Chapter 8

"And that's everything that she told you?"

Ayeka pursed her lips, a look of distress on her face as she glanced at her small sister. Sasami was pale and uncharacteristically sombre, her hair pulled neatly back beneath the dark fabric that all the royal house were still compelled to wear out of respect for their dead Councillor, and somehow the contrast with the black cloth made the younger princess's complexion seem even more ashen. She sighed, shaking her head slowly.

"I wish you hadn't gone there, Sasami-chan." She added heavily. "Father will be angry. You know how he feels about all of this."

"I know." Sasami twisted her fingers together, raising her gaze to her sister's in earnest. "But I had to, Ayeka. I can't explain why...I just had to."

"There's a lot of things you don't seem able to explain to me any more, and I feel like I'm losing you." Ayeka said sadly. "You spend more time with spirits and voices than you do with the real world lately - or that's how it seems to me. It worries me. It worries all of us. Are you sure that this is what Tsunami wants you to do? And you're not just getting confused by everything that's happened?"

"Ayeka!" An obstinate look entered Sasami's gaze and she put her hands on her hips. "I thought you at least believed in me!"

Ayeka was silent for a moment, mulling this over. Then she sighed, nodding her head.

"It's because I believe you that I'm so worried." She admitted at length. "I know you're telling me the truth...but the longer it goes on, the more difficult it is to accept that my sister is changing so much as you are. I love you, Sasami, and I always will. It just...worries me."

"Me too, sometimes." Sasami dropped her gaze. "But this is how it is and I can't change it. I asked Tsunami to un-connect us but she said it isn't possible - that I was always going to be her even before I knew it, so I've just got to live with it."

She reached out to grab Ayeka's hand, and the Crown Princess stared at her companion in surprise as a faint flicker of energy passed between them.

"She did promise me I wouldn't have to become Tsunami until I was ready, though." She said earnestly. "And I'm not, so you don't have to worry. Really. And we are still sisters, Ayeka. Only now you're big sister to a goddess as well as a princess. Pretty neat, huh?"

She managed a laugh, but it lacked her usual vivacity, and Ayeka sighed.

"All right." She said at length. "I suppose if Tsunami asked you to speak to Uncle then we must speak to Uncle and see what he says. I'm not sure whether he'll be keen on the idea, though. He seems very wary about sending anyone to the Earth - something about respecting Tenchi and Yosho-dono's choices and not interfering in their lives there. The Earth is a sceptical planet still - Juraian ships going there might cause more harm than good."

"Tsunami said Tokimi was going to try and take Tenchi and that he was in danger and needed our help." Sasami said stolidly. "You don't have to come with me, Ayeka, but I have to go either way. She won't leave me alone until I do, anyway. I know her better than that by now. If I don't get the message one way, she'll find another way to pass it on."

"Well, it might carry more weight if it comes from us both." Ayeka decided. "No, I will come with you, Sasami-chan. If you really think Tenchi is in danger..."

"More than just Tenchi." Sasami agreed. "Although I don't...completely understand everything Tsunami said. Only that this Tokimi woman means Tsunami harm in some way as well, and that's why she's after Tenchi in the first place. Which means it's a Juraian problem and we have to help."

"Why Tenchi and not you?" Ayeka looked surprised. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Tsunami didn't tell me that." Sasami spread her hands. "Only that we were both in danger so long as Tokimi sought Tsunami and her magic."

"I wish you'd tell Tsunami to be a bit more helpful in her transmissions." Ayeka muttered, as they entered the royal palace and made their way along the winding corridors to the private quarters of Jurai's Emperor. "I'm sure we'd save a lot of time if she just told us everything from start to finish instead of leaving things undone like this."

"I think she has a sense of mischief." Sasami admitted. "She likes to tease me as well as tell me all these things...like she's been unable to talk to anyone for so long that she has to find someone to play with."

"The Goddess of Jurai has a sense of mischief?" Ayeka's eyebrows shot up into her fringe at this. "Then we're all in trouble, if she's playing with our lives as much as she's teasing you."

"I don't know." Sasami looked thoughtful. "But if she is me, Ayeka, and if I am her...surely she must have been like me, when she was alive? She said she knew me better than I knew myself, and that I'd always been destined to be this way. Doesn't that mean that, well, we'd have those things in common?"

Ayeka eyed her sister long and hard for a moment. Then she shook her head, gripping the girl more tightly by the hand and pulling her along towards the inner sanctum of Azusa's private rooms.

"If the future of this planet relies on a goddess who plays hide and seek with lost souls on spaceships, and who ruins more dresses than anyone else I know by running riot around the palace grounds, Sasami, we're all doomed." She said acerbically. "And now we're here. I hope Uncle hasn't got any meetings this morning. I'd rather as few people heard this as possible."

"Ayeka." Sasami pouted, and Ayeka grimaced back at her.

"If you really are Tsunami, the both of you need to grow up." She said admonishingly.

"I will. I'm just a kid still, remember?" Sasami protested. "At least, I'm trying to be. All of this makes it difficult, and wearing all of this black and gloomy stuff doesn't help."

"Mourning for Seiji Tennan." Ayeka touched the dark fabric of her own gown with a sigh, shaking her head. "I have to admit I agree with you. Everyone robed in dull shades while his son runs back to the Galaxy Police and his mother and sister are never seen out of their home. I know Kaede-dono is sick, Sasami-chan, but Azaka told me that Suki-kyou's ship left the planet Jurai late last night, and hasn't been seen returning since. We're all in mourning for her father. The Tennan family, on the other hand, don't seem to be."

"Maybe she's just sad and wants to be alone." Sasami shrugged. "She seems sad, when I've seen her."

"She did tell me she wanted some time to herself, I admit." Ayeka acknowledged. "And yes, Sasami, she does seem sad. But the whole business is so very Tennan it's untrue."

She paused to acknowledge the salute of the guard on duty, who made his obeissance to both princesses and then glanced at Ayeka enquiringly.

"Is the Emperor within?" Ayeka asked softly. "My sister wishes an audience with him, if he is not otherwise engaged."

"Azusa-heika is within, and there is noone with him." The guard responded respectfully. "I will tell him you are here, Ayeka-hime."

With that he disappeared into the hallway behind him, emerging in a few moments to say that Azusa would see them in his study at once. Ayeka glanced at Sasami, seeing the relief flickering in her crimson eyes, and she tried her best to quell the misgivings in her own heart.

"Sometimes she's so young and carefree. Other times she has the world on her shoulders." She mused to herself as she guided the younger girl into Azusa's official private study. "Are you Sasami or Tsunami, my sister? Sometimes even I'm not sure of the answer."

"Well? And what brings my nieces here this morning?"

Azusa greeted the girls with a warm smile, indicating for them both to be seated as the guard once more withdrew, leaving the royal trio alone. "What is this visit in aid of? I don't usually entertain you both in my study so early in the day."

"It's me who really wanted to see you, Uncle." Sasami glanced at Ayeka, then spoke up, twisting her hands together in her lap as she did so. "And Ayeka promised to come too, because she thought you might listen to me more if we both came. You see, I've been speaking to Tsunami, and..."

"Tsunami?" Azusa looked startled. "But I thought that whole business was behind us! With the destruction of Kagato's spirit, Tsunami sleeps again. Doesn't she?"

"It would seem not, Uncle." Ayeka said softly. "Sasami has had at least one disturbed night in the past week, thanks to Tsunami's interference."

"I see." Azusa's expression became grave. "And what does our Goddess tell you this time, Sasami-chan?"

"That Tenchi is in trouble." Sasami raised earnest eyes to his shadowed ones, biting her lip as she did so. "And so might Jurai be, too. There's some woman called Tokimi and she wants to hurt Tenchi and Tsunami and maybe even Jurai. It all has something to do with some really long dead colony Jurai had years and years ago and...well, I don't really understand all of it but this Tokimi person is part of this colony world and she really hates Jurai and Tsunami. So she wants to destroy Tenchi because she knows he's connected to her somehow. And...and that's all."

Azusa rubbed his beard thoughtfully, and for a moment there was silence in the room. Then, after much consideration, the Emperor spoke.

"And what does Tsunami suggest we do about it?" He asked softly. Sasami spread her hands.

"Send people to the Earth to help him." She said simply. "Because people there might get hurt too, and...Uncle, this Tokimi woman killed everyone on her planet. I think she's crazy. Tsunami says she did it just by being angry with the people there, and she made volcanoes erupt and trees come down and winds howl across the land. It was so awful...she made me see it all. And then the whole planet was dark and dead and empty...just like it was a ghost ship."

"And you think this...what did you call her? Tokimi? Intends to do the same thing to Jurai?"

"I don't know." Sasami admitted. "Tsunami just asked me to tell you that Tenchi was in danger and so might Jurai be. And that Jurai needed to get involved in this before it was too late."

"Ayeka, what are your thoughts on this?" Azusa turned his dark eyes on his elder niece, who started at the attention, then shrugged.

"I believe Sasami tells the truth, because she always does." She said sadly. Azusa frowned.

"Yes, I know she tells the truth." He agreed. "But what to do about it - there is my dilemma. Sasami-chan, I need more information. Tsunami...she must have told you something more. What kind of danger Tenchi faces. What risk there is to our people. What might happen if we fail to intervene. You know I have misgivings about interfering in the Earth's affairs. They are a backward, remote planet and not within Jurai's concern or jurisdiction. Whether I like the fact that my son and his descendants have chosen to settle there is not the point in question. As a father and a great grandfather, I would do anything in my power to keep them safe. But in the interests of my people...as an Emperor..."

He sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Unless you can tell me more about the nature of this threat, I'm not sure what to do." He admitted. "Has Tsunami met this Tokimi? Do we know how they have crossed horns in the past?"

"Tsunami said that Jurai colonised Tokimi's planet, thousands of years ago." Sasami said slowly. "I think it was a very, very long time ago, Uncle Azusa. She didn't tell me how long, but I got the impression it was in the Old Era. The book in my dream was in Old Language, anyway. And that was from around the same time."

"Book? What book?" Azusa looked stymied, and Sasami blushed.

"In my dream, Tsunami showed me Tokimi, and her father and...and someone else." She said haltingly, and Ayeka could read consternation in the younger girl's eyes as she faltered, changing her mind in mid-sentence. "They had a book and it was Juraian. That's all. She told me that settlers came from Jurai to Kihaku, anyway."

"Kihaku?" Azusa stared. "Sasami, child, that planet has been dead for many milennia! Long before my time or my father's or even ten Emperors before him! What possible connection could it have to modern day Jurai? The world is dead and noone from it could have survived this long. Kihaku's time axis is no longer than that of Jurai and nobody lives so long as that. Not even with a magic like the Jurai Power to sustain them. Are you sure in what Tsunami told you? Can you be mistaken?"

"I'm not mistaken." Sasami shook her head. "Uncle, Kihaku was the planet. And Tokimi is real...Tsunami told me so and she doesn't tell lies any more than I do."

"But Sasami, the time span...it's impossible." Azusa shook his head. "Even if Kihaku's colonisation had been at the end of the Old Era - which it was not, I hasten to add - it's impossible that anyone could have survived so long as to still be a threat to us today."

"Even if she's bonded to the planet like Tsunami is to Jurai, Uncle?" Ayeka questioned. Azusa hesitated, then nodded.

"Kihaku is a dead planet. Nobody can bond to something dead and decaying." He said softly. "Sasami-chan, I'm sorry. I don't understand Tsunami's message and I cannot act upon it."

"But Uncle!" Sasami was on her feet, and Ayeka reached over to calm her, taking her sister's slim hand in hers and squeezing it tightly.

"Maybe Tsunami will tell you more yet." She said gently. "But Uncle is right. It doesn't make sense for someone to be alive after so long...not when their world is dead."

"Tokimi isn't the only one." Sasami pulled her hand away, sending both Ayeka and Azusa a defiant look. "And I believe she is alive and that it is possible. Tsunami said it is, and I believe her!"

"We don't doubt Tsunami." Azusa began, but Sasami shook her head.

"Then you doubt me and I'm not wrong either." She snapped. "Uncle Azusa, something bad is coming to Jurai. Can't you feel it? Tsunami already has. And if Tokimi does want to hurt Tenchi, what about the people on the Earth? Jurai can defend themselves, but the Earth can't! Why can't we go there and help them? They might need us."

"You are still a child, Sasami-chan, and even if you are communicating with our Goddess, I won't tolerate such shows of temper in my study." Azusa said evenly. "I think you need to calm down and reconsider your behaviour. When you do so, I'm sure you'll see why it's unreasonable for me to send military forces across the universe to protect a planet that probably doesn't need our interference and would consider such an action a threat to their way of life in the extreme. Either way, Tenchi and Yosho can both defend themselves if need be. They are not helpless. And for the time being, that is my final word on the matter."

Sasami stared at him for a moment. Then, without another word, she turned on her heel, flouncing out of the study and banging the door shut behind her. Ayeka winced.

"I've never seen Sasami act that way before." She said softly. "I think this whole air of mourning is affecting even her, Uncle. Please don't stay mad with her. She is still young and well, all of this confuses and scares her too."

"I know." Azusa sighed, getting to his feet and moving to the window. "In truth, it nags at me also."

"Uncle?" Surprise flooded Ayeka's heart as she glanced at him. "Are you saying that you believe her more than you let her see?"

"I don't know." Azusa admitted. "Kihaku is a dead world. If you paid attention to your studies you may know that it was a colony once, a long time ago. But the timespan is restrictive and I don't see how anyone could survive the destruction that planet has undergone. Of course, Jurai had a hand in that- stripping mineral reserves and hollowing out much of the core in the process of making some of our leading families what they are today."

"And this Tokimi? What about her?"

"There was a Priestess of Kihaku called Tokimi." Azusa agreed. "It's written in the texts in the oldest part of the library - the chronicles that detail the colonisation of distant worlds in the early and middle Old Era. She's mentioned in many entries, attacking the settlers and their domes, interfering in their attempts to make a peaceful existance on Kihaku's land. The scribes called her a heathen and a heretic, believing in base spirits instead of the power and peace of Tsunami-kami-sama. But she was a powerful Priestess nonetheless."

"What happened to her?" A chill touched Ayeka's heart as she listened to her uncle's account. "Could she still be out there? I mean, if Sasami is right...? Or is this another Tokimi? Someone else bearing the same woman's name?"

"An avenging angel?" Azusa shrugged his shoulders. "A descendant of long dead Kihaku? Perhaps. That may explain it. To be truthful, Ayeka, I don't know what happened to Tokimi after her world died. She seems to have disappeared too. The planet still exists but it is devoid of life - a dead world. I would have thought that would have killed her, also."

"And if it didn't?" Ayeka whispered.

"Then maybe there is some grain of truth in what Sasami was saying." Azusa sighed heavily. "But even so, as Emperor of Jurai, Ayeka, I must think of Jurai's welfare before that of my great grandson or even my own son. I see no threat to Jurai at this time, and it would be foolish to engage military units or risk lives pursuing something that may not even be what it seems. So for now, we will let it lie. Sasami may have misunderstood what Tsunami told her, or it may have been just a dream and the child confused it with reality. Either way, there's nothing we can do yet. And right now, the Council and Seiryo Tennan's absence is a greater concern. Until he returns from the Galaxy Police, the Treasury is unattended and we have noone to make report."

"I'll take responsibility for that, Uncle. Takeru and I will see to it that the records are kept up to date." Ayeka rose, her expression sombre. "And I hope you're right about Tokimi and Sasami's predictions. Because I don't like to think of Tenchi in trouble, and I don't want anything to happen to Jurai."

Azusa turned, and in that moment he looked older than Ayeka had ever seen him. He smiled sadly, spreading his hands.

"Nor do I, Ayeka." He murmured. "Tsunami preserve me if I've made the wrong choice."

-------

Well, so she was here.

Suki glanced up at the forbidding entranceway, her heart in her throat as she registered the guards on duty, armed and standing stiffly to attention as they kept their eyes open for intruders. For a moment, she debating turning on her heel, re-boarding her spacehip and fleeing back across the universe, but she knew only too well that there was no solace back on Jurai, either. Setting her teeth, she pushed forward, approaching the main gate and casting a polite smile at the nearest sentry.

"I'm here to see Seiryo Tennan." She said softly. "Please, where might I be able to find him?"

"Agent Tennan's department is the highest level of security." The guard squinted at her, suspicion in his dark eyes. "Who are you?"

"Suki Tennan. Agent Tennan's sister." Suki fumbled in her purse, producing her Juraian identity card and her permit to travel in space. She held them out, and the guard took them, pulling a flat, disk-like device from the top pocket of his jacket and running them over the top. There was a bleep, and the disk flashed a green light.

"Lady Suki, my apologies." Suddenly the guard seemed to find his manners, bowing his head as he returned the documents to her. "You understand that we can never be too careful. I will accompany you to Agent Tennan's quarters. Please, step this way - through the genetic scanners, if you don't mind. It's just procedure...you understand."

"Yes...I understand." Suki gazed around her with big, nervous eyes, but obediently followed the uniformed man through the glowing blue haze that marked the entrance into the complex, letting out a tiny sigh of relief when she found she could pass through unmolested. The guard saw her expression, and smiled.

"First time at Headquarters, is it?" He asked quietly. Suki nodded.

"I've never been able to come visit him here before, and I wouldn't now...only I need to see him." She said sadly. "He is here, isn't he? I saw the Unko docked in the bay as I came round the back, but..."

"Beautiful ship, the Unko." The guard rubbed his beard contemplatively, guiding her through the convoluted passage-ways that, to the anxious girl seemed all to be alike. "And I expect his ship being in port means he's here also. Agent Tennan doesn't like to travel in foreign transport, Suki-kyou. He prefers to man his own craft, and no wonder."

"He's always been attached to it. He believes it brings him luck." Suki agreed softly. "But I don't know. It's just a spaceship, after all."

"Well, here we are, my Lady." The guard dipped his head once more, pausing outside a stark white-panel door and Suki could make out her brother's name in gilted lettering across the front. "If you need anything more, don't hesitate to call us. It isn't often we entertain Juraian nobility...and we wouldn't like your Emperor to think our manners were lacking."

He bowed again, then withdrew down the corridor, and Suki raised her fist, hesitating and then knocking resolutely on the door. At first there was no response, and Suki began to fear that her brother was not there. Then, with a soft hiss, the dividing panel slid back.

"Suki!" Seiryo stared at her, a mixture of dismay and disbelief flitting across his expression as he saw her. He grabbed her roughly by the arm, pulling her into the chamber and shutting the door firmly behind her. "What are you doing here? Have you any idea how much danger you could put yourself in, coming all the way across space like this? What if they'd thought you were a brigand or looter? And what if you'd been attacked on the journey? Suki-chan, what were you thinking?"

He led her into the small sitting area that branched off the main workroom, indicating for her to sit down as he poured her a mug of hot tea from the contraption that was tightly bolted to the furthest wall, and Suki took the proffered cup without demur, sipping the warm substance tentatively. It was bitter and strange to her refined taste buds, but it was warm and somehow, being there in the company of her brother again made her feel safer.

"Well?" Seiryo poured his own drink, sitting down opposite her and casting her a quizzical look. "Why are you here? What was so urgent that you couldn't send a memo?"

Suki bit her lip.

"It's so hard." She whispered. "Seiryo, why did you come back to the Galaxy Police? Ayeka-hime said you came to avenge Father's killer, but...but you and I both know that that's not true. Mother keeps asking if there's news from you, and...and I don't know if I can keep it all together any longer. Not on my own. Please, come home. I can't play Lady of the Manor when I'm not even eighteen!"

Seiryo was silent for a moment. Then, slowly he shook his head, setting his drink down on the steel table between them.

"I have to see this through." He said quietly. "You shouldn't have come here, Suki-chan. I mean it. I don't want you in any danger, and Mother will worry about you if she thinks you've taken off across space on your own. I know it all seems crazy at the moment, but I'm doing this with your - and our - best interests in mind. You do have faith in me, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Suki exclaimed. "I'm just...I'm scared, Seiryo."

She sighed, gazing down at the flecks of leaf floating on the surface of her drink.

"And I have nobody I can talk to."

"No, you don't." Seiryo said frankly. "And that includes me. Suki, the more you talk the more people can hear. I want you to promise me never to raise that subject again...I mean it. Except in terms of what we agreed. I'm doing everything I can to keep you safe - believe me. But if you buckle and give everything away, there'll be nothing I can do. Just go home and wait. I'll be back with you as soon as my work here is concluded. I promise."

"But why are you here? I don't understand." Suki eyed her brother with earnest aqua eyes. "We both know it's not to avenge Father."

"But making the appearance of it is as important as actually doing it." Seiryo said with a shrug.

"It's all about appearances." Suki sighed, shaking her head. "I'm starting to think that those things don't matter so much as I thought they did, Seiryo-oniichan. If it takes you away from Mother and I when we need you the most, how can it be the best thing? The Tennan family are strong and they've got through tough things before. But I worry about you, and about what you might have to do in order to keep everything...together. Since you went away I've been scared for you."

"Well, don't be." Seiryo reached out to touch her hand. "I'm not as weak as Father believed me to be. I'm capable of much more than he ever gave me credit for. You're just insecure at the moment because it all seems so uncertain. But it won't be. I have a much better grasp of finance than he ever did, and I won't shame the Tennan name by cavorting with local harlots when I should be in Council session."

"Did you find the girl?" Suki asked anxiously. Seiryo nodded.

"Yes." he said flatly. "I found her. And you needn't worry on that score. She won't be talking to anyone."

Horror flooded Suki's gaze and she bit her lip.

"You didn't...kill her?" She whispered. Seiryo looked impatient.

"No, I didn't." He responded. "I told you I wouldn't and you said you trusted me. We had words, that's all."

"Oh." Suki relaxed, sinking back against the seat and closing her eyes. "Well, that's good then. I'm sorry I came out here like this, Seiryo. I guess...I guess I just missed you. You've been away so many years and then you're gone again - I just wanted my big brother home again, like when I was a little girl. That's all. I find it hard to think of this as your world. It's so cold and...and harsh. And dangerous."

"No more dangerous than the political circles of Jurai, and certainly not colder, if the Imada family are involved." Seiryo said bitterly. "And besides, my stay here is temporary this time. With Father gone, the Tennan manor is missing it's Lord and, as you said yourself, you're far too young and too inexperienced to take up the mantle and the Council seat yourself. Mother is too frail, and that leaves it to me."

Suki eyed him studiously, taking in the tiredness in his teal eyes and the drawn look on his face. She frowned.

"You look weary, Seiryo-oniichan." She murmured. "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? No." Seiryo shook his head. "In fact, quite the opposite. Everything is going extremely well."

"What everything?" Suki looked confused. "I know you can't talk about your work to me, but surely they won't let you go home until you produce a suspect in Father's murder? And you can't do that...or if you do..."

She faltered, shaking her head.

"I won't let you make someone innocent a scapegoat." She whispered.

Seiryo laughed, but there was a strangely hollow note to it.

"I will do whatever it takes to put my family back where it belongs." He said quietly, getting to his feet and pulling her to hers. "Listen to me, Suki. You are a Tennan. Just like me. We have generations of proud family history to uphold and pass on to our descendants. Neither one of us can falter now. Everything will be all right, so long as you go back to Jurai and act as normally as you can, in the circumstances. Wear your mourning drab. Pray for Father at that wretched Tree. Comfort mother and make sure she doesn't fret. And don't worry about me. I know how to act."

"Seiryo..."

"No, Suki." Seiryo pushed his finger to her lips. "I won't tell you any more than you need to know. Just be assured that I have allies and protection beyond anything that even the Emperor Azusa could muster. I'm quite safe, so long as I complete my mission successfully, and there have been scarce occasions in the past when I haven't done just that. So take your ship and go back home. If you want an escort, I'll ask for some of the junior officers to accompany you...but you must go. And we will see each other soon, when all will be well."

Suki sent her companion a troubled look.

"Something is wrong." She murmured. "You've never spoken like that before. What kind of protection? I don't understand. Talk to me, Seiryo-oniichan! What have you had to agree to, in return for my safety?"

"Nothing that need concern you." Seiryo touched her gently on the cheek, but his fingers were cold, and a brief jolt of energy seemed to skip from his skin to hers. She drew back, fear flickering in her eyes.

"What's happened to you?" She demanded. Seiryo stared.

"Nothing." He said simply. "And you should be making your way back. It's late and getting later still."

"No." Suki shook her head. "When you touched me...Seiryo, I felt it. Something like I'd never felt before. Some kind of...of magic. Dark magic."

She swallowed hard, trying to hold back her tears. "Is that what you had to do? Trust in witchcraft for my sake?"

"There's no such thing as witches or witchcraft, and there is nothing wrong with me." Seiryo shook his head, impatience in his expression. "Please, Suki. Don't ask questions I can't answer. If you felt something, it must have been atmospheric. They've been having circuitry trouble here on and off most of the day, thanks to one of the idiots in the regular division - more likely than not it's just a random electric shock."

"I don't know." Doubt touched Suki's heart. "Seiryo..."

"Shh." Seiryo shook his head. "No more on this topic. Go back to Jurai and I will join you as soon as I can. All right? And don't worry. I can look after myself."

Suki sent him a pained look, but before she could protest further, he had reached across to release the catch on the main door of his quarters. It slid back almost silently, and, not without misgivings, Suki found herself back out in the blue-lit hallways once more.

"Have a safe trip, my sister." Seiryo stood in the entrance, and for a moment, Suki saw a flicker of regret in his teal eyes. Then it was gone, and he raised his hand in a mock-salute. Suki resisted the urge to fling herself on him, instead turning on her heel and making her way back down the corridor that the guard had used to bring them there.

"Whatever he says to me, I know something is wrong." She murmured, the tears blurring her sight as she headed slowly back to her ship. "I came here in search of comfort, and instead I leave with more worries. When he touched me...that was no electric shock. That was magic - something no member of the Tennan family has ever wielded. Oh Seiryo, what have you done? How far will you really go to keep my crime a secret?"

--

Once sure he was alone, Seiryo returned to the small sitting area, dropping down onto the couch and rubbing his temples, closing his eyes as he muttered a curse under his breath.

"Someone should introduce your sister to a backbone, Seiryo-san." Tokimi's voice echoed in his head, and he jerked his head up in surprise, wincing as he jarred the throbbing headache that had begun at the base of his skull.

"What do you want?" He muttered. "I've spent all of this afternoon trying to work out a way of slipping Masaki's name into the police files without generating suspicion and my head is spinning. You're not really top of my contact list right now."

"Why did she come here?"

"She's frightened. She's just a kid still and she's not used to all of this." Seiryo said coldly. "Leave her out of it. You promised to keep her safe."

"And you came very close to telling her the nature of our agreement, Seiryo-san."

"I didn't and I wouldn't. I don't want to involve her in your twisted schemes." Seiryo snapped. "She and Mother both put far too much faith in the Tree of Life anyway. I'd rather she didn't know what we were trying to achieve."

"That arrangement suits me, also." Tokimi agreed. "But it seems that Suki-kyou is not the only young lady to seek your company tonight."

"What do you mean?" Suspicion flitted into Seiryo's gaze and he glanced around him, half expecting to see a companion materialise out of nowhere. "Is it that droid? Did you sent that wretched robot to spy on me now?"

"No. Zero is still on Planet Earth." Tokimi told him. "I just thought you should be aware...that someone was listening to your conversation with your sister."

"What?" Seiryo's eyes opened wide, and he was on his feet in a moment, hurrying across the living quarters to the entrance and forcing open the door, gazing out into the hall-way. Tokimi's laughter echoed in his head, and he muttered a string of unrepeatable words under his breath, banging the door shut again with some temper.

"Are you playing games with me?" He demanded.

"Of course not. I don't play games with things that might compromise my plans." Tokimi's humour was gone as soon as it had come. "She's long gone now, you fool. Suki would have fallen over her, if she'd have been here when your sister left. But she was here all right. I felt her presence."

"Another loose end?" Seiryo demanded. "Tokimi, why didn't you warn me?"

"And give away our connection in front of your nervy, jumpy sister?" Tokimi asked archly. "Of course not. She is not reliable...and I don't trust her discretion."

"Then tell me something useful." Seiryo buried his head in his hands, sighing heavily. "Who is this eavesdropper, and where can I find her?"

"Ah." There was a contemplative silence, then Tokimi spoke again. "You are already acquainted with her...in fact, she is something of a colleague of yours."

"A colleague?"

"A colleague who claims an acquaintance with those we seek." Tokimi agreed thoughtfully. "You must stop her, Seiryo. Eliminate her, if you must - but she must not be allowed to relay what she knows to her contacts on the Earth. I have worked hard to keep Washu out of things as much as I can - I won't have that hard work undone by your careless tongue."

"Tokimi, I'm more than prepared to do what you want me to do, and I'll take the woman out if that's what it takes." Seiryo snapped. "But it would help if you'd at least give me her name!"

"Manners, Seiryo-san. You forget who serves whom." Tokimi laughed, a hollow, humourless chuckle that ripped right through to Seiryo's soul, and he winced again as he felt her magic burn through his brain.

"Stop it! Just tell me!" He exclaimed. "I don't need your power play or your stupid tricks!"

"Very well." Like tendrils of a vine, Tokimi recoiled her magic, and Seiryo relaxed, running his fingers through his hair as he focused on her final two words.

"Kiyone Makibi."