Chapter Five
"Well well."
The man sat back in his seat, folding his hands contemplatively over his stomach as he considered his next move. "I have to admit, Karasu, the girl is being remarkably helpful to us, don't you agree? Here I have been, trying to plot my way around that wretched Juraian security network and I find I have been wasting my time all along. The Princess Ayeka is no longer on the planet Jurai. This is good news indeed. Much more simple. Much more effective."
Karasu's monitor flickered into life, coordinates flashing in the corner of the screen as the ship plotted the location of Ayeka's vessel. The man watched carefully as the numbers faltered, then stabilised, and Karasu's main boosters came to life. He nodded his head.
"You need very little encouragement from me, old friend." He observed. "My spirit drives you, just like your life energy preserved me. You want to succeed as much as I do, I can feel it with every breath that I take. And this time we will succeed, Karasu. All that I can find tells me that the Galaxy Police is a shadow of it's former self...rebuilding and unstable. They will be too busy with their own petty affairs to bother me too much. And after assimilating with you, there is little they can do to hurt me again. I'm stronger and wiser, and you are sharper and sleeker. We're more than a match for those pesky Juraian lapdogs now. It should be an easy matter to offer up our trade...Juraiain meat for Juraian magic...a simple yet effective swap."
Another picture flashed onto Karasu's screen, and the man's smile widened.
"We are close now." He murmured. "I should prepare myself to welcome our guest aboard. After all, she won't be able to resist the power of Haki. Not when I've made up my mind to take her at all costs."
"I'm frightened, Azaka."
Sasami gazed out across the expanse of space, gripping tightly onto the branch of the ship's tree as she did so. "I don't know where we're going and I don't see Ayeka's ship anywhere. We don't even know what that ship is called or if we can find her. Where is she? Why can't we see her?"
"You said she was heading to Earth, Princess. Are you quite sure that is her destination?"
"Yes. Quite sure." Sasami nodded her head.
"Then perhaps we should set a course there as well. It might be that we can cut her off before she reaches the planet...but if not, we will be able to pick her up once we arrive there." Azaka suggested. "It is a long trip, Sasami-denka, but this ship is swifter than any your lord father possesses. It's said that the tree that controls this ship is Tsunami herself...if Ayeka truly has made it to Earth, well, we will catch up to her in record time."
Determination flared in Sasami's crimson eyes, and she nodded again.
"All right." She said decidedly. "Then we set a course for planet Earth, right away! Do you hear me, ship? I am Princess Sasami of the Royal House of Jurai and I need your help to stop my sister Ayeka from doing something really stupid. Will you help me to find her and bring her back home?"
The ship roared into life, picking up pace across the glittering sky and Kamadake offered the young princess a grin.
"Your father would be proud of you." He remarked. "It's no mean feat to take command of a ship that's not your own."
"I've flown in Ryo Ohki and Yagami before, and Ayeka's Ryu Oh." Sasami said frankly. "And anyway, Azaka said this ship is controlled by our family's tree, Tsunami - the Tree of Life. She always comes to our family's aid, no matter what the circumstance. Father told me that she's the magic force which originally spawned you two into being, to protect the children of Jurai's royal house. I trust her and I know she will help us."
"Princess Sasami, I see a ship off the port bow!" Azaka exclaimed, raising a finger to point. "See there! Is it the ship the Lady Ayeka left Jurai on?"
"I can't see." Sasami squinted at the screen. "Ship, can you bring it into clearer focus? I only caught a glimpse of the spaceship leaving Jurai and it was dark. I'm not sure."
"We can try and make contact with the craft, Princess." Kamadake suggested, but Sasami shook her head.
"No. If it's not Ayeka's ship, they will be wondering why I'm out and about like this and why you've left your posts at the palace." She said simply. "I want to be sure before we open communication channels. I don't want to get her into trouble and I don't want to be told off myself!"
"Princess Sasami, I think there are two vessels drawing alongside us, some distance to the left." Kamadake said with a frown, his brows drawing together as he tried to make out the second shape. "At least, I think it's a ship. It's so dark, it's hard to see it clearly...but it seems to be drawing in on the first."
"A dark ship?" Sasami looked confused, then horror flooded her expression. "Oh! What if Ayeka is in trouble? That is the ship she left on, I'm sure of it now - the lighter ship is Ayeka's ship. But where did the other one come from? It wasn't there before. And why is it so dark? I don't like this at all! I'm going to have to talk to her, Kamadake - I'm going to have to tell her to go home before she gets us both into a heap of trouble!"
She ran her fingers down the tree's substantial trunk, and the ship's communication screen flickered into life, connecting with the other ship.
"Sasami!" Ayeka's startled voice came over the link, a mixture of guilt and surprise in her tones. "What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Ayeka, you're going to get into so much trouble!" Sasami put her hands on her hips. "Father is going to be so mad when he finds out you've run away again!"
"I'm not running away, Sasami." Ayeka shook her head. "Go back to Jurai. I'll be back shortly, I promise. I'm only taking a trip...a trip to clear my head. That's all. I'm not abandoning Jurai. You have my word."
"You're going to see Tenchi, aren't you?" Sasami's voice was accusatory, and a faint blush rose in Ayeka's cheeks.
"Maybe." She admitted.
"Ayeka, you're engaged to Takeru!"
"I know that!" Ayeka exclaimed. "I have honour, Sasami! I know how to act. I only want to speak to him, that's all. Nothing more. I promise, I'll be home by morning. Go back. If Mother and Father discover we're both missing, they'll be alarmed."
"Ayeka..."
"Go home, Sasami." Ayeka shook her head. "I'll see you in the morning. Trust me, all right? I know what I'm doing. And besides, I'm not just going to see Tenchi. I'm going to collect a branch or seed from Ryu Oh's tree, too. You have to realise how important that is to me."
Sasami sighed, but nodded her head.
"All right." She said quietly. "But you swear you'll come right back? Ayeka, you know what Father said about this wedding and about Jurai!"
"I promise." Ayeka agreed solemnly. "I...hang on a minute, Sasami. I have another incoming signal. Go home, all right? Sleep tight. It's all all right. I'll see you..."
The screen blinked, and the connection flickered out, leaving the bay of Sasami's vessel in darkness.
"Ayeka?" Sasami frowned. "Ayeka? I can't get her back!"
"Shall we move in, Sasami-dono?" Azaka asked. "It must be the other ship, making contact with her."
Sasami hesitated, then nodded her head.
"Yes. We must." She said anxiously. "Whatever that other ship is, it scares me. I don't like how dark and creepy it is and we can't let it hurt Ayeka. Oh, I knew she shouldn't have left Jurai!"
She put the palm of her hand firmly on the trunk of Tsunami's tree, glancing up at the branches.
"If you are the strongest, most powerful tree in Jurai, please help us get to Ayeka." She begged. "Please, Tsunami. If you are in there, help us."
The craft picked up speed a second time, gaining on the pale Juraian ship and it's dark companion in a matter of seconds. As they pulled alongside Ayeka's craft, Sasami saw the ebony ship pull back, barely visible in the darkness of the sky itself. Before she could react, a red ball of flame shot out of the blackness, followed by another and then another. Startled, the young princess ordered the ship to pull back, and as she did so, the bolts of fire illuminated the patterning on the side of the craft. An elaborate bird's wing became momentarily visible, then once more the vessel was cloaked in darkness.
"A bird's wing!" She exclaimed. "Did you see it? I've never seen a ship like it before...what is it!"
"Princess, take cover! Let the ship's cannons protect you!" Azaka urged, but Sasami clung to the tree, shaking her head.
"We can't shoot, what about Ayeka's ship?" She demanded, as her vessel lurched and swayed beneath her feet, struggling to evade the potent blasts from the unknown assailant. "We might hurt her...she might be killed! Azaka, what can we do?"
"Princess Sasami, look out!" Kamadake yelled, and Sasami glanced up, seeing a firebolt heading straight for the centre of the ship. She let out a scream of terror, clinging more tightly to the tree and closing her eyes.
"I want to go home!" She sobbed. "I want to go home!"
"Princess Sasami!" Azaka exclaimed, as the entirety of her world seemed to explode in a giant ball of light. Then, as quickly as it had come, the light was gone, and slowly blackness enveloped her.
"Sasami!"
Aboard Karasu, Ayeka let out a shriek of dismay, struggling fiercely against the tight bonds that had been looped cruelly around her hands and her feet. "You monster, what have you done to my sister!"
"Quiet, Princess." Haki stood over her, running a cold finger down her cheek and making her shiver. "She shouldn't have encroached on my business. Her ship is intact, if battered. She'll make it home, no doubt. Either way, I have no interest in her. She is powerless...just another offshoot of the Jurai family tree. You, on the other hand, are exactly what I need to set my plan into motion."
"What do you want? Why have you brought me here?" Ayeka fought again, but it was no use, and she sank back against the floor in defeat. "Don't you think sneaking up on a girl whilst she's sleeping is ungentlemanlike? Honestly...do you have no manners at all? And tying me up? Who are you, anyway, and what makes you think you can treat a Juraian princess like this?"
"A Juraian Princess who strayed a little far from Daddy's coat tails." Haki spoke mockingly. "My name is Haki, Miss Ayeka. And my interest is not so much in you, but in what I can get for you at, shall we say, market prices? Though you're not much in real life. I have to say that Karasu painted a much prettier picture."
"How dare you!" Ayeka was enraged, but Haki let out a low chuckle. He shook his head, tut-tutting.
"Now now. You're forgetting your manners." He told her softly. "Don't worry. I don't plan on killing you - at least, not yet. If that had been my plan, I would have done it by now. No, Ayeka, I have you for a quite different reason. Your family have something...something that they stole from me a long, long time ago with the help of that confounded Galaxy Police. And I want them back...through fair means or foul. You are the bait...nothing more. I figure they'd give quite a lot to have their precious Crown Princess returned to them in time for her wedding day."
"Monster!" Ayeka struggled again. "My family are not common criminals! They do not steal other people's belongings!"
"No, they just think they own the world." Haki said pensively. "And maybe they do - but they don't own me. Three gemstones, Ayeka. You must have heard of them. Seen them, even. Three stones that contain elements of the most powerful magic known in this universe. Juraian magic. Strong enough to subdue and conquer...strong enough to rule supreme."
"You're crazy!" Ayeka exclaimed. "There are no such things! The gems are only legend - they do not exist! And besides, only the Royal House of Jurai can wield the Jurai Power! I very much doubt that you are part of my family!"
"No, thankfully I'm not." Haki admitted. "But I am a very powerful space pirate, Ayeka."
"A space pirate?" Ayeka's eyes opened wide. "Is this Ryoko's doing? Did she send you?"
"Ryoko?" Haki blinked, then burst out laughing. "Oh, my dear, you must be joking. Ryoko...give me orders? I highly doubt that would ever happen. Whatever brand of villainy she peddles these days, I assure you she has little or nothing to do with my current quest. Ryoko indeed. You must learn to think wider. Think bigger, Ayeka. I am Haki...perhaps you are too young to remember my reputation, or maybe - maybe your protected little planet shielded you from the true horrors of real wanted criminals. Either way, I have been out of action for a long long time."
He sat back down, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed her, bound and tousled on the floor.
"You know, having said all that, you are an attractive catch. I may have to make use of that fact before I return you to your father." He mused aloud.
"You dare touch me and I'll bite you!" Ayeka hissed. "Don't you know how to treat a lady?"
"Perhaps you could ask your friend Ryoko that." Haki seemed amused. "Pipe down, little princess. You obviously have no idea that you're talking to one of the greatest criminal masterminds of all time. And I would still be held in awe across the whole galaxy if it wasn't for those wretched police officers and their constant search for Juraian patronage. They attacked my ship, near killed me and burnt Karasu to a shell. They thought me dead, and they took from me the two gems I already had in my possession. I want them back and the third to complete the set. They're my right - I killed and plundered enough to take what I had before. And if not for Karasu's powers of regeneration, we would both have perished in their flames. I want my revenge, Ayeka. And I want those gems."
Ayeka stared at him for a moment, taking in the sharp blue eyes and the face hidden by a black gauzy kerchief. She frowned, biting her lip.
"You mean you enslaved your ship so you could keep living?" She demanded. "How can you be so selfish!"
"Not enslavement." Haki shook his head. "Karasu is a Phoenix and it's job was to regenerate itself and me alongside it. That's all. A newer, better, stronger incarnation of both of us. There are very few who will be able to challenge us now."
"Jurai will deal with you. They have magic that surpasses any witchcraft you and your ship might practice!"
"Witchcraft, is it?" Haki laughed. "Very well. So long as I get those gems, I don't really mind what you call it, or what you think of me. I am strong enough to master their power now, Ayeka - strong in ways I never was before. This time it will be different."
"What makes you think Jurai will give in to your ransom demand anyway?" Ayeka retorted. "Maybe they won't."
"You better hope they will." Haki stood, bending over her and bringing his face close enough to hers that she could feel his breath on her cheek. She flinched away, and he smiled.
"If they are not cooperative, I will kill you and eject your corpse into deep space." He said quietly. "So they had better think to pay this ransom demand. Or else their precious Crown Princess will be no more!"