One: Flight

A lone figure remained standing at the helm of the damaged ship. "Are they following us?" the redhead asked, turning to her one companion.

The tactical officer nodded. "We have to do something now. If they follow us through the gate, any attempts at escape are useless," she replied. "And we'd be putting the others in danger."

The redhead sighed and glanced at what was left of her ship and it's crew. In the cargo holds below her feet, thousands of her people were hoping for a chance at freedom. Her companions had gone ahead of her, the attack from the one ship coming as a surprise. It had caught them off guard and with just a few shots had damaged their ship severely, killing it's crew. "Close the portal. If we can't stop them from following us, we'll bar their way to the others," she replied.

"Lord Taiki, that will do no good," said the tactical officer, the highest ranking member of the bridge crew still alive. "It will take at least five hundred sorons for the portal to close, and the first of their ships will be here in approximately . . . three hundred sorons."

"Close the portal," commanded Taiki, who had learned space tactics as well as music and court etiquette. "Their other ships are too far behind to reach the portal in time. We should be able to keep one ship too busy to go through for two hundred sorons." Kou Taiki transformed, probably a useless gesture because the Hrrrr ships had strong Reality Stabilizers making them more or less invulnerable to magic. But if this was to be her last battle . . . Sailor StarMaker put a gentle hand on the shoulder of the tactical officer, <so young to die>, she thought . . . "Fire everything we have at it as soon as it's in range. If the gods are willing, some of us may actually survive this."

As the alien vessel approached, the Kinmoku Royal Guard cruiser fired it's full compliment of weapons, timing the launch so that the missiles and the barrage from their batteries would arrive at the same time. "We did it Commander! Their shields are gone, propulsion gone, attitude control gone--dead man's tumble!" The tactical officer smiled triumphantly until several warning lights started blinking on her console. "Incoming!"

StarMaker watched helplessly as several missiles closed on their position from the enemy ship. "Is there any sign of the other ships?"

The tactical officer shook her head. "Alien ships have broken off their attack and left orbit. It's just us and them, Commander."

"Do we have anything left to fire?"

"Negative, Commander. All missiles launched, and all batteries are completely discharged."

StarMaker was manning the helm herself. <No time for evasive action; the portal is almost closed.> She sounded the collision alarm, the fastest way to get everyone to brace themselves for impact, even as she diverted all possible power to the maneuver drive. <Either we get through, or we don't.> Their ship was still faster than any of the Hrrrr ships in normal space and might even outdistance the long range missiles--

KKKKKKRRRRRRAAAANNNNNNGGGGG!

The ship shook, and for a moment the inertial dampers went offline. The missiles had detonated; they had detonation laser warheads. "Grasers," said the tactical officer. "That should be it. They don't have them in full production yet."

Alarms were going off all over the vessel.

"How badly were we hit?" said StarMaker, not taking her eyes off the navigation screen for an instant.

"Shields are green. I don't think they got a solid hit on us, though, Commander," said the tactical officer, sounding as confident as only someone so young can.

"Since we are still talking, neither do I. Perhaps the gods are with us today." Or luck that none of the beams burning through the shields struck anything vital. But after saying what she said, StarMaker immediately regretted it. The Kinmokunai gods are never to be taken for granted . . .

"We sure got them," continued the tactical officer. "They are launching life pods . . . well they were. They just exploded. Must have lost antimatter containment."

"We will be at the portal in thirteen sorons. Pass the word for the crew to--"

"Incoming. Gods, it's another graser missile! They must have launched it just before they blew up."

"Pass the word for the crew to prepare for transition, I don't have communications from here. Twelve sorons to transition."

The tactical officer moved quickly to the communications station. "All hands, prepare for transition. Check your auto injectors, everyone find a partner." The tactical officer then performed the lowly office of a talker, relaying StarMaker's words to the crew.

"Transition in 11 sorons ... ten sorons ... nine ..."

When the count was down to three, the missile disappeared from the displays, and the tactical officer said no more. StarMaker reached out with her power to guide the ship, because the navigation display had died--but not the controls. Did her power keep them working? She would wonder about that later, but for now, StarMaker threw every part of herself into getting the ship and any who were still alive through the portal. In her senshi form, she could feel the chaotic physics of the portal closing in on the ship, trying to scatter it across a million universes. She heard nothing with her ears, for the air was gone from the bridge. But in her mind she heard the Voices, as did everyone who had gone through one of the portals. Or at least the ones who had returned.

And then it was over. They were elsewhere. The bridge displays were all dead--the tactical officer was dead, from either the vacuum or the large crater in her chest left by some flying globule of molten metal. The view was magnificent, for one side of the bridge was open to space now.

But the debris and the tactical officer were all lying on the deck, not floating, so the artificial gravity was still working. The ship was alive, and there had to be survivors . . .

StarMaker bent down over the tactical officer, and realized that her name tag had been burned away. StarMaker hadn't even known her long enough to memorize her name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seiya glanced up at the entrance to the shrine he had come to many times when he had been on this planet before. It seemed so different now, so quiet. A young lady was sweeping some leaves from the steps as he approached. From a distance, looking at the black-haired girl in shrine clothing, he thought for a moment it must be . . . but this was a young lady . . . "Excuse me, miss, I was wondering if you could help me?"

"Of course, sir," said the girl. She had a surprisingly deep voice for someone of her small stature. "Do you want to buy a charm? Perhaps a small statue?"

"No, thank you. I'm looking for an old friend, Hino Rei. She lived here at this temple for a long time. Her grandfather was the priest."

The young lady smiled slightly at the young man and shook her head. "My grandfather has run this shrine for almost a decade now," she replied. "I have no idea where the previous priest went, or anything about his family. Maybe grandfather can help you." The young woman bowed nervously and stumbled a bit as she backed away, tripping over some slight obstruction she hadn't noticed with her eyes glued to Seiya.

A few moments later an older man emerged from the shrine. He was a great contrast to the old hentai Seiya remembered. "My granddaughter tells me you are looking for Hino Rei? I've never met the girl. Woman now, of course. I barely knew Wuraba-san," the priest replied. He paused for a moment of thought and then looked back at Seiya. "There was another priest named Kurohashi here for about a year after Wuraba-san left, but he died suddenly."

"Do you know where Wuraba-san went?" asked Seiya, noticing that the young girl had come back and was trying to make eye contact while pretending to sweep.

The old priest shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't. I wish you luck in finding your friend, though," he replied.

Seiya sighed slightly and smiled at the young girl and her grandfather. "Thank you," he said, bowing before he turned to go. As he made his way down the many stairs to the street, he began thinking of all the places he had looked. At the bottom of the steps he paused, turned around, and took one last look at the place where the senshi of this system had once gathered. <It seems so long ago. Almost a lifetime.> No one seemed to remember any of the girls he and his friends had left behind. All he had learned so far was that the Professor was dead, the Tsukino's had left Japan and there was no one left that remembered when he had been a singer. From what he had learned, Dr. Mizuno was now in Africa, but he had never really gotten to know her.

Seiya had one more place to look, Juuban High School. They would still have records on where transfer information had been sent, the only trick would be getting in to see the files. If his luck held out, he might be able to at least find the name of the city Usagi's family had moved to.

Walking into the school, he could tell much hadn't changed in the decade he had been gone. He soon realized luck wasn't on his side as a secretary told him none of his former teachers were still at the school. She knew some of the female teachers were married, but, having been there only two months, she didn't know their maiden names. "Why are you here? Do you have a child in this school?" she asked after a few moments.

"No. Although my daughter was considering taking the exam for Juuban. I was hoping to talk with some of my old teachers and see if the school was as good as when I went here, but that has been several years ago," Seiya replied.

"Well, I'm sure someone would be willing to talk to you, if you would like to have a seat," the secretary replied. "I forgot to ask your name."

"It's not important. I really can't stay today. My wife is waiting for me," Seiya replied. He smiled at the secretary and left the office. <Why am I leaving so quickly?> he thought after he almost ran down a red-haired woman in the hall. "Odango atama," he muttered, realizing the answer. This was where he had spent more time near Usagi than any other place. Odango atama, dumpling head . . . a pain returned to the heart of his soul.

"Odango Atama?"

It was the woman he had bumped into. <I said it aloud,> thought Seiya.

"It is you, Seiya-san," said the red-haired woman. "What are you doing here? Looking for Usagi?"

Seiya almost started the lie about his daughter, but stopped in time. He could afford some truth. "Yes. And her friends, as well."

She looked at him strangely. "Where have you been?"

"Abroad," said Seiya. "A very remote place. You would never have heard of it." True enough.

"It must be very remote indeed, Seiya-san," the woman said rather sadly. "You don't remember me, do you? I guess you were too busy looking at Usagi while you were here."

<Usagi. She is using her personal name . . .> "Sakurada-sensei?"

"My name is Wakagi now," said the redhead. "I did not live out my life as an old maid after all."

"That is wonderful to hear," said Seiya politely--and yes, with real feeling, because he was beginning to really remember her. But she was not his primary concern. He had to find the sovereign, and if his she happened to be his impossible love, well, so be it. "You sound as if you know something of odango atama, Wakagi-sensei."

"Yes, I know something," said the redhead, the most demanding teacher he remembered at Juuban High, but also the one the students were most willing to confide in.

"What is it?" asked Seiya. Whatever she knew wasn't good news.

"Why don't you come to my home, Seiya-san? We can talk over food there. My husband is off duty today."

"Off-duty?"

"My husband is a Captain of Police, Seiya-san."

<A policeman. She would have to be married to a policeman, wouldn't she?> thought Seiya before replying. But Mrs. Wakagi knew something, and finding the sovereign was more important than any personal misgivings.

"Thank you, Wakagi-san. I would be honored to share a meal with you and your husband."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

StarHealer smiled at her wife and son then glanced at the navigator. "How much longer until we enter Earth's atmosphere?"

"400 sorons," the navigator replied. "No sign that the humans have detected us. We should have no problems getting to Earth."

The Commander nodded as another officer stepped onto the bridge and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Commander, but we have a slight problem," he replied. He smiled slightly and led a young girl with long black hair onto the bridge. "We have a stowaway."

StarHealer chuckled and walked over to the girl. "Let me guess, you started exploring and didn‘t get off the ship before we left," she replied. When the girl nodded, she smiled. "Well, I'm sorry Miyo, but you can't come with us. Don't worry, we won't tell your father."

Miyo smiled and hugged her ‘uncle'. "Thank you Uncle Yaten. But why can't I come with you? Dad said he'd take us to Earth, why can't I just go with you?" she asked.

StarHealer smiled slightly. "Because your father would kill me if he found out," she replied. "Helm, take us back to Seiya's ship. Tell them we forgot something."

The helmsman nodded and entered in the new course. As soon as she did this, however, her console started smoking. The ship lurched to one side as their port engine exploded. "Yaten, what's happening?" Fuminori held her son close to her as the ship rocked.

StarHealer grabbed Miyo and held on to her as she was knocked off her feet. "I don't know," she replied, scrambling back to her feet. "Helm, what's going on?"

"Our port engine exploded. Shields are down. Our cloaks are useless, we will be detected," she replied. She checked a few more readouts and turned to her commander. "We've lost control of the ship. We can't break the planet's orbit."

"Yaten, what is she saying? Are we going to crash?" Fuminori asked.

"Yes," StarHealer replied. She grabbed Miyo and returned to the command chair. "Everyone strap in. We can't--"

Before anyone could react, the ship lurched again, pulling Miyo from her uncle's grasp. The 14-year-old tumbled to the floor as several consoles exploded, sending glass flying everywhere. She watched helplessly as several large pieces became embedded in her aunt's chest. She wondered briefly where her cousin was before she realized he was lying beside her, covered in blood. He had been pulled from his mother‘s grasp, but not before glass from one of the consoles became lodged in the side of his neck. Miyo looked back toward the command chairs as smoke began filling the cabin. "Uncle Yaten!" She screamed as the helm controls buckled and fell on her leg.

StarHealer looked toward the voice, but couldn't see anything through the smoke. "Miyo! Where are you?" She moved toward the voice as another set of explosions rocked the ship. She was knocked forward and fell unconscious a few inches from her niece and son.

Miyo pulled Yo-ichi and herself as close to the fallen senshi as she could. She looked for any sign that the other adults were alive, but the smoke was burning her eyes and her lungs and the pain from her leg was becoming too great. She closed her eyes as she was overwhelmed by the smoke and collapsed onto her cousin, who was either unconscious, or worse, dead.

StarHealer groaned slightly as she opened her eyes. The ship was still falling, but the smoke had cleared enough that she could see the children. She moved closer to them and focused her power on slowing the ship. She glanced over her shoulder, but couldn't see Fuminori or any of the other crew. "Computer, send a distress call to Princess Kakyuu's ship!" she glanced toward communications and saw that the whole wall was now in flames. She muttered a few well chosen curses in English and looked at the forward view-screen, the only thing that seemed to still be working properly. She could see land approaching fast. It took her several moments to recognize Africa. ‘<The desert!? At least it's better than the mountains,>‘ she thought to herself. She pulled the two unconscious children as close as possible and used what little power she had left to slow the ship before it hit the sand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you think he knows anything about the children?"

Wakagi Haruna shook her head and looked at her husband. "I don't think so. If he did, I'm sure he would have said something," she replied. She put the finishing touches on dinner and smiled sadly. "It appears that he has no clue where any of them are."

"How can he not know? After what happened at the White House, it was all over the news, here and in the United States," her husband replied. "I just don't believe that he's never heard of it."

"I don't think he's been in Tokyo this whole time. I doubt he's even been in Japan. There are a lot of places where news like that wouldn't be a big deal. Even if several people di--" Haruna glanced at her husband and smiled sadly. "Just be careful what you say, please?"

Toshio nodded slightly. "Alright. But I am a little curious as to where he and his friends have been for the last twelve years or so," he replied. "Since he is your former student, I'll be nice."

Haruna smiled at her husband and went back into the dining room. "Sorry about that," she replied as she placed the tea tray on the table. She poured a cup and handed it to Seiya. "You were telling us where you've been all these years."

Seiya nodded as he took the cup of tea. He stared at it for a moment before replying. "We had to return home. For personal reasons. As you may or may not know, we originally came from northern Japan."

"That would explain Yaten's gray hair," Toshio replied, coming back into the room. He resumed his place beside Haruna and accepted the tea she offered.

"Yes. Anyway, we stayed there for about two years before we went our separate ways. There never seemed to be enough time to worry about our careers as musicians, even though we did still have a few fans around," Seiya replied. He took a sip of his tea as he tried to remember the cover story they planned, just in case. "We changed our names and became completely different people."

"You must have told Usagi and her friends where you were. They never seemed to worry about you," Haruna replied.

Seiya nodded. "We told them. But we lost contact not long after we left," he replied.

Toshio listened to his story quietly, not really believing him, but giving him the benefit of the doubt, because of Haruna. "And you're just now interested in finding out what happened to them? Why did you wait so long? Why come back now?"

"I have always wondered what became of them. But in trying to build a new life and raise a family, I never had time to come back and find them. And I only tried to find them now because this if the first time I‘ve left the compound," Seiya replied. He saw the strange look on his former teacher's face and smiled. "My wife is a naturalist. We lived in a nature preserve, in Italy, for the last ten years. I'm afraid I have no idea what's been going on in the world."

Toshio nodded slightly. ‘<Well that explains a lot. But still, wouldn‘t he have heard something on his way here?>

Haruna smiled at the word ‘family‘. "Family? You have children?"

"Yes, Saku-- Wakagi-sensei."

Haruna smiled at her former student and shook her head slightly. "I am not your teacher anymore, Seiya-san. You do not have to call me sensei," she replied.

Seiya nodded and smiled at her. "Old habit," he replied. "Yes, I have children. That is why I was at the school today. One reason anyway. My girls will soon be old enough to start high school and I was hoping to encourage them to go to Juuban."

"Well it is still a very good school," Toshio replied. He smiled at his wife. "And it has the best teachers. But you said there was another reason?"

"Usagi," Haruna replied, seeing the look of sadness on Seiya's face.

"Hai. I was hoping to find out where she had transferred to."

Haruna sighed and glanced at her husband. "She lives in America now. A place called Kensington, California. Seiya, much has changed since you were last in Tokyo," she replied. "Usagi married Mamoru Chiba. They have several children together."

The former singer smiled sadly. "Good. I am glad they are happy together," he replied.

"Not exactly," Toshio replied. He then told Seiya about the incident at the White House and about what had happened to Mamoru. He thought about mentioning Mrs. Urawa, but decided not to when he noticed the look Haruna was giving him.

"I could find out her address and give it to you, but I think it might be better if you called first," Haruna replied. "Though I'm sure she would be happy to see you again."

"Thank you, Wakagi-san. I would appreciate it greatly," Seiya replied.

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Does the naturalist idea make any sense? I put the reserve in Italy, since you didn't have any Italian ambassadors at the White House. My thinking, it doesn't directly effect that country, it wouldn't be in the news for very long after.

As for what comes next, I've gotten most of chapter 2 (and maybe 3) written. I'm just not sure it flows smoothly. I need to iron out a few details, though. And I want to get at least the older kids into school before Taiki crashes, which means another chapter before that one (which is mostly done, somehow). Oh, and since you love scandal, how about an illegitimate child for Kakyuu and one of her Royal Guards?

~Sylver (who has no idea how to use a style sheet ^_^;;)