Vegeta turned and saw nothing different, except the stars were gone and the sky looked like it had craters in it. He gasped as he realized they were set up for a nice collision with the meteor.

Krillin, fight with Bulma already forgotten, said in a choked voice, "Vegeta, I think you missed one."

Vegeta was too shocked to insult him back. He only stared at the chunks of rock that was threatening to bash the space vessel to tiny fragments and scatter them all the way back to Namek.

Bulma pulled out of it first and shook her head. She immediately scrambled for the controls and tried to figure out a way around it. "It's too big. I can't do anything. Moving forward will just make up crash sooner." Her shoulders sagged and she collapsed into the seat, exhausted.

Vegeta was working on trying to get into Goku's spacesuit. "What are you DOING?" Krillin asked after watching the older Saiyan dress.

"Trying to get us out of this mess," Vegeta snapped back, zipping it up with none of the problems Goku had had earlier. "I'm going to drill a hole through it and someone else will have to use the weapons to help." As much as he hated to admit that he couldn't do it alone, and as long as the last part of the sentence took to get out, the boys had a good idea of what he was going to try to do.

As Vegeta climbed out through the hole in the roof, Krillin manned the lasers. He grinned; the sugar high that convinced him to start a fight with Bulma was still raging. He grasped the joystick that Bulma had put in specifically for that use and pressed the red button on the side. Blue beams of light sprang from the front of the screen and to where the crosshairs met on the crater in front of him.

"Not until I do," Vegeta snapped through the intercom. "All right? THEN you can aim." He sounded snobbish and arrogant, even with his voice distorted and fuzzy through the speakers. "Woman, get ready.

"I am, monkey man," Bulma said easily. Insults to her came easily once she had something to work off of, something she just figured out after Krillin. "The question is are YOU ready?"

"Just do as I say," Vegeta said back

"Backseat driver," Bulma muttered. "This is going to kill our engines totally you know."

"That's fine. For now, just concentrate on living."

"After we clear this thing I'll take it down nice and easy," Bulma said confidently. "Then we'll be able to juice it up even more and get back ahead of schedule." She rubbed her hands together. "O, how I DO love my work. And it's important to pick a career you enjoy."

Krillin rolled his eyes, but between Vegeta and the lasers, a hole just big enough for the ship to fit through was burnt through the moon-sized rock.

"That was close," Bulma said as she watched the stars reappear. She breathed a sigh of relief as Vegeta climbed back in and there was no sign of anything else coming their way. "Nice job you guys."

"No problem," Krillin said grandly. "All in a day's work. You know, killing the strongest guy in the universe, shooting down a huge killer rock, no sweat." Vegeta only grunted and rolled his eyes.

"What the…!" Bulma said as she spotted one remaining shooting star, just as it hit the ship, sending them plummeting to the planet below.

============================================

Chi Chi flung herself down in a chair, glaring at the machine from hell. "I give up!"

"Hey! Chi Chi, look at this!" The Ox KIng held up the plug. "All that and this was the problem." He chuckled and straightened. "Imagine that."

She couldn't help but want to strangle her father. "Just plug it in, Papa," she growled, deliberately keeping still so she wouldn't get up and try to kill him.

The Ox King, well aware that his daughter was about to go on a killing spree, grinned and popped the plug in. The screen instantly blinked and a ringing sound could be heard on the other end. "That wasn't so hard." He grinned and sat back with Chi Chi, waiting. And waiting. And, for a change of action, waited some more.

Chi Chi slammed her hands on the computer table that the screen was sitting on. "Why isn't anyone answering?" she demanded.

Her father put his hands on her shoulders and eased her back into her seat. "Come on. Wait a little longer."

While patience wasn't in Chi Chi's vocabulary, the Ox King was willing to wait until someone answered the annoying buzz at the other end. When the screen finally blinked to life, something wasn't right. Diagonally across the screen was a pile of grey rocks and other debris, and what looked like an orange piece of cloth.

"Bulma? Goku? Krillin?" Chi Chi said, first angrily, then again without as much fire behind her words.

When the heap moved, Chi Chi could see Bulma pushing an unconscious Goku off of her and shaking her head, then looking over at the screen. That wouldn't have been unusual if they hadn't been standing at a very odd angle.

"That you Chi Chi?" Bulma asked, climbing woozily over the bodies of Krillin and Vegeta to get to the screen. Then she looked at the way the screen was tilted and realized that, since the telephone was attached to the wall, the whole ship was on its side. She groaned and tilted her head, hair falling into her injury and making her wince.

"Yeah. What happened to you?" Her friend looked like she'd gotten into a fight with one of the guys.

Bulma waved her hand. "Long story." She glanced around and grimaced. "This is gonna take a while," she muttered to herself as she turned her attention back to Chi Chi.

"Bulma? What's going on over there?" There was something not right that the brunette could feel, even through the light years that separated them. Vegeta loomed up out of the masses and Chi Chi screamed.

Bulma lazily turned around and slapped at Vegeta. "Do you mind," she snapped. "I'm TRYING to have a conversation here." She looked at Chi Chi with disgust. "Don't mind him. He's just a jackass."

"Some landing," Vegeta shot back. "Take it down nice and easy my ASS!" He wiped the dirt and grit out of his hair and sneered at her.

Goku sat up and rubbed his head. "Bulma, I think we're experiencing some technical difficulties."

"Wow. He really DID learn how to turn on the television," Bulma muttered. "But yeah, Chi Chi. This isn't a good time. Here, talk to Goku for a minute." She abandoned her friend to inspect the damage done to their only way home. "How the hell do we get OUT of here?" she asked a minute later.

Goku -- who was in the process of assuming his position to talk to his wife -- glanced behind him. "What do you mean? The door's not even there."

"What?" That was Krillin from across the room. "How did that happen?"

"The woman just crashed on a planet." Three guesses who said that. And in a regal, matter-of-fact way.

Chi Chi cleared her throat. "Might I ask again: WHAT is going ON there?"

"Not much dear," Goku said soothingly. "Nothing to worry about. But I think I should help Bulma before she seriously freaks out."

"And you're too late again, Goku," Krillin said as he watched Bulma collapse to her knees.

"Better late than never," Goku shot back. Krillin raised an eyebrow. "Gotta go. Love you," he said, trying to hide his cheerfulness as he blew her a kiss and disconnected them.

He, along with Krillin, cringed at Bulma's cry. She had been staring at the mess in silence for a minute before she started the screaming. When Vegeta looked up from next to her -- after all, he was the one that had to take her down to the ground -- he saw why. Even his jaw had come unhinged at the sight. Pieces of the ship were scattered all over, in every direction, and as far as even Vegeta could see.

"Oh, shit. Ahh, shit," Bulma said, almost laughing as she ran a shaking hand through her hair. "Damn. Aw, man. Shit." She shook her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Aw. Damn. This isn't good."

Vegeta worked his jaw a few times before words came out. "That is the biggest understatement I've ever heard, woman."

Bulma stood, one hand stuck in her hair, the other on her hip, staring out at the various equipment that had separated from the ship in their landing.

Krillin came down beside her. "Can you fix it?"

"If first I can find all the pieces, THEN figure out where half of them came from." Bulma turned her back and shook her head. "Hey Goku," she called up, desperate. "Do we have any Scotch tape up there?"

============================================

Bulma sighed as the boys were sent out AGAIN to look for the parts. "We've been here three weeks and we STILL haven't gotten everything back." Even as Krillin and Goku passed her with another armload of stuff her heart sank.

"How much longer do you think it'll take?" Krillin asked as Vegeta set down whatever he had in his hands.

Bulma wiped the sweat off her forehead and only smeared the grease from her arm. Her hand passed over her stitches that Vegeta had insisted he do before she killed herself with the needle. Unfortunately, the only thing that they had to stitch it up with was fishing line, which was good enough. She eyed the growing pile and her eyes lit up. "Who got this?" she yelled as she held up the green chip laying on the table.

Goku and Krillin looked at each other while Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her new expression. "I did. Why?"

Bulma clutched it in both hands and tried to keep herself from jumping up and down in happiness. "Oh, KAMI! I can't belive you found it!" She threw her arms around Vegeta just as Chi Chi's image appeared behind her. "I could kiss you!"

Goku nudged Krillin with his elbow and the latter's eyes flicked from Vegeta's semi-shocked face to the viewscreen. Krillin held back a laugh as he wandered back outside so they wouldn't hear. Goku grinned as he watched his wife's face pale visibly. Bulma was oblivious to Chi Chi as she released Vegeta, a huge grin plastered on he face.

"You know what guys? Because of this I'm gonna make you a cake. Or brownies!"

"Aw, come on Bulma. Don't make us choose," Goku begged teasingly.

"Fine. I'll make both. Now go and get more like this." She playfully shoved Goku away, looking more happy than Goku could remember.

Vegeta wrinkled his nose. "What's cake?"

Goku grabbed his sleeve and yanked the prince out of the ship. "Come on. I'll explain it to you."

Bulma felt like dancing. This was the only thing that could save the ship if all the parts WEREN'T found. "I can't believe it's still in one piece! I thought it would be broken by now! There IS a Kami!" She was so excited she missed the first polite 'ahem.' And the second. And the third...

Chi Chi was getting frustrated now. "Bulma!" she shouted, hearing the echo in the ship. Something was definitely up with her friend. Last time they talked Bulma was so down she could barely talk, and now she was acting like she was high on sugar.

Bulma stuck her head out to see Chi Chi. "Hi! How are you? What's up?" She disappeared long enough to adjust the settings on the oven before sitting down to talk to Chi Chi.

"What was that all about?" Chi Chi finally sputtered. Bulma giggled like a girl half her age.

"What question do you want me to answer first? That one, why Vegeta is here, or why I'm in such a good mood?" Chi Chi opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Bulma grinned. "You're just like Goku. Read like a book."

Chi Chi shook her head. "Except Goku can't read," she muttered.

"Well then I guess King Kai did teach him something after all," Bulma muttered back, but living with Goku for so long had improved Chi Chi's hearing enough that she cold make out what Bulma said.

"That reminds me..." Chi Chi began menacingly. "I heard Gohan went to train with King Kai."

"Really?" Bulma looked back at her friend. "Then Gohan will already know so much..." She trailed off at the look on the other woman's face. "Chi Chi, stop looking at me like that."

"Not until you tell me why Goku lied to me!"

"When did he lie to you?" Bulma didn't think Goku had it in him to be dishonest, but there WAS something that made you want to tiptoe around Chi Chi.

"The first time he called me!" Chi Chi barely had her anger under control, and Bulma could see the red light starting to build, even over the phone.

"What did he tell you? Exactly."

"He said Gohan was fine! Can you believe that! He's not fine! He's dead!"

Bulma went white. "How did you find that out?" she asked shakily.

"Papa let it slip just EXACTLY who King Kai was," she hissed back. "And NOW, you just WAIT until I get my hands on Goku!"

Bulma winced at the familiar threats. Only this time Chi Chi was believable. "Well, when you look at it this way Chi Chi, Goku WAS telling the truth. Not much can happen to you if you're already dead."

The only reason Chi Chi didn't jump through the screen and strangle her friend was only because it was a physical impossibility. Instead she grabbed something from next to the screen and threw it across the room, narrowly missing her father's head. When she turned back, Bulma thought she looked positively evil and shivered involuntarily.

"I think my brownies are burning. Gotta go!" And Chi Chi was left yelling at an empty screen.

============================================

When the boys came back, Bulma had succeeded in blowing up the tiny kitchen she had installed. She was completely covered in soot and dirty from head to toe, but she was grinning and a huge two-layer cake and five plates of brownies sat on the table outside, aka the door to the ship.

"Jeez, Bulma. What happened to you?" Krillin asked as he took some of the food, looking her over.

"Nothing to be worried about Krillin," she replied cheerfully. He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on her improved attitude.

"This isn't bad," Vegeta complimented. "It's even kinda good. Well, woman, there IS something you're good for."

She smiled at him. "I'm in a good enough mood to be nice to you," she said with an obviously forced smile. "But don't push it." He merely shrugged and continued to pig out on the junk food.

"I told you she's good at making cake," Goku said, holding up half of it. The other half was already in the stomachs of Krillin and Vegeta, while Bulma was constantly stealing pieces off Goku's right under his nose.

"Thanks Goku. I think I'm gonna hit the shower now though. And this time, I don't want ANY INTERRUPTIONS!" Then she smiled angelically and marched off toward the bathroom. "Oh, and you guys might want to find something to eat later on. I'll even have fish without complaining. While you're out I'll fix the ship up a little more. I have enough of the pieces to start on it."

Once she was out of earshot, Krillin turned to Vegeta. "Wow. You REALLY got her in a good mood. Keep it up." Vegeta only grumbled in response and devoured the rest of the food on the "table."

Wiping his hands on his pants, Goku rose and grinned. "How about we surprise her and bring back something else? I think I saw some deer earlier." Vegeta nodded and Krillin broke into a grin. "Well, then, gentleman, let's go hunting."

============================================

When Bulma heard the footsteps, she immediately knew it wasn't any of the boys. They were too cautious and hesitant, not to mention light, to be those of Vegeta or Goku, and too heavy to be Krillin's. She wiped her hands on a towel and reached for the monkey wrench, which she slipped in her pocket. What species inhabited this planet anyway? Bulma didn't know, but she decided better safe than sorry.

Bulma stuck her head out and looked around, hesitantly stepping out into the main room. She noticed something, a movement, and her hand strayed absently to the handle of the wrench. She put her back to the wall and glared at nothing in particular. "Who's there?" she finally demanded harshly. "Come out."

Off to her right she saw someone rise out of the shadows, hands in a defensive position. She squinted as another came out behind, and saw the two figures were male. They looked human all right, except one was orange and one was blue. Another thing she noticed was that their eyes gave off a shimmering light, not to mention that there were no pupils or irises, just a metallic gold. Bulma inched away a little and felt something sharp jab into her side. She looked and saw it was a woman, almost as tall as Goku with long black hair and red skin lacerated with battle scars. Unlike the boys, she held a weapon -- a long-handled knife that ended in a curved, double-edged sword -- and it was pointed right at Bulma.

Now that the men were closer, Bulma could see they weren't at all bad-looking: they had the appearance of a twenty-year-old kid. One had straight jet-black hair in a crew cut, muscular and also scarred. The other, the blue one, looked more like Goku with a puppy-dog face and eyes that, though cold, held a profound thoughtfulness in them. He looked like he was barely out of high school and only had a few marks of past battles. Both faces were set grimly as they stood at what reminded Bulma of attention.

The woman spoke, and Bulma was shocked to hear it was strangely musical, like a well-practiced song on the violin. The only word Bulma could make out in this strange and beautiful language was the word "Saiyan." It sounded almost exactly the same, and Bulma no longer thought Vegeta was bluffing when he said his people were universal terrorists. Apparently they had gotten to this planet as well.

The blue guy nodded and held Bulma by the shoulders and looked at the woman. She smirked and whipped the blade around so the curve was a just digging into Bulma's skin. She went white as the knife moved, closed her eyes and tried feebly to put her hands up to block them, but she was no use against the man holding her down. The woman delivered three lightning fast blows -- one to each side of Bulma's head, and the last to her throat -- each stopping only a hair from cutting her. Confused, the woman nodded and Bulma was released.

She sagged to the floor and looked up as the musical voice started again. The spear-like weapon was now folded up and laid in the woman's palm while she spoke, tapping it impatiently against her leg. Bulma stood slowly, finally realizing that this woman was most likely their superior officer. The orange man looked back at her while the lady wa talking, an identical puzzled look plastered on his face.

Blue looked her over, then circled her, stopping several times in the back and shaking his head. The woman was getting angry, and Bulma could literally see tiny sparks flying. Then it hit her. They thought she was a Saiyan! They'd never met a human before, but they HAD put up with Saiyans!

Bulma smiled at the young orange man in front of her and said, "What do you want? I'm not a Saiyan."

Almost instantly, two very strong hands were wrapped around her neck, pinning her against the wall. Bulma tried uselessly to pry his hands off of her. She even kicked him a few times but his grip never wavered. Finally she just started to curse him out in every language she knew. When she reached Namek, he dropped her and backed up a few paces. She dropped to the ground and glared at him, still going.

"What are you?" Bulma's next few words flew out of her head as she realized he'd asked the question in Namek. His voice was like a bass guitar, and heavily accented by his native language, but it was definitely Namek he was speaking.

"I'm a human," she answered in the same tongue. "From the planet Earth, light-years from here."

He looked puzzled, then it seemed to sink in. "You're not Saiyan, then?"

"No. I only LOOK like them." She stepped forward. "There a only two Saiyans left in the universe, and they're both my friends. They don't hurt anyone." She paused in between those lines, but after the great welcome she'd received, she doubted it would be good for her to mention one was still a bloodthristy bastard.

"They hurt everyone. There is no such thing as a kind Saiyan," Blue retorted.

"You're wrong. There is. One was brought up on Earth, and he'll only fight if he has to, to PROTECT people. The other was defeated and now he has no will to fight, not unless he's pushed," Bulma argued. "Trust me. I know them, and what they'll do. Which is nothing is you leave them alone."

"I don't trust you," he said bluntly. "How a stranger from so far away has come to our planet is a mystery."

"We are coming back from Namek. Our ship crashed here, and now all we want is to fix it and get home." She paused before asking, "How do you know Namek?"

"It is the language that allows us to trade with other planets," he said, speaking as if she were stupid. "But how do YOU know it?"

"The guardian of our planet was originally from Namek and he lent us this ship to go to the planet to collect the dragonballs and wish him back. Actually, his groundskeeper lent it to us," Bulma said, scratching her head. "But the only way to pilot this ship is to know the language."

The woman had crossed her arms and was now idly tapping the blade on her arm. "We came here to scout out a possible enemy, and we have found two Saiyans," she said tauntly in Namek. "Bring her along and we'll report back. I think we have found our present for the harvest."