Disclaimer: DB/DBZ/DBGT belong to Toriyama and other rich Japanese guys, not me.

A Brief Moment in Time

Chapter 8: Intermission

On board the Liner Atlantis…

With a groan Pan slowly sat up in her bed. She stretched languidly and shook her head. She thanked Dende with all her heart for her Saiyan blood since she could feel the hangover that would have hit her had it not been for that. The backs of her knees were a bit sore from dehydration but otherwise she was fine. She rolled out of bed and wrapped a blue terry robe around herself. It was time to go look for her morning's lifeblood, coffee.

She opened her door and walked out only to be met by a sight that took her breath away.

There in the main living area Trunks sat shirtless doing pushups. As he dropped up and down she could see his muscles ripple. She could see that his physique was even better than she had imagined it. Frankly put, he was ripped. Every inch of him was muscle and not only was he lean but he was built as well. She couldn't help but imagine running her fingers up and down his body.

"Good morning, like what you see?"

His voice snapped her out of her reverie. She blushed. She actually blushed. It was something she hated doing, but not something anyone can really control.

"Good morning," she replied bashfully. She was absolutely appalled at her actions in his presence.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes… and you?"

He stopped doing his pushups and stood up in all his glory. Well he was wearing shorts so it was almost all his glory. "Very. I sleep very well after I drink usually."

She nodded. "Well, we should be arriving at Sirrus 4 and I can requisition us a ship there. We can then find your mom and my ship within days then."

He nodded and then went over and tossed on a black tank top then stopped. Suddenly his head shot up and it seemed as if he was sniffing the air or sensing for ki.

Pan stopped immediately. She instinctively understood his action as a warning sign. She too threw her senses out and there were hundreds of extra ki sources on the ship. Worse, many of them were much higher than any normal person's.

"Something's not right," he said.

"Buu? Buu you here?" she shouted.

"Pan… Buu here," came Buu's answer from the room him and Trunks shared.

"No action… no action unless I call for it. Got it?"

"Ok Pan," replied Buu.

"That goes double for you," she said to Trunks, "I don't care if you are ripped like a Greek god or know some type of martial arts. Nothing from you, no heroism. You aren't trained for it."

"Pan… I,"

"Trunks… don't even talk, just do as you are told," she snapped.

"Ok," he said, shocked at her abruptness. This was a side of her he hadn't seen. When he had first met her he had thought that she had been the tough bounty hunter type. He'd seen the kind dozens of times over right when the androids were defeated. Then she had surprised him last night and had been the perfect lady, elegant, classy, and intelligent. She had been witty at dinner and sensual on the dance floor. Now that was all gone. She spoke in a manner that expected obedience with no questions asked. Not only that, but from the way she just moved on after an order it was as if she was use to it. Check that, he thought to himself, he had seen it once before. At dinner she had snapped at the waitress, it was almost the exact same kind of tone.

There was a banging at the door and then a shout.

"Lady Son Pan, open in the name of Emperor Bojack!" came the shout.

Lady? Thought Trunks to himself.

Pan didn't answer. She just walked over to the balcony. Using the wall as cover she peeked outside.

"No way out of here. Buu, no ki. If we use ki we'll end up killing everyone and ourselves."

Trunks took a deep breath. He had been about to do just that until he had heard Pan's warning. He knew that Pan was a Saiyan but he wasn't sure how powerful. His own senses told him that she could easily handle all the opponents on the ship. He also didn't understand what he she meant by no ki? He could sense that her power level had risen slowly until it had stabilized around to maybe a tenth of a Super Saiyan's. The highest other person on the ship was no where near that level, in fact if he could give it a scouter number he'd have to say the strongest other person was 1,500.

Buu was also a mystery. Through the entire time the pink creature had his power suppressed and Trunks knew it. Trunks could also tell that Buu was more powerful than Pan, but how much more powerful he didn't know.

After tucking several capsules away and giving them to Buu, who swallowed them, she walked over to the door and opened it. In front of her stood seven to eight soldiers all with scouters that were beeping with warning. All of the soldiers looked scared to death as well. Their weapons, which looked like guns, were aimed at her but none of their hands were steady. A tenth of a Super Saiyan's power at rest was only slightly impressive. If Trunks had to give it a number it would be around 100,000—the same as Captain Ginyu's.

"What is the meaning of this, major?" she said pointedly to the soldier who was in command.

"I'm a Colonel Ma'am," said the soldier to what he knew to be a deliberate insult, "You are to come with us. Emperor Bojack wishes an audience with you."

"I'd hate to disappoint the traitor. Why don't we be on our way then gentlemen?"

"One thing ma'am," said the Colonel. He pulled out two ki restraining collars and gestured for his men to place them on Pan and Buu. "I'm going to have to put one on you and your companion."

It was then he noticed that there was a third person in the room. Pan followed his gaze as he looked over Trunks, who was leaning against the wall with a bored look and a very familiar smirk on his lips.

"He has no ki," she stated flatly.

"We'll see about that," he said as he pushed past her. He scanned Trunks carefully with his scouter and came back with a result, 6. Not satisfied he walked over and punched Trunks straight in the gut.

"Agh…" grunted Trunks as he bent over and then collapsed on the ground. Not that it actually hurt but he had to make it look good. He then kicked him a few times until he felt that Trunks was past the point of taking abuse.

Pan tried moved to help Trunks but was restrained by three men. Even though the collar was on her she was still much stronger than an average soldier. It took three of them to subdue her.

The Colonel shook the hand he had hit Trunks with a little. Damn, the boy was like a wall of steel, he thought. He checked his scouter again. It was now four.

"Pick up the boy for questioning. Lady Pan, and Mr. Buu will accompany us to the Nigel."

"Yes Sir!"

Pan, Buu, and Trunks went quietly with the group of soldiers. As they went out, a crowd had gathered and watched as they were escorted out of the building and onto a jerry that took them to the awaiting cell.

Sirrus System…

Bulma sat down at the navigator's chair on as the ship entered the system. She immediately noticed that something was not right.

"Vegeta, we have a lot of debris out here. It doesn't seem to be normal," she said.

"Obviously woman. This is not good… how far have we come into the system from the hyper point?" he asked.

Bulma quickly checked the navigation instruments. In the week or so that she had been in this dimension she had learned a lot, especially about hyperspace and navigation. She was far from being an expert but she was at least beginning to pick up things.

"Five minutes or so… is that good?"

"We'll find out," he said. Vegeta also looked over at the sensors. "Shit. Those aren't Sixth Fleet units, those are Bojack's. The boy must have withdrawn."

"Who… what are you talking about Vegeta?"

"I speak of Kakkarot's brat. He is the commander of the fleet that is based here. Turn us around and plot a new course to Chikyuu."

"Gohan is your commander? To Chikyuu?"

"No, that brat isn't fit to be a Saiyan. I mean Kakkarot's other spawn. We do not have time to speak of this now woman. Turn us around and get us out of here. "

"I'm not sure if we have enough fuel to make it to Chikyuu Vegeta. "

Vegeta nodded. "We can stop at the Mersis system for fuel. There are a large number of humans there so we should be able to get through undetected."

"Ok then. I'll set course for… ummm… Vegeta we have company."

"What?" Vegeta quickly moved over next to her and looked at the screen. "A destroyer only. Do not fret yourself. The other pickets are over there. You see where the three dots are and the fourth red dot."

"Yes."

"Turn us around," he pointed at the screen to a few coordinates. "We are lucky that most of them are pre-occupied with another ship otherwise we may have been caught. We should be fine."

Nodding in understanding, Bulma slowly turned the ship around and piloted it towards the edge of the system. Seven minutes later they were gone.

On board the Dreadnaught Nigel…

The Nigel was one of the newest ships in the Imperial Fleet. It was almost a kilometer long and a third as wide. With almost eight thousand crewmembers it was almost a large floating, moving city. It was also the flagship of the Imperial second fleet; one of the seven fleets of the empire.

Pan and Buu were marched off the shuttle that had taken them here from the Atlantis under heavy guard. Almost a hundred soldiers surrounded them. Trunks, on the other hand, was carried off by soldiers who thought that he had been beaten badly. Of course he was not injured whatsoever. He simply feigned being hurt and waited for a chance to escape.

The launch bay where they disembarked was huge. It was easily the size of a city block and like a city block people were hustling and bustling about their business as quickly as they could. Several other shuttles also were docked in the same bay.

"Lady Pan," came a strong human baritone. Trunks looked at the man approaching while still pretending to be unconscious. The man was human and had a decent power level, around 15,000. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and was just a little bit taller than Pan. His uniform was immaculate, and had several ribbons pinned on it.

"Well, well. Commodore Anders," sneered Pan. Somehow she made his name sound as if it wasn't fit to be dirt on her shoe. "Where is Admiral Felins?"

"Admiral Felins is no longer with us. I am now commander in chief of second fleet."

"Ahhh… A four grade promotion Admiral… bought in blood," sniffed Pan. "And I was just wondering if it was my imagination when I thought the air was a bit rancid in here."

"Witty Pan… Its too bad your uncle isn't here to bail you out again," said the Admiral, "Speaking of which… Where exactly is your uncle?"

Pan did not say a word. She did not have anything to say, but she had to fight hard to keep from trying to strangle this bastard.

"Yes… you see we don't know where he is. But… we do know that with you in our hands, he will come to us."

"My uncle is not foolish enough to fall into such an obvious trap."

"Perhaps, but if he won't fall for the trap then I'll just have to settle for the pleasure of seeing your pretty little head detached from your shoulders. A satisfactory conciliation prize."

Pan glared at the man that stood before her. "You are a traitor Anders, and you will get what all traitors deserve. Mark my words."

"Marked," he laughed. "You truly think too highly of yourself Pan. You aren't anything but a spoiled brat who hides behind the coat of the Saiyan. Without him, you are nothing."

He made a gesture to the soldiers around him. "Take her away… and make sure they are kept in separate cells."

"Yes sir!" chorused the Troopers. They gathered around Pan and Buu and escorted them down one of the myriad of corridors to their detention rooms.

As Pan was led away from him the Admiral felt a strange foreboding. He wasn't sure what it came from. He didn't notice Buu whistling happily as he was being led to his cell.

Chikyuu…

The shuttle slowly touched down on the concrete platform at the Satan City Spaceport. Satan city had changed much since the Buu saga. It was now a wondrous place full of advanced technology that had been given to Chikyuu by the Imperium. Pollution had been eliminated and the city was crisp and clean. Crystal like buildings soared high into the sky everywhere. Speeders, and Capsule Cars flew from building to building and on various unseen airways. It was a wondrous sight to behold.

Son Goten, sat looking out of the shuttle window thinking of how to solve a serious problem. Few people knew his persona on Chikyuu. There were the people who served with him when he first took up the Vegeta cause during the Union Wars, but almost all of them were either dead, or still in service. Certainly, no one on Chikyuu knew that he was a Duke. He had made sure that whenever he had come home for a visit to his family that he had shed all his titles and honors. Whenever he had come home, he had been Son Goten, never the Duke de Sirrus. Even his family, minus Pan, had no real concept of what he had become. They had no conception of how much power he wielded or what his title obligated him to do. Even though his mother had been a Princess, she had never had power over people. As for his father, he just had no understanding of politics or social institutions in general.

"M'lord, we have arrived on Chikyuu," came the voice of the pilot.

"Good. Drop me off here and return to the rendezvous point. Have Emma bring her task force here in ten days time."

"Your will lord." The messenger saluted and flickered off the view screen.

Goten slowly stood up and exited the shuttle. He was dressed in plain clothes. A white shirt graced his muscular shoulders and he wore a pair of khakis. He had a bright yellow bag slung over his shoulder and he looked like a tourist just returning from an outing in outer space. He looked around and smiled when he saw several hands waving at him. He quickly walked toward his family with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Mom!" He embraced his mother in a fierce hug and lifted her up off her feet. He was genuinely happy to see her, as it had been five years since he had last set foot on the planet.

Chichi had tears in her eyes as she felt her son's strong arms wrap around her. "Goten, it's about time you came home to see your old mom," she joked.

Goten just smiled and kissed her on the cheek. He then turned to face the other members of his family. He grabbed his father's hand in a strong shake and brought him in for a huge. "Dad, you look the same as always."

"You've been training Goten. I can feel it, you are a lot stronger than the last time you were here," Goku remarked. He looked at his son with pride in his eyes. Goten had really grown up.

"Heh, just a little bit dad," replied Goten smiling.

"I'll bet. I can tell you are already a lot stronger than me," said Gohan as he walked up to his brother and clasped his hand as well.

"That is because you spend way too much time on the books," smirked Goten as he put an arm around his brother. "Do you get out to train much?"

"He goes once a week or so to train with Dad," came Videl's voice. "Good to see you too Goten."

Goten laughed. He hugged Videl as well and then began to walk towards a waiting air car. "It's always a pleasure Videl," he smirked. "How's politics treating you?"

"Great… I'm a member of Parliament from Satania now."

"Moving up in the world now Videl. Next thing you know you'll be Prime Minister of Chikyuu."

"Working on it Goten… working on it," smiled Videl.

"So how's my daughter?" asked Gohan.

Goten stiffened. If Gohan had any idea what his daughter was up to he'd blow a fuse or two. Maybe three. "Oh she's fine. She hasn't contacted me in a while but just the other day I left her a message to meet me here. She'll be here soon."

"Really… that girl is just so irresponsible sometimes. I'm going to have to insist that she comes back to Chikyuu and settle down."

"Gohan… that might not be a good idea. Pan is 20 years old and can take care of herself."

"She's still my daughter."

"Yeah… but she needs to have her own life. She isn't like you Gohan. Her Saiyan side craves more."

"Like you? Is that what you are saying? That she give in to her Saiyan Side." Gohan's voice was rising along with his temper.

"Yes like me, and no she doesn't have to give in. She needs an outlet and she can't find it here on Chikyuu."

"Yes she can," said Gohan through gritted teeth. Videl put a calming hand on his shoulder. This was an old argument. Pan had left with Goten when he had come back five years ago. It had caused a massive rift between the brothers. Pan had always been a Tomboy and her Saiyan nature always craved adventure, violence, warfare, and competition. Chikyuu was just too peaceful to provide that for her and it had been driving her insane. Her grades had dropped; she had always been getting in trouble. Goten had even caught her doing drugs. It was then he decided to take her with him. He knew the problems she faced since he had faced them himself. It was the same reason why he had left. So he took her into space. There she could grow into the full of her being, not just half. He didn't think his brother had ever forgiven him for taking his little girl away.

"So how's the explorer business Goten?" asked his father changing the subject. He gave a pointed look at Gohan to let it drop.

"Oh… I've given that up pretty much. I just run Sirrus 4 and send people out to do exploration missions," breathed Goten. He was thankful that his father had changed the subject. Goten couldn't quite understand Gohan. He knew that his father's Saiyan side was suppressed a bit because of the head injury. Gohan, on the other hand, should have had it raging through him all the time. Sometimes even he thought Vegeta was right. Gohan was a pathetic excuse for a Saiyan.

"Really?" said Videl. "The Duke is coming to Chikyuu I hear. Have you met him?"

"Uhhh…" This is what Goten had been afraid of. He had never actually told his family that he was nobility in the Imperium. Worse, his own persona was so different as the Duke he was afraid that his family might lose respect for him. He'd faced down thousands of soldiers, been through the most terrifying battles, and faced death itself countless of times, but he did not want to lose his family. Of all things, they were what he treasured the most. "Yeah… I know him. Quite well in fact."

"Really? You think you could introduce us at the reception?" asked Videl. "I'd like to see what he's made of. You hear so many stories about this guy and you gotta take it all with a grain of salt. Some of them are just way outrageous."

"What reception?" asked a startled Goten. He had no knowledge that he had to be at some reception.

"The reception at Capsule Corps," replied Gohan. "Even I knew that. The Duke is supposed to be received at Capsule Corps for a welcoming party. Everyone is going to be there."

"I didn't know that." Goten's eyes widened a little bit. He then pulled his personal electronic device out of his pocket and checked his schedule. Lo and behold there it was, 6pm Tomorrow -Reception Dinner. He was going to kill his aide for dropping this on him.

"Well you want to come? I can arrange an invitation for you," asked Videl.

"Yeah I guess I have to go. Don't trouble yourself though. I've already been invited," he said somberly. "Kasaan, Tousan. Are you two going?"

"Yes we are. We haven't seen Bulma in years. Anyway cheer up, Goten," his mother said, "I hear Trunks will be there with his fiancé. You two can catch up."

"Oh… Trunks is getting married?"

"Well… that's what I heard," replied Chichi, "Videl?"

"Actually I have no idea. The guy is the biggest playboy around. Its hard to imagine him settling down."

As soon as Videl closed her mouth, and as if on cue, three stomachs growled loudly. Three sets of eyes widened slightly and then three sets of hands went behind three sets of heads.

Chichi and Videl stood staring at three sets of identical expressions, the classic Son grin.

"Ok I guess you guys are hungry. Goku take us home," she said as she put her arm in his. Everyone knew the routine and quickly touched each other. In a flash they were gone, leaving behind a shocked crowd of onlookers.

Next time: Trunks and Pan's escape from the Nigel…Will they run into problems? Will some sinister force appear to stop them? Will the lack of Ki use on starships cause them to fail? Find out next time!