Chapter 5

"And so, in conclusion, it seems more than likely that the Dark Heart of Jurai's assimilation with the subject has increased her magical capabilities by at least two hundred percent. Further studies will be necessary to judge the longevity and ultimate development of these skills as the subject becomes more acclimatised to her new situation. However, it is my confident assertion that her capabilities should see a further increase in capacity by roughly one hundred to two hundred percent over the course of time."

Washu sat back in her seat, re-reading the final paragraph of her report out loud to herself as she folded her hands absently in her lap. As she reached the end, she smiled ruefully, reaching out a lazy finger to flick the screen off.

"Well, Ryoko's certainly turning out to be quite the surprise package." She acknowledged. "And to think at one point I was ready to give up on her magical skills completely. Perhaps I should have more faith in my own work - after all, I am a genius and the greatest genius that the universe has ever known at that. If I can't get my experiments to tally up, what hope does anyone else have?"

She pushed back her seat, getting to her feet and padding across the expansive laboratory to a cluttered desk in the corner. Covered in wires, flashing light and partially used disks, the desk's original purpose was entirely concealed from view by the debris left in the wake of great inventions, but she swept the mess aside with one swift gesture, scooping up the disk she was looking for and pushing it into one of the many slots on a nearby unit. The box whirred into life, throwing up a new screen as it began to process the information it had been given, and Washu grinned.

"My study into Ryoko's magic is almost complete." She murmured. "She's been surprisingly tolerant of me, considering that I've been showing her little mercy in my lab tests. Perhaps she's also learning patience at last - those Light Hawk Wings of Tenchi's are certainly miraculous, if that's the case!"

She keyed a set of digits into a nearby keypad, squinting up at the screen and then typing in another quick set of figures. As she did so, a red box flashed up on the screen and she frowned, her brows drawing together in confusion.

"What?" She murmured. "But that's not possible...that doesn't make any sense."

She hovered her hands in front of her as a black laptop materialised beneath her touch, fixing sharp green eyes on it's screen as she scanned the data readouts. Then she cast another look up at the big monitor above. At length she shook her head.

"There's something not right going on here." She said decidedly, flicking the big screen off and withdrawing across the lab with her laptop still floating just beneath her grip. "Those readings don't make any sense. It's just a routine scan - it shouldn't show up any anomalies...at least, not ones like this."

She resumed her seat, kicking her legs idly as she uploaded one file after another, her eyes never leaving the screen as she read through the reports of each one.

"Jurai. The Earth. Subspace. Yagami." She muttered. "Four pockets with access to my laboratory. I was certain I'd sealed off the one on Jurai at the very least - there's no way I want Azusa or his mad brother accessing my equipment when they have no idea how to treat such delicate equipment. And Yagami's I definitely sealed off...I'm fairly sure about that. But this suggests new openings - doorways I didn't actively initiate, but that have come from this lab nonetheless. It's almost as if something...or someone...has penetrated subspace. And that in doing so, they've stumbled into my laboratory."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Why do I think that's too convenient to be a coincidence?"

She sighed heavily, running back through the lists of numbers.

"There must be a leak somewhere." She decided. "In opening up so many access points, I've made the whole thing unstable...but it would take someone of particular skill and intellect to find that weakness and exploit it. Plus, they must have known that they wouldn't be able to infiltrate my workspace entirely undetected. Somewhere they must have left a calling card, no matter how sophisticated their modus operandi. All I have to do is find it...that shouldn't be too difficult, now I know that something foreign has been here. Any unauthorised access to my files should be easy to trace."

She ran her palm across a flat panel, keying in a six digit password and then holding a small optical scanner up to her eye, resisting the urge to blink as it's beam darted across her retina.

"Identity confirmed. Professor Washu Hakubi." A tinny voice echoed out around the expansive chamber. "Opening secure file vault. Security camera files activated. Electronic encyption being decoded - please wait."

"Oh, I'll wait all right." Washu narrowed her gaze. "I'll wait as long as it takes to find out who's managed to hack their way into my work. How dare they? They have some nerve, poking around in things that don't belong to them! I swear, I'll find out what's going on and...what?"

Her eyes opened wide with surprise and dismay as a picture flashed up on the screen in front of her. "I accessed these files? But I didn't! I'm not that crazy or that senile that I'd forget what I was doing! Rewind your footage, computer! I want to see every frame and every inch of what your cameras recorded!"

Obediently the computer rewound the security footage, replaying it in slow motion and Washu squinted at the images, straining her eyes as she tried to see beyond the figure in the foreground. To see her own form was unnerving enough, unlocking the vault with methodical, exacting precision. But then she thought she saw a flash of something in the background and she let out an exclamation, ramming her finger down on the pause key as she enlarged the image.

"I knew it." She muttered, reaching up to touch the screen. "It's just a flash - just a split second. But I'd know that insignia anywhere. So he's still out there, is he? Still trying to steal ideas from me, just like the old days? We'll see about that."

She glanced across at the computer.

"Which files were accessed during that session?" She asked softly. The computer whirred, then a list of filenames appeared on the screen, and Washu bit her lip.

"Kichi's files." She murmured. "The ones I removed from the Academy when she agreed to work with me on my secret project. And the files on Ryoko, also. What on earth can Clay want with a dead woman's research and some random information about a genetic experiment I did a long time ago? All of my process information I destroyed when she was born - every single step of how she came to be only exists in my memory, not on my hard drive. What does Clay want with this stuff? Something's not right here. I know Dr Clay and I know he's fishy at the best of times. This merits further investigation."

She pursed her lips, skimming back the tape until her double was once more on the screen.

"Clever, but not clever enough." She mused. "A shape-shifter. And with Clay's help, one who can no doubt imitate me perfectly, right down to the last molecule. No wonder they were able to infiltrate my lab and steal my files. I can see I'm going to have to take extreme measures...time I shut down the additional portals and stabilised the lab in one location."

She hesitated, then nodded her head.

"And I know just the location." She added. "Planet Earth."

-------------

"This Council session will now come to order."

As the hum of chatter died away, the young woman stood from her seat on the raised dais, holding up her hands as she surveyed the seated council members. "Honoured members of the Holy Council, my Lord Uncle the Emperor Azusa has been called to resolve a domestic dispute on the planet Yubisu. He has charged me with the duty of holding session this afternoon."

From his seat towards the back of the room, Seiryo ran his gaze over the Crown Princess, resentment flickering at the back of his teal eyes as he took in her slim, elegant form and composed expression. She had grown up beautiful, Suki had been right about that. The little girl had blossomed into a lady and an heir apparent in the ten Jurai cycles he had been absent from his home, and, not for the first time, he felt a pang of anger towards the man who had beaten him to her hand in marriage. He sat at her side, attentive and alert to the fullest, and despite himself, Seiryo could not help wishing his chair might collapse beneath him.

"So that people can laugh at him the way they laughed at me, the last time we fought over a woman." He muttered, forcing the memories back from his mind. "And I have more pressing things to debate over than Takeru Imada and his serial woman-stealing. Bad enough his father talked that weasel Haru-dono into accepting his son as Lady Ayeka's suitor. If he discovered that the Tennan family weren't quite the prestigious beings we once were, it would be unbearable."

"Seiryo Tennan!"

The Princess's authoratitive voice jolted through his bitter musings, jerking his head upwards in surprise as he realised that every gaze in the room was on him. Hurriedly he scrambled to his feet, making his regulation obeissance as he did so, and hoping beyond hope that he had not been sitting there ignoring her for very long.

Ayeka, however, seemed to have something else on her mind. She raised a hand, gesturing to the empty seat beside him.

"Your honoured father is taken ill this afternoon?" She asked softly. Seiryo started, then shook his head, embarrassment touching his eyes as he did so.

"Lady Ayeka, I am here in my father's stead." He said quietly, forcing his tones to remain respectful beneath her piercing stare. "He has been called away on urgent business...it was unavoidable. But since I am returned home for a time from my adventures with the Galaxy Police, I am here to represent the family Tennan."

"I see." Ayeka was silent for a moment. "Perhaps your father feels that he does not afford the same respect to the Crown Princess of Jurai as he does his Lord Emperor?"

"Ayeka-hime, I assure you that my father holds you and your honoured uncle both in great esteem." Horror flooded Seiryo's expression at her words. "He sent me with his gravest apologies for his absence. But it was truly unavoidable. The business...concerns my Lady Mother." He faltered, inwardly hating himself for the web of lies he had now begun to weave, but once started he found he could not stop. "She is growing ever weaker, and he has been tirelessly searching for something to bring her relief. My Lady, he meant you no offence."

"How is the Lady Kaede?" Ayeka's expression softened at this. "I hope she doesn't suffer in this heat."

"Not well at all, I'm afraid, my Lady." Seiryo got his composure under his control, meeting the Princess's gaze with an earnest one of his own as he at last found himself on honest ground. "She is a good deal weaker than I expected, and my sister doesn't believe she will live many more summers. Hence my father's urgency in his quest."

"I understand." Ayeka nodded his head. "It is unfortunate, but it cannot be helped. I wish your Lady Mother improved health."

"Your Highness is very kind." Seiryo bowed his head so that Ayeka would not see the anger in his eyes. Ayeka smiled.

"Thank you." She added gently. "You must understand, you see, that your Lord Father was to make a report to us today on the Council Treasury. However, in the circumstances, I think it can be postponed."

"The Council Treasury?" Alarm bells sounded in Seiryo's head and he jerked his gaze up again, staring at the Princess as if seeing her for the first time. "I did not know that."

"He has been our Treasurer for nigh on three years, Seiryo-san." Ayeka agreed. "And he is usually prompt with his reports to my Uncle."

"I'm afraid I have been away too long and have not had time to discuss such things with him since I returned." Seiryo bit down on his lip hard enough to taste blood.

"Then we shall hear the reports next session, when I trust Lady Kaede will be more comfortable." Ayeka responded. "Be seated, Seiryo-san. We have other business to discuss."

Relieved, Seiryo sank down into his seat, afraid his cheeks were burning as the discussion moved onto other topics. For a moment he was sure he felt Takeru's gaze on him, superior and gloating from his high position on the dais, and he clenched his fists beneath his chair as he controlled the urge to lash out across the chamber and assault the Prince Consort.

"I would kill him before he even blinked, now, after all my training with the Galaxy Police." He muttered. "But it would do my family no good if I were to be branded a killer with witnesses to spare. Calm yourself, Seiryo! But Father had better have a good excuse for his absence this afternoon...that's for sure. I keep thinking about what Mother said...about finding a solution. If Ayeka-denka is right, and Father is involved with the Council Treasury as well as our own finances, I need to find that solution sooner rather than later. If he hasn't stolen from the Crown yet it's only a matter of time before he does...and then we'll all be ruined for sure!"

"Seiryo-san!"

As the councillors filed out of the Chamber at the close of session, Seiryo was aware of a voice calling his name and he paused, his heart sinking in his boots as he registered the speaker. Dressed in the finest of royal robes and with his honourary coronet still atop his head, Takeru looked every inch the Prince Consort, and as he made his bow, Seiryo heartily wished for the crown to slip and fall.

"Seiryo-san, we haven't spoken in a good many years." Takeru said softly. "And I know we have not always been the best of friends. But I am deeply grieved to hear about your mother's deteriorating health. If there is anything that I or my family can do to help, you have only to ask. Your mother and mine were friends for many years, and I understand what it is like to lose a parent in such a way."

"You don't understand anything about it." Seiryo snapped, the words out before he could call them back and Takeru recoiled, startled by his companion's mode of address.

"I was only trying to be gracious."

"Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't bother." Seiryo shook his head. "Just because you are Ayeka-hime's husband, it doesn't mean that my concerns automatically become yours. I may one day swear allegiance to her as Empress of all Jurai. But know this now, Takeru-san. I'll not be swearing any oaths of allegiance to an Imada, not even if your late mother was my mother's maid of honour. Do you understand me? There is no friendship between us and there never will be. Kindly take your concern somewhere else, because I don't need your pity or your condescension."

"Seiryo-san..."

"No." Seiryo held up his hands. "Time may have passed, but nothing else. I still remember the past, even if you want to forget it. Good day, Takeru-dono. I have nothing more to say to you."

He turned on his heel, stalking across the turf and leaving the bemused Prince Consort standing.

"How dare he?" He muttered under his breath, adopting a brisk pace as he headed back towards the Tennan estate. "The nerve of him - just when I thought he couldn't be any more insufferable. He hasn't changed a bit in all these years - still using high born manners as a shield for his duplitious nature and deceitful tricks. As if I don't have enough problems to deal with already!"

The Tennan home was only a stone's throw from the Royal Tree, standing in it's shade to the south, and it was with a measure of relief that Seiryo flipped back the catch, letting himself into the house and leaning up against the door with a sigh.

"I'm starting to wonder why I came back at all." He muttered. "If not for Mother and Suki, I'd be gone again in the next few days. Suddenly the Galaxy Police holds a lot more appeal for me than it once did!"

The sound of voices from the solar made him alert in an instant, schooling his features into a nonchalant expression as he made his way down the hallway, determined not to let his sister see how badly the council hearing had gone. As he reached the door, however, he realised that the voices were of his father and a stranger and his anger grew as he realised that the stranger was a young woman.

"I'm truly amazed I haven't met you before." His father was saying. "A beautiful young lass like you - have you been hiding from me?"

There was a giggle from his companion, and unable to stay out of it any longer, Seiryo burst into the lounge, rage blazing in his teal eyes.

The room's two occupants sprung apart at his arrival, the woman letting out a shriek of surprise. A glance at her appearance told the indignant young nobleman that she was more dishevilled than an innocent conversation might have merited, and fury flooded through him anew. Without a word, he strode across the room, raising his hand and striking his father hard across the cheek.

"How dare you!" He demanded, his tones strained and low. "In Mother's home, while she lies dying? How dare you! Have you no shame?"

Anger glittered in Seiji's eyes at this and he grabbed his son roughly around the wrists, sending him a dark glare.

"You do not strike your father." He snapped. "No matter what, you do not strike me, Seiryo Tennan!"

"I'll do whatever I damn please, since you do!" Seiryo was shaking with rage, and he pulled himself free. "Don't touch me! I'm ashamed to think that you're my father...and more ashamed to think that I covered for you at the Council meeting this afternoon, when all you were doing was bedding some local whore!"

"I'll advise you to hold your tongue." Seiji drew himself to his full height. "You are already on thin ice with me, and you know it. Don't think a few glories and medals with the Galaxy Police Elite Force will soften my opinion of you any! You were a wasteling when you went away and you still are - you have no business questioning me!"

"I have every business doing it, since you're disgracing my mother, and the whole Tennan family by acting in this way!" Seiryo thundered. "I won't stand for it any more! Money is disappearing. You've sacked the staff. Paintings and tapestries are being pawned off and sold to pay your gambling debts. And now I walk in on you with some harlot, while Mother sleeps upstairs!"

Seiji eyed his son coldly for a moment. Then, very slowly, he slid his expensive glove from his hand, holding it up purposefully and then dropping it down on the floor at Seiryo's feet.

"Then prove to me you're not a wasteling." He said quietly. "Prove to me that you're not the man who should have married the Princess Ayeka but who failed to meet her father's expectations!"

Seiryo's eyes opened wide at this fresh insult, and he tossed his jacket aside, reaching for the Juraian sword he carried at his belt. It flared with a hot white light at his touch, and he knitted his brows together, poising himself to strike.

The young woman let out a gasp, backing towards the door, but neither man paid her any attention. Slowly Seiji put his hand to his waist, pulling his own sword from it's scabbard and holding it aloft.

"So, it comes to this." Seiryo spoke softly. "I've fought several space pirates, Father. I've brought many of them to their knees. Do you really want to fight me, knowing that?"

"And I was a soldier of Jurai, young blood fighting for my Emperor during the assault of the criminal Kain." Seiji's eyes were no more than slits. "So let us settle this, as men."

"My pleasure." Seiryo's determination redoubled and he launched himself at his father with a cry of rage. Seiji parried his blow with his own sword, and for a while the two men danced around each other, blades clashing at intervals as each struggled to find their way through the other's defence. Though age and good living had made Seiji a bulky man, he was still brawny and strong and Seiryo found that he needed every inch of his wits to keep ahead of his father's moves. As he dodged another vicious swipe, he read the look in Seiji's eyes and knew beyond all doubt that this was a battle to the death.

"You never did want me to come back from the Galaxy Police, did you?" He gasped out, between swings of his sabre. "You thought that I'd be killed in conflict. You didn't expect to see me home again, decorated and celebrated as a hero in my field!"

"I hoped I'd seen the last of your meddling and your insufferable arrogance!" Seiji exclaimed, launching a fresh assault which Seiryo parried with expert precision. "You're right. I did hope you'd die out there. At least then you would have died with some honour, instead of prancing around here pretending you know how the world works. You have ideals, son, but no idea how to handle the real world. You've always been your mother's boy - a wasteling, just like I said. Even now you could be back at the Galaxy Police, raising even higher in the ranks. But you chose to come home. And why? Because Suki wrote to you and told you your mother might not see another year!"

"That's not true!" Seiryo exclaimed, raising his blade high above his head and darting at his father, singeing the ends of that man's hair with his swipe. "I came home because I wanted to show you all the man I'd become! It's you who doesn't have a clue about the real world! You've been pampered and petted your whole life and you've never learnt what it is to fight with real honour, as part of a team! You might have been with the Emperor when he fought Kain, but you're not a real soldier, Father. You're the wastrel, not me...wasting your time with your whores and your cards and slighting my mother, the only good woman you've ever had!"

"How dare you!" Seiji rumbled, lowering his blade and charging bodily at his son, taking him off guard and sending him flying across the room, his sword clattering to the floor. His head met the wall with a resounding crack and he slumped, dazed as he fumbled across the ground for his weapon. As his fingers brushed the hilt, however, Seiji bore down on him, a nasty glint in his eye as he pinned his son to the floor, rendering him immobile as he thrust his blade up against the young man's throat.

"You always talked a good game, but you never did win many fights." He said softly. "Such a pity. I would have liked to have had a son I could have been proud of. Instead, I got lumbered with you."

Seiryo flinched back from the glowing sword blade, but Seiji pressed it against his vocal chords once more.

"You should have stayed with the Galaxy Police." He hissed. "And not gotten involved in my business. I warned you about that once, and you should have taken that warning when you had the chance. You should have stayed away. Now I'm going to do what I should have done then...I'm going to deal with you once and for all."

Seiryo closed his eyes, waiting for the searing heat to stab through him.

"No!"

A shriek came from behind Seiji, and with a cry of surprise the older man toppled forwards, his blade flickering out as he lost his balance, collapsing with a heavy thud on the floor at Seiryo's side. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Suki hurried her dazed brother's aid, pulling him into a sitting position and hugging him tightly. As he blinked, trying to get his bearings through the haze of concussion, Seiryo was aware that one of the expensive china vases that stood on the mantle was now in hundreds of pieces on the floor, and that a slow pool of blood was beginning to spread across the polished wood from a jagged would across his fallen assailant's scalp.

"Suki." He managed, followed by, "What did you do?"

"He was going to kill you." Suki choked out between her sobs, holding her brother as if afraid he was going to be taken away from her. "I couldn't let him...Seiryo, are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I...I'm all right." Seiryo gathered himself, raising a hand to rub his bruised head. "Just a little dazed. The son of a bitch cheated and shoved me across the room like some common wrestling match...I hit my head when I fell. That's all."

"I thought he was going to k...kill you." Suki closed her eyes, burying her head in her brother's shoulder. "I heard all the shouting and I was afraid..."

"Well, don't be." Seiryo told her firmly. "I'm all right, Suki. Your timing was impeccable."

"Why were you fighting? What happened?" Suki gazed up at him with big, anxious aqua eyes. "Something must have. I can see it in your eyes."

"Many things, Suki." Seiryo sighed, struggling to his feet as he retrieved his sword, returning it to his belt. "Not least the fact he was entertaining one of his whores here under the same roof Mother sleeps beneath. And forsaking his duties at the Council to do so, in the meantime."

He made his way towards the still form of his father, bending at his side as he turned the man over onto his back. The man's skin was very pale, and as as he examined the head wound, something about the stricken man made Seiryo look twice. Very carefully he pushed his father's thick hair out of the way, placing his index finger gently on the man's throat.

A chill touched his heart, and he turned, meeting Suki's frightened gaze with a troubled one of his own.

"Oh, Suki." He murmured. "I think...he's dead."