"Why don't you sit down and have yourself some dinner, young man? There's no use standing around." Normally, a request from such a person would not have been so persuading, but Vegeta found himself on the couch with a plate of various cold foods within moments. The older woman had smiled, showing a mouth with few teeth. "There. Isn't that better? You'll do no good worrying with an empty stomach!"
He frowned and stared at his plate. The macaroni salad was awfully tempting.
"Oh, my. Eloise, that cap will be just lovely for the baby." The woman, Laura Willis, or Ms. Laura as she insisted Vegeta call her, sat down next to him on the couch. She gestured to an ancient woman across the living room who was finishing up a pink knitted cap. "Don't you think so, young man? Have you met little Emma yet?"
At his dour expression, she smiled. "Your grandmother does have the more adorable great-grand daughter. I'm so happy that she was able to see her."
Vegeta shoveled a fork full of macaroni salad into his mouth to avoid saying anything. He decided is was good enough to move onto the roast beef.
The two women sat in silence as he ate, occasionally taking sips of their tea. In the background, the church down the street chimed as another hour came and went. He put his plate on the coffee table and leaned farther back in the overstuffed couch, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Would you like some more?" Ms. Laura asked. "My daughter dropped off some wonderful cherry pie." She stood just as a door closed quietly upstairs and foot steps sounded on the stairs.
Vegeta surged to his feet as a young man came into view. His stethoscope dangled from around his neck and his tie was loosened. He rubbed his temples as he entered the living room. "She passed a few moments ago," he explained quietly to the small group. "It was peaceful." He pulled his white coat off the nearby rack and slung it over his shoulders. "I will call the appropriate authorities on my way back to the hospital." Nothing else was said as he left the room. They all heard the sound of the front door opening and closing; a warm breeze accompanying his departure.
"Well," said Ms. Laura, putting her tea down and standing. "Georgia and I will clean up all this food and put it in the fridge for later." She motioned to the ancient woman and they hurried out of the living room and into the kitchen. Vegeta could hear the sounds of cabinets opening and plastic containers being shuffled around.
He glanced towards the staircase and frowned. Like the doctor before him, he grabbed a light jacket from the rack, pulled it on over his white shirt and walked calmly out of the house. He had been expecting his great-great-grand daughter's death for quite some time: it was no surprise that she had began drifting away a few days before. It was really just a matter of when she would go.
He walked around the rounded edge of Capsule Corporation, intent on his path. The air was warm, but being the beginning of fall, the night breeze was beginning to be distinctly cold. But nothing like the cold vacuum of space.
Vegeta stopped at a small building and keyed in the master code on the colorful lock. The ten inch titanium door quickly allowed him access as the lights automatically flipped on. The only way to go was down a spiral staircase.
The hanger itself was small and cramped. Bulma had told him that there just was not plausible to build it to the size he wanted. He scoffed again at the Earth's technological shortcomings. Even the woman had wanted to keep the ship modest as to not draw attention. She wanted to spare her pitiful race the embarrassment of seeing a true ship blast off from a planet that thought themselves the only beings in the Universe.
At the bottom of the stair case was a small platform that overlooked the vertical ship. The cockpit was at the nose of the vessel and its door was already open, inviting him into the spartan interior of two seats. The hull was white (in true Capsule Corp. style) and two logos decorated the side. One was that of his father and the other that of her father. He knew there was a small living quarter behind the cockpit, although it would only become accessible once he was in space.
Vegeta hovered over to the porthole, crouched down to crawl into the cockpit and clambered into the farther seat. In space, it would be comfortable, but due to the ships vertical position, he was essentially sitting on his back with his legs dangling in the air. He punched a series of buttons, their positions and functions burned into his mind after first viewing the plans in her lab all those years ago.
The communication screen immediately flipped on showing the slowly spinning Capsule logo. A female voice welcomed him aboard and offered him some options. "Connect me to Kakarrot," he growled, the hair on the back of his neck rising. "Tell him that he has two hours to get here."
"Message sent," stated the computer.
"Fine, now begin the pre-flight systems check. Start with the primary booster rockets and then the sub-light engines." He hit another series of buttons, bringing up a blue screen with scrolling equations. "Then countdown to a pre-burn."
"Initializing" said the computer.
Vegeta forced himself to pay attention to the numbers on the screen telling himself that if any of them were incorrect, he would fly straight into a pulsar. It had been a long time since he had input coordinates. It was possible that some of the star systems in his mental map were no longer even there. This was not a time to dwell on that possibility of a mistake.
The computer and the saiyan worked in silence until a short beep indicated the computer's assigned tasks were complete. A small rumbling shook the hull as the pre-burn warmed up the two hundred year old engines. It had just started to become more violent when Goku stuck his head into the cockpit.
"Vegeta," he said softly, "I got your message. You are going." He did not ask, but there was a small smile on his face.
Inside the cockpit, Vegeta did not even glance over at him. "Obviously, you moron. Now, I have minimum blast-off time of thirty minutes. Get in if you want." He leaned up in the seat in order to see the screen better. Everything seemed to be in order.
Goku did not move at first as the computer announced an all systems go for launch. "Did you figure out where you're going?"
"No. It won't make much difference if I don't make it out of this mud-ball's atmosphere. Then I will think about it." He switched off the screen and looked fully at the other saiyan. The cockpit was lite only by it's red emergency lights.
Goku, had a rather serious expression on his face. "Are you planning on coming back? What if some huge power comes to Earth and tries to kill everyone? Then what?" He perched himself on the edge of the portal hole, crouching in the small space.
"I believe that you know my thoughts on that subject," Vegeta sneered. "They are just going to have to defend themselves. I have no investment here anymore."
Goku nodded slowly and tugged on his green t-shirt. "I don't really have any supplies with me..." He trailed off and rubbed the back of his head, "Chi Chi would kill me if she knew that I wasn't bringing an extra pair of underwear on a long trip." He grinned over at Vegeta for a moment before his expression dropped and his eyebrows furrowed in seriousness. "What you said the other day, I don't really understand. But you want me to understand."
Vegeta turned back to the screen and gritted his teeth. "Kakarrot. I refuse to discuss that farther with you. Now get in." Goku's expression became neutral.
The ships trembling had become more violent as Goku settled into the co-pilot seat. He immediately reached over and buckled his seat belt. "Safety first," he said quietly, to himself, Vegeta assumed.
"Computer, activate life support," Vegeta ordered brusquely. Only a few more minutes and he would feel the chilling cold of space.
"Water tanks are at the highest capacity, oxygen tanks are fully compressed and mass measurements indicate that the sustenance storage facilities are at maximum capacity. Ten minutes until full burn."
Goku grinned, a bit nervously, "How long will it take us to get places? I hope its not too long."
Vegeta ignored him a focused on the screen once again, the count down had started. He suddenly wondered if the burn would hit the main Capsule Corp. building. Ms. Laura and Elosie were still there. Along with the body. He reached over and snapped his belt into place, ignoring his own thoughts.
Goku grabbed the arms of the seat as the engines finally roared to life. The vibrations were almost unbearable. He felt as though his brain was sloshing around in his skull. Vegeta did not look much better; his face was whiter than ever and his tail twitched in it's place wrapped around his knee.
"Twenty seconds until lift-off" the computer announced. "Fifteen. Ten. Nine."
Vegeta glanced at the screen again, suddenly second guessing himself: that he made a mistake. "Seven. Six."
The taller saiyan felt as though his eyes were going to burst out of his eyes. He closed them just to be safe.
"Three. Two. One. Launch."