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


Chapter 28

Jack stopped the car and turned off the engine. "So, now we just wait until Haruka comes 
back," he said as he leaned back in his seat. "I just hope she doesn't take too long."

Diane tilted her seat backwards and reached toward the backseat and grabbed a pair of 
folded blankets. "Here." She tossed Jack the white blanket while she kept the gray one for 
herself. "We might as well settle in for a long wait."

"Right," he nodded as he unfolded his blanket and wrapped it around himself. Diane did the 
same. "So, what do you think we should tell her when she comes back?"

She frowned as she thought about the question for a moment. "What else can we tell her?" 
she asked. "We need to tell her the truth. Even if it's just because she owns a 
Nijizuishou, she's involved in this, too."

"I was thinking the same thing," he agreed with a solemn nod.

The sound of car tires crunching through gravel and snow caught their attention. As one, 
they both turned toward the source of the sound and watched as a car slowly pulled up, then 
passed by.

"Do you think that's Haruka?" Diane asked as she stared after the car.

"I have a strong suspicion it is," he told her.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Did you notice the car?" he asked with the hint of a grin showing on his face.

"Yeah. It's an old, rusted piece of junk," she remarked. "I'm surprised it's even running. 
What about it?"

"It's a '57 Nightfire HX," he pointed out.

"That's a Nightfire?" Diane asked. "That doesn't look anything like a Nightfire. Besides, 
I thought they were all sedans or convertables."

"They are now," he explained. "However, the Nightfire also had a hatchback model, but they 
were discontinued in '59. The demand for them was poor, so they concentrated on the more 
popular models."

Diane shrugged. "All right, but that doesn't really explain why you think that Haruka's 
driving it."

Jack grinned. "We're dealing with a professional racecar driver here. I'm willing to wager 
that she's restoring that car. After all, she's got the money to do it and I know she must 
love cars. Besides, the engine was running very smoothly. Considering how old that car is, 
the engine must be new."

She shrugged again, but this time she gave him a slightly perplexed frown. "This's all 
interesting and everything, Jack, but what does all that have to do Haruka being the 
driver? Any one of her neighbors could be restoring that car and just coming here for a 
visit."

He nodded, then grinned again. "That's also true," he admitted as he took off his blanket, 
rolled it up and tossed it in the backseat. He then opened the car door and stepped out of 
the car. "But this last piece of information will finally show you why I'm sure she's the 
driver."

"All right," she said as she tossed her blanket in the back and got out as well, then shut 
the door behind her. "What is it?"

He shut the door and gave her an intent look, then pointed toward Haruka's house. "The car 
just pulled into Haruka's garage."

Diane gave him a flat, annoyed look. "You could've said that sooner," she pointed out. 
"What the hell was all that about '57 Nightfires and all that other nonsense?"

Jack grinned again. "I was just messing with you," he told her. "But everything I told you 
about the hatchback is true," he added.

She snorted irritably and headed for the garage just as Haruka was getting out of her car. 
Jack just shrugged and headed after her.

Haruka stepped out of her garage, stopped, and glared at both Diane and Jack. "Who are you 
and what do you two want?" she demanded crossly as she folded her arms. "You are aware that 
trespassing is illegal, right?"

Jack and Diane shared a brief glance, then turned to Haruka. "Ms. Tenou," Diane began as 
she brought out her badge and presented it to her, "my name is Diane Silver. I'm with the 
F.B.I. This is Jack Terrance, a private investigator from Los Angeles."

He nodded a greeting to Haruka. "We need to speak with you. It's very important."

Haruka glanced suspiciously from Diane to Jack and back, but she seemed to accept the badge 
as genuine. "All right," she said reluctantly to Diane. "Say I accept your story about you 
being a fed and him being a P.I. So, why do you need to talk to me? I'm just a racer who 
likes to live up in the Canadian mountains during her off-time. What could I have to do 
with anything?"

"It's not what you, personally, have to do with anything," he explained. "It has to do with 
what you own."

"What I own?" she repeated questioningly as a strong gust of wind suddenly began to blow, 
cutting through their clothing to chill them even more than they already were. "Listen, I'm 
not sure what you two are talking about, but it's freezing out here. Let's continue this 
inside."

"Thank you, Ms. Tenou," Diane said gratefully.

"Haruka," she corrected. "I hate being called 'Ms.' or 'Miss'. Too damn formal for me."

"Fine with us," Jack said with a laugh. "Thanks, Haruka."

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

Beep.

Beep.

That constant beeping sound was the first thing that Tira heard when she started to regain 
her consciousness. Everything was dark, but then, that was to be expected when your eyes 
were closed, wasn't it? She was so tired her eyes wouldn't open. Still, it was a lot better 
than being in a coma.

It was horrible. She had been a hairbreadth away from dying. Jack must've been so worried. 
And Diane. She must've been worried, too, even though she only knew her for a very short 
time.

It took a moment for the realization to well and truly sink in. She could've died! She 
could've died, leaving Jack all alone....

He was almost as close to her as her own father was; hell, he practically WAS her father in 
all but blood and name. She had once considered changing her last name to Jack's last name, 
but she ultimately decided not to, as a reminder of her father's legacy. She was Tira 
Jenner, daughter of Lee Jenner, one of the best policemen in all of Los Angeles. That was 
something to be proud of.

But still, she didn't want to die yet. Besides, there was still the important information 
that she had downloaded from Stanton Aeronautical that she had to show Jack.

Project: Ginzuishou.

He had to know about it. It would explain why whoever was behind the crystal robberies and, 
indirectly, the Tomoe/Kino kidnapping were after the Nijizuishou crystals. She had to warn 
Jack.

But first, she had to open her eyes. Maybe she should get some rest first. Yes, that would 
probably be for the best....

As Tira fell into a deep sleep, she let out a small sigh and murmured a single word.

"Jack...."

An orderly paused at the door to Tira's room and glanced inside through the open door. 
"Hmm.... That's odd...," he murmured as he frowned in bewilderment. "I could've sworn I 
heard somebody say something in here, but there's just the girl here and she's comatose."

"Ryan," a doctor called out to him from down the hall, "I need you to go check up on the 
patient in room 734 again."

The orderly sighed patiently. "Can't we just disconnect the bloody thing?"

The doctor laughed. "I wish I could. No matter how many times I tell him not to play with 
it, he still loves to push the button." She smiled at him. "Come on, Ryan. He's just a kid. 
He doesn't really mean any harm."

He sighed and nodded. "I know, I know. But still, his parents should teach him about 
starting false alarms. One of these days, it's gonna get him into real trouble."

The doctor laughed again. "Oh, Ryan, he's...."

"I know. He's just a kid." He turned down toward room 734 while rolling his eyes in 
annoyance. "Oh, Doctor Ceranti, I just thought I'd mention that I thought I heard the 
patient in this room say something as I was passing by it."

"From our comatose gunshot victim?" she asked.

He nodded. "I thought I might've been hearing things, but for some reason I don't think 
that's the case. Would you mind just doing a quick check on her when you or another doctor 
has the time?"

"I'll look in on her when I'm finished here, Ryan," she replied with a nod. "Now, please go 
check in on our little button pusher in 734, if you don't mind."

"Okay, I'm going," he replied in a mock-harried tone. "But if it's another prank, I'm going 
to have to give that boy a stern talking to."

"Just take it easy when you do so," she called after him as he left, then returned to her 
previous task.

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

As Jack and Diane went back and forth telling Haruka everything that had happened and 
their reason for seeing her, Haruka just sat there, taking it all in stoically as she 
leaned forward with her hands folded quietly in front of her face. The two were sitting on 
the couch in her living room, opposite to Haruka, who was sitting in her favorite black 
leather chair.

"Damn...," Haruka murmured quietly as soon as Jack was finished, then leaned back and gave 
him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry to hear about your daughter, Jack. I'm sure it must be 
hard for you."

"Tira will pull through," he said certainly. "I know she will."

She nodded, then turned toward Diane. "So, this guy is after my grandmother's Nijizuishou?"

"That seems to be the pattern," she agreed. "The Red, Orange and Yellow Nijizuishou are all 
in his possession. Now he's after the Green Nijizuishou. It's the next color and it's the 
closest one to where the last crystal was."

"This... just seems too strange," she muttered as she stood up. "I've read the stories in 
the paper about the other three Nijizuishou being stolen and it has made me a little 
worried. But, it's a lot of trouble to go through, isn't it? Just to get the Nijizuishou 
crystals. Even if they are valuable and rare, there has to be other gems out there even 
more valuable and rare. Why the Nijizuishou?"

"I've been wondering the same thing," Jack said as his expression turned dark. "However, 
it doesn't matter what the reason is. All I care about is getting the man who almost killed 
Tira and helping Diane save both Hotaru and Ryoku."

Haruka nodded and turned to leave. "Come with me," she said as she left the room. Jack and 
Diane stood up and quickly followed after her.

They followed Haruka up the stairs to the second floor and followed her down the hallway. 
"Here's my 'trophy' room," she told them with the hint of a smile on her lips, then opened 
the door.

The room did have a wall adorned with several trophies; mostly for racing, Jack supposed. 
The wall opposite the door had a window and a few pictures and paintings on it, but the 
last wall was what caught Jack's attention.

There were rows upon rows upon rows of model cars, almost all of them vintage classic cars. 
He grinned as he spotted the model '57 Nightfire HX. It was almost exactly like the car he 
had seen Haruka drive up, only this one was royal blue, whereas Haruka's car was still 
rusty brown.

Haruka grinned widely. "I see you like my... collection, Jack," she observed with a hint 
of amusement.

"It's impressive," he agreed with a nod. "I noticed you have a model '57 Nightfire HX just 
like the one you drove up in."

She nodded. "I'm restoring it. I want it to look just like my model. I'm even going to have 
it painted the exact same color. However, this's not the reason why I brought you both up 
here." She moved over toward the window and gestured toward another display. "This is what 
you came here for, I believe."

Diane nodded as she recognized the Green Nijizuishou crystal sitting in a display case. 
"That's it, all right," she agreed. "I'm glad it's still here."

"We got here first, it seems," Jack added.

"This gem's been in my family for generations," she said reverently. "It was my 
grandmother's, and before that, her grandmother's, and so on. I don't really care for 
jewelry or any kind of precious gems, but this's a family heirloom, so I couldn't really 
refuse. I'd hate to think about anyone stealing it from me."

"If we're lucky, you won't have to worry about it, and we'll have our man," Diane said 
certainly.

"I'm glad to hear that," she replied as she turned to leave again. "If you'll excuse me, 
I'm going to go back to the garage to work on my car again. You two can make yourselves at 
home. And thank you for offering to help protect my grandmother's Nijizuishou." With that, 
she left, leaving Jack and Diane by themselves.

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

Jed drove his car up the driveway to Haruka's house, but he stopped and shifted into 
reverse, then backed up off of the driveway before coming into sight of the house itself. 
He wanted his car to be in position to depart swiftly, should he need it. However, should 
everything go according to plan, he wouldn't need it.

He had spent most of the day considering the most efficient way of getting into the house, 
getting the crystal, and getting out again, quickly and with as much stealth as he could 
muster. There could be no more mistakes like those at the Tomoe manor. Max was lenient last 
time, but he didn't want to push his luck. After all, he was paying him good money for this 
job.

Getting the Red and Orange Nijizuishou crystals wasn't that hard since he had already been 
to both locations. The museum in Madrid was open to the public, so he could just walk right 
in and study the layout at his leisure. As for Tomoe's manor, as Mr. Jade, his alias for 
all legitimate business, he was the liaison between the former university professor and 
Stanton Aeronautical. During all of his visits to the Tomoe manor in order to check on the 
progress of the satellites being programmed, he was able to gather his reconnaissance on 
the manor.

However, this Nijizuishou would be harder. He was going to have to go in without any 
foreknowledge of the house's layout. For all he knew, the crystal could be in the kitchen. 
After all, the secretary hid it there.

Then again, she stole it, so she had to hide it.

He couldn't afford to count out any possible hiding place.

So. How to go about extracting the Green Nijizuishou?

Jed popped open the trunk, then stepped out of the car. After a few minutes of searching, 
he found what he was looking for. Electronic lockpicking device, canister of sleeping gas, 
face mask... the rope can stay. He wanted to be in and out quickly, preferably without any 
confrontation. The sleeping gas and mask would help keep them asleep and out of his way.

He gathered the equipment and shut the trunk, then opened the passenger door and dumped the 
stuff on the seat. He then closed the door, leaned against the car, and folded his arms as 
he began to mentally go through his plan. It was good, but it had one fatal flaw. He only 
had the one canister of gas. It was good for gassing one room only, so if there were more 
people staying at the house than just Tenou....

He watched as a plume of white mist emitted from his nostrils after he snorted in 
frustration. He hated the cold. Staying out in this weather, waiting for midnight, was 
enough to put him in a foul mood. It was too damn COLD! But, he was a professional. 
Professionals didn't let inconsequential annoyances such as cold weather keep them from 
performing as they should. Professionals learned to ignore such petty discomforts and keep 
their attention to the task at hand. They were the best, and he was the best of the best.

But, still....

IT WAS TOO DAMN COLD!!!

Thank goodness the rest of the Nijizuishou crystals weren't in any frigid climates such as 
this one. Maybe after he retrieved the Green Nijizuishou, he could take a short three day 
break in Okinawa before going after the Blue Nijizuishou. After all, if wasn't all that far 
from Tokyo - it was in the same country and that was good enough - and it was warm there. 
Warm was beginning to look very good right at that moment....

Well, there wasn't much left to do at this point. He checked his watch and grimaced. There 
was nine more hours until midnight. That meant nine more hours in this freezing cold white 
hell.

DAMN!!!

Since he wasn't about to just sit in the car and wait with nothing to do but stare at snow, 
he decided to do the only thing he could think of when he had an abundance of time to waste 
and nothing better to do.

He would sleep.

Due to the number of times he had stayed in a car like this, waiting for midnight - well, 
not exactly like THIS; after all, it was too damn COLD - he had always kept a pillow and 
blankets in the back for whenever he needed to kill time. Besides, a well-rested mind was a 
sharp mind. When your mind was sharp while other minds were fuzzy with lack of sleep or 
from interrupted sleep, you had a slight advantage.

Yes, sleep would be a good idea. He wouldn't have to stare at all the snow for hour after 
endless hour in the ungodly, gelid cold. It was a good thing he had brought several 
blankets. He wouldn't want to freeze to death in his sleep. That would certainly put a 
damper in his plans, not to mention that it would royally piss him off. Not that he would 
be able to do anything about it, of course, but still....

He wrapped himself up in three layers of blankets as he laid down in the back seat of his 
car and rested his head on the pillow. He grimaced, as the pillow was almost as chilly as 
the snow outside. It would warm up in time, but right now, it only put an emphasis on how 
cold it was. Not that he needed a reminder. He didn't know what Tenou, who lived part time 
in Phoenix, Arizona - undeniably desert country, where summer highs went into triple 
digits - would want to live up here in Vancouver, where it snowed and was cold. Sure, the 
snow-covered landscaped looked nice and everything, but it was COLD!

He set the alarm on his wristwatch for 11:00pm, giving him one hour to prepare for his 
assault on Tenou's home. Of course, he didn't have to go at midnight - sometimes, the later 
the strike, the better - but he always did his best work at midnight. He didn't believe in 
superstition, but there was just something about starting a job at the stroke of midnight; 
coinciding his work with the birth of a new day.... There was just something... poetic... 
in it.

At any rate, his watch was set and he knew what he was going to do. He was as ready as he 
was going to be. He might as well get some sleep. The sooner he got started, the sooner he 
could finish and be out of this frozen nightmare.

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

                              To Chapter 29

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

Author's Note: Here's your new chapter! ^_^ I know it's a little shorter than you're used 
to, but I felt that this was a good stopping point. Anyway, please enjoy this latest 
chapter of Seeing Stars! Next chapter: Jack and Diane Plan for Jed's arrival; Tira's 
condition improves; and Jed makes his move for the Green Nijizuishou crystal.

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.