Author's Note: If you wish to comment on my story, either positively or negatively, don't hesitate to contact me at treetop@voicenet.com. Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation and DIC. So, please, don't sue me because I haven't any money. I do this strictly for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement.
The Resurrection Dilemma
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Chapter One: Invaders From Space
Rating: R
Lita Monroe was deathly worried, and she didn't try to hide it.
Nervously biting her painted lower lip, Lita's stomach was tied in knots. Despite having faced aliens, monsters and other assorted horrors from the Negaverse as Sailor Jupiter without a second's worth of fear, tonight, the auburn haired amazon was sweating bullets. Fighting evil was one thing, and Lita loved her work with a passion, but trying out a new recipe, using her friends as guinea pigs was another matter.
Seated at the head of the dining table in her spacious apartment, Lita watched silently, apprehensively as her friends took tentative first bites of their food. Serena Tsukino and Raye Hino, seated to Lita's left, and Amy Anderson and Mina Spencer to her right sampled the recipe Lita prepared for the group's 'Reunion Dinner': Veal Parmigiana along with linguini in red clam sauce as a side dish.
While Lita, possessed of a healthy ego considered herself to be an outstanding cook, this was the first time she prepared Italian food and she feared messing up on the recipe she downloaded from The Food Network's website yesterday. No one spoke while they sampled the dish, not even Serena, a notorious chatterbox, further increasing Lita's consternation. Her limited patience exhausted, Lita finally exploded.
"For God's sake! Will somebody please say something!" she yelled, barely resisting the urge to slam her fists down on the tabletop. Considering Lita possessed the strength of a weightlifter, that would have made for quite a mess. "Talk to me, guys! How is it?"
Serena, after swallowing a mouthful of veal squealed delightedly. "Oh, Lita! I'm in heaven! This is terrific!" She then proceeded to shovel food into her mouth with messy, ravenous glee.
"That's disgusting!" growled Raye, glaring at Serena. "Slow down, Serena! You look like a hog at a trough!"
"I can't help myself! This is so-ooooooo good!"
Mina chuckled. "Can't argue that, 'Rena. I've never tasted anything more delicious. Bravo, Lita! You've outdone yourself."
"And then some. Could I have the recipe?" Amy asked. "My mom loves Italian food. It'd be great to surprise her one night with this dish."
Lita, beaming with pride from the compliments, puffed out her all too ample chest. She was pleased on two fronts: one, because her friends liked the dish, and two, Lita made enough portions for ten, accounting for the bottomless pit that was Serena's stomach. "No problemo, Ames. I'll email it to you tomorrow. It's really simple to prepare."
"Simple, huh? Well then, I guess that means it's impossible for Meatball Head to make!" Raye cracked wickedly. "She's the only person I know who can burn water!"
"Yeah, right! Like you can talk, Miss Smarty Pants! You can't even operate a cable box!" Serena shot back cattily, referring to Raye being technology challenged, which, in her case was strictly by choice.
"I don't need to! I have a life, and I don't waste it watching TV all the time, unlike some people I know! What's your excuse?"
And with that, Raye and Serena launched into one of their legendary shouting matches. The others rolled their eyes and ignored them in favor of their food, knowing full well it was a fool's errand to stop the bickering banshees once they got a roll going.
Sitting on a couch in the living room, Luna and Artemis, feline familiars from the Moon Kingdom, and mentors to Serena and Mina respectively grinned at the sight in the dining room.
"Just like old times, eh, Luna?" asked Artemis.
"Yes indeed. And, to tell you the truth, Artemis, I wouldn't have it any other way," said Luna, her heart filled with happiness. "I'm so glad they're all back together."
Luna's mind drifted back to only a week ago, and the circumstances that reunited the girls. A new enemy had arrived in Tokyo, strange beings doing the bidding of two malevolent aliens from the Negaverse who used the creatures to sap lifeforce energy from helpless human victims for reasons unknown to anyone but them.
When the first such creature attacked, making Serena's best friend Molly its victim, Luna was forced to use her mind meld power to restore Serena's memory so she could fight the thing as Sailor Moon. But it wasn't easy, Serena fought the meld, desperately wanting to hold on to the peaceful, ordinary existence she had enjoyed for the past six months after Queen Beryl had been defeated. Luna understood Serena's wishes, but, in the end, duty took precedence over personal desires.
Reluctantly, Serena returned to her danger filled life as the Champion of Justice and defeated the creature. A few days later when another energy sucking monster attacked people on the set of a science fiction movie, including Amy, Raye, Lita and Mina, Luna returned their memories as well. And the Sailor Scouts were back in force, more united than ever. Right away, Luna couldn't help but notice the girls accepted their fate a good deal easier than did Serena. But then, Serena always made things difficult, most times on purpose.
So, when Serena proposed having a special dinner to celebrate the gang being back together, Luna was shocked. It wasn't often that Serena came up with such good ideas, and everyone loved her suggestion. Not even the always sarcastic Raye could come up with a wisecrack to put it down. Lita was thrilled about Serena's suggestion more than everyone else. An orphan who lived alone after the death of her parents when she was young, Lita was overjoyed to have regular company again, and she was quick to offer making dinner for the girls instead of going to a restaurant.
While Luna and Artemis were part of the team, they decided to sit back and let the girls enjoy the company of each other as they chatted happily about their exploits over the time they were apart. The familiars noticed how no one brought up Sailor Scout business, especially that horrific day at the North Pole. The day all the Scouts, including Serena died before being ressurected by the Imperium Silver Crystal and returned home with no memory of their past lives as heroes. Luna knew that by restoring their memories, the girls would also remember their violent deaths. She wondered how that would affect their psyches over time.
Serena's already started having nightmares about that day at the North Pole. So has Mina, according to Artemis. I wonder if the others have as well, pondered Luna. No, best not to dwell on such grim matters. I'll worry about that another day. For right now, let the girls bask in the glow of their renewed friendship. Their renewed lives. After all they've been through, they deserve that much at least.
An hour later, the girls moved into the living room and continued talking and laughing while Lita cleared off the table. Minutes later, she emerged from the kitchen bearing a tray with five tall, thin glasses filled with a clear, bubbly liquid.
"Ooooh! Champagne! You trying to get us drunk, girlfriend?" a smirking Mina joked.
"Get real, blondie! As if a liquor store's gonna flush their license by selling booze to a fifteen year old," snorted Lita, handing everyone a glass. "It's only sparkling cider. I figured we needed something close to bubbly to toast our reunion. And this is the closest we'll get to the real thing for at least another three years."
"It's just as well, Mina. I for one would hate to contribute to the delinquency of a certain ponytailed minor," said Raye, sneering at Serena. "Heaven knows Serena's goofy enough when she's sober. I'd hate to imagine what she'd be like with a buzz on."
Scowling, Serena took the high road, giving Raye a Bronx cheer. Raye, just as dignified, returned the favor.
Amy giggled. "You two are positively incorrigible. So, who wants to make the toast?"
"I do," said Serena, suddenly looking serious which surprised everyone. Rarely did Serena ever look so serious, not even when she was in action as Sailor Moon. She held up her glass and gazed at the girls with deep affection shining in her eyes.
"To you, my dearest friends who have always been there for me. You comfort me, protect me, guide me, but, most of all, you love me, inspite of my flaws. Words can't express how happy I am that we're all back together. Without the four of you, I have nothing. I am nothing. We're more than just heroes or companions, we're a family. May we never, ever part from one another again for as long as we live. Cheers."
For a time, the living room was silent as the girls and the familiars were wide eyed and stunned, never expecting to hear such powerfully poignant words come from Serena's lips. There were times when everyone took Serena for granted, thinking her to be nothing more than a lazy, whining, food crazed airhead. They tended to forget that, first and foremost, Serena was the reincarnated Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, an elegant and cultured young woman possessed of grace and wisdom that far surpassed her tender years. Yet, Serena made it quite clear to everyone, if not with words than definite with her actions that she preferred to be just a normal teenage girl, warts and all.
As the significance of Serena's words sank in, reminding everyone of the third chance at life they were fortunate enough to receive, and, most of all, the sheer joy of togetherness, emotions took over. Mina, her bottom lip trembling began to cry, followed by Amy, and then Lita, Raye and, lastly, Serena herself. Even Luna and Artemis were deeply moved. Raye took Serena's hand in hers and squeezed it tight. The five friends then gently brought their glasses together.
"Cheers!" they all said.
"Darn it, Serena! You sure make it hard for me to get mad at you when you go and say beautiful things like that!" said Raye, her voice cracking. Still holding Serena's hand, she then turned to face the others. "I'm so glad we're all back together too. Friends like you I wouldn't trade for anything in the world."
"I'll second that," said Amy, wiping her eyes.
"Same here!" Lita chimed in. "I can't think of life without you guys."
"Make it unanimous!" said a smiling Mina through her tears.
Suddenly, Serena giggled, wearing that irrepressibly silly grin everyone knew and loved as she returned to her familiar, ditzy persona. "Great! Now that we've got all the touchy-feely stuff out of the way, what's for dessert, Lita? Something sweet and gooey I hope!"
Hearing that, the girls and the familiars broke out laughing.
Observatories all over the world had been tracking the object in outer space as it headed towards Earth for the last three weeks, but no one could figure out just what it was.
At first, there were the predictable fears that it was an asteroid that would impact the planet and destroy it. To that end, no news about the object was leaked to the press, if only to prevent a global panic. While popular disaster movies like Deep Impact and Armageddon fostered such fears, it reality, the chances of a doomsday rock demolishing the planet were minimal to almost non-existent. Still, there were concerns as there wasn't enough data to ascertain just how large the object was. Depending on its size, it could well burn up upon entry into the atmosphere. The larger the object was, the greater the chance for a cataclysmic result when it touched down.
As the days passed and it became clear that the object was on a direct course with Earth, plans were discussed in secret to deal with the thing, should it come into range to present a problem. Predictably, the military was quick to suggest blasting it to kingdom come with nuclear missiles, but the scientific community was steadfastly against it because of the equally ominous threat of nuclear winter, radiation poisoning of the air, soil and water, wrecking the planet's fragile ecosystem, not to mention the global havoc the electromagnetic pulse from the exploding missiles would have on anything controlled by microchips. Those grim scenarios made the cure just as dangerous as the disease itself.
Finally, when the object entered the solar system, scientists, scanning the thing via long range probes launched into space confirmed two things: one, it wasn't nearly large enough to be a planet wrecking asteroid as it measured barely six hundred feet square. And two: it was made entirely of metal. That last bit of information caused more than a small amount of concern among scientists and military men. A metal object hurtling towards Earth meant only one thing:
A spaceship.
Once again, there was a division on ideas regarding what to do about the situation. The military's mindset hadn't changed, they still opted for destroying the thing, whatever it might be. But scientists urged for a more peaceful solution. A three hundred foot long object made of metal wasn't a natural phenomena. If the thing was an actual spaceship, it obviously meant that beings from another world were on their way. This naturally excited the scientists. A chance to meet lifeforms from another civilization, another planet, possibly even another galaxy. But the warhawks didn't care, to them, it was shoot first, roll out the welcome mat later. Provided there was anything left to welcome.
When the object approached Mars on its inexorable course towards Earth one week later, it was watched and followed by every telescope in private and government employ from one corner of the globe to the other while CETI monitored the thing for any transmissions that might come from it. Then, something unexpected and disturbing occurred. It disappeared. One minute, it was there, clear as day, headed in the direction of Earth at speeds even the most sophisticated computers were unable to figure out, and the next, it was simply gone. Panic set in among all those who spent the better part of a month tracking the thing.
Was it caught in the gravitational pull of Mars and sucked down onto the angry red planet? Did it veer of course and vanish into the cosmos? No one, not even the world's most renowned and brightest minds could provide an answer to the dilemma. In time, because no secret could be kept forever, word eventually leaked out about the object, first over the Internet, then the papers, followed by talk radio, lastly, television. Angry people around the world were asking questions and demanding answers of their governments. What was the thing military men and scientists were tracking? Was it an asteroid? A spaceship? How close had it come to Earth? Was there any danger? Is there still any danger?
No answers, at least none of substance were provided. Not because those keeping the secrets about the thing refused to respond, rather because they didn't know how. And that worried people most of all.
Toshi Kimura looked on in concern as the strange, bearded blond man, his head wrapped in bandages tossed and turned while he slept in a spare bedroom at the house. Every now and then, the expression on the man's face would alternate from a deep grimace to a broad smile and back again. The stranger had been in that state for two full days since he had been found near the river and showed little or no signs of waking up.
"Momma? Do you think the man will wake up?" he asked.
Standing beside Toshi, Miko shrugged. "I really don't know. He seems to be in good health. He doesn't appear to have any internal injuries. Only that he hasn't awakened. No doubt a result of the head injury he suffered."
On the other side of the bed, Miko's father, Shiegeru scowled. "I don't like this, daughter. Not at all. We should have taken this stranger to the local doctor's office instead of bringing him to our home."
Miko sighed. She had heard the same complaints from her father ever since she had him bring the stranger to the farm. She knew her father was highly distrustful of strangers, in fact, he was extremely iconoclastic and had little love for the townsfolk as well, which was a shame since they were all friendly, hardworking farmers, but the unknown never failed to stir him to heights of near paranoia.
"Father, as I've told you again and again, there was no way to know how badly the stranger had been hurt," Miko said in a patient voice. "For all we know, he might have died before we reached the town. Since I've had medical training, I felt I could handle the situation."
"And so you have. Now it is time he left us," said Shiegeru. "I don't like the looks of him. His clothing, tattered as it was resembled a military uniform of some sort. And his face, there is a noticeable look of....cruelty, even evil about him."
"Evil? That's silly, grandpop!" said Toshi. "And he can't go! He isn't awake yet!"
"That doesn't matter, youngster. I don't feel safe with him around."
"With all due respect, father, you say that about everyone who comes here. Even my own sisters," said Miko.
"Look, Momma! Grandpop! His eyes blinked! he's waking up!" cried Toshi.
Miko and Shiegeru looked on and saw that the boy was right. The stranger was stirring. With a soft moan, he fully opened his eyes. Bright and blue, confusion was mirrored in his eyes as he looked around him. Finally, he locked onto Miko and spoke, almost in a whisper.
"Where....am I? Who are you?"
Miko leaned close to the stranger, openly entranced by his handsome features. "My name is Miko Kimura, and you're on my farm."
The stranger's confusion increased. "Farm?"
"Yes. We're about one hundred miles west of Tokyo in the country," Miko explained. "My son and I found you along the bank of the river near here. You had been hurt and was semi-conscious. Can you tell us what happened to you? Were you in an accident?"
The stranger frowned, as if trying to recall something important. "I....I don't remember."
Shiegeru harrumphed, clearly annoyed. "Well, can you at least tell us who you are?"
Again, the stranger frowned. Then he shook his head which pounded relentlessly. "I'm sorry. I don't know."
Miko didn't like the sound of that. Amnesia, she reasoned. "When we found you, you were bleeding from a head injury. That might have robbed you of your memory."
The stranger attempted a smile, but was too weak, and his head hurt too much to pull it off. "I'll have to take you at your word, Miss Kimura. I can't seem to recall anything, including how I wound up here."
"It's Mrs. But you can call me Miko. This is my father, Shiegeru, and my son, Toshi."
Shiegeru merely grunted and nodded. Miko expected as much.
"Hi!" said Toshi in a cheery voice. "Nice to meet you, sir!"
"Likewise, young man," said the stranger with a weak grin. "I'm sorry I can't tell you my name."
Now it was Miko who smiled. There was a certain....something about the stranger that fascinated her. The more she looked at him, the more intrigued she became. Who is he? Where did he come from? And why does he make my heart beat so quickly, she wondered. "That's alright. Perhaps your memory will return after you've had time to rest."
"That sounds like good advice," said the stranger. He then fixed Miko an inquisitive look. "Were you in medicine?"
Miko blushed. "Why, yes. I was a nurse for five years. How could you have known?"
The stranger shrugged. "Call it your bedside manner."
"I thank you for your compliment." Miko was still blushing.
"And thank you for your help. Your kindness towards a complete stranger like myself is greatly appreciated."
Miko smile wide, and she couldn't stop herself. Remembering she wasn't alone in the room, Miko composed herself. "Let's go, you two. Time for our guest to sleep."
Ushering Toshi and Shieguru out the room, Miko flashed the stranger one last smile before closing the door.
"What a friendly girl. I could learn to like her," whispered the stranger, smiling himself. He closed his eyes and the pain decreased. Still, he was troubled. Try as he might, he couldn't remember his name, or how he got to where he was now. Behind closed eyes, brief flashes of faded memories popped in and out of his mind. Memories of a feared, spite filled woman, battles against youthful, cunning and implacable enemies, crystal prisons floating in darkness, terrible pain, falling into a sun, and, most of all, the unbridled joy of being alive, as if he had somehow been deprived of his very existence.
Ridiculous! If I was dead, how can I be here, the stranger wondered as he grew drowsy. His last memory before sleep overcame him, his most complete one was of a courageous young woman with unusually long blond hair tied in twin ponytails and buns atop her head. Garbed in a flowing white gown with a golden crescent moon symbol on her forehead, she wore a look of grim determination on her lovely face as she battled against a monstrous foe in a cold, desolate wasteland.
That one memory made his face twist into a deadly scowl.
Dr. Paul Thoreau had spent the last six months of his life trying to prove to friends and colleagues that he wasn't crazy. However, it was beginning to look like they were right after all.
Poking around the windblown and frozen landscape of the North Pole, Thoreau, in his fourth full month in this hellishly cold wilderness looked with a desperate fanaticism for proof, any sort of proof to validate his purpose for being there, and the huge amounts of money that had been spent to finance his expedition. Proof that an event of near cataclysmic proportions, similar to that of a nuclear explosion had happened here half a year ago.
Six months ago, Thoreau, a Geology professor at the University of Toronto was busy calibrating new and super-sensitive seismology equipment in his lab for registering earthquakes when the machine went crazy. Readings of unbelievably powerful seismic energy, unlike anything he had ever seen in his twenty years of expertise had exploded upon the monitor of the equipment. An earthquake of unimaginable power had just hit the North Pole. According to the machine's readings which Thoreau had trouble at first believing, the quake had registered on the Richter Scale at level 10.
My God, Thoreau thought at the time, a quake of that magnitude could shatter the entire polar cap, and the resulting southward flow of ice, the amount of same impossible to calculate, not to mention the tidal waves that would preceed it would doom most, if not all of North America! What the hell happened up there?
Having recorded his findings, Thoreau rushed to the office of the Dean of Science, a small, pompous twit of a man named Bouchard to tell him of what he had discovered. Bouchard, all of five feet tall, bald and lemon faced in appearance was highly skeptical of Thoreau's findings at first, but the more he read and saw on the machine itself, the more convinced he became that something terrible had happened up in the Arctic. What that something was, no one knew.
Thoreau immediately proposed launching an expedition to the North Pole to investigate the event. He surmised that only a nuclear explosion could have caused such a massive quake, meaning that someone, either the United States, the former Soviet Union or some other country with technology to create the bomb had test detonated a device in that frozen wasteland, an act that was forbidden by the SALT 5 treaty which banned test detonations of warheads in the Arctic.
Someone had broken the rules, Thoreau told Bouchard emphatically. If evidence could be found of that, the nation responsible would be brought up on charges of violating the treaty and face worldwide sanctions as part of the treaty provisions. Even America wasn't above the laws of SALT 5. Also, from a selfish standpoint, the opportunity to examine the after effects of a nuclear blast upon the permafrost of the Arctic would be the crowning achievement in Thoreau's career.
Even though Thoreau had the Dean's backing, red tape over financing such an expedition took better than a month, and even when funds were finally allotted, it wasn't quite enough for Thoreau's needs. Still, he wasn't about to complain. By the time a research team of twenty scientists, interns and guides were assembled, almost two months had passed since 'the event' as he came to call it. Thoreau was frustrated at the delay, fearing the time lost would result in losing evidence as what caused the massive quake.
When Thoreau and his team reached the North Pole and set up camp, he wasted no time beginning his research. Signs of 'the event' were obvious, even to the untrained eye: vast stretches of ice had been demolished and obliterated, as if a bomb had hit it. However, despite having the most sophisticated Geiger counters available, not on iota of radiation had been detected. According to the nuclear physicist Thoreau had brought along, a blast that resulted a level ten earthquake could only have been caused by no less than a 50 megaton warhead. The unleashing of that much power would leave the area irradiated for months, even years, yet, no traces of radiation had been found.
For close to four months, the research team searched and explored the affected area with a fine tooth comb, looking for anything that would explain the destruction they had found. While the team made other discoveries and learned a great deal about the polar caps, the real reason Thoreau brought his people here hadn't been uncovered. Although the team was funded for a five month stay and was supplied weekly from the U.S. Air Force base in Anchorage in return for having ten American scientists tag along for the ride, everyone was weary of the harsh, unforgiving environment and longed to go home. Everyone except Thoreau, for whom 'the event' had clearly become an obsession.
Grace Picard, a brilliant Botanist who sometimes shared Thoreau's bed was most worried about him. She had known the scientist for five years, both personally and professionally, she knew just how driven he could be, but this exceeded any past behavior she had seen from him. Thoreau had gone days without food or sleep, either outside hunting for whatever it was he sought, or hunched over the laptop in his tent typing notes on his research. To say his actions frightened Grace was an understatement.
So, on the anniversary of the team having reached the Circle four months ago, Thoreau was outside doing a geological survey. Grace was with him. She decided it was high time to end things.
"Paul. It's time to stop. We've been here four months now and haven't found a thing. We've done enough here, let's go home."
Thoreau looked at Grace as if she had grown a second head. "Leave? Now? Impossible, Grace! We haven't found it yet!"
"Found what? From the day you asked me to join your team, you never made it clear exactly what you were searching for!"
"I told you, I'm looking for proof that something monstrous happened up here. A force 10 earthquake doesn't just happen by itself," answered Thoreau angrily. "Something triggered it. We must find out what it was, what caused it! For all we know, it could happen again. I can't go back without evidence!"
Grace sighed. "If you're right and something unnatural had happened up here, be it a nuclear explosion, a meteor strike, or little green men arriving from Mars on a vacation, don't you think we would've found it by now? Some of Canada's brightest minds are here, and we're just fumbling around in the dark. Paul, we've found nothing. There's no longer any reason to stay. The others want to go back. I want to go back."
Thoreau set his jaw. "You can go back if you want. I'm staying."
"And do what? Hunt and peck around this hellhole until you freeze?"
"You don't understand, Grace. I recorded something that, by all rights, shouldn't have occurred. I can't get it out of my mind. I have to see this through to the end. No matter what."
Grace, frustrated, was about to call Thoreau crazy when she suddenly felt a strange feeling, like the very air around her body was being sucked away. Her ears then popped, as if she was on an airplane at a high altitude. She was beginning to have trouble breathing. "Paul? Do you feel that? What is it?"
Thoreau shook his head. "I....don't know. It's like I'm in a vacuum. Something's wrong. We'd better get back to camp.."
Before the scientists could move a muscle, they saw the sky above them suddenly sparkle and shimmer. Then, before their horrified eyes, an object, a huge object suddenly appeared out of nowhere, only a hundred yards above their heads.
"My....God," croaked Thoreau.
The object was roughly circular in shape and gleaming brightly from the midday sun bouncing off it's silvery metallic surface. A spaceship Thoreau and Grace surmised. As the scientists stared up at the craft, silent as as whisper as it hovered over them, they were unable to see any doors, windows or other pertrubances. It was one smooth, shiny surface. But, it didn't stay like that for long. From the center of the object, an aperture on the bottom slid open, and a large metal globe dropped slowly from within the object on a telescoping rod. Once the globe stopped, it began to emit a yellowish glow while a hum, low at first, grew louder and louder. Thoreau was fascinated. Grace was terrified.
"Paul! I don't like this! Let's get out of here!" she cried, pulling in vein on his arm, but he refused to budge.
"Unbelievable! Aliens from another world! This is incredible! I wish there were some way to communicate with them."
No sooner had those words left his lips when a bright and blinding light exploded from the globe. Thoreau and Grace never had time to scream before the light brutally pulverized them.
Seconds later, something materialized on the ground next to the charred bodies of the scientists. It was humanoid, tall and female in appearance with long, wavy, dark red hair and deep, ominous black eyes set into an attractive face that was pale and filled with menace. The woman wore a steel gray outfit that resembled a military uniform with a high collar and epaulettes along with knee high, spike heeled black boots.
Hovering inches off the ground, the woman, unfazed by the bitter cold looked around her, then down at the scientists. With a white gloved hand, she reached into a pocket on her trousers for a small, squarish device which she pointed at the bodies and it emitted a series of short, shrill beeps. The woman's lips, rose petal pink in color twisted into an evil smirk and she nodded from a devilish satisfaction from a reading she saw on the device.
"Excellent. The neutron pulse worked well. Corporeal functions have ceased, yet encephalograph readings are strong and steady. They are in great pain, which is good, meaning they are aware," she murmured, her voice almost sibilant. "The same holds true for all the pitiful humans in their camp. In essence, they didn't know what hit them. Their silent cries of anguish and suffering is sweet music to my ears. They will make fine genetic material for phase two of the project."
Palming the device, the woman, literally walking on air wandered around the area, looking up, down and all about her. As she did, her features softened. She even looked remorseful.
"So this was where my beloved queen met her sad end," she said to herself. "I can still hear her screams in my mind as death claimed her. Even though she had banished me from her realm, I would have done anything to fight by her side. To help her conquer this puny planet and the human vermin who crawl upon it for our glorious kingdom."
For a moment, the woman felt a terrible stab of pain in her heart and, slumping to the hard, icy ground, she buried her face in her hands and cried for a solid five minutes. Once the woman recovered, she took a deep breath to steel herself, using anger, hatred and revenge as motivators to strengthen her.
"Do not worry, my queen. You will be avenged," the woman snarled. Standing up, her face twisted into a fierce and menacing scowl. "The miserable little slut who destroyed you will be dealt with. This, I swear!"
The woman then hit a button on the device in her hand and the aperture in the bottom of the craft opened wide. A ghostly pale beam of light enveloped the bodies of Thoreau and Grace and lifted them up into the waiting craft.
"Time to go to work," said the woman before disappearing.
Next: Nightmares And Fears