Chapter Four
"It doesn't make any sense!"
Washu cast a hopeless grimace at the computer screen, letting out a cry of frustration as she dispersed it with a swipe of her fist. "This is hopeless! What am I trying to achieve here? I can prove Kagato's still alive, but that's about all I can do! All my readings are flawed - incomplete! I need more information...I need a backup plan and I just don't have one!"
She groaned, getting to her feet and pacing across the large expanse that made up her laboratory, her brows knitted together as she ran over her options in her head.
"I know Ryoko's genetic structure like the back of my hand. I could recite her ribonucleic acid values with my eyes shut." She muttered. "But Tsunami-sama - that's something else. Something beyond my understanding. Even with all the time I've spent with Sasami, I don't know anything important about her. No statistics, no data, nothing. I'm unprepared and badly researched! And now I'm holed away here in the middle of subspace dabbling in something that I just can't see my way around. It's hopeless. I can't get anywhere like this!"
She reached out a hand, hitting a sequence of buttons on a keypad as she passed, and a large screen flickered into life, replaying over and over the snippet of memory-film she had of Tenchi's battle with Kagato. Again and again she watched the man fall, the cloud of eerie dust rising from his body, then flickering into nothing. Again and again she relived the man's death, looking for one tiny clue that might spell his weakness. But there was none.
"There must be something that I'm missing." She said aloud, sinking down onto the chair that spun across the room out of nowhere, programmed to catch her wherever she halted. "But if there is, I can't see what it is. Maybe I miscalculated in a bigger way. Ryoko is a strong pirate, but she's no match for a demon like Kagato. Even if she'd been properly trained...I couldn't have imagined he'd have honed his magic to this level. But is it a level Tsunami can match? I wish I could quantify her...but even when the data reader was picking signals from Souja's tree, it detected nothing at all from Sasami. As if the woman didn't even exist...even when she was right there talking to the child. It's beyond my understanding."
The screen above her flickered and blurred at that moment, and she frowned, staring up at it as an unfamiliar face flashed onto the monitor, his featured fuzzed and grainy through the inter-dimensional transmission.
"Hey! Who are you and what do you want?" She exclaimed, brows creasing in annoyance. "I'm working down here - don't you know it's bad manners to barge in on someone like that?"
"Professor Washu Hakubi!" The man did not seem at all perturbed by her show of indignation, merely fixing her with an impassive gaze. "You have been summoned to Jurai on urgent business. I must ask you to leave this place and come aboard my ship at once!"
"What?" Washu stared. "Jurai? But I just left that place! Haru-dono pretty much kicked me out - now he wants me back? What is this about? How dare you barge in here and think you can tell me what to do! This is my area of subspace and I didn't invite you so you can just go and get your own, okay? I'm working on something and I don't want to be disturbed!"
She stretched her arm across for the 'fire' button, pressing it down and shooting a beam of flame through the dimensional doorway, missing the craft by mere inches. "Go on with you! Get lost! Jurai has no authority here - they should have spoken to me when they had me on hand!"
"Washu-sensei, we will not ask you nicely again." The man's brow twitched in irritation. "Further hostile activity will see you faced with severe penalties under Jurai law. We have the authority of the Galaxy Police to patrol this sector, in order to pursue Jurai business. You are summoned at the Emperor's will. Surrender yourself to us immediately."
Washu bit her lip, her finger hovering once more over the 'fire' button. For a moment, nothing moved, then slowly, she withdrew her hand from the weapon panel, folding it in her lap with it's partner.
"And if I choose not to come with you, of my own accord?" She asked softly, an edge to her voice. "The Galaxy Police might think it's fine for you to go barging into people's private lives, but I happen to disagree. More, I happen to know that it's against space regulations to forcibly remove someone from their home without due explanation. Tell me what it is the Emperor wants with me so badly. I've done nothing wrong."
"The Emperor wishes to speak with you on a matter of great concern to Jurai." The man told her stiffly. "The details of which have not been made known to me. However, I am aware that it is of the utmost importance and urgency that you return to the planet Jurai. Once there, I am sure he will make everything plain to you."
"What if I refuse?"
"Then we have authority to take you by force, Washu-sensei." The man's eyes grew cold. "Our ships have the technology to penetrate subspace. I would not advise further resistance. We have no wish to harm you or damage your dwelling."
"I see." Washu pursed her lips, suddenly conscious of the silver capsule that was hidden deep in the folds of her gown. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed.
"Your Emperor has a lot to learn about manners." She said at length. "To come outside of Jurai jurisdiction with an order such as this - he must be in a real flap about something."
"The Emperor requires your company at the Palace of Jurai as soon as possible, Washu-sensei." The man responded curtly. "Will you come aboard of your own free will, or must we take you by force?"
"Am I under arrest?"
"No, Washu-sensei."
"Then why all this talk of force?" Washu demanded. "Do you think I'm some meek little mad professor who shuts herself away in her own world and has no concept of her rights in space and time? This whole business is beyond belief. You have no right to be here. No right at all!"
"This is your last chance to surrender yourself to me, Washu-sensei. Otherwise we will be forced to open fire on your laboratory." The man was unmoved. Washu bit her lip, casting a regretful glance around at her surroundings. Then she sighed, nodding her head.
"All right, already. Hold your horses." She said frankly. "I'll come aboard. But believe me, I want to know the name of your superior officer and someone to whom I can make a formal complaint on Jurai when I get there. You people might think you own the universe, but some sectors of it are still free of Jurai rule and there are a lot of us who'd quite like it to stay that way!"
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"Ryoko?"
Ryoko glanced down from her perch over the shrine gateway, a shadow touching her features as she saw Tenchi standing beneath, his expression both troubled and anxious as he met her gaze. She sighed, leaning back on her elbows.
"I know what you're going to say. The answer is no." She said flatly. "If she's still in the house, Tenchi, I'm not coming back there. I don't care if she's fooled you with her little rigmarole. I'm having none of it. She's not my daughter. She's not from the future. She's some...some decoy or something, and I'm not going to be tricked by her, so you can forget all about changing my mind. I'm staying up here until she's gone. End of discussion."
"Ryoko." Tenchi sighed, leaning against the arch as he shook his head slowly. "Won't you just come down and listen to me for a second? I'm getting a crick in my neck staring up at you like this, and the sun's glaring in my eyes at this angle. Please, Ryoko? I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do. I just want you to hear me out for a minute or two. That's all."
"I told you. I'm not coming down." Ryoko folded her arms across her chest, tossing her head defiantly. "If you want to talk to me so badly, you come up here. I'm not moving."
"Fine." There was a sigh, then the sound of footsteps, and despite herself, Ryoko's heart tugged as she heard him heading away. He had given up so easily, she mused. Was he so fooled by this new arrival that he didn't even notice how wrong the whole thing seemed?
She sighed, stretching out on her back and staring up at the sky. What had seemed like a peaceful stretch of stars the night before suddenly seemed like a stifling wave of blue this morning, trapping her back in the world she thought they'd left behind when Ryo Ohki had finally touched down onto planet Earth. All the fighting, all the stress, all the bad memories...they had let it all go and she had hoped it would last a little longer.
"But that's not my luck. Something always has to come and ruin it." She muttered. "And, true to form, it's some girl from Jurai dragging Tenchi's attention away!"
The sudden clatter of wood on wood made her start, sitting up as she glanced down below her in disbelief. Katsuhito's strong shrine ladder had been propped against the gateway, and, a look of determination on his face, Tenchi was mounting it rung by rung, finally pulling himself up opposite her on the narrow wooden beam. For a moment, she just stared at him in disbelief. Then she frowned.
"You don't get brownie points for that, you know." She said frankly.
"But now I'm up here, you have to listen." Tenchi responded. "So stop sulking for a moment and hear me out, will you? I don't know why you've taken such a hate at this poor kid. She might well be your flesh and blood - and you're behaving like a child younger than she is!"
"Well, it's nice to know how you really feel." Ryoko snapped, hurt in her tone. "I might have known you'd take her side. You've always had a soft spot for Juraians, haven't you?"
"Obviously, considering you're as much one as any of the others!" Tenchi exclaimed. Then he sighed. "No. I'm not going to fight with you. Ryoko-chan, that isn't what I want. And I'm not choosing sides against you. You should know by now that that's something I wouldn't do."
"No, I know by now that you have trouble taking any sides at all." Ryoko said flatly, dropping her gaze to the beam. Absently she ran her finger along the wood grain, letting out a sigh. "Tenchi, why is it that whenever we finally have some peace and quiet and time to ourselves, something or someone has to throw themselves into our path? Ayeka. Sasami. The Galaxy Police. Washu. Now this girl? I just want to spend time with you when the world isn't about to fall on our heads. Is that ever going to happen? Or are we doomed to wind up in this situation for the rest of our lives?"
"I wish I could answer that." Tenchi looked pensive. He reached over to take her hand, wobbling slightly and knocking the ladder to the ground with a thud. Ryoko grabbed him, steadying him on the beam.
"Don't kill yourself on my account." She scolded him gently. "I might be mad at you, but I don't want to have to bury you just yet."
"Good to know." A rueful smile touched Tenchi's lips. "I'm not really cut out for your perches, am I?"
"No, but then that's just another thing that makes us different." Ryoko let out a heavy sigh. "Another thing between us, Tenchi. I don't know. And now this girl...why did you ask her to stay at the house last night? What were you thinking? You don't even know who she is."
"I know as much about her as I did about you the first night you stopped with us." Tenchi reminded her. "And as I remember it, most of what you told us that night was actually a lie. Did you really think I was going to throw her out in the wilderness, on a strange planet she doesn't know? Ryoko, she's only sixteen!"
"Sixteen is plenty old enough to have your wits about you." Ryoko shrugged her shoulders. "I was a space pirate when I was sixteen, Tenchi. And a hard-bitten one at that, too. Don't think her age excuses anything. It doesn't. She fights like an adult and that's good enough for me."
Tenchi chewed on his lip.
"So I gather." He acknowledged. "You had quite a barney going last night, didn't you?"
"Well, we would have, if you hadn't woken up and stopped it." Ryoko replied simply. "It was just getting started when you came downstairs."
"Tell me something, Ryoko-chan." Tenchi looked thoughful. "When she fought you, what techniques did she use? Did she have magic? You said she teleported. What else did she do?"
"Why?" Ryoko looked confused. Tenchi spread his hands.
"Curious." He admitted. "Wanting to know more about our strange visitor and what tricks she has up her sleeve."
"Well, she flew." Ryoko chewed on her nail absently as she considered. "And yes, she teleported. Little sneak, it's her fault there's a hole in the wall. I hope you told your grandfather that. If she'd not moved..."
"There would have been a hole in Nozomi, instead." Tenchi said dryly. "Go on."
"Well, that's about it, really." Ryoko frowned. "No, she shot bolts of energy at me, but that's pretty basic stuff. Why all the interest, Tenchi?"
She raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't she a touch young for you, now?"
"Ryoko, this isn't about that." Tenchi grimaced at her. "Stop being insecure and jealous, will you? And think for a minute about the magic you just described. Who does it remind you of?"
"Remind me of?" Ryoko's brows drew together in confusion. "I don't follow."
"Teleportation. Flight. Energy blasts." Tenchi counted them off on his fingers. "Ringing any bells yet?"
Ryoko's frown deepened, then suddenly, a look of comprehension flooded her golden eyes, followed by one of consternation as the implication of his words sank in fully.
"You think they remind you of me, don't you?" She murmured. Tenchi nodded his head.
"Yes, I do." He admitted. "Because whether you like it or not, Ryoko-chan, I think she's telling us the truth. I think she is your daughter, and that she has been sent back here by Tsunami or Sasami - whichever one it is - to try and undo something that hasn't been done yet. I spoke to her last night, and she told me a little more about herself and about the situation she witnessed. And I got to thinking - how did she get here without a spaceship, if she's from Jurai? Clearly she's not from the Earth. But there's no ship around here, is there?"
"If Washu sent her, she wouldn't need a ship. Just one of her weird little portal things." Ryoko pointed out.
"True enough, but if Washu had sent her - and I think it highly unlikely that she did - she would have had to have left her laboratory, returned to Jurai, found this girl, given her a back story, pushed her into the Earth..." Tenchi trailed off, shaking his head. "No, it just doesn't make sense that way, Ryoko. She wouldn't have had the time to go to all this trouble and besides, I don't think this is Washu's style. I think showing up aboard Ryo Ohki was one thing. I don't think she'd go to these lengths just to make you listen to her."
"You think?" Ryoko was surprised. "I'm not so sure."
Tenchi shuffled carefully forwards, taking Ryoko's other hand and placing them both between his.
"Listen, Ryoko-chan." he murmured. "Nozomi told me...about how you died. In her world. You did it to preserve her life. You made Tsunami-sama save her, at your own cost. And you know, for a girl who knows nothing about you, she's scarily accurate about how cheap you value your own existance when someone you care about is in peril. You might not know her in this world. She might not even exist. But in that world she was your daughter, and you gave up all to give her a chance of life. That rang more true with me than anything else she said, you know. Because you did the same thing for me aboard Haki. You would have thrown your life away protecting me there. It's just how you are."
A faint blush touched Ryoko's cheeks, and she dropped her gaze.
"I don't know." She said slowly. "I don't like any of it, Tenchi. I've never even stopped and imagined the idea that I might have a child. And all of this..."
She faltered, shaking her head.
"I don't like it." She repeated. "And I don't want to believe that it's real."
"But you do believe it, don't you?" Tenchi eyed her in surprise. Ryoko grimaced.
"I don't know." She admitted. "I just don't. I mean, it all seems so crazy. Far fetched. Ridiculous. But then..."
"But then, those are pretty much the usual keywords when you and I get dragged into something." Tenchi said ruefully. "Aren't they?"
"Yes, they are." Ryoko closed her eyes briefly. "And I'm getting a little sick of it, if you want the truth."
"Well, there seems to be only one way to clear it all up as far as I can see." Tenchi pursed his lips. "If we want to work out where Nozomi came from and if any or all of this story of hers is really true, we need to go to Jurai and speak to Sasami. Didn't Washu say she'd been having prophetic dreams? If that's true, maybe she can give us some clue as to whether Nozomi is right and whether this really is a warning from our future. What do you think?"
"I think we're about to embark on another flight to that crazy, horrible planet again." Ryoko looked resigned. "Just great. Although..."
She paused, turning her gaze in the direction of the house.
"Considering the hole in the wall, it might be a good idea to leave Earth for a few days. Let your Grandpa get over the shock of his new air conditioning system."
Tenchi chuckled.
"Yes, that is true." He admitted. "I don't imagine he or Father will be all that amused."
Ryoko sighed.
"All right." She said, getting to her feet and pulling him up with her. "I suppose this means we've got to go speak to that girl. Though I'm telling you, Tenchi. I'm not having her call me Mother. It creeps me out and I won't believe that it's true. So you make sure she gets that into her head, all right? My name is Ryoko. She'd better learn to use it because I won't be Okaa-san to any strange waif who shows up at your door."
"I think that's fair enough." Tenchi nodded.
"And if it turns out this is a wild goose chase, she'll live to regret it." Ryoko continued, clenching her fists. "I mean it. I'm sick of being pushed from pillar to post without getting a choice in the matter. If I discover this is one of Washu's games..."
"Well, we'll find all of that out in due course." Tenchi reminded her. "And for the time being, we should talk things out with her and see what we can learn before we set off into space. She told me a fair bit last night, Ryoko, but I'd like you to hear it for yourself. And there may be more - she was very tired and shook up after your battle. I think you frightened her, though I'm not sure she'd admit it."
"Of course I did." Ryoko said frankly. "You're lucky you have someone as alert as me watching over your home, Tenchi. Who knows who might break in otherwise?"
"Yeah, except that it was you who broke the window." Tenchi teased. Ryoko looked sheepish.
"Well, okay, so sometimes I'm over-zealous." She admitted. "It's a bad habit of mine. Noone's perfect."
"You'll do." Tenchi assured her affectionately. "And thank you for not blasting me off the beam, too. It meant a lot that you listened to me, even though you were feeling so odd about it all."
"I find it hard to say no to you." Ryoko's cheeks pinkened. "Which is a royal pain sometimes, but there you go. You look at me in this certain way...it's hard to fight back when you do."
"I'll have to remember that." Tenchi looked amused. He paused, then cast a glance down at his fallen ladder. "Er, Ryoko?"
"Yes?"
"Care to give me a lift down from here? I think I'm stranded."
"Well, I might do that for you." Ryoko's golden eyes twinkled with humour as she took in his expression. "What would you do without me, Tenchi-chan?"
"Probably not climb shrine gateways and perch on rooftops and beams as much as I do." Tenchi replied ruefully. "Just get me down from here, will you? I should probably go explain to Grandpa about the wall and then, well, we really need to speak to Nozomi properly...find out exactly how we can help sort out this mess she's found herself in the middle of!"