Chapter Thirty-Nine: Alberm's True Occupation
The Courtyard of the Calmagian Palace, near the King's swimming pool
Alberm, a warrior, an important nobleman, and successful
businessman, was haughty and proud. He had good reason to be, for he had a
young child bride, albeit one that was reluctant to sleep with him, but one that
would surely bear him strong sons, despite her tiny size. He had wanted the
child since she was nine years old, but he had to wait a couple of years until
she was almost past puberty and larger in size. Caline had not grown much in
size since then, but Alberm liked his women tiny.
He was also one of the King of Calmag's favorites, as well as an
important interplanetary diplomat. Caline had been given to him as a wife as a
sort of reward for his actions. Alberm was more powerful and more important
than ever because he had married into the royal family of Calmag.
He was charming and affable in public, and most people who did not
know his true nature, liked him immediately. Even the Superior Gran and
Granden, who Alberm would meet tonight in person for the first time, had seemed
impressed with him. He easily hid the darker side of him, the side that was
cruel, manipulative and greedy towards those he considered beneath him.
He was indeed greedy, greedy for money, greedy for status, and worse
of all, greedy for power.
Alberm now had someone else that he had to meet with before he was
to join the rulers of Astoria for dinner, and that particular person was now
sitting calmly on a rock near the King's private swimming pool, which was shaped
like a kidney. Alberm thought this man, who resembled an ugly brown grasshopper
with big bulging eyes, was one of the ugliest things that he had ever seen.
Alberm, however, was wise enough to keep his thoughts to himself in this
instance, for both he and the "grasshopper-man" were serving the same liege.
Alberm waved politely at the odd insect creature and said as
heartily as possible, "Hello, Reccor."
Frieza's mother ship, Frieza's private library
Frieza was meditating after a hard day of training; he was trying to
reach a third form of himself, so that he could move past the two
transformations that he already knew. His mother had programmed it into him,
but Frieza was having difficulty with reaching that required, necessary third
transformation needed to eventually become substantially more powerful than any
Saiyan or Astorian.
He had just showered, and now he was in a private trance by his
fireplace, and the golden glow of the flames illuminated his white and pink
body, making it almost eerie and ghostly looking. He wasn't sure that he liked
the idea of his second form; he had seem the diagrams of this second form that
Queen Frost had hoped that he would reach, and he thought that it was hideously
ugly. Frieza wasn't vain by any means, but even he had been visibly repulsed by
what his second transformation would make him look like. Couldn't his mother at
least have tried to make the transformations not so disfiguring?
Frieza shook that niggling thought away. What did looks really
matter? It was power and strength that were the important things, as well as
intelligence. And it wasn't as if anyone would dare to hold his looks against
him anyway. His few concubines throughout the universe didn't seem to object
too much, and the occasional visits with them kept him satisfied. Frieza made a
mental note to have Captain Ginyu hire more Ginyu Girls that were actually
mating-compatible with him; Eclipse was his personal favorite out of the Girls,
but he could not mate with her, for their bodies were too different. Frieza
knew that the men in his family had great difficulty in the past having humanoid
women for mates. Except for his father, King Cold, who didn't seem to have a
problem mating with anyone; Frieza wondered, not for the first time, if he
should ask his father for advice about successfully mating with a humanoid
woman. He then shuddered at the thought, but there was no one else that he
could really ask; not even his mother had left instructions on how to go about
it.
His private reverie was interrupted by Reccor's raspy, annoying
voice coming through his scouter. "Lord Frieza, are you there?"
Frieza hissed; he hated it when anyone interrupted his meditating,
but he had been expecting Reccor to contact him, so he could not complain.
"Yes, I am here," he told Reccor, trying to keep the impatience out of his
voice.
"Sire, Alberm of Calmag is with me, as you have requested."
Frieza's annoyed scowl melted into a satisfied grin. He knew he
could count on that fat, slobbering nobleman of Calmag to betray his people and
the Astorians. He had hired Alberm as his spy on Calmag two years before,
promising Alberm great riches and rule of Calmag, if he complied. Frieza had
played on Alberm's lust for Calmag's throne, and he had told Alberm that he
could rule that planet under his protection. But the Calmagians were now
growing stronger, possibly strong as the Astorians, and Frieza was becoming
anxious about that, so he decided to have the Calmagian people wiped out, except
for maybe Alberm and a few Calmagians that would be loyal to him. Frieza knew
that Alberm was greedy and selfish, and that Alberm wouldn't be too distraught
over the loss of his entire race. Alberm had already more than proven his
usefulness by arranging the Astorians' visit on Calmag. Frieza admired Alberm's
cleverness, and he decided that he would allow Alberm to live after all.
Frieza was wise enough to know that he could not easily destroy
planet Astoria, as he had planet Vegeta. The Astorians were no stronger than
the Saiyans, and he could have easily destroyed Astoria with his one finger
blast alone, but something was standing in his way, and right now, this force
was stronger than even Shalila or Tayla Chloe.
That force was the deity of Astoria, Kami Orchida.
Kami Orchida was not as physically strong as the Astorian race that
she watched over, but she was also a powerful sorceress, and many, many years
ago, she had concocted an almost unbreakable spell of protection over all of
Astoria and her seven moons that would keep Frieza from destroying it
single-handedly. Frieza had learned of this strange spell when he and his
forces had tried to take Chloe twenty-two years ago, and he knew the spell was
connected to Kami Orchida's strong life force. As long as Kami Orchida lived,
the spell of protection would remain in place. As long as Kami Orchida lived,
Frieza would not be able to clear Astoria on his own; if he wanted the planet
cleared, he would have to send others to do it for him, like he had done with
the Saiyans several times. If Frieza wanted to destroy the Astorians and their
planet himself, Kami Orchida would have to die. If he even attempted to land on
Astorian soil, the protection spell would immobilize him and cripple him
completely, but it would not kill him. He would just be in a state of lifetime
torment, if he tried to get through the atmospheres of Astoria, and the torment
would cause such pain and agony that it would make him want to die.
Near the end of the Battle of Chloe, Kami Orchida had begged the
Grand Kai of the universe for protection of her planet from Frieza. Kami
Orchida could have lived to be over one-thousand years old, but in order to have
the power needed for her protection spell, she had to give up three hundred
years of her life in order to protect the planet permanently from Frieza. The
Grand Kai had told her that the spell could protect Astoria, from Frieza
personally, and Frieza only, not his minions, and that the spell would be broken
should she die before Frieza. Kami Orchida had immediately agreed to the terms,
and she was able to cast her protection spell, ensuring Frieza's torment and the
Astorians victory over Frieza's forces. Once Frieza was crippled by the spell,
he had been forced to retreat, but he had ordered his minions to stay behind
until Chloe was cleared. Of course, once Frieza was gone off of Chloe, Shalila
and her people were able to finish off most of Frieza's invading forces on their
moon easily. Frieza was forced then to order a complete retreat, and only
thirty minions out of three thousand had survived that bloody battle. Dodoria,
Jaden, Zarbon, Balair and Ginyu (who had been just a beginning Mid-Elite officer
at the time) had been among the survivors.
Frieza hated Kami Orchida, almost as much as he hated Shalila Chloe
and her wretched Namek, Dirkan. He knew that he could not touch Kami Orchida
himself; he would eventually have to send someone one day who could find her and
eliminate her, but he could find a way to finish off the Astorian rulers
immediately.
That was why he himself had sent Alberm to Astoria two years ago.
Alberm had never actually made it to Chloe, for his ship had crashed on the moon
of Pearl, where Shalila's granddaughter, the Superior Gran Heir Apparent, Gorna
Chloe, the next ruler of Astoria, had been visiting the lesser rulers of Pearl.
Alberm had suggested an alliance with his planet of Calmag, and Gorna had
agreed, with Shalila's permission. Alberm had only met Shalila and Dirkan
through radio; he had not met them in person yet. Shalila had trusted Gorna
enough to allow her to make the arrangements for the trip to Calmag and the
delicate negotiations with the King of Calmag, whom Alberm had consulted with in
advance before his departure for Astoria. The King of Calmag knew of the
planned alliance with Astoria, and he had given his blessing for it, but he,
like the rest of the Calmagians, knew nothing of Frieza's involvement. Gorna
also had also been completely left in the dark about Alberm's true intentions.
And now Alberm had successfully managed to lure the Astorians to
Calmag, with the King's permission. Frieza had to laugh at how Alberm had so
easily won the King's trust, that the Calmagian ruler would not question why
Alberm was so eager to have the Astorians, the important ones out of the race,
on Calmagian soil.
Frieza forced himself to pay attention when Alberm's voice echoed
through the scouter. "Sire, I am at your service. The Astorians have landed on
Calmag, and Princess Tayla Chloe has come with them."
Frieza grinned wider. "Good, very good! Now, have you met the
child yet, Alberm? Did you have your scouter with you when you met her?"
Alberm replied quickly, "I had to keep my scouter out of sight when
I met her, sire. She seems to have already formed a friendship with my young
wife, Caline. I swear that little girl bride of mine can be such a handful-"
"I don't care to hear of your child bride, Alberm! What was
Princess Tayla's power reading?"
"Sixty-thousand sire. It could possibly rise to eighty or ninety
thousand, if she powers up."
Frieza unintentionally chomped down on his lower lip in worry.
"Sixty-thousand? Sixty thousand? Sixty thousand! How did she become that
powerful in five years? How? Put Reccor on!"
Reccor's voice was now coming through to Frieza. "Yes, sire?"
"Reccor, explain to me how Tayla was able to get up to sixty
thousand on a scouter reading. According to Nappa, when he and the other
Saiyans fought her five years ago, Tayla's power reading had only been two
thousand, and then when her power increased, it had suddenly become
twenty-thousand. How did she get up to sixty thousand?"
Reccor stammered, "Perhaps her training under Kami Orchida, sire?
She did get sent there for training when she was eight years old. We should
have taken her then, sire. She has become so much stronger and wiser from her
time there-"
Frieza clenched his fists and counted to one hundred. Just before
the storm within him was about to break however, it suddenly stopped, and Frieza
began to brighten. He chuckled lightly through the scouter, much to Reccor and
Alberm's relief. "Perhaps, this scenario isn't so bad after all."
"What??" the two spies asked, puzzled.
"She's more valuable than ever. It is a good thing that I am
sending my Elite officers here to Calmag, eh? Now is a perfect time to take her
away and destroy her grandmother once and for all! Shalila Chloe will die
knowing that her darling granddaughter will work for me for the rest of her
life!"
Reccor choked, "Sire, Astorians can live to be two hundred years
old. Are you sure that you want to keep her for that long?" Alberm agreed with
him, and they were both also thinking about the Saiyans' long life spans as
well. Saiyans could also live to be two hundred years old.
Frieza laughed arrogantly. "I can get rid of her anytime that I
tire of her! Anyway, my four combat Elite teams should be arriving on Calmag
any day now. I am also sending a fifth team of my best low-levels to eliminate
the weaker Calmagians. That will leave my Elite officers free to destroy the
more important vermin, as well as capture Tayla Chloe. Zarbon's team seems to
be ahead of the other officers on their way here, so Reccor, I want you to meet
with Zarbon and have you both contact me when he arrives. Alberm, I want you to
keep a close eye on the Astorian visitors, especially Tayla Chloe, her
grandmother, and that Namek, Dirkan. Are there any other species with the
Astorians?"
"Why, yes, sire," confirmed Alberm. "There are also three Meatian
visitors, and one creature that resembles a coffee-skinned Astorian. She is an
unusual sort of Astorian, sire, and she has brown skin and thick, coarse black
hair. She is beautiful, although odd with a low scouter reading. I have not
met her in person, but I have seen her around the castle. She looks like the
Astorians, and yet she has none of the Astorian characteristics. She must be a
mutant Astorian, or a weaker form."
"Are you talking about Princess Hazel Carr-Chloe?" Reccor rasped.
"She is no Astorian, fool; she is a Human, from planet Earth, that little blue
planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Shalila Chloe's youngest child, Gohan Chloe,
the Chief of Intergalacticpol, married her. They now have two half-Astorian,
half-Human children together. How could you mistake her for an Astorian?"
Alberm became defensive. "How was I supposed to know that? I have
never seen nor heard of Humans before! Up until now, I thought that Astorians
were only mating and reproductively compatible with Saiyans and Calmagians. I
didn't know that there were other species that they could interbreed with."
"I am amazed that Prince Gohan took her to be his mate," Reccor
stated. "She is a beautiful woman for her species, but she is much weaker than
most of the Astorian women. Humans can be such fragile creatures. I wonder how
her half-breed children will turn out to be." Reccor picked up a neon-green
rose and sniffed it. "Odd-colored flower, yet it smells so sweet, like musk.
These must be Calmag's famous musk roses. I have heard that they have strange
healing capabilities, such as instantly healing wounds. I believe that if you
squeeze the petals of these roses--"
Frieza was not interested in roses at this moment. He interrupted
quickly, "I have one Human fighter who is coming to Calmag with Balair's team.
His name is Bhodie Lett, and for a Human, he fights fairly well. He was
Balair's prize pupil. But enough now, I have important matters to attend to.
Reccor, Alberm, you know what to do, I presume."
"Yes, sire," both spies chorused. Alberm sniffed the neon-green
rose appreciatively, inhaling the musk scent. The Calmagian men believed the
musky scent of the roses to be an aphrodisiac, and they sniffed them often
before mating with their wives.
"Farewell," Frieza told both of the spies, as he cut off
communication.
Alberm, after leaving Reccor, went into the royal castle through the
banquet hall and asked a fat, white-skinned guard, which room that Princess
Tayla was staying in.
The Calmagian guard replied, "She is staying in the eastern guest
suites, Lord Alberm, but she and her friends are in the castle drawing room at
the moment." The guard scratched his nose, which was almost as large as
Alberm's. Alberm quietly thanked the guard, and he left the puzzled guard
behind, as he left the banquet hall. The guard was confused; why would Lord
Alberm want to know where Princess Tayla was staying? Lord Alberm already had a
wife, the Princess Caline. The guard shrugged it off; it was none of his
concern.
Alberm strolled down the gray and white brick corridors of the
castle to the drawing room, which was elegantly decorated in navy-blue and gold.
The walls in the drawing room were covered with gold damask, and the hardwood
floors shone. The couches were capsule-shaped and gold, covered with a
velvet-like material. Princess Tayla, Princess Caline, a little boy, and three
other little girls were sitting on the strange couches, and Tayla was bragging
about her grandmother and Dirkan to Caline.
"…And when the evil Saiyan king, Dayrus, grew into a giant Oozaru,
Nama and Dirkan were worried, but they didn't let it get to them. Dirkan kept
firing eye lasers at the giant monkey while Nama managed to cut off his tail.
Dayrus shrank back into just a regular Saiyan again, and Nama and Dirkan
attacked him with their swords. Then Dayrus took Dirkan hostage and threatened
to blast him into the next dimension, but Nama took her Sword of Chloe and
chopped off Dayrus's head without a single thought!" Tayla was boasting to
Caline. Caline's deep blue eyes were as wide as Tayla's. Caline placidly
folded a handkerchief and listened to Tayla, amazed.
"Have you ever had to fight Saiyans?" Caline asked softly.
Tayla nodded. "Prince Vegeta and his two friends, Raditz and Nappa,
came to kidnap me five years ago when I was just a little girl. They wanted to
take me to Frieza to make me work for him, but I didn't want to go, so I fought
them with my family's help."
Riccan interrupted then, breaking into the conversation, with his
mouth full. He really looked up to Tayla and tried to emulate her whenever he
could. "Pappa told me how brave Tayla was, Caline! I saw some of the fighting
myself before Tayla was kidnapped, and Tayla just went up behind Raditz and
squeezed his tail 'til Raditz started screaming and crying! Aunt Marya told me
that Tayla just walked right up to mean old Prince Vegeta and his pals and
demanded that they let Aunt Marya go! Just like that. And then Great-Nama told
me that if it weren't for Tayla, she wouldn't be alive right now! Tayla just
jumped right in front of Prince Vegeta's ki blast and blasted it right back onto
him with a Mirror Shield attack-"
Caline herself interrupted then. "What's a Mirror Shield attack?"
"A basic Astorian fighting technique," Tayla explained. She crossed
her arms and wrists in proper Mirror Shield position. "When someone fires a ki
blast at you, you put your arms and wrists in this position, and then you pull
your arms back, like this-" she threw her arms and wrists to the sides-"and that
deflects the ki blast back onto your enemy, causing him to be hit with his or
her own attack." She relaxed her arms again.
Lelina changed the subject; she was proud of her aunt, but she
wanted to learn more about Tayla's new friend. "Excuse me, Princess Caline, but
Tayla told me that you are already married. Is that true?"
Caline's face grew paler than usual, and she nodded.
"Is he good to you?" Veal asked, who herself would have already been
married, had she still been living on planet Meat. Meatian girls could marry at
age thirteen, and most of them were engaged before then. Caline's early
marriage did not surprise Veal the way it did Tayla and the other Astorian
children. Before Veal and her family had been forced to leave Meat, Veal's
father, Steak, had already arranged for her to marry a boy, Tuna, who was five
years older than she was. Veal had truly loved Tuna, and Steak had been one of
the rare Meatian fathers who had been allowing her to marry for love; most
Meatian fathers arranged marriages to build alliances between Meatian tribes and
increase their fortunes. Tuna had died fighting the Saiyan invaders led by
Bardock.
Tayla was trying to find a way to change the subject back, as she
noticed the paler-than-paler look on Caline's worried face. Tayla grew wary
then, for she could sense Alberm's ki. Lelina, Riccan, and Veal grew cautious
as well, and Lelina regretted bringing the subject up. Petalia, who had been
embroidering, looked up and around the room, as she also sensed Alberm's ki.
She also noticed the large bruise on Caline's arm.
Petalia, who had not been born with a sense of tact, asked Caline,
"Who gave you that bruise?"
Caline felt faint, for she could sense Alberm's presence, if not his
ki; she, like many non-fighting Calmagians, had no skill in ki manipulating or
sensing.
Alberm strolled into the room then, smiling warmly, but Tayla could
see a cold, steely glint in his watery eyes. She narrowed her brown eyes at him
and pressed closer to Caline, as if preparing to protect her from this menace.
Alberm could feel Tayla looking right through him, and it chilled
him that he was so transparent to her. Alberm gave an involuntary shudder;
Tayla's intense hawk-like look unnerved him. He almost believed that she was
reading his mind and his dirty, black heart and not liking what she was seeing.
Princess Tayla was just a child; how could she worry him so? Then he
knew why: he could sense the girl's great power, a power that he was certain
that she wouldn't hesitate to use, if he committed evil in her presence.
Tayla's brown eyes blackened, as they combined with her now-grim
features into a warning expression, beckoning Alberm to back away at once.
Alberm laughed nervously and quickly excused himself, as he fled the room with
as much dignity as he could under Tayla's withering expression.
Caline and the other children had felt the intensity and power of
Tayla's dark glare, and it unnerved them too, but since it was not aimed at
them, it did not frighten them, as much as it had Alberm.
They were all relieved, however, when Tayla's disapproving look
faded back into its normal pleasant, gentle appearance.
Tayla rested a small hand on Caline's snowy arm to reassure her, as
she said softly, "I could feel his true nature; he is so evil, so black of
heart, and yet he fears me."
"Of course he would," Riccan chirped, breaking the solemn mood. "He's just a
fat man. You could turn him into clay if you wanted to! I don't like him one
bit. Is that Caline's husband?"
"Yes, Riccan," Tayla answered quietly.
Riccan turned to Caline and took her hand into his small, meaty one.
"Tayla and I will beat him up, if you want us to."
"Riccan," Tayla said warningly. "We are not going to create any
more trouble than necessary. We don't want to endanger Caline or our people by
attacking Alberm without good cause in their eyes."
"But he's mean, Tayla," Riccan protested, "I know that he is, and
I've just seen him once. He's the one who gave Caline that bruise, wasn't he?"
Caline nodded fearfully, and Tayla whispered, "It's going to be
okay, Caline, we'll find a way to protect you from him."
"No one can protect me from him," Caline said, trembling now. "He
is my husband, and I am his property."
"You aren't anyone's property," Riccan said fiercely, releasing
Caline's hand and balling up his small, red fists. "No one is anyone's
property; you're not a slave. If you were my wife, I wouldn't treat you like he
does!" Tayla had not told him, or the others about Alberm abusing Caline, but
they could all sense Caline's fear of him, and they disliked him.
Caline smiled shyly at him, and Riccan's heart melted. The shy
Calmagian princess kissed the bold little boy Astorian prince on his ruddy
cheek. Riccan's face reddened and a sly, almost-manlike grin spread across his
face.
"I have to go to the lavatory," she whispered softly, "I'll be back
soon." Tayla followed behind her to the girls' lavatory that was down the hall
from the drawing room. When both girls had left the room, the other girls
started teasing Riccan:
"Riccan likes Caline!" Petalia squealed with a grin.
Lelina said slyly, with a tiny grin unlike her, "Riccan's chasing a
married lady!" She didn't seem to be at all scandalized since Caline was just a
child and seemed too young to be married.
Veal just giggled. Riccan blushed; he really did have a crush on
Caline.
The Courtyard of the Calmagian Palace, near the King's swimming pool
Alberm, a warrior, an important nobleman, and successful
businessman, was haughty and proud. He had good reason to be, for he had a
young child bride, albeit one that was reluctant to sleep with him, but one that
would surely bear him strong sons, despite her tiny size. He had wanted the
child since she was nine years old, but he had to wait a couple of years until
she was almost past puberty and larger in size. Caline had not grown much in
size since then, but Alberm liked his women tiny.
He was also one of the King of Calmag's favorites, as well as an
important interplanetary diplomat. Caline had been given to him as a wife as a
sort of reward for his actions. Alberm was more powerful and more important
than ever because he had married into the royal family of Calmag.
He was charming and affable in public, and most people who did not
know his true nature, liked him immediately. Even the Superior Gran and
Granden, who Alberm would meet tonight in person for the first time, had seemed
impressed with him. He easily hid the darker side of him, the side that was
cruel, manipulative and greedy towards those he considered beneath him.
He was indeed greedy, greedy for money, greedy for status, and worse
of all, greedy for power.
Alberm now had someone else that he had to meet with before he was
to join the rulers of Astoria for dinner, and that particular person was now
sitting calmly on a rock near the King's private swimming pool, which was shaped
like a kidney. Alberm thought this man, who resembled an ugly brown grasshopper
with big bulging eyes, was one of the ugliest things that he had ever seen.
Alberm, however, was wise enough to keep his thoughts to himself in this
instance, for both he and the "grasshopper-man" were serving the same liege.
Alberm waved politely at the odd insect creature and said as
heartily as possible, "Hello, Reccor."
Frieza's mother ship, Frieza's private library
Frieza was meditating after a hard day of training; he was trying to
reach a third form of himself, so that he could move past the two
transformations that he already knew. His mother had programmed it into him,
but Frieza was having difficulty with reaching that required, necessary third
transformation needed to eventually become substantially more powerful than any
Saiyan or Astorian.
He had just showered, and now he was in a private trance by his
fireplace, and the golden glow of the flames illuminated his white and pink
body, making it almost eerie and ghostly looking. He wasn't sure that he liked
the idea of his second form; he had seem the diagrams of this second form that
Queen Frost had hoped that he would reach, and he thought that it was hideously
ugly. Frieza wasn't vain by any means, but even he had been visibly repulsed by
what his second transformation would make him look like. Couldn't his mother at
least have tried to make the transformations not so disfiguring?
Frieza shook that niggling thought away. What did looks really
matter? It was power and strength that were the important things, as well as
intelligence. And it wasn't as if anyone would dare to hold his looks against
him anyway. His few concubines throughout the universe didn't seem to object
too much, and the occasional visits with them kept him satisfied. Frieza made a
mental note to have Captain Ginyu hire more Ginyu Girls that were actually
mating-compatible with him; Eclipse was his personal favorite out of the Girls,
but he could not mate with her, for their bodies were too different. Frieza
knew that the men in his family had great difficulty in the past having humanoid
women for mates. Except for his father, King Cold, who didn't seem to have a
problem mating with anyone; Frieza wondered, not for the first time, if he
should ask his father for advice about successfully mating with a humanoid
woman. He then shuddered at the thought, but there was no one else that he
could really ask; not even his mother had left instructions on how to go about
it.
His private reverie was interrupted by Reccor's raspy, annoying
voice coming through his scouter. "Lord Frieza, are you there?"
Frieza hissed; he hated it when anyone interrupted his meditating,
but he had been expecting Reccor to contact him, so he could not complain.
"Yes, I am here," he told Reccor, trying to keep the impatience out of his
voice.
"Sire, Alberm of Calmag is with me, as you have requested."
Frieza's annoyed scowl melted into a satisfied grin. He knew he
could count on that fat, slobbering nobleman of Calmag to betray his people and
the Astorians. He had hired Alberm as his spy on Calmag two years before,
promising Alberm great riches and rule of Calmag, if he complied. Frieza had
played on Alberm's lust for Calmag's throne, and he had told Alberm that he
could rule that planet under his protection. But the Calmagians were now
growing stronger, possibly strong as the Astorians, and Frieza was becoming
anxious about that, so he decided to have the Calmagian people wiped out, except
for maybe Alberm and a few Calmagians that would be loyal to him. Frieza knew
that Alberm was greedy and selfish, and that Alberm wouldn't be too distraught
over the loss of his entire race. Alberm had already more than proven his
usefulness by arranging the Astorians' visit on Calmag. Frieza admired Alberm's
cleverness, and he decided that he would allow Alberm to live after all.
Frieza was wise enough to know that he could not easily destroy
planet Astoria, as he had planet Vegeta. The Astorians were no stronger than
the Saiyans, and he could have easily destroyed Astoria with his one finger
blast alone, but something was standing in his way, and right now, this force
was stronger than even Shalila or Tayla Chloe.
That force was the deity of Astoria, Kami Orchida.
Kami Orchida was not as physically strong as the Astorian race that
she watched over, but she was also a powerful sorceress, and many, many years
ago, she had concocted an almost unbreakable spell of protection over all of
Astoria and her seven moons that would keep Frieza from destroying it
single-handedly. Frieza had learned of this strange spell when he and his
forces had tried to take Chloe twenty-two years ago, and he knew the spell was
connected to Kami Orchida's strong life force. As long as Kami Orchida lived,
the spell of protection would remain in place. As long as Kami Orchida lived,
Frieza would not be able to clear Astoria on his own; if he wanted the planet
cleared, he would have to send others to do it for him, like he had done with
the Saiyans several times. If Frieza wanted to destroy the Astorians and their
planet himself, Kami Orchida would have to die. If he even attempted to land on
Astorian soil, the protection spell would immobilize him and cripple him
completely, but it would not kill him. He would just be in a state of lifetime
torment, if he tried to get through the atmospheres of Astoria, and the torment
would cause such pain and agony that it would make him want to die.
Near the end of the Battle of Chloe, Kami Orchida had begged the
Grand Kai of the universe for protection of her planet from Frieza. Kami
Orchida could have lived to be over one-thousand years old, but in order to have
the power needed for her protection spell, she had to give up three hundred
years of her life in order to protect the planet permanently from Frieza. The
Grand Kai had told her that the spell could protect Astoria, from Frieza
personally, and Frieza only, not his minions, and that the spell would be broken
should she die before Frieza. Kami Orchida had immediately agreed to the terms,
and she was able to cast her protection spell, ensuring Frieza's torment and the
Astorians victory over Frieza's forces. Once Frieza was crippled by the spell,
he had been forced to retreat, but he had ordered his minions to stay behind
until Chloe was cleared. Of course, once Frieza was gone off of Chloe, Shalila
and her people were able to finish off most of Frieza's invading forces on their
moon easily. Frieza was forced then to order a complete retreat, and only
thirty minions out of three thousand had survived that bloody battle. Dodoria,
Jaden, Zarbon, Balair and Ginyu (who had been just a beginning Mid-Elite officer
at the time) had been among the survivors.
Frieza hated Kami Orchida, almost as much as he hated Shalila Chloe
and her wretched Namek, Dirkan. He knew that he could not touch Kami Orchida
himself; he would eventually have to send someone one day who could find her and
eliminate her, but he could find a way to finish off the Astorian rulers
immediately.
That was why he himself had sent Alberm to Astoria two years ago.
Alberm had never actually made it to Chloe, for his ship had crashed on the moon
of Pearl, where Shalila's granddaughter, the Superior Gran Heir Apparent, Gorna
Chloe, the next ruler of Astoria, had been visiting the lesser rulers of Pearl.
Alberm had suggested an alliance with his planet of Calmag, and Gorna had
agreed, with Shalila's permission. Alberm had only met Shalila and Dirkan
through radio; he had not met them in person yet. Shalila had trusted Gorna
enough to allow her to make the arrangements for the trip to Calmag and the
delicate negotiations with the King of Calmag, whom Alberm had consulted with in
advance before his departure for Astoria. The King of Calmag knew of the
planned alliance with Astoria, and he had given his blessing for it, but he,
like the rest of the Calmagians, knew nothing of Frieza's involvement. Gorna
also had also been completely left in the dark about Alberm's true intentions.
And now Alberm had successfully managed to lure the Astorians to
Calmag, with the King's permission. Frieza had to laugh at how Alberm had so
easily won the King's trust, that the Calmagian ruler would not question why
Alberm was so eager to have the Astorians, the important ones out of the race,
on Calmagian soil.
Frieza forced himself to pay attention when Alberm's voice echoed
through the scouter. "Sire, I am at your service. The Astorians have landed on
Calmag, and Princess Tayla Chloe has come with them."
Frieza grinned wider. "Good, very good! Now, have you met the
child yet, Alberm? Did you have your scouter with you when you met her?"
Alberm replied quickly, "I had to keep my scouter out of sight when
I met her, sire. She seems to have already formed a friendship with my young
wife, Caline. I swear that little girl bride of mine can be such a handful-"
"I don't care to hear of your child bride, Alberm! What was
Princess Tayla's power reading?"
"Sixty-thousand sire. It could possibly rise to eighty or ninety
thousand, if she powers up."
Frieza unintentionally chomped down on his lower lip in worry.
"Sixty-thousand? Sixty thousand? Sixty thousand! How did she become that
powerful in five years? How? Put Reccor on!"
Reccor's voice was now coming through to Frieza. "Yes, sire?"
"Reccor, explain to me how Tayla was able to get up to sixty
thousand on a scouter reading. According to Nappa, when he and the other
Saiyans fought her five years ago, Tayla's power reading had only been two
thousand, and then when her power increased, it had suddenly become
twenty-thousand. How did she get up to sixty thousand?"
Reccor stammered, "Perhaps her training under Kami Orchida, sire?
She did get sent there for training when she was eight years old. We should
have taken her then, sire. She has become so much stronger and wiser from her
time there-"
Frieza clenched his fists and counted to one hundred. Just before
the storm within him was about to break however, it suddenly stopped, and Frieza
began to brighten. He chuckled lightly through the scouter, much to Reccor and
Alberm's relief. "Perhaps, this scenario isn't so bad after all."
"What??" the two spies asked, puzzled.
"She's more valuable than ever. It is a good thing that I am
sending my Elite officers here to Calmag, eh? Now is a perfect time to take her
away and destroy her grandmother once and for all! Shalila Chloe will die
knowing that her darling granddaughter will work for me for the rest of her
life!"
Reccor choked, "Sire, Astorians can live to be two hundred years
old. Are you sure that you want to keep her for that long?" Alberm agreed with
him, and they were both also thinking about the Saiyans' long life spans as
well. Saiyans could also live to be two hundred years old.
Frieza laughed arrogantly. "I can get rid of her anytime that I
tire of her! Anyway, my four combat Elite teams should be arriving on Calmag
any day now. I am also sending a fifth team of my best low-levels to eliminate
the weaker Calmagians. That will leave my Elite officers free to destroy the
more important vermin, as well as capture Tayla Chloe. Zarbon's team seems to
be ahead of the other officers on their way here, so Reccor, I want you to meet
with Zarbon and have you both contact me when he arrives. Alberm, I want you to
keep a close eye on the Astorian visitors, especially Tayla Chloe, her
grandmother, and that Namek, Dirkan. Are there any other species with the
Astorians?"
"Why, yes, sire," confirmed Alberm. "There are also three Meatian
visitors, and one creature that resembles a coffee-skinned Astorian. She is an
unusual sort of Astorian, sire, and she has brown skin and thick, coarse black
hair. She is beautiful, although odd with a low scouter reading. I have not
met her in person, but I have seen her around the castle. She looks like the
Astorians, and yet she has none of the Astorian characteristics. She must be a
mutant Astorian, or a weaker form."
"Are you talking about Princess Hazel Carr-Chloe?" Reccor rasped.
"She is no Astorian, fool; she is a Human, from planet Earth, that little blue
planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Shalila Chloe's youngest child, Gohan Chloe,
the Chief of Intergalacticpol, married her. They now have two half-Astorian,
half-Human children together. How could you mistake her for an Astorian?"
Alberm became defensive. "How was I supposed to know that? I have
never seen nor heard of Humans before! Up until now, I thought that Astorians
were only mating and reproductively compatible with Saiyans and Calmagians. I
didn't know that there were other species that they could interbreed with."
"I am amazed that Prince Gohan took her to be his mate," Reccor
stated. "She is a beautiful woman for her species, but she is much weaker than
most of the Astorian women. Humans can be such fragile creatures. I wonder how
her half-breed children will turn out to be." Reccor picked up a neon-green
rose and sniffed it. "Odd-colored flower, yet it smells so sweet, like musk.
These must be Calmag's famous musk roses. I have heard that they have strange
healing capabilities, such as instantly healing wounds. I believe that if you
squeeze the petals of these roses--"
Frieza was not interested in roses at this moment. He interrupted
quickly, "I have one Human fighter who is coming to Calmag with Balair's team.
His name is Bhodie Lett, and for a Human, he fights fairly well. He was
Balair's prize pupil. But enough now, I have important matters to attend to.
Reccor, Alberm, you know what to do, I presume."
"Yes, sire," both spies chorused. Alberm sniffed the neon-green
rose appreciatively, inhaling the musk scent. The Calmagian men believed the
musky scent of the roses to be an aphrodisiac, and they sniffed them often
before mating with their wives.
"Farewell," Frieza told both of the spies, as he cut off
communication.
Alberm, after leaving Reccor, went into the royal castle through the
banquet hall and asked a fat, white-skinned guard, which room that Princess
Tayla was staying in.
The Calmagian guard replied, "She is staying in the eastern guest
suites, Lord Alberm, but she and her friends are in the castle drawing room at
the moment." The guard scratched his nose, which was almost as large as
Alberm's. Alberm quietly thanked the guard, and he left the puzzled guard
behind, as he left the banquet hall. The guard was confused; why would Lord
Alberm want to know where Princess Tayla was staying? Lord Alberm already had a
wife, the Princess Caline. The guard shrugged it off; it was none of his
concern.
Alberm strolled down the gray and white brick corridors of the
castle to the drawing room, which was elegantly decorated in navy-blue and gold.
The walls in the drawing room were covered with gold damask, and the hardwood
floors shone. The couches were capsule-shaped and gold, covered with a
velvet-like material. Princess Tayla, Princess Caline, a little boy, and three
other little girls were sitting on the strange couches, and Tayla was bragging
about her grandmother and Dirkan to Caline.
"…And when the evil Saiyan king, Dayrus, grew into a giant Oozaru,
Nama and Dirkan were worried, but they didn't let it get to them. Dirkan kept
firing eye lasers at the giant monkey while Nama managed to cut off his tail.
Dayrus shrank back into just a regular Saiyan again, and Nama and Dirkan
attacked him with their swords. Then Dayrus took Dirkan hostage and threatened
to blast him into the next dimension, but Nama took her Sword of Chloe and
chopped off Dayrus's head without a single thought!" Tayla was boasting to
Caline. Caline's deep blue eyes were as wide as Tayla's. Caline placidly
folded a handkerchief and listened to Tayla, amazed.
"Have you ever had to fight Saiyans?" Caline asked softly.
Tayla nodded. "Prince Vegeta and his two friends, Raditz and Nappa,
came to kidnap me five years ago when I was just a little girl. They wanted to
take me to Frieza to make me work for him, but I didn't want to go, so I fought
them with my family's help."
Riccan interrupted then, breaking into the conversation, with his
mouth full. He really looked up to Tayla and tried to emulate her whenever he
could. "Pappa told me how brave Tayla was, Caline! I saw some of the fighting
myself before Tayla was kidnapped, and Tayla just went up behind Raditz and
squeezed his tail 'til Raditz started screaming and crying! Aunt Marya told me
that Tayla just walked right up to mean old Prince Vegeta and his pals and
demanded that they let Aunt Marya go! Just like that. And then Great-Nama told
me that if it weren't for Tayla, she wouldn't be alive right now! Tayla just
jumped right in front of Prince Vegeta's ki blast and blasted it right back onto
him with a Mirror Shield attack-"
Caline herself interrupted then. "What's a Mirror Shield attack?"
"A basic Astorian fighting technique," Tayla explained. She crossed
her arms and wrists in proper Mirror Shield position. "When someone fires a ki
blast at you, you put your arms and wrists in this position, and then you pull
your arms back, like this-" she threw her arms and wrists to the sides-"and that
deflects the ki blast back onto your enemy, causing him to be hit with his or
her own attack." She relaxed her arms again.
Lelina changed the subject; she was proud of her aunt, but she
wanted to learn more about Tayla's new friend. "Excuse me, Princess Caline, but
Tayla told me that you are already married. Is that true?"
Caline's face grew paler than usual, and she nodded.
"Is he good to you?" Veal asked, who herself would have already been
married, had she still been living on planet Meat. Meatian girls could marry at
age thirteen, and most of them were engaged before then. Caline's early
marriage did not surprise Veal the way it did Tayla and the other Astorian
children. Before Veal and her family had been forced to leave Meat, Veal's
father, Steak, had already arranged for her to marry a boy, Tuna, who was five
years older than she was. Veal had truly loved Tuna, and Steak had been one of
the rare Meatian fathers who had been allowing her to marry for love; most
Meatian fathers arranged marriages to build alliances between Meatian tribes and
increase their fortunes. Tuna had died fighting the Saiyan invaders led by
Bardock.
Tayla was trying to find a way to change the subject back, as she
noticed the paler-than-paler look on Caline's worried face. Tayla grew wary
then, for she could sense Alberm's ki. Lelina, Riccan, and Veal grew cautious
as well, and Lelina regretted bringing the subject up. Petalia, who had been
embroidering, looked up and around the room, as she also sensed Alberm's ki.
She also noticed the large bruise on Caline's arm.
Petalia, who had not been born with a sense of tact, asked Caline,
"Who gave you that bruise?"
Caline felt faint, for she could sense Alberm's presence, if not his
ki; she, like many non-fighting Calmagians, had no skill in ki manipulating or
sensing.
Alberm strolled into the room then, smiling warmly, but Tayla could
see a cold, steely glint in his watery eyes. She narrowed her brown eyes at him
and pressed closer to Caline, as if preparing to protect her from this menace.
Alberm could feel Tayla looking right through him, and it chilled
him that he was so transparent to her. Alberm gave an involuntary shudder;
Tayla's intense hawk-like look unnerved him. He almost believed that she was
reading his mind and his dirty, black heart and not liking what she was seeing.
Princess Tayla was just a child; how could she worry him so? Then he
knew why: he could sense the girl's great power, a power that he was certain
that she wouldn't hesitate to use, if he committed evil in her presence.
Tayla's brown eyes blackened, as they combined with her now-grim
features into a warning expression, beckoning Alberm to back away at once.
Alberm laughed nervously and quickly excused himself, as he fled the room with
as much dignity as he could under Tayla's withering expression.
Caline and the other children had felt the intensity and power of
Tayla's dark glare, and it unnerved them too, but since it was not aimed at
them, it did not frighten them, as much as it had Alberm.
They were all relieved, however, when Tayla's disapproving look
faded back into its normal pleasant, gentle appearance.
Tayla rested a small hand on Caline's snowy arm to reassure her, as
she said softly, "I could feel his true nature; he is so evil, so black of
heart, and yet he fears me."
"Of course he would," Riccan chirped, breaking the solemn mood. "He's just a
fat man. You could turn him into clay if you wanted to! I don't like him one
bit. Is that Caline's husband?"
"Yes, Riccan," Tayla answered quietly.
Riccan turned to Caline and took her hand into his small, meaty one.
"Tayla and I will beat him up, if you want us to."
"Riccan," Tayla said warningly. "We are not going to create any
more trouble than necessary. We don't want to endanger Caline or our people by
attacking Alberm without good cause in their eyes."
"But he's mean, Tayla," Riccan protested, "I know that he is, and
I've just seen him once. He's the one who gave Caline that bruise, wasn't he?"
Caline nodded fearfully, and Tayla whispered, "It's going to be
okay, Caline, we'll find a way to protect you from him."
"No one can protect me from him," Caline said, trembling now. "He
is my husband, and I am his property."
"You aren't anyone's property," Riccan said fiercely, releasing
Caline's hand and balling up his small, red fists. "No one is anyone's
property; you're not a slave. If you were my wife, I wouldn't treat you like he
does!" Tayla had not told him, or the others about Alberm abusing Caline, but
they could all sense Caline's fear of him, and they disliked him.
Caline smiled shyly at him, and Riccan's heart melted. The shy
Calmagian princess kissed the bold little boy Astorian prince on his ruddy
cheek. Riccan's face reddened and a sly, almost-manlike grin spread across his
face.
"I have to go to the lavatory," she whispered softly, "I'll be back
soon." Tayla followed behind her to the girls' lavatory that was down the hall
from the drawing room. When both girls had left the room, the other girls
started teasing Riccan:
"Riccan likes Caline!" Petalia squealed with a grin.
Lelina said slyly, with a tiny grin unlike her, "Riccan's chasing a
married lady!" She didn't seem to be at all scandalized since Caline was just a
child and seemed too young to be married.
Veal just giggled. Riccan blushed; he really did have a crush on
Caline.
