Chapter 4 - The Policeperson and the Professor
Mihoshi hummed quietly to herself as she packed things into a case. It lay open on her bed and she wandered around the cabin picking up things as she found them and throwing them in that general direction.
She was looking forward to her vacation more than she could say. She enjoyed her duties as a Galaxy Police detective, but she'd been patrolling the same zone for years and it was getting repetitive - even for her. Not that there wasn't the occasional excitement: smugglers and pirates, the odd ship in distress or galactic biker gang. But how many times could one go past Jupiter without feeling like a fish in a small bowl?
"Mihoshi?" Yukinojo's face-like interface module appeared on a screen. "Mihoshi?"
"Yes, Yukinojo, what is it?"
"We are approaching Earth, Mihoshi. We will be in a parking orbit in ten minutes."
"Oh, okay, thank you. Let me know when we're in orbit, okay?"
"All right, Mihoshi." The screen went blank.
It was, of course, her own fault that she was still here. She'd been offered a transfer and had turned it down. She'd been offered several and turned them all down. But, she had recently concluded that destiny had something else in mind for her than Tenchi Masaki. It was time to swallow hard and work through the crisis of confidence she'd been wallowing in for so long and get on with her life.
But, first, a last extended vacation on Earth with the people she had come to think of almost as her family.
"Now," Mihoshi said out loud, a finger on her chin in thought. "Where did I put that swimsuit?" She began moving some of the things she had piled randomly around her cabin, sending stacks of books, CDs, DVDs and video games cascading to the floor. "Damn."
She began opening drawers and storage bins, often sending the contents of these to the floor as well. "Oh, jeez!"
Finally, she got down on her hands and knees and peered under her bed. Catching a glimpse of the swimsuit, she began pulling out empty drink cans, discarded cups and open bags of stale snacks. Eventually, her hand closed on the swimsuit and she yanked it, only to find that it was tangled into the cord of the video game controller on the stand next to her bed. Pulling the suit dragged the controller off the stand and she was showered with more bags of stale snacks and empty cups, as well as several half-read books and a box of tissues. "Ouch!"
She untangled the suit and tossed it on top of the pile of things that rested atop the open case on the bed. Deciding she had enough things to last for her leave on Earth, she began to gather everything together to try to shut the case.
The case resisted her efforts and she grunted with strain, first pushing the two halves together with her hands, then leaning and eventually standing on it with both feet. The latch met and she gingerly reached down and shut it; it closed with a metallic snap. "Wow. I really need to clean up in here," she said, looking around the room. "Well, it will wait until I get back, I suppose."
Lugging the case, Mihoshi left her cabin and started toward the bridge. She approached a door and it opened for her; beyond the doorway was a yawning blackness where there should have been a well-lit passageway. "The lights are out! I guess I'll get that when I get back, too." Mihoshi stepped into the darkness and dragged the case in and the door shut behind her.
On the bridge, Yukinojo extended from his mount in the ceiling and began activating intercoms. "Mihoshi! Mihoshi! I've detected a power surge within the ship. Mihoshi? Where are you?"
"Okay, that should about do it, don't you think?" Washu asked. She looked around her small professor's office critically, wondering if she'd missed anything or left any experiments running.
"Yes, professor, I think that's it." Her assistant Qapoc nodded nervously, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose.
Qapoc was young and, when he relaxed and took his glasses off, very handsome. He was also desperately in love with Washu, which she found endlessly amusing. "Are you going to be all right for an entire summer?" she asked him. "Do you have enough to keep you busy? Did you see the list of things I left for you to work on?"
"Yes ma'am. I have it right here!" he said, patting a pocket of his lab coat.
"Have you looked at it?" she asked him.
"Uh, n-n-no, ma'am. I was going to do that as soon as you left. B-b- but if you want me to do it now-" he fumbled at his pocket.
Washu held up a hand, the other on her hip. "No need! It will wait. I need to get going anyway. You take care of yourself, okay?"
"You, too, professor."
"Okay, bye now!" Qapoc watched as Washu stepped into the coat closet, knowing that there was a connection with her enormous laboratory. There was a tone and a brief light showed under the door. Qapoc opened it and found it was a coat closet again. He blinked a few times, wondering if he'd ever begin to understand the science involved in that trick.
Remembering the list, he shut the door and pulled it from his pocket. Unfolding it, he read the note at the top: "Q: It is critical that you follow these instructions to the letter. Not to do so will jeopardize my work and your position. I'll expect a full report when I get back. -W"
Qapoc glanced and saw that there were several numbered major tasks with smaller lettered subtasks under each one. The first major task read:
1. HAVE SOME FUN and the first subtask below it was:
a. Ask the girl at the door on a date
Qapoc blinked at that for a moment and then was surprised by a knock at the door. He walked to the door and opened it to find a girl there. She was perhaps a year or two younger than he with a head full of red hair and deep green eyes. Qapoc started, realizing that Washu knew of his infatuation with her. He wondered if she was making fun of him, or, maybe, if she honestly did want him to have some fun.
"Uh, hi," she said.
"Hi," Qapoc replied. He'd been staring. She looked only a little like Washu - it was mostly the hair and eyes, but he realized that he found her beautiful.
"I was told that someone here could help me in tensionometric philosophy. Was that you?"
"Uh..." Qapoc thought about his list. "Would you like to go out?"
"Umm... Where?" she asked. For a second or two, Qapoc panicked. He glanced again at the list and saw:
b. Take her to dinner and for a walk by the lake
Qapoc looked up and said, "How about dinner and a walk by the lake?"
She thought for a second and smiled. "Sure," she said. "That doesn't help me with the tutoring, though."
"I can help you there," Qapoc said. "I'm Professor Washu's grad student."
"Oh, great!" she said. She pointed over her shoulder into the hallway, "Did you want to go now?"
Qapoc glanced at the clock and realized it was almost dinner time. "Sure. Just a second." He took off his lab coat and hung it in the closet, taking a quick glance down the list, trying to get an idea of the contents and if there were any more specific instructions under Task 1. He scanned it quickly, then jammed it into a pocket.
"Are you okay? You look a little flushed."
"Um, sorry, all of a sudden it feels a little hot in here," he said. "Let's go."
They left, Qapoc shutting the door behind them. He locked it and as he turned back he saw her put a piece of paper in her pocket. "What's that?" he asked.
"Oh, just the directions and office number," she said quickly. "You know, the tutor thing."
"Oh, right."
"I'm Koruko, by the way," she said.
"Sorry," he replied. "Qapoc. Nice to meet you."
"You too," she replied. She looked at him and mumbled, "Glasses, right." Then she asked, "Do you need to wear those glasses?"
"Uh, no not really, just to read," he replied.
"Here," she reached out and plucked them from his nose and tucked them into her pocket. She looked at him again and said, "Wow." She took his arm and led him up the hall to the doors. "Where are you taking me for dinner?" she asked.
"Anywhere you want to go," he said.
"Great! This is going to be fun!"
Qapoc was beginning to agree with her, but he was wondering if he could remember the subtasks that Washu had set out for him. Without his glasses he wouldn't be able to check the list and he knew there were a few things between where he was and the last step:
k: Drive it home, stud!
Washu cackled with glee as she sat on her pillow and summoned her terminal. It hadn't been easy locating a student that had a passing resemblance to her, needed tutoring in philosophy and was staying for the summer session. Once she had, it took some dealing to get her professor to give her Washu's list of tasks - especially considering subtask '1.k' - but it was worth it. Qapoc should be over his infatuation by the time she got back and then he wouldn't be quite so distracted and she could relax around him. Plus, he'd be so much more fun to tease.
"Okay, let's get this show on the road!" she said out loud.
Washu began keying into the terminal, bending mighty energies and tremendous forces to her will. In a few moments, with the touch of a final key, she completed the set up and started the process.
Somewhere in her lab, enormous engines spooled up, generating power which was ported through conduits the size of minivans and into the guts of arcane machines. These machines altered the nature of reality itself, grasping a small piece of it by the throat and wrestling it like an alligator. Although reality was wet and scaly and thrashed mightily, Washu's machines were mightier still and the snorting tip of reality's nose was bent until it came into contact with a certain very specific corner of the vast swamp that is the universe.
An indicator on Washu's terminal went from red to yellow to green and it was done.
Washu got up from her pillow and walked across the floor. In front of her the closet door to the Okayama house appeared. Washu reached for the handle and a smile lit her face.
The door flew open and Washu stepped back; feeling a breeze as it barely missed the tip of her nose. The crab bell, which normally rang gently to announce visitors, nearly flew from its mount as a tangle of arms, legs, blonde hair and random clothing tumbled in and landed with a loud thud and a grunt of pain at Washu's feet.
"Huh?" Washu said, blinking in surprise.
"Owww..." Mihoshi lifted her head; it was festooned with various items of clothing.
"Mihoshi? What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Oh, Washu. I was just on Yukinojo and I went through a door and then I ended up here."
"This isn't someplace you can just..." Washu hesitated, then rolled her eyes. "Oh, never mind," she said. Noticing that through the door was a big piece of theoretical nothingness, Washu began pulling the rest of Mihoshi and her things into the lab. Once the door was clear, she closed it then opened it and looked out into the front hall in Okayama.
"Here we are!" she said.
Nobuyuki and Katsuhito arrived a little after. They all sat in the living room talking and laughing and drinking.
"It is wonderful to have all you young ladies back again," Nobuyuki said.
"Indeed," Katsuhito agreed. "The spirit of the young energizes those who are not so young, eh, Miss Washu?"
"I'm as young as I want to be, Lord Katsuhito. How about you?" Washu replied with a smile. "And how did Ryu-Oh handle the trip, Miss Ayeka?" Washu asked.
"Oh, just wonderfully, Professor! I can not thank you enough for all your help with Ryu-Oh," Ayeka replied.
"Don't mention it, happy to help. And please, don't call me 'professor' any more; that is: unless you want me to start calling you 'doctor'."
"Oh, Miss Washu," Ayeka said with a modest smile. "You know my degree does not give the title of 'doctor'."
"Hmm... True," Washu replied. "Even if it is about the same. Well, no matter, Miss Ayeka."
"Well, I'm a doctor," Ryoko said. "And you can call me Dr. Love!" She winked broadly at Tenchi. "Say, Tenchi. We can play doctor for real now!"
"Oh? Yeah?" Tenchi asked with a smile. "But you're a physicist. Didn't Washu have a saying about love and physics or something?"
"Ah!" Washu said, "You mean 'Love is a matter of chemistry. Sex is a matter of physics. But kinkiness requires engineering!', right?"
"Yes, that's the one," Tenchi affirmed.
"Oh, Tenchi!" Ryoko replied. "I've got the physics covered and you've got the engineering. I think there's enough chemistry between us, don't you?"
"I think..." Tenchi began. "I think it's time for dinner!" They turned and saw Sasami carrying in the meal. In a few moments - with help from everyone - the table was set and they were all seated.
"Well, here we all are again," Tenchi said, looking around at the others.
"A toast!" Nobuyuki cried. "Just a second..." He jumped up and dashed off and returned a few moments later with a bottle of champagne and a set of glasses. He passed the glasses around and eased the cork out of the bottle with a dull 'pop'.
Everyone held out their glasses and he poured into them in turn, saying, "I've been saving this for a special occasion. I think this qualifies." Finishing, he set the bottle down and raised his glass.
"To the graduates!" Nobuyuki said.
"To love!" Ryoko chimed.
"To science!" Washu smiled.
"To happiness," Mihoshi bubbled.
"To the future," Ayeka said.
"To your health," Katsuhito declared.
"To all of us!" Sasami said.
"To family!" Tenchi finished.
"Miya!" Ryo-Ohki cried.
"Cheers!" they said together, and they drank.
"We are going to have so much fun this summer!" Mihoshi said. "I brought my suit, can we go to the beach?"
"Sure," Tenchi replied. "Everyone wants to go to the beach, right?" There was a general chorus of agreement; but Tenchi noticed that Ayeka hung her head. "Ayeka," he said, "What's the matter?"
Ayeka looked at them sadly. "I am sorry, everyone, but I can not. Father has dispatched me on a diplomatic mission to Letin. We are on the verge of a very important trade and route agreement and father, mother and Funaho feel it would be best if someone of my rank and training represented Jurai.
"I must leave in a few days and the mission will take several weeks. I am sorry."
Mihoshi hummed quietly to herself as she packed things into a case. It lay open on her bed and she wandered around the cabin picking up things as she found them and throwing them in that general direction.
She was looking forward to her vacation more than she could say. She enjoyed her duties as a Galaxy Police detective, but she'd been patrolling the same zone for years and it was getting repetitive - even for her. Not that there wasn't the occasional excitement: smugglers and pirates, the odd ship in distress or galactic biker gang. But how many times could one go past Jupiter without feeling like a fish in a small bowl?
"Mihoshi?" Yukinojo's face-like interface module appeared on a screen. "Mihoshi?"
"Yes, Yukinojo, what is it?"
"We are approaching Earth, Mihoshi. We will be in a parking orbit in ten minutes."
"Oh, okay, thank you. Let me know when we're in orbit, okay?"
"All right, Mihoshi." The screen went blank.
It was, of course, her own fault that she was still here. She'd been offered a transfer and had turned it down. She'd been offered several and turned them all down. But, she had recently concluded that destiny had something else in mind for her than Tenchi Masaki. It was time to swallow hard and work through the crisis of confidence she'd been wallowing in for so long and get on with her life.
But, first, a last extended vacation on Earth with the people she had come to think of almost as her family.
"Now," Mihoshi said out loud, a finger on her chin in thought. "Where did I put that swimsuit?" She began moving some of the things she had piled randomly around her cabin, sending stacks of books, CDs, DVDs and video games cascading to the floor. "Damn."
She began opening drawers and storage bins, often sending the contents of these to the floor as well. "Oh, jeez!"
Finally, she got down on her hands and knees and peered under her bed. Catching a glimpse of the swimsuit, she began pulling out empty drink cans, discarded cups and open bags of stale snacks. Eventually, her hand closed on the swimsuit and she yanked it, only to find that it was tangled into the cord of the video game controller on the stand next to her bed. Pulling the suit dragged the controller off the stand and she was showered with more bags of stale snacks and empty cups, as well as several half-read books and a box of tissues. "Ouch!"
She untangled the suit and tossed it on top of the pile of things that rested atop the open case on the bed. Deciding she had enough things to last for her leave on Earth, she began to gather everything together to try to shut the case.
The case resisted her efforts and she grunted with strain, first pushing the two halves together with her hands, then leaning and eventually standing on it with both feet. The latch met and she gingerly reached down and shut it; it closed with a metallic snap. "Wow. I really need to clean up in here," she said, looking around the room. "Well, it will wait until I get back, I suppose."
Lugging the case, Mihoshi left her cabin and started toward the bridge. She approached a door and it opened for her; beyond the doorway was a yawning blackness where there should have been a well-lit passageway. "The lights are out! I guess I'll get that when I get back, too." Mihoshi stepped into the darkness and dragged the case in and the door shut behind her.
On the bridge, Yukinojo extended from his mount in the ceiling and began activating intercoms. "Mihoshi! Mihoshi! I've detected a power surge within the ship. Mihoshi? Where are you?"
"Okay, that should about do it, don't you think?" Washu asked. She looked around her small professor's office critically, wondering if she'd missed anything or left any experiments running.
"Yes, professor, I think that's it." Her assistant Qapoc nodded nervously, pushing his glasses back up onto his nose.
Qapoc was young and, when he relaxed and took his glasses off, very handsome. He was also desperately in love with Washu, which she found endlessly amusing. "Are you going to be all right for an entire summer?" she asked him. "Do you have enough to keep you busy? Did you see the list of things I left for you to work on?"
"Yes ma'am. I have it right here!" he said, patting a pocket of his lab coat.
"Have you looked at it?" she asked him.
"Uh, n-n-no, ma'am. I was going to do that as soon as you left. B-b- but if you want me to do it now-" he fumbled at his pocket.
Washu held up a hand, the other on her hip. "No need! It will wait. I need to get going anyway. You take care of yourself, okay?"
"You, too, professor."
"Okay, bye now!" Qapoc watched as Washu stepped into the coat closet, knowing that there was a connection with her enormous laboratory. There was a tone and a brief light showed under the door. Qapoc opened it and found it was a coat closet again. He blinked a few times, wondering if he'd ever begin to understand the science involved in that trick.
Remembering the list, he shut the door and pulled it from his pocket. Unfolding it, he read the note at the top: "Q: It is critical that you follow these instructions to the letter. Not to do so will jeopardize my work and your position. I'll expect a full report when I get back. -W"
Qapoc glanced and saw that there were several numbered major tasks with smaller lettered subtasks under each one. The first major task read:
1. HAVE SOME FUN and the first subtask below it was:
a. Ask the girl at the door on a date
Qapoc blinked at that for a moment and then was surprised by a knock at the door. He walked to the door and opened it to find a girl there. She was perhaps a year or two younger than he with a head full of red hair and deep green eyes. Qapoc started, realizing that Washu knew of his infatuation with her. He wondered if she was making fun of him, or, maybe, if she honestly did want him to have some fun.
"Uh, hi," she said.
"Hi," Qapoc replied. He'd been staring. She looked only a little like Washu - it was mostly the hair and eyes, but he realized that he found her beautiful.
"I was told that someone here could help me in tensionometric philosophy. Was that you?"
"Uh..." Qapoc thought about his list. "Would you like to go out?"
"Umm... Where?" she asked. For a second or two, Qapoc panicked. He glanced again at the list and saw:
b. Take her to dinner and for a walk by the lake
Qapoc looked up and said, "How about dinner and a walk by the lake?"
She thought for a second and smiled. "Sure," she said. "That doesn't help me with the tutoring, though."
"I can help you there," Qapoc said. "I'm Professor Washu's grad student."
"Oh, great!" she said. She pointed over her shoulder into the hallway, "Did you want to go now?"
Qapoc glanced at the clock and realized it was almost dinner time. "Sure. Just a second." He took off his lab coat and hung it in the closet, taking a quick glance down the list, trying to get an idea of the contents and if there were any more specific instructions under Task 1. He scanned it quickly, then jammed it into a pocket.
"Are you okay? You look a little flushed."
"Um, sorry, all of a sudden it feels a little hot in here," he said. "Let's go."
They left, Qapoc shutting the door behind them. He locked it and as he turned back he saw her put a piece of paper in her pocket. "What's that?" he asked.
"Oh, just the directions and office number," she said quickly. "You know, the tutor thing."
"Oh, right."
"I'm Koruko, by the way," she said.
"Sorry," he replied. "Qapoc. Nice to meet you."
"You too," she replied. She looked at him and mumbled, "Glasses, right." Then she asked, "Do you need to wear those glasses?"
"Uh, no not really, just to read," he replied.
"Here," she reached out and plucked them from his nose and tucked them into her pocket. She looked at him again and said, "Wow." She took his arm and led him up the hall to the doors. "Where are you taking me for dinner?" she asked.
"Anywhere you want to go," he said.
"Great! This is going to be fun!"
Qapoc was beginning to agree with her, but he was wondering if he could remember the subtasks that Washu had set out for him. Without his glasses he wouldn't be able to check the list and he knew there were a few things between where he was and the last step:
k: Drive it home, stud!
Washu cackled with glee as she sat on her pillow and summoned her terminal. It hadn't been easy locating a student that had a passing resemblance to her, needed tutoring in philosophy and was staying for the summer session. Once she had, it took some dealing to get her professor to give her Washu's list of tasks - especially considering subtask '1.k' - but it was worth it. Qapoc should be over his infatuation by the time she got back and then he wouldn't be quite so distracted and she could relax around him. Plus, he'd be so much more fun to tease.
"Okay, let's get this show on the road!" she said out loud.
Washu began keying into the terminal, bending mighty energies and tremendous forces to her will. In a few moments, with the touch of a final key, she completed the set up and started the process.
Somewhere in her lab, enormous engines spooled up, generating power which was ported through conduits the size of minivans and into the guts of arcane machines. These machines altered the nature of reality itself, grasping a small piece of it by the throat and wrestling it like an alligator. Although reality was wet and scaly and thrashed mightily, Washu's machines were mightier still and the snorting tip of reality's nose was bent until it came into contact with a certain very specific corner of the vast swamp that is the universe.
An indicator on Washu's terminal went from red to yellow to green and it was done.
Washu got up from her pillow and walked across the floor. In front of her the closet door to the Okayama house appeared. Washu reached for the handle and a smile lit her face.
The door flew open and Washu stepped back; feeling a breeze as it barely missed the tip of her nose. The crab bell, which normally rang gently to announce visitors, nearly flew from its mount as a tangle of arms, legs, blonde hair and random clothing tumbled in and landed with a loud thud and a grunt of pain at Washu's feet.
"Huh?" Washu said, blinking in surprise.
"Owww..." Mihoshi lifted her head; it was festooned with various items of clothing.
"Mihoshi? What the hell are you doing in here?"
"Oh, Washu. I was just on Yukinojo and I went through a door and then I ended up here."
"This isn't someplace you can just..." Washu hesitated, then rolled her eyes. "Oh, never mind," she said. Noticing that through the door was a big piece of theoretical nothingness, Washu began pulling the rest of Mihoshi and her things into the lab. Once the door was clear, she closed it then opened it and looked out into the front hall in Okayama.
"Here we are!" she said.
Nobuyuki and Katsuhito arrived a little after. They all sat in the living room talking and laughing and drinking.
"It is wonderful to have all you young ladies back again," Nobuyuki said.
"Indeed," Katsuhito agreed. "The spirit of the young energizes those who are not so young, eh, Miss Washu?"
"I'm as young as I want to be, Lord Katsuhito. How about you?" Washu replied with a smile. "And how did Ryu-Oh handle the trip, Miss Ayeka?" Washu asked.
"Oh, just wonderfully, Professor! I can not thank you enough for all your help with Ryu-Oh," Ayeka replied.
"Don't mention it, happy to help. And please, don't call me 'professor' any more; that is: unless you want me to start calling you 'doctor'."
"Oh, Miss Washu," Ayeka said with a modest smile. "You know my degree does not give the title of 'doctor'."
"Hmm... True," Washu replied. "Even if it is about the same. Well, no matter, Miss Ayeka."
"Well, I'm a doctor," Ryoko said. "And you can call me Dr. Love!" She winked broadly at Tenchi. "Say, Tenchi. We can play doctor for real now!"
"Oh? Yeah?" Tenchi asked with a smile. "But you're a physicist. Didn't Washu have a saying about love and physics or something?"
"Ah!" Washu said, "You mean 'Love is a matter of chemistry. Sex is a matter of physics. But kinkiness requires engineering!', right?"
"Yes, that's the one," Tenchi affirmed.
"Oh, Tenchi!" Ryoko replied. "I've got the physics covered and you've got the engineering. I think there's enough chemistry between us, don't you?"
"I think..." Tenchi began. "I think it's time for dinner!" They turned and saw Sasami carrying in the meal. In a few moments - with help from everyone - the table was set and they were all seated.
"Well, here we all are again," Tenchi said, looking around at the others.
"A toast!" Nobuyuki cried. "Just a second..." He jumped up and dashed off and returned a few moments later with a bottle of champagne and a set of glasses. He passed the glasses around and eased the cork out of the bottle with a dull 'pop'.
Everyone held out their glasses and he poured into them in turn, saying, "I've been saving this for a special occasion. I think this qualifies." Finishing, he set the bottle down and raised his glass.
"To the graduates!" Nobuyuki said.
"To love!" Ryoko chimed.
"To science!" Washu smiled.
"To happiness," Mihoshi bubbled.
"To the future," Ayeka said.
"To your health," Katsuhito declared.
"To all of us!" Sasami said.
"To family!" Tenchi finished.
"Miya!" Ryo-Ohki cried.
"Cheers!" they said together, and they drank.
"We are going to have so much fun this summer!" Mihoshi said. "I brought my suit, can we go to the beach?"
"Sure," Tenchi replied. "Everyone wants to go to the beach, right?" There was a general chorus of agreement; but Tenchi noticed that Ayeka hung her head. "Ayeka," he said, "What's the matter?"
Ayeka looked at them sadly. "I am sorry, everyone, but I can not. Father has dispatched me on a diplomatic mission to Letin. We are on the verge of a very important trade and route agreement and father, mother and Funaho feel it would be best if someone of my rank and training represented Jurai.
"I must leave in a few days and the mission will take several weeks. I am sorry."