"Let's try this door," said Ryoko, happily. The door in question slid open with a hydraulic SWACK and the silver-haired girl just stepped on through, not too closely followed by a very sheepish Detective Mihoshi, looking this way and that for the trouble the two of them richly deserved.
"Oh, Ryoko, is this the way out?" her companion asked for the fourth time. This space was walled with vast transparent panels, the better to see the huge aquariums beyond.
"Can't say, but I see someone who'll be happy to help us!" Ryoko gestured for Mihoshi to look across the immense room.
"Huh?" Mihoshi followed the direction and gave off a little squeak. "WASHU!"
Ryoko showed no guilt at all, walking across the distance humming a TV tune, twirling the fire ax that rested upon one shoulder. She knew Washu heard them enter and wasn't a bit surprised that the self-proclaimed genius continued to concentrate upon the virtual terminal floating before her. "What's up, short stuff?" Ryoko said pleasantly enough.
Mihoshi's greeting was less casual. "PLEASE DON'T BLAME ME! I DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS GOING TO DO THAT! YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME! I WASN'T INVOLVED! Well, maybe, cause I got us both in here, BUT I WOULDN'T HAVE IF I HAD ONLY KNO-HO-HOWN!" The rest was lost in sobs as Mihoshi grabbed Washu's legs and held on dearly.
Washu looked down in surprise, and then back up with anything but surprise. "I suppose YOU have some explanation?" she asked her darling daughter.
Ryoko shrugged with a big smile. "Just a friendly visit to you and your labs. Not much beyond that."
The small scientist was unconvinced. "Hmmm. Just a friendly visit with no warning, hey? That's quite an ax you have there, but forgive me if I'm a little short on trees. Okay, humor me and (Hey, down there, you! You're getting personal! Leave go a bit, huh?) and so tell me what you're up to this time."
"Oh, nothing much. Just an annual check of your diagnostic equipment. And I'm sorry to say, it really doesn't measure up to spec at this moment!"
Washu did a very angry take. "Wh-hat! Ryoko! That was incredibly thoughtless of you! Tell me you didn't!"
She brought the ax off her shoulder with a grin and presented arms. "Mother, I cannot tell a lie. T'was I who had nothing to do with the complete and total chop-chop-chop of your med lab!"
"Ohhh! How could you do such a thing!" Washu angrily shook a leg free of Mihoshi's grasp to try and restore some circulation. "That section is also the only safe hospital available for any of you this side of Saturn AND in case you hadn't noticed, sometimes things get a little violent around here and awfully damned quick! Where was your head and why weren't you using it?" Washu had enough of the hysterics below her waist and started pulling Mihoshi off.
Ryoko set the ax on the floor and helped peal off the detective. "Will you relax? I mostly went for stuff you've used on Tenchi and me. I left the first aid alone. Besides, those gizmos never told you anything about us, anyway. I've just had it with the personal embarrassment you put the two of us through. And what do you mean, Saturn?"
"Mihoshi's mothership. It's parked there at the moment. And don't change the subject!"
"My ship!" Mihoshi's wet eyes got big. "Oh, I haven't checked in in oh so long! What will I do?"
"Now, Ryoko..." but Washu was again distracted by the other girl.
"Oh, please, Washu, I have to contact my ship! What will I do?"
Washu scowled in unpleasant thought, then said in a slow-and-patient tone, "Okay, your ship? You want to reach your ship?" She turned and hit a few keys on the virtual keyboard. Pictures on the translucent screen suddenly appeared. "Here, you just occupy yourself with this link-up. It will give you complete access to your ship's communications."
"Oh, thank you!"
"You're welcome," was Washu's dry response. "Now..."
"Hey," objected Ryoko. "Is it wise to do that? She's already made the House ground zero for the patrol ship! If she brings the cutter down..."
"I said communications, and I meant communications and stop trying to change the subject! Do you know how much it will cost to replace that gear? Even the raw materials are expensive!"
"Pfft! Like you paid for it in the first place! What do you have for cash, anyway?" accused Ryoko.
"Unlike some in this family, I pay my way! I didn't start with much, but with a bit of time and the miracle of compound interest, I think you'd find..."
"Oh, my goodness!" Mihoshi reached out and grabbed Washu, spinning her completely around. "Will you just look at that? I've never seen anything like it!"
Washu gave off an irritated grunt but looked at the screen because she had little choice. The picture made her stop and stare. Ryoko added her head and the sight caused her eyes to widen as well.
"I could swear I've seen that symbol before," said the blonde detective. The symbol she meant was painted on a building, a glass and chrome building of some twenty stories, a glass and chrome building hanging on the side of a cliff, with a single symbol painted across the upper fifteen of those twenty stories. It was something of an attention-getter.
"What does it mean, Ryoko?" asked Washu in a hush.
"Coincidence?" Ryoko offered back. "That's certainly not Earth. Could it be something local? Or interstellar?"
"I'll check!" With a wave of her hand, a second terminal became available to Washu. Her fingers flew.
Mihoshi looked at them blankly. "What?"
Ryoko leaned back over Mihoshi's shoulder and they both looked at the screen. "You have seen that symbol before, kiddo, and many times. In fact, every time I sign my name. It's the first symbol in 'Ryouko' in Japanese, the 'Ryou' part. The first part of Ryo-ohki's name, too."
"It's called 'kanji' not symbol," corrected Washu, "and I'm afraid that particular configuration is unique to planet Earth. However, it is also referenced in the General Encyclopedia of the Jurian Science Academy, probably due to Lady Funaho's Terran connection."
"So someone on Tandera would have no problem getting the information about Japanese?" asked Ryoko.
Washu blinked. "Well, no, but what makes you say it's Tandera?"
"Because Tanderans build their cities on cliff walls and valley floors, and because it says 'Tandera' in the caption on the picture. And because I was on Tandera once, a long, long time ago."
Washu held the silence for a long moment, then said softly, "Probably a trap."
Ryoko drew her lips tight. "Probably. But if not, well, like you say, we should pay our way. I have a debt waiting for me on Tandera, with lots and lots of interest by now. Really no choice this time."
Washu nodded.
Mihoshi stared at them. "All that from a picture of graffiti?"
-------------------------------------------------
The cries of Ryo-ohki finished echoing about the valley, as Ryoko stood on the deck watching her companion and space vessel hover above the lake. She was about to will herself aboard when she heard footsteps pounding somewhere on the boards.
Tenchi Masaki turned the corner and almost ran her down. "Oh!" he cried, "Good! I'm glad I caught you!"
"Tenchi! How sweet! But as I said, this is no biggie! I'm simply going to say hi to an old friend. You needn't make such a big deal of it!" Not that she wasn't pleased that he was making a big deal of it.
"I know. I just wanted you to take this along." He presented a package, that Ryoko identified immediately.
"Oh, Tenchi! This is your mother's kimono, isn't it?" She thought and pushed it back. "No, really I can't! It means too much to you!"
"Please! I just want to loan it to you. Just something to take on the trip, let you think of home, when you wear it."
Just something to make me think of you, Tenchi, was Ryoko's thought. So why can't you come out and say that?
"Well, I don't... Okay. I'll treat it ever so carefully, I promise!" She held it close and smiled.
A door slid and a less pleasing form appeared. Crown Princess Ayeka, Jewel of the crown of Jurai, and another free-loading guest of the Masakis , walked with a dignified air towards the couple, holding out a small box in a way that suggested it contained a freshly caught mouse. "Well, I'm glad you haven't gone so this work wasn't wasted! Sasami thought you might get hungry on your voyage so I -I mean, we - SHE packed this lunch for you. I think you'll find it suitable." She added this to the package Ryoko was already clutching.
"If not, I can always use the worms to go fishing. Thank SASAMI for me, won't you?"
"Indeed. What's this?" Ayeka indicated the first parcel.
Tenchi jumped in, "Oh, that's from me. It's ..."
"It's a change of clothes, not that it's any of your business, Miss Busybody!" Ayeka looked at Tenchi for confirmation, which he did in a rather poor fashion.
Ryoko sighed. She'd miss this, in some strange way, and again argued with herself about bringing the whole crew along. But, no. If it was what she thought it was, they would just get bored and that usually meant things getting out of control. And if her worst fears were true, well, they would become targets, too. Besides, she could always use somebody on the outside to come running if things went sour. Washu knew the full story, well, at least as well as it could be known at this point. That would be enough, for now.
Good-byes were said and Ryoko was suddenly aboard the command deck of Ryo-Ohki. She fell into a seat that appeared behind her and set the lunch on a flat-toped crystal that obediently floated alongside. She set Tenchi's bundle on her lap with a soft smile, and wondered once again about living with loving people who never could seem to say the words. She shook her head, knowing how a simple 'Love you!" would so heal her battered heart. And whenever she entered into doubt, that was when the small gestures would appear. Like these gifts. They meant love, love without the words. Didn't they?
She willed a pocket to open in the black and red flight suit. From it she drew a bank chit and a scrap of paper. The paper listed contacts on Tandera, official contacts the old Pirate Ryoko could never had used in her previous life. Mihoshi thought she needed them. And the chit, it was old, very old, crafted in a way no one bothered with anymore. Given the source, Ryoko doubt it worked anymore, but it was, you know, the gesture.
Ryo-ohki's sight couldn't make out the two small forms standing before Masaki House, watching the sky, so she put a large view of Earth on the screen, instead. Soon enough, it would dwindle, as well. Soon enough.