========================== Episode #122: Revelations Reel 1 ========================== Eric Lunestes was going through the greatest struggle he'd had since he'd come on board. He was trying to open his eyes. After what seemed like a lifetime of effort, his eyes opened. The first thing he saw was the ceiling of the infirmary. It was a dull, metallic gray, with modernistic moldings and white florescent lights. He remembered filing a complaint about them; couldn't they manage better than that? But it had been to no avail; the lights had stayed. He moved his head around. The second thing he saw was the pink haired kid. He started to remember. The kid had done some weird stuff to him, and then . . . then it started to blur. Something about the ship, and danger . . . . The third thing he saw was the pink haired kid getting up from bed, and walking towards him. Curious, he thought. The fourth thing he saw was off in the distance, as Sailor Orion, Sailor Moon, and Doctor Sampson dropped whatever they were doing and rushed over to him. The fifth thing he saw was the face of the pink-haired kid right in front of him. Notably, this was about the time that he got his hearing back; he'd been effectively deaf earlier. The first thing he heard was the shrill cry of "DADDY!" *** Five minutes later, it still didn't make any sense to him. "Okay, Eric-san, let me run it by you again." "By all means." "Okay, what Dr. Sampson did was to run a correlation of all the DNA of all the people on board, which now includes our pink haired child over there. Incidentally, her name is Jennifer." For the fourth time since they'd begun explaining things to Eric, Orion groaned. "Don't worry, captain," consoled Moon. "I've been through this before. Want a hint? Just call her Chibi-Jen. "Anyway," continued Sailor Moon, "she found a whole pile of interesting things. First thing is that you're now Prince Eric; we're brother and sister." There was a noticeable pause. "What?" "Yeah, it threw us for a loop too, until we talked to Chibi-Jen. Then it kind of made sense." "Er . . . " "Look, it makes sense," said Sailor Moon in the tone one uses with a child who insists that M follows N in the alphabet. "You've been sent from the future; that's the only option. You don't remember your parents, you were a foundling, and if that wasn't enough, you're named Lunestes. Lunestes, Lune, Luna, Moon. Ring a bell?" Sailor Moon sounded fairly abusive by this point. "Um, sure." "Good. Now, it turns out that you and Sailor Orion have no relation whatsoever." "Okay, I can deal with that." It was the first normal hand he'd been dealt so far. Sailor Moon smiled. "Oh, but it gets better." "Oh no." Eric fell back onto the bed, and grabbed his head with his arms. "It's not that bad," said Moon. "Look at how Sailor Orion is taking it. And she's got more to worry about than you do, actually." "How do you mean?" "Well," said Moon, who was obviously enjoying herself, "I said you're not related, right?" "Right." Eric got the impression that he wasn't going to like this part. "Well, guess who Chibi-Jen's parents are." Eric mulled over the situation, ran through several possibilities, and found the most likely one. At the same time, it was the most ludicrous one, and more predictably the most uncomfortable one. "Me . . . and . . . ." "Yes." "We . . . we have . . . ." "Yes." "And this . . . this . . . ." "Yes." "Believe me," said Sampson, "this was just as much a shock to me. I mean, it's not every day you get to tell a virgin that she's got a ten-year-old daughter." Orion said nothing. "And . . . she's okay with this?" "I am," said Orion, to the shock of everyone. "At least, I think I will, whenever . . . whenever it happens." "But I gather there's more?" asked Eric. "Yep." Here Sailor Moon smiled a bit; she was leaning a lot on experience here. This was not her first temporal anomaly. "You see, the only logical conclusion we could draw is that Chibi-Jen is from the future. And for her to exist now means that at the very least, you two will survive. And since it's fairly hard for just two people to survive on a ship, the upshot is that we're all going to make it out of here." "Presumably," said Orion, who had a couple theories of her own. The future, as she very well knew, wasn't set in stone. "Well, we'll get to that." Moon turned back to look at Lunestes. "So, you got all that?" "Er, you want to run that by me again?" *** A couple hours later, Sailor Orion stood on the bridge, looking over Sammy's shoulder. This annoyed Sammy to no end, but the captain was in a rather good mood, and she was loathe to disrupt it. "Sir," said Sammy after a long while, "I believe we've got the Gertie back." "You do?" asked Orion excitedly. "Yes." For the past few hours, they had been trying to get the Gertie up and running again. Apparently, it had failed a routine diagnostic, and attempts to figure out what had happened with it had been dismal, to say the least. "Good," said Orion. "Find us an asteroid and we'll let 'er rip." "Aye, sir." *** Sailor Moon sat on a bed in the infirmary, next to her niece. It seemed so weird calling herself an aunt when, for all her life, she had lived as an only child. She had many questions for Chibi-Jen. Surprisingly, Chibi-Jen was rather quick to answer them. Moon remembered her own experiences with time travel, and the various limitations that had been put on exactly what she could say to whom. "Always protect the time stream," Sailor Pluto had said a million times, and Sailor Moon had always tried to uphold that. Chibi-Jen was apparently under no such compulsions. "So," said the girl, "you want to know how Eric-san and Jen-san got together?" "Well, I'd rather know how Eric showed up in the first place, but since you suggested it . . . ." "Okay." The child's voice was rather high pitched, yet managed to convey a sense of seriousness. "Well, I was born for two reasons. Number one, eventually Jen-san and Eileen-chan-" "Eileen-chan?" asked Moon, surprised. Using such an honorific with one's parent like that? "I'm getting to it! Anyway, Jen and Eileen had been together for awhile, and eventually they decided that they wanted to have children." "Ah," said Sailor Moon disparagingly, "they just woke up and said 'hey, let's have kids?'" "Aunt Usagi!" "Fine, fine, I'm sorry. But Uranus and Neptune have been together for centuries, and they haven't pined once for a child. Now you're telling me that Orion and America just wanted to be parents?" "Yes." "Okay. For the sake of argument, I'll agree with you there. But don't think I'm convinced. So they wanted children, but since they lacked the necessary equipment, they got Eric-san, right?" "Right," said Chibi-Jen, showing quite a bit of sophistication and ignoring Moon's rather bald statement. "But they didn't pick Eric-san at random." "I should certainly hope not!" They shared a laugh at this. "No, but . . . well, I guess I can tell you this. Neo-Queen Serenity owed them a favor-" "What? *Mother* owed *them* a favor? For what?" Chibi-Jen blushed. "I can't tell you exactly, not yet. Anyway, she owed them a favor, and they wanted it returned by granting a child. Serenity tried to explain to them that the ginzuishou simply couldn't work that way, but that there was another option. "Since Jen-san and Eileen-chan had done so much for Crystal Tokyo, Grandmother decided that they could have the child of Prince Eric Lunestes, and that's where papa comes in." "Ah," said Sailor Moon. "So my mother just orders him to-" "No. She asked." "I see." *** Eric sat in his quarters for no particular reason than that there was nothing else to do. He wasn't in such bad shape that he'd have to stay in the infirmary, but Sampson still insisted that he wasn't well enough to resume his duties as chief engineer. Thus he simply hung around his quarters, doing some paperwork that he'd been rather behind on. He had a full year's work of performance evaluations to do, and HQ would have his head if they weren't done when they got back. He laughed softly at the thought. What would HQ do if they knew who he really was? He could see it now, and acted it out for himself. "'Yes, um, could I have a promotion to commander?' "'Commander? What the hell makes you think we're going to promote you over people who have been at this for twenty, thirty years?' "'Well, I am second in line to the throne of Crystal Tokyo. Does that help?'" He laughed once again at his situation. He, lowly foundling Eric Lunestes, was really and truly Prince Eric of the house of Serenity. That was irony in a big, overflowing bucket. The metaphor of a bucket really sent him over the edge, and his laughter was such that he couldn't hear the knocking on the door for a couple minutes. When he finally did, however, he rushed to open it. "I thought for a moment that you'd cracked." Orion looked over at the mess Eric's outburst had made of the bedclothes. "Perhaps you have." She looked him in the eyes. "Mind if we talk a bit?" "Oh, no, not at all sir. Please, come in." "No sir-ing, please," she said as she found a spot to sit. She looked around. "You still haven't moved out of here?" "I didn't think it would be proper." He was still in his old quarters, the one he shared with three other engineers. Technically, since the death of Bennington, he could take over the old man's place as Chief Engineer. Eric hadn't, more or less out of a sense of honor and respect, and he told his captain so. "I see," said Orion. There followed an uncomfortable silence. "Look, um, Eric-san, are you . . . that is . . . will you be . . . damn!" Orion started pacing, an impressive feat considering just how much room there was in the room; that is, pretty much none. "Er, this whole thing about us having a kid . . . um, I don't want to sound tactless, but is it going to affect your performance as an officer?" Eric thought a bit before responding. "I don't know. I mean, it's all so sudden and all." "There is that," said Orion, chuckling. "I mean, it's not every day you're told that you're going to have a child with a man you haven't even dated. And it's a bigger surprise when you're a lesbian." Eric blushed. "Oh, come now, don't act all embarrassed about it *now*." "It was just . . . I was thinking . . . how does it happen?" Sailor Orion sat down next to him. "Don't worry about it. It's got to be a few years before it happens. And I'm sure that Queen Serenity would give us both some warning about it." She munched on her lower lip a bit. "Queen Serenity. Does this make her my mother-in-law?" "Uhhhhhh . . . " "It's just a joke, Eric-san! Loosen up!" Eric stood up and gazed into the tiny mirror in the corner. "Sorry, sir, but . . . I'm going to need some time to get used to this." "I guess we all are," said Orion, rising to stand next to Lunestes. "But while you're adjusting, try to work on something productive. Like the Fold generators, or that tracking device for the DK ships. Don't just mope around." "Okay . . . ." "That's the spirit!" said the captain encouragingly. "You know the old saying the US Navy had: a busy crew is a happy crew." "And speaking of busy," chimed in Antares, "there are a number of things awaiting the captain's attention on the bridge, if she'd be so kind." "Damn squawk box," muttered Orion. "I'm on my way," she said more loudly. She turned and clapped the chief engineer on the shoulder. "I want you back in Engineering as soon as possible, okay? Take care." She left. *** "Captain on the bridge," said Vanessa in a monotone. No-one looked up. "My, but aren't we a cheery group today?" asked Orion, who seemingly hadn't stopped smiling for several hours. "Nothing to be cheerful about, sir," said Kim. "We just got the latest supply estimates from the quartermaster." "And?" "And, we've got enough for another two weeks, maximum." "What?" This was extraordinarily interesting, in much the same way that a three-meter hole punched in the side of the ship would have been interesting. Back when this was supposed to be just a routine survey mission, they'd had supplies to last three years, assuming fairly conservative rationing. And now in the space of a year they had just a couple weeks worth of consumables? "That's just food, though, sir," said Kim. "We can continue recycling water and oxygen." "Thank heaven for small favors," muttered Sailor Orion. At that point, Sailor Moon walked onto the bridge. "So, what's up?" asked Sailor Moon, also in a rather chipper mood. "Oh, nothing. We can survive for another two weeks." "You're kidding." "Well, three if we really stretch it." "Oh, well that's just beautiful," said Sailor Moon, making a gesture that indicated that this was precisely the opposite of what she thought of things. "Any progress on the tracking device?" Orion sighed. "Eric-san is working on it, but he hasn't given any guarantees." "Great." Sailor Moon sat down in her accustomed position, next to Orion's seat. She was rather disappointed with this; she could feel that things were coming to a head, and now *this* had to slow them down. "So, captain, are we going to turn back?" "What? And miss all the fun?" "Well . . . " "Sailor Moon, we've been out here a year, and you want me to turn around just because we're low on food?" "The thought *had* crossed my mind . . . " "Just don't, okay?" *** Chibi-Jen wandered around the corridors. It was rather different now, as she wasn't hiding anymore. Now anyone could see her. Interestingly, no-one seemed to care. Word had of course gotten around about the two time travelers aboard, but Chibi-Jen was surprised at how well people moved on. Then again, she supposed, considering the mortal danger they faced every day, a little pink haired kid didn't really amount to much. She found herself in a residential sector, more specifically for engineering types. Quarters on board were segregated by sex; not that hard, considering the scarcity of males. This particular section had almost all the men on the ship, including her father. She happened by his room, and decided to pay a visit. He'd been a nice sort in the forty-first century, admittedly a bit distant, but he'd given his word not to interfere in how Jen and Eileen brought her up unless they specifically asked. Serenity's family always kept their word. She knocked on the door, and Eric called out. "Who is it?" "Jennifer!" "Coming." *** Eric was toiling over the tracking device when the knock came. He sighed at first, but then decided that it was for the best. He'd been working for several hours straight, and he could probably use a break. "Who is it?" "Jennifer!" Jennifer? Her voice sure had changed a bit, as well as her identity; she should have been Sailor Orion. "Coming." He put down his pencil, threw on a sweatshirt and shorts, and went to the door. "Yes? Oh, you're *that* Jennifer!" "You got it," replied Chibi-Jen, walking inside. "Oh, you're working on the device?" Eric goggled, then closed the door behind her. "You know about it?" "Oh yeah, you always said that it was one of your greatest accomplishments." "And you're telling me this?" Chibi-Jen smiled. "Yes." "Wait a minute, I remember a few things from school. Won't this cause a time paradox or something?" "In one way." She smiled a serene smile. "But there's more than one way to look at time. It's even possible that I could never exist and . . . well, that's enough for now. Anyway, how's it going?" "You don't know? I mean, you seem to know everything else about the universe." "I don't know *everything*, you know. I just pay attention to Sailor Pluto. She doesn't say a lot, but you wouldn't believe what you can learn from her." "I see," said Eric, who didn't, "and so you're just making conversation?" "Pretty much," admitted the girl. "Actually, you want to know why you're here?" "Why *I'm* here?" "Yes. You're out of your natural time too, you know, but not with so much displacement as me." "Well . . . I hadn't thought about it." "You should have," said Chibi-Jen sharply, and Eric suddenly got a sense of great age. Just how old *was* she? "Anyway, I'll tell you. It's because Serenity-sama and Endymion-sama didn't know if they could raise you." "What?" "It's true. There's a bit of a story here. You've told it to me so many times, I have to assume that you heard it at some point, and I figure now's as good a time as any." "How old are you?" interrupted Eric. "Oh, come now," said Chibi-Jen, "it's not polite to ask a lady her age." She smiled again. "Do you want to hear it?" "Sure." "Good. Now, when you were born it was a great surprise to everyone. Not that you *were* born; everyone expected it. It was the cause of great celebration throughout the world. "No, what was surprising was that you were a boy. Everyone: the senshi, the retainers, the public, and especially the family, didn't *think* that it would be a girl. They *knew*. The line of the Moon Family hasn't given birth to a male in five thousand years. "So, when you were born . . . let's just say that it set modern genetics back a couple hundred years. They'd been convinced that the Queen's magical genetic imperative would override Endymion's, since Endymion's line had always produced males. After all, Princess Usagi merely confirmed the theory, and it was pretty much accepted that Serenity would only bear girls." "Until I screwed things up?" asked Eric, who was barely keeping up with the girl's words. He got the idea that she knew more about biology, physics, time travel, and so on, than anyone else on the ship. Possibly more than anyone else alive. "Pretty much," said Chibi-Jen, giggling. "No-one knew what to do. The first thing was to keep it hushed up." "Why?" "Politics," said Chibi-Jen automatically. "The rest of the world respects Crystal Tokyo but doesn't fear it, simply because Serenity's in charge. No matter how much power she wields, the general conception is that since she's female, she won't go on any conquering sprees. Matriarchies are generally more stable, in the long run." "I'll take your word for that," said Lunestes, who had barely passed history. 'Come to think of it,' thought Eric, 'she's sounding a lot like her mother. Hm.' "A wise choice," said Chibi-Jen. "So, they couldn't let the rest of the world know about you, at least not yet. They had to be prepared. So, they sent you to the past, to kind of wait things out until the world was ready for you." "So," said Eric, who was struggling to follow all this, "you're saying that they sent me to the past to prevent an international incident?" "Basically, yes." "And now I'm in the midst of an interstellar incident?" "Well, you needed a chance to prove yourself." He sighed. "I'm not even going to try to figure that one out." "It's not that hard, silly," said the girl, and for a moment one wouldn't think that it was daughter talking to father. "It's the Tsukino-Chiba legacy. All of us have to be sent to the past and go through hell to prove ourselves." "What?" "Well," admitted Chibi-Jen, "that's what I can figure out. Look: Aunt Usagi got sent back to deal with things, you're here . . . heck, *I'm* here-" "Why?" asked Eric sharply. "Well . . . um . . . I can't say." "Bull. You've practically given me a history of the next ten years, you can certainly tell me more." "But I promised," whined Chibi-Jen. "Do I have to exercise my prerogative as a father?" "No," said Chibi-Jen shortly, "that won't be necessary. I'm . . . I'm here to help." "What? You don't mean to change the future, do you?" "Well, not exactly. Preserve it, that's more like it. Make sure everything goes the way it should, maybe nudge things a little." 'Yeah, sure,' thought Eric. 'She's not telling me everything.' "I see." "Good." She got up. "Then I'll tell you one other thing." "And what would that be?" She went over to the plans for the DK tracking device. "You need an RWS- 0045b class connection here. Otherwise the whole thing will go up in smoke." She left her father standing over the plans with his mouth wide open. "So long."