Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Geo-Moon Chronicles ❯ Love and War ( Chapter 6 )

A few moments later the Admiral was walking over to meet us.

"James! What the hell is going on?!?!?"

"Sir, we had a breach, sir." I pointed at him. "Retinal scan!"

"On the Admiral, sir?"

"I didn't stutter, guardian." I replied. The Admiral stood still as they scanned him.

"Legit, sir." He said.

"James, what is going on?" He asked. He then saw the Prince and Princess. "Royalty on..."

"Carry on, dammit." Darien said. "James, you'd better start explaining." He said. "Why is Serena under quarantine?"

"Guardians, escort everyone in attendance back to the palace, to my chambers immediately."

"Excuse me..."

"Sir, if you want to know what's going on, you'll do as I say, sir. This is a matter of royal security and I have the final say." I said.

"So be it, James, but this had better be good."

"Someone give me an earpiece." I said. One of the guardians handed me theirs and I removed mine putting it in place. "Interior units and snipers, maintain your positions and go back to code green, Interior guards, continue barricading the doors until my command, we're trying to keep a lid on this guys."

"Roger that, sir."

"Let's go." I said. I walked over and grabbed my pistol off the dock, unloading the clip and emptying the chamber before replacing it in my shoulder holster. We quickly went back to my quarters where I used my powers to warm and dry everyone except myself and the Admiral, we were in shrinking uniforms and had to change manually. I came back out in my standard class A uniform and turned to everyone. "I'm sorry about the precaution everyone but I'm kinda shook up right now."

"I can understand that James, but what I want to know is why?" Darien asked.

"You tried to kill me!" Serena replied. I turned to her.

"No, he didn't Serena."

"James, what are you talking about, I was there."

"It wasn't Darien, whoever it was had one blue eye and one red eye, he must have been a shape shifter." I said. "Because after I unloaded four rounds into him and tackled him into the water, he came back and attacked me again looking like the Admiral." I said.

"What?" Admiral Lovette asked.

"Yes sir. But his eyes were still red and blue. And whoever it is, has something against me personally." I said. "It's too convenient to be just a coincidence." I started pacing and finally lit a cigarette and stopped.

"What are you talking about?"

"When Amy and I first got that wave from the queen on mars, my grandfather called me into the house and started talking to me about my feelings getting in the way of my job." I said. "And then he asked me a hypothetical question. He asked me if Serena and Amy were both suspended over a lake of boiling lava and I were told I could only save one of them which one I would save."

"And your answer was?"

"Serena pulls priority, but I would save them both."

"And you did." Darien replied.

"That's not the point. Whoever that was held them each out at arms length and asked me flat out, `Which one are you going to save, James?', it's a little too coincidental for my tastes."

"Freaky is more like it." Amy said.

"So, it wasn't Darien?" Serena asked.

"No, an almost perfect duplicate, but it wasn't Darien."

"Then how could he shadow walk?" Amy asked. "He pulled me through a shadow."

"Me too." Serena said.

"I don't know, maybe when he changes forms he also gains the abilities of the person he changes into." I said.

"That would explain why he changed into me when he was under water." Admiral Lovette said. I looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"I'm half Maladroxian, James. I have gills on my back and webbed feet." He replied. The Maladroxians were a humanoid aquatic race of people. Their planet was completely submerged and as such they were equipped with several natural mechanisms to aide them in their daily life, webbed feet and gills being part of them. They were also famous for their immense knowledge of art and universe history.

"Well then that settles it. Starting tomorrow morning all of my men will be equipped with Retinal Scanning units, and until I'm convinced that this threat is over, anyone wishing access to the Princess or Queen will have to be scanned and frisked." I said. "This includes you, Darien." I said. "He disguised himself as you once, he will probably not hesitate to do it again."

"You're assuming it's a man?" Amy asked. "Seems a bit sexist to me." She said.

"Well it had to be a man to pull off this sort of subterfuge." Admiral Lovette said.

"Actually sir, my assumption was based on the fact that both forms he took were masculine." I replied. "The basic rule of thumb with shape shifters, is that they cannot create or destroy any part of their physical being, they can shift into anything that they come into contact with, but they cannot alter the total mass of their body." I said. "So be on the lookout, if you come across a familiar face that seems to be slightly out of proportion, scan them, anyone who fails a retinal scan is to be brought to me."

"James, is it possible that this is the Negaverse?" Serena asked. Admiral Lovette and I exchanged glances and I sighed.

"It is possible, but then again, I wouldn't credit the Negaverse for having someone with that particular talent, primarily they're just a bunch of weedy monsters and such."

"You know, he's probably right, Princess, I'm sure it's probably just a renegade faction of some sort out to make a name for themselves. Besides with Commander Geo here to over see your protection, I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about."

"Yes, Admiral, I know." She replied. "He promised me that one a long time ago."

"Well then, let's get back to the party shall we?" I asked. "I'm sure my uniform is dry..."

"James, is that such a smart idea?" Darien asked. "We were just assaulted, and the assailant is still on the loose."

"Yes he is, however, he won't risk making another attempt tonight, not unless he's suicidal, and seeing as he survived seven direct hits and a twin energy blast from yours truly, I'd say suicide is out of the question." I said. "But if it will help, I'll double the security detail." I said. They nodded.

"Yes, thank you, Sir James." Serena replied.

"Okay then I'll just need a few minutes to get ready, and we can go have a good time for a change." I said.

"We'll wait for you in the hangar." Admiral Lovette said. I tossed him a hand scanner.

"Make sure that you scan me upon my arrival, sir, just to be on the safe side." He nodded. After they left, Amy walked up to me and buried her head in my chest, starting to cry.

"James, I was so scared." She sobbed. "Thank you." I wrapped my arms around her and held her in close to me. My earpiece sparked to life.

"It's Sid sir, should I send a message for you?" He asked.

"Yeah, Sid, tell them to go on ahead, we'll catch up." I said. "And get Daniel over there to fill in for me."

"Roger that." I removed my ear piece and set it down on the table as I held Amy. We never made it back to the party that night. But it was probably the single most memorable night of my life. The next morning I was up and ready to go. Amy had left earlier to take her shift at guarding Serena. On the table there was a note addressed to me, it said:

`James,

I had a great time last night. Thanks for being so understanding.

and I would like to talk to you a little bit later today, if you can work me

into your schedule. I love you.

Amy'

Well, I was still on cloud nine when I got to the training meeting that morning at oh four hundred. It must have been obvious to the men also.

"Good morning, sir, is everything okay?" Daniel asked as I walked into the docking bay.

"Everything is great, why do you ask?"

"Well, sir, you never showed up to the party last night, and you're unusually late this morning." He replied.

"Yeah, I had a little bit of a workout last night, had to sleep it off."

"Ooh hoo." the men started cheering.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I interrupted them. "Knock it off, guys, let's keep our game faces on, huh?" I asked.

"You got laid, didn't you, sir?" Someone asked. I looked up and couldn't help but smile at the comment.

"My personal life is not the concern of this meeting is it?" I asked.

"Come on, sir, like you said, we're all friends." Another one said.

"No thank you, sergeant, I do not kiss and tell." I replied.

"That's a yes." someone else said.

"Okay, okay, it's oh four hundred." I said.

"Lock it up!"

"Safe and Secure!" Came the reply. We went through the morning routine just like always, and afterwards met in the chow hall. Serena and Darien made it a regular practice to eat with us now, and that particular morning, all six of them arrived at once. Getting their trays and sitting down at my table, Darien pulled up a chair at the table's head. After they had been seated, everyone started eating.

"So, James, I hear that you had quite a night last night." Mina said after a few minutes had passed, Amy's face turned beet red.

"I knew it." A voice behind her said. Amy turned and looked at me strangely.

"What?" I asked. "I didn't say anything."

"You can't hide that, sir." Another one replied. "It's like trying to hide a clown in a funeral home, virtually impossible." I cocked my head to the side and smiled.

"So it's true?" Lita asked. "You two, you know, made it official?"

"I'm not saying a thing." I replied.

"Oh come on!" Almost everyone in the room said at once.

"Why, Commander, you're not ashamed are you?" Daniel asked. I propped my elbows on the table and planted my forehead in my palms for a second and sighed. The ultimate in un-winnable arguments had just been thrown up in my face.

"No, I'm not ashamed of anything." I replied. "It's just not my place to say anything."

"Okay then, let's ask the boss's boss." Another one said.

"Yeah, Lieutenant, what's the deal?"

"Well, I can tell you this much, the extent of his carnal knowledge isn't as great as you're assuming." She replied before sitting back down.

"What does that mean?" One of them asked.

"That's just the technical version of saying that they did it with the lights off." Another one answered.

"Okay guys, you're down to fifteen minutes, better eat up." I replied. "Make sure every one has hand scanners on them today, and impereite hollow point rounds." I sat back down.

"Okay, now I'm confused." Lita said. "Did it happen or not?"

"That information is highly classified, only three people know the answer."

"Three?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, Sid was on surveillance last night, remember?" I asked.

"That includes bedrooms?!?!?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, Counter Intelligence gets all the dirt." I replied. "However, you have to have a security level one badge to access it and only four people in the kingdom have that level."

"Who?" She asked.

"Me, The Admiral, Serena, and Serenity." I replied. Serena and Darien looked at each other and smiled maliciously. "I shouldn't have said that." I said before taking another bite of my food. Darien smiled.

"Oh don't worry, war dog, I wouldn't dream of disclosing any information that might be harmful to your reputation." That's when Sid walked in.

"Here you go, sir, the tape you asked for." He handed me the box and walked off. Amy looked over at it, and rolled her eyes.

"You were saying?" I replied.

"So you're not going to let us know? We're like your best friends and you're just gonna keep us in the dark?" Raye asked. "It's not like we want details or anything."

"Hey guys, we agreed long before anything ever happened that if it did, we were not going to openly advocate it to the public." I said. "Whatever happens between us, unless she says otherwise, stays between us." I replied. After the meal was over, it was a Friday morning, so the guardians not on duty were preparing the barracks for an inspection, and started preparing themselves for a weekend pass. Things kept progressing in a forward direction for another year, by this point, Amy had moved in with me, and I had been promoted to the rank of Colonel. I was now in charge of the RPU, as well as three other battalions all centralized around the palace. My popularity rating in the kingdom began growing, and before long, I was a household name, just as much so, if not more than the Admiral himself. Darien and Serena were still engaged, though they had still not selected a date to be married. Jacob and the other two members of the covert team that had staged that assault had vanished. The Admiral claimed that he didn't know where they were, yet his tone when he spoke of it, dictated otherwise. It was about this time, that we learned of Earth's heightened military activity.