Disclaimer - Tenchi and the crew are unfortunately not my property. I had
no part in creating them, though I am desperately trying to figure out how
to give myself Ryoko's abilities. I am not writing this for the purpose of
making money, though if any kind souls see fit to give donations I will not
complain. I am writing merely because I'm an obsessive person in general
and I really need to get it out of my system. Mayhem is my creation
however, and anyone using him without my OK will anger the Great Shaven Cat
Goddess and cause her to sic her elite pack of Killer Llamas on you.
Criticism is welcome, flames are ignored, praise will inflate my ego
greatly, and make sure I actually finish this one-day. Enjoy.
Many thanks to my talented editor, and fellow fanfic author, for his help in making this readable. THANK YOU DREZ!!!!
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Mayhem, Chaos, And General Messes
Chapter 9
Reversals
"They got away?" Heero asked quietly, looking at the lithe young woman standing on the other side of the wooden expanse of the desk, his ice blue eyes even colder than normal as he held her with his gaze.
"Yes my Lord." She responded, her voice tight with suppressed anger and fear. Anger at herself for allowing it to happen, and fear of what the man in front of her might do. "The hotel manager told me the wrong room, and the party that was occupying the room he gave me was of the right size."
"That does not excuse allowing that cur to hijack your vehicle and use it to make his escape." Heero snapped, coming to his feet and slamming his hands down on the desk. "If I did not have plans for you that required you be alive and intact I would have you skinned and turned into a rug."
The young woman hung her head and cringed at the outburst, her unruly dark hair falling forward to cover her face. "I am sorry my Lord, I have no excuse for my failure." She replied in a voice that trembled only slightly. "I will do better in the future, I swear."
"You certainly will. My patience and compassion only stretch so far." The elegant man replied, his voice calm once again, but as cold as his eyes.
"Sir." The small communicator on his wrist chirped, interrupting the young woman before she could issue another apology.
"Yes Lt." Heero responded, his eyes pale never leaving her dark ones.
"We've found them."
****************************
Kami he was tired. Every time he put her down, Mayuka would start crying again, and he hadn't slept more than a few restless hours since his foray into Ryoko's mind. Presently he was curled up in one of the couches in Yukinojo's lounge area, his daughter snoozing peacefully in the crook of his arm and flipping through the 1000 odd channels the ship could pick up. Scarily enough, he hadn't found anything interesting to watch yet. He was just about to give up when an image of Emperor Azusa. his great grandfather he thought with a hint of an amused grin, appeared on the screen. Turning up the volume just a tad he quit flipping through the channels long enough to listen in.
".an unconditional twenty million Jurai award for the monster responsible for the murders of my Daughters and their friends." The regal looking man addressed his intergalactic audience. "In addition, I am also issuing substantial rewards for anyone with any information that proves to be useful in the hunt." With that the image switched back to a dour faced anchorman who recapped the announcement and started going over details that apparently hadn't been included in the clip. Tenchi only listened with half an ear, already knowing more or less what was going to be said.
"Washu." He whispered, tapping the small communicator on his wrist.
"Yes Tenchi?" the petite scientist voice returned after a few seconds, sounding more than a bit distracted.
"Have you been watching the news?" Tenchi asked, trying to keep the anxiety he was feeling out of his voice.
"Oh you mean the reward?" Washu replied after a brief pause. "Yes, I know about it."
"And?" Tenchi prompted, hoping she had any idea about what they could do.
"And what?" she returned, sounding a bit tired. "There isn't really anything I can do about it until we get closer to Jurai and I have other things to worry about at the moment."
"Sorry Washu," Tenchi sighed, "I just hate feeling so helpless."
"I know Tenchi." Washu replied soothingly. "Have you managed to get any sleep yet?"
"Hmm?" Tenchi responded, his sleep deprived mind taking a few seconds to catch up with the change of subject. "Not yet, Mayuka starts crying every time I put her down." He finally replied with a yawn.
"Why don't you leave her with Ryoko and me in the med lab for a while." Washu suggested. "I'm sure Ryoko would love to see her."
"That's a good idea, thanks." Tenchi responded gratefully.
****************************
Ryoko opened her eyes as Tenchi left the room and with an effort managed to turn her head to look at Washu as she played with Mayuka. "Can I hold her Washu?" she asked, her mental voice colored by a touch of longing.
"I don't know. Think you're up to it?" Washu asked, pleased that her daughter was showing a bit of interest in something again.
"Just help me sit up." Ryoko responded happily. Washu smiled softly, setting Mayuka down in the playpen that she had set up in a corner of the sickbay for a few seconds while she helped Ryoko into a sitting position and thoroughly propped her up with pillows. Admittedly she could have done much the same thing with a few keystrokes on her holo-top, but psychologically speaking, the human contact the old fashion method involved was good for Ryoko. Though getting the girl to admit as much was a near impossible task. That accomplished Washu picked Mayuka back up and carefully set her in Ryoko's arms.
"Hey kiddo." Ryoko whispered, her voice rough. "Miss me?" Mayuka sighed contentedly in response and cuddled closer, one small hand taking a firm hold of the nightgown Ryoko was wearing as the infant stared curiously at Ryoko's almost buzz-cut short hair.
"The kids been a real pain since you were injured." Washu commented softly, watching the pair with a slightly amused smile on her face.
"How so?" Ryoko asked telepathically, not taking her eyes from the child in her lap.
"Wouldn't sleep, wouldn't stop crying. the normal ways babies make their displeasure known to the world." Washu responded grinning. "Tenchi was just about the only one of us who could do anything with the kid."
"Is that true yah little brat?" Ryoko asked in an amused voice, making faces at the little girl, who gurgled happily in response. "Why do you think she's been doing that though?" the cyan haired girl asked Washu mentally as she continued in her efforts to entertain Mayuka, "do you think she misses the house?"
Washu rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly at her daughter's ability to miss the obvious. "She missed you Ryoko." The pink-haired scientist replied with a smile, "I'm pretty sure that she considers you to be her mother."
"You. you really think so Mom?" Ryoko asked, her eyes still fixed on the child in her arms, the slightest hint of tears making her golden eyes shimmer.
"Yes." Washu replied simply.
****************************
"What are you girls up to?" Keith asked suspiciously as he stepped back into Sara's bedroom/living room to find Sara, Sasami, and Mihoshi huddled conspiratorially together on the far couch, looking at him with barely suppressed grins. Kiyone was sprawled on the other couch, rubbing her temples and muttering under her breath.
"Nothing!" they chorused almost immediately.
"Somehow I have a feeling I'm not gonna like this." Keith groaned. "But female conspiracies aside, we have a few hours to burn before we really need to hit the sack and I for one am starving."
"Shouldn't we wait for Ayeka?" Sari asked, her face the picture of innocence.
"Wasn't plannin' on leaving the girl behind." Keith shrugged, giving the tiny silver hared girl an odd look. "She'll be along in just a minute"
Sari just grinned.
****************************
"May'm!" the little girl shouted gleefully as the group entered the dimly lit tavern, her waist-length forest green hair streaming behind her as she ran to greet the group.
"Hey squirt." Keith responded with a grin, kneeling down to give the kid a hug when she reached them. "Miss me?"
"Nope." She responded mischievously.
"You didn't?" Keith replied with an exaggerated pout.
"I knew those dumb coppers could'n catch yah." She asserted, crossing her arms and smirking.
"Damn straight squirt." Keith grinned back, mussing her wild mane of hair affectionately as he stood up.
"So who is that little girl?" Ayeka asked Sari as the group followed the constantly chattering child to an unoccupied corner booth.
"Maya?" Sari responded, "oh, she's just his lovechild."
"WHAT!" Ayeka yelped, drawing the eyes of about half the people in the tavern.
"Gotcha." Sari grinned, poking the taller girl in the ribs and making her blush bright red.
"Sari, stop teasing the poor sheltered girl." Keith called over his shoulder, chuckling a bit.
"Sheltered!" Ayeka responded indignantly.
"He's got a point Ayeka." Sasami affirmed with an impish grin of her own, joining in on the game of teasing her older sister.
"And you have absolutely no room to talk my dear baby sister." Ayeka replied, her attempt at a glare ruined by the smile that was tugging at the corners of her lips.
"May'm?" Maya asked, tugging insistently on his shirt to draw his attention back to her as they all took seats at one of the larger booths.
"Yeah kid?" he responded, his oddly split left eyebrow rising up questioningly.
"Did you really kill the Princesses?" the emerald haired girl asked seriously, fixing the scruffy looking man with her big dark-brown eyes and looking entirely too serious for someone who couldn't have been more than 8 years old.
"Hmmmm." Keith started, an exaggeratedly thoughtful expression on his face. "I dunno. Have I killed any princesses lately Ayeka-chan?" the shaggy-haired young man asked with a wolfish grin on his face as he looked across the table at the elder princess.
"Not as of yet." Ayeka replied dryly as she looked over one of the worn menus that had been lying on the table. "Though it has not been for lack of trying."
"Now now Ayeka-chan." Keith retorted in a sing-song tone. "I have tried to do a number of things to you, but killing you isn't one of 'em." Ayeka's blush at the remark was practically neon, fortunately for her she was saved from further teasing or questioning by the arrival of the waitress. A motherly looking woman who was apparently in her late thirties, she had forest green hair only a touch darker than Maya's, and also shared the little girl's infectious smile. That smile that was in full bloom as she approached the table, her startling blue eyes fixed firmly on the scruffy young man sitting at the edge of the booth.
"Mayhem m'boy!" she greeted, "did you have fun getting the Jurians riled up?"
"It's one of my great joys in life Kasumi." Keith replied with a warm smile of his own, standing up to give the woman a hug. "Miss me?"
"Always do." The elder woman replied, returning the hug. "So who are the lovely young ladies you've brought back with you this time?" she asked, directing her smile towards the girls.
"Well let's see," Keith started, one hand casually activating the booth's privacy field. "This lovely young blonde here is Mihoshi, the stunning young woman sitting next to her is Kiyone, and the gorgeous pair over here are Princess Sasami and Princess Ayeka of the Jurian empire."
"They don' look like princesses." Maya said into the shocked semi- silence, pointing at Ayeka, and earning a giggle from Sasami.
Ayeka glanced briefly down at her outfit and silently agreed with the young girl. The short black skirt and midriff bearing t-shirt she was wearing were far from regal. Add to that the leather chocker, bracelets, and chromed chain belt she was wearing, and she looked more like a teenage punk than royalty. Her sister's shorts and t-shirt left the blue-haired girl looking like a fairly typical kid as well.
"Y-your kidding right?" Kasumi finally managed to stammer out. "I mean, I've heard the news stories. I know what they've pinned on you this time, but." she trailed off. "Oh lordy, you're serious aren't you Mayhem."
"I'm afraid so ma'am." Kiyone responded in his stead, giving the motherly woman a slightly chagrined half-smile.
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"Was he telling the truth?" the elderly gentleman asked worriedly, his mouth nearly hidden by the thick mustache adorning his upper lip.
"I'm afraid so sir." The younger man responded, his voice tight from shock and anger as he hung up his phone.
"Then I have no choice." The old said, slumping back into the oversized leather chair he was occupying. "I just hope he understands. Do we know where he is?"
"Yes Sir." the younger man answered, bowing respectfully. "Shall I prepare a team to retrieve him?"
"No, I shall go myself. I owe him that much at least.
****************************
"So what exactly is your plan from here on out Mayhem?" Sari asked between bites of her steak.
"Simple. I'll play bait in the ship I'm buying off you while the girls take a nice safe passenger ship to Jurai." Keith replied without hesitation, picking idly at the remains of his dinner with his chopsticks.
"I don't recall us having agreed to any such plan Keith-san." Ayeka snapped, her voice cold, in direct opposition to the inferno of a glare she was aiming at him, the teacup in her hands all but forgotten. The rest of the girls all nodded in agreement, fixing their own glares upon the scruffy young man.
"I didn't recall that being a requirement." Keith shot back, meeting Ayeka's glare calmly. "This is the way it's gonna happen. If I have to hog-tie the lot of you and stuff you into a closet for it to happen, so be it."
"You cannot and will not make this kind of decision without consulting m... us on it." Ayeka retorted angrily. Rising to her feet and leaning heavily on the table to emphasize her point.
"Ayeka." Keith started, silently thanking Maya for the privacy screens she provided for the booths that prevented anybody from overhearing the argument. "I can and I have. The ship is mine and I have every right to decide who does and who doesn't get to ride on it." The rest of the table's occupants had stopped all conversation and were watching the argument warily.
"Why must you be so pigheaded?" Ayeka growled.
"Ayeka. come with me." Keith responded tersely after a few tense moments of silence. Abruptly standing up and grabbing the violet haired girls upper arm, he started towards the back of the tavern, dragging the startled and protesting young woman behind him.
The rest of the group watched them go in a stunned silence until they disappeared through a door behind the bar.
"What just happened?" Mihoshi asked, clearly confused.
"Lovers quarrel?" Sari responded, shooting Sasami a conspiratorial grin.
****************************
"Uh, Sir. We've arrived." Kanno said hesitantly, prodding the older man next to him gently.
"It will be a few minutes before there is any point in trying to get out of our seats young man, and we have several hours before the connecting flight leaves for Jurai. Have patience." Katsuhito replied calmly, cracking one eye open just far enough to look at the young reporter. "I trust my sisters and their friends to take care of themselves for as long as it will take us to reach the palace."
"If you say so sir." Kanno sighed, "but don't tell me you trust that. man, as well?"
"He seemed a nice enough young man for the short time I've known him." Katsuhito replied calmly. "Besides, my sister trusts him, and she has always been an excellent judge of character... with a few exceptions anyway."
"Somehow that doesn't reassure me all that much." Kanno replied with a heavy sigh.
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"What do think you are trying to do Keith?" Ayeka hissed as soon as the door shut behind them. "I tell you I'm not going to sleep with you and suddenly you decide to ditch us?"
"I thought what I was doing was perfectly obvious Princess." Keith growled in return. "And believe it or not, whether or not I get to fuck you has nothing to do with the decision."
"Bullshit." Ayeka growled back, startling Keith a bit with the out-of- character profanity. "I bet you just can't stop think about how close we came to making love and it's driving you insane. You are doing this just to get me out of sight and out of mind." She added with a smirk, stepping close enough that Keith was forced to look almost straight down to meet her eyes, and giving him an eyeful of other assets in the process.
"Ayeka. no offense or anything. but you're just not quite that nice a piece of ass." Keith replied with his own smirk and giving said piece of anatomy a good squeeze.
****************************
*SLAP!*
"What'd he say?" Sasami whispered excitedly to Sari.
"I'll tell you when your grown up." Sari whispered back, her ear planted firmly against the door. "But he's lucky she just slapped him."
****************************
"Fine." Ayeka fumed. "Then what IS your reason for suddenly deciding to leave m. us behind then?"
"There's nothing sudden about my decision, I've been thinking about this since we left Earth. I've already put you girls in enough danger already Ayeka." The scruffy looking youth replied, frustration evident in his voice. "Hell, it's my fault for getting all of you involved in the first place. If I had just run away Ryoko would never have gotten hurt and."
"That is enough!" Ayeka interrupted, fixing Keith with a hard glare before continuing in a softer tone. "I will not have you blaming yourself for something that none of us could have anticipated, and for which I am just as much at fault for as anyone here. If I had not insisted in chasing after you we would not have even had the opportunity to become involved"
"Yeah and I had the choice to not f'ing kidnap yah to!" Keith replied.
"Would you rather we have never of met?" Ayeka asked quietly.
"It would have been better for you." He replied just as quietly. "Dammit Ayeka, your friend could very well be dead because of my actions."
"Ryoko's tougher than that." Ayeka replied softly, stepping close to him once again and sliding her arms around his waist in a comforting hug. "And she has Tenchi and Washu watching over her. she won't die on us from this."
"You have that much faith in her? In Them?" Keith replied, returning the hug.
"Yes, the girl can get under my skin faster than anyone I know except perhaps you, but I do have faith in her. And in them"
"Then I guess I'll just have to trust you on that then." Keith replied after a brief silence. "Your still staying behind though."
"What?" Ayeka replied, pushing away as far as his encircling arms would let her to meet his eyes with her own.
"Whatever my motivations in forming the plan Ayeka, it's sound. Having you or anyone else come with me would be pointless."
"But." Ayeka started to protest.
"Ayeka, just trust me on this." Keith interrupted. "Please."
"If I must." Ayeka sighed in defeat, giving the boy a small, if somewhat melancholy, smile.
"Thanks." He replied with a smile of his own, before taking the opportunity to catch the surprised girl with a kiss.
****************************
"What's going on now?" Sasami asked curiously, slightly frustrated that the older girls wouldn't let her listen too.
"I don't know. it suddenly just got quiet in there." Mihoshi replied. "Do think they're kissing?"
"I bet they're doing more than just that." Sari snickered in reply.
"Sari!" Kiyone responded in a shocked whisper. "Sasami and Maya are standing right there!" she scolded, gesturing at the two increasingly frustrated little girls standing behind them.
"Aw, like you weren't thinking the exact same thing." Sari teased.
"Well yeah, but I have the common sense to keep it to myself." Kiyone retorted, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks.
"Mr. Si'Glara!" Maya's surprised voice came from behind them, startling them with its volume. "What're you doing here?"
****************************
"Keith. stop." Ayeka protested weakly, breaking the kiss after what felt like a brief eternity, but not pulling away completely. "I told you. I love Lord Tenchi."
"And I told you that I don't give up that easily." He replied easily, leaning over to suck gently on her neck, just above where it met her shoulder.
"I thought you said I wasn't that. oh Kami." she gasped as his mouth found a particularly sensitive spot, "wasn't 'that nice a piece of ass'. I believe was the phrase you used." She countered, unconsciously leaning into his ministrations.
"That. was a. complete. and utter. lie." Keith responded, trailing kisses up her neck and along her jaw.
"Is that right?" Ayeka breathed out just before his mouth found hers again.
"I had a feeling that their newest claims against you were spurious M' boy, but I must say, I wasn't expecting this to be what was really going on." An elderly, but thoroughly amused voice came from the door.
"I knew they were kissing in there!" Sasami crowed.
****************************
"I'm terribly sorry about the interruption Mayhem." Si'Glara started, unable to hide the mischievous twinkle in his eye, though the twinkle quickly faded away as he continued, "but I am even more sorry for why I interrupted."
"What're you talking about Gramps?" Keith replied, still red from embarrassment.
"There are currently six Jurian warships in orbit over this planet." The elderly gentleman started, his heavy mustache drooping to emphasize the frown decorating his face. "The lead ship is geosynchronous orbit above the city. and is holding my family hostage in their own homes."
"Fuck." Keith replied simply, his face going stony. "How'd they find me?"
"I'm ashamed to admit this," the old gangster sighed, "but I think one of my men may have given them the information."
"Who?" Keith asked, his voice deadly quiet.
"Salol." Si'Glara replied simply. "I told you that you should never have made an enemy of that one Mayhem. He holds grudges far to long."
"So. what are the terms?" Keith asked after a long silence.
"They want you obviously, within the next hour and forty-five minutes to be exact." Si'Glara replied heavily. "Though any companions you might have I'm just to keep on this planet and isolated for the next two weeks."
"How much time do you need to get your family to safety?" Keith asked quietly.
"I need one full day to get the targeted buildings evacuated without them noticing anything. After that they're free to blast away." Si'Glara replied firmly. "I cannot force you turn yourself in M'boy. I won't. But I beg of you. my grandchildren are innocents, even if many of the rest of us are not. They don't deserve to die for this." he finished, sounding even older than his years.
"No, they don't." Keith agreed solemnly. "Looks like I have no choice then, I'll go."
"Thank you Mayhem." Si'Glara responded sincerely, the relief evident in his voice. "If there is anything you want done, just name it."
"Just. watch over my friends while I'm gone, 'kay?"
"Of course. consider them to be under my full protection." Si'Glara reassured, rising to his feet. "I'll wait outside, we'll leave when you're ready.
"Goddammit Mayhem, why do you have to be so fucking noble all the time." Sari tried to growl, but failed miserably. "If you'd said no he wouldn't of forced you yah know."
"Yeah, and his entire family woulda been killed. You know I can't let that happen, and there's just not enough time to find another way." Keith replied seriously.
"Yeah, I know." Sari replied in a small voice, hastily wiping away a tear that escaped to trickle down her cheek. "Doesn't mean I have'tah be happy 'bout it though."
"Just. don't die. Not until we can save you." Sari replied, refusing to look at him.
"We'll be moving the second Mr. Si'Glara gives the all clear." Kiyone added, Mihoshi nodding her head in agreement, an uncharacteristically serious expression on her tanned face.
"Thanks girls. I'll be waiting for you then." Keith replied, giving the group a nearly genuine grin as he rose to his feet. "In any case though, I'd better get going. Don't want to cut things any closer than we have to considering what's on the line."
Keith was nearly to the door before Ayeka could force her self to do anything more than watch him go. Abruptly she scrambled to her feet and all but sprinted after him, catching his arm even as he started to push the door open.
"Don't." she whispered, "please."
"This is a really bad time to start Ayeka." Keith responded, his voice barely loud enough for the violet haired girl to hear.
"What?" Ayeka responded, baffled by his response.
"If you try to hard I might just stay." Keith elaborated, turning to look at her, wolfish grin firmly in place, ".and I really do have to do this." With that he was out the door and in the waiting car.
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"What do you think Heero plans for you?" Si'Glara asked quietly a few minutes into the trip to the spaceport.
"You mean besides pain, torture, humiliation, and death?" Keith responded sarcastically. Si'Glara just nodded in response. "Damned if I know, he's pretty much forced himself into delivering me to Azusa. Which means he's going to have to keep the girls away and quiet long enough to actually deliver me to Jurai." Keith mused. "He's also got to keep me from talking to Azusa and spilling the beans about his daughters being alive. Azusa likely wouldn't believe me, but he might just stop the execution long enough for the girls to get around his attempts to bottle 'em up."
"You think he'll drug you or something similar to keep you quiet?" Si'Glara asked.
"Ripping my tongue out would probably be a bit to obvious, so that's probably going to be the case." Keith replied, grimacing.
"Well then, I may have something that can help. though it is not without risks." Si'Glara offered, reaching into a small compartment in the side of the limo.
"Seeing as my choices are somewhat limited." the shaggy haired young man drawled in reply.
"I can't offer you an antidote obviously," Si'Glara started, pulling out a small packet, "but this should act to partially counteract any drug he may give you to keep you unconscious or incoherent. It's a sub-dermal implant, and it will release a dose of the drug inside into your system every four hours over the next 3 days."
"So, what're the risks?" Keith asked, taking the small packet from Si'Glara and holding it up to the light to examine it. Inside the clear plastic case was a thin, segmented tube containing tiny droplets of a almost neon-blue liquid.
"Firstly, the drug is highly addictive. No matter how amazing your healing abilities are Mayhem, you will feel significant withdrawal symptoms after that is gone. Secondly, if the implant breaks while inside you, all of the doses contain within will enter your system at once. the results would be lethal even for you. Lastly. that particular implant was meant for a being four times your mass. If I gave you a lesser dose though, I'm afraid that your system would expunge it long before the next dose was released. If Heero does anything to task your healing abilities too far though." Si'Glara trailed off with a grimace.
"I think I may have been better off not knowing." Keith responded after a short silence. "So. how do we put this thing in?"
****************************
"So what do we do now?" Sasami asked as they walked back to Sari's place.
"We've got to beat them to Jurai somehow. or get a message out. or something." Sari responded, frustration evident in her voice.
"A message isn't any good unless we can get a secure channel though." Kiyone replied thoughtfully. "If Heero or one of his people intercept it before Keith's delivered to Jurai he'd just bolt and we'd lose our chance to rescue Keith. We're pretty much have to let him deliver Keith to Jurai and then try and do something there before he's executed."
"Is there any way we could contact Washu do you think?" Ayeka asked, the first thing she'd said since Keith had left.
"All of Yagami's communications equipment is GP issue, if we tried to contact him there's no way that Heero's people wouldn't notice." Kiyone replied, her brow furrowing with frustration.
"Actually Kiyone." Mihoshi started hesitantly, "he does have a civilian phone."
"What?" Kiyone nearly shouted.
"I know it's against the rules but the Chief always gets really mad when I use the police communicator to go shopping for stuff, and watch TV, and call my family when I'm on patrol, so I thought that it'd be better if I just put in my own personal system that he wouldn't know about." Mihoshi explained sheepishly. "I even had to use a different name to keep it a secret."
". well I'll be damned." Kiyone muttered in a bemused tone. "That takes care of half the problem then."
"What is the other half of the problem?" Ayeka asked worriedly.
"Well, while we have a comm. address and system that isn't red- flagged now, we all still are." Sari answered before Kiyone could. "Are images, our voices, our names, anything attached to us is going to be noticed by those ships sitting in orbit."
"So why don't we get someone else to send the message for us?" Sasami asked.
"That's just what I was thinking Sammy." Sari replied with a grin.
****************************
Beep BEEP!
".."
Beep BEEP!
"Mnn.?"
Beep BEEP!
"Huh? Wazzat?"
Beep BEEP! Click!
"'Ello?" Tenchi slurred, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, still more than half asleep.
"Is this a Mr. Masaki?" a somewhat effeminate voice asked.
"Err. Yeah."
"Press record on your machine, woulda sweetie?" the voice asked/instructed.
"Wha? Why?" Tenchi asked even as he looked for the appropriate button on the machine.
"Because your friends would be very upset if you didn't, and you don't want that do you?"
".kay." Tenchi responded, still baffled, but finding the appropriate button and pressing it anyway. "Ready."
"Here it comes then big-boy." The voice said teasingly, followed shortly by a high-pitched squeal that lasted for about three seconds. "Now show that to the professor and be quick about it, everyone's waiting for you." With that the voice hung up, leaving Tenchi staring at the phone even more confused than before. After a few seconds spent getting his thoughts together, he reached for the in-ship comm.
"Washu. I just got the weirdest phone-call."
End Chapter 9
Many thanks to my talented editor, and fellow fanfic author, for his help in making this readable. THANK YOU DREZ!!!!
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Mayhem, Chaos, And General Messes
Chapter 9
Reversals
"They got away?" Heero asked quietly, looking at the lithe young woman standing on the other side of the wooden expanse of the desk, his ice blue eyes even colder than normal as he held her with his gaze.
"Yes my Lord." She responded, her voice tight with suppressed anger and fear. Anger at herself for allowing it to happen, and fear of what the man in front of her might do. "The hotel manager told me the wrong room, and the party that was occupying the room he gave me was of the right size."
"That does not excuse allowing that cur to hijack your vehicle and use it to make his escape." Heero snapped, coming to his feet and slamming his hands down on the desk. "If I did not have plans for you that required you be alive and intact I would have you skinned and turned into a rug."
The young woman hung her head and cringed at the outburst, her unruly dark hair falling forward to cover her face. "I am sorry my Lord, I have no excuse for my failure." She replied in a voice that trembled only slightly. "I will do better in the future, I swear."
"You certainly will. My patience and compassion only stretch so far." The elegant man replied, his voice calm once again, but as cold as his eyes.
"Sir." The small communicator on his wrist chirped, interrupting the young woman before she could issue another apology.
"Yes Lt." Heero responded, his eyes pale never leaving her dark ones.
"We've found them."
****************************
Kami he was tired. Every time he put her down, Mayuka would start crying again, and he hadn't slept more than a few restless hours since his foray into Ryoko's mind. Presently he was curled up in one of the couches in Yukinojo's lounge area, his daughter snoozing peacefully in the crook of his arm and flipping through the 1000 odd channels the ship could pick up. Scarily enough, he hadn't found anything interesting to watch yet. He was just about to give up when an image of Emperor Azusa. his great grandfather he thought with a hint of an amused grin, appeared on the screen. Turning up the volume just a tad he quit flipping through the channels long enough to listen in.
".an unconditional twenty million Jurai award for the monster responsible for the murders of my Daughters and their friends." The regal looking man addressed his intergalactic audience. "In addition, I am also issuing substantial rewards for anyone with any information that proves to be useful in the hunt." With that the image switched back to a dour faced anchorman who recapped the announcement and started going over details that apparently hadn't been included in the clip. Tenchi only listened with half an ear, already knowing more or less what was going to be said.
"Washu." He whispered, tapping the small communicator on his wrist.
"Yes Tenchi?" the petite scientist voice returned after a few seconds, sounding more than a bit distracted.
"Have you been watching the news?" Tenchi asked, trying to keep the anxiety he was feeling out of his voice.
"Oh you mean the reward?" Washu replied after a brief pause. "Yes, I know about it."
"And?" Tenchi prompted, hoping she had any idea about what they could do.
"And what?" she returned, sounding a bit tired. "There isn't really anything I can do about it until we get closer to Jurai and I have other things to worry about at the moment."
"Sorry Washu," Tenchi sighed, "I just hate feeling so helpless."
"I know Tenchi." Washu replied soothingly. "Have you managed to get any sleep yet?"
"Hmm?" Tenchi responded, his sleep deprived mind taking a few seconds to catch up with the change of subject. "Not yet, Mayuka starts crying every time I put her down." He finally replied with a yawn.
"Why don't you leave her with Ryoko and me in the med lab for a while." Washu suggested. "I'm sure Ryoko would love to see her."
"That's a good idea, thanks." Tenchi responded gratefully.
****************************
Ryoko opened her eyes as Tenchi left the room and with an effort managed to turn her head to look at Washu as she played with Mayuka. "Can I hold her Washu?" she asked, her mental voice colored by a touch of longing.
"I don't know. Think you're up to it?" Washu asked, pleased that her daughter was showing a bit of interest in something again.
"Just help me sit up." Ryoko responded happily. Washu smiled softly, setting Mayuka down in the playpen that she had set up in a corner of the sickbay for a few seconds while she helped Ryoko into a sitting position and thoroughly propped her up with pillows. Admittedly she could have done much the same thing with a few keystrokes on her holo-top, but psychologically speaking, the human contact the old fashion method involved was good for Ryoko. Though getting the girl to admit as much was a near impossible task. That accomplished Washu picked Mayuka back up and carefully set her in Ryoko's arms.
"Hey kiddo." Ryoko whispered, her voice rough. "Miss me?" Mayuka sighed contentedly in response and cuddled closer, one small hand taking a firm hold of the nightgown Ryoko was wearing as the infant stared curiously at Ryoko's almost buzz-cut short hair.
"The kids been a real pain since you were injured." Washu commented softly, watching the pair with a slightly amused smile on her face.
"How so?" Ryoko asked telepathically, not taking her eyes from the child in her lap.
"Wouldn't sleep, wouldn't stop crying. the normal ways babies make their displeasure known to the world." Washu responded grinning. "Tenchi was just about the only one of us who could do anything with the kid."
"Is that true yah little brat?" Ryoko asked in an amused voice, making faces at the little girl, who gurgled happily in response. "Why do you think she's been doing that though?" the cyan haired girl asked Washu mentally as she continued in her efforts to entertain Mayuka, "do you think she misses the house?"
Washu rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly at her daughter's ability to miss the obvious. "She missed you Ryoko." The pink-haired scientist replied with a smile, "I'm pretty sure that she considers you to be her mother."
"You. you really think so Mom?" Ryoko asked, her eyes still fixed on the child in her arms, the slightest hint of tears making her golden eyes shimmer.
"Yes." Washu replied simply.
****************************
"What are you girls up to?" Keith asked suspiciously as he stepped back into Sara's bedroom/living room to find Sara, Sasami, and Mihoshi huddled conspiratorially together on the far couch, looking at him with barely suppressed grins. Kiyone was sprawled on the other couch, rubbing her temples and muttering under her breath.
"Nothing!" they chorused almost immediately.
"Somehow I have a feeling I'm not gonna like this." Keith groaned. "But female conspiracies aside, we have a few hours to burn before we really need to hit the sack and I for one am starving."
"Shouldn't we wait for Ayeka?" Sari asked, her face the picture of innocence.
"Wasn't plannin' on leaving the girl behind." Keith shrugged, giving the tiny silver hared girl an odd look. "She'll be along in just a minute"
Sari just grinned.
****************************
"May'm!" the little girl shouted gleefully as the group entered the dimly lit tavern, her waist-length forest green hair streaming behind her as she ran to greet the group.
"Hey squirt." Keith responded with a grin, kneeling down to give the kid a hug when she reached them. "Miss me?"
"Nope." She responded mischievously.
"You didn't?" Keith replied with an exaggerated pout.
"I knew those dumb coppers could'n catch yah." She asserted, crossing her arms and smirking.
"Damn straight squirt." Keith grinned back, mussing her wild mane of hair affectionately as he stood up.
"So who is that little girl?" Ayeka asked Sari as the group followed the constantly chattering child to an unoccupied corner booth.
"Maya?" Sari responded, "oh, she's just his lovechild."
"WHAT!" Ayeka yelped, drawing the eyes of about half the people in the tavern.
"Gotcha." Sari grinned, poking the taller girl in the ribs and making her blush bright red.
"Sari, stop teasing the poor sheltered girl." Keith called over his shoulder, chuckling a bit.
"Sheltered!" Ayeka responded indignantly.
"He's got a point Ayeka." Sasami affirmed with an impish grin of her own, joining in on the game of teasing her older sister.
"And you have absolutely no room to talk my dear baby sister." Ayeka replied, her attempt at a glare ruined by the smile that was tugging at the corners of her lips.
"May'm?" Maya asked, tugging insistently on his shirt to draw his attention back to her as they all took seats at one of the larger booths.
"Yeah kid?" he responded, his oddly split left eyebrow rising up questioningly.
"Did you really kill the Princesses?" the emerald haired girl asked seriously, fixing the scruffy looking man with her big dark-brown eyes and looking entirely too serious for someone who couldn't have been more than 8 years old.
"Hmmmm." Keith started, an exaggeratedly thoughtful expression on his face. "I dunno. Have I killed any princesses lately Ayeka-chan?" the shaggy-haired young man asked with a wolfish grin on his face as he looked across the table at the elder princess.
"Not as of yet." Ayeka replied dryly as she looked over one of the worn menus that had been lying on the table. "Though it has not been for lack of trying."
"Now now Ayeka-chan." Keith retorted in a sing-song tone. "I have tried to do a number of things to you, but killing you isn't one of 'em." Ayeka's blush at the remark was practically neon, fortunately for her she was saved from further teasing or questioning by the arrival of the waitress. A motherly looking woman who was apparently in her late thirties, she had forest green hair only a touch darker than Maya's, and also shared the little girl's infectious smile. That smile that was in full bloom as she approached the table, her startling blue eyes fixed firmly on the scruffy young man sitting at the edge of the booth.
"Mayhem m'boy!" she greeted, "did you have fun getting the Jurians riled up?"
"It's one of my great joys in life Kasumi." Keith replied with a warm smile of his own, standing up to give the woman a hug. "Miss me?"
"Always do." The elder woman replied, returning the hug. "So who are the lovely young ladies you've brought back with you this time?" she asked, directing her smile towards the girls.
"Well let's see," Keith started, one hand casually activating the booth's privacy field. "This lovely young blonde here is Mihoshi, the stunning young woman sitting next to her is Kiyone, and the gorgeous pair over here are Princess Sasami and Princess Ayeka of the Jurian empire."
"They don' look like princesses." Maya said into the shocked semi- silence, pointing at Ayeka, and earning a giggle from Sasami.
Ayeka glanced briefly down at her outfit and silently agreed with the young girl. The short black skirt and midriff bearing t-shirt she was wearing were far from regal. Add to that the leather chocker, bracelets, and chromed chain belt she was wearing, and she looked more like a teenage punk than royalty. Her sister's shorts and t-shirt left the blue-haired girl looking like a fairly typical kid as well.
"Y-your kidding right?" Kasumi finally managed to stammer out. "I mean, I've heard the news stories. I know what they've pinned on you this time, but." she trailed off. "Oh lordy, you're serious aren't you Mayhem."
"I'm afraid so ma'am." Kiyone responded in his stead, giving the motherly woman a slightly chagrined half-smile.
****************************
"Was he telling the truth?" the elderly gentleman asked worriedly, his mouth nearly hidden by the thick mustache adorning his upper lip.
"I'm afraid so sir." The younger man responded, his voice tight from shock and anger as he hung up his phone.
"Then I have no choice." The old said, slumping back into the oversized leather chair he was occupying. "I just hope he understands. Do we know where he is?"
"Yes Sir." the younger man answered, bowing respectfully. "Shall I prepare a team to retrieve him?"
"No, I shall go myself. I owe him that much at least.
****************************
"So what exactly is your plan from here on out Mayhem?" Sari asked between bites of her steak.
"Simple. I'll play bait in the ship I'm buying off you while the girls take a nice safe passenger ship to Jurai." Keith replied without hesitation, picking idly at the remains of his dinner with his chopsticks.
"I don't recall us having agreed to any such plan Keith-san." Ayeka snapped, her voice cold, in direct opposition to the inferno of a glare she was aiming at him, the teacup in her hands all but forgotten. The rest of the girls all nodded in agreement, fixing their own glares upon the scruffy young man.
"I didn't recall that being a requirement." Keith shot back, meeting Ayeka's glare calmly. "This is the way it's gonna happen. If I have to hog-tie the lot of you and stuff you into a closet for it to happen, so be it."
"You cannot and will not make this kind of decision without consulting m... us on it." Ayeka retorted angrily. Rising to her feet and leaning heavily on the table to emphasize her point.
"Ayeka." Keith started, silently thanking Maya for the privacy screens she provided for the booths that prevented anybody from overhearing the argument. "I can and I have. The ship is mine and I have every right to decide who does and who doesn't get to ride on it." The rest of the table's occupants had stopped all conversation and were watching the argument warily.
"Why must you be so pigheaded?" Ayeka growled.
"Ayeka. come with me." Keith responded tersely after a few tense moments of silence. Abruptly standing up and grabbing the violet haired girls upper arm, he started towards the back of the tavern, dragging the startled and protesting young woman behind him.
The rest of the group watched them go in a stunned silence until they disappeared through a door behind the bar.
"What just happened?" Mihoshi asked, clearly confused.
"Lovers quarrel?" Sari responded, shooting Sasami a conspiratorial grin.
****************************
"Uh, Sir. We've arrived." Kanno said hesitantly, prodding the older man next to him gently.
"It will be a few minutes before there is any point in trying to get out of our seats young man, and we have several hours before the connecting flight leaves for Jurai. Have patience." Katsuhito replied calmly, cracking one eye open just far enough to look at the young reporter. "I trust my sisters and their friends to take care of themselves for as long as it will take us to reach the palace."
"If you say so sir." Kanno sighed, "but don't tell me you trust that. man, as well?"
"He seemed a nice enough young man for the short time I've known him." Katsuhito replied calmly. "Besides, my sister trusts him, and she has always been an excellent judge of character... with a few exceptions anyway."
"Somehow that doesn't reassure me all that much." Kanno replied with a heavy sigh.
****************************
"What do think you are trying to do Keith?" Ayeka hissed as soon as the door shut behind them. "I tell you I'm not going to sleep with you and suddenly you decide to ditch us?"
"I thought what I was doing was perfectly obvious Princess." Keith growled in return. "And believe it or not, whether or not I get to fuck you has nothing to do with the decision."
"Bullshit." Ayeka growled back, startling Keith a bit with the out-of- character profanity. "I bet you just can't stop think about how close we came to making love and it's driving you insane. You are doing this just to get me out of sight and out of mind." She added with a smirk, stepping close enough that Keith was forced to look almost straight down to meet her eyes, and giving him an eyeful of other assets in the process.
"Ayeka. no offense or anything. but you're just not quite that nice a piece of ass." Keith replied with his own smirk and giving said piece of anatomy a good squeeze.
****************************
*SLAP!*
"What'd he say?" Sasami whispered excitedly to Sari.
"I'll tell you when your grown up." Sari whispered back, her ear planted firmly against the door. "But he's lucky she just slapped him."
****************************
"Fine." Ayeka fumed. "Then what IS your reason for suddenly deciding to leave m. us behind then?"
"There's nothing sudden about my decision, I've been thinking about this since we left Earth. I've already put you girls in enough danger already Ayeka." The scruffy looking youth replied, frustration evident in his voice. "Hell, it's my fault for getting all of you involved in the first place. If I had just run away Ryoko would never have gotten hurt and."
"That is enough!" Ayeka interrupted, fixing Keith with a hard glare before continuing in a softer tone. "I will not have you blaming yourself for something that none of us could have anticipated, and for which I am just as much at fault for as anyone here. If I had not insisted in chasing after you we would not have even had the opportunity to become involved"
"Yeah and I had the choice to not f'ing kidnap yah to!" Keith replied.
"Would you rather we have never of met?" Ayeka asked quietly.
"It would have been better for you." He replied just as quietly. "Dammit Ayeka, your friend could very well be dead because of my actions."
"Ryoko's tougher than that." Ayeka replied softly, stepping close to him once again and sliding her arms around his waist in a comforting hug. "And she has Tenchi and Washu watching over her. she won't die on us from this."
"You have that much faith in her? In Them?" Keith replied, returning the hug.
"Yes, the girl can get under my skin faster than anyone I know except perhaps you, but I do have faith in her. And in them"
"Then I guess I'll just have to trust you on that then." Keith replied after a brief silence. "Your still staying behind though."
"What?" Ayeka replied, pushing away as far as his encircling arms would let her to meet his eyes with her own.
"Whatever my motivations in forming the plan Ayeka, it's sound. Having you or anyone else come with me would be pointless."
"But." Ayeka started to protest.
"Ayeka, just trust me on this." Keith interrupted. "Please."
"If I must." Ayeka sighed in defeat, giving the boy a small, if somewhat melancholy, smile.
"Thanks." He replied with a smile of his own, before taking the opportunity to catch the surprised girl with a kiss.
****************************
"What's going on now?" Sasami asked curiously, slightly frustrated that the older girls wouldn't let her listen too.
"I don't know. it suddenly just got quiet in there." Mihoshi replied. "Do think they're kissing?"
"I bet they're doing more than just that." Sari snickered in reply.
"Sari!" Kiyone responded in a shocked whisper. "Sasami and Maya are standing right there!" she scolded, gesturing at the two increasingly frustrated little girls standing behind them.
"Aw, like you weren't thinking the exact same thing." Sari teased.
"Well yeah, but I have the common sense to keep it to myself." Kiyone retorted, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks.
"Mr. Si'Glara!" Maya's surprised voice came from behind them, startling them with its volume. "What're you doing here?"
****************************
"Keith. stop." Ayeka protested weakly, breaking the kiss after what felt like a brief eternity, but not pulling away completely. "I told you. I love Lord Tenchi."
"And I told you that I don't give up that easily." He replied easily, leaning over to suck gently on her neck, just above where it met her shoulder.
"I thought you said I wasn't that. oh Kami." she gasped as his mouth found a particularly sensitive spot, "wasn't 'that nice a piece of ass'. I believe was the phrase you used." She countered, unconsciously leaning into his ministrations.
"That. was a. complete. and utter. lie." Keith responded, trailing kisses up her neck and along her jaw.
"Is that right?" Ayeka breathed out just before his mouth found hers again.
"I had a feeling that their newest claims against you were spurious M' boy, but I must say, I wasn't expecting this to be what was really going on." An elderly, but thoroughly amused voice came from the door.
"I knew they were kissing in there!" Sasami crowed.
****************************
"I'm terribly sorry about the interruption Mayhem." Si'Glara started, unable to hide the mischievous twinkle in his eye, though the twinkle quickly faded away as he continued, "but I am even more sorry for why I interrupted."
"What're you talking about Gramps?" Keith replied, still red from embarrassment.
"There are currently six Jurian warships in orbit over this planet." The elderly gentleman started, his heavy mustache drooping to emphasize the frown decorating his face. "The lead ship is geosynchronous orbit above the city. and is holding my family hostage in their own homes."
"Fuck." Keith replied simply, his face going stony. "How'd they find me?"
"I'm ashamed to admit this," the old gangster sighed, "but I think one of my men may have given them the information."
"Who?" Keith asked, his voice deadly quiet.
"Salol." Si'Glara replied simply. "I told you that you should never have made an enemy of that one Mayhem. He holds grudges far to long."
"So. what are the terms?" Keith asked after a long silence.
"They want you obviously, within the next hour and forty-five minutes to be exact." Si'Glara replied heavily. "Though any companions you might have I'm just to keep on this planet and isolated for the next two weeks."
"How much time do you need to get your family to safety?" Keith asked quietly.
"I need one full day to get the targeted buildings evacuated without them noticing anything. After that they're free to blast away." Si'Glara replied firmly. "I cannot force you turn yourself in M'boy. I won't. But I beg of you. my grandchildren are innocents, even if many of the rest of us are not. They don't deserve to die for this." he finished, sounding even older than his years.
"No, they don't." Keith agreed solemnly. "Looks like I have no choice then, I'll go."
"Thank you Mayhem." Si'Glara responded sincerely, the relief evident in his voice. "If there is anything you want done, just name it."
"Just. watch over my friends while I'm gone, 'kay?"
"Of course. consider them to be under my full protection." Si'Glara reassured, rising to his feet. "I'll wait outside, we'll leave when you're ready.
"Goddammit Mayhem, why do you have to be so fucking noble all the time." Sari tried to growl, but failed miserably. "If you'd said no he wouldn't of forced you yah know."
"Yeah, and his entire family woulda been killed. You know I can't let that happen, and there's just not enough time to find another way." Keith replied seriously.
"Yeah, I know." Sari replied in a small voice, hastily wiping away a tear that escaped to trickle down her cheek. "Doesn't mean I have'tah be happy 'bout it though."
"Just. don't die. Not until we can save you." Sari replied, refusing to look at him.
"We'll be moving the second Mr. Si'Glara gives the all clear." Kiyone added, Mihoshi nodding her head in agreement, an uncharacteristically serious expression on her tanned face.
"Thanks girls. I'll be waiting for you then." Keith replied, giving the group a nearly genuine grin as he rose to his feet. "In any case though, I'd better get going. Don't want to cut things any closer than we have to considering what's on the line."
Keith was nearly to the door before Ayeka could force her self to do anything more than watch him go. Abruptly she scrambled to her feet and all but sprinted after him, catching his arm even as he started to push the door open.
"Don't." she whispered, "please."
"This is a really bad time to start Ayeka." Keith responded, his voice barely loud enough for the violet haired girl to hear.
"What?" Ayeka responded, baffled by his response.
"If you try to hard I might just stay." Keith elaborated, turning to look at her, wolfish grin firmly in place, ".and I really do have to do this." With that he was out the door and in the waiting car.
****************************
"What do you think Heero plans for you?" Si'Glara asked quietly a few minutes into the trip to the spaceport.
"You mean besides pain, torture, humiliation, and death?" Keith responded sarcastically. Si'Glara just nodded in response. "Damned if I know, he's pretty much forced himself into delivering me to Azusa. Which means he's going to have to keep the girls away and quiet long enough to actually deliver me to Jurai." Keith mused. "He's also got to keep me from talking to Azusa and spilling the beans about his daughters being alive. Azusa likely wouldn't believe me, but he might just stop the execution long enough for the girls to get around his attempts to bottle 'em up."
"You think he'll drug you or something similar to keep you quiet?" Si'Glara asked.
"Ripping my tongue out would probably be a bit to obvious, so that's probably going to be the case." Keith replied, grimacing.
"Well then, I may have something that can help. though it is not without risks." Si'Glara offered, reaching into a small compartment in the side of the limo.
"Seeing as my choices are somewhat limited." the shaggy haired young man drawled in reply.
"I can't offer you an antidote obviously," Si'Glara started, pulling out a small packet, "but this should act to partially counteract any drug he may give you to keep you unconscious or incoherent. It's a sub-dermal implant, and it will release a dose of the drug inside into your system every four hours over the next 3 days."
"So, what're the risks?" Keith asked, taking the small packet from Si'Glara and holding it up to the light to examine it. Inside the clear plastic case was a thin, segmented tube containing tiny droplets of a almost neon-blue liquid.
"Firstly, the drug is highly addictive. No matter how amazing your healing abilities are Mayhem, you will feel significant withdrawal symptoms after that is gone. Secondly, if the implant breaks while inside you, all of the doses contain within will enter your system at once. the results would be lethal even for you. Lastly. that particular implant was meant for a being four times your mass. If I gave you a lesser dose though, I'm afraid that your system would expunge it long before the next dose was released. If Heero does anything to task your healing abilities too far though." Si'Glara trailed off with a grimace.
"I think I may have been better off not knowing." Keith responded after a short silence. "So. how do we put this thing in?"
****************************
"So what do we do now?" Sasami asked as they walked back to Sari's place.
"We've got to beat them to Jurai somehow. or get a message out. or something." Sari responded, frustration evident in her voice.
"A message isn't any good unless we can get a secure channel though." Kiyone replied thoughtfully. "If Heero or one of his people intercept it before Keith's delivered to Jurai he'd just bolt and we'd lose our chance to rescue Keith. We're pretty much have to let him deliver Keith to Jurai and then try and do something there before he's executed."
"Is there any way we could contact Washu do you think?" Ayeka asked, the first thing she'd said since Keith had left.
"All of Yagami's communications equipment is GP issue, if we tried to contact him there's no way that Heero's people wouldn't notice." Kiyone replied, her brow furrowing with frustration.
"Actually Kiyone." Mihoshi started hesitantly, "he does have a civilian phone."
"What?" Kiyone nearly shouted.
"I know it's against the rules but the Chief always gets really mad when I use the police communicator to go shopping for stuff, and watch TV, and call my family when I'm on patrol, so I thought that it'd be better if I just put in my own personal system that he wouldn't know about." Mihoshi explained sheepishly. "I even had to use a different name to keep it a secret."
". well I'll be damned." Kiyone muttered in a bemused tone. "That takes care of half the problem then."
"What is the other half of the problem?" Ayeka asked worriedly.
"Well, while we have a comm. address and system that isn't red- flagged now, we all still are." Sari answered before Kiyone could. "Are images, our voices, our names, anything attached to us is going to be noticed by those ships sitting in orbit."
"So why don't we get someone else to send the message for us?" Sasami asked.
"That's just what I was thinking Sammy." Sari replied with a grin.
****************************
Beep BEEP!
".."
Beep BEEP!
"Mnn.?"
Beep BEEP!
"Huh? Wazzat?"
Beep BEEP! Click!
"'Ello?" Tenchi slurred, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, still more than half asleep.
"Is this a Mr. Masaki?" a somewhat effeminate voice asked.
"Err. Yeah."
"Press record on your machine, woulda sweetie?" the voice asked/instructed.
"Wha? Why?" Tenchi asked even as he looked for the appropriate button on the machine.
"Because your friends would be very upset if you didn't, and you don't want that do you?"
".kay." Tenchi responded, still baffled, but finding the appropriate button and pressing it anyway. "Ready."
"Here it comes then big-boy." The voice said teasingly, followed shortly by a high-pitched squeal that lasted for about three seconds. "Now show that to the professor and be quick about it, everyone's waiting for you." With that the voice hung up, leaving Tenchi staring at the phone even more confused than before. After a few seconds spent getting his thoughts together, he reached for the in-ship comm.
"Washu. I just got the weirdest phone-call."
End Chapter 9