Ryoko woke slowly, noticing with a cursory glance that her surroundings had
changed. No longer was she in a dank prison cell, but in what seemed to be
a rather nice earth-style suite. The only indicators that this was a
falsity were the presence of the chattering Amkraen and the multitude of
small energy bars that crossed the doorway.
"Ugh. where are we now?"
"In another of lord Reibun's multitude of ships. He has quite a network of them. His matter-transfer device is rather complex, what with the ability to move entire ships full of objects and people, and selectively nonetheless. He leaves behind the misbehaving prisoners for the enemy to collect. Made the prototype for that bugger myself, in the days when I was free."
"That's nice to know." Ryoko mumbled, still not fully awake.
"Oh yes! Quite ingenious design, if I do say so myself. Even for the top Amkraen engineer it's a magnificent accomplishment. So unfortunate that it fell into his hands."
"You were what now?"
"The foremost Amkraen engineer."
"Do you know how this thing's energy shielding works?"
"Of course."
"Show me. I've got an idea."
~~~~~~~~
Tenchi woke slowly, taking a while to come to his senses. He remembered a large cat. and Ryoko, somewhere, calling to him... But... ::W- where am I?::
::TENCHI!:: Washu's voice came through the mind link with startling volume and clarity. ::GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! YOU'VE GOT TWO MINUTES ::
::Huh?:: Tenchi shook himself groggily. Looking about, he still couldn't figure out what Washu was screaming about.
::WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HUH? YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE OF LOCATING RYOKO AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS *HUH*?::
Suddenly everything came back to him, the memories flooding inwards in a furious river. ::Oh no... Washu's missile... :: He cast around for the ship that Washu had sent him in. ::It's fine. As soon as I find it, I'll be on my way home again, to find Ryoko:: He bumped into a large metallic object. Slowly he felt along its sides. ::Yep. This is definitely it:: he jumped into the cockpit. ::Hey, Washu, How do I start this thing for home?::
::The red button! Push it! You've only got one minute now::
Tenchi looked around inside the cabin. He remembered the button and put his hand where it should have been. Instead of liberation, he got a nasty shock. The cap had been torn off, leaving sparking wires exposed inside. ::Washu! We've got a problem::
::It's gone, isn't it. Great. Wonderful::
::WHAT DO I DO?::
::Can you see the wire colors?::
::No::
::Okay, they're sparking, right?::
::yeah::
::Take the one on the far right, and stick it onto the one in the middle::
Tenchi looked at the mess of wires. ::Oh god. there's so many.:: he picked up the one farthest to his right that he could find. ::Where's the center? Where's the center? Oh god. I'm gonna die.:: desperately, he grabbed one.
::Five seconds, Tenchi!::
::This better be it:: he stabbed the two together with shaking hands. Nothing happened.
::I'm screwed:: He squeezed his eyes shut ::I don't want to see it! I'm sorry Ryoko.::
::Two seconds!::
::Why me? Why couldn't I save her?::
::point five seconds, Tenchi!::
Suddenly, without warning, the ship shot forward, slamming Tenchi into the seat so hard that he almost blacked out.
"YES!" he screamed aloud.
Washu smiled. ::Damn that boy. Making me so nervous. What was he thinking?::
~~~~~~~~
"So the entire thing runs off of. what?" Ryoko puzzled to her new friend.
"The energy inherently existent in space. Ryoko, you can't shut it off. I made it! That's why it's so."
"Perfect." Ryoko finished, grinning. Suddenly, the grin vanished as fast as it had begun. ::Mother. Will I never see you again?:: The Amkraen definitely noticed.
"What's wrong? Did I say something?" he asked with a look of concern written on his face.
"No. Nothing. Nothing at all." she covered the tears with ease, from years of practice with Tenchi. Every rejection had caused this reaction. every single one, even the smallest of denials, with whispered apologies. She shook her head. ::focus on the here and now, Ryoko. Or you're never going to get out of here::
"Alright. I seem to remember that this shield had one weakness. An emergency override. I made it in case the shield ever began to malfunction, and formed the design so that it would be impossible to build it without that function. Can't go around in a ship without a restraining belt, can you?" he chuckled, "damn good thing I didn't leave it out, now that I think of it." Then he suddenly frowned. "There is a small problem, however."
"What is it now?"
"The device is located in the cockpit of the ship."
Ryoko slumped to the floor. "Great. All for nothing."
"Ah. no. There is a way we could get out of here."
"And that is?"
"Take apart the receptors for the laser shielding on the door."
"Well now, that doesn't help much. We could spend years on just dismantling one!"
"Wrong again. I recognize this ship, and." he smiled, "It is where I held one of my more successful escape attempts. Hold on a second." He ran over to the wall and began to run his hand along it. "Yes! Still here!" He pressed his finger into a certain spot and a small door shot open. He scuttled inside.
"Hey! Wait! Don't leave me behind!"
"No worries about that!" He popped back out, holding a small toolkit resembling a toddler's toy. Ryoko burst out laughing.
"Yeah right."
"What?" Akan-nemo looked at her with an expression of profound confusion.
"An earth-store sells that stuff for toddlers." At this, he grinned.
"That it does. But watch this!" he pressed a small button, and the thing sprang open. He dropped it on the floor and it quickly expanded into a door, easily allowing for Ryoko's height.
"That feels. familiar." Mumbled Ryoko. She quickly found out why. He opened the door to surroundings completely different from where they were.
"My subspace lab." The tiny Amkraen grinned.
~~~~~~~~
As soon as he arrived back on Earth, Tenchi headed straight for the house and into Washu's lab.
"Washu! Washu! I."
"Okay Tenchi, we know. You didn't get her back." Washu's eyes were puffy and red, as though she had just been crying. ::But. Washu never cries:: Tenchi thought.
"Sometimes, Tenchi, even I have to." Tenchi was taken aback by her intuition, until he remembered the mental link. ::Great. A mother-in-law that knows exactly what you're thinking:: Washu grinned.
"Your worst nightmare. I know. Get over here and help me."
~~~~~~~~
Inside of the lab, Ryoko quickly identified every tool known to exist, many that didn't, and a few which Washu had deemed physical impossibilities.
"Wow." she said in awe.
"I know. Okay. here it is."
"Wait. You said that you couldn't use your technologies. but you have a whole lab here."
"No, I said they were stolen. The only reason I didn't do this in the other ship is that they've decided not to issue electric toothbrushes anymore." He said with a gleam in his eye.
"What?"
"You'd be surprised what I can make with an electric toothbrush."
"I'm not even going to ask. You got the tools you need?"
"Yep. Let's go back." Ryoko complied, stepping back through the portal. Akan-nemo quickly stepped over to the door, planting a small device on it.
"Okay, I'm going to need you to stand back. This thing has been known to occasionally go haywire."
"Sure." Ryoko replied uncertainly.
The Amkraen pressed a small button, and everything became chaos. Sirens blared, buzzers buzzed, lights flashed, and the lasers instantly shut off.
"Good! It worked!"
"IT WORKED?"
"A small diversion. It turns all of the traps off, and all of the alarms on. At one time."
"Ah." Ryoko frowned.
"Let's get moving! We don't have much time!"
~~~~~~~~
Washu slumped back into her chair.
"Tenchi, it's not working! The waves are going all over the place. She's gone. Not on any of the readings." She groaned, disheartened.
"No. Washu, she's still there. I don't know exactly where, but I can feel it!"
"You've got a stronger connection than I thought. Well, I'll trust you. Let's try again. But I can't promise that it'll work." She picked up her holocomputer and typed in a few commands. "Okay, let's go."
~~~~~~~~
Ryoko ran down the hall, her smaller friend barely keeping up, shouting directions at her from behind.
"Right! Right! Left! Straight! Keep going straight!" Suddenly, they broke into a large chamber. "Alright, it should be. Yes! Right here!" He slammed a button down. "You've got one minute!"
Suddenly, it felt to Ryoko as if a million lights came on inside her head. Instantly, she sent out for her lost lover.
::Ryoko! Is that you?::
::Yes Tenchi! I've only got a short time, so I'm going to give you our location.::
"forty seconds!"
::Alright, I'll have Washu analyze it.::
::hold on!:: She pressed a key on the ships control panel. ::223422553457756 Inat*::
"Twenty!"
::90060779422564472245 Na*::
"Ten!"
::1122424663674 Tem*::
"Five!"
::Ryoko! I'm losing contact!::
::I love you, Tenchi::
::Ryoko.::
"Zero!" The link was shattered. It seemed like part of Ryoko's self had been torn away.
"Tenchi's going to come for us."
"Not if we're not here! Let's get back to the cell!"
"Hai." Ryoko, despite her words, didn't move.
"Oh fine. We'll do it the hard way." Akan-nemo grabbed her in a surprisingly strong grip, and began to trot back to their confinement.
::Tenchi. He's coming for me:: Ryoko smiled.
"I can walk the rest of the way."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
~~~~~~~~~
* Inat, Na, and Tem: Three dimensional location measurements sort of like our length, width, and depth, originating from Jurai
"Ugh. where are we now?"
"In another of lord Reibun's multitude of ships. He has quite a network of them. His matter-transfer device is rather complex, what with the ability to move entire ships full of objects and people, and selectively nonetheless. He leaves behind the misbehaving prisoners for the enemy to collect. Made the prototype for that bugger myself, in the days when I was free."
"That's nice to know." Ryoko mumbled, still not fully awake.
"Oh yes! Quite ingenious design, if I do say so myself. Even for the top Amkraen engineer it's a magnificent accomplishment. So unfortunate that it fell into his hands."
"You were what now?"
"The foremost Amkraen engineer."
"Do you know how this thing's energy shielding works?"
"Of course."
"Show me. I've got an idea."
~~~~~~~~
Tenchi woke slowly, taking a while to come to his senses. He remembered a large cat. and Ryoko, somewhere, calling to him... But... ::W- where am I?::
::TENCHI!:: Washu's voice came through the mind link with startling volume and clarity. ::GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! YOU'VE GOT TWO MINUTES ::
::Huh?:: Tenchi shook himself groggily. Looking about, he still couldn't figure out what Washu was screaming about.
::WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HUH? YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE OF LOCATING RYOKO AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS *HUH*?::
Suddenly everything came back to him, the memories flooding inwards in a furious river. ::Oh no... Washu's missile... :: He cast around for the ship that Washu had sent him in. ::It's fine. As soon as I find it, I'll be on my way home again, to find Ryoko:: He bumped into a large metallic object. Slowly he felt along its sides. ::Yep. This is definitely it:: he jumped into the cockpit. ::Hey, Washu, How do I start this thing for home?::
::The red button! Push it! You've only got one minute now::
Tenchi looked around inside the cabin. He remembered the button and put his hand where it should have been. Instead of liberation, he got a nasty shock. The cap had been torn off, leaving sparking wires exposed inside. ::Washu! We've got a problem::
::It's gone, isn't it. Great. Wonderful::
::WHAT DO I DO?::
::Can you see the wire colors?::
::No::
::Okay, they're sparking, right?::
::yeah::
::Take the one on the far right, and stick it onto the one in the middle::
Tenchi looked at the mess of wires. ::Oh god. there's so many.:: he picked up the one farthest to his right that he could find. ::Where's the center? Where's the center? Oh god. I'm gonna die.:: desperately, he grabbed one.
::Five seconds, Tenchi!::
::This better be it:: he stabbed the two together with shaking hands. Nothing happened.
::I'm screwed:: He squeezed his eyes shut ::I don't want to see it! I'm sorry Ryoko.::
::Two seconds!::
::Why me? Why couldn't I save her?::
::point five seconds, Tenchi!::
Suddenly, without warning, the ship shot forward, slamming Tenchi into the seat so hard that he almost blacked out.
"YES!" he screamed aloud.
Washu smiled. ::Damn that boy. Making me so nervous. What was he thinking?::
~~~~~~~~
"So the entire thing runs off of. what?" Ryoko puzzled to her new friend.
"The energy inherently existent in space. Ryoko, you can't shut it off. I made it! That's why it's so."
"Perfect." Ryoko finished, grinning. Suddenly, the grin vanished as fast as it had begun. ::Mother. Will I never see you again?:: The Amkraen definitely noticed.
"What's wrong? Did I say something?" he asked with a look of concern written on his face.
"No. Nothing. Nothing at all." she covered the tears with ease, from years of practice with Tenchi. Every rejection had caused this reaction. every single one, even the smallest of denials, with whispered apologies. She shook her head. ::focus on the here and now, Ryoko. Or you're never going to get out of here::
"Alright. I seem to remember that this shield had one weakness. An emergency override. I made it in case the shield ever began to malfunction, and formed the design so that it would be impossible to build it without that function. Can't go around in a ship without a restraining belt, can you?" he chuckled, "damn good thing I didn't leave it out, now that I think of it." Then he suddenly frowned. "There is a small problem, however."
"What is it now?"
"The device is located in the cockpit of the ship."
Ryoko slumped to the floor. "Great. All for nothing."
"Ah. no. There is a way we could get out of here."
"And that is?"
"Take apart the receptors for the laser shielding on the door."
"Well now, that doesn't help much. We could spend years on just dismantling one!"
"Wrong again. I recognize this ship, and." he smiled, "It is where I held one of my more successful escape attempts. Hold on a second." He ran over to the wall and began to run his hand along it. "Yes! Still here!" He pressed his finger into a certain spot and a small door shot open. He scuttled inside.
"Hey! Wait! Don't leave me behind!"
"No worries about that!" He popped back out, holding a small toolkit resembling a toddler's toy. Ryoko burst out laughing.
"Yeah right."
"What?" Akan-nemo looked at her with an expression of profound confusion.
"An earth-store sells that stuff for toddlers." At this, he grinned.
"That it does. But watch this!" he pressed a small button, and the thing sprang open. He dropped it on the floor and it quickly expanded into a door, easily allowing for Ryoko's height.
"That feels. familiar." Mumbled Ryoko. She quickly found out why. He opened the door to surroundings completely different from where they were.
"My subspace lab." The tiny Amkraen grinned.
~~~~~~~~
As soon as he arrived back on Earth, Tenchi headed straight for the house and into Washu's lab.
"Washu! Washu! I."
"Okay Tenchi, we know. You didn't get her back." Washu's eyes were puffy and red, as though she had just been crying. ::But. Washu never cries:: Tenchi thought.
"Sometimes, Tenchi, even I have to." Tenchi was taken aback by her intuition, until he remembered the mental link. ::Great. A mother-in-law that knows exactly what you're thinking:: Washu grinned.
"Your worst nightmare. I know. Get over here and help me."
~~~~~~~~
Inside of the lab, Ryoko quickly identified every tool known to exist, many that didn't, and a few which Washu had deemed physical impossibilities.
"Wow." she said in awe.
"I know. Okay. here it is."
"Wait. You said that you couldn't use your technologies. but you have a whole lab here."
"No, I said they were stolen. The only reason I didn't do this in the other ship is that they've decided not to issue electric toothbrushes anymore." He said with a gleam in his eye.
"What?"
"You'd be surprised what I can make with an electric toothbrush."
"I'm not even going to ask. You got the tools you need?"
"Yep. Let's go back." Ryoko complied, stepping back through the portal. Akan-nemo quickly stepped over to the door, planting a small device on it.
"Okay, I'm going to need you to stand back. This thing has been known to occasionally go haywire."
"Sure." Ryoko replied uncertainly.
The Amkraen pressed a small button, and everything became chaos. Sirens blared, buzzers buzzed, lights flashed, and the lasers instantly shut off.
"Good! It worked!"
"IT WORKED?"
"A small diversion. It turns all of the traps off, and all of the alarms on. At one time."
"Ah." Ryoko frowned.
"Let's get moving! We don't have much time!"
~~~~~~~~
Washu slumped back into her chair.
"Tenchi, it's not working! The waves are going all over the place. She's gone. Not on any of the readings." She groaned, disheartened.
"No. Washu, she's still there. I don't know exactly where, but I can feel it!"
"You've got a stronger connection than I thought. Well, I'll trust you. Let's try again. But I can't promise that it'll work." She picked up her holocomputer and typed in a few commands. "Okay, let's go."
~~~~~~~~
Ryoko ran down the hall, her smaller friend barely keeping up, shouting directions at her from behind.
"Right! Right! Left! Straight! Keep going straight!" Suddenly, they broke into a large chamber. "Alright, it should be. Yes! Right here!" He slammed a button down. "You've got one minute!"
Suddenly, it felt to Ryoko as if a million lights came on inside her head. Instantly, she sent out for her lost lover.
::Ryoko! Is that you?::
::Yes Tenchi! I've only got a short time, so I'm going to give you our location.::
"forty seconds!"
::Alright, I'll have Washu analyze it.::
::hold on!:: She pressed a key on the ships control panel. ::223422553457756 Inat*::
"Twenty!"
::90060779422564472245 Na*::
"Ten!"
::1122424663674 Tem*::
"Five!"
::Ryoko! I'm losing contact!::
::I love you, Tenchi::
::Ryoko.::
"Zero!" The link was shattered. It seemed like part of Ryoko's self had been torn away.
"Tenchi's going to come for us."
"Not if we're not here! Let's get back to the cell!"
"Hai." Ryoko, despite her words, didn't move.
"Oh fine. We'll do it the hard way." Akan-nemo grabbed her in a surprisingly strong grip, and began to trot back to their confinement.
::Tenchi. He's coming for me:: Ryoko smiled.
"I can walk the rest of the way."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
~~~~~~~~~
* Inat, Na, and Tem: Three dimensional location measurements sort of like our length, width, and depth, originating from Jurai