[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 49 -
Whether you can hear it or not, the Universe is laughing at you
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1 / 2, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these
stories.
C&C, MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
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Stories are available in Plain ASCII at:
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ftp://ftp.cs.ubc.ca/pub/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/Sic-Semper-Morituri/
http://www.cs.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/ftp/archive/anime-fan-works/Ranma/type/Sic-Sem
per-Morituri
(these are the original versions)
What has gone before:
About Book 11 of the Tankoubon Manga, Akane and Soun Tendo throw Ranma
out of the house. Nabiki, in the guise of a wish, follows him. They meet
EVA pilots Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu Langley and Jeffrey
Davis.
All four senators from Wyoming and Massachusetts begin investigating
the Boston incident and Misato's part in it. Admiral Simson scrambles to
begin his own investigation of what has been happening in NERV before and
after the war. Shinji and Rei console and watch over Misato.
Jeff and the Scholarly Dragon teach Nabiki about control of her
dreams, concentrating on infiltration. Bad dreams continue to plague
her. The Scholarly Dragon prevents a dream attack by Usagi and company.
The Azores Mission heads through the Panama Canal, and the principals
are treated to the effect of their celebrity. Nabiki and Maya don't like
it. The Russians go over a newsreel of the Azores team, and discuss their
growing maintenance problems.
Nabiki discusses Hiroko's death with several of her
instructors. Ritsuko looks over Jeff and Nabiki as Nabiki comes under
dream attack. Joma and Ritsuko discuss the desires of made things for
their creators/users.
Ranma begins teaching the others the insult techniques that are part
of his art. He also senses Asuka's growing injuries, cause by ignoring her
own limitations and trying to keep up with him. He disobeys her demand,
and heals her injuries. She accuses him of using his Code of Honor to
justify any action he cares to take. Ranma attempts to discover a way make
things right, while Rei tests methods of returning Asuka to normal.
The Azores group discover a second entry plug port in Unit 04 and
begin select Maya and Captain Madison of SAR to accompany the pilots to the
bottom. The recovery itself goes off without serious problems, Nabiki
carries the Great Old One which looks like a fried egg, back to the
EVA. She is revolted and horrified by the experience and ashamed of her
weakness and terror in the face of a Great Old One.
The creature awakens and the battlegroup is surrounded by clouds and
all the pilots are plunged into a dream, Rei awakens, but the others do
not. Shinji dreams of a city deep in the ocean, and then to the city he
designed in the dream challenge. Rei is with him and they lead the human
race of planet and to the stars. Then Shinji heads off to battle an enemy
on the Moon.
Ranma, Jeff and Nabiki find themselves in a faceless Nerima
duplicate. They join the group who repairs Nerima from the marital arts
battles.
Asuka finds herself walking through the spectrum, eventually falling
to hunger and dehydration.
Rei and Erin temporarily move in with Sammi.
Rei merges with Sarah and the other Reis to send Shinji to the moon to
battle the Mi-Go there.
Ranma and Jeffrey begin investigating the mechanism of healing spells,
and Nabiki's reaction to Jeff and Ranma/Ranko's proximity to her in
bed. Ranma reveals what he did to Asuka and gets advice to deal with
it. Ranma Also investigates why he locked himself in his female form.
After nearly killing Jeff, Ranma decided to surrender his male
identity or his life as redress, Jeff ask forgiveness for his actions
instead.
Nabiki anonymously delivers a large amount food to the Tendos as
revenge for their treatment of Ranma. Ranko/Ranma leads Jeff to Saotome
Eiji's home to discover if he has any relatives and a clan.
Jeff and Nabiki awaken and return Cthylla to her temple. Jeff uses an
AT field to disrupt Cthylla's control over Ritsuko. He accidentally
transfers all his memories, including the dreams from Nerima, to her. Maya
and Nabiki don't understand what to do. Ritsuko and Jeff are disturbed by
events.
Anna Alise and an American Alpine troop encounter 3 EVAs in
Switzerland, Anna captures one EVA and is ejected by remote.
Nabiki learns the extent Jeff was willing to go to to assist Ritsuko,
changes he made to himself and the studies he made. Nabiki invades Jeff's
dream and encounters a family and children. She later displays her talent
to Ritsuko who controls the dream herself.
The Bennington arrives in Boston, while Jeff, Maya, Nabiki and Ritsuko
are having dinner, Major ggreg fights and escaped from something. Ritsuko
finds out the true about the project that created Jeff and Sharon, as well
as others.
Sharon Lauren kills Sgt.Malkowitz, then rescues Nabiki from an angry
crowd, before revealing their `shadowless` existence. Nabiki confronts
Belldandy about it, Belldandy has no explanation. She confronts Jeff,
kills Belldandy, then Jeff detonates his prepared bomb.
Ranma, Asuka and Rei awaken, Shinji remains unconscious. Rei has a
tantrum in reaction to the mission she sent Shinji on.
Ranma wonders why he's locked himself in female form. Asuka and Ranma
take Rei home with them. Asuka and Ranma discuss the odd dreams they had.
Rei's and Ranma's cults assault the last of the Children of Nyogtha.
Another group of Jeff's cultists capture Urd and threaten her with an
Angel Eater, and the knowledge she can't defend against them.
The Russian cult of the 'Gray Lady' assault a cult and Children of
Nyogtha, then celebrate their victory. The GRU man recruits several of
them for an upcoming operation.
Ranma confronts Asuka over the events of August 1945, Asuka physically
attacks Ranma while Rei prevents the guards from intervening. Then rei
began telling jokes until Asuka laughed.
Shinji destroys the Mi-Go's moonbase, but cannot see them and isn't
affected by their counterattacks. He releases many of the minds in their
containers.
Keiichi delivers the bicycles, Ranma and Rei begin learning to ride
them. Although Ranma gets badly scraped up and Asuka bandages him.
Admiral Simson accompanies Asuka, Ranma and Rei on a field
exercise. Asuka lays out her plans and leads the EVAs' attack.
Ranma develops a new `wire-guided` version of his AT-field-ball
attack, he discovers the Ranma and Ranko are subtly different in this
regard. Also Rei, Asuka and Ranma analyze it completely.
Simson learns that two people in a plug begin acting like each other
for a while.
Belldandy returns from her murder by Sharon with a scream, while
Keiichi comforts her.
Jeff gives Sharon a last chance, then absorbs her and falls into a
coma.
Ritsuko, Maya and Nabiki arrive at the blast site and investigate,
they find Jeff, but not Sharon.
The troops of the Bennington, who will accompany NERV forces to U.S.S.
Boxer, give `Brown Bess` a flint to put between her teeth.
In an abandoned warehouse with no lights, just shadows . . .
In the dead of night, a shimmewing wight,
gweam of a bwade, and the devil is made,
When the axe comes down, a chiwwing sound,
And I pwedict, a bwoody Easter,
A scuwwying shadow, and the shadow moves to stab it,
And the night air echoes . . .
KIWW THE WABBIT!
Kill the Wabbit (Ozzy Fudd the Wabbitswayer) a.k.a. Mark McCollum
Deteriorata - written by Tony Hendra
August 3, 1947 - Tokyo (GMT +9.0 hr)
Strive At All Times To Bend, Fold, Spindle, And Mutilate
"I thought we were attacking Tendo again?" Tome asked, glancing around
the dream representation of the streets of Tokyo.
"We were," Usagi replied, "I guess she's dreaming of being back home -
what is it Yuki?" Usagi couldn't completely ignore the girl tapping her
shoulder. "Anyway, she'll probably be at home or at NERV or -
_WHAT_IS_IT?"
"Lo - o - ok!" Yuki stammered as she pointed. Unit 01 and 02 were
charging straight at them.
Before they could move or scream, the Units were past. The toe of
Unit 02's footprint before them, the heel of Unit 01's behind.
Usagi whirled around, intent on avenging her dignity. "Nobody -
" She stared open-mouthed as Unit 02 drew an immense mallet and advanced
on the huge lobster that stood its ground and began throwing carrots at the
EVAs. Unit 02 parried the carrots with the mallet until it had closed to
range, then it began beating the lobster mercilessly.
"Scatter!" Tomoe yelled as a column of military dumptrucks thundered
down on them. The girls scattered like chickens as the trucks roared past,
each and every truck filled with drawn butter.
"Was that Admiral Simson and Captain Ramsey in the first truck?"
Harumi asked as she stood and dusted herself off.
"All RIGHT!" Usagi shouted as she stood, "She thinks she can just make
fun of us!" All the girls ignored Unit 01's stern admonishment to an
EVA-sized cat-creature. "That's just wrong," Usagi said as Unit 01 pulled
an immense ruler and began administering a through spanking to the catlike
Great Old One. Usagi was livid, "No one defames our believes, no one
treats us as jokes!" Usagi announced.
Tomoe yanked her out of the way of the flatbed truck carrying a huge
lemon wedge.
----------------------------------------
They had made it to the EVA hanger of NERV. They had braved many
perils to get there. "I don't care how important this is," Yuki said, "I
just want to go _home_, there are some things man was not meant to
know. What Gendo Ikari looks like naked is one of them."
"He looked pretty good for an older guy," Tomoe teased their usually
sex-crazed ally.
"Take it from me 'I love pussies, they are so soft, warm and furry',
probably did _NOT_ refer to the pink kittens he was dancing with. By
Shub-Niggurath's mercy, I _hope_ it didn't."
"It just proves we're dealing with a disturbed mind here," Usagi
replied, nearly on the edge of hysteria, the battle against Misato's
cooking had really gotten to her, "Nothing more."
"But how does she know these things!?" Yuki demanded, "You don't think
she . . . with Ikari?"
"For all we know, she might have serviced the entire male complement
of NERV, and all the female members who could not outrun her." A
blue-haired, red-eyed Nabiki Tendo looked at them, a chicken in each
hand. All the cultists detected the faint smell of cinnamon. "Here." She
tossed them the chickens. "I dislike meat, it is too loud."
Tomoe and Harumi had caught the chickens, and suddenly found
themselves completely alone. Neither moved as the seconds crawled by, and
the chickens did nothing more than cluck and squawk occasionally. Then
they felt the footsteps as the EVAs approached. The chickens began
complaining more and more vociferously as the EVAs drew closer. Harumi and
Tomoe exchanged glances and tossed the two chickens behind the largest,
most solid barricades. The fact that Usagi and Yuki were concealed behind
then was only happenstance, really. What followed were two of the loudest,
dampest explosions in the history of self-detonating chickens. Yuki and
Usagi were particularly bedraggled as they extricated themselves.
All of them cringed as Unit 02 drew its mallet and liberally applied
it to Unit 01. "You needed to be more aggressive!" Unit 02 screamed in
Asuka's voice.
"Yes Mistress!" Unit 01, in Shinji's voice, assured the other unit as
it cringed.
"We're leaving," Usagi said, picking chicken entrails out of her hair.
----------------------------------------
Tomoe headed towards the command deck. She saw Gendo, thankfully
clothed in his uniform. Suddenly someone behind Tomoe drew a sword,
scaring her. The woman approached Gendo, she looked like a cross between
Pilot Ikari and Pilot Ayanami. Maybe their mother, Tomoe thought as the
woman placed the blade against Ikari's throat. He sweated profusely.
"The EVA project will make my son a man among men, won't it?" she
asked.
Gendo tossed his cold tea on himself, the resulting panda held up a
sign reading 'Of course dear, would a panda lie?'
Tomoe started to slip out, when she suddenly felt a draft, Fuyutsuki,
about forty-five centimeters tall, shouted "What a haul," as he brandished
Tomoe's underwear. Fuyutsuki the perverted dwarf had also liberated the
swordswoman's.
"I hope she was wearing the red satin briefs with the little bows on
them." Tomoe went chasing after the cackling dwarf. I'm not running away
from the panda and the swordswoman, she silently assured herself, I'm
not. I'm not.
----------------------------------------
Usagi was walking through the NERV corridors, all eerily
empty. 'DAAAAARRRLLLING!' she heard. A woman with short, brown hair, and
small horns like an oni's, in a lab coat, flew by. Usagi followed her into
the lab. Inside, the woman shed her labcoat, revealing a tigerskin bikini,
thigh-high tigerskin boots, and a _very_ generous figure.
She makes Yuki look like a half-grown boy! Usagi thought. The
oni-girl draped herself on Dr. Akagi, who was absolutely fascinated
repairing some device, seemingly unaware of the girl plastering herself
onto the scientist.
Suddenly catlike ears popped out of Ritsuko's blonde hair. She
leapt. "Ranmmma-san!" Ritsuko trampled Usagi on her way to flattening
Ranma against the floor by sitting on his chest, the bells on her collar
jingling. Ritsuko was too busy purring and rubbing herself on the
flattened Ranma to notice how angry the oni-girl was getting.
"Oh how tragic! To be so irresistible to women, when my only true
love is the Art, the flirtatious bitch."
He gave Ritsuko a rose before leaping clear, just as the oni-girl
screamed, "Maximum Revenge!" and her growing blue aura became a lightning
bolt, frying Ritsuko, and catching Usagi, whom the charge dazed. Usagi
crawled away smoldering, as the oni-girl comforted Ritsuko bemoaning that
'Some devil has hurt my Darling Sempai!'
----------------------------------------
Yuki normally wasn't concerned about a guy taking her underwear,
because he saw it as an obstacle, not a goal in and of itself. So she was
in pursuit of the little pervert. She followed him into his office and
discovered she couldn't affect him or get his attention as he washed and
ironed the vast collection of 'silky darlings'.
Then walked in the most marvelous piece of NERV-Issue
beefcake. Unshaven, ponytailed shirtless and immeasurably yummy. Yuki was
drooling and considering whether the pervert would mind if she used his
desk.
"These are mine," the beefcake said as he picked up a pair of pink
panties with a rabbit embroidered on them.
Yuki and Commander Fuyutsuki shared a horrified look. "EEEWWWWW!"
Then Yuki's anger boiled up. "CURSE YOU NABIKI TENDO! For trampling
on my dreams YOU WILL _PAY_!_!_!_"
----------------------------------------
Harumi walked into the infirmary. Rei Ayanami stood inside, wearing a
plugsuit without sleeves or legs, the bandages wrapped around her lower
legs looked like leggings. Shinji Ikari walked out of the examination
room. "It was only a few strained muscles," he told her. Rei nodded then
nervously handed him a bouquet of black roses. He thanked her, but kept
them at arms length.
Rei emitted a spine-chilling 'Ho ho ho!' like Santa Claus's scary,
little sister, then she bounded away.
Shinji waited until Rei was out of sight and tossed the roses
away. Harumi caught them. She took a deep breath of their marvelous
fragrance, and instantly became one with the floor tile.
----------------------------------------
Tomoe had gotten lost, she'd walked through the corridors for what she
thought was an eternity. Finally, she heard some heavy machinery
sounds. She entered a huge room, Pilot Davis was there, dressed in a bird
costume, bright colored plumage. The four EVAs stood behind him, also
dressed as brightly colored birds. Davis used a pitch pipe. With flapping
of wings, the EVAs began to sing. "King. Oh, better far to live and fly
under the brave feathered flag I fly, then play a sanctimonious part with a
parrot's head and a parrot's heart, away to the mocking world go you, where
they who speak are well-to-do; but I'll be true to the songs I sing, and
live and die a Parrot King. For I am a Parrot King! And it is, it is a
glorious thing to be a Parrot King!"
Tomoe prayed to Shub-Niggurath that the Goddess would blot all the
events of today from her mind as she slowly walked backwards doing nothing
that might attract attention. Once outside the door, she sank to the
ground, the strains of 'The Parrot King' still emanating from the EVA
bay. "I've got to get out of here," she said, "I'd even follow a white
rabbit about now."
Her god wasn't listening, or refused.
----------------------------------------
Usagi had found Nabiki's office. Usagi wanted vengeance on the girl
more than she'd wanted anything in her life. She was going to make her
_PAY_ for the indignities of this incursion.
The architects designed the entire room to intimidate with its
scale. The massive Sephiroth carved in the floor, and the desk so huge it
made Nabiki look tiny. Suddenly someone called an alert, summoning the
Grand Supreme Magnificent Legendary Invincible Brilliant Exalted Almighty
Breathtaking Heroic Omnipotent Glorious Palatial Rudimentary Majestic
Humble Leader. Nabiki picked up a huge stick, easily three times her
height, and pogoed past the stunned cultist. Usagi was shocked that Nabiki
was only about 45 centimeters tall.
----------------------------------------
Yuki had been following the NERV-beefcake, intent on doing _something_
to convince him that his underwear fetish wasn't really a problem. Then
someone splashed the ponytailed NERV-beefcake with water and he became
Misato Katsuragi, in Misato's usual clothes.
That's isn't an improvement, Yuki thought.
Fuyutsuki appeared from nowhere and shouted, "SWEETO!" before grabbing
Misato's chest, while removing her bra.
Misato peeled him loose and shot him repeatedly.
Yuki decided she wanted _OUT_!_
----------------------------------------
Usagi met up with Tomoe, who had Harumi over her shoulder. Yuki
joined them, and they were all ready to leave.
Tomoe admitted, "I haven't seen an entrance or exit for _hours._"
Usagi looked at the others. None of the others had seen one.
"Well, after all this walking, I'm hungry." Yuki complained.
"After what I've seen, I'm _NOT_," Usagi said, "Don't look so
shocked."
"It's not that," Tomoe teased, getting some of her old nastiness back,
"After what I've seen, I can't imagine - I smell cooking meat?"
"Chicken?" Usagi asked, then watched Tomoe and Yuki head towards
it. Harumi woke up as they found Admiral Simson grilling meat in the
cafeteria. The smell made all of them salivate, he gave each girl a large
chunk.
"This is delicious, what is it?" Usagi asked, chewing happily.
"Mermaid flesh." All four girls turned into mindless monsters.
"Well, _they_ can't be pilots," Simson commented as he flamethrowered
them.
----------------------------------------
Usagi woke with a scream. She carefully examined herself. She
realized, I'm human, not deformed or burnt. She sighed and threw off the
covers, and headed to the bathroom. She passed the telephone, which
rang. She picked it up.
It was Yuki. "We are _never_ going into Tendo's dreams again,
correct?"
"Correct," Usagi agreed. Then wondered, Why was that girl asleep at
such a time?
----------------------------------------
'They are alive. Roku-kun and Nabiki-kun are fine and
returning. Doctor Akagi and Analyst Ibuki are likewise safe. They will be
returning by train and ship by the 19th or 20th.'
Ranko had heard Rei's announcement, and she was happy. She'd had a
bad feeling for days now. As if . . . as if they were never coming
home. Now she knew different. Loneliness, the revelation hit so hard she
sat up in bed. "Loneliness. It can't be _that_ simple!" But it is,
that's part of my attraction to all the pilots, but especially Nab-chan and
Jeffrey, they're lonely, and dealing with _their_ loneliness - and Ranko's
own - she had a simple solution: spend time with them.
"But it's more than that," Ranko assured herself. There's a - hard to
explain - difference between Nab-chan's and Jeffrey's loneliness and say
Asuka's, she thought, All Asuka needs is a 'project' to yell at and
improve, and she's happy. I always got the feeling Nab-chan and Jeffrey
could be alone in a room full of adoring fans, but both seemed to open up
to Ranma and Ranko, respectively.
"Okay, I'm over - wording - this, think in behaviors, think like it's
a fight," she told herself gently, closed her eyes and started going over
every time she'd seen Nab-chan and Jeffrey together, with other people, and
when the three of them were alone.
----------------------------------------
The Scholarly Dragon rested. The odd dream he'd left for the cultist
invaders had been taxing. I did enjoy giving that pack of idiots a
nightmare. The boy has retreated so deeply even _I_ can no longer find
him, he worried, Dragons are supposed to be solitary creatures, and the
idea of one of us being lonely would get more laughter from any dragon who
overheard it than you could shake a stick at. But we dragons do form
strong bonds, he thought, With our mates, a few friends, even a rival or
two, because, oh how we dragons like being talked about, he smiled and
considered,And epic confrontations against skilled foes are always good
`press` and a reputation is always welcome. Still, the boy had been
particularly bereft when he'd engaged Sharon, the Dragon considered, The
boy had been prepared to `sanction` her if necessary, and had been equally
determined to do everything necessary to avoid having to do that, and he
hadn't been successful.
While I would be unlikely to admit it, the Dragon thought, I went
ahead on this mission into the Passes into Leng, to be alone.
Now I'm more alone than I like, he thought, and chuckled, I certainly
reacted in a typical dragon fashion, I've attacked every Leng Spider or
other significant enemy on the Red Dragon's planned route of advance, and
was far more brutal in the fighting than was _strictly_ necessary.
None of them even had a collection of useful artifacts, the dragon
thought of the paltry `horde` he'd assembled during his attacks.
"Mmmmrrrooow?" came the interrogative.
The dragon glanced up. How did that get here? the dragon thought, I
guess continuing to hide that from the boy is going to be a
problem. Saotome knows about it, Perhaps Tendo, but it seems no one _else_
does. He smirked at the surprise the boy would get when _he_ encountered
it for the first time. Then something disturbed him, and he turned to look
at Saotome's `other`. First, were the beautiful wings, a feature he'd
never seen on it before. The graceful upsweep of the white feathers on the
inside, and the soothing sound their rustling made. On the outside they
were a pale tan that attractively brought out the tawny hide and the dark
gray stripes that highlighted the lean, powerful muscles that moved beneath
her skin as she glided forward. The second was the size. The creature was
easily the same length from shoulder to rump as he was. While his neck was
longer, her tail was nearly as long as his as it twitched with her walk so
enticingly.
Trouble here, the dragon thought, turned away from the bewitching
apparition and fired off a short shot of his breath weapon. `Cleansing the
palate`, he thought, So to speak.
Then he smelled it clearly, before it started addling him again. The
other is clearly female, he realized, And just as clearly, in season.
Except those are dragon scents, not cat scents, he thought
desperately.
"Mrrooooowy," she said throatily.
While the Scholarly Dragon mused on the reasons _why_ this was
happening, he already knew what to do. Never have a cave without a back
door, he thought as he turned tail and ran. While every instinct told him
to turn around and . . . accommodate the luscious creature, he hadn't lived
this long by being stupid. I can't think, if it's a trick, the dragon
thought as he cleared the hidden exit of the cave, sucking in huge lungfuls
of air that _weren't_ saturated with pheromones, Or if that really _is_
Saotome. He launched himself into the air and headed to the nearby
mountains. _Nothing_ can match me in the air, he thought, Not even the
newest fighter planes.
----------------------------------------
August 2, 1947 - Boston (GMT -5.0 hrs)
Know Yourself, If You Need Help, Call The FBI.
Ritsuko knocked on the door to the Harvard home. She knew that Jeff's
aunt and uncle were home. She had good news that Jeff was alive and Sharon
wasn't. She also had another thing to talk about, something she wanted
kept private.
"Doctor Akagi. Please come in." Abigail met her at the door,
ushering her in. "How is Jeff?" she asked carefully.
"That, is a very interesting question," Ritsuko said, "Is your husband
about?" Ritsuko could feel the man's presence.
"In the study."
"Will you join us in the study?"
"Of course," Abigail said worriedly.
And worried for a good reason, Ritsuko thought. Ritsuko removed the
papers from the briefcase she held.
The Dean met her at the threshold of his study. "I hear you have
something to talk to us about."
Ritsuko held up a photo of Sharon, Jason, Jeff and the six British
'elements', at age 7. "You might say that," she said coldly.
The Dean seemed to collapse in on himself. "Please, come in."
----------------------------------------
"I have no explanation," the Dean admitted, he sat in his chair, his
hands clasped in his lap. The papers on the table next to him. Abigail
sat across the bookshelf lined room, staring at the tea cup in her lap.
"You have no explanation," Ritsuko said as she paced, she was on the
verge of murder, but restrained herself for the moment, and for her young
charge, "That's all you have to offer?"
"We didn't approve of what had been done," Abigail protested.
"What was done?" Ritsuko asked coldly, "That's a pretty euphemism for
brainwashing and torture. I knew you were hiding a few things, I suspected
you had a reason . . . but _this_?_ You let him believe he'd killed his
beloved, older brother, you let him believe that his parents sent him
away. A child that age will assume it is his fault. That it was something
_he_ did!" Ritsuko thundered at them. Having a set of joyous memories that
were all illusions, made her especially sensitive about this. Jeff had
given her many false memories, but overall they were pleasant. What has
been done to these `children` was inhuman, she thought before continuing,
"Then you sent him to us, and you didn't bother to tell us. We could have
dealt with it." She was having trouble dealing with her temper. Neither
of the two academicians could meet her gaze. "And the folks in
Wyoming. Did they know?"
"My brother and his wife, yes; none of the hands, or the kids,
especially not Jenny" the Dean said miserably.
"You do realize he'll eventually find out," Ritsuko said coldly, "So
far, no secrets seem to be able to withstand the pilots' combined
efforts. Pilots Langley and Davis have already discovered things beyond
what we knew. Pilots Ayanami and Saotome have also discovered other things
we never even considered. They _will_ discover this."
"You . . . you . . . won't tell him . . . before we're ready?" Abigail
plead.
"I refuse to promise, I just told you that they'll figure it out,
whether I tell him anything or not." She paused, mastered herself. "He's
unconscious right now. Evidently he did away with Sharon, why exactly I
can only guess." With a surprising degree of accuracy, she thought. "You
won't be able to tell him anything. However, I suggest you write
something. I'd advise you tell him everything, including why."
"He . . . was so much like a real, little boy," Abigail said softly,
"So sad and uncertain. Doctors Davis, his parents, simply dropped him off,
they had important work to do." She looked up at Ritsuko. "We tried our
best. You assume we could have changed anything. Samuel was so real to
him, as real as sunrise and there would be no way to convince him
otherwise."
"Did you try?" Ritsuko asked coldly, "Someone drove a stake into his
heart, and you left it there. How can you say that, and ever expect him to
trust you? You knew what he was, don't you realize that trust, affection
and other expressions of concern are the only control we _have_?_ Do you
realize what they are becoming, what we are going to wind up with? They
probably can either withstand, survive or ignore any countermeasures that
we can use." She shook her head. I've got the _perfect_ countermeasure
for Jeff, at least right now. I know, through his memories, a dozen to use
on the other pilots, she thought.
"The only defense we have, is that they care about us," she said, "And
the human race."
----------------------------------------
The Meliorist was walking through the camp. She was worried, truth be
told, she was generally worried, but an assault in force into Leng was
risky at best, but the idea of actually assaulting the prehistoric
monastery to 'seize the Runes of Elder Lore' seemed more like a treasure
hunt than a military expedition. If it were military, they would have
taken ships, landed at Sarkomand, driven the moon beasts and other dire
things out of it, and either headed overland, or through one of the tunnels
to the monastery. Instead, they were coming from the opposite direction,
marching from their new base beyond Zais, to Zais, boarding flying ships,
or dragons, to Ignarok, then marching the rest of the way to the Valley of
Spiders. The spiders themselves were the least of their worries. The
dragons seemed to take great delight in ferreting them out of their holes,
and the firedrakes enjoyed roasting them alive in their webs.
Actually the Spiders _are_ a problem, the Meliorist thought, I hear
one more conversation/argument about how best to cook them, I'm going to
scream, and if I hear one more discussion about how they _taste_, I'm going
to throw up all over the spinnen-klatsch. [Spider chitchat]
The rapid arrival of the Scholarly Dragon lightened her mood. Her old
friend could convince the other dragons that they'd carried the joke too
far. He also had been scouting farther out ahead, so he would know what
was waiting for them. Then she noted how tired he looked, and how he kept
glancing over his shoulder, and at the sky.
"Trouble?" she asked as she gripped her sabre-halberd tightly,
expecting anything to come dropping out of the sky.
"No, no spiders or other monsters," the dragon said with an air of
calm that didn't fool her, "The pass is clear, even found a good campsite
for about two days from now."
"Good, good," the Meliorist said, "Are you all right?"
The dragon's head came around so quickly, the Meliorist feared he'd
give himself whiplash.
"Fine, fine, no trouble, really no trouble," he said, then nervously
scanned the skies again, "Why should anything be awry?"
The Meliorist was considering switching to taller boots, considering
the quantity of `fertilizer` the dragon was slathering on things. "Oh,
nothing. You're just as nervous as a cat in - "
The angry gaze from the dragon silenced her. "That's - not - funny,"
he intoned balefully, then went back to searching the skies.
"Fine, Saotome," she muttered, got another warning glare. Terrific,
now _he's_ gone nuts.
Anna's arrival lightened her steadily darkening mood. "Nothing behind
us or on the flanks, if they're aware of what we're doing, nobody is
reacting," Anna reported, throwing her commanders a crisp salute. "I did
see something, a cat-"
The sudden departure of the Scholarly Dragon knocked both women to the
ground.
"Wow, jet propelled," the Meliorist commented as she picked herself up
and dusted herself off.
"Have you been feeding him rocket fuel again?"
"No, I think he's been eating too many undercooked spiders, what did
you see?"
"Has he ever been like that?" Anna asked.
"Never mind _him_, what - did - you - see -?!" the Meliorist insisted.
"Oh, three EVAs, in Switzerland."
"That's impossible, Units 05 and 06 had to be completely reworked
because of the S2 engine problems. Units 07 through 09 won't be ready for
months."
"Well," Anna said, "That's what I saw."
"What was piloting?" Asuka asked.
"It was human, from what I saw . . . I dropped a couple of grenades
into the entry plug, the U.S. Army was doing an autopsy just to be sure."
The Meliorist squirmed at that. I've killed in the Dreamlands, and I
know that kills the person in the real/Waking World. But, _Asuka_ has
never killed, not like Anna and Jeff have. "You have been learning
Raccoon's sense of subtlety. I also found out you helped Raccoon `arrange`
to have me delivered to British Intelligence. Why didn't you go with?"
"I knew where they had moved Unit 02. I also knew that only the
Americans had the facilities to get it out before the Soviets got
it. Patton got the Lipizzaner Stallions, he got Unit 02 as well."
"Makes sense. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were so mad about being 'sold out' to the British, you wrote me
that you never wanted to speak to me again. The Meliorist didn't, until
the Scholarly Dragon forced us to," Anna replied.
"I'm sorry, it's just . . . I am going to _kill_ Horseface for doing
this to me," she muttered, "After what my dad did, to you _and_ me, I
thought everyone had turned against me."
"Pretty silly thought, considering two people just plucked you out of
Hell, at no small effort on their part I may tell you."
"I was twelve, and I was hurting!" the Meliorist shot back.
"And I was teasing," Anna replied, "You are _sooo_ serious
lately. You weren't like this when you were mooning over Kaji."
"HA!" Asuka barked, "Kaji, talk about a waste of time," the Meliorist
said, and sighed, "I am worried, being around the Limeys was one thing, I
spoke and read their language. I knew I was a prisoner, but I was
well-treated, but they never set me up for . . . "
"Come on," Anna said and led her away, "Let's get something to drink,
and you can tell me all about it." Anna led her away to the tents.
----------------------------------------
You Are A Fluke Of The Universe, You Have No Right To Be Here
August 3, 1947 - Tokyo (GMT +9.0 hr)
Mirei was 'throwing smoke'. Easy enough for me to hit, Ranko thought
as she watched the slider come over the plate, she tapped it just right to
send it right back to Mirei. _That's_ the tough part. She's also getting
a lot better with the distractions and head games, Ranko thought.
"It's your fault really," Mirei said as she loosed a screwball.
Nuts! Ranko nearly missed, but caught it, returning it to the
mound. "How is it _my_ fault_?_!_" shouted back angrily. Why is
_everything_MY_ fault all of a sudden?!
"You said it yourself. 'They keep saying 'Ten years is too long to
spend learning that stuff.'' And they're right," Mirei said, "The idea is,
you are not catering to their needs, or their interests. You love martial
arts so much, you figure everybody ought to."
"Why should I - ?" Ranko dodged as the ball passed _behind_ her.
"That's why," Mirei said, "You have to put it in _their_ strike
zone. They do fight. Shinji fought before you arrived. Mr. Davis does
some . . . weird stuff. So they have to have some talents, talents they
worked on as hard as you worked on martial arts. Part of what they're so
pissed at you - "
"Language, young lady!" Mirei's grandfather, their catcher, reminded
her.
"I apologize, grandfather," Mirei said and bowed, "But that doesn't
change the fact that _those_ geniuses have made what they loved and thought
you, and Ranma-san, should know, easily and even eagerly accessible. They
made you _want_ to learn what they loved. You're a genius in martial arts,
and you _can't_ do the same? I'm ashamed of you, you _should_ have been
able to figure something out. Unless you _aren't_ that good."
Ranko was so incensed about the insult, she missed the ball.
"Strike Three!" Mirei's grandfather called.
Ranko stood there fuming at both of them. The worse part is, she's
right, Ranko thought.
----------------------------------------
Ranko stared at the page of the notebook, she felt Asuka peering over
her shoulder at the diagrams and kanji characters that covered the page.
"What _are_ you doing?" Asuka asked.
"Each person has a different attitude towards fighting," Ranko said
with a faraway voice.
"Spineless runs away, we have to drag you away from one. That's
obvious," Asuka said.
"Then why didn't _you_ tell me?" Ranko asked angrily.
Asuka frowned at the other redhead. "You aren't the expert I thought
you are," Asuka shot back, "So what does that have to do with the pages of
chicken scratch and pretty pictures that have you hypnotized?"
Ranko pointed to one section, "From what you and your dreamself the
Meliorist have said, you prefer long-range, your sabre-halberd, with
Raccoon in front."
"So?" Asuka asked.
"So I should look into that, Raccoon's savate is more appealing to you
than my close up stuff."
Asuka shrugged.
"That's what I'm talking about," Ranko said, "Rei can run real fast, I
should be able to adapt that."
"I see," Asuka said, "You're going to invent a martial art for each of
us."
"Exactly," Ranko said brightly.
"I was right, you're nuts." Asuka walked away. Ranko stuck out her
tongue at Asuka's back. "I _see_ you."
"How?" Ranko said in fright.
"I know you were doing something," Asuka said as she left.
Ranma took over and went back to his work on the diagrams about
Martial Arts. He remembered what else Mirei had told `her` to drive the
point home. 'Have you ever talked to Ayanami-san? Or Davis-san, or
Langley-san? Asked them about what they feel about piloting?'
'Yeah, kinda,' Ranko had replied.
They're always so gloomy about it, Ranma thought.
'Ayanami-san is honest about it, Davis-san makes a joke about it, and
Langley-san always changes the subject, but all of them are the
`professional` pilots who understand what it really means,' Mirei had told
Ranko, 'And none of them expect to live to see their 18th birthday.'
'Yeah,' Ranko had replied as she batted the ball back.
'You don't see it?' Mirei had asked.
'No,' Ranko had replied while she waited for the pitch.
And I have been so stupid I didn't see it coming, Ranma thought as he
stared at the page, filled with half-completed ideas, My ideas, I haven't
_asked_ them yet.
'You took ten years or so to get that good?' Mirei had asked as Ranko
had concentrated on tapping the ball back to Mirei, who then caught it
easily, 'So they'll be 6 years dead before they could be as good as you are
now.'
'Strike FOUR!' Mirei's grandfather had called.
And what a strike four, Ranma considered, How stupid must I have
looked. 'Say let's waste what little time you've got left learning
something that won't help you until you're almost dead.' They told me, but
it was never enough to penetrate my assumption they were just picking on
me. They really _do_ think they're all going to die. And they also think
if they can teach _me_, and ole Shinji, and Nab-chan enough . . . _we_
might survive. I've been telling them to live for nothing except Martial
Arts for four years they have, and for six they don't, when they might be
doing something to assure some of _us_ get through this. Ranma threw his
head back and sighed. He grabbed one of his red tresses, stared at
it. They're all so sure they're going to die, and I'm worried about being
stuck as a girl. Mirei reminded me she knew the life we lived, I remember
she was at Hiroko's and Seisuke's funeral . . . why can't I remember my
other friend's name? Did I only care about them because they practiced
Martial Arts too? Am I _that_ shallow?
'But they don't _really_ believe they are going to die!' Ranko had
protested to Mirei.
'Yes, Ranko-san,' Mirei's grandfather had told the `two` girls as he
approached, 'Forgive me for interrupting, but those three pilots act as did
my grandson's fighter squadron. They were willing to continue fighting for
the Emperor, and for Japan, but none of them expected to live. Some turned
inward, others sought to do everything they could to train others, others
lived very - ' he had glanced warily at the two girls, 'Exuberant
lives. Ayanami-san, Master Davis and Miss Langley are picture perfect
examples. They do as children would, but they are still doing it.'
But being able to fight better means that they won't die, Ranma
thought, repeating Ranko's protest, and the icy cold feeling that came with
the realization, The one standing in the way of that was - me. 'Learn it
the way I did!' Except I bet they haven't taught _me_ the way _they_
learned, because they figured out a better way, for me and for them. But I
haven't even _tried_!_ He pounded his head on the table. "How stupid
could I be?"
"Lots stupider, but I have faith in your drive to excel," Asuka called
from wherever she was.
"Thanks," Ranma shouted back.
'_Maybe_ won't die,' Mirei had corrected Ranko, 'There's always
accidents and opponents stronger than you are.'
And that ended any argument I could have had, with her, or with
myself. I had a task set before me months ago, and because I was reacting
to the blows, I never paid attention to defeating the enemy, Ranma thought,
Because the real problem actually _was_ me, not because I did something
wrong, or failed to do what was expected of me, but because I didn't go way
beyond what I could do, didn't seek to _really_ excel. Like Mirei's
grandfather told me, 'So they don't see an investment of ten years they
don't have, for no benefit _today_. They are all living for today, however
they are showing it, that's what they're doing. If you don't offer them
something of benefit _today_, they won't care.'
"And our morning practice, all that is, is what Asuka taught me in a
few weeks, not what I learned in my ten years. All preprepared,
predigested, and processed because she realized I needed to teach, so she
gave me something to spoon feed the others. She spoon feeds it to me, I
send it to the others, but what part of what _I_ know went into those
lessons?" Ranma asked himself. Nothing, he thought, remembering `Ranko`
had told Mirei the same, There's nothing of what I arrived with as part of
the lessons, no part of my Art or myself. I _AM_ good at Martial Arts,
_THE_ best! I wouldn't be shortchanging the Art, or them. It's no crime
to break down the Art into pieces the way Asuka taught me to, to see the
patterns and similarities. Simplifying without reducing. Mirei's
grandfather was right, I didn't make it attractive, I didn't `sell` it to
them the way they convinced _me_ to learn math or teaching . . . or the
other stuff.
"Selling the Art," Ranma murmured, "I was _so_ offended."
'What do you think running a dojo is?' Mirei's grandfather had told
Ranko, 'If you don't have students, your Art dies.'
"That's what still bothers me, more than _me_ dying. If that
happened, I wouldn't have to watch," Ranma said, "I can do this, I have my
ideas . . . now I have to sell it." He glanced at Sammi, who'd been
silently watching him argue with himself the entire time. Wonder if either
noticed the distance between us, Ranma thought, At least they didn't act
like they noticed. My head hurts and I can't believe how tired I am. But
I've got a few basic punches and kicks broken down like the moves in
Talhoffer: start, strike, end.
Ranma gathered his papers, pushed away from the table and headed
downstairs to his room with them. He closed the door and flopped down on
his bed. She hugged the pillow tightly against her body. Raccoon's
pillow, entered her head. "AGH! I _am_ turning into a girl!"
----------------------------------------
"I remember Raccoon talking about the reason ki and Martial Arts
attacks couldn't affect the Great Old Ones, was they could be 'elsewhere
when the attack landed," Ranma said.
"That sounds like something he'd say," Asuka said, "You make a good
parrot, once they train you not to crap on your owner's shirt."
Ranma frowned, wishing that his best insults could compete with
Asuka's or Raccoon's. "Fine, but do you know what it means?"
"Of course, it implies a translation from our time -space continuum to
another or even a timeless phase space, like a Laplace transform."
"Oh , right. _That_ would be obvious to anyone," Ranma said smugly,
"It means that we should be able to do the same with the EVAs."
"Except with the AT fields fully deployed, the spaces coincide, at
least the stronger are superimposed over the weaker."
"It should also be possible for anyone who can manipulate an AT
field," Ranma said excitedly, "Imagine, a fist fight where _you_ could be
elsewhere when the blow fell."
"_I_ wouldn't let an enemy get that close," Asuka replied haughtily.
"That's a dodge, but if some of our enemies are _human_, then it makes
sense. Raccoon also maintains he won his fights by being the last one
standing, so it seems a perfect mix."
"And - you can offer to teach Wondergirl -what, Cthulhu-fu?" Asuka
asked him, smiling as he shuddered at the name.
"So is that what you've been working on?" Asuka asked.
"You think Martial Arts is a waste of time?" Ranma asked.
"If it doesn't have an immediate benefit, it's too late for a long
process of learning," Asuka told him. Eerily mirroring what Mirei and her
grandfather had told him earlier.
----------------------------------------
"If you really want to teach these ideas, you'll need to talk to
Wondergirl," Asuka told Ranma, "After all, she's going to be the hardest
sell. Raccoon will agreed just to humor `Ranko` and to prove she's got a
place with the adults at the table."
Ranma frowned at her, both for the implied insult and worse, she was
right, convincing Raccoon would be easy, for Ranko, compared to convincing
Rei. "What do you suggest?" Ranma asked, batting `her` eyelashes at the
other redhead, "You wouldn't be taunting me this way, unless you already
had a better idea . . . for fear I'd call you on it and you'd look
stupid." Ranma hid his smile while Asuka glowered. I am learning, he
thought, You'll have to work a _lot_ more to beat me. I just don't brag
about it until I'm ready to show it.
"Very well, invite her over for a cooking lesson, or better yet,
invite yourself over there for lunch. Then you've got the whole afternoon
you can even intersperse your persuasion with a few special lessons and
basic moves. She is way behind you and me and Spineless . . . well, he
doesn't need the attention until he wakes up, nor does Ranma since he seems
to be in hiding."
Ranma shivered, "She hates me."
"Wondergirl doesn't hate you," Asuka said sympathetically as she
leaned close and gently stroked Ranma's hair, "She thinks you're a waste,
and valueless. Still, cheer up, the Commander values you, so really, you
just confuse her"
"Gee. Thanks. So the only reason she doesn't throw me in a trash can
is ole' Stoneface doesn't think I'm junk."
"Exactly," Asuka chirped, "As soon as he does, Wondergirl will rip out
your guts and bury you in an ash heap immediately. Isn't _that_
comforting?"
At least she didn't say 'Ranko loves her,' like Raccoon did, Ranma
thought, then shuddered, trying to keep from thinking about how that
_might_ be true.
"And don't let your crush on her get in the way," Asuka added as she
left the dining room, and the floor hit Ranma squarely in the face. "It's
good you can express your true feeling for her, she seems so lonely and
Spineless isn't as forward as you are."
"I wonder if I can find a Great Old One who can eat me on short
notice," Ranma lamented.
----------------------------------------
August 2, 1947 - Boston (GMT -5.0 hrs)
Adam watched the medical staff carefully load his friend aboard the
long-range air ambulance, he remembered the mistake he'd made.
Adam had walked carefully, he'd entered the carrier's workshop. The
lad had been there, working on a project of his own, oblivious to the clang
and rattle around him as the sailors had made their repairs to the carrier
and its many machines. Adam had watched silently as the lad had carefully
cleaned and oiled the parts of the massive shotgun. A weapon that still
reminded Adam more of a Bofor's twin 40mm than a hand arm. He knew only
one purpose for such a lethal piece of hand artillery.
'When were you going to tell me she had escaped? And was bent on
killing not only the Project members, but anyone who gets in her way?' the
boy had asked, mercifully in Chinese, so it was unlikely the others had
heard.
'Soon after I learned which way you would jump,' he had sighed, 'Now I
know. I'm not displeased by your preparations, but I am a bit shocked.'
'I'm going to try to bring her back,' he had said attaching the short
barrel and the forward handgrip, 'But I have no illusions about what I'll
have to do if I fail. Since you aren't asking about this, or why I don't
seem to have any ammunition here.'
'Dragon's Breath,' Adam had breathed, remembering that Hellish mix of
thermite and phosphorus that Jeff had used in the cane-shotgun he'd
carried. Turning a shotgun into a flamethrower. Adam didn't blame anyone
for being frightened of such a weapon. The girl had been particularly . .
. he had realized.
'You intend to use her own fear against her,' Adam had said, he had
been caught between admiration and disgust.
'If nothing else works,' the boy had replied, 'There aren't easy
answers. If she's insane, she'll have to be stopped, if she's not, she
could be a valuable ally. She was always a better pilot than I was. If
she gets my spot, or Tendo's, I won't complain.'
And return you to the shadows where you won't be revealed, Adam now
considered what he should have realized at the time, What plans _do_ you
have? You sent England a pilot but no EVA, daring us to use Asuka, the
world's best and most experienced pilot, on Unit 03, while America kept a
lesser pilot and Unit 02, your plan was to replace yourself with Sharon, a
life for a life? Adam didn't understand, Davis had always preferred
draughts to chess. 'Because annihilating the enemy and winning the game in
one move was possible,' Davis had explained. Adam didn't see the
difference between this and chess. But it clearly indicated a very
different way of looking at things.
He remembered when the boy's task had seemed to be completed, he had
returned the newly rebuilt shotgun to the large carry case. 'I'd rather
you kept Miss Tendo out of this, she's not ready to step so far into the
darkness,' the boy, who had ceased somehow to be a boy, had told him.
'I suspect ggreg and I could divert her, but you are assuming she
won't be Sharon's target,' Adam had replied. There, I said it. Now let
her come, Adam had thought at the time.
'I'll expect nothing less.' The boy had stood, but an old man looked
out of his eyes. 'Tell me something. Will you be hoping the two of us
annihilate each other, or do you still trust me enough to hope that I can
either save or kill her?'
Adam had looked away, he still had no answer for those too grizzled
eyes.
'At least you're honest.' Jeffrey had taken his shoulder. 'Don't
worry, you aren't the first, you won't be the last, either,' he had added
sadly.
Adam had realized he'd been dismissed, politely, but the meaning had
been plain. Davis had decided Adam and gregg couldn't be trusted in
battle, so they hadn't been.
"Well, old friend, did he know what you were going out to do, while he
and his friends went out to a restaurant?" Adam asked, "Should I have gone
with him? We have lost what little control we might have had. Cowardice
and stupidity. At least Miss Ibuki and Dr. Akagi have retained their hold,
if not strengthened it. Yet do we risk tightening our grip on them, or
would he cut off the hand that attempted it?"
----------------------------------------
Be At Peace With Your God, Whatever You Conceive It To Be
Shinji waited, in the towers that sat outside the massive city on the
ice-covered planet. Pluto, he thought idly, Yuggoth. But nobody's
around. He had found many of the minds in containers. He'd freed them as
best and as many as he could. Nobody else, no enemies, he thought and
chuckled, No friends either. He walked over the huge stairs that looped
around an immense central pillar. He found the twenty-three thrones that
dominated the huge upper level. Shinji walked across the floor, counting
his steps. He found the number of steps exceeded the size of the base of
the tower. He smiled at the possibility. Bigger on the inside than the
outside, he thought, Weird.
Then he spotted the person sitting in the thrones, so tiny, he almost
disappeared within them. "Who?"
"Relax," Raccoon the miniature told him, "I'm not really here. Of
course neither are you."
Shinji approached, and realized just how tiny the figure was. It
would barely reach his hip and it practically vanished in the gray-green
stone of the throne, except when he spoke, then he became plain for all to
see.
"I'm here too," a girl the same scale as Raccoon walked around the
throne and plopped down next to Raccoon, who squeezed into the corner to
maintain his distance.
American, not just a European. Only they act like they rule
everything without meaning to offend. She certainly looks the part, he
thought. "Your girlfriend?" he asked aloud. What did I say? he thought as
both turned vaguely purple.
Suddenly the girl burst into laughter, Raccoon looked like he'd eaten
a 10-course dinner, prepared by Misato in a `creative` mood.
Shinji felt himself smiling in response to the girl's laughter. "No,
I'm just an echo, a last bit of one of the things you fight."
Shinji was confused.
"The Americans and British didn't _need_ EVAs," she told him, "You're
living proof that neither did the Japanese."
"HWA!" Shinji shouted as he reeled back.
"The Mi-Go won't come near this place, but you can walk it with
impunity," Raccoon told him, "So can I. If you really need to fight
something, you can make a duplicate or make a copy as good as you can."
"Make Great Old Ones?" Shinji asked. That's _INSANE_, it's also
horrifying! he thought. "I . . . I remember walking the ancient
ways. Seeing . . . people, I guess, as they discussed just such a
thing. 'To unravel the true secrets of the world,' that's what they
sought, they would have done _anything_ to achieve that knowledge, paid any
price. Is that what my father wants, to - to learn those secrets?" The
implications horrified him.
"Much as I hate to admit it," Raccoon replied, "Gendo is too wise to
go looking into such things. He knows what it would cost him, and what
he'd lose. No, he doesn't seek that. His desires are . . . more
straightforward. There are others, however, who seek exactly that. And
they are inexorably drawn to that knowledge, even knowing what will
happen."
"If they unravel the secrets of the world . . . to lay bare the nature
of the universe and reach Enlightenment through the revelation. I see
them, over and over again. Those we destroyed, those they destroyed,"
Shinji barely spoke above a whisper, reliving the ancient, stolen memories,
fighting to avoid becoming lost in their sheer number, lost to their sheer
power.
"But reality is too terrible!" he shouted in horror, finally breaking
free, coming back to being Shinji, "Entire races died from what they
created. One became Rhan Tegoth. He consumed his entire race, reveled in
their murder, in the bloodshed. They were peaceful! They never hurt
anyone! Why did he kill them?!"
"Just knowing what you know drove them mad," the girl told him, "As it
did me."
"Why am I immune?" Shinji demanded in shock, "Raccoon are you? Is
Ayanami-san? Asuka-san?"
"You and I are immune because we are already there. You've never
fitted in because you aren't one of them, not human. Nor am I. The old
rule holds, what do you have when you add a spoon full of fine wine to a
barrel of sewage?"
"A barrel of sewage," Shinji said, "What does that -?"
"And what do you get when you add a spoon full of sewage to a barrel
of fine wine?" Raccoon continued over Shinji's protest, "You get a barrel
of sewage. But in the first example nobody really expects to get a barrel
of fine wine. That's you, me and Ayanami. We could stand on the edge of
Chaos, staring into what would destroy everyone else, and the whirlpool
would look away in terror."
"I'm not a monster!" he shouted and advanced menacingly on Raccoon,
"And neither is Ayanami-san!"
"Because you chose not to be," Raccoon replied coolly, "You try
desperately to be human, to be accepted. Why do you want to be liked so
desperately? Because if humans like you, you are like them. If they
reject you, you are failing to _be_ human. I play the clown, Rei follows
orders. All of us play at being human. Because we know in our heart of
heart, how ever much we want or try to be, we aren't."
"I'm HUMAN!" Shinji towered over the other boy, trying and failing to
threaten him.
"Because you choose to be. You understand some small part of it, and
it hurts and frightens you. I understand a much greater bit, and I lie in
a coma I may never awaken from. You understand? Rhan Tegoth was a monster
so weak, a pair of novices could kill it," Raccoon said quietly, "What you
are now . . . could destroy him without an EVA. Chaugnar Faugn was a
master geneticist, I see how I so easily could make so many changes. I
could wave a hand and perfect the human race. Never to die, immunity to
disease, regeneration from all but the most violent injury."
"Then do it," Shinji suggested.
"To what end? And why stop there, eliminate our violent streak,
prejudice, so many other things?"
"Then why not that too?" Shinji asked angrily, "If you could erase
misery with a wave of your hand, why don't you do it?!"
"Do you remember the first time you cooked, and it was terrible? Your
most embarrassing moment with Ayanami-san, how terrible you feel when you
have to look after Misato-san after she gets drunk again."
"You know I do," Shinji said and turned away.
"Humans remember their every failure, they only remember their
greatest triumphs," Raccoon said, "Do you know, we've lost more art,
literature and music than many of this planet's tenants have
_created_?_ We're at most 10,000 years old, pick any culture from the
Egyptians, to the Chinese, to India, the Mayan, the Hebrews or the Greeks:
songs, stories, myths, legends, paens to forgotten gods, words to seduce
lovers long gone to dust, whimsical flights of fancy. No other race that
has walked this planet, some for billions of years, can match what that
_one_ culture you picked has provided. Maybe our memories of failures
drive us to greater heights of creativity. Who am I to undo that?"
"Allow suffering all for the sake of art?" Shinji scoffed, "And you
say you aren't playing being a god?"
"Maybe," Raccoon admitted with a shrug, "Or maybe I'm choosing not to,
because I realize there just may be something greater than the 'secret of
the universe'. You absorbed a creature that achieve godhood by consuming
his entire race, do you have any desire to consume other people?"
"NO!" Shinji turned back and shouted at him, he felt he was arguing
with a toy, and losing. I could crush him with one hand, he thought as he
raised his clenched fist to look at it, he unclenched it, That's what he's
saying, soon I won't even have to use my fist.
"But you understand how the process works. The secret is known, by
the others, by The Children. The Children of _what_?_ Of whom? Have you
ever sat up at night and stared at the ceiling wondering why? What we are,
what makes us different, if there are others, or just _us_?_"
"Yes," Shinji admitted, "And I thought I was the only one. Because I
was born a monster? Is that what you're saying? That I'll never fit in,
that people won't care about me because of what I am?"
"Remember the faces of our classmates when the Illigor attacked,
remember how they looked at you," Raccoon ordered, his voice harsh and
alien, "Was that fear, was it blind worship? Or did they see Shinji the
EVA pilot, and drew strength from knowing you, and me, and Langley and Rei,
and Ranma and Nabiki were there. They were ready to fight or run at your
word, would they have done that for a monster? Would you take away their
right to make their own mistakes?"
"I - I don't know. What does that have to do with anything?" Shinji
asked.
"You stand in a fortress, having ravaged an enemy so powerful that a
minor expedition holds the might of an entire nation in check . . . and
where are your wounds, your bruises? You have power that matches the gods
of old. Yet you fear acceptance and wish to see you friends strive and
grow. You ask me what you are and what matters?"
"Yes!"
"I haven't the faintest idea," Raccoon said, "Exhilarating, isn't it,
finding out?"
"Ayanami-san?" he stammered. I should just flatten Raccoon and jump
up and down on his corpse, he thought angrily.
"Does she know or is she the same as us? Yes, she knows, in some
deeper ways, she knows better than I. Is she the same as us, essentially
yes, except they brought her to the knowledge of it before we were, and she
is not as far along the path as you and I are."
"And me," the girl said, breaking the ominous mood.
"You my dear, stepped off the path, made deals you shouldn't have,"
Raccoon replied bitterly.
"In all, you, me, Sharon, Jason, Rei-san, maybe Ranma, a more vague
maybe for Nabiki and Asuka."
"What are we?" Shinji asked.
"We are what we choose to be," Raccoon told him.
"Sharon?" Shinji asked, trying to concentrate on anything else.
"He killed me," the girl said as she held up her hand, then laughed at
Shinji's disbelief. "You see, I made a mistake you all avoided. Where you
humiliated Nyarlathotep . . . I listened to him. So Jeff killed me. He's
such a dear." She laughed as Shinji drew back.
"How . . . how could you?" he shouted at Raccoon. This is ridiculous,
I'm huge compared with him, and _I'm_ the one who's afraid, he thought.
"How could I not?" Raccoon replied coldly, although he did seem
ashamed. "What would _you_ do if Rei or Langley fell to our enemies, not
killed but recruited?"
"I . . . " Shinji turned away, despite his size, he suddenly felt
very small and weak. "I don't know."
"I do, and I would, so I'd take care of it," Raccoon said without a
hint of scorn, "But who would do the same for me?"
Shinji shook his head. "Don't think like that! You're no killer!"
"Does he normally have these delusions?" the girl, Sharon, asked
Raccoon.
Shinji glanced over his shoulder as Raccoon shrugged. "Shinji-san, I
_am_ a killer, that's what they _built_ me for, trained me, molded
me." Raccoon stood up, walked towards Shinji, despite the fact he looked
barely 6.5 centimeters tall, Shinji backed away. "But _I_ chose to do
it. I cannot be _ordered_. I'm good at doing what I'm asked, and rotten
at doing what I'm ordered," he told Shinji-the-Goliath as the larger boy
backed away.
"Now I have a decision to make." Raccoon walked by him and to the
parapet peering over one of the low parts of the alternating teeth.
Crenelations, the thought intruded on Shinji's consideration.
"Look at them out there."
Shinji looked over one of the teeth. Merlons, he heard another memory
not his own. He saw the frozen landscapes and the empty city. A dark moon
rose slightly off to one side.
"So full of fear, yet so helpless," Raccoon continued.
_WHO_?_ Shinji wanted to require from the other boy, his fellow
pilot. "The rest of the universe?" Shinji asked.
"The rest of the universe will revel in the fall of the Mi-Go, but
they will always wonder who is the strongest," Raccoon answered and turned
to Shinji, "Are you prepared to become one of the strongest? All the power
and privileges, as well as the costs and responsibilities?"
"I - I don't know," Shinji answered miserably, "I just don't know." I
remember the dream, me as the leader, but Rei-chan and Asuka-san, and
Nabiki-san and Raccoon were all at my side, all helping, sometimes I felt
they'd already made the decisions they were just informing me about what
was going to happen. But without them, with just me, he thought, I don't
know, I'm afraid I'll become like my father. "I want . . . people to like
me."
"A reasonable answer," Raccoon said, patting Shinji's leg, "But
there's one thing you do need to understand. That people show they care
their own way."
"I think I figured it out with Asuka-san. She doesn't say, or seem to
care, in fact she seems to hate you, but she's always driving the people
she cares about to be better. While she drives them away, why is that?"
"It's not my story to tell. But I will tell you one thing. The
Germans surrendered in April, why was she picked up in August?" he asked.
Shinji considered, stared at Raccoon as he and the girl faded
away. He then looked out over the barren, empty landscape and considered
what they all had said.
----------------------------------------
August 3, 1947 - Tokyo (GMT +9.0 hr)
Ranma arrived at Rei's apartment. Well, she didn't tell me _not_ to
come here when I called, he thought, I know she could hear me over the
phone, I heard her breathing. He knocked, then walked in. "Rei-chan?"
He'd heard a violin as he approached, someone was playing it
beautifully. As he entered, he realized it was live, not a radio
broadcast. Ranma stood and watched as Rei sat on her bed making such
heartbreakingly beautiful music. Ranma wiped his cheeks. Good thing I'm a
girl, Ranma thought, Guys don't cry over music,
"You're pretty good," Ranma said when she finished, "Why haven't you
played with Asuka?"
"I have played with Shinji-kun," Rei told him, "I wish to play with
him again."
"Well, if the school starts tomorrow, you'll need to practice, it's a
new school."
"Is there any doubt school will begin tomorrow?" Rei asked.
Nitpick all you want, Ranma thought. "They'll probably insult
you. You do look unusual, so you need to practice getting and giving
insults."
"I have not changed my appearance," Rei told him, "You are ugly, and
your mother dresses you funny." Rei began packing away her violin.
"That's very funny," Ranma said, "But not having much effect."
"Limited shock effect," Rei said.
"That's right," Ranma said, then took a step back as Rei advanced.
"You are the most beautiful cat I have ever seen. Perhaps I should
breed you with all the Toms I own."
Ranma shuddered at the images that sprang to mind. "Ah, that requires
you know me. You need some more general insults."
"Why?" Rei asked.
"You don't want them to pick on you, do you?"
The subtle change that came over Rei frightened Ranma more than the
idea of being bred with cats, he tried to back through the armored walls.
"They - will - leave - me - alone," Rei said, not as a human, but
Ranko couldn't get the idea that Rei had changed into an Angel, something
that didn't belong on Earth, something alien and terrible, something so
'other' that the universe should expel it. Yet Rei remained as she always
appeared, towering over Ranko.
"I do not believe I will be troubled," Rei said, reverting to normal.
Ranko nearly sank to the floor in relief. Only her pride and
discipline kept her on her feet. Well, Ranma ran away the only way he
could, she realized on noting the change of personality, Weak, vulnerable
girl my ass! She could tear anything apart with her voice and bare hands.
"Giving your victims heart attacks may not be a good idea."
"Why not?" Rei asked.
"You can't kill people."
"I am quite able, I chose not to."
"I mean you _should_ not. I don't think it's a good idea to kill,"
Ranko said.
"If it is necessary," Rei said.
"Learning to deal with insults," Ranko reminded her.
"I already am," Rei said.
"Well, humor me," Ranko said.
"You are short, your feet do not reach the ground," Rei said in her
emotionless tone.
Ranko sighed and hung her head. "Which gods did I piss off to deserve
this?"
"Cthugha, Rhan Tegoth, Nyoghta, Tulzscha, for certain, perhaps
Amaterasu, Hachiman, Adonai . . . "
Ranko emitted a scream of anguish.
----------------------------------------
August 2, 1947 - Albany (GMT -5.0 hrs)
The train had gotten underway without any serious disruptions. All
the senior staff, which included the pilots, had their own small `cabin` on
the train. That wasn't where Nabiki was. The huge double-wide flat cars
directly behind the team of engines held Unit 04. Nabiki sat there to
watch the huge unmoving machine as the wind struck her back and whipped
through her hair. The machine was chained down like Gulliver had been by
the Lilliputians.
Except I piloted it on and assisted with the tie down, she thought.
She was as alone as you could be on the train. Too many people
crowded into a small space and even in a private room, she could hear the
activities of the other soldiers.
In Japan I could be pressed cheek to jowl with others without trouble,
here I want as much S - P - A - C - E as do the Americans, she thought, But
I could be just as alone in one of the other cabins, then it would _seem_ I
was trying hard to be alone. Out here I can just _be_ alone, and no one
wants to be out here.
She looked at the huge machine. "What do you do?" she asked, "Just
fight, or do you want to do something else?" Ranma is such a powerful
fighter, but is that all _he_ wants? she asked herself, But no one has ever
asked him, not Akane, not Shampoo, and not me. No, Asuka has, so has
Raccoon, even Ritsuko, but not me.
"What would you tell him?" she asked Unit 04, "What should I tell
_him_?_ What should I tell _her_?_ Or is there something I should _do_?_"
She considered the betrayal by Belldandy. I was supposed to be here
to help Ranma. I thought that would mean that I would stay with
him. That's not what I'll get. "Is it enough just to do your job, to
protect people. Why isn't this enough?" she asked. She hugged her legs to
her chest. The chill she felt had nothing to do with the wind. "I want
Ranma, want to spend my life with him. Maybe have his children. But I
can't . . . what do I do? Work on getting Ran_ko_ and Raccoon together, or
fight Belldandy and her allies to get to stay, with Ranma? But who can I
get as an ally? Raccoon would help, maybe some of the others. But would
it be enough?" The tears she felt weren't all caused by the wind.
The Unit said nothing, no voices descended out of the sky to advise
her, comfort her or assure her it would be all right.
"Sometimes I wonder if there is _anything_ in this universe that
really cares about humans and _our_ concerns." She checked the chains that
tied down the EVA and then went back inside for a very late supper. "So
who do I to talk about this?" she quietly asked herself.
----------------------------------------
August 3, 1947 - Tokyo (GMT +9.0 hr)
Asuka watched Horseface drag herself in, she looked like someone had
been beating her with a stick. She also muttered and twitched slightly.
"Play with Shinji again, heh." Horseface twitched. "School begins
tomorrow, heh." Horseface flinched. "Haven't changed my appearance, ah ha
ha." "I am quite able, heh." Horseface stood up, tried to master herself,
then broke down cackling, "But isn't canned corn supposed to be yellow!"
"Are you - " Asuka paused and drew back as Horseface stared at her
with mad eyes. "You all right?"
"I think Rei-chan has the basics of insults and humor down pat,"
Horseface said, shivering violently, and returning to her quiet muttering.
"But how do you know?" Asuka asked innocently, earning a venomous
glare from Horseface. "You mean you _LOST_?_!_" Asuka asked in horror,
hands on her cheeks, to hide her incipient smile.
Horseface continued to glare at her. "I didn't realize I was in the
battle until too late," Horseface told her tiredly, "And then it really was
too late." Horseface giggled again, and dragged herself into Raccoon's
room.
Asuka headed upstairs and picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hello."
"Wondergirl," Asuka said, "Good work, if you beat her, you passed."
"Good." Click.
"Well, meow to you too," Asuka said, "Wondergirl, you certainly earned
your privacy." Asuka hung up the phone.
----------------------------------------
The Scholarly Dragon stood amid the Council of Dragonmages at their
guildhall. It was a full meeting. The Dragon had taken human form,
although some of the dragons were still in their native forms. Alwyk and
Altara among them. The Meliorist stood beside him on the floor, looking up
at the rows and rows of nervous mages. He smiled at that, he would have
bet on the two of them against most of the council, in any battle, mental
or physical.
"We are glad you acquiesced to our request," the ArchChancellor said,
defusing the question of whether the Scholarly Dragon had submitted to a
summons, or come of his own free will.
Always games within games, the Dragon thought, And you don't know what
mine is. Is that what I stand here to answer for? "There are always
questions," the Scholarly Dragon said quietly, the rumble of his basso tone
partially masked by his reduced size. I still have the force of
personality, he thought, And you all remember El Nureenen's fate. I don't
need to be a dragon to remind all of you what I _am_.
"The question of whether a mage can take an apprentice has always been
a concern," the ArchChancellor said.
"It has always been the master mages' question of who and how," the
Dragon replied smoothly. I know where this is headed and how I will play
this, he thought.
"There are traditions," another of the council reminded him.
The dragons glanced around worriedly. 'All mages are males', is an
element of belief, despite the fact that over half of the dragons who now
sit in judgment are _female_, the Scholarly Dragon thought and smiled, I
could take the same route, and send them all into hysterics, but I'll keep
that to myself. I don't think the girl even knows the truth, yet. It was
all he could do to keep from laughing at _that_ thought. What kept him
from laughing was his friend, the Meliorist, who stared at the entire
council with a white-knuckled grip on her sabre-halberd, steely gaze, the
struggle not to begin screaming at all of them written on every facet of
her being.
'If violence begins, it will begin with her', the Dragon thought of
the worry of the others and railed at the stupidity of such `learned`
beings, The threat is within me and always has been. "I will cut to the
chase," he rumbled, his voice filling the hall, drowning any other voice or
thought, "You will demand that he give up his apprentice, I will refuse for
him and you will decide whatever censure or other punishment you deem
appropriate."
The council shifted in their seats. Much shielded whispering among
the members. The expressions among the dragon members were the least
pleased, for the Human and Serpent Man members, he suspected their
displeasure came from different sources, different reactions.
"There is only one appropriate penalty. Expulsion," the
ArchChancellor told him.
Considering that the boy cannot enter the Dreamlands currently, it
isn't as harsh a punishment as it could be, and the good ArchChancellor
knows it, politics, the Scholarly Dragon thought, letting the silence that
followed the ArchChancellor's pronouncement stretch on and on. No
explosion from the knight? It must mean worse is coming, he thought as the
silence continued, broken only by hastily mumbled protections spells. The
Scholarly Dragon glanced at Alwyk. "I believe your last apprentice so
penalized returned as the ArchChancellor," he said confidently. Alwyk
smiled at that.
The council frowned, they weren't happy by the deflection of their
punishment, others had hoped to see an 'arrogant pup brought to heel'.
One more lance in your side, the Dragon thought. "I will inform
him. I doubt you will recover the Staff of Kavon, it will not serve you in
any case," he told them. Surprising, he thought of the explosion of
outrage, That was what they wanted returned! And you fools thought he'd
simply turn over the device. Stupid assumption, but not completely
unexpected. He waited until the `educated men` quit acting like spoiled
children. "As I am no longer a member of this council, even honorarily, if
you are done with me?"
They couldn't agree if they were or weren't, the Scholarly Dragon took
the Meliorist's shoulder and led her away during the confusion.
"You just stood there and took it!" she whispered harshly.
"When we're on our way back," he replied. I will not explain while we
can be heard, he thought as he led his friend away, And let them hear that
much.
----------------------------------------
As they flew through the airs of the Dreamlands, the Scholarly Dragon
explained, " `Ice Princess` is a natural mage, maybe comparable to the
boy's talent. He _MUST_ teach her. Also - you don't have a nickname for
'Rit-chan' she must feel very left out, do you also neglect 'Misa-chan'
that way?"
"My names for _Major_ Katsuragi Misato can't be repeated in public,"
the Meliorist said, "Military Genius', HA! Any sergeant in the Wehrmacht
is a better tactician and strategist than she is. Wild and daring as her
plans may be, they are also showy and overly complicated. I'd bet Sho-1
was her idea, including attacking Taffy 3 with the Yamato, and then turning
around at the moment of victory," the Meliorist said.
"Well, Ritsuko accidentally got all his memories, feelings, etc., like
what you felt through the AT field, he will have to teach _her_ as
well. The council will go absolutely insane when they learn about _that_,"
the Dragon told her, then chuckled, a basso rumbling.
"I can't believe it," the Meliorist replied, he `heard` through his
skin, the wind whipped her words away as they flew.
"She has the talent, both of them," he replied, "I don't know where
Nabiki developed it, but it needs to be trained or it will cause her
endless problems. You know that as well as I do. Ritsuko likewise has the
full training of a mage, having her with that skill will be a useful
surprise for any opponent."
"Isn't she, both of them, kind of old for the training?" the Meliorist
asked.
"No," he explained, "She was already manifesting some talents. Some
people become spellcasters without any training. Imagine if she actually
_was_ from that insane Nerima, she might have been able to sail through the
madness without it ever touching her, maybe even shielding another person
she cared about."
"I'd hate to be whoever that was, once the protection was withdrawn,"
the Meliorist said, "Especially without warning. So you've got two natural
spellcasters without training. Don't people who go through that go insane
at some point of the process? Well we don't have to worry about Ice
Princess on that score, anybody after Ranma that way is already insane -"
"Me thinks she doth protest too much, or would you like a saucer of
cream when we land?" the Dragon said, and ignored the muttered comments
from his passenger, he checked the sky for another cat-female he'd been
having trouble with. Saotome is doing that on purpose to repay me for my
many `kindnesses`, he thought.
"You have to admit, for a Japanese, she acts weird," the Meliorist
said, in a surprisingly civil tone.
"But not for a European?"
"Or for an American," the Meliorist agreed.
"The point is, the boy isn't about to abandon either of them, he'll
teach both. Another mage would be valuable, two of his level would be
phenomenal."
"Agreed," the Meliorist grudgingly admitted, "Any idea how soon and
what kind of mage? Would Ritsuko follow his way, or make one of her own?"
"Not really, Nabiki will learn quickly, Ritsuko has the apprentice's
usual problem of believing in magic. Of course Tendo will be interested in
learning the flash-bang type spells."
"The exact kind he is terrible at," the Meliorist interjected.
"True, it will be some work to get her to accept a more balanced
arsenal."
"Any special talents like he has?" she asked.
"None seen yet, but that will have to wait until training actually
starts," the Scholarly Dragon told her as he dodged around a cloud that was
developing into a thunderhead, "It's too early to tell, for either of
them."
The Meliorist fell silent as they continued on to the base camp for
the Red Dragons. The advance into the plateau of Leng had continued
without serious opposition, which worried everyone.
----------------------------------------
"So," Anna asked as the Meliorist slid to the ground, "What was so
critical that you _both_ had to charge off?!"
"Paperwork?" the Scholarly Dragon asked innocently.
The Meliorist nodded sagely while Anna fumed at the implications.
"I got kicked out of the Council, so did the boy," the Scholarly
Dragon said, as he headed off to confer with the other dragons.
"They wouldn't!" Anna exclaimed.
"They _did_, and he said _nothing_!_" the Meliorist told her heatedly,
the old anger returning.
"I think _you're_ madder about it that _he_ is," Anna pointed out.
"Shouldn't I be? You weren't there when he completed his trials," the
Meliorist told her, "I was, and I know he could have been placed on the
Council itself, if he'd been part of the `Illustrious Orders`, one of the
six among equals, instead of one of the `lesser orders.`"
"Again, you're more angry than he ever was about being snubbed," Anna
pointed out calmly. We go through this every time, she reminded herself,
Don't let the frustration show. Just because he doesn't fly off the handle
doesn't mean he doesn't _care_. He got his revenge a hundred times over
and the entire Council knows it.
"Well someone has to be angry about this!" the Meliorist replied,
"Somebody ought to stand up for him!"
"Then maybe you should marry him, a wife is supposed to be a husband's
advocate." That cools her down, Anna thought as the Meliorist froze in
place.
"Why do you keep bringing _that_ up?" the Meliorist asked shakily.
"Because it _always_ shocks you back to reality," Anna said, "I swear,
you could have a full-blown psychotic episode and telling you you'd married
him would bring you back faster than electroconvulsive therapy." And it
would be the best for both of you. You both need to grow up a little, then
he could calm you down and you could get him a little more excited about
being alive, she thought, When you two finally realize you _aren't_ brother
and sister, you can be husband and wife, or wife and husband. Maybe both
of you will finally be relaxed and happy. She watched her friend release
the tension and relax.
"So what do we do?" the Meliorist asked.
"Continue the advance," Anna said, "Do you think any of the dragons or
mages with us will desert over this?"
"If they do, we didn't want them in the first place."
"Agreed," Anna said.
----------------------------------------
Let Not The Sands Of Time Get In Your Lunch
The rocket stood atop the launch pad, silhouetted against a starry
night sky. The largest and most powerful such rocket ever built by
man. All with one purpose in mind. To carry a small team to the moon, and
return them and their samples to the Earth safely. The full creative
genius of the planet had been poured into this undertaking.
The byplay of the controllers and monitors could be heard, in English
since that was to common language of most of the major backers. The
countdown entered the final stages.
Mission Specialist Toji Suzuhara checked the fittings of his suit one
last time. Life support for himself and his fellow astronauts was showing
all green lights, he'd already reported that to Mission Control at AEC
headquarters.
"OH MY _GOD_!_" came the stunned cry over the line.
Somehow, Toji saw what had inspired the shocked cry. The moon was
rising, quickly. Huge, obscuring a quarter of the sky, slowly rotating
until the large central plain was predominant. Slowly the plain withdrew
into the mountain range far above, revealing an immense, argent eye.
Like a silvery instead of a rusty Ghroth! Toji realized as he craned
his neck to lookout the tiny windows of the cramped space capsule. I can't
see it, he realized, It should dominate the sky, but I can't see it.
"There's nothing up there!" he assured Mission Control, repeated
himself as two burly men dragged him from the space capsule. "There's
nothing up there! Nothing!"
He repeated it to Doctor Akagi as she injected him with tranquilizers
as he sat in the straitjacket in a padded cell.
"There's nothing up there!" he groggily told Doctor Langley, he could
see through Sour Kraut's eyes the glaring silver orb as it stared down on
the scurrying creatures on the planet beneath it.
----------------------------------------
August 4, 1947 - Tokyo (GMT +9.0 hr)
Toji woke, glanced around his room, the sun hadn't arrived yet, but it
would soon appear. "I hate dreams like that," he lamented, "Even more,
waking up too late to just go back to sleep. School starts today."
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