MASAKI TALES Vol. V - QUEST...
Author: Daferge
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Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! is a copyright AIC/Pioneer Ltd...
All respective characters are property of their original owners...
All original characters and ideas are property of the author...
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Chapter 10... The waiting...
( Deep within Avalon... )
Washu sat at her keyboard, her eyes taking in the data on the screen as the lines scrolled at a speed most people would have trouble even seeing...
Although she saw every word and symbol, she was only looking for "key" words...
Words that might help her with a life-or-death situation...
Even so, that didn't mean she ignored other words that caught her eye...
It just meant that she had to make a notation and continue on...
Pausing the screen, she smiled, it was interesting how, after 10s of thousands of "years", TIME had suddenly become important...
As a Goddess, TIME should't have mattered, but it did...
Her sister Tsunami had just smiled when she'd mentioned it...
Her other sister, Tokimi, had just looked at her, tilted her head slightly, popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth and returned to watching the strange show they'd been watching...
Some thing called a soap?...
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As she took a moment her eye noticed a small light blinking up in the top right-hand corner of her screen...
Some one was trying to get her on her private line, known to only a trusted handful...
Hitting a key, she smiled as a face she hadn't seen in a while appeared, Nobuyuki Masaki - Tenchi's Father...
" Hey beautiful!... "
For the moment Washu's thoughts weren't on science, they were on the person before her...
She watched as the smiling male reached up a hand to the screen and she soon found her own pressed to her screen...
What is it about Masaki males?...
She sighed...
. . . . . . . . . .
After an eternity, Nobuyuki spoke up, getting Washu's attention...
" Had a moment, between meetings and thought I'd see how you were... "
Washu smiled as he showed one of the many traits Tenchi had inherited showed, concern for others...
Goddess or not, he was worried about her, one of the many reasons that drew her to him...
She had to shake her head as images began to dance in her mind...
It was a female voice that brought her back to reality, Ayeka's...
REALLY, Mz. Washu and at your age?...
Instantly Washu concentrated on a number of projects back in her lab dealing with slime...
When her eyes open, she saw a wicked smile on Nobuyuki's face...
Seeing her red face reflected by her screen told her why...
Getting a wicked smile of her own, she licked her lips, touched them with two fingers and pressed them to the screen...
" Later... "
As the screen closed, Nobuyuki had a smile bigger than the screen...
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As the screen closed, she noted the quiet...
Looking around she found that every one nearby was staring at her...
Among them were Tenchi and Merlin...
While Tenchi had a smile as big as his dad's, Merlin's mouth was open...
" WHAT?... "
THAT seem to be all that was needed, as every one quickly returned to what they had been doing...
Tenchi leaned over and used a finger to close Merlin's mouth, who suddenly remembered business elsewhere...
Watching Merlin disappear, Washu saw Tenchi looking her way, still smiling...
Well, young man!...
Bowing slightly Tenchi continued to smile as he return to what he'd been doing...
Yes - Mom...
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( Jurai Royal Palace... )
Emperor Azusa studied the latest report about the conflict in a star system under Juraian control...
It tended to expose a weakness of having such a large Empire...
Although communications had gotten to the point that you could talk to some one on the other side of the empire as if face-to-face, travel still took time...
From Jurai it was a weeks travel time to this system, even the nearest military base was over a day away, as was the nearest patrolling large task force...
It seem that a small task force, with an old cruiser and support ships had been stationed there, but the enemy was too powerful...
In fact, this enemy would give a special re-enforced attack task force problems and the Juraian military was one of the most power forces in the universe...
Raiders used their special, small fast ships with very powerful weapons to attack lone colonies, isolated out post, different types of ships - Every thing...
But unlike space pirates, they attacked without reason, took little in loot and were known to leave no one behind - alive...
As they showed no mercy, none was given to them, Raiders killed themselves and their ships were programed to self-destruct rather than be taken in one piece...
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And his youngest daughter had just found herself in the middle of this violent cauldron...
His first impulse was to send every unit close to the system, at max speed, to rescue her, but her mother, his second Queen, quietly reminded him that she hadn't gone alone...
She was aboard the GP's ultra-secret ship Yukinojo, the name of princess Mihoshi's space cruiser which Professor Washu had rebuilt and upgraded so much it was now almost as powerful as one of Jurai's own Capital ships, if not a tree-ship...
Also along as protection was the famed bounty-hunter Nagi Katsumoro, who was sure to have Ken-Ohki her very unusual space ship with her...
And knowing Ryoko's Ryo-Ohki, where Sasami went so would she, another very unusual space ship...
Three of the most powerful Ship's out side the Juraian Empire...
Azusa also knew that those with her would be willing to give their lives before letting any thing happen to her...
Even those who didn't have blood ties to the Royal family, they were still - Family...
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Then there was news from Lady Seto that Lady Haruoni Masaki Tanaka's tree-ship, which had been missing since her death, had been found...
The ship, named Amelia by Queen Funaho for lady Tanaka's original name of Amelia Mary Earhart from colony 0315, was to be a wedding/birthday present from the Royal family...
It seem that after being given temp command of the ship, lord Tanaka had hidden it in the deepest waters of lord Tanaka's home world as a surprise...
Lord and lady Tanaka, with their son, had been on their way to the planet when they were attacked and killed...
The trip was not only to visit his family and renew strained ties, but to surprise her...
Seto had also relayed the news that, with princess Sasami and Goddess Tsunami's permissions, Lady Haruoni's daughter, Kiyone had been bonded to the Amelia...
With that, there were four powerful ships there...
It looked like there was going to be a surprise party after all...
Also, Lady Seto had hinted that Professor Washu had mentioned that back-up plans were in place as a safety measure...
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Azusa sighed, here he was, the Emperor of one of the most powerful nations in the universe and he still had to sit and wait...
Looking at the stacks of papers on his desk, for some reason a conversation he'd had with Washu recently came to mind...
He asked her what she saw in Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki Masaki...
She 'd looked at Nobuyuki standing across the room and smiled...
" Perhaps I see what two Queens see in a certain Emperor... You're both 'salarymen' in the end, working a hard, thankless job to support those you both deeply care about... "
Sitting down in his chair Azusa took a deep breath and let it out, some thing he'd seen on the Masaki TV while visiting...
" Salaryman, Azusa Masaki Jurai reporting for duty... "
A smile appeared as he got back to work...
He didn't hear a soft chuckling float through the air...
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( Aboard the Yukinojo... )
Detective 1st class Kiyone Makibi had been studying the 3D image of their situation above the ready room table for some time...
It hadn't been designed to do that, but she'd managed to get Yukinojo to adjust it for what she wanted and needed...
All that 'free' time watching the Masaki family entertainment screen ( the TV ) was paying off...
Besides the "soaps" that ALL the other girls watched, Kiyone had found herself drawn to the History and Military channels...
She was beginning to understand what Lady Sato had meant when she once commented that Colony 0315 was a very dangerous place...
With several thousand years of military conflicts to draw on, the last thing they needed was the ability to traverse space...
In those few thousand, they had experienced more combat and warfare than Jurai had in it's entire existence...
It was one of the reasons that off-world contact still carried a death penalty...
What culture, in it's right mind, would consider killing one's self as a military option?...
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And some of the devices they came up with...
Like something called the atomic hand-grenade...
Washu had shown it to her one night, after she'd stopped laughing...
A small device that was about as big as a balled fist...
When it went off it would destroy every thing within several thousand meters...
The problem was that most people on 0315 wouldn't be able to throw the weapon more than several hundred meters, thus taking out themselves as well as any targets...
Washu said it was up there with the male who'd tried to fly by tying rockets to the legs of a chair he was sitting on and igniting them...
He got his wish, as pieces of him went flying in every direction, after the rockets exploded...
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However, there were useful ideas also, like the way she was now using the 3D projector, with Yukinojo's help...
Using it's advanced scans, the GP cruiser was now able to project a rough 3D image of most of the local solar system...
According to the military channel, it was called the CIC, the combat information center and gave them a better idea of where every one was around them...
A detailed study of this system was why they were here in the first place...
The reason she was now studying that data had to do with the group of red dots making it's way across the system - Raider ships...
The Raiders were hunters and their pray at the moment was a number of small green dots within the system's asteroid field...
The green dots being a Juraian task force which had been sent to patrol this system and was now fighting for it's very life...
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And the Raiders, smelling blood, were headed right towards where they'd last seen the task force enter the asteroid field...
A line marked their projected course to a section of the field which was now colored yellow...
A color yellow indicated that asteroids in that area had been 'mined', using a good number of the light cruiser's new exploding projectiles called torpedoes...
It wasn't that the Raider's shield were stronger against energy beam weapons than against impact weapons, it had to do with concussion...
The shield were designed to absorb energy and even the force of an explosion, but hit them with a large enough mass, like another ship or large rock and it would give...
It had to do with what Washu called kinetic Energy...
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Washu had shown her a 'toy' to explain it, a boxlike structure that held a number of metal balls suspended in the air...
The balls just hung there, against each other, doing nothing...
Until you moved one of the end balls away from the others and released it...
Gravity would then return it to the spot it had originally been located...
It was then that something very odd happen, upon making contact with the next metal 'ball' it would come to a stop...
THEN the metal ball at the other end of the row would swing away from the row of hanging ball and out to a point where it would stop and then return to the other balls...
At which time IT would stop and the original ball would swing out again...
Washu had explained that it was 'Kinetic Energy' being sent through the balls that caused them to move and as some of the energy was lost in each pass, the balls would eventually stop moving all together...
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Washu compared the hull of a ship to those metal balls, forming a protective shell...
Energy weapons could cut through the metal if not for the ship's shields which were designed to absorb them...
However as Kinetic Energy was a 'force' instead of energy, the shields don't absorb it as easily...
Thus, like the balls, any amount of contact force making contact with the hull of a ship was passed to the inside wall and any thing on that wall would be sent flying...
If flying objects wasn't the only danger, the force of the impact could be transferred to the air within causing a very LOUD ringing noise...
Like a very large bell...
This could cause some things to shatter and even effect ear drums, stunning the crew or even killing them...
She'd seen the same tactic used on the military channel on the 'TV' to take out ship that moved beneath the surface of the water on 0315 in war time...
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With modern scanners, shields and weapons, the chances of a ship coming into contact with another large mass was very rare...
' For every action there was an equal and opposite reaction... '
So by exploding the torpedoes they should be able to get the weightless asteroids moving, making them heavy projectiles...
Once in motion only another powerful action would stop the asteroids which were composed of heavy minerals...
The heavy minerals should also hidden the torpedoes from the Raider's scanners...
Since an Asteroid field was a dangerous area to begin with, it was hoped the sudden addition of large, massive, moving Rocks would cause panic and confusion...
Disorganized Raider ships were much prefered to organized ones...
The task force commander and his officers had stared at the quick video Yukinojo had created to explain the suggestion princess Sasami had made...
They were amazed at such a simple idea and how effective it could be...
When princess Sasami mentioned it reminded her of a game of pin-ball, only Nagi seem to understand the reference...
At any rate, orders were issued and the 'ambush' was soon being organized...
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( on Seniwa... )
Mihoshi sipped from a cup of sake as she looked at her good friend princess Nihoshi...
" You're kidding me!... "
Her friend smiled and shook her head, Mihoshi had been telling her about how it was to be one of THREE Mrs. Tenchi Masakis...
Mihoshi then turned to the other two, sitting across the room
The couple, dressed as Juraian Royal bodyguards, smiled and didn't say a word...
Rogon and Tuskiko hadn't had this much fun since some rival ninja clans had tried to take over Tuskiko's family clan...
With the Masaki family involved they had barely raised a sweat in the clean up the rival ninjas...
This time they just sat back and watched...
They watched as Mihoshi touched her ear and smiled, a dreamy look on her face...
" If you say so!... "
Rogon and Tuskiko smiled, Mihoshi was 'talking' to the most important person in her life, her beloved, her husband, Tenchi...
They noticed princess Nihoshi looking at her friend oddly...
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" My Lady?... "
Mihoshi turned and looked at Rogon..
" Yes?... "
Rogon smiled and touched his ear and then nodded towards the princess...
Mihoshi's eyes widened and she put a hand to her lips...
She could hear Washu telling her it was alright to inform the princess about the special comm device implanted in her ear that kept her in touch with the others...
Turning, she found her friend staring at her...
In her ear she could hear both Ayeka and Washu making suggestions...
Smiling, she held up a hand as if to stop the two...
" My beloved suggest I start when Washu decided to test out a new communications device on the four of us... "
Rogon and Tuskiko smiled...
" Any way - - - "
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( the Tavern near the Jurai Spaceport... )
A Juraian couple were sitting at a corner table, exchanging a few words every once in a while...
Having watched the female toss a heavy set male across the room, no one in the tavern came close to them...
However, three males, who'd just come from outside, were headed their way, after getting bottles at the bar...
Coming to a stop before the table, the one in the middle spoke softly...
" Been a while, Captain Komachi... "
Smiling at the male, he continued...
" Or should I say Lady Tennan?... "
Former space-pirate Kyo Komachi had known there was a chance they could run into some one from her past if they came in, but she was thirsty...
She smiled, she remembered him, the problem was that he had a new name every time she met him...
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Being a space pirate himself, the fact that he was standing between a Juraian fleet officer and a GP officer got her interest...
She and her husband were sitting side-by-side, so she gestured to the other side of the table...
" Care to join us?... "
Smiling, the pirate sat, the officers sitting on both sides, not smiling...
Kyo studied the three before speaking...
" Are these two trying to recruit you into the DSP?... "
Her acquaintance chuckled, the other two showed no emotion...
" Goddess, No... I'm too free spirited to settle for a regular paying job like the Deep Space Patrol... "
Kyo noted that there was still no reaction from the other two...
Lord Seryo Tennan smiled as he made an observation...
" You guys with G2?... "
This got a reaction from both officers, a raised eye brow...
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( The JDS Aux Goddess... )
The only one on the bridge of the auxiliary ship Goddess, at the moment, was the captain...
The new AI ( artificial Intelligence ) unit professor Washu had installed was both a blessing and a pain...
With a sense of humor, she had installed a clone of one of the most experienced star ships around, but it had been in a Galaxy Police cruiser and this was an ex space pirate ship...
After being assigned to GP officer, Mihoshi Kuramitsu, the cruiser had experienced more that most of the rest of the GP fleet together...
Having met the original, Yukinojo's AI, captain Fragga was glad this one didn't have it's personality, it wouldn't do to be arrested by one's own star ship...
As it was, it had a female voice...
Once, when it got angry, he discovered where Washu had gotten the voice pattern...
In fact, he'd met the original owner at Prince Tenchi's wedding, one Lady Seto Kamiki Jurai - the Devil Princess of Jurai...
When he confronted Washu about Lady Seto finding out, she informed him that she already knew and her only reaction was to raise an eye brow...
However both Queens got a chuckle out of it and Emperor Azusa had actually smiled...
As to Ayeka and Ryoko, they both had to hold each other as they were laughing too much...
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On the up side, the AI was able to greatly improve the ship's abilities...
In reality, the AI could have operated the ship by it's self, but he didn't need a drone...
Since the forming of the Galactic Union, AI had more freedom, but as for AIs operating armed ships without humans aboard was still unthinkable...
Thank goodness very few people knew of GP officer, Mihoshi Kuramitsu's habit of sleeping and letting
the Yukinojo's AI run the ship...
Fewer still knew of how powerful it had been up-graded by Washu over the years...
The Grand Marshal had commented to Emperor Azusa that the Yukinojo was the closest the GP had to a tree-ship...
Emperor Azusa reminded him that there was a Juraian princess in command...
Both had gotten a good chuckle over that one...
. . . . . . . . . .
" Captain... "
Fragga sighed as he opened his eyes...
He'd almost managed to get some sleep...
" Yes?... "
" Would you care for a status update?...
Fragga had to smile, who knew that the voice of every space pirate's nightmare was so seductive?...
" Go ahead... "
There was a pause as a screen appeared before him, showing a diagram of the ship...
" While a most of the crew have retired to their bunks, a number are in the recreation room... "
A small section of the screen became an image of the rec room and showed a number of people there...
It seem that crew members weren't the only ones there...
Lord Byran, a member of the Juraian Royal Guard, was there watching something on the big screen on the rec room wall with the others...
He didn't have to check to see what they were watching, it had to be the replay of the duel between the crown prince and two of his wives...
One of the most watched recording in Juraian history...
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As the image gave a good view of the room, Fragga noticed that some passengers were missing...
As if on cue another image on the screen showing a young male and two young females sitting around in one of the guest rooms reading books...
" His lordship Keiichi Tanaka, with lady Haruko Natan and lady Mayu Rygen are in his room studying academy text book... Her ladyship, Tennyo Masaki has gone to her room to get something but will be back shortly... "
At that moment the door opened and Tennyo Masaki, prince Tenchi's sister walked in...
Fragga smiled, they were half way through an inspection tour of Juraian frontier outpost, a duty of being a member of the Royal Family...
Since her reunion with her brother, she'd become more active in the family...
She'd managed to get permission for Kei and his two friends to join her, as it was a slow time at the academy...
But they had to keep up their studies...
He understood that they were all glad to be away from Jurai at the moment...
After the recent attack, inquires about the family member's health were pouring in...
For the most part this was a way to recoup from the tension after the attack...
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" Our present status?... "
There was a short pause...
" We are 22 hours, 18 minutes until we drop out of sub space at out next destination... All weapons can be activated and readied within 8.329 seconds... Shield are at 32% and can be at 100% in 1.437 seconds... A detailed report, by lady Tennyo, was coded and sent by flash burst just before you took the bridge... All systems are at 100%... "
Fragga had to smile...
In the past it would had taken at least 3 days for the trip...
On the old Goddess, it took almost a minute to activate weapons and they'd be lucky to have 73% shields...
And running silent was the only way to keep alive, a comm burst could be detected at a great distance...
And the bridge and engine room were manned from the moment that took off til they returned...
If they returned...
One thing he didn't miss was the " Good old days... "
Letting his cap brim cover his eyes, he closed them and began to enjoy the the " Good NEW Days... "
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( the Juraian tree-ship Amelia... )
The new 'owner' of the tree-ship Amelia, sat in the special command chair that the tree had created at her request...
Modelled on the same type of GP command chairs used for their small patrol cruisers, it was both functional and familiar...
Not only did it help lady Kiyone feel at ease, it also gave her control of the whole ship...
For the most part it felt as if she were still on the GP cruiser Yukinojo...
The biggest difference, besides the firepower, was that she now heard the tree's voice in her head and not over a speaker...
Some how the fact that it was a female sounding voice tended to help also...
She had to smile, she could get use to this...
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My Lady!...
Kiyone was still startled by the voice in her head and sighed...
Like her new title, she hoped she was able to get use to it, soon...
" Yes?... "
She still replied out loud, she wasn't up to carrying on conversations in her head as she'd seen princess Ayeka and Ryoko do, yet...
Captain Zanata has just sent an update concerning our little welcome...
She couldn't help smiling, it seem Kiyone's ideas, passed on through princess Sasami, were about to bare fruit, she believed the expression was...
" Yes?... "
He reports that a good number of asteroids now have torpedoes in position... And as suggested the asteroid sizes are within the range that should allow for quickest movement reaction to the torpedoes detonation, without effecting the asteroid... All will be Armed and detonated on the Princess's command...
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There had also been a suggestion earlier that they just wait it out and then return home via the new 'doorway', Sasami's safety being every one's main concern...
But it soon became apparent that Sasami didn't like the idea of running off and leaving all those Juraian military to their 'fate'...
Nagi hadn't said any thing, but did smile...
So it was decided that Sasami should be declared the Task Force commander...
The effect on moral was instant and things moved smoother...
However, in the end it was decided that at the first hint of a threat to Sasami, Ryo-Ohki would transform and carry her to the 'doorway' and home...
Failing that, Ken-Ohki, with Nagi, Ryo-Ohki and Sasami would do it...
Even Captain Zanata and his staff had agreed to this...
. . . . . . . . . .
My Lady!...
" Yes?... "
He also reports that that a number of torpedoes with AIs have been set adrift in the void nearby with orders to activate upon sensing the asteroids exploding and search out any possible targets...
That had been the young Captain's suggestion, taking advantage of any chaos created by the explosions...
The four medium escorts destroyers would be stationed as bait for the Raiders just beyond the 'field'...
And being large enough to have beaming technology onboard, they were to teleport armed charges onto any Raiders who had their shields down or lost them...
Another addition to the hoped chaos...
He regrets to report that this has left his ship only one salvo of torpedoes... Then it's main guns only...
In other words the task force had one shot before was it was down to 'throwing rocks'...
She smiled, good thing they would be throwing BIG rocks to start off with...
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Officer Kiyone has estimated that the lead elements of Raiders should reach the asteroid field in about 6 hours at their present speed...All units report full armed and ready, the crews on stand-by, General Quarters to be called just before the Raiders reach the field...
Kiyone smiled, Amelia had taken to referring to her as "my Lady" and Detective 1st class Kiyone Makibi as 'officer' Kiyone...
She couldn't wait to invite Prince Tenchi and the other members of his family, especially a certain yellow haired fellow officer, aboard...
Standing up, a soft voice broke the silence...
" A jurai for your thoughts?... "
Looking behind he, Kiyone saw Nagi Katsumoro standing there, Ken-Ohki on one shoulder, Ryo-Ohki on the other...
For some reason, an odd group...
Nagi noted her questioning look and smiled, scratching Ken-Ohki behind the ear...
" It seems that the carrots for lunch later went missing... So, certain suspicious members of the crew have been banned from the kitchen... "
Kiyone noticed that both cabbits were trying their best to look innocent...
Leaning closer, Kiyone plucked a small bit of something orange from the corner of Ryo-Ohki's lips and held it before her nose...
" Hum... I wonder what this could be?... "
In the blink of an eye, Ryo-Ohki leaned forward, sucked the small bit from Kiyone's fingers and returned to Nagi's shoulder, the innocent look back in place...
. . . . . . . . . .
Leaning forward again, Kiyone came almost nose-to-nose with a startled Ryo-Ohki...
" Young lady... You do realize that destroying evidence of a crime is also a crime, as in obstructing an investigation?... "
Ryo-Ohi's eyes were wide by now...
Kiyone noticed that Ken-Ohki was watching, his innocent look slipping and she moved to come nose-to-nose with him...
" As for you young man!... Accomplices are just as guilty!... Understand?... "
Backing up so she could see them both, she noted Nagi hiding a smile...
Both cabbits were looking down now, wishing they were else where...
Hiding a smile and trying to look as serious as possible she took a deep breath, to keep from laughing...
" OK... We'll let it go for time served and release you back into the wild... Now get out of here... "
Nether need another hint as they jumped from Nagi's shoulder and disappeared into the brush some distance away...
. . . . . . . . . .
Nagi had a big smile on her face as Kiyone turned back to her...
" Do you think they learned any thing from this?... "
Nagi started to say some thing, but stopped...
" WHAT?... "
Smiling Nagi sighed before speaking...
" Well... They learned just how weird you can be... "
Noting the startled look on Kiyone's face she continued...
" You do realize you threatened to arrest two shape-changing star-ships?... "
Hearing chuckling behind her, Kiyone turned to find Sasami standing nearby a happy smile on her face...
" How much of that did you see?... "
Still smiling Sasami chuckled...
" From the beginning... I wanted to make sure they didn't sneak back... "
Kiyone sighed, so much for her reputation...
" So... Do you think I'm weird too?... "
Sasami smiled and shook her head...
" You got to be kidding... In this family?... You're one of us now, for better or worst... As Washu said, Welcome to the family... "
After a while they all began to chuckle...
. . . . . . . . . .
( A number of light years away... )
A small Juraian task force was just finishing up inspecting a suspected space pirate ship...
The ship had been detected acting odd and the task force of one heavy cruiser and four smaller escort cruisers had dropped out of sub-space around it...
It turned out to be a pirate ship, but the captain of the Deep Space Force ship assigned to the cruiser confirmed the crew as being ex-pirate, with no records and so they were released...
Before parting, while the three captains spent some time chatting, engineers from the cruiser made repairs to the smaller ship's sub-space drives...
This would allow it to get back to it's home planet within days, rather than the months using the normal space drives, as it had been...
As it jumped to sub-space the cruiser's intelligence officer reported that the data acquired for the repairs was more than worth the time and the expense...
There were several months of observations of areas needing up-dating, as well as some areas already recently up-dated and even some areas which had never been scanned before...
A check of the recently up-dated data helped confirm the other data...
It would help in the recording of the area and save time as well...
. . . . . . . . . .
The Juraian experimental Heavy cruiser Light of Jurai was only a few months out of the shipyard...
The need for fast, heavily armed ships to counter the new Raider threat had resulted in the conversion of a heavy cruiser already being built...
An out side consultant had taken the cruiser's original plans and up-graded them...
With minimum modifications, engine power had been increased, increasing normal space and sub-space speeds...
Stronger shields and greater firepower could also be added...
Even as it was being finished and starting it's trials, the frames of newer, even more powerful ships were being started...
And chances were THEY would be modified and up-dated before they were launched...
. . . . . . . . . .
But want not, waste not...
The Light, as it's crew called it, was assigned to the Deep Space Force to assist the DSF's patrol cruisers ( usually ex-pirate craft ) against Raiders and others things...
The smaller craft tended to act as bait to attract pirate ships and Raiders...
Then the heavily armed cruiser and escort would drop out of sub-space and clean up...
So far it had been working pretty well...
They had destroyed half a dozen Raiders and captured a number of Space Pirates...
In the case of the pirates, only one had refused to surrender, it's crew wanted for murder and other very violent crimes...
The Light had stood off and watched as Captain Touda and his crew of ex-pirates took great pleasure in dealing with them, they known some of their victims...
No quarter was asked and none was given...
Later DNA samples were collected for IDs...
Of the others, most, after processing were taken into the DSF on a trial basis, while a couple went to jail for a year or so, their ship being confiscated by the DSF...
Data collected during it's travels would go towards the NEXT series of up-grades...
. . . . . . . . . .
( on Seniwa... )
Sighing, Mihoshi sat down...
" So... As you can see, no matter where we are, we're alway in touch with each other... "
As strange as Mihoshi's explanation was, princess Nihoshi found herself believing it, after all, it was created by Washu Hakubi, the greatest scientific mind in the Universe...
Or at least that was what Mihoshi called her new mother-in-law...
Mihoshi giggled before she spoke again...
" Tenchi said to tell you that next time we visit we'll prove it... But you'll just have to take my word for it now... "
Smiling, princess Nihoshi reached over and took Mihoshi's hand...
" Of course I accept your word, Mihoshi... "
The two held hands for a while...
. . . . . . . . . .
Glance as a time piece, the princess stood...
" Oh my... We've talked for hours... You must be hungry... "
This got Mihoshi excited, until she stopped and started pouting...
" That's not true!... "
Seeing her friend looking her way, she tapped her ear...
" Washu wondered if your kitchen was stocked well enough for a visit from me?... "
Princess Nihoshi started chuckling...
" Mihoshi... When we were growing up, we spent most of our time in the kitchen, sampling the different new dishes and pastries... I'm sure they have enough... "
Taking Mihoshi's hand, she led the way to the palace kitchen...
Rogon and Tuskiko followed behind, hand-in-hand...
. . . . . . . . . .
( Washu's Lab... )
Ayeka had to smile...
Washu had to get that last word in there...
But she was happy that the princess accepted Mihoshi's account of the comm unit...
It wasn't easy to believe in some of the things Washu had created...
A device the size of a small fingernail, capable of keeping multi-people in touch instantly across countless light-years of space was one of them...
But it worked...
It would have been easier if Mihoshi hadn't forgotten her 'cell-phone' at home...
It not only allowed instant contact, it produced a 3D image you could talk too at the same time...
And you could hold it in the palm of your hand...
While only Tenchi, Ayeka, Ryoko and Mihoshi had the personal comm set, for private use, a number of the other family members had the 'cell-phone'...
Though 'private' didn't mean Washu couldn't break in if she needed or wanted to...
. . . . . . . . . .
Ayeka glanced at Washu's desk...
There'd been no word from Sasami since they'd sent an update a while ago...
Like most things, it was mostly down to waiting and watching...
Her brother Yosho was up at the temple, an emergency had come up and only he could help...
So, she was here watching over the lab...
How many times in the past had she found herself, alone?...
It was then that a voice in the back of her head spoke up...
You can always call your mom...
Ayeka smiled, Tenchi was right, it had been a while...
Thank you dearest...
Smiling, she sat at the desk, turned on the communication's unit and typed in the special code to her mother's personal 'cell-phone'...
Picking up her cup of tea, Ayeka settled in for a LONG conversation, like it or not, that was just her mom's way...
The large tea pot set over to the side...
. . . . . . . . . .
( A dark room... )
Shadows sat around a cold stone table...
No one spoke, no one wanted to draw attention to themselves, that could get you dead...
The shadow at the end leaned forward, but not into what little light there was...
" Any word from Seniwa?... "
A voice spoke up...
" There are a lot of very confused reports and rumors appearing... Some wilder than others... "
There was a pause...
" WELL!... "
Another pause...
" All reports and rumors agree on two points... "
Yet another pause...
" Princess Mihoshi managed to appear unexpected, even though we are closely watching all traffic to and from the planet... "
Some mumbling in the darkness...
" She then confronted lord Zeon and beat him easily... "
There was only silence in the room, deadly silence...
. . . . . . . . . .
To be continued...
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Please feel free to comment and review for any errors...
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