Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z. This is a nonprofit story.

*My muses decided that they want to do some interesting stuff in the future and wanted to establish some things. Setting some stuff up for the distant future as well. Last chapter they made me rewrite the whole Yamcha/Bulma scene. Seems they think poor Yamcha gets to much abuse. The scene with Krillen making a very wrong assumption had me giggling like an idiot for a few hours after it came to me. It was just to good not to include.*

'word' = thoughts

"word" = Saiyago

"word" = unknown language (you all should figure out what it is)

Chapter 10: Derelict

The Briefs' were quietly enjoying breakfast when Krillin slunk in. Sitting down he kept casting nervous glances at Bulma. Filling his plate he began to eat in an uncomfortable silence.

Finally Bulma couldn't take anymore. "Alright, Krillin, what's wrong? You haven't seemed yourself for the last couple days. You even skipped breakfast yesterday."

Krillin looked down at his half finished breakfast, then glanced at Bulma's parents. "Can this wait? It's probably a rather personal thing."

Bulma gave a small laugh. "Oh, Ok. Would you like to talk to my Dad alone?"

Blushing, Krillin shook his head. "No, no. It's not about me."

He ducked his head down in embarrassment. "It's um, about you."

Bulma let out sigh. "You know I like you as a friend, Krillin, but I will not go out with you."

Krillin jerked his head up. "NO! It's about you being pregnant with Goku's baby!"

Dead silence fell in the kitchen, followed by the sound of Dr Briefs choking on his toast.

Bulma stared at Krillin with wide eyes, not knowing what to say.

Quickly patting her husband on the back, Mrs Briefs was the first to regain the ability to speak. "Why in the world would you think Bulma was having Goku's baby?"

Krillin blushed deep red. "Well, um, I overheard you two talking in here the other day. It was about how Bulma was pregnant and that the baby was half Saiyan. It's just... I just never expected it."

Bulma dropped her head into her hands with a groan. "How can you seriously think that I slept with Goku? He's my adopted brother for crying out loud! That is just sick!"

She stood up and began to pace in agitation. "For that matter, even if we went with your whacked out theory, I'm only a couple months pregnant. None of us have seen Goku in over five months."

Krillin blinked at her in confusion. "Huh?"

Forgetting that her daughter was trying to keep secrets, Panchy took pity on the man. "Don't be silly. It's that handsome Vegeta's baby."

Krillin leaped to his feet with wide eyes, sending his chair tumbling backwards. "WHAT?! VEGETA?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"

He stared at Bulma in disbelief. "Why? I mean how? He's dead! I saw Frieza kill him on Namek, and just HOW?"

Silently cursing her mother, Bulma looked at her friend with pleading eyes. "I told you it was complicated. When it was wished for everyone killed by Frieza and his henchmen to come back to life, Vegeta was one of those resurrected. Then he was transported back to Earth with the rest of us on the next wish."

She took a deep breath. "Please understand. Something happened when he was dead. I don't know what it was. He might have told Gohan, or maybe Piccolo. He's not like he was when he first came to Earth."

Krillin closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing, trying to come to terms with this turn of events. "So you got together with Vegeta. I so did not see that one coming. That Saiyan is cold and calculating. I'm not sure you know what you're doing."

He leveled his gaze at Bulma. "I suppose I can accept it if I must. You always did have a thing for bad boys. I saw another side to him for those few days we were sort of allies on Namek. Then, right before he died, he told us what Frieza had done to his people. Some of what he himself had gone through."

Krillin righted his chair and sat back down in it. He turned back to look Bulma in the eyes. "So where is he? Did he run off as soon as he found out about the baby?"

Bulma shook her head from side to side. "He doesn't know. I haven't told him. He took my Dad's spaceship when we learned that Goku was alive and wouldn't let us wish him back. So he decided that he'd go find Goku and bring him back. He took Gohan with him, so he should be back."

Krillin lifted an eyebrow. "You let him take Gohan? What did Chi-Chi have to say about that?"

All three members of the Briefs family stiffened up. Their faces turned stony. Krillin looked between them.

Bulma let out a growl of anger. "I hope that evil woman never sees Gohan again. The stuff she did to that poor boy. I don't know what would have happened to him if Vegeta hadn't stepped in. At least Vegeta can keep him safe from her in space."

"What happened for Vegeta to be the better option?" Krillin's voice was laced with concern.

"It's a bit of a story." Bulma leaned back in her chair and regaled him with the tale.

o-o-o-o-o

Vegeta let out a growl of irritation. "BOY!"

Gohan came rushing in to the training area from the sleeping quarters. "I'm here."

The Prince level an intense glare at the child. "What did we discuss, and what did you do wrong?"

Hunching his shoulders and dropping his head, Gohan stared at the floor. They had been over this several times in the last few days. "Always let you know where I am."

Stepping in front of the boy, Vegeta reached out and lifted his head to look him in the eyes. "And why are you supposed to do that?"

Gohan tried to look away to no avail. "Because I ran off when I shouldn't have on Druax."

Vegeta let his hand drop back to his side. "Good. We cannot have a repeat of that on the next planet. We're going into PTO controlled space. You running off could result in your death, or considerably worse."

The Prince moved towards the training area of the ship. "Come. Let's see if we can get you past 250 gravity today."

Gohan's demeanor brightened at the prospect. He followed eagerly.

They had just passed through the doorway when an alarm klaxon began blaring.

With a curse, Vegeta shoved past the Gohan and rushed to the navigation controls. Collision warning flashed across the screen. The Saiyan pressed several controls, firing thrusts on the side of the ship and steering them over the dark shape that could be seen on the view screen.

Gohan hopped into one of the chairs and watched the large object as they moved past it. "What is that?"

Vegeta was just as puzzled. Firing retro thrusts, he slowed them into a lazy drift. Reaching over he switched on the exterior spotlights. A dark, massive ship gleamed in the light.

The boy stared in awe at the site. "Wow! That thing is huge! I wonder if they are friendly."

The Saiyan gave him an odd look. "I've never seen a ship of this design before. It's even bigger than anything Frieza had at his command. It's not even showing up as a space ship on the sensors. Just as an asteroid. No signals coming from it."

Seeing glinting even rows on the side of the craft, Gohan pointed excitedly. "Look. Those look like windows. But there isn't any light."

Vegeta sat back in the pilot's chair, contemplating what to do. "I think it's a ghost ship. Some dead derelict drifting through space. It's still odd that it isn't recognized as a ship."

Gohan looked at him with wide eyes. "So this could have been here for a long time and no one noticed it. Can we go check it out?"

Eyes watching the view screen, Vegeta sat quiet, thinking. Finally, to the fidgeting boy's relief he spoke. "Yes. I to am curious about this craft."

Cautiously guiding their small craft along side the behemoth, the Prince looked for a likely entry. He grunted in satisfaction when he spied what was likely a hatch. He set their auto pilot to keep a steady drift with the ship.

Standing up he turned towards his companion. "Let's get into our space suits. There isn't likely any air over there."

A while later, they were outside the giant ship contemplating it's door. Seeing no obvious way to open it, Vegeta gathered his chi and carefully blasted a hole big enough for them to enter.

They waited several minutes, listening intently for any alarms. Nothing but silence met them.

With a grunt, Vegeta climbed through the opening, gesturing for Gohan to stay close.

Flipping on his helmet light, the Saiyan looked around. They were definitely in an airlock. A short distance away was the matching door, stuck partially open.

He peered through the door into what was apparently a staging room of some sort. Turning sideways he was just able to squeeze past and into the room.

Turning on his own light, Gohan followed. He looked all around, taking in everything he could.

Spying a shape in a corner on some type of chair, the boy moved cautiously towards it. "Um. Hello?"

"Stay behind me!" Hissing at the boy, Vegeta moved in front of what looked like a cloaked person. Feeling no chi emanating from the form, he reached out a hand to touch the cowl. It crumbled into dust that drifted away. A pale skull stared up at him. Behind him Gohan let out a shriek.

The Prince let out a sigh. "Quit acting like a coward. It's just a skeleton. Probably been here who knows how long. I suspect we'll be seeing more of them."

Watching the floating remnants of cloth, Vegeta looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think this ship has been floating a very long time. Whatever artificial gravity this thing had is off as well. There is just the gravity from the bulk of the ship holding things in their place."

Moving towards the interior door, Vegeta was met with resistance as he tried to open it. Pausing, he looked back at the boy who was still staring at the skeleton. "Gohan, come here. We will need to move through here quickly. There is resistance on this door. That means there is at least some air and pressure left in the ship."

When the child reached him, Vegeta shoved the door open and lunged through, hauling Gohan with him. Releasing the door, it was sucked shut with a loud bang by the out rushing air.

The Saiyan grimaced at the sound and listened for any response in the ship, but none came.

Reaching out a finger, Vegeta gathered his chi and burned a large X on the door. "There. Now we will know which one is the exit, provided we don't have to make another in a hurry."

They made their way down the corridor, looking in rooms as they went. It seemed to be storage in this area of the ship.

After inspecting several items closer, they found that anything organic based crumbled into dust when given the lightest touch.

Then there were the bodies. They had come across several. Most seemed to be dressed in some sort of uniform, but some wore more casual looking clothing. Suspicions began to form in Vegeta's mind.

Something about the bodies was bothering the two of them. Something they just couldn't place.

Staring down at yet another figure, it clicked into place for Gohan and his eyes widened. "Tails! They all have tails like us!"

Vegeta squatted down and inspected the form. A gentle brush along the column of bones sent it dissipating. He let out a low growl. "I don't like this."

Nodding his head nervously, Gohan moved closer to the Prince.

Moving farther down the corridor, they came to metal wall blocking their path.

Running his hand over it, Gohan frowned. "This looks like an odd place for a wall."

Vegeta snorted, gathering his chi in his hand. "It's not a wall. It's an emergency compartmentalization door. It seals off part of the ship."

Blasting a careful hole through the door, he climbed beyond. In front of him several paces was another blast door. To the left the hallway split, leading deeper into the ship. Vegeta moved in that direction.

The scenery was the same. Room after room of storage. Skeletal remains scattered about.

They came across another blast door and made quick work of it. Then another and another.

As they neared the center of the ship, things began to change. Storage rooms became mechanical and electrical bays.

Black smudges began to appear, running in lines down the walls, floor, and ceiling.

Vegeta scowled and ran a finger over a mark. It smeared across his glove. "There was some sort of explosion."

Through the next door it got worse. Every surface was blackened. The walls were crumpling in and the floor became a bit uneven.

They stopped before the next door. Fissures and cracks covered it's surface. It bowed towards them at an odd angle. One wall and the roof were pushed out. Bits of the floor were missing into the compartment below. The final wall had given in to whatever pressure had attacked it and it lay in ruins.

Making their way carefully through the hole and around the door, the two males looked on at the destruction.

The floor was totally gone, and when he looked down, Gohan could see another hole in the floor beyond.

The obvious source of destruction was from a room not to far ahead. The wall had blown, strewing rubble about and leaving gaping holes in other walls from the projectiles.

Broken bodies lay all over. Bones blackened instead pale white.

Peering into the source of the carnage, Gohan stood gaping at the site. Blackened metallic bits and wires lay scattered about an enormous room. "W-what happened?"

Looking over the debris, Vegeta grimaced. A look of almost pity covered his face. "Their engine core blew. Probably took out all systems."

He waved his hand towards the bodies scattered around them. "It seems these were the lucky ones. A swift death. The others would have lingered in the dark until oxygen deprivations starved them of life."

Vegeta stared into the abyss above them. The blast had taken out several floors. Floating upwards through the hole, he called after him. "Hurry up. Let's see if we can find the bridge."

The next level came into view as they flew upwards through the large hole. Bodies were strewn about the rubble like matchsticks.

The Prince continued upward. The next floor was the same.

The hole in third floor up from the epicenter was just large enough for them to pass through easily. It led into smaller room than the floors before.

Appearing to be a sleeping chamber, it contained the remains of what looked to have been several beds. Empty and desolate except for one. Gohan stared at the bones curled up on one of the beds.

Vegeta moved to the door and shoved it open. The hallway was desolate. No bodies littered it's floors.

He'd moved a good distance down the hall when he felt Gohan's chi fluctuating somewhere behind him. He turned to chide the boy, only he wasn't there. 'I thought he got it through his head to stay close!'

Angered, the Prince backtracked looking for the child.

Finding the boy still in the last room, he moved to chastise him.

Getting closer, he felt his anger wash away. Close to the bony figure on the bed floated Gohan. His whole body seemed to tremble and his shoulders shook.

Moving next to the boy, he looked down to see what was concerning him so.

Curled up on bed was the bones of what looked to be a child of maybe seven.

Not seeing a threat, Vegeta turned turned towards Gohan.

The boy stared at the remains with tears streaming down his eyes. His voice was choked as he spoke. "He...he died alone. No one was here with him."

Gohan let out a sob, his voice becoming hysterical. "Is that going to be me if Dad doesn't come back. Am I going to be alone?"

Vegeta felt an unfamiliar feeling twist in his gut. Sometimes he forgot that Gohan was still such a young child. Reacting on some urge he couldn't name, he reached out and grabbed the boy by the shoulders and pulled him close. Small hands clutched at his spacesuit. Still unused to such displays, the Prince felt awkward as he hugged the child to him. "You're not alone. I'm here. I promise I will be here if you need me."

Feeling it was best to get away from the source of Gohan's distress, Vegeta moved them out of the room and down the corridor.

At the end of the hallway, the Saiyan waited while the child he held slowly regained his composure.

Taking deep sniffs, Gohan let go of his hold and looked at Vegeta with shame filled eyes. "I'm sorry I'm so weak."

The Saiyan snorted and gave the child a half smile and he withdrew his arms. "No. You're still a boy. You recognize where you need work. Given time your spirit will strengthen."

Attempting to calm his mind, Gohan closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing for a bit.

He finally looked back up to see Vegeta watching him patiently. "I'm ready to go on."

The Prince gave him a nod and moved towards a large set of double doors. "I think we may have finally found the bridge."

The door resisted in sliding open as Vegeta pushed. He increased the strength he was using and finally it gave, snapping inwards to bang against the wall.

The bodies of the crew lay in their seats as the males looked around.

A small red light flashed into existence on a large computer bank, drawing both sets of eyes to it. Growing brighter, it's glare seemed harsh and out of place.

Gohan moved closer to Vegeta as they both braced for any attack.

A soft voice crackled through the stale air from hidden speakers on the console.

"Unidentified personnel detected. Please state your business."

Gohan leaned in to the Prince. "Do you understand it?"

Vegeta had a puzzled look on his face. "No, but it is almost familiar."

The voice spoke again. "Unknown language detected. Please continue to speak so that it may be deciphered."

Both males looked at each other. There was one word they understood out of that.

The voice repeated. "Unknown language detected. Please continue to speak so that it may be deciphered."

Cautiously, Vegeta address the voice. "What do you want us to speak? We don't understand what you are saying."

The voice was quiet for several long minutes, but the light remained bright. "Lingual shift detected. Applying algorithms. Please state your names and purpose on this vessel."

Gohan looked up at the Prince. "How does it know some Saiyan?"

Vegeta gave him a look of contemplation. "I think this ship is really old. The people look like Saiyans. It's possible that they were our people."

The voice rang through the air again. "Please state your names and purpose."

The Prince raised an eyebrow at the computer adjusting language so fast. "I am Prince Vegeta and this is Gohan. This ship is derelict in space. We were exploring it."

Silence for a few moments. "Calculating date and reviewing logs. Please wait."

Moments ticked by before it spoke again. "Date calculated. This computer has been in preservation mode for ten thousand two hundred and sixteen years. Ship's power was terminated by explosion in generator cores. This AI's power supply is built in separate. Energy reserves are low."

"Attempts to contact sister ship at time of disaster failed. Life support failed. Mission failed. AI initiated preservation to relay events in case of future contact."

Stunned by the age of the ship, Vegeta took a second to compose himself. "Who were your creators? What was the purpose of this ship?"

The voice replied. "This ship was build by Ancient scientists along with it's sister vessel for transport of Saiyan project colonists."

A small holographic projection of the universe appeared in front of the console. Different planets highlighted as the voice spoke. "The duty of this ship was to transport colonists to a new planet. Previous planet inhospitable die to the system's star going supernova. Sister ship destination in eastern quadrant. Are you scouts from said planet?"

Vegeta hissed in dismay at the lighted spot on the projection. His fists clenched in rage.

Gohan looked up at him in worry. "What's wrong?"

The Prince took a deep calming breath and attempted to regain his composure. "That dot. That place. It was planet Vegeta."

Gohan's eyes grew wide as he looked back at the holograph.

The computer voice spoke again. "Past tense of planet detected in speech. Was colony relocated? This AI wishes to relay fate of it's passengers to remaining peoples."

The glare Vegeta gave the computer would have killed any living being. "No. There was no relocation. The planet was destroyed with everyone on it."

He attempted to calm his rage. "If you're looking for the last remaining Saiyans, we are it."

The voice was silent a long while. "Extinction of race undesirable to plan. Species must reach true potential. Records indicate Ancients retrieved proto-Saiyans from a world in the northern quadrant. Genetic manipulation used to transform into desired improved species. Fertile crossbreeding with genetic origination stock likely. Interaction of specialized Saiyan genes on crossbreeds probable. Likely outcome for use of species specialized trait is systemic purge of incompatible genes. Use of specialization recommended for species survival. Data files corrupted. Purpose of species creation unknown to this computer. Records indicate origination homeworld here."

Another dot lit up on the hologram.

Vegeta gasped in shock, staring blankly at the image. All rational thought left his head.

Gohan let out a cry of disbelief.

The voice spoke. "Verbal reactions indicate surprise. Is planet of origin known?"

Gohan managed to gasp out a reply. "T-that. That's Earth! That's where I'm from."

One again the voice spoke. "Recommended course of action. Return to this Earth and ensure species survival."

The hologram vanished. The red light on the console began to dim. "Generator malfunction. Reserve power failing."

Vegeta snapped back to reality. "I need more information about the Saiyans! Show me the data that you have!"

The voice was fading when it spoke. "AI shutdown imminent. Initiating data protection self destruct in Three, Two, One."

The red light vanished and a slight wisp of some rose from the console.

Vegeta snarled in rage, hitting the computer. "NO! I need that data! Come back on you piece of crap!"

Growling, the Prince charged up a ball of chi and blasted the computer into oblivion. Fuming, he grabbed Gohan's arm and pulled the boy behind him as he stormed off the bridge and back down the path they'd taken through the ship.

Once back on the Capsule two and stripped of their space suits, Vegeta stomped to the navigation controls and resumed their interrupted route to the next planet.

Gohan sat very quietly, watching the Saiyan. He'd only ever seen Vegeta this angry on Namek when he was collecting the dragon balls.

Vegeta sat brooding over his new knowledge. 'It just gave me little scraps of information. And what it did tell me was that we were someone's damn pet monkey project.'

He crossed his arms in frustration at his thoughts. 'It did hint that there should be some way to get rid of the weak human taint from the halfbreeds. Perhaps when he grows up the boy and his descendants can revive our species. I just have to figure out what this specialized trait that computer was talking about is.'

Calming down some from his rage, Vegeta decided that some gravity training would be the best way to finish clearing his mind. Standing, he moved towards the training room. Slight movement in a corner caught his eye.

He turned to look at Gohan and the child cowered in fear at his gaze.

The Prince let out a soft growl and strode over to the boy. Lifting him up from under the armpits, he brought the child to eye level with him. "I'm not going to hurt you. Stop looking at me like that."

Pulling the boy to him, he waved his hand around in a circle. "I'm just frustrated at the little information we did and didn't receive."

Gohan looked down away from Vegeta and spoke in a soft voice. "What that computer said. Does that mean I'm a full Saiyan?"

The Prince set the boy down. "You are and you aren't. You smell like a cross between a human and a Saiyan. It does explain how you can exist, though. And it sounds like there is some way for you to become full Saiyan. We'll have to work on that."

Vegeta gestured the boy forward with his hand. "Come. Our training has been interrupted for long enough. I want you able to handle 300g by the time we return to Earth."

He moved towards the doorway.

Gohan hesitated to follow. "What you said back there. About not leaving me to be alone. Did you mean it?"

The Prince stared at him, giving him a long look. He knelt down in front of the boy and grabbed his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. "Yes, I meant it. I've grown a bit attached to you, Gohan. If your father doesn't come back, I'll keep you. I cannot be a father to you. I don't think I'm capable of that. But I can be your asshole uncle who takes care of you."

Standing back up, Vegeta put a gentle hand on the boy's back and guided him into the training room.