Inspector Aki was appalled at the level of destruction she saw in the abandoned base. It was expensive to set up a dome; surely someone would have moved in and cleaned up this one by now. But the fact that nobody had moved in before now was what gave her the hope that the power draw she'd learned about was connected to the person she wanted to see again.
"What happened here?" she whispered.
"The Visitors happened," was Yayoi's reply. "Well, the Visitors and Kohran. I stayed near the airlock and arrested anyone who surrendered." And Sora stayed with the ship, Yayoi didn't add.
"But ... how? I read the reports; you didn't bring along heavy weaponry."
"Most of the Visitors are heavy weaponry. Kohran and Kaolla rampaged through the warehouses." Yayoi gestured toward some lots chocked with rubble. "That area," pointing at what looked to be intact row housing, "was where Delandra, Peggy, and Bibi held off the ground forces, if what I saw was accurate. That ar- DON'T GO THAT WAY!"
Natsuki froze, a dozen steps away from a flat expanse of glass. "Why not?"
"That used to be the administration complex, and it's where the Boskonians coordinated their defense against us. I still don't know what Skuld and Rei did there, and I saw it happen." Yayoi shivered in half-remembered fear. "I don't trust the area to be safe."
"Right." The inspector backed away from the glazed terrain and made her way to the plutocrat's side. If someone who hadn't developed a sense of paranoia as a working tool didn't trust an area, that was enough for her. "Is this the safe way farther in?"
"As much as anything here is safe," replied Yayoi as she worked her way around a wrecked aircar. "Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Loon, and Luna shot down anything that threatened Moldiver's advance, so following Mirai's path is probably the safest way to get to the access point you want to reach."
"I'm sensing a 'but' attached to that sentence."
Yayoi nodded. "But Mirai was flying. We're walking."
"Are you sure this is the only safe way to the bunker that's drawing power?"
"It's barely safer than walking outside without pressure suits and coming in the way La Mariposa left when we attacked."
"All right, we'll go this way. I might lose this hat you bought for me if we went outside."
"You don't need to keep it on in here, you know."
"I've grown to appreciate it."
"Was that a smile I saw dancing on your face, Inspector?"
"You must have been imagining things."
As they continued toward the bunker, cameras in quiet corners turned to watch them.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
"What happened here?" she whispered.
"The Visitors happened," was Yayoi's reply. "Well, the Visitors and Kohran. I stayed near the airlock and arrested anyone who surrendered." And Sora stayed with the ship, Yayoi didn't add.
"But ... how? I read the reports; you didn't bring along heavy weaponry."
"Most of the Visitors are heavy weaponry. Kohran and Kaolla rampaged through the warehouses." Yayoi gestured toward some lots chocked with rubble. "That area," pointing at what looked to be intact row housing, "was where Delandra, Peggy, and Bibi held off the ground forces, if what I saw was accurate. That ar- DON'T GO THAT WAY!"
Natsuki froze, a dozen steps away from a flat expanse of glass. "Why not?"
"That used to be the administration complex, and it's where the Boskonians coordinated their defense against us. I still don't know what Skuld and Rei did there, and I saw it happen." Yayoi shivered in half-remembered fear. "I don't trust the area to be safe."
"Right." The inspector backed away from the glazed terrain and made her way to the plutocrat's side. If someone who hadn't developed a sense of paranoia as a working tool didn't trust an area, that was enough for her. "Is this the safe way farther in?"
"As much as anything here is safe," replied Yayoi as she worked her way around a wrecked aircar. "Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Loon, and Luna shot down anything that threatened Moldiver's advance, so following Mirai's path is probably the safest way to get to the access point you want to reach."
"I'm sensing a 'but' attached to that sentence."
Yayoi nodded. "But Mirai was flying. We're walking."
"Are you sure this is the only safe way to the bunker that's drawing power?"
"It's barely safer than walking outside without pressure suits and coming in the way La Mariposa left when we attacked."
"All right, we'll go this way. I might lose this hat you bought for me if we went outside."
"You don't need to keep it on in here, you know."
"I've grown to appreciate it."
"Was that a smile I saw dancing on your face, Inspector?"
"You must have been imagining things."
As they continued toward the bunker, cameras in quiet corners turned to watch them.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012