TENCHI WAKUSEI, BOOK ONE: "NO DREAMS FOR TENCHI"

By Joe Meadows (gpabn@yahoo.com)

NOTA BENE: This novel (comprising 24 chapters, a Prologue, and an Epilogue) is a sequel to the "Tenchi Muyo Television Series" ("Tenchi Universe"), with some "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki!" original OAV series characters and elements included where--in the author's opinion--they don't conflict with "Tenchi Universe." For example, in order to flesh out a family background for Ayeka and Sasami, rather than create new characters, I used the existing parental figures of King Asuza and Queen Misaki from the OAVs. In order to bring the Galaxy Police more into the story, I re-instated the Grand Marshall as Mihoshi's grandfather and used an existing character from the Tenchi Muyo mangas, Chief Tor Bodai. And so on.

AIC and Pioneer LDC, whose kind indulgence I am counting on, own the copyrights on the original Tenchi Muyo characters. The character of Chief Tor Bodai was created by Hitoshi Okuda for the Tenchi Muyo manga series and is also copyrighted by AIC and Pioneer LDC. All truly new characters are my creation. Those characters and the actual story are copyright 2002 by yours truly. The lyrics for both versions of the theme song for "Speed Racer," the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album, the Beach Boys' "Surfing USA," the theme to "The Brady Bunch," and "That's Amore" are copyrighted by their various owners. The events that comprise the "Tenchi Universe" series are discussed in this novel; consequently, spoilers lurk within. Be warned. Please check out the "Chapter Notes" at the end of some of the chapters. Feedback is very welcome! I can be reached at gpabn@yahoo.com and thanks for taking the time to read this novel.

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CHAPTER TWELVE

No Need For Assumptions

_______________________

Due to the fact that Tenchi, Tris, and the women pulled out of Kochi City around 11 p.m. that evening, it wasn't until early the next morning that they arrived back at the Masaki Shrine. They were tired, happy, and a little sun burnt.

Although Tenchi's father had already retired to bed, since he had to rise early for another workday, Lord Yosho was up to meet them. He shooed the weary beach-goers to bed and undertook the completion of the van unloading himself. When the rental folks arrived later that morning to pick up the Daihatsu custom minivan, Lord Yosho met them and turned over the keys. He seemed to thrive on little sleep.

Breakfast was out of the question, of course...everyone (except Lord Yosho and Nobuyuki) slept through it. Around noonish, Sasami finally rose from her futon and, with Ayeka's help, prepared a lunch for the other late risers.

They all sat together around the table for lunch, even Washuu. They were still a bit tired but very satisfied. There is a wonderful languor that one feels after a particularly energetic and fine time has been had. Lord Yosho, joining them for lunch, was amused to see the tired but smiling faces, all of them a bit flushed from the sun. The trip to the beach had been a solid success.

It turned out to be a stolen day. Most of the beachgoers rose from lunch to do chores, but not vigorously. Except for Tenchi; for some reason, Lord Yosho insisted he and his grandson put in at least an hour of Shintaido Bojutsu practice. Since Yosho was no slave driver, Tenchi assumed that his grandfather had a particular reason for making him practice.

Yosho did. He was still very concerned by the Presence and what its change in tactics portended. He felt that time may be running out and that his grandson would soon need all his combat skills. The Presence had not come the night before, but Yosho felt certain that it would come back again. Nothing that evil gave up easily.

------

Tris decided he might as well put in an hour or two trimming grass. He went into his and Tenchi's bedroom to change from shorts to jeans. (Resting on grass and stone on one's bare knees was rather uncomfortable, he had found.) The young American was preparing to depart and had slid open the bedroom door when he saw Ryoko standing there.

"Hi, Tris," she said.

"Hi, Ryoko. Tenchi isn't here, he's with his grandfather--"

"I know where he is." Ryoko seemed a bit pensive. Unusual for her, to say the least. "May I come in?"

"Sure..."

Tris stepped aside from the doorway. Ryoko walked in. She made a beeline to Tenchi's bed. She sat down. She looked at Tris.

"Better close the door, Tris."

Tris cocked an eyebrow at her. She laughed suddenly.

"Oh, that's not what it is, you goof! I just want to talk."

"Many women have told me that, at first," Tris said. "And then--many women have, by golly."

Tris slid the door shut. He walked up to her. He stood by Tenchi's bed.

"Oh, sit down!" Ryoko told him. "I won't bite."

"You sure?"

Ryoko smiled crookedly. "I'm sure."

"Right-o." Tris sat down on the bed beside the space pirate.

"Tris, you must think I'm really hell on wheels," Ryoko began.

"Well, you're not Miss Manners," he said. "But you're not hell on wheels or heels or anything else."

"Okay, but...you think I'm pretty rude and crude, huh?"

"I think you're honest and forthright. And pretty. Maybe you need a little work in the think-before-you-speak department. But who am I to talk about that?"

"That's one thing I like about you, though," Ryoko said. "You say what you think, even if you do only get a punch out of it."

"Yeah," Tris said reflectively. He absently rubbed his right shoulder.

"So you like me, huh?" Ryoko asked.

"Ryoko, you're every boy's dream gal. Better than that, you're for real. And I'm damned glad we're friends, finally."

"Okay, thanks, Tris." Ryoko smiled affectionately at the intruder, the goofball, who had turned out to be such a nice guy. "Since you feel that way...I'd like to ask you a question."

"Fire away."

"You're a guy and I'd like a guy's opinion." Ryoko hesitated. It wasn't going to be as easy to ask as she had thought. But, characteristically, she plunged ahead. "Tris...why won't Tenchi make up his mind? You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Tris thought a moment. "Ryoko, Tenchi is a great guy. I mean, a great guy among great guys. At college, he really stands out. He's not loud or a show-off, but the other guys look up to him, somehow. If I had a tenth of Tenchi's charisma, I'd go back to the States when I was old enough and run for Congress and win. He really cares about people and will go pretty far not to exclude anyone or hurt someone's feelings. He could have objected to getting a strange Yank for a roommate, but he accepted it and even pretended to be happy about it, at first. We became pals, but that just happened. He would have been nice to me regardless." Tris grinned. "Just look at all the trouble he went to just to have me over for a few days!"

"Everything you've said I already know," Ryoko pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess so. Well, what I'm leading up to is that Tenchi is such a good guy--and a smart guy--that he knew back when he was in high school that he was just too young and inexperienced then to make that decision you want him to make. He knows that it's for life. Now he's older and he will have to make that decision...but he doesn't want to hurt one of you. So, he's going to be damned certain when he chooses. And that, I think, is the bottom line, Ryoko."

"That makes sense," Ryoko admitted. "I always kind of knew that, I guess, but it's nice to hear someone else say it who's a little more objective than the others around here." She looked down and slowly swung her feet, back and forth. "You know, it's because he's that way that I love him so much. It's so damned unfair!"

"Unfair?"

"Sure! I love Tenchi with all my heart...all my being, Tris. All I want is to be with him, as his wife. I don't care where, I don't care how. I'd live in that damned cave where we found Washuu if I had to." She grinned at Tris. "Or even in that hokey tent! By now, Tenchi should know he loves me and want to be with me forever and ever, but..." Ryoko paused.

"But there's Ayeka," Tris finished for her.

"Yeah, the Princess. That snobbish, rich, overbearing hunk of Jurai royalty--but she's more than that, much more, although I'll deny ever admitting it! And she loves Tenchi too--really loves him. What should be sweet and simple is kind of sour and complicated. That's what's so unfair. And I can't hate the Princess, no matter how much I've tried to. So we're on tetherhooks, the Princess and me, just waiting--wanting to hear and yet dreading to hear what Tenchi will tell us someday." Ryoko stopped swinging her feet. She sat there, clearly in a funk.

Tris looked at the space pirate. He felt for her and thought he understood her now a little better now. Ryoko clearly had wanted to spill her feelings to someone outside the Masaki family for a long time. In a way, it was a real compliment to Tris that she had unburdened herself a little to him. Still, though, it had to be hard for Ryoko to bare her innermost anxieties to him. So Tris tried the leaven the mood. "Yeah, I see what you mean, Ryoko. Love hurts."

Now Ryoko laughed. "You should know that, you goofball!"

Tris laughed, too. "Yeah, I guess I do, at that."

"Tris, I've gotta tell you...you've showed me some things I thought I'd never see, and I've been around, you know. But the biggest surprise has to be how you wormed your way into Kiyone's heart. That's something I really never thought I'd see."

"Why?" Tris asked. "Kiyone is a regular person. She's a warm, caring woman."

"Hey, don't get me wrong, Tris." The platinum-haired space pirate regarded him, rather speculatively, with those amazing golden eyes. "I knew she was attracted to boys. It's just that she built that shell around herself and stayed in it so long. She had feelings for guys, I knew that. She was just afraid to show them...thought it would take her mind off her career or something if she got serious about a guy. She wasn't looking, that's for sure. Single and not looking. That was our Kiyone."

"Well, I wasn't either," Tris pointed out. "I just wanted to breeze through college here, have a few laughs, maybe date some girls for fun, and stay cool. Tenchi was about the first person I ever even talked to seriously after...well, after everything went to hell back home."

"Yeah...I heard a little about that. That's tough, Tris. I know what it's like to be alone." Ryoko looked at him with empathy. Then she grinned. "So, here's two people who weren't looking, trying to cruise around solo, and wham! Collision! That's classic!" Ryoko laughed heartily.

She rose, still chuckling. "I'm glad we had this little talk, Tris. You've made things more fun around here, that's for sure. Bye." She floated up and passed through the door. Outside the door, Tris heard her say, laughingly, "Wham! Abandon ship! Goofballs and lady cops first!" The laughter continued and slowly lowered in volume until it was gone.

Tris shook his head. "The Cheshire Cat! I swear!" He stood up. The grass wasn't going to get trimmed by him just sitting there.

------

"Tenchi, I think we can end the session here," Lord Yosho said, lowering his stave.

His grandson bowed to him and he bowed in return.

"Thanks, Grandfather." Tenchi meant it, too. All of his practice combats with Grandfather were intense and straining. One did not progress if one did not extend oneself, as Grandfather often said. But this session had been a real challenge. His head had been in danger of being thumped several times. However, Tenchi had managed to survive the practice combat unscathed.

Yosho caught the tone of his grandson's voice. "Yes, Tenchi, I was testing you very severely today. I gave you of my best. I am happy to observe that you are returning to your fighting trim...although you still have a ways to go yet."

"I'm happy, too, Grandfather." Tenchi shook his head. "I didn't realize how much out of practice I was."

"That is the key...practice...in order to be prepared for the real thing."

Tenchi looked at his grandfather, realization growing in him. "Do you think I might--we might--meet up with the real thing, Grandfather?"

Lord Yosho nodded. "I cannot justify my feelings factually, Tenchi. But I do feel we will."

"It's that...force or visitation, or whatever it is?"

"Yes, Tenchi. It may have lowered its intensity, but I cannot believe that it is truly ebbing. It has visited us too often for that. It's also directed toward at least one of us from Jurai or descended from Jurai. Of that, there can be no doubt."

"No doubt, Grandfather?"

"None, Tenchi." Lord Yosho walked over the rack and deposited his stave. Tenchi followed him and did likewise. "I considered that we might be facing an old enemy of Ryoko's or perhaps even of Professor Washuu. But this invading Presence...it smacks of an old evil and a very powerful and deceitful one. I believe that any enemies of Ryoko and Professor Washuu would attack in a far more forthright manner."

"Yes, that makes sense, Grandfather." Tenchi frowned. "When whatever it is makes its move--if it does--do you think I will need to unsheathe Sword Tenchi?"

"I'm afraid it's possible, Tenchi."

The young Juraian Prince spoke sadly. "I thought I could put Sword Tenchi away forever after the battle against Kagato. Grandfather, we were all nearly killed. It was a really close thing. To have to go through it again--and against something we can't even get a real handle on!"

Lord Yosho nodded. "Yes. It is not the fate--or the life--I had hoped for you, Tenchi. My hope was that you would never have to employ Sword Tenchi again, that you would simply enjoy a full and good life as my successor...and that you would expend your energies providing me with many great-grandchildren to spoil!" He smiled.

"I know, Grandfather." Tenchi returned the smile. Then his expression became somber and resolute. "But I understand my fate, too. I have been given the means--and the duty--to fight powerful evil. And I will fight if I have to."

Lord Yosho placed a fond hand on his grandson's shoulder. "That is the true warrior spirit, Tenchi...not to seek battle but to do battle when evil threatens yourself and those you love. You have learned that lesson well, grandson."

"Thank you, Grandfather."

"In a way, our Jurai heritage is a curse," Lord Yosho mused. "A family as immensely wealthy and all-powerful as ours will not only produce the renegades such as Kagato but also incite hatred and envy in other powerful beings. The kind of hatred and envy that would motivate such beings to strike out at the royal family--and perhaps do so by targeting the family members they consider most vulnerable: the runaway prince who fell to the primitive planet Earth and his progeny."

"I understand, Grandfather." Tenchi's face was firm and set. "We'll show whatever it is that we're not so vulnerable!"

"Indeed we will, grandson." Yosho now introduced a different topic. "Tenchi, ordinarily I would not ask you to betray a confidence. But this may have something to do with the enemy we face."

"Yes, Grandfather?"

"The night that Tristram hosted that film that turned out to be a horror movie...and the screams from the women's bedroom. That was not Sasami--was it, grandson?"

Tenchi looked a bit uncomfortable. "No, Grandfather, it wasn't. I guess I should have told you. But Ayeka was so worried about it and embarrassed. I decided to leave it be as long as she apologized to Tris."

"Please do not misunderstand me, Tenchi. I don't disapprove of your actions. That was your own business to handle. If it weren't for the present situation, I would not have brought up the subject at all."

"I see. You knew all along, Grandfather?"

"I suspected. The screams were too mature-sounding to be from little Sasami. Mihoshi noticed that, too, if you'll recall. Ordinarily, Princess Ayeka would have been embarrassed, of course, but she would have quickly owned up to the screaming. But when she hesitated--and Sasami took the blame--I suspected that this was not the first instance of such behavior, and that both of them did not want anyone else to know. My deduction was that the Princess was too caught up with her competition with Ryoko to admit to such a weakness. That's the only significance I placed on the affair at that time."

Tenchi slowly nodded his head. "You should be a detective yourself, Grandfather." Tenchi related what the Princess had told him. When he finished, he asked, "Do you recall Ayeka having those bad dreams as a little girl, Grandfather?"

Lord Yosho considered that question for a quiet moment. "I believe I heard a vague reference to them. At that time, I was far away on one of my expeditions...very likely with Kagato. We were friends at that time and boon companions, as you know. Princess Ayeka told you that her current series of bad dreams resemble the rash of bad dreams she suffered as a child?"

"Yes, Grandfather. She said they're identical. That's why she is so sure they'll just go away again." Tenchi looked concerned. "Do you think there is any connection with that thing you've been sensing?"

"Perhaps. I have slowly come to the belief that it is possible. Too slowly, perhaps. I will need to question the Princess about it. But I will wait until tomorrow, once she and everyone else has fully recovered from that beach excursion of yours!" He smiled, and his voice held a trace of nostalgia. "Watching the moon rise at Katsurahama Beach. You are not the only one of our family to have done that with loved ones."

"Really, Grandfather?"

"Yes. In fact, your father and mother did that very same thing long ago. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that is where your father proposed to your mother."

"No kidding, Grandfather? Wow...think of that."

Both Tenchi and his grandfather did think of that for a moment...and of the beautiful, loving daughter and mother named Achika Masaki.

------

Tor Bodai, the burly and bewhiskered Chief Of Patrol for Division Zeta (comprising five regions, ten sub-regions and some 100 sectors) of the Galaxy Police (and former Chief Instructor at the Galaxy Police Academy) sat in his spare little office at GP Headquarters. He made a pretense of looking over some reports (in permanent foolscap format, i.e., paper rather than electronic form). He was actually making the person standing quietly before his cluttered desk wait for him on purpose. It was a favorite technique of his to see if enforced waiting in his presence provoked any nervous or angry reactions.

In this case, he was to be disappointed. Detective Sergeant (newly pinned-on) Mitsuki Sakakibara, the trim, efficient-looking, red- haired officer, her uniform spotless, manner officially neutral, just stood there and waited for him to finish. She stared at a boundary map of the section GP patrol districts on the wall behind his desk module.

Chief Bodai had hoped she'd show some nervousness. His re- investigation of the Slaakive mis-identification fiasco was frankly going nowhere. He had reviewed the facts and talked to the two Galaxy Police officers who had helped Detectives Makibi and Kuramitsu bust the alleged vagrant on that pleasure planet (who had turned out to be just that, a vagrant who bore some fleeting similarity in features to the still fugitive kidnapper Slaakive). He had the main identification-comparison module all but taken apart in an attempt to discover any record of that affirmative ID analysis report Detectives Makibi and Kuramitsu insisted they saw. Nothing had resulted. All he had was no new evidence...and his gut feelings about Kiyone and Mitsuki.

He had instructed both Cadets Makibi and Sakakibara at the Academy. He had liked them both very much back then. They had been friends and seemed then like the proverbial two peas in a pod. Both had been bright, aggressive young cadets eager to make their mark in the GP. Spotless disciplinary records, outstanding marks in all subjects, total dedication to their studies with not even the desire to attend off-campus parties or even to date fellows. They had spent their free time working on special projects for extra credit, often together. (Chief Bodai had wished the two would have engaged in some sort of social life, but he had been their instructor, not their nanny. Those latter duties had been reserved for the formidable Inspector Maki.)

Yet, following graduation from the Academy, that pea pod had been split asunder, irrevocably. Kiyone had suffered through career- slowing backwater assignments with a partner who was occasionally hapless (Mihoshi Kuramitsu, granddaughter of the Grand Marshal, which meant no more needed to be said). Mitsuki quickly won assignment to Headquarters. There, she had changed. She had learned the political ropes, taking part in the in-fighting and backstabbing that plague all bureaucracies, even elite ones.

It was unfortunate that such tactics sometimes did more for the practitioner's career than simply attending to duty and showing occasional initiative. Many fine officers labored out in the field, forgotten and un-trumpeted, unless they made a spectacular arrest-- while staff officers pulled a few internal coups, usually at the expense of others, and won recognition and promotion. Mitsuki had certainly won promotion, largely for achievements on paper. It was a rotten system, one that Chief Bodai and others like him had vowed to eradicate. But it was going to take time. In the meantime, up-and- comers like Mitsuki did not want to waste time in advancing themselves...and so made a moral choice.

It was that moral choice that convinced Chief Bodai that Detective Sergeant Sakakibara was more likely to resort to skullduggery than Detective First Class Makibi. Oh, Kiyone was hot-tempered, impulsive, perhaps overly aggressive at times...but those were the understandable symptoms of a dedicated officer, symptoms that time and experience would ease. The problem was, those symptoms were all that many at Headquarters had experienced from Kiyone--that, and the knowledge that she was partnered with the less-than-sterling Mihoshi. In fact, to those who did not know her well, Kiyone was the one who seemed more likely to push the envelope too hard to win promotion, not Mitsuki. The fact that Kiyone and Mihoshi couldn't even say they saw the then- subordinate Mitsuki put the alleged full comparo-ID report on Kiyone's desk module let Mitsuki out completely--particularly if there was no electronic or paper trail, and there wasn't.

So, the logical assumption would be that Kiyone, bitterly frustrated over having had her career stalled so long and determined to play career catch-up, had arrested a person solely based on the strength of a preliminary comparo-ID report. That was strictly against GP regulations and common sense, to boot. The proper thing to have done was to hold the suspect at the pleasure planet and then run the full comparo-ID at Headquarters. At any rate, when the vagant proved not to be Slaakive, Kiyone had lied in desperation about seeing a full comparo-ID report. Mihoshi, her good friend (really, her only friend; Kiyone did not make friends easily) had then loyally--and foolishly-- backed her up. That was what many at Headquarters seemed to believe, at any rate.

Chief Bodai knew Kiyone better than that, of course, but he was quite alone in that knowledge. True, Detectives Makibi and Kuramitsu had won a little respect back over the handing of those errant young girls from Souiis. Still, many at GP Headquarters would remember only that they had fired upon a ship piloted by kids. And many more still felt that Kiyone and Mihoshi should have been dismissed from the service over the Slaakive mis-identification fiasco and had been retained only because one of them had a grandfather who was the Grand Marshal.

Of course, that alleged positive full ID-comparo report could have been easily faked. Such a forgery would not hold up to close inspection, naturally, but if an over-eager Kiyone and Mihoshi had simply seen in it what they had been hoping for and had not given the report a thorough look...yes, that was likely what had happened. Chief Bodai had to admit that he had been capable of such a blunder when he had been Kiyone's age. Once she and Mihoshi had left to make their big bust, the report would have been spirited away and destroyed. No fuss, no muss...and no evidence left behind.

Well, anyway, he'd called Mitsuki in. He'd better stop stalling and talk to her. It was likely a waste of time at any rate.

His head rose. He stared at her. "First of all, Sergeant Sakakibara, I again congratulate you on your promotion."

"Thank you, Chief." Mitsuki voice was neutral. Clearly, she wasn't buying it.

"And I offer my best wishes on your upcoming wedding with Lieutenant Zay're." That was a match made in political heaven. Lieutenant Zay're was another hard-charging staff officer. Together, they would make a formidable combination. They could one day rise to the highest ranks of the GP. Chief Bodai felt a little depressed at the thought.

"Thank you again, Chief." There was just enough feeling in her reply to avoid any charge of impertinence. Sergeant Sakakibara knew how to play the game, all right. This was going to be a waste of time.

But he tried. "Sergeant...I want you to know that I understand the special pressures that this service places on young officers. I have no recording devices in this office. I never use them. We need talented officers like yourself and we will be willing to forgive one misstep--if that misstep is confessed to in a timely manner."

Detective Sergeant Sakakibara blinked. Then she said, "Yes, Chief. I believe you and the GP showed great fairness to Detectives First Class Makibi and Kuramitsu. This re-investigation is proof that the service will bend over backwards to be fair."

Inwardly Chief Bodai groaned. The little staff heroine had all her moves laid out, her answers down pat.

"Sergeant Sakakibara...Mitsuki...is there nothing you'd like to say to me? The time is now, believe me."

"Such as what, Chief?" Her voice was distantly polite.

"I think you know what."

"I am sorry, Chief. I truly don't." She waited a few beats, and then asked, "Is that all, Chief?"

Chief Bodai sighed inwardly, but kept his outward composure. "Yes, Sergeant. That is all."

With a quick and textbook-perfect salute, Sergeant Mitsuki left.

Chief Bodai sat and thought a moment. Then he stood up and kicked his desk, hard. It hurt his foot but it made him feel better inside, a little.

------

Following his conversation with his grandfather, Tenchi walked to the house. On the way, he had passed and greeted Tris, who was bent over another stone pathway, trimming away. Tris had asked him if the governor had sent along the reprieve. Tenchi had told him no and to get back to work. Past the garden shed, he saw Sasami, who was taking a break from the kitchen to play with Ryo-Ohki. He had waved at Sasami and Sasami waved back. Ryo-Ohki had "meow-er"-ed at him amiably.

Tenchi entered his house quietly and exchanged his shoes for house slippers. He heard a noise above him. He looked up to the ceiling. On one of the wide beams, he saw a dark form and a shock of platinum hair. He grinned, and then yelled, "Ryoko!"

He heard a startled gasp from above. An object fell from the rafters, nearly hitting him. He looked at it. It was one of the hentai books that Tris had accidentally given Sasami and Mihoshi. Immediately, Ryoko followed it down.

"Tenchi--I'm sorry I dropped it, you surprised me--I didn't mean--" She floated up to him. She looked a bit abashed.

"Catching up on your reading, Ryoko?" Tenchi asked.

"Just looking at that silly stuff for a lark...you know." Her voice was casual but her golden eyes were anxious.

Tenchi dropped it. "Just don't let Sasami see any of that."

"I won't, sweetums!"

"Okay. Have you seen Ayeka?"

"What do you want to see her for?" Ryoko asked, all contriteness gone.

"I just want to see her."

"Why? You're seeing me. Why go look at second best?" She gave him a sassy smile.

Tenchi shook his head and smiled back in spite of himself. "Ryoko!"

The space pirate was pleased. As long as she could make her Tenchi smile, all was right in her world.

"She's in the laundry room," Ryoko said, referring to the smallish nook beside the kitchen where the clothes washer did its duty.

"Uh-huh. Weren't you supposed to help her?"

Ryoko was all wide-eyed innocence. "I tried, sweetums...I really did! She booted me out."

"Oh?"

"That's right. She said I took too long sorting the clothes. Isn't that silly? Just because I'm kinda picky about my clothes. You remember how my nice lemon blouse ended up looking like a squashed orange?"

"Mihoshi did that," Tenchi reminded her. "And she apologized to you about a hundred times." That was why Mihoshi no longer pulled laundry duty.

"Well, you can't be too careful, Tenchi. I always want to look my best for you."

"Okay, okay." Tenchi didn't want to get involved in yet another discussion on that topic. "I'll just go talk to Ayeka for a moment. See you later, Ryoko."

"See you soon, sweetums."

Tenchi left. Ryoko waited until he had gone, then picked up the hentai book and floated back up to the rafters.

As he passed the stairs, Tenchi heard voices from the floor above:

"Mihoshi--if you dump floor wax on my feet again--!"

"I won't, Kiyone. Please don't yell at me."

"Okay. I won't yell."

Tenchi smiled. Life at the Masaki household had its own particular rhythm.

In the laundry room, he found Ayeka bent over the Matsushita washing machine, putting in clothing. The Princess still had a flush on her face from a minor squabble with Ryoko. She was very glad to see Tenchi.

"When you wash that load, Ayeka, I'll help you put it out on the line," Tenchi said.

"Thank you, Lord Tenchi." Ayeka was happy to do domestic chores with Tenchi although she thought perhaps it was not entirely fitting for him to perform such labor. However, it certainly beat trying to get Ryoko back to help her. She walked up to him, smiling.

"Ayeka," Tenchi began, already feeling a bit uncomfortable with what he had to say next. "About your bad dreams and all..."

The Princess stiffened perceptibly. "Yes, Lord Tenchi?"

"Something came up when I was speaking with Grandfather. I had to tell him about who really screamed that night we watched that horror movie."

Ayeka nodded. She stood very still. "I understand, Lord Tenchi."

"I'm sorry, Ayeka. But Grandfather isn't upset, of course. He may ask you some questions about it tomorrow, though."

"Why, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka did not appear pleased at the prospect.

"Well...he's a bit concerned about the dreams...as I am." Tenchi knew it sounded lame.

"Is he? I see. As it happens, the bad dreams have ended."

"Really?" Tenchi asked, surprised.

"Yes, Lord Tenchi. Several days ago. Not that you bothered to ask me." Ayeka's tone was cool, collected...and not a bit friendly.

Tenchi just stared at the extraordinary woman he had known for so long. She had gotten angry with him and scolded him before (as she had for swimming in the cold ocean yesterday), but she never before used such a formal, frosty tone with him.

"I..." he began awkwardly. "I know you're right, Ayeka. I should have asked. I'm sorry. Truly, I am."

"If you are, Lord Tenchi," Ayeka spoke very slowly and distinctly, "then you will kindly drop this subject...and you will ask Lord Yosho to do likewise."

"Ayeka!" Tenchi couldn't believe what he was hearing from the Princess. "I'm happy to drop it but I can't tell Grandfather what to do. He may ask you some questions, anyway. He'll do it privately--he won't embarrass you, you know that."

Princess Ayeka's back was ramrod straight. Her eyes blazed. "Very well. If I must submit to interrogation by Lord Yosho like a common criminal--or a space pirate--regardless of my wishes, I shall." She turned from him and walked back to the washer. "Please ask Ryoko to come and help me, Lord Tenchi, if you please."

"But I was going to help you."

"If it is all the same to you, Lord Tenchi, I prefer the company of one who has at least never mislead me as to her feelings about me. Thank you."

"But..."

"Lord Tenchi, I believe I have made myself clear."

If Ayeka had assaulted Tenchi physically he could have not been more stunned. Certainly, Ayeka was embarrassed about the matter. But she was always fair-minded, or at least tried to be. This was just not like her. And to speak to him the way she just had...so cold and hostile...that just seemed impossible. But the impossible had happened.

Tenchi studied Ayeka's stiffened back a moment. "Okay," he said and left the laundry room.

When he reached the living room, Ryoko floated down to him. "Hey, you two didn't sound so happy in there. What's up with the Princess?"

"Please help her with the laundry, Ryoko. And please don't antagonize her."

Ryoko studied Tenchi. She saw the hurt in his eyes. She shrugged. "Sure, sweetums. I will."

"Thanks, Ryoko." Tenchi walked to the front door, slipped on his street shoes, opened the door, and departed.

With some trepidation, Ryoko walked, not flew, to the laundry room.

------

"I've pulled some tough weeds before, chum," Tris addressed a particularly hardy plant that had sprouted between two stones in the walkway he was trimming. "But you are one badass mofo!" He used the trowel; finally, the weed gave up the ghost.

He became aware of someone standing before him. He looked up. It was Tenchi.

"Yo," Tris said.

"Yo," replied Tenchi. "Talking to plants now, huh?"

"Yeah. They don't talk back, unlike Galaxy Police officers. What's up? You look a little peeved."

"Tris, has Ayeka seemed a little...upset, lately?"

Tris pondered the question. "No. She's seemed really upbeat. After our beach trip, she seemed happy as a clam. No pun intended."

"That's what I thought. Well, just now, she more or less handed me my head."

"Ayeka?"

"Yeah." Tenchi quickly sketched out his confrontation with Ayeka in the laundry room.

"Sheesh!" Tris said when Tenchi finished. "That doesn't sound like our favorite royal personage."

"You bet it doesn't."

"She'd be a little embarrassed about it, sure. She was when she apologized to me a few days ago. But it wasn't anything extreme-- nothing to get her to act like that, I don't reckon."

"That was my impression, too. So what's up with her?"

Tris shook his head. "I haven't the foggiest."

Tenchi said, "I'm going to talk to Grandfather again. You want to come?"

"Sure, if I'm not intruding."

"You might as well get used to intruding...you're involved in this. Come on."

Leaving his garden shears and trowel behind, Tris walked with Tenchi toward the temple.

------

"Ummmm...Princess," Ryoko broke the heavy silence that suffused the laundry room. "Should I go ahead and sort the rest of these clothes? Or what?"

Ayeka seemed fascinated by the rumbling of the washing machine--it appeared to claim all of her attention. "You must suit yourself, Ryoko," she said.

"I mean...you haven't already sorted these clothes, right? I need to do it, right?" Ryoko couldn't get a handle on this quiet and morose and frigidly civil Ayeka. The Princess had always responded to her before, not always amiably, of course. But this silence was unexpected and kind of awful.

"That is correct, Ryoko. That is a task that needs doing." That was all Ayeka said.

"All right then..." Ryoko began to rummage through the clothes. "Hey, here's my plum-colored blouse. I got that in Zenon, you know, that planet where all the rich people go to spend money. You been there? Anyway, the blouse was on sale. I never saw a sale on Zenon before, have you? Well, I couldn't resist, Princess. I had to do some shopping! But I never should have tried on so many clothes. Somebody recognized me and I had to leave the best bargains I ever found behind. How about that?"

Ryoko stopped. No response from the Princess. Ryoko might as well have been talking to the washing machine...at least the washing machine made noises back. For some reason, the Princess's lack of response galled her.

The space pirate considered handing the Princess a red-hot one or even several red-hot ones. That always got a rise out of Ayeka. But Ryoko wasn't so sure it would work now. Besides, she had promised her Tenchi that she would not goad Ayeka--at least, not on purpose. She always kept her promises to Tenchi...well, almost always.

"Hey, get a load of this!" Ryoko exclaimed. She held up a pair of BVDs. "That Tris character wears boxer shorts! At his age! What kind of guy wears old man underwear before he has to? I wonder if Kiyone knows about it? Think we ought to tell her?" Ryoko laughed.

Very quietly, addressing the washing machine, Ayeka said, "Kiyone knows that she has a man who respects her and her wishes. That is all that matters."

Well, at least it was a response. "That's right, I guess, Princess. But he doesn't respect her too much, you know? I think that's one reason she likes him. He gets her off that high horse she climbs on sometimes. But boxer shorts!" Ryoko laughed again.

Ayeka didn't join in the laughter. She said, "Are you finished sorting those clothes, Ryoko?"

"Um...no."

"Then will you kindly finish? The clothes now in the washing machine are almost done. They will need to be put on the clothesline very shortly. Then we will need to do another load--if the clothes are sorted and ready."

"Uh, yeah, Princess. Whatever you say."

Ryoko dutifully sorted clothes. Ayeka stared at the washing machine. It was quiet, for once, between them...and it wasn't good.

------

"Are you certain you said nothing that may have offended her, grandson?" Lord Yosho asked Tenchi.

The Shinto priest sat on a tatami mat behind his short-legged desk in the small office he maintained inside the temple. Tenchi and Tris stood before the tiny, battered rosewood desk. Tris had never been in the temple office. He eyed it with curiosity. Certainly, Lord Yosho had lots of paperwork and files. Tris wondered how it all got generated. Being a Shinto priest, or any kind of priest, just didn't seem to go with forms and red tape.

"I'm certain I didn't, Grandfather," Tenchi affirmed.

Lord Yosho slipped off his glasses a moment and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He suddenly looked a bit tired. It surprised Tris.

"Yes, her reaction seems strange. It is a somewhat embarrassing situation, but as a Prince of Jurai, I am her social and caste equal, as are you, Tenchi. It should not distress her for me to ask a few questions."

"She is very distressed about it, Grandfather. She really let me have it, but good."

"That is odd. I cannot explain it, Tenchi." Yosho shook his head. "It is unlike the Princess, as you say."

"What should we do, Grandfather?"

"Simply bear with her. I believe her hurt feelings will moderate if we show patience with her and don't press her. I will postpone questioning her until she is in a better humor."

Tenchi smiled slightly. "Thanks, Grandfather."

Lord Yosho nodded and then looked at Tris. "Something seems to interest you about my humble office, Tristram."

"Yes, sir. I just can't understand all the files and folders around here."

Lord Yosho smiled. "You were expecting just a few holy scrolls laying about, perhaps?"

"Well...yes, sir."

"Tristram, the need to fill out official forms and to satisfy local government in all their programs extends to the shrine as well as to the community. The shrine is the local community and must be operated in accordance with all laws and regulations that apply. We are not exempt, and such accordance does result in paperwork. To quote a phrase no doubt familiar to you...we must render unto Caesar what is Caesar's."

Tris grinned. "The government has its hands in everything, right sir?"

"That is correct, Tristram."

"We've taken up enough of your time, Grandfather," Tenchi said. "We'll see you at dinner. Come on, Tris."

The two young men left the temple office.

As he and Tenchi walked down the temple steps a few minutes later, Tris said, "Okay, you hustled me out of there pretty quick. What's up?"

"I could tell Grandfather wasn't happy about Ayeka's attitude. He needs to mull over the situation. It's better to leave him alone to do it, Tris."

"In other words, it's better not to pester him with dumb questions, right?"

Tenchi grinned. "You said it...I didn't!"

------

"She's being a real Sphinx, huh?" Kiyone asked Ryoko.

"Yeah, a real Sphinx...and it stinks!"

Kiyone and Mihoshi, attired in their short-shorts, squatted on their hands and knees on the wooden hallway floor upstairs, trying to rub the dull haze of the floor wax into a nice warm glow. It was hard work and caused a few aching muscles. But the results were worth it. They had been stopped in their task by Ryoko's sudden visit with them.

After the space pirate had helped Ayeka hang up the washed clothes out on the clothesline, the Princess had just walked back into the house and the laundry room and put another load of clothes in the

washing machine. Not a word did she utter. So Ryoko, unable to stand the sullen silence any more, had zipped out of there. She had then decided to vent a little with Kiyone and Mihoshi.

Mihoshi smiled at Ryoko. "You made a rhyme, Ryoko."

"Yeah? Well, here's another one...our Princess is in a snit. She acts like she's full of sh--"

"Can it, Ryoko!" Kiyone told her, before the space pirate could complete her verse.

"Okay, okay. But she makes me real angry, copping an attitude like that. She really hurt Tenchi, too." That earned the Princess two black marks in Ryoko's book. It accounted for her unusual venture into outhouse poetry.

"Well, that's not like her at all...certainly not hurting Tenchi like that. What did Tenchi say to her?" Kiyone asked.

"I don't know. It was something about bad dreams. I didn't hear all of it." Ryoko had certainly tried, though.

Kiyone shook her head. "That doesn't sound like anything to set Ayeka off, especially not with Tenchi."

"Yeah, you're right--and not only with Tenchi. The Princess kept acting super snooty to me, even though I was helping her with the laundry. That's gratitude!" Ryoko suddenly grinned, remembering something about the laundry. "Hey, Kiyone."

"Hey, what?"

"Tris wears boxer shorts!" Ryoko laughed. "Maybe he wears a truss, too!"

Oooooohhhh--! Kiyone was determined not to let Ryoko get to her. She almost succeeded, but a slight flush did bloom on her high cheekbones.

"So what? I think boxer shorts look sexy on a man," Mihoshi told Ryoko.

"Mihoshi!" Kiyone exclaimed.

"Well, I do."

Kiyone turned to Ryoko. "So do I. So drop it."

"Fine," Ryoko grinned. Her good spirits, as well as her sassiness, had obviously returned. She began to float away. "I just hope the Princess gets over her pout. She's beginning to remind me of how you were, Kiyone, when you first came back here. What a drip you were! I don't want to have to live through that again!"

Mihoshi looked at Kiyone, her expression anxious. That comment was just the type that would anger her partner. But Kiyone just smiled ruefully. "I don't blame you, Ryoko. I wouldn't either."

Ryoko winked at her and floated away toward the stairs.

After she had left, Mihoshi asked, "Full of...shame?" She was still pondering the unheard portion of Ryoko's little poem.

"Yeah, that must be it, Mihoshi. Let's get this more of this floor done. Then we'll go talk to Ayeka and try to find out what's really eating her."

------

Ayeka was finishing with the weekly wash in the laundry room when Lord Yosho arrived.

As he walked into the laundry room, Yosho could hear crockery rattling in the kitchen. Sasami had come in from playing with Ryo-Ohki, found her older sister less than communicative, had been hurt by it, and didn't know any other way of dealing with her hurt than going to the kitchen and rattling dishes. For dish-rattling, it was rather eloquent.

"Princess Ayeka?" Lord Yosho addressed the young woman who was next in line for the throne of Jurai.

The Princess turned from the washing machine. She looked at Lord Yosho. Her face was expressionless. "Yes, Lord Yosho?"

"May I speak to you for a moment?"

"Of course, Lord Yosho...if you wish."

Lord Yosho moved deeper into the laundry room. "Princess, I know Tenchi came to see you earlier about a certain matter. He did so simply to inform you of my concern about a subject you knew well of."

"Yes, Lord Yosho?" Tenchi had been right. Princess Ayeka's cold and formal manner was quite atypical.

"I first wish to apologize for causing you any distress, Princess. It was due to my clumsiness and was quite unintentional, I assure you. Tenchi was only the innocent bearer of my concerns."

"I understand, Lord Yosho." Princess Ayeka didn't appear to unbend a millimeter, though.

"I did have what I felt were sufficient reasons to broach such a sensitive topic with you. However, they certainly are not sufficient to cause any friction between my grandson and yourself...or between you and me. Please allow me to close the matter. And please do accept my apologies."

Lord Yosho still wanted to question Princess Ayeka about her recurring nightmares. He felt their possible link to the invading Presence needed to be explored. But he now realized that in her present state of animosity, Ayeka would not cooperate sufficiently to give him full information. In addition, she was the First Princess of Jurai. As a Prince himself, he had a duty to respect her privacy and her position. Any questioning would have to be postponed until he felt the Princess could be approached again, hopefully with more success.

"Does that mean, Lord Yosho," Ayeka asked, a trifle sharply, "that you intend not to interrogate me about that...subject?"

Lord Yosho bowed. "Yes, Princess. Again, I offer my sincere apologies for distressing you."

When he straightened, he was surprised at the sudden change in Princess Ayeka. It was as if a light had been turned on inside her. Her visage had lost its coldness; her smile was sweet and fond, her eyes brilliant. She extended a hand to him. "Thank you, Lord Yosho. You have made me very happy."

The usually imperturbable Lord Yosho was confounded by the sudden one-hundred-eighty-degree turn in the Princess's demeanor and attitude. It seemed unnatural, even mechanical, as if, indeed, a switch had been pulled. But he simply took her hand and murmured gallantly, "That is my fondest goal, Princess...your happiness."

Princess Ayeka blushed rosily; with her new radiance, she was infinitely lovely as she regarded him. "You are a true Prince...the truest Prince," she murmured. Then she released his hand. "Well, I must finish this laundry, Lord Yosho. Then I have some tidying up in the living room to do."

"Very well." He bowed to Princess Ayeka again, and she returned the bow. He left.

Yosho walked away from the laundry room, slowly. He was fraught with thought.

As he walked past the stairway, he met Kiyone and Mihoshi coming down the stairs. Kiyone took the initiative. "Lord Yosho?"

"Yes, Detective?"

"Did you just come from talking to Ayeka?"

"Yes, Detective, I did."

"We were going to talk to her. Is everything...all right now?" Kiyone asked a bit hesitantly.

Yosho understood the reason for the Galaxy Police officer's question. Kiyone hated to pry but she also didn't want to bring up an issue with Princess Ayeka that may possibly have been resolved. A good question, though! Obviously, the two Galaxy Police officers had heard about the Princess's upset. Yosho considered and said, "I believe everything has been cleared up for the moment."

Relief flooded into Kiyone and Mihoshi's faces.

"I'm glad to hear that." Kiyone smiled.

"Me too," Mihoshi added.

"Yes, I am relieved as well. I'll see you both at dinner." Lord Yosho smiled fleetingly at them and continued toward the front door.

------

"So it was nothing, Kiyone?" Mihoshi asked once Lord Yosho was out of earshot.

"I don't know if it was nothing...but I think it's all right now," Kiyone said. "Well, let's get upstairs and give the floor another polish, Mihoshi. We can be done by dinner if we try."

"Yes, Kiyone." They returned upstairs.

------

With Princess Ayeka seemingly back in good spirits (rather amazingly so to those who had experienced her coldness just a short time prior), dinner began as a reasonably happy affair. The fact that all of the beach-goers had performed some labor after the long day previous proved beneficial; their biological clocks were back in synch. As well as their appetites for Sasami's wonderful cooking. Happy that her sister had gotten over her aggravation so quickly, Sasami had been inspired to serve another culinary delight.

"I'm glad you're still not angry with me," Tenchi remarked to Ayeka, who was sitting at his right side as always. He had just filled her bowl with steamed rice and vegetables and handed it to her. He still couldn't believe the change in her that had happened so quickly. But he certainly preferred it.

"Angry with you, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka seemed amused as she accepted the bowl. "When was I ever angry with you?"

"Why..." Tenchi looked at her closely. "Today. When we talked while you were washing clothes."

"I know we talked about something...it was not important. I certainly was not angry with you, Lord Tenchi." She smiled at him as if she suspected he was teasing her. She did it so winningly that Tenchi could believe that Ayeka sincerely thought their discussion had been trivial in nature. But of course it had been just the opposite. So why was Ayeka denying it?

"Not angry, huh?" Ryoko, sitting on Tenchi's left side (again as always) had caught the tail end of their conversation. "Well, Princess, you just let us know when you really are angry so we can run for cover."

"What are you talking about, Ryoko?" Ayeka demanded.

"I'm talking about the way you mean-mouthed Tenchi," Ryoko told her. "And you mean-mouthed me, too, but that's nothing new."

"I did not, Ryoko."

"You did, too. There's witnesses."

"There are not. Lord Tenchi must have misinterpreted something I said. The fault was mine, I am certain. And as for you, Ryoko...let me warn you that I am proceeding to get angry now."

"You have me shaking in my boots, Princess," Ryoko grated.

"Hold on," Tenchi said. It was useless to insist to Ayeka that she had been angry with him when she seemed convinced she had not been. It was bizarre, but there it was. "Ayeka, I think you're right. Ryoko, please stay out of this."

"All right, sweetums." Ryoko glared across Tenchi at Ayeka. Ayeka returned the glare.

Tenchi caught his grandfather's eye. His grandfather gently shook his head. This was something to delve into later.

Farther down the table, Tris, Sasami, Kiyone, and Mihoshi had caught the gist of the minor squabble. Tris looked surprised. Kiyone and Mihoshi looked at each other with puzzlement. Little Sasami just looked small and sad and confused. The dinner did not continue as happily as it had begun. The only bright spot was that Nobuyuki came home in the middle of it and was able to share at least part of his meal with his extended family, which pleased his son and father- in-law particularly.

------

After dinner, the languid mood hit again. Watching television was the only after-dinner activity that seemed in order. Tenchi checked the listings in the local newspaper and inquired if everyone wanted to watch "Bayside Shakedown," which was based on the wildly popular "Wangan Police Station" miniseries. Everyone agreed, especially Mihoshi, who loved police shows, and even Ryoko, who didn't. The program turned out to be a mixture of American-type police procedural and maniac-on-the-loose suspense, all spiced with a distinct lack of respect for authority (which nettled Kiyone and Ayeka just a bit). It was vastly entertaining. Then, the next show led to the next, for an evening of TV viewing.

As was the usual de facto seating arrangement, Tenchi sat on one couch between Ayeka and Ryoko, who from time to time pressed against him and/or held his hand. Sasami sat next to her older sister. She looked up at Ayeka occasionally. But Ayeka was just like her normal self. Once when she noticed Sasami regarding her somberly, Ayeka smiled fondly and whispered, "What is it, dear?" Sasami just shook her head. Ayeka stroked her cheek and returned to watching television. Tenchi also gave Ayeka a close inspection. But she was enjoying the shows, laughing quietly, and being quite loving to him. He let his concerns about her go for the time being.

On the other couch, the seating arrangement had changed somewhat, with Tris at one end, then Kiyone, then Mihoshi. Kiyone had talked to Mihoshi and that accounted for the change. Kiyone had curled up against Tris, her head resting on his shoulder. She was warm and soft against him, and she breathed slowly and steadily. Tris suspected she had fallen asleep. Earlier, she had nuzzled his ear with his lips and had whispered something affectionate to him. For the umpteenth time, Tris marveled at how soft and sweet Kiyone could become when she was around him in a romantic mood. But she was as tough as nails otherwise, especially when duty called. And she was pretty handy with her fists. It certainly made for a bracing relationship...not to mention a bruising one.

"Tris?" It was Mihoshi.

"Uh-huh?"

"Kiyone's asleep."

"Yeah, I got that impression."

"Shall we wake her?"

"Not me. You go right ahead, though."

"Well...maybe I won't." Mihoshi decided.

As it turned out, Kiyone work up just in time to follow everyone else to bed. It had turned out to be a short evening. It also turned out to be the last truly peaceful evening they would have.

------

"Ayeka! Ayeka!"

Asleep in her futon hours later, Ryoko stirred angrily. Why was she hearing Ayeka's name? If she was going to dream, she was going to dream about her Tenchi, not the Princess. If Washuu was using that damned Dream Machine again, she'd--

"Ayeka...oh, Ayeka!"

Ryoko's eyes opened. It was morning. And it was little Sasami's voice she had heard. It was still crying out her big sister's name. The voice sounded stricken.

Seldom had Ryoko moved so fast. She all but leaped from her futon and hurried to Ayeka and Sasami's futons.

Ayeka lay on her futon. Her eyes were closed, her face wan and pale. She seemed as if she were still sleeping. Little Sasami was shaking her, anxiously. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Ayeka! Ayeka-- wake up!"

"Yeah, Princess!" Ryoko added, alarmed at what she was seeing. "Open your eyes! Stop fooling around. You're scaring Sasami." In fact, Ayeka's lack of response was also scaring Ryoko.

In an instant, Kiyone and Mihoshi were there. Kiyone read the situation swiftly. "Mihoshi," she murmured, pointing to Sasami. Mihoshi nodded. She swiftly bent down, and wrapped her arms around the little girl. Gently, she disengaged Sasami from her older sister, who lay so silent and still. "Come on, honey," Mihoshi said to Sasami. "Let Kiyone look at Ayeka now." Sasami buried her head in Mihoshi's shoulder, crying. "Why doesn't she wake up?" Sasami asked as she sobbed. Mihoshi spoke reassuringly to the little girl, stroking her hair softly.

Efficiently, Kiyone checked under Ayeka's eyelids, then her pulse, and finally laid a hand on her forehead. "She's okay, Sasami. Don't worry. Pulse is a little weak...her body temperature seems a bit warm...not too much, though...deep sleep breathing..." She frowned. Normal, more or less. So why didn't the Princess wake up? She did look awfully pale and spent.

Ryoko watched the tableau, clenching her fists. She had never felt so helpless. She couldn't have known it, but years ago, another super-powerful being--a King--on a planet thousands of light-years distant had felt exactly the same way.

Heavy footsteps sounded outside the door. Kiyone, taking Ayeka's pulse again, hoped Tris wouldn't end up clobbering Nobuyuki a second time.

The door slid open. Nobuyuki, fully dressed for the office, entered, followed by Lord Yosho, also fully dressed. Tenchi and Tris, both in their pajamas, spilled in behind them. They all saw Kiyone examining a still and silent Ayeka, while Mihoshi held a sobbing Sasami. They stopped.

Lord Yosho said, his voice betraying his anxiety, "Detective...the Princess...?"

"She seems all right, Lord Yosho," Kiyone told him. "Physically."

All the men visibly relaxed, especially Tenchi, who had looked overwhelmed.

"She appears to be resistant to waking," Lord Yosho said. "A comatose state?"

"Looks like it." Kiyone nodded. "Ryoko--please get Washuu."

"Right away!" Ryoko was a blur leaving the bedroom.

"But how...why...?" Tenchi asked. His face was anxious as he stared at the Princess. His father put his hands on his son's shoulders. "We'll get her awake, son," Nobuyuki murmured.

Tris looked at Ayeka with the same feeling of anxiety as everyone else. But something gnawed at him...something about being resistant to waking. He walked up to where Kiyone was still examining Ayeka. "Please raise one of her eyelids," he asked Kiyone.

"What? Tris--listen, just stand back--we don't have time for--"

"Please do as I ask," Tris said.

Kiyone glared at him for a moment. Then her expression softened. She reached down. Her fingers gently raised one of Ayeka's closed eyelids. Tris bent down. Yes, there was the reddening around the iris, indicative of true sleep. The eye darted a bit. It was something he had seen clinically a number of times...something he recognized well. This was no coma, he knew. He knew exactly what it was.

"I'm afraid we'll just have to wait," Tris said, staring at Ayeka. Cold fury filled him.

"Wait?" Tenchi asked. "Wait for what, Tris?"

"Wait for the son of a bitch to let her go," Tris said.

Silently, Lord Yosho nodded.

"Tristram...what's wrong with Ayeka?" Nobuyuki asked.

"She's hypnotized," Tris answered.

"What?" Tenchi demanded. "How--you just tell me how, Tris--did you--?" Tenchi paused and collected himself. "I'm sorry, buddy."

"That's okay. To answer your question, I have no idea...no idea in the world." Tris looked at Kiyone. Kiyone looked at him. They both seemed to sense that the answer, whatever it was, would be ugly.

Suddenly Mihoshi, releasing a now-composed Sasami, cried out.

"Look!" She pointed toward the far wall.

They all looked.

Every one of the large, heavy wooden wardrobes the women stored their clothing in--the same wardrobes that the women regularly struggled with to move aside for cleaning purposes--every single wardrobe--was upside down.

They all stared at the upended wardrobes with disbelief. It was if some playful giant had overturned them...just for wicked fun. Every one of those wardrobes, filled with clothes and other sundries, weighed at least several hundred pounds apiece.

Now, sudden fear rustled around all of them.

"Oh...my...God..." Tris marveled.

"I don't think it was God who did this," Tenchi said.

------

"I can't say Tris is wrong...and I can't say he's right," Washuu said. "I just don't know that much about that hypnotism stuff. I'm a scientist, not a shrink. And you know it's been pretty much banned in the Union. But I sure don't have a better answer."

All of them, aside from Nobuyuki, Ayeka, and Sasami, sat at the dining room table. It was a council of war...one of several to come.

Ayeka had finally awakened. She had been weak and listless, but sweet and amiable and wondering what all the fuss was about. Washuu had then arrived with Ryoko and examined the Princess. She confirmed that Ayeka was weak and physically taxed but in no serious jeopardy. Lord Yosho had Ayeka taken to his bedroom, where she would remain for the moment. Both Kiyone and Mihoshi had to help the Princess walk the short distance to Lord Yosho's bedroom, with Ryoko hovering anxiously behind them. Ayeka was just that monumentally exhausted. Sasami had followed them. She was with her older sister now. With an apology, Nobuyuki had left for work. Practical matters intruded even upon impractical events.

"But how?" Tenchi asked. "She's always been with us. No one new besides Tris has been near her." He shot an apologetic look at Tris. "And we know Tris isn't involved with this. So then who? And why?"

"You asked the damndest questions, Tenchi," Washuu admitted. "And I'll be damned if I have any answers...yet."

"Well, get some answers," Ryoko told her. "Great scientist! Prove it!"

Washuu looked at Ryoko. She was surprised at the amount of concern she saw in the space pirate's face. She decided mot to take offense. "I'll do just that, Ryoko. Watch me."

"You bet I'll be watching you," Ryoko promised.

"Grandfather?" Tenchi asked, hoping to deflect any possible row between Ryoko and Washuu.

"Yes, Tenchi?"

"You were going to ask Ayeka about her recurring nightmares. Then there's that force, or whatever it is. Do you think...?"

Lord Yosho nodded. "I'm certain now that they are connected. The entity's target is revealed--it is Princess Ayeka."

"Excuse me, but..." Mihoshi looked confused. "Nightmares? Entity? What are you talking about, please?" Ryoko looked perplexed as well.

"Yes. I'd like to know that, too." Kiyone had her arms folded across her chest. Uh-oh, Tris thought.

"Detectives...Ryoko," Lord Yosho said. "I am sorry that we didn't take you fully into our confidence before. We didn't have any real evidence--just an old man's sensations. Now I will be happy to tell you what we know...or, rather, what we suspect." He then proceeded to do so.

"Thank you, Lord Yosho." Mihoshi seemed satisfied, although a little confused, still, when Lord Yosho had finished.

"You all could have told a girl," Ryoko muttered. She seemed irritated at not being in the know earlier, but that was all.

Kiyone was more than irritated. She was furious. She felt the old anger and uncertainty and insecurity well up in her.

"Yes, Ryoko, you're entirely right. We should have been told at the start!" Kiyone's voice was low but chocked with anger. "I'll be honest, you all. I feel left out--and, frankly, pissed off!"

The others regarded the Galaxy Police officer with varying degrees of shock. Kiyone ignored that and looked at the head of the table.

"I'm sorry, Lord Yosho. But that's how I feel. You all tell us, Mihoshi and me, that we're part of this family. But when a crisis arises, you don't bother to tell us about it. It's taken a near tragedy to get the information from you." Her face reddened with indignation and hurt. She looked at Tris. "You tell at least a part of it to a near stranger--someone who was supposed to be just a visitor. But you don't tell us. Damn it! Don't we rate higher than a damned visitor?"

"Kiyone!" Mihoshi cried.

"Hey, don't go off the beam, Kiyone," Ryoko told her. "It's not that big a deal, you know?"

Washuu looked grim. Ryoko was wrong, she knew. It was a big deal. Kiyone had always felt like something of an intruder amongst the Masaki clan--and now it was coming out.

Tenchi just stared at Kiyone, speechless at her outburst. Lord Yosho sat quietly, but he even looked a bit startled himself...and contrite as well.

Tris stood up. His face was filled with chagrin and dismay. Obviously, he had been wrong about nearly everyone's feelings about him--especially Kiyone's--and that cut deep. Too deep.

"Okay, that's it. I'm out of here," he announced.

"Com'on, Tris. You don't mean that," Tenchi said.

"I do mean it, Tenchi. Look, you're all very nice. I appreciate it. But you really don't want me here now and you sure don't need me here now. When someone whom I thought...well, anyway, calls me a near stranger...that's probably how you all feel. I won't stay here and make things worse. It looks like you all have one hell of a problem on your hands and you don't need to be sidetracked. I'll just get my things and go. Tenchi, thanks for the hospitality and my thanks to you, especially, Lord Yosho. Please give your father my regards, Tenchi, and Sasami and Ayeka, too. I hope Ayeka feels better soon. See you back at school, Tenchi. So long."

Tris turned on his heel and left the dining room, quickly.

"Kiyone!" Mihoshi stared wide-eyed at her partner. Her eyes began to spill tears. "How could you say that?"

"Kiyone...not smart...not smart," Washuu said.

"What's gotten into you, anyway, girl?" Ryoko asked.

Kiyone slowly rose from the table. She looked ashen. She realized what she had said and what she had done. She had lost her temper again and at the worse possible time. And now Tris was leaving because of her. Her face flamed with remorse and embarrassment.

"Of all the damned fool things I've ever said...Lord Yosho, I am so sorry. I had no business speaking to you in that manner. I'm so worried about Ayeka and what it all might mean. I was just angry and hurt that you seemed not to trust me with vital information."

"I was remiss, Detective," Lord Yosho said softly. "I admit that."

He understood Kiyone perfectly. Kiyone and Ayeka shared a particularly strong friendship. It had formed over time between two very capable and competent women who both had the honor of great responsibilities and duties. Both also had a great respect for authority and for doing things properly. The attack on Ayeka had shaken Kiyone to the ground. Finding out she had not been in on their preliminary discussions of his sensings of the intruder had smacked of a lack of trust. Lord Yosho knew he had blundered by playing things so close to his chest, to borrow Professor Washuu's phrase.

"You and Mihoshi are police officers," Yosho continued. "I wanted at least one solid fact to present to you. I was wrong not to have included you both in the beginning. You both are very important to us and you both are a dear part of our family...Kiyone." For once, Yosho did not use her official title. That deliberate lack of formality spoke volumes.

The teal-haired Galaxy Police officer was greatly moved. Her lower lip trembled a moment before she regained control of herself.

"Thank you, Lord Yosho." She bowed to him.

Lord Yosho rose and returned her bow.

The atmosphere in the dining room seemed to lighten suddenly. Tense postures relaxed and even a few smiles blossomed. Mihoshi still shed tears, but did so quietly.

"Well, glad that's settled," Washuu grumped. "Now will someone go get that cute guy back? I need him--we need him--believe it or not."

"Yes, we do," Lord Yosho confirmed.

"I need him most of all," Kiyone admitted. "That is...I want him to stay most of all. Oh, stop crying, Mihoshi--he's not going anywhere. I'll fix his wagon, the big stiff!"

She quickly left the room. She was wiping her eyes as she did.

Washuu suddenly laughed. "God, I love that guy! Never a boring day, no sir, not with him around!"

"That's what I say. Did you see Kiyone's face when he walked out?" Ryoko added. "You can bet he's not going anywhere!"

Tenchi smiled, relieved. "That's for sure. He's staying no matter what he says. Grandfather, do you think we ought to...?"

"Kiyone will bring him back," Lord Yosho said with a smile. "I trust, in one piece!"

"We'll see about that, Lord Yosho." Ryoko grinned. "The one-piece part, I mean. Mihoshi, stop with the waterworks, will you?"

"Okay." Mihoshi smiled now, tearfully. She was vastly relieved that Tris would be staying and that the angry feelings were gone.

"Well, then. With Sasami now caring for her older sister, I believe I will endeavor to make some tea. Possibly some rice cakes will also not go amiss. After all, none of us has had breakfast yet. What do you say, Mihoshi?" Lord Yosho smiled.

"I say...yay," Mihoshi replied softly, rubbing her eyes.

"Very well said, Detective." Lord Yosho rose and left for the kitchen.

"This has been one hell of a morning!" Washuu commented. "I wonder if--"

She stopped as she and the others heard the sound of Tenchi's bedroom door sliding open. Footsteps. Then the front door could he heard sliding open and then sliding closed.

"Tris is in a rush! Kiyone better hurry," Washuu observed.

"To heck with all that. I'm going to go talk to him." Tenchi rose.

"Sit down, sweetums." Ryoko smiled at Tenchi.

"Huh?"

"Let Kiyone handle it," Ryoko told him. "She will."

"Well..." But Tenchi sat down.

Then, from outside, they heard the sound of a car engine's starter grind...and grind...and grind.

"What's wrong with Tris's car?" Tenchi wondered. "It ran fine just the other day."

Washuu suddenly began to laugh. Then Ryoko laughed. And then Mihoshi laughed, too.

Tenchi looked confused.

There were more grinding sounds from the car's ignition outside. Then they heard a loud curse in an unmistakable male voice.

"Such language!" Ryoko said with a grin.

Suddenly Tenchi grinned, too. All was clear now to him.

A metallic popping was heard next. It was the sound of the front hood of Tris's classic old car being raised. A few minutes later, another curse rent the air outside.

"Someone needs their mouth washed out with soap," Ryoko noted.

Then they heard a triumphant laugh. It came from Kiyone. No doubt about it.

"Where the hell's my distributor cap?" they heard Tris yell.

"I've got it, darling," they heard Kiyone reply. "See?"

"Give it back!"

"Won't!"

"You'd better!"

"Says who?"

"Says me!"

Kiyone's hooting laugh was eloquent.

"Give it back, Kiyone Makibi, or I'll--"

"You'll do what?"

"Come here--and I'll show you--"

There was another laugh, one of pure delight, from Kiyone. "You'll have to catch me first--!"

Sounds of running. Then...sounds of silence.

Now Lord Yosho appeared in the dining room with a tray of teacups, a steaming teapot, and a plate of rice cakes. He set the tray down on the table. He hesitated. "I wonder if I should have brought cups for Kiyone and Tristram." He smiled,slightly.

"Uh-uh," Ryoko said. "They're going to be gone a little while, I think."

------

"I wish I could make you feel better, Ayeka," Sasami said to her big sister.

They were both upstairs in Lord Yosho's bedroom. Ayeka was reclining beneath the covers on the bed, her head propped up with pillows, while Sasami stood alongside.

Ayeka smiled at her little sister. She looked stronger now. "Do not fuss so much over me, dear. I am quite all right now...just a little tired."

"I know. But please don't go to sleep!"

"I shall not, I promise. I will just rest." She smiled. "It is nice to know my little sister loves me so much."

Sasami began to cry again.

"Oh, dear...come here..."

Sniffling, Sasami complied. Ayeka held her little sister closely, stroking her hair.

Then both of them heard shouts and odd noises from outside.

"What is that?" Ayeka asked, releasing Sasami.

Sasami dried her eyes with her fingers. She walked to the window. "Oh, gosh!" she said, peering out.

"What is it, Sasami?"

Her little sister gave the play-by-play: "It's Kiyone! And Tris! Kiyone's got something in her hand...she's waving it. Oohhhh, Tris looks awful mad! Golly...I think...I think Kiyone just stuck her tongue out at him!"

"What?" Ayeka sat up on the bed. Her eyes danced with excitement. "She didn't! Our Kiyone?"

"She sure did!" Sasami marveled.

"Good heavens!"

"Now..." Sasami reported, "Kiyone just said something to Tris. Now she's running! He's running, too! He's running after her, Ayeka!"

"I do not believe it!" Ayeka proclaimed.

"They're out of sight now..." Sasami sounded disappointed. She walked back to Ayeka from the window.

"Those two...oh, dear heavens!" Ayeka laughed heartily. Sasami smiled. She thought it was a wonderful thing to hear.

Finally, Ayeka subsided. "Sasami, dear, do you think you might fix some of your wonderful tea and perhaps something to eat? I am absolutely starving."

"Oh, yes, Ayeka! Right away!" Sasami happily departed Lord Yosho's bedroom.

------

"So do you forgive me, idiot?" Kiyone demanded.

Somehow, Tris was prone on the dirt by the edge of the wooded area and Kiyone was on top of him, holding him down. She had stopped suddenly in the midst of their footrace, he had made a grab for the distributor cap, and the next thing he knew he was flying in the air. Now Kiyone was straddling him. She looked down at him with those beautiful blue eyes, her long dark teal hair ticking his face. She had already kissed him a couple of times. Didn't read him his rights or anything.

"No!" he said.

She smiled and bent down. She kissed him, lingeringly.

"Listen, I just renewed my membership in the He-Man Woman Hater's Club," Tris told her when she rose from him. "And if you think--"

She kissed him again. She slowly broke the kiss. She kissed his nose. She absolutely loved that stupid nose of his.

"If you think that stuff will work," he said with much less conviction, "you'll find out--"

Another kiss...a really long one.

When they broke, Tris looked up at her. "What were we arguing about again?"

Kiyone smiled. "No argument. I said a really stupid thing. Then you said a really stupid thing. That's the gist, anyway."

"So, we're both stupid. Now what?"

"We want each other," she said. "And they need us. That's it, in one-syllable words. Now have you got it?"

"Okay...I got it."

She slipped off him. They both rose. They were a mess, both of them. Tris especially.

"You know, I'm really looking forward to marching back in there, looking like what the cabbit dragged in," Tris groused.

"I think they'll be happy to see us...no matter how we look," Kiyone told him.

"Yeah, those Masakis do seem to have a soft spot for strays."

"Speak for yourself, you goofball."

"I was." He began to slap loose dirt from his slacks. "I could be a damned seed bed for sweet potatoes," he muttered.

"You're my sweet potato..." Kiyone suddenly embraced him and kissed him, fiercely. "You better not walk out on me again," she whispered. "You'd just better not."

"Yes, Officer."

"You know, goofy, you have a bad habit of running out when things get a little sticky. You need to cut that out. You know?"

Tris nodded ruefully. "I know. You're right."

"Okay, then." Kiyone took his hand. Her other hand still held the distributor cap.

"Hey, I'd like the rest of my ignition back," Tris said.

"No. First we need to talk with the others and work up a plan of action. Then I'll give this back to you. Can't have you running off again."

"Okay...as long as I get my car back together eventually. I might need it sometime, you know."

------

A little while later, with the air considerably cleared, a belated breakfast having been prepared and eaten, and Kiyone and Tris cleaned up somewhat, the discussion continued around the dining room table. Sasami still attended to Ayeka in Lord Yosho's bedroom.

"I took the opportunity, while we had our break," Lord Yosho was saying, "to talk to Princess Ayeka and Sasami. They were able to recall the instances of the nightmares. Their dates tally exactly with the times I sensed the intruder. And I did very briefly sense it last night. I think there can be no doubt now."

"No doubt maybe, Lord Yosho, but no answers, either," Ryoko said glumly.

"Well, we know something, Ryoko," Kiyone said. "We know a force is being directed against us. We know whom it's targeting. That's a start."

"I suppose so," Ryoko muttered.

"We also know it's that...hypnotism stuff," Mihoshi added.

"But if it is some sort of mesmerism," Tris pointed out, "it's a form I've never heard of. In the movies, you see some mesmerist make a few hand motions and then the hypnotized subject enters the room. That's just the movies. It's bogus. It doesn't work that way. You can't control a subject from long distance unless you can at least talk to them directly, like through the telephone."

"I wonder..." Tenchi said. He looked at Washuu. "That Dream Machine thing you made. It worked from long distance, sort of."

"Yeah, Washuu--what about that?" Ryoko still got steamed up when she was reminded of that dream-enhancing fiasco.

"Hmmmm. That's a point, Tenchi," Washuu admitted. "I was thinking along those lines myself."

"So, this person is probably using a similar machine?" Tenchi asked.

"Oh, no. No way." Washuu was adamant.

"Huh? Why not?" Ryoko demanded.

"All my invention did was scan for the brain waves that it already had identifying examples of, redirect them to a program that was supposed to modulate them to nice, even patterns to ensure you all had nice dreams, and then send them back to you to enjoy."

"Enjoy! Hah! All we got was Sasami's dream!" Ryoko gritted.

"Okay, the program messed up. The point is, it just redirected a dream that already existed. It didn't issue any commands or try to control your thoughts or control you. It couldn't. It was just a machine."

"I see," Tenchi said. "Just a computer following its programming."

"That's it, Tenchi." Washuu nodded. "In this case, someone is projecting their will from long distance. Extreme long distance. We know, at least, its not coming from this planet. That's way beyond what I was trying to do, of course, or could do, I have to admit." Washuu folded her hands. "It has me stumped...for the moment."

"Couldn't they...couldn't they use some machine to project their mind waves a real long distance?" Mihoshi asked hesitantly. A few of the others looked at her with some surprise. Kiyone smiled at her.

Washuu nodded again. "That's an idea, Mihoshi. But whatever machine they may be using, remember I couldn't pick it's transmissions up on my scans and probes. My firewall covers every known transmission medium and it detected nothing. So the carrier is brand new to me and that's astounding...really." Washuu lacked her full compliment of humility, perhaps, but what she said was true. A transmission medium or carrier unknown to her seemed all but unthinkable.

"Oh," Mihoshi said. "I guess I understand."

"Could it be just plain old brain waves from someone else getting into the Princess's skull?" Ryoko asked.

"From across the ether?" Washuu asked. "No way. The brain waves would need some powerful means to transmit them and a carrier medium to direct them to the target. I told you that. Pay attention, will you, Ryoko?"

Ryoko just yawned. Pointedly.

Tris stirred. He had been thinking about what he had learned about hypnotism in his college classes and labs. Several points struck him. Kiyone, sitting very close to him and watching him from the corner of her eye, now prodded his kidney with an elbow. "Speak up, you."

"Yes, Tristram. Don't be afraid to contribute," Lord Yosho told him. Tenchi nodded at him encouragingly.

"You're kind of our resident expert on that hypnotism stuff," Washuu admitted. "At least until I get up to speed on it."

"Then we're all in trouble," Tris said wryly. "You remember what happened the last time I played around with it."

"We know," Washuu said. "You're no expert. But you've studied it under experts and that information is what we need."

"Okay...here's something, then. If this is a form of hypnosis, it would explain the Princess's behavior yesterday. I mean, the way she acted so defensive when asked about the dreams. If whoever hypnotized her originally instructed her to resist questioning about her dreams, she would do so. She would even act out of character to obey. It's called a post-hypnotic suggestion. Actually, that's a misnomer. It's really a command."

"If that's true, Tris," Tenchi said, "she sure seems willing to talk about it now."

"The spell's been broken, in a way. She's seen how significant her dreams may be now. That may be helping her resist the suggestion enough to answer questions. The post-hypnotic suggestion isn't all- powerful. That's my understanding about it, anyway. After all, if I'm right, Ayeka did manage to fight it off enough to apologize to you and me about letting Sasami take the rap for the screaming, even though she didn't go into any details about the dreams at the time. Of course, that doesn't mean this creep's lost his hold on her."

"That sounds quite reasonable," Lord Yosho remarked. "I think that does explain what happened yesterday with the Princess and also her willingness to let Sasami lie for her, which is not in her nature at all. That's a good point also about the Princess still being in the thrall of our enemy, Tristram...we must not forget that. In fact, our enemy may well be allowing Princess Ayeka to answer our questions now."

"But why would he allow that, Grandfather?" Tenchi asked. "That doesn't make sense."

"I don't know, Tenchi," Lord Yosho admitted. "It could be our enemy simply wants to toy with us."

"Yeah, maybe, Lord Yosho," Ryoko said. "But I want to get back to these brain waves or transmissions or whatever. Washuu...why can't you use your Dream Machine and scan for outside brain waves, even if they are in some sort of carrier thingy, and invent something to block them?"

"You forget that I had already obtained sample brain wave pattern scans of all of you before I set up the machine," Washuu replied. "It scanned for your individual brain wave patterns first and then redirected them. I don't have a identifying brain wave pattern of whoever we're dealing with, you know."

"I know that! Why not just block all brain waves coming in except ours?" Ryoko was insistent, and she had now made an excellent point.

"I already plan to do just that," Washuu said. "I need to do some more research into it, build a prototype, test it...all that takes time, even for me, Ryoko."

"Yes, you must have time to develop a counter-measure, Professor Washuu," Lord Yosho agreed. "And simply blocking these intrusions is not sufficient in itself. We must also discover whom this enemy is and carry the battle to him and defeat him. Otherwise, we will always remain in peril."

"That's right, Grandfather," Tenchi agreed. "If we only go on the defensive, we've lost before we've started."

"I agree with that, Tenchi. But how do we go after this creep?" Ryoko asked.

"Knowledge is power, Ryoko. What we need is more information," Lord Yosho told her.

Washuu grinned. "I'm with you, Grandpa!"

Lord Yosho turned to her. "Professor Washuu, I suggest the best use of your invaluable time would be to research the events surrounding Princess Ayeka's life during the period of her first series of nightmares, since they are doubtless the forerunner of what we face now. Any event out of the ordinary might be of the greatest significance. We must discover whom our enemy is."

Washuu nodded. She knew this was the best course. "I'll scour GP records, royal Jurai household records, and data from the Royal Science Academy. I'll get the dirt on this dirtbag, all right. And I'll also work on a way to detect and block whatever's intruding on Ayeka's mind."

"Washuu," Tris said, "here's one idea. Maybe this creep has some unknown way to control Ayeka hypnotically from long distance. But if this is hypnotism, even an advanced form, there's one thing for certain. The first hypnotic induction could not have been from long distance. It had to be face-to-face."

"That's right!" Tenchi exclaimed. "So it had to be someone Ayeka had personal contact with as a child, yet someone not in her immediate circle of family and retainers. That should help narrow things down."

"It sure will," Kiyone affirmed. She slipped her hand in Tris's hand beneath the table, and gave his hand a firm squeeze.

"Give that boy a cigar," Washuu said. "In fact, make it a box of H. Upmanns." The great scientist again displayed her amazing range of knowledge--knowledge that apparently even included Earth cigar brands.

"Thanks, Washuu, but I smoke Cohibas when I can get 'em." Tris said.

Kiyone's lips found his ear. "You smoke cigars?"

"Let's talk about it later," Tris muttered

"We sure will, buster," Kiyone promised.

"At the same time, a thorough questioning of Princess Ayeka about that period in her life is equally in order," Lord Yosho suggested.

Kiyone nodded. "We will handle that, Lord Yosho, Mihoshi and I. As police officers, we're trained in practical interrogation. Besides, we need to start treating this as a regular police case, since it involves an assault on a member of the Jurai royal family."

"That's right," Mihoshi affirmed. "We have a case now."

"I don't know if the Princess is really up to being grilled yet," Ryoko objected. "Especially by you two."

For a moment, the others seemed nonplussed by Ryoko's protective attitude toward her long-time rival for Tenchi's affections. Kiyone looked at Ryoko with surprise and Mihoshi's mouth opened as if to object, then closed.

"I don't mean a formal, intense interrogation, Ryoko," Kiyone explained. "It will be just a questioning session. I only meant that, as police officers, we are trained and experienced in covering all the bases when we ask questions. And again, all this will have to be put in a report for the GP. Of course, certain names need not be mentioned."

Ryoko looked unconvinced.

"Ryoko, why don't you go with Kiyone and Mihoshi when they talk to Ayeka?" Tenchi suggested.

Ryoko relaxed her stance a mite. "Okay, sweetums, good idea. I'll do just that."

"Fine with me," Kiyone said. Mihoshi nodded.

"Kiyone," Washuu said. "if you could give me access to the GP records stored in your ship, it'll save me some time hacking through GP security."

Kiyone nodded. It was against regulations, of course, but this was an emergency. "I'll give you the access codes when we leave to interrogate--to talk to--Ayeka."

"Good enough."

"Tenchi, you and Tristram can be most helpful righting those overturned wardrobes while the women are busy," Lord Yosho said.

Tenchi and Tris looked at each other. They groaned in unison.

"The hard labor for the guys," Tris muttered. "Typical."

"Lord Yosho's just making sure we all serve where we're best suited," Kiyone told him. She ruffled his hair. "For you--manual labor."

"Hey--speaking of the wardrobes--and I'll personally fry whoever's behind this if my clothes are ruined--I have a question before we all scatter," Ryoko said.

"Yes, Ryoko?" Lord Yosho responded

"Why did this bastard strike now? And why in such a goofy way-- having our wardrobes overturned like that?"

Lord Yosho thought a moment. "To answer your first question, this intruder must be able to read Princess Ayeka's mind to control it. Thus, it was made aware of my intent to question the Princess about her bad dreams. The intruder no doubt concluded that the game was up, as far as its covert nature was concerned. That is perhaps why he may be allowing Princess Ayeka to answer our questions now. As for your second question...I believe it is a warning, a mocking sort of warning, to us. The intruder committed that prank last night while you ladies all slept in the same room. We all found it a bit unnerving, which is doubtless what our enemy intended. It also shows our enemy is confident of victory. Perhaps too confident. To describe his attitude, I would use that useful Greek word: hubris."

"You're right, Lord Yosho," Kiyone said. "It was a little unnerving, now that I think about it."

"I think it was real scary." Mihoshi shivered.

"Yeah...even I'm a little creeped out by it," Ryoko admitted.

"I'm glad I sleep in my lab," Washuu added.

"So our enemy did succeed in that respect," Lord Yosho concluded.

"Sir," Tris said. "There is one more useful Greek word I can think of--nemesis."

"Very good, Tristram. That is exactly what we must become to this enemy...its final and unremitting nemesis."

------

Later that morning, the group had dispersed so that each of them could attend to their given tasks. Washuu was back in her lab, huddled over her own hacking and cracking modules (which would have made Munt and Ginkar green with envy). Tenchi and Tris struggled to right the heavy wardrobes in the women's bedroom. Lord Yosho attended to shrine affairs. And Kiyone and Mihoshi interrogated--that is, questioned-- Ayeka while she lay abed in Lord Yosho's bedroom, with Ryoko and Sasami attending.

The faithful reader may find the following foolscap copy of the raw, unedited transcript of that questioning to be of some interest (taken from Galaxy Police Archive Files, Case Number YH #908876):

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY / NO MEDIA CLOSE HOLD--PHYSER ACCESS REQUIRED

(Transcript of interrogation of Princess AYEKA JURAI, First Princess, Jurai Royal Family, Jurai, by Detectives First Class KIYONE MAKIBI (Badge #334400) and MIHOSHI KURAMITSU (Badge #333327), assigned to Earth Sector, Region Brysis, Division Zeta. Princess SASAMI JURAI, sister of the subject, also present, as well as an unidentified spectator. Case Number: YH #908876. Date: 300-89-7655 GCD.* Location: Earth. Note: This transcript is unedited.)

*Indicates Galactic Calendar Date.

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: You are Princess Ayeka Jurai, first in line to the throne of Jurai, is that correct?

PRINCESS AYEKA: Of course, Kiyone; you know I am.

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: Please refer to me as Detective Makibi for now, Princess Ayeka.

PRINCESS AYEKA: Oh, very well, Detective Makibi...but it does seem silly (laughs).

DETECTIVE KURAMITSU: (laughs).

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: Mihoshi! I mean--Detective Kuramitsu!

DETECTIVE KURAMITSU: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED: This is some interrogation.

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: Princess Ayeka, can you describe to us an alleged series of bad dreams you have intermittently experienced in your lifetime?

PRINCESS AYEKA: I shall be glad to. But they are not alleged! When I was Sasami's age, I began to have some very terrible dreams night after night--

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: Pardon, but will you specify how long ago that was?

PRINCESS AYEKA: I will not! The idea!

UNIDENTIFIED: Your age has caught up with you, Princess (laughs).

PRINCESS AYEKA: My age is none of your business!

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: All right. We will pass that point by. Please continue, Princess Ayeka.

PRINCESS AYEKA: As I was saying--

DETECTIVE KURAMITSU: I don't think you look very old at all, Ayeka. Do you, Sasami?

PRINCESS SASAMI: No, not very old at all (giggles).

PRINCESS AYEKA: Sasami! Really!

UNIDENTIFIED: Come on, Princess, tell us your real age. We won't tell Tenchi, we promise.

PRINCESS AYEKA: If I have to rise from this bed, someone's age shall be cut very short--

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: Enough! Please! Let's forge ahead.

PRINCESS AYEKA: (sighs) Very well. I had these bad dreams as a young girl, as I have said...about a dozen times already...

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: We appreciate that, Princess Ayeka. Please go on.

PRINCESS AYEKA: The dreams lasted for a short while and then stopped. They did not re-appear until quite recently.

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: Please describe the dreams, Princess Ayeka.

PRINCESS AYEKA: They were all the same...dreadful dreams of a horrible one-eyed thing trying to devour me.

UNIDENTIFIED: Heartburn City!

PRINCESS AYEKA: Does this person really have to be present?

UNIDENTIFIED: Oh, you'll need dynamite to get me to leave now.

PRINCESS AYEKA: Sasami...please get the dynamite!

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: Please, Princess Ayeka. Now, this is a very important question. Outside of your immediate circle, did you meet or interact with anyone new during the time the first series of bad dreams occurred?

PRINCESS AYEKA: Well, let me think. No, not really. I stayed with my own set in those days. I did met some new children at the school we had then, of course.

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: School?

PRINCESS AYEKA: Perhaps that is the wrong word for it. It was more of a seminar for children of my caste to learn their proper roles in life, to learn to adjust to them. We were taught deportment, manners...

UNIDENTIFIED: Being stuck-up...

PRINCESS AYEKA: It would not have hurt a certain person to have had a little of that training.

UNIDENTIFIED: A certain person had more important things to do, even then.

PRINCESS AYEKA: Yes, one can just imagine!

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: So, Princess Ayeka, this was a sort of finishing school for upper-caste youngsters?

PRINCESS AYEKA: Considering our ages, perhaps the term "beginning school" would be more apropos.

UNIDENTIFIED: Perhaps even the term "snob school"?

PRINCESS AYEKA: I am going to get up now and--!

DETECTIVE KURAMITSU: She's doing it, Kiyone!

PRINCESS SASAMI: Please lay back down, Ayeka!

DETECTIVE MAKIBI: Yes, please! Thank you, Princess Ayeka. Now, this school you mentioned...what was it called?

PRINCESS AYEKA: It was called the Lyceum. A distinguished academic, Professor Tchaka Klove, was the head of it, as I recall. Poor man. He suffered a breakdown, I believe it was, and the institution was forced to close.

UNIDENTIFIED: No more snob school for you little stuck-ups? What a shame!

------

"...and that was really the only regular outside contact the Princess had during the time of the first round of nightmares," Kiyone concluded. She was making her report on the interrogation to the others during lunch. Sasami had just left to carry a lunch tray up to Ayeka.

"The Lyceum? I believe I may have heard it mentioned. A progressive educational institution for children of the rich and powerful of Jurai and other planets," Lord Yosho mused. "It lasted only a short while, I believe. Some sort of scandal...it was not discussed. I was away with Kagato during that time, I am certain."

"I don't have any recollections of that Lyceum place, of course," Washuu said. "I wasn't exactly hanging around the inner circle of the upper crust back then. More like buried in the Earth's crust for hundreds of years!" Washuu grimaced as she thought of all those centuries wasted. Then she returned to the matter at hand. "But that name, Professor Tchaka Klove, oh, that rings a bell...a hell of a bell!"

"How so, Washuu?" asked Tenchi.

"I hate to bring up the topic again of my little dream experiment," Washuu said dryly, glancing at Ryoko. "It's a source of personal pain for me to know at least one sensitive soul was traumatized so much by my heinous invention..."

"Can it, Washuu!" Ryoko gritted.

"Oh?" Washuu smiled. "So you've forgiven me entirely, then? Darned decent of you, Ryoko." Washuu now turned toward the others. "Anyway, when I was doing research to complete the dream experiment, I relied heavily on clinical findings on the effect of brain wave patterns on dreams contained in a report written by a researcher. The report was moth-balled in an old Royal Science Academy databank that those fools have probably long forgotten about. The author of the report was--" Washuu paused for dramatic effect "--a certain Professor Tchaka Klove."

No one spoke for a moment as they all digested that very interesting tidbit along with their midday meal.

Tris broke the silence. "Now that," he remarked, "is one hell of a thundering coincidence."

"Ain't it, though?" Washuu agreed.

"Very significant," Lord Yosho said. "Of course, it is certainly no coincidence. Are you acquainted with this Professor Klove, Professor Washuu?"

"Nope. He's after my time at the Academy."

Tenchi said, "I think you've nailed the guy, Kiyone, Washuu." He stood up. "Excuse me...I'll be right back." He left. Ryoko looked after him, surprised.

"Where's he going?" she wondered aloud.

"To the bathroom, I'll bet," Mihoshi told her. "You know how boys--"

"Mihoshi," Kiyone said heavily. "You don't have to answer every question...okay?"

"Well, okay." But Mihoshi looked as though she didn't understand why not.

Washuu said, "Lord Yosho, Tenchi is right. We have our man...or, I should say we have our scumbag!"

Lord Yosho's eyebrows raised. Professor Washuu had made that last remark with rare anger.

"Have your researches yielded fruit also, Professor Washuu?" he asked.

"Yeah...rotten fruit." Definitely, Washuu was incensed about something. "I had almost no luck with the Jurai royal family records. I hacked pretty deeply into them. If there is any mention of Ayeka's dreams--and this Lyceum place--it's buried in some repository that isn't even on-line, a closed system."

Lord Yosho nodded. "Yes, any scandal would be so hidden. There would be no outside access provided...none at all."

"The Royal Science Academy had no records either on this Klove character, aside from that old paper of his I found, but he must have studied there. I suspect the files were excised after the scandal. That's how those fools would operate," Washuu continued. "I searched the GP files through Kiyone's access to her ship's on-board database. That's where I gathered some details about that school scandal. They were sketchy, but there was enough! The GP records reported the Lyceum was raided and closed down and the head of it--this Professor Klove again--was arrested and taken into custody. The offense the GP charged him with was a number...it was seven-aught-seventeen."

Kiyone's eyes widened. Mihoshi turned pale. "No...oh, no!" she cried.

"What is it?" Ryoko demanded.

"A seven-aught-seventeen," Kiyone said flatly, "is abuse of children."

"Scumbag is right!" Tris was enraged.

Ryoko snarled, "That's too damned nice a word!"

Lord Yosho's own visage was grim.

Washuu said, "Let me add, it wasn't what you all might be thinking. This creep was charged with conducting unauthorized mental experiments with the children at that Lyceum place. Nothing else was mentioned."

"Thank God for that!" Kiyone said with deep gratitude. She briefly patted Mihoshi's shoulder. Her partner looked close to tears. Such charges--and such people--devastated Mihoshi. Kiyone was not unmoved herself.

"Yes, there is that much to be thankful for. But experimenting with helpless children--that is infamous!" Lord Yosho himself displayed a rare anger.

"That really ties things together, though," Washuu added. "It's a safe bet to assume the experiments involved hypnotism. Probably some sort of dream experiments were performed on the children. The experiments, I'll bet anything on this, led to the children--including poor Ayeka--having those nightmares."

"A scandal indeed!" Lord Yosho said. "One so terrible that it was not even mentioned to those not directly involved, including myself. And I can imagine the King's rage. Strong action would be taken, and quickly, by the authorities. That would account, for example, for the ban on the general use of hypnotism in the Galactic Union you have mentioned."(1)

Washuu and Kiyone nodded their agreement.

"And I think we certainly have our motive for the intrusions on Ayeka and last night's incident--revenge against the Jurai royal family who were behind the raid on that professor's dirty little operation and him being arrested," Kiyone added.

"Those are likely assumptions, I'd say," Washuu said. "But they're mostly just that...assumptions."

"Why, Washuu?" Ryoko asked. "It all sounds spot-on to me."

"Because the information contained in the GP files I accessed through Yagami were just what I said--sketchy," Washuu explained. "For example, there's no information on whether Klove's been released or if he escaped from prison, or whatever. That's not available from Yagami's databanks. References to detailed records about the Klove case mentioned that those records were "close-hold." Does that mean what I think it means, Kiyone?"

Kiyone nodded. "Yes, it means the records are extremely sensitive. Our data records on Yagami are only for field use and don't contain much that's already stored in the archives at Headquarters. And we can't access intensely confidential records such as those classified as "close-hold" from Yagami. You all know why...hackers and such." Her words briefly brought up memories of Munt and Ginkar. Yes, they did know why.

"That is extremely unfortunate," Lord Yosho said. "To track down this Professor Klove, we need much more information."

"Why don't you just keep on hacking and drill down to those records at GP Headquarters, Washuu?" Ryoko wanted to know.

"Because records that sensitive at GP Headquarters have all sorts of anti-hacking and anti-cracking programs surrounding them. Those programs detect any unauthorized probing and immediately scan the prober."

Ryoko eyed the scientist narrowly. "Are you saying you can't defeat that security stuff, Washuu?"

"Sure I can. But one slip, even one nanosecond long delay in evading a scan from the GP firewall, and those anti-cracker programs may get a fix on me. They could discover where the probe is coming from. And you know what that will mean."

"I sure do." Kyone's voice and expression were grim. "Such an offense is one exception to our hands-off policy toward non-Union planets. Investigators from the GP would be authorized to detain and interrogate a person even from this planet to find the hacker. You know we can't stand any kind of investigation like that, Ryoko. You should know that better than any of us."

Reluctantly, Ryoko agreed. "Yeah...it's too big a risk, I guess. But we've got to get a line on that bastard. We've got to help the Princess."

Kiyone looked thoughtful. "Mihoshi and I can view those records. We're certainly authorized to. The only thing is..."

Washuu grinned and nodded at the Galaxy Police officer. "Keep going, Kiyone. You're doing fine."

"What is it, Kiyone?" Tris asked her.

"Well, to see those records, we'll have to go to the source," Kiyone said. "Mihoshi and I will have to travel on Yagami...to Galaxy Police Headquarters."

_________________________________________

CHAPTER NOTES

(1) It may interest the reader to know that hypnotism is still not universally accepted as a legitimate medical and psychoanalytic technique even today. Hypnotism can and has been abused, often for entertainment purposes. There are those who would ban its use even now, or at least confine it to heavily regulated medical circles.