Disclaimer
Tenchi and all associated characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC. I don't own any rights to them. Any other characters are property of their respective copyright holders, not me.
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Newlyweds
Chapter 3
Voyage of the S.S. Ryo-ohki
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Ayeka sat in Ryo-ohki's command chair, taking flight lessons from Ryoko. Her own ship, Ryu-oh was voice-controlled; and while Ryoko could control Ryo-ohki mentally, everyone else had to use the control spheres. And she was finding it difficult.
"I don't understand Ryoko. Why can't I just use voice command to control her?"
"You can, to a certain extent. If you'd paid attention, you'd've seen that even I have to use the globes for fine control. Remember, Ryo-ohki is a sentient being; she'll do what she wants to do unless you override her. That's why you have to learn to use the globes. Or develop a mental link with her."
Just then Tenchi entered the cabin. "So, how's it going ladies?"
"Fine," said Ryoko.
"Terrible," countered Ayeka.
The two looked at each other and broke out laughing.
"Ok, I think that's enough for today," Ryoko was the first to recover. "Ryo-ohki needs a break anyway, don't you?"
"Miya!" the ship replied, a screen full of carrot images popping open.
*****
Ryoko wandered down the passageway toward the galley. She was teaching Ayeka to fly and the princess was teaching her to cook. Both she and Tenchi had been astounded when they'd found out that Ayeka was almost as good a cook as Sasami. It was that she just didn't like to do it, not that she couldn't. And if Ayeka was having problems flying, then Ryoko was having problems frying. Given that her senses were somewhat different from a normal person's, she couldn't cook by taste. What tasted fine to her caused the others to dive for the water jug (or water closet in some cases), so she had to learn by measurement and ingredient. She'd never be able to concoct new dishes that anyone else could eat, but she should be able to follow a recipe. She sighed. At least she was past the "Boiling Water Without Burning It" stage. Today Ayeka was going to teach her how to scramble an egg. It sounded easy.
*****
Ayeka watched as Ryoko cracked two eggs and emptied them into a bowl. "Ok Ryoko, now gently beat the eggs until they're well blended. You can add a little milk or water to make them fluffier, and just a bit of seasoning if you want; salt, pepper, whatever."
She watched as the ex-pirate stood there holding the bowl, whisk in hand, the tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she planned her attack on the helpless eggs. Ryoko put the utensil in the bowl and began to stir rapidly. Egg started to escape, landing on the walls, the ceiling, Ayeka… The princess giggled and put her hand on Ryoko's arm, stopping her.
"I said gently, like this." She took the bowl and demonstrated the technique. "See, it stays in the bowl this way. There's less to clean up later." She handed it back to her partner. "Now, try again."
Ryoko beat the eggs slowly. This time they stayed in the bowl.
"Ok, now turn the heat on medium-high and put the pan on the burner. You can add some butter or margarine to the pan for taste. Wait! Not the whole stick! Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan."
Jeez, this is harder than I thought. I'd rather be piloting Mihoshi's shuttle on manual control than doing this, thought Ryoko. She did as she was told, glancing at Ayeka.
"Good, now pour the eggs into the pan. They'll start to stiffen up…" Both girls giggled this time.
"Take a spatula and stir them until there's no liquid left. Don't let them get too brown; a little is ok though." Ayeka watched closely as her friend cooked the eggs. "All right, that looks good. Put them on that plate and let's find Tenchi."
Just then the person in question walked into the galley looking for a snack.
"Oh darling!" sang Ryoko, "Could you try these for me? I want your opinion."
Tenchi looked at the princess, who nodded assent. "Uh, I suppose a taste won't kill me." He picked up a fork and tried a bite. His eyes grew wide and he took another forkful. "Thay! Thith ith good!" He swallowed. "It's really good Ryoko. I'm impressed with you both."
Ayeka smiled and Ryoko started to jump up and down and clap her hands, grinning from ear-to-ear. Tenchi picked up the plate and walked out, still shoving egg into his mouth.
The princess turned to her student, "Well then, tomorrow I think we'll make fried rice. Let's get this place cleaned up."
*****
Ayeka was alone in the control room, running flight simulations on one of Ryo-ohki's subsidiary units. She was getting better at controlling the ship, but felt she'd never be as good as Ryoko at it. She chuckled to herself. Ryoko probably thought the same about cooking. She felt two strong hands begin to rub her neck and shoulders. She tilted her head back and looked into Tenchi's soft brown eyes.
"Oh, I thought it might be Ryoko," she said to him.
He grinned. "Disappointed?" he asked.
She smiled back. "No, not really. Would it have bothered you if I'd said yes?"
"No, not really," he said, throwing her own words back at her with a smile.
She stretched up to give him a quick kiss. "I'll never be as good at this as Ryoko is."
He put his arm around her. "You need to give it time, she's been doing it for over five thousand years, remember? You've just started."
The ship suddenly began to slow down.
"I didn't do it! It's not my fault!" Ayeka cried, taking her hands off the control spheres.
"No, I think we've arrived at our destination." Tenchi pointed to a chart that had appeared, a blinking light showing their current position. "I think that's the spot Ryoko pointed to when she chose where we were going."
Through the dome the two could see a dull-orange object that appeared to be rotating around a point in space. A stream of white-hot plasma trailed behind it, spiraling in towards the center of rotation. Ryo-ohki came to a relative stop several AUs from the object.
"What is that?" Tenchi asked.
Ayeka shook her head, indicating that she had no idea.
"Ryo-ohki, opaque the dome."
They turned to find that Ryoko had entered the cabin.
She walked over to them. "As far as I know, that is a one-of-a-kind phenomenon. It's a neutron star orbiting a black hole; the plasma is the black hole suckin' in what's left of the star. Another few thousand years and it'll be gone."
Ayeka gave her a quizzical look. "Scientifically interesting, I'm sure. But why are we here?"
"Two reasons. One, I'm pretty sure no one knows about this but me. And since it's temporary, we might wanna contact the Science Academy as soon as we get back. I hadda make sure it was still here first though."
"And the other reason?" Tenchi asked.
Ryoko looked up at the now dull-red dome, "Ryo-ohki, apply a filter that allows neutrinos, alpha, beta and gamma radiations and x-rays to be seen as visible light. Assign appropriate colors."
"Miyow?"
"Yes, in the human spectrum, not mine. I want them to see it the way I do."
The dome overhead cleared, and while the singularity was still invisible, the neutron star now shown bright bluish-green. Waves of multicolored light pulsed in a spiral pattern between the two, accelerating into blue as they vanished into the black hole.
Ayeka was overwhelmed. "Oh Ryoko! I don't know what to say. It's beautiful."
Tenchi turned to his wife. "You knew this was here all along, didn't you?" he accused, "That was no random choice you made back at Panalon."
Ryoko gave him a gentle smile. "Yes Tenchi, I knew; I didn't know for sure if it'd still be here though and I didn't want you to get your hopes up. Oh, and I do know better than to just pick a random point and go there, ok? Remember Finagle's Law: 'The Perversity of the Universe Tends Toward the Maximum.' There're things out here that scare even me."
The very thought of something that could scare Ryoko made him shudder.
She saw his reaction. "Oh, don't worry, I'm pretty sure we won't find any of that kind of stuff on our trip. We'll pretty much be staying in the "civilized" parts of the galaxy. But someday… Someday I'd like to take you both explorin' in the "wild" parts. It's always interesting to be the first ones to contact a new world." She summoned up two more seats and the three sat and watched the light show for a while.
Ryoko finally broke the silence. "So, where do you wanna go next Ayeka? It's your turn again."
The princess thought for a minute, "Well, there's this forest moon I've heard about. Why don't we try a short camping trip? We can pitch a tent, have a campfire, sing songs… Oooh! It'll be fun, wait and see."
Ryoko laughed at Ayeka's enthusiasm. Obviously she'd no idea how much actual work camping was, but still, it sounded good… "Ryo-ohki, star chart please." It popped up in front of them. "Where's this moon of yours princess?"
Ayeka pointed to a spot on the chart. Ryoko smiled at her, "If you care to do the honors…"
"Ryo-ohki, set a course. All possible speed," Ayeka called out.
"Miiyyyaaaw!" replied the ship as she powered up.
"ENGAGE!" cried the princess; then she turned to the other two, "I've always wanted to do that."
The ship's engines kicked in and they sped off to their next destination.
*****
To be continued
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Author's Notes:
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, an AU (Astronomical Unit) is approximately the distance from Earth to the Sun, or about seven light minutes.
Normally I wouldn't respond this way, preferring to use e-mail as there could be spoilers here, but here goes:
Dennisud: Yes, it's part of the Conversations story line. It covers the three or so months that they were away on their honeymoon and some of the things they did during that period (aside from the obvious of course; this is not a lemon.) And I agree with you about Ayeka and Ryoko (obviously). I'm a big T+R fan, but I find Ayeka an interesting and sympathetic character; if Ryoko is learning humanity, then Ayeka is learning humility. Although I'm rooting for Ryoko in the 3rd OAV, I don't have a problem with the princess either, as long as nothing bad happens to our favorite space pirate.
Sledgehammer: I do have all the mangas, including the new one "Mother Earth". And looking back on it, I can see that a lot of the personality I gave the characters came from those stories (unintentional, I assure you). The next story (not chapter), tentatively titled "The Great Cabbit Hunt" has them reality hopping, looking for the origin of the other cabbits. They might just run into their manga selves (including Minagi) at some point. Who knows? (Well, I do of course, but I'm not tellin'!)
BobR
11/30/2001
