Chapter Nineteen - Questions and Answers

Storm made her way through the dingy, dimly lit, and rusty halls of the old ship following the information on her scouter. The nearest of the crew was a good five hundred feet from the hold she and the others were in. Apparently her and her sister had done a good job intimidating the crew into staying away. Better than she'd anticipated. Smirking to herself she continued to zero in on the power on her scouter, only 17,315.

A moment later she rounded a corner and there her target was. A female Sai-jin in the old shoulder fin model blue and black armor, she was busy working on some exposed wires in the hall corridor, meaning she was part of the maintenance staff. She had her pitch black hair pulled back into a wild ponytail that hung down to her waist. Her black eyes were locked on the wires before her and she wore no scouter so she'd yet to notice the other's presence.

Storm paused a moment longer, looking the woman over. She was rather short, no more than 4 foot 10 at the most. Her short height made her curves stand out even more and a small smile spread across her lips. Perhaps this journey wouldn't be as boring as she'd thought. Eve was cute, sure, but the whole temperature thing with the Nezorfs made anything with her more hassle than it was worth. "Sai-jins appreciate power. I'll see if I can get her to go along with this willingly. If not, well, I am stronger than anyone else on this ship." she thought.

With a smirk still on her lips she moved the last couple of steps forward to the short Sai-jin and cleared her throat. The woman didn't even bother to look. "In case you're blind, I'm busy." she said, still working. Storm cleared her throat again. "Damn it, get lost." the Sai-jin growled, still not looking. She let out a startled cry a second later as one of her shoulder fins was grabbed and she was spun around violently.

Storm then grabbed the front of the woman's armor, pulled her a little closer, then turned toward the wall and pushed the Sai-jin back against it lifting her up the couple inches to eye level in the process. "You should know who you're talking to before you start barking orders." Storm nearly growled. She'd spent enough time around Sai-jins to know how they operated. Intimidation and shows of power got you everywhere with them.

And, thanks to the fact that Wathor's had noses as powerful as any Sai-jin, she could smell the fear coming from the woman she currently had pressed against the wall. She couldn't help but smirk to herself as she detected the scent. Wathors were as much about conquest as the Sai-jins, though they could control themselves considerably better, and having a Sa-jin afraid of you was quite the conquest. Even if you were considerably stronger. Sai-jins had a penchant for not fearing anything.

Just as Storm began to think that, perhaps, this particular conquest would be too easy, the scent of fear faded away noticeably, though it still remained. The terror in the other woman's eyes also vanished, replaced now with anger and arrogance. "Ah, typical Sai-jin I see. This should be entertaining." She leaned in a little closer, so that their noses were practically touching. "You're scared, I can smell it."

"Of you? Never." the other replied.

Storm chuckled. "Don't bother trying to hide it. I can smell it on you clear as day. My nose is as good as yours, possibly even better." She took a couple of dip sniffs. "For example, you had..." she paused for a second, evaluating the smell. "Ah, Human food, steak by the scent of it, for lunch today. And at least a quart of Sai-jin Wine. I can also smell four other Sai-jins on you. All of them male... yes, I know that distinct smell. You were busy last night I see."

The Sai-jin growled and tried to push the other woman off of her but was nowhere near strong enough. Storm moved a bit and sniffed the woman's hair. "I can see how you got four of them last night though." she said in her ear softly. That prompted more struggles but still got her nowhere. Moving back a little Storm shook her head and laughed. "Please, my power level is over fifty thousand. You couldn't even scratch me. So knock it off and save us both the time." The Sai-jin scowled at her but settled down. "Good. Now, first things first, who are you?"

"I am Zukina, the head of ship maintenance." the Sai-jin replied, keeping her black eyes locked onto Storm's own red eyes.

"Head of maintenance eh? That means the only people you talk to all day is the maintenance staff. Which means you're not used to dealing with those stronger than yourself. That explains the thick fear scent earlier." Storm thought quickly, before continuing. "Good. I'm Storm, head of security for Cargo Bay 6." she made the statement merely to stress that she was the stronger of the two sisters that had boarded on Geozan 7. "Now, I assume you can read Sai-jin, yes?"

"Of course, I'm not an idiot!"

The Wathor smirked. "Good." she let go of her and took a step back. "My comrades and I were working on something, unfortunately it's partly in Sai-jin and only one of us knows any, and not that much of it." She held up the paper with the word printed on it. "What's this?"

Zukina took the sheet of paper and glanced at it. "It's a compounded word, I can see why your friend wouldn't have known it. It's not going to be found in any dictionary. What's this from?"

"None of your business. What is it?"

"Well, the first part means 'Constant' and the second is an old archaic word for 'Zenkai'." she said. "Whoever wrote this must have needed a new word to describe whatever they were talking about."

"Constant Zenkai?" Storm said softly, curious. "Why would they need to make a new word for something like that?"

The Sai-jin shrugged. "There's a few possibilites, depending on where you found this..." Storm shook her head silently saying she wouldn't tell. The woman sighed. "Well, I can guess easily enough. The archaic language is typcially only used for medical terms. I suppose if someone was born with or developed a condition where they were constantly experiencing the effects of a Zenkai a term would be needed for it."

Storm's eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that possible?"

"Never heard of it happening. Hence why there's no word for it." Zukina said, handing back the paper. "Though, I suppose, it could be possible for such a thing to occur."

"How exactly does a Zenkai work?" Storm asked. "I know it makes a Sai-jin stronger after healing..."

"The more severe the injury the greater the increase to a Sai-jin's power. There's other factors, too. The Sai-jin's own power at the time they were hurt, the strength of the other person as determined by the amount of damage caused by each blow, and some other stuff. It's all fueled by a chemical released from what remains of our Oozaru gland, at the base of the tail bone. That's what boosts a Sai-jin's strength and is also used for healing and mending purposes by the body."

"So, then, someone who had this 'Constant Zenkai', if such a thing is possible, would have a constant flow of this chemcial into their bodies?"

Zukina nodded. "Basically. And not only would it be slowly and constantly giving them more power but it'd make them far more resiliant too. They'd be able to handle more strain to their bodies, take more damage than normal, that kind of thing. Though, under normal conditions, if you over expose yourself to the chemical the body will, eventually, quit reacting to it, thus preventing any further Zenkai's from occuring. I suppose, if the release was at a low enough level, that would never occur, even with a constant flow."

"Could there be any... adverse side-effects to something like this?"

The Sai-jin woman looked the other over for a moment. Neither she nor anyone else on the ship had any clue why they'd picked up the small group on Geozan 7. They'd received orders directly from Dr. Gero himself to go there, retrieve the group and their cargo, and transport them to Saiya. She'd been one of the few to see their 'cargo' and had been rather curious about it. She figured then that it was probably one of Gero's experiments and now, with this person asking these questions, she was almost sure of it.

She could definitely see Dr. Gero and the Masters looking into ways of creating such an effect as this. But, if these people were doing such a thing... then why wouldn't she know the word? And why would only one of them know Sai-jin? And only vaguely at that? Some things didn't quite add up. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of it but she had a feeling it was something she wasn't supposed to know anyway. "I haven't got a clue." she said at last. "No one's ever experienced a Zenkai while in perfect health before. I suppose... if the amount of the chemical was high enough... there could be some problems."

"Like?"

Zukina shrugged. "Hell if I know. I'm not a medical expert. I fix machines, not people."

Storm sighed. "Right. Well, at least this wasn't a complete waste of time." She glanced down at the paper again as she turned to go and then paused. She wasn't exactly sure how to press the other issue that had come up, upon meeting the woman. She had a feeling, from the presence of only male scent on her, that that was all she was interested in. So she doubted she'd be all that willing to divulge the location of her quarters. The Captain, however... Grinning to herself Storm made her way back toward the cargo bay.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"What is it Eve?" Everfrost asked as he saw the look of complete disbelief on her face.

Eve took a deep breath and read off the last Regen Tank status record. "Age 743, April 8th, 2:54 PM. Recovery of Bardock complete. Service record update, new power reading..." she paused, still absorbing it herself. "3,025,987."

"Over... three million?" Rain asked shocked. Even the Prince hadn't been that strong back then, barring his SSJ form. "But that would mean that Brolly's power would had to have been that high too! How is that possible?"

"You know more about power than me." Eve said, turning to look at the Wathor. "How much stronger would Brolly have needed to be for Bardock to have had trouble?"

"To the level that he did on Tinto? I'd say around four million or so would be enough." she said. "But... that can't be possible. Brolly was only six years old! It'd be one thing for him to have been in the five to six hundred thousand range, Prince Vegeta was stronger than that at birth, and the head of the Saiya Palace Guard is at around two million, but for Brolly to have been over three million at age six?"

Xeno nodded. "There's definitely something big going on here. Why would Bardock's power be hidden from the public? How did Brolly get so powerful? Why were Brolly and Master Kakkarotto's records sealed? Who exactly gave the orders to do all of this?"

"King Vegeta was still alive when the two of them were born. It's entirely possible he had the files sealed." Eve said thoughtfully. "That seems the most likely event. Master Vegeta was still only a child then."

"By your standards." Rain interrupted. "Master Vegeta was five at the time the records were sealed. Which meant he was old enough for missions and to give orders. He could have done it without his father even knowing."

"Why would he?" Eve asked, looking at the other woman again. "What reason would a five year old have to be involved in a conspiracy?"

Everfrost sighed. "We're talking about the Sai-jins, here, anything is possible. Think about it, Master Vegeta was raised as a royal, a member of the strongest Sai-jin blood-line. He was taught that he would be the most powerful Sai-jin alive and that only the powerful rule. Look at how strong Brolly was as a child, at how strong Master Kakkarotto is now. He may have been five but Master Vegeta could have understood the power represented by the two other Sai-jins."

Xeno nodded in agreement. "Right, and as the heir to the Sai-jin throne, he wouldn't have wanted that. He wouldn't have wanted, or allowed, anyone to become stronger than himself. Remember, that's how Master Vegeta's family took the throne in the first place. They grew more powerful than the old king and overthrew him."

Eve leaned back and stared at the monitor as she thought. "So, Master Vegeta would have sealed the records to hide the fact that these two could actually pose a threat to him... but then what? I mean, if that's what happened, how come the two weren't killed instantly?"

"Study, perhaps?" Rain ventured. "They may have wanted to understand why they were a threat. The abnormality, the power spikes. Or maybe it was learned too late. You know what Sai-jin record keeping was like before the Androids came along. It took them months to file anything. By then Master Kakkarotto would have already been sent out..."

Eve interrupted at that point. "Wasn't there a power surge on Saiya that year? The 'Week of Night' as they called it. The entire grid shut down for a week."

Xeno nodded. "Right, yes, they were testing the new drive system they'd developed and overloaded the entire network. They lost anything that had been saved during the last 48 hours, including mission orders. That's how they lost Master Kakkarotto's location." He started pacing around as he thought. "Alright, so, they lost Master Kakkarotto's location because of that power loss issue, but they still had Brolly's, obviously. Paragus and Brolly vanished, what, a week later?"

"I think." Everfrost said. "The history records say he'd started planning to overthrow the King then. What-if, in truth, he learned about the danger his son was in? Sai-jins don't really love their kids like other races, but they have a strong family attachment just the same."

"Eve, try and find some records on Tinto." Xeno said, returning to where the others were. "We need more information."

The Nezorf was just about to comply when Storm's voice sounded from the doorway. "I found out what we wanted to know." she said, walking toward them waving the paper. "The Sai-jin I talked to said it's not an established word, not something you'd find in the dictionary. Apparently it's a compound word using the archaic word for "Zenkai" and the word for "constant" as a pre-fix."

"What the hell?" Eve asked, scrunching her face up. "Archaic Sai-jin is only used in medical terms and such."

"That's what she said." Storm said with a nod as she reached them. "Which fits with where we found it. Apparently, it appears, Brolly and Master Kakkarotto have a new medical condition. A constant Zenkai. From what the Sai-jin said it would mean their powers would be constantly and steadily increasing."

"Shit, that explains Brolly." Xeno said looking over to the cryostasis chamber.

"What do you mean?" Storm asked.

"Bardock's power on Tinto was over three million." her sister informed her. "Which means that Brolly was, assuming that is who Bardock was fighting which I'm starting to doubt, stronger." Rain looked over at her sister, picking up the obvious scent, and shook her head. "And I was wondering what took you so long." she stated. "You're as bad as the Sai-jins at times, can't control yourself, can you?"

The others glanced back at the two women confused as they held their own conversation. "Jealous sis?" Storm asked with a smirk.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Bra couldn't help it as they moved through the halls. Her face felt like it was burning and she was sure she must look sunburned, if not worse. But it was just sinking in for Marron, how close she'd come to dying, and it wasn't having a calming effect on her. The poor girl's legs were like jell-o as she tried to walk, meaning she was leaning heavily on the Princess for support. Having her that close, being able to pick up the other girl's scent so clearly, the smell of it laced in with her own scent, it was almost more than she could handle.

"Whoa!" Marron cried, nearly falling over. Bra reached out and wrapped an arm around her without thinking and held her up. "Thanks." the blonde breathed. "This is... embarrasing... I... I can u-usually walk o-on my o-own."

"But you don't usually come that close to a Ki attack of that power." Bra said. As the girl stumbled again the Hybrid cursed her emotions and her body and decided, no matter how she might react to the new accomodations, trying to walk with Marron like this was getting them nowhere fast. They'd get back to Marron and 18's shared room much faster if she carried the other girl. So, with one swift motion, and trying not to think about it much, she lifted the blonde girl off her feet and held her cradled in her arms.

"Oh... I... thanks." she said, a bit startled.

Bra swallowed and fought to keep her voice steady as she spoke. "No problem. This is faster." Now that they weren't moving at a near crawl it only took them a few more mintues to reach the room. Pushing the door open with her foot Bra moved inside and then closed it the same way. She then moved over to the bed and set the still shaking girl down gently.

"Oh, damn it." Marron muttered. "I forgot my book."

"I'll send someone to get it later." Bra said, taking a seat in one of the chairs by the bed. She sat there, eyes locked on Marron, biting her lip. The other girl had laid back and was staring at the ceiling breathing a little raggedly as she tried to calm her nerves. Bra's own nerves were acting up now as well. After what had happened earlier she was worried. Trunks had said he wouldn't say anything and she trusted him, so that didn't have her worried anymore.

But she was worried that something like that might happen again, with her father around this time. If that happened... well, she knew what he'd most likely do. That is, if Marron was still just an outsider at the time. Now she had a reason to make her move sooner, rather than later, and more than just her emotions rode on the other girl's feelings. But it all came back to the same thing. She actually had to bring the matter up.

She took a deep breath, stealing her resolve, and came out of her deep thoughts to find that Marron had sat back up and was looking her way. She felt her face flush insantly but used all of her self control to push it away. Opening her mouth to speak she found that she couldn't, the words caught in her throat. So she was rather happy when Marron spoke instead. "Is everything ok? You looked like you were zoned out there a minute ago."

Bra nodded, still not sure what to say exactly. "I... I was... thinking." she said slowly before biting her lip again. "By the Kais, this is harder than I expected." she said nearly jumping up as she climbed back to her feet. Her last two relationships had been a lot easier to get into than this! Of course, her first relationship hadn't really been a real relationship. She'd only been twelve and 17 had only been humoring her really. And Goten... Goten she'd just sort of levitated too, and he'd done the same with her. It had just... happened.

Pan and 18 had only been crushes that she'd never really acted on and had outgrown. Well, no, she never had outgrown her crush on 18, but the Cyborg woman had no intrest in other women. She'd learned that through careful probing and idle conversation years ago, before the woman had gotten together with her brother even. As she turned to look toward Marron again she worried that, perhaps, she'd be the same.

It wasn't her own feelings she was worried about hurting now, it was the danger Marron would be in when her father learned of her power if she wasn't with one of the Masters. If she became her girlfriend though, her father would most likely let the matter alone. Keep a close eye on it, yes, but leave it alone for the most part, because she'd be considered part of the family. "You know what? Screw it. If it turns out she's not interested in women, or just not interested in me, I'll tell her the truth. I'll tell her the danger, talk her into pretending." she thought.

With another deep sigh she opened her mouth again and fought to say what was still sticking in her throat. With a groan of frustration she turned around in a huff and smacked her head lightly against the wall. The blonde girl looked at her curiously, not sure why, exactly, she was acting so unusual. "Is... something wrong?" she asked after a moment.

"No." Bra said, not turning around, just leaning with her forehead pressed against the wall. "Not... wrong. Just... frustrating." She turned around and moved over to the bed, sitting down beside the other girl. She didn't look at her, however, but at her own hands in her lap. "I... well, you see..." She bit her lip again trying to phrase her words right. When she spoke again her words came out in a rush. "I had crush on Pan at one time. And I still have something of one on 18 too."

She looked up, turning her gaze toward Marron. She had to see the other's reaction, see her face, her eyes, when she told her. "When I first saw you my mind was preoccupied with Goten's situation but I still noticed. I still noticed even then that I... that I..." Her words caught in her throat again and she couldn't find a way to get them out. Frustrated that she couldn't say what she wanted she decided that the best course would be to show what she meant.

She leaned in slowly toward Marron, it felt like an eternity passed, like the world was moving in slow motion. Her breath caught in her throat as soon as she felt her lips brush Marron's. And then she was kissing her. The blonde was clearly shocked by the rather sudden kiss as her eyes went wide as soon as their lips touched. Bra noted, however, that the girl didn't try to pull away. She wasn't sure if that was due to her shock or not, though.

She held the kiss for a long moment, an instant in time that felt an eternity and yet ended all too soon. Pulling back she looked at the clearly flustered girl, her blue eyes wide as saucers still, and glazed over. Bra swallowed. "I... That's what... I was trying to say." she said slowly. Marron still didn't speak, just kept her eyes on Bra's. The Princess reached out tenatively and rested her hand on the blonde's. "I don't know if... if it's just a crush or... or something more."

Bra turned her eyes away from Marron's now, no longer sure she wanted to see the other girl's reaction. "I would like to... find out though. I mean, if you... if you feel the same... that is." She turned her eyes back to Marron's again, she couldn't take not knowing and she was sure Marron's eyes would answer before her voice. She could see a wash of emotions run through Marron's eyes, a wave of thoughts and feelings. Over it all the shock and confusion was there. "Maybe that... wasn't the best way to do it." Bra thought, biting her lip again.

Still, she noticed that the Human's hand hadn't moved out from under hers. Another thought came to the Hybrid then, one that made her panic a little. "Marron, don't think you have to say yes... just because I'm Master." she said, a little faster than she wanted. "I don't... I don't want that. Kakkarotto and Gohan and dad may not care but... I do. If you say yes to me, I want it to be because you want to."

Marron blinked, a million thoughts going through her mind. She'd never... really considered being with another girl. But then, she'd always been so busy with her life, so wrapped up in her studies, that she never really considered being with anyone. No girlfriends, no boyfriends, no secret crushes, none of that. She wasn't really sure... what to say. She sat there, thinking about it, looking at Bra and thinking.

To both girls if felt as though a hundred years had passed in silence. Bra didn't care how long it took for an answer, she didn't want to pressure the blonde. Marron wasn't really sure of the passing time, too lost in her thoughts of what to say to the unspoken question. The question asked not with words but actions. What should her answer be? Her mouth opened a little, then closed again as she realized she still didn't have an answer.

Her mind began to settle, to calm itself and recover from the shock. And as it did it began to analyze everything. It always did. She'd look at every problem, every situation, and she'd analyze it from every side, every angle. And then once she fully understood it, then she'd make her decision. It only took a moment for everything to process, now that the shock was gone, now that her mind was clear.

"Bra... I... I don't..." she started, not really sure yet what she was going to say. Taking a deep breath she collected her thoughts and her answer. "I don't know. I mean... our age difference..."

Bra nodded. "I know, I know. You're 9 years older than I am. I'm still only 16, etc. I know this." she said. "I already thought about that. And... I don't care. I mean, I'll never age passed 20. In just under 4 years I'll stop getting older and that's it for me. So I don't see age as any kind of issue at all. I mean... what's 9 years after a hundred? After a thousand?"

Marron blinked. She'd forgotten that the Masters had Eternal Youth. There was another matter that didn't really sit right with her. "I wont." she said softly, after a moment. "I might live to a hundred. Longer if I have easy access to Regen Tanks. But that's it. No more."

"I thought of that too. And so did Pan when I talked to her before. She... suggested an answer to that problem." Bra took a breath and explained. "If we... do get together and... and we decide to stay together, to become mates, then I can have you offically stated as a Master. You'll stop aging then, too. Even if dad refuses to accept it, refuses to allow it or allow you any of the powers of the title, you'll still have the youth."

Live forever? She wasn't sure... if that appealed to her or not. "What if... I didn't want that?" she asked. As she did she realized that she was considering saying yes to that unspoken question. Realized that she did like this girl sitting on the bed with her. Realized the reason she was drawn to her so much over the passed weeks wasn't guilt about Goten but her own interest in her.

Bra froze. She'd not considered that. What if... what if Marron didn't want to live forever? "I don't... want to lose someone I care about enough to choose as a mate. But. Just the same. I don't want to miss the chance at finding my perfect mate because of that." She bit her lip for a moment. "I'd... understand. I wouldn't like it but I'd understand, I wouldn't press it. Having some time together is better than none." she answered.

The Hybrid's breath caught in her throat then as she felt Marron's hand move. The Human turned it over and closed it around hers, holding it. "I... I've never actually been with... anyone." she said. "At all. Ever. So... I..."

Bra smiled. "That's ok. We can take as long as you need." she said, a heavy weight seemingly lifting from her. She felt lighter than ever, like she could take the full power of the Gravity Machines and still just float into the air without even trying to. It was unlike anything she'd felt before, even with Goten. "I should... go." she said, after her heart had time to slow back down to normal. "I have things I need to take care of yet today."

Marron nodded. "Ok." she said. Bra started to move to get up but Marron stopped her gently and pulled her back down. This time it was the blonde girl that started the kiss and the Hybrid that was clearly shocked by it. Though she recovered fast and returned it. As they broke apart again Bra moved away, slowly, not really wanting to leave. But she did have duties to take care of yet, she'd not actually done any of her assigned duties yet so she had a lot to catch up on. "Oh, ummm, do you know where 18 is?" Marron asked as Bra reached the door. The girl had not yet quite gotten used to calling 18 her mother.

"She probably left." Bra said, looking back. "Before Trunks and I went for the spar my father had me give her mission orders to Leberion. Knowing her, she probably went out to check into it already." And with that she left.

Marron watched after her a moment before laying back onto the bed and sprawling out. Her mind was still spinning from what had just happened but she caught and understood the implications to her mother going on a mission. Especially to Leberion. She'd heard of the world quite a lot over the passed few years living on Teknu, the two worlds were only a day's travel apart by Space Pod. Leberion had been nothing but trouble for the Empire since it was first approached.

Which meant her mother was going there to put an end to that trouble. She shook her head to clear it of such thoughts. She didn't want to picture her mother killing. Instead she moved over to the closet and dug out a new outfit. The one she was in now had definitely smelled better. She'd grab a shower first, then head off to visit Mistress Bulma for a while.