Lunar Showdown 3: Charavah Yerah

 

      "I knew I shouldn't have let her go.  I knew it."  Most people were ignoring Psychro, who was slouched in his chair and brooding.  He had been like that ever since the Rattletrap had been reported crashed on the Desert Moon.  It had been shot down by one of Aristarchus' patrol ships two days before, but Tycho's informants hadn't received the information until about twenty minutes ago.  The two on the small ship, Cameo and Psikaris, were presumed dead.

 

      The rest of the Skytomb crew, as well as Tycho and Darius, were plotting their next move.  "There is the off-chance they survived," Alluro said.

 

      "On the Desert Moon, which is enemy territory, plus the fact that they are both ice hybrids," said Tycho.  Both had ice Lunatac mothers, though where Psikaris was half psi-race, Cameo's father was an alien called a Solarian.  The scorching climate of the Fourth Moon could be fatal to either of them.  Tycho hated losing people, and was right now quite angry with the Lunar Blade.  As much as he demanded of it, it would tell him nothing.

 

      Luna spoke next.  "At the very least, we must recover our ship.  We can't let our new technology fall into Aristarchus' hands."

 

      "He might have found it already," Darius said.

 

      "Maybe, but we should check anyway," Luna reminded him.  "The ship was small and the Desert Moon is sparsely populated."

 

      "I'll go," volunteered Mystan.  "I'll take Alluro with me.  We would attract the least notice, plus I may need his skills."

 

      "And I," Darius added.  "I know the political climate better.  Perhaps I will learn something of interest."

 

      Tycho nodded absently, but said, "Any of our ships will be instantly recognizable, and we haven't any captured ships that still fly."

 

      "Wait.  Using the Lunar Star - Cameo's ship - might work," Darius said.  "It is of Solarian design, so it might not be stopped or questioned.  Also, it is well-armed for a ship of it's size, as well as possessing a device called a Solarian Flare.  This Flare releases a type of radiation that blocks all of our sensors."

 

      "Sounds good.  Do it."

 

* * *

 

      "I can slow us a bit, but we're going to crash!" Cameo shouted.  It isn't fair, he thought.  I finally get a few minutes alone with a beautiful woman, and we're going to die.  Without really thinking about what he was doing, he reached over and took Psikaris' hand.

 

      Psikaris jumped slightly when she felt Cameo's hand cover hers.  It wasn't surprise, but the touch jolted her somehow.  It almost felt as if something flowed from her through the contact.  Whatever it was, it somehow served to remind Psikaris of her powers.  It was a long shot, but maybe her strange shapeshifting abilities could...

 

* * *

 

      Psikaris felt something damp and cool touch her forehead, and she struggled to open her eyes.  A soft accent murmured, "Easy there, girl.  Slowly.  You've been unconscious for two days," and Psikaris found herself looking into a pair of yellow eyes ringed with cyan.  "Alluro?"

 

      "Auralias," the sandweller corrected her with a bemused expression.  He did look somewhat like Alluro, but then most sandwellers were tall and thin with long faces.  Auralias looked a bit older than the hypnotist, with iron gray hair and lighter skin.  He wore loose khaki robes, a scarf, a travelling cape, and a hat.  "You were very lucky, surviving that crash and having me nearby.  The heat would have killed you if your injuries didn't."

 

      "The crash..." she murmured, then, "Cameo!"

 

      The sandweller pushed her down when she tried to get up.  "Shh, Karis.  Your friend is alive.  In worse condition than you; he was more severely injured.  Also, one of his wounds became infected and he didn't take to the treatment.  He will recover, but it will take time."

 

      "How did you know my name?"

 

      "Just a guess.  Your friend says it often in his delirium."

 

      "May I see him?  Please?"

 

      Auralias gave her a hard look, sizing up her condition.  "All right," he said finally.  "Your friend will not recover unless he rests, and he can't rest until he relaxes.  He keeps asking for you.  Maybe your presence will calm him."  So saying, he looped a long arm under her shoulders and helped her to her feet.

 

      This gave Psikaris an opportunity to look down at herself and assess her injuries.  That her right arm was heavily bandaged she could see, and she could feel some bindings on her legs and right shoulder.  However, instead of her Fleet uniform, she was dressed in loose sandweller khakis.  She felt a flush of embarrassment realising how her clothing must have changed, but sternly forced it down.  Auralias only did what he had to in order to save her life.  Besides, the fitted Fleet uniforms would be difficult to put over her bandages.

 

      Cameo was in what could only be described as 'the next room', even though Auralias' dwelling was a tent.  After helping her sit on the floor by Cameo's mat, Auralias left.  Psikaris leaned over, gently brushing a few errant strands of hair off of his face.  The light touch seemed to rouse him a bit.  He stirred slightly in his sleep and asked, "'Karis?" though he didn't open his eyes.

 

      "I'm here," she said quietly, taking his hand to reinforce the point.  "I'm here.  It's okay.  Rest and heal."

 

      She was no medic, but she could tell he was in bad shape.  Though shirtless, most of his blue skin was wrapped with white bandages.  He had a blanket pulled up to his waist, but Psikaris decided it a safe bet that his legs were as damaged as his arms.  Besides, she didn't want to move the blanket in case - Psikaris blushed – well, just in case.

 

      Cameo moved fitfully again, and managed to half-open his eyes for a second.  "'Karis?  Too hot, 'Karis."

 

      With her free hand, she touched his forehead again.  While still below room temperature, his skin felt slightly warm to her.  While she wasn't sure what his usual temperature was ( it was hard to tell with ice hybrids ), she guessed it to be close to hers.  So if he was warm to her, that was extremely bad.  The climate of the Moon couldn't be helping, either.

 

      Not sure of what else to do, but wanting to help, she lay down beside him and put her arms around him.  He was overheating and she was the coolest thing around.  Her course of action made sense to her.

 

      It seemed to help.  Cameo immediately snuggled closer, and within a few minutes his regular breathing told her he was actually asleep, rather than merely unconscious.  Of course, Psikaris had one last problem: She would be absolutely mortified if Auralias caught her like this.

 

* * *

 

      Calling Mortari 'bored' would be a vast understatement.  For the last two days, the graviton had been sitting in his craft, waiting for Tycho's people to come salvage the downed ship.  The only people with anything to do were the ones on scanner duty.  The ship that shot them down was damaged, and unable to trace where Tycho's ship had landed.  To speed things up, he had broadcasted the little ship's fate in very sloppy code.  If Tycho's people didn't get the hint, he was considering sending a telegram.

 

      And even if he found it, he couldn't just collect the little ship.  If Tycho's people learned he did, they wouldn't come out.  What Aristarchus was hoping for was that someone important would come to collect the little ship.  Because the little ship was itself important.  One of the warships on otherwise routine patrol on the system fringes detected it travelling faster than the speed of light.

 

      Finally, he thought when his proximity alarm beeped at him.  To his disappointment, it was a ship of alien design.  Solarian.  Unusual, but not terribly strange.  Not one of Tycho's.  To his curiosity, it seemed to be heading into a low orbit around the Moon.  He turned on the comm unit.  "You there.  Where do you theenk you're goeeng?"

 

      "Down to the surface," was the reply.

 

      "Moonkeeng Areestarchus says no sheeps are to land on thee Fourth Moon unteel further noteece ees geeveen."  Mortari was lying through his teeth; no such order had been issued.  But he was bored and felt like harassing the aliens.

 

      Mortari's comm unit registered an exasperated noise.  "Do not keep us from our mission.  We do have a schedule to keep, you know."

 

      One of the crew, a Lunatac from the Third Moon, signalled to his captain.  To the Solarian ship, Mortari said, "Just a meenute," and switched off the connection.  "Well?"

 

      "I ran a scan on the ship.  The changeling is on board."

 

      "What!?"  Tycho's odd bodyguard - or whatever his function was - was known to Aristarchus' followers.  Especially since every day they had to run internal scans on their ship to check for him.  Just in case.  Mortari checked his anger, then smiled.  "Maybe thees eesn't so bad.  Thee changeleeng ees high-rankeeng.  Areestarchus weell reward us well for hees capture, though he wouldeen't mind hees death."

 

      "Shall we try to disable their ship, or just lock on a tractor beam?"

 

      "Neither," replied Mortari.  "Why reesk ourselves?  No, we wait for them to find thee wreckage, and as they land, we swoop een and get the tractor beam on them when they don't expect eet.  Then we collect thee wreckage."  Mortari switched the com unit back on.  "Solarian craft, I have decided to let you conteenue your meession.  Just don't tell anyone I let you."

 

      "Certainly not."

 

* * *

 

      Darius shut off the connection with a sigh.  "He's on to us.  While we were talking they scanned us.  I shouldn't have come along."

 

      "And he does not attack because he wishes us to find the Rattletrap for him," Mystan added.  "And do not blame yourself.  We are none of us Solarians; he would have suspected something anyway."

 

      "How long does Solarian Flare radiation last, Darius?" Alluro asked.

 

      The changeling thought about that.  "Three or four days.  The stuff's hard to clean up."

 

      "Ah, good.  I feared it would only be minutes," said Alluro.  "I have a plan.  Already I have located the Rattletrap; I had a beacon on it set to a frequency most scans merely skip over.  We could program our course into the auto-pilot, set off the Flare, and leave."

 

      "That might work," Mystan said thoughtfully.  "We'll do it."  Darius set about programming the ship.  The reason for the auto-pilot was that not even Solarian sensors could penetrate the Flare.

 

* * *

 

      "They're powering up for something," reported the Lunatac at the monitors.

 

      "Weapons seestem?" asked Mortari.

 

      "Unknown."

 

      Mortari wasn't the type to wait and see.  "Target their engeene," he instructed his tactical officer.  "I want that sheep creeppled."

 

* * *

 

      A second after the Flare went off, the Lunar Star rocked with a laser impact.  "What happened?" demanded Mystan.

 

      "Sensors inoperable due to radiation.  It felt like a shot, though," said Alluro.  And what the heck did you think it was?

 

      Before being ordered, Darius told the auto-pilot to follow its designated course.  Then he said, "They must have noticed us powering the Flare and thought we were going to attack."

 

      "What damage have we suffered?" Mystan asked.

 

      "Only minor," Alluro replied.  "One of the secondary power couplings is fused, but we can make it to our destination.  We'll have to repair it before another take-off, though."

 

      Mystan sighed.  All things considered, things could have been much worse.

 

* * *

 

      About ninety minutes later, the ship touched down next to the wreckage, kicking up a small sandstorm.  Night was falling over the seemingly endless desert when Mystan, Alluro, and Darius got out to inspect the crash.  Despite the morbidity of their assignment, Mystan smiled behind the scarf pulled over his face.  Home.

 

      For his part, Alluro was born on Earth, and the homeworld of his ancestors held no special interest for him.  Like Darius, he simply saw it as a really big desert.  They both went immediately to the wreckage, leaving Mystan to catch up.

 

      "Unsalvageable," Alluro stated eventually.  "But we know it worked, and can always make another."

 

      Darius, after taking a few pictures and a bit more poking around, had a slightly more reassuring report.  "Our people may have survived the crash, at least.  There's some blood, but not enough to be fatal.  Moreover, there are drag marks.  A third party was involved."

 

      Mystan nodded, then left the twisted wreckage.  Once outside, he used his telekinetic powers to lift himself high enough to see over the hills of sand.  Back inside he told the others, "There is an oasis and a dwelling two dunes to the south-east.  I'm going to go check it out.  You may follow if you wish."  With that, he left again, though instead of walking he merely floated a few inches above the sand.

 

      Alluro shook his head.  "Watching him do that is somewhat disquieting."

 

      The shapechanger shrugged.  "Shall we follow?"

 

* * *

 

      Mystan stopped about five feet from the reddish, black-and-purple striped tent, let himself drop, and walked the last few steps.  "Hello?" he called.

 

      "Shh!"

 

      The telekinetic whirled at the exaggerated stage whisper, and followed it into the oasis.  The whisperer turned out to be a male sandweller, tethering a couple of shaggy sand-beast pack animals to a tree.  When he deemed Mystan close enough, he said, "Sorry.  I've got a patient sleeping inside."

 

      'A' patient.  Behind his scarf, Mystan's face fell.  Only one survivor.  "An ice Lunatac?" he asked.

 

      "Two, actually, but one is awake," said the sandweller.  "You a friend of theirs?"

 

      Something about the man set Mystan at ease.  "Yes.  Cameo and Psikaris."

 

      'Psikaris', eh? Auralias thought, sizing up the newcomer.  'Karis' must be a pet form.  But he knew their names, and he seems innocent enough.  Aloud he said, "If you're a friend, you are welcome.  Come along."

 

      Mystan followed the older Lunatac into the tent, carefully removing his sandals and scarf just inside the door.  He barely had time to turn around before he heard Psikaris call, "Mystan!"

 

      "Psikaris."  Mystan actually smiled, but it faded when he saw Cameo.  "How is he?"

 

      "Not good.  Auralias couldn't stop one of his wounds from getting infected.  He's running a fever," she replied.  She was sitting on the floor next to him, holding his hand and occasionally stroking his arm in a distracted manner.

 

      The telekinetic turned back to the other sandweller.  "Thank you for your help, Auralias," Mystan said, reinforcing his words with a formal bow.  "We have a ship.  We can take them off your hands as soon as we fix it."

 

      Auralias arched an eyebrow.  "'We'?"

 

      "The two who came with..."  Mystan's ear flicked back when he heard voices approaching outside.  "Speak of the devil."  With due ceremony, Darius and Alluro were ushered into the tent.

 

      Darius and Mystan immediately started discussing how to move Cameo, since their host didn't want then bringing the ship any closer to his tent.  Take-offs and landings always caused mini-sandstorms.  For his part, Alluro pretty much stared openly at the sandweller before finally asking, "Auralias?"

 

      He gave Alluro a curious look.  "I don't think I know you."

 

      "Auralias, I'm Alluro."

 

      "Alluro!"  Auralias repeated, then smiled and clapped him on the shoulder.  "My boy, it's been... I don't even want to think about how long it's been."

 

      The hypnotist caught the annoyed/commanding look on Mystan's face and decided to explain before he was yelled at.  "This is my uncle, Auralias of the Katalaepsy Clan.  He took care of me after my parents died."

 

      The older sandweller took a minute to look over his nephew.  "I don't know where you got the height from, my boy, but," he said, with a tip of his hat, "I see you got the family curse."  Psikaris giggled at the gesture, while Darius and Mystan merely raised an eyebrow.  When Auralias tipped his hat, it became apparent that his long, dark hair was attached to it.

 

      "Look, I'm sure you both want to catch up with one another, but we are on a tight schedule," Mystan reminded them.  "We have four days at most to fix our ship and get off this planet before the Solarian Flare fades."

 

      "'Solarian Flare'?" asked Psikaris.  "You borrowed the Lunar Star for this?  What did you do to it?  Do you even know how to repair it?"

 

      "Yes, yes, blew a secondary power coupling, should be easy enough," Alluro replied.

 

      Psikaris rolled her eyes at him.  "I can help you with..."

 

      "You, young lady, are going nowhere," Auralias said firmly.  "You can barely walk.  The most helpful thing you can do for your friends is heal."  To the rest of the assembly he said, "It's getting late, and it seems like you'll be here for a while.  You're all welcome to stay, if you don't mind sleeping on the floor."

 

      To the shapechanger's mind, Auralias' idea of a bed was Darius' idea of a floor.  "I'll sleep outside.  The oasis looked nice enough."

 

      "And I will return to the Lunar Star.  Cameo is in no condition to argue about this," Mystan said.

 

      "I've been sleeping for two days," Psikaris added.  "Deserts get cold at night.  It should be all right for me to go out," she said, though she waited for Auralias' approval.

 

      He gave it, waving the three off.  "I'll see you all in the morning, then.  Though I trust," - here he looked at Psikaris - "that you'll be back before then."

 

      Psikaris smiled.  "Of course."  Then, leaning slightly on Darius, she left.  Mystan bowed curtly before following them.

 

      Darius helped the ice hybrid to a rock near the oasis pond's waters.  "Will you be able to get back on your own?"

 

      "I should.  Since I'm not starting from the ground, I should be able to stand up all right."

 

      "Good."  The shapechanger turned to walk away, then looked back over his shoulder.  "Did you know you look absolutely adorable in sandweller pyjamas?"

 

      "What?"

 

      "Don't take it wrong," Darius said, raising his hands defensively.  "If it makes you feel better, I think Tycho's just the cutest little thing, especially when he's trying to be macho.  Of course, I never told him.  It would hurt his pride."

 

      Psikaris had to snicker at that.  "Good night, Darius."  Darius waved once, and disappeared into the underbrush.

 

* * *

 

      Alluro was catching up with his uncle, or so he would have said if anyone asked.  Mostly he was standing around and feeling uncomfortable.  After initial greetings, he wasn't sure what to say.  Auralias, though, could talk a mile a minute.  Alluro was pulled from his nervousness by a direct question: "You still doing your science stuff?"

 

      The hypnotist sighed.  This was always a sore point for the two of them.  Auralias was a priest, and had wanted his charge to follow in his footsteps.  Alluro had rebelled and taken up his mother's profession, chemistry.  After Auralias was recalled to the Moons, Alluro had branched out into physics.  No point in lying, though.  "Yes."

 

      "Good."

 

      "What?"

 

      "I said good," Auralias repeated.  "I found out I was wrong."

 

      Alluro blinked in surprise for a minute before that declaration set in.  Auralias, admitting he was wrong?  About his religion?  "How?.."

 

      "The Moon Gods were created by Yerith.  I've met them.  Decent people, I suppose, but not gods."

 

      "You've met?.."

 

      "The Moon Gods," Auralias finished for him.  "They live in a sort of... alternate plane.  That plane intersects with natural space in some places.  I walked in accidentally.  Later I discovered I could travel there in dreams."

 

      I could travel there in dreams.  "The Lands of Dream?  With Ooth-Nargai and Celephais and Unknown Kadath?" Alluro asked quickly.

 

      Auralias shook his head.  "I've never heard those names.  But Dream Lands, yes, I know that term.  That's what he called them."

 

      "'He'?"

 

      "The one I was following when I walked into the Dream Lands," his uncle explained.  "He said that, as a priest, I might like to see the truth.  I asked who he was, and he said he was merely a messenger, though that I might call him the Phantom of Truth."

 

      Merely a messenger.  Alluro had been to the Dream Lands of Third Earth once, though the machinations of a creature named Nyarlathotep, but who called himself the Mighty Messenger.  Tearing down a priest's conception of his religion sounded much like one of Nyarlathotep's tricks.  "Now what do you do?"

 

      "I," said Auralias with a note of haughtiness, "am a practising heretic.  I'm no longer welcome in the civilized places of the Desert Moon, nor will I be allowed anywhere else if I tell what I know."

 

* * *

 

      After breakfast the next morning ( and Mystan and Psikaris were quite pleased that Alluro's uncle was a better cook than he was ), Darius and Alluro went back to the Lunar Star to effect repairs.  Psikaris went back to sleep, so Mystan spent the time chatting with Auralias and helping him with whatever daily tasks he needed done.  Luna would have been quite surprised; chores were not something Mystan ever did willingly.  But the telekinetic was home on the Desert Moon, which put him in far too good a mood to be difficult.

 

      The telekinetic was almost disappointed when Darius returned later that morning to tell Mystan that the repairs were finished and that his help was needed in loading the Rattletrap's megacondenser and other more interesting bits into the storage area.  Let Aristarchus deal with the burned-out PM-247.  The sands would cover it soon enough.

 

      Auralias seemed somewhat impressed by Mystan's telekinetic powers, which he used to take Cameo, Psikaris, and himself back to the ships.  Good-byes were said, promises to visit assured, and the Lunar Star took off into the sky.

 

* * *

 

      Psychro refused, even after repeated threats from the medical staff, to leave.  It wasn't that he was there constantly; he still had work to do, but he spent all his free time there.  And Psikaris spent most of her time watching over Cameo, who hadn't yet regained full consciousness.  She felt responsible for him; it was indirectly her fault he was hurt.

 

      So the twins compromised, chatting quietly in Cameo's room.  Two days after their return from the Desert Moon, Psychro finally asked, "I've looked over the pictures of the Rattletrap wreck several times, and I still don't get how you survived the crash.  If it was just you, I would have thanked your shapeshifty powers."  He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the form on the bed, "Him I can't explain."

 

      Psikaris shrugged her right shoulder, her left one still being sore.  "I can't either."

 

      "I might."

 

      "Cameo!"  Psikaris rushed over and hugged him awkwardly, partly because he was still lying down, and partly because she was trying not to touch his injuries.  "Thank goodness you're okay."

 

      Psychro followed at a more sedate pace.  "I'm more curious as to the explanation."

 

      Cameo gave Psychro a good-natured scowl before reluctantly letting go of Psikaris.  "I'm not sure what a full-blooded Solarian's powers are, but I can copy the powers of people I touch.  Not to full capacity, which is probably why I got banged up more than 'Karis.  I haven't any idea how to use biokinesis, so I guess my copying her powers just gave her better control over my cells."

 

      At Psychro's raised eyebrow, Psikaris protested, "I never told him what my powers are."

 

      "I guessed," Cameo explained.  "I'm pretty sure that was you, 'Karis, in the Skytomb, even though you looked like Psychro.  After dealing with both of you, I decided that the person I met first acted more like 'Karis.  There were a few other little things that tipped me off to the fact she's a shapeshifter.  Like her hands.  They're smooth, even though she's an engineer."  Psikaris blushed.  Psychro decided that Cameo spent far too much time staring at Psikaris' hands.  "And since you're both half psi-race, it wasn't a long step to biokinesis.  And now, if you don't mind, I would like a chance to talk to Psikaris alone.  Call it a privilege of sharing a near-death experience."

 

      Psychro was going to protest, but Psikaris' look stopped him: Does he look like he's in any condition to do anything?  Rather stuck in the face of that logic, Psychro grumbled a bit, but left.  As soon as the door closed behind the ice hybrid, Cameo extended a hand to Psikaris.  She sat in the chair by the bed, then took the offered hand.  "I owe you my life, 'Karis," he said quietly.

 

      She blushed slightly.  "Hardly me.  If anything, you owe it to my powers."

 

      "Ah, but I gained your powers only because I decided that if I had to die, I wanted to be close to you.  Copying your powers was the best I could do, drawing a part of you into myself.  It hadn't even occurred to me that those powers could save my life.  You did that."

 

      "I don't know what I did," Psikaris admitted, still blushing.

 

      Cameo smirked.  "Neither do I, but since it worked, I don't care."

 

      She tried again to steer the conversation away from her.  "Besides, if Auralias hadn't taken us in, nothing I could have done would have helped."

 

      "Who's Auralias?"

 

      Psikaris smiled slightly.  "The crash was five days ago.  A sandweller named Auralias found the Rattletrap and took care of us.  I woke up there.  Three days ago, Mystan found us and two days ago brought us back here."

 

      With a sigh, Cameo turned from her slightly to peer back out of the corner of his eye.  "I doubt Auralias' touch was as cool or soothing as yours."

 

      "You remember that?"

 

      Cameo gave her a wicked grin.  "No, but now I wish I had."

 

* * *

 

      Alluro looked up as Psychro stormed into his lab.  "Cameo awake?" he asked mildly.  He decided that his usual taunts were perhaps not the best of ideas when the ice hybrid grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket.

 

      "Look, you, I'm in no mood to be civil," Psychro snarled.  "Now, I've got a little theory, and I need some information from you.  You aren't going to like the questions, but you're sure as hell going to answer them..."

 

* * *

 

      Luna and Tycho found Mystan's report on what happened while he was on the Fourth Moon interesting for another reason.  "You're saying that the Desert Moon isn't actually aligned with Aristarchus?" Luna asked.

 

      "They aren't allied with anyone.  Do you think they care about the Empire when their own world lies in ruins?" Mystan asked.  "No, they only say they are on Aristarchus' side as the path of least resistance."

 

      After the telekinetic left, Luna and Tycho continued their planning.  "I still don't agree with your idea of an all-out attack," Tycho protested.

 

      "I'm not exactly wild about it myself, but what else can we do?" Luna asked.  "Aristarchus will never just hand the Lunar Throne over to me, nor will he agree to meet in single combat."  Despite Tycho's doubts, Luna was a fair mage.  She had already explained how when Amok smashed her grandmother's magic belt, Luna gained those magic abilities that should have been hers.  Of course Luna glossed over everything she did while wearing the belt...

 

      Tycho sighed.  "There might be another way.  If we could somehow convince him that the odds were so bad that he would have to be crazy to oppose us.  But our armies are even: He has greater numbers, but we have the Ice Fleet."

 

      "We already know the sandwellers are neutral in this fight, and wouldn't be of any use anyway," Luna said, continuing his thought.  "But the First and Third Moons are completely loyal to Aristarchus."  She paused.  "There is another Moon, remember.  One that we know has a worthy militia."

 

      "The Dark Moon," muttered Tycho.  "But they've shut themselves off from the Empire for the last eight years."

 

      "Well, then," said Luna, "It's about time they opened up again."

 

      To be continued...

 

 

Back to Fanfic Archive