I don't own any of Rumiko Takahashi's or Jack Chalker's works. They are just borrowed.

P.S. Don't own Tenchi either.

Eagles May Soar, But Weasels Do Not Get Sucked Into Jet Engines.

Ranma of the Dancing Gods

Chapter 5: Thumbing a ride home

Ten kauri flew out into the desert. Hikaru lagging just a bit because she was delegated by Ukyo to carry Soun. Ranma had a thought, 'Pops is still back there. He'll be alright. He's worse than a cockroach. We need a month or two vacation from him anyway."

The group was flying southwest when they saw a group of RVs parked in a clump of trees. Some people were on a ridge overlooking the wash and were looking straight at them with some binocular like accessories. Ranma gave a sigh, 'Maybe these people aren't like those bastards we left back there.' "Let's check em out, if they ain't friendly, we can keep goin a while longer before daybreak." The group landed a few yards from the watchers.

Nabiki said, "Ranma. Let me handle this I can speak with them."

The watchers were observing the skies over Area 51 as they and other conspiracy theorists had for several years. The government would sometimes chase them off, but they kept coming back to this spot. Eddy shouted "Eyes front!" They all watched as a sparkly column rose into the sky that vanished and the stars rippled behind the now invisible column as in a heat shimmer. They watched a wave front cross the desert and felt the hairs on their bodies stand up as the screens in their night scopes and cameras wobbled and slowly turned back to normal. Ken, the technology guru of the bunch said, "Boys that was an honest to god EMP, electromagnetic pulse. If I were betting, I'd say that the place is under attack. This may be the break through that we've been waiting for."

The nominal leader, Jim, said, "Okay. Cameras rolling and set up the beacon. If this is finally alien activity, we want them to know that some of us are open to friendly communications."

Almost an hour later the group saw some flying figures to the northeast. "Jim, Ken, do you think that this is the real thing?" asked Eddy.

"I don't know, but when they get close, smile without showing too much teeth. Damn, they look like fairies and one appears to be carrying a man! They've spotted us. Here they come." The fairies rapidly glided in and landed a few yards from the alien watchers. Two of the fairies spoke to each other and began to approach them.

Nabiki decided on a friendly approach, "Please excuse us, does any you speak Japanese?" Heads shook no. "Can you tell us where are?"

Jim said, "You're about thirty miles south west of Groom lake in Nevadain the United States."

"We need place to hide from men who…steal us from home until can plan get back. Not want fight miritary."

"Sure, you can stay. That big RV over there should hold all of you. Can you tell us where you are from and…what you are?"

Nabiki sighed, "All from Japan, my name Nabiki, this Ranma. This form is kauri, you might say fairy. Forms change when daylight come. Moon has set." In Japanese, "Kasumi do you have those flashes I gave you? Ranma destroyed mine with that EMP." Kasumi fluttered over and handed them to her, "Sis, you need to learn how to use subspace pockets for security and to protect the equipment."

The Americans were stunned when several of the ultra sexy kauri became ordinary looking Asian people. Well, they looked human, at least, except for the strange looking animal that had been a kauri and the dog. The spokesperson became a very beautiful Japanese girl, her co-leader remained kauri but flickered when the flashlight moved across her.

Jim decided that it was time to ask the burning question. "Nabiki, can you tell us what you saw in that place where you were held? Were there any space ships or real aliens?"

Nabiki stole a glance at Sasami and Ryo Ohki and snickered. "Yes person and ship from other world there. Problem is that idiot people not truly concerned with learn. Do autopsy on living people. Willing kill alien before learn. Even kill own people."

Nabiki noticed Sasami was in a deep hand sign conversation with the cabbit and then the girl ran to her with an aura of great excitement. "Nabiki! Ryo Ohki is still injured and can't become a ship for a few weeks but she thinks that Ranma's mother can! There's still time before the sun comes up."

Nabiki said, "Ranma, get your mother quick! We may be getting out of here!"

Ranma brought her mother to the three while everyone gathered around. The Americans were watching in some confusion. "Auntie you know that the cabbit bit you." Nodoka nodded. "Well, that happens to be your default were form now. You can become a living spaceship and take us all home!"

"Oh my! Do you really think so?"

"There's only one way to find out, and we don't have much time left this morning."

"Very well, I just never imagined something like this happening. Go ahead, use that flashlight." Nabiki held the light to the woman's hand and strobed it. Nodoka shrank down to become a reddish version of Ryo Ohki. She looked around and tried to speak, "Miyah." Ranma leapt into the air and fluttered there.

"M-M-Mom please don't talk. You s-s-sound like one of them c-c-cats. Please."

'Damn you Genma, why did you have to train Ranma in the nekoken?'

Sasami spoke, "Lady Nodoka, you should be able to change to a more adult cabbit form and may be able to talk. Right now, please try to become a ship."

Nodoka thought, 'How do I do that?'

'Just jump as high as you can and think of yourself looking like this.' An image of a great crystalline ship appeared in her mind.

'is that you? Ryo Ohki?'

'Yes, but please hurry and when you do, think about setting the micrometeorite field to filter all ultra violet radiation. That way you won't change back unless you want to.'

'I suppose I can only try.' Nodoka leapt into the air and kept going for a couple hundred feet and began to change. She became a crystal mass that kept growing until she became a large ship with crystal spires that struck out in different directions.

'Yay! You did it. Now adjust your shielding and enable electronic stealth mode.'

Meanwhile, everyone but the cabbit and Sasami looked stunned at the huge biotechnological marvel that was now Nodoka. Jim stared and spoke to Nabiki, "Nabiki, m'am, do you think that I could go with you? I'll do everything I can to keep these people from bothering you in the future."

The mercenary girl had a thought and it revolved around making yen. "Okay, but it may cost you. We make business deal and will require you and your friends be silent. Not tell anyone. Talk detail later. Okay?" Switching to Japanese, "Sasami we need to get to Auntie, how do we do that?"

Sasami turned to the cabbit, who, understanding nodded. The Nerimans began to float and disappear. A few seconds later, Jim Baxter floated up. "Eddy, keep the deal, I'll be back."

The conspiracy theorists, now true believers, watched the ship that was Nodoka majestically turn and begin to glow. She started moving up faster and faster, disappearing with a twinkle in the sky. Multiple sonic booms announced the government fighter jets that missed the event and couldn't have followed without many jumps in technology.

With Ryo Ohki's coaching, Nodoka took up a mid-level earth orbit and checked on the welfare of her passengers. Then she made a discovery, her twin babies had transformed with her and two cabbit eggs rested in her center, constantly being monitored and fed nutrients, phased in and removing wastes the same way. 'My babies, what will happen to you?'

'Lady Nodoka, I think that they will be fine. They obviously transform when you do and they may be just like you when they are born. It can't be helped, so just do the best you can for them. Now, please allow me access to the navigational data, my princess misses home and her link to the goddess of Jurai, Tsunami.'

'Of course, little one. While you do that I think that I'll have some fun.'

The passengers had gathered in the center of the dome and rested on the couches that were arranged in a semicircle before a large monitor that appeared to be made of crystal with Nodoka's image on the screen. Ranma's mother de-opaqued the dome and the blackness of space overwhelmed everyone. "Ranma, I think that I'm going to check out what I can do while Ryo Ohki and I work out a way to return Sasami to her home. Do you mind if we make a side trip? Do a little exploring?"

"No mom, it looks like we owe them. Mom, ya got ta be the most amazin' thing in my life takin all this in stride, like ya are."

"A cabbit ship is designed to be inherently stable and safe. Oh, and very powerful. Now hang on." Though there was no physical sense of movement, the scenery began to move around violently and a large ringed world came 'screaming' into the foreground. They passed through the rings and dipped into Saturn's upper atmosphere leaving a ten thousand mile long trail of ionized gasses glowing behind.

While she entertained her passengers and prepared a meal, Nodoka was also busy going over navigational data with Ryo Ohki. Their difficulty lay in the fact that she could not detect the singularity that Ryo Ohki had exited from. Indications were that it probably had an event horizon of only a few centimeters. Lodged in a planets center it could swallow the entire planet, but it would take eons to do it because it was like sucking up an ocean with a straw. It had momentarily expanded enough for the cabbit to exit because Ryo Ohki's mass was almost infinite due to her speed. Still, her outer spires had been sheared off and sucked back in. Once they found it, they would have to get a run to build up the mass necessary to open the singularity and hit it dead center with a pellet of nearly infinitely massive antimatter a ten thousandth of a second before Nodoka entered. It appeared easy enough. Nodoka then decided that her son would make the perfect sensor array to find the singularity and being fully powered, Ryo Ohki's problems shouldn't happen. Returning wouldn't be a problem, knowing what to expect.

The first indication that her passengers had that something was happening was Saturn shrinking to a dot. Nodoka appeared on screen and said, "Ranma, I'm so glad to see that you can return to your birth form." Ranma and Kasumi had been sitting on a couch holding hands, something Nodoka saw and secretly crowed about. "I've got a meal made." A large table loaded with food rose from the floor. As everyone gathered to eat, she continued, "Ryo Ohki and I have calculated how to return her and Sasami to their home universe, but I'll need your help, son."

"Sure Mom, whatcha need?" Munch-munch-munch.

"I saw you practicing ki techniques and you made a ki shield. We need for you to make one extremely thin and about two light minutes in diameter. I can sense the shield and the singularity that I'm looking for will make a hole or void in the shield that I'll be able to detect."

Ranma appeared, suited ahead of his mother's line of travel and prepared to create an ultra thin ki shield that would regenerate with the energy gained from striking solid objects. He brought his ki up and focused it into a thick shield in front of himself and started it spinning. As it spun, the round shield began to expand and attenuate. Thirty minutes later the shield was invisible, still there and still expanding. So far, several dust grains had impacted the ki construct rather spectacularly and lent their stored energy to its maintenance. 'Son, that is large enough, just maintain what you have.'

Almost two hours later Ranma's mother told him, 'You can relax, Ranma, I have a lock on it.' She retrieved her son and appeared as a hologram to her passengers. "I just wanted to announce that Ryo Ohki and I, with Ranma's help, have found the portal to Sasami's home universe. I'm taking them home. Does anyone object to this?" Only Hikaru raised his hand, then dropped it at the looks that Ukyo and Nabiki gave him. "This will take a few minutes, I need to have a couple of solar system diameters to accelerate." Outside the dome the stars became streaks and began to shift colors. A few minutes later Nodoka announced, "Prepare for maximum acceleration and breach of the event horizon." The stars swung wildly for a moment and became blurs as the ship accelerated. She launched the antineutronium missile and followed it across the event horizon.

Everything outside the environment dome became black, except for a line of light which seemed to be the track of the collapsed star component of the missile. They broke through into a space that looked as large as a galaxy. It resolved itself into what appeared to be nothing more than an enormous, cluttered room with a human shaped being in it that appeared to Nodoka's instrumentation to be larger than the Magellanic Clouds. There appeared to be tremendous pizza boxes that said in english Dominicks Pizza. The giant appeared to be typing, with two fingers, on an old computer, the screen covered with an alien script. The giant looked up and seemed to notice the insignificant ship passing by and smiled benevolently as they crossed the 'room'. The ship that was Nodoka passed through the far wall and the blackness returned. Ship and passengers recovered from their awe. Some of them wondered if that pudgy looking troll was the creator of the universes, then thought, "Naw, can't be…"

Suddenly, they were in space, tearing across the heavens. Nodoka brought herself to a stop to get her bearings.

Sasami shouted, "Tsunami!" and began to cry and hug everyone.

The cabbit cried happily. "Miyah!"

Ranma jumped and clung to the dome's smooth inner surface far above the other passengers.

7-13-05

Trugeta: I thought it might be fun to have a little side trip to the tenchi universe might be fun. I tried to briefly explain the cross universe transition and, yes, you guessed why they lost contact. I bypassed the army and government with Nodoka's fortuitous acquisition of the werecabbit form. Colonel Murdock may show up later like poison ivy toilet paper.

Ranko: Thanks for reviewing. I know I move the action rather fast, but I'm not a speedy typist and want to reach point 'B' in the chapter which some may feel makes it more like a synopsis. For which I apologize.

Steve: Maybe it isn't the best plot device, but I sorta feel that some in the govt. think that perceived capability equals intent. Look at Iraq and the WMD issue. Sure, Saddam's out, but look at the mess. They may not be in Nerima yet, but they are sure not in the US.

Deus-Ex-Machina:Thanks for the positive feedback.

RubberNeck: I'm still working out how long they will be in the Tenchi universe, but it should be a while yet. I've decided that I do like Nodoka in space and what opportunities to encourage 'grandchildren' activities!

Dragon Man 180: Ranma and co. took a much slower transport and timed it to show up well after dark. The EMP that Ranma created coincided with Nabiki's flashes and the lights burning out. Yes, Nodoka is a fully capable and mature cabbit as expressed in this chapter and I'll take your suggestions seriously.

Wonderbee31: I reallly like your comments and hope that I can keep writing satisfactorily. Yes to the different dimension/universe thought. Genma should have fallen into the 'spring of drowned stubborn ass' or 'stubborn mule'. Soun needs a wake up call or a brain upgrade transplant, say…rhesus monkey?