Chapter Ten
"I need you to tell me what's going on."
Ryoko folded her arms, leaning up against the wall of the bed-chamber as she fixed her companion with a wary, suspicious glare. "I know something is, and I know you're not telling me everything. What in hell was tonight all about, anyway? I've slept with you. More than once. You never had nightmares then. Why now?"
"Nothing is going on." Hotsuma pulled himself into an upright position, returning her gaze with a defensive one of his own. "As you so charmingly put it. We're allies, Ryoko - at least, once I thought we were. Why would I hide something from you? I've nothing to gain by lying to you, have I?"
"I don't know." Ryoko pursed her lips. "But I think it's time I found out. Hotsuma, I saw the girl again. The ghost. The one in the picture - that I saw in the mirror."
"Didn't I already tell you about her?"
"Yes, but I think you lied to me." Ryoko said firmly, sitting down on the end of his bed. "And you know that you did, so how about you forget the fiction and give me the real story, huh? You always did think that you knew best, when it came to filling me in on all the information. I'm not a sissy, girly girl. You know that. I can take it - I'm not scared of ghosts, even if you are. And I'm not scared of her. I just want to know what's going on."
Hotsuma eyed her wearily, shaking his head slowly.
"I don't know who she is." He said softly. "That's the truth, Ryoko. I don't know. But...she is here. And I did lie to you about that. I thought you might leave Nagatabi if you knew, so yes, I lied. But I'm a pirate - and pirates never do tell the whole truth, do they?"
"They do to those they bond with, or they should." Ryoko sighed. "All right. So you admit she's here, then, and I'm not mad or seeing things or suffering from some kind of delayed concussion?"
"I already said so...you don't have to pound it in."
"I just wanted to be clear." Ryoko pursed her lips. "Why are you so scared of her? I mean, she's dead, right? What can she do except flit around the place and shout 'boo' when you're not expecting it?"
"You never were superstitious enough for your own good." Hotsuma said darkly. Ryoko raised an eyebrow.
"And I thought you believed ghost stories were nonsense, too." She remarked. "Did you lie about that, too?"
"No." Hotsuma sighed. "No, I didn't. Ryoko, I'm barely awake here. Will you at least give me a chance to settle my thoughts before you give me the third degree? It's been a long time since we last flew together. Things change and so do people. Is that so very strange?"
"I think it is, yes."
"And you haven't changed?" Hotsuma raised an eyebrow. "Even though you talk about love and you cry over a dead man and you say by your own admission that you haven't flown in space so much recently?"
"That's different!"
"Why?" Hotsuma demanded. "Why is it all right for you to change and not for me? I didn't choose to fly aboard a haunted ship, you know. But without Gai'En, my options were limited. This was it, so I dealt with it. And when you live with a ghost, you really have no choice but to believe in her. Especially since it's her who causes me to dream. You say she can't do anything but she can, Ryoko. She's out to get me because I stole her ship, and she won't let it rest."
"You didn't raid it, did you?" Ryoko asked softly. "You heisted it from Sargasso."
"I did no such thing!" Hotsuma exclaimed, indignation in his eyes. "I have some limits, Ryoko! Not even the worst pirate would steal a dead ship from Sargasso! I raided it...I took it fair and square."
Ryoko frowned, shaking her head.
"The Nagatabi was in Sargasso." She said softly. "I know, because I saw her there, once before. And she was dead then, Hotsuma. Dusty and neglected and worn with age. This hardly looks like the same ship, you've done so much to change it. But it is the same vessel, I can see it now. Just little things, they remind me. You're still lying to me, pirate boy. And I don't like it. I never did like it, when you were like this."
She sent him a reproachful look, blurring and flickering out of view and Hotsuma found himself once more alone in the darkened chamber. He muttered a curse, tossing back his bedcovers as he got to his feet. The sight of the girl's face in the glass did nothing to cheer his mood, and he grabbed his pillow, tossing it with vicious force towards her. It thudded against the thick crystal, sliding to the floor, and the reproach in Mirei's ghostly eyes was too much for him to bear. With a yell of anger, he reached for the bedside chair, hoisting it above his head and clattering it against the mirror again and again until it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. Then, breathing heavily, he dropped his weapon to the floor, sinking down onto the end of the bed and burying his head in his hands as he fought to regain his composure. Whispers of his dream still teased at him, and he gritted his teeth.
"You're not going to make me leave this ship!" He exclaimed. "I don't care what you do to me, I'm not going anywhere! You're dead. You can't own anything! This ship is mine now, do you hear me? Nagatabi is mine!"
There was no answer, but a cold wind whipped around the chamber and Hotsuma knew he had had enough. Getting abruptly to his feet, he left the bedroom, heading up the stairway towards the drive room and pushing open the door.
Ryoko was already there, and consternation touched his expression as he registered the look in her eyes.
"Are you following me, or is this a magic coincidence of timing?" She asked archly. Hotsuma scowled at her.
"I own this ship. You're the passenger. If you don't like it, I'm not blocking you from leaving." He said darkly. "Sometimes a captain has to actually fly his ship, you know, instead of leaving it all to the autopilot. And since you've woken me up and I'm not going to sleep again tonight, I might as well check our progress."
"I already did." Ryoko's tones were dangerously low. "We haven't made any."
"What are you talking about now?" Hotsuma snapped. "Of course we have."
"According to Nagatabi's radar, we're not even in Balta space." Ryoko continued. "In fact, it seems to be pretty much steady. In Sargasso."
"You have a fixation with Sargasso!" Hotsuma exclaimed. "What is your problem, Ryoko? Do you see dead ships surrounding us every way we turn?"
"No, I don't, but..."
"But the damn radar might have been jammed by the electrical energy inside that sector, did you think of that?" Hotsuma cut across her, pushing past her as he glanced down at the screen for himself. "It's not built for delving into ghost space, but I took the risk to rescue you and you're not very grateful that I did! It would be nice if you'd stop questioning everything I do or say and just have a little faith that I know what I'm doing! I don't like Shank any more than you do. I'm all for killing him and I'm very much on your side. But I can't deal with your paranoia and your persecution complex all over again. You think everyone is out to get you, and you always have to be in control! You were wrong, Ryoko - you haven't changed. Not as much as you think."
Ryoko stared at him at this hot-tempered speech, for a moment struck silent by the bitterness in his tone. Then, at length, she brushed her hand against the radar.
"I didn't think of that." She admitted unwillingly. "That the ship might have been hurt by it's trip to Sargasso. Ryo Ohki is...wasn't affected, so it didn't occur..."
She faltered, then shook her head.
"I'm sorry." She added reluctantly. "I've been creeped out tonight once too many times and you're right. You have nothing to gain by lying to me, and I guess I understand why you didn't tell me about Mirei."
"How do you know her name?" Hotsuma looked startled. Ryoko shrugged.
"She told me." She said simply. "We had a chat this evening. It was actually her who told me you were having bad dreams. She wanted me to help you, Hotsuma. I don't think she does mean you harm. I think she's just the ghost of some kid who got trapped here somehow when her ship was abandoned. Maybe she's looking for someone to play with. After all, it was the Nagatabi that Sasami went exploring, when we were travelling to Jurai. And it was Sasami who was in the picture I found, down in the salon. Perhaps Mirei just wants a friend. And the more freaked out you get about her being here, the more freaked out she gets, too."
Hotsuma was silent for a moment, then,
"Do you think that's true?" He asked doubtfully. Ryoko shrugged.
"Well, why would she want to hurt you?" She asked sensibly. "You said you didn't know her. And you weren't lying to me about that, were you, Hotsuma?"
"I wasn't lying about it." Hotsuma shook his head. "I know her name because she tells me it, in my dreams. But I don't know if it's her real name or if it's just imagination. I swear, Ryoko. I'm telling you the truth. That's all I know. She's been here since I have, and that's the whole story. And I didn't take Nagatabi from Sargasso, either. I wouldn't do that. When you saw it must have been before the Daluma got a hold of it. I am pretty damn sure I wrested it away from Tarant Shank and his ingrates, so they must have been the ones who stole it from Sargasso. You did say that they didn't seem afraid to venture in there."
"That's true." Ryoko acknowledged.. "All right. I believe you."
She sighed, casting a glance at the radar.
"So do you have any idea where we are?"
"I've been working on navigating by stars." Hotsuma admitted. "I know this stretch so well, and you and I flew here so many times I could fly through it backwards. Just because we haven't tracked down Daidalos yet doesn't mean we won't. Have patience. We'll nail him."
"Can't you fix it?"
"Fix it?" Hotsuma stared at her, and Ryoko nodded.
"Yes. Fix it. You know, with tools and stuff?" She agreed. Hotsuma shrugged.
"Wouldn't have a clue how." He admitted.
"But you always told me you could fix anything and everything. You were a technological whiz when we flew together - it was one of the things that made our partnership so great." Ryoko's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why can't you fix a ship's radar? I would have thought you could do that in your sleep."
"Well, I can't." Hotsuma said bitterly.
"Okay, then can you radio the Balta for help? Because we're going to have all kinds of trouble once we get into less familiar space."
"Radio doesn't work either." Hotsuma shook his head. "Sargasso's pull is strong."
Ryoko rested her hands on his shoulders, confusion flickering in her amber eyes.
"Look at me, Hotsuma." She commanded, and despite himself, Hotsuma did as he was bidden.
"Do you remember the raid we pulled on the Bank of Jurai, in Concor's orbit?" Ryoko asked softly. Hotsuma nodded slowly.
"Yes. I think so. We made off with a fortune, but you blew half of it on alcohol and I gambled the rest at the planet's casinos." He agreed, a rueful smile touching his lips. "What about it?"
"How did we get into that bank, Hotsuma?"
"I don't know." Hotsuma frowned. "It was a long time ago. Probably we fabricated some trick to get in. You might have phased us through. I don't know. I tend to focus more on the result than the methodology."
"You rigged their security system onto a loop and they spent the entire night chasing their shadows, locked in the bank's basement." Ryoko said quietly. "It took you all of two minutes, and you weren't even trying. Hotsuma, what's happened to you? When we flew together before, you'd be able to fix those things pretty much by clicking your fingers. Why can't you do it now? Surely that's not something you forget?"
Hotsuma stared at her for a moment, a chill touching his spine at her words.
"I don't know." He admitted at length. "I don't remember how. That's all."
"But why not?"
"If I knew that, I'd tell you." Hotsuma pushed her away, sinking down in the pilot's chair. "Look, Ryoko. It hasn't all been fun and games for everyone since the last time we flew together. There are a lot of things that are patchy in my mind these days - and that's the truth. When I lost Gai'En...well, I don't remember the details, which frustrates me more than I can say. But I think that there was...something. Something that affected my memory - my thinking. I lost a whole lot of things and there are moments that are still hazy, even now. Too much alcohol never did help my recall, so that probably made it worse. I'm not perfect. No pirate is. Just deal with it, and move on - I have."
"But you can remember the stars." Ryoko pressed her hands to the glass, staring out across the bleak expanse of blackness.
A crooked smile touched Hotsuma's lips.
"Because I can remember you." He agreed. "And you and I spent a lot of time watching stars, in between raiding the planets we found on the way. I remember the things that matter, Ryoko-chan. The other stuff I can live without. It doesn't matter, anyhow. The past is irrelevant - unwanted baggage that weighs you down. I only care about the future. And, of course, the now."
"Then why so much focus on me, then?" Ryoko asked acidly. "I'm your past, too. Why not just leave me to die?"
"You know that's not something I'd do, princess." Hotsuma shook his head. "You're just too valuable a pirate to toss out with the rest of the space trash."
Ryoko frowned.
"But I don't want to be a pirate, now." She said pensively. "Sometimes I don't even want to kill Shank. It's so much bother. I hate him so much, but when I think of it, I wonder if Tenchi would ever forgive me if I shed blood in his name. It's so stupid, but it's like I can hear his voice, right there inside my head. He'd be telling me to walk away from it. But I can't. I'm stuck in the past and you have no past. We're making a wonderful pair so far."
"Tenchi is the past." Hotsuma said frankly. "Let him go, and forget about him. He sounds a wimp and a coward, anyway, and you don't need someone like that holding you back and making you conform to rules and regulations. You and I aren't like them, Ryoko. We live outside the law. Not within it."
He grasped her hand loosely in his, and she eyed him sadly, shaking her head.
"I'm in love with him." She said softly. "I can't be your lover again, Hotsuma. It wasn't enough to bind us together before, and it can't be now, either. I love Tenchi. Even if he is dead."
"You have gone soft." Hotsuma grimaced. "Will you see sense? I don't want a lover. I want a partner - the partner I had before we both got hotheaded and angry and shot off into space in opposite directions. We made silly decisions, but we're the only ones still here, Ryoko. You and I. We've a chance to start over, to renew our bond and fly together into space. Shank deserves to die, and you know it as well as I do. Then it will be like old times. You've been foolish, that's all - there's nothing you lack that space can't provide. You told me enough times that all you needed was space and stars."
"And Ryo Ohki." Ryoko said regretfully. Hotsuma looked grave.
"Yes." He acknowledged. "I am sorry about her loss, Ryoko. She was a fine, brave ship, and she will be missed."
"She will." Ryoko bit her lip. "Without her I feel isolated. Lonely. I can't even explain - but she's been here, with me, my whole life...or more or less. That she isn't there now is wrong. Even then, when I was a pirate, I always had her to retreat to when things were bad. I never thought she'd leave me. I never imagined I'd be so completely alone."
"Then you should consider what I'm offering you." Hotsuma hesitated, then slid his hand into his belt, pulling out his knife and setting it down on the top of the control panel. Ryoko stared at it in surprise and consternation, and he nudged the hilt towards her, sending her a smile.
"Your scar might have healed, but we can always create a new one." He murmured. "Your blood, my blood, mixed like the last time. You have nothing to go back to, Ryoko, so don't go back. Look forward. It's the only way you can go, after all. And if you stay here, with me, aboard Nagatabi...you won't be alone. Not ever. I promise you that - we'll be partners and this time we won't fall out over petty differences of opinion."
Slowly Ryoko picked up the knife, running a hesitant finger along the side of the glinting blade. For a moment, nothing moved, then the pirate sighed, shaking her head.
"I can't." She admitted, pushing the weapon back towards him. "Not yet, anyway. I'm sorry, Hotsuma. But I'm not ready. Maybe when I've closure...when I've vengeance for Tenchi and my family, then perhaps...it will be different. But for now, I need to...to settle that. To find Shank and...and end this. Somehow. I need to make someone pay."
Hotsuma sighed, but nodded, retrieving his knife and returning it to his belt.
"All right." He said quietly. "Then we'll find Shank. And after we've dealt with him, we'll discuss it again. I think a good, bloody pirate battle is just what you need to make you remember exactly who you truly are."
-----------------
"Washu-san, you've been in here all night."
Yume pushed open the door of the laboratory, concern flickering in her big lilac eyes as she surveyed her tired mentor's expression. "You need to take a break - I can carry on with whatever it is you're doing, and you can't carry on indefinitely without eating or sleeping, you know."
"There was a time I could." Washu said regretfully, getting to her feet and stretching as she stifled a yawn. "Whaddya know? Maybe I'm finally getting old, Yume. But I didn't realise what time it was. Is it really morning already?"
"It's half past eight." Yume nodded her head. "Noboyuki-san has left for work already, and Tenchi's gone to Osaka through your doorway - under protest, but he did go. I don't know where Nagi is - she's hard to keep track of - but Ryo Ohki and Ken Ohki are cuddled up together on Ryoko's bed, so I guess she's around somewhere. I made breakfast an hour ago. Are you hungry? Because if you are..."
"No, I'm not hungry." Washu shook her head. "Actually, I'm feeling a little more pleased with myself than I was last night. Come over here, Yume-chan. I think our expedition into space has helped - I've picked up Ryoko's frequency. At least, I'm ninety nine percent sure it's Ryoko, and not some illegal radio wave that's jamming up my servers."
"Tenchi said that you thought she'd been kidnapped by ghosts." Yume settled herself obediently beside the computer unit, gazing briefly at the silent patient, and then across at Washu's screen. "Is that true?"
"Well, it's the layman's explanation of what's happened to her." Washu said ruefully. "Ryoko's projecting astrally, right?"
"Right, so?"
"Best guess scenario - the accident heppened in Sargasso." Washu pressed a few buttons, pausing to smile at her companion. "Sargasso is legendary for the odd effects it has on most of the ships that fly there. Some stories say once you enter, you never escape - although that's pure nonsense, of course. Yagami made it out unscathed, Ryo Ohki and Ken Ohki are both able to fly through it without damaging important engine componants, and the Galaxy Police use the fringes of that space a lot for their own ends. But it creates enough of a mystique to be worth investigation. No smoke without fire, and all of that."
"I follow." Comprehension flitted into Yume's eyes. "So the force of the blast from that pirate ship coupled with her own magic put her into shock, and split her mind and body apart. Is that what you're saying? And because it was this Sargasso, where the normal rules of physics don't seem to apply, it's managed to keep part of her there even though she's right here with us, on the Earth?"
"Well, it's a well known fact that the mind - not even the mind of a genius like me - can't be in more than one place at a time." Washu agreed grimly. "Ryoko's mind - such as it is - isn't here, that's for sure. So it stands to reason that it's somewhere else. As you said, Sargasso's rules aren't quite like any other space zone. Nagi told us a story about a ship that was looted and a pirate that was killed. He was an old friend of Ryoko's...somehow I think he's the one holding her in her spectral limbo."
"Nagi told me about him, too." Yume looked grave. "Your theory makes sense to me, Washu-san. But can we bring her back?"
"Well, that's where my being pleased with myself wears off, and I start being frustrated all over again." Washu grimaced, keying in another set of commands as a box flashed up onto the screen. "I've nailed what I think is her frequency. If I tweak it a little, I might even be able to get a sense of her thoughts and feelings. Perhaps even a picture. But in terms of retrieving her...that's where I'm not so sure. The whole thing falls down at that point. I'm not Kii enough to project myself after her, not now."
"I thought you told me that your magic had begun to return?" Yume looked surprised. "Were you wrong?"
"No. Traces of it are still there." Washu shook her head. "The traces I inherited direct from father, as opposed to from Kihaku itself. I didn't bond with it, you see, but I still had the Hakubi magic. Now the World is gone, so is my power."
Yume's eyes narrowed.
"But that's illogical." She objected. "Destroying Kihaku was supposed to kill you, too. Thanks to Tsunami-kami-sama, you survived, but your magic was spent. However, you never did bond with your planet. So why should destroying it have had such a final impact on your magical ability? Surely you inherited all of it from your father, and not from the World at all? In which case, surely it must all be there still? Somewhere? Unless Kihaku's existance magnified your magic, I don't see any other explanation. And since you never went to Kihaku, except to stop Tokimi..."
She shrugged.
"You tell me the logic, Washu-sensei. I don't see it myself."
Washu sighed.
"Well, your reasoning makes sense, with one profound flaw." She said sadly. "It isn't still there. Not how it was, anyway. I think the Hakubi tribe were far too deeply tied to the planet to be able to hold much power and influence away from it. I never really used my magics, or studied them beyond what I needed, so I don't know what the limits really were. All I do know is that they're less now than they were before Kihaku exploded. If Sasami's divine power hadn't intervened, I would have died when Kihaku did. So my strength and the planet's strength were connected. Somehow. And now it's gone, so is the bulk of my magical potential."
"Maybe." Yume eyed her companion keenly. "I'm still not convinced. It seems just as possible that you were badly hurt by the explosion, and that you're just beginning now to recover your physical strength fully. Don't you think so? You've always neglected your magic, so in some ways you prefer that it isn't there. But because you're so used to ignoring it, you can't wake it at will any more. It draws on your strength now, not the planet's - and you've never used your own will to raise it. You've always asserted that it was Kihaku's magic. But what if it isn't? Perhaps it's your magic, inherited in the bloodline of your family, and you just can't find it inside of yourself."
"Either way, it doesn't matter." Washu shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have enough of it to astrally project across the room, let alone across ghost-infested space. That's not an option, Yume. But equally, we can't physically go in and grab her. There's essentially nothing to grab and whether she'd even see us is uncertain. So I have to come up with a plan B. This pirate spirit has a hold on her - a blood bond. That's a strong thing in pirate circles. We need to counteract it. Somehow. And that's where I'm stuck."
"Then take a break and rest." Yume suggested. Washu frowned, shaking her head.
"I can't risk it." She admitted. "Don't tell Tenchi this, Yume, but Ryoko stopped breathing last night. Only for the briefest of moments," As Yume stared at her companion in horror. "And I stabilised her again pretty quickly. But she is growing weaker. Her vital signs are fading, her pulse has erratic moments, her breathing is getting more and more shallow. We don't have time for me to take a break. I have to resolve this now - as soon as possible. Before it's too late for us to bring her back."
"I see." Yume bit her lip. "Then I'll stay and help you...two heads are better than one."
She reached into her pocket, pulling out a dog-eared sheet of paper which she handed to her companion.
"Nagi gave me this. It was in Ken Ohki's databanks." She said quietly. "It's the rap sheet for the pirate - the one who you think has Ryoko. Hotsuma. A former Balta. She is listed among his accomplices."
"And there is the crime aboard the Nagatabi." Washu took the sheet, skimming over the contents. "You know, for someone who doesn't want to get involved and who really doesn't care about Ryoko, Nagi sure is being helpful."
Yume smiled.
"Tenchi says her motives are hard to read but she often comes through when she's needed." She remembered. "She's a strange person, Washu. But I think she does want us to help Ryoko. She says they're not friends and that she's here because of Ken Ohki and because she thinks you can help her strengthen her ship against Shank. I know I'm still new at reading people, but I think she'd be sad if Ryoko died. I think she sort of likes her."
"Yes, me too." Washu acknowledged. "Only it's probably better not to express that particular opinion near Nagi. There's a fine line between friendship and animosity and those two have weaved across it more times than history can count. I think Nagi would still like to think she's Ryoko's nemesis, and that if anyone's going to take her out, it'll be her. Not that I'm sure if she'd do it, these days...there's no reward for killing someone who's been fully pardoned. But I think deep down she'd still like to challenge Ryoko to that no holds barred battle. The last time they scrapped, Ryoko won. I don't think Nagi's forgotten it yet."
"Can you help Ken Ohki against Shank?"
"Yes...once we've resolved the Ryoko problem, I'll keep my word." Washu nodded. "Remember, Yume, I designed the cabbit ship. Ken Ohki isn't as flexible as Ryo Ohki but he does have a stronger outer shell. It shouldn't be too much work. In fact, I was going to begin last night. Then Ryoko almost went down and I got distracted onto other things."
"That makes sense." Yume's gaze flitted to the sleeping pirate. "Then what can I do?"
"Right now, you can see what you make of those figures." Washu tapped the screen. "I'm going to go clutch at a few straws. Something has just occured to me."
"Something?" Yume looked startled. "What kind of straws?"
"I'm going to ask Lord Katsuhito about his Jurai power." Washu said grimly. "I might not have enough magic to go and pull Ryoko back, but I'm not sure whether astral projection is a Juraian magical trait as well as a Kii one. Whilst I'm sure that Tsunami could probably do it, we don't have Tsunami and by the time we'd flown poor Ken Ohki to Jurai and back to get Sasami, it might be too late for Ryoko. But what you said about my magic and being seperate from Kihaku set my cogs working. If anyone understands Jurai's power, it'll be Lord Katsuhito. And if he knows about it, then there's just a chance he knows how to do it."