Kishi: HA! Guess who's back?

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Teki Muyo!

Chapter 3

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It wasn't the most ideal scene to wake up to. Tenchi was kneeling, staring at a livid Aeka, her hand pointed at a helpless derelict, energy preparing to kill him. Katsuhito stood to the side, relaxed in the way that one becomes before motion is required. Washyuu's eyes were alight with curiosity, her laptop running diagnostic displays on the pearl hockey puck just to her left.

That was when the stranger awoke. His eyes raced around the room, taking in every detail, every person and their effects. They finally rested on Aeka. "Aeka-hime-sama," he said quietly. "One is honored by your presence."

"Shinki Omirei," she replied, her voice cold, "Fallen Knight of the Empire of Jurai."

"What? This guy's a knight?" asked Tenchi.

"Of course," said Washyuu, her eyes narrowing in comprehension. "Shinki Omirei, hero of the Empire. A decorated soldier and accomplished warrior who disappeared when the L'ke broke diplomatic ties. I guess this confirms the rumors that he switched sides."

"Before I kill him, I think I deserve to know why," said Aeka, her red eyes hard.

"I have only and ever done what I believed to be right," said Omirei. "It earned me decorations and applause, and now it earns me hate and scorn. I can tell you, however, that I had the Empire's best interests in mind."

"How dare you call betrayal a benevolent act!" she snarled, the ball of energy lashing forward. Omirei rolled suddenly, casting off the sheets. He sprang to his feet and stepped forward, his hand moving toward the princess' throat. A surprisingly firm hand stopped the knife-like strike, and he turned to see Katsuhito looking at him with a deadpan gaze. Aeka's eyes had a panicked determination, her own hands having moved to try to catch his.

"Umm…" Tenchi said, his hand having just reached Tenchi-ken, "can't we just talk about this?"

"If the Crown Prince and Princess can bear to hear me, I will speak."

Katsuhito raised an eyebrow. "That's right," said Omirei. "There are very few who can stop my techniques, and none of the other Knights have disappeared from Jurai." He bowed. "One is honored by your presence."

Katsuhito shook his head. "There's no need for that anymore. I'm just a priest now. I have forsaken all titles and bequeathed them to Tenchi."

Omirei turned to the Japanese youth. "Then this is our first meeting, your Highness," he said. "I apologize that it must be under these circumstances."

His face looked so earnestly repentant that Tenchi had to quell his immediate thought. "Maa, maa," he said. "Nobody's hurt. Why don't we go downstairs and you can tell us your story?"

"As you wish," he said, standing upright and grimacing slightly. "Odd," he said. "I feel sluggish, suddenly."

"Sorry," said Washyuu, smirking. She tapped a command on her keyboard. "Just a little precautionary measure."

---

Kevin Darcy stared at the massed reports in front of him. "Ugh. Why, oh why, do the Japanese have to be so thorough?"

"Now, now," replied his aide. "If we didn't have their reports, we'd have had to comb all of southern Honshu to find it."

"I know, but actual data's proving to be a pain. What do I care about the barometrics in Okayama?"

His aide smiled sympathetically. "They're only trying to help."

Darcy sighed, running his hand through his blonde hair, idly shifting the few strands of gray. At 39, some in the CIA thought he should retire to full deskwork. When he heard them, he would take them down to the shooting range with him and show them the steadiness of his hand, the cold efficiency with which he could pick off the vital points on a body. His icy blue eyes would catch the flash of the gun and for a split second he'd have a crazy glare in his eyes, and by that time there was no interest in letting him out.

This was not to say he was a sinister man. He always had a Joe Everyman sort of air, just like all the field operatives. It was just that he never lost that candid acceptance of his surroundings – not even when he had to kill or be killed.

"Well, regardless," he said, "I think we can definitely pin it down to within a hundred square miles." He delineated a circle between Hiroshima and Okayama.

"Satellite imaging detected an unusual visual anomaly right here," said the aide, pointing to the northeasterly side. She brought out some photos from the manila folder she was holding.

Darcy looked at them. "I think this is it," he said, finally. "Unless trees going down in a straight line is normal for this region."

"Shall I notify headquarters then?"

"At once. Advise immediate action; we've got to get our hands on it first!"

---

The family gathered in the living room. Everyone had managed to garner a seat somewhere, with the exception of Omirei, standing in front of the television.

Sasami's eyes lit up when she saw him. "'Rei-chan!" she cried joyfully, running forward and giving him a hug.

Omirei, for his part, looked surprised. "Sasami-hime-sama!" came his startled voice. "One is glad to see you again." He returned the embrace somewhat awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she was done hugging him. "I thought you still had stuff to do back home."

"I did," he replied, his voice soft. "But my duty called me away. I never thought I'd see you again, to be honest."

She looked with astonished eyes. "Why would you think something like that?"

Aeka's eyes hardened when she saw the two of them, but her voice retained its calm: "Sasami-chan, would you like to sit with me?"

"Sure!" chirped Sasami, and Aeka's eyes were calm when Sasami saw her. Once they were all seated, Ryoko to her rafter, Washyuu on her cushion, Aeka, Sasami, Kiyone and Mihoshi to the couch and Tenchi off to the side, Omirei nodded.

"I trust you all know the media's spin on events – my betrayal, and the unprovoked advance of the mysterious L'ke."

The looks on the assembled faces ranged from comprehension to cheerful ignorance. "Good," he said. "Now let me tell you the real story."

"I trust you are not too interested in my personal background, and it is fairly uninteresting. Suffice to say that, as of 500 years ago, I was a Knight in the service of the Jurai Empire. Jurai had, by this time, recovered from the damages inflicted by Ryoko's attack."

A pained look passed over Ryoko's features as he continued, "It was at this point that one of our probes we sent out for deep space exploration returned to us. But it bore the oddest information, containing stellar cartography more detailed than we'd ever seen, more detailed than it was initially programmed to collect. It showed a sizable cache of star systems all under the control of a previously unknown political entity."

"The L'ke," supplied Aeka, helpfully.

"Yes. We dispatched envoys to speak with them, yet most were sent back fruitless until finally, there was a tentative trade agreement. That one agreement took a hundred years to secure, and even then it wasn't anything more than agricultural goods. But it was a start, and soon their immense transports filled our ports with goods. Then we encouraged their involvement in politics, and to a certain extent they accepted this, sending their scouts and envoys throughout known space."

"But there was a certain oddity in this – the L'ke would never let anything into their space. There was no vehemence or paranoia in their replies, just a flat statement that nobody could intrude. All attempts were intercepted, disabled, and sent back with no casualties. There were objections to this, but since the L'ke were entitled to their rights and they never killed, nobody ever pressed for war. 3 centuries passed this way."

He sighed. "This is where the media and I part ways. The media says that one hundred years ago I resigned my place in the Knighthood for reasons obscure. Fifty years later, I'm at the head of a fleet attacking the Empire. But there are things that either they missed or were censored out."

"A year before I left, a blight struck the trees of Jurai." There were gasps of shock around the room.

"That's impossible," gasped Aeka. "The Tree of Life spreads nutrients throughout the soil, and they draw directly from it, not to mention the psychic link they have… it can't be."

"That's what we thought at first as well. So we investigated it. It took us a few months, but we concluded eventually that some sort of massive will was being brought to bear against the Tree of Life, interfering with its psychic links to the trees. Nobody else had that sort of capability, we thought, until we remembered that the L'ke wouldn't tell us anything about their own capabilities. I volunteered to sneak inside of their territory and ascertain the truth for myself."

Washyuu looked at him critically. "It took you fifty years to find anything?"

"It took me less than that," he replied. "But I can't tell you what I found."

"Then how do we trust you?" demanded Aeka, leaning forward intently, her eyes hard.

Omirei's face grew pained. "Listen," he said. "We always believed the L'ke were isolationist solely based on the fact that they have an incredibly bloody history in their early stages. However, their technology, philosophy, and overall civilization were ridiculously advanced even at that stage. The L'ke are keeping something. It is beautiful and terrible, could save us and destroy us, and they will let none have it. They don't believe any should have it. They tried to destroy it once, but all attempts failed, so now they protect it at all cost."

"That doesn't answer the question. How do we know we can trust you?"

"Sadly," he sighed, "you don't."

---

"So the anomaly's been tracked to the Okayama area?"

"Yes, Prime Minister. Our bugs have picked up CIA deployment plans for the area."

"Send out orders to the SDF. We'll have them deploy and detain the agents and the anomaly. Let's try to keep this quiet."

"Yes, sir."

---

"So what were you doing here on Earth?" asked Tenchi.

"That is another long answer." Omirei's lips curled. "Perhaps you should take a break from my ramblings."

There were stretches and somewhat muted conversations. Washyuu looked at him speculatively, while Aeka began to whisper to Tenchi. Ryoko teleported down and draped herself over the hapless lad, but her expression spoke of a certain focus as she joined in. It wasn't to last; as Omirei watched, Ryoko muttered something and began to snigger, at which point Aeka began trembling from some suppressed emotion. Somehow, Omirei had a good idea of what it was.

"You defected from Jurai to the L'ke," said Washyuu, breaking off the banter. "You were sent there originally to ascertain if they had a cure, and instead found a secret. But that still doesn't answer the question – can the L'ke save Jurai?"

"Yes."

"So why haven't they?"

"I cannot say."

"You do realize that we're going to be suspicious of you as long as you continue to hold your secrets," said Kiyone.

"I expect no less. After all, you haven't come to the most important question."

"Why are you here?" asked Tenchi.

"I am here to take one of you back with me to the L'ke homeworld."

There was a pause, until Ryoko lifted Aeka out of the sofa by the scruff of the neck and said, "You can have her!"

"Put me down!" squawked Aeka, expanding the forcefield and blowing Ryoko off.

Before they could enter into earnest conflict, Omirei's voice quietly interjected: "I didn't come for her." They paused and looked at him. "I am loyal," he continued. "Even when I decided to fight under the L'ke banner, I never forsook my oath to stand guardian over the royalty. I have no intention of doing so now."

"But if it's not the Princess," asked Mihoshi, "then who--?"

He looked at Washyuu. "Sensei," he intoned formally, "your mind is the most brilliant ever known. Even the L'ke bow down before you. Your mind may be the only one capable of unraveling the fullness of our secret, which we are unable to comprehend in its fullness. I ask, in the name of the L'ke Nation: help us."

He knelt down at her feet, failing to see the astonished expression in her eyes.

---

Sunlight filtered down through the trees, bright heavenly pillars holding up a green ceiling. It generally fell without rebellious reflection or refraction, but today was a different day. Light fell – and reflected audaciously off of a smooth black hull. It was amazingly smooth – not a single blemish marred its surface. The area around it, however, had been flattened by its arrival, including a sizable crater in the mountain.

The normal serenade of birdsong was silent that day, for some reason. It may have had something to do with the men and women quietly making their way through the brush. That wasn't to say that they couldn't have been quieter – there was just no reason for it.

They stepped out of the shade and into the sunlight, obtaining a good look at the ship with its curves, its gentle upward slope, its arrow shape.

Darcy lifted his cell phone to his ear. "Target acquired."

---

"So what are we going to do?"

"I for one don't see why we should go with him," said Aeka.

"It does sound an awful lot like kidnapping someone," said Washyuu. "Why did you have a fleet of ships with you?"

"Jurai keeps a very close eye on the Sol system, for obvious reasons," replied Omirei. "If even a single L'ke ship was sighted in the area, they would have sent a fleet over here. And, sadly, the cloaking organ I use on my ship is a prototype, so I couldn't hold it long enough to get here and get out again."

"And even if you'd requested we come to you, Jurai would've still interfered," reasoned Washyuu. "A battle was unavoidable."

"How do we know that this isn't you taking a hostage?" asked Tenchi, leaning forward.

"If all of you were to come with me," replied Omirei with a bleak smile, "I would be the hostage. Do you honestly think that one being can be effective against the seven of you?"

"I still think this is a bad idea," said Aeka, her voice dubious. "He could have some ships hidden that we don't know about. We could be walking into a trap."

"I hate to side with the princess on this one," said Ryoko, "but she's got a point. It ain't worth the risk."

Washyuu looked at her daughter meaningfully. Ryoko looked away for a sulky second before glaring back defiantly. Washyuu only smiled.

"Wait a minute," said Kiyone. "What he's said makes sense. We could say he's in GP custody and escort him back to the L'ke territory. If what he says is true, the war could be over and done with sooner than we all expected."

"But at what cost?" asked Aeka. "It might end with Sasami's ransom, and my own as well."

"Or you could go as an ambassador of peace," replied Kiyone. "We may not have to fight at all if we play our cards right. I think we should go."

The set look on Kiyone's face almost shattered when Mihoshi added, "If Kiyone's for it, I'll be for it too!"

Tenchi looked as though he were about to say something before a small voice interrupted him.

"I think we should go," said Sasami quietly. Her voice was steady and her face determined.

"Sasami…" said Aeka, her voice and expression mildly astonished.

"Omirei was always there for us whenever the other Knights were away. He was one of daddy's first, and he always stood by him no matter what. There's gotta be a reason for what he did, and I wanna know."

Omirei looked at Tenchi, who let out a breath. "It's Washyuu-chan's choice," he said, "but no double play."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He turned to look at Washyuu.

"Well, I'm curious. Let's go."

Omirei blinked. "That's it?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I'm sure Ryoko could handle anything you could throw at us, so it's no big deal."

Omirei bowed. "Very well. We'll depart when you're ready."

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Kishi: Wow, but writing this thing is taking longer than I thought. I do apologize about that, I really do.

Tenchi Muyo and all related paraphernalia are copyrighted to Masaki Kojishima, and distributed by AIC and Pioneer.

The only things that are mine are those things that I perceive as original, and thusly are mine. If you recognize an idea that you came up with first, all credit goes to you.

These days, it's a toss-up as to where anyone can contact me, but there should be an e-mail address in my profile...