MULTIVERSE

Like I said; All this belongs to Tatsunoko, Except Dr. Keane who is the property of Saban.

Chapter Two: Found
Part One: The God Phoenix, Over The Ural Mountains, 0315 Hrs.

Jun stared intently at her board. "Photon track dissipates about two klicks over that next rise."

"Roger, take her down." Ken ordered.

Ryu tucked the God Phoenix neatly into a little hollow halfway up the mountainside, switched on Piemur and growled, "I don't care what you say, Ken, I'm not staying with the ship this time!"

"The thought never crossed my mind." Gatchaman assured him.

"This is it." Jun announced, snapping off her hand scanner.

Ken regarded the rocky, unpromising slope before them, strewn with boulders and scrubby bushes. "All right, start looking for a way in."

"Somebody coming!" Joe snapped, the Team took cover.

A line of all-terrain cargo vehicles growled into view causing the ninjas to exchange incredulous looks.

"Well that solves that problem." muttered Joe.

"Talk about luck!" Jinpei agreed.

"Maybe it's a good omen." Jun smiled.

"Maybe so." Ken agreed. "All right, five of them, five of us, one to a truck, go!"

Jumping down onto a truck was easy, hanging on as it bumped and ground its way over the trackless mountainside rather less so. Finally the earth opened before them and they drove into the Galactor base. The Team promptly abandoned their trucks, reassembling in the support beams high above the vehicle bay.

Ryu, groaning: "I think I'm seasick!"

Ken: "You wanted to come."

Jinpei: "We're fifty million miles inland, dummy!"

Ryu: "Okay, make that landsick, I sure never felt this bad at sea!"

Ken, very seriously: "Listen up! We've got two objectives, Doctor and the teleport device. We've got to destroy it but we can't move until Doctor is safe or Gel Sadra will use him against us. Joe you go with Ryu, Jun and Jinpei with me. Call in when you find something."

"Roger!" Joe and Ryu chorused.

Dr. Thaddeus Keane tried to analyze his symptoms, deduce what drug they had given him but it was growing increasingly difficult to concentrate. Not a truth serum then, those gave an unnatural clarity of mind and euphoric indifference to consequences. He felt anything but euphoric. He was worried and apprehensive, for himself of course, but even more for his adopted children. He knew they'd be coming after him, was terrified they'd find themselves walking into a trap.

Suddenly somebody gripped his shoulder, "Doctor!"

He forced his eyes open, shrank reflexively from the blurred, blue caped figure bending over him then realized who it must be. "Joe?"

"Thank God," said the familiar voice, "for a second there I thought you didn't know me. You okay, Doctor?"

"I'm afraid not," he admitted, "they've drugged me, a hypnotic by the feel of it, just enough to scramble my reflexes and thought processes."

"Can you walk?" the Condor frowned, concerned.

"I can try." Keane sat up, used Joe's arm to lever himself to his feet. A wave of vertigo broke over him and he was forced to clutch at his foster son for support. Strong arms closed around him.

"Doctor!" Joe cried, alarmed, "Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

Keane took a deep breath, answered, "I'm not going to be able to walk without help, Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Ryu!"

The strange name failed to register with Keane, he was too busy trying to stay on his feet.

"Here, take him."

A new, thicker arm slipped around him, he looked into the familiar, if blurry face of the Owl. "I don't suppose either of you has my spare glasses?"

Joe: "Sorry, I think Ken has them."

*Ken?* Keane shook his head, trying to clear it.

"G2 here," Joe continued into his bracelet, "we got him."

"Good," came the Eagle's voice in reply, "get him back to the vehicle bay, we'll take care of the teleport."

"Roger."

Joe took point as they moved out, going several paces in advance of the others, checking for trouble. He shot a quick look over his shoulder, Doctor was doing his best but could barely stay on his feet, much less walk. Ryu looked worried.

Joe was worried too. All hell was going to break loose round here the minute Ken and the others blew the teleport, they had to move faster than this. He returned his attention to the corridor ahead just in time to see a squad of Guys-in-Green round the corner.

"Shit!"

The Galactors froze an all too brief instant then opened fire in an ill-aimed volley. The Condor flipped himself out of the stream of bullets, tossed a handful of feather shurikens. Five out of the ten fell. The rest wavered and would have run if they hadn't been quickly reinforced by a second, larger troop.

"I could use some help here, Owl!"

Ryu had pushed Keane against the wall, sheltering him from Galactor fire with body and wings. "Stay here, Doctor, don't move!" he instructed hurriedly, then charged into the fray roaring defiance.

Holding onto the wall for support, Keane peered into the struggling mass of bodies, desperately wishing he could at least see what was going on. A rough hand grasped him, spun him around. It didn't take twenty-twenty vision to make out two Galactors, probably cell-block guards attracted by the gunfire.

Instinctively the Doctor broke the hold on his arm. When the Goon grabbed for him again he used the man's own momentum to slam him against the wall. The Galactor slid into a boneless heap on the floor but the move cost Keane his balance. He fell beside his victim, looked up to see a gun butt swinging towards his head, then a feather shuriken caught the second guard in the throat knocking him backwards.

Shaken Joe pulled his mentor to his feet, demanded to know if he was all right.

"I'm embarrassed." the Doctor replied, "I can fight better than that."

"We know." Joe assured him, exchanged a concerned look with Ryu. "The alarm's out, Doctor, we've got to move fast. I'm going to carry you, okay?"

It was clear he didn't like the idea, but he nodded. "I guess you'll have to. Sorry."

"It's not your fault." Joe reassured him. Even with permission he felt uncomfortably like he was violating his mentor's dignity. Picked him up gingerly, flashing back to a memory of himself at a gawky twelve or thirteen being carried upstairs by his guardian after some accident. He felt the Doctor tense then deliberately relax, closing his eyes and resting his head om Joe's shoulder. The Condor gave him a comforting squeeze, feeling a surge of protective affection and fury directed at Gel Sadra for reducing his foster father to this condition.

They made it to the assigned rendevous, an empty workspace off the vehicle bay, without further incident. Three white shadows, or rather two white and one blue, descended upon them.

Ken, Jun and Jinpei in ragged unison: "Doctor!"

Jinpei, accusingly: "You said he was all right!"

"I said we had him." Joe corrected.

Jun, worried: "Is he injured?"

"Joe, tersely: "Drugged, he's kinda out of it."

The Doctor opened his eyes, tried to smile reassuringly at Jun and Jinpei, "Not that out of it." Looked up at Joe. "Are you going to put me down?" Joe, flatly: "No." to Ken, "Let's blow this place." "My thought exactly." The Eagle responded with his wickedest grin.