THREE PRINCESSES...
Author: Daferge
Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! is a copyright AIC/Pioneer Ltd.
All respective characters are property of their original owners. All original characters and ideas are property of the author.
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Chapter 28... It Begins...
( A distant bar… Earlier… )
Fragga was in his office when the light next to his closet door started blinking…
Sighing, he got up and made sure that the door to the bar was secure, operating the small screen next to it to check the bar area it's self…
Every thing was quiet, just a half a dozen customers from earlier, lunch time was over…
The officers from the GP office and the Juraian outpost were back at work, until they got off duty and then most would be back for a while, before calling it a day…
The 'space pirates' did odd jobs around the settlement, but most worked at the small space-port where Fragga kept his ship, the Goddess, right next to the GP and Juraian ships…
His docking pad was in an area where GP and Juraian security over lapped, making it just about the securest pad on the planet…
Being friends with both the GP and Juraian commanders had helped, though signed pictures of Special GP officer Mihoshi Kuramitsu Masaki and first Princess Ayeka Masaki Jurai Masaki did help a lot…
Just as the sign picture of former space pirate, Princess Ryoko Hakubi Masaki had helped with the space-port commander, also an ex-pirate…
A number of his former crew members continued working on his ship, as well as around the bar…
It not only provided work for the men and an income for their families, but allowed him use of his ship on short notice, like today…
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Just a while before, he'd gotten a message that he and his ship were needed for a special mission…
No name had been attached, but it had to Professor Washu, no one else had that number…
So, here he was, about to see if the system installed in his closet doorway actually worked…
He realized who was coming, even before any one stepped out of the dark curtain…
The sound of giggling floated softly into his office, followed by a smiling blonde female…
Princess Mihoshi Kuramitsu Masaki was one of a kind and Fragga was able to take a deep breath before she spotted him, rushed over and gave him a hug…
Thus he was still conscious when a voice spoke up…
" You do know that's my wife you have there?... "
Fragga wasn't able to reply to Tenchi's comment, but he was able to see Ayeka and Ryoko smiling at him as things began to get blurry…
" Please! Mihoshi, he needs to be awake if he's going to give us a ride in his ship… "
As Fragga began to breathe again, he really hoped they weren't in a hurry…
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( Royal Chambers, Zanata six… Present… )
Cleaned and refreshed, officer Airi was lead into the largely empty room by two armed guards…
As she entered, she took note of her surroundings…
Up on the royal throne was the person who now went by the title of LEADER, the Dictator who'd taken over after the sudden destruction of the last ruling family…
But even in all the finery and with a full beard, Airi still recognized Drake, a class A wanted felon, who had been on the GP's Most Wanted List for several decades…
So THIS was where he'd been hiding…
That not only explained why they couldn't find him, but it also seem to confirm the rumors of his possible involvement with Kagato and in the death of the ruling family…
However, if he realized that she had recognized him, there would be little chance of her leaving this planet alive…
So, her eyes went to the others, standing there, waiting…
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Some distant away, were two figures, off to one side of the throne, dressed in the style of space travelers or pirates, also guarded by a pair of armed guards…
The older one had white hair and seem in charge, while the younger one, had black hair and was wearing glasses?...
That seem to say he wasn't a pirate, for weak-eyed pirates didn't tend to last long in that business and this one didn't even seem to be paying attention…
The LEADER gestured for Airi and her guards to move to his side, opposite the other two…
" Officer Magma… It seems the Grand Marshall has sent Captain Fragga here and his assistant, in an attempt to get favorite his pet Airaian back… "
There were always rumors about how females or upper class people managed to raise through the ranks of any organization, especially those with Royal connections…
He flashed Airi a very cold smile…
But Airi wasn't looking at him, some thing had caught her attention…
Some thing that shouldn't be here - WAS!…
" Tenchi-ken… "
The young boy lifted his head, tilted it slightly and looked in her direction…
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( Washu's Lab… )
Washu opened her eye's and smiled…
Well, a top Galaxy police officer tends to be more observant than others…
She should have known that Airi would recognize Yosho's Key to Funaho, even with two of Ryoko's gems on it…
Or perhaps she had known…
" Well?... "
Tenchi's grandfather, Katsuhito was sitting on her couch, sipping tea…
" Contact has been made and things SHOULD now proceed as we discussed… "
Katsuhito gave her a raised eyebrow, over his cup of tea…
Washu sighed, he didn't have to say any thing, NO plan had ever survived first contact with Mihoshi!…
Reaching over, Washu began to type on her keyboard…
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( Aboard the Mikagami… )
An assistant brought Lady Seto a message…
Sighing, she glanced at the words…
All pieces are in place!…
Lady Seto smiled, this sounded like Washu…
It appeared that some thing was about to happen…
She motioned to one of her assistances and put the task force on High alert, weapons fully charged…
That should get things started…
She then picked up a cup of tea and sipped some as activity on her bridge increased…
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( The Airaian task force… )
A crew member rushed up to Lord Volcana and handed him an urgent report…
The message from his scouts was quite simple, both the Juraian and GP task forces had not only gone to high alert and were charging weapons…
He had no hint of what might or might not be about to happen, but his gut feeling was not to be left behind…
With a few simple words, the task force was also ready to go, the special squad notified…
Sensors were also on high readiness, scanning the shielded buildings below for any weakness that might be useful…
All they needed was for the shields to drop, just long enough for the assault unit to be beamed down…
They would do the rest…
A report of the task force's alert change would be sent to the home world…
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( Aira Royal Palace… )
The king was on his throne, overseeing the business of running the kingdom…
In this case it was the final decision as to which color the new staff uniforms would be…
A smile plastered on his face, he wondered if Azusa had to put up with this kind of thing too, or was it just his lucky day?...
Why was it, with all the committees in the court, that they ended up bring it before him to make the final decision?...
He could care less what color the staff wore…
The arrival of a messenger caused him to sigh…
With a wave of his hand, the messenger approached and whispered in the king's ear, causing him to smile…
The task force had gone to full alert…
With a nod from the king, the messenger left…
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After a moment, the king hid a smile and stood up, the chamberlain used his heavy staff to get silence…
Looking around, the king took a deep breath before speaking…
" I am needed else where… I believe we will go with the committee's suggestion… "
What he'd wanted to say an hour ago, when discussion on the uniform color had begun...
What was that expression his daughter had used?
Oh, yes, every one just had to get their two cents worth in…
And with so many in the court, it usually took a great deal of time…
Reaching out his hand, his queen took it and they made their exit as quickly as they could…
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( Juraian Royal Palace… )
The Emperor was standing at the window at the end of the hallway, just outside his office door…
At the moment he was looking down on a number of small children playing on a small grass area…
Off to one side, sat a beautiful, dark haired female in a very elegant dress, Funaho Masaki Jurai, the first queen of Jurai and his wife…
Watching the kids play was a way of taking a break for the piles of papers on his desk, reports he need to read and documents he needed to sign…
As he watched, a messenger slowly approached and handed him a message…
Reading the note from Lady Seto, he knew that things were going to happen soon…
Looking at the children playing, he smiled…
Perhaps he should take some time off…
Humming to himself, he started down the hallway…
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( Some where in deep space… Earlier… )
Captain Fragga, having double checked his ship's readings, then checked on his passengers…
It seem that the crown prince and this wives needed a lift to a nearby world and Fragga was their ticket there…
The cover story was that he and Tenchi would be acting for the Grand Marshal, as an unofficial go-between to see exactly what was needed to get officer Airi released…
It was common practice when dealing with such situations…
The price might be something the Grand Marshal wouldn't want other to know about, an under the table deal…
Washu had insisted that Ryo-Ohki come along, just in case they needed a quick get away…
When Fragga asked Tenchi what the plan was, he just smiled and pointed at the girls…
It seem that Tenchi and Fragga were to go in the front door, while Ryoko and the others slipped in unseen and did their thing…
That part had been discussed between Washu and the girls…
Tenchi just sighed, it wasn't like they'd be out of touch, Washu had reassured them that their new sub-space comm-units should work, even with the power suppressors force fields in place…
But, he wouldn't know for sure until they got there…
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( Royal Chambers, Zanata six… )
Airi's gasp and her use of the assistant's name caught the leader's attention …
He knew Fragga's reputation, which made him an excellent selection to make a possible deal, the young boy was obvious along to insure it was the real officer Airi being discussed…
Waving his hand, a large screen appeared in the air, before the throne…
As none of his three guests were impressed with this hi-tech system, he opened a channel to the GP vessel now in orbit above…
As the contact was made, a figure in a command chair appeared, a small creature in his lap, perhaps a pet…
From all his decades of managing to avoid the GP, Drake had acquired an excellent knowledge of their organization, as well as ranks and uniforms…
In the dim light, the figure was wearing the uniform of a fleet officer, rank captain, of the special elite forces unit, THE most feared branch of the GP…
It seem that the Grand Marshal had had indeed sent in some big guns to discuss things…
Just the appearance of members of this unit could cause their opponents to surrender…
But Drake wasn't just any one…
He'd laughed at the special elite forces unit for decades, he could handle one more lone officer…
Until the figure's face appeared…
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Tenchi managed not to smile as Seina Yamada's face became clearer, even from where he was standing, he could see the Leader's eyes widen…
Tenchi enjoyed the effect his best friend's new found fame could have…
There probably wasn't a criminal in the Galaxy who wouldn't recognize his face…
But it was a black haired female leaning close to Seina's ear and whispered something that did it…
Ex-space pirate Ryoko Balta's face, as well as her figure, was well know by every male from the age of 10 and above…
That Ryoko's had not only gone straight and even joined the GP, but had also wed one Seina Yamada was a known fact from one end of the galaxy to the other…
If there had been any doubts before, her appearance put them to rest…
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( A board the Kamidake… )
Just after the connection was made, Kiriko had noticed some thing and been working at her station, focusing her attention on the other two figures off to the side…
Kiriko seldom forgot a face and she recognized Captain Fragga almost at once, even through the comm's fuzzy connection…
And the other male looked familiar too, but she had to use the face recognition program to get a confirmed match…
Her eyebrow went up when the name came up, Crown Prince Tenchi Masaki of colony 0315…
What in the world was Tenchi doing there and where was Ryoko and the others?
A slight giggle behind her let her know that one of her fellow wives/sisters was looking over her shoulder…
Having come to the same conclusion as Kiriko, Ryoko smiled, nodded and stepped over to her wonderful captain and husband…
She quietly informed him of who the young male in the court below was…
His time at the helm of the Kamidakes had allowed Seina to learn how not to react to things, he even manager not to smile…
Thus, it was Seina's voice that broke the silence…
" This is Captain Seina Yamada of the Galaxy Police… I'm here as a representative of the GP to negotiate for the release of Officer Airi Magma, also of the GP, who you are holding illegally… "
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( Buckingham Palace, England... )
Lady Kiyone sat in a chair across from the English monarch, holding an elegant tea cup as a servant poured some fresh tea into it…
After she had recovered from her shock about her mother's past, Washu, Tenchi and the others had made their good-byes and left her in the Queen care…
But not before Washu had done one of her special stunts and changed Kiyone's uniform for suitable attire for this planet, a comfortable pair of slacks and a nice matching blouse…
Actually as it turned out, she was not the only one surprised by Washu's revelation…
The Queen was well aware of her own connection to the last Russian royal family, the Romanovs, through one of Queen Victoria's granddaughters…
But the main family members, including the Tsar and Tsarina, had all been killed and their bodies secretly buried by the Bolsheviks in 1918…
A few distant family members had survived, but now the Romanov blood-line was thought gone, forever…
And now to have it return in their hour of greatest need?...
It seem that perhaps her ancestors were indeed smiling down upon her and England…
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Managing not to spill any tea, Lady Kiyone took a deep breath and then became Officer Kiyone…
Not only was this a member of a world under GP ( as well as Juraian ) protection, but here was a distant relative, in need of her help…
And until the recent return of her brother, she'd had no real relatives, thou Mihoshi had not only been her friend, but had been almost like a sister…
Now she found herself with, who knew how many possible relatives on this very strange world?…
It was so over whelming…
But the truth was as Washu had said, it was her duty to help…
So, she set down her cup and smiling, she touched a key on her wrist comm-unit, putting it into record mode…
" Now… If you would be so kind as to tell me about your problem, we'll see what we can do to help you out… "
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( Royal Chambers, Zanata six… )
It wasn't as much Captain Yamana's appearance that had made up Drake's mind, as it was Ryoko's…
When she was just making her name and he was already a well feared space pirate captain, he had made a suggestion that she come work for him or to be more specific, UNDER him…
She'd told him what he could do with his offer, in the most un-lady-like terms possible…
Since then, their paths had crossed a number of times and he'd even tried to kill her, a couple of times…
As it was, she was one of the few people, who had actually met him, face-to-face and was still alive…
Thus, there was a good chance she might be able to recognize him if she were to get a good look at him, even with his new makeover…
At the moment he wasn't willing to take the chance, if he allowed her captain and husband to land and meet him to discuss the Princess's exchange…
So much for dragging out the talks for fun, but he had plans for Princess Airi and an exchange wasn't among them…
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Smiling, Drake looked first at Fagga and Tenchi, then up at the screen and Seina…
" GENTLEMEN!… It has been decided that OFFICER Magma will be our guest for a while longer, I'm sorry that you've come so far for nothing… "
Airi knew at once that all talking was through, just by the way Drake had said the word, officer…
Her mind began to race, trying to think of options, but she couldn't see any…
The present of the tenchi-ken had slipped her mind for the moment…
Across the room Fragga was trying to think of a reply, when every one heard Tenchi's soft voice…
" Yes… I know… Lady Seto will be upset!…
Looking around, he realized that he'd spoken out loud…
If there was one name a pirate hated to hear, it was Lady Seto Kamiki Jurai, the Devil Princess of Jurai's name…
Drake had had enough, standing up, he put on his most fierce face…
" ENOUGH… THE AIRAIAN WILL BE STAYING, BUT YOU TWO ARE GOING!… "
Then he looked straight at Tenchi and lowered his voice…
" Unless, you'd like to stay here?… Permanently?... "
With a wave of his hand the connection was broken and the screen disappeared…
As the guards started to take them away, Drake was enjoying the worried look on Princess Aiai's face and even the resigned one on Fragga's…
But as he looked at the young boy, he thought he saw him, smiling?...
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To be continued...
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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
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