Chapter 8

I watched as Mei situated herself at the pilot's seat, and studied the layout before her. "I'm sorry...I-" a voice rang in my head again. It was Trunks using his ki to speak only to me, and my eyes jumped from Mei to him. I couldn't believe this was the same child beside me, in the same position that I was in, who just moments ago went toe to toe with Vegeta. It seemed his surge of power had disappeared from him, and he was just as frail and vulnerable as he was when I found him back with the Nestors. His head was still hung down, arms behind him, legs outstretched with his knees slightly bent upwards. He weakly tried to pick his head up to look at me, but he just couldn't muster the strength to do so. In defeat and with a small utterance of pain, he dropped his head back down, his locks of purple shaking. "I never meant for anyone...else to..get caught up in this." he continued. "You've only tried to help-I.." Another wince from him was heard, and it even drew Vegeta's attention as he glanced down only for a mere second at him.

"Don't concern yourself about that right now, lad. Just-" Vegeta's sudden stepping away from Trunks stopped my thoughts to the boy as I noticed the warrior was making his way closer to Mei. "Mei. Look in front of you and you'll see a green toggle switch with other toggle switches that are red beside it. Flip the green one up, and the middle one you need to flip up as well." I was nervous that Vegeta was getting impatient and I wasn't sure what his movement had been for. I settled on the idea of her trying to pilot the ship and continued on as I watched Vegeta stop in the doorway of the canteen area.

Mei moved her left hand and found the toggles I spoke of, and with her tiny finger she did as asked. The rattling of the engine starting of the ship was a familiar sound to me, but not to Mei as her eyes blinking as if it startled her. "What about the security settings? Won't they ask me something before we leave?" she asked as she lightly grabbed the throttle in front of her.

"Yes they will send over some information about flight status, exits and random weather information. When the touch screen to the right of you pings, just hit accept on anything they send to you. Let the engine run for a few more minutes before we start that process of sending the tower a request for take off." I breathed deeply, and exhaled slowly, shutting my eyes for a moment as I tried to visualize what to tell her next. I turned my gaze to Vegeta one last time, and saw him resting right his hand on the door frame, his body only a few feet from Trunks. "Are you certain you want her to do this. If they suspect anything out of order-"

"Then I highly suggest you don't make it suspicious for the sake of your friend here." Vegeta coldly interrupted, his hand flipping up towards Mei. His glare towards me felt as if it shot directly through my chest.

I took another deep breath as I closed my eyes, viewing the console of the ship in my head again. A familiar buzzer from the console of the Korna grabbed my attention as I looked to the front of the ship to recognize the sound as the tower hailing the ship. Now I was nervous. If the flight deck so much as had a notion that something was out of line, they surely would board the ship with out hesitation. That was going to be interesting to explain, the child and myself restrained adjacent to the wall. Then all hell would likely break loose because I would imagine the Seiyajiin warrior would just use that invasion of privacy as an excuse to destroy anyone in his way today. Mei's face was tormented with worry as her ice blue eyes locked onto mine as the buzzer echoed in the ship's cockpit. Her jet black locks of hair swayed as she tried to regain her bravery and she stared at the touch screen in front of her. "Mei, just turn the volume up on the call as loud as you can, and stay as still as possible in the chair. I don't want them believing anyone else is on board. Turn the dial in the upper left hand corner of the console to your right, near the speaker." I continued. Another slight muffle from Trunks caught my ear, and my eyes shifted to him again. "You're going to have to bear it, Lad."

His eyes never opened, but his face was certainly readable even though he said not a word at this time. He's hurting, and it was going to be difficult for him to follow suit with what I asked of Mei. "I-I will…" the young man spoke in broken words through the pain he was enduring, his head slightly hanging lower as he spoke the best he could.
"You're going to have to fix that, you know that, don't you? He can't breathe." Mei interrupted, staring harshly now at Vegeta. The buzzer still rang through out the air , and it seemed she was ignoring it now due to her feelings of what she spoke about. The two exchanged stares, she and Vegeta, for what it seemed like an eternity.

Vegeta merely crossed his arms and smirked at her. "I told you we'll take care of that, woman. Now answer the damn tower, that noise is maddening." His eyes glanced back to Trunks below him, and for a brief moment, I witnessed an expression on Vegeta of which I was uncertain of its meaning. The poor boy was shaking every other few seconds now, trying to console his wounds to himself quietly. "ANSWER the call." Vegeta demanded, shaking his head a bit, as if he was trying to regain his powerful stature. I wasn't sure what exactly had come across in the mind of this man, but one thing I was learning. I looked at Trunks again, who was still shaking, and it was extremely visible now, his purple locks quivering violently. This boy is distracting to you, isn't he, Vegeta-sama. And you can't figure out why… I thought to myself as I gazed back to the bigger man.

Mei's small hand lifted to the touch screen and her index finger lightly pressed the laminate on the console. Her eyes turned to me as we all heard the dispatcher on the speakers of the Korna rebounding inside the ship.

"Good day, sir Ranuk Le`rule. I take it you enjoyed your stay on Miranda. Would you like any further information on the weather or flight patterns at this time? And also please be advised that you need to submit your landing permit information if you are requesting take off at the end of this call. How can I help you this morning?" the young female voice spoke.
"Yes, good morning, my lady. I request no further information on weather, and I don't require any further flight information, my dear. I greatly appreciate the offer." I was speaking as loud as I could from where I sat on the floor, perhaps 10-15 feet away from the console of the ship. Maybe even more. I was always terrible about judging how far away I was from something.

"Very well sir, ummm" her voice trailed off. "It's rather difficult to hear you. Are you requesting take off commencement today?"

"Ugh, yes I am, I'm afraid." I spoke louder.

"You requested the lot for a week sir. Would you like for me to bill the refund back to banking information you used upon entering the space port?"

"Oh that would be wonderful dear."

"One moment and I'll send over the information. Also, as a precaution, are you exporting any materials at this time? Before I transfer your request to the security office?" she asked.

Yes, I have a doctor who's hell bent on an adventure, a child that I'm STILL unaware of his predicament, and the man who's placed him there who's certain to kill us all if I don't hurry this call along, I thought to myself as I tried to obtain some sort of calmness in this insanity. "No, nothing at all I'm afraid. My trip is cut short due to some family emergency off planet." An audible wince from Trunks again stole my eyes once more, and my heart ached for him as I tried to look forward away from him. "That will be all thank you.." I tried to over speak him, attempting to cast an audible shadow over him. I looked again to the lad, and he shook vigorously again, his mouth clenched with his eyes tightly closed.

"Alright, thank you Sir Le'rule. I'll convene the information for immediate flight initiation right away and thank you for choosing Port Miranda City Space Cooperation." With that, the kind voice was gone, and only light music played on the speakers, only for a few moments.

Vegeta's glare turned from the console of the ship back to Trunks. "Get it together, boy." He coldly ordered. Trunks merely swallowed his breath, and opened his eyes only to look the ground in front of him. He showed no fear to the threatening voice above him and sat still as could be, his chest rising as he inhaled deeply. He exhaled, trembling as he continued to stare at the floor, his eyes unwavering. This lasted only a few seconds, and his head was forced down again seemingly against his will, eyes shutting tight again, unable to hide his anguish as he quivered.

"Sir Le`rule? You've GOT to be kidding me." Mei swung half way around on the pilots chair to be sure I noticed her unsatisfied expression. "That's your cover?"

"An alias is an alias, none the less, Mei." I smiled nervously as shifted my body weight slightly attempting to get comfortable, if that was even possible on this steel floor.

" Yea, well, I'm going to write you some new names. That's horrible-" Mei's sentence was stopped by the sudden silence in the room as the soft music came to a halt. Her head swirled back to the console in front of her, her hands lightly clasped together on her chest.

"This is flight deck T195-23 sending confirmation of request of air travel. Do you have the landing permits and documents ready to transfer back to our tower?" a deep male voice boomed. I could see a blanket of panic cover Mei's expression at first, because I hadn't told her anything of the sort.
"Yes, the permit license is number 000956132-12, processing for flight code A532B…"I said aloud, my voice as thunderous as the dispatcher. "I can send them to you after the call, as the lady requested. Forgive an old spacer, my friend; I'm still trying to finish my pre-flight checks around the ship. Ship's name is Lady Utella. Model is Turuk 1504B color hunter green. Delivery cargo and outbound cargo are negative."

"And state your name for the com sir?"

"Ranuk Le`rule."

"Thank you, sir. Please wait while the tower processes your information and will give you the green shortly." And with that the soft music was serenading us again.

I exhaled to myself, relieved that things were going so well and nothing seemed to be seen out of order to them. "Mei, you remember what screen I was on at the console to look up…." I stopped and glanced over to Trunks. "….the bounty logs?" I watched as she slid her upper torso over to the left and found the screen that I spoke of. "Type 'Port Miranda' and the information they need should pull up, and hit ok to send it." Mei did as directed and a small beep echoed lightly from the screen.

Another murmur of discomfort was heard from Trunks, and Vegeta's sudden movement caught my eye as he leaned over Trunks while reaching beneath his cape with his left hand. This also drew Mei's attention from the pilot seat as she slightly turned her head to watch Vegeta return his hand from a pocket (I assumed) with two small vials, square and almost thin like in shape with rubber tops on them. Vegeta kneeled down beside Trunks and simultaneously grabbed the boy by his left back side of the head. Trunks seemed to try to resist this at first, but with a small cry of agony he gave in to Vegeta, who forced it to the side revealing the restraint that was attached to Trunks's neck.

"Continue on, old man…" He snapped, as his thumb pushed over a square "door" revealing a tiny compartment of some kind. He stuck both glass capsules inside, next to each other and slid the tiny square door back into its place.

A beep from Trunks's neck echoed in the ship. "What is that?" Mei asked as she rose forward to leave the seat. "You can't give him anything else! You don't know-".

"I know what I am doing, woman. You worry yourself over the ship, not the boy. Mind your first task!" Vegeta bellowed out at her, and snapped something on the restraint within his grasp.

"Ah, don't…" Trunks tried to shy away from Vegeta's grip as this contraption clicked onto his neck making him groan out loud from the prick of needle on the inside of the collar like device. Vegeta's grip stood firm and he waited until Trunks's eyes looked heavy, his body giving way to the concoction of what was sent into his veins. His head collapsed backwards, forcing Vegeta to catch it with in his hand, as Trunks's body limply allowed gravity to pull him down. It seemed so uncharacteristic for the mighty warrior to use his hand to cradle the boy's head, and using his right arm to carry the rest of Trunks's body weight. Vegeta placed the lad on his right side laying him on the cold floor of the ship, hands still captured as to Vegeta's liking with the restraints behind his back. Trunks rested there against his will of course, quivering to some degree still, wincing every now and then. "What…what did…" his words were lost as his head shook when he lowered it closer to his chest still wreathing from his wounds.

"Be quiet, whelp. I'm doing you a favor and also making sure you don't have the strength to be stupid and try to pull another heroic stunt again." Vegeta snarled as he stood to his feet, sneering down at the teen. He turned his gaze from Trunks to Mei as Vegeta crossed his arms and walked back to the door way of the canteen area. "You wanted me to adjust his arrangement, did you not?" he barked at Mei, resting his back on the left side of the door frame. "I trust that this will suffice for the time being."
Mei turned her eyes from Vegeta's stare and pleaded with my own. "Now what do I do?" she asked.

"Flip the two bright red switches above your left hand side on the console above your head. After that initiate auto gravity right before we release the auto-port function." I watched as she flipped the two corresponding switches to her left above her head, and the cockpit came alive, igniting the full auto pilot into play, ready to go. "The release for the auto-port is the yellow knob right below the engine starter toggle. You'll see the letters APR right below it. Hit that as soon as we get confirm-". My sentence was interrupted by the sudden silence of the soft music that echoed through the body of the ship.
"Lady Utella Model Turuk 1504B, this is your flight deck responding. You are now cleared for the launch of your ship. Please be advised to the air control requests for confirmation after this transmission. You are required as per your ship's model to take off from your current position. You are now good to go, Lady Utella and have a pleasant flight back to your next destination."

"Thank you, dear sir and a happy rest of the day to you as well." I answered in a boisterous voice. A click in the transmission echoed in the ship and the com was clear, quiet, and left us in the hands of an edgy Seiyajiin warrior. "Mei, gently take the throttle, and pull it gently up from the floor until it clicks, & that will initiate the bottom thrusters to start off." I watched as she quickly found the seat belt of the pilot's seat and buckled herself in. Her tiny hands cradled the throttle, and she lifted it up until the noise popped from the gear shift in her possession. She blinked harshly in surprise and loosened her grip for a few seconds, but then retightened her hands around the throttle. "It's just a big video game, dear." I tried to reassure her as I knew we all felt the ship rattle and slightly rumble beneath our feet. "Now gently pull back on the throttle, and that will lift us up. Once we are out of the atmosphere the Korna will sound an alarm telling you that you can put her from Manual to Auto Pilot."

"What if there is another ship up above me?!" Mei's head slightly turned to try to see me, but realized she could not. she then turned her nervous gaze back in front of her. "I can't see anything above me!" The Korna's engines still purred as we were still hovering in the courtyard.

"It'll let you know way ahead of time by the monitor to the right of you on the windshield of the ship. If something's in your way, turn the stick right to go right, and left to go left." Now I was the one getting more nervous than she was. This whole thing was ludicrous. I was more angry that I had allowed myself to be stuck in this position in the first place, apprehended to a damn wall of my own ship. I looked to my right, and watched Trunk's head still shaking, along with his body. He was still lying on the floor of the ship on his right side. My gaze turned to Vegeta, who I had no idea was studying me, and we locked eyes for a moment. His cold stare only lasted a few seconds which seemed like minutes to me, and then with a scoff he turned his head back to Mei.

Mei pulled back as told on the throttle, and the Korna lifted herself from the port, her engines roaring ready to leave the ground. I stretched my neck to strive to look out the windshield to see what Mei was seeing as she steadily lifted the vessel into the air. An alarm beeping from the monitor I had mentioned earlier rang out and was warning of an over head air craft. "Oh my...ok. It's just a big video game. It's just a big video game." Mei whimpered as she chose to go to the right as she continued to pull back the throttle. The Korna did as told and easily avoided the oncoming aircraft which was now to our left as we continued to rise. "Oh my god, the space port looks tiny! I don't know if I can do-"

"You're alright Mei you're almost done just keep pulling it back we're almost there dear." My heart was about to burst from pain of having her endure this. I know she was

scared, and I was afraid for her myself, knowing she's never experienced this sort of thing in her life. All I wanted was my doctor friend to be out of harms way and I had only led her into the very thing I fought to defend her against. Suddenly, I felt my body start to rise on its own. I grabbed one of the base board piping behind me with my restrained hands and tried to use my foot to steady myself to the floor, but it was useless. I looked over to Trunks as he too was beginning to rise from the steel ground of the Korna. "Trunks grab the pipes behind you!" I yelled. "Mei! The gravity on the ship! You forgot to hit the switch!" I watched as a shocked Seiyajiin warrior standing in the door way of the canteen area grabbed the door frame itself, as Vegeta kept himself grounded with both his hands. A static charge resounded in the air as I looked back to Trunks, who was unable to grab the piping. He couldn't move at all it seemed, as his body was off the ship's floor and his hands were being forced apart by the movement against his will. Shocks of electricity jolted him as he winced in pain from all of this, and couldn't do anything to stop it.

"WHAT DO I DO, WHAT DO I DO! Haidokun! Some one get him, he's not going to be able to take that much-" Mei stopped as another alarm forced her eyes back from Trunks to the windshield. She veered the ship left, avoiding another aircraft coming into Isley's orbit.

To my surprise, Vegeta left his post from the door way with a simple push from the frame. He landed in front of the teen and grabbed Trunks by the collar of his shirt, forcing him back down onto the floor. By keeping his right hand's grip on the boy, Vegeta grabbed the small piping at the base of the floor, forcing themselves back to the ground level. The jolts ceased, and Trunks now sat on the floor against the side of the ship as Vegeta knelt with him. The lad's head fell onto the larger Seiyajiin's left arm, resting it as Vegeta held tightly to the wall behind his prisoner. "Push the damn gravity knob for the ship, woman!" he bellowed out slightly turning his head to try to look at Mei.

Mei scrambled to find the knob, and pushed it in excitedly as she found it. I could see the blackness of space out the windshield as my lower half fell to the floor with a thud. I looked over and the pair beside me also had fell to the floor of the ship. My eyes turned back to Mei who was still slightly upset. "I'm so sorry I forgot the gravity!"

"Mei it's alright dear. We're out of the orbit now so slowly release the throttle and she'll hover right where we are." I used my foot to slide myself up back into place against the wall. I glanced to my left and watched as Vegeta released Trunk's shirt, and again laid him on his right side on the grounds of the ship.

Trunks looked up, with one eye only this time, at Vegeta as he stood up away from him. "I...I can't..." he could barely get the words out.

"You can't move. Yes, that's exactly the point." Vegeta coldly finished his sentence. "If you would behave and just do as told I wouldn't have to go to these lengths. You give me no choice. If you-" Vegeta stopped and seemed bothered, blinking sharply. Trunk's audible wincing was hard to miss, as he bent his head lower, closer to his body. The poor child's gasps were cruel to listen to, and Mei was nearly in tears as I watched her head and upper body swing around in the pilot's seat.

"I told you he can't breathe!" her voice cracked in panic.

"Set the coordinates! Tell her how, old man, NOW!" He yelled at her, and then to me. Vegeta was kneeling down again with Trunks, for what reason I couldn't see from where I was sitting.

"Mei, on the screen you used to sign off for the tower. Touch that and look for HDCD. In put the numbers he tells you to." I turned my eyes from her back to Vegeta. "Tell her."

"X5471." He stated as he reached behind Trunk's with both hands with his own. A small click was heard and the warrior removed his left hand from behind the boy's back. He tucked his same hand then under Trunk's chest, and then under his side. I watched in agony as the teen's head lifted upwards from this gesture, trying to bear his wounds, crying out softly for just a moment in pain. "Next line is Y2413." Vegeta continued for Mei. To my amazement, Vegeta had released Trunk's right hand from the left, and had it by the wrist as he drug his arm out from under the lad's body, lying him now on his back. "I swear kid, if you try anything stupid..." Vegeta scolded as he then reconnected Trunk's limp hand with his left, rolling him on to his left side. A click was heard again from the restraints, and the boy's wincing again did not fall on deaf ears as all of this happened so quickly. Trunks now laid on the floor of the Korna on his left side, hands restrained in front of him, to the wall of the ship. He curled his head downwards, his forehead slightly touching the backs of his hands, still hurting from all this sudden movement on his pain stricken body. He swallowed harshly and continued to breathe heavily, as he still trembled no doubt from exhaustion and the coldness of the beginning of space out of the orbit of Isley.

"Okay, now what?" Mei asked as she stared at the controls in front of her.
"Hit engage, and take the 'T' shaped handle that is to the right of the throttle, and push it in tune with the mark down that appears on the console where you entered the coordinates. By the time you push it all the way up, the count down will be at zero on the screen." I watched from my spot on the ground as she did as told, and soon the stars of space started to morph into the lines of black and white. Mei literally yelped aloud as the ship kicked into auto pilot and slammed into hyper space, heading towards the first rendezvous point. It was deathly quiet now, in the deadness of space as the Korna sped fast to her next destination. Words can not express the feeling I had deep down in my soul, especially as Mei unbuckled herself from the pilots chair. This was beginning to be a nightmare from hell, something I never imagined in all my long days to ever witness or find myself in the middle of. But I had to stand my grounds as best as I could and keep Mei from harm. I also knew I had to get Trunks out of this debacle as well. The safest thing to do now was not to piss off the now king of Seiyajiins, and find out what the hell was going on as soon as I could.