mathews1@ix.netcom.com (Ryan Mathews) ****************************************************************************** Galaxy Police Mihoshi's A C A D E M Y D A Y S "The Mihoshi Syndrome" by Ryan Mathews ****************************************************************************** CHAPTER ONE "AAAAAAAAAAGGGGHH! MIHOSHI, YOU IDIOT!" "I'M SORRY!" Kiyone turned her head, which she had pulled inside the cabin barely in time to avoid losing, and screamed at her partner. "Will you please WARN me when you're going to do something like that?!" "B-but I had to make a quick decision, or I might've lost him-- YAAH!" Mihoshi yelped as several rounds punched through the cabin. She dove, banked, and quickly moved the aircar out of the line of fire. Kiyone got a handle on her stomach, then caught sight of their quarry, swerving wildly between buildings. Mihoshi was right about one thing: one second would be enough for him to lose them, not for good, but long enough for something awful to happen. Garrett was flying without lights, the harder to be seen in the early-morning darkness. He was a disaster waiting to happen, and if there was one thing Kiyone didn't need on her record, it was another disaster. It was all desperation, of course. There was no real chance of escape, and Garrett knew it. Kiyone had sent out the call for backup, and soon there wouldn't be any place on the planet for him to hide. That wouldn't stop him from trying, though. Mihoshi closed in. "Preparing tractor beam!" Garrett leaned out and shot at them again. One of the beams from his sidearm pierced the engine compartment, causing their car to lurch. When this was over, Kiyone resolved, she was going to have to take a look at that gun. The aircar was supposed to be beam-proof. "I'm going to try to force him back inside the car," said Kiyone. "Will you please remember to warn me if you decide to go under another bridge?" "Roger!" Kiyone pulled herself back up through the roof and fired several quick shots in Garrett's direction. As she had hoped, he pulled back into his car. However, his desperation quickly overcame his regard for personal safety. He leaned out once more and began firing back. Kiyone returned fire again, and winged him. Garrett howled in pain and disappeared from view. Then it happened. Disoriented by the pain and the flash of beam-fire, Garrett made a wrong turn. His aircar slammed into the side of a building, wobbled, spun, hit another tower, and dropped like a rock. "MIHOSHI!!" "HANG ON!" Mihoshi opened the throttle and took off after the falling aircar. Kiyone prayed they'd get there in time. Who knew where he might land? If they were lucky, they'd get off with severe property damage. If not, he might hit an apartment complex where scores of people were asleep. Mihoshi sent their car into a dive. Kiyone clenched her teeth and hung on for dear life. Mihoshi was a competent pilot, but things had an odd tendency to go wrong whenever she was in control. Kiyone hoped this wouldn't be one of those times. Mihoshi approached the other aircar from behind, while at the same time dropping at a dizzying rate. At the last moment, she swooped underneath Garrett's aircar, passed in front of it, and hit the tractor beam. Bullseye. There was a sudden jolt as their car's engines took on the added weight, then they began to climb. Mihoshi and Kiyone shouted for joy. "Mihoshi, that was incredible! I can't believe you pulled off that manuever!" "Really?! You really liked it?!" "Like it? For once, we're going to complete an assignment without anything going seriously wrong! I could kiss you!" "Uh-oh..." Kiyone's heart sank as she realized she'd spoken too soon. Afraid to ask, she did anyway. "What do you mean, 'uh-oh'?" "When Garrett shot at us, he must have damaged the re-charging system. We're running out of power!" "We'd better put him down fast, then." "Sure, but where?" Kiyone thought about it. "Head for the bay. We can drop him in the shallow water." "Roger." As they headed toward the coast, Kiyone looked out over the Trasima City skyline, a bit annoyed that their backup hadn't arrived yet. One of the axioms of Galaxy Police work was "never depend on the locals". The Trasimans were a nice enough people, but they were a little behind the times when it came to law enforcement. They were woefully unequipped to handle someone like Garrett. When they did show up, Kiyone expected it to be in helicopters and ground vehicles. They soon arrived at the bay and flew out over the water. "Okay, where should I put him?" Kiyone scanned the coast. "Right down there looks like a good place." Mihoshi nodded. The tractor beam vanished and Garrett's aircar was let go, more than a kilometer above the water. "What are you doing?!!" Kiyone gaped in disbelief as Garrett's car fell for a full ten seconds before slamming into the water with fatal force. "Dear god, Mihoshi, you killed him!!" "It's not my fault!! It turned off all by itself!" Mihoshi's eyes welled up with tears and her face took on a look of panic Kiyone knew only too well. Kiyone knew what had happened. The combination of headlights and towing had served to deplete their power reserves far more quickly than she had expected. The console began to flicker. "What do I do? What do I do?" "Get out over the water! Maybe we can splash down. If we come in low, we can skip off the surface a few times, and--" "I don't think I can do anything that complicated! I'm losing control!" The aircar swerved wildly and continued to fly farther out over the bay. "Mihoshi, you've gotta turn it around. It's too deep out here! Even if we survive the impact, we'll drown!" "I'm trying, but this stupid thing won't do what it's told!" The console was flashing on and off now, more off than on. Each time power was lost, the aircar dipped terrifyingly. "Um, Kiyone?" "What is it now?" "Well, like, you did tell me to warn you when I was about to go under a bridge." Ahead of them loomed the main bridge that spanned the bay. Kiyone realized what was going to happen. A little bit higher and they could fly over it. A little bit lower and they could fly underneath. But, no, not with Mihoshi the Jinx at the controls. With her flying there was only one possible outcome. Mihoshi struggled with the stick, to no avail. The console went dark and stayed dark. Kiyone had time for one last scream before the impact. Kiyone groaned and opened her eyes. It felt wrong for the afterlife. Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of white light, with relatives calling for her? Instead there was just a lot of pain. Her head hurt, her side hurt, pretty much everything hurt. Kiyone looked to the side and saw Mihoshi. That explained it. She'd died and gone to Hell. Either that or she was still alive. Ever the optimist, Kiyone chose to work from the latter assumption. At least that one afforded the possibility of getting away from Mihoshi some day. "Hey. Hey, featherbrain. Wake up." Kiyone shook her gently. "Ummm. I don't wanna go to school today." "GET UP, DAMMIT!" "YAAAH!" Mihoshi sat up with a start. "Oh, hi, Kiyone. We made it, didn't we?" "Yeah, but made it where, that's the question. I can't see a thing." Kiyone peered through the windshield, squinting and blinking, but couldn't make sense of anything she saw. "Well, maybe I can get a better look if I step outside." Mihoshi opened her door, put one foot outside, then screamed and promptly jumped back into the cabin. "There's nothing out there!" "And that's bad?" asked Kiyone, confused. "I mean nothing! No water, no ground, no nothing! We're, like, in the air!" Kiyone opened her door and stuck her leg out. As ridiculous as it seemed, Mihoshi appeared to be right. Of course, they could simply be a meter or so off the ground, but the only way to be sure would be to jump out. Unless... She fumbled around the cabin until she found the emergency handlamp. "Help me get the roof open." With Mihoshi's help, she pushed the panel aside and stood up on the seat. "Can you see where we are?" Mihoshi asked. "I don't see much at all." Kiyone shone the lamp down and to the side. There was still no clue as to how high they were, or what was keeping them from falling. Finally, she shone the flashlight above and to the front. Of course, Kiyone thought. Where the hell else could they be? Kiyone sat back down and turned off the lamp, once again disgusted by her luck, or rather Mihoshi's. Only Mihoshi could have pulled off a trick like this. "So, um, so where are we," Mihoshi asked again. "Is it bad?" "That depends," replied Kiyone. "Do you consider being wedged between two support beams, one hundred fifty meters above the water, to be bad?" "Hmm," Mihoshi thought. "Yes, that would be bad." "Then it's bad." "Oh, no!" cried Mihoshi. "Where are we?" Kiyone rubbed her temples, wondering if she should take some headache medicine now or begin rationing it. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to Mihoshi getting her into trouble. After all, it had begun the moment they'd met. * * * "What do you mean, I don't have a single?!" "I'm sorry, Kiyone. We just don't have the rooms to spare." "But it's not fair! I earned that room!" Kiyone shouted across the desk. Lieutenant Tugh was as apologetic as he could be. "Kiyone, you know how the GP Academy works. Every year we screen enough people for a full class. Usually a few don't pass the entrance exams, leaving us with a few extra rooms to be given to our best upperclassmen as singles. But this year, everyone got in. I'm sorry, Kiyone. Just chalk it up to bad luck." Kiyone sighed. "This really sucks." "I'm afraid it gets worse. You see, since you expected a single, you didn't sign up with a roommate, so you've been assigned one." "Oh, no," said Kiyone, aghast. "Please don't tell me I've been roomed with a freshman." "'Fraid so. Go easy on her, okay? It's not her fault." Kiyone drooped, utterly defeated. "Okay." "And I want all of this out of your system by roll call, is that understood? Friend or not, once your cadet's uniform is on, and you're calling me 'sir' like everyone else, I won't tolerate any attitude problems." "Yes, sir." "Now go meet your roommate. I understand she's already arrived. Who knows, maybe you'll become good friends." Kiyone sincerely doubted that. As she walked across the campus to the barracks, Kiyone began to fume. It just wasn't fair, not after all she'd been through. Kiyone's roommate the previous year had been a real pain in the ass, always moving the stuff on her desk, interrupting her studying, talking about her stupid boyfriends. Rather than letting it get the better of her, she had allowed it to inspire her. She had out-achieved everyone in her class in marksmanship, endurance, piloting, and regulations. She had finished the year ranked number one, and had spent her internship in blissful contemplation of a second year without the annoyances of any her childish, boneheaded classmates invading her private space. And now this. Not only to have her dream of privacy yanked away from her, but to be roomed with a freshman! Her?! Kiyone, who had scored the third highest ever on the combined skills test?! As Kiyone reached her room, she wondered how it possibly get worse. Then she turned the key, opened the door, and saw how. The room was an absolute disaster. Clothing was strewn everywhere. Opened suitcases littered the floor, their contents spilling out. Kiyone's favorite desk was already cluttered with innumerable items. Kiyone dropped her single bag and wandered aimlessly about the wreckage. "I don't know who you are, but you're DEAD!!" A groan came from the pile of clothes on the bed. The pile shifted, and something began to emerge, as if the clothing was somehow giving birth to a new life form. It was female. Her dark skin contrasted with her bright blue eyes and wavy blonde hair. Combined with her pointy, elvish ears, the complete picture vaguely reminded Kiyone of someone, but she couldn't quite say who. "Umm... How long have I been sleeping? Oh!" said the girl as she finally noticed Kiyone. "Are you my roommate?" "Yes," Kiyone replied, her tone making it clear just how much she resented the fact. "My name's Mihoshi! What's yours?" "Kiyone. *Upperclassman* Kiyone." "Really?" exclaimed Mihoshi with delight. "You're an upperclassman? Does that mean you'll be my sempai?" "Do you realize you have panties in your hair?" "Oh." Mihoshi stood up and brushed the spare bits of clothing onto the floor, not looking the least bit self-conscious about it. "And to answer your question, no, I will most definitely *not* be your sempai. We don't use that system here." Not officially they didn't, anyway. Many upperclassman took it upon themselves to become mentors to freshmen, but Kiyone had no intention of doing so, especially not with this girl. "Let's get a few things straight right off the bat. First off, the lower bunk is mine, as is the desk by the window. Next year, I'll be out of here and then you can have them. Is that understood?" "Yes sir, Upperclassman Kiyone!" Kiyone started to get pissed at her for being sarcastic, then saw that Mihoshi's enthusiastic smile was perfectly honest. "Um, just 'Kiyone' is fine." "I'll move this stuff right away! I'm really sorry, but I was space-lagged really bad, and it was the best I could do to unpack a little before I passed out." Mihoshi began to clear the clothes off the bed, throwing them onto the floor. Kiyone checked her watch. "Look, forget about that for now. We'd better get into uniform. Roll call's in twenty minutes." "In twenty minutes?!" shouted Mihoshi, alarmed. "I slept for that long?! Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I'd better get moving." She stood up and banged her head on the upper bunk. "OWWWW!" She staggered backward into the desk and knocked the mirror off. Kiyone yelled "NO!" as what had been her favorite of the mirrors in the room smashed to the floor. "Oh, no! I'm so sorry." "No problem. I'll just take yours." Kiyone was glad for the familiarity of roll call. Mihoshi had stuck next to her until Kiyone had finally made it clear that freshman had to line up together to the left. Head Sergeant P'yun walked up and down the line, hollering out names in his practiced gruff voice, and looking with either satisfaction or vague disapproval at each of the cadets who replied. Finally he reached Kiyone's roommate. "Cadet Mihoshi!" "Here!" Mihoshi chirped. "Cadet Shi!" Mihoshi blinked and looked at the boy next to her. A look of delight spread across her face. P'yun finished the roll call and faced the cadets. "I want to welcome you all to the Galactic Police Academy. You're all looking well. Or rather, the upperclassmen are looking well. The freshman have a bit to learn about uniform protocol. But that's to be expected, and it will be corrected, by this time tomorrow. "You upperclassmen, you know what you're in for. You freshman don't. Whatever you've been told, whatever you've imagined, the reality is much worse. This will be the most difficult year of your life. Some of you, I hate to inform you, won't be standing in this line at this time next year. "We have extremely high standards. The Galactic Police is not a team of rent-a-cops who catch shoplifters and muggers. No sir! We are responsible for the security of more than one thousand different worlds. Our enemies are pirates, organized crime, smugglers. It is a very dangerous job, and it is not one for the weak! Do I make myself clear?" "SIR, YES, SIR!!" shouted the cadets. All except one, who was whispering to the boy next to her. "CADET MIHOSHI!" thundered P'yun. "S-sir! Yes, sir!" said Mihoshi, scrambling to get back to attention. "Were you talking to Cadet Shi?" "Sir, um, no, I mean, yes, sir, see, Shi and I, we went to the same high school, and I hadn't seen him in--" "Did I *ask* for your life story?!" Mihoshi looked ready to cry. "N-no, sir, I..." "Drop and give me twenty! You, too, Shi! NOW!" Mihoshi looked confused, then saw Shi begin to do push-ups, and imitated him. "I'm only going to say this once," said P'yun, sternly. "No one gets special treatment here! No one! I don't care who you are! I don't care if your grandfather *is* the goddamn commissioner! Is that clear?!" "Sir... yes... sir..." said Mihoshi between push-ups. Kiyone was stunned. She knew Mihoshi had reminded her of someone, but the commissioner? That bubble-headed, ditzy little girl was the granddaughter of the *commissioner*? Kiyone felt the edges of her mouth curl up, and fought the urge to laugh. But one look at Mihoshi doing push-ups, seeing the resemblance, was too much. Kiyone let out a snort. P'yun turned on her. "You find this amusing, Cadet Kiyone?!" "S-sir, no, sir..." Kiyone desperately tried to get herself under control but couldn't stop giggling. "You can do *thirty* push-ups. After all, you're an upperclassman. You're in better shape. NOW!" Kiyone dropped and started doing push-ups, appalled. She felt her her classmates staring at her. Damn them. If they'd seen Mihoshi, they'd be in hysterics too. This was turning out to be the worst day of her life. And yet, as she did the push-ups, she couldn't stop laughing. END CHAPTER ONE TO BE CONTINUED ****************************************************************************** Galaxy Police Mihoshi's A C A D E M Y D A Y S "The Mihoshi Syndrome" by Ryan Mathews ****************************************************************************** CHAPTER TWO Kiyone tried the radio again, more for the hell of it than out of any real hope. Nothing happened. The console was utterly dead. The only light inside the cabin was from Kiyone's handlamp, set on the seat between her and Mihoshi. Kiyone sighed and sat back. "Did you try your wristcorder?" Mihoshi asked. "I smacked it on the console when we crashed. It's busted. How about yours?" "Oh, mine won't work on this planet's frequencies." Kiyone rolled her eyes in disgust. "Mihoshi, you were supposed to have gotten that upgrade months ago!" Mihoshi grimaced. "I know! I'm sorry! I just didn't get around to it." The two sat in silence for a moment, thinking their situation through. It had been a typical "Mihoshi-type" case, thought Kiyone. Garrett had been on the Galaxy's Most Wanted list for nearly three years. The Galaxy Police had never given up hope of capturing him, but there had been no solid leads and it didn't appear there were going to be any for awhile. Then Mihoshi had literally stumbled into the lead they needed. More specifically, she had stumbled into one Mr. Sym K'vant. At the time of their meeting, K'vant had just robbed a bank and was running away from the local law enforcement when Mihoshi, who had been window shopping, backed into his way and tripped him. K'vant had suffered a dislocated knee and had been taken into custody, where a DNA scan showed him to be the prime suspect in over fifty such robberies in that sector of space. Facing the death penalty on several worlds, K'vant had offered information in return for being turned over to the planet with the least harsh prison system. The information in question had been the whereabouts of Garrett. The GP had been so delighted with this turn of events that they had awarded the honor of capturing Garrett to Mihoshi. Unfortunately, Garrett's location had turned out to be the planet Trasima, which didn't have a contract with the GP. After weeks of negotiations, Mihoshi and Kiyone had been allowed to conduct their operations, but without any GP backup. GP cruisers had waited outside Trasiman space to arrest Garrett if he could be flushed off the planet. After several days of detective work, everything had been going well. They had discovered a location where Garrett and several members of his gang were going to purchase weapons from a local arms dealer. Mihoshi and Kiyone had gotten there first, placed a few low-yield mines in strategic locations, hidden themselves and waited. The plan had been to wait until the deal was going down, when Garrett and his buddies would be good and tense. Then they would set off the mines. As panic ensued, the two policewomen would burst forth, take out everyone with non-lethal ordinance and return home heroes. Of course, nothing had gone according to plan. As she thought back, Kiyone chided herself for having expected anything different. As Kiyone had waited, detonator in hand, for the perfect moment to start the chaos, she had looked over at Mihoshi. She had been making a strange face, and it had slowly dawned on Kiyone that Mihoshi was about to sneeze. Kiyone had watched helplessly as Mihoshi had contorted her face, trying desperately to hold it in. No luck. Mihoshi cut loose with a noise like a startled rhinoceros. Seconds later, Garrett and his gang were spraying gunfire in their direction. It had looked like curtains, but then a stray shot knocked one of the miniature mines off the wall and into a box of grenades. Seizing the opportunity, Kiyone had hit the trigger. The resulting blast had torn a hole in the wall and killed everyone except Kiyone and Mihoshi, shielded behind their crates, and Garrett, who had somehow come through without a scratch. The resulting chase had landed them in their current predicament. No one had seen them crash. If someone had, surely there would be someone down below, checking the situation out. There would undoubtedly be a search, but how long would it be before someone thought to look underneath the bridge? Hours? Days? Weeks? "Maybe we could climb down," suggested Mihoshi. "Climb down into what?" said Kiyone. "Freezing cold water? This aircar isn't equipped with a raft." "Well, maybe we could climb up?" Kiyone doubted it. Bridges such as this one weren't usually designed for people to crawl around underneath. Still, it wasn't an impossibility. There could be an access ladder somewhere. It was worth a look. Hell, anything was better than just sitting there. Kiyone took the handlamp and climbed out through the roof. She played the light along the bridge's support beams. Nothing looked particularly inviting as far as handholds were concerned. On the bright side, she could see from the mild corrosion that the beams were constructed of ordinary steel, which meant that as a last resort, she could cut handholds in the beams with her laser. Something caught her eye, something protruding from one of the beams. She couldn't quite get enough light on it to see exactly what it was, perhaps a ladder, perhaps nothing. She pulled herself farther out of the car to get a better angle, bringing a knee on top of the roof and leaning forward. There was a creaking sound, followed by a loud CHUNK as the car dropped at least a tenth of a meter. Kiyone screamed and slammed into the roof, dropping the handlamp, which slid away from her. "Kiyone!" came Mihoshi's voice. "Kiyone, are you okay?!" "I'm f-fine!! D-don't do anything, okay? Don't m-move!" Kiyone lay there motionless for a few seconds, taking deep breaths, trying to stop herself from shaking. She reached for the handlamp. It was just a few centimeters out of her reach. She leaned forward, and felt the car tip. She held her breath, and stretched. Her fingertips caught hold of the lamp. She slowly crawled backward into the cabin, where she sat and trembled. "I guess climbing up isn't gonna work, huh?" said Mihoshi. Kiyone shook her head. "Oh, well," said Mihoshi. "I guess it can't get any worse, can it?" "Of course it can," said Kiyone. "It always does." * * * After the disastrous beginning to her first day back at the academy, the rest of the morning was blissfully uneventful for Kiyone. The most unusual thing that happened was one of the instructors calling in sick. The cadets were given instructions to use the free hour constructively and released from the class for the day. Kiyone decided to visit the firing range. Kiyone aimed and fired off three rounds. She examined the result with mild dissatisfaction. Her aim hadn't deteriorated too badly in six weeks of inaction, but it was clear she needed more practice. She lifted her gun and fired again. "Hey, Kiyone!" Kiyone turned to see Dramm, a classmate. To call him a friend would have been an exaggeration, but he was one of her more friendly acquaintances. Kiyone adjusted her ear protectors to better allow his voice through the filter. "Dramm. What's up?" "I was gonna ask you. What happened at role call?" Kiyone sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it." She examined the target. Better. She hit a switch and the target reset, sealing the holes. Dramm took aim with his own gun. "Suit yourself. It's already the talk of the campus. It's not like you to lose control like that." Kiyone grimaced. Dramm wasn't good at taking hints. "She's my roommate, okay? She's a complete ditz. When P'yun said she was the Commissioner's granddaughter, I just lost it. Satisfied?" "Sure, I understand." Dramm fired off a few rounds. "God, I suck." Kiyone snuck a peek a Dramm's target. "It's not that bad. Besides, what are you worried about? How often do you have to fire a gun in undercover operations?" "Not often," admitted Dramm. "Still, if I do have to shoot, it would be nice to hit something other than my own foot. I'll have to get in some more practice." "How was this place over the summer, anyway?" Unlike Kiyone, who had spent the time between terms interning with an active-duty officer, Dramm's training as an undercover agent had required him to stay at the academy. "That's hard to say. I'm wondering if we're about to get a shake-up in command." Kiyone put her gun down. She hadn't expected to hear anything like that. "What exactly do you mean?" "Discipline's gotten a lot more strict since you left. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. Just stay away from the port." Kiyone was confused. "We've never been allowed to go there. It's outside the grounds." "Yeah, but what was the penalty for being caught playing kissy-face in a warehouse? Dock your stipend for a week?" Dramm raised his gun and fired. "Shit. Maybe I need a different gun. Anyway, now they're throwing guys in the brig for the first offense. It's like this zero-tolerance thing." That was different. "Maybe it's the town. Maybe they're sick of cadets wandering into places they don't belong. Did something happen?" "Not that I know of. It was, like, completely out of the blue." A door opened, and cadets filed into the room. "Aw, shit," said Dramm. "Here come the freshmen. I'm outta here." Kiyone watched Dramm leave, and thought about leaving herself. She checked her gun. It still had seven charges remaining. It would be a shame to waste them, she thought. Besides, if any of those freshmen were that dangerous with a gun, they wouldn't have been accepted, right? The instructor addressed the freshmen. "The purpose of this test is to gauge your marksmanship skills, to see which of you will require remedial training." She held up a pistol. "This is the weapon most of you will use upon graduation, the PZ-706-C. It fires a charged particle beam, and is capable of both semi-automatic and fully automatic operation." She quickly aimed the gun and fired off a round. "It's that simple. Cadet Mihoshi, you're first." Kiyone flinched at the sound of her roommate's name. She turned to watch as the instructor handed Mihoshi the weapon. Mihoshi examined the weapon, then took a breath and grasped it firmly. Looking determined, she lifted the gun and pulled the trigger in one efficient motion. Nothing happened. The other freshman giggled. "Now, what did Mihoshi forget to check?" "The safety!" blurted several of the cadets. "Exactly. Now, it wasn't exactly fair of me to--" "Oh!" said Mihoshi. "I've got it!" "Wait!" shouted the instructor. "That's the wrong switch. You have to--" "Oh, I see. Thanks, instructor." Mihoshi took the safety off. "Okay, now you have to put the other switch back to-- NO! DON'T FIRE!!" Mihoshi raised and fired the gun, which was now in full-automatic mode. Particle beams sprayed ahead, then everywhere as a screaming Mihoshi struggled to keep the gun under control. Kiyone hit the deck as beams sizzled above her head, ricocheting off the wall. "I'm sorry!" yelled Mihoshi. "Give me that," said the instructor, shaken, as she relieved Mihoshi of the weapon. "You can get up now," she said to the cowering cadets. "It's over. That will be several demerits and a lesson for you, Cadet Mihoshi. Never assume you know how a gun will react the first time you fire it. If you had been more careful, this--" she said, referring to the targets, then fell silent. The instructor and the cadets both gazed at the targets in astonishment. Kiyone followed their gaze and immediately understood. Each and every target had been drilled through the primary target areas, the head and chest of the humanoid silhouette. Even more impossibly, it appeared that not a single beam had been off-target. Kiyone gaped in disbelief, then looked at her own target. It had a perfect score as well. But that couldn't be, thought Kiyone. She was all the way at the other end of the firing range. The angle was impossible, unless... Kiyone examined the wall, and found the burn marks where the beams had ricocheted. Mihoshi had banked the shots into the target. Kiyone checked her gun. There were still three charges left. The hell with it, Kiyone thought, and left. Later, in the cafeteria, Kiyone aimlessly flipped through a training manual, not really reading it. The remains of her lunch sat before her, a testament to her state of mind: normally she would have disposed of her tray the moment she had finished. Try as she might, she couldn't get the image out of her mind. There they were, a row of holed targets, each one scored so perfectly as to make a trainer weep with joy. And Mihoshi had done it by accident. Or had she? Was this all a prank? Perhaps Mihoshi was an excellent marksman, and this was her way of showing off. No, that made no sense. She hadn't bragged about her feat in any way, in fact had seemed oblivious to what had happened until her trainer had pointed it out. Maybe it was an accident after all. It was possible. The pistol pulsed at a regular rate, and if Mihoshi had swung her arm in a perfectly horizontal motion at exactly the right speed, it wasn't inconceivable that she could hit all the targets. Then Kiyone reminded herself that the targets had been drilled in both the head and chest. Kiyone shook her head and made two resolutions. First, she resolved not to think about it anymore. Second, she resolved to stay away from Mihoshi except when they were in the barracks. Both resolutions lasted less than a second. "Hi, Kiyone!" chirped Mihoshi. "Mind if we sit here?" Kiyone didn't look up. "I'm studying." "You sure? We arrived late, and the cafeteria's kinda crowded. But there's lots of room next to you." As if I didn't have enough reasons not to like you, thought Kiyone. She reminded herself that Mihoshi couldn't possibly know enough about Kiyone's situation to rub it in. "Suit yourself." "Thanks!" Mihoshi sat down. "I'd like to introduce Shi. He's a friend from high school." "So I've heard." "Sorry about role call," said Shi. "Thanks, but it wasn't your fault," said Kiyone. Then it hit her. While Mihoshi was here, she might as well indulge her curiosity. "Mihoshi, about what happened on the firing range--" "Oh, yeah!" said Mihoshi. "Wasn't that weird?" "So it was an accident?" "Oh, sure! You don't think I could do something like that on purpose, do you?" "I don't see how you could do it at all." Shi starting laughing. "Am I missing something here?" asked Kiyone. "Stuff like that happens to me all the time," said Mihoshi. Shi added, "She was known throughout the school as 'the Walking Coincidence'." Mihoshi nodded, blushing. "One time in gym class I threw a ball too far and accidentally set off a fire alarm. They had to evacuate the building, even though it was a false alarm. Well, it turned out there really was a fire, and as soon as everyone got out, there was a real big explosion." "Or how about the accident in chemistry class?" reminded Shi. Mihoshi remembered. "Yeah! I knocked over a bunch of chemicals, and they turned into this pasty, gooey stuff. When we tried to clean it up with water, it turned into the hardest stuff they'd ever seen! The school turned it over to this lab and they tried everything on it, even a nuclear explosion, but they couldn't even dent it. They were gonna name it after me, but they couldn't figure out what it was made of." "Being her friend sounds more than a little dangerous," commented Kiyone. "Mihoshi's just being nice by calling me a friend," said Shi. "Really, we barely knew each other in school. Still, it was neat to find someone from my class here." Kiyone stood up. "Well, why don't the two of you get to know each other better? I'll take off." "You don't have to go," said Mihoshi, standing up as well. "I have work to do," said Kiyone. She reached for her book. "Oh, let me get that!" Mihoshi reached for the book as well. The two of them collided, Mihoshi dropping a box of milk she had been holding. Instinctively trying to prevent a mess, Kiyone tried to grab for the box, bobbled it and dropped it. It hit the floor, where Mihoshi stepped on it. A stream of milk squirted upwards, hitting her in the eyes. Mihoshi stumbled backwards blindly, bumping into another cadet who was standing up to dispose of a tray. He dropped the tray, which clattered to the floor. "I'm so sorry," said Mihoshi, wiping milk out of her eyes. The cadet offered her a napkin. She stepped forward to accept it, stepped on the tray, and fell on her butt. The tray flew through the air like a missile, striking one of the food servitors mounted in the wall, denting it and spraying it with leftover food and drink. Mihoshi sat up and groaned, rubbing her behind where she had fallen. "And this kind of thing happens all the time?" asked Kiyone. "All the time," said Shi. Suddenly, there was a noise. A deep, rumbling, liquid noise. The cadets glanced around nervously, trying to locate the source. Kiyone thought she knew where it was coming from. It was the food servitor Mihoshi had dented. Her suspicions were confirmed a second later as the servitor exploded. The cadets screamed as a flood burst forth from the machine, showering everyone with soupy food material. Moments later, the other servitors began exploding as well, one at a time, like firecrackers. The cafeteria cleared as the cadets fled before the edible onslaught. Kiyone barely managed to make it outside when she ran into Sergeant P'yun, literally. "Oh, sir! Forgive me!" she said, straightening her uniform. Then she realized it was too stained to bother, and stood at attention. "Just what in hell is going on here?" yelled P'yun. "I can explain! I can explain!" shouted Mihoshi, running up. "See, it all started when Kiyone knocked my milk out of my hand. Then I--" "So, it's the two of you again, huh?" "Wait," started Mihoshi. "That's not..." "If the two of you made this mess, you can clean it up!" "But that will take hours!" said Kiyone. "My classes--" "You'll clean it up after classes. The other cadets will be granted leave to eat in town tonight," said P'yun. A cheer rose from the cadets. Kiyone glared at Mihoshi, wishing she could strike her dead with her thoughts. Until that day, she had had a perfect record, not a single demerit. Now, twice in one day, she had been chewed out by the Head Sergeant. "I almost forgot," said P'yun to Kiyone. "Clean yourself up. The lieutenant wants to see you." So once again, Kiyone found herself in the office of Lieutenant Tugh. However, this time she was in full uniform, and stood at attention. "Cadet Kiyone reporting as ordered, sir!" "At ease, Cadet. Have a seat." "I'd prefer to stand, sir." "I'm sure you would. However, I'd prefer that you sit. Sit." Kiyone sat, a bit nervously. "I know what you think. You think I'm about to scold you for the incident this morning. That's not my job." "Then what...?" "Tell me, Cadet. What do you think of your new roommate?" Kiyone thought for a moment. "Permission to speak freely?" "Granted." "She's horribly unqualified. She's bubble-headed, accident-prone, and careless. I don't see how she got into the academy." "Really," said Tugh, rubbing his chin. "That's odd, seeing as how she graduated near the top of her class and received one of the highest scores ever on the qualifying exams." "Well, sir," said Kiyone, wondering if she should continue, "her grandfather... He is the commissioner, after all." "I administered the qualifying exams myself. Are you accusing me of dishonesty?" "Sir! N-no, sir." "Relax. That was a rhetorical question. It's the truth, Kiyone. She impressed everyone. Especially in marksmanship, where she received the highest possible score." Kiyone thought back to the incident on the firing range. When Mihoshi had swung her gun up, it had been the confident, steady motion of someone familiar with using a pistol. If she hadn't had the gun on the wrong setting, she very well could have achieved a perfect score. "I'm afraid I owe you an apology. You see, I was the one who arranged for Mihoshi to be your roommate." "What?!" Kiyone shouted. "Why? Sir, how could you?!" "It's not as bad as you might think. I didn't lie to you. You lost your single room to a space shortage. But when I realized you'd be assigned a roommate, I made sure it was Mihoshi." "But why? What so important about this girl?" Tugh told her. END CHAPTER TWO TO BE CONTINUED ****************************************************************************** Galaxy Police Mihoshi's A C A D E M Y D A Y S "The Mihoshi Syndrome" by Ryan Mathews ****************************************************************************** CHAPTER THREE "So what do we do now?" asked Mihoshi. "Wait," Kiyone replied. "What else can we do? Someone will eventually find us. At some point they'll have searched all the obvious places and start looking in the silly ones." "But that could take forever!" "I doubt it," Kiyone said, not really doubting it. "There may be some external damage to the bridge. If that's the case, this will be one of the first places they look." Of course, she continued to herself, if there isn't, they'll likely dredge the whole stinking river before it occurs to them to look underneath the bridge. Mihoshi sighed. "Oh, well. If we're stuck here, I might as well take a nap." "Good idea!" Kiyone agreed. A silent Mihoshi would make this much more bearable. Mihoshi released her seat and reclined. There was a creaking noise, and the entire car began to recline with her. "MIHOSHI!" yelled Kiyone in panic. "SIT UP!" "I can't!" The car continued to tilt backwards. Any moment, it would come loose and plummet to the water. Kiyone grabbed Mihoshi and pulled her up as hard as she could. The two women fell against the dashboard. The car rose back up, then tilted forward. Kiyone and Mihoshi froze, not daring to breathe. The car rocked a few times, then came to a stop. "I think you'd better sleep sitting up," Kiyone said. Mihoshi nodded. Kiyone let Mihoshi lean against her, but twenty minutes later, Mihoshi was still awake. "Kiyone, I'm curious about something." "Shoot." "How come there's no traffic on this bridge?" Kiyone tried to remember the map she'd read of the city. "I think it's a commuter bridge. If I remember right, they only open the bridge during rush hour in the morning and afternoon, when the people go back and forth to work. Wait a minute." Something started to bother Kiyone, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "How did you know there wasn't any traffic on the bridge?" "Well, it would probably be noisier. And the whole thing would be shaking, right?" Kiyone went pale. "Well, anyway, I was just curious," said Mihoshi. "G'night!" "We're going to die." "Huh?" "Don't you see, you stupid ditz?! We're going to die!!" Mihoshi looked perplexed. "B-but you said someone would eventually find us!" "We can't wait that long! In just three hours, they're gonna open this bridge to traffic. When they do that, the bridge will shake! Then what will happen?!" Mihoshi thought a moment. "Um, the car will shake loose?" "And then what?" "It'll fall?" "And then?" "It'll hit the water?" "And then?" "We'll die?", said Mihoshi, fighting tears. "BINGO!" exclaimed Kiyone. "Oh, god, does this ever suck. Having to wait three hours to die, three hours with YOU! Maybe I should just jump out now." "You don't really mean that, do you?" Kiyone fell back in her seat. "I don't know what I mean. I don't want to die, but we're out of options. We can't climb up, we can't climb down, and we can't call for help." Mihoshi started to cry. "It's all my fault. If only I'd gotten that upgrade on my wristcorder like I was supposed to!" "Forget about it. This stupid planet is so primitive, I doubt they'd even notice the signal, unless a boat came by, and you saw how few boats were in the river." Kiyone pounded on the dashboard. "Stupid, primitive, moron planet! The imbeciles can't even invent a regenerative power source for their damned vehicles!" Suddenly a light went on in Kiyone's head. The car worked on a primitive power source that required recharging. GP wristcorders worked on a much more sophisticated power source, or rather they had since the last upgrade. If Mihoshi hadn't upgraded her wristcorder, its power cell was almost certainly compatible with the car's power system. It wouldn't be enough to power the engines, but they could reactivate all the onboard systems. Including the radio. Kiyone grabbed Mihoshi and kissed her. "Mihoshi, sometimes you're so stupid, you're brilliant!" "What'd I do?" "I'll explain as I go. Give me your wristcorder, then get the toolbox out of the back. Carefully!" Kiyone rolled up her sleeves, laughing at the fact that Mihoshi could still surprise her. After all, she'd known Mihoshi was special for a long time. * * * Kiyone walked across the campus, her head still reeling from what Tugh had told her about her roommate. Part of her refused to accept it. Surely no one as airbrained as Mihoshi could possibly be that important. But another part of her remembered what had happened at the firing range, and still had no rational explanation for it. She entered a building and headed for the flight simulator, where another cadet had told her Mihoshi could be found. She reached the simulator's control center and rang for admittance. An instructor answered the door. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Cadet Mihoshi. I understand she's using the simulator?" "She is," replied the instructor. "She's just finishing up her round now. Why don't you come in?" Kiyone accepted the invitation and looked around. She'd ridden in the flight simulator many times, but she had never seen this side of it before. Multiple displays allowed the instructors to observe and judge every aspect of the pilot's performance, and gave them absolute control over the environment. "What's that howling noise?" Kiyone asked. "Some sort of alarm?" "No, that's Cadet Mihoshi," replied the instructor. "This is her first trip on the simulator, and I think she's a little nervous." One of the main displays showed a simulated external view of Mihoshi's virtual spaceship. They had her piloting through an extremely dense asteroid belt with a broken throttle. Kiyone had had a similar experience on her first ride on the simulator. It was meant as a way of taking hotshot young pilots down a few pegs, to show them just how much they had to learn. The difference was that Kiyone hadn't lasted thirty seconds, while Mihoshi was working on her ninth minute. "That's impossible." "That what we've been saying. We're trying to figure out if the simulator's broken, if she's incredibly lucky, or if she really is that good. I figure it's gotta be one of the first two. I mean, does that look like an expert pilot to you?" He referred to one of the displays, which showed a view of Mihoshi. Sweat poured down her temples. Her mouth was open in a continual scream. Her eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets. Her hand jerked the control stick back and forth so fast that it was a blur. She successfully maneuvered through another two dozen asteroids. The instructor rolled his eyes. He turned to one of the technicians manning the consoles. "This is getting ridiculous. I want to go home. Double the density of the asteroid field." "Yes sir." The technician tapped on a touchpad and the number of asteroids doubled. Mihoshi's screams became louder, and the motion of her control stick became impossible to see. The instructor sniffed. "What's that smell?" A thin curl of smoke drifted upward from the console, swiftly becoming thicker. Kiyone edged toward the door. "Quick, shut it down!!" yelled the instructor. "Too late!" "EVACUATE!" Everyone dashed into the hallway just as an explosion filled the room behind them with flying glass and jagged metal. They lay on the room, coughing as the smoke drifted around them. Mihoshi's voice came through a broken, buzzy speaker. "Um, did I pass?" "I hope they're not too mad at me," Mihoshi said as she and Kiyone headed toward the cafeteria. "They don't have any reason to be," Kiyone replied. "Simulators shouldn't do that. It was probably in need of repair." "Yeah, but stuff like that happens to me all time. It's hard not to feel like it's your fault." "Really? Then you won't mind cleaning this mess up by yourself?" "Oh, no! You wouldn't do that to me, would you?" "Relax," said Kiyone, "I was just joking." They reached the cafeteria and went in. If anything it looked worse than Kiyone remembered. The walls and floors were covered in caked, drying, grayish edible base matter. Trays, implements, and cups were scattered where the panicking cadets had left them. The room stank to high heaven. "Oh, yukk," said Mihoshi. "We're supposed to clean this with a mop? We'll need shovels!" Kiyone sighed and rolled up her sleeves. "Oh, well. The sooner we start, the sooner we'll be finished. C'mon, let's get started." Four hours later, they were nearly done. The walls and floors sparkled. All that remained was to do the chairs and tables. Mihoshi sagged. "Pretty please can I take a break, Kiyone? Just a short one." Kiyone looked at her watch. "Well, I suppose it's okay. It looks like we're going to finish in time. Go outside and take fifteen. I'll join you in a moment." Mihoshi headed outside while Kiyone finished scrubbing a chair and dropped the rag into a pail. She walked outside to join Mihoshi. "You know, I have to give you credit, Mihoshi. You're a hard worker, even if--" "Shi?" said Mihoshi. "Shi!" Kiyone looked but didn't see any sign of Mihoshi's friend. "SHI!" Mihoshi ran off, shouting. "Shi, wait up!!" "Mihoshi, what are you doing? We're not done!" Kiyone started to run after her, but Mihoshi had a good head start and the sun had set over an hour ago. Soon it was nearly impossible for Kiyone to make her out. Damn that ditz, Kiyone thought. And just as I was about to pay her a compliment, too. Kiyone stopped dead in her tracks. She had reached the entrance to the port, or more importantly, the exit to the base. The gate was open, which meant that Mihoshi, and probably Shi, if he really was there, had gone through. It also meant that they were AWOL. She considered her options for a moment. Her first instinct was to turn around, finish cleaning the cafeteria, and go to bed. However, Tugh had made her promise to look after Mihoshi. If she should fall off a dock and drown, or worse yet, be shot by some city guard, Tugh would never forgive her. Kiyone cursed her luck and headed into the port. Kiyone walked slowly and quietly past the warehouses and docks, searching for her roommate, wishing the light was better. "Mihoshi? Mihoshi? Dammit, where are you?" She wanted to yell louder, but feared alerting someone other than Mihoshi. Suddenly, she heard a gunshot. Kiyone went pale. She ran in the direction of the shot, praying that she would get there in time, that Mihoshi was only wounded. She tripped over something and fell flat on her face. When she saw what she had tripped over, she started to scream and clapped a hand over her mouth. It was a corpse. At first she was terrified that it was Mihoshi, but the body was male. It wasn't Shi, either, but an older man. His hand was severely maimed and dark blood dripped slowly from an ugly head wound. Kiyone became aware of a presence. She turned around and found Shi standing behind her. He held a gun in his hand. His clothes were splattered with blood. He looked terrified. Kiyone froze. "Shi..." "It's... It's n-not what you think..." He turned and ran off. "Wait! Mihoshi! What happened to Mihoshi?" "Kiyone?" Kiyone whirled to see Mihoshi's face peering out of a small window in a warehouse door. She ran up to her. "What are you doing in there! We have to get back to the base! Now!!" She pulled on the door. "Unlock the door! Hurry!" "Um, I'm not sure how." "What do you mean, `you're not sure'? You locked it, didn't you?" "No, I came in some other way." "So go *out* that way!" shouted Kiyone. Mihoshi smiled sheepishly. "I, um, can't find it. I'm not sure where it is. See I kinda got lost, and then I was here, and--" "I don't give a damn! Just open the stupid door!" "Wait a minute." Mihoshi's face disappeared from the window. "I think I've got it." There was a click and the door loosened. Kiyone pulled on the large, heavy door and it slowly slid open. She ran inside, but did not immediately see Mihoshi. "Where are you, dammit?!" "Up here!" Kiyone turned to find Mihoshi perched atop an enormous stack of crates stamped "GP". "Isn't this amazing!" shouted Mihoshi. "I'm almost all the way to the roof!" "Will you get *down* here! We are in so much trouble it isn't even funny! We haven't finished cleaning the cafeteria, we're AWOL, and there's a dead body out here!" Mihoshi quickly climbed down, jumping the last few meters. "I'm sorry, it's just that I thought I saw Shi and it looked like he was in trouble or something and so I followed him and did you say there was a dead body outside?!" "Yeah. I'll show you." Kiyone led her to where the corpse was, or rather, where it had been. There was nothing there now, not even a blood stain. Kiyone's heart pounded in her chest. What was she supposed to do? She'd witnessed a murder. She had to do something. But what? Report this to her superiors? Admit to going AWOL, risk expulsion? There was no evidence that anyone had been killed, assuming Shi ditched the weapon and his clothes. After the incident at role call, her superiors would believe she held a personal grudge against Shi. They'd never believe her. Feeling like scum, she said to Mihoshi, "I guess I was mistaken. Let's get back before we're missed." She resolved to make an anonymous call to the city police. Perhaps they could do something. She couldn't believe it had been only a day since she'd met Mihoshi. Kiyone looked forward to sleep, hoping the next day would be normal, or at least more normal than this one had been. END CHAPTER THREE TO BE CONTINUED ****************************************************************************** Galaxy Police Mihoshi's A C A D E M Y D A Y S "The Mihoshi Syndrome" by Ryan Mathews ****************************************************************************** CHAPTER FOUR "Hand me the micro-fuser." "Roger!" Mihoshi fished through the toolbox and gave the appropriate item to Kiyone, whose head was completely hidden under the aircar's dashboard. It had taken close to forty minutes to get this far, most of which had been spent figuring out how to get the damned thing apart and, once inside, determining which wire fed which system. There was a brief sizzling noise. "There! That should be it!" Mihoshi's wristcorder was now powering the aircar's radio system, or so Kiyone hoped. "Switch it on!" Mihoshi touched a panel. Indicators flashed to life. "YAY! It lit up! It lit up!" "Lemme see!" Kiyone extracted herself from under the dashboard and squirmed back into her seat. "Alright! We're saved!" She quickly activated the emergency frequencies. "Mayday! Mayday! This Trasima City Police car 103 requesting immediate assistance!" "I'm so hungry," said Mihoshi. "When I get back, I'm gonna have a big breakfast!" "Mayday! Mayday! This Trasima City Police car 103 requesting immediate assistance!" "I'm gonna have some grillcakes, with that berry sauce they make here, and maybe some sausage..." "Mayday! Mayday! Anyone, please respond!" "And maybe some of those little cheesy things, y'know, they're kinda like omelets, but they're not really?" "Will you shut up about food?!" shouted Kiyone. "This isn't working!" "That's weird. I wonder why not?" Mihoshi sniffed. "Hey, do you smell something?" Smoke began to curl, then pour out from under the dashboard. Kiyone cursed loudly and fumbled for the fire extinguisher as the cabin rapidly filled with smoke. Blinded, she gave what she hoped was the burning area a good spray, while Mihoshi opened her door and tried desperately to fan the smoke outside. The fire out, they sat choking and gasping, waiting for the smoke to clear. Kiyone was the first to speak, her voice hoarse from the smoke. "I don't get it. The power systems should have been compatible. If your wristcorder is still running on the old system, if you didn't get the upgrade--" "Upgrade..." said Mihoshi to herself, looking skyward. "Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade." No, thought Kiyone. Please, no. Mihoshi snapped her fingers. "Oh! *That* upgrade! I remember now! I did get it after all! I must have forgot." If looks could kill, Mihoshi's head would have been vaporized at that moment. Mihoshi laughed nervously. "Um, Kiyone? That vein is standing out on your forehead again..." To Kiyone, Mihoshi seemed to undergo a bizarre transformation. Large horns sprouted from her forehead. Her eyes glowed bright red, and huge, dripping fangs protruded from her lips. asked the grinning Mihoshi-demon. The demon threw back it's head and laughed. "Kill..." muttered Kiyone. "Now, Kiyone, you know what the doctor said about your blood pressure!" "Mihoshi, you... IDIOT!!" "That's it," said Mihoshi cheerfully. "Let it all out!" "You idiot! You moron! You pathetic waste of carbon atoms! I've known *dishrags* that are smarter than you!" "That's the spirit!" "I hate you! I wish I'd never been partnered with you! I'd wish I'd never met you! I wish you'd never been born! I wish I had a time machine so I could kill your grandparents before they had children!" "Hey, wait," Mihoshi said, less cheerfully. "When we fall off this damned bridge and plummet to our deaths, I wanna survive just long enough to see you die first! At least I'll have one second of life without you around to screw it up!!" Spent, Kiyone collapsed into her seat, panting. There was a moment of silence. "Do you really hate me that much?" "Huh?" Kiyone turned to look at her partner. Tears trickled down Mihoshi's face. "Oh, god, don't cry. Not now." "I'm sorry," said Mihoshi between sobs. "I try so hard. I know I mess up a lot and I know I make things hard for you, but--" "Look, I didn't mean it, alright? I was just angry." "Really?" "Really. Now please stop crying." "Okay." Kiyone sat back and closed her eyes. Whether she blamed Mihoshi or not, the fact was, that wristcorder had been their last real hope. All that remained was the remote possibility that a boat would go under the bridge, and that someone aboard it would look up, before the morning traffic shook them loose. It had been a long time since Kiyone had last felt this helpless. Of course, Mihoshi had been involved back then, as well. * * * "Cadet Kiyone!" Kiyone woke up with a start, evoking a chorus of giggles from her classmates. Her brain frantically replayed the last few seconds of the lecture. The instructor had asked her a question about a popular brand of pistol. "I had thought that, given your internship, you could explain the problems with this particular firearm--" "Yes, sir!" She stood up. "The Ghivex P-200 takes a level 200 power cell, but the interface port is similar to the level 400 power cell used by our PZ-706-C. Using the P-200 with a level 400 cell will make it explode in your hand." One of her classmates snorted. "Who would be stupid enough to do that?" Kiyone turned on him. "When you're pinned down by gunfire, see how much time you have to think about your power cells!" "Um, thank you, Cadet," said the instructor. "That will be all." Kiyone sat down, embarrassed. That outburst certainly hadn't helped her reputation. Of course, most of her classmates were already convinced she was a bitch. She was exhausted. She hadn't been able to sleep a wink the night before. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that man lying dead, part of his head blown off. She'd regretted her decision to remain quiet almost as soon as she'd made it, but now that she wanted desperately to tell someone, she was afraid to. She hadn't even made the anonymous call she'd promised herself. The reason for her fear was what had happened that morning. Mihoshi had become worried when Shi hadn't shown up to have breakfast with them. It turned out that he was in the stockade. The offense was breaking curfew, which was ordinarily punished only with demerits the first time. At first, Kiyone had been relieved. Perhaps Lieutenant Tugh and his officers could get to the bottom of the situation without her help. And if she got into trouble, well, at least it would be off her chest. However, they wouldn't let either her or Mihoshi speak to Shi. It was clear he was being held for something more serious than breaking curfew. Kiyone waited to be called in for questioning, after all, Shi had seen her at the scene of the crime, but the call never came. As the hours passed, Kiyone became more and more suspicious. Were they investigating, or were they covering it up? The class ended, and a grateful Kiyone left the classroom. Her next class wasn't for an hour. Maybe she could at least get a little sleep. Once outside, she saw Dramm up ahead, apparently heading for the firing range. She picked up the pace and caught up with him. "Dramm!" "Kiyone! What's up!" "Oh, uh, nothing. Hasn't a girl ever asked you to walk her across campus?" Dramm blinked. "Well, this is a surprise. A pleasant one, though. Where are you headed?" "Back to the barracks." "Sure, I'll accompany you." They walked on for awhile, Kiyone waiting for the right moment to bring up a question and make it look casual. Dramm knew more about the base's operations than anyone else with whom she was on speaking terms. "So, um, I heard a rumor about Shi," she said. "I heard he's in the stockade because he went off base into the port. It's kinda hard to believe. Mihoshi says Shi was always good about following rules." "Who told you he went into the port?" "Well, it's more of a guess than a rumor. Mihoshi thought she saw Shi outside when we were cleaning the cafeteria. I figured he went into the port, because how often does someone get sent to the stockade just for breaking curfew?" "If he was jailed for going AWOL, don't you think we would have been told?" "Would we?" Dramm stopped walking and gave Kiyone an odd look. "Kiyone, I don't know what you're thinking, but whatever it is, it's going to get you in even bigger trouble than you've been in already. Command here may be harsh, but they know what they're doing. You have to trust them." "I want to. But I don't understand the big deal is about the port! I mean, don't Academy employees have to be there to pick up cargo?" "We don't get any supplies from the port. It's all land or air- delivered. There's no good reason to be over there." "But..." But then what were those crates Mihoshi had climbed? There had been a lot of them. Dramm said something. "What?" "I said would you like to go to a holo tomorrow night?" "You're asking me out?" "I believe that's what it's called." "I'd love to," Kiyone said, a little stunned. "Cool! Why don't we work out the details at dinner tonight?" "Uh, sure!" "Great! See ya then!" Dramm headed toward the firing range, leaving Kiyone to wonder just how much weirder things could get. There was a field exercise that afternoon, one of the few in which both upper and lower class cadets participated. The exercise was fairly simple. A "sniper" was perched in a tower. The cadet was required to run across the field, use the available cover, get himself in a position for a good shot, and pick off the sniper. Both the cadet's and the sniper's guns fired paint charges. As coincidence would have it, Mihoshi and Kiyone were first and second in their round. Mihoshi fretted as she checked her gun. "I'm so nervous," she said. "I'm so clumsy at this kind of thing." "Don't worry," said Kiyone. "I've done this before. It's really easy. Get behind the nearest barrier as fast as possible. Then you just dash from barrier until you're close enough to get a shot. If you get out in the open, swerve from side to side to make yourself a bad target." Mihoshi nodded. "Got it!" The instructor called the next contestant. "Cadet Mihoshi!" "Well, I'm up! Wish me luck!" Kiyone slapped her on the shoulder. "Go get 'im." The last thing Mihoshi needed was more luck. Mihoshi checked her pistol and marched onto the field. The sniper, well out of Mihoshi's range, took aim with his rifle and began firing. Mihoshi nimbly dodged two shots and took shelter behind a barrier. She gathered up her courage and dashed to the next barrier. The sniper drove her back with a shot that splattered right in front of her. She panicked and ran the wrong way, right into the open. Kiyone grimaced. Mihoshi was dead meat. The sniper fired. Mihoshi yelped and fell to the side, the shot zipping past her. Two more shots missed as Mihoshi got back to her feet. Kiyone yelled at her to get back behind the barrier, but Mihoshi didn't hear. She dodged wildly, somehow managing to slip between everything the sniper threw at her. The sniper cursed out loud as he missed again and again, his paint shells splattering all over the ground. In all the chaos, Mihoshi had been moving closer to the sniper's position. Suddenly, she swung her pistol up and fired back. Bullseye. The sniper hollered in anger as the paint charge hit him in the chest. But it didn't go off, bouncing harmlessly away. There was a moment of confusion as both parties absorbed what had just happened, then Mihoshi high- tailed it for the nearest barrier, diving behind it just as the sniper fired. The sniper's charge struck the barrier and exploded, blasting half the barrier into small pieces and throwing Mihoshi over a meter into the air. Kiyone felt the blood rush out of her head and she nearly collapsed. She screamed Mihoshi's name and ran out onto the field. Mihoshi was lying motionless, covered with rubble. "Mihoshi! MIHOSHI!" Kiyone brushed the debris off her face. "Mihoshi!" Mihoshi groaned. "What happened?" "Oh, thank god..." Mihoshi was taken to the infirmary, where she was treated for cuts and scratches and released. Kiyone met her in the lobby. "Look at you. I can't believe it. I hope you realize how lucky you are be alive, much less only scratched." Mihoshi laughed sheepishly. "Well, you know about me and luck. Hey, so what happened out there, anyway?" "Some idiot mixed a live concussion charge in with the sniper's paint rounds." "Ooh. I wonder how that happened." Yeah, thought Kiyone. I wonder. "Cadets Kiyone and Mihoshi?" Kiyone turned around to find a young member of the base staff. He held a folded piece of paper in his hand. "That'd be us." "I have orders here from Lieutenant Tugh. You're confined to barracks until further notice." "What?!" Kiyone snatched the paper from his hand and read it. "Apparently you were involved in some extra-curricular activities last night." Mihoshi hung her head. "I'm sorry. I screwed up again." "Okay," said Kiyone. "I admit it. We did it. We had our reasons. Would you mind telling me why this is coming out now? It's been more than eighteen hours since we briefly left the base." "As I understand it," replied the officer, "there had to be an investigation first." "Oh, really?" sneered Kiyone, her anxiety swiftly turning to anger. "An investigation where they didn't even ask *us*?! And what's this `barracks' crap? Why not just throw us in the stockade?! Maybe there's someone there you don't want us to talk to?" "Kiyone..." said Mihoshi, trying to calm her down. "Listen Cadet, I understand you're upset--" "You're damned right I'm upset!" shouted Kiyone. "...but it's not my job to know the answers to your questions. My job is to accompany you back to the barracks. Let's go." Mihoshi and Kiyone went back to the barracks, Kiyone fuming all the way. Actually, Kiyone thought, it felt kind of good. It felt better to be pissed off than to be afraid. Kiyone knew one thing. Whoever the bastards were, whatever they were up to, they weren't going to get away with it. Not if she had anything to do with it. END CHAPTER FOUR TO BE CONTINUED ****************************************************************************** Galaxy Police Mihoshi's A C A D E M Y D A Y S "The Mihoshi Syndrome" by Ryan Mathews ****************************************************************************** CHAPTER FIVE The minutes stretched into hours, as Kiyone and Mihoshi waited, trapped in their little metal box. Kiyone's legs ached from having sat in the same position for so long. She wasn't ready to give up. Nevertheless, what little hope remained was swiftly evaporating. There was only a hour remaining until the bridge they were under would open to morning traffic, only an hour until they would be jarred loose and fall fifty meters to the water. Kiyone was considering jumping before that happened, to choose the moment of her death, rather than letting the traffic decide for her. She hadn't shared that decision with Mihoshi, and she didn't plan to. It was better to let hope remain for as long as possible. "Would you like a chocolate bar?" Mihoshi asked. "No thanks." "C'mon! Going hungry isn't going to help anything. Gotta keep those wits alert!" Kiyone laughed. If Mihoshi was feigning cheerfulness in order to cheer her up, she was doing a good job. Kiyone didn't think Mihoshi was capable of feigning anything. She took the candy. "Hey!" she said in astonishment. "This is *real* chocolate! Earth chocolate! How in the world did you get your hands on this?" "An officer I know had his ship crash land on Earth. He figured while he was there, he might as well pick up some souvenirs. He gave me a few candy bars. He said it was so I wouldn't tell anyone he'd visited a forbidden planet, but I think maybe he liked me. I was going to save them for a special occasion, but considering the circumstances..." Kiyone nodded. "I guess this is a special occasion, in a way." She wrapped the chocolate and took a bite, savoring the flavor. She hadn't had real chocolate she had been a small girl. "Kiyone?" "Yef?" replied Kiyone, her mouth full of chocolate. "If we make it back, maybe you should ask for a different partner. It's okay. I won't fight it." Kiyone sighed in annoyance. "Oh god, not this again!" "But--" "Mihoshi, I really don't want to have this discussion again! Especially not now!" "But we've never really had this discussion," said Mihoshi. "You always change the subject!" "Mihoshi, I--" "I mean, I know you don't like working with me." "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!!" Mihoshi sat silent, stunned. Kiyone was surprised herself, uncertain where the outburst had come from. "I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to shout. But I really don't want to talk about it right now. If we get out of this safely, then I promise to talk about it if you want to. But not now, please?" "Okay," said Mihoshi. "And you've got chocolate all over your mouth." Kiyone leaned back in her seat, trying in vein to get comfortable. Mihoshi was right. She never had seriously discussed changing partners. She had no idea why not. There were days when the thought of seeing Mihoshi again seemed too much to bear. Yet, whenever she thought of getting a different partner, she was consumed by a strong desire to think about something else. She had never told Mihoshi that it had been Kiyone herself who had requested Mihoshi as her partner. She'd never understood why she'd done it. Her promise to Tugh all those years ago had been fulfilled the day the two of them graduated. Maybe she was used to Mihoshi. Maybe she was worried that Mihoshi wouldn't fare as well under a different partner. Maybe, just maybe, she loved Mihoshi. All she knew was that life without Mihoshi would feel damned weird, and she wasn't ready to abandon her just yet. Kiyone glanced over at her partner, who was still busy licking chocolate off her lips. Kiyone was suddenly filled with conviction. It wasn't going to end this way. She wouldn't allow it. They'd been in worse scrapes before, and they had always rebounded. Rebound... A thought flickered at the edge of Kiyone's consciousness and disappeared before she could grab it. Still, it reenforced Kiyone's belief that there was a solution. "Think, Kiyone," she said. "Think." * * * "Think, Kiyone, think." She had been wracking her brain ever since she and Mihoshi had been confined to barracks, trying to put the pieces together, to make sense out of the events of the last two days. Obviously, she had seen something she should not have, and obviously that something had been the dead man. Or had it? She had assumed that Shi had killed the man, but had he? There was no way Shi could have cleaned up the corpse and the blood in the short time she and Mihoshi had been out of sight. Conclusion: there had been several other people there, and they had seen Kiyone and Mihoshi. But seen them do what? Was it just the dead man? There had been something odd about the corpse, the way the hand had been maimed as well as the head. It seemed familiar, as if she had been thinking about something similar. Suddenly she remembered the question on gun safety from her class earlier that day, and put it together. The man had been killed by his own gun. It had exploded in his hand. Had the man been shooting at Shi? Unlikely. He hadn't acted like an intended murder victim. He'd acted like he was guilty himself. Then, of course, there were the mystery crates in that warehouse. Piles and piles of crates marked as headed toward the Galaxy Police Academy, when Dramm had said that the Academy never received any supplies from the port. So what did she have? Something fishy was going on in the port, something involving the academy, something involving Shi. Kiyone knew of only one way to get to the bottom of it. Mihoshi sat on the floor, pale and nervous, as she'd been since Kiyone had finally confided in her about the corpse she'd seen and her fear that someone was trying to kill them. "I'm worried about Shi," she said. "I'm sure he's fine." "You don't know that! I haven't seen him since he was arrested. Maybe they've already killed him!" "Mihoshi..." "Shi wouldn't kill anyone! I know he wouldn't!" "I don't think he did," said Kiyone. "I just think he's mixed up in something really bad. And so are we, whether we like it or not." There was a knock at the door. "Meal delivery!" Kiyone checked the clock. "A little early, aren't you?" "Tryin' to get my rounds done quicker," said the voice from outside. "I have leave comin' up. Could you open the door?" "Uh, sure," Kiyone replied. "Just let us get dressed!" Mihoshi gave Kiyone a confused look. Both of them had on all their clothes. "We've got to get out of here," whispered Kiyone. "You think he's a bad guy?" asked Mihoshi. The man knocked on the door again. "Could you please open up? I'm in a hurry." "Just a moment!" Kiyone yelled back, then whispered to Mihoshi, "If he was for real, he would have left the meal at the door by now." "How are we getting out?" "Out the window." "I can't climb down three floors!" "You won't have to. I'll climb down and catch you." Kiyone took off her shoes and socks. Ever since she was a little girl, she'd been able to quickly climb up walls by sticking her fingers and toes in the spaces between the bricks. She was grown up now, her hands and feet were bigger, but she could still do it if she was careful. She opened the window and crawled out. She hung from the end of the windowsill and wiggled her toes into a space. Slowly, carefully, she shuffled to the side, moving out onto the wall, away from the windows. This method of climbing required her center of gravity to be as close as possible to the wall, something the breasts of which she was so proud were making difficult. She began wriggling down the wall. The "food delivery man" was getting increasingly impatient. "Will you open up, already?!" "J-just a minute!" Mihoshi shouted back. "I'm having trouble with my bra!" Good job, thought Kiyone. After what seemed like an eternity, Kiyone reached the ground. "Mihoshi!" she shouted, but not too loudly. Mihoshi came to the window. Kiyone called up to her. "Hang from the sill and drop! I'll break your fall!" "I can't!" "You have to! Come on!" The man began pounding violently on the door. Mihoshi scrambled out the window and hung from the sill as Kiyone had asked. Kiyone waited for her to drop. "I c-can't do it!" cried Mihoshi. "Are you afraid of heights?" "No, I'm afraid of falling!" There was a loud bang as the man kicked the door in. Mihoshi yelped and let go. Kiyone got under her, planning to break her fall, but instead caught her cleanly. "Wow!" exclaimed Kiyone. "You don't weigh anything!" "I know! I just can't gain weight, no matter how hard I try!" The man poked his head out the window. "RUN!" yelled Kiyone. The man fired a dart gun at them as they fled. Kiyone and Mihoshi cut a weaving path across the grass, presenting a difficult target that was swiftly rendered impossible by the evening darkness. Once safely out of sight, they paused by one of the classroom buildings, panting. Kiyone cursed herself for having left her shoes in the barracks. Her poor feet were already cold, wet, and covered with grass clippings thanks to the dew, and it wasn't going to get much better. Where she was planning on going wasn't friendly to bare feet. "Mihoshi, we've got to go back to the port." "But we'll get in trouble!" "We're *already* in trouble! I don't see how it could possibly get worse. I want to have another look at those crates you were climbing on, maybe open one up." "You think maybe there's something illegal inside?" "Exactly. Let's go." They made their way to the port carefully, avoiding lit areas as much as possible. Kiyone motioned for Mihoshi to move in front. "You lead. You know the way." "The way where?" asked Mihoshi, confused. "I want you to show me the back way into that warehouse, the way you went when I lost track of you before." "But I don't really know where I went. I was looking for Shi and got lost." "Well, try, okay? Take it one step at a time. Try to remember landmarks." "Okay, I'll try." Mihoshi walked forward, hesitantly. "I think it's this way." "But the warehouse isn't that way. It isn't even close!" "You asked me where I went." "Okay, okay." Kiyone followed after Mihoshi, trying not to step on anything sharp. Mihoshi's path meandered this way and that. Kiyone still didn't see how the route could possibly lead them to the warehouse and wondered if Mihoshi was remembering correctly, or if she was guessing. "Uh-oh." Mihoshi stopped. "What?" "This is as far as I remember. Here I got really confused and really lost and then I was in the warehouse." The warehouse they wanted wasn't anywhere nearby. "Think," said Kiyone. "What was your next step?" "I don't know!" whined Mihoshi. "I was lost!" "So get lost again!!" Kiyone grabbed Mihoshi and spun her around. "There! You're lost! Now where do you go?" Dizzy from the spinning, Mihoshi wobbled as she looked around. Her eyes went wide. "Hey! There it is!" "There what is?" Kiyone looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. When she looked back, Mihoshi was gone. "Mihoshi?" Kiyone searched frantically, but there was no sign of her. Just when she was about call out her name, Kiyone caught a glimpse of Mihoshi in the corner of her eye. She lunged in that direction. Kiyone was suddenly overcome by dizziness. She collapsed to her knees and waited for the world to stop spinning. "Kiyone, are you okay?" Kiyone looked up to see Mihoshi standing over her. She got to her feet. "Yeah, I'm fine. I thought I'd lost--" She looked around in astonishment. They were inside the warehouse. "How did we get here?" "No idea," said Mihoshi. "Like I said, this kind of stuff happens to me all the time." The crates about which Kiyone had been so curious were right in front of them. They located a crowbar and opened one. It was filled with guns. Kiyone took one, a small pistol, and examined it. "This isn't anything like what we use at the academy. Mihoshi, someone's using the Galaxy Police to smuggle guns!" "That's correct, Cadet." Kiyone whirled around to find Lieutenant Tugh. "L-L-Lieutenant! I can explain!" "You're out of uniform, Cadet. You're also out past curfew, you're AWOL, and you're in violation of my confinement order. I think both of you can forget about careers in the GP." "But-- But someone was trying to kill us!" "I know. It was an unfortunate situation. I'm glad you escaped, but you shouldn't have come here. It makes the situation even more unfortunate." Tugh took out a gun and trained it on the two of them. "No..." was all Kiyone could say. Finally, it all fit together. She wanted to cry. "Um, could someone please explain all this to me?" asked Mihoshi. END CHAPTER FIVE TO BE CONTINUED ****************************************************************************** Galaxy Police Mihoshi's A C A D E M Y D A Y S "The Mihoshi Syndrome" by Ryan Mathews ****************************************************************************** CHAPTER SIX Five men stepped into the light behind Lieutenant Tugh, who continued to hold Kiyone and Mihoshi at gunpoint. Two walked in front, the seeming leaders, while the others remained behind. Kiyone recognized one of them as the man who had attacked them in the barracks. "Ah, Tugh," said one of the leaders. "It seems you've solved our little problem." "There wouldn't have been a problem if you'd kept your goons on a leash," Tugh angrily replied. "The only reason these two cadets are here is because you chased them out of their confinement." "It was a mistake, but one that's easily remedied." The man snapped his fingers. One of the goons drew a pistol and advanced. "What do you think you're doing?" "We can't let them live." "I'll deal with this!" Tugh shouted. "In my own way, on my own time! If you can't handle it, Shi, that's too bad! You can shove these guns up your ass for all I care. You're lucky I'm even buying them, after what happened with your little demonstration." The man gave Tugh a long stare, as if trying to determine whether or not he was serious. Finally he said, "Okay. You handle this in your own way. Just make sure that you do, or we *will* handle it for you." "Did he call you `Shi'?" Mihoshi asked. The man smiled. "Exjin Shi, arms dealer to the stars, at your service. The boy you know is my nephew. He wasn't worth much until he enrolled in your Police Academy. Then he became the most valuable member of the family." Kiyone looked at Tugh, tears welling up in her eyes. "Sir, I can't believe you'd do something like this!" "I'm broke, Kiyone. I used to have a bit of a gambling problem. I managed to kick the habit a few years back, but I've never been able to pay off my debts. I can resell these guns and get back even." "It's a wonderful system," said the arms dealer. "I ship the guns to the academy through the port, and Tugh uses contacts inside the GP to ship them." "But that's illegal, isn't it?" asked Mihoshi. The arms dealer blinked. "Did you really pass the entrance exam?" "With flying colors!" beamed Mihoshi. "Let's get this over with," said Tugh. "Dramm!" Dramm appeared from behind the towering stacks of crates, carrying a briefcase. Kiyone was heartbroken. "Dramm. Not you too." "I'm sorry, Kiyone. I tried so hard to keep you out of this. I warned you, and I thought you'd listened, but here you are anyway. I guess it's just one of those things." Tugh motioned to Dramm. "Show him the money." Dramm open the briefcase. The dealer leafed through the contents. Behind Kiyone, Mihoshi glanced around. "Wow, that stack of crates is even taller than the one I climbed before!" Kiyone turned around to tell her to shut up and saw that Mihoshi had begun to climb the stack. Her blood turned to ice. She opened her mouth to shout at her to get down, then closed it for fear that Mihoshi would be shot. She glanced nervously from one of the armed guards to the next, waiting for the moment when one of them would notice Mihoshi climbing and open fire. She readied herself to pounce as soon as that happened. Maybe in the confusion she or Mihoshi could escape. But the strangest thing happened. As Mihoshi climbed higher and higher, no one noticed. She was in plain view, but nobody looked in the right direction. Kiyone couldn't believe it. She glanced one last time at Mihoshi, who had nearly reached the summit, then stopped looking, not wanting to attract attention herself. Finally, Tugh noticed Mihoshi, and did something Kiyone found odd. He glanced up at Mihoshi, stared for a moment, then turned around and went back to arguing with the arms dealer about the amount of Juraian currency in the payment. Confused, Kiyone stole one more glance at Mihoshi. She was bent over, apparently whispering to someone behind the stack. Kiyone looked at Dramm. He winked at her. Kiyone's heart soared. She had been wrong. *Now* she understood everything. She quietly moved closer to the nearest guard. "Then we have a deal?" Tugh asked. "We have a deal," replied the arms dealer. "The guns are all yours." "Wonderful. Then I have all I need. NOW!!" Armed Galaxy Police officers streamed out from behind every stack of crates. Kiyone drove her elbow into the stomach of the guard behind her, grabbed his arm, flipped him painfully onto his back, and took his gun. "Don't move, Shi!" Tugh yelled. "After all you put me through, I'm not that intent on taking you alive." The arms dealer cursed. "I should have known better then to do business with a police officer." Several officers moved forward to take him into custody. The dealer whipped out a gun and fired a shot into a crate. Before the officer could react, the crate exploded. Two others quickly detonated as well, in a chain reaction. Debris flew through the air, cutting down officers and mobsters alike. In the chaos, the dealer turned and ran toward the warehouse entrance. Mihoshi had been at the top of the stack. When the crates at the bottom exploded, the stack was thrown upward and collapsed. Kiyone watched helplessly as Mihoshi fell. As Mihoshi plummeted, guns and ammunition, thrown upward by the explosion, flew past her. Mihoshi grabbed a pistol out of the air. She grabbed a power cell as it flew by and slapped it in. She took aim and fired two perfect shots into the dealer's legs. He fell, sprawling. Mihoshi completed her fall, making a perfect landing, at least at first. "Owwie, my butt," she whined, then added, "Did I get him?" Kiyone and Mihoshi remained to help clean up. They'd been lucky. The shrapnel hadn't killed anyone, and although some of the injuries had been serious, all the officers were conscious and talking as they were carried off. Dramm himself had received a nasty laceration on his forehead, but insisted that it just be bandaged for the moment. Mihoshi, of course, had come through without a scratch. "That was an incredible shot, Mihoshi!" Kiyone said. "Really? Thanks!" "I'll say that was incredible," Dramm agreed. "`Unbelievable' is more like it. Maybe you could give me lessons sometime." Mihoshi laughed and blushed. "We're nearly done here," said Tugh. "Why don't you cadets head back to the barracks?" "Yes sir," said Kiyone. "But before we go, could you just answer one question? How did this all start?" Tugh laughed nervously. "I wonder that myself sometimes. Shi had arrived on campus early, just after the last term ended. He wanted to see me. He confided in me about his criminal relations. They had been pressuring him to help get them into the GP's organization. They wanted to set up a smuggling operation. He didn't want to do it, but he was afraid they might start to threaten him, and he wondered if I could help him. "Well, when he told me exactly who his relations were, I could hardly contain myself. The GP had been after Exjin Shi and his operation for years. I saw this as a great opportunity. So, with the help of Dramm and the other officers, we set up a sting operation. "To make a long story short, I'm a lot better at running an academy than at running a sting operation. Once we let these people onto the base, I had trouble controlling them. If they'd have killed you, I never would have forgiven myself." Kiyone smiled. "I forgive you, sir. I'm just glad you hadn't really gone bad. I, um... I really look up to you, sir." "I know, Kiyone. That's why I've never made you call me `sir' when you're not in uniform." Kiyone looked down at herself. She was a mess. Her clothes were torn, she was all covered in dust, and her poor bare feet were aching from all the splinters she'd stepped on. "Oh, man. I need a shower bad. I'd better get back to the barracks. Come on, Mihoshi." "Coming!" shouted Mihoshi. "I'd better get back myself," said Dramm. "The nurses are going to have a fit if I don't get this cut sealed. So, Kiyone, can I pick you up in front of the barracks at 2000 hours?" "What for?" Kiyone asked. "Our date, of course." "Oh! I, uh, sure!" "Great! See you then!" * * * Kiyone smiled as she remembered. Getting closer to Dramm had been one of the nicest things about that case. As with most first romances, it didn't work out, but they had some great times, and when they broke up, they remained friends. Kiyone hadn't talked to Dramm in almost a year. She resolved to get in touch with him if she and Mihoshi survived the mess they were in. She mentally kicked herself. She was supposed to be figuring out a solution to their problem, not thinking about old boyfriends. She'd made virtually no progress. There were only two possible solutions: escape or signal for help. Escape seemed the more unlikely of the two. Climbing up or down the bridge was even more infeasible now than it had been when Kiyone had tried it. That left signaling as the only means of rescue. It was impossible to signal via radio. Both the onboard radio and Mihoshi's wristcorder were melted beyond repair. That left some kind of visual signal, which was made nearly impossible by how neatly their aircar was tucked underneath the bridge. Kiyone was pretty sure there were flares in the trunk, but there was no way to get to them, save maybe using their guns to cut through from the cabin. Even then, one of them would have to crawl back to get them, which meant the other would have to climb out onto the hood to balance the car. Assuming the flares were there, shooting them into the air was impossible with the bridge overhead. That meant shooting them downward, and Kiyone doubted they were waterproof enough to burn floating in water for very long. "Here comes a car," said Mihoshi. Kiyone didn't feel anything. "How can you tell?" Mihoshi smiled and pointed to her pointed, elflike ears. She was pale. Kiyone could tell the poor girl was terrified. "Must be a service vehicle," said Kiyone. "They shouldn't be opening the bridge for at least half an hour." Kiyone heard the car herself now. The car approached, the rumble getting louder and louder. The bridge began to vibrate. Finally, the car passed overhead. The bridge shook gently. Kiyone's and Mihoshi's car began to sway as the support beams vibrated underneath them. Then the rumble went away, and everything was calm once more. They'd survived the passing of a single car. They wouldn't be as lucky when the traffic passed overhead en masse. Kiyone pounded the dashboard in frustration. There had to be a way out of this mess. There always had been one in the past, no matter how hopeless the situation had been. Working with Mihoshi was like riding a roller coaster. Up, then down, then up again, then down again. Mihoshi had a way of getting Kiyone into trouble, but she also had a way of getting her out of trouble as well. In their first adventure, Mihoshi had stumbled upon information that had nearly gotten them killed, but in the end, she had saved the entire operation. The two of them had received commendations. That was the pattern life with Mihoshi followed. Things got worse and worse, then, just when it seemed hopeless, they rebounded. Rebound. There was that word again. Kiyone pounded her forehead. The word must have some significance, she thought, or her brain wouldn't keep bringing it to her attention. "Kiyone, didn't you say the bridge wouldn't open for a half-hour?" Kiyone nodded. With both her and Mihoshi's wristcorder out of service, and no power to the car's systems, they had no way of telling time, but her own internal clock, in addition to the light outside, made her guess the time at about 530 hours local. "Well," Mihoshi continued, "I think your estimate might be a little off, 'cause I hear *lots* of cars." Kiyone paled. She must have misjudged the time, or else been wrong about the time at which the city opened the bridge. Whatever the case, the minutes they'd had remaining had now become seconds. Kiyone's mind worked feverishly. She tried to think of anything they could try, no matter how desperate. She couldn't keep her mind on track, though. She drifted, thinking about all the people to whom she wanted to say good-bye: her mother, her father, Commander Tugh, Dramm. Dramm! Rebound! Her mind made the connection. Dramm had once shown her something she didn't know about her own gun. If a power cell was drained in a firefight, Dramm had advised, she shouldn't throw it away. In an emergency, it was often possible to get one last shot out of it, even if the cell had seemed to be completely drained. The phenomenon was known as "rebound", where a fresh battery could partially recharge itself. The battery in the aircar was fairly new, as far as Kiyone knew. It was possible that it had rebounded. There wouldn't be enough power to fly it back to the base, but they could get out from under the bridge and fly to the shore, or at least make a safe splash landing. But... If the batteries had rebounded, why hadn't the radio worked? Kiyone thought about it. It was possible that a shot from Garrett's gun had damaged the system feeding power to the dashboard systems, but not the one that fed the engine. It was possible. No, thought Kiyone. It was ridiculous. There was no way she could possibly be that lucky. But Mihoshi could. Was that the solution? To just say "damn it all" and put everything in the hands of Mihoshi's maddeningly stupid luck? Mihoshi had an annoying way of "lucking" herself both into and out of trouble. Could her luck really save them? As Kiyone heard the cars approach, she figured they didn't really have much of a choice. "Mihoshi," she said, "start the car." "W-what?" "You heard me." "B-but, there's no power! I can't--!" Kiyone yelled at her. "Dammit, Mihoshi!! We have thirty seconds to live! We're going to die unless you do something! Now, START THE DAMNED CAR!!" "WAAAH!" Mihoshi yelled, and hit the ignition switch. The dashboard remained dark, but the engines roared to life. Both women were pushed into their seats as the car thrust itself free and flew out from underneath the bridge. Then the engines cut out again and the car dropped like a rock. Kiyone braced herself for the impact, knowing it wouldn't do any good. Mihoshi hit the ignition switch again and again. At the last moment, the car came to life once more. Straining with the controls, Mihoshi leveled the car as it hit the water, painfully, but non-fatally. It skipped once, twice, then began to sink. Kiyone laughed with joy, and was rewarded with excruciating pain. "Come on," she said, "we have to get out of here!" She looked out the window. The car was already underwater. She looked down in horror to see water rapidly filling the cabin. Of course, she thought. The whole car had been shot full of holes. Her crazed laughter turned to gurgles as the water rose past her face. She awoke in a hospital to see Mihoshi hovering over her. "I'm alive." "Yup!" confirmed Mihoshi. "Glad to see you're finally awake." "What happened?" "You'll never believe it. This cruise ship saw us go into the water, and the captain dove right in and pulled us out." Kiyone could believe it. She tried to sit up, and winced in pain. "Hey! Don't move," Mihoshi said. "You broke some ribs." "I see. As usual, you weren't even scratched." "Not true!" Mihoshi displayed her left hand. "See! Broken pinky finger." "Well, I guess that's something." "Let's see, what else." Mihoshi looked at a list. "Oh, yeah! Garrett survived the fall, can you believe it? The safety systems in those luxury speeders must be something else, huh? He's in Galaxy Police custody. And these are for you." She handed Kiyone a bouquet of flowers. "Mihoshi. You shouldn't have." "Oh, they're not from me. They're from the cruise ship captain. And here's his picture, and here's his telecom number. He's cute, and he really likes you!" Kiyone looked at the picture. He *was* gorgeous. Kiyone thought about calling him, but with Mihoshi's luck, he'd probably turn out to be a serial killer. "Oh, and, um, this is for you." Mihoshi handed her a sheet of paper, a bit nervously. Kiyone read it over. It was a request for partner reassignment. Mihoshi had filled it out completely. All that was required was Kiyone's signature. "Oh, Mihoshi..." she started, annoyed. "I know you don't like to talk about it, so I figured I'd save you the trouble." Kiyone looked at the form. She couldn't help but smile. Mihoshi *would* do something like this, she thought. However, Kiyone had decided ages ago whom she wanted as her partner. She just hadn't recognized the decison. Now she did. She tore the form into several neat pieces and set them on the table next to her bed. "Mihoshi, when I'm ready for a new partner, I'll ask for one myself. I'm not ready yet. Okay?" "Okay," replied Mihoshi, the relief evident in her voice. "Unless you'd rather work with someone else?" "Oh, no!" exclaimed Mihoshi. "I like having you as my partner. I think you're cool!" Kiyone stared at Mihoshi, trying desperately not to laugh. She lost the battle, alternating laughs with yelps of pain. "Damn you, Mihoshi!" she said, between giggles. * * * Kiyone finished her shower, put on her robe and headed back to her room. She had lingered longer than usual under the hot water, feeling she deserved it. As semesters at the Academy went, this was already one for the books, and it wasn't even three days old. On the way back, she ran into Shi. "Kiyone! I've been looking for you," he said, then blushed as he saw how she was dressed. "It's okay," said Kiyone. "With the men's and women's barracks in the same building, you'd better get used to seeing the occasional bathrobe." Shi laughed. "I guess so. I really shouldn't be over here. I just wanted to see if I could catch you before you went to bed. I wanted to thank you and apologize for what my relatives put you through." "No problem. I wouldn't want academy life to get too boring." "Thanks again. I'd better get to bed myself." Kiyone remembered something. "Hey, Shi!" "Yes?" "I've just been thinking. We're probably going to hang around a lot, you, me, and Mihoshi, and I was wondering if there was something else I could call you. No offense, but your name sounds like a pronoun. It gets confusing." Shi smiled. "I understand. Most of my friends call me by my first name." "Which is?" "Doujin." It figures, thought Kiyone. She went back to her room. Mihoshi was already asleep, having passed out on her bunk in her clothes. Kiyone pulled off Mihoshi's shoes and tucked her in under a blanket. "Do me a favor," she said, softly. "Don't wake up for a few days." T H E E N D EPILOGUE: CHAPTER TWO AGAIN Tugh explained how, thousands of years ago, a scientist had made a prediction. She had predicted that one day a child would be born with the ability to alter the laws of probability. This child, when born, would play an important role in the fate of the universe. "And you're saying Mihoshi is that child?" asked Kiyone. "We have no idea," said Tugh. "But she was born at about the time predicted, in about the location predicted. And you've seen the sort of things that happen around her." Kiyone had to admit that Mihoshi's luck seemed supernatural. "What do want me to do?" "Look after her. Be there for her. If she is the child in question, this will be a very difficult time for her." "Very well," sighed Kiyone. "It's not that bad," said Tugh. "If you give her a chance, you might even become friends." "I doubt it, sir. But I will give her a chance." The scientist had disappeared two thousand years ago, but she was essentially immortal, and there was every chance she was still alive. Kiyone very much hoped that was the case. Because if she ever met this "Washu", there some questions she wanted to ask her. ------RM