Meat Machines 2 - The Crimson Star.

By Sean F Stevens.

Copyright Sean F Stevens 2003.

A faint breeze wafted between the tall dunes of the (unimaginatively named) Great White Desert, dry with the insinuation of yet another cloudless, sunny day.

The silence here was all pervading, as any of the local desert creatures had long ago retreated to the shelter of their nests and burrows to escape the blistering force of the binary suns, who were now well on their way to the noon position in the sky and the heat and glare from these twin-stars was at their absolute skin-peeling, brain broiling maximum.

Humans, of course, tend to ignore such celestial displays of raw, unrestrained power, being too caught up in their day to day meanderings to follow the example of the more pragmatic desert creatures and take shelter from the suns withering rays; and with this in mind, the only sign of movement for miles around was unsurprisingly the result of human activity.

Near the deserts edge, but still many kilometres from the nearest settlement (in this case, a small-to-medium sized mining town named Tungsten) a fifty metre long, Ten-wheeled Sandship crawled slowly forward, trailing a slightly larger (and significantly more bulky) cargo barge in its wake.

Though called a ship (and indeed it did superficially resemble one) the curving, white-anodised (if now, somewhat sandblasted) and streamlined shape of the vehicle was designed to make it less susceptible to wind resistance rather than for travelling through water, which was a scarce commodity on this desiccated planet at the best of times. Even the few small seas and rivers that were to be found on this largely desert world were far too small (and certainly too shallow) for sailing on.

The sandship crept its way through the valleys between the dunes in a meandering course dictated by the unavoidable laws of power and weight, or to put it more accurately the ship and its cargo were far too heavy for the moderate output of its solar powered electric motors to enable it to crest anything but the smallest of hills, to attempt anything higher ran the risk of stalling the engines, stripping the transmission gears, or worst of all: capsizing the sandship and damaging the cargo.

From her position in the crows nest of the sandships foremast, sitting directly above the huge twenty metre high by fifteen wide solar-panel “foresail” Juno Lumiere, a flame-haired sixteen year old, carefully monitored the sundial before her, its single red marker informing her of how precisely the large solar sail below her was pointed towards the suns powerful rays.

Behind her, mounted in a similar crows nest on the slightly taller mainmast was Juno’s sister, Helena, raven-haired and two years Juno’s senior, she was currently occupied with the similar task of keeping the somewhat broader solar “mainsail” in alignment. Between the two of them they ensured that the large solar panels were always pointed directly at the sun and precisely angled so as to always be collecting the maximum amount of solar radiation to power the ships motors, for the more power its motors received, the faster the ship travelled and the faster the ship travelled the quicker they could sell their wares and be on their way back to their suppliers to repeat the process all over again and the oftener they turned over their wares, the more money they made.

Between the two sails were the large crates of their various wares, piled more than man-high along the deck and firmly lashed together with heavy plasteel ropes. It was these items, plus those stowed in the ships two large holds below deck, as well as those stacked high on the broad twelve wheeled barge they towed that were the source of their income.

Though this current shipment was mainly spare parts for mining hardware and an assortment of different types of textiles, they were general traders and carriers by profession and would transport and sell pretty much anything they could get their hands on and find a market for.

The marker on the sundial started to crawl around the dial, the ship was starting to move to port, following the curve of a valley, and Juno sprung into action, calling down to the crewmembers waiting below her at the base of the sail.

“Rotate sail fifteen degrees to starboard!” she called and quickly examined the downward angle of the twin-suns rays on a vertically mounted sundial “Maintain current sail pitch.”

Behind her, Juno could hear the voice of her elder sister calling similar instructions down to her own crew of sail-jockeys, who, like Juno’s own, immediately sprang into action, spinning moderate sized capstans to winch the sails around into their new position.

Meanwhile, Juno was checking the wind speed sensor mounted on the rim of her crows nest. For though sail-like in appearance, the large flexible solar panels were somewhat on the fragile side and any strong gusts of wind could damage them, any sign of bad weather would require the furling of the sails and force the ship to proceed on its limited amount of battery power. Luckily, for the moment at least, the breezes were negligible, barely even registering on the scale.

“Sail in position.” called the foreman of her team from below.

“Confirmed.” Juno replied, noting that the twin-suns dual shadows were once again within the nominal range markers of her sundials, and she sat back on her small canvass stool and took a swig of water from her canteen.

Needing to have access to the suns rays from all angles to enable the sundial to do its work had precluded the construction of any sort of fixed shelter within the crows nest, so the sum total of Juno’s protection from the glare of the suns was a light, broad brimmed straw hat and sun goggles. She also possessed a light poncho of a reflective material, but since it was made of some sort of synthetic fabric, it didn’t “breath” well and it had a tendency to cause her to broil, so she avoided wearing it whenever possible. Currently, she was only lightly dressed in a pale-coloured sleeveless linen shirt and denim shorts, the rest of her was exposed to the elements and starting to take on a suspiciously lobster-like shade.

She mopped her damp brow with a well-used handkerchief and seethed internally at the thought that while she, Helena and the rest of the crew did all the work her useless father was, as usual, lounging around in his private cabin, getting drunk.

There was an ominous rumbling from her stomach and she bent over and rummaged under her seat until she found the packed lunch she had parked there earlier, coming back up for air a moment later she paused; there was a flicker of light out on the horizon, and she removed her goggles and rubbed her eyes.

Replacing her goggles a moment later, she strained her eyes towards the horizon, trying to see a reprise of the previous glimmer, and curious to discern what its source might be.

The flash was repeated, flickering on the crest of a not too distant dune, it was joined by several others, who twinkled momentarily before disappearing behind the shield of another hill of sand.

A cold feeling of uncertainty made Juno forget her hunger and she grabbed a pair of glare proofed binoculars from a box at the base of the sundial and scanned the dunes fearfully, hoping against all hope that her suspicions were wrong.

The flicker appeared again and she rapidly brought the binoculars into focus, the tiny distant blurs resolving themselves into sharp unmistakable images.

Juno gasped, her heart pounding loudly in her ears from fear, for approaching the sandship in an all too rapid progression was a group of at least twenty small vehicles, all bearing one or more occupants and all heavily armoured, and heavily armed.

“Marauders!” She all but screamed “Marauders, to starboard!”

“Furl the sails and switch to internal batteries.” ordered Helena, as she brought out her own binoculars to confirm Juno’s warning. “Full speed ahead!”

Juno grasped a rope and swung down to the deck, helping the others to rapidly (though carefully) furl the fragile solar sails and stow them below deck, they had perhaps only a few minutes to get everything stowed and safe before the marauders reached their position.

Moments later, with the foresail stowed, Juno ran below decks and hammered on the door to her fathers cabin, opening the door with a well aimed kick when he didn’t answer.

She found Francoise Lumiere - the man she often had trouble acknowledging in public as her father - on the floor, drunk, and she shook him roughly awake. “Come on you old fool, open your eyes, we’re under attack!” Juno all but screamed into his blotchy face.

This woke him up in seconds flat and had the added benefit of shocking him sober, if only momentarily.

“What?” he gasped, his piggy eyes widening in unrestrained fear.

“You heard me.” Juno replied disrespectfully “there’s maybe two dozen marauders on small vehicles heading this way at high speed, they could be here in moments, if they're not here already!”

“Alright, I hear you, no need to shout.” Francoise murmured irritably. He fumbled in his pocket and produced a small sliver of crystal with a complex pattern of circuitry faintly visible within, a code key.

“Give this key to your sister, it will open the weapons locker.” her father instructed, “tell her to arm the crew and repel all boarders.”

“And what will you be doing all this time?” Juno demanded suspiciously.

“I’ll be guarding the cargo, in the hold.” Francoise informed her with badly feigned dignity, and he pushed past her, and all but ran out of his cabin, quickly trotting down the hall on his fat legs in the direction of number one cargo hold.

“Coward!” Juno called after him. She pocketed the code-key and ran full speed in the direction of the stairs, making a mental note to disown her father at the first possible opportunity, behind her, the sounds of the door to number one hold being rapidly barricaded were all too audible and she hissed in disgust.

“There’s no way I can be his daughter!” she mused angrily shaking her head.

She arrived back on deck to a scene of calmly organized chaos, the crew had stowed the last of the movable items and were busily trying to raise makeshift barricades made of the larger, heavier cargo crates that had been on deck plus whatever other materials they could find, including (much to Juno’s chagrin) an old surfboard she’d picked up in Plasma city and had been hoping to learn to use as soon as she’d had a chance to visit the inland sea, but was now disrespectfully nailed and lashed in place between two large crate-lids and had had a large hole cut in the middle of it to fire through.

Remembering the task in hand, Juno found her sister and handed her the key to the gun locker. Helena eyed it thoughtfully for a moment and made her way to the rear wheelhouse - where the guns were stowed - with Juno trailing behind.

“Let me guess, Fathers “guarding” the hold, right?” Helena enquired with a grim smile.

Juno nodded.

“Poor father.” Helena sighed as she opened the gun locker and began handing out the weapons to the crew “He may be a good trader, but he’s a lousy excuse for a human being.”

Juno couldn’t help but agree, but her father’s failings were becoming rapidly a secondary concern, driven from her mind by the growing drone of the approaching marauders vehicles.

Helena passed a weapon to Juno, and though it was only a small calibre pistol it weighed heavy in her hand and far heavier on her mind.

Seeing the worry on her younger sisters face, Helena bent over and kissed Juno on the forehead, and held her close.

“We’ll get through this Juno.” Helena whispered “I just know it.” and she released her hold and smiled reassuringly.

“You’re just spinning me a line of B.S. Hel, I’m not a kid anymore.” Juno replied “But thanks anyway.”

Helena smiled grimly and turned to the sailor on lookout, a burly, gruff old salt by the name of Sanders.
“How close are they?” Helena called.

“They’re within shooting distance.” Sanders replied matter-of-factly, and not a second after he’d said this the first volley of shots hit the top of the makeshift barricade, causing the thick but brittle plastic of its outer surface to crack and splinter, though due to the distance and speed of the marauders their initial shots hit nothing vital.

“They’ll try and encircle us.” Helena informed the crew, though some of the older members knew this from grim experience “Take out the leading edge of marauders first, try to stop them getting in front of us.”

The sailors manned the small holes they had previously made in the barricade and began to return fire; Juno joined them but held back from firing just yet, as there were no enemies within range of her pistol. Looking out into the valley rushing past them, she could now clearly see the marauders on their high-speed sand bikes; they were strung out in a wide curving line and from the machine noise behind her, she could guess that the string of sand pirates curved all the way behind the ships barge and around to the other side.

Those marauders closest to the ship were now almost constantly firing upon the ship, while those furthest away seemed concerned mainly with coming around ahead of it, and it was these distant sand pirates that her crew concentrated their fire upon, as any that reached the front wheels of the ship could potentially destroy the steering gears and force the ship into a dune, disabling it and leaving the crew besieged and without hope of escape or rescue.

The barricade above Juno’s head splintered from multiple bullet impacts and she returned fire by reflex, the recoil from the gun jarring her arm painfully.

She carefully peeped out to see if her bullets had made contact with anyone but could see nothing in the direction she had fired, she couldn’t even be sure if anyone else had hit any of the marauders either, as the murky clouds of gun-smoke, machine exhaust and dusty sand they had stirred up were just too thick to see through.

But looking ahead, she could see that the flanks of the marauders attack-line were getting very close to the bow of the ship, and were already firing upon the front wheels, though she couldn’t see if they had damaged them much as yet.

Juno turned, intending to warn her sister, only to find Helena running aft; she presumed that news of the frontal attack had already reached her as there was only one thing aft that Helena was likely to do.

“Cut loose the barge.” Helena ordered over the din of gunfire “Maintain full speed.”

Juno snickered despite their situation; Father would not be pleased.

There was a loud snapping sound as Helena and several other sailors detonated the barge’s emergency release bolt and the sandship jolted forward with increased speed. This had the doubled effect of putting the vanguard of the marauders temporarily out of range of the ships steering gear and also caused the marauders at the rear of the ship to scatter wildly as the freed barge twisted drunkenly from side to side before rolling to a halt, crushing any who were unlucky enough to have been too close to take evasive action.

The sailors cheered, but their celebration had barely begun when an explosive projectile - some sort of mortar shell or small missile - vaporized a large part of the port side amidships barricade, hurling sailors in all directions and knocking Juno to the deck.

By the time she and the others had got to their feet there were already a dozen or more grappling hooks tangled in the ropes that lashed the cargo together and marauders were climbing aboard. They were a ragtag bunch on close inspection, with dirty faces and ragged clothes; but there was an evil look in their eyes and they carried evil looking weapons to match.

The least tattered of the marauders, their leader presumably, led the first charge; and though the pirates were outnumbered two to one, the odds were nonetheless in their favour as many sailors were now injured and those left standing were no match for the marauders brutal ruthlessness.

The fighting was on two fronts: Helena and a group of about a dozen sailors were trapped aft, and fighting off marauders on three sides, while Juno, Sanders, and about twenty other sailors were desperately entrenched behind a stack of heavy machine parts, with the stairs to number one hold and the crew cabins behind them and a line of marauders laying down a withering barrage of fire to their front. And all the while the last stragglers of the marauders made their way up the grappling ropes, leaving their vehicles behind in the sand as they joined their fellows for the final assault.

Juno raised her gun above the shelter of the barricade and fired blindly into the marauder pack, smiling grimly as she heard a scream, there was a volley of gunfire in return and her pistol was shot from her hand before she could react. The sailors around her returned fire as Juno crouched down, sucking her now powder-burnt hand and skinned trigger finger. She could see he gun only a short distance away, but it was in a spot exposed to the fire of the marauders and looked in no condition to be used anyway, the front of the barrel shattered by the impact of a heavy calibre bullet.

Juno shrunk into herself; she had never felt more useless or helpless in her life. Her hopes of getting out of this situation in one piece (or alive) were rapidly diminishing and she had no idea whether her sister was still OK, for over the noise of gunfire ringing in her ears she couldn’t hear anything from the aft of the ship.

And then a moment later, she couldn’t hear anything at all...

Juno wondered at this, had she been shot? Was she dead? She made a quick touch-examination of her more vital points and to her relief, found them all to still be very much intact.

She was still where she had been a moment earlier, but for some reason all the firing had stopped...

Juno looked up and saw all the sailors staring over the barricade in surprise and shock; getting to her feet, she peeped over the perforated shield wall to see that the marauders (or those that remained standing, at least) were turned away from the sailors and facing a mysterious, silent figure.

It was standing on the deck, near the original marauder-made breach in the outer barricade wall. Its features were unseen, hidden in the shadows beneath its broad weather stained hat and all-concealing cloak.

And then Juno saw why everyone, both marauder and sailor were just standing like statues, frozen on the spot. For the mysterious figure was not standing on the deck at all...

But above it.

Juno gasped at the realization, the silent, motionless figure was floating a good metre off the ground as if this was a perfectly natural thing for it to do, and Juno could only presume that it indeed, was.

The figure turned slowly and gracefully in a slow motion floating ballet of the impossible, until it faced the marauder chief.

It pointed to the chief and gestured towards the desert.

“Leave this ship,” the figure ordered, its voice muffled and indistinct “Leave now and I will not make you suffer.”

The chief snarled in reply and both he and his men turned their weapons on the figure, firing barrage after barrage of withering volleys at the enigmatic entity at point-blank range.

And every bullet seemed slow down as is approached the mysterious creature and travel a slow and lazy path around it, only then did the laws of physics seem to catch up with them again and with a multitude of mini sonic booms they hurtled away at the speed of sound to impact harmlessly in the desert, their passage blowing the broad hat from the entities head to reveal a face hidden by a sand mask and tinted goggles, and a flowing mane of long, milk-white hair...

As Juno watched in amazement, the figure extended its right arm palm outward towards the attacking marauders and there appeared a faint scintillation in the air between them. An instant later, in a blur of movement barely perceptible except as a visual echo produced by the eyes persistence of vision, the marauders were all hurled backwards, passing through the remnants of the outer barricade and far out into the desert, hitting the sand with a distant, but still very audible thud.

The figure with the floating white hair drifted lazily to the deck, as its hat floated through the air and into its waiting left hand; with its right hand it removed the mask and goggles in a single fluid movement, revealing much to everyone’s surprise (Juno’s included) the pale, flawless face of a girl no older than Juno herself.

“My name is Z, I come in peace.” the girl calmly informed them “Who is in command here?”

“My Father is currently cowering in the hold.” Juno replied, somehow finding her voice “but my sister Helena is the Captain of this ship, by proxy.” she added, nodding in the direction of Helena, who had been watching the past events from behind the remains of her barricade and was seemingly frozen to the spot in open-mouthed amazement.

Seeing that her sister was still OK, Juno breathed a quiet sigh of relief and tentatively, she moved forward to face their unexpected saviour, extending a hand in greeting. “And I’m Juno, Juno Lumiere.”

Z shook hands with Juno and nodded with a smile “Pleased to meet you.” and turned to Helena “I was camped about a dozen kilometres away when I sensed your ship under attack, I’m sorry I couldn’t fly here faster.”

“Fly? Oh yes, of course.” Helena Replied in bemusement. Practical solutions for practical problems were Helena’s forte, and flying telekinetic girls were completely outside of her ken.

She sat on a overturned crate in amazement, letting the incredible events of the past few moments sink in, and she could not help but notice that Juno was talking to the new arrival as if things like this happened all the time; Helena grinned faintly at the sight, for whatever faults her baby sister may have had, lack of adaptability wasn’t one of them.

The moans of the injured brought Helena back to her senses and she looked about her at the ruined deck and battered crewmen with concern. She stood, faced as she was with a problem that she could understand, her uncertainty and confusion of a moment before was quickly replaced by the knowledge of what she must now do. She turned to the crewmembers that were lucky enough to have minor or no injuries and organized them into groups for moving the seriously hurt below deck.

“Can I help in any way?” the mysterious new arrival, Z, asked, her completely white hair wafting lightly in the breeze.

Helena shook her head “We should be fine here.” and then she paused as a new thought hit her “On the other hand, are you able to move large objects, say barge-sized objects?”

Z turned and looked at the barge, parked roughly in the sand some distance behind them and grinned, “That shouldn’t be a problem.” she replied.

“Then if you could take my sister Juno with you, she’ll show you how to reattach the barge coupling.” Helena said, “That will free up all my crew to take care of the wounded, and the dead.” she added softly.

Z nodded grimly; In the three or four weeks she’d been travelling through the desert, she had met and traded with several travelling bands of merchants and other desert folk and she had heard many blood curdling tales of the ruthlessness of the sand-pirates and marauders that prowled the deserts like hungry sharks. But this was the first instance in which she had directly encountered them, and in looking at the aftermath of one of their raids she was all the more inclined to believe that the tales she had heard were all too horribly true.

She had often wondered (especially in the lonely days that had followed her final battle with the company mercenaries that had been sent to retrieve her) as to why a being like her would ever had been created in the first place; but in seeing the way that human beings preyed on each other out here in the desert, and how strength was seemingly not an ability to be used responsibly but merely a method by which the weak could be more efficiently subjugated the reasons behind her synthetic birth began to make more sense to her, and she didn’t like the conclusions she was reaching.

There was a tentative tug at her cloak, Z shook herself out of her reverie and turned to see Juno at her side.

“Are you all right?” Juno asked in concern.

Z nodded. “Shall we go?”

“OK.” Juno replied, “What did you have in mind?”

“Hold onto me.” Z replied.

Juno all but jumped out of her skin “Nowwaitaminute!” she gasped, “I’m not that way inclined!”

Z gaped at her blankly for a moment, then her face cleared and she laughed, despite the situation.

Juno cocked her head in confusion and had the uncomfortable feeling that she’d just put both feet in her mouth.

Z rapidly regained her composure and wiped her watering eyes “I just meant for you to hold onto me while we fly over to the barge.” she explained with a grin “you have nothing to worry about from me, you’re definitely not my type!”

“Oh.” Juno replied, embarrassed at making such a complete fool of herself “Talk about bad first impressions; sorry.”

“That’s OK.” Z replied and putting an arm around her, she levitated herself and Juno off of the sandship and flew over to the ditched barge. “To be honest you gave me the first good laugh in ages, I’m sorry that it had to be at your expense though.”

“You sound like you’ve had it rough.” Juno observed, trying not to look at the desert floor rapidly passing beneath her, far, far below. “How long have you been out here in the desert?”

“Not long, a month perhaps.” Z replied, carefully slowing down and landing on the tilting, cargo-laden deck of the barge. “But my life before that was not one that I’d wish on anyone.”

As Juno released her hold on Z and found a stable footing on the deck she turned to see Z staring into the distance, her flawless face downturned and sad.

“What happened to you?” Juno asked quietly.

Z shook her head “We’ve just met.” she replied, “I have no right to dump my baggage on you.”

“But I’d like to know.” Juno persisted. “I owe you my life and the lives of our crew; if it's the least I can do, I'll hear your tale.”

Z sighed “I’ll keep it short, then.” she replied, and calmly levitated the entire barge upright as she spoke “have you ever heard of a research facility out in the deep desert, near the ruins of an old city, run by a company named Midgaard Polycorporate?”

Juno shook her held, holding on to one of the heavy ropes that held the cargo as the barge floated back down to level ground with a dull thump. “News to me.” she replied, “If there's a rumour going around about it, I’ve never heard it.”

Z grinned “There probably isn’t, I’d guess that’s why they built it in the desert in the first place, to be out of sight and mind; it even has its own small personal spaceport, so it never has to have any contact with the main colony.”

Juno wrinkled her nose in confusion “But what does this place have to do with you?” she asked.

“I was made there.” Z replied calmly, pausing to point the barge in the general direction of the ship and then slowly and carefully to roll it towards it. “The Bio-Alchemists that called that research facility home, created me, and many children like me.”

Juno gasped “But why?”

Z grinned bitterly “To be soldiers, spies, and weapons.”

Juno shook her head “But that’s horrible, that’s...”

“... Obscene?” Z finished for her. “Yes, it is; that’s why I’m out here in the desert, because I and my fellow research subjects escaped, we wanted a destiny of our own choosing, we didn’t want to be someone elses tools.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Juno replied breathlessly, shocked almost speechless at the sheer arrogant indifference of such a plan (and more than a little amazed at Z's seemingly effortless display of power in lifting the heavy barge as if it were as light as the proverbial feather).

During their previous exchange the barge had reached coupling distance with the ship and Juno showed Z how to reattach the tether and re-prime the emergency release, a slightly fiddly job at the best of times but with Juno's know-how and Z's powers it was quickly over and done with.

After this, they levitated back onto the ship, and Juno (with more than a moderate twinge of irritation) found her father waiting for them. He was standing on deck with the air of casual authority that (for him) betrayed the fact that he was well aware that all the danger had long passed and all the hard work had been done.

“Welcome stranger, welcome! We are forever in your debt.” Francoise Lumiere jovially greeted Z with open arms, his blotchy face split in a wide grin that exposed his stained and decaying teeth.

But it was his calculating gaze rather than his decrepit appearance that put Z on her guard and warned her that this man could not be trusted to lie straight in bed; she had seen this gaze before in the faces of the officials at the research facility and she knew without ever needing to read his mind that this man would betray her at the first possible opportunity.

Looking over the traders flabby shoulder, Z noticed a glance pass between Juno and Helena, Juno rolling her eyes theatrically and Helena nodding grimly; it would seem that despite being their father, Francoise did not rate particularly highly in the eyes of his daughters either. The sailors for their part, looked daggers at the man, and Z guessed that but for the presence of Helena and Juno, they would have cheerfully hurled Francoise overboard and left him in the desert to die.

“Please, stranger, let me treat you to a hot meal before you go upon your way.” Francoise continued, his fake grin jacking up a notch.

“I’ll accept that meal.” Z replied, calmly reading the fat traders mind and making a mental note that he planned to drug her wine “and I’ll also accept passage to the nearest town if you’ll be willing to take me.”

Francoise clapped his hand in well-acted faux joy “Gladly, stranger.”

“My name is Z.” Z interrupted.

“Gladly, Z.” Francoise corrected himself. “The mining town of Tungsten is our current destination, and is less than a days journey away, we’ll be glad to take you there.”

“Thank you very much, Trader Lumiere.” Z replied politely, quite happy to rest her powers for a day rather than fly, even if it meant staying on her guard in the presence of someone like Francoise; who though being a threat, was only of negligible concern to someone with her powers.

While Francoise went below decks to supervise the meal (which usually meant that he’d sit around in the galley and drink while watching the ships cook do all the work) Helena went back to monitoring the patients in the ships makeshift hospital in hold number two and the remaining fit sailors got the ship moving again on stored power, the sun being too low in the sky now to put any energy in their solar panels. Juno stayed on deck and gravitated back towards Z, who was at the bow and staring ahead at the slow rolling dunes.

Z felt Juno’s presence next to her and brought herself out of her reverie, making a mental note to herself to stop dwelling on the past, but also having doubts as to whether she’d listen to even her own advice. She turned to Juno and paused, a question forming in her mind.

“Would you think it rude of me if I asked you a question about your father?” Z asked Juno.

Juno grinned, “feel free.” she replied, “It would be hard to think anything charitable about Father, he tends to have that effect on people.”

“Is he really yours and Helena’s father?” Z asked “he seems so unlike you.”

Juno shrugged “I’m afraid so, he’s our daddy all right.” she confirmed grimly “but I’m told that Helena and I take after our mother; not that I can say for certain, she died when I was very young.”

“I’m sorry.” Z apologised “It was none of my business, really.”

Juno shook her head “Don’t worry about it.” she soothed “It was a valid question you were asking, and in truth it’s one I’ve often asked myself; I’m always hoping that I’ll find something amongst mothers old papers that says that we’re really someone else’s love-child.”

“I guess having parents can be a two-edged sword.” Z observed “But I still wish I’d had some, anyway.”

“You can have mine if you like.” Juno offered with a grin. “I don’t particularly want him.”

Z made a face. “I think I’d rather not if it’s all the same to you.”

Juno shrugged “They all say that.”

“Juno!” Helena called from below deck “Inform our guest that dinners ready!”

“Chow time.” Juno explained.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Z replied, following Juno below deck “I’ve been living off protein rations for the last month and some real food would be a very pleasant change!”

“Protein rations?” Juno mused. “Like what soldiers use?”
Z nodded “I picked them up from some mercenaries.”
Juno paused “Where did you meet mercenaries out here?”

Z shrugged “Its a long story.”

“You seem to be a magnet for long stories.” Juno observed.

“One thing.” Z began. “Do you have some place where I can dump my luggage and wash up?”

“Luggage?” Juno enquired.

Z lifted her pale desert cloak to reveal a small shoulder bag, not unlike a field first-aid satchel bag.

“That’s all your luggage?” Juno remarked with bemusement “You believe in travelling light, I guess?”

Z shook her head “Originally I had nothing at all.” she explained “The bag contains a few odds and ends I’ve picked up or traded on my travels, as well as food rations and water.”

“Traded?” Juno mused, “So we’re not the first people you’ve met in the desert?”

Z nodded “I’ve come across a few small mining camps and travelling merchants like yourself, even a few lone prospectors.”

“Wow, I wouldn’t have thought there were so many people out there.” Juno replied “But then I guess I’ve never really thought about it before, either.”

Juno led Z along a narrow corridor and paused at a door on their left.

“This is my room.” Juno explained “You can drop your luggage here if you like and freshen up as well, I share a private en suite with my sisters room, next door.”

“Sound good to me.” Z replied, and allowed Juno to usher her inside.

The room within - though small by Juno’s standards - was at least twice as large as the room that had been Z’s home for most of her life. The quality and quantity of the tiny layers of feminine details it contained were for the most part a mystery to Z, who had never seen or imagined that such... pretty, things existed.

Noticing and misinterpreting Z’s open-mouthed gaze, Juno apologised for the mess. “I’ve sort of let the housekeeping slide for the last few weeks, things have been rather busy.” She explained, also noting ruefully that some unplanned for ventilation had been added to her cabin courtesy of a marauders grappling hook, which had torn a half metre gash in the thin aluminium skin of the ships outer wall.

“It’s not that.” Z gasped, finding her voice “It’s just that I’ve never been in a room like this before, my room was just bare concrete walls and plain steel furniture.”

“You make it sound like a cell.” Juno observed, and then paused quietly “Was it a cell?” she asked carefully.

“It might as well have been.” Z replied with a tinge of bitterness. “In fact, I can’t think of a better word for it, real rooms don’t have locked doors, or bars on the windows.”

“Well, you’re free now.” Juno began, deciding that a change in subject was called for “And dinner is probably getting cold; if you still want to freshen up, the bathroom is behind that door.” she added, indicating the connecting portal.

Z nodded and slipped the cloak from her shoulders, placing it and her small satchel bag onto an artfully carved and cushioned chair that sat adjacent to a small but well-made writing desk. And Juno had her first proper look at the Z beneath the dusty garb and she whistled appreciatively.

“Nice outfit.” she observed. “Where did you get it?”

Z, now stripped of the dusty pale coloured cloak and hat was seen to be dressed in a cream-coloured linen blouse and light beige slacks, which were in turn tucked into calf-high desert boots of a supple coffee-brown leather; a broad belt of what looked like woven black kevlar accentuated Z’s narrow waist and carried what looked like a multipurpose pocket knife in a small leather holster.

Z looked down at herself “Does this look good on me?” she asked curiously.

“Hell, yes.” Juno replied, “You look really stylish, very dashing.”

Z perked up at the compliment “I’ve never been called “stylish” before.” she admitted with a hint of embarrassment “but to be honest, I just traded my old clothes and some other gear I had for this outfit, as I was tired of wearing blue denim.”

“Blue denim?”

“That’s what they had us wearing at the facility, all the time.” Z explained, “If I never wear blue denim again, it’ll be just fine by me.”

And with that she went into the bathroom and closed the door, a moment later Juno could hear the sound of running water and much scrubbing.

“Do you mind if I hang up your stuff?” Juno called through the door.

“Go ahead.” was Z’s indistinct reply.

Juno picked up the cloak and bag, hanging the cloak on a hook on the back of her door. She paused, casting a look around her cabin for an appropriate place to put the bag, she considered hanging it in her small cupboard, the bag was not overly large after all, and was relatively light.

Curiously light.

Inquisitiveness got the better of her and Juno peeped inside, as Z had said there was indeed water and protein rations inside, but the water bottle was almost empty and there was no more than a day or two’s rations left at best; for all Z’s powers, Juno mused that she’d been having a pretty rough time in the desert.

Juno dug a little deeper into the satchel and found beneath the rations what looked initially like a roll of synthetic cloth, she pulled it out and found it to be a coverall of some description, made of some shiny black material.

“I wonder what this is?” she mused quietly to herself.

“It’s called Psychon Armour, it shields the wearer from both physical and psychic attacks, amongst other things.”

Juno dropped the armour in surprise to find Z standing in the doorway, she had washed her hands and face and pulled her milk-white hair back into a loose pony tail with a thin black ribbon, she had exited the en suite as noiseless as a sandmouse and (much to Juno’s mortification) had been quietly watching her actions with calm amusement, while simultaneously using her powers to close the gash in the outer wall.

“Sorry.” Juno gasped, feeling her face burning from embarrassment and rapidly stuffing the Armour back in the satchel and hanging the bag on a hook in her cupboard “Curiosity got the better of me.”

“Obviously.” Z replied dryly.

“Let’s get to the galley.” Juno suggested sheepishly “Dinner must be getting cold.”

They arrived in the galley and found that most of the sailors had already finished and left, those that remained cheered Z as she entered but she could sense an underlying feeling of apprehension emanating from them also and she wondered if this would always be the effect she would have on people, this mixture of respect and fear.

Juno lead her through the main galley and into a small private room to the rear, this was where Francoise usually ate his meals, as he was the sort of person that didn’t believe in associating with the hired help more than he absolutely had to, in other words: A Snob.

Helena was with him (though she, like Juno, usually ate with the crew; Francoise had insisted upon her presence in the private chamber this day) and everything was set out and ready.

Francoise had already started eating (Helena was polite enough to wait for their guest to arrive), he waved to Z and directed her to the seat directly opposite him.

“I took the liberty of pouring you some wine.” he informed her, directing her gaze towards an antique glass filled with a deep purple fluid.

Z’s eyes narrowed at the unsubtle approach of the man, but smiled politely “I’m sorry, but I don’t drink wine.” she replied and poured herself some water from the decanter on the table, knowing it to be safe from the waves of disappointment she could feel flowing out of the fat trader.

The dinner passed relatively uneventfully, Z enjoyed her first hot meal in at least a month and drank more water than she had in the previous week, feeling her energy return to her after the privations of her journey and the drain on her power from the combat that afternoon.

She found herself making conversation with Helena for most of the meal, as Francoise had withdrawn into a quiet sulk after the failure of his little plan and Juno was still too embarrassed to say much after being caught with her hand “in the bag” as it were.

From Helena, Z learned that she and her family had ran a trading business out of Tungsten Town for the better part of fifteen years, having moved there from one of the inner suburbs after the death of her mother. In addition to supplying other retailers with wholesale goods they also dabbled in the retail trade themselves and owned a shop in the main street of the merchants’ district, which sold imported goods to the general public, this store was managed by their eldest sister, Galatea, and her husband Max (who was also Francoise’s business partner).

“And how long have you been travelling in the desert, Miss Z?” Helena asked politely “Do don’t have the look of a prospector, so I’d presume you’re just “passing through” am I right?”

“Just “Z” is fine, Helena.” Z corrected her “I’ve been flying through the desert for about a month now.”

Helena thought back to the events of that afternoon “I... see.” she replied, not quite succeeding in hiding her bewilderment at the recollection.

Z then acquainted Helena with the details of the events relating to the escape of her and the other Espers from their place of creation, before adding: “To be honest, I thought that the general public had been informed about our escape.” she remarked, eyeing Francoise carefully “I was under the impression that a bounty had been put on our heads.”

Helena shook her head “If there is, I haven’t heard of it.”

But Z knew from the nervous stirrings in the back of Francoise’s mind that she had hit the nail on the head, for even if neither of his daughters had heard of the bounty being offered, Z was certain that Francoise had; or he wouldn’t be making any attempts to subdue her (he didn’t seem to be the sort of person that would take even the slightest risk if there wasn’t any chance of making money involved) and it took only a slightly deeper scan of his mind to confirm Z's suspicions.

Z wondered at this unexpected turn of events, for at the time of their escape she had read the mind of the facilities director - a venomous individual by the name of Peate - and as far as his mind was concerned Midgaard, the company that ran the facility had every intention of keeping things quiet and “taking care” of the matter covertly.

Z mused to herself that perhaps something had happened while she was trudging through the desert, which had forced the company’s hand, compelling them to take a more direct approach.

“It must have been hard, flying all this way.” Helena commented, interrupting Z’s speculations.

“It has been tiring.” Z replied “But it’s faster than walking.” she added.

And if Helena replied, Z didn’t hear it. For at that moment there was a feeling of warm familiarity that passed through the room, a mind Z had not felt in many weeks reached out and brushed hers for just an instant and it whispered to her in tones of brash confidence that Z found all too familiar, the mental “voice” of her fellow Esper, XE.

“Don’t use your powers in Tungsten Town, Dear Sister.” he hissed “Things have become extra complicated, I’ll explain everything when we meet.”

And without waiting for a reply, his presence faded from the room, leaving Z back in the real world, with yet more questions in her mind.

She stood “If you don’t mind, I think I’d like to turn in for the night.” she informed them “do you have somewhere where I might be able to sleep?”

“You can use Juno’s room if you like.” Helena offered “Juno can sleep with me tonight.”

Z thanked them and made for the exit, but paused as a thought hit her. “Just out of curiosity, how far are we from town?”

Helena mused for a moment before replying. “If our course and speed haven’t changed since dinner, we should be about twenty kilometres (give or take) from Tungsten Town.” she informed Z “With any luck we should be at port by dawn.”

Z thanked her hosts for the meal and left the galley, feeling somewhat pensive, despite her fatigue.

She thought of meeting XE again and was glad at the chance to see a familiar face, even if it was that of the most incredibly irritating and cocky boy she knew; and she wondered at what his promised news might be, and what “complications” may have arose.

A few minutes later Z was lying on Juno’s bed (she’d taken off her boots, but was otherwise fully clothed, she had never thought to trade for any pyjamas during her travels) when there was a knock at the door and a still somewhat bashful Juno entered.

“I’ve just come for my nightclothes.” She explained, and eyed Z’s outfit “would you like to borrow some of mine?” she offered.

Z shook her head “I’ll be fine.” she replied.

Juno nodded and turned to go, but paused on the threshold and turned back. “Z, I’m really sorry about going through your things earlier.” she stammered rapidly, her words tripping over themselves in the rush to get out “My curiosity got the better of me, I should have known better, I’m sorry.”

Z grinned “Are you still worried about that?” she enquired with a shake of her head “Well don’t be, I’ve already forgotten about it, and so should you.”

“But it was none of my business.” Juno insisted.

“Don’t worry about it.” Z replied, “We all get curious, even me.”

Juno paused “Really?”

Z nodded “Really.” she replied, “I’ve never been in what you’d define as a “girls” bedroom before and I have to admit that it’s fascinating.”

“It’s nothing much.” Juno observed with a shrug.

“Not from your point of view maybe.” Z remarked, sitting up on the bed and glancing around the room “But from mine, this is a whole different universe.”

Juno turned this over in her mind “I guess I’d never thought about it from that point of view before.”

Z lay back on the bed “It’s all in how you look at things.” she observed “what’s normal and of no interest for one person can be unusual and fascinating for the other.”

Juno nodded “Well, I’m still sorry for going through your stuff Z, but I’m glad we’ve talked about it; it’s a load off my mind.” and she made for the door “I’ll let you get some rest now, goodnight!”

And with that she left the cabin and closed the door behind her.

“Goodnight.” Z said in return and let out a sigh of relief; It was easy for her to be so magnanimous about Juno’s curiosity, she reasoned, as not two minutes before Juno had come in, Z had been standing in front of her opened cupboard and had been eyeing and touching Juno’s collection of outfits in wonder, she’d never seen so many clothes in one place and the different styles and varied fabrics had entranced her.

“I guess everyone can be prey to curiosity now and then.” Z reasoned to herself with a sheepish grin.

The night passed to day uneventfully, Z woke to find the early morning light filtering through her tiny porthole and painting the room in pastel shades of pink and orange.

She pulled on her boots and made her way to the galley in search of breakfast; she found Helena there, drinking coffee with several bleary-eyed sailors from the morning shift.

Helena beckoned Z over to a seat opposite her.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked, offering the pot in Z’s direction “I’m afraid all the cook has ready at this time in the morning is porridge, but there's plenty of it and you’re welcome to have as much as you’d like.”

Z was more than happy to accept both the coffee and the porridge, reasoning that pretty much anything tasted better than the protein rations she had lived off for the past month. Helena laid a bowl of the steaming substance in front of her and poured her a mug of hot sweet coffee; Z consumed both ravenously, and received more than the occasional amused glance from the sailors nearby.

Helena smiled indulgently “I didn’t realize you were so hungry, you were much more... reserved when you were eating last night.” she noted.

“Last night, I was still acclimatizing to being around lots of people again.” Z replied between mouthfuls.

“You sure it wasn’t that my father was putting you off your food?” Helena enquired with a knowing grin “He does have a somewhat “off-putting” personality.”

The nearby sailors laughed gruffly at Helena’s remark, and Z made a mental note (without much surprise) that Francoise was unpopular with pretty much everyone that knew him.

Z grinned sheepishly at Helena’s suggestion “Well, that might have had something to do with it too.” she admitted, but she abstained from going into details as she did not want to repeat in public what she knew to be going on in Francoise’s mind.

“I’m sorry if he put you ill at ease.” Helena replied and she stared out of a nearby porthole with and sighed. “I seem to be apologizing for father an awful lot these days.” she mused sadly “You have to wonder how his mind works sometimes, how can anyone be so selfish and yet not feel any guilt?”

Z didn’t answer. In truth, she had a fair idea of how Francoise’s mind worked, having not only read it, but also seen many like him back at the factory complex where she had been born. He (like the Bio-Alchemists and executives of Midgaard) was a person who expected the world to conform to his expectations for the simple reason that he believed himself to be the most important person in it.

Z decided to change the subject.

“How long will it be, before we reach port?” She asked Helena.

“About half an hour, or maybe an hour.” Helena replied, still staring absently out of the porthole “It depends on if there’s any traffic ahead of us.”

Z nodded, and finishing her breakfast, she took her leave of Helena and made her way to the deck. Juno was nowhere to be seen and was presumably still asleep, but Francoise was (surprisingly) already up and standing at the bow, gazing at the slowly approaching port impatiently.

Z wondered at this, but a quick read of his mind explained all: Francoise had run out of booze and hadn’t been able to get to sleep...

Z decided to use this as an opportunity to speak with the trader, as he was on his own and seemingly as coherent as she was ever likely to get him.

“Good morning mister Lumiere.” Z began, and noted with satisfaction that the sound of her voice made him jump slightly.

“Oh, er, good morning, Miss, er, Z.” he replied, turning to face her.

Z noted a certain forced, almost grimacing aspect to the grin on his face and sensed that it was brought about through a mixture of a building hangover and the frustration of not being able to tranquillise Z the previous night; she decided to lay her cards on the table and see what his reaction might be.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you Mr Lumiere.” Z informed him “I’ve been meaning to do it since last night.”

“Oh yes?” he replied with strained joviality “And what's that?”

Z leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered in Francoise’s ear. “I can read your mind, Mr Lumiere.”

The trader rapidly pulled back from her, colliding with the railing behind him, his blotchy face fading by degrees to a chalky white and then taking on a certain greenish shade.

Z smiled sweetly and continued “You planned to drug me last night and collect the bounty that has secretly been put out on me and my kind.” she informed him, an edge to her voice “and when that failed you planned to betray me to the port authorities this morning, though you weren’t looking forward to that as it meant you’d probably have to share the reward with them.”

She paused grinning acidly. “Aren’t you naughty.”

“It’s a lie, it’s all a lie.” Francoise gasped. “I never thought of anything like that, never, not once!”

Z made a face “Is that the best excuse you can come up with?” and she gestured behind her “even now, you're planning to call to your men in the hope that they can overpower me, now how moronic a plan is that?”

Francoise made to call out and paused in shock, he found that he couldn’t speak.

Or move.

Petrified by forces he couldn’t resist or see, Francoise stood rooted to the spot despite all his desire to move, to run.

To hide.

Z came forward; smiling in what she hoped would be interpreted as a threatening and slightly mocking manner. “Didn’t you listen to your men?” she asked him pointedly “didn’t they tell you what I did yesterday?”

Francoise stared at her, his eyes bulging in fear.

Z folded her arms, feeling that she had succeeded in putting a suitable level of dread in the man “I’ll do a deal with you, old man.” she began “for the sake of your daughters, I’ll let you live.”

Francoise let out a sigh of relief and found that he could move again.

Z put a hand on her hip and wagged a finger at him admonishingly “The one condition is that you are to keep your mouth shut, no one in Tungsten Town is to know that I am anything other than a passenger of yours.”

“But what of the sailors?” Francoise gasped despite his fear “Sailors talk and gossip all the time, what’s to stop them talking?”

Z grinned, “You are going to make it your personal duty to ensure that your sailors do not gossip.” she replied. “Because if any word of me does come out, I will hold YOU personally responsible.”

Francoise made to reply but thought better of it; his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Z turned from him, satisfied that he was suitably discouraged and walked back the way she had came - then paused - sensing a rising indignation nearby and realizing that while she had been focussing her mind on Francoise someone else had arrived on the scene and overheard their exchange.

“You can come out now, Juno.” Z called to the pools of shadows between two tall crates.

And Juno came, her eyes burning in the direction of her father. “Is this true?” she demanded.

Z nodded and looked back at the shamefaced Francoise. “I’m sorry you had to see that, I wanted to keep it between your father and me.”

“Too late now.” Juno replied, and the waves of hate emanating towards her father were almost physically tangible to Z “You old bastard!” Juno all but screamed at Francoise “Z saved our lives! She was our guest!”

Francoise didn’t reply.

Z patted Juno on the shoulder “Don’t worry about it, Juno.” she advised her “Your father and I have reached an understanding, haven’t we, Mr Lumiere?” Z called over her shoulder, the threatening edge to her voice plain.

Francoise nodded fearfully “You have nothing to worry about from me.” he informed her, his demeanour suitably cowed.

Z nodded in satisfaction and turned to Juno “Will you join me in the galley?” she asked her “I think I could use another mug of your chefs excellent coffee after all that exertion.”

“Can you really read peoples minds?” Juno asked as they made their way down to the galley.

Z nodded “Yes, I can.”

“And have you ever read mine?”

Z shook her head.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“But you can, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then.” Juno began “Show me, read my mind; tell me what I’m thinking at this very moment.”

Z paused “Are you sure?”

Juno nodded.

“OK then.” Z replied and for just an instant her mind meshed with Juno’s before retreating again, Z blushing in embarrassment at what she saw.

“Well?” Juno asked.

“You were thinking it’s high time I had a bath.” Z sheepishly informed Juno. “Am I really that bad?” she added, self-consciously taking an experimental sniff of the air.

Juno laughed “Considering that you’ve been in the desert for a month, I’d have to say no.” she replied, secretly wondering whether a person like Z didn’t perspire “I just wanted to think of something that wouldn’t be too obvious.”

Z let out a sigh of relief.

“But if you ever do feel the need for one, feel free to use our bath at home.” Juno offered, “Fathers rich, he can afford the extra water.”

“Water costs money?” Z enquired curiously.

Juno nodded “It almost never rains on this planet so practically all of the water is either sourced from minimal groundwater stocks, reprocessed sewage or imported from off-world colonies.” Juno explained, “Father tends to import whenever he can, it’s expensive, but more prestigious.”

“Oh.”

“One last question.” Juno began, her face serious “Would you really have killed father?”

Z shook her head “No.”

Juno shrugged “Pity.”

Z started in surprise “Do you really hate your father that much?” she gasped in shock.

Juno smiled sadly “Sometimes.” she replied bitterly, “especially when he’s done - or tried to do - something really odious, like betray a person that not one day earlier had saved our lives, for instance.”

Z didn’t reply.

Juno shook her head sadly “But enough about my family problems.” she began “let’s go get that coffee.”

Less than an hour later, the sandship was one of several other vessels in queue to enter the middle-sized harbour of Tungsten Town.

Though the harbour was about a kilometre wide and half as deep, the man-made bay - like the main body of the city itself - was fenced off from the outside world by high walls of concrete and steel, to protect the port and the cities fringes from any raiding marauders.

Access to the harbour was via a narrow gap in the wall, like a tall gateway, through which a ship could pass; and this portal was guarded on either side by heavily armed forts.

As their moderately sized vessel passed through, Z noticed the sailors raise a long flag with a row of numbers printed upon it, Juno explained that the flag was their ships registration, and berth permit. Without it the ship would be denied entry, and ran the risk of being shot at as an intruder.

“Are the marauders really so strong as to require this level of security?” Z asked.

“Not any more.” Juno replied “But many years ago they were, and probably would be again if we lowered our guard.”

Z didn’t reply, for the ship had finally passed out of the shadows of the tall forts and she had received her first glimpse of the mining colony of Tungsten Town, and the size of it made her gasp in amazement.

Behind her, she could vaguely hear Juno explaining that the town was approximately ten kilometres square, or just over three kilometres to a side; and had at its northern corner an adjoining citadel that was the combined mansion and headquarters of the mining guild executives who controlled the company that was the primary source of employment in the town.

As Juno continued, explaining that the company dealt in the excavation of processed metals and other valuable elements from the graveyard of deserted spaceships, just to the north of the town, Z gazed at the multitude of houses and other buildings, both large and small, and wondered at how many people must be living here.

It was only after several moments of silence that she realized that Juno had stopped talking, and was looking at her expectantly.

“What is it?” Z asked.

“I said, are you alright?” Juno enquired with mild concern “you seem a little dazed.”

Z grinned sheepishly “Sorry.” she apologized “I’ve just never seen a living town before, the feeling of so many people in one in one place is a bit overwhelming.”

Juno frowned “A living town?” she repeated curiously.

“Well, I once saw a city.” Z explained “but it had been deserted for centuries, and didn’t feel anything like this place does.”

Their ship furled its solar sails and proceeded on internal power, carefully navigating its way past the larger, corporate-owned sandships at their huge commercial berths to approach a small, but well-tended wharf in the northeast of the harbour, behind it, on the “shore” was a medium sized warehouse with LUMIERE MERCANTILE emblazoned on its walls.

As the ship grew closer to its berth Z could discern a small crowd of people on the wharf, waiting for the ship to dock. Most of them appeared to be labourers, standing around impatiently, and supposedly eager to get the unloading of the ships cargo done and then collect their fee; but there were several others who stood apart from the workmen and seemed better dressed into the bargain.

“There's Galatea and her husband Max.” Juno remarked, pointing at the well-dressed crowd “And the tall one in the middle is Helena’s boyfriend, Lance.” and she paused staring long at the crowd with growing curiosity.

Finally, her inquisitive streak got the better of her and she ran back to the base of the foremast - where she had left her binoculars hanging precariously on a light fitting after the chaos of the day before - and ran back, quickly pointing its lenses in the direction of the distant crowd.

“There’s someone else there too.” Juno remarked, “I’ve never seen him before.”

Z borrowed the binoculars from Juno, but thanks to her enhanced senses she already knew who she would see before she had even raised the binoculars to her eyes. And sure enough, standing just to the left of the people Z now knew to be Juno’s relatives was one single (and very familiar) figure.

It was a boy in his mid teens. He was wearing baggy black pants and a matching jacket with what looked like an off-white tank top underneath. He had short blond hair, a moderately tall and wiry (yet muscular) body, and affected the casual pose of someone who had every right to be where they were.

And he was grinning in Z’s direction with a knowing (and extremely irritating) impetuous smile.

It was XE.

Z handed the binoculars back to Juno “I know who he is.” she told her “He’s another Esper, like me, though I don’t know why he’s here yet.”

“Can’t you just “join minds” or whatever and ask him?” Juno asked, taking another look through the binoculars at XE.

“He’s not “talking” for some reason.” Z remarked, “there must be some problem, perhaps it’s not safe to.” and Z wondered at what the problem could be, to make someone as casual as XE suddenly become cautious.

“He’s pretty cute.” Juno observed, still viewing XE through the binoculars, her mouth stretched in a lascivious grin.

“Whoa there!” Z admonished in surprise “he can probably “hear” your thoughts from this distance, especially when you’re thinking them so loud.”

Juno shrugged, her grin unwavering “Is that such a bad thing?” she enquired, blushing slightly.

“It is when you’re talking about XE.” Z replied.

“XE?” Juno repeated, turning momentarily from her voyeurism to eye Z questioningly.

“That’s his name.” Z explained.

“XE.” Juno mused, “That’s a fitting name for him, it sort of rhymes with “Sexy” don’t you think?” and she grinned at her (rather lame) joke.

Z groaned “Please don’t say or think things like that in front of him.” she begged “He’s insufferably full of himself as it is.”

“OK, OK.” Juno replied, and then added with a grin “So tell me Z, is he your boyfriend?”

“No, he is not!” Z exclaimed, feeling her cheeks burning at the suggestion.

Juno eyed the blushing Esper and shrugged theatrically “If you say so.” she remarked, in a tone implying that she believed nothing of the sort.

Z wanted to press the matter and convince Juno, but the ship had arrived at dock, and at this distance XE (who's hearing was nearly as good as his telepathy) was sure to overhear, so she dropped the subject.

To their right, the sailors were throwing stout ropes to the labourers on dock, who then tied them to solid metal posts bolted solidly to the pier. Further along the ships length another group of labourers were laying a gangplank across the gap, a sturdy - and broad - metal ramp that was strong enough for both the movement of crew and the smaller items of cargo. Lastly a third and smaller group of men were manning a large crane from the shoreline which would be used to transport the larger items of freight directly from the ships holds to a convoy of small trucks waiting nearby.

Z followed Juno down the gangplank and was introduced to her relatives; they all greeted her warmly despite their curious glances at Z’s white hair and doubtful reaction to Juno’s claims that Z was a “friend” from out of town.

Z did her best to exchange pleasantries for several minutes with Galatea and the others, and then extracted herself as quickly and politely as she could manage and walked over to where XE was waiting with his hands in his pockets and an even more irritating than usual grin on his face.

“Hello again, Dear Sister!” XE began, his tone full of the usual world-mocking flippancy.

“Can’t you ever get it into your head that I hate being called that?” Z replied irritably, and it occurred to Z that the last time she had spoke with XE she had vowed to embarrass him in some way as revenge for comments he had made about her figure. But on second thoughts, she decided to defer this action as she found that (much to her surprise) she was actually glad to see a familiar face.

But, on the other hand, since XE was the sort of person that had an ability to be almost instantly irritating in any situation, she (correctly) suspected that this feeling would rapidly pass.

“Sorry Z.” he replied with an almost - but not quite -convincingly sincere tone and then promptly seized her in an overly familiar (or to Z's mind suspiciously groping) bear-hug “It’s just that I’m so glad to see you again!” he added in a faux-tearful voice.

“Getoffofmedammit!” Z hissed in embarrassment, noticing with an uncomfortable glance behind her that Juno and the others were giggling at XE’s overdone display of emotion; and what’s more, she noticed a look in Juno’s eyes that implied that Z might never succeed in convincing Juno that there was nothing between XE and herself now.

XE released Z and wiped at a nonexistent tear at the corner of his eye. “That’s my girl!” he observed, “be strong!”

“You are so close to getting put into a low orbit it isn’t funny.” Z hissed, her face a dangerous shade of bright red “For just once in your life can’t you just play it straight?”

XE seemed to deflate slightly “You have no sense of humour, you know?” he observed “You really should lighten up more, you’d be more attractive if you didn’t frown all the time.”

Z twitched at XE’s comment “Firstly, I’ve got a great sense of humour.” she snarled “Secondly, I only seem to find myself frowning when you’re around; and thirdly, I don’t CARE if you find me attractive or not.”

XE’s features fell “Don’t you love me anymore?” He enquired pitifully “has the separation of a few short weeks cooled your passions for me?”

Z’s shoulders slumped in defeat “You are such an impossible person to deal with, you know that?” she observed tiredly.

XE grinned and put an arm around her shoulders “Sure I am.” he replied “But that’s why you like me, right?”

Z’s only reply was to reach up to XE’s hand on her shoulder and bend back his index finger until XE let go.

XE rubbed his smarting hand with a hurt expression as Z nodded to herself in satisfaction.
“Now then.” she began “are you going to start telling me something I want to know, or do I have to twist a few more of your fingers?”

“You’re cruel woman, Z.” XE observed in a hurt tone.

“Yeah, Yeah.” Z replied unimpressed “Start talking.”

“Before I begin, can I ask a question?” XE enquired “I promise it won’t be anything too embarrassing or personal.” and his slightly smirking face almost succeeded in looking sincere.

“Go on then.” Z prompted guardedly, who from previous experience didn’t trust him any more than usual.

XE grinned and nodded towards the docked Sandship “What’s the story behind your hitching a lift on that thing?” he asked with genuine curiosity “What happened to the Limousine we left with you?”

Z shrugged fatalistically “The Limo has “gone to its reward” you might say.”

XE grinned, “You let its motor stop didn’t you?” he theorized cheerfully “Gamma said that you shouldn’t, but you did, didn’t you?”

“I did not!” Z snapped “Someone dropped a building on it, in fact, several buildings!”

“Back at the dead city, you mean?” XE noted, and he cocked his head with a pained expression “You let them drop a building on the Limo?”

“Well excuse me!” Z replied hotly “I happened to be dodging micro-nuke shells at the time!”

XE’s face sobered a little “Really?”

"Really." Z nodded “The last squad of mercenaries to arrive were the most heavily armed.” she informed him grimly “they had everything from high powered laser cannons to micro-nuclear bazookas, and by the time they were finished, half the city was pancaked and the Limo was totalled; I ended up flying most of the way here but I met these traders yesterday and hitched a lift.”

“And did they give you the new outfit?” XE asked, as if noticing it for the first time “It’s very flattering to your figure, if I may say so.” he added with a satyric leer.

“Drop it or I’ll hurt you.” Z advised, feeling herself involuntarily blush at the compliment. “You’ve had your chance to ask questions, now it’s my turn: why are you here, instead of at Central City?”

“Tungsten Town is on a straight line route from the Midgaard Compound to the space port at Central City.” XE explained “Alpha, Gamma & Myself figured that you’d come this way (just as we had), so I volunteered to stay behind and wait for you, while the others continued ahead and got everything ready.”

“You volunteered?” Z remarked doubtfully “How unusual, for you to be so self-sacrificing.”

XE pretended to be hurt by Z’s suspicious tone “I just didn’t want you to be lonely.” he replied with deliberately bad sincerity. “And I knew how much you’d miss me if we stayed separated for too long.”

“Very funny.” Z replied, unimpressed. “Now what’s the real reason why you stayed behind?”

“You always could read me like a book.” XE replied with a grin “It’s as if we were made for each other.”

Z scowled “If I was made for anything it was to break your face.” she threatened.

“Ok, Ok, peace be with you and all that.” XE replied soothingly “The truth is that a new variable has entered the equation, the company that created us is not the only heartless multi-galactic conglomerate of S.O.B’s on this planet; at least, not any more.”

Z started in surprise “Someone other than Midgaard Polycorporate?” she mused grimly “But I thought they had the monopoly on bastardry in this planetary system.”

“So did I.” XE agreed with a agreeable nod of his head “The new player goes by the name of “Kirke-Leere Pharmaceuticals” and have seemingly come to this charming little planet only recently.” he shrugged “from what I’ve been able to piece together they’re not here to set up shop for themselves, but rather to close down Midgaard’s local chapter and steal their research.”

“Steal their research...” Z mused “Including us?”

XE nodded “That’s a likely possibility.” he confirmed “that’s why I’m here, and why I recommend that you don’t use your powers in this town if you can avoid it; there’s no need to draw attention to ourselves unnecessarily, right?”

“Yet you used yours last night.” Z pointed out.

“After feeling your little exchange with the marauders yesterday afternoon, I just had to risk it and make contact.” XE replied with a shrug “I didn’t want you to ride into town with your powers set to maximum, or you might as well have put up an illuminated sign saying “Esper Here” or something.”

Z pondered this for a moment “So you're sure that there’s Kirke-Leere agents in Tungsten Town?” She asked him.

XE nodded, “But only two so far.” he replied “And while I think that they have another mission here, I’m sure they wouldn’t be above a little bit of “Esper Detection and Retrieval” if the opportunity presented itself.”

“Tell me about the agents.” Z demanded.

“I can do better than that.” XE replied with a grin “You want to see them?”

“I’m game.” Z replied. “Just give me a moment to say goodbye to someone.”

“You’ve only known them for a day and you’ve already made friends?” XE noted in surprise “How uninhibited of you.”

“Shut up.” Z suggested and walked over to where Juno had been watching the unloading of the Sandship with her older sister Galatea. And she paused uncomfortably as Juno turned to face her with a sly look.

“Er, I’ll be going to see something with my, er, friend.” Z explained, feeling uncomfortable and trying to ignore the knowing smirk on Juno’s face.

“Going to see his room perhaps?” She asked, her grin widening.

“It’s not like that!” Z gasped in exasperation “Don’t misunderstand the situation.”

“What’s to misunderstand?” Juno replied with a wink “Your boyfriend made his feelings pretty plain for all to see!”

Z sighed and chose to let it go for the moment.

She morosely noted to herself that (after spending her entire life to this point of time in the hyper-controlled environment of the compound) she was emotionally unprepared for even the most basic of interactions between herself and regular human beings. This social failing was if anything only enhanced when the subject of the conversation was XE, as he was an expert at making a situation more convoluted than it had to be.

Noticing Z’s discomfort Juno decided to change the subject. “Don’t forget that I owe you a hot bath, I’ll even throw in dinner, bed and breakfast.” she informed Z “When you’ve finished business with your... friend, come visit; my house is at number 34 merchants row, you can’t miss it, we live behind our shop and it’s got an illuminated sign you can see for six blocks in every direction.”

Z nodded “Number 34, merchants row.” She repeated. “I’ll see you tonight, if I can.”

Z turned to go, but Juno caught her in a hug before she could move.

“Take care of yourself Z.” Juno said “And thank you for everything.”

“I will.” Z replied, politely extricating herself from the hug “And I’ll see you soon.”

And making polite farewells to Juno’s relatives Z made her way back to XE.

“So what happens now?” she asked him.

“You come with me.” He replied “To the Zarathustra Bar.”

“And where’s that?” Z asked dubiously.

“Almost on the other side of town!” XE replied cheerfully. “It’s about an hour or two away, since we have to walk rather than fly.”

Z sighed.

XE led Z through the maze of streets and tiny alleys that fed from the main area of the port and its many wharves to the warehouses and other port-related service industries that took up the entire south side of the town’s outer districts. He explained that the south side of town was also where most of the sailors and harbour labourers lived, their humble residences sandwiched between the port and the main body of the city.

He then went on to explain that on the north side of the city was where most of the employees of the mining company lived (to be closer to the mines in the spaceship graveyard to the north) and it was here that taverns such as the Zarathustra Bar were to be found, serving cheap and nasty liquor (and whatever other vice you may fancy) to the miners and other low-paid mining company staff.

They arrived at a wide avenue that was jammed with an endless line of slow moving traffic of every kind imaginable, though (unsurprisingly) mostly consisting of large trucks loaded high with crates of recently offloaded freight. XE informed Z that this was the main road leading from the port to the centre of the town, and it was this broad thoroughfare, reeking of garbage and petrochemical fumes that they now followed.

“We’ll follow this avenue to the central business district and then strike north.” XE informed her.

“The buildings seem less grubby here.” Z remarked, looking around her “What happens here?”

“This is the merchants district.” XE replied “It more or less runs around the entire city in a rough circle that separates the poorer districts on the edge of the city from the richer ones at the centre.”

Z considered this information “And where is Merchants Row from here?” she asked him.

“We’re just coming up to it.” XE replied and he indicated a broad cross street up ahead of them, not so wide as the avenue to their left but still broad enough for two lanes of wide-load trucks to crawl along unimpeded in each direction.

Beyond the merchants district they found themselves in an area of impressive looking houses set within neat and well-serviced streets. XE pointed out that this was the chosen precinct of the middle-classes, mainly wealthy merchants and midlevel members of the various corporations.

Beyond this they came to a place of high buildings, impressive in both their massive size and gaudy pretentiousness; these were the living abodes of the very, very rich. No merchants could afford to live here. This small district was the sole abode of the highest members of the business fraternity, those who were at the top of the pyramid in their chosen professions and had the excessive wealth to demonstrate it to all and sundry via the medium of their massively huge and expensively embellished homes.

“It must be people like this that run Midgaard.” Z observed grimly, looking up at the tall, layered mastiffs of masonry before her. “People this rich, can’t possibly have any regard for the people below them, can they?”

XE shook his head “To the people that run Midgaard, a place like this wouldn’t be fitting to be an outside loo.” he noted with a bitter sneer “To have the magnitude of disregard for human life that our progenitors have, a whole higher level of amorality is required; you have to be so high up as to no longer even see those below you as being human anymore.” XE shrugged and added, “By comparison, the people living here are almost saintly.”

He led Z into the centre of the town, it was here that all the intercity and interplanetary commerce took place and the buildings sizes reflected their importance.

The pair of teenage Espers stood on the edge of the central business district and looked up, having to crane their necks uncomfortably to see the tops of even the shortest of the massive skyscrapers of glass and steel, which were so huge that they blotted out the view of all else. Not a patch of sky was to be seen beyond their dark, clustered bulk, which seemed to even devour the sunlight in their shadowy man-made crevasses.

“They’re like the skyscrapers of the ruined city.” Z remarked in awe “But so full of life.”

XE nodded “Can you imagine how many people must work in such a place?” and he shook his head “It even makes a naturally jolly person like myself feel rather intimidated.”

Z didn’t reply, for the thought of thousands, perhaps tens of thousand of people grimly working away within the massive buildings like termites or ants filled her with a sense of dread.

“From here we head due-north.” XE informed her and he led Z away from the dark brooding monoliths and towards the less grim-looking districts to the north.

As they made their way to the northern edge of the town Z became aware of a tall, flat-topped conical tower in the distance, far taller and broader than anything she had yet seen.

“What’s that building over there?” she asked XE “it must be at least a kilometre high!”

“It’s commonly (and somewhat inaccurately) known as The Ziggurat.” XE informed her “It’s the combined headquarters of the mining company that runs this town and the mansion of the company’s owner; it’s also where I’ve been working lately.” he added.

“It dwarfs everything else in the city.” Z observed thoughtfully and something XE had said earlier echoed in her mind “Even the largest of the rich peoples houses we saw would be nothing but an outside loo by comparison...” she remarked, turning an enquiring gaze upon XE, who nodded with affirmation.

“The mining companies name is Speyer-Pratt, Rare Mineral Exports." he informed her, "but a careful examination of their register reveals that a significant proportion of their company directors are also on the board of Midgaard.”

Z frowned “How significant a proportion?” she enquired.

“All of them.” XE replied with a grin.

“So it’s Midgaard in everything but name.” Z mused.

XE nodded “And that’s why agents for Kirke-Leere are sniffing around the Zarathustra bar, it’s the closest pub to the Ziggurat and many of Speyer’s office staff go there to eat after their shift.”

“So the agents are spying on the staff?”

“In a way.” XE replied “In truth, they’re reading the workers minds.”

Z froze in mid-stride and turned to XE in shock “What did you say?” she gasped.

“Precisely what you heard me say.” XE replied “Midgaard aren’t the only puppies playing in the gene pool, Kirke-Leere have Espers also; which is the other reason I suggested you avoid using your powers, they might be able to sense it.”

As Z pondered this new information they arrived at a junction of several roads, which merged into one broad street and led to a high thick wall with a massive gate of welded steel plates set within it; beyond this, the tall tapering bulk of the Ziggurat loomed up from the shadows on the other side.

Z felt a tightening in her chest at being so close to a Midgaard stronghold “Don’t you think it’s a bit bloody dangerous working in a company that’s a front for the very people that are hunting us?” she hissed.

XE shrugged “Well I had to get a job somewhere (food isn't free in the outside world, you know) and it’s not like I knew who they were when I joined up.” he replied “And anyway, they don’t seem to make any background checks on their low security staff.”

“But they might change their tune if they think they have spies from their rivals lurking around.” Z pointed out.

XE’s self assured smirk flickered for a moment before reasserting itself “I have to admit that you do have a point there.” he replied “But now that you’re here I don’t have any reason to stay there any longer.” he added with a measure of confidence returning.

“When can we go to Central City?” Z asked him.

“The next public transport to Central is in about a week.” XE replied “I can get my stuff out of the compound in a day or two and just lay low until it arrives.” he paused for a moment then asked “do you have a place to stay?”

Z shrugged “I think Juno - the girl from the sandship - intended to offer me a place to sleep for a few nights.”

XE nodded “Well then, I’ll just move in with you and Juno then.” and he grinned slyly “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

Z twitched in anger and turned on the smirking XE her eyes flashing with moral outrage “You read her mind didn’t you!”

XE shook his head “Who needed to?” he replied in smug tones “she was thinking so loudly I would have heard her thoughts from the other side of town; she has quite an imagination, doesn’t she.” He added with a ribald twinkle in his eye.

Z’s cheeks burned “And for a moment I thought you might actually be maturing a bit!” she snapped, “If anything you’re worse than before.”

XE shrugged “You ought to see what goes on in some of the “Entertainment Facilities'” around here Z, I think you might find that, by comparison, my occasional flashes of libido are quite tame.”

Z didn’t reply, for as much as she’d have liked to argue the point she had a more than sneaking suspicion that XE was in fact absolutely right.

“You’re really going to have to learn to soften those hard edges of yours, you know?” XE opined.

“Just shut up and show me this bar you keep going on about.” Z suggested, deciding to drop the subject of XE’s libido (a hazardous topic, in her opinion) and get back to the matter in hand.

“It’s right behind you.” XE informed her.

Z turned in surprise and sure enough, there it was. a broad two story hotel of faux marble and brass polished up to have the superficial appearance of shiny gold, above its doors (and hiding most of its top story from sight) was a massive neon sign which simply displayed to anyone within viewing distance one single word: ZARATHUSTRA.

XE indicated a set of glass double doors midway along the ground floor of the pubs gaudy facade.
“Before we enter, bury your higher powers.” he reminded her, becoming serious once again “your “passive” senses aren’t likely to be detected, so you should be safe as long as you don’t go actively scanning anyone, OK?”

Z nodded, feeling more than a little apprehensive. Dealing with unfriendly guards and officials had been a way of life for her for as long as she could remember, but unfriendly Espers, especially ones that may be as powerful as herself, was an entirely new experience and not - she reflected - a particularly welcome one.

“Are you sure this is safe?” she asked him “What if they scan me, or you, and try to start something?”

“We won’t stay in there long enough to give them the opportunity, hopefully.” XE replied with an (almost) reassuring shake of his head “but on the bright side, they usually seem to ignore anyone who isn’t in company uniform or who isn’t obviously important looking, most of the people I’ve felt them scan were either executives, administrative office staff or security personnel.”

“Speaking of which.” Z began “what DO you do in the company?”

“I’m a cleaner.” XE replied with an embarrassed cough.

And turning away in mortification at the sight of an amused smirk creeping along Z’s flawless face, XE crossed the road and made his way along the facade until he was standing in front of the broad glass doors. They opened automatically, and as he and Z entered the pub a whole host of peculiar fermented vapours left. Z wrinkled her nose in reaction to the smell, which seemed to be made up of roughly equal quantities of evaporated alcohol, tobacco smoke and intestinal gas.

“Fancy some lunch?” XE asked her, seemingly oblivious to the reek.

Z made a reflexive move to reject his offer (considering their history together, it had become a conditioned response in Z to refuse anything XE suggested) but paused, for despite the large breakfast that she’d had that morning, the thick smelly atmosphere in the pub and the untrustworthy nature of XE, there was no denying that her body was screaming out for as many solid meals as it could get its hands on, if only to burn from her mind the memory of the many weeks of eating nothing but waxy, flavourless protein concentrates.

And yet, despite her hunger, Z couldn’t help but glance dubiously around her “Is it safe?” she enquired.

“Oh sure.” XE replied casually, then added, “Just don’t eat anything you can’t recognize.” is a less than reassuring tone.

The further inward they moved the clearer the air became, it seemed that the majority of the smokers in the building had decided to congregate at the front of the building; as if smoking in the vicinity to an almost-always-shut door was as healthy as smoking in the open air.

Once they had cleared the last drifts of the tobacco smog, Z could see that the interior of the Zarathustra bar was a surprisingly well-lit place (which only highlighted further the suspiciously greasy sheen on every exposed surface) there was a bar running the length of the back wall, eating booths running along the walls to either side and small geometrically laid out tables spread across the main floor, except for a space in the centre where there was a moderate-sized square of parquetry that had the incongruous appearance of being a dance floor, which just didn’t seem likely in a place like this so she asked XE what it was for.

“It’s a dance floor.” he replied.

“In a place like this?” Z replied incredulously.

“It wasn’t always a place like this.” XE replied, “Fancy a dance?” he added flippantly, knowing full well what her response would be.

“In your dreams!” Z replied reflexively.

XE’s only reply was to laugh, and Z wondered if the boy ever tired of being such a monumental pain in the backside.

When she came out of her reverie a moment later, she was standing at the bar next to XE, who was casually ordering food from one of the skimpily dressed barmaids, occasionally pausing to read the almost incomprehensible chalked menu nailed to the wall behind. He was apparently a regular customer here as he seemed to be on first name terms with all the barmaids behind the counter (who called him “Dex” for some reason), and it didn’t take more than one look at their low-cut, translucent mini-dresses for Z to guess why he’d made this place his eatery of choice.

While XE continued his ordering (or flirting, it wasn’t always easy to tell the difference) Z carefully experimented with sitting on one of the barstools, and found that despite its oily sheen she was capable of putting her weight on it without sliding off, as long as she was moderately careful.

XE finally finished his exchange with the barmaid and returned his attention to Z, and casually (but still carefully, Z noted) perched himself on the stool next to hers.

“Who’s Dex?” Z enquired with a raised eyebrow.

“I am, of course.” XE replied with a shrug “I had to call myself something, regular humans expect you to have a name.”

“But why Dex?”

XE shrugged again, his mind - and eyes - on the crowd of people in the pub “I couldn’t think of anything, so I just made something up that sounded like my codename.” He replied with an unexpected flash of honesty.

“Those Barmaids are very pretty here, aren’t they?” Z commented lightly.

XE shrugged absently, he was still turned away from her and was squinting slightly as he continued to run a covert, yet penetrating glance over the other patrons “I think it’s a prerequisite.” he commented absently.

“Is that non-outfit they’re almost wearing also a prerequisite?” Z enquired with an edge to her voice.

XE noticed Z’s tone and turned back to face her with an amused smirk “Why Z, what a righteous person you are.” he observed with a chuckle.

“I was merely asking a question.” Z replied. “But I suspect you’d come to this bar whether there were enemy agents here, or not.”

XE’s grin broadened but he didn’t pursue the matter further, for in turning to speak to Z he had seen what he was looking for in a distant darkened corner behind her.

“Turn around carefully and slowly, as if you’re looking for the ladies room, or whatever.” XE suggested in a casual, though barely audible whisper “The Kirke-Leere agents are sitting at a table next to the bar, in the corner directly behind you.”

The change in subject threw Z out of stride for a moment and she found herself following his instructions without question. Turning slowly, she looked in the direction of the corner XE had indicated, and there in a darker patch of the pub where the greasy light didn’t quite fully reach were two dimly lit figures.

There, sitting next to one another at a small, grubby table was a man and a woman wearing almost identical outfits, which were in a somewhat hard-edged unisex style that was either a uniform or an unimaginative choice of civilian clothes. The woman was small and slight, she was quite possibly no taller than Z but was perhaps ten years older, her dark hair was cut short in a pseudo military style and the sweeping, calculating gaze of her eyes was razor sharp and unemotional.

The man, on the other hand was huge, he was a giant among men and heavily muscled into the bargain, his clothes straining against the barely suppressed force of his occasional movements; his head was shaven and his age was hard to judge due to the almost sculptural nature of his features, and unlike the pale ivory skin of the woman he was tanned and brown, like antique, well-oiled leather.

But his eyes...

The mans eyes were totally blank and lifeless, as if there was no activity in his mind at all. It was only the regular rise and fall of this behemoths massive chest that convinced Z that the man was not in fact dead or a robot, for unlike the woman, who’s mind flashed and sparked like barely restrained lightning, the man gave off no mental waves at all.

“They’re known at “Gemini”, though whether they have names other than that I haven’t heard.” XE commented softly, breaking in on Z’s train of thought. “But I also hear that they’re listed in the hotel register as Mr and Mrs Smith.” he added with a wry smirk. “They turned up in town several weeks after I did, and the rumours have been travelling thick and fast ever since. The funny thing is that Midgaard is aware of their presence and I’m fairly certain that Gemini know that Midgaard are aware; it’s as if both sides are biding their time, waiting to see who’ll make the first move and curious to see what that move will be.”

“But you’d think they’d pull their people out of this pub, at least.” Z remarked, “Why are they letting their staff be scanned?”

XE moved to reply but paused as the waitress arrived with their order: two fair-sized, steaming plates of what was presumably some form of meat in a suspiciously lumpy gravy and two glasses of (relatively) clean looking water.

Despite its dubious appearance it was still the most welcome sight Z had seen that day.

XE paid the barmaid with his usual air of unvarnished lust and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle and blush salaciously (and Z to groan in distaste). He then waited a moment while she tottered away on her tall glass and chrome stilettos and then resumed from where he’d left off.

“I don’t think Midgaard know that Kirke-Leere have Espers.” XE continued “I think that if they knew the true nature of Gemini, they’d probably have done something by now, rather than be playing this waiting game.”

“I’ve never seen Espers like them before.” Z noted with a mixture of curiosity and dread “What’s wrong with the man?” she added. “He seems to be in some sort of catatonic state.”

XE shook his head “Not a man.” he replied “He’s some kind of mindless, “flesh-puppet” and the woman is the puppeteer; I’ve sensed it when I’ve been close to them, a faint, but permanent link from the woman’s mind to the mans, controlling his every waking movement.”

Z made a face “That’s obscene!”

XE shrugged “No more obscene than anything Midgaard would have done, or may yet do.” he noted grimly. “At least he doesn’t know that he’s a slave; and there’s some consolation in that, I guess.”

But his tone didn’t sound convinced.

“You say that we’re not their target.” Z murmured quietly, changing the subject and turning her back to the blank gaze of the puppet-man “So do you know what their true goal is?”

XE nodded slowly “I’m not absolutely certain.” he replied “But there is only one unique item in this town that they might find interesting, and it’s locked in a guarded lab, beneath the Ziggurat, far underground.”

“What is it?” Z asked, curious despite their proximity to a potential enemy.

XE made to reply but paused, and Z felt it too.

The scanning had begun.

Z felt it as a sharp stinging finger of raw power, scraping across the periphery of her senses like metaphorical nails rasping along a blackboard. It swung this way and that, pausing from time to time to examine a particular patron in finer detail before moving on, though whether searching for company secrets or some other less discernible target she could only guess.

“You might want to get a doggy bag.” XE suggested quietly “That is our cue to leave.”

XE called over the barmaid again and had their lunch quickly packed into cardboard boxes for travelling, then with one last swig from his glass of water he made his way out of the bar with Z close behind. They threaded their way through the tables in a quick - but not obviously hasty - pace, following a route that kept a discrete distance from the enemy Espers without appearing to intentionally do so.

Once back outside, XE led Z to a small “park” which ran along the southeast side of the compounds outer wall and consisted of approximately twice as much concrete street furniture as it did of trees (and a pretty poor looking selection of flora at that) they chose a bench that seemed relatively clean and sat down to continue with their conversation and (much to Z’s relief) their meal.

“Let’s try again.” Z began, calmly eating the rapidly cooling chunks of meat and unselfconsciously licking the congealing gravy from her fingers “what is this mysterious thing that you believe may be the target of the Gemini Espers?”

XE gawked at her “You know, I never realised you were such a messy eater.” he observed with mild amusement.

Z gave him a withering look “Just get on with the story.” she suggested in a tone that permitted no argument.

“OK, OK.” XE replied with a smirk and a shrug “The target is an artefact, almost certainly a previously un-catalogued and never-before-seen alien artefact.” XE informed her “The Techs in the lab have christened it: “the Crimson Star”, because it’s shaped like a large, spherical red jewel.”

“Alien artefact?” Z repeated curiously “And they have no idea of its point of origin?”

XE shook his head “The Star is from no known alien race that humanity has ever encountered, or at least, has knowingly encountered.” he added “It was found hidden in the hold of one of the old hulks being “mined” in the spaceship graveyard.”

“Couldn’t they trace the ship?”

“I wondered about that, myself.” XE replied “But it turns out that the ship in question was a derelict, it was found in an inert state, deserted and drifting in deep space; a team of engineers towed it here for salvage several months ago. Its identity has never been confirmed, nor has its design ever been seen before.”

“Very mysterious.” Z replied “But why is everyone so interested with the Star, what can it do?” she asked.

XE shrugged “I’m not sure of the details, and I’m not sure if the Techs are know that much either.” he replied “but as for why Kirke-Leere wants it, I’d say it’s just to be covetous of anything belonging to Midgaard.”

“But why do Midgaard want it?” Z asked, “What can it do?”

XE smirked “Who knows, maybe it’s just because they like shiny things.” he quipped. “But it does have some peculiar properties though, and I’ve sensed ... something ... within the Star that I can only guess at.”

“You’ve sensed?” Z noted in surprise “You mean you’ve seen it, and been close enough to scan it?”

XE nodded “You want to see it?” he asked, “we can get into the lab without too much use of powers, it’s all in the route you take, if you know where to walk.”

Z nodded slowly “I’ll take a look.” she replied, “I’d like to see if I can sense anything from it.”

“OK then.” XE replied. “Meet me back here at about nine PM.” XE informed her “The security is lighter at night and the lab is shut, so I’ll be able to smuggle you in one way or another.”

“So I’ve got to be back here in about seven hours.” Z noted, using the temporal sensitivity uncanny to the later series Espers such as XE and herself. “I might as well go visit Juno.” She mused, and frowned threateningly at XE to pre-empt any suggestive comments from him.

“Alright then, I’ll meet you back here.” XE confirmed and he stood up “I’ve got to go and keep up my pretence of being a working dude now, so I’ll be running along.” He explained, “See you later, Sis.”

And with that final remark and a cheeky wave, XE exited the park, leaving Z on her own to finish her lunch in peace.

***

Finding her way back to Merchants Row was a simple enough task for Z, as she had (in addition to all her other senses) a perfect spatial memory and sense of direction. Once on the Row, it was an even simpler matter to follow the numerical progression of the building numbers until she could see in the near distance the tall neon sign of the Lumieres shop, it was still several blocks away and yet was already clearly visible, just as Juno had said it would be.

Number 34, Merchants Row was a broad shopfront that faced roughly southwest across the outskirts of the town and onward, out towards the desert in the middle distance. It had three wide doors of tough polished plastic and it seemed to be having a steady traffic of shoppers coming and going, buying things both large and small, some items seemingly cheap and others being very, very expensive.

Remembering that Juno and her family lived at the rear of the store, Z looked for a back entrance; she noted the presence of what looked like a service lane on the shops right side, and figured correctly that this was the most likely place.

She turned down the narrow lane and threaded her way past piles of discarded timber, garbage cans and the occasional sleeping vagrant until she made it to a solid looking, steel reinforced door at the very end.

She pressed the doorbell, and had barely the time to remove her hand from the button before it swung open and Juno popped out into the lane like a jack-in-the-box, it took no large amount of thought on Z’s part to realize that Juno must have been waiting for her to arrive.

“I haven’t told Dad you were coming.” Juno remarked by way of explanation “I thought I’d give him a surprise.”

“And hello to you too.” Z replied, who hadn’t been using her senses and had been somewhat startled by Juno's bouncy arrival.

“Sorry, Hi, good to see you again.” Juno said, seemingly all in one breath, and she paused, leering slyly “Did you have a good visit with your ... friend?” she enquired, with an intentionally bad impression of pure innocence.

Z groaned “It’s not like that.” she replied in a pleading tone “There’s really nothing between us, except maybe the Esper version of sibling rivalry.” she added.

“You know, I’m actually starting to believe you.” Juno noted with a raised eyebrow, and her face brightened “Well that’s OK, it leaves things open for me.” she remarked with barely suppressed lust.

Z shook her head “What the blazes do you see in him?” she enquired incredulously.

Juno shrugged “The same thing you’d see yourself, if you looked.” she replied.

“All I see is a narcissistic, skinny boy with short hair and an anaemic complexion.” Z remarked.

Juno waved an admonishing finger “A narcissistic, skinny boy with short hair, an anaemic complexion AND sex appeal, and style.” she corrected.

Z made a face “I still don’t see it.”

Juno just smirked and led Z along a short corridor and up a twisting flight of stairs. “My rooms up here.” she explained.

Juno's room took Z’s breath away.

The room was huge by Z’s standards and was dominated by a large comfortable looking bed that seemed bigger than Juno's entire cabin back on the Sandship, adding to Z's astonishment was the fact that Juno also had walk-in cupboards lined along either bedside wall that were likewise at least as large as the cabin, if not larger.

The rest of the room was taken up with rich looking carpets, an exquisitely carved wooden chest of drawers, an expensive looking Audiovisual Deck and an antique dressing table with an illuminated mirror that was festooned with racks of expensive looking bottles of makeup and perfume, and a small (but powerful looking) Data Tablet that was sitting precariously on top of a stack of magazines next to an equally antique lamp.

To Z, who had spent the larger part of her life in a room with almost no furniture and walls so close together that you couldn’t have swung a cat in it; this was a heady dose of concentrated culture shock. She sat down heavily on a conveniently located Real-Leather upholstered swivel chair and spent a moment taking in her surroundings with sheer amazement in her eyes.

“Are you OK?” Juno remarked with concern, noting an even paler than usual cast to Z’s features.

“Give me a minute to catch my breath.” Z replied with a wan smile “Your room is quite something.”

Juno puffed up at the compliment “It is, isn’t it?” she agreed “It doesn’t make up for having an idiot for a father, of course, but at least it offers a pleasant distraction from thinking about him for a while.”

And she turned from admiring her surroundings to look again at her new friend and a pang of guilt twisted her insides at the sudden realization that she was all but bragging about her wealth to someone who had lived without any possessions for her entire life.

“Are you sure you’re alright Z.” she enquired with concern “I didn’t mean to shock you, I wasn’t thinking, sorry.”

Z shook her head and got to her feet “I’m OK.” she replied “And don’t feel guilty, I knew, or guessed what to expect, but seeing it for real is something completely different from just envisioning it in my mind.”

Juno face cleared and she slapped her forehead. “I know just the cure for this.” she remarked in realization “You need a good hot bath.”

“You think that’ll work?” Z enquired dubiously.

Juno shrugged “It always works for me.” she replied “And I did promise you one, anyway.”

Juno led Z down another corridor to where the bathroom was situated and gave her a quick tour of the “facilities”. After Juno's room Z found herself more prepared for the showy opulence of the Lumiere household this time around, and so the large marble bath with gold plated fittings did not surprise her any more than the massive mirror that took up the entire opposite wall or the fact that in addition to the bath (and equally fancy shower) there was also a full sized spa bath in its own large alcove and an adjoining steam room.

There was a small (by Lumiere standards) dressing room next-door that linked with both the bathroom and the corridor outside, Juno led Z into it and showed her a locker where she could leave her clothes and pointed out the cupboards where a plentiful supply of towels, washcloths and (individually packed) loofahs were stored. She then went back into the bathroom to run the water while Z undressed, and then exited, calling to Z that she would be outside if Z needed anything.

The next half hour (and then some) was sheer, pure bliss for Z. never in her entire life had she ever taken a bath before - they had only showers at the research compound, and the water had always been lukewarm at best - and the warm soapy water was at once both rejuvenating and highly relaxing, despite the fact that she was feeling a slight twinge of guilt as she had turned the water grey.

She emerged from the bath feeling happier (and definitely cleaner) than she had in a long time. Wrapping herself in one of the large fluffy pink towels Juno had supplied, Z made her way to the changing room and found herself staring nonplussed into the locker where her clothes had been hanging.

They were nowhere to be seen.

With nothing else to do but to go search, Z made her way out into the corridor and found Juno, still waiting outside.

Juno grinned, finding the sight of what was perhaps the most powerful Esper in the world standing there in the hall - dripping wet, and wearing nothing but a fluffy pink towel - an unavoidably amusing sight indeed (but she also quietly noted that - out of her clothes - Z was obviously far too thin after her long weeks in the desert and could definitely use some feeding up).

“My clothes are missing.” Z explained.

Juno waved a reassuring hand “Nothing to worry about, Helena’s got them.” She explained “She said she’d give them a wash for you.”

“And my boots?”

“Helena said they could use a polish.” Juno replied “Though she did say that after your wearing them non-stop for several weeks, perhaps it would be safer to just bury them somewhere.” she added with a grin.

“Oh, I see.” Z replied, feeling somewhat chagrined, but (remembering the grey bath water) unsurprised.

“Don’t worry about it, Z” Juno remarked, misinterpreting Z’s pensive expression “I can lend you something to wear in the meantime.”

“OK.” Z replied uncertainly, she was not feeling particularly confident at the thought of wearing Juno’s preferred style of clothing; but with no other course to follow she grabbed another towel from the changing room to dry her hair with, and then followed Juno back to her room.

Once inside, Z found herself to be the subject of Juno's highly enthusiastic experiments in hairstyling, makeup and fashion, which after many attempts eventually resulted in Z having only the barest of makeup on her face (that nonetheless enhanced her already flawless complexion and features even further) and a single simple plait in her long milk-white hair.

There had been a good natured war of words over what Z would wear but in the end Z wound up wearing a pale yellow, sleeveless knee-length sun dress, it had been a hand-me-down from Helena that Juno had never worn before but Z seemed to prefer over the other choices of garb (as the only other clothes Juno possessed tended to be either rather figure hugging or just too damn skimpy for Z’s taste and had motivated Juno to suggest that Z was a prude).

Buttoning up the dress, Z admired its “look and feel” but noted in concern that the product code tattoos on her right arm were all too exposed and visible.

“Do you have a spare jacket or something?” she asked Juno “Anything that will cover my upper arms will do.”

Juno grinned and ferreted amongst some of Helena’s other cast-off’s, surfacing a moment later with a pale lemon-cream cardigan “How about this?”

Z nodded “Perfect.”

Juno then opened a cupboard door to reveal a rack of shoes and Z chose a pair of sandals that seemed to fit relatively well. As she was adjusting them, Juno moved over to the other side of the room and pulled down a roll-up screen, which was not unlike a video projector screen but in fact turned out to be a tall flexible mirror.

Z couldn’t help but be impressed by what she saw.

“I look pretty good,” she murmured appreciatively.

“You look like a librarian on holiday.” Juno remarked with a cheeky grin “All that’s missing is a big set of spectacles.”

Z made a face “I just don’t think I’ve got the figure for some of your clothes.” she replied self-consciously.

Juno shrugged “You just need some feeding up.” she noted “Then you might fill out my clothes better than me.”

Z thought about this “Then I think I’d be too embarrassed to wear them.” she replied.

Juno rolled her eyes theatrically “You’re hopeless!” she noted with a faux groan.

As the afternoon wore on the talk passed from one subject to another (Juno dragged the conversation on to the subject of boys for what Z considered to be the most uncomfortable - and yet, very educational - hour and a half of her life, especially so when Juno asked if Z had ever seen XE naked, which she replied to the negative and blushed with embarrassment at the thought).

“How long have you known XE, anyway?” Juno asked, changing the subject.

“All my life.” Z replied “And he was irritating even as a child.”

“But I bet he was cute, right?” Juno enquired with a smirk.

Z shrugged “I’ve never really thought about it.” she replied, “We’ve always been rivals in powers and that’s about as far as my thoughts on XE have ever gone.”

Juno's eyes narrowed “Oh really?” she replied, sounding unconvinced “So you’ve never thought of him as anything other than a rival, not ever?”

“Well he’s no real rival anymore, my powers have exceeded his by a significant degree.” Z noted with a tinge of pride “but that’s really all there's ever been between us, apart from the fact that he seems to try and get on my nerves at every opportunity; I guess it’s just in his nature to be a pain in the neck.”

“And maybe that’s just his way of making you notice him.” Juno theorized, “Maybe he secretly likes you but hasn’t had the nerve to say, have you ever considered that?”

Z didn’t reply, in all honesty she’d never even considered such a scenario, and she found (much to her surprise) a conflicting mix of emotions at the very thought.

Juno (feeling she had given Z enough to think about for the moment) let the matter drop at that point and the discussion drifted back to the matters of Z’s artificial birth, grim life and eventual escape, with Juno asking more questions about life in the compound than she’d had time to ask when Z first broached the subject the previous day on the sandship. And in closing, Z brought Juno up to date with the latest news regarding her situation, repeating to Juno all the news about Kirke-Leere that XE had given her that day.

Juno's cherubic face darkened with building anger and outrage “There’s just too many callous bastards in this world.” she noted angrily, and her face dropped slightly “It makes the problems I’ve been having with my father look insignificant by comparison.”

Z shook her head “But that doesn’t mean that it’s OK for your father to be selfish.” she replied “Just because there are worse people out there in the world, it doesn’t mean that it’s OK for people like your father to be minor ratbags.”

Juno nodded “I can’t argue with that, I guess.” she remarked, thoughtfully. “I know I’ve often thought of leaving him lately, just jumping ship at some port or other and finding a better life; but it can’t be that easy, can it?”

Z smiled ruefully “I don’t know.” she replied, “I’m still looking myself.”

And in the distance there was the deep sound of a gong ringing, it’s low reverberations causing Juno to drag herself out of her reverie.

“Dinner's ready.” she explained, brightening up and dragging Z towards the door “let’s forget the world for a few moments and stuff ourselves bloated!”

And once again, she led Z into the corridors of the Lumiere household, passing through a convoluted, winding maze of hallways and anterooms and finally down a flight of steps that must have been on the opposite side of the building.

At the bottom of the stairs Juno led her through another short hall, and Z then found herself in a large faux-rustic dining area with a huge table in the centre that could have easily have seated twenty people or more. Beyond it and through a broad doorway in the rough synthetic stone cladded walls, Z could see a large and well designed kitchen, where two people Z didn’t recognize (she wondered if they might be servants) were calmly (though rapidly) preparing food.

Already seated at the table were Helena, her and Juno's’ sister Galatea, her husband Max and their three small children: Nadia (5 1/2), Katherine (4 3/4) and their little brother Bobby (3) who made more noise than the other two combined.

But at the head of the table sat none other than Francoise, and Z couldn’t help but feel more than a slight measure of satisfaction, as at the very sight of her he had turned a telling shade of pale green and had almost swallowed his fork.

The meal was a pleasant change from those Z had been familiar with; the food was good, the conversation pleasant and (apart from Francoise) the Lumieres were nice people to be with, friendly and compassionate.

The children were the biggest surprise to Z though, as previously the only ones she had dealt with were those at the research complex and they had all been a cynical bunch that had been aged emotionally beyond their young years from the constant stress of their situation.

These children, by comparison, were cheeky, fun-loving and succeeded in making even the simple task of eating food into an elaborate game, whether it be sculptures made of mashed potatoes or a competition to see who could fling a pea at the ceiling and make it stick. And all of them were incredibly happy to have a stranger at the table as it was a welcome change from seeing the same relatives day in and day out, and in addition Z was someone who hadn’t heard all their childish stories fifty million times already, so she seemed genuinely glad to hear them.

The kids had taken Helena's explanation that Z was a friend of Juno's at face value, and between their stories and games plied Z with endless questions (that for the most part Z couldn’t answer) and Bobby (who had all the unerring subtlety of a bull in a china shop) took one look at Z's white hair and asked her with straightforward guilelessness if she was “really, really old” which had brought an embarrassed apology from his parents and an involuntary snicker from Juno.

Questions aside, Z found the children entrancing, she had never even thought for a minute that kids could live such a carefree life, with so much joy and so little fear. And quietly in the depths of her heart she envied them too, for she wished that she too could have had lived such a life, if only for a little while.

Eventually, the meal finished and the children moved to another part of the house to find some other distraction before the all too rapidly approaching spectre of bedtime reared its head, and Z listened raptly as their high-pitched happy voices faded into the distance before returning her attention to the last remnants of her meal: a curiously sticky pudding that she’d never had before but loved now with a ravenous delight.

And, remembering for the first time in half an hour whose house she was a guest in, she raised an eye to glance in Francoise's direction, and winked sardonically.

And Francoise, who had been steeling himself to speak (Z knew he had intended to reprimand Juno for letting Z into the house) thought better of it, closed his mouth with an audible snap and stomped into the kitchen to pour himself a sizable measure of cooking sherry. Eventually making his way out by another door, still carrying the bottle.

Z smiled faintly in satisfaction and got her feet, it was past seven in the afternoon and it was time to consider making her way back to the Speyer-Pratt Compound. She headed to the back door with Juno, explaining the situation as they walked.

“If that offer of a bed’s still open, keep an eye out for me at around midnight.” she explained, “I should be back by then.”

“Of course it is.” Juno replied cheerfully “You’re my friend, after all (and you scare my father into civility) what other reason does a girl need?”

Z grinned in reply and then paused, looking down at her outfit with a faint tinge of self consciousness “XE wont get the wrong idea if I turn up on his doorstep dressed like this, will he?” she mused in concern.

“Well he might if you’d worn one of my outfits.” Juno replied with a smirk. “There’s still time to change into one if you’d like.”

Z made a face “I think I’ll just go as I am.” she decided aloud.

Juno shrugged “That’s just as well, I guess.” she noted with a leer “It probably wouldn’t do, to get him too excited on your first date.”

Z groaned, “This is not a date.” she replied with a pained expression.

Juno laughed, “I know, but you really are such a sucker for bait.” she observed.

Z shook her head in exasperation. And with a wave to her new (though cheeky) friend, she turned and stomped off into the distance.

The walk back to the citadel was simple enough with Z’s perfect sense of direction, and the crowds seemed a little lighter at this time of the evening. But it was still a long way to walk (when it was too risky to fly) and Z noted to herself that if there was one thing this town needed worse than anything else it was a decent public transport system.

Her mind drifted as she walked, and she found herself musing over what Juno had been saying about XE and she wondered if any of it could be true, and what’s more how she would feel if it was.

Z had never felt more uncertain than she did right now, for she had never really thought beyond her conflicts with the company and her desire for a free life. It was only now that the chance of freedom was becoming a possible (though still uncertain) reality that she had realised how little time she had actually spent learning to interact with people, to understand their feelings and indeed, to understand her own.

The huge bulk of the Ziggurat rose out of the sea of buildings as she approached, its shadowy mass a-sparkle with tiny lights glowing from behind individual windows, giving the tower a vaguely spectral appearance.

As she neared the square, the dark silhouette of the tower was slowly lost amongst the glare of neon signs and brightly lit arcades that curled and twisted before its huge gates, leaving only the twinkling of its windows to be seen, glowing above her like extra-large stars in the sky.

Though Z was slightly early, she found XE to be already waiting for her.

He didn’t recognize her at first, it was not until she was close enough for him to see her white hair and dark blue eyes clearly that he suddenly realised that the casually dressed girl before him was Z. The surprise of seeing her in such an outfit caused XE to do a genuinely surprised double-take, which gave Z a secret thrill of pleasure, though she wasn’t sure if it was because she’d succeeded in catching him by surprise or whether it was the realization that she could have that sort of effect on a man.

“Is this another new look for you?” XE asked her with a cheeky smirk “You’re turning into a regular style-chameleon.”

Z made a good attempt at a nonchalant shrug “My other clothes are in the wash.” she explained simply.

“And that makeup just fell on your face, right?” XE enquired smoothly. “Looks to me like you’ve finally decided to be a girl after all.”

Z twitched irritably “It’s not as if you’ve never seen me in a dress before.” she retorted “and who are you to have a say in what I wear anyway?”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I think the new look suits you.” XE remarked candidly “It’s just that I’ve never seen you so... girly.”

And he reached over and hooked his arm in hers. “Shall we go for a promenade under the stars, miss?” he enquired in his best faux-gentlemanly patois.

“Shouldn’t we just be making our way inside?” Z reminded him, blushing slightly and hoping he couldn’t see.

“Aren’t I man enough for you anymore.” XE murmured in a hurt tone “Have you outgrown me already?”

Z sighed and shook her head to clear it. XE’s sudden return to his familiar irritating banter had swept away all the romantic musings Juno had planted in her head that afternoon and she could feel her more usual feeling of irritability rising.

“Can't we just go inside and get this over with?” Z demanded, with a bluntness born of (slightly) bruised daydreams.

XE shook his head, becoming serious for a short moment. “We need to wait a few minutes yet.” he explained, “The shift change is at 9pm sharp, after that the security isn’t as heavy.”

Z rolled her eyes “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” she all but hissed in exasperation.

XE grinned cheekily “I felt like being charmingly ambiguous.”

“I’ll give you charmingly ambiguous.” Z replied darkly “I’ll give it to you right on the nose.”

XE cringed theatrically “Oh Z, how forceful you are!” he gasped in (very obviously) fake fear “give me any order and I shall do it, O wise and dangerous sage.”

But before Z could reply his manner turned serious again, and he clasped her hand in his and led her to the tall gate. For during the previous exchange with Z he had noticed the guards at the front gate leaving their post and fresh ones arriving to take their places.

The shift change had started.

“Just follow my lead,” he whispered as he led Z towards the gate at a casual stride.

He walked straight up to the guard post and produced his (slightly battered) Speyer-Pratt I.D. from one of his pockets. “Hi guys, busy night?” he enquired cheerfully of them as he flashed his pass in their general direction.

“Just started for us.” one of the guards replied in a casual, though careful tone. “Who’s the girl?” he enquired pointedly.

“This is my sister.” XE replied without hesitation “she’s here to pick up my laundry.”

Z did her best not to frown at XE’s suggestion and smiled sweetly in the direction of the young sentry, who blushed slightly.

“Why didn’t you just bring it out for her to collect?” the other guard - slightly older than the first, and more cynical looking - enquired.

XE paused, as if the thought had never occurred to him “I’d never thought about that!” he replied in genuine sounding surprise “do you mind if I bring her in this one time, I wouldn’t want to leave her out one the street at this time of night; people might get the wrong idea!”

The older guard chuckled at XE’s remark but neither the younger, greener guard or Z got the joke (but Z guessed it had nasty overtones as she at least knew what XE was like) “OK take her through.” the guard said with a grin “But don’t take too long, OK?”

And he pressed a sequence of buttons in the guard booth, which caused a small - and previously undetectable - door built into the larger mass of the huge gate to swing open on hidden hinges.

“Yes Sir, Thank you Sir.” XE replied gratefully and he led Z inside.

“Sister?” Z remarked caustically “Is that the best line you could come up with?”

“Hey it worked.” XE replied “And it is (sort of) true.”

Z snorted derisively.

“OK, OK.” XE retorted defensively “I’ll come up with a better excuse next time.”

On the other side of the gate Z found herself in a broad courtyard lit by large fixed-position flood lamps and roving spotlights, its resemblance to the research complex of her past life was only superficial but it gave her an unpleasant sense of deja vu nonetheless.

The Ziggurat stood directly before her in all its ponderous, hard-angled grimness and was flanked on either side by lower more utilitarian looking buildings that were dotted around the interior spaces of the compound on a vaguely geometric layout, it was seemingly one of these structures that was their target for the night as XE led her off to the left of the massive tower of masonry to where a cluster of low box-like enclosures could be vaguely perceived in the half-shadows between the pools of light.

They walked carefully, almost strolling across the wide open space of the courtyard in their attempt to blend in with the others walking throughout the wide open space, there were many white-uniformed lab technicians and grey overalled cleaning staff (XE too, now wore this bland outfit, Z noted), but most of the people that Z saw were wearing military-style fatigues of a mottled blue and grey coloured camouflage pattern and were carrying plasmatic rifles or pistols in a variety of unpleasant looking designs and configurations.

Security Guards.

They walked individually, or in pairs, and even occasionally, in groups of three or four; but all had the same faux-casual, carefully measured stride and their eyes were always in motion, looking everywhere and at everyone with suspicious and unfriendly glances.

“I thought you said that security was lower at night?” Z whispered out of the corner of her mouth, while trying to keep on her face a gaze of blank neutrality.

“It is.” XE explained, “at least, it is where we’re headed.”

“You could be a little more specific sometimes.” Z suggested in an accusing tone.

“You’ll se what I mean, once we’re inside.” XE replied cryptically and said no more.

They came to one of the larger peripheral buildings. It was approximately halfway between the Ziggurat and the outer wall and Z could see that it was quite long, far longer in fact than she had suspected from her first glance: it faded into the darker shadows in the distance only to re-emerge further along in the next pool of light, and curved around in rough, angled stages to keep it approximately parallel with the outer wall.

There was a sentry standing on duty, he seemed to be in his mid forties and - if the scars on his face and hands were anything to go by - was a man who had seen a significant amount of action in that time.

Right now he seemed rather bored, though his eyebrow rose slightly at the sight of XE standing before him.

“Hi Reg.” XE greeted the man in a cordial tone that sounded genuine. “D’you mind if my friend and I go inside for a while?”

Reg stretched casually and replied in a basso voice born of testosterone and tobacco. “The warehouse is off limits after dark, Dex, you know that.” he peered at Z curiously for a moment and a dirty minded leer spread across his craggy face “If you want to neck with your girlfriend why don’t you just go to your quarters?”

Z felt her hackles rising.

“She’s not my girlfriend.” XE replied.

Z exhaled, calming.

“She’s my LOVER.” XE continued, winking, and he put a casual arm around the suddenly beet-red and shocked-stiff Z. “My living quarters are communal, Reg, and we’d like to be alone, if you catch my drift.”

Reg came out with a rolling, ribald chuckle and opened the warehouse door “I wouldn’t have thought that you had it in you, Dex.” he chortled “But that little vixen of yours is quite a catch, if a bit on the bony side.” he gave the near-paralysed Z an appreciative slap on the rump as XE led her inside, and then closed the door behind them.

The moment the door bolt snicked into place Z snapped out of her daze and swung a tiny enraged fist in the general direction of XE’s face and successfully connected with his jaw. And due to the combination of a lucky swing and XE being caught by surprise (rather than any excessive amount of kinetic energy) she knocked him to the floor.

“You have never been closer to a painful death than at this moment.” Z hissed dangerously, her eyes almost glowing red in her bloody rage.

“Well you said I should use a better excuse.” XE began, rubbing his smarting jaw. But after one look at Z (who was more truly enraged than he had ever saw her before) he decided that playing it straight might be advisable.

“The security forces only patrol active zones at night.” he explained quickly “All buildings that aren’t in use are locked down and guarded by a single sentry, and this particular building is important because it is guarded by a sentry I made a point of befriending; and more specifically, this building is almost directly above the underground labs.”

Z calmed by just a fraction of a hairs breadth “You could have used another excuse.” she accused “or just put the sentry to sleep.”

XE shook his head “In all honesty, the laundry excuse wouldn’t have got us into this warehouse, it’s used for heavy mining equipment, not washing powder.” he explained “and the sentry’s have a brainwave monitoring implant, if the guard doesn’t react to stimuli, the security system automatically presumes that he has been incapacitated and that an attack is in progress, it then initiates an emergency lockdown of the entire complex. And if that happened, we wouldn’t be able to get into the labs or out of this building without using our powers, which creates a whole other series of problems since we’re trying to be stealthy.”

Z shook her head silently, she turned away from XE and exhaled; the "lovers" statement had hit her in several vulnerable points all at once, especially when her own feelings towards him were in a somewhat amorphous state. She could never be certain what his feelings towards her were, and when he came out with idiotic claims about them being lovers, well, that brought in a whole new troop of mental images that destabilized her fragile emotional equilibrium all the more.

She had an extreme desire to kick him.

But there were other desires rattling around the periphery of her consciousness, which she didn’t dare to examine too closely.

At least, not yet.

Finally, after several deep breaths and a highly satisfying few moments of thinking about dumping XE in a large vat of ice water, Z succeeded in arriving back in a calm enough state that she felt she could look him in the eye without hitting him further.

She turned back to XE, and found that he had not been idle. He was calmly removing a wall panel with a small specialised-looking spanner that he had presumably been carrying in one of his overalls many pockets.

As the panel came free in his hands he looked over to see Z approaching him and smiled apologetically in what was almost certainly genuine contrition.

“Sorry about before.” XE apologised, with what must have been (for him) an extreme effort.

“You are such an arse, sometimes.” Z noted, “You have no respect for other peoples feelings.”

XE grinned slightly, and there was a faintly grim edge to his voice as he spoke “In my defence, I blame Midgaard.” he replied, putting the panel to one side and looking within the large cable conduit beyond with a small torch “They didn’t worry about teaching the finer points of human interaction to us, we just had to work it out for ourselves, right?”

Z felt drained after her previous rage, and didn’t reply. For what XE said was perfectly true.

The Esper children of Midgaard had no real bonding on a human level with their creators (who thought of them as nothing more than samples in a petri dish and treated them accordingly). And Z had no doubt that their emotional growth had been stunted by living in this environment, for she knew (in her occasional moments of honest self-reflection) that she hid her uncertainties within herself and shielded them behind a suspicious and short tempered shell of fragile emotions. And she suspected that - beneath his veneer of cocky self-assuredness - XE must have felt much the same.

“We’re never going to escape from Midgaard, are we?” Z mused in a soft voice “Even if we fly to the other side of the galaxy we’ll always be carrying the baggage they dumped on us, and mourning for the childhood we never had.”

XE shook his head; his expression more serious than Z had ever seen it before. “To hell with Midgaard.” he replied sternly “If they took our childhood, it only means that we make the rest of our lives that much more cheerful, if only to spite them.”

Z smiled faintly, and nodded “You’re right.” she agreed, and she sighed deeply, letting the bitterness leech from her system.

And then she crouched down next to XE, joining him in the examination of the conduit before them.

“Are we in the correct spot?” She enquired.

XE nodded, “We’re in the general area.” he replied “The last time I did this, I’d induced a power outage and snuck in under the cover of darkness but I’m fairly certain it was either through this panel of the next one along.”

“Does it matter which we take?” Z asked him.

“It shouldn’t,” He replied with a shake of his head. “They both lead in the same direction.” and he began to worm his way into the narrow space “I’ll go first.” he said twisting around with some difficulty in the tight squeeze of the conduit door to face her. “So follow my lead.”

He then turned back around and began crawling along the conduit, his figure rapidly becoming an indistinct shadow in the ill-lit ducting.

And with one last uncertain glance at the dark, grimy conduit, Z followed him.

XE quietly led her into the winding narrow ducts, through complex, difficult to pass junctions and down the occasional broad shafts that seemed (in addition to the seemingly ubiquitous clumps of cables) to also be used for pipes of various substances, some that were too cold (or too warm) to be carrying water.

As they made their way deeper into the twisting labyrinth of pipes and cables, Z could feel a gentle - but insistent - tugging at her mind. It felt like standing on the fringes of a hurricane or a tornado, the dangerous feeling that at any moment she would overbalance and be sucked into oblivion.

“You can feel it now, right?” XE murmured quietly “A dragging feeling in your mind?”

Z nodded in the darkness “Yes, what is it?”

“It’s the Crimson Star.” XE remarked “this is one of its... faculties.”

“Do you know what it’s doing?”

XE shook his head “No, and I don’t think the lab boys are aware of this aspect of the star either; Esper related powers can’t be measured directly, right?”

“How close are we?” Z asked.

“Close enough.” XE replied “Another ten minutes or so and we’ll be there; then you’ll be able to feel its effects at close range.”

And after about another quarter of an hour of twisting and turning through these constrictive pathways, XE paused at a panel that he had scratched with a circular mark during his previous visit and carefully prised it open to reveal a dimly lit room beyond.

He squeezed head first through the tiny portal (as there was no space to turn around in the cramped conduit), and then holding onto the narrow rim of the access portals frame he dragged his feet out of the conduit with a twisting motion and dropped feet first a metre and a half to the bare concrete floor below. He then waited at the bottom to help Z wriggle her way out, half catching, half dragging her as she popped from the narrow hole in the wall.

Once back on solid ground and in a suitably wide-open space, they dusted themselves off as best they could and then took stock of the situation.

They were in a long, bare corridor of grey, unpainted concrete, that was dotted irregularly on either side with broad red-painted doors of a strong, blast-proof design.

“There’s no one here at night.” XE explained, speaking for the first time since they’d entered the ducts “And all the labs are sealed shut.”

“So you said before.” Z noted, “We’re lucky they haven’t changed their procedures.”

“The lab with the star is up this way.” XE replied, and he walked off to the right and around a turn in the corridor, with Z following close behind.

“I could get used to this.” Z remarked.

“What?”

“The quiet XE.” she replied, “It’s quite a pleasant change.”

XE snorted.

“Don’t get me wrong.” he informed Z “Despite what you may think, I do know when to be serious.”

“News to me.” Z noted unsympathetically.

“I guess you’re right, I can be a pain.” XE admitted with a faint echo of his characteristic smirk returning “but sometimes that’s the only way to get a persons attention.”

“You could always just play it straight.” Z suggested reproachfully “Have you ever considered that?”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” XE replied with a grin.

“You’re hopeless!” Z observed in exasperation.

XE chuckled in reply and he paused by a door that (apart from a unique code number stencilled onto its dull red surface) appeared no different from any of the others they had passed. But the dragging sensation in Z's mind could be felt coming from somewhere behind it, and was much stronger than before.

XE risked a little telekinesis, and the doors locking mechanism failed just long enough for the pair to make their way inside.

“This is the lab.” he explained “The Crimson Star is in the absolute centre of the room.” and he directed Z’s attention to the grey shadows at the rooms dark core and turned on the lights as he did so.

Z gasped in amazement at the sight, for the Crimson Star was a massive spherical jewel, deep red in colour and a metre in diameter at the very least. It was supported by a large tripod (that appeared to have been custom made for the task), which in turn stood upon a broad circular pedestal of chromed steel. All about the massive jewel, above, below and ringing it on all sides, were a multitude of scanners and esoteric looking testing devices of whose purpose Z could only guess at.

But all the devices in the lab were now quiet and inert, and the only things making any movement or noise were themselves.

Z shook her head to clear it, for beyond the feeling of wonder at the sight of such a massive stone she couldn’t ignore the sensation of light-headedness that came over her when in close proximity to the jewel; it was now as if there was a small black hole nearby, dragging irresistibly at her mind.

“Its properties are much more pronounced at close range.” XE observed “you can feel it drawing your powers into itself.”

Z nodded.

“It’s like a sponge, and though the lab studies can’t find any psychic abilities in the jewel (as they don’t have our kinds of senses) they have proven that it is sucking in all forms of energy that they have been able to measure.” XE explained “It was this faculty of the Star that was discovered almost immediately, and what brought it to the attention of Midgaard, I’d guess.”

“But what do they intend to do with it?” Z asked.

XE shook his head “I’m not sure if they know themselves, yet.” he replied “But the Star has these occasional energy peaks, as if it is storing the energy it absorbs and then releasing it in bursts; so far it has been this characteristic that the researchers have been analysing, but they suspect it may have other properties than just behaving like some big shiny capacitor; try probing it.” he suggested.

Z did so and was rewarded with a multitude of flowing organic forms glowing from within the deep depths of the Crimson Star, they half coalesced into twisting serpentine shapes and then broke apart and reformed into other half-identifiable forms of many colours and only the most fleeting of permanence. But during all this time no matter how much power she used, the Star absorbed it all; she received no feedback from it, nor any definite feeling of what the jewel may actually be.

Z withdrew he powers from the Star and the light show within its depths faded back into a shadowy crimson darkness.

“So what do you think?” XE enquired. “This is no ordinary jewel, right?”

“I’m not getting anything definite ... but.” and Z pursed her lips in concentration “I sense a sort of ... watchfulness, from the Star; it was as if it was...”

“Alive?” XE finished for her with a knowing grin.

Z nodded “You get that feeling as well?”

“Yep.” XE affirmed “Though probably not as strongly as you.” he added with a surprising admission of honesty. “Now the question is, is it a sentient alien artefact or the alien itself?” he added with a searching glance at the mysterious translucent globe.

“Surely if it was an alien, it would try to communicate.” Z noted.

“Maybe it has been trying, and we just can’t understand it.” XE replied “Or perhaps this is an egg, or some dormant form of the alien entity.”

“There’s no way of knowing without more information than we presently have.” Z observed, and she paused as another thought hit her “How did you find out about all this in the first place?” she asked, “The Star can’t be common knowledge, after all.”

“When the Gemini’s first came to town, it didn’t take long to realize that escaped Espers weren’t their target.” XE replied “They had almost immediately set up shop in the Zarathustra bar and had never even bothered with the most likely places that a rogue Esper would visit; such as the port for instance. I kept a eye on them and realised fairly quickly that Speyer-Pratt (I.E. Midgaard) was their target, so then it was just a matter of finding out what Midgaard may have here that would be of interest to their enemies.” And XE shrugged “The truth is, I snooped using the same methods as Gemini - the occasional sneakily-read mind here and there - and by doing so, finding out about this place took no time at all, really.”

“But if you could find this place by now why haven’t Gemini?” Asked Z with a frown.

“Maybe they do know.” XE replied “In fact, I can’t see how they wouldn’t by now; so you can guess what that must mean, right?”

Z nodded “They’re waiting for something.”

“Or someone.” XE added.

Z didn’t reply, her senses had been probing around the periphery of the massive jewel and she was getting conflicting sensations.

“What is it?” XE asked.

“I’m not sure.” Z replied “right on the very edge of the ‘Star, the power drain drops off to nothing; I’m getting a completely different feeling here, almost a sensation of ... fear?”

“Fear?”

Z nodded “It’s as if there’s more than one mind in there.” she explained “one strong, one very, very weak.”

“It must be weak if I can’t sense it.” XE mused, focussing his minds eye on the ‘Star and causing the flaring patterns within its dark depths to blaze all the brighter “I can’t sense anything at all.” he noted, withdrawing his power with a shake of his head.

Z ceased her examination of the Crimson Star and stood before it, staring quietly at the huge pseudo-jewel with a thoughtful expression on her perfect features. The ‘Star sat quiescent in front of them, reverting once again to its previously dark and enigmatic appearance, its only activity being the constant nagging tug at their minds; not enough to be painful, but more than enough to be disconcerting.

“I’m done with this place.” She informed XE, having had enough of the bizarre jewel for one day.

He nodded in agreement “OK, Let’s go.”

Their journey back through the cable ducts was punctuated by a whispered conversation between the two Esper teens, who were both feeling extra thoughtful as a by-product of their exposure to the mysterious red jewel.

“If both sides are waiting for the other to make their move, it can only mean that they are both ready to act at any time.” Z mused, ducking under a loose cable.

“Not necessarily, it could mean the opposite.” XE replied, calmly flinging away a roving spider “but even if they aren’t ready to move yet, it is probable that they are ready to move soon.”

“Is there any way we can get out of town sooner than a week from now?” Z asked him, dodging the flying spider by reflex “It might not be a good thing to be present when events reach their climax.”

“That depends on whether you really want to be away from it all or not.” XE replied, twisting like a contortionist to get past a particularly narrow junction “You’ve gone and made friends in this town now, can you really leave them knowing this place may turn into a combat zone?”

Z’s face was grim in the darkness “Our presence might make things worse and you know it.” she theorized, taking on the junction herself and trying to avoid ripping her loaned dress “If we reveal ourselves to either companies agents in combat, things could escalate beyond our abilities to control.”

“Oh I don’t know.” XE murmured, pausing for a moment in a wide space and twisting around to look Z in the eye “If we stay covert about it, we might succeed in getting them to blow each other to smithereens without them ever realizing that we’re here.”

Z pondered this “That’s a possibility I hadn’t considered.” she admitted.

“Obviously.” XE replied “Your problem is you’re too much of a “frontal assault” person, you’ve got to learn to be able to take them from wherever their not looking at the time; stealth and surprise can sometimes be the strongest weapon of all, right?”

“I guess that's true.” Z admitted, adding: “and speaking of stealth, maybe you should get out of compound now, they could discover you at any moment.”

“I’ll skip out tomorrow morning.” XE replied.

“And when we’re ready to leave town, I suggest we take the Star with us.” Z suggested calmly.

XE did a double-take in the semidarkness “What?”

“Now that I’ve seen (and sensed) the Crimson Star, I don’t trust it in the hands of Speyer-Pratt, Midgaard, Kirke-Leere or anyone.” Z replied “That jewel (or whatever it is) is of an unknown and alien source, and I suspect more powerful than we can guess at.”

XE shrugged “Well, I will admit that it’d probably be risky to leave it in the hands of those goobers.” he noted “but what did you plan to do with it once we have it? It’s not like we can just bury it somewhere.”

Z shook her head uncertainly “I’m not sure what to do with it either.” she admitted “but I just can’t leave it here, something about the Star unnerves me to the core...” Z paused, for her senses (freed now from the background interference of the Crimson Star, after their crawl up the final stretch of narrow conduit) were once again able to passively scan her surroundings.

And she didn’t like what she could feel.

Z turned to XE “Can you feel it?” she asked him “A large gathering of people, above us.”

XE let his consciousness drift upwards and grinned wryly.

“It looks like we can scratch any plans of a sneaky exit.” he observed “It feels like the whole night shift of the security squad has surrounded our warehouse, at a guess I’d say they’re on to us; or at least, on to me.”

“You think so?” Z enquired, her tone mildly sarcastic.

“Of course, it’s not like there’s anything for us to worry about.” XE mused “They’re unlikely to have Psychon armour, or any weapons that could penetrate our shields; and even if they did you should still be able to send them into orbit with a thought.”

Z shook her head in the semi darkness “I may well be the most powerful Esper on the planet, but that doesn’t mean I intend to behave like it.” she replied grimly “I should be able to disarm them without too much trouble, or at worst put them to sleep for a few hours.”

“I was just kidding about putting them into orbit.” XE replied with a snort, “You’re just too guileless and ... nice to be an Esper.”

“I won’t be a weapon.” Z stated firmly “If I do, Midgaard will have won.”

“We could always go back down.” XE theorized, “We could use this situation as an opportunity to take the Star.”

Z shook her head “It would lead to a fight in the lab.” she replied “and I don’t want to use my powers anywhere near the Star if I can help it, who knows what effect a large release of psi-energy would have on it.”

XE nodded in agreement “Up it is, then.” he noted.

They reached the top of the shaft and carefully exited the still-open access panel. The corridor beyond was quiet and empty, presumably to give the Espers a false sense of security (which suggested that the guards were unaware of the extent of their powers).

Directly ahead of them, on the other side of the warehouse door, they could sense a tightly packed group of nervous humanity who spread out on either side of the door in two tapering arms that met at the rear of the building to enclose it's entire perimeter in one unbroken cordon of heavily armed trigger-happy unfriendliness.

Z looked down at her (now slightly dusty and grimy) dress and made a face “I hadn’t really planned to get into a fight today.” she observed peevishly “I don’t think this is really the proper outfit to wear.”

“Take it off, if it will make you feel better.” XE remarked with a grin “I won’t mind.”

“I bet you wouldn’t.” Z replied sarcastically “But what I meant was that I wish I hadn’t left my Psychon Armour back at the Lumiere’s house.”

“Too late to worry about it now.” XE replied unhelpfully.

Z nodded irritably and let her senses expand beyond the wall again to examine the mass of guards beyond in finer detail. at the head of the group she sensed one particular mind that stood out from the rest; it was smarter, more conceited, and definitely far more frightened than the rest but despite its fear seemed to resonate with authority nonetheless.

XE felt the mind also, and recognized it immediately “It would seem Mr Arnold Speyer himself, has come to say hi.” he observed.

And with a slow and careful motions (judged to be unthreatening and hopefully unlikely to provoke anyone into firing out of turn) he opened the door; and with Z at his side they made their way outside to face the waiting posse’.

The group surrounding the door was at least a dozen men deep and as XE had suspected was shielded with nothing more than conventional body armour, except for the thin desiccated man in front who was seemingly only wearing a business suit (though Z could sense that he was wearing Psychon Armour underneath).

This man now stood forward from the crowd, and he radiated a fear so tangible that it almost made Z nauseous, but he hid it behind a superficial - though very convincing - facade of arrogant confidence.

“Well now Dex, or should I say XE.” the man began, in a voice more suited to accountancy than Mexican standoff’s “It would appear that you have jumped in with both feet and found yourself caught in quicksand.”

XE shrugged “That all depends on your point of view, Mr Speyer.” he replied “nice suit, by the way.”

Speyer ignored the remark “I don’t suppose that I can expect you to give up peacefully?” he enquired smoothly, in a tone that implied that he hoped they wouldn’t (despite transmitting fearful thoughts that made it plain that he hoped they would).

“That’s rather immaterial, Mr Speyer.” Z began “It would appear that you’re about to have bigger problems in a moment.”

The guards milled nervously around their leader, who looked about him in obvious uncertainty, “Who are you?” he demanded, eyeing Z’s small frame and distinctly unthreatening attire suspiciously. “And what do you mean?”

Z smiled slightly at XE, he returned the grin and nodded, also sensing what she could feel.

She turned back to the now visibly sweating Speyer, who was beginning to lose his nerve at the obvious lack of fear on the faces of his “prisoners”.

Z raised an arm slowly, and pointed in the direction of the main gate. “You’re about to have guests,” she informed him with theatrical ambiguity.

And not ten seconds later, the entire gate, doorframe and a significant portion of the surrounding wall was blown inwards, showering people and buildings with splintered fragments of steel and masonry; nearby windows shattered and loose objects went flying in all directions from the sheer magnitude of the blast.

Chaos reigned in an instant, some guards opened fire on the Espers only to find that they had disappeared, others fired in the general direction of the now-atomised gate, but most simply milled about in confusion, blinded by the massive dust cloud that had formed as a result of the blast and unsure of just who or what was now attacking them.

Arnold Speyer had, of course, cracked immediately and was running at full speed towards the Ziggurat. Fortunately for him, he was able to cross the rubble-strewn quadrangle unmolested as the "new arrivals" had another target in mind.

For as XE and Z had already realised, behind the column of hardened mercenaries that now poured into the compound were the two entities that had bided their time for the last few weeks and had now, finally made their move.

The Gemini's of Kirke-Leere had arrived.

Having sensed the presence of Gemini from the moment the mysterious pair had arrived on the scene, XE and Z had anticipated an attack and flown into the air the moment the gate had been breached. They were now partially hidden from the combatants below, crouching as they were on a narrow gangway amongst the twisting, upper reaches of the Ziggurat.

From their narrow perch, they quietly watched the progression of the battle between the two inhumane companies, a battle in which they felt no desire to take part (feeling, as they did, a strong animosity towards one side and no particular friendliness or trust towards the other).

XE grinned ruefully “It seems we weren’t the only ones who decided to make our move tonight.” he observed.

Z nodded in affirmative. “Have you seen any of those soldiers before?” she asked him.

XE shook his head “They must have just arrived today.” he mused, “At a wild guess, I’d say that they’re what Gemini was waiting for.”

“Well so much for our plans for the Star.” Z noted ruefully “this calls for a change of strategy.”

XE couldn’t help but agree, “So what did you have in mind?”

“If Speyer-Pratt wins, we take the risk and go into the lab to take the Star ourselves.” Z replied “If Kirke-Leere wins and takes the Star, we follow them until they are beyond striking distance of the city and then, we take the Star from them.” Z shrugged sheepishly “It’s probably not the best plan, but that’s all I can come up with on the fly.” and she scrutinized the fighting below with a critical (though not dispassionate) eye.

“It sounds fine to me.” XE noted with a grin, seemingly unfazed by the mayhem below. “What’s our first move?”

“For the moment let’s just concentrate on containment.” Z suggested “As long as Speyer-Pratt and Kirke-Leere are beating the hell out of each other that’s fine by me, but let’s put a shield around the compound and make sure no civilians gets hurt by stray weapons-fire.”

XE nodded in reply.

As the teen Espers watched silently from above, the wedge of Kirke-Leere mercenaries forced back the confused ranks of Speyer-Pratt guards and made their way slowly but surely to the small, unmarked building that housed the main entrance to the underground labs. The soldiers for hire then formed a perimeter of gunfire around the entrance as the Gemini's made their way across the quadrangle to join them, the small female member of Gemini casually reflecting the guards’ attack back upon themselves as she came.

Z then observed the huge male member of Gemini walk up to the heavily armoured portal and simply rip it from the doorframe in one fluid movement, as if the half-metre thick security door was nothing more substantial than wet paper.

She gasped at the sight, and almost immediately afterwards she felt the stinging lunge of another mind, scratching along the surface of her mental shield like fingernails across a black board. She and XE stared in the direction of the lab entrance, already knowing the source of the attack; and sure enough, they saw the tiny female member of Gemini standing at the ragged hole in the lab entrance, looking up at them with a baleful glare that could split atoms.

“Who are you?” the tiny Esper demanded, the force of her telepathic enquiry was enough to blast the mind of a lesser Esper, and even Z and XE had to raise their shields a notch to resist the force of their opponents will.

XE got to his feet. “We’re the referees.” he replied flippantly.

Z joined him “Your battle here is of no concern to us.” she replied, somewhat untruthfully “we only want to protect the city.”

A wave of contempt and dark amusement flowed from the female Gemini “Whatever for?” she enquired callously “Humans are of no concern to the likes of us.”

“To you perhaps, but they are important to me.” Z replied “Go about your business if you want, but don’t touch the city.”

Gemini tilted her head to one side enquiringly, a sardonic grin on her face “Or?”

“Oh come on!” XE exclaimed, “What do think we’ll do, play charades?”

“We will fight you.” Z informed her.

Gemini snorted in derision “I would like to see that, I really would.” she replied with dark humour “But as I have a timetable to follow our match will have to wait, for now. Protect the city if you wish, it is of no concern to me.” and she turned to enter the lab, adding: “But get in my way and I will certainly kill you.”

With a single stride she disappeared into the shadows within the building, and the mercenaries around her moved to positions behind the shield of the broken doorway and settled in for a siege.

XE turned from the sight of the ripped open door to face Z with a sober expression.

“Do you think Gemini believed your spiel?” he murmured, “About protecting the city being our only business here, I mean.”

Z shook her head “I doubt it.” she replied grimly “And I think that even if she didn’t doubt our intentions she would still consider us a threat, because of what we are.”

“Fair enough.” XE replied. "If the positions were reversed, so would I."

And without a further word the pair separated, flying above the combat below and using their power to shield the outside world from potentially lethal stray shots and shrapnel.

Back in her room, a rumble in the distance (that sounded like thunder, but almost certainly wasn’t) woke Juno. She checked her clock and noted that there was still an hour or more before she should expect Z to return.

The rumble repeated itself and was joined this time with a flash of orange-red light, and Juno rushed to the window in a mixture of curiosity and worried apprehension.

Looking out of her window she was just in time to see a massive burning chunk of something or other fly up from within the distant, fire-lit compound of the Ziggurat and despite all known physical laws, ricochet against some invisible barrier, and fall back into the smoke and flames within.

Putting two and two together in the time it took her to pull on a pair of pants over her pyjamas and load a plasma rifle, Juno ran out to the back yard of her house and - slinging the rifle over her shoulder - pulled a greasy tarp off of her pride and joy: a shiny black electrocycle.

Within less than ten minutes of waking, Juno was roaring along the narrow and crowded streets at a pace that would make even the most delinquent of drivers think twice, and she shook her head in frustration.

“Can’t Z go anywhere without getting into a fight?!” she wondered to the world aloud.

Z, from her position in the air above the west wall, watched as the Speyer-Pratt forces slowly moved forward through the clouds of smoke that now filled every open space in the compound like a dirty fog, carefully using the crates and machinery dotted about the broad quadrangle as makeshift shields. It seemed that their intention was to drive the Kirke-Leere mercenaries deeper into the lab complex and then use it’s restrictive confines to their advantage in some way, it was already painfully obvious that they had encircled the complex in a uneven (but rapidly tightening) cordon and were slowly cutting off all possibility of escape for the invading enemy.

But to Z’s right, she could see beyond the wall and into the square. There, directly in front of the gate, was parked a long, low, heavily armoured troop transport (and it took no major thought on her part to work out that this was how the soldiers for hire had arrived on the scene) and as she watched, the transport opened its broad rear doors to spawn a second squad of Kirke-Leere mercenaries, who poured out rapidly and double-timed their way through the shattered gateway, firing their weapons at the exposed backs of the Speyer-Pratt guards as they came.

The guards suddenly found themselves caught in a crossfire, and clearly this had always been the intention of the Kirke-Leere forces from the very start, but what they hadn’t expected was for an invisible shield of mental force to protect the Speyer-Pratt guards retreat just long enough for them to escape to the shelter of the Ziggurats thick walls.

“I thought you didn’t want to get involved with their fight?” XE enquired with an ironic smirk.

“It was just a reflex.” Z explained with a shrug “Enemy or not, I just couldn’t stand (or fly) around and watch them get shot in the back.”

XE wagged an admonishing finger “That may be so.” he replied “but don’t forget that these people are just members of Midgaard hiding behind an assumed name and that they - unlike us - chose this lifestyle.”

“I know, I know.” Z replied defensively “I just couldn’t help it, OK?”

XE grinned, “You’re just too nice to be the most powerful Esper on the planet,” he observed, not for the first time.

Z sighed “you may be right.” she replied bitterly “but as you’re so fond of reminding me: I didn’t have a choice, did I?”

XE nodded, silently.

And so a standoff began, for whilst the Speyer-Pratt forces were entrenched in the Ziggurat, and the Kirke-Leere forces were concealed within their temporary stronghold of the lab entrance and shielded behind their makeshift forts of heavy equipment within the quadrangle itself any exchange of gunfire became unnecessary.

Both sides settled down into a watchful silence, their mutual intention being to save their ammunition and wait for their enemy to make a false move.

Meanwhile, from within the depths of the lab complex, sounds of gunfire could be heard intermittently. The mercenaries within having presumably encountered some small pockets of resistance somewhere; but as they had Gemini with them the ultimate achievement of their goal was only a matter of time.
And it was as these events were reaching their first shaky equilibrium that Juno arrived in the square outside the Speyer-Pratt compound; she was just in time to hear the last few staccato bursts of gunfire exchanged as she parked her bike and dismounted, her plasma rifle charged and at the ready.

Juno gazed about the square in surprise, for as it happened she was not the only person that had been drawn here by the sounds and flashes of gunfire. Surrounding her on all sides there was gathered a gawking crowd of half-drunk onlookers who had made their way into the square from the surrounding bars and “other” establishments to mill about in a mass of tipsy, voyeuristic curiosity; the reek of sweat and alcohol, combined with the clouds of dust the crowd was stirring up succeeded in making the tightly packed mass of humanity a retch-inducing barrier of the highest order, but one that Juno vowed to penetrate, somehow.

She noted that the less intoxicated onlookers were starting to climb anything they could, in order to obtain a better view of the interior of the compound. The roof of the Zarathustra bar, for instance, was completely covered with precariously perched bystanders, all craning their necks to glance at the smoke and flames within the fortress' walls with bloodshot eyes and murmur amongst themselves in slurring whispers to wonder at what may be going on. Some, she noted, had even found binoculars from somewhere or other, several others had even brought cameras; and all were focussed on the action before them (if somewhat unsteadily).

Climbing a lamp-post with an agility beyond that of the drunks around her, Juno noted that the crowd seemed at its thinnest nearest the shattered gate and she chose this point to push her way through. Emerging on the other side after several minutes of unpleasant close contact with the sweaty milling mass, she ran past the empty troop carrier, (its motor left quietly running in anticipation of an approaching conclusion to the “operation”) and found herself to be now directly in front of the hole in the compound wall, though large clouds of smoke from within hid the interior from view.

Then, in a gesture of complete and utter shameless and foolhardy bravado, Juno brandished her plasma rifle and ran through the remains of the main gate and into the wide quadrangle.

The second squad of Kirke-Leere mercenaries had been calmly observing their entrenched enemy from their own relatively well-guarded positions when the sound of a young female voice screaming “Z, Z, where are you?!” made them turn in no little amount of surprise.

And if the sight of a teenage girl waving a plasma rifle and wearing a pyjama top, leather bike pants and no shoes was of a considerable surprise to them, they were completely gobsmacked a moment later when the said girl levitated off of her feet making an all-too-audible “Whoooaahhh!” sound and rapidly floated upwards until she disappeared into the heavy smog that had settled about the battle field.

Deciding that some events were just begging to be simply ignored, the troops returned to their previous observance of the enemy and let the flying girl simply evaporate from their necessarily practical minds. The mercenaries collectively deciding that she was either some optical/aural trick of the enemy or just the uncommon interplay of light and shadow that often seems to occur on the battlefield, and thus had absolutely nothing to do with “those little blue pills” that so often helped keep your serious-minded soldier for hire alert and ready for action at any given dark hour of the night.

Juno found herself floating some uncertain and unnerving distance above the battle-gouged compound, when an borderline apoplectic Z flew (or levitated, use whatever verb you prefer) up to grasp Juno's shoulders and glare at her with a reddening face and a frown that you could crack walnuts with.

“What the blazes are you doing here.” Z hissed at Juno, she was angry and worried all at the same time, and had another half a dozen emotions lined up and waiting to be expressed besides.

“I figured you could use some help.” Juno replied with a grin, waving her rifle by way of explanation.

“You could get yourself killed.” Z replied “And you should go home, now.” she suggested firmly.

Before Juno could reply, XE floated over to their position “I think it might be too late for that.” he noted, with a charming grin in the direction of Juno (who blushed a deep shade of red despite the situation) “They’re coming out.”

Z turned her senses back to the lab in surprise “Already?” she gasped, but even as she said the words she could feel it, the unmistakable dragging drain at the fringe of her powers, the Crimson Star was getting closer; Gemini and their troops were bringing it to the surface.

“Well, the direct route is faster.” XE replied with a shrug “Not to mention that they can also use the express elevator.” and he paused meaningfully “They’ve got the ‘Star with them, you can feel it, right?”

Z nodded grimly.

Juno on the other hand was blank-faced “What star?” she enquired curiously.

Z quickly filled Juno in on the situation and then paused, grimly surveying the lab complex for signs of activity “I guess we have no choice.” Z murmured, and Juno could feel Z’s grip on her tighten in worry. “You’ll be safer now if you come with us; when Gemini and the Kirke-Leere troops get clear of the city I’ll drop you off home.”

Below them - through wind-blown gaps and whorls in the greasy smoke of the battlefield - they watched as the pair of synthetic beings known as Gemini made their way out of the lab.

At the head of the procession was the huge man, the broad dark-hearted sphere of the Crimson Star cradled in his massive arms as if its significant weight was of only negligible concern, the peculiar flashing and sparking within in its depths clearly visible from where the three teens floated.

Behind the tall male strode the slight figure of the female, her face an arrogant and self-satisfied mask; she turned to glare at the teen Espers as she passed by, silently daring them to challenge her self-perceived superiority.

And from behind the female Gemini, the surviving mercenaries marched watchfully in two long rows, which slowly overtook and spread out on either side of the Kirke-Leere Espers to form a moving shield-escort from the battlefield to the waiting troop carrier beyond the wall.

But the Speyer-Pratt guards had not been idle during their besiegement, and while a small group of them had maintained a token resistance at the main doors; the bulk of them had moved into the upper floors of the Ziggurat and taken up sniper positions.

And after waiting for many long moments for their opportunity, they now opened fire on the enemy forces below.

Various distractions had worked in Speyer-Pratt’s favour as both the teen Espers (who had been focussed on the battle below, and then later focussed on Juno) and the Female Gemini (who had been focussed on the Crimson Star, the teen Espers and the Speyer-Pratt troops; in that order) were completely taken by surprise by this sudden turn of events, and were even more astounded when (only fractions of moments later) at least two dozen one-man air-dart attack planes shot out from hidden hangers in the crown of the Ziggurat and almost immediately began firing on the now unnervingly exposed Kirke-Leere troops.

Caught unawares by the attack from above, the Kirke-Leere forces split and scattered; some heading for the shelter of the surrounding buildings (only to find them locked) others running back to the relative safety of the lab complex (though there was no way of escape once inside, as there was no back door). The bulk of the forces rushed for the main gate and the troop carrier that they knew to be waiting outside, but it was a long distance to cover in the open (when under constant fire from above) and almost none made it that far. And those few that did, only lived long enough to grimly observe their vehicle being reduced to a burning, twisted wreck by the air-darts heavy-duty plasmatic weapons.

“We have to pull back and regroup!” XE yelled over the battles cacophony “from this position we can’t protect the city, Juno and ourselves; not with the ‘Star so close and drawing out our powers.”

“But what of the Kirke-Leere forces?” Z demanded, trying to maintain a shield around them and the compound and failing at both “they’re taking a heavy beating!”

“They'll have to fend for themselves.” XE yelled back in reply “you can’t protect them.”

“But they're being massacred!” Z all but screamed. “Its not a fair fight anymore!”

“But if we don’t protect the city, a lot of innocent bystanders will die.” XE reminded her, “You can’t protect everyone Z, you have to make a choice!”

“Well damn the world for forcing me to choose!” Z replied bitterly, and turning her back on the carnage within the compound and holding Juno closely to her chest (and hiding her pale, angry and horrified face from XE, Juno noted) she and the others flew from the compound to the roof of the Zarathustra Bar, now cleared of its crowd of gawking onlookers, who had all fled in terror at the sudden escalation of the battle.

“Well, we can be fairly certain of one thing.” XE began, breathlessly “Speyer-Pratt must have known (or guessed) Gemini and Kirke-Leere’s plans; there’s no way all of this could be a convenient coincidence, they must have had all this equipment brought in recently in anticipation of a pending attack.”

“Well aren’t they just too damn clever.” Z remarked heatedly.

Juno eyed Z’s slump shouldered posture and morose expression with a critical eye, it took no great intuition to recognize the teen Espers mounting anger and depression, and she suspected (correctly) that there was more than a tiny bit of self-reproach in Z’s tone.

Juno carefully crossed the Zarathustra Bars sloping roof and sat beside Z, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her an empathic squeeze.

“I’ll be the first to admit that I’m probably the least qualified person here to give you advice Z.” Juno admitted “but I’m going to give it anyway.”

And she directed Z's attention towards the Ziggurat, now being illuminated from below by many fires burning within the compound, as small clouds of air-darts buzzed around it like so many angry bees. “In that fortress are two groups of people, both fighting for different multi-planetary companies, neither of whom give a damn about just how many thousands of people out here might die tonight because they've decided to fight some little war in the middle of our city.” and she paused meaningfully “When you think of it from that perspective, who do you really think has more right to your protection tonight?”

Z shook her head and sighed deeply, knowing the answer to Juno's question without ever needing to speak it.

“I was made to be a weapon, Juno, but I didn’t want that kind of life; I don't want to see anyone hurt, not even my enemies; I wanted to protect people.” Z replied grimly. “And yet, while it would be so easy for me to kill everyone in the Ziggurat with a single thought, why is it that it is so hard to protect them?” and she looked up at Juno with such a depressed expression that Juno couldn’t help but embrace Z in a tight hug; as if by squeezing hard enough she could somehow expunge all Z’s dark thoughts from her mind.

“I wish I could answer your question, Z.” Juno replied with a faint sniffle, wiping her eyes “but if it’s any consolation, even regular humans often have to live with this sort of thing, it’s like some bitter law of nature that the more powerful the person, the more unfair the challenge.”

XE grinned ironically, despite the strain of trying to maintain the shield on his own. “You could call it the law of celestially implied inadequacy.” he suggested.

Z shook her head grimly, but Juno noticed a less bitter look in her eye. “It sounds to me like the pair of you are conspiring to feed me a line of bull.” she noted, wiping her eyes and smiling faintly “But thank you, anyway.”

And she stood on the sloping roof of the Zarathustra Bar with a more confident air than before.

“The Pull of the ‘Star seems stronger now.” she observed with a tinge of apprehension in her voice “If it's power grows any greater we may have to move further back.”

“It’s as if the presence of so many Espers in one place is stimulating it.” XE theorized.

Z didn’t reply, but her face was grim, reflecting some internal presentiment that she couldn’t yet put into words.

Within the annex of the lab complex, the female member of Gemini sheltered behind an internal buttress and (in an unexpected moment of honest self-evaluation) cursed herself for being so arrogantly overconfident.

Her masters from the upper echelons of Kirke-Leere had cautioned her about the unpredictable properties of the Crimson Star and she had all but ignored their warnings, believing (falsely, she realised now) that whatever effects the mysterious jewel may have, it would be of no great consequence in comparison to her own significant powers.

In any normal combat situation she would have been able to swat the marauding enemy air-darts from the sky and kill all of their soldiers with ease, but today...

And she glared at the Crimson Star with unbridled rage as it lay there in the lap of the mortally wounded, male Gemini (who even as she watched breathed his last from the injuries an enemy sniper had given him) and she cursed the Crimson Stars evil heart with all the considerable vehemence she could muster.

And the Jewell flared and sparked from within its dark depths as if it sensed her rage.

And was laughing at her.

She turned away from the ‘Star in a fury, a string of paint-peeling oaths escaping her lips.

Today was as different and terrible as any day could be. For though the build-up of military power by their enemy had been considered and suitable contingencies had been developed, she had not understood or anticipated the power of the Crimson Star during the planning stages and they were all now paying the price of her mistakes in blood.

The insidious drain of the dark, crystalline orb had at first been only a minor irritation to Gemini, and she had considered it to be nothing that would affect her adversely. But the moment they had come under attack from above and she had tried to use her powers to bring up a shield the drain of the ‘Star had increased exponentially, as if sensing the increased release of energy and drawing it all within itself.

And so, betrayed by the dark powers of the deep red sphere, Gemini found herself and her forces to be left defenceless and out in the open, in a horribly exposed position. They had had no choice but to run back to the dubious shelter of the lab complex, which was even now, slowly collapsing under the constant bombardment of the Speyer-Pratt guardian troops.

Gemini looked about her grimly, what forces that now remained with her had no hope of escape without her powers, and yet even such a small group of troops as what was now left alive could not be shielded by her with any certainty, not while the Crimson Star was nearby and "eating" her mental energy with such abandon.

But she no longer had the troops available to send it back down to the underground lab, not without taking men from their defensive positions at the door; and even if she had had personnel available, the enemy had shut off the buildings power supply and closed the blast-proof bulkheads to the lower levels, and her squad had lost all their remaining high explosives in the ambush...

Gemini shook her head, it was now painfully obvious that the ‘Star had been nothing more than bait in an elaborate trap, a trap designed to draw out and catch any unsuspecting Kirke-Leere Espers like herself. And in hindsight it made perfect sense, for if Kirke-Leere were interested in how Midgaard had synthesized their Espers, why shouldn't the reverse also be the case?

Gemini stood and gathered what men remained to her, she still had one contingency left open to her and the way things were, she had no other option but to use it.

“Gather what weapons and ammunition you can from the dead.” she ordered the most senior of the surviving mercenaries “We will enact option five and force our way out of the compound, we will then split up and make our way back to base individually.”

The soldier nodded grimly and turned to his remaining men to pass on the order. Gemini, meanwhile, turned to face the Crimson Star with a look of self-satisfied hatred, for Option Five was the last choice scenario: if all other contingencies failed and they were unable to return to base with the ‘Star, they were to destroy it by whatever means possible and at the very least, deny Midgaard their prize.

And more importantly, with the ‘Star destroyed, Gemini would have power enough to escape into the city (at the very least), and perhaps also have sufficient energy remaining to take out Midgaards puppet Speyer-Pratt forces as well.

Gemini grimaced in bitterness and anger as she hurled at the star all her power in one sustained burst, and the Crimson Star took it all in and glowed brightly as it became soaked with the energies of the powerful Esper.

Her attack dragged on for what seemed like an eternity and Gemini's powers were beginning to fade when she finally began to sense a certain amount of resistance - of feedback - from the ‘Star; it was as if the alien sphere was at last full to its capacity and could hold no more...

Gemini redoubled her efforts, sensing at last that the end was in sight.

And then, the Crimson Star cracked...

Z and XE felt a sudden surge of energy from within the compound and it was all they could do to triple the shield around the fortress as a massive release of psi energy obliterated the lab building, pounding its concrete bulkheads to dust and shattering its massive steel frame into sparkling, flying slivers of death.

The surrounding buildings were all severely damaged and even the massive Ziggurat was visibly shaken despite its solid foundations; large cracks appeared in the compound wall (some sections partially collapsing) and not a single window remained intact for a kilometres radius around, the massive release of energy cracking some and shattering the rest into glittering fragments.

What air-darts survived the initial burst of energy were incinerated to ashes or knocked from the sky a moment later by the expanding cloud of super-hot plasma that was all that remained of the Speyer-Pratt lab complex, the exhaust from its conflagration funnelled into the upper atmosphere by Z and XE’s shield to spread outwards into the thin airs at the fringe of space like a flower made of fire; and causing a false and garish dawn to rise above the shocked inhabitants of Tungsten Town.

“What the hell was that?!” Juno gasped in shock.

“I don’t know.” Z replied, stunned and gaping in amazement at the column of fire before her, that had only a moment before been a bunker of all too solid concrete and steel. Her senses were receiving a barrage of conflicting sensations and for the moment at least she was unsure of what to make of it all.

“Whatever that was, it’s almost enough to give you religion.” XE murmured, amazed.

And from within the burning maelstrom, a figure emerged, floating several metres above the ground and seemingly unaffected by either the raging flames or the massive blast that had preceded them. It turned this way and that, as if orientating itself in unfamiliar surrounds, and every time its unseen eyes turned in their direction Z and XE felt an almost overwhelming force of mental power, far beyond anything that they had previously encountered. Something that was strong beyond belief, irresistible, amoral.

And alien...

It glided up to the cracked and shattered ruins of the compound gate and with no more than a passing look in its direction, caused the broken frame and a dozen metres of wall on either side to simply fall apart and evaporate into a dusty gaseous vapour, leaving behind just a thin grey layer of powdery ash.

Z and XE could only gasp in amazement at the sight, as the whatever-it-was that had done this thing had demonstrated a casual control over matter at the atomic level that was beyond XE’s power and just at the limit of Z’s.

What snipers remained alive and at their positions within the Ziggurat must have for the most part realised the futility of attacking such an entity and pragmatically decided to retreat; only a few foolish individuals chose to open fire, but as they had their shells or plasma bursts reflected back at them with deadly accuracy, the remaining survivors decided that this was a good point at which to run for their lives.

And as the creature passed through the now gaping hole in the thick compound wall, the last of the concealing vapours about it cleared. Finally giving the trio on the roof of the Zarathustra Bar their first unimpeded view of the mysterious and powerful entity.

“It’s the female Gemini.” XE gasped in amazement.

Z shook her head “No it’s not.” she replied “Not anymore, can’t you feel it?”

XE grimaced “It’s all I can do to keep my eyes open when I look at her.” he replied in a slightly strained tone “my senses just bounce right off her, or get absorbed.”

“It’s the Crimson Star.” Z theorized grimly “I don’t know how or why, but I sense its power working through her.”

And Z turned to Juno with a desperate look in her eyes. “Juno, get down and stay out of sight!” she hissed, “make your way off the back of the roof and into whatever rear alleys you can find, then get home as fast as you can.”

“This is my city too.” Juno protested, “I want to help.”

Z shook her head and Juno saw genuine fear in the Espers eyes “This is beyond your abilities, Juno; go now, please!”

Deciding not to argue further, Juno went. But behind her, she heard XE remark to Z: “This might be beyond our abilities too, you know.” and as Juno climbed down the roof and into a grimy service lane she came up with the seeds of a plan to help her new friends.

And so, instead of making her way home, she shouldered her plasma rifle and ran as fast as she could towards a certain place that she knew well. And she hoped against all hope that Z wouldn’t do anything rash before she could arrive at her destination.

In the now deserted square, the figure that had once been the female member of Gemini came closer, until finally she was standing - somewhat unsteadily - in it’s centre.

From their elevated position, Z and XE could see her clearly now: her body was twisted, as if by some unseen internal strain dragging at her muscles in peculiar ways; and her eyes were wide open and rolling crazily in their sockets, only pausing occasionally to linger on the two Espers before her, and only then with what appeared to be a significant physical effort.

“Cursed dark orb...” Gemini remarked, seemingly to herself “... too powerful.”

Z stood up, so that she was in plain sight of the creature that looked like Gemini, but whose mind was rapidly being absorbed by ... something else.

“Can you hear me, Gemini?” Z called down to the swaying, lurching Esper, and she couldn’t help but ask: “You are still Gemini, aren’t you?”

“Still Gemini...” the swaying figure replied, her voice fading in and out of focus “... not for ... much longer...” she added, with extreme effort.

Z met the roving gaze of the twisted figure below her, feeling a surge of ice settling in her belly but instinctively guessing that the evaporating remnants of Gemini’s personality were fighting the alien infection with the last of her strength, and desperately trying to speak to Z.

To warn her?

“Gemini.” she called to the staggering Esper, prompting her “What is the Crimson Star?”

Gemini shook her head, as if to clear it “... not a jewel ... not a crystal.” she all but gasped “a living ... entity ... but not ... what we thought.”

“Then what is it?”

“Prison...” and with that last revelation the voice choked in Gemini’s throat and she fell silent.

And from a previously unseen point, hidden behind Gemini’s back. The Crimson Star floated up to hover directly behind her head, like some devil’s corruption of a halo, it was clearly cracked and was pulsing rapidly in an alternating pattern of light and dark.

At the sight of it Z and XE recoiled instinctively, feeling (if not seeing or directly sensing) the alien tendrils of force snaking from the rupture in the Crimson Star to the mind of the woman once known as Gemini, tendrils that grew stronger with every passing instant as the last of the Kirke-Leere Espers resistance faded.

“I’m really starting to wish that I’d had time to go back and get my Psychon Armour.” Z murmured grimly, eyeing the pulsing sphere uncertainly.

Beside her XE shrugged, his face as grim as her own. “Can't be helped.” he replied “if we turn away now, we risk being swamped by the ‘Stars mentality, just like Gemini.”

And even as he spoke they felt the full brunt of the spheres power, or to be more precise the power of the entity that was encased within the sphere. And it was all they could do to shield themselves from the overwhelming energy at its command.

But even with such a massive wave of energy pouring from the sphere via the unwilling conduit of the Esper once known as Gemini, Z found that it no longer seemed to be absorbing energy from the surrounding area (seemingly concentrating its draining influence on the weakening Gemini) and thus she could now scan the Crimson Star as a result, and she didn’t like what she could sense.

“I can feel it now.” she called to XE “I can definitely feel the ‘Star and the entity within it as two separate energy patterns.”

XE didn’t take his eyes off the glowing sphere for a minute as he called back “So?”

“My initial scans in the lab were right.” She explained. “There is an entity within the Crimson Star and then there is the ‘Star itself, a separate - although similar - entity; the ‘Star is a “prison” as Gemini said, and it was holding the entity within it at bay.”

“Ye-es.” XE replied in a pained tone “But what help is that information to us now?”

“Both the Crimson Star, and the Entity within it are really just pure energy, neither have any natural physical form.” Z explained. “Its appearance as a huge sphere is merely a visible side-effect of its energy bonding together in a super dense force-structure.”

“So the crack in the sphere is really just a gap in the ‘Stars powers?” XE theorized. “It’s been weakened in some way?”

“Or the entity within it has got stronger.” Z replied “remember that all the power drain has come from the centre of the ‘Star where the entity within it was imprisoned; the entity could have been draining energy from the outside world for centuries, just waiting for a time when it had enough strength to enable it to break free from its captor.”

“And then we and Gemini blunder along and unknowingly fed it the power it needed.” XE completed for her.

Z nodded grimly “Now the question is: if we can feed enough energy to the ‘Stars shell, will we be able to seal the crack?”

The Crimson Star began to glow brightly and it levitated up in the air, dragging the puppet-Gemini with it to hover before them, its power bathing them in a building wave of killing energy, already the fringes of their shields were beginning to waver and the edges of the roof of the Zarathustra Bar were beginning to buckle and twist under the strain.

“Sounds easy.” XE remarked sarcastically.

“It isn’t.” Z replied, not hearing his tone “The space between the shell and the entity is infinitesimally thin; so if I’m not careful in how I emit the energy, I’ll just be making the entity stronger and more powerful.”

“... Freedom...” gasped Gemini, but the voice that spoke could no longer be recognized as human. “ ... Have ... freedom ... now...”

“It’s absorbed enough of Gemini’s mind to speak our language?” XE mused in surprise.

But before Z could reply the puppet-Gemini glowed brightly, as if her very flesh was made of the same pseudo-crystalline material as that of the glowing ‘Star itself, and teen Espers felt an even stronger wave of energy pouring out from the creature before them, more focussed and intelligently controlled than before.

Z dared to look below her for an instant, and noted grimly that the Zarathustra Bar had all but evaporated under the barrage. With any luck all the people within had long ago fled but she knew instinctively that if she wasn’t able to do something soon the gradually emerging entity within the ‘Star would get too strong for her to fight and then the whole city would be in danger...

“... Z ... XE...” grated the glowing Gemini “... join with ... us...”

“Or?” Z demanded.

“... Or ... die...”

“Great choice.” XE murmured bleakly.

Z called to XE over the growing sizzling roar of the Crimson Stars emanations and the rushing scream of its entities mental force in their minds. “Let’s fly north, into the desert.” she yelled “it should follow us, with any luck.”

She carefully spun around to keep herself facing the creature as she flew backwards out of the ruins of the square, and she noted with surprise the clock tower of the Town Hall several blocks away.

Barely two minutes had passed since the Crimson Star had cracked ...

Z was astonished that so little time had passed, not the least because she usually had such a precise ability to tell the time (she noted absently that the possessed Gemini’s powers must have been interfering with her temporal senses in some way) but concentrating on the task in hand, Z knew instinctively that she would have barely as much time again before the battle was beyond her powers to fight.

Thankfully at least, the Gemini-entity had decided to follow them (but whether wanting them more for absorption or destruction Z couldn’t begin to guess) and was now floating before them, glowing like a rogue star.

“XE, keep it distracted!” Z called, and she flew around in an attempt to outflank the possessed Gemini and get closer to the hovering sphere behind her.

“Keep it distracted?” XE repeated bemusedly, but as the Gemini-entity turned to focus its attention on Z he had a flash of inspiration and sent a burst of mental energy at the sand below the creature, hurling a huge cloud of semi-molten silica at the possessed Esper, while being careful not to directly hit it with his powers for fear of making the creature any stronger than it already was.

XE raged internally that such a careful approach to attacking was going to also severely limit any effect the attack may have, for even now he could see the cloud of half-melted sand dissipating under Gemini’s counterattack and it was plain - though only a second or two had passed - that the diversion was already fading.

With a silent curse XE quickly shifted his position and sent another cloud of hot sand at the Gemini-entity, using the few seconds of distraction to quickly cast around for some other potential weapon that may have a more prolonged effect, and finding much to his building anger that there was nothing to be found.

XE dodged and attacked again, he had no more time to think on the matter, for his diversionary attack was fading once more and he was forced to simply fight on with what he had available.

And as the creature turned back to concentrate its attack on XE, Z noted that the entity within the sphere didn’t seem to be strong enough or familiar enough (as yet) with the physical form it now possessed to be able to attack in two directions at once.

Now directly behind the combined Esper-Entity, Z focussed all of her attention on the incredibly thin shell of the Crimson Star. She could vaguely sense another intelligence within it, as alien as the one now possessing Gemini (in fact it was almost identical) but it was weaker, and it lacked the sharp malevolent streak of the other.

Focussing her mind on the new entity she could sense within the spheres shell, Z carefully fed raw energy into the Crimson Star...

And was moments later thrown back several hundred metres by a hammer-blow telekinetic impact with the full force of the Gemini-entities power behind it. She hit the cold desert sand at high speed and rolled for several metres until she could slow her spin enough to fly back into the air.

She spat out a mouthful of cold sand, retching slightly at its dry, rasping presence in her throat. And she noted absently that in addition to several scrapes and cuts, she’d lost her sandals somewhere during her rolling impact on the cold desert floor and her borrowed dress was now well and truly ruined, the hard landing having added several new tears and split seams to the grimy stains and other damage it had received earlier.

“Z!” XE called, flying to join her “Are you OK?”

Z nodded, and gasped suddenly as she felt a stabbing pain along her right side when she breathed, feeling it only now as her artificially enhanced adrenaline burst began to fade. Carefully probing the injury, Z noted that she had bruised - or maybe even cracked - a few of her ribs during Gemini’s attack, despite the strength of her shield.

But her pain was at least partially forgotten as she noted in satisfaction that neither Gemini nor the Crimson Star were glowing as brightly as before, and instead were only flickering intermittently.

“Are you sure you’re all right.” XE asked again, now close enough to note that she seemed a little paler than usual.

“Yes, honestly I’m OK.” Z replied.

But her tone was a little too insistent for XE’s liking and his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Looks like my strategy is working.” Z remarked quickly, trying to divert XE’s attention back to the temporarily disorientated Gemini-entity which was floating raggedly in the distance and flickering spasmodically “Another burst might strengthen the ‘Star’s shell enough to close the crack completely.”

“If you can get close enough without having Gemini knock your head off.” XE pointed out in a concerned tone “It’ll be on its guard now.”

“But at least I was right in my guess.” Z replied, trying to breathe without XE seeing her wince.

“Then let me do the rest.” XE suggested “and you do the diversion this time.”

“Stupid.” XE replied, though secretly impressed by XE’s sudden burst of chivalry “you can’t even see where the entity ends and the shell begins, so how do you expect to reenergize it?”

“Well I could still try.” XE replied sheepishly.

Z shook her head “I appreciate the offer.” she began, breathing carefully “but this is something that only I can do.”

And even as she finished speaking, the Gemini-entity began to move forward again, slowly and more carefully than before, it was approaching the teen Espers position at an almost leisurely pace; and though it was still obviously intending to fight with Z and XE, it was obviously being more cautious this time around.

“I wonder why the creature within the ‘Star was imprisoned in such a way in the first place?” XE mused aloud.

“Who can say?” Z replied and she grinned wanly as she added: “Do you want to ask it?”

And before XE could reply, with a sudden rush Gemini was amongst them and the battle raged once more, and it was all the more desperate this time around as all three involved were weaker than before.

And Z was feeling the strain of battle most of all as her bruised ribs were hurting more with every passing minute. While the Gemini-creature, though weakened by Z’s initial assault, was blocking every attempt Z now made to penetrate its shield, and Z wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay focussed enough to reenergize the sphere with any accuracy.

As a last ditch attempt she and XE flew at Gemini with their shields combined at high speed, hoping to break through the creatures defenses for just an instant, long enough for Z to project enough energy into the ‘Star’s shell.

But the possessed Gemini had anticipated their strategy, and concentrated all her power on the combined pair, throwing them back before they ever came within striking distance of her protective shell.

Z tried to raise herself, hers and XE’s shields had held, but only just, and the pain in her side was excruciating now (if her ribs hadn’t been cracked before, she was certain they were cracked now, if not broken) and she blacked out for an instant, returning to consciousness a second later to find XE standing over her.

Shielding her.

The energies from the Gemini-entities attack sparked around XE’s shield like a brilliant St Elmo’s fire, arcing about them in blinding bursts, gouging furrows into the surrounding desert sands and leaving hissing tracks of molten glass in its wake.

“Z!” XE gasped through gritted teeth at the strain of maintaining his shield “Can you get up? can you raise a shield ?”

Z gasped in pain as she sat up, her whole body was hurting except for her right arm, which must have been jarred by the hard landing and was numb and lifeless. She slowly pulled herself to her feet, but had to hold onto XE’s shoulder with her left hand to steady herself until her powers began to slowly reassert themselves.

Z tried experimentally to raise a shield, and succeeded. It seemed that her powers, though much weaker than before, were still in much better shape than her body.

She planted her feet as firmly as she could in the sand, and (still leaning on XE for support), combined her powers with him to raise a shield that was impenetrable to anything the Gemini-entity could throw at them. But this was the limit of their powers and they were unable to attack in return without first adding some new variable to distract the creature, a variable that was now beyond their remaining strength to provide.

In the meantime, the Gemini-entity could attack without restraint; but it was noticeably weaker than before, and being careful to ensure that the Crimson Star was never left exposed to another assault by Z.

Stalemate.

But the Gemini-creature knew (as did Z and XE) that it was only a matter of time before the entity within the Crimson Star began to widen the fracture once more.

So it was a battle that only it could win, eventually.

"Any ideas or suggestions?" XE asked Z, his face looking as pale and exhausted as her own.

"No." Z replied grimly "How about you?"

He shook his head "I wish." he replied with a bleak and humourless grin.

Z risked another look at the clock tower and saw that her feared two minute deadline had passed some five minutes earlier, and she noted with some small satisfaction that her previous weakening of Gemini had succeeded in increasing the odds in her favour a little. But without some new angle of attack their defeat was still inevitable and she racked her brains for some new strategy.

And as the pair concentrated hard and desperately on their predicament, an opportunity came from an unexpected direction.

There was a flash from the clock tower, that bare instants later stretched into a beam; a beam of super-hot focussed plasma of the sort you’d expect to be fired from the type of rifle that a certain merchant’s daughter had been carrying when Z had last seen her.

The beam passed between the two opposing forces of Espers and fused a huge mass of sand into a rough streak of glass some hundred metres away.

Time slowed down, many things happened so close together that for all intents and purposes they all happened at the same time:

Juno noted with a curse that her first shot had missed, and adjusted her aim a little before firing a second burst of plasma at the Gemini creature.

The Gemini creature anticipated the increased accuracy of the second shot and instinctively strengthened her shield in the direction of the clock tower, while also sending a massive burst of psi-energy towards it, clearly intending to smash the building into fragments.

XE hurled what remained of his power at the Gemini creatures psi-beam and succeeded in diverting it enough to miss both the tower and the city in its entirety, so that it instead dissipated harmlessly over the eastern desert.

Z flew forward as rapidly and stealthily as she was able and passed through the now weaker periphery of Gemini’s shield. With perhaps only fractions of a second before Gemini’s attention returned to herself, she used what remained of her power to carefully - though quickly - feed energy into the cracked shell of the Crimson Star.

And the Crimson Star went dark, as the crack in its shell sealed itself and faded.

Juno’s second plasma beam - slower than the speedy reactions of the Espers - finally arrived, only to impact too early this time; but even if it had succeeded in hitting Gemini it no longer mattered, as it had already served its purpose well.

For Gemini, drained of her powers and no longer animated and controlled by the malevolent entity within the Crimson Star, floated rapidly to the ground and fell to her knees.

Z and XE carefully approached the fallen Esper. Gemini’s head was slumped, her chin resting on her chest and her face hidden in shadow. Her body was limp, like a puppet with its strings cut and she did not appear to be breathing.

Z, leaning once again on XE’s shoulder, scanned Gemini as they closed the final few metres and got neither any reaction from her nor any sense of activity in her mind. And Z crouched down (wincing slightly at the pain in her side) and gently angled Gemini’s head back.

Gemini’s face was pale grey and lifeless; her body was already getting cold. There was no doubt that she was well and truly dead, but despite all that Gemini had put them through, Z could feel no anger or hate towards her adversary; she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life Gemini might have had if born a normal human, with none of the curses that come from being an Esper with strong powers.

Powers like Z's own.

“Uh, Z.” XE began, his tone uncertain. “There may still be a problem.”

Z wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and gently laid Gemini on the sand, she then carefully got back to her feet and turned to look back in the direction of where XE was standing.

To find him gaping somewhat nervously at the Crimson Star, which was floating quietly in the air, barely two metres above them.

It made neither movement nor any flicker from within its dark depths; it seemed to have been waiting for something. And as Z turned to face it, the red orb now began to slowly move.

Upwards.

“What is it doing?” XE wondered aloud.

“It’s going home.” Z replied, “It’s leaving our dimension and finally completing its mission.”

XE made a face “Huh?”

“When I gave it enough energy to seal the crack, I touched its mind.” Z explained “It had been too weak to communicate before, as it had been using all of its strength to restrain the criminal entities within it and they could drain power from the outside world faster than it could; so I gave a bit more energy to tip the scales in its favour, and in thanks it told me a little bit of its history.”

“Entities?” XE repeated, “You mean we were fighting more than one creature?”

Z shook her head “We were only fighting a fraction of one creature, if the entire contents of the ‘Star had all been released we’d have been destroyed for sure.”

“So did you find out why it was here?”

Z nodded “It is a trans-dimensional entity and its people had once had a colony in this sector of space, long ago.” she explained “It had volunteered to be a “prison” of sorts in the early days of the colony, but when the other entities returned home they deliberately drained the Crimson Stars powers so that it couldn’t follow them, they didn’t want their criminals to come back and disturb their quiet little inter dimensional utopia, apparently.”

XE smirked ironically “So it seems that there’s selfish bastards in every dimension.” he observed.

Z nodded and watched as the Crimson Star continued to rise into the air, a small halo of energy began to coalesce about its dark form and after several minutes the sphere was all but hidden from sight, almost entirely enclosed as it was in a rushing, rotating cloud of pulsating light.

“I wonder why anyone would volunteer to become a living prison?” XE mused.

Z shook her head “It didn’t say.”

XE turned to look at her curiously “So it actually spoke to you?” he enquired.

“Not in so many words.” Z replied, “It was more like reliving a memory.”

As they watched, the expanding ring of light closed over the Crimson Star, completely obscuring it from view. And with one final flickering burst of eye-twisting illumination, it slowly disappeared from their dimension forever.

Z turned back to the still form of Gemini and finding a ragged sheet of fabric amongst the rubble scattered over the desert (that may have once been a workers tarp or perhaps a curtain, it was so scorched it was hard to tell) she laid it over the body of her dead foe.

Juno ran up moments later to find the two teen Espers sitting on the cold sand and staring at a fading glow in the sky that even as she watched faded to nothingness.

“Hey!” Juno called to them breathlessly (having run all the way from the clock tower). “What the hell was that, just then?” she demanded, between gasping breaths.

Z smiled faintly as the last wisps of the Crimson Stars aurora faded from sight.
“With any luck.” she began “that was the precursor to a new dawn.”

Juno frowned in confusion “And just what is THAT supposed to mean?”

“She’s just waxing poetic.” XE explained with a smirk “I think she means it’s a sign that we’re all going to live to see another day, or something.”

“Oh.” Juno replied, turning this over in her mind.

“So tell me.” XE began, getting to his feet and putting an over-familiar hand around Juno’s shoulders “what did you have planned for the rest of your night?”

“Not now, XE.” Z remarked, holding her side gingerly as she got to her feet and limped over to Juno, leading her back towards the city “I’m too tired to listen to your rubbish tonight.” and she turned to Juno “I seem to remember you mentioning a bed for the night.” Z murmured, “Just about now, I think I could use it.”

Juno examined Z critically with her eyes “It looks more to me that you could use a trip to the doctor before anything else.”

Z shook her head “I’m OK, I heal up quicker than normal people.”

“You’re so full of it, Z.” XE observed, poking Z in the side and causing her to wince painfully; he turned to Juno with a faint grin “where’s the nearest quack?” he asked.

Juno grinned in return. “Follow me.”

They made their way back into the city, carefully avoiding the Ziggurat, whose remaining guards were now milling around in confusion (after the chaos of the battle, only minutes before) and trying to put out the many fires burning in the tower and throughout the compound.

Not wanting Z to walk with her injuries (whether they were minor or not) and too drained of power to levitate her any significant distance, XE used his power to open the (previously locked) door of a relatively undamaged looking car and Juno then used some of her more secret talents (having learnt many interesting tricks from some of the rougher members of her fathers crew) to bypass the cars security system and get the engine started.

They then carefully eased the bruised Z into the back seat of their borrowed vehicle and used it to drive back to the merchants’ area of town, where Juno knew a doctor that was both talented and discreet.

“I wish the pair of you would stop making such a fuss.” Z complained, “I’m not that hurt, really.”

“I don’t doubt it.” XE replied from the front seat with a leer “If you were seriously hurt you wouldn’t be making so much noise.”

“Keep it down, the pair of you.” Juno suggested from the drivers seat, a faint nervous sheen on her forehead. “I’ve never driven one of these before, and I’d appreciate it if you guys didn’t distract me.”

XE shrugged and rolled his eyes at Z, then turned back to face the front. For though he’d never admit it to anyone, he felt more exhausted than he had ever felt in his entire life; and despite all his blather to the contrary, he was not so sure whether Z’s state of health was as peachy as she claimed, knowing her to have always been the sort of person who never willingly admitted to any sickness or hurt, no matter how much pain she might actually be feeling.

“Just lie back and enjoy being the centre of attention for a few minutes, Z.” XE remarked, having to have the last word. “It will all be over soon enough.”

Z didn’t reply. She was tired to the point of collapse and her ribs hurt every time she breathed; and despite XE’s confident tones she couldn’t shake the feeling that all their problems were anything but over with, as somewhere out there in the darkness, agents from Midgaard (and probably Kirke-Leere also) were still very much alive and active.

As the car drove through the dark streets of the merchants sector of Tungsten Town, Z observed the sky begin to lighten, taking on mottled shades of grey and dark blue.

Dawn was coming.

But they were not out of the shadows, just yet.

***

Two days later, the suns rose to illuminate a city that was, even now, already beginning to forget the mayhem that had occurred in the town square such a short time previously.

Many stories had been reported to explain the chaotic battles that had occurred within and around the city and twice as many rumours and wild theories had spread throughout the populace like differing strains of the same virus, but the only thing they ultimately had in common, whether they were the company sponsored “official” reports or the kind of lurid rumours to be found as graffiti on toilet walls was that they were all - for the most part - completely untrue.

There was no doubt that the real story was known to some, perhaps only a very few to be sure, but as the rumours multiplied and were embellished to reach even more fantastic levels it was becoming all the more obvious that those who were in the know were not going to spoil a good story by letting any of the truth of the matter seep into the mix.

And even as the stories started to slowly expand and dissipate into the realm of urban legend, already the rebuilding had begun. Soon the only sign that anything had happened at all would be to be found only in the minds of those few who had saw what had really happened that night and lived to remember it.

The Ziggurat now stood at the centre of a busy hive of construction, it’s shattered windows boarded up and the broken walls of its broad compound already half rebuilt, though much of the ruined buildings within would require weeks - or months - of work to get back to their former state.

The owner of the Zarathustra Bar (which had been all but razed to the ground during the battle) was nonetheless a person to see a silver lining in every cloud, and had already set up a makeshift tent on the site of his former establishment, knowing full well that the Speyer-Pratt base was about to become the focus of a huge amount of hungry construction workers, for whom he had every intention of being the primary source of hot meals, cold alcohol and any “other distractions” they should require.

Z in the meantime, was sitting at the departure terminal (really just a roofed jetty with a few rows of plastic chairs) of one of the middle-sized shipping companies that specialized in ferrying people from one desert city to another in relative comfort, if not haste.

On the night of the battle, Juno had eventually had her way and taken Z to see a doctor that she had known well from his days as medic on her father’s sandship. He was an old salt by any description but his examination of Z had been nonetheless a quick, professional and (relatively) painless affair.

Luckily it had turned out that none of her ribs had been broken (as that would have risked piercing a lung, or worse) but she had succeeded in cracking a couple. Which wasn’t necessarily good, but at least she would be able to travel.

The doctor had given Z some painkillers (which she tried to avoid using whenever possible, having developed a serious mistrust of medication from her years at the Midgaard research station) and a suggestion to “take it easy” for a few weeks, to rest up and heal (which she hoped she’d have time to do). He had then spoken to Juno for a while and promised her that nothing would be said to anyone of what had happened in his surgery that night.

And much to Z’s surprise, nothing had.

Z gazed out at the shimmering horizon and hoped that this was a good omen for the future, she hoped that she would continue to meet people who actually kept their word, people that helped others because of no other reason than it was the right thing to do.

People that she could trust.

On the other hand though, her positive thoughts were tempered by the knowledge that there was no denying that there were definitely people out there that she couldn’t trust. Juno’s father, Francoise, coming immediately to mind.

And she thought back to the morning after the battle and the look on Francoise’s face when he had walked into the dining room and found not one, but two Espers eating breakfast at his table.

Z grinned despite herself at the memory of his sweaty panicked face, becoming serious as she wondered just how long the fear would last in his stupid, narrow mind when he realised that she was gone for good, and how long it would be before he went to Midgaard and told them everything.

No, not everyone could be trusted.

XE came back from the ticket office carrying what little luggage they had, with Juno walking behind him, carrying the tickets.

“Well it’s all set.” XE remarked as he drew level with Z and sat down next to her “the ferry is due to arrive any time now, but we won’t be able to board until the other passengers disembark.”

Z nodded.

“I don’t get why you have to leave in such a hurry Z.” Juno remarked hotly, sitting opposite her “You could have at least waited until you healed up a bit more.”

“We’ve been through this all before, Juno.” Z pointed out, shifting her weight in the chair and wincing slightly “Even if he didn’t recognize me, Speyer must have reported to Midgaard about XE being here, so it’s only a matter of time before their troops arrive and start sweeping through the city looking for Espers; and it’s safer for everyone if we’re not around when they get here.”

Juno didn’t reply, but there was no denying the fact that Arnold Speyer - like the cockroach he undoubtedly was - had indeed survived the battle at the Ziggurat, and had almost as certainly told everything he knew to his shadowy masters from Midgaard.

Knowing this, Z had decided that they could not wait a week for a direct transport to Central City and had instead decided upon taking the first sand-ferry that was going in the general direction they wanted to take and then transferring to another transport to go the rest of the way as soon as one became available.

Needless to say, Juno had not been happy about the plan and had been very vocal against it on more than one occasion over the past several days.

“I still don’t like it.” Juno moped “I could have hidden you at my house, no-one would have talked.”

Z shook her head “Midgaard will have Espers with them, to track us with.” she replied “and I can’t be certain that they don’t have other ways of finding us.”

XE sighed and looked at Juno mournfully “And as much as I loved the cooking at your place, I have to agree with Z on this one; you and your family will be safer if we’re not there.”

Juno was silent and thoughtful for several moments; she then got up and walked back to the gate of the pier in silence.

“I think she's angry.” XE noted uncomfortably.

“I think she’s planning something.” Z replied suspiciously.

“There’s an easy way to find out.” XE pointed out.

“Suspicious or not, I refuse to read the mind of a friend.” Z replied, and she looked menacingly in XE’s direction “And you keep out of Juno’s head also.” she added.

They watched as a car pulled up to the gate and none other than Helena stepped out. She pulled two largish satchels from the back seat of the car and passed them over to Juno, and after giving her little sister a kiss and a prolonged hug, Helena stepped back slowly and waited.

Juno meanwhile gave one last wave to her sister, and then hoisted a satchel on either shoulder and turned and slowly made her way back to the pair of Espers at the end of the pier.

“If you’re not staying, then I’m coming too.” Juno explained in self-satisfied tones.

And she sat back down in her previous seat, dumping her two heavy satchels at her feet and pulling a (more than a little creased) ferry ticket from a pocket in her cut-off jeans.

Z was almost speechless “Are you crazy?” she gasped in angry surprise “perhaps you haven’t noticed, but we’re not exactly the safest people to be around!”

“I told you I was planning to leave town eventually.” Juno replied with a mischievous smirk “The way I see things, this is the perfect time.”

Z shook her head “No, I can’t risk it.” she replied, “I don’t want to see you hurt because of me.”

“You’re too negative.” Juno noted “I bet XE would let me come along.” she added.

Z risked a look at XE, and without much surprise observed that he was grinning broadly and nodding an enthusiastic affirmative.

She sighed, “I guess I’m outvoted then?” she replied irritably “there’s no chance you’ll change your mind?”

Juno shook her head “None.”

Z smiled despite herself (if only slightly) at the enthusiasm of her new companion “Alright, you can come.” she decided “but at the first sign of danger I’m sending you back to your family.”

Juno crossed her arms defiantly “I’d like to see you try.” she replied.

“I’ll tie you up and mail you back in a sack, if I have to!” Z pointed out with a faint grin.

Juno didn’t reply, she was not quite sure if Z was joking or not.

XE cleared his throat and pointed in the distance. “I think our ship has come in,” he announced, somewhat theatrically.

Distracted from their previous exchange, the girls joined XE at the edge of the pier and watched as their ferry approached, carefully manoeuvring itself into a course parallel to their pier.

Within no time at all the medium sized sand ship had pulled alongside, lowered a gangplank, and was unloading its passengers; and as it would be time for them to embark very soon, the trio returned to collect their bags.

And even as they were on their way back up the short pier the ferry had been emptied of its last few passengers and a lone sailor appeared on deck with a megaphone to announce to the waiting crowd that they could now begin boarding.

As they made their way up the gangway Juno turned to wave at Helena, who was still waiting patiently by the gate and waved back as she saw her sisters vigorous hand-motions.

And Z quietly hoped as she looked in Juno’s direction that all her feelings of disquiet for the future would prove false, her friend’s very presence multiplying her fears and uncertainties rather than alleviating them.

“You know Z, if you keep frowning like that you’ll get wrinkles.” XE helpfully pointed out, from his position next to her on the gangplank.

“I’ve got good reason to be worried.” Z replied “and who asked for your opinion anyway?”

“Oh really?” XE murmured “so you can tell the future, can you; you can see a dark shadow on our journey and a grim end for all who travel with us?”

“You know I can’t!” Z retorted “don’t be so bloody flippant when I’m being serious here!”

“I think you’re being too serious, personally.” XE noted, putting a hand on Z’s shoulder and turning her around so that she was facing Helena “Just smile and wave to Juno’s sister, and stop worrying so much about a future that you can’t even see.” he suggested.

Z forced a smile and waved to Helena, who waved back at her with dignified grace. “I don’t understand how you can be so unaffected by what we’ve been through.” she murmured to XE out of the corner of her mouth.

“You’re missing the point, Z.” he replied “It’s because of the life we’ve had that I try to have as much fun as possible, I’ve got a lot of enjoyment to catch up on.”

And he turned to face Z with a surprisingly compassionate smile.

“You don’t have to worry about the future if you can’t control it.” he advised Z “why don’t you just try to enjoy life as much as you can, and when things don’t go as well as you’d have liked just do your best to get through it and move on.”

“That’s surprisingly philosophical for you, XE.” Z observed, not unmoved by his speech “keep talking like that and people might mistake you for being a nice guy.”

XE puffed up “I am a nice guy.” he replied “but my ambition is to be wonderfully witty and dangerously attractive guy.”

Z shook her head and all but laughed at XE’s display “You really are hopeless!” she pointed out.

“No, just hopeful.” XE replied with a grin.

“C’mon you two, stop making eyes at each other!” Juno called to them from the deck “They’re about to retract the walkway.”

And Z suddenly realised that she and XE were the only ones still standing on the gangplank, everyone else had already boarded and were either inside the ferry’s main observation lounge or out on the deck, some of them were - like Juno - watching her and XE, and grinning in an uncomfortably knowing way.

XE, helpful as always, simply burst out laughing.

Z felt her face going red as she all but dragged the chortling XE onboard “We were not making eyes at each other!” she hissed to Juno in embarrassment.

“Yeah, whatever.” Juno replied, in a casually disbelieving tone.

And as Helena watched from the shore, the three of them waved to her from the deck of the ferry for one last time. To be lost from sight a moment later as - with a rumbling of powerful motors - the sand-ferry turned around in a wide circle on its broad wheels and headed back out of the harbour and into the wide desert beyond.

The End.

For this and other works by S F Stevens, visit "Skurgfurgler Online !" at:

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