A/N: Here's chapter 38. Thanks to Laania, Ryo-chan wolfgirl, and breakyourheart for the reviews on Chapter 37. Enjoy.
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Lornai sat watching the door to the room she shared with Zarbon. She expected some sort of threat to appear at any moment and she hoped they'd be quick about it. It had been a long day and she could really use some sleep. The conference had dragged on for hours and then there was the late meal. A smile crossed her face as she remembered the dancing after the meal. Zarbon had made an excellent partner but she would never tell him that.
Strange how someone so cold and cruel on Frieza's ship could be such pleasant company out on his own. But then this was all a performance anyway. Lornai lifted a strand and stared at her emerald green hair. It wouldn't be safe to wash away the coloring if they suddenly had to vacate the room. She'd have to remain in the guise of Princess Kalyssa.
The room was quiet, too quiet. Lornai realized she'd never stay awake just sitting there in the quiet. She began to sing softly, a song she'd learned from Okari, the Saiyan woman she still felt was her mother. A sense of sadness but also of comfort came over her. A sudden round of applause startled the female elite.
Zarbon was standing before her," I never realized you could sing so beautifully".
"I thought you'd be asleep by now", Lornai muttered. The 'pleasant Zarbon' was starting to annoy her.
"After what happened earlier? I think not. You're not asleep, you must believe some one is going to make another attempt to get rid of us", the changeling huffed.
"Yes, I do. I'm just curious of how they'll go about it. I also don't trust that 'Hasith' ", the Parithian mused.
"Indeed, he seemed rather disappointed each time we were unharmed", Zarbon added.
"What have you got there?" Lornia asked pointing to a small wooden box that was tucked under Zarbon's right arm.
"I found a Nalari chess set. By any chance do you know of it?" Frieza's lieutenant asked hopefully.
"Yes, I've played a few times", the Argayan replied.
"May I ask where you learned?" Zarbon questioned.
"I was taught by King Cold", Lornai answered.
"I used to play quite often with Captain Antilles until he angered Lord Frieza by refusing an order... once I tried to teach Dodoria. I don't know what possessed me to even entertain that notion", the teal changeling sighed.
"Would you consider a game or two to pass the time?" Zarbon implored.
"Maybe one or two", Lornia laughed. Poor Zarbon looked as if she'd surely refuse.
Several hours passed, one or two games had turned into five. Both players had an even score. The female elite was an excellent player much to Zarbon's delight. In a series of elaborate countermoves, the Parithian female soundly defeated the former prince in the final game.
"You don't belong in Frieza's army", Zarbon remarked.
"What?" the surprised commander growled. Was he saying she wasn't good enough?
"You're an excellent soldier, Lornai. But you deserve far more..." Zarbon began.
He fell silent as Lornai held up her hand. "Do you hear that?"
Zarbon nodded it was the sound of heavy booted, armored men just outside the door.
Frieza's two soldiers rose to their feet just as the door flew open...
...
Nappa glared at the long-haired Saiyan merrily stuffing food in his mouth now that they were allowed to resume meals in the lower level mess hall. Raditz was in way too good a mood as far as Nappa was concerned. But of course that damned Parithian was to be on her way back today. At least two more days would pass before she arrived. But just the idea of her returning had raised the spirits of the third-class.
The bald Saiyan had never found the source that had caused their quarters to smell of meat when the two of them had been forbidden meals for an entire day. That blasted woman had probably hidden food away for the worthless lower-level. He certainly wouldn't put it past her.
Why was the female even still around? Vegeta's short time away had turned into almost a year now. When was Frieza going to bring him back to his original assignment? Nappa growled as he remembered Vegeta informing him that he planned to keep the woman on their team. Well, that just meant he'd have to dispose of her before the prince returned. The Saiyan elite decided to stay vigilant for the first opportunity that presented itself.
Raditz looked up from his plate and wondered just what had put that sudden smile on the former Saiyan general's face. And why did he have a very bad feeling about it?
...
Several of the palace guards filed into the room. A commander of the guards wearing silver armor addressed Zarbon and Lornai. "You are spies sent to take away the rightful authority of King Galious. Hasith has warned us of your treachery. The penalty for such a crime is death!"
"And where is King Galious that he may officially condemn us?" Lornai demanded.
"We won't trouble his majesty with such a trivial matter", the commander snickered
The Parithian quickly realized that these men were NOT loyal to the king.
With a wicked smile, the commander turned to the guards armed with swords and spears. "Dispose of them!"
"Seriously, swords and spears?" Zarbon mocked as he started to raise his right hand when the guards advanced.
"The royal couple couldn't generate ki blasts. WE can't use ki blasts without giving ourselves away!" the female elite hissed into his ear.
"Kuso!" Zarbon snapped.
"WHAT?" Lornai asked, surprised to hear the elegant changeling use such a coarse term.
"I SAID..."
"Never mind! " the exasperated Parithian snarled as she drove a fist right through the midsection of the guard who attacked her.
Zarbon snatched away a spear and broke it in half with his bare hands before pushing the stunned guard who had wielded it into the blade of one of his comrades. Back to back, Zarbon and Lornai fought against the onslaught of the guards.
The guards were no match for Frieza's elite officers. Soon the floor was slick with blood and bodies of the royal guard lay strewn about.
Zarbon and Lornai swung about as they heard applause coming from the doorway. A gigantic, blue muscular being dressed in a scrap of leather around his hips stood in the doorway. On his back he wore a wicked-looking weapon that resembled a huge double-headed axe. He had a face that looked like the head of a snake, he even had the forked tongue that darted in and out when he spoke. Lornai recognized him as an Serpetalian.
"Very well done! Hasith was correct in summoning me. His fool guards were no match for you. Maybe between the two of you I might find a bit of a challenge", the snake-being hissed.
He raised his right arm revealing a flowing script branded on his bicep. The creature was a professional assassin...an Argayan!
Lornai smirked as she raised her right arm and lifted the gold armband she wore to reveal a matching brand.
"Ah! It will be a pleasure defeating you, Little Sister!" the blue lifeform announced as he realized they were both members of the same assassin's guild.
"Shouldn't you be allies?" Zarbon insisted as he recognized the brand being exactly alike on each of the two opposing warriors.
"There is no greater honor than defeating a fellow Argayan", Lornai affirmed. "I'll handle this".
"You are far too confident, Little Sister", the Serpetalian warned as he brought his weapon crashing into the floor as Lornai jumped out of the way at the last second.
The long gown she wore made it difficult for Lornai to maneuver to avoid the swinging blade of the great axe. She needed a weapon!
Sensing her plight, Zarbon tossed her a sword that hung on the wall behind him. He tried to distract the snake-being but only gained a severe wound to his right arm. Frieza's right hand man found that his main concern was now trying to staunch the flow of blood that poured down his arm.
"Stay back, Zarbon! And throw me another sword!" the Parithian female called out.
The teal changeling painfully obeyed flinging another blade to the woman as the Serpetalian bore down on her.
"Two swords? My, but you are sure of yourself aren't you?" the male Argayan mocked.
"Dead sure, Brother!" his female counterpart snarled.
Lornai began to go on the offensive, the startled male began to back away as the Parithian began to employ the skills taught to her by her adopted Saiyan father. Zarbon watched in awe as she avoided the Serpetalian's attacks. When her blades disappeared in a circular blur of steel, the great axe fell to the floor. A swift kick to the snake-being's chest sent him sprawling to the floor with a blade to his throat.
"Die with honor, Brother!" Lornai called out as she ended her fellow assassin's life.
"This is impossible! I hired the best there is! You should both be dead! The king was to be next!" Hasith screamed as he stepped from a hidden door in the wall.
"You dare to betray your king, Hasith?" the voice of King Galious rang out.
Hasith turned around in utter shock to face King Galious and six of the real royal guard.
"I've had you observed since you began acting strangely after our guests were attacked and after none of the guard were assigned to protect our guests. You're not the only one to know of the secret passages in this palace" the Crellgorian monarch announced.
Hasith began to protest but the king demanded silence as he continued.
"I knew that band of fools you managed to put together were no match for real warriors. Prince Malorn and Princess Kalyssa have been trained for warfare since childhood. I did not expect a hired assassin or I would have sent someone to assist our guests. My informant swiftly came and summoned us as soon as he recognized the Argayan. But I see our Princess Kalyssa has already taken care of him."
King Galious smiled at the female elite. "You truly are your father's daughter".
"She's NOT the real princess!" Hasith protested as he struggled to reason his way out of a death sentence.
"More lies, Hasith?" the king growled.
A elderly, yellow-skinned, bald delegate in purple robes had stood with the king listening to everything that was said. He now stepped forward.
"Galious, old friend. I believe I know a way to settle this. A few weeks ago, before King Qulan had his most unfortunate demise. He informed me that his dear daughter had been bitten on the back of her neck by one of his Denarian hounds when her mount sustained an injury and fell to the ground during a royal hunt. The poor girl was flung right into the pack of hounds. If your guest has the scar then she is the princess. No scar... then she is an imposter", the elder suggested.
"An excellent suggestion, Kadian. Will you willingly submit to allowing us to observe the back of your neck, Princess?" Galious questioned the Parithian.
Zarbon groaned inwardly, Lornai had no such scar that he knew of. After all they had endured, their fates were sealed. Why was the Parithian smiling?
To the former prince's amazement, the female elite stepped forward and lifted up her hair. A wide smile graced the face of the king.
Kadian nodded, "There it is. This scar was clearly made by sharp fangs".
'Thank you, Raditz!' Lornai thought.
Zarbon was stunned. Lord Frieza had thought of everything, right down to the scar on the neck of the 'princess'. He did NOT want to know how the female had gotten it.
"Take the traitor away!" King Galious commanded.
Hasith couldn't believe it. He had failed! He'd been so sure that the royal couple had been murdered on their way to the conference. After the king had been disposed of, he was to have ruled all of Crellgor. Where had he gone wrong? The guards dragged the screaming gray reptile from the room.
"What an amateur!" Lornai growled under her breath. Zarbon raised an eyebrow as he heard her remark.
"Prince Malorn and Princess Kalyssa, I am most sorry for all of this", King Galious sighed. "Is there anyway to make it up to you?"
"I just want to go home, Your Majesty", Lornai said wearily.
...
Zarbon smiled as he walked arm in arm with the beauty in red silk back to their ship. The nightmare was over! They had accomplished their mission and were ready to go back to baseship 37.
Once they had cleared Crellgor's orbit, Lornai reverted back to her original appearance. She sat once again combing out her damp hair that was the color of night. Zarbon stood watching her for a moment.
"When you're not scowling about like you think you're one of the Saiyans, you're actually quite beautiful", the teal changeling commented.
The Parithian eyed him coldly before she replied. "When you're not being a conceited peacock, you're actually rather handsome".
Zarbon looked at the female elite in surprise. Did she really think he was handsome?
He started to walk away then turned back to face her again. Zarbon shifted his stance nervously as he struggled to speak. The answer he was going to receive to his question was pretty obvious but he had to know.
"Lornai, When we return to the ship...is there any chance that we...that you and I might..."
Zarbon's voice died in his throat as Lornai strode over to him and put her hands on his shoulders and looked him right in the eye and...
"Not a chance in hell!" Lornai informed him as she walked away.
Zarbon sighed. Perhaps if he hadn't been ordered to punish her for the failed purge on Teranas she might not think so harshly of him. He'd thought of her as an arrogant upstart who had to be put in her place. Now he was paying the price for going too far. If only...
...
According to Frieza's orders, Zarbon and Lornai were to leave the 'Trolaryn ship' on the planet Heladors and return to the baseship using pods. Another ship would return their belongings to baseship 37.
Zarbon grumbled as he forced his muscular form into the tiny pod. He would have preferred traveling comfortably in a larger ship. Lornai smirked at the spoiled lieutenant as she climbed into her own pod. Only a few more hours and she'd see Raditz!
...
Nappa snarled as he stepped away from his pod and heard the announcement come over the launching bay's communication system that Zarbon and Lornai would arrive shortly.
He had hoped that Frieza's right hand man would have lost his temper with the mouthy Parithian and had done away with her. But no such luck. A commotion suddenly caught the Saiyan's attention.
"Hey! Pod 355! You're coming in too fast! Slow down!" one of the launch bay techs shouted into his communicator.
"Pod 355! YOU'VE GOT TO SLOW DOWN! Do you read me 355?" the red- haired, pale- skinned humanoid tech insisted.
A muffled, unintelligable slur came over the pod's on board communication link.
The horrified technician realized he was dealing with a drunken pilot.
"This is Calor! Relan, Where's Captain Crodagus?" the frantic tech barked as he picked up another tech on his communicator.
"He's on baseship 42, overseeing repairs", his comrade replied.
The humanoid tech let out a slew of curses as he tried to reason with the inebriated pilot to no avail.
Nappa stood listening, something very serious was going to happen. He didn't have long to wait.
A spacepod came careening into the launching bay, it missed its' landing pad and slammed into one of the walls. The impact brought it crashing right through the wall and erupting into a ball of fire just a few feet away from the fuel tanks. And to make matters worse, the shockwave from the explosion ruptured one of the tanks that were no longer protected by the wall that had separated them from the landing area in the launching bay. Noxious fumes began to fill the air.
The Saiyan elite knew the techs would notify Zarbon and Lornai to land elsewhere because of the danger. But not if he could help it. Nappa quickly made his way to the computer that controlled the launching bay's communications system. A quick ki blast was all it took to disable the system.
When the two pods arrived there was an excellent chance they would go up in flames. He was looking to take out the Parithian female, Zarbon would just be a bonus.
"Zarbon! This is Calor! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LAND ON BASESHIP 37! Do you read me?"the red-haired tech screamed into his communicator. There was no response.
"Commander Lornia!..." A dull buzzing sound was all to be heard. The tech realized the communication system had shut down. What else was going to happen?
The whole crew of launching bay techs quickly began trying to put out the growing blaze and to attempt to repair the fuel tank.
"Calor! Shut the bay doors! We have to keep the fire from reaching the tanks!" a scaly blue reptilian tech advised.
"I CAN'T DO THAT! Zarbon and Lornai are on their way in! They'll be trapped on the landing pad! If the fire doesn't reach them, just a spark from their pods will send them up in flames from the fumes!" Calor protested.
"If the fire reaches the tanks, this WHOLE SHIP is going to go! Shut the doors! We can't worry about just two personnel!" the reptile insisted.
Calor shook his head sadly. What was he going to tell Captain Crodagus?
An evil smile crossed Nappa's face as he watched the bay doors shut off the landing area from the rest of the ship. He reached over and punched a button on another computer that popped up a screen showing the now enclosed landing pad. Not only was he going to get rid of that Parithian bitch, but he was going to get to watch her die!
...
Zarbon sighed in disgust. He could get no response from the launching bay on baseship 37. Well, they couldn't just sit out in space so they'd have to be cautious and land without clearance. This wouldn't be the first tme the communications system had failed.
Nappa could barely control his mirth as two pods sailed into the landing area...
...
Raditz stood up and smiled as he felt the presence of his mate's ki on the ship once more. But his smile quickly faded, something was horribly wrong! The young Saiyan tore off to the launching bay.
...
Lornai landed her pod and stared in disbelief as she saw the bay door that had sealed off the launching pad. The distinct smell of fuel and smoke reached her, the female elite gasped in horror as a wall of flame rose around her pod. A crackling sound came from her pod's controls as the intense heat shorted them out. Lornai frantically pushed against the hatch but it wouldn't open. The hatch was sealed shut! She beat against the tempered glass in vain. Flames flickered just inches from her fuel tank when they reached it...
Nappa enlarged the screen and laughed aloud as he was able to watch the female's struggles. The techs were too busy with the tanks to notice him and in a few seconds...
'Now who the hell is THAT?' Nappa thought.
...
Raditz protested to no avail. He was not allowed into the sealed- off launching bay. Lornai was in danger and there was nothing he could do!
Tears rolled down Lornai's cheeks as she realized she'd never see Raditz again. She used her mental link ' I'm so sorry, Raditz! I love you!'
The long-haired Saiyan slammed his fists into the wall as he picked up Lornai's thoughts. ' I -I love you too!'
...
Suddenly, the hatch was ripped off of Lornia's pod. A great scaly blue hand snatched her out of her seat. Another massive hand forced the bay door open. The launching bay techs gasped as they saw a huge, teal reptilian creature dressed in armor with long green hair step out from the landing area. they broke into cheers as they saw the Parithian female clutched by its' right arm.
Lornai looked up at the massive reptile who had snatched her from the flames, her eyes went wide.
"I know, I'm hideous", the creature rasped as it gently set her down on her feet.
The Parithian shook her head, she threw her arms as far as they could manage to go around the great bulk. "No, you're absolutely beautiful!"
...
Nappa stood in shock as he realized what had happened. Zarbon had transformed and rescued that damned Parithian! She HAD to be a witch! Even the blasted changeling was under her spell!
...
In the throne room on baseship 37, Zarbon and Lornai stood before Frieza. An evil smile was on the Ice-jin's face", King Galious was quite distressed when your ship exploded on the return trip to Trolaryn. We allowed him to view the wreckage of the actual ship so there was no doubt of your deaths. There is no heir to the throne so our control is undisputed. And the Planet Trade Organization has increased its' holdings. I am very pleased with your success... Lieutenant Lornai, you are dismissed".
Lornia didn't miss the crestfallen look that momentarily appeared on Zarbon's face. She didn't want his position!
"General Zarbon, you are dismissed", Frieza declared.
"S-sir?" Zarbon stammered.
"Both of you are deserving of ranking up. Now get back to work!" Frieza commanded.
Lornai and Zarbon stepped out of the room. The new general turned to face her and gave an elegant bow", It has been a privilege."
To Zarbon's absolute amazement, he felt a kiss on his cheek. That rare smile crossed his face. Maybe there was hope for him yet!
...
"AY, Burter! If Lornai has brats with Zarbon, ya think they're gonna be blue or kinda gold like she is? Or do ya think she'll have' ta sit and hatch a buncha lizard eggs?" Jeice chortled.
Burter burst into laughter.
"Jeice! Have I not warned you about disrespecting a superior officer?" Zarbon demanded.
"Aw, Lighten up and take a joke, Zarbon!" Jeice snorted.
"Jeice, Report to the Sanitation Deparment immediately!" Zarbon snapped.
"Looks like I'll be haulin' a bit of trash", the Red Magma snickered.
Zarbon gave an evil smile. "Report to the waste removal division, Jeice!"
"WHAT? That's the most disgustin' job on the ship!" Jeice protested.
"Precisely", the teal changeling affirmed. "Oh and Burter, YOU can keep him company!"
"Now see what you've done with your big mouth!" Burter complained.
"Ain't my fault that pretty boy's got no sense of humor!" Jeice shot back.
"That will be for TWO WEEKS!" Zarbon called after them.
The two Ginyu Force members responded with a stream of epithets.
...
Raditz buried his face in the Parithian female's sweet scented hair as he pulled her to him" I thought I was going to lose you today."
"We had a lot of close calls on that mission", Lornai said softly as she snuggled into the young Saiyan's chest. "I don't want to think about it now. I just want to spend time with you".
"You won't get any complaints from me", Raditz murmured as he leaned down for a kiss...
...
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