Chapter 7
"The stars are beautiful tonight."
Ryoko stretched out on her back, gazing up at the clear sky with a contented smile on her face. "Don't you think so, Tenchi-kun? No matter how many bright lights there are in Osaka, or how appealing your apartment there might be, there's nothing quite like enjoying the night in the mountains, underneath a sky of stars."
Tenchi cast his companion an affectionate look, nodding his head as he leant back on his elbows to better examine the heavens himself.
"I know what you mean." He acknowledged. "I suppose I'll always be something of a country boy at heart - I miss the mountains when I'm not here. Somehow you can see the sky better if you're high up...or maybe that's just me being crazy. But I used to come out here and think sometimes...especially after Mother died. It was so hard to really discuss it, you see...Dad was torn up about it and Grandpa has never really spoken much about her. The stars were always here, though, to listen if I needed them to. I always loved that. Mother loved stars too - maybe that's where I get it from."
"Or your Juraian blood." Ryoko said, her tones uncharacteristically gentle, as she reached down to ruffle the fur of the sleeping cabbit that lay beside her. "Achika-san would be proud of you if she saw you now, Tenchi. You do know that, don't you?"
"Yes, I do." Tenchi grinned. "Though what she'd make of all the craziness in my life is another matter. Still, I suppose she would have just taken it all into her stride in the end. She was always that way...but then you know that. Thanks to Washu, you met my mother. You know the sort of person she was."
"True, although people can change." Ryoko settled herself more comfortably on the grass, a thoughtful look flickering into her golden eyes. "Look at me. The infamous Space Pirate Ryoko...sometimes I think you've tamed me, and that's the truth. And your father isn't the man he used to be, either. When we went back, well, I hardly recognised him then."
"Losing Mother destroyed him." Tenchi said quietly. "He's the way he is now because of that...at least, that's what Grandpa told me. Chasing after all these women - it's like he's trying to find my mother again, only he can't."
"I understand how he feels." Ryoko rolled over onto her front, meeting his dark eyes with pensive golden ones. "I've had times when I thought I was parted from you permanently, Tenchi...and I don't really know what I'd have done with myself if it had ever proven to be the case. I've always been independant and we both know that - but I'd rather have you in my life than not. And I'm sure Noboyuke-san feels the same way about your mother."
"Yes, I believe he does." Tenchi acknowledged. "It's a shame she isn't here. I'd have liked her to have known you - properly, I mean. In this time."
"She might not have approved."
"I think she would have understood better than you might think." Tenchi said with a smile. "And what about your mother, Ryoko-chan?"
"What about my mother?"
"Does she approve?"
"That's an academic question." Ryoko snorted. "Firstly, Washu isn't really my mother. Not in the proper sense. She didn't raise me - she didn't even give birth to me. She grew me in a lab unit and so that kinda invalidates any right she might have to approve or disapprove of my life. Secondly, she's as mad as a hatter and she has a penchant for destroying the universe from time to time. Why she hasn't actually done it yet is anyone's guess, but with someone like her around, you know that total destruction is always in the offing. Thirdly, I don't even know who she is. Some scientist who was trapped in a cave - but nothing else. If it hadn't have been for Azusa's truth serum I wouldn't even know we had a past connection at all. And fourthly, she created me to do battle against an evil guy who wanted to hurt me. Why would it matter if she approved or not?"
"You still have some issues with this, huh?" Tenchi looked amused, reaching out to take his companion by the hand. "And I thought you'd been doing some covert mother-daughter bonding, considering all the time you've spent in her lab of late."
"It's easier to just go along with it and not argue, because at least then I have some say in the matter." Ryoko sighed, shaking her head. "If I hadn't have agreed, she'd probably have abducted me in the night or something. I wouldn't put it past her. And no, I don't have issues with any of it. Like I said, she isn't really my mother. It's biological, that's all. Nothing else...she's not like Lady Achika."
"It isn't even a bit nice, then, to know you have a mother and that she's still alive?" Tenchi asked softly. Ryoko's eyes clouded over.
"I had a father too, and look how he ended up." She said bitterly. "Let it alone, Tenchi. The past is past and it's not now, so why let it hurt tonight? We're supposed to be enjoying the stars, not trying to create some emotional trauma in my mind that just doesn't exist. Washu is Washu and I'm Ryoko. Nothing has changed now I know she's my birth mother."
"Well, if you say so." Tenchi shrugged. "I know I'd do a whole lot to be able to speak to my mother again, you know. Regardless of the situation."
"You're not me and I'm not you." Ryoko said flatly. "And that's the end of that subject. Please, Tenchi, can't we get back to the stars? We've not that many days left before we're packing up and going to Osaka and everything will be different then. Let's just enjoy the peace of the mountains for a while, please?"
"Well, it is peaceful up here, that's for sure."
Before Tenchi could respond, a fresh voice had joined the conversation and as one person the couple turned, Ryoko letting out an exclamation as she recognised the speaker.
"Washu!" She muttered, sparks flying from her fingers as she pulled herself into a more upright position. "Well, they do say that if you talk of the devil, he appears...or in this case, she."
"Good evening to you too, Ryoko-chan." Washu offered her daughter a smile, settling herself down on a bare patch of grass and making herself comfortable. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important."
"Chance would be a fine thing." Ryoko muttered, and Washu laughed.
"I see." She said, amused. "So that's how it is, is it?"
"What are you doing here, Washu?" Tenchi eyed the scientist in some confusion. "I thought your experimentation into Ryoko's magic had almost finished - why are you here tonight?"
"I can't just pay a visit to my only daughter and her paramour?" Washu raised an eyebrow. Ryoko glowered at her.
"No, you can't." She snapped. "Tell us why you're here or go away. And your reasoning better be good, Washu. I'm warning you...you have a nasty habit of interrupting Tenchi and I when we're having private conversations and I've had about enough of it."
"Yes, of course." Washu's expression became thoughtful. "Because I'm not really your mother - I'm just the mad scientist who wants to blow you all up. Wasn't that how you put it?"
"You heard that?" Despite herself, Ryoko looked taken aback, and Tenchi reached across to squeeze her hand.
"We were just talking." He said quietly. "Washu-chan, don't take it to heart."
"Don't worry. I don't." Washu dismissed it with a careless gesture. "She didn't say anything that isn't true, after all...which is an event in itself, isn't it? Ryoko telling the whole truth for once?"
"Just get to the point." Ryoko raised her hands warningly, energy blazing across her palms, and Washu sighed.
"So quick tempered." She observed absently. "I guess you must have got that from your father, little Ryoko. You sure didn't get it from me."
"Washu!"
"Washu, why did you come here tonight?" Tenchi broke in hurriedly, before his companion could lose her temper any further. "Did you really just come to see us?"
"I wish I could spend my time on pleasure trips, but no." Washu's levity faded and she shook her head. "I'm here because someone has been interfering with my lab work...breaking in through some kind of leak and accessing some of the data from my most sensitive files. I already know who's responsible, but it doesn't make me any happier about the whole thing."
"Someone broke into your lab?" Tenchi stared. "Did they take anything important?"
"They duplicated some file information I had stored in my vault." Washu nodded. "I haven't worked out why they wanted it, but I can be sure that whatever their motive, it isn't a good one."
"This is all very tragic, but why did you feel the urgent need to come running to Earth to tell us?" Ryoko demanded bluntly. "It wasn't Tenchi or I, you can be sure of that...your lab is creepy at the best of times."
"I already told you, Ryoko, I know who was responsible." Washu repeated patiently. "And I didn't come here just to share information with you. I came to stabilise my lab's base here - to fix the entrance in one specific location so that further invasion of my privacy would not be possible. The Earth is secluded and remote - by far the safest place for my lab to be anchored."
"So what you're saying is, we're stuck with you." Ryoko groaned. "Brilliant."
"There's something more, too." Washu leant back on her hands, gazing up at the sky above. "Since I began work on stabilising my lab here, I've picked up other things. Anomalies...I don't know how else to describe them."
"What kind of anomalies?" Tenchi's brows knitted together. "Is something wrong?"
"I don't know, yet." Washu pursed her lips. "All I do know is that the atmosphere of this planet is changing - or has changed - on a couple of occasions. The Earth is a pretty stable entity as a rule - it doesn't have the frequent access problems of various types of spaceship and although the humans here panic about their imaginary ozone, the whole atmosphere is fairly static. But over the course of the last month or so there have been a few things showing up on my scans that I haven't seen here before. I'm not sure what to make of it, or if it's connected to my lab's raid...not yet. It just seemed unusual."
"Could it be Ryo Ohki, darting in and out?" Tenchi suggested.
"Or Nozomi's trip through time." Ryoko pursed her lips. "That must've shaken the whole planet a little bit."
"Nozomi came to Earth through Ryu Oh's tree." Washu shook her head. "And Ryu Oh has never had any effect on the Earth's atmosphere, although he's been rooted here for some time now. Equally, if it was to do with Juraian trees, there are still a lot of Camelia plants dotted around the place. No, I'm afraid it's not that."
She sighed.
"As for Ryo Ohki, she too has been in and out of Earth's atmosphere before now." She added. "This is only in the last month or maybe two at most...I just wish I could put my finger on it. It's like some huge energy force has been drifting in and out of Earth's gravitational field, but not close enough to make direct contact with it. I don't know how else to explain it - it's too vague on all of my scanners. I just know it's there and I thought you both should know, also. Just in case it means something more than a random space blip."
"Could it harm the Earth in the long run?" Tenchi looked alarmed. Washu shrugged.
"Not enough data to know." She said succinctly. "Why?"
"Because it occured to me..." Tenchi faltered, then, "Washu, could it have been caused by me?"
"You?" Ryoko stared. "Why on earth?"
"Because of the Wings." Tenchi glanced at his hands. "I never had them before - or at least, maybe I did, but they hadn't been woken inside of me. The battle with Kagato brought them out for the first time and Sasami told me herself that they were Tsunami's magic - divine power. Could they be causing the anomaly?"
"Good question." Washu eyed him thoughtfully. "I may have to look into that further, if you'll let me run some brief tests on you."
"Not tonight." Ryoko said warningly. Washu laughed.
"You don't need to be so possessive, Ryoko-chan." She said teasingly. "I'm not going to do anything to hurt him. Besides, I agree. Not tonight."
She sighed, gazing up absently at the stars.
"Tonight even I need a break from my work." She acknowledged. "To try and figure out what exactly is going on when it's not all piled up right in front of me. I know I'm missing something and it's something important. The question is, what? That's what's driving me to distraction."
"You know what's driving me to distraction?" Ryoko shot Washu a pointed look. "You. Still being here."
Tenchi chuckled.
"Let it go, Ryoko." He said softly. "We'll be in Osaka before long, so we'll have plenty of time alone together when term starts. I promise. And you know that Washu-san is as welcome here as any of our friends - this is her home from home as much as it is yours, or Ayeka's or Sasami's, should they choose to come and visit."
"Thank you, Tenchi." Washu offered him a grin. "And in the meantime, I'll continue my investigations into the Earth's atmospherics and see if I can find out what's going on. As far as I can tell, it doesn't seem dangerous - yet. But it's always a good idea to be one step ahead of the game."
She frowned, and Tenchi was sure he saw a shadow flit across the intelligent green eyes.
"Especially where a man like Clay might be concerned." She muttered. "No. Better to be safe than sorry...and find out what he's up to as soon as possible."
--------
It was a dark, misty night on Planet Jurai. In the distance, a bird hooted and called to its mate, and thick swathes of summer fog floated just above the ground, making the whole atmosphere twice as sinister and strange.
Seiryo stifled a shiver, pulling his cloak more tightly around him as he walked slowly across the damp grass, his mind still full of the grisly task he had just been forced to undertake.
Accessing his father's ship had not been difficult - thanks to his Galaxy Police training, he had managed to get aboard and into flight without arousing any suspicion, and now the deed was done he felt a sense of emptiness wash over him. He had never loved his father, and his father had never been proud of him. But he knew that the repercussions of his sister's impulsive act could spread far and wide if they were ever to be discovered. And though he had taken every precaution to damage Seiji's ship, as if to make it look like it had been attacked by vicious pirates, he knew that he still had one loose end to take care of.
His eyes narrowed.
The girl.
"Perhaps I was too hasty when I told Suki I wouldn't consider killing the wench." He muttered, suppressing another shiver as a cold wind whipped through his body. "It would be the simplest solution, and nobody would be likely to miss another peasant girl from Tsunami knows what village. But I have to find her, first. She should learn the risks of dabbling with the nobility - but who knows who she's told already about what she saw this afternoon? No matter how hard I try to cover up father's death, even the most wretched of the poor have eyes and ears."
He frowned, pursing his lips as he considered his options.
"I could pay her off, but then she'd continue to come back to me for money." He reasoned. "Which could prove embarrassing in itself if people were to believe I'd taken such a common harlot as my mistress. Or I could try and frighten her - but I should know from all my years with the Galaxy Police that in the end, even the most terrified witness talks. Especially under interrogation. I must tread carefully. And whatever I do, it's probably for the best if Suki doesn't know about it."
He sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Let her believe her brother has fixed it with honour and sense." He muttered bitterly. "Some honour, concealing the body of my father whilst I plot the demise of some insignificant serving wench."
"Seiryo Tennan."
A voice echoed out of the darkness, and Seiryo started, swinging around to face the speaker. As he met her gaze, he cursed himself roundly for his lack of composure, pulling himself together and fixing her with a dark look.
"You." He said quietly. "Somehow I didn't expect to see you anywhere near my Father's estate again. I thought I made it clear how I felt about peasant girls dallying with him under the roof my mother shares. You have some nerve, coming back here."
"Your father is dead." The woman did not seem at all disconcerted, her thick hair flowing out behind her in the wind. "You and I both know that fact, Seiryo Tennan."
"Do we?" Seiryo's eyes became near slits and he advanced on the girl, gripping her tightly at the shoulders. "I'd be very careful about what you think to say, peasant girl. My family have a lot of influence in these parts...and influence with the Council of Jurai among other things. You're walking on dangerous ground."
"And the Holy Council of Jurai does not protect murderers." The girl met his gaze with an emotionless one of her own, not noticeably troubled by his show of aggression. "Nor those who seek to conceal such a crime."
"Who have you told about this?" Seiryo demanded, his grip tightening on her shoulders as he shook her vigorously. "Speak, harlot! Tell me who you've told!"
Much to Seiryo's surprise, the girl let out a peal of cold, hard laughter, flickering out of his grip and re-materialising a few feet away. Seiryo cursed, turning on his heel to stare at her.
"What the hell are you?" He exclaimed. "Who are you and what games are you playing with my family? Serving girls don't possess Jurai's magic!"
"I am not a serving girl." The girl folded her arms, tilting her head slightly as she ran her gaze over his damp, mist-soaked body. "I am a witness to a murder, Seiryo Tennan. I think you should reassess how you address me. Your tone is not a logical one for a man in your position. You may wish to reconsider your mode of attack."
Desperation flooded Seiryo's heart and he lunged at her, but the stranger lifted herself out of his reach, hovering a few feet up as she gazed down at him impassively.
"You are foolish." She said quietly. "You would do better to listen to me."
"What do you want?" Seiryo's eyes flickered with anger. "Who are you and why are you toying with me like this?"
"I have need of you, Seiryo Tennan." The woman slowly dropped to the ground, approaching him step by step. "And you have need of my silence. Perhaps we can negotiate some kind of a deal."
"I don't make deals with common harlots like you, who seduce rich men and then hope to collect on it afterwards!" Seiryo's temper flared up, but the girl laughed.
"You are not listening to me." She said lightly. "I am not who you think I am. The petty squabblings of your family do not interest me. I am here on other orders. I am instructed to collect you and bring you to my master and his mistress. Therefore you must come with me now."
"Master...?" Seiryo's eyes opened wide with alarm. "Takeru? Is this all one of Takeru Imada's sly games? Because if it is..."
"I do not know Takeru Imada." The girl held up her hand, cutting across him in mid-flow. "I know only Seiryo Tennan."
"Fine." Seiryo folded his arms across his chest. "So who is this master of yours...and what does he want with me? I'm not a servant. I don't work for people. I'm a leader, a captain and a high born member of one of Jurai's most noble families. You can't expect me to follow the orders of some stranger...some girl dressed as a common working drab who tried to seduce my father."
"Your father was quite useless in his revelations to me." The girl spoke calmly. "He told me nothing of what I wanted to know. You, on the other hand, could be of great use. You should come with me. It is the only logical answer to your dilemma."
"Who says I have a dilemma?" Seiryo demanded.
"Your father is dead, Seiryo Tennan." Now the girl was close enough to touch him, placing an ice cold finger to his cheek as he flinched away from her. "Murdered by your sister as you played like schoolboys in the front room of your estate. What shame would befall the Tennan name if it was to be known that Seiji Tennan was murdered in his own home, by his own blood, over a dispute involving money and a peasant whore. Would that not bring disgrace to the whole of your family's line?"
"I could still kill you, you know." Seiryo reached for his sword, but the girl shook her head.
"I cannot be killed, because I do not live." She said matter-of-factly. "You only see what I make you see. You are too impulsive, Seiryo Tennan. You should know your enemy before you make threats you cannot keep."
Before Seiryo could do anything, the stranger had raised her hand and, from the ground beneath him a thick, oozing substance began to seep up around his feet, immersing first his ankles then his knees and finally his whole body up to his shoulders in its tight, enveloping grasp. He struggled and fought against it, but it was to no avail - the more he fought, the tighter its hold became over him, and he glared at the girl in anger.
"Let me go!"
"We have not negotiated the terms of our deal yet." His captor shook her head, and as he watched, her form blurred and changed before him. He let out an exclamation as she took on a new appearance, the smooth skin of her body becoming hard, shiny metal and her opaque expression hazing into something which more resembled the screen of a computer, a single blip of light darting up and down as the apparition moved her head.
"So you see, I am not like you." She spoke in tinny, hard tones now, lifting herself from the ground and approaching him. "My master wishes to speak to you and I obey him in all things. You will not be harmed, if you do as he says."
"What are you?" Seiryo whispered, his face ashen as he struggled to comprehend his situation. "Who or what are you? Some kind of...of robot?"
"Her name is Zero."
A fresh voice interrupted the conversation and the droid turned her head, light flickering across her screen as she registered the presence of another. Seiryo turned his head with some difficulty, making out the bulky form of a man in the gloom, hair wound tightly around his head in neat, identical curls and beady, searching eyes taking in the situation around him. At the sight of the imprisoned nobleman, he smiled.
"And as usual, you have done good work, my creation." He added. "Seiryo Tennan, I presume?"
"Who are you and what do you want? Let me go...I'm warning you!" Seiryo struggled hard against the thick substance once more, but it was no use - he was held fast. "I want an explanation - I want to know what's going on! I'm a member of the Galaxy Police - you can't treat me this way!"
"That's funny. It seems we already are." Clay looked amused at his prisoner's bravado. "You know, when I sent Zero to Jurai, I really didn't expect that we'd find ourselves in this position. But your circumstances are such that we feel we can help you, Seiryo-san."
"Why would I want help from you? I don't even know who you are!"
"Ah, but we know a lot about you." Clay said softly. "And your father's death. So here is the proposal. My mistress, the Lady Tokimi, needs someone to act as spy and agent...someone with connections and influence such as your own among the Galaxy Police. She needs someone who is strong, ruthless and determined, and who has a lot to lose should he fail her at any time. You seem to fit this bill quite perfectly."
"I told your robot...I don't work for anyone." Seiryo said darkly. "Noone will believe the word of a robot over that of a Lord of Jurai."
"Shall I tell you a little bit about Zero?" Dr Clay was so close now Seiryo could almost feel the man's breath on his face. "Let me enlighten you. She is my greatest creation - a droid which combines organic shape-shifting abilities with mechanical precision and ruthlessness. But she also has another capability. Her optical circuits and digital memory records every conversation and every scene she witnesses. Even now, far up above this place, there is video footage of your father's murder. If you refuse to cooperate with us, we shall let you go. But that video footage will be passed on directly to Galaxy Police Headquarters. And the consequences for your sister...and your family's good name..."
He trailed off, shaking his head slowly.
"I believe a shock like that might kill a frail woman like your mother." He added. "Not to mention destroy Tennan standing beyond recovery. Don't you agree?"
Seiryo stared at him for a moment, a sick feeling curling in the pit of his stomach as he digested the scientist's words. He bit his lip.
"Video evidence?" He murmured. Clay nodded his head.
"This conversation, just like the one she had with your father, and the incident that followed it are all stored in Zero's expansive and permanent memory." He agreed. "Incriminating you and your sister ever more with every moment."
Seiryo hesitated, then let out a heavy sigh, dropping his gaze.
"And if I come with you, what then?" He asked quietly. "What will happen to this evidence then?"
"If you come and are successful in my Lady's mission, you will be well rewarded." Clay said softly. "And Zero's recordings will be destroyed. Nobody will ever know what really happened to Lord Seiji...if you come with us."
"Then I suppose I have no choice in the matter." Hate flickered in Seiryo's eyes as he stared coldly at his captor. "But you should know that Tennans don't forget grudges. If you ever renege on that promise, I swear..."
"You are in no position to swear anything." Clay said calmly. He turned to his companion.
"Come, Zero." He said. "Let us take our friend back to the ship. We must prepare him for an audience with Lady Tokimi."