Chapter Seven
"I must be insane."
Kiyone crept cautiously along the narrow, claustrophobic corridor, trying to ignore the flickering light of a dying bulb as she made her way towards the annexe that housed the Galaxy Police's Elite Force base. She had been here only once since the reconstruction of Headquarters, to attend a talk on covert operations by a head of department, but she was struck by the eerie similarities the new division bore to the halls that had been destroyed in Kain's blast. Many important agents had been killed that day, she knew, but many more had been on location during the tragic events, and had regrouped to form a strong and decisive backbone, sending operatives to every corner of the known universe as soon as they had been able to muster them. Now, many years on, the division was once more thriving and busy, full of people bent on their own agendas, and as she stepped through the entrance portal, pausing as her genetic structure was scanned and confirmed, she felt a slight pang of regret.
Once, she thought, she would have liked to have been an Elite. But her years as Mihoshi's partner had cost her many an opportunity to rise through the ranks, and now, after all they had been through, she could not see to abandoning her colleague completely. Even though their current duties went far and beyond those of the title bestowed upon them, Kiyone knew that she and Mihoshi had never really stopped being partners. And although their commander often placed them in positions of responsibility over newer, greener recruits to the force, Kiyone was painfully aware that Mihoshi's lack of discretion would forever disqualify her from the Elite division.
"But, crazy as it seems, I'm not going to leave her behind." She muttered. "And I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for Washu and her ideas."
She passed through a series of tunnels, glancing at the names on the doors that she passed on her way. At the furthest end of the walkway was an open room, fitted with many desks and communication devices, and Kiyone knew that this was the hub of activity within the Elite base. Few officers from the regular division were allowed access so deep into the annexe, but Kiyone's reputation had gained her many priveleges over the years, and she knew she was going to have to abuse every last one of them if she was going to carry out Washu's wishes and spy on Seiryo Tennan.
She paused, glancing around the control room as she gauged her bearings. Seiryo had not been in situe the last time she had been here, and she was not sure where exactly his office might be based. Pursing her lips, she approached the nearest technician on duty, casting him a smile as she leant casually against his computer's thick, sturdy screen.
"I'm here to advise you there might be a power out on this floor in the next half an hour." She said lightly. "We've had some technical trouble in the main core, and your security might be compromised until they've fixed it. My commander sent me to tell you that you might want to shift your systems to the back-up. Just in case."
"A power out?" The technician glanced at her in surprise, then, "Don't tell me. Detective Mihoshi spilled her tea over another section of circuitry, didn't she?"
"How did you guess?" Kiyone laughed, inwardly sending Mihoshi an apology, for it had been she who had tipped the liquid over the main switchboard. "I'm sorry. They think it will be down for about an hour - maybe two - but I figured you'd want as much advance warning as I could give you."
"Appreciated, Kiyone-san." The technician returned her smile with a warm grin, pushing back his chair and getting to his feet. "Hey, code two-five-six, everyone. Mihoshi-san spilled her drink. Again. Everyone to unit five-oh-eight, pronto. We need to shunt charges across the switchboard before the power outage reaches down here and opens our files to hackers."
"Wretched Mihoshi." The woman to his left pulled a face, getting to her feet and kicking her chair beneath her desk with very bad grace. "That's the third time in a month. Kiyone-san, how do you manage to live with that woman and not throttle her? She's a disgrace to the whole force!"
"She's just a little clumsy." Kiyone spread her hands.
"Mihoshi-san's clumsiness could kill all of us one of these days." Another man put in gloomily. "Oh well. At least we're getting pro at shunting these things over. We should have it done in ten minutes. Fifteen, tops. Come on, everyone. Whilst the shields are still up - we don't have all day."
Muttering and grumbling, the five technicians on duty headed down the corridor on the right, the sliding door hissing shut behind them as they hurried to move their security systems onto the back-up server. Kiyone cast a troubled glance in the direction they had gone, then moved around the other side of the terminal, hovering her hand tentatively over the keys. She cast one more glance behind her, then set her teeth, slowly typing in a sequence of numbers. A plan of the annexe flashed up on the screen and, still on edge, Kiyone scanned it feverishly, hunting for the location of Seiryo Tennan's office.
"Who are you?"
A voice startled her, and she jumped, almost knocking the keypad off the unit in her hurry to shut down the plan. She swung around, her eyes opening wide with alarm and consternation as she recognised the subject of her search. Seiryo eyed her coldly, folding his arms across his chest as he ran his gaze over her.
"I asked you a question, Detective." he said softly, a hint of menace in his tones. "Or don't they teach you how to speak to your superiors in the regular division any longer?"
Kiyone flushed red, raising her hand in a salute as she struggled with her composure.
"My apologies, sir." She faltered. "You made me jump."
"Evidently." Seiryo glanced around the empty control room, then back at her. "Your name?"
"Kiyone Makibi. Detective First Class." Kiyone gabbled, inwardly cursing her lack of composure. Seiryo raised an eyebrow.
"Kiyone Makibi, is it?" He mused softly, rubbing his chin as he mulled over this information. "I know your name, Detective. They seem to think that you would make a good Elite Officer, if you had only had the right training."
He raised his hand, gesturing to her that she could drop her salute, and Kiyone lowered her hand, biting her lip as she surveyed him.
"What brings you to our happy home?" Seiryo cast her a keen look. "And where is everyone else?"
"One of our detectives had an accident with the circuit-breakers up on Delta Seventeen...a spilled drink in the electronics." Kiyone dragged her thoughts back into some semblance of order, offering him a rueful smile. "The commander sent me here to pass on the message, so that the technicians could transfer the security shield to the back-up before power went down in this sector. It's happened before...I...I make this trip a lot."
"I see." Derision flickered in Seiryo's teal eyes. "And they make it a habit, do they, to employ clumsy officers in the Regular division now? Or are they just so desperate for recruits they'll let anyone join up?"
"It was an accident, sir." Kiyone said hastily, and Seiryo looked amused.
"The spillage or the recruitment?" He asked dryly. Kiyone flushed red again, and Seiryo laughed.
"Well, in the absence of any proper technicians, you will have to do." He said with a casual flick of his hand. "You have clearance for this department, I trust?"
"Yes, sir." Kiyone looked surprised, a mixture of hope and apprehension in her heart at his words. "But like you said yourself, I...I'm not trained."
"You don't require training to lift and carry." Seiryo told her quietly. "Follow me. My ship is docked at the rear and I have some weaponry to disembark."
Kiyone eyed him in confusion for a moment, but the Elite Officer did not wait for a response. Instead he disappeared back the way he came and Kiyone hurried to keep up with him, knowing that this was as good a chance as any to find out what she could about Seiryo Tennan.
As they reached the docking bay, he paused, and she cast a glance over him, inwardly wondering what kind of weaponry she was helping to bring into headquarters and whether there was any foundation to Washu's suspicions. She had never spent so much time in close proximity to the man, and she found that she both respected and feared him in the short few minutes they had been acquainted.
"That one is my ship." Seiryo gestured to the largest and grandest of the vessels, shiny, clean and branded with the Tennan family insignia across it's bridge. For a moment Kiyone just stared at it, then she mustered her courage, offering her companion a smile.
"I've never seen a vessel quite like that." She admitted. "What does the logo mean?"
"It's my family's crest." Seiryo said quietly. "Some of us have greater ties in the universe than those of justice, Kiyone Makibi. My family are one of the most influential and well-placed families on Jurai. My ship befits a man of my rank."
"It's beautiful." Kiyone admitted, resisting the urge to run her fingers along the sleek silver gantry as they began to board. With a rueful smile, she remembered the battered, well-worn hull of Yagami, and realised that she was still a long way from the dizzy heights she had aspired to as a young, ambitious Police Academy student. "What did you want my help with, sir?"
"On my way back to Headquarters, I picked up a comission of weapons for the division." Seiryo said carelessly, pushing back the door of the drive room and ushering her inside. "It's tiresome that I should have to bring them inside myself, but I suppose if there is an emergency, it can't be helped. There are two cases...you take that one, and I will bring this other one. They're to go to my office. Do you know where that is?"
"No, sir." Kiyone said truthfully. Seiryo tut-tutted his impatience, shaking his head.
"Then follow me." he said curtly. "And keep up. I don't want you wandering around the corridors. These are powerful weapons - fire-blasters and other high level instruments. You are not licenced to carry such things, and it would be remiss of me to allow you access to them."
Kiyone's heart lurched at the mention of fire-blasters, but she said nothing, merely doing as she was bidden and following him carefully back down the ramp and through the tangle of corridors to the office which she had so desperately been seeking. It was at the furthest end of the annexe, with the agent's name marked on the door in gilted lettering, and as he released the security lock, Kiyone saw with startling clarity that the office was more than an office - it was almost a home from home. What she had expected to be a small, neatly marked out section of the complex was an expansive, sprawling set of rooms, beginning with a work-station but spreading beyond to what she presumed must be living quarters. Again, her mind flitted to the cramped living conditions aboard Yagami and she sighed.
Seiryo seemed to guess her thoughts, because he offered her a sardonic smile, depositing his burden in one corner and indicating for her to follow suit.
"You do know that nothing here is ever given without first being earned." He said quietly. "Compared to my accomodation on Jurai, this place is nothing. But in this squalid space station, it's everything. I did not gain my reputation in space by spilling tea on circuits and prevaricating about my training, Detective. Take a lesson from me and remember that. One day you may thank me for it."
Kiyone gazed up at him in surprise, and he laughed.
"If you have the ambition to follow it through." He added.
Kiyone glanced around the room, her gaze lingering for a moment on the sealed weaponry. There was no warehouse name on the boxes, and no Galaxy Police logo, but in the centre of one side was a curious brand, unlike anything she had seen before. She glanced up, scanning the room briefly for anything else that might suggest Seiryo Tennan was acting outside his authority, but nothing seemed out of place. It was just another busy work station of another busy agent, dedicated to the pursuit of justice in space.
"You are dismissed, Detective Makibi." Seiryo's voice cut through her musings and she started, looking discomfitted as she raised her hand in her salute.
"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. I have just...never been so deep into the annexe before." She said quickly. Then, before he could question her further, she turned on her heel, fleeing the room completely and hurrying back through the maze of corridors to the control centre. As she entered, the technicians were just returning to their posts and one of them hailed her with a wave.
"Still here, Kiyone-san?" He asked playfully. "Taking cover in case Detective Mihoshi strikes again?"
"No...no." Kiyone shook her head. "Agent Tennan asked me to run an errand for him...I didn't think I could really refuse."
"Seiryo Tennan?" The man looked surprised. "Is he back, then?"
"Just arrived." Kiyone agreed. "He brought a consignment back with him and asked me to help him unload it. He seemed very busy, and...I was curious to see how the other half lived."
She looked abashed.
"Shameful, isn't it? But I've never seen inside the quarters of an Elite before."
"Live the life of luxury, some of them." The woman who had complained earlier rolled her eyes, sinking back down into her seat. "He's the worst of them. But then, he's also the best agent in the division, or so they say. Well, you only have to look at the statistics. His success rate speaks for himself. I guess he's earnt his perks, whatever they are."
"What else do you expect of a Juraian nobleman?" The man laughed. "My father was stationed there once - according to him, the upper class still settle disputes by the duel. I figure Tennan-san has been fighting since he first climbed out of his crib. Serves us well, though. He might be a touch arrogant, but he always gets the results."
"It must be wonderful, working on so many high profile cases." Kiyone sighed, a pensive look entering her blue eyes.
"You should apply for Elite training, Kiyone." The woman suggested. "You know they'd take you."
"I know." Kiyone pursed her lips, then shook her head. "But I'm needed where I am, and I don't think it would work out. Just another pipe dream."
She smiled.
"And I shouldn't be loitering here. I need to get back to my own caseload. Believe it or not, we regular Detectives do occasionally solve crimes too!"
As she made her way back towards the docking station where she had parked Yagami, she ran over in her mind her encounter with Seiryo Tennan.
"Very efficient, very cold, very much in control of what he's doing. Poker faced, almost." She mused. "But something else in his eyes - ambition? Power? I don't know what. A glint - something that tells me he shouldn't be crossed. No wonder he brings in so many criminals and solves so many cases. His reputation is as fearsome as he is, on first impressions. But is he the kind of man who'd make a random raid on planet Earth? I'm not sure. He seemed cool, relaxed and quite at home...not at all flustered or guilty, as if he'd done something that he shouldn't have done. But then, when you're a man like Seiryo Tennan, with the reputation and the power he has here, would you be worried? I guess not. I don't know. It's not much to go on...and I can't really go back to his quarters when I know he's likely to be there. I don't know how I'm going to give Washu any useful information at this rate. An Elite is likely to have been trained in subterfuge in ways I can't even begin to touch on. If anyone can cover his tracks, it's Seiryo Tennan...and I can't even tell if there are tracks that need to be covered. Right now I'm not even sure if the man I just spoke to is even who he claims to be!"
She frowned, keying her code into the docking bay door and stepping out onto the cold platform as she glanced up at Yagami's patched hull. She sighed, shaking her head.
"Oh well. At least I have a ship." She reasoned. "Mihoshi's Yukinoyjo is scrap metal on a distant planet and nobody's said a word about replacing it since then. I shouldn't complain, really. I have a lot more influence here now than I ever did before I went to the Earth."
As she approached the hulking red craft, she raised her hand and a hazy red transport beam shot down onto the walkway in front of her. With a frown, she stepped into it, allowing herself to be taken up into the craft's drive room.
"Kiyone!" Mihoshi cast her a warm smile. "You took forever! Did you stop for a snack on the way?"
"No...no. I had an errand to run for the commander and then another to run for one of the other officers." Kiyone shook her head, slipping into her pilot seat and glancing down at the communicator. Washu's microchip was embedded deep in the control panel, out of sight, but just knowing it was there made her uneasy. After all, she told herself grimly, she had no way of knowing whether she was operating it correctly, and she could get into a lot of trouble if anyone discovered her craft had been bugged with her knowledge.
"Oh well." Mihoshi shrugged, stifling a yawn. "You're here now. And we can leave. I already set coordinates for sector three-eighteen. Or was it eight-thirteen? I don't remember...maybe it was eight-eighteen?"
"It was three-thirty-eight." Kiyone snapped, reaching across to type the coordinates into Yagami's electronic keypad. "Look, Mihoshi, you're obviously half asleep. How about you take a nap in the back and I'll wake you when we get there? I know what you're like when you're in this frame of mine. You're no use to me up here."
"Maybe I am a little sleepy." Mihoshi looked sheepish. "All right, Kiyone. Maybe you're right. I could do with a nap."
She got to her feet, stretching and stifling another yawn. "Give me a c...call when we reach the action, huh?"
"I promise." Kiyone nodded her head. "Sweet dreams, Mihoshi. Don't sleep too deeply, all right? I don't want to have to sound the fire claxon to get you to wake up again."
"All right." Mihoshi grinned. "I'll try. Good night, Kiyone. Safe flying."
With that, she was gone into the Yagami's living quarters, and, as the door slid shut behind her, Kiyone let out her breath in a rush.
"Well, I guess now is as good a time as any." She muttered, moving her fingers towards the communication device. For a moment she hesitated, then determination touched her heart and she pressed the button down firmly.
"Washu?" She said softly. "It's Kiyone."
-------
"And that's where we stand."
Tenchi ran agitated fingers through his dark hair, sinking down into a vacant seat as he did so. "Osaka is a hotbed of paranoia right at the moment, and they seem to have gleaned Ryoko's identity from somewhere. That being the case, we really don't know where we're safe to be at the moment - but something is going on, Washu, and I'd like to know what."
"So would I." Ryoko put in from the doorway, rubbing a towel vigorously through her wild hair. "I didn't much like being manhandled across the city, and that guy really seemed to know a lot about me."
"Well, you both sure seem to have done a good job of making yourselves conspicuous." Washu observed dryly. "Congratulations."
"Washu, it's not funny." Tenchi frowned. "There's no telling whether the people who tracked Ryoko down might track her to here as well. And these aren't the Galaxy Police. I'm not sure from what she told me that they're even normal Earth law enforcement. They seemed to be some...military body, at least that's what if sounded like to me. People who meant business."
"Earthlings sure scare easily." Ryoko added, sighing heavily as she dropped onto the sofa beside her beau and tossing the towel casually over the coffee table. "I'm still sure that Yume had something to do with it. She already told us her father was a cop. It isn't that much of a stretch."
"Yume wouldn't have told us that if she was going to use it against us." Tenchi objected, shaking his head. "It doesn't make any sense."
"Unless she told it us to lull us into a false sense of security." Ryoko pointed out. "Which would mean you'd think exactly what you just said. That she'd be too obvious. Double bluff."
"Ryoko, you're being paranoid."
"No, I'm being annoyed." Ryoko shook her head. "You weren't the one who got handcuffed today. I didn't expect that to happen to me on this planet. Especially since I wasn't the one causing all the trouble in downtown Osaka the other night!"
"Will you both shut up for just a moment?" Washu held up her hands, a frown crossing her face. "There are some gaps in this that I'm not quite following. Who or what is Yume? That's a name I haven't heard before."
"Some Earth girl Tenchi pulled from the fire." Ryoko shrugged. "If you ask me, it might've been better if he hadn't bothered."
"Ryoko, that's not fair." Tenchi protested. "You don't know that Yume did anything, and nobody deserved to die in that blaze. Isn't that why you intervened in the first place? To make sure people didn't get hurt?"
"No, I intervened to make sure you didn't get hurt." Ryoko shook her head. "Very different thing. The others just happened to be there, and I figured I might as well make it a job lot."
"Well, either way, she did defend you to the mob after the event." Tenchi pointed out. "And she did warn us about what people had been saying. I don't think you can suspect her of complicity in your abduction. If her father is a local city cop, well, that doesn't fit what you told me about the men who took you into custody."
"I don't know." Ryoko frowned. "There was something about one of them that got me. But I don't know what."
"Washu?" Tenchi glanced at the scientist for help. Washu drummed her fingers absently on the arm of her seat, contemplating.
"Well, since I haven't met the girl, it's difficult to know if she's friend or foe right at the moment." She said off-handedly. "Ryoko, these people who took you. What exactly did they say to you? And ask you?"
"They knew my name - my full name - and that I wasn't from this planet." Ryoko said slowly. "They asked me who sent me and why I was here. Oh, and they told me they could kill me on the spot if I didn't answer, because I was a potential threat. I guess laws against random murders don't apply to visitors from the stars."
There was a bitter note in her tones and despite his frustration, Tenchi reached over to squeeze her hand.
"They were outta line." He said quietly. "But they probably didn't realise how powerful you can be if you put your mind to it. We both know that there's probably nothing on Earth that could keep you confined for long. There just isn't the technology."
"That doesn't make the process any more pleasant for me." Ryoko said with a sigh. "Besides, it meant using my powers again in front of a witness. It was that or remain there indefinitely, and I wanted to warn you before they grabbed you too. But it means yet another person can report strange behaviour, and this time to a superior officer. I didn't need to make a statement. By leaving that room the way I did I confirmed all of their suspicions about me."
"Where is Grandfather? And Father?" Tenchi asked. "If they know Ryoko isn't from the Earth, they could easily trace Grandfather and I should warn him."
"Your Grandfather is a shrewd man." Washu said quietly. "He and I spoke this morning, in some depth, about what had happened in Osaka. Your father is going straight from his work in Kurashiki to his sister's house in the north. Ostensibly he's going to visit your cousin Taro, but really it's to get him out of the way. Katsuhito-dono is at the shrine, where he intends to remain for the forseeable future. He says he won't leave...he's an old man, but not without defences. I don't know whether taking any kind of precautions here is necessary as yet...but if it is, he and I both felt that Noboyuke-san would be safer away from here."
"I agree." Relief flooded Tenchi's heart. "I always forget that Grandfather can fight his own battles. But I'm glad Father is safe, at the very least. Whatever is going on may not spread beyond Osaka, or even beyond Okayama. And with any luck, we'll have worked out what it is before then."
"Well, I'm doing my best to speed that along." Washu admitted. "I've also spoken to Kiyone in the last few days."
"Kiyone?" Ryoko's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you manage that?"
"Ryo Ohki contacted Yagami on my behalf." Washu glanced down at the cabbit that sat beside her on the chair cushion, studiously and thoroughly cleaning her thick fur as she did so. "I thought that it was important to find out what was going on with the Galaxy Police, if anything. Ryoko-chan, I know that Seiryo Tennan is a real officer - a member of the Galaxy Police's Elite division. But Kiyone doesn't believe that it was him who came to the Earth the other night. She reminded me of the shape-shifter who invaded my laboratory, and so I've asked her to find out what she can at Galaxy Police Headquarters. It's very possible that this is bigger than we imagine, and that the real Seiryo Tennan is not involved. His father was murdered recently. It's possible that Seiryo himself met some grisly fate at the same time."
"So we're sure this wasn't a bonafide Galaxy Police raid?" Ryoko asked hesitantly. Washu nodded.
"Pretty sure." She agreed. "Kiyone hasn't found any evidence of it, anyway. Actually, she's not been able to find very much at all, so far. All she was able to tell me was that Agent Tennan - or possibly, someone pretending to be Seiryo Tennan - was at Headquarters and so was his ship. I've checked the data she sent me about the craft and have confirmed that it is genuinely Seiryo's ship - the Unko - but that doesn't necessarily mean the real Seiryo Tennan was on the Earth the other night. If, as I said, he disappeared at the same time his father was killed, it seems wholly possible that the ship was stolen. Whoever this shape-shifter Clay has employed is, he or she is good at what they do. It takes a lot of genetic accuracy to fool my computer systems."
"Who is this Clay person you keep mentioning?" Tenchi asked. "Should we be worried about him? Is he dangerous?"
"He's mad." Washu said bluntly. "And a plagiarist to boot."
"You're mad too." Ryoko shrugged her shoulders. "What makes his madness different from yours?"
Washu frowned.
"Many, many years ago we were colleagues at the Science Academy, but he cut corners and tried to pass off the work of other colleagues and students as his own." She said softly. "He worked in my department, and not long before I was exiled here, I discovered what he had been doing. Not surprisingly, he was very much in favour of my sentence. It seems that he spent some time afterwards going through those of my files he had clearance to access, and stealing bits and pieces of my work to patent under his own name. Eventually, he was caught - but before the Academy could act, he disappeared. Noone knows where he is now...but I know he's still alive, because I know that it was his insignia I saw in the background on my security film."
"Sounds like a nice guy." Tenchi looked thoughtful. "But is he dangerous? I mean, you were imprisoned for seven hundred Earth years, Washu-chan. He must be quite old by now."
"He should be dead, but something has perpetuated him." Washu agreed. "Although seven hundred years is not so very long when counted in Earth years, Tenchi."
"True." Tenchi admitted. "I'm still trying to get my head around the different year lengths that exist across the universe, and the impact it has on different people's life-spans. I don't even fully understand what effect the Jurai Power has had on my own, not yet - it's all hard to absorb."
"You're probably better off not trying." Washu looked amused. "About two millenia ago, various scientific bodies from across the universe met up and discussed the idea of standardising time, but they couldn't reach any kind of agreement. So different space zones act on different timespans. There are planets with a shorter year than the Earth, because they rotate on a shorter time axis. And there are ones like Jurai which operate on a much longer one. Talking about years has become relative depending on where you are...some scientists spend their whole careers trying to make sense of it, but few manage to do so."
"So does Clay come from one of these worlds with a short axis? Or what?" Ryoko's brow furrowed as she digested this. "He's obviously older than me, if you worked with him."
"He is." Washu nodded. "I'd say he's probably somewhere around his first milennium - perhaps a few hundred years over it. At least, talking in Earth time. I don't remember where he's from and it's really not important. What is is that he's working on something which obviously ties in the files stolen from my lab and these atmospheric disturbances. The same disturbances occured over Osaka when Tennan-san attacked, so they're connected to this as well. And they were there when Clay escaped from the Academy, which indicates that he's probably not calling the shots on whatever this is on his own."
"Meaning...?"
"Meaning something or someone else is controlling him, it and everything else." Washu said grimly. "But unfortunately, right at the moment, I haven't figured out what."
"Hey...if this Clay guy is over a thousand years old, Washu-chan, how old does that make you?" Tenchi's eyes narrowed. "You sure don't look old...but you must be at least as old as he is, to have been his colleague. Older, even, if he worked under you at the Academy. How many Earth years have you been around? Really?"
Washu stared at him for a moment, then she laughed.
"You know, it's not polite to ask a woman how old she is." She chided gently. "Older than that, that's all you need to know. Really, Tenchi, you need to be careful. Ryoko's bad manners are starting to rub off on you."
"Hey!" Ryoko glared at her mother, folding her arms across her chest. "If you don't like my manners, you should have bothered to raise me yourself! And while we're on the subject of your maternal inadequacies, how dare you ask favours of my spaceship and not tell me about it? I might have wanted to speak to Kiyone as well, you know - and you weren't even in Osaka. How can you give her reliable information without seeing it for yourself?"
At the sound of her name, Ryo Ohki raised her head, letting out a soft mew as she fixed her mistress with a guilty look. Washu smiled, rubbing the cabbit affectionately beneath her chin.
"Ryo Ohki and I are friends. She helped me out, because I asked her to." She said simply. "I didn't realise I had to apply for permission. I thought Ryo Ohki was a sentient being in her own right."
"And why did you keep this from me?" Ryoko's brow furrowed, reaching over to scoop the cabbit up out of Washu's reach, and meeting her gaze head on. "Ryo Ohki, I thought we didn't have secrets. Are you mad because I didn't take you to Osaka? Because you know why I didn't, and believe me, you were better off here. It's not like I cut off contact."
Ryo Ohki mewed in protest, wriggling out of Ryoko's grip and leaping up onto her mistress's shoulder, arching and rubbing herself against the pirate's neck as she made herself comfortable. Ryoko pursed her lips.
"All very well for you to say now, but I don't like things going on behind my back." She said softly. "And you don't know that Tenchi and I couldn't have helped Kiyone with her factfinding. You should have told me, Ryo Ohki. Even if you did think I'd worry."
"It's my fault that she didn't tell you." Washu spread her hands. "I asked her not to."
"And what right do you have to be telling my spaceship what to do?" Ryoko glared at the scientist angrily.
"I'm your mother, Ryoko-chan."
"That doesn't make any difference!" Ryoko snapped. "You leave Ryo Ohki alone and stop taking advantage of her good heart. Of course she wanted to help you - she always wants to help. But you don't get her involved in this whole mess without my say-so, do you understand? I didn't take her to the city because I didn't want people's attention to be drawn to her. Now I find that you've been using her to send covert signals - which God knows who might have picked up, if this guy Clay is anything like the kind of technical wizard you are! You might have led them right to us!"
Washu eyed her daughter thoughtfully for a moment, and Tenchi glanced apprehensively between mother and daughter, unsure as to whether or not he should intervene.
"Ryo Ohki is in no danger. She knows how to keep herself undetected." Washu said quietly, breaking the silence that threatened to become unbearable. "And she has no reason to love Dr Clay, any more than I do. She was happy to help, once she understood exactly what the situation was. You're taking your frustration out on me, and it's misdirected. We have bigger problems to deal with, and yelling at me about Ryo Ohki isn't going to solve any of them."
She stood to leave, but Ryoko was on her feet in a minute, grabbing her mother tightly around the wrist.
"Hold it." She said sharply. "Ryo Ohki has no cause to love Clay? What does Ryo Ohki know of this guy? She's just a baby!"
"This Ryo Ohki, maybe." Washu inclined her head slightly. "But Ryo Ohki the ship is a lot older. As old as you are, Ryoko-chan, or very nearly. You know that. You bonded with her when you were both just children...or had you forgotten?"
"I never told you that." Ryoko's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Washu shook her head.
"You didn't have to. It's all in Ryo-Ohki's memory banks." She said carelessly. "She's really very fond of you, all things considered. Sometimes I really can't think why, but there it is."
"And since when did you go hacking into Ryo Ohki's memory banks?" Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me that you believe she's tied up in this business somehow?"
"No, not directly." Washu shook her head. She looked pained, sitting back down in her seat with an air of reluctance. "All right, I can see that I'll have to explain a little bit more. But let go of me, Ryoko. You're cutting off my circulation, and my fingers are starting to go numb."
Ryoko glowered at her mutinously, but obediently released her grip, dropping back into her own seat as she did so. Ryo Ohki mewed, jumping down onto the pirate's lap and raising big golden eyes to her mistress's. Ryoko frowned, reaching down to stroke the cabbit's soft chocolate fur.
"You don't think I should be mad at her either." She murmured. "But I don't understand...you let her read your memories? But why, Ryo Ohki? I thought only I could do that?"
"The last thing I worked upon before they exiled me from the Academy was the combination of organic and mechanical compounds to produce specific, designated outcomes." Washu said softly, and Tenchi saw a hint of nostalgia flit across her green eyes as she recounted memories from long ago. "After the failure of the Phoenix ship to solve the problem of frequent space damage, it became clear that a completely mechanical ship would never be able to perform all the operations that were needed. The craft needed to be sentient - it had to understand things for itself and essentially, have a brain that was seperate from its electronic control system. We worked for a long time, my team and I, combining the DNA of various different species from all across the universe...hunting for the right combination of genes to mesh with the mechanical componants we had already designed. Ryo Ohki - or rather, Ryo Ohki's kind - were the end result."
"You mean that you built Ryo Ohki?" Tenchi stared, glancing from cabbit to scientist in disbelief. "But Washu, Ryoko said she found them in cages, starved to death. You didn't...?"
"Of course not." Washu shook her head impatiently. "Ryo Ohki was born in the lab, along with all the others. But after my exile, Clay took over the project, along with many others. He took and manipulated my organic technology to his own ends - the last recorded file he patented at the Academy incorporates a lot of my original ideas. I suspect that he dumped the cabbits that were still in the laboratory in order to expand his own project. "Zero", or whatever it was he called it. Either way, I was imprisoned on the Earth when Ryoko found Ryo Ohki. I would never have left them to die."
"Ryo Ohki." Ryoko stared at the cabbit for a moment, then up at her mother. "How many more secrets have you kept from me, Washu?"
"As many as you've probably kept from me." Washu looked amused. "I suppose that makes Ryo Ohki your sister, little Ryoko. You're not an only child after all. Isn't it nice?"
Ryo Ohki batted at Ryoko's finger with her paw, mewing, and Ryoko sighed, shaking her head.
"So if Ryo Ohki was one of your science projects too, does that mean you can read her mind the way I can?" She asked. Washu shook her head.
"No. They were designed to bond with one captain and noone else." She said. "Ryo Ohki chose you, and your own telepathic inclinations have made your bond stronger over the years. I can access data from Ryo Ohki's memory with her permission, but I have to do so manually."
She reached across, touching the gem on Ryo Ohki's brow, and Tenchi watched in fascination as the small pinkish gem flickered with a strange light.
"Like this." She added. "Unfortunately, the process is two-way. I didn't have the chance to properly secure the connection before I was condemned, so she picks up certain thoughts and memories from me at the same time. I thought it best, therefore, to tell her everything I just told you when I asked her for her help. Most ships have their creators' information sealed away from them, for security and patenting reasons. But Ryo Ohki knows better now. She knows that I'm her mother, just as much as I am yours, Ryoko."
Ryo Ohki squealed, as if the contact tickled her, and despite himself, Tenchi laughed.
"Well, I guess that does mean you and she really are family, Ryoko." He observed. "Sisters, like Washu said."
"Just so long as you can't access my thoughts by tapping into hers." Ryoko eyed her mother suspiciously. "There's a lot that goes on in my head that is none of your business."
"I think the feeling is mutual, my dear." Washu assured her. "But now we've settled the matter of Ryo Ohki's involvement, I'll tell you the little that Kiyone has managed to uncover. Unfortunately, it isn't very much, and she's understandably concerned about spying on someone who has a lot of power and influence. She did tell me that something Tennan-san brought to Headquarters was marked with a logo she didn't recognise - one which sounds disturbingly like Dr Clay's insignia. But that doesn't tell us anything we don't already know. Clay is involved, and it doesn't prove whether or not the man calling himself Seiryo Tennan is really Seiryo Tennan."
"Does that matter? We don't know who the guy is either way." Ryoko pointed out, clutching Ryo Ohki almost protectively as she ruminated over this. "Even if he is a space cop, he still isn't someone I'd have been able to pick out of a line up before he attacked the Earth. Why does it matter so much whether he's the real deal?"
"The Tennan family are Juraian nobility, with a lot of power and influence in the Holy Council." Washu said simply. "That being the case, I don't think we can completely discount them."
"Could we speak to Jurai, then?" Tenchi suggested. Washu shrugged.
"Maybe, but I'd rather not just yet. Not till we know more." She admitted. "The Tennan family has led exploratory and invasion parties in the past, and I'd rather know that this wasn't another one of those before we try that line of enquiry. He might be your great grandfather, Tenchi, but I do not trust Azusa. Nor do I trust Prince Haru. I'd rather know everything that I can before I bring them in - and be sure that they're not behind it."
