IT'S THE NAVEL LIFE FOR ME... Part two...

Author: Daferge

The characters in this story and the events of all the Tenchi Muyo shows are property of AIC and Pioneer. I have neither created them, nor do I own them.

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chapter - 09...

( Early Morning - Day Ten - North Atlantic )

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Ayeka looked about the bridge...

A sheet of metal had been cut and braced over the window broken by the wave...

They'd even managed a few spot welds with a small electric arc welder, about all the power they could spare...

It would have to do for now, the worst of storm seemed to have passed them...

But they were still any thing but safe...

Every one was concentrating on doing their jobs, but there was worry of their faces...

They weren't the only ones, Ayeka's mind was suddenly somewhere else, too...

Down in the ward room...

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In fact most of the crew were thinking about the ward room...

And what was going on in it...

They were all concerned...

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The ward room was lit with red emergency lights, just like the rest of the ship...

But Ryoko, Kiyone and several other members of the crew were securing large portable lights to anything that was already secured...

Trying to be careful, but hurrying, they adjusted the lights...

They were all pointed at the table in the middle of the room...

Several sailors, wrapped in clean bedsheets, were tied to the corners of the table, all to prevent what was on it falling off as the ship rolled...

What was on the table, was their captain, Tenchi Masaki...

Even though he was secured face down to the table, they weren't taking chances...

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He was laying face down, because the sheet covering his back was soaked in blood...

His blood...

When the bridge window shattered, pieces of glass had flown inward...

A jacket and shirts wasn't the best protection from flying glass...

At least not ALL of it...

The jacket did caught a lot of small pieces...

But a number of pieces were buried in his back...

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Finally satisfied with the mounting of the lights, Ryoko went around and turned them on...

She then carefully adjusted each beam to shine on the table...

Soon the table was well lit...

It wasn't much, but it was the best they could do...

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It seemed that in all the rush to get the ship to sea, no one had bothered to check out the sickbay, giving it no more than just a quick once over...

In other words, everything seem to be alright...

Since there was such a small crew, a pharmacist mate was all that had been assigned to the ship...

A female with only a few month's of basic first aid training...

And as such, only the basic first aid supplies were supplied...

For the most part, sickbay was nothing more than a first aid station...

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When Tenchi was injured, it was quickly discovered that the closest thing they had to an experienced Medical person on board was Washu...

At Ayeka's request, Washu reluctantly accepted the job...

Tenchi's life was now in her hands...

She quickly declared that she would need lots of light and that the sickbay was too small to work in...

Washu wasn't even sure they could get Tenchi that far safely, with all the ship's movement...

So the larger ward room was chosen, because it was closer to the bridge and had more places to which to secure the small portable lights...

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With little or no supplies to work with, Washu put her emergency training into action...

Clean sheets were carefully gethered and along with other items, brought to the ward room...

What instruments they'd acquired, were cleaned and boiled...

Four strong volunteers, all the same height, were chosen to secure Washu and Mihoshi to the table...

Sheet were then cut and the volunteers were sewn into the sheets...

Face mask and caps to secure their hair was also created...

For Washu and Mihoshi, they had to use pillow covers to cover all their hair...

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After a last second check, Ryoko had every one, but those at the table, exit the room...

They were reluctant, but left...

Before leaving herself, Ryoko smiled as she watched Washu step up to the table...

Sewn into the bedsheet, the makeshift cloth mask over her nose and mouth, her red hair contained in the pillow case, Ryoko wished she'd had a camera...

It was a sight you don't get to see in a lifetime...

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As planned, the two on her side linked hands behind her back to hold her steady...

Mihoshi, dressed just like Washu stepped up to the table across from her...

She was holding the tray containing the cleaned instruments Washu would need, including a pair of needle-nose pliers...

She too, was quickly held in place by linked arms...

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Seeing the worried look on Ryoko's face, Washu nodded...

Seeing that Ryoko tried to smile, but didn't quite make it...

Nodding back, she left and secured the door...

She did manage something of a smile as she noticed all the others around her, outside the ward room...

As she watched, they began to breakup and head off into the ship...

Joining Kiyone, Ryoko headed to the bridge...

But there was something she had to do first...

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Ryoko and Kiyone stood in front of a door...

It was the door to the Captain's cabin...

They looked at each other, kiyone nodded...

Ryoko didn't knock, but carefully opened the door as quietly as possible...

The room was visible in the light of the red light...

Kiyone and Ryoko quietly entered the room...

Their eyes were on a figure on the bed...

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While Kiyone stayed at the door, Ryoko made her way to the bed...

Not the easiest thing in a rolling and tossing ship...

Making it, she leaned down to check the figure on the bed...

Ryoko could see that Sasami was asleep, but there was a sad expression on her face, tears in her eyes...

Ryoko adjusted the blankets that had come loose and checked to make sure she was secure in the bed...

She then leaned close to Sasami's ear...

" Tenchi says to get a good night's sleep and he'll see you in the morning... "

Ryoko watched as Sasami relaxed and a smile appeared on her lips...

" Sweet dreams, little princess... "

She kissed Sasami on the forehead...

Rejoining Kiyone, Ryoko could see her smiling, quietly they left...

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When they stepped onto the bridge, all eyes were on them...

Ryoko broke the silence...

" It's started... "

Ryoko could see Ayeka sigh, but was still tense...

" Sasami's asleep and secured on the bed... "

Ayeka relaxed some, but not much...

But she managed to smile at Ryoko...

There was nothing else they could do now, but wait...

to be continued...

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