Disclaimer: DB/DBZ/DBGT belong to Toriyama and other rich Japanese guys, not me.
A Brief Moment in Time
Chapter 3: Coup de tat

Bulma opened her eyes to the sight of Vegeta standing before her struggling with his resolve. At first she was shocked and confused. It wasn't a dream. He's really alive. I really did cross dimensions. She was about to say something when Vegeta raised his hand and powered up a Ki blast. Instinctively she knew that the blast was meant for her. She could feel a sense of horror begin to well up from deep within her at the thought of dieing, but years of living in fear and not knowing when she would die from the androids had prepared her well for the moment before she would finally leave the realm of the living. Bulma suppressed the feeling of horror with practiced ease and her fiery spirit made one last valiant attempt to reassert itself. That Bastard, He's the same egotistical ruthless murderer. I'll… However, looking at him her heart failed. It was the last thing she had ever expected, to die at the hands of the man she loved. It was in a way, crushing. The fire that lit into her was extinguished as fast as it had come. No more than a final gasp from the soul of a woman who had been beaten down one too many times in her life. Tired, she thought, I'm so tired of life. At least it will soon be over. Regretfully, she closed her eyes to await her destiny.

"Bulma, I still love you."

His words seared away the gray fog of regret that hung in her mind. For her it was something she would have never expected him to admit ever in any circumstance. Yet, here he had just whispered the words that she had always wanted to hear from him. Looking up she could see a faint sheen of moisture in his eyes as he continued to struggle with himself. Tears? Regret? This is not the Vegeta I knew. Could a part of him truly have loved me? She couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of it all. Here in her last moments of life she had discovered that perhaps just perhaps that Vegeta had the capability to love her and that she had failed to bring it out. Again she looked up, this time making eye contact with him. She forced herself to give him a smile. It was one of those smiles that a person makes when their heart is breaking apart on the inside, when they have learned that a loved one had passed or when they find out about an act of betrayal from one whom they trusted absolutely. It was a weak, sickly smile that conveyed all the hurt and sorrow that she had penned up within her for almost two decades. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and yet and yet she did not shed one. She was now determined to die as she had lived, in dignity and with self-respect, not a broken shell of a woman.

Vegeta prepared to unleash the blast that would finally put to rest a chapter of his life that he had thought long closed. An instant before he released his ki, he saw her look up at him with her deep blue eyes. The look stopped him in his tracks. All coherent thought vanished from his mind as memories long suppressed came to haunt him. He remembered their time together during those all too brief years that he had remained on Chikyuu. The barbed comments tinged with a sort of affection, the silent walk through an orchard laced with the soft touch of an early winter snow, a night spent on a remote forest covered island in the north of the world gazing upon stars, and revealing secrets long buried in the depths of his mind. He could almost smell the sharp scent of sweat after a night of passionate revelry and feel the cool caresses of the western wind flowing across the contours of their melded bodies. These memories poured, like a raging river, through his mind smashing the barriers he had long kept in place. Unable to keep his ki controlled his blast dissipated into thin air.

He looked at her, then. He could see her smile her mirthless smile. Vegeta could not miss the sadness that emanated from the woman before him. She had changed, and not just slightly. Three decades ago, he knew her as a vibrant, self-assured woman, yet prone to moments of panic when situations that she could not deal with arose. The woman he remembered had an outgoing, bold and striking beauty. It had been bright, fiery, and had reflected the character of her spirit. Now before him stood the same woman. He could not mistake her appearance, let alone her ki. He knew it as well as he knew his own even after all these years. Yet, she was so different. She had not panicked at the sight of him ready to kill her, and he knew she did not mistake his intent. Despite being on the verge of death she had held herself up with dignity and had not even flinched. She had been cool, calm, and collected. These were not words that could have been used to describe the Bulma of Namek. Her looks had also changed. She no longer possessed a bright and striking beauty as she did in her youth. Rather, it was now subtle and suppressed. That she was still stunning as a middle-aged woman was undeniable. But where she once had the fiery beauty of a burning spirit under the hot globe of noon, now it was a refined beauty that shone like cool, quiet starlight. Her eyes were wells of deep sorrow and loneliness that glimmered with tears. And yet, she held them under complete control, for not a single tear fell. Vegeta and Bulma held each other in their respective gazes for a long moment trying to gleam a spark that could ignite a reunion of sorts. In the end they failed for both were still wary of the other and the memories were raw in their minds. Bulma lowered her head and broke eye contact with the Saiyan Prince. It was a victory of sorts for her since she had gotten to live through the day, yet in a way she wished that she hadn't, for Vegeta had dredged up the years of sorrow and loneliness from the inner recesses of her mind.

"Bulma," she heard him say. His voice was his usual one - low, crisp, and abrupt. "You will do what is necessary to return yourself to your home. I will see that your needs are provided for. Hope that our paths do not cross again."

With that said Vegeta turned and began to walk out the door of the small room. As he did this, he expected her to break. A part of him wanted to see her break, to see her suffer the sweet agonizing pain of heartbreak as he had suffered it. Her response was hardly one that he was expecting.

"Thank you Vegeta," was all she said as her eyes bored into this broad muscular back. Vegeta merely grunted and left the room, and though he may have physically left the room, his thoughts were most definitely still with a blue haired woman who sat quietly in thought in the middle of clean, Spartan room.

Later that day…

"M'lady?" said a young human soldier as he walked in with a plate of food, "I've brought you some food." He was over six foot tall and probably weighed a solid two hundred and twenty pounds. Though it was difficult to judge since muscle mass weighs much more than fat. He had sandy blond hair, green eyes and wore a black skin suit under his white armor. "Thank you," replied Bulma hastily. She had still been lost in thought and had no idea how much time had elapsed since Vegeta had visited her. Suddenly she realized she was extremely hungry. Picking up a fork she quickly began to devour the food. After a few moments she noticed that the soldier had not left the room. "Are you suppose to be here?" she inquired politely. She appreciated his bringing her food but she really didn't want to see anyone right now. "The Emperor ordered me to see to your needs m'lady," answered the soldier, "I'm also your bodyguard. It's a dangerous world these days."

"Really? Well how about you answer some questions for me. umm What's your name?"

"Saxon. m'lady and ummm sorry about earlier," said the soldier hesitantly. He had shoved the gag in her mouth when he had thought she had been an assassin and that really was a bad way to start off an acquaintanceship.

"Earlier? I don't believe I've met you. Anyway tell me. are you human? You look human," asked Bulma curiously .

"I am human, m'lady, from Chikyuu itself. Though I consider Imperia-sei home now."

"Really! From Chikyuu? Humans live here?" asked Bulma. She was thoroughly intrigued now with the situation of this universe. Somehow man-kind had managed to get out into space and be a part of some form of empire. Oh and please stop calling me m'lady."

"Yes. The first humans out in space were the Capsule Expedition led by Krillan no Koremochi to Namek. Not much is known about it but it's the first voyage of humans out into deep space. Some ten years ago some adventurers from the Empire stumbled onto Chikyuu and it's been protectorate since then."

"What's a protectorate, like a state or province?"

"Oh no. A protectorate is a place that is like a world that is under the empire's protection but not a part of it. It's definitely not a province, but a lot of Chikyuu-jins are merchants and soldiers in the empire. You're a human too right?"

"Yes I am. I've seemed to suffer some memory loss so I'm trying to figure out what's going on," lied Bulma smoothly. She didn't want to let people know that dimensional travel was possible since it might cause damage to this continuum. Bulma knew that Trunks would probably be working feverishly to find a way to get her back so she decided that the best thing to do was to stick around and maybe even see some sights. It had been a long time since she had done anything just for fun or even went as a tourist somewhere. "Do more humans live out here?" she continued.

"Quite a few serve in the Imperial military but only a few live here on Imperia-sei. There are a few of us with ki in the service of the Emperor and there's a small merchant quarter down in the city. Most of us here are here to stay though. There's very little traffic between here and Chikyuu."

"Oh. interesting. Well do you think you can show me around the city, Saxon?" she asked sweetly, "I've never been here and would like to see some things."

"Sure m'la.. Umm." He didn't know what to call her since she had not asked him not to address her in a formal manner and he didn't know her name.

"Oh I'm sorry my name is..." Bulma didn't finish as she suddenly realized that she had been quite famous prior to the androids coming to the world. If there were no androids and humanity had made it to the stars then wouldn't she be one of the leaders? If she gave this young man her real name he could possibly recognize it. "My name is Eiko Ikegami."

"Well Eiko, where would you like to go?" Bulma, aka Eiko, simply smirked. "I'd like to go take a look at the shopping district." Saxon's reaction to this was quite predictable. A look of horror crossed his face as he knew that hours of walking and carrying things now loomed in his future. Bulma let out a small chuckle at this. "Do me a favor Saxon and keep your eye out for a young human man with lavender hair. He's my son and he's supposed to meet with me before I head home."

"Sure Mrs. Ikegami. Oh. umm I hate to ask this but do you think you could do me a favor since you are heading for Chikyuu?" He asked with a young man's pleading eyes. A look that was very hard for older people to resist. Bulma suddenly realized that he thought that her home was Chikyuu. Of course her home was Chikyuu, it was just Chikyuu in a different dimension.

"If it's possible for me to accomplish."

"Oh. I was hoping you could drop these two letters off at the nearest post office when you got to Chikyuu. Imperial mail to Chikyuu is rare and far between, no one really heads out that way much. Anyway it's my little sister's wedding in two months and I've managed to get leave to see her get married. One's for her telling her that I'm coming and the other is just a hello to my parents. Please can you drop these off?"

"Sure," she said before even realizing it. She decided that she could go to Chikyuu as soon as Trunks found her. The two of them could take a nice family vacation and check out some sights before they took the time machine home. She could drop off the letters and as long as they didn't meet anyone they knew, they would be fine.

"Thanks a lot Mrs. Ikegami," said the young soldier now thoroughly enthused. "and I know just a place where a lady like yourself would love to go shopping. I need to pick out a gift for my sister too. Kill two birds with one stone as they say back home." "Ok Saxon calm down," Bulma laughed. It was amazing how something little could sometimes bring such joy to those far from home. Bulma put her food tray to the side and got up to follow him out the door.

"Did Vegeta give me any money?"

"Vegeta? Who's that?" asked the puzzled Soldier.

"Oh. I meant the Emperor," said Bulma not understanding why the soldier was puzzled by the use of Vegeta's name.

"Oh, the Emperor. So that's his name. Heh, don't worry I can keep my mouth shut. Yeah, he said anything you wanted you were to get so I'm sure we can write it off as a governmental expense."

"I see," smirked Bulma, "Well I guess we'll have to get your sister something nice then right?" She nudged him with her elbow and watched him break into the silliest grin. Chuckling, she closed the door behind her and followed the young soldier.

"Now why doesn't anyone know the Emperor's name?"

"Oh. I have no idea. He's just the Emperor, proper noun of course." he replied. As they walked down the hall they continued to chat about the workings of the empire and other less important things. Together they walked out for an afternoon of merriment.

While Bulma and Sgt. Saxon were shopping…

"Your Imperial Majesty," came the chorus from the room as Vegeta entered. He walked quickly to his throne and stood before it resplendent in his regalia. His armor was gray white, yet it was polished to such a degree that it reflected the light in the room. A red cape flowed around his shoulders and his blue skin suit was made out of the finest materials known to man. He wore his usual white gloves and white boots. The throne itself was modest and slightly Spartan. Yet, it was modest in a manner that exuded power. The ceiling was studded with diamonds; each representing a planet of the empire and the walls were carved from aphanitic rock. Though the decoration was modest the room was large. It was about the size of a city block and could be filled with hundreds of people.

At the moment there were quite a few less people. There were about thirty or so of Vegeta's senior counselors and twenty of his praetorian guards. "Report on the Orion conspiracy," commanded Vegeta to the room.

"Your majesty we are still working around the clock to find the other conspirators," said a pink scaly type of creature that looked quite a lot like Dodoria.

"Your majesty the only thing we know about them is that they have destroyed four planets. There is no motive, no methodology, nothing," said another orange humanoid with gray hair. He was not stupid. He looked carefully at the Emperor hoping that he could spot the warning signs that meant the Emperor was about to lose his temper.

"Your majesty," said a third councilor, "the Orion conspiracy is the least of our worries. We have serious unrest in some of the provinces amongst the nobility. Your policies that promote the commoner's cause have been very unpopular. Some of our vassals are even at the point of outright revolt."

"SILENCE," shouted Vegeta as he shook with anger. "All of you are worthless. I've asked you before to find solutions for these problems, yet all of you come running to me like children for answers." Turning to the last councilor who spoke, Vegeta said, "If the nobles are becoming unruly then purge them and put some others in power. Take whatever men that are necessary and go to the trouble zones and take care of it."

"Now as for you two, I expect something more than 'we are still working on it' from your pathetic selves. You know the consequences for failure."

"Yyesss. your majesty," said the two councilors. Vegeta quickly continued the audience with consultations with other councilors and ministers. Some had completed tasks and others needed more funding or troops. After twenty minutes of issuing orders and redistributing resources he noticed a guardsman running up to him.

"Your majesty, Dr. Myuu and General Bojack are requesting audience. They have some people with them."

"What do they want?" said Vegeta in a very irritated voice.

"What we want your Majesty is to give you information about the Orion conspiracy," came the voice of Dr. Myuu as he strode into the imperial audience chamber. Next to him walked the elite soldiers of General Bojack as well as the general himself.

"What is the meaning of this? How dare you walk into my presence without my permission," shouted Vegeta as battle flared around him. He fully intended to blast these insolent scoundrels into oblivion. General Bojack walked forward. He was a large man with blue green skin. Though he wore an imperial uniform there was a slight change in it. For instead of the mark of Vegeta-sei that each general carried he had three stars and a sword as his symbol. In addition to this he wore a bandana that held back his orange hair.

"Emperor," he sneered, "I walk where I wish and you do not have the power to stop me." Forming a ki blast he annihilated several of the councilors known to be extremely loyal to Vegeta. "Zangya, Buujin seize him. Bido, Gokuya kill those guardsmen."

"Yes master Bojack," chorused the four minions. Two of the blue green skinned aliens that accompanied Bojack into the throne room immediately attacked the guards that were beginning to move into action. They annihilated them before ten seconds were out. Before Vegeta could act to support his men he felt his arms being ensnared by some sort of ki thread. They were forcibly pulled outwards to his side and he hung their suspended for a second. Summoning his ki and rage he intended to transform into a Super Saiyan and rid the world of General Bojack. However, before he could complete the transformation he felt something click around his neck. Vegeta felt his transformation stop cold.

"You see Emperor," said Dr. Myuu, "that is a transformation halting collar. It prevents you from transforming into your golden form and without that transformation you are powerless."

"Hmmph. he is no match for me or any of mine even at his maximum power," scoffed Bojack, "You see Emperor. Nineteen years ago I was freed from my prison that had kept me imprisoned nigh ten thousand years. I have waited this time to conquer the galaxy. It was quite kind of you to set up the mechanism in which I will control it."

"You don't think you have won yet do you?" smirked Vegeta as he remained bound by the ki wires around his wrists. Without being able to transform into SSJ he barely had the strength to even struggle against the ki of Bojack's team.

"Oh, troops loyal to me have already begun to land and purge this world of your followers. I've been planning this for a long time Emperor and I've covered all the options." Before he finished he found himself under fire from loyalist troops, turning he powered up and slew the members of the guard that had dared to attack him from behind. However, it was not before a blast from the guards struck Buujin in the rear of his head causing him to drop his hold on Vegeta for an instant. An instant was all he needed. Using his free hand he powered a blast and threw it at Zangya, who dropped her hold to block his blast.

Powering up, Vegeta blasted through the ceiling into the open sky. "Gallic Gun," he shouted as he fired a massive blast towards his own palace. To his horror a massive blast came upwards and intercepted his. Bojack's blast negated his own and Vegeta barely had time to dodge it. A moment later he saw himself inches from his general.

"You are nothing," laughed Bojack as he struck Vegeta with a powerful blow sending him crashing downwards into the city. Slowly he descended to finish off the Emperor and claim his new empire.

Bulma and Saxon were in the midst of a late lunch. It had been a hard day for shopping as there seemed to be lots of people out and about but they had succeeded in purchasing pretty much everything Bulma wanted.

"So tell me how did you learn about ki?" Bulma asked the young soldier.

"Oh. I trained with the Ox King for a little while. I met him through a friend of my father's, the legendary baseball player Yamcha." Bulma almost choked on her coffee when she heard this. She was extremely glad now that she hadn't told him her real name as he would have most definitely recognized it if he had had dealings with Yamcha.

"Do you know Ox King's daughter and son in law?"

"Oh yeah. I've met them once or twice. Chichi and her husband Goku are really nice people. Goku even gave me a few lessons. He's a really great fighter."

"Heh. that's definitely true," she said whimsically as memories began to un- cloud for her.

"What about you.what do you do? How do you know the Emperor. woah did you know him on Chikyuu?" Bulma wasn't sure how she was going to answer this. She had really begun to take a liking in this young man. He was outgoing, intelligent, and an excellent conversationalist. She really didn't want to lie to him, but it seemed that she had no choice. "I'm an inventor and yes I knew the emperor on Chikyuu."

"Wow... how was he-" before he could finish his earpiece went off. "Attention all companies. attention all companies we have a condition Delta. I repeat we have condition Delta. This is not a drill." Saxon leapt to his feet. "DENDE KAMI!"

He quickly scanned the area for Ki and found the Emperor's much lower than he expected. Arrayed against him were some seriously massive power sources. He knew that the emperor couldn't win and the only option was flight. Suddenly he saw a streak of light flying towards them.

"GET DOWN EVERYONE," he shouted. Many people just turned and looked at him in utter confusion but quite a few, the smart ones at least, dropped to the ground. A few seconds a body crashed into the concrete flooring near where lunch was being held. Saxon got up immediately and ran towards the crash site. He barely noticed that Eiko was following him as quickly as she could. Coming to the crash site he could see that it was the Emperor. Quickly he jumped into the crater and check to see if he was alive. Vegeta was, but was he was unconsciousness. Picking the Emperor up, Saxon carried him out of the crater and laid him on the ground close by. Bulma too came running up and when she saw Vegeta lying on the ground, she felt her heart clench. She dropped onto her knees and immediately checked if he was alive. Meanwhile Saxon stood staring at the sky in the direction that Vegeta had been thrown from.

"Eiko. I have to ask you for another favor."

"Saxon?"

"Can you take the Emperor to the space docks and see if someone can take him off planet? I have to hold this guy off so you can have the time." What he didn't say was that he had to destroy the scouter that the general had in his possession. Without the scouter they wouldn't be able to find the Emperor in time. However, with it. the chances of the Emperor living were next to none.

"Whatever did this to Vegeta will destroy you Saxon. You can't just throw your life away!" cried Bulma in shock.

"I'm not throwing my life away Eiko. I'm giving it so that my Emperor can live. Please tell my family that I love them." With that said the young man from Chikyuu flew upwards into the sky to go battle an enemy that was hundreds upon hundreds of times stronger than he was leaving Bulma alone with Vegeta's battered body.

Bulma couldn't believe what was happening. She, however, did not hesitate. Spotting the nearest air car she quickly accommodated it from its owner. Dragging Vegeta's body into the passenger seat she quickly powered up the car and drove off at maximum speed towards the space docks.

While Bulma was racing towards the docks with Vegeta, Saxon was racing towards Bojack. He knew that he had no chance but he thought he could succeed in his mission if he played his cards right.

"General Bojack. Traitor!" he shouted as Bojack came into hearing distance.

Bojack looked at the source of the taunt and saw that it was a mere boy. Discounting him he continued to descend towards Vegeta's impact point intent on finishing the emperor off. Saxon noticed that he hadn't been able to get the General's attention at all. He powered up as much as he could and phased to a position right in front of the General.

"Don't discount me General. I'm from Chikyuu and more powerful than you could imagine. Why don't you see for yourself?"

Bojack frowned at the audacity of the young man. However, he could not detect Ki levels. The boy's smooth confidence and demeanor made him wonder if he did have a powerful ki. Not that it would matter since he would kill the boy regardless. He was after all one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Yet his curiosity had been aroused. Slowly he drew out his scouter and attached it to his face. Locking onto the boy it began to assess his potential. The final score was 6300. "Boy you have no power. You have no chance against me," spoke Bojack as he began to power up to destroy the kid.

"I don't need a chance. I just need to do this," said Saxon as he brought his hands up to his face, "SOLAR FLARE." The light that surged forward blinded Bojack for a moment, and that moment was all that Saxon needed as he burst forward and threw a punch with all his might at Bojack. It connected to Bojack's right eye and, not surprisingly, it didn't harm Bojack in the least. It did, however, smash the scouter to bits and pieces. Flying backwards after his initial success Saxon began to power up another ki blast in hopes of slowing Bojack even further.

"KAME HAME HA!" he shouted as he blasted Bojack with all his might. The explosion when the blast hit Bojack was enormous and dust was everywhere. However, when it cleared Bojack still stood there completely unharmed by the blast with an evil frown on his face. The next thing Saxon knew was Bojack's fist sticking through his chest and as the life began to flow from him he whispered a brief prayer, "Dende be with you Eiko."

Bulma arrived at the space docks some five minutes after Saxon died. He had succeeded in buying her time so that she could make it to the space port with Vegeta, though it was quite a heavy price. She slowly began to look for a ship that might be able to get them out of there. Coming to a pier with a sleek looking vessel with several crew members working on it, she got out and approached them. "Hi. Can I speak to the captain of this vessel please?" she shouted up at them. A moment later a burly man came up to her and asked her what she wanted. "I'd like passage for two out of here."

"Lady are you crazy? Do you know what's going on up there?" asked the man.

"No... Actually I don't," Bulma replied curtly.

"There's a massive battle going on up there, star cruisers and frigates are battling each other. There's no way any captain will take you up now."

Bulma simply frowned and then nodded turning around she got back into the car and drove off. Thirty minutes and five captains later she was frustrated. Not one of them would leave for space at this moment because of the battle between rebel and loyalist forces. She put her head against the wheel and closed her eyes for a second to think.

"Woman where am I?"

"Vegeta! You're awake," she exclaimed, "You're at the space port. I'm trying to figure out a way to get us off this planet so you won't be killed. Vegeta simply frowned and then grabbed at the collar around his throat. Yet, no matter how he tried he couldn't get it off.

"DAMN IT, If I could transform into a super saiyan I'd be able to destroy these rebels myself."

Bulma looked at him with a confused look. She decided that she could ask later. Right now she needed to find them a way off the planet. She got out of the car and looked around and noticed a ship that might just work. It was an octopus shaped ship that looked extremely strange. However, there was something else that caught her attention. It had a Capsule Corporation logo. That meant that she could possibly break into the ship and that it had hyperspace capabilities since it was impossible for a ship to get here from Chikyuu without it. Ducking back into the car she looked frantically around for some type of cover so that she could hide or perhaps even disguise Vegeta in. Unfortunately all she found were a few blankets.

"Wrap these around yourself so no one will recognize you and follow me," she said as she helped him get out of the car. Vegeta quickly complied since he was really in no shape to argue. Bulma slowly helped Vegeta to the entrance of the ship. Setting him down she walked up to the security panel. In her timeline she had never changed Capsule Corporations override code—it never had been necessary. Then code was something that she had kept from everyone else and she doubted that the Bulma of this time was any different. Quickly she punched in the code that would give her complete control of the ship. It beeped and successfully authenticated and the secondary measures came up.

"Please prepare for retinal and voice scan."

"Voice scan begin."

"Bulma Briefs," she said in a strong and clear voice.

"Voice scan complete. Authenticated."

"Begin Retinal Scan."

Bulma placed her eye over a small tube.

"Retinal Scan complete. Authenticated. Welcome Bulma." Smiling, she quickly went back and helped Vegeta to his feet. After carrying him into the ship's cockpit she sat down and quickly began to familiarize herself with the schematics. "Vegeta, where the hell should I take you?"

"Take me to Sirrus 4. My people there have good technology and are quite loyal. They should be able to help me remove this stupid collar," said Vegeta in a weak and hazy voice.

Bulma nodded and quickly began the take off sequence. Immediately she could feel the inertia drive her back into her seat as the octopus like vessel streaked upwards into the atmosphere. As the ship left the atmosphere and entered space Bulma could see the fighting and the results of the fighting going on. Huge ships were streaking across the vacuum of the void trying to outmaneuver each other and blast each other into oblivion. She checked the radar and suddenly knew that she was in big trouble. She was headed straight into one of the firefights and there was nothing she could do about it since it was just too close.

"This is Captain Norfolk of the Imperial Star Cruiser Justice. Identify yourselves," came a voice from the communication panel.

Bulma had no idea what to say. She didn't know if these were rebels or loyalists. It was not a good situation. Looking over at Vegeta she knew that he couldn't answer because if these were rebels then they'd blow them out of space in a second. It was chance they couldn't take. "My name is Eiko Ikegami. I'm a merchant from Chikyuu trying to get home and out of all this craziness."

"For whom are you carrying cargo for? Turn on your Vid Screen," said the voice in a tone that did not allow for argument.

Bulma looked to make sure that Vegeta was out of the viewing range and turned on the screen. She noted that the man had asked 'for whom' and not 'what' cargo she was carrying. Perhaps the captain was onto something. "I'm carrying letters from a Guardsman by the name of Saxon to his family."

"Letters?"

"That's right I said letters," she repeated.

"If you're carrying something that has been entrusted to you by guardsman then you better hurry to the hyper point. We'll keep these rebel scum busy."

"Will do," she replied. She checked her display again and hissed. It was happening again. She could see four ships heading to intercept her and then Captain Norfolk's ship moving to intercept them.

"Thank you, Captain," she said, "Good luck, but remember your mission. Don't die for nothing."

"Good luck to you too Eiko." came the response and then static. Three minutes later Bulma reached over and pulled a switch that caused the entire ship to shudder as they jumped into hyperspace and into temporary safety.

On Captain Norfolk's battered ship the surviving officers and crewmembers watched the display and cheered as the ship blinked and then disappeared.

"Captain are you sure that ship was carrying the Emperor?" asked the helmsman and first officer simultaneously.

"Yes. I can sense ki and the emperor's ki was on that ship." A blast suddenly rocked the ship. Red Klaxons began to go off and automatic repair systems tried to shut off areas of the ship where decompression had occurred.

"Sir. Permission to set course for the nearest rebel ship," said the helmsman, "I bet we can take a few of the bastards out with us." The captain didn't answer for a moment as he pondered the woman's last words. Finally after another blast rocked the ship, he gave his order.

"Permission denied. Helmsman surrender the ship."

"SIR?"

"You heard me helmsman. You've done your job admirably. Now, it's time to do mine, 'to make sure that you don't die for nothing'. So surrender this ship."

"Yesss sir."

Eiko Ikegami. I wish you the best of luck.

One day after the escape…

The bar was a seedy one but rather popular amongst the off duty crew of the various merchant carriers that regularly docked in the poorer part of the spaceport. All types of characters sat around drinking some form of alcoholic concoction and gossiping about the coup. It had been a shock to some, but for most people it didn't really matter as long as business kept on as usual. It was into this bar that a young woman with black hair went for information. The reason for this was simply because that her ship had been docked not two 'piers' down. She'd needed to get off planet fast, but since someone had committed the error of filching her ship, she now needed some information. Someone who was here had to have seen the person who had taken off with her ship.

She was five feet seven inches tall and had black eyes that matched her hair. She was attired in a red shirt and jeans and had an orange bandana tied around her belt. Her muscles were sleek and tone and her legs long. It was obvious to the average person that she kept in shape, but to the those who had a finer eye, she was also someone who was immensely dangerous. Every step she took was minimalist and calculating. She moved with an aura of danger around her. Yet, despite that, she didn't look to be more than twenty years of age. The woman also didn't come in alone. Behind her was a much taller creature that looked quite like a cream puff. It was fat and wore a cape that was tied around its neck and white baggy pants. The most significant feature about it was that its entire body was a bright pink color. She slammed the door behind her and walked over to where the music was playing. Walking up on the stage she grabbed the singer and threw her, maybe he, or, since it wasn't at all human, it off.

"Listen up cretins," she said in a voice laced with disdain, "I know one of you saw who took my ship and one of you were probably behind it. I don't find this funny at all. If you don't tell me who it was in thirty seconds I'm going to start breaking fingers."

The room was silent for a moment before pandemonium broke out.

"Hey Pan who do you think you are?" yelled a patron who knew her from business dealings.

"You think you can take all of us bitch?" yelled another person.

"I'm going to give the bitch what she needs, that's right!" screamed a large man who obviously had had a few too many drinks. The lust in his eyes as he looked Pan was clearly noticable.

Other shouts and insults came at her from various corners of the bar. A few smarter patrons who knew her from past dealings quietly tried to slip out of the bar only to find the big pink thing blocking their way.

"Sorry Buu. I think I'll just go back and sit at that table over there. Is that ok with you?" said one of the smarter patrons who had tried to get away.

"Buu like you. You smart. Go sit," replied Buu in his usual high-pitched voice. The man simply shook his head. How can something that looks like BUU and has a voice like that be so powerful? The universe truly works in mysterious ways. Unfortunately this man was in the minority. Several others, perhaps emboldened by alcohol, began to approach the stage. Usually Pan would have tried to avoid such confrontations or try to talk them out of it. After all her father had always said that violence was suppose to be used as a last resort. However, she was in a really bad mood as anyone would if they had their spaceship stolen. So she simply hopped down from the stage and punched the first man in the gut causing him to double over and promptly pass out in pain. A second man tried to hit her while she was taking care of the first one. Pan simply reached out and grabbed his wrist. With a twist of her own she simply flipped the man upside down and onto the floor. The third man who had gotten up and shouted at her began to back away from her.

"So does anyone want to tell me who decided to steal my ship?"

"Jesus Pan. It wasn't anyone of us," cried one of the men who knew her from past experience.

"Oh then maybe it was the tooth fairy. She needed to make some extra runs so she decided to steal a hyper capable ship."

"Pan it some blue haired woman and something that was totally covered up!" shouted another man. "It didn't even look like she stole the ship. She just walked up and typed something into the security, and walked in."

"That's impossible. You are lying to me Jobe. I'm going to."

"Excuse me, miss. Pan right? I don't think he's lying," came a well-mannered voice that obviously didn't belong in this type of atmosphere. Turning she found herself looking at a stunning man. His face was beautiful and masculine. His lavender hair seemed to frame it as if it were a portrait. The man was well built and was wearing a purple Capsule Corporation Jacket with black pants and a black undershirt.

"And just who are you and how do you know this?" shot Pan angrily at the man.

"Well." turning to the man who had told Pan that it was a blue haired woman Trunks asked, "Hey what was she wearing? And give me a better description."

"She was wearing a pink blouse with red pants. She had long blue hair and damn she was fine. I thought she was Bulma Briefs herself for a moment before I realized that she couldn't have been that old."

"Thanks. That's just what I needed to know," said the lavender haired youth. Turning to Pan, "Can you track your ship?"

"Of course, Buu can find the ship anywhere in the universe. The thing is we need another ship and permission to leave. It's kinda hard with the change in leadership and all."

"Well. I'm looking for this blue haired woman and I need some help. I can probably get us a ship, you interested?"

"You need me to track my ship so you can find this woman?"

"That's right."

"And what happens when we find them?"

"Well. We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"How are you going to pay for this ship or do you have one already?" asked Pan.

"Well I have these." said the man as he pulled out a capsule. Clicking it a bag fell out into his hands. Opening it, he pulled out several diamonds that were worth quite a large amount of cash.

"You think I can exchange enough of these for cash to buy us a ship?"

"Well. Maybe. We'll see, why don't we go find out?" said Pan, "What's your name by the way."

"Oh.my name is Trunks, and you are Pan?"

"Yeah. My name is Pan. My partner over here is Buu Satan," she smiled as she introduced Buu and herself. She couldn't help but find this man very attractive. Get a hold of yourself Pan. You just met this guy and you have no idea who he is or what he's really like. Another thought came to her also and she laughed, "I really didn't think that there would be two people in the world named Trunks. I guess it really is a small world."

"Umm yeah. I thought my name was rather unique as well," said Trunks quickly. He didn't like the fact that there would be more than one of him--again. He also didn't want to reveal who he was completely unless he had no choice.

"Yeah, the son of a friend of my dad's goes by the name of Trunks Briefs. Anyway why don't we get going?"

"Sure thing." With that Trunks followed Pan out of the bar in search of a ship that they could purchase to be able to pursue Vegeta and Bulma.