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[Ranma][Fanfic] Chasing the Wind - Part 6

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J. Austin Wilde

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Nov 4, 1996, 3:00:00 AM11/4/96

-Chasing the Wind-
By J. Austin Wilde
Fission Park Press

J. Austin Wilde, K.B.C.S.
Minister of Propaganda and
Super Critical Reactor Axe Man
Fission Park Press
jau...@aloha.net

Synopsis:

A group of scientists come to Nerima to study 'magnetic
disturbances'. Ranma and Akane get caught in the middle of an 'event',
which skews their ki's in opposite respects to each other. Unless they
remain close to each other, they lose all fighting focus, and in sleep
they experience terrible nightmares.
Hiro Ohata, Ranma's friend from the Second Korean War, works for
the scientists and arranges for them to come to England. The hope is
that Professor McFogg and his research team can reverse the effects of
their skewed ki. During the trip to London, Ranma meets a woman named
Anazali, who seems to be following them.
Ukyo, Nabiki, and Tatewaki Kuno are kidnapped by agents working
for a Russian research team that is also chasing these 'events'. They
are taken to a dacha outside of Odessa where Ukyo is tortured. Kuno
breaks free and rescues the two women. The three are pursued by a
vicious man named Fyodor.
Ranma and Akane are caught up in the next event, which takes place
at the megalithic site of Maes Howe on Orkney Island, Scotland. Aware
that Anazali has been watching them, Ranma calls her out to talk.
Anazali tells him that he may find not only a cure for his skewed ki,
but also a cure for his Jusenkyo curse.
Professor McFogg asks Ranma and Akane to stay with the research
group as they chase after the events. The Maes Howe Event has slightly
improved their unbalanced ki's, leaving hope for further improvement.
Ranma agrees to stay, much to Akane's surprise.
Kuno, Ukyo, and Nabiki are nearly caught and killed by Fyodor and
his men in the Ukraine. An enigmatic stranger delivers them from their
fate. They find themselves aboard a sailboat headed for the Aegean Sea
under the care of a man calling himself Aerandir.

Part Six:
A History Lesson.

Chapter One

"Kiiiiiiiiyaaaaahhh!!!"
Two young voices cried out as one. At their very crescendo a stout
oaken log split in two. The cry melted into the satisfying crunch of
wood.
"<Not bad,>" Heironymous Durango remarked.
Ranma and Akane remained balanced on one foot. Their other feet
hung in midair; Ranma's at the level of his eyes, Akane's just over the
top of her head. The log halves fell to the ground.
"You two work pretty well together," Hiro noted as he thoughtfully
ran his brush through the barrel of his .45 caliber pistol. D-Day was
cleaning the receiver of a drum fed Thompson that looked like it
belonged in a gangster movie. The table was littered with rifles,
submachine guns, and pistols in various states of assembly. Hiro and
the others were doing a little maintenance on the group's small arms.
It was a little reminder that some of the places they would travel to
were less than hospitable.
**That was true enough**, Ranma supposed, thinking about Hiro's
remark. He had only known her for a few days when they had faced off
against Kuno on their way to school. Although they hadn't planned it
that way, they both leaped into the air to deliver a flying kick to the
kendoist's face. A few of their friends remarked that they looked like
they had been fighting as a team their whole lives the way they leaped
and struck in unison.
"<Breakin' a log like that's gotta take serious power, man.>"
D-Day observed to Durango.
Ranma jerked a thumb towards Akane.
"<Akane's got brute strength in spades.>"
Akane's face twisted in pain as if she'd been struck. Instantly
pulling herself together, her dagger elbow slammed into his solar
plexus. Ranma doubled over more for theatrical effect, as he'd seen
this one coming. That didn't mean it didn't hurt, however.
"Would you like another example of my 'brute strength'?" She asked
hotly. Durango and D-Day didn't speak Japanese, but it was clear from
Akane's rapid-fire speech that she said something less than sweet to
her fiancee.
"No thanks," Ranma gasped. She'd hit him harder than he thought
she would. It was a good thing he was prepared for the blow.
"Good," she continued. "What's next?"
He recovered and gave her a puzzled look.
She answered his unspoken question.
"You wanted to practice together so you could stay in form. If you
can't keep up with me, just say so and we'll take a break."
"Hah!" Ranma snorted. "The day I can't keep up with you is the day
I quit martial arts!"
"Then follow me on a little run. If you can keep up that is!" She
teased. She started off down the grassy meadow that was once, and
occasionally still, an airfield.
Ranma ran after her. "Don't push yourself too hard!" He yelled.
"I'd hate to have to carry ya back to the house!"
Durango watched them go. He sprayed a little solvent into the
extractor mechanism of an H&K MP-5PK submachine gun and shook his head.
"<Those two are full of vim and vigor this morning.>"
D-Day nodded in agreement. "<Yeah, they remind me of me and my
first ex.>"

Ranma caught up with Akane and jogged by her side. He was tempted
to tear off ahead just to prove who the strongest runner really was,
but knowing Akane's stubborn streak, she would actually push herself to
the point of collapse. Carrying her back to the house didn't sound like
a fun way to spend the rest of the morning.
"I've been meaning to talk to you," Akane said to him as he came
alongside.
"Oh yeah?"
"I didn't get a chance before we left Maes Howe."
"What's this about?"
"Your change of heart."
Ranma gave her a questioning look.
"My what?"
"Ever since we left Japan you've been carrying on about how we're
just here to find a cure. The Professor's research meant nothing to
you. Now it seems like you want to follow him to the ends of the earth.
I just want to know why."
Ranma thought about his answer.
Without warning he stopped in his tracks.
Akane continued on for several more paces before screeching to a
halt.
She jogged in place as she turned around to face him. When it
looked like he wasn't going to be doing any more running, she stopped.
"What was that for?" She asked.
"This is important to me, Akane."
She stepped up to him. "Could you tell me why?"
"I don't know how to explain this. I don't even know where I
should begin."
"The beginning's usually a good place." She stuck her tongue out
at him.
He looked away. "This ain't funny."
She put her tongue back in her mouth. "Okay, it's not funny... So
what is it?"
He looked up to the sky for a moment.
"A cure."
She made an exasperated face.
"I know that. So what's the big deal?"
"It's not our cure. It's _my_ cure..."
It took a few moments for Akane to understand what he was talking
about. When she did, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in amazement.
"Y-You mean a cure for, I mean, _the_ cure? For your Jusenkyo
curse?"
Ranma nodded his head solemnly.
"How?"
"It's hard to explain. I just know it." **Should I tell her?**
Her brow furrowed in thought. "You mean like how you knew about
when the event was coming?"
"Something like that." **I gotta tell her. She's gonna find out
sooner or later, and it's better if she hears it from me.**
"I don't begin to understand this, but if you're sure this will
rid you of your curse, then I'm happy for you Ranma!"
Ranma tucked a hand behind his neck and tried to grin. He really
had no idea how he was going to broach the subject of Anazali. "It's
something I've hoped would happen for a long time."
Akane cocked her head at him then.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
**She knows me too well...**
"There's something else..." He began.
"Go on..." She prompted when it looked like he was going to stall.
He settled for the direct approach.
"Someone has been following us since we left Japan. I've talked to
her a few times. I'm pretty sure she doesn't mean us any harm, but --"
"--Excuse me?" Akane interrupted. "_She_ doesn't mean us any harm?
Who is this 'she', Ranma?"
Ranma could already see the green monster looming over Akane's
shoulder. He chose his words carefully. They could very well be his
last.
"She says her name is Anazali. I don't know who she really is, but
she seems to know an awful lot about what's going on with these
'events'."
"And where did you first meet this Anazali?"
Ranma couldn't believe Akane was overreacting like this, then
again...
"I met her in the upstairs lounge on the flight from New York to
London. She asked me where I was going, what I'd be doing in London,
you know; that sort of conversation that people get into when they're
trapped on airplanes for hours on end."
"Okay, so when did you decide she was following us?"
"I ran into her again the night the Professor took us to dinner.
She told me we wouldn't find our cure at Maes Howe, and that was before
I even knew we'd be going there."
"She knew about Maes Howe?"
"Didn't I just say that?"
She shot him a dagger-eyed look.
"There's more to this of course," she said in a taut voice.
He tried to give her the disarming grin that always worked on
Shampoo and Ukyo when they were cross with him. It failed to have the
desired effect. He should have known better.
"Go on," she prompted.
"Well... You see, she can sort of make herself invisible. And she
can talk inside your head. And she..." His voice trailed off when it
looked like she wasn't believing a word he said.
"You believe me don't you?" He asked.
"I shouldn't," she began. "But it _would_ explain a few things."
Akane's brow furrowed in thought. She had the oddest little
crinkle of her nose when in such reflection, and Ranma always thought
it was a little cute. Nevertheless, she was probably thinking of some
bombshell to drop on him.
"Is she pretty?"
Alarm klaxons began sounding inside his head.
"A little," he hedged. There was always the chance Akane might
meet Anazali.
Akane wasn't buying it. "What does 'a little' mean?"
"Not as pretty as you," he offered.
She rolled her eyes.
"Hmmmphh! I'll bet."
"Hey, I mean it!" He yelled at her.
"Do you?" She asked. He hated it when she maneuvered him into
things like this.
"Yeah," he said. "I can't believe you're makin' a big deal about
this. I try to be open and honest with you and instead I get the third
degree."
"I'm not giving you the third degree," she insisted.
"Feels like it."
She arched an eyebrow for him. "Trust me, you'll know when I'm
giving you the third degree."
"Look, if I can, I'll try and get her to show herself to you. You
can ask her the questions for a change."
"She isn't very free with information?"
"Like I said, she seems to know an awful lot about what's going
on, but she won't tell me much. She just leads me on. It's starting to
bug me."
"So what _is_ going on?"
Ranma shrugged. "Beats me."
He started jogging back towards the mansion. Akane started after
him. The sky was clear and the air warming with the sun's track across
the sky. In the distance they heard Hiro and Durango laughing at some
joke.

When Ranma and Akane finished their workout, they bathed and
changed into casual clothes. He met her in her room and they went
downstairs to find the Professor. It was agreed that they tell him of
Ranma's encounter with Anazali. What they hadn't agreed upon was _when_
they would do it. Akane was in favor of telling him now, but Ranma
pressed her to remain quiet about it for the moment.
One of the maids pointed them towards the Study. Just outside the
threshold of the doors, they heard several familiar voices raised in
argument. They waited outside and listened.
"" It was Katy Price who said this.
Her old nemesis Ferguson was next. ""
Katy's rebuttal came hot on his words. "<I can forgive the
Professor's eccentricities, (at this they heard McFogg snort something
under his breath) but I thought you were a rational scientist Ferg.
There isn't a shred of evidence supporting a location in Spain. Not
one! How can you possibly base your predictions on the phantasms of two
nineteen-year-olds?>"
Now it was Ranma and Akane's turn to snort something under their
breath.
"" It was McFogg who said this
with a heavy heart.
Ferguson jumped in before Katy could reply. "<Just give us one
more chance Katy dear. I'm working on a revised model that I'm sure
will put us on a more solid intellectual footing. I just need one more
event to know if I'm heading in the right direction.>"
Katy said something Ranma and Akane couldn't hear. Then she left
the Study through a side door.
"<You didn't have to put her on the spot like that,>" Ferguson
said crossly.
"<If she causes any more friction it will seriously undermine this
project,>" McFogg replied.
"<Well that's another thing Professor. I didn't want to say
anything in front of her, but my blind faith in this wild Spanish guess
has just received a little shake. My doctoral dissertation advisor
phoned me this morning.>"
McFogg grunted something inaudible. Ferguson continued.
"<He's threatening to withdraw as my advisor.>"
"<He's threatened that for the last eighteen months. I don't see
what you're worried about.>"
""
"<What are you getting at Mister Ferguson?>"
"<What I'm getting at Professor, (and his tone was pure ice) is
that I'm about two weeks away from flushing my doctoral dissertation
right down the loo. What I'm getting at is that all my work for the
past three years has turned to shit in just three weeks because our
model is worthless. Even if we make the event in Spain, assuming that
the ravings of Ranma and Akane are correct, how the hell am I going to
publish anything that derives how we arrived at that solution? Katy's
right; I can't just add some footnote saying that my source of
information was a psychic vision from two young Japanese!>"
"" McFogg replied coolly.
"<So what the bloody hell am I supposed to do?>"
"<Do you want to see this through to the end?>"
"<Yes.>"
"<Then put away your cares over your dissertation. I know what
you're capable of Mister Ferguson, that is why you are on this team.
All I ask is that you keep a very open mind about what we see and do in
the next few weeks.>"
"<And if my advisor drops me?>"
"<To hell with him. Be honest with me Ferguson, I know you're
working night and day on this new model of yours, and mostly without a
computer. You know the mechanics of these events backwards and
forwards. I also know you are about a stone's throw away from
abandoning your dissertation material and starting over with what
you've learned, you just don't want the stigma of being dropped hanging
over you. If being dropped is what it will take to make you start
fresh, than it is a good thing in my opinion.>"
"<Well I _have_ been thinking about starting over,>" Ferguson
admitted. "<But it's not easy throwing away so much of my life's
work.>"
"<You are yet still young Mister Ferguson. There is plenty of your
life still ahead of you.>"
"<I believe in Ranma and Akane, Professor. I really do. I can't
explain it; this thing that has happened to them, this connection they
have to these events, but I believe. It's the wanting to explain it all
that has my teeth set on edge... I mean this is really fantastic! I'm
excited about it, all the possibilities those two represent.>"
"<I know you are Mister Ferguson. Harness that enthusiasm and find
out how they fit into this puzzle. I'm a history professor and
sometimes archeologist. I don't have the background to delve into the
nuts and bolts of these events. That is why you are on this team.>"

"<Hello you two, up to a little eavesdropping are we?>" Clay asked
behind Ranma and Akane.
Both spun around with burning faces.
"<It's not polite you know,>" he added.
They both looked quite ashamed. Clay started laughing.
"<So what's going on in there?>"
They both face faulted.
"<Oh come now, you might as well tell me.>"
Akane went first.
""
"That's puttin' it mildly," Ranma whispered.
"Do you want to tell this?" Akane hissed in reply.
"No."
"Then shut up."
Akane smiled sweetly for Clay to beg pardon for Ranma's
interruption and went on. "<And Mister Ferguson is having trouble with
his 'dissertation'.>" The word was unfamiliar to her. "<I'm not sure
what it means,>" she added.
Clay nodded in understanding. "<Ferguson is trying to earn his
Ph.D. His dissertation is his research project that will be evaluated
by a dissertation board, and during which he will be required to defend
his arguments and conclusions against them. If the board is satisfied
with his work, he receives his degree. If not, well he can revise his
work or start over. The hard part is getting your dissertation ready
for the board. It takes a great deal of research and gathering of
supportive evidence.>"
Akane seemed to understand. Ranma's eyes were starting to glaze
over. She nudged him in the side to bring him back to the world.
"<We also seemed to be the reason for the arguing,>" Akane added
weakly, feeling a little ashamed.
Clay gave her a sympathetic look. "<None of this is your fault. If
anything, we should be grateful for coming to us when you did. Without
you and Ranma, we would be lost by now.>"
This seemed to cheer Akane a bit.
"<Now let's go inside and act like we've heard nothing, shall
we?>" Clay said, and opened the door after a brief knock.
McFogg greeted them at the door. He placed his pipe to his lips
and puffed away. Several large books were stacked upon a reading desk.
Ferguson scribbled away at a large sketchboard. Ranma caught a glimpse
of his old nemesis upon the paper, calculus. Whatever problem Ferguson
was working on, it seemed he needed eight or nine large sheets of paper
to do it.
"<Hello Mister Clay,>" McFogg greeted. His face brightened as he
saw the couple behind Clay. "<And hello to Ranma and Akane as well!>"
"<Hiya Professor,>" Ranma replied. Akane waved delicately with her
fingers.
"<I've received word from Legal,>" Clay said as Ranma and Akane
wandered over to look at the paintings and old maps on the walls.
"<Oh?>" The Professor asked.
"<We have permission to work within the Alhambra, but with the
tourist season reaching its peak we will have to keep the circus act to
a minimum. I'm afraid this will have to be a low profile
investigation.>"
McFogg frowned. ""
Ferguson looked up from his equations and pursed his lips in
thought.
"<If we get lucky and put them in the right place I could manage
with four or so. Plus some hand-held gear of course. I guess it depends
on how close Ranma and Akane can get us to the nexus.>"
At this Ranma and Akane turned around.
Ferguson looked at them. "<What do you think? Will another 'hunch'
come along?>" He asked them. Clay and McFogg leveled their gaze upon
them.
Even Akane looked at Ranma, who now flushed uncomfortably.
"Why's everyone lookin' at me?" He hissed to Akane.
"Because they think you can help them," she whispered back. "Maybe
you should tell them right now about whatsherface."
"I don't think so," he replied softly. "Not yet."
"<Well I'm sure when the time comes they will set us in the right
direction,>" Clay said, and Ranma breathed a silent sigh of relief.
McFogg seemed to agree, and Ferguson went back to his equations.
"<We shall have to make our travel arrangements accordingly,>" the
Professor said to Clay. He jotted down a few notes on a steno pad.
"<You, Myself, Ferguson, Katy if she wishes to remain with us, Hiro,
and of course Ranma and Akane. Anyone else?>"
""
Ferguson said without looking up from his work.
"<It shall be done,>" McFogg replied. He puffed away on his
favorite meerschaum pipe and wrote down another name.
Akane thumped Ranma on the back of the head. He had returned his
attention to a map of the world dated from 1798.
"What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his head.
"You should tell them," she pressed.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," he replied.
"Why not? You think they won't find out sooner or later?"
"Hopefully not," Ranma grumbled.
"Stop being such a jerk and tell them," Akane countered. "They've
gone to a lot of trouble for us. We owe it to them."
Ranma clenched his fists in agitation but knew she was right. It
was just that he didn't like admitting that Akane was right about
anything. Especially when it meant he was wrong.
Akane landed the coup de grace whilst he stewed.
"Do it for me then," she said quietly.
"Urrrrrggghh," he replied between clenched teeth. **She had to go
there, didn't she?**
"Please?" She asked, twisting the knife.
"Grrrrrrr..." He growled, trying to resist. His pigtail stood on
end.
"Pretty please?" She smiled so winsomely for him that he swore he
heard birds singing and flowers appear around her face. The sunlight
streaming through the windows of the study made her skin glow and her
big dewy eyes glitter.
**AARRRRGGGH!!!! Who woulda thought she'd turn being cute into a
weapon?!**
"Okay," he said in a voice so quiet she almost didn't hear him.
"You win."
**Love makes you do stupid things...** He observed darkly.
Her smile of approval almost made his submission of pride
worthwhile.
He cleared his throat to get their attention. McFogg and Clay
looked at him. Ferguson set down his sketch pad of bermath.
"<Uh, about what happened at Maes Howe,>" Ranma began. They waited
patiently for him to go on.
"<You see, I kinda had a little help there.>"
"<Oh?>" McFogg asked. "<Do go on, Ranma my boy.>"
Ferguson and Clay traded looks. There was something about the
Professor's tone that told them he wasn't completely surprised by this
revelation.
"<This is a little hard to explain,>" he waffled. Akane hissed at
him to go on.
"<Perhaps if you took the tap shoes off and got to the point, old
bean,>" Ferguson offered.
Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously.
"<Uh, okay. Well to make a long story short there's this woman
who's been following me since we flew from Tokyo and we ran into her at
dinner the other night at that inn and she told me about Maes Howe
before you did and then she followed us there and told me in my mind
when the event was gonna happen and when it was all over I talked to
her in my head again and she was invisible the whole time.>"
He panted for a few breaths.
"How in the world did you get all of that out in one sentence?"
Akane whispered in amazement.
Ranma made an aside to her. "Saotome School of Fast Talking. I
learned it from my Old Man. How else do you think he got me out of the
house for ten years?"
"I seem to recall a stipulation on that deal..."
He closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her.
"<No beating about the bush there,>" Ferguson said evenly.
"" Clay added.
McFogg's eyes twinkled as he puffed on his meerschaum.
"<A woman you say?>" He asked.
"<Uh, yeah. She said her name was Anazali.>"
"<You said she could talk to you in your mind? Like telepathy?>"
Clay asked.
"<If that's what you call it, yeah.>"
"<And she's been following you ever since Tokyo,>" Ferguson said,
throwing his own lot into the mix.
"<Yup.>"
Clay turned to the Professor. "<What do you make of it?>"
McFogg puffed once more, blowing out a great blue ring of smoke.
""
"<So what does this bloody well mean?>" Ferguson asked, setting
his sketch pad of calculations on the desk with a slap. "<Are Ranma and
Akane connected to this, or are they just being led around by this
mystery woman?>"
"<A little of both I think,>" Clay said off-handedly.
The Professor took his pipe from his mouth and held it
thoughtfully in his hand.
"<I'm glad you told us about this Anazali,>" he said to Ranma. "<I
shall have to think about what this means in the grand scheme of
things. In the meanwhile we should continue with our preparations to go
to Granada. I want to be standing in the Alhambra by noon tomorrow. I'm
sure you can agree that time is of the essence.>"
He lifted his pipe to his lips again and puffed once more.
"<That will be all gentlemen,>" he said before Clay or Ferguson
could broach any further questions for Ranma. "<And if you would please
refrain from pursuing this with Ranma or Akane for the time being, I
would be most grateful. I'm sure our two guests would agree with me.>"
Ferguson and Clay took the hint. They offered pleasantries and
left the study to make the necessary arrangements. That left Ranma and
Akane with McFogg.
"<Thanks Professor,>" Ranma said to him.
"<Think nothing of it, lad. I'm sure the decision to tell us did
not come easy.>"
Ranma looked at Akane, who winked at him.
"" he offered.
McFogg took a seat in his favorite chair and gestured for them to
do the same. They sat across from him in the love seat. The touch of a
remote on an end table started the sound system, and Rachmaninoff's
"Symphonic Dances" began to play.
"<Tell me about this woman if you would please,>" he asked them.
"<Her name is Anazali,>" Ranma said. "<She looks Caucasian, but
there's something funny about her skin.>"
"<Is it silvery, or seem to sparkle in the light?>"
"<Yeah, kinda,>" Ranma replied. Akane was all ears at this point.
She wanted to know just how pretty this woman was since Ranma was
reluctant to talk about it with her.
"<Her skin has kinda this pearl-like glow to it. Or oil on water.
That sort of thing.>"
""
_That_ question definitely had Akane's attention. Ranma felt her
tense by his side.
"<Uh, I've asked her that question myself. All she'd say was that
I was somehow caught up in this. Even she didn't know why. She hasn't
told me much of anything, really. Sorry.>"
"<That's quite all right. I expected as much.>"
"<Expected?>" Akane asked. "<You mean you knew this was going to
happen?>"
McFogg nodded solemnly. "<You see, when I was younger I myself was
visited by a rather strange person. He had silvery skin and could speak
to me telepathically. He knew of my father's work, which I have since
taken up as my own. It was because of him that I did so.>"
"<When was this?>" Ranma asked.
"<In 1947. The war was over. I was out of the Army and was working
on my Bachelor's degree in history studying the Sikh peoples in India
with my uncle. This was at a time when the British Empire was about to
lose their Raj in India. I was in Bombay shortly before Independence
when this enigmatic fellow met me at a country club. He claimed to have
known my father Diomedes McFogg, who died during the Blitz. He spoke of
my father's work at the turn of the century and how he could get me
copies of some notebooks lost in the ensuing years.>"
"<And then what?>" Akane asked.
"<To make a long boring story shorter, he rekindled my interest in
my father's work. What Diomedes was studying were the very same events
we are studying now. His partner was a Russian named Andre Casimir.
Andre died before the war, but he had a son named Grigory. I wanted to
join my friend Grigory, who had also picked up his father's work, but
the end of World War II only led to the Cold War. As he was Russian our
opportunities were limited. I never saw my strange silver skinned
friend again after that time, but I have always believed that he or one
like him would return one day. And now I see that it has come to
pass.>"
"<So what does this mean?>" Ranma asked. He was a little
overwhelmed, but was trying not to let it show.
"<It means that we are on the right track with our research,>"
McFogg said with a just a slight smile. ""
He let them think about that for a moment.
"<What you are part of just might be the greatest thing to happen
on the Earth in a very long time,>" he said to them. "<And I think you
two are the cornerstone to events as they unfold. It might seem
strange, but I envy you.>"

Chapter Two

Ukyo had no idea what time it was when she got up. It was still
dark outside; she could tell as much by looking out of the portholes.
Nabiki was purring in her sleep next to her.
There was a bathrobe on a chair next to the bed, and she draped it
over her shoulders. It wasn't cold, and she figured no one would be
awake for her to worry about wandering around in the little black
chemise Nabiki had found for her. The wooden decks were polished so
smoothly that she walked barefoot on them. No worries about slivers to
warrant wearing slippers.
She opened the door aft to the galley. It was dark and quiet. She
felt her way to the ladder topside and crept up from below decks.
The sky was clear and bright with starlight on the afterdeck. The
sea was black and the waves were shallow rolling hills of water.
Kelebros rode them smoothly, the prow barely pitching against the
waves. Spindrift broke across the gunwales, lending the night air a
cool salty feeling on her skin.
She spied Kuno asleep in a hammock. She went over to him. He slept
peacefully, cradling his sword to his chest.
**Still looking out for us, even in his sleep,** she mused. **For
such a jerk, he sure took care of us.**
Aerandir was on the prow. He seemed to be talking to someone. The
trouble was, Ukyo couldn't see anyone else but Aerandir. She watched
him for a little while. He was definitely talking to someone other than
himself, but again she couldn't see who it was. The foredeck was empty
save for Aerandir.
She heard a bell chime from somewhere below decks.
_Ding-Ding, Ding._
"Three Bells, Ukyo. How do you fare?"
It was Aerandir. He held a strange device in his hand.
"I feel okay," she replied, trying to put what she had seen behind
her.
"Very well. Three Bells and all's well!"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Aerandir chuckled. "That is what time it is. Three Bells. Three
Bells since the watch was relieved. Five more until the next relief.
Each Bell is thirty minutes apart. That means four-hour watches."
Ukyo looked around. "Who relieves you? I thought you lived alone
on this ship."
Aerandir gestured to the hammock where Kuno slept.
"The Blue Thunder has graciously offered to relieve me of the deck
at the end of this watch."
"Is that safe?"
Aerandir chuckled again. "As far as sailors go he's not the
saltiest. But he is a fair hand at the tiller, and he knows more about
seafaring than most first hitch swabs. Besides, this ship you could say
has a mind of its own. She fears not the rocks and shoals, nor the
squalls and blows."
Ukyo was only half listening to his words. She could swear she saw
movement out of the corner of her eyes. If she didn't know better, she
would almost believe the lines slacked or strained by themselves.
Aerandir noticed her distraction.
"Is something the matter?"
Ukyo started.
"Uh, no! I'm still half asleep I guess."
"Are you feeling ill again?" He put a steadying hand on her
shoulder. She looked at his handsome face and his sea colored eyes that
were now as dark as the waters but flashed with the starlight upon the
whitecaps.
She blushed.
"No I'm feeling all right. It comes and goes, but I'm feeling
fine. Really."
"I am glad." He turned and pointed to the distance across the
starboard beam. A few lights twinkled against the dark coastline miles
away. "We shall arrive this morning."
Ukyo strained her eyes. "I don't see much of anything I'm afraid."
**Didn't Nabiki say this trip would take three days? I guess she can't
read a map.**
"That cluster of lights is the city of Gelibolu. You might know it
better as Gallipoli. We should pass through the Straight of Cannakale
and into the Aegean by dawn. From there we shall bear South by East at
the Isle of Limnos to the Dodecanese Islands. Kalimnos in particular.
If all goes well, we should be sending over lines Six Bells into the
morning watch."
She nodded her head and pretended to understand what he was
talking about. Aerandir's hand left her shoulder and began to brush
lightly at her hair.
"Will you be staying to watch the sunrise? Or will you be
returning below?"
She looked at him and smiled.
"I guess I could stay for the sunrise. I've never seen one from
the ocean."
Aerandir nodded approvingly. "The only thing more beautiful is to
watch the sunset. Did you know that if you see a green flash of light
as the sun sets over the water it will bring you good luck in your
travels?"
Ukyo shrugged.
"I don't know much about the ocean, Aerandir. Sorry."
"I understand," he sighed. "The romance of the sea has been lost
to the convenience of the airplane and the automobile. Even my brother
has no taste for the mariner's life."
This was a surprising revelation.
"You have a brother?"
He sighted on a star with the device in his hand; an astrolabe
exquisitely wrought in brass. From the look of it's baroque form and
beautifully engraved markings Ukyo guessed it was an antique. Very
antique.
"Yes. Sometimes he is known as Palandir. My brother is the one who
pulled you from the Dniester. He asked me to keep you safe and to take
you to our uncle. That is why we are going to Kalimnos."
"Why do we have to go there?" Ukyo asked. "Our home is Japan."
Aerandir sighted on another star. "You are not safe in Japan. The
butchers from whom you fled have eyes in many places in this world, but
my uncle's home is not one of them."
"Then you know about the Russians?"
"My brother informed me when he delivered you to my ship."
"Did he tell you why they wanted us? Because if he did, I'd sure
like to know."
"I know little, but what I do know I will share with you."
He scribbled his celestial observations into a logbook that he
kept in his pocket before speaking.
"There is something that occurs at one place on the earth every 88
years. The location changes but one thing remains the same: the
enormous energy well of the planet itself comes close to the surface.
Close enough that it is possible to harness that energy to do wondrous
things. Or terrible things depending on the disposition of the one who
wields that power. These Russians that took you from your home think
you can help them discover where and when this event will take place."
Ukyo frowned.
"Or at least could tell them where to find the ones who could,"
she thought aloud. She thought of Ranma and Akane and shuddered. **Do
they even know the danger they're in?**
She looked away to the dark waters and shuddered again.
Aerandir placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "What troubles
you Ukyo?"
"The ones the Russians want are my friends... I love both of them,
but one in particular is very dear to my heart. The Russians will be
after them as well."
"That may be true," Aerandir agreed. "They hope to gain this power
for themselves, and they will stop at nothing to achieve their aim. You
and Nabiki and the Blue Thunder are in grave danger so long as you
dwell outside the aegis of my kin."
"How long do we have to stay hidden? Is there anything we can do
to fight back? Or to warn my friends?"
"Once we reach my uncle's villa on Kalimnos, he will know what to
do. Until then, please enjoy my hospitality and take comfort in the
fact that we will endeavor to protect you and your friends."
Ukyo knew there was much that she didn't understand about who
Aerandir and his family were, but the feelings of sincerity and concern
she received from him belied any real misgivings she had. Trust did not
come easy to her, but she felt like she could trust Aerandir. Never
mind the fact that he talked to invisible phantoms when he thought
nobody was looking.
Sunrise came and she watched it with Aerandir and Kuno, who had
risen to relieve Aerandir. Kuno seemed quite pleased with himself to be
at the conn of such a fine ship. Ukyo decided that Aerandir wouldn't
allow the kendoist to put them in any danger, and she was feeling worn
out again.
Aerandir noted this as well and sent her below with the notice
that he would serve her and Nabiki breakfast in a few hours.
Nabiki was still asleep. Whatever pleasant dreams she had when
Ukyo awoke were replaced by a deep slumber. She didn't even stir as
Ukyo slipped under the sheets next to her.

* * *

"Up all bunks!" Aerandir cried in a pleasant (if a little too
loud) tone of voice. "Turn to, show a leg!"
Nabiki stirred first and peered over Ukyo to the aft door.
Aerandir was standing in the threshold with a tray. She was still a
little drowsy, and settled her chin on Ukyo's side to look at him.
"What's this?" She asked.
"Breakfast," he replied. "A little something to sustain you before
we make landfall."
"Landfall?"
"We are close to our destination. In another two hours we should
be tying up."
This made no sense to Nabiki, who had looked at the charts and
knew there was no way they could cover 400 miles in one night.
"Are we talking about the same place we talked about last night?"
"Of course."
Ukyo woke up beneath her.
"Good morning Nabiki," she said a little tersely.
"Just a second Ukyo," Nabiki replied. She returned her attention
to Aerandir. "Just how is that possible? We would have to do, what,
thirty- some knots to travel that distance in one night?"
Aerandir smiled graciously for her. "I know a shortcut."
Nabiki blinked twice in confusion. The implications were a little
staggering to her sensibilities. Aerandir offered up the tray for them,
which at least had the effect of changing the current uncomfortable
topic of discussion.
"Breakfast is served," he announced. He set the tray down on the
end table next to the bed.
"Your old clothes are dry, but they are a little tattered and
frayed. If you like you are welcome to wear whatever suits you from the
wardrobes. Enjoy your meal."
He left them to return topside.
Nabiki lifted her head from Ukyo's side and sat up in the bed.
"This doesn't make any sense," she said.
Ukyo yawned. "Not at all," she agreed.
"We should be another two days away."
"I saw the map, and I'm inclined to agree with you. But I also
believe Aerandir is quite serious when he says we'll make landfall
soon."
Nabiki arched an eyebrow at her.
"Any explanations?"
Ukyo blew at her bangs, which had fallen over her eyes without the
benefit of a ribbon to hold them back.
"I dunno, how rational do you feel like being today?"
"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"
Ukyo reached for the violet ribbon she had worn last night, and
secured her lustrous mane of dark brown hair. Of course a great bow
crowned the top of her head when she was finished. She pulled at it
until it was set exactly as she desired.
"I think this ship is haunted," she said in all seriousness.
"What?" Nabiki had seen some strange things before, but she was
not prepared to accept this one at face value. "Would you mind
explaining that one while you're at it?"
Ukyo gave her a serious look to match her tone of voice.
"I woke up early this morning and talked with Aerandir. Before we
actually started talking though, I noticed him up at the front of the
ship talking to someone else. But there was no one there. I also
noticed that the ship's rigging was moving by itself. When I saw it I
just thought it was my tired eyes playing tricks on me. Now I'm
convinced that what I saw was real."
"So you're saying Aerandir is a ghost?"
"Of course not. Just that he talks to them... I think they're his
crew."
"Maybe that fever of yours did more harm than we thought."
Ukyo shrugged. "You wanted my opinion and I gave it to you. If you
can come up with a better explanation for why we've crossed 400 miles
of ocean in twelve hours, I'd love to hear it."
Nabiki threw off the sheets and got out of bed.
"I'm not prepared to accept that just yet."
"This isn't easy for me either," Ukyo said defensively.
"Let's discuss this some other time."
"Okay."
Nabiki looked through the sandalwood wardrobe for something to
wear.
"You know Nabiki, if you really want to know, you could probably
just ask him. I really think he would tell you if he saw how important
it was to you."
"Why don't you ask him then?"
Ukyo looked out the porthole to the deep blue sea.
"I guess it's just not that important to me."

Chapter Three

"Land ho!" Aerandir cried. He held his spyglass to his eye for
another look, took a few bearings, and then strode casually to the
pilothouse. The ship heeled against the wind as he shifted the rudder.
Ukyo and Nabiki joined him at the wheel. Kuno was readying the
mooring lines from a line locker. The sight of him doing a presumably
menial task was a bit of a shock to Nabiki's system. What followed was
even worse.
"Carry on," Aerandir said evenly.
The spar for the mainsail shifted to keep the sails full of wind.
The jib and staysail unfurled between the prow and mainmast and filled
with air in loud snaps. The mizzenmast creaked as additional sail
billowed open from the reef stays. Winches turned to take the
appropriate strain on the sheets and halyards.
Aerandir nodded as if hearing someone's voice.
"Very well," he said with a touch of pride. He inspected the fill
or 'belly' of the sails, which gleamed silver against the midmorning
sunlight, and nodded again approvingly.
He looked over his shoulder and grinned at the two young ladies.
"As I said dear Ukyo, my ship has a mind of it's own."
Nabiki stood a little aghast, but quite silent. Ukyo smiled
smugly, but kept silent as well.
Aerandir motioned to Kuno, who had a bundle of blue silk in his
arms.
"If you would please Blue Thunder, raise our colors. My uncle
isn't exactly expecting us, and I wouldn't want any unpleasantness to
mar such a lovely morn."
Kuno nodded and raised Aerandir's personal ensign to the top of
the mainmast. It was a white dolphin splashing playfully across a field
of deep sea blue. A cluster of seven silver stars lay in the upper left
corner.
The island of Kalimnos lay before them across the gently rolling
waves. As they approached they could see the island was mostly rocky
cliffs. There was one small stretch of sandy beach along the small
lagoon Kelebros made for, but little elsewhere. The island was lush
with palms and sycamores and wildflowers that grew from great masses of
green vines that snaked up the rocky cliff sides.
A wooden quay jutted from the beach and into the water. Once
Kelebros cleared the stony breakwater and entered the calm waters of
the small lagoon, the ship slowed as Aerandir brought her in against
the wind. There was a small crowd of people on the pier waiting for
them.
Kuno cast a monkeyfist to the pier where a stout man dressed in
blue denim received it and held it fast. Kuno tied the eye of the
mooring line through the rope and passed it over. Aerandir tended to
the after mooring line. When the fore and aft lines were doubled and
secure they threw across the spring lines, took up slack as needed, and
waited for the men on the pier to pass the brow across.
When the brow was in place and secure, Aerandir strode across. A
man on the pier raised a bos'n's whistle to his lips and piped him
ashore. Several of the people on the pier greeted him in a language
Nabiki and Ukyo had heard only once: the night Aerandir sang to them.
Aerandir walked straightaway towards an older gentleman wearing a
swan grey business suit, grey gloves, and wide brimmed hat. The man's
hair and neatly groomed beard were silver, and his skin had an odd
complexion to it. It seemed silvery when an errant ray of sunshine
played upon his face.
"<Greetings Uncle!>" Aerandir said warmly.
The man smiled in return. "<Hello Aerandir, my Sea Wanderer. I
must confess I was surprised to see your standard flying in the winds
near my island. What brings you here? It has been a long time since
your last visit.>"
"<Trafalgar as I recall,>" Aerandir said softly. It _had_ been a
long time.
"" Aerandir's uncle
observed. He gestured to the ship where Kuno, Nabiki, and Ukyo stood
watching.
"<They are the reason for my coming, uncle. Palandir sent them
with me to entrust to your care.>"
The man looked back to the three on the ship. "<And how is your
brother these days?>"
"<He is well. We do not see each other much. Our moods are often
at odds with each other.>"
"<Very true. He takes more after your father whilst you are more
like my sister and her love of the sea.>" The man motioned for the
three to come ashore. ""
Aerandir nodded. "<Palandir has informed me.>"
"<You shall have to enlighten me then.>"
"<Of course, Uncle.>"
""
Aerandir affected a look of concern. "<What do you intend to do
with them?>"
The man chuckled and turned away. "<Guests in my care are always
treated well, my nephew. You know this. Once I have spoken to them I
will know what is best.>"
Ukyo was the first off the ship, followed by Nabiki and then Kuno,
who gave Kelebros one final wistful look before stepping onto the brow.
The three took their place at Aerandir's side. Nabiki looked coolly at
Aerandir's uncle, unsure what to make of him.
Aerandir handled the introductions.
"This is my uncle Sarophan," he said to them. Sarophan nodded
cordially for them.
Aerandir gestured to Kuno. "This is the swordsman Tatewaki Kuno,
known as the Blue Thunder, and he is the protector of these winsome
ladies."
Kuno made a short and respectful bow for Sarophan, who returned it
with appropriate formality.
Aerandir then pointed to Nabiki. "Uncle, this is Nabiki Tendo, and
she is as formidable a woman as she is beautiful."
Nabiki blushed a little at this.
"I am honored to have your company," Sarophan told her warmly.
Like Aerandir, when he spoke to them, it did not seem that he spoke to
them in Japanese. Nevertheless it was Japanese that reached their ears.
"And this young flower is Ukyo Kuonji," Aerandir said, placing a
hand on her shoulder.
Ukyo wore a short purple dress with the violet ribbon bow in her
hair. She reminded him of a poem by Walter Savage Landor. Sarophan's
eyes gleamed in appreciation for Aerandir's wit.
"If it pleases you, I shall call you Ianthe."
Ukyo was mildly puzzled at this. Sarophan answered her unvoiced
question with a gracious smile.
"My nephew has described you well: a lovely purple flower,
Ianthe."
"I'm afraid our flower is a little wilted, Uncle; she requires the
attentions of a physician."
"How fortunate!" Sarophan replied. "Among other things I happen to
be a physician." He motioned them towards a pair of white Sterling
convertibles that waited for them at the end of the pier. "We should go
to the villa now and see to your needs. I am certain you have many
questions for me, and I shall endeavor to answer them to your
satisfaction."
The Sterlings took them over a low tree lined rise and into a
large valley surrounded by steep rocky slopes. Olive trees grew in neat
rows along a narrow cobblestone road that led to the villa. The villa
itself was a large open affair done in a classic Late Imperial Roman
style with whitewashed plaster and terra-cotta. Lush pomegranate and
fig trees surrounded the house and these in turn were garlanded with
lovingly tended beds of mums, hyacinth, poppies, and iris.
Once inside the villa Old World charm mingled with the modern
conveniences. The interior was air-conditioned, making it a cool haven
from the Aegean summer heat. They passed through the foyer and it's
tasteful Greek and Roman appointments to a sunny drawing room complete
with home computer and German made component stereo system. The willowy
strains of Ravel's Concerto in G Major, second movement, played for the
enjoyment of three songbirds who perched upon a post of cunningly
wrought iron vines. To Nabiki's amazement the three birds kept time
with the music and sang the parts for the flutes and soulful clarinet
flawlessly.
Sarophan offered them comfortable chairs. Nabiki continued to
watch the songbirds and listened in wonder to their performance. She
nudged Ukyo and tilted her head at them for her.
Sarophan noted Nabiki's fascination and chuckled.
"They love the adagio assai to this concerto, but you should hear
their Paganini. A virtuoso performance."
Nabiki wasn't sure if he was joking or not, and as the birds
continued their accompaniment she decided that he wasn't.
Sarophan asked that they tell their story to him over lunch. They
did so, with Nabiki glossing over the part about Ukyo's torture. She
was glad Kuno didn't try to add anything on that account. He asked them
a few questions about Ranma and Akane, and the research project they
had been caught up in, and he asked about McFogg and his group. They
didn't have many answers on the last subject.
The interview lasted a little over an hour. When it was over,
several servants posted themselves at the threshold of the drawing room
and awaited instructions.
"You are all welcome in my home for as long as you like," Sarophan
said to them. "But I would ask that you stay here until such time as
the danger to your well being is passed."
"When will that be?" Nabiki asked.
"This 'event' that the Russians and English are pursuing will soon
arrive. When it does, there will no longer be any danger to you."
"And how long is that?" Nabiki asked, direct as usual.
"Aerandir was right to call you a formidable woman!" He said with
an approving laugh. "The event will take place at exactly noon on June
23rd."
Nabiki nodded her head in acceptance. She didn't like it, but at
least he had been forthright with her.
"I understand you wish to contact your families. This is perfectly
acceptable to me, although I caution you to keep your messages brief.
Assure your families that you are well. Make no mention of where you
are, or where you believe your friends Ranma and Akane to be. There is
a great likelihood that your families' homes have wiretaps on the phone
lines placed in the very event that you attempt to contact them."
He motioned to one of the servants, a handsome young man of
swarthy complexion and inviting brown eyes. The man stepped forward and
smiled for them.
"Yiannis will show you to your rooms. Arrangements will be made
for providing you with a suitable wardrobe for your stay. If you need
something, he can usually be found in the garden." Sarophan stood and
brushed at his beard. "If you wish to contact your families now, he
will show you to the study. Again I caution you about what you say over
the telephone."
With this he bid them good day and retired through a sliding glass
door to a flower garden and fountain. Aerandir followed after his
uncle, apparently wishing to speak further with him. Yiannis and the
other servants stood patiently for Ukyo, Nabiki, and Kuno to join them.
"I guess we should make that phone call," Nabiki said to Yiannis.
"As you wish," Yiannis replied. Again there was the strange
feeling that he wasn't speaking Japanese even as the words reached
their ears. "Follow me please."
They followed along as he led them out of the drawing room and
back into the foyer. From there he led them through a hall and into a
large circular room sunken several feet lower than the rest of the
house. The furnishings and decor here had more Greek influence,
although there were organic forms and colors present which seemed to
dispute such origins. Above the hearth was a brilliant tapestry of a
white swan alighting on the water against a blue sky and silvery
clouds. An unknown calligraphic script, graceful as any Arabic but more
geometric in form, cordoned the tapestry in gold.
Yiannis produced the telephone from a rosewood desk.
"If you will tell me the country you wish to call and the local
number please."
Nabiki looked to Kuno and Ukyo, who motioned for her to go ahead.
She looked back to Yiannis and told him the phone number for the
Tendo Dojo.
Yiannis wrote the number down and began punching buttons on the
phone. After several moments he began speaking rapid fire Greek to
someone Nabiki supposed was an operator. He waited a bit longer before
passing the phone to her.
Nabiki took the receiver from him and put it to her ear. She heard
Kasumi answer the phone and her heart leapt to hear her sister's
beautiful voice.
"Tendo Dojo, Kasumi Tendo speaking."
"Kasumi!" Nabiki cried. Everything she planned on saying funneled
right of her head in that instant.
"Nabiki?!" Kasumi replied in shock. "Nabiki, is that you?"
Nabiki came to her senses. "It's me sis."
Before she could say anything else Kasumi immediately broke in
with a tearful "Where are you? Father and I have been worried sick!"
"I can't explain right now. I just want to let you know that I'm
all right."
Kasumi wasn't listening. "Where are you? When are you coming home?
Has something happened to you?"
"Please Kasumi, I'm all right. I can't say where I am right now,
and I can't say when exactly I'm coming home, but it won't be more than
a few weeks."
"What?"
"Kuno and Ukyo are with me, and they're okay too. I really can't
explain this over the phone. Tell Daddy not to worry about me." Nabiki
hated this. She wanted to tell her sister everything, but there wasn't
the time and Kasumi doubtless wouldn't understand.
"I have to go," Nabiki said when Yiannis gestured to the clock
above the desk. "I'll call back when I can."
"Wait!" Kasumi cried. But Nabiki had already hung up. She looked
away from the phone and bit back a sob. Kasumi was the last person in
the world she wanted to see upset.
"I am sorry Miss, but it is for your own protection, and for the
protection of your family." Yiannis said to her. He then offered the
phone to Ukyo and Kuno. The swordsman deferred to Ukyo, who decided
that she had no one she needed to speak to. At this Kuno directed
Yiannis to the Kuno Estate.
Sasuke, faithful ninja to the family, answered the phone. Kuno
made no attempt to explain his absence, but instead began issuing
orders to Sasuke to look after the mansion and to look after Kodachi.
Sasuke grimly accepted his master's orders (especially the last part)
and Kuno hung up.
Kuno handed the phone back to Yiannis.
"Thank you my good man," he said to him. "Now if you would show me
to my quarters."

* * *

"I am rather impressed with Ianthe. I see great potential within
her," Sarophan said as they strolled along the garden.
Aerandir nodded. "And of her condition?"
"Anemia," Sarophan replied. "A side effect of the drugs used on
her. Along with short term memory loss, nausea, photosensitivity, and
immune system suppression. From the look of her I'd say Tarchenko's
interrogator had no intentions of keeping her alive when they
finished."
"And the treatment?"
"Rest. Iron supplements with her meals. Time will heal. She is
strong, that one. All three of them are."
Aerandir smiled. "All of that with a look, eh uncle?"
"I'm surprised you didn't see it yourself."
"Medicine has never been my forte."
"It's not as if you haven't had the time to study, nephew."
"Your medicine has little to do with books, uncle."
Sarophan snorted.
"Just like your mother. Eyes, heart, and mind on the sea," he said
gruffly.
"I share her dream."
Sarophan gave him a hard look.
"If you share her dream, then why is it that you do not share
mine?"
Aerandir's eyes flashed. "I'm sorry uncle, but your dream and my
mother's are not the same."
"My dream will make your mother's dream possible," Sarophan said
in a tone that barely concealed his ire.
Aerandir stood fast. "Your dream is impossible."
"And how long do you plan to wander the seas until these people
have the ability?" Sarophan asked bitterly.
"As long as necessary, uncle."
Sarophan clenched his fists tight. His eyes flashed beneath the
shade of his wide brimmed hat, and his words came out drawn and taut
like concertina wire. "They are poised on the brink of ruin. If they
fall now, there will be no starting over. This world is too depleted
for them to start from scratch, and there aren't enough of us left to
help them. The time to act is now, before it is too late!"
Aerandir's face softened. "We should not speak of this further,
uncle. We shall never be reconciled if we should continue."
Aerandir's words cooled Sarophan somewhat. "You are right, Sil
Amarn, my nephew. I do not pretend to know your mind. You will not
follow me, and yet you do not flock to Nimatar's camp. For that at
least I am grateful."
Aerandir was a little surprised to hear his uncle refer to him by
his birth name.
"Though we do not agree, I will not set myself against you uncle."

* * *

Much later, Nabiki found Tatewaki Kuno standing in contemplation
of a graceful marble statue in one of the spacious villa's halls. The
statue was a little under six feet tall. It was of a woman with long
gamine legs and wasp waist and small well-formed breasts. The white
marble robes she wore fell loosely about her shoulders and bosom and
seemed to cover her long legs only as an afterthought. Her face was
fine featured with high cheekbones and slender nose that turned up
slightly. She had a generous mouth that seemed well used to the smile
she offered the two young people. The stone of her skin was glazed as
such that it seemed to glow with the same silvery complexion of
Sarophan.
"She's beautiful," Nabiki remarked.
"Verily," Kuno replied.
Nabiki was silent. She wanted to talk, but the words wouldn't
come.
Kuno sensed this.
"Is something amiss Nabiki Tendo?" He asked her.
Nabiki threw him a crooked smile. "No Kuno-baby. Nothing is
'amiss'. I was just thinking."
"Something vexes thee Nabiki Tendo. I am too well accustomed to
thy turns of mood to believe otherwise."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "Oh really?" She said with a touch
of acid in her voice.
"Verily," he replied coolly. "Wouldst thou deign to speak with me
of it, or shall I fetch the fair Ukyo for your confidence in my stead?"
Nabiki was unused to being put on the spot by Kuno. Usually it
went the other way around.
**I must be losing my touch,** she thought idly.
"Oh Kuno-baby, what could you possibly know about how I feel?" She
asked in a condescending tone that made her feel more comfortable with
him.
"You forget that I have known you for ten and four years Nabiki
Tendo," he said to her, still studying the venous patterns of blue and
grey running through the white of the statue as he spoke.
"And what exactly does that mean?"
Kuno chuckled in a rich voice. "That I know the affairs of your
heart better than you believe."
"Hah!" Nabiki scoffed with surprising bitterness. "And what about
all those times you said I was heartless?!"
"A feeble riposte 'gainst slights and injustices that I in truth
brought upon myself," he said calmly in the face of her outburst. "You
never once believed that I could speak such things 'gainst you in
sincerity, didst thou?" He turned to look her in the eyes. There was a
tremor in those languid walnut colored orbs that suddenly seized his
chest in an iron grip. She looked away from him sharply, unable to show
her face to him.
**Zounds! What hath I wrought? Mayhap the lady shalt weep at this?
Such as that I could not bear upon my spirit! Shamed and cowardly
should I be known for such villainy!**
Kuno dropped penitently to his knees before her.
"I beseech thee Nabiki Tendo! Forgive such words as were driven
from my lips without thought! I would bear you no malice."
Nabiki turned to find him head bowed respectfully to the
immaculately polished marble floor with a hand raised in supplication
to her. She wiped at her eyes, muttered something about the dust in the
place, and took his hand in hers. They both trembled ever so slightly
at the touch.
She recovered her cool. "Oh Kuno-baby, stand up for Pete's sake.
You look ridiculous down there. And you're being far too melodramatic,
even for you!"
She tugged at his arm and Tatewaki Kuno gracefully stood.
"As my lady wishes," he said to her. His face was a stern mask of
practiced stoicism. He gestured down the hall towards his room. "If I
may, I would go now and study my art. By your leave?"
Nabiki's eyes flashed in surprise. **'As my lady wishes?'**
"You don't need _my_ permission Kuno-baby." She managed to say it
with all the arrogance she could muster.
"As you wish, m'lady." He bowed formally for her and strutted down
the hall, leaving her more than a little confused about him.
"What the heck was that all about?" Ukyo asked behind her.
She turned to find Ukyo and Aerandir walking together.
"Oh just Kuno lost in his little samurai dramas again," Nabiki
replied. She wondered just how much the two had seen and heard, and
quailed inwardly at the thought.
"Typical for him I guess," Ukyo said off-handedly. She let it
drop, but there was mirth in her eyes.
"I see you have discovered Lady Tatharan," Aerandir remarked,
changing the subject and making Nabiki grateful to him. He gestured to
the statue of the woman.
"Lady Tatharan?" Nabiki and Ukyo asked in unison.
"My mother," Aerandir replied matter-of-factly. "My Uncle's
sister, which is why her shrine is in his house. I come to pay my
respects to her."
"Forgive me, I didn't know." Nabiki said softly.
"There is nothing to forgive, Nabiki." Aerandir assured.
"She must have been very beautiful," Ukyo managed. The reason for
their coming here was as much a surprise for her as it was for Nabiki.
"She was the fairest lady of my people," Aerandir said quietly.
"Long before Helen did she walk upon the world, and doubtless her face
launched more ships. The Phoenician and Babylonian legends of the
goddess Astarte are based upon her."
Nabiki and Ukyo looked at each other in puzzlement.
"What are you saying Aerandir?" Ukyo asked.
"You have noticed that my uncle and I are in some respects,
unusual?"
"Say it isn't so!" Nabiki said with a laugh.
Aerandir smiled for her. "As you would find out soon enough during
your stay in this house, I feel I should explain certain things about
my family. The first is that my uncle and I are far older than we
appear."
"Just how old is that?" Nabiki asked, a little skeptical, but
willing to hear him out in light of recent events.
"Come and walk with me," he said to them. "My mother can wait a
little longer." He called to Kuno, who was in his room not far away.
"Blue Thunder! I would be delighted if you would come and join us for
awhile."
Kuno came out of his room with his sword in hand. He placed it
back into its scabbard and carried it in his hand. Nabiki twinged a bit
uncomfortably as he took his place at her side.
Aerandir led them out into the garden. Night had fallen and the
trees swayed calmly with the gentle sea breeze. The moon was high in
the sky, bathing the garden in soft white light. Aerandir seemed to
gather his thoughts about him, drifting back far into ages he had never
known.
"A very long time ago the world shrugged off the winter slumber of
an ice age. As the creatures of the world awoke to the dawn of a new
age of sunshine and warmth there came a tribe of humans. These people
were very clever and capable and soon flourished over their land. They
learned the secrets of metalworking, of agriculture, of language and
writing, and of the physical sciences.
"They lived on a large island in the middle of the sea, and so
they did not know that there were other tribes of humans in the world,
nor did they know that these people still wallowed in darkness and
hunger and fear. They prospered and built several great cities and
centers of commerce and learning.
"After a thousand years of progress, the wisest among the people
learned of the currents of energy that pass through the earth and
charted them. They studied them for many years, and soon discovered how
to harness that energy. Using that energy they did many wondrous things
and soon learned that their world was much larger than they had
previously imagined."
He paused to look at them. His eyes focused on Ukyo.
"The Event I spoke of to you Ukyo, that occurs every 88 years
somewhere on this planet, it happened on this island. The people were
expecting it. They were prepared for it. When it came, they bound it to
them in a great prism of stone with their powerful wills. The wonders
they had done before paled before the miracles they could now perform.
The wisest and strongest among them could reshape the world as they saw
fit, and they turned their island into a paradise."
He looked away to the distant stars in the sky. Ukyo heard him
whisper something in that beautiful alien language of his. After a
moment's respite he continued his tale.
"A fire was lit beneath these introspective people. They burned
with a hunger to explore their world. To reshape it until all of the
Earth was a paradise. The widest reaching of them envisioned days when
not even the world itself would be enough for them, and that they would
leave the Earth to travel across the heavens.
"They built great ships to sail across the seas and even above
them, for the joys of flying were discovered with their newfound
understanding of the world and its natural laws. Soon they landed
parties of explorers on every continent. They established colonies and
erected smaller prisms that would collect the radiant energies of the
First prism to feed them power while far from their island home.
"It wasn't long before they met their poorer cousins scraping out
a marginal existence in the wilderness. These people had simple tools
and only the rudiments of language. They were fearful of the explorers
because they could not understand them, and they fled from them or fell
to their faces in worship.
"But the explorers were noble people and did not seek to exploit
their lesser cousins. Instead they withdrew to their sanctuaries and
hid them from the primitives. On occasion one of them would go out and
attempt to teach the wandering tribes some useful skill or idea to help
them along. More often than not the attempts failed, and the explorers
soon left the primitives to their own devices; trusting to time that
one day they would be more receptive to the lessons."
He stopped speaking. Ukyo and Nabiki were clearly fascinated by
his story. Kuno seemed a little lost.
He drew them close to him and spoke softly, almost as if he was
afraid someone would overhear his words. "In time, all could have been
as these noble people envisioned. But in their pride and in their
ignorance they did not understand what it was they had done when they
chained the Heart of the World.
"The Heart of the World would not be bound for long; for it
answers to forces that bind the world to the universe itself. After a
thousand years it broke free of its bonds and coursed freely once more
through the Earth. The planet was not prepared for such a release; the
continents trembled and volcanoes burst forth the Heart of the World's
vengeance. Mighty storms raged across the world for decades and the sea
swallowed up the island, never again to see the light of day.
"All who lived on that island perished the day the Heart of the
World broke free. Only a few thousand survived that catastrophe. Those
who were left were scattered across the world in their little colonies,
now without the power they had grown so dependent on.
"When the storms subsided and they realized what had happened,
they knew that their civilization had fallen irrevocably. But after
basking in the radiance of the Heart of the World's energies for so
long, they had changed. Most of them had stopped aging, and they were
armored against the little woes of disease and injury that struck down
their poorer cousins. They still had some of their power; whatever
coursed through the natural channels of the earth they could use as
they saw fit.
"Their dreams had died with the fall of their people, but they did
not give up all hope. For they knew that one day their lesser cousins
would mature and advance as they themselves had done when the ice
receded from the lands so long ago. The survivors dedicated themselves
to nurturing and protecting the rest of humanity, so that one day they
could do what my ancestors failed to achieve.
"And so they went out into the world in twos and threes, and
sometimes alone and other times in larger companies. They established
settlements near promising tribes and came to them not as gods, but as
teachers. On occasion they would take the women of these tribes to
wife, in the hope that their seed would strengthen the people they
sought to advance."
"This story sounds familiar," Ukyo said to him. "At least the part
about the island sinking into the sea."

"Such legends have permeated the cultures of the world for
millennia. Though men call it Atlantis or Mu or N menor or even Avalon
or Eden, it is all the same. All the same."
"So how old are you?" Nabiki asked.
"I was born to the name of Sil Amarn roughly eight-thousand years
ago at the settlement of Kharsag, near Mt. Hermon in what is now
Lebanon. My parents were Survivors, and what I have told you I know
from them."
"You mean to tell me that you're immortal?" Nabiki asked.
Aerandir shook his head. "I am as subject to death as you or Ukyo
or the Blue Thunder. I do not age in body, and I am proof against
disease and niggling injury, but I may be slain by violence or
accident, or, like many who have gone before me, may pine away and die
under the weight of the ages."
"You said that this 'Heart of the World' was coming again soon,"
Ukyo began.
"June 23rd," Nabiki interjected.
"And that it couldn't be held," Ukyo continued. "Well Ranma and
Akane are going to be right in the middle of it, I just know it!"
"That is quite possible," Aerandir said. "But perhaps they must."
Nabiki felt Kuno stiffen at her side at the direness in Ukyo's
voice when she spoke of Ranma and Akane. Wheels were turning in his
head, and suddenly she knew he wouldn't be staying long on this island.
He would leave at the first opportunity, even if he had no idea where
he could find Ranma and Akane.
"I think I have said all that I should about this," Aerandir said
to them. "I bid you good-night."
"Aerandir?" Nabiki found herself asking.
"Yes, Nabiki?"
"How long do you plan to stay here?"
"I shall weigh anchor the morning after tomorrow," he replied.
"Do you know where you're going?"
He smiled wanly for her. "Yes I do... Although I would not mind
your company, I would ask that you stay here on the island. You are not
safe anywhere else in this world, and I fear your evasion of the
Russians will only provoke them to greater and more open acts of
violence against you should they find you again."
With that he bid them good-night once more and left them in the
garden under the stars.

Chapter Four

"<Welcome to the Alhambra!>" A sweaty man in a brown business suit
called to them. ""
Ranma looked past the man to the tall stone walls and the square
towers of the Alhambra fortress proper. The many mosques and palaces of
the castle lay beyond those formidable walls. He could see pennons and
banners fluttering from the tops of the towers and minarets. The Sierra
Nevadas mountains loomed behind the castle in purples and greys. The
sky was blue and cloudless, and the Spanish summer sun beat down upon
the cobblestone pavement.
Professor McFogg exchanged pleasantries with the man and an
associate from the University of Granada. It seemed the Professor and
the man from the university knew each other well. They were joined by
the Curator for the Alhambra, a man distantly related to the reigning
King of Spain, Juan Carlos I.
In the meantime Ferguson, Ames, Hiro and Ranma ported the
equipment past them and into a side gate to the castle used by the
staff. They carried four Ferguson's boxes, armloads of A/V equipment,
and various data recording and storage gear. Ranma brought up the rear
carrying several hundred yards of power and optical cord. Akane and
Katy Price watched them work from the shelter of large parasols.
"" Miguel said,
echoing the sentiments of the Curator, who only spoke Spanish. "<This
is the height of the tourist season.>"
"<Of course Mister de Santa Clara. My people will be quite
discreet. I would like to extend my thanks to you and especially to His
Majesty for your gracious assistance on such short notice.>" McFogg
replied in his best diplomatic manner.

Miguel and the Curator led them inside the main gate. Akane and
Katy quickly joined them. Once past the main gates they were taken to
an office room which was thankfully air-conditioned.

"How much more to go?" Ranma asked Hiro.
Hiro shifted the heavy crate they carried together for a better
grip. "I think this is the last trip."
"Good. Goin' from England to the middle of this is killing me,"
Ranma said as a rivulet of sweat trickled down the side of his face.
"You said it. Even Korea didn't seem this hot. It must be at least
39 degrees out here."
"<What was that, Hiro?>" Ferguson asked. He was walking past them
from the other direction with some kind of hand-held instrumentation.
""
"<Forty-one,>" Ferguson corrected. He kept pacing past them.
"Yeah but it's a dry heat," Ranma said with little humor in his
voice.
They set the crate down next to the rest of the gear. Once the
Alhambra closed for the night they would begin setting up the
equipment. Ranma and Hiro slid down the side of the smooth stone walls
and sat resting.
"<Has anyone seen Clay?>" Ames asked. He was busy inventorying all
of the equipment and segregating it in some manner only he was sure of.
"<Not since we left the hotel this morning,>" Ferguson replied. He
was now busying himself with inspecting the Ferguson's boxes.
"<It's just like him to skip out when there's work to be done,"
Ames mumbled.
"<We'll go find him,>" Hiro offered, gesturing to himself and
Ranma.
"Thanks for volunteering me. I was just gettin' comfortable."
Ranma said in response. He stood up and stretched out.
"Aw come on, where's your sense of adventure?"
"I left it on the plane."

While the others talked, Akane soon found herself quite bored. She
slipped out of the office under the pretense of powdering her nose and
started looking for Ranma. Once outside, she looked about in wonder for
the place.
The Alhambra was rich in Islamic architecture. Graceful arches
supported vaulted ceilings and exquisite tilework adorned the walls and
floors. It was once the seat of the western Umayyid Dynasty following
their near extinction during the Islamic faith's schism in the eighth
century. It had remained a Muslim stronghold until 1492 when forces
under Ferdinand V of Castille and Isabella of Aragon conquered it and
thus the last of Muslim held Spain. (Coincidentally allowing the two
monarchs time to listen to a certain Genoese sailor talk about a
passage west to the Indies.)
Including herself, the place was full of gawking tourists. Guides
showed them about the castle speaking several different languages. She
looked around hopefully, but didn't see any Japanese tour groups. She
continued on.
**Where could that idiot be?**
She found Ferguson and Ames as they worked on their equipment.
"<Have you seen Ranma?>"
Ferguson looked up from his work.
"<He took off with Hiro to find Clay.>"
"<Which way did they go?>"
He shrugged. "<No idea, lass.>"
Akane started off without another word, which suited Ferguson
enough. He had work to do and little time for idle chatter.
She proceeded down a hall with an arched ceiling and ornamental
columns inlaid with Islamic proverbs and scripture from the Koran.
Stars were painted on the deep blue ceiling and the hammered bronze
still shined despite the wear of the ages. A tour guide gave her a
dubious look but said nothing as she passed.
At the end of the hall was an open air courtyard and garden. High
walls of stone and dull cream colored plaster were bright relief
against the slate grey tilework of the floor. Ranma wasn't to be found.
She decided to turn back before she got lost. Ranma would show up
sooner or later, probably when he got hungry. She could count on that
at least.
As she turned to go, she ran into someone behind her. She
stammered an apology in Japanese, remembered that she wasn't in Japan,
switched to English, and then with a slight cry of frustration realized
she was in Spain.
The woman nodded calmly for her. Her grey-green eyes sparkled in a
way that made Akane jealous.
"Perdoname," she said, and offered a smile.
Akane watched her go. She was very pretty, so tall and graceful,
and her skin! She'd never seen such a pale complexion, particularly not
in sunny Spain. It almost glowed.
**Almost like oil on water....**
"HEY!" Akane cried.
The woman was lost in the press of the tourists, and now people
were starting to stare at her. She decided to leave. Quickly.
She started back the way she came. When she was out of the sight
of those in the court yard she started to run to put some distance
between them. She was so embarrassed! It was in this state of mind that
she plowed through Ranma and Hiro like a freight train.
When the dust had settled, Akane looked down to see Ranma flat on
his back and staring up at her with one eye tightly shut in pain. He
rubbed at the lump on the back of his head where it had been introduced
to the Alhambra's floor. His teeth were clenched in an effort to keep
from spewing forth strings of obscenities that no one needed to hear in
any language. Particularly Akane.
Hiro picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off.
"What's the big rush?"
"Yeah Akane, whaddya tryin' to do, kill someone?" Ranma muttered
from beneath her. He hissed as the lump on his head began to throb.
"I saw her!" Was all Akane could reply.
"Saw who?" Hiro asked.
"That woman! Ana whatever! I just saw her!"
"Jeez, calm down a minute," Ranma said. "And let me get up."
Akane let him get up.
"Now start over," Ranma said. He wasn't sure if he heard her right
the first time. His ears were ringing too loudly.
"I saw that woman you told me about," Akane began. "I bumped into
her while I was looking for you."
"Anazali? She actually let you see her?" Ranma asked.
"What? You mean you told Akane about her too?" Hiro asked.
Akane threw him a black look.
"Sorry!" Hiro apologized.
"Where did she go?" Ranma asked. He wanted another chance to speak
to her.
"I lost her in a crowd of tourists. I'm sorry Ranma."
He rubbed at his head again. "Forget about it. When she's ready to
talk to us, she will."
They started back towards the side gate and the equipment. McFogg,
Katy, Miguel, and the Curator had joined Ferguson and Ames. McFogg was
showing them what equipment they would be using. The Curator had a few
questions for them, and Miguel translated.
Ferguson took Ranma and Akane aside while the others conversed.
"<See anything familiar?>"
"<Not yet,>" Akane replied. Ranma nodded in agreement.
"<If you do find something familiar, let me know.>"
"<We will,>" Akane affirmed.
They toured around the Alhambra, admiring the art and sublime
beauty of the place. They came to a spectacular fountain of lion
statues streaming cool water from their maws into a large pool lined
with lapis lazuli and hammered copper which was polished bright every
other day by the staff.
"<This place kinda looks familiar,>" Ranma remarked.
"<Yeah, it does sort of,>" Akane agreed.
Ferguson made a quick sweep of the courtyard. His sensors failed
to register anything remarkable about the place.
"<Doesn't seem very special. I'm not reading any activity
conducive to a nexus. In fact I don't even detect any lines present.>"
Ranma scratched his head.
""
"<Me too,>" Akane added.
Ferguson adjusted the gain on his sensors. "<I'm still not getting
anything... Tell you what, I'll check this courtyard every day for any
changes. In the meantime we still have all of the upper gardens and two
more palaces to look through. Let's be going shall we?>"

* * *

Night had fallen in the city of Granada. With the setting of the
sun came new life as shopkeepers reopened their doors and families took
relaxing walks through the narrow winding streets. Dogs barked and
children yelled, and when Ranma closed his eyes it was almost like
home.
Akane came up behind him as he looked out from their sixth floor
hotel balcony. She put an arm around his waist and leaned on the
railing next to him. The first thing he noticed about her was how nice
she smelled.
There was a time not very long ago when such casual intimacy was
anything but. Even now his heart fluttered a bit as she touched him.
She noticed this and a faint smile crept across her mouth.
"What shall we do tonight?" She asked him.
"Huh?" He replied, lost in space as usual.
"I asked you what we should do tonight. I don't want to stay in
the hotel all night. The Professor is a sweet old man, but I don't
think I could sit and play bridge with him and the others 'til three in
the morning."
He looked at her and cocked his head. "What's there to do here?"
She blew out her breath in mounting frustration with him. "Let's
find out!"
He looked back to the streets below. "Sure..."
"If you're going to be so enthusiastic about it, I should probably
go find Hiro. I'm sure he wouldn't mind going out."
"Don't drag Hiro into this," he said, keeping his eyes looking out
across the city.
She leaned over and kissed him behind the ear. "I'm going to get
changed. If you're not ready to go, I'll find Hiro."
She flicked his pig-tail over his shoulder and stepped back into
the room. He turned back to watch her.
"And if Hiro won't go, I'll go out alone," she added, and pulled
the drapes over the door.
Ranma bit his lip but kept his silence.
**Damn. I give into her once and now she thinks I'll do it
again.**
He pounded his fist on the rail.
"And she knows I won't let her go out alone... Damn!"
He pounded the rail once more and went inside.

* * *

Akane was dressed out in a short white skirt and black halter
which made her pale skin glow in the brilliance of mercury vapor street
lamps. Hiro was wearing jeans and a white collared shirt and black tie
beneath a sharp looking black leather vest. Ranma of course was wearing
his Chinese style clothes; black trousers and dark green tunic.
They left McFogg, Ferguson, Ames, and Clay playing bridge in the
smoking lounge. Katy had gone out with the man from the University. The
haze of pipe and cigar smoke wafting in spirals around a lazy ceiling
fan reminded Akane of why she wanted to go out. They bid the three
young people good night and got back to their cards.
Hiro supplied them with a goodly sum of Spanish pesetas as they
went out the doors of the hotel. None of them spoke any appreciable
Spanish, but Hiro was good with languages and had been practicing a few
of the more useful phrases for them to get around. He hailed a taxi
about a block from the hotel and after a few minutes got his point
across.
"Where are you taking us?" Akane asked. Like Ranma, she had no
idea what it was Hiro had said to the cabbie.
"A nightclub, I think."
"Great!"

The cab pulled over and dropped them off outside what was
obviously a popular nightclub by the look of the crowds waiting to get
in. Music pulsed through the open doors, what sounded like a Spanish
influenced Acid-House sound. Hiro paid the cabbie and they got out.
"We gonna stand in line all night?" Ranma asked, gesturing to the
crowd.
"Not if I can help it," Hiro replied. He started down the street.
Akane grabbed Ranma's arm and led him on.
"Where are we going?" Ranma asked.
"Bound to be another club around here somewhere," Hiro replied.
"We can always go back if there isn't. Besides the night is young and
the place probably just opened up. if we're lucky the line will go away
in a little while."

"<Do you see them?>" Fyodor asked.
"" A man with a low light scope
replied. He peered through it from the shadows of the rented sedan they
had parked across the street about a block from the club. The street
lights were mostly nonfunctional in this part of town, which suited
them fine. Greasy cigarette smoke wafted over the man's head.
"<Stay with them.>"
"<How close?>"
"<Keep your distance. We still don't have authorization.>"
"<We lost them in Tokyo because we waited for that.>"
Fyodor sizzled at the thought.
"<You do not have to remind me Yevgeny Illyavich. I am aware of
this. I am also aware that the consulate will not lift a finger to help
us if we are caught by the authorities should we proceed without
authorization.>"
Yevgeny grunted in disgust.
"<It was easier in Afghanistan,>" he remarked bitterly. No one to
complain when dirty work had to be done. Politics was a double edged
sword.
"<True enough. Now go.>"
Yevgeny left the car, flicking his cigarette butt into the gutter
as he went.

They found another club, El Torador. This one wasn't so crowded,
at least outside. After paying a modest cover and getting a once over
from the bouncer at the door, they walked inside. They hit a wall of
Moroccan tobacco smoke, something acidic that was definitely _not_
tobacco, and the sharp odor of fresh sweat.
The place was crowded enough. The music blared from speaker stacks
at the standard deafening levels. Belgian techno pulsed around them,
fast heavy beat driving the throngs of sweat glistening bodies that
gyrated on a hardwood dance floor in the center of the club. The place
was full of late teens and early twenty-somethings, most of them
students from the University.
Hiro made for the bar. Ranma managed to grab the last available
table and scrounged up three stools for them. Akane busied herself
ogling over the dozens of eligible Granadan men in tank tops and
luscious well tanned skin. Ranma retaliated by eyeing the women in
their two-sizes too small tops and miniskirts.
The music shifted without pause to something studio polished and
Italian with lots of sampling from American television shows mixed in.
Hiro returned with three bottles in his hands. He set them before the
two.
"It's Spanish, but it looked okay when I watched the bartender
pour it!" Hiro shouted over the music.
Ranma took a swig. He had tasted better, but there was something
to be said about a beer when you had been sweating all day. Akane had
no taste for beer and let hers sit.
"So whaddya think?" Hiro shouted.
"Not bad so far!" Akane replied. "I like the music!"
"Good! Maybe we can even get Saotome out on the floor!" He pointed
to Ranma. "He's a hell of a dancer!"
Akane laughed. "Ranma?"
Ranma shook his head.
"Oh yeah!" Hiro returned. "You should have seen him at my going
away party. They were having this party in the barracks for me 'cause I
was going back to the lines. Of course none of them knew I was gonna go
on the Chancellor Mission with my old buddy here instead. Yes indeed
Akane-chan, he got out in the middle of the room with a bottle of sake
in one hand and this guy with a broken leg in the other."
Hiro looked to Ranma, who was smiling at the memory in spite of
himself.
"What was that guy's name again?"
"Yamaga I think. I just remember that he liked American heavy
metal and he had a broken leg."
"Ranma dancing?" Akane cried, amazed at the concept.
"He was great!" Hiro affirmed.
Akane slugged Ranma playfully in the arm. "Come on then, let's
go!"
"What!?"
"Let's dance!" She tugged at his arm.
"I can't dance to this!" Ranma protested. He shot a look to Hiro
to keep quiet.
Hiro would have none of that. "Same stuff you danced to last time
Saotome!"
"Okay! Okay! I'm going!" He killed the beer in one shot because he
decided he was going to need it. Akane led him out onto the floor.
The next tracks were Industrial, some underground mixes from the
Berlin club scene. It had just enough of that raw Cold War East German
edge to it to pump you with all the power you needed to get out on the
floor. The sounds of steel sledge hammers ringing from blows thrown by
New Soviet Men clashed against the pounding bassline and chainsaw howl
of heavily mixed guitars. The lights strobed and flashed spasmodically
in patterns known to cause epilepsy in a small percentage of the
population.
Ranma felt his blood pounding in his veins as he got into the
beat. Akane was a little timid at first, but then most Japanese girls
were when it came to dancing to this stuff. Being a martial artist, and
a damn fine one at that, he had the rhythm and he had the grace. Even
with this angst driving brain smashing stuff that thundered from the
speakers.
The floor had cleared out around him to give him room. Most of the
crowds gawked and even cheered as Ranma Saotome went ballistic. His
pigtail bobbed and shook wildly around his head. Akane dropped back to
Hiro and laughed at the sight. She loved it.
When the DJ shifted back to relatively sedate House sounds the
crowds returned to the floor. Ranma brought himself down to an
appropriately sane level and Akane jumped back in to dance with him. He
was hot to the touch, so hot she could feel it rippling off his body.
His tunic was open halfway down his chest to bleed off the heat. He was
beading sweat down his face and arms, and the smell of him suddenly
thrilled her to no end.
"You were great!" Akane cried.
Ranma shrugged.
"I mean it! This is something of you I never expected to see!"
"Neither did I."
She moved in closer to him then. They were almost touching but
never quite reaching each other. She soaked up the heat that radiated
furiously from him and laughed all the while looking into his eyes.

They had moved on to another club, one a little ways up the street
that had a larger dance floor and more table space. Ranma commandeered
them a booth as Hiro started dancing with a couple raven tressed
beauties who went crazy over his Japanese features. Hiro, Ranma noted,
was no slouch in the dancing department either.
Akane sat next to him at the booth. This place served wine and
Akane had helped herself to a bottle of the stuff. She was good and
tipsy. Part of him hoped her libido would be similarly stimulated as it
had that night at the mansion. The other part ruefully admitted that it
was going to be a long night getting her home if she got truly sloshed.
Fortunately Akane seemed to know her limits and slowed down. She
pulled him out on the floor again, and all the activity helped her
sweat it out. They were dancing against each other now, and it was
driving Ranma crazy within.
And then when his lips began brushing against the hot salty skin
of her neck he saw Anazali.
She was dancing with some young stud from Barcelona. Her grey-
green eyes glittered with the stage lights and her luminous skin was
like a wreath of opalescent fire about her graceful form. Her hair was
piled up atop her head and held in place with long gold pins that
dangled little red silk pompoms as she bobbed her head to the beat.
She winked at him as he saw her.
^Enjoying ourselves are we?^ She asked in his mind.
"Trying to," he replied.
"What was that?" Akane asked at his ear.
"Uh, nothin'. Just thinkin'."
"Oh?" Her voice had taken a silken timbre that carried even over
the pulse and thump of the music. "About what?" She purred. The last
time he had heard that voice she had swapped bodies with some maniacal
'vengeful spirit' doll that tried to kill him. He shuddered at the
memory.
^What fascinating adventures you've had!^ Anazali remarked with a
mental laugh. She could read his surface thoughts easily enough.
**Stay outta my head!** Ranma thought back.
^You won't hear me over the music if I do.^
**I can live with that,** he replied.
^Then I guess you don't want to hear what I have to say to you.^
**Hey waitaminute! That ain't fair!**
^_Isn't_ fair,^ Anazali corrected. ^Even in your mind your grammar
is atrocious.^
**Whatever, just don't run out on me like this!**
Anazali smiled for him. Her teeth were so white and straight they
could have been used as a credit reference.
^Very well. If you can tear yourself away from your lovely fiancee
for a minute I'll speak to you face to face.^
**If it's all the same, could you let Akane see you too?**
^She already has.^
**I mean could you include her in what you have to tell me.**
^As you wish.^
By this time Akane had noticed Ranma's peculiar distraction. When
it seemed that this distraction had nothing to do with _her_ she got
very suddenly irate.
^I suggest you do something quickly Ranma: Akane is starting to
notice that your attention is elsewhere. I'm sure you know what that
means...^ For good measure she threw some of Akane's surface thoughts
and feelings into his mind. They sounded remarkably like 'RANMA YOU
JERK!!!'
He couldn't think of anything else to defuse her in the fraction
of a second it would take for her to clobber him, so he followed his
instincts, took her up into his arms, and kissed her for all he was
worth. She gasped a little in surprise at first, but that quickly
melted into delight. Her arms came up around the back of his neck and
together they moved to the beat as they embraced.
^Bravo! Marvelous improvisation! Vincit Amor omnia, regit Amor
omnia!^ Anazali cheered in his mind.
They parted breathlessly.
"What was that for?" She asked with a shy smile.
"Uh, just because," he replied sheepishly.
Anazali chose this moment to step up to them. Akane tensed in
Ranma's arms as she saw her. Ranma saw Hiro nearly spit out his drink
from across the floor.
"May I speak to you for a moment?" She asked politely above the
thud and thump of the music.
Akane looked at her, then at Ranma. The pig-tailed martial artist
nodded and followed after Anazali as she led them off the floor. Akane
stayed close at Ranma's side. Hiro could be seen maneuvering through
the crowds to reach them.
Anazali left the club and led them into the warm night air of the
city. Once they were a block from the nightclub she bade them sit on a
bench in a small tree lined park. The elms swayed with the breeze and
lent their fragrance to the night.
"I'm glad to see you here Ranma," Anazali began. "It helps prove
that you are who we think you are."
"And what's that?" Ranma asked.
"Who's this 'we'?" Akane added.
"Who 'We' are is not important right now," Anazali replied coolly.
"What is important is that you and Ranma continue to guide Professor
McFogg to the events as they happen."
"Why? I mean besides curing our ki's?" Ranma asked. **And my
Jusenkyo curse...Or was that just bait?**
"Each energy surge you expose yourselves to in an opening line
nexus is not only restoring your 'ki' but is also conditioning you.
There isn't much time left and you'll need as much exposure as possible
before the end of the cycle event."
"You're still not telling us what we're in the middle of," Ranma
said with a touch of venom. "I don't like bein' someone's pawn."
Anazali looked sternly at him. Her eyes seemed to glow a with a
faint lambent flame.
"Are ya gonna tell us or what?" Ranma pressed.
"I am here to help you," she soothed. Her expression softened
considerably "Please don't forget that... Unfortunately I can tell you
only what I am permitted to tell you. There are those among the people
I answer to that are not convinced that you are the ones. Until they
are satisfied I cannot reveal more than this:
"You and Akane may be the only hope we have to avert a world wide
disaster."
"What?" Ranma and Akane cried in unison. "Why us?"
"If you must know, you came to our attention last winter," Anazali
said, looking directly at Ranma. "In the Taebaek Mountains of North
Korea."
"Chancellor..." Ranma replied softly. The night a hundred thousand
men died so that twenty million could live.
"Precisely," Anazali affirmed. "Your release of energy on the
mountain was felt by us on the other side of the world. That was when
we started to watch you."
"You mean when I blasted the rocket?" Ranma asked. He thought
about it for a moment. "Yeah, I guess that was the hardest Cyclone
Dragon Fist I've ever thrown."
"Yes. You didn't know it at the time, but you tapped into a line
nexus running through the mountain when you destroyed the missile's
booster. It was because you could do such a thing that we began to keep
an eye on you."
"Will someone tell me what you're talking about?" Akane asked
desperately. Operation Chancellor was something Ranma had never
discussed with her. She knew it was the reason he had gone back to the
fighting, and that because of it the Second Korean War had ended.
Everything else was classified, and Ranma had kept mum about it. She
always suspected that there was more than National Security in his
silence, but had not pressed the issue out of respect for his privacy.
(She did hope that one day he would open up about it, however.)
Ranma ignored her, pressing his attention on Anazali. "Okay, so I
understand where I come into this, sort of, but how did Akane get
dragged in?"
Anazali chuckled. "I thought that was rather obvious."
"Yeah, well how about explaining it for me anyway."
"Akane is your complement."
"Excuse me?" Akane cried.
"And Ranma is yours," Anazali added for her benefit.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ranma asked. He had a few ideas,
and the thought of them was starting to make him weak in the knees.
"It means you're both two parts of one whole."
_That_ had Ranma squirming nervously in his seat.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Anazali told him. "I like to
think it's rather special. And because of it we need both of you, not
just you Ranma."
"To stop some world wide disaster that you can't tell them about,"
Hiro Ohata said from the sidewalk.
Anazali turned her head to face him. "I was wondering when you
would say something Mister Ohata."
"I'm saying it now," Hiro barked. "If you're really here to help
them, you could start by telling them exactly what they're involved
with. They might not have any choice, but you at least owe them a full
explanation."
"And if I refuse do you plan to shoot me with the pistol under
your vest?"
Hiro brushed at the shiny black leather. "If that's what it comes
down to."
"You don't have to do this Hiro," Ranma said quickly.
"Everything's all right."
Anazali looked back to Ranma. "Your friend is very loyal to you. I
respect that as I respect his sincerity. But it changes nothing."
"Sorry to hear that," Hiro growled. "Ever since Scotland I've had
this feeling that something bad was gonna happen and now I think I know
why." He drew the Sig and held it low in his hand.
"Put the gun away Hiro," Ranma advised. "I believe what Anazali's
told us." He cast a sharp eyed glance to her. "Even if she hasn't told
us everything."
"You sure about this, Saotome?"
He looked at Akane, then to Anazali. "Yeah."
Hiro holstered his pistol. "If I find out you're not on the level
with us then I'm capping you lady. Count on it." He turned away and
started back towards the club. "I'll be back in the club if you need
me," he called over his shoulder.
Anazali regarded Ranma and Akane as they sat in silence on the
park bench.
"Mister Ohata's concern for you is not unfounded," she told them.
"You must take great care in your travels. There are others who want
you for what you can do for them."
"What's that?"
"Why point the way to the next event, of course. That was the
primary reason I needed to speak with you. To warn you about the
others."
"So who are these others?" Akane asked in a hushed voice.
"There is a group of Russians," Anazali began.
"Casimir's group?" Akane asked.
"They are a faction of Doctor Casimir's group. They are quite
ruthless, and they have discovered what you and Ranma are to Professor
McFogg."
"There are others too," Ranma observed. He wasn't sure how he knew
this, it was just a hunch.
"Yes. There are others... If you ever meet someone like me," she
gestured to her pearlescent skin glowing under the street lamps. "And I
am not accompanying them, you must flee from them as best you can. They
may claim to be from me, or from the people I represent, but they are
not. This is very important for you to remember, and you should tell
Mister Ohata what I have told you as well."
"What about you, you're supposed to be helping us, right?" Ranma
asked.
"I can't always be there to watch over you."
"So it's up to us."
"Yes. I must be going now. I shall meet you again after the next
event, but unless something important comes up, not before. Farewell!"
She vanished right before their eyes. Akane gasped in surprise.
Ranma was expecting it, and was watching for some other telltale sign
of her passing. He was rewarded with the faintest sounds of footsteps
receding into the night.
"So when is the next event? And where?" He called to her.
^You'll know when the time comes. You are much more sensitive to
these things now.^
Akane turned to Ranma with a confused look on her face. Right then
he knew that she had heard Anazali's parting words in her mind as well.
"Well now you've met Anazali," Ranma sighed. "Are things starting
to make any more sense for you?"
"Not a bit," she replied quietly.
"You and me both." He put an arm around her and drew her close.
"I'm a little scared about this, Ranma."
"Me too Akane. Me too." He gave her a comforting squeeze.
"You aren't supposed to be afraid of anything, dummy!" She said
with just enough light heartedness to make him laugh softly.
"Yeah well that was when I was young and stupid."
"As opposed to now?"
"Now I'm just stupid."
She giggled once and socked him playfully in the arm as she stood
up. He rose with her.
"Yep, you're a crusty nineteen. Over the hill," she observed with
another laugh. It was a nervous laugh, and Ranma knew it was a brave
front for her. He was willing to play along if she was.
"Let's go find Hiro," he said and offered his hand. "I think we
should call it a night."
She took it in hers. As she touched him he thought about what
Anazali had told them. _They complemented each other_. He sort of liked
the idea; the only problem was that he had been raised to do everything
himself, to rely only on himself and his abilities. Adding Akane to
that formula was alien and frightening at the same time that it
thrilled him.

Chapter Five

They had passed five days in Granada without so much as an
electronic peep from the sensors or a single premonition in their
heads. The weather was hot, but they were adjusting to the Granadan
habit of taking the afternoon off and waiting for the sun to go down
before getting back to business. The sensor remotes would alert them to
any changes should they occur.
Professor McFogg sat in the smoking lounge of the hotel thumbing
through a copy of La Vanguardia, a large and popular Barcelona
newspaper. McFogg couldn't read it as it was printed in Spanish, but
Ranma figured he had one from force of habit. The Times of London was a
bit hard to come by here.
He had gone jogging through the streets of the Old City and up the
hill to the Alhambra in the middle of the afternoon. As such he was
soaked with sweat and panting from the heat. The cool air of the hotel
was a bit of a shock to his system, and he plopped down in a wicker
chair next to the Professor.
"<Good afternoon Ranma,>" the Professor offered. He turned the
pages of his newspaper and sipped at a Gibson martini.
"<Hi Professor,>" Ranma huffed. "<Have you seen Akane anywhere?>"
""
"<Nah, she likes jogging early in the morning. I'm a bit of a late
riser.>"
"<Hear hear!>" The Professor smiled.
Ferguson came into the lounge with Katy. Both had armloads of data
from the local surveys they had taken. Both seemed to be arguing
incessantly about something. The two walked past Ranma and the
Professor still arguing.
"" McFogg remarked. "<I'm not certain as to how much more of it I
can stand. The longer we wait the more I fear we have made a grave
error. Were it not for your encounter with Anazali I would have given
up on Granada by now. In any event there is a certain function I must
attend in Monaco shortly, and I do wish this event would materialize
before then.>"
"<Oh yeah? What's in Monaco? And where _is_ Monaco while I'm
asking.>"
"<Monaco is along the French Riviera near Italy. It is a very
small Principality allied closely with France. Prince Rainier is an old
friend of mine, and he throws a grand charity ball this time in June. I
would be very disappointed if I missed it.>"
Ranma shrugged. "<As soon as I know something, you'll know
something, Professor.>"
""
Ranma jumped up. "<I'm gonna go take a bath before I stink the
place up any more than I have already. See ya tonight.>"
McFogg raised his Gibson to him in salute.

Ranma went up to the room but Akane wasn't there. He took a bath
and changed into a clean pair of shorts and a tank top. His next stop
was Hiro's room.
He knocked at the door and Hiro answered.
"Come on in Saotome. Akane and I were just talking about you."
Ranma peered over Hiro's shoulder to see Akane seated on the floor
with a glass of iced tea in her hand.
"Oh yeah?" Ranma asked, a little curious.
"Don't worry, we had nothing good to say about you." Hiro cracked.
"Good, you had me worried for a minute."
Ranma sat down across from Akane, who smiled at him with her eyes.
She seemed on the verge of laughing, but held it in. Ranma shifted a
bit uncomfortably on the carpet. He was sure he was the subject of such
merriment.
"I'll be seeing you Hiro," Akane said all of a sudden and stood
up. "Thanks for listening to me." She stepped past them and to the
door.
Hiro shrugged. "Anytime Akane-chan."
Ranma started to get up.
"Hey Akane, wait up."
"I'll see you in a little while Ranma," Akane said softly to him.
"I just need a little time to myself."
Ranma begrudged her that. With the exception of his jogging trip
that afternoon, they hadn't been out of each other's sight for longer
than twenty minutes in the last five days. They both knew the
importance of spending time alone for the sake of sanity.
"Have a seat and stay awhile, Saotome," Hiro offered.
"Sure."
When Akane was gone and the door shut behind her, Hiro started
speaking.
"I didn't get the chance to say anything about the other night,
but I'm sorry for overreacting with Anazali."
"It's okay man, this whole situation bothers me too."
"I shouldn't have drawn my pistol on her. That was uncalled for."
"I forgive you man. Lighten up."
Hiro blew out his breath in a rush. "Sorry Ranma. Like I said the
other night, I've been feeling antsy about you and Akane ever since
Maes Howe. Hearing Anazali confirm my gut feelings hasn't been easy to
deal with."
Ranma clasped Hiro's hand in his and squeezed it.
"We can deal with anything that comes up. You got my back and I've
got yours, just like old times."
"All we need is Ryoga now," Hiro added. "I wonder where he went?"
"Who knows?"
Hiro offered him a glass of iced tea.
"There's something else I've been meaning to talk to you about."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah. It's about Akane."
"Go on."
"Well she and I have been having this little conversation ever
since Maes Howe. Just chatty stuff mostly. Most of it is about you.
Sometimes I tell her stories about you in the army, she tells me about
all the crazy things that happened to you in high school. Anyways what
I'm getting at is that I'm kinda getting to know her... She lets things
slip when she talks about you."
"Like what?" This had his curiosity piqued.
Hiro paused to think about what he was going to say.
"I don't know how to tell you this, and I'm pretty sure it's none
of my business, but... Well I think that's why she's been talking to
me. It's 'cause she can't talk to you about it."
Ranma's hackles went up.
"What are you tryin' to say, Hiro?"
"I'll be blunt," Hiro managed.
"Go on."
Hiro took a deep breath.

"I don't think Akane wants to be your fiancee anymore."

Ranma looked as if someone had just launched a sharpened telephone
pole through his guts.
"Don't take it like this!" Hiro cried upon seeing Ranma's
reaction.
"How am I _supposed_ to take it!" Ranma snarled. His blood was
beginning to boil.
"It's not what you think!"
"Then what is it?!" He dropped into a fighting stance. He didn't
know what he was doing, but this was the only way he solved problems.
Hiro raised his hands in defense.
"The reason she doesn't want to be your fiancee anymore is because
she wants to be your _wife!_"

A second sharpened telephone pole hurled itself through Ranma's
guts. A flaming telephone pole at that. The color drained from his
face. The room spun crazily. He passed out with an impossibly confused
look on his face.

Hiro looked down at his friend, who was off in La-La Land.
"He took that well..."

* * *

Ranma was silent through dinner. He couldn't bring himself to look
at either Hiro or Akane. He was stewing in his own juices, and it was
starting to show.
"<Is there a problem, old bean?>" Ferguson asked him.
"<No,>" he replied. "<I'm just not very hungry.>"
He excused himself and left the table. Akane smiled for him, but
the look she received in response was one of hopeless turmoil and
confusion.
She looked away sharply in despair.

Akane cornered Hiro after dinner in the hallway outside their
rooms.
"You told him didn't you." It was an accusation, not a question.
"I thought that was what you wanted!" Hiro protested.
She looked away.
"Yes... and no."
"I'm sorry for jumping the gun. I didn't think he would take it
like this." Hiro said quietly.
Akane looked back at him.
"No... No need to be sorry. I guess I'm just a little hurt by his
reaction."
"He loves you Akane-chan. More than anything. I know this."
"Then what's the problem?" Akane said, nearly sobbing. Tears
welled at her eyes.
"Give him a little time to think this through."
"It took two and half years for him to tell me he loved me. How
long do I have to wait?"
"Just give him some time alone to think this through. You've been
patient this long Akane-chan, a few more days can't hurt."
"They do," she said. She put her arms around him and hugged him.
"Thank you Hiro," she whispered.
Hiro blushed. "Uh, don't mention it."
She wiped away her tears and took a deep breath.
"I'm acting like a perfect idiot," she said to herself.
"Nobody's perfect," Hiro threw back.
She raised a fist. "I oughtta slug you for that." Then she smiled
and went to find the Professor.
Hiro wiped away the nervous sweat from his brow.
"That was a close one."
He sighed and looked to Ranma's room. The door was ajar. He
tensed, wondering if Ranma had heard what they had said.
He rapped lightly on the door. There was no answer. He stepped
through the door and into the darkened room.
Ranma was out on the balcony.
Hiro walked quietly to the balcony and stepped out to join Ranma.
Ranma was perched on the railing with his chin on his knees. His arms
were curled around his legs. The city was again shrouded in night. Far
below the voices of children echoed through the narrow streets as they
played under the street lights.
"Hey Ranma."
"Akane send you?"
"Nope. Came on my own thanks."
"She's mad isn't she?"
Hiro took a seat on a wicker chair set on the balcony.
"She's a little upset, but I wouldn't say she was mad."
Ranma snorted. "I think I would be."
"Why do you say that?"
Ranma was silent a moment. "'Cause I hurt her. Hurt her bad."
"You wanna talk about it?"
"I ain't sure I'd know what to say."
Hiro rocked back in the chair. "How about saying what you feel."
"I ain't sure about that either."
"I told Akane that you loved her. I wasn't wrong was I?"
Ranma was silent.
"Was I?" Hiro asked again.
"No you weren't wrong."
"So what's the problem Saotome?"
Ranma jumped up to his feet and stood balanced on the rail sixty
feet above the street. He looked down to the black pavement and thought
about just how far down it was. Then he twirled around on one foot to
look at Hiro.
"I didn't want to hurt her... I don't ever _want_ to hurt her...
I've hurt her before, and it's nothin' I'm proud of. But this...
...Shit... Man I don't know what I'm gonna do. I mean I love her, don't
get me wrong, but _marriage..._"
He was a little surprised at himself for being able to say the
word.
"Well what did you think being a fiance meant?" Hiro asked.
"I never had any say in the matter! My dad and her dad just
clapped their hands and that was that. I didn't even like her when we
first met, and I think she hated my guts. The word fiance was just a
word, it didn't mean anything... At least not back then."
Hiro tried to imagine the horror of an arranged marriage. That was
one bullet he had managed to dodge.
"I'm just gettin' comfortable with the way things are now," Ranma
went on. Hiro listened patiently. Ranma was opening the flood gates and
the only thing to be done was to let him go. "All my life I've had to
be responsible for myself. My Old Man was too busy getting us into
trouble to look out for me... Look I know this ain't makin' any sense
but if you can listen to Akane then you can listen to me."
"I'm listening," Hiro said quietly.
"I don't have a future right now... Yeah yeah, I know her dad's
all but signed the dojo over to me -but I don't know anything about
running a business... I marry her and then I have to take care of her
and provide for her and I don't know what the hell I'm doing with my
life let alone hers... And it ain't like I wouldn't do it... I mean if
there's one thing I learned from my Old Man it's that you put your
family before yourself. Course I learned that by seein' how _not_ to
act."
He paused to collect his scattered thoughts.
"And that brings me to the other big problem: You know what
happens when two people get married?"
"They live happily ever after?" Hiro asked with a grin.
"No you idiot -they have kids!"
Hiro suppressed a laugh when he saw how serious Ranma was.
"Well I guess that sort of thing _does_ tend to happen," he
agreed.
"What kinda father could I be? What kinda husband?"
"I'd say you'd do all right, Saotome."
Ranma sighed remorsefully. "Oh man I wish I shared your optimism."
"This is all my fault," Hiro admitted. "I should have kept my
mouth shut."
Ranma dropped down to the balcony floor.
"Nah, it ain't your fault. Now that I think about it, Akane has
been kinda hinting towards this. I shoulda seen it coming."
Hiro stood up.
"You gonna work this out?"
Ranma looked at him and nodded solemnly.
Hiro turned to go, hesitated, and then turned back to face Ranma.
"Talk to her Saotome. I mean really _talk_ to her. Tell her what
you think, how you feel, anything. Say something to her so she doesn't
have to second-guess you. I've noticed that neither of you are very
good at it. I think you've got someone really special and I don't want
to see you blow this."
His piece said, Hiro left Ranma to his thoughts.

* * *

"<Seven days Professor. I'm really starting to get worried,>"
Ferguson said as he made his morning sensor rounds. The tourists had
yet to start arriving. The Alhambra was quiet in the early morning.
"<Have a little faith,>" McFogg replied, though there was little
conviction in his words.
"<Right-o,>" Ferguson said. He adjusted the gain on his sensor.
"<Professor?>"
"<Yes?>"
"<Have you noticed anything amiss lately?>"
McFogg looked up from his copy of La Vanguardia. "<If you mean
between Ranma and Akane, I have noted that they are a bit out of sorts.
Just a lovers' spat I assure you.>"
"<Well there is that, but what I'm talking about is more along the
lines of unexpected company.>"
McFogg nodded casually. "<It's Tarchenko begging scraps. Pay them
no mind.>"
"<Tarchenko again? I don't see why Doctor Casimir tolerates him.>"
The Professor harrumphed. "<Tarchenko's family is powerful.
Grigory needs the funding and the influence to continue his research,
and Tarchenko's family is a means. Never mind that Ivan was a spy
before he was a scientist.>"
"<He's not under the Central Committee's thumb anymore. Why
doesn't he just join us? He's a brilliant man from the papers of his
I've read.>"
"<Grigory is also a proud man,>" McFogg said sadly.
Clay appeared in the courtyard.
"<Good news chaps, I think I've isolated a possible nexus.>"
"<It must be quite faint,>" McFogg observed.
"<Quite indeed,>" Clay replied. "<I've spent the entire week
trying to find it. I don't think it has been active in a very long
time.>"
Ferguson grabbed his gear. "<Lead on, old bean. Let's see what
that sensitive brain of yours can see that a quarter million Pounds of
electronics couldn't.>"

Ranma had made an effort to get up with Akane to go running.
Things had been strained between them since that night in Hiro's room.
There was no hostility between them, something Ranma hadn't expected
from Akane, but they rarely spoke and seldom did much together like
they had these past few weeks. It was obvious that Akane was hurt by
his rejection -even if he hadn't said it in so many words.
Thus his efforts to make amends to her. She had actually
brightened when he asked if he could run with her. It was something at
least.
**Now if only I could deal with the _real_ problem between us...**
He thought as they rounded the corner and started up the hill towards
the Alhambra. **I'm just not ready yet!**
As they pounded the pavement up the hill Akane took his hand. He
nearly tripped in shock. She pulled him along and he regained his
balance.
He looked up at her and she laughed softly at him. He reddened at
first, but then came to a sudden realization:
**She's gonna be there for me as much as I've been there for
her...**
She smiled with her eyes and then turned to face the road ahead.
He was glad that she hadn't given up on him yet, but the clouds of
his own uncertainty still darkened his soul.
**I'm just not ready for this...Why can't she understand that?**
He hadn't yet followed Hiro's advice about talking to her. Truth
was he barely had the nerve to think about it much less broach the
subject with her. **Maybe tonight,** he promised himself.
As they ran they felt the breeze stiffen at their backs. Ranma's
tongue began to tingle as if he was licking a battery. He looked in
surprise to Akane, who returned his expression with equal surprise.
"Now?" She asked him.
"I think so," he replied with quickening pulse.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
The breeze grew into a gust at their backs, driving them towards
the Alhambra.
Akane saw the square towers of yellow stone rising above them and
gasped.
"I remember it now!"
"What?" Ranma asked.
"The dream! From Maes Howe! The lions!"
"What?"
"The lions! The fountain of lions! They spoke to me in the dream!"
She cried. Her pace quickened and Ranma stretched out his stride to
keep up with her. "Why didn't I remember this before?"
"They never talked to _me!_" he protested. "What did they say?"
"They told me that when I stood atop the Crown of Eternity not to
believe the things I might see. If I did, then everything I held dear
would be lost."
"What the hell does that mean? What's this Crown of Eternity?"
"I don't know!" She cried. "That's all they said to me."
The wind now drove them on through the gates of the Alhambra,
which were flung wide by unseen hands. Ranma and Akane couldn't have
stopped running if they wanted to. Their bodies were charged with
incredible vigor, making their deer swift steps light as air.

"<Something is happening,>" Yevgeny observed. The unusual wind
seemed to sweep only the street Ranma and Akane took. Within meters of
either side of the narrow street the air was calm.
"" Fyodor replied.
"<Do we move?>"
"<Not yet,>" Fyodor grunted. "<Not here. Arrangements have been
made, all we must do is maintain the surveillance.>"
"<This waiting is irksome. We take too many risks by delaying.>"
""

The strident wail of the Magnetic Anomaly Detector roused Ferguson
and Clay from their study of the Kirlian sensor logs taken earlier that
morning. Ames, who was busy tinkering with one of their camcorders,
looked up from his work with an excited look.
Ferguson and Clay rushed over to the small LCD display and gawked
in surprise.
"<Where did this come from?>" Ferguson cried.
Katy stepped from around the corner. She and Professor McFogg had
also heard the alarm.
"<What's going on?>" Katy asked.
"" Ferguson replied.
The wind suddenly swelled around them.
"<Now I know this is it!>"
"<Where is the nexus?>" McFogg thundered.
"<The Fountain of Lions!>" Clay shot back. "<I'm certain of it!>"
Ames cursed.
"<Our detectors are set up in the wrong place!>"
"<We have to move them!>" Ferguson cried. He ran to the nearest
Ferguson's box and scooped up the heavy tripod mounted sensor in his
arms. Ames grabbed another and Clay a third. Katy realized there was no
one else to get the fourth and ran as fast as she could manage in heels
towards it. McFogg took the heavy sensor from her, and together they
carried it behind the file of the other three scientists.
"<Has anyone seen Ranma and Akane?>" McFogg puffed. "<It would
stand to reason that they would be aware of this!>"
"<What about Hiro?>" Katy asked.
Hiro dashed from a nearby garden.
"<Someone call my name?>" He asked. He took up the Ferguson's box
from McFogg and Katy on the run. "<By the way, where are we going?>"
They made it to the Fountain of Lions as the wind began to spiral
around the courtyard. Ferguson and Ames frantically set up the
Ferguson's boxes as Hiro ran the cables to a back-up recorder. The
boxes themselves had internal data storage, but the data from these
events was priceless and irreplaceable.
Katy lent a hand and grabbed up the camcorder that Ames had slung
over his shoulder and began filming. McFogg and Clay monitored such
hand held gear as Ferguson had thought to leave in the courtyard as
insurance against this eventuality.
"<Where are Ranma and Akane?>" Clay asked above the rush of the
wind.
The words were barely past his lips when the two came running into
the courtyard.
"There it is!" Akane cried.
"I see it!" Ranma returned.
"I think we have to be in the middle of the pool."
"I was afraid you'd say that!" Ranma yelled over the wind. "I
kinda get that feeling too."
They ran past the scientists and jumped into the pool, which was
only a foot deep. They stood amidst the fountains that streamed forth
from the lions' mouths and felt the rising surge of energy coursing
through them. The spray of cold water soaked them to the bone.
"Now what?" Akane asked. Her wet locks of blue-black hair billowed
around her eyes. Sparkles of light danced before her, making her look
quite angelic and distracting Ranma from the task at hand. (Whatever it
was he was supposed to be doing here besides standing in the middle of
it.)
"Just relax I think."

"<Has anyone noticed anything strange about Ranma right now?>"
Clay asked at a yell.
Hiro spotted it first.
"<Yeah! He's still a guy! He didn't change into a girl!>"
Ferguson and McFogg looked on in wonder. They had seen his
transformation several times before and were at a loss to explain why
he hadn't become a girl.

As the wind tightened it's spiral around the fountains Ranma and
Akane felt themselves being lifted once more off the ground. The
sparkles of light became brighter and more numerous, even Katy was
seeing them with her camcorder. Faint blue bands of light streamed into
the center of the fountains from four directions.
Ranma took Akane's hands in his as they began to hang weightless
in the air.
"Ranma!" Akane cried. "You're still a guy!"
Ranma looked down to his wet chest. No breasts strained at his
tight fitting tank top. His hands were large and masculine. His sopping
wet hair was black. He was still a man.
A tear fell from his eye.
"Anazali was right!" Akane cried happily. "This is a cure for your
curse!" The waves of energy that spiraled through them were making them
both giddy. The world seemed brighter and more beautiful around them.
As the event reached it's climax they threw their heads back in
rapture.

Ranma saw a long chain of mountains. The black rock was sharp and
jagged and steeped in frigid air. Vast snow fields stretched as far as
he could see. Massive glacial forms moved at a crawl beneath dozens of
meters of snow.
At the base of the mountains was a garden that glowed impossibly
with warmth within the confines of the frigid cordon of snow and ice.
Birds sang and sweet smelling flowers lent their heady fragrances to
the warm air. Lush fruits hung from trees of every kind known.
In the center of the garden stood his best friend, Ukyo Kuonji.
She was nude, her long mane of lustrous dark brown hair draped over one
shoulder and breast while leaving the other breast bare. She smiled for
him and he found himself taking her up into an embrace. Her lips were
so soft and tasted so sweet. Her scent was maddening and he was filled
with a sudden lust for her. He kissed her for what seemed an eternity,
lost in the rapture he felt for her. Then he began to make love to her.

Akane saw the world ravaged by titanic storms. Hurricane winds
tore at homes and icy tidal waves crushed and drowned cities out of
existence. The Earth trembled and swallowed up people and places whole.
Fire belched into the sky from mountains thought long dead, filling the
air with choking ash and poisonous smoke.
At the center of it all she saw a small white stone pyramid set
upon a column of black basalt. Ukyo Kuonji stood guard over the thing
as it continued to orchestrate the destruction of the world. Akane
couldn't believe Ukyo would be part of such a thing.
What followed made her cry out in anguish.
Ranma appeared next to Ukyo and took her into a passionate
embrace.
Her cries to him went unanswered. He and Ukyo lay down together on
the sweet grass and continued their embrace as the world destroyed
itself around them. Her eyes closed tight against what followed.
^Remember what we told you Akane,^ the statue lions said to her
then. ^Ranma has his part to play in this and so do you. Without you he
cannot fulfill his duty; do not be distracted by things you know to be
untrue!^

The two of them sunk into the water as the wind died away. Ranma
transformed into a girl. Akane looked at her with emotions ranging from
anger to hurt to despair. Ranma-chan couldn't bring herself to look at
Akane, such was her shame at what her vision had shown.
"I'm sorry Akane," she said in a hushed voice. "That wasn't me. I
mean, I didn't have any control over myself; it was like watching a
movie. You gotta believe me!"
Akane was silent, but she took Ranma-chan into a hug.
"I think I understand, Ranma... I believe you."
They stood up, soaking wet.
"Any idea what we were supposed to get from that?" Ranma-chan
whispered in Akane's ear.
"I think it's a warning," Akane replied.

"<That one was even bigger than Maes Howe!>" Ferguson noted
happily.
He walked over to them with his Kirlian.
"<You two know the drill.>"
They stood apart from each other. He scanned them with the
Kirlian.
"<Much better!>" He said to them. ""
"<What did you see?>" Hiro asked.
Ranma-chan and Akane were both silent.
"<Well?>"
"<Well I saw a garden in the middle of a frozen waste," Ranma-
chan said after a minute. "<Don't ask me where.>"
"<There was a big range of mountains there if that helps,>" Akane
added.
Clay sighed. "<I'm afraid that doesn't narrow things down much,
but don't worry, we'll puzzle this out.>"
Ferguson turned to McFogg. He spoke quietly to him. "<Professor,
I'm still not close to a revised model. If Ranma and Akane can't tell
us where we're going, then we're lost.>"
"<I'm afraid you may be right Mister Ferguson, but we must keep up
hope.>"

End of Part Six

Author's Notes:

1) Sarophan fondly refers to Ukyo as Ianthe (eye-An'-thee), which is
Greek for 'purple flower'. The poem referred to in the narrative is by
Walter Savage Landor. Here is part of the poem:

'From you, Ianthe, little troubles pass
Like little ripples down a sunny river;
Your pleasures spring like daisies in the grass,
Cut down, and up again as blithe as ever.'

2) The Kharsag Epic was recorded on 11 clay tablets by Sumerian scribes
around the third millennium BCE. The story is supposed to relate to an
event which occurred almost 12,000 years ago. It details the arrival of
'luminous people' near Mount Hermon in present day Lebanon. At this
settlement they raised crops, irrigated their lands, and tended to
cattle and other livestock. These people were clearly more advanced
than their indigenous cousins, but are never detailed in the Epic as
being supernatural. (Very unusual for such a fantastic tale told such a
long time ago.)
Aerandir's origins are derived from this epic, as are the origins of
the Elohim (Shining Ones), his ancestors. It's a fascinating story,
although it is often relegated to the realm of 'alternative history'.

3) The City of Granada and particularly the Alhambra was the seat of
Islamic power in Western Europe. It was settled by the Berbers (or
Moors as they were later known), who came from North Africa across the
Mediterranean Sea in the 8th century near the site of an ancient Roman
settlement. Under Moorish rule the city of Granada became a center for
art, literature and science.
When it was conquered by the 'Catholic Monarchs' Ferdinand and Isabella
in 1492, they kept much of the city unchanged. A university was founded
there. The two rulers grew so fond of the city that they were interred
in the Cathedral there after their deaths.

4) 'Vincit Amor omnia, regit Amor omnia.' - 'Love conquers all, Love
rules over all.' Touching, isn't it?

5) I borrowed a line from William Gibson. See if you can find it.
(Hint: it's in the nightclub.)

Free the Nukes!

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