Chapter 1: A Plea For Help
A lone figure sat in the corner of a small dark cell. The
only light came from a collar around their neck. The figure sat in a huddled
position, head slightly bowed, eyes closed in concentration and pain. The
harder they concentrated, the more the collar glowed.
The telepathic message traveled through space, searching.
It touched something. Explored it for a moment. Yes, this was the one. It had
found someone who might help. Someone who had the means to help. A long fuzzy
tail swished on the dirty floor in excitement.
She stirred restlessly in her sleep. Foreign images bombarded
her mind. Destruction, chaos, screams, strange powers. A voice crying out as
clearly as if it were in the same room.
"Help me. Please help me. Search the Gamma quadrant.
Beware the coming Frost!" the voice repeated over and over.
Bulma sat up in bed, gasping for breath. Sweat dripped
down her face and stung her eyes. She stared around the room, expecting to see
someone standing there, yelling those words at her.
"What's wrong woman?" Vegeta opened his eyes and accessed
his mate. For a moment, he felt a foreign ki fading from her. His awareness
heightened, but then it was gone. Strange.
She clasped her hands together to stop their shaking. "I…
I had a very strange dream. It seemed so real! Someone was begging me to help
them. To search the Gamma quadrant. And beware the coming Frost."
He sat up and focused his full attention on her. She was
trembling. "Was it just a voice?"
"No. I saw people, well, aliens, being destroyed. Whole
planets being blown apart." She wiped her face, trying to smile. "It was just a
dream. I can't believe it left me so shaken." The phone rang, causing her to
jerk nervously. "Who on earth could be calling at this hour!"
Vegeta grabbed the phone. "What the hell do you want?!"
"Uh… Vegeta? Hey, sorry to call at such a weird time, but
I just felt a really strange ki. Did you by any chance notice it?" Goku asked
in a sleepy voice. Obviously just being awakened himself.
He frowned. Kakarot had felt it too? "Yes. Bulma was just
awakened from some kind of nightmare about the time I felt it."
"I have a bad feeling about this. Something is definitely
wrong somewhere. Should I come over in the morning to discuss this?" he asked,
knowing Vegeta hated to work with other people on any kind of problem.
"Whatever. I'm sure you'd stick your nose in it weather I
wanted you to or not." He grumbled.
"Ok. I'll be over about nine. Night." He hung up knowing
he wouldn't get any kind of reply.
Vegeta tossed the phone back onto its cradle. "Great! Now
I've gotta deal with that meddling goody-goody too."
"It was just a dream, wasn't it?" she asked nervously.
He rolled over and closed his eyes. "Go to sleep woman."
"Oooooh!" she grumbled and lay back. Sleep didn't come
quickly, but after staring at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity, her
eyes finally closed.
"Help me! The fate of everyone depends on us. Beware the
coming Frost! It will destroy everything. I send you a sign! This is not a
dream!"
Bulma opened her eyes. The room was just starting to
become light as the sun peeked over the horizon.
She got up and stumbled to the bathroom. After soaking in
the shower for a good twenty minutes, she got out and wrapped a towel around
her. Picking up a comb, she started to pull it through her shoulder length blue
hair, when something on her neck, caught her attention.
Vegeta was jolted awake by her scream. His ki instantly
rising. "What?!" he raced to the bathroom to find her staring in the mirror, a
look of horror plastered on her face. "What, woman?"
She turned slowly, showing him her neck. His eyes widened
in shock as he looked at the distinct raised whelps. A planet with a sword
through the middle.
"What is it?" she wailed.
"Don't scream woman! I can hear you!" he growled. He
fought down the feeling of dread that was trying to settle on him. He had seen
the symbol before. Many times. It was the symbol of the House of Cold. He
reached out and touched it, an involuntary shiver ran over him.
"Vegeta? How bad is this? You look worried." She was
beginning to really panic. Vegeta upset was NOT a good sign. "What does it
mean?"
"Frost. He must be another of Cold's accursed spawn. Did
you have anymore dreams last night?"
"Yes. More pleas for help. But this time it said it
wasn't a dream and it would send me a sign to show Me." She frowned looking
back in the mirror. "Ooh. Why did it have to be a stupid tattoo! Now what am I
gonna do? Walk around looking like some hood!?"
He smirked. That was his mate alright. Stamped with the
symbol of the most ruthless bloodthirsty race in the universe, plagued with
nightmares. Worrying about her looks. It would have been humorous to him, if it
weren't so serious.
A knock at the bedroom door broke into his thoughts.
"Bulma! Honey, Goku is here to see you guys." Mrs. Briefs voice filtered
through the closed door.
"Tell him we'll be right down!" she yelled. Then to
Vegeta. "Where the hell is the Gamma quadrant anyway? Namek was in the Delta
quadrant. We're in the Beta quadrant." She tapped her chin in concentration.
"When I find out who stuck this thing on my neck, I'm gonna make them think
they need help alright."
Vegeta leaned against the counter watching Goku in total disgust as he
shoved monumental amounts of food in his mouth. Didn't the man ever get full?
"Wow! Thanks Mrs. Briefs." He
polished off the last of the bacon.
She smiled at him. "Oh, your welcome
dear."
"If you're through stuffing your
face, can we get on with this?" Bulma said in a half agitated voice.
"Sure. Ok you explained the dream,
and Vegeta solved the mystery of the tattoo. Now we have to figure out who's
needing our help." He said thoughtfully.
"It boggles the mind." Vegeta
grumbled.
Dr. Briefs sipped at his coffee.
"Well, first things first. I'll need your help in setting the satellite
frequency to scan the Gamma quadrant. That's pretty far off. I think I can rig
up some sort of booster so we can get any transmissions to come in better." He
absently petted the black cat hanging over his shoulder.
"That shouldn't be much of a
problem. The big thing is knowing what we're looking for." Bulma sighed,
scratching at her neck.
"I could recognize the ki signature
again." Goku volunteered.
"Good. That gives us something to
shoot for."
Dr. Briefs stood up and stretched.
"Well, guess we'd better get to it. Work doesn't get done by itself."
Bulma and her father had worked on
the satellite system for three days. It had taken quite a bit of ingenuity to
bring in any signals from as far away as the Gamma quad.
"Finally!" Bulma yahooed. She looked
at the screen. It rolled off numbers and symbols that to anybody else would
look like gibberish. "Man, can you believe all the action going on out there?"
"Hmmm. Yes, there are some pretty strong signatures
coming in. Maybe, we should let the boys take a look at it." Dr. Briefs thumbed
the intercom. "Hey, we're getting something now. Why don't you two come down
here."
"It's about damn time!" Vegeta
shouted.
Bulma gave him a withering glare. "I
don't believe I saw you helping out any, jerk!"
"Watch your mouth woman." He
smirked.
She stuck her tongue out as the vid
went dark. "Ass."
Well. That's chap. 1. what'd ya
think? This is gonna be an epic. With most everybody involved. And a surprise
guest. Please R&R so I'll know somebody wants me to keep going.
