to be calm.

     "You ate the ambassador!"

     Her tail stood up straight.  "I did not eat him!"

     Zel cut in.  "Only because he was too fast for you."

     "He was *not* too fast for me!  I was just playing with him."

     "Apparently they didn't appreciate it."  I shook my head.  "Oh
well.  Another two weeks of negotiation down the tubes.  It was a pretty
good deal we were working on, too..."

     There was a sniff from beside me; Kyn seemed to be on the verge of
tears.

     "A...Are you mad at me, Oneesama?"

     I sighed and ruffled her hair.  "No, not really.  You were right.
That place was kind of boring anyway."

     "Hai!"  Kyn jumped up onto the chair and wrapped her hands around
my neck, and I could feel the rasp of her tongue on my cheek.  This
didn't bother me, where it once might have.   You can get used to some
pretty strange things.

     "I hate to interrupt, Oh Mistress of the Infinite, but your humble
navigation computer has a question."

     I pried the catgirl off of me and set her back on the floor.  "Go
ahead, Zel."

     "Where would you like me to navigate?"

     "I've been thinking about that."  I smiled, half in anticipation of
the trip and half because I knew Zel wouldn't like my decision.

     "Oh dear.  And?"

     "Batten down the hatches.  We're out of here."

     "Not--"  One of his sensors must have caught my expression.  "Not
again.  The last time you took it into your head to go
dimension-hopping, we crashed into Yggdrasil, and those giant squirrels
tried to eat me."

     "*That* was a simple mistake."

     "That was fun!"  The catgirl bounced around the deck.  "I got to
fly in space without a spacesuit!  And there were butterflies."

     I raised an eyebrow.

     "You almost got eaten."

     "But the guy with the big hammer saved us!  Remember, Oneesama?  He
came down and smashed up the squirrels and said 'Hey, ladies, checking
out my weapon?' and I said it was really big and he said it grows when
you hold it and would I like to come back to his fortress and I did but
you and Zel said I didn't!"  She stopped, mostly due to lung capacity,
and I managed to get a word in edgewise.

     "Nothing like that will happen this time.  I know exactly where I'm
going."

     "I've heard *that* before."  If he'd had eyes, Zel would have
rolled them.

     "Give me some credit, Zel."

     "I'd give you more credit if you hadn't chosen to travel with
someone who once decided a forty-foot dragon would make a nice pet."

     "Wai!  Oneesama, can we go visit Scorchy-chan!  Please?  I'm sure
he won't eat anyone this time!"

     "No."

               "Then can we got back and play with the squirrels?  They
were really cute until we landed and they turned out to be bigger then
Zel.  And I wanted to see if the butterflies could carry me!"

     "Kyn?"

     "Hai, Oneesama?"

     "Shut up."

     "Hai!"

     "Zel, are we ready to go?"

     "Everything's locked down.  Cylinders are at fifty percent."  His
voice trailed off into a mutter.  "Weapons systems at maximum.  Oh wait
-- *some*body won't let us have any weapon systems."

     "Wai!  Weapons would be neat!  Oneesama, I want to blow something
up!  Can we blow something up?  Please -- nyaaaaa..."

     The catgirl cut off because I put one hand under her chin and
started to scratch, always an excellent distraction.  With the narrow
window that this allowed, I closed my eyes and directed my thoughts
outward, feeling the complicated arrangement of threads that composed
the ship.  Simple coils for steel and silicon, a more complicated weave
for Zel and his near-human intelligence.  Kyn, a fantastic bundle of
energy pressed into a tiny space.  And lastly myself.  A Guardian, and a
long way from home.

     But not, I thought, for long.  My smile of anticipation grew wider.

     Rei is going to be *so* surprised when I park this baby on her
lawn.

     

     Shifting between dimensions is harder than it looks.  I've never
been able to pinpoint exactly how long it takes -- there's some interval
of time, clearly, because I can look back and remember ideas or thoughts
I've had in transit.  But everything is shifting and dreamlike.  No
matter how stable it seems, once you finally get there it all burns away
like summer mist.

     This time, I couldn't help thinking of home.  It had been, by the
clock on my ship, more than three years since I'd left.  I kept meaning
to go back, but...well, one thing after another kept coming up.  It was
almost conspiratorial.  Every time I'd think of returning, somehow I'd
get distracted.

     Even still.  I wondered what everyone was doing.  My friends would
be in college now, presumably.  Assuming Usagi passed her entrance
exams.  And last time I checked, Rei was going out with a bounty hunter.

     I wondered...

     ------

     I dropped the ship neatly into Earth orbit, right where I
remembered.  Self-congratulation lasted for a moment -- crossing
dimensions accurately was hard! -- and then all hell was breaking loose.

     "Multiple incoming sensor sweeps, Ami."  Zel sounded as surprised
as I was.  "I've got eight -- make that twelve sources, lighting up
across the board."

     "I see it."  I started slapping switches on the main board and the
displays lit up.  "They get us yet?"

     "Most likely."

     "Define 'most likely.'"

     "Ninety-eight percent chance they acquired us on that first ping.
We're too close, and they've got too much power behind them.  Stealth
can't handle it."

     "Great."  Hazy circles were coalescing on the display as Zel
interpolated the position of the other ships, but not fast enough.
"Time to throw stealth out the window, then.  Go active and find out
what's out there."

     "On it."

     A half-second later, the faint bubbles had solidified, lit up by
active sensors.  This had the normally unpleasant side effect of
broadcasting our position, but under the circumstances that was
irrelevant.  

     "Twelve ships on this side of the planet.  They're close, probably
in orbit as well, but at least three are coming our way."

     "Any idea who they are?"

     "No clue.  I thought your planet didn't have much space industry?"

     "It doesn't."  A nasty feeling crept along the back of my neck.
"Unless they've made a *lot* of progress in three years..."

     "Unlikely.  Take a look at this."

     One of the tactical displays became a close-up of one of the
approaching vessels.  It didn't look particularly impressive -- a black
sphere surrounded at the equator by a glowing purple ring -- until I
noticed the scale markers in the bottom right corner.  My breath escaped
in a hiss.

     "That's a battlecruiser!"

     "It's certainly big enough.  They must have been spun all the way
up, too, because they're really moving.  Intercept in six minutes."

     "Zel, we're going to assume those are not friendlies.  How fast can
you put us on the ground?"

     "Eight minutes, and that'll be bumpy."

     "Not fast enough.  Try and stay away from those things and start
losing altitude.  Head for Japan -- the maps should be in the
navigation--"

     "Got it.  I *am* the navigation computer, remember?"

     "Right.  Tell me when they get within weapons range."

     "Done.  Though I warn you, assuming things about the weapons of
unknown races is not advised."

     I ignored him -- a conditioned reflex by now -- and turned around
to find Kyn waiting patiently by my chair with her arms crossed behind
her back.  I've trained her enough to not interrupt in tense situations.
Kyn had absolutely no sense of self-preservation, but she knew I didn't
like to be disturbed.

     "Nya?  Oneesama, what's going on?"

     "Bad guys, I think."  I was unshipping the manual controls.  "This
may get rough."

     Kyn paused, then broke into a wide grin.  "Wai!  Bad guys!  Do I
get to play with them?"

     "Absolutely.  I wouldn't think of depriving you."

     "Three minutes to weapons range, Ami."

     "Wai!  I'll get my helmet!"

     The catgirl dashed into her own little room and returned with her
battered virtual reality helmet, whose trailing leads she connected to
the side of the computer.  I could hear the resignation in Zel's voice
when he spoke again.

     "Two minutes.  Are you honestly going to let her..."

     "I don't have much of a choice.  I need to fly this thing.
Besides, she's got the reflexes for it."

     "Hai!"  Kyn gave one last grin before disappearing into the depths
of the helmet, which was made for someone several sizes larger and
covered nearly her whole head.  She plopped down on the couch, hands
waving in front of her, and I could hear the hum as the defense fields
shifted in response.  "Ready, Oneesama!"

     "Give me manual control on my mark, Zel."

     "As you wish.  The cruiser is launching something, missiles or
fighters.  One minute."

     "Great.  Just great."  I scanned the displays.  Defense systems at
full power, engines at full, losing altitude rapidly.  "Looking good.
Give me something light."

     "One moment."

     I tapped one of the screens.  The objects the cruiser had launched
looked like smaller versions of itself, tiny black spheres with purple
rings.  These, however, sported long-nosed cannons of some sort.  Any
doubts about the unfriendliness of whoever-they-were evaporated.  "Come
*on*, Zel."

     A rapid, pulsing beat filled the cabin.  I shook my head.  "Too
happy."

     "You said light.  Thirty seconds."

     "Well, light for this kind of work.  Something else.  Get set,
Kyn."

     "Hai!"

     The music changed to a heavy techno bass line.  I smiled.

     "Spybreak.  Good choice, Zel."  The display lit up with sparkles as
I started jinking, and I heard the thump-thump-thump of the impacts at
the same time as Kyn's howl of glee.  "Here we go."




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