Seeing Stars
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.


Chapter 39

"How did it go?" Jack asked as Diane walked into their hotel room carrying a large gym bag 
over her right shoulder.

"Faster than I thought it would," she replied with a grin as she dropped the bag on the 
floor with an audible thud. "Usually, I'd have to beat ol' Frank senseless before he'd 
cough up where he's hidden his stash." She pulled out her gun from behind her back and gave 
it an appraising look before displaying it to Jack. "Amazing how cooperative a guy can get 
once you stick this in his crotch."

Jack mentally winced in sympathy for the guy. "So, tell me. Do you usually threaten your 
contacts' groin areas, or did this guy just piss you off somehow?"

"It's a long story, Jack," she replied as she tucked her gun back where she got it from 
and picked up the bag. "The short of it is that he's a bit of a bastard, but he's one of 
the best at getting the necessary gear for you. For a price, of course."

"What, did he demand that you sleep with him as the price one time?" he asked with a laugh.

Diane stopped and stared at him. "What did you say?" she asked.

His laughter instantly died. "Something very stupid," he replied.

"I'd bet," she said as she slowly smirked at him. "But, you were right. He actually tried 
that with me once before. Of course, I kicked his ass for it, but I did need the gear for 
that one case, so I managed to... negotiate with him." She gave a small laugh at the 
memory. "Ever since, the guy always gives me a hard time whenever I need something that the 
government can't supply. I'd have just negotiated as usual, but considering how much time 
we may have left, I didn't want to waste the time."

"From the sound of it, it makes me wonder why he even bothers to deal with you at all," he 
remarked.

"Well, the main reason why he 'even bothers to deal with me', is because he owes me his 
life," she explained. "Basically, one of his old competitors tried to have him killed and 
I not only saved his life, but I took the bullet that was meant for him. Ever since then, 
he's always come through for me whenever I needed something. He still charges me for it, 
but at least it's half off his regular rate."

"I see," Jack said as Diane put the bag on the bed. "So, what'd you get?"

"You almost look like a kid waiting to see what he got for Christmas," she remarked with a 
wry smirk.

"What can I say? New gagets are almost like new toys," he replied with a sheepish shrug.

"Men," she retorted with an exaggerated sigh as she handed him the bag. "Here. Take a look 
around before you explode from the suspense."

"Thanks," he replied as he watched Diane turn toward the bathroom. "You don't wanna look 
with me?" he asked in a false petulant tone.

"Sorry, Sweetie, but Mommy's gotta change," she replied as she turned back and patted him 
on the cheek. "You just have fun with your new toys, okay?"

"Aw...," he sulked as he opened up the bag and started sifting through it. "Hey! Night-
vision goggles!"

Diane giggled to herself as she watched him for a few moments longer before going into the 
bathroom. "Like a little kid...," she said to herself with a smile.

Jack was going over the various digital lockpicking devices when he heard the phone ring. 
"Hello?" he answered as he idly played with a glass cutter with his free hand. "Hey, 
Christy! Yeah, everything's going well over here so far."

"I just got back from visiting Tira in the hospital," Christy told him. "I just got word 
from the doctors that she'll be well enough to leave the day after tomorrow."

"That's wonderful!" he exclaimed happily. "Hopefully, we shouldn't be here that much 
longer. We've got word that our man is on his way here, so we're making plans for our 
ambush."

"Speaking of which, how much do you know about something called Project: Ginzuishou?"

"Project: Ginzuishou?" he repeated quizzically. "What's that?"

"You don't know?" she said in astonishment. "Tira told me that she told you a little bit 
about it when she first called you. She only learned the rest after she weaseled one of the 
orderlies into letting her use his laptop until she recovered."

He blinked. "She what?" He blinked again as the last part of what she said sank in. "Wait. 
The first time? You mean that laser superweapon thing?"

"Well, yes, I suppose it could be used for that," she admitted. "However, the main thing 
about Project: Ginzuishou is that they are developing plans on how to use the phenomenal 
power gain of their synthetic crystal. We've already heard of one such plan - Project: 
Total Eclipse."

"Synthetic crystal? I don't remember hearing anything about a synthetic crystal."

"Huh? Okay, wait. Let's back up a sec. Okay, you know that the Nijizuishou Crystals are 
being stolen, right?"

"Right."

"Okay. Each crystal has a special property that increases a laser's power by three. If you 
combine the seven crystals' special properties into one man-made crystal, then the gain 
jumps to 1,250. Not only that, but they don't have to worry about the crystal cracking or 
overheating from the tremendous gain."

"What? You're kidding."

"Not a chance. Tira told me she got this straight from Stanton Aeronautical and I'm having 
a contact of mine check this out, and possibly find info on this Project: Total Eclipse, 
too."

"Does Tira know about Project: Total Eclipse?"

"From what I've seen, no. But I wouldn't put it past her to try and poke around Stanton 
Aeronautical some more for more info."

Jack growled to himself. "Christy-"

"Don't worry about it," she assured him. "I'll keep an eye on her for you."

"Thanks," he replied gratefully. "I don't want anything else to happen to her while I'm not 
there."

"I know."

"Something's bothering me, though," he said contemplatively. "There's seven Nijizuishou 
Crystals, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, if you triple something seven times, the gain is going to be greater than 1,250," he 
pointed out. "Why go to the trouble of making this crystal if he's going to have all seven 
crystals? Why not just use those instead?"

There was silence on Christy's end for a moment. "That's a good question."

"Well, if all goes well here, it all may be a moot point," he replied.

"Yeah. Good luck, Jack. You and Diane be careful out there," she told him.

"Thanks," he said and hung up the phone. Setting the bag aside, he got up from the bed and 
went over to the bathroom door. "Diane?" he called out knocking on the door.

"Yes?" she said as she opened the door wearing a towel wrapped around herself and her hair 
hanging down around her shoulders. "What is it, Jack?"

"I just got a call from Christy," he told her. "She says that Tira's going to be out of the 
hospital in two days."

"That's great, Jack, but somehow I get the feeling that that isn't the reason you stopped 
me from taking a shower," she replied, folding her arms beneath her breasts.

"Remember that weapon Tira told us about?" he asked. "The one that Stanton Aeronautical 
was planning? It seems that that's not all that's going on over there."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her expression turning serious.

"It seems that it's part or some overall project called Project: Ginzuishou," he told her. 
"They're trying to use the Nijizuishou Crystals to create this synthetic crystal that can 
amplify power over a thousand times with no adverse effects."

"A thousand...," she said, frowning as she trailed off worriedly.

"There's this other project that Christy mentioned, as well. Project: Total Eclipse. I 
don't know what it is, but the name alone is enough to make me wonder exactly what is going 
on at that company." He blinked as he realized that Diane was still standing in front of 
him wearing nothing but a towel. "You should go take your shower, Diane."

"What, is seeing me like this too much for you?" she asked as she leaned seductively 
against the doorframe and started to slowly slide down it while staring steamily at him.

"Sometimes," he admitted with a small smile. "But now's really not the time for that, is 
it?" he added with a wistful sigh.

She gave him a considering glance for a moment, then nodded as she straightened herself. 
"Yes, I suppose it isn't," she agreed with a sigh of her own. "But still, there's a time 
and a place for everything, right? I guess that means the right time would be later, don't 
you think?" she added with a smile.

"Maybe so," he agreed with a smile of his own. "But what about the right place?"

"Come now, Jack," she said as she turned back toward the bathroom, "let's not ask stupid 
questions." With that, she winked at him over her shoulder and closed the door behind her.

            **********************************************

Shingo cracked his knuckles gleefully as he booted his computer and broke out a bottle of 
Sapporo Draft and a few cans of Asahi Super Dry. "I have a feeling it's gonna be an all-
nighter," he said as he cracked open an Asahi and downed a third of it in one go. "I really 
hope that this isn't too easy. That wouldn't be any fun at all."

He drank the rest of the can and tossed it over his shoulder as the computer finished 
booting up. The can bounced off the wall and hit the rim of the wastebasket, landing on the 
floor. With a vexed grimace, he turned to his computer and proceeded to log on. "Gotta work 
on those free throws...."

Once he was logged in, he brought out the paper with the URL that Christy gave him. Using 
that, he ran a lookup of the webserver's IP address. Now that he had an IP address, he 
started to probe the server for any weaknesses that he could exploit. Within minutes, he 
finally was able to find a small weakness in one of the file system daemons that was 
vulnerable to a buffer overflow attack. Not a well-known weakness, but it was one that he 
knew about.

"I wonder if this's how Christy's friend got in?" he wondered to himself as he sent a 
session request with specially-crafted headers to initiate the buffer overflow attack. Once 
the request was forwarded to the web server, the targeted daemon ceased responding, 
granting him root access. He was in.

"All too easy," he sighed disappointedly. "Their system security desperately needs work. 
A decent system should've kept me busy for at least an hour." With a shrug, he ran a 
network probe to find out where the network's file server was. Upon finding it, he started 
to browse through the directories, searching for anything related to Project: Ginzuishou 
or Project: Total Eclipse.

An hour later, Shingo sighed as he came up with nothing. It was a big file server and there 
were so many directories to sift through.

"Dammit," he muttered as he tossed his last can of Asahi Super Dry over his shoulder, 
missing the wastebasket again. "If only I had something to go by. It could be almost 
anything...."

Wait. That last file that Christy gave him. It was a big file; several megabytes large, in 
fact. Maybe he should start looking for larger files. There was a folder a few directories 
back that didn't look too promising at first - Communication Array Planning - but it had 
several large files in it. Could be worth a shot.

After navigating to the folder, he started browsing through the documents listed. Monthy 
budget. Transferring personnel. Testing results for line-of-sight communications for all 
previously launched satellites. Maintenance plans for all satellites. Plans for a new 
communications satellite.

Shingo was about to move on to the next document when something caught his attention. 
Listed on the new communications satellite was what he believed to be the specs for a UHF 
frequency jammer.

"UHF?" he mused aloud as he leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling. "What 
would a comms satellite need a UHF jammer for? Don't they realize that it's just gonna end 
up jamming its own transmissions? That's got to be the stupidest-"

He cut off as he read the words at the bottom of the specifications sheet. "Authorized 
access only. Access restricted to Project: Ginzuishou and Project: Total Eclipse personnel 
only."

A wide smile spread across his face. "Jackpot."

            **********************************************

When Diane came out of the bathroom, she saw Jack standing by the window, staring outside 
with a pensive look on his face. 'He must be thinking about Tira again,' she thought as she 
unwrapped the towel from around her hair and tossed it on the bed. Originally, they were 
supposed to have a room with two beds, but she had suggested this room because it was less 
expensive and therefore, easier on her very limited budget. Well, Artie's budget, but 
still, she would rather try to spend as little as she could. Poor Artie would have a 
coronary when he looked at his credit card bill for this month.

Putting aside thoughts of credit cards and budgets, she came up behind Jack and wrapped her 
arms around him while laying her head on his shoulder. "Thinking about Tira again, aren't 
you?" she asked as she tilted her head to look up at him.

"I'm not going to be there when she gets out of the hospital," he told her as he glanced 
down at her. "I called Christy and asked her if she wouldn't mind looking after her for 
me."

"Now, Jack," Diane said as she started to pull back from him. She blinked up at him in 
surprise as he took her hands in his and pulled them back to where she had placed them 
before.

"Yes, I know what you're going to say," he said with a wistful smile. "She's a big girl 
now; she can take care of herself. Right?"

She stared at him for a moment longer before leaning her head on his shoulder again. "More 
or less," she agreed.

"I know. It took me a long time to learn how to be a father, Diane," he told her. "And now 
that I feel like I've finally figured it out, she's almost ready to strike out on her own." 
He sighed quietly. "Sometimes I feel like I haven't done enough for her. Like now, for 
instance. Here I am, halfway around the world while she's in the hospital. I know she 
understands why, but part of me still feels like I should be in that hospital, waiting for 
her to glare at me and tell me that she's perfectly capable of walking out of the hospital 
on her own two feet, not being wheeled around like an old granny."

Diane laughed softly. "I can imagine her saying something like that."

He regarded her for a moment. "You know, you've grown pretty attached to her yourself, you 
know."

"I have, haven't I?" she said thoughtfully. "Maybe it's because she sometimes reminds me of 
Hotaru."

"Really? How?"

"The way she acts around you. It's almost the same as how Hotaru acts around her father. 
She lost her mother at a young age, too. Younger than Tira, though. That and she's a really 
sweet girl, although a bit more playful at times than Hotaru. Hotaru's more of a shy type 
of girl."

"Hmm," Jack said as he turned back to gazing out the window.

"Hey, Jack."

"Hmm?"

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you," she said as she pulled away and sat on 
the bed. "If you don't mind, that is."

Jack turned from the window and sat down next to her. "What is it?"

"You've been taking care of Tira all by yourself, right?" she said thoughtfully.

"That's right."

"You never asked your father for any help?"

"I did once," he replied with a heavy sigh. "It didn't go very well. He wasn't very happy 
with my decision to try and raise Ti all by myself. He thought that I should at least be 
married before trying to raise a child, even if she was already fifteen years old."

He shook his head sadly. "I didn't care much for what he had to say to me, but there was 
one thing he said that I understand now. No matter how hard I try, I can't be a mother to 
her, only a father."

"You didn't date or anything?"

"A couple times," he told her. "Nothing really serious. Whenever they found out that I had 
a daughter, they usually broke it off soon afterward. There were a few that did stay with 
me, but in each case, she and Tira didn't get along. Each time, I broke it off a short time 
after learning that.

"I've been mostly alone since, but I don't mind it that much." He gave a small, cynical 
laugh. "Tira thinks I should get out more. She keeps on saying that if I find a nice girl, 
I should bring her home and introduce her."

"You mean, like me?" Diane asked as she put her hand on his.

Jack silently looked at her for a long time. "Yeah," he said with a smile as he slowly 
leaned toward her. "Like you," he said as his lips met hers.

It was a long, heartfelt kiss that grew more ardent and amorous as it continued. As the 
kiss broke off, Diane raised a hand and softly caressed Jack's cheek. "You're a wonderful 
man, Jack. I'm just amazed that no one's ever seen that before."

"You have," he replied as he took her hand in his and kissed it. "I suppose it takes an 
extrordinary woman to see it."

"Flirt," she laughed as she leaned in for another kiss while reaching up to undo the 
buttons of his shirt.

"Takes one to know one," he countered as he took off Diane's shirt.

"At least you didn't say, 'I know you are, but what am I?'" she said as she reached over 
and turned off the lamp. "If you did, I'd have to hurt you."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied as he started trailing kisses down her neck.

Diane finished taking off Jack's shirt and pulled him down onto the bed while straddling 
him. "Less talk. More action," she ordered as she started on his pants.

"Yes, ma'am," he complied as he started to unbutton her pants. "I love a take-charge kind 
of woman."

"What can I say? I know what I want," she replied as she lifted up enough to slip off her 
pants while taking his with them. "And right now, I want you."

"And the feeling's mutual," he said as he sat up and kissed her on the neck again, ending 
all conversation for the rest of the night as they slipped beneath the covers of the bed.

            **********************************************

"Okay, cut!" Amy shouted. "That'll do it for...." She trailed off as she noticed that 
Serena and Darien were still going at it beneath the sheets. "Hey! I said, cut! Cut, 
dammit!!!"

"Shall we get the ice?" Lita asked as she shared a glance with her brother.

"Extra large buckets, I think," Jason agreed with a nod.

"Damn the ice. Get the hose," Amy said as she jerked a thumb toward the fire station in the 
corner of the studio.

"H-hey!" Serena exclaimed as she sat up, lifting the blankets with her. "No need to go THAT 
far, you know!"

"I know," the blue-haired director replied with a smirk. "But it got your attention, didn't 
it?"

Darien laughed at the look on Serena's face. "She's got you there."

"Oh, shut up, you," she retorted as she grabbed a pillow and smacked him with it. "And put 
your damn clothes on," she added as she threw his clothes at him and picked up her own and 
started to put them back on.

"You mean, I can't admire your beautiful barely-clothed body anymore?" Darien asked in a 
dramatically hurtful tone as he started getting dressed. "How cruel...."

"Oh, stuff it, pretty-boy," she shot back with a laughing grin spread across her face. "So, 
we're done for today?" she asked Amy as she buttoned her pants and sat on the bed.

"Yes, as I was going to say before I was rudely interrupted by your little exhibitionistic 
display, we're all done for today," she told them as she rolled her eyes in annoyance. 
Behind her, she could hear Mina and G.Q. laughing.

"You know, that's a side of Darien I've never seen before," Mina mentioned to G.Q.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Why, his backside, of course," she told him as she wolf-whistled. "Nice tush, Darien!" 
she laughed.

"Mine!" Serena barked, causing Mina to laugh even harder.

"I give up," Amy sighed as she shook her head.

            **********************************************

                              To Chapter 40

            **********************************************

Author's Note: Readers rejoice! I have finished yet another chapter of Seeing Stars! Yes, I 
know I've been taking WAY too long in between chapters, but I've got so many other projects 
to take care of, not to mention work. Fortunately, now that we're coming back to San Diego 
very soon, I should be getting more time to work on this and all my other stories. I'm that 
much closer to wrapping up this story and the action in the movie plot should get that much 
faster, as well. Next chapter: a night out with Serena and Darien; Jed arrives in Sydney; 
and Project: Total Eclipse is unveiled at last.

Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective 
owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch 
of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This 
story belongs to Moonsong and myself, and I would appreciate 
you emailing her or myself for permission before posting it 
anywhere else. Thank you.

Prologue Copyright © January 24, 2000 Moonsong.
Other Chapters Copyright © August 12, 2000 Jason Ulloa. 
All Rights Reserved.