.

12.

Silent watcher


Nemanan suddenly appears in my view, rising before me like a blue sphere on which the Red Star draws bloody veins. It really is a fascinating planet. It's a shame that its inhabitants, who seemed to have started out so well, decided to commit such an idiotic move.

I have the extractable base of the throne anchored to the ship, the upper hatch open behind me. From this position I can clearly see the dozens of spacecraft that continue to dock and depart from the planet, buzzing around it like a swarm of flies.

I could observe them from afar without being noticed to understand what they have in mind; or I could descend on the planet and defeat the opposing troops with the ease that this would require, but in this case I may lose some men and at the moment every resource is precious. After some wondering I decide that no, those beings don't deserve even an ounce of my time.

It took us eight days, a little longer than expected, to get back here. I ordered my men to go slowly. I had enough time to think about what to do and, besides taking other planets along the way, in the end I understood that I had no intention of continuing to escape from whoever is following me. I don't like having someone's breath down my neck, plus I know that they won't stop until they manage to reach me; continuing like this, not only I will be forced to just move forward, but I will also appear fearful and this would seriously offend me.

I decided to combine business with pleasure. Since it seems they can't catch me without some help, I'll be the one waiting for them and, at the same time, I'll reserve them a front row seat for the show.

I cross my arms on the control panel of my throne and extend my legs, relaxing them. Now that I can sit out here comfortably this view is starting to become incredibly pleasant. I don't know how much time has passed since I went up here, but I suppose it's a long time: when you observe the immensity of space there's no need to get bored for a moment. Time loses all meaning when you look at the stars. Only now do I realize I understand my father.

Suddenly something disturbs my vision. The communicator screen starts to flash; as soon as I touch it, Granium's face appears, exactly as I expected. This can only mean one thing.

«Lord Frieza, a spaceship is approaching from the east. Estimated time of ten minutes.»

«Good.»

I place the communicator in the glove compartment at my side, then I rotate the seat slightly. Who knows if our visitors expect what they are about to see... I don't think so, but if they do, they will discover that the show is much more spectacular than they imagine.

They emerge from the sidereal void after six minutes. It is a single ship and smaller than mine, perhaps five or seven thousand men. On the other hand, it is visibly faster: I'm happy I stopped because, even if it probably would have taken weeks, they would have reached me eventually. At least this way I showed them that I wasn't afraid.

I wait for them to get closer but not much time passes: the ship becomes visibly bigger. I decide it's time for the fireworks to begin.

Enjoy.

I don't rotate my throne. I stretch my arm out to the side, towards the planet, but what I feel now is very different from what I felt last time. When I blew up the Third Aster I felt only satisfaction and pleasure. Now I'm overwhelmed by anger.

Anger, because inferior beings popping up everywhere believe they can compete with me. Anger, because it is not yet clear to these scum how powerful I am, while this thought should be a torment for every inhabitant of the Universe. Anger, because someone, in that spaceship, and someone else, on that planet, was convinced they could deceive me. But no one can do it. No one can stop absolute power.

I feel the anger rising in my body and the energy increasing with it, and the more the anger grows, the more intense the aura becomes and condenses on my palm, flowing onto the tip of my finger. The throne trembles and so does the ship on which it rests. I'm pretty sure our approaching guests are slowing down.

When the energy rushes towards the planet I almost feel relief. With my arm outstretched I continue to look towards my watchers, smiling when I feel the impact of my beam against the Nemanan crust. Only in that moment do I allow myself to turn my gaze and observe.

The planet seems not to be affected by anything but I know that my blow was fatal: I felt it penetrate its bowels and re-emerge on the opposite side; slowly, I begin to feel the heat that the crust releases through an immense crack that splits it in half. The gases that escape from the crack mix with the atmosphere, the nucleus begins to boil, to grow bigger: I suddenly see it emerge like a lava flow and expand all around until, after a few moments, the planet begins to vibrate.

I imagine the sheer desperation the nemanians must be feeling right now as they burn alive and watch their beautiful planet split in half. I'm sure they know full well who's to blame, and they also know why this happened... they'll be wondering how I knew, but unfortunately they'll never have an answer.

Oh, Zarbon, if only they knew it was because of you…

A few more seconds, then Nemanan explodes. Of course, in a much less spectacular way than the Third Aster, but it's always mesmerizing to see a planet crumple in on itself and then blow up.

I enjoy the scene and hope my visitors are having a good look as well. The ship starts to slow down considerably, it's gotten way too close for my liking. While what remains of planet Nemanan agonizes behind me, writhing in fiery spasms, I try to see who is in command: I am sure that my father would never take such a journey himself just to come and talk to me.

The desire to blow that wreck up too becomes burning, but I force myself to refrain. If I'm waiting there's a reason, or at least a hope.

The ship slowly docks next to mine and begins to float in the void. The communicator resting on my knees blinks insistently but I don't need any of my men: if there were to be a clash between the two armies, it would be an even battle... if I just observed, of course.

I smile, pleased. As I thought, as soon as the ship stops the upper hatch opens and not the lower one, and as a figure emerges I descend from my throne to welcome him with all honors.

«So our father sent you. How nice. I knew he would prefer to stay in the comfort of his throne and send others to do the dirty work for him... but you, Cooler? Has he started treating you like one of his servants?»

He doesn't respond to the provocation. In fact he doesn't even smile, as I would have expected. He looks more serious than I'd like to.

«There is nothing to laugh about, Frieza. You must stop playing.»

«Didn't you like the show? I even waited for you to arrive to start the fireworks.»

«I hope you had a very good reason for this, otherwise you have once again proven yourself to be the impulsive fool you always were.»

«Are you repeating by heart what our father told you, or at least are these your words?» I mock him.

«Our father has nothing to do with this.»

He takes a few steps towards me, jumping from his ship to mine. He gets so close that I have to raise my face to look him in the eyes: something I hate, and he's aware of it.

«I'm here because I want to. He didn't command me.»

«Even worse. What do you think you're doing?»

«I'm just warning you that he's not liking at all the disturbances you're creating around the System. He said he will stop you if you become a danger, even if it means destroying you... and he will, believe me. Just beware. He knows your every move.»

This surprises me, in fact I'm stunned. I still have some resistance but I soon realize that I have no reason to believe that Cooler is lying. And then…

My eyes widen as the echo of his words rumbles around me with the tone of a hidden revelation that I should have grasped much, much sooner.

I know what you did on Madoria.

But how did he know?

I think to the last days. No radars or watch patrols have detected any ships for miles around us, other than Cooler's. The only way my father could spy on me would be to have bribed my sentries so they wouldn't let me know of his presence. Or…

No. It can't be.

The very idea inflames me with anger. I look up at him, clenching my fists to keep the foaming energy from accumulating in the palms.

«How is it possible?»

He hesitates; I follow his gaze as it shifts away from mine.

«Figure it out.»

My first instinct is to attack him and maybe have him trapped in the cells until he confesses, but his ship full of soldiers reminds me that it wouldn't be a good idea. I decide to simply ask him the question: I will know from his reaction whether I am right or not.

«I have spies on board, don't I?»

He doesn't deny it, and even if he doesn't confirm it, I know I've hit the nail on the head. Unexpectedly, he then adds:

«Maybe someone very close to you, the only one who knows your every move even before you make it and who, obviously, was put there by our father.»

I can't believe it.

I was naive. How could I ever think that my father's men could be completely faithful to me? I clench my fists with anger and I tremble with the desire to destroy in the most atrocious way possible the one who mocked me. I feel like a real idiot.

«This will be the best murder this Universe has seen in a century» I murmur. Cooler doesn't speak; he just watches me and I can sense his concern now that he's finally going against our father to help me. Help me, once again. No matter how hard I try, it's something I can't understand.

«Tell me, what do you want from me? Why are you here to warn me?»

«You really can't imagine doing something without having a profit, can you, little brother?»

«Wasting time, energy and resources? I wouldn't do it. And you wouldn't either.»

«You think so?» he snorts. He seems sincere to me but I can't believe him.

«Whatever you expect from me, you won't get it. I will not…»

I can't finish the sentence. He cuts me off with his tail, which bangs against my ship in a gesture of annoyance.

«Damn it, Frieza, you're my brother! I don't want to see you die, that's it!»

It makes me laugh.

«You don't? You, who didn't even want me to be born?»

«Unfortunately, you are. However, it's your business. If you want to have yourself killed because of your idiocy, go ahead. I did what I had to.»

He starts to turn away, but I won't let him leave like that.

«You better be ready» I tell him. «I'll come for you too. I plan to show both you and our father what I'm capable of. You have always underestimated me and you will soon find it out!»

He turns to me smiling.

«More facts, fewer words. Stop talking and take action.»

He dashes left, barely avoiding my energy sphere. I threw it at him before he could even finish the sentence but it was clear that he was expecting it; he looks back at me with a mocking smile on his face.

«Lord or no Lord, you are still the same brat. If that's what you want, you shall have it!»

I smile back. I craved a little training and a worthy opponent; also, if I don't release all this fury I risk destroying the entire ship, and that wouldn't be convenient.

We both soar into space, amidst the pulsating glows of the dying planet, far from our ships to avoid harming them. We get into position. I'd almost like to tell him that I missed him, but that will never happen.


Next chapter:

Meteors

12.01