Alternative Urusei Yatsura Fanfic by *Lewis Burden* (file: jad6_uy.txt )
====================================

This Fanfic is not yet finished and currently consists of 12 parts. Every
part will be uploaded and made available on a weekly basis on the Internet.
Files are available vie email request or ftp at world.std.com in:

ftp: world.std.com /pub/uy-fanfic    email request: uy-fan@lexicor.com
*********************************    *********************************

This Fanfic was first uploaded to GENIE and is now available on the Internet.

note: Part's 4 and 5 that were uploaded onto this list and posted on
r.a.a.stories had little pieces of text missing (during upload) and are
now available in it's entirety on ftp.std.com in /pub/uy-fanfic.

The length of the files cut are not considerable..only a few lines and
sentences were cut off..thanks to all who pointed this out to me.


Enjoy,

        Yat Siu

        - ysiu@lexicor.com

                       Alt-Urusei Yatsura
                               VI
                      Was It Just A Dream?
                    ________________________

     Shinobu laughed, despite herself and her predicament, at the
place where she and Benten were being held.   She had been in
here before.  It used to be where the school's sports equipment
was kept.   Looking around herself, at the familiar surroundings,
she had trouble coming to grips with the fact that she was a
prisoner.
     For Benten the concept was far easier to grasp and she
didn't like it at all.  For their guard, even though he was armed
and Benten was not, he felt that he was the one in mortal danger
every time he dared to glance in Benten's direction.   He tried
his best to ignore her constant malevolent stare, but it was
difficult.  He couldn't wait for his shift to end.
     "You just wait," she whispered to him, her eyes fixed in a
cold stare that she had been maintaining for an hour.  "I know
ways of torture that even make me ill."
     The guard had no idea what Benten was saying, but it didn't
matter.  With her tone of voice, she could have been talking
about banana split toppings and the guard would still be
sweating.
     "You're not helping us, Benten," Shinobu said in Uruseian.
     "No, but I'm having a lot of fun watching him sweat.
They're lucky that I didn't tear out a few throats when they put
me in this cage."
     "That would have got us killed," Shinobu protested.
     Benten turned hard on Shinobu, "Look sister, the only reason
I haven't tried anything is because you're here and I'm supposed
to be taking care of you.  Normally, I'd rather die than be
captured by fucking natives!"  Benten stood. To punctuate her
feelings, she kicked hard at the thin wire door.   Unexpectedly,
this caused the door to swing open with a loud clank.
     The guard immediately stood and aimed his weapon.  He was
terrified.
     Benten smelled his fear and relished in it.  She smiled at
him, and pulled the door half shut.   She knelt down and casually
began to examine the busted lock.
     "You people call this a lock?" she asked Shinobu, while
continuing her examination.
     Shinobu was getting nervous.  She kept glancing at the
guard, as he tried to figure out what he should do.   "It wasn't
meant to be a prison lock.  It was meant to keep people from
stealing the sports equipment."
     "Sports equipment?!"  Benten laughed.  "Shit!"
     Benten continued studying the lock assembly, apparently
trying to figure out how to repair it.  The guard lulled by her
apparent disinterest in escaping, moved closer to investigate the
lock for himself.
     In an instant Benten had his head in her hands.  She was
about to break his neck, when she made a quick glance at Shinobu.
 She muttered under her breath and shoved the guard's head
against the cage mesh repeatedly until he fell limp.
     Shinobu stood, putting her hand over her mouth.  She stared
down at the crumpled body of the guard in shock.
     Benten looked up at Shinobu and rolled her eyes.  "I didn't
kill him, sheesh!  Do you want to fucking escape or not?"
     "Where can we go?   You sent your fighter back up to the
fleet."
     Before Benten gave up, she had programmed her fighter to
return on its own to the fleet.  She wasn't about let those
"primitives" paw her bike.   There was quite a stir when, after
she and Shinobu had left the fighter, the canopy closed and the
ship took off.   She had programmed it to fly at its maximum
acceleration, which is far faster that a humanoid could tolerate,
though Benten had pushed it a few times.   The ship was gone
before anyone had time to aim.
     She got a rifle butt in the gut for that, but she didn't
care.  No one touches her bike.   She was worried, though, about
the reactions that her bike would receive when it returned
without its pilot.   Lum didn't need any more problems to
straighten out,  but Benten couldn't see any alternatives.
     Sneaking out of the school was not very difficult.  Shinobu
knew the best way out, and Benten silenced any opposition they
encountered.   It takes more than a couple days to make a boy
into a soldier.   Those stationed to guard the school were
ill-prepared for Benten's  speed and skill.
     Benten relieved the first prison guard of his gun.  She
hated having to use something so archaic, but a weapon was a
weapon.   When they came to the second sentry, who was at the top
of the stairs to the ground floor,  Benten took him out with a
quick hit to the back of the neck.  She took his weapon as well
and offered it to Shinobu, who refused it.
     "What the hell's the matter with you!" Benten whispered
loudly.  "You think this is a game?  We're fugitives!  Now the
take the damn weapon!"
     "I couldn't kill anyone," Shinobu protested.
     Benten spat.  "Do you want to die? Do you?! How long will it
be, do you think, before the real soldiers get here once word
gets out about me, huh?   They're not going to put us in some
sports equipment cage. I'll tell you that!    You want to
survive?! Do what I tell you and take the damn gun!"
     Shinobu hesitantly accepted the gun.
     "Fine," Benten said.  "Now where do we go next?"
     After encountering a few more guards, all classmates of
Shinobu, the pair reached the kitchen and a back delivery door.
Benten opened the door a crack, and peeked through.  The sun was
still up, but setting.   There were two jeeps parked a short
distance from the door.  One had a machine gun mount.   Benten
knew that they that had been extremely lucky so far.   It
wouldn't be long until the alarm went out.   Darkness or no they
had to make a break for it.
     She turned to Shinobu.  "How far is it, until we're out of
the city?"
     "Ten kilometers, probably more."
     Benten sighed and looked out the door again.  The wall was
very close.   There were two dumpsters, a tree, and the jeeps.
The rest was open space, and it would be an hour until it was
dark enough to get around.   Benten remembered that the planet
had a moon, a fairly large one.  She couldn't remember where it
was in orbit.
     "How bright is that moon of yours?"
     "Bright, I guess."  Shinobu answered, not really having a
reference to compare it.
     "Shit!" Benten cursed, but then saw something that gave her
a little hope, a thin crescent above the setting sun.  Benten
made a decision.  She turned to Shinobu and smiled.  "I hope you
don't have a date tonight," she said.
     "What do you mean?"
     "Come on!"  Benten said, threw open the door and ran to the
dumpsters.  Shinobu followed close behind, but stopped short.
     "We can't hide in there."
     "Why not?" Benten smiled back, but then became more serious.
"No questions, all right?  Do you trust me or don't you?"  With
that, Benten opened up the dumpster and climbed inside.  It was
half full with rotting food and torn up boxes.   Shinobu
hesitantly climbed in after her.
     "This is great!"  Benten said.  "We can bury ourselves under
these boxes.  They won't find us, unless they really get in and
dig."
     "Bury ourselves in the garbage?"
     Benten grabbed the handle and began to close the  door.
"Yeah, trust me."
     Mendo sat up in the jeep where he had taken a break from his
duties to watch the clouds go by.   He looked at the dumpsters
and smiled as the lid came to a close.   Getting up, he retrieved
his gun from the back seat and resumed his post by the jeeps.
He began mentally preparing himself for what he was sure would be
a grand adventure.

     Returning from her dinner with Sugoi, Lum found Ten waiting
for her in her room.  Lum was a bit surprised to find him there.
She knew he could get in, because he occasionally left presents
for her when he knew that she had had a particularly bad day with
the generals, but still one doesn't expect to find someone
waiting in one's personal quarters.
                           *  *  *
     "Ten," Lum said in shock.
     "Lum, we have a problem," Ten said standing up.
     "The last I heard we had several problems."
     "You had better sit down for this one."
     Lum tensed up and suddenly noticed the unaccustomed
seriousness in Ten's eyes.  She sat down.
     "Benten's fighter came back empty."
     "What do you mean?"
     "It was placed on autopilot.   We can only assume Benten has
been captured, or worse."
     Lum stood.  She couldn't think.   "When did it return?"
     "Not more than a hundredth ago.   I paid the hangar
attendant to say, to anyone who asked, that Benten had returned
and was with you."
     "I'm going to get her back."
     "That wouldn't be wise.   You're too visible.   You can't go
rushing down to the planet again."
     Lum looked into Ten's eyes.  "My heart says that this is
more important than politics.  I can't trust this to anyone else,
even you."
     "You learn too fast, I'm afraid.  That has always been your
weakness."
     Lum offered a slight smile to Ten's chide.  She went to the
closet to gather a flight suit.  "Look after Darling for me."
     "Ah, I think you should take him with you.  He knows the
area after all."
     "I know it too, and I won't risk him.   I'm going to be
changing now."
     Ten turned to leave and then offered.  "Do you want a pet or
a husband?"  With that, Ten left.
     Lum stopped, stunned by Ten's parting statement.  He was
right as usual.  She didn't want or need something else to look
after.  She had an empire to look after.   She wanted someone to
share her life with, and maybe look after her for a change.
Still, though, she kept him locked up, safe.  How quickly she had
taken ownership of him.
     She picked up the weapon she was going to take.  A simple
energy discharge weapon, it could obliterate a living target at
100 meters and punch a good size hole in most armors.  Benten had
given it to her.  She stepped over to the mirror.   Lum was still
dressed in the dinner dress, the finery of a princess, but in her
hands she held the cold black weapon.   She looked into her own
eyes.  They were cold, sad and determined.   Where was her
dream-self underneath the exterior she saw?  She couldn't feel
it.  She couldn't find it.
     When she first found out that Ataru was alive and real, she
thought that her life would be instantly transformed once she met
him.   She would be able to live in the dream forever, and forget
the image she saw in the mirror.  Ataru had been on the ship for
over two days, and things were just getting worse.  She wasn't
getting any chance at all to spend time with him.  She couldn't
find a place in her life for her dream, no place at all.   A tear
formed in her eye.

     Ataru was back in Ten's room again.  He was beginning to
hate it,  especially now that he was alone.  Not even Shinobu was
there to keep him company.   He lay on the plush bed and stared
up at the ceiling trim, musing over the intricate designs.  He
wondered if he was really doing anyone any good here.  Where was
Lum, and when would they ever have any time together?
     He turned over.  Where was Lum? he thought.   Where was the
Lum he remembered?  Jariten had said that there were two Lums,
Ataru's and the one who was meant for Rei.  He wondered when he
would see his.
     Lum burst into the room.  She wore a bulky pair of
coveralls.  On her right hand she held a folded garment, the same
color as what she was wearing.
     "I'm going to Earth to rescue Benten and Shinobu, want to
come?"
     "Rescue?! They've been captured?"  Ataru stood.
     "I believe so.  I'm going to find out.  Coming?"
     Ataru smiled and nodded.

     It was seconds after Benten and Shinobu hid in the dumpsters
that all the lights of the school turned on, and the typhoon
alarm sounded.   The escape had been discovered, and that was the
best alarm they had.   Onsenmark organized a complete search, but
he assumed they had already left the grounds.  He hoped that one
of the patrols would run into them.   It would be dark soon.
     He wondered what he'd tell the intelligence people that the
government was sending if he lost the alien.  He hoped that he
hadn't.  They didn't sound too forgiving on the phone.
     He himself went to check the jeeps.   If they were going to
escape, at least he could make sure that they were on foot.   He
rounded the corner and was surprised to find Mendo dutifully
standing guard.   In the last couple days, Onsenmark had
discovered that Mendo daydreamed as much as a soldier as he had
done as a student.
     Onsenmark strode over to Mendo, who saluted him.
"Report," Onsenmark commanded.
     "Nothing out of the ordinary, sir!"
     "The prisoners have escaped.  If they're not gone already
they may try for the jeeps.  Keep an eye out.  I'll see if I can
find someone to stand guard with you.   Until then, if you see
anything at all, fire into the air. Remember that the alien is
dangerous."
     "Yes sir!"
     Onsenmark glanced around the still grounds.   The sun had
set and there was only a dim glow in the west now.  Onsenmark
tugged at his collar.   He had to catch that alien.  The
government people were coming.   He took a last look and once
satisfied that everything was in order, entered the school to
call on his patrols.  Maybe they had found something.
     Mendo watched him disappear through the kitchen delivery
door, and let out a breath.   He checked to see if everything was
clear.  He had to work fast before Onsenmark sent the other
guard.  Mendo went over to the dumpster, and knocked on it three
times.  Then he whispered,  "It's all clear.  If we going to
escape, it's got to be now."
     The dumpster remained silent.
     "I know you're in there.  I watched you go in."
     That got some results.   There were some muffled whispers
and faster than he was prepared for, the lid of the dumpster
opened and Mendo was staring down the barrel of Benten's rifle.
There was no hesitation at all in her eyes.  And no doubt in
Mendo that she would fire.  He froze and dropped his gun.
     Shinobu appeared next to Benten.  She was dirty and a bit
messed up.  There were small pieces of paper garbage in her hair.
 She pulled them out and looked down at Mendo.
     "Why didn't you turn us in?" Shinobu asked curiously.
     All Mendo was concerned with was the gun pointed at his
head.  His eye's were vacant with fear.
     "Benten," Shinobu protested,  "he protected us."
     "I'm not going to let my guard down again.   Climb out
slowly and head for the jeep, the one with the big gun,
preferably.  I'll make sure he doesn't try anything."
     Shinobu looked at Benten and then at Mendo.  Mendo didn't
look like he was capable of trying anything.  He surprised her.
He was always so sure of himself in his own little world.  She'd
never have believed that he would fall apart so quickly.   She
climbed out of the dumpster and brushed herself off.
     "There'll be time for that later," Benten hissed.  "Get
moving!"
     Shinobu felt sorry for Mendo.  She took his hand, which he
clenched tightly around hers.  She led him away from Benten's
gun.   Benten, who was becoming furious, jumped out of the
dumpster.
     Shinobu spoke in a soft voice to the petrified Mendo.  "It's
okay," she said, "Benten wasn't going to hurt you.  Come over and
set down.  Tell me why you protected us."
     She was almost to the jeep when Benten grabbed her roughly
by the arm.  "What the hell do you think you're doing!  I've told
you already.  Do what I tell you and no questions.  I've half a
mind to leave you here.   Are you coming with me, or not?"
     Shinobu turned away.  She set Mendo down gently  in the
passenger seat of the jeep, and then she turned back to Benten.
"It wasn't necessary to pull a gun on him.  These people were my
friends and he was helping us!"
     Benten was about to speak when her eyes grew wide at
something she saw behind Shinobu.
     "Down!" she called.   Shinobu began to duck when a shot rang
out.  Shinobu jerked forward, falling on Mendo's lap.  Benten
leapt into the jeep, but couldn't figure out how to start it.
     "The alien must to be taken alive!" someone shouted.
     Benten grabbed her rifle and fired back at the approaching
guard, hitting him in the leg.   "Your friends," she hissed at
the unconscious Shinobu.  She quickly pulled Shinobu all the way
into the vehicle and began shaking Mendo.  "How do I start this
damn thing!"
     Mendo started to come out of his stupor.
     "You bastard!" Benten kept yelling, as she heard more shouts
off in the distance.  The siren started up again.  "How do I
start this thing?!"
     Mendo looked at her wild-eyed, not understanding a word she
was saying.
     In a weak voice Shinobu spoke up.
     "Push the pedal on the far end and turn the key under the
wheel."
     Benten did as she said and the car started up.
     Shinobu took a deep breath and continued, "Hit the long
pedal while  letting up on the first one.   We'll never be able
to escape."
     "Watch me!"  Benten did as Shinobu said.   The car lurched
forward with a jolt as Benten floored the gas pedal, and released
the clutch.   Then the car promptly stalled.
     "This damn thing's defective!"  Benten said punctuating her
statement by hitting the steering wheel.
     "It stalled.  You have to do it, gradually."
     "Gradually," Benten repeated and reached for the key.
     "The clutch!"  Shinobu interrupted.
     "The what?!"
     "The far pedal."
     Benten started the car.  "'Clutch', 'gradually',"  Benten
sighed and gradually pressed the gas while releasing the clutch.
The car lurched forward again.  It rocked, and then started to
move.   Benten saw three guards running around the corner.
     "Fuck gradually!"   She floored it again.   The engine
whined loudly, and went forward, though it was painfully slow for
Benten.  Benten swung the car around.  There were five guards
coming after them.  Some of them were crouching to fire.  She
dodged wildly, taking the vehicle onto the grass.
     She couldn't just dodge, though.   They had to get away.
Benten studied the field and chose her route.  The pedal was
already floored.   She was used to having speed at her command.
This was excruciating.
     "Doesn't this thing go any faster?" she asked Shinobu, but
Shinobu was no longer awake.
     Mendo, however, guessed from the whining engine that the
alien warrior didn't know how to switch gears.  They were being
shot at.   Benten was making for the gate, but it was far too
slow.  Even with Benten's weaving and dodging they would be hit
again.  Mendo fought nausea as he noticed Shinobu's sleeve grow
redder and redder.   He had to get control of himself.
     "Hit the clutch!" he called out in words unintelligible to
Benten, except for one.
     "What?!" she said in her own language.
     "The clutch!" Mendo repeated and pointed to the pedal.
"Hit the clutch!"
     Benten recognized the word, "clutch" because Shinobu had
just used it.  She pressed the pedal, and Mendo shifted from
first to third gear.  He tapped Benten on the shoulder.   She
took her foot off the pedal, and hit the gas.  The tires
squealed, and the jeep picked up some real speed.  They sped
through the gate, and out onto the street.
     "Clutch," Mendo said, and Benten obeyed.  Mendo switched it
into fourth, and tapped Benten's shoulder.
     She hit the gas, and shot an evil grin back at Mendo.  She
took a glance behind them.   They were being followed by the
other jeep.   Only street lights lit their way and Benten cursed
them.  However, Benten looked at all the possible side streets
ahead and knew that this wasn't a problem.   They looked plenty
dark, a veritable maze of darkness.  She turned down one, and
would have thrown Mendo out of the car if Shinobu wasn't lying on
his lap.
     He looked down at Shinobu.  She was breathing at least.
Benten glanced over at Shinobu as well.   She then glanced at
Mendo.   In a motion she clasped her left hand to her right arm
and squeezed.   Mendo understood, and searched for the wound.
Upon finding it, he realized that it was in her arm.  It wasn't
as bad as it might have been.   He applied pressure to the wound.
     Benten took another hard turn, and then another.  With all
the jostling, Shinobu woke up.  She winced at the pain, and then
looked up at Mendo.   "Now you're a fugitive, too," she said
weakly to him.
     "It'll be a great adventure."
     "Ah you're awake," Benten said. "What road do I take to get
out of the city?"
     "I'm not sure where we are," Shinobu said trying to look up.
She switched to Japanese, "Mendo, we need to get out of the
city."
     "Is that where your space ship is?"
     "No," Shinobu asked.  She felt herself going out again.
"we need someplace to hide."
     Mendo smiled, "Well why didn't you say so."   He tapped
Benten on the shoulder and indicated for her to turn left.
     She did so, and asked, "Where is he taking us?"   Shinobu
was out again.
     After a couple blocks, Mendo directed her right.  The
streets were getting narrower and harder to navigate, but there
were also fewer cars and people.   Benten slowed.   They had lost
their pursuers.
     Benten studied their surroundings.   Simple housing, not
unlike pictures she'd seen of her own world before the Uruseians
came.  These people were primitives, but they were innocent
primitives.
     Benten felt that was something very precious.  She felt her
hard edge melting away.   She knew she could only do her job by
maintaining a cold detachment toward the races she encountered.
It had been easy.   She stayed in her fighter.  They conquered a
planet, and in two or three days they moved on.    It was
sometimes longer, but not very.   Benten never saw the people.
It was her machine against theirs, and she always won.
     It was dangerous to let her beliefs and feelings interfere
with her job, until the time was right.  It wasn't right yet, but
here she was already an enemy and a friend, a fugitive and a
protector.  She was involved.   If Lum couldn't save these people
and the invasion continued, Benten wasn't sure if she would be
able to carry out her orders.  That doubt was dangerous.
     Mendo guided them to a more sparsely populated  part of the
city, to an unkempt lot, and an abandoned garage.   When Benten
stopped the jeep, Mendo got out and opened the door.   Benten
drove in, and Mendo closed the door behind them.
     It was old and musty.  A fog of dust floated in front of the
headlights before Benten turned them off.    The place was only
lit by the light of a street lamp shining just outside a small
window on a side wall.     Mendo moved comfortably in the near
darkness, and soon a candle was lit.
     "This is the Mendo family panic center," Mendo announced to
whomever would listen.  He added with a smile.  "Whenever my
parents put me into a panic I come here to be alone."
     He wiped his hand on the long tool bench where the candle
was set.   He looked at the result on his hand.  "I'm afraid it
is a little untidy, though.   It's not really mine."
     Benten was ignoring Mendo's chatter.  She tended to Shinobu.
Unfortunately, she had none of the advanced first-aid equipment
she carried on her fighter.   The bullet apparently had passed
through Shinobu's upper left arm.   Benten believed that it
missed the bone.   It needed to be tended on the ship, but that
wasn't an option.
     Benten made a quick search of the jeep and found the
first-aid box.   She didn't know what might be in any of the
tubes.  She opened one of the larger bottles and sniffed it.
It was alcohol.   Primitive, but it would work.
     Benten was regretting hiding in the dumpster.   Their
clothes and skin were full of germs.   She ripped Shinobu's
sleeve and washed the wound with the alcohol.   What she wouldn't
give for a sterilizing field.   Mendo turned away from the
spectacle.  There was nothing he could do, and he wasn't
comfortable around the blood.
     After the wound was bandaged up, Benten rummaged through the
box some more, and found the smelling salts, the hard way.  She
waved them under Shinobu's nose.    Shinobu woke with a start.
     "There you are," Benten smiled.  "All fixed and ready for
action.   You didn't want to go back to your old life.  Well,
you've gotten your wish."
     "Am I going to die?"
     "Maybe, but not from the wound.  I do need to get you back
to the ship, though."
     "Where are we?"  Shinobu asked, looking at the dark shabby
surroundings.  Her voice was weak, almost a whisper.
     "Hi, Shinobu," Mendo said.  "Glad to see you're all right."
     "Mendo," Shinobu said, and switched languages.  "Did you
bring us here?"
     "Yes," he responded with pride, "this is one of my hiding
places.   One of my fortresses, if you would allow."
     "Then you saved us again. Thank you."
     "What is this guy's name?" Benten interrupted.
     "Mendo," Shinobu responded.  "Mendo Shutaro."
     Hearing his name, Mendo bowed.
     "Fine," Benten remarked.  "I came to get rid of one of you,
and I pick up another one.  If I come here enough, I'll be stuck
with the whole fucking planet."
     "You sent your fighter back up, will anyone be coming to
look for us?"
     "Yes," admitted Benten, "but it's not something that I would
be looking forward to if I were a native of this planet."
                           *  *  *
     Though she was much more prepared than the last time she
went rushing down to the planet, Lum had to admit that she still
hadn't thought this through.  A bit odd for someone who was
notorious for never leaving anything to chance.
     The first thing she forgot to consider was getting Ataru to
the shuttle bay.  The second thing was getting off the ship.
Ataru was just a matter of a helmet and yet another out of the
way route.   The second problem was more difficult.  At least the
attendant was kind enough to inform Lum that he was under orders
to report and delay Lum, should she try to go to the planet
again.    The attendant was a member of her fleet, but also was a
soldier of the Seq house.  It was the Seq military who paid his
salary, so that's where his ultimate loyalties fell.
     Lum knew and understood all this.  All the houses had
representation on her fleet.  The Redet house maintained a slim
majority.   This was the royal fleet.   Imperial policy was
executed by this fleet, specifically, and therefore the families
expected representation.   It was a good political solution, but,
logistically, it was a nightmare.  All the greatest egos of the
Empire were on the ship, and Lum had to reign them in.   Lum had
to be mindful that for many families, family came before empire.
     This attendant was just such an example.  He served under
her, but he wasn't her man.   Only thirty percent of the soldiers
and pilots in the fleet were hers.  The Seq house, because of
Rei, and his future role as emperor had twenty-eight percent,
leaving forty-two percent for the other twenty major houses.
     Lum laughed inside as she thought about this.  There was the
royal house, the major houses, the minor houses, the peasant
Uruseians, the old slave races, and the new slave races.   The
Empire was a complex fight for position.  Lum was startled out of
her thoughts  when Ataru spoke.
     He was still helmeted.  Hearing him, Lum recalled that
Benten had given him an aristocratic accent.   The attendant had
no way of knowing that he was talking to an alien, or anyone else
but a high-born aristocrat.
     "Come now," Ataru began, his voice taking on a snobbish air.
"this is no mad dash.  The princess promised me a look at this
mysterious planet.  I must admit, though, that it was whim of
mine.  You're not going to leave me disappointed, are you?"
     "I'm sorry, my lord," the attendant began, "but I have my
orders."
     At least he was buying Ataru's accent, Lum thought, but
Ataru still wasn't getting anywhere.
     "Orders," Ataru scoffed.  "You were told to stop the
princess from rushing back down to the planet, but the princess
isn't rushing down to the planet, I am.   She's just accompanying
me.   I don't think your orders cover that."
     "It's really not my position to decide what my orders cover,
my lord.  Perhaps if you take it up with the general's council."
     "Excuse me?" Lum began getting a little indignant.  "Whose
ship is this?!  We're going to be stuck here for a couple weeks,
so if I want to go on a little cruise with a friend I should be
able to!  Without having to ask permission from a bunch of
busybody know-nothing generals!!"   She was getting warmed up.
"Now you will make a shuttle available, and you will not blab my
business all over the ship or I will find an even less glamorous
position than shuttle bay attendant for you, and believe me I
know quite a few!  Do you understand me, mister!?"
     The wide-eyed attendant froze at attention.  "Yes, maam!"
The attendant found himself having to make a quick decision and
he decided that yesterday's order did not carry as much value as
the one currently being thrust at his face.  Still he knew that
he was in a lose-lose situation.   If the princess didn't knock
him down, then general Seq would.
     Lum knew the position that she had put the attendant into
and felt sorry for him.  "Soldier," she said in a calmer voice.
     "Yes, maam!"
     "I take care of the people under my command.  You remember
that."
     "Yes, maam,"  he said and turned to read his controls.
"Shuttle 26 is available on deck E."
     "Thank you," Lum said as she and Ataru turned. "What's your
name?"
     "Chief Watig Fen, princess."
     "Watig," Lum repeated.  She nodded to the man and she and
Ataru left the room.
     "Aren't you worried that he'll call his bosses now?" Ataru
asked as they took the lift down to deck E.
     "No," Lum responded, "he won't.  I told him that if he took
care of me, I'd take care of him."
     "How about family loyalty and all that?  You said that he
worked for the Seq's.   Isn't that Rei's family?"
     "Well," Lum began as the lift jerked to a halt, lining
itself up with the deck,  "it was a gamble.  I wasn't really sure
until I heard his name.  Watig is a minor family.  They work for
the Seq's, but they wouldn't mind getting their own place among
the major families.  To the Seq's he's just a peon whose
disobeyed orders, if he's caught.  To me he's a Watig who did a
Redet a favor.  He's considering that as well.   Also, General
Seq Telli is not a good commander where the rank and file are
concerned, especially if they're not Seq.  He is not one for
earning the loyalty of those under his command."
     Ataru shook his head.  "Is everything you do that
complicated?"
     "Complicated?" Lum asked and opened the shuttle door.
     Ataru continued the conversation as the two sat down and
began preparations to leave.  "Yeah, all this minor family, major
family, favor stuff,  it seems that everything that happens here
is full of that, but it was never in the dreams."
     Lum stopped her pre-flight check to think about the dreams
and family politics.  "No, it was in the dreams. It just wasn't
obvious.  Remember when my mother and Mendo's mother went to war,
or when that Elle girl took you, and we fought, and there were
other times.  All the conflicts and minor wars we encountered, I
brought in.  I've traced them all.  I think you brought the
classroom, and the fun."
     Ataru sat next to Lum and took off the helmet.  "I've never
tried to take the dreams apart."
     Lum finished the startup sequence.  "You know how I'm so
different in the dreams than I am here.   I wondered why.   For a
while, I couldn't believe that it was me at all."
     "You are different, but when you got mad at that attendant .
. ."
     Lum laughed.  "You recognized my temper!"  Then she lowered
her head and said quietly.  "I wish you could recognize my
laughter as well."
     Ataru took her hand.  "I just did."
     Lum looked up into his eyes.  "I laughed," she said as if it
was something that surprised her.  "Do you know how long it's
been since I really laughed?"
     Ataru remained silent, but attentive.
     Lum took her hand back and started the shuttle into the air.
"Ten used to be able to make me laugh,"  Lum said after a moment.
The shuttle lifted into the air and began to move forward toward
the starry vacuum outside the ship.   Lum continued, "Whenever I
was depressed or tired from dealing with the families he would do
something, anything just to bring a smile back to my face.   I
needed him so badly, but lately. . . Lately, it's not been
enough."
     "What's changed?"
     "You mostly," Lum admitted.
     "What did I do?!"
     "You showed me what real laughter was.  You showed me how to
have fun.  In all my life, I've never been allowed to have fun.
I've always had to study.  I became an officer in the space fleet
when I was thirteen, Ataru.  I wasn't some spoiled princess,
either.  I was good at my job.  The generals laughed when my
father gave me this command.  They thought the little princess
would just be in the way.   I had to show 'em.   I worked three
times as hard, and I whipped this fleet into shape."
     Once the shuttle cleared the ship, Lum turned on the
thrusters.  There was a jerk forward.  It was slight as compared
to what Shinobu had felt in Benten's bike.
     Lum continued her narration, while Ataru listened. "Our
casualty rate dropped in half."
     "In half?"
     "It was no great accomplishment.   The last commander, a
cousin of mine, was letting the generals throw their men away.
'All for the glory of their families,'" Lum mocked.
     Lum settled the shuttle into a nice orbit and then stood up.
"Wanna learn how to fly a shuttle?"
     Ataru looked up at her in astonishment. "Me?"
     "I think you should learn some basics, just in case.
It's real easy."
     Ataru cautiously changed chairs.  He looked down at the
touch screen control panel.   He could read the lettering thanks
to the language programming, but the abbreviations made no sense
at all.
     "Easy?"
     "Well, I'm not going to teach you about atmosphere skipping,
or gravity warping, or combat, but we have enough time to teach
you how to get it to move."
                           *  *  *
     After her dinner with Lum, Sugoi sat down to assess what
information she had gleaned from their cat and mouse game.  Lum
was good at it, Sugoi had to admit.  She was very close with her
secrets, and despite Sugoi's innocent facade, Lum was not to be
caught off guard.
     Sugoi did feel that Lum was a bit too quick to say that she
found nothing on the planet.  There was also something in Lum's
eyes, a hidden apprehension.    Something was found on the
planet, but Sugoi didn't find out anything beyond that.  Rei had
personally carried Lum back.   She didn't bring anything back
with her.  What could it have been, Sugoi wondered?

     There's the Terran saboteur.   How did he get on the ship?
Sugoi had studied Earth technology before she came on board.
There was really no way that the saboteur could get on board
without Uruseian help.   Even if they had gotten a ship up, they
couldn't breach the protection sphere, especially undetected,
unless they were allowed in.
     That raised another question.  Why would Lum allow a
saboteur onto her ship?  To stall the fleet, maybe?  No, Sugoi
didn't believe that.   People died in the explosion.  Lum wasn't
known for sacrificing her people.  Besides there are much easier
ways of stalling the fleet when you're the commander.  That was
probably a more complicated situation than was immediately
apparent.  Sugoi was willing to believe that Lum really didn't
have anything to do with the saboteur.   After all, she was
chasing him.
     Sugoi called into the air, "Computer: call up Commander Seq
Rei's fighter camera log from three days ago."   Maybe if she
could find something from the recording of Lum being brought
back.
     "Ready," came the response.
      "Play."
     A glow formed in mid-air in front of Sugoi.  It coalesced
into a defined rectangular shape and then an image appeared.  The
computer started from moment the fighter was turned on.  Sugoi
saw images of the fighter bay.  There were techs running around
re-prepping fighters for flight.  Sugoi remembered that Rei's
flight had just landed when they were called out to get Lum.
She didn't need to see this part.
     "Jump forward one hundredth," she commanded.
     The image became a blur, and then resolved again to an image
of the terrain coming up.
     "Jump forward five thousandths," she commanded again.
     The image jumped to Rei walking toward the camera, toward
the fighter.  Lum was in his arms.
     "Jump back two thousandths."
     A blur again.  Rei's ship was just touching down.  There was
Lum by herself in the middle of the street, watching the ships
land.   Suddenly Benten ran in front of the camera and headed
straight toward Lum.  They were talking, but there was no sound.
It was a fighter camera, and there's no sound in space. No
microphone was thought to be needed.  Fortunately Sugoi could
overcome this deficiency.
     "Computer, back one thousandth, and close-up on the face of
the figure in the foreground."
     The image blurred.  Lum's face filled the view.   She was
smiling.  Suddenly, the corner of Benten's head entered the
picture, but Sugoi could still see Lum's lips.  Sugoi nodded and
smiled.
     "Computer continue, normal view."
     The view pulled back.   Sugoi watched Rei go to the two,
Benten and Lum.   Rei picked up Lum and started carrying her
back.  Sugoi laughed as Benten teased Lum about being carried by
Rei.  Then Rei's ship lifted up, leaving Benten on the planet.
     "Lum's faithful sidekick," Sugoi said smiling.  "You found
him all right, and she brought him up.  But he couldn't be the
saboteur."
     This saboteur was old.  He was hardly Lum's type.  The story
of Lum's dreams painted the lover as young.   Sugoi needed more
information.  She needed to talk to Benten.   Benten, although
hostile, wouldn't be near as good a verbal fencer as Lum.
     Sugoi went to change into more casual clothing.  All she had
to do now was find Benten.
                           *  *  *
     Benten stared out at the street light, which shone through
the small garage window.  Shinobu, by Benten's insistence, was
sleeping.  Mendo was sitting in a corner.   Benten thought he was
sleeping as well, but she felt eyes on her.
     She turned quickly to Mendo.  He didn't look away.  "What
are you looking at?!"  she demanded, but he didn't understand.
Why didn't these people have the good sense to speak Uruseian,
she thought, and sighed.   She returned to looking absently out
the window, but she couldn't shake Mendo's eyes.
     She stood up gruffly and marched over to him.  Standing over
him, she shot him a look that would have made most men mess their
pants, but he didn't turn away.   His face only showed curiosity.
Benten was confused.   He was so easy to scare before.   Benten
rolled her eyes, and then grabbed his head and firmly turned it
away.   She then went back to where she was sitting.
     Mendo turned back to her, but then looked down.  He had
guessed what she wanted before, but he was too eaten up with
curiosity.  He was with an alien.  He was trying to come to grips
with the fact that this woman was not born on Earth.
     She looked human enough.  In fact, she was quite pretty, but
she wasn't human.   Mendo wondered about how her internal organs
were.   Maybe she had two hearts.  Maybe she wasn't even female,
but then there was Ataru's girl.  She was pretty and female, but
Ataru said that she had green hair, and horns as well.  Mendo
wondered if there were horns hidden under Benten's hair.
     Mendo turned his attention to the slumbering Shinobu.  She
was on their ship, he thought.   She was  even dressed in the
same clothes as Benten.   Mendo thought Shinobu was lucky.   He
knew he had to help them get back.  If he could only get into
space, himself. . . that would be the greatest dream.
     Benten was glad that Mendo had given up staring at her, but
she couldn't regain the calm she had before.  She found herself
looking back at Mendo.  Another young human male, at least he was
a little better looker than Ataru.  What was she going to do with
him, another one?  She couldn't take them back to the ship.
Though after what she saw here, she couldn't really leave them.
     Benten found herself looking at the sleeping Shinobu.
"You're not safe anywhere anymore,"  she whispered, "I'm sorry
you've lost your home."
     A light hitting her face caught Benten's immediate
attention.  She went to the window.  It was as she feared, a jeep
with a search light.  She went to the candle,  snuffed it, and
then went back to the window.   Most of the light was from the
street lamp, anyway, but they didn't need any give aways.  She
feared that this abandoned garage would be an obvious place to
search, and she was right.  The jeep stopped.
                           *  *  *
     Lum was pleased with how well Ataru was learning to fly.
He was no fighter pilot yet, but Lum felt that he could hold the
ship in flight if she was incapacitated.  That's all they had
time for now.  Lum wasn't willing to take someone into danger
with her, without appropriate precautions.
     She took the controls from him in order to land the shuttle.
     "They're going to be watching for a return invasion,"  Ataru
commented.
     "I agree.  Where should we put down?"
     "No where near Tokyo."
     "I checked Benten's flight log," Lum commented. "I'm afraid
her ego got in the way.   Even though they fired on her, she
landed in the exact place where you were picked up."
     "They were captured, then?"
     "Yes, the fighter's sensors recorded several people
surrounding the fighter.  Benten and Shinobu left the ship under
guard before the fighter left."
     "The school is the nearest public building."
     Lum smiled, "They won't be there.  Benten does not like to
be chained.  If she's alive, they've escaped by now."
     Knowing that they could get fired upon, Lum decided to take
the most unassuming course she could take.  She would just let
the shuttle fall into the atmosphere, and then fly at airline
speeds.  The people might stop and think about it before they
fired.
     Benten would have flown nothing less than supersonic.  Any
idiot would have looked at her radar signature and said,
'fighter.'  Not that they wouldn't fire at Lum anyway.   She
didn't really know what level of alert the planet might still be
on, especially after yet another alien ship landing.
     Sensors reported a radar lock made on the shuttle, but Lum
took no action.   She just continued on her way. Private aircraft
do not have radar sensors.   She must have confused them a
little.  Instead of missiles, the next contact was a radio
signal.
     Both Lum and Ataru spoke fluent Japanese, but they had a
problem. The international air traffic language is English.
Ataru suddenly wished that he had stayed awake at more of
Professor Onsenmark's classes.    Lum had thought that she was a
good student and had stayed awake during the classes, but they
were dream classes.  They were dream classes based on Ataru's
memories, who slept during class.  Truth to tell, though, Lum did
know more English than Ataru.  She didn't forget as promptly as
he did.
     Lum considered faking it with what little she knew, but she
recalled all the jargon that their own traffic control required.
She could pretend to be an untrained pilot in an emergency, but
she felt that would draw more attention to themselves than not
answering.  Then she got an idea.
     Lum switched on the radio and in English said, "Helrupu! I
can't cohntrolru it!"   She started to weave a little, and then
more.
     "Are you Japanese?!" came the response, in Japanese.  "What
is the problem?"
     Lum felt hurt.  Ataru smiled.  "I didn't think I had an
accent," she said to him, and switched on the radio.  "I think
we're going down.  An alien shot out an engine!"
      "Who are you?!  Non military aircraft shouldn't be flying!
Do you have any control at all?"
     "I've lost the other engine!" Lum shouted, "We've going
down!"   She cut the radio and the power to the engines.   The
shuttle dropped like a rock.   At one hundred meters, she turned
the lifters back on.  The shuttle bounced gently into the ocean
and then rose to ten meters.  Lum looked at Ataru, who was quite
pale.  He looked back at her with a nervous smile.
     "They'll think we crashed," she said.
     "I know I do," Ataru replied.
     Out of the windows, They could see the lights of Tokyo in
the distance, little glittering yellow and white dots set in a
rough line against a black background.
     "This shuttle is going to stand out too much," Ataru said.
"How are we going to hide it?"
     "I was thinking of leaving it out here."
     "Were you considering walking in?" Ataru said, indicating
the rough, dark waters ahead of them.
     "No I'd thought I'd fly in,"  Lum replied in perfect
seriousness.
     This got Ataru's attention.  "Fly?  But I thought that. . ."

     ". . .that I couldn't really fly under my own power?" Lum
continued the thought, "I can't.  I don't shoot lightning bolts
either.  That's just a game that I'll tell you about later.  No,
we'll both be flying.  I stowed a set of personal lifters.
We'll be flying in quietly, under darkness, and scanning for
Benten's alien metabolism. We'll be able to home right in on her.
Then we'll fly out."
     Ataru studied Lum's features for a moment.  He detected some
sarcasm, which actually reassured him.  "We'll home right in on
her, no problem?"  he said, continuing the game.
     "Right in."
     "This is going to be nearly impossible, isn't it?"  Ataru
asked.
     Lum smiled.  "It's only impossible if we don't try."
She got up and opened one of the lockers in the back of the
shuttle.   She pulled out a couple of belts and tossed one to
Ataru.
     Ataru studied it.  It was a dark gray fabric belt with a
metal clasp.  Attached to it was a small black plastic box.   The
box was clean of any controls, or connectors.
     Ataru looked up at Lum who was putting the belt around her
waist.  "What's this?"
     "That's a personal lifter belt."
     "This?" he said holding it up.  "Is there some rocket
backpack that goes with it?"
     "Rocket backpack?"  Lum asked, smiling a little.
     "Yeah, you know, something to lift you into the air."
     Lum tried to hold back a laugh, "We haven't used reaction
thrust in centuries.   That little box is all it takes."
     "This little thing is going to make us fly?" he asked
holding out the box part of the belt.
     "A rocket flies purely by fighting gravity.   Your airplanes
are a little more intelligent.  They fight gravity, but they also
use it.   That box flies purely by using the energy of gravity.
Gravity is just energy, and all energy is convertible.  The box
takes all the gravity energy on it and converts it.  Since it
uses all the gravity, there's none left to pull you down, so you
float.   The converted energy is then used to move you around.
Understand?"
     Ataru didn't, and he doubted he ever would, so he nodded.
"How do you tell it where to move you?"
     Lum tossed him a helmet.  "Just wear the helmet.  It will
translate your brain waves, and send them to  the box.  You think
where you want to go."
     Ataru, cautiously put on the belt and the helmet.  Lum gave
him a weapon, and a personal shield generator.   She also gave
him a small scanner.    One he had everything and was put
together, he stood up.   He looked at himself and then at Lum.
"I feel like I've stepped into some space movie."
     "In a way you have.  There's a communicator in the helmet,
and an emergency transmitter in the scanner.   If we get
separated, we should still be able to reach each other."
     Lum studied Ataru.  "It is a little strange seeing you like
that. You're entering my world."
     "Yeah."
     "The belt does take a little getting used to.   It can go
pretty fast.  I suggest that once you step out of the ship your
first thought is to go up.  Just look in the direction you want
to go and imagine going there.  Work to control your speed the
best you can.  Remember it's dark out, and we're over the ocean.
I don't want my Darling slamming himself into the water."
     "Are we leaving the shuttle here?"
     "Not really.  I put an avoidance program on it.  It will
stay here until someone without one of these helmets transmitters
comes looking for it.  If they do get a fix on it, they'll have a
merry chase trying to catch it."
     "But we'll be able to find it?" Ataru asked.
     "Yes, your helmet is in communication with the shuttle
computer.   You say, 'Computer come', and the shuttle will find
you."
     Ataru lowered his head, thinking, and then looked back up at
Lum.  "There's going to be a lot of technology that I'm going to
have to learn, isn't there."
     "I want you to be the next emperor of the Uruseian Empire,
Ataru. There's a lot that you'll need to know."
     Ataru sighed.  He looked as if he was trying to draw on some
inner strength.  "Right now, we had better find Shinobu and
Benten, but afterwards I think you and I have some things to work
out."   Without waiting for Lum's response Ataru turned, and
opened the airlock.  He took a breath, looked up into space and
jumped.   He fell straight into the water.
     Lum ran out of the shuttle and floated down to the
floundering Ataru.  The water was far from still, but it was
manageable.   Ataru had recovered from his initial shock, and was
keeping his head up.   He looked at Lum, who was hovering
effortlessly above him.
     "This is a familiar scene, isn't it," he called up to her.
     Lum smiled and shook her head.  She floated down lower and
picked him up by the armpits.   She brought him back to the
shuttle, and  left him standing there in the doorway, soaking
wet.
     Lum chuckled, but tried to regain composure.  "Everything's
water proof," she began, still smiling. "It should all still
work."
     "All your gizmos may be waterproof," Ataru began while
shaking the water out of his sleave.  "But I don't think I am."
     "You'll live."  Lum floated away from the shuttle.  "Now
look at me, and concentrate.   Think only of coming toward me."
     Ataru concentrated his view on Lum.  She was wearing a
helmet, heavy coveralls and gear, but still there she was
floating ahead of him, just like in the dreams.   "Emperor," he
thought.  "How can I be emperor of an empire I know nothing
about.  I'm no emperor.  I'm a school kid."
     He looked out at Lum, trying to steel his concentration.
All those times he turned from her.   All those times he said he
didn't want her around.  It was all a game.   He did love her.
At least, he loved the dream part of her.   He couldn't say he
knew the other part.  He didn't know this politician, general,
princess Lum.  How could he be an Emperor?  He couldn't imagine.
    He concentrated hard on Lum.  Obviously this flying thing
wasn't as easy as she made it look.  It occurred to him, as the
old saying went,  anything that it difficult to understand or to
do,  which takes a while to master begins with a single step.
Ataru took a breath.  He looked down to the black water below,
and then back at Lum.  He took a step into the open air and, with
his attention firmly on Lum and getting over to her, he found
that he could fly.
                       [End of Part 6]