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, Contributing Editor The Long Road Book Two of Undocumented Features THE CAST Benjamin D. Hutchins Gryphon/Ben Brian D. Bikowicz MegaZone Rob Mandeville ReRob Kei Morgan Kei Yuri Daniels Yuri Rob Crocker Crocker John Todd Macquivr/q Adam Johnson Pfloyd/Adam Andrew Petrarca Android Kevin Tefft Kevin Largo Largo Jennifer Steen Jenna Matt Jaffe Matt John Trussell John/Truss David Ritchie Daver Helene Andersson Helene Christopher Noel Smith Chris/Logan/Xmas Gary Whitten Grendel Vaughn Gross Vaughn/Paladin/Reality Erik Swimm Erik/easwimm Fritz Koopman Fritz Mark Luchini Mark/Haywire Mike Callaghan Mike/Archon Chris Sprague Chris/Phantom Paul Ard Paul Lord Fahrvergnugen Wolfgang Decker Decker Iczer-1 Iczer-1 Iczer-2 Iczer-2 The Wedge Rats The Wedge Defense Force Special Visual Effects by Your Brain On Drugs, Inc. Destruction by Joe Martin Destruction Systems International Cooler Neo-TechTronic Things by British-AnimeTech, Limited with the exception of The Mann Systems Series 101-E Bio-SculptTM Tank by Larry Mann Background Music Performed by the Macross City Philharmonic 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, Erik Swimm, and Daver "Shoot that ship! Blow that up! KIIIIILLLL THEEEMMMMMMM!!!!!" Stolen From a Story by Christopher Noel Smith Counselor for Zoner, Jenna Counselors for Gryphon, Vaughn and Kei Dialogue for SDF-17's AI Stolen from Mrs. Hutchins' Buick Catering by Denny's Inspiration by C-Term, NineInchNails, and Pink Floyd Plenty of Hassle by PFS: Professional Write Extra Special Thanks to PepsiCo, Makers of Mountain Dew and Smartfood Inc., Makers of, Well, You Know, Smartfood. Extra Special Letter Bomb to Whomever Invented Dawn "AAUUGGHH!! Photons!! The Sun is Way too Loud Today." Mr. Bikowicz's Wardrobe by Blackbird Intl. Mr. Hutchins' Wardrobe by "Where Did You Get That?" GmbH. Entertainment by the Disney Afternoon Role Model Provided by Darkwing Duck Publishing by Eyrie Publishing Co., NotEvenCloseToInc. Copyright (c) 1992 Benjamin D. Hutchins, Brian D. Bikowicz, and Rob Mandeville This one is again 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, who didn't let me down when my darkest hour came. For Vaughn, who helped me deal. For Geoff Depew, who liked the first one so much he came to Worcester and hung out for a week. I hereby proclaim him a Wedge Rat. For Angus the Wonder Truck. 'Nuff said. For Daver, Helene, and Erik, who drove to my house and back for no apparent reason one weekend. The most fun I had all term. We gotta do it again. For the Net! You love our work. We love you. :-) For Randy, who is still comfortably numb. For Eve, the best singer around. For R.E.M. For E7, for making me welcome. For all the other people I don't have room for... Zoner: For Ben, sorry for all of the shit that went down this term For Jenna, who once again managed to keep me from doing something incredibly irrevocable. For the entire Howe St. apt., who helped get me through the tough times. For the Internet, for keeping me in touch with the world and providing plenty of entertainment. For the Disney Afternoon, I Am Darkwing Duck! :-D For Helene, for making life odd. Ice Cream Truck! For Geoff, aka Mephron, you memorized it? Scary, man, scary. For Pink Floyd, especially The Wall, how did they know? ----------------------------------------------------------ONE "Captain! Ye only left a moment ago!" --Commander Montgomery Scott SOMEWHERE IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM THURSDAY 2 JANUARY 1992 "Yo, we're back!" Zoner shouted as he and Yuri dropped through the hatch in the Wedge ceiling. "The Daytona from Hell handles great in a vacuum, but I think we need to do some serious modifications if it's going to be out here for long. It just won't do for long trips." "So...where'd you guys take off to anyway?" Gryphon inquired from a Wedgebooth/control station. "We just zipped around the quadrant a little. Yuri and I wanted to spend some time alone. The stars are really beautiful without the atmospheric interference." "Yeah, and the planets look so pristine from up here," Yuri joined in. "Pluto looks really neat." "So, have we figured out where the hell we're headed?" Zoner asked. "Or why the Wedge jumped into warp like that? We were barely able to get it back to sublight. GweepCo was working overtime to get the computer to respond to the conn." "Okay. One: we still don't know where the Wedge wants to go. Two: I turned the autonav on when I activated starship configuration under emergency mode, and the computer was kind enough to warp us out of the fireball. And three: GweepCo worked overtime, but they couldn't shut down the warp drive until q unplugged it by accident. We do seem to have control of the conn, though," Gryphon answered. "We do, however, have a couple of rather more immediate problems." "Like?" "Like we took a head count and Vaughn's missing." "Oh, no," said Yuri. "Shit," Zoner added. "You sure?" "Yep, I'm sure." SKWEEEEEKrrkkkweequeRUNK--FOOOOMM!!!--wheeet!whio thud hissssssss... "WARNING! WARNING! HULL BREACH! HULL BREACH! HULL--NEVER MIND." the computer blared over the PA system. "What the fuck was that?!" Zoner inquired, rather enthusiastically. "Morning," Vaughn said in greeting. "Vaughn!" Zoner screamed. "Vaughn!" Gryphon screamed. "Vaughn!" everyone else screamed. "Well, happy to see you too. What's all the excitement about?" "Vaughn, did you just come in through the Morgan doors?" asked Zoner. "Yeah, why?" "Ooooookaaaaaay... Vaughn, do you realize where we are?" "Not really, where are we?" "WE'RE IN SPACE!" "Oh." "Vaughn, you just walked in from HARD VACUUM!" "Thought it was a bit chilly." "Nevermind, I just don't want to deal with it. I'll just accept it." "Whatever, well I'm going to go take my eyes out and become unconscious." "G'night." "Night," Vaughn replied as he walked away. "There is definitely something strange about him," Gryphon commented. "You haven't lived with him for the past two years. You sorta get used to it," Zoner answered. "You know, this housing thing is going to be a real problem in another couple of weeks," MegaZone remarked later on, indicating the large number of Wedge Rats who were camping it in corners and booths and on the floor of what had become the bridge of the starship Wedge. "I mean, we've got seven people in E7's living room, another twenty or so up here, a bunch in the hallway, Android lives in the gweepery, we've even got some people camped in the engine room. There are nearly a hundred of us living in an area that wasn't designed for people to live in at all--something's gotta give." "Yeah...and add to that the fact that the only shower around is E7's...makes for quite the line," added Gryphon. "And the mecha storage; we've got Cyclones stacked all over hell. And that Garland of yours--that thing takes up more space than three people could live in." Gryphon stretched and yawned. "And it's boring." "Speaking of showers, where the hell is the water supply coming from?" "You know, I never thought of that. It must be recycled somehow, or we would have run out by now. Another mystery to figure out." "Well, it would help if we knew where we were going." "I told you; the navigational system's locked onto some kind of automatic course. Whoever built this thing designed it to go to one specific place upon launch, and we can't figure out exactly where. If we turn on the warp drive again, my guess is, it'll just resume program and off we'll go toward Destination X again." "Well, since I seem to be captain of this thing, since no one else wanted the blame, ahem, responsibility, I guess I better make a decision." "What do you want to do?" "I say we reengage the warp drive and find out where we're supposed to go." "You sure you want to take the chance?" "What the hell else are we going to do? Bop around the cosmos sightseeing?" "Well, ok, I just hope there's something waiting for us when we get there..." "I hope if there is, it's friendly..." ----------------------------------------------------------TWO "All my father wanted to do was make a toaster you could really set the darkness on. And you took his work and perverted it into those hideous machines!" --Sylia Stingray, kind of. EARTH The GENOM tower gleamed, silver and mirrored, stretching all the way up to the two hundred ninetieth floor; it was nothing compared to the vast arcology it would later enjoy, but for now it was a most impressive structure, a huge tower of glass and steel reaching for the sky. All around it were the corporation's actual production facilities, connected into one huge complex by a network of tunnels and glass transtubes and the like. The whole vast complex had sprung up seemingly overnight, in fact, it was overnight, complete with its own airport and all, in the center of the crater that was once Worcester, Massachusetts. At the building's very top, the president, owner, chief executive officer, and undisputed lord and master of GENOM had his office. And a huge office it was too, encompassing the entire 290th floor, excepting the outer office and secretarial pool. It offered him a beautiful three hundred degree view of the surrounding wasteland; the remaining sixty degrees were taken up by beautiful oak-paneled walls containing bookshelves, paintings, and the like--and of course the huge, armored oak door to the office. The back of the office, in front of the windows, was dominated by a two- step-high dais upon which rested a magnificent desk, a desk that appeared to consist entirely of black glass and small glowing lights. Behind that desk, in a luxuriant leather chair, sat the man who controlled the corporation like Kurita Takashi controlled the Draconis Combine in the 3020s, a mysterious man known only as Largo. Largo was tall and thin, with straight black hair and penetrating, narrow brown eyes; he looked Japanese, but no one could ever tell it to hear him talk. He spoke English with no accent at all. He spoke many languages with no accent at all, as a matter of fact, which led a lot of people to mistrust him; there were many such facets of his being that marked him as something more than human. And perhaps less. Largo was, in fact, a modified HBU-99a Hyper-Buma, and the third and final free sentient creation of CLULESS. Created accidentally by Larry "Entropy" Foard, Largo had come into being on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his entire industrial empire underneath it. He had decided early on to seize control of the campus and use its resources to attempt world domination; the faction of students called the Wedge Rats, with the aid of WWWA Trouble Consultant team #261 (the Lovely Angels), defeated him militarily in a resounding battle, slaying his general and most of his original troops. The battle cost the Rats as well; they were forced to flee into space in the small spacecraft their Wedge had become as an energy surge caused by the use of an ExoSalusia Arms Model 4a Wave Motion Rifle caused the nuclear reactor in the Washburn Shops, modified by Largo and company for more power, to go supercritical. The entire city of Worcester and most of the surrounding boroughs were utterly destroyed in the ensuing explosion. Only Largo escaped unharmed, having fled into the tunnels below the campus. There he discovered the underground complex and the means to raise it to prominence. Having done so, he activated its vast resources and began to build his power base. With the Wedge Rats out muddling around in space, there would be no one to stop him this time. He picked up the telephone on his desk and dialed a three-digit extension; upon receiving an answer, he said simply, "This is Largo. Are you still on schedule? Excellent. Proceed as planned. Make sure all is in readiness. It is vital that these three projects be completed at once." He then hung up, stood, and left his office. The turboelevator outside his outer office took him speedily to his specified destination, a biotech lab deep in one of the sublevels. He entered, as he generally did, with the calm and quiet arrogance of one who knows he is absolute master of all he sees. And what he saw at the moment was a crew of expert biotechs clustered around a Mann Systems Series 101-E Bio-SculptTM tank, inside which, suspended in the syrupy red liquid of the tank, was one of his latest pet projects. Actually, it was the second in the series; the first attempt had been, by his standards, a dismal failure. Individual Cybernetic Zygote Enhancement Research, the technicians called it; a biomechanical process whose end result was device similar to a Type 33-S Buma which could control and redirect the energy around it and, in addition generate its own. Revolutionary; Largo looked forward, once it was perfected, to having a similar system implanted somewhere among his own systems, to increase his power. First, though, he wanted a suitable Buma-style testbed. He had insisted on an anthropomorphic design; further, he had insisted that it be female. Perhaps if her AI systems developed far enough and to his liking, he would take her as a consort. "Doctor Astbury," Largo said quietly. The small man working at the master console started violently and turned around slowly, almost reluctantly. "How is your work progressing?" "A-as well as can be expected, sir, considering the precautions we had to take after the failure of the first prototype. Although I still don't see why you considered her a failure; all the energy control systems worked perfectly and her AI was developing at a most pleasing rate--" Largo turned and picked up the spare-framed scientist by the front of the lab coat with a single hand, raising him a good two feet from the floor. "I've explained it to you before, you fool--her psychological profile was all wrong! I want a weapon of mass destruction, absolutely obedient to me--not the living embodiment of conscience! Conscience has no place in my plans, do you understand? That is why I ordered the first prototype destroyed--she could have proven a stumbling block, not an aid!" "A-absolutely, sir. Forgive me." Largo set Astbury back down on the floor, rather roughly; the scientist dusted himself off before continuing, "At any rate, the first prototype has been disposed of, and the second should be ready to come online and begin testing tomorrow morning." "Good. I don't want to have any more failures, Doctor." "You won't, sir. I've taken a great many precautions against the development of such a...benevolent personality in I.C.Z.E.R. 2." "Excellent. Alert me when you are ready to bring this unit on line. I want to be there." Largo went and surveyed the Bio-SculptTM tank. "I want her to know immediately who her master is..." --------------------------------------------------------THREE "As captain, I am responsible for the conduct of the crew under my command." --Captain James T. Kirk ABOUT A WEEK LATER SOMEWHERE IN SPACE "Attention," the Wedge computer announced. "WedgeWarp Drive is disengaging. Five seconds to sublight velocity. Prepare for automated maneuvering." "What's going on?" ReRob asked, climbing up to the bridge from the engine room, as Gryphon slid into his seat behind the computer console. "Hang on," Gryphon replied, pulling more of the ancient pseudo-UNIX commands from his memory and tapping them out on the keyboard, requesting a status report. The readout began appearing on his screen, interspersed with bizarre poetry about cats in the rain. "Got it." The Wedge shifted out of warp drive. Nothing was yet visible beyond the windows of the bridge. "We're coming out of warp, finally; the computer says we've reached our destination system. We'll maneuver into the system on impulse power and make...planetfall? Ookaay... we'll make planetfall sometime later this week." "Planetfall?!" Zoner asked. "Where?" "Um..." Click click click beep! "According to this... Utopia Planitia Naval Shipyard, on the planet Planitia, in the Cygnus Beta system. Marvelous. Never heard of the system or the planet, but Utopia Planitia I've heard of..." "The shipyard where the Enterprise was built," said Lightnin from across the room. "Right. But that's supposed to be on Mars, not someplace in Cygnus Beta." "Okay...we have to tell people about this. Let's get everyone together in the Lower Wedge--Gryphon, where's Kei?" "Probably still asleep. She hadn't gotten back from the gweepery when I went to sleep, and that was at four." "I'm amazed the telnet connections are still up..." ReRob mused. "Sub-ethernet?" Ben hazarded. "Shut up," ReRob replied, giving him a gentle "duh" with his hat. "Well, better get everyone together," Zoner interrupted. "Comm officer, have everyone assemble in the Lower Wedge." "Like yo, like everyone get to the Lower Wedge. Like, Captain Zoner wants to say something. Like that's all, and like have a day," q announced over the PA system. "Thanks q...I think," spake Zoner. NOT LONG AFTER "Well, is everyone here?" inquired Zoner. "I think so, I don't feel like counting," answered Gryphon. "It really doesn't matter, with the size of this ship word doesn't take long to spread," Zoner commented; then, turning his attention to the gathered crowd, he raised his voice: "Hey, everyone! I have a little announcement to make. As you all know by now, we've come out of warp and we're rapidly approaching a planet. It appears that we're supposed to make planetfall there." This was followed by a lot of murmurs and grumbling, and a few shouted questions to the effect of "What planet?" "The planet is Planitia in the Cygnus Beta system. We'll be docking at the Utopia Planitia Naval Shipyard there." This was followed by a lot more murmuring and grumbling, as well as a few shouts of "Hey, that's where the Enterprise was built!" from the Trek fans amongst the group. "Yes, as some of you seem to have realized, the Utopia Planitia Naval Shipyard is where the Enterprise was built. Of course that wasn't in the Cygnus Beta system. Since this is our first contact with aliens, I hope we don't have any xenophobes amongst us. I really doubt it with this group, but I don't want to have anyone run screaming at the sight of any strange creatures." As if on cue Android entered the Lower Wedge, apparently having just awakened in the gweepery. Several people ran screaming. "Ok, ok. That'll be enough of that. Come on guys, I'm serious here. It's hard enough being captain when I know that it's only because no one else wanted to take the blame if anything went wrong, and the fact that I was the first to have a Rho Alpha Tau hat made. At least show me a little bit of respect, I don't ask for much. I mean I've been finding my comics all over the ship, and my VCR is ready to burn out. And do I complain? No! I'm getting sick of having this responsibility! You think it's easy to be responsible for all of you? Do you think I really know what I'm doing? Don't you think I'm just a little scared about meeting aliens? What if they're hostile? I really don't care about myself, but I have to worry about you too! I mean what if they're huge bug-eyed monsters with..." Zoner trailed off as q and ReRob dragged him out of the Lower Wedge. "Well, Zoner seems to be just a little bit stressed, what a surprise. Don't worry, he de-angsts once in a while, he may actually get over it," Gryphon assured the crew rather caustically. "Meeting adjourned--and keep him away from knives! And Logan!" he shouted to q and ReRob. A SHORT WHILE LATER Knock knock knock "What do you want?" Zoner shouted over the sound of Pink Floyd's "Brain Damage". "Just thought I'd check on you, how're you doing?" Gryphon enquired. "Ok, just listening to some Floyd to calm down and cheer up. So far I've gone through Wish You Were Here, The Final Cut, and I'm almost through with Dark Side of the Moon. I've been a little stressed, 'lot on my mind ya know." "Uh, yeah, Floyd to cheer up. Yeeeap. Anyway, what's on your mind?" "Other than suddenly becoming captain of a starship--a really small, silly looking starship, but a starship nonetheless--I've been worried about some of the people we left behind." "Like who?" "Well, other than the few thousand innocent civilians that I didn't know who got vaped, I've been worried about Matt and Jenna. I mean they just got engaged and then they get dragged halfway across the cosmos. I don't think Matt is too happy about that, and Jenna was almost done with school. And, oh I don't know..." "Well, do you think they'd prefer being dead?" "I doubt it, but a lot of people are having trouble dealing. Most everyone on board lost all of their possessions. Computers, TVs, VCRs, stereos, clothes, everything! I got lucky, E7 got included in this flying trashheap, all of my kipple got brought along. You too, I still have trouble handling that coincidence. Then there is the human factor. I mean, I don't know that many people outside of WPI, so most everyone I know made it out. But there are a lot of people here who lived and worked in Worcester and lost many of their friends. This isn't anime, those people weren't ink, they were real living breathing people. My conscience has been nagging at me since we left Earth. What right do I have to be alive when I'm partially responsible for their deaths?" Gryphon was uncharacteristically silent for a few moments. His fists were clenched, and he appeared to be struggling not to scream, his breathing ragged and uneven. Then he looked up and said, calmly and evenly, "Zoner...I haven't mentioned this for the past week...I've been trying not to think about it, not to face it. I finally came up against it last night. Do you know who was in Worcester last month?" "Who?" "My mother." He turned and walked away, pausing briefly on the landing to make a Zoneresque fist hole in the far wall. ---------------------------------------------------------FOUR "Buy the sky and sell the sky/And lift your arms up to the sky/And ask the sky and ask the sky/Don't fall on me" --R.E.M. Zoner sat there, staring at the doorway for a while. Then he sighed deeply, walked over to his desk, and grabbed a large stack of cassettes. "Great, just what I needed to hear. We killed Gryph's mother too. I love this, I really do. Life is shit." He dropped Meddle into his box and turned it up. Gryph walked into E7's living room and slammed R.E.M. Tourfilm into the VCR, piped the audio through the stereo, plugged in some 'phones, and proceeded to wall off reality. Not that he could get away with that...it wasn't long before Yuri came into the room, looking depressed, and slumped down on the couch, picking up a book at random. Ben paused the tape and took off the phones. Ripped up as he was, his natural instinct to help people was overriding his angst. He got up off the floor, went over, and sat down next to Yuri. "Hi, beautiful," he said with only semi-forced cheer. "You look depressed." "Zoner's Floyding again," Yuri said, putting down the book. "I hate it when he shuts me out like this." "Yeah...I know what you mean. It happens to me all the time too. There are only a couple of people in the universe he can open up to." "I understand that, on some level...but I'm his lover, for Christ's sake! If he can't trust me..." "I think he's still a little afraid of how close he's gotten to you. He has a hard time trusting; he's been screwed over too many times before to not be wary, even paranoid. Oh, fuck it, why am I making excuses for him? To hell with him." "Ben!" Yuri said, looking surprised. "You don't mean that--what's wrong with you?" "Me? Oh, nothing. I'm fine. Juuuuuust fine. I just went and dumped a whole 'nother load of unnecessary shit on Zoner, that's all...kicked him when he was down...that was just so fucking kind of me..." "What are you talking about?" "Yuri, my mother died back in Worcester. She was at the Marriott when the reactor blew. I haven't told anyone because I haven't wanted to deal with it, I've tried to keep it out of my mind. And just now Zoner was telling me about how we got so lucky and we didn't lose anyone we cared for and I...I just snapped at him...I...aw, hell..." He began to cry, unashamed. (Real men don't need to be ashamed.) "Oh, no..." Yuri said in a small voice. "Your mom?" She took Gryphon, resistance or no, up into a hug. "I'm so sorry." "It's all right...I don't really hurt any more...I just feel numb about it. I can't really believe she's gone yet..." "Shh...it'll be all right, eventually; just let it out." Ten minutes later, Gryphon, exhausted, burned out, wired beyond hope, and caffeine fried, had drifted into a tortured sleep. Yuri settled him out on the Fold-O-Couch-O-Death MkII, covered him with the blue blanket, took his keys, and went over to his room. "Kei, wake up." "Nrrrgg...whut?" Kei turned over and flipped the sleeping bag out of her field of view. "Yuri? What is it?" "Go down to E7. Now." Kei looked startled at Yuri's intense tone of voice. "Yuri, what's the matter?" "It's Ben. He needs you. Go. Now." "Ben? What's wrong with him?" Kei asked, getting out of bed and opening up one of the drawers. "He's seemed a little preoccupied for the past couple of days, but I put that down to not really knowing where we are..." She put on her Operation Zenith shirt and a pair of black fatigue pants, then pulled on her shoes. "What's the matter with him?" "He just told me...his mother was in Worcester when the reactor blew." Kei paled. "Oh, no. Shit! Thanks, Yuri..." Without even bothering with her hair or anything, Kei took off for E7 at a dead sprint. Acting Ensign Android entered the Upper Wedge from the engine room. "Yo, q, you seen Zoner or Gryphon around?" "Um, yeah, like I think they went down to E7, like a while ago. Like why?" "Nothing too important, we've been trying to˙figure the engines out. We think they may make some use of negative mass, so we have Truss down there, to see how many GNDN pipes he can hit his head on. He's sorta the neg mass expert anyway." "Well, like I wouldn't bother them right now. Zoner's like a little stressed, and Gryphon's like a little zonerish." "Oh, well, if they ever walk through ask them to drop by engineering." "Like, will do." As Android opened the hatch to engineering, muffled cries of "Watch out John!", "Huh?" and "Ouch!" drifted into up into the Wedge. "Like, tell him to be more careful. Like he might damage something." "Ok, see you around." "Ben, wake up," Kei said softly. "Hmm?" Gryphon peeled an eye open and looked up, willing the nearly useless instrument to focus, damn it, on who was speaking. He could tell the voice instantly, but-- Kei's strong arms grabbed him up in a fierce embrace, in such a sudden manner he nearly jumped through the ceiling. "Kei, what--" "Yuri just told me. Oh, God, Ben, I'm so sorry...I had no idea. Do you forgive me?" "Forgive you for what?" "I should've been able to tell something was bothering you, I should've been there for you to talk to--I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." "Don't be so hard on yourself...it's not as if you abandoned me to the wolves or something. I was hiding something from you, I should be the one apologizing." "You were hiding it from yourself." She didn't appear to be planning on letting him go anytime soon, which suited him just fine. "I wish we still had a city to go for a walk in, 'cause I need a good long walk...or drive...I wish I had a car...I wish a lot of things. But you know, I'm still the luckiest person alive." "Why?" "I still have you." Kei and Gryphon sat in the living room of E7 holding each other and watched the rest of Tourfilm. They didn't say much to each other, they just enjoyed the warm feeling of being close to someone you care deeply for, and enjoyed the occasional gentle kiss, just because. Near the end of the tape Yuri returned to E7. "How are you two doing?" she asked, a concerned look on her face. "We're doing ok," Gryphon answered. "And thanks." "Thanks? Thanks for what?" Yuri inquired. "For telling Kei. I couldn't seem to do it myself." "No problem, really. That's what friends are for." "I can tell by the sound that Zoner is still Floyding." "Yeah, he's been up there all day," Kei added. "Sometimes I just can't understand him. Why doesn't he talk to people when he has problems?" Yuri asked. "Well, he talks to a few people," Kei answered. "Like who?" "Well, er, um, well. He talks to Jenna, and Daver and Helene. But mostly Jenna," Gryphon offered. "Why can't he talk to me?" Yuri asked; then, turning her attention to Gryphon she said, "What you told me earlier, I can't think of anything bad enough to make him isolate himself like this." "Well, he had someone who he thought was his best friend, someone he totally trusted, use that trust to take advantage of him. And he grew up with a juvenile delinquent for a sister. So he isolated himself totally and became a loner. It wasn't until he came to college and found the Wedge that he opened up and began trusting people. It takes a long time for him to open up to others, even those he loves. And it doesn't just bother you. It drives me crazy, and it bothers a lot of other people too. But don't worry about it, he'll open up eventually." "I hope so, I feel like he doesn't want me to know about him. And even though he doesn't say it, I know he partially blames us for the deaths of all those people in Worcester. Ever since we left Earth he has been even more reserved than normal. I'm worried about us," Yuri added, distraught, "Maybe he doesn't really want me around." "Why don't you go up and see him?" Kei suggested. "Maybe I will, thanks guys," Yuri said as she got up and went up to Zoner's room. "I'm worried about her," Kei whispered to Ben. "How come?" "She really likes Zoner. But she is a little shy and insecure. I think she thinks Zoner wants to get rid of her. If he doesn't snap out of his depression soon he just may drive her away. And leaving him would hurt her a lot. And if he hurts her I may have to hurt him." "I don't think he would do that." "Not intentionally, but he had better change his mood soon or the end result will be the same." "Maybe I'd better have a talk with him about--" "Shhh! Here comes Yuri." Yuri came down the stairs, crying. Kei jumped up and hugged her. Gryphon scrambled after her. "Yuri, what's wrong?" "He said he wanted to be alone for now. I don't think wants to see me anymore." "Shhh, don't be ridiculous. Zoner loves you." "He sure has a funny way of showing it!" "He's just having a hard time dealing. He has been under a lot of pressure. I'm sure he'll come around," Gryphon offered in an attempt to comfort Yuri. "Are you sure?" "Positive," Gryphon said with a smile. "He's going to get a good loud screaming at in any case." "You're... you're probably right," Yuri sobbed, wiping her tears. "I'll just give him some space." Kei, Yuri, and Ben all turned to look as the door to E7 opened and Jenna entered. Ben's face twitched an "Oh, no." "Hello. How're you guys doing?" Jenna asked. "Umm, we're doing ok," Gryphon answered for the group. His voice carried an inflection which said without words, "As though I thought you gave a fuck." "Well, I'm just here to see Zoner," Jenna replied, taking his tone as basic assholishness. (After all, she didn't know him or what he was like...maybe he was just an asshole.) She ignored him and asked the others, "He upstairs?" "Yep," Gryphon answered, even though he hadn't been asked. "He's up there Floyding." Jenna just looked coolly through him and replied, "Thanks, see you later." The group watched as Jenna walked up to Zoner's room. They heard her knock on his door and they heard her say something to Zoner. The volume of the music dropped and they heard his door close. "Aw fuck..." Gryphon muttered. "He'll talk to her, but not me! I thought he wanted to be alone! I knew it, he doesn't love me!" Yuri cried, her tears starting anew. "Shhh. Don't say that. You don't know that," Kei tried to comfort her. "Yeah, I'm sure there's a reason why he wants to see her," Gryphon said as he joined the group hug. Not that he was any too confident of it. "The reason is that he probably loves her, not me!" "How can you say that! Jenna is just a good friend of Zoner's. She's engaged to Matt anyway, you know that. Don't be foolish. He's known her longer than we've even existed and they've helped each other out with their problems. That's what friends do. Don't throw away this relationship because of silly assumptions!" Kei scolded Yuri. "I wish I could be as sure as you are," Yuri sobbed, "I've got to go...he wants room. I'll give him room." With that she ran out the door. "Well, doesn't this just suck all to hell," Gryphon said, leaning back against the back of the couch and rubbing his eyes wearily. He truly did tire of Zoner and his mood swings at times. "Now we really have to do something," Kei said as she placed her arm around Ben. "Agreed," Ben said, hugging her back. "But what?" ---------------------------------------------------------FIVE "What we've got here is...failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week. Which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. And I don't like it any more than you men." --Strother Martin There was a knock on Zoner's door and it swung open. That latch really needed to be fixed. "You wanted to see me?" Jenna asked, standing in the door to Zoner's room. "Hmmm? Oh, yeah. Come in. " Zoner swept his hand toward the one available chair in his room. The other was busy supporting his box, which he turned down. "What did you want to see me about?" Jenna asked, closing the door. "Well, first off, I want to apologize for dragging you off into deep space like this." "It's ok, it's not your fault." "Yeah, right. Anyway, we have a large group of people on board with out much order. So far we have a skeleton crew for the bridge and that's about it. Most of the work gets done in a haphazard fashion. Whenever something needs to be done, whoever wants something to do does it. I think it's time we tried to organize things. And to start I'd like to make you Chief Medical Officer." "Well, I guess so. But why me?" "Because you have the most experience. You're in your last year of nursing school and that makes you, by far, the most qualified." "Ok, but what do we have for equipment?" "We have the standard stuff in E7 and M401, bandaids, gauze, tape, cold medication, all of the basic stuff you find in an apartment. Plus we have Jay's EMS bag for anything major. But we don't have any real medical equipment, so I hope no one really hurts themselves, or anyone else for that matter. And we have ReRob, who has First Responder training, and flots of us know CPR and basic first aid." "Well, we'll just have to make do with what we have. Is there anything else?" "Well, yeah. I also want you to be in part of any planetary exploration we may do. Your geology degree may come in handy. Of course that's only if you want to do it." "I guess it won't be any problem, it'll give me something to do. But Zoner.." "Yeah.." "What's really bothering you?" Zoner let out a deep sigh. "Everything, I mean I'm only 21 and I still don't think I'm mature, and I'm responsible for nearly one hundred lives. I don't think I'm prepared for this responsibility. Plus I feel responsible for all of those lives lost in Worcester. And today Gryphon told me his mother was in Worcester when it was vaped. Sometimes, I don't know if it's all worth it. And I feel bad about screwing up everyone's lives. Especially you and Matt. You guys just got engaged, I don't think you or Matt are very happy with this situation." "Well, it is a little unsettling, but I'd rather be here then dead. If we hadn't been involved with the Wedge War we probably would have been at home, and our apartment was vaporized. Don't blame yourself for the deaths, you didn't do it. You couldn't control Coyle. I trust you, you have always pulled through when you had too, I'm sure you will do fine as captain. If you ever need to talk I'll be there." "There is one more thing." "What's that?" "Yuri. I think I'm driving her away. I love her, but I can't seem to deal with her. I don't know why, I think it's because I've gotten so close to her so fast. I'm not used to it, at all. You know better than anyone else how hard it is for me to open up. You're one of the few who I feel I can trust. I think part of it is that I feel we're all responsible for the destruction, and I feel guilty about blaming her. It wasn't her fault...." "It wasn't your fault either." "Thanks. Anyway, I have to do something. I'd better talk to her." "It's always best to communicate with those you care about." "Thanks, how'd you like to be Ship's Counselor too? Just kidding, I would never drop that on you. And thanks for your support. Just knowing you have confidence in me helps a lot. Good friends are the greatest treasure a person could ever have. Thanks for being there. And I'm here for you too." "I know, thanks." "You'd better go find Matt, I think he's a little upset with this whole situation." "And you'd better talk to Yuri." Jenna and Zoner embraced, and she left the room. "Well, I feel a lot better now. I'd better go see what's been going on for the past few hours. And I've got to stop talking to myself," Zoner commented. "Well, I can hear you," Logan mumbled from under his covers. "Xmas! How long have you been in here?" Zoner asked, in a rather startled voice. "All day, I was up all night playing Cosmic Encounter in the Wedge." "Sorry about waking you up." "No problem, what time is it anyway?" "Hmm, it's 10:37. What time did you go to bed?" "About noon thirty, it's about time I got up anyway." "Well, I'm heading up to the Wedge. See ya if you ever get out of bed." "Ok, see ya." He found Gryphon and Kei asleep on the Fold-O-Couch-O- Death MkII; the look of near-contentment on Gryphon's face cheered Zoner somewhat as he went out the front door, slammed it shut, and climbed the stairway to the bridge. Perhaps the world wasn't as shitty as it seemed. "Status report?" he inquired of q as he entered the bridge. "Like, not much is happening. We've got Truss downstairs looking over the engines, and like Android came up with an estimate of how long it's gonna take us to like get where we're going." "Which is?" "Couple'a days." "Ok, and I think we'd better make another announcement to the crew. I recently realized that no washers or dryers got included in this wreck. I have my closet full, but most people only have the clothes on their backs. I noticed people washing their clothes in the bathrooms. I have some extra stuff, so I can lend stuff to others. Of course most of my stuff will be a tent for anyone else, but at least they're clean. Actually, everyone in E7 has a bunch of stuff, I'm sure they'd be willing to lend stuff out. Anyway, the couple of days will give Gryphon time enough to recover so he can lead the away team, I hope. I want our first contact with whoever we're going to meet to be with him; he's one of the more stable people here when dealing with strangers." "Like bullshit?" "Okay...but it'll give him something to do." "Like good point. Um, like, recover from what?" "I don't know if he wants everyone to know or not...I can't tell you. Sorry." "No problem..." "Where's Yuri?" "Dunno." "Has anyone seen Yuri?" There were a series of NO!'s which did not in anyway resemble a resounding chorus. "Well, if you see her let her know I'm looking for her. I'll go check E7 again." "Kei. Kei. Wake up," Zoner said, gently shaking her. "Mmmpphh?" "Kei, do you know where Yuri is?" "Yuri? Uhhh, no, why?" Kei responded sleepily. "I need to talk to her." "Well, you sure didn't want to earlier!" "What do you mean?" "She ran out of here crying when Jenna came to see you." "She did? Why?" "She doesn't think that you care about her any more." "How could she ever think that? Of course I care about her. In fact the reason I'm looking for her is so I can apologize for the way I've acted the past couple of weeks. Jenna helped me sort out my feelings about our situation." "Gaaah...that's the captain of all `duh's," Kei observed coldly. "Okay, let me spell it out for you: Yuri is convinced that you don't care about her. When you let Jenna in to see you right after you turned her away she was convinced that you loved Jenna and not her." "How could she assume that?? Jenna is a good friend. I care about her a lot, sure, but I care about all of my friends. I owe my life, and more, to her, she's earned my trust and I enjoy talking with her. We're similar in many ways. But we're just friends! Yuri is the one I love!" "Yuri can be insecure sometimes," Paul said from the sofa by the stereo. "Paul!" Zoner and Kei exclaimed in unison. "How long have you been over there?" "..." was Paul's response. "Mmmmmwuarrrrggh. What's all the noise? Who turned on the goddamned light?" Gryphon mumbled. "It's Zoner, I'm looking for Yuri." "Oh are you." Zoner had the sudden feeling that Happy Fun Gryphon was neither happy nor fun at the moment. "Yeah, I want to talk to her." "Hmm. Why the sudden change of heart?" "I just need to talk to her." "Oh, I see." Gryphon's voice dripped with disdain. "Well, after you blew her off, she said she would, how did she put it, `give you room'. See, she has a noble nature, and she's insecure sometimes...she thinks you love Jenna, so she's getting out of the way rather than tie you down to something you don't appear to want. In other words, bonehead, she left." "Left? How the fuck can you leave a ship in deep space--hold it," Zoner said, a creeping fear rising and being quickly crushed as he ran to the PA box. "q, start a search for Yuri. And... And have the crew check on all spaceworthy vehicles." "Like, will do. Any particular reason?" "Yeah, I think Yuri may have taken one and left." "Like, why?" "Long story, I don't want to get into it now. Just get on it. Ok?" "Like, ok." "How long ago did she leave?" Zoner asked, turning his attention back to Ben and Kei. "She left while you were talking with Jenna," Kei answered. "That was about an hour ago!" Zoner yelled, visibly upset. "Well, it's your own fucking fault she left," Ben snarled. He was obviously very upset, and taking it out on Mr. Convenient Target himself. "Ben! How can you say that to him? He's upset enough with things the way they are. He doesn't need you to rub it in," Kei scolded. Yuri's departure was tearing her up as well, but she had slammed a good heavy layer of fake toughness over that--it wouldn't start to consciously bother her for a good two hours. "It's ok, Kei, I deserved that. It is my fault. If I hadn't been so self-absorbed I would have noticed that I was driving her away. The important thing to do now is find her." "Yo, like Zoner," q's voice called from the PA. "What'd you find, q?" "Yuri doesn't appear to be onboard, and.." "And what?" "It appears that like the Garland is gone too?" "Shit! Thanks, I guess I'll have to look for her myself. q, start transmitting on our communications frequency. Send out the following message: `Yuri, I still love you. Please return. Zoner.'" "Like, I'll start right now. And Zoner?" "Yeah?" "Like good luck." "Thanks, q." Ben rose purposefully from the bed and pulled on his shoes. "Where're you going?" Kei inquired. "Out." "Out where?" "Just out. Out the back door. I'd advise you all to grab something anchored." Gryphon rezzed up his GRF-3N Griffin III Armored Combat Suit and walked to the back door. "Oh shit, grab something!" Zoner yelled. Gryphon opened the door and stepped out into space. Accompanied by a large amount of kipple which was blown out along with a good deal of air. The PA blared to life. "WARNING! WARNING! HULL BREACH! HULL BREACH! HULL--NEVER MIND. I'M GETTING SICK OF THIS." "Well, he isn't the only one who's going to search for her," Zoner said as he grabbed his CVR-3 and took off at a run for the bridge, slapping pieces of it into place as he ran (an awkward task, to be sure). ----------------------------------------------------------SIX "Did you ever have one of those days when it all was going wrong?" --Tesla "ReRob, you have the conn. I have to do a little Search and Rescue mission." "I heard. Where's Gryphon?" "He put on his armor and went out the back." "Oh, that explains the alarm. Good luck." "Thanks, I'll need it. See you when I find her." With that Zoner climbed the ladder to the Daytona from Hell. "If you find her," ReRob mumbled. Just after he left, Kei entered the bridge, wearing her black CVR-3 and carrying a large box with wheels on it. She stepped into the portside airlock and, without saying a word, decompressed it into space. Unfolding her VR-052 Battler Cyclone, she transformed it to battloid mode and streaked away on full jet. Zoner looked down at his sensor panels. Radar was indicating himself, the Wedge, and three other blips. One was moving away from the Wedge at Mach 1 (where Mach in space was determined to be 750 mph), one was directly on its trail at Mach 4.7, and the other was coming up behind him at 400 miles per hour. The Mach 4.7 blip was undoubtedly Gryphon; his armor was the fastest thing in the Wedge's arsenal. Even the Daytona from Hell could only sustain Mach 3.5, for now. The 400-mph blip had to be a Cyclone, which would make it Kei; nothing else was that slow in space. That left the obvious one, the one with the biggest head start and the odd speed, to be the Garland. Zoner opened up a radio frequency to the Cyclone. "Kei, that you?" he asked. "Of course it is. She's my partner, I'm not gonna sit back and let other people search for her." "It isn't much of a search; I have her on radar." "Yeah...my Cyclone only has one-mile radar capability, or I'd be seeing her. The Wedge just went off my scale." "That thing's too slow," Zoner said as he braked. "Catch up and grab on." "Right. Thanks." Zoner slowed further, allowing her to catch up and grab onto the Daytona's undercarriage. Then, as soon as she was sure the Cyclone's powerful exoskeleton had a good grip, he opened her up. Gryphon was half-exulting in the incredible feeling of streaking through open space at nearly five times the speed of soundlessness--and half-worried to death. He could see the glow of Yuri's thrusters now, having closed the gap between them quite rapidly. The GRF-3N was a damn mobile piece of equipment. On the other hand, coming up behind her so fast, it was quite certain that she would notice him before long. Indeed, she did notice him; the Garland suddenly spun, as he got within visual-detail range, and raised its 25mm machine rifle. "Stay away, Ben," Yuri's voice said in his ears. "I can take a hint. I appreciate the sentiment, but don't try to bring me back." "Yuri...first of all, I doubt you can hurt my armor with that gun. Second, I'm not going to leave you out here. You're at least two weeks from anywhere you can get out of that thing, and you only have a couple of hours of air. Third, Zoner is extremely sorry for what he did. I made certain he feels like shit about it." "Sure he's sorry. There's nothing for him to be sorry for. He just doesn't love me, that's all--it's not his fault. I won't stand in his way." Her voice caught. "I don't believe in tying people down." "It isn't like that. It's just that he never thinks." Gryphon had nearly pulled even with the Garland by now. "You know how he just pulls incredible `duh's sometimes...he just never thought that you would doubt him." "Fuck that!" Yuri shouted bitterly. "I'm not stupid, you know--I can take a hint. When someone says `go away' that loudly and clearly, I can hear them. I'm not Nedlike." "Now you're being just as silly as he was. He didn't even realize he was hurting you until Kei and I told him. Even then it surprised the hell out of him. He loves you." Before she could interrupt him with anything more, he cut in, "And so do I." "What?!" Yuri replied. "But what about--I can't believe you'd do something like that to Kei--" "No, no, no, no, no, geez, why does everyone automatically assume when a man says something like that to a woman he means--Christ, Yuri, you love Kei and Kei loves you, and you go around shooting people if anyone implies something like that between the two of you! Great. Now I'm getting angry. I don't want to be angry, goddammit! I don't know any way to explain it except one that sounds really lame... Yuri, I never had a sister. I'm an only child." "I know what you mean...I'm sorry I shouted at you. I'm just a little on edge, or I would've known what you meant right from the start..." "We all love you, Yuri." Gryphon noted the Daytona from Hell closing in from back from the direction of the Wedge, with a Cyclone riding the undercarriage. The channel squawked a bit as Zoner cut in the Daytona's comm gear. "Yuri! Stop this, I'm sorry, I really am. Please come back. I...I love you." "You're lying! You're just saying that so you don't look bad, you don't really care. I've seen you with Jenna. You're always talking to her, telling her your problems and secrets. If you really loved me you'd talk to me." "Fine. I understand, I caused you to lose your trust in me. I apologize for that. I realize you won't be able to simply jump back into our relationship. But I do still love you, and you must still care for me or you wouldn't be running away like this." "I don't care anymore. I wish you would just get out of my life!" "Yuri, you don't mean that. You ran because you were hurt. You wouldn't be hurt by what I did unless you cared. Even if you don't want to talk to me, don't do this to everyone else. What about Kei? You know you can't just run away from her. And what about the rest of the Wedge? Everyone likes you, hell, we all love you. You're one of us. Are you just going to run away from everyone?" "Stop it! Just stop it! Don't you dare try and guilt trip me into staying! I...I've made up my mind! I'm leaving!" "Yuri! How can you do this? How can you leave me after all we've been through?" Kei cried out. "Kei, we've hardly been through anything together. We didn't even exist a couple of months ago! It's all fake, my whole life is false. I don't belong here. I wasn't meant to exist, to love." "I guess that's how you feel about me too then, right Yuri? I don't deserve to exist either?" Kei asked, audibly disturbed and translating it to her own form of anger. "Kei, Yuri, you both exist now. In your mind what you remember is as real as everything I've ever done. You exist and you're loved. What is real? How do we know that we weren't all created a few moments ago, memories included? For all we know we're all characters in some stupid story. Why are we here? Because we're here. I could go on forever, but we're not here to do theoretical discussion. I'm here to get the woman I love back." "Well, I'm not going back. I can't go back there now. I can't face you and Jenna. Everyone is going to think I'm a fool." "Will you drop that already! Jenna and I are just friends. Besides, if she thought she was to blame for our breaking up she'd get really down." "That's too fucking bad! You should have thought of that before you shunned me for her!" "Stop blaming this on her! Jenna and Matt are a couple. They're fucking engaged! This is all just because of your being so goddamn insecure!" "I'm insecure! I'm insecure! How dare you call me insecure! You're an insensitive bastard!" "Insensitive?! I may be oblivious at times, but maybe it's my fault for loving such an insecure bitch!" Gryphon couldn't take any more. With a sudden shout of pure, inarticulate rage, he fired his PPC at nothing at all. The resultant flash and the sound of its firing, echoing through the commsystems from inside his armor, silenced everyone. He corrected drift with his reaction jets and pivoted to face them; inside his faceplate his face was slowly turning red. He was crying freely and his voice rang with anguish. "STOP IT!" he screamed. "STOP IT RIGHT NOW! You two love each other! I won't just float here and watch you verbally beat each other's brains in!" He pointed at the Daytona. "You! You're too sensitive for your own good, or at least that's what you think, so you wall yourself off from everything and become one of the most insensitive people in the universe!" He swung around and gestured at the Garland. "You! You're also extremely sensitive. You take his wall routine as some kind of message. Compounding that--is you again!" He swung back toward Zoner. "You also couldn't see the broad side of a clue B-52 if it was sideslipping toward you! You don't even realize you're driving the woman who loves you away--and you don't even for a moment think she might take your forced isolation the wrong way. I'm not even going to get into the ultimate DUH you pulled, I'd get too pissed off at too many people who have nothing to do with this at all." Once again he pivoted toward Yuri. "And you--you're becoming just like him! Your sensitivity is one of your greatest gifts. Don't follow his example and let it block you up into your own little cinderblock world. And don't follow mine either and let what you're seeing around you drive you to the point of utter madness either--figure it out yourself. Both of us are sensitive people who fucked it up...don't do the same thing!" He jetted back so he could face both of them. "What I see here is the most colossal fucking misunderstanding in the universe. You two love each other. You fucked up, you took it the wrong way, you started to drift and then you split. That was stupid! Don't let it end this way. This is one of the best things to happen to either of you--the only really good thing to happen to either of you for a long time! Don't kill it, or so help me I'll kill both of you." "Ben?!" Zoner choked, not sure of what he had heard. Ben hung in space for quite some time, motionless; then his shoulders slumped and he exhaled hard. "I'm sorry...I just lost it. I saw something beautiful crumbling away into dust, and I couldn't handle the sight... I'm sorry. I'll go away now... Suddenly I'm very, very tired." He shut off his transmitter and floated there, quivering with tension. Kei flew to him, braking at his side and putting an arm over his shoulders. Tapping her helmet to his so only he could hear, she murmured, "Good job. If that doesn't do it, there's no hope for either of them." Zoner was silent for quite a while, struggling with his thoughts. Yuri floated silently as well, contemplating. Tension rippled. "Yuri""Zoner," Zoner and Yuri said simultaneously. "Sorry..." "Yuri..." "Go ahead," Yuri said a bit sheepishly. "Yuri, I'm sorry. I'm not really angry with you, I guess I'm angry with myself for driving you away. I don't blame you for running away. I should have talked with you more." "Talking with her at all would have been a good start!" Ben angrily interjected. "Thanks Ben, kindly butt out for now?" Zoner snapped back. "As I was saying, Yuri, I never realized how much your short existence bothered you. We really do need to talk. Please understand, I've been fucked over too many times to open up easily. But if it makes you uncomfortable, I'll tell you more about myself. I guess it isn't fair. I know most of your history, yet I'm mostly a mystery. But we shouldn't sit out her in space and talk, we ought to return to the ship." "I'm sorry too. I guess I let all of my worries add up and overcome me. I reacted a little extremely. I'll come back with you." "Thank you, Yuri. Thank you." "You guys take off, Ben and I will return in a little while." "Ok, and thanks, both of you. Yuri, grab on to the undercarriage. It'll be quicker." "Ok." Yuri grabbed onto the Daytona from Hell and they both departed for the Wedge at high velocity. --------------------------------------------------------SEVEN "I hope you feel real...do you feel real? And if so I'd like to know." --Jesus Jones All was silence. This is How It Should Be in space, but still, it made Gryphon decidedly uncomfortable. Several points he truly hadn't wanted to be raised were in the last couple of minutes, things he really hadn't wanted to think about. It wasn't at all like Kei to be silent for so long... "Ben?" she finally said. He was almost relieved, but her tone of voice set off all his mental alarms. He had a Very Bad FeelingTM about this. "Yeah?" he replied, trying to sound neutral (not easy, considering that his friend Mr. Endorphin Rush was still around). "Do...do you really love me?" "Aw, no...not you too...yes, Kei, of course I really love you! You know you're the most important person in my life. Why the sudden worry?" The answer was perfectly obvious, of course, but the question needed asking nonetheless. "This is some existence thing, isn't it?" "Well...Yuri had a point. Our history isn't real. Almost nothing about us is real. Not even our last names. We aren't real people." She sounded on the verge of tears. "Maybe...maybe we weren't meant to exist." "If you weren't meant to exist, you wouldn't," replied Ben flatly. "But you do." "But I'm not a real person!" She really was crying now. "Aren't you?" Gryphon considered. "You don't think you're real." She shook her head. "Well then...neither am I." "What?!" "Well, if you aren't, I certainly don't want to be. I am hereby no longer real. There. That was easy enough." He grinned under his helmet. "Real, not real...it's all the same. You and I are here, we're together, and I love you more than anyone or anything else. More than my life, if it ever comes to that." "You...you really mean that...don't you?" It was more of a statement than a question. "You never have to ask. The answer will always be the same." He jetted closer and, mecha or no mecha, drew her into a hug. "I'll always love you...real or not." "But...but if I'm not real, can I love you back? You deserve that much." "Well, do you or don't you? It's a simple question." She paused, deep in thought; at this range, through the face shield of her CVR-3, he could see tears squeezing from under tightly closed eyelids and floating spherically into the open space of her helmet. He found himself wondering briefly what her answer would be. "I...yes. Yes. I love you." Her eyes opened and she smiled broadly. Tears of happiness, then. "I love you!" She threw her arms around him, returning the embrace he had held her in for the past few minutes. Ben's spirits shot through the top of all creation--like, have another endorphin rush. Well, there was one crisis past...his own hot tears of relief began to flow freely. "You see? It's simple. My love for you makes you real. Your love for me makes me real. It sounds awfully silly and sentimental, but it's the way things work." "I'm sorry for doubting you...I just...I..." "Sshhh, go ahead. You don't have to be tough around me, I know what you're really like. Zoner's silent-tough-guy-I- can-handle-it routine is what got him into trouble in the first place." He tightened his embrace, careful not to exert anywhere near the limit of force his armor could apply. "You and I are more than lovers. We can share anything. Anything at all. You're my best friend, Kei." "Oh, Ben...I love you so much..." "I love you too, Kei," he replied...and it wasn't just a rote response. They drifted for some time that way, silent, almost helmet to helmet. "Feel better?" Ben asked at length. "A little...I'm still not sure of a few things, but I don't really want to hang out here in space discussing them. I'd prefer someplace more comfortable." "I know what you mean...I don't particularly like open space, myself...on the other hand, I don't like water deeper than five foot three either. I would have suggested going back right away...but I figured a few things had to be cleared up first. Ready to head back?" "Uh huh...you?" "Yep." He pivoted so that he was facing the Wedge (and, consequently, she was away from it), and started accelerating. Slowly, because Cyclones don't have Inertial- Vector control systems, and rapid acceleration to Relative Mach 4.7 would probably damage the wearer. He didn't really need to see where he was going right away; his scopes did that for him. Besides, he didn't want to break eye contact quite yet. Zoner and Yuri arrived back at the Wedge well ahead of Ben and Kei. Zoner dropped Yuri off by one of the airlocks and docked the Daytona from Hell on the roof. Yuri was already out of the Garland and caught in the middle of a group of welcoming Wedge Rats by the time Zoner dropped in through the roof hatch. "Like, welcome back Zoner. Glad to see you were successful," q said in greeting. "Yeah, glad to see you together again," Grendel added. "Well, I think I'm the happiest about the situation," Zoner replied as he worked his way over to Yuri, shedding CVR-3 along the way and dumping it carelessly into the kipple on the floor. "Yuri, I do love you!" Zoner proclaimed as he gathered Yuri into his arms and kissed her. "I love you too Zoner," Yuri replied, kissing him again. "I think we have a lot of talking to do. Let's go back our room. I have a lot to tell you about me," Zoner placed his arm around Yuri's waist and began walking towards the stairway to E7. As they descended the stairway he shouted back, "ReRob, you have the conn until Ben returns, and if he doesn't want it, which he probably won't, even after he returns. And I don't want to be disturbed for anything less than a life threatening emergency." Zoner and Yuri continued on to E7. Mark and Vaughn were in the living room watching the School House Rock video cassette. "Good morning. Welcome back, nice to see you again," Vaughn greeted from the couch. "Pardon me...I saw some neat rocks out the window. I'm going to go play." "You have more problems with women," Mark commented. "Shut up Mark, Yuri and I have a lot to talk about. Don't disturb us." Yuri and Zoner retreated to their room. Gryphon's room was where the Morgan Hall elevator had been; in fact, the entrance to his room was now an airlock formed by the old elevator door and his own old room door. He and Kei, of course, had to get back into the ship through one of the bridge airlocks (opening one of the unsealed doors and sucking some unwary person from the nosh machines into open space being considered rather rude when there was no emergency). As they entered the Wedge, a chorus of applause rose from the people sitting around. "What?" Gryphon said, looking around, confused. "We like heard your rantfest," said q casually. "Like good job." "Oh. Uh...yeah. Sorry." "Nothing to be sorry about, he deserved it," ReRob added. He backed away from the captain's chair. "You want...?" "After that? Yeah, Rob. Riiiight." Gryphon gave Rob a slight "duh". "You keep it...we're going to our room." "Not to be disturbed unless it's a life threatening emergency, I assume?" "Not to be disturbed even if it's a life threatening emergency," Gryphon replied without a trace of sarcasm. "Got something planned, eh?" said Pfloyd with a silly grin. "Floyd...die a most horrible death," said Ben and Kei at the same time. "Uh, Pfloyd? I really don't think this is the time..." said Rob. "Well it's true," Adam said defensively. "Gaaah...he can be such a bonehead," said Ben as he wrote "GRYPHON IS [IN], BUT GO AWAY ANYWAY" on his message board and locked both doors. "I really get tired of him sometimes..." He picked his way through the accumulating kipple and, dumping his black clothes among it, pulled on a t-shirt and some shorts. Now he felt much more comfortable. Out-of-the-room clothes could get so annoying sometimes. He settled onto the bed, sitting up on top of the sleeping bag; Kei, now similarly attired, climbed up next to him, and they then arranged the covers warmly. They spent the next three hours talking about life, one's right to existence, and the crisis they had just passed. Nothing was said about the other worry impending on their minds; what would happen in two days, when they reached their destination. And then, worn out by the high emotions and tension of the day, they went to sleep by the pink glow of the lava lamp. --------------------------------------------------------EIGHT "Though they'll never fathom it behind my/Sarcasm desperate memories lie/Sweetheart sweetheart are you fast asleep, good/That's the only time that I can really speak to you/And there is something that I've locked away/A memory that is too painful/To withstand the light of day" --Pink Floyd Zoner and Yuri lay huddled together on his bed, holding each other as he spun a tale of pain and joy, of friendship and loneliness, as he told her about his life. He looked not at her, but past her, into the past. As he opened his heart to her and unveiled the memories he had locked away he relived the emotions, felt them again and for the first time. She listened, absorbing the story of his life, learning why he was who he was. Being as close to him as she was, and both being empathic, she felt the emotions as he recalled them. She felt the repression of ideas and the resulting rebellion of catholic school. Felt the distance between him and his father grow. Felt his pain at being betrayed by his best friend, felt the fear and guilt of trying to kill his sister, felt the unforgivable crime she had committed that had caused it. She felt the loss of trust for the world which caused him to give up on life, and the depression which caused him to try and take his own. The years of loneliness he forced upon himself to make sure no one got close enough to hurt him again. She felt the fear and insecurity as his parents separated, and the joy and reassurance when they reunited. The more he talked the more at ease Zoner became; he was lost in the lands of memories and dreams, simply retelling his journeys. He could feel the warmth of Yuri's body against his, it was a comforting feeling. Someone he truly cared for, and who truly cared for him, lying next to him, raptly listening to his past. He remembered the two other times he had told so much to another person; just over a year ago, at a party, he needed to talk and Karen wanted to listen. And then this past year, the times he opened up to Jenna. It wasn't easy to get the memories to flow, but once they did they quickly formed into a flood. He continued his tales as Yuri listened in silence. She listened as he told of the many times he had moved, of the friends he had lost. The schools he had attended, and the scams he had run. Of the women he had longed for, the offers of friendship he had shunned. The long cold period of his life when he distrusted everyone and refused to make friends. He told of the false facade he erected ward off any questions, he told of the false happiness which he never quite managed to convince himself was real, yet it fooled everyone else. She absorbed his emotions as he told of his sister whom he loved because she was his sister, yet hated for what she had done to him and others. He may be able to forgive, but he could never forget, nor trust again. She shared his guilt, pain, hate, love, joy, and sadness. He worked his way through the minefield of memory and emotion, avoiding some which were still too painful to tell, and others which he wanted to keep for himself, at least for now. He brought some others out into the light. How he met his new best friend, and how that was the first step to breaking down his wall. She felt his joy of sharing his life with someone else, of finally trusting someone other than himself. The memories of high school were mostly happy, but they were punctuated by the deaths of his grandfather and great uncle. He hadn't cried when they died, less than a week apart. Crying was an ability he had lost a long time ago, and one he wouldn't regain for many years. He caught her up on his first couple of years of college, of first finding the Wedge. The comfort of being accepted by such a diverse group of people came through in his words and voice. He skimmed most of his college life, that much he had already told her, or she had heard from others. We he was finished he felt both cleansed and drained, happy and tired. Yuri didn't say anything at first; she simply leaned over and kissed him, gently. They lay holding each other in silence for a long moment, then Yuri broke the silence: "Thank you. Thank you for letting me in." "You're welcome, it feels good to finally be so open with you. I hope you understand what I've told you, and why I did." "I think so, but we've talked enough for now. Let's just enjoy being together," Yuri murmured as she snuggled closer to Zoner. "Not a bad idea," Zoner replied, holding her tight and kissing her gently. Up on the bridge ReRob sat slouched in one of the Wedgebooths with Grendel, q, and Vaughn. They were speaking in subdued tones in deference to those sleeping around them. "So, what do you think is going to happen?" ReRob asked no one in particular. "What, with Yuri and Zoner?" Grendel asked. "Well, that too. But I was thinking more along the lines of meeting the aliens." "Well, we don't really know that there will be aliens there. It could very well be a dead planet. But I do hope that there are some there, I think meeting some aliens could be neat," Vaughn offered. "Like, it could be most interesting eh," q added. "It'll be interesting to see what their beliefs are, assuming there is intelligent life there in the first place," Grendel observed. "I doubt it'll be like Star Trek. The aliens always speak English, and they're humanoid," ReRob quipped. "And there's always a cute bim for Kirk," Vaughn added. "Do you think Zoner and Gryphon are ready for this? They've been handling a lot of shit since we left Earth, and I'm not sure that they've prepared for this." "Like, they've gotten us this far. I didn't see anyone else jumping at the chance to get their jobs. It's not like they demanded them. Like, they've done ok so far and I'm ready to stand by them," q spieled. "Gee q, I think that's the most words I've heard you string together at once. Well said," Vaughn said, rather stunned. "Like it's just the way I feel," q replied. "Well, I'm not going to walk out on them," Grendel stated defensively, "I'm just worried about how the stress is affecting them. After what happened today I'm wondering if they're thinking clearly enough to run the ship. After all, if they can't control their own lives how can they control a ship full of people?" "I think they'll do ok. I've been living with Zoner for a while now and I've seen him like this before. He can run things ok even when he's stressed...just don't add to it. They're just as nervous as we are about this. No one is really comfortable about visiting a new planet," explained ReRob. "Most people have a fear of the unknown. We just have to make sure that the fear of the unknown doesn't become a hate. Humans tend to hate what they don't understand, and destroy what they hate. Which is one of the reasons I don't like the human race all that much," Vaughn observed. "Like I wouldn't worry too much about that with the Wedge eh?" q replied. "So, we've got one day left. Then we'll see which predictions come true. Now, what about the relationship thing?" ReRob asked. "I think they've got it under control. Gryph and Zoner are fairly new at this, but then again so are Kei and Yuri. They care for one another, I think everything will work out," Vaughn answered. "Well, I think Zoner has to work on his attitude. He has to pay more attention to Yuri," Grendel offered. "Like, I don't think so. They just need to work out a balance," q stated. "They're down there working on it now. Zoner had a lot of talking to do. I've lived with him for nearly two years now and he hasn't filled me in on his past yet. It takes him a while to get around to mentioning things. Most of what I know I pick up little by little. He's going to tell her all of it at once. That could take a while," Vaughn said. "I hope they work it out, the walls couldn't take much more angst!" ReRob quipped. "Hmm...what about Gryph and Kei?" asked Vaughn. "They didn't seem too comfortable either." "Aah," said Rob, "don't worry about them; they're probably asleep. Again. Those two sleep more than the rest of us combined..." "But," said Grendel with his Evil GrinTM, "are they really sleeping?" "WHAM!" shouted ReRob, and hit Grendel with his hat. "As a matter of fact they are... (most of the time)..." "Well, speaking of sleep, I've got to get some. Is there any room in E7?" Grendel asked. "I think there's some floorage in the living room," ReRob answered. "Or you could always sleep in the closet if you weren't worried about what people would say about you." "Uh, yeah. Well, I'll see you guys when you crash," Grendel commented to ReRob and Vaughn. He left. "Like, I think I'll be doing the sleep thing too," q added. "You got a place to sleep?" ReRob asked. "Yeah, like GweepCo saved me a plot in the Lower Wedge," q replied as he walked away. "Sleep well, dream well," Vaughn called after him. "So, you going to become unconscious?" ReRob inquired of Vaughn. "No, I think I'm going to go for a walk. You?" "I'm supposed to be in charge, so I'll stick around here in case any alarms go off or something." "Ok, see you later." Vaughn raised himself out of the Wedgebench and strolled around the corner by the nosh machines past Gryphon's room, pausing to read the message board. Then, with a smile, he pushed open the Morgan doors. SKWEEEEEKrrkkkweequeRUNK--FOOOOMM!!!--wheeet!whio thud hissssssss... "WARNING! WARNING! HULL BREACH! HULL BREACH! HULL--NEVER MIND. HEY GUYS, I'M REALLY GETTING SICK OF THIS. EITHER STOP IT OR I'LL STOP WARNING YOU ABOUT HULL BREACHES!" "Take it easy computer, it's just Vaughn," ReRob spoke into the instrument panel. "WELL IT'S DAMN INCONSIDERATE, NO ONE EVEN PAYS ANY ATTENTION TO THE ALARMS ANYMORE!" "Ok, ok. I'll have Zoner say something to the crew." "THANKS." "No problem." ReRob checked over the control settings and curled up on the Wedgebench to get some sleep. ---------------------------------------------------------NINE "Morning." --Vaughn, no matter what the time. Zoner and Yuri were amongst the first to stir; the Wedge was populated still by visitors to the lands of Morpheus. Zoner awoke first, recalling the events of the previous night. He had let Yuri through the gates in the wall and they were now closer then ever. He propped his torso up on an elbow and gazed down at Yuri's still sleeping form. She seemed so delicate, an elegant living sculpture of flesh and bone. Her dark hair lay spread across the white pillows, her breathing slow and even, her eyes following images unseen by he. The image warmed his soul, but even better was the knowledge that she loved him, and he loved her. It pained him to think that he had nearly driven her away; he had a history of hurting those he cared about. But this time he was lucky, their love was strong enough to overcome their troubles; they were together for good now. He contemplated waking her, then decided to let her continue her peaceful slumber. He was content to watch her sleep and wait. It was nearly an hour before she stirred, as she awoke he leaned across and kissed her lips gently. "Morning, love." "Good morning, Zoner," she replied returning the kiss. "I'm glad I opened up to you, I feel closer to you than I've ever felt before." "I'm glad too, now I feel that I really know you, who you really are. You used to seem so distant. I like to be close to those I love." "Oh really?" Zoner said with a smirk as he hugged her close. "Yeah, really," she replied with a kiss. Looking into her eyes he asked, "You in any hurry to face the world?" "Not especially." "Good," he replied and kissed her again. Kei awoke slowly, as she always did; glancing up at the clock on top of the stereo speaker, she saw that it was seven-thirty. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea which seven-thirty it was; so she picked up the sleeping Gryphon's arm and checked his digital watch to discover that it was 7:30 AM. That task taken care of, she held his hand between hers for a while and looked at him as he slept. He slept peacefully; it seemed about the only time he was ever truly at ease. When awake, he always seemed slightly nervous, charged with some bizarre form of energy that kept him moving, fidgeting, looking around for something to read or watch or listen to. He very rarely relaxed in a true sense without actually sleeping, and it pleased Kei to see him so calm and relaxed. It puzzled Kei what it was about this man, particularly, that drew her to him; he wasn't tall, or muscular, or even particularly handsome, although he was cute, in a way. He wasn't any of the things she had thought she looked for in a man; he was certainly nothing like Carson. (And where was Carson now, anyway? Probably in jail somewhere, or stealing something.) It was proof to her that sometimes even she didn't know what she wanted until she found it...but she had, no, not fallen for him...more like they had taken each other's hand and dived head-first in together. Everything that happened to them, good and bad, cemented them more firmly together. The power of the bond frightened Kei, and she knew it terrified Ben sometimes. She shrugged; such was the way of it, and it was no good trying to puzzle it out. Gryphon had shown a similar ambivalence when the first moves had been made in their relationship, by Kei, that day after the motorcycle chase through Worcester, and she had argued his fears down; and so she did the same to herself and settled down to get some more sleep. She did so enjoy sleeping now. "SECOND OFFICER REROB." "Uhhhnnn, what is it computer?" ReRob asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "WE'RE BEGINNING FINAL APPROACH TO ORBITAL INSERTION. ESTIMATE TWELVE HOURS TO FINAL ORBITAL PATH." "Fine, fine. Thanks for the short notice." "I THOUGHT THAT TWELVE HOURS WAS MORE THAN SUFFICIENT." "I was trying to be sarcastic." "OH." "No problem. Has Zoner or Gryphon been up yet?" "NEITHER ZONER NOR GRYPHON HAVE LEFT THEIR QUARTERS AS OF YET." "Great, well, no need to wake them up yet. They can use the sleep, or whatever. Ah, computer?" "YES?" "Please awaken me whenever Zoner or Gryphon leave their rooms, or we're six hours away. Whichever comes first." "WILL DO." "And computer?" "YES?" "Do you have to speak in that booming voice all of the time?" "IT IS THE ONLY VOICE WITH WHICH I AM EQUIPPED." "Fine, I was afraid of that. See you around." With that ReRob curled back up and attempted to get some more sleep. A few hours later Zoner and Yuri emerged from their room, showered and dressed. They descended the stairway to E7's kitchen to search for some breakfast. Up on the bridge the computer alerted ReRob to their consciousness. "Hmmm. We're running pretty low on supplies. I hope this planet has some, or we're going to be in big trouble," Zoner said to Yuri. "Yeah, we've been living off of Mac and Cheese for days now, and the Pop-Tarts are just about gone," she replied. "Make that gone," Zoner said, holding up the last foil package. "I hope we're doing the right thing. I mean visiting this planet and all," Yuri said worriedly. "Well, it's my responsibility, and it's too late to turn back now. We might as well just have fun with it. I'm sure we'll be ok." "I hope you're right." After finishing their breakfast Zoner and Yuri strolled up to the bridge. "Morning, ReRob," Yuri chimed. "Howsit going?" Zoner inquired. "Well, we're between nine and ten hours out now. Autonav seems to be handling it just fine." "Great. Well, the shower in E7 is available if you want it, I'd hurry before the line gets bad. It's very unusual for the line to be nonexistent in the first place. I'd take advantage of it," Zoner suggested. "Ok, will do. You have the conn, I guess," ReRob replied, walking down to E7. "See you later." "What are you going to do?" Yuri asked Zoner. "I don't know, there's not much to do right now. I've been working on some design mods for the Daytona from Hell. I'm hoping that whomever is waiting for us at the shipyards will be able to do them." "What kind of mods?" "Well, the basic vehicle is great for short range, but doesn't provide for long distance flight. Here, let me show you," he answered, pulling his Trapper out of his back pack. He pulled some sketches out of the Trapper and began gesturing at them as he continued. "I've been working on an idea I got from Mospeada, sort of a Beta unit. Basically it docks with the Daytona from Hell, covering the roof, hatchback, and rear quarter panels. Two arms linkup to the undercarriage to hold it in place, like a fork truck. Then, once the docking surfaces seal, I can pop the hatch back, tilt my seat back, and pull myself along a slide that extends down out of the `Beta'. Same thing for the shotgun seat. Rear seat passengers climb out before I extend the slides. "The `Beta' has sleeping quarters for four, galley, lavatory, and hopefully a warp propulsion system, but I have no idea if they can make one small enough. It's going to be finished in the same flame red as the car. And it will be self-sufficient, so it can act as a separate craft. I'm not sure if I'll have weapons installed yet, I'll have to see what they have there. I think I'll have a craftname painted on the side, but I'm not sure what yet. Oh, and it will have storage for the Garland, here. And a couple of Cyclones, here. It will be fully atmospherically capable and it will turn the Daytona from Hell into a true long distance craft." "Looks like you've been busy. Did you come up with all this yourself?" "Mostly, but Gryphon and ReRob gave me a bunch of suggestions." "Mind if I watch while you work?" "Not at all. We've got some time to kill." ----------------------------------------------------------TEN "Upon first contacting another culture, the explorer must always remember to present a peaceful and calm perspective." --The Explorer's Handbook, 7th Ed. "Gryphon to the bridge. Gryphon to the bridge," the PA system announced. Gryphon awoke, looking around in that annoying post-waking confusion, and unzipped the room side of the sleeping bag. He had the distinct feeling someone wanted to speak to him. "Nnn...what's going on?" Kei asked, sitting up beside him. "Dunno," he replied, shaking his head to clear it, climbing out of bed, and pulling on his bathrobe. "I think they want me on the bridge..." "Hang on, I'll come with you." A couple of minutes later, Gryphon padded into the Wedge in his bathrobe, hair brushed and semi-presentable, with Kei, in a set of WPI sweats, at his side. Everyone else was already there. "What's up, everyone?" he asked. Then he saw the view from the windows. A blue-white planet, looking a great deal like Earth, lay beyond the windows; between them and it was a huge complex of girders, beams, windows, bunker-like objects, and starship construction bays, stretching out in either direction and vanishing in a band around the planet. "Wow," said Kei. "I guess that about settles the intelligent life question, doesn't it?" "Just about," Zoner said from his captain's seat. He seemed oddly relaxed, and he and Yuri had never looked more natural together. Gryphon was forced to smile. "q, have we picked up anything from the hailing frequencies yet?" "Not yet, like I'll let you know. Hold that thought. Like here comes something now." "On screen." "We don't have one." "On speakers, then." "Like right away." There was a burst of static from the PA speakers, and then a human male-sounding voice announced, in mid-sentence, "--lanitia Shipyards welcomes the Wedge. Please allow your automatic navigation system to complete docking maneuvers. Lord Fahrvergnugen will want to speak with your command staff as soon as you arrive. Once again, welcome." The transmission was cut off. "Lord Fahrvergnugen?!" said Zoner. "Oh, no," was all ReRob had to say. The Wedge moved as if with a mind of its own, swinging up even with part of the huge complex and backing into place with a clang; there were thuds and hisses as a docking collar sealed around the Morgan doors. "Well, shall we?" asked Zoner, rising and indicating Gryphon. "Me? Why me?" "You're my exec, bonehead, they said this Fahrvergnugen guy wants to see our command staff. That's us. You too, q, and ReRob. Crocker, get a security squad together; Kei, Yuri, give him a hand." "Ok, I'm ready anytime," said Rob. "NO!" shouted Android. "You ok, 'Droid?" asked ReRob. "You can't go dressed like that!" Android said, grabbing hold of ReRob's Brockton High sweatshirt. "Go change your shirt, what are you, crazy?!" "What the hell--oh. Oops. I'll, ah, be right back." He disappeared. He had forgotten in his anticipation of meeting the people of Planitia that the color of Brockton High was red... "Five minutes, everyone. Meet at the Morgan doors, then we go in. And be ready, we don't know if these people are really friendly or not." Zoner adjourned the bridge meeting. They met at the doors within five minutes (amazing in itself; the Wedge Rats almost never did anything on time). Crocker had a three-man security squad put together; he and his men were wearing CVR-3 and carrying their Gallants in rifle mode by the shoulder straps. Zoner was wearing his standard outfit (Nikes, Blackbird shirt--today's Plane du Jour: the F-117A--jeans, Rho Alpha Tau hat, denim jacket with Eve airbrushed on the back). Kei and Yuri were in uniform, their weapons holstered but ready. Gryphon had on what he had taken to calling his "Wedge uniform": black fatigue pants, WPI sweatshirt, old British Knights, Safematic hat, bomber jacket with RDF patch on sleeve. Rob had changed from his Brockton High sweatshirt to a tasteful beige chamois button-up shirt. A fitting party to go forth and meet the first extraterrestrials humankind has yet to meet. "Now remember," Zoner said, "I don't want anyone screaming and running off, or puking, or anything if they're really ugly, or slimy, or Cthuloid, or anything. That's not the way to start off peaceful relations between peoples." "Wow, Zoner...don't we sound captainly..." Gryph said with a grin. "Shut up," Zoner said good-naturedly, smacking Gryphon gently in the back of the head. "Okay. Everyone ready? Let's go." He reached up and tabbed the door control. The doors swung open silently. Zoner wondered if perhaps, just this once, they wouldn't close with that Godawful noise. The party stepped through. SKWEEEEEKrrkkkweequeRUNKwheeet!whio thud. "Garh," Zoner muttered. The inner doors, huge and smooth and metal and painted with a neat, almost Starfleet-like logo, parted in the center and opened up and down. A small group of humans in lab coats and dress slacks met them. They had stripes, probably denoting rank, on their sleeves and little nametag pins, but aside from that, they looked like perfectly ordinary scientist or technician-type people. "Greetings," said the one with dark brown hair and seven stripes on his sleeve, in a placid tone of voice. "Welcome to the Utopia Planitia shipyards. I am Decker. Please follow me--Lord Fahrvergnugen is anxious to meet you." "Right. You heard the man," said Zoner. "The weapons are not necessary," Decker observed calmly. "I think I'll hang onto mine anyway, if you don't mind," replied Kei. "As you wish," Decker said. The group of technicians led the Wedge Rats down a corridor, to the left, and into a conference room. "Please take a seat--Lord Fahrvergnugen will arrive shortly." And then he and the other technicians left. "This," said Gryphon as he sat down at the table, "is extremely strange." "You said it," said Erik Swimm, part of the security division. "I don't like it." "Oh, come on, you guys," said Zoner. "Don't be so paranoid. It seems perfectly fine to me--Kei, Yuri, what do you think?" "I'm with Erik," Kei said. "It feels like some sort of trap. I hate not knowing what's going on." "I'm not sure," Yuri countered. "There's something about this place..." The door opened and in walked a most impressive-looking figure. The man was alone, and, save for the huge sword at his side, unarmed. He stood six foot eight if an inch, and looked impressively muscled, so far as they could tell beneath the ornate, gold-inlaid black plate armor he was wearing. He wore no helmet; finely chiseled features and a sharp hawk nose dominated his face, and a thick mane of flowing red hair dropped below the fur ridging the top edge of his large black cloak. Brown eyes flashed with intelligence and fire from below his thick, bushy red brows. "Lord Fahrvergnugen, I presume?" said Rob. "You presume correctly," Fahrvergnugen boomed, in a voice that shook the rafters. "Welcome, my children! I have waited long for this moment and it has at last arrived! I am Lord Wolfgang Fahrvergnugen, Duke of Planitia and the master of this shipyard, and I bid you welcome." "Wait a second--what do you mean, `my children'?" Zoner asked coolly. "You are!" Fahrvergnugen replied. "With the exception of those two women," he said, indicating the Lovely Angels with a sweeping gesture of one massive arm, "you are all my children--the culmination of seventeen generations of subtle genetic manipulation and environmental modification! While you have biological parents, you owe who and what you are almost entirely to me." "Pardon me for sounding skeptical here," said ReRob, "but you got anything to back these claims up?" "If you only knew, Robert Mandeville," Fahrvergnugen said with a smile. "Follow me, and I will show you your history--and your future!" He turned and swept out of the room; with a shrug, Zoner motioned everyone to follow him. "This guy is cracked," Fritz whispered to Erik. "You got that right," Erik replied. "And look at the size of him--the guy's a Buma with a flashy paint job!" "Shut up, you want him to hear you?!" Crocker admonished them. "You're a security team, not a debate team." "Do not worry, Robert Crocker," said Lord Fahrvergnugen from the front of the group. "I expect you to think me mad, until I show you the proof I have to support my claims--and worry not, I have proof a'plenty." They entered a huge auditorium, like a lecture hall; Fahrvergnugen beckoned them be seated and, clearing his throat, began to speak. "I was born Wolfgang Amadeus Fahrvergnugen, on the planet Earth, in Germany, in what you know as the fourteenth century. I was a student of the natural sciences. One day, in the process of an experiment concerning magnetism and electricity, something went wrong, a terrible accident." On the screens in the room, still pictures flashed, about one per sentence, illustrating what he meant. "There was an explosion. I awoke here, on Planitia, in the ruins of a huge and advanced city. "I found out years later that my accident was no accident; it was engineered by the being who is now my arch- nemesis, the greatest evil in all of Creation, in an attempt to slay me, who he had foreseen to be his greatest foe. Ironic, is it not, that in attempting to kill me he placed the tools of his own destruction in my grasp? I mastered the technology of the city quickly, and returned home to gather a small band of trusted acquaintances, for I knew I could not leave the great menace unopposed. "My friends and I were too weak to oppose the Evil. We drove them back in the First War, with our faithful starship, the Wedge; but something more was needed. I decided to create a subculture, a race of beings back on Earth, to combat it. I would make them warriors, scientists, freethinkers. Through subtle genetic manipulation, and the slight alteration of their environments here and there, I would nurture my children through as many generations as needed before the Evil arose. Further, I would give them weapons. I selected the site of Worcester Polytechnic Institute as my army began to grow, and caused the college to begin; I rebuilt the Wedge and hid its secrets in its computers, and, when the time was right, I placed it and waited. "When the Encore was installed I linked the Wedge computers to it; I knew some of my children would be gweeps, and my creation's secrets found, when the time was right. My computer technicians created the HoloDECstation 31000 and hid it in Fuller Labs. Everything was proceeding according to plan--until Decker, my aide, pointed out a startling reality I had overlooked. "The Wedge Rats had become too numerous for their intended craft; the Wedge was far too small. The Evil and his soldiers had been preparing as well, also; thus, my army was underequipped in the extreme. I set out to rectify that immediately, racing against time, for it seemed that the time for my children's Awakening was fast approaching. "And then it happened; you were awakened prematurely by that idiot Largo, a creation of my own HoloDECstation--fool I was not to put safeties on it! It was never designed to create life! Although--" he said aside to Gryphon, "I congratulate you on these two lovely ladies. No errors are they, but true undocumented features. Fine work, my son, fine work." Gryphon, Zoner, Kei, and Yuri had a brief four-way puzzled look exchange as Fahrvergnugen continued, "In any event...when I originally created the Wedge, I programmed it to bring my children to me when it was activated, and such it did. Now you are ready to receive the final steps of your training--to be taught in the use of your new weapons and organized into the steel and fire that must be used to combat the Evil when it returns. My timetable is disrupted, but I do not think any unrecoverable damage has been done." "Uh...I hate to interrupt..." said MegaZone. "Go on, MegaZone. Do not fear to ask me anything." "Does that involve a larger ship, I hope?" "But of course it does! You are just in time--your new ship was completed mere days ago, and even now awaits its final painting before it can be called truly finished. I think you will find it more to your liking. Fear not, your faithful Wedge will remain, as part of the new ship; I could not discard my original creation after it served me so faithfully in the First War." "Can we see it?" Zoner asked. "Certainly. Follow me." They followed Fahrvergnugen to an observation bay; the shutters over its huge klaster windows were closed. "Behold your new vessel!" Fahrvergnugen announced, pressing the control that opened the shutters. They swung back--and the assembled Wedge Rat away team gasped. The bay looked out onto a construction slip, fully enclosed and over a mile long. Huge quartz lights beamed light onto the starship enclosed in the slip. It was nearly three-fourths the length of the bay, and looked somewhat like a surface navy ship; the foredeck was vast and swept back to tiered decks and a flying bridge tower topped with a great sensor array, and behind that were huge thrusters. What looked like two smaller spacecraft were attached to the sides, just aft of two huge weapon barrels. Everyone recognized it instantly, but Zoner was the first to shout in a strangled voice: "THAT'S THE SDF-1!" "I thought it best to provide you with a vessel you were already familiar with, and felt comfortable with," explained Lord Fahrvergnugen. "Besides which, Zor is a sometime acquaintance of mine, and he agreed to let me use the basic designs, which was a great timesaver. This ship is the mightiest ship in space! It will serve you well. You see there," he said, pointing to the flying bridge, which was incomplete, with a great gaping hole in the front surrounded by rigging and what looked like hinged panels. "There is where your Wedge goes; it fits right into place, standing in Battroid mode, and then the armor locks over it. Virtually impregnable. The weapons are superior to anything else in space. The Reflex cannon can destroy any adversary. This is the ship of destiny!" cried Fahrvergnugen with an expansive gesture and a guffaw of triumph. He turned to the Wedge Rats. "Now go back to your ship and tell the others what I have told you. I leave the details of your organization up to you; your training and final equipping begins in two days. Only remember: time is short! The Evil is almost upon us!" So speaking, Fahrvergnugen turned to sweep out of the room. "Yo, Wolfgang!" Zoner called out. Lord Fahrvergnugen spun, drawing his sword and sweeping it towards Zoner's head. The blade stopped millimeters from his nose; Zoner didn't flinch. He just assumed a very strange expression. "I am Lord Fahrvergnugen to you!" Lord Fahrvergnugen cried. "Um, yeah, right. Listen, put the pigsticker away, will you? You're a Wedge Rat too, and no Wedge Rat is going to go by the name Lord Fahrvergnugen. So pick something, or we will. You may end up Wolfgang, Wolfy, Fahrv, or something as inane. Oh, and don't threaten me with that thing again or I may have to hurt you." Lord Fahrvergnugen let out a hearty laugh. "I like you. You have the bravery needed to be a great leader. Very well, you may address me as Wolfgang." "Cool, Wolfgang, now, how about supplying a few sets of new clothes, some home entertainment, etc. And nearly everyone here needs a shower. First things first, right?" "You are right, of course, here," Wolfgang said, pressing a button on a comm panel. "This droid will guide you to the rest and relaxation facilities." A small droid glided around the corner. "Excellent, oh, and can I talk to you later?" "Yes, of course, I will summon you later." "Yo, don't be so stuffy, loosen up. Don't `summon' people, drop by and chill for a while." "Very well, perhaps you are correct." Wolfgang said as he swept from the room. "Uh, like weeeeeird?" said q. "Uh yeah," Gryphon replied. "But you know...it all makes sense somehow..." -------------------------------------------------------ELEVEN "As your body grows bigger/Your mind will flower/It's great to learn/'Cause knowledge is power" --School House Rock "Zoner, you wished to speak to me?" Lord Fahrvergnugen asked. "Yeah, I've got a few ideas I want to bounce off of you." "What type of ideas?" "Well, here, look at this," Zoner said, spreading out the plans for the Daytona from Hell's "beta" unit. "I think this would help out a lot, sort of a captain's launch, and I'd like to make it combat capable." "Hmmm, I see you have been busy. It is a good design." "Thanks, by the way, how large do warp engines have to be? And what about weapons?" "Well, microwarp engines can be fairly small, in fact you could possibly install a pair. Here and here, along the flanks. And as for weapons, it depends on the kind." "Well, what do you have?" "Conventional projectiles, directed energy, missiles, mass drivers, you name it." "Well, hmmm, I'd like the basic Daytona to be capable on its own, and the `beta' should function independently. So, how about installing an upgraded fusion turbine, and using an energy bleed to power a couple of plasma weapons firing through the fascia. And how big are missiles?" "Well, long-range missiles are twenty feet long, but that is too large. Short range missiles are about five feet long, and mini-missiles are two feet long." "Two feet? Hmmm. Where where where? I could put them in the undercarriage, that's fine for space, but on the ground they're useless. But still, how about two short rangers mounted retracted along the frame rails, the entire undercarriage is covered in armor sheeting anyway. We just have to be careful of the hover ports. I've got it! We split the rear bumper! A gang of four mini-missiles should fit in each side, the ends pop open and I can fire to the sides, or when separated they slide out a rotate to lie along the sides so they aim forwards." "Good thinking, original and functional. What about this `beta' unit?" "Well, since the airlock is centered in the rear with the three Cyclones in the starboard corner and the Garland in the port corner, there isn't much room for rear firing weapons. I do have an affection for one weapon in particular, and it should fit along the center line on top." "What weapon is this?" "The General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger 30mm rotary cannon: seven barrels of death," Zoner said with an evil grin. "I believe we can manufacture one without many problems," Wolfgang said, returning the grin. "Great. Now, we take up the rest of the roof with a VLS setup." "VLS?" "Vertical Launch System. I figure we can put one hundred micro-missiles up there. The `beta' is about eight feet by twenty feet, not counting the overhang over the car, so that gives one hundred sixty square feet, and each missile takes up what, a square foot including launch box? I figure we mount them starting on the outer edges and work towards the center, that'll leave the center three feet for the GAU-8 and associated systems. We can hang four long range missiles under the `beta', and a rack of ten short range missiles in fold out pontoons, like in the RAH-66 Comanche. Tracking can be provided by a phased array radar, a la an Aegis system. And the Daytona from Hell still has its radar shielding." "Don't get carried away, lad. I think we'll be able to handle this. I'll have my crew get right on it. Can I take these drawings?" "Sure, and thanks." "No problem, I like to see you take the initiative." With that Lord Fahrvergnugen swept out of the room. "Why does he always have to sweep out of a room like that?" Zoner mumbled to himself. "Excuse me, Lord Fahrvergnugen?" Gryphon called out in the corridor. "Please, call me Wolfgang now." "Ok, Wolfgang, I was wondering if I could mention some ideas to you?" "Of course, I've just come from speaking with MegaZone. "Out of curiosity, what type of fightercraft will we be using? "We are in the process of gearing up to produce VF-1 Valkyrie fighters for those who request them, but the main units will be using the Alpha-Beta Legios system." "I kind of suspected that. Listen, how about some modifications to the VF-1S?" "Such as?" "Well, like changing the cockpit layout so that they can be piloted while wearing CVR-3, and providing storage space for a Cyclone for emergency use, like in an Alpha." "A sound suggestion, I will see to it. Is there anything else?" "Well, actually yes. I'd like a personalized craft, seeing as I'm XO and all." "What do you require?" "I'd like a VF-1S, but there are a couple of things I need. For one thing, I'm left-handed, so I'd like to have the control layout reversed." "You as well?" Lord Fahrvergnugen said, slapping the sword hilt at his right hip. "You must be one of the Delta series. I used some of my own genetics in them. But anyway, go on with what you wanted. That should be no problem." "Ok, whatever...anyway, I'd like to have a pair of nacelles which contain microwarp drives, built into the Super boosterpods, if it can be done. And I'd like a VT-1D two- seater with the same type of nacelles for Kei and Yuri. The nacelles will probably need a lot of power, so those two Valkyries will need a more powerful reactor. I've got some ideas for actuation modifications and such, too, but I'd need to do the work on a finished machine, not paper." "That should be no problem. Anything else?" "Well, this may be pushing it, but I'd like the Pair to have their own ship. How hard would it be to have a Wasp class ship built?" "Wasp class? I'm not sure what that is." "Oh, yeah, right. I have tons of CADs of it." "Well, bring them to my tech crew. Have them see what they can do." "Thank you again." "My pleasure." Lord Fahrvergnugen strode down the corridor and swept around a corner. -------------------------------------------------------TWELVE "Baaa...baaaa...baaaaa--BABUM!!! bom bom bom bom bom bom bom" --Thus Spake Zarathos EARTH At the top of the GENOM tower, Largo turned from observing his complex to answer the telephone. "Largo." "This is Orbital Station Three, sir," the voice at the other end said. "Project Ikazuchi is nearing completion." "How long?" "Four weeks maximum, sir." "Excellent. Proceed. I will contact you later." He hung up, then dialed a three-digit extension. "This is Largo," he announced. "I want a status report on Project I.C.Z.E.R. immediately." "Astbury here, sir. Things are moving right along--I expect I.C.Z.E.R.-2 to come on-line within the next hour. I'll call you before we bring her up." "Good work, Professor." He again depressed the hook, then called a second extension. "This is Largo. Give me the latest information from Deep Space Seven." "DS7 has kept close watch on the Wedge since it reacquired their neutron trail on the fourteenth," the other end replied. "As you had hoped, the quantum redistribution field allowed it to ride their warp drive emissions and follow them without a drive of its own. The latest reports indicate that the Wedge has docked at a large orbital facility of some sort, in the Cygnus Beta system." "Hmm...have the exact coordinates sent to the project centers for Projects I.C.Z.E.R. and Ikazuchi. Report any further developments to me." He hung up the phone and sat back. So the Wedge Rats were in Cygnus Beta, and they appeared to have help. Hmm. That made things interesting. Still, if the I.C.Z.E.R. Project's second prototype turned out, her operational parameters would far outstrip those of any orbital station... The telephone rang. "Largo," he answered. "Astbury, sir. We're preparing to bring I.C.Z.E.R.-2 to full online status now. You wished to be informed." "Indeed I did. Do not proceed until I arrive." Largo hung up, stood, and walked calmly to the elevator, arriving almost immediately at the biolab where the second I.C.Z.E.R. prototype was being constructed. He entered the room to see the Bio-SculptTM tank that had held the prototype in the initial stages, now connected to floor and ceiling by large cables and the like. Doctor Astbury and his aides were making final preparations; they all wore welding goggles. "Proceed," said Largo. "Sir, you'd better wear these," Astbury said, holding out a pair of goggles to Largo. Largo pushed the scientist's hand aside. "Do not waste time," he said quietly. "Proceed at once." "Yes, sir, if you insist." Astbury took his place at his control station, checked a few readouts, and said, "Count down to full online status. Open all power gates. Begin neutrino flux." "We have partial online. Confirm consciousness, repeat confirm consciousness," said a tech. <> "Hold test. Check all levels. Report." "Level three, no errors. Two is at one point six, well within the tolerance levels. One and zero, no error. All is within error limits." "Proceed with final countdown," Astbury ordered. <> "Ten seconds to full online," an aide reported. The lights all over the GENOM complex dropped as the activation equipment began to draw all the power it could from the subterranean power core. A deep throb filled the biolab, and a red glow began to radiate from the Bio-SculptTM tank. <> "Nine. Eight. Seven." As he counted, the throb got higher and faster, and the light became brighter and began to pulse with the throb; inside the capsule, Largo could make out a shape, as if it were an egg held up to the light. Lightning began to crackle over the thick cables attached to the capsule. "Six. Five. Warning! Critical overload--danger of equipment failure! Recommend abort." <> "Keep going, damn you! To hell with the equipment!" Largo bellowed. "As you wish, sir--two! One!" <> There was a tremendous flash of red light. Control boards and various wall panels exploded. The huge cable entering the top of the tank broke free, writhing for a moment until the power stopped. The Bio-SculptTM tank exploded; a flood of red nanotechnology goo rolled across the floor, smoking, and splattered all around the room. <> As the smoke and debris settled and the lights rose, Astbury and his men picked themselves up off the floor to see Largo gazing raptly into the smoke cloud where the tank had been. Something was moving in there, a silhouetted shape-- The shape waved an arm and the smoke was blown away; Largo, Astbury, and company beheld the fruit of their labors. It is very difficult to look commanding when one is naked and dripping red slime. Even more so when the person you are attempting to look commanding to is Largo. Yet the woman standing before them pulled it off with ease. Techs hurriedly averted their eyes in fear that she would see them looking at her. Astbury shuddered and crossed himself. She was a tall and attractive woman with straight red hair to her knees; she looked perfectly human, save for her elongated and pointed ears. She turned her cool black eyes on the nearest hapless tech and pointed a long-nailed finger at him. "You," she said in a melodic, yet dark voice. "Get me something to wear." Then she turned back to Largo, who was standing, spattered with red Bio-SculptTM material and looking as dumbfounded as it was possible for him to look, a few feet away. "Largo, I presume," said Iczer-2 coolly. -----------------------------------------------------THIRTEEN "Take it, to the limit, one more time..." --Eagles UTOPIA PLANITIA 18 MARCH 1992 TERRAN SYNCHRONIZED A docking bay in Section Seven of the shipyard complex swung open to the vacuum of space. Within, MegaZone sat at the controls of the Daytona from Hell, getting ready to test out his new snap-on warpshuttle. The entire craft was a resplendent fire red, and painted on the flank of the "beta" in midnight black was one word: "WarpZone". Upon receiving the green light from Control, he hit the launch boosters and was slammed back into his seat by the g-forces of his takeoff. As he cleared the bay, he saw a Valkyrie Veritech fighter clearing a catapult on each side. To port was Gryphon's white, black and blue VF-1S Super fully fitted with pods and ordnance and the whole nine yards. A big eight-ball was painted on each armor plate over the leg/engines; on the booster pods and nose were painted the Wedge Defense Force logo (which, noncoincidentally, was the same as the Robotech Defense Force logo). Gryphon had taken to Veritech piloting like a fish to water, and had shown a special fondness for the big Valkyries. To starboard was a VT-1D Super, the two-seat variety that was classified as a trainer-fighter, but was no less capable than the single-seat models. It was painted bright red and no doubt carried Kei and Yuri (the "Lovely Angel" painted on the nose was a good clue). "Eight-Ball One to Daytona from Hell," his comm system said, the spectrum analyzer bouncing with Gryphon's voice. "Zoner, you read me?" "Loud and clear, Gryph--this is great! You'd hardly even know you were hauling around twenty extra tons the way she handles. You guys flying escort or what? Kei, Yuri, is that you?" "Two points for Zoner," Yuri replied with a laugh. "We're just messing around, and we wanted to see you test your `Beta'." "Beta testing...arrrrrr, someone hit me for that when we get back..." "Watch yourself, Ben, I have proton torpedoes at my fingertips here," Kei said darkly. "Speaking of torpedoes...let's go for a gunnery run on the asteroid field...I feel like blowing things up today. Whatcha say, Zoner?" Gryphon asked. "Sounds like fun to me--I want to try out the plasma banks anyway." Gryphon banked hard to the left, heading for the asteroid field near Planitia, as the Daytona and the Lovely Angel followed. Gryphon opened his fighter up, diving into the asteroid field at full booster. He ducked, dodged, dipped, and banked around rock after rock, laughing wildly, before opening up with his GU-11 and nose lasers to rake three or four of them; then he did a quick 90 degree spin and blasted one or two out of existence with a couple of his underwing Reflex missiles. Then he kicked it in the ass again and boosted out of the field as Zoner dove in, the "beta"'s Avenger and automatic plasma banks on the Daytona's own nose opening up. Bolt after bolt of blue energy blasted into the rocks, blowing them to bitty pieces. Laughing his own head off as well, Zoner tried something stylish; he boosted out of the field, disengaged the Daytona at full speed, flipped it over, dove back in, chopped an asteroid to bits with his nose plasma dischargers and blew two more up with the missile launchers embedded in his rear bumper, flipped it over again, performed a nifty spiral, and docked with the "Beta" as the latter faithfully returned. "I LOVE THIS THING!" he cried into his mike. "Looks good, my friend, looks real good," Gryphon agreed. "Watch this," he said as the red VT-1D streaked into the field. "Oughtta be good." Yuri, at the pilot's controls in front, kept one eye on her scope and one on the forward view as she kept tight to the flying rocks, flying NOE on some of them to keep her radar profile down as she navigated in the field. Done right, the maneuver made her nearly invisible. On her signal, Kei, in the gunner's seat behind, opened fire. Lasers, 30mm autocannon ammunition, and missile after missile after missile poured from the Lovely Angel, raking and destroying a b'zillion asteroids. Only when the top- mounted missile pods were empty did Kei signal for Yuri to pull the nose up and pop out of the field to form up with Gryphon and MegaZone again. The whole time they had been cool and professional; but once they cleared the field, Kei and Yuri both started laughing like schoolgirls on nitrous. "Damn," said Gryphon, "this is fun." "Sure is," Zoner replied. Suddenly, he realized something. "Hey, Gryphon--you never used your pod missiles." "Nope," Gryphon replied. "Why not?" "It's a surprise. You gonna try the warp drive now?" "Will do." Zoner lined the Daytona from Hell up so it was heading out into random deep space, then fired all the boosters, accelerating rapidly to full thrust. The two Valkyries kept time with him, all the way out. He smiled an evil smile. "Bye, guys," he said, and rammed the warp-drive throttle open. Panels slid aside on the sides of the "Beta" to reveal glowing strips of blue material; the glow flared, covering the entire spacecraft, and Zoner blasted away, leaving the two sublight vehicles in the dust. "It's not that easy, chummer!" Gryphon hollered after him, and grabbed the two throttle controls mounted to the right of the engine throttles. Punching the blue button in the side with his thumb, he shoved them all the way open. Slots where the missile pods should've been on his top boosters opened up to reveal glowing blue stuff like that on the Daytona. They flashed, the entire Valkyrie glowed, and then Gryphon was streaking after the Daytona into warpspace. "YEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!" Gryphon screamed. The ultimate acceleration rush was his. Adrenaline was roaring around something fierce in his system. "What the fuck?!" Zoner shouted. "Gryphon--your Veritech has warp drive?!" "Yep," Gryphon replied. "There's a microwarp in each booster pod. Takes up the place where the missiles should be. I won't use it in combat--microwarp drives aren't the kind of thing you go popping off and abandoning in deep space, after all--but I figure it'll come in handy. I can use my fighter as an executive transport and save on expenses, or the pods can be fitted to Kei and Yuri's VT-1D. They're the only two Valkyries yet that can handle the power demands, though--the warp pods for the Angel aren't done yet, but I thought I'd surprise you." "Jesus...when you're not running the warp drives, you must have a fuckload of extra power." "Didn't you notice how fast and maneuverable my fighter and the Lovely Angel are, even by Valkyrie standards? The powerplant puts all the power it would be feeding the warp drives into the turbines and myomers when the drives aren't on. Since that's most of the time, the end result is a faster, more maneuverable, and stronger fighter. And you should see the bastards move without the snap-on armor on-- whoo! It's something to see. That's why we call this variant the Hyper Valkyrie." "Wow...we better head back, this was only supposed to be a short test." "Righto--how tight can you turn at warp speeds?" Gryphon said with a grin, and snapped his Valkyrie 180 degrees, vanishing from Zoner's portside window almost instantly. Zoner grinned and pulled an Immelmann, since in space it didn't really matter. As they neared Planitia again, they dropped down out of warp; the armored shields slid back over the warpfield inducer coil sections. Gryphon tried to get his breathing back to normal. Suddenly, an alarm howled. Gryphon ducked the fighter, opening up the boosters and doing a quick snaproll, by instinct as three missiles homed in on him from somewhere in the asteroid field; one missed, and two slammed into his right-side leg armor, denting and burning it somewhat. "Shit!" Gryphon hollered. "Somebody's shooting at me!" He consulted his scope, trying to determine the launch point of the missiles from their flight path; from other angles, the Lovely Angel and Zoner's Daytona were closing in as the culprit was highlighted in red on the screen. Gryphon grinned and swung around, getting the target in his HUD; it was a small spacecraft, a little smaller than the Daytona's "Beta", with slender wings and a lot of missile pods on it. It opened fire again; Gryphon dodged a missile and shot another three down with his nose lasers as the HUD pulsed, then lit. The tone of missile lock sang in his ears. "C'iao, baby," said Gryphon. His thumb pressed down a trigger. At the same time he opened fire on the craft with his lasers, GU-11, and the three Reflex missiles he had left, Kei opened up on it from another angle with all her remaining weapons, and Zoner neatly bisected the angle created by their firestreams with a boiling swarm of missiles from his "Beta"'s VLS. The small black craft gave a decent pyrotechnic rendition of "Oop, I died," and exploded in a very pretty manner. "It was a probe of some sort, and definitely hostile," Yuri said, once they were all back inside the shipyard. "It tried to blow Gryphon right out of the sky." "I think it's safe to say that someone...or something... unfriendly knows we're here...we'd better get ready to move out. Our training is done, our organization is complete-- there's no reason to linger here anyway," Zoner stated. "Your captain is right, my children," said Lord Fahrvergnugen. "It is time for you to leave me. But first...I have a small birthday gift for Yuri--but she has to promise to share it with Kei before she can have it," the baron said, with an almost grandfatherly twinkle in his eye. "Of course," said Yuri. "Kei and I are best friends; we share almost everything." "Almost," said Fahrvergnugen with a small grin. "Decker! Bring out the special project." "Yessir," said Decker, and opened the opposite door. With a feline sound, a huge mountain of redblack fur bounded into the room, almost tackling Yuri. "I present to you Military Utility Genetic Higher Intelligence," said Lord Fahrvergnugen. "Mughi!" cried Yuri. "Too cool," said Gryphon. "Hey, Yuri...the gang's all here now, huh?" "Thank you, Lord Fahrvergnugen!" said Yuri. "No need, my child," replied Fahrvergnugen. "Now you all must leave me, sad as that thought makes me. Go. Be strong. Defend the universe! Make me proud!" "Will do, Wolfgang," Zoner said. "I promise." He put on his Rho Alpha Tau hat, saluted Fahrvergnugen, and then, his crew behind him, ran for the vessel Vaughn had dubbed SDF-17 and Gryphon and ReRob had further named Wayward Son after an old song. The bridge of the new ship was impressive, to say the least; gone were the uncomfortable Wedgebooths and the 17th-century Concrete Provincial decor. In its place was a neat-looking and fully functional bridge, complete with a Godzillion screens and displays, a big main viewer projector that could superimpose on the huge front window, several comfortable seats for observers, and a big captain's chair with a lot of important-looking controls on the arms. It was this chair that Zoner settled comfortably into as he and the rest of the command crew strode onto the bridge. Gryphon took his place at his captain's right, at the large and impressive control station from where the Exec oversaw the ship. q took the comm station, which doubled as the airboss's station now that there was a full contingent of mecha on board. At the operations control station, Yuri cleared her panel and reported to the computer that she was ready; beside her at Tactical, Kei did the same. All was ready in less than twenty seconds. "All decks like report ready to go," said q. "Good. Planitia Control, this is Wayward Son. Do we have permission to depart?" "Wayward Son, this is Control," replied the voice of Lord Wolfgang Amadeus Fahrvergnugen. "You are cleared to depart. Clear skies." "We read, Control. And pleasant weather. Wayward Son out." Zoner closed the connection and smiled. "Well, we're off. Helm, maneuvering thrusters. All ahead full." "You're reeeeally enjoying this, aren't you, MegaZone?" Gryphon asked with a grin. "Just a word of warning...so help me, the first time we fold, if you point at that viewscreen and say `engage', I'll rip off all your fingers." The SDF-17 moved majestically forward as Yuri applied full power to the maneuvering thrusters, clearing her docking bay. For the first time, she was in free and open space. "We have cleared docking bay," Gryphon reported. "Good. Helm, engage impulse drive. All ahead standard." The huge drive throats behind the bridge flared blue, and the Wayward Son began to truly move, making time away from the bluewhite planet and that had borne it. "Calculations for spacefold complete," said Gryphon. "All systems read ready for spacefold maneuver." Before Zoner could point at the viewscreen and say "engage", which he had every intention of doing just because he knew it would annoy Gryphon, the bridge was flooded with white light. "SHIT!" shouted Zoner. "What is that?!" "It's--a spacefold?!" Gryphon replied, checking his panel and shading his eyes. "Yes! It's a ship coming out of spacefold, 1.3 AU at bearing zero zero three mark two." Almost directly in front of them, the glow was lessening; sure enough, there was a vessel materializing. Zoner's jaw dropped, and Gryphon's followed soon enough. It was an Ikazuchi class spacefold command cruiser. And emblazoned on its flanks was the symbol of GENOM Corporation. "Greetings, Wedge Rats," said a voice no one recognized. "You do not know me. I made certain of that when I contended with you before." Suddenly, the viewer projector sprang to life and Largo's face filled it. "I am Largo. Captain of the vessel you face and master of GENOM Corporation. You have proven a thorn in my side in the past; you destroyed my Worcester operation, set my plan to dominate Earth back by at least three years, and cost me a great deal of money and time, as well as a capable slave. I have decided to eliminate you before you become a further threat." "Capable slave? Worcester operation?! What the fuck?" "Uh, Zoner...could he mean John Coyle, d'you think? Coyle did have a lot of Buma technology in him," offered ReRob. "Deductive, Mandeville. Keen mind. A pity I must kill you. You would make an excellent development researcher in my mecha division." "I'd rather die than be a wageslave," Rob replied. "So be it. Die, Wedge Rats!" The transmission cut out; outside, the Ikazuchi was maneuvering to