Disclaimer: Moldiver is the property of Pioneer, inc. No money is  
being made from this and no such intent should be inferred.
Additional Material is drawn from and inspired by "Moon With A View"  
by Richard C. Hoagland, and "Above Top Secret" by Timothy Good.

Note: I was going to respond to all the C&C induvidually, but that's  
just not possible, so let me say thank you and that your suggestions  
helped enormously.

* * * *

Mol-energy crackled around them as Machinegal clamped his hands  
around Mirai's neck and began to squeeze. His bony knees pressed into  
her stomach and his eyes were mad.

"First," he snarled, "The X eighty-five, then Tokyo Tower, and now  
you. It's a pity this was all so easy, or I might feel a sense of  
satisfaction!"

His hands . . . much stronger then he looked.

She struggled in vain to break his grip one handed while she felt up  
and down his bare back, trying to find . . . the lights were dimming?  
Couldn't breathe.

BEEEEEEEEEP!

* * * *

"GAH!" Mirai sat up straight in bed, her chest heaving as she gasped  
for air, a shrill beep ringing in her ears.

"God," she moaned, shaking all over. She'd been reliving that night  
again, the night of Machinegal's final defeat. Her hands clenched  
into fists, but it didn't stop the shaking.

Again the shrill beep and she realized it was the terminal in her  
sleeping area on board the ISCS "Daniel Boone".

'Even out here, three months from Earth, the dreams haunt me,' Mirai  
thought bitterly as she padded naked across the room to the terminal,  
which beeped at her again.

"Oh shut up," she muttered. After all this time, she still hadn't  
gotten used to the beeps and whistles that seemed to accompany any  
form of communication except for face to face conversations.

The cause of the beeps was an e-mail from Hiroshi telling her to come  
see him in Lab F-9, where he'd spent almost all his waking hours.

Mirai gave some thought to going back to bed, but the horror of her  
nightmare still loomed before her. She shook her head and got dressed  
in a T-shirt, loose pants and soft booties.

Cabins on the "Daniel Boone" were on one deck and comprised of two  
sleeping areas bracketing a common area containing a few chairs, a  
kitchenette, and access to the hallways. Each sleeping area boasted a  
bathroom with a sonic shower, the military's sole concession to privacy.

Tying her hair back, Mirai padded through the common room she shared  
with Hiroshi and and out into the hall. Nodding hello to a few other  
members of the crew, who knew her as Mirai Oshii, suit test pilot,  
she took the lift down three levels to the lab deck.

As far as most of the crew knew, this was a routine survey  and  
mapping mission. "Doctor" Hiroshi Oshii and his sister Mirai were  
onboard to test a new suit design in the Harsh enviroment of Saturn's  
moons. It was close enough to the truth to keep the story straight,  
and just enough untruth to protect the siblings from curious  
crewmembers. In theory, anyway.

Lab F-9  was more commonly known as "The Pond". This was because  
Hiroshi had three assistants; Two ratings and an ensign from  
engineering who followed him around like ducklings to their mother.  
In fact, Hiroshi's nickname among the crew was "Momma Duck", a fact  
he stoically ignored.

"You wanted to see me, Hiroshi?" Mirai asked. Nearby, one of the  
ratings looked up from her work, smiled and then her eyes dropped to  
Mirai's chest for just a moment. Then she blushed and looked back at  
her terminal.

Mirai hid a smile. She had a strong hedonistic streak (though she  
would have given it up for the chance to spend the rest of her life  
with Karou Misaki) and the rating wasn't unattractive, but she had  
other things on her mind. 'Maybe on the way back to Earth,' she  
thought to herself as she tapped Hiroshi on his head. "Hiroshi?"

"What? Oh! Yes, Mirai! Yes. Yes . . ." he adjusted his glasses. "Why  
did I want to see you?"

Mirai let out a sigh. Engineers.

A that moment, the com crackled to life. "Your attention. Your  
attention please. Doctor Hiroshi Oshii and Pilot Mirai Oshii to the  
bridge conference room. That is all."

"Oh!" Hiroshi exclaimed, "the captain was going to tell us when the  
probe ship started sending data back."

"And you couldn't have told me this over the com, why?" He blinked at  
her and she rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Come on."

* * * *

Captain Abe Jensen was a big man. Under his uniform coverall, he  
fairly bulged with muscle, giving the impression he could have picked  
up the Daniel Boone and thrown it all the way to Saturn.

Mirai nodded to him and to the First Officer, Commander Oshii, and  
the Science officer, Doctor Wayne. She was however puzzled at the  
other person in the room; a large, brutish looking man with a jaw  
that suggested he ate hull plating for breakfast. He wore the uniform  
of the Spaceforce Marines, and an unlit cigar was clamped between his  
teeth. Mirai's first boyfriend had been the son of a Marine and he'd  
taught her how to "read" the uniform. Then he'd gone and cheated on  
her with Haruhi Gion, the bitch. Still, Mirai had gotten the last  
laugh; her chest had turned out to be twice as big as Haruhi's and  
she'd taken great pleasure in humiliating him when he tried to get  
back together with her.

Tearing herself away from pleasant memories, she read the man's  
uniform. He was Sergeant Major and the hash marks on his sleeve said  
that he'd been in the Marines for over thirty years. Mirai was  
impressed. She knew career soldiers were a rarity in this day and  
age, so it was always weird to meet one. Mirai had thought about the  
military in high school, but then she'd acted in a play and never  
looked back.

"Mirai, Hiroshi," Jensen said as they sat down. "This is Sergeant  
Griswold. He's been briefed." The lights in the room dimmed and the  
holo projector hummed to life. "The probe has returned enough data to  
verify that at the very least, there is some sort of subterranean  
structure on Iapetus. Radar imaging has returned several deep craters  
with some odd topology and there is a mountain range at the equator  
emitting heat traces. So at the very least, there's something going  
on under the surface."

"It could be latent geothermal energy," Hiroshi suggested. "Some kind  
of volcanic activity."

"That's what we thought," Wayne said. "But then the probe found  
these." The holo displayed what was clearly an artificial structure  
rising out of the surface. It was coated in dust and pitted by  
impacts, but there was no way it was some kind of rock formation.  
"There's about six of them just on the light side of Iapetus. They're  
about a kilometer and a half in height and arranged along the equator  
about sixty meters apart. There may be more in other places.  
Hoagland's analysis of photos suggests that there's at least one near  
the south pole so we'll be looking at that later on."

"What are they?" Mirai asked.

"As near as we can tell, docking towers. Interestingly enough,  
spectrometer scans tell us the towers are built out of a titanium  
alloy . . . and that they're at least thirty to forty thousand years  
old."

"Odd that they're so close together," Hiroshi noted.

"Then insertion team will be examining that if they can penetrate to  
the interior," Wayne said.

Commander Oshii leaned forward. "We've designated the towers One  
through Six with One being the westernmost tower. That said, One has  
an open door and the interior is large enough to accommodate one of  
our combat shuttles. Ms Ozora will accompany Alpha, Beta, and Delta  
Squadrons under Sergeant Griswold's command on a short range  
excursion into the interior of the structure and recon the immediate  
vicinity. If the interior accessway is blocked, they will fall back  
to the shuttle and return to the Boone. Epsilon and Ro Squadrons will  
remain with the shuttle to secure it and if necessary, cover a  
withdrawal. Depending on what you find in there, we'll develop an  
additional exploration strategy."

"Any questions?" Jensen asked. There was none. "And now we get down  
to the fine details. Doctor Wayne, you first."

* * * * *

The next three days passed quickly as the "Daniel Boone" approached  
and then inserted into a geosynchronous orbit around Iapetus, 200  
miles above the surface.

The crew took the news that they were here to investigate an alien  
structure very calmly. When she wondered about how they could do  
that, Griswold explained that soldiers had been dealing with this  
since there had been soldiers to begin with. The higher-ups never  
told you everything. Ever. You learned to live with it.

Free time became a luxury few could afford. Hiroshi virtually lived  
in the Duck Pond and Mirai spent most of her waking time training  
with the Marines and learning the things she would need to know if  
they had to fight. Mirai could get afford to get in the Marines' way;  
nothing they had could hurt her. They didin't have that luxury, so  
she had to know what they would be doing so she could keep clear.

Finally, the time came. In the Duck Pond and behind a screen, Mirai  
peeled off her clothing. Carefully, she inserted the com-link into  
her ear and plugged it into the Mol-unit before rasing it high over  
her head. "Metamorforce!" she cried out and the unit flared to life.

On the other side of the screen Engineering Crewman Hannalore Star  
stepped back as a blinding white light flared up and then the screen  
was pulled aside. She stared, open mouthed at the impressive amazon  
who stood before them.

She was tall, with athlete's poised grace. She wore a white shirt  
with black under-tunic and leggings, a skirt of lilac purple and  
metal boots that came up to just below her knees. Her hands were bare  
and she wore a black metal helmet with a blue visor. Brown hair tied  
back in a loose ponytail spilled down her back.

She grinned at them and gave them a V for victory sign. Then walked  
out of the Duck Pond.

Star watched her go, and tried not to drool.

* * * *

The assault shuttle Dadelus was crowded. There were more then fifty  
Marines, plus Mirai, and four combat mecha crammed into the troop  
hold and it wasn't that comfortable. Fortunately, they were only  
there for the time it took the Dadelus to leave the "Daniel Boone"  
and cover the two hundred miles to the insertion point.

Mirai listened as the shuttle's landing gear made contact with the  
interior of the tower and locked in the mag grapples. Then were a  
series of thunks and and hisses as the Dadelus deployed weapons.

"This is your captain speaking," said the Dadelus' pilot over the com  
network. "On behalf of Daniel Boone airlines, I'd like to welcome you  
to Iapetus. The temperature is minus three hundred Fahrenheit, the  
weather is clear, and we hope you enjoyed your flight. Please check  
around your seat and in the overhead compartment for all your  
belongings and we look forward to having you fly with us again."

"Damn pilots," a Marine near Mirai snorted as she ran a check on her  
suit's seals. "Always gotta make a joke."

"Mirai," Hiroshi's voice came over the com on one of the public  
channels. "Remember that this is a baseline field test. Don't try to  
use all the suit's capabilities this trip."

'Translation,' Mirai thought to herself 'don't reveal all of  
Moldiver's powers. We may have to fight the crew before this is  
over.' Hiroshi's paranoia about the ISC was admittedly (somewhat)  
justified, but also irritating at times. "All right," Mirai growled  
in English and then smiled. "Momma Duck." Someone chuckled.

"Mirai!" Hiroshi exclaimed. "Not on the public frequency!"

"Sorry?" she said, still speaking English, "I didn't catch that.  
You're quacking up. Some kind of interference."

Several Marines were grinning now. "I think she's right," one of the  
Marines said, trying not to laugh. "There's definitely some beaking  
up on this frequency."

Mirai heard several others make quacking noises and she grinned evilly.

"King Frog here," Jensen broke in. "Let's all stop picking on Momma  
Duck, shall we? The pond has enough clownfish." His voice turned  
serious. "Dadelus Insertion, sound off, final equipment check."

"Griswold, clear. All green." Griswold snapped as he sealed his suit  
and the mood in the shuttle went from humorous to all business in the  
blink of an eye.

"Angus, clear. All green."

"Hennesey, clear. All green."

And so it went down the line as one by one, the Marines made their  
final checks and sealed their suits.

"Mirai, clear. All green," Mirai said. She pulled on the cam headset  
over her helmet and settled it into place. The headset also mounted  
its own light. The mol-unit could gather and transmit basic  
enviroment data, but not audio or visual, so the headset was vital if  
the "Daniel Boone" wanted to see and hear what she saw and heard.  
Just in case. All the Marines had one, though theirs was built into  
their suits.

"Daniel Boone, this is Dadelus control." The shuttle pilot's voice  
was brisk. "Depressurizing assault bay in five. Four, three, two, and  
one." There was a hissing noise that faded away. "Bay depressurized,  
doors opening. Good hunting, gentlemen."

"Mecha two and four on point," Griswold snapped. "Delta, back them,  
Beta on rear with mecha one and three. Move out!"

* * * *

The Mechas were roughly nine feet tall, bipedal, and mounted a  
combination anti-tank laser cannon and missile launcher on the right  
and a powerful grasping claw on the left. They didn't so much walk as  
they sort of stepped purposefully, the lights on the gun, the chest,  
and the head illuminating the tunnel. Frost was everywhere.

Meanwhile, the Marines, dressed in armored spacesuits, carried heavy  
guns, also with spotlights and they swung them about at random, ready  
to fire.

"Basic search tactic," Griswold explained to Mirai. "If we moved the  
lights in a pattern, it would be easy to stay where the lights  
weren't. This way, it's harder to hide in the shadows from us. You  
never know when the light will swing your way."

"Insertion team, halt," said the Delta squad leader over the com.  
"Sergeant Griswold to the front."

The reason for the halt became clear. A massive platform rose from  
the floor of the tunnel, and on top, a circular doorway, the doors  
open half a meter or so. The gap revealed very little, except for  
more tunnel

On impulse, Mirai knelt and tore away a section of ice and dust.  
Underneath was some sort of carpeting, soft, and slightly springy.  
Which was really weird given the age of this place.

"You getting all this, Sir?" Griswold asked.

"Loud and clear, Griswold," Jensen replied. "Sitrep."

"We've reached the end of the tunnel, or the base of the tower,  
however you want to look at it," Griswold replied. "Gravity is point  
nine nine nine luna normal. There is a platform three by five meters  
and a door, circular in shape, two panels. Appears to slide in tracks  
which are frozen solid. Also, top of the platform appears to have  
some kind of carpeting. Cream in color, unknown material. No hostiles  
or friendlies encountered or any sign of a security system."

"Copy that, Griswold, can you get the doors open and continue?"

"Negative, Sir, they are frozen solid, repeat, frozen solid. We'll  
need a tractor press to get them open. There appears to be no other  
method of entry, so we'll be heading home."

"Hang on," Mirai said and walked to the doors and placed her hands on  
their edges. Then, she pushed.

The the pseudo molecules that made the suit nigh invulnerable also  
made it possible for an ordinary person to perform feats of strength  
that would otherwise be impossible. In theory, the strength limit was  
infinite.

The metal crumpled in her hand, ice flying everywhere as the portal  
widened.

"Cancel that," Griswold said. He actually sounded impressed.  
"Resuming insertion."

Within moments, the doors were pushed back enough that the team  
could  continue.

On the other side of the doors, the tunnel was barely tall enough for  
the mechs. Some kind of pots were stationed at regular intervals  
along the wall under small horizontal rods attached to the walls. An  
examination of the rods showed that they were lights, burnt out for  
eons. In between the pots, also attached to the walls, were paintings  
of landscapes, or strange cities.

"What do you make of this, Sarge?" One of the Marines asked, pointing  
his rifle at one of the paintings.

Mirai went over and looked at it. It was a city in a jungle with a  
rounded mountain or hill in the background. There was a sort of  
Ancient Egypt air about their shape, but some of the towers reminded  
her of the photos of Incan and Mayan ruins in her Father's books.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Abruptly, the tunnel ended, widening out into a vast room. They  
walked along a large balcony that overlooked the main floor. To their  
right were five more tunnels, evenly spaced at about sixty meters.  
All had doors that were shut tight. To the left, a set of seven  
stairs led down to the main floor. From there, curving low walls  
directed the eye to a set of metal gates. There was perhaps sixteen  
of them. Eight had small podiums in front of them, the other eight  
had podiums behind them. At the center of the gates was a square of  
counters. Each counter bore three terminals and signs written in some  
strange language.

Overhead, the ceiling rose in a sort of pyramid. The four sides of  
the pyramid were what was probably vid screens, emitting a faint blue  
glow.

"There's still power here," one of the marines noted. "After all this  
time, the bill must be huge. Bastards should be glad they're all  
dead. i wouldn't want to pay it."

"What the hell is this place?" One of the mech pilots demanded.

"Civilan entry terminal," another marine grunted.

"And what makes you so sure, Angus?" The first Marine demanded. "How  
do you know this isn't military? Whole place could be a giant laser  
cannon like in that movie. The one with the laser swords."

"Use your eyes, Chase," Angus snorted. "The decor aint military and  
and a military checkpoint wouldn't be so big. Too hard to defend if  
boarded." Angus pointed at the gates with podiums on the near side.  
"Go through there if you're boarding and the other side if you're  
leaving. Square counter is probably the service desk." Angus waved a  
hand at the doors behind them. "Ship docks, they come through the  
doors, down these steps and present documentation at those podiums.  
Once verified, they get passed through. Reverse if they're leaving.  
Basic security checkpoint."

"Not bad, Angus," Griswold said. "Now how about you use that Ph.D of  
yours and figure out how to get the Mechs through those gates.

Noticing Mirai's confused look, a nearby female marine leaned over.  
Mirai wasn't a marine, but she'd earned some respect in training. "He  
really does have a Ph.D," she said. "Got it when he was fifteen in  
drive mechanics. But he's an adrenaline junkie so he enlisted in the  
Marines and joined the Angels of Mercy."

Mirai swallowed. Everyone had heard of the Angels of Mercy Regiment.  
Schoolchildren as young as six could be found pretending that they  
were Angels, fighting pirates. They were highly trained, combat  
vetrans, and uneqauled in combat.

That was a drastically simple version of what the Angels did and who  
they were. Sure, they fought Pirates, but they also boarded the  
wrecks that pirates left behind. They were the ones who cleaned up  
the dead, comforted the living, and while not a well known fact, they  
also shot the ones who by some cruel trick of fate, were alive, but  
would never survive the trip to sickbay and couldn't be stabilized.  
Mercy kills. It was the last bit that gave them their name. Misaki,  
himself ex-navy, had explained it to her once and she'd never  
forgotten it.

"Yup," the Marine answered. "We all are. Fourth company, third  
battalion. Also known as the Bronze Barbarians of the Angels of Mercy."

Mirai blinked. It made sense. The Angels specialized in going into  
places no one else would and staying calm when anyone else would have  
a panic attack. If there was anyone better suited to be exploring a  
potentially dangerous artificial moon of unknown origin, Mirai  
couldn't think of them.


* * * *

Angus' solution was direct. He had Mirai tear out three of the gates  
on the entrance to make room for a Mech to pass one at at time,  
single file.

The rest of the Marines hopped the counters. An easy feat in the low  
gravity, even in their armored suits.

Once through, the room widened even more. There were benches and  
couches. One wall had a rack of what looked like and probably were  
vid-phones. There was even a lounge area and what were instantly  
identifiable as bathrooms.

At the far side of the room were three massive archways that led to  
huge doors, also sealed tight.

"Sir!" Chase called out. "I'm getting a temp difference reading."

"Temp difference?" Griswold asked.

"By fifteen degrees, Sir." He pointed with the gun arm at the far  
left archway, which they'd yet to examine.

"Angus," Griswold said. "Take three and go check it out."

Angus and three other marines ran forward and disappeared into the  
gloom.

"It's another door, Sir," Angus reported, "and its shut tight. But on  
the top of the arch is a green light. It's faint, but it's active.  
There's another light next to it, unlit."

Mirai tilted her head back so the light on her headset shone at the  
arch of the door they stood at. There were two lights up there as  
well. Neither was lit.

"I suspect they're status lights," Angus said. "Green probaly means  
there's asmotsphere on the other side."

"We're moving to Angus' position," Griswold decided.

When they arrived, Mirai pressed her hands to the door, letting the  
sensors in the faux skin do their work and transmitting the data back  
to the "Daniel Boone".

"Seventeen degrees hotter than the rest of the room," Hiroshi  
reported. "Door is made of the same metal as the towers. There's  
definitely something warm on the other side. Could be anything."

"Like?" Chase pressed.

"I don't know!" Hiroshi said, exasperated. "There's no way to tell."

"Maybe there is," Mirai said and triggered her flight field. "I've  
only done this once before and I'm not sure how I did it. "She tossed  
Griswold her headset and began to adjust her density controls.

"MIRAI!" Hiroshi shouted, "what in the hell are you -- NO! It won't -- 
NO!"

"Shut it, Hiroshi," Mirai growled.

"You can't!"

"I said SHUT IT!" Mirai screamed as she phased through the door.

* * * *

Teareal sighed happily and pulled Lorin closer. His lips on her neck  
felt so good and then she bit down a snarl of frustration as his hand  
rested tentatively on her breast. Why was it so hard for men to get  
the idea? She'd let him undo and open her outer robe, how much more  
of a clue did he need?

Instead, she let out a low moan and guided his hand --he had such  
long fingers -- to the fasteners of her inner robe. Slowly, he began  
to undo the clasps one handed. Such clever fingers!

In the back of her mind, she supposed he might be a little nervous.  
Not only because her Grandfather was the Senior Elder, but because  
they were on the engine shield of a transport parked at the edges of  
the Dead Zone.

Not twelve hetras away, the massive Gate was sealed shut against  
Death, who controlled most of the Sutras, while the Tribes stayed --  
she stared. There was a light coming from the gate. No, not from the  
Gate, from something coming through the metal of the Gate itself!

Belatedly, Lorin realized her distraction and turned to see what was  
going on.

It was then that the glow resolved into a woman, head bowed, arms  
spread wide. She wore no robes and her face was covered by a visored  
helmet. She was also hovering at least a hetra off the ground.

Gracefully, she landed on the floor, lowered her arms and looked  
around, finally saw them.

Teareal and Lorin stared at her. She stared back, mouth open, and  
then raised one hand in some sort of gesture. "Ano . . ."

"YEEEEEEEEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Lorin  
screamed. At first, Teareal thought the strange being was attacking  
him somehow and then he ran for the transport's cab and fumbled out a  
blaster.

When the lark did Lorin get a blaster?

S-s-stay back!" he yelled at it. "D-don't come near us! You can't  
have her!"

Lorin!" Teareal said, "wait, I think --" The figure lowered its hand  
and Lorin screamed again, firing one shot. It was all he had time  
for. In the blink of an eye, the being was suddenly in front of them,  
ripping the blaster from Lorin's hand.

"An'ta baka?" it said, glaring as it stepped back and crumpled the  
blaster into a ball. "Tadi no gna chou wou." It dropped the blaster  
to the floor where it landed with a thunk.

Lorin let out another scream and grabbing Teareal's hand, shoved her  
into the cab before climbing in and yanking the engine's activation  
lever. He backed up and turned around and sped off.

Teareal looked back just before they left the chamber. The strange  
being was standing there, watching them go.

* * * *

It had been the longest five minutes of Hiroshi's life. He'd  
practically screamed himself hoarse, calling for Mirai to answer him,  
to say something, anything. Paranoid fears that she'd reduced herself  
into component atoms fled through his mind and tears flowed down his  
cheeks.

"Ow! Hiroshi, shut up!" It was the sweetest sound he'd ever heard.

"Mirai? Thank God!"

"Yeah, yeah. Captain, we're returning to the Daniel Boone."

"Copy that. Find anything?"

There was a moment of silence before Mirai replied and there was an  
odd tone in her voice. "I would like to make a full report in person,  
Captain."

"Understood. Jensen out."

Griswold switched to a private frequency. "Bad?"

Mirai didn't answer. In fact, she didn't say a word to anyone for the  
entire trip back.

Author's note: Mirai speaks primarily Japanese, which Teareal or   
Lorin obviously don't speak. Attempts to find an totally accurate   
translation online failed so I made up some words to fill in the   
blanks. What she's saying is "Are you stupid? I'm not going to hurt   
you."

If anyone can give me a more accurate translation, I'd appreciate it.

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