Human Hospitality
by pureleaf
Chapter 13
Reunion and Departure
The awesome size of the dragon called Porunga still took Vegeta by surprise and made him feel weak. The sky overhead turned black. When the dragon spoke in the Namekian tongue it felt as though the Earth itself were trembling beneath Vegeta's feet and he tightened his grip on the balcony's railing. He knew that immortality would always be out of his grasp. There was nothing he could do as the humans got the chance to revive their friends and Namekians wished for a new home.
Kakkarot will return today and I am not a Super Saiyan... nowhere close!
He could scarcely breathe, more anxious at that moment than he'd been in many years. His stomach felt like it was twisting into knots.
First, they wished for Kakkarot and Krillin to be brought to the check-in station.
"The one called Krillin has been brought to the check-in station. I cannot bring the one called Goku to the check-in station because he is alive!"
The Saiyan's jaw dropped. Kakkarot had survived?! But how? Surely he had misheard the young Namekian translating the dragon's words!
They used the second wish to bring Krillin back to life. He appeared before the crowd gathered in the garden, clad in the armour Vegeta had given him on Namek and very confused for several moments before recognizing where he was. A round of cheers and applause from the crowd made Vegeta roll his eyes and sneer in disgust.
His heart pounded in his throat as they asked the dragon to bring Kakkarot back to Earth with their third and final wish.
When Kakkarot did not appear before the crowd, Vegeta's breath seemed to get trapped somewhere in his chest and he started to worry that his rival had become capable of resisting the power of a supernatural creature capable of bringing the dead back to life.
"I cannot bring the one called Goku here. He has requested not to return at this time but vows to return on his own at a later date. You have one wish remaining... speak now!"
The Saiyan rushed back into his bedroom, snatched the gym bag Bulma had given him from his closet and started to shove a few changes of clothing, his trainers, a few toiletries inside. He threw all the vials into a side pouch and left his bedroom. He went across the hall to Bulma's room, rifled through the jewelry box set on her desk and took three gold rings set with precious stones, a gold bauble that looked like a tiny arrow, and two gold chain necklaces, one chain delicate and the other thick and almost heavy in his palm. He shoved them into the compartment holding his vials of medicine. So furious he couldn't even zip the gym bag shut, he rushed downstairs and took all the fruit from the refrigerator, a few tins of tuna fish and box of crackers from the cupboards, and finally went into the living room and snatched several large bottles of liquor (not really knowing what varieties they were) from Dr. Brief's home bar and threw them inside the bag.
Everybody's hanging around outside and I'm robbing them blind. This should be enough to help me get a fresh start...
Vegeta went out the side door and ran to the gravity simulator. It was almost identical to Kakkarot's ship in every way and he knew it was his ticket out of there.
He boarded, set his bag into a chair and set the navigation console's coordinates for a small planet called Ardeheb. The console's soothing computerized voice initiated a countdown and he sat back in the pilot's seat and swung around to look out the nearest port window.
The sky was back to normal and a celebration was underway. The one called Yamcha had been wished back and he and Bulma were embracing passionately. The eldest Namekian was speaking with Dr. Briefs and they shook hands. Kakkarot's wife appeared furious, and his son seemed somewhat dazed by the news that his father was alive but wouldn't be coming back until a later date.
I almost feel sorry for that little whelp...
"Five... four... three... two... one... liftoff."
Less than a minute later, Earth was little more than a rapidly shrinking blue and green marble somewhere outside the port window.
"I should have known Kakkarot would be cunning enough to escape Namek and find a place to continue his training. How foolish of me to underestimate him! I've wasted so much time with those idiots on Earth! What the hell was I thinking?!" Vegeta rose from the pilot's chair and paced around the simulator. The refrigerator in the simulator was kept well-stocked. He opened his gym bag and started to sift through what he'd taken with him.
"Computer! How long until arrival at Ardeheb?" Vegeta barked at the console.
"Estimated time of travel is twenty seven hours. Warning! Upcoming electrical field may result in disturbances in power supply aboard. Maintaining gravity levels no greater than ten times normal gravity strongly advised for next nine hours, thirty minutes."
"Damn it! Fine. It's always something..." Vegeta swung the gym bag over his shoulder and took the ladder down to the lower level to unpack his things.
He could swear he felt turbulence after an hour. After two hours, he heard things rattling around in the cupboards of the on-board kitchenette. Unwilling to risk injury by training in a ship that couldn't guarantee stable gravity at that moment, Vegeta had taken to laying across his narrow bed and flipped through the small selection of films available on a hard drive hooked up to the television. He munched on some fruit absentmindedly and eventually watched movie about a group of men fighting and killing each over a satchel of cash. It wasn't particularly interesting to the Saiyan, but it was enough to keep his mind from racing nonstop until he inevitably had a panic attack.
After the movie was over, the Saiyan decided to try and determine what sort of liquor he'd stolen from the Briefs family. If he didn't like it, he could use it for barter- Vegeta knew that overworked soldiers would give away valuable items for a few sips of liquor. Before Vegeta had decided to betray Frieza, he'd usually been well-compensated for his work. He hadn't had his freedom, or even a home planet, but Vegeta had been reasonably wealthy. Now there was no real way to access the money he'd had at his disposal before. Still, Vegeta knew he would be capable of getting everything he needed, one way or another.
The first bottle was tall, dark green and rectangular. It bore the image of a horned animal and smelled so strongly of medicinal herbs that Vegeta sneezed after a sniff. Cautiously, Vegeta took a small sip. "Eugh! This is for barter."
The next bottle was cylindrical and the liquid was both clear and smelled of little more than ethanol. It was vodka. Vegeta swallowed a capful and decided to keep it. "This might be useful in cleaning cuts..."
He chose to keep vodka, the dark, sweet spirit that he was certain the humans called "rum" and another bottle he immediately identified as whiskey by the purple drawstring bag it was stored in. The Saiyan chose part with the herb liqueur, a foul-smelling spirit that bore the image of a worm on the label, a bottle of red wine, and a strange liqueur that smelled of citrus and yet was bright blue in colour.
After his reluctant taste testing session, Vegeta went to his small on-board washroom to brush his teeth before he curled up in his bed and fell asleep. He dreamed of pale-haired, faceless Saiyans with radiant golden auras surrounding him, blocking him from climbing a steep set of stairs that vanished into a thick fog, and he awoke covered in a film of cold sweat.
The turbulence had passed and Vegeta found himself aimlessly wandering around the ship after a quick shower. Unsure of what he'd encounter on Ardeheb, Vegeta chose to conserve his energy and watched films while eating the last of the fruit he'd stolen from the Briefs family.
Bulma swore under her breath as she took a second inventory of her jewelry. In all, six pieces were missing and all of them were quite valuable. She and Yamcha had gone up to her bedroom after dinner and she'd screamed when she saw her jewelry box sat open with different pieces strewn about her desk.
"He ripped me off, Yamcha! I can't believe it!"
"I can believe it, babe. Do you really think he'd ever respect you or your property?"
The heiress sighed. "He must have had a good reason for taking what he did... Yamcha, he took gold. Do you know what that means?"
Yamcha didn't respond but he did roll his eyes. He'd only been back on Earth for a few hours and Bulma seemed more concerned with Vegeta than with him, and it was starting to make the resurrected warrior feel quite jealous.
"He took the gold so he'd have something to barter with... I think he took off to find Goku. Think of how many worlds he must know... oh, Yamcha..." Bulma's eyes welled up with tears and she wrapped her slender arms around her boyfriend's shoulders, breaking down in heavy sobs.
Yamcha was almost reluctant to return Bulma's embrace.
The ship went in for a gentle landing on the barren outskirts of one of the few outposts on the tiny, arid planet. Vegeta had changed the torn shirt from his old uniform for a white t-shirt and took the time to cut one of his t-shirts up the seam, which he then soaked in cold water before turning it into a makeshift tagelmust to protect his face from the heat and dust that awaited him.
Ardeheb had little to offer. Water was scarce, the soil mostly infertile, the heat and sun so intense that Vegeta knew not to leave his skin exposed for very long.
He packed the bottle of blue-coloured liquor and a bottle of fresh water into a plain canvas bag he'd found in the kitchenette, disembarked the ship, and made certain the doors were locked before leaving. It was a three kilometre flight to the outpost and Vegeta decided to fly slowly and fairly low to the ground.
Centre 23 was a lonely place on Ardeheb, little more than a collection of dumpy taverns, a depressing little market, repair shops run by the native people of the planet, and a few stores that catered to PTO soldiers. The Planet Trade Organization only held on to Ardeheb because it was a symbol of how far the Cold Empire stretched across the galaxy.
Vegeta first went to a cramped, dingy stall that sold proper headscarves and handwoven clothing. The market was nearly deserted and many of the stalls had been boarded up. A squat creature with bumpy olive-green skin eyed Vegeta with suspicion.
"I have no money," he pulled at his tagelmust to loosen it, "but I could offer you exotic spirits from a distant planet in exchange for clothing."
"Bah! It's poison." The shopkeeper sneered at Vegeta.
The Saiyan reached into his bag and pulled out the bottle of liquor. "No poison in this vessel, my friend. I need clothing and directions."
"No uniform on you. No see your face. PTO always show faces. You enemy."
Vegeta pulled off his damp tagelmust. The shopkeeper's ugly face froze with fear- he'd heard terrible rumours about a rogue PTO soldier with large almond-shaped eyes and black hair that stood up like a flame who would kill without a second thought and was even said to eat his enemies.
"No, no, no harm. Please, no harm..." the shopkeeper held his hands up for Vegeta, ensuring he was unarmed.
"Then give me what I want and no harm will come to you."
The shopkeeper handed Vegeta a loose, long white tunic, made from a fabric similar to linen, and two large scarves made from vibrant blue and purple material. "You like, yes? Anything you wish."
"It's fine. I wish to know about Frieza's current state. Surely you have been updated."
"Yes, yes... last we hear was months ago, last we hear is he is alive and ageless."
Either they're way behind on this planet, or Kakkarot really screwed up...
Vegeta drizzled some fresh water on the blue scarf and quickly wrapped it around his head and face until there was only a slit open for his eyes to see. He checked his reflection in a cracked mirror and decided it looked alright. "I thank you, friend. The garments will be suitable. Our business is done."
The shopkeeper grunted and poked Vegeta's shoulder. "My friend... you pay me now."
"How could I forget?" Vegeta vanished and re-appeared behind the shopkeeper, grabbed hold of his head, and snapped his neck by jerking his head up and to the right. The rotund shopkeeper dropped to the ground in a lifeless heap. Vegeta buttoned up his new tunic and left the stall. "And now, something to eat..."
To Be Continued