                             Chapter Six: Tortured Mind!

     Luna gasped and Artemis looked at Serena as the unknown Scout looked past
him at her. All of the crew around them looked on wordlessly.
     Artemis moved his mind inward. *I can help you. Please tell me..who are
you?*
     The woman gritted her teeth and struggled against something unseen in her
mind. Artemis nodded to Luna *Mind block* he sent to her telepathically.
*Someone is trying to keep her from talking.*
     *Be gentle but, try to reach her.* Luna encouraged.
     Artemis more carefully now moved around the unseen block. *I'm your
friend.* he sent gently. *Please trust me. Open your mind as much as you can
without hurting yourself.*
     The woman looked terrified but closed her eyes and opened her mind more.
She shook her head. "It hurts!" she cried.
     *I know.* Artemis answered.
     "What the hell is going on?" Lt. Akano stared at this scene totally lost.
"She's talking to herself!"
     "Please trust us." Luna said.
     Lt. Akano looked at the girls. Other then the one called Sailor Mercury
who seemed to be typing furiously on some kind of small box, they all looked
nervous.
     Artemis felt something push against his mind. He gently pushed back trying
not to hurt her...and...suddenly memories overwhelmed him!!!!
     In a flash, Artemis saw some darkness which he couldn't comprehend. The
woman was running and, she seemed to be trying to defend herself against it.
Then, she was overcome and one of them had her in an energy field of some sort.
He saw her scream in pain but, at the last moment before possible death took
her, she ripped herself away and dove into the gateway!! Her memories were
filled with tortured pain. Artemis winced as he used his mental skills to ease
the nerve centers in her brain..hoping to use this as a means to protect her
from the pain.
     *Who are you?* he asked again gently.
     "Sailor....Pluto." the woman said slowly.
     Luna gasped. "Sailor Pluto! I've heard that name."
     Serena moved forward hesitantly. The woman opened her eyes and looked at
her again.
     "Queen...Serenity." she gasped out. Her face was filled with pain.
     Serena bent down and put a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Pluto...it's
okay. I'm Princess Serenity..not Queen. I don't know what is going on but,
we're going to help you."
     "Queen!!!" Lt. Akano stared at them. "I knew it! All this garbage about
the future can't be true! I know exactly what is going on here!" He spun around
and stared at Darien pulling his gun. "These girls must all be japanese
royalty! You may be too. You were all trying to escape our fleet before we
invade!!!"
     Darien stared at him feeling helpless. "No..you know that's not true. What
Artemis really said about the future is true. Please..."
     "THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!!" Lt. Akano shouted. Artemis could see he was
refusing to accept the situation.
     "Please listen to us!" he said to the man. "Do you really think that your
radio frequencies would have nothing on them? How do you explain Luna and I?"
     "I..I don't know." Akano looked lost.
     "Then for time being..believe us!" Raye said in broken english. She looked
at Ensign Bell for help.
     Bell looked at her and smiled. "I believe them Sir. This is all too
strange to be a japanese trick."
     Artemis ignored this and returned to his mind link with Sailor Pluto.
     *What happened to you?*
     Pluto gasped and tried to remember. "It...it hurts too much!" she said.
     Artemis nodded to Luna and, with her added strength, he gently pushed
around the barrier. *Try to remember what you can.*
     Pluto nodded. "I...I was defending...Crystal Tokyo...from..something. Most
of us were defeated. I don't know what happened to the Queen...and SMALL LADY!!
They got Small Lady!!" She cried and tears came down her cheeks. "I failed."
     Serena smiled and squeezed Pluto's shoulder encouragingly. "No you didn't.
We can help. You just have to tell us what to do. It's okay Pluto. I'm Princess
Serenity...your here in the past. Do you remember anything else?"
     Artemis noticed the precense of Serena seemed to have a calming effect on
Sailor Pluto. He withdrew slightly.
     Lt. Akano sighed and put the gun away. Darien smiled feeling relieved. The
other girls relaxed more.
     Artemis turned to Luna. *She's from the future. I'm not sure what happened
but some future enemy has attacked Crystal Tokyo! They lost the fight and, she
alone escaped into the time corridor. We have to help!*
     Luna nodded. *We need to know more. This could be dangerous to our very
existence.* 
     Artemis agreed then turned to Sailor Pluto.*Do you remember anything
else?*
     Sailor Pluto cried and winced in pain. Artemis pulled back.
*Okay..rest for now. I'll try to help you more later. I'm your friend.
Please don't attack anymore.*
     Pluto nodded feeling drained and laid down on the floor. Lt. Akano looked
flabbergasted. "Why is she hurt so much?"
     "I can't really explain that right now except, she's not herself and we're
doing what we can to help."
     Akano looked at Bell and, Bell smiled. "I believe them Sir."
     "Im glad you do." Akano looked over at the medic. "How is the Captain?"
     "I hope to be able to bring him around but, he took a pretty good knock on
the head." 
     Akano sighed. "Just great. Now what the hell do we do?"
     Artemis jumped up on a chair and looked at Akano directly. "Lieutenant...I
know it isn't standard procedure to have a japanese american as first officer.
Please...what is your mission?"
     Suddenly, everyone winced as they felt dizzy. Darien grabbed the bulkhead
to steady himself and, the other girls all supported each other. Lt. Akano
shook his head. "What the hell??" he gasped.
     Sailor Pluto sat up her eyes wide..."Time...shift..."
     "What???" Artemis answered.
     Akano looked around him at the men. All of them looked scared. He was
about to say something when, a voice sounded over the intercom!!!
     "Lieutenant!!! This is Seaman Martin!! I'm getting something on the radio
that is really strange!!!"
     Akano hit the intercom. "Go ahead."
     "Sir...I heard a message that the United Asian Empire has succeeded in
it's war against the United Confederation..and is going to launch a complete
and full invasion!!"
     "The...United Confederation..?" Akano puzzled.
     "Asian Empire??" Bell echoed.      
     "It's begun..the time shift." Pluto answered looking at
Serena. "If we can't stop it...all our realities will cease to
exist!!               

