23
11.4.43
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System
1900 Hours
Wanderings
"Hey Trunks, wait up!" came Eve's voice through the corridor. Her shout had interrupted his thoughts.
Trunks turned to see the small blonde girl was jogging after him. He was glad it wasn't the doctor or Sabre, he didn't want to agitate them any further. For a brief second, he followed the bouncing of her ample breasts, then chided himself for doing so. It was wrong to do that, wasn't it?
"Oh, hi Eve," Trunks said, a bit guardedly, not quite sure what she could want. He stopped walking and allowed Eve to close the distance faster.
"Hey, I just came to say don't worry about before. We just had to work some stuff out. It's all good now."
The vagueness in her description meant that something important had gone down, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. But he was glad that they weren't angry with him. The last thing he wanted was to be on the bad side of that incredibly powerful man.
"So, Eve, where were you last night? My moth-, I mean Bul-," Trunks took a deep breath and started over. "We were worried about you when you didn't show up. Sabre said something about you being busy…"
Eve gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, I wasn't quite myself last night. But I'm better now. So what are you doing?"
"Ah, I'm just kinda wandering around. There isn't much to do, and Bulma is all wrapped up helping with repairs. Man, my mother" A look of pain crossed his face.
"You still miss her, don't you?"
"Yeah, I mean, she's here and all, but she isn't the same. She's my mother, but not the woman that raised me. I feel bad leaving her behind. She's always alone and I'm the only one she has."
Eve took Trunks's hands in hers and looked into his eyes. "I'm sure your mother would understand what you're doing. Don't feel bad about it, it's not your fault you have a kind heart."
Trunks blushed a bit, he wasn't used to getting praise from anyone else than his mother. For some reason he was attracted to this girl. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt, he knew that he liked her. Gazing into her eyes he saw a kindred spirit, someone who could empathize with what he had gone through in his life. At the same time, her eyes betrayed something else, something hidden. What it was he would have to find out.
"Hey, Jake gave me a tour of the ship earlier. I know where the observatory is, you wanna go?"
"Uh, sure. But who's Jake?"
Eve giggled. "C'mon, let's go, I'll tell you all about it."
* * * * * * *
A few decks below, the human trio, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien, were recovering after their first day of training. The Saiyans and Piccolo had recuperated quite fast, their superior physiologies well-adapted to intense training. The trio had managed to find the Bachelor Officer's Quarters and were sitting at a table in the empty room.
Yamcha, sporting a large bruise on his neck, courtesy of Tien, was once again complaining.
"I don't think I've ever fought for so long in my life. And why did you have to give me this?" Yamcha pointed to his neck as he directed the question to the three-eyed man.
"If you had been paying attention instead of laughing every time Goku hit Vegeta I wouldn't have landed that kick."
It was true. Yamcha was still *very* bitter over losing Bulma to that small, idiotic, arrogant, evil son of a bitch. What did he have that made him so special? He was a cold blooded killer! Seeing him get hit was every enjoyable for Yamcha, he just wish it occurred on a more regular basis, and by his own hands. Yamcha and Bulma never had an exactly stable relationship, but of all the men in the universe, *Vegeta*?
"Well, you didn't have to hit so hard. We were just training."
Tien smirked. "It got you to pay attention, didn't it?"
Yamcha just huffed and sat back in his chair.
"Well you guys, I think I did pretty good against Trunks. I managed to land a few good hits," Krillin said proudly.
Tien couldn't resist the opportunity.
"Yeah, in between gawking at Android 18." That got a laugh out of the sore Yamcha. He jumped at the chance to poke fun at the helpless bald man.
"I bet you wish you were Sabre, don't you?"
"Hey, at least I didn't lose to a midget Saiyan!"
"Look whose calling who a midget, midget!"
Tien interrupted before the harassing escalated. "Calm down you two. We're all friends remember?" The hot-headed men sat back in their chairs. "Besides, I think we all did good today. I think Goku was impressed."
"I think Sabre was impressed too. We all put in our best didn't we?" Krillin asked optimistically.
"I still don't know about that guy. He seems detached. You saw how he just broke 18's wrist, he didn't even look surprised. And Krillin, you looked like you wanted to kill him." Tien noted Yamcha's concern.
"Well, Goku hasn't said anything, so I guess it's oaky. Except for hurting 18, he's been pretty much on the level, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, he has. But we can't count on Goku in this situation. He's a great fighter, he's a great guy, our friend, but this situation is totally different. We have to remember, he hasn't had much experience with the outside world. And now we're dealing with the military."
"Hey guys, want do you want to drink? Blue, Yellow, or Brown?" Krillin had made his way over to the unattended bar and was browsing over its contents. He couldn't read the labels, so naming them by color seemed to be the best way to identify them.
Yamcha jumped at the chance for a drink. "I'll take a blue, it looks the least poisonous."
"Uh, I guess I'll take a blue too."
"Well then, three blues it is." Krillin disappeared below the to search for some glasses.
"I see what you're saying. Man, I just hope this all works out. I don't want to die. Again."
Yamcha laughed. "Yeah man, me neither. I don't think King Kai likes me that much. It's not my fault his jokes suck."
"Don't let him hear you say that. He might smack you around a bit." Krillin's voice dripped with sarcasm as he walked back to the table, awkwardly carrying three large glasses filled with what he hoped was alcohol.
All of them got a laugh out of that. The only thing dangerous about King Kai were his painfully unfunny jokes. He had also refused to teach them the Kaio-Ken or Spirit Bomb techniques. He mumbled something about humans being too weak, then started screaming at Yamcha when he put a huge dent in his car.
"So guys, what should we toast to?" Yamcha asked.
"How about humanity?" Krillin proposed.
"The three clanked their glasses together and said in unison, "To humanity."
The liquor, they were sure of that now, tasted terrible, burned on the way down, but filled their stomachs with a warm, glowing feeling. The trio talked for a while longer, their speech beginning to slur as the alcohol took affect. They didn't know that those drinks were usually injested by full-grown, 350 lb+ Saiyan males, and that the glasses Krillin had found, which resembled beer mugs, were used to hold virgin fruit drinks.
"So, I'm walkin' around the mall right? Cruising the place for broads when I run into that damn woman. She's all up in my face screaming about this and that, and I seyz 'look bitch, get off my case! You don't know me! I'm a grown man! Go…go…' aw man, I forget!" The trio erupted into druken laughter as Yamcha told an obviously fictitious tale about running into Bulma at the mall.
"Hey Tieny, buddy, guess what?" Krillin asked stupidly.
"What?"
The small man took three fingers and poked Tien in all three of his eyes. Tien's body registered pain, but he could hardly notice it through the alcoholic haze. Instead, he roared in laughter with the rest of them, eyes reddening with tears and unfelt pain.
After catching his breath, Yamcha started up again. "Hey, hey, hey you guys…you ever notice Chaozu looks like a little clown? He's got them rosy little cheeks and that albino skin!"
Tien found that especially hilarious. "Yeah, and that funny little hat and I can like, fit him in my pocket!"
Once again, the three intoxicated men shook with laughter, picturing the site of Tien stuffing tiny little Chazu into his pants. Tien got a wicked idea. "Hey, let's try and stuff you into my pants!" he said, pointing at Krillin.
"Wha? Me? Uh…okay!" he cried enthusiastically.
Each of them tried to stand up, and each, in turn, fell to the ground immediately. Yamcha began to vomit heavily, spattering his stomach contents all over the floor and his clothes. After managing to stand, they totally forgot the reason why the rose from the chairs.
Yamcha, still holding his stomach, thought a song was in order.
An old but fitting Earth song floated into Krillin's mind.
"War!" He shouted.
With huge smiles, the other two recognized the song.
In unison, painfully out of key, they began to dance about, singing the song to music heard only in their heads.
"War…huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin' Say it again! War…huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'!…"
The ancient lyrics could be heard by passerby's in the corridor, who were too busy and afraid to find out exactly what was going on in there. In time, the no more sound emanated from the room. If one was to peer in, they would find the three humans comically passed out in various positions in the room. Luckily, none of them went into alcohol-induced comas, but when they woke up they would be in so much pain that a coma would be preferable.
Goku, meanwhile, was with Chi-Chi and Bulma, who were working side by side in engineering. By some freak of nature, Chi-Chi had become a surprisingly useful engineer. Now decked in green coveralls, she had all but forgotten her family and was working diligently with Bulma, Vrakan, Transa, and a handful of other technicians on rerouting two melted plasma relays.
Vegeta had followed Goku to engineering supposedly to 'keep an eye on his mortal foe' but was spending more time eyeing Bulma and making snide remarks than anything else. He had always admired Bulma's brain, along with her fantastically proportioned body, and he was fiercely proud of her. However, in typical Vegeta fashion, the only things to come out of his mouth were insults and patronizing remarks. No one paid much attention to him.
"So Chi-Chi, almost done reparing the plasma thingy?" Goku asked hopefully.
Chi-Chi responded with her head buried inside a wire casing. "I told you Goku, we're rerouting plasma conduits, and I'm not sure how long it is going to take. Transa, give it some juice."
"Alright. Bulma, keep an eye on the readout, if it goes over 320 we have to shut it down." The Danti began to feed the plasma through one of the rerouted conduits. Chi-Chi removed her head from the casing and walked over to where Bulma was watching the readout.
"250…275…285…290…looks like it is holding steady at 290. I think we did it."
Chi-Chi let out a sigh. "Well, that only took about five hours."
The edge in Vrakan's voice worried them. "Hold on…it is still fluctuating. Transa, what's the output say?"
"It reads oh five mark three…but, aw crap."
"Uh guys, it's at 300 now…damn it, it jumped to 350. Shut it off!" Bulma said with rising uergency.
"Cutting power. Damn that was a waste of an afternoon," Transa groaned. He and Vrakan huddled over a console and tried to figure out what went wrong.
Chi-Chi looked back into the wire casing. "Uh, guys, it looks like the plasma ate through some of the circuitry. We're gonna need…three short yellow wires, a long black one, and whatever this is." She pulled out a small, half-melted cube.
"Awww, does this mean you gotta go back to work?" Goku whined.
"I'm sorry honey, it looks like it. Hey, now you know how I feel when you and your friends are out training all day. You're just going to have to wait."
"Hey Vegeta, could you pass me that palm pad?" Bulma asked.
"Hmph, get it yourself, woman!" Vegeta just wanted to stare at her cute butt as she stomped over to get it.
"I swear Vegeta, you are the most useless man I know. At least Yamcha pretended to be helpful!"
Vegeta roared at the insult. "What, you dare compare me to that weak, pathetic, worthless excuse for a man?!"
It was Bulma's turn to enjoy the sight of her mate's anger. He was so hot when his muscles and veins bulged. She couldn't help but become slightly aroused at the sight of his ripped, powerful body. "If only he wouldn't act like this all the time," she thought wistfully, "then I'd actually be able to live with the man. Why can't he just let his guard down once and a while?"
"What are you staring at?" Vegeta's voice startled her from thought.
"Oh…noth, nothing. Go away, I have work to do."
"Whatever."
"Well, I guess I'm gonna go wander the ship. Maybe I can find something to eat." Goku kissed his wife on the cheek and turned to leave. Chi-Chi planted her hand on his shoulder and spun the fleeing man around.
"Make sure Gohan isn't getting into any trouble," she said, pointing a finger at him. "If he breaks anything, I'm holding you responsible. Besides, I still don't trust that Piccolo."
"Yes dear," Goku responded sheepishly.
"Isn't that cute, Kakkarot is whipped!" Vegeta sneered.
Chi-Chi shot a glance at the Saiyan Prince. "What was that?"
Vegeta considered making a comment, but relented instead. "Nothing, woman."
Chi-Chi turned back to Goku only to see his legs round the exit into the corridor.
"Aren't you going to follow your 'mortal enemy'?" Bulma asked the scowling Saiyan.
"I'd rather watch you break some more of this fancy equipment."
"Fine then, you can help fit some of the stuff you broke."
Vegeta groaned and made a feeble protest, but was inwardly glad as it gave him a chance to be near her, not matter how infuriating the woman may be. "Maybe I should break things more often…" The Saiyan Prince grinned at the thought.
* * * * *
Piccolo and Gohan were having a grand time on their own, meditating. After Gohan tired of that he and his large green friend began to meander about the ship, looking for things of interest. They found Trunks and Eve in the observatory, chatted for a bit, then continued on their way. Needless to say, Gohan did most of the talking.
But the Namek had noticed a difference within the human girl. Her energy signature was different, augmented in some way. He shot Trunks a glance, who responded with a knowing look. They didn't suspect anything sinister, rather it was mysterious. But Piccolo said nothing to the boy, knowing he would start asking questions and never stop.
While they continued on their way they happened to find Goku, who was thoroughly lost.
"Hey dad, what are you doing around here, I thought you were with mom."
"I don't know son. I was hungry, so I left your mother to her work. I took a wrong turn somewhere on deck 72, I think."
Piccolo sighed. "Goku, there is no deck 72. There are only 52 decks on this ship."
The jovial Saiyan laughed. "Well, that explains it!"
"Goku, you'd better stick with us. We wouldn't want you to walk out of an airlock or anything like that."
"Sure, Chi-Chi sent me to find you guys anyway. She doesn't want you two to cause any trouble. Besides, she and Bulma were fixing some plasma thingys. It was SO boring."
"Hey dad, can we go find Krillin? I think he said he was going with Yamcha and Tien to the…" Gohan's voice trailed off as he thought of the name. "BOQ."
"Barbecue! Great! I'm starving!" Gohan exclaimed.
Piccolo groaned and shook his head. "No Goku, the Bachelor Officer's Quarters. It's like a bar."
"Oh," Goku seemed somewhat disappointed. "Well, I can always go for a drink. Maybe they have buffalo wings."
Piccolo sighed, again, and Gohan chuckled. "C'mon dad, I think it's this way."
Father, son, and Namek began to make their way to the BOQ. On a different deck, halfway down the ship, Android 18 was sitting against a corridor wall. She was deep in thought, head between her knees, pondering her existence as a sentient being. Earlier in the training room she had been deeply embarrassed by that damn stupid human.
While they had been sparring, she made occasional glances at the small, bald man whom she was deeply fond of. Once in a while she would catch Krillin looking at her, then see him get pummeled by Trunks when his focus was shifted. 18 was disappointed that she didn't have the chance to spar with whom she wanted and was considering asking Jake for a partner swap.
Then he broke her wrist. Out of the blue he had completely shattered it, nearly blinding her with pain. Never before had she felt anything like it, but the biggest surprise was when she looked at her arm. Mixed with blood was some kind of lubricant, and protruding out of the broken skin were metallic fragments and sliced wiring.
She also saw how Krillin had looked at her, his face contorted with anger and surprise. Unlike the others, who were simply shocked, he had cared. Unfortunately, it drew attention to her body, and how different it really was. She was ashamed of it. Sure, being anatomically perfect looked good, but beneath the human exterior was a myriad of wiring, a neosteel skeleton, microelectronics, servos, and inorganic fluids. She wasn't like everyone else.
What exactly was she? She wasn't a true android, she knew that much. Androids didn't have functioning, organic systems. She had muscular, circulatory, endocrine, nervous, and limited digestive system. All if which were augmented in some way with technology. She also had a reproductive system, androids didn't reproduce. A cyborg…was that what she was?
18 shuddered at the thought. Neither woman nor machine, she was an artificial combination of both. What did that mean? Did she have a soul? Could she truly love? Was she real? All of these unanswered questions left her feeling despondent and alone. There was no one else like her. Would, could, Krillin ever love her?
A lone tear slowly fell down the pretty girl's cheek as she thought of the lonely prospect. She brought her head up to wipe the tear away, 18 found herself staring at a huge, hairless, gray, naked man. 18 pulled herself to her feet and instantly sprung back 15 feet down the corridor, slipping herself into a fighting stance. The large man didn't move, but he asked her something that caught her off guard.
"Why are you crying?"
Surprised, she still managed a hostile response. "That's none of your business. And I wasn't crying."
The man tilted his head to the side and blinked, but said nothing.
"Who are you?" 18 asked the strange man.
He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure how to respond. "I was once called Astor. Now, my official designation is Cyborg Sierra 421 Mark Three. You may call me whatever you wish."
18 was taken back. This man was a cyborg? Who created him? Where was he from? What was he doing here? She only managed to stutter out the words, "You're, you're a, a, cyborg?"
"Yes. As are you. But I have never seen your model before. Are you a new model? I was unaware they had designs advanced as yours in production. Who operated on you?"
Relaxing her fighting stance, she couldn't help but respond. "Dr…Dr. Gero."
Astor paused for a moment. "That name is not familiar to me, and he is not listed in any of the Coalition's data banks. You must be one of the new arrivals from Earth. Strange…you remind me of a woman I once knew…"
Silence hung in the air like an almost tangible specter. 18 had no idea how to respond to that comment, and Astor simply stood there, oblivious to the awkwardness.
Again he spoke, " Do you know where I can find some clothes?"
"Uh…no, no I don't."
"Very well then." Astor began to walk towards her, proceeding down the corridor. He paused when he was abreast of her. "You should not cry, it does not suit you," then moved on.
The entire situation was immensely strange. A huge, naked man meets her in the corridor, turns out to be a cyborg, compliments her, then moves on. He was a cyborg…but nothing like her. It seemed like he had lost most of whatever had been his personality. His voice, demeanor, and aura was that of a machine. She was reminded for an instant of Android 16. She slumped against the corridor, overcome with emotion for her fallen comrade. 18 once again fell into deep thought, trying to discern the meaning of her existence. If only she knew how futile the effort would prove to be.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
On the bridge, Jake took stock of the situation. Everything was running smoothly. In fact, his presence wasn't even required on the bridge. The core crew of the ship was quite experienced and fully manned, with the exception of the captain. When he was killed in dry-dock, there was no one to replace him, save for his XO, Jenneson. The lieutenant commander was well liked amongst the crew, and proved to be capable leader. If not for the special nature of this mission, he would be in command of the ship.
"Major?" The XO asked.
Jake realized with some embarrassment that he had been staring at the man for the past few minutes. Lost in his thoughts, he had fixed upon the XO's position.
"Er, nothing Jenneson, carry on."
"Aye, sir."
His thoughts turned to the mission at hand. Formulating a plan was rather easy, but many, many things could go wrong in its execution. There was nothing that could be done about it though, since planning for the unknown was nearly useless. All they had was a plan of entry and a plan of exit, and even those were subject to change. Everything in the middle was left up to fate or happenstance. His worst fear, however, was that by the time they met at the rendezvous they would find only a ghost ship.
That thought caused a knot to form in his stomach. Finding her dead would be…like finding his family all those years ago. Jake had to clench is fists and grit his teeth to keep from letting out a roar of anger. But the anger soon passed and was replaced with dread, an overwhelming sense of dread. He had to get off the bridge, and now.
"Jenneson!" he inadvertently shouted.
"Yes sir?" he said as he came to attention.
Jake, lowering his voice, continued. "You have the bridge, I'll be in the chamber." Before Jenneson could respond he turned and transmitted himself to the empty chamber. Since it was not in use, the room was utterly dark and the autolights had not come on since he did not enter through the doors. The faint sound of footsteps could be heard as he made his way to the center of the deserted chamber.
He was comforted greatly by the darkness. Ever since he was a child, he had always felt reassured when in total blackness. It had never scared him in the least, if anything, it made him curious. After all, there was nothing in the dark that wasn't there in the light. His eyes were useless in the absence of light, so he closed them and tried to focus on the emptiness around him. He had found that in doing so it often brought him peace of mind.
Not bothering to hover or sit down, Jake simply stood in the middle of the seeming nothingness, focusing on it's all-consuming sensation. But his mind would not rest. It raced with what-if scenarios, worries of what may go wrong, and…her. He could picture Resa in his mind's eye, her shimmering black hair, those twinkling jade eyes, her immensely powerful body, he could almost feel her there next to him. They had only been apart for less than two months, but it seemed like an eternity. All those cliches he had heard throughout his life about love seemed to take on a whole knew meaning now.
His mind began to settle at last, lost in the memories that came flooding back to him. The only thing missing was that one year when he had been recruited by Blue Six. Absolutely nothing after the last night in the Arena or before his recovery in the Blue Six medical ward could be remembered. But it was best not to dwell on that. Instead he focused on the early years, when he had first met Resa. She was so innocent then, unlike himself. Being human and spending most of his later childhood in an orphanage had caused him to be self-sufficient. For years after Vertana Prime he had nightmares, and they had tormented him every night up until the day he met her. The past, or at least, the past he wanted to remember was comforting. It was just he and Resa, and they were happy.
Jake's eyes snapped open. That feeling had returned again. Even after all these years, he could remember it distinctly. It was the same feeling he had the night of his transformation. He could swear those eyes were staring at him again, burning a hole into his soul, paralyzing him with fear. This time, however, it was different. He tried to fight back. His mind began lashing out at the invisible demon, trying to free itself from the monster's icy grip. For a second, a brief second, their minds touched.
Jake had never known such terror in all his life.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
And there is the end of Chap. 24. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or comments. Your reviews are greatly appreciated. Oh, and check out the Chap. 23 lemon scene, if that thing suits your tastes. I hope you like this little cliffhangar, and I can gaurantee I have a few surprises in store for you all. --Epsilon
11.4.43
GCS Dante, Outer Sol System
1900 Hours
Wanderings
"Hey Trunks, wait up!" came Eve's voice through the corridor. Her shout had interrupted his thoughts.
Trunks turned to see the small blonde girl was jogging after him. He was glad it wasn't the doctor or Sabre, he didn't want to agitate them any further. For a brief second, he followed the bouncing of her ample breasts, then chided himself for doing so. It was wrong to do that, wasn't it?
"Oh, hi Eve," Trunks said, a bit guardedly, not quite sure what she could want. He stopped walking and allowed Eve to close the distance faster.
"Hey, I just came to say don't worry about before. We just had to work some stuff out. It's all good now."
The vagueness in her description meant that something important had gone down, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was. But he was glad that they weren't angry with him. The last thing he wanted was to be on the bad side of that incredibly powerful man.
"So, Eve, where were you last night? My moth-, I mean Bul-," Trunks took a deep breath and started over. "We were worried about you when you didn't show up. Sabre said something about you being busy…"
Eve gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, I wasn't quite myself last night. But I'm better now. So what are you doing?"
"Ah, I'm just kinda wandering around. There isn't much to do, and Bulma is all wrapped up helping with repairs. Man, my mother" A look of pain crossed his face.
"You still miss her, don't you?"
"Yeah, I mean, she's here and all, but she isn't the same. She's my mother, but not the woman that raised me. I feel bad leaving her behind. She's always alone and I'm the only one she has."
Eve took Trunks's hands in hers and looked into his eyes. "I'm sure your mother would understand what you're doing. Don't feel bad about it, it's not your fault you have a kind heart."
Trunks blushed a bit, he wasn't used to getting praise from anyone else than his mother. For some reason he was attracted to this girl. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt, he knew that he liked her. Gazing into her eyes he saw a kindred spirit, someone who could empathize with what he had gone through in his life. At the same time, her eyes betrayed something else, something hidden. What it was he would have to find out.
"Hey, Jake gave me a tour of the ship earlier. I know where the observatory is, you wanna go?"
"Uh, sure. But who's Jake?"
Eve giggled. "C'mon, let's go, I'll tell you all about it."
* * * * * * *
A few decks below, the human trio, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien, were recovering after their first day of training. The Saiyans and Piccolo had recuperated quite fast, their superior physiologies well-adapted to intense training. The trio had managed to find the Bachelor Officer's Quarters and were sitting at a table in the empty room.
Yamcha, sporting a large bruise on his neck, courtesy of Tien, was once again complaining.
"I don't think I've ever fought for so long in my life. And why did you have to give me this?" Yamcha pointed to his neck as he directed the question to the three-eyed man.
"If you had been paying attention instead of laughing every time Goku hit Vegeta I wouldn't have landed that kick."
It was true. Yamcha was still *very* bitter over losing Bulma to that small, idiotic, arrogant, evil son of a bitch. What did he have that made him so special? He was a cold blooded killer! Seeing him get hit was every enjoyable for Yamcha, he just wish it occurred on a more regular basis, and by his own hands. Yamcha and Bulma never had an exactly stable relationship, but of all the men in the universe, *Vegeta*?
"Well, you didn't have to hit so hard. We were just training."
Tien smirked. "It got you to pay attention, didn't it?"
Yamcha just huffed and sat back in his chair.
"Well you guys, I think I did pretty good against Trunks. I managed to land a few good hits," Krillin said proudly.
Tien couldn't resist the opportunity.
"Yeah, in between gawking at Android 18." That got a laugh out of the sore Yamcha. He jumped at the chance to poke fun at the helpless bald man.
"I bet you wish you were Sabre, don't you?"
"Hey, at least I didn't lose to a midget Saiyan!"
"Look whose calling who a midget, midget!"
Tien interrupted before the harassing escalated. "Calm down you two. We're all friends remember?" The hot-headed men sat back in their chairs. "Besides, I think we all did good today. I think Goku was impressed."
"I think Sabre was impressed too. We all put in our best didn't we?" Krillin asked optimistically.
"I still don't know about that guy. He seems detached. You saw how he just broke 18's wrist, he didn't even look surprised. And Krillin, you looked like you wanted to kill him." Tien noted Yamcha's concern.
"Well, Goku hasn't said anything, so I guess it's oaky. Except for hurting 18, he's been pretty much on the level, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, he has. But we can't count on Goku in this situation. He's a great fighter, he's a great guy, our friend, but this situation is totally different. We have to remember, he hasn't had much experience with the outside world. And now we're dealing with the military."
"Hey guys, want do you want to drink? Blue, Yellow, or Brown?" Krillin had made his way over to the unattended bar and was browsing over its contents. He couldn't read the labels, so naming them by color seemed to be the best way to identify them.
Yamcha jumped at the chance for a drink. "I'll take a blue, it looks the least poisonous."
"Uh, I guess I'll take a blue too."
"Well then, three blues it is." Krillin disappeared below the to search for some glasses.
"I see what you're saying. Man, I just hope this all works out. I don't want to die. Again."
Yamcha laughed. "Yeah man, me neither. I don't think King Kai likes me that much. It's not my fault his jokes suck."
"Don't let him hear you say that. He might smack you around a bit." Krillin's voice dripped with sarcasm as he walked back to the table, awkwardly carrying three large glasses filled with what he hoped was alcohol.
All of them got a laugh out of that. The only thing dangerous about King Kai were his painfully unfunny jokes. He had also refused to teach them the Kaio-Ken or Spirit Bomb techniques. He mumbled something about humans being too weak, then started screaming at Yamcha when he put a huge dent in his car.
"So guys, what should we toast to?" Yamcha asked.
"How about humanity?" Krillin proposed.
"The three clanked their glasses together and said in unison, "To humanity."
The liquor, they were sure of that now, tasted terrible, burned on the way down, but filled their stomachs with a warm, glowing feeling. The trio talked for a while longer, their speech beginning to slur as the alcohol took affect. They didn't know that those drinks were usually injested by full-grown, 350 lb+ Saiyan males, and that the glasses Krillin had found, which resembled beer mugs, were used to hold virgin fruit drinks.
"So, I'm walkin' around the mall right? Cruising the place for broads when I run into that damn woman. She's all up in my face screaming about this and that, and I seyz 'look bitch, get off my case! You don't know me! I'm a grown man! Go…go…' aw man, I forget!" The trio erupted into druken laughter as Yamcha told an obviously fictitious tale about running into Bulma at the mall.
"Hey Tieny, buddy, guess what?" Krillin asked stupidly.
"What?"
The small man took three fingers and poked Tien in all three of his eyes. Tien's body registered pain, but he could hardly notice it through the alcoholic haze. Instead, he roared in laughter with the rest of them, eyes reddening with tears and unfelt pain.
After catching his breath, Yamcha started up again. "Hey, hey, hey you guys…you ever notice Chaozu looks like a little clown? He's got them rosy little cheeks and that albino skin!"
Tien found that especially hilarious. "Yeah, and that funny little hat and I can like, fit him in my pocket!"
Once again, the three intoxicated men shook with laughter, picturing the site of Tien stuffing tiny little Chazu into his pants. Tien got a wicked idea. "Hey, let's try and stuff you into my pants!" he said, pointing at Krillin.
"Wha? Me? Uh…okay!" he cried enthusiastically.
Each of them tried to stand up, and each, in turn, fell to the ground immediately. Yamcha began to vomit heavily, spattering his stomach contents all over the floor and his clothes. After managing to stand, they totally forgot the reason why the rose from the chairs.
Yamcha, still holding his stomach, thought a song was in order.
An old but fitting Earth song floated into Krillin's mind.
"War!" He shouted.
With huge smiles, the other two recognized the song.
In unison, painfully out of key, they began to dance about, singing the song to music heard only in their heads.
"War…huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin' Say it again! War…huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'!…"
The ancient lyrics could be heard by passerby's in the corridor, who were too busy and afraid to find out exactly what was going on in there. In time, the no more sound emanated from the room. If one was to peer in, they would find the three humans comically passed out in various positions in the room. Luckily, none of them went into alcohol-induced comas, but when they woke up they would be in so much pain that a coma would be preferable.
Goku, meanwhile, was with Chi-Chi and Bulma, who were working side by side in engineering. By some freak of nature, Chi-Chi had become a surprisingly useful engineer. Now decked in green coveralls, she had all but forgotten her family and was working diligently with Bulma, Vrakan, Transa, and a handful of other technicians on rerouting two melted plasma relays.
Vegeta had followed Goku to engineering supposedly to 'keep an eye on his mortal foe' but was spending more time eyeing Bulma and making snide remarks than anything else. He had always admired Bulma's brain, along with her fantastically proportioned body, and he was fiercely proud of her. However, in typical Vegeta fashion, the only things to come out of his mouth were insults and patronizing remarks. No one paid much attention to him.
"So Chi-Chi, almost done reparing the plasma thingy?" Goku asked hopefully.
Chi-Chi responded with her head buried inside a wire casing. "I told you Goku, we're rerouting plasma conduits, and I'm not sure how long it is going to take. Transa, give it some juice."
"Alright. Bulma, keep an eye on the readout, if it goes over 320 we have to shut it down." The Danti began to feed the plasma through one of the rerouted conduits. Chi-Chi removed her head from the casing and walked over to where Bulma was watching the readout.
"250…275…285…290…looks like it is holding steady at 290. I think we did it."
Chi-Chi let out a sigh. "Well, that only took about five hours."
The edge in Vrakan's voice worried them. "Hold on…it is still fluctuating. Transa, what's the output say?"
"It reads oh five mark three…but, aw crap."
"Uh guys, it's at 300 now…damn it, it jumped to 350. Shut it off!" Bulma said with rising uergency.
"Cutting power. Damn that was a waste of an afternoon," Transa groaned. He and Vrakan huddled over a console and tried to figure out what went wrong.
Chi-Chi looked back into the wire casing. "Uh, guys, it looks like the plasma ate through some of the circuitry. We're gonna need…three short yellow wires, a long black one, and whatever this is." She pulled out a small, half-melted cube.
"Awww, does this mean you gotta go back to work?" Goku whined.
"I'm sorry honey, it looks like it. Hey, now you know how I feel when you and your friends are out training all day. You're just going to have to wait."
"Hey Vegeta, could you pass me that palm pad?" Bulma asked.
"Hmph, get it yourself, woman!" Vegeta just wanted to stare at her cute butt as she stomped over to get it.
"I swear Vegeta, you are the most useless man I know. At least Yamcha pretended to be helpful!"
Vegeta roared at the insult. "What, you dare compare me to that weak, pathetic, worthless excuse for a man?!"
It was Bulma's turn to enjoy the sight of her mate's anger. He was so hot when his muscles and veins bulged. She couldn't help but become slightly aroused at the sight of his ripped, powerful body. "If only he wouldn't act like this all the time," she thought wistfully, "then I'd actually be able to live with the man. Why can't he just let his guard down once and a while?"
"What are you staring at?" Vegeta's voice startled her from thought.
"Oh…noth, nothing. Go away, I have work to do."
"Whatever."
"Well, I guess I'm gonna go wander the ship. Maybe I can find something to eat." Goku kissed his wife on the cheek and turned to leave. Chi-Chi planted her hand on his shoulder and spun the fleeing man around.
"Make sure Gohan isn't getting into any trouble," she said, pointing a finger at him. "If he breaks anything, I'm holding you responsible. Besides, I still don't trust that Piccolo."
"Yes dear," Goku responded sheepishly.
"Isn't that cute, Kakkarot is whipped!" Vegeta sneered.
Chi-Chi shot a glance at the Saiyan Prince. "What was that?"
Vegeta considered making a comment, but relented instead. "Nothing, woman."
Chi-Chi turned back to Goku only to see his legs round the exit into the corridor.
"Aren't you going to follow your 'mortal enemy'?" Bulma asked the scowling Saiyan.
"I'd rather watch you break some more of this fancy equipment."
"Fine then, you can help fit some of the stuff you broke."
Vegeta groaned and made a feeble protest, but was inwardly glad as it gave him a chance to be near her, not matter how infuriating the woman may be. "Maybe I should break things more often…" The Saiyan Prince grinned at the thought.
* * * * *
Piccolo and Gohan were having a grand time on their own, meditating. After Gohan tired of that he and his large green friend began to meander about the ship, looking for things of interest. They found Trunks and Eve in the observatory, chatted for a bit, then continued on their way. Needless to say, Gohan did most of the talking.
But the Namek had noticed a difference within the human girl. Her energy signature was different, augmented in some way. He shot Trunks a glance, who responded with a knowing look. They didn't suspect anything sinister, rather it was mysterious. But Piccolo said nothing to the boy, knowing he would start asking questions and never stop.
While they continued on their way they happened to find Goku, who was thoroughly lost.
"Hey dad, what are you doing around here, I thought you were with mom."
"I don't know son. I was hungry, so I left your mother to her work. I took a wrong turn somewhere on deck 72, I think."
Piccolo sighed. "Goku, there is no deck 72. There are only 52 decks on this ship."
The jovial Saiyan laughed. "Well, that explains it!"
"Goku, you'd better stick with us. We wouldn't want you to walk out of an airlock or anything like that."
"Sure, Chi-Chi sent me to find you guys anyway. She doesn't want you two to cause any trouble. Besides, she and Bulma were fixing some plasma thingys. It was SO boring."
"Hey dad, can we go find Krillin? I think he said he was going with Yamcha and Tien to the…" Gohan's voice trailed off as he thought of the name. "BOQ."
"Barbecue! Great! I'm starving!" Gohan exclaimed.
Piccolo groaned and shook his head. "No Goku, the Bachelor Officer's Quarters. It's like a bar."
"Oh," Goku seemed somewhat disappointed. "Well, I can always go for a drink. Maybe they have buffalo wings."
Piccolo sighed, again, and Gohan chuckled. "C'mon dad, I think it's this way."
Father, son, and Namek began to make their way to the BOQ. On a different deck, halfway down the ship, Android 18 was sitting against a corridor wall. She was deep in thought, head between her knees, pondering her existence as a sentient being. Earlier in the training room she had been deeply embarrassed by that damn stupid human.
While they had been sparring, she made occasional glances at the small, bald man whom she was deeply fond of. Once in a while she would catch Krillin looking at her, then see him get pummeled by Trunks when his focus was shifted. 18 was disappointed that she didn't have the chance to spar with whom she wanted and was considering asking Jake for a partner swap.
Then he broke her wrist. Out of the blue he had completely shattered it, nearly blinding her with pain. Never before had she felt anything like it, but the biggest surprise was when she looked at her arm. Mixed with blood was some kind of lubricant, and protruding out of the broken skin were metallic fragments and sliced wiring.
She also saw how Krillin had looked at her, his face contorted with anger and surprise. Unlike the others, who were simply shocked, he had cared. Unfortunately, it drew attention to her body, and how different it really was. She was ashamed of it. Sure, being anatomically perfect looked good, but beneath the human exterior was a myriad of wiring, a neosteel skeleton, microelectronics, servos, and inorganic fluids. She wasn't like everyone else.
What exactly was she? She wasn't a true android, she knew that much. Androids didn't have functioning, organic systems. She had muscular, circulatory, endocrine, nervous, and limited digestive system. All if which were augmented in some way with technology. She also had a reproductive system, androids didn't reproduce. A cyborg…was that what she was?
18 shuddered at the thought. Neither woman nor machine, she was an artificial combination of both. What did that mean? Did she have a soul? Could she truly love? Was she real? All of these unanswered questions left her feeling despondent and alone. There was no one else like her. Would, could, Krillin ever love her?
A lone tear slowly fell down the pretty girl's cheek as she thought of the lonely prospect. She brought her head up to wipe the tear away, 18 found herself staring at a huge, hairless, gray, naked man. 18 pulled herself to her feet and instantly sprung back 15 feet down the corridor, slipping herself into a fighting stance. The large man didn't move, but he asked her something that caught her off guard.
"Why are you crying?"
Surprised, she still managed a hostile response. "That's none of your business. And I wasn't crying."
The man tilted his head to the side and blinked, but said nothing.
"Who are you?" 18 asked the strange man.
He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure how to respond. "I was once called Astor. Now, my official designation is Cyborg Sierra 421 Mark Three. You may call me whatever you wish."
18 was taken back. This man was a cyborg? Who created him? Where was he from? What was he doing here? She only managed to stutter out the words, "You're, you're a, a, cyborg?"
"Yes. As are you. But I have never seen your model before. Are you a new model? I was unaware they had designs advanced as yours in production. Who operated on you?"
Relaxing her fighting stance, she couldn't help but respond. "Dr…Dr. Gero."
Astor paused for a moment. "That name is not familiar to me, and he is not listed in any of the Coalition's data banks. You must be one of the new arrivals from Earth. Strange…you remind me of a woman I once knew…"
Silence hung in the air like an almost tangible specter. 18 had no idea how to respond to that comment, and Astor simply stood there, oblivious to the awkwardness.
Again he spoke, " Do you know where I can find some clothes?"
"Uh…no, no I don't."
"Very well then." Astor began to walk towards her, proceeding down the corridor. He paused when he was abreast of her. "You should not cry, it does not suit you," then moved on.
The entire situation was immensely strange. A huge, naked man meets her in the corridor, turns out to be a cyborg, compliments her, then moves on. He was a cyborg…but nothing like her. It seemed like he had lost most of whatever had been his personality. His voice, demeanor, and aura was that of a machine. She was reminded for an instant of Android 16. She slumped against the corridor, overcome with emotion for her fallen comrade. 18 once again fell into deep thought, trying to discern the meaning of her existence. If only she knew how futile the effort would prove to be.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
On the bridge, Jake took stock of the situation. Everything was running smoothly. In fact, his presence wasn't even required on the bridge. The core crew of the ship was quite experienced and fully manned, with the exception of the captain. When he was killed in dry-dock, there was no one to replace him, save for his XO, Jenneson. The lieutenant commander was well liked amongst the crew, and proved to be capable leader. If not for the special nature of this mission, he would be in command of the ship.
"Major?" The XO asked.
Jake realized with some embarrassment that he had been staring at the man for the past few minutes. Lost in his thoughts, he had fixed upon the XO's position.
"Er, nothing Jenneson, carry on."
"Aye, sir."
His thoughts turned to the mission at hand. Formulating a plan was rather easy, but many, many things could go wrong in its execution. There was nothing that could be done about it though, since planning for the unknown was nearly useless. All they had was a plan of entry and a plan of exit, and even those were subject to change. Everything in the middle was left up to fate or happenstance. His worst fear, however, was that by the time they met at the rendezvous they would find only a ghost ship.
That thought caused a knot to form in his stomach. Finding her dead would be…like finding his family all those years ago. Jake had to clench is fists and grit his teeth to keep from letting out a roar of anger. But the anger soon passed and was replaced with dread, an overwhelming sense of dread. He had to get off the bridge, and now.
"Jenneson!" he inadvertently shouted.
"Yes sir?" he said as he came to attention.
Jake, lowering his voice, continued. "You have the bridge, I'll be in the chamber." Before Jenneson could respond he turned and transmitted himself to the empty chamber. Since it was not in use, the room was utterly dark and the autolights had not come on since he did not enter through the doors. The faint sound of footsteps could be heard as he made his way to the center of the deserted chamber.
He was comforted greatly by the darkness. Ever since he was a child, he had always felt reassured when in total blackness. It had never scared him in the least, if anything, it made him curious. After all, there was nothing in the dark that wasn't there in the light. His eyes were useless in the absence of light, so he closed them and tried to focus on the emptiness around him. He had found that in doing so it often brought him peace of mind.
Not bothering to hover or sit down, Jake simply stood in the middle of the seeming nothingness, focusing on it's all-consuming sensation. But his mind would not rest. It raced with what-if scenarios, worries of what may go wrong, and…her. He could picture Resa in his mind's eye, her shimmering black hair, those twinkling jade eyes, her immensely powerful body, he could almost feel her there next to him. They had only been apart for less than two months, but it seemed like an eternity. All those cliches he had heard throughout his life about love seemed to take on a whole knew meaning now.
His mind began to settle at last, lost in the memories that came flooding back to him. The only thing missing was that one year when he had been recruited by Blue Six. Absolutely nothing after the last night in the Arena or before his recovery in the Blue Six medical ward could be remembered. But it was best not to dwell on that. Instead he focused on the early years, when he had first met Resa. She was so innocent then, unlike himself. Being human and spending most of his later childhood in an orphanage had caused him to be self-sufficient. For years after Vertana Prime he had nightmares, and they had tormented him every night up until the day he met her. The past, or at least, the past he wanted to remember was comforting. It was just he and Resa, and they were happy.
Jake's eyes snapped open. That feeling had returned again. Even after all these years, he could remember it distinctly. It was the same feeling he had the night of his transformation. He could swear those eyes were staring at him again, burning a hole into his soul, paralyzing him with fear. This time, however, it was different. He tried to fight back. His mind began lashing out at the invisible demon, trying to free itself from the monster's icy grip. For a second, a brief second, their minds touched.
Jake had never known such terror in all his life.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
And there is the end of Chap. 24. Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions or comments. Your reviews are greatly appreciated. Oh, and check out the Chap. 23 lemon scene, if that thing suits your tastes. I hope you like this little cliffhangar, and I can gaurantee I have a few surprises in store for you all. --Epsilon