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Through a Glass, Darkly (Chapter Two: Bock and Photos)
title: Through a Glass, Darkly (Chapter Two: Bock and Photos)
author: Bill Hartwell
rating: teens
fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, Aa! MegamiSama!
characters/pairings: Usagi/Mamoru, Rei/Makoto, Ami/Fred
disclaimer: If you recognize it, and it’s not from Knights in Tarnished Armor, it’s not mine.
author’s note: This started as a dream....
word count: 8239

Fred groaned and pinched his eyes together. If what Skuld said was true, and he had no reason to believe she would lie, he and Ami were the beneficiaries of no less than four different wishes, all of which had the same object: finding Ami a man who loved her for herself, who would not be intimidated or overwhelmed by her intelligence. Skuld had taken advantage of the situation Fred was in to put him and Ami together, but had left it up to them to figure out what to do about it.

"...haven't figured that out yet," Skuld said. Fred played back what she'd said while he was distracted by his thoughts, and returned to listening, while gently squeezing Ami's hand. "Whoever created this dreamland did not sign his work, and went to an awful lot of trouble to make it seem real. Most dreamlands have differences from reality that make it easy to identify their creators. This one is so close to reality that a casual observer wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"So, without knowing the creator, can we discover why this dreamland was created?" Ami asked.

"Since it came into existence around Fred," Skuld said,"it's clear it was created for him. The problem is, I can't figure out if it was intended as a trap, a lesson, a warning, or something more abstract. And Kami-Sama won't tell me anything about who created it or why. He just says that all of you are an important part of it, now that you're here, and that what happens here will affect both universes."

"So basically, we're flying blind?" Fred asked.

"That pretty much covers it," Skuld said. "I can't even see what the likely outcomes are, which means either Kami-Sama is personally involved in this, or he's given whoever is doing this the ability to block my vision."

"And if you can't do it, Rei can't, either."

"Except in more limited terms," Skuld said. She looked thoughtfully at Rei for a moment, then nodded. "You should still be able to sense immediate threats, but you won't be able to sense anything long-term."

"I couldn't do that without the Great Fire anyway,Skuld-Sama," Rei said, then cocked her head in confusion when Skuld chuckled.

"You underestimate yourself, Reichan," Skuld said. "If you were unable to See, you would never have been able to become a priestess. You're going to have to have more faith in yourself if you want to get through this successfully."

Rei glared at Fred. Fred sighed and bent down to whisper into Ami's ear.

"Ami, is she always this hostile to men, or am I just lucky?"

"I don't know what's going on with her," Ami replied softly. "She doesn't have any use for men in general, but she's reacting to you like she blames you personally for our situation."

"So," Fred sighed, "regardless of what Skuld just said, as far as she's concerned, this is all my fault."

"That's the way it seems," Ami said. She looked at Rei and added, loudly enough to carry to everyone else in the room, "If Rei would just pay attention to what Skuld-sama has been telling us, maybe she would stop wasting her energy being angry at you and start focusing on the situation we're stuck in."

"I am paying attention," Rei growled. "The situation is MacManus-san's fault. If--"

"And yours, Reichan," Skuld said firmly. "Your wish is one of those I granted, so if you want to blame someone for the five of you being here, you have as much blame as anyone in this room. As does everyone else here except Fred, Amichan,and Ambrosius. Amichan was, I am sure, as surprised by this as Fred. And remember, whoever created this dreamland did not do so with any warning to, or consultation with, Fred."

"But...!" Rei protested.

"But what?" Skuld asked. "Would you say it's your fault when a youma shows up?"

"Of course not!" Rei said. "We don't want youma!"

"And, does Fred want to be here?" Ami asked.

"Well...." Rei grumbled. "He wants to be with you!"

"If I could be with Ami without being here, I'd be ecstatic!" Fred said. "But that's not what happened, so I'm dealing with what did happen. Don't you think we'd all be better off if we did that?"

Rei grumbled under her breath. Serenity put a hand on Rei's shoulder and whispered to her.

"How much time has passed in either world?" Fred asked.

"In your world?" Ambrosius said, "None. In their world? I'll have to check. I haven't followed events in their world since the end of the Silver Millennium."

"Please do," Fred said. "Their world needs them. And if any time passes in my world, please ask Miriam to come here. I don't know why, but I can't even contact the network."

"That's because," Skuld said, "all of you are here in your dream bodies, including Edgar. Without his physical body, he can not reach your network."

"Well," Edgar said, "that explains why I couldn't contact John when we arrived here. You'd think I'd be able to contact the local network, though."

"Assuming it exists," Fred said. "If the local version of me doesn't have a network, you wouldn't be able to contact it."

"If that's the case," Edgar said, "we may have an advantage. As long as we can communicate, we'll be able to coordinate our actions without them knowing."

"It makes sense," Ami said. "Until Edgar, nobody has been able to hack our communicators. We've always relied on them being secure."

"All right, then." Fred looked at Ambrosius. "Will we be able to use your bar to transfer the funds we need to operate here?"

"Yes," Ambrosius said. "Just talk to Sally or Carl."

"Good." Fred sat back and shifted a bit so Ami could lean against him more comfortably. "If any time passes in their world, we need to get a message through to Endymion, so he knows they're all right."

"We can do that," Ambrosius said.

"Remember," Skuld said, "you're on your own here. Whatever is going on, I've done as much as I can. It's up to all of you to find out why you're here, and what you have to do about it."

"The first thing we have to do," Serenity said, "is find a place to live while we're here." Her stomach growled, and she blushed. "Well, maybe the second thing...."

"Either way, we'll need local ID," Ami said. "Edgar said they have a national ID here. We'll need ID cards for everyone,with enough money on them to pay for anything we need to buy."

"Talk to Carl about that," Ambrosius said. "For now, there are rooms available here, and you can get something to eat in the bar. I'll try to discover more about this particular dreamland, and tell you what I've learned the next time we talk."

"Thank you," Serenity said. "We appreciate your help."

Serenity rose to her feet and started down the stairs, followed by the others. Fred hung back, waiting, until the senshi were all well on their way.

"What's this going to cost us, Ambrosius?" Fred asked.

"Cost?" Ambrosius answered, looking confused. "It's not...oh. That's right. Arthur still doesn't trust me, does he?"

"Remember Vienna?" Fred asked. "He does. He also remembers Camelot, and the mess with the Goths, and a few other lifetimes, as well."

"He still mistakes me for Odin, eh?" Ambrosius asked with a heavy sigh. "As many times as I've told him that wasn't me, he still doesn't believe me."

"It might have something to do with all the other lifetimes," Fred said. "He doesn't want to be king, you know. All he wants is to be himself."

"A hero," Ambrosius said. "King or not, he can't help being a hero. It's as much his nature as fire is Sally's."

"Still, you know as well as I do, there's always a price," Fred said. "I just want to know what it is, so I can plan for it."

Ambrosius looked at Skuld, who nodded. "It won't hurt to tell him. It might even help."

"The price," Ambrosius said with a sigh, "Is your daughter."

"My daughter?" Fred asked, shaking his head. "I don't have a daughter. I can't have a child, male or female."

"In your world, you can't," Ambrosius said. "But in this world, you can. And you will."

"I...," Fred started, then looked down the stairs thoughtfully. "We'll be here that long?"

"All it takes is one night," Ambrosius said. "Don't worry. Your daughter will be as great a hero in their world as Arthur is in yours."

"Don't worry, he says," Fred snorted. "Do you realize how reassuring that isn't?"

"I promise," Skuld said, "that your daughter will become a strong woman, and she will be both a hero and a woman you will be proud of. I give you my word as a Norn."

"And that's the price for your help in this?" Fred asked, turning his gaze from Skuld to Ambrosius and back again.

"Yes," Ambrosius said. "That's the price. I can't promise you'll ever get to see her, but she will be everything you would want her to be, whether you ever see her or not."

"I guess," Fred sighed, turning toward the stairs, "I can live with that." He turned back to face Ambrosius and Skuld. "Can you promise that you--either of you--will not stop me, if I do find a way to visit them?"

"I can," Skuld said, while Ambrosius nodded. "If you find a way to visit their world, neither my sisters nor I will stop you."

"All of your sisters?" Fred asked.

"All of them," Skuld laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of my sisters insisted on joining you on the journey, if you do manage it."

"If I do," Fred said, smiling, "I would be glad of her company. After all, she is one of my best friends."

"I know," Skuld chuckled. She winked and pointed at the stairs. "Now, don't you think you should get started on that daughter?"

#######

Ami glanced at the door behind the bar, wondering what was taking Fred so long. They'd managed to find a seat, and order food, before she saw him come through the door. When she saw him, the look on his face made it clear he was thinking heavy thoughts. Then he saw her, and his face lit up as if his world had just brightened. She couldn't understand why. It wasn't as if she was beautiful, like Rei or Serenity, or strong like Makoto, or outgoing like Minako. She was just...the woman he loved.

It took her breath away, imagining that someone--anyone--loved her like that, but the way his face lit up when he saw her, she had to accept that it was true. At least she didn't react the way she had when she was younger, and even the thought of love would turn her world upside down. Now, it made her feel warm inside, like she was wrapped in a blanket that sheltered her from the world, and she wanted to keep that feeling forever.

"I'm sorry, Ami," Usagi said. "I know I didn't use the Ginzouishou when I wished for you, but...."

"Don't be," Ami said, giving Usagi a warm smile. "You heard what Skuld-sama said. Your wishes may be why we're here, but they're not why this place is here. And if being here is what it took for your wishes to come true," she looked at Fred and smiled happily, "then I'm happy to be here."

"I still don't like it," Rei grumbled.

"In case you hadn't noticed it," Ami said, "the man you're blaming doesn't like it, either. I'm pretty sure that, once he finds who's responsible for this, he's going to do to them what you've made pretty clear you'd like to do to him. So instead of being angry with him, why don't you save your anger for whoever's really to blame?"

Rei opened her mouth, then closed it, then grumbled incoherently as Fred sat beside Ami and smiled lovingly at her.

"So, what's the special today?" Fred asked.

"Something called bock," Usagi said.

"Oh? Is it that time of year again?" Fred asked. Ami giggled. He looked as if he really did need to ask what time of year it was. Fred blushed and shrugged. "Hey, I'm doing good to know what year it is, let alone what season." He tapped his temple with a fingertip. "They get all jumbled up in here, so I rely on Edgar to remind me if an important date is coming up."

"Yes, Dad," Edgar said, snickering. "It is, indeed, Easter."

"Why he brings out the bock on Easter, instead of during Lent, I'll never understand," Fred said, "but apparently, that's been his tradition since at least the Fourteenth Century. So, did anyone remember to order food?"

"You mean," Usagi asked, looking surprised enough that Ami had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing, "bock isn't food?"

"I mean," Fred said with a laugh. "Bock is, or, at least, it was when it was invented, a substitute for food, which is why every other brewer in the world brings it out during Lent."

"Lent is a Catholic observance," Ami said, cutting off Usagi's question. "During the forty days before Easter, Medieval Catholics would fast from sunrise until Vespers, and even during their evening meal, they would abstain from meat, eggs, and dairy products. But beer was not considered food, so monks would make an especially strong beer to be drunk during Lent to make up for the food that they weren't eating. A single mug of bock has as much nutritional value as two slices of home-made bread."

"Ambrosius said I should talk to you," a young man in a dark suit said to Fred. He looked to Ami like he could have been a government agent, between the suit and his short hair. All he needed was sunglasses and a radio earpiece.

"Oh," Fred said, turning to smile at the newcomer. "Hi, Carl. Yes, everyone at this table needs ID, including me. Something that will pass in the world we're in. I could use some clothes, too."

"You could...?" Carl asked, then tilted his head as he studied Fred. "Oh, I see. You're using the same trick Eve uses.OK." He grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it up next to Minako's, then sat on it, apparently oblivious to the lustful look she was giving him. "I'm going to need some information from each of you in order to make the background pass."

"Whatever name you put on mine," Fred said, "it has to not be my real name. Either of them."

"All right," Carl said, as calmly as if Fred had ordered a roast beef sandwich. "Do you have a preference?"

"Allan," Fred said after thinking a moment. "Make it David Allan."

"Pbbbbt," Edgar said.

"Be glad you don't need an ID," Fred shot back. Ami blinked, then made the connection and began giggling.

"What? What?" Usagi asked, looking from Fred to Ami.

"Once upon a midnight dreary," Ami intoned, focusing on the words to keep from dissolving into laughter, "while I pondered weak and weary...."

"Nevermore," Fred shot back, and Ami lost any hope of holding it in. She fell against him, laughing, while Usagi continued to demand to know what was going on.

"Since the Raven and Lenore seem to be unable to continue this," Carl said smoothly, "why don't we move on to the rest of you? Do any of you speak English well enough to get away with an American ID?"

"I lived in England for a while," Minako said, in English. "Does that count?"

"Close enough," Carl said. "What name would you like me to put on your ID?"

"Well, the last time I used an alias," Minako said, "it was Mina Harker. Would that work?"

"Mmm...," Carl mused a moment, then shook his head. "Too obvious. If you want to use that name, I'd suggest Murray instead." He paused and looked at Fred. "Yes?"

"Uh," Fred blushed, then laughed. "I could suggest names, except they might be too obvious."

"Go ahead," Carl said. "If they are, we can change them."

"OK," Fred said with a nod, then pointed around the table, starting with Ami. "Amy Anderson, Serena Suzuki, Raye Hino, Lita Sato, and Mina's already picked her name."

"OK," Carl said slowly, "You realize that if anyone in the Underground hears those names, they're going to think these women are Sailor Moon fangirls, right?"

"In the Underground?" Ami asked, leaning forward curiously. "And what do you mean by Sailor Moon fangirls?"

"Anime is banned in America," Carl said. "It has too many supernatural elements for the American government to allow it. So, the only people in America who've seen it are those who smuggle it in from Canada. There's an anime that was popular in Canada about ten years ago, called Sailor Moon, and the names Fred gave you all are the names they gave the main characters in the Canadian translation."

Fred smiled and shrugged, looking as if he was trying hard to feign innocence. Ami giggled and poked him in the ribs, then laughed and turned her attention back to Carl. "Yes, I've heard about that anime. Now, I'm going to tell you our real names. My name is Mizuno Ami. The girl who's trying to get into your pants is Aino Minako." Ami grinned and stuck her tongue out at Minako, who was sputtering in shock, probably that she would actually say something so bold. "My best friend here is Tsukino Usagi, and the couple at the other end of the table there are Hino Rei and Kino Makoto."

"I...see," Carl said slowly. "So...," he looked around slowly, "Where is Chiba Mamoru?"

Hearing Mamoru's name, Usagi broke into tears. Rei immediately moved to comfort her.

"He's back in our home universe," Ami said. "Whatever it was that brought us here, he wasn't affected by it. I'm hoping that time isn't passing for him, because if it is, he's going to have to watch over our bodies and get them somewhere safe until we find away home."

"Only you, Fred," Carl said, rubbing his forehead and laughing softly. "You realize, Miri's going to be annoyed as hell that she isn't here with you?"

"So she can join me in convincing Ami to marry us?" Fred asked, "Or so she can laugh at how skilled I am at putting my foot in my mouth?" He grinned and added, "Besides, I thought the only thing that annoyed Hel was whining shades."

Ami snorted and elbowed Fred gently. "You haven't eaten your foot yet, Mister. And if Miri's good enough for you to love her, I have no doubt that I'll love her, too."

"I'll ask her about that the next time she stops in for a beer," Carl said. "Last time, she was having so much fun with Elsie and Vicki, I don't think anything could have annoyed her. Well, except Ares, but he annoys everyone."

"So I've heard," Fred snorted, while reaching for Ami's hand. "Anyway, aside from the Underground, how many people would recognize those names?"

"The DSS," Carl said firmly. "Mina Murray is British enough to pass, but the others are just too obvious. Hold on a moment...." His eyes glazed over, much as Fred's did when he was conversing with Edgar. Ami looked him over thoughtfully,wondering where he hid his computer.

"All right," Carl said, when his attention returned to them. "Try these names on for size." He pointed at Usagi. "Takahashi Yuzuki." He pointed at Rei. "Suzuki Yumi." He pointed at Makoto. "Sato Moriko." Finally, he pointed at Ami. "Tanaka Aimi."

"Are you sure about that last one?" Ami asked in English. "The others are far enough from their real names that they can't be mistaken, but mine?"

"I know Fred," Carl said with a teasing smile. "No matter what name I give you, he's going to slip up and call you Ami, and with his kind of luck, it'll happen at the worst possible time. Better to give you a name that is close enough that you can play it off as a slip of the tongue or a problem with his accent."

"Your confidence is underwhelming," Fred grumbled, but his smile made it clear to Ami he wasn't really unhappy with the choice. He looked at her lovingly and added, softly enough she was sure only she would hear, "Not that I'm complaining."

"Good," Carl said, "because complaining won't get you anywhere."

"Arg!" Fred growled. "Frakking Kinsmen!"

"Yes," Carl said with a smile. "What would you do without us?"

"Have a lot more private conversations, for starters," Fred shot back, grinning.

"Hold that thought," Carl said, suddenly on his feet. Ami wasn't sure how he'd managed the transition. "I see someone I need to take care of before Sally sees him, or there'll be fireballs."

With that, he was gone, easily as fast as Haruka, if not faster.Ami looked toward the doorway, and saw Carl talking to a large, dark-haired man in black leather, with a sword sheathed across his back that shone with as much power as the Sword of the Moon.

"Ares," Fred said softly. Ami glanced at him and noticed he was looking in the same direction as she had been. "Now we'll see if he's on the clock, or off."

Ami looked back toward the door, where the discussion between Carl and Ares was winding down. Suddenly, Ares vanished, and in his place was an ordinary looking man--so ordinary that, if she hadn't seen what he'd looked like before, she would never have noticed him in the crowd.

"I guess that means he's off the clock," Fred chuckled. "Good. When he and Sally get going, they can level cities."

"That would be bad," Ami said softly, while trying unsuccessfully to follow the transformed Ares as he walked into the bar.

"I'll say," Fred teased. "It could make us spill our beer."

"Speaking of beer," Carl said, grinning at Fred as he deposited a tray full of mugs on the table, "I know you're not Catholic, so why wasn't there food in this order?"

"The menu said the special was bock!" Minako said.

"They ordered before I was back downstairs," Fred said,with a shrug. "Roast beef any good?"

"In a place like this?" Carl asked, broadly acting shocked by the question. "We'd be drawn and quartered if it wasn't!"

"OK," Fred said with a nod, then shifted to Japanese."Rei, do you have a problem with beef?"

"Beef?" Rei asked, blinking suspiciously at Fred."No...why?"

"The choices are pretty much roast beef, beef stew, mutton, pork," Fred glanced at Carl, "Chicken?" Carl nodded."Or chicken. I'd recommend the beef. Or the mutton, if you're feeling adventurous. Pork's likely to be too rich if you're not used to a lot of meat in your diet, and you can never be too sure about chicken."

"This tastes sweet!" Usagi said, looking up from her mug with foam on her lips. "Like liquid sweet bread!"

"It's probably the best bock you'll ever drink," Fred said. "Even Arthur says that, and he doesn't like the place."

"I'd like roast beef," Ami said. "And...." She blushed as Carl chuckled.

"Bread and mustard?" Carl asked. "Or would you prefer horseradish?"

"B-Both? How did you know?"

"Fred isn't the only one who knows about your fondness for sandwiches," Carl said, grinning at Fred. "But if you settle for sandwiches, you'll miss the potatoes and gravy and roasted vegetables."

"Does it come with Yorkshire Pudding?" Minako asked. "I haven't had that in years."

"I'll ask the baker," Carl said. "If there is some, you'd like it?"

"Oh, yes!" Minako all but bounced. "I haven't had a good pudding since I left England!"

"Did you say roasted vegetables?" Rei asked. "In that case, I think I'd like the beef, too."

"Huh?" Usagi jumped, almost spilling her beer, when Rei nudged her. "Um, yes! I'd like food, too!"

"Got any beef pies?" Fred asked Carl. "I'll bet she'd love one, if you do."

"As a matter of fact, we do," Carl said. "They're pretty popular with the staff when we're on duty."

"I'd like to try one of those, too," Makoto said. "A good meat pie is hard to find."

"I'll go with the mutton," Fred said. "Cal's always getting to the sheep before I get a chance at them."

Minako turned a brilliant shade of crimson and began choking on her beer. Carl got the mug out of her hands and was slapping her on the back before anyone else was able to respond. Fred's eyes glinted and he smiled, like a snake sizing up a rat. He waited until she was reaching for her mug again before he spoke.

"Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I do sometimes wear a kilt. Why do you ask?"

Minako was spared the embarrassment of knocking her mug over only by Carl snatching it away before her hand could hit it when she jerked and stared at Fred, turning a color somewhere between red and purple as she spluttered.

Ami looked between Fred and Minako, not understanding what was going on, but certain that he had timed his statement deliberately.She elbowed him in the ribs and gave him an annoyed look. His look of wicked amusement wilted under her glare. He looked down at the table and whispered, miserably, "I'm sorry."

Now Ami felt miserable. She still didn't know what had gone on between Fred and Minako, but seeing him deflate like that, after nothing more than a look of annoyance, made her feel like a world-class heel. She reached out and touched his hand, then asked softly, "Tell me?" while the others discussed their orders around her.

"It was a joke," Fred said softly, still looking down at the table. "It was obvious Minako knew it, which was why she turned red the way she did. I just...wanted to let her know I knew the joke, too."

Ami gently turned Fred's face toward her, so she could look in his eyes as they spoke. "Please, explain it to me?"

"It's...a crude joke," Fred sighed. Ami held his gaze, refusing to let him go so easily. "Why do Scotsmen wear kilts?"

Ami considered the question a moment, then began to reach for her computer to search for the answer. Fred caught her hand and shook his head.

"It's a joke, Ami," he said. "It's not meant to begin a discussion of economics, culture, or fashion. It's meant to make people laugh."

"Oh," Ami said, then shook her head. "I don't know. Why do Scotsmen wear kilts?"

"Because a sheep can hear a zipper at a hundred paces," Fred answered, blushing deeply.

Ami replayed the conversation in her memory, while trying to resolve the non-sequitor in her mind. What did sheep, Scotsmen, and zippers have to do with each other? Looking at Minako, a suspicion of the answer crept into her mind, and a hand went to her mouth in shock as she stared at Minako, her own cheeks catching fire at the idea that a thought like that could have bubbled to the surface of her friend's mind so freely, when all Fred had said was.... She turned to Fred, catching the sad look in his eyes as he watched her, realizing that he must be sad because she had been shocked, but how could he have known the train her thoughts had taken?

"Fred? Who's Cal?" Ami asked. Now she saw the sadness in his eyes change to confusion, then to something resembling the love that was in them when he looked at her. This was much better--she'd do anything to never see that sadness again.

"Cal's my son," Fred said, smiling, faintly at first, then with obvious love and pride. "Adopted maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that he's my son. Hold on a sec, I have some photos I can send to your computer, if you'd like."

"I'd like that very much," Ami said, reaching out to retrieve her computer and open it. She wanted to see the boy who could make her Fred smile like that.

"I have both flat and holos," Fred said. "Which would you prefer?"

"Both?" Ami suggested. A moment later, the file transfer display told her she was receiving a compressed folder of images. The titles confused her: Hatching? First Flight? First Scylla? At least First Birthday seemed like a normal title. She opened that folder and found it was full of both flat and holographic images. Clicking on the first image in the folder filled her screen with a typical birthday party photo, with cake and ice cream and Fred and a woman who must be Miriam--olive skin, wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and a pilot's jumpsuit that said "MacManus" on it--standing proudly on either side of a ruby-red dragon? She looked from the picture to Fred, then back to the picture, then back to Fred. She began clicking on other files. In every one, the ruby-red dragon was the centerpiece, whether slurping Fred or Miriam, wrapped around a 2-meter-tall teddy bear, or up to his eye ridges in chocolate cake, it was all about the dragon.

"Isn't he adorable?" Fred asked. "The day he shredded his first Scylla ship, I was so happy, I think I made him high."

"Your...son...is a dragon?" Ami squeaked.

"Sure is," Fred said proudly. "I've been his daddy since the day I rescued his egg. That was also the first time I met Miriam, but that's another story."

He really didn't seem to see anything wrong with considering a dragon his son. Ami shook her head and looked back at her computer. She didn't recognize the file format the holographic images used, but was sure the computer would be able to decipher it if she told it to open one. So, she switched to the "First Scylla" folder and clicked on the first holographic image file. The computer's holo display activated, and the image formed. Unlike most images she had displayed this way, this image was amazingly solid and lifelike. It was as if she were looking at the scene, not merely a picture of it.

In the space above the computer, a small spaceship appeared. On top of the spaceship, wearing some kind of armored space suit with cannons mounted above the shoulders, a Western dragon, no more than six meters long, with a wingspan of about twelve meters, was ripping into the hull with its front claws.

"What in the world?" Makoto asked. "That looks like...a dragon in a space suit?"

"That's Cal," Fred said proudly. "That's the day he bagged his first Scylla."

"You sound...proud," Rei said, peering at Fred thoughtfully. "Why?"

"He's my son," Fred said with a grin. "I've been his daddy since the day I rescued his egg from a PLO camp in Egypt. He was only four months old then. Didn't even have his fire in yet."

"Wait, wait," Minako said. "He's your son?"

"Yup," Fred said with a grin. "And Miriam's his mommy." He looked at the confused looks on the senshi's faces and laughed. "OK, here's what happened. About a year before I started building Laputa, I was on a trip to the Sinai, visiting some monasteries, when I...happened upon...a PLO training camp near St.Catherine's. In a cave in that camp was what I know now was a nest, that had been buried for at least ten thousand years, until the cave was opened by the Palestinians. I rescued the egg and took it home with me, and two years later, Cal hatched, thanks to the help a dragon friend gave me in caring for it. Miriam and I were both there when he hatched, so she's his mommy as much as I am his daddy."

"Hey, is that a picture of Cal?" a waitress asked as she set a tray of food on the table. "Looks like he was having fun."

"Yup," Fred said, grinning. "That's his first Scylla."

"Um," Minako asked, "what is Scylla?"

"Scylla are a reptilian species," Fred said. "The dragons drove them off Earth about twenty thousand years ago, and they've been trying to recapture it since then."

"Nasty buggers," the waitress said. "As bad as orcs."

"Orcs?" Rei asked. "You mean, they're real?"

"Homo neanderthalensis," Fred said. "Definitely real, and most of them are nasty, barbaric brutes. Not all, though. There's a decent group of them in Laputa who are trying to fit in with modern society, but most of the ones we've met outside Laputa seem to be trying hard to live down to their reputation. Especially the ones who work for the DSS."

"You and Carl have both mentioned the DSS," Ami said. "What is it?"

"The American Department of State Security," Fred said, grumbling. "After the Bicentennial Dragon, the US government created a department that combined all federal and state police and security agencies, to 'combat the supernatural threat'. Mostly, they act like an American version of the Gestapo, complete with midnight raids, massacres, secret prisons, and 're-education camps'. They use orcs as their shock troops, and kidnap any children who show any kind of magical potential, so they can train them to use their abilities for the government."

"Your America sounds like a horrible place," Rei said.

"It is," Fred said. "The Bicentennial Dragon scared Americans so much that they willingly surrendered everything that made them a free people, for the sake of an imagined security."

"What is the Bicentennial Dragon?" Minako asked.

"We don't know what his name was," Fred said, "but he was the first clue anyone had that magic had returned to the world. He was an enormous black dragon who had been hibernating under the swamp that Washington D.C. was built on, and he woke up during the Bicentennial celebration on July 4, 1976. By the time the Air Force managed to kill him, he had leveled most of the city and killed every government official who was in the city for the celebration. The Secretary of Defense ended up as President, because he was home with the flu that day. Within a couple weeks, the State Security Act of 1976 was passed into law. It outlawed any use of magic outside of government-recognized religion, placed bounties on all supernatural creatures, created the DSS, and instituted a National ID. It's just gotten worse since then. In 1995, the US government 'suspended' the Constitution, and since then, the DSS has effectively been the government."

"And you want to go back to that?" Ami asked, shocked at the way Fred had related it so calmly.

"No," Fred said. "I want to go back to Laputa. That's my home now, not America."

"So what's Laputa?" Rei asked.

"Do you know what a Beanstalk is?" Fred asked. When everyone shook their heads, including Ami, he sighed softly. "A Beanstalk is a tower, tall enough to reach into space. Laputa is a matched pair of Beanstalks, one in Ecuador and one in Indonesia. Each tower is ten miles in diameter, and twenty-four thousand miles tall.The towers are made of MacManusite, and are almost entirely self-contained. We even have enough arboreta in the towers to provide clean air, water, and food for as many people as could live in them. Right now, there are only a few thousand people living in the towers, but we could support the entire human race if we had to, with room to spare."

Ami closed the image file and ran quick calculations on her computer, then stared at Fred in shock. "But, even if you spaced the levels six meters apart, those towers would have more than ten times the area of the entire planet!"

"Sixteen times, actually," Fred said, smiling. "MacManusite and the Ravenfield are the only things that make it possible. The MacManusite gives us the structural strength we need, and the Ravenfield prevents them from sinking into the planet. It also gives us enough energy that we sell more than we use, and as far as I can tell, we will be able to sell more than we use no matter how many people live in the towers."

"The Ravenfield is that black energy field that surrounded you when we found you, right?" Ami asked.

"Right," Fred said. "It's kind of like a Crazy Eddie Field, but instead of keeping the energy within the field until it overloads or radiates out as light and heat, it converts it to usable energy."

"What's a Crazy Eddie Field?" Minako asked, while Ami typed furiously on her computer, looking for a reference she couldn't find.

"The proper name is...Edgar?"

"A Langston Field," Edgar said. "The reference is from a science fiction novel published in 1974. It's a force field that absorbs any energy that hits it, stores it in the field, then releases the energy as radiation over time. Unless it overloads, of course, in which case the energy is released both into and out of the field in the spot that overloaded."

"So, you were inspired by a book when you created it?" Minako asked.

"Isn't everyone?" Fred laughed. "All the best inventions come from people who were inspired by something, whether it's a book, a movie, a TV series, or even a dream, like Elias Howe, who made the modern sewing machine after seeing the needle design he needed in a dream. Still haven't worked out the Crazy Eddie Drive. It uses theories that are way too different from the drives used by the races we've met so far, and the only Scylla attempt to build something similar opened a portal to a Hell dimension. That was a trip, I can tell you."

"A Hell dimension?" Rei and Makoto asked, in stereo.

"Yeah," Fred said. "You know, demons, nasty environment, that kind of thing? It was our first contact with the Scylla. Well, our first contact after the ship that crashed and left Eve stranded on Earth, anyway. It popped out over Picnic Point, back in April of 1994. That was when most of my people met. We had to destroy both the demons and the Scylla ship."

"How did you destroy them?" Rei asked, leaning forward, her meal forgotten, as she looked at Fred.

"Alex and Lauren took care of most of the demons," Fred said with a laugh. "Mike and I mostly worked on keeping back the ones that hadn't come through the rift." His eyes shifted,looking into the distance as if he were seeing the battle again. "Ben, Eve, and Diana took care of the Scylla ship. Arthur killed anything that got past the rest of us." He smiled, shaking his head. "That was the first time Mike and I had met any of the others, but...." He relaxed in his seat and sighed. "You know how some friendships are stronger than steel? We've been together ever since. Sure, there are others who've joined our band since then, but those are the people I would rely on, no matter what."

"Friendship is stronger than anything," Usagi said, sounding just a little tipsy. She looked around the table and smiled at each of the senshi. "I wouldn't trade any one of you for the world." She looked at Fred and smiled warmly at him. "I know what you mean."

"Mmm...," Fred mused, looking at Usagi, then at Rei. "Rei, I think now might be a good time to see if Ambrosius has those rooms ready. Usagi might need one, you think?"

"I don't need a room!" Usagi said, standing unsteadily and knocking over her chair. "I need Mamo-chan!"

"Good idea," Rei said, and took Usagi's arm. "Come on, dumpling-head. Let's see how nice the rooms are here, ne?"

"You're so mean to me, Rei!" Usagi wailed as Rei led her away from the table. Ami sighed in relief. If there was anyone who could get Usagi to go, relatively quietly, it was Rei.

"So who are these friends you mentioned?" Minako asked.The question made sense to Ami--Minako always seemed to understand people best by knowing about who they cared for.

"Well," Fred said as he picked up his beer and took a sip. "Alex and Lauren are a couple. Alex is a daughter of Ienpu, a rock star, and the only member of her family the DSS didn't murder. Lauren is a daughter of Bast and a sorceress. Mike's a doctor, a genetic engineer, and Gryphon. He's the one who replaced all my military hardware with the hardware I designed myself. He was my doctor before I died, as well as one of my best friends." Fred laughed. "He's normally a quiet guy, doesn't like fuss and bother, but if you threaten his patients, he turns into an unstoppable force. There was this one time some Yakuza tried to break into his clinic to kill a patient of his. They had to scrape them up with a spatula." He took another sip and looked into the distance thoughtfully. "Ben's an artist, and runs a gallery in Laputa. He's also Eve's pilot. Eve's original designation, when she was built by the Scylla, was Ojato Suhi Ernetor Sujilo, which translates very roughly into 'Autonomous Probe Droid.' But that was before she bonded with Ben and became a person. Diana is Carl's big sister. Which, naturally, means that she's a Kinsman. Carl may have decided to pursue magic, but Diana's stuck with the family business. Ben and Eve and Diana are a triad, so anyone who messes with one of them has to deal with all three, which means none of the rest of us have to deal with them, usually. And Arthur is...well, he's Arthur. Caliburn was returned to him the night we fought those demons."

"So," Makoto asked, "What's a Kinsman?"

"Ever hear of the Masters of Sinanju?"

"Sinanju?" Makoto asked, her eyes widening. "The mythical origin of all martial arts?"

"And the best assassins in the world," Fred nodded. "Well, in my world, the stories of Sinanju are based on the Kinsman family. They've been assassins since the Atlantean Empire,and maybe even earlier. The oldest records in their family archives are still untranslatable, because they're written in languages that predate Atlantis. We do know they're part dragon, which is where their name comes from, and we know the family can trace its history in an unbroken line back to before Atlantis, but we don't know how far before, because of that pesky language problem. Right now, there's only three of them, assuming Carl and Diana's father is still alive, but I suspect there'll be a new generation before much longer."

"Wait," Minako cut in. "Arthur? King Arthur?"

"Shhh," Fred hissed, laughing. "Don't use the K-word around him. He hates it. Drives him nuts when the fae refer to him as 'The True-King.' All he wants is to be left alone to be an ordinary man this lifetime. Only problem is, he's a hero. He can't help it, any more than any of you can. It's as much a part of him as your planets are a part of you."

"What did you mean by 'daughter of Ienpu' and 'daughter of Bast?" Ami asked.

Fred grinned and nodded at Ami's computer. "Incoming images. I think you'll be able to figure it out."

Ami pouted at Fred, who just chuckled in response. She humphed and watched the transfer indicator crawl towards completion, stealing a quick glance toward him now and then. He just smiled and watched her, making no apparent attempt to hide his amusement. When the transfer finished, Ami quickly scanned the two new folders--one for Alex and one for Lauren. Opening Alex's folder first, she found another folder in it, labeled "Sparrowhawk", along with a collection of photos and holos. She selected a holo labeled "Alex and Lauren hunting demons" and clicked on it. When the image solidified in mid-air, she caught her breath with a gasp, absently noting that Minako and Makoto had done the same.

"Alex's nickname is 'Silly Puppy'," Fred commented. Ami had trouble imagining how such a beautiful creature could be considered silly. She was a little over two meters tall, with reddish-black fur over her entire body, razor-sharp features, from the tip of her long and narrow muzzle to the end of her long and bushy tail, walked on two legs, the head of a canine, and the figure of a professional dancer. Beside her had to be Lauren, a slightly smaller creature, but still around two meters tall, with coal black fur, glowing amber eyes, and the face of Bast. Like Alex, she had the figure of a professional dancer. Where Alex carried an anti-tank cannon in one hand like a sawed-off shotgun, Lauren carried nothing more than an odd hook-bladed sword that glowed like her eyes.

"A kopesh," Fred said. Ami looked over at him, confused. He pointed at the holo. "It's called a kopesh. I have one of my own. Not the most efficient of swords, but it's traditional. They were heading out to kill a demon when I got that picture."

"So what's Sparrowhawk?" Ami asked, while clicking on the folder.

"That's Alex's band," Fred said. "They're pretty popular back home, everywhere except America. They have a decent following in the Underground, too. Rock isn't technically outlawed in America, but when the DSS finds out about a concert, it always gets raided. So most shows are done in clubs that give the band a way to escape without being caught, or are done by bands signed with Gold & Appel Records." He laughed. "For some reason, the DSS doesn't like to raid concerts with Bubasti security."

"That's what Lauren is?" Ami found a file named "Sparrowhawk Avir concert" and clicked on it. The image that formed showed a band playing in a huge room with clear walls that looked out into space. The band itself was made up of four women: an Indian woman in an emerald green jumpsuit covered with guns and knives who was singing, a black woman in a neon pink tube top playing drums, a blonde woman playing a keyboard, who looked as if she hadn't eaten in weeks, and a Middle Eastern woman in a brown dress playing a bass guitar.

"Yup," Fred said, leaning forward and pointing. "That's them. Alex is the Gypsy, Faith is the bass player, Crys is the keyboardist, and Tiffany is the drummer. We don't know for sure, but I suspect that their music and Ben's art is what convinced the Avir that we were a civilized species."

"Avir?" Ami ran a quick search and didn't find a reference.

"The first friendly alien species we met," Fred said. "They look kind of like humanoid birds. They came to us to ask for our help in dealing with the Scylla, after intercepting a transmission from the Scylla assault group we destroyed about a year earlier."

"The first?" Minako asked. "You mean, you've met more?"

"At last count," Fred said, "A couple dozen that we can deal with easily, and almost as many that are too weird for us to compete with, let alone deal with. Most of the weird ones are either star dwellers or live in gas giants. The ones that live on Earthlike planets are generally easy to deal with. It seems that races that have outgrown government, or that have imperial dictatorships, are the only ones that make it into interstellar travel. So far, the Scylla are the only imperials we've found, although our friends have mentioned a few others that are rumored to exist."

Rei returned to the table, without Usagi, and sat down to finish her meal. "She fell asleep as soon as I got her up there. The rooms are nice, and we each have our own."

"That's a relief," Fred said. "I didn't want anything to happen to her while she was drunk."

Rei looked thoughtfully at Fred for a moment, then nodded and started eating. Ami let out her breath, suddenly realizing she'd been holding it in anticipation of an angry response from Rei.

"Carl probably won't have the IDs ready until tomorrow," Fred said, "so we should take this chance to rest and plan what we're going to do then. Edgar?"

"I have enough data from what I scanned to have a report ready by then," Edgar said. "Whatever we do, we're probably going to end up dealing with the Emperor before we can get out of here."

"Lovely," Fred grumbled.

Ami smiled and squeezed his hand under the table, then carefully placed it on her thigh, blushing as she did. All the time they'd been sitting there, he hadn't even tried to touch her, despite what she thought had been clear signals she wanted him to. Maybe now he would.