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.
*****
Newlyweds
Chapter 5
Adventures in Kidnapping
Part 1
*****
Ryoko had wandered out into the main gallery of the casino while Ayeka and Tenchi watched a show in one of the many theaters. The play was about a typical Juraian love triangle and really didn't interest her at all, she was much more interested in watching the money change hands at the gaming tables.
She walked into one of the bars and ordered sake for herself and a bowl of carrots for Ryo-ohki. Finding an empty table, she placed the bowl and drink on it, then took the cabbit off her head. "You stay here, got it?" she waggled her finger at her partner. "I'll be right back."
She walked into a ladies restroom to wash her hands, not noticing she was being followed by two largish humanoid types. If they'd been in uniform, they could've passed for the twins of the officers on Panalon that had tried to arrest her on the beach. But since she'd changed her hair color to the same shade as her mother's and gathered it into a single ponytail, again like Washu's, she had no reason to think she'd be recognized here, so she paid them no attention.
"Da boss wants you should come wit' us, miz," said the larger of the two goons, startling her.
Oh Goddess! thought Ryoko, Here we go again. And what's with the corny accent? Do they hire these guys by stereotype or what? Hmmm. Maybe I can have some fun with this. She turned off the water and walked to the door. "He does, does he? Well then, let's go boys. It won't do to keep the boss waiting."
The goons looked at each other then followed her out the door. They had expected an argument and maybe some hysterics.
Walking past the table where she had left the cabbit, she scooped her up in her arms.
"Miya!" Ryo-ohki complained, being taken away from her snack.
"Shhh," Ryoko admonished, "these gentlemen want to take us to meet someone." She smiled sweetly at them and allowed them to lead her out of the bar.
*****
Ryoko was ushered into a large office on the top floor of the casino. Across the room was a large desk made of what appeared to be real wood instead of a synthetic. Expensive, she thought. She sat down in a plush chair in front of the desk, placing the cabbit in her lap. The chair behind the desk slowly swung around to reveal a small humanoid with greenish skin.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mr. Ferdtyz, manager of this facility. And I know who and what you are, Space Pirate Ryoko. I have a proposition for you. If you accept it, we both benefit, if not… Well one of us will be very unhappy."
"Well, since you know who I am…" Ryoko untied her hair bow and shook her head, letting her hair resume its normal spikiness. She phased its color back to its usual cyan shade as well. "What do you think I can do for you?"
"Heh, heh. It seems the Princess Ayeka of Jurai is staying in the city as well. We would pay handsomely for her."
He wants me to kidnap Ayeka? Ha! This just keeps getting better and better! She smiled at him while stroking the cabbit nonchalantly. "I've noticed her, yes. What about the boy with her?"
Ferdtyz's eye brightened. "So you have been watching her, eh? As for the boy, we don't know who he is, so we're not interested in him. If he gets in the way, we'll eliminate him."
There was a twinge from the part of her that was still the android Zero; her subconscious remembered Dr. Clay's instructions: "If that boy is in your way, eliminate him". She chose that moment to inspect her fingernails. "And what happens if I refuse this job of yours?"
"Simple. We find someone else to do it and then notify the appropriate authorities of your whereabouts."
Ryoko looked him in the eye, "And then I tell them of your scheme, right?"
The little green man chuckled, "Oh, you won't be in any condition to talk. At least not for a long, long time. I'll give you some time to think about it though. How about one minute? Time starts now."
Boy! These guys have been watching too many old Earth movies. This is gonna be easy. She leaned over the desk, "I accept. What's my deadline?"
"She's due to leave at the end of the week. She won't be missed before then I expect, so you have till then to snatch her. If we find you trying to leave orbit yourself, or we don't hear from you by then, we contact the GP then do the job ourselves. It'll be a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Ryoko." He turned the chair around, effectively dismissing her.
Definitely a small-timer puffed with his own importance. He obviously doesn't know who or what he's dealing with. She gathered her hair back into it's ponytail, changing the color back to red, then got up and walked out of the room with Ryo-ohki. This time, the two goons didn't follow her.
*****
Oh, Tenchi dearest. We have a situation here, she broadcast to her husband.
His thoughts came back to her, Do you need some help? Were you recognized again?
Well… No. And yes. I'll explain it to you later. For now though, tell Ayeka she needs to pretend she doesn't know me. You don't either, got it? she replied mentally. We'll have to talk back aboard Ryo-ohki, I don't know if our room is being watched or not. Probably is by now though. See you both in a little while.
Be careful Ryoko. We both love you. Tenchi sent back.
She basked in the warmth of the feelings that came through the link. I know you do, and I will. Don't worry, ok? This is me, Ryoko we're talking about here. She closed the link. Teleporting away from the city, she tossed Ryo-ohki into the air. "Ok, partner, do your thing."
With a loud, drawn-out "Miiyyyaaa", the cabbit transformed from a cute, fluffy animal into a large, crystalline spacecraft.
Ryoko teleported onto the command deck, "Find Tenchi and the princess and bring them up, ok? I'm going to our cabin. Let me know when they're aboard. Oh, and get us a secure comm channel direct to Mihoshi's grandfather. Use the ditz's name if you have to."
"Miyawr."
*****
Ryoko finished explaining what was happening. "So that's the story. Wadda you guys want to do about it?"
"Well, since we're all here now, we could just leave," Tenchi answered.
Ryoko responded with a dirty look. "Running away isn't an answer, Tenchi. Besides, we're on our honeymoon, I don't want anything to disrupt that."
"But when Ayeka first came to Earth you wanted to run away instead of fight."
"That was different. I had my reasons then, they don't apply now." She gave Ayeka an affectionate glance, which the princess returned.
"I quite agree with Ryoko, dear. If we run away now, we'll never know why they want me."
Tenchi thought for a moment. "Ok, what if we pretend to go through with this. Can we stop them before it goes too far? I mean, there's just the three of us..."
Ryoko snickered. "The three of us who dealt with Kagato on his home ground? The three of us who stood up to Azusa when he wanted to take Ayeka home? Oh, I think we can handle it all right. Besides, we do have help. Ryo-ohki, screen."
A view screen popped open in front of them with the image of an older blonde man with humor creases at the corner of his eyes. Tenchi thought there was something familiar about him…
Ayeka whispered in Tenchi's ear, "It's the Grand Marshal of the Galaxy Police himself, Mihoshi's grandfather."
"Hello Prince Tenchi, Princess Ayeka. Ryoko here's been telling me all about the predicament you're in. Believe it or not, you can be a great help to me." He gave Ryoko a stern look. "Although I don't appreciate you hacking into my supposedly secure communications net. Heads will roll because of this."
Tenchi stood up straighter. "And how may we help you sir?"
"Over the past few months there have been a number of kidnappings on that world. All of the victims were from wealthy families and all were successfully recovered when the ransom was paid. But it's only a matter of time until someone can't or won't pay. Then we don't know what will happen and we really don't want to find out. Using the princess here as bait may give us the break we need to find this group and stop them." He smiled at them. "The kidnappers seem to be unaware of Ryoko's 'special' status with the princess otherwise they wouldn't have approached her to do the job. But because they did, we now have someone inside the kidnapping ring. And before you ask; yes, I know about your marriage, even though there'll be no formal announcement until the official ceremony on Jurai. My granddaughter was there, remember? And I'll expect an invitation to Jurai when the time comes."
"Of course sir," Ayeka replied, "and you can expect our full cooperation in this matter as well."
"Excellent. We have operatives in place on the planet already and a task force on alert. Someone will be contacting you shortly to help you coordinate the next move. Please stay safe, I don't want to have to explain any unfortunate accidents to Mihoshi or your parents." He smiled again, then reached out and flipped a switch, ending the transmission.
"Ok, Tenchi. You and the princess go back to the hotel and get some rest. I'll be sleeping here on Ryo-ohki until this is over." She saw the sour look on his face. "I know, I know; I don't like this either, but we can't let them know that we know each other. Especially how well we know each other. That might make me a target too and I know too much about them already for them to ever consider ransom in my case. Besides, if we play this right, it could be fun."
Tenchi exploded, "FUN! You call being in the middle of a kidnapping FUN?"
"Yeah!" Ryoko got right in his face. "They obviously don't know much about any of us, just that I'm an ex-criminal and Ayeka's rich an' famous. They know nothing about our powers. I wanna surprise 'em. We came here to have fun didn't we? I'm not gonna let this ruin it. Make the best of every situation. That's what I say!"
"Ryoko, someone could get hurt!" he yelled.
"Yeah, but them, not us. We've got Ayeka's shield, my teleportation and your Lighthawk Wings if we need them. What could go wrong?" she argued.
He calmed down, "You know I can't control them like that yet. And I can think of plenty that could go wrong. But we're committed now so you're right, we might as well make the best of it."
"I knew you'd see it my way."
Ayeka laughed at them, "Your first argument. Isn't that sweet."
Ryoko smiled back. "Yeah, but wait until this is all over and we get the time to make up. That'll be sweet too." She grabbed Tenchi and gave him a long, lingering kiss. "That's to show you I'm not really mad, and to give you a taste of later. Now you and the princess need to get back down on the planet before you're missed."
The kiss had surprised Tenchi and it had ended far to quickly for him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." This time he grabbed Ryoko and he kissed her again. A quick hug and then he stepped over to Ayeka, taking her hand. "Ryo-ohki, send us back please."
They disappeared in a flash of light. Ryoko slumped down in the command chair, letting her depression show. Tonight would be the first night in many months she'd spend without the others in bed with her and she wasn't looking forward to it. "Damn them!" She slammed her fist into the padded arm of the chair. "They'll pay for this," she swore.
*****
To be continued
*****
Author's Notes
Well, what do you think? Will Ayeka get captured? Can Tenchi and Ryoko save her? And what of the usually inept Galaxy Police? (Except for Kiyone of course, but she doesn't appear here.)
Tune in next time and find out.
BobR
12/04/2001
