Sailors Enslaved
                       Sailor Moon Hentai fan-fiction
                     by Dr. Allosaurus (allosaur@mcs.net)

                             ** WARNING!! **
This story contains scenes of intense violence and sexual situations of the sort
found in some of the nastier Japanese fan comics. If such fantasies offend
you, please skip this story.

Usual disclaimers apply: noncommercial fan use only, don't read if the law
says you shouldn't, don't ask for e-mail reposts, because I'll say no, etc.
Comments and criticisms are always welcome though.


                         ** CHAPTER NINE **

   Lord-Captain Arlen slid the black cartridge into the viewer and once again
studied the video record.
   It had begun as a fairly routine interrogation. All the recently captured
warriors were scheduled for basic processing by the Reapers before more
thorough testing and examination. Traditional methods often complemented the
high-tech procedures. Simple physical pain was surprisingly effective in
preparing a subject for mental scanning.
   This one though... The energy discharged had interfered with the
recording equipment, so Arlen was only able to catch a glimpse of the
paranormal undergoing her mysterious mode shift.
   Arlen advanced the recording to the section where he himself entered the
chamber, trailed by the nervous Reaper who had summoned him. It had been an
extraordinary sight. He was glad to have this tangible digital record,
otherwise he might doubt the reliability of his memory. After all, it
could have been just a particularly effective telepathic illusion....
   The captive still hung by her wrists from the restraining cables, but
her ripped uniform had been replaced by an immaculate flowing gown, and
every bruised and welt had vanished from her pale flesh.
   She met Arlen's glare with a directness he was unused to. Defiance
and hate were quite familiar, but the calm stare of someone who plainly
considered herself his equal was rare. Plans immediately began formulating in
his mind. He might have gained greater riches from that primitive world that he
had expected.
   Arlen listened to himself say: "You have managed to unnerve one of 
my Reapers with your display. I'm not quite so easily impressed. You
are not the first paranormal to hang from those bonds, I assure you."
   "You cannot bind a free soul," she had replied.
   "Oh? Is that what you are?"
   "I am Serenity."
   Arlen had already held out his hand toward the Reaper, who was now
placing one of his whips into Arlen's grasp.
   The heavy slash struck down hard on the captive's shoulder and across her
breasts. The fine fabric of the gown was shredded and speckled with blood.
   The captive had closed her eyes and her body had tensed at the blow, but
she did not cry out or give any other reaction. She only slowly relaxed and
opened her eyes.
   "You have no power that can touch me," she said, "nor will I allow you to
hold my friends in bondage...."
   "I beg to dif-"
   But Arlen had been interrupted by the cacophony of alarms that sounded at
that point. Automatic containment systems had been triggered by a sudden
increase in the captive's energy. Arlen and the Reaper had no choice
but to flee the room, or else be trapped themselves by the emergency
stasis field.
   The video record did not show it, but if Arlen was to believe his own
recollection, just as he glanced back a final time, something like a
brilliantly glowing jewel had appeared upon the captive's chest, its
brightness increasing with each second....
   Since then she had been under constant intense bio-drain. Arlen had
gathered a little more information about her from the other warriors, before
had allowed them to be... distributed. He'd kept only the other yellow-haired
one for further testing in Kaghstee's care.
   She, though, had ended up seeming a waste of time, until chance had brought
a more effective use for her....
   Arlen ejected the video cartridge, carefully filed it.
   He stood and pulled on his long uniform coat. Time to head down to
the Technician-Master's laboratory, where Maas was likely hopping
up and down with the anticipation of bragging about his recent success....

                        *    *    *

   Maas's face was beaming as he spoke to Arlen, the torrent of words
pausing only occasionally when he called up a new graph or animated diagram
on his computer screen.
   "The problem," he explained, "turned out to be one of dimensionality --
specifically, temporal."
   Arlen raised an eyebrow.
   Maas continued: "We had been looking at the problem simply as one of energy
flow through spatial dimensions, but then --"
   A new diagram.
   "On a whim I began to model some other event-system constructs and
noticed that there were apparently solutions to the energy problem if one
considered the subject as intermeshing with event-systems containing both
post- and pre-temporal dirigibility values."
   "So," Arlen said, trying keeping his voice calm and patient, "you are
telling me that the captive is being fed energy from both the past and the
future."
   "Well --" Maas, paused with his mouth open. He closed it and then seemed
to be thinking hard. Carefully he said: "One could view it that way,
but... that perhaps it is not the *most* ideal way of describing..."
   "Technician-Master, I'm not going to have you killed just because I don't
understand all your theories. Explain it to me."
   "Yes, Lord-Captain. It's not so much a question of energy flow from the
past and the future, as it is of trans-temporal continuity. The subject appears
to contain an element or aspect that has zero temporal gauge... er... That is,
um... Part of her exists outside the time stream, and thus our local
thermodynamic frame of reference. Quite extraordinary. I've never
encountered a paranormal with this quality."
   "Interesting. You have devised a counter-measure?"
   "Yes, Lord-Captain. Once the problem was identified, the solution was
quite straightforward."
   "Though it did involve your requisitioning a Hellstrike coil?"
   Maas again paused nervously, and shrank back from the officer. Arlen
waved off the matter.
   The Technician-Master swallowed and continued. "By introducing a small
time-phase shift in the subject, just a fraction of a second really, we
were able to isolate her from the temporal anomaly. Her extreme
energy mode collapsed immediately."
   Arlen glanced at the colorful animation of waveforms on Maas's screen.
He actually understood a good deal more about Maas's theories than he
normally cared to divulge.
   "The isolation is not complete. She is not powerless," Arlen said, not as
a question.
   "No, Lord-Captain. That would be fatal."
   "You can modulate her energy state then? With the usual bio-siphon
implant?"
   A look of helpless resignation fell across Maas's reddish features.
"For... a time, Lord-Captain. The phase shift will decay without constant
refreshing -- and then the bio-siphon would be overwhelmed."
   "How long?"
   "Excuse me, Lord-Captain?"
   "How long can you maintain the phase shift?"
   Like a man reciting his last words, Maas said: "At most, a day, or
two...."
   "Sufficient," Arlen said with a nod.
   Maas had to hold himself up by leaning against the computer console.
   "I want to see the subject," Arlen said turning away.
   "Yes... Lord-Captain."

                           *   *   *

  The familiar cold closeness of a holding cell, silent save for the low
breathing of the unconscious captive.
   She was bound wrist and ankles to a jointed metal framework that could
be rotated and adjusted to wide variety of positions. For now it was set
into a simple, inclined "X."
   Arlen noticed immediately that the captive was wearing neither her
warrior's uniform, nor the elegant gown she'd last been in. Instead there was
a loose white blouse and a simple blue skirt.
   Arlen gave Maas a questioning frown.
   "The clothes?" The Technician-Master guessed. "They appeared during her
collapse to her current energy state.... Such things are not are not uncommon
with multi-modal paranormals."
   Arlen grunted. He left Maas standing by the doorway and walked over to the
girl. He looked at her a moment and then took her chin in his hand.
   Lids flickered and then two wide eyes were staring up at the alien above
her.
   An ear-piercing shriek filled the cell.
   Arlen pulled back his hand. "And hello to you as well...."
   "Wh.. Where am I?" Serena asked. She tried to shift herself and seemed to
notice her bonds for the first time, a new wave of fear rising on her face.
As best she could, she peered around the dimly lighted chamber.
   "Where are my friends? What have you done with them?"
   "You always think first of your friends, don't you Serenity?" said Arlen
smugly.
   Serena stopped struggling and her face grew pale. "Why... Why did you call
me that?" she said in a whisper.
   "You introduced yourself to me, Serenity. Princess Serenity, I believe it
is?"
   "No! You let me go! Let all of us go or you'll regret it. The Sailor
Scouts have moon-dusted bigger Negasleeze than you!"
    Arlen frowned. Something wasn't quite right here.
   "Child," he said at last. "Do you even know who I am?"
   Serena sneered. "You're one of those creep aliens who wanted to invade
the Earth! We stopped you...." her voice faded rapidly. "Wh -- Whatever
happens to us doesn't matter. We stopped you."
   "Loss of your planet was a trivial annoyance, Serenity, we --"
   Real angry flashed into her voice. "Stop it! Stop calling me that! You
have no right!"
   There was some spark in her at least, still....
   "I may do as I like with you...." Arlen leaned forward and kissed her --
savagely, clamping his lips tightly over hers, almost in a bite. Serena made
a muffled wail.
   After a long moment Arlen released her, leaving Serena's face red and
wet.
   "Eeee-yuck!" cried Serena, shaking her head back and forth rapidly.
   "Child," Arlen said, using a well-practiced icy tone, "you are a slave of
the Shreen. Chattel. Property. You live, you die on my word."
   "You... you can hurt me, kill me, ruh-rape me... But you can't really
defeat the Sailor Scouts...."
   Her words echoed what she had said before, Arlen thought. But these were
*only* words, said in pathetic denial of her own fear. Arlen had heard such
thin defiance many, many times. There was some true bravery in this girl,
but nothing... extraordinary. It was looking like he'd have a hard time
passing off this petulant child as a captured warrior-princess. What exactly
had happened to the being he'd witnessed in their first encounter?
   "Technician-Master," he said.
   "Yes, Lord-Captain," said Maas, who had been waiting patiently through
the exchange so far.
   "Bring in one of your mind-scanning systems."
   "Ah, yes Lord-Captain. But... you read my previous report. We were
only able to make surface readings of these paranormals.... And nothing at
all from this particular subject."
   "I have reason to believe we might be more successful with a second
attempt."
   Serena could only watch as a tall rack of machinery was wheeled into the
chamber. A horrific device like a many-limbed metallic spider was unfolded
and placed around her head, the tips of its legs poking painfully into her
skin.
   Maas made a few adjustments on a control panel, and then handed a thick
cable to the Lord-Captain.
   Arlen turned to face Serena. He lifted the white hair off the back of his
neck and attached the cable to the socket at the base of his skull.
   Arlen closed his eyes.
   Serena's entire body jerked and then went rigid as a statue.
   As he expected, the girl's mental defense crumbled instantly as he pushed
his awareness into her mind. As he also, ruefully, expected, what he found
was a disordered tangle of memory and emotion -- typical of life-forms raised
without the discipline order of Shreen education.
   What, if anything, useful was he going to find here? The chaos, along
with the nonsensical alien cultural references, were almost a better ward
than the strongest of mental barriers. Arlen probed and searched at
random through memory complexes and associative streams. There... Yes, there
were memories about her warrior mode, her existence as "Sailor Moon,"
defending her planet from a variety of menaces. Almost entertaining. Much of
it was snarled up with her thoughts and feelings for her comrades, these
other Sailor Scouts. If he did not know how effective a fighting force they
could be when working together, he would have found these emotional tangles
absurd.
   There was also... hmm... another warrior, a male.... Strong feelings.
Her mate perhaps? The initial reports had mentioned this male warrior,
but he had apparently not been brought along with the collapsed Hellstrike
gate.
   Interesting, but... Ah... Through the male there a few streams that led
to images of the Princess.... But images, flashes only. It seemed as if this child
knew almost nothing about her own high energy operating mode.
   Could it be that the child persona was some sort of defensive mask by the
Princess? It was certainly an effective hiding place....
   Gears of thought were turning in Arlen's own mind. He had been
concerned that his plans were going to have to be seriously reworked, perhaps
abandoned entirely. He began to realize though... that this situation was
actually... almost ideal. It meant having a little less control than he
normally liked, but it made many other aspects of his scheme easier.
   The other guests at his auction would never accept this child as a
valuable captured warrior... but the Fahram'hr Kinglet would have his own
means of verifying Arlen's claims about his merchandise. And it was the Kinglet
to whom Arlen wished to make the sale.
   Arlen dissipated the mind probe, and pulled the cable from his skull.
Serena's body slumped, hanging limp in her bonds.
   "Child," Arlen said. "Serena, Sailor Moon, whichever you prefer...."
   That seemed to wake her up and she stared up at Arlen.
   "The earth is safe." she said firmly. "Darien is safe, that's what
matters...."
   Arlen took a step back and pointed at her. "Your altruism is touching as
ever...." As he spoke a dozen black cables shot out from his sleeve. They
struck Serena in the middle of her chest and spread out over and under her
blouse, branching and clutching at her body. She could only make a rasping
croak as several fibers wrapped around her throat.
   Arlen closed his hand into a fist and the cables squeezed Serena even
tighter. Her eyes were wide in pain.
   "Child..." said Arlen slowly, "soon I think, you will be quite occupied
worrying about yourself, not others. I have plans for you. You are to be
sold like a beast to the Fahram'hr. Your time with us will seem a
paradise compared to what you shall endure at their hands. Though, of course
with the Fahram'hr, 'hands' is not exactly an appropriate metaphor."
   Arlen spread his fingers and the cables relaxed and coiled back into his
sleeve. Serena took several gasping breaths, and then passed out.
   Arlen turned and walked to Maas.
   "Make the preparations we discussed," he said.
   "Yes, Lord-Captain... only... may I speak freely?"
   "Yes."
   "This subject... her unusual temporal component. If we...could study her
more... there's no telling how much we could learn."
   "No telling? That's exactly it though, Technician-Master. You can't, can
you, tell me exactly what you will learn. Or when. Weeks? Months? Years?"
   "No... Lord-Captain."
   "I on the other hand, have a very practical use for her that will be of
great and immediate benefit to the Shreen. I don't find that a very hard
choice to make."
   Arlen strode out of the cell, his thoughts charged with the anticipation
of victories soon to come.

                           *   *   *

  The image of the Shreen officer in the communication device rattled off
the itinerary for the next day's events. Out of range of the view-field, Mina
listened carefully, but Rini looked infinitely bored, stroking the Luna Ball
idly.
   "...and then the formal welcoming of the Kinglet by Lord-Captain Arlen,"
the officer was saying.
   "Yes, yes," replied Rini, waving her hand. "Most entertaining, I'm sure."
   "The main auction of slaves and other merchandise will be held at the 5th
hour.... No doubt your staff will attend to see if there is anything that
might catch your fancy."
   "No doubt," she yawned.
   "The private reception and... special auction for our most esteemed
guests will be at the 9th hour, and hosted by the Lord Captain himself.
That, of course, is when you will grace us with your attendance?"
   Rini sighed. "Oh, perhaps, this whole matter of buying and selling and
what-all can be so tedious...."
   The officer seemed a little nonplussed. "Majestic Lady... The
Lord-Captain sends his assurance that you will not be disappointed."
   "Yes, I'm sure.... Well, tell him that, with so little else to do in this
dreary place, it's possible I may attend.... That is all."
   "Of course, Majestic Lady."
   The image winked out.
   "You sure are good at that, kiddo," said Mina walking over.
   Rini stuck her tongue out at where the image had been. "Dummies."
   She hopped off the couch and started to run off... only to pause,
waver, and then fall flat to the floor.
   "Rini!" cried Mina, hurrying over, the cats close behind her.
    The Luna Ball whooshed up itself, almost knocking Mina aside. It hovered
over Rini and only reluctantly let Mina approach.
   She took the small girl in her arms. Rini was flushed and breathing
heavily, and quite unconscious.
   "Is she all right?" asked Luna.
   "I don't know..." said Mina helplessly. "She had been doing so well,
saving her strength and all.... Oh!"
   Mina cried out as a hazy glow began to form around Rini's.
   "Oh no," said Artemis. "If she lets loose with one of those energy bursts
of hers, we'll be in *big* trouble!"
   "No, look!" said Luna pointing with a paw. "The glow isn't coming from
her."
   As the black cat indicated, the luminous mist was concentrating in a
clump over Rini's rising and falling chest. It grew denser, and a definite
form started to materialize.
   "The Crystal!" said Luna. "The Empyrean Silver Crystal!"
   It remained ghostly and translucent, but the distinct form of the
many-faceted jewel was slowly rotating in the air, throwing off slow streamers of
light.
   "But... how?" asked Artemis. "Why is it here?"
   Mina choked back a sob. "I know. It means she's dead -- doesn't it? It
means Sailor Moon is dead!"
   "Mina?"
   "We always thought Rini and Serena were related. Serena's dead and the
Crystal is seeking out Rini in her place!"
   "Mina!" Luna said scoldingly. "We don't know that! There's so much we
don't know about the Crystal!"
   Rini stirred and made a small moan. The image of the crystal faded into
nothingness.
   "Mommy...?" said the little girl.
   Mina wiped a tear. "No, I'm sorry sweetheart, your mommy isn't here."
   Rini opened her eyes, but just stared at the ceiling.
   "I... dreamed my mommy was looking for me. She was looking everywhere. I
was right here but she didn't see me. I called and called but she didn't see
me."
   She blinked and looked around, noticing the others for the first time.
She frowned and pushed herself out of Mina's grasp. "Jeez, what are you all
so gloomy-faced about?"
   Rini called down the Luna Ball and ran off, ordering it to play
hide-and-seek with her.
   "Uh, she seems better," said Artemis.
   "Do you think Amy can come up and look at her?" Luna asked.
   "Maybe..." said Mina. "I don't understand quite what the deal is with
that clinic. She won't talk about it. I'm supposed to go down and see Lita
in a bit. I'll ask her...."
   She held out her arms so that she could embrace both cats. "Do you guys
really think Serena is still all right? I want to believe it... but it's so
hard, here in this terrible place."
   "You all will always believe, always hope," said Luna. "That's why you
were chosen to defend the Princess, so long ago."
   "That's why you're Sailor Venus," said Artemis.
   "I know... but it's good to hear that from someone else. So much has
happened, I sometimes want to forget who I am, so that all these awful
things will have happened to somebody else... but I won't. I won't...."

                          *   *   *

   Mina had to wait in the outer lobby of the clinic while Amy was treating
the wounds of a featureless slug-like thing that moved about on a hovering
platform. The rest of the complex of rooms was as cold, silent, and lifeless
as ever. The hum of machines and whir of circulating air, constant,
monotonous, was starting to get on her nerves.
   So it seemed a long wait before Amy called her in to the main chamber.
   As she entered Amy was leading in a robed Lita by the hand. Mina could
not help calling out to her friend, but, as Amy had told her to expect,
there was no response.
   Amy sat her down on the edge of an examination table. She pulled from her
pocket a short metal rod with a glowing tip, and began moving it back and
forth in front of Lita's face.
   "See," said Amy, "her eyes follow it."
   "And that's... a good sign?" said Mina, quietly.
   "Yes. Relatively. As long as she doesn't get excited, she's pretty
stable."
   Mina knelt down, put her hands on Lita's arms, and tried to catch her
attention. "Lita... Lita... Do you hear me...?"
   She looked up at Amy. "It's... oh, Amy it's wonderful that she's alive.
But... is there any hope? She seemed like she was getting better back... back
before she was shot."
   "I wish I could say, Mina, say for sure. Yes, there's hope. We have that
much."
   Mina stood. "Amy. I know how cold this sounds -- but can she fight?"
   "I... understand, Mina...."
   "I hate to think of using her like an attack dog...."
   "Like a weapon."
   "Exactly, but, my god Amy, we need every advantage we have just to survive
in this place."
   Like a snake hiss, like sliding metal, a voice spoke from the air
around them: "Please do let me know anything I can do to be of assistance."
   Mina spun around, trying to find the speaker -- stopping when she saw an
intricate pillar of machinery rise up from behind one if the lab tables. It
grew like a time-lapse film of a sprouting plant, and unfurled itself into
a human shape.
   Mina hopped back, taking a protective stance in front of Lita and Amy.
   "It's all right!" Amy said quickly. "This... this is Dr. Halent. This is
his clinic. It's only with his help that Lita is back with us."
   Mina relaxed only a little; she kept a careful eye on the robot as it
walked over, moving like slow-motion ballerina.
   "You are Amy's friend, Mina, of course," said the robot in the voice of TV
newsreader relating a "feel-good" story. "So pleased to meet you at last."
   "Amy..." Mina said, in a whisper.
   She gave Mina what she hoped was a reassuring look and stood, walking
over to Halent. "The doctor is on our side...."
   "We're supposed to trust... that?"
   "I think, little mouse," the robot said, rotating its head and placing a
hand lightly on Amy's shoulder, "that your friend is worried that I will
betray you to the Shreen, hand you over to the Lord-Captain."
   It turned glittering eyes to Mina. "Be assured, my new friend, that
helping Lord-Captain Arlen is the last things I intend. You see, he does not
approve of beings such as myself. He constantly seeks to annoy and frustrate
me -- scaring away my patients, interfering with my supplies, even, every
week or two, trying to infect my neural-net with an unpleasant virus of one
type or another. I think he plots even subtler traps for me...." It pulled
Amy closer. She gasped just slightly, but kept a calm face. "But
I know his tricks too well. So, anything you can do to irritate or injure
the esteemed Lord-Captain will be of benefit to me. I am at your disposal."
   "Th-- thank you," said Mina, though she was still feeling uneasy.
   "You are welcome." The robot's other thin arm reached over and it began
stroking Amy's hair with its clicking, pencil-thin fingers. "I will do all I
can in assisting my dear Amy in seeing her friends depart this space
station once and for all."
   "That's certainly our --" Mina's sentence stopped short. "'Seeing her
friends depart'? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
   "Just that," the robot said. The fingers on Amy' shoulder extended
themselves to get a tighter grip. Wet dots appeared where the pointed tips
pressed through her robe into her skin. "My dear little mouse stays here -- with
me. That was our agreement."
   "Are... Are you..." Mina couldn't get words past the anger that was
rising in her throat.
   "That was our agreement," repeated the robot. "Correct, little mouse?"
   "Ye -- yes. Yes, Dr. Halent."
   "Amy!"
   "Mina -- it's the only way! If it means helping Sailor Moon --"
   "...no..."
   The word came from behind Mina. From Lita.
   The tall girl slowly stood. "No," she said again. "It *can't* be the only
way. The Princess wouldn't accept that. I can't accept that."
   The robot looked up, its eye spinning and flashing as they refocused.
"Ah? Ah? Now what is this?" it said, cheerful as ever.
   "Lita!" said Mina.
   The two locked gazes. For a long moment they stared. Lita's eyes
flickered once towards the robot, and Mina gave the slightest of nods.
   Amy was shaking her head back and forth. "No... Lita... don't..."
   "Somebody," said Halent, "has been playing games with the good doctor it
seems."
   "A victory can be worse than a defeat," said Lita, "if the price is too
high."
   "Interesting logic, " said the robot. "If --",,
   "NOW, Mina!" shouted Lita.
   Mina exploded in a blur of motion.
   "Sailor Venus -- Kick!"
   Her heel slammed into the joint of Dr. Halent's shoulder -- not strong
enough, as she'd hoped, to break off the limb, but it was wrenched back with
a snapping and spray of sparks. She used the remaining inertia of her spin to
fall on to and grab Amy, pulling her away from the robot's grasp. They hit
the floor in a tangle.
   Dr. Halent quickly regained its balance. "This. This is not acceptable."
   "You... mechanical abomination," said Lita in a hiss of rage. "You are an
offense against everything that lives and breathes and loves...."
   She crossed her arms in front of her chest and closed her eyes.
   "In the name of Jupiter and all living things... I shall punish you!"
   "Not. Not acceptable."
   "Jupiter... Thunder... DRAGON!!"
   Both Mina and Amy cried out at the concussion of light and sound that
rocked the chamber.
   Mina was able to open her eyes in enough of a squint to make out the form
of Dr. Halent struggling in the coils of something serpentine and blazing.
   There was a second explosion and Mina threw her arms over her head, and
her body over Amy as protectively as she could.
   When the last echoes faded, she lifted herself up and cautiously looked
over her shoulder.
   The room was in ruins. Wall panels were blasted open, computer consoles
were shattered and sparking, floor and ceiling were criss-crossed with burn
scores.
   A tall figure stood, arms at her side, breathing deeply. She was staring
down at a blackened, smoking skeleton of a thing -- which, as they looked, was
crumbling and breaking into a heap of unidentifiable debris.
   "Sailor Jupiter!" called Mina.
   "Mm?" Lita said looking over.
   Mina pointed, and then Lita looked at herself. The uniform of Sailor
Jupiter had indeed materialized around her strong body. She touched the pink
bow. "This feels good... *That* felt good...."
   The two girls were distracted then by a barely audible crying.
   "Amy!" said Mina, turning to the form beside her. "I didn't squish you
did I?"
   Amy shook her head and sat up. Mina gasped when she saw that Amy's
shoulder was cut with red gouges from where Halent's fingers had tried to
hold on. In fact her whole shoulder seemed... wrong.
   "Amy?"
   "It's nothing... My arm is just dislocated." With an efficiency that made
Mina gasp again, Amy grabbed her own arm jerked it back into place. But her
tears were clearly not from her own pain.
   Sailor Jupiter came over and knelt beside her. "Amy..."
   "Lita... You shouldn't have... I didn't set this up, just so that you
could help me...."
   Lita wiped a tear. "What better reason could there be?"
   "Ah, guys..." said Mina, "I'm missing something here, aren't I?"
   Lita smiled. "I was just pretending to be sick... and powerless, in case
we had a chance to trick the bad guys. One of Amy's plans."
   "Oh. I... I..."
   Jupiter leaned over and hugged her, which seemed to communicate enough for
the two friends. She helped Mina to her feet.
   Amy though was still crying. "We... We have to get out of here, before
Dr. Halent recovers."
   "Recovers?" said Jupiter with a laugh, kicking at a piece of charred
metal.
   "You don't understand!" Amy said, looking up with startling anger. "Dr.
Halent is just a computer program! I don't know the details, but I'm certain
he has some sort of emergency backup system. Maybe you hurt him, Jupiter,
but you haven't killed him."
   Lita snarled, and turned away, cursing.
   "Okay, we leave then," said Mina, frowning in thought. "Hmm. Might still
be some problems. How much does this Halent know about us, Amy?"
   "...everything..."
   "What?"
   "I've told him everything!" Amy buried her face in her hands. "About the
Sailor Scouts, about the cats and Rini, where you were hiding --
Everything!"
   "Amy... you could *you* do something so stu-"
   "Mina." Jupiter put her hand firmly on Mina's shoulder. "You don't know
what Amy has been through."
   "But, to --"
   "You *don't* *know*." She stared hard at her friend.
   "Well, okay," said Mina. "Things are as they are. Strategic retreat." She
sighed. "I was worried that Rini wasn't going to be able to maintain things
anyway. It might be for the best if we give her a chance to rest."
   While she pondered, Jupiter went to Amy and helped her up as well.
   "Amy, " she said. "Can you remove the bio-siphon things from yourself and
Mina?"
   Amy shook her head, her face was still wet with tears. "Not without all
the systems here being on-line. Even without all the damage you caused, they
only fully obey Dr. Halent. I... I can gather up what portable medical gear
I can that works independently. Maybe.... maybe come up with something."
   "Good! Good!" she hugged Amy, and then returned to Mina.
   "We can try holing up somewhere in the fringe zones, the access tunnels.
Rini and the cats stayed there for a couple days when they first arrived. We
should be able to manage for a time...."
   "Mina, about Amy..."
   "Explain it later, okay, Jupiter? I have to think here. If we're
careful and quick.... Until Halent does return nobody will be looking for
Amy, I'm supposed to be a slave.... I wonder though, Lita. You were something
of a star on the TV. You're supposed to be dead, but somebody still might
recognize you."
   "No problem there."
   Jupiter stepped back, closed her eyes, and concentrated. In a moment she
was encased in a swirls of sparks and ribbons. It faded, revealing Lita in
her long brown school dress.
   "Good thinking, Lita," Mina said nodding. "Just be ready to change back
quick!"
   "Count on it."
   Amy returned shortly. Her arm was in a sling, and she'd applied strips
of red bandage to her cuts. In her other hand she held a large plastic
carrying case.
   Mina started to ask her something, then stopped.
   "Let's go," was all she finally said.

                           TO BE CONTINUED