MARSA1-Part A Mar-Sa The Ultra-Girl Book One/Part One The Girl of Tungsten Steel by Jim Robert Bader August 21, 1997 (First Copyrights Only) 00000000 000 000 000 vvvvvv 000 000 VVVVVVVVVVVV 000 000 VVVVVVVVV 000 000 VVVVVVV 000 000 VVVVV 000 000 VVV 000 000 V 000 000000000 MAR-SA, THE ULTRA-GIRL by Jim Robert Bader (First Copyrights Only) Book One. Chapter Eleven. Mortality and Divinity There was no doubt in Phoebe's mind now, someone was definitely following her. She had the overwhelming urge to keep on glancing over her shoulder, but if she did that guy would still be tailing her, so she decided to act casual and hope to ditch him later. She had only a few blocks to go from the Heights area to the nearest ATM and once she picked up the cash she could catch a bus or a cab and give that reporter guy the runaround so he'd never be able to follow her back to Mar-Sa. Hanging around with Katie had taught her a few tricks for staying out of trouble, and being a street-wise kid from the Styx she had a sassy education hanging out with tough crowds in her misspent youth. Thank God she'd managed to straighten her life out in time before she'd gotten herself into too much trouble, but now her early training in self-reliance would serve her in good stead for keeping this News shark away from her Mar-Sa, though she was getting more and more curious about how he even knew she existed. The ATM was one of the outdoor varieties that had the usual surveillance cameras stationed about, but Phoebe knew that at least two of those cameras were malfunctioning at the moment, which was one of the reasons she preferred to use it, hoping to minimize the chance that someone would get a picture of her and track her down. She was feeling especially paranoid since she and Mar-Sa had escaped from the military only a few days ago, and for all she knew there was city-wide manhunt with her description plastered on someone's APB, or something like that. At any rate it did not pay to take too many chances, and when you were dealing with the government it paid to be paranoid. They had gotten pretty far on dumb luck and perseverance but there was no sense in flaunting it any farther than she had to. After all, Mar-Sa was counting on Phoebe to help her through a difficult transition, and simply because she was a superheroine (whether she was ready to admit the fact or no) did not mean that her alien girlfriend could expect to get by without a few earthly pointers from her ever- faithful sidekick. Punching in the pin for the account she shared with Katie, Phoebe tried to calm her nerves while experiencing the shaky sense that something was wrong, and it had more to do with where she was standing than in the guy in the leather jacket who was trying to act casual and not attract too much attention. Phoebe had already made him out to be largely harmless, a basically nice guy whose job forced him to poke his nose into other people's dirty linen. Just because he was Black was no reason for her to be prejudice, and so she turned her mind to other possible sources of danger, feeling her nervousness increase as she picked up her money from the drop slot and began to slip it into her belt-pouch (she never had much trusted purses, those being far too easy to rip off by passing strangers). She started to turn around, one eye still on the Black guy and not on where she was going, and that was why she was so startled when she found a man blocking her path, a white man dressed in worn corduroys and looking disturbingly familiar, though it took a few seconds before she could place him. "Found you," he said in malevolent triumph, smiling and exposing a few missing teeth in his overall unhealthy expression. "Uh...Hugh?" Phoebe took a half-step backward, "W-What---?" "Shut up, Bitch!" the redneck snarled as he pulled out a wicked looking knife left-handed, and Phoebe belatedly noticed that his other arm was wrapped up in bandages from where Mar-Sa had broken his wrist on their earlier encounter. Rick was still some distance away when he chanced to glance towards the blonde and saw the guy confronting her, and at once the gleam of metal in his hand cause him to whip around with instant realization. He had seen enough gang violence to know that when someone pulled a knife they usually meant business, and from the way the blonde was backing away she seemed to recognize this hood, a real cowboy type by the look of him and jacked high on something, either drugs or alcohol, either of which made him that much more of a danger. "Hey!" he cried out and started forward, deciding his cover was as good as blown anyway if the girl got knifed by some hood out for some easy drug money. He hoped by shouting he might frighten the man away but instead he lunged forward as the girl tried to get away from him, and with a sickening lurch in his stomach Rick realized that he would never get there in time to be of any use to the girl, that he would have to be superhuman himself to cross that distance before the maniac did his grisly business. "HOLY!" Morley cried as he lurched out of the car, seeing what was going down but being even further away from the crime scene than Rick Shepherd. "What the hell?" Owen exclaimed as he also saw some unknown character committing a broad-daylight attack on the blonde girl with what looked like a butchers blade from where he also was sitting. All the while he and his partner were thinking what a cluster-fuck it would be if they let anything happen to the girl they had been assigned to observe and protect from just such perils, but that it would take a miracle for either of them to get to her in time to prevent a tragedy, and even as he watched he saw the knife move forward and the girl moved much too slow to avoid it, then the inevitable happened and Owen felt as though his own guts had just been punched as the girl doubled over, with Shepherd only ten more steps away and moving much too slow to do much more than shout out futile words of protest... "I'm sorry if I was staring before," Mark called out to the girl who had vanished into the next room to "change into something more appropriate," whatever that meant. "It's just that I've never met an alien before, except for 'Zak here." "That's quite all right," Mar-Sa called back from the bedroom, "I'm getting used to it by now, and for what it's worth, you're not half bad for an alien either." "Heh, touché that," Mark chuckled, "Guess this is all pretty weird for you too, huh?" "Weird is an Earth word that I'm growing more accustomed to by the day," Mar-Sa replied while she continued to slip into her now-clean and familiar Wolframan outfit, "You have no idea how beautiful your world is compared with mine. I'm sure Unit 1138 has been giving you the general details of how badly depleted our environment is..." "Yeah, he's given me a real head full of raw statistics and data, more than I've been able to digest, now that you mention it," Mark answered, "Truth is...I was hoping you could help fill in some of the blank spaces he's been leaving out, 'cause in case you haven't noticed he still has a few personality flaws and a really mechanistic way of looking at the universe..." "I should think so," Mar-Sa observed, "Probe Droids like that are not meant to have much more sentient capacity than is necessary for the raw gathering of data and the performance of their overall surveillance duties. I had no idea that Kar-Tor had programmed this one to be this self-aware, let alone to have a conscious personality..." "I think part of that's my doing," Mark theorized, "Seems when we linked and he sucked out some of my memories he took on parts of what's in my head, which must've given him a case of indigestion..." "Affirmative," Unit 1138 responded, "And this unit must confirm that it has not been an easy process of assimilation." "Oh my," Mar-Sa paused in what she was doing, "Was that a joke? Terran humor? Now I really know that there is something different about this unit...but tell me, why did you name him Isaac?" "After a science fiction writer I grew up reading," Mark explained, "Because he's basically such a smart ass." "I...think that I perceive your point," Mar-Sa mused, "How odd...I have so many of your memories that it almost seems unfair, like I have you at a disadvantage." "That's putting it mildly," Rich leaned forward on the sofa upon which he was sitting, "So maybe you can tell me more about you, like...what's your sign, are you single and stuff like that..." "Sign? Oh...Horoscopes...Astrological significance," Mar-Sa mused, "Not a very scientific way of viewing the stars, but...I think I like the romance it suggests. In truth I don't know which sign would be most appropriate for me...but if I calculate the relative orbits of our two worlds and factor in my relative age...I believe that I would be a Libra..." "I knew it!" Mark slapped his knee, "It was either that or Aquarius...though I don't suppose it really applies since you weren't born around these parts. So...what about the other part?" "You mean about having a boyfriend?" Mar-Sa sounded amused, "I'm afraid that I must disappoint you there. I am...seeing someone right now...and we are rather committed..." "Rats," Mark winced, "My luck strikes again, story of my life. Well, just for the record, whoever he is, he's one hell of a lucky guy." "Why, thank you," Mar-Sa said as she stepped into the room, drawing Mark's immediate attention as he saw her in her Wolframan undergarments with cape flowing down from her shoulders and her headband back in place, "Well...what do you think? I hope this is not too daring...?" "What the...?" Mark sat upright---literally---and stared in total amazement at the transformation that greeted his eyes as a half-naked golden-skinned woman became a costumed comic book heroine come to life. She even looked somehow...taller in her purple, blue and red-trimmed outfit, with her large breasts on nearly full display, pushing up from the encirclement of a wide- ovular cleavage. "This is what we on Wolframa wear as casual clothing," Mar-Sa revealed, "Normally I would have on an outer robe that would cover up my modesty, but as that part did not survive reentry I have only these garments alone as my total possessions." "Unfortunate," Unit 1138 acknowledged, "The Creator should have supplied you with more equipment when he effected your transfer." "Unfortunately there wasn't enough time for that," Mar-Sa said sadly, "So I have to make my way on this world with what I have. If it were not for the powers that your world's sun provides me I would be just another illegal immigrant, and Phoebe's already explained to me the general attitude your people have regarding those who invade your borders seeking gainful employment." "Yeah,. I can see how you'd have trouble getting yourself a green card," Mark remarked with a gentle smile, only to start as he belatedly realized something, "Wait a minute...are you telling me that those are your undergarments?" "Ah...yes..." Mar-Sa felt her cheeks go warm as she considered his statement, "Which means I'm hardly any better dressed right now than I was a few moments ago, but at least I'm not feeling a draft in certain places." "Yeah...right," Mark decided it was time to reel his tongue back into his head and try to remember why his mother called him a gentleman, so he asked the next question that came to mind, "Who's Phoebe?" The golden flush of her cheeks caused Mark to feel as if he'd stepped further onto a personal matter, which in turn caused him to arch an eyebrow as he heard this beautiful goddess say, "She's my...very special friend. We met only a few days ago and she's been helping me ever since, and if it were not for her...I'd be so terribly alone on this world, in this city..." "Friend huh?" Rick said faintly, "Well...that explains a few things, I guess..." "Oh, Phoebe isn't that sort of person," Mar-Sa quickly said, "Not...ah...what you were just thinking right now..." Mark lifted both eyebrows at this, "That wasn't a memory..." "Ah...no," she admitted, "I can read thoughts...and we seem to share a curious rapport you and I, perhaps because...in a lot of ways...we are very much alike..." "I guess I should take that as a compliment," Mark observed as he thought the matter over, "Telepathy, huh? Must make things awfully noisy when you're around people." "That's one reason why I've been living indoors most of the time that I've been here," Mar-Sa answered, "I find it easier to concentrate the fewer the number of people are around, but I'm also getting better in learning to filter things out by erecting these barriers in my head and meditating in the center...well...I guess at least some of the training Kar-Tor put me through is proving useful..." "That's good to hear," Mark said, "So...what all can you do anyway? Leap tall buildings, change the course of might rivers?" "Nothing that dramatic," Mar-Sa assured him, "Although have the power of over a thousand people does come in handy. For instance...I am very strong, and bullets do bounce off my shields before they can touch me, and I am learning how to fly by levitating myself and anything that I touch, and if I focus my mind on an object I can either move it around or...well...cause it to explode. I did that once by accident, then again when I was trying..." "No shit," Mark smiled, then belatedly remembered his manners again, "Sorry...that kind of slipped out. Mom always told me never to cuss in front of a lady..." "You're very kind," Mar-Sa said with a strong sense that she was growing to like this fellow upon whose template a good deal of her own personality was now based, "And yes, we don't have much in the way of profanity on Wolframa. It's not permitted for us to complain about our lives, and the Council considers it indecent. Of course...when I think of all that the Council does in the name of public order, I feel like calling them...what was that word again?" "A bunch of shitheads?" Mark helpfully suggested. "Yes, that exactly," Mar-Sa nodded, "In truth it is so liberating being able to speak one's mind...you have no idea how fortunate you are to live in a society that allows you to have opinions that are contrary to state-sanctioned positions..." "Well, some people are always trying to take that right away from you," Mark cautioned, "But so far we've been able to fend them off by telling them to get a life and not bother the rest of us with their bullshit. No one has the right to tell you how to live your life, Marsha...I've believed that and that's how I prefer to live it." "You must be quite a trial for Unit 1138," Mar-Sa mused, "A Mark-Five probe is not generally permitted the luxury of free thinking..." "Affirmative," Unit 1138 responded, "But this Unit is learning to adapt and compensate." "Heh, give me time and you'll see an improvement," Mark assured them, "'Zak's a stiff but he's got potential, and I'm learning to do a lot of things around him while I'm helping him learn what there is to know about life and being human." "Oh?" Mar-Sa asked, "Then yours is a two-way association?" "You could put it that way," Mark smiled back, "Back when we met he made some pretty sarcastic observations about what a primitive life form I was, and before I had time to ask what he meant by that he started messing with my body and tinkering with my genetics, and now I'm a lot more than I used to be...better, stronger, faster..." "You mean..." Mar-Sa looked form the brown haired man before her to the hovering probe-droid and said, "You...altered his genetics?" "Electro-Surgery," Unit 1138 confirmed, "This Unit determined that subject designate Mark Daniels was poorly constructed and insufficiently resilient to survive conditions of an unregulated and potentially hostile environment, so this unit effected to remedy this by altering and fortifying subject Daniels to insure that units chances of survival would improve by a sufficient..." "But that's terrible!" Mar-Sa reacted, "Unit 1138, you can't just go around interfering in the lives of native peoples in that manner, let alone do something so intrusive without first seeking the permission of even a designated subject..." "Thank you so much for that," Mark smiled, "I don't mind what happened, really, but it is nice to hear somebody stand up for me. Honest, though, I'm glad he did it's been a real trip ever since we hooked up together, and the things I can do on account of 'Zak..." "Excuse me?" Mar-Sa blinked, "You...don't resent what has happened?" "Hey, I didn't ask to be an funky alien abduction case, but since it's brought me to you, then I don't see it as a problem," Mark revealed, "Truth is...it's pretty neat the things that I can do now, like speed up or slow down the molecular motion of the atoms in my own body, and I'm even now just beginning to discover the rest of what I can do because of 'Zak. Believe me, Marsha, it isn't really a problem." "Well...I suppose that is good," Mar-Sa said, "But still..." She got no farther than this when the vision suddenly hit her with a jolting impact that threatened to take her breath away. All at once her mind exploded with the image of a man she vaguely remembered coming at Phoebe with a knife...a man who had murder in his eyes and was clearly insane, spouting nonsense ramblings about getting revenge for a wrong done to him and how he viewed her as his ex-wife, and the fear Phoebe was experiencing like an almost tangible thing as the sense of danger increased threefold, and then he lunged for her and Mar- Sa felt something cold stabbing into her stomach...then the pain exploded like a shock that went the full length of her body and---! "MARSHA!" Mark was on his feet and had her in his arms as if to prevent her from falling, and the sudden physical contact of her human counterpart helped shake Mar-Sa from her horrified daze, electrifying her with the sense of urgency and galvanizing her to action. "Phoebe...!" she pushed away from Mark, heedless of the force she employed as her mind was still full of painful images of hot copper in her mouth as Phoebe went down, her legs giving out from under her while hot red fluid poured down the arm of her assailant...whose face she now recognized with a shock that left her staggered. She did not know what she was doing as she staggered to the door and heedlessly broke through it without stopping, then she out and down the steps at a dead run, moving swiftly to full acceleration as her surroundings blurred past her and she was almost flying in her haste to get to Phoebe, in her mind nothing else more important that stopping that bleeding as her lover's life was flowing away and the pain became a dull throb as her body went into gradual shut-down mode... "What the hell brought that on?" Mark asked as he stared at the retreating blur that was the costumed form of Mar-Sa. "Unknown," Unit 1138 replied, "But sensors indicate some manner of crisis." "Right," Mark agreed, "Guess that means it's time for a little...Action!" And soon a second colorful form was streaking down the block, causing heads to turn as casual passers by took notice of a living hurricane that moved so fast that their eyes could barely track him... "NO !!!" Rick cried as he saw the blood spurt from the open knife wound, "YOU SICK, PERVERTED BASTARD---!" "Stay away!" Hugh waved his knife around, his eyes dilated and agleam with horrible glee over what he had just accomplished, "The bitch dies now, and you die if you get any closer, Nigger!!" "All units, we need backup!" Owen cried into his hand-mike. "Get your hands up and drop it!" Morley cried with his gun clenched tightly in both hands and his finger just twitching with the need to kill the crazy bastard who had just gutted the woman, "DROP IT OR YOU'RE DEAD!" "Oh great," Rick winced, "NOW you guys show up...!" "You can't stop me!" Hugh cried, "I got God on my side and he's told me to kill all the bitches! She had to die! She was wicked and evil...!" "I won't repeat myself again!" Morley snarled, "Drop the knife right now, you Sunuvabitch, or I'll---!" "What the...?" Owen reacted to the blur that appeared out of now where, and then a force five wind whipped past him. Rick also sensed the increasing air pressure as a body move to dodge around him, something big and garishly colored with a whipping red cape that almost knocked him sprawling, and then he saw Hugh struck in the chest with the flat of a hand and almost in slow-motion he went flying backwards as though propelled by rocket power. Almost before Rick could recover he saw the figure kneeling down over the fallen woman while Hugh went crashing against the windshield of a parked car some fifty feet away, winding up looking like a broken doll as somebody's insurance rates were bound to skyrocket. That irreverent thought was banished from his mind when Rick took a moment to grasp the fact that it was a woman who was kneeling down over the fallen blonde girl, a woman with gold skin and metallic gold hair dressed in some manner of costume that did not lot leave a lot to the imagination. As Rick stared in disbelief the goddess spoke softly, almost in the manner of an entreaty. "Phoebe? Phoebe...?" another pause and then a whispered, "No..." followed by an even louder, "NOOOO!!!!" Her mind was in total denial, but the reality of what she was sensing and feeling was unmistakable. The wound was deep and the loss of blood extensive. Some rational part of her mind told Mar-Sa that there was no hope of survival with a wound that deep and that Phoebe was already as good as dead, her body now slumped in nerveless catatonia as the inevitable happened and the vital spark within her started ebbing. "NO!" she cried in desperation. She would not---COULD NOT---permit such a thing to happen! Phoebe had to live, she was all that Mar-Sa had left in this world or the other! Everyone else that she had ever known or cared about had died and if Phoebe was taken away from her it would mean her new life would itself lose all meaning! But what to do about this? Without blood the brain would not retain electrical activity for more than a few more minutes, and there was no medical science that could preserve her life once that was allowed to happen, only Mar-Sa would not allow her to die! She could still save Phoebe's life...she had the power, she could feel the power churning within her own body! Forcing herself to become calm once again so that her powers would work naturally, she closed her eyes and summoned up the golden radiance that filled her every pore and fiber, and gradually she felt this glow surround her and flow down her arms into the body she gently cradled, sharing with Phoebe a portion of her own powerful life spark in the hopes of rekindling the fire, just as she had done for those soldiers only days ago. It was all that she could do now to preserve a life more dear to her than her own, knowing that to fail now was to render her own existence without any further meaning. Morley and Owen came to stand beside Rick Shepherd as the three men were left equally speechless. The watched in mute astonishment as the golden woman started glowing brightly, her body engulfed in a soft halo that made her seem even more unworldly, like something from above that had descended from the heavens. They did not even notice when a garishly clad man appeared in the space just behind and beside them, staring at the golden woman with equal parts of sympathy and amazement as he murmured faintly, "'Zak...?" **Acknowledging,** the Probe replied through their silent rapport, **Sensors indicate that subject Mar-Sa has intensified Bioreadings beyond this unit's ability to process.** "Yeah, but what about the other girl?" Mark asked, "Is...whatever she's doing working?" **Negative,** the Probe replied, **Unknown subject's life readings remain inert, but cellular regeneration has been effected and repairs to subject's body are nearing completion.** "And that's a good thing...right?" Mark asked, then corrected himself, "Never mind...I think I already know the answer..." Something was wrong and Mar-Sa could feel it. Phoebe's body was reacting to her golden touch as the internal damage of the puncture wound knit back together and Phoebe ceased bleeding from her wound altogether. In seconds she felt the wound completely heal itself as new blood was stimulated and produced at a fantastically accelerated level, the reserve stores of needed body fat and complex proteins making up for the extensive loss of body fluids. It was if the body knew what it had to do in order to effect a restoration of overall integrity, and yet still her heart was hardly beating and her lungs remained still as though the body were still not fully reactivated. Well enough then...Mar-Sa shaped the flow of her power and stimulated Phoebe's heart muscles, a gentle nudge that got them contracting and unclenching in the normal manner that was second nature to autonomic systems. Mar-Sa next caused the lungs to expand and contract so that fresh air could be filtered into Phoebe's bloodstream, thus preventing further degeneration. Soon the body was operating at a minimal level of performance like an engine that had been left on idle, and still there was no sense of true life in Phoebe, as though the body were an empty car that was currently missing the driver. "Phoebe...Phoebe...wake up...please," she softly pleaded, rocking the girl gently back and forth in her arms and wishing with all her heart that she could hear her lover's gentle voice once again. What was she doing wrong? What had she failed to achieve? Why wasn't her power working...?" "Marsha," a voice...a male voice...spoke down to her as a hand was placed over her shoulder, "Marsha...she's gone...I'm sorry..." "Marsha?" Rick repeated, not having moved from where his feet seemed to have become glued to the pavement even as he saw the ridiculously costumed man standing over the golden beauty. "Gone?" Mar-Sa asked, sensing the presence of Mark Daniels and barely registering what was now different in his appearance. The word brought out a terrible meaning to Mar-Sa and all at once her mind rebelled at the concept. Without thinking she shook off the hand he had offered her and she lifted Phoebe's body in her arms and cried, "NO---No...I won't let this happen..." "I'm sorry," Mark said, "But there's nothing more you can do. She's..." "Stay out of my way!" Mar-Sa said with a fierceness that was totally unlike herself, and then with a lurch she took off with a flying leap that carried her high into the air, summoning the golden glow as she levitated away from the scene of tragedy, leaving behind three very much bewildered men and one who had more of an idea of what was going on, though even he felt lost and uncertain that what the golden girl was intending was even possible, though for her sakes he started praying. "Morley?" Rich heard one of the men beside him ask. "Yeah Owen?" the other man responded. "How are we gonna file this in a report?" "You got me there," Morley answered, "'Cause I don't even believe it just happened..." Higher and higher she went, Mar-Sa gaining altitude as she sought to get above the level of the clouds so that she would have a more unobstructed access to the sun's limitless power. She needed more power in order to restore Phoebe and she was not about to fail her friend at this moment of ultimate crisis. After all, what was the point of having all these powers if she could not save the one whose life gave her own life so much meaning? At higher elevations she felt her Bioenergy levels intensify, which fit in well with her theory that the Earth's atmosphere absorbed a great deal of the sun's life-giving output, which also explained why her powers seemed to double during daylight hours. Of course the higher up she went the greater the level of exposure to the electromagnetic spectrum as well, but Mar-Sa now knew that she could intensify her mental shields and expand her aura to filter out the more harmful forms of radiant energy so as to protest herself and Phoebe from the effects of such exposure. Similarly she could concentrate the bubble of atmosphere that now surrounded them to maintain a constant pressure. The higher up she went the more the air grew thin and unbreathable, but as long as her supply of Oxygen held out there ought not to be any immediate problems. She was barely conscious of the fact that she had reached the upper atmosphere until she opened her eyes and saw blackness above and surrounding her, while below was the blue envelope of the planet with its swirling clouds and alternating brown-and-blue coastline. She had gone a lot higher up than she would have believed possible until necessity had forced her to take this desperate route, and with the planet slowly spinning beneath her she knew that she had reached the threshold of space and was only a few thousand miles away from the infinite void of hard vacuum. This seemed sufficiently high enough for her purposes and so she ceased propelling herself forward at near-escape velocities and concentrated instead on the task at hand, which meant bringing life back to her all-too-precious passenger. If her powers did not work up here...then she did not know what else to do. In the back of her mind she had the sense that what she was attempting was an impious gesture, an affront against nature, and yet she did not care one whit about the right or wrong of her actions, she only cared about being reunited with her Phoebe. And so she closed her eyes and concentrated, and the glow surrounding her became as bright as a miniature star. With a yearning need that was all-consuming she reached out to the heavens and pleaded, "Please...on please, live! I need you, Phoebe...I...I can't go on without you..." For the longest time nothing seemed to happen, though the body was in all senses alive but one, that being the absence of something that was essentially Phoebe. In desperation she increased her energy output tenfold and was now surrounded by an envelope of golden life-energy, becoming brightly illuminated against the night background as she cradled Phoebe in her arms and willed her beloved friend to return. She was all but ready to give up hope...when unexpected...someone answered. **Do not grieve, child,** a voice spoke into her mind, **It is the way of nature that all things have a beginning and an ending...** "Please!" Mar-Sa gasped, not knowing who or what to expect as this voice seemed to as much come from inside her as from her immediate surroundings, "I can't let her leave me..." **To all things there is a time and a purpose,** the voice replied, **It is wisdom to accept this.** "Than I must not be very wise," Mar-Sa replied, "Because I won't leave here without my Phoebe." **She does not belong to you exclusively, she is a part of the greater cycle...** "I don't care!" Mar-Sa flared, "She's given so much to me and asked so little! She doesn't deserve to end up like this! It's wrong to let her die because of my mistakes...!" **The Universe is not always just or kind, my Child. Things happen and sometimes it is best just to accept this...** "I won't accept it!" Mar-Sa insisted, "I can't! Without her my life has no further meaning!" **Your life has meaning,** the voice gently insisted, **Beyond whatever you imagine. You have great potential but even your gifts have limits, and without the soul to give the body its puissance...** "Then give her back to me!" Mar-Sa pleaded, "I...I would do anything for her...I'd even accept being returned to Wolframa for judgement by the Council!" **It is plain that your need is sincere and your intentions heartfelt,** the voice replied, **But that is not the way the Universe seeks balance. You wish to alter the direction of fate...so be it...but there will be an accounting one day, for the scales of destiny must always be righted...** "I don't know what any of that means," Mar-Sa said, "But if I could give my own life to save hers..." **That will not be necessary. See? Your efforts have borne fruit. The child is restored to you in full mind and body, and now your destinies shall be linked together for all eternity...** "Marsha?" Mar-Sa felt a thrill like electricity travel down her spine as she felt Phoebe stir within her arms, heard the gentle breath of a gasp escape her own lungs and then looked down to see blue eyes peering up at her with a look of tenderness and longing. "Ph-Phoebe?" Mar-Sa asked. "Marsha," Phoebe's smile was more dazzling than all the constellations put together, "I had the weirdest dream right now...I felt like I was outside my body looking down and..." "PHOEBE!" Mar-Sa had to check the impulse to hold the other girl closer to her body, knowing just how dangerous it would be for the lighter frame of the girl whose life she had just rescued. She settled for pressing her lips to Phoebe's own and allowing the kiss they shared to speak volumes for all the things that Mar-Sa wanted to share with her lover. It was the most beautiful sensation in the world to hover in free-fall with the beat of Phoebe's heart quickening in her own chest, but at last they broke the kiss and once again looked into each others eyes. And---in the back of her mind somewhere---Mar-Sa thought she heard the oddly feminine voice say once again, **Enjoy your time together...we will meet again...until then walk with glory...** Phoebe brought Mar-Sa back to the present and broke the silence of several long moments by saying, "Wow...I dunno what that was for, but...could you do it again?" "Gladly," Mar-Sa said, "A thousand times. Oh Phoebe...I thought that I had lost you..." "Uh..." it belatedly occurred to Phoebe that there was something odd about their surroundings, and then she turned to look and faintly murmured, "M-Marsha...?" "Oh," Mar-Sa, too, became conscious of the fact that they were drifting in space a thousand miles above the surface of the planet with only her telekinetic shields protecting them from the harsh environment of space as the spinning globe beneath them continued to turn, as relentless as clockwork. "Um...just what did happen just now?" Phoebe asked, trying very hard not to panic, yet feeling strangely beyond fear as if she knew that she was safe in the arms of her lover. "Ah...that might take some explaining," Mar-Sa sheepishly responded, "But the important thing is that you're alive, Phoebe. How we got here...well..." Phoebe took a moment more to respond to this, but then she said, "Neat...is this another superpower?" "More like a new use for my telekinesis," Mar-Sa replied, "We should be safe as long as our Oxygen holds out, but...I think it is time to return to ground level, only...ah...how do we get back to San Francisco?" "I dunno," Phoebe replied, "I forgot to pack an atlas. You think you can bring us down safely anywhere, Marsha?" "Oh...getting down won't be much of a problem," Mar-Sa said dryly, "I did this once before, but not with a passenger on board. I think that I can control my landing a bit better this time so we won't burn up on reentry. The only trick will be aiming for a proper glide angle." "Cool!" Phoebe grinned with that impish resiliency that Mar-Sa had so much come to admire, "So...any chance you might be able to take us to Fiji or Bermuda?" "From up here I could reach any part of the planet within minutes," Mar-Sa replied, "It's easier to fly without an atmosphere to provide wind resistance." "Then what say we find a desert island somewhere and become scarce for a few days?" Phoebe asked, "I'm not too sure what happened after that creep knifed me, but I'd bet anything that it'll be a little too hot in the old town for a while, and I don't think either of us wants to have to answer any questions..." Mar-Sa thought momentarily about Hugh and realized that in all probability she probably killed the man without thinking. She swallowed over that and said, "Um...yes...I see your point." "Then it's settled," Phoebe said, "My typing job can wait until we get back, for now I think we both deserve a long vacation with some sand and surf and no nosy reporters to bug us..." "But what about your belongings?" Mar-Sa asked, "There wasn't exactly time enough for me to pack away any luggage..." "Aw, it'd probably get lost anyway at the airport," Phoebe quipped, "And we don't need no stinking luggage to have fun, right Marsha?" The golden woman smiled at her, "All I need to have fun is you, Phoebe. You're my life's greatest enjoyment." "Heh, flattering will get you somewhere, Marsha...Marsha?" Phoebe blinked, "Just...how far up did you say we were?" "Eh?" Mar-Sa turned her head to track Phoebe's line-of-sight and immediately saw an object hurling past them at a hundred kilometer distance. It was a tiny thing that caught and reflected the light, but as she sharpened the focus of her vision she discovered that it was some manner of space craft, roughly box-like and plane-shaped with a rounded nose covered in black heat-resistant tiles and passing just below them somewhat nearer to the Earth's equator. "Ah..." Mar-Sa paused before saying, "Was that one of yours?" "Could be," Phoebe meekly remarked, then stared about at the canopy of stars just beyond the air-bubble surrounding them, "You see anything around here that looks vaguely like the Freedom Space Station?" "Ah..." it took a few seconds for Mar-Sa to track down another larger hurtling object and then she said, "Does it have solar-panels stretching out like wings and consist of several cylindrical modules stuck together?" "Hooboy," Phoebe softly exclaimed, "I don't know how to tell you this, Marsha, but I think our cover's been blown big time. Those guys got cameras, and what do you want to bet that they're pointed right at us?" "Ah...yes...that does seem likely," Mar-Sa sheepishly remarked, realizing that she must have stood out like a neon beacon when she had been expending most of her power to resurrect Phoebe, which meant that every Earth government in the world was likely to be clued in to the existence of a pair of flying women. "No helping it now," Phoebe sighed, "For better or worse, you've just become a celebrity, Marsha." "Perhaps," Mar-Sa said, "I think we had best get back down to ground level, that way we'll be much harder to track." "Anything you say...Ultra-Girl," Phoebe said sweetly. "Ultra-Girl?" Mar-Sa reacted, "What do you mean by...?" "Hey, you need a superhero name to go with the celebrity, right?" Phoebe reasoned, "And most of the good names that I know are taken. Besides, you're ultra-sweet and ultra-fun to be around..." "Phoebe, you are incredible!" Mar-Sa chuckled, already choosing her reentry vector. "You just figured that out?" Phoebe quipped, "Trust me, Marsha, stick with me and we'll be going places." "Even higher than this?" Mar-Sa asked her beloved friend. "Hey, the sky ain't really the limit with you anymore, right?" Phoebe answered, "And this is only the beginning. By the way, you know the way to Hawaii?" "Ah...kind of," Mar-Sa replied, "It's sort-of liver shaped, right?" "Close enough," Phoebe chuckled, "Just make sure not to land us in the middle of a volcano or something. Who knows, maybe we can even go pearl diving." "That sounds wonderful, Phoebe," Mar-Sa sighed as she intensified her shields to better withstand the increasing heat of the air pressure that they were displacing, mentally shaping her telekinetic envelope to allow for a controlled glide out over the vast blue of the pacific ocean, all the while feeling invigorated at the possibilities that were now open to her, and the warmth of the woman she now protected with her own life, thinking to herself that no gift could ever surpass the joy that she was experiencing in knowing that the future ahead of them held all possibilities which the two of them would face...together... End of Part one/Book One MAR-SA, THE ULTRA GIRL, will be continued in Part Two/Chapter Twelve. Any Comments or Criticisms: shadowmane@ridgenet.net Jim Robert Bader September 4, 2001 MAR-SA, THE ULRA-GIRL Page 142 of 142 Created by Jim Robert Bader Book One/Part One (First Copyrights Only) (First Eleven Chapters) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction webpage at: http://s11.sexshare.com/~jbader/jimbader.html All related chapters of this series can be found there along with my other works.