29: Hacking Like The Experts

Trunks poked his head into his mother's lab, looking around for any sign of the blue-haired woman. The lab was vacant, save for the buzz of electronics. Papers littered the table tops, and empty coffee cups sat abandoned. He had been in this room many times when he was younger, but he had never paid much attention to it. He just saw it as a room filled with computers he wasn't allowed to touch. He knew if his mother found out they were going to use her satellites to hack into Turles's ship, she'd be pissed. But he told himself it was the best option they had.

Valese walked in behind him, staring at the large telescope that sat in the corner of the room. "Wow. Your mother works here?"

"Yep." Trunks nodded. He made his way to the biggest computer in the room and began clicking random buttons. "She makes all her new tech stuff in here."

"She's rich." Goten added, as if Valese couldn't already tell.

The three of them crowded around the large computer screen, watching as Trunks clicked a button that opened up an array of coded files. He had never used this computer before, but he managed to find the app that allowed his mother to monitor the dozens of high-grade satellites that he knew cost a lot. Technology wasn't exactly his forte, but with Goten and Valese staring at him, he didn't want to mess up. He tapped buttons and flipped switches and kicked himself for not paying attention when his mother taught him about computers.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Valese asked him, breaking through the silence.

Trunks scoffed. "Of course! I live here. What, you don't think I know how to work my own technology?"

Goten flicked the back of his ear. "You've been on the same page for six minutes! Move over, let me have a go."

"What makes you think you'll do better?" Trunks asked as Goten shoved him back.

"Oh, I don't know, how about this?" Goten moved the cursor upwards and gave a confident click. A new page popped up, displaying all the names of the satellites Capsule Corp had under their name. The list went down for some time, which shocked the three teenagers. With a hum of contemplation, Goten clicked on the name Sat147 at the top of the list. It revealed another page, which showed a view of the entire satellite, top to bottom, in side view. He squinted at the technical drawings, trying to decipher what the scientific jargon meant. Gohan would know what to do here, He thought with a sigh.

"Click on that 'activate' button up top, Goten." Valese said, pointing up towards a green button that read activate in white letters.

Goten moved the cursor towards it, then froze when he heard footsteps in the hallway. His heart erupted into a vicious beating in his chest, so much so that he was certain that Valese and Trunks could hear it. The teenagers froze and turned towards the main entry door, in time to see Dr. Briefs enter. His white lab coat was stained with some type of black sludge, and smears of black coated his forehead and cheeks, which meant he had obviously been rather busy in his own lab cooking up some concoction. He noticed the three staring at him and smiled. "Oh, hello there. Trunks, I see you've brought some friends over."

"Uh...yeah." Trunks said. "Where's mom?"

"She's off doing whatever it is she does, you know her." Dr. Briefs said with a wave of his hand. "I just came in to look for some papers she borrowed from me." He walked over to the table in the center of the room, riffling through the stacks of papers with his black-tipped fingers.

Valese stared at him while slightly leaning towards Goten. "He isn't going to question us?"

"No, he's cool." Goten said, then turned back to the computer. He clicked the top green button, and the screen changed to the satellite popped up from how it looked in space, the camera fixed to the side. It showed much of its tall length, and parts of the solar panels, but the rest was hidden from view. A white line appeared, showing the reach the satellite had. He figured that meant that the satellite couldn't access ships too far away, so he silently prayed that Turles's ship was close enough to hack into.

"What are you kids working on?" Dr. Briefs asked, startling the three. "A school project?"

"Yes!" Valese said quickly, earning her confused looks from both Trunks and Goten. "A...project where we have to research how satellites work...and stuff."

Dr. Briefs nodded, folding a wad of papers he held. "Best of luck to you, then. Let's aim for A's."

"Will do," Trunks said, then swatted Goten upside the head once the scientist was gone. "Can't you hurry up!?"

"I'm trying, don't rush me!" Goten shouted, furiously clicking button after button until a red warning sign popped up on the screen, accompanied by a white bar that read: Must Input Code To Survey.

Trunks slumped. "Great! We'll never find that damn code. It could be anywhere in here."

"Then we better get looking." Valese said, and began rummaging along the desk beside the computer, lifting papers and pulling open drawers.

Goten started doing the same, while Trunks went to the far side of the room to check in the file cabinets that took up the entire length of the wall. They turned the once peaceful lab into a war zone of papers and coffee mugs. They all knew time was not on their side, which made finding the code all the more important. Valese was nervous, as she had no idea what she was really up against. Goten and Trunks, as far as she knew, had seen the enemy, and even engaged him in battle. The closest Valese had come to a battle was when she got in a yelling match with her parents. She wasn't sure if the two boys had the same home life situation she had, but if their family were trained fighters, she was certain it made their lives quite interesting. She only wished she were hanging out with them under different circumstances.

She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder, and turned to see Goten giving her a shy smile. She smiled back, scooting to the side to they could both look in the same drawer. "Hi."

"Hey." Goten said, his face already blushing a light red. "I...uh...wanted to say sorry for getting you thrown in this."

"Oh, it's fine, really." Valese said, pulling a manila folder out to sift through it. "I'll have quite the story to tell when this is all over."

"No, I mean..." He sighed and rested his arms over his legs. "I shouldn't have involved you in this space battle thing. It's super dangerous. But I gotta admit, you're pretty brave for a high school girl."

Valese chuckled. "For a high school girl?"

Goten stiffened, and a massive blush overtook his face. "I...I didn't m-mean it like that, I just meant-"

Valese leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek, deepening his already maddening blush. "No worries, I understand. You're pretty brave, too. For a scrawny high school boy."

Goten felt whatever words he'd planned to say die in his throat and gave a half-chuckle, half-choked-out snort. Holy crap, she kissed me! It still counts if it's on the cheek, right?

"Hey, when you're done making out, how about you try this?" Trunks said in a teasing manner, waving a yellow sticky note in the air. Valese and Goten stood and returned to the computer, where Trunks read the words on the sticky note aloud. "CC Inc. Sat*3178."

"That sounds like a code to me." Valese nodded.

Goten quickly typed in the code, and the screen immediately changed to show the satellite from an above view, with two small red dots indicated a few feet from it, blinking lightly.

"What are those?" Trunks asked, leaning forward slightly. "Boggies?"

"Probably." Goten clicked on the farthest one, which brought up a screen of an audio wavelength. After the computer took a few seconds to load properly, the audio began to play, silencing all the inner thoughts the teenagers had.

The sound of a laughing baby was all they heard, which made Trunks smile. "That's Bulla! She's alright!"

"Thank the Gods," Goten said quickly.

The laughing was joyous, like Bulla was having the time of her life. The three listened carefully, straining to hear if anyone else was with Bulla. For several minutes, all they heard was her laughter. Until, that is, the eerily familiar high-pitched voice of Frieza sounded. It made Trunks and Goten stiffen and glare at the screen as if Frieza would be able to see their looks of hatred.

"Have you found her?" He asked to someone.

"N-no, my Lord. But my men are searching everywhere, honest!" A nervous voice responded quickly.

Frieza clicked his tongue, and Trunks was sure he was shaking his head in disapproval. "How saddening. I assign you with one task and you-"

"My Lord, my men and I did happen to find another ship currently on our same course!" The other man blurted.

Goten sucked in a breath. "He's gonna die for interrupting him."

Instead of hearing the bashing of a skull, they heard Frieza give a light hum. "A ship, you say?"

"Yes, a ship! A big one, too! It's following us, I'm sure!" The man said, sounding slightly relieved. As if Frieza would no longer obliterate him. "Turles and his men just left in their ship to investigate it."

"Wonderful." Frieza replied with a chuckle. "I believe I have some idea as to who is on that ship."

"Goku?" The soldier asked hesitantly.

"Gowu!" Bulla cried with a giggle.

"Aw, she sounds so cute." Valese said softly.

"Yes, Goku." Frieza said with malice. "Goku and his little buddies. Of course, we'll need to give them a nice welcome. We certainly don't want our guests feeling nervous, now do we?"

"Is that a boy or a girl?" Valese asked, and Goten snorted.

"A boy," Trunks said.

"A welcoming party?" The soldier asked. "I-I don't follow."

"Of course you don't." Frieza said. "Once Goku and his annoying pests arrive, we'll simply assure them that one act of violence will result in the beheading of a certain child."

Trunks gritted his teeth, his hands clenched so tightly into fists that he felt his knuckles go white.

"O-Oh! Yes, my Lord!" The soldier said hastily, and the sound of hurried retreating footsteps sounded, followed by a door sliding shut.

Trunks launched forward and slammed a button on the console, shutting the computer down. His face was red with anger, and even Goten was afraid to speak. He was breathing heavily, his blue eyes staring daggers at the floor.

Valese looked from the computer to Trunks, then let out a small sigh. "What do we do now?"

"Now...you go home." Trunks said, stepping away from the computer. "Goten and I will use one of my mother's ships and get to Frieza's."

"What?" Goten and Valese said at the same time.

"Valese can't come with us, Goten. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, I know that, but we can't just send her home." Goten replied. "She helped us out."

"Fine, then she'll stay here." Trunks said, turning on his heel and heading towards the doors. "But we need to leave. Now."

Goten took a deep breath, then looked over at Valese. "Honestly, it's better if you stay here than at Kame House. Master Roshi can get a little touchy."

Valese nodded, folding her arms over her chest lightly. "I understand. Just...be careful, okay? Don't get yourself killed."

Goten smiled and nodded. "I will. This isn't the first time I'll be fighting aliens. I think I know my way around."

Valese laughed lightly. "I'm sure."

The two stared at each other for a few seconds, neither of them knowing what to say. An awkward silence stretched between them, the only sound being the beeping of computers.

"GOTEN!" Trunks hollered from another room down the hallway.

"AH! Coming!" Goten shouted back, then hurriedly placed a kiss on Valese's cheek. Darting out of the room with a bright red face, Goten felt a blossom in his chest. So this is what true love feels like.

Valese placed a hand where Goten had kissed her and smiled to herself. "Son Goten. You are one interesting boy."