Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Suna ❯ Suna ( Chapter 1 )

[ A - All Readers ]

Prelude:

The Earth was mostly in shadow, with only a thin crescent betraying its
existence against a sea of stars. The rest was a featureless black
void--a place where the stars stopped. The rim of the planet glowed blue
where the atmosphere met the growing dawn. Over the days, as the
terminator slowly traveled across the globe, bringing the world into
daylight, the great expanses of blackness were slowly erased,
eliminating the glaring signs that civilization here had ceased to be.

***

Suna looked pensively through the square of glass above her bed. She was
still too young to grasp a number as grand as a million, but she
knew there had been people there once, living on the half-lit orb
outside the window. Many people. And now there were none. Not even a
trace of the grand civilization of Earth remained. Suna was three,
living in the place of her birth, the moon, when they disappeared.
Now, a few years later, she still trembled sometimes, gazing at the
former home of humanity. She had grown up in a world which was subdued.
Losing Earth gouged out the heart of the people, and she found the adults
to be so solemn, so sad.

She had wanted, more than anything, for there to be an Earth again, with
lots of kids just like her to play with. She had seen pictures. She knew
they had been there. And Earth was so pretty. But no one wanted to talk to
her about it. They were too busy thinking their depressed thoughts, mourning
loved ones who were irrevocably erased from the universe. Eventually, she'd
just come to think of Earth has a dead place, a planet-sized mausoleum. She
pictured herself walking along a barren plain, the air deathly quiet, with
no one around to talk to or play with. The image sometimes haunted her in
her sleep.

Suna dangled her legs over the bed and hopped to the floor. She was a tall
girl for her age. Her mother had clucked more than once about the cost of
clothing for her daughter. The problem was exacerbated by Suna's unusually
keen taste in clothes, even at 6. She'd won the argument long ago with her
mother, who had not put up a fight, as to what sort of clothes she'd be
wearing. Suna dug through her dresser drawer and pulled out a dark red
dress which pleasantly off-set her green tresses. She slipped into the
garment and bounded happily across the floor, relishing the light gravity
which gave wings to her feet.

***

Tiluri was there, of course. He was always there in the sandbox behind the
big tree making his constructions. He greeted Suna with a wide grin.

"Hey, Suna. Wanna help me?"

What Tiluri wanted help with was obvious. A giant, spidery tower of muddy
sand had been erected in front of a very dirty Tiluri. His unruly brown
hair was speckled with sand, and his bright blue eyes twinkled happily.
He did this almost every day--each time trying to outdo the last. In the
moon's light gravity, architecture that would collapse even on Mars stayed
improbably whole. Their height was only limited by the reach of Tiluri's
nimble fingers.

Suna looked scornfully at the boy, "Mom says I shouldn't play in the sand
when I got my nice dress on."

"Aw, c'mon. You can do the windows and stuff. You don't even hafta sit
down." The tower was some four feet tall.

"I don't know, 'Luri..." but the protest was half-hearted. Sure there
were other kids to play with. They chased each other around playing tag or
some other stupid game, running with great Lunar bounds under the
transparent dome. The fact was, she came down to be with Tiluri. Unlike
most of the other kids, he was smart. Really smart. He always came up with
the neatest things. The first day she'd met him, a year before, he'd been
pacing off intervals on a stretch of flat land, placing differently sized
rocks at ever growing intervals. He explained that he was making the solar
system. She'd never heard of a solar system. She knew about the Earth,
which was many miles away, and had heard grownups speak about other
mysterious places like Venus and Jupiter, but the idea that there were
lots of planets, just like Earth, all circling the sun in order had an
elegance which appealed to her. It was then that she vowed to see them
all some day. Luri and she had shared a bond ever since.

"Oh, okay," she said at last. Throwing caution to the wind, she set to
work on the lower part of the tower, making a large hollow in the base.
Her fingers deftly smoothed the sand into a tall arch. She carved the
remaining sand into a series of pillars.

"Hey, that looks like Beris Hall. That looks really good." Tiluri's voice
then took the deeper tone he usually acquired when waxing pedantic,
"Actually, I read a book which showed old Earth buildings. They're all
short and thick, and dopey looking. But it's because they weigh more
there. But now, they can build buildings just like this because the
con-struc-tion is better."

She'd heard him say that before, "Yeah, but there aren't any Earthies any
more."

"Sure there are!" he said smiling.

Suna looked up reproachfully at him. "Nuh uh! They are all gone. They all
got eaten by the monsters."

Tiluri didn't lose his smile, "But the monsters are gone, and my uncle says
that we're going to go back. Start new cities and stuff."

"I don't think I'd want to go back. It's all empty, and the monsters might
come back."

"They're not coming back. We beat 'em good. And maybe they left some
cities alone. Maybe there are still people down there." That was a hope no
grown-up would express. They all knew it was hopeless. Humanity had been
eliminated to a man. "I don't want to go there," he continued, "because I'd
be heavy and stuff. I want to go out to Pluto."

"Yeah, me too. Hey! Let's build a spaceship and go there."

"Okay!" Tiluri stared at his tower for a moment, memorizing its lines, and
then he pushed the whole thing down towards Suna, causing it to break
halfway down, showering Suna in dirt.

"Hey!" she sputtered, hands frantically brushing at her dress. "Mommy's
gonna kill me!"

Tiluri was laughing too hard to respond coherently, and Suna had to laugh
too. Tiluri was so funny. They both started reforming the toppled mountain
of sand into a new shape. Suna worked on the spaceship proper, a teardrop
shaped vessel. She drew lines across it to signify the different rooms--the
living room, the bath room, the bridge, the playroom, etc. Tiluri made the
other part of the ship, the one thing that unmistakingly conveyed the image
of space vessel--a huge sail. He obviously couldn't build the whole disc,
but he crafted a thin hemisphere next to the front of the sandy hull. For
artistic effect, he drew a grid of lines across it with a twig.

They stood back, and Tiluri took Suna's hand. "That's our ship, Suna.
We're gonna fly to Pluto."

Suna looked up through the clear ceiling and gazed at the stars. "Which
one's Pluto?"

"I don't think you can see it, because it's real small. But when you get
out there and look back, the sun will be so tiny."

"Are there people on Pluto?" Suna asked.

"My Dad says there isn't, but maybe there are aliens living there."

"Wouldn't it be too cold?"

"They probably have giant ice monsters living there. Hey! And they
probably go real slow, like this." Tiluri launched into a stilt-legged,
shambling impression of an ambulatory ice cube. He staggered after Suna,
who ran, giggling, to hide behind a tree.

Her mom gave her hell, as expected, upon seeing the condition of her dress,
but Suna didn't care. She was going to Pluto.

***

Ice spawn:

The dream was similar to many of her others in that it involved the Time
Gate. It was also similar in that it had that solid, familiar feeling of
events which had already passed. When the feeling of certainty was as
strong as this, oft times the events of her dreams were played out with
uncanny similarity in her waking time, some time in the future. Suna had
come to accept it as a fact of life, these prophetic dreams which had begun
simultaneously with her transition to womanhood.

In this dream, she opened the Door, inlaid with a rendering of the Earth
in all of its phases. She stepped through into light blue mist. But
instead of the featureless plain she had come to expect, the Timeless Area
had become ordered. Shadowy columns flanked a dimly perceived floor of
black marble. And she felt, with that peculiar certainty that comes in
dreams that there was now a destination. This formless void had become a
corridor of some kind, going somewhere.

She stepped lightly, hearing her footsteps echo hollowly in the shadowy
chamber. Far ahead of her, she could see the corridor had an end. She ran,
yearning to see what could change the topography of time itself so
dramatically. The structure resolved it self as she drew near. Another
door! Suna stopped and stared at this oddity with wide eyes. Someone had
built another door. In the Timeless Area!

Suna rubbed her delicate fingers together as she pondered. It was not
supposed to be possible to pierce the borders of this land of formless time
from within. It was rumored that some with a special talent could modify
the course of time within it, and the wise men were always trying to
transfer that capability to the real world. But once in the Area, there was
no way out, save the way you came in. But someone had built a door.

Suddenly, it dawned upon her. Clearly, this door had not been built here.
Someone, somewhen, had built a Time Gate of their own and bridged their time
with the Area. Fear ran through her with an icy fire. Perhaps they were
coming again! Having been defeated on their own ground, the aliens were now
trying more subtle ways of invasion.

She stared at the door, trying to make sense of it. Abruptly, the scene
disappeared, and she was staring at the ceiling of her bedroom on the moon.
The dream had ended. For most, a dream withers in the light of day, but
hers were remembered with perfect clarity. This was a most intriguing
revelation.

***

The day the Senshi returned was still sharp in Suna's mind--probably her
earliest memory. She saw them on the streets below, ticker-tape and magical
flashes of light celebrating their bravery. It wasn't until later that she
truly appreciated what they'd done for her, her family, her world.

The war had begun twelve years before, completely unheralded, and it was
completely one-sided. Vast tracts of human settled lands were deleted from
the face of the Earth, leaving naught but memories. The Moon Kingdom and
the rest of the settled planets watched with horror as the cities and people
of their homeworld disappeared in an almost random fashion. Orbiting cities
of crystal and steel vanished overnight.

Within a few days, the cause of the destruction was found. Black ships,
almost invisible against the black sky, floating effortlessly above the
Earth, projected some sort of beam which caused their targets to not just
be destroyed, but for every trace of them to vanish. At first, metropolises
were targeted. Later, wide tracts of populated land were cleared. The
defenses of Earth tried vainly to protect the planet, but found the alien
vessels to be infinitely agile. One moment, a team of defenders and
Earthships would be converging on the position of an alien. The next, the
alien would disappear, as if it knew exactly when and where the humans would
strike.

It took two weeks before the scientists who were left on Earth, and those
working tirelessly on the Moon, decoded the riddle of the aliens.
Expeditions had already been conducted into Overspace, a strange realm of
half-light and quirky time currents. It was clear that this region of space
had a closer affinity to the fabric of space-time than our real space.
Time passed much more slowly in this astral realm than on the planets of
human ken. Just before he and his lab were eradicated, a brilliant man
communicated his findings to the Moon.

The aliens had some mastery of the force of time. They could erase objects
from temporal existence, removing all evidence of their existence save for
that which lay in the minds which had witnessed them. They could tell when
human ships would be somewhere, and the black vessels traveled
instantaneously. They were unbeatable in normal space. The only way to
defeat them would be to fight them on their own ground.

An outpost of Lunar men and women was set up in Overspace. Keys were
manufactured for rapid transit between this dimension and real space.
Construction on the Time Gate began in haste. A scant quarter of a million
miles from the Moon Kingdom, the Earth was systematically cleansed of its
inhabitants. Its orbital space was swept clean of any vessel which could
transport them off planet. Terra was doomed, and Luna looked as if it was
to be the next target.

The gate was completed, even as the last remnants of the human race on
Earth were slaughtered. The menacing, black vessels turned their attention to the
moon, teleporting into position over it. Horrified citizens of the Moon
Kingdom stared wide-eyed through their glowing city-domes at the unseen, but
ever present enemy.

On the other side of the gate, time had been laid bare. The very dimension
of time, from the infinite future to the far past stretched eternally from
the site of the door. It was here that the humans expected to find the true
manifestation of their enemies. And to fight them in such an alien place,
they needed the finest warriors.

For centuries, there had been eight Senshi, incredibly powerful young women,
with tremendous natural powers augmented by artifacts of almost magical
prowess. Each represented a celestial body and had the nominal duty to
protect that planet. As the years went by, their roles changed somewhat to
suit the practical needs of humanity. Earth had its own defenses, the Moon
Kingdom was defended by the Inner Senshi, those which represented Jupiter,
Mars, Venus, and Mercury, while the other colonies were defended by the
Outer Senshi: Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn.

Chosen for their resilience and abilities, the Senshi were the strongest
soldiers the Moon could field.

The four Inner Senshi teleported to Overspace, grimly accepting their fate.
Through the door they went, to do battle with the aliens.

The aliens hadn't had a chance.

Lumbering around, the great grey slugs moved ponderously--vulnerable as
turtles turned upside down. Each beast which the Senshi destroyed caused a
shadowy ship to disappear from real space. The Lunar people watched
anxiously as their sky was cleansed of the menace. One by one, the grey
aliens faded into mist as bolts of fire, thunder, water, and light tore into
their bodies, cleaving them in the weird half-light of the Timeless Area.
In short order, there were none left. The magical women serving as Senshi
had saved what remained of their race. They returned to the Moon, where the
celebration was jubilant, but subdued. Nine tenths of humanity was gone.

***

Suna eyed the garnet with acute scrutiny for perhaps the thousandth time.
It was fist sized and the symbol of her new rank, but she was baffled as to
how it actually did what it did. Unfortunately, unlike the other Senshi,
Suna had no predecessor to learn from. Every other Sailor Soldier ascended
to their position as a replacement for the previous Senshi. They were a
link in the never-ending chain dedicated to the preservation of humanity.
But Pluto was the newest outpost of mankind having been settled only eight
years before--when Suna was seven. And she was its first Senshi at the ripe
age of fifteen.

So they'd given her this red orb, only usable by a select, special few. It
was pretty to look at, and it seemed to possess a great power, but all she
had been told was that it would focus her power and direct it at a foe. No
one could tell exactly how, as it depended on the wielder--and no one had
ever wielded it. She had no real instruction, no training. *This is not the
way Sailor Neptune would have started the job* Suna sighed and flopped on
her bunk. Her body rested lightly upon her bed as she weighed very little.
The ship's minute acceleration merely suggested that objects fall to the
deck, rather than outright commanding them to. The sensation reminded her
of the moon's light tug, bidding her to stay in her place of birth.

*I miss everybody. Jue, Yoria... 'Luri* She smiled thinking of that silly
boy in a Midshipman's uniform. It just didn't fit. *They'll be okay without
me, though. Yoria's got her red planet, Jue's looking at microbes, and
'Luri's sailing the planets. Mom's remarried* She turned her head to look
at the nearby monitor, straining to see her destination. *And I'm going to
Pluto*


***


Suna remembered her trip to Overspace, just before her thirteenth birthday.
Her mother, a tall, quietly beautiful woman, had held aloft a little silver
key. Energies surrounded them and whisked them to this odd place called
Overspace. As the half-lit landscape formed resolved itself around her, a
strange feeling of comfort washed over Suna, who smiled at her mom. Her
mother, whose name was Delia, smiled in return, replacing her earlier
expression of concern. The little girl had an intense, sudden desire to
explore. The pale mists called to her with an aching sense of sympathy.
The crystal building and the Time Gate lay just a few hundred feet away,
the only solid landmarks on an ever changing vista. Suna looked up and
stared at a full color rendition of the Earth, surrounded by whorls of
light. She squeaked with delight as the planet slowly faded and was
replaced by a dark double world, unfamiliar but strangely compelling.
Her footsteps were swallowed in the odd mist which swirled below, yet the
voices of her mother and herself seemed to echo unnaturally.

Although this was Suna's first visit, her mother had come here many times
before, conducting research. Nothing was constant in Overspace save what
people brought here--and even that wasn't certain. But what fascinated
Delia were the apparitions which came and went. Often, they were meaningless
geometric shapes or vague mounds. Sometimes, however, they were ghostly
models of actual structures, some recognizable. They had proven somewhat
elusive to the recorder, but she'd hoped to draw a correlation between the
apparitions and the flow of time in Overspace.

The gate was just as Suna had dreamed it a few weeks before. It seemed to
tower above her, despite her height, and the malleable landscape was showing
the exact images she'd been shown in her sleep. To her right was a misty
rendition of the inside of some crater, its walls jutting towards the sky.
To her left was a giant set of swings, hundreds of feet tall. They were all
spectres, but they were familiar ones. This was exactly as she had dreamed
it.

"Can I touch it?" Suna asked of her gray-suited companion.

Carle, one of three soldiers stationed in this ethereal outpost nodded
easily. "It's perfectly safe."

Suna's heart pounded in her chest. Until now, she'd been eager and excited,
enjoying the whole experience. But now that she was here, a scant yard from
the door, nervous tension built up in her, causing her to hesitate. She
glanced back at her mother and Carle, and the crystal building some yards
behind them. Delia had an encouraging look on her face, her eyes locked
with her daughter's. Carle scuffed the ground lightly.

The young girl turned her gaze back to the door. *It's perfectly safe.
Besides, I've done this before, if only in my sleep* She stood fully erect,
straightened her blouse and reached for the door. There was icy cold, even
before her fingers reached the door. It was an unnatural cold, with no
visible manifestations: no condensation or other indications. It also did
not chill her as real cold would. It was almost an external reflection of
the ice in her stomach. Her hand made contact with the door; it was oddly
slick to the touch. The extreme frigidity was still there, but it was not
unpleasant. This was a door to another world, and she could feel it with
every fiber of her body.

Suna closed her eyes, her mind unconsciously wandering to the past. To the
old playground and the spaceship they'd built, from wood and slabs of
crystal. Pushing mock buttons and reading painted-on gauges. They played
in their "Pluto ship" for a year before Tiluri moved to Far Side, his father
being an Astronomer. Each "journey" was more adventurous than the last, and
each Pluto they landed on became more and more outlandish, with inhabitants
ranging from the scary to the hilarious. From walking ice-cubes, to
mole-like creatures living in heated caves, to big blobs of sentience,
represented by one of them shrouded in a blanket, the farthest planet was
always an exciting destination.

A loud giggle broke Suna from her revery. Although it had ended as soon as
it began, Suna could tell it had been her mother. Sure enough, when she
turned to look questioningly at her, she saw that Delia had her hand to her
mouth. Carle was staring off at something. He then looked down and
yelled, "Nei! Get the recorder!"

Suna was confused, but a look in the direction Carle was staring dispelled
all mystery. A giant, smiling face grinned motionlessly at her from miles
away. The tremendous blue eyes, snub nose, and unruly brown hair were
unmistakeable. Swiveling her head, she saw that the entire landscape, save
for the crystal building and the door had been transformed into a tremendous
replica of the old playground--complete with a giant, grinning Tiluri. It
was far more tangible than any of the other illusions which had popped up
during her visit. *This wasn't in my dream* she mused ironically to herself.

A gangly man, wide-eyed with wonder, appeared at the doorway to the
building, carrying something large. He trotted awkwardly towards them,
glancing at the panorama with concern. Presumably this was "Nei". As he
came closer, Suna saw that it was a huge, cubical machine, made of metal
with dozens of screens and read-outs. Nei gently placed it down with a loud
exhalation. Quickly, Carle went to his knees, assisting Nei in the setting
up of the device. Suna couldn't figure out exactly what they were doing,
but various lights flashed with their attention.

"What's tha..." she started to ask.

"Shhh," her mother admonished. Suna, chastened, remained quiet.

Carle had stopped adjusting the device, and Nei was staring at a screen with
a look of concentration. Slowly he looked up at Carle and nodded. Carle
looked again at the almost solid apparitions which had sprung up around.
Satisfied that they had not disappeared, he turned his attention back to the
device, hands on his hips.

The silence dragged on for an eternity to Suna. At one point, the gangly man
with etched smile lines looked up at Delia and winked. Suna quickly turned
to see her mother's reaction, but Delia only quirked her lip, just a touch.
Finally, the apparitions began to fade, and were replaced with less
structured images. Carle whistled a long sigh between pursed lips. He
turned to Nei, "What did we get?"

Nei smiled triumphantly, "It was beautiful. The whole thing was gotten, on
all bands. That was just amazing," he looked at Suna. "Did she do this?"

Suna blushed, "I didn't do anything."

Carle answered, "Yeah, I think it must have been her. These all popped up
when she touched the door."

"You know what this means, don't you?" Nei said to Carle excitedly. "You
know, right Delia?"

Her mother said in a soft voice, "It means she has an affinity..."

Suna shifted her astonished stare from one person to the another.
Nei's mouth was still open, but he'd decided not to finish his thought.
Carle nodded slowly, his shock of blond hair waving in the gentle breeze.

***

A frigid ocean of smooth ice, dimly glowing in the light of a tiny sun,
stretched in all directions to a close horizon. Save for a few rolling
hills, and an occasional crystal outcropping, the plain was featureless
as a mirror. The world was a series of grays, as if some cosmic creator
had used her most brilliant hues on the other planets and was left with only
monochromatic ink for the twin worlds of Pluto and Charon. Charon floated
overhead, fixed in its position, looking as large as Earth did from the
moon. Its face was half-lit by the ghostly luminescence of a faraway
star--the same star which provided warmth for the inner planets.

It might have been a depressing place to live, but Suna had taken to the
quiet planet. There was a peace in the still, icy oceans, which contrasted
strongly with the feeling of being further out than any human had gone
before. The reassuring sight of Charon faintly reminded her of home, while
being odd enough to spark her endless curiosity. *Where did this strange
companion come from* she wondered idly. Oftentimes, she would sit at the end
of the misty blue hemisphere which shielded her from the unfathomable cold
and merciless vacuum and simply stare out over the landscape, straining her
eyes to see the blue and white globes that represented home.

Today was no time to sit idly by, however. The replacement crew was
arriving today, the first since she'd arrived two years ago. Even now, the
bright star which moved across the sky heralded the arrival of the space
ship. She was excited, her scalp tingling in that peculiar way it did
whenever something new caught her fancy. She trotted to the corridor which
joined the dome to the space port. The scattered buildings of the new
colony whizzed by as she moved in the fashion peculiar to low gravity
locales, each leg springing her into the air like a gazelle. Some of the
residents were up and about. They called to her as she ran.

The spaceport was a flat expanse of hardness kept free of any volatiles
which might prove hazardous to a landing. As Pluto had no atmosphere, it
was possible for any space ship with sufficient engine power to land
directly onto the surface, with no need for aerodynamic surfaces. It was not
under a dome, thus all of the buildings were linked and individually
pressurized. Suna raced up the stairs of the control tower to catch a
glimpse of the ship as it landed. The door flew open too fast, and a
technician looked reproachfully at her as she came into the control room.
Her cheeks flushing, she tiptoed to the window, listening to the controller
carefully giving orders to the descending ship. The pilot had to be very
careful to avoid streaming hot exhaust onto the frozen gasses which
surrounded the landing pad.

A barely visible gout of blue flame preceded the vessel as it slowly made
its way to the ground. The vessel itself was most unusual. Instead of the
usual ovoid shape, which would be towed by a tremendous sail, the ship was
shaped like a thin wedge. It descended wide edge first, the ship looking
like a fantastic arrowhead on a shaft of blue magic. It gently touched the
ground, soundlessly, as the blue faerie flame slowly died.

Suna watched with mounting excitement as curls of vapor wafted around the
still ship. Minutes went by as communication with the ship went on. The
technician who'd given her a chastening look, clad in blue pants and shirt,
methodically surveyed the flickering screens which relayed the information
on the newcomer's status. Finally, just as Suna's curiosity was about to
get the best of her, silvery clad figures emerged from the ship. The
spacesuited men walked comfortably, used to the low gravity as they were.
With the loss of Earth, almost everyone came from light worlds.

Suna bounded through the door, barely ducking at the last minute to avoid a
nasty bruise on the forehead. She flew down the stairs in a fashion
peculiar to light planets, barely touching the steps. Racing to the
receiving room, with its unpainted walls and lockers, she saw that the
airlock was cycling. She smoothed the black skirt of her uniform and tried
to compose herself.

The airlock cycled, and the metal door slid open. Eight space-suited
figures emerged, one by one, each rendered anonymous by an opaque helm.
Suna raised a hand in salute, "Sailor Pluto, ready to receive replacement
crew." Each of the figures removed their helmet. Four were women, all
vaguely uniform in their appearance save for one whose blond tresses were
unclipped, causing them to halo around her momentarily.

One of the other four had close-cropped hair on dark skin. His face was
hard and lined, and a bushy moustache adorned his upper lip. He saluted,
"Captain Raynar of the Artemis." More casually, he added, "We're not the
relief team. We're the crew of the Artemis, and we've been..."

Suna shrieked with delight. The last person had undogged his helm. His
unruly brown hair and bright blue eyes instantly caught her attention.

***

"I think your face is going to freeze that way, Suna," Tiluri teased,
good-naturedly.

Suna blushed, looking down at her plate of food. She couldn't get that
silly grin off her face. Tiluri was here! "I'm sorry, 'Luri. It's just so
good to see you. It's been ages." She looked up again to see her dining
companion. He really had become quite handsome, especially in the smartly
styled, dark grey uniform of the Lunar navy. Tiluri's shipmates talked
animatedly at the table behind theirs, sampling the wares of the small
dining hall on Pluto. It was a gaily colored room, with several tables and
a cafeteria style arrangement along one wall.

"Well, you look great!" he said earnestly, "How old are you now? 17?"

"Just last month, yes."

"Amazing. You're all grown up." Tiluri stared at the big brown bow
adorning her chest silently for a moment. "I had no idea," he said at
last.

Suna nodded, "I've been Senshi here for two years now."

Tiluri's eyebrows rose slightly and his voice was wistful, "I wish we'd
stayed in closer contact. A lot happens in a few years. Do you like it?
Being Sailor Pluto, I mean?"

She smiled dreamily. "It's fine... Quiet, but that's okay. I have time to
look at the stars, and sew," Her mind wandered to her current project,
almost complete. The germ of an idea that it would make a perfect greeting
present formed in her mind. "But what are you doing here?"

Tiluri leaned back in his seat. "Well, I tried to become a space-ship
pilot, but I couldn't find the funds. So I became a crewman on a ship that
did the Mars run. Eventually, I got some recognition for my skills, and
they stationed me on a Navy ship as an astrogator."

"That's this ship?" Suna asked.

"Oh no. No, that was a couple of ships ago. It was great. I flew to
Jupiter, Uranus. You never realize just how lovely these places are until
you go there for yourself."

Suna felt a small pang of jealousy. Save for the Moon and Pluto, she'd seen
no celestial bodies at all. *On the other hand* she comforted herself, *I
have been to Overspace* She smiled at her small bit of snobbish
rationalization.

"...with thin, thin rings reflecting the sun just marvelously," he
continued. "I'm not boring you am I?"

Her cheeks flushed hot, "No! No, not at all! I was just thinking.
Remember when we were going to sail to every planet?"

Tiluri smiled, his face radiating warmth, "Of course. Why do you think I
became an planet-sailor in the first place?"

His blue eyes stared into hers. Moments passed. She was frozen in place,
held by his gaze. She looked away, finding the commissary uncommonly
interesting. "That's not a light sailship," she said, her voice dry.

"No," he replied, "It's new. It's self-propelled."

Suna pondered what she knew of space flight, "But wouldn't you have to have
a tremendous engine on it for it to travel so quickly? I saw its progress
as it departed from Luna. You made very good time."

Tiluri laughed, "You don't know the half of it. That's the princess of our
new fleet. In the heart of that beast is the biggest assembly of crystal
construction you've ever seen. We call it the star drive. You could
accelerate indefinitely in that thing and never run out of fuel. Well, not
never, but pretty close."

The skies unfolded for Suna. With such a drive, you could travel to the
nearest star in no time! "How does it work?" she asked.

"Suna, dear, I couldn't tell you if I knew, and I don't know so I can't
anyway," he looked down at his plate and saw it was still full of rapidly
cooling food. He quickly took a bite of massive proportions. Between
swallows he continued, "I could tell you how we get from Point A to Point B.
I can tell you exactly how much thrust we use and how much we need. But I'm
an astrogator, not an engineer. But that's why were here. To perform a
shakedown cruise."

"So why tell us you were a replacement..." Suna's question was answered in
her own mind just as Tiluri replied.

"This is big stuff, Suna. We can't go around advertising the whereabouts of
the pride of Luna. Once the trials of the Artemis are finished, a whole
fleet of these things will be made--and not just for military use. We'll go
to the stars, Suna!" His eyes glowed. "Just think! A few years to the
Triple Suns. And if we go fast enough, only a few more to reach the
galactic core!"

She felt the old excitement of wanderlust returning. The two grinned
wordlessly at each other,

Her dining companion reached forward and took her hands. His were large and
warm. Her heart skipped a beat, and she almost missed what he said next,
almost in a whisper.

"We made it, Suna. We're on Pluto."

She stared shyly at his hands on hers, unable to speak, with an embarrassed
smile playing on her lips. Finally, she spoke in a low voice, "It's good to
see you again."

***

"Ouch!" Suna exclaimed, instinctively bringing the injured finger to her
mouth. This was the second time that night she'd stabbed herself with that
evil sliver of steel. She eyed it suspiciously, the needle staring back
with one malevolent eye. Sighing, she placed the needle back in the foam
with the rest of them and looked at her creation appraisingly. It had
started life as a lady's cloak--horribly impractical in the close confines
of a remote colony, but she loved the way fabric flowed in the low gravity.
Now Tiluri was here, and that altered her plans. The black silk cloak had
become a cape, and she was almost done with the crimson edging. She smiled
musingly, *I wonder if they'll let him wear this with his uniform* She lay
back on her bed, rubbing her eyes.

Her vision blurred oddly, causing her to blink. A wide yawn escaped her
almost unconsciously. *I don't know how much more of this I can take!*
Between getting up early to exercise, the long hours at the 'port, assisting
in the installation and calibration of the new detection system which had
been transported by the Artemis from the Moon, and staying up late to finish
the cape, she had cheated herself of precious sleep time. Dark circles had
sprouted under her eyes, dismaying her.

But if one aspect of her appearance had deteriorated, another had improved.
She rubbed her long legs, happily noting the lack of aches which had plagued
her during her first week of exertion. Her calves were noticeably tauter
now, and her arms were quite firm. *Another few weeks of this, and I can go
back to eating ice cream!* With the Artemis leaving in a week, she was
training hard to ready herself for her part in its mission. The Artemis was
armed of course, but Suna was the defender of Pluto and had been integrated
into the defense plan. Thinking of the Artemis inevitably brought Tiluri to
mind again. It had been two weeks since she last seen him, and it was only
the hectic schedule of her life which kept the separation from becoming
unbearable. Their last time together, those precious few hours in the park,
was unforgettable.

He'd greeted her at her home, that infectious, childlike grin happily
displayed. He was in civilian clothes, formally attired, but the unruly
brown locks rendered him boyishly handsome. That night, they had paced the
length of the colony, again and again. They stepped in unison, aimlessly
meandering along the edge of the dome, down the tunnel to the spaceport, and
back again through the homes of the colonists. The conversation came
effortlessly, as if the years of absence had not existed, though there was a
slight tension, a hint of reserve in Tiluri. He prattled on about the trip
out, his summer stint at the observatory on Ganymede, his kid sister's baby
teeth which she'd lost falling from a second story balcony. Yet, he seemed
flustered sometimes. Come local midnight, they found themselves on a
crystalline bench, warm in the still night, flanked by adolescent trees.
They sat silently for a while. Finally, he spoke.

"Do you still dream, Suna?" he asked, looking out at the crescent of
Charon.

The murky remnants of several nights' fantasies flitted through her mind.
"Sometimes. Nothing like I used to. Not recently, anyway."

Tiluri scuffed his feet, "I... I always dream about things which are on my
mind in the day. For instance, this whole trip out here I dreamt about the
first shakedown flight. Sometimes the trip went well, sometimes something
terrible happened. It was so weird. The worst ones were where I couldn't
do anything. I would sit at my station, but nothing I did made any
difference. None of the buttons worked, I couldn't speak."

Suna grasped Tiluri's hand with hers, "Your dreams aren't like my dreams."

He smiled, looking at her. His attention caused a thrill to run down her
spine. "No, I know. Actually, I stopped having them when I got here," he
said.

"Oh," she said softly. A long silence punctuated her utterance. "What do
you dream out about?"

Tiluri's smile twitched out of existence. He moved his face to hers, and
she closed her eyes. Her pulse rang loudly in her ears as his lips touched
hers. She responded almost involuntarily, her arms embracing him. The
sheer rapture of their union caused her breath to come loudly and deeply.
Slowly, he withdrew, but there was something different in his demeanor.
Something calmer. The distance between them had been eliminated. She
pressed close to him, her head on his chest. His heart beat softly in her
ear.

"What do you want to be?" he asked, his voice resonating oddly through his
chest.

"What?"

"What do you want to do with your life?" he asked.

Suna looked up to find his eyes staring down into hers. She smiled,
"Sailor Pluto isn't enough?"

"Sailor Pluto is what you do. What do you want to be?" Earnestness lived
in his voice.

She thought hard. A dozen answers went through her head. She discarded
them one by one.

"I want to design clothes," she said abruptly.

He laughed with surprise, "You what?"

"Yes," she continued. "I think it is so gratifying to make something for
someone to wear, and have them look just fantastic in it. I'd love to design
whole fashions, and have people wear them," A vision of her half-finished
cape filled her mind for a moment. She smiled inwardly. "Maybe start a
business. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I think I would really
enjoy it."

"No. Actually that sounds really nice. I mean, everyone does things
because it's convenient, or because they have to. I think it's really
beautiful that you have this dream that's so unique. I think it's great."
He smiled.

"Really?" her heart swelled.

"Really," he answered. His eyes twinkled.

"Wow..." She whispered. "You really are too much."


He shook his head and leaned towards her again. The stars whirled rapidly
as they kissed.

***

The deck hummed with induced vibration. Suna watched through the monitor as
the planet she'd come to call home for the past two years shrank at a
perceptible rate. She lay back in her chair marveling at how heavy she
felt. This was far more gravity than she'd felt on the moon, or even in
Overspace. Invisible hands pressed her into the black cushioning with
almost the same strength as the bonds that tied men and women to the Earth.
For the hundredth time, she silently retracted the ill feeling she'd felt
towards the Captain for increasing her training pace. The acceleration was
still taxing, but her frame had been evolved for life on Earth, and it
quickly acclimated.

The steady throb of the engine, almost too soft to hear consciously, was a
constant reminder of its power. The drive was amazing! She'd gasped with
sheer awe at the sight of it. It had dwarfed the technicians who manned the
deck which ringed its crystalline form. It was lovely, shimmering with
white light emanating from within. Its many facets seemed not to be
connected to anything, but a pale red field bathed the drive and the
spherical area it floated in.

Now it propelled her from Pluto at an incredible acceleration. The
soon-to-be obsolescent light sailships had a whisper of thrust compared to
this mighty ship. Its fuel source was almost unlimited as well, although
Suna didn't really grasp the concept when Tiluri explained it. Regardless,
the ship could go virtually anywhere in practically no time, at least
comparatively speaking. There was even talk of sending an expedition to
nearby stars. The explorers would not come back for up to twenty years, but
due to the high speeds they would attain, they would age noticeably less.
The concept was thrilling. Tiluri was completely taken with it. He wanted
to go further and see more than anyone before him. Suna hadn't felt the
same wanderlust in a long time, but 'Luri had awakened it in her. She was
ready to accompany him anywhere. Together, they could take on the universe.
Goosebumps sprouted along her skin as memories of his enfolding arms were
reawakened.

Her eyes closed, and her mind drifted. With the eye of her imagination, she
saw him giddily traipsing under the magical sky of triple suns. Her hand
grasped his, and they frolicked on this alien world all alone. White,
feathered things flapped effortlessly on sweet breezes while multicolored
foliage waved delicately. He then paused to move close... his eyes shut...

A loud klaxon shocked her out of her revery. Her mind reeled trying to
place the unfamiliar sound. The weightlessness alarm! She suddenly
remembered. The cacophonic ringing heralded an engine shutdown. She
grasped the arms of her chair tightly as she felt her intangible fetters
relax their grip on her. The book she'd just put down slowly rose and began
to drift through the sparsely furnished cabin. She closed her eyes, and
instantly regretted the mistake. Her stomach flipped and flopped as she
stared fixedly at the screen in front of her. Slowly, she fought back the
waves of nausea. Freefall always took some time to get used to.

The alarm stopped abruptly. Suna made as if to leave the chair, and instead
found herself floating upwards. She got her hands in the path of her ascent
just quickly enough to avoid crashing her head into ceiling. Her body
continued, using her arms as a pivot. Her knees collided softly with metal,
and she tried desperately to right herself. The momentum of the collision
bounced her slowly from the ceiling. She tumbled slowly, now in an inverted
posture. A soft tone emanated from the monitor.

"What?!" she barked.

An upside down Tiluri appeared on the monitor. His inverted face looked
shocked for a moment.

"What's going on, Suna?" he asked.

"I'm having some trouble, okay?" Suna drifted towards the floor, her stomach
complaining again.

Tiluri was visibly stifling a laugh. "Sorry. I just wanted to check up on
you. Do you need some help?"

Suna managed to grab hold of the arm of her chair before the rest of her hit
the floor between her seat and the monitor. Her black skirt flared and
closed like some crazy sea creature. "I'm all right." *No I'm not. I want
to throw up really badly*

Tiluri must have seen the green in her face as she slowly pushed herself
back into the chair. "I'll come down in a few minutes. We're just going to
coast for a while. Why aren't you wearing your shoes?"

She glanced guiltily at the pair of ship's shoes she'd forgotten about
during her daydream.

"Don't worry about it." Tiluri smiled. "I'll be there in a little bit."

Suna managed a weak smile as his face faded from the screen.

***

"Try this one!" Tiluri tossed the disk through the empty cargo hold, causing
his body to drift backwards. It spun towards Suna who caught it expertly.

"That was easy," she cried, tossing it back. She felt her body naturally
balancing to retain her equilibrium. *I've come a long way in two weeks*, she
mused. These games of tossing the disk helped her nearly as much as the
space-suited training she'd done outside the ship. That had been scary.
It was one thing to see the vastness of space from the surface of a planet or
through a porthole. It was another thing to be completely surrounded by
sparkling blackness, with nothing but a thin cord or a hand thruster to
return you to safety.

The disk returned, travelling very quickly. Suna let it pass by to collide
with the wall behind her. The round plastic caromed nicely and sailed right
into her waiting hands. She smiled at Tiluri's impressed face. *Try this on
for size* Suna grabbed a projection on the ceiling to launch herself into a
somersault. Her gray-suited figure spun twice before the disk left her
hands on an unerring course for his chest. She pressed against the ceiling
to push herself into the floor. Her pointed feet and flexed knees stopped
her spin and propelled her backwards slowly as he fumbled for the toy. It flew
past him and bounced several times before he recovered it. He whistled
admiringly. Suna bowed at the waist, still floating backwards.

Tiluri impulsively leaped forward and caught Suna around the middle. They
both tumbled gently into the wall of the hold, laughing happily. Suna
kissed him, and they floated through the air, as one entity drifting softly
across the room. He grinned softly at her.

"Thank you again for the cape," he said.

"I'm glad you liked it," she whispered.

"It's really beautiful. I can't wait to wear it," he squeezed her hands
softly as the floor sailed beneath them.

Suna bit her lip pensively, "I'll have to design one you can wear in
weightlessness."

"I don't know how many people would wear them. Just sailors and
prospectors," he halted their movement with a raised hand on a
ceiling-mounted handhold.

"Oh I don't know. I think it would be a very handsome accessory to your
uniforms." She wrinkled her nose. "The jumpsuits you have to wear are
hardly attractive."

"They don't have to be!" he replied. "Who's going to care what we look like
when we're flying a ship?"

Suna shrugged. "Just because you are sailors doesn't mean you need to dress
shabbily."

Tiluri gazed at Suna quizzically. He smiled when her small grin and
mischievous eyes told him she was playing with him.

"I can never tell when you're kidding." he complained.

She pushed herself away from him gently, "That's because I'm a woman. You'll
never know," she grinned evilly.

Tiluri open his mouth to respond, but was drowned out by a loud alarm. Suna
turned around and launched herself towards the exit. She needed to get
seated before the engine came on again. She stole a backwards glance
towards Tiluri's dwindling form. *Next time I see him, we'll be back home*

***

Suna skipped alone happily in the park. The fresh breeze filled her
nostrils with the pleasant odors of spring. Of course there were no real
seasons here, or back home on the moon either. Only Mars and Earth had any
real seasons due to their pronounced axial tilt. Pluto and Charon did have
seasons in their own way. Their highly eccentric orbits carried them closer
to the sun even then Neptune every couple hundred years. During that time,
the frozen ground turned to vapor, and a thin atmosphere veiled the twin
worlds. Humans are stubborn creatures, however, and took the seasons with
them wherever they went to remind them of home. Suna had never known a
"real" spring, but she had become accustomed to the smell of blooming
flowers and renewed greenery this time every year.

She sat on her favorite bench, what had now become "their" bench, and gazed
out across the flat, grey landscape. The sun had just risen a few hours
ago, and it shone unwinkingly, its yellow hue just discernible. She patted
the plastic next to her, remembering Tiluri. *Two weeks. 14 days and I'm
already going crazy* She laughed at herself. *Bad enough I should finally
fall in love. Now I can't even go a couple of weeks without mooning about
like some silly little girl. Ah, but I miss him so*

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She hadn't been able to get him
out of her mind ever since the day they had returned to Pluto. After that,
they'd had one day together. That had been just fantastic. The bright faux
sun had shone upon them, and they had talked and danced the whole day. The
memory of the day flashed through her mind a dozen times every day. She
remembered every joke he'd made, every time their hands had touched. The
next day, he had boarded the Artemis again--this time without her. This was
to be an extended shakedown cruise. This was the flight that would really
put the ship through her paces.

It also meant they would be apart for almost a month. *Half-way there. I
can do it* She crossed her legs and rested her book upon it. The book
opened to its proper place, marked by a white feather. Suna tried to focus
on the words, but they swam of their volition, and she looked up. Her mind
refused to focus when the memory was this strong. She contented herself
with resting an elbow on her thigh, and cradled her chin in her palm.

An insistent tone brought her out of her revery. She turned her head to see
a purple message sphere hovering just three feet away. Its long antenna
and crescent-shaped screen gave the ball an almost whimsical appearance.
"Sailor Pluto?" it asked in an artificial contralto. She nodded assent. A
face appeared in the foot wide ball. It was the Base Commander, Mellar. He
looked concerned. "Suna? I'm glad I caught you. You need to come to the
tower right away."

Suna blinked. "Sir, what..."

He cut her off, "Just come out here."

"Yes, sir." She broke into a run, her book forgotten on the bench.

***

The tower was fully staffed. Only Mellar, clad in the white suit of a high
officer turned to notice her. She saluted, "What's going on," she asked
breathlessly. The Commander pointed to the large screen dominating a corner
of the room. Suna recognized the display as showing the astronomical bodies
within a certain distance of Pluto. The usual planetoids were there, as
well as a purple sigil denoting the Artemis, about one quarter of a light
second away. Something else was there as well. "What is that red bar?"
asked Suna.

"That's what we don't know," said Mellar, his dark face creased by a frown.
"Artemis just detected it forty minutes ago. It appears to be on an
intercept course with her."

"And we don't know what it is?" she asked, fear prickling her skin.

Mellar shook his head slowly. "It's got to be a ship of some kind. But
it's ahead of the Artemis and coasting, so we can't get much information."

"What are they doing? The Artemis, I mean." Suna asked.

"Captain Raynar has opted not to undergo evasive action. He wants to see
what this vessel is going to do when they get close enough."

Suna's eyes widened, "But, sir. This thing could be an enemy!" she found
her voice rising, and tried to control it. "Sir, what if the ship has
something planned for them?"

The older man eyed her levelly for a moment. He spoke in a slow, precise
voice, "Suna, what I would do and what Captain Raynar would do may be
different things. But he's Navy, and all I can do is thank him for his
reports. The ship may not have enough propellant to make many course
corrections. If it is an ambassador, Raynar's most polite course of action
is to maintain his course."

Frustration welled up inside her as a familiar sense of foreboding filled
her thoughts. "What can we do, sir?"

Mellar ran a hand through his close-cropped, graying hair. "I wanted all of
us to be on stand by," He looked her over appraisingly. "I'm glad you're
in uniform. You have your orb, right?" he looked pointedly at her satchel.

She clutched her bag tensely, "Of course, sir."

"We may need it... and you," he turned to face the monitor.

The red ship and the purple Artemis slowly closed. Velocity information
lettered the screen adjacent to each ship. Suna noted that the information
was constant. The screens all about her displayed information on the
status of the Artemis, the projected qualities of the intruder, and the
disposition of the space around Pluto. One monitor showed an unchanging
field of stars. The coding at the bottom indicated it was a transmission
from Artemis.

"Can't we see what the ship looks like?" Suna asked.

"No," said Gar, the blonde technician seated to her right. "It doesn't have
its engine on, and it apparently is very dark. We won't know what it looks
like until they're right on top of it."

She turned her head to look at the monitor again. She bit her lip with
impatience as her heart raced. I'm so helpless, she thought, hating the
notion.

Minutes passed in tense silence. Suna sat down and watched the tight faces
of her comrades staring fixedly at their displays. Mellar, paced up and
down the length of the control room, caught himself, and stood stock
straight, staring at the monitor.

"Commander?" Suna jumped at the unexpected sound. It was Raynar on one of
the screens. "It's gotten pretty close. We're hailing and flashing it at
regular intervals. No response so far."

"Can you see it yet?" Mellar wanted to know. A half-second pause ensued as
the message traveled to the Artemis at the speed of light, and the reply
returned as swiftly.

"Not yet," came the calm, gravelly voice of the Captain. Suna tried to peer
around his head for a glimpse of the bridge crew. "It's got a low albedo.
We project a rendezvous in four minutes and... " he glanced off camera for a
moment, "thirty one seconds."

Mellar nodded. Suna thought about the crew of the alien ship. If they were
truly from another solar system, they would have had to travel years,
decades, even centuries to get to her sun. Such an event was the primary
reason for the Outer Senshi. She wondered if they had traveled in some
sort of cold sleep. Perhaps they had a drive similar to that in the
Artemis, and could span the gulfs between stars with relative ease. She
tried to picture the appearance of these creatures, but failed.

"...and fifteen seconds," Raynar reported. "Lan tells me we've got
something on visual." Nine heads turned to the televised starfield the
Artemis was sending. A black shape against the white stars drifted
ominously in the center of the screen.

"Why don't we radar map it?" asked a tow-headed operator. Suna could not
remember her name.

Mellar turned and eyed her disdainfully, "I don't think Raynar wants to
upset our new friends by pinging them to death."

"Yes, sir," the miffed young lady turned back to her console.

"Lan has got a picture of it based on occulation data. Here's a composite."
The Captain's face was replaced with an irregularly shaped vessel, portrayed
in green on a black background. The lines of the vessel slowly resolved
themselves as more data was obtained. The Commander's hand dropped suddenly
from his head to his hip. The mouths of several technicians dropped open
involuntarily. Suna gasped. The shape of the vessel was familiar to all as
the most hated sight in history. Impossibly, the alien vessel scheduled to
intercept the Artemis in less than two minutes was of the same class which
had obliterated most of humanity fourteen years before.

The men and women in the tower all shared an infinite moment of horror as
the enormity of the situation was realized. Mellar was the first to
recover, "Captain, the alien vessel appears to be..."

Raynar cut off the Commander's characteristically calm utterance, "Yes,
Commander. We're trying to evade. Stand by."

The Captain of the Artemis could be seen giving orders to his crew. Suna
watched as the velocity figures changed slowly, their white letters denoting
a lateral thrust.

"Swing our heading around 90 degrees. Prepare to initiate main drive,"
Raynar barked. A muted voice acknowledged the order. Suna swallowed hard.
*That sounds like Tiluri!*

The purple symbol showing the Artemis' position slowly rotated. The red bar
was almost upon her. "Fifteen seconds to closest approach," said an
operator, as if sensing her unspoken question.

"Go. Go," Mellar silently mouthed, clenching his fist.
"Main engine fire!" the call rang though the control room. Suna held her
breath as she watched the purple sign's velocity figures change abruptly.
The distance between the two ships rose as the red bar reached the Artemis'
former position and continued without course change.

The atmosphere of the room became hopeful. Raynar looked at the Commander
through the monitor, tugging his moustache. "We're making some distance.
All weapons are on standby. I don't know what this thing wants, but we're
ready for it."

"Good," Mellar replied. "I can only hope that..." he trailed off as he saw
one of Raynar's officer's exclaiming something loudly. Almost
simultaneously, Gar shouted, "Commander! The alien has fired on the
Artemis!"

Suna turned to look at the live broadcast just in time to see the flash of
light from the alien ship wink out. She quickly turned to look at the
viewscreen again. Raynar was grasping the straps of his chair, apparently
being violently shaken. Faint cries from off screen told of a similar fate
befalling the rest of the Artemis' crew. "Damage report," the Captain
yelled.

"Sir, we've lost helm control. Stardrive continuing at 2g and not
responding to commands," Tiluri's voice came through the viewscreen, strong
and unafraid.

"Manually override it," wheezed the Captain, his eyes closed.

Suna's love responded, frustration starting to seep into his voice, "Not
working, Captain."

Raynar clenched his teeth. "Prepare to jettison!" he roared over the din of
reports and the rumble of the engine.

Suna felt Gar standing next to her, sweat beading his forehead. They all
watched as the countdown ticked from 10 to 0.

"Jettison!" ordered the first mate, her face barely visible in the chair
behind Raynar's.

"Sir!" cried the engineer. "The restraining field controls are not
responsive. We can't jettison the drive!"

The events on the screen became unfocused. Suna tried to blink away the
tears, but they stubbornly clung to her lenses. She could see nothing, and
her ears received nothing but disjointed and panicked phrases. 'Luri's
voice occasionally cut through the confusion, causing her eyes to fill more
and her legs to weaken. She felt herself falling, but something restrained
her. Suna tried to blink her vision back, but the room remained a blur.
She felt the tears being wiped from her eyes. Gar's broad head and curls
slowly resolved themselves. "Hang in there," he said worriedly.

"Commander!" a female voice cried. "The alien has changed course." Suna
looked at the main position screen. The Artemis was moving visibly faster
now. The red bar slowly turned as the white letters constantly updated its
velocity.

"Sir," the voice continued, "It's rotated, and has altered its trajectory...
Sir, I think it's coming for us."

*Why are they here?* she wondered with blurred thoughts. Gar left her on
trembling but firm feet and gave her a quick, worried expression before
returning to his post. *We defeated them, and ensured they could never
attack us again. We sealed off their only avenue of attack* Suna watched
the Commander gave orders to the tower crew in clipped, emotionless bursts.
The unwatchable catastrophe of the Artemis had been mercifully replaced by a
position map. The velocity indicator increased inexorably. *Unless they
chose another avenue* Her mind focused in concentration. *Did they travel
all the way here in normal space? These aliens look similar, but they use
different weaponry and propulsion systems. Fifteen years ago, they had
winked into existence by the hundreds around Earth. There were no visible
beams--only mass extinctions of people and buildings. Are their weapons now
more based on our reality?*

"...suit up and prepare to get on a shuttle. I don't know that there's
anything you can do down here. Suna!" the Commander barked.

She brushed the hair out of her face and hesitated for a moment. Abruptly
she straightened her back and saluted. "Yes, Commander," she said.

Mellar had already turned around. "What's the status of the defenses," he
was asking a bearded operator.

The sound of her footsteps on the plastic of the stairs drowned out the
response.

***

In the picture books were reproductions of the first photos ever taken in
space by astronauts. They were still vivid in her mind in all of their
colorful glory. She remembered the first pictures of the Earth, taken so
close to it that the curvature was almost invisible. She recalled the
cramped looking spacecraft, angular and metal. Most of all, she remembered
the picture of the commander of the first two-man ship. The snapshot had
been captured by his crewmate, and it showed a manlike, silver figure
against the fleecy white clouds and soft blue ocean. His face was a
featureless mirror, and his form was made almost shapeless by the cumbersome
spacesuit.

The suit she donned bore little resemblance to those first, clumsy attempts
to shield its wearers from the harsh conditions of space. Hers slipped
loosely over her nude body in two parts, contracting to fit with skintight
snugness. From neck to toes, she was hermetically sealed with only an
almost invisible seam running the circumference of her waist belying the two
pieced nature of the suit. Only the helmet was necessarily non-formfitting.
The seals around the neck attached themselves firmly to the collar of her
suit. The air tank was a small bulge in the top of helmet forming a
sagittal crest containing about one hour of highly compressed air. Along
the back of the suit was holstered a long thin tube with multiple
exhausts--a maneuvering jet.

She placed a belt of plastic around her waist. It also shrank to fit.
Carefully, she withdrew the garnet orb from her satchel. It glowed with an
intensity she had not seen before. Its warmth was startling, but a strong
sense of comfort radiated from it. She slipped it into one of the belt's
pouches.

Patting herself to ensure she was properly sealed, Suna called into the
faceplate, "Radio on." There was naught but silence until she changed the
frequency to the tower's wavelength. Abruptly, a cacophony of chatter
filled her helmet. Momentary squeals indicated that several people were
attempting to use the same frequency. The tower's signal dominated,
however. The youthful voice of the radio operator issued commands to the
personnel of the port, ordering them to prepare for the predicted attack.
The three shuttle crews were on station and receiving launch instructions.
Suna bounced to the observation window as an excited voice announced that
the defenses were on-line. She looked out over the flat plain of the
spaceport and saw suited shapes flit from ship to ship. Craning her head
back, she could just see the tower, several hundred feet behind her.
Directly in front of her was the shuttle she was waiting for. In short
order, the ship would be ready for ascent. Rising guilt filled her as she
thought of abandoning the base. Orders were orders, but this felt wrong.
Suna balled her hands into fists and opened them again.

Suna switched frequencies. Occasional staccato reports of the enemy's
position issued into her ear as the missile operators traded information with
the tower coordinators.

The tower clicked into the channel, "They're decelerating. Estimated time
to arrival, ten minutes."

That surprised her--not so much that they were arriving so quickly. Their
trajectory was almost aimed at Pluto from the start. *Were we their target
all along, and Artemis just got in the way?* she wondered.
No, what amazed her was the acceleration the ship must be capable of to
decelerate so close to its objective. *If it even intends to stop*

"What is the status of the Artemis?" she heard Mellar ask.

"The ship is stuck at full thrust. They report that the situation is
stable, and they are not in imminent danger, but they can't stop," an
unknown voice responded.

She bounced slowly into the air impatiently. One figure disengaged the
shuttle's fuel line while another hurriedly inspected the engine exhausts.
Sudden flickers of light caught her attention. From several nearby hills,
motes of incandescence soared into the sky. The little fireflies dwindled
into invisibility, converging on a point in the sea of stars. *Our missiles!
Perhaps if the aliens use normal weapons, we can defeat them with normal
weapons* Suna waited anxiously, ears straining to hear a report.

"Negative, tower. We show 80% lock-on failure. No discernable damage from
any impacts," a voice spoke into her ear.

Suna cursed silently. That was it then. The base had used its defenses.
All but her, and she was ordered to run. She balled her hands into fists
and then released them.

"Suna, your ride is ready," the voice came at last over the suit's specific
frequency, momentarily cutting out the other chatter. A tiny figure waved
dramatically from the nearest shuttle. The airlock cycled, and Suna walked
lightly across the flat pavement of the spacepad. She traversed the
distance quickly, taking very few steps as she glided along. The shuttle
was a blunt cylinder with a flattened base. Auxiliary rockets projected
from the bottom while a big nozzle jutting from the rear glowed faintly red.
A ladder bridged the gap between the ship's door and the ground.

The ship was just a few lengths away, its pilot gesticulating wildly in
front of the stairs. The world suddenly was suffused in a red glow for the
barest fraction of a second before she lost consciousness.

***

*Where am I?* The world slowly resolved itself back into focus as she blinked
her blurry eyes. She quickly patted herself to ensure she was whole. She
was not hurt as far as she could tell. But the landscape was now unfamiliar.
The land had a twisted, melted look to it. The thin fog drifted across the
macabre scenery. A burned out pile of metal smoldered just thirty feet away.
*The shuttle!* she suddenly realized. Suna swiveled sharply. The tower no
longer stood. A scorched stump was all that remained. Directly above her,
the alien vessel was just discernable by the stars it eclipsed.

"Is anyone out there?" she called on the military frequencies. Silence was
the response. Suna switched over to the civilian bands. Before she had a
chance to speak, a panicked babble poured into her ear. Suna smiled,
nevertheless, with relief. She cut in, using priority overrides, "This is
Suna. What's going on over there"

The chatter abruptly halted. "Suna? But we saw the whole starport get
vaporized!"

"Never mind me. What's going on?"

The anonymous voice continued, "It fired one blast and took out the port
area. It doesn't look as if it's moving..."

"...It's probably gonna fire another shot to blast the colony next!" a
frightened voice added.

"Calm down!" Suna ordered in what she hoped was an authoritative voice.
"All right. I guess I'm going to have to stop this beast. Have everyone
suit up and evacuate the base. It's just a big target. We don't know how
long it will be before they fire again, but whatever you do, be orderly
about it..."

"What are you going to do, Suna?" a new voice cut in. Jally from
hydroponics, she remembered.

She smiled grimly, "I'll think of something. Suna out."

***

*Now how do I get up there?* The spacepad was a field of roiled slag. Not a
shuttle had survived the attack. There wasn't a single ground to space
vessel within thousands of miles. * And the closest one is getting further
away by the minute. Oh, Tiluri...* She glanced up in the sky. The crystal
flame of the Artemis still shone as a bright star. She shook her head.
*Focus. What about the jet?* Suna reached around and unholstered the
thruster. It was supposed to put out a twentieth of Earth's gravity in
acceleration. But that wouldn't get her off the ground, no matter how
light Pluto was. She needed some sort of initial push to impart some
velocity. She looked around her.

The fog was settling. Suna frowned, trying to figure out just what this
mist was. She walked to the edge of the former spacepad and found that it
ended in sharp cliff which descended some twenty feet. The spacepad had not
been five feet above ground level before the attack. Hot spots, further
way, revealed themselves as craters with translucent vents of gas betraying
their presence.

*That blast must have boiled the frozen gasses* An idea formed in her head,
and she bounced to the other side of the pad. It was less damaged there.
The center of the circle of destruction had been further from this edge than
the other. She peered down and saw the ground level had not changed much.
She stopped a second to consider. *If I blast a hot spot in the gas with my
thruster, it should gush out. Maybe that will give me the boost I need*
She trotted out onto the ice, her suit retaining her heat, shielding the
planet's surface from its torrid abuses. She pointed her thruster straight
down and closed her eyes.

*Wait a minute!* She stopped, her pulse loud in her ears. *The same thrust
that will throw me into space is probably enough to kill me! What's to keep
me from being blasted into pulp* She looked up at the stark starscape.
*Come to think of it, why am I even alive now?*

Instinctively, she reached into her belt pocket. The orb was there, glowing
with a red light. *I know that light* An image of the shuttle and its pilot,
a microsecond before they were vaporized, suffused with a red glow, came
into her mind. *It wasn't them... it was me. The orb shielded me* She eyed
it speculatively. *Will it do it again?* She looked up at the menacing dark
spot on the heavens. *Do I have a choice?*

Suna took a deep breath and braced her legs against the frigid soil of Pluto,
placing the orb back into the belt pouch. The jet described a vertical line
between her hands and the ice. With breathless tension, she pulled the
trigger.

The red glow came instantly, but she did not lose consciousness. The melted
pad, the ruined tower, the cheery blue glow of the colony all shrank from
her at a dizzying rate. The plume upon which she ascended quickly became
too small to resolve. The glow disappeared sharply, and she was alone in
the sky, rocketing generally upward. Suna continued to fire the thruster to
negate the effects of Pluto's gravity. With any luck her speed would remain
fairly constant.

She looked up. Fortune was with her, and the alien craft hovered almost
directly overhead. It was impossible to tell how far away it was, but its
outline visibly grew as the seconds passed. Down below, the gray landscape
became featureless with only a blue light source illuminating the colony she
was trying to save. Far above, the almost unilluminated face of Charon
loomed, a silvery crescent.

The black vessel grew far more quickly than she had expected it to. It was
difficult to tell distance without knowing the size of the alien ship, but
she could sense that it was huge. More and more stars were blotted out
until the ship eclipsed half the sky. *So huge. The other ships had been
tiny compared to this one. Was a ship this big required to travel so far in
normal space?* She passed through a field of wavering shadows. She could
now see the lines of the ship, faintly self-illuminated. Its grey hull
undulated and stretched for what must have been miles. She could see now
that the resemblance to the earlier ships was superficial. She couldn't
make out a drive section, but the ship looked to be made of huge, modular
sections. Some were identical, while others were unique, but the whole
design was familiar. *It looks like a colony ship!* Her mind clung to a hope.
*Could this be the only one? Did they stake their existence on this one
ship?*

Suna started worrying about hitting the ship. It was impossible to judge
just when she should start decelerating. The ghostly phosphorescence of the
ship sickened her, the memories of her dead friends causing her jaws to
clench tight. She pointed the thruster at the ship and fired. *Too late!*
she realized. The soft hands of Pluto and the fiery torch in her hands were
not going to decelerate her in time. She braced for collision. She twisted
her torch to aim her at an angled section of hull. The glancing impact shook
her hard, but it did not activate the shield. Firing the torch for attitude
control, she managed to perch precariously on the vessel. The hull had a
repellent quality to it. It had the disturbing sensation of being a living
organism. It pulsed beneath her, apparently unaware of her presence. *Are
there aliens inside? Or are these ships the aliens* A moment of hesitation
filled her. She'd never killed anything before, and there was something
abhorrent about the prospect of slaughtering so many.

A shudder rippled through the vessel, knocking Suna to the hull. The
illumination grew brighter in pulses, and energy seemed to crackle from
within. She felt her eyes narrow as her hand reached for the orb. *Not this
time. I don't care if you're the last of a dying race or just sadistic
conquerors* Mellar's face, quickly replaced by Tiluri's filled her vision.
She felt a surge of energy from within her as time slowed down locally.
A flame of anger raged through her, and she extended the blindingly bright
orb in front of her. *You killed my planets, my people, my love*

She said aloud into her helm, "It is time for you to hear the dead scream."

A blast of energy surged from the orb. Suna felt every nerve in her body
tingling as it ripped mercilessly through the alien ship. Huge gouts
appeared in the hull, and steam vented from them in great clouds. The ship
trembled and writhed like a living thing. The Senshi was hurled from the
vessel, but the orb remained in her grasp, and the force continued to
radiate from it. Titanic pieces of the ship sheared off. The great,
identical pods snapped off one by one and exploded. The alien shuddered,
and all at once disintegrated.

All was silent save for her rasping breaths. She slowly replaced the orb
into her pouch, and fired the thruster to distance her from the destroyed
vessel. The soldier fought to retain consciousness, every ounce of energy in
her body was spent. Almost as an afterthought, she switched on the radio.
A chatter again invaded her helmet, but this one was joyous.

"...she'd do it! This is incredible!"

She murmured something into the radio, her eyes drooping.

"Suna! You're alive! You saved us!" A bout of cheering ensued.

A dreamy smile played upon her lips. She shook her head. *The orb seems to
depend on me for strength. I don't think I want to risk letting the orb
stop my fall in this rate* Pluto was spread out below her, its gray surface
inviting. She pointed the thruster down and fired intermittently. *By the
Moon, I pray that I'll stay awake long enough to get me down*

***

Epilogue

"Ow!" Suna stared at the offending needle. *Perhaps it's time for a break*
She looked appraisingly at her new dress. It was a red affair, with long
sleeves and a satin skirting. Although things did not flow so well in
higher gravity, the challenge to make them look as if they did appealed to
her. She rubbed her thighs and stood up. The gleaming fluorescence of the
crystal building suffused the room in a happy glow. She hardly dressed up
anymore, which was appropriate as she rarely saw anyone.

The spartan corridors of the post had been spruced up by a woman's touch.
There was plenty of room now that she was the only one living in a place
designed for three. The urgent whistling from down the hall spurred her
into a run. The pot was boiling, and steam floated above it. She turned
off the flame, and poured the hot water into a small glass. The powder
inside quickly turned into an aromatic brew. The smell brought a faint
smile to her lips, and her mind became contemplative.

The wind was strong today, and whipped her long hair playfully. She sat on
a wooden bench, staring out over the inconstant mountains. The images were
indistinct today, the sky a peculiar shade of orange. She sipped her tea,
savoring the taste. The scrunched up face of a little baby came to her when
she closed her eyes. Sure enough, the baby girl was in the sky when she
opened them. She chuckled. *My sister. I can hardly believe it* In the
four years that had passed since she volunteered for this post, her mother
and Nei had married and had a child. The outside world became a blur as
events occurred at ten times the normal rate. All that was real was this
place, her books, her sewing, and.. him.

She closed her eyes again, remembering the last time she'd seen him,
pressed into his chair, calling out the ship's doomed status. She'd looked
away from the monitor then, unwilling to witness the searing flash of light
that would consume her love.

*But he wasn't dead!* They were still tracking the Artemis from the moon.
The last reports received indicated they'd finally managed to turn the engine
off, but the damage was done. The ship was hurtling through the galaxy at a bare
fraction below the speed of light, her crew experiencing their lives far more
slowly than the ones they'd left behind. Some day there would be a rescue attempt.

Suna planned to lead it.

She opened her eyes and blinked and saw that Tiluri's face was there again,
his features spread across the impressionable sky of Overspace. *I'll see you again.
Even if I have to wait a thousand years, I promise you that*

Finis

by Gideon Marcus
fagin@earthlink.net 6-5-99

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