The Moon Dragon's Lair

LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo

By Daryll Pung

Episode 1-03: Let's Play Jeopardy!

Rated: R

City of Milwaukee, Planet Earth, Sol system, 8 March 2736

Zach stared at the stapled bundle as it landed on the desk in front of him.

For once, he had left his comp at home. He knew that was one of the rules of the Test. Scratch paper, a pencil sharpener, and five No. 2, old school, wooden yellow pencils sat next to the stack of documents. He recalled the Test had eight sections, with the last two differing between Senshi and Sorcerer candidates. He morosely read the label:

THOMAS, ZACHARY ADAM

STUDENT ID #: 120973-DE3A56-F09973

SENSHI/SORCERER APTITUDE BATTERY

SECTION ONE

PAGES: 123

He looked up as Mr. Darby roamed the room, handing out the exams. He forced himself to relax, trying to calm the queasiness in his belly. He had spent countless hours in the past four weeks studying for this. He was as ready as he ever would be.

Mr. Darby finished handing out the exams, talking as he moved to the front of the room. The digital readout on the wall displayed 0750.

"Now, do not touch the tests until I say. The exam starts at precisely 0800. You will have one hour per section. We've gone over tactics for taking this test; remember them. Once the test starts, you will not be able to leave the room for any reason until the four-hour mark, when there will be a half-hour break. Note that the questions span a variety of topics, with an even blend of fill in the blank, multiple choice, and short essay questions. You will be pushed to your limits. Answer every question to the best of your abilities. Write in clear, printed letters. Fill in every bubble completely. This test is designed to be difficult, but just remember, if you pass, your life will change dramatically," he said, eyes scanning the room. He glanced at the clock, watching the seconds tick away. The time drew near 0800.

"Begin now," he said, sitting in his chair.

Zach flipped open his exam, picking up his first pencil. He eyed the first question.

(1) In what year did Sailor Mercury discover the first applications of gestalt?

Easy enough, Zach thought. He filled in the year, and then paused. Gestalt was discovered in 2069... but its uses weren't discovered fully until 2073. He erased his first answer, and filled in the second date.

(2) Prove the inverse coefficient of the Municode formula.

Ouch, thought Zach. He remembered just how long it had taken to master the damn thing. He sighed, and began his calculations. Then he blinked. Duh! Prove it! That's written statements. Idiot, he cursed himself. He shook his head.

Not the most promising beginning. And it would only get worse.

Nebular Artifact NAX-1701, near the Sabaat system, 8 March 2736

The Demon

He frowned thoughtfully as he read the latest probe reports. The mass of RSN vessels was finally thinning, as they concluded their investigations.

He briefly wondered what those conclusions were. He imagined they bore the words "unknown", "undetermined", and "inconclusive", and that the GM forces were probably most unhappy.

As it should be, he mused.

They would be able to determine that a DK ship had done it, due to the energy residue from his weapons and propulsion systems. They wouldn't be able to tell which ship, and also they wouldn't know where it came from.

He leaned back, fingers tapping the desk, gazing at his star charts. He blanked the display, and the organic covering slid back down over it. The area was rich on resources, and while his people couldn't harvest them, the GM could.

They'll be sending another ship, he concluded. Which means my trap still has bait. They'll want those resources.

He grinned. I shall kill again.

A beep disturbed him.

"What?" he asked irritably. The bio-door opened, and his second in command stepped in.

"Lord," he said, bowing respectfully.

"I hope it's something important," he growled, raising an eyebrow.

"We just got a reading of the area," he said. The covering slid up, and the screen reactivated, displaying new readings. He pointed to the energy readouts.

"The last of their starships just departed," he said, pointing to the energy blotch that signaled its departure.

What neither could know that at the precise time the last warship departed, the SLS Pleiades had arrived, flying in close to the nebula to await its companion.

He frowned. "Pull us back further."

"Lord? That means we'll lose probe telemetry," blinked his first officer.

"Yes, yes, I know. But realize this. Their search ships have departed. We know that while their sensors are good, we were safely out of range and our relay probe was well hidden. Now they will send in another scout ship. That nebula is far too important to them for its resources. We are too close; one of their scout ships will pick us up as it arrives. Therefore, we must be patient. We must let their attention get focused on their goal, so we may surprise them again," he said.

"Yes, Lord," he said. The first officer turned to leave, as the screen once again deactivated.

"Oh yes, and detonate the probe," he added, swiveling around to stare into space.

He ignored the closing door as he leaned back to wait. Patience meant further victories.

He could afford to wait.

The SLS Pleiades

"I'm not sure. There was a small explosion. Its energy source was far too close to the nebula for us to determine what it was. I'll bet it was a probe of some sort, though," sighed the Pleiades' science officer, Lieutenant Megan Zewen. Her hand pushed her black curls aside. She glanced up, at her captain.

Sailor Orion frowned at the dark-skinned science officer. "Hmmm. Hope our backup arrives soon. We may have visitors sooner than desired. Antares, when can we expect the Draco?"

"Any time now, Sailor Orion," said the masculine voice of Antares, the Pleiades' computer.

"Well, until they arrive, let's go to Yellow Alert," said Sailor Orion decisively. The status indicators on the walls and on either side of the screens blinked to yellow, in time with the triple chime and the automated announcement.

"Now hear this; now hear this. We are now at yellow alert. Maintain readiness," intoned Antares automatically.

"Confirming yellow alert," reported Lieutenant Jeffery Johnson, the tactical officer. "Shields level 1 is up; remaining three layers at standby. Weapons at hot standby, engines at hot standby."

"Thanks, J.J.," said Sailor Orion as she gazed at the nebula on the center screen.

"Ooh, the cool, casual captain," smiled Sailor America, arms crossed, standing near the tactical console on the upper deck of the two-tiered bridge.

"Bite me," came Sailor Orion's casual reply. She was rewarded with a deep, candid look from Sailor America. Sailor Orion blushed and refocused her attention on the screen.

"Ahem," said Antares, breaking the silence.

"Energy surge, on our aft port quarter, approximately 9 AU's distant," reported Lieutenant Commander Erika Schmidt, the ops officer.

"Screen 2," said Sailor America.

The data on the screen was suddenly replaced by a view of the area in question. It showed a spiraling burst of white light, followed by the stretched blur that resolved itself into another scout ship.

"Enter, the Draco," chuckled Antares.

Sailor Orion rolled her eyes.

The Demon

"Just in time," he muttered, glaring at the bridge crew. Just before they had backed out of range the GM scout ship had departed FTL transit and was now drawing toward the nebula.

He turned. "We'll give things a little bit to settle; then we'll hit that ship when they least expect it." He stalked off his bridge.

As usual, his crew barely stifled their collective sigh of relief at his departure.

The SLS Draco

"Well, it appears the Pleiades is already hard at work," muttered Sailor Sirius. She glanced at her helm. "Bring us to standard wingover position next to the Pleiades," she commanded.

"Aye, Captain," said her conn officer, Ensign Sean O'Connor. A deft touch of his control pad, and the Draco snapped sideways, diving beneath and coming up on the Pleiades' starboard side, slightly aft of center.

"Nice," nodded Sailor Sirius. "Em, hail 'em."

"Frequencies open, Captain," reported Lieutenant Commander Emily Petrovich, senior ops officer.

"Sailor Orion! Sailor America! So good to see you!" exclaimed Sailor Sirius. Beside her, Sailor Vulcan gave a friendly nod.

"Same to you, Sailor Sirius, Sailor Vulcan," smiled Sailor Orion. "Come to join the party? The gang's all here!"

Sailor Sirius snorted. "Well, it oughta be one hell of a party."

Sailor Orion smirked. "Care to join us for dinner at 1600? We can discuss the mission details over lasagna."

"Sounds like a plan. My shuttle or yours?" grinned Sailor Sirius.

All Sailor Vulcan could do during this exchange was glance back and forth. "If I may, we should be preparing for whatever is out here instead of this... dialogue."

"All in good time, Sailor Vulcan," nodded Sailor America. "Trust me, we aren't looking forward to this either. Something out here is tearing up ships, and it just became our combined responsibility to figure out who, what, where, and most importantly, how."

"Indeed. The why is fairly obvious," agreed Sailor Sirius.

"Is it?" asked Sailor Vulcan. "Logically, there is but a single reason why any enemy vessel would wantonly attack our ships... to shake our confidence. If that is their goal, they are far wrong. Our confidence does not shake that easily. Either the enemy is too stupid to realize this, or the why is unknown as well. There is no reasoning behind these attacks, and not much of a pattern."

"I guess we'll have to figure that out too," said Sailor Orion.

"We'll speak again at 1600," nodded Sailor Sirius. "Draco, out."

The screen replaced the view of the Pleiades and the nebula. Sailor Sirius turned to face Sailor Vulcan.

"You're just full of happy thoughts today, aren't you?" she said.

Her reply was a single raised eyebrow.

The SLS Pleiades

Sailor Sirius frowned as she slipped a bite in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. The lasagna was pretty good. She smiled slightly. It ought to be, considering the practice the Pleiades' head chef had preparing it! Word had it he did a mean cheeseburger as well. She swallowed, following it up with a sip of juice.

"Did you guys scope those sensor readings on this place?" she asked. "Perfect place for an ambush."

"Yeah, it is," nodded Sailor America. "The nebula, while packed with resources, is so blatantly erratic it could take years to fully probe its mysteries."

"So how do we tell what's natural or not?" asked Sailor Sirius. There was no immediate answer, and the four ate in silence for a while.

"I think it most logical we should set up a scanning rotation," said Sailor Vulcan. "We set up a special band of frequencies; I would suggest high E.M. bands. One ship stays fairly close in to probe the nebula and learn what it can, with a continuous download to the other ship. In the meantime, the second vessel scans surrounding space for any approaching ships. I would suggest the second ship hides behind the planetoid that is eleven astronomical units from the nebula. In this way, we are accomplishing our mission and staying alert for enemies as well. In the worse-case scenario, the other ship can be on scene sixty seconds after the first call." She got another forkful of the specially prepared vegetarian lasagna.

"Also gives us the element of surprise," mused Sailor Orion. Her plate was empty, and she reached for the tray, scooping another heaping serving of lasagna on her plate.

"Always helpful," agreed Sailor Sirius. "Speaking of the erratic nature of the nebula, I wouldn't suggest going in close without shields..." she paused.

"What?" exclaimed Sailor America at her expression. Then she sat back and thought for a second. "Oh, my..."

Sailor Sirius frowned. "I'll bet the profits of my last novel that the attacker came through the nebula."

"By the Crystal," murmured Sailor Orion. "It explains why all of our ships were caught unprepared, unable to even get off more than a token message."

"As the Sabaat array received, 'It caught us by surprise'. We always wondered what caught them by surprise; it is confirmed that it was a DK ship," said Sailor America.

"But how... and why? And which one? There aren't too many ships that could rapidly destroy all of our ships; especially the one lost with Sailor Ferat and Sorcerer Haron," said Sailor Sirius. "And most importantly..."

"How did it bypass the border patrols and sensor relays?" asked Sailor America, nodding.

"I may have an hypothesis," stated Sailor Vulcan, a thoughtful look on her face. "It is the DK, and while their modus operandi is fairly innovative, the motives may be very simple. That nebula is full of resources we want. The DK knows this. It also knows that we always thoroughly research new phenomenon. If you recall, the first set of losses were right near the border, in weakly-scanned sectors such as asteroid fields, nebulae, and particle storms. The only combatant ship lost, the destroyer SLS Jun-Jun, was lost when the enemy crossed the border. It did not dodge the border patrols; it mowed right through one. A gap appeared between losses; it stands to reason that the Jun-Jun did extensive damage to the enemy vessel and either destroyed it or severely damaged it, warranting a replacement or extensive repair time. Following that, the encounters immediately began again, but inside the border. This suggests during the gap, the DK constructed some sort of conduit into our space. It also suggests we are dealing with a rather large ship, logically, a battleship. They put their best captains in those."

"Okay. So far I agree with this. But why continue these attacks?" asked Sailor Orion. Sailor Vulcan gave her a measured look, and Sailor Orion snapped upright from her slouch. "Mother of Serenity," she gasped. "Of course. One, it keeps us wondering what's going on. Two, it hides the fact that somewhere they are concealing something. Three, it keeps us worrying, and off-balance."

"Four, it could be used as such a distraction for an enemy fleet to sneak in undetected, since we are looking elsewhere," added Sailor Vulcan, nodding approvingly at Sailor Orion's quick response.

"And five, why not take a few Royal Navy starships while they're in the neighborhood?" added Sailor Sirius. "I'm sure they consider that at least a side benefit."

"We should alert central command," said Sailor America, eyes wide.

"Too soon," Sailor Vulcan replied, shaking her head. "We will need something as proof of our suspicions. I would suggest that sensors be kept active should said ship attack again; try to link to their computer and download information about the surrounding space, maybe the ship's orders."

"Don't you mean when said ship will attack again?" asked Sailor Orion morosely. She sighed. "Antares, you gettin' all this?"

"Of course, Captain," said Antares. "I am already instituting the suggested procedures, as well as communicating with Draco. We both agree these suggestions are quite sensible. Sailor Vulcan, are you sure you're not an AI?" The last struck the four Senshi as praise.

But two could play that game. Sailor Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you are not a Vulcan?" she asked calmly. She stabbed another forkful of lasagna, noting the amused expressions on the other Senshi's faces.

"I'm not, but one of my programmers was," he replied, humor showing through.

"It shows," said Sailor America dryly. That reply was met with laughter, and the remainder of the dinner passed in a slightly more positive frame of mind. An hour later, the Draco's shuttle departed the Pleiades, and crossed back over. Shortly thereafter, the Draco dropped on one wing, and ducked underneath the Pleiades. It was dangerous RIFTing this close to a nebula, but it had been agreed to hide their pairing as much as possible. The Pleiades began detailed scans as the Draco jumped out of FTL next to the agreed-upon planetoid.

Sailor Sirius stood on her bridge, gazing at the starscape. "Stay sharp," she said. "They're counting on us."

"Aye, captain."

City of Milwaukee, Planet Earth, Sol system, 8 March 2736

"Pencils down!" called Mr. Darby. That order was met with exhausted sighs, and several pencils hit the floor. Zach wearily leaned back. It was 1630, and had been a very long day. He could barely remember past the last ten minutes, and even then barely that. His mind was in chaos. He had no feeling about the Test, one way or the other. He had thought some of the questions innovative, including the reverse logic questions, but it had been one long, mind-numbing assault. He covered his face with his hands.

"I bombed," he groaned. From the faces around him, he gathered everyone felt the same way.

"Okay. Place your pencils on the right hand side, stacked on top of your scrap paper, with the pencil sharpener. Leave the Tests on the left hand side of your desk," Mr. Darby instructed. He walked around the room, holding a special containment unit, placing the tests in it. He locked it, set it on his desk, and picked up another, collecting all of the scrap paper.

"You may all leave now," he said. "Get a good night's sleep." The students obediently filed out. Ten minutes after they left, two black-uniformed individuals walked in.

"The Tests?" asked the first as the second moved to the AI interface. He collected them, placing them carefully in his cart. He glanced at his partner.

She shook her head as she moved away from the AI. "No one cheated. Like that's really possible. No one knows what's on these things until they take them, and half the Test changes every year anyway."

Her partner nodded. "Very good. We still have half the school to do. You're free to go, Mr. Darby."

He nodded, as the pair moved on, businesslike.

Zach sighed as he trudged to the waiting limo. He was briefly surprised when the twins didn't say a word. He closed his eyes as the limo lifted away from the ground, achieving cruise altitude. Of course they wouldn't say anything, he thought. They're as tired as you are. As much as I'd like to continue my reading, I'd better not. This tired, and I might make a mistake. He slouched.

It wasn't long before the limousine landed, tires folding out. It drove the last few blocks conventionally, before pulling into the long, beautifully landscaped drive of their home.

He wearily yawned, and stood, exiting. The girls were right behind him, going into the house. He headed for the back stairwell, and then stopped. He changed his mind and moved for the elevators.

Test Receiving/Processing Facility, Planet Luna, Sol system, 9 March 2736

The next courier truck backed to the dock, and its rear hatch snapped open. The tech on duty glanced up at the trucks hovering in position, waiting their turn. It would be several weeks before the Tests from the remotest colonies arrived. He knew that the RSN's transports were extremely busy, picking up all the Tests.

He waved his wands, bringing the truck back. He crossed them, and the truck halted. Next to him, another tech placed his hands in the holographically generated control unit, moving them ever so slightly. The unloading arm hissed, snapping forward. It made contact with a thunk, and the locks engaged. The controller made the necessary adjustments, and the truck's precious cargo was withdrawn. The tech near the door raised both wands, straight up, above his head. The truck's rear hatch hissed shut, and he made a whirling action with both wands, pointing forward. The truck's engine roar increased, and it pulled away. The next truck in the pattern approached. He began backing it in.

It was three days later when the batch of tests containing Zach's efforts entered the grading area. Five powerful AI's, separated by hard disconnects from the Worldnet to prevent hacking attempts, began grading the exams. A single person manned this part of the facility, and she simply shuffled tests, placing them in appropriate bins. She also served as a tech to the AIs, who simply ran so well her days mostly consisted of hours of boredom. She began shuffling through the new stack, which was automatically deposited on her desk. She began placing exams in "Fail" slot. Her colleagues sometimes laughed at what she referred to as 'digital decision generating', considering there were two slots. She stopped, and blinked.

"Wow," she said. Her door chimed. "Enter," she said, reviewing the score to make sure she hadn't read it wrong. Behind her, her door hissed open. She turned, and blinked in surprise. "Sorcerer Dramlyn!"

"Hello, Technician Morales," he said calmly. "May I?" he extended his hand for the test she held in her hand. He glanced at the label and handed it back.

"Nice," he said. He turned and departed.

She blinked, and then placed the Test in the "Pass" slot. She did, after all, have a lot to do. She wondered whom Thomas, Zachary Adam was. Whoever he was, his life was about to get really complicated.

She had no idea how right she was.

Crystal Palace in Crystal Tokyo, Planet Luna, Sol system, 15 March 2736

The doors hissed open, and Sorcerer Dramlyn walked in, cradling a large bottle of Dom Perignon, vintage 2690, champagne. Sailor Pluto followed, a bemused smile on her face.

"Drinks on Sailor Pluto," he chuckled, producing glasses from his pocketspace. The individuals in the room grinned.

"So he did well?" asked Sailor Mercury. She glanced at the monitor, where the very subject of discussion was digging into the secret time travel files. She glanced at her husband. His cropped, dark hair offset the blue eyes, and he was in his usual midnight blue trench coat, with dark blue slacks and dark blue shirt. A pair of black sunglasses hung from the right breast pocket of his trench coat. A pair of black leather holsters containing a pair of blued-steel, heavily modified blaster pistols sat at his hips, and the scabbards of his twin ornately-crafted blades hung on the outside of his upper thighs.

"Champagne is always nice," said Mercury Knight. He eyed the label. "Good vintage, too. Hard to find."

"C'mon, it's Sailor Pluto," grinned Sailor Saturn. She winked at the last person in the room.

"Yeah, Pu always had that way about her," agreed Princess Serena. Her pink "meatballs" now resembled her mother's; Small Lady had stopped being small some time ago. Unlike her mother at her apparent age, Princess Serena had yet to completely get over her innate clumsiness. Still, it was a trait the public found endearing, so she was in no rush. "What did he score?"

"He aced it," said Dramlyn.

The room went dead silent.

"Aced it? 100%? Every one as correct as possible?" blinked Small Lady.

Dramlyn nodded. "A thorough cross-check shows he had no prior knowledge that was on the test from his hacking of our AI. There is no cheating. Plain and simple, he is a magical prodigy. He aced the Test on his own merits."

"By the Crystal," murmured Sailor Saturn.

"This could get interesting," smiled Sailor Pluto. Let no one ever say she didn't have a sense of humor, for it was in evidence here.

"Very interesting," smiled Sailor Mercury, enjoying the little joke.

City of Milwaukee, Planet Earth, Sol system, 18 March 2736

"Test results!" waved Tabatha. Tamara raced to her, Zach slowly following. "Not yours, Zach. You must have failed pretty bad for them not to even send your results!"

Zach gritted his teeth, hearing the laugh from Mary that followed that statement. Tamara read hers. "Oh well, I failed. You?"

Tabatha held the sheet, and nodded. "Yep. Well, at least we did better than Zach!"

"Shut up!" he said through clenched teeth.

"Ha, loser!" smirked Tamara.

At that moment, a limousine dropped out of the sky, angling in slightly.

"Who could that be?" asked Ron. "We aren't expecting anybody." He stood, as did Mary, as the limo pulled to a stop.

They were very surprised when the Inner Senshi of Ice emerged, with her Knight, as well as Sorcerer Dramlyn.

Ron walked off the porch, moving to greet the arrivals. "Sailor Mercury, Mercury Knight, Sorcerer Dramlyn! This is most unexpected! To what do we owe this honor?"

The expressions on their faces were serious, and he noted Zach's sudden nervousness, his eyes wide in shock. He saw them glance in his direction.

"What'd you do, Zach?" he demanded.

Zach slumped. "Oh, shit," he muttered.

"We're here for two reasons, Mr. van Houten," said Sorcerer Dramlyn. "Both concerning Zachary."

"What did he do?" asked Mary.

"Well, we must say we were a bit upset when he hacked into the Crystal Palace AI," said Sailor Mercury calmly, arms crossed. "Quite skillful, really. If it weren't for the special wards in place, we wouldn't have noticed."

"WHAT!?" came the exclamation from Ron, Mary, Tamara, and Tabatha.

"Fortunately for him, mitigating circumstances prevent us from arresting him," said Mercury Knight.

"Just curious, Zachary," began Dramlyn. "Just what AI's have you hacked? The entire list, please. You won't be getting in trouble, as you never caused any harm, and in fact on several occasions improved the defenses of the AIs in question. That and the mitigating circumstances Mercury Knight just mentioned."

"Everything from the house AI to the AI of the Earth Council of Representatives," Zach said, straightening up proudly. "Including the school, and Ronald's company." He noted the shock in his family's eyes.

"Nice," said Dramlyn, ever the master of the understatement. He waved Zach forward. "I have a little test I want you to perform. Come right here." He pointed. Zach moved there. "Good. Now, I want you to close your eyes, and hold your hands in front of you, cupped as if to hold something. In your mind, I want you to compute the formula of a sphere, adding in the coefficient of the speed of light and the Municode formula, and then call that to your cupped hands. Take your time."

Zach frowned in concentration, computing what he was asked. Call it? He wondered.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Ron. Dramlyn held up his hand, commanding silence. They all blinked when a ball of white light filled Zach's cupped hands. Mary's mouth moved, but no sound came out.

Zach opened his eyes, and they were filled with wonder at what he saw. He was mesmerized. "Awesome," he muttered. He concentrated, making the light brighter as he felt energy coursing through him.

"The mitigating circumstances," began Dramlyn, falling silent as he watched in stunned amazement. The ball was now floating above Zach, and it suddenly split into two, then each split one more time, and all four grew to the same size as the original ball. He began to juggle them, eyes wide in amazement, forehead creased with concentration. As he did, the balls began rotating through the entire color spectrum.

"By the Crystal!" gasped Mercury Knight.

"Even expecting it, I can barely believe it," said Dramlyn in astonishment. "Zach, can you end it?"

Zach nodded, and made the energy stop flowing, making them disappear. "Wow. Was that... magic?"

"Yes, and your control is amazing," said Dramlyn. His gaze swept them all. "As I was saying, the mitigating circumstances are the fact that Zach here has made history."

"How?" asked Ron.

"He is the first ever person to score one hundred percent on the Test," began Dramlyn. Zach's eyes bugged out.

"A h-hundred?" he stammered.

"You see, Zach is a magical prodigy," continued Dramlyn. "And we want him."

Zach recovered his senses, remembering movies he'd seen of the Sorcerers. He snapped to attention and delivered a sharp salute, as he remembered viewing.

"When do I leave, sir?"

STAY TUNED!