<pwinram@coastnet.com>

Claire de Luna

Enter Star Navigators

Chapter Ten
Aloha Navigators!

        "So, Raye, You'll tell us where and when the next attack comes?"
asked Luna.
        "Yes, I'll call Elwing, and she'll take us to the place where the
bug is." answered Raye.
        "It's important that we don't let the Negaverse get enough
energy." said Reyltain, "We have no idea what they plan to do with this
energy, and until we can figure that out, we have to stall them."
        "Right!" nodded everyone
        "So, shall I send everyone home, or did anyone want to go
someplace else?" Elwing asked.
        Comgan and Catrina looked at each other and blushed.  "We need to
have a little talk." Catrina said.
        "Do you think you could send us to Beacon Hill Park?" Comgan
asked Elwing.
        "Sure."Elwing answered, "Any particular spot?"
        "Do you know the big rock near the cricket courts?"
        "I certainly do.  Sending you there will be no problem." Elwing
smiled
        Comgan stood up and extended his arm to Catrina.  "Shall we go,
then?" he asked, helping her to her feet.
        "Certainly." Catrina agreed.  When they nodded to Elwing that
they were ready, she sent them off.
        "Now, any other requests?" she asked, looking around the room.
        "Just home for us, I guess." said Triese, and Ailine nodded.
        "I'll head home too." said Tair
        Artan looked up from where he was talking with Mina.  "I think
I'll stay for a bit and continue catching up with my cousin.  After all,
I'm still her personal protector."
        "Okay, that's fine, just call me when you want to come back."
Elwing said, "Treyor, how about you?
        "I'd like te cash in me raincheck, actually." he winked.
        "Sounds like a plan!" Elwing said with a smile.  She sent the
others home, then she and Treyor went to Fairview Park for a row.
        Meanwhile, in Beacon Hill park, Comgan and Catrina were deep in
conversation.
        "It's so wonderful to be with you again, and now we have a chance
to start over." said Catrina
        "Yes, no more resentment over our parents' decision, this time we
can start off with the knowledge that we really do care for each other."
Comgan said, "It's hard to believe it took us so long to realize what our
parents had known all along."
        "I was so cold to you." she remembered, downcast, "I feel awful
now, remembering it."
        "No need to apologise again, I was as much to blame as you were."
he told her with a kiss, "Besides, those apologies were made one thousand
years ago."
        "It's strange," Catrina mused, "so much, and yet so little, has
happened since then."
        "It is an odd feeling." Comgan agreed, "But I certainly will
enjoy this second chance at life.  By the grace of Queen Serenity we did
not forget the beauty which was the Moon Kingdom."
        "And you remembered enough, even sleeping as you were, to know my
favourite flower." Catrina reminded him, holding out the rose.
        "I've put a spell on it so it won't die," Comgan told her, "but
I'd like to grow it into a bush for you.  That way, you'll always have
flowers."
        "That's so sweet of you!" she beamed, "You could plant it in my
backyard."
        Something had been on the edge of Comgan's mind, clamouring for
attention, but it had been shoved aside by thoughts of Catrina.  Now, as
he was thinking of going somewhere else, it made itself known, and Comgan
started to laugh.
        "What's so funny?" Catrina asked.
        "I just realized I left my car up at UVIC." he told her, still
chuckling.
        Catrina laughed too.  "I guess I'm just too much of a
distraction!" she ribbed him.
        "Maybe, but a prettier distraction one could never wish for." he
said, and kissed the tip of her nose, "I guess I'll have to call Elwing
and get her to drop us up there.  Oh well." he sighed.  "Elwing, It's
Comgan." he called, "I just realized my car is up at UVIC.  Would you
mind dropping us where you picked up Ailine and Catrina?"
        "I guess you were a little distracted, eh?" Elwing laughed,
"Alright, I'll get you there, no problem."  She translocated them, then
turned to Treyor, who was rowing.  "Comgan was just a little too
distracted." she laughingly told him, "he actually forgot about his car!"
        "Ah, th' poor soul!" Treyor grinned, "What'n awful fate, te be so
besotted he fergets his car!"
        "Oh well, at least they're finally admitting how they feel about
each other." Elwing said.  She looked around her, " I never noticed
before, but it's amazing; when you're in here, you can almost forget
you're in a bustling city."
        "Almost," Treyor agreed, "but not intirely.  Me hometown wouldn't
fill one o' those high- rises, though, so th' view I have's a bit
dif'rent."

        In his laboratory that night, Colg was bored.  "These two keep
coming up with the same dreams with only slight variations." he
complained, "Maybe they need an infusion of different thoughts, after
all, it has been awhile since I went searching.  I wonder what I can
find?"  He activated the crystal, then sat and waited.  In about half an
hour, the crystal began to hum.  "Well finally!" he muttered.  A warphole
opened up and he went through.
        The other side of the warphole opened in Hawaii.  A
nineteen-year-old young man was tossing and muttering in his sleep.  As
Colg stepped through the warphole he began to awaken, but Colg sent him
back to sleep, grabbed him, and took him back to the Negaverse through
the warphole.  He quickly implanted him, then put him in the cell with
Travis and Erina.  As he hadn't woken up yet, Colg left him there.
        "I trust you two will explain the situation to him." he threw
back over his shoulder as he disappeared into the warphole.  Travis and
Erina looked at their new cellmate and decided to let him sleep.

        On Thursday morning, Elwing woke up late.  She'd been up late
that night thinking about the new revelations which had come out through
their meeting the day before, and she was in the middle of a dream when
she was abruptly wakened.
        "Claire, are you getting up?" her mom yelled, "You have to get to
school!"
        She groaned and got up slowly.  "That's the last time I stay up
until three AM on a school night!"
        "I told you to get to sleep, but did you listen?  No!" Caiona
chided her.
        "Oh, hush up, you!" Elwing said.  She looked at the clock, "Well,
I guess there's only one way I'm going to get to class on time now, since
it starts in about ten minutes." she quickly got dressed, grabbed an
english muffin and teleported herself to the college.
        "So, ye're here after all." said Treyor, "I didn't know if ye'd
make it!"
        "I didn't get nearly enough sleep, but I'm here.  We'd better get
into class, I'd hate to be late now!"

        Colg called Drokvert into his laboratory.
        "What is it, Commander?" Drokvert asked.
        "I've found a good place for deploying drones; Waikiki beach, in
Hawaii.  People there certainly seem to have energy to burn!"
        "Well, I was going to release a drone in Manitoba, but Hawaii
sounds better." Drokvert left to find the perfect drone to attack Waikiki
beach.  He walked down the hallway looking at labels, finally he stopped
at one particular drawer with a grin.  "Of course!" he exclaimed, "That
would be perfect!"  Inside the drawer was an aquarium filled with
sea-lice.  He carefully fished one out, then made a warphole to the beach
and dropped it in the water.  It was early in the day, but there were
already lots of people lounging on the beach.  The sea louse attached
itself to the ankle of a wader and began draining energy.

        At that moment, in Tokyo, Raye sat bolt upright in bed.  "There's
a drone in Hawaii!" she exclaimed, then covered her mouth, worried she
might have woken Chad or Grandpa.  "Elwing,"she called, "they've started
early.  The drone's in Hawaii."
        "Well, wake everyone up over there, and I'll send them.  I can't
go, and neither can Treyor, Triese, or Tair, but the others are all
free."
        Raye got out her communicator and pressed the alert button.  Over
at Serena's, Luna heard the alarm and woke up.  She nudged at Serena, but
she was sleeping soundly, so Luna picked up the still-beeping
communicator and held it next to Serena's ear.
        "Alright already!" Serena complained, "I'm up!"  She pressed the
receive button, "It's too early in the morning, Raye!
        "Too bad, 'cause there's a Negaverse drone that's got to be
stopped."
        "Oh all right, since I'm up now anyway.  Where is it that we're
going at this ridiculously early hour?"
        "Hawaii." said Raye resignedly.
        "Hawaii!" Serena squealed, "why didn't you say so right away?"
        "Because I knew you'd break my eardrums, Meatball-head!"  Raye
taunted.
        "Oh please!" Amy broke in, "you two, it's too early in the
morning for that.  Can you at least try to be civil, for all our sakes!"
        "But...!" they said in concert.
        "Is everyone ready?" Elwing asked.
        "Yes." they said.
        "Off you go, then."  Elwing translocated them to Waikiki beach.
"Ailine, there's an attack in process in Hawaii, and I can't be there
right now, you'll have to lead Catrina, Artan, and Comgan."she told her
second-in-command.
        "That's fine." Ailine affirmed, "Where in Hawaii are we going?"
        "Whatever it is, it's attacking sunbathers on Waikiki beach."
        Don't worry, we'll handle it, no problem." Ailine assured her.
        Elwing notified the others who were going along, then sent them
as well.

        In the Negaverse, Travis and Erina's new cellmate was just waking
up.  "Where am I?" he looked around, confused.
        "You're in our cell." Travis told him, "Beyond that, we don't
know any more than you.  Oh, by the way, I'm Travis, and this is Erina."
        "Pleased to meet you, I'm Dave." he said, "If you don't know
where we are, do you at least know why we're here?"
        "Apparently it has something to do with our dreams.  There's this
guy who comes in and grills us on what we've been dreaming.  Somehow he
always knows.  Now that you're awake, he'll probably be showing up soon."

        Once everyone was gathered on the beach, Ailine called the
Navigators together.  "Okay guys, at present we're really only a
distraction, since we haven't got our offensive attacks yet, so I don't
want any crazy heroics, got it?"  They all nodded.  "Alright then, lets
transform.  Vega Navigator Power!"
        "Alphecca Navigator Power!",  "Alcor Navigator Power!", "Mizar
Navigator Power!"
        "Scouts, Transform!" Luna shouted as the sea louse, now the size
of a pony, crawled out of the water, having exhausted its range of
victims.
        "Moon Crystal Power!", "Mercury Star Power!", "Mars Star Power!",
"Jupiter Star Power!", "Venus Star Power!"
        The sea louse scuttled toward them and Sailor Jupiter reacted
immediately, "Jupiter Thunderclap..."
        "No, Sailor Jupiter!" cried Sailor Mercury, "If you miss and hit
the water, people could be electrocuted!"
        Sailor Mizar created a small earthquake directly in front of the
sea louse which caused the beach to sink under its feet, and then Sailor
Alcor animated the seaweed to tie it up.  "That won't hold it for long,
Sailor Moon," yelled Sailor Mizar, "You need to act now!"
        "Moon Sceptre..." she began, but the sea louse broke its bonds
and grabbed Sailor Mars.  As it drained energy from her, it continued to
grow larger.  No-one could use their attacks for fear of hitting Sailor
Mars, but then Sailor Vega came up with a plan.
        "Sailor Alphecca, if you can create a small blizzard to direct
Sailor Mercury's Ice Storm, we might be able to freeze it hind end
first."
        "Alright, we'll try that then." Sailor Alphecca said with a nod
to Sailor Mercury, "you ready cousin?"
        "Most certainly!" Sailor Mercury affirmed, "Mercury Ice Storm
Blast!"
        Sailor Alphecca's finely controlled mini-blizzard swept Sailor
Mercury's attack around to the back of the sea louse.  As it began to
freeze back first, it dropped Sailor Mars, but all their efforts were too
late; it disappeared before they could destroy it, its energy quota full.
        "Did we miss all the fun?" asked Sailor Rigel, who had just
arrived with Sailor Altair.
        "The drone is gone, but you can still help out." Sailor Vega told
her, "Sailor Mars had her energy drained during the attack."
        "Well, strength is my specialty." Sailor Rigel said, "but I need
a source.  Would all of you be willing to lend Sailor Mars a little of
your strength?"
        "Of course!" affirmed Sailor Jupiter, followed by a chorus of
similar answers from the rest.
        "Alright then, I need you to all join hands.  Sailor Venus, you
put your free hand on my shoulder, and Sailor Alcor, you do the same.  We
need to get this done quickly, before a crowd starts to gather."  When
everyone was in place, Sailor Rigel carefully drained off just a little
strength from each of them and refocused it into Sailor Mars.

        "So, I suppose there's no need for introductions, since you
already know what I'm here for." announced Colg as he stepped out of the
warphole, "Now tell me what you were dreaming, and don't leave anything
out."
        Having already been told by his cellmates that Colg's threats
were not idle, Dave thought carefully.  "I seem to remember that I was
some kind of Apprentice Scribe assigned to recording important events;
births, deaths, marriages and soforth.  For some reason I was very happy
about some recent news, but I don't know what it was.  I was about to
write it down when the dream just stopped, and I started to wake up."
        'That's the whole dream?" asked Colg.
        "As far as I remember, yes." affirmed Dave.
        "Fine then." said Colg coldly, and warped out of there.
        "So, you were an Apprentice Scribe." said Travis, "Apparently I
was a Page, and Erina was a Lady's Maid."
        "What do you mean?" asked Dave, confused, "I thought it was just
a dream."
        "Well, I don't fully understand, but all the dreams he asks us
about involve something called the 'Moon Kingdom'.  I'm always a Page."
        "That's weird.  It's almost like a past life regression or
something." Dave pondered.
        'Past life regression?" Travis laughed, "There's no such
thing...Is there?"
        "It's a bit far out, I admit, but it would make a weird kind of
sense.' Dave said.
        "After all," Erina put forward, 'We're in a place where our
captor appears and disappears at will.  After that, anything else becomes
more believable."
        "I suppose."

        "Oh man, thanks everyone!" said Sailor Mars, holding her head, "I
don't know how that thing managed to grab me, but boy did it make me
tired!"
        Reyltain walked over from where he had been observing.  "You
started well, but everything seemed to fall apart there after it
recovered.  You need to be faster, you can't let them get back.  We don't
know yet what the enemies plan to do with the energy they're collecting,
or how much they need, so we have to delay them by not allowing their
drones to return."
        "I s'pose that means we have te practice t'day after all." said
Treyor, who had just appeared.
        "Yes." Reyltain confirmed, "I think also that we should include
the Sailor Scouts."
        "That sounds like a very good idea." agreed Caiona, "I think I'll
talk to Elwing about having practice on Gambier.
        "You wanted to talk to me about something?" asked Elwing as she
finally teleported in, "Sorry I'm late, I had to talk to the math
instructor."
        "Yes, well, I wanted to ask you minded having our weekly practice
at Gambier instead of Beacon Hill park, since there are so many of us
now.  If Tair ran into us by accident when there were only four, I worry
that we could attract more...official...attention.  The last thing we
need is to try to explain all this to the police!  If they didn't arrest
us all for disturbing the peace we'd be very lucky."
        "Oh yeah, I can just see it!" Elwing laughed, "Sure, I'll
organize to get us all there for practice, but first I want to spend some
time on the beach."  Caiona sighed.  "And since I'm the one in charge of
transportation, that means you can't make any of us leave until we want
to."
        "Go Elwing!" Sailor Moon laughed.
        Caiona and Luna sighed in unison.  "Sometimes I wonder if they do
it just to bug us." Luna said
        "I don't know, but I'm sure they enjoy how much it bothers us
just the same."
        "Come on you guys, lets find somewhere to change and enjoy our
time in Hawaii!" called Sailor Venus, who was already halfway to one of
the public washrooms.
        All eight of the girl Sailors squished in and locked the door,
and Elwing stood guard outside.  Suddenly she heard a cry of
consternation from inside.  "What is it?" she asked her cousin.
        "I forgot I'm still in my pajamas!" Serena wined mentally, "so
are Mina and Amy!"
        Elwing leaned against the door and laughed until tears stood in
her eyes.  "It's a good thing you didn't change behind a tree then!" she
said, "I'll get all of your bathing suits, how's that?"
        "Please do!" said Amy, "I'm not opening that door until I'm
properly dressed!"

FIN
