�It�s not like I haven�t been there before,� Jasper said dryly. Suddenly, his eyes brightened. �Hey, Chang-san? Do you think there�s a chance that another door to this room would be open?�
�Um, maybe,� Jian-wa answered uncertainly. �If there are other doors.�
�There are.� Jasper was suddenly very positive, and Jian-wa had to wonder if Jasper had been here before. He started down the hall. �Now if we could just find our way to the north wing�.�
�Maybe we could ask someone,� Jian-wa suggested.
Just then, as if he had magically conjured her up, Haruka walked past the end of this hall. Backed up. Narrowed her eyes at them. �Hey, what are you doing down there?!� she demanded.
And suddenly from behind them, the door to the computer room opened. �Come on in,� said a triumphant Mi-chan. Then her eyes hit Haruka. �Haruka-san!�
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Haruka followed the trio into the palace�s massive computer room, still unsure of what was going on. When she had first seen Jian-wa and Jasper she had been certain that the two ex-villains had been up to no good. However, Mi-chan had assured her that was not the case.
�Okay, Michiru-chan, what�s going on?� Haruka refused to sit in the oversized desk chair Jian-wa offered to her. She had never totally come to trusting that boy. And Jasper� he was never going to gain her forgiveness.
�Alright.� Mi-chan took a deep breath. �The truth is we�re trying to find Neko. She�s been kidnapped.�
�Nani?!� Haruka almost couldn�t believe that what Mi-chan said was true. Though, really, she had almost come to expect such things for any big event the Senshi had. Still, this was too much to hear. �But then we�ll have to stop the wedding right away! Start searching for her! Someone will have to tell Tenshi!�
�It�s not that simple.� Haruka was surprised to notice that Mi-chan looked quite exhausted. Not defeated in any way, but almost as if she was trying to hold everything together and was slowly being drained by it. �Neko made me promise not to let Tenshiko know. She wants Tenshiko�s wedding day to go perfectly. I�m only telling you this because I know you can honor her request.�
Still on edge, Haruka pointed out, �There�s only half an hour before the ceremony. And that�s only because it�s been postponed�. Are you responsible for that?� Mi-chan nodded, which at least cleared up that. �The point is: do you really think you�ll be able to find her before then?�
The guys exchanged a look, probably just now realizing how futile it almost certainly was. But Mi-chan�s response was more hopeful.
�Can you help us?�
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jasper watched as Haruka sped them past the security features he would have taken hours to get through.
�What are we looking for?� Haruka asked. She still seemed snappish, though she didn�t quite look like she was about to kill him given the slightest provocation like she did before.
�Neko-chan�s somewhere to the northwest from here. We need a map and, hopefully, some more clues.�
Jasper was instantly sorry he spoke up. The daggers her eyes sent him made Mi-chan�s everyday ones look tame. Obviously, she hadn�t gotten over the fact that he was involved in the separate kidnappings of both of her daughters. He couldn�t really blame her, but her attitude was detracting from the focus on the search for Neko.
�Well, here�s a map of the area.� Haruka moved aside so Mi-chan could view it.
�Can you orient it so that north is actually facing north?� Mi-chan requested. �I�m not sure what the exact direction I�m sensing Neko in is, and this map orientation doesn�t help.�
�Oh, that�s what you�re doing. Well, I can�t really tell the map to turn so that it accurately represents the directions, but I think we have something that can help.�
Haruka crossed the room and started searching through the cabinets mounted above another of the room�s computer consoles. As she did so, Jasper took a moment to examine the map.
He could see Mi-chan�s problem instantly. The palace was at the center of the map, but though he was certain that they currently faced neither the front nor the back and were far from the center of the palace, the map was oriented so the top was the land seen from the front entrance and the bottom the land from the back. They were facing entirely the wrong way for Mi-chan to draw a line in the direction she sensed Neko.
He was a little surprised at how detailed and yet clear the map was. He used many maps in the field, but when he was near Eryx�s capital, maps would either be cluttered with information or miss crucial details altogether. The clarity of this map had to be due to the lack of development on the moon. There were quite a few important buildings, naturally, and lots of terrascaping from the moon�s original barren landscape to its current lush state, but not many people lived in the vicinity of the palace, nor was there an abundance of businesses, though there were quite a few hotels (a godsend for big events at the palace, he suspected). The good news was that if Mi-chan could point them in the right direction, especially if she could give a general range of how far out Neko�d be, they would be able to find her relatively easily� in theory, at least. The hope now was that Mi-chan�s connection to Neko was still strong enough to provide that information.
�Have you ever heard of personal space?� Mi-chan hissed at him. Suddenly, he realized that he had stepped right up to her side without noticing in his examination of the map.
�Whatever,� he sighed, stepping aside, just as Haruka returned with what he recognized as a couple of GPS units.
�Makoto-sama asked that we install some GPS stuff when she was examining the newly grown flora on this rock. If you point it in the direction that you sense Neko-chan, you should be able to get some sort of bearing on the map. Or something like that.� She shrugged as Mi-chan ran over and took a unit from her. �I�ve never actually used them,� she admitted.
�I have,� Jasper volunteered.
Both Mi-chan and Haruka seemed to ignore him. He watched as Mi-chan studied the equipment on her way back to the main computer. If he wasn�t so frustrated he might have found some delight in the void of comprehension that flooded her face as she looked at it.
