=========================== Episode #126: Exeunt Omnes Reel 1 =========================== The first notification came from a observation post in the Oort cloud. Deep in the midst of flecks and chunks of ice and snow, an asteroid floated. On it was a tiny observatory, and in it lived a single man, age thirty-six. He looked out at the sky as a habit; he was a recluse from India, and had spent quite a bit of money to be alone out here. When he saw it, his first instinct was to ignore it, but something in him wouldn't let him do it. He promptly notified the nearest listening post. The nearest listening post was on Pluto, and co-operated by CT and North American officials. From there, it immediately went out on all Fleet and civilian channels. The next place of importance that it hit was the Crystal Palace, at the heart of Crystal Tokyo. Receivers on the roof picked up the transmission, and distributed it to all key personnel, including a certain secretary. The secretary was rather reluctant to read other people's mail. In fact, she was a rather shy person, and tried to avoid watching the news. So she simply put the message, along with a few others, in her boss's inbox. Her boss came in early as usual, said her usual greetings, and entered her office. She scowled at the papers strewn all over her desk, and her eyes paused lovingly over a single, gold-framed picture on the corner. The picture of her one true love. Sighing, she rifled through the papers in the inbox. Junk, junk, junk, arrival papers? Why would anyone send her arrival papers? They were idle things, really, just to let personnel know who was in-system and who was out of it. Then she noticed the ship name at the top. H.M.S. Pleiades. Outside her office, the secretary was doing some routine filing when she was interrupted by the loudest shout she'd ever heard. She turned around to see Sailor America burst out of the room, laughing and crying at the same time. "SHE'S BAAAAAAAAACK!!!" *** "Confirmed, sir," said Sammy, tears rolling down her cheeks. "We are now inside the heliopause system. ETA to Earth, twelve hours, twelve minutes, thirty seconds." The entire bridge crew cheered ecstatically. They'd been awaiting this ever since the frantic Fold from the literally burning Hell. It had been quite a few days since then, and they hadn't been sure that they would even return to reality in the right galaxy. But they'd Folded right on the nose, and in a little more than a few hours, they'd truly be home. "This is GREAT!" shouted Orion, hugging Sailor Moon with joy. "Yes!" yelled Moon in her captain's ear; it was the only way to be heard. "Vanessa-san!" cried Sailor Orion, "can you reach a Fleet communications repeater?" "Yes sir, I've got a beacon now!" "Yes! Send message to headquarters, priority Flash-Urgent. 'To Fleet Command, from Commander H.M.S. Pleiades! Have returned safely! DK threat eliminated! Please send word to friends and family!' Screw the authentication codes!" "I hear you, sir!" Vanessa immediately started setting things into motion. Orion's smile grew even bigger as she gestured for silence. "Everyone . . . what can I say? You've been great!" Here she was interrupted by cheers. "No, really, if I had to do it all over again, I couldn't have asked for a better crew. I'd gladly serve again with you motley bunch, and maybe without the Dark Kingdom, eh?" More cheers. "Okay, we're going to be home in a few hours. Antares?" "Yes?" "Just once, I say we screw the regulations. You can take care of the ship for an hour, can't you?" "I certainly can, Captain." "Good. Everyone, let's get ready to get off. Pack your bags; we've earned some shore leave." "Sir!" shouted Vanessa over the cheers. "Fleet command's on the line. They want to speak with you, immediately." Sailor Orion looked over to Sailor Moon, who nodded. "Tell 'em we're busy." "Yes, sir!" *** Chibi-Jen sat on Orion's bed as the sailor packed her possessions into the carry-all she'd taken with her before, over a year ago. "So," said Orion, "what are you going to do now?" "Well," said the girl, "I'm going back home." Orion nodded. She'd expected this, and yet now that it was time to say good-bye . . . "Back to the future?" "Yep. Don't worry, Mama. You'll be seeing me soon." "I know. I know." She looked at a picture that had been taken earlier on, of the senior staff. It was fairly old; Bennington had been alive when it was taken. She wrapped it in brown paper and stuffed it in her bag. "You've only got to wait until 3999." "What?" "Or not," said Chibi-Jen. "It all depends." "I hate time travel," said Orion, wrinkling her nose. "Funny," said Chibi-Jen with a laugh, "you always say that in the future, too." Orion took down a picture of her family, and placed it in her bag. "Tell me, do I turn out to be a good parent? I mean, do you have any complaints, because if you do, I can always remember to change and-" "Mama. You and Eileen-chan are the best parents I could ask for. Don't change, okay?" Orion sighed. "If you say so." "Good." The girl stood. "Then it's time for me to go." She produced a tiny key. "Wait, there's one other question I've got to ask you!" "Shoot, but make it fast." "Okay, um, me and Eric-san . . . er . . . how do I say this . . . was it artificial or natural?" Chibi-Jen smiled, gave a Sailor V salute, and disappeared. Neither realized that they would never meet again. *** In another part of the ship, a pair of siblings was saying good-bye as well. "Don't worry, sister," said Eric. "Chibi-Jen assured me that the time key she gave me is safe. We'll see each other again soon." "But when? I've just gotten used to having a brother. I don't want to have to get used to being alone again." "It's okay, Usagi-chan. You'll find other people. And hey, I'll be born in 3043! You can talk to me all you like then." "I suppose so . . . " "Oh come now, you can't wait thirteen years?" "Well, you'll just be a kid then, and you'll be leaving immediately." She sighed. "Now I know how our parents felt when I had to leave in the twentieth. And they had to wait a hundred years." "It'll be worth it." *** Sailor Moon came on the bridge. Seeing her, Orion smiled and gestured to one of the screens, where the planet Mars was in view. "Just a few more minutes," said Orion, excited. "I can't wait!" "Eric just left." "Oh," said Orion. Her face fell, then rose again. "He'll be back. I know it." She also happened to be wrong. "ETA fifty minutes, fifteen seconds," said Vanessa. "Sir," said Sammy, "RSN Medical is on the line. They say that they've got a shuttle on the way to take Ensign Hanasu to a facility on Mars." "Do they? And the shuttle can keep up with us?" "Yep. They're saying it'll be here in two minutes." "Hm . . . They certainly work fast." Orion spun in her chair and watched Mars slowly grow in the screen. "Inform Dr. Sampson of that, and try to get a hold of that shuttle. Tell them to dock in three." "Aye, sir." *** "ETA two minutes, eight seconds. Sir, we have visual." "Put it on," said Sailor Orion. There was a pause, and then the image of a small, blue-white planet appeared on every monitor. There were no cheers, just a sigh of relief. Sailor Orion clapped Sailor Moon on the back a couple times. "Never thought we'd see it again." "I know," said Sailor Moon. Sammy held her headset closer to her ears, trying to hear better. She thought she'd heard something, but . . . yes! "May I proudly announce that the winner of the World Cup football competition is the Venus Republic!" There were cheers from a couple, groans from others, and an outright scream of despair from one man. "Pay up," said Sammy, her eyes twinkling at the poor environmental tech. "Ten thousand yen, just like you promised." One other thing Orion had to grant about Sammy: in addition to her betting streak, she had the damnedest memory of anyone she knew. Everyone else had forgotten about WC 3028 but the blonde, but now she was collecting on the bet made a year before. The tech grumbled and took out his cash card. "Sir," said Sammy, turning serious now, "the head of the PR department is on the line. She'd like to speak with you immediately." "Hm." Orion beamed at Sailor Moon, and produced from her pocketspace a pencil and paper. She wrote furiously for a bit, then handed it to Sammy. "Send her this message." Sammy looked it over, then blushed furiously. "Think of it as a love letter." Sammy blushed harder. "What, you've never thought about doing some of these things?" Sammy managed to blush even harder. "Just send it." Sammy began whispering into her headset, inadvertently letting Kim and Vanessa listen in. "Um, ETA one minute twenty seconds." A pause. "Sammy, is that legal?" "I don't know, Vanessa," answered Kim. "I think Sailor America would have to be double jointed for half this stuff." "Try triple." "Yeah." Orion ignored this. "Attention all hands, this is the captain. I'm not one for long speeches. So I'll make this short. You're all great. Have fun back on Earth. See you soon. That is all." "ETA one minute." Orion looked at Moon for a moment, and then they hugged. "Remember," said Moon after a bit, "if you ever want a cushy job at the Palace, you know who to call." "Okay." "Sailor America," said Moon, deadpan. "What?" Sailor Moon laughed. "Just kidding!" "ETA forty seconds." Sailor Orion stood up from her seat. "Right. Put me on. Am I . . . okay." She cleared her throat, but there was still a lot of emotion in her voice as she said it. "Dockmaster, Space Station Gamma, this is H.M.S. Pleiades. Request permission to moor." After the emotion of her words, the reply from the dockmaster was rather anticlimactic. "Aye, Pleiades, you are cleared for berth 2-c. Please observe in-station speed limits. Thank you." "Aye." "ETA twenty seconds." "Helm, you may dock." *** Sailor Orion made her way down to the main airlock, followed by her senior officers. They had been docked for an hour, and much of that time had been spent with the normal routines. Decontamination, disembarkation of personal possessions, connecting the ship to hard-wire feeds so she wouldn't run on internal power, and so forth. This had given her and her staff time to freshen up and don dress uniforms. At the airlock, she noted with satisfaction that the bosun was there to whistle her ashore. "Right," said Sailor Orion. "Open her up." The door opened. The corridor was absolutely mobbed. The press was in full force, as were the senshi. Two dozen of them formed a narrow aisle down to the receiving platform, where Neo-Queen Serenity herself sat ready to give them a hero's welcome. The only thing Sailor Orion saw, however, was Sailor America. "Eileen!" "Jen!" Orion sprinted down the aisle to meet America halfway. They both detransformed into standard jumpsuits, but they didn't care. They hugged fervently, kissing with a passion neither of them knew they had. *** From back at the airlock, the others simply waited. This was their captain's moment. *** After a full minute of public displays of affection, they finally got a good look at each other. "My God, Jen, you've grown so much!" "You too, Eileen. Dammit, I'm not leaving you again!" "Same here," said Eileen, crying and laughing at the same time. "I don't care if we both get booted from CT, we're staying together for a damn long time." "Definitely!" After that, nothing much needed to be said. Another hug and kiss, and then Jen gestured to her staff. "Ladies and gentleman, I'd like you to meet the reason for my existence, Eileen Pearcy." "How do you do?" She bowed to each of them in turn. "I hope Jen hasn't given you any trouble for the past year." "Eileen!" Jen playfully punched her lover in the shoulder. "Oh, no," said Sailor Moon sincerely. "Honestly . . . I don't think we could have asked for a better commander." Jen looked at her first officer. "You . . . you mean that?" "Yes." The look in her eyes was distant. "But if you don't mind, there's a little something I have to attend to." Then, Sailor Moon detransformed into a flowing gown and circlet, and raced up to her waiting parents. "Mama!" *** Soon, the staff was lead away to the briefing room. Before that, however, Eileen had planned a little surprise. "Jennifer!" The call was so familiar to Jen. She perked up, then looked to her side. The crowds had been left far behind, and they were now in a private part of the station. There should have been no-one they knew here, and still, there was someone. "Mom! Dad!" Jen raced over to her parents, who had been waiting anxiously in this special anteroom along with other families, waiting for their loved ones to return. They shared a hug. Eileen was an involuntary participant in it; in running, Jen had never let go of her hand. "We're . . . we're so glad you're back safely," said her mother. "I know." "So," said her father, trying to cover his burst of emotion, "did you treat my ship okay?" "Dad!" "Just joking, Jen-chan, just joking." He looked at Eileen. "Thank you so much. I have no idea how long we would have had to wait if you hadn't arranged this . . . ." "Oh, it was nothing," protested Eileen. "Just preventing a PR disaster. But you can't stay long," she said to Jen. "The powers that be are waiting." "Fine, fine." She extricated herself from her mother's embrace with a peck on the cheek. "I'll be right back." *** Four hours later, Jen and her staff were wondering if it would ever end. The debriefing process had worn on and on, with no end in sight, and she truly wished to get away. But the top senshi on the planet: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Uranus, all continued to grill them. Jupiter and Neptune were still keeping a lookout, just in case there were any Dark Kingdom leftovers running around. There really wasn't much point in asking where Sailor Pluto was. The questions had been endless, from the exact circumstances of Bennington's death to the disappearance of Eric Lunestes, who incredibly had been listed on the official manifests as 'missing in action.' After hedging for an hour, word had finally come down from the top that the Lunestes question was not to be persued further. "So Captain, you insist that there is no possibility of any survivors from the Hell explosion," asked Sailor Mercury. "Yes, I'm completely sure. I was sure the first dozen times you asked me that." "We're sorry," said Mercury, "but we simply must be sure." "I'm sure." There was no way Selenite could have gotten out of there. None. "Very well. I'm out of questions. Anyone else?" Venus, Saturn, and Uranus shook their heads. After a pause, Mars spoke. "No, I haven't any questions left. Thank you, you've done a very good job on this one." "A good job?" asked Jen, much as if Mars had just commented upon her oral sex techniques. "That's all you have to say? Kami-sama, we just saved the whole bloody universe, and all you can say is 'good job?!?'" "Well," admitted Mars, "you did a great job." "And . . . ? "And . . . we're proud of you." "And . . . ?" asked Sailor Moon threateningly. The rest of her bridge crew leaned forward with similar expressions on their faces. "And . . . and we'll review your applications for promotion soon." "And . . . ?" Mars sighed, then cast a quick glance over to Artemis, who had, unfortunately for him, wandered in a couple hours ago. He was more or less the closest thing Crystal Tokyo had to a treasurer, and this next bit would affect him the most. "And . . . and you-" "-and the rest of the crew-" "-and the rest of the crew will be given combat pay retroactive to last year, and overtime, and hazardous duty pay, and the standard fifty percent pension increase, and the three months accumulated paid leave." She looked into Jen's eyes. "You happy?" "Quite, Sailor Mars." The senshi of the red planet muttered something about extortion. *** Some hours later, Jen and Eileen drove through the streets of Crystal Tokyo. Traffic was thankfully light today. "You paid for it yourself?" asked Jen, still poking around to look at the car's features. "Yep. It's the latest model, handles like a dream." The time between the debriefing and their drive through the city had been filled with a press conference, a parade, speeches, and everything else a returning hero deserved. Jen didn't really remember touching down on Earth. Everything from the shuttle ride to now had been a rather fast blur. In some ways, she expected to wake up at any moment back on Pleiades, ready to face Selenite once again. It would take a long time for her to get rid of that feeling, she knew. But with Eileen to help her, she'd manage. After the parade, they'd had a little private party at Jen's old house, with only a select few classmates from the School attending. Following that, they'd left to go on their way to Eileen's place, which was part of the Palace complex. They drove up to the checkpoint about four hundred meters from the Palace walls, and gave their IDs to the guard. "Hey," said the guard, face flashing with recognition, "you're Sailors America and Orion!" "Yes," said Jen, blushing. She was still trying to get used to the publicity. "I suppose you want-" "Can I have your autograph?" "Yeah, that was what I was about to say," muttered Jen. "Lemme see if I have a pen here." She fumbled around her pocket space for a bit, and was surprised when they started moving again. "Hey! I was going to give him my signature!" "Um, sorry Jen," said Eileen as they proceeded to the parking garage, "but he wanted *my* autograph." "Huh?" "Er, you haven't heard, have you? About the new Sailor America movie?" "WHAT?!?!" "It wasn't my idea," protested Eileen. "The demand for it, especially in North America, was outstanding. The studio can't possibly lose money on this one. And guess who's playing me?" "Endymion?" "No, silly," said Eileen as they pulled into a parking spot marked 'RSRVD: PR SEC.' "I'm playing myself!" "And who's playing me?" "Er . . . " They got out of the car, and began heading for the elevator. "Um, nobody. You're not in it." Seeing the angry look on Jen's face, she continued hastily. "You're mentioned, but to be honest, children don't have as much interest in you as they do in me. I'm marketable." The elevator doors opened. *** "So," said Jen, after she'd gotten the grand tour of Eileen's rather spacious apartment, "many people come around here?" "No," said Eileen, tossing Jen's bags in a closet. "I'm hardly around, and when I'm here alone, well . . . you know." "Yes," said Jen softly, and then held Eileen close to her. "It's been too long." "Far too long." "I've waited a long time." "I have too." "How big is the bed?" "Who said anything about the bed?" Jen smiled. Eileen looked at the ceiling. "Lights off, please?" The lights went off. *** BRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGG! In a darkened room, slowly and stealthily, a hand reached out from under the covers and pointed a single digit at the pestilent alarm. "American Blazing Eagle!" Bits of alarm clock flew everywhere. "Now," purred Eileen, "where were we?" "You," said Jen in an equally sultry voice, "were giving me the best sex of my life." "Oh? I'll have to top it, then." "Oooooh, I love it when you top things." "Don't I, though?" They spoke in unison. "I love you." ============================ End Season 1. LeVar Bouyer 24 July 1997 (18 June 3030) revised 16 July 2000 second revision 15 January 2001