If you wish to comment on my story, either positively or negatively, please contact me at treetop@voicenet.com. Sailor Moon and all related characters are the property of Takeuchi Naoko, Toei Animation and DIC. Sailor Sirius is the property of Sharon Williams. Any references to Vulcan are the province of Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Studios. So, please, don't sue me because I haven't any money. I do this strictly for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement.
The Adventures of Talia and Tanya:
Volley Into Danger
by Jeffrey C. Branch
Chapter Five
Rating: PG
Tanya gulped loudly, openly afraid at seeing the three black garbed men pointing automatic rifles at her and Talia. The Vulcan girl calmly assessed the situation and knew immediately that there was no way to either escape, or transform into their Scout personas. The two other men who were in the lead quickly returned and their eyes narrowed at seeing the girls.
"Who are you?" a nervous Tanya asked.
"Don't worry about that!" one of the men snapped in a heavy French accent. "Just keep those hands high!"
As the girls complied, Talia noted the man's accent. She also saw that all the gunmen were tall, muscular and well built, a far cry from the shorter, more slender stature of Japanese men.
Europeans, Talia concluded. Interesting.
"What are you going to do with us?" Tanya wanted to know. She visibly shook and her voice was a high pitched squeal of fright.
"Plenty if you don't stop with the questions!" the man growled. He then removed a walkie-talkie from his breast pocket and hit a key. "Unit Four to Unit One. Come in, please."
"Go ahead, Unit Four," came a French accented voice over the speaker. "What is your status?"
"We've run into stragglers. A couple of girls, one Caucasian, the other Black. What do you want me to do with them?"
There was silence over the speaker, as if God Himself were deciding the girls' fate. Tanya feared the worst, that she and Talia would be shot to death. Terrified, it was all she could do to keep from bursting into tears, or wetting herself. Talia on the other hand, remained calm. But on the inside, she was furious at being unable to protect Tanya, and saddened for having put her best friend into such danger.
"No shooting. Gunfire would be heard at the camp," came back the voice over the radio's speaker. "Tie them, gag them, then dump them. Make damn sure they don't get loose. I don't want your team burdened with prisoners who'll interfere with you at the earliest opportunity."
"Roger that. Unit Four out." Hearing that, Tanya breathed a sigh of relief. After putting his radio away, the man turned to two of his accomplicies. "Claude! Georges! You heard the boss! Truss them up! Hurry! We don't want to fall behind schedule!"
Nodding, the two men removed plastic riot cuffs from pants pockets and quickly bound the girls' hands tightly behind their backs, followed by their ankles. After placing strips of tape over their mouths, the two hoods chopped the girls hard on the back of their necks, knocking them out. The goons then shoved the unconscious girls into some bushes.
"We should've killed them," Claude grumbled.
"Yeah! Corpses don't cause trouble!" said another.
"I agree. But the boss is calling the shots," said the leader. "It doesn't matter, really. What can two silly girls do to us? C'mon."
Chris, another early riser had just finished stretching and started off on his daily pre-breakfast run when he literally ran into Aoki, rounding the corner of the main lodge. The teen and the undercover cop chuckled as they picked themselves up off the ground.
"Sorry about that, Mr. Konno," said Chris. "Didn't think I'd run into anyone at this hour. Are you an early riser too?"
"Not really, Chris. All this fresh air and quiet made me restless," Aoki replied with a sheepish grin. "The curse of being a city boy I guess. What brings you out here so early in the morning?"
"Part of my daily routine. I run five miles every morning before breakfast," Chris replied proudly. "Gotta stay in shape if I'm gonna follow my dream of being an Olympic volleball player."
"I admire your devotion. Mind if I join you?"
"The more the merrier. It'd be great to have someone along to pace me." Chris then smirked playfully. "But I gotta warn you, I won't cut you any slack because you're older than me."
Aoki chuckled. Despite his orders from Inspector Sakurada to keep an eye on the Van Buren twins for any criminal activity, he was beginning to like Chris. "Don't worry about me, kid. I can hold my own. Let's go."
The two men pushed off towards the north along a well worn jogging trail. Aoki noted right away that Chris ran with a smooth, fluid gate and was barely breathing, but Aoki's rigid police fitness training allowed him to keep pace with his younger partner. For Aoki, used to jogging in the city, this made for a refreshing change of pace. After covering over a mile, the pair rounded a bend with Aoki slightly in the lead, he then saw something that made his eyes widen from shock and surprise. Thinking fast, he grabbed Chris by the arm and dove behind a thick tree, confusing the teenager.
"Hey! What gives?" an angry Chris demanded.
Aoki responded by clamping a hand over Chris' mouth. He motioned with his head to the left and Chris gasped softly at seeing five black clad men, sporting balaclavas awalking up to the bushes. The lead man, hefting a futuristic looking rifle instead of submachine guns like his cohorts held up a fist and the others came to a stop.
"What is it, Henri?" one of the men asked.
"Thought I saw something run by here," Henri replied in a growl.
"Relax. It was probably some deer," said a third man. While his face was hidden, his eyes revealed him to be Oriental. "This resort borders a wildlife preserve. The woods are full of animals. Let's get going. We don't want to fall behind schedule."
Henri, looking around him was unsure at first, then he nodded. "All right, men. Move out."
Once the men left, Aoki and Chris waited a good five minutes before they cautiously came out of hiding. Chris was visably shaking from what he had seen while Aoki scowled from trepidation.
"Jesus! Did you see the guns those guys were carrying? Who the hell were they?" a startled Chris asked in a shaky whisper.
"Definitely not hunters I'd say," Aoki replied. "But they were loaded for bear. Damn! I wish I'd brought my cell phone with me! Headquarters needs to know about this!"
Chris was puzzled. "Headquarters? What are you talking about?"
Aoki sighed, realizing he had no choice but to reveal the truth. "I'm not a camp volunteer, Chris. I'm a cop. Tokyo P.D. I'm here undercover on an investigation."
"You? A cop? No way! You look so young!"
"Give me a break! I've only been on the force two years!"
"Okay. So, what are you investigating?"
"You and Cynthia. Two days ago in Tokyo, some Yakuza thugs were busted in a jewelry store heist. One of them used a stolen prototype grenade launcher made by your father's munitions company," Aoki explained fretfully. "A weapon just like one of those goons who just left here had. I was ordered to put you and Cynthia under surveillance to find out what your involvement in the theft might be."
Hearing that, Chris became angry. "What? You were spying on Cindy and me? You bastard!"
"I'm sorry, Chris, I was just doing my job," said Aoki, genuinely feeling bad for having deceived Chris. "Look, if it'll make you happy, you can punch my lights out later, but right now, we've got lots bigger fish to fry. Those thugs are headed for the cabins."
"We've got to stop them!" said Chris, climbing to his feet. He was worried sick about Cynthia. And Tanya.
"No!" Aoki hissed, pulling the teen back. "For God's sake, think! We're unarmed and outnumbered! We'll just get ourselves killed!"
Chris glared at the young patrolman. "Don't you have a gun?"
"Yeah, hidden in my backpack. In my room. I didn't figure on needing it while out jogging. We've gotta get to a phone and call for help. Unless you're nursing a death wish, that's the best we can do."
"Are you serious? My sister's back there!"
"So are over a hundred innocent people! Rushing blind into this situation won't help her! Or them!"
Chris scowled from intense frustration. He didn't like being helpless. But at the same time, he couldn't disagree with what Aoki had said. "All right! I get the point! What do we do?"
Aoki was silent for a minute as he came up with an idea. "Let's head for the cabins furthest from the main lodge. Keep as much distance between us and those goons as possible. We'll call for help from there. C'mon!"
Little did Aoki know, but his plan to call for help had already failed.
While four of the five man teams surrounded the complex, the fifth team, as per Rainer's orders, was busy severing the phone lines, effectively cutting off the resort from the outside world. They then activated an electronic scrambler that filled the rear of their SUV to prevent anyone from using cell phones by filling the air with impenetrable static.
Once the assault teams were in position, completely surrounding the complex, the two dozen men loudly closed the trap, firing their weapons into the air to wake startled campers and volunteers. When the people rushed outside to see what was going on, they were met by the gunmen who ringed the entire camp, forcing everyone, in various stages of dress and undress, most in pajamas or sleepwear towards the main lodge. Ten of the twenty men gaurded the hostages while the rest ringed the perimeter of the resort, including the main road and the lake. Rainer's siege of the camp ended up taking all of fifteen minutes.
After everyone had been herded inside the lodge, Rainer, Terada, Desjardins and LeClair sauntered inside. All four men were pleased with how quickly and smoothly the operation had gone.
"How dare you do this!" a furious Mrs. Slaughter demanded as she marched up to a smirking Rainer. "What's the meaning of this?"
"The meaning is quite clear, madam. My men and I have taken your camp hostage," said Rainer.
"Hostage? But why?" Masao Watanabe wanted to know.
"The oldest of reasons, young man. Financial gain," Terada replied casually. "To be specific, ransom. Among your fellow campers are two children of an extremely wealthy man whom we want a substantial amount of money from. Christopher and Cynthia Van Buren."
Some twenty feet away from where Terada stood, Cynthia, in her nightgown gasped, her eyes wide as saucers from what she heard. Standing next to her, Maddie scowled.
"Sounds like you've got admirers," she whispered to the rich girl.
"Shut up, you little bitch!" Cynthia hissed. "I've got to get out of here!"
"Don't be stupid! These goons are armed! And dangerous! You'll be killed if you try to escape!" At the same time, Maddie wondered what happened to Talia and Tanya who were gone when she and Cynthia were awakened by gunfire. She was worried about her friends.
"I don't care! Why don't you help me escape!"
Despite the gravity of the situation, Maddie chuckled sarcastically. "Are you nuts? You called me a bitch, now you want my help? What about all these innocent people?"
"Screw them! They don't matter! I only care about me!" Cynthia then leaned close to Maddie. "I'll pay you! Cars! Money! Clothes! Jewelry! Anything! Just get me out of here!"
Maddie mulled over Cynthia's offer for several moments, then shook her head. "No sale. Stabbing people in the back to save my own neck ain't cool. You're on your own." Maddie then walked away as Rainer, holding a piece of paper in his hand along with Terada and two of his henchmen strolled through the crowd, looking for Cynthia. The blond rich girl, terrified, stood rooted to the spot, unable to move or even think.
The French terrorist leader stopped in front of Cynthia and glanced down at the paper in his hand. On it was a color print-out of Cynthia which he downloaded from the Internet yesterday before leaving Tokyo. Rainer then looked at Cynthia and grinned. The smile sent shivers down Cynthia's spine. "Bonjour, Mademoiselle Van Buren. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Cynthia, her mind a blank from terror did the only thing she could think of. She screamed for her life.
Deep at the bottom of the lake, the resident was sleeping after having devoured two of the tiny pink animals when it's slumber was disturbed by the sharp sounds of noise from above.
Almost instantly, it became angry from the sudden cessation of its rest. However, the noise could mean that the pink animals were on the move. The mere thought of that registering in its walnut sized brain brought about its fierce hunger.
Stirring, the resident slowly swam out of its lair. As it made its way upward, the resident scooped up fish for the strength it would need for the trip to the surface where the pink animals waited to serve its sole purpose for the resident: as food.
Because of her alien physiology, Talia was first to awaken, and almost immediately, she felt a throbbing pain at the back of her neck from having been knocked out. That had been the very first time the Vulcan girl was incapacitated in such a manner, and she didn't like it one bit. At that moment, she heard a long burst of gunfire and wondered what had happened.
A soft groan to her left made Talia turn and she saw Tanya stirring awake. The look in her eyes was a mixture of fear and confusion. Talia tested her bonds while Tanya looked on. The Vulcan girl strained against the plastic riot cuffs binding her wrists but stopped when they cut into her flesh. Despite possessing the strength of a full grown man, Talia knew she would not be able to break the cuffs. That frustrated her, but not for long. She realized she would need Sailor Vulcan's power to free herself.
Rolling over on her stomach, Talia concentrated on summoning her transformation wand. Watching what the Vulcan girl was doing, Tanya understood in an instant what Talia was up to, so she did likewise. However, before they got far, they heard footsteps from nearby. Tanya panicked and moaned pitifully from stark terror, fearing the gunmen had returned to kill her and Talia. An instant later, Aoki and Chris came across the girls. Their eyes bulged at seeing them bound and gagged.
"Good Lord!" Chris cried. After he and Aoki sat the girls up, the young police officer used a small penknife on his keychain to free them. Tanya, overjoyed at seeing a friendly face, threw her arms around Chris' neck and hugged him tight.
"Oh, Chris! Thank God it's you!" Tanya sobbed.
"Likewise. I was so worried about you, baby!" said Chris, returning Tanya's hug, equally elated that she was all right. After breaking the embrace, Chris stared in confusion at the girls. "What happened to you guys?"
"Tanya and I were out walking when we were surprised by gun toting thugs," Talia replied while rubbing her raw wrists.
"How many?" Aoki asked.
"Five total."
"Where were you at the time?"
"What does that matter?" a now annoyed Tanya wanted know.
"Plenty!" Aoki snapped back. "Where were you?"
"To the south, near the lake. Does that hold some sort of significance?" Talia asked.
Aoki and Chris looked at each other. Chris, openly worried gulped. "I'm afraid it does. Ten minutes ago, Chris and I saw five goons on the other side of the camp, a good mile away from here," said a frowning Aoki. "There's no way in hell they could've been the same group you ran into. And we just heard gunfire coming from the main lodge. I think we've got a problem, people. A huge problem."
Talia nodded. After hearing what Aoki had said, she quickly formulated a partial theory as to what was happening, and the implication disturbed her greatly. "I agree with your assessment. Where were you and Chris headed when you came across us?"
"Officer Konno and I were headed for the cabins on the far end of the lake to call for help," said Chris, putting a heavy, and blatantly sarcastic emphasis on Aoki's title.
The girls both looked puzzled. "Officer Konno?" Talia wondered aloud.
"I'm a cop," Aoki replied. He scowled at now being saddled with three civilians, two of them girls.
"No kidding! You look so young!" an awestruck Tanya pointed out.
Aoki, annoyed, rolled his eyes. "So I've been told. Right now, we've got to get to one of the outlying cabins and warn someone, anyone about what's happening here! You girls come with us!"
Talia shook her head. She had other ideas in mind. "That will not be not necessary, Officer. It would be best if you left us behind."
"Yeah! We wouldn't want to slow you guys down," Tanya added, thinking along the same lines as her partner: separating from Chris and Aoki so they can transform and confront the gunmen as the Sailor Scouts. "We'll just hide somewhere until help arrives."
"Forget that! I'm not leaving you out here alone!" growled Chris. He stared right at Tanya when he said those words. The pretty black girl was startled by the steel she heard in Chris' voice.
"Chris is right. God only knows if there's more of those lunatics roaming around," Aoki added with a nod. "At the risk of sounding like a chauvinistic pig, you girls will be safer with us! C'mon!"
Talia and Tanya looked at each other, then reluctantly followed Aoki and Chris. They both realized they would have to wait for an opportunity to get away from the men in order to confront the gunmen in their superhuman personas. They fervently hoped the situation wouldn't spiral out of control before they could.
Rainer winced after hearing Cynthia scream from terror. He considered slapping the hysterical rich girl, but relented. He disliked striking women.
"Hush, cherie. Screaming will do you no good," he said to Cynthia. "We're not going to hurt you."
"Then what do you want with me?" a teary eyed Cynthia demanded. She tried to back away but bumped into one Rainer's henchmen who stood right behind her.
The French terrorist smirked. "As I mentioned earlier, money, of course. With you and your brother in my hands, your father will pay a king's ransom for your safe release."
Hearing that, Mrs. Slaughter was stunned. "What? You mean to tell me you're threatening everyone here just for a ransom on two people?"
"To be perfectly honest with you, madam, this was not our original intent," said Terada. "If it were possible, we would've snatched the twins while they were staying in Tokyo, but that wasn't possible. So, we came up with this rather elaborate plan."
"Speaking of which, we have a problem," said Desjardins, walking up to Rainer. "Cynthia's brother. He's not here."
"Are you sure?" Rainer asked.
Philipe nodded. "Positive. I've checked."
Scowling, Rainer turned to Cynthia. "Well, Ms. Van Buren? Do you have any idea where Chris might be?"
Cynthia gulped. She knew that Chris was probably out running as he did every morning. If he was still free, then there was a chance for a rescue. She would have to stall her captors for as long as she could and hope he could find a way to call for help. Her mind worked quickly as she came up with an idea. An idea that would kill two birds with one stone as she thought about someone else. Someone she hated. "No. I'm Chris' sister, not his wife. But you may wanna look for Tanya Cambridge. She's sure to know where he is."
"Who's that?"
"Chris' girlfriend. She's short, black and slighty pretty with waist long dark hair," Cynthia explained. "Those two are practically joined at the hip. Tanya bunks with me, but was missing when you woke everyone up. Find her, and you'll find Chris."
Rainer's scowl deepened as he recalled a report from one of his field teams. Unclipping a radio from his belt, he keyed the transmit button. "Rainer to unir four leader! Come in!"
"Unit four leader here. Go ahead."
"Those two girls you ran into on the way here, didn't you tell me that one of them was black?"
"Oui. Is there a problem?"
"Potentially. You and your team break off from perimeter duty and retrieve her! Fast!"
"On my way." After the transmission ended, Rainer turned to Cynthia. "Thank you for your cooperation."
"My pleasure," a stone faced Cynthia replied.
Maddie, having overheard the conversation walked up to the rich girl, her eyes shooting sparks. "Cynthia! You bitch! You just put Ti in huge trouble!"
Now it was Cynthia who grinned. It made her look malevolent. "Yeah. Ain't it cool?"
Aoki, Chris, Talia and Tanya stealthily made their way through the woods, staying off the footpaths so they won't run into any armed goons as they approached the cabins furthest from the main lodge.
Aoki, clearly unprepared for a situation such as this was trying to form a plan of attack, if such a thing was possible. Chris was worried about Cynthia whom he knew would crack if faced with the goons he and the others had seen. Meanwhile, the girls were looking for any possible avenue to get away from their well meaning protectors so they could go on the attack as the Scouts. Tanya was particularly frustrated over the situation.
Blast! If it weren't for Aoki and Chris, Tal and I could've cleaned house by now, she thought, her pretty face locked in a scowl. I swear, it's times like these when having secret identities is a royal pain in the ass!
Aoki, in the lead, held up his right fist as a signal to the others to stop, then he made a downward motion with that same hand and everyone ducked down in the brush as the sound of footsteps could be heard. Moments later, four of the gunmen trotted up the footpath and stopped mere feet away from where the fugitives were hiding.
"How much further?" One of the men asked.
"Just over a quarter mile. Near the lake. Rainer wants that black girl because she knows where the Van Buren boy is!" said a second man. "Remember, the boy is not to be harmed! C'mon! Let's go!" And the four men trotted off.
Once the men had left, the foursome peeked up to gaze at the retreating foursome. Tanya's face was a study in confusion.
"What the heck is going on here?" she wondered.
"It would appear we are dealing with terrorists," Talia replied simply. "Well armed and well organized criminals."
"Terrorists? What do they want?" Aoki wondered.
"I have a theory, but without sufficient information, it would be illogical to formulate any sort of hypothesis on their motives."
"Oh, for Pete's sake! Will you forget your bloody logic for a minute!" an angry Tanya snapped. "Look, just humor us and tell us what you know! It might give us an idea as to what these goons are after!"
Talia shrugged. "Very well. These gunmen are mostly European, French, judging from their accents. Unlike their Middle Eastern counterparts who are more fanatical, often from intense religious fervor, Europeans are more inclined to commit terrorist acts for one of two reasons: the release of compatriots from foreign jails in exchange for hostages, or monetary gain, in other words, ransom. Since you sought my opinion, I am inclined to suspect the latter."
"Ransom? But who?" Chris wanted to know.
Talia stared hard at him. "You heard what one of those men said. And I quote: 'Remember, the boy is not to be harmed'. I believe you and Cynthia are the targets in a plot to extort money from your father."
Chris' insides turned cold and his eyes widened from a horror he secretly dreaded for years. "Oh, no. For sure they've already got Cindy. And now they're after me."
"And they think I might lead those creeps to you!" Tanya added. "But how did I get mixed up in this?"
"Let's table the conversation for now and get to a phone," Aoki suggested. The more he heard from Talia, the less he liked. Worse, he couldn't find a flaw in anything she had said. And that frightened him. "We have to warn someone on the outside about what's going on here."
Before they could move, the foursome heard the sounds of gunfire from behind them, the direction the gunmen headed in, followed moments later by screams of terror and a deep, unearthly roar.
"What in blazes was that?" a nervous Chris wondered.
"It came from behind us," said Talia. "Perhaps we should investigate. It could be important."
"More important than what's going on at the lodge?" asked a skeptical Aoki. He too was apprehensive from what he had heard.
Tanya shrugged. "You never know."
At that moment, the foursome felt the ground shake, accompanied by the sounds of slow, ponderous footsteps and trees snapping and cracking from the direction the gunmen ran off in. Puzzled, no one moved as the shaking intensified and the footsteps grew louder. They then heard a rumbling, animal like growl which sent shivers down the spines of everyone save for Talia who was intensely curious as to what was making the sounds.
Seconds later, Talia had her answer as trees parted and a nightmare presented itself to her and the others. A nightmare that stood over thirty feet tall, walked on all fours, was mottled green in color with a rough, scaly hide peppered red in places from having been shot at and was nearly the length of a football field with its long tail that thrashed behind it. A nightmare that had a long, red stained snout filled with long, razor sharp teeth. A nightmare whose black, beady eyes, filled with a ravenous hunger focused on the foursome.
TO BE CONTINUED