Chapter Thirty-Seven: Suffer The Children...And Everyone Else

Planet Frieza Fifty-Five, Mt. Krystique Base Camp…

"Please, you don't understand…we can't give you those bracelets; Lord Frieza ordained that those bracelets were for his soldiers' use only!"

"Shut up! Lord Coola wants those bracelets, and you will give your samples to us immediately!"

"I cannot, Commander Sauza, please! Not without Lord Frieza's permission!"

"Dr. Trion," Sauza, the Head Commander of Coola's forces, said sternly, holding the triceratops-like doctor in the air by his neck. "You will surrender the ki-masking bracelets to us and tell us who has the rest of them!"

"That's right," Doore growled, as he flung the corpse of the third strongest of Mt. Krystique's guards into the slick metal wall. The body, which was a short, toad-like soldier, crashed into the carcasses of three more of Mt. Krystique's protectors. The only guards that remained alive were of two Lower-Elite soldiers lying in broken and bloodied heaps at Neiz's feet. The two Lower-Elites were the strongest fighters in the Mt. Krystique Base Camp, but of course, they had stood no chance against the Armored Squadron, the strongest and most ruthless of Coola's Top Elite.

Neiz was toying with the tail of one of the Lower Elites, Mt. Krystique's only female soldier, a pink, catlike creature with long, black hair. The woman clawed the metal floor with her sharp nails and spat curses at Neiz in her native language. When Neiz gave her tail a yank, she unexpectedly leapt upon him with her last reserve of strength and slashed at his face. She only missed because Neiz had a retractable head, and he pulled it into his body in time.

When his head reemerged, he punched his opponent's throat before she could launch another attack. Yellowish blood burst forth from her mouth, spattering all over Neiz's face. Neiz, in disgust, wiped the blood off of his face, as his attacker's body crashed into a computer panel, causing sparks to fly and crackle. The Lower Elite groaned one last time before her head slumped into an unnatural position. Blood trickled from her mouth, as her vacant eyes stared forever upward.

"You bastards!" the other Lower Elite, a hulking wolf-like man, roared with what power he had left. "Frieza and Enma Daiou's gonna to make you pay for this, you son-of-a-bitc—"

His words were cut off by one swift ki blast to his head. As his head rapidly burned away, Neiz casually blew away the coils of smoke from his palm.

"There was no need to kill them!" Dr. Trion screamed, clenching his fists.

"Those who get in Coola's way, die," Sauza told him coldly, as he tightened his grip on Dr. Trion's neck. "Now about the bracelets…we get them now, and the rest of you and your team live—no more heroics, got it?"

Tears rolled down Dr. Trion's plump, crimson, cheeks, as he nodded. He turned to his fellow technician, the pale blue, pink-eyed rabbit-creature, who had helped with the bracelets before when Frieza's Top Elites had come. He whispered hoarsely, "Lisbet, bring them what they want."

Lisbet choked out a sob of consent, and then she slowly left to do Dr. Trion's bidding.

Sauza crooned, "Now Doctor, why don't you also tell me who has the rest of the bracelets, hmm?"

"PREGNANT?"

"There is a second ki coming from you, from your stomach. You have to be with child."

"With child?" Diamonique exclaimed. She wrenched her wrist free from Tayla's grasp in horror. Then slowly, she slid her hand down to her stomach—a swelling stomach!

"Curses! What am I going to do? Vegeta is never going to want me, if I have another man's child! I will kill Naykiar for doing this to me!"

"Naykiar didn't force you, you know," Tayla pointed out, all too calmly. She continued, "Diamonique, it would go much easier on you and your child, if you surrender now without a fight. I have no wish to fight a pregnant woman."

"Why not?" Diamonique challenged, crossing her arms.

"It would be wrong. No matter what you've done, I cannot endanger an innocent child's life."

"Who said this child was innocent? It's of Naykiar's blood! I wanted Vegeta's child, not his!"

"You should have thought about that before you seduced Naykiar."

From the look on Diamonique's face, Tayla knew instantly that she had said the wrong thing. She barely dodged her opponent's outstretched hand and nails.

"We used a condom! He must have used it wrong, or put a hole in it! Either way, I don't want his brat! But I'll deal with it later. Right now, I'm going to finish you off, once and for all!"

Tayla tried to remain calm. "Diamonique, you can't. I do not wish to fight and put your child in danger. At least take time to decide what you're going to do about the child before you get into a fight."

"Forget the brat! Come fight me!"

"No, Diamonique. Think about what you're doing—"

But Diamonique didn't. She once again slashed at Tayla's face and this time succeeded in inflicting three lashes upon Tayla's cheek. Tayla drew back, trying to avoid Diamonique's swinging nails.

"SWISH, SWISH!"

Tayla continued to dodge Diamonique's attacks. Diamonique was growing more frustrated by the minute. "Come back here and fight!" she screamed.

"Give it up, Diamonique!" Tayla insisted. "Don't put your child in danger!"

"COME HERE!"

"No! Stop this immediately!"

"You're a fool, Tayla," Diamonique sneered, as Tayla continued to evade her sharp nails. She sliced towards Tayla, as Tayla was forced into a stall—where she bumped into something hard. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an outstretched, sparkling diamond arm.

"What?" Tayla exclaimed. "Who is—"

"Oh, you like it, don't you?" Diamonique asked sweetly, temporarily stopping her attacks upon Tayla. "I call this masterpiece, 'Frozen In Terror'. This little boy here dared to try to kill my Vegeta, and so he must die. Zarbon and Jaden wanted him kept alive, but…I think I'll get rid of him now; he's just in the way."

She started to aim her hand towards Shirvin's terrified, crystallized form, but Tayla seized her wrist, shoved her out of the stall and pushed her against the wall, even now, still mindful of Diamonique's unborn child. Tayla now had Diamonique's other wrist and was holding both of them above her head.

"Give it up, Diamonique," Tayla hissed. "You may not care about your child, but I do. Stop this at once!"

"Forget it! If I lose the brat, so be it! I'll only bear Vegeta's children, not some weakling's! I want strong children from a strong man!"

"It's not the child's fault that the father wasn't who you wanted it to be! Now, surrender, before any more harm is done!"

"Surrender this!" Diamonique kicked Tayla hard in her shin, hard enough to force Tayla to free her. She then decided to punch Tayla in her face, before Tayla could react. Tayla ducked and dodged her, but Diamonique managed to inflict her fists quite a number of times. She pummeled blow after blow towards Tayla, who tried as much as possible not to hit her in return.

Finally Diamonique resorted to a childish act—pulling Tayla's hair as hard as she could and flinging her opponent by her hair into Shirvin's statue. Tayla's body crashed into Shirvin's frozen form and her cheek was smashed into Shirvin's nose. The point of Shirvin's nose was unusually sharp, and it punctured Tayla's cheek, causing her to cry in pain.

"That's nothing, compared to what's going to come next!" Diamonique sneered, as she lashed her sharp nails at Tayla.

But Tayla swiftly seized Diamonique's wrist, and thrust it back towards Diamonique's face, hitting her. Still taking care not to harm Diamonique's unborn child, she pushed her body into Diamonique's side, shoving her out of the stall. She still held Diamonique's hand above her head.

"Give it up, Diamonique!"

"Not until you're dead!" Diamonique shrieked, using her free hand to slash at Tayla's face. Tayla seized Diamonique's other wrist and wrenched it behind Diamonique's back. Diamonique struggled and writhed, trying to force Tayla to release her, but Tayla held firm, pressing Diamonique into the wall.

Enola, Planet Feo…

Journa took a cautious sip of the sweet, creamy, steamy liquid out of the mug that a resident of Feo, a small girl, had given. She found it very much to her liking and decided to take a risk in consuming it all, as the child grinned at her and bounded out of the tent given to the Saiyans for their use. Raditz was snoring loudly next to her, as they lay on a mattress, stuffed with sand. His tail was wrapped around her waist.

A couple of days after they had been forced to land on Feo, a tribe of traveling nomads, now known to the Saiyans as the Feoi, had found them and brought them to their tent city, Enola. Planet Feo contained three main races: the Feoi, the Neddibrof-Seno, and the Nwonknu. The Feoi and the Neddibrof-Seno had just achieved an uneasy truce with the Nwonknu, the strongest, although least numerous race on Feo. The Nwonknu had been terrorizing the other two races for the past decade for supplies, land, and the case of the Feoi (which was the only race on Feo that was mating and reproductively compatible with the Nwonknu), women.

All of this Journa and Raditz had learned from a Feoi boy named Epoh, who was among a tiny minority of Feoi who could speak Standard. Raditz had employed the twelve-year-old lad as a translator, promising to teach him a few useful fighting techniques as payment. He had tried to offer the boy some coldars, but the lad had never seen nor heard of them before. Raditz later learned that the coldars were practically worthless in Feoi society; the Feoi, like the other two races, paid mostly in trade.

Epoh, like most pureblooded Feoi males, had scarlet, mottled skin, a long, spiked tail, and a thatch of thick, black hair. The females, like Epoh's sister, Ecaep (the one who had given Journa her drink), were of similar makeup, except with longer hair, mauve skin, and no spikes on their tails. They were learning from their parents, who had been taught a few years ago from a once-stranded Fontian visitor.

The Feoi had brought in a couple of their Neddibrof-Seno neighbors, two mechanics who served the entire Enola community. The Neddibrof-Seno was the weakest of the three Feo races, but the most technologically advanced, much more so than the Feoi. Journa and Raditz had been impressed with the mechanics' skills, although it had taken days for the mechanics to repair Raditz's pod and further examine both his and Journa's.

Epoh brightly called into Journa and Raditz's small tent, "Wonk says that your pods are ready! You two should be ready to leave at anytime."

Wonk's head popped in. He, like most of the men of his race, was a huge hulk covered in shaggy, blue fur, and he spoke in a sequence of grunts and mumbles that only Epoh seemed to understand. Epoh nodded solemnly and replied with a few grunts and mumbles of his own.

"Wonk says that several months' worth of food and water had been placed in your pods. And he is most curious about the strange little machines that you two call scouters. He says he has never seen anything like them." Wonk emitted more grunts, and Epoh added, "What are they for?"

Journa sat up and stretched, but her wary eyes never left the visitors. She wondered if she should tell them anything. If she mentioned the true purpose of the scouters, it could lead to too many more questions, many of which she knew could not be safely answered.

She and Raditz had both admitted earlier that they were Saiyans, but none of the people they had met seemed to know what a Saiyan was, which had struck the couple as strange. She had longed to ask them, if they knew about Frieza, but Raditz advised her against it, in case their hosts turned against them for working for the warlord.

Finally she answered quickly, "Communication devices, not much more than that."

Raditz awoke, mumbling, as he rubbed his eyes. "What is the kid asking now?" he groaned.

"Not him asking, just his buddy," Journa replied. "By the way, his buddy and his partner took care of our pods. I'm ready when you are."

"Where are you two going?" Epoh asked, a bit excitedly.

"To go rescue my brother and our friend," Raditz replied, stretching and grunting, as he sat up.

"You will be going off-planet?" Epoh asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Raditz murmured, yawning.

"May I come?" Epoh asked. "It is very rare that anybody gets to leave Feo, not even Wonk and his kind. I sure would like to travel among the stars, see other worlds, maybe get into some fights…oh, won't you two please let me come? I won't be any trouble, I promise!"

Journa and Raditz shook their heads. "No way, kid, we travel alone," Raditz replied curtly. "Your place is here."

"But you two are so lucky! You're never stuck in one place," Epoh insisted. "You two can do whatever you want! And your mate is so strong…it is not many women I met than can fight!"

Journa smirked with a bit of her old Saiyan pride. "Thanks, kid, I'm flattered, but no, you're not going. We don't take passengers."

"And what makes you think we're so lucky anyway?" Raditz wanted to know.

"You get to travel, see new worlds, new people, all the time! I sure wish I could be like you two!"

Raditz sighed heavily. "No, you don't, kid."

"Yes, I do! It can be so boring around here. And I want to be a warrior, and my father agrees, but my mother wants me to become some boring scribe!" Epoh made a face, as if he had discovered moldy bread. "So what do you two exactly, just fight and travel?"

"Something like that," Journa replied hastily.

"Do you two work alone, or for someone else?"

"We have a boss," Raditz grumbled. "But he's not anyone you'd want to meet."

"How come?"

"He's dangerous. Not even we like working for him."

"Then why do you work for him?"

"We don't have a choice," Raditz answered tersely.

"Why not? Just don't go back to him. And then you two can really do what you want."

"It's not that simple, kid," Journa insisted. Determined to change the subject, she added, "Ask your friend, if he can tell us how far it would be to a planet called Grain."

Epoh translated to Wonk, and Wonk grunted a few sentences and left. "He needs to get a star chart," Epoh explained.

A few minutes later, Wonk returned with a star chart, and he presented it to Journa, who shared it with Raditz. Both Saiyans sighed and shook their heads.

"This chart's out of date—it's not even showing planet Grain," Raditz said.

Wonk grumbled a few words, and Epoh said, "Wonk says that's the latest one we have, and it was left by that Fontian who once was stranded here ten years ago." Wonk grunted several sentences, and Epoh asked, "What is Grain supposed to be closest to—what planet or star?"

"Planet Hysle, we've been told, in the Solaris system," Journa replied.

Once again, Epoh and Wonk conversed, and Wonk grew excited, as he boldly entered Raditz and Journa's tent. With his titanic, hairy body bouncing about, he pointed to a spot on the star chart. Epoh followed behind him. "Wonk says he found planet Hysle, but there is an unnamed planet next to it, the nearest one." Wonk burbled happily, and Epoh added, "He asks if this Grain might be between Hysle and Merck."

Journa and Raditz looked at the chart. "That unnamed world has to be it…but how fast could we get there?"

Wonk gurgled for several moments, and Epoh exclaimed, "Why…well, according to our calendar, it would be a month."

Journa and Raditz groaned loudly.

Epoh continued brightly, "...But according to the internal calendar in your pods' systems, it should be only two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Journa asked hopefully. "Raditz, only two weeks!"

"And now that Wonk worked on your engines to make them even faster, it could even less time," Epoh interpreted after several more of Wonk's grunts.

Raditz pumped his huge fist up and down in excitement. "Finally!" He grinned at both Epoh and Wonk and spoke to them some rare words of gratitude on behalf of both him and Journa. Epoh and Wonk just smiled at each other; they were pleased with themselves.

Just then, Ecaep entered with a crude, bulky, package, wrapped in brown paper, tied with a string. "Our mother gives this to you; it is for your child, some clothes and bottles. They are used, but are clean."

A half-smirk formed on Journa's face, as she leisurely accepted the package. "Give her our thanks."

Ecaep nodded, smiled, and after a few short words of farewell, twirled out of the tent.

"And now," Epoh said, "We have prepared a farewell meal for you two; we have killed our best beasts for you."

Raditz and Journa grinned. They had tasted some of the Feoi people's "best beasts", and found the meat quite tender and savory.

"Wonk, Ecaep and I must wash up," Epoh told his guests. "Join us in our parents' tent when you are ready." And he left, with Ecaep and Wonk trailing behind him.

"Good supplies, a good meal…and soon to come, a good fight on Grain!" Raditz purred contentedly. "What more could we ask for?"

"Easy," Journa replied. "A healthy child, and…freedom…" Her voice grew unusually wistful.

"Yeah, freedom…" Raditz said wearily. "That kid envied us…he has no clue. Does he even know about Frieza?"

Journa was pensive. "He and his people will, soon enough. I saw the list of assignments before we left; Jaden actually let me have a peek…Feo is one of those listed…a low priority planet, but still only a matter of time. This world has a year or two at the most before anyone comes to clear it."

"Believe it or not, Journ, I hope it's not us who has to clear it."

"Should we bother warning everyone?"

"So they can do what? We've tested some of their ki levels around here; the highest we found so far, even outside of this city, was a hundred. The technology here is better than what we had hoped, but even so, most of it's already surpassed or outdated. None of these people stand a chance."

"What about, if they fled?"

Raditz shook his head. "I had a few words with our translator; this planet only has five ships, four of them belonging to the Nwonknu. Even with that truce going on, the Nwonknu won't share their ships with anyone."

"We just keep our mouths shut, then?"

Raditz sighed. "What else can we do? We can't save them. Besides, how do we even know they'd believe us anyway? And, Journ, if they did, we may be the ones to end up in trouble first. Let's just hope their end, if and when it comes, that it's quick."

Silently, Journa parted the tent flaps and stared out into the tent city. She caught a glimpse of Epoh and Ecaep with their parents, laughing and twirling about. Briefly, she envisioned her own child, playing with them, a little Saiyan boy, or even a little girl, growing up strong, healthy, and free—free to make his or her own choices, free of Frieza.

Her heart felt tight and painful, as a blur of tears clouded her eyes. She clenched her fists and bit down her tongue. Slowly, she turned towards Raditz.

Struggling to keep the tears out of her voice, "Raditz, we can't have this child."

Kekron's face was buried in the silken gold of Caline's hair, as he inhaled her hyacinth scent. Caline's head lay against Kekron's chest, as she watched the stars outside a corridor window. A pleasant lull surrounded them like the sweet remnants of a fading perfume; the only sounds were their soft breathing and the rhythmic hum of the air vents. Kekron's fingers were intertwined in Caline's tresses, as he caressed each silken strand. His free hand was laced with Caline's.

Caline still wondered to this day how she became so lucky as to have Kekron loving and caring for her. She believed that it was nothing less than a miracle that she was with him. She felt she owed her happiness to the Astorians and whatever benevolent deities had been watching over her.

But suddenly, a chill seized her heart. She realized then, that the Astorians and the deities, Kai or Kami, weren't the only ones to thank for her blessings. Her heart started pounding loudly, as she remembered the one other person to whom she was indirectly indebted.

Jaden.

She felt herself shiver, and she curled further into Kekron's chest, as she recalled how Jaden abruptly ended her horrific marriage to Alberm. She never forgot how Jaden had mercilessly thrown Alberm to the ground in the Camellia Desert on Calmag and shot him through his heart (if he had ever had one) with a ki blast. Jaden had shown no visible regret about killing Caline's husband, but Caline remembered later that Jaden had tears in her eyes moments after she had ended Alberm's life…

…Chestra put a hand on Jaden's shoulder. "What happened? What made you do it? Not that Alberm is that huge of a loss, but what drove you to kill one of Lord Frieza's spies?"

Jaden held her reptilian head up, proud, cold and stiff. She was repressing the tears that so badly wanted to flow. "Sagash," she whispered…

And after that, Caline, still in shock and terror over Alberm's demise, did not hear anything more. However, much later, while she and Petalia had still been the captives of Jaden and her party, she had heard very brief references pertaining to this Sagash, with Jaden quietly referring to Chestra on how she had killed him. But it had taken over a year, after the War On Calmag ended, for her to realize that Jaden had not killed Alberm just to protect her alone. Caline secretly suspected that this Sagash had possibly hurt Jaden in the same ways that Alberm had hurt her. Had Jaden killed Alberm, trying in her own way to avenge herself against Sagash?

Caline had heard the stories of the Battle of Chloe, where Sagash, once one of Frieza's deadliest Top Elite officers had nearly destroyed much of Chloe before he had been defeated. She had heard that Sagash and Balair had taken several Astorian non-warrior maidens hostage, intending to use them for their own twisted pleasures. Luckily, the young women had been rescued, but not until Sagash and Balair succeeded in molesting them. Although none of them had been raped, one of them later committed suicide by deliberately injecting herself with illegal relliknayias. Caline had wept in private for that poor unfortunate and was thankful that both Balair and Sagash were dead.

If what Jaden said about Sagash was true, Caline pitied her, even after the way Jaden had intimidated her and Petalia. After all, Jaden did later order them to be freed. She couldn't bring herself to hate and fear Jaden the way that many members of her adoptive Astorian family did. Later she confessed to Great-Nama that she didn't believe that Jaden was entirely evil. Even though, Great-Nama had still not completely forgiven Jaden for beating up Dirkan on Calmag, she had agreed with Caline that Jaden might actually have a shred of good in her.

Although she felt guilty at times, Caline was strangely thankful to Jaden for freeing her from Alberm and inadvertently making her new start in life a bit easier. She closed her eyes for a few moments, briefly wondering what Jaden was doing now. After that short time had passed, she let herself be content to just enjoy this time with Kekron. She had noticed that Kekron's embrace had tightened on her a bit, and he had whispered an inquiry of concern, but she reassured him that she was fine.

Well, at least one of us has cause to be happy.

A silvery-blue moth was fluttering a short distance from Kekron and Caline. Jaden would preferred her quicker ladybug form, but after her near escape from Mango's attempt to kill her, she never wanted to see or be one of the spotted creatures again.

She had been trying to find Ruli and Tayla, hoping that she could somehow retrieve Ruli from Tayla before Ruli had a chance to confess all. Where in the hell were they?

She cursed herself in her native Rybanese for letting the serene picture of Caline and her Kekron distract her. Jaden-the-moth had actually landed on the wall and enfolded herself into a tiny triangle to watch the two lovers. Caline had been so contented in Kekron's arms, until just a few moments ago.

What had caused Caline's sudden anxiety? A flashback of Alberm? Or had Caline somehow suspected that Jaden was so close by? No, Caline didn't have psychic powers that Jaden could recall.

Before she could speculate further, a series of soft beeps emitted from Kekron. Kekron reached around Caline's waist and pulled out from his pocket a slim, silver box.

"Sorrien, Caline," he apologized. "This shouldn't take too long." He pressed a button and asked, "Greetiens, I mean, hello?"

"Kekron!" Bendros's voice exclaimed on the other end. "We have a serious problem! How close is that new collaring gun that you and Ruli have been working on ready?"

"It's workable, Bendros," Kekron assured him. "What's wrong?"

Bendros didn't answer right away. Instead he asked, "What's the highest ki level it can repress?"

"I can't say it could repress Frieza's ki yet, but it should definitely be high enough to restrain that of a Top Elite officer, say, Zarbon or Jaden?"

Jaden gasped, too, too loudly. Caline's head shot up from Kekron's chest.

"Kekron," she whispered frantically. "I thought I heard…"

"One moment, Caline," Kekron said hurriedly. "Bendros, why are you asking about the collaring gun?"

"We need it now, Kekron. We're just going to have to try it and hope for the best."

"WHAT?" Kekron exclaimed. "What's going on?"

Bendros replied hastily, "Zarbon and Jaden are on this station. So is Diamonique. Diamonique killed Ruli, and Tayla's battling her right now! I have to go help her—"

That stupid wench killed Ruli? I ordered her to let me handle that traitor!

Caline shrieked, "Ruli is dead?"

"When did this happen?" Kekron exclaimed, horrified.

Bendros sighed heavily, "Only a short while; I am sorry. Naykiar brought her to me, and we did what we could, but Diamonique won this one…"

A loud, un-moth-like growl radiated from the wall, but no one heard it.

Diamonique, what in the hell were you thinking

"…Ruli told us everything…that's how we know about the Top Elites..."

Curse you, Diamonique! If Tayla and Bendros don't kill you first, I'll finish you off myself! And curse you too, Ruli! You better be thankful, wherever you are, that you're dead!

"…I thought I heard Caline just now. Get Caline to safety and go bring Cirono the collaring gun! He and the other officers are going to hunt down Jaden and Zarbon."

Like hell they will! Not, if I can prevent it.

Caline shook and trembled in Kekron's arms.

Kekron tried his best to calm himself and Caline. He gathered her closer, while listening to Bendros's further instructions on how to keep him and Caline safe until the Top Elites were taken down. After he and Bendros cut off communication, Kekron scooped up his love and, to her shock, threw her over his shoulder.

"Kekron…" Caline gasped.

"It'll be okay," Kekron tried to assure her. "But we have to get out of here now! Hang on tight!" Before Caline could say anything else, Kekron raced away down the corridor, clutching her to him.

Jaden-the-moth muttered several curses in her native language. Kami, why didn't she think of capturing them and holding them hostage? That's what she would have done any other time! Blast it, had that little blond girl somewhat made her soft? Zarbon would have a stroke! It would be bad enough that she would have to tell him they all had been busted…she just hoped that she wouldn't have to tell Frieza, as well.

Oh, hell no! There was no way she was getting Frieza involved! The last thing she wanted was for that lizard-tyrant to show up on Grain. If Frieza came, there would be almost no one left alive, perhaps not even his soldiers. To Frieza, almost all life, except his own, was disposable.

With her pale wings fluttering frantically, Jaden flew to an empty office several doors down the corridor. Hastily after her arrival, she retransformed into her original shape and pressed a button to shut the sliding office door.

"Release me, you little wench!"

"Not until you listen to reason!" Tayla commanded, as she held firm to Diamonique. "Surrender! Don't you care even the teensiest bit for your unborn child?"

"This isn't a child—it's a piece of slime! And it's none of your business anyway! Now let me go, so I can finish what I started!"

"No! No more! Consider yourself held under suspicion for invasion and attempted murder!"

Raditz was horrified at his wife's words. "Why not? I thought we wanted this child, no matter what the risks! This might be our only chance to have one!"

"I know that," Journa snapped, still clenching her fists. "But Raditz, our child is not going to follow in our footsteps! He or she is not going to be another one of 'Frieza's flunkies'! I'd rather our child be dead than become another one of Frieza's slaves!"

"Journa! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"We can't raise this child, Raditz," Journa said shakily, with a tear dangling in the corner of her eye. "We can't keep him or her with us."

"Then what else are we supposed to do with our kid?" Raditz demanded to know, crossing his arms and glaring at his wife. "We're not getting rid of our child, Journ. We're having this baby."

"Raditz, listen—"

"No! We're not having it aborted!"

"WHAT?"

In the ladies' room, "Boni", who was still embarrassed to be in there, had rinsed out "her" mouth several times. Zarbon gagged and spat in desperation, but he could not rid himself of the strong metallic taste in his mouth. He was startled to see how clammy and snowy white his skin was and how that skin was drenched in sweat. When he touched his forehead, he cried out in pain because his flesh was scorching hot.

"What is wrong with me?" he whispered hoarsely, as several dull aches pulsated throughout his body. He felt, as if he had influenza, but even his worst case of it had never been this bad.

His knees felt unusually wobbly.

"Must…talk…to…Jaden…"

He collapsed to the floor, even as he was pressing a scouter button. He tried to rise, wobbling on all fours.

"Ja…den…" he whispered hoarsely. "Help…BLECK!" A shower of vomit burst forth from his mouth. "HACK, HACK!"

His throat was suddenly as dry as his coughs.

"Ja…den…please! Help…me!"

"What do you mean what, Journa? You're not getting an abortion!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Raditz?"

"You said we couldn't keep our kid! What else am I supposed to think?"

Journa growled, "Raditz, I never said anything about an abortion! I meant that we couldn't keep our kid with us! Do you really think Frieza's just going to let us raise this kid in his army? He'll have our child killed, and I won't let it happen!"

"But you said—"

"Raditz," Journa began, gathering what patience she had. "We can't keep our child ourselves. We…have to send him or her away…we have to let…someone else care for…it."

Raditz walked over to Journa, sighing, as he wrapped his tail around her waist. "I'm…sorry, Journ…I am…I thought—"

"I know, I know." Wearily, Journa leaned into her husband's chest. "I swore, I swore, that I wouldn't do what other Saiyan parents did and just send my baby off somewhere, but we…have no choice."

"I agree, Journ." Raditz ran his thick fingers through her coarse, auburn hair. "But who's going to want to raise a baby Saiyan? And what if the kid isn't strong enough to defend him or herself? And who's going to teach him or her about our heritage, our race?"

"I…haven't thought that far," Journa admitted. "But there must be…somebody who can do it. We can't let Frieza know this child exists…we have to think of something, Raditz. We have to. It's a big universe out there. Surely there must be a safe haven somewhere."

Raditz drew her close. "If that's what we have to do, we'll do it," he told her firmly. "We won't lose this kid. We won't—"

"Hey, come eat!" Epoh's cheery voice called from outside. "Everyone's waiting!"

"Let's go," Raditz told his wife, escorting her outside. "And Journa, fill up as much as you can. You're eating for two, now, and we've heard how Saiyan babies can eat."

A small grin formed on his face, and Journa couldn't help but return a tiny smile.

"You two are sooo kind," Sauza crooned mockingly, as he toyed with the two remaining bracelets that Lisbet had unwillingly surrendered to him and his men. "Now, tell me how these things work."

Lisbet, even in her fear, wanted to tell Commander Sauza to figure the bracelets out for himself, but she didn't dare. Instead, she looked at him with a mixture of fear and hatred. She crept closer to Dr. Trion.

"You-you have what you want," Dr. Trion stammered. "They're not that hard to-to use…" He gave Sauza hasty instructions on how to use the bracelets.

"The-the monitor on the bracelet will tell you how-how high your ki level is, and if it's masking it ful-fully…" the scientist continued, as Doore and Neiz came stumbling out of a backroom (the one that had held the safe containing the remaining bracelets), with Neiz waving a thick, green booklet.

"Hey Sauza, look, we found the instructions!" Neiz crowed.

"We don't need them," Sauza snapped. "A child could work these things!"

"Act-actually, per-perhaps you should re-read it—" Dr. Trion began, but Sauza cut him off with a slicing motion of his hand.

"Silence!" Sauza ordered. "You have told us what we needed to know! Put that book down, Neiz! Now, look, boys—"

"Dr. Trion, Dr. Trion!" A series of crackles followed in the voice from one of the base's few intact computers.

"Answer it," Sauza commanded. "And do not reveal that we are here, or else."

Dr. Trion slowly crept over to a screen and pressed several buttons. On the screen above, a picture of a serious-faced yellow alien in a lab coat appeared. "Dr. Trion, it's about the bracelets."

"What about them?"

"Those two extra prototype bracelets you sent us two months ago have a serious-and possibly dead-"

Crackling interrupted the transmission.

"Hello, Dr. Trams? Dr. Trams?"

More crackling was heard, and then silence and a blank screen followed.