Chapter 7 "I'm very sorry Sailoruranus. We took every precaution. You can check our log books. Everything was done. . . " Sailoruranus tuned out the panicky voice and stared down at the wreckage of ten years work. Twenty five million crowns and eighteen lives to get to this point. All that time, money and effort gone in an instant's carelessness. Her unconscious frown silenced the tough security colonel as effectively as an executioners axe. The sudden silence alerted her and she glanced up to see the man cringing against the wall. She turned away in disgust, her eyes sweeping the featureless padded room finally resting on the rooms sole occupant; young, fit, female about 16 years of age, nude and quite dead. Sailoruranus contemplated the head lying parallel to the shoulders on a neck that wasn't so much broken as shattered. 'What a waste,' she thought. 'What a terrible, terrible waste.' The iron will and discipline that made her so perfect for the project used for this, for nothing. Who would have thought anyone could deliberately drive their own head into the floor with that much force. ************************************************** ". . . and that's how they found her. This puts us back at square one." "It's much worse than that," Sailor Neptune corrected. "She was our last viable candidate. There isn't anyone else." "Oh, come on. It can't be that bad." "It's worse. Out of a system population of forty two billion only thirty percent can tolerate the basic implants. From that thirty percent we have a basic recruitment from everyone between five and twenty years of age, give or take a year. Of those only about sixteen percent fit the mental and physical parameters. And out of that number we found a grand total of one hundred sixty eight persons who could tolerate the final implants." Sailorneptune paused to check her notes. "Of that number, One hundred twelve died during their first power up. Of the survivors, twenty nine refused to face transition back to normal space and died when their power and environmental ran out and nine died from the stress of reversion to normal space. Only three of the eighteen remaining survived beyond four complete transitions. And the last of those three successfully suicided yesterday, despite all of our precautions. So it is that bad." "I've seen some new research by . . ."Sailoruranus consulted her notes. "Senshi H'pakra't. It seems she thinks there might be a way to by-pass the pain centers. A . . .uh . . .a 'cut-off switch' I think she calls it." "I've seen her results." Sailorneptune agreed. "It's a brilliant theoretical concept. And in another half century or so she may be able to get it to work. I don't think Beryl is going to wait that long." "What if we just lowered the standards a little. . ." "What if we just shot them in the back of the head! It would be faster, cleaner and a hell of a lot cheaper," Sailorneptune snapped, then slumped in her chair. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean. . . " Sailoruranus waved a dismissal and turned to their companion. "Now what do we do?" "I don't know," Sailor Pluto admitted tiredly. "Continue searching for another viable candidate. Run simulations with modified parameters using the data we've already collected. See if you can salvage anything. I have to get back to the capitol." Sailor Pluto laughed bitterly. "Good Queen Beryl has sent another trade delegation. Serenity still thinks she can make friends. I need to be there before the. . . before the Queen gives the Imperium away and saves Beryl the trouble of stealing it." ************************************************** "Ah, Lady Pluto, how nice to see you again." "What is he doing here?" Sailor Pluto ignored the ambassador and glared at her Queen. "We have just concluded a most advantageous treaty with our well loved neighbor Queen Beryl." Pluto could feel a vice tighten around her head. "How nice for Queen Beryl. And what precisely would the terms of this treaty be." "We have ceded the Brazter monopole mining facility in exchange for rights entire to the Nhee sector cometary systems." Queen Serenity gifted the room with a blinding if somewhat bewildered smile, as if watching a play she didn't quite understand but was too well bred to bother other people with questions. "I see." The two short syllables were enough to turn Beryl's ambassador white as all the blood drained to his feet. His self congratulatory smirk faded like virginity in a whorehouse as he suddenly realized he was a table width away from the second most powerful person in the Silver Millennium and had just placed himself number one on her people-to-squash-like-a-bug-before-dinner list. Just as the ambassador was wondering if they would send his body home for burial or just pour his remains down the drain he was granted a new life. "We are tired Lady Pluto. These arduous negotiations have fatigued us greatly. We would like you to escort us to our chambers for a nap before dinner." "Certainly Majesty." Sailor Pluto grit her teeth and glared at the retreating ambassador with such venom that he vowed himself, his wife, children and the next six generations of his family to religious orders in return for deliverance from Sailor Pluto's wrath. Or failing that a painless death and a nice funeral. As the door closed on the last ambassador, minister, secretary, recorder and necessary flunky Sailorpluto grabbed her sovereign's hand in a manner very unlike a loyal deferential subject. Serenity, Queen Empress, Defender of the Reaches, Marshal of the Inner System, High Justice of the Silver Imperium gave out a squawk as Sailorpluto half dragged, half carried her down the private hall that led to the Royal apartments. The door to Serenity's bedroom crashed against the wall with enough force to knock several pictures off the wall. Serenity bounced twice on the bed where Pluto flung her. She did not complete a third before Pluto sent the door crashing back into its frame, finishing off the last of the wall hangings. "Dammit Serenity were you born stupid or is it something you've acquired over the years! What the HELL were you thinking!" "I was thinking I was Queen," Serenity replied quietly from where she lay in a silken tangle, "or has there been a coup and no one told me?" She peeped adorably up at her angry senshi through a silver halo of hair. "I keep telling the staff that they need to keep me informed about these little things." Pluto growled and threw her circlet of office across the room with enough force to dent the wall. Serenity winced but other wise remained still while Pluto ranted. "Why do I bother? Why don't I just gift wrap the Imperium for Beryl. Oh I forgot, that's your job. What next Majesty?" The title oozed sneeringly. "Shall I prostitute myself or perhaps your daughter could do your whoring by proxy?" Pluto froze, white faced as she suddenly realized what she'd said. "Senenity, I didn't mean it. . my tongue runs away. . . " She turned miserable eyes to Serenity. "Come here, Sailorpluto." She patted the bed beside her. "Now sit down." As Pluto did so, Serenity pulled her jacket off and began kneading Pluto's shoulders. "Serenity, we need to. . . " "Shusssh." Serenity put a finger to Pluto's lips. "You've had your tantrum, now it's my turn to talk." Pluto grunted in protest, but remained silent. Serenity dug into a particularly tight muscle group and smiled to herself when Pluto groaned in relief and snuggled closer to her. She shifted slightly so that the Guardian of Time lay cradled against her side, then brought up a map of the solar system with a quiet mental command. "Now this is the inner system controlled by the Imperium." A section of the map obediently turned silver. "While Beryl claims this section." Another section was colored an angry red. Skilled fingers sought out steel tense muscles and softly stole away the anger and fear. Pluto melted slowly and unconsciously into her Queens embrace. "Now this," Serenity whispered, dropping a soft kiss on Pluto's throat, "is the Bratzer mining facility. We abandoned it years ago due to the radiation hazzard." Pluto's groaned helplessly as Serenity planted kisses along the vulnerable line of her throat. "Now Beryl can exploit the facility using Artifaxes. But it will take time and production facilities to manufacture that may synthetic workers; Time and facilities that they can't use against the Imperium. Plus they will have to divert men and materials; Engineers, technicians, managers. And every item and person earmarked for Bratzer is a person, or ship or factory that is not directed against us. "You will also notice," Serenity whispered, "that the facility is presently in opposition, and you know what that means." She gently bit the delicate lobe. Pluto shivered in her arms. "That means a minimum of three months, one way, just for ships to travel there. After all, Beryl doesn't have the ability to gate that far out system. "Now this is the really exciting part." Serenity slipped a small hand inside Pluto's blouse, cupping a breast, delighting at the nipple helplessly hardened under her palm, like a soldier standing at attention. "The really exciting part is our acquisition of the Nhee system." Pluto fought open passion drugged eyes. "Why? Wha's there?" "Not a thing. Isn't that great?" Pluto whimpered as Serenity gently tickled the band of skin where blouse met skirt and valiantly tried to find two neurons that weren't drowning in endorphins. "W..why's that great." She tried to keep her voice steady even as her tummy shivered under Serenity's gentle assault. "We are going to put the biggest mining and exploration facility in the system in Nhee. At least Beryl is going to THINK that's what we're doing. At the very least she'll have to put an observation post in place. At best, she'll try to occupy the adjoining systems, duplicate our efforts. Even if I told her that there was nothing there, she'd have to picket the system as a routine precaution. I think we can at least tie down a division just for observation, maybe six times that many if she decides on a full scale operation." Adrenalin blasted Pluto's mind clear and she twisted to look Serenity square in the face. "Serenity, that's brilliant! You're a genius!" "I know it." "Oh I wish I could be there when Beryl figures out what you've done. She may die of a stroke and put herself out of our misery. That is the most wicked, evil, sneaky thing I've ever heard of." "No, that isn't. But this is." Before Pluto's groggy mind could decipher these cryptic words, Serenity tumbled her to the ground in a tangle of bedclothes. "Neyah, can't catch me!" Serenity picked up her skirts and sprinted out the door into the gardens. "Why you little. . . " Words failed as Pluto struggled off the floor and raced after her Queen. At the doorway she paused, trying to pick up Serenity's trail. To the left she saw a delicate slipper, beyond that another. Pluto took off , following a trail of stockings, petticoats and skirts. At the end of the trail she found Serenity, clothed only in starlight , curled up in a nest of flowers. "A palace coup. Betrayed by my closest advisor. Stripped of all power. Helpless before her as she ravages me again, and again and again." Pluto stalked forward, dropping her blouse on the ground. "Again and again. . . and again?" "Well, isn't that what wicked advisors do when they have the innocent Queen helpless in their power?" "I don't think you've ever been innocent or helpless, but who am I to argue with royalty." ************************************************** "Feel better now?" Serenity asked, dropping kisses on passion-slicked skin. "I don't think I can feel anything below the waist," Pluto groaned. "Beast." Serenity grinned, punching her lover lightly in the stomach. "You can't save me, you know." Pluto tensed. "What's that supposed to mean?" "I'm going to die, eventually. You're killing yourself for nothing." "I don't want to talk about it." "Well, you're going to talk." Serenity indicated the garden with a sweep of her hand. "All of this will die, to make way for new growth." "You're not a dammed flower!" "Don't deliberately misunderstand. Even you are merely immortal, not eternal. Plants, animals, people, even kingdoms die. It's part of the natural cycle." "If you would only let me. . . " "NO! No. You know better than anyone how dangerous it is to tamper with time. There used to be ten planets and three sentient races in this system. Now there are nine planets. One race is dead, one fled and we're left here alone." "So you're just going to roll over and play dead!" Pluto said bitterly. "Isn't this worth fighting for?" "Of course it is. And I'm going to fight as long and as hard as I can. For my people, my daughter, and for you. But I'm going to fight my way. With honor. . . " Pluto gave a snort of disgust. "Yes, I know how you feel. . . 'any means necessary'," Serenity said in a credible mimicry of her lover. "But I know that the universe has a spirit, a set of ethical equations that have to be balanced. And if you try to cheat, or take a short cut the universe will turn around and bite you on the. . . " Pluto squealed as Serenity graphically demonstrated the wrath of the universe on her fundamental assets. There followed a brief philosophical discussion on the merits of relativism versus absolutism. Later Pluto lay beside her sleeping Queen, lover and friend, listening to her soft breathing, feeling her heartbeat. And with every slow, strong beat Pluto vowed that she would save Serenity, by any means necessary.
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