Chapter Seven
18 drummed her fingers on the computer council idly. A person would think traveling in space would be fun or, at the very least, interesting, wouldn't she? Well, if you considered a never-ending blackness of space with a smattering of stars interesting, well then this would be paradise.
The ship consisted of one big room for the main control panel with only two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and bathroom.
She sighed, what she wouldn't give to be at Kame House with Krillin right now... She looked up to see her brother-in-law lean against the wall next to her, meditating. Bored out of her mind 18 turned to the saiyan.
"Hey, Vegeta," 18 turned toward the saiyan, "how can you stand this?"
Vegeta opened his eyes.
"Stand what?"
"This monotony," 18 lifted a hand showing the absolute stillness of the ship.
The saiyan just smirked at her and turned his eyes to the closed door of a bedroom.
"WHAT do you WANT from ME?!" Ava's voice came through the door.
18 shook her head, oh yes, let's not forget the happy couple. She could see how they could be a source of amusement. Her brother and been trailing Ava like a lost puppy who had just found his master again for two days now while Ava had avoided him at all costs. She obviously didn't want to talk to him, men were so dense.
The door slammed opened as the irate saiyan stomped away from her husband.
18 smiled before turning slightly away from the couple, it looks like he's tired of playing cat and mouse with her. This should be interesting.
"I want you to talk to me," 17 stalked after her.
"There is nothing to talk about!" Ava turned her back on him.
18 noticed Vegeta turn away from the couple as well to stare into space.
"You need to talk about what happened! You need to tell me how teeth marks got on your lips!" 17 seethed as he spun Ava around to face him.
"I don't have to do anything..." She jerked away from him.
"Damn it, Ava, I am not the one who married a machine!"
18 saw Vegeta's brows lower at that remark.
"You're right, you didn't mate yourself to a machine, I did..." Ava's voice was deadly soft.
18 felt her brow lower into a frown. That's not very nice... From the corner of her eye she could see Ava take a step closer to her brother.
"You mated yourself to a warrior... So go drip oil somewhere else!" Ava stomped back into the room and slammed the door.
Her brother sputtered before yelling, "Suffer defeat, then!"
Then he too, stomped away into the other room and slammed the door.
18 and Vegeta exchanged a glance before erupting into a fit of laughter.
"Honestly, you would think this type of thing would draw them together," 18 remarked after the laughter died down.
Vegeta shrugged.
"Females are incomprehensible to males no matter what the species or type."
"I guess that's true," a smile turned 18's lips when a blinking light caught her attention,"what's that light for?"
Vegeta joined her at the council and pushed a corresponding button. He read some coordinates and then pushed another button.
"We are getting a transmission from Earth." Vegeta frowned as a fifteen foot screen slid from the wall before turning on and revealed a very pissed off Bulma.
"Vegeta, you bastard! How could you leave me behind!" Bulma screamed.
"What's done is done," Vegeta glared at the image of his mate.
"Done! I am part of this family too! I have a right to be there!" She glared back.
"What exactly would you have done here, Bulma, we're either bored out of our minds or at each other's throats."
18 lifted a brow, he had been bored as well, interesting.
Bulma pouted.
"I wanted... to talk to Ava... She needs another woman's gentle touch."
Vegeta snorted.
"We have 'another woman' here. Besides, Ava isn't willing to talk to her own mate much less us. You are best where you are, who else can watch my heirs?"
"You egotistical monkey!"
"Screeching harridan!"
They glared at each other to the amazement of 18 who could only blink at them.
"I will talk to you when we return, Bulma, do not contact us again unless you are being attacked."
"Bastard!" Bulma hissed before she cut off the transmission.
Vegeta growled at the screen as it retreated.
"What?!" The saiyan snapped at her when he noticed her starring.
"Vegeta... are you and Bulma having problems?" 18 frowned at him.
"Not at the moment," Vegeta shrugged.
"Then why did you scream at each other like that?" 18 tilted her head.
"Like what?" Vegeta frowned, becoming annoyed.
"Like you're having problems," 18 snapped.
Vegeta just looked at her for a moment as if he didn't understand what she was talking about.
"We always fight, Android, it is our way of communicating."
"Communicating? You saiyans can't do anything normal, can you?" 18's brow smoothed.
Vegeta snorted.
"Define normal. I have a mate with natural blue hair and I am on a rescue mission for my niece who is half-android."
"I see your point," 18 looked at the council, "the light is blinking again."
"Damn it, Bulma," Vegeta pushed the button again and paused, "This is not... The signal is coming from a ship."
"Do you think we should talk to them?" 18 asked.
Vegeta frowned as he considered their options.
"Vegeta, do we answer them or not?" 18 frowned at him, she did not like to be ignored.
The saiyan looked up at her with an almost calculating look before smirking.
18 watched him wearily.
"You will answer," Vegeta smirked.
"What? Why can't you?" 18 lifted a blond brow.
"The universe as a whole thinks I'm dead. I cannot let anybody find out otherwise."
"Why?"
"The saiyan race made a lot of enemies as a whole and separately. If they knew there were still saiyans lurking about then Sasoli's kidnapping would be but one of many incidents of many different species trying to get revenge. What they will not expect is a human," Vegeta seemed very pleased with himself.
18 wasn't amused.
"Well, aren't you sure of yourself. How am I supposed to speak to them? I doubt a random alien will know our language."
"All you have to do is say standard language 10."
"But I can't exactly say I am from Earth now can I?"
"Just tell them you're Toran, Torak is a commuter planet with literally thousands of species and only a few commonly known. They will have no way to check if you are lying."
"What am I supposed to say?" 18 was now alarmed, the saiyan was leaving her by herself to talk to aliens.
"Just inquire about any and all information about saiyans. Do not reveal any information about Kakarot and myself or our families. You are a curious scientist," Vegeta opened the door to the bedroom where her brother had disappeared into, "Remember saiyans are supposed to be extinct."
The door shut and 18 was left alone with a blinking light.
**
Sasoli screamed.
Dikon dropped a piece off planet produce and ran into the room he had given the little girl. His heart pounded, are we being attacked?
"What's wrong?" He opened the door and scanned the room for any sign of danger.
"I had a bad dream," she mumbled into her hands.
Dikon nearly went limp with relief. She had scared ten years off his life.
"What about?"
"I dreamed my mommy died," her face remained hidden though her vice had a noticeable tremor.
Dikon winced. What am I supposed to say?
"I... um.. I'm sure she's fine... and your daddy, too. In fact, as a saiyan you're daddy is probably on his way to pick you up," Dikon grimaced, where we will trap him as well as any other saiyan and kill him.
"Saiyan?" Sasoli lifted her head to blink at him.
"Yes, didn't you know your species, honey, that's the reason you have a tail." Dikon explained gently
"My daddy doesn't have a tail," she frowned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
"He doesn't?" Dikon's eyebrows shot up in surprise and lowered in suspicion.
She looked up at him with wide eyes as she became fully awake.
"But... my uncle doesn't have one either," she seemed to scramble for an explanation, "Mommy said his was cut off in battle."
The little saiyan smiled at him as if eager to please but the damage had been done.
Dikon studied the saiyan in front of him suspiciously. He had never directly tried to pump her for information, she had even refused to give her name, and yet she had asked him question after question regarding everything from his ship to his personal life. One thing was sure, he had caught her off guard, she had revealed something, and now she was trying to cover her mistake. Had she played him a fool?
A thought occurred to Dikon, which might explain why her father might not have a tail but how to confirm it...
"How do you know your uncle's a saiyan? He could just be pretending," Dikon inserted just the right amount of doubt in his voice to prick at her family pride.
"I know because he is the prince of all saiyans..." She trailed off and covered her mouth with her hands.
The prince! Dikon watched the girl start to weep with unseeing eyes. The Dark Prince! He lives? My God...! I kidnapped the Dark Prince's niece!
The sound of her tears finally penetrated the thick wall of shock and he felt his chest tighten. No wonder she didn't say anything... She didn't want to endanger her family... The Dark Prince....I could not have dug a deeper hole...
"What's wrong?" He turned his attention to the desolate saiyan.
"Mommy's going to be mad at me," she sniffled.
"I won't tell if you won't," Dikon sighed resigned, he had formed attachments to the little brat, Dark Prince be damned.
"Promise?" She looked up with watery eyes.
"Promise," he smiled, he would keep her as well. No use in letting the mother be heart broken. Besides the girl was everything he wanted in a daughter, if she had green eyes instead of blue; she could have been his daughter. His eyes in her mother's face... a happy little family... Dark Prince or not he would have the female saiyan... Only a few hours before we land on Splavish...
**
Bardock shook with rage and indignation. The once proud saiyan race had been reduced to slavery! Then killed off like dogs!!
Prince Vegeta... Bardock shook his head regretfully, I have failed you...
He should have known better than to allow himself to sleep in such a volatile situation. If he had been awake he would have been able to fix his ship... Go on a rescue mission for the Prince like he was doing for the girl... He could have done something!
My Prince... Bardock raged suddenly, Damn you Nappa! You fucking super elite coward! Why didn't you save him from that fate!
There was no love loss between Bardock and Nappa. They had despised each other with a passion for years. Bardock hated taking orders from such a mentally incompetent saiyan whom was allowed regular access to their Prince. Nappa hated Bardock for being smart enough to get the attention of royalty and invading his relationship with the Prince. The only things they had in common was their species and loyalty to the throne.
Bardock snarled to himself as he barely refrained from smashing the council.
According to the records the Prince became Frieza's favorite killer at the age of ten. He would frequently send the Prince on suicide missions, and for fun, the lizard would send him alone. Bardock could only imagine what had happened to the boy in the privacy of Frieza's many compounds.
Prince Vegeta had earned a reputation for himself. All knew and feared his arrival on their planet, for his arrival signaled their doom. He was called the Dark Prince, Frieza's unwilling lapdog. The Dark Prince was said to be completely without emotion and didn't know the meaning of the word mercy, a monster of the worst kind... and he was dead....
"Damn you, Frieza," he growled, "you ruined him!"
Bardock remembered the Prince and knew he would have grown into a great saiyan.
Flashback. Bardock walked into the Prince's common room. By order of the king he was to teach the Prince his energy moon.
"Your highness," Bardock bowed when the Prince stepped forward to greet him. The boy had very distinct features that would only become more defined with time. The trademark flame of hair gave away his royal heritage as did the proud way he held himself.
"Who are you?" The boy studied him in turn.
"I am Bardock."
"The third class with a first class trick," the Prince nodded, "I have heard of you, Bardock, the third class saiyan with brains."
Bardock flushed and noticed the Prince to take note of his embarrassment.
"I am no smarter than any other saiyan," he ducked his head.
"Humble as well," the Prince smirked at him as his tail curled behind him, "You are nothing like Nappa said."
Bardock's head shot up and for the first time he met his Prince's eyes, they were surprisingly intelligent for one so small.
"What did he say?"
"He said you were a stuck up third class idiot who knows nothing and needs to be taught his place."
Bardock stiffened, if the Prince decided to kill him then he could do nothing but accept his fate.
The Prince's eyes danced mischievously.
"Do not worry, Bardock, I shall show Nappa his place as a bodyguard and not advisor."
"A wise decision, your highness," Bardock touched his fist to his chest while bowing.
"Enough, now tell me how you do this energy moon? In fact, how did you even think of it?"
Bardock smiled as the curiosity shone brightly in the boy's eyes.
"You will be surprised what you can come up with when you are bored." End Flashback.
"My Prince..." Bardock watched the information scroll on his makeshift screen, "You died trying to avenge our race while I slept... Where the hell was my son?"
Bardock had found no trace of the saiyan named Kakarot who, according to his vision, supposedly fought Frieza. There was nothing to read about his youngest son.
Radditz and Nappa were dead, confirmed by a report from the Prince... There was no news of any other saiyan survivors.
Bardock cupped his face with his hands. According to this he was the only saiyan in the universe... but that had to be WRONG! Then again, it could be right he could be chasing a dream for all he knew...
Bardock shook his head trying to rid himself of such thoughts. The girl was real, she had to be... and if she wasn't then he would travel to Earth afterwards as planned. Besides, the saiyans could have gone underground to avoid troublesome races.
He checked the timer on his ship. He had twenty-four hours before he landed.
End of Chapter Seven
AN: Ok, here it is! I have to go back to school! ::Starts to weep:: I don't want to go back! ::Sighs:: No worries I will continue to write and update on Sunday! Oh and thank you for all the lovely reviews!