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.
*****
Duty Calls
Chapter 5
Interlude
*****
"Tenchiii…" Ayeka whispered in his ear. "Are you awake?" She nibbled on his earlobe feeling wicked at the actions she was contemplating.
The young man in question groaned and rolled over pulling the covers off his wife. She giggled and pulled them back, rolling him in the other direction so that he was facing her. Tenchi mumbled something in his sleep and wrapped an arm around his royal wife. His hand came into direct contact with something soft, warm, smooth and round causing his fingers to move about exploring this strange, yet somehow familiar, object. He gave a tentative squeeze and the princess giggled again as she felt his hand massage her bare bottom. Tenchi's eyes snapped open and he found himself looking deeply into Ayeka's red-pupiled orbs.
The princess grinned. "You are awake. Let's find out just how awake you are." She moved her own hand down his torso, trailing her slender fingers across his chest. He quickly, and somewhat reluctantly it seemed, released her bottom and brought his hand around to grab her wrist.
"Not that awake," he told her as he pulled her hand back up and gently kissed it.
"I can fix that, husband," the princess said as she pulled her hand loose and dove under the covers head first.
Tenchi tried to squirm away but Ayeka held him fast. He felt her lips move across his belly. "You've been spending too much time with Ryoko," he admonished as he squirmed again.
"She's taught me some techniques," a muffled voice agreed. "She says she learned them from reading your father's books."
"Figures," Tenchi muttered then groaned as Ayeka found what she was looking for. "Ayeka, stop. What about the kids? What if we wake them up?"
A hand snaked out from under the covers and a finger pressed against his lips; the princess stopped what she was doing so she could answer him. "They're with Washu tonight. And tomorrow night with mother, the following night with Funaho and then…"
He pulled her hand away. "All right, all right. I get the picture. But what about…?" He trailed off as he felt her resume her ministrations.
After a moment Ayeka paused again. "I told them not to bother us until noon."
"You had this all planned, didn't you?" he managed to ask between groans.
There was a quiet giggle from down below and he felt his wife change position. "Too much time alone with Ryoko," he mumbled and then he surrendered himself to the moment.
*****
Deep in the bowels of a Juraian military transport, somewhere between here and there, Merlaj was busy working on a minor problem with George's communications array. She suddenly sneezed and looked around suspiciously. She wiped her nose on her sleeve and went back to work, grumbling about the unfairness of her life.
"You could have taken leave too, you know," George's voice whispered from the comlink in her ear.
"I know," she said aloud, knowing that the vehicle AI could hear everything. "But that would've given the game away." She sneezed again. "You know, it's awfully dusty in these access tubes. Who does your cleaning?"
"Are you volunteering?"
She chuckled as she reattached another cable that had worked itself loose over the years. "Not me. Housework is not something I enjoy doing." She reached into a small area to clip the cable tight and skinned her knuckles. "Ow! Dammit," she exclaimed withdrawing her hand and jamming her fingers in her mouth. She sucked on the hurt until the healing process was finished.
"But you don't mind this type of work?" asked George when he saw her resume the repair. "How odd."
Merlaj looked up at where she knew the AI's optical pickup in this area was located and grinned. "I guess I take after mom in that regard."
"Mom?" George searched the records he had access to. "Ah yes. She was one of the original programmers for the heavy vehicle AI software you know."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," muttered the specialist as she reached for another loose cable. Merlaj worked in silence for a few moments.
"You're very good at this," George said suddenly. "You're not what I expected."
The com specialist stopped working. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"I was there," George stated cryptically.
"Where?" Merlaj asked, suddenly fearful. She was in a small, enclosed space within an intelligent combat vehicle that might suddenly decide it didn't like her. And she wasn't terribly fond of enclosed spaces to start with, a phobia she'd developed over the years.
"On Jurai, all those years ago," the AI replied. "I was badly damaged in the attack."
Merlaj dropped the tool she was working with. "And now it's time for revenge, is that it? Well I'm sorry, that's all I can say so take your best shot."
The AI suddenly understood that the past was a painful subject for this woman. "I didn't mean to offend you; I know that there were extenuating circumstances, it's all in the records."
Merlaj's mouth twitched. "Was that an apology I just heard? From you?"
George made a sound as if he was clearing his throat. "Yes. And don't count on too many more, it's not in my nature."
Merlaj grinned as she reached for the tool she'd dropped. "I got it. And thanks."
"You're welcome." George paused. "Princess."
Merlaj smiled wickedly and went back to work splicing cable.
*****
The family spent the afternoon wandering through the Royal Zoological Gardens. The two kids were enthralled by all the different live animals that were on display, even though some of them weren't immediately obvious as being defined by 'live' or even 'animal' in some cases. Washu took great pleasure in telling Tenchi and Ayeka about the feeding habits of some of the specimens; when the kids were out of earshot of course. Tenchi had visited zoos before and had even taken Ayeka, Ryoko and the kids to the Tokyo Zoo one weekend. Of course, elephants, giraffes, lions and such could never compare to this. The most dangerous critters were kept behind shatterproof transparent metal viewing windows, and just to be safe, Washu had fitted little Keiko with a teleport damper. She had gotten the little girl to agree to wear it by telling her that her brother didn't get one. She did have to promise Juro that he could have his choice of toys later, just to keep him from being too upset.
About halfway through the tour, Ayeka pulled Tenchi aside while Washu continued on with the children, happily telling them about the time she'd captured a fierce Krayt Dragon single handed. The royal couple sat down on a convenient bench and Ayeka snuggled against Tenchi's shoulder.
"The children are behaving exceptionally well today don't you think?" the princess asked her husband. "But I think Keiko misses her mother." She ran her hand along his arm drawing strange looks from passerby who weren't used to a member of the Royal Family acting so forward in public.
"I think she does too," Tenchi said. "So do I." Ayeka pinched him. "Not that I'm not really, really enjoying my time alone with you dear," he continued hastily. "Especially last night."
Ayeka giggled quietly and blushed. "Well, I expect there will be an encore performance tonight," she told him. "And I also expect greater effort on your part."
"Yes, well…" Tenchi stood up and looked around, he didn't see Washu or the kids anywhere. He reached down to help Ayeka to her feet. "Come on," he said. "We'd better catch up before they send out the search parties."
*****
Merlaj was relaxing in the crew's lounge on the transport ship. She took a sip of her drink and made a face as she swallowed. "Damn Juraians; can't even brew a decent beer," she muttered. "And when I asked for sake you'd a thought the bartender was going to die of a fit on the spot." One of the male crewmen from another table walked over and sat down across from her. She looked at him coldly.
"Hey little lady," he said with a smile that showed off the fact that he didn't visit a dentist regularly. "You're wit' that armored unit, ain'tcha? I seen you 'round the ship a bit, always by yourself." Merlaj tried to ignore him, which only made him try harder. "My friends and me," he nodded toward a table that had several male and female crewmembers around it who raised their glasses to her, "want ta know if'n you'd like to join us."
"I don't think so," Merlaj replied frostily. "When I drink, I prefer to drink alone. Besides, I'm not your type. Or theirs." She turned away from him hoping he'd get the hint that she wasn't interested. He didn't. His hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. Her head snapped around and her eyes narrowed.
"And just what type are you?" he asked, sure of himself.
"My type," came a quiet voice from behind Merlaj. The specialist looked back over her shoulder and into Ka'dithy's deep blue eyes. "She's my type," the t'Dnal repeated. "Now get your filthy hands off her."
"Hey, I didn't know I was poachin'," the man said hastily letting go of Merlaj's arm. He stumbled back to his table amidst much laughter and teasing from his friends.
"Thanks for the save," Merlaj told Ka'dithy when the two girls were safely out in the corridor. "But I think I could've handled the situation myself."
"Not without busting a few heads," the t'Dnal said, not looking the other woman in the eye. "And probably getting your own busted to boot. Besides, I didn't do it for you, I did it for Tenchi."
Merlaj suddenly when cold. "Just what do ya mean by that?" she asked with narrowed eyes.
"You're Tenchi's crewmate. I couldn't just let you face that primate and his friends yourself."
Merlaj relaxed. "Oh. So what you said in there about me being your type, that was just to get him to back off."
Ka'dithy's head snapped up and her eyes flashed. "Look Merlaj, I don't know enough about you to like or dislike you but right now I'm leaning toward the 'dis' end of the spectrum. But like I said, I didn't do it for you, I did it for Tenchi since I know he'd do it for me if the situation arose."
Merlaj's dark eyes darkened a bit more. "I… see. Thanks anyway. Tell ya what though, you stay outta my way and I'll do my best to stay outta yours. Agreed?"
"Suits me fine." Ka'dithy turned on her heel and walked off.
Merlaj's dusky face brightened with a wide grin as she watched the other woman disappear. Tenchi, Tenchi, Tenchi, she thought. It seems you've done it again, lover boy. She started laughing and wandered off in the opposite direction from the t'Dnal, towards the vehicle storage and George; she thought this might be a good night to sleep in his command chair.
*****
Lieutenant Soja had put up with a lot of teasing growing up. Some of it about his name being the same as that of an infamous pirate ship, but the majority of it because he was the ninth son of a very minor noble house and thus pretty much a nobody in Juraian social circles. When he was young he had dreamt of rescuing and marrying the beautiful princess Ayeka from her centuries of cold sleep and living happily ever after. But six years ago reality and life had smacked him soundly across the face like a dead fish when it was announced that Princess Ayeka had married. He had been so crushed that he couldn't even watch the festivities when they'd been broadcast, all he knew was that she'd married some Terran and that there was a former Space Pirate involved somehow.
Now Soja was a recent graduate of the Juraian Military Academy and like all newbie Lieutenants he knew exactly what the big brass was doing wrong and just how to fix it. A pity no one wanted to listen to him, instead they'd assigned him to this armored company fresh out of training itself and sent him off to the ass-end of the empire to show the flag so to speak. And to top it all off, one of his 'squad leaders', a lowly corporal, had a command vehicle with greater firepower than his. Admittedly, he hadn't met the boy yet as this Tenchi was taking leave time to spend with his no doubt plain wife and bratty kids, but when he did meet this Masaki person he would let him know in no uncertain terms exactly who was in charge and that he expected nothing less than blind obedience.
Soja, totally lost in thought, rounded a corner in the corridor leading from the vehicle bay to the living quarters and ran smack into the more than ample chest of a slender dark skinned woman heading the other way, laughing softly to herself. After picking himself up off the floor he was about to apologize when he saw the rank tabs on her collar. "Specialist…" he squinted at her nametag. "Merlaj is it? You need to watch where you're going."
The woman stood there with her hands on her hips and watched him through narrowed eyes. "Who ran into who here?" she asked. She didn't jump to attention, salute or even address him as 'sir', which made Soja more than a bit angry.
"Stand at attention when addressing a superior officer Specialist," he snapped at her. She just stood there in the same insolent position.
"Officer maybe, superior's yet t' be proven," she came back, intentionally applying a thick accent to her husky voice. Soja clenched his fists and started to turn red.
"Do you know who I am?" Soja demanded loudly.
"Nope, nor do I really care. You could be the Head Sanitation Engineer fer all I know," Merlaj responded.
"The what?" he asked in a puzzled tone.
"Chief Garbage Person. The bin in m' quarters needs emptying by the way."
The good Lieutenant grew almost purple with rage. "I AM YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER," he tried to bellow but it came out more as a loud squeak.
"Oh. Nice ta meet ya." Merlaj took his hand and shook it vigorously. "You need ta see a medic about yer blood pressure though, 'pears like it's a tad bit on the high side. Look, I'd really like t' stay and chat but I've got s'more things t' fix on George and I've got a bunch a stuff to think about before Tenchi gets back in a few days." She moved around him and continued down the corridor at a leisurely pace. What a dweeb, she thought. Tenchi'll eat him alive and if he doesn't, I will. Or maybe I should turn Ka'dithy loose on him; now there's an idea with merit! Merlaj started to laugh again.
Lieutenant Soja was speechless as he turned and watched the shapely bottom of the specialist move away. That was another black mark against Corporal Masaki; how come he got the good looking girl while the godly Lieutenant was stuck with some old guy who wore glasses and whined whenever he was asked to do something simple, like get his commander a cup of tea.
*****
"Open up George," Merlaj called to the vehicle as she approached it.
George extended the ladder and popped the hatch. His bright interior lights spilled out into the dimness of the vehicle bay. "How is it that you're not asleep in your bunk?" he asked as Merlaj clambered up his side. "Do you know what time it is? Roll Call's in less than five hours."
"I know," she replied. "I just ran into our new Lieutenant. Literally. Besides, if you check your records you'll see that I don't need to sleep that often." She settled into Tenchi's command chair and sighed gratefully as George adjusted it to her contours. "I thought I'd relax here tonight and maybe, just maybe grab a couple of hours sleep to relax my brain, even I need a reboot every so often. Besides, I need a quiet place to do some thinking."
"About Tenchi." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yep," she said, reaching up to dim the cabin lights. "Him and a few other things."
"You really love him with all your heart, don't you?" George asked quietly.
Merlaj smiled at the video pickup. "G'night George."
In a few minutes the AI detected the quiet, rhythmic breathing that showed that Merlaj was finally asleep. He killed the remaining lights. "Goodnight and pleasant dreams… Ryoko."
*****
Author's Notes
Ok, the cat's out of the bag, at least as far as you the reader are concerned. But don't go thinking that Tenchi's as clueless as he appears; he suspects that Merlaj is more than she seems and is probably a plant of some sort (no, not the green leafy kind). Even Ka'dithy has her suspicions it seems, although she's still pretty clueless when it comes to Tenchi's background.
I'm not sure about the PG-13 rating on this one anymore given the way I started the chapter even though I tried to avoid coming right out and telling what was going on. I'd hate to change it to 'R' as this would hide it from a number of readers. I'd appreciate your opinions on this.
Next Chapter: Tenchi reports to his duty station; Merlaj and Ka'dithy have a little showdown over Tenchi and the unit sees a bit of action.
*****
Review Responses
Dennisud – Yosho's back on Earth still tending the shrine while Tenchi's away, Washu's with Ayeka and the kids because she wants to keep a close eye on Ryoko and she loves being around children.
Wharpt – The guards knew who he was, they were just too professional to let it slip. Juro will definitely have his own set of powers at some point. Perhaps he already does and he just doesn't like to show off, consider whom his parents are.
Negative-Z – I never abandon a project, or at least I haven't yet. I do sometimes slow down a bit though.
Ministry Agent – I'll have to make him squirm some more then. Perhaps have Ryoko or Ayeka (or both) walk in while Ka'dithy is teasing him.
Thundergod – Here's Ryoko. I wasn't planning on having her pop up for another chapter or two but somehow it just seemed to fit at the end here. After all, George has known who she was almost from the beginning.
Smack54 – I don't see them ever really getting along, even when Ka'dithy finds out who Merlaj really is. There will be more of an uneasy truce.
Blackbird – Unfortunately they ruined Lexx when they had them find Earth and changed Zev's hair style and color. That's just my opinion though.
Meekachu – Unit GRG doesn't require any crew to operate properly. At least that's what he says. As you can see, Ka'dithy's already met some of Tenchi's family; she just doesn't know it yet.
Taxzombie – You got it, Merlaj is a bodyguard but not one assigned by the government.
I3ittersweet – Er, um… Actually Ryoko did go to the Juraian Military to see Tenchi. Not by her own doing though.
Alighthawk – Me? Send Ryoko off somewhere? Don't you know by now that Ryoko doesn't go anywhere Ryoko doesn't want to go? And she wants to be with Tenchi.
*****
BobR
11/27/2002