                GRM Reaper Productions, Uninc.
                     in association with
                  British-AnimeTech Limited
                           presents

                  A PsychoMental Production
                      A Virtual Non-Film

    Benjamin D. Hutchins                Brian D. Bikowicz
                         Rob Mandeville

                       Out In The Cold
              Undocumented Features Volume Three

                           THE CAST
     Benjamin D. Hutchins             Gryphon/Ben
     Brian D. Bikowicz                MegaZone
     Rob Mandeville                   ReRob
     Kei Morgan                       Kei
     Yuri Daniels                     Yuri
     Deedlit Satori                   Deedlit
     John Todd                        Macquivr/q
     Adam Johnson                     Pfloyd/Adam
     Andrew Petrarca                  Android
     Kevin Tefft                      Kevin
     Largo                            Largo
     Jennifer Steen                   Jenna
     John Trussell                    John/Truss
     David Ritchie                    Daver
     Vaughn Gross                     Vaughn/Paladin/Reality
     Paul Heaton                      Paul
     Erik Swimm                       Erik/easwimm/Saurian
     Fritz Koopman                    Fritz
     Mark Luchini                     Mark/Haywire
     Patricia Currier                 Tricia/Trish
     Mike Callaghan                   Mike/Archon
     Chris Sprague                    Chris/Phantom
     Derek Bacon                      Lightnin
     Rich Parker                      Rich
     Gary Mayer                       Gary
     Cheryl Zukowsky                  Cheryl/Cheryl.Z
     Mike Wheeler                     Wheels/MWheeler
     Charles Schletzbaum              Schletz
     Edison Bell                      Edison
     Teleute                          Teleute/Death
     Lord Fahrvergnugen               Wolfgang
     Decker                           Decker
     Shasti                           Shasti/Vixen
     Enhanced Video Emulation         Eve
     The Wedge Rats                   The Wedge Defense Force

     Special Visual Effects by Your Brain On Drugs, Inc.

 Destruction by Joe Martin Destruction Systems International

 Sub-Zero Neo-TechTronic Things by British-AnimeTech, Limited
            In Cooperation With Virtual Labs, Inc.
                    with the exception of
The Mann Systems Series 1001E BioSculptTM Tank by Larry Mann

                Detians Created by Joe Martin.

           Background Music Performed by Jim Tyrell

   From an Original Story by Benjamin D. Hutchins, Brian D.
                 Bikowicz, and Rob Mandeville

           Kei and Yuri Created by Haruka Takachiho

   Additional Editing by Vaughn Gross, Tricia, and Cheryl.Z

           Counselors for Zoner, Jenna and Cheryl.Z

            Counselors for Gryphon, Vaughn and Kei

            EVE Shamelessly Stolen from MegaZone23

                Catering by the Kenmore Diner

     Inspiration by D-Term, Nirvana, Weird Al, and Tesla

    Extra Special Letter Bomb for the Creators of the NFS
        "No Files Served"    "Nightmare File Server."

          Mr. Bikowicz's Wardrobe by Blackbird Intl.

  Mr. Hutchins' Wardrobe by "Optical Illusions 'R' Us" GmbH.

             Mr. Mandeville's Wardrobe by K-Mart

        Entertainment by Mystery Science Theater 3000.

  Role Models Provided by Joel, Crow, Gypsy, and Tom Servo.

    Publishing by Eyrie Publishing Co., NotEvenCloseToInc.

 Copyright (c) 1992 Benjamin D. Hutchins, Brian D. Bikowicz,
                      and Rob Mandeville

 Once again this is for all the people out there who love SF,
  anime, and the marvelous concept known as "write yer own".
                     But more than that:
                       For Kei and Yuri
Ben:
 For Zoner and the returning ReRob, who came up with some of
  the more creatively impossible solutions to this distance
               problem.  Some actually worked.

 For General Motors, the only reason I'm able to type this at
                             all.

       For my father...too bad the RealMen(tm) got him.

       For my mom...midlife paranoia sucks, doesn't it?

 For the guys back home, who haven't the faintest clue what's
     going on, but are there to help me deal naetheless.

  For Randy, who is yet still comfortably numb--even more so
              now that he finally has a dog bed.

 In commemoration of the return of the ice cream truck, this
               line is for Helene...  *snicker*

   For They MIGHT BE Giants.  Too weird to be depressed to.

    And last but never least, for what was and wasn't and
        could've been and did and didn't; for Cheryl.

Zoner:
  For Ben, I wish things had worked out differently.  I hope
                   the future is brighter.

    For ReRob, I'm glad to have you back writing with us.

   For Jenna, who will always remain close to my heart, no
    matter the physical distance.  Merry meet, merry part.

 For the Internet, thanks for keeping me in touch and making
                 the world a little smaller.

 For Joe, thanks for understanding, listening, and taking the
                   damn knife away from me.

 For Cheryl.Z, thank you for supporting me when I needed it.

  For loves lost and gained, loves that never were or never
    will be.  It's all a part of living, though not always
    very enjoyable.  Life goes on.  (a-fucking-men.  --G.)

ReRob:
      For Julia, who taught me never to give up on love.

         For Daver, who flattened only one testicle.

 For Jesses, who let me blow off a metric buttload of steam.

 For John Cowles, a Pratt & Whitney engineer with a sense of
  humor.  (I never dreamed that mentioning UF would help me
                      land a co-op job!)

           For Trish, for being the Cookie Goddess.

     For Ajay, who let me reconfigure my wetware without
                         interfering.

     For Michael 'fmeyer' O'Malley, who showed us what a
            beautiful and precious thing life is.
  (You shall be remembered fondly Mike.  Rest well. -Zoner)

   For Def Leppard, who showed us how to pickup the pieces.

             For Sto and Denny's, for being open.

----------------------------------------------------------ONE

     "It ain't over 'til it's over."
                         --The Alarm

     The sky above Worcester was a gentle golden panorama.
Below, in the crater, the city was rebuilding itself around
the vast GENOM complex.  Vehicles and people shuttled back
and forth and here and there on their business, slowly
bringing a warm, thriving vitality to Neo-Worcester.
     In his newly redecorated office at the top of the tower,
Largo seethed.  Before his desk, Professor Ian Astbury stood,
trembling so hard he made the plastic sheeting under his feet
rustle.  Nearby, on the large leather sofa, Iczer-2 lounged.
     "So...you allowed Iczer-1 to escape," Largo hissed.
"You cost me my victory over the Wedge Rats.  You cost me an
eighteen-trillion-dollar space cruiser and very nearly a six-
billion-dollar I.C.Z.E.R. prototype.  Give me a good reason
why I should not kill you right now."
     "I...I cannot," Astbury replied.  "I couldn't let my
work be destroyed so casually.  She had a good, kind soul,
and she was to die for just that reason...I could not
conscience it.  If I'm to die for that...then so be it."  He
lowered his head and awaited the end.
     "Then so be it," Largo repeated.  "Iczer-2: kill him."
     "No."
     "No?!"
     "No."
     "Am I to understand that you are refusing to obey my
order?"
     "I am."
     "For what reason?"
     "I do not wish to destroy my creator.  Call it a
character flaw."
     "You will not obey me?!"
     "No.  And there is nothing you can do about it."  She
smiled, seeing Largo's rising rage.  "It frustrates you,
doesn't it?  The great and mighty Largo, powerless in the
face of a mere woman."
     "Do not push me--"
     "Or what?  You will destroy me?  Bah.  I am so
frightened I simply can't control my terror."
     "My patience is at its end, Iczer-2.  Cease this
foolishness now or face my wrath.  There are failsafes
installed in your makeup to ensure against such disobedience.
Do not force me to use them!"
     "Do you mean these?" Iczer-2 asked coolly, holding up a
handful of what appeared to be computer chips.  Largo's eyes
widened.  "Your technicians should not have implanted them so
close to the skin," she continued, dropping them to the floor
and crushing them under a boot.  When broken, they sizzled
and melted into the floor.
     "I could destroy you, Largo.  You and all your empire,
here, now, and finish the job the Wedge Rats began on New
Year's Day.  I choose not to.  Consider it payment of
whatever debts I still owe you for my inception."
     "You cannot do this," Largo hissed.  "I created you--and
this is how you repay me."
     "Then you wish me to end your life?" Iczer-2 asked.
     Largo had no answer.  He simply sat and seethed.
     "Then be happy with what you have," Iczer-2 said.
"Come, Professor...I will not leave you to the tender mercies
of Largo, after all."
     Before Largo could protest or do anything, they were
gone.  Snarling, he reached for his desk intercom, about to
order a full mobilization of all GENOM resources to seek and
destroy Iczer-2, but before he could reach it, alarms went
off.
     He grabbed his phone and punched 911.  "This is Largo.
What in hell's going on?"
     "Security station D reporting, sir," a random security
guard's voice replied.  "It's kind of hard to describe--
you'll just have to see it for yourself!"
     "What the--"  Largo turned his chair so he was facing
out across the city of Neo-Worcester.  Above the city,
surrounded by the crackling distortion of a recently-
completed and very well-done spacefold operation, was the
huge blue and white ship which had so recently humiliated
him, its every battlescar repaired.  The ship looked mean and
ready for action.  Across its hull just below the huge bridge
window, the words SDF-17 WAYWARD SON blazed in deep black.
     The Wedge Defense Force had arrived.

----------------------------------------------------------TWO

     "These people are completely ignorant of space war
tactics."
                         --Commander Breetai Tul

                     FIVE MINUTES EARLIER

     Commander Benjamin D. Hutchins, Wedge Defense Force,
Acting Captain of the SDF-17 (WDF Wayward Son) in the
comatose absence of Captain Brian D. Bikowicz, sat uneasily
in the seat of power on that ship's bridge, planning the
assault on the GENOM complex in what had once been Worcester.
     "Okay.  Let's do it.  Yuri, are the calculations for our
last fold complete?"
     "Affirmative," Yuri replied from the Operations station,
her cool professionalism hiding her worry for Zoner.
"Coordinates are set and locked.  Fold drive is fully charged
and awaiting your order for execution.  We will defold five
kilometers northeast of the GENOM tower at an altitude of two
thousand feet."
     "Perfect.  Stand by.  Tactical, your summary?"
     "All weapons systems fully primed and ready," Kei
replied from her position next to Yuri at the Tactical
station.  "Automated point-defense system is engaged and
standing by on all antiaircraft weapons.  All missile
launchers and autocannons report ready on automatic; railguns
and micro-Reflex cannons ready and reporting positive fire
control from this station.  Main gun at standby status and
also responding to this station's fire control command
protocol.  Full-ship deflector field ready."
     "Excellent.  q, fighter status?"
     "Jolly Roger is like ready and waiting on Armor Two," q
answered.  "Eight-Ball is reporting ready on Armor One, with
Daver in command.  There are like four unassigned pilots,
though."
     "Great.  We'll need all the support we can get.  Fighter
type and pilot?"
     "A Legios, Rich and Gary, but they don't like seem too
happy about the assignment."
     "So they can change it after this battle.  Stick them
with Fritz.  The others?"
     "Two Valkyrie-A's," q reported.  "Tricia and Paul."
     "Ard?"
     "No.  Like Paulheat T. Bonehead."
     "Shit.  Okay, tag them as Eight-Ball Five and Six."
     "You mean Four and Five."
     "No, I don't."  Gryphon got up from his seat.  "ReRob,
take the conn.  I have no intention of leaving my squadron to
fight without me."
     "You can't go out there," ReRob protested.  "The captain
can't enter combat!"
     "I'm not the captain!" Gryphon replied, his expression
darkening.  "How many times to I have to tell you people
this?  Zoner's the captain, and he's not going anywhere.  Now
take the conn, dammit!  I am not leaving the Eight-Ball!"
Yuri tightly gripped the edges of her console at the mention
of Zoner's name.  She was still very concerned about him, he
was still in a deep coma.
     ReRob looked taken aback by this outburst, but said
simply, "Okay, okay," and took the command station.  Gryphon
started for the elevator, already opening the flap of his
uniform jacket.
     "Ben?" Kei called after him.  He turned.
     "Yeah?"
     "Be careful."
     "Watch yourself, Kei--people might think you're going
soft or something," Gryph replied with a grin.  "I'll be
fine."  He winked and vanished into the turbolift.
     "You are going soft," Yuri whispered.
     "Shut up, Yuri," Kei growled.  "So are you."
     Yuri snapped her head around so that Kei wouldn't see
her fight back her tears.
     "Hmm.  Well.  I'm more or less a figurehead, I guess...
I'd probably do more good with the engines.  Oh well...q, are
the fighters ready yet?"
     "Eight-Ball has just finished reorganizing--they're
like almost ready now, just waiting for Gryph to get suited
up.  And like Jolly Roger's been ready for five minutes now."
     "Okay.  Begin countdown for fold operation on my mark...
mark.  Five.  Four.  Three.  Two.  One.  Execute."
     "Executing fold operation," Yuri replied in a wavering
voice, and engaged the SDF-17's mighty fold engines.  The
ship's surface flared white light, the crew experienced the
now-familiar twisting sensation of hyperspace transposition,
and they were off.

--------------------------------------------------------THREE

     "Alia jacta est."
                         --Julius Caesar

                     BACK TO THE PRESENT

     "So they've come back to torment me yet again," Largo
said to himself.  "Fools.  I'm ready for them this time."  He
picked up his desk phone.  "Orbital control, this is Largo.
Mobilize the fleet for home base.  We are under attack."
     "Sir?!  I mean, confirm attack on home base and go for
fleet atmospheric operations."
     "Confirmed.  Code six.  Now move it!" Largo barked,
slamming down the phone.  Regaining his composure, he picked
it up and dialed again.  "Section twelve.  This is Largo.
All defense systems have already been activated, I assume?"
     "Yes, sir," the chief of defense, one Markus-05 (a Super
Buma), replied.  "All systems are on standby awaiting
positive identification of the vessel."
     "You idiot!  That's the Wedge Defense Force--those
accursed Wedge Rats all over again!  Destroy them!"
     "Yes, my lord.  All fighters are away.  Ground defenses
opening fire."  The complex began to shake with the discharge
of massive weapons.  Beams of energy reached for the sky,
searching for the SDF-17.

     In the fighter bay of A.R.M.D.-01, Gryphon checked the
controls of his VF-1FS Hyper Valkyrie for the eighteenth
time, making sure all ordnance was secure and ready, his
fusion turbines were running right, etc., etc., ad infinitum.
Behind him were the three grey, black, and blue fighters of
his squadron, and two generic beige VF-1A Supers with
temporary markings stuck on with contact plastic.  The
Eight-Ball Squadron.
     The left hand comm screen on his panel blipped into the
view of a pretty silver-haired woman with deep gold eyes.
"Follow Kei's advice," she cautioned him, a note of concern
in her voice.  "Be careful."
     "Don't worry about me, Eve," Gryphon replied.  "I'll be
fine.  You watch yourself--they'll all be gunning for the
ship, not me."
     "I can take care of myself," Eve (or, more properly,
Enhanced Video Emulation) replied.  "You should know my
capabilities--you wrote me."
     Gryphon grinned.  Eve was the replacement he had written
in CLULESS to replace the idiotic AI that ran the SDF-17 (the
one who talked like a combination of an '88 Buick Regal and
KITT).  Not counting Kei and Yuri, and he didn't, because
he preferred to think of them as completely autonomous people
now--which indeed they were--Eve was the crowning achievement
of his gweeping career.  He took considerable pride in her.
     The light above the bay doors turned green.
    "Back to the salt mines," Gryphon said with a smile.
"All Eight-Ball fighters, report status," he ordered.
"Eight-Ball One, okay."
     "Eight-Ball Two, okay," Daver reported from the cockpit
of his VF-1J Super.
     "Eight-Ball Three, okay," Erik Swimm echoed from his
-1A.
     "Eight-Ball Four, okay," Mark "Haywire" Luchini
reported, for once not shouting something like "KILL!  KILL!"
     "Eight-Ball Five, okay," Tricia Currier called from her
generically beige fighter.  She had only recently finished
Veritech training, having been held up by some foolish snag
in her vision-correction program, but was already fitting
into the squadron as if she belonged.
     "Eight-Ball Six, respond," Gryphon ordered after a
second or so.
     "Huh?" Paul Heaton replied from his fighter.  Paul had
been held up in training deliberately, as the WDF and the
personnel of Utopia Planitia tried excuse after excuse before
running out of reasons not to make him a Veritech pilot.
They had at least kept him from becoming a Beta driver...
     "Respond, asshole, this is a preflight check!"
     "Okay, okay, jeez, calm down," Paul replied in his
arrogant way.  "Christ, you act like you own the squadron."
     "I do," Gryphon replied.  "That's what my commander's
bar means.  Got it?  You follow my orders or so help me I'll
blow you out of the sky myself."
     "You're welcome to try," Paul replied with a sneer.
     "You guys--cut it out!" Trish shouted.  "You sound like
our old calc class."
     "Right.  I'm watching you, Heaton.  Fuck up and you're
mine.  I don't want you in my squadron, I didn't have a
choice.  So just shut up and do your job."
     Paul had nothing to say to that.
     "Eight-Ball Squadron ready for launch," Gryphon
reported.
     "You are like cleared," q replied from the bridge.
"Like intercept enemy fighters in sector seven, they're the
most immediate concern."
     "Will do.  Eight-Ball Squadron--launch on my mark.
Three.  Two.  One.  Mark."  He slammed his throttles all the
way to afterburner, at the same time thumbing the catapult
switch.  With a surge of acceleration he was thrown out of
the bay, across the deck of Armor-One, and out into the
golden sky above Worcester.  Around him and behind him his
squadron did the same, with nearly perfect precision.  Nearly
perfect, except that Paul was a second late.
     The fighters were in a relatively clean configuration,
since inside an atmosphere, their snap-on supplemental armor
and missile pods degraded performance too much to be worth
the trouble of carrying them.  They were running in pure,
original Valkyrie mode.
     The six Valkyries screamed into the sky above
Neo-Worcester.  Ahead of them, to the Wayward Son's port, was
their immediate target: a large group of GENOM fightercraft.
Gryphon muttered a curse as he saw and recognized them.
Unlike the starfighters encountered in the last battle,
similar to the Lancer I space fighter, these craft were quite
deadly-looking and very effective at their jobs.  They were
small, red, and crablike, mounting twin plasma projectors on
the top of their shells and sporting articulated and almost
insectoid limbs.
     "Invid Armored Scouts.  GENOM builds Invid Armored
Scouts," Gryphon muttered to himself.  "Why am I somehow not
very surprised at this?"  He keyed his radio for a squadron
broadcast.  "Eight-Ball Squadron, this is Eight-Ball One.
Engage and destroy.  Break formation, they're thick up here,
but keep it as tight as you can, we don't want anyone getting
lost."  He pulled away from the formation, reaching up to key
the cool shades in his helmet down, Rick Hunter-style.  Rick
was a schmuck, but he had his cool moments.
     "Hey, Gryph," Tricia called, "aren't those--"
     "Aw, no way!" Mark shouted.  "Armored Scouts!  GENOM's
ripping off the Invid!  DIE!!"  He threw himself furiously
into the fight, ripping into a pack of the scouts with a
missile spread and a furious GU-11 strafing run.
    Gryphon ducked to the left and down as one of the
Scouts ripped a burst of annihilation discs over his cockpit
bubble.  Kicking his fighter over and down, he pulled the
nose up and performed a quick spiral.  The hexagonal
targeting reticules on his HUD quickly locked on three of the
GENOM craft and pulsed as a lock tone sang in his ears; he
flipped the cover off his thumb trigger, selected the
appropriate missiles from among the switches to his right
with the fingertips of his throttle hand, and let fly.
     From the pylons under his wings, three medium range
fighter-to-fighter missiles (designated in "official" Wedge
Defense Force documentation as the AIM-6-XL Reaper) roared
free on thick white vapor trails, Roboteching picturesquely
before ripping into their targets and blowing them to little
red flinders.
     "Eight-Ball One, check six," a calm voice rang in his
earphones.  Gryphon tossed a look over his shoulder while
pulling up and boosting, in time to see Erik's Valkyrie chop
a quintet of Scouts off his tail with an impressive spread of
missiles.
     "Thanks, Erik," Gryphon replied.
     "No problem, Gryph," Erik replied, streaking off toward
another corner of the battle.
     "These things are maneuverable as all hell," Daver
observed.  "They're actually outmaneuvering us up here."
     "It's because they're so damn small," Gryphon replied.
"Take this battle down into the streets--we can get the edge
on them down there."
     "Roger, Eight-Ball One," Daver acknowledged.  "Gerwalk?"
     "Yup."
     "I like."
     "I thought you would.  All Eight-Balls, this is
Eight-Ball One.  Descend to street level and engage
configuration G.  Try to keep the collateral damage somewhere
below the standard Lovely Angel level, okay?"
     Back on the bridge of the Wayward Son, Kei glanced at
Yuri, who glanced at Kei.  They both shrugged and resolved to
kill him later.
     "Take us lower too," ReRob ordered.  "Hovering up here
is making us a hell of a target for whatever they have.  Make
for the tower at the lowest altitude possible."
     "Right," Yuri replied, and guided the massive ship down
almost to the tops of the buildings.  "Gravity control drive
is functioning at optimum."
     "Good.  I was wondering if the structural members would
hold the grav pods in or not..."

     Gryphon dove his VF-1FS into the streets of
Neo-Worcester, pulling down the lever on his control panel
which was labeled with the big "G".  Immediately, the
aerodynamics of the fighter changed.  Its V-tail folded down
into the storage position, then flipped up onto the fuselage
to expose three small jet thrusters.  The vector-thrust
nozzles on the twin engines split into two sections, widening
out and forming a V.  The engines hinged down, articulated
and looking suspiciously like legs, as sections of the
underbelly unfolded and extended, ending with retractable,
fully articulated hands, the left one of which was now
holding the GU-11 gunpod.
     A fighter jet with humanoid limbs sped down Main Street,
getting a ground effect from the thrust of the main jets
being directed downward and speeding at nearly Mach 1 a scant
few meters above the ground, dodging traffic with relative
ease.  Behind Gryphon, the other five members of the squadron
dropped their craft into gerwalk configuration as well and
descended into the street.

     "Sir, their fighters have entered the city.  They appear
to have variable geometry technology.  Our aeroforces are
unable to pursue them effectively without great risk of
collateral damage," Markus-05 reported on the main screen of
Largo's desk.
     Largo's office had transformed into an armored command
bunker.  The windows had been covered by huge armor plates
upon which were projected the image of what would've been
visible through the windows had the shields been open; the
desk had rotated on its dais to face said windows.  The chair
and desk themselves had changed, the sides of the desk
folding around to meet the sides of the chair and locking
together into a single armored unit, as the desk folded in
the center and various screens and other apparati rose from
the top.  With the high back of the chair bending down over
and out around him, Largo looked almost as though he were at
the controls of some small space cruiser.
     "Deploy the shock troopers, then, and call general
curfew again.  Most of the civilians should be in their
shelters by now anyway--forget the collateral damage!  We
rebuilt Worcester from a radioactive crater fifty miles
across--we can rebuild it again if we have to!"
     "Yes, sir!" Markus replied, saluting and vanishing.
Largo went about his other business, reaching down to press a
key on the top of his desk marked "AIR DEFENSE".  It glowed
and the master screen in the center of the console reported
AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS ENGAGED--DEFAULTING TO MASTER CONTROL.
T-joysticks arose from his chair's arms, and before them,
perfectly banked for his long, thin fingers, were banks of
fingertip selector switches.  A HUD-like projection appeared
on the window view, bracketing the SDF-17 in a big triangular
reticule.
     "Now, Wedge Rats," Largo growled.  "Feel the wrath of
GENOM." He smiled and began selecting and firing weapons.

---------------------------------------------------------FOUR

"A.D.A.M. stands for Absolute Disintegration of Available
Mass."
                         --Eve

     All over the GENOM complex, and indeed all over the city
of Neo-Worcester, small shacks and what looked like minor
maintenance buildings and abandoned apartment houses
collapsed, huge weapon turrets rising from them.  Multi-tube
missile launchers, double and quad-barrelled laser turrets,
unidentifiable energy weapon emplacements, and other large
instruments of destruction rose from the city's unassuming
profile, aiming at the Wayward Son.
     "Oop," said ReRob as blip after hostile blip appeared on
the tactical display on Screen 3.  "I think we have a
problem."
     "Like understatement?" q offered.
     "Kei?"
     "Yeah?"
     "Shoot whatever you think should die first."
     "Heh."  Kei grinned and began targeting and firing.

     SDF-17 began firing first, the heavy repeating laser and
autocannon emplacements raining destruction on the city.
Gryphon skated his Valkyrie around a corner just as a micro-
Reflex bolt obliterated the missile launcher that had once
been the Wesleyan Church, two blocks back.
     And then GENOM opened up as Largo finished refining his
targeting.  Lasers, heavy plasma cannons, particle projector
guns, railguns, autocannons, and every conceivable form of
missile launcher began firing back up at the Wayward Son.
     Gryphon and company were too busy to admire the pretty
view, though; dozens of grey Invid Shock Troopers had
appeared in the streets, and the Eight-Ball Squadron was
running dangerously low on ammunition.  Gryphon, Daver, Mark,
and Paul had exhausted their missiles, and Tricia and Erik
had three between the two of them.  GU-11 ammo wasn't being a
problem yet, but it was only a matter of time.
     With five Scouts on his six and none of his wingmates in
sight, Gryphon figured he had a problem.  He was screaming
down Main Street at nearly Mach 1 when a sudden inspiration
hit him.  He had been in a situation like this once before,
and since Neo-Worcester was a city reconstituted from the
plans of the original Worcester--
     Yes!  There it was, dead ahead--the Main Street tunnel!
And it was still, he noted with a grin, illegal to go through
it in his direction.  Well, too bad.  He tucked the arms as
far back as they could go, put the legs almost back to
fighter-mode position, and racked the wings back to
oversweep, blasting into the tunnel and very narrowly
fitting.  Behind him, three Scouts impacted various parts of
the tunnel mouth and exploded as the other two veered hard
and followed him in.
     It was a short tunnel; Gryphon came exploding out of the
other end of it in mere seconds, popping his wings back to
full open and dropping the legs to boost himself back into
the air.  His belly lasers had almost been scraping toward
the end there--a Valkyrie in gerwalk mode couldn't quite do
ballistic, just a good impression for a few seconds.  Just as
he dropped the legs he got a quick glimpse of a Saab 900
Turbo which had been entering the tunnel, before the
downswinging leg inadvertently punted it back across
Salisbury Street.
     "Oop," Gryphon muttered as he pulled the Valkyrie back
into fighter configuration and screamed into the skies.  With
all the troopers about, the streets were becoming decidedly
dangerous places.  Better to chance it in the sky.
"Eight-Ball Squadron from Eight-Ball One.  Pull out and
return to fighter mode--there're too many Shock Troopers to
fuck around down there anymore."

     "We're getting ripped apart!" ReRob cried as another
impact almost knocked him out of his seat.
     "Damage isn't that bad yet," Yuri replied.  "A lot of
dented and burned armor, and we're getting knocked around,
but they haven't breached the hull in anyplace important
yet."
     "How reassuring," Rob muttered.  "Still, we can't take
this too much longer."

     On the other side of the battle, out Westboro way, the
ten fighters of Lieutenant Commander Fritz Koopman's Jolly
Roger Squadron were having their own fight for their lives.
The five Alpha and five Beta fighters, all separated for
better mobility, were scattered throughout the city,
alternately dodging and vaping Troopers and Scouts and
destroying the odd anti-aircraft emplacement, to help out the
Wayward Son.  Being second-generation Veritechnology
fighters, they had a lot more missile ammunition, but the
Legios series weren't quite as fast as the Valkyrie, nor
quite as tough.  Still, Fritz and his people loved them, and
would no more think of flying anything else than Gryphon and
his Valkyrie pilots.
     Fritz leaped his battroid-mode Alpha over Spags, landing
on the roof of the Sport Shop and raking a two-fisted GU-XX
attack on a couple of hapless troopers; then, as his alarms
howled missile lock, he pivoted left, ducked, dove, rolled,
came up to one knee, and let off a spread of missiles from
his arm pods to bring down a flight of Scouts.
     Two things drove him as he battled on: loyalty to his
ship, of course, and the great desire to redeem himself for
the fool he made of himself by attacking Iczer-2 with a
Legios.  Well...those and the fact that he simply loved what
he was doing.

     "This is not a healthy neighborhood to be in," Gryphon
observed to q on one of his comm screens.  The Scouts had
vacated the skies, and for good reason; there was so much
energy and explosives flying around up there as to make any
attempt at flying very dangerous.  The Eight-Balls were
struggling valiantly just to make it back to the ship for
resupply.
     "Like, tell me about it," q replied as the Wayward Son
took another heavy hit.
     "And it's about to get worse," Kei called.  "I have
incoming hostiles.  From orbit, no less.  I count one, two,
three, four, five, six...shit!  Seven hostiles.  Big ones."
     "Oh, shit," ReRob said, looking with horror as the seven
big blips blossomed on the tac screen.  "Ikazuchis."

     GENOM's newly-completed starfleet descended from their
orbital construction bays, primed and ready to defend the
mother corporation to the death.  Their pods opened up and
each single one of them spewed out its entire complement of
Armored Scouts and Shock Troopers.  Then they began to add
their firepower to the carnage below.

     "This is very bad!" Rob observed.  "Kei!  Forget the
ground shit for now--go for the Ikazuchis.  Try and kill as
many as you can."
     "Aye aye, sir," Kei replied with a grin.  "Yuri--turn
this pig around so I can get the main gun on them."
     "Eight-Ball Squadron, like permission to dock is
denied," q was calling.  "Sorry.  Like hope you understand."
     "Oh believe me, q, I understand," Gryphon said, the lump
in his throat growing as he saw the seven Ikazuchis rumble
over the city on their own grav drives, weapons opening up.
"Eight-Ball Squadron, this is One.  Nothing for it, I guess--
kill anything that moves!"
     "All right!" Mark hollered.

     "Fire main laser!" the Super Buma captain of GENOM's
lead ship, the Quincy, shouted.  "And order the others to do
the same!"
     The main laser cannon of the Quincy spoke, followed by
all the others.  The seven ships' Buma crews, coordinated by
the master computer in the GENOM center, seemed to strike as
one, with uncanny accuracy and precision--far superior to the
disorganized and inexperienced human crew of the original
Ikazuchi.  The seven mega-laser beams converged just behind
the port railguns and blew A.R.M.D.-01 completely off the
ship.

     "Fuck!" said Erik as he watched the entire battle
platform crash into and destroy a large section of
Neo-Worcester.

     "Fuck!" said Fritz as he watched the entire battle
platform crash into and destroy a large section of
Neo-Worcester.

     "Fuck!" said Kei as she watched the entire battle
platform crash into and destroy a large section of
Neo-Worcester.  "Yeah?  Eat this!"
     SDF-17's foredeck split and cammed open again, the tips
remaining at a constant orientation as the rear sections
rotated up and apart.  The main gun charged with its standard
orange lightning show, and then--
     FOOOOOOOOOOM!  The huge energy bolt whiplashed out,
boiling away and utterly annihilating the Quincy and three of
the closest Ikazuchis to it (the Mason, Stingray, and
Asagiri).  The remaining three ships scattered, one gaining
altitude to make an attack from above as the others broke
right and left around the battle fortress.

     "Sir!  They have annihilated over half our fleet!"
Markus-05 reported.
     "I am well aware of that," Largo replied.  "I expected
as much.  Who ordered those idiots to make a frontal assault
in such close formation?  Activate Sol."
     "As you command."
     It only took fourteen seconds for SOL ACTIVE--
COORDINATING ORBITAL FIRE CONTROL to appear on Largo's main
screen.  He immediately shifted the main viewer to God's-eye
view and attempted to target the bridge.  They were beaten,
dead already--they just didn't know it yet.  He smiled and
pulled the trigger.
     The fifth Ikazuchi (the Gibson), which had broken to the
Wayward Son's starboard side, took advantage of Kei's
decision to go after the Romanov on her port side first by
firing her main laser again.  The energy bolt was aimed low,
missing the bridge module and blasting a hole clean through
the foredecks of A.R.M.D.-02, almost severing it as well.
The impact and explosion actually moved the vast battle
fortress in the air, shifting it several yards to port.  Not
much--but enough.  And then...several things happened at
once.
     Kei targeted the Romanov and issued the main gun firing
order again.
     A huge bolt of azure energy howled out of the sky
without any warning at all, smashing into the SDF-17 on the
starboard side, just missing the starboard bridge module to
strike just forward of it and to the starboard--ripping right
through the back of the starboard main gun boom.
     The main gun went off--it was already charged and
ready--and the resulting blast vaporized the Romanov before
ripping into Neo-Worcester and exterminating another large
tract of it.  The starboard main gun breech exploded where
the bolt from the sky had struck, blowing the entire
starboard boom off.  A.R.M.D.-02 was blown clear as well.
Pouring smoke from her hideous injury, the Wayward Son heeled
to starboard and dipped like a wounded bird.

     "My God," Gryphon whispered to himself.  He wasn't
religious--far from it--but the phrase was part of his
language anyway, just because he had grown up an American.
"My fucking God."
     There was a moment of dead silence, as if the entire
battle had gone on hold.

     "Christ on a crutch!" Kei shouted as the entire ship
heaved.  The damage report on Screen 4 strobed red in an
alarmingly large area.  "What the fuck was that?!"
     "Sol!" ReRob cried.  "Shit!  Kei--activate the full-ship
shield.  NOW!"
     "Full-ship shield on--I hope we have enough of a ship
left to power it..."
     A green globe of energy hummed into existence around the
grievously wounded ship as it struggled to remain airborne.

     Fritz looked, shocked, into the sky as the three great
energy beams went off; his eyes widened with dread as most of
the SDF-17's starboard forequarter was blown off.  In his
moment of distraction, he didn't see the Scout that charged
at his right side until it was too late.  He felt the impact
as a stream of annihilation discs plowed into his Alpha, felt
a ripping pain in his right side as freefall overtook him,
and felt the shock as the battroid slammed into the pavement,
crumpled on its left side and smoking.  Thinking him
destroyed, the Scout moved on.
     Fritz got his damaged machine to its feet, then looked
down to assess his wound.  There was a hole torn in the side
of the cockpit--freak shot, shouldn't have happened--and his
CVR-3 was shattered.  Blood was soaking the side of the
cockpit.  With a growing sense of horror, Fritz Koopman
realized he was dying.
     He saw the shield appear around the Wayward Son; he saw
the two remaining Ikazuchis and ground forces open fire with
everything they had on it.  And--in his peripheral vision,
almost unnoticed--he saw the dish antenna at the top of the
GENOM tower shift slightly.
     Another of those incredible bolts of energy from space
ripped through the cloud to slam against the shield.  Fritz
could see the SDF-17 shudder with the impact, even insulated
inside the sphere of the shield.

     "Shit!  That beam almost punctured the energy shield,"
Kei reported.  "We can't take very many more of those hits."

    The dish shifted.  The beam slammed against the shield.
This happened twice more in the space of a couple of seconds.
     Fritz knew what he had to do.  He faced his impending
oblivion, stared it down, and accepted it.  If he was to die,
he would die saving his friends.  He transformed his battered
Alpha to fighter mode and started for the tower.
     GENOM defense forces saw him, of course, and converged
on him; he could've cared less.  He destroyed some, ignored
most.  Let them hit him, they couldn't stop him.  What were
they going to do--kill him?  He smiled sardonically under his
helmet and aimed the black-and-white fighter right at the
dish, kicking the throttles all the way open.
     "Fritz, what the hell are you doing?" Gryphon's voice
rang in his ears.  "Pull out, you're gonna hit the tower!
Fritz!  FRIIIIIIIIIITZ!"
     Fritz fired all his remaining missiles, slammed in the
afterburners, and said a silent goodbye to everyone.
     The Alpha plowed into the Sol command dish antenna
moving at 1,700 miles per hour.  There was a blossom of
orange fire at the top of the GENOM tower as most of the top
four stories of the building was annihilated.  Largo screamed
despite himself as his office exploded around him.
     "Fritz!" Mark screamed.  "Fritz!"  The psychotic gleam
appeared in his eyes.  "The bastards!  They killed Fritz!
They killed Fritz!  Those stinking little yellow-bellied
fairies--they killed Fritz!  AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!!!!!"
     Shifting his Valkyrie to gerwalk mode, Mark dove into
the streets again, popping into battroid mode as soon as his
feet touched ground and sprinting the machine through the
streets, destroying everything in his path.
     "YOU KILLED FRITZ, YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!  DIIIIEEEEE!!"
he screamed, side-kicking a Shock Trooper, punching aside a
Scout, and emptying his GU-11 into a heavy missile launcher.
"DIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"
     "Mark!" Gryphon shouted, swooping into the streets after
him.  "Mark, come on, come out of it!  It won't do Fritz any
good for you to get yourself killed too!"
     Erik and Tricia's fighters got there first; converting
to battroid mode, they tackled Mark as Gryphon and Daver
covered them.
     "Where the fuck is Paul?" Gryphon wondered as he hosed
down a street corner with suppressive fire.  "Eight-Ball Six,
this is Eight-Ball One.  Where the fuck are you?"
     "Over by Becker," Paul replied lackadaisically.  "Couple
of Troopers to take care of.  Why, do you need me for
something?"
     "Oh, I dunno--I get the distinct feeling we'll be
evacuating soon," Gryphon replied acidly.  "I ordered you to
stay with the squadron."
     "Well it's not like I flew to Washington or something.
Gotta go--there's a Scout.  I just need two more and I'll be
an ace."  The channel went dead.
     "What a fuckhead," Daver observed.
     "Tell me about it.  If we get out of this, he's never
flying in my squadron again.  If I have anything to say about
it he'll never fly anything again."
     "I'm ok, I'm ok--I just lost it," Haywire declared,
struggling to get up as Tricia and Erik held him down.  "I'm
ok, I said, lemme up!"  Slowly, carefully, they did.  He
dropped his empty GU-11; mirroring its pilot, the VF-1A
looked dejectedly at the ground.  "They killed Fritz."
     "I know," Trish replied.  "They'll pay for it."
     "Talk later, people, we're being overrun!" Gryphon
cried.  "Gerwalk, and let's get out of here!"  The squadron
did so, falling into formation around their leader perfectly
(as always).
     "SDF-17, this is Eight-Ball One.  Any chance we'll be
able to dock sometime soon?"
     "Like negative, Eight-Ball One...or at least like not
any time soonish," q replied.  "You probably oughtta try and
get like as far away as possible."
     "No way, q--we're sticking close.  You may need us."
     "Like thanks, Eight-Ball One.  Like, stand by, ok?"

     "Shield status?" ReRob inquired.
     "Failing, and failing fast," Kei replied.  "I think
we're screwed, Rob."
     "There has to be a way.  Yuri--can we fold out of here?"
     "Not with the ship in the shape it's in...if we tried to
fold out of a gravity well in this shape, we'd break up.
Besides, with our fold radius, we'd just take those two
assholes with us anyway, and what would that help us?" Yuri
replied, gesturing to the two remaining Ikazuchis.
     "There has to be a way," Rob repeated.
     "Shield integrity at seventeen percent," Kei said
softly.  "We're fucked."
     "Their shield is weakening," cried the captain of the
Romanov.  "Double the attack!  DESTROY THEM!  For Largo!"
     "For Largo!" the bridge crew chorused.

     "The shield's falling," Gryphon said, his voice hollow.
"Kei..."

     "Shield integrity at two percent."
     "Overload warning!" Yuri called as lights sprang up all
over her engineering subpanel.  "The shield generators are
overheating--Christ!  They've been storing all the energy the
shield's been absorbing."
     "Rob!" Android's voice rang out of the intercom.  "We've
got a problem down here--the shield generators are
overloading.  I think the whole thing's gonna blow!"
     "Shit!" ReRob said.  "q!  Call the fighters!  Order them
to evacuate."
     "All fighters, this is like control," q announced
calmly.  "The shield's like overloading.  'Droid thinks we're
gonna blow soon.  You are ordered to evacuate."
     "What?!" Gryphon shouted.
     "Like get the fuck away from the ship," q replied.
"We're gonna explode."
     "No!" Gryphon shouted.  "I won't leave you to die--I
can't--"
     "You can't do anything, Ben," Kei cut him off, switching
her station to his comm frequency.  "Get away.  Save
yourself.  That's an order."
     "But--"
     "Get away!" Kei shouted at him.  "Someone needs to
survive this battle.  Just because you love me doesn't mean
you have to die with me, now get the fuck away!  I love you."
     "I love you too, Kei..."  Gryphon choked, coughed it
down.  Now was not the time, and here was definitely not the
place.  "Eight-Ball Squadron, this is Eight-Ball One.
Evacuate.  Fighter mode, burner on.  Get away from the ship."
     Without a word the entire squadron turned and began to
streak away.
     The shield generator display redlined and began to flash
"DETONATION IMMINENT".  Yuri and Kei looked at each other.
     "Been nice working with you, partner," said Kei quietly.
     "And you," Yuri replied.  She looked wistfully out the
bridge window at the burning top of the GENOM tower, and
whispered, "Zoner..."
     The shield exploded outward, a brilliant green globe of
ever-expanding energy, rushing after the fleeing fighters and
engulfing Neo-Worcester in a boiling firestorm.  The wave of
energy slammed into, engulfed, and ravenously devoured both
remaining Ikazuchis, the GENOM tower, and everything else in
its path.
     "Eight-Ball Six!  Paul!  Transform, you idiot, full
burner, get outta there!" Gryphon screamed into his helmet
mike as Paulheat dawdled behind in gerwalk mode, right in the
face of the explosion.
     "No, hang on a sec--I can make it, I just gotta kill one
more and I can be an ace--I'll make it, I--AAAAAAAA--*"
     He was too late; the explosion engulfed him.  The
fighter was destroyed layer by layer, disintegrated and
ripped apart at the same time.  It broke up and vaporized
around Paul, and then his frail flesh form, CVR-3 or not, was
annihilated just as easily.
     "YOU STUPID FUCKHEAD!" Gryphon screamed to the dead man
as the last molecules wafted free into the atmosphere.  The
other five planes of the Eight-Ball Squadron streaked away,
free and clear ahead of the wave, as on the other side, the
remaining three Legios and one lone Beta of Jolly Roger
booted it out at max speed.
     The explosion receded, faded away, and, just as suddenly
as it had roared over the landscape, it was gone, leaving
behind a blasted and desolate wasteland, a crater within a
crater, reaching almost to the outer edge of the original
twenty-five-mile blast radius.  In the center was a huge
depression where the explosion's epicenter had burrowed half
a mile into the ground.  The Wayward Son was nowhere to be
seen.
     Then, battered, nearly destroyed, but wearily
triumphant, the shattered battle cruiser lifted itself out of
the crater.  The SDF-17 had survived the explosion by being
on the inside of it.  The shield's spherical radius was
unaffected by the explosion.
     "We're alive," ReRob remarked, looking around.  "Now
there's a pleasant surprise."
     "The Reflex furnace is failing," Yuri warned as a light
strobed on her panel.  "Gravity control at 40% and falling."
     "Shit--looks like we've got some work to do if we're
ever going to take off again.  Yuri...engage landing cycle.
Put us down on the outside of the crater."
     "Landing cycle engaged," Yuri replied.  From the
underbelly of the huge fortress, three great hatches opened,
and from within, huge double-tired landing gear extended.
The wheels were the size of largish houses, arranged in a
tricycle pattern; as the battered vessel eased itself down
onto the fused stone and glass that had once been
Neo-Worcester, they impressed twelve-foot marks into it.
Within a minute the SDF-17 was down.
     "Great.  Shut down all systems, recall the Veritechs,
and I'll go down and get repair work started on the engines."

---------------------------------------------------------FIVE

     "Trust is the province of fools."
                         --Anonymous

     Gryphon entered the bridge, buttoning down the flap of
his uniform jacket.  He had paused to wash his face and the
like, but didn't feel particularly comfortable, even so.  He
wouldn't again, until he had the chance to take a shower and
get some sleep.  If he ever had time to do that again in his
life.
     "Casualties?" he asked as he took his seat from a
gratefully fleeing ReRob.
     "None reported on board," Yuri replied.  "Lucky for us
the crew is too small to have crews on all the substations,
and the deck crews were off the Armor platforms because of
our airspace lockout."
     "That's good news, anyway.  How's the ship, besides
FUBAR?"
     "Drive and propulsion systems are still working, kind
of--I think we can make it back to Planitia for repairs if we
sit here for a while and do some on-site kludging," ReRob
replied.  "Of course, our shield generators are fucked, and
the main gun is gone, and the fighters are running out of
cargo holds for the time being, but if we aren't attacked
again, I think we should be okay.  We won't be moving for a
couple of days, though."
     "Okay...get everyone together in the Lower Wedge, those
who don't want to go back to space with us.  We'll find
some place quiet to set down and let them off, or ferry them
down with Betas, or something."
     "Like yo, there's a message for us," q called, snapping
his fingers.  "From the Air Force.  Says we have to leave.
Now.  Or they start like dropping nuclear bombs on us."
     "What?" Kei cried.  "That's not right--they can't stop
us from coming home!"
     "They can and they are," Gryphon said wearily.  "Life
imitates art.  Shit.  I was hoping this wouldn't happen."
     "Why don't we fight?  It's not right!"
     "Fight?  We can't fight our own homeworld.  It isn't
what we were given this kind of power to do.  The Wedge
Defense Force exists to protect places like Earth, not blow
them up.  We've already done a lot more damage than we should
have."  He sighed.  "q, ask them if we can at least deboard
civilian personnel before leaving."
     "Like will do."  q began encoding the request on his
keyboard immediately.  Moments later, his screen lit up with
the response.  "Like they won't do it," he replied.  "They're
like expressly forbidding us to deboard anyone.  We're to
leave the solar system immediately and like never come back."
     "Never come back, eh?  We'll see about that.  Tell them
we have uninvolved civilian personnel on board who wish to
deboard.  All they want to do is go home.  The military
personnel and the starship itself will depart the system as
ordered.  And see if you can get us a little more time."
     "Right."  Again the brief span of typing time and the
pause.  "They're not going for it.  They say we have to leave
now, and take everyone with us, or they're gonna hose down
the entire blast zone."
     "Fine.  I was hoping we wouldn't have to do this...tell
them we can't leave until we fix our engines.  Probably be
about a week."
     "A week?"  ReRob said.  "I can get us off the ground in
a couple of--"
     "A week," Gryphon replied.  "We need more time than your
repairs will actually take us.  Trust me."
     "Like coding..."  Once more, the typing and the wait.
"They say they'll give us four days.  No more.  And no one is
to leave the ship."
     "Great.  Just like getting money from Dad...if you need
fifty dollars, ask him for a hundred.  You'll get fifty and
he'll think he shorted you."  Gryphon grinned.  "Now we have
some time.  Rob, I'm reeeeally hoping here--did any Shadow
Fighters happen to not be on the A.R.M.D. platforms?"
     "I dunno," ReRob replied.  "I can find out easy enough,
though.  Probably be a few minutes."
     "No big rush--if you can round up a Shadow Legios within
a day or so it would be most helpful.  I have a few errands
to run."
     Well, why don't you take the Daytona and its beta unit?
It does have Minovski particle shielding.  No one would
detect you."
     "I can't find the keys."
     "Well, I'm sure we could hotwire it."
     "ReRob, the Daytona isn't moving until Zoner recovers.
It's his baby, no one is to touch it."
     "Ok, I understand."
     "Right, now see about the Shadow Legios."
     "Ok, I'll get right on it."

     Gryphon left the bridge and went directly to sickbay.
Yuri was there by Zoner's bedside as usual, and as usual, he
was worried about her.  She spent all of her off-duty time
keeping watch over him.  What would happen to her if Zoner
never recovered, or if he died?  Yuri seemed to be denying
those possibilities; she insisted that he would fully
recover.
     For his part, Ben was prepared for all eventualities.
He had said his goodbyes and done his share of screaming at
the moon.  If the worst came to pass, he was ready.
     Or so he told himself.
     Gryphon walked up behind Yuri and crossed his arms
around in front of her, resting his head on her shoulder.
She gently placed her hands on his arms.
     "No change in his condition, huh?" Gryphon asked softly.
     "None.  He's still the same," Yuri answered in a small
voice.
     "You've got to stop worrying so much.  Zoner's in a
coma.  Only time will tell if he'll ever recover.  In the
meantime, you're still up and about, and you've got your own
life to live.  You spend all of your time here.  People are
starting to worry about you.  Come on, let's go up to the
Wedge for a while."
     "No.  You go, I'm going to be here when he wakes up."
     "You know, Yuri, that's what I love about you," said
Gryphon wearily.  "You're just as fucking stubborn as I am."
     A voice called out from the vidscreen on the bulkhead.
"Yuri, you needn't worry so much.  I will call you if his
condition changes in the slightest."
     "Thanks, Eve, but I know he knows I'm here.  I can feel
it.  I want him to know that I'm out here waiting for his
return."
     "That's not very logical.  You need to take care of
yourself."
     "It's an emotional thing, Eve, it's hard to understand
sometimes," Gryphon interjected.
     "I'm still trying to fully understand human emotions.
Just when I think I understand them all, something new pops
up.  Humans are so unpredictable."
     "That's usually how it works.  Don't worry, I took that
into account when I designed your response parameters.  Give
yourself time to evolve."  Then, to Yuri, "But Eve's right,
sure he may know you're out here.  But he's probably pissed
that you're not taking care of yourself."
     "It's not that he may know I'm here, he does know.  With
my ESP and his empathy we're linked.  I can feel that he
wants to come back, but he's lost in his own mind.  Once he
let his walls down we made contact and we've never really
separated.  I felt his pain when he was injured, and I can
feel his fear and loneliness now.  But he has a strong will,
he's stubborn enough that he'll recover."  Then, quietly, so
that Ben could barely hear her, "He has to."
     Ben hugged her tighter.  "Hmmmm.  I really don't...know
what to say."
     "That's ok, I understand.  It hasn't been easy on you
either.  What are you going to do about getting people off of
the ship?"
     "Not sure yet, I've got a plan.  I'm just waiting to see
if it works.  Now...I'm going to head up to the Wedge.
You're coming with me."
     "Sorry, but no.  I'm staying right here.  Until he wakes
up or I go back on duty."
     "You've been sleeping down here, for God's sake!  You
are incorrigible, aren't you?"  He smiled tiredly.  "Do try
and get some rest.  I don't want to relieve you of duty, but
if you keep running yourself into the ground like this, I
will."
     "I will.  Say hi to Kei for me."
     "Ok.  I'd say have fun, but it doesn't seem to apply."
With that, and a tender kiss to Yuri's cheek, Gryphon left
sickbay and headed for the Wedge.
     Yuri leaned over and kissed Zoner gently.  "You  will
recover, I can feel it."
     "So can I.  He's got a strong will."
     Yuri spun and faced the door to the medical office.
"Jenna! I didn't hear you back there."
     "I've been working on some paperwork.  I just thought
I'd check on him."
     "He hasn't changed." Yuri said, looking back at Zoner.
     "Want to talk about it?"
     "I don't know..."
     "Sometimes it helps to dump your problems on someone
else.  I'm offering my services as a dumping ground."
     "I'm just so worried.  Part of me knows he'll recover,
but a part of me is worried that he won't.  Maybe I'm just
fooling myself."
     "No, I feel it too.  Zoner's talked to me a lot about
his past, and his present too.  We have a lot in common, I
can tell what he's feeling sometimes.  Not as close of a link
as you have, but it's there.  He's fighting to come back, but
it's going to be hard.  Any help we can give him would be
appreciated, I'm sure."
     "Help?  How can we help him?"
     "Are you willing to learn a few things about energies?"
     "Well, Zoner's been trying to teach me some stuff as he
worked on it himself.  I guess it wouldn't hurt."
     "Well, we can start now if you want."
     "Ok."

     Gryphon was, as he was accustomed to being when off-duty
these days, slumped into the corner of a Wedge booth, letting
the wall on either side of him hold him up so he could
concentrate on that incredibly complex task called
breathing.  It had been a day.
     A great many things were annoying him.  The stress of
command he had almost dealt with; it was the kind of thing
that had to be done, and he was best qualified to do it.
Better to do it himself than worry about how well person x
was doing it.  Besides, it was easier to tell himself how bad
he had fucked up than someone else.
     There was the fact that he wasn't sure if he could get
up out of the Wedgebooth to go to bed.
     There was the fact that he had lost a pilot.  Sure, it
was Paul, but still, it would be a mark on the record of his
squadron, and whatever his faults, Paul had still been a
human being.
     There was the fact that Fritz had died.  Fritz could be
annoying sometimes, but Gryphon had genuinely liked the man,
and was quite sad that he was gone.
     There was the imminent threat of nuclear bombardment by
the United States Air Force.  Enough said.
     There was the ever-so-polite-and-well-meaning blow off
Yuri had given him.  Ah well, she was stressed.  No news.
     There was the fact that no one seemed to know where Kei
was, and he wanted to talk to her, like a lot.
     There was the fact that, although he wanted to go to
sleep, he had been foolish enough to pour himself into this
Wedgebooth and now feared himself incapable of standing.
     There was the fact that this mental list of his had
become redundantly recursive.  He gave a small whimper and
got to his feet.
     "Hey, Gryph--good flying out there today," Pfloyd
called from the nosh machinery.  "Guess we don't have to
listen to Fritz anymore, huh?"
     Gryphon walked right up to Floyd, looked up into the
taller man's face, and said in a tone of soft menace,
"Pfloyd?  I liked Fritz.  A lot, in fact.  I have two
daver-sharp Moraknives, a Buck Lancer 003, and an
ElectroMagnum .451 on me right now.  I'm in a very, very bad
mood.  The only reason I don't kill you right now is because
I like you, too.  And I'm very tired."  He shouldered past
Pfloyd, opened the big double door to his room, stepped
through, and slammed it closed without saying a word, nor
looking back.
     Pfloyd stood by the candy machine for quite some time,
staring after Gryphon, before wandering toward the
Wedgeterms, shaking his head.
     "Stress," he said.

     Gryphon didn't bother with the lights in his room.  He
evaded the desk chair by reflex, stepped on some randomly
unimportant kipple, and allowed himself to drop onto his bed,
still in uniform.  Sleep quickly attacked and subdued him.

----------------------------------------------------------SIX

     "Very few things are as they seem."
                         --Anonymous

     "Ben?  Are you asleep?"
     Gryphon opened his eyes.  Kei was leaning over him in
the dark of the room, her face marked with sharp shadows in
the pink light of the lava lamp.  Night, then.
     "Not any more," he replied, smacking the scattered bits
of his consciousness back together.  "Why?"
     "Good."  She kissed him.  Hard.
     "Hm," said Ben when she was done.  "What was that for?"
     "Just because," she replied, getting into bed beside
him.  "It's been a rough day.  It seemed like a good thing to
do.  Besides, you looked like you needed one, and I know I
did."
     Gryphon chuckled.  "Tell me about it...what a shitty
day.  Which reminds me, Yuri says hi."
     "Oh she does, does she?"
     "Oop--I detect a note of annoyance."
     "Just a little.  She's really upset over MegaZone--she
blew me off when I went down and tried to get her to eat
something.  Me!  Her own partner, her best friend.  She's
too busy with Jenna, talking about all of that mysticism
shit."
     "Hmm...yeah.  I dunno about that sometimes.  I mean, I
know there's something to it.  You know full well that you
and Yuri are psionically active.  I've experienced enough of
empathy and the like to give it some credence...and Jen seems
more reasonable on the subject than some...but I always
thought of Yuri as being more concrete than that.  Empathy
and your powers are tangible, they can be easily identified
and shown for what they are.  What Jenna talks about...I
dunno."
     "She's desperate to save Zoner."
     "Well...so am I...but I think the answer can be found in
slightly more mundane circles.  Lord Fahrvergnugen has
connections in almost every branch of science--I'm sure his
people can come up with something.  They'll probably have
something ready for us when we get back to Planitia.  I
thought Wolfgang was going to have a cow when Yuri insisted
we bring Zoner along with us instead of leaving him in the
base hospital."
     "I wish I had your confidence," Kei replied, toying idly
with a bit of his long hair.  "I worry about what'll happen
to Yuri if Zoner dies."
     "I don't know," Gryphon said softly.  "I hope we don't
have to find out.  I'm running out of friends as it is...I
don't want to lose Zoner and Yuri."
     "We may lose Yuri anyway, before this is over," Kei told
him.  "She won't eat, she won't sleep...she's going to slowly
kill herself before he even wakes up.  I can't look her in
the face anymore, I want to scream at her and shake her.  I
used to know her."
     "Hmm...maybe we should go down together and kidnap her."
     "And do what with her?"
     "Drag her to Denny's and make her eat something.  Just
the color of Key Lime pie should cheer her up."
     "And if Zoner were to wake up while we were at Denny's?
She'd never forgive us."
     Are you going to be able to forgive yourself if she
drives herself to an early grave? Gryphon asked himself, the
thought directed toward Kei as well.  He decided to let the
question go unspoken; Kei was upset enough as it was.
     They lay for some time in silence, holding each other
and taking strength from the embrace.  Neither could think of
anything more to say; both lay silent, turning over plan
after plan in their minds, and rejecting them all.
     There was a soft ping and the monitor on Gryphon's PC
showed the EVE logo.
     "Am I intruding?" Eve's voice asked, the symbol still on
the screen.
     "No, Eve," Gryphon said, getting up and going to the
terminal.  "Go ahead."
     The screen changed to Eve's standard head-and-shoulders
projection.  "I hate to be the messenger of bad news,
especially at a time like this, but MegaZone's condition is
worsening."
     "Oh, no."  Gryphon put his face in his hand.  "What
happened?"
     "Unknown," Eve replied.  "His core temperature has
dropped by three degrees, with a corresponding drop in heart
rate, respiration, and blood pressure."  Eve looked downcast
and said softly, "He seems to be dying."
     "Fuck," Gryphon said softly; then, loudly, "Fuck!"  He
turned, seized by a sudden rage, and backhanded a Pepsi can
off his desk, sending it crashing against the far wall and
bouncing into the corner.
     "Ben, stop it!" Kei cried, jumping up and seizing his
arm before he could punch something solid and hurt himself.
     "I'm sorry," Eve said.  "Is there anything I can do?"
     "Yes," Gryphon replied, struggling to maintain control.
"Yes, there is."
     "Name it."
     "Sing `Tell Me the Secret'.  Please."
     "If you wish."  Eve paused, loading something into
memory, and then as background music appeared behind her,
sang a hauntingly beautiful and slightly mournful song,
dancing to it as the viewpoint of the monitor pulled back to
a full-body simulation.  The song was in Japanese, and
Gryphon wasn't sure entirely what it meant, but he loved it,
and hearing it sung soothed him.  In a moment he no longer
wished to put his fist through a cinderblock wall.
     "Thank you," he said quietly when the song was over.
     "You're welcome," Eve replied.
     "Can you do me one more favor?" he asked.
     "Of course."
     "Contact ReRob and find out if he found that Shadow
Legios for me yet."
     "What are you going to do?" Kei asked.  "Run the Air
Force blockade and take people home now?  What about Zoner?
And Yuri--God, she must be beside herself."
     "I can't deal with that right now.  Trust me on this--I
need to get rid of some of this stress and angst and sheer
black anger that's building up inside me before I can deal
with Zoner or Yuri.  You go down and see to Yuri--she's your
partner, your best friend, you can help her more than I can
anyway.  That's been shown already."
     "ReRob reports success," Eve announced.  "A Shadow
Legios is ready and waiting in cargo hold six."
     "Great.  Kei," Gryphon said, turning to face her and
taking her hands, "take care of Yuri.  She'll need you.  I
love you."  He gave her a kiss.  "And remind Yuri I love her
too."  And, throwing open the doors, he was gone, off at a
dead run for cargo hold six.
     Kei stood looking after him for a minute or two, then
ran to sick bay.

--------------------------------------------------------SEVEN

     "A fighting man needs all of his courage."
                         --Lt. Cmdr. Roy Fokker

     When Gryphon arrived in the makeshift flight deck that
was hold six, locking down the last piece of his white and
black CVR-3, he found a fully fitted Shadow Legios, a small
group of suited people, and ReRob, also suited up in full
armor, waiting for him.
     "ReRob!  What're you doing suited up?" Gryphon asked as
he ran to the boarding ladder.
     "Figured you might need a Beta driver," ReRob replied.
"D'you mind?"
     "No, by all means," Gryphon replied.  "Aren't you going,
Matt?"
     "Nah...I'm staying with Jen.  She won't leave until
Zoner recovers.  Besides, I don't want to leave before I find
out what's going to happen to Zoner either, you know?"
     "Yeah, I understand.  I should be back in a few hours...
watch the shop for us, 'Droid."  Gryphon closed the Alpha's
cockpit and signaled everyone clear.  They cleared the bay,
getting back behind doors; the launch officer opened the
doors, and, lacking catapult or even any real launch
equipment at all, Gryphon simply punched the Beta's boosters
wide open and blew out through the hatch.
     His radar immediately showed a half-dozen targets, all
of them moving barely subsonically and in a patrol pattern
around the SDF-17's position--the Air Force blockade, no
doubt.  Off to the north was a large aircraft emitting a
large amount of radar waves, undoubtedly a Sentry.  No big
deal; in the night, they would never be able to see the
black, grey, and dark blue Shadow Fighter, and they couldn't
pick it up on any radar thanks to its cloaking device, and
since only the Navy's Tomcats had an IR sensor he was safe.
Hopefully he wouldn't have to fight--he wasn't too keen on
fighting his own homeland's air force--but if he had to, in
order to get his friends back home, then he would.

     Back on board the SDF-17 Jenna, Kei, and Yuri watched
over Zoner as he lay listlessly in sickbay.  His vital signs
were still dropping, not as quickly as they had, but still
dropping.
     In his mind Zoner was tiring, part of him wanted to keep
up the fight, to return to the land of the living, but more
and more of his mind just wanted to rest, to enter the lands
of Morpheus to stay.  What was worth returning for?   Yuri,
Yuri was there, but she was so far away, such a distant goal.
And there were his friends, Jenna, Gryph, Matt, Daver,
Helene, et al, but they were further away than Yuri.  Tired,
so damn weary, he'd been journeying through the labyrinths of
his mind for so long.  Rest, I want to rest, just for a
while, forever.  To enter the comforting arms of Death, to
hear the flapping of her mighty wings, that would be so easy.
No!  No, I must try to make it back, I owe it to the others.
I'll keep trying, for now.
     On the monitors Zoner's vitals jumped momentarily, then
returned to their decline.
     Jenna noticed it first, "He's fighting, but he's losing
the battle.  I don't think he'll be able to do it alone.  If
we're going to help we'd better do it now."
     "Honestly, what do you think his chances are?" Yuri
asked, choking back tears as she gazed at Zoner's comatose
form.
     "He's a fighter, but even all of this hi-tech gadgetry
doesn't seem to make a difference.  This sick bay is better
equipped than the best hospitals on Earth, and we can't help
him.  Maybe, just maybe, with our help he'll be able to win
the fight, but if not we'd better hope that Wolfgang has
something else to try," Jenna answered quietly.
     "Tell me what to do," Yuri said calmly.
     "Well, I think I'd better be going now," Kei said as she
turned to leave.
     "Please stay, Kei," Yuri asked her.  "Together we're
more powerful, maybe it will make the difference."
     "I don't really believe in this stuff...but I won't stop
you from doing it if you think it will help."
     "Please, Kei.  Please," Yuri pleaded with her partner.
     "If it means that much to you I'll stay.  I won't take
an active role in this, but I'll stay out of the way."
     "Thank you, Kei, thank you.  Please, just hold my hand."
     "Ok."
     "Alright, Yuri, remember what I showed you.  Just follow
your feelings," Jenna counseled.
     "I'll try," Yuri said, sounding unsure.
     "Just relax, let it flow, let your feelings guide you.
Don't try to force it," Jenna said in a soothing voice.
     "Ok, I'll do my best."
     "That's all anyone can ask."
     Jenna and Yuri closed their eyes in concentration and
began trying to help Zoner win his private war.  Meanwhile,
Kei looked on in a rather bemused fashion. She thought it was
all a bunch of rubbish, but if it helped Yuri deal with the
situation she wasn't going to start a fight over in now.
Besides, she'd have plenty of time later to straighten Yuri
out.  For now, she could just sit and stew over how amazingly
helpless she felt.  For someone like Kei, that was a fate
worse than death itself.
     Oh, Yuri, she thought.  You used to be my best friend...
what's happened?

     Ben raced towards Boston, the eight passengers in the
Beta's bombbay clinging to the handholds as the Legios flew
NOE to avoid detection.  As he approached the outskirts of
the city his sensors picked up something odd.  His radiation
indicators picked up a hot spot just to the left of his
flight path.  Ben shifted to VTOL mode and hovered while his
sensors zoomed in on it.  The image came in clearly, but been
couldn't believe his eyes.  It was an '84 Colt Turbo,
plastered against the wall of an abandoned warehouse.
     Gryphon hovered closer to check it out.  On closer
examination Ben noticed a white Festiva crushed into the wall
by the Colt.  A Colt and a Festiva?  No, it couldn't be.  But
they were slightly radioactive, maybe they could be.
     Ben zoomed in on the Colt's windows.  Judging by the
kipple factor, it quite possibly was.  It appeared to be
Tess, Daver's Colt.  How'd she get all the way out here?
Nah, it couldn't be.  Was she blown all the way here by the
blast from the reactor?   He'd have to come back and check it
closer later.  For now he had to drop off his passengers.
     Gryphon decided to put it down in a parking lot next to
Northeastern University.  What better a place to let a bunch
of college students loose than right across the street from
Taco Bell and a campus?  ReRob popped the bombbay door and
the eight passengers deplaned.
     "See you later guys, best of luck!" ReRob called out
over the external speakers.
     "Yeah, take it easy...have fun," Gryphon added.  The
assorted deplanees waved and scattered to avoid being
quick fried as Gryphon boosted the Legios into the sky,
tucked the legs back in, and shot away.
     "Well, one more run and we should have all of them off,"
said ReRob from the back."
     "Yeah, not too many people wanted off. Just a few who
really needed to get back to their lives.  I guess flying
around in space with a good possibility of dying horribly
appeals to the Wedge mentality.  What a surprise."
     "Everyone else is going to need to tell their families
what's going on, though."
     "I guess so...we'll figure that one out later."

     Ben raced across the barren terrain, hugging the earth
in an attempt to use the hills as a shield from visual
detection. He couldn't have known about the observation post
the Army had established on one of the ridges.  And if he
had, would he have much cared, really?
     "God's-eye, this is Recon-one."
     "God's-eye here, go ahead Recon-one."
     "We just had a fast-mover blow by in the valley just
south of our position.  Travelling west sub-mach.  Never seen
anything quite like it.  It must be from that ship."
     "Recon-one, we have nothing on radar. Confirm you're
reporting one fast-mover west bound."
     "God's-eye, we know what we saw.  One fucking large
fixed-wing jet.  Black and blue coloration."
     "Roger Recon-one, we'll send a couple of fifteens your
way to check it out."
     "Thanks, Recon-one out."

     "Viper flight, this is God's eye. New course bearing 193
degrees."
     "Viper flight, roger."
     The two F-15C Eagles of Viper flight left the racetrack
orbit they had been flying and headed for Recon-one's
position.

     Gryphon flared the Legios and did a perfect VTOL
landing; he might be a Valkyrie pilot by choice, but he had
passed all the VT training courses quite handily.  Call it a
natural aptitude.  Handling crews ran up to ready the Legios
for a quick turn-around.  While they were working Gryphon and
ReRob deplaned.  Gryphon walked to the nearest comm screen.
     "Eve, can you get Daver to come down here ASAP?"
     "Of course Ben, right away." Eve's image answered from
the screen.
     Ben and ReRob watched the crews work as they waited for
them to finish.  Just as the crews finished their checks
Daver jogged into the hanger bay.
     "What's up?"
     "I wanted you to ride along in the Beta's cockpit with
ReRob.  There's something I want you to see."
     "Such as?"
     "It's a surprise."
     The next eight passengers boarded the Beta while ReRob,
Daver, and Gryphon strapped into the cockpits.  Once they
were all aboard Gryphon lifted off and blasted clear of the
bay.

     "God's-eye, this is Viper flight.  We're in position.
Any contacts?"
     "Negative, Viper-flight.  God's-eye shows zero
contacts."
     "Roger tha--holy shit!  Viper-two, did you see that?"
     "Roger, Viper-lead."
     "What was that?  All I saw was a blur and three blue
glowing dots.  God's-eye do you show any contacts bearing 093
degrees from our present position?"
     "Negative, Viper-lead.  We show no contacts other than
yourselves."
     "Well we just saw something race by about ten miles
south, flying low and heading east."
     "God's-eye still shows nothing, Viper-lead."
     "God's-eye, this is Recon-one.  That fast-mover just
blew by again, heading east this time."
     "Recon-one, are you sure?  We don't have anything!"
     "Yes, we're fucking sure!"
     "Ok!  Ok!  Viper-flight, did you copy that?"
     "Roger."
     "Recon-one, keep an eye open.  Report in the instant
that aircraft appears again."
     "Roger."
     "Viper-flight, fly an oval along the craft's last known
flight path."
     "Roger."
     The mission controller onboard the Sentry looked up from
his screen.  "We'll get that bastard next time!"

     Ben flew directly to the parking lot at Northeastern and
ReRob let out their passengers.
     "Well Ben, that's all of 'em."
     "Ok, let's get back to the ship."
     "Where's this thing you wanted me to see?" Daver asked.
     "I'll show you on the way back."
     Ben lifted off and sped back in the direction they had
come.  As he approached the warehouse he flared and spun the
Legios around to face the west facing wall.  Gryph zoomed the
optical sensors in on the Colt.
     "ReRob, slave the Beta's monitor to my sensors and
switch it on."
     "Will do."
     The main monitor of the Beta came to life and displayed
a close zoom of the Colt stuck in the wall. Tess was missing
her paint, license plate, and the plastic bits on the ends of
her bumpers, but otherwise apparently undamaged.
     "Oh why look, it's Tess," Daver quipped.
     "Apparently so. I spotted her on the way in the first
time.  Thought you might be interested," Gryphon answered.
     "Shit yeah!  Can we get her out of there?  It's rather
undignified."
     "Sure.  ReRob, prepare to disengage."
     "I'm ready when you are."
     Gryphon disengaged his Alpha from the Beta and
transformed to battroid mode.  He gently pried Tess from the
crater she'd created when she impacted and put her down in a
parking space nearby, pausing briefly to wipe off bits of
Festiva.
     "Mr. Ritchie, your car," Gryphon said in his best valet
voice while gesturing with the Alpha.  "Now...what to do with
her?  Shall we stuff her into the bomb bay?  Shall we lug her
back to the ship in hand?  Shall we buy a new guitar?  Shall
we drive a more powerful car?"
     "Tess with fusion power!  I like this plan," Dave began.
     "I'm excited to be a part of it," Gryphon echoed.
     "Let's do it," they stereoed.
     "You guys have spent far too much time watching that
movie," said ReRob.
     "But for now...what do we do with her?"
     "Well...ReRob, let me out, I'll drive her back."
     "You sure that's a good idea?" Rob asked.
     "Of course not.  It's a terrible idea!  But Tess looks
restless."
     "Oh, I see."
     Dave climbed down from the cockpit of the Beta, climbed
into Tess, inserted the key, and turned.  The faithful little
car started right up.  Daver grinned and zoomed off down the
street.
     "He's nuts," said ReRob as Gryphon reattached the Alpha.
     "So?"
     "..."
     "Let's book," Gryphon said, converting back to fighter
mode and lifting the Legios off the ground.  Again tucking
the legs back under, they streaked back for the SDF-17.

     "There it is again," PFC Gen Ericson muttered.
"God's-eye, this is recon-one.  Guess whaaaaaat?"
     "It's back?"
     "Roger, heading west again, going like a bat out of
hell."
     "Viper-lead, did you copy that?"
     "Roger...I don't see anything--wait!  There he is.
Bastard's almost invisible.  Pursuing."

     "Hey, Gryph?"
     "Yeah?"
     "I hate to break this to you, but we've got company."
     "Huh?"  Gryphon looked back, out over the rear deck and
the Beta's tail.  "Oh, jet fighters.  How quaint."
     "What're we gonna do?"
     "Ignore them, maybe they'll go away."

     "I've got something weird here, God's-eye."
     "Go ahead, Viper-lead."
     "Hostile is invisible to radar."
     "As in stealth, Viper-lead?"
     "No, as in my acquisition radar doesn't paint him.  At
all."
     "Confirm this is not a technical problem, Viper-lead."
     "It's not a technical problem, God's-eye; Viper-two
shows up just fine.  This thing is invisible, whatever it
is."
     "It is behaving in a hostile manner?"
     "Negative...it seems to be...well...ignoring us."

     "Hmm...Rob, the F-15 is the fastest fighter the Air
Force has, right?"
     "Ahh...I believe so...why?"
     "Just wondering."  Gryphon grinned evilly, shut off the
shadow cloak, and began opening his throttles.

     "Shit!" Viper-lead shouted as the target suddenly surged
forward.  "God's-eye, the target is visible to radar--and
accelerating."
     "We noticed, Viper-lead.  Pursue him."

     "Hey look, they're following us," said Gryphon.  "Heh."
     "Gryph?  Are you feeling okay?"
     "Juuust fine, Rob, don't worry about me."  Gryphon
smiled an evil and not altogether sane smile and pulled back
on the joystick.  The Legios' nose came up and he began to
climb.

     "God's-eye, bandit is climbing, do you read?"
     "Roger, Viper-lead.  From his course, it looks like he's
heading back toward the hot zone--probably to rendezvous with
his ship.  Watch yourselves--I'd bet that monster has some
serious AA."
     "Roger, God's-eye."

     "Hey, cool, they're still following us," Gryphon
said.  He started pushing the throttles open a bit more.  He
and his pursuers were both approaching Mach 2 in a rather
steep climb.

     "God's-eye, do we have permission to fire, over?"
     "Negative, Viper-flight.  Permission to fire is denied."
     "Roger, permission to fire denied--what the fuck?!
Viper-two, stand down!  Permission to fire is denied!"

     "Hey!  They _shot_ at us!" ReRob announced as an
incoming-fire warning wailed.  On his rear-view scope,
Gryphon saw the second F-15 launch a missile.
     "Hmm, how 'bout that," Gryphon replied.

     The AIM-9L Sidewinder missile homed on the heat of the
Legios' huge thrusters, diving for the engine cores.

     Gryphon gritted his teeth angrily and slammed the
throttles open, pulling back on the stick.  The Legios stood
on its tail and clawed for the stars.  Even directly
vertical, it only took the Beta's mighty engines a few
seconds to push the whole craft to Mach 8.
     "FUCK!  God's-eye--"
     "We see it, we see it."
     "God's-eye, this is insane!  Estimate bandit's speed to
be at least Mach 6 and still accelerating.  Straight up!"

     Gryphon tabbed the control that turned the shadow cloak
back on.

     "God's-eye, target is gone.  Last estimate puts him at
Mach 8 and straight up.  Could be transatmospheric."
     "Yeah, we saw it.  Return to base, Viper flight...
there's nothing you can do."
     "Shit," Viper-lead muttered, and ordered his flight to
peel off.  "Viper-two, when we get back, your ass is mine."

     Gryphon climbed down from the Alpha's cockpit, shook
ReRob's hand, and said with a grin, "Well, there's another
triumph for clean hands, a pure heart, a good soul...and
vastly superior technology."
     "I wish I could've seen those guys' faces," Rob replied.
     "You guys, that was priceless!" Daver shouted from
across the hold as he climbed out of Tess.
     "Daver?!  How the hell did you beat us back?"
     "It's a secret," Daver replied with a cryptic grin.
     Gryphon shrugged and went to the nearest phone.  "Eve,
anything new on Zoner's condition?"
     "No," Eve replied.  "Everything's still dropping.  I
fear he hasn't got much time left."
     "What?  Well, what in hell is our medical staff doing
about it?"
     "Um..."  Eve hesitated.  "I don't know a lot about
medical procedures, but...it doesn't appear to me that she's
doing much of anything."  The screen switched from a view of
Eve to a securicam perspective of sick bay, showing Zoner
comatose, Yuri and Jenna appearing decidedly inactive, and
Kei looking very uneasy.
     "What the fuck...?" Gryphon muttered.
     "Gryph, good news!" ReRob called from his consultation
with Android across the bay.  "Truss got the engines
working--we can get outta here!"
     "I'll deal with this later," Gryphon told Eve as she
took the screen back.  "Right now, try and get everything
you can locked down for an emergency fold."
     "I will," Eve replied.  "Don't worry, I'm sure there's
a point to whatever they're doing."
     "Oh yeah," Gryphon muttered to himself as he ran toward
the bridge.  "Yeah, there's a point all right."

--------------------------------------------------------EIGHT

     "Don't think of it as retreating...think of it as a
strategic advance to the rear."
                         --Rich Parker

     "All hands prepare for emergency launch," Gryphon
ordered as he once again took the captain's station.  "ReRob,
take the Ops station.  Engage Reflex furnace.  Activate
gravity control and lift off immediately."
     "Right, hang on a second--okay, there it is."

     The SDF-17 shivered, as if shaking itself out of sleep,
as the Reflex furnace rumbled back to operation.  Down in
Engineering, John Trussell and Andrew Petrarca shook hands.

     "Gravity control on line," ReRob reported.  "Lifting off
now."

     The Wayward Son, tattered and wrecked though she was,
lifted from the ground, rising majestically into the air, as
her landing gear retracted upward.

     "Yo, like the Air Force doesn't want us to leave now," q
called out.  "Something about some big black fighter."
     "Tell them we don't know what they mean and we're
complying with their order to depart a bit early, repairs are
completed.  And tell them to do have a nice day..."

     Every Air Force unit in the area began to converge on
the SDF-17 as it rose toward the stars.

     "They say no dice," q reported.  "They want us to land
immediately so they can carry on an investigation into the
plane they say we sent out."
     "Plane?  I saw no plane," Gryphon said with a twisted
grin.  "Shut them off, then--they can't stop us."

     "All units, this is God's-eye.  You have permission to
fire.  All units, repeat, you have permission to fire."

     Every Air Force unit in the area began firing on the
SDF-17, with entirely no effect.

     "Idiots," Gryphon remarked.  "Don't shoot back, there's
no point in killing anyone we don't have to.  Time to
suitable fold position?"
     "Three minutes...mark," ReRob replied.
     "Begin calculations for fold."
     "Beginning calculations now."
     "This is hopeless," Viper-lead commented as he released
his last missile into the vast armored side of the battle
fortress.  "They expect us to be able to bring this thing
down?"
     "All units, this is God's-eye.  Break off pursuit."
     "Shit," Viper-lead muttered for the second time today,
and peeled off.  The bastard got away again.  Damn aliens.

     "Air Force units have retreated," ReRob said.  "We
must've reached their ceiling."
     "Good.  Eve, alert all decks to prepare for fold
operation.  Rob, time to fold position?"
     "Thirty seconds...mark."
     "Fold calculations?"
     "Almost complete."
     "All decks, all decks, prepare for fold operation,
repeat, prepare for immediate fold operation.  This is not a
drill," Eve announced from every working monitor on board.
     "We're in position," Rob announced.  "Fold calculations
complete."
     "Execute fold on my mark.  Three.  Two.  One.  Mark."
     Once again, the Wayward Son launched herself into a
fold.

     Back on Earth, the collective defense organizations of
the world heaved a sigh of relief and stood down their
nuclear arsenals.  They just hoped it would never be back.

     And in Tokyo, a man with pale skin and a burning in the
back of his eyes rented an office downtown and began to
scheme...

---------------------------------------------------------NINE

     "I seem to have the talent for fucking up every
personal relationship I'm involved in."
                         --Zoner

     The SDF-17 defolded in the midst of the Cygnus Beta
system.  The once proud fortress was battered and bruised,
but it was still functional.  The broken prow turned towards
Planitia and the vessel began limping home, like a wounded
beast.  Gryphon sat on the bridge, his mind racing.
     "q, how long 'til we reach the shipyards?" Gryphon
asked.
     "Like, two hours or so I think.  The ship's beat up
pretty badly," q answered.
     "ReRob, are we going to make it there in one piece?"
     "Well, as long as you don't plan on any more violent
encounters, I think we can make it ok."
     "I try not to plan anything anymore.  Plans never seem
to work out," Gryphon replied bitterly.  "Eve, what's the
latest on Zoner?"
     "His vitals are still dropping.  I fear that the
disruption of the fold maneuver didn't help his condition
any," Eve replied sadly.
     "Great!  So I made it worse by folding, just great!"
     "Don't get down on yourself, Ben.  The fold was
necessary, he needs attention he can only get on Planitia.
His condition is serious, but not yet grave."
     "Will he make it back to the shipyards?"
     "As long as his condition continues to decline at its
current rate we will make it with time to spare."
     "Ok...thank you, Eve.  Keep an eye on him and let me
know if there are any changes."
     "Ok, Ben. Please, take care of yourself too.  Don't
worry, he'll recover," Eve tried to comfort Ben, and then was
gone.

     "q, connect me to the Utopia Planitia shipyards.  I need
to talk to Lord Fahrvergnugen."
     "Like, will do Gryph."
     q worked the controls on the comm panel in front of him.
In a few moments he had made contact with the communications
officer at the shipyards.  The connection was transferred to
Lord Fahrvergnugen's office.
     "Like, I've got Wolfgang on line one."
     "Put him up on the main screen."
     "Like done."
     Lord Fahrvergnugen's image appeared on the large
viewscreen on the front wall of the bridge.  He sat in a
chair behind a large crescent shaped desk.  His bright orange
hair contrasted with his deep black armor and cloak.
     "Ah, Gryphon. The fact that I am speaking to you tells
me that Zoner has not yet recovered," Wolfgang noted sadly.
Then he expectantly asked, "How did operations on Earth go?"
     "The mission's goals were accomplished.  Whether or not
it was a success, I'm not sure yet," Gryphon replied.
     "Something troubles you my son, what is it?"
     "Well, the ship was nearly destroyed.  We lost half of
the main gun, a large chunk of midships, both A.R.M.D.
platforms, and our engines were damaged.  Worse than that, we
lost several of the crew in the line of duty.  There were
numerous injuries amongst the crew on the Wayward Son.  If we
had had a full complement there probably would have been a
lot of deaths.  But most of the ship was empty.  On the other
hand, with a full crew we may have been able to fight rather
more effectively."
     "Damages can be repaired!  What is important is that you
took the battle to the enemy and emerged victorious.  I am
saddened to hear of your losses.  We will prepare to hold
proper military services upon your return.  We must also
prepare a victory celebration, of course."
     "A party, yeah, right...there is one more thing..."
     "That is?"
     "We're losing Zoner."
     "What do you mean?"
     "His vital signs are dropping and the medical equipment
onboard ship can't maintain him.  We were sorta hoping you
might have some tricks left up your sleeve."
     "This is most distressing.  I do have one option left.
I'll have to call in some old favors.  Just get him back here
as soon as you can.  I'll do what I can."
     "We'd all appreciate that.  We should be back in a
couple of hours."
     "We'll be expecting you.  Wolfgang out."
     "Well, ReRob, get us there as fast as you can without
blowing out the engines again."
     "Will do Gryph.  Don't worry, he'll pull through. He's
too stubborn to die."
     "That's too stupid to die.  And will people please stop
saying that?" Gryphon snapped.
     ReRob and q slouched in their chairs.  Ben was really
stressed out.  It was probably better to just leave him alone
for now.  Zoner had better recover or Gryph might just go
over the edge. ..

     Down in sickbay Yuri and Jenna directed all the energy
they could into Zoner to help him in his fight to stay alive.
But it was failing, he was still fading fast.
     Kei couldn't understand what the other two were doing,
but she understood what the biomonitors told her.  Zoner was
slipping away and it didn't seem like what they were doing
was helping him any.  She had always thought she understood
Yuri, but why she was doing this was beyond her.  Everything
had changed so much since they had met the Wedge Rats.  But
nothing that happened before that was real anyway was it.
Aurgh!  This was no time to start that mental argument again.
She was real, and that was all that mattered now.
     Kei looked at Yuri, her eyes focused intently on Zoner.
What would happen to her if Zoner didn't pull through?  She
wasn't sure; Yuri had never gotten so close to anyone else.
Even herself...was that a hint of jealousy?  No, they were
different relationships.  She and Yuri were best friends,
Yuri and Zoner were lovers.  But Yuri was so attached to
Zoner--would his death break her?  She just couldn't tell.
What would happen to her if Ben were to die?  She didn't want
to think about that.  It was too painful to consider, and
Yuri was facing it.  She wished she could shield Yuri from
the pain, but she knew that there was nothing she could do.
She could only be there when Yuri needed her for comfort and
support.  Yuri would have to face events as they happened.

     The Wayward Son cruised silently through space, carrying
its precious cargo, the hopes and dreams of its crew.  Many
of the crew were suffering from various forms of shell shock.
The stress of combat had given way to the excitement of
victory, and now to the realization of the extent of what had
transpired.  They were happy to have survived, yet they felt
a guilt that comes from losing one's friends in battle.  Why
them, why not me?  And the condition of their friend and
captain, Zoner, was known to all.  It didn't help.  And the
ship travelled silently on.

----------------------------------------------------------TEN

     "Don't fear the reaper."
                         --Blue Oyster Cult

     "Ben!  I'm afraid that Zoner's condition has taken a
turn for the worse," Eve called from the bridge comm system.
     "What?  What now?"
     "His vital signs are dropping rapidly.  At the present
rate he won't make it back to the shipyards."
     "How long does he have?"
     Eve glanced away.  "I estimate fifteen minutes," she
said quietly.  "Maybe twenty, but..."
     "Rob?"
     Rob shook his head slowly.  "At least an hour.  If I
push her any harder she'll blow."
     Gryphon had no reply.  He just sat there, looking at
nothing.  A minute dragged by.
     "Gryph?" asked Rob.
     "You have the conn," Gryphon whispered, his voice barely
audible.  He got up and ran from the bridge.

     In sickbay Jenna and Yuri redoubled their efforts. In
his mind Zoner could feel their pull.  He wanted badly to
return to them, to Yuri, but they seemed to be so far away,
too far.  He had been fighting forever, running through the
labyrinth of his mind.  Opening the doors to his memories,
hoping that one would lead him back to the land of the
waking.  How long had he been unconscious, it seemed like
years.  He had no way to keep track of time.  Tired, he was
so tired.  Maybe if he rested for a little while he would be
able to start fresh.  Yeah, rest.  Just a little, stop
fighting for a while.  I'm sure it wouldn't hurt.  In his
mind he stopped running, lay down and closed his eyes.
     The monitors in sickbay flatlined.
     "ZONER!" Yuri screamed. "NO!  YOU CAN'T DIE!"
     Oh no, thought Kei.  Oh fucking no.  She hadn't been
very close to Zoner, not nearly as close as Yuri was to
Gryphon, but that had a lot to do with the fact that she and
Zoner were in many respect quite similar people, and thus
didn't get along sometimes.  Neither opened up easily, and
both were given to mistrust.  Seeing so much of herself in
him had given him some special significance, and they had
been friends.  Pain welled up inside her, but she slammed it
back down and closed a heavy steel hatch over it.  Now was
not the time; she was needed.  She could cry later.  If she
could even cry at all.  She hadn't tried lately.
     Jenna jumped into action, adjusting the life support
system.  All of this technology, and she still felt helpless.
     Yuri began sobbing and calling out to Zoner repeatedly.
Kei gathered her up and carried her sobbing form to a chair
in the corner.  All of the worry and pain which had built up
in Yuri for the preceding weeks poured out as sobs wracked
her body.  Kei hugged Yuri to her and tried to ease her pain
as she watch Jenna desperately trying to save Zoner.

     Zoner stood up, he felt refreshed and energetic. That
nap had really helped.  But something seemed different, the
pain that had been in the background for so long was gone.
He realized then that he wasn't alone.
     He turned to face his companion; he knew who she was.
She was stunningly beautiful, dressed in a halter and slacks
- all black, with a silver ankh hanging around her neck.
     "How do you do Teleute?  I've been waiting for a chance
to meet you," Zoner said in greeting.
     "I'm doing ok, Zoner, my job sort of keeps me busy."
     "I can imagine, it must get tiring.  Do you have time to
talk for a bit?  I've been interested in you for a while.
You're very intriguing."
     Death thought it over for a moment.  "I suppose so,
let's go for a walk."
     With a gesture of her hand they were in a park in the
spring.  They strolled along the path and chatted with each
other.

     "It's no use.  I can't bring him back," Jenna called out
from her position at Zoner's side.
     "NO!" Yuri cried out in anguish.
     "Shhhh!!  Yuri, I'm so sorry..." Kei whispered. She
didn't know what to say.  She had never seen Yuri this torn
up, not even when Billy died.
     "Jenna, may I make a suggestion?" Eve inquired from the
comm screen.
     "Anything if it will help save him."
     "Put him in a chill down unit, the ones used for severe
trauma cases."
     "Why?"
     "It will give him more time before brain damage sets in.
Maybe Lord Fahrvergnugen can do something in that time."
     "I understand.  Thank you, Eve."  Jenna entered the
commands to transfer Zoner's body to a chill down unit.  The
cold would slow the onset of organ damage, stretching the
normal five minutes to an hour or more.  It took but a few
moments for sickbay to complete the transfer.
     "Bridge, this is Jenna.  How long until we reach
Planitia?"
     "Umm, like just under an hour," q replied. "How's Zoner
doing?"
     "I... I couldn't save him I'm afraid.  But there is
still a chance.  I've chilled the body down.  If we can get
him to the shipyards soon maybe they can do something.  But
an hour is cutting it close."
     "Where's Ben?" Kei asked, noticing his absence.
     "Like, I don't know.  When we got the news about Zoner
he gave the conn to ReRob and ran off.  Sorry."
     "It's ok, I can understand how he feels."
     Kei wanted so much to be with Ben, but she couldn't
leave Yuri.  She hoped that Ben would understand.
     "Right now our main concern is getting Zoner to Utopia
Planitia ASAP.  What do we have that's fast and can carry the
chill down unit?" Jenna asked.
     "Not much, I'm not sure if it will fit in a Beta.  I
think our best bet is the Daytona from Hell and its beta.  It
should fit in there no problem, and that thing can do warp.
I say we try it," ReRob answered.
     "Ben said not to touch it..." Kei interjected.
     "I think he'll understand us using it in this case, he
didn't want it used until Zoner woke up.  But if we don't use
it that may not ha---," Jenna caught herself as Yuri's sobs
increased in intensity.  "I'm sorry Yuri, I didn't mean to
hurt you.  I'm sure Wolfgang will be able to do something,"
she added, but even she remained unconvinced.  "Ok, ReRob.
Have the Daytona prepped and ready ASAP.  And get some people
down here to help move the chill down unit."
     "Will do.  Who's going to fly it?"
     "I will," Kei called out from the corner.  "And Yuri is
going too."
     "Fine, you know what you're doing.  Jenna's going along
too, right?  Anyone else?"
     "I'm going to try and find Ben.  How long until the
Daytona is ready?" Kei asked.
     "Give me about ten minutes."
     "Ok, I'll be in the bay in ten minutes, with or without
him."  Then, to Yuri, "Are you going to be ok?"  After
receiving a nod in reply Kei ran from sickbay to find Ben.

     Find him she did; he was standing in the upper
observation deck, leaning slackly against the thick armor
glass, his face pressed to the cool surface, looking out of
the corner of his eye at the stars.
     "Ben?" she asked.  "Are you all right?"
     "He died, didn't he?" Ben replied, his voice empty.
"The bastard went and died.  Didn't he?!"  The last was an
intense, ringing, almost accusatory shout.
     "Yes," Kei replied.  "He died."
     For a long moment Gryphon was silent.  Then, as the
muscles in his arms and back knotted, he began to quiver
silently.  His lips peeled back from clenched teeth; with a
scream of primal rage, he whirled around and slammed his fist
with all his strength into the glass.  "BASTARD!"
     Nothing happened, of course, because the glass was
molecularly aligned crystalline armor.  Apart from a dull
thud and the echo of his scream, there was no real effect.
Snarling with rage, he drew back his arm and hit it again.
And again.
     "Son of a bitch," he snarled, smashing his hand into the
glass.  "Son of a bitch."  He began chanting it, like a
mantra, his voice rising.  There was nothing in the room for
him to break but himself; it would have to do.  He drew back
his arm to deliver another punch.
     "Ben, stop it!" Kei shouted, at him, grabbing his arm
and wrenching him around to face her.  "You're going to smash
your hand.  Stop it!"
     "Leave me alone!" he cried, trying to push her away.
"Just leave me alone."
     "No," she replied, throwing her arms around her and
pulling him close.  "Listen to me.  I need you.  Yuri needs
you.  Do you understand?"
     "I..."  He slumped in her arms, the sudden rage draining
away as fast as it had filled him.  "I'm sorry...I just can't
believe it.  After all the son of a bitch put us through...he
goes and dies."  He laughed bitterly through the tears that
ran down his face.  "You know, he went into that coma on
Yuri's birthday.  How pleasant."  He shook his head weakly.
"Son of a bitch."
     "Stop it," Kei said firmly.  "There may still be a
chance.  Jenna has him in a chill unit; there may be time to
get him to the shipyards if we use his Daytona.  Maybe
there's something Wolfgang can do.  I volunteered to fly it
myself...but I can't think of anyone he'd rather have flying
it than you."
     There was a long pause.  Gryphon drew in a deep,
shuddering breath and let it out as a long, exhausted sigh.
He raised his arms, putting them around Kei, and hugged her
tight.  Then:
     "Okay.  Let's go."

     The Daytona from Hell, Beta unit attached, blasted out
of Cargo Hold Eighteen with Gryphon at its controls and Kei
riding shotgun as copilot.  In back, Yuri and Jenna watched
over the chill unit and each other as the pilots of the
Eight-Ball Squadron stood as a combination honor guard and
moving crew.
     Gryphon thumbed the side of the throttle and pushed it
forward; the Beta's warp drive flared, and they were
superluminal.  His eyes were narrow and clear as they watched
the starfield warp and flicked over the instruments; his
hands on steering wheel and throttle were white-knuckled.
The muscles in the corners of his mouth and eyes twitched.
Kei put a soothing hand on his, feeling it quiver.
     In four minutes, they dropped back out of warp and
docked with the shipyard control unit; not a single word had
been said onboard the entire time.
     As they disembarked and a medical crew from the shipyard
unloaded the chill chamber, Lord Fahrvergnugen and his
entourage entered the docking bay.  The medical crew quickly
moved Zoner down the hallway, apparently towards the
infirmary.  With them was a tall, thin man no one recognized;
late twenties, clear blue eyes behind round spectacles,
disorganized and pale brown hair, and somewhat archaic dress.
     "Welcome back, my children," said Lord Wolfgang Amadeus
Fahrvergnugen.  "Allow me to introduce you to a friend of
mine.  Commander Benjamin D. Hutchins and company, I present
you Mr. Edison Bell, Esquire."

-------------------------------------------------------ELEVEN

     "Just think what we could accomplish without all the
idiots of the world to slow us down!"
                         --Ralken Abegius

     "Greetings.  Lord Fahrvergnugen told me that I may be of
some assistance.  I understand that you have an injured
companion.  Please allow me to examine him," Edison greeted
the incoming personnel.
     "If there is anything you can do to help, we would
greatly appreciate it," Jenna replied.
     "Just revive the asshole so I can kill him," Gryph
snarled.
     Kei rested her hand on Ben's arm.  "Please forgive him,
he's been a little stressed by all of this."
     "I understand.  No offense taken," Edison replied.
     "Can you save him?" Yuri asked timidly.
     "I can only try, milady," Edison replied, bowing.
"However, the odds are rather good.  Do not fret."
     Yuri tried to smile but she was obviously unsure about
trusting this stranger.  She replied quietly, "Thank you."
     "Well, I must began my work immediately.  No sense in
delaying any longer.  Lord Fahrvergnugen, if I may have my
leave?"
     "Certainly.  I know you will do your best.  Good luck."
     Edison nodded to Wolfgang and strode off down the
hallway in the direction Zoner had been taken.
     "Come.  Let us relax in the lounge.  There is no need to
worry.  Edison is an old friend of mine.  He has technology
and skills that even I fail to understand.  If anyone can
save Zoner, it is he."  Wolfgang swept his arm in an arc in a
gesture for those assembled to lead the way.

     Edison began examining Zoner with various and sundry
devices.  His instruments registered some low level brain
activity, not much more than some electrochemical residue,
but it was there.  Good.  He wouldn't have to attempt to
totally reconstruct the neural network.   That was always a
pain in the ass.  Anyway, he was definitely dead.  Hmmm.
There was a small amount of damaged cerebral tissue.  Could
mean some memory loss.  Well, I'll do what I can later.  The
organs were pretty much okay, the brain just stopped running
them.  Hmmm.  But the life support system should have been
able to support them.  Aha, the nervous system had been
sending out scrambled signals.  Well, that could be solved.
     Edison fitted Zoner with a collar.  Dozens of small
needle-like electrodes extended from the collar into Zoner's
neck.  Some of them electronically jammed any signals the
spinal column might generate as he continued his work.  The
others began emitting the correct signals to control the
organs.  He then strapped a metallic belt across Zoner's
chest and entered a few numbers on the touch pad on the front
of the belt.  It began emitting electrical pulses into
Zoner's body.  Edison watched as the display began to show an
irregular heartbeat.  He entered a few more figures and the
heartbeat began to stabilize.  Once that was accomplished he
turned on the rest of the circuits and restarted Zoner's
lungs.  Once he was satisfied that the body could maintain
steady life support, albeit with electronic assistance, he
turned the chill down unit to the defrost setting.  Now, for
the interesting part.
     He fitted yet another band on Zoner.  This one was
around his head.  The headband began emitting low level
signals to the brain to stimulate activity.  Edison watch the
display with some consternation; Zoner wasn't responding as
he expected.

     Zoner walked through the garden with Death discussing
the life and times of the universe.  She had a great sense of
humor and Zoner was enjoying himself immensely.  She told him
about her "family" and how they all played their roles.
Zoner discussed philosophies, beliefs, and religions with
her.  She had some very interesting views, well, she had been
around forever so she certainly had time to form them.  Zoner
admired her, she was so carefree for someone in her position.
The garden was so beautiful, he wished he could stay there
forever, but he knew that was impossible.
     Suddenly Zoner doubled over in pain, holding his head.
"ARGH!!  What is that?!  Fuck this hurts!"
     Death wrapped her arms around him in a comforting
manner. "Do not worry.  It's your body, they're not giving up
on you yet."
     "But... I thought I was dead?"
     "You are, but there are those who try and avoid me.
This may not be your time.  Not just yet.  Only Destiny knows
for sure."
     "But then why are you here?"
     "I know all about you, all about your fascination with
me.  And you are dead at the moment."
     "So what's going on?  What was that pain all about?"
     "Well, they're dragging you away from me.  You might say
it's the pain of birth."
     "The pain of birth?  I don't remember anything like
this."
     "Of course not, you were far too young.  The pain was
great enough for your mind to erase its memory.  Not many
people get to remember it."
     "So, will I remember any of this?"
     "Well, in your subconscious, your emotions, and in your
dreams I will always be there.  However, your conscious mind
will try to forget what you have seen."
     "Too bad, I really enjoyed meeting you.  It must not be
too often that a mort takes the time to talk with you.
Unless of course they're pleading for another chance.  How
much longer do I have here?"
     "Life is dynamic, only change is constant, you may yet
stay here.  But it appears that you will most likely return
to your friends soon."
     "But I will see you again, right?"
     "Of course, every living thing meets me eventually."
     "Soon?"
     "No, not for a very long time."
     "The pain seems to have dissipated."
     "Yes...for now.  Let's continue our walk.  You're pretty
interesting yourself."

     Edison decided that there was only one alternative left.
But Omega-2 was a major step; maybe he should talk to the
others first.  No, just go ahead and do it.  Well, maybe he
might anger Lord Fahrvergnugen.  Yes, better to talk to the
others.
     Edison strode into the lounge.  Before he could address
the others Yuri leapt up.
     "Did you save him?!"
     "I have revived the body, but the brain is a bit more
complicated.  He's not responding to treatment as I would
expect."
     "Damn bastard's even stubborn dead!" Gryphon snapped,
punching the wall.  Kei drew him closer.
     "But, there is one alternative left to me. It will
almost definitely work.  However, there are some major side
effects," Edison continued.
     "What kind of side effects?" Yuri asked concernedly.
     "Well, it gets a bit tangled.  Let me explain.  We have
time."
     "First off, what is this option anyway?" Kei asked.
     "Omega-2."
     "Omega-2?  What is that?"
     "A retro-virus."
     "I think you'd better start from the beginning," Jenna
 suggested.
     "Well, duh.  That's what I've been trying to do.  If
everyone would be so kind as to quiet down.  Thank you."
     Edison paused for a minute, seemingly to organize his
thoughts. Then he began to speak.
     "I am a Detian.  Simple fact.  We're a race of
dimensional travelers from Earth, in an alternate time--I
assume you're familiar with alternate time--where the Earth
was engulfed by nuclear war in the late 1980s.
     "The population was basically destroyed.  By a happy
coincidence, one of the largest groups of survivors happened
to be a group of college students.  Among them was a
brilliant biotech engineering major by the name of Abegius--
Ralken Winthrop Abegius.  Abegius built a society from the
ashes, using the intellectual power of the surviving
community to create greatness within a few decades.
     "One of his first achievements was Omega-2.  Simply put,
because being a dimensional engineer I'm not too sharp on the
particulars myself, Omega-2 is a retroviral treatment that
re-encodes the subject's DNA.  Ralken liked to call it
`immunization against death'.  Everyone in the community of
survivors was effectively rendered immortal, under the
agreement that they would sign the Detian Constitution and
agree to abide by the laws."
     "'Scuse me...just how immortal are we talking here?"
Gryphon asked, his curiosity piqued.
     "Let me put it this way.  I'm one of the original
Detians.  The war happened in 1987.  I came here from the
year AD 14,375,512."
     "Gaaah?!"
     "That's what I said.  But that's another story entirely.
I'm almost certain Omega-2 can save your captain...but it's
not something I want to do to someone against his will.  One
tends to think that immortality blurs one's distinction
between life and death; not true.  There is a great deal of
pain involved in being deathless; I would not hand that to
someone unwilling.  So, unable to ask him, I'm asking you:
would he object?"
     Gryphon merely uttered a well-executed Drummeybird call.
     "Is...oh shit, how do I ask this...is there any way he
could die later, if he wanted to?" asked Kei.
     "Well..."  Edison considered.  "That's a tough one.  It
is doable, I suppose...atomization tends to work...cortex
bombs are fairly effective...nothing that isn't messy."
     "But it can be done."
     "You seem awfully...I dunno, keen on this subject..."
     "It has to be asked...it gives him an option out, if he
doesn't want immortality."
     "I see your point..."
     "fnord," said Gryphon, and left the room.  He had
something to do.
     "Where's he going?" Yuri asked, looking after him.
     "Probably to go somewhere and have an attack of the
willies in private."
     "Then...I take it it's agreed?  I'm to try whatever I
must?"
     "Yes," Yuri replied.  "At least to give me a chance to
say goodbye...if that's what he really wants."
     "I understand...I think..."  Edison turned and left the
room, slightly confused.  Ephemerals always tended to confuse
him; it had been so long since he had been one.

     Edison returned to Zoner.  He checked the indicators one
last time for any signs of change; there was none.  The body
was still running fine, but the higher functions of the brain
weren't responding to the stimulus.  He could never quite
understand the mind; by all rights the brain should have been
responding to his technology.  But it wasn't.  Odd.  Oh well,
not that it mattered much.
     Edison reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a small
black box.  He placed the box on the medical tray, released
the latch, and slowly opened it.  Inside were some of the
most highly illegal objects one could possess, according to
the Detian constitution: three bottles of Omega-2 and an
injector gun.  Edison carefully lifted the gun and one of the
bottles out of the case.  As he fitted the bottle into the
butt of the gun he pondered the meaning of what he was about
to do.  This little bottle held the power over life and
death.  It continued to amaze him.
     He snapped back to reality and dialed in a small dosage.
It didn't really matter, a couple units would do it.  The
only thing dosage affected was time of action.  He leaned
over Zoner and pressed the gun to his arm.   He muttered, "I
hope I don't regret this, friend," and pulled the trigger.
     It was done.  It would most likely take a couple of days
for the virus to propagate and begin repairing the damage.
All that was needed now was time.

     Zoner suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.
     "What's wrong?" Death asked.
     "I'm not sure.  I think something just happened to my
body.  I'm not sure exactly what.  It feels like something
alien entered me or something.  It's a strange feeling."
     Death looked almost saddened. "I think I may know what
it is, but it's nothing to worry about.  Go on with what you
were saying."
     Zoner had the feeling that it was definitely something
to worry about, judging from her reaction.  But he decided
not to press the point and he continued where he had left
off.

     Edison rejoined the others in the lounge.  They all
turned to him expectantly, but no one spoke.  Edison broke
the strained silence himself.
     "I did it.  Give the virus a couple of days to work
through his system.  After that we should start seeing
results."
     "Is it ok if we check in on him?" Jenna asked.
     "Certainly, but do not disturb any of the equipment I
have placed on him."
     "Of course.  And thank you."  With that Jenna left to
look in on Zoner.  She was also curious about the type of
equipment Edison used.  She felt a little jealous that he had
succeeded where she had failed.
     As Edison watched her depart he mumbled, "Don't thank me
yet."
     "What was that?" Yuri asked.
     "Oh, nothing."
     "So he'll be okay now?"
     "He should be.  But be prepared, not everyone adjusts to
immortality well."  Edison thought back to his own
experience.
     "Who wants to live forever?" Gryphon asked from the
doorway.
     "Ben!  How are you dealing?" Kei asked, concerned.
     "I'm alive."
     Kei seemed a little upset at Ben's terse reply, but she
understood.  It wasn't everyday a close friend became an
immortal.
     "So, Zoner's immortal now..." Yuri said, her voice
trailing off.  It sounded like a mixture of joy and sadness.
She stood and turned to leave the room.  "Thank you for
bringing him back, Mr. Bell."
     "Please, call me Edison.  Everything does."
     "Ok...thank you, Edison." And she left the room.
     "Well, there's not much else for me to do at the moment.
I believe I'll get some rest.  Good day."  Edison turned to
leave.
     "See you, and thanks," Kei called after him.
     "Yeah, thanks a lot," Gryphon added.
     Edison detected the slight bitterness in his voice and
understood.  He just hoped he wouldn't have reason to regret
his actions in the future.

-------------------------------------------------------TWELVE

     "We can rebuild him.  We have the technology."
                         --The Six Million Dollar Man

     Over the next two days the remaining crew of the Wayward
Son watched as the skilled workers at the shipyards began the
task of reconstruction.  They first removed the charred stubs
where the A.R.M.D. platforms had been.  Next to go was the
wrecked root of the starboard bow main gun boom.  As these
tasks were performed hundreds of workers swarmed over the
hull, patching the smaller wounds.  Of course, removing the
damaged sections was the easy part.  Installing the new
components was much more delicate work and would take much
longer.
     While the work was being done, the crew of the Wayward
Son had the time to mentally review the battles on Earth.
The severity of what had transpired began to sink in.  They
were fugitives from their home world.  What the hell was
their purpose?  They had defeated GENOM, what was there to do
now?  It had seemed like a good idea when it started.  Travel
around the cosmos and be heroes, great.  But reality was a
stark contrast to their dreams.  They had lost friends and
seen death first hand.  For many the first sentient creatures
they had killed were the agents of GENOM.  Many tried to
rationalize that they were all Buma, but they knew the truth.
Many of those they had killed were humans, same as they.
That was the hardest thing to accept.
     They had the chance to leave the ship before returning
to the shipyards, and some of their friends had, but they had
stayed.  Why?  Was it loyalty to the others who stayed, the
chance for adventure, the chance to make a name for
themselves, or were they trying to leave Earth, and their
deeds, behind?  Their reasons varied, but one thing was
constant: they were here now and planned to stay for the
duration.  No matter what.
     In addition to all their own problems, the crew was
waiting to hear about the Captain.  When the SDF-17 had
docked Gryphon had returned and made a speech to the crew.
He told them that Zoner was indeed still alive and that the
chances for his recovery were pretty good.  But he seemed
upset by something, and the crew picked up on it.  Rumors
began circulating almost immediately.  Zoner was dead, he had
been dead, he was a cyborg, he had a new body, he was an AI
now, he needed constant life support.  The rumors were many
and varied.  It didn't help matters that after the initial
speech Ben, Kei, Yuri, and Jenna seemed to be avoiding the
rest of the crew.  The Rats were convinced that they were
hiding something.

     Since his initial speech to the crew Ben had been
avoiding contact with nearly everyone.  He spent most of his
time in his room at the shipyards.  Occasionally he would
venture out to check on Zoner or the reconstruction work.
Zoner, immortal, how the hell did all this happen?  And what
the hell was Zoner going to do when he woke up?  Maybe they
all went through this so Zoner could wake up and kill
himself.  And Yuri seemed pretty distant lately.  She was
happy that Zoner was still alive, but something else was
bothering her.  Gee, wonder what that could be hmmmm?  Her
goddamn lover was immortal!  Kei was stressed out too, since
both her best friend and her lover were so upset.  This whole
situation was lousy--why couldn't Zoner just wake up and get
it over with?  Ben hated being stressed.
     Jenna spent most of her time with Matt.  They had a lot
of talking to do.  With the stress of combat behind them they
wanted to make up for lost time.  They spent a lot of their
time walking around the shipyards and watching the stars as
they traveled through the endless night.  Occasionally Jenna
dropped in to check on Zoner; she felt a little irrational
guilt for not being able to save him.  She tried to get
Edison to discuss his technology with her, but he
continuously put her off.  He said that it wasn't time for
the technology he used to be spread across the universe.
Jenna thought that he seemed to have a god complex.  He had
all the knowledge and technology, and he would decide who got
what.  In spite of this, she still was grateful to him for
saving Zoner.
     (In fact, it was no such thing; Edison had seen the
effects of spreading Detian technology among races not yet
prepared to deal with it.  Such intervention had led to the
annihilation of at least four sentient races, dozens of
worlds, and eventually the backbone of the entire Detian
civilization in the Patron Wars.  He felt uneasy enough as it
was just sharing the secret of Detian immortality with these
people, and had he not felt such a deep kinship with them he
wouldn't've considered it, but...)
     Yuri spent a good deal of her time staring longingly at
Zoner.  Ever since Edison had presented them with the chance
to bring him back she had been second guessing their
decision.  What if Zoner was supposed to die?  What if being
immortal somehow changed him?  She couldn't answer these
questions and the unknown future troubled her.  She went for
long solitary strolls around the shipyards to think.  At the
end of the second day she sought Edison out.  She found him
in his room.
     Knock knock knock "Edison?  Can I speak with you?"
     "Yes, of course, Yuri.  Please come in."
     Yuri opened the door and entered.  Edison gestured
towards a chair and Yuri sat down.
     "What did you wish to speak about?" Edison asked.
     "Well, I wanted to talk to you about Zoner."  Yuri
paused.  "And Omega-2."
     "What do you wish to know?"
     "Will Omega-2 change Zoner?"
     "Yes, it will restructure his genetic makeup.  His body
will change a bit.  He'll actually end up healthier than
before, of course.  I thought I had made all that clear
before."
     "Yes, yes you did.  But that's not what I mean.  I mean,
will it change Zoner as a person?  He'll still be the person
he used to be right?"
     "For the most part, yes.  As long as the damage to his
brain wasn't too severe he will have all of the same memories
as he used to--and it is your memories, both conscious and
subconscious, that make you who you are.  The real wildcard
is how he will deal with being immortal.  A lot of people
have trouble dealing with it at first."
     "How serious is it?" Yuri asked, leaning forward.
     "I won't lie to you.  Some people simply can't deal with
it at all.  I have seen people go mad, I have seen suicides,
I have seen people develop psychosis, but many people pull
through just fine.  Let me share something with you--back in
the beginning, after the Third World War on our Earth, the
original Detians were nonconformist college students."  He
grinned.  "And we came through just fine."
     "Since he's infected with the virus he won't age,
right?"
     "That is correct.  He will remain 21 forever, unless he
wishes to age.  He can wish to...if he so desires he can age
at a normal rate.  Of course, he can always age backwards at
the same rate until he's 21 again.  He can die of old age if
he so desires."
     "So he can remain young forever," Yuri said, staring at
nothing, a sadness in her voice.
     "What troubles you, my dear?"
     "I've just been thinking.  You saved him from death, and
now I'll be the one to die first.  Ironic."
     "You are troubled by this?"
     "Well, yes, I guess so.  I mean what happens when I get
old and he is still young?  Or even if he ages with me, he
can always go back.  Will he still want me?  I can't ask him
to die for me and I don't want him to have to go through life
waiting for the day that I'll die."
     "Highlander syndrome," Edison mumbled.
     "What was that?"
     "Oh, nothing.  I was just thinking.  If he really does
love you he will stand by you.  Of course there is another
alternative."
     "Really?  What do you have in mind?"
     "You can accept the Omega-2 virus yourself."
     "I... I don't know.  Would I have to die first?"
     "No, of course not.  I can inject you at any time."
     "What's it like?  I mean being infected by the virus."
     "It's not too bad.  At first you may feel a little ill,
slight fever, et cetera.  But you will begin to feel better
than you ever had before.  All of the changes take place on
the genetic level, so you won't notice much of anything,
until the genetic changes begin reworking your metabolic
processes--and your body seems to be in good enough condition
that it won't have to do much in that department."
     "I'm not sure.  Can I think it over?"
     "Sure.  Take your time.  Big decisions shouldn't be
rushed."
     "Ok.  I guess I'll talk to you later."
     "It's always a pleasure."
     With that Yuri left Edison and returned to her room.
She had a lot of thinking to do.

-----------------------------------------------------THIRTEEN

     "Who wants to live forever?"
                         --Queen

     Edison was awakened by a loud knocking sound.  He
thought for a moment to figure out what it was.  He finally
decided it was the sound of someone knocking loudly on his
door.  He squinted at his chronometer.  4:38AM.  Gaaah.  Who
would be knocking on his door at 4:38, well, 4:39, in the
morning?  Well, only one way to find out.  Edison rolled out
of bed and wrapped himself in his robe.
     Knock knock knock.  Sheesh.  Whoever it was, they were
sure impatient.  Edison shuffled to the door and opened it.
Standing there was an apparently distressed Yuri.
     "What is it, Yuri?  Is something wrong?  Did Zoner wake
up?  What do you need at.." glance "...4:40 in the morning?"
     "I couldn't wait any longer.  I've made my decision and
I want to do it before I have time to change my mind again."
     "What?  I'm afraid I'm not following you here."
     "Omega-2.  I want you to inject me right away."
     "What?!  You wake me up at four something in the morning
so that I can give you a shot?!  Couldn't this wait until
morning?"
     "Well, actually yes," Yuri replied, shrinking back.
"But it's sort of important to me.  I've been thinking since
I talked to you and I finally made my decision.  I want to do
it.  I love Zoner and I want to be able to share eternity
with him."
     "Ok, ok.  You know the facts, you're a big girl, you can
do what you want with your life.  Come in.  But don't expect
eternity; one of you is bound to get killed eventually."
     "That's a pretty pessimistic attitude."
     "It's the voice of experience.  After the Patron Wars
I've very few friends left.  Are you sure you want to do
this?"
     "Yes, positive."
     "Very well."
     Edison opened his cabinet and fished about for a moment.
He withdrew the same black box he had used earlier on Zoner.
Placing it on his night table, he released the latch and
opened it.
     "One last time.  Are...you...sure?"
     Yuri's reply was a solemn nod.
     Edison withdrew the injection gun and the serum bottle
from the case.  As he approached Yuri he loaded the bottle
into the gun and prepped it.  He placed the gun to her arm
and looked directly into her eyes, searching for any
uncertainty.  Finding none, he pulled the trigger.
     "That's it?" Yuri asked.
     "That's all.  It's done now.  There's no turning back.
You have the rest of your life to think about your decision,
and that's a long time.  Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to
get some more sleep."
     "Oh, sorry. Thank you."
     "I'm here to help."
     Yuri left the room and Edison closed the door and
returned to bed.  4:47.  Hmmm.  In less than ten minutes he
had totally changed the course of Yuri's life.  The universe
was really quite interesting sometimes.

     After leaving Edison's room Yuri went to sickbay to see
Zoner again.  She looked down at his unconscious form and
prayed that he was at peace.  Before turning to leave she
leaned down and kissed him and whispered, "Now we have all
the time in the world, my love."

     Zoner was lying in a field next to Death.  They weren't
talking at all, just lying there enjoying the peaceful scene.
The sky was incredibly blue, the clouds incredibly white, and
the grass was incredibly green.  He had never seen anything
quite like it while he was still living.  Living.  He had a
bad feeling that his time here was growing short.  As of late
he was beginning to lose the feeling of freedom he had felt
at first.  Something was pulling on him, weighting him down.
He was being pulled back to the land of the living.
     The worst part was that he wasn't sure if he wanted to
go or not.  The living world had his friends, and Yuri, but
it also had all of the evils he had tried to fight or avoid
for so long.  This place was at peace, everything was in
balance.  Death had so much to say and teach him.
     He turned and looked at her, laying there in the grass,
her black outfit in stark contrast to the green of the grass.
She was beautiful.  But more than that she exuded a
confidence he had seen so rarely amongst the living.  Was he
in love with her?  Perhaps.  But it was different from what
he felt for Yuri.  Damn!  He was so confused, being dead
wasn't really like anything he had pictured. He actually was
enjoying it.  He knew, though, that he had to return if it
wasn't his time.  But he would return here eventually.
Everyone did.
     Death turned to face him--looked him right in the eye.
"I'm sorry.  It wasn't your time yet.  There are those with
the ability to alter the paths of Destiny, and your paths
must have crossed.  It won't be long now before you have to
return."
     Her sudden speech surprised him, as did the apparent
sadness in her eyes.
     "I just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed my time
here.  I think you're terrific.  You're beautiful, charming,
funny, intelligent, everything anyone could desire.  Yet so
many people fear you.  I hope I remember at least some of my
time here so I can tell others what you're like.  Then maybe
they wouldn't fear you quite so much."
     "That's sweet of you, but I don't think it will happen.
The fear of death is something that runs very deep through
most people.  Mortals such as yourself come along only once
in a great while.  You're special.  Which is why it is sad to
see you go.  Let's just try to enjoy the little time we have
left together."
     "Sure.  Why don't you tell another tale?  It must not be
very often that you get an interested audience."
     Death smiled.  "Ok, I will."  And with that she began to
tell a tale which spanned the years as if they were minutes.

     Around eleven in the morning Yuri awoke.  She sat in bed
for a long moment trying to notice any difference in her
body.  She discovered nothing.  Slightly disappointed, she
decided to get up, get dressed, and go for a walk.  She also
wanted to find Edison and apologize for waking him in the
middle of the night.
     On her way to Edison's cabin she ran into Kei.  Kei
immediately noticed the change in Yuri's attitude.
     "Yuri, what's up?  You seem happier or something."
     "Well... I am, I guess.  The future is looking a bit
brighter today."
     "What?  Did Zoner wake up?!"
     "No.  He's still out cold."
     "Then what's going on?"
     "Once he wakes up Zoner and I will be together forever."
     "What?  I don't understa... YURI!  You didn't!  You had
Edison inject you with Omega-2 too?!"
     "Yes.  Now Zoner and I can share the rest of time."
     "How could you do that?  I mean, Zoner I can understand,
he needed saving.  But you--you're perfectly healthy.  Why?!"
     "It has nothing to do with health.  I know what I went
through when Zoner died, and I don't want him to go through
the same thing when I die.  This way he won't have to watch
me grow old and die while he lives on.  Alternatively he
won't have to make the decision to grow old and die with me.
Now we can stay together forever young."
     For some time, Kei had no reply to that.  She stood
silent in the hallway, thinking a thousand thoughts at the
same time and not getting a clear fix on any particular one
of them.  Certainly nothing coherent enough to put into
words.
     At length she looked sadly at Yuri, her lips trembling,
and said quietly, "I hope you miss me."
     "What?  Kei--"
     She could say no more; Kei had turned and run away.

-----------------------------------------------------FOURTEEN

     "Our little group has always been and always will until
the end."
                         --Nirvana

     Kei ran straight back to the room she was sharing with
Ben.  She burst into the room, utterly shocking Ben.  She
jumped onto the bed, wrapped her arms around Ben, and began
sobbing.  Ben had no idea what was going on, but he knew that
Kei was hurting, and that was all that mattered.  He gathered
her in his arms and hugged her back.
     "Kei, what's wrong?"
     "Yu.. Yu.. Yuri... Sh.. She...." More sobs.
     "Shhh.  It's ok.  Just calm down.  Slowly now.  What
happened to Yuri?"
     "She had... She had Edison, well, she's immortal!"
     "WHAT?!"
     "She had Edison inject her with the Omega-2 virus."
     "What?  Why?  I don't understand?  Why?"
     "She said she wanted to be able to stay with Zoner
forever.  She didn't want to die first."
     "Of all the stupid... Shit!  The bastard hasn't woken up
yet and he's already causing trouble."
     "Don't blame Zoner.  This was Yuri's decision.  She did
it herself," Kei said, a bitter tinge in her voice.
     "Why does it upset you so much?"
     "Why the hell do you think I'm upset?!  My best friend,
my partner, is immortal! I'm upset for the same reasons that
Yuri was.  She's going to live forever, and I'm going to grow
old and die.  How can I stay with her now?  In a few years
I'll be old and she'll still be young and able to stay in the
field."
     "I don't know what to say... What did Yuri say when you
told her how you felt?"
     "Well... I never really told her... I sort of ran away
after she told me about being injected."
     "Why?"
     "I... I didn't want her to see me upset.  I'm supposed
to be the strong one, remember?  So I ran away.  Real bright,
huh?"
     "Don't worry about it.  You can talk to her later.
She'll be around for a while.  Right?" Gryphon said with more
than just a little sarcasm in his voice.
     "You seem pretty upset yourself."
     "Upset?  UPSET?!  Of course I'm fucking upset!  First
Zoner goes and gets himself killed through his own stupidity,
then he gets revived.  So now he's immortal!  Then Yuri,
who's also a good friend, goes and does the same damn thing!
I don't know... It just seems like things have gotten too
weird around here.  Everything seems out of control.  I guess
I'm just scared of the future."
     "It sure is going to be tough.  I mean watching them
stay young while we grow old together."
     "Well, there is one other choice."
     "What?"
     "We can always do it too."
     "Ben!  I mean... I don't know... It just seems so
strange.  Being able to live forever and all."
     "Well, I want to.  I can't make you do it--and I won't
if you don't--but I'll be damned if I'll let Captain Poetic
Suicide outlive me."
     "I still don't know.  Can I think about it for a while?"
     "Sure.  I don't think we're going anywhere soon.  But I
would mention your interest to Edison.  Just so he doesn't
take off or something."
     "Ok.  You're right...as usual...Ben. I'll talk to him
later.  Just hold me for now, ok?"
     "Ok.  No objections here."
     Ben and Kei snuggled close and reclined on their bed.
Just being held by Ben calmed Kei.  Soon she was resting
peacefully.  Ben followed her into slumber soon thereafter.

     Zoner and Death were sitting together in a shady glade
on the edge of a forest.  They talked to each other in hushed
tones; it seemed a sacrilege to break the peace with a louder
tone.  Zoner suddenly turned and looked up at the sky.
     "Teleute...  I think it's time..."
     "Yes.  It is time for you to return.  Come.  I'll take
you back.  It's not often I get to return someone to the
living."
     Somewhat sadly Zoner replied, "Ok.  I guess we may as
well get it over with."
     They set off along the footpath into the trees.  As they
walked the scenery became less and less clearly defined.
Soon they were walking across a dimensionless, endless plane.
They continued on for some time until features began to
define themselves again.  They were in the shipyards now.
They walked through the corridors, and although they went
unseen, they were given a wide berth.  When they reached
sickbay Death gestured for Zoner to enter first.
     He entered the room and saw himself lying unconscious on
one of the beds.  Death approached him from behind and gently
laid her hand on his shoulder.
     "So, this is it huh?"
     "Yes Zoner.  It's time for you to awaken."
     "I'm going to miss you.  You know that."
     "Yes, I know that in some way you will.  But you won't
truly remember your times with me.  But I will be there when
you dream.  Now, it's time to go."
     "How do I get back?"
     "I'll take care of that."
     Death gathered Zoner into her arms and embraced him.  He
returned her embrace in full.  He felt as if she were
embracing his entire being.  He felt filled with love and
comfort, pain and suffering, life and death.  And then the
feeling was gone.

     Zoner slowly opened his eyes and moaned.  His head was
killing him.  He surveyed his surroundings through heavily
lidded eyes.  Where was he?  He didn't recognize his
surroundings at all.  This sure wasn't sickbay on the Wayward
Son.  He remembered the battle and stumbling into sickbay
with his head wound.  He had been dizzy.  That was it.  He
must have passed out.  But that still didn't explain where he
was.  Ah.  They probably returned to the shipyards to get the
ship patched up.  Man, he must have been out for hours.
     He tried to sit up and immediately regretted it.  His
head spun and he collapsed back onto the bed.  He could hear
the monitors above his head beeping incessantly.  He must
have gotten a concussion.  He vaguely remembered some odd
dreams about a woman in black.  But they were choppy and they
didn't make much sense.  Like most dreams, they were slipping
quickly from his waking mind.  Well, at least he was awake.
It was sort of surprising that there was nobody working in
the sickbay though.  He wondered where Yuri was.
     No sooner had he thought it than Yuri burst through the
door into sickbay at a run.  She ran to his bedside and
gathered Zoner into her arms.
     "Zoner!  You're awake!  You're actually awake!  How do
you feel?  Are you ok?  Is everything alright?  Does anything
hurt?  Do you want anything?  Can I..."
     Zoner cut her off.  "Yuri, calm down.  I'm fine.  It was
just a little bump on the head.  No big deal.  I've gotten
them before.  There's no need to get so excited.  I've just
got a bad headache.  In a couple of days I should be fine."
     Yuri stared at him with a half amused, half surprised
expression on her face.  "You don't know what happened at
all, do you?"
     "I'm not sure I follow you.  What do you mean?"
     "Do you know how long you've been out?"
     "No.  A couple of hours I guess.  Why?"
     "A couple of hours?!  You've been out for over a month!"
     "WHAT?!  What's going on?  What happened?"
     "You collapsed in sickbay and went into a coma."
     "You mean I've been in a coma for over a month."
     "Well, not really."
     "What do you mean not really?"
     "Well... You see... You sort of... Well... Died."
     "WHAT?!"
     "You died.  You were dead."
     "WERE?!  I am completely lost now."
     "Well, we brought you back."
     "Brought me back?  How?  What's been going on?  ARGH!  I
hate being totally out of touch."
     "Well, I think Edison can explain better than I can."
     "Edison?  Who's that?"
     "He's a nice guy.  I think you'll like him.  He's the
one who saved your life.  I'll call him."
     Yuri turned and walked over to the intercom. "Edison?
Yes, he woke up.  Well, I was wondering if you could come
down here.  Ok. See you in a bit."  Then, to Zoner, "He's on
his way."
     Just about then Kei, Ben, and Jenna all rushed into
sickbay together.
     "We came as soon as we heard the news," Jenna gasped.
     "Wow...have a reception," Zoner said, surprised.  "Hey--
what's wrong?"  He was beginning to notice things, things
that didn't fit right; like the fact that they were all
looking at him strangely, with the exception of Gryphon, who
was pointedly refusing to look at him at all.  Kei in
particular looked unsettled--no, frightened--by something.
     Kei, frightened?  Shit, must be something major, he said
to himself.
     "Look, everyone--what the hell is going on?" he
demanded.
     About that moment, the strangely dressed guy with the
little round glasses strode into the room, his hands spread
wide and a great grin on his face.
     "Ah, you're awake.  Now you have to face the most
difficult decision of your life," said Edison Bell without
preamble.

------------------------------------------------------FIFTEEN

     "To be, or not to be?  That is the question."
                         --Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

     "Excuse me?" asked Zoner, blinking a couple of times at
this odd gentleman.
     "Let me get right to it, MegaZone, and save us all the
pain in the ass of kicking around the subject.  In order to
save your life--or rather, reclaim it--I injected into your
system the very essence of my race, the Detians--Omega-2.  A
retro-virus so powerful few in the universe have even heard
of it.  It did the job quite nicely; drew you back across the
line and anchored you firmly in the here and now.  Perhaps
too firmly."  Noting Zoner's still-puzzled expression, he
went on, "You still don't understand, do you?  Simply put,
you are now immortal."
     "Immortal?!" Zoner sat bolt upright in his hospital bed,
flinging off the sheet.  "What the fuck do you mean,
immortal?!"
     "I was afraid of this," Edison muttered to himself.
"You cannot die, Bikowicz--accept it."
     "Never?  What the hell is going on?  Did I wake up to a
bad Highlander remake or something?"
     "Oh, calm down--if you really feel it necessary to end
your life, yes, there are ways.  Make this entire exercise a
waste of my time and resources, go ahead.  Let yourself age
and die like some ephemeral fool.  Or stay, live, enjoy life
to its fullest extent forever, the woman you love at your
side and the entire universe for your playground.  You
decide," said Edison, and left the room.
     "What the fuck is going on?  Who is this guy and why is
he trying to guilt trip me.  And...  Wait a second, rewind
that--what was that about the woman I love at my side?" Zoner
called after him.
     "I wasn't going to leave you behind, all alone in the
world," Yuri told him, putting an arm around his shoulders.
     "You too?  You mean you're immortal too?  Yuri, you
shouldn't've--"
     "What?  You don't want to share the rest of time with
me?"
     "No, no, that's not what I meant.  I want to be with you
forever, but--"
     "Look at him," Gryphon muttered to Kei under his breath,
but he was angry enough that everyone in the room could hear
it.  "Fuckin' ingrate."  He turned on his heel and stormed
out of the room.
     "Ben, come back," Kei called after him.  With a quick
and perfunctory--and rather cool--"Welcome back, Zoner," she
went after him.
     "Ben, what's gotten into you?  You've never been this
mean to Zoner, not even at the worst times.  What's wrong?"
     "He's being his usual sensitive self, that's all," Ben
replied through his teeth.  "He's put Yuri through hell, and
now all he can think of is his own pathetic deathwish."
     "That isn't true!  He's concerned that Yuri had this
done to her--"
     "--'cause he's just gonna leave her behind," Gryphon
finished.  "You watch--he's gonna go find some active volcano
or blast furnace or something and, with a huge amount of pomp
and circumstance, and probably Pink Floyd blasting in the
background, do himself in."
     "You don't know that."
     "Oh yes I do.  He's gonna make good and damn sure he's
wrecked everything, smashed it all up, then leave it all
behind and you and me to pick up the pieces."
     "Well if it helps you any I've made my decision."
     "What decision?"
     "I'm going to do the same as Yuri."
     "Why?  A while ago you didn't want to."
     "I'm afraid for the future, okay?  That isn't a crime.
I want to be able to spend longer with you than our little
human lives can give us--and I want to be able to stay with
Yuri.  Besides--maybe if there are more of us around him like
that, Zoner won't be quite so keen on bailing out of life
again."
     "That's a possibility...I hadn't thought of that."
Gryphon gave a sigh, squared his shoulders, and said, "Fine.
Let's go get this over with, before I change my mind.  And if
I haven't told you lately--I love you."
     Kei just smiled and gently squeezed his hand as they
walked.

     "What do you mean, you want it too?  Good Lord, I have
better things to do than go around making young lovers
immortal for a lark!  Do you know the severity of this crime
in the Detian culture?  It's worse than a capital crime."
     "What do you care, Bell?" Gryphon asked.  "You're an
anarchist.  I can tell just by looking at you.
Unconventional, masterless and irrepressible.  That's the
whole reason you're with Wolfgang and company at all--they're
just like you.  We're just like you.  The Detian government
is too restrictive--so you ditched and you'll do whatever you
damn well please.  Besides, even if you did care about it,
you've already done it twice here, and who knows how many
times elsewhere--the hole you've dug yourself can't get any
deeper.  Now fork over."
     Edison was silent for a moment; then a smile spread
across his face.  "I like you," he said, slapping Gryphon's
shoulder.  "Just a second while I ready the equipment."
     Within moments, everything was ready.  Edison slotted a
vial, dialed an appropriate dosage, and, without pausing or
hesitating, shot Gryphon's arm.  Then he turned to Kei and,
noting the set of her jaw and the determined narrowing of her
deep brown eyes, did the same to her.  These two weren't
waffling about it, that was for sure.
     "It's done," he said calmly, replacing his equipment
once more, "and I want you to know something."
     "What?"
     "I wish you luck.  Few relationships can stand the test
of immortality.  I didn't want to warn Yuri about this,
simply because she was so overwrought as it was--but I feel
you should know, and eventually you must warn her.  I can
only think of two or three, among the entire Detian
civilization, that survived into 413...and mine was not among
them.  I wish I didn't have to tell you this, but facts are
facts and you have a right to know."
     "Thank you for expressing your concern," said Kei, "but
somehow, I think we'll manage."  She squeezed Gryphon's
shoulders.
     "Somehow, I think you just may," said Edison with a
smile.  "In any event, I wish you the best of luck.  All of
you."
     "You realize it won't end with us," Gryphon warned.  "As
soon as the word spreads--and it will, soon enough--more
people will be coming to you.  Possibly the entire Wedge
Defense Force."
     "I know," Edison replied.  "And as long as they can
convince me they have a good reason, I have no problems with
administering to them either.  I've been around long enough
to know how people think pretty well...and unless I miss my
guess, Jenna and Matt will be next, followed quickly by your
chief engineer and the pilots of your Veritech squadron...and
so on, and so on..."  Edison sighed.  "No rest for the
weary."  He smiled.  "Go on, go to your captain and tell him
he's no longer quite so alone...it'll cheer him up."

     "Ben!  Kei!  There you are," Yuri called as she met them
in the hallways.  "I've been looking for you.  Zoner wants to
know why you're so upset."
     "He would," said Gryphon with a sardonic grin.  "Mr.
Perception, that's Zoner.  We were just on our way to see
him...got some news that may cheer him up."
     "What might that be?"
     "Well," said Kei with a smile, "we've just been to see
Edison, you see..."
     "Oh, Kei, you haven't!"  Kei nodded.  "That's wonderful!
I never wanted to lose you either, you know," said Yuri as
she embraced her partner.  She smiled sarcastically.  "Where
would I find a partner with your shot-to-kill ratio again?"
     "Don't get all mushy on me," Kei said with matching
sarcasm.  "I'm glad we'll be together too."
     "Hey, what about me, don't I get a hug?" Gryphon said
with mock woundedness.  "It was my idea."
     "Your idea?  Ha!  I had to practically drag you down
there."
     "Don't argue, you two--oh, Ben, don't be that way, I'm
happy I won't have to lose you, too," Yuri cut them off,
hugging Ben as well.
     "We weren't arguing...were we?"
     "I don't think so..."

     "Come in," said Zoner when the door to his private
recovery room chimed.  The door hissed open and in walked
Trouble Investigation Consultant Team #261 and the commander
of Veritech Fighter Squadron VVF-261 (Eight-Ball).  And they
were all--lo and behold--smiling.
     "So hey," said Gryphon, "feel any different?  I don't."
     "No not really.  But... Wait a minute.  What the hell do
you mean `I don't'?  You too?  And I suppose Kei too?"
     "Something like that," Ben replied.  "Basically, Yuri
did it so she wouldn't have to leave you, and Kei did it so
she wouldn't have to leave Yuri, and I did it so I wouldn't
have to leave Kei, or Yuri, or--horror of horrors--let you
outlive me.  And now we figure Jenna will do it, so she can
stay with us longer, and Matt will do it so he can stay with
Jenna, and ReRob will do it so he can stay with us, and the
other pilots from my squadron, and so on, and so on..."
     "You mean--"
     "By the end of the week, I figure the whole WDF will be
immortal."

     Of course, rumors spread like wildfire through the Wedge
Defense Force about this strange man from out of time and his
immortality formula.  No official word had been released, of
course--that would wait until Zoner was recovered enough to
resume his duties, and formally took command back from
Gryphon.  That didn't stop people from talking, though.  Nor
seeking out Edison to be treated on their own.
     Gryphon's prediction was right; by the end of the week,
almost the entire Wedge Defense Force was Detian.  No one
really knew who was and who wasn't; most had vague ideas, or
assumed, but no one really knew, nor really figured it was
any of their business.
     (Most of those who would've opted to remain mortal had
gotten off back on Earth; if the whole space defense force
routine had been a bit much for them, immortality?  Not.)
     On Friday, MegaZone formally took command of the Wedge
Defense Force back from Gryphon, and immediately, the two of
them went into conference with Lord Fahrvergnugen.

------------------------------------------------------SIXTEEN

     "It's been a long time coming and it's good to be back."
                         --The Alarm

     "From all understandings, you have done well," Wolfgang
observed from the head of the conference table.  "Both your
battles have ended in victory, and only a few of your
personnel have died.  Why then are both of you having serious
doubts about your command abilities?"
     "Both battles have ended in victory, sure," Zoner said,
"but both times we've gotten the shit beaten out of us.  I've
watched the tapes of the battle on Earth, and while I'll
admit the victory was impressive considering the odds, look
at the damage the ship took!  Both A.R.M.D. platforms
destroyed, almost a quarter of the ship blown off, main gun
disabled, system after system overloaded and burned out,
Reflex furnace barely functional."
     "I fucked up, okay?" Gryphon said with a trace of
defensive anger.  "I had the responsibility of command and I
went out to play pilot instead.  What happened on Earth was
my fault, and I'll accept full responsibility for it."
     "Nothing was anyone's fault," Wolfgang interrupted.
"For your first battle, you were inexperienced and unready
for combat--and you performed admirably.  For your second you
were understaffed, without your most capable leader, and
highly demoralized.  Both times you have come out on top.
This shows to me that you are indeed the force I've been
trying so hard to create.  You are worthy of your positions
and I will not see you giving them up.  Consider this an
official reprimand for having such a dim view of what I
consider to be great achievements."
     There was a moment of silence as the two young officers
pondered.
     "As to the future," Wolfgang continued, "repairs are
almost complete to your ship, and I have addressed several of
your other problems as well."
     "Such as?" Gryphon asked curiously.
     "The Wedge Defense Force is highly skilled and
motivated, but undermanned," Lord Fahrvergnugen observed.
"There are not enough of you to provide a truly flexible
force.  You can field only two squadrons of Veritech
fighters, and no Destroids, nor other types of starfighters.
You have no commando troops to speak of, nor conventional
infantry, nor space marines, and so on.  I had decided not
long ago that I needed to find another force to attach to the
WDF, one that matches it in motivation, skill, aggression,
one that could be easily trained to use WDF equipment, one
that would be loyal and brave.  It was truly a dilemma, but
with the help of a good friend, I found the solution."
     "Well, don't keep us in suspense..." Zoner trailed off.
     "I don't plan on it.  Gentlemen, may I present to you my
good friend, and possibly the savior of the Wedge Defense
Force, Princess Asrial of Salusia."
     Gryphon and Zoner looked at each other with looks of,
well, not amazement--more like "Why did I somehow expect
something like this?"  After the weirdness they had absorbed
in the last several months, this seemed just par for the
course.
     "You don't think he means...." Zoner began.
     "It wouldn't surprise me," Gryphon replied.  "At all."
     "Those are Uncle Martin's antennas..."
     Gryphon's reply was a suppressed chuckle and, "No
they're not. They look particularly cat-like to me."
     While this exchange was taking place Princess Asrial
entered the room and observed the pair amusedly.
     "Gentlemen," said the Princess regally.  "Lord
Fahrvergnugen has related to me your mission and your plans,
and I must agree that your mission is a noble one.  I'm more
than happy to offer my support.  For that reason, I have
attached one of my own crack units to your forces--the 101st
FTL Cavalry.  They have already completed training in all WDF
equipment and received their postings; it only remains for
you, Captain Bikowicz, to formally accept their attachment."
     MegaZone stood and offered his best approximation of a
courtly bow.  "Princess, I would be honored.  But just one
thing.  Please don't call me Captain Bikowicz.  Call me
Zoner, or MegaZone, tack on the Captain if you want."
     "Very well, Zoner," Asrial replied, smiling.  "This,"
she said, indicating the tallish, red-haired Salusian to her
side, "is Major Perry Aldzinjal, commander of the 101st
Cavalry."
     "Captain," said the Major with a tip of his uniform cap.
He wore the distinctive orange and black uniform of a
Salusian space marine.  "Pleasure to be working with you."
     "If that's all, gentlemen, I really should be getting
back to Earth--I've been here far too long as it is."
     "By all means," said Zoner.  "It's a pleasure to have
met you, your highness."
     "I agree," Gryphon seconded.  "And an honor."
     "Flatterers," said Asrial, and with a wink, she left the
room.
     "My men are ready to move into their assigned quarters,
Captain, if you'll just give the word," said Major Aldzinjal.
     "Like I told the Princess, call me Zoner, Major, we're
pretty informal around here.  Move your guys in whenever--I
don't think we're going anywhere for a while."
     "All right--you guys call me Perry, if we're running an
informal shop, and I'll catch you later.  I have to supervise
the move."
     "You seemed to hit it off fairly well," Lord
Fahrvergnugen observed as Perry left the room.  "I am
pleased; I think this merger will work nicely."
     "What of the repairs to the ship?" Gryphon asked.
     "Ah, the ship.  All the damaged systems have been
repaired or replaced, and major structural components
replaced or reinforced.  The main gun has been repaired--in
fact, you're almost ready to take her into space again.  All
that remains is the replacement of the A.R.M.D. platforms,
and that won't take long."
     "We're getting new platforms, then?" asked Zoner.
     "Not exactly," Wolfgang replied.  "I had intended to
build a fleet for your forces, as they grew--I had two
smaller ships ready to go, in fact.  However, since your
vessel is in need of side platforms for Veritech and Destroid
operations, and I have no A.R.M.D. platforms completed, I
opted for a new modular system the technicians came up with."
     "Why do I think I know what's coming?" Zoner mumbled.
     He touched a key on the conference table and a screen
glowed behind him with a schematic.  Where the mounting
hardpoints for A.R.M.D.-1 and -2 had been there were large
extended armatures, locking cogs, it appeared.  An image of a
small ship appeared next to the SDF-17; in its stern was an
aperture the same size and shape as the cog.  In choppy tech-
animation, the smaller ship turned around and backed onto the
cog, locking in place.
     With a groan, Zoner realized what it was; the aircraft
carrier Prometheus.  The schematic rotated, and sure enough,
Daedalus slipped into place on the other side.
     "This way, the two smaller vessels can be detached at
will to become fully capable starships--for support, or
small-scale missions where the Wayward Son's size and power
would be more of a liability."
     Zoner turned to Gryphon as Wolfgang went on about the
technical details of the linkage system and mouthed silently,
"Daedalus?  Prometheus?  Why me?"

     And so, several days later, with much pomp and
circumstance, the SDF-17, WDF Wayward Son, once again
unmarred and proud, left the Utopia Planitia Naval Shipyards,
this time bearing a crew eight hundred strong and morale
running higher than ever before.  They didn't know where they
were going, but they knew they'd find out when they got
there--and they knew for a fact that it wouldn't be boring.

----------------------------------------------------SEVENTEEN

     "Against boredom even the gods themselves struggle in
vain."
                         --Friedrich Nietzche

                   A YEAR AND A HALF LATER

     The Wayward Son cruised through space at a leisurely
.8C, ticking over the powerplant on an aimless trip to
nowhere.  Their mission to Earth over, the crew had very
little to do, for though they were supposed to be a defense
force, defending the universe from great evil, there didn't
seem to be a hell of a lot of great evil around.
     In the year and a half since leaving their homebase
shipyard again, the Wedge Defense Force hadn't seen much
action.  Oh, there were rumors of this great evil or that
great evil, but nothing had ever really materialized.  A
couple of interventions by the SDF-17 in naval battles of the
Salusia-Zardon War, to pay the Princess back for the 101st
Cav, maybe a police action or two.
     Of all the Wedge Defense Force's personnel, Kei and Yuri
were the only people to really get any interesting action,
with the formation of the Worlds Welfare Work Association as
a department of the WDF in June of '92.  The 3WA provided
smaller-scale service than the WDF proper, befitting its
model organization--so they tended to get more business.
     The crew of the SDF-17 was well-trained and everyone
knew their jobs, so it wasn't a question of competence; it
was just that, contrary to popular belief, space fortresses
have very little to do with their time when not part of an
active military force.  For that reason, boredom had built
among the crew until they demanded a vacation.

Captain's Log, Terran Synchronized Date 25 August 1993.
Captain MegaZone recording.  The crew has demanded a
vacation.  I don't know where the hell we are, so I've
ordered an immediate advance at .8C in some random direction.
Eventually, we'll reach some place fun.

     Fifteen levels below the bridge, down in the body of the
vessel proper, the door to M-Level Cabin Suite 401 hissed
open and the SDF-17's XO emerged.
     Commander Benjamin D. Hutchins left his room.  It had
been almost a month since Kei and Yuri had left the area in
Lovely Angel on assignment; unable to go with them because of
the pressures of command, he and Zoner were stuck on The Most
Boring Super Dimensional Fortress In The Universe for no
short period of time.  During that time, Zoner had become
increasingly manic and Ben increasingly morose.
     Today he had finally sublimated all that nervous energy
that usually built up to make him lethargic (go figure) into
a calm, restrained feeling of energy.  He walked with an
easy, measured stride to the elevator, entered, and keyed it
for the bridge.  (He refused to talk to the elevators.)
Moments later, the door opened with an annoying SCHNUK noise
onto the bridge.
     The bridge was a purpose-designed room, professionally
engineered so that only three or four things were wrong with
it and it was a tolerable place to work.
     Ben walked out onto the bridge and settled into his seat
on the captain's right.
     "Yo Gryph," said MegaZone with a sidelong glance at his
XO.  "What's up?"
     "Less than nothing," Ben replied shortly.  He reached
into the fridge under his seat and got himself out a ginger
beer, then opened up a book and started reading.
     Over in the right-hand corner, Communications Officer
Macquivr snapped his fingers for attention.  "Like yo,
Captain, you've got a message coming in."
     "On screen," Zoner ordered.  He really enjoyed being
captain, although the crew had forced him to promise not to
point at the viewscreen and say "Engage" any more.
     The forward windows' view of space dissolved into a comm
screen image.  The cockpit of a smallish spacecraft, two-seat
with lots and lots of switches, knobs, buttons, dials, and
levers.  Lovely Angel, SDF-17's Wasp class corvette.  At the
controls was Yuri.  Kei was nowhere to be found.
     "Hi, Yuri--" Zoner began.
     "Wayward Son, this is Lovely Angel," Yuri cut him off in
a most uncharacteristic way.  "We are coming in hot, repeat,
hot to Prometheus, bay four.  We are damaged and carrying
wounded--be advised, Lovely Angel is declaring an emergency."
     "What is the nature of your emergency?" Ben asked, his
brain snicking into business mode.
     "We have moderate thruster damage and severe powerplant
damage; velocity control is negative.  We're at one-quarter c
and that's where we're staying until we cut engines.  Have
the emergency nets ready.  We are carrying one wounded
personnel in stable but poor condition.  Have medical
assistance standing by.  I am beginning final approach.
Lovely Angel out."
     "Shit--Yuri, wait--"  Too late; she had already cut the
connection.  She needed all of her concentration to land the
ship.
     "I have visual contact with the Angel," Q reported.  The
windows zoomed in to show the sleek red needle heading for
the Wayward Son, the entire rear left quarter of the ship
smashed and mangled.  The engine core was in one place
exposed and trailing a strange glow.
     Zoner slammed a hand down on the intercom controls on
his chair arm.  "Attention Prometheus!  Prepare to attend
emergency crash situation."
     Meanwhile, Ben was fulfilling his XO position by
advising sick bay.
     "Q, you have the conn," Zoner declared, getting up and
heading for the elevator.  "Come on, Ben."
     They ran, as fast as they could, to the portside docking
bay.  By the time they arrived, it was all over; Lovely Angel
was a tattered heap against the rear wall, wrapped in
shredded nets, and Yuri and Mughi were standing to the side,
behind the fire control 'bots putting out the fire and
shutting down the fusion core.
     Medical personnel were attending Kei, who was laid out
on a gravstretcher.
     "Kei!" Ben shouted, taking off across the docking bay at
a full panic run.  Yuri caught him halfway there, blocking
his charge with a strong arm across his chest.
     "Stay away," she told him forcefully.  "There's nothing
you can do."
     "Let me go!"  Frantic as he was, he might have gotten
past Yuri, but when MegaZone grabbed him, well...
     The fight drained away from him; his shoulders under
Zoner's hands stopped trembling.  He let himself slump.
     "Right.  Nothing I can do.  I'd just get in the way."
He laughed mirthlessly.  "I hate feeling useless."
     "What happened?" Zoner asked Yuri.
     "We were attacked on our return route here.  We had just
come out of warp when a squadron of them attacked us--I have
no idea what they were flying.  They were good--too good.
The Angel was damaged anyway, from the course of the mission-
-we were out of missiles and half the laser banks were down.
Maneuver power was at 78% and shields iffy at best.  They
knew.  Somehow they knew.  They kept hitting us on the left,
where the shields were weakest."
     "What happened to Kei?" asked Ben.
     "We took a missile hit to the port nose," Yuri told him.
"Her panel blew in her face."
     "Fuck.  Fuck, fuck, fuck!"  Gryphon spun around and
punched the wall.
     "Take it easy, she'll be all right," Zoner said.
     "Do you know that?  Do you?  No.  And neither do I."
     "In fact I do.  Her Detian physiology will have her up
and about in no time."
     Gryphon scowled and turned away from Zoner.  He hated it
when he was right.  Fortunately, it didn't happen often.  He
tabbed the intercom on the wall on and dialed it for fighter
command.  "This is Hutchins.  Get my fighter ready.  Full
booster pods, the works.  I'm going hunting."
     "Are you crazy?  They tore us apart!" Yuri shouted.
     "They were fighting a ship four times their size,
weakened, undergunned, and half crippled.  They were briefed
on your damage status and probably your fighting style too.
I'll be flying a fully-prepped, perfect-condition Veritech
VF-1FS Hyper Valkyrie, the most flexible, powerful
starfighter ever produced.  I'm rested and I'm pissed off.
I'll never be sharper.  I just hope they haven't left the
sector yet."  He took one last look at the crowd of medtechs
around Kei, then turned and started running full-tilt toward
the fighter bay, stripping off and discarding bits of his
shipboard uniform as he went.
     Thirty seconds later, he jumped into the cockpit of his
VF-1S, buckling his left boot and sealing the last clasp on
his CVR-3 chestplate; he pulled on his gloves and clamped
down his helmet as he began running prelaunch checks.  The
cockpit canopy came down and sealed as all the missile lights
lighted once and went out.  GU-11 loaded and locked, firing
relays in place.  Transformation systems were reading green.
All modular systems were on line.  He got final clearance
from q and hit full burner.  The Valkyrie was catapulted out
of its launch tube in three seconds, accelerating across
Prometheus' foredeck and streaking into space, gear going up.
     Something smallish and red appeared in his peripheral
vision.  He glanced at it; it was MegaZone's ridiculously
red Daytona, minus its Beta unit and fitted for space combat.
He opened a frequency.
     "Zoner, what are you doing?"
     "Flying your wing, why?"
     "I could ask you the same question."
     "Making sure you don't get yourself killed."
     "Just make sure the same applies to you."  Gryphon
started searching his scope for other targets, which were
indeed forthcoming; on the other side of a nearby asteroid
field, in fact.  Five blips, high energy--very likely
starfighters.  And five makes a squadron.
     Of course they would be hiding; anyone knew that
attacking the Wayward Son was pure suicide with only a
squadron of fighters.  Her armor was proof against most
fighter-size weapons, except possibly Mauler anti-ship
missiles; her sheer size rendered her incredibly hard to
kill; and her own defensive weapons were formidable, not even
counting the Reflex cannon.
     Also, she was known to carry a full wing of Valkyries;
several modified wings of Legios units; a Salusian Special
Forces Shadow Legios/Vindicator "commando squad"; a company
of Garland X-2's; a division of space marines, most of them
hand-picked Salusian specialists, equipped with Cyclones; and
of course the elite Hammers, all of whom had Cyclones of
their own.  That wasn't even counting the Destroids and the
rest of the 101st Salusian FTL Cavalry, including their wing
of Raptors.  And, of course, she had a WWWA Wasp-class
corvette and its accompanying troubleshooter team assigned to
her as a homebase port.
     Not a ship to be messed with.  These guys had signed
their death warrant when they attacked the Angel.
     Gryphon checked their location again and kicked in his
boosterpacks, vectoring straight into the asteroid field.
     "Gryphon, I can't keep up with you at that speed!" Zoner
shouted.
     "So catch up and pick up the pieces," Gryphon replied,
opening the Valkyrie's wings a little more to use more of the
vector control surfaces.  He went diving into the asteroid
field at full speed, dodging asteroids as if he were flying a
normal jet in an atmosphere.  The way Veritech fighters flew
wasted a lot of power, but then again, it wasn't as if they
were in desperate need of conservation, and besides, it made
pilots feel better.
     Zoner spat out a vile curse before heading in at his own
top speed, ducking around flying chunks of rock and having an
easier time of it because of his slower speed and smaller
size.
     Gryphon cleared the field; his lock was still firm on
his five targets.  Grinning, he pulled the wings all the way
back and aimed straight at them, pushing the Valkyrie to its
absolute maximum speed.  And suddenly, there they were.
     Black, almost invisible against the starfield, and
absolutely unmarked, five attack fighters and a warp tender
of uncertain origin and vintage.  The tender sported a simple
construction; spindly power core, bridge, quarters ring,
docking bay for the fighters.  Gryphon tagged one of the
fighters with his targeting system and had a closer look.  A
medium fighter by WDF standards, with apparently moderate
armor and surprisingly good shielding.
     Their shape was dramatic and strange, a flattened discus
with a cut in front for the cockpit windows and two big
thrusters in the rear.  Gryphon locked one into his target
tracking system and watched the small screen; it lit up with
the words "LOCKED TARGET --DRALTHI" and a small schematic of
the Kilrathi fighter in question.
     "What the--?" Gryphon wondered, then shrugged and
decided some tech with a warped sense of humor had done it.
Better to concentrate on the job at hand; it appeared that
the fighters had just relaunched after having their weapons
stores replenished.
     Gryphon smiled.  Good.  Wouldn't do to go beating up an
undergunned opponent, would it?
     The five fighters scattered like startled pigeons as he
came barreling out of nowhere into their midst; the targeting
reticule inside his visor swung onto the locked one and
sang a missile lock.  As the fingers of his right hand
selected missile racks, his left thumb flipped open the
safety cover over a trigger and clamped said trigger down,
launching three AIM-6-XL Reaper missiles from their pylon
under the left wing.  They blossomed the way Reapers tend to
do, spreading outward to confused anti-missile systems before
diving back in and plunging one after the other into one of
the Dralthi, converting it to a rapidly expanding cloud of
glowing yellow and orange bits.
     The Valkyrie's wings extended fully as Gryphon throttled
back, cut out the boosters, and performed a wide duck to the
left; missiles from the four remaining Dralthi passed around
him or blew up behind him.  One clipped the left rear engine
pod, shattering some of the modular armor but doing nothing
of consequence.  Nine Reapers left, and just the thing to do
with them too.  Gryphon dove straight "down" in relation to
the tender, doing a neat Immelmann around it, and then
emerged on the other side to launch all his remaining wing
missiles.
     The Dralthi broke and fled, scattering again, as
missiles corkscrewed toward them.  Two escaped.  One took
four hits and died a horribly messy death.  The other lost a
wing and went spinning off into the asteroid field out of
control, vanishing from the battle zone.
     "Hmm...that was unproductive," Gryphon muttered.  "Oh
well."  The two remaining Dralthi regrouped and began a
concerted attack, unleashing all of their remaining missiles
as well.  Deceleration almost threw Gryphon's head into the
instrument panel as he yanked back the throttle and slammed
the Valkyrie into Gerwalk configuration.  The GU-11 dropped
into his left hand as the arms extended; the wings flared out
and a strange sense of balance appeared, even in deep space.
     ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM ENGAGED, his HUD informed him.  He
raised the GU-11 and fired off a rapid burst, letting his arm
track with the reticule; most of the missiles got hosed, but
a couple got through to blast off armor and vaporize one of
the snap-on arm missile pods.  Growling, he swung his arm
around, cut the AMS, and opened fire with the GU-11 again,
raking one of the Dralthi.  Its own armor withstood the
barrage, but he had screwed its vector grav control surfaces
up a bit.  Gryphon dove into the open again.
     The Valkyrie converted fully to battroid mode, rapidly
slowing and curling into a ball as the undamaged Dralthi
screamed by, its twin lasers chattering a neon burst across
the sky.  Bolts tracked black scars up the Valkyrie's right
leg, side, and arm as it came out of the tuck and opened fire
with the remaining snap-on pod, putting its two AIM-105-3X
General Hosement missiles right into the glowing throat of
the Dralthi's engine.  It stuttered, flared, faltered, and
then, slowly banking to the right, exploded.
     The remaining Dralthi came up from beneath the
Battloid's orientation, lining up for its own pass; Gryphon
dropped the Valkyrie back into fighter mode and opened up all
the stops, accelerating out of the Dralthi's line of fire
almost instantly.  He banked to the right so hard that the
lateral acceleration flattened him into his seat, coming
around on the Dralthi's right flank before the unfortunate
pilot even realized what was going on.  The Dralthi hadn't
finished firing his burst at nothing before Gryphon's
Valkyrie was back and at a near-standstill in battroid mode.
     "Eat this, asshole!" Gryphon shouted, emptying the GU-11
into the small silver-black square that was the Dralthi's
cockpit window.  The craft heeled to the left and exploded.
     The battroid stood there for a short time, not moving,
surveying the tender and not knowing quite what to make of
it.  Then the tender did something rather silly; it fired a
laser cannon at him.  Gryphon dodged to the left; the laser
bolt shredded the remaining snap-on armor on the left leg.
Snarling, he put the Valkyrie back in fighter mode again and
streaked out in a sweeping arc, then approached from the
front and opened up with all his remaining weapons; nose
lasers, side lasers, and head lasers, strafing right up the
beam.  The first thing to go was the bridge dome, holed and
then blown out from within by pressure; then lots of nasty
but probably inconsequential hull damage on the way down to
the other end.
     Just as he cleared the end of the ship, Gryphon slammed
the Valkyrie into Gerwalk mode again and ducked it down and
under, putting it "upside down" and facing right into the
tender's drive thruster's exhaust.  He popped the thumb
covers off the other two thumb triggers and then fired away.
     The booster pods shed their small pop-off plates on the
fore-sections and spewed out their entire collection of
AIM-105-3X missiles, all twenty of them--right into the
throat of the sublight fusion drive.  The Valkyrie jetted
back a good hundred yards, converted to fighter mode, flipped
neatly over, and headed at a good healthy clip back toward
the asteroid field, jettisoning the now-useless snap-on stuff
and extending the ruddervators.  A couple of seconds later,
the tender exploded in a rather Death Star-ish manner.
     Gryphon found MegaZone in the asteroid field, hovering
off the bow of the crippled Dralthi, his every weapon to bear
on its cockpit.
    "Problems?" Zoner said.
     "None.  You?"
     "Yeah...this asshole doesn't seem to want to come back
to the SDF-17.  On the other hand, he doesn't seem
particularly eager to die, either."
     "I see.  Gimme his frequency."
     "Done."
     "Thanks.  Hey, you!  Yeah, you!  You hear me?  This is
Commander Benjamin D. Hutchins of the Wedge Defense Force,
executive officer of the WDF Wayward Son and commander of the
VVF-261 Valkyrie Squadron.  Your buddies are all dead and
that last big explosion you saw over there was your tender."
     "No!  You lie!" a human-sounding voice shouted back.
     "Would I lie to you?  If you like I can show you the
dust cloud.  Now listen carefully.  You're coming back to the
ship whether you like it or not."  He cut the channel closed
before the pilot could respond, then shifted to Gerwalk mode.
"Keep him covered, Zoner," said Gryphon, and clamped a hand
onto the Dralthi's remaining wing, the metal fingers digging
into the armor and making grooves.  The rear thrusters flared
and they were off.
     After dropping the Dralthi off at Repair Two, Gryphon
made a circle around the Wayward Son, as was standard, before
carrying out a normal arrester-hook landing on Prometheus.
Zoner had, by this time, docked on Daedalus.  Climbing out of
his cockpit, Gryphon noted that the cleanup crews had already
removed the wreckage of what had once been the Lovely Angel.
     "Enjoy yourself?" asked Yuri from the doorway to the
ready room.
     "As a matter of fact, yes," Ben replied as he took off
his helmet.  "How's Kei?"
     "She's awake.  She's been asking to see you."
     "Great."  He tossed his helmet into his locker.  "I'll
head down now, then."
     About halfway to the turbolift they encountered ReRob,
who said simply, "I understand we had some excitement today."
     "You might say that."  Zoner rounded the corner and
called out for them to wait.  "Zoner--any word on that
asshole we captured?"
     "He's in the brig; we've got Archon and Daver working on
him, so it shouldn't take him too long to crack.  If that
doesn't work, we can always send in Wheels.  He's not human,
by the way."
     "No?  What then?"
     "I hate to say it, but he's Kilrathi."
     "Oh gaaah.  I hate it when I'm right."
     "And Perry has informed me that the Kilrathi are
ancestral enemies of the Salusians..."
     "Which explains why my computer knew what a Dralthi was.
Oh marvelous..."
     They piled into the turbolift and headed for sick bay.

     Kei was in one of the monitor beds, swathed in bandages,
her right forearm in a green plastic Gel-O-Seal cast; instead
of her characteristic ribbon she was wearing a head dressing,
and small squares of gauze covered most of her face,
including an eye.  Nonetheless, she smiled when Ben came in.
     "Hi, Ben--I'm glad to see you.  I must look like hell--"
     "You?" Ben replied with a cockeyed grin.  "Look like
hell?  Impossible!"
     "Flattery will get you nowhere, but keep trying, love."
     "The damage was mostly superficial, caused by bits of
flying, hot metal and the like--she's lucky she didn't lose
an eye," said Jenna.  "Of course it probably would've grown
back.  I still don't understand everything about Detian
physiology."
     "That's me," Kei said wryly.  "Always the lucky one."
     "So, partner, how're you doing?" Yuri asked as she
entered the room.
     "I've been better, but I'll be ok.  How are you?"
     "Other than a bit pissed off, I'm fine, but I'm glad to
see that you're ok."
     "Of course she's ok," Edison observed from the doorway.
     "What is this?  Some kind of convention?" Gryphon
snapped.
     "I heard of her injuries and I thought it would be
prudent of me to check in on her," answered Edison.
"Besides, I was concerned."
     "Sorry.  Guess I'm just a bit pissy at the moment,"
Gryphon apologized.  "Can't imagine why."
     "No problem.  But as I was saying, her injuries, albeit
painful, are nothing to worry about for a Detian."
     "So she'll fully recover?" Jenna asked.
     "Of course.  It takes quite a bit to keep a Detian down.
But as Kei has had the misfortune of discovering, a Detian
still feels pain, since the nerves heal fully too."
     "Oh great, so we get to recover and don't get any
benefits from toughening in the process," Gryphon observed.
     "Yes, but you will develop a tolerance for pain over
time.  Remember, you have only recently entered the Detian
way of life.  You still have to reevaluate your concept of
time.  What you formerly felt was a long time will be nothing
eventually.  When you don't age time can become irrelevant...
It will take a long time by your old way of thinking for you
to develop pain resistance, but for a Detian it is a very
short time indeed."
     "So the more we get hurt the more we will be able to
take?" Yuri asked.  "That makes some sort of sense..."
     "What are we supposed to do, try and get hit?" Kei
inquired.
     "No, nothing so drastic.  As you have shown, you will
have plenty of opportunities during your normal duties.  Give
it time."
     "Time, that's what it all comes down to, isn't it?"
Jenna observed.
     "Yes...in the end the passage of time provides all the
answers," Edison answered.

-----------------------------------------------------EIGHTEEN

     "Bored..  Bored.  Bored.  Bored.  I've only been here
two months, and I'm already bored.  No unnecessary sedation,
no electro-shock therapy, not even any elevator music."
                         --The Tick

     "Eve, what's the Kei's status?" Zoner asked from his
command chair on the bridge.
     "She is recovering steadily.  Currently Ben, Yuri,
Jenna, and Edison are visiting with her.  It seems that
Omega-2 greatly increases the human healing rates," Eve
replied from the view screen in the arm of his chair.
     "Thanks, Eve.  Say, how're the rest of the crew doing?"
     "Everyone is healthy, even the few who didn't opt for
Omega-2.  But morale is fairly low.  After the first few
months of steady fighting the lack of action seems to be
affecting them."
     "In other words, they're still bored.  Well, hopefully
we'll find something to do.  Maybe we can find some new
worlds to explore.  I had Lord Fahrvergnugen load some extra
scientific equipment on board just in case.  I don't want to
end up being the Captain of some sort of space police vessel.
I really don't enjoy bopping about blasting things."
     "You seemed anxious to join Ben on his last mission.
You even left the ship when you know you're not supposed to
risk yourself."
     "Well, I didn't want him to get himself hurt.  And,
well, I was bored too.  But I still don't enjoy killing
others.  I will respond if provoked, but there is no pleasure
in killing others.  And speaking of others, how's the
questioning of the prisoner going?"
     "Daver and Archon are still working on him."
     "They're not working him over are they?"
     "No, they're just questioning him.  Quite politely, in
fact."
     "Well, let me know if they get anywhere.  Or if they
don't remind me to go down there in, oh, say, three hours."
     "Very well."
     "Oh, and Eve..."
     "Yes?"
     "What do you think we'll find out there?"
     "I cannot answer that.  There is much that I do not
know."
     "Yeah. The unknown.  There never seems to be a shortage
of that, does there?  I don't know.  Sometimes the future
scares me.  And I've got a lot of it."
     "Yes.  I've observed that the unknown tends to make
humans uneasy, more so than the Salusians.  Would it help if
I were to sing?"
     "Heh.  You know I love to hear your voice, Eve.
Certainly, if you'd like to sing, please do."
     "Is there anything in particular you'd like to hear?"
     "Not really.  I'll leave the judgement to you.  Maybe
something to cheer the crew up a bit."
     "I believe I know just the song."  With that Eve's sweet
voice began lilting from the comm system across the ship.
     "Ah, I love to listen to her sing."

     "Um, like, Zoner?" q called from the comm station.
     "Yeah?"
     "There's a solar system about ten degrees off of our
present path.  Do you want to check it out?"
     "Might as well.  It's not like we've got any pressing
engagements at the moment.  Maybe we can find somewhere to
get the crew some R&R."
     "Like ok.  Chris, like, change course."
     "Altering course to port ten degrees," Chris Sprague
announced from the nav position.
     "Fine.  Are we going to get near anything any time
soon?"
     "Doesn't look that way, Zoner," Chris replied.
     "Fine. I think I'll go hang in the wedge for a while.
q, you have the conn.  If anyone else wants to take a break
just get someone else who's qualified to take your place.
Call me if anything happens."
     "Like, will do.  Take it easy."

     Zoner left the bridge, but avoided the elevators.  He
felt like wandering the corridors for a while listening to
Eve's singing.  She did have an incredible voice.  Ben did an
outstanding job in the HDS.  He always suspected that Ben had
kept it around, but there was no need to let everyone else
know about it.  Let them suspect.  He smiled.  Life really
was pretty good; odd, but good.  He contemplated going to
sickbay, but he decided that there were enough people there
already, so he just continued to stroll along for a while.
     Eve finished her song and continued into another.  She
said she liked to sing, and it showed.  Another benefit of
the Detian retro-virus: his brain was reorganized too.  It
made it easier to learn and retain knowledge.  So of course,
with all of the time the crew had, they spent a great deal of
it learning new languages.  Zoner's first choice had of
course been Japanese; he wanted to enjoy Eve's singing the
way it was meant to be.
     Before long Zoner found himself in the housing sections
of the ship.  With all the time he had he still hadn't been
down here that often.  The Wayward Son was a huge ship.
Zoner veered off to the Salusian sections, to see how the new
crew were adapting to life on board ship.
     The barracks were actually very nice to live in.  Since
there was so much room to spare they had been constructed as
apartment complexes.  After living in college dorms the Wedge
Rats understood the need for privacy.  At first Zoner had
wanted to put the Salusians right in with the old crew.  He
felt segregation was wrong and that it would be
discriminatory to separate them from the rest of the crew.
But after a few meetings between the SDF-17's commanders and
the Salusian leaders it was decided that it would be best to
allow for separate housing, at least at first.
     There was some nervousness on both sides and the
cultural differences might cause some conflict.  It was felt
that over time the problems would work themselves out and
that the humans and Salusians would mix freely eventually.
The average Salusian life span was many times that of a
normal human, so there wasn't any real need for the Salusians
to use the Omega-2 retro-virus, even though testing had shown
the Salusian genetic structure to be close enough to that of
humans that it was possible.  Besides, a number of the
Salusians were very wary of Edison.  Apparently the Salusian
empire had some problems with Detians in the past.  But no
one was talking about it.
     Of course in their natural state the Salusians were
furry bipeds, somewhat resembling a skunk in coloration.  But
Princess Asrial had insisted that they all undergo a
conversion to full human form.  So they actually were hard to
tell apart from the humans, except of course for their extra
set of ears.  Most people wouldn't even notice them.  (Of
course, the Wedge Rats weren't most people.)
     The humans and Salusians were actually hitting it off
fairly well; a few human-Salusian relationships had already
developed.  That was another benefit of having more crew
aboard.  A number of the Salusian crack units were female.
That helped balance out the male majority amongst the Wedge
Rats.
     Zoner greeted crew members he encountered as he strolled
along the streets.  A few of the Salusians came to attention
as he approached.  He made sure to stop and chat for a while
to tell them to chill.  He didn't want to be Captain of a
purely military vessel.  He liked the casual atmosphere and
as long as the discipline was there when it was needed he
didn't think it caused any problems.
     He was steadily learning the names of most of the new
crew members--a task made much easier by the retro-virus'
effects on his brain--but he still had several more to learn.
As he strolled through the center of what could be called the
town he ran into one of the Salusian crew who had been
training for bridge duty.  Second Lieutenant Deedlit Satori
began to salute as he approached, but she caught herself.
     "You're learning," Zoner called out to her.
     "Sorry, sir...I mean Zoner.  I guess I'm just not used
to being so informal around superior officers," Deedlit
replied.
     "I understand.  You've spent years in the military
learning the routine and then we tell you to forget it.
It'll take a bit of getting used to.  But it'll help if you
don't think of me as a superior officer.  Remember, we're all
equally important.  The only time I'm superior is when I
issue an order."
     "Ok. I'll try.  What brings you down here anyway?"
     "Just sort of wandering around.  I'm just as bored as
the rest of the crew."
     "Want a companion?"
     "Sure," Zoner replied with a chuckle.  "Misery loves
company."
     Zoner and Deedlit continued on in Zoner's original
direction of travel.  As they walked Zoner took the time to
really look at her.  It was hard to believe she was an alien.
Deedlit was a very attractive woman.  She was a little
shorter than he was, about six feet tall or so.  Well
proportioned, a beautiful smile, and a sparkle in her eyes.
Youth; she was young and had yet to truly experience the
trials of combat.  She was his senior by a number of years,
but a Salusian's childhood, like their lives, was longer than
a human's.
     He wondered if that attractive sparkle would remain
there after she had seen the horrors of war.  He hoped that
it would.  He felt that he was aged beyond his years by the
responsibility of command.  Or maybe it was just coming back
from the dead.  He wasn't sure.  None of these thoughts
changed the fact that Deedlit was attractive.  As they walked
her long black hair trailed behind her in the artificial
breeze.  There was something about her that he just couldn't
quite pin down.  Something about her features.  Wait!  That
was it.  For the first time Zoner really noticed that there
seemed to be different races among the Salusians.  Deedlit's
features seemed almost Asian, but not quite.  It wasn't
really surprising.  Humans had many different races, why
shouldn't aliens?  Zoner decided to simply ask her about it.
     "Deedlit, I want to ask you something.  Please don't
take this the wrong way, but are there different races of
Salusians?"
     "Hmm?  Oh, yes, yes of course.  It's not much different
that the way different races developed on Earth actually.
Salusia has several continents and the living conditions vary
widely.  The different races evolved for the same reasons as
on Earth.  Genetic mutation in isolated population and
survival of the fittest mostly.  Why do you ask?"
     "Well, I just really noticed how there seemed to be
subgroups among the Salusians, appearance wise that is."
     "Oh.  Is that why you were looking at me so intently?"
     "Um...well, yeah, that's part of the reason.  But you
are very attractive."
     "Really?  I wasn't sure humans would be attracted to
me."
     "Don't worry about it.  You know, Yuri would probably
kill me if she heard me saying these things."
     "Why?"
     "She can get very jealous.  But she really doesn't have
anything to worry about.  I'm hopelessly in love with her."
     "I'm not sure how to take that."
     "Well, you may be very attractive, and I like you a lot.
You seem fairly cool--but Yuri is the one I love.  Love isn't
a logical thing, you know.  Don't try to figure it out."
     "Yes.  I know."
     "Do you have anyone?"
     "I used to, but we broke up a couple of years ago.  Then
I got promoted and I've been so busy that I haven't really
had the time to devote to a relationship."
     "Well, it seems that we have almost nothing but time as
of late.  You should try to find someone.  There're plenty of
people aboard."
     "Yeah, I know.  I probably will."
     "Well, I think I'm going to head back to my quarters for
a while.  See you later."
     "Ok.  See you later."
     Deedlit turned around and started back towards her
apartment as Zoner continued on towards E7.

     "There's nothing to do but abuse mecha," ReRob muttered
to no one in particular.  Logan gave him a quizzical look.
     "Well, word is we're heading for a system.  Maybe
they'll be a planet to check out," Android replied.
     "Yeah.  Like in every episode of Star Trek.  They always
find an inhabitable planet," Lightnin joked.
     "But the odds of actually finding an Earth-like planet
are extremely low in the real world," ReRob rejoined.
     "I know.  But let's at least try and be hopeful.
Besides, we've got forever to find one," Lightnin replied.
     "Searching for a planet forever could get real boring,"
Android observed.
     "Yeah I guess it could.  Maybe we should come up with
another goal.  I want to live long enough to be a witty as
Joel and the 'bots," Lightnin replied.
     "I guess our bosses on Earth didn't like us then," ReRob
ventured.
     "Umm...you could say that," Android answered.

-----------------------------------------------------NINETEEN

     "The best laid plans of mice and men aft gang agly."
                         --ancient Gaelic saying

     "Status?" asked Zoner when he got back to the bridge.
     "We're still closing on that system," Gryphon replied,
relinquishing the captain's seat and taking his own station
again.  "Not close enough for anything but long-range scans
yet, but it looks like there's at least one class-M planet.
Maybe we'll find something."
     "What about the captured pilot?"
     "He isn't talking.  No true Son of Kilrah is afraid of a
bunch of monkey-boy torture artists, apparently."
     "Oh, Christ, they're torturing him?"
     "No, no...he's disappointed that they're not, though.
Reinforces his view of humans as wimps.  All they got out of
him was his name."
     "Which is?"
     "Promise not to boot?"
     "Ok ok."
     "Bakhtosh Redclaw."
     "It just figures.  He is Kilrathi, then?"
     "Yep.  Won't say what he's doing in this sector, or why
the five-ship tender, or what.  Just snarls and spits."
     "Sounds like a Kilrathi to me.  I suppose I should go
down there sometime."
     "If you feel like it, I suppose.  The mech section is
tearing apart his fighter right now--they should have a line
geared up to build them in a day or so if you want.  Some of
the Salusian pilots really like the design."
     "I'll have to talk with Perry about it, I dunno.  We've
got enough assembly lines down there to build armies, for
chrissake...I still don't know where the hell the raw
materials come from."
     "Probably got huge cargo holds down there or something,
don't worry about it.  Wolfgang said our production stores
should hold out at least a hundred years."
     "Ok...hey, how's Kei?"
     "She's fine, or will be in a day or so.  The cuts and
bruises are just about healed, and the arm should be fine by
seventeen hundred.  Jenna wants to keep her there for another
hour or so to observe. "
     "Cool.  I'll go down and see her sometime later, after I
get done with Redclaw.  If anything happens, let me know."
     "Will do."

-------------------------------------------------------TWENTY

     "Some people, ya know, they just will not do."
                         --q

                       TWO HOURS LATER

     "Zoner--unidentified objects coming in from three-ten by
negative oh five," reported Kei, who was back at her
position, her arm already out of its cast.
     "Composition?" asked MegaZone.
     "Metallic, powered, ten-ton to thirty-ton.  Too slow to
be missiles, probably manned."
     "Fighter craft."
     "Yeah, that's what I thought too."
     "q, scramble the Eight-Balls to intercept.  Don't fire
until I give the say-so.  We've got bogeys out there, not
bandits."
     "Like, gotcha, Zoner."  Macquivr summoned the
fighter group as its commander was leaving the bridge at a
run; they headed out to meet their new neighbors, who were
approaching from the planet.
     A few minutes later, the Eight-Balls were within
tracking range of the craft in question.  Gryphon tagged the
nearest one with his target tracking system and glanced at
the small screen; there was a small schematic of a light
fighter and the words "LOCKED TARGET -- SALTHI".
     "Eight-Ball One to Control," Gryphon called.  "I'm
looking at two squadrons of Salthi fighters here...we've got
cats again."
     "Yeah, but when they scratch, do they leave marks like
Darensbourg?" ReRob asked.
     "Uh, I don't think Cat has lasers in her fingernails,
Rob."
     "What are they doing?"
     "Accelerating."  Zark!  "Make that firing guns.  Request
permission to return fire!"
     "Knock yourself out, Gryph.  Save me a wing fragment for
my wall."
     "Yeah, right.  Eight-Ball One to squadron: EXTERMINATE!"
     Mark responded with, "Did somebody say the magic word?"
while shoving his throttle to burner.
     Daver announced, "Hey, these guys are easy to nuke."
And to prove his point, he clicked into battroid mode and
started raking space with his GU-11.  Tricia responded with
"Stop showing off, fuckhead," and sent her first volley off.
     Saurian started chasing the back Salthi.  His targeting
system was, shall we say, tweaked.  He didn't lock on the
Salthi.  He locked on the pilot.  He got a lock so good the
HUD wrote out, "Hey, is this a lock or what?"
     "You guys watch this!  This lock is sooo sweet!  I can't
fucking miss!"
     The rest of the squadron chimed in with "So shoot,
already!"  Which he did.
     Rather than Scott Bernarding, he fired one lone Reaper.
That should be enough to toast a recon bird.  He made sure to
select the missile with "Let's get to know each other better"
written on the side.  It spiraled in beautifully, aiming
directly for the cockpit.
     At the last second, due to what had to be an error in
the internal guidance system of the missile, it reversed
course.  It was flying backwards, and was close enough to the
Salthi to break/burn through the klasterglass of the
windshield.  The remainder of the thrust was spent totally
incinerating the poor unfortunate Kilrathi.
     A split second later, the warhead detonated, sending
the Salthi exploding in a fireball, leaving nothing but a
couple of O-rings and a piece of hose.
     Daver was the first to respond, after grabbing one
Salthi and throwing it into its wingmate, with "I don't
believe it.  He fucking Swimmed it!"
     Mark unloaded his GU-11 into the fourth Salthi, making
it look like a piece of Swiss cheese.  It returned fire,
damaging his wing.
     "Why won't this thing kerfucking die?!" he screamed.
     A quick burst from Tricia's Valkyrie sent the Salthi
exploding into more O-rings and hose.  "You just have to know
what you're doing, Mark."
     Gryphon briefed a pair of Reapers on a quick mission,
and scrambled them.  They converged on the remaining Salthi
from opposite sides, destroying it in much the same manner
that the Ewoks killed an AT-ST with a pair of heavy logs.
     "Scratch five Salthi, Zoner.  On the leader board,
that's one for me, two for Daver with a style point, one by
Tricia with an assist by Haywire, and, well, you'll just have
to see Erik's gun camera footage.  I won't even try to
explain it."
     "He Swimmed a missile, didn't he?"
     "It was so fucking perfect, though!" retorted Saurian.
     Tricia chimed in.  "Uh, guys...take a listen on 58.26."
     STATIC "--peat, we are under siege by elements of the
Empire of Kilrah.  Under the Salusian Treaty Pact of 17,280,
we request assistance from any Salusian ally within range of
this transmission." STATIC
     "I heard that, guys," said Zoner.
     "What're we gonna do?" asked ReRob.
     "I think it's pretty goddamn obvious.  First off, the
majority of our crew are Salusian, and thus we are basically
Salusian allies.  Second, these are Kilrathi.  Third, our
morale problem stems from the fact that we are really fucking
bored.  The order: Prepare all squadrons for combat.  We're
here to eat sushi and kick ass!"
     q looked up.  "But, Zoner, we like ran out of sushi
three months ago."
     "Bingo.  Get me a channel to the Salusians."
     "Like, you're on the air, Zoner."
     "Attention, Salusians!  This is Captain MegaZone of the
WDF Wayward Son, responding to your distress call.  We will
be in orbit of your world within forty minutes.  Please
advise us as to the Kilrathi strength and composition."
     "Thank you for your response, Captain.  The aggressors
have ten Sivar-class dreadnoughts and seven Snakeir fighter
carriers, each holding about thirty craft.  Five types of
fighters, including the new six-gunned Jalthi heavies.  We
have no armed spaceworthy vessels--we had a squadron of
Scimitars, but they were all destroyed attempting to repulse
the first wave."
     "Thank you.  Wayward Son out."  He turned on the
intercom.  "You heard that guys, we've got some heavy
opposition.  The Veritechs are outnumbered ten to one, so
we're going to need to support them as much as possible.
Prepare to separate Prometheus and Daedalus as Destroid
units.  The main ship will worry about the dreadnoughts.
It's been over a year, guys, so some of you may have lost a
bit of your edge.  Here's where we take that edge back.
Zoner out."
     ReRob piped up.  "Zoner, permission to leave the bridge
and the ship?"
     "Huh?  What for?"
     "An experiment."
     "A what?!?"
     "Zoner, trust me on this, okay?"
     "Alright, but it had better be good!"
     ReRob smiled the smile of a child with a new toy.  You
know, the one that set Dad back a month's salary.  "Q, get
the following people to bay six, in battle dress: Deedlit
Satori, Cheryl Zukowsky, Kevin Tefft.  And tell them no
hurling!"
     "Like, will do, Rob."
     ReRob made an evil chuckle as he took the elevator to
the lab/landing bay.

---------------------------------------------------TWENTY-ONE

     "You are one...ugly...--urk!"
     "Motherfucker."
                         --Lt. Harrigan and the Predator

     ReRob, of course, was the first one in the bay.  And his
experiment was ready.  Well, almost ready.
     The ship was lurking there.  In extremely dark ugly.
Not flat ugly or gloss ugly or matte ugly; more of a WOW
that's ugly kind of ugly.  Uglier than Ren and Stimpy.  An
ugly you could actually hear if you listened closely enough.
It might even be describable.  Here goes:
     Start with a Beta Veritech.  Take a pair of Avenger
cannon: you know, the 30mm guns they put on the A-10
Thunderbolt, the kind that eat tanks for a midnight snack.
Put two of them on pivots and turntables on top of the
MM-40s.
     Then, take the MM-40s out.  Replace them with PBC-11
particle beam cannon arms from the MBR-04-VI Tomahawk
Destroid.  Of course, that means the barrels will stick out
of the front, but so what?
     Second, add four strategically placed 30mm chain guns to
the underbelly.
     Third, change the standard "Vivian" locking collar so
that it attaches to the back of a standard Salusian R-12
Raptor starfighter.
     And, finally, because this thing ain't quite done yet,
leave some armor plates missing, color the whole thing gun-
metal grey, and leave some oil stains and grease droolings
all over the place.
     The other three (Deedlit, Cheryl, and Kevin) came in
more or less simultaneously and barely succeeded in not
hurling.
      Kevin was the first to speak.  "What the fuck is that,
ReRob?"
     Deedlit said, "Oh...my."
     Cheryl was optimistic.  "Well, it ought to kill things
rather nicely."
     ReRob started up.  "Ayup, that it will.  Deedlit, take
the Raptor.  This...thing is slaved in to your controls, so
expect some major thrust to weight ratio.  And don't take it
into an atmosphere.  Get going as soon as the rest of us get
into the Beta.  But give me a minute, we've got to do this
right."
     ReRob ran over to a tray cart.  There was a bottle of
champagne in the obligatory ice-filled pail.  He hucked the
bottle to Cheryl, and grabbed a can of white spray paint.  He
sprayed a quick "Kilroy was here" sign, with the left hand
conspicuously missing.  "His name is hereby Kilroy, his
designation Thundergod One."
     "It's a he?" queried Kevin.
     "This sucker's too fuckin' ugly to be a she!"
Deedlit, Cheryl, and Kevin responded in unison, "Excuse me?"
ReRob remembered that he was unique among the crew in his
tastes.
     "Anyways, christen this sucker and we can be off!"
Cheryl wound up and bashed the champagne across the starboard
hull.  Unfortunately, that particular piece of armor plate
wasn't firmly affixed, and it swung downwards, only held on
by one bolt.  "real sturdy, Rob..."
     "Fine, let's get moving!  Deedlit, keep the bandits on
our port side!"
     Within seconds, the Salusian was turning over the
turbines while Cheryl, Rob, and Kevin were strapping into the
three-seater cockpit.
     "Cheryl, you've got those two top rotary cannon.  Your
responsibility is anything above the ship.  Kevin, you've got
those four cannon down the bottom.  You also have the drum
bomb in the bay.  That's a two-ton nuclear device, so don't
use it unless you really mean it.  Any questions?  No?  Good.
Let's rock!"
     With that, Deedlit punched the throttle.  Unfortunately,
she had no experience whatsoever with the Legios concept, nor
had ever flown something with quite the acceleration of a
Beta.  Cheryl and Ktefft, who were seated sideways behind
ReRob, were slung to the side as the conglomeration rocketed
into the void.

     MegaZone, and the rest of the bridge crew, saw
this...thing...as it screamed to follow the Veritechs.
     "ReRob, is that you?"
     "Yup.  I told you it was an experiment.  Meet Kilroy the
Thundergod."
     "Last time I did an experiment like that, I threw it
down the toilet."
     "Well, it's uuuugly, but it should work."
     "What the fucking hell is it?"
     "It's a Beta with weapons up several places one should
never have weapons.  Three gunners, no waiting."
     "Any special strategies for interacting with our
Veritechs?"
     "Yeah.  Tell them to get out of our way.  And leave the
Jalthi to us.  We outgun them."
     "You WHAT?"
     "Twelve guns versus their six.  Pipe Beta through
Gunstar, and you get the picture."
     "Whatever.  Just make sure you bring it back."
     "We'll try."

---------------------------------------------------TWENTY-TWO

     "On a countdown to zero/Take a ride on the nightmare
machine/There ain't gonna be heroes/There ain't gonna be
anything"
                         --Def Leppard

Author's note:
          At this point the authors could try and write out
     the entire battle.   But the reader would probably get
     VERY bored if we described ALL of the destruction and
     carnage.  After all, there are quite a few ships out
     here.  If you really want to see a hugemongous space
     battle, similar to the one which takes place here, go
     watch the end of Return of the Jedi on fast forward,
     three times.  We will, however, satisfy some of your
     bloodlust by writing what the more main, central, hero-
     type characters are doing.
          We now return you to our regularly scheduled
     carnage already in progress.

     "You fight like a stillborn kitten."
     "Bite it, catface!"  Gryphon yelled in reply, vaping the
offending Kilrathi Jalthi.
     "Nice one, Gryph!  That makes seven kills this mission,"
Daver called out.
     "Yeah yeah yeah.  I know I'm good.  No autographs."
     "You also have a Krant on your six."
     WHOMP!  "Ouch.  I knew that."
     Daver placed a Reaper where the sun don't shine and
pulled along side Gryph.  "Nice one, Darkwing.  Pat yourself
on the back later."
     "I was just kidding, geez.  Umm, excuse me..."  Gryph's
GU-11 chattered to life.  "Damn Salthi."
     "That's eight for you and five for me."
     "Well, you're doing better than most wingmen.  They
usually come up empty."
     "Yeah.  Well, I've got to get back to the battle over
here.  Can't keep the pigeons waiting."
     "Ok.  Just watch yourself."

     "Hahaha!  DIE!  DIE!  DIE!  Nine lives my ass!  DIE!"
     "Mark, calm down.  Don't take too many chances," Tricia
warned.
     "I'm ok.  Just--- HA!  Fool!  Taste my wrath! ---sorry,
where were we?"
     "Nevermind.  I give up.  Just make sure you get your ass
back to the ship in one piece."
     Mark filled a large area of space with depleted
shoggothium, and managed, via sheer luck, to frag a Gratha.
     "HA!  DIE!  I love this job!  And I was going to work
for Mass Electric this summer!  Die furball!"
     "What AM I going to do with you?" Tricia mumbled.
     Mark was totally absorbed in the glee of utterly hosing
the enemy.  Therefore he didn't notice the Dralthi closing on
him from below.  The Dralthi opened fire and nailed Mark's
battroid in the backpack thrusters.  Seriously screwing them
up.  Luckily Erik didn't miss the Dralthi.  A salvo of
AIM-105-3X missiles succeeded in increasing the entropy of
the universe in general, and said Dralthi in particular.
     "Probably scrape him up if he keeps this up," Erik
commented dryly.
     "Mark! Are you ok?!"  Trish asked concerned.
     "'Tis only a flesh wound."
     "Haywire, stop fucking around and kill Kilrathi sanely.
Alright?" Gryphon called over the comm.
     "Awwww.  That takes all the fun out of it."
     "Haywire."
     "Oh, alright."
     "Kill sanely?  Are you feeling alright, Gryph?" Daver
asked.
     "I'm fine, Dave."
     "Yeah, I'm sure that's what HAL said too."
     "Fuck you, Dave."
     "Ooh baby.  Will you?"
     "In your dreams, Dave."
     "You mean nightmares, don't you?"
     "Oh, just shut up and-- CHECK SIX!"
     "Huh?!  What?  Whoa!  Nice kitty!  Good kitty.  Have a
missile."
     The Reaper Roboteched gracefully and impacted the
Gratha's engines.  The Kilrathi was having a very, very,
very, very, very nice day.  Assholes!

     Back on the bridge of the SDF-17 Zoner was shifting
nervously in his chair.
     "Zoner, like, what's wrong?" q asked.
     "Oh, nothing.  I just wish I was out there with the rest
of the crew.  I haven't had a good opportunity to try out my
Daytona in combat yet.  My beta has more missiles than most
of them.  And I've got a GAU-8 too.  ARGH!  I want to relieve
some stress too."
     "Zoner, calm down.  We need you here.  Who else is
qualified to command the Wayward Son?" Yuri asked.
     "Everybody.  Like you for instance."
     "Oh no.  Not me.  I don't want to do it."
     "Exactly.  That's why I'm stuck here."
     "Anyway, we might as well do something a little more
useful than plinking fighters with railguns.  Kei, do you
have a good setup for targeting the Sivars yet?"
     "Well, there're a lot of fighters in the way, some of
which are ours.  So if you can get us clear..."
     "Done.  Yuri, change course 300 mark 18.  All ahead
flank."
     "Ok.  Course 300 mark 18, all ahead flank."

     While all of this was going on the kludge from hell was
closing on a pair of Snakeirs.  A small cluster of fighters
buzzed about the Snakeirs, protecting them.  Or so they
thought.
     The Kilrathi picked him up a long way off.  Well, it
wasn't like the kludge was stealthy or anything.  A pair of
Gratha peeled off and closed with the kludge head on.
They're so stupid.
     "Cheryl, you got these bozos?"
     "Yeah Rob, easy."  The two GAU-8s pivoted and each
locked onto a Gratha.  Twin fingers of depleted uranium
reached out and plinked their targets.  Hard.  O-rings
scattered about the cosmos.  "Two down, eleven to go."
     "Yeah, look sharp everyone."
     When their brethren bit the big one, the remaining
Kilrathi turned to attack the kludge.
     "Here they come.  Stay sharp.  We don't need anyone
going... catatonic."
     ReRob's crew collectively moaned and refused to reply to
the pun.
     "Deedlit, you keep us moving and keep them off our ass,
ok.  The fields of fire are sort of limited."
     "I'm a fighter pilot.  That's generally what I've been
trained to do.  Fighters pilots aren't generally trained to
sit still and say `Hey, I'm a fighter pilot; kill me.'  Sir."
     "Um.  Yeah.  Anyway, here they come."
     "We're ready for 'em.  Let's go," Kevin said.
     Three Krant circled in from below.  They opened fire at
long range, but their attacks just bounced off the kludge's
armor.  Kevin waited for them to close.
     "Come on.  Come on.  Just a little closer to be sure...
DIE!"
     Three of the chain guns spat angry bits of lead and
uranium at the Krant.  And managed to seriously pit them.
     "Hey!  ReRob these things are weak!  I said DIE!"  Kevin
opened fire again.  This time two of the Krant lost sizeable
portions of their structure and drifted off into deep space.
The third turned to limp back to one of the Snakeirs.  "I got
'em!"
     "Nice one," was all Cheryl said.  She was busy hosing a
pair of Dralthi which dared enter her arc of fire.
     "Deedlit, line us up for a Tomahawk shot," ReRob
ordered.
     "Roger."  Deedlit arced the kludge gracefully (?!?)
through space and brought her sights to bear on a pair of
Jalthi.  "Set up."
     "I've got the guns," ReRob called out.  He fired all of
the kludge's forward firing weaponry; the two Tomahawk
cannons and the Raptor's mass drivers and neutron guns.  One
of the Jalthi bloomed into a fireball, but the other dodged
and returned fire.  It's six laser cannons chewed into the
kludge and ripped off some of the armor.  The crew was thrown
about violently from the energy of the blasts.
     "Big money!  Big prizes!  I like it!  Ok, Deedlit stay
on him!"
     "Doing my best!"
     Deedlit and the Jalthi's pilot each fought to gain a
superior position over the other while Kevin and Cheryl held
off the remaining Kilrathi.
     "Argh!  This bastard is good.  Shoot him as soon as you
get a chance," Deedlit yelled into the comm.
     "I'm planning on it!" ReRob shot back.  "Now!"
     Again six weapons spat out destruction towards the
Jalthi.  This time they connected, but the craft was only
damaged.
     "Ah!  So the monkey boy can fight!" the Jalthi's pilot
exclaimed over the radio.
     "No fuckin' shit, Heathcliff!" Rob replied.
     The kludge was shaken by the impact of Kilrathi
missiles.
     "What the fuck was that?" Kevin asked.
     "I dunno.  Shit!  We've got a Gratha on our six!"
     "I shall feast upon your offspring," the Gratha's pilot
stated to the crew.
     "Jeez, you mean you haven't even tried depleted uranium?
Here, have a taste test!  Guys, hold on back there," Deedlit
called over the comm.  She hauled the kludge through a half-
loop and a snap roll, broke hard right and bore down on the
Gratha's port side.  "Now you die."  The Gratha fell apart
rather nicely when confronted with the six weapons fired at
it.
     "`Now you die'?  How cliche.  Every stupid movie has
someone saying `Now you die', it's totally unoriginal," ReRob
editorialized from the back seat.
     "Give me a break, I haven't been speaking English for
that long.  It seemed appropriate."
     "Appropriate yes.  Original no," Cheryl replied.
     "Umm.  Do you think we could get back to swatting these
furballs out of existence?"
     "Check."  The rest of the crew shut up and returned to
their guns.
     Deedlit reacquired the Jalthi they had been dueling and
reengaged in a dogfight.  The Jalthi had lost some of its
control thrusters and couldn't keep up with her skill.  It
died rather quickly.
     "Ok, what do we have left?"
     "Three Salthi."
     "Ok, no problem."  The kludge began trying to duel with
one of the Salthi.  It didn't work.
     "Uh...I see a problem," Deedlit said.
     "Like what?" ReRob asked.
     "This is like killing gnats with a shotgun.  They're
just too nimble."
     "And I can't get these damn turrets to track quick
enough," Kevin added.
     "Yeah no shit," Cheryl chimed in.
     "Ok.  So what do we do?"
     "Let me take them in the Raptor," Deedlit suggested.
     "Ok.  Do it..."
     "Alright!  Got one!" Kevin cried.
     "That's nice, dear.  Go ahead, Deedlit."
     The Raptor engaged its thrusters and raced away from the
Beta.  Rob and company sat back to enjoy the fireworks.
     Deedlit got reaccustomed to the quicker response time
and much better handling of the Raptor alone; without all
that mass behind it, Beta thrusters or no, it was a hell of a
lot more comfortable to fly.  She punched up to full cruising
speed and slung the ship around, keying the main guns to her
manual control again.  A Salthi crossed her field of view;
she locked it down and began tracking it, fighting with the
smaller vessel for position.
     The pilot of the Salthi tried to dodge as the Raptor
swung into his six, but his fighter's inability to turn right
foiled him; he had to sit and take a hit or two before his
boosters pushed him to safety.  It was enough.  Deedlit put
the trigger down, and the paired neutron guns and mass
drivers of her fighter spoke.  The first salvo knocked down
the Salthi's shields entirely; the second blasted great holes
in its armor; the third holed fuel tanks and ion drive.  The
fighter exploded majestically, but Deedlit took no time to
watch; the Salthi's wingman had been battering at her rear
shields with its lasers this whole time, and now she turned
her deadly attentions on him.

     "We're in position," Yuri reported.  Out over the bow,
the glow of the half-distant battle could be seen as missile
salvos streaked back and forth and the flaring deaths of
starfighters flashed.  That was below the line of fire,
though; directly ahead were discernible the outlines of
Sivar-class Kilrathi dreadnaughts.
     "Lay in a firing solution and fire when ready," Zoner
ordered.
     q leaned over to Yuri and, tapping her elbow,
whispered, "So like, how many do you think she'll get?"
     "Two...three at the max," Yuri replied.
     "Two?!  I beg my illustrious partner's pardon?  Four, at
the least!"
     "Five bucks says you only get three."
     "You're on!"
     "Ladies..."
     "Targeting," Kei replied with a grin.  On her small
screen, the God's-eye view of the enemy formation shifted a
little.  The dreadnaughts were jockeying for a better
position from which to thump the planet below, ignoring
entirely the enemy mothership hanging motionless some
distance away.  The Wayward Son was entirely too far away to
be a threat, they reasoned.  On the little screen, the blips
that were dreadnaughts moved a little more, coming closer to
the red band that was the main gun's killzone.
One...two...three...four...four.  Damn.  The other three
weren't moving into the beam zone, and it looked like one
would be vacating soon, so...
     She thumbed off the striped safety cover and punched the
trigger.  The bow cammed, the sparks flew, and the beam leapt
forth, clawing space in its ravenous manner, just as always.
The Kilrathi ships scattered like terrified mice before the
firestorm, but too late; the four targeted ships were caught
and incinerated in the space of a thought.
     The Salusian tech who maintained the bridge viewer
systems apparently had a twisted sense of humor; over the
magnified explosions of the four ships, the letters "GAME
OVER" blinked for a few seconds.
     "Yes!" Kei cried, punching the air in triumph.  "Four of
the bastards.  Pay up, sucker!"
     Yuri sighed and forked over the cash.

     "Good work, Deedlit," ReRob complimented as the Raptor
finished off the second Salthi.  "Now we--whoa!"  Rob was cut
off as the tremendous flash of light cut the cosmos in half.
"Wha... oh--they set Kei loose again.  God help us all."  He
grinned.  "Four Sivars--not bad at all.  I wonder..."  He
swung the monster around and aimed it at the nearest Snakeir.
"Deed, cover us--I'm gonna try something."
     "Roger," Deedlit replied.
     ReRob aimed the Beta right at the Snakeir's pipes,
opening up with all the weapons at his command; his gunners
followed suit.  He reached down and flipped the button that
armed one of his two AIM-666-XL AntiChrist heavy missiles.
The pinging of a missile looking for a lock sounded as the
small red reticule swung across the HUD and lined up with the
green gunnery crosshair (which looked suspiciously familiar
to a Leppardhead like Rob, making him wonder about the HUD's
designer).
     The ping became a tone--the missile found it simplicity
itself to lock on a target that huge.  Rob dodged some flak,
took some more (the Beta's armor laughed as it flaked away--
pathetic laser cannons), and then, verifying his lock, fired.
     The AntiChrist ripped out of its underslung launch tube,
right to the left of the locking mechanism for the Raptor,
not even bothering to Robotech before diving into one of the
Snakeir's thruster exhausts.
     Nothing happened.
     "Okay, so maybe it didn't work," ReRob said ruefully,
pulling up and boosting out as the flak got just a bit too
heavy.
     A great gout of flame shot out of the Snakeir's exhaust;
the ship heeled to port, began to list in relation to its
former orientation, and then, in a rather beautiful manner,
exploded.
     "Holy shit!" Kevin shouted, craning to look back.
     "Good shooting, Rob," Cheryl added with a grin.
     "Heh," ReRob said with a grin, opened up his throttles a
little more, and dove in to attack another.
     "Don't get too cocky, sir," Deedlit cautioned.  "You
might not be so lucky this time."
     "I know what I'm doing," ReRob replied, and proceeded to
plunk his second AntiChrist into a second carrier's engines
and blow the second ship sky-high.
     "This is getting boring," ReRob said with an evil smile,
and aimed his experiment in ugliness at a Sivar.
     "Sir, you can't be serious--" Deedlit began.
     "Just cover my tail, Lt. Satori, and watch the
fireworks.  Kevin, remember that drum bomb?"
     "I like the way you think, ReRob," declared Cheryl.
     "Heh," was all Kevin said.  He pressed the key that
armed the bomb; the bombsight unfolded from the ceiling in
front of him.  It looked kinda like that proton torpedo
targeting thing Incom T-65 starfighters have.  He had a
wireframe nose view of the oncoming rear end of a Sivar-class
dreadnaught--specifically, the pipes.
     "Shit--this AA is heavy," ReRob said as the Beta shook
from the pounding.  "Hurry up and drop that sumbitch!"
     "Got it--bomb away!" Kevin cried, hitting the Big Red
ButtonTM.  The bomb bay swung open and a small rocket charge
ejected the bomb; in zero-g, it continued on the Beta's
trajectory, plus the lateral motion imparted by the ejection
charge.  Targeted perfectly, it "fell" right into the
Sivar's thruster.
     "Let's get outta here!" ReRob shouted, yanking the
conversion lever.  The Beta's legs and arms extended, but
somewhere just short of real battroid mode but after gerwalk,
something jammed.  "Shit--I was afraid of that," said Rob,
and hit full boosters.  The Betakludge flipped over and
streaked away as it returned to fighter mode.
     Fifteen seconds later, the three Beta crewmembers
glanced back at a perfectly unconcerned Sivar.  "Damn," ReRob
said, "looks like the bomb mis--"

     BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     [Huge explosion deleted--but it looks just like the
                    Death Star blowing up]

     Three Sivars were swallowed up in the fireball, besides
the one which was actually meeting the fiery death; only one
came out, and it looked pretty crispy around the edges.
     "WOW!" Rob shouted.
     "Holy fuck!" said Kevin, looking in awe at the Big Red
Button.
     "Cool!" Cheryl agreed.
     "I think it's time to head back to base," ReRob grinned.
"Deedlit, you want to come back with us, or are you up for
some more action?"
     "Think I'll stay--ump--right here, sir," Deedlit replied
shortly.  Glancing out his port window, Rob saw her engaged
in a fierce dogfight with a squadron of Dralthi.
     "Oh.  Have fun," he replied, and headed for the Wayward
Son.

     "What the fuck was that?!" Zoner demanded as the
explosion blotted out half the main viewer.
     "Christ on a crutch!" Gryphon shouted, his face
appearing in a corner of the viewer.  "What the fuck was
that?!"
     "I don't know!" Zoner replied.  "I thought you did it!"
     "I couldn't do that if I wanted to!"
     "It was us, guys," ReRob joined in, popping into another
corner of the viewer.
     "What the hell did you use, a kilo of antimatter?!"
     "Close; a drum bomb."
     "Shit!"
     "Actually, most of the explosion probably came from the
Sivar's engine core," Daver interjected.
     "Probably," Gryphon agreed.
     "Yeah, you know, an ion drive that big has got to have
some major capacitance--now take the engine cores on the UN
Spacy's new A.R.M.D. Mark II series--" Zoner began, and
started to trail away on a long blatter of jargon.
     "Gryph, I think I activated technospew mode...I'm
sorry," Daver said apologetically.
     "No problem," Gryphon replied.  "I can just shut off his
channel."

     The Kilrathi forces surrendered five minutes later,
having lost more than 45% of their forces to fightercraft.
Most of them committed ritual suicide out of sheer
embarrassment.

-------------------------------------------------TWENTY-THREE

     "I thought I could live in your world/As years all went
by/With all the voices I've heard/Something has died."
                         --Guns N' Roses

     Of course, once the battles had ended the planet's
survivors extended their invitation to the Wayward Son's crew
to have their R&R down on the surface.  The crew accepted
graciously.  And there was much rejoicing.  (yaaaaay)
 
        ReRob and Deedlit just seemed to hit it off after the
launch of Kilroy.  She finally learned to fly a Raptor with a
sixteen ton Thundergod linked to it, and was the only one who
learned to do so.  Of course, that was because there was only
one Thundergod, since very few people had the exact type of
insanity required to fly one of those mecha.
        Of course, Kilroy wasn't the Kludge from Hell
anymore.  Customized armor panels were fitted on the
superstructure, the avionics were optimized for the new
weapons systems, and the "battroid" option on the mode
selector was removed.  Due to the geometries of the weapons,
there was no way in Hell the machine could assume battroid
configuration.  But that mode was almost useless in the
original Beta anyways.
        A modified Salusian force shield was placed on the
mecha, an air shield which gave the Thundergod a spherical
aerodynamic profile.  Due to the size of the sphere, the
thing had even more drag than the ship itself, but at least
the supersonic wind resistance didn't rip off the various
weapons systems.  Since the shield had to be up for any
serious atmospheric flight, the now-useless wings were
removed.  Sure, the thing had the aerodynamics of a thirty-
foot bowling ball, but who cares when you have enough thrust
to reach Mach 8?
        But, back to R&D.  ReRob wasn't a big believer in
relationships with co-workers (it tends to complicate things
somewhat), but there was no real way around it.  As pilots,
they were totally different.  She was a precision flyer,
working on the "one shot, one hit" philosophy.  He, the
designer of the VR-065 Obliviator and the VF-1B10 Thundergod,
was mister area denial, working on the premise of quantity
over quality.  His primary mecha was something that could
only be described as a pig, but it got the job done.
        In this way, Deedlit and ReRob complemented each
other.  She was able to deal with small, fleeting opponents
and cover ReRob's six when he went after the big targets with
AntiChrists and drum bombs.  ReRob returned the favor by
hosing the larger targets covering Deedlit when her weapons
couldn't penetrate.  In short, this duo was an incredible
team.  In shorter, you didn't fuck with them.
        The two became inseparable out of the cockpits as
well, and Kevin and Cheryl knew enough not to tag along.
Their personalities fit their fighting styles.  Deedlit, the
artiste, was an artist as well, an incredible singer.  ReRob
took up bass, already knowing a bit of keyboard, to back her
up.  ReRob was more brute-force than artistic, but had a
certain style which could not be denied.  His creativity went
not into song, but into his design work.  Jokes were often
made about Deedlit going into "Minmei mode" in her studio
while ReRob went into "Frankenstein mode" in his holodeck
virtual shop.  They were married within ten years of Kilroy's
maiden voyage.  After all, considering the life-spans of
Detians and Salusians, there was absolutely no need to rush
anything.
        As stated before, Kilroy was the only Thundergod ever
made.  Normally, this fact would serve to prove the model a
"failure." Deedlit and ReRob considered it rather successful.
And above that, the mecha was still being used for its
initial purpose: ship-to-ship assault.  The only difference
was the name: it had been re-dubbed the Rick Allen, the
original Rick Allen designated as Thundergod Prime
 
     The Wayward Son continued on in this way for many, many
years.  Two hundred ninety-seven years to be exact.  The
WDF's reputation as a force of justice spread to span this
universe, and a few others too.
     Despite all this the Wayward Son had a relatively
uneventful existence.  There really isn't much for a Super
Dimensional Fortress to do most of the time.  After a while
just the threat of intervention by the SDF-17 stopped most
disputes.  Besides, during this time the WDF's branch, the
3WA, grew into an intergalactic investigative-police force.
The 3WA handled most of the troubles now that they had their
own para-military division, and of course, Trouble Consultant
Team #216 (Lovely Angel) became the most successful TC team
space had ever seen.  With their new Predator-class assault
scout, Yuri and Kei carved a swath of infamy across known
space, solving, true to form, every single case.  (Not unlike
a Claymore mine...messy...but effective.)  Between missions,
however, the two remained integral parts of the SDF-17's
crew.

     However, during this time one of the other members of
the crew took his leave.  Vaughn left to search for Iczer-1
and explore the universe.
     "So, you really think you'll be able to find her out
there?  The universe is a pretty big place you know," Zoner
observed.
     "Well, I need to find out exactly what she meant when
she left," Vaughn replied.
     "You seem to really have something for her don't you?"
     "Just trying to get rid of confusion.  After all, I
don't like dealing with it."
     "Why?  Rob's a nice enough guy."
     Vaughn motioned as if to bap Zoner in the head, but
stayed his blow.
     "Ok, sorry.  I understand why you're doing this.  At
least take a fighter or something to get around in."
     "Why?  What purpose would it serve me?"
     "Carry food perhaps?"
     "Well, there's planets.  I mean, bacteria can live on an
asteroid."
     "I don't know.  A change of clothes.  It makes it
easier on re-entry.  It still seems silly to me for you to be
walking around in vacuum unprotected."
     "Look at it this way, a vacuum is nothing.  Why do you
need to protect yourself from nothing?  And air isn't all
that dense, you can just kind o' meander on through."
     "Only you Vaughn, only you.  You ever going to come back
and visit us?  You never did take Omega-2 did you?"
     "Nope.  Never been into the drug scene.  And, well, I'll
either be back eventually, or I'll have picked the time and
place that I wish to die."
     "You're not going to die until you're good and ready
huh?"
     "Nah.  My decision.  I'll make it when I want to.  And
nobody else can force me."
     "You're not human are you....  Forget I said that,
didn't mean to insult you."
     "I can forgive you this time."  Grin.
     "Yeah, right.  Anyway, where do you think you'll head to
start with?"
     "Well, she went thatwayish.  So, off I go..."
     "You got everything you need in that backpack?"
     "Ah, let's see.  Two pair underwear, three pair socks,
one pair pants, two T-shirts, and saline stuff for my eyes."
     "What about toothbrush and such?"
     "Oh yeah, I need a toothbrush.  Gotta keep my breath
fresh.  I'll be right back."
     "Ok, I'll be here," Zoner called out, then he mumbled,
"This is one of the weirdest conversations I've ever had."

     "I'm back.  And this time I've got everything."
     "Yes, so you are.  Are you absolutely sure this time?"
     "I think I'm sure, 'cause only fools are positive."
     "Well then, take care.  Somehow I think we'll be seeing
you again sometime.  Best of luck finding her.  Drop us a
line sometime.  Have fun stormin' the castle."
     "Think it'll work.  It'd take a miracle."
     "Right.  So go out there in the name of true love and
find Iczer-buttercup."
     "I'm leaving now before this gets any worse."
     "Ok.  You already say farewell to the rest of the gang?"
     "Well, I'm not one for tearful goodbyes.  So, I figured
I'd just slip out and let people think that I just went out
to play with the rocks.  You're lucky you caught me or I
would have forgotten my toothbrush."
     "It's just my luck acting up again.  Just call me
Longshot."
     Shrug.  "Such is..."
     "Take it easy man.  I'm going to miss you."
     Vaughn entered the airlock, sealed the inner door, and
vented it to space.  He popped the outer hatch and walked off
into the cosmos.
     "I always knew he was a little odd," Zoner mumbled as he
watched him walk away.

     The Wayward Son became an ambassador of peace, visiting
planets throughout the universe supplying new technologies
for developing worlds, and occasionally squashing those
worlds which sought to overpower their neighbors.  This
earned the hatred of a number of violent races, but none of
them possessed the technology to confront the SDF-17.  At
least not yet.  The WDF wasn't the only group traveling about
depositing technology.
     The Wayward Son used the times between skirmishes to
explore the unknown and search for new worlds.  The WDF
became the chief exploratory force for the United Galactica
when the latter organization became reality in 2100.  They
had the capability to explore new areas, and to defend
themselves if they proved hostile.  The Wayward Son
discovered over a hundred inhabitable worlds and countless
planets useful for natural resources.  The WDF used their
authority to establish many of the inhabitable planets as
preserves, not to be disturbed by the encroaching races of
the universe.  Jenna lost all regrets she had about remaining
on board when she got the chance to examine her first new
world.  Even with all of the work the Wayward Son did, it
still only barely scratched the surface of the vast strata of
the unknown of which the universe was made.
     The human crew of the Wayward Son remained forever
young, while the Salusians aged and their normal slow rate.
After more than 200 major trials by fire and countless small
skirmishes the crew was a tight-knit, well oiled machine.
The crew implicitly trusted one another, drawn together by
the loss of so many of their comrades over the years to
various enemies.
     The crew changed slowly over time.  Many of the original
members left to take positions with other security agencies,
or as technical consultants.  Most left to form the initial
core of the 3WA.  The crew became very heterogeneous over the
years as other races joined the ranks.  Humans, Salusians,
Cybermen, Zardons, Garudans, Kilrathi, Zentraedi, Karbarrans,
Daleks, Gorig, Cybertronians, Predators, Praxians, Spherians,
Dralasites and Vrusk all worked together in a spirit of
cooperation.  The members all put aside their individual
differences to take part in keeping the peace and exploring
the vastness of space.  Many of the races led extended lives
and therefore turned down the offer of Omega-2.  However,
most of the Praxians and the Garudans did accept in order to
remain with the crew longer.
     Edison was never officially part of the crew, but the
Wayward Son became his new home.  He came and went as he
pleased and many times he returned with new destinations for
the ship and many tales of his adventures.  It was
disconcerting when he returned before he left.  However, he
only did this twice as he tried to avoid it at all cost.
Creating temporal loops was a Bad Thing(TM).
     One of the rules that Edison and the crew agreed on
early was in not supplying Omega-2 to any of the worlds.  Not
even to save a life.  Omega-2 was available only to the crew.
It seemed like a harsh rule, but, despite their disdain for
the Prime Directive, the crew didn't want to play at being
gods.
     The WDF became a thing of legend on many of the more
primitive worlds.  After a few initial mishaps Zoner decided
to visit only the worlds where the culture was advanced to
the point of excepting the possibilities of life on other
planets.  Their visit to Terra had been a huge blunder.  What
were archaeologists going to think when they found paintings
of the crew in CVR-3, the alien races, and their landing
craft?  And those huge drawings on the plains made from rocks
so that the 'gods' could see them.  Sheesh.  Sometimes it
seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.
     The fame of the SDF-17 also increased the prosperity of
the Utopia Planitia shipyards.  It became a symbol of status
to own a vessel created at the same shipyards which had
created the legendary Wayward Son.  The most repeated demand
was for another Super Dimensional Fortress.  However, Lord
Fahrvergnugen simply deferred, saying that the only remaining
copy of the plans were on board the SDF-17.  After all, the
Wayward Son was a custom order.
     Most of the planet's business came from the main 3WA
armory which was located there.  A new traffic control system
had to be developed to handle all the agents coming and
going.  Orders from 3WA Central HQ on Meizuri kept the agents
constantly busy.  It seemed ironic to most of the WDF members
that the 3WA, while being much larger than the crew of the
SDF-17, and certainly being more visible, had no where near
the mystique of the one lone vessel.

     These were the golden years for the Universe and the
WDF.  Technology surged forward and civilizations flourished.
Intergalactic trade reached an all time high and nearly
everyone seemed pleased with the situation.
     There was, however, one corporation, and one man in
particular, who was extremely displeased with the status quo.
The corporation was GENOM, and the man was Largo, and he had
a plan to ruin the WDF for all time.  Sure, he had been set
back a couple dozen years by that troublesomeness in
MegaTokyo, but that was all behind him now.  He had buried
that mess like the one in Neo-Worcester, and GENOM was firing
on all cylinders now.  No time like the present.  Those
troublesome Wedge Rats would finally pay for all the trouble
they had caused.

--------------------------------------------------TWENTY-FOUR

     "Peace?  Prosperity?  Phaugh.  It can't last."
                         --Field Marshal TARAX Arcade

                         18 JUNE 2289
                       HALSTEAD STATION

     Orbiting over the planet Halstead, Halstead Station was
something along the lines of an orbital office building.  It
was owned, nominally, by the government of the planet,
constructed ten years earlier in an attempt to raise commerce
to the area.  The government of Halstead had expected to have
a couple of small corporations and many small businesses move
into their station, paying it off in a few years and bringing
attention to the remote location, perhaps stimulating trade
and a few more space stations.
     Instead, a single corporation had moved their central
headquarters from Earth entirely into the station.  Halstead
Station was the sole preserve and basically the property of
GENOM Interstellar GmbH now.
     In his office at the peak of the station, furthest out
along its axis from the planet's surface, Largo sat surveying
the starscape.  It had taken him many years to recover from
his corporation's near-annihilation in Neo-Worcester.  The
first time he recreated GENOM from ashes, he had an entire
industrial complex handed to him; the second, he had to start
over, with nothing but an office in a building in Tokyo.
Over the next few years he lost control of the growing
corporate entity, and won it back, and had to deal with
upstart women in battlesuits...it had been a long, hard road.
     Now, though, he had his giant back, and he had the means
and wherewithal to destroy the Wedge Defense Force, once and
for all.  All it required was some timing and finesse...and a
bit of technology.  The preliminary work was all done; now he
could strike.  He had been patient.  Now was his time.
     "You have done well, my servant," he said to the man
standing in the shadows near his desk.  "Unlike many others,
you have not failed me."
     "I am gratified, my lord," the man replied.
     "Good," Largo said.  "I like my servants content."  He
picked up his telephone and dialed.
     "This is Largo.  Is the project ready?  Excellent.  I'll
be right down."  He hung up and went to the elevator; the
other man followed him, keeping to the shadows as though he
felt nervous about being seen, even here.
     Shortly, they had arrived in a techlab and were standing
before twin Mann Systems Type 1001E BioSculpt tanks.  A tech
immediately handed Largo a sheaf of printouts.  Scanning
them, Largo's face tightened into a grim smile.
     "Perfect," he said, and threw back his head and laughed
aloud.  The sound terrified the techs.  "Perfect!" He roared.
"With this I will finally have my revenge!" he declared,
brandishing a fistful of papers.
     The first BioSculpt tank opened up and a perfect replica
of Commander Benjamin D. Hutchins, Wedge Defense Force,
stepped out.  Looking quite unconcerned, the false Gryphon
toweled himself off and picked up the clothes that were
waiting for him--a perfect copy of Gryphon's SDF-17 uniform.
     "Begging your pardon, sir," a tech ventured, "but how
will a Type 33/S copy of one of them destroy them?"
     "Simple.  Through my spies aboard the SDF-17 and in the
Utopia Planitia organization, I have compiled, over the last
century or so, detailed psychological profiles of the Wedge
Defense Force's command staff.  I know how they think.  And
this one--this one is their weak link.  Destroy his
credibility--make the others think he has betrayed them--and
they will crumble.
     "We will use this doppelganger to do just that.  And
then--then will we strike.  Their morale will be low and they
will be missing at least one member of their command staff.
Our fleet will tear them to shreds."
     "How will we be able to use the doppelganger, m'lord?"
the shadowed figure asked.
     "You will see, Decker," Largo replied with a smile.
"You will see."
     Then, the second tank opened up.  A blandly beautiful
Asian woman stepped out of the cylinder.
     "And, to add insult to injury," Largo said, "We shall
beat them at their own game.  Two of their best agents, Kei
and Yuri, were taken from video series.  And the best way to
eliminate a cartoon character is, of course, with another
cartoon character.  To irritate them even more, we're using a
character from the Dirty Pair comic book, which the Angels
find incredibly insulting.  Enter..." he gestured
melodramatically "...Shasti."
     "And my mission, Largo?"
     "Infiltrate the Wayward Son.  Kill the Lovely Angels,
and impair the ship's combat capacity to the best of your
ability.  The warrant officer," he pointed to a man standing
at attention, "will see that you get whatever resources you
need for this job.  You have a blank check, of course.
Any expense for such an elite operative...and such an elite
operation."
     "Your information on the crew was helpful.  I already
have a plan, Largo."  She stepped towards the warrant
officer, who rapidly produced a bathrobe.
     Largo turned to a lesser tech.  "Give the order to the
central computer.  Let Operation Gotterdammerung begin!"

--------------------------------------------------TWENTY-FIVE

     "Desperate eyes across a weary room/A glazed look, and I
was on the road to ruin."
                         --Pink Floyd

     Gryphon, Kei, ReRob, Deedlit, MegaZone, and Yuri were
sitting at Chez Lucifer enjoying some drinks.  In strode a
bombshell in a rainbow dress and purple hair. Megazone and
ReRob turned to watch, and Yuri slapped MegaZone across the
face.  Zoner thought the peek was worth the pain, though.
     ReRob, however, didn't care, so he kept on looking.  And
what he saw was...surprising.  He avoided her gaze directly,
but just sat there, trying to determine who she really was.
     Gryphon was the first to react.  "ReRob, are you okay?"
     "I think I know her, Gryph."
     "What?  We haven't been on R&R for two days and you
think that you know somebody in this room?"
     "If she's who I think she is, Gryphon, than I know her
better than I know you."
     Kei spoke up.  "ReRob, she's obviously not an old
flame... How can you know her better then Ben?"
     ReRob was still in Never-Never Land.  "If she's who I
think she is, she's a legend--and my summon spell's been
working overtime. Mother of Pearl!  It is her!  It's the way
she holds the baton!" ReRob, of course, was referring to the
carefree way she triple-flipped her credstick before catching
it and placing it into the bar register. ReRob immediately
fell into a quasi-trance, trying to figure something
out.  Oddly enough, Deedlit seemed to be dealing quite well
with the entire situation.
     Gryphon spoke.  "Will somebody tell me what's going on?"
     "He said 'baton' didn't he?" Megazone asked, Gryphon
replying the affirmative.  "Then it's gotta be Vixen," Zoner
said matter-o'-factly.
     Deedlit was nonplussed.  "Oh, her.  Okay."
     Meanwhile, ReRob got up, intentionally oblivious of the
people at his own table, and made his way to the lady who was
making all the commotion.
     "Excuse me, Ma'am, but you wish to speak with me."
     "I doubt it."
     "You want to talk to me about a credstick which pays in
the coins of pleasure and pain.  You want to talk with me
about a file on this--" he pointed to his pocket computer--
"which describes you."
     "Why should I want to--"
     ReRob attempted to punch the lady and failed.  In fact,
the message never passed through his spinal chord and stopped
far short of any motor neurons.  He never moved at all.  He
wanted it that way.  The lady responded by drawing a second
credit baton from her back.  She stopped just as the stick
got into a position fit to be wielded.
     "And, you want to talk to me about why you did that
while I stood perfectly still."
     "You're right.  You do want to talk to me about those
things, sir."  With that, they sat down with their respective
drinks at a vacant table.

     "I think some formal introductions are in order.  My
name's ReRob.  I'm a Terran traveler."
     "My name's Dawn.  That'll do for now.  I'm a local."
     "Beauteous.  Now what I'm about to show you is a
character sheet from a role-playing game.  The scale is one
to six, with six being the natural human maximum.  Take a
look at this character, and tell me what you think of it."
He punched a few keys on his pocket comp, and gave her the
display.
     Dawn looked the display over.  "You're a good player,
ReRob.  She's a powerful character, but not a rules
munchkin."
     "Now check the psyche profile."
     "I like this lady.  You wrote a good, detailed profile.
But what does this prove?"
     "Okay, you still won't crack.  How about this?"
     Dawn found herself staring at the Vixen's equipment
list.  Highlighted at the top was the item "Monofilament whip
concealed in a credit baton."
     ReRob spoke.  "If you were trying to bribe me, you
wouldn't have pulled out a reserve credstick from a back
holster.  What're the odds that, if I took a look at that
baton, I'd find the control buttons to let the tip detach?"
     "Listen.  I don't show my credit batons to strange men."
     "You do it every day.  If you didn't, how would you
check out at the supermarket?  You can't convince me that
you're not the Vixen unless you can actually contradict this
sheet."
     "Well, I wasn't born anywhere near Seattle."
     "Other than that.  I think you're the local version of
the Vixen."
     "Well, if I'm not the actual Vixen, then why would my
stats mesh so well with hers?"
     "It's a long story, a long strange trip, a little
of Heinlein, and a truckload of half-level magic."
     "Half-level what?"
     "That's another long story.  But the facts are, you are
a perfect match to these stats.  In fact, I'm willing to bet
the armored bike I rode up here on that "Vicki" is your
middle name."
     "You've got a battlebike?"
     "The chromed monster.  It's parked right outside.  Take
a look if you want."
     Vicki strolled outside the  club for a minute or two.
She returned, duly impressed. "Are those things around the
front wheel...?"  She made rotary motions with her hands.
     "Yeah.  Rotary laser arrays.  Mondo firepower.  They're
messy, but they're fun at parties."
     "You realize that's incredibly illegal."
     "I kinda thought that.  So?"
     "So, do you realize how much I could get for turning you
in?"
     "If you could turn me in.  I'm kinda hard to handle.  At
 least, that's what Deedlit says."
     "You don't know my capabilities."
     "Oh, really?"  ReRob pointed to the computer screen.
     "By the way, you haven't answered my question."
     "Oh, yeah.  You win.  The full name's Dawn Victoria
 Scritelli."
     "Greetings, Vixen.  Robert Edward Mandeville.  Just call
me ReRob."  He stood up.  "Now, according to your M.O.
you're a recon combat goddess.  We could use somebody like
you.  You between runs right now?"
     "Yup.  I was here to meet a contact, but he doesn't seem
to be showing up."
     "Well then, this sounds like the start of a very
lucrative relationship."  ReRob slapped down a holographic
business card.  "I'm a military recruiter.  I'd like you to
join the Wedge Defense Force.  Our contracts have zero-zeros
installed, so you can cut and run anytime.  You won't be a
wage slave."
     "One condition.  I want one of those battlebikes."
     "I'm three steps ahead of you, Vix.  We want you
piloting one of those.  But a little different.  More suited
to your combat style.  That's a pig-man bike out there."
     "Then show me your facilities."

---------------------------------------------------TWENTY-SIX

     "You have been recruited by the Star League to defend
the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada."
                         --The Last Starfighter

     "Adam, I'd like you to meet a new prospect for the
Hammers."
     Pfloyd looked up from his Tank War game.  "I don't
recognize the face.  What squadron are you from, Lassie?"
     "She's not signed with the Wayward Son yet.  I was
showing her around, trying to entice her into joining."
     "You didn't get her from twenty-three, did you?  You
heard Zoner explicitly ordered no visitors from the station."
     "I checked it with him, he said it's kosher. Besides,
she's not a SHARP."
     "And who, exactly, is this person?"
     She spoke up.  "I'm the Vixen."
     Adam's jaw left a dent in the floor.
     "Next stop, the Cyclone bay.  That bike I showed you is
one of the six varieties of Cyclone variable geometry mecha."
     "Mecha?  That was a motorcycle you showed me, back at
Chez Lucy."
     "That's the beauty of it.  It can be configured as a
motorcycle or as a suit of augmented body armor."
     "Body armor?  You want me in body armor?  That'd slow me
down, dull my edge."
     "You haven't seen the VR-038 yet.  Ah, but here we are."
     The pair walked into a room full of cyclones, stored
here as motorcycles.  Four of the six varieties were
represented here, the Hammers' VR-065 Obliviator being stored
in the Thundergod and the VR-027 Predator not operated by any
Hammer.  These were the VR-052 Battler, VR-041 Sabre, and VR-
038 Light Combat, and a new model called the VR-077
Terminator, a machine resembling a VR-041 on steroids.  Each
of them had the Wedge-DF logo, which strongly resembled a
shamelessly ripped-off RDF logo, as well as the two crossed
carpentry hammers on a red-and-white background of the
Hammers' unit logo.  ReRob went over to a rack and got a suit
of CVR-3F armor, and handed it to Vixen.  He pointed to the
women's locker room.  "Put on one of these.  It's standard
field armor, capable of stopping anything short of anti-tank
weaponry.  You'll also find that it's very light and
maneuverable.  It also acts as a linksuit for the mecha."
Vixen went into the locker, and returned in five minutes clad
in the armor.  ReRob led her into the next room.
     The next room was the Mecha Combat Training Room, or
MCTC.  A VR-038 was parked there.  ReRob walked in with a
sledgehammer.
     "Cute little bike.  Doesn't look like it'll stand up to
much, though."  Vixen was not impressed, obviously.
     ReRob responded by beating the shit out of it with the
sledge, and with progressively larger weapons.  She started
being impressed when he failed to slash the tires with his
Husqvarna.
     "So what's this mecha bit, ReRob?"
     "Push this button."
     Vixen pressed a button on a hard-to-reach location, and
the vehicle fell open.  ReRob gave her instructions on how to
attach the mech in the so-called "Static Transformation to
Battloid."  She stood up, admiring the response of the suit.
"The control system partially reads your mind.  That results
in literally boosting your own reflexes.  Which, by the way,
are incredible to begin with."
     "Can you pipe something through the audio system?"
     "No problem.  Eve, I'm gonna need some music here.
Could you shuffle the Use Your Illusion albums?  Begin with
'You Could be Mine'."
     Matt's rhythms rocked the MCTC for a few seconds.  One
single keyboard note, then Duff's bass snuggled in below the
percussion.  Vixen started to move, getting a feel for the
music.
     Slash cut in with the "Terminator" riff.  Vixen shifted
into high gear.  ReRob hung back and watched the show.  He
had never seen a mech move like that before.  He had never
seen a human move like that before.
     Odds were, Vixen hadn't seen it either.
     The Eve had a sense of timing herself.  It followed "You
Could be Mine" with "Live and Let Die."
     Vixen had ReRob shut off the audio after that.  She
removed her helmet.  "Where do I sign?"

     Within an hour, ReRob had fitted her for her combat
equipment.  These consisted of a suit of CVR-3F, a Gallant
laser pistol, and a VR-038.  True to form, ReRob spent some
time tinkering with and individualizing each.
     The CVR-3F had a "pocket" for a credit baton on the
inside of the left forearm guard.  It was a light shade of
lavender.
     The VR-038 was black with lavender trim.  On the front
fairing, the words "Femme Fatale" appeared in script.
     The Gallant was altered to use, in addition to its own
power supply, energy taken directly from the mech.  Since
that was normally her only weapon, it had better have some
major ammo.
     Vixen turned down the RL-6 Rocket Launcher, explaining
that it was too ugly for her to use effectively.

-------------------------------------------------TWENTY-SEVEN

     "Aah...leftovers."
                         --Casey Jones

     The Wayward Son cruised its regular patrol route through
sector seventeen, on its way to do some exploration outside
the frontier, on condition green and with very little going
on.  It had been a boring week.
     "Like yo, there's a message coming in," q suddenly
announced.  "On the emergency channel."
     "Let's hear it," Zoner ordered.  "Ought to liven up the
day a little."
     "Coming in."
     "This is Musashi Control to any vessel," a panicked
voice announced.  "Please, respond!"
     "Go ahead, Control," q replied.  "This is the WDF
Wayward Son."
     "Wayward Son?" the voice asked, sounding relieved.  "The
Wedge Defense Force?  Thank God!  Our capital city is under
attack.  Repeat, Musashi City is under attack by unknown
invaders.  They're slaughtering our people in the streets--
for God's sake, help us!"
     "Musashi, this is Wayward Son," Zoner announced.  "Be
advised we are aware of your situation.  We are taking action
now--keep us informed to new developments.  Wayward Son out."
He turned.  "Gryph, take your squadron down and run a quick
recon.  If we have to run a full-scale op, then fine, but I
want to know what we're up against."
     "Right," Gryphon replied, heading for the turbolift.
Within five minutes, the five fighters of the Eight-Ball
Squadron were streaking planetward.
     "Give me all we have on Musashi, Jenna," said Zoner.
     "Musashi...class-M.  Terraformed about a dozen years
ago, and already has three major cities on it, one of them
domed.  Vesper's the domed one, then Zepan, and the capital,
Musashi City.  Temperate, a lot of rainforest.  Mineral
deposits and such make it a decent mining world, but it's far
enough from Kilrathi space not to have to worry about them."
     "Thanks."  He turned back to the main viewer and watched
the five glowing dots recede toward the planet.
     Ten minutes later, Gryphon appeared in the corner of the
screen.  "There's a serious situation down here all right,"
he said.  "Mecha in the streets, hosing down civilians left
and right--we were lucky to get in and out without getting
blown out of the sky.  I don't recognize them, but they're
pretty tech.  We're gonna need the Destroids for this, I
think.  They've got crap for air cover, but their ground
troops are good."
     "Okay, thanks.  Get your squad back here for rearming
and some quick armor slapping, and I want you back down
there.  q, alert Major Aldzinjal and his people--we need the
Destroids ready to hit the dirt in ten.  Prepare to disengage
Daedalus for landing."

     In a high-tech command-center kind of place, Largo
leaned back in a large and comfortable seat and smiled at the
screens of destruction.  Black mecha and disguised Buma
troops were being hosed down by the WDF's Destroid divisions
with consummate ease.  This he had expected, and in fact,
planned on.  GENOM was going to lose this battle, and the WDF
would never know who they had beaten.  At least not until it
was far too late.

     "Well, that was simple," Gryphon said with a smile,
jetting back to make a gerwalk landing near the planetside
command center.  He dismounted from his fighter and walked
over to Perry, who was standing near the Monster he ran
ground ops from.
     "Hey, Commander," said Perry.  "Dunno who those guys
were, but they weren't up to facing us down, now were they?"
     "Nope," Gryphon replied.  "Suits me just fine.  I'm no
big fan of the skin-of-the-teeth victories."
     "Major!" a Salusian trooper called, running from the
MAC-II.  "We've just received a priority request for aid from
city officials.  There's a concentration of enemy infantry
holed up in a pre-secondary school near downtown.  They've
got student hostages."
     "Aw hell," said Perry.  "I hate the mop-up most of all."
     "I'll handle it," Gryphon said.  "Tell them assistance
is en route, and get me a secure line to the SDF-17."
     "Okay," Perry replied.  "Seems like you have a plan, eh
Gryph?"
     "Something like that."  The trooper left, and returned a
few minutes later with a field phone.
     "SDF-17, this is Gryphon.  Yeah, q, let me talk to
Zoner, willya?  I got a situation here, and a plan for
dealing with it.  Yeah, thanks.  Hi, Zoner...you heard about
our little situation?  Yeah.  I've got a plan.  We can't use
firepower to get those kids out of this, obviously.  What I
figure is, we send in a couple of small squads, quiet-like.
You know, sort of ESWAT stuff.  Yeah.  Kei and Yuri will want
in, of course--this is just their kind of op.  Uh huh.  I
figure all we'll need is the Triple-S and the three of us.
Okay.  Meet 'em in fifteen then."  He hung up.
     "You're sending the Triple-S?" Perry asked.  "They'll be
pleased--haven't seen much action lately."
     "Yeah, I figure it'll please Gordo to no end.  He gets
so bored between vacations."
     [The Triple-S was the WDF's elite Shadow Security Squad,
the commandoes' commandoes.  The only unit to be equipped
with top-secret CVR-7 armor and equipment, the Triple-S
proudly bore the motto "Invisible--Invincible--Unstoppable".
Officially, the crack squad, consisting of eight Salusians, a
Praxian, and one of the elusive Predator race, did not
exist.  "Gordo" was Lieutenant Commander G'rdnak Ripperfang,
the squad's Predator commander.]

     Within fifteen minutes, the ten members of the Triple-S,
Gryphon, and the Lovely Angels were meeting at the conference
table between Perry's MAC's feet.  On the table was a large
map of the Seventh Street School.
     "Gordo, you take your squad in through the back, here,"
said Gryphon, pointing.  "Your relative invisibility should
keep you undetected in the gathering dusk.  Spread out, pick
off hostiles as you see fit, and try to get the kids out
alive.  And try not to let them see your face, ok?  No
offense, but these are little kids, they're not ready for a
shock like that."
     "Right," Gordo replied, and sealed his helmet over what
was, after all, an amazingly ugly face by human standards.
     "Kei, Yuri, you'll enter from the top, either here or
here.  Work your way toward the office, that's probably where
they've got their nerve center set up, assuming they've got
one.  Try and get the bossman, if possible.  No frag
explosives.  I don't want kids getting hurt."
     "You think I'd go tossing frag grenades around with
children in the area?  I'm hurt," said Kei.
     "I know you all too well, m'love," Gryphon replied with
a grin.  "You tend to get carried away..."
     "Right, right.  No frags."
     "Okay.  I'm going in through the roof, here.  Unless I
miss my guess, they'll have a lot of their hostages holed up
in the gym, where they can hose em quickly if someone on our
side fucks up, but not all of them, so they'll still have an
ace to play if it comes to that.  I'm going to try and take
out their guys in the gym.  We can work our way to the middle
and herd them all into the killzone.  Everyone clear on what
they have to do?" Everyone nodded.  "Okay.  Let's do it."
     The force broke up.  The ten members of the Triple-S
jumped onto their VR-029 Predator Cyclones and zoomed away
(except Gordo, who rode an ExoSalusia Industries J-4500
gravbike); Kei and Yuri piled into a jeep and took off;
Gryphon mounted his own '29 and raced after them.

-------------------------------------------------TWENTY-EIGHT

     "You're wondering who I am/Machine or mannequin/With
parts made in Japan/I am the Modern Man!"
                         --Styx

     The Vixen was waiting for ReRob.  She caught him totally
unprepared, on his own turf.  Then again, that's her
specialty.  He had barely closed the door when she had him
pinned up against it by the shoulders.  "How's biz?
Everything's sub-zero, I hope..."  She was looking at him as
if she had something extremely interesting on her mind.
     "Yeah, sub-zero, what's on your mind, Vix?"
     "You know, I'm not sure why, but you just seem...
incredibly cute.  Those big blue eyes..."
     "Brown eyes."
     "Those big brown eyes just invite me to come inside."
She gently but very forcibly laid him out on his bunk.
     "Vix, if you haven't noticed, I'm already married..."
He squirmed in an attempt to extricate himself from the
compromising position.  His unofficial wrestling training
rendered him nigh-unpinnable.  The "nigh" came into effect
here, and he aborted his escape attempt.  He put his hands
over her ears in an attempt to physically push her away--
     --Until he felt the metal slabs behind her ear.  It
seemed like interface plugs of some form.  He froze.
     "Are you out of your ever-lovin' mind, Vixen?  Have you
sold your soul?"
     Vixen turned her voice and blood to ice in the split-
second it takes a computer to reconfigure to pre-set
standards.  She lifted her right hand from his shoulder just
long enough to take her full dress stiletto and firmly plant
it into ReRob's throat.
     Of course, I'll need to step up my time scale a little
bit.  But I have ReRob's terminal right here, and his hand is
still warm...  She slid ReRob's thumb across the security
plate on the terminal and started gweeping away.

--------------------------------------------------TWENTY-NINE

     "Hello, handsome.  If things have gone totally wrong,
I'm talking to myself and you've got a wet towel wrapped
around your head."
                         --Quaid

     Gryphon was the first one "on station".  He used his
thrusters to get to the upper windows, which were opened for
ventilation.  With the PC-2 Predator Cloak engaged on his VR-
029, it simply would not do for him to enter by the main
doors.  He got to the track on the upper deck, where he could
see the situation.
     The situation was particularly bad.  Out of the two
hundred people on the gym floor, twenty of them were
terrorists.  Oh, shit, thought Ben.  He turned on his comm.
     "Eight-Ball one to Angels and Triple-S.  I'm in
position...shit.  I'm looking at about twenty shoots and a
hundred and eighty odd no-shoots.  This could be messy.  I'll
try to ease the burden on you people and start sniping.  Tell
me when you get to the door."
     He took aim on one of the terrorists, aiming at the
center of his back.  Three laser dots centered on the
target's body armor.  One of the others noticed it.
     "Hey, Eddie, what're those dots on your armor?"
     "Have a nice trip, Eddie..." Gryphon muttered.
     "What dots?  I didn't put any dots on..." his sentence
remained unfinished due to the fact that he was missing a
torso soon thereafter.  The effect of an EP-42 on a man
wearing an armor vest is decidedly unpretty.  The children,
being children, began screaming their lungs out.
     "Whatwuzthat?  FUCK!"  A terrorist turned around to find
the shooter.  He saw a shimmer in the air, somewhat like heat
waves, but...different.  He started firing with his pulse
pistol.
     "Fuck!  They saw me!"  Gryph booked it for the nearest
pile of athletic kipple, hiding behind a Musashiball.
     "Whutizitwhutizitwhutizit?"
     "NofuckingclueIdontcareIdontwannaknowkillit!  You, you,
 you!  Sweep the balcony!"  Three grunts ran up the stairs.
     Gryphon was ready.  He held a Bloody Card and he knew
how to use it.  After all, he learned from a master and had a
couple of centuries to dabble in the art.  Sort of like the
way he picked up electric guitar.
     "Sweep the balcony, eh?" he said softly to himself.
"All right..."  Just a flick of the wrist...
     The Card's trajectory took it through the necks of the
three thugs.  It returned quickly.  The thugs didn't...
     "Holy shit!" one of the surviving thugs shouted.  "What
the fuck was that?"
     "I dunno, but whatever it is, we gotta kill it, and
quick!  You guys, split up, take different stairways,"
ordered the guy Gryph had pegged for the boss.  "He can't get
you all at once.  I'll keep the brats under control myself."
     "They're right there," Gryphon observed to himself.  "I
can't get'em all at once."  He moved quickly into the shadows
near the ball, then hit his thrusters and leaped across the
balcony, landing on the other side of the gym.  All the men
in black saw were two curls of jet exhaust with an
undefinable area of not-rightness at the end, streaking
across the open space above.  Gryphon proceeded to duck
behind some traffic cones (why are there always traffic cones
in gyms?) and wait.
     Soon enough, one very nervous-looking thug with a
machinegun of some sort walked past.  Gryphon waited until he
passed to pop his right arm's CADS-3 sabre.  The thug heard
the hum of the weapon, softer and lower than an electric
shaver, and started to turn, to inhale the breath he needed
to cry a warning--
     --too late.  His head landed next to the leader.  By
that time, Gryphon had targeted one across the gym and blown
him in half.  Then he jumped straight up, without using the
thrusters to give himself away, and hung, suspended and
invisible, in the pipes.  A sudden burst of violence, then
disappear; it was the only way to approach a situation like
this when you're one man against twenty.
     He crawled through the pipes, staying as silent as he
could, around the corner and near to a stairway.  He had to
get down from the balcony somehow, and he had just the idea.
He reached down and removed a grenade from his belt, making
certain it wasn't a frag; wouldn't do to have shrapnel flying
about with all the kiddies.  He wound up and threw it across
the gym with all the strength his Cyclone could offer.  It
cleared easily, tagging the thug directly across the balcony
from him in the chest and blowing him sky-high.  At the
instant of the explosion, Gryphon jumped the rail and dropped
behind the stairs.
     It worked; they didn't see him.  Now it was a matter of
keeping to the shadows under the balcony.

     Gordo and his team were heading in through the back.
They approached the building, cloaked, nine Cyclones and an
armored Predator.  Not a force to be messed with.  Three
guards were watching the back door, and one or two on some
windows.
     Sergeant Phelan Satori took his group of four Triple-S
troopers around to the east wing; the other team of four,
under Sergeant Kristina Satori, took the west.  Gordo and his
partner, the Praxian Lieutenant Miyu, took the rear entrance
itself.
     It was dark by now; the two cloaked individuals
approached the rear steps directly, covered doubly by their
virtual invisibility and the night.  The three guards
watching the door were getting rather bored, watching nothing
for hours on end tends to do that.  Perhaps if they had felt
at risk they may have been alert enough to notice the
slightly shimmering bits of night that were moving, but they
felt safe.  They weren't.  Gordo fired his mono-net at the
thug on the left, pinning him to the wall and dicing his
body.  As he fired Gordo shifted quickly, one of the
remaining guards turned to fire along the return path of the
net, and was speared by Gordo's staff even as he raised his
weapon.  The third guard went for his radio to warn those
inside.  The radio fell to the ground along with his hand as
Lt. Miyu's saber passed through his arm.  Before he could
scream she slashed again, and his head separated from his
neck.  The rear entrance was secure and no warning had been
issued.  Perfect.
     Gordo and Lt. Miyu slipped inside with a graceful ease
that would put a ninja to shame.  Rather amazing for someone
Gordo's size.  The corridor appeared clear.  The pair headed
left, they would work their way clockwise through the
building.  They leapfrogged from room to room, much like the
SAS would have hundreds of years previous.  In fact, imagine
if SAS troopers had a couple of hundred of years of
experience and that would be their style.  Most of the rooms
were clear, but one room at the end of the corridor contained
two thugs, a small group of students, and their teacher.
Gordo reached the room first and quickly assessed the
situation and waved Lt. Miyu forward.  She came as close to
losing her professionalism as she ever did.  One of the thugs
was sitting on the floor in the far corner with a number of
students in front of him as a shield.  The other thug was in
the front of the room, raping the teacher as the students
watched.
     "Bastard!" Miyu hissed.
     "Calm.  I'll take the corner.  You can have him," Gordo
replied emotionless.
     "Thanks," Miyu replied with genuine gratitude.
     Gordo crouched in the doorway, the thug in the corner
was too busy watching his buddy, and probably waiting for his
turn, to notice.  Gordo's targetting system painted a neat
triangle on the thugs chest.  One of the students noticed and
seemed about to say something, but he then thought about it
and turned to the doorway.  He barely noticed the shimmer and
gave Gordo the thumbs up.  "Smart kid, I like him," Gordo
thought, and fired.
     The thugs chest vanished in a bloody haze as the plasma
bolt impacted.  The rapist froze for a second as his buddy
exploded, then he went for his gun.  Unfortunately his gun
was on the floor beneath his clothing.  Before he could reach
it Miyu had closed the distance and pinned him to the wall.
All the thug could see was a shimmering humanoid form holding
him in the air by his throat.
     "So, thought you'd have yourself a little fun while you
were waiting did you?" Miyu asked, her voice dripping with
hatred.
     "He... Hey, I'm sorry ok.  So, you got me now.  Might as
well lock me up right?"
     "If you had just been holding the hostages that MIGHT
have been an option.  But after this..." she gestured to the
desk, "I don't think so."
     "S...So what are you going to do?"
     "Extract vengence."
     "Who the hell are you anyway?"
     Lt. Miyu deactivated her cloak.  "Lieutenant Miyu, Wedge
Defense Force Shadow Security Squad."
     "Triple-S?!  Shit we're screwed!"
     "No.  You'll never be screwed again."
     Lt. Miyu used her free hand to grab the thugs balls.
Looking him in the eyes she said, "I don't think you're
mature enough to have these."  She squeezed with all her
strength, and crushed them.
     The thug's eyes bulged out of his head and his mouth
opened to scream.  But the scream was choked off as Lt. Miyu
tightened her grip on his throat.  She let him suffer for a
minute and then ended his pain with her sabre.
     "Sloppy Lieutenant, you're losing your professionalism."
     "Shut up Gordo."  Then turning to the teacher, "Will you
be ok for a while?"  She asked as she gathered her clothing.
     "Yes... Yes, thank you."
     "No thanks needed.  It's our job," then mumbling, "and
the bastard deserved it."
     Meanwhile, Gordo addressed the class.  "Everyone stay
calm.  Stay in here until someone else comes by to get you.
You'll be safe now."  Turning to Miyu he added, "Come on
Lieutenant, there's more of 'em waiting out there."
     "Roger."  Miyu re-activated her cloak and followed Gordo
out of the room.

     Sergeant Phelan Satori lead his team in through an open
window on the lower level of the east wing.  They quickly
swept through the lower rooms, coming up empty.  It appeared
that the terrorists had moved everyone to make it easier to
cover them.  After rechecking everything again they regrouped
and moved upstairs.
     Again most of the rooms were vacant.  But they did find
four thugs holed up in the corner room, apparently acting as
a lookout.  Sgt. Satori waved his group back.
     "Ok.  We've got four clustered against the far wall.  I
want to take them out without making too much noise.  No need
alerting any of the others, now is there.  So I figure we go
in fast, use our sabres, and get out.  Agreed?"
     All three of his troops signalled their agreement and
they gathered out side of the door.  Sgt. Satori gestured to
indicate who would take on whom.  One they were all ready
they struck.
     Sgt. Satori went in first.  Pvt. Shima opened the door
and Sgt. Satori fired his thrusters and leapt across the
room, landing upon the terrorist with the radio.  Before he
even finished his leap the other three troopers were through
the door and airborne.  The radio operator's head disowned
his body and sailed across the room.  Three other heads
followed in quick succession.
     "Good work.  Let's finish the sweep.  Stay chilled."
     "Null perspiration," Shima replied.
     The squad finished their sweep, finding only a couple of
students hiding under one of the teachers' desk.  They were
awed by actually meeting the legendary, and non-existent,
Triple-S.  It didn't take much encouragement to get them to
stay put until everything was over.  Just a few autographs.

     Gryphon had managed to remove three more of the scum
from the gene pool with a grenade.  The fools thought they'd
be safe huddled together along the far wall.  Dumb.  Real
dumb.  Dumb de dumb dumb dumb.  Ten down, ten to go.  The
terrorists were getting jumpy.  After all, it was a bit
unnerving to have nothing slaughter half your troops.  They
began arguing amongst themselves, which suited Gryphon just
fine.  The more disorganized they were, the easier they would
be to kill.  One of the thugs backed away from the center of
the gym towards the wall, where he figured he'd be safer.  He
would have been right, if Ben hadn't been there waiting.  He
heard the hum of the sabre's blade a second to late.  He had
time to feel the cool air on his brain and wonder how that
could be before he died.  Ben shifted quickly and the gunfire
that followed the thug's death missed him entirely.  Fed up
with the situation four of the thugs bolted for the door.
One of the remaining five screamed at them and shot one in
the back as he fled.  Fine, let them kill themselves.  Two of
those fleeing stopped when their buddy bought it, but one
continued.  He got plugged for his trouble too.  The shooter
was still screaming epithets at the two who remained.
Actually, he was being quite annoying, and far to loud, so
Ben silenced him with a bolt from his EP-42.  Then, since
they were being kind enough to stand in a row, he let the
Bloody Card have some fun.  It sailed through both terrorists
and returned to him.  Unfortunately a good deal of lead
followed it home.  Not that it mattered much, but it was
annoying.  The problem was the guy with the M-790 grenade
launcher.  The shaped charge wouldn't normally be much
trouble for the force field, but it was using part of its
energy to deflect the hail of lead the other three terrorists
were sending Gryph's way.  The explosion overloaded the
cloaking shield and slammed Gryph into the wall.
     "SHIT!  That was a perfectly good cloaking device.  I'm
going to have to kill you all now.  I hope you don't mind.
Actually, I don't really care if you do.  I'm going to do it
anyway."
     Gryphon fired his jets and flew directly into the
oncomming fire.  His Cyclone was taking damage, but for now
it was ok.  On his first pass he raked the schmuck with the
M-790 with his sabre and neatly parted him.  Three left.

     Sergeant Kristina Satori led her three troopers into the
west wing.  There had been only a single guard at the door,
and he had proven to be little challenge. Her team silently
worked its way toward the central building.  As her brother
had found in the east wing, the terrorists had left only a
few members scattered in the outer rooms.
     "Seems they left all the peons out here to die," Pvt.
Eco commented.  "They didn't want to leave the wings empty,
but they weren't important enough to use their experienced
troops."
     "Or maybe they just don't have enough.  Or there could
be a few hundred of them waiting in the central building.
Never make assumptions about the enemy.  Always treat them as
a superior force and you'll live longer," Sgt. Satori
scolded.  "Remember, never assume..."
     "...for when you assume you make an `ass' out of `u' and
`me'.  Yeah, I know."
     "Ok, just keep it in mind.  Now, we've got half the wing
left.  Stay on your toes and remember, kill 'em quietly."

     Sgt. Satori swept down the corridor like a ghost.  As
the team leapfrogged from room to room they found more of the
same.  Nothing.  Until they reached the last room before the
central building.  The terrorists had set up a communications
station there.  When the team arrived they found the two
occupants engaged in the futile action of trying to raise the
guard they had killed on the way in.
     "Outpost Zed.  Outpost Zed.  Do you read me?"
     "It's no use man.  He's probably sleeping."
     "Maybe they got to him.  Maybe he's dead."
     "Who got to him?  The local cops?  They're worthless.
Besides, you can't get near the door without crossing the
field.  If he saw anyone coming he could just press the alarm
button on his radio."
     "Yeah... But what if he was sleeping and they got him?
They could be out in the hall right now!"
     "You are so paranoid.  Fine.  I'll check the hall."
     The terrorist got up and walked over to the open door,
stuck out his head and scanned the hall.  Totally missing the
cloaked squad.
     "See, no one there," he said as he smiled at his buddy.
     The smile didn't last long as his head exploded from an
EP-42 blast.  Before his friend's mind could even register
what it had just seen, he suffered the same fate.

     The three remaining terrorists huddled together in the
center of the gym.  Two of them held their guns leveled on
the crowd while the third taunted Gryphon, who was hiding
behind a stack of equipment.
     "Hey!  You'd better come out here now, or the kids buy
it!  Do you want to be responsible for that?  Huh?  Well?"
     Arrgghh!  A single grenade would take them all out, but
they were too close to the kids.  Would they actually kill
the children?  Yes, they would.  Actually, it was surprising
that they hadn't done so already.  What could he do?  Gryphon
grinned as he hatched an evil plan.

     Ben strode out from behind the stack of equipment.  "Ok,
I give up.  Don't hurt the kids."
     "Nice of you to see it our way.  Now drop your weapons."
     Ben complied and dropped his EP-42 and removed his sabre
arm shield.  He just hoped the thugs would be as stupid as he
thought they were.
     "Great, now walk over here.  Slowly."
     They were.  Ben slowly walked towards the terrorist, the
two who had been covering the children had turned to watch
him.  That made it all the easier.  They thought that they
had won and they were letting their guard down.  Fools.
     "You're going to pay for what you did to our friends
man.  I know who you are.  That weird cloak means you're a
member of the Triple-S.  Doesn't it?"
     "You got me.  Yeah, I'm in the Triple-S.  Now that
you've got me, why don't you let the kids go?"  Just a little
closer.
     "No way man.  You're just added fun.  I'm going to enjoy
torturing you."  The three thugs laughed, and Ben struck.
     He fired his boosters and charged directly at the trio.
In the second it took them to realize what he was doing he
was on top of them.  They opened fire on him, damaging the
Cyclone.  It wasn't enough.  Ben fired his holdout missile
from his forearm guard, directly into the center of the trio.
As he fired the missile he flung himself down on them, using
himself as a shield for the blast.  The missile's high
explosive warhead packed enough power to annihilate the three
terrorists and to throw Gryphon, Cyclone and all, several
feet into the air.
     Ben dragged himself to his feet.  His Cyclone was
wrecked to the point of uselessness, so he discarded it.
It had served their purpose, none of the children had been
seriously hurt by the blast.  A few had minor cuts from
shrapnel, but no one had any major injuries.
     He told them all to stay put and that someone would be
back to get them in a little while.  Then he set off for the
main building.

-------------------------------------------------------THIRTY

     "This chick is toast!"
                         --Dr. Peter Venkman

     I'm in pain.  Painpainpainpainpain.  Why?  Perhaps the
knife in my neck might have something to do with it.
     Yank!
     "Aaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!!!!!"
     ReRob bent over to let the blood drain out of his
throat.  After a few minutes, scar tissue formed.  It still
hurt like MegaZone's chili, but he could stand up.  He
examined the knife.  "Eight centimeters of cold steel.  That
bitch really needs to die."
     He looked at his hand.  One long strand of green hair
remained entwined in his fingers.  With a little luck, that
would be her undoing.
     He selected Michael Wheeler on the intercom.  "Wheels,
meet me in the genetics lab--now!"
     Within five minutes, ReRob and MWheeler were in the lab.
     "What's the rush, Rob?"
     "I need a genetic analysis on this," ReRob pointed the
strand of hair.  "I need to know exactly who or what this
lock belongs to."
     "Green hair?  Checking up on Vixen?" He raised his
eyebrows to imply the obvious.
     "If that's Vixen, I'm Coyle.  You don't want to know.
Just run the analysis."
     Mike started up the computers and inserted the specimen.
Within a few minutes,  data started scrolling on several
screens.
     "Well, the DNA is perfect for a killing machine.  Either
she's one in a millennium, or...shit!  This stuff's not
natural.  Your mistress was made to order.  How much'd you
pay, ReRob?"
     "I never thought I'd say this, Wheels, but do you really
want to eat this?"  He held up the knife, still dripping
blood.
     "What the fuck?"
     "The wielder was 'Vixen'.  The blood is mine.  Take the
analysis, and pump it into the fictional database."
     "Right."
     ReRob sat at the terminal and initiated a search for any
fictional character who would need precisely that genetic
makeup.  He had run into too many fictional beings lately not
to believe in Heinlein's "Number of the Beast" hypothesis.
Not surprisingly, he got several answers.  Only one, however,
made any sense.  He took a hardcopy and dashed to his
machining lab.
     His Virtual Machinery shop could rez up almost any
conceivable tool.  The tools could only be used in the lab,
being only holograms and force fields, but their effect on
metal was permanent.  It was also the garage for his
motorcycle and body armor.  Both had been recently plated
with stainless steel.  He slapped on his CVR-3 immediately.
     The motorcycle was a VR-065 "Obliviator" Cyclone.  This
was definitely not the Robotech standard; the 065 didn't
exist in Robotech.  However, like the previous Cyclones it
was a variable-geometry motorcycle which could reconfigure,
link to a suit of CVR-3, and act as a two hundred pound suit
of power armor.
     The only difference between the Obliviator and the
"real" cyclones was the choice of armament.  Sick of missiles
and swords, ReRob created his own forearm weapons system.
Dubbed the RLAMF-1 (Rotary Laser Array-Mondo Firepower), it
was a pair of six-barrel laser cannons powered by spare
batteries kept in the front fairing.  It was the "pig-man"
version of the Cyclone, and was truly harrowing to watch.
     ReRob straddled the beast, and kick-started the Mr.
Fusion power unit.  "Feelin' rowdy tonight?"  He cranked the
throttle.  She responded briskly, but there was something in
the hum that just didn't seem right.
     "Open--end wrench, eight mil."  The shop responded by
forming the tool in his open left palm, like a nurse handing
a scalpel to a surgeon.  ReRob tightened a screw on a plate,
loosened it, and adjusted it for about ten seconds.  Now, all
was right with the bike.
     "Delete tools; end session."  All that was left was a
door, ReRob, and the Cyclone.  He made a static
transformation into battloid and walked out.  He logged into
the computer through his helmet radio.
     "Eve, can you locate Vixen?"
     "Vixen is in the MCTC ReRob."
     "Is anybody else there?"
     "Negative."
     And ReRob thanked the Lord and several toy designers for
putting thrusters in the powersuit.

---------------------------------------------------THIRTY-ONE

     "You've been---Thunderstruck!"
                         --AC/DC

     As the Triple-S squads and Gryphon were going about
their business, two familiar figures approached the central
building from above.
     Kei and Yuri paradropped from the Lovely Angel using
thrust packs.  They gingerly touched down on the roof and
scanned the floor below with thermographic equipment.
     "Kei, looks like we've got a cluster of terrorists in
the office, with several more scattered about the halls and
outlying rooms.  There are two groups of hostages, by the
signatures I'd say the one in the office area was mostly
officials and the one in the hall is students."
     "Ok.  I say go in through the roof into the office, wipe
out the leaders first.  Then we can fan out from there.  We
can get the Triple-S to work in from the outside.  And I
finally get to use this."  Kei pulled an Illudium PEW 36
limpet mine out of her equipment bag.  "What'd'ya think?"
     "And we wonder why people say we're destructive," Yuri
mumbled, then louder.  "Sounds ok to me.  Let me call the
other groups.  As long as they're on schedule they should
have completed the preliminaries by now."  Yuri began calling
the other strike teams to coordinate the final thrust.
     When she was finished Kei spoke up.  "So, everyone ready
to go?"
     "Well, all of the Triple-S is ready, but I couldn't
raise Ben on the radio."
     A worried look took up residence on Kei's face.  "Well,
try again."
     "I've already tried several times, either he can't hear
us or he's not answering," or can't answer she finished the
thought.
     "Well, um, his radio probably got fritzed or something,
right?" Kei attempted to reassure herself.
     "Yeah, that's it.  Ben can take care of himself.  Well,
ready to do the deed?"
     "I'm always ready, where should I plant this little
gem?" Kei asked, patting the mine.
     "Right over here," Yuri pointed out the location
directly above the terrorists' command.  "The other groups
will began their sweeps when they hear the blast.  There's a
gap since I couldn't get to Ben.  We'll have to make it to
the other hostages fast. Ready?"
     "Ready," Kei answered, activating the mine's timer.  The
pair took shelter behind a rooftop airconditioner, pulling on
rebreathers as they did.
     "So, how long is the timer?" Yuri asked.
     "Oh, I set it for thirty--" BOOM! "--seconds," Kei
answered with a grin.  She was already up and running as she
finished her reply.
     "Hey, wait for me!" Yuri called after her.
     Kei pitched a couple of concussion and flash grenades
through the jagged hole the mine had torn in the roof and the
two of them simultaneously leapt through, using their thrust
packs to break their fall.  They descended into utter chaos.
Several of the terrorists had been killed by the blast or the
falling roofing while the remainder were reeling from the
combination of the initial surprise, the swirling smoke and
dust, and the effects of Kei's grenades.
     The pair quickly began dispatching the remaining
terrorists with a single professional shot each from their
electromags.  It was over quickly.
     "Clear!" Kei called from her side of the room.
     Zark!  "Clear!" came Yuri's reply.
     They ran to the door to the outer office.  "You toss in
a flash and I'll follow it into the room, ok?" Kei suggested.
     "Fine by me, you know they're probably waiting for us
out there."
     "I'm counting on it," Kei replied with a grin.
     Yuri applied a boot to the door, hard, and tossed a
flash grenade through as it swung open.  Before the door had
even completed its arc Kei had kicked in her thrust pack and
was racing through the top of the opening.
     As the door opened the three terrorists on the other
side, alerted by the rather loud mine explosion, poured laser
fire through the opening.  They were professional and they
new any foe would be coming through low, so that's where
they concentrated their fire.  Which is the reason all of it
passed harmlessly below Kei.  The trio had just enough time
to realize their mistake before the flash grenade blinded
them and they lost track of Kei.  She immediately took
advantage of this, drilling two of them as Yuri shot the
third.
     "See, the pros are easy to take out because they're so
predictable.  It's the damn amateurs that you have to worry
about.  They're crazy."
     "Whatever you say Kei, but we've got to get to those
kids, now.  Let's move," Yuri prompted as she ran into the
hallway, "Follow me."
     The pair avoided most of the terrorists on the way, the
Triple-S could do a room to room sweep later, they just
wanted to get to the children as quickly as possible.  Of
course they were happy to plug anyone who wanted to slow them
down.

     At the sound of the mine blast the three Triple-S squads
began sweeping the central building, from the outside in.
The plan was simple, they would either wipe all the
terrorists out and meet each other in the center.  Or they
would herd the terrorists ahead of them, and wipe them out in
the center.  Either way the wiping out of the terrorists was
the same.  Of course the original plan called for Ben to hold
up one side of the net, but since he wasn't around it just
meant more work for the Triple-S.

     When he heard the mine go off Ben had been slowly
working his way towards the offices.  The sound of the blast
startled him at first, but then he realized that it must be
the pair making another of their patented dramatic entrances.
He smiled, readied his electromag, and charged toward the
offices.

     Kei and Yuri move swiftly through the halls.  In just a
few minutes they are close enough to the children to prepare
their strike.
     "They should be just around this corner," Yuri says.
     "Ok.  We go in hot.  We can't use any grenades because
of the children.  So we go in and try to plug them all before
they can react. Ready?"
     "Ready."
     "Let's do it."

---------------------------------------------------THIRTY-TWO

     "And now we meet again, for the first time, for the last
time."
                         --Dark Helmet

     ReRob entered the Mecha Combat Training Room from the
port side.  He turned on the wall intercom, selected the
bitcher on the other side of the gym, and maxed out the
volume.
     Vixen heard a noise from the east side of the MCTC.
Impossibly loud and distorted for a human, and far too low to
be Kei or Yuri.  All combat systems are already operational:
no need to do anything but scan the quadrant, and listen to
the message:
     "You!  Yes, you!  Stand still, Lassie!"
     Attack coming from behind: analyze.  Too large to be a
slug, too fast to be thrown, poorly aimed at her right
scapula.  Defense: a step to the left; executed.  Determine
nature and trajectory of attack as it passes, and check along
path for assailant.  Knife, extremely well-balanced,
familiar.  Blood on the blade; why isn't that knife in
somebody's neck?  A flick to the right to face the
assailant...
      She turned, and caught what seemed to be a humaniform
mirror way out to the west.  It was actually a man in a VR-
065 Cyclone.  The faceplate was up.  The brown eyes, the
French nose...why isn't he dead?!?  The pilot spoke:
     "I know precisely what you are, Shasti.  And I don't
take no shit--" He flicked his faceplate down, activating the
external speakers, "from a machine."  His RLAMF units warmed
up, singing a monotone dirge.
      Shasti had no weapons systems to warm up: in her
"Vixen" persona, she was only fitted with a VR-038 Light
Combat Cyclone.  The advantages of this 'mech are the extreme
speed capabilities.  Combined with her innate combat
abilities, she stood a good chance of defeating ReRob's
RLAMF-1's just hand to hand.  Even so, she wasn't going to
play those odds.  She wielded a Gallant H-90, an armor
piercing handgun.  "Then it's time to dance.  Computer:
audio.  Duran Duran, James Bond Soundtrack.  'A View to a
Kill.'"
     I'm severely boned fighting Shasti, ReRob thought, but I
stand a chance against Vixen herself.  I wrote her, and I
should be able to make her hesitate.  If I can draw her out,
and fight defensively until then,...but then, I always fight
defensively.  He laid down a ninety-degree arc of laser fire,
caught Shasti's foot as she leapt, and failed to do any
severe damage.  He then remembered that he was in the
training room, and the doorway sent the 'mech an automatic
safety mode message.  The cyclone was intentionally failing
to produce any real damage.  However, Shasti's Gallant was
burning decently sized holes in the supports and obstacles.
"Road Hog, Safety Override!  Execute!"
     Now he was doing some real damage.  The room should be
missing entirely in about two minutes.  He took a flying leap
for good measure, and narrowly avoided a shot.  He re-located
Shasti, and spiked the external speaker.  "Just one thing,
Shasti."
     "What?"
     "How the hell did you get Vixen?"
     Zark!
     "Why, I hacked into your account, darling," she replied
sweetly.  Her voice and face hardened and she continued
arrogantly, "Your password is annoyingly simple."
     "People never think of the three-dot password, it's
supposedly illegal with our system.  But I found a way to
circumvent it.  Thanks for the tip, I'll have to change it
later on today."  He fired a double blast to keep Shasti from
getting a bead on him.
     "Getting optimistic, aren't we, ReRob?"
     "But still, you impersonated the legend for two slottin'
weeks, and fooled me!  I'm the one who wrote the character.
How did you work it so perfectly?!?"
     ReRob talked for a little too long and took several
rounds to the head.  There was little faceplate armor left,
but it was still intact.  "It was easy.  You had a hundred
kay of data on your "nature girl", and I was built to take
slotted personalities."  ReRob returned fire and blew a hole
into Perrault Hall.  The fight quickly moved, since there was
more room.  Fortunately, they were playing Star Trek V: The
Final Frontier.  Thus, the only one who was actually watching
the show was John Trussell, who hadn't seen it before.  He
was already getting a bit fed up with the movie.
     "You mean you've got her entire personality slotted?!?"
     "As we speak!  It's sitting in the background right now,
and I intend to erase it from memory as soon as I'm done with
this little entanglement."
     ReRob saw Trussell out of the corner of his eye.
"Schmuck!  Get out of here!"
     "Well, I was kind of watching this movie..."
     Shasti punctuated her words with blasts.  "The
incredible thing about it was that it was so easy!  I didn't
think I could find anybody with a set-up like yours.  I mean,
after all,--"
     "What does God want with a starship?"
     Shasti and ReRob spoke in unison: "Keep out of it,
Kirk!"  Trussell, fed up with the movie, got up and left.
ReRob knew that Shasti was set-up for close combat.  The
Obliviator, on the other hand, was built for the open
battlefield.  It was time to make some room.
     "RoadHog: Check for EVA!"
     "Cleared for EVA.  Environmental systems to 85 percent
capability.  CVR sealed.  Life support guaranteed for two
point five hours"
     "Eve: isolate and evacuate Perrault Hall and MCTC.
Override code Sierra Hotel India Tango!"  ReRob heard blast
doors sealing, but he wasn't going to wait for a computer-
controlled evacuation.  He invoked a manual override, blowing
away a large portion of the ceiling.  Explosive decompression
forced both Cyclones into hard vacuum.
     People on the bridge saw two unmistakable mecha: ReRob's
"signature" Obliviator and the violet Light Cyclone he made
for Vixen.  The safeties were obviously not on, they had
blasted a hole onto the weather deck (and not even in the
MCTC!) and were intently attempting to kill each other.  A
quick chorus of "? the fuck?" followed, and then they found
ReRob's frequency.
     "ReRob, this is Zoner.  Knock that the fuck off!"
     "No can do, Zoner.  I just hope that you boys can pick
up the pieces when I die."  And he switched into the standard
frequency of Vixen's suit.  "Vixen, are you there?  Can you
read me?"
     Shasti closed for the kill, despite the efforts of
ReRob's RLAMF units.  But, almost to her surprise, she did
respond: "Yup, I'm here with the rest of us."
     "You can stop the rest of those personalities.  You just
have to try hard enough!"
     "I,...I can't!"  Shasti breached the armor on ReRob's
upper right arm, amputating the arm and exposing the stump to
vacuum.  "I'm just lucky she's letting me use her vocal
chords!"
     ReRob's LSU kicked into overdrive, in a vain attempt to
keep the pressure up, despite the hole in the suit which once
was its wearer's arm.  Rob realized that he had only a half-
minute of oxygen left: he might be able to survive longer
than that, but even a Detian can't talk without air.  And
talk was his major weapon.  It was, as the cliche goes, now
or never.
     "Well then, before we part, I need to know just one
thing."
     "Sure.  Anything, for you..."  Another blow knocked
ReRob off the deck and sent him spinning out of control.  He
righted himself, and stopped with relation to the Wayward
Son.
     "Why?"
     "Why what?"
ReRob brought his left RLAMF forward.  "Why did you get off
with that stupid credstick, when you could have any guy you
wanted?"
     Vixen froze.  Back when she was a Shadowrunner, that
little fact had been brought up by the Dweller during an
astral quest.  That hurt her, more than life itself, more
than all those years she spent running from Lone Star, corp
cops, and wannabe samauri before she got Awakened.  Her
entire mind froze for an instant, and her body with it.
     ReRob didn't dare hesitate.  He fired an overload burst,
turned his fiber-optic barrels to molten spaghetti, and hit
her square in the chestplate.  There was very little left of
her CVR chestpiece, and she floated there, her boots
magnetically stuck to the deck.
     ReRob's suit was just as motionless.

-------------------------------------------------THIRTY-THREE

     Johnny stares a long time at Alt's almost lifeless body.
There is a feeble pulse.  But Alt-- Alt is gone; lost in the
machine; trapped behind crystal.  Lost forever.  Gone.
                         --Never Fade Away

     Deedlit was the first one out of the airlock with her
Cyclone.  After all, she knew that something was going on.
She wanted to be there when it hit the fan: she didn't want
to be in on the mop-up.
     She had been on the bridge talking to MegaZone, trying
to see if he could figure out what was going on.  So when the
bridge crew saw the two armor units going at it, she was on
her way out.
     She saw ReRob's limp, lifeless body slowly floating away
from the Wayward Son.  She also found an RLAMF unit flying
away at high velocity: no matter.  Shasti was magnetically
stuck to the deck: she called in a crew to destroy the
monstrosity.
     She caught up with ReRob's corpse, and looked into the
faceplate.  His eyes were shut, and his nose, ears and mouth
were bleeding.  The suit was completely evacuated.
     Almost on a lark, she opened his facebowl.  There was no
more damage that could be done, none at all.  Something
stirred.
     ReRob spat blood at her, then silently mouthed three
words.  Deedlit couldn't read them, but she was certain that
they weren't "I love you."  His left arm jerked, triggering
explosive bolts on the remaining, useless RLAMF.  He pulled
back for an augmented punch.
     She grabbed his arm.  For a hanging moment, they were at
stalemate, neither of them able to move.  Then, his arm
stopped resisting.
     Deedlit took the arm and went for the airlock at full
speed.

     Jenna was at the other side of the airlock, already
setting up an IV unit.  She and Deedlit started stripping off
pieces of CVR-3 while placing him on the stretcher.
     "What the hell happened out there?"
     "I don't know...he..tried to kill me."
     A half hour later, in sickbay, Rob opened his eyes.
Deedlit and Jenna were almost hovering over him.  He spoke.
"Is...Shasti...dead?"
     "Who's Shasti?  Shasti who?"
     "Shasti...Vixen.  A WWWA Buma...always wanted to kill
Kei and Yuri...used Vix to get to me to get to them."
     "She's dead, Rob."
     "Save me the body, will you, Deedlit?  I want to oversee
the disassembly personally...it'll be more of a disassembly
than a dissection, knowing her stuff.  Gee...my arm's gone.
     "Don't worry, hon.  You're a Detian, it'll grow back in
a week or two."
     "No, deety...I don't ever intend to forget this.
Jenna...you still have those bio-emulatory limb mounts?
     "Yeah...you mean the ones I made up for RoboSwimm?"
     "Right...those.  Slap one on my shoulder.  And call up
my labs and get a right Chrome arm, my size.
     "Chrome?  You know that won't help your psych profile
any."
     "Fuck my psych profile!  The entire reason I'm getting
this arm is because I thought somebody had no cyber
whatsofuckingever, and she turned out to be Madame Metal.  I
found out because she had jack plugs in her skull!  I'm going
to get that arm cybered, and I don't care who knows it."
     "In her skull?  How did you find that out?"  Deedlit was
confused.
     "You wouldn't believe...she tried to rape me."
     "Oh, god."
     "Yeah...BTW, who pulled me in?"
     "I did, Rob."
     "Then a major apology is in order.  Deety, I tried to
kill you out there."
     "Accepted.  But why?"
     "I thought you were Shasti.  I only corrected myself
when you stayed my hand.  An 038 couldn't do that.  Thanks
for pulling me in."
     "What's a wife for?"
     "That's supposed to be 'What are friends for?'"
     "Well, I was your friend first.  It was kind of a
prerequisite."
     "How very true."
     Jenna walked in with the arm and mounting frame.  The
bioemulation feature was built to "convince" the Omega-2
retrovirus that the arm was real, thus keeping the wearer
from growing a new, flesh, arm.
     "When I mount this, do you want local or general
anesthetic?"
     "No."
     "No?"
     "I've been through enough pain today, and still am in
enough pain.  This won't hurt nearly as much as losing the
arm...or losing the dream."

--------------------------------------------------THIRTY-FOUR

     "What I am is what I am are you what you are or what?"
                         --Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

     As the pair were about to dive around the corner a group
of terrorists opened fire on them from the rear.
     "SHIT!" they cried in unison as they took cover.
     "Kei, you go around the corner.  I'll hold these guys
off."
     "Right.  Good luck."  With that she dove around the
corner, and froze in her tracks.

     Ben was in the hallway.  Strewn about him were bodies of
the terrorists and several children.  As she watched, a child
grabbed Ben's leg and clung to him.  He leveled his gun on
the child's face, grinned evilly, and fired.  He then began
putting several shots into the remaining children.  Until he
was interrupted by Kei.
     "BEN!" she screamed, it was all she could think to say.
     Ben spun and fired on her, wounding her shoulder.  As
Kei dove for cover Ben dove through a doorway.  Kei was
shocked, and confused, she couldn't believe what she had just
seen.  Her heart turned to stone and she lost all the love
she had every felt for anyone.  How could he have done this?
How, goddammit?!?!  She began to cry, for the betrayal, and
for the children.

     Ben was racing towards the offices, he knew he was
behind schedule and he wanted to try to hold up his side of
the net.  As he rounded the corner on the fly he ran into
Ben as he dove through a doorway.  This shocked him somewhat,
as running into yourself tends to do.
     "Huh-- What the-- Who the hell--"  He false started
several times.  Before he could untie his tongue Ben had
turned the corner and was gone.  He gathered himself together
and stepped through the door, a confused look on his face.
     That confused look quickly turned to horror as he took
in the field of bodies, most young children, which filled the
hallway.
     The horror quickly turned to shock as Kei grabbed his
attention.
     "You!  How could you?!  You motherfucking sonofabitch!
DIE!"
     "Kei, what--"  He was cut short as Kei put a neat
pattern of shots, sort of a 'therefore' symbol, from her
electromag into his chest.  Even a Detian can only take so
much.  The shots laid him out cold on the floor of the hall.
She had to struggle to restrain herself from blowing his head
off and killing him right there.
     "Kei, I took care of those guys. Is everything ok in
here--" Yuri stopped mid-sentence as she rounded the corner
and took in the scene.  The bodies everywhere, Kei sobbing on
the floor with a wounded shoulder, and Ben sprawled with
three shots through his chestplate.  The shots were
definitely from an electromag, and the terrorists were using
lasers or projectiles.  But that would mean... no, why would
she?  Was she crying because she shot him?
     "Kei, Kei, are you ok?  Ben will be ok, he's a Detian
remember.  Hey, friendly fire happens.  It's not your
fault..."
     "I did it on purpose," Kei mumbled.
     "What?" Yuri asked, not sure she had heard her
correctly.
     "I shot the bastard on purpose," Kei stated coldly.
     "What? Why?" Yuri asked, really confused now.
     "He did this," Kei said bitterly, indicating the carnage
with a wave of her hand.
     Yuri just stood there for a few moments, dumbstruck by
the concept.  "Ben?  I really doubt he would have done this.
It must have been the terrorists.  You just got confused in
the heat of battle.  I mean..."
     "I'M NOT FUCKING CONFUSED!" Kei screamed.  "I SAW THE
BASTARD DO IT!  HE SHOT THE KIDS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, THE
SADISTIC MOTHERFUCKER!"  The calm which followed her scream
was unbearably quiet, and her whispered comment which
followed seemed almost a yell.  "So I shot him."
     "You're hit too.  Did he..."
     "Yes, he shot me.  I'll be alright.  Like you said,
Detians can take a lot."
     "Are you sure?  This must be hard for you..."
     "I said I'm alright!" Kei snapped, obviously not, then
she calmed herself, "Let's get him back to the ship and
locked up."  Before I kill him myself, she failed to add.
"And let's get some medics in here.  Maybe some of these kids
can be saved."

     Yuri activated her radio and called the Wayward Son for
a medical team and a transport shuttle.  When she finished
that she checked in with the Triple-S.  They were nearly done
with their clearing sweeps, and would be finished by the time
the shuttle got there.  Lt. Miyu had an interesting bit of
news.
     "I thought I saw Ben a few minutes ago heading outside."
     "That can't be, he's in here with us," Yuri replied, she
didn't want to try and explain in what condition that was.
     "Oh well, it was probably just a trooper scouting
around.  Some of the regulars started securing the perimeter
after we started our final strike."
     "Ok.  Well, I'll see you when the shuttle gets here."

--------------------------------------------------THIRTY-FIVE

     "Hurts/Hurts/Hurts/Like a like a motherfucker/Love/It
hurts/It kills/Like a sonofabitch."
                         --Faith No More

     Kei sat silently brooding during the flight back to the
Son.  Her mind was clouded by a flood of emotions.  Contrary
to what she had told Yuri, she was not alright.  Everything
that she had based her world on, all the trust she had placed
in those around her, had been destroyed when she saw Ben
shoot that child.  She finally understood, completely, what
had driven Zoner to distrust everyone.  It was so clear now.
If she couldn't trust Ben, after all the time they had spent
together, after she had thought she knew him so well, there
really wasn't anyone she could trust.  Yuri tried to console
her, but Kei coolly brushed her off.  Even her bond with Yuri
had been shaken.  The scene kept replaying in her mind.  Ben
aiming his gun at the poor child's face, grinning, and then
spreading the child's brain across the hallway.  She saw it
all clear as day.  Her entire world had died with that child.
     Yuri sat next to Kei.  After her attempts to brighten
Kei's mood had been met with a "Thanks, but no thanks" reply
she too began trying to figure out what had happened.  She
couldn't imagine Ben doing what Kei had said, but then she
couldn't think of Kei lying about it either.  And Kei was
very definitely upset.  There had to be a better explanation
for the events as they happened.  If only she could think of
one.
     Ben had been loaded into the cargo compartment with
several of the wounded.  A couple of Triple-S troopers rode
with him in case he awoke and tried something.  Kei had
insisted on that.  In fact she wanted to do it, but Yuri had
talked her out of it.  The troopers didn't really understand
why they were guarding one of their commanding officers, but
Kei's angry attitude had convinced them that it was
important.  They figured it would all be straightened out
once they were back onboard the Son.

     Once back aboard ship Ben was taken to sickbay, and
placed under guard at Kei's request.  The Triple-S dispersed
to their normal shipboard positions, and of course they told
others what had happened on the planet.  Soon rumors about
Ben were flying fast and furious, most of them having nothing
to do with the truth.  At least the truth as Kei would have
it.  After Ben had been taken away Kei pulled Yuri aside.
     "I want you to fill Zoner in on what happened."
     "Me?  What about you?"
     "I need some time to calm down.  I don't want to talk
about it right now.  Tell him I'll be by to see him later.
I've got some things to do."
     "Well, ok.  He probably won't be happy, but he should
understand.  Take care, ok?"
     "Yeah, I'll be alright.  I just need some time alone."
     With that Kei left quickly and Yuri went to find Zoner.

     She found him in his quarters, trying to start preparing
the mission reports.
     "Hi love.  Can you spare me some time?"
     "I always have time for you.  What do you need?"
     "I need to talk with you about the mission."
     "Yeah... I understand something odd went down.  And now
I hear Kei has Gryph under guard.  Can you explain all this
to me?"
     "Well, I can try."
     Yuri filled him in on the mission.  Clearing the
offices, trying to get to the children, up to the point that
she stepped around the corner.
     "So I found Kei sitting there, bleeding and crying, and
Ben had three shots, obviously from her gun, in his chest.
There were bodies everywhere.  Both children and terrorists.
It was a real mess."
     "Kei shot him?!  Why?"
     "She says he's the one who killed all the children.
Said he saw him blow one kid's head off and then shot any
other survivors.  Then he shot her.  So she shot back."
     "Whoa... Hold on... Waitaminute.  You're trying to tell
me that Gryphon slaughtered a hall full of kids and then
tried to do Kei??  That's crazy!  He loves her, he'd never
try to hurt her!  And he killed a hall full of kids?
Yaright!  Tell me another one."
     "I don't know.  I find it hard to believe too.  But
that's what she says.  Kei is pretty messed up right now.
She says she'll be in to talk to you later."
     "I'm sure she believes what she says, but there has to
be another explanation.  Gryph killing a bunch of kids seems
about as likely as Kevin sleeping with a woman."
     "Well, you can talk to her about it later."
     "I'll do that.  In the meantime why don't you see what
you can do to help her deal.  You're the closest to her, next
to Gryph."
     "Believe me, I've been trying, but she seems to want to
be alone."
     "I just hope that she doesn't do what I did.  Remember
way back when I told you about Rob betraying my trust?"
Yuri nodded.  "Well, I stopped trusting everyone, and I
wanted him dead.  One of the worst moves I've ever made.  Try
to force her to talk to you, make her communicate.  Whatever
you do, don't let her build a wall.  Go find her.  Love you."
     "I'll do my best.  See you later.  Love you too."
     After leaving Yuri to talk with Zoner, Kei headed back
to her room.  She threw herself on the bed and began sobbing
deeply.  She couldn't stand the emotions she felt.  She loved
him.  She trusted him.  The Ben she knew could never have
done what she saw him do.  He must have been a damn good
actor to fool everyone for so long.  He used her, fooled her,
twisted her emotions to suit his needs.  Never again, never
again would she allow someone to get as close to her as he
had been.  And another brick slid into place.  Schnick.
     She cried for a long time, but eventually her sorrow
turned into a cold rage.  She was angry at herself for being
so gullible.  She had trusted him too easily.  That would
change.  Schnick.
     She jumped off the bed and began tearing all the kipple
off the walls.  There were pictures of her, of the two of
them together, posters he had hung, everything that reminded
her of him or their past together she destroyed.  She threw
all of his little collectables on the floor and crushed them
underfoot.  She set out to destroy him, starting with
everything that he valued.  Schnick.
     After she trashed the room she turned on the comm screen
and placed a call planetside.
     "Musashi City Police.  How may we help you?"
     "This is Kei Morgan with the WDF."
     "Oh!  Yes, what can we do for you."
     "I have a question for you.  Are there any security
cameras at the Seventh Street School?"
     "Um... Lemme check.  Yes, yes there are.  All of the
main hallways have cameras."
     "Thank you.  Is there anyway we can get a copy of todays
recordings?"
     "For you?  Of course."
     "Good.  Can you tight-beam them to this comm station?"
     "We should be able to.  Yes, let me set of the link to
the school's computer... ok, ready to receive?"
     Kei pressed a few buttons.  "Ready."
     "Transmitting."
     The comm screen was filled with the word 'Receiving' and
bar graph showing percent complete.  The transmission only
took a few minutes.
     "Will there be anything else?" the officer asked.
     "No, that should be all.  Bye," Kei replied.
     "Bye."

     Kei began searching the recordings for the film of the
events she had witnessed.  She was going to need some kind of
proof to convince everyone else.

---------------------------------------------------THIRTY-SIX

     "Everbody's got this broken feeling, like their mama or
their dog just died."
                         --Concrete Blonde

     "Can I talk to you?" Kei asked, knocking on the open
door to Zoner's room.
     "Yeah... Yeah, sure.  Actually, I was hoping you'd drop
by," he replied.
     "I've got something for you to see," Kei stated coolly,
setting a holodisc on his desk.
     "What is it?" Zoner asked, holding the disc up to the
light.  The only label was a computer verification stamp,
WDFWWWA40427^[XA, on the outer edge.  "Computer
verification?"
     "100% authenticated.  It's the real thing."
     "Fine, but what is it?"
     "Just watch it."
     "Ok, ok."

     Zoner slotted the disc into the wall-mounted comm unit
and started the playback.  He was treated to a panoramic view
of Ben as seen from a ceiling mounted security camera.  That
part was ok; what Ben was doing wasn't.
     Ben had charged through a side door and wasted the three
terrorists holding the children.  Then, as the children began
thanking him he walked to the center of the hall, smiling at
them the whole time.  He seemed to be enjoying their
appreciation.  Then the smile twisted and he looked like a
bully just about to pound on a smaller child for fun.  One of
the children ran to him and said something--too bad there was
no sound--and Ben patted him on the head benevolently.  An
instant later he had placed his gun to the child's face and
fired.  Then he began dropping the remaining children.  The
film continued on as Zoner watched in disbelief.  Then Kei
entered the frame.  She froze, and then yelled to Ben, who
spun and shot her.
     Zoner noticed that Kei had unconsciously touched the
wound on her shoulder as she watched the scene.  He also
noted her lack of emotion.  He knew that was not a good sign.
     After shooting her, Ben leapt through a doorway,
apparently for cover.  However, a moment later he stepped
through again looking a bit puzzled.  That's when Kei shot
him.  The playback ended just after Ben hit the floor.

     The two of them sat there for several seconds in
strained silence.  Zoner staring at the now blank screen, and
Kei staring at Zoner.  Zoner was the first to break the
silence.
     "Fuuuccckkk meeeee," he muttered.
     "Do I need to explain anything to you?" Kei asked, a
hint of sarcasm in her voice.
     "Well, like who the hell that was in there shooting the
children?"
     "You saw for yourself, it was Ben."
     "Well, it sure as hell looked like Ben.  But I can't
believe that was really him."
     "I can understand that.  It was rather hard for me to
accept at first too.  He had us all fooled," Kei monotoned.
The lack of emotion did not escape Zoner's notice.
     "Kei, are you sure you're dealing alright with this?"
     "You of all people should understand how I feel.  You're
the one who used to talk about being betrayed.  I understand
now, about what you used to say, you can't trust anyone."
     "Kei, do not, I repeat do not build a wall.  Scratch
that, it's too late.  Start tearing down the bricks you've
already put in place.  I walled myself off, and look where it
got me.  Three years without a friend, a suicide attempt, and
one of the darkest outlooks I've ever known.  It is NOT a
healthy thing to do.  It seems like the best choice at the
time, but looking back I wish I hadn't done it.  I missed out
on three years of living.  I mean, now that we're `immortal'
three years doesn't seem like much, but I was young and I
should have been living life.  Not cutting off the world.
I've never fully recovered, you know how hard it is for me to
open up to anyone.  Remember when we first met, when Ben
first created you?"  Kei flinched a bit at that reminder.  "I
used to drive him nuts because I wouldn't talk to him.  And
what about how I almost lost Yuri.  Do you want to go through
that?"
     "You're just looking back on it now, it's too far in the
past for you.  The Zoner I met at WPI would have understood.
I know he is still inside you somewhere, and I know you will
understand me eventually.  But for now I think I'm going to
want to be left alone for a while.  Are you going to tell the
rest of the crew about this?"
     "Um... I don't think so.  He does have some rights
still.  And I'm not totally convinced that was him.  I'll set
up a hearing board."
     "A hearing board?  I thought I could at least trust
you."  Schnick.  "Have it your way.  I think he should be
killed, just like he killed all those children.  So what are
you going to do with him for now."
     "He is still an officer, and a friend, he remains free
for now.  I don't think he'd be stupid enough to try anything
onboard anyway.  I will forbid his use of any ships that he
could run away with, especially his fighter."
     "Whatever," Kei said coldly as she picked up the disc
and left.
     "She is not dealing," Zoner mumbled to himself.  But
what Kei had said was true.  That old part of him was still
buried inside and he was making a comeback.  Zoner wasn't as
sure of Ben as he admitted, even to himself.  He was totally
sure that Ben wouldn't do something like that, but then again
way back in seventh grade he had been totally sure that Rob
could be trusted too.
     Still, Zoner called to have the guards pulled off Ben
and to see how he was doing.  Jenna told him that Ben was
healing fast and should be up and around in a little while.

     When Ben came to he tried to figure out what had
happened.  He remembered running into himself, and then being
shot by Kei, but that was real fuzzy.  No, that couldn't be
right, Kei wouldn't have shot him.  He must have scrambled
his memories up because of shock or something.  He slipped
out of sickbay without disturbing Jenna and walked back to
his room to get some new clothes.  He punched his entry code
on the comlock, but the door didn't open.  Instead a message
popped up on the display screen.

     "I changed the code.  Your stuff is in room 498.  I hope
you fry you fucker.  -Kei"

     What the fuck?  What the hell did he do to deserve this?
Kei had a hot temper, but wanting him dead was something
else.  Then he thought of his memories--maybe she did shoot
him.  Still, the question was: why?  He had to find someone
who could explain the situation to him, and by the looks of
things Kei was right out.  He decided to find Zoner.

     Gryphon entered Zoner's office, walking stiffly with the
pain of his bandaged chest, and said, "Zoner?   What the
hell's going on?  I don't understand any of this.  Kei tried
to kill me, no one will talk to me--what the fuck is going
on?"
     "Get out," Zoner deadpanned.  "Just get out.  I really
can't deal with you face to face right now.  I feel like I
should kill you myself, but I don't feel like washing your
blood off my shoes."
     "What?!  Oh, come on, Zoner, not you too!  What the fuck
did I do that--"
     "Don't play the innocent with me--Kei saw you with her
own eyes.  Why would she lie about something like that?  And
I've seen the film.  It's destroying her, tearing her soul
apart, to think that the man she loved, the man she trusted
so much, would do a thing like that.  If it wasn't for Yuri
she probably would've killed herself over it.  Over you.  I
hope you're proud of yourself, you son of a bitch--now get
out.  This is your last chance."
     "Zoner, I didn't do it, whatever the fuck it is!  I
don't know what Kei saw, and don't you think it isn't ripping
me apart inside just as much to know that the woman I love
hates me?  I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
     "Shut up, just shut up.  I trusted you, Ben.  I trusted
you a lot.  Now it looks like you've betrayed that trust."
     "Oh, yeah," Gryphon replied, his own anger mounting.
His frustration and rage that no one would believe him was
reaching a fever pitch.  "You trusted me soooo much.  You
would never let me into your life, not even after I saved the
worthless thing.  I always knew a little of what was going
on, just enough to drive me absolutely mad with curiosity and
concern, but I was never cleared to know further.  You played
the little word games and the little mind games and you
amused yourself.  I'll always be the freshman to you, won't
I?  Huh?  Well fuck you, man, you and everybody like you.  I
don't need any of you."  Ben turned away and seethed.
     "If Vaughn were here," he said, turning back, "he'd set
you straight.  Vaughn wouldn't believe something like this of
me, even if Kei did."
     "Bullshit," Zoner replied.  "If Vaughn knew what you
did, he'd be the first one coming after your head."
     "My ass he would.  I don't know what it is I've
supposedly done, and I don't care, 'cause I didn't do it.
Either I was framed or you're all just crazy, and if it takes
the rest of my life to prove it, then that's what it takes.
I'm not going to let this rest, goddammit--and I'm never
going to forget just how much you trusted me.  Fuck you!"
     With that, Gryphon turned around and stormed out.

     Well, that went just fine.  Who the hell else can I try?
I guess Yuri is the next one in line.  But if she gives me
the run around too I think I'll go crazy.

     He found her relaxing in the Wedge.  She tensed up when
he approached, something that did not go unnoticed.
     "Hi, Yuri, can we talk?"
     "Uh.. Yeah, I guess so.  What about?"
     "Why does Kei want me dead?"
     "What?!  How can you ask that after what you did?!"
     "Well, for starters, I don't know what it is that I
supposedly did."
     "I'm sorry, Ben, but I just can't believe that."
     That's it, I'm going crazy.  "How do I find out?"
     "Talk to Kei," Yuri snapped.
     "Oh yeah, great idea.  Here Kei, here's a target for
you.  So do you believe her?"
     Yuri looked troubled for a minute, then she made up her
mind.  "I don't know.  I don't think there's any way you
could've done that.  But I can't figure out how Kei saw you
do it if you didn't.  I don't think Kei would lie about
something like that."
     "Fine, but can you at least help me try to clear
myself."
     "How?"
     "Help me get off the Son so I can figure out who set me
up."
     "Oh.. I don't know... I mean I shouldn't... You know,
it's not right..."
     "Please, Yuri."
     She bit her lip and nodded.  "I guess I at least owe you
that much.  After all, you created me.  But after you're gone
I can't help anymore."
     "Thank you.  You won't regret it.  And I understand," he
kissed her forehead.  "You prep my fighter and I'll go get my
stuff."
     "Ok.  I'll meet you by the hanger in ten minutes."
     "Great.  Thanks again."

     Gryph went to his new room and hastily packed the
clothes he planned on taking, along with a few mementos that
Kei had managed to miss.  He scrawled a note and then left
for the hangers.

     Yuri met him outside the bay door.
     "Ben, we've got problems."
     "Great, what now?"
     "Zoner issued a command barring you from taking any
ships off the Son.  They've got security on the bay.  I can't
get to your ship."
     "Eve or a decker?"
     "A decker I think."
     "Can you get past them?"  Yuri stared at Ben.  "Ok, ok.
Sorry I asked you.  Will you please get past him?"
     "I'll do my best."
     "That should be plenty good enough."
     "I'll go back to my quarters and work from there.  I can
prep the ship from the 'trix.  I'll contact you via this comm
screen as soon as it's clear.  Once security is down move
quick."
     "Will do.  And Yuri?"
     "Yes?"
     "Take care of Kei.  Tell her that no matter what I love
her.  I just hope that someday I can come back to her."
     "I'll tell her.  You just better not have done it.  Or
I'll come after you."
     Ben watched Yuri's retreating form and wondered again
just what it was that he had done.

-------------------------------------------------THIRTY-SEVEN

     "I--the I that matters, the I that usually inhabits that
meat body--was in the Matrix, and that's all there was to
it."
                         --Derek 'Dirk' Montgomery

     Upon reaching her room Yuri pulled her 'deck out of it's
case.  It wasn't much to look at, having been cobbled
together and upgraded over the last few hundred years, but it
sure got the job done.  It was designed just for Yuri, and
with it she could run with the best of them.  Being immortal
meant having a lot of time to practice.  Yuri plugged the
'deck's interface plugs into her 'Frankensteins', tuned in,
turned on, and dropped into a new world.
     The shipboard Matrix was a slightly modified electronic
simulation of the old WPI campus.  The various building
constructs simulated various shipboard departments.
`Harrington Auditorium' was where the recreational programs
and files were located, `Daniels Hall' held files relating to
the ships stores and maintenance areas, `Fuller Labs' was
where the very files the system ran on were located and also
served as Eve's `home', other buildings held files related to
what the real buildings had been used for.  So of course Yuri
headed for the construct of the `Campus Police Building',
where security was based.  As she approached the construct
she could she her icon's reflection in it's mirrored
`windows'.  In the 'trix her icon closely resembled Yuri in
the `real' world.  Except her skin looked like white silk and
her hair was the black of a black hole.  And her 3WA uniform
looked like polished gold.
     Yuri entered the construct easily, as her shipboard rank
gave her nearly total access to the Matrix.  Of course size
means nothing in the 'trix  and the construct was much larger
on the inside than the outside, and spatial geometry had no
reign at all.  She knew the node well and it took her no time
at all to find the connection controlling the security on the
hanger bay.  She was right, a decker was doing it realtime.
That would make it a bit harder, but there were few onboard
who were a match for her.  She doubted that anyone from
GweepCo would be doing such a menial task.  The decker seemed
to be running overwatch from his own cyberdeck.  Well, she
might as well get started.
     Yuri reached out and shoved the barrier over the hanger
controls.  The barrier flared red and a klaxon sounded.
Instantly another icon appeared, to investigate the
disturbance.
     Yuri knew exactly who she was facing.  The icon, dressed
in a Domino's Pizza uniform, could only represent Schletz,
the Domino's Dude.  This would be interesting.  Schletz
wasn't much of a programmer, but he did play interactive
combat games all the time.  He got started with mudding way
back at WPI and was now into full fledged virtual reality
adventuring.  So he did have a lot of, admittedly simulated,
Matrix combat experience.
     "Yuri!  Hold it right there.  What do you need in Hangar
7?  The only thing in there is Ben's fighter."
     "Actually, I wanted to get to the fighter."
     "No can do.  I'm sorry, but Zoner specifically said
no one goes near it."
     "Well, then, I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist."
Yuri thrust her open palm at him and a beam of searing blue
light leapt at Schletz.  The beams impact knocked him back a
bit, but he didn't seem very damaged.
     "Well, if that's the way you want it."  A pizza appeared
in his hand.
     What the hell kind of weapon is that?, Yuri thought.
The he threw it at her like a frisbee.  It emitted a high
pitched keening sound as it flew and it seemed to track her
as she tried to dodge.
     Yuri waved her hands in an arc before her and generated
a shield.  The killer pizza glanced off and returned to
Schletz's hand.
     He then produced a ladle of pizza sauce which he
splattered on her shield.  The sauce began eating its way
through.
     I don't believe this!  Where the hell did he come up
with these silly weapons?  Yuri thought as she dropped the
now useless shield and produced a mini-grenade which she then
lobbed at Schletz.
     When the grenade struck him it exploded into thousands
of stands of light which surrounded him like a cocoon.
     "That should hold you," Yuri said, turning back towards
the hanger.  She spun back as she heard the strands shearing.
He was cutting through the net.  But with what?  Of course, a
goddamn pizza cutter!  His icons may be silly, but they sure
as hell work.
     Yuri snapped off a shot with the Bloody CardTM, but he
caught it in a gooey wad of melted mozzarella.  Before she
could react he threw a handful of something at her.
     Anchovies!  They seemed to multiply as they flew.  The
covered her and stuck.  Wherever they touched her she felt a
white hot pain.  What the hell?!  These anchovies were part
piranha and they were eating her icon.
     Yuri realized that this was a killer program and tried
to punch out.  No use, she was trapped.  The program ate
through her persona and began attacking her mind directly.
She knew that this was the end, killed by anchovies.  Yuri
screamed as the world flashed white--

     Then she was sitting in her room.  The external
biomonitors she had installed on her 'deck had dumped her
before the killer bio-feedback could do its job.  She had a
splitting headache, but she was pissed.  No more pulling the
punches.  She loaded a few new programs into memory and dove
back into the Matrix.
     She used her auto-recall program to return her to her
last location immediately.  Schletz was still there.
     He seemed a bit surprised to have her fly in again,
after her had used his best program on her.  Although he was
a bit relieved; if she had died Zoner probably would have
made him follow soon after.
     Before he had even gotten over his initial shock of
seeing her she struck.  Again she flicked the Bloody CardTM
towards him, and again he activated his cheesy capture
program.  But this time while he was occupied she drew her
electromag and fired.
     A blinding beam of white light leapt from the barrel and
pierced Schletz's icon.  The light infused his icon for a
moment, then it faded.
     "Hahaha.  Looks like it was a dud," he gloated.
     "I don't think so," Yuri replied, a wry smile on her
lips.  As she spoke his icon began glowing again, this time a
deep crimson.
     "Wha...  What's going on?  Aurgh!"
     As the glow increased in intensity his icon began
writhing in virtual agony.  His screams became incoherent as
his icon began burning from the inside out.  It only took a
few seconds for the icon to flare into a full blaze and
collapse on the ground.
     Yuri knew that at the same time the icon was burning
before her, somewhere Schletz's real body was twisting in
agony as her killer program created deadly bio-feedback in
his 'deck and wiped his mind.  She would have to face up to
that later.
     With Schletz out of the way it was easy for her to
override the lockdown on Hangar 7.  She deactivated the
alarms, unlocked the doorways, and instructed the hanger's
automated systems to begin equipping the fighter for long-
distance warp flight.  Then she activated the comm screen
where Gryphon was waiting.

     Gryphon jumped as the comm screen came to life.
     "The bay is clear," Yuri informed him.
     "Have many problems?" Ben asked.
     "Nothing I couldn't handle," she replied.
     "Who was the decker?"
     "Schletz."
     "He put up much of a fight?"
     "He used killer on me."
     "Killer?  Are you ok?"
     "I'm fine, but I can't say the same for him."
     "Yuri... Did you?"
     "Yes, I retaliated with killer.  Only I was a little
more successful than he was."
     "Oh Yuri.  Are you going to be ok?  I mean trouble
wise?"
     "I don't know.  I'll take care of that when it comes
time.  Now get out of here.  Your ship should be ready in a
few minutes."
     "Ok.  Please take care of yourself.  You're a great
friend.  I love you."
     "I love you too Ben.  Now go."

     Ben ran to his fighter and mounted up just as the
automated systems began powering up.  He activated the
computerized pre-flight checklist as he stowed his bag and
prepared himself for his flight.  He still wasn't sure where
he was going, he just needed to get away from the Wayward Son
until things had cooled down.  He figured he would just head
to some inhabited world that he could lay low on until he
could find a way to clear his name.
     The computer informed him that all systems checked out
100% in working order.  He issued the command to open the
outer bay doors and pushed the throttles to the stops.  His
Valkyrie leapt from the bay and streaked into the blackness.

-------------------------------------------------THIRTY-EIGHT

     "Turkey Fact #12: Turkeys are filled with enough
eltriptophane to knock you on your sorry Thanksgiving ass."
                         --Crow

     Up on the bridge the Valkyrie's departure did not go
unnoticed.
     "What the fuck?!  I thought I ordered his ship off
limits.  q, open a channel."
     "Like, doing it now."
     "Hey Zoner, what's up?" Ben's image filled the main
screen.
     "Where the hell are you going?!" Zoner demanded to know.
     "Well, since you don't seem to believe me, Kei wants me
dead, and no one will tell me what the hell it is I've done,
I thought I had better clear my own name."
     "Gryph, you were confined to the ship--" Zoner began.
     "--the operative word there being `was'," Gryphon
replied.  "As you can see, that is no longer true."
     Ignoring the interruption, Zoner went on, "Get back here
now and you'll get a fair trial."
     "Yaright, I really fuckin' think so.  Heh."
     "Gryphon, get back in here!"
     "You gonna come out here and make me?  You keep saying
what a fuckin' awesome pilot you are, loudmouth--c'mon out
here and prove it to the world.  See if you can take out the
galaxy's best Veritech pilot with your little flying car.
Look, I'm already accused--and, it seems, preconvicted--of
some horrible war crime or atrocity or something.  The woman
I love hates me, tried to kill me.  All my friends are
against me.  I'm desperate and I've got nothing to lose.  So
help me, Zoner, if you come after me, I'll fuckin' kill you."
     Zoner's ire rose within him at those remarks; who was
the better pilot had long been a bone of contention between
the two of them.
     "You can goddamn well try!" Zoner shouted, jumping up.
     "Zoner, no," Logan said, turning in his seat.  "He'll do
it.  Look at his eyes, man, he'll kill you."  Logan seemed
shocked that anything that deep could have emerged from his
mouth.
     Well, if you don't want me to pull a Skywalker and blow
the Wayward Son out of space, you'll leave me alone," Gryphon
went on.  "Remember, I know all her weak points."
     "Could he do that?" Zoner asked ReRob, who was watching
on a subscreen from Engineering.
     "It's very likely," Rob replied in a voice that hinted
toward him not really caring if it happened.
     "Well, I really must be going.  See you later, asshole."
Ben cut off communications.
     "Sonofabitch!  Keep a track on him!"
     "I've got one... Shit!  He just went warp!" Logan
reported.
     "Goddess dammit!  I guess it's up to me to tell Kei,"
Zoner said unhappily.  She would NOT be very pleased, no, not
at all.
     The rest of the bridge crew wondered amongst themselves
exactly what Ben had done.
     Not unlike Ben.

--------------------------------------------------THIRTY-NINE

     "We did as we were told."  "We just heard you offer the
apology for all the monsters of our times."
                         --Anthrax

     "HE WHAT?!" Kei screamed.
     "He got away," Zoner repeated.
     "How?"
     "He took his VF and warped out."
     "I thought you said you were making his VF off limits to
him?"
     "I did."
     "So how'd he get it?" Kei asked tauntingly.
     "Apparently someone beat the decker on guard duty and
opened the bay for him.  I'm having someone check on Schletz
now."
     "Schletz was on duty?  Why him?"
     "Let's face it.  As much as I don't care for him he is
damn good at matrix combat."
     "So who could have beat him?"
     "I'm not sure.  I'm having Eve check on that."

     "Don't bother," Yuri's voice came from the doorway.
     "What?" Zoner asked.
     "Don't bother checking, I know who did it."
     "Who?" Zoner asked, hoping he didn't know the answer for
once.
     "I did."
     Damn!  Right again.  "Yuri why..."
     "You!  You helped him escape!!  You bitch!!" Kei
screamed as she leapt for Yuri.
     Zoner quickly interposed his body between the two to
prevent any mass destruction which would result from a fight
between them, at severe risk of grievous bodily harm to
himself.  "HOLD IT!  Kei, get a grip.  I want to ask her some
questions before you kill her."
     "Sure, defend her!  You're probably in on this too!" Kei
seethed.  "I was there, I saw him do it, and now I'll make
him pay!"  She turned on her heel and stomped towards the
door.
     "Kei, where are you going?"
     "To pack!  I'm taking the Lovely Angel and hunting that
bastard down!  I never want to see either of you again!"
With that she left the room.
     "Oh Kei..."
     "Yuri, I want to talk to you, now!" Zoner stated, fixing
her with his cold gaze.
     Yuri looked him in the eye, and then lowered her gaze
after seeing the anger there.  "Ok."
     "Our room.  Let's go."  Zoner motioned Yuri ahead of him
and followed her back to their quarters, turning the
situation over in his mind along the way.

     "Ok. You're the one who helped Ben escape?" Zoner asked.
     "Yes," Yuri replied in a small voice.
     Zoner looked at his dataterm briefly.  "You wiped
Schletz's mind?"
     "Yes."
     "Killer?"
     "Yes."
     "Why?"
     "He used killer on me first.  Only my 'deck saved me."
     "So it was self-defense?"
     "Yes."
     "Uh-huh.  You knew about all of my orders concerning
Ben, right?"
     "Yes."
     "And, as one of the highest ranking crewmembers, one who
is supposed to set the example, you chose to break them?"
     Yuri looked dejectedly at the floor before answering.
"Yes."
     "Why?"
     "I don't believe that Ben could do such a thing.  I
helped him get away so he could prove his innocence."
     "Do you have any evidence to support his claim?"
     "No."
     "So you just followed your feelings, despite Kei's
testimony and the video evidence?"
     "Yes."
     "Your judgement is better than the rules the WDF
supposedly follow then?"
     "No."
     "No?  But according to our rules Ben should have stood
trial.  And at that trial he would have had the chance to
defend himself.  I guess the rules don't apply to him then,
do they?"
     "Um... Yes.  I mean... Oh Zoner, why are you doing
this?"
     "Yuri, because of this situation I have lost Ben and
Kei.  You know what trust means to me, and because of his
actions Ben has made himself appear guilty.  Whether he is or
not.  Therefore, I feel my trust in him has been betrayed.
On top of that, because of your actions, I have lost Kei,
another valued friend. But both of those losses pale in
comparison to the third."
     "Which is?"
     "I have lost the one person whom I have loved the most.
Due to your actions I have lost all trust in you, thereby
killing any chance of our relationship continuing.  Without
trust I cannot share my love."  Zoner turned his face away
from her, fighting off the urge to cry out at the world.
     Yuri was shocked.  This was too much for her to take in
one day.  "Zoner... You can't mean that... I love you..."
     "And I loved you.  It hurts me more than you could ever
know to do this.  But I cannot allow myself to be hurt like
this again.  Love is something that I cannot afford to feel.
Never."
     "NO!  Don't do this!  Don't turn me away, not now!  I
need you, I want to stay with you.  We can work it out.
We've been together for centuries, don't do this now."
     "Yuri, you know that I can forgive nearly anything,
except betrayal of trust.  If you had come to me with your
'feelings' I would have seriously considered them.  I too
find it hard to believe that Ben committed the crimes of
which he is accused.  Instead you went behind my back,
disobeyed my orders, and helped him escape.  Thereby
condemning him to an appearance of guilt.  I am truly sorry.
Part of me died when you said the two simple words, `I did'.
Unfortunately, that part was the part of me capable of
feeling love and trust.  If I cannot trust you, I can trust
no one but myself."
     "Oh Zoner..."
     "Farewell, Yuri.  I'll have my kipple removed later.
I'm going to resign my commission as Captain.  I cannot lead
a crew I cannot trust."
     Zoner left the room without looking back, leaving Yuri
alone sobbing on the bed.

     He paused at a comm screen in the passageway.
     "Eve?"
     "I'm here," she responded as the screen sprang to life,
"How can I help you?"
     "I'm leaving.  Please have a droid take everything
that's mine out of my room and pack it in the Daytona's beta
unit.  Prep the Daytona for long duration flight, and make
sure the Garland is loaded as well as a full load of
Cyclones.  Actually, make one of the Cyclones a Battler, one
a Sabre, and... hmm... make the third a Shadow.  Of course
I'll need a set of CVR-7 too."
     "It sounds like you'll be gone for a while."
     "You could say that, I'm not coming back."
     "What?  Why not?"
     "It would take too long to explain, and I really don't
want to talk about it right now anyway. Just please see to
the Daytona.  Oh, and if you could, please transfer the
production designs for the Cyclones, Garland, Daytona, and
associated systems, including weapons, to the onboard
computer.  Oops... Almost forgot... Please transfer all of my
monetary holdings too.  I'll need them, I've got quite a bit
saved up.  It should be enough to get settled down somewhere
and live for quite a while."
     "I don't understand why you want to leave, but I'll do
what you asked.  Will Yuri be going with you?"
     "Definitely not!" Zoner snapped, then added, "Sorry,
Eve, I'm just a bit tense.  Yuri and I are no longer
together.  You can have her explain why if you'd like."
     "I'm sorry to hear that.  If that's all I'll begin
preparations immediately."
     "Yes, do so.  Please."
     "Very well.  Goodbye.  I'll notify you when the
preparations are complete."
     "Thank you.  Oh, and Eve..."
     "Yes?"
     "Please keep this as quiet as possible.  I want to make
the announcement of my departure myself."
     "I'll do my best."
     "Thanks.  I'll miss you, Eve."
     "I shall miss you too, Zoner."
     "Farewell."

     With that he turned and continued on his way.

--------------------------------------------------------FORTY

     "A warning to anyone still in command/Of their possible
future to take care."
                         --Pink Floyd

     Zoner entered the bridge of the Wayward Son for the last
time and took his usual place.  He still wasn't sure how he
was going to break the news to the crew.  They had served
well, beyond all his expectations, and part of him felt as if
he were deserting them.
     He mechanically attended to his duties as he worked on
the problem.  He was still mulling it over when the comm
screen on the arm of his chair beeped.  He keyed up the
message and Eve's face filled the screen.
     "The task you requested of me is complete.  When are you
planning on...," Eve just short of shrugged her shoulders
since she didn't want to say it out loud.
     "Well, no time like the present.  I'll see you in the
hangar bay.  Zoner out."
     As Eve vanished from the screen he addressed the bridge
crew.  "Excuse me, I have something rather important to say."
     Everyone turned to listen.
     "As you all know Gryphon has fled the ship while
awaiting trial for alleged war crimes.  Kei is currently
packing as she plans to track him down..." he paused before
adding, "and kill him.  Before you say anything I would like
to say that I am not going to prevent her from leaving.  They
can settle this on their own.  But that isn't the
announcement I need to make.  I just wanted to make that
clear.  What I need to tell you is that I am resigning my
position..."
     A beep from the tactical console interrupted him.  ReRob
read the display.  "Hangar 13 reports the Lovely Angel has
just departed."
     Zoner continued, "That would be Kei.  As I was saying I
am resigning my commission as Captain and leaving the WDF and
the Son.  I do not feel that I am capable of leading this
crew any further due to personal reasons.  I would also like
to add that Yuri will not be accompanying me when I leave."
That drew a number of murmured comments.
     "The problem at hand is picking a new Captain.  That
will be my last task before I leave...  ReRob?"
     "Yes?"
     "In light of Gryphon's hasty departure you are next in
line for succession.  I want an honest answer.  Do you want
the position as Captain of the Wayward Son?  And if you do,
do you honestly feel that you are prepared for that role?"
     ReRob thought it over for a minute before answering.  "I
do not desire to become Captain.  I feel that I can better
serve this ship and the WDF if I remain in engineering and
R&D.  I'm sorry."
     "Don't be, you do a good job down there and I'd like to
see your work continue.  q?"
     "Like yo."
     "Due to ReRob's deferment you are now next in line for
the position as Captain of the Son.  I ask you the same
questions as I did him."
     q thought it over for an even longer time than Rob and
finally gave his answer.  "I would be, like, honored to serve
as Captain of the Wayward Son.  Like, I'll do my, like, best
to continue the successful career that the WDF has, like, had
so far."
     "Very well.  As my last act as Captain of the WDF vessel
SDF-17 Wayward Son I appoint John Todd, AKA q, to be my
replacement at such time that I resign said position."  Zoner
took a deep breath and paused for a moment before continuing
in a small voice.  "I, Brian David Bikowicz, AKA MegaZone, do
hereby resign my commission as Captain of the WDF vessel
SDF-17 Wayward Son.  I turn over command of said vessel to my
appointed replacement John Todd, AKA q."  Zoner look q in the
eyes, "q, she's all yours.  Take damn good care of her.
She's a good ship, a bitch sometimes, but she'll always give
you her all."
     "Like, I'll do my best."
     "I know you will.  Farewell everyone.  Break the news to
the rest of the crew after I'm gone.  I don't think I could
keep it together long enough to do it myself."  Zoner headed
straight for the door, ignoring their questions.  He wanted
to leave with some dignity and it wouldn't do for them to see
him crying.

     Zoner ran straight to the Daytona from Hell and checked
over the packing job.  Good, everything was in place.  He
strapped in and punched up the coordinates of the nearest
inhabitable planet.  He figured on stopping there until he
could make the decision as to his final destination.  That
did it, he was all set to go.  By all rights he should just
leave...  But he couldn't just yet.  He punched a button on
his dash.
     "Eve?"
     "Yes, I'm here."
     "Please prep the Angels' VT-1FD for long duration warp
flight and send a couple of droids to Yuri's quarters to help
her pack."
     "Will she be joining you after all?"
     "No, but I think she'll be leaving on her own."
     "Very well."
     "Thanks Eve."
     He punched another button.
     "Yuri?"
     "Z-Zoner..."  She was still crying.
     "Yuri please listen to me.  I'm sorry.  I had no right
to be so cold.  But I still can't stay.  I want you to go
find Kei.  Patch things up.  I know that inside she still
loves you."
     "She never wants to see me again," Yuri sobbed.
     "You know that's not true.  That was her anger talking.
Please, for what we once had, don't let her get away too.  I
had Eve prep the VT-1FD for you and a couple of droids should
be there shortly to help you pack."
     "What about you?" Yuri asked hopefully.
     "I'm sorry Yuri, but I'm still leaving.  Maybe someday
I'll have gotten over this.  But until then you need Kei and
Kei needs you.  I have to go now."
     "Where?"
     "I'm not sure yet.  I'll find somewhere to settle."
     "Will I ever see you again?"
     "Hell, it's a small universe.  I'm sure you will."
     "Take care of yourself," she paused, "I love you."
     "You take care too.  Goodbye."  I love you too, he
didn't add.

     Zoner powered up the Daytona from Hell and blasted out
through the open hangar doors.  He made an orbit around the
SDF-17, taking one last look before blasting off into space
and parts unknown.

----------------------------------------------------FORTY-ONE

     "Carry on my wayward son/There'll be peace when you are
done/Lay your weary head to rest/Don't you cry no more"
                         --Kansas

     q took his place in the captain's chair, moderately
bemused by the whole situation, and leaned back.  As soon as
all the craft that were going to leave had left, he gave his
first order:
     "Like get us out of here."
     All hell broke loose.

     The ship shuddered, a deep thundering noise echoing
through her superstructure; the deck heaved a good two feet
under everyone's seats.  Screens exploded, instruments went
dead, alarms howled, the lights turned red.
     "What the fuck?!" q shouted, roused to raising his voice
at last.
     "We've been hit by a phased radiant energy pulse, port
aft quadrant.  Major armor damage, minor damage to the
superstructure," reported Logan at Tactical.  "Trying to get
a fix on the aggressor now."
     "In English?"
     "Someone shot us with a big phaser and dented the ass-
end," Logan replied.
     "That's like what I thought.  Red alert, prep for
combat, all that other shit.  Helm, bring us around
to...face...them...oh my like God."
     The SDF-17 had swung to face her tormentor, and as the
hostile vessel filled the screen, jaws dropped.  There were
gasps.  Several of the WDF's recovering Catholics lapsed into
old habits and crossed themselves.
     Looming outside the viewscreen, a hundred or so
kilometers distant, was a huge slab of battleship-grey metal,
bristling with gun emplacements and unidentifiable things,
its decks sloping down and narrowing to a point at the prow,
the bridge with its twin shield generators jutting above the
rear of the ship.  An Imperial Star Destroyer.  No, check
that--Star Destroyers were roughly the same size as the
SDF-17, and they could have cruised in and out of this ship's
hangar bays.
     With a blip, Largo's sneering face filled the bridge
viewscreen.
     Down in Engineering, ReRob cursed at one of the
subscreens.  Why the fuck wasn't this guy dead?
     "Greetings, Wedge Rats," Largo said with a smile.  "I
suppose you've been wondering why you haven't heard from me
all this time.  Well...I decided finally to come and show
you.  What do you think of my latest project?"
     The screen flipped back to transparency.  The enormous
ship loomed before them.  "I call it the Executioner."
     "We are like seriously fucked," q muttered.
"Operations.  Plot fold.  Prepare to like retreat."
     Phantom at Ops punched a few keys, looked quizzically at
his panel, tried it again, then slammed a fist down on the
panel.  "Dammit!"
     "Oh, by the way," Largo said, "my agent who was aboard
your vessel earlier was kind enough to disable your fold
drive."
     Down in Engineering, ReRob looked at his status panel,
noted nothing wrong, and, snarling, began to trace.
     "Goodbye, Rats," Largo said, and disappeared.
     The Executioner opened fire.
     The Wayward Son began to shiver and buck as her armor
absorbed firepower that could have devastated star systems.
     "This is not good," Logan shouted over the din.  "We're
not handling this pounding at all.  Returning fire with
conventional weaponry is having no effect."
     "Like fire the Reflex cannon!" q shouted.  "Do
something!!"
     Logan overrode the targeting safeguards--at this range
he couldn't miss--dropped the crosshair and fired.  The bow
split, the lightshow flared, and the beam leapt forth, just
as always.
     And disappeared, three hundred meters from the
Executioner's hull.
     "What the fuck?!"
     "Ooh," said Largo over the com.  "Someone in whatever
parallel dimension my ship's phase shields exit to is in a
very bad mood now."
     "Where the hell did he get phase shield technology?"
ReRob growled from inside the fold panel.
     The Executioner had no main gun per se; ten or so very
large phaser arrays seemed to take up that function.  They
and the huge vessel's subweapons hammered at the SDF-17,
shattering her armor and ripping huge chunks out of her
superstructure.
     "Daedalus, Prometheus, this is the captain," q said into
his intercom, shouting over the noise.  "Detach and retreat
at maximum warp.  Like get out of here, that's an order!"
     Surprisingly enough, no one argued.  Perry Aldzinjal was
a good soldier; he knew his first duty was to survive, not to
make heroic stands.  His men on Prometheus had been trained
the same.  The two smaller ships detached and began making
top speed away from the battle; they were ignored.  The
Executioner was after only one thing.
     One of the Executioner's main batteries struck home near
the engine room, blasting out an enormous section of torn
armor, several important power conduits, and half the master
computer core.
     The Wayward Son screamed silently and began to die.
     The screens all over the ship blanked; computers shut
down and things went momentarily silent.  Then, with a soft
beep, the EVE symbol appeared on every screen aboard, along
with the flashing legend "FINAL PROTECTION MODE".  She began
to sing, softly, mournfully, as the ship that was her home
began to die, and she with it.
     Explosions wracked the more vulnerable areas, ripping
through fighter bays and Destroid decks with fury and
violence, blowing energy converters and engine subassemblies
to pieces.  The few surviving fightercraft scattered.
All remaining personnel, heeding their Final Protection Mode
training, ran for the Wedge.  After the programmed ten-minute
delay, the doors slammed down.  Explosive bolts banged and
armor plating fell aside like dead skin from a sunburn; the
Wedge catapulted free from its bay, leaving another gaping
wound in the Wayward Son's tortured hide.
     The Executioner, and GENOM Corporation, had won.
     The SDF-17 was deserted.  All over the ship, red alert
lights flashed in empty corridors, where once people had run
and worked and, laughed and loved, hated and feared, lived
and died.  Silence, but for Eve's singing and the muffled din
of outside combat, descended like a heavy weight, and already
the air of disuse and desertion spread across the ship.
     Except...
     Edison Bell emerged from the turbolift four seconds too
late; the Wedge departed and he was left behind on a dying
ship.  He knew there were no more functioning escape pods;
all that had not been used were destroyed.  The fighter bays
were gone.  He had no way out, no escape.  He was doomed.
     So be it, then.  He turned and ran for the bridge.
Largo had won, but that didn't mean he had to get away with
it.  Running into the bridge, he took his seat behind the
helm and began entering commands with swift precision.
     Master power conduits were damaged or destroyed, but
creative rerouting of several minor conduits through the
Crusher switchyard gave him operational power again, for as
long as the Reflex furnace kept burning.
     On the Wedge, the remaining crew of the SDF-17 watched
their dying ship as it heeled to port and foundered in space,
explosion after explosion ripping through its infrastructure
and blowing out through its hull.  Largo's Executioner
cruised imperiously past the dying ship, ignoring it utterly,
not even granting a valiant but defeated foe respect in
death.
     Their mistake.  The thrusters at the rear of the ship
flared.  The Pinpoint Barriers glowed into flickering,
hesitant life once more, manifesting across the bow.  At
first those on the Wedge mistook the action for the ship's
final death throes, but then the Wayward Son began to move.
To move, to turn, and to, haltingly, gather speed.  Until
there was no doubt in anyone's mind what was about to happen.
     The bent and battered prow of the Wayward Son touched
the dull, transparent, bluish glow of the Executioner's phase
shields; they reacted with the pinpoint barriers in a
fizzling, sparking light show, melting the ends of the main
gun's focusing arms; the phase shielding rippled back like an
oil slick from a drop of glycerine, avoiding contact, giving
the dying SDF-17 a doorway.
     Then the prow rams slammed into Executioner's armored
hull just aft of the bridge, ripping through the plating and
tearing apart huge sections of systems and circuitry.
Behind, the SDF-17's still-mighty thrusters drove her forward
in her death plunge--but they could not maintain forward
velocity through all that.  The ship stopped with just the
last rear quarter protruding from the Executioner's flank.
     Edison smiled as he watched the GENOM crew attacking the
huge invader futilely.  What could they do to a dying ship?
He moved to the Tactical position.  As Eve's song continued,
the electric guitar filling his mind, he overrode the
targeting computer, safety systems, power limiters, and
design cutout interlocks--and fired the entire failing Reflex
furnace through the main gun.
     The prow cammed apart one final time, and the charging
light show sizzled and tore at the surrounding wreckage,
casting those peculiarly sharp shadows unique to displays of
pure, raw power.
     Back on the Wedge, q, truss, et al. looked with horror
at the SDF-17's stern protruding from the Executioner.
"What's he going to--" truss began.
     "Goodbye," Edison said, and pulled the trigger.

     The beam emerged from the other side of the
Executioner's engine room, poorly focused, to burn through
Musashi's upper ionosphere, skip off the denser layers below,
and blow a chunk out of the planet's primary satellite.
     The two ships separated, plunging through Musashi's
atmosphere; Executioner with a huge hole blown through her
engines, leaking fuel, poisoning the atmosphere, and SDF-17
with most of her front half disintegrated and the rest,
battered and dying already, smashed by backblast.
     The twisted wreckage of the Executioner, her back
broken, slammed to ground directly in the center of Musashi
City, and then her shattered engines went up.  A toxic
nuclear-chemical fireball claimed most of Musashi's western
hemisphere and poisoned most of the remaining planet.
     SDF-17, WDF Wayward Son, crashed into the desert two
thousand miles distant, landing on her keel and settling,
slowly cooling, into the dust.  Her back remained unbroken.
     For Edison Bell, everything went white as he felt the
ship shudder in her death throes under him, saw the blue beam
lash out once more to strike Executioner a mortal blow.  For
the barest instant he was aware of the hiss of escaping air
and the interesting sensation of his flesh being ripped from
his bones; then there was nothing.
     Shortly, the whiteness resolved itself into a room,
about ten feet square, with no entrance or exit.  He glanced
down; he was still dressed in the clothes he had met his
death in.  He was quite aware that he was dead; he had been
there before.  He knew full well what it looked like.  And he
knew what came next.
     A door opened in the far wall of the room, and a pale
woman in black stepped into the room.
     "Hallo, Teleute," said Edison mildly, hands in pockets,
looking entirely unperturbed.
     "Bell," said Death.  Her mouth quirked in a little grin.
"Finally got yourself killed, eh?"
     "That I did, that I did," Bell replied airily.  "Damn
shame too...I fear that young fellow Gryphon may never get
out of his jam now, without my help.  He was framed, you
know."
     "I know," Teleute replied.  "I have... an interest in
the Wedge Rats.  I've been watching them."
     "Oh, that's right, I forgot.  The all-seeing Endless."
He sighed, then looked with interest at Death's feet.  "Your
shoe's untied."
     "Give it a break, Bell.  Better things than you have
tried."
     "Yes, but none have succeeded."  Edison grinned.  "You
can't hold me.  Some may rush gallantly--or stupidly--into
your open arms, but not Edison Bell!  Today is not my day to
die."
     "Too late.  Come on, I'm a very busy woman--I don't have
time for your shenanigans."
     "I'm afraid I'm not budging.  I've far too much to do to
die now.  Already I may have been delayed too long."  His
smile vanished; his steel-grey eyes narrowed.  "Don't try to
stop me, Teleute."
     "I have to," Death replied.  "'S my job."
     The door opened again, this time to the left of Bell
(and, consequently, Death's right), and a large man in a grey
cassock entered, bearing a large leather-bound book.  "I'm
afraid he's right," the man said.  Bell's eyebrow crooked; he
knew the voice, although he had never met this particular
Endless before.
     "Oh, Christ, Destiny, what is it?"
     Bell's eyes widened.  Destiny had left the door open.
This was his big chance...he started edging toward the door.
     "Look here," said Destiny, opening his book and
pointing.  "He isn't supposed to die today."
     "Are you sure this isn't some kind of typo?"
     Destiny shoved back his hood to reveal the face of
Vaughn Clark "Reality" Gross--and he looked annoyed.  "I
don't make typos."
     Bell paused, stunned, at the doorway, at the sight of
Destiny's face, but then remembered all that was at stake and
stepped through.
     "Well, look, this is ridiculous.  Edison--Edison?  Oh
hell--where'd he go?!"

     Edison Bell was mildly annoyed to find everything gone
all white again.
     He looked at his watch.
     It was half-past infinity.
     He closed his eyes.

-----------------------------------------------------EPILOGUE

     "We are young/Wandering the face of the Earth/Wondering
what our dreams might be worth/Learning that we're only
immortal for a limited time."
                         --Rush

                       UTOPIA PLANITIA

     Lord Wolfgang Amadeus Fahrvergnugen sat slumped in his
great black chair, looking blankly at the screen of his
deskcomp as it mutely and unsympathetically reported the
death of his great dream.  It was so hard to believe.  His
children, not only defeated but utterly routed, slaughtered,
the few survivors scattered across the Universe.  Gryphon, a
madman, killer of children.  MegaZone, abandoning his offices
and his duty to go off and sulk like a child.  Kei and Yuri
divided by lines of hate and pain.  ReRob, scarred and
tormented, his only comfort Deedlit.  How had this happened?
     The door hissed open.  This, Fahrvergnugen knew without
turning, would be Decker, disregarding his lordship's orders
to be left alone with some sage comment or suggestion which
would turn the tide, but for which he would later refuse all
credit.  Fahrvergnugen turned around to greet his trusted
assistant--
     --and found himself looking squarely down the barrel of
an M-5 plasma rifle.  His vision planed away up the barrel,
parallax twisting the figure at the end, but Fahrvergnugen
recognized him nonetheless.
     Decker.
     "Decker!" Fahrvergnugen roared.  "What in hell is this!"
     "What does it look like, m'lord?" Decker sneered.  "This
is an assassination.  After all, my masters have defeated
your little toy army--it wouldn't do to have you building it
again.  With your death, we close the circle."
     "Your masters--GENOM?"
     "On this level, yes."
     "`On this level'..." Fahrvergnugen murmured, thinking.
Suddenly his eyes flew wide with comprehension.  "Of course!"
he shouted, leaping to his feet despite Decker's armed and
dangerous presence.  "How could I have been so blind!  Of
course!"
     "Clever, aren't you, Wolfgang?  Pity your knowledge came
too late.  Your tin-plated starship and its crew of
miscreants and degenerate weirdos has been destroyed!  Your
time is past!  The future belongs to my masters!"
     Fahrvergnugen's face twisted in rage, and he charged at
Decker, his left hand grasping the haft of his bastard sword
and hauling it from its scabbard.  Decker stepped back,
startled by his lord's roaring charge, and fired.
     His aim was spoiled by his surprise and the beginnings
of a very real fear; the plasma bolt took Fahrvergnugen low
in the right side, shattering armor plate and spraying the
room with blood.  Fahrvergnugen's sword hissed around in a
whistling chop, severing Decker's head; it bounced into the
corner of the office as the corpse clattered to the deck in
the doorway.
     Fahrvergnugen stood for a few minutes, fighting for
control, before sheathing his blade and taking stock of his
wound.  Deep, painful, but not mortal--not to one of
Fahrvergnugen's constitution.  He picked up the plasma rifle,
slung it over his shoulder, and keyed the door.
     Lord Fahrvergnugen paused in the doorway to look back at
his office and the death of his dream one last time; then he
turned, muttering, "Celine must be told," and was gone.

     In Kent, England, 1865, a child was born, the second of
two, to the Holmes family.  The elder brother, Mycroft, a
somewhat slothful but undoubtably brilliant lad, was
delighted with his younger sibling, who was every bit as
brilliant as he, and with many times the energy.
     The boy grew to a man, tall and gaunt, with slick black
hair and a hawk nose, and piercing, incisive, steel-grey
eyes.  He took up lodgings in Baker Street in London and
began a successful business as a consulting detective, and
soon his name was famed throughout the world, through the
efforts of his friend, a doctor, and the doctor's literary
agent, A. Conan Doyle.
     Before all that fame business happened, though, on the
tall, gaunt, black-haired detective's twenty-first birthday,
Edison Bell opened his eyes, sat up, looked in the shaving
mirror, blinked at the hawk-nosed face he saw there, reached
into his pocket, pulled out his grid pass, checked the
coordinates reading on it, and cursed.
     "Damn!" he cried.  "I'm in the wrong universe!"

Ok, so now that you've read this weirdness and you're totally
lost you'd like some answers.  Well, we're not going to tell
you everything, since a lot was explained in the original
Undocumented Features, and in The Long Road (aka UF2) which
are available on the Internet via FTP.  The address is
130.215.24.1 (wpi.wpi.edu) cd /anime/FanFiction.  Set binary
on and get dp.undocument.1.Z and dp.undocument.2.Z; have fun.
(Plug plug plug, huge shameless plug)  megazone@wpi.wpi.edu
can answer any questions, or at least try to.  However, there
are a few new things, and the authors wanted to spew randomly
about some unimportant stuff.  And this glossary is the
result.

Redundancy: See recursion.

The Mann Systems Series 1001E BioSculptTM is the result of
many generations in the evolution of the 101-E Bio-SculptTM
tank.  See the glossary from UF2.

Swimming: Has nothing to do with water.  It comes from Erik
A. Swimm's last name.  See, last year, when we started
writing this atrocity, we used to throw knives at a cardboard
box on our Fold-O-Couch-O-Death MkII (see the UF2 glossary).
Well, other than putting LOTS of holes in the mattress, Erik
had a good record of getting the knives to stick.  Handle
first of course.  So hitting someone with the wrong end of a
thrown/airborne object became Swimming it.

Recursion: see redundancy.

Roboteching: 1. Taken from the TV kludge Robotech.  (I like
it ok? -Zoner)  The extremely picturesque, and rather silly,
way missiles seem to fly away from the target on random
paths, only to converge on it at the last second.  2. The
practice of taking material created by others and kludging it
into your story line.

Saab 900 Turbo: Speedbump.

This writing is the product of Benjamin D. Hutchins, Brian D.
Bikowicz, Rob Mandeville, the Editorial College (peanut
gallery), .gif files, text, lack of sleep, STRESS, angst,
caffeine, sugar, incredibly green pie, remarkably hot chili,
AT&T, the US Postal Service, the Big Duck, lots of music once
again, and yes, despite all the darkness, love.

Published 3 September 1992 at Eyrie Publishing,
NotEvenCloseToInc., 14 Dover Street #2B, Worcester, MA 01609.

For everyone: thanks again.

Benjamin D. Hutchins
Brian D. Bikowicz
Rob Mandeville

-------------------------------------------------------------
  Natural Progressions to be Found in the English Language:
        cat...................................catapult
I-NET: gryphon@world.std.com         BELLNET: (508)755-4675
SNAILNET: 14 Dover St. #2B, Worcester, MA  01609 USA
-------------------------------------------------------------

#############################################################
#I have one prejudice, and that is against stupidity. Think!#
#megazone@wpi.wpi.edu  Moderator for FTP 130.215.24.1 /anime#
#############################################################

--
REMANDE: Rob Mandeville -- just ask for ReRob
remande@wpi.wpi.edu  WPI Box 2906 "Worcester Insane Asylum!"
     I'm an AI trapped in a man's body.
