Part Four
Tell me, have you seen her?
The interior of D'skta' rumbled from the resonance
of Krin's voice as he raged at his band of pirates.
Livid with fury, he threw things about the room not
caring if it broke equipment, or hurt anyone standing
in the way.
"You idiots!" he roared tossing another chair into
a console. "Small insignificant puny humans, WEAK
insignificant humans and yet we are unable to capture
one female. One, just one!"
Teq, cringing behind one of the far consoles for
his life, dared a brief peek up. "Krin, we did the
best we could!" he shouted.
Krin's eyes flashed with renewed fury. His chest
swelled and it was a wonder to the pirates how his
current covering was holding up against such strain. A
threatening finger pointed towards Teq.
"You. You had this Tendo female within reach, and
what happens? She's laying you flat on the ground,
TWICE!"
Teq slid back down behind the console.
"And you two!" raged Krin, whirling up towards the
overhead where Alid and Koo perched fearfully.
"Another sloppy show of work! I should disintegrate
you both."
Alid smacked his brethren on the head. "See I
told you playing around would cause nothing but
trouble."
"Ow, hey watch that," Koo said, rubbing the spot.
There's more than one set of eyes up here."
"Both of you get down here!"
The two pressed further up against the bulkhead.
"Uh, we kind'a like it up here," came Alid's timid
reply.
"And it's safer," added Koo.
Perched in a chair before the computer consoles,
Morea peered over the high backrest. "Krin, please
calm down," she pleaded. The only reply was a narrow
dark gaze, the corner of Krin's lips curling up.
Behind them, Qu'tok and Binimi finished removing
the regenerating wraps applied to Glator's hands,
listening and enduring the terror with calm attitudes.
Used to seeing their leader's rage, Qu'tok gave
Glator's hands a quick examination, finding them both
back to normal.
"Shouting at us won't do you any good, Krin," he
said. "We all screwed up. All of us."
Krin turned, and for a brief moment held the
notion to shoot his insolent subling in his mind.
Remembering how valuable he was to him, Krin forced it
back.
"So what would you have me do, Qu'tok? I can't
rely upon my people to do their jobs."
"You were present yourself."
Strong words that had both Glator and Binimi
inching away from the possible blast site. Krin set
his eyes on Qu'tok, then let out a heavy sigh.
"True," he finally said through strained lips.
Low puffs of relief emitted from Qu'tok fully
aware that he had yet again avoided serious harm. "My
suggestion is we concentrate on relocating Akane Tendo,
and carefully now that M.I.B. is back."
For the moment all tension faded from Krin.
Sitting in a chair, the pirate leader rested his head
in his hands, trying to rub the strain from his
forehead. A pair of hands started massaging his
shoulders, Binimi peering over him.
"We need to regroup," she said. "Tendo is going
nowhere for now."
"The female I am not worried about. It is M.I.B..
Very troublesome, more so on this planet than any
other."
"Then we must eliminate them quickly, Krin," said
Qu'tok. "The longer we wait, the sooner the Regent's
forces come in search of him."
"I am aware of that, Qu'tok." Krin pondered their
next move. With the schedule majority out of kilter,
M.I.B. alerted to their presence, time was running out
for the pirates.
"Krin, you think M.I.B. might have taken Tendo
back to their headquarters here?" Koo suggested.
Krin sat back, turning around in surprise. "That
might have been the brightest thing I've ever heard you
say, Koo."
"One can only get lucky once," commented Alid.
"So if they did, do we repeat our visit?" asked
Morea.
"Not with M.I.B. alerted to us."
Glator growled low. "It does not matter," he
snarled, smacking a fist into a palm. "Glator want to
kill M.I.B. scum for what they did!"
"There will be no attack," replied Krin firmly.
He thought a moment, looking to Qu'tok.
"Surveillance?"
"I have several listeners in the warming chamber.
Give me some time and I'll be ready to plant them."
"Good. There is time enough for that." He
chuckled slightly, relishing the notion of defeating
his erstwhile opponents.
"M.I.B. will make a mistake, and we will be there
to catch them," he said.
"Then we'll slaughter them?" asked Teq.
"To the last being," replied Krin.
He pictured the event in his mind, thinking how
much of a wonderful slaughter it would be.
* * * * *
M.I.B. Tokyo, 4:35 PM,
Ties were meant for Westerners thought Ranma,
struggling with the black tie he so vainly tried to
make up in the mirror. Another tug and it collapsed
again drawing a sigh from him. Next to Ranma, Tatewaki
finished fixing himself up, straightening his dark
suit, combing back his dark locks of hair. Catching
Ranma's frustrated attempts, he grinned.
"Face it, Saotome. You are just to common for
such esteemed apparel," he said.
Ranma glared angrily at his reflection. Taking
the tie, he furiously started over.
"Hey, don't be knocking me because these M.I.B.
jokers like gajin attire."
"The suits are proper nowadays, Saotome. Shows
how much you pay attention to your surroundings."
A pause, Ranma slowly looking over to Tatewaki
with a frown. "I'm not totally ignorant of my
`surroundings', Kuno. Just that a suit does not allow
much maneuverability in a fight."
"And how would you know?"
"Get off my back!" scowled Ranma resuming his
battle with the tie.
Tatewaki laughed turning to join the rest of the
guys in the locker room. Most of them were just a bout
ready to go, all dressed in the standard M.I.B. black
suit and tie. That was all but Mousse. It looked like
he had traded his normal white Chinese gown for one
completely black except for a white collar held closed
by one small black button.
"Where did you get this?" asked Tatewaki.
"My outfit? T managed to get the computer in
wardrobe to fix this up for me. Neat, huh?"
"You stand out, but it will do. Where are your
glasses?"
Mousse flicked a wrist, his coke-bottle thick
lenses sliding into his hands. Placing them on his
face, he smiled.
"Nice," said Tatewaki, "but I meant the shades."
"Thought of that too." Tapping the rim with a
finger, Mousse's glasses immediately darkened.
"Now that is neat," said Ryoga.
Just then Jay entered through the door. "You guys
about ready?" he asked.
"Most of us," replied Tatewaki. "Saotome still
cannot figure out the mechanics of making a tie."
"Is that so? Yo, Sat-ome, I gotta field manual on
that if you want to read it."
"I don't need it from you either, and its Saotome,
buster!"
Jay laughed. "Okay we need to get moving. T's
wait for us in Central so we can get this show on the
road."
"Ranma let's go," called Tsubasa as the rest of
the guys headed out. "We can fix the tie later."
"I'm coming," grumbled Ranma. Snatching up his
jacket, he rushed to catch up with them.
Not much had changed since the last time Jay and
Elle were in M.I.B. Tokyo Central Control. Ringo did
manage to get a few more of the computers up but the
mainframe, and more importantly primary communications
to M.I.B. Headquarters were still down. T stood over
one console working the controls, trying to adjust the
last remaining full screen monitor's picture. At the
sound of their steps, he turned around.
"Ah, good you are here," he said.
"Yeah, man. M.I.B. starting to fill up again,"
replied Jay. He looked around. "SO where are the
ladies?"
"Elle said they are on their way up."
"The ladies are here," Elle's voice called from
the main entrance.
The suits fit well on the girls. Out of the six
only Ukyo, Nabiki, and Akane followed Elle's lead
wearing the women's styled black dress suit. Kodachi
and Kasumi chose dresses, Kasumi's more conservative,
Kodachi preferring the sailor style uniforms found in
most schools. Both were black with wide white collars,
black bowties held together by a gold clasp. Shampoo
though gained the most attention. Her more than needed
to be high mini-skirt accenting her slim and well toned
legs. Again, black with a thin white strip along the
edge where the front clasps were, she was a sight to
behold.
"Ah, good. Now M.I.B. is starting to feel whole
again," said T.
"Man if this is the way our Tokyo branch is
running, sign me up," said Jay.
The girls laughed walking over to join them. T
felt his confidence returning, the addition of their
new members adding strength to the already weak
position.
"You all look fine. Did everyone get issued a
pair of glasses?"
Dark shades were put on, T nodding approvingly.
"Excellent. First thing we're going to is give you a
quick rundown on the equipment you will be using."
Reaching into his jacket, T produced his
nuralizer. "This is what we use to make people forget
what they've seen."
"You use a camera?" asked Konatsu.
"Uh, no, Konatsu. This is a Neuralizer."
"Pretty effective piece of equipment I must say,"
added Jay.
"Yes, this is not something to be playing around
with," continued T. Without warning he turned the
Neuralizer towards Jay. There was a bright flash, Jay
immediately going stiff staring into empty space.
"T, what are you doing!" exclaimed Elle.
"Harmless demonstration," replied T. "As you can
see, Agent Jay is completely stunned, ready for
suggestion."
Ranma's face lit up. "You mean we can tell him to
do something and he'll do it?"
T hesitated, worried about the sudden change in
Ranma. "Yes, and don't you say anything, Ranma," he
answered.
Ranma gawfed. "Phfft, me?" he said innocently, a
devious leer on his face. "I wouldn't do anything like
that."
"Stop your lying," said Akane. She pulled him
away before any trouble could start.
"Thank you, Akane," said T. "Anyway, when we are
around people who happen to have seen our actions, we
must sanitize them. Your glasses will protect you from
the effects so have them with you at all times."
"And this `Nuralizer' works on anyone?" asked
Kodachi.
"Yes."
Elle picked up the scheming looks filtering
through their new members, quick looks shooting towards
Ranma and Akane. "T, maybe we should not have told
them about this," she said.
"Hmm," sounded T.
Turning to Jay, T told him that nothing happened
and he was alright. Jay's eyes fluttered, then he
relaxed looking around. "What, did I . . . did I fall
asleep or something?"
"No, T flash you," said Shampoo.
"What!" he exclaimed rounding on him. "Yo, T.
What'cha doing giving me the flash, man?!"
"It was just for demonstration, Jay. No harm
done."
"No harm done? Man, you want to be flashing
anybody, don't use me. Flash Sitonme or somebody else,
okay?"
"That Saotome, buster!" shouted Ranma, barely held
back by Ryoga and Mousse.
Jay waved him off. "Man, if I start dancing the
Funky Chicken for no reason at all, I'm gonna be bust'n
me some ass."
"Relax, Jay," said Elle. "Nothing was done to
you. To bad. That would have been a good time to--,"
"Elle!"
Elle and T both started laughing at the notion.
Ignoring Jay's frustrated gaze, T went on with is
indoctrination.
"Those watches you are wearing also have trackers
in them. As long as you have them on your person we
can follow your every move. They also act as Personal
Identifiers for access into M.I.B. spaces. Please, do
not lose them."
"This is all fine and dandy, but what about Krin
and his pirates?" Tatewaki said.
"What do you mean?" asked T.
"We barely stood our ground against them only to
find out that they could have vaporized us in a moments
notice."
"I think what Kuno's saying here is, do we get any
weapons?" Nabiki said.
"Oh yes, of course we will give you something to
defend yourselves with. First, we must check you out
on the range."
"Let's get going then," commented Ranma.
"Agent Jay will get you familiarized with our
arsenal. Jay."
Jay stepped up. "And I don't want to hear any
silly talk from anybody, especially you Romana."
"Why can't you get my name straight? It Ranma.
Ranma Saotome!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It'll get to me eventually,"
replied Jay. "Let's go."
Elle started to follow, but T placed a hand on her
shoulder.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing. I just want you to help me go over what
we have on Krin."
"You aren't worried about Jay being alone with
them?"
T smiled. "Jay will be alright."
Elle arch a brow. I don't know, T."
"Don't worry. Come, let us get started."
* * * * *
The Firing Range beneath the expanse of M.I.B.
Tokyo was designed to contain the energy burst and
other assorted discharges agents would fire from the
weapons at their disposal. Not one sound could be
heard up in the surrounding streets maintaining their
secrecy.
In the firing booths, the gang practiced shooting
the standard M.I.B. pistols at targets down range, Jay
walking the line advising and correcting their styles
as needed.
"If you're going to hit your target, you've got to
aim at it first," scolded Jay at Ryoga. His target had
nary a hit on it, the surrounding berm smoldering from
ion blast.
"Hey, I'm doing the best I can, Jay!" said Ryoga,
snapping off another shot. It hit wide just like the
rest. Jay shook his head.
"Jay," called Ukyo from her booth next to them.
"You can't really blame Ryoga for missing so much.
He's very prone to misdirection."
"I am not!" Ryoga shouted. He fired again with
the same result.
Jay placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Yo,
man. I think you might need to use something a bit
more . . . wider."
"We're just lucky he can't turn around and hit
us," commented Ranma.
Jay walked down to his booth noting how well Ranma
was shooting. A tight grouping at the midsection made
him nod approvingly. The kid's not bad, he thought.
"Okay folks, let's all gather around here so I can
show you some of the other toys we have to play with."
The gang holstered their weapons mustering around
Jay behind the firing line. Opening a locker, Jay
pulled out a large chrome-colored rifle, it's tri-
barreled cylinder gleaming beneath the lights.
"Pulse Energy rifle," said Jay. He powered it up,
a low whine sounding as it came to life. The barrels
cycled before coming to a stop.
"What's that for, killing tanks?" asked Tsubasa.
"Something like that," answered Jay. He handed it
to Tatewaki telling him to pass it around. The rifle
was heavy, but not unwieldy. Tatewaki hefted it up and
down.
"Feels sturdy," he said. "Not like my sword, but
manageable."
"That'll take down most badguys we'll encounter,"
said Jay.
Nabiki, grunting beneath the weight, shook her
head. "You want to . . . ugh, you want to capture
them, or disintegrate them?" she said, quickly passing
it over to Konatsu.
"Depends on the situation." Jay pulled another
weapon out of the locker. "Now this is called a Noisy
Cricket," he continued, holding up an extremely small
pistol. It reminded them all of a small keychain
ornim1te, several snickers passing through the group.
"I know, I know. I thought the same thing myself,
but you'd be surprised a how much power this thing
has."
"Yeah, I'll bet it just terrorizes the bugs to
death," cracked Ranma.
A frown creased Jay's face, then he smiled. "I
was hoping you'd flap those gums of yours, Satome!
Bring your funny ass on up here."
Ranma boldly walked up front, taking the miniature
pistol from Jay. He stepped into the nearest booth
ready to fire.
"You best be ready to get your stupid self
rocked," said Jay.
"By this little thing? Feh!"
Jay snickered. He motioned for the rest of the
group to move out of the line of backfire, stepping to
one side. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Sat-man."
Ranma took aim. Pausing, he looked back at Jay.
"It's Saotome, Jay," he said.
"It's about to be Mud," he answered.
Ranma squeezed the trigger. "Not a--,
AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
A loud burst sounded, the pistol sailed up into
the air, Ranma recoiling straight back across the room
into the back wall. Jay extend a hand catching the
Noisy Cricket in his palm. Laughing, he gazed at Ranma
sitting stunned on the floor.
"So, Mud. Think the `bugs' are going to be the
only things scared about this now?"
Ranma blinked, cutting his eyes around at the
humored gazed around him. "Nope," he replied.
Akane knelt next to him. "That's what you get for
being a smarty, smarty," she teased.
"Thanks. Think you can get me some aspirin?"
Ryoga suddenly walked up to Jay. He glanced down
at the pistol, looked briefly at Jay, then picked it
up.
"LOOK OUT, RYOGA'S GOT A GUN!" exclaimed Mousse.
A flurry of bodies followed, Jay starting in
surprise as everyone scrambled for cover.
"Hey, man what's wrong with you guys?"
Cowering beneath a chair, Tsubasa inched it up.
"You saw how he was shooting earlier. That thing and
him not standing in a booth equals danger."
"Ryoga, give that thing back to Jay!" shouted
Nabiki.
Waving her off, Ryoga turned pointing the pistol
down range. He snapped off three burst in quick
succession hitting the target dead center. Astonished
eyes slowly rose up, the gang and Jay not believing
what he just did.
"Hmm," sounded Ryoga examining the pistol again.
"Light, needs some weight, but I like it," he said.
"What's next?"
"I think we're done here," answered Jay. He
looked the gang over. "Boy I tell'ya you folks are
something else. If anything this little experience
will be nothing short of exciting."
"I hope it will be over quick," replied Tatewaki.
"I'd really don't feel too comfortable walking around
looking like some Yakuza thug."
Jay shook his head. "Let's get back up to
Control," he said heading for the door.
* * * * *
Elle panned the overview of Nerima across the
large screen, centering on the area near the foothills
of Fuji. Behind her T reviewed several police reports
from the previous days activities again.
"If Krin landed anywhere it had to be somewhere's
remote," Elle said drawing his attention. She zoomed
in the view, T narrowing his eyes concentrating on the
picture.
"What section is this?" he asked.
"Northwest Nerima. There's a new radio/tele
observatory in this area." She paused arching a brow.
"And not to far from the know crash site your agents
were supposed to investigate."
"I thought so." T figured that any leads would
start here. Tapping in a new search for any reports on
the Onashi Observatory, he found one, but it was not
what he expected.
"Elle, I've got a missing persons report filed
with Tokyo Police concerning several of their staff
members."
Elle swiveled her chair around. "No doubt Krin
struck here to get their disguises."
"This is a long list. We better go take a look."
"Now? It is quite late, T."
"Best time to work."
Elle shrugged looking up at the screen again.
"Okay. I'll take some of our newbies and investigate
the crash site."
"Sounds good. Jay can check the Observatory."
Through the main doors Ringo walked in. The multi-
armed alien walked slowly over to the nearest chair and
sat down. [Hlllikwonk Pakeetod], he rambled.
[Unnory Wakibld?] said T.
[Junty Givlk], answered Ringo.
Elle hung on the silence simply amazed by the
conversation. She'd never gotten over the fascination
of extraterrestrial lifeforms on the planet, yet alone
actually interfacing with them.
T noticed the expression on her face. "Ringo said
he repaired Ucchan's and all of the damage around it."
"Already? No wonder he's tired."
"Tired? He just came on duty," replied T.
Elle thought it better not to ask for details,
swiveling back around towards the screen. She adjusted
the settings, trying to get a better view of the crash
site and the surrounding area. The screen flashed
dissolving beneath a wash of static. Muttering
angrily, Elle tried to fix the picture with no success.
"Looks like this thing is out again," she said.
[Ooolip?], uttered Ringo. The Gamorian pulled
itself out of the chair and crawled back behind the
console. Several sharp raps followed, a tentacle
briefly snaking over the top to hit several of the
console buttons.
"I hope he can get it back up," Elle said.
"Ringo's the best we have," replied T.
Just then Jay walked in leading the rest of the
group in. "Glad you could join us so soon," said T to
Jay.
"We'd been up here sooner, but we had to stop and
get the Fish some water."
"The Fish?"
Jay pointed to Akane. She held a large thermos in
her arms, drawing what appeared to be water through a
straw at the top. She stopped drinking, raising her
brows at the sudden attention.
"And you want to know the most amazing thing about
this?" said Ukyo. "She has not gone to the restroom
yet."
"So I've got great body control," said Akane.
Everyone stopped, giving Akane an uncomfortable stare.
"Well I do!" she shouted.
"Ah huh," sounded T. "Let's get back to our main
problem, shall we?"
Gazing up at the monitor, T called out in Ringo's
language. The tentacles appeared over the top of the
console drawing several cries from the girls.
"Giant Walking Squid!" cried Shampoo reaching for
her blaster. Jay managed to stop her before she could
pull it out.
"Man, don't be shoot everything that doesn't look
human, girl!" he shouted.
"Who, or what is that?" asked Kodachi.
"This is Ringo," answered T.
The Gamorian pulled himself up to full height and
blinked his three red eyes at them. "[Lilieekiou]!"
Ringo said to Jay.
Jay gave T a light nudge. "Hey man, I'm gonna
assume that means `Jay' in Ringoese?"
T let out a short laugh barely cutting it off
before he lost control. "Uh yes, Jay."
"Naw, T. Don't be giving me that stuff!"
T let it pass. "Ringo is our last remaining tech
so be nice to him."
Stepping out from behind the console, Ringo
babbled something to Elle. Although she did not
understand, she guessed it had something to do with the
controls. Tapping a few buttons, the screen refocused.
"Thank you, Ringo," she said.
Ranma and the rest of the gang stood around Ringo,
trying to accept what their eyes were telling them.
Kasumi was the first to draw up enough nerve to touch
him, examining the poorly wrapped bandage around one of
his injured limbs.
"Oh, you poor thing," she said undoing it. "This
needs to be changed. I'll bet your wounds are no
better than when you first got injured."
She led Ringo over to a chair and sat him down.
"First Aid kit?" Kasumi asked T. He pointed to a box
on the wall, Kasumi heading for it.
"Such a compassionate person," said T.
"It comes natural," replied Ranma. "So, uh, what
now?"
"Yes, Krin. Must not forget him," replied T. He
directed their attention to the screen. "This is where
the first spaceship might have crashed. Now--,"
"E'scuse me," said Nabiki. "First?"
"Oh I did let that slip, didn't I."
"You mean that asshole Krin was chasing somebody?"
said Ryoga.
"Yeah, but we don't know who," replied Jay.
"That's where Akane fits into this picture," said
Elle.
"I do?"
Elle turned. "The old woman, remember?"
Akane nodded. Slowly, she turned away staring
down at the floor. Her expression seemed strange event
to Ranma, somehow distant as if she were not the same
person. Taking a brief draw from the straw, Akane
faced them again.
"She was a nice old lady," she said.
"But what did she tell you?" asked Ranma.
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
Ranma wanted to believe her, but something was not
right in the tone of her voice. He was so used to all
of her small quarks and mannerisms that even a slight
change could be felt. Akane was holding back that much
he was sure of.
"Okay," he said, wisely not pressing the issue for
the moment. He'd speak to Kasumi and Elle later on
about it. Maybe they could get her to loosen up. The
only thing that bothered him was why she was being so
secretive.
"In that case, we'll go to plan two," continued T.
"Elle will take, uhm, Konatsu, Tsubasa, and Ryoga to
the crash site. Jay, Tatewaki, Nabiki, and Shampoo you
check the Onashi Observatory. Tokyo Police have a
Missing Persons report filed this morning by the
morning staff."
"No doubt, Krin," said Jay.
Tatewaki was lost, wondering where the connection
lay. "Krin took hostages?"
"Uh, probably not there, Tate m'man."
T tossed Elle the keys to his car. "Jay, looks
like your teams riding the Cycles."
"No problem. Okay folks let's--,"
"You want us to go searching a forest in the
dark?" Ryoga asked.
"Best time to work," replied Elle, giving T a
quick wink.
"Ever thought about sleep?"
"Are you kidding," said Jay. "We're M.I.B. now,
man! Thirty-seven hour work days for us."
"Ugh! If I'd known that, I might have just let
you make me forget after all," commented Nabiki.
Tatewaki smiled placing a friendly arm around
Nabiki's shoulders. "Forgive her. The mere mention of
work sends a shudder through her soul."
"That's going to cost you," said Nabiki.
* * * * *
A hour later, Elle and her team arrived in the
vicinity of the crash site and they stood shining their
flashlights around the area. Behind them they could
see the glow from the Onashi Observatory over the
surrounding hills, beyond that the speckles of lights
from the small hamlets leading to Mount Fuji.
Elle pulled out her scanner and began sweeping the
area. As the others watched, she waited for the
readout to complete it's analysis, finally flashing
it's results on the small screen. The scan drew a
blank.
"Elle," Konatsu called lightly. "What are we
looking for?"
"Anything that might help us, Konatsu," she
replied.
"It might help if we could find that downed ship,"
added Ryoga.
"Yeah, but if it came down here, where's all the
damage?" said Tsubasa.
Good question, thought Elle. The forest held nary
a mark or indication of any violent crash, still she
trusted her computations.
"Let's search the forest," she said moving towards
the tree line.
They approached with caution, remembering T's
warning about the missing agents from the night before.
With guns drawn the four stepped into the woods careful
to keep each other in close proximity. Ryoga panned
his light down at the ground. Suddenly, he stopped to
examine a dark patch of earth ahead. Taking a handful
of the dirt, Ryoga milled it around through his fingers
noting it's fresh, slightly damp feel. He called to
Elle.
"Find something?" she asked kneeling next to him.
"Yeah. This dirt is new. Not older than a day by
my guess."
"Animal activity maybe?"
Ryoga shook his head. "Dirt's' to dark for any
normal burrowing, and it's too close to this tree for
that matter."
Elle could see what Ryoga was getting at. There
were no bits of roots, no signs of wood debris anywhere
in the dirt he held. If an animal had dug that far
down it would have had to chew through several roots to
do it. She looked around for any holes ground and
found none.
"What do you think?" she asked Ryoga.
"Fresh earth means digging, and digging means
something was buried."
"Hm. Like a spaceship?"
Trading thoughtful looks, Elle called Konatsu and
Tsubasa over. "Hope you guys brought plenty of back
muscle tonight."
"Why, are we planning to be working out or
something?" asked Tsubasa.
"Sort'a," said Ryoga. "Our baddies might have
buried the ship."
"Great," muttered Konatsu. "That is all I need.
To get my suit dirty, and I just got used to it too."
Don't worry. M.I.B. suits are specially made for
field work like this."
Tsubasa looked at the spot Elle was pointing at.
He noticed that the fresh earth did not stop there,
trailing along further into the trees behind them.
"Elle, could Krin's pirates have done more than just
bury the ship?" he asked.
"Why do you ask?"
He shined his light around. "We saw no damage,
and something like this had to destroy at least some of
these trees."
Reaching up to a branch, Tsubasa pulled lightly.
The branch wavered, then came down trailing strands of
sticky webbing behind it. Elle started, trading
surprised looks with Ryoga.
"Well I'll be," she said. Elle went to the next
tree beyond and found the same thing had been done to
it. The four agents probed further into the forest,
finally coming upon a high mound situated in a small
clearing. Elle pulled her scanner out again.
"Are we in luck?" said Ryoga.
"Low trace particles from what could be Ion
emissions," she answered. "Could be our ship."
"I'll go look," said Konatsu. Nimbly, he climbed
up the mound as the other watched, kneeling down to
take a closer look at the ground. Hmm, he sounded
digging away some of the soft earth. His hand hit
something hard. "I found something," he called down.
The others joined him, and soon they had cleared
away what appeared to be some sort of hatch. Elle felt
around the edges looking for a switch to open it.
"We might have to clear away more of this dirt,"
she said to them.
"Hold on," replied Ryoga. Gesturing for her to
move back, Ryoga looked the metal surface over. He
arched a brow while drawing back a fist, then let out a
cry slamming it into the center. A hollow thrumming
followed and the hatch shuddered, sliding back.
A foul odor greeted them.
"Something must have crawled in here and died,"
commented Tsubasa, covering his nose.
Elle and Ryoga shined their lights inside. They
both paused, then Elle shook her head.
"Not crawled in," she said to Tsubasa.
Huh? thought Tsubasa, peering in. More webbing
laced the narrow confines of the ship. Suspended in
the center were two partially wrapped bodies devoid of
any skin, contorted expressions of agony on their
withered faces. Tsubasa spun away loosing what dinner
he had over the side.
Elle smirked, pulling her comlink out. "Guys, I
think we've found F and O," she said as the connection
was made back to M.I.B. Tokyo. "Better let T know."
* * * * *
"Okay, how's that?" Ranma said from behind the
main display console. Ringo uttered a few words,
peering into a small screen on the face of the
controls. Ranma looked up over the top.
"Hey, guy. Remember I don't speak your language,"
he said to the Gamorian.
"Be nice," Akane said. Ranma rolled his eyes
climbing back down. Behind them, T watched amused by
the way their new members had insinuated themselves
into M.I.B. without much trouble. It was remarkable
how well they worked together despite all the
personality differences. He hoped that after this Krin
incident was over they would stay on. M.I.B. could
surely use a team like this.
"Mister T," Kodachi called to him from the
communications console.
"Yes?"
"I've got Elle here on this circuit wanting to
speak to you."
T reached pulled out his commlink. [T here.]
[T, I've some bad news,] said Elle. [We've found
the ship, and the remains of Agents F and O.]
T clenched his eyes tight for a moment, letting
his sorrow pass before answering. [What, what type of
ship is it, Elle?]
Elle panned her light back down into the murky
darkness. It appeared to be the only room inside the
spaceship. Narrow, with all the controls situated
mainly close to the top. Odd, that would mean whoever
flew this had to be very dexterous.
Or had more than two arms.
[T, it's too small for a long distance flyer. I
think it would be safer to say this was just some kind
of shuttlecraft.]
Thinking, T wondered who's ship in the galactic
rim was conducting illegal landings on Earth, and with
Krin obviously in pursuit, it had to be more than that.
[Elle, how about an escape pod?] he asked.
Elle nodded thoughtfully. [Makes better sense
that a shuttle.]
[This means we're going to have to get a hold of
Zed and run a query with the Galactic Web. See if we
can find any recent ships in distress reports. Did you
find any markings?]
[The guys are trying to unearth more of this ship
now, but so far nothing's been found.]
[Okay. Go as far as you can with your search,
then call it a night. I'll see you all back here. T
out.]
Mousse strolled up next to him, arms full of spare
parts for the consoles. "Why the long look, boss?" he
asked.
"Uh? Oh, our information is still sparse, Mousse.
We're no closer to finding out what Krin was after than
before."
"Something will turn up," replied Mousse with a
shrug.
"It has to be soon before Krin strikes again." T
rubbed his chin. "I need to get in touch with Zed."
"Well I don't know much about all this electronic
stuff you have here boss, but what I've seen so far,
that's not going to happen anytime soon."
"Why is that?"
"These are all of the parts I could find that were
not damaged by the fire," answered Mousse, hefting the
spares up so he could see.
Another setback that could hurt them, thought T.
Following Mousse over to the consoles, he queried Ringo
about their status. The Gamorian rattled off a string
of estimates, none of them very good.
"So if none of these parts fix our communications,
we'll have no way to contact Headquarters at all?"
"[Ellioky]," answered Ringo.
"Do what you can then," said T. Ringo nodded
returning back to his repairs.
As he started to leave, T took a look at Akane
seated in a chair next to them. She held her head in
her hands obviously in some sort of discomfort.
"Akane," he said kneeling down next to her. She jumped
lightly, startled by his voice. "Are you ill?"
Pursing her lips together, Akane took a swig from
her water bottle. "A little heartburn I have," she
said, voice shifting into that strange tremolo.
T drew back casting a look at Kasumi. The eldest
Tendo sister came over and placed a hand to Akane's
forehead. "She does have a slight temperature."
"I'll be alright," said Akane. She winced
slightly, placing a hand to her chest.
"Right. Off we go," said Ukyo taking Akane by an
arm.
"No, I want to stay here with my Guardian!" cried
Akane, struggling against the grip.
Ranma pulled himself back up from behind the
console again. "Akane, will you stop this `Guardian'
stuff and go with them."
"Ranma, you said you'd be with me no matter what!"
Ranma grimaced. "Well I said that, but I'd rather
you be healthy than sick."
"You need to lie down and let me take care of you,
Akane," added Kasumi.
Akane looked aghast to the point of being
terrified. She started to protest, but T cut her off.
"Just for a few hours, Akane," he said. "When
Ranma is done here, I'll send him down. Okay?"
T's gentle voice settled Akane, and she nodded
allowing Ukyo and Kasumi to guide her out the control
room.
"That girl is certainly hung up on you," T said to
Ranma.
"Yeah, that's not normal either," he answered
watching them go. The doors closed and Ranma peered
down at Ringo. "Speaking of which, how much longer do
I have to be behind here anyway?"
Ringo's red eyes blinked at him before a light tap
by one of the tentacles on a button sent a short, sharp
jolt through Ranma. He cried out, dropping back down
out of sight.
"Hmm, that must mean a long time," commented
Mousse.
A beep sounded, Kodachi answering the call.
"Mister T, it's Jay," she said.
[Yes, Jay.]
[Hey, T check this out,] replied Jay. [We're at
this observatory and as you guessed our man Krin and
his thugs had been here alright. I'm pick'n up all
sorts of lifeform readings on my scanner.]
[Including the ones we found in the alley?]
[Yeah, all but that blob type you were tell'n me
about.]
So the Polymorph is absent. That means it had to
be Krin's target, and obviously they had captured it.
So what was the renewed interest in Akane?
[Jay, did you find anything else that might help
us out?]
[Not much. It seems this Professor Hiria Juyru,
boy there's a mouth full, and several of his staff went
out to investigate a sighting not far from here. By
looking at these coordinates, m'guess is the same spot
Elle's at right now.]
[Elle found the ship, and our two missing agents.]
By his tone Jay did not need to ask what had
happened to them. [The strangest thing is that the
students that were here that night also disappeared.]
[How many?]
Holding up a roster, Jay made a quick count.
[About ten total.]
"There weren't that many of Krin's accomplices at
Ucchan's," said Kodachi.
"But there might be more we've not seen," replied
T. That was a dark thought, but T set it aside for the
moment. [Anything else, Jay?]
[Naw. I got the newbies out killing brain cells
right now. We should be done in a sec here.]
[Okay. Link up with Elle and see if there is
anymore we can uncover at the crash site. I'll expect
you both back here in two hours.]
[No sweat. Later.]
T closed up his commlink pondering this new
information. This would take a serious database
search, something M.I.B. Tokyo was without right now.
The fastest way would be through Headquarters, but that
meant contacting Zed along ground channels, risking
discovery. He weighed the odds, finally concluding
that it would be worth the risk. Whatever it was Krin
was after they needed to get to first before the insane
pirate struck again.
"Kodachi, there is a number on the panel in front
of you. Please dial it up. When you have a
connection, ask for Zed and tell them it's urgent.
Extremely urgent."
