"They're WHERE???"
Queen Misaki slumped a little in her chair. She loved her husband very much, but she was going to murder him if he didn't learn how to run a proper military campaign. The empress turned to the watch officer who had brought her the news. "Send the second and third squadrons to the system. Shift the sixth squadron here," she indicated a spot on the holo display, "To cover." The man nodded and hurried off. Misaki watched him go, then closed her eyes and massaged her throbbing temples. *At this rate we're going to lose half the sector.* She opened her eyes once more, only to have her sight again assaulted by the unpleasantness on the display. She muttered a quiet curse.
"Genda, take over," she said suddenly. "I'm going for a walk."
"Yes ma'am!" The captain turned to his consol and activated his controls. Misaki stood and stretched. Half the ops center could hear the cartilage of her tired joints snap and pop as she moved. Some of the console operators winced sympathetically. She'd been working twelve hour shifts in the command chair ever since the war's beginning. She had to be getting tired. Didn't she?
Misaki saw the worried glances. She flashed one of her famous closed- eye smiles. "Be back in a sec!" The worried looks subsided before her eyes. She flashed a victory sign, which actually brought out a few grins. Then she strode confidently from the room.
Once outside the door, she collapsed, groaning, against a wall.
"Lady Tsunami and all the Trees of Jurai," she whispered. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck." In point of fact, she looked it, too. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from lack of sleep and long hours of staring at displays. Her hair was crimped and tangled from continual abuse against the back of the command chair. Her lips were cracked and chapped from the ultra-dry air of the bunker, and her tongue was painfully thick from the dehydrating effects of long watches without enough water. She looked and felt like a wreck, and she knew it. Worse yet, her attitude was beginning to slip. That worried her most of all, that she might lose her composure and let her frustration show in front of her commanders. She needed them to have complete confidence in what they were doing, and that meant always putting on a brave front. But how much longer could she keep it up? She pried herself off the wall and stumble-walked down the passageway toward the Hall of Trees. She was relatively certain that the arboretum would be empty at this hour.
As it turned out, she was wrong. A clear, bubbly salutation rang out to greet the queen as she stepped into the sanctuary.
"Oh, hi Lady Misaki!" Mihoshi's smile was so bright it was nearly blinding. "What are you doing up?"
Misaki blinked. Caught off guard, she forgot to be cheerful. In fact, she forgot to say anything at all. She just kept blinking. Mihoshi didn't seem to notice. "I just love looking at these trees. Aren't they just so cool? I mean, I guess you're used to them and all, but they're just so BIG and so IMPRESSIVE and so NEAT, I just love looking at them! So how are you?"
Lady Misaki's mind finally caught up with Mihoshi's monologue at just about the point it turned into a question. "I'm fine Mihoshi, thank you." She stepped forward and swept the Galaxy Policewoman into a bear hug. "What are you doing here?" she asked warmly.
"ERK!" was about all Mihoshi could manage by way of reply. This was followed by a squeaking noise that sounded exactly like a mouse being run over by a cement mixer. Misaki hugged all the harder, forcing the air from the policewoman's lungs. "I'm fine… too… thanks!" finally came out of the hapless blonde as the last bit of breath fled from her compressed upper body. Misaki released the hug, dropping Mihoshi to the floor like a sack of ball bearings- that is, she hit heavily and rolled. The queen, for her part, rubbed her lower back. She thought she might have thrown something out of joint with the effort that went into that one.
"So," Mihoshi rasped from the floor, "are you surprised to see me?"
"Yes I am!" Misaki reached down and helped Mihoshi to her feet. "What are you doing on Jurai?"
"Well, I heard you all were having a war, so Yukinoujo and I thought we'd come over and make sure you were all right!" She smiled dazzlingly, apparently fully recovered from the near-liquefying hug. "Oh, and Tenchi said we should get off of Earth for a while." Her smile faded a bit. "I guess landing on his house for the fourteenth time made him a little cross." Her smile disappeared entirely, and her eyes lowered. "Okay, it made him really mad." She sniffled a bit, but then her smile returned. "But I'm here now! How can I help?"
Misaki had visions of shattered ships and burnt-out bases- FRIENDLY ships and bases- flash through her mind at the question. She banished the thought. "Oh, we're doing alright," she replied. "We have a lot more ships than they do. I'm sure the war will be over soon." The queen put her arm around Mihoshi's shoulders and began to walk with her through the arboretum. "Don't worry about that at all. Thank you for coming, though, it was very nice of you."
"Oh!" Mihoshi blushed. "Well, it was the least I could do, seeing how nice you all were to me after I landed on that guy with the pink hair that Lord Azusa really liked. I felt like I kinda sorta owed you all-"
"Pish. You did me a huge favor." Misaki looked around, then whispered conspiratorially. "That young man was simply awful. Tenchi's much nicer."
"Oh, isn't he though?" Mihoshi's eyes unfocused. "He's so cute, and so brave, and so polite, and so helpful, and he's got a really nice butt, and oh my gods did I say that out loud?" Mihoshi began hopping in a small, frenetic circle. "I can't believe I said that!"
Misaki laughed. "Well you're right. He DOES have a nice butt. I raised a daughter with good tastes."
Mihoshi face faulted. "Wha… what?"
"What, can't a woman notice these things?" Misaki winked and grinned. "Aeka's really netted herself a looker." Misaki shook her head. "They grow up so fast." The queen reached down and helped Mihoshi off the ground for the second time in as many minutes. "Speaking of which, how are my daughters?"
"Oh, they're just fine. Sasami's really having fun! Ryouko's teaching her how to fly Ryou-oh-ki, and I think it's going well because they almost never crash and when they do they just turn into a big ball of cabbit and people and roll around and laugh and talk about how much fun it is and if I ask why they crashed Ryouko just tells me it's all about timing and that I wouldn't understand and then she laughs some more and she's right I don't understand but they seem happy so I'm happy and that's good enough!"
Misaki decided right then and there that Mihoshi had the lung capacity to suck a cabbit through a garden hose. "Sounds like they're having fun! What about Aeka?"
Mihoshi averted her eyes. "Oh look! A bird!"
Misaki's eyebrows went up.
"I like birds," the policewoman said nervously. "They're so pretty and they sing so nicely. If you hold real still, you can-"
"Mihoshi," interrupted the queen. "What about Aeka?"
Mihoshi stopped speaking.
"Mihoshi? Is something wrong? Tell me!"
"It's just that I don't think she's having as much fun as Sasami." The detective gave Misaki a worried look. "I didn't want to make you upset. I came here to help, not to make you upset."
"Mihoshi, you're not making me upset." Misaki's voice was very quiet and serious. "Tell me what's the matter with my daughter."
"Oh… well…" She sighed heavily. "It's just that she seems so worried all the time."
"Worried? About what?"
"Well, she knows about the war, and she worries about that. I don't think that's the big problem, though."
"So what is the big problem?" Misaki was doing her best to be patient, but frustration was beginning to creep into her voice.
"Well… okay. But promise you won't get mad?"
"Mihoshi, I won't get mad. Just tell me."
"Well, it's about Tenchi."
"Go on."
"Well…" Mihoshi paused for a moment, gathering herself, then let it all out in a rush. "Aeka and Tenchi ended up kissing one night after dinner and Aeka thought that he'd chosen her and she was all happy, right? But then the next day Tenchi kissed Ryouko and said that he loved them both, and Aeka was really disappointed because she thought he'd finally grown a pair, whatever that means, and made a choice, and she said he really didn't have a pair of whatevers after all and that he'd never decide and that it was driving her crazy not knowing from day to day if he'd ever make up his mind."
Misaki almost collapsed with relief. "Oh is THAT all?"
"Oh no, there's more," Mihoshi said solemnly. "The very next day, Sasami had one of her Tsunami moments, it was at the beach, and Tsunami showed up in a swimsuit, if you can believe that! And Tenchi just like stared and stared and then his tongue hung out and he muttered something about blue raspberry and Tsunami and Sasami both blushed and Aeka about cried."
Misaki gaped. "Do you mean to tell me-"
Mihoshi wasn't finished yet. "Wait, there's more! The week after that, Tenchi brought a girl home from school! She was very, very pretty, and very smart, and Tenchi was all excited and proud and his father was all excited and he peeped a lot and even Yoshou or Yousho or Katshuito or whatever he is was very pleased and Ryouko got mad and left but Aeka stayed and tried to be nice but after a while she just started crying and she's been sad ever since!"
Misaki waited. There was a long silence. "Are you done?"
"Well… no."
"There's MORE?"
"Yes, one other thing."
"And it is?"
"Why doesn't Tenchi love ME?" Mihoshi fell forward, sobbing, into a surprised Misaki's arms. The queen caught and held the policewoman as she continued to cry. "He's so nice, and so gentle, and smart, and kind, and he's so CUTE!" Mihoshi continued to bawl, listing Tenchi's good qualities until they were indistinguishable wails amongst the tears. Misaki made the soothing noises only a mother knows how to make, not quite sure what had brought this on, but instinctively comforting the obviously distressed girl. Finally, the hapless detective subsided into an exhausted whimper and fell asleep right on the spot. Misaki gave her a gentle squeeze, then lowered her against a tree trunk.
"Poor Mihoshi," she said. "Third wheel is never easy." Then she hurried back to the op center.
Captain Genda looked up a few minutes later to see Queen Misaki come marching back into the command area. She looked noticeably better than when she'd left. "Welcome back, ma'am. Command is yours."
"I have Command," she agreed. She settled into her chair with a sigh. "It's good to be back." The queen began pressing console buttons, then stopped. "Oh, Genda. Remind me to have Detective First Class Mihoshi put in for a medal."
"A medal, ma'am? Which one?"
"The Order of Merit for Service to the Royal House."
Genda boggled. "What did she DO?"
"Made me feel much better about where I am, Captain Genda." Misaki smiled. "War or no war, it could be worse."
"Ma'am?"
"I could be on earth, Genda. And I could be single." She laughed. "Those poor, poor girls."
Genda turned away, completely lost.
Misaki laughed again and leaned back in her chair. Poor girls. Especially Aeka. To get a first kiss, then to have to deal with all of that…
First kiss?
"Genda!" she snapped. "Get me the chief of covert operations!"
END.
Queen Misaki slumped a little in her chair. She loved her husband very much, but she was going to murder him if he didn't learn how to run a proper military campaign. The empress turned to the watch officer who had brought her the news. "Send the second and third squadrons to the system. Shift the sixth squadron here," she indicated a spot on the holo display, "To cover." The man nodded and hurried off. Misaki watched him go, then closed her eyes and massaged her throbbing temples. *At this rate we're going to lose half the sector.* She opened her eyes once more, only to have her sight again assaulted by the unpleasantness on the display. She muttered a quiet curse.
"Genda, take over," she said suddenly. "I'm going for a walk."
"Yes ma'am!" The captain turned to his consol and activated his controls. Misaki stood and stretched. Half the ops center could hear the cartilage of her tired joints snap and pop as she moved. Some of the console operators winced sympathetically. She'd been working twelve hour shifts in the command chair ever since the war's beginning. She had to be getting tired. Didn't she?
Misaki saw the worried glances. She flashed one of her famous closed- eye smiles. "Be back in a sec!" The worried looks subsided before her eyes. She flashed a victory sign, which actually brought out a few grins. Then she strode confidently from the room.
Once outside the door, she collapsed, groaning, against a wall.
"Lady Tsunami and all the Trees of Jurai," she whispered. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck." In point of fact, she looked it, too. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from lack of sleep and long hours of staring at displays. Her hair was crimped and tangled from continual abuse against the back of the command chair. Her lips were cracked and chapped from the ultra-dry air of the bunker, and her tongue was painfully thick from the dehydrating effects of long watches without enough water. She looked and felt like a wreck, and she knew it. Worse yet, her attitude was beginning to slip. That worried her most of all, that she might lose her composure and let her frustration show in front of her commanders. She needed them to have complete confidence in what they were doing, and that meant always putting on a brave front. But how much longer could she keep it up? She pried herself off the wall and stumble-walked down the passageway toward the Hall of Trees. She was relatively certain that the arboretum would be empty at this hour.
As it turned out, she was wrong. A clear, bubbly salutation rang out to greet the queen as she stepped into the sanctuary.
"Oh, hi Lady Misaki!" Mihoshi's smile was so bright it was nearly blinding. "What are you doing up?"
Misaki blinked. Caught off guard, she forgot to be cheerful. In fact, she forgot to say anything at all. She just kept blinking. Mihoshi didn't seem to notice. "I just love looking at these trees. Aren't they just so cool? I mean, I guess you're used to them and all, but they're just so BIG and so IMPRESSIVE and so NEAT, I just love looking at them! So how are you?"
Lady Misaki's mind finally caught up with Mihoshi's monologue at just about the point it turned into a question. "I'm fine Mihoshi, thank you." She stepped forward and swept the Galaxy Policewoman into a bear hug. "What are you doing here?" she asked warmly.
"ERK!" was about all Mihoshi could manage by way of reply. This was followed by a squeaking noise that sounded exactly like a mouse being run over by a cement mixer. Misaki hugged all the harder, forcing the air from the policewoman's lungs. "I'm fine… too… thanks!" finally came out of the hapless blonde as the last bit of breath fled from her compressed upper body. Misaki released the hug, dropping Mihoshi to the floor like a sack of ball bearings- that is, she hit heavily and rolled. The queen, for her part, rubbed her lower back. She thought she might have thrown something out of joint with the effort that went into that one.
"So," Mihoshi rasped from the floor, "are you surprised to see me?"
"Yes I am!" Misaki reached down and helped Mihoshi to her feet. "What are you doing on Jurai?"
"Well, I heard you all were having a war, so Yukinoujo and I thought we'd come over and make sure you were all right!" She smiled dazzlingly, apparently fully recovered from the near-liquefying hug. "Oh, and Tenchi said we should get off of Earth for a while." Her smile faded a bit. "I guess landing on his house for the fourteenth time made him a little cross." Her smile disappeared entirely, and her eyes lowered. "Okay, it made him really mad." She sniffled a bit, but then her smile returned. "But I'm here now! How can I help?"
Misaki had visions of shattered ships and burnt-out bases- FRIENDLY ships and bases- flash through her mind at the question. She banished the thought. "Oh, we're doing alright," she replied. "We have a lot more ships than they do. I'm sure the war will be over soon." The queen put her arm around Mihoshi's shoulders and began to walk with her through the arboretum. "Don't worry about that at all. Thank you for coming, though, it was very nice of you."
"Oh!" Mihoshi blushed. "Well, it was the least I could do, seeing how nice you all were to me after I landed on that guy with the pink hair that Lord Azusa really liked. I felt like I kinda sorta owed you all-"
"Pish. You did me a huge favor." Misaki looked around, then whispered conspiratorially. "That young man was simply awful. Tenchi's much nicer."
"Oh, isn't he though?" Mihoshi's eyes unfocused. "He's so cute, and so brave, and so polite, and so helpful, and he's got a really nice butt, and oh my gods did I say that out loud?" Mihoshi began hopping in a small, frenetic circle. "I can't believe I said that!"
Misaki laughed. "Well you're right. He DOES have a nice butt. I raised a daughter with good tastes."
Mihoshi face faulted. "Wha… what?"
"What, can't a woman notice these things?" Misaki winked and grinned. "Aeka's really netted herself a looker." Misaki shook her head. "They grow up so fast." The queen reached down and helped Mihoshi off the ground for the second time in as many minutes. "Speaking of which, how are my daughters?"
"Oh, they're just fine. Sasami's really having fun! Ryouko's teaching her how to fly Ryou-oh-ki, and I think it's going well because they almost never crash and when they do they just turn into a big ball of cabbit and people and roll around and laugh and talk about how much fun it is and if I ask why they crashed Ryouko just tells me it's all about timing and that I wouldn't understand and then she laughs some more and she's right I don't understand but they seem happy so I'm happy and that's good enough!"
Misaki decided right then and there that Mihoshi had the lung capacity to suck a cabbit through a garden hose. "Sounds like they're having fun! What about Aeka?"
Mihoshi averted her eyes. "Oh look! A bird!"
Misaki's eyebrows went up.
"I like birds," the policewoman said nervously. "They're so pretty and they sing so nicely. If you hold real still, you can-"
"Mihoshi," interrupted the queen. "What about Aeka?"
Mihoshi stopped speaking.
"Mihoshi? Is something wrong? Tell me!"
"It's just that I don't think she's having as much fun as Sasami." The detective gave Misaki a worried look. "I didn't want to make you upset. I came here to help, not to make you upset."
"Mihoshi, you're not making me upset." Misaki's voice was very quiet and serious. "Tell me what's the matter with my daughter."
"Oh… well…" She sighed heavily. "It's just that she seems so worried all the time."
"Worried? About what?"
"Well, she knows about the war, and she worries about that. I don't think that's the big problem, though."
"So what is the big problem?" Misaki was doing her best to be patient, but frustration was beginning to creep into her voice.
"Well… okay. But promise you won't get mad?"
"Mihoshi, I won't get mad. Just tell me."
"Well, it's about Tenchi."
"Go on."
"Well…" Mihoshi paused for a moment, gathering herself, then let it all out in a rush. "Aeka and Tenchi ended up kissing one night after dinner and Aeka thought that he'd chosen her and she was all happy, right? But then the next day Tenchi kissed Ryouko and said that he loved them both, and Aeka was really disappointed because she thought he'd finally grown a pair, whatever that means, and made a choice, and she said he really didn't have a pair of whatevers after all and that he'd never decide and that it was driving her crazy not knowing from day to day if he'd ever make up his mind."
Misaki almost collapsed with relief. "Oh is THAT all?"
"Oh no, there's more," Mihoshi said solemnly. "The very next day, Sasami had one of her Tsunami moments, it was at the beach, and Tsunami showed up in a swimsuit, if you can believe that! And Tenchi just like stared and stared and then his tongue hung out and he muttered something about blue raspberry and Tsunami and Sasami both blushed and Aeka about cried."
Misaki gaped. "Do you mean to tell me-"
Mihoshi wasn't finished yet. "Wait, there's more! The week after that, Tenchi brought a girl home from school! She was very, very pretty, and very smart, and Tenchi was all excited and proud and his father was all excited and he peeped a lot and even Yoshou or Yousho or Katshuito or whatever he is was very pleased and Ryouko got mad and left but Aeka stayed and tried to be nice but after a while she just started crying and she's been sad ever since!"
Misaki waited. There was a long silence. "Are you done?"
"Well… no."
"There's MORE?"
"Yes, one other thing."
"And it is?"
"Why doesn't Tenchi love ME?" Mihoshi fell forward, sobbing, into a surprised Misaki's arms. The queen caught and held the policewoman as she continued to cry. "He's so nice, and so gentle, and smart, and kind, and he's so CUTE!" Mihoshi continued to bawl, listing Tenchi's good qualities until they were indistinguishable wails amongst the tears. Misaki made the soothing noises only a mother knows how to make, not quite sure what had brought this on, but instinctively comforting the obviously distressed girl. Finally, the hapless detective subsided into an exhausted whimper and fell asleep right on the spot. Misaki gave her a gentle squeeze, then lowered her against a tree trunk.
"Poor Mihoshi," she said. "Third wheel is never easy." Then she hurried back to the op center.
Captain Genda looked up a few minutes later to see Queen Misaki come marching back into the command area. She looked noticeably better than when she'd left. "Welcome back, ma'am. Command is yours."
"I have Command," she agreed. She settled into her chair with a sigh. "It's good to be back." The queen began pressing console buttons, then stopped. "Oh, Genda. Remind me to have Detective First Class Mihoshi put in for a medal."
"A medal, ma'am? Which one?"
"The Order of Merit for Service to the Royal House."
Genda boggled. "What did she DO?"
"Made me feel much better about where I am, Captain Genda." Misaki smiled. "War or no war, it could be worse."
"Ma'am?"
"I could be on earth, Genda. And I could be single." She laughed. "Those poor, poor girls."
Genda turned away, completely lost.
Misaki laughed again and leaned back in her chair. Poor girls. Especially Aeka. To get a first kiss, then to have to deal with all of that…
First kiss?
"Genda!" she snapped. "Get me the chief of covert operations!"
END.