"LUNAR: Tales From Crystal Tokyo"
LUNAR:
Tales From Crystal Tokyo
By
Daryll Pung
Episode
3-12: Hide And Seek
Rated:
R
In
FTL transit, 29 June 2740
The
SLS Unicorn
Sorcerer Derrelli found himself in an uncomfortable situation.
He was inverted, cramped; sweat dripped steadily into his eyes, causing
him to blink quite often. His arms
could barely move; he found it tough to concentrate on his task, holding the
gamma welder in place. The cable of
the welder had somehow gotten tangled around his leg; and the heat from the
welder was stifling. The
protective/scanning goggles kept slipping onto his forehead.
He slowly shifted his arm, bringing up the other hand with the component
he had to attach, mentally cursing the jolt of pain that burst like fire as he
dinged his elbow.
Most GM starships had a selection of engineers of various heights, sizes
and talents. This was for a good
reason; GM starships had a wide variety of maintenance and repair requirements.
He knew that there were four other engineers on the Unicorn more
capable of the repair he was even now making:
three females, one of them Vegan, and a shorter Isbanni male; all four
had offered to do the task.
He had refused; even knowing how much easier it would be for them. After completing the modifications to the Unicorn for
the cloaking device, he knew that work was one sure way to keep him from
dwelling on recent events. Everyone
was staying busy; Sailor Ryujin and Wizard Orien were continuously drilling the
tactical department and testing the Unicorn’s reactions for crisis
situations; Sailor Cygni had buried herself in the sensor sweeps and science
department activities, working from afar with Sailor Mercury’s teams and
spearheading the Unicorn’s search efforts; Wizard Duke was only not
driving the ship during his sleep cycle; and King Endymion was constantly
everywhere, barely even sleeping. Sailor
Astraea, like himself, had immersed herself in repair and scheduled maintenance.
He activated the gamma welder and monitored the atomic binding of the
components, forcing himself to concentrate despite the sweat in his eyes. When the goggles showed a good, solid atomic bond, he shut
the welder off. He heard the
shuffling sound of someone crawling down the access tunnel.
“Having fun?” someone grunted.
Ignoring the remaining heat from the welder’s tip, Derrelli held the
welder close and pushed himself upward and outward with his other arm.
Once free, he untangled himself and removed the goggles, wiping his
sleeve across his forehead. He then
looked at the speaker.
Brad London was now lounging against the side of the low maintenance
tunnel.
Derrelli snorted. “The
more unglamorous side of being a technician,” he muttered.
Brad gave a short bark of laughter.
“Yeah, this looks real cozy.”
A feminine voice came down the tunnel.
“Sorcerer Derrelli? How’s
the repair coming?” A blonde head
appeared at the tunnel junction. “Oh!”
“Hey, Sailor Astraea. Just
finished,” Derrelli said in greeting.
She gave a tiny smile. “What
are you doing here, Mr. London?”
Brad grunted. “Bored.
Decided to check things out. Is
that a problem?”
Sailor Astraea frowned. “Not
really, not here. But ask next
time, huh? There are some
restricted areas, and it could be a bad thing if you wandered into one.” She crawled around the corner, a maintenance kit with her,
microcomp strapped to its side. “Now,
if you’re all done, I have an inspection to do down this tunnel.”
Derrelli finished stowing the kit; he grabbed the handle.
“All yours,” he said calmly.
The trio shared a look.
“I suppose I’d better see where we are, up on the bridge, I mean,”
Brad said. “We should be fairly
close to the border by now.” He
set off down the tunnel, and Sailor Astraea squeezed aside to let him pass.
Derrelli sighed. “I’m
about out of repairs,” he admitted to Sailor Astraea.
“You?”
She smiled slightly. “Still
plenty of inspections to keep me busy.”
“Lucky you,” Derrelli said, he began crawling past, dragging the
welder.
Sailor Astraea blinked. “You
could always join the science effort,” she said softly.
Derrelli raised an eyebrow. “What
effort is that?”
“From what King Endymion has told me, there is a lot of data to be
analyzed, finding a weakness in those… supercruisers.
When Sailor Cygni’s not on the bridge monitoring the search, she’s in
the lab analyzing…” she trailed off.
Derrelli nodded. “Thanks
for the suggestion. Maybe I’ll
look into it.”
Sailor Astraea watched him go around the corner, her cheerful expression
falling away. She sat back,
glancing at her kit, and leaned back against the bulkhead, closing her eyes with
a sigh, wrapping her arms around her knees.
Everyone was so concerned with the two missing Royals- as they should
be,
she admitted- but none had mentioned the other Guardian.
“I wonder how Sailor Eos is doing?” she whispered to no one in
particular.
A few minutes later, Brad London stepped out of the lift onto the bridge
of the starship Unicorn, musing about how he seemed to have been given
full run of things, without even an escort.
Granted, he was hardly a security risk; where the hell could he run off
to? He snorted, knowing it was a bad idea to underestimate any
crew of an RSN starship. There were
probably automated routines keeping a lock on his bio-signs or something.
King Endymion looked up. “Just
in the nick of time,” he said from where he sat next to the captain’s chair.
Brad blinked. “Oh?”
He shifted his gaze to the main screens; screen three showed a spatial
map of the area. They were at the
GM border.
Captain Sheila Thompson stood. “Activate
the cloaking device,” she said, remembering the last time she’d given such
an order. She shook it off. “Display long range scans on screen four, and spatial
navigation info of the areas ahead on screen five.”
As the requested data popped up, she turned to Brad.
“Mr. London?”
Brad stepped down, carefully examining the screens.
“This area is strewn with a lot of failed star systems; planets that
broke up or never formed, weak stars that couldn’t provide the necessary force
for proper system formation, et cetera. Very
erratic gravitational and particle fields at times; some of the planetoids have
the screwiest orbits. At any rate,
a lot of pirates and mercenaries hide out here, as what little resources the
region held have long been wiped out. Been
in here myself a few times; and I tracked the old Dread in here…” he
trailed off, fighting down the surge of anger at the loss of his ship.
He shook his head. “Best
bet is to stealthily approach the likeliest hideouts and do some scanning.
Can’t depend much on exhaust trails lasting too long, due to the local
environment. We’ll have to stay
on our toes.”
Sheila nodded, and turned. “Get
me the Orion. I think it’s
time for some tag-team action.”
“Orion on one, ma’am,” comm replied promptly.
“Sailor Vulcan,” nodded Sheila.
“I have a proposition for you, similar to the last time we worked
together.”
The Senshi of Logic raised an eyebrow.
“Pass my congratulations on to Sorcerer Derrelli for having already
equipped the Unicorn with a perfectly functioning nonregulation cloaking
device.”
“No comment,” grinned Sheila; her grin quickly faded.
“Listen, our ship is equipped with the upgraded systems, and our
‘guide’ has informed us that our best bet is to approach the likeliest hidey
holes, cloaked, and scan. What
I’d like to do is approach each from two sides, and should our quarry be
present, we have a pincer advantage.” She
paused. “That ship is the
equivalent of this one, at the very least; I’d feel a lot more comfortable having some
sort of tactical advantage.”
Sailor Vulcan nodded. “Agreed.
Our first location is?”
Sheila turned. “Mr.
London?”
He leaned forward, and tapped the console; brackets overlaid themselves
on screen. “Let’s try there
first.”
Sheila nodded. “We’ll
take the lead.” She turned.
“Helm, plot an approach vector to the designated coordinates, ahead one
quarter. Ops, give science priority
unless we find something; science, maximum scan.”
“We will be directly behind you, Captain Thompson,” Sailor Vulcan
said from the screen. “Orion,
out.”
Sheila’s face hardened. “Let’s
find these bastards.”
Deep
Space, near Holy Droylian Empire Neutral Zone, 30 June 2740
The
SLS Golda Mier
“There goes another,” commented the science officer of the destroyer Golda
Mier. She turned to her
captain.
“Screen three,” the captain ordered.
The screen blinked on to show a small, shuttle sized craft, four longer
shafts connected to a central, angular cockpit.
It dived around an asteroid, to where several targets were positioned;
blue energy beam fire lanced out, followed by a salvo of missiles. Multiple small explosions blossomed as another, identical
craft joined the first and the targets were destroyed.
“Huh,” grunted the tactical officer.
“From the looks of it, their fighter program will soon be fully
activated; they can take all those converted shuttles offline.
Add to that the Zerm can do the same thing with their new fighters, and
the DK is modifying their pods…”
“Life for our fighter pilots will soon be even more interesting,”
agreed the science officer. She
tapped her console, and on screen two a blow-up of the new HDE fighter appeared;
various systems were rapidly color-coded and identified as she completed her
analysis.
“Well, they’re close, but still no real contest for our fighters,”
commented the science officer. “We
seem to have started another arms race.”
The captain snorted. “At
least they’re all reacting to us for once.
Get a detailed profile and then beam the data back to HQ to disseminate
throughout the fleet.”
“Aye, sir!” replied the science officer, fingers dancing over the
console.
Crystal
Palace in Crystal Tokyo, Planet Luna, Sol system, 30 June 2740
Fleet
Commander’s Office
“And that’s what really happened, Lady Neptune,” Juanita Flores
finished.
The sea-green haired Planetary stood, and glanced at one of her paintings
on the wall. “Can anyone
corroborate your story?”
Juanita blinked. “Excuse
me, ma’am?” she asked in disbelief. “You
don’t believe me?”
Sailor Neptune turned. “I
never said that,” she said simply. “I
am asking if anyone else can corroborate your version of the events.”
Juanita sniffed. “The AI
of the Bahumat, if you can weasel it out of him.”
Sailor Neptune ducked her head, sighed, and took her seat.
“Apparently you have forgotten that Neo was a casualty in the battle
that scrapped the Bahumat.”
“A casualty?” snorted Juanita.
Sailor Neptune leaned forward, eyes flashing dangerously.
“It would behoove you to show more respect to everyone, Miss Flores,
especially if you ever want to advance your career again.
An AI is, for all intents and purposes, alive, complete with personality.
When one is deleted or erased due to combat, we honor them amongst the
rest of the crew. Furthermore, your
comments regarding Senshi are a matter of record.”
Juanita sat in silence for a moment.
“So you’ll take Sailor Ryujin’s word over mine, simply because
she’s a Senshi and I am not?”
Sailor Neptune uttered a bark of laughter.
“For a skilled diplomat, you are remarkably narrow-minded, Miss Flores.
I suppose you don’t have to agree to argue a position; and that in and
of itself is a remarkable skill, but you must recognize my position.
On one hand, we have the words of several of Bahumat’s higher
officers, differing in minor details but in overall agreement; and on the other,
we have your story, supported by none, not even your fellow diplomats, whose
versions of events support those of the Bahumat’s officers.
Oh, a few details mesh, but not enough for me to think that you are
giving me the unbiased truth.”
“My fellow diplomats?” Juanita repeated blankly.
“You were otherwise occupied, remember, pushing back your appointment?
So I interviewed your other three companions… and it is hard to dispute
facts from a Vulcan’s perspective, to say the least.”
Sailor Neptune drummed her fingers on her desk.
“Now, I know Sailor Ryujin. I
know she can be rough around the edges, outspoken, what have you; she’s gotten
herself in trouble with her mouth and her temper before.
She was candid with me when she contacted us about Sailor Cygni’s
breakdown, admitting to some of the things you’ve said.
She could have handled it better, but as a rule the troops don’t like
it when you disrespect the boss. And
I find it hard to believe she roughed you up so that you required medical
treatment; the CMO has no recollection of ever seeing you in sickbay, and no
Senshi would sink that low. From
everyone’s perspective but yours, you deliberately provoked and goaded both
Sailor Cygni and Sailor Ryujin, to the point where Sailor Cygni had a breakdown,
forcing Sailor Ryujin to assume command. I
can only make the supposition that you subconsciously wanted to prove your own
self-inflated superiority, since you are still at it.”
Juanita stiffened. “Lady
Neptune, I assure you-“
Sailor Neptune cut her off with a wave of her hand.
“Miss Flores, surely you realize we’ve all got a lot on our plate.
Honestly, I don’t have time to deal with this any further.
From where I sit, Sailor Ryujin will get a reprimand for her behavior. I don’t see any reason to charge you with deliberate
sabotage of the negotiations; that charge will be dismissed; and as Sailor
Cygni’s problem was also due to lack of sleep and extreme stress, that will
also not go on your record. Your
demotion will stand. And perhaps
you should seek a bit of counseling to deal with your ego, if you ever wish to
work your way back up the ranks and back into Their Highness’ good graces. As far as I am concerned, the matter is closed and the
negotiations, treaty, and battles were ultimately successful, despite extremely
heavy losses; so you needn’t worry, your record will reflect your
participation.”
Juanita was silent for a moment. “I’m
supposed to thank you?”
Sailor Neptune stood. “No,
you aren’t. You’re supposed to
drop it and move on, and stop wasting time and hindering recovery efforts. Every second in here with you is a second less towards
recovering Neo-Queen Serenity the First and Princess Serena, in addition to
burying our many dead and rebuilding our fleet and defenses.”
The Oceanic Planetary moved around the desk, politely indicating the
door. “Dismissed, Miss Flores.”
Juanita sat in shock for a minute, then slowly and with deliberate grace,
rose and moved towards the door, her head held high.
“Thank you for your time, Lady Neptune,” she said stiffly as the door
hissed open. She stepped through.
After the door closed, Sailor Neptune slumped against the wall, with a
sigh, briefly closing her eyes. She
opened them again, and went back to her desk, activating her viewscreen and
terminal, and resumed trying to figure out how to best protect the GM with the
depleted forces available at her command.
Interplanetary
space in the Kappa Zone, 31 June 2740
The
SLS Orion
Sailor
Vulcan was as a statue, one hand curled under her chin, the other resting on an
armrest, her legs crossed. She
hadn’t budged in nearly twenty hours, when she had last paused to refresh
herself; only her eyes showed any movement, darting from display to data display
as they appeared on the viewscreens. Her
sharp Vulcan hearing picked up the occasional murmur of awe from her bridge
crew, marveling at her stamina and mental discipline.
A
new window appeared on screen three, highlighting movement.
Data rolled in as the window was highlighted; but the object in question
was quickly determined not to be a starship.
“A
biologic,” murmured her science officer excitedly.
Spaceborne life forms were rare enough that discovering new ones was even
more exciting than discovering a new planet full of unknown life.
“Ma’am?” she added, glancing towards Sailor Vulcan.
Sailor
Vulcan roused herself. “Make a
note to check out at a later date, take down cursory readings for later data
matching and identification. Continue
at the task at hand.”
In that short time, three more similar creatures were plotted.
The
SLS Unicorn
“They
really are fascinating,” Sailor Cygni said softly.
Over her shoulder, Derrelli nodded.
The creatures, now identified from the Unicorn’s lead position as a
flock of over twenty of the same species, were closing on their location.
They were roughly conical, with three smaller fins evenly spaced along
each side and on the dorsal surface; a larger fin ran the length from tip to
back on the ventral surface. Their
coloration ranged from purple to brown and black.
There were no discernible sensory organs, except for perhaps a single
strip on the front that seemed to serve as a combination eye, ear, and nose.
A large, toothy maw was under that strip.
Sailor Cygni highlighted some of the cursory readings they had taken as
the Unicorn steadily closed on the flock’s path.
She pursed her lips. “Some
of these systems do the same thing as aboard a starship,” she commented.
“For example, whatever these things eat seems to be broken down into
base elements; they seem to exude more of an exhaust as a waste product,
consisting of lighter elements they don’t appear to digest.
I’m not sure they need to breathe, even drawing in the rare molecule
like a few other identified species do; they may simply draw all sustenance from
whatever they consume.”
“Babe?” Derrelli interrupted. “I
‘m sure it’s interesting and all, but we’ve been ordered to ignore them
for the moment…” he paused, and frowned.
Sailor Cygni nodded, and moved to change the windows to the latest scan
results. Derrelli reached over her,
and tapped at the console.
“Hey! I was returning to
the scans, what are you-“ Sailor Cygni began.
“They’ve changed course,” Derrelli pointed out.
“Right towards us.”
Sailor Cygni eyed the data, and then tapped the lower portion of her
panel. “Sailor Cygni to
bridge.”
“Go ahead, Sailor Cygni,” came back Sheila Thompson’s voice.
“We may want to pay more attention to those biologics after all,” the
Senshi of Gravity reported. “They
just altered course towards us.”
“Any threat to either of us?” Sheila asked.
“I don’t know,” Sailor Cygni replied.
“I don’t know why they altered course; or why they altered course
towards us. We just don’t know
enough.” She paused.
“I don’t believe they know we’re here, or if they’re even
sentient; but that is all speculation. Frankly,
from preliminary scans, I’d rather not see what those teeth could potentially
do to our hulls; they’re comprised of some pretty dense elements.”
Sheila’s sigh could be heard over the comlink.
“Right. Find out what you
can, then. I’ll contact the Orion; I think we’ll stop here and let
them pass. Call us if you discover
anything. Bridge out.”
Sailor Cygni tapped a nearby console, refocusing sensor arrays; she waved
at several members of the science staff and began assigning tasks. Derrelli watched the creatures with a mounting sense of
unease.
The
SLS Orion
“Answering all stop, ma’am,” confirmed Lieutenant Sean O’Connor,
glancing back towards the captain.
Sailor Vulcan stood. The
creatures, numbering twenty-three, were rapidly closing, their bodies flexing
slightly as they moved effortlessly through space towards them.
“Closing to within range one, ma’am,” reported tactical.
“Looks like they’ll pass between us and the Unicorn.”
“Understood,” Sailor Vulcan said.
The
SLS Unicorn
“Ma’am?”
called one of the specialists.
“Patch it to me,” Sailor Cygni replied.
As the readings popped up, she narrowed her eyes and concentrated on
them, her face slowly creasing into a frown.
She popped up an adjoining window, displaying detailed scans of what they
thought was the digestive system.
Derrelli raised an eyebrow as Sailor Cygni’s eyes widened.
“Sailor Cygni to bridge! These
things eat higher density materials, like heavy metals and crystalline
substances. Furthermore, it looks
like they can sense tachyons and other faster-than-light particles with that
strip on their forward surface!”
Shiela’s voice came back. “Understood.
What’re you worked up about?”
“Captain, tachyons are one of the few particles that can penetrate a
cloaking device!” Sailor Cygni replied abruptly.
“Oh, shit,” broke in Derrelli. “With
a cloak up, shields are down, and these things’ll find our hulls a feast fit
for a king!”
A beep interrupted them.
“They just accelerated!” cried Sailor Cygni.
“Warn the Orion!”
The
SLS Orion
“Ma’am! Something’s
odd, here… the creatures have sped up towards us, and-“ science began.
“Unicorn calling priority one, ma’am!” called the Isbanni
comm officer.
Sailor Vulcan turned. “On
screen!”
Sheila’s image appeared on screen.
“Sailor Vulcan, evasive action, now!”
Sailor Vulcan blinked. “Lieutenant
O’Connor!” she snapped, wondering why; but she was too experienced and
intelligent to ignore a warning from a ship that had a good science department
and had longer to assimilate and tally data.
Sean reacted instantly, manipulating the controls.