Warning for slight language – Kitten has a bad mouth. ^__~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What Happens Now?

            Kitten stared at the door to the ship, waiting for the others to return.  She had raised her ki in a series of rapid spikes, alerting the others in code that they should return to the ship as soon as they could.  It wasn't a red alert, but it would stop Xe and Sassy from spending extra time destroying things.  The twins had responded right away - they had just been toying around anyway - and were on their way.  Hali was rounding up a few last survivors while Dae finished them off, having joined her when his own round proved easy.  Xe was apparently destroying things still, whether or not Kitten wanted him back.  He'd be back as soon as he was satisfied with the death of all life on the planet - no sooner, no later.

            She had just stuck the Thing, for lack of a better name, in a regen-tank, and was waiting to report her actions to the rest of the group.  Hopefully they wouldn't mind what she'd done, and would be willing to listen.  In fact, if she was very lucky, she might be able to stall off telling them until they were out in space with no other options but to keep it with them until it was fully healed.

Granted, that plan might backfire if they got out into space and it turned out the creature was a danger.  In fact, considering her karma it would turn out to be a Saiya-jin or something, and then would she get it…  But to the extent of anyone's knowledge, the Saiya-jin race was extinct, and that was quite a good thing.  They had been completely merciless, and very strong.  Not as strong as the Faceless Ones, of course - but they'd been mostly dead by then, so it hadn't really mattered.  However, their potential was uncharted, and they were more ruthless than any other race in existence - and that was saying something.  If she had somehow managed to bring a Saiya-jin on board, at the very least she would be cast out, and worst-case scenario would be that everyone would die. 

But, as often happened, she was letting her imagination run away with her again.  She couldn't possibly have brought aboard a Saiya-jin, as her thoughts had just catalogued - they were an extinct species.  If only the others would get here!  She hated having time to dwell on her actions, to speculate the consequences… she usually gave herself a headache.  As if summoned by that thought, she felt the growing ache behind her eyes.

"Why don't those worthless asses hurry the fuck up?!"

"Maybe because we were busy eradicating all life from the face of the planet?" a lilting voice drawled from the now open doorway.  6 feet and 1 inch of glistening gold scales leaned casually on the doorframe, face and body in shadow.

"Or maybe it's because you're old and slow, Sassy.  It would explain a lot," drawled a slightly deeper voice from directly behind the first.

"Well if I'm old and slow, what does that leave you as, Ryl?" Sassy tossed over her shoulder as she entered the room and flopped down onto one of the dark leather chairs with a sigh.  Her twin followed her in, glinting a darker gold as he shut the door behind him and made his way to the seat opposite Kitten.

"Young, spry, and handsome?" he suggested, throwing Kitten a grin as he put his boots up on the low table that claimed the space in the center of the six chairs.

Kitten arched an eyebrow in reply, deciding that it would be best not to comment on the strangeness of arguing with your twin on age.  Having lived two years with the five people who could most likely classify as the most eccentric collection known to the universe, one got used to weird conversations.

"So Kitten, why'd you call us back?  We were enjoying ourselves."

"I'd prefer to wait until the others get back - I only want to explain this once." She said with a small smile.  "It might get a bit complicated if Hali doesn't hear it first."

Sassy and Ryl exchanged a glance, looking very interested.  From what Kitten could tell they were probably speculating what the news could be.  It was a bit annoying when they started these telepathic conversations, really, but it was useless to try and talk to them now.  With an irritated sigh, Kitten sent out her ki again, and was pleased to find that Hali and Dae were almost to the ship, and Xe wasn't far behind.

"Kitten?  Did you do something stupid again?" came the concerned voice of Dae at the door.  "I hope you didn't blow up anything important this time, we already have repairs to worry about…" He trailed off as he noted the presence of the twins and the absence of the thick smoke that usually accompanied Kitten's accidental destruction of something vital.  She could see the worry ebb away, replaced by the easy grin that was usually present on his face when they weren't on duty.  He took a seat next to Kitten as Hali silently slipped in beside Ryl.

Barely a moment passed before the door opened again.  Xe stepped into the ship, ducking to fit through the door.  He stood silently for a moment, surveying the already gathered members of their group.  Kitten smiled as he glided to the seat beside her and sat down.  Scooting forward a bit in her chair, Kitten leaned in intently, sweeping her gaze around the circle to rest on Hali.  She gave a deferential nod to the chief before beginning.

"I found something," she stated without preamble, knowing that none was necessary and if given it would just be taken as stalling.  "When I was doing a survey of the land around the ship, I read a decently high ki a few miles off that was falling fast.  I went to check it out and found a creature wounded and dying on the ground.  It isn't a Keman, and it appears to be a child, though I couldn't tell because I don't know what race it is.  It was dying, so I brought it back to the ship, put it in a regen-tank, and ki-locked the room.  What should we do with it?"

There was a moment of complete silence as the others stared at her.  Her eyes twinkled slightly in quickly subdued amusement at the look Dae was giving her, as if he couldn't decide if she was joking or just plain stupid.  Xe didn't look as if he cared in the least, just lounging back on the chair with his eyes closed.  Ryl and Sassy were both looking at her incredulously, though Sassy appeared more amused, and Ryl appeared a bit thoughtful.  It was Hali she was worried about, though.  Hali had the power in the group, and her decisions weren't questioned.  If she said kill Kitten, there would be little hesitation.  Kitten hoped that the others' expressions meant a good thing, and that Hali reflected the same emotions. 

It's difficult when the leader shows no emotion.  Kitten mused, watching Hali's eyes for any sign of what she felt.  If only she would say something…

"You were stupid, Kitten."

Alright, if only she would say something positive

"But there's nothing we can do about it now.  No, I won't kill you for something so trivial.  Yes, I could tell you were worried.  I'll take a look at it as soon as it's better.  Let's move out, dead planets bug me."

And that was all there was to it.  The crew was in action as soon as the words left Hali's lips, and Kitten grinned cheerfully at the older woman as she headed towards the engine room.  Hali didn't smile, but Kitten saw the answering glint of amusement that so often sparkled in the Chief's eyes.  She hadn't really been worried, she knew the crew better than that.  Outsiders might see them as blood thirsty, evil, backstabbing mercenaries, but Kitten knew better.  She knew that they were in reality blood thirsty, sorta-evil mercenaries - but there was no backstabbing involved unless it was referring to assassination.  They didn't turn on their own, and they didn't turn on a client unless the client tried to cheat them.  They did have some honor after all…

Everyone fell to their jobs with the usual cheerful banter.

Hali sighed to herself as her crew went to work.  She should have known that Kitten would pull some sort of stunt on this planet… she'd been far too quiet for the last two missions.  Ever since the young mechanic had joined the group, things had gone from mostly business to partially business.  The Saeoli-jin was way too mischievous for her own good, and she often instituted problems of some sort.  But Halaen Miath was not known for patience falsely.  Actually, the girl was funny and sweet, and Hali liked her a lot.  Everyone liked her, and it wasn't as if the others weren't just as playful and inclined to mischief…  Besides, Kitten's intelligence and skills made her invaluable to the little party.  Though, that was saying nothing about her common sense…

Curiosity filled the Pyreat-jin, and she wondered when the creature that Kitten found would wake up.  She could only hope that it wouldn't cause too much trouble…

Gohan breathed in deeply, relishing the taste of fresh air breathed in without pain.  He had been awake for nearly an hour, and was beginning to wonder if he should raise his ki and alert them to his wakefulness.  He knew that would be a terrible tactical error, and it was only the thought of what Piccolo would say if he could see Gohan now that kept the little boy calm.  "Don't be an idiot, kid.  Choose your ground and stand it.  If your opponent is stronger, you need all the advantages you can get.  Know the battleground inside and out if you get the opportunity.  If you have surprise on your side, so much the better - don't give it away."  The lecture would probably follow the same lines as those - as so many (rather curt) lectures had in the past.  The Namek took battle seriously, and for a good reason.  At this time, Gohan could only hope to make his mentor proud.

A small smile gracing his otherwise blank face, the child slipped into a light meditation, remaining fully aware of his surroundings so as not to lose his small advantage.

Kitten sighed in satisfaction as she stepped back from the inner control panel.  She had finally isolated the problem and cleaned out the computer.  They'd been orbiting the planet for nearly two hours, waiting for the repairs to be done, and it was about time that they were able to leave.  Wiping a bit of sweat off her brow, she headed toward the bridge at a brisk walk.  Still in her greasy coveralls, the ice blue girl made sure not to touch anything.  Kais save her if anyone sat in her grease and ruined an outfit…

Her silvery white hair was pulled into a tight braid and coiled loosely around her head.  It was her primary vanity and she would be most unhappy if the waist length mass of silken strands got dirty - or worse, caught in the machinery, forcing her to cut it.  Her eyes crinkled slightly at the edges as she smirked at the ludicrous picture of herself with Hali's haircut.  Her ear twitched slightly in response to her laughter, and she swiveled them to an upright, attentive position, listening for the others.  Her ears were actually one of the sources of her nickname, as they greatly resembled a cat's - the others included the die-hard curiosity, the playfulness, and the quirky love of milk and balls of yarn.  Laying her ear back into a more relaxed position, she continued on the march.  She walked with the quick, purposeful strides of someone with somewhere to go, her long legs swinging with an easy gait.

She reached the bridge deck within minutes and stuck her head in.

"Yo!  Anyone in here?"

"No," came the muffled reply from the corner.

"Oh, that's too bad." She said with a dramatic sigh, "I was going to announce that everything's set to go, but it looks like we'll be stuck here until someone comes back on duty…"

The ship was rocketing out of orbit before she finished her sentence.  Laughing, Kitten waved at Sassy as she turned around to head to her workroom, intent on getting back to the more important matters of creating weapons of mass destruction.

A/N::  Lexi: *cracks neck* another chapter done!  This one doesn't have many elements to explain, though we ought to mention that the Gohan portions aren't chronological with the Kitten portions.  In fact, Gohan is still unconscious in the regen tank – he's just in there so it isn't /all/ Kitten then /all/ Gohan.  At least, *grins* that's Kat's excuse.

Kat: Not an excuse!

Lexi: Whatever. ^__^

Kat: *rolls eyes* Anyway, just to mention the age thing – that comes from a conversation my twin brother and I had a little while before I wrote this.  It was quite amusing to say the least…

Lexi: *rolls eyes and points to Kat, doing the cookoo sign*