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.
*****
Royal Quest
Chapter 1
Princess in Peril
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The small scoutship sank rapidly through Earth's atmosphere. Totally stealthed, it couldn't be seen by any Earth technology, but its pilot knew that there were others on the planet who would have no difficulty tracking him so he was cautious enough to come down over the vast empty stretches of the South Pacific ocean. Bringing the ship to a hover scant feet above the waves, he pointed the nose of his craft roughly north by northeast and entered a set of coordinates into the flight computer. The atmospheric engines engaged and the craft sped off towards its target at Mach 5. Confident now that the person he was trying to hide from wouldn't be looking this low or in this direction, he relaxed back in the acceleration chair and gave a low, evil laugh. "I'm coming Ryoko. You and that Princess owe me and I'm coming to collect…" He gripped the armrests of his chair with his hands, one flesh and the other metal and his eyes glinted with insanity.
*****
Washu's head snapped up from where she'd fallen asleep on a console. A bit of drool clung to the corner of her mouth and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. The quiet buzzing that had startled her awake drew her attention to another machine across the room. She slipped off her floating cushion and almost fell as she found her left leg all tingly from being in an odd position. Damn, she thought. I've gotta stop following experiments all the way through without rest. Even a goddess as cute as me needs a good night's sleep occasionally. She limped across the floor on her dead leg, bending over to try to massage some blood flow back into it.
Reaching the complaining machine, Washu turned off the alarm and switched on a screen. Rows of data flowed past. A click of a button and the data became a graph. "Space junk," the scientist mumbled. "I wish they'd tell me when they were going to bring that crap down, waking me up from a sound sleep…" She turned the machine off and went back to her cushion. "Now, where was I…?"
*****
The scoutship approached the southern coast of Japan and the pilot slowed it to a relative crawl; while still invisible to radar and the naked eye, a sonic boom would certainly have drawn the attention of the local authorities and maybe even those who's attention he was trying to avoid. He wasn't worried about the locals; his ship, even as small and underarmed as it was by galactic standards, was more than capable of taking on anything in the Terran arsenal. No, the locals weren't the problem. The problem was that he knew of at least three, and possibly four, powerful starships based at his destination. He was no match for any of them and he knew it.
*****
Princess Ayeka, First Crown Princess and future Empress of the Juraian Star Empire made her way up to the ancient shrine in the predawn darkness. Normally she wasn't up this early but a feeling that something was about to happen had woke her. As she lay trying to go back to sleep with Ryoko snoring gently in her ear, she'd though about her brother and decided to talk to him about her premonition. Ayeka knew that he was usually up well before dawn for his morning devotions and to prepare the shrine for the coming day, she also knew that Washu was in the middle of an experiment, thus unlikely to have spent the night with her brother, so she wasn't afraid of interrupting the two at an awkward moment.
Ayeka paused halfway up and looked out over the small valley that had become her home. The sun was just beginning to rise in the east, making the small lake start to glow with a golden light. Beautiful, she thought. She turned and continued up the stairs.
*****
TENCHI! RYOKO! The mental shout ripped through the mind of the sleeping pirate.
Ryoko jumped out of bed, the sheet pooling around her feet as it fell to the floor. Something or someone had called her. She looked around the darkened room, her feral eyes not missing anything. Tenchi lay in the bed moaning in a restless sleep, Ayeka was nowhere to be seen, not unusual lately. She'd been getting up early off and on for the last month or so. She'd been quiet about it but Ryoko always knew when Ayeka or Tenchi left. The ex-pirate reached out with her mind. She tasted Tenchi's thoughts. Whatever had woken her up had disturbed him too but he'd had a long, tiring day yesterday, working in the fields and training with his grandfather. He was out of it for a couple more hours at least.
She tried to touch Ayeka. Her mental bond with the princess was still iffy, even after all these years. Usually Ryoko could sense surface thoughts though. This time there was nothing. This didn't bother her, it wasn't unusual for her not to be able to reach Ayeka. But still…
Washu? Ryoko called. She sensed her mother waking at her touch.
Yeah? Washu responded groggily. What is it?
Can you find Ayeka for me? Ryoko asked.
Washu sensed the turmoil in her daughter's mind. Is something wrong? Did you and Ayeka have another fight?
No, no, Ryoko disagreed. Nothing like that. In fact we had a very pleasant evening.
Ah, Washu chuckled mentally and Ryoko sensed the images flickering through her mother's mind.
All three of us Ryoko fumed. An entirely different set of pictures suddenly flowed past. Geez Washu, get it together.
Ok, ok. Just kidding. Maybe she's with Sasami, she got in a bit late last night. Must've been a hot date. Ryoko sensed her mother working with one of her machines. Then Washu's powerful mind reached out on a level that Ryoko could only just sense.
Washu's probing mind found Sasami, and while the younger princess wasn't alone, her companion most certainly wasn't Ayeka. Um. No, she's not with her sister. In fact, I wouldn't go into the onsen for a while, it seems that Sasami… sorry, Tsunami, brought a guest home last night. Huh. She knows she's not supposed to take anyone up there; they might start asking questions.
Ryoko sighed. Why is it that she's Sasami when she's around us, but Tsunami when she's acting like an adult?
Washu shrugged mentally. I guess it's just easier to think of her that way. I mean our Sasami would never do what Tsunami's doing right… Oh my! Ryoko felt Washu's mental blush and she knew whatever was happening in the onsen was something even her mother's admittedly jaded sensibilities found embarrassing.
Ahem, Washu cleared he mental throat. Wow! Interesting. I wonder where she learned how… Nevermind, I keep forgetting she's Juraian. Well, enough of that, back to Ayeka. I can trace her movement from your room, out of the house and up the shrine steps. She must have been going to visit her brother but the trail ends just before the top of the stairs.
Ends? Ryoko wondered.
Yeah, as in stops, disappears, halts, terminates… ends. Washu explained.
The cyan haired pirate was puzzled. Weird. I wonder why…?
Who knows, the scientist shrugged mentally. Maybe she's finally learned to teleport.
Ryoko snorted. Get real Washu. She felt Tenchi move under her hand at the small sound. But you can't find her anywhere around here.
Hey, the little scientist countered defensively. I never said she's have good aim. And her demon side definitely has the potential. Why don't you have Ryo-ohki ask Ay-ohki where she is if it's bothering you so much?
Ryoko's face lit up. Great idea. Thanks.
It turned out that the princess's cabbit couldn't find his master either and was just as, if not more so, worried about her as Ryoko was. Tell him to calm down, she told Ryo-ohki. I'm sure nothing bad's happened to her. We'll find her; she probably just went for a walk and has fallen asleep somewhere.
*****
Ayeka opened her eyes in a darkened room. No, not a room. A compartment, she thought. In the dim light she could make out the metallic walls no more than two or three feet away in any direction. The last thing the princess remembered was reaching the top of the stairs and starting to fall, nothing afterwards at all. She had no headache, no fuzzyness in her head, no physical effects of what had knocked her out at all. She didn't even feel any bruising although she knew she must've fallen hard. She tried to sit up but found she was restrained, her hands and feet tied to the narrow bunk she was laying on.
"Don't struggle Princess," came a vaguely familiar voice over a small speaker. "I assure you it won't do any good and I really don't want you to injure yourself. Damaged merchandise isn't worth as much to me."
"Who are you? What do you want with me?" She knew she'd heard that voice before, but not often enough to put a face to it.
"I didn't think you'd remember me, but that's really unimportant now. I'd also advise you not to try to use the Juraian power you have. The results would be very painful.
Ayeka had been about to do just that but now she realized that a small device was attached to her head where her tiara usually rested. It didn't matter, she had another power she could use, potentially even stronger that the power of the Jurai Royal Family. She began to summon it and her cheeks and forehead began to glow. A shooting pain ran through her skull and the demon markings on her face faded back to near invisibility as she gasped in distress.
The voice chuckled evilly. "I know about that power too; I've done my homework this time, unlike the last time we met. The device that inhibits the Power of Jurai is also a good luck charm."
"I demand you tell me who you are!" Ayeka ordered imperiously. "Why are you doing this? What could you possibly hope to gain from kidnapping me? Ryoko and Tenchi will hunt you to the ends of the Universe."
"From you, I gain nothing but an exceedingly large fee and the feeling of finally accomplishing something I set out to do long ago. I'm not at all concerned with the boy, your husband, even as powerful as he's rumored to be. But I'm counting on Ryoko finding us. After a merry chase though, I don't want to appear too eager."
"She'll kill you," Ayeka said with satisfaction
The voice laughed. "She thinks she's done that already, but I proved stronger than even I suspected."
Sparks flew from the princess's eyes. "WHO ARE YOU?"
"I see this conversation is about at an end. Goodbye for now, Princess."
Ayeka watched in horror as the walls of the compartment turned mirror-bright. Time ceased to exist for her as the stasis field formed and built to full power.
*****
"So you're saying that Ayeka's been kidnapped?" Mihoshi asked with wide eyes. "I should call this in and start an investigation."
"Wait! Wait a minute," Washu broke in. "And just what do you think will happen if you do that?"
"Hmmm," the blonde tapped her chin in thought. "We track down the perp using GP investigative methods and rescue her of course."
Washu shook her head and tried to explain. "No. This place starts crawling with GP investigators and Juraian officials. Sasami is forced to return to Jurai for 'safety' reasons, probably Tenchi, Ryoko and Yosho too. And Earth is thrust into the center of galactic civilization totally unprepared. That's what'll happen."
Mihoshi pouted. "And that's not a good thing, right?"
"No, that's not a good thing," Tenchi emphasized, lifting his head from his hands. "And it would be all our fault." Ryoko sat next to him with her arm around him looking as despondent as he did.
The family was gathered in the living room of the Masaki house to discuss the disappearance of Ayeka. Sasami had been crying and blaming herself because as a goddess now, she should have been aware of what was going on. Washu, feeling more than a little guilt herself, disagreed; the young man Sasami'd been "entertaining" at the time of the disappearance had been sent home with more than a few stern looks from Tenchi and Katsuhito and very pleasant memories of his evening, but, thanks to Washu, no real idea of just exactly where he'd spent it although the how and with whom was still quite clear.
"Why didn't I hear her call?" Tenchi moaned. "There must've been something I could've done."
"You didn't hear her because you were sound asleep," Washu explained. "Ryoko heard her, even though she was asleep, because I designed her that way." This drew a sour look from the pirate. "Hey, it's true. You were a prototype supersoldier, remember? What kind of soldier sleeps through an emergency?"
"A tired one," Ryoko told her mother in a low growl.
"You don't tire easily either."
"Depends on what I've been doing, and with whom."
Washu raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Then I think…"
"I have to go look for her," Tenchi broke in, looking to Ryoko for agreement. "I'll take Ryo-ohki and…"
"How ya gonna do that?" Ryoko asked. "You can't control her." The cabbit miya'd her agreement from the back of the couch.
"Fine," Tenchi stated. "I'll take Ay-ohki then."
Ryoko shook her cyan mane. "Same problem, you can't fly either of them well enough. Sure, you can get into space and maybe even set a course. But what happens if you have to fight?"
"Can't they fight themselves?"
"On defense, certainly," Washu said. "But a real offense requires a bit more tactical skill than they have."
"That's right," Ryoko agreed.
Washu snickered. "Oh, like you should talk, Little Miss 'Charge Right In With All Weapons Blazing'.
Sasami, standing near the kitchen door, wishing she were still a little girl and trying to be unobtrusive after being caught in the act, so-to-speak, had heard enough. She stomped her foot. "Stop it you two, we're all upset right now but let's stay on the subject. We need to come up with a way to find my sister." Ryoko and Washu both closed their mouths without another word.
Juro tugged on Tenchi's sleeve. "Daddy, is mommy gone forever?" he asked, tears brimming his young eyes.
"No son," the young man replied. "But we're all tying to figure out how to find her. Why don't you go play with your sister for a while?"
"Because she always flickers away and then I can't find her," the boy told him. Tenchi looked at Ryoko plaintively. Ryoko's mind reached out and touched that of her daughter.
"Keiko's out back on the swings," she told Ayeka's son. "Azaka and Kamidake are playing with her."
"Ok," the boy said, jumping to his feet and wiping his tears away with a sleeve. "I like it when Kamidake makes me swing. Azaka doesn't push hard enough though." He wandered out through the kitchen door, past his Aunt Sasami who patted him on the head as he walked by.
Tenchi groaned and put his head back. Ryoko stroked his hair to relax him but he still looked beaten. "What are we gonna do then? We can't call in the authorities and we can't look for her ourselves."
"Who said we couldn't?" Washu asked innocently.
Tenchi glanced at her. "But you just said…"
"No," Washu explained with a wry grin. "I said you couldn't. Ryoko can though."
"Ryoko…?" Tenchi looked at his wife. She grinned back.
"Yep," Washu explained. "Regardless of what I said before, she's the perfect choice. She can fly Ryo-ohki, generate Lighthawk Wings, even change her appearance."
"I'm going with her," Tenchi stated.
"You're staying here," Washu told him sternly.
"Explain why?"
Washu glanced at her daughter who returned the look impassively. She turned her attention back to Tenchi. "The kids need at least one parent here. Ayeka's already gone and we've just gone over why Ryoko should be the one to go after her. That leaves you."
"Yeah," Ryoko agreed. "Besides, you had your fun last year, remember?"
Tenchi grimaced as he recalled his time in the Juraian military. "I'd hardly call that fun. And you were there too."
"But Ayeka was always with the kids," Washu said. "Except for those last few weeks. And then they were with their grandparents on Jurai."
"So we drop them off on Jurai on the way out," Tenchi stated.
Washu chuckled evilly. "And then you explain to Azusa that his daughter is missing. We're back to the beginning again, aren't we?"
Tenchi gave in. "All right. I'll stay here. But if you need help…"
"I'll know where to find you," Ryoko finished. "But how are you going to get to me?"
Tenchi looked at Mihoshi who gulped and looked around the room at the gathered family. "I… I suppose. But I could get in real trouble here," the blonde said.
"There's always Ryu-oh too," Katsuhito broke in. "Azaka and Kamidake can fly her if we need them too, they did it for 700 years."
"Don't forget Tsunami," Sasami piped in, her normal cheerful demeanor returning now that they had something of a plan and everyone seemed to have forgiven her activities of the previous night.
"All of this is true," Washu said. "Besides, who ever said Ryoko'd be by herself? I happen to know the perfect person to help her. If I can find her. And if she's available."
"Who…?" Ryoko wondered and then it hit her. A sly grin spread across her face. "Ah. Good idea Washu. Very good. And she might even bring you-know-who along. That could be useful."
"If they're still together. But I'm not sure if that'd be a plus or not." Washu got up and started for her lab. "I'll start looking for her; you can't leave before tomorrow anyway, so that gives you time to say your goodbyes to everyone and spend some time with Tenchi and the kids. Make the most of it; hopefully this little quest won't take too long, but you never know."
*****
To be continued.
*****
Author's Notes.
Before anyone mentions it, I know the "Ayeka's kidnapped, Ryoko to the rescue" bit has been done almost to death. I can't guarantee it, but I hope this one will be a bit different. About the "Sasami in the onsen" bit, she's physically 18 or 19 at this point and assimilated with Tsunami, but still very human (or Juraian it seems), so don't get a hair up your posterior about it.
I want to thank two people while I still remember to: Ministry Agent for suggesting this story line, even though he didn't think it strong enough to follow through with at first; and Meekachu for helping me come up with a title. Some of her suggestions were quite good. The title I ended up with, "Royal Quest" is a bit weak and may change at some point, but "Ryoko and Ayeka's Great Adventure" seemed a little much.
As always, comments, suggestions and constructive criticism are gratefully accepted but not solicited.
*****
BobR
2/21/2003