8. In a China Shop
The Rub
“Sandy,” Raoul said, “could you close up for me tonight? I
have a date with Kate.”
“Ooh,” Ayre said, lying on the massage table. “Another Kate
date. This is getting serious.”
Sandy slammed her hand down on Ayre’s back just hard enough
to shut him up. “I am not so sure about this, Raoul,” Sandy
said. “Kate’s Salon is your biggest competitor. How do you know
she is not just using you to keep you off guard so she can take
over your business?”
“Don’t you trust anyone, girl?” Raoul asked.
“Only myself,” Sandy said, continuing Ayre’s back rub.
“I’d trust Senshi Saggitarius with anything,” Ayre said
dreamily. “Ouch!”
Sandy grinned. To Raoul, she said, “I will close for you if
that is what you really want.”
“Thanks Sandy,” Raoul said as he left, “I owe you one.”
“Yeah Sandy,” Ayre said. “You’re such a nice Ouch!”
***
Jack’s Electronics
“Well look at this,” Ryan said to Jack and Scott. Franco was
standing in the corner of the room, sweating. “This tape deck
does not work.”
“Oh come on, Mr. Noctan,” pleaded Franco. “You know I’m not
trying to rip you off. These pieces are legit. I can’t help it
if my boys get one or two things that don’t work.”
“That’s because you don’t let my brother work for you,” Scott
said. Ryan hadn’t heard of Scott’s brother before. “Your boys
don’t know the trash from the gold.”
“Now that’s hardly fair, Mr. Lux,” Franco protested. “Sean
tried to join my boys and failed.”
“They didn’t like him, so they didn’t even give him a fair
chance!” Scott yelled.
“The boy is cocky,” Franco said. “Can you blame them for not
wanting him around?”
“He’s better than they are,” Scott said. “Can you blame him
for being cocky?”
“Look,” Franco said, “I don’t need any more grief from you
guys. If there are any broken pieces in the shipment, they’re
free. Good day,” he added firmly as he donned his parka and left
into the swirling blizzard.
Jack laughed. “You know, it’s a lot easier to trust Franco
when he can’t cheat us.”
“You were amazing, Ryan,” Scott said. “The way you bullied
him was perfect. I didn’t think you of all people could pull it
off.”
Since the attack on Jack’s Electronics, just over a month
ago, Ryan had helped out with two more of Franco’s shipments.
After the first, Ryan had intimidated Franco enough that there
was almost no faulty equipment, but Scott and Jack told him to
keep up the tough guy act to keep Franco on his toes. To keep
Ryan on his toes, however, Sandy (which is what she told him to
call her when she wasn’t in her villain guise) refused to clue
him into her weekly plans. She said that if some more malignant
force attacked the planet, he would have to be ready, so she
surprised him on a regular basis.
“You know I’m full of surprises,” Ryan said with a smile.
“Is there something you two aren’t telling me?” Jack asked.
“Nothing important,” Ryan answered.
“Scott?” Jack said.
“He helped Senshi Saggitarius a lot when we were attacked,”
Scott lied.
“It was nothing,” Ryan said.
“But you’re a hero, stud,” Scott jabbed. Both of them looked
into each other’s eyes and burst into laughter.
“We’ve got another shipment in two weeks,” Jack said. “Can I
count on you?”
“Of course,” Ryan said. “My sister and I desperately need
the money.” Ryan’s small jobs at Jack’s were enough to cover his
half of the rent every other week. Because Sandy’s salary had to
cover everything else, they had to live on the cheapest and worst
tasting food, toilet paper that felt like sand paper, and very
low heat. The only modification that Ryan was happy with was
that Sandy finally agreed to cut back on her electricity usage.
But still, there had to be a way for Ryan to bring in some more
money.
***
The Rub (The next week)
Sandy set down her duffel bag containing her street clothes
and put her favorite dance CD in the player. As it began to pump
out the driving rhythms, she leapt into the middle of the wooden-
floored, mirror-walled room and improvised her choreography to
the music. Of all the ways to work out, she preferred dancing.
She would come in early, before even Raoul arrived, and utilize
the entire aerobics room for her workouts.
She loved to dance. She would have chosen to be a dancer on
her home planet if she hadn’t been forced into military service.
Damn her father! He had to be an aristocrat, didn’t he? Well,
she didn’t care now; she was away from his mindless authority and
on her own, having fun on a world too insignificant in its frozen
state for him to even think about invading. He would never
expect to look for her here either.
Sandy took a spinning leap across the room, showing off her
prowess, even if it was only to herself, and landed gracefully on
one foot. From there, she did a series of small splits in the
air as she leapt in a circle. As the finale or the song
approached, she narrowed her circle to the middle of the room and
spun on one foot. On the final beat, she stopped spinning and
put her other foot down, raising her hands high into the air.
She could almost hear the audience giving her their applause.
The revelry in her head died down to only two, and she realized
that she wasn’t alone in the room. She turned to see Raoul and
Ayre clapping by the door. Sandy did the only thing she could
think of: she bowed.
“What are you two doing up here?” Sandy asked. “You know I
will be down after I shower and change and still be fifteen
minutes early for work. Are you that eager for your massage?”
she asked Ayre.
“Don’t look at me,” Ayre said. “Raoul called and said he had
something important to tell me and to come down here to hear it.
I wouldn’t even be awake yet otherwise.”
“What is so important?” Sandy asked. Both of them looked at
Raoul expectantly.
Raoul studied the pattern of the wood planks in the polished
floor. “Well,” he began, “last night I went out with Kate again.
We went out for a sleigh ride through the countryside outside the
city. The stars were out and the moon was full and I proposed to
her.”
For a few seconds, no one said a word, then Sandy realized
what he had just told her. “You are getting married?” she asked
in disbelief.
“When?” Ayre added.
“Soon,” Raoul told them. “Kate has had three engagements
broken by guys who were sick of all of the planning. We’re going
to do it in three weeks.”
“Can I bring Ryan?” Sandy asked.
“He’s invited,” Raoul said, “but you two are brother and
sister, so you’ll need separate dates. You two can still split
your gift, of course.”
“Hey Ayre,” Sandy said, “are you ready to go to a wedding
with the hottest girl of New Rome?”
“No way,” Ayre said. “Three weeks is just enough time for me
to pick the lucky boy who will go perfectly with my tux. I’m the
best man, right?”
“Of course,” Raoul said.
“Who will I go with then?” Sandy asked.
***
Ryan and Sandy’s apartment
“I know,” Ryan said. “You can go with Scott.”
“Scott who?” Sandy asked.
“He works at Jack’s electronics.”
“Is he cute?”
“Do you think I would be stupid enough to try and set you up
on a date with a man I didn’t think you would like?” Ryan asked.
“Besides,” Ryan added, “you have seen him.”
“I have?”
“When you attacked Jack’s, Scott was the one Blacktop coated
with tar and tried to burn him up.”
“Oh, he was cute,” Sandy said. “I almost set him free myself
and made him my servant. Of course, then I would have had to
have fed him too, and I do not make enough to feed three.”
“You are so practical,” Ryan said in mock awe.
Sandy stuck her tongue out at Ryan, then said, “tell Scott
that he is coming to the wedding as my date then. If he says no,
tell him that I will put out.”
“Sandy!”
“What?” she asked innocently.
“I will not have my sister talking like that, especially to
people she does not know.”
Sandy laughed. “You act so much like my brothers.”
Changing the subject, Ryan asked, “when is the wedding?”
“Two weeks from Friday,” she answered.
“A Friday? You would not do that to Raoul, would you?”
“Why not?” Sandy asked. “It will make their wedding
memorable.”
“I guess it could work,” Ryan said. “Scott knows about me,
so he can cover my escape to transform.”
“Good,” Sandy said, “we are agreed. Now, we should go
shopping for Raoul and Kate’s wedding present. He gave me a list
of gifts he and Kate thought out last night so I could have the
first choice of what to give him.”
“Is there anything in our price range?” Ryan asked.
“I thought that this teapot they want would be nice,” she
answered pointing to the name brand on the page.
“Do you really want to buy that? It will mean three more
weeks of boxed macaroni and powdered cheese,” Ryan said.
“We have gotten this far and we are fine,” Sandy stated.
“Let’s go get it then,” Ryan said.
“Now?”
“We might as well,” Ryan told her. “Once that list goes out
to everyone Raoul is inviting, the choices will dwindle quickly.”
“I guess we must,” Sandy said, going to the closet and
getting their coats.
They went out into the snow and quickly made their way to
Caroline’s Finery. The comforting blast of heat greeted them as
they walked in, as did the door’s bell.
“May I help you?” asked a friendly looking sales girl with a
smile. Terra was the dark-blonde-haired girl’s name according to
her name tag.
“Yes,” Sandy said, “we’re looking for this teapot.” She
pointed once again to the name and model on the list.
“We had that item,” Terra told them, “but it sold out last
week. I’ll go check in the back to see if we had another
shipment since then.”
“Thanks,” Sandy and Ryan said in unison as Terra went through
the curtain with the words EMPLOYEES ONLY over it.
“That was neat,” said a voice behind them. Ryan and Sandy
turned to see a blonde girl, also an employee, standing before
them. She was one of the most beautiful girls Ryan had seen in a
long time. “Are you two twins or something?”
Sandy rolled her eyes at the girls bubbly perkiness and was
about to snap off a nasty retort, but Ryan spoke first. “How did
you guess?” he asked as if he really was amazed. Sandy was
disgusted.
“I just have this gift,” the girl replied, which was
accompanied by a giggle. “Oh, I’m Kelli by the way. Kelli with
an ‘I’,” she added pointing to the name card pinned to her over-
inflated bust.
“Hi,” Ryan said, smiling broadly, “I am Ryan.”
“With a ‘Y’,” Sandy added sarcastically in the same bubbly
tone Kelli used.
“Are you here to buy something?” Kelli asked.
“Yes,” Ryan said. “My sister’s boss is getting married and
we are here to buy him a wedding gift.”
“Oh I love weddings,” Kelli exclaimed. “Everyone is always
dressed so nicely.”
“That’s the most important part, huh?” Sandy muttered.
“You know what?” Ryan said. “I still need a date for this
one. Do you want to come with me?”
This had to be some cruel joke. Ryan just could not be
asking this pneumatic ditz to Raoul’s wedding. Didn’t he have
any taste? Sandy kept her mouth shut, though, to be nice.
“I’d love to go,” Kelli said and gave Ryan a small kiss on
the cheek. Sandy felt like she was going to lose her lunch.
“You’re in luck,” Terra said, walking up to them with a
medium sized box in her hands. She opened it up and pulled out
shining white ceramic teapot with ivy leaf trim. “We only had
one of these left in stock.”
“We will take it,” Sandy said quickly, wanting to leave as
quickly as possible.
“We can use my employee discount,” Kelli said. “If I’m going
with you, I’d like to chip in a bit.”
The fact that Kelli was useful only sickened Sandy more. She
paid for the teapot (at thirty percent off) and pulled Ryan out
of the store.
“You had to invite her,” Sandy said as they entered their
apartment. She set the bag containing the teapot down and
removed her gloves.
“She is sweet,” Ryan said with a silly smile.
“She is an airhead,” Sandy said.
At that moment, he knew exactly where Sandy would strike this
week. He kept the same expression, however, so he wouldn’t tip
her off. If she knew that he knew her plan, she might change it.
He would just have to wait until Friday, knowing where the attack
would be.
“All she has to do is look pretty on my arm,” Ryan said.
“That she is,” Sandy replied, “as long as she does not open
her mouth.”
***
Friday. The street.
Ryan stood in the alley, watching Caroline’s Finery across
the street. Like clockwork, a portal opened in front of the
store and Stardust stepped out, her face all business. Behind
her, one of her more humanoid Bots, wearing tight black pants, a
small black jacket over a puffy white shirt, a strange black hat,
and carrying a red cape exited the portal.
Ryan didn’t wait for his ring to flash. “Saggitarius Power,
Make Up,” he whispered, ducking back into the shadows as Stardust
and her Bot entered the store. When he got to the door of the
shop, he saw that the Bot had already begun. It had thrown its
cape over Kelli and was draining her energy quickly. From the
stillness of the cape, he knew Kelli was unconscious.
The Bot lifted the cape and confirmed Ryan’s suspicion. As
it turned to throw the cape over Terra, she did a roundhouse to
its head, followed by a foot sweep, knocking it on its behind.
She picked it up and threw it at some glass shelves filled with
fine china.
“Bot Matadoro, fight her,” Stardust yelled, but the bot was
busy being pummeled by Terra. “If you do not stop and wait for
Senshi Saggitarius to save you, girl, I will stop you myself,”
she threatened.
“I’m right here,” Senshi Saggitarius said, leaning against
the door. “I do not think that this woman needs my help,” he
added as Matadoro flew over his head, thrown by Terra.
The Bot landed on its feet and ran toward Terra, but the
Stellar Senshi stuck out his foot and tripped it as it went by.
It landed on its face at Terra’s feet.
“Before that thing does any more damage to the store,”
Saggitarius asked Terra, “do you want me to finish it off?”
Terra looked at the damage she had caused by trashing the Bot
and answered, “yeah, I think you should, if it wouldn’t be any
trouble.”
“None at all,” Senshi Saggitarius said as he readied his
attack. “Saggitarius Lightning Arrow!” The arrow hit the Bot
square in the back and it turned into a pile of dust. “If there
were more people like you, I would be out of a job.”
“You had it easy this week, Stellar Senshi,” Stardust said,
creating a portal. “Next week, though, I will win.”
“Do not count on it,” Saggitarius said as Stardust left.
Terra laughed. “That was fun, but that monster wasn’t as
difficult as my sparring partners at the gym.”
“Is that where you learned to fight so well?”
“No way,” Terra said, “I taught myself.”
“I have an idea,” Saggitarius said, “but I’ll have to ask my
superiors. Before I do, do you have any objections to becoming a
Stellar Senshi?”
Terra looked at him wide eyed and mouth agape. “You don’t
really mean it, do you?”
“I do,” Saggitarius said. “You have the spirit for it, and
I’m sure at least one of the powers is for a warrior like you. I
got mine because of my leadership abilities”
“I guess I would like to be a Stellar Senshi,” she said,
still amazed.
“Good,” Senshi Saggitarius said. “It will be a while before
I am able to contact my superiors, maybe a month or two, but I
will definitely tell them about you. Later,” he said as he
walked out the door and headed home.
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