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Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Orion
A fairly original fanfic by LeVar Bouyer
Episode #301:  And Let There Be No Moaning of the Bar 
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Giza, Egypt, Arab Union
3 January 3035 CE

	"Are you all right, Madam Vice-President?"

	"Fine, just fine," said Emily Martin, Vice-President of the newly-
renamed American Confederation.  She stopped for a moment, though, and
turned to look back on how much ground she had covered.  She, a couple of
bodyguards, and the vice-president of the Southeast Asian Alliance with his
bodyguards, were now three-quarters of the way up one of the oldest man-made
structures surviving in the world.

	The Great Pyramid of Giza loomed over the desert.  Six thousand
years had passed since it had been commissioned, six thousand years that had
not been kind to it by any means.  The original limestone casing had long
ago been taken away, as had many of the stones that had made up its
courtyard.  Inside, it was a home for bats, rats, tourists, and a few
egyptologists still trying to unravel secrets of the pyramid which had
remained a mystery for seemingly forever.

	They climbed on.  A few minutes later they stood at the apex. 
Before them lay the two other pyramids of the Giza complex.  A little bit
away was the Great Sphinx, and with a good eye they would have been able to
see the ruins of Giza, and a bit beyond it the new city of Cairo.

	"Amazing, isn't it?" asked Edward Lansing, from the SEAA.  "I mean,
when you think about the age of this thing . . . it was ancient back in the
twentieth!"

	"Yes," said Martin in Japanese.  She waved her hand when a couple of
the bodyguards gave her strange looks.  "Old habits die hard." She, like
everyone else who wanted to get anywhere in the world, spoke fluent English
and Japanese.  The first was easy; she was from Rhode Island after all.  The
second was also fairly easy, given the dealings she constantly had with
Japanese officials.

	Sometimes she thought how absurd it was that such a tiny country
held such sway over the Earth.  Others had wondered that as well, and that
was why she was in Giza and not back home enjoying the New England winter.

	"You know, that's one of the things we're going to have to get used 
to.  I know some people on my staff who still aren't above a fourth grade 
English reading level."

	"Language is the least of my concerns," said Martin sharply.  She
sat down on one of the stones and sipped cold iced tea from a canteen.  "I'm
worried about the pyramid."

	"What?"

	"Buckingham Palace was supposed to last forever.  So were the World
Trade Center towers.  So was the Vatican.  Now, they've all been dust and
gone for hundreds of years.  All because we had to go and fight wars.

	"Now . . . I don't know.  They say over and over that we can win, 
but . . . will the cost be the pyramid?"

	Lansing sighed.  He was probably one of the most frightened people
in the world.  For years he'd lived with the knowledge that a near-
omnipotent woman was running a monarchy due north of his confederation.  He,
more than perhaps anyone else on the newly-formed World Council, knew just
how strong Serenity had grown.  Not even China, it seemed, recognized her
true strength.  Now they were going to do it and his military people put
odds of success around sixty percent.  He didn't like staking the future of
the Southeast Asian Alliance on sixty percent odds.

	"We'll win.  We have no choice.  Besides, all that rests in the
hands of the military." He chanced a smile in the twilight.  "Unless, of
course, you plan to take up a rifle and fight in the AC Army."

	"Far from it."

	"Ah."  He looked at his watch.  "It's about time to go."

	"Ha . . . yes.  Well, I guess I'll see you in Calgary."

	"Yeah.  Bye."

	"Bye."

***

	Sailor America was sick to her stomach, and the fact that her feet
were touching nothing at all was only one reason for this.

	"Relax, just look at my eyes, okay?"  Three meters away, Sailor
Orion floated in the anti-gravity chamber, trying to keep America calm.  If
she had known that she was upside down relative to America, she might have
flipped over to help the brunette get her bearings.  "Remember, you were the
one who wanted this."

	"Can we find some way that doesn't involve null gravity?"

	"No."

	It was a standard drill for spacers.  Learning how to put on a
pressure suit in zero gravity could save one's life in an emergency, and
no-one who couldn't do it was allowed to serve on a starship.  Sailor
America knew this, but she hadn't known that she would react to free-fall
like . . . well, like *this*.

	The room was a cube fifty meters to a side, located on an island a
few kilometers from the big island of Kyushu.  It was relatively
featureless; there were just a few handholds every few meters, and the large
hatch through which they had entered.  It was uniformly white, the lights
and observation windows masked.  It hadn't been Sailor Orion's best choice
as a place to give Sailor America her first taste of free fall, but she
wagered it would be less stressful than taking her lover into orbit.

	Sailor America closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them
slowly.  She found her stomach rising again and quickly focused on Sailor
Orion's blue eyes.  She stared at them for what seemed like years, until
those two orbs were the only things in the universe, trying to blank out the
expanse of the room that surrounded her.  Gradually, she felt her nausea
begin to diminish.

	"Good, now start pulling on the suit.  Bottom half first, just like 
we practiced."

	They went slowly and painfully through the entire process, Sailor
Orion at times thinking that they would never finish in a day, let alone the
twenty seconds prescribed in the manuals.  At long last, they finished.

	Sailor America was slightly panting inside her suit, and the air
conditioning unit couldn't keep up with it.  Her faceplate fogged up as she
looked back at Sailor Orion.  "'Not hard at all, is it?'" she quoted archly.

	Sailor Orion smiled.  "Easy as cake," she said, detransforming into
the familiar black jumpsuit uniform of the Royal Star Navy.  "You'll get the
hang of it soon.  Then you'll be able to do it in a flash, in the dark, with
everything falling apart around you."

	The fog that covered her helmet kept Jen from seeing Sailor
America's glare.  "I'll just bet I can."

	Jen smiled.  "It would be interesting.  I've never been able to do 
it."  She looked at her watch.  "C'mon, it's about time to go home."

	"Ummm . . . ."

	Jen, who had already started over to the door, turned around for a 
moment, still floating away.  "Oh, you probably want to get the suit off 
first.  It's rather bulky in normal gravity."

	Sailor America blinked.  "Aren't you going to help me?"

	"Nope," called Jen behind her as she went to the door, "I think you 
can figure it out."

	The soundproofed doors kept Jen from hearing America's shouts as
well.

***

	Once outside, Eileen took a deep breath and sighed.  She was now
outside the training facility, and beneath the leaden skies she suddenly
felt smaller and less significant.  There was just something about the way
that the gray of the sky and the gray of the northern Pacific Ocean blended
together at the horizons, enveloping her in a uniform clamshell.

	Jen came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, startling the
brunette.  "Penny for your thoughts?"

	"Oh, nothing.  Just thinking about a few things."

	"Such as?"

	Eileen turned and managed a smile.  "You even have to ask?  My
resignation."

	"Oh."  In a few months, H.M.S. Seiza would be departing the Sol
system for destinations unknown.  She was a brand-new ship, much like
Pleiades had been.  For her part, Pleiades was in Martian orbit, undergoing
a refit after returning from another survey trip.  The powers that be had
decided that Pleiades wouldn't be condemned to museum duty after all, which
suited Jennifer just fine; it was still a new ship.

	After much soul searching, Eileen had decided to accompany her lover
this time.  It scared her to death to leave her nice warm Earth, but the
alternative was to sit at home and spend another two or three years
wondering if Jen was alive or dead.  She knew that she couldn't bear to go
through that again.

	That meant that her occupation as Her Majesty's Secretary of Public
Relations would be coming to an end.  In a way she was rather sad; her role
had given her the opportunity to meet more foreigners than would otherwise
be expected.  She'd met quite a few American journalists, all of whom seemed
almost to idolize her: something she personally had no problems dealing
with.  She'd been privy to a lot of information even other senshi didn't
receive until after the fact, and she'd been in close contact with Neo-Queen
Serenity for several years.  All it all, it had been pretty fun, and she was
going to miss it.  This wasn't to say, of course, that being with Jen for
two years wouldn't be enjoyable in its own right.

	Jen looked out to sea.  The building they had just exited stood on
the highest point on the island, which wasn't really saying much; it was a
mere eight meters above the coast.  From it, they could look down to the
small paved area next to the beach where their shuttle waited.  It was a
small three-person job designed for the short hop from Fuu Island to Crystal
Tokyo.

	"You're still uneasy about it, aren't you?"

	"Yeah."

	Jen turned and gave Eileen a big hug, ignoring the look of surprise
on the younger woman's face.  "What was that for?" asked Eileen.

	"I don't know," said Jen with a smile.  "Maybe to cheer you up?"

	"And one hug's supposed to make me forget that I'm going into
space?"

	The smile got even bigger.  "Yep!"

	Eileen managed to smile in return.  "It worked."

***

	As the two flew back to the island of Honshu a few minutes later, a
very different procession left it.  The squadron of aircraft was under the
most ruthless and protective security ever attempted.  Any other aircraft
within a hundred kilometers who were not part of it would have been in
danger of being shot down on sight, had they ignored the constantly
broadcast warnings.  Below, ships plied the waves and pounded the ocean with
sonar waves, scaring away fish and hopefully any submarines as well.  Above,
four planes flew in formation, prepared to take the brunt of any laser
attack from space.

	In short, every possible measure was being taken to make sure that
no harm befell a single occupant of the center plane.  The security even
extended beyond that; inside, the four inner senshi surrounded their charge,
seemingly relaxed but in actuality on greater alert than usual.

	The person for whom all these measures were being taken looked
rather unimpressed.  In fact, she was quite content to read a magazine.

	"Sailor Mars?"

	"Yes?" said the senshi of fire for the fortieth time since takeoff.

	"Did you know that San Diego was host to the World Games in 2500? 
Ever since then, another name for San Diego is the Century City."

	"Interesting," said Mars, who was bored out of her skull.  It wasn't
that she wasn't doing anything; she was probably as prepped for battle as
she'd ever been.  It wasn't that what she was doing wasn't intellectually
stimulating, because it was; there were a nearly infinite number of things
that she had to keep track of, an enormous number of threats that could
manifest themselves.  It was the fact that there were so many other things
she could be doing rather than baby-sitting Serenity across the Pacific on a
trip that Mars felt shouldn't have been made in the first place.

	"Yes.  Hm . . . ," she punched a button a couple of times,
electronically flipping the pages.  "Oh, San Diego was also the capital of
the Fifth Californian Republic from 2132 to 2133, before it was sacked on 5
December 2133 by TexMex raiders."

	Sailor Mars tried very hard to convince herself that Serenity had
only met Sailor Orion twice.  Well, three times if you counted time travel. 
Mars didn't.  Mentally, she ran through the checklist.  Another hour or so
to San Diego.  Then their tour would take them to most of what had once been
the United States, had gone thorough countless name changes, and was now the
American Confederation.  The trip was for various reasons, the most
important being to apply a bit of subtle pressure.

	There were a number of nasty rumors circulating about concerning the
continent of South America.  In a lightning move, the NAC had swept down
from Mexico and taken over virtually all of Central America in a single
week.  It had taken a minor miracle during a fleeting moment called the
Miracle of Bogota for any real resistance to be raised, and the hastily
formed South American Alliance couldn't help to hold against the NAC.

	Despite their best efforts, Bogota had only held for three days,
three days that simply weren't enough to pull together enough arms and
troops for a sustained conflict.  From Columbia-Venezuela the NAC rolled
south, with only token resistance.  In spite of brief rallies at Rio de
Janeiro and at the entrance to Patagonia, the book had been written.

	The other confederations remained silent.  Despite the fact that the
NAC had in the space of a month nearly doubled its size, those closest to
the Americas said nothing: the European and Arab Unions.  Very strange, when
such actions had in the past been more than ample grounds for war.

	Now unsubtatiated reports were coming out that unspeakable acts of
brutality were being carried out there, and Serenity wanted some answers. 
The visit was primarily to get to the bottom of things.  The dilemma that
faced Serenity wasn't whether or not the offenses were happening.  Crystal
Tokyo intelligence was firm on this: it was happening.  The difficulty lay
in just what was to be done about it.  Should Crystal Tokyo interfere?  It
never had before, not through hundreds of years of interconfederational
wars.  At the same time, there had never been such a grievous offense.  No
confederation had ever taken so much territory without provocation, and even
then the conquered were treated properly.

	If Crystal Tokyo interfered, the precedent would almost seem not to
be worth the bother.  The Crystal Tokyo military was divided into the Royal
Army, the Royal Star Navy, the Royal Sea Navy, and the senshi who were
integrated into all three.  The Star Navy was in no position to do anything;
surgical strikes from space were tricky at best, and could be defended
against easily.  The Sea Navy was greatly understrength and undertrained. 
The RA was a joke; no-one liked to admit it, but it was true, and the
question circulated in the upper echelons as to whether the army could
defend Japan itself, let alone go out into the world and handle someone
else's problems.

	It made for very interesting foreign policy.

***

	The small aircraft touched down on the airstrip outside of Crystal
Tokyo under gray skies.  There had been some very light snow earlier in the
day, and the thin layer of white powder covered the grass and some of the
roofs of the support buildings.  Jen and Eileen stepped out of the craft,
taking a moment to wrap themselves more tightly in their coats.  They then
walked down the steps to the runway and the waiting car.

	Once inside, Eileen unzipped her coat.  "Is it just me, or is it
actually getting colder out there?"

	"It's getting colder," said Jen as she slid into the driver's seat. 
"Three degree drop since this morning, I think.  Probably hit some record
lows according to the meteorological geniuses."

	Jen expertly drove the car through the complex and onto the open
road.  In a couple minutes they would arrive at the Palace.

	"So, you think you can manage another exercise tomorrow?"

	Eileen sighed with a mixture of fatigue and relief.  "Sorry, but the
next couple days are going to be a bit busy.  Have to train my replacement,
remember?"

	"Oh.  Sailor Cassiopeia, wasn't it?"  Eileen had mentioned something
about that a few days ago, but Jen had been so wrapped up in her own
preparations to make much note of it.  'Probably won't have another chance to
relax until we're on the Moon at the least,' she thought to herself.

	She kept only a casual look over the road, trusting in other drivers
to pay attention.  Mentally she reviewed the checklist she'd been filling
out for weeks now.  The hardest part would be leaving the University of
Crystal Tokyo, where she'd been learning the ropes of being a professor.

	It had been recognized that she was pretty smart.  She had to be to
get into the school, and she had to be smarter to finish off her doctorate
with all the other work that being a senshi entailed.  However, she was
still terribly young.  It simply wouldn't do for a twenty-four-year-old
woman to teach a class, even a freshman level introductory history course. 
Therefore, she was now an assistant to a professor.  In all practical
respects she was a teaching assistant, doing odd jobs along with the other
doctoral candidates.

	The doctoral candidates all doted on her, of course.  No-one else in
their group had had the opportunity to see history the way she had in 1998,
no-one had been as close to the royal family, specifically the Princess. 
She was quite the darling of the department.  Therefore, it had been rather
hard to get away; all the candidates wanted to keep her there, and many of
the postdocs did as well.  It had taken an executive order from the planet
senshi to pry her away from UCT, and that was only with a promise that she
return within five years, preferably three, and spend the next few decades
on terra firma.

	That, of course, simply begged the question of why she, a history
specialist, was being sent to command a starship of approximately one
hundred fifty people.  It was a very good question that pestered her as she
and Eileen went back to the palace.