Since legal disclaimers offer all the protection of tissue paper, I will skip
it.  However, I would like to thank Naoko Takeuchi for creating the wonderful
work of art that is Sailor Moon.

Trenchcoat mask Part 6:  Jupiter's spark

(Part 1. Masks and Memories)
     Being inside the education system gives you quite an advantage in
finding out information about students.  It only took a few calls to discover
that Usagi goes to Juban junior-high school and what class she's in.  Playing
the part of a concerned teacher asking about a potential student gets me all
sorts of academic horror stories about the girl.  What could the Moon cat Luna
be interested in a girl struggling to maintain a 'D' average for?
     Just to be sure, I pay a visit to Juban Jr. high to scope the place out
with my Dark Kingdom energy detector before work.  Now I'm kind of sorry that
I didn't house the circuitry in something less obtrusive than the gaudy toy
ray gun I've got it in now.  Trying to maintain a low profile, I step into the
bushes and start taking a reading of the school grounds.  I've enhanced the
detector a bit since the first time I used it a couple of weeks ago, now I get
a tone and signal strength.  The numbers on the digital readout stays at a
frustrating "0.00" for the whole sweep, though.  I adjust the gain and double
the voltage across the detector filaments but still get nothing.  Maybe if I
lowered the resistance across . . .   I start fiddling with the settings again
to increase its sensitivity.

     "Davis-san?" A voice asks startling me so that I almost drop my
detector.  I snap to attention and see Haruna Sakurda staring at me curiously.
  "Oh, konichiwa, Haruna-san," I say trying to conceal the gun behind my back. 
"It's nice seeing you again."  
  "I must say, Davis-san, it is very odd to run into you hiding in the bushes
outside where I work."  She leans slightly to one side trying to see what I
have concealed behind my coat.
  "Oh?  You work here?" I ask stupidly and twist to try and block her view, "I
did not know that."  The odds against running into this woman on a commuter
train thirty miles outside of town and to then just happen to bump into them
again in a city of millions must be astronomical.  What are the odds against
that?   Blind coincidences seem to abound in this place.
  "Yes," she says, "I work here."
  "Uh . . .  what a coincidence."
  "Oh, please," she says skeptically, "the odds against us meeting again by
chance are astronomical."  I blink in amazement as she echoes my thoughts. 
She taps her finger to the side of her head and says, "I've figured out why
you are here."
  "What?  You did? Er . . .  you do?"
  "What else could you be doing, skulking around in the bushes that way?  I
must say you are quite a detective."
     Damn!  Am I that obvious?  I wonder how she's figured out I'm looking
for Dark Kingdom activity.  Is she in on it?  Maybe I'm not the only one
reincarnated from the Silver Millennium.  Now that I think about it, she looks
a little like one of the prince's tutors
  "How did you discover what you sought was here?"  She asks.
  "I made some calls," I say honestly, "when you know whom you are looking for
tracking them down isn't hard."
  "Well I'm glad you did.  Now that you're here, what are you going to do
about it?"
  "I don't know.  Maybe I'll observe for a while?"
     
  "Observe what?" Yet another voice asks.  I start again and turn to see Usagi
standing there.  How am I letting these people sneak up on me this way? 
"Tsukino-san is there something you want?"  Sakurda asks in a strained voice.
  "Um," Usagi says hesitantly looking back and forth between Miss Haruna and
me, "I wanted to ask Davis-san about Naru.  She's back at school now but I
wanted to see if he could answer a few questions about her."
     Sakurda looks back at me curiously wondering what I know about one of
her students.  "I'm afraid I can't tell you anything," I say earnestly to
Usagi, "the last time I saw her was about three weeks ago."
  "How do you know Osaka Naru?" Miss Haruna asks.
  "I dated her mother for a while there," I say quietly, "I'm afraid it didn't
work out."
  "Oh, that's too bad," Usagi says concerned, "especially after that night you
brought Naru . . . "
  "MEOW!" A cat yowls interrupting Usagi.  We all look over at the top of the
wall to see a small black cat staring down at us.  On her forehead is a gold
crescent moon.  Luna!  While the other two are looking at the feline, I
unobtrusively stash the detector under my coat.
     Usagi rubs the back of her neck embarrassedly and adds, "er, so I've
heard."  I'm about to ask her about that when she changes the subject by
asking, "so what brings you out here?"
  I certainly can't admit that I was looking for Dark Kingdom activity.  "Uh .
. . " I stammer, my mind racing for something to say.
  "No need to be so shy," Sakurda giggles at my hesitancy.
  "There isn't?"  I ask puzzled by her words.  Where is she going with this?
  "No," she says rummaging around in her purse, "if you wanted my number, all
you had to do was ask."
  "I did?"  I look around at Luna but the cat is now gone.
  "I'm surprised you didn't ask for it when we met on the train."  Taking out
a post-it note, she jots down her telephone number on it.  "Next time, you
don't have to go skulking about in the bushes."
  "I don't?"  I ask looking back at Usagi.  Now Usagi is gone.
  "No, when you want to meet a lady, just say so.  After all, this is Nineteen
ninety-two.  Well, I don't want to pressure such a shy guy so I'll let you
think it over.  Call me."  With a slight wave, she walks off leaving me
standing there in the bushes.
     I look at the little yellow piece of paper in my hand and then stuff it
in my pocket.  I look around confused and ask nobody in particular, "Wha'
happened?"  Finally, I shake off my stupor and look at my watch.  My class
meets in an hour;  I'd better get a move on!  This afternoon is getting too
weird.  Stopping by my apartment, I retrieve my briefcase and head out toward
my juku.  
     On my way there, I have another surprise encounter to add to my day: I
spot my three little friends from the subway.  That trio of punks that were
going to cop a feel off Ami are standing there, pressed up against the wall
intently watching someone approach from around the corner.  Their heads are
turned away from me so they don't see men.   Hm, three subway molesters laying
in wait.  Nope, can't be up to any good: they must out to harass another
hapless female.  I think it's time I said hello again. 
     Creeping up on the leader, I pinch him on the butt like before and
whisper in his ear, "Miss me sweet cheeks?"
     He jumps like I rammed a cattle-prod up his butt and he shouts,  "Yeow!" 
The punk is so startled, he almost jumps out of his skin.  His friends jump at
his yell and they just about fall all over themselves.  I stand there and
tower over them, with my trenchcoat waiving in the breeze like the cape of a
comic book super-hero.  For a moment they just stand there looking at me
trying to figure out what to do.  I smile wolfishly; there's this Visigoth
incarnation of mine deep inside me just itching for a fight.
     At that moment two school girls round the corner.  One is tall with
brown hair done up in a ponytail.  The other is  . . .  Usagi!  "You three
again!"  The tall girl exclaims on sighting the trio.  "Oh, great," the leader
of the three punks says, "caught between a henti and a psycho-bitch."  Why the
nerve of the little creep!  "Hey!" I shout at him, "Nobody calls me 'psycho-
bitch' and gets away with it!"  The mouths of both the girls and the punks
drop open in amazement.  "Them's fight'n words!" I say raising my fists in a
boxer's pose, "Come on, put up your dukes!"  "Yeah!" the tall girl adds
raising her own hands and taking a karate stance.
     Caught between a rock and a hard place, the little one says, "Let's get
out of here!"  With that, all three bolt and run off down the street.  The
little one looks back at us and I find myself unable to resist tweaking him
again; I blow him a kiss.  In response, he zooms past his fellows leaving them
in the dust.  Hah!  I think to myself, that got them going.  Maybe they'll
think twice before they harass some poor female again.  Then I notice Usagi
and this girl are staring at me.
  "Oh, Sensai!" Usagi gasps in shock, "I didn't know that you were . . . "
  "I AM NOT HOMOSE . . . " I start to shout and then stop myself.  Whoa!  Deja
vu.  "Ahem!" I clear my throat and say more calmly, "I prevented those three
from molesting a young woman on the subway some months ago.  I did so by
turning the tables on them to scare them off.  Needless to say, they didn't
like it very much when they were on the receiving end of unwanted attentions."
  "Oh!" they say in unison.  They look at each other and both color a bit and
giggle at my scandalous behavior.
     I pick up my briefcase and say, "Now if you will excuse me ladies.  I
must be off  . . .  to work."  I bow slightly to each of them and say
"Tsukino-san, er . . . "
  "Kino," the tall girl volunteers, "Kino Makoto."
  "Kino-san," I complete my goodbyes and walk off down the street leaving
Usagi and her friend behind.  I make a note to myself to check up on this
Makoto tomorrow; there's got to be some reason Usagi has started hanging
around her.
     I'm about a block down the road when I hear someone running to catch up
with me.  I look back and it is Makoto, her ponytail snaps in the breeze like
its namesake.  She comes up next to me and says, "This is on my way home too. 
Do you mind if I walk with you?"
  "Be my guest," I say.  She looks up at me and smiles.  Her eyes have this
sparkle that threatens to sweep me away.  She's saying something to me but I
don't really hear her words so overwhelming is her youth and beauty.
  "What?" I ask.
    "...er, I just wanted to thank you for coming to our defense.  Even if it
was kinda' weird."
    "You're welcome," I say, "but you look like you didn't need me.  I'd say
from the way you acted you were ready to take them on by yourself."
  "And I'd have kicked their butts," she says with a flash of temper, "lousy
bullies.  When they were trying to shake down Usagi, I showed them a thing or
two."  She smacks her fist into her palm demonstratively.
  "Well," I say a little put off by her volatility, "you really know how to
take care of yourself."
  "Yeah," she smiles at the compliment, "I am a bit independent."

     I look at the young woman walking next to me and I am impressed.  She's
quite tall for a girl, coming all the way up to my shoulder.  Given her age,
I'd say she'll top out at close to six feet when she's fully grown.  There's a
compactness . . . a muscularity about her too; she must work out a lot.  She
notices my scrutiny and smiles.  It's odd: this combination of her innocent
demeanor and violent temper.  However, the package comes together to give her
this kind of wild beauty.
      Suddenly a distressed, fearful expression comes across her face as she
sees something in front of us.  "Oh, no!" She whispers in dread.  I look up
expecting to see a youma, but instead there is this effusive little Japanese
woman headed in our direction.  Mako looks like she wants to hide but it's too
late.  The little old lady has spotted her and hurries over.
  "Kino-san, there you are!  I've been trying to catch you all week," she says
to Makoto, "You've got to get your parents to sign the new lease agreement
today.  If you don't, they'll have to go into the property management offices
personally and sign there or you've got to move out."
  "I'm sorry Kawamura-san," Makoto says apologetically, "I thought the one I
sent you the other day . . . "
  "Really, Makoto," the old woman scolds, "I recognize your handwriting, I'm
afraid you can't sign for your parents, you'll just have to bring them in."
  "Uh . . .  can't I bring it to you later?"  Mako asks.
  "No," she says politely but firmly, "you've got to have them sign it in
person."
  "Well, you're in luck," Makoto says turning toward me, "I'd like to
introduce you to my father."  Then she says to me in almost incomprehensible
English, "Herp, me prease. Prease pray arong."  I look into her eyes and they
are filled with a pleading so deep and deep it moves me.  I don't know what's
going on here but, I decide to play along.  I say to Mako in English, "very
well . . .  for now."  She blinks vacantly unable to decipher my words but my
nod signals my assent.
     The apartment manager watches that exchange blankly, apparently not
catching a word of it.  Mako turns back to her and says, "I'm afraid his
Japanese isn't the best.  So if you want to talk with him, you'll have to
speak through me."
  "He's Yoshi Kino?"  She asks in disbelief.
  "That's his adopted Japanese name.  His real name is Robert . . . "
  "Ah!" I say interrupting and bowing to Mrs. Kawamura, "Robert Wood."  I play
the part of the foreigner who recognizes a few words.
  "Raaabbaaatto Vrood?"  She asks.
  "Hai!" I agree, "Robert Wood, call Yoshi Kino please."
  "Yoshi Kino?" She asks.
  "Yoshi Kino." I answer.
  "Hai, Yoshi Kino." Mako affirms.
  "Very well," Mrs. Kawamura says raising her voice and speaking louder as if
I were hard of hearing, "tell him he must sign the forms as soon as possible. 
The apartment house is around the corner.  We'll take care of this now."
     Playing my part, I blink and look at her blankly.  We could be speaking
utter gibberish and the old woman wouldn't know the difference.  Mako picks up
on that and turns to me and saying as if she were translating, "in what
direction is post office?  There they sell Big Macs?"
  I nod enthusiastically and say, "Bork, bork, bork."
  Mako looks at me funny and then says to Mrs. Kawamura, "he says that'll be
fine."
  She leads us around the corner to a small, modern apartment building of
about twenty units.  We walk over to the manager's apartment and she steps
inside for a moment.
  "You've got some real explaining to do," I hiss at Mako.  Before she can
answer though, the landlord returns with some documents.
  "Odd, he doesn't look like you," she says examining us dubiously.
  "Er . . . " Mako sweats uncomfortably.
  "Mako-chan get mother's looks, my height," I say in Japanese being sure to
really mangle the vowels.
  "Oh," Mrs. Kawamura says in surprise, "That explains it.  You know, you
speak better than I thought you did."
  "Ah," I say, "hear some phrase much.  Chibi-Mako here don't want embarrass
father.  Save my face."
  "I must say," Mrs. Kawamura said handing me the forms, "I'm finally glad to
see that you exist."
  "Out of town on work lots," I say clumsily, "Makoto's mother too."
  "Well," the older lady says with a touch of indignation, "It looked like
Mako was growing up to be a wild child all by her self."
  "Oh?" I ask.
  "Aw, that's just the neighbors gossiping," Mako says quickly, "They blow
everything out of proportion.  I know you've got to get to work dad, so just
sign the forms and you can get going."
  "Excuse please," I say to Mrs. Kawamura, "but must read first before
signing."
  "Of course," she says politely, "if you could just return them within the
hour I'd appreciate it."
  "Hai," I say.  I then turn to Mako, "Mako upstairs."
     Not sure where this is going, Mako reluctantly leads me up to her
apartment.  She opens up the door to her tidy little place and we step inside. 
It's a compact little place a little overcrowded with well cared for
furniture.  She takes off her shoes right away and puts on some slippers. 
Thoughtfully, she provides me a pair too.  The floor is spotlessly cleaned and
polished.  Nothing, not a magazine left on the floor nor a coat hung over a
chair mars the pristine tidiness.  The window is open a crack to allow in a
little air.  The chaotic sounds from a nearby construction site serves to
contrast with the order and tranquility of her home.

     When the door shuts, we drop all pretense and speak rapidly in Japanese.
  "I'm sorry to bother you," she apologizes, "if you could just sign . . . "
  "Okay kid," I interrupt authoritatively, "what's going on?  Where are your
parents?"
  "Oh they're just out of town for a  . . . "
  "Cut the crap," I say shortly, "tell me the truth right now or I'm out of
here and I tell Kawamura-san why."
  "Oh!  Don't do that," she pleads.  "I... That is, they . . . " she casts
about trying to make up something.
  "Come on," I demand, "where are they?"     
     She looks down dejectedly and whispers, "they're dead."  She glances
longingly at a small family portrait that sits on the bookshelf.  In it, a
slightly younger Mako smiles bright eyed at the camera between a nice looking
couple.  "They died in a plane crash over the sea," she says quietly, "They
were never found."  I note that they're about my age, those two people.  I
look back at Mako and ask, "Isn't there anyone to take care of you?  Don't you
have any family at all?"
  "No,"  she says quietly, "the closest relative is a college age cousin, but
he's tied up with school."
  "Was it him who helped you get this apartment?  Did he sign you up for
school and stuff?"
  "Yes  . . .  look if its going to be so much trouble for you, I can get
someone . . . "
  "Someone else to help you dodge the law?  Was that what the manager meant by
you being a wild child or was it something else?"
  "Gossipy neighbors  . . . " she grumbles, "Oh, that's just rumors."
  "About what?"
  "... about me fighting."
  "Any truth to them?"
  "Well  . . . "

     This girl has got some real problems.  If she doesn't have an adult to
supervise her, things will only get worse.  My first instincts are to call
child welfare right now but I stop and ask, "Why do you want to live alone?"
  "I don't want to go to the orphanage.  I'd hate it there."
  "Why, because you'd have to live by their rules?"
  "No, because I can only keep my clothes.  They'd make me get rid of my
parent's furniture."
     I look around the room and notice things I'd overlooked before.  The
furnishings are chosen with character and taste.  An ornate chest in the
corner is probably more than one hundred years old.  The mirror on the wall
has a deep red cherry frame with delicate scrollwork.  Surprisingly, a wealth
of floor space has been sacrificed to a lovingly cared for rocking chair.  
Much of the porcelain brick-a-brack on the bookshelves appears to be antique;
some of these are probably family heirlooms.
     "Look," she says, her eyes wandering fondly over her possessions, "it
may not be much, but it's all I've got to remember them by.  When I sit in
that rocking chair, I think how my mother used to rock with me when I was
little.  When I open that cabinet and smell the wood, I remember my father and
how he kept his things in there.  Please," she in a small voice with tears in
her eyes, "don't take my memories away from me."
     I pause and look at this young woman.  Brave enough to take on three
bruisers as big as I am all by herself and the thing she fears most is to
forget.  I give a little sigh and say, "Memory . . .  I understand more than
anyone how much that can mean."  I look into her teary green eyes and day,
"Okay, I'll help out."  She sniffs, wipes her nose and smiles hopefully.
     Well, now I've committed myself.  If I'm going to become involved then
half measures will not suffice.  I step closer to her and draw myself up to my
full height.  I loom over her like I did with those punks, using my height to
intimidate her.  As big as she is, she's not used to being on this end of the
height intimidation scenario.  Using all the deep, adult authority in my voice
I order, "Go and get me your report cards, now."
     She jumps a bit at my sudden mood swing but she acquiesces.  "Okay, I'll
get them," she says meekly and goes into her bedroom.
     While she's in there, I step over to the kitchen and open up the
refrigerator.  I'm pleasantly surprised to find fruit juice instead of soda,
vegetables instead of carry-out boxes.  Hm, save for a few sweet bean paste
buns, I see none of the junk food I expected.  In fact, there's a lot less
crap in hers than is in my fridge.  I close it and start plundering through
the kitchen cabinets.  She steps out of the bedroom carrying an accordion
file.  "Um, what are you doing?"  She asks slightly alarmed.  I put a rather
sleazy, conspiratorial tone in my voice and answer, "Say, kid, got anything to
drink?"
  "Alcoholic?"  She asks taking a half step away from me, "Uh . . .  no."
  "Congratulations," I say stepping over and firmly taking the file, "that was
the right answer."
  "Oh!" she says with relief, "you mean you thought I might . . . "
  "That's right," I say looking through the papers, "You passed the first test
. . . "  The file is neatly organized by grade in each section.   I leaf
through her school report cards and look at her marks.  Mako looks at the
floor in embarrassment.  Hm, her scores are fairly low, just barely passing. 
"But almost failed the second," I add.  I look up at her and she shuffles her
feet nervously.  "What is this?" I ask indicating the grades, "you've
outwitted the adults around you for over a year and you bring home these? 
You're smarter than what these show."
  "Well, if it hadn't been for the fight at . . . "
  "Fight!?"  I shout to scare her a bit.  My Japanese incarnation pipes up and
adds, "you do all this to hold on to your parents memory and you dishonor them
by fighting?  Aie-yaa . . . "  Mako looks down shamed at my rebuke and
trembles.  I put the files back in the folder and snap it closed.  I poke her
with it to make her take it and force her to look at me.  I stare straight in
Mako's eye and say, "Okay, here's the deal: I don't have time to be constantly
watching over you . . . "
  She shakes her head and interrupts, "But I'm not asking you to . . . " 
  "That doesn't matter," I continue firmly, "I've been drawn into this by your
deception and now I've got responsibilities.  Just to be sure you're treading
the straight and narrow I might pop in on occasion, maybe while you're out,
definitely without warning.  When I do, there better not be any alcohol or
drugs here.  If I so much as find cooking sherry, I'll turn you into the
children's welfare authorities so fast your head will spin.   Understand?"
  She nods quickly.
     "And . . . " I add even more firmly, "If I even get the idea that a boy
has been over here, and you know what I mean when I say that, the same goes
double."  She starts to object but I cut her off with a firm wave of my hand,
"You're much too young to be dealing with the consequences of that sort of
behavior.  What if some guy you bring over finds out the same thing I found
out?  What's to prevent him from blackmailing you into doing anything he
wants?"  Her eyes grow wide and she gulps nervously at the realization of what
might happen.  "Even if nothing physical happens,"  I continue, "like you get
pregnant or catch a disease, the emotional repercussions at your age can mess
you up for life."
     She just stands there silently staring at the floor.
     "Right now," I lecture her, "you've got to straighten out the crap
you're in without that complicating the mix.   Now, I'm going to give you a
chance. You stop fighting and get your grades up and everything will be fine. 
You screw up once, just once, and the hammer falls.  Got that?"  She sullenly
grumbles something that I can't make out and I snap, "What?"
  "Okay," she sighs, "I'll try to . . . "
  "Wrong," I say, "you won't *try*, you *will*.  Now, are you going to behave
in a way that will make your parents proud?"
  "All right, I . . .  Hai, I will."
  "I said, Are you going to do your parents proud?"
  "Hai, I will," she says louder.
  "What?"
  "Hai!" she shouts.
     "That's my girl," I say dashing off  'Yoshi Kino' in kanji on the
apartment lease form.  I pick up my briefcase and step out the door.  Turning
back to Mako, I say, "You keep your nose clean and everything will be okay. 
Right?"
  She smiles and says, "Thanks."
  "Good," I smile at her and say cheerfully, "now study or die."  I go down to
the manager's office and hand over the papers.  Mrs. Kawamura takes one look
at my crappy handwriting and nods approvingly; It is obviously a man's
signature.  Before she closes the door I say, "please, if hear more rumor
please call direct.  Be sure I get message."  I write my cellular phone number
on a piece of paper and hand it to Mrs. Kawamura.  With a slight bow, she
closes the door.
     I glance at my watch and see that its only ten minutes till my class; I
have to run to keep from being late.  What am I doing?  I'm in the middle of a
war with Beryl here.  I can't be taking on defendants.  Still, to straighten
this girl out is such a small thing.  Maybe my putting the fear of God in her
will keep her out of trouble for a while.  With these thoughts in my head, I
rush into my class scarcely before the bell rings.

     The class goes quickly enough; I start with a lecture on the various
forms of looping methods in programming, followed by instructing the students
on when is the best time to use which one.  On the whole, they're bright kids
and catch on very quickly.  As usual, Mizuno Ami is the star student but
doesn't seem to glory in it.  She just hands in her work and accepts her high
grades.  The class ends with me passing out the next assignment and collecting
the homework.
     When everyone is gone, I spend about an hour afterwards modifying my
energy detector testing software on the desktop system in my classroom.  At
work here, I've got this top of the line 486sx-33 system with four whole
megabytes of ram.  The compiles on it just fly compared to my little 286
laptop.  When I'm done, I pack everything away and step outside.  The air is
cool and crisp and clear; it's a good night to search for Dark Kingdom
activity.  I'll run some more tests on my detector to heighten the sensitivity
and then go out hunting.  In this place sometimes you find trouble without
even looking for it.
     I'm lost in thought, turning over my little situation with Makoto as I
walk back toward my train station.  Suddenly, I'm brought up short by this
young man standing in my path.  He's about fourteen, give or take a year, five
six with dark brown hair and brown eyes.  He's a very odd looking fellow,
though.  There's nothing wrong with his outward appearance, but by his eyes .
. .  He has these piercing, intense eyes that bore straight into you.  He
stands there without a word, barring my path, almost challenging me to a fight
with his posture.  I go to step around him when he says, "I know how you will
betray them, Ferrite, and it won't work."
     I'm so stunned by his words I almost faint.  Good God, he knows exactly
who I am!  For an instant, I seem to be falling as I discover that the
universe isn't how I thought it was.  "Wh . . . wh . . .  what?" I stammer. 
"Your plan won't work," he says defiantly, "I've foreseen what happens.  Give
it up!"  As he utters that, he runs off.  "Wait!"  I exclaim trying to gather
my wits, "what plan?"  He doesn't look back, though, and keeps on running. 
"Hey you!" I shout and run after him, "come back here!"  He dashes off and I
chase after him down the gloomy streets.  Since he knows who I am, there's no
sense trying to conceal my identity anymore.  Tossing my briefcase next to
some trash cans, I run out from under one streetlight as Robert Davis and run
into the next as Trenchcoat-Mask.
     Damn! I've lost him.  Pouring on the speed, I charge down the street but
he's eluded me in the dark.  He must have run down one of the many small
alleyways.  I leap to a roof top and start to scan the streets looking for the
young man but he's gone.  I move to a higher vantage point among the steel
beams of a building that is under construction to get a better view.  I've
almost given up when I spot another young man I haven't seen for ten thousand
years, Zoisite! 
     Zoisite is sitting there poised effeminately on a beam watching
something intently below him.  It's the kid!  The young man runs past the
construction site and down a back alley.  I decide to worry about the mystery
boy later, first, I'll deal with Zoisite.  Leaping from beam to beam as
quietly as I can, I try to get close to the turn coat Guardian without
alerting him.  My foot scrapes on a girder but Zoisite doesn't register the
sound.  He's so wrapped up in gazing at a small rhombohedron black crystal
that tumbles end over end in the air above his palm that he's oblivious to my
approach.  He's so enraptured at staring through it at the young man that I'm
almost on top of him before he notices me.
     That crystal he's looking at must be important so I literally snatch it
right out from under his nose.  "Hey!  That's mine!" Zoisite shouts
petulantly, "Give it back!"  I ignore his demand and instead stuff it in my
pocket.  "Make me," I say and follow up with a swipe from my umbrella.  It
clangs against the girder he was standing on but he's vanished in a flurry of
cherry blossom petals.  They swirl as if he's still there somehow, but I know
it's just a trick.  He's teleported somewhere else; I can feel it.
     On instinct, I bound aside and a flying spear of crystal whizzes past me
to shatter against the pillar I was standing next to.  I move into cover
behind some wall board.  "Still striking from the shadows, eh Zoisite?" I
shout, "even when you were a Guardian, you were a cowardly, wimpy, girly-man." 
I listen carefully hoping he'll react to my taunt.  For all Zoisite's
affectations, he was a cunning and vicious fighter.  "You'll pay for that
Tuxedo Mask!"  Zoisite exclaims indignantly from the darkness where he's
levitating, "Zoi!"  Throwing myself down, I dodge his force bolt and hurl a
yellow rose in the direction his voice came from. "Agh!  My leg!" Zoisite
yells.  Did I really hit him or is he just faking?  I scurry along the beam on
all fours, like a lizard, to a new location.
     Trying to keep the fire stoked, I shout, "What's the matter Zoisite? 
Did that hurt a little?"  Zoisite's keeping quiet though, and I sense him
teleport again.  I move too, and take cover behind some lumber.  "What's with
chasing the young men, Zoisite?"  I call from the gloom, "Did Kunzite finally
get tired of that annoying laugh of yours or did he throw you over for someone
sane?"
     That last one apparently struck a nerve because he rages, "Argh!  You're
not Tuxedo-mask!  Come out here now whoever in the Abyss you are!"  I move
again and hide in the shadow of a pillar.  "I'm just a voice from the past,
Zoisite," I shout from my new position.  Immediately I drop down a level and
move over, jumping to another hiding place.  I feel him teleport again.  "I
don't know you," Zoisite calls trying to find where I am, "tell me your name." 
I move again, to another beam's cover.  He must really want this crystal
badly.  Otherwise, he would have fled by now. 
     I extend the hooked handle of my umbrella up and quietly hook it over
the beam two floors up.  I retract it and use it to haul myself up to my
original position next to the lumber pile.  There, silhouetted against the
city lights is Zoisite looking around for me.  Without a word of warning I
leap out of the shadows on Zoisite bringing my umbrella down in an overhead
stroke like a sword.  Somehow he senses me, though, and brings a crystal blade
up to parry my strike.  "I am Trenchcoat-Mask," I snarl, "and for your
betrayal of your oaths I will punish you.  In the name of Arturo . . .  in the
name of Earth . . . "
  "And for Jupiter . . .  also!"  Another voice shouts.
  "Oh, no!" Zoisite exclaims looking at the interloper, "not you!"
     A tall female form steps out onto the platform just as the moon comes
out from behind a cloud.  Her uniform is the green and white of the emperor
planet.  "Yes me," she says forcefully, "and now you're gonna' get it!"  It's
Senshi Jupiter!  She crosses her arms and a lightning-rod-like antenna extends
from her tiara.
     "JUPITER . . . " she shouts gathering her energy.
Zoisite looks at me and then back to Jupiter, unsure he wants to stand and
fight it out with the two of us.
     "SUPREME . . . " she continues with her litany of power
"Run," I taunt Zoisite, "I'll keep that crystal safe."
     "THUNDER!"  Jupiter finishes unleashing her power.
At the last instant, Zoisite vanishes and the bolt of lightning flashes
through the space he was standing in . . .  right onto a beam attached to the
girder I'm standing on!  My muscles lock as the electricity courses through my
body.  Even though it's only an instant it feels like forever.  At last, it
ends and I collapse across the I-beam.  Oddly, as I fall into unconsciousness,
I remember this is not the first time I've tasted Jupiter's power.

                         *    *    *
(Part 2.  Jupiter's Spark)

     Jupiter is huge.  Absolutely, monstrously, tremendously, indescribably
huge . . .  and that's an understatement.  The size and scope of the air-giant
is beyond all possible human reckoning.  Sure, we can do our calculations and
say, x-number of Earths could fit inside it, but that gives no preparation
what so ever when approaching it.  It just grows and grows and fills the void
until it seems that it will expand into the entire universe.
     That's what Prince Endymion, Zoisite and I experience aboard the H.M.S.
Nemesis.  We are in the center of a small naval squadron, headed there to
receive payment for Terran aid during the Jovian famine.  Before the approach,
I make sure that no man is aloft in the rigging who has not been to Jupiter
before.  It is not uncommon for a one to be so awed by the planet that they
forget all else.  Many a sky galleon sailor as lost their grip on the lines
while staring at the air-giant.
     Still more awesome than the planet itself is what the Ancients did to
it: they completely conquered this world, almost a star, and locked it in a
shell of steel.  The steel is so hard no fire can melt it, no chisel can
scratch it, no magic can shape it.  Why?  How can any puny human guess?  The
outward evidence of this, the Spire, juts out into space like a beacon to
their power and greatness.
     Though the Spire of Jupiter is greater in diameter at it's base than the
entire Earth, it still appears to be needle thin as it projects out into the
void from the clouds of the air-giant.  The black cone protrudes from the
center of a gargantuan hurricane that is the Red Spot of Jupiter.  The spire
is black as the void and reflects no light anywhere on its featureless,
impregnable skin.  It reaches from the shattered shell beneath the clouds
almost to the orbit of its innermost moon.  At it's very tip, the spire is as
sharp as a pin.  Being mere humans, we can only guess what purpose the
Ancients had for this wonder.
     Despite its size, the Spire is only a small fraction of the total
ancient construct on the planet Jupiter.  Below the clouds are countless
floating islands, the remnants of a vast shell that once enclosed the entirety
of the planet.  None can say exactly why the islands do not plunge into the
depths of the air-giant, like many things with the Ancients they just do what
they do in defiance of all reason.
     The shell apparently shattered sometime aeons ago so that only bits of
it remain.  Few of them are bowl-shaped and provide islands of protection from
the raging winds of Jupiter.  Still, many of these small fragments are larger
than all the continents of Earth combined: such is the scale of the Emperor
planet.  Those that are so formed, support a riot of life forms, from
terrestrial creatures to alien ones.
     The reason we approach the Spire is because it is the only route down to
the surface of the shell.  It is our only pathway below the clouds.  Straying
outside its protective zone subjects you to winds more powerful than the
mightiest of earthly typhoons.  The wreckage of more than one incautious sky
galleon has rained down on New Atlantis before.
     "Five degrees to starboard, Mr. Fibrilie," I order the helmsman as we
approach the wonder, "I want at least one Moon's diameter between us and the
Spire at all times."  Almost imperceptibly, Roberval nods approvingly.  Over
the years, under his direction, I've grown into the captaincy of the Nemesis. 
When I was first given the command, it was understood that I was to take my
second's advice to heart whenever it was offered.  At that time, my
appointment was a political statement and little more.  If I wanted to retain
my rank, I'd have to earn it.  Over the years, I've learned a lot and grown
into the position.  So much so that Roberval has turned down an offer for his
own command after I could fly on my own.  Officially he said that I got into
so much trouble that any place else would be too boring.  Maybe it's just
loyalty.
     "That's it," I say to the helmsman, "bring us round to just above the
Spire's shadow.  That'll give us the best sighting of its edge.  Navigator, I
want men fore and aft, measuring the course at all times.  If the point to
base angle ever rises to above one-hundred and seventy eight, you are to order
all stop and readjust immediately."  The initial approach down the length of
the Spire is the most dangerous and should be done with the utmost care.  The
black needle is almost invisible against the black backdrop of the void.  Once
you enter the eye of the hurricane, though, the position of the spire is quite
visible and the danger is past.
     After a few hours of travelling thus, we dive into the atmosphere of the
air-giant.  The rising sound of the wind against the air-stone's protective
envelope is quite a shock after almost two months of silent travel through the
void.  In the blackness, the only sound is that which humans make, here nature
speaks with full voice.  Inside the eye of the storm the scale of the spire
and the planet are overwhelming.  To our left, the featureless black wall of
the spire curves out of sight.  To our right, the ravening winds of the
hurricane Red Spot whip past like a torrential river.  How can a man dare to
be prideful when confronted by the silent power of the Ancients and ravening
forces of nature?  Beside me, Endymion and Zoisite goggle at the sight.  I'm
glad that the prince has come to Jupiter to accept the last of their repayment
personally; this one moment alone is good for his education.  If nothing else,
it will keep him humble.
     For miles and miles, we plunge into the depths of the air-giant.  Were
we outside the safe zone around the spire, the pressure would crush us in an
instant and the winds, scatter us all over Jupiter.  Deeper and deeper we dive
until, at last, we come to the base of the ancient wonder.  The portion of the
shell that the spire rests upon is spread out flat before us like a table.  So
vast is the scale of the emperor planet that, we see no curvature of its
surface like we see with lesser worlds.
     The zone of protection that keeps the winds away from the spire also
holds up the sky above the shell.  In addition, these forces charge the roof
of clouds with some kind of energy that provides both heat and light.  Beyond
these areas of protection the gasses are so cold we would be frozen solid or
the pressure would squash us.  The land below us is warm and moist and
lighted.  Little wonder that the plant life has run riot.  Truly, Jupiter is
the planet of wood.
     The trees are predominantly Jovian Iron Oaks with vines and creepers of
uncounted types draping from their branches.  Stretching out from the spire
until it is lost in the misty air is one, vast jungle.  I lean over the
speaking tube and shout down to the stone-driver, "bring down the air-stone. 
We're now within the atmosphere of Jupiter."  After a minute or so, we start
to feel the warm, moist embrace of the sultry atmosphere.  With it comes an
odd, energizing feeling characteristic of this world.  It is said that Jupiter
is so alive that it shares its vitality with its children.
     The speaking tube whistles and I pop it open cocking an ear to it. 
"Ferrite here," I acknowledge.  "Sir," the far-speaker officer's voice
answers, "The Watkins reports that the Jovians have assembled an honor guard
of needle-ships and wish to render a salute to his Majesty, the prince." 
"Signal the Watkins to form back up on us and signal the Jovian's we will be
delighted to receive their salute."  I order and snap the tube shut.  Turning
to the prince, I say, "The Jovian's wish to make a big show of your arrival so
we'd best be ready to answer in kind."  I walk to the railing and shout out to
the crew, "All right men, rotate out in shifts and go to full dress, we've got
to put on the dog for our hosts."  I turn to my second, "Roberval, break out
the colored smoke powder and be prepared to render an answering salute in the
Jovian flag colors: green, red, black."  "Aye, aye, captain," he says.
     The Watkins rejoins our formation as we approach New Atlantis, the
Jovian capital.  It is a beautiful city built around the site of two old
meteor strikes and some Ancient's tunnels.  The comet or asteroid that struck
here aeons ago has blasted the earth back into soaring berms of earth and rock
that form the outer crater wall.  To the south and east of the center of the
strike is a second, newer crater that has filled with water to form a large
lake.  It is fed by numerous streams which drain into some Ancient's tunnels
below.  This is the perfect place to build a city on Jupiter, a steady stream
of water, a place to land, and defensible high walls.
     The protection from the high walls is a lot more important than the
other two.  There are creatures that spring out of the jungles here which are
completely unafraid of anything.  We haven't even catalogued the many
predators that abound in the teeming jungles of this planet.  Fortunately for
man, more numerous than those are the many herbivores that browse off the
vibrant plant life. It seems that the whole planet is infused with life energy
which it imparts to everything that lives on it.  Plants and animals grow here
at an astonishing rate.
     While we sail toward the capital city, a huge shadow suddenly flashes
across the deck.  Something's in the clouds above us!  Almost without
thinking, I grab the prince and shove him into Zoisite's arms.  Instantly,
Zoisite teleports him below without a word as he was trained to do.  In that
moment, a shout and a series of rifle reports draw my eyes to the rigging.
     Pow!  Pow!  Pow!  The snipers I had placed aloft  are firing on an air
shark that's making a run at one of the crew.  Before I can even draw my
pistol, the marines put another volley into the beast severely wounding it. 
The navy long-barrels look to be mere toys compared to the thirty-foot monster
but the marines' marksmanship is true; they bring it crashing down.  Squeaking
and shrieking the air shark becomes tangled in the rigging where it thrashes
and bites.  Marines still continue to pour fire into the animal even though it
is mortally wounded.  The sharp shooters must have punctured several of its
lift-sacs because the thing succumbs to gravity and slowly flops out of the
rigging to thump around on the deck.
     A door opens behind me and Endymion peeks out from below decks behind
Zoisite.  Zoisite's hand is out preventing the prince from exposing himself to
any danger.  He can teleport him to safety again in a moment's notice.  In the
darkness one of those crystal swords of his glitters wickedly in Zoisite's
other hand.  I put out a cautioning hand signaling them to come no further as
I turn my attention back to the drama in front of me.  The crew needs no
orders from me, though; they know what to do.  Within moments, sailors have
finished the creature off with pikes.  Even though it's dead, the thing
twitches and snaps for at least five minutes afterwards.
     When the danger is finally past, and I'm sure the flammable lift sacs
have been largely vented, I let the prince out to take a look at it.
     "What is this thing?"  Endymion asks.
     "Jovian airshark," I say looking at the creature, "a Vreeleth's lesser
spotted one by the looks of it . . . and a big one."  The air-shark has a
blunt, streamlined shape that looks similar to a flattened, elongated
teardrop.
     "What a monster!"  The prince exclaims, "why did it attack us?"
     "Monster?"  I give a little snort, "This is one of the smaller species
of airshark.  The really big ones must be driven off with a broadside.  This
little fellow was probably just hungry and hoping to make off with a crewman
or two."  I turn to the marine sergeant and say, "Your men did some excellent
work there, sergeant."
     "Whot shall we do with it now Capt'n?"  He asks in his heavily accented
Muvian, "E'ave it over the side?"
     "No," I say with a slight smile, "the Jovians find this type shark
particularly tasty; it's like truffles to them.  I'm sure they'll be happy to
get it."
     "You're kidding, right?"  The prince asks.
     Zoisite giggles, "The Jovians will want to eat our road-kill?"
     I snicker at Zoisite's quip and say, "Actually, yes.  Since you have to
wrest most of the food you eat here on Jupiter from the jungle, you don't
waste a single morsel.  I'd say they'd love to have it."
     "Coor, blimey, really guvner?"  The sergeant says fanning the air away
from his nose, "The way this thing stinks?
     "No," I say, "the chances are if it flies, flops or crawls, a Jovian
will eat It  . . .  and have ten different recipes to cook it with too."  I'm
about to turn away but add, "Oh, one last thing sergeant, make sure no one,
and I mean no one, goes around this thing with an open flame.  It still might
contain some explosive gas and blowing up the Nemesis would put a dampener on
the celebration."
     We throw a tarp over that mess and man the rigging in dress uniform. 
While we stand on the bridge, Zoisite fusses over the prince's attire flicking
away minute bits of lint.  As we glide into the harbor for a landing, we pass
a formation of twenty-one needle-ships and the crew snaps to attention.  These
strange artifacts of the Ancients are found in tunnels scattered all over the
surface of Jupiter and still function, though their true purpose is unknown. 
When we pass them, they give us a thunderous salute as they each discharge a
bolt of lightning into the lake.  The water froths and boils where they
strike.  The Nemesis answers with a salute of her own, her guns firing green,
then red, then black.  Afterwards the needle ships fly off in separate
directions, drawn back to the curious berths.  If we had come to blows against
the Jovians armed as they are with these things, we would have paid a heavy
price.  Clearly, the prince is impressed with this display of raw power.  That
is good, when he is king of Earth, he must bear in mind that other planets are
powerful too.
     We come in over the water like a flock of geese landing in a pond.  With
perfect timing we touch the surface of the lake in a "V" formation and tie up
at the docks especially reserved for us.  Flags are flying and bands are
playing "Terran Confederation Forever" as we come to our berths.  The bands
are composed of fifes and drums and these strange Jovian musical instruments
composed of an air bladder with reed pipes.  Aesthetically pleasing to some,
to me the noise from them sounds like the wailing of cats.
      The gangway goes down and Zoisite and I escort the prince to the
officials waiting for him at the bottom.  I'm truly surprised at whom I see:
the clan Laird of the McCloud clan along with his lady is here to greet the
prince personally.  At their feet, the Jovian moon cat, Arachne, sits regally. 
Being a white Persian, her fluffy white fur with green highlights looks out of
place on this frontier world.  Behind him his seven sons and two daughters
stand in a semicircle.  Seven princes, one Senshi and a crown princess, quite
a family he's got there.  Behind them stand the twelve great clan lords that
make up the rulers of Jupiter.  Several of them don't look too happy to see us
but they remain politely impassive at our approach.
     When the prince steps forward, the King of Jupiter clasps both of the
prince's hands warmly and gives them a firm shake.  It's a trifle familiar for
royalty to greet, but such are the Jovian's ways.  "Welcome to New Atlantis,"
the Laird's voice booms out, "tis a real pleasure to be greeting our friends
from Earth.  I am most happy that today we settle all debts between our
worlds.  I'm sure that the lands we will be ceding title to will meet with
your approval.  Also, fortune has smiled upon us; We've discovered a rich
asteroid strike and will now be able to make the majority of the payment in
gold and silver."
     At this announcement, the rest of the clan lords smile.  Probably
because they won't have to give up so much land over to the Terrans and
partially because to a Jovian one who pays his debts in full accrues great
honor.  It's not shameful to fall into debt as fate is capricious but to go
back on your word or renege on a deal is quite disgraceful.  Those who break
an agreement here are considered little better than thieves and murderers.
     Laird McCloud says happily, "I believe I speak for all of us when I say,
nothing does a Jovian heart better than to settle a debt to all's
satisfaction, especially, in hard gold."  There are a number of 'hear-hear's
from the lairds but several remain less than enthusiastic about parting with
their wealth.  Jovians are also some of the most frugal of peoples.  (They're
rumored to be so miserly they recover the bullets from game kills to be used
again.)
  "If it pleases your lordship," Laird McCloud continues, "we'll be returning
forthwith to the clan hall where the documents will be witnessed by neutral
third parties from Saturn to be followed by a feast.  I am quite happy that
you were able to come in person so we might offer you hospitality, Endymion. 
I was told that you spoke quite eloquently on our behalf during the famine.
  "It was, of course, my father's plan," Endymion answers humbly, "I only bent
a few ears, here or there."
  "Aye, a modest one too," the Laird says with a wink, "Are you sure that your
heart is truly set on that Moon princess?  I have two fine daughters that
would make a lovely match for ye'."
  "Papa!" Juno and Europa protest in unison at his forwardness.  I notice,
though, that Europa protests much less loudly than Juno.
  "Er . . . "  The prince hesitates, uncertain how to respond without
accidentally insulting them.
  "Truer words were never spoken about the loveliness of your daughters," I
break in, "but the prince has announced his intentions to Princess Serena's
father, King Halcyion.  You, as a man of honor, can appreciate how he must
follow through on his words."
  "Ach, I was unaware, Ferrite.  Your pardon, sir Prince for being so forward. 
I hope no offense was taken,"  The Laird says.
  "Actually," Endymion adds with a wink at the Jovian princesses, "it is quite
a compliment."
  "However," The Laird adds, "should Serena decline . . . "
  "Papa!" The girls protest.
  "Dear . . . " Lady McCloud says gently but warningly.
  "Ahem," he clears his throat and says, "Let me introduce you to my family." 
On most worlds it would be a slight to the noble heads of state behind him
that he would introduce his family first but on Jupiter the family is first
before all.  In fact, the extended clan family is the basis for their entire
political system.  He turns to his left and says, "My lady Margaret."
  "Oh, your lordship we are so pleased to have you here," the Queen of Jupiter
curtsies to the prince.  She is a heavy set woman, a result of her many
children no doubt.  There is a solidity about her, though, that tells you she
could just as likely rip your arm out if it wasn't for her jovial nature.
  "My sons," he continues with his introduction,  "Eric, Connar, Duncan,
Michael, Gregory, and Thomas.  Then there's my daughters Juno  . . .  and
finally the baby, Europa."  The "children" bow in turn with Europa saying to
the prince with a giggle during her curtsy, "Charmed, I'm sure."  The prince
gives  her his most charming smile as he bows low in return.  The young girl
almost swoons.
     "And now,"  King McCloud says, "The noble lairds of Jupiter."  He then
proceeds down the line, presenting the prince to each of the rulers of
Jupiter.  All smile and are polite, some disdainfully so.  Terrans are not the
most popular of people here despite our good works.  Jovians pride themselves
on their independence, having to turn to Earth to save them was quite galling
to some.  The greetings are according to protocol if nothing else.
     Then, something so small occurs that I might have overlooked it had I
not been formally trained to spot such minute details.  Lord McKinnin, who is
almost gushingly effusive to the prince's face, clenches his left hand into a
fist.  It's not a simple unconscious flexing of the muscles either, but one of
hidden rage.  I put a bored, glassy eyed expression on my face to hide my
sudden wariness.  The prince will need careful watching here.  I lean over to
Zoisite and whisper, "You are to watch the prince like a hawk throughout his
stay here.  At the first sign of trouble, get him to the Nemesis immediately
and have it get underway."  A flicker of surprise flits across his eyes, but
he nods in understanding.
     "Well, surrah," King McCloud says finally, "let us adjourn to the keep
where we'll rightly toast our agreement with some of our Jovian finest.  I've
broken into my cellar and brought out a cask of amontilago."
  "Faith," one of the lords says loudly, "McCloud is bringing out the good
stuff, tis a miracle."
  They all have a good-natured laugh at the king's expense.  The clan Laird
laughs loudest of them all.  Then, Laird McCloud adds as if it were a minor
detail he'd just remembered, "One of our ships reported you were blessed with
an auspicious event on your approach."
  "Eh?" asks the prince, "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."
  "The bounty of our glorious planet fairly rained down upon your decks."
  "Ah the airshark," I say catching his meaning, "Yes, we were quite lucky
that we came upon such a fine specimen.  It is an auspicious omen indeed.  No
doubt the Lords of Wind are indicating their approval of the day's events. 
Sadly, we lack the means to properly prepare their blessed gift."  I nudge the
prince in the ribs.
  "Uh . . .  yes," he says, "I would like to offer it to you in . . . "
  "Thank you kindly, Sir Prince," The Laird says delightedly, "Children, see
to it while we escort the prince back to the clan hall."
  "Yes, Ferrite, would you see to it?" the prince asks in the same offhanded
manner.  I catch a twinkle in his eye as he jokingly assigns this odious duty
to me.
  "At once, my lord," I say dryly.

     As per my orders, Zoisite stays next to Endymion and the prince's
personal guard fall in behind the carriages taking the prince back to the clan
hall.  With little more ceremony than that, they depart.  The children of the
royal family form an intimidating semicircle around me awaiting for my lead. 
Now, I'm above average height, for a Terran but on Jupiter, where everything
is big, I qualify as scrawny.  I turn and look up at the closest of these
bruisers, who is at least three inches taller than me and say, "'Children', if
you'll follow me."  Europa giggles at my comment.  "Lead on, runt," he shoots
back and the boys have one on me.  Actually, we all get along quite well. 
I've met the lot of them when I was first here escorting grain ships from
Earth.  They are very personable fellows, though prone to the strutting and
bragging most young men are.

     Still, I taught them a lesson in humility back some months ago when the
Nemesis was helping transport grain during the famine.  During a short stay,
as the merchantmen were being maintained, Senshi Jupiter and her brothers
challenged me and the pick of my crew to a good-natured game of "four posts."
     Now, four posts is a game where four iron, barrel hoops wrapped in
braided rags are divided two to a side.  The object of the game is to get your
rings over their designated posts at opposite corners of a square field. 
Since the rings can be taken from your opponents by bodily force, the team is
on offense and defense at the same time.  And since there are few other rules,
the games can sometimes border on an out-of-control brawl.
     That particular game got rather spirited but fortunately no bones were
broken.  Only a couple of minutes into the match, Juno got one of her team's
rings and broke out of the mob to slam it down over its post.  There was no
way I could match her speed and she easily out distanced me.
     If this continued, it was obvious that my side was going to lose but
quick.  Then, it hit me: why not throw the rings over the heads of my
opponents.  Just station a man over by the posts and fling it to him.  The
rules didn't say you couldn't do that so I took advantage of that loophole.
     Using my enhanced strength to snatch the ring away from Michael and
running ahead of a pack of four of them, I gathered the other two rings from
my own men.  Around the field we went with the entire Jovian team hot on my
heels.  Fortunately while they all chased after me, part of my team was able
to act as blockers.  When my receivers were in position, I hurled the rings to
them just as Juno slammed into me causing me to plow the turf with my chin. 
The change in play style caught the Jovians completely by surprise and my men
were totally unguarded.  The throws were good and the men were able to slam
the rings over the posts triumphantly.  There followed many shouts of victory
and howls of triumph.
     What a great day it was for Terra.  Here we took the Jovians on in their
own game and won three rings to one.  To top it off, this victory came even
though the Jovians had a Senshi on their side.  The Terran soldiers and
sailors watching us erupted into jubilant cheers and carried my team off the
field in celebration.  The Jovians, however, protested vociferously claiming
it wasn't fair.  After much arguing and consulting the rules, the officials
with King Korric among them counted it as a win.  The other Jovians still
thought it was a really cheap trick, though, just like a Terran.  However, I
notice that ever since then, they use that strategy themselves.

     We draw back the tarp on the air-shark and Juno exclaims, "Why it's
beautiful!"
  The thing lays there, it's bloated, barbed tongue sticking out of its gash
of a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth and I say, "Beautiful?"
  "Yes," Europa oohs' prodding the carcass appraisingly, "big, yet still young
and tender."
  "How, fortunate it tried to eat one of my crew," I say dryly.
     "Yeah," Thomas, the youngest of her brothers, agrees with me, not
realizing I was being sarcastic, "Here they were, not even trying.  Usually we
have to troll for months to get one like this.  You Terrans are always lucky. 
You never have to work for anything."
     That sounded like he was speaking of more than airshark.  It looks like
there's a bit of resentment here for his Terran benefactors even among the
royal family.  I prompt him to see how deep this resentment is, "I beg your
pardon?  You think we're taking advantage of you?"
  "Don't mind him," Connar says, "he doesn't appreciate it when people do
things for him."
  "When I am taken advantage of, I will protest," Thomas says, "And I will
speak my mind."
  "You think we tried to cheat you?" I ask, "if you have some complaint about
our aid shipments, I'd like to hear about it."
  He's really worked up now when he says, "More than one of the grain ships
was light when they arrived, though their captains and manifests claimed them
as full.  Do you think we Jovians are so stupid we cannot figure the weight of
a ship by her water line?"
  "I was unaware of this," I say with a frown, "if you have proof of your
assertions and names of the ships in question, I'll look into it."
  "Pah!" Thomas scoffs, "we were told to let the matter go.  Since we were in
need, we smiled though clenched teeth and accepted them.  We wouldn't want to
upset the Terrans."
  "Will you whist?!"  Juno hisses.
  "I will not.  You may kiss the Terran's rears since you're so smitten with
Nephrite but I shall pass on that act."  After a moment he imprudently asks,
"When you're with him, do you kiss his rear as well?"
     Two of her other brothers immediately grab Juno's arms but she drags
them with her as she takes several menacing steps in Thomas' direction. 
Stepping between Juno and Thomas, I hold up a letter Nephrite before her face
to distract her.  She pauses and I shout, "The rest of you'd best get this
shark in the pot, the air around here is really starting to stink.  Juno and I
have matters to discuss."  Juno banks her wrath, for now and glares at Thomas. 
The two holding her, let go and make to unload the carcass.  Leaving the bosun
to oversee the unloading of the shark, I lead Juno up to the bridge.  As I
turn away, I see Eric step over and swat Thomas on the back of his head, hard. 
The youth realizes he's gone too far and wisely shuts up.

     When we are out of earshot of the rest of them, I hand the letter to
Juno and say, "Nephrite sends his apologies for his absence.  He is at his
home kingdom of Cibolita to rally troops to aid in the search for Beryl's
bandits."
  "Are things bad in Arcadia?"  She asks with some concern.
  "All is well," I reassure her, "Beryl has fled the capital where a
transitional government has been installed.  She is no danger, though she
still eludes capture in the wild lands."
     Her fears allayed, Juno she eagerly tears open the letter and starts to
read.  As her eyes scan the page, however, her lips move as she reads a
difficult passage.  After no small amount of struggling, she asks, "could you
help me with this, Ferrite?  I don't read Cibolitan all that well."
  "Why didn't he write to you in outer Atlantean?" I ask, "I know you read
that almost as well as your native Jovian since the languages are related."
  "Well . . . " she hesitates with some embarrassment, "I didn't want him to
think I was stupid so I said I read Cibolitan a lot better than I do."
  "Ah," I say in understanding, "Well, if you don't mind me reading your
personal correspondence, I'll be happy to translate for you.  I know Cibolitan
language can be a bit flowery at times.  Remind me to give you a language
primer that I have for that tongue."
  "Gee, thanks," she says brightening.

     I take the letter and read:
My dearest Juno,
     How the world has changed since I last wrote.  It was winter then, as
was my life before you.  Now, in my native land, it is spring and the fragrant
air is like your breath upon my cheek.  I look around me at the beauty of the
vineyards and see your face in every thing that lives and grows.  You are the
root and stem of my life, and wonder how I lived before that was so.
     I have cast the question of our marriage before the zodiac and the stars
have said that the lines of our families will be long together.  With the
heavens assent, I have posed the question of our matrimony to my parents and
sought their approval.  Knowing the nobility of your clan, they immediately
said yes.  Now I only await the auspicious moment when the stars are right to
make a formal declaration to your family.  I want everything to be perfect for
our union.
     That night, my father showed me a strange device devised by some of the
philosophers at the university.  It was made of copper wire coiled around rods
of iron.  By vigorously turning a crank attached to it, a small spark of
lightning was produced.  Though it was smaller than those produced by touching
metal on a dry, cold day, the understanding of the principles involved is
astounding.    When I saw it, of course, my thoughts immediately were of you.
     Tonight I take up my pen, not to marvel at these wondrous times but to
declare the love that is in my heart.  I know I am the luckiest man alive to
have met you.  When I first saw you, I saw in your eyes the stoutness and
honesty of your soul.  Since that time I have longed for nothing but to rest
in your embrace.  At times I want to curse our duties because they keep us
apart.  At the same time, however, I bless them because they enabled me to
find you.  All in all, they are gifts from God, for it will give us the time
to grow together like the trees of your native world.
     Though we are worlds apart, know that one day we will be together
always.  When our duties to our worlds pass then begins my vows to you.  I
have gazed into the heavens and seen your face . . .  my future, my love, my
all.


Yours forever,
Nephrite

     I look up and see that Juno is turned away from me slightly and is
crying.  They are not tears of joy, however, but those of despair.  Puzzled, I
take my handkerchief from my sleeve and hand it to her.  She cries into it
looking out over the harbor.  I let her weep for a time; it's generally best
to let the first rush out.  After a moment, I place my hand on her shoulder
and as, "Juno, what's the matter?"
  Swallowing her tears for the moment she says, "You do not know the level of
grief I go through for the sake of Nephrite."  She pauses to wipe her eyes,
"I'm constantly reminded that he is of Earth and I am of Jupiter."
  "What do you mean?"
  "It was all decided that I was to cement my clan with the McKinnins by
becoming engaged to an infant prince of theirs.  I refused and announced my
intentions to marry Nephrite when we both leave our posts.  Papa was happy
enough, he sees strength in ties to Earth but others see me as some kind of
traitor: some Earth lover who doesn't even rate the attentions of Endymion. 
All I'm doing is following my heart."
  "Aye, that does complicate things.  I did not know that you had been engaged
to another."
  She laughs sardonically and says, "Neither did I.  This was arranged without
even telling me.  The whole thing was put before my parents when I was away on
the Moon.  They tentatively agreed barring my approval.  Then it was all laid
at my feet upon my return."
  "And then what happened?"
  "I told them no,"  She said simply.
  "And . . . " I prompt her.
  "My parents asked me if this was what I wanted and I said yes.  They then
dissolved the pact on grounds that, as Senshi Jupiter, I was allowed to make
independent decisions that affect the security of the planet.  Ties to Earth
fall under that category so I could marry Nephrite if I wished."
  "Your parents really feel that?" I ask, "I mean that planetary security
issues are involved?"
  "No, they didn't like the arrangement too much themselves.  That was just
used as an excuse for my sake.  They really want to see me happy.  But others
. . . "
  "That can't be helped," I say, "you just have to go about your life as best
you can."
  "It's hard," the young woman says, "people saying I've sold out to the
Terrans and all.  I hear that from almost all the other clans.  The McKinnins
the loudest.  You yourself saw how my brother acted.  My own brother  . . . "
she sobs for a moment.
     This starts a new bout of crying and I wish there was something I could
do to help her.  Then I get an idea.  "Juno," I say placing a reassuring hand
on her shoulder, "perhaps a bit of this resentment  can be alleviated."
  "How?" she asks.
  "Quite a bit of the land ceded to Terra will be titled to the Cibolitans," I
point out, "If Nephrite were to make his intentions to marry you public
knowledge, it could be possible to cast your romance with him as you
preserving Jupiter's hold on transferred territories.  All it would take is a
rumor or two that the McClouds were using their daughter in their political
schemes."
  "You think that would work?"
  "It'll make you and your family look a little cold hearted and manipulative,
but those are just the qualities these people respect."
  "Hey, I think you're right," she says as she gains confidence.
  "I'll also loudly investigate these charges of the grain ships being light. 
All under pressure from the Jovian royal family, of course," I add with a
wink.
  "Of course," she says smiling.
  "If they prove substantial, as I think they are, the guilty can be made to
pay restitution in a big show.  That should show that the Jovian royal house
is in control of the situation and taking steps to keep those haughty Terrans
in line."
  "That's great!"  Juno exclaims cheerfully.  Her eyes are once again those
sparkling green orbs that make her so pretty.  I can see why Nephrite is so
drawn to her.  He is lucky that her position as Senshi will allow them time to
grow together.
  "Now," I say jokingly, "setting aside the pleasant topics of deception and
manipulation.  Let's get that air-shark off my ship before the smell sets in."

     After she drys her eyes, we rejoin her brothers on the pier.  The
Nemesis' crew had lowered the air-shark there using the crane and Juno's
brothers have lashed the thing to some poles.  Juno goes over to Thomas who
stands defiantly in front of her.  He glares at her, daring her to say
something with his eyes.  Faster than a striking snake, she slaps him hard
enough to knock him back against the shark's side.  "Never talk about me and
Nephrite like that again!"  She orders, "I am your elder and an adult in the
eyes of the clan and the law.  What transpires between us is none of your
business.  Do you understand, brother dear?"  He holds his stinging cheek and
nods.  Then she smiles and helps him up.  Cheerfully she says, "now you are
forgiven.  Let's get this shark to the kitchen."  With a sigh of relief,
Thomas takes his position at the tail of the shark.  He got off lucky, by
Jovian law she could have had him flogged.
     I stand there in amazement and watch as they take their positions around
the shark.  True, it is too long to be carried on a cart but it seems as if
they intend to haul this thing to the keep themselves.  "Don't you have
servants for this sort of thing?" I ask as they each go to a pole.
  "Hah, Captain, you don't know what a catch this is," Europa says teasingly,
"If we let servants carry a prize like this, It's quite likely that a good
portion of it will find its way elsewhere."
     Juno goes to the head of the shark and takes hold of a pole and looks at
me expectantly.  There are eight positions on the carry poles and eight
jovians so I'm a little puzzled.  "Come on," Connar urges, "We saved the front
pole for Juno and you.  Europa is too short to help carry it."  I look over at
the princess who is indeed a good foot shorter than the rest of us.  She grins
and holds her palms up helplessly.  I sigh and take the pole with Juno on the
opposite side of the shark's head.  This is not how I expected to enter New
Atlantis: carrying the stinking carcass of an air-shark.

     As I said, New Atlantis is built within the crater of an old meteor
strike.  The soil that had accumulated was displaced into a bowl shaped
depression with the lake formed from the second, smaller strike.  The outer
rim has been fortified by adding walls and filling gaps with stonework.  The
lip of the crater rim forms the perfect site for a city on Jupiter. 
Defensibility is absolutely necessary to stave off the beasts of the jungle.
     Slightly to the west of center, is a high point that resisted the blast. 
It is apparently the remains of some construct of  the Ancients on the shell. 
All there was, though were a few tunnels but the Jovians put them to good use. 
On that point, the McCloud clan has built their "palace" that serves also as
the seat of the Jovian government The old Ancient tunnels forms lower
catacombs that they use for everything from living space to storage.
     The "palace" is actually more of a castle where the people of the city
can retreat to in case the outer walls are ever breached.  They always keep it
well stocked in the event of an emergency.  In the past, this precaution
served them well when the path of a mass of migrating kal-mas passed through
New Atlantis.
     The city is built with broad avenues radiating from the castle with the
main one running from the castle to the lake.  This is both practical, since
the castle is where the populace must retreat to in time of danger, and
aesthetic.  All eyes of the city turn towards its rulers and their unifying
strength.  When looking at the castle, at the very center is the clock tower. 
It rises high above the rest of the castle and its great bells can be heard
all across New Atlantis.  Even the time was set by decree of the McClouds.
     As there is no cycle of night and day on Jupiter, time keeping takes on
great importance.  Humans are, after all, creatures used to the rhythms of
night and day and the first settlers tried to defy this fact.  On other
planets, labor ceases when the sun goes down and the light fades.  However,
there are always plenty of hours in the day here.  The trouble is, people
would work themselves until they dropped.  This happened all the time and it
was not uncommon to come upon your neighbor sleeping for several days after
working nonstop the previous three.  It became so bad that it was hard for the
early settlers to get anything done collectively.  That is until Angus
McCloud, the founder of Juno's clan had the clock built and established the
Jovian standard time.  Now all the other cites on Jupiter keep it out of
practicality and tradition.  How odd it is to think that it is the same time
of day all over a planet that way.
     The city itself is constructed mainly of stone and concrete as the
Jovian iron oak pushes out any attempt to grow regular trees that could be
used for wood.  Because of that, the people have made do with what they have. 
This has made for a very austere construction to the buildings.  Where Terran
structures are loaded down with decorations and adornments, the Jovian's are
quite plain.  That is not to say they are drab, however, for they make up for
it with paints made from pigments found in the jungle.  A riot of colors runs
throughout the city. Purples, blues, reds and yellows are predominant.  Flags
and banners proclaim a merchant's business and paintings and murals are on
almost every spot.  As almost everything is well lit, the diffuse light from
the clouds finds its way into almost every corner, any flat surface is some
artist's ease.  Sometimes, Neptunian painters will come here just to capture
New Atlantis' city scape on canvas.
     As we trek through the city, many greetings are shouted to the members
of the royal family that are just as cheerfully returned.  Many folk are
actually happy to see me too.  Earth's largess is appreciated by the common
people; they know who got them through hard times and are grateful.  Several
children appoint themselves our unofficial heralds and run ahead of us down
the street shouting, "Make way, Make way for the royal heirs and the Laird's
dinner."  Then curious people look out their windows to watch our little
parade swelling our audience.
     At last, we reach the keep and turn the air-shark over to the cooking
staff.  I send one of the "heralds" back to the Nemesis with a note and a
copper to have my cabin boy fetch me my cologne and the soap we use to scrub
the sails.  Even after I change, I'll certainly need it to get rid of my
decidedly sharkey air.  I excuse myself from Juno, who is overseeing the
butchering of the shark in the courtyard, and go up to my assigned quarters to
get ready for dinner.  After giving the proper passwords to the guards, I
enter the suite of rooms assigned to prince Endymion, Zoisite and myself. 
Zoisite and I share the room adjoining Endymion's.  Fortunately, it is quite
adequate for our needs.
     I step inside and go straight to the wash basin, stripping off my jacket
and shirt.     "Where's the prince?" I ask Zoisite.
  "In his rooms resting and getting ready for dinner," he says sitting down in
the chair near me.  When he gets a whiff of me Zoisite holds his nose and says
"Eeew!  Don't tell me they made you carry that smelly thing here."
  "Aye,"  I nod, "I had to help haul it right through the center of town too. 
The people were nice enough but they looked at us like we were all carrying a
load of gold.  Strange people, these Jovians."
  "Well, don't feel too bad," Zoisite says, "You missed probably the worst
reception I've ever been to.  However, while the service was atrocious at
least the wine was good.  Most of the Jovian royalty was happy to see him but
the prince was greeted with lots of false smiles, lots of empty sentiment. 
Hmph!  You do some people a favor and look how you're treated."
  "Tell me about it," I say to him pointedly.
  "Ahem," Zoisite clears his throat and says, "Anyway, a lot of them don't
realize how much sharper your senses become when you are a Guardian.  I
overheard A few of them in the corner muttering how the whole famine was
likely a Terran plot."
  "Huh!?!"  I ask incredulously, "How could we possibly do that?"
  "I only caught a small portion of it, but it seems some think we created
some pestilence and infected the crops and heard animals with it."
  "What?"  I exclaim, "That's absurd!  How could we possibly do such a thing? 
Where would we get a disease that affected so many plants?  How would we make
it and spread it without exposing ourselves to it?  Even if we could do it,
why would we then almost bankrupt ourselves to save them?"
  "I guess their own paranoia fills in those blanks," he says with a shrug,"
They must figure we're all Mercurian geniuses or something.  By the way, this
little gem of lies comes straight from Laird McKinnin."
  "Great, the number two ruler on Jupiter thinks our largess is part of some
grand conspiracy."
  "Indeed," Zoisite confirms, "From what I gather, they probably think the
same is true of Nephrite's courtship of Juno."
  "More madness," I say, "Juno says some feel slighted that Endymion chose
Serena and all Jupiter gets is a lesser Prince-Guardian."
  Zoisite giggles, "Just another step in our master plan, eh?  I hadn't
realized we Terrans were so clever: manipulating the feelings of this simple
country girl by having some suave, intellectual woo her."  Zoisite sighs
romantically, "I really don't see what he sees in her; she's so provincial. 
He really needs someone sensitive and artistic."
  I catch the far away look in Zoisite's eye and say, "Stick with Kunzite,
Zoisite.  Wandering eyes will only lead to disappointment."
  "Aw, jealous that Nephrite has caught everyone else's eyes, Captain?"  He
asks languidly.
  I just snort, and try to wash the shark smell off me.

     It does indeed take the sail soap to remove the shark odor and a dose of
cologne to cover the lye smell but I finally stop smelling like a dead
airshark.  The trouble is, now I'm rather  . . .  fragrant.  When we start
down for dinner, the prince jokingly tells me to be sure and sit downwind of
him.  I tell him I hope he enjoys the shark soup.
     The Jovians prefer to socialize on a full stomach so we are led straight
away to dinner.  It is a rather casual affair, where we're seated at the
Laird's right hand and course after course is brought to us on great steaming
platters.  Near the beginning of this marathon known as dinner, the airshark
is served to us and I must admit, for such an ugly, vicious beast, it was
quite tasty.  In respect to the Prince's high esteem, he is offered the tongue
of the creature, which has been steamed and spiced.  It is a high honor that
I'm afraid the prince might decline.  Before I can say anything, rather than
refusing the unappetizing thing, he humbly defers the honor to Lair McCloud. 
I do believe the king was quite touched at the prince's manners as he shoveled
the airshark tongue down with great gusto.  The food is simple, but very fresh
and very good.
     After dinner, wine is served and there is dancing in the great hall. 
The prince is largely occupied chatting with Laird McCloud and a few of the
other Lairds but he occasionally accepts an offer to dance with one of the
many lovely ladies that fill the hall.  Wisely, it is only to those dances
that require a minimum of contact.  I think he finally realizes the effect he
has on females and tries to compensate for it.  Zoisite stays close to the
prince, as per my orders, and will be able to whisk Endymion to safety in an
instant.  I use this opportunity to see what I can find out about these
conspiracy rumors.  After dinner I spend most of the time circulating amongst
the guests and chatting amicably with the military commanders about security
matters and such.  All the while, I keep my ears open and casually observe the
McKinnins.
     Strange, he seems confident in an almost haughty way, as if he holds all
the cards.  Something is up; I know it.  I almost laugh aloud when one of the
McKinnin women, a very attractive one by the name of Esral, tries to distract
Zoisite.  Hah!  She's barking up the wrong tree.  Zoisite is polite, but
distant, his eyes never leave the prince.  After a while, the McKinnin wench
gives up, never able to crack the Guardian's cool demeanor.  Quite satisfied
at Zoisite's performance, I turn my attention back to watching McKinnin
himself.  Heh!  He seems a bit less satisfied now.
     After a time, Europa comes up to me.  Indeed she is a pretty young thing
with black hair and the McCloud green eyes.  "Ferrite," she says shyly, "I
need to speak with you in private."
  "Can it wait until later?" I ask say, "I should be close by in case the
prince needs me."
  She glances over at Endymion and says in a low voice, "Juno needs to speak
with you right away.  It won't take long."
     I look at the Prince who is now between dances and back with Queen
Margaret and King Connar.  With Zoisite so close, the prince is in little
physical danger, so I reason they can spare me for a few minutes.  I follow
her out of the room and down the hall.  She leads me into a drawing room where
a few chairs are set around a desk.  I don't see anyone else in the room so
I'm immediately on my guard.  "Where's Juno?"  I ask.
  "I'm sorry," she says, "I really just wanted to talk to you alone."
  "About Juno and Nephrite?" I ask.
  "In a way," she says, "I sort of wondered what it was about Terran men she
found so attractive."
  "Terran men?" I ask not quite sure how to respond to this thread of
conversation.
  She leans close and says a bit breathy, "yes, they're so dashing and
handsome."
  Uh oh!  I lean away from her a bit and say, "In general or did you have
someone specific in mind?"
  "Well . . .  she says looking up at me with her big, blue eyes, "there was a
certain ship's captain . . . "
     I look around at the secluded room and realize what she has in mind. 
Great, I've got to be very careful to avoid insulting her.  I hate dealing
with royalty.  "I'm very flattered," I say, "but I think I'm a bit old for
you, Europa.  You are what  . . .  fourteen?  Maybe we'd best get back to the
dance."
  "Almost fifteen," She says with a cute pout, "Juno is hardly eighteen, why
should she be treated so differently?  Don't you find me pretty?"
     Indeed she is.  Like all Jovians, she's tall: about half a foot shorter
than I with long, reddish brown hair.  She's still young, though and her
curves have yet to fully fill out.  Still, there's nothing like the fresh
bloom of youth to make a woman beautiful.  "You're stunning," I say, "but
there are ways such things are handled.  Rules to be followed . . . "
  "You Terrans," she says disappointed, "always so lawful about everything. 
On Jupiter things are much simpler between men and women."
  "Now Europa," I say in a paternalistic tone, "you've got a way to go before
you need deal with that.  Why don't we return to the party and I can introduce
you to some nice young men from our foreign service?"
  She sighs and says, "Please Ferrite, will you at least drink a toast with
me?"
  "Okay," I sigh, "then we've got to get back to the party."
     She hands me a glass of champaign and says, "A toast to Earth and
Jupiter.  May they be together always."  Like all Jovians with a toast, she
downs all of it in one shot.  Following her example I do as well.  She smiles
at me happily and takes my arm.  "You know," she says, "you're less stubborn
than a lot of terrans.  You do exactly what I want."  "Well," I say amicably,
"I try to be agreeable."  And then I fall face first into the carpet.


     I come slowly to my senses slowly.  I've been drugged and its taking me
a while to throw off the effects.  Now why would Europa drug me?  Just in case
anyone is watching me, I lay still and reach out with my teleportation
awareness.  As my three-dimensional senses reach out, I feel I'm in a room
deep underground.  Since nothing can dig into the Shell, I'm probably in the
Ancient's tunnels below the McCloud clan hall.  I haven't been taken far so I
must have been out only a few minutes.  In the room with me are eight men; six
are armed with blunderbusses and are covering me.  One of the other two has my
pistol.  There's a woman in the room sitting in a chair at the opposite side
of the room with the two unarmed men standing next to her.

  "Hurry up with the damn clasp."  One of the two says.
  "I am," the other answers, "it must be placed carefully, though.  We don't
want it to accidentally fall out."
  "This would be much simpler if that damn Guardian's mind were not sealed or
that gun of his wasn't so picky.  Why wouldn't that thrice-curst pistol shoot
for us?"
  My mind races at that news.  My pistol of the Ancients wouldn't fire for
them?  It fired for the Hierophant.  Can the artifact measure intent?
  "Do you think he'll do it?"
  "Well, he'll either shoot her or die," he says, "the plan is in place with
the secondary plan if he decides to die nobly."
  "You men keep a close watch on him in case he . . .  well, well, well he's
awake."
     I figure there's no sense in playing possum so I sit up and glare at my
captors.  Two of the nobles from the McKinnin clan, a couple of lackeys by the
names of Ethan and Montgomery stand over Juno.  She sits there listlessly
slumped over in a chair.  One of them just finishes placing a grey metal clasp
in her hair with a brightly sparkling green jewel in it.  Her eyes are half
open and glassy.  Apparently, she's been drugged too.
     Six members of the Jovian palace guard have blunderbusses trained on me
at all times as I sit.  What do you want to bet that the Guard has been
infiltrated by McKinnin sympathizers?  The room is windowless with a dull red
wallpaper on it.  I'd say we're probably on one of the lower levels of the
palace.  This is undoubtedly one of the ancient tunnels the city is built
above.
  "Okay, Ethan, what's going on?" I demand, "if you've harmed the prince in
any way, the royal navy will bring this whole place down around your ears,
needle ships or no."
  "Oh, don't worry about him," Ethan says with an oily smugness, "he's quite
safely dancing the night away.  He might not remain so when Laird McCloud
learns you've shot his daughter.  A hostage is only useful if they're alive
and we need him to keep your gunboats at bay.  I'd be more concerned about
your own hide."
     His men are watching my every move, if I so much as twitch they'll blast
me.  I'm not worried about myself, though.  I could probably kill about half
of them and those two McKinnin toads before they got me but Juno would be
caught in the crossfire.  Besides, these two are just small fries, whoever's
really behind this will probably be able to deny them.  I decide instead to
pump these traitorous bastards for more information.  "Whatever it is you're
planning," I say, "it won't work.  Laird McCloud is a fast friend of Earth. 
You . . . "
  "Pah!" Montgomery spits, "you Terrans think you can take advantage of us
while we are weak with hunger, think again.  When we are through, today the
Laird will renounce the Terran treaty and expel those insular Terran colonists
who are Jovian in name only."
     So that's what this is all about.  I'd heard there was some friction
amongst the Jovian clans lately but I didn't know it was bad enough to drive
some of them to treason.[1]  "So what is this?" I ask, "some lame attempt to
frame me for something?"
  "Very good," Ethan says, "I'll have them carve an ode to your intelligence
on your headstone."
  Juno gives a little moan and Montgomery says, "She's coming around."
  "I'd get prepared for the fight of my life, if I were you," Ethan says.  He
then turns to Montgomery and asks, "You're sure it will work?"
  "Yes, she'll believe anything I tell her," he says.  "Watch this,"  He
points at me and Juno's gaze slowly travels up his arm to rest on my face. 
"See him Juno?" Montgomery says, "He's told Nephrite that you've been
unfaithful."
  "No!  I... I haven't," she says groggily.
  "He says Nephrite deserves better than a big, clumsy cow like you."
  "No, I'm not clumsy.  Mamma says I'm graceful and strong."
  "You're just an uncute tomboy."
  "I... I am so cute!"  Juno declares defensively.
  "Juno, don't listen to them," I shout, "They're all lies."  Could this
stupid scheme possibly work?
  "Nephrite's going to leave you because of Ferrite," Montgomery says.
  "You!" Juno snarls, "You . . .  Ferrite!  I hate you!"  She's still confused
and hesitates, though.
     Ethan pulls my pistol out of his belt and holds it up so I can see it. 
"Better use this wisely," he smirks, "it only has one shot in it.  Blasting
me, though satisfying, will do you no good at all.  If you shoot her, you
still might be able to overcome us on your own."  With that he tosses me my
gun and says, "Catch!"  I snatch it out of the air and by the weight of it, I
know that what he says is true.  I've only got one shot to protect myself from
Juno.  I look for an opportunity to shoot these bastards anyway.  It's no
good; she'd still be shot down by McKinnin's men.  They'll hold back only so
long as I'm alive.  Maybe I can reason with her and together we can beat them. 
"Juno!" I shout, "don't listen to them!  They lie."
     "Look," Montgomery says, "he's going to shoot you.  He's trying to kill
you like he killed Nephrite's love for you."
  "You deceitful bastard!"  Shouts at me enraged, "Turning Nephrite against
me!  You'll pay!  Jupiter . . . "  She starts to gather her energy for her
attack.
     My mind races.  She's too confused by the jewel to listen to me.  I
can't convince her to stop and if I fight, she'll be killed, if not by me then
by them.  I've got to get out of here.  One of the things that set the
Guardians apart from all others who can use magic to teleport is that we are
capable of doing it blind.  That bit of information, we keep secret.  Though I
can't go far, I can get out of this room.  Flick!  I'm suddenly out in the
hall and feeling so nauseated that I'm staggered.  I don't think I'm going to
be able to do that again.

     I take a few shaky steps down the hall.  What's going on here?  Okay,
they want me to kill Juno, causing an incident.  Fine, that's obvious.  That
must mean the McCloud clan is not in on this.  Clans don't betray their own. 
This has got to be the work of a few rogue elements of the McKinnins.  I'd
heard there'd been some succession problems; maybe this is part of that. If I
can, I've got to get to McCloud's men and tell them what's going on.  I've got
to do this without killing Juno and not letting her kill me if at all
possible.  No doubt there are more of those blunderbuss-armed bruisers on hand
to kill me and are guarding the exits.
     FOOOMM!!!  The door behind me is blasted to flinders by a lightning bolt
as Senshi Jupiter unleashes her attack.  I do the best thing I can do right
now: I run.  Damn!  Why does this hall have to be so long?
  "Jupiter . . . "
     Oh no!  I'm too weak for another blind teleport to get out of the hall. 
I've got to keep running.  Then to top it off, I see a group of McKinnin's
soldiers waiting at the corner.
  "Supreme . . . "
     They're not blasting me so that must mean they must have orders to let
Juno kill me.  If I'm electrocuted, they'll still probably make up some
smoking gun scenario.  I've got to keep away from her and not let her kill me
while I try and think up a way out of this.  I recover a bit more and run down
the hall at them.
  "Thunder-Dragon!"
     Yipe!  Like an onrushing tidal wave, the lightning dragon bears down on
me.  At the last instant, I drop to the floor and scuttle forward between the
guard's legs and into their midst. Giving a roar, the electrical dragon,
scatters the soldiers with a portion of its power as it goes after me. 
Grabbing one, I use him as a shield as I push off beyond the pack.  My
quickness is barely enough as it impacts on the spot I was just at.  The rest
of the dragon's charge goes into the rest of the soldiers, knocking them flat.
     I don't even pause but keep running.  As I go, I test the doors along
the hall but they're all locked.  There comes the sound of flesh hitting flesh
and I glance over my shoulder to see Juno tangled up with the unconscious
guards.  "Ferrite!" Juno screams in rage as I get farther away.  Enough
looking, keep running.  I hear a whooshing sound behind me and duck, just as
one of the guard's blunderbusses almost takes my head off.  It flies on to
crash through a heavy wood door in front of me.  Damn!  She's pissed!
     I smash into the weakened door and barely crash through to a stairway
leading up.  A way out at last!  No doubt about it now, I'm on the lowest
level of the palace.  Then, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I
duck back just as a fusillade of fire blasts into the spot I was at a moment
ago.  No time to try and get a lock on the ambusher's spot for a teleport so I
run down a side hallway away from Juno.  Too late I realize it's a dead-end.
     "Ferrite!"  I hear her menacing call and turn about to see her
silhouetted at the end of the hall.  Desperate and with nowhere else to go, I
try a random teleport.  About to heave my guts out, I materialize in one of
the rooms just off the hallway I was just in.  I hear a door bang open
somewhere close as Juno starts searching for me.
     Then I realize I'm not alone.  That suspicious acting Esral is here. 
How convenient that she happens to be near room I woke up in.   She's got this
ridiculous dagger out and brandishes it like it's supposed to keep me at bay
or something.  I'm slowed terribly by my exertions but I'm still fast enough
to knock this villain out with a quick jab to the solar plexus.  One shot and
she's out like a light before she can even scream.  I drag her over behind a
desk and dig through her pockets hoping for something useful: A key to open
some of these doors or something like that.
     All I find though, is the disguise pen she probably used to make herself
appear as Europa.  A white gloved fist smashes through the locked door and
Senshi Jupiter announces her arrival in her own particular idiom.  I've only
seconds to act before she gets in here.  Raising the pen above my head I say,
"Disguise magic turn me into . . . "  But my words are drowned out as Jupiter
kicks in the door with a crash.  In fear of my life, I stand there waiting to
see what she will do next.

     "Nephrite!"  She exclaims when she sees my transformed state, "if I knew
you were coming I'd have baked a cake."  Good, the disguise magic has fooled
her in her addled state of  mind.  Her mood immediately shifts from a
berserker rage to almost coquettish affection.  "I was told that you stopped
loving me because of some awful lies that Ferrite . . . "
  "Sh . . . " I hush her in an imitation of Nephrite's husky voice, "I could
never stop loving you."  I quickly add before her mood can change, "you are my
one and only."
  She clasps her hands together and looks up at me with these big innocent
eyes.  "I've missed you so," a blush rises to her cheeks and I can almost see
hearts in her eyes.  The possessor gem in the hair clasp, seems to wink at me
from its position in her hair.
  I put my hands on her shoulders and stare into her green eyes, "I've missed
you too, my love." I say in a fair imitation of Nephrite's gravelly voice.  If
I can get that thing and smash it, she should return to normal.
  "My love?" She giggles, "really?"
  "Yes dear," I say, "you are the only one for me."  I reach up and tug at the
clasp but it holds on like a spider.
  "Ow!" She exclaims and pulls away running her fingers through her hair. 
"That hurt, "she says with a touch of annoyance, "what's the matter with you,
Nephrite?  You're usually so gentle."  She looks at me suspiciously.
     Uh oh, if she starts questioning "Nephrite" how he suddenly got here
she'll probably see through the disguise.  "I'm sorry," I say pulling her into
an embrace, "I just wanted to touch your beautiful hair."
  "You really think I'm beautiful?" she asks gazing up at me with her deep
green eyes.
  I look down at her and say sincerely, "Yes . . .  yes,  I do."
  "Oh, Nephrite," she sighs and wraps her arms around my neck, "I love you."
     I notice that her hair has this earthy, smell of living things like
plants . . .  like windflowers.  I run my fingers over the back of her neck
and in her hair to get a good feel for where the gem is.  I bring my left arm
across the back of her waist and over to my right hip.  Stealthily my fingers
close over the butt of my pistol.  Naturally, she's drawn close into me.  She
looks up at me, her eyes half lidded and then leans in to kiss me.  My hand
closes over the clasp as her lips meet mine.
     At first it is a soft kiss, but grows more passionate.  Despite my
intent on the clasp I am distracted by her attentions.  I don't think I've
ever been so freverently kissed in my life.  I stealthily work at the clasp of
the beret.  She runs her hands up and down my back sending shivers down my
spine.  I blink and try to concentrate on the task at hand; I draw my pistol
from its holster and get ready to shoot the gem the second I have it free. 
She runs her fingers through my hair and across my cheek.  I've got to be
careful or she'll notice what I'm doing.  The magic must be causing her
personality to swing to extremes from anger to love.  Otherwise I can't
explain the ardor as she throws herself at me.  No, not me, Nephrite.
     Her lips part as her lust rise and she makes these small moans of
passion.  Concentrate!  Don't . . .  Her tongue caresses my lips softly but
with an insistence that cannot be denied.  Guiltily, I act as Nephrite would
as I try and undo the hair clasp.  I'm doing this to try and save us both but
I feel like I'm betraying my friend.  She breaks the kiss and fiercely looks
up into my eyes.  "Love me, darling," she whispers and rips the front of my
uniform open.  Her hand goes inside my shirt and caresses the muscles of my
chest.
     Despite myself, I hesitate and almost . . .  almost respond.  "Fool!" I
shout at myself, "This is not for you!  This is for Nephrite!"  With a burst
of anger and envy, I pull the soul gem from her hair and toss it into the air. 
KABLAM!  The bolt of iron reduces the possession fetish to powder.  Juno's
arms tighten reflexively around me at the sudden noise and she looks about. 
Her eyes blink open, and the slight glaze they had is now gone.  She looks
back over her shoulder and says, "Huh?  What happened, Nephrite?"  She sees
the pistol and then looks back up at me, "you're not Nephrite!"  In a flash,
she pushes me away from her and exclaims angrily, "You're Ferrite!"  I go
flying and land hard on the floor.
  I pick myself up and drop the disguise magic saying, "I'm Sorry, Juno, there
. . . "
  "You tricked me!"  She shouts in outrage, "You disguised yourself to take
advantage of me!"
  "Stop!" I shout louder, "Think!  It was the only way I could get that mind
trap gem out of your hair.  She crosses her arms before her breasts
defensively, and turns away from me hunched over in mortification.  "I can't
believe I . . . "  I take her elbow and lead her over to a chair and sit her
down.  She's fairly engulfed in the high wingback chair.  We really should be
looking for the prince, but she needs a moment to recover.  At that moment,
the door crashes open and Ethan McKinnin steps in with several of his
henchmen.  His men cover me with their blunderbusses not spotting Juno in the
chair which faces away from them.  He sees the female form of his agent laying
in the darkness and apparently thinks it's Juno.  A smug look comes to his
face and he says, "Ferrite, I arrest you for the murder of Senshi Jupiter."
  "You'll never get away with this," I say stalling to allow Juno to recover,
"that possession jewel will show what really went on."
"What possession jewel?"  He asks innocently, "do you men see any possession
Jewel?"
His bully boys chuckle conspiratorially.
"What about the one you put on me in the hair clasp?" Juno says from the
chair.
"Ah . . . "  Ethan pauses as Juno rises up like an avenging spirit from her
chair.  Suddenly he's not quite so confident now.  Instead of an underpowered
Guardian he's facing the mightiest of the inner Senshi.  Trembling, his men
turn their blunderbusses on her.  In the instant their guns are off me, I
snatch the rug out from under them and they go down in a tangle.  One of them
tries to aim from the floor but before he can fire I hit him with a table.
  "Jupiter . . . "  Senshi Jupiter intones, as she gathers her power.
  "Wait! Can't we talk?" McKinnin says desperately
  "Now you're gonna' get it," I gloat.
  "Oak . . . " she continues, ignoring the both of us.
  "Flee!  Flee for your lives!" He shouts and starts to run.
  "I'll just stand over here, Juno."  I say stepping to one side.
  "Evolution!"  She finishes unleashing the power of her planet upon him.
  "Eeearrggh!"
  "Ooh, that's gotta hurt,"  I say covering my eyes with my hand.   Heh! 
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy too.

     With Juno's help it is a simple matter to mop up the rest of the
McKinnin guards.  Or rather, I sort of follow along as Juno virtually brings
the lower levels down around their ears.  After we break past McKinnin's men,
we easily ascend to the ground level of the Keep.
     We at last return to the great hall of the keep.  Nobody has even
noticed that we've been gone though, McKinnin's jaw hits the floor when he
spots us.  Juno walks straight up to her father as Senshi Jupiter and drops
the bombshell of the McKinnin plot at his feet.  The accusations fly with the
end result being McKinnin is arrested and led away in irons.   Laird McCloud
is beet red with anger as he dispatches three of Juno's brothers and a sizable
chunk of their army to seize the holdings of Laird McKinnin and dispossess
their entire clan.  Not only is attempting to conspire against the visiting
prince of an allied planet treason, but doing so to a guest is terribly
impolite.  Jovian etiquette shall not be breached without consequence.

     "Juno," her father says after he calms down a bit, "tis not fitting that
guests be exposed to the ugliness of family arguments.  Please escort Prince
Endymion and his men back to their ships.  I will feel safer with his lordship
surrounded only by his own countrymen until this matter is settled amongst the
clans."  Hm, that's the first time I've heard of virtual civil war described
as a "family argument."
     In short order, our guards are assembled and we do a quick march back to
the ship.  None of us truly relaxes, however, until we are all back aboard the
Nemesis.  Just for good measure, we prepare to move the squadron to the center
of the lake.  The prince is made to go below, along with Zoisite until we are
in place.  As the men prepare to get us underway, Juno calls me aside for a
moment.  She and I step to the corner of the bridge, with Roberval keeping one
eye on us.
     Juno fidgets for a moment until finally she blurts out, "Ferrite, if you
ever breathe a word what happened back there to Nephrite . . . "
  "You'll what?"  I say suddenly getting angry.  I did the only think I could
to keep from having to shoot her and she thinks I'm going to go around
gossiping?  "Blast me with lighting?  Thanks, you've already done enough of
that today."
  "No!  No!"  She says suddenly backpedaling, "I . . .  I'm sorry I didn't
mean it like that.  I was just afraid that if Nephrite heard what happened
that he'd . . .  he'd think . . . "
  I blow out a breath and relax.  "I understand," I say, "you are afraid he
might be jealous.  Don't worry; my lips are sealed."
  "Thank you," she says gratefully, "you've been a true friend to both me and
Nephrite.  We shouldn't fight."
  "You're right,"  I say with a playful smirk.  Leaning close and grossly
puckering my lips I say, "let's kiss and make up."
     She stands there goggling at me unsure of what to do for a moment.  Then
she says seizing my lapels, "Oh, sure, I'll give you a big wet one."  The next
second I find myself flying over the ship's side to land in the harbor with a
splash.  Water gets in my nose and throat and I come up sputtering.  One of
the crew throws me a rope and I shout up at Juno, "Hey!  Can't you take a
joke?"

Aye, Jupiter is not to be trifled with.

                         *    *    *

(Part 3.  Planet of Wood)

     I come to my senses with someone rummaging through my pockets. I'm on
the roof of the building and I can hear Jupiter climbing up below us.  Zoisite
must have teleported me here.  "Where is it?" Zoisite mutters, "I saw him put
it in there."  The thing about the pockets of my trenchcoat is that they lead
to some sort of extradimensional space but only I can get at the things in
there.  However, I do have some control over it and, more important, what
objects are on top.  SNAP!  "Yeowp!" Zoisite yelps and snatches his hand out
of my trenchcoat pocket.  Clamped down over his fingers is a large rat trap. 
He curses and pulls the trap off and flings it aside.  Whoosh!  My umbrella
barely misses putting a dent in his head when I strike at him while he's
distracted.  Only his phenomenal speed enables him to just get clear of my
swing.
     Oh, he really looks pissed now.  He gathers himself for an energy blast
but Jupiter leaps up to the beam behind him before he can deliver the attack. 
I'm still too groggy to be much help, so he turns to face the greater threat. 
"Well, well, come to try and zap me again Jupiter?"  He taunts, "Come on, ya'
big clumsy cow, show me what you've got!"
     Oh, that really struck a nerve, Sailor Jupiter looks furious.
  "JUPITER . . . " she starts to shout.

  Oh no, not again.  I look for somewhere to jump to but the whole structure
is metal.

  "SUPREME . . . " Jupiter continues seeming to draw the attack out.

  Zoisite floats just a little above the girder not touching it.  "Go ahead,"
he taunts Jupiter with a glance back at me, "hit me with your best shot."

  "LUMBER!"

  "What?"

  "Lumber?"

  WHUMP!

     Instead of unleashing her electrical attack, Jupiter whips a two-by-four
she had hidden behind her back around an busts Zoisite over the head with it. 
He was so set for the energy attack that the physical one catches him
completely by surprise.  The two-by-four breaks off uselessly in Jupiter's
hand but Zoisite is staggered.  Now, while he's down, I decide to get my licks
in and fling a rose at him.  TANG!  The rose imbeds itself in the spot he was
standing just as he pulls his vanishing act again.  It scatters the cherry
blossom petals left by his teleport.  I sense him reappear behind me and I
bring my umbrella up defensively.  It just barely parries this wicked looking
crystal sword he's manifested.  We struggle, but I'm still prostrate on the
beam so he has the advantage.  Jupiter moves carefully towards us; she's
obviously frightened by the heights.  She'll have to get closer because she
can't zap him without hitting me.
     "Ya' know," Zoisite says as he looms over me, "I've had just about
enough of you.  Zoi!"  I deliberately roll aside off the edge of the building
dodging Zoisite blast of crystals.  The needle-like spray of shards shatters
like hail on the steel beam.  "No!" Jupiter shouts in dismay when she sees me
go over.  She shouldn't worry, I've got my trusty umbrella with me and will
just extend the handle, loop it over a girder down a floor or two, swing
inward to safety, and leap back up to a better position.  If Zoisite turns to
face Jupiter, I might even be able to get in another cheap shot.
     Suddenly, a hand closes over my wrist and I'm jerked to a stop and
slapped against the side of the building.  I look up and see Jupiter has me by
the wrist in one hand with her other barely holding on to the edge of the roof
above her.  "Hang on Trenchcoat-Mask," she shouts, "I've got you!"  Thanks but
I didn't want to be got.  Then I look beyond her to see Zoisite standing
triumphantly over the two of us.  He pauses to savor the moment with his
deadly crystal sword in hand, his booted foot inches away from Jupiter's
fingers. 
     "Okay, Coat-boy," Zoisite demands, "hand over the dark crystal or I see
how thick Sailor Jupiter's skin really is."  A memory of Zoisite standing on a
parapet running the elder Jupiter through with a crystal spear flashes through
my brain.  "Okay," I shout pulling the dark crystal from my pocket, "here it
is!  Just don't hurt her!"  An odd expression flits across Jupiter's face at
the deep concern for her in my voice.
     I hold the crystal out in my palm as if making ready to throw it.  When
Zoisite tries to catch it, I'll put a rose through his head.  Zoisite doesn't
wait for that, though, he forcefully stamps down on Sailor Jupiter's fingers
causing her to let go.  "Yeow!" Jupiter exclaims at her crushed fingers.  We
both start to fall and the crystal levitates out of my hand and into his. 
Zoisite laughs raucously as we start to tumble and spin in the air.
     Jupiter shrieks in fear as we plummet toward the street below.  She
thrashes wildly and I can't get a grip on her.  Spreading my coat a little, I
stop tumbling and shift my grip on my umbrella.  Extending the hooked end, I
catch it in the bow on the back of Jupiter's fuku and haul her in.  I've only
got moments to act; the pavement is approaching fast and I need a solid hold
on her.  Unintentionally she does the right thing.  In total panic, she
frantically throws her arms around my neck and clutches me in desperation. 
Her strength is so great she almost crushes my wind pipe outright but I clench
the muscles in my neck and protect myself.
     Raising my umbrella overhead, I trigger the release and open it.  With a
loud "Flumph" it opens slowing us minutely.  Then I reach out with my will and
call on the magic.  The fabric and steel construct expands like a parachute
slowing our fall.  Despite the umbrella, we're still going too fast!  Fate
smiles on us though, I'm able to steer us in a dumpster full of nice, soft
garbage.  Between the umbrella, the cushioning refuse and our innate toughness
we land without injury.  When we hit, I lose my hold on the umbrella and it
snaps back to normal size.
     Jupiter just lays there on top of me for a moment quietly trembling. 
She makes a few small whimpers as the panic still grips her.  I pat her on the
back a couple of times but she still holds me tight.  Then I start pounding
her on the back frantically.  She looks down at me to see I'm turning blue. 
Realizing she's choking me she immediately releases her hold.
  "Pah!" I gasp.
  "Oh, golly!" she exclaims as she watches me rubbing my throat, "are you all
right?"
  I sit there for a moment panting until the little lights stop flashing
before my eyes.  "I'm okay," I say when my breath returns after a moment, "how
do you feel?"
  "Angry!"  She exclaims clenching her fist.  Jupiter then leaps out of the
dumpster and charges off after Zoisite like a bat out of Hell.  I haul myself
up to the edge of the dumpster and look around.  Except for the patter of
Jupiter's retreating feet, all is silent.  Zoisite is probably long gone by
now.
     I jump out and land shakily; there's nothing like a little asphyxiation
to tell you to slow you down a bit.  I'm too old for this sort of thing; these
Senshi are going to be the death of me yet.  Recovering my umbrella, I look
around for signs of anyone.  Zoisite's gone, Jupiter's gone, the young man is
gone.  Hell, there's no point in hanging around here all night so I go to
recover my briefcase.
     After changing back to Robert Davis, I find the case easily enough  back
at the side street near the train station.  Fortunately, the transformation
magic takes with it all traces of my dumpster diving.  I'd be really fun
standing there on the train stinking up the car while the natives stared at
me. My little adventure over for the evening, I set out for my home.  On the
way to my train station, I pass by Makoto's apartment building.  I notice the
light is on in her room and, on impulse, I go to check on my new charge.
     I go up to her room and knock.  "Who is it?" Mako calls out.  "It's me,"
I say softly.  A moment later, the door opens and Mako stands there, in jeans
and a T-shirt.  When she opens the door, a heavenly smell of some sort of
spicy chicken wafts out.  I look over her shoulder and see her school books
spread out over the table.  Next to them is  a cup of tea and a plate of
steamed buns.  I nod approvingly and say, "Just checking on you Mako.  I'm
glad you've taken what I've said seriously."
  "Yeah," she says glancing back at the books, "I want to thank you for
helping me out of a tight spot with the landlord."
  "You're welcome.  But don't think that means you can slack off," I turn to
go and say, "well goodnight."
  "Say," she says quickly, "would you like something to eat?"
  I'm about to say "no" but I look in her eyes and see a little bit of
loneliness in them.  "Okay," I say, "I suppose I could stay for a little
something."
  "Great," she smiles genuinely pleased.
     I kick off my shoes and sit at the table.  In a moment, Mako brings a
serving dish with chicken Nanbanyaki and a bowl of rice.  It's very fancy and
not that easy to make.  "Wow," I say, "you cook all this for one person?"
     "Well, it's sort of out of habit," she says, "Ever since my mother
showed me how to cook, I always make a lot.  Cooking was the way I showed my
folks how much I loved them."  I look up at her expecting her to be sad, but
she smiles slightly and has a faraway look.  She's gazing at the rocking chair
as she recalls a fond memory.  Something tells me I made the right decision;
this girl's going to be okay.
     She sits opposite me and looks down at her book.  I continue eating as
she picks up her pencil and tries to do the algebra problems.  She frowns and
writes down an answer.  Then she looks at it again and erases it giving a sigh
of frustration.  I look at her calculation and immediately see her mistake.  I
scoot around the table to her side and point out where she went wrong in her
reasoning.  Immediately she catches on and does the next one right.  For the
next hour or so I tutor Mako in math before I go home.
     On the train ride back, however, I'm troubled.  Why is Usagi, who seems
to be at the center of events, taking up with Makoto?  Most of all, I wonder
about that young man.  Who is he?  How did he know who I was?  What did he
mean when he said I'd betray the Senshi?



To Be Continued . . .


1.See "Successions Of Power" by Douglas Helm for more on the Jovian internal
power struggle.


Notes:

First, thanks to my proof readers Rachel and Ursula for their suggestions and
Andy for his editing notes.  Also, Doug, Ben, Mark, Becky, Berk, Sherlyn, and
Sam for inspiration and ideas.

Second, There's lots of great fanfic on the Sailor Moon Expanded web site at:
http://www.texas.net/~android/sme_main.html
Lots of good stuff there by people a lot better than me.  Best of all, it
respects the original anime and adds to it or fills in gaps.