A message capsule for the Fitzcarraldo was dropped just before Yamato warped to Earth’s moon. There, she would be close but out of Orpheus’ reach, at least according to Kage’s data. Instructions were left for Kage and his fleet to rendezvous there, and to engage the enemy or flee, whichever seemed the most prudent.

When Yamato arrived, it was like landing in the middle of a minefield. Long range scanners picked up the Vorilhon fleets, which stretched out row after row around planet Earth as if in silent meditation. Apparently, Yamato had arrived just in time, for it seemed as though the enemy were about to strike the final blow. The crew detected the cross-fires of distant war ships as battles raged on in the outskirts. A smattering of EDF ships had joined Ilydrian forces some days ago to give battle to the Vorilhon.

Though Yamato’s presence would be much welcome, she was not to join them yet. Orpheus beckoned, and the crew would have to fight their way through a contingent of Vorilhon destroyers.

Mamoru and the senior crew stood about in the Strategy room. The glowing display showed the positions of the enemy fleets. He took the pointer, and poked it toward the rough center of the fleet nearest the citadel. "I think we should warp here, and then travel at full speed toward Orpheus. We may have to take out a few ships, but it’ll give Balaji time to set up the shield." He looked at the science officer, who nodded.

Uchira was bobbing his head. "Sounds good to me. I know Cedro’s itching to get his hands on a few of those rat bastards, isn’t that right, mi compadre?"

Cedro punched a fist into his other hand. "Si! You don’t know how badly!"

"What does everyone else think?" Mamoru asked. As he glanced around, there were other nods and murmurs of assent. "Good!" he added. "Let’s get down to business, then."

The bridge erupted with chatter once again as the crew prepared for another warp, and then battle. Mamoru ordered the Black Tigers to standby, as they would launch an attack while Yamato proceeded to Orpheus. Mamoru knew it was a tough gamble, but Yamato would need the diversion, and their allies the extra support. He had consulted heavily with Rin and the other squadron leaders; they practically implied they would take off on their own if he hesitated in the least.

"Good luck, everyone." Mamoru said just before Tanaka began the countdown to warp. Good luck to you, Suya, was his final thought before the dimensional leap began.

The first ploy worked; Yamato eased her mammoth bulk into the midst of a startled Vorilhon fleet. Two ships were instantly incinerated as they attempted to alter course when the Earth battleship appeared. The delayed response also gave Yamato the time it needed to recover from the warp. Within minutes, the shock cannons were emptying charge after charge to starboard and port into the silvery sides of enemy destroyers. White hot blasts from pulse lasers splayed out into a deadly pattern as several Vorilhon ships attempted to sidle up to Yamato’s hull, hoping to land their missiles with greater precision. Three or four more enemy ships strung out along coordinates to the fore in a blockade maneuver. Bow missiles were launched and swept them mercilessly aside, and Yamato plunged onward through the smoke and debris. She was like a great whale caught in a maelstrom of deadly sharks, and passed through, but not without some damage.

Amid the status and damage reports, Jun announced that Yamato was nearing the perimeter of the deadly solar storms that swirled like a hurricane around the enemy fortress. "ETA two minutes," she said.

Mamoru turned to Balaji. "When should we—"

"Activating magnetic shield now," Balaji told him. His hands worked his console at a feverish pace, and he was sweating.

Mamoru flipped open a link. "Black Tigers, launch!"

"Maintain the current course," Balaji added for the navigator.

"Roger that," Tanaka replied, his brow furrowed deeply in concentration. At any minute, he expected a ship wide meltdown of systems.

"We’re thirty seconds away…ten…five…contact!"

There was a slight bump as Yamato dove into the storm. The visual changed; through the observation window could only bee seen curls of dust and gas diving and dipping around the ship.

"Steady as she goes!" Mamoru cried out. "Jun, get us a fix on Orpheus!"

Jun tapped at her keys for a reading. She assumed a puzzled expression. "Uhh…radar is sort of out, I think."

Mamoru turned around to look at her. "What do you mean, ‘sort of?"

"She means," put in Balaji, "that we can expect some occasional interference. The shield is pretty basic; I didn’t have time for anything more complex."

For a brief moment, Mamoru looked worried, but he set his expression into neutral, and spoke in the most confidential tone he could muster. "Keep trying," he told Jun. "Let us know the second you spot anything."

Jun nodded, and bent to her task.

"I think we should reduce speed," Tanaka said.

Mamoru nodded. "I’m hardly going to second guess the navigator! Whatever you think is right."

The crew grabbed at their respective consoles as a round of turbulence rocked the ship. A few minutes later, Jun reported that she wasn’t sure, but a scan seemed to indicate a large mass ahead. The view through the observation window remained useless as any means of detection.

"Full stop!" Mamoru ordered.

"Full stop," Tanaka echoed.

Yamato slowed, then stopped, hovering near what they hoped was Orpheus. Apparently, Yamato was undetected. The second ploy had reached its zenith.

Suya had borne out the warp seated in Fireball’s cockpit, and as soon as Yamato was several hundred megameters from the citadel, she began the power up and prepared for launch.

"All clear!" said the tech into her headset. "Good luck, Suya."

Fireball taxied across the deck, its jets burning furiously. As soon as she cleared Yamato, Suya programmed the coordinates for Orpheus, and headed deeper into the storm.

There was some turbulence, and the journey was not without some hefty natural obstacles to avoid. Suya was amazed at the radar’s clarity. She had never before flown in an area so rife with interference. Accessing the data about Orpheus, she drew up the maps and diagrams which would guide her approach inside. They appeared on her monitor, a complex three dimensional crisscross of glowing lines against a black screen. Despite the Doctors’ thoroughness, Suya couldn’t help but feel nervous. Who knows what’s changed since this information was obtained? She may very well find the entrance blocked, or encounter new defenses to stall her.

The fortress arose before her, it’s bright, leviathan hulk appearing sinister yet detached. Were it not for the threat it posed, she would have found the panoramic sight breathtaking, as swirling, phantom arrows of light streamed gracefully among its outcropping, a veritable firework of dazzling electric vitality. Fireball was to gain access from the pyramid’s tip. The plane banked sharply as it began the final approach. Suya frowned when she neared enough for a visual. Surely she wasn’t meant to fit through such a small opening? Quailing, she nearly pulled back in order to circle the fortress again to review her options.

"Initiating reconfiguration maneuver," sounded an automatic, vaguely female voice.

Suya blanched. What?

There was a jerk, a tug, and then she watched in amazement as the wings began to fold, and part of the nose cone to shrink into itself. The dull sound of metal against metal reached her ears, and the seat jerked briefly underneath her.

What the hell?

Punching keys urgently for a status report, Suya stared hard at the console.

A display of a rotating, infinitely more compact Fireball filled the screen. Understanding began to dawn on her.

"Reconfiguration procedure complete."

Fireball edged to the uppermost point of Orpheus of its own accord. It was not actually a point, but squared, and now slid open to welcome its bird of prey.

Suya happily released the controls, and lapsed into relieved giggles. Leave it to the Doctors! she thought. She thought merrily of her comrades on Daedalus, and made a note to toast them later with a drink.

Fireball had now entered Orpheus, and flew deep down into a shaft, clearing it only by several feet on either side. Suya watched with baited breath, and wondered if she were alone here. Would there be a contingent of Vorilhon waiting to strike her down into a fiery grave? I guess I’ll find out soon enough, she thought.

It was ten long minutes before the shaft widened, then opened up broadly into a wide, open space. There was light here, great wide swaths of bluish light shooting across the area from recessed panels. Suya now had control of Fireball, which had still retained its current, smaller form. She plucked more data from her memory, searching for the next path. Circling around the immense chamber, Suya realized that much of it was familiar, as images of it had been on the disc. The purpose of it was unknown, but it felt to her like a hangar of some sort. There was a flat, expansive deck opposite the shaft through which she had entered, and pointed archways sat upon it at regular intervals, opening into deep, long corridors. One of them she would take. There it is, Suya said to herself, and steered Fireball into the pre-designated opening.

It took her more concentration than she had ever used in her life to navigate the corridors through which she now flew at breakneck speeds. She had broken a sweat, and droplets of moisture tickled her neck. According to the maps, she was getting close. There was no one to challenge her, and no weapons burst forth from the walls to pierce and destroy her, yet Suya kept one thumb on the trigger, and made periodic scans with radar.

The Doctors had informed her that she would upload the virus into Orpheus’ main computer, located deep in the fortress in what had been a heavily shielded room. Solving that puzzle alone had claimed the lives of three engineers and who knows how many support technicians. Suya made a silent promise to make their efforts worthwhile.

The code name for the chamber was Hades, and it was marked by an intricate relief of triangles and other geometric symbols above the opening. Cool, ambient lighting opened into half-circle patterns from elaborate sconces on the walls. Dead ahead, about fifty yards away, Suya could see the thick, solid gray pillars that framed it. Slowing Fireball to a stop, she eased the plane down, and disembarked. Readings indicated there was a breathable atmosphere, but she kept her helmet on. Her breath quickened, and it was all she could hear for the moment.

Suya drew her automatic, for the entrance lay open.

Cautiously, she stepped forward. She swung her weapon around in a tight arc, and her eyes swept across the surfaces for defenses. It can’t possibly be this easy, she thought. But then again, a lot of the hard work had already been done. Suya had only to carry out the final mission. For a moment, she was distracted by the view. The chamber was much smaller than she would have guessed. The ceiling was barely ten or so feet above her, and only triply that wide. The Vorilhon had used the space efficiently; every inch of the mainframe had been cleverly crafted for seamless functionality. Pulsing, multi-spectrum lights winked at her in a suitably bustling fashion.

Suya knew which particular console to find. It was on the left, a narrow and unremarkable array. She drew her left hand from its glove. Any place will do, the Doctors Zuran had explained, as long as it’s below the double row of keys (Suya ignored the brief temptation to study the complicated symbols on them). The dark panel she chose felt mildly warm. She closed her eyes, up-linked to the matrix, and thought the password:

Eurydice!

It was a subtle feeling. The virus zipped away, cleaving into Orpheus’ network like a deadly water moccasin. A rush of elation swept through her when she realized the upload was complete. She had done it. The third ploy, and Suya’s ultimate purpose, had come to fruition.

Suya blinked, then took a deep breath when consciousness returned. She released her hand from the console, only to be swayed by a dizzy spell. I can’t believe I’m so tired, she thought. The automatic lay once again in her hand, for before her lay uncharted territory. It was difficult to surmise if Orpheus were going to detect the virus and counteract it. Stumbling away, she began the trek back to Fireball.

It was unnaturally quiet. Where before, the power and energy of the fortress had strummed her body like the hands of an expert musician, only silence now grew. Suya began to run.

Two minutes into her escape, the lights went out. She crashed into something heavy and sharp. A fleeting sound, like a derisive snicker, passed through the eerie gloom. She twisted and tripped, but with a strategic placement of limbs, resumed her stride in a manner hardly less deft than a feline. A sharp pain seared a path across her upper right arm. Suya merely clenched her teeth and continued on.

EDF Commander Todo Daijiro sighed, a hand cupping his forehead in his darkened office one late evening during the third week of Earth’s capture. This was his fourth campaign of war since assuming command of EDF over two decades ago, but he felt so useless, as there was little to do. The Council only wasted its time with endless bickering and infighting, their voices a tiresome echo in his mind. There was immense pressure to find a solution, but it meant trying to fight an enemy that they could not even see. Todo felt sorely burdened, and infinitely vulnerable. He lamented the loss of his uncle, the great Todo Heikuro (but that story happened long ago, in another time, and does not enter into this tale).

Daijiro was wondering wryly if his dark hair were going to turn even more gray (as if anyone would notice in the near-constant darkness), when, like a blazing sunrise, everything that required power surged suddenly to life. His computer chirped and was restored to its usual functioning in nearly an instant. Todo rushed to the window and looked out. Lights flared across the city with a brilliance that seemed twice as strong after the long outage. Todo half-grinned with relief. Yamato, he thought, might you have anything to do with this?

Personnel began streaming into his office. They shouted reports at him, at times talking over one another. Todo absorbed it all in stride, sifting through the various data and deciding on priorities. First, a call to arms. Todo left his office and headed for the command center. He intended to mobilize each and every fleet. A deafening clamor of voices reached his ears as he neared. Upon arriving, he saw the great, wonderful image of Yamato filling the main screen. Long range scanners detected a gigantic fortress hovering above the planet. Despite the still looming threat, a long time passed before the whistles and cheers would die down.

Todo assumed his post but did not sit down. He motioned to one of the many officers that flanked him. His voice was confident, determined. "Get me Kodai Susumu," he said.

Back on Yamato’s bridge, the crew quietly rejoiced as they determined that the ironclad hold of Orpheus over Earth was no more. Like a deluge of fire ants, the EDF fleets rose up from the planet. They quickly swarmed over the remaining Vorilhon ships, consuming them with a gleeful vengeance.

Kylie stiffened as she was monitoring satellite communications. Then she squealed. "We’re getting a signal from Suya!"

Kodai sprinted over to her station. "What is it? What’s she saying?"

With meticulous precision, Kylie tapped at her console, and opened the link. "Go ahead," she told the combat chief.

"Suya!" he cried. "Where are you?"

"Kodai? I’m powering up. Eurydice has been uploaded, but Orpheus is trying to compensate. Are you ready to fire?"

Darling, thank goodness you’re okay! Mamoru thought. "Just signal us when you’re out, then we’ll fire."

They could hear cursing, and a groan. "Didn’t you hear a word I’ve said? We have a very narrow window here. Orpheus might discover the virus. Fire the Wave Motion Gun, Kodai. Do it now! Suya out!"

A strangled cry issued from Mamoru’s throat. "Suya! Damn it! Kylie, get her back!"

Balaji stood up and ran over. "She’s right, Kodai! We have to fire now, or risk missing the opportunity she gave us."

"Sit down, man, and let’s do it!" Tanaka added. "Uchira! Get me the coordinates!"

Mamoru gave them a baleful look, but knew they were right. Earth is depending on us, he thought. Get it together! But a nagging fear gripped him. If they fired too soon…he immediately dismissed the thought, and resumed his post to initiate the firing sequence.

Mamoru enacted the procedure in a deliberately slow fashion, drawing it out a good ten minutes longer than he needed to. "Target scope open!" he announced, and then paused. His stomach felt abnormally tense, and his eyes strayed out the observation window to the foreboding citadel. Just a few more seconds, he thought. Hurry, Suya!

"What are you waiting for?" Cedro said loudly, jolting Mamoru out of his reverie.

"We’re in range!"

Mamoru started to pull his fingers away from the trigger. He looked over at Cedro with a tearful gaze. "I don’t know if I can do this. It might kill her!" he said.

Tanaka went over and cuffed Mamoru on the head. "A lot more people are going to die if you don’t fire it now! Are you that selfish? Do you need me to step in?" Tanaka scowled at him, nostrils flaring.

"Please, Kodai, just fire the gun," said Jun.

A cold, clammy feeling washed over him. "Fine," he said dully, shoulders sinking as he squared them forward. "Begin countdown."

"Finally!" Cedro muttered. "Standing by to fire. Here are the coordinates...again!" he said, and reeled them off.

Tanaka resumed his seat, keeping a wary eye on Mamoru. The observation windows dimmed.

"Charging sequence in effect," reported Tokugawa. "Firing level at one-hundred twenty percent."

The crew could barely hear Mamoru telling them to assume brace positions. He was moving through the countdown like a zombie. The target scope was a blur to him.

"Three…two…oh god, Suya, please be all right…one. FIRE!"

Mamoru slumped back in his seat. The others leaned forward or stood up, eyes cast fervently toward the video panel.

Yamato’s blast sunk into Orpheus like the lash of a tyrant’s whip. Fierce waves of energy sucked and drank at every inch, causing the citadel to fold in on itself like a deck of cards.

"I hope it’s not too close to the planet!" Uchira said.

From Earth, Orpheus blazed in the sky like a second sun.

And then, everything cleared. Where Orpheus had recently hovered, enfolding Earth with its invisible chains, nothing existed to betray it had ever come. Every communications grid started to jam heavily with signals as news of the planet’s liberation spread. Spontaneous celebrations broke out worldwide, and many a relieved tear was shed. Some unknown communications officer opened all the frequencies he could, feeding a signal of cheers that were picked up by all of the ships.

Cheers broke out throughout Yamato to echo those on the planet below. Stations were momentarily forgotten as the crew yodeled their joy, or collapsed against each other in relief. In sickbay, Dr. Akisada had dusted off a few bottles of sake he had found, and was pouring out rounds for his medics. His cheeks were nearly as red as his scarf.

On the bridge, the crew stood around talking excitedly, or in Jun’s case, jumping up and down, clapping her hands in glee. Kylie ran over to Tanaka and slid her arms around his neck. He smiled, and gave her hand a squeeze.

Next to them, Mamoru stared sullenly ahead. "Kylie, can you open all channels?" he asked.

"Sure," she responded gaily, and lingered to sneak a kiss on the navigator’s cheek.

Her procrastination moved Mamoru to anger. "I didn’t ask you to do it tomorrow, Cadet!" he yelled. "Get over there now!"

Kylie frowned. "Yessir, right away!" She scooted back to her station. "Done!" she announced. "You’ll hear Suya the minute she opens her mouth."

Tanaka looked at Mamoru with concern. "Pull yourself together, Kodai. I’ll bet she had to give the detonation a wide berth before returning. I’m sure she’s on her way."

Mamoru’s right hand only gripped the armrest more tightly. He pushed the knuckles of his left hand into his mouth, but it was still not enough to stop the tears from falling. They soaked his eyelashes and cheeks. "What if I killed her?" was his muffled response. His bloodshot eyes stared fearfully ahead.

"I don’t think you—" Tanaka began, but stopped. Shit, what if he’s right? What if she was caught in the blast? He laid a hand on Mamoru’s shoulder, though it felt awkward.

Thirty minutes passed, then forty. Mamoru squirmed in his seat, and tried his best not to burst into sobs. Jun patiently fielded his inquiries about Suya’s possible whereabouts. However bittersweet the moment was for him, he was aware that the crew was thinking of their achievement as a great success. Their excited chatter faded into silence behind him. He wondered briefly when Command would be able to contact them.

The lift doors swung open and closed, as it had frequently with the passing of various crew since Orpheus was destroyed. Suddenly, Jun started to clap again, and the others soon followed suit.

Good grief, Mamoru thought in disgust, what is it now?

Cheers and whistles accompanied the clapping, forcing him to consider giving the newcomer some kind of acknowledgement. With great effort, Mamoru turned around to look.

Suya was staring straight at him. A tired, but impish grin appeared on her face when their eyes met. Mamoru nearly tripped as he left his chair, and croaked out her name. He ran and threw his arms around her.

"Took you long enough to fire the thing," she murmured into his ear.

Mamoru held her tightly. His eyes were screwed shut as he pressed his cheek against her hair. "I wanted to give you enough time."

Suya rubbed his lower back with a hand. "I know," she said. "It helped!"

When they pulled apart, Mamoru happened to glance down. Her right shoulder was soaked with blood. "You’re wounded!"

She shrugged. "Just a scratch."

"Well, go down to sickbay and get it looked at. I’ll let Akisada know you’re coming."

They exchanged one more gaze before Suya turned to leave. The crew gathered around Mamoru, slapping his back in congratulations, and teasing him about the overt display of affection. Uchira was making kissing noises.

During the melee, Cedro’s eye caught some activity on the communications console. "Hey, Kylie! You’re beeping!"

"Eh?" She quickly sat down and donned her headset. "Quiet down, everyone! We’re being hailed by the Yukizake II!"

Mamoru turned around where he stood as the others scrambled back to their stations. "Switch on the video."

"Roger! Yukizake II, this is Yamato. Come in, Yukizake. We have a visual—oh!" Kylie had turned to look at the screen, and her lower lip trembled.

Aihara appeared, hurriedly scanning the bridge until his eyes locked onto his daughter. "Kylie! It’s me! Are you all right?"

Kylie nodded, her eyes dewy with tears. "Dad!" she began, but quickly choked up.

Any response wouldn’t have mattered; at that point, Aihara was pushed brusquely aside, and Kodai Susumu appeared on the screen. Yuki edged into view beside him. Her eyes found Mamoru, and she averted her head to wipe delicately at her tears.

A twitch of an eyebrow barely revealed Kodai’s sense of relief. "I see you’re all safe. And…Yamato is safe." A modest smile graced his features, but then he frowned. "Where is Captain Hachinoko?"

"She died, Da…sir." Mamoru exchanged a glance with Tanaka, and turned back to the screen. "It’s a long story, and we have a lot to report."

Kodai nodded. "Least of all how you defeated that fortress! A lot of worried family members are waiting for all of you right now. I’d like to come aboard and assess the situation. Command wants a report, and we shouldn’t keep them—"

Kodai’s image abruptly faded. Mamoru turned to his left.

"Kylie, can you— "

"I’m on it!" She huddled over her console. "Must be some interference from the explosion," she added.

Down in sickbay, a medic was putting the final touches on the bandage around Suya’s arm, when the lights went out. They flickered, then came on again.

"What was that?" someone asked.

Seated at his station, Dr. Akisada looked around. "Engine trouble?" He shrugged, and turned back to his monitor. When he touched the keyboard, an electric bolt hurled toward his torso. The force of it stunned him, and he dropped to the floor.

"Doctor!"

"Are you all right?"

A flurry of medics scrambled to his side, and they eased him back into the chair, steering clear of the monitor. The medic working on Suya rushed to his aid, leaving her to secure the rest of the bandage herself. Akisada blinked, and tried to wave the others away, but they overrode his protests with prompt medical interventions.

Apparently, none of them had noticed that some of the consoles seemed to be operating in a decidedly sporadic fashion. But Suya made a note of it, and with a wary stride, she left the room.

Her eyes darted back and forth as she entered the corridor leading from sickbay. Heavy shouting assailed her ears, and it was followed by the boom boom sound of something crashing together. Suya jumped as the sound repeated itself much closer to her vicinity, and then a bulkhead door slid noisily shut behind her. Dashing forward, she suddenly found herself caught in a game of dodge as more of them opened and shut randomly across her path. Wide-eyed crew members ran past her in terror, or looking confused, or angry as they, too, attempted to navigate the sudden new obstacle.

I’ve got to get to the bridge, Suya thought. Something about the chaos felt familiar to her. She took an open lift up to the next deck.

Suya had passed through two more when a compelling scene caught her eyes. She jumped onto the deck, three now below the main bridge. The corridor was a teaming mess of men, women, and all manner of debris. A group of people were clustered at a nearby bulkhead door, straining with all of their might to open it. Suya ran toward them to help, then stopped short. The doors had not quite shut, for the reason that two men had been ensnared by the thick, wide teeth. One was dead, his torso severed from the lower half of his body, which lay somewhere on the other side. But the second man was still alive, one arm crushed into slivers, the other clutching tightly the shoulder of one of his would-be rescuers. A pool of blood had formed on the floor, causing the crew to slip and slide as they strained against the bulkhead door. The air smelled rank, and was unbelievably stuffy.

"Can you help us out here?" shouted a burly female. She moved slightly, and motioned for Suya to join her.

Despite her exhausted state, Suya still retained twice the strength of the strongest man there. Placing her left arm above her right against one side, she began to push upon hearing the order of the lead crew member coordinating the rescue. Her feet began to slip; she gritted her teeth and pushed harder. A cacophony of grunts, curses and exhalations of breath filled the air. Someone’s boot landed on Suya’s foot, causing a jolt of pain, but it gave her the anchor she needed. The adrenaline it generated helped her to push harder.

And then, with an abrupt yank, the doors slid open, and the trapped bodies were pulled aside. Suya disappeared from the scene almost instantly in order to resume her trek.

On the main bridge, the crew waited patiently for the link to be restored, but a sense of unease began to percolate inside them.

"Navigation’s out," Tanaka announced shrilly. He watched in dismay as the controls began to move of their own accord. Mamoru and Uchira went over to help investigate. As one, they tried to prevent the mysterious change of course.

An earsplitting burst of music suddenly emanated from all of the speakers. But the notes were playing in an eerie, distorted fashion. The tempo periodically sped up, and then without warning, slowed back down.

Mamoru turned around, looking as though he were about to spit fire. "Knock it off, Kylie, this isn’t the time!"

"I’m not doing anything!" she said hotly, her hands raised a healthy distance from the console.

Tanaka glared at him. "Kodai, back off! She’s doing the best she can. How dare you assume—"

"I’ll assume whatever I want! I don’t care if she’s your girlfriend; I’m in charge here!" Mamoru stomped over to Communications. He had to yell to be heard over the discordant noise. "I told you to shut if off! What did they teach you in the Academy, anyway?"

"Kodai, don’t be an ass!" Jun interjected.

Ignoring her, he pushed Kylie aside and started hitting keys. Tanaka appeared behind him. Seizing Mamoru’s arms in a tight grip, he plucked him away from the console. The pair tussled combatively, the jaunty notes of the music a somber counterpoint to their struggle. A full minute ticked by before the others could yank them apart. When their quarrel had dissipated to nothing but hostile stares, the music abruptly ended. Hardly a moment had passed when the crew heard the swell of a deep, low rumbling. It built slowly, and then receded, filling their heads like the brewing of a distant mountain storm. The lights from the consoles dropped to a weak yield, casting much of the bridge into murky shadow. Instinctively, the crew drew closer together in a rough circle, eyes darting uneasily about the bridge.

A rich, deep laughter arose to stroke uncomfortably at their ears. Mamoru looked around pointedly at the other crew, trying to catch the culprit. Kylie pressed herself against Tanaka, and wrapped her hands around his right arm. The derisive, smirking cackle sounded neither male nor female. It soared to a horrifying pitch before evaporating like smoke into the recesses of the ship.

Balaji was working madly at his station. "Nothing’s responding!" he shouted, his words sounding flat in the stuffy, inert atmosphere. "I think we’re down!"

"Well, something’s happening!" Cedro countered. "Look, the ship’s moving!"

All heads snapped forward to the observation windows. Yamato was changing course. In a short while, her bow faced the Earth in a deferent pose, as a subject might to her king. The crew exchanged perplexed expressions.

The lift doors flew open. Suya ran forward, along with some other crew who had come to make reports in person due to the lack of shipboard communication. Suya nearly knocked Mamoru over with the force of her arrival.

"I need to talk to you," she said. Latching on to his sleeve, she pulled him close. Her eyes brimmed with dread.

"What is it?" Mamoru asked.

"Orpheus is here. It’s in Yamato!"

He blanched. "What?"

"Yamato is possessed! I think Orpheus was some kind of sentient being. Somehow it must have transmitted after we destroyed it. It’s taken over the ship!"

Mamoru stared at her in shock. "You can’t be serious!"

Someone shouted. Mamoru and Suya turned around.

Tanaka was staring at them with a look of subjugation. He nodded over to Mamoru’s console. "Someone’s getting ready to fire the Wave Motion Gun."

Mamoru shouted at Kylie to raise Tokugawa in the engine room.

"Communication is still out," she tersely reminded him.

Mamoru swore, and then grabbed one of the crew that was milling curiously about the bridge. He gave her a message for Tokugawa, instructing him to shut down the engine and other non-vital systems immediately, and sent her away. Suya joined Mamoru at his station as he tried to prevent the start of the firing sequence. Still, the target scope emerged. Mamoru pushed down on it in vain. Tanaka and Uchira made a final attempt to change course, but to no avail. The controls refused to respond.

Mamoru whipped out his automatic, and fired off a few rounds at his console, to no effect.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Mamoru cried, and kicked at the smoking bits.

Paralyzed with fear, the crew watched as a bolt of energy discharged from the barrel of the Wave Motion Gun.

It hurtled straight to Earth.

And led a charge, unchallenged, to a point in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Appalled, the crew looked on, with mouths agape or teeth clenched. More than a few faces paled at the sickening event. Cedro dropped to the floor, and covered his head in shame. The rest of them could just barely see the aftershock of the impact, a faint wash of radiance spreading outward.

Jun started to cry, her wail breaking the spell like a stone through glass. A kind word from Balaji did little to soothe her. Suya stood staring at Mamoru in earnest. She sympathized with the crew’s plight, but didn’t know how to express it. Tanaka had pulled Uchira into a huddle, and they argued vehemently over what course of action to take next.

Crew began to spill onto the bridge in droves, demanding to know why the Wave Motion Gun had been fired. Mamoru looked helplessly around at the shouting, worried faces, lamenting the fact that the situation had spun so quickly out of his control.

"I know, I know! Tell me something I don’t know!" Tokugawa cried, and pushed the messenger away. He continued to dart from station to station. Seven of his engine crew had already been injured, or killed by freak accidents in the last twenty minutes. It was all happening so fast. One minute he had been looking forward to his wife’s home cooking, and the next, he was looking into the bruised, bloody face of a dead cadet, crushed by a steel rod that had somehow broken loose from its bearings.

Tokugawa shouted out for the crew to shut down the engine. He saw to the main control himself, but it refused to budge. Perplexed, Tokugawa looked around him, the engine room now locked in the frenzy of a carnival fun house gone awry.

"Damn it! It’s like she’s fighting us every step of the way!" He sighed, and again attempted to stop the powering of the Wave Motion Gun. I’d give anything for a piece of your wisdom now, Dad, he thought.

Back at her post, Kylie stomped her foot in frustration. Despite every procedure she tried, her console simply refused to function. Ship to ship communication was impossible, and she had to find a way to fix it. Her mind raced through all of the possible solutions. She mentally ticked off the procedures from training, and the tricks she had learned from her father. Then it hit her. Kylie recalled that she had stored her father’s mobile communications unit in one of the compartments under her console. She dropped to her knees and opened the panel. "Oh, where did you get to, you old rapscallion?" She extended her arm in as far as it would go.

Mamoru had finally redirected the wayward crewmembers off of the bridge, sending them on reconnaissance throughout the ship for any damage reports. The last person had barely left when he had to help the others deal with fires and shorted circuits at Balaji’s and Uchira’s stations. During their efforts, a heart-rending scream broke through the air and made them jump. They saw Kylie thrashing around on the floor.

"Help me!" she cried. "Something has my arm!" She wailed loudly in pain. When the others reached her, they saw that a cable had wound itself tightly around her left arm. She was being yanked into the compartment opening, but was too big to fit through. Her head collided with the console more than once. Four pairs of hands reached down to rescue her.

The cable bit even deeper. Her hand turned a light shade of blue, but she refused to release the unit. More cables snaked out, some with exposed wires. Tanaka and Mamoru were the closest, and had to duck repeatedly to avoid being ensnared or burned by the live ends.

"What the hell is this?" Cedro exclaimed as he tried to reach her.

Tanaka had grabbed Kylie by the waist, and was trying to separate her using sheer force. Her face was pale, and she was perspiring. "Ow," she whimpered.

Mamoru tried to unwind the cable from her arm, with little success. He roared for a cutting instrument. Cedro leapt away, and soon returned with some wire cutters supplied by Balaji. With some effort, he cut through the cable, and Kylie broke free. She held fast to the communications unit as Tanaka and the others dragged her to the center of the bridge. Malevolent strips of cable snapped at their heels before suddenly falling lifeless again. The crew looked back with petrified expressions.

"Kylie!" Tanaka said, and reached out to examine her. The sleeve was torn, and soiled with dirt and blood. Her arm was bent at an odd angle, as if it were broken.

But she pushed him away. With grim determination, Kylie knelt, and flipped open the unit with her good hand. She began to power it up. When Tanaka protested, she shook her head vehemently.

"Let me do my job!" she cried. Her left arm hung uselessly by her side, but she soon had the unit ready to transmit. She struggled briefly with the headset before announcing she was ready, and waited expectantly.

"Raise the Yukizake," Mamoru told her, quiet admiration filling his voice.

"Come in, Yukizake…this is Yamato. Please come in," she ended in a hoarse whisper.

The unit hummed for a moment. The screen sprang to life, and Kodai’s image appeared. Anger and distress fought for supremacy on his face.

"Kylie! What’s going on there? Where’s Mamoru?"

"I’m right here," Mamoru said, and scooted closer to the screen. By now, the entire bridge crew had clustered around them.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you fire the Wave Motion Gun?"

Mamoru winced. "Sir, it wasn’t us! Yamato is out of our control. The instruments stopped responding twenty minutes ago."

"What? That can’t be possible. How did you lose control?"

"Yamato’s computer system was invaded by some kind of being, or virus. Suya said that Orpheus must have transmitted itself right before we destroyed it."

"Suya? Who’s that?"

Mamoru gritted his teeth. "I’ll introduce you later. We have to find a way to stop this!"

Kodai paused suddenly, and turned his head. He was listening to a report. Turning back to the screen, he said, "Never mind that. Evacuate the ship at once. Our readings show another energy build up. Yamato must be preparing to fire again."

Mamoru looked at the navigator. "Tanaka! See what you can do."

Tanaka nodded, and ran over to his station. He was met with a shower of sparks as yet another part of the console seemingly short-circuited.

"No, Mamoru!" Kodai was saying. "If this keeps up, Yamato will destroy Earth! Get yourselves out of there!" His shoulders slumped, and he closed his eyes in defeat. "We have to take her out."

"What? No, Dad, you can’t! It’s not…you can’t…" Mamoru stopped, at a loss for words.

He felt someone grip his shoulder. It was Suya. She bent down, and put her lips to his ear.

"Evacuate the ship, Kodai. I’ll go to the main computer and drive it out. Give me thirty minutes!"

She sprang away, the lift doors closing swiftly behind her.

Dismayed, Mamoru called after her. "Suya! Wait, don’t—damn it!" He took a deep breath to compose himself, then turned back to his father. "Sir, we’re taking thirty minutes to try and fix this. The crew will evacuate as ordered, but Suya and I are staying."

Kodai opened his mouth to protest, but he had been grasping at straws, and was relieved with any possibility that Yamato could be spared. "Do it. You have thirty minutes, effective immediately. If there’s no word from you by then, we launch a counter attack."

His image faded. Mamoru sighed; he had fully expected his father to oppose him at every juncture. He began to rouse and push everyone toward the elevator doors. They refused to budge, even Kylie, who had lapsed weakly into Tanaka’s arms. Mamoru smiled sympathetically while meeting each gaze.

"I know what you’re thinking. But the crew is in too much danger. We saw what happened in the last half hour. Let’s minimize the casualties while we can."

It nearly turned into a staring contest; Mamoru chuckled. "I swear, I don’t have any sort of a death wish! If Yamato can’t be saved, then you’ll see me again soon."

"Swear on your mother!" Cedro commanded.

Mamoru held up a hand. "I swear on my mother. Come on, guys! Suya actually might be able to do this. But the crew needs your leadership right now. Lead them to safety for me." He looked at Tanaka, and nodded.

The navigator reached out to shake Mamoru’s hand, and then walked past him with Kylie. The rest began to follow suit. Jun gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and turned away before he could notice her tears. Mamoru watched them exit, then turned back to secure the bridge. There wasn’t much he could do, however, so he stopped to watch helplessly as another barrage emitted from the Wave Motion Gun. However, just as the beam issued from the muzzle, one of the war ships escorting the Yukizake suddenly launched itself into the path of the discharge. It was destroyed instantaneously, and the beam continued on to pummel one of the northern continents (he would later learn that millions of people had died as a result). Then Mamoru noticed that the navigation controls were moving again. It’s probably looking for another target, he thought. Maybe this will buy us some time.

A moment later, he took the elevator below deck, and made his way to the main computer room. The corridors were eerily quiet. Mamoru hoped the evacuation was complete. Crew had rigged multiple blockades to keep the bulkhead doors from closing, but they seemed to have quieted down now. Mamoru hurried on, anxious both for his own safety, and Suya’s. Who knows what this thing thinks we’re up to!

Mamoru found her sitting at Norihiko’s station. He ran up to her and stopped. The detached expression on her face unnerved him. Her pupils were fully dilated, and he thought he detected something moving across them. Suya sat very still, and her left hand, bare, was pressed against the hard drive. Mamoru looked at the time. Twenty minutes left. He thought it best not to disturb her, so he backed slowly away.

A noise drew his attention to one of the entrances. Everyone better be out, he thought as he jogged over. Poking his head out into the corridor, he stared keenly about him. There was no one there. When he turned back around, his stomach seemed to leap into his throat.

Trudging forward with a laborious, mechanized gait, some kind of crudely hewn robot was heading straight toward Suya.

Mamoru cursed, and sprinted over to it. He stared with morbid curiosity as he neared. It was more like a skeleton robot, as the outer panels were missing, or had not been installed. He could see parts spinning, and many of the joints looked freshly soldered. Mamoru raised his automatic, and spoke in a booming voice.

"Stop! Don’t go any closer!"

The robot ignored him. Its rod of an arm extended forward. Mamoru took aim, and fired. The blast stopped the robot in its tracks, and parts crumbled to the floor like ancient parchment. In a fit of anger, Mamoru kicked them back. Swiveling his head back and forth, he began to assess the vulnerability of the room. There were two entrances, approximately fifteen meters apart. He would have to secure them both.

A dull clanking sound reached his ears. Two more robots appeared. Like the first, they had the barest of mechanized forms, but these moved faster. Mamoru destroyed them with little effort. What’s powering them? he wondered. Where are they coming from? Then a harrowing thought hit him. The replicator! Whatever had control of Yamato might be creating its own army out of whatever material it could find. Which would explain the robots’ haphazard appearances. Mamoru squelched down his panic. He hated to think about what else was on its way. You’d better secure this place, and fast! He ran from the room.

With an uncharacteristic holler, Suya shouted at the computer technicians to evacuate the ship. Norihiko she had to physically push out, reiterating over and over that it was a direct order from Kodai Susumu. She watched only long enough for the last few to leave the room, and then sat down to steady herself for the interface. She had no idea what to expect.

Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on one of the hard drives. It tingled almost to the point of pain, which was unusual. Suya ignored it as she let her network connect.

At once, she could tell the difference from the first time she had done this. Yamato’s matrix had changed in character. Orpheus was definitely present. She knew because of the thick, gruesome darkness that filled her mind. There was anger here, and a strong need. For what, she couldn’t tell. Suya decided to cast the encounter against a background she knew fairly well: Yamato itself.

She found herself in the hangar, one of the few places that were about as far from the main computer room as she could get. She muttered a curse, because a lot could happen while she tried to make her way back. Orpheus was obviously one step ahead of her, and it would have access to some of her own data. Suya drew her weapon and ran for the door.

Immediately she had to step back a few paces. The largest soldier she had ever seen marched toward her from beyond the hangar entrance. Suya strained to see his face, but it lay obscured in shadow. He had the height of a mythical giant. His body bore so many weapons that it was as if he were his own arsenal.

Suya didn’t wait for a how-do-you-do; she fired off multiple rounds of laser fire upward, but it only seemed to bounce from his thick armor. Suya thought she heard laughter. Her face had barely lapsed into a scowl, when a burst of firepower leaped from both muzzles of the guns gracing the giant soldier’s hands. Suya jumped and dove behind one of the planes. Peeking out, she saw a missile discharge from the launcher attached to his shoulder. She heard the sting of cracking metal as another barrage landed against the plane’s hull. That’s it! Suya thought. The plane!

But she would not attempt to board the one she hid behind. There was a Black Tiger to her left. Before her hiding place burst into dust, Suya ran, jumped up, then rolled on the floor to reach it, deftly maneuvering past the bullets and laser fire that rained down upon her. She scrambled into the cockpit and began to power it up. But she was too slow in lowering the hatch; one of the bolts buried itself into her skin, painfully scorching her back. Suya scolded herself with a reminder to be more careful. She couldn’t actually "die" here, but if enough of her was injured, she would suffer significant brain damage. The hatch finally closed, she taxied the plane around, and then steered it up into the air, as high as she could above the towering soldier.

A grim face-off began. Suya fired rounds as fast as she could. Her hand struggled to keep the fighter at the steepest angle possible, so as to give the soldier the least amount of target. They pummeled each other mightily with barrage after barrage, turning the hangar into a smoking, blistering inferno. Despite the chunks of metal that were constantly blown off or incinerated, Suya kept up the momentum. Then there was an unexpected crash. The soldier’s head and upper torso appeared in the billowing smoke just fore of the nose cone. Suya gasped, and pulled on the throttle to inch backwards, while simultaneously launching a fresh set of missiles. But there had been something odd about his face. Suya realized after a moment that his eyes were closed; perhaps he had been damaged enough, and was starting to fall forward.

Abruptly, the plane sunk like an anchor to the deck. The hatch cracked, and the hulking body of the soldier landed astride the plane as it made contact with the floor. Shit! That’s exactly what happened! Suya nearly tore her way out of the cockpit, and leapt to one side.

She landed into a roll before jumping to her feet. Panting heavily, she aimed her automatic forward at the prone form. When enough smoke cleared, she saw that the missiles had ripped a gaping hole in his side. Part of the plane had caught fire, and now the giant soldier’s blood sizzled and boiled as it spewed toward the hot metal.

Without a second glance, Suya sped toward the door. But there was someone there. The silhouette of a woman. Suya raised her weapon and edged slowly forward. "Move, or I’ll fire!" she cried.

The woman merely held a finger to her lips for silence. Suya was momentarily distracted, and lowered her weapon slightly. She began to walk forward at a quicker pace. An odd sensation nudged at her. There was something familiar about this strange—Momma! Suya’s eyes widened to the point of aching. Her mother…here?! Impossible, she thought. But, the woman resembled her in every way, from her own long, dark locks of hair to her blue eyes, a few shades lighter than her daughter’s. Like Suya, she was tall, with long, graceful limbs. She was dressed in the same outfit in which she had died: A belted, nondescript light brown dress ending at the knees, and an oversized knitted beige sweater. She seemed infinitely fragile. Suya shook her head to clear the cobwebs. Of course it wasn’t her mother; it was only a semblance of her. But whether she belonged to Orpheus, or to her own mind, Suya had difficulty determining.
However, she made no move to attack. Instead, she motioned for Suya to follow her, and began to walk in the opposite direction. Suya wondered that she turned her back so boldly on an armed soldier. Suya had the distinct feeling she could trust her, so she followed.

Her "mother" led her on a circuitous route, sometimes crawling a short distance through a vent, at other times doubling back before resuming a path in the general direction of the main computer room. She seemed to be avoiding the main corridors as much as possible. Suya was greatly puzzled by this, and at one point turned completely around, because the woman was heading in the opposite direction from where she wanted to go.

"That’s not the way!" Suya whispered fiercely (and wondered why she was whispering). But she stopped short, for her mother suddenly appeared ahead of her, slowly shaking her head. Suya watched her glide past as she once again took the lead, feeling a mixture of apprehension and fascination. Reluctantly, she decided to trudge on behind her a few minutes more. Suya prayed she wasn’t being led around in endless circles. This could easily be a trick of Orpheus’. "If we’re not there in ten minutes," she began, but her mother’s stern expression silenced her.

At last, they reached the corridor leading to their destination. They were roughly twenty or so meters away. Suya nearly bumped into her mother when she unexpectedly stopped. Suya thought she looked confused, as she turned her head this way and that. Her head cocked to one side, as if she were listening for something.

Momentarily, she signaled her daughter on, and they passed under another bulkhead. Suya was only a few steps behind her when she grabbed by a large, slimy black tentacle that appeared and snaked around her neck. It yanked her back, squeezing her so hard that she couldn’t breathe. Swiftly, Suya accessed a file that would put a dagger in her hand. She hacked the tentacle in two before nearly passing out.

But five and six more came and wrapped themselves tightly around her arms and legs. She was lifted into the air. Suya struggled violently to escape, and held out brief hope that her mother would come and help defend her. But she was nowhere to be seen.

What the hell is this thing? Suya wondered, and was soon answered. It seemed like hundreds of the wiry, thick tentacles surrounded her. Some of them bore dangerously sharp hooks and claws on their tips. One of them sunk into her thigh, and she cried out wildly in pain.

They were turning her around. Soon, she was peering into the red, dripping maw of some gigantic creature that stretched from wall to wall, and floor to ceiling, filling the corridor, framing it as would the bulkhead. The gullet (apparently all that it was), a reeking, gray-fanged orifice, seemed to want nothing more than Suya between its jaws. They drew open and closed with a great sucking sound, snapping ever harder as its tentacles brought her closer.

Suya was about as close as she cared to get. Willing her left arm into a flame thrower, she let loose a scalding torrent of fire. It was awkward at first, as her arm was at an odd angle, and at first merely scorched a portion of the deck below. But soon the stream of sweltering heat set the monster ablaze. For a moment she was in a far more precarious position. The creature had begun to wail and shake, and Suya’s head snapped back and forth as she was rattled about. She couldn’t aim the flame thrower with as much precision as she would like, and had to trust in random hits.

Suya was about to rethink her strategy when she was tossed vehemently away. A streaming bolt of fire still issued from the muzzle as she sailed through the air. Landing with a rough bounce, Suya cursed, and crawled backwards as fast as she could. When she had recovered enough to stand, she bolted back towards the creature and blasted it with three more rounds. Soon, only black, charred remains were left. Some hung in long, smelly strands that dropped with loud hisses to the floor.

There was a motion to Suya’s right; it was her mother again, heading closer to the computer chamber. Suya reverted her arm back, and took off down the corridor after her.

Upon arriving, Suya did a brief security sweep. There was no one else there (including strange creatures). After a moment, Suya found herself stumped. What, exactly, was she supposed to do? Would Orpheus appear to meet her, perhaps for a duel? Or was it lurking in one of the consoles? Should she blow the whole place to pieces? A glimmer of fear passed across her mind. Damn it!

Suya went to the database systems complex. It was where Yohei had found her. She thought she ought to try shutting it down. But her mother was there, standing before it.

"Tell me what to do!" Suya said. It was a gamble, but worth a try.

Her mother stood looking at her for a long time. Then, she raised up her right hand. First, she pointed it at Suya. Then, she shifted her thumb and forefinger into the shape of an L. Pointing it to her head, she flexed the thumb as if it were a trigger.

Suya stared at her in shock. "I should kill myself?" she asked in horror.

Her mother shook her head vigorously, and when their eyes met, hers were filled with tears.

Suya’s heart sank. "You want me to kill you," she said.

Her mother nodded.

As best Suya could figure out, her mother’s image stood at the spot where Orpheus lay hidden. At least shooting her wouldn’t be the real thing, but it still felt awful.

Suya was deciding on a weapon when the horrific face of a man appeared out of the console beside her mother. Its skin was a drab olive-green, with dark features that were fixed in a menacing scowl. Then a hand shot out. With breakneck speed, it latched onto Suya’s neck and shoved her against the opposite wall. More of them emerged; Suya counted four more, and they wrapped across her mother to pin her tightly against the complex. Her mother looked terrified. Suya herself felt enraged, and she clawed sharply at the hand that trapped her.

The face—Orpheus—whatever it was, now bristled with a horrible rage. Suya had seen that face before. She knew that temper. A recollection hit her. Oh, god, it can’t be! The face was every bit her late father’s, every crease, the snarling mouth with bared teeth, the volcanic eyes. Suya struggled to escape, but felt paralyzed with fear. How did Orpheus know? This can’t be happening!

The scorning, jeering baritone laugh of a man began. It was at odds with the vicious expression on its face, which was now beginning to lapse into odd contortions, as if the skin were taffy being pulled apart. Suya had to fight to remember that it was not her father, that she was shaping the enemy in the only cloak of evil she knew.

Suya recoiled in terror when his tongue emerged and began to lick the side of her mother’s face. Then his tongue enlarged, and he stuffed it into her mouth. When Suya cried out in protest, the hand holding her clamped against her mouth. She tried to bite it; a vile taste entered her mouth. His eyes rolled wildly in their sockets, now and again eyeing Suya with an arrogant leer.

Her mother was beginning to disappear, sinking like a wraith into the blinking computer array. Somehow, Suya knew she was running out of time. Even if the woman standing there helpless and abused was her mother, in part or in whole, she was inexplicably wrapped up with Orpheus, and he had to be destroyed.

With tears blurring her vision, Suya raised both her arms, and they formed into double barreled machine guns. It was so easy to flick the trigger, and fire generous rounds of ammunition into the macabre couple before her, until nothing more was left of them.

So easy.

Back on the Yukizake II, a startled Yuki felt a searing pain in her side. The knuckles of her hand whitened as she clutched at the edge of the radar console. Oh, no, what’s wrong with me? That hurts! It felt as though she were giving birth to a festoon of scalpels. She doubled over, and fell to her knees.

"Miss Yuki!" Chief Engineer Kazama rushed to her side. He laid a hand on her back as she grunted in pain. "What’s wrong?"

Kodai came round instantly to her other side, peering at her in consternation. "Yuki!"

He found her as stiff as a rock, with an arm pressed to her side like a vise. She gripped him with her other hand, but couldn’t speak through the pain. Her wide eyes stared back at him desperately. Kodai smoothed back hair from her damp, pale skin, and called for a medic.

But shortly, the discomfort began to ease. Panting heavily, Yuki sat back, and leaned against the base of the console. "Belay the order. I’m fine now."

Kodai shook his head. "I’m not taking any chances."

Yuki didn’t argue. Though the pain had dissipated, she still felt unusually tired. "It was probably just a bad cramp," she murmured, but was secretly glad that help was forthcoming. It had been a particularly mystifying experience. I hope it’s nothing serious, she thought.

When Suya came to, she was gasping desperately for breath. As the computer came quietly back online, the room seemed to clear and brighten before her, like the lifting of a morning fog. Suya laughed with relief, though her head throbbed. What a strange journey, she thought. She wondered where everyone was, then suddenly remembered. What time is it? Suya looked at the monitor, and saw that she had only minutes to spare. She used a nearby voice-only transmitter to hail the Yukizake II.

"Yukizake here!" responded Aihara.

"This is Yamato," she said, "relaying the all-clear. The threat has been neutralized. I repeat; the threat has been neutralized!"

She heard clapping and cheering through the channel. "Good job, there, uh, what did you say your name was?"

"I didn’t, and it’s Suya," she told him. "You might want to send some crew back over to assess the damage, but Yamato is secured. Over and out."

"Roger that! Yukizake out."

Suya leaned back in the seat, and stretched. She felt a little groggy, and wouldn’t mind sleeping for at least a week. She couldn’t wait to tell Mamoru about the ordeal. She had hoped he would be the one to receive the call, but she would see him soon enough.

As she rose to leave, Suya stopped short in alarm when she encountered a loose pile of metal rods on the floor. That wasn’t there before, she thought. Drawing her weapon, Suya ran to the nearest door (the other had obviously been heavily barricaded). When it opened, a terrain of carnage assaulted her eyes. A segment of the corridor was knee deep with fragments and wreckage of…everything, it seemed. She could identify dozens of parts used in the ship’s various components. What happened here? And why am I not dead? Her eyes swept across the ruin as she stepped forward, the piles of which increased in size as they neared the main computer room. The air bore an acrid scent, and the pockmarked walls were seared with blast marks. The shock and fear in her system made it feel as though she were moving in slow motion, so she was not as quick in responding when a noise pricked her ears.

Suya drew her gun and whipped around. Her shoulders tensed as she aimed, then abruptly relaxed.

"Kodai!"

Mamoru was leaning against the wall, his feet pinned by vestiges of the robot army. He smiled wanly at her, and lowered his own gun. "I told you we’d make a good team," he said. Dust and grime blackened parts of his face and uniform.

Suya pushed away pieces of metal with her feet and rushed over to him. "Kodai, what are you doing here? Why didn’t you leave?" She anxiously searched his eyes, and wondered why he looked so pale.

"Well," he said in a raspy voice, "we had a little security problem. Seems like Orpheus was doing everything in its power to stop you." Mamoru placed a hand on her shoulder, and leaned heavily onto her. "I think I need a band aid," he said, and tried to smile. But the smile turned into a grimace, and a thick spurt of blood gushed from his mouth. "Maybe two!" he added weakly.

Suya’s eyes darted about as she made the connection. You held them back for me! Then Mamoru fell forward, and collapsed onto her. She struggled to hold him up, but her recent battle had weakened her, and his weight bore her down. They sank to the floor.

"Kodai! What’s wrong? Kodai!"

Suya turned him over, and gasped. Multiple gashes crisscrossed his body; he was losing blood in vigorous bursts from every one of them. Suya experienced a sudden flashback to the Doctors, similarly wounded in their office back on Daedalus. She touched his cheek. It felt clammy, and he was sweating profusely. His eyes had closed. Suya called out his name, and slapped him lightly to keep him awake.

His eyelids fluttered, and his lips moved.

"What?" Suya asked, putting her ear to his mouth.

Mamoru repeated himself. "Sickbay."

Of course! But a wave of emotion suddenly passed over her. Momentarily at a loss, Suya looked helplessly around. She felt reluctant to leave him, but needed something to transport him. Suya didn’t understand the paralyzing fear that acutely seized hold of her heart. Her vision blurred, and she found herself starting to cry. Bending over his body, she planted kisses on his lips and cheeks. When she drew away, the stain of his blood was on her chin. She gazed at him longingly while smoothing his damp hair with her fingers.

"Mamoru," she whispered. A tear dropped onto his cheek, and chased away some of the dirt as it landed.

His breath rattled precipitously. Suya gulped down her fear. Take him there yourself, a voice in her head commanded. Since when do you rely on anything, or anyone else, for help? Since Mamoru! she wanted to cry out, but instead, choked back her tears.

Suya grabbed his arms and pulled him to a sitting position, trying to ignore his moans of pain. She gathered all of her remaining strength, and then reached deeper within for more. Sucking in her breath, she hoisted him on her back, and stood up. Stepping gingerly over the wreckage, she carried him to sickbay.

Shuttles filled wall to wall with crew from the Yukizake II and Yamato burst into the hangar. The assorted crew immediately fanned out to disperse over the ship and begin repairs. Yuki emerged, and headed to sickbay, Akisada at her side. He tugged nervously at his scarf.

"Good grief," Akisada said as they ran. "Look’s like a tornado was rummaging about in here!"

A few minutes later, they reached the main entrance.

"Hang on a minute," Akisada exclaimed. "What’s this?" He bent down, and flicked his middle finger into a pool of dark liquid on the floor. "It’s blood! Fresh…blood."

They hurried inside.

"Someone’s here," said Yuki, following the trail of blood on the floor with her eyes.

They walked into the main clinic. Yuki cried out.

There, on one of the tables, lay her son. A dark-haired young woman was attempting to staunch his gaping torso with bandages and towels. As Yuki approached, she saw that they were soaked with blood.

Suya looked at her with a forlorn expression. "He’s bleeding. I can’t stop the bleeding!"

Yuki rushed forward and pushed her aside. The extent of his injuries briefly overwhelmed her, and she swayed. The bridge…Yukizake…that pain! Gritting her teeth, she squeezed the side of the table to ground herself.

Akisada came to her side and whistled. "I see you’ve been busy!" he remarked.

Yuki barked orders at him, and he went to prepare for the ministrations that would follow. She checked Mamoru’s eyes, his pulse, and began to clear away the sullied bandages. Scores of them dropped to the floor. "Somebody clean this up!" she hollered.

Suya stepped forward to obey, but a few nurses came in at that point, and beat her too it. She retreated to the shadows, and watched.

Akisada came, and pumped Mamoru full of medication. Yuki cooed softly to her son while staff prepped a clean exam table. His eyelids fluttered open, and he spoke.

"Mom!"

"I’m here, Mamoru." She took hold of his hand, and smoothed back a straggling lock of his hair. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, just a bit tired." He tried to contort his mouth into a smile, though the fiery pain of his injuries licked at his every pore. "Mom, did you see her?"

"See who, darling?"

Mamoru tried to look around, but his head felt too heavy. "She was just here. Suya!"

Yuki obliged him with a perfunctory glance around the room. She noticed the person in question standing a respectful distance away. "Nothing to worry about! She’s right here."

Mamoru looked visibly relieved. "I’m going to marry her!" he announced.

Yuki’s features softened. "Well, let’s get the groom cleaned up first. Just relax, now, alright?"

He nodded briefly, and lay still. Yuki left him in the hands of Akisada while she went to change into scrubs. On her way she met Kodai, but gave him only a worried glance before moving on. As news of his injuries spread, some of Yamato’s crew was making their way to sickbay. Bodies hoarded through the door and huddled in corners, eyeing Mamoru with trepidation. Nurses glared at them, annoyed at the disruption their presence caused. The noise and bustle had reached a riotous level, when a booming voice surged through the crowd.

"Eh? What’s this? Haven’t you young half-wits got anything better to do than crowd up my sickbay?"

Sado Sensei pushed himself through the crowd, his cane landing without warning against the leg or arm of several unlucky crew members. His blustery voice exhorted non-essential personnel to leave immediately in no uncertain terms.

Analyzer appeared, and began pushing crew in groups of two and three out of sickbay altogether. The few who resisted had to be tossed out, landing none too softly against the hard surface of the floor.

His task completed, Sado hobbled forward on his cane. "Yuki," he said, "where do you need me?"

She threw him a grateful look, and asked him to start suturing.

"This is quite serious," he muttered, his fingers working deftly despite his age. "Do we know what happened?"

Yuki stayed silent while she worked.

Akisada glanced at her, and then turned his eyes to Sado. "Best I can gather so far, he was protecting her—" and here he gestured with his chin in Suya’s direction "—while she cleared out some problem with the computer. They were the only two who didn’t evacuate. The crew is looking into whatever it was that attacked him."

Sado grunted in response, and continued working.

About an hour later, the three doctors were still laboring to close Mamoru’s many wounds. Some were superficial and easily dressed, but others ran deep. They found puncture wounds in some of his vital organs, and internal bleeding.

Suya watched from her position against the wall. Occasionally, her glance would stray to the elder Kodai, who stood like a statue from a nearby vantage point. Suya wondered if he felt as strong as he looked. A figure shot past him unexpectedly. Suya watched as the young woman ran straight to the table where Mamoru lay.

"I came as soon as I heard! Momma, is he going to be alright?" Miyuki asked, her face painted the color of uncertainty.

"We’re going into surgery now," Yuki responded tersely. "Help us, or stand back, please."

Miyuki rushed off to change. She returned minutes later, and stood to await orders. Mamoru was wheeled into the surgery room, attended by the three doctors and well over a dozen medics. Like a ghost, Suya followed, intending to enter with Kodai, but was prevented at the entrance by a medic. Annoyed, Suya pushed him aside, but he yanked her back. They argued loudly until a withering gaze from Kodai quieted them instantly. He motioned for Suya to join him inside.

The medical staff worked hard and long, and the minutes passed into hours.

Suya felt wired, and stretched thin. She had been standing for a long time now, and had to fight to keep her eyes open. But even without a medical background, and in her hazy state, she could tell something was wrong. They were starting to lose him.

Miyuki was studying the readout, and the first to realize the change. "Irregular heartbeat." She spouted off his vitals, which were weakening.

Yuki spun around to look at the EKG monitor. She called for a defibrillator.

They quickly had him prepped.

"Clear!" Yuki cried, and administered the shock. Mamoru’s chest lifted up with the telltale passage of electrical energy.

There was no change, and his vitals continued to drop. Another shock was delivered. Then a third.

"Momma!" Miyuki cried, thinking the monitor had bewitched her eyes. "Oh, Momma, he’s flatlining!"

Yuki simply called for a higher level.

Miyuki backed away, staring at her brother’s body in horror. Weakened by grief, her knees gave out, and she sank to the floor. Soon she lay prone, sobbing vigorously into the crook of her arm.

Shaking his head, Sado removed his glasses to rub at his eyes. "That’s enough, Yuki. He’s gone. Call it."

"No!" she snarled. "Clear!" Mamoru’s body soared yet again.

Sado motioned to Akisada. "Call it."

Akisada looked at the time, and lowered his eyes. They were heavy with tears. "Oh-four-oh-two."

A shrill, stinging wail emerged like a caterwaul from Yuki’s throat. In a violent fit, she threw down the pads and knocked the surgical instruments from their table. They soared away like birds in flight. Yuki placed her hands on Mamoru’s chest, and began to attempt a manual pumping of his heart.

In his mind, Kodai was telling her to stop, that it was useless; their son had crossed over. More accustomed to loss than she, the finality of the moment had already sunk in. But the words stuck tightly in his throat. Kodai dove forward and held her back, yet it was more like an effort to contain his own ballooning grief. She struggled frantically to escape, but he laid upon her the full power of his strength, and they collapsed into a heap on the floor. He kept her restrained until her fury lapsed into tears. Beating her head against his chest, she moaned loudly, and long. Kodai stared forward, stone-faced and deathly pale.

The grief ricocheted about the room, and rippled out into the rest of sickbay and the adjoining corridors as news of Mamoru’s death began to spread. Tanaka, Kylie, Jun, Cedro, Uchira and Balaji forced their way into the room. Kylie took one look at Mamoru’s body, and immediately dove into Tanaka’s arms to pour out her tears. Jun clamped both hands to her mouth for fear she would scream. The rest stood with shoulders hunched and eyes downcast, beset with sorrow. Sado stared at Mamoru’s face, quietly holding his hand. Sobs echoed about the room in a sort of mournful chorus.

Suya stood in the corner, altogether forgotten. Her stoic demeanor belied the tempest in her heart.

The crying around her faded, and the lights grew dim in her vision.

I was supposed to protect you!

Guilt inundated her like the onslaught of an angry whip.

I’m so sorry! Please don’t leave me!

She disengaged entirely from the turmoil before her.

Momma! Where are you, Momma? Come back!

Within the numbness, the eerie placidity of the storm within her, a searing despair began to grow. It was too familiar, this scene. Another body lay in the trail of corpses behind her. He had only been gone a few moments, but she did not want to miss him any longer.

Suya revived with a start. The panorama of misery lay unchanged before her. Pushing past the others, she ran from the room. She darted to the nearest computer and sat down. Her hand made a loud slap as it landed against the hard drive.

She plunged into the network, and called.

Yamato…Yamato!

A puerile, benevolent laugh echoed in her head. Suya searched after it; it was like trying to capture a summer breeze. A kaleidoscope of color and sound assaulted her senses, confusing her, muddling her concentration.

Yamato, is there a way?

Suya penetrated her thoughts harder. It was difficult, and it felt as though Yamato were everywhere, and nowhere. What Suya wanted would hardly be found in some dusty file. She continued her search, though the dearth of time mercilessly plagued her.

Tell me! Is there a way? She pushed harder, and the strands of her mind spun wildly into the matrix.

There was silence, then

-yes-

Suya would have held her breath, had she needed it there. Then Yamato showed her.

Do it, she thought.

Rapidly, the colors and sounds thinned and vanished; they were replaced with a blinding whiteness. When the brilliance eased, Suya found herself entering the bridge. Illumination from an unknown source shone in through the observation windows, casting everything with an ethereal lightness. Suya stepped forward, and looked about curiously. Even her mind felt light. Suya looked down at herself. Her clothes and hands were the same, but she was no longer injured.

It was the warmest, safest feeling she had ever known in her life. When she took a step, it felt as though her feet were almost gliding. She found herself beside Mamoru’s station.

Though she had expected it, she was still surprised to see him sitting there. His eyes were closed, and the expression on his face was peaceful, contemplative. Suya wanted to cry out at the beauty of it. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

Opening his eyes, he smiled and looked up at her. Incandescent light saturated him, poking through his eyes like the rays of the sun, and then faded as he began to appear more solid. Mamoru stood up, and slid his arms around Suya’s waist. Their lips spoke to each other in a vibrant kiss.

How nice if we could stay this way forever, Suya thought. But an urgent duty propelled her. "They’re waiting for you," she told him.

Mamoru gazed at her through half-lidded eyes. His mouth lingered at her cheeks. "I know." He broke slowly away from their embrace. "Don’t be too long," he said as he turned to leave the bridge.

Suya watched him go, only a twinge of discomfort betraying the separation anxiety (it was difficult to feel pain there, she noticed).

"Suya."

Startled to hear another voice, she turned slowly around. It can’t be!

There, standing near the base of the captain’s station, were the Doctors.

Suya felt strangely electrified by their presence. They seemed to float, more than stand, and the outlines of their forms were hazy. There was something…incomplete about them. Suya gave them a sidelong glance.

"It’s good to see you, my dear!" Doctor Zuran said with a benevolent smile. He shuffled over to the radar console. "Would you like to watch?" he asked, and reached over to turn on the video panel.

After lobbing one more suspicious glance their way, Suya swiveled her head to gaze upward. The three had a view of sickbay as from above.

Miyuki felt devastatingly and utterly drained. She wanted to merge with the floor and disappear. She had wept so hard that her head ached miserably, so she sat up to relieve the pressure. With a heavy heart, she looked around her. People sat huddled in groups of two or three, offering one another what consolation they could muster. Miyuki hated to think about what the funeral would be like. Is there anyone on the planet who won’t be there? she thought. As she wiped at her eyes, a steady beeping cut through the laments of the crew. What is that noise? Miyuki started when the lights abruptly dimmed. Glancing around, she saw the monitors flickering in a rapid, orchestrated pattern.

Then sickbay was plunged into darkness. Some of the crew cried out. Miyuki looked fearfully about, and then a glimmer of blue light caught her eye. Being nearest to Mamoru, she watched as it seeped from the diodes that were still attached to his head and chest. It came and went in an instant. Miyuki blinked, unsure if she had really seen anything.

Without warning, the lights were restored.

Miyuki’s stray glance caught sight of the heart monitor, and she stared at it in disbelief.

"Hey!" she shouted, and scrambled to her feet. "Momma, Papa, look! Hurry, look! He’s not dead, he’s still alive!"

Some of the crew looked at her skeptically, thinking she must have gone batty with grief. Some of the more hopeful medical staff scrambled back to the table.

"It’s true!" Fuchida exclaimed. "Doctor Kodai, come quickly!"

Yuki stood up with a lurch. She walked over to her son, and checked his pulse, though it had already been done. The monitor reflected a steady heartbeat. "It’s a miracle," she whispered. Her vision blurred briefly with tears, though she had thought herself spent.

Yuki wasted no time in resuming the operation. With Miyuki hovering about in an excited state, medical staff laid out a new set of instruments, and in another four hours the three doctors declared that Mamoru was in stable condition. Miyuki and several others wheeled him off to a recovery room.

In a kind of drunken exhaustion, Akisada ambled over to his desk to begin documentation. He was sorry they had imbibed all of the sake earlier, and would have very much liked to see a cup of it in his hand just then. Instead, he encountered Suya seated in his chair, her upper body sprawled across the flat surface like a rag doll.

"Oh, pardon me," he told her, "but Mamoru is recovering nicely now. You can go visit him later, if you like. I know you two are close."

Akisada tapped her shoulder. "Please don’t think me rude, but I need my desk."

He nudged her again, and then stared in mortification as her body slid to the floor. She was (he thought) either very unconscious, or very dead.

"Oh, no," Akisada moaned. "Not you, too!" His voice strained in a roar for more medics.

The screen went blank. Suya wasn’t sure what to think about what had happened to her in sickbay. It was as if this place, or Yamato herself, were gently buffering her emotions. But she had no need for wondering. Mamoru was safe, and that was all that mattered.

Suya sat cross-legged on the floor, and began to talk with the Doctors. They had quite a few questions, and wanted to know what it was like to be inside Orpheus, their silent nemesis for so many years. Suya felt excited to tell them that she had found Eurydice, and had successfully navigated the labyrinthine fortress to effect its destruction. She told them about the state of Daedalus when she had returned there, and of Yamato, and of the friends and enemies she had made. The Doctors listened attentively to her tales. They smiled, or frowned, or clucked in approval at all the right parts. And then, they told her, it was time for them to leave.

"We don’t stay here?" Suya asked.

"No," said Dr. Zuran, exchanging a glance with his wife that Suya found difficult to interpret. "We don’t stay here, and neither do you. Although, for a while there, we weren’t sure."

His wife nudged him in the ribs. An embarrassed glance passed across his face, which he concealed with a sudden need to adjust his glasses.

They all stood.
"Where are we going?" Suya asked.

"Suya, we can’t stay with you any longer. Not right now, at least." Doctor Zuran stroked Suya’s cheek with a touch as light as an airbrush. Her lips formed a radiant smile which brimmed with light. "We’re so proud of you! Aren’t we Doctor?"

Her husband grunted. "Indeed!" Doctor Zuran winked, and his eye twinkled. "Have a pleasant day, Suya, a very pleasant day!"

Suya couldn’t say for sure at what point they disappeared. She was alone, but not for long. The light brightened, and a strange force whisked her away from the ship.

When Suya woke up, the first thing she noticed was the air. It smelled different. There was a freshness to it, one to which she was entirely unaccustomed.

A soft light entered through the slits of her eyes. For a moment, her thoughts remained stuck in a murky haze. With an effort, she drew it aside like one would a curtain. She felt inexplicably exhausted, and her limbs heavy, especially in contrast to her experience with the Doctors. Their encounter now lay far away, in a distant country out of which she had long since traveled.

Suya felt warm, and realized she was buried underneath a sheet and some blankets. She yawned, and rubbed at her eyes. Stale, she thought. I feel really stale. Blinking against the light, she looked around the room she was in. She immediately ruled out that it was part of some interface. A quiet jolt of relief bounced through her. I guess I made it, she thought. Where am I?

Goosebumps rippled across her skin as she emerged from the bed. Feeling a tug on her right forearm, she glanced down. An IV was attached to her; Suya followed the line up to the plastic bag of liquid, which was half full. She pulled it out, feeling only a slight pinch. Rubbing at the light green nightgown in which someone had dressed her, Suya stood up, and walked over to the room’s only window. Finding the catch, she opened it, and a rush of sound swelled up to her.

A downtown city thoroughfare lay sprawled out below. It was daytime, and she could see aircars and monorail trains zipping back and forth. The cityscape was like those she had only read about, or watched discs of back on Daedalus. The Doctors had told her they were from a city like this; Suya wondered if this were the one.

She let the breezes that strolled in fill her nostrils and caress her hair. She felt warmer, and realized a ray of sun had passed across her face. The sun? Am I on Earth?

Mamoru!

The thought blasted her like cannon fire; Suya felt a sudden urge to leave.

Spinning around, she had to then steady herself against the windowsill. Groaning, Suya realized she must have been unconscious for some time, perhaps days. She could tell she had lost weight, and her reflexes were rusty. Glancing about her, she saw that the room was bare except for the bed and some medical equipment. Two doors were on her left. One of them opened into a bathroom. Suya bathed and saw to her personal needs as quickly as she could manage.

Clutching a white towel loosely about her, damp hair clinging wetly to her skin, Suya opened the second door, a closet. She found a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt. Despite a loose fit, they were comfortable. Crisp, new brown sandals completed the outfit. Suya’s sharp eyes noticed a small satchel on the floor. Rifling through it, she found her shipsuit, pendant, and a photo of Mamoru she had swiped from his album. She shoved the items back inside, and slipped the strap over her shoulder. Armed thus, she opened the door, and stepped quietly into the corridor.

The antiseptic odors of a hospital assailed her. She saw people, but they were further down, walking around the opposite end of the hall. Her senses oriented suddenly to voices coming from the next room. The door was ajar, and she approached it cautiously.

Initially, some person that stood near the opening blocked her view. From the sound of it, there were three or four people inside. Suya thought she was going to have to leave, when the view abruptly changed. Her breath caught in her throat, for there, in the bed, sat Mamoru, looking very much alive. A bright, rosy aura from a lamp surrounded him, and he was smiling at someone she couldn’t see. Bandages circled his bare chest, and his jean-clad legs stretched out casually across the bed. Her sense of relief was so strong she thought it might flood the corridor, and wash away everyone in it. Suya wasn’t sure how long she stood there in the shadow staring at him, longing for him. Before her tears corrupted her vision, Suya ran quickly past the door, and found her way out of the hospital, unaware that she was being followed.

As she stepped out of the double glass doors, the sunlight pierced her eyes and made her blink. Suya stepped across the pavement to the street, and then the realization hit her like the blast of a geyser: She had nowhere to go, and no one to see. She was leaving behind her best friend in the world (it’s for his own good, she kept repeating to herself), and embarking on a lonely path. For her, it used to be the easy way out. Don’t get close, and you can’t get hurt. But the sentiment felt hollow and painful. Something in her had changed. The old and new ways clashed inside. Tears stung her eyes, and a wave of exhaustion coursed through her.

Suya stumbled off to one side, and slunk to the ground. For the second time in her adult life, she began to cry, but quietly, softly. Passers-by may have thought she had but a headache. She put up a hand to cover her face.

"Leaving us so soon?" asked a woman’s voice.

Startled, Suya wiped at her eyes, but could not hide the redness in them. I know that voice. I heard it so recently. She looked up over her shoulder.

Yuki stood looking benignly down at her. She was dressed in her doctor’s uniform. Behind her, the name of the building could be seen; it read Central Hospital.

Is this where she works? Suya wondered. She cleared her throat and looked away. "I know it’s kind of sudden, but I have to…I just…" she wet her lips as she struggled for the words.

Yuki perched down next to her with an expectant look.

Suya thought she would pass out if Yuki’s expression were any more benevolent. It was almost—loving. She drew up her courage as if it were a blanket she used for warmth.

"Look, it’s better for Mamoru if I’m not around. He almost died because of me." An apologetic expression swept across her face. "It wouldn’t be fair to you, either, after working so hard to raise him. For what it’s worth, I…well, I fell in love with your son. Please, uh, tell him for me." Suya swallowed, and wiped roughly at another tear that had fallen. Her voice hardened. "Then tell him to forget about me. It’s for his own good."

"Tell him yourself," Yuki said. Her tone carried a hint of matronly sternness.

Suya’s mouth parted in surprise, and she reluctantly met her gaze.

Yuki continued. "You owe him that much, at least, for saving your life. Come back in with me, and we’ll tell him together." She stood, gesturing for Suya to follow suit as her position shifted. Yuki pursed her lips when the young woman hesitated. "The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you can go."

Suya could hardly fault Yuki’s logic, and had no choice but to acquiesce. Neither her resolve, nor her full strength had yet returned, and she found herself leaning on Yuki as they walked. The older woman seemed to know this, and instinctively adapted her gait to Suya’s need. Suya suddenly found herself missing her own mother terribly.

When they reached the room, Yuki asked her to remain in the hall for a moment. Suya learned the reason why when the previous visitors were shooed out. Their hearty farewells echoed against the walls. Yuki then drew Suya inside with a firm grasp.

"Mom, what’s all this about?" Mamoru asked when they entered. His words froze on his lips when his eyes landed on Suya. "Oh!"

His shock melted into joy as Yuki propelled her forward. Eyes crinkling with glee, he swung his legs over the bed and held out his arms. "Oh, wow! When did you wake up? I’m so glad you’re all right! Suya!" Then, his expression faltered when he saw the serious look on his mother’s face, and Suya’s glum one. "What’s wrong?" he asked.

Yuki spoke while keeping her eyes on the brooding young woman next to her. "Suya has something to say to you before she says good-bye."

Mamoru’s brow furrowed, and he stood up with some effort. "What? Say good-bye? Where is it that you have to go?"

A sizzling blush lit her cheeks; Suya felt very awkward, and put on the spot. She had not expected his mother to be so direct.

Aware of Suya’s discomfort, Yuki continued in an effort to be facilitative. "She loves you, and thinks that if she’s not around to cause you any trouble, then you’ll be happier. Isn’t that right, Suya?"

Suya’s embarrassed gaze burned a hole in the floor.

A sudden understanding lit Mamoru’s eyes. "Okay, Mom, I get it. Could you leave us alone, please?"

"Of course!" Yuki spun on her heel and left.

Neither spoke for a while. Suya refused to look at him. Strands of still-damp hair obscured her face. The air felt still to her, and maliciously claustrophobic.

The creak of the bed broke the silence.

"I’m sorry," Mamoru began as he sat down, "I still can’t stand up for very long." His tongue grazed the inside of his cheek as he thought. Then he sighed, and stared at her morosely. "If you feel strongly about leaving, then go. I won’t try and keep you. But let me say this," he said more emphatically. "I’m really glad you’re alive! You were in a coma for nearly three weeks; my mom didn’t want to tell me, but I sneaked into your room." He brushed at some tears that had formed. "I thought, if she dies, then there’s nothing for me." He sniffed, and his voice was choked with sorrow. "I don’t know why you think I’d be happier if you left. You saved my life; you saved a lot of lives. Stop dwelling on the ones that are lost; it’s not your fault!" He took a deep breath. "I love you, Suya, and it’s my choice to take the risks that come with that love. I think your mother would agree. She would want you to be happy." He grabbed her hands in his. "I want to make you happy!"

It was too much for her. A tear slipped down her cheek. Suya dropped to her knees, and diving forward, buried her face against his chest. Her hands clung desperately around his waist. Amid a torrent of sobs, she told him she was sorry, that she would never again leave, and her love crashed over him like a tidal wave. Mamoru smiled in relief, and held tightly onto her. For a long time, they wept; then, for a long time, they talked. Much later, Yuki found them curled up asleep together on the bed. She smiled, and when she left, closed the door ever so softly behind her.

 END

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