* * * * *
    

    Joan watched Hikaru stomp off. She blew it. She couldn't 
control her eagerness and now look where it got her. This 
could be the greatest discovery of all time, within her 
grasp and she just...blew it. She glanced at Umi. Her eyes 
were also watching the redhead walk away.

    "Umi," Joan said to catch the attention of the blue-haired 
teenager, "I'm sorry if I offended your friend."

    Umi turned to face her. She had a somber expression on her 
face. "Hikaru's powers are not to be taken lightly."

    Joan nodded vigorously. "I know, I know. I guess I just got 
carried away. Her powers are...well, it could benefit 
mankind."

    Umi frowned. "How could it? Besides, her powers were not 
given to her for use here on Earth."

    "What do you mean?"

    "It's hard to explain--" Just then the doorbell rang. Umi 
turned to look outside at Hikaru. Joan watched as both girls 
seemed to communicate even when no words were being passed. 
Umi stood and faced Joan. "My taxi's here. Listen, it's very 
dangerous now. Since you know about the aliens, you know 
that they are after us. I wouldn't want you or your friend 
to get hurt." Umi spared a glance at Bill who seemed content 
to just sit back and watch all the drama unfold around him. 
She then turned and walked across the room where her bags 
were. Malor was already waiting for her outside.

    Joan was speechless for once. But when she realized that the 
girl was leaving, she rushed towards her. "But we're here to 
help!" She protested.

    "I don't see how you are helping at all," Umi said over her 
shoulders without breaking her stride. When she was 
alongside Malor, she said to him, "Let's go."

    "Umi!" Joan called out in a desperate attempt to reason. Umi 
stopped on her tracks and turned around, an expression of 
exasperation on her face. "Bill and I were the first to 
discover the existence of the aliens. We can help you, 
Hikaru and Fuu by learning more about them. Knowing them is 
the key to defeating them."

    "In that case, I suggest you don't waste your time talking 
to us and start learning about them." With that she turned 
and gave her bags to the taxi driver who was waiting just 
outside the gate.

    She watched helplessly as Umi and Malor boarded the taxi. 
"Damn!" Joan muttered to herself.

    "The kid has spunk," Bill spoke up causing Joan to jump in 
surprise.

    "Geez, Bill! You know how I hate it when people sneak up on 
me," she ranted but then almost immediately calmed down. 
"You're right, though. She does have spunk."

    Bill cast his eyes around the unusually large yard and saw 
Hikaru watching her friend leave. She was kneeling on the 
lawn absent-mindedly petting a...was that a wolf? The 
redhead, as if sensing she was being watched, turned her 
head and stared right back at him. Bill immediately averted 
his eyes, all of a sudden becoming flustered.

    "What's the matter with you?" Joan asked, a frown creasing 
her brows.

    "Nothing," he replied defensively. "Listen, I think we may 
have overstayed our welcome. I think we should leave now."

    "Not yet," Joan said stubbornly, "I need to know the truth. 
Didn't you hear what Umi said? She said that Hikaru's powers 
were not given to her to be used on Earth. What the hell 
does that mean?"

    "Geez, how should I know?" Bill was getting a bit irritated. 
"It's not important." He began to walk towards the gate but 
Joan's hand on his arm stayed him. "Dammit, Joan!"

    "I'm not leaving until I know the truth!"

    "Fine then! You stay, I'll leave." Bill tried to yank his 
arm free but was annoyingly surprised to find that Joan had 
refused to let go of him.

    "You can't leave me here!"

    "Listen, Joan--"

    "No, you listen! I'm thinking that the girls must have been 
given the power by some other force or race from another 
planet."

    "Will you listen to yourself, Joan? Do you realize what 
you're saying?"

    "Of course I know what I'm saying. Think about it for one 
minute and stop pulling your arm or you'll pull mine out of 
its socket."

    Bill realized that he had been pulling his arm all this 
time. He rolled his eyes skyward. "All right! What's your 
cockamamie theory this time?"

    Joan visibly relaxed after being able to finally get Bill's 
attention. "Well, Umi said that Hikaru's powers aren't meant 
for Earth. Where was it meant for then?"

    "How the hell should I know? Are you saying that her powers 
came from another planet?"

    "Exactly!" Joan nodded eagerly.

    Bill stared blankly at his colleague before finally 
erupting. "Oh man! That's it! You are no longer going to eat 
sushi. All that raw fish has finally screwed with your 
brain," he said, making circular motions with his index 
finger towards his temple.

    "You know what? Why don't you just leave? Go on, leave!" 
Joan pushed feebly at his shoulder and promptly stomped off 
heading towards Hikaru. "Jerk!"

    Bill could only watch helplessly. *Damn that woman!*

    
                          * * * * *
    

    Machiko heard the silent shuffling of feet just outside the 
door. It was the local police, of course. She licked her 
lips which had suddenly gone dry and turned to glance at the 
alien who was lying prone, covered in a thick blanket. "You 
had better play your part well, alien, or there will be hell 
to pay."

    "Remind me again why I have to do this?"

    "Because if you do as I say you get to live a few hours 
longer."

    The alien snickered. "It's not much of an incentive, is it?"

    "Quiet, alien!"

    "My name is Bono," the creature replied calmly in a tone 
that implied boredom.

    Machiko glared at the alien. She was about to hurl another 
scathing retort his way when she stopped. "Machiko," she 
turned quickly away just as she said it. "Now, be quiet."

    She heard a knock on the door followed by: "This is the 
police. Is anybody in there?" She maintained her silence. 
She heard another knock, this time louder. "This is the 
police. Is anybody in there?"

    For several seconds, nothing more could be heard. Suddenly, 
the door burst open and several armed black clad police 
poured into the room. Machiko jumped in fright. How much of 
it was real and how much was playacting was difficult for 
even her to discern. Although she expected this, the actual 
event was nevertheless frightening. She widened her eyes and 
put up her hands, partially covering her face. "Please don't 
hurt us!" She pushed herself as far back into the corner as 
she could, as if that simple action could protect her from 
the guns that were all pointed at her and the alien lying 
beside her.

    "We're here to help you, miss," one of the policeman said. 
"We are the police."

    "Oh, thank the gods!" Machiko jumped to her feet and hurled 
herself at the policeman who was too stunned to react. She 
pulled herself back as if in shock at her own actions. "I'm 
sorry. I'm just so glad you're here."

    "It's okay, miss," he said. He turned to the prone figure at 
the corner. "Is that your husband?"

    "Yes, yes! He's not well. We need to take him to the 
hospital. I was just so afraid to take him out what with all 
the explosions going on and--"

    "I understand, miss. Don't worry. We'll take care of you and 
your husband." He turned to one of his companions. "Okura, 
call the paramedics. Tell them we've got one sick man, 
and..." he bent to whisper in the other's ear, "one woman in 
shock."

    "Yes, sir," the man named Okura said, not quite concealing a 
smile.

    Machiko pretended not to hear as she bent down to check on 
her "husband". The alien had his eyes closed as if in sleep. 
Wonder of wonders. It looks like she might actually be able 
to pull this off. She looked down at herself. It was a good 
thing that the room had women's dresses. The dress she had 
on was two sizes bigger but that was just fine. She let her 
hand drop to where she had her sidearm strapped on her thigh 
underneath the dress. Its hard coldness gave her the 
reassurance she needed. And she needed as much as she could 
get especially if the next part of her plan was to work.

    
                          * * * * *
    

    "The helicopters will be here in two minutes," Rogo 
announced as he approached Lam. The latter was studying a 
graphical display on a monitor showing the various positions 
of the members of the diversion team throughout the 
building.

    He nodded without turning to face Rogo. He picked up his 
comlink. "This is Lam. Helicopters are inbound and should be 
here in two minutes."

    "Copy that," said the voice on the comlink.

    "Be ready to commence operations on my signal."

    "Roger."

    Lam finally turned to Rogo. "All seems to be in readiness."

    "Tanaka was only able to get two helicopters."

    "I really didn't expect him to be able to provide three 
helicopters," Lam replied as he turned his attention back to 
the monitors.

    "So the plan remains the same." It was a statement. Rogo and 
Lam had already exhaustively discussed the mechanics of the 
capture.

    "Of course," Lam replied in a matter-of-fact tone. 

    
                          * * * * *
    

    Hikaru knew it was only a matter of time before the woman 
would try again. She could see that the other was very 
assertive. It seemed like all American women were that way. 
Hikaru sighed inwardly. She didn't need this. There were too 
many problems, too much pressure. She wished Umi had not 
left. She wished that Fuu was here. Any problems they faced 
seemed easy when they were together. She had to remind 
herself that they needed to be with their family so that 
they can provide some semblance of protection for them. *Why 
did it all have to happen to me?* Hikaru thought darkly as 
she eyed the approaching foreigner.

    The Fire Knight slowly rose from her semi-kneeling position. 
Hikari figured that he needed to leave her mistress alone 
but only did so after giving the strange woman a throaty 
growl. Hikaru looked down at her pet dog-slash-wolf and was 
almost surprised to see him look back up straight at her 
with an expression on his face that seemed to say "Good 
luck." She had to smile. She was almost positive that her 
pet had almost-human intelligence.

    The smile quickly faded as finally she was face to face with 
Joan Rumsen. She slowly crossed her arms and waited for the 
other to start.

    Joan faltered, all of a sudden unsure of how to start the 
conversation with the fiery teenager before her. She was 
several inches shorter than she was but that didn't stop her 
from feeling somehow inadequate. Joan cleared her throat. 
"Hikaru, I hope you don't mind the intrusion but I think it 
is in your, um, best interest that we discuss your special 
powers."

    Hikaru's expression turned into a deep scowl. "Umi tell you 
already that you no waste your time here. Instead, you 
should go learn more about aliens. Please," her eyes turned 
softer, pleading, "not safe for you to be here. You must 
go."

    Joan's shoulders visibly slumped. "Very well," she conceded, 
"when this is all over, I will still try to talk to you 
about your abilities."

    Hikaru shook her head in exasperation. This was the last 
thing she needed. If, by some miracle, they were all able to 
survive this whole mess, she would just want to continue 
living out her life in peace. It was beginning to be clear 
to her that these people will continue to bug her. "Just go, 
please," she said finally before finally turning to walk 
wearily back to the house. She didn't wait for 
acknowledgement from the woman. She just wanted to be alone 
for a while and think.

    Joan watched Hikaru walk off. Part of her regretted having 
to put such a burden on the girl but part of her, the part 
that was a scientist, wanted so much to continue trying to 
convince the other of the importance of sharing her gift. 
The astrophysicist sighed. Perhaps she could try later, when 
this whole mess was over. In the meantime, the blue-haired 
teenager was right. They needed to learn more about the 
aliens they were up against.

    She turned around with the intention of heading towards the 
gate when she discovered Bill still standing where she left 
him. She began walking towards him. "I thought I told you to 
leave," Joan said as she neared him.

    "You did. But you know me," Bill replied sheepishly, "I 
could never leave you."

    "Oh shucks, Bill, you're bringing tears to my eye," Joan 
countered sarcastically as she walked past him.

    
                          * * * * *
    

    "Raptor's Nest to Raptor 1."

    "This is Raptor 1. Come in, Raptor's Nest," Lt. Col. Biggs 
replied on the radio. It was highly irregular for Raptor's 
Nest, which was the code name for the carrier group that was 
part of the US Third Fleet currently anchored somewhere 
within Japan's area of responsibility, to communicate with 
him. Because his was a black bag operation, strict radio 
silence was to be observed.

    "We are registering two inbound choppers heading towards 
your location bearing two-one-one. ETA is approximately one 
minute. They are not responding on the IFF. Thought you 
ought to know. Over."

    "Roger that, Raptor's Nest. Please stand by," Biggs put down 
the radio handset and grabbed a nearby pair of binoculars. 
He went to West window and looked out through the scopes. 
There they were indeed, flying in low. It was probably the 
reason why the Third Fleet wasn't able to detect them. Two 
non-military type helicopters, the kind used by civilians. 
Sometimes used by journalists as well. Are these just 
reporters then? Something in his gut told him otherwise. No, 
these were the aliens' means of escape. *Shit!*

    "Evans--!"

    His next words were drowned by the sudden explosion in the 
building next to the aliens' hideout. He dragged the 
binoculars to where the explosion was. He knew there was a 
sniper posted at that exact location. Well, there were no 
more snipers there.

    Another explosion, this time bigger, thundered out of the 
Yoyogi Park Mansion this time. Biggs dropped the binoculars 
and raised his arms to shield his eyes from what appeared to 
be a massive thermal detonation. "What the hell--!"

    The pressure wave from the blast shattered the window where 
Biggs was standing, sending razor sharp glass speeding every 
way. Biggs' last thought just as the world turned dark was 
that somehow he had failed in his mission.

    
                          * * * * *
    

    "Son of a bitch!" Jenkins exclaimed as he looked up and saw 
the massive explosion somewhere in the uppermost floors of 
the building. His eyes widened as he realized that heavy 
debris was on its way down. He instinctively ducked and 
brought his hands up to cover his head as if the mere action 
would protect him from the hundreds of kilograms of 
concrete, glass and twisted metal that was plummeting 
downwards at incredible speeds. He dove under a nearby squad 
car. Within seconds, the car shuddered, shook and crashed 
from the barrage of debris that was pummeling it. In that 
brief instant that felt like eternity, Jenkins thought he 
was going to die. 

    In truth, the whole event took only two seconds. Even after 
it ended, the FBI agent hesitated for several more moments 
before finally deciding it was safe to come out. When he did 
so, he was astonished to find that the car that shielded him 
was a total wreck. It was indeed amazing he was able to 
survive.

    When he got over his astonishment, Jenkins allowed his eyes 
to sweep the area. "My God," he breathed. Not five meters 
away from where he was standing were dozens of people, 
either dead or dying, strewn all over the place. Several of 
them were buried under heavy concrete. Still others were cut 
down by glass shards. There were moans and cries of pain and 
anguish from the injured. Instructions and commands for help 
and mobilization were screamed across the area.

    In all his years in the service, Jenkins knew he would be 
hard pressed to find another gruesome scene as the one that 
lay before him. He looked down as he heard a plaintive moan. 
Lying on the ground before him was a man whose two legs and 
one arm had been severed. His eyes were open and looking 
straight at him. Jenkins bent down and held onto the one 
good hand of the man. Blood was flowing freely from his 
stumps. He didn't think this man would survive.

    Jenkins took a deep breath and looked up. "We need a 
paramedic here!" He twisted his head another direction and 
shouted the same plea. "We need a para--"

    More explosions rocked the area, causing Jenkins to dive 
once more for cover. "What now!?" There seemed to be bolts 
of blue energy streaking downwards, incinerating anything 
and everything in its path. "Jesus! Those *bastards!*" He 
looked down at the man intending to start moving him away. 
Because of the distraction, he had failed to notice that the 
hold of the man on his hand had slackened. He had already 
died. "I'm sorry, man," Jenkins whispered. Another bolt of 
energy landed just in front of him causing the ground to 
splinter. The FBI agent knew that there was nothing he could 
do for this person and if he stayed, he would soon join him. 
Jenkins jumped to his feet and began running as far away 
from the area being bombarded.

    He eyed a fire truck just a few steps away. He immediately 
rushed towards it and took cover behind it. He gazed 
upwards. He could pick out the pin pricks of figures happily 
firing down at any stationary or mobile target. It wasn't 
long before he heard answering fires from police below. Not 
that it would do them any good. The range was too far. There 
was no way their bullets were going to hit their targets.

    Jenkins clenched his jaws in frustration. "Where the hell is 
Hirota!?"

    
                          * * * * *
    

    "We've got a live one here!" Immediately, two paramedics 
approached and saw a prone figure partially buried under a 
pile of rubble.

    "Quick! Let's get him out of here before those alien 
bastards start firing down on us," one of the paramedics 
said as he began to carefully remove debris from the downed 
man while eyeing his surroundings for nearby explosions.

    "What about the others?" one asked casting his eyes around 
him and seeing a lot of other bodies.

    "They're all dead. Let's take of the living first, okay?" 
the head paramedic said a bit too harshly. 

    After a few minutes, with all the rubble cleared, they were 
able to attach a neck brace on the injured man and load him 
up on the stretcher.

    "No," the man said hoarsely as he began to stir.

    "We've got you, sir. You're safe now," said one of the 
paramedics who was walking briskly alongside the moving bed.

    "No, I have to be out there."

    "I'm sorry, sir, but you can't. You've sustained some 
serious injuries that must be treated immediately otherwise 
you could risk doing some permanent damage to your bod--Ow!"

    The man was gripping the paramedic's arm with a strength 
that belied the person's current state. "I am Chief 
Investigator Hirota. I need you to contact the police 
department. Look for Investigator Ryouko Hashimoto. He'll 
know what to do. Do you understand?"

    "Let go of my arm!"

    "Do you understand?" Hirota's grip on the man's arm became 
impossibly tighter.

    "Okay, okay! Now let go of my arm before you break it!"

    With visible relief, Hirota released his hold on the medic's 
arm. He collapsed back on the stretcher in total exhaustion.

    
                          * * * * *
    

    Lam looked down from the helicopter at the carnage his team 
had wrought. The side of his mouth curved upward in a small 
smile.

    "You seemed pleased," Tanaka said.

    Lam turned to look at the Yakuza, any semblance of amusement 
on his face totally gone. "I will be even more pleased when 
I accomplish my objectives. Nevertheless, I must commend 
you, Mr. Tanaka. This, as well as the other one, are both 
fine helicopters."

    Tanaka leaned back on his seat, a smug look on his face. 
"Well, I am not without my own resources. Now about my fee--
"

    "You will get your fee as discussed. They will be wired to 
your account as per usual," Lam gave a frown. "Have I given 
you any reason to doubt me or my organization?"

    "Not at all," the Japanese said defensively. "This is just 
business after all. Now about your organization..."

    "Yes?" Lam raised his eyebrows. He somehow knew that it was 
just a matter of time before this gangster would ask the 
question.

    "Well...you see...I've heard on the news that...you know..."

    "No, I don't know. As you can see, I've been too busy 
fending off attackers to listen to the news," the other 
replied matter-of-factly.

    Tanaka took a deep breath. "The news said that you were 
aliens." He said the sentence in a rush.

    "Aliens? Interesting."

    The Japanese gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I know. I mean, 
come one, who in this day and age would believe stories 
about aliens..."

    "What if we are aliens?"

    Tanaka could only stare blankly at the other. "What exactly 
are you saying?"

    "I'm asking you, what if we were aliens?"

    "But you're not, right?"

    "You're not answering my question."

    Tanaka looked away, his brows furrowing. He was about to 
turn back and give a reply when the comlink on Lam's wrist 
chimed.

    "This is Lam."

    "Rogo here. We are en route to Target 1."

    Lam turned to look out his view port in time to see the 
other helicopter banking to the right. "Very well. We will 
maintain our course en route to Target 2. Update me of your 
success. For Ramar!"

    "For Ramar!"

    "Ramar is the name of your planet?"

    Lam returned his focus on the Japanese. "That's correct." 
The human did not need to know that Ramar, the planet, did 
not exist anymore. "Does it bother you that we are aliens 
then?"

    Tanaka swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in his 
throat. He realized that, aside from the helicopter pilot, 
he was the only other human in the helicopter. Every 
other...person...was not looking at him, waiting for his 
reply. That every other person was actually a non-human was 
terrifying him. He turned to meet Lam's eyes. "Should I be 
bothered?"

    Lam broke out into a hearty laugh. "A man like you, Mr. 
Tanaka, should not have to be afraid."

    Tanaka swallowed once more. Somehow, Lam's laugh and his 
statement did more to increase his nervousness than 
anything. *What have I gotten myself into?*

    
                          * * * * *
    

    "Admiral, we seemed to have lost all communications with 
Col. Biggs," the radio operator said the Battle Group 
Command standing behind him.

    "Keep trying, son," Rear Admiral Joshua Parker replied, 
giving the operator a small pat on the shoulder. He turned 
this time to his radar operator. "What of the two inbound 
helicopters?"

    "They might really have been news helicopters, Admiral. They 
landed two buildings away from the target building and just 
before the explosions occurred, they had lifted off and 
headed away. Probably the whole thing scared them off."

    "Do you still have them on your scopes?"

    The radar operator looked back on his screens. "No, Admiral, 
they are no longer within are scopes." 

    Parker nodded and sauntered away, his forehead creasing 
deeply in worry. The news of a massive explosion in the 
building that housed the aliens was doubly disturbing. The 
reporter on site was able to capture astonishing footage of 
the detonation. The nearby buildings appeared to have been 
affected. Including, it seemed, the building Biggs was in.

    He looked down on the phone as if willing it to ring. If the 
people in Washington were doing their jobs right then the 
phone should ring and when he picked it up, they would tell 
him to send reinforcements. He stared for several more 
moments but the phone didn't ring.

    "To hell with it," Parker said to no one in particular. He 
turned to an aide standing close by. "Get me the Pentagon."

    
                          * * * * *
    

    The Japanese Prime Minister turned to look at the large-
screen TV monitor. Footage after footage of the destruction 
and carnage was being shown. The upper right hand corner 
showed the tally of deaths and injuries. The numbers were 
steadily climbing.

    "We should send in the jets and simply destroy the 
building," the Minister of Defense said.

    "We can't do that," another minister protested, "we must 
capture those aliens and find out exactly what they intend 
to do here."

    The Prime Minister turned his attention away from the news 
and faced his bickering advisers. "Can we do it? Do we have 
the capability of being able to capture an alien alive? Have 
you seen the news? They are using weapons capable of 
terrible destruction."

    "Perhaps it's time we ask the United States for help," the 
Minister of Foreign Affairs suggested.

    "And what? Have they perceive us to be incompetent and 
incapable of defending our own country?"

    "With all due respect, Prime Minister, but look at the news. 
Those aliens seem to be just content to be firing away at 
random targets."

    "What does that have to do with anything?" still another 
Minister asked.

    "It's a diversion," the Defense Minister said, his 
expression showed that the very idea had also just suddenly 
dawned on him. He turned to look at the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs. Some sort of communication past between them.

    "What is it?" The Prime Minister looked from one minister to 
the other.

    Both ministers turned to focus on the Prime Minister. "They 
are after the three girls," it was the Defense Minister that 
supplied the answer.

    "Well, we should alert the police immediately to provide 
protection for the girls."

    "Police have officers posted outside the girls' residences 
already. But I will make sure they double the security."

    "Do it," the Prime Minister ordered. The Defense Minister 
left the office to make a call. "So, the question remains: 
do we involve the Americans?"

    "This is no longer just about Japan, Prime Minister. For all 
we know, our entire planet may be in jeopardy. I am not sure 
exactly what the aliens need with the girls. But whatever 
their reasons or motives, it won't be trivial. I strongly 
recommend that we do involve the Americans."

    The Prime Minister looked down and thought for a few 
moments. "Very well," he finally said as he stood. "Place 
the call." 

--------------------
NEXT:
Chapter 12 - Sacrifices

--------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
To those who have been waiting endlessly for this chapter,
my apologies for the delay. The pressures of real life
have a strange way of suffocating one's creativity.

At any rate, I shall endeavor to come up with the next
chapter much sooner. Do wait for it. More excitement to
come!

Ciao!

--------------------
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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