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Points of Conspiracy
Chapter 5
"Akward Confessions"
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He'd acquired her nearly 10,000 years ago, a Heranic Light Destroyer that was one of the few working starships left from the once war-like species warfleet. They'd been one of the most feared militaries in the galaxy until they'd gotten greedy and tried to steal several systems from the Jurian Empire.
They'd even held their own for a while… until the second generation destroyers had joined the battle. Then it turned into a one-sided slaughter. Ten battleships, born directly from Tsunami, the holy tree, cut through a battle line comprised of the heaviest ships the Heranic Navy had like it was made of tissue paper.
The rest of the navy scattered. Within two years, 90 percent of the survivors had surrendered along with the Heranic Government. The rest lingered, acting as pirates as they were slowly whittled down by the efforts of the Galaxy Police and Jurian Military taskforces.
That said, the "Fading Glory", as he'd renamed her, was a still a match for most ships twice her tonnage. Unfortunately the crystalline craft on his tail was not most ships, and he knew from painful past experience that Ryo-Ohki and her master Ryoko, were more than capable of swatting him out of the sky.
Not quickly though… and he grinned as the Faded Glory's sensors refined his target solution. Just two more minutes… and with that thought he kicked the ship into a hard climbing turn, evading a barrage from Ryo-Ohki's guns.
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"What's going on?" Washu yelled, storming onto the bridge as Ryoko threw Ryo-Ohki in a tight turn, trying to stay inside The Faded Glory's turn radius and maintain her target solution.
"Bounty hunter." Ryoko grunted distractedly, her golden eyes fixed intently on the targeting display in front of her.
"We think he's going after Ayeka and Sasami." Tenchi added worriedly, feeling helpless, trying to ignore the hint of nausea stirring in his stomach as the landscape flashed by dizzyingly outside Ryo-Ohki's main dome; the crystalline ship maneuvering through a series of tight turns.
"Well that would explain why the Queens are here." Washu noted calmly, though Tenchi could hear the hint of worry that crept into the pink-haired girl's voice as she opened up her holo-top computer. "Careful Ryoko, he just opened his missile-bays." She warned, her fingers flying over the keyboard.
"I see it.!" Ryoko growled in response, a staccato burst of crimson energy lancing towards the other ship.
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Ayeka watched the black and red ship flash overhead, riding on a white-hot stream of plasma as it rocketed upward, Ryo-Ohki hot on its tail, weapons flashing. It only took a few seconds for them to disappear from sight, racing for space, but the sinking feeling in her stomach told here that they'd be back.. and soon.
"Does this place have a basement?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm as she looked at Carrie, barely noticing as the girl plucked glass from her arm, the wound closing almost instantly, not even leaving a scar behind.
"Yeah…" Carries nodded, wincing a bit as she pulled out another shard of glass, she may have healed quickly, but this ort of thing still hurt. That was the last of it though.
"Get everyone down there." Ayeka ordered, grabbing Erin's legs and dragging the young girl physically out from under it… much to Erin's displeasure. "NOW!" she snapped, when Carrie hesitated.
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There!, he almost howled in triumph as his targeting computers declared that they had a firing solution… but it was short lived as his targeting screens turned to fuzz. The stubborn bitch was jamming him! Well no matter she was too late anyway. With a defiant snarl he fed the firing solution his main computer had created into the deadly cargo waiting in his weapons bay. The signaled ready and he kicked hard on his rudder pedals, swinging his nose around to point down at the blue planet below.
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"Got Him!" Ryoko crowed as the other ship came to a near dead stop, its nose swinging back towards the planet below, letting several shots slam into its sleek black side, making the ship shake and stagger. But that was it, and it wasn't going to be enough.
"He's firing!" Washu warned, cursing as over three dozen missiles burst from the black ship's weapon bays.
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The swarm of missiles paused for the briefest of moments on the edge of the stratosphere; orienting themselves with the detailed targeting data they'd been fed. Comparing the data with information from their own simple visual sensors to figure out where they were and where they needed to go. The first wave, a dozen specially designed projectiles that carried chain-linked shield generators meant to limit collateral damage and focus the destructive energy of the second wave tenfold or more, activated their engines. Tiny, insanely overpowered things that would burn themselves out in seconds; the brilliant white lances of plasma they produced driving the missiles towards their final destination at hypersonic speeds.
The second wave hesitated for nearly half a second longer, an eternity by the standards of an AI, and that hesitation cost the swarm dearly. A massive burst of rapid fire energy tore through them, killing a dozen, 15, 18, 20, 22, of the lethal darts… but the survivors, still a half-dozen strong, streaked towards their target. Following the path sketched out by the first wave.
Ryo-Ohki was after them faster even than Ryoko could react, taking control of her systems from her Masters hands. Ryoko was inhumanly fast. She was faster. Precision shots flaring out as she battled her way through the thickening atmosphere, heat and turbulence almost blinding her sensors and making targeting impossible for anything other than an AI like her.
One missile vaporized. Two more were damaged and swerved off target, their internal systems making them self destruct in brilliant flares of plasma after they lost their target. Another was hit dead on, its warhead cooking off and taking out the missile closest to it.
Then she was out of time.
The first wave slammed into the ground in a tight circle, demolishing the corner of the single story apartment complex containing Carrie's apartment, and putting deep craters in the yard and street around it. The impact, despite the last second reverse burn of their engines to slow them down, was bad enough to register as a 2.0 earthquake on seismic sensors at the university over 50 miles away.
A brilliant blue force field flared to life inside the circle almost instantly, turning the apartment into a brilliant bulls-eye for the second wave. The last surviving member of the second wave hit dead center, it's primitive A.I. feeling the closest thing to joy it would ever feel as it fulfilled it's purpose. Its plasma warhead detonated, turning the area inside the force field into a unholy inferno hotter than the interior of the sun for nearly three seconds. The shield missiles focusing and sustaining the blast far longer than it would have lasted naturally. When they finally failed, soaking up most of the remaining energy, what was left of the blast was still enough to knock out power for a mile radius and fry every computer for another two.
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"Mmm… this is nice." Keith noted lazily, brushing a thick strand of hair out of Talia's eyes, examining her sleek, nude, form with a content smile as she rolled onto her side beside him in the bed, her silver cat's eyes sparkling as she grabbed his hand, kissing it before pressing it between her breasts.
"Yes. It is." She confirmed with a happy giggle. "I haven't had you to myself for this long since…" she trailed off her smile turning a little melancholy.
"Not since you died." Keith finished the thought, smiling sadly, pulling her closer, gently rolling her onto her back as he kissed her longingly… feeling her respond in kind. Focused entirely on her, he almost missed the huge scarred wolf running past them and into te shadows of his mind like the devil himself was chasing it.
"I was wondering where he went." Talia sighed, her image starting to get fuzzy along with the rest of the world around him. "Time for you to go my love." She murmured sadly, and he felt her lips on his one last time before everything was replaced by light and pain.
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"Is anyone hurt?" Ayeka asked, breathing heavily from the effort that maintaining her force-field had been during the missile hit, even if they had been outside the containment field. Though just barely. Even now she was maintaining it to prevent them from being buried in debris as the basement roof tried to collapse on top of them.
"What happened?" Sasami asked, rubbing her head, frowning as she noticed one of her long ponytails had been neatly cut in half by her sisters force-field, the ends of the light blue hairs, curled and charred from the heat.
"Whoever was piloting that black ship tried to kill us it would seem." Ayeka sighed as her eyes adjusted to darkness, her force field the only source of light. Silently she counted heads, noting with relief that everyone was there, and no-one seemed to be too badly hurt, an observation that was reinforced as everyone responded to her initial question with varying degrees of assent. "I have no idea why though."
"I think my ankles broken." Mike reported, wincing as he accidentally moved his foot, jarring it. "But I think I got the worst of it."
"Where's the mutt?" Cathy asked, standing up, too shaken by what had just happened to notice the faint glimmer of the force-field overhead. Ayeka and Erin both visibly started, Mike barely managing to keep his reaction a little better hidden as they all looked around the small chamber.
"What mutt?" The question sounded more like a groan than actual speech. Looking around Ayeka spotted a small movement in one corner… a pale hand emerging from what had looked like a discarded blanket, but as more and more of the person underneath was revealed, she realized what it really was. Shed fur. She couldn't quite stop herself from blushing as Keith sat up gingerly, his chest covered in new bruises and shallow lacerations, completely naked… only some of his discarded fur keeping him even remotely decent.
"Dad!" Erin called, throwing her arms around her father's bruised chest, making him inhale nosily, wincing as he felt a not-quite healed rib creak. "Stupid stupid stupid…." she sobbed repeatedly, leaning back and wiping her eyes… long ears back against her head as she berated her father, tail lashing angrily.
"What the hell…" Cathy asked, sitting down abruptly… her chocolate colored skin looking pale even in the dark as she tried to process what she was seeing. "I don't feel so good…."
"So…" Keith started, looking around the room, expression sheepish. Even as they watched, his wounds were fading slowly but surely away. "What did I miss?"
"That's what I want to know." Ryoko interjected, her head and shoulders poking through the cracked ceiling just outside the radius of Ayeka's force-field.
Cathy fainted.
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"This will not be fun to explain to our local contacts." Funaho sighed. "I do not envy the ambassador."
"We have an Ambassador stationed on Earth?" Ayeka asked, a little surprised, wincing a bit as Washu applied an antiseptic spray to a scrape on her hand. After Ryoko had found them, Ryo-Ohki had teleported the entire group plus the remnants of the shield missiles out and left the area in a hurry to avoid attracting any more attention than they already had. Or at least, avoid giving the locals any more pictures or video footage to sell to the local news channels. "Anyone I know?"
"No Ayeka dear," Funaho responded with one of her typical soft smiles. "It's a young man named Loranko. He was assigned the spot as part of his training. He will be getting somewhat more than he signed on for this week it seems."
"I would say so." Ayeka noted with a sardonic smile. "Thank you Washu-chan."
"No problem Princess." Washu grinned teasingly as she slapped a synthetic skin bandage onto the scrape. "With Ryoko in no shape to fight with you for so long, I was getting out of practice patching you two up anyway."
"Very funny." Ayeka replied, rolling her amethyst eyes even as Funaho giggled. She was about to say something else when the door slid open and Sasami walked in, dragging a reluctant Erin behind her.
"Washu, Erin has something you should look at." Sasami announced in a matter of fact voice.
"I do not!" Erin protested, looking at the door anxiously. "I'm perfectly fine." She added, though even Ayeka could see that she was holding her left arm oddly.
"Sure you are." Washu drawled, her grin getting even wider as she approached the thin girl. "That's why you're holding your arm, you're pale, and shaking a little. I'm betting you've got a hairline fracture there, and it's starting to hurt now that the adrenaline's wearing off."
"It'll heal on its own." Erin protested. "I've got a little of dad's healing powers."
"Not really." Washu corrected, her voice getting a bit more comforting. "If you've inherited any of your dad's abilities, they won't kick in until you hit puberty, and you're a ways off from that still."
"Fine." Erin gave in grudgingly, making Sasami giggle a little at the tough-girl act. "If that's what it takes to get you guys off my case."
"Sasami?" Ayeka asked, a horrific thought entering her head as she counted the people in the room. Aside from Funaho, Sasami, Washu, and Erin; Cathy and Carrie were both sleeping off the shock of the past half hours events on two beds in the back, and Mike was dozing as a machine knitted the shattered bone in his ankle back into its proper shape. "Where is mother?"
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"Hello Mayhem." Misaki greeted quietly, the bubbly personality that Sasami had inherited from her nowhere to be seen as he stepped into the hallway, pulling on a newly replicated shirt as he started towards the main deck to see where everyone else had gone. "Didn't I… request, that you stay away from my daughter?"
"The name's Keith." He growled, eye twitching a little. He was not having a good day, and running into the second Queen of Jurai was pretty much guaranteed to make it worse. "And you didn't request anything. You TOLD me that if I didn't stay away from your daughter you'd have me thrown into a star."
"And did you think I was joking?" she snapped tersely.
"No, you're definitely enough of a bitch to try and control your daughter's life like that." Keith snapped back, his canines lengthening into fangs and his eyes flashing angrily. Calling a queen of the single most powerful political entity in the known universe a bitch was typically a good way to commit suicide, but he'd never been one to think about what he was saying when he got angry.
"Both of you stop that!" Ayeka's voice rang out, practically echoing in the narrow hallway, stopping Misaki with her hands barely an inch from Keith's throat and his claws about halfway to the Queen's midsection.
"But Ayeka-chan!" Misaki protested, pouting childishly at her Ayeka as she took a step away from Keith and towards her daughter. "Did you hear what he called me?"
"Mother," Ayeka snapped, ignoring her, "Keith is my friend, and our relationship, whatever it may be; is not any of your business!" Her expression was livid as she lectured her mother, the comment about their relationship making the blue-haired Queen blanch.
"And YOU!" she snapped, turning on Keith even before the smirk on his face finished forming. "If I EVER hear you call my Mother something like that again, I will throw you out an airlock myself!"
Keith and Misaki glanced at each other guiltily, nodding slightly in a silent truce as they mumbled apologies.
"Now Mother," Ayeka said, taking a deep breath to calm herself," Aunt Funaho and the others are waiting in the medical bay. Me and Keith will be there as soon as we get Tenchi-sama and Ryoko. Then you and Aunt Funaho can explain exactly what is going on."
"Very well then." Funaho agreed after a brief hesitation, shooting Keith a warning glare. "Though I think we are going to have a talk about the proper way to speak to ones Mother later." She added cooly, her tone making Ayeka wince, childhood memories of their past "talks" still fresh in her mind.
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He almost felt like shooting the next living thing he saw. Almost. Even as frustrated as he was, couldn't bring himself to be that pointlessly cruel and violent. At least the need to operate stealthily was gone for the moment however. That would help.
Brushing himself off he stepped out his hiding place among the small copse of trees that dominated the center of the park near the apartment that his overly violent, and rather incompetent, colleague had destroyed and hit the call button for his borrowed ship. Staying in sensor range of Ryo-Ohki without attracting attention would be difficult, but not impossible. Hopefully his targets were headed for more civilized space where he'd be less noticeable.
If not… well he'd burn that bridge when he came to it.
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"Good Girl." Ryoko said fondly, giving Ryo-Ohki's main control crystal an affectionate pat. "Keep looking for Kiyone and Mihoshi while we go see what the Royals have to say, okay?"
"Myah!" the cabbit-ship responded cheerfully, the crystal rubbing up against the golden eyed girls hand like a cat. "Myah?" she added in a more questioning tone.
"Of course you can listen in. Just don't get distracted." Ryoko laughed as she started walking towards Tenchi where he was waiting by the passage to the lower decks. Normally she would have simply teleported wherever she wanted to go in the ship, but since her beloved was willing to walk with her. Smiling at him hugely, she grabbed his hand tightly, leaning against him as they stepped into the elevator.
"So we're all set then?" Tenchi asked, more for something to say than anything else. He may have been getting used to the fact that he was dating, and on when the opportunity arose, becoming much more intimate with the lithe girl next to him; but he still wasn't used to the easy way she displayed affection in public. Even knowing that they weren't alone in the ship, even if there was no-one else in sight, was enough to make him stiffen up as she pressed against him. Though, he had to admit, it did feel rather nice having her… generous… upper anatomy pressed against his arm like that.
"All set." She nodded, a mental command starting the elevator platform downwards, slowly though. She felt like taking her time. After all, their weekend together had been cut short before she'd gotten anywhere near enough time alone with the boy.
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"What exactly is wrong with you?" Ayeka asked once her mother was out of sight, practically hissing the question as she glared at the shaggy young man standing in front of her.
"Alright already!" Keith snapped back, getting annoyed. "I shouldn't have mouthed off to your Mom like that, I get it. I'm sorry." He added, glaring back with a low, involuntary, growl.
"It is not that! I am quite used to you and my mother not liking each other at this point." Ayeka exclaimed, throwing up her hands in frustration. "I am worried about you." She added, her tone softening a little.
"Worried?" Keith asked quietly, his own annoyance replaced by confusion and a growing sense of dread. "You mean the whole wolf thing? What did I do?"
"What did you…?" Ayeka trailed off incredulously. "Do not tell me that you don't remember?"
"I think I do… sort of. It's all really fuzzy." Keith shrugged helplessly. "It's like trying to remember a dream. It keeps trying to slip away. I don't know if I remember everything."
"Do you remember hiding from your Daughter under the bed of some woman that you barely met?" Ayeka growled, brow furrowed in an odd mix of worry and annoyance. "Why did you feel that you had to run in the first place? Did you think that we would not understand!?"
"Oh come on Ayeka! It's not like I was thinking logically about what the hell I was doing. And I wasn't hiding from Erin for god's sake." He shot back, frustrated.
"It has nothing to do with logic, it is about TRUST." Ayeka replied insistently. "Do you trust us or not? And what were you hiding from then?" she added as an afterthought.
"I trust you." Keith sighed, slumping a bit. "I think the wolf was just looking for other wolves."
"The wolf? Since when have you and the wolf been different things?" Ayeka snorted derisively, scowling at him. "And you have not answered my other question. Who exactly were you hiding from?"
"You." Keith snapped, growling in frustration at the crown princess's doggedness. "I think I was hiding from you."
"From me?" Ayeka asked bewildered, "Why in Tsunami's name would you hide from me?"
"I don't know!" Keith yelled, frustrated. He immediately regretted it as Ayeka's expression darkened again, her eyes glinting dangerously. "I think the wolf, that I, didn't want you to see me like that."
"Like what? Like a big dog?" Ayeka questioned, the confusion she was feeling plain on her pretty face. "Why…? I mean, I have certainly seen you looking much scarier than that!" Keith sighed, leaning back against the wall and looking at her intently. His silver green eyes meeting the princess's wine-colored ones and holding her gaze.
"You know that I'm in love with you, right?" He said after a few seconds of silence, his statement making her blush hotly and freeze, eyes going a little wide. "I don't flirt with you like I do just for the hell of it. I'm not just trying to get you into bed. I love you." He repeated, looking down at the floor, blushing a little himself.
"W…what does that have to do with…" Ayeka stammered, trying to pull her suddenly scattered thoughts back together. She knew that he was interested, that he had more than a little desire for her… but love? "I mean... I'm flattered… I…"
"I know you don't like the wolf side of me." Keith continued, smiling a bit bitterly at her reaction. "I think that's why the wolf didn't want you to see me like that, you have enough reasons to not like me without seeing me reduced to a dumb animal."
"A rather scruffy animal at that." Ayeka responded softly after a long silence, smiling tentatively as she reached out to touch the scruffy ex-con on his arm lightly, making him look up at her. "I do not dislike that part of you Keith, I simply do not understand it very well. You may want to explain what happened to your daughter however."
"She thinks I was hiding from her too?' Keith sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get a real response on the other issue out of the violet-haired girl today. "I guess I should go talk to her then. I'll meet you in the med-bay with others, okay?"
"That sounds like a good idea." Ayeka confirmed, letting out a nearly silent sigh of relief that he wasn't going to try and press her on the confession. She felt like she was going to throw up from the butterflies swarming in her stomach as it was. She didn't know how she felt. She certainly didn't have an answer for him. "I shall go see what is taking Tenchi and Ryoko so long and be there in just a minute."
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"Mmmmm….." Ryoko purred, her body pressed full-length against her beloved. Her slender arms draped around his shoulders and hands tangled in his hair as they kissed. He'd protested at first of course, he always did if they were anyplace even remotely public, but only until she'd pressed her lips against his. He was even starting to really get into it now, kissing back, his hands exploring her body in that wonderfully gentle way of his. Touching her in places that made her squirm in appreciation. Prompting her to guide them to even naughtier places with her own hands.
"Ryoko-sister!" Ryo-Ohki called telepathically, reluctant to interrupt her big sister when she and Tenchi-brother were obviously having fun. Ryoko ignored her, completely absorbed in what she and Tenchi were doing with each other. "RYOKO!" the cabbit-ship repeated insistently, her mental voice all but shouting now.
"What?" Ryoko snapped distractedly, not breaking the kiss even as she responded telepathically, moaning out loud as Tenchi's mouth left hers and found her neck… nibbling delightfully, completely distracting her from Ryo-Ohki's response. "What was that Ryo-Ohki?" She asked again.
"You're there." Ryo-Ohki repeated, sighing in defeat as the elevator doors slid open in response to the person on the other side stabbing the up button for the dozenth time. Ryo-Ohki would have kept them closed longer like Ryoko-sister had wanted, but Ayeka had started threatening to plow them up. That would have stung.
"Tenchi-sama!" The strangled cry was more than enough to get Ryoko's attention. Tenchi's too. He froze completely, the hand still cupping Ryoko's breast completely forgotten as his life flashed before his eyes.
Ryoko had thought about a moment like this for years now, thought of all the ways she was going to rub the spoiled brat of a Princess's nose in it. But seeing Ayeka's expression, looking like she was about to faint, tears starting to well up in her violet eyes, and suddenly all those things seemed childish and petty. So she just said the first thing that came to mind.
"Uh… Tenchi has something he needs to tell you Ayeka."
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End Chapter 5