Oh good, more!
Vacation Days
Chapter 6
Adamantine, even after plummeting through many miles of atmosphere
fast
enough to glow as brightly as a miniature sun, can still look really
shiny
after it lands.
Mihoshi liked shiny objects.
That was one of the reasons she enjoyed visiting Washuu's laboratory
so
often. There were lots of neat, shiny objects there, as well as
buttons to
push, machines to examine, and, of course, there were the delightful
conversations she had with Washuu (when said red-haired scientist
was not
agitated about something, which seemed to happen a lot of the time.)
I like this view of Mihoshi, she sounds like a small child.
Mihoshi did realize that sometimes Washuu would accidentally put
things at
the entryway to the lab that would prevent people from getting in,
but
Mihoshi was always helpful and removed those things so that others,
like
Mihoshi could get in anyway. After all, everyone knew Washuu loved
company,
and Mihoshi was always eager to help her friends.
Um, a dim child?
And now Mihoshi found herself stranded on a far off planet, in the
middle
of who knew where, confronted with a bright, shiny object of unknown
origin.
Things were looking up for Mihoshi.
On a personal level, Tenchi was fairly ambivalent about bright,
shiny
objects. However, he became concerned when he saw the eager gleam in
Mihoshi's eyes as she approached the large, and very shiny, sphere.
"Do you
have any idea of what that thing is?"
"Not really." Mihoshi ran her hand delicately over the silver
surface of
the orb. It was cool to the touch. Any residual heat from what had
obviously been an orbital crash had long since dissipated into the
air.
Delicately. Somehow I had the idea she'd go after it like a child
with a Christmas present!
Visions of an angry Washuu cursing existence because of Mihoshi's
meddling
washed over Tenchi. It was time to take preventive measures for
possible
future problems. "Should you really be fooling around with that if
you
don't know anything about it?"
"How can we learn anything about it if we don't examine it?" Mihoshi
countered.
It was a surprisingly good point on Mihoshi's part. Tenchi wasn't
sure if
that was a good sign or bad. Life had taught him that it was best
not to
take unnecessary chances, like trying to see just how hot a flame
was by
sticking your hand in it, or going into a cave your grandfather told
you
not to go into, or going off a plotted hyperspace course. Who knew
what
calamity might strike? No. Taking unnecessary chances was a bad
thing,
largely because Tenchi knew he would be forced to take necessary
chances at
some point in his life -probably soon, knowing his luck- and didn't
need
the added pressure created by unnecessary ones.
Desperate to come up with something that would delay Mihoshi's
investigation of the object, Tenchi said, "Why don't we take it back
to the
ship? Then we can examine it at our leisure." A delaying tactic,
nothing
more, but it was the best he could come up with on the spur of the
moment.
It was not that he was inherently fearful; he was just cautious when
the
situation seemed to demand it. And with the way things had gone on
this
vacation so far, the less they did, the better.
Nice move, Tenchi.
Mihoshi considered his advice. "Okay. Let's load it onto the
anti-grav sled
and take it with us."
The duo maneuvered the hoverbike over to the sphere. A pair of rods
that
made up the majority of the anti-grav sled, were extended from the
rear of
^remove this comma
the hoverbike and were positioned as close to the bottom of the
sphere as
they could. The orb was partially embedded into the ground, but
Tenchi
^I think "possible" would sound better than "they could"
estimated it to be no more than six inches, assuming the object was
a
perfect sphere with no odd attachments located at the bottom and
buried
under the earth. The field generated by the sled should have been
sufficient to defy the planet's gravity and pull the sphere from out
of the
ground, unless the object was over the sled's two ton weight limit.
Deciding that nothing ventured meant nothing gained, Mihoshi turned
on the
power.
For a moment, it appeared that the sphere was not going to move, but
in a
sudden tearing of dirt and stone, the orb lifted up from its earthen
grasp,
chunks of ground falling away from it as it was hoisted into the
air. It
floated in midair between the two rods, which accommodated the wide
object
by pivoting outward and projecting the field along its length.
With that taken care of, they pair mounted the hoverbike once more.
This
time Tenchi made certain to walk Mihoshi through the instructions on
how to
start and pilot the vehicle. As he told his companion, "Riding a
high-speed, terror-filled, out-of-control, hoverbike might have been
fun,
but you have to watch out lest you get too much of a good thing."
LOL!
Under Tenchi's careful supervision, the two of them set off. The
anti-grav
sled worked perfectly as they began their trek across the hill and
onward
with their cargo trailing behind. By necessity, their speed was much
slower
due to the weight and mass of the sphere they were transporting. It
made
the handling of the hoverbike's controls much more difficult, though
Mihoshi seemed to be able to pilot with the load just fine.
They had been traveling for about five minutes when Mihoshi said,
"Tenchi,
which direction is the ship in?"
It was only because they were traveling a dozen feet off the ground
that
kept Tenchi from facefaulting.
A quick movement to the left caught Malgaunt's eye. It was
Stargrave, who
had gone from sitting on a piece of ruined machinery to standing
bolt
upright, as though something sharp had been driven into his bottom.
Malgaunt's own heart quickened a beat as he took note of the open
concern
on Stargrave's face. A closer examination revealed that the object
of the
pirate's anxiety was the locator that was held in his palm. "What is
it?
What's happened?"
Stargrave's voice held a hint of dread. "The Shihana is moving."
That was something of a disappointment. Malgaunt considered berating
Sa'bre, but thought better of it. Tensions were running high enough
as it
was. Instead, he chose to appear relaxed as he idly scratched his
chin.
"Odd. I didn't think Fera would have gotten to it by now, even
flying as
wildly as she usually does. Why would its moving bother you anyway?"
Stargrave's hand trembled slightly as he tightened his grip on the
locater.
"Because it's not moving towards us. It's moving away."
Sa'bre Stargrave was not the only one to notice the movement. Flying
directly towards the blip indicated on her own locater, Fera
realized that
the distance between her and the target was closing at a slightly
slower
pace than before, and she hadn't slowed down. She stopped, hovering
over a
small patch of yellow grass as she paused a moment to double-check
the
locater. It was as she had feared. There could be no question now
that the
Shihana was moving, and Fera doubted it was advancing under its own
power.
But that was a good thing, at least to her, for it meant she had
received a
sign. It was most likely that the Almighty was smiling upon her and
was
showing the way to her heart's desires. It was just like the tales
her
people spoke of; Fate was now traveling at her side and guiding her
along
the Illustrious Path. What was to come was going to be glorious.
"I'm sorry I wasn't paying closer attention to where we were going."
Mihoshi began bawling again for the second time in less than five
minutes.
Tenchi would have covered his ears, save that his previous flight
with
Mihoshi had convinced him that not holding onto her while they were
cruising along on a hoverbike would be a bad thing. "I already told
you not
to worry about it. We'll figure out where it was... eventually. In
the
meantime, please stop crying."
There was another whiny sob. "But I should have been paying
attention to
where I was going."
"You were too busy trying to get the bike back under control."
Among doing other things at the time. Mihoshi remembered her
behavior
during the ride and blushed, her tears quickly drying up, much to
Tenchi's
relief. "Okay," Mihoshi said. "I think maybe we were originally
pointed
with the suns to our left. And since it hasn't been that long since
we
first took off, maybe if we put them on our right, we'll eventually
end up
back the way we came."
Good. When Mihoshi calms down she does regain control of her thinking
abilities.
Having no better plan of his own, Tenchi agreed. Mihoshi adjusted
their
course slightly and headed more to the north than to the east. At
first,
Tenchi thought they might have been going in the right direction
because
the terrain that flowed beneath them became more grass-covered and
less
rocky. But that soon changed as the grass began to thin out once
more and
the region became more hilly and rough. After a dozen kilometers or
so,
tall spires could be seen in the distance. As they drew closer,
Tenchi was
able to make out what the odd geographical features were.
Long spires of narrow rock protruded from the ground. They were
long,
slender things of various heights that reached upwards and to the
sky. All
of them were a wide varietyof shades from gray to black, and most
of them
^variety of
appeared to be a hundred feet tall, if not higher. Most of them
seemed to
be somewhat similar in shape, with very of the stone pillars being
flat or
^many
instead of very?
rounded on the top. The were sharpened, almost as though they were
upside
^They
down stakes. The effect was very impressive to Tenchi. There was
nothing on
Earth that could compare to the wonder of the sight. It was like a
gigantic
forest of stone.
"Have you ever see anything like this before?" he asked Mihoshi, a
hint of
^seen
awe in his voice.
She shook her head. "Nope. It's kind of pretty, in a way." Mihoshi
slowed
down and allowed Tenchi to think about the situation for a moment.
Tenchi's hand found its way to his jaw as he began to think.
Subconsciously, he changed his posture and appearance so that it
became
similar to that of his grandfather when the older man was deep in
thought.
"Well, I know we didn't come through here before. We must have gone
in the
wrong direction. Let's head east. Maybe we skirted the edge of this,
whatever it is, on our way out here."
Mihoshi complied and pointed the nose of the bike away from the
forest of
stone.
The beeps from the locater were coming closer together. They were
now
coming so fast that Fera no longer bothered to look at the
viewscreen of
the device. She was almost on top of her prey, and with any luck,
the
showdown would begin soon. It was going to be a glorious day.
She scares me...
Anyone seeing Fera would have felt their heart quicken as the smile
the
Katasan wore stretched so far across her face that over three
quarters of
her sharp teeth were clearly visible. And if that was not enough,
anyone
that noticed the wild look on her eyes would have become even more
unnerved. And if the person that noticed these things was familiar
at all
with Katasans, they would have headed as far away as they could,
since such
expressions on the felinoid aliens usually meant they were about to
do
something so incredibly dangerous that the likelihood of death,
along with
a good bit of collateral damage, was imminent. And that the Katasan
was
happy about that little fact.
When the beeping became nearly a constant pitch, Fera slowed down
and began
to visually scan the horizon. It wouldn't do to walk right into a
possible
trap. She used all of her skills to look for ambush points and
spotted
several possibilities. She skirted them as widely as she could,
laying low
behind a row of hillocks and matched speeds with the blip that was
continuing to move towards the east. Once her prey had traveled
about a
kilometer at that rate, Fera chose that moment to burst up and close
the
remaining distance to gain the element of surprise on her foe.
As Fera broke over the hill, she gunned her engine and charged, not
allowing any possible ambushers a chance to get a steady aim on her.
After
a moment, she saw that there was no need for concern; the area was
clear.
She immediately spotted her prey, straddling a hoverbike and with
someone
in the passenger's seat, dragging the Shihana behind it.
A complex mixture of joy and anticipation flooded Fera. She had the
drop on
the prey, and since her opponent still had her back to her, Fera
would have
all the time in the world to aim the fixed laser on the front of her
vehicle and blast Mihoshi. Of course, simply sneaking up and
shooting such
a worthy foe in the back while she was carrying a heavy burden that
wouldn't give her the least chance of dodging would have been a
safe,
smart, and ultimately dissatisfying resolution to their conflict.
No.
Another course of action would have to be taken, and as long as Fera
had
the drop on her, Mihoshi would have no other course but to comply
with her
demands.
Fera slowed down and aimed for a target in front of her.
"Maybe we should go farther north," Mihoshi offered.
"That would take us back into those stones," Tenchi pointed out.
"Oh, right." Mihoshi was still in the process of trying to figure
out which
way to go, and was coming up with north again, when a laser went
several
meters past her on the right. Her head jerked in the direction it
had gone,
then she looked behind her. "Tenchi! What do you think you're
doing?!"
Tenchi went from looking in the direction the beam had originated
from to
staring at Mihoshi in surprise. "That wasn't me! It was that thing
on the
bike!" He pointed over his shoulder at the rapidly approaching
hoverbike.
Mihoshi's eyes widened as well. Her mind began processing the
information.
There was a Katasan on a hoverbike coming up behind her. It had at
least
one medium powered laser, judging by the size of the bolt that had
been
fired at her. Since the Katasan had fired said laser at her, and
made no
effort to apologize, that meant it was probably not very nice, as
well as
its behavior being downright illegal.
I love the simplicity of Mihoshi's thoughts here.
Curiously, it had not fired a second
time, although that might have been simply because it was waiting to
get
closer so it could get a more accurate shot. At the moment, it was
positioned directly behind Mihoshi's hoverbike, giving the Katasan
an ideal
kill position on her. Mihoshi's own bike was too weighted down
between the
Tenchi and the sphere she was carrying to come close to matching
maneuverability of the Katasan.
Oh yes. And her outfit was beginning to ride up her backside, making
her
feel very uncomfortable. That was very bad too. Mihoshi absolutely
hated
wedgies.
Hee hee!
With all of the pertinent information in, a plan of action was laid
out.
Taking care of the wedgie would have to wait; she needed to get rid
of her
extra weight and draw the Katasan away from Tenchi. She hit a button
that
detached the anti-grav sled from the rear of her bike. Once that
fell free,
there was only one more thing she needed to get rid of.
"I'll be sure to pick you up later, Tenchi."
YIKES!
"What are you talking abWOAW!" Tenchi found himself pushed off the
bike,
dropping the ten feet below like a rock and landing on his backside.
As he stood up and reoriented himself, he saw Mihoshi increase the
speed of
her bike and arc quickly to the left. "What do you think you'rAGH!"
Tenchi
reflexively ducked as Fera flew directly over him, nearly taking the
top of
his head off with the undercarriage of her hovercycle. Once he was
sure she
wasn't going to come around again, he dared to look back up in the
sky. He
saw that the alien had opened up with her laser on Mihoshi, who was
dodging
and weaving at incredible speeds that required an unbelievable
amount of
skill, yet was barely keeping ahead of the blasts. The dogfight drew
farther and farther away from his position on the ground.
"Damn it!" Tenchi hammered his fist into the unyielding adamantine
of the
orb, frustrated that he was helpless once again while his and
Mihoshi's
lives were in jeopardy. He had the Master Key, and sometimes he
could even
summon the light hawk wings, but again and again he had been
rendered
ineffective despite those things. That was going to change. It had
to
change.
Uh oh, Tenchi's getting his backbone.
"Be careful, Mihoshi," he said under his breath as both of the
duelists'
hoverbikes dwindled in size as their aerial duel continued to take
them
farther away from where Tenchi had been left behind.
Another laser blast went right over Mihoshi's head, nearly singeing
the top
of her hair. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "The penalty for
assaulting a Galaxy Police officer is five years in an intergalactic
prison!"
Another blast went over her head.
"Attempted murder is another fifteen!"
The next blast went wide to the left.
"And you're speeding too!"
Ha! Are you going to give her a ticket?
A blast caromed off the rear, nicking part of the carriage but doing
no
significant damage.
"I don't think you're listening to me!"
Another blast answered her again.
That was enough. The female Katasan (Fera had gotten close enough
for
Mihoshi to determine her sex) was unappreciative of the laws she was
breaking, and in showing that kind of disregard, Mihoshi felt
compelled to
take the drastic measures to stop her.
^take drastic
Another blast nicked off the front of the hoverbike.
Of course, that was assuming Mihoshi first came up with some kind of
drastic measure that would bring the offender down and into custody,
which
was obviously becoming more difficult by the second. For one thing,
her
opponent had the advantage of being in the rear position, and all of
the
dodging and weaving Mihoshi had done had failed to bring her closer
than
fifteen meters to Fera. The Katasan was incredibly skilled, and
Mihoshi,
well, Mihoshi had taken the required courses and qualified at the
academy
to pilot hovercycles, but that had been a long while ago, and she
had not
really driven one since. Certainly never at high speeds like this,
except
for her final test in qualifying for her hoverbike license. She
whimpered
slightly as no solutions were coming to her on how to resolve the
situation. And the laser blasts were getting closer all the time
Fera grinned savagely as she sensed the flight was about to end.
Mihoshi
had proved herself to be a most skilled pilot. Even with the Katasan
having
the kill position and what was obviously a superior vehicle, Mihoshi
had
evaded death for a good five minutes. Surely bringing down the
officer was
a feat that would be high on the lists for final judgment.
A wetness filled Fera's mouth as she began to salivate, eager to
finish the
race as she lined Mihoshi up in her sights again. There was no way
she
could dodge the next series of blasts. No way.
Another blast scorched the left side of the bike; a more telling
blow this
time as it blasted the footrest completely off, as well as taking
most of
the sole off Mihoshi's boot. Without the support, her leg suddenly
slipped
downward, throwing the balance off the bike and causing it to lurch
towards
one side. As the bike twisted to the left, Mihoshi jerked the
handlebars
that way as well. The violent pull was so sudden that she
accidentally
dodged the tight three shot burst that Fera had placed at where
Mihoshi
should have flown to, had she not jerked on the controls so
suddenly.
That Mihoshi had evaded certain destruction was a cause for relief.
That in
doing so she ended up pulling into the forest of tall stone spires
at an
incredibly dangerous speed was decidedly not a cause for relief.
Mihoshi
confirmed this as she, with a great deal of difficulty, managed to
balance
out her bike, then became aware of her surroundings just in time to
pull to
the right and miss the twelve foot wide pillar of stone that she
nearly
crashed into at a speed in excess of two hundred kilometers an hour.
Fera paused for only the briefest of moments as she witnessed
Mihoshi
commit to a course that was almost certainly suicidal unless she
slowed
down. The pillars of stone, that would have seemed far away to
someone on
^omit this comma
the ground, were too close together when one was flying among them
at the
^and omit this one too (try reading it out loud)
speeds Mihoshi was going. And smashing into one would be certain
death.
^, and try making this a
comma...
Continuing to dodge laser blasts had a much higher chance of
survival. Only
a desperate fool would risk their lives in such a careless manner.
Fera's grin increased as she followed Mihoshi into the stone forest
and
continued her pursuit.
Mihoshi was screaming wildly as more by reflex than by design, she
wove
back and forth, darting in and out of the rocky protrusions and
trying to
keep from ending up crashing into some huge pillar of stone. She
would have
escaped the forest of rock and taken her chances with Fera
continuing to
blast at her, really.
This sentence seems to be missing something. Do you mean she would
have preferred to escape from the forest or rock and take her chances?
But by the time she had realized exactly where she
was, Mihoshi had completely lost her bearings and had no idea on how
to
exit the forest. At the moment, the spacing between the pillars was
enough
that she could react to them in time and keep from ending up
splattered
across the landscape, but to her it seemed to get harder to dodge as
she
continued to fly. She chose to go to the left, while keeping from
impacting
with the shafts that seemed to be getting closer to each other by
the
moment.
It had taken Fera a full minute to catch up to Mihoshi. The course
the
blonde was using in order to get through the stone obstacle course
was
difficult and arduous, pressing Fera and taking her skills to the
limit.
Truly the human had the soul of a Katasan somewhere in her. That
could be
the only explanation for the daring and talents she was displaying
in her
flight for freedom. Mihoshi was magnificence personified, but as
with all
good chases, the end had to come. As Fera followed the increasingly
difficult path Mihoshi was taking, she targeted her laser on the
prey once
more. Fera was certain she had the back of Mihoshi's bike right in
her
sights...
And then Mihoshi jagged hard to the left and headed in that
direction.
"She's unbelievable," Fera said with admiration under her breath.
Even from
where she was, Fera could see that the towers of stone were three
times as
thick towards that direction. At least Mihoshi was going to have to
slow
down to keep from plowing into one of the rocks. That would give
Fera a
better chance to get a clear shot off, at least.
However, much to Fera's surprise, Mihoshi's speed did not slacken at
all.
Instead it remained the same, despite the increasing number of
obstacles
before both the officer and the Katasan. She was insane. Even most
Katasans
would not be crazy enough to try piloting through an obstacle course
at
those kinds of speeds. They would at least slow down so that they
stood at
least a chance, no matter how slim, of survival.
Of course, Fera prided herself on being superior to most of her
race. She
focused her concentration and tried to follow, laser blazing. They
were
committed on their course of action now. Only one of them would
leave the
towers of stone alive. If that.
"Why can't I remember which one's the speed control?!" Mihoshi
wailed as
she sailed under a half-fallen stone that lay horizontally across
her path.
(Hysterical laughter)
She flew close enough to it that she felt the stone brush against
her hair.
That had been far too close.
It was terrible. Mihoshi had had no idea that the pillars would be
so much
thicker in this direction, and she would surely have slowed down to
keep
from running into one and ruining her bike. And herself too, for
that
matter. But if she couldn't figure out how to slow down, she knew
for
certain she was going to die.
It wasn't fair. There were still so many things she had wanted to
do. Like
become a Galaxy Police officer. No. Wait. She had become one.
(Duh)
Well, she
wanted to see the brilliant displays of auroras around Praxian Took
during
its winter solstice. No. Wait. She had done that last year.
Oookay...
There was that
exotic Yourgina delicacy, Phlegm Bistrol, that she had always wanted
to
try, since it was supposed to be one of the best tasting foods in
the
galaxy. No. She had done that on the day she had graduated from the
Academy.
"Say, I've led a pretty fulfilling life," Mihoshi said to herself as
she
crossed between two pillars that had only six meters of distance
between
them.
This is NOT the time to think that..
Her mind wandered slightly. What was the one thing she hadn't done
that she
really wanted to do? There had to be something. Her mind raced
almost as
quickly as the laser blasts that began to lash around her once
again. What
was it she wanted to do? It was almost on the tip of her tongue.
Vacation with Tenchi. That was it. She wanted to go on vacation with
Tenchi
a whole, whole lot. But now she was going to die here and never get
the
chance. Oh, what woe and misery. Life was just too cruel sometimes.
With that taken care of, Mihoshi went back to panicking and trying
to keep
from wrecking.
Hee!
A laser blast struck a nearby black stone pillar, darker than the
others,
shattering it and sending shards of rock at Mihoshi. A sharp one cut
across
the top of her scalp, opening a cut and sending a trickle of blood
into her
eye. She took her hand off the handlebar for a split second and
wiped her
forehead clean. It was only a matter of time before either a laser
blast or
stone claimed her life. The forest of rock appeared to be without an
end,
and the Katasan's blasts were getting progressively closer. And at
the
speed Mihoshi was going at, well, even her luck was bound to run
out. If
only she could pilot the hoverbike better, but her level of skill at
it had
never been that great.
Now, if instead of a real life hoverbike it had been that cool video
game
she had been playing last month, 'Ridiculously Suicidal Crash Racer
II:
Hyper Edition,' that would have been fun, as well as easier. In it,
you had
to keep from getting blasted by people shooting at you from behind
while
navigating through a series of obstacle courses, which was sort of
like
what she was doing now. And she had been really good at it too. She
had
beaten the game at its highest setting within a couple of day's
time, which
had made Ryouko really angry since she had been playing it for a
month and
still hadn't come close to beating the game. When Ryouko had tried
playing
Mihoshi head to head, she ended up getting very angry and destroyed
the
game unit, which had made Mihoshi really sad. Every time Ryouko
lost,
Mihoshi had kept reassuring her that she was certain the pirate
would get
better at it and win. After all, how many people could lose one
hundred and
twenty six consecutive times and never come close to winning? Ryouko
would
probably have won the next game if she hadn't destroyed the unit.
Too bad flying the hoverbike through the forest of stone couldn't
have been
as much fun. True, there was a level on the game that was similar to
this
one; the game even had a playing control set up similar to her own
hoverbike. Actually, except for the fact that Mihoshi remembered
where the
speed control on the game was, they were practically identical. And
flying
and avoiding obstacles and laser blasts in the game was easy. Why,
all one
needed to do in the game to avoid a rocky outcropping with a huge
pillar
lying across it on the left, like the one that she was approaching,
was to
cut really hard to the right while weaving in-between the two to
keep from
being splattered everywhere. To prove her point, Mihoshi did exactly
that,
just as if she were playing the game. It was easy to navigate, and
she
mentally tallied a score of five thousand for the difficulty of the
maneuver.
It really was a shame real life wasn't like a video game.
Fera gaped in open astonishment as Mihoshi did an unbelievably
difficult
maneuver between a rocky outcropping and a huge pillar lying across
the
left. When Fera tried the same thing, she came so close to the
pillar that
it nicked her ear. It was impossible! How could a mere human learn
to fly
with such skill and at such speeds? And even more impossible was
that
Mihoshi's aerial skills had seemed to improve a three fold for no
apparent
reason.
But as vexing as it was to Fera, still she felt her blood begin to
sing in
response to the race. This was life in its purest form. Two
opponents
racing with death right behind them, nipping at their heels as it
waited
for someone to miss that crucial turn or go up instead of down and
end up
broken across the land. It was what all Katasans were born for, and
what
they all ultimately craved.
And suddenly, without explanation, a peace settled over Fera. It was
unlike
anything she had ever experienced in her entire life. It was such a
shock
that it nearly caused her to wreck. The craving for speed, for
taking
chances, for the rush of adrenaline as she risked her life, was no
longer
there. It simply vanished. Instead, it had been replaced by a placid
calmness that, much to her amazement, she found she liked. Her mind
and
body became one: a perfect synthesis between thought and motion. Her
movements flowed effortlessly from one to the next as she continued
to
trail behind Mihoshi. It took her a moment to recall that she had
heard of
this sensation spoken in soft whispers in the stories of her people.
It was
the perfection of speed; she had become one with herself. At that
moment,
she was the very best that she could possibly be and to feel
anything less
would leave a void in her soul that would forever plague her
thoughts until
she could feel that wholeness once more.
It was time for the race to end, for one competitor or the other.
There was no one to witness the duel being raised to another level.
Engines
roared louder and echoed over the landscape as the two vehicles
raced
through the ever increasing number of spires. A greater number of
the tall
stones had fallen over, making the course even more difficult, but
neither
rider acknowledged the change as they maintained their blinding
speeds and
continued darting in-between the obstacles in their paths, the
slightest
misstep meaning death.
For how long the race continued, neither would ever be able to say.
Both
Fera and Mihoshi were too lost in their own thoughts to take heed of
time.
But, as with all things, the inevitable happened. The end of the
race
arrived in the form of a series of three pillars, ten meters at the
most
separating one from the others. Mihoshi recognized it as being very
similar
to the fourth from last obstacle in the final level of the game. She
wove
in and out of all three, her bike nearly throwing her as she went in
at a
sharp angle and bounced slightly off the side of the last pillar.
Sparks
flew as the bike rebounded from the impact, but Mihoshi regained
control in
time to avoid a fourth rocky protrusion that was just beyond the
final
pillar.
Fera attempted the same turn, but struck the final pillar, not
hitting it
at the slight angle Mihoshi had. Rather than deflecting off the
rock, she
hit much harder, her hoverbike still very much out of control as it
headed
towards the rocky protrusion that Mihoshi had just missed. In spite
of
being out of control, Fera almost made it over the top of the slate
gray
rock, but the lower third of the bike caught the edge of the
obstruction
and struck hard. As the laws of inertia dictated, Fera continued
onward as
she was ripped off the bike and went flying over the rock and over
to the
ground beyond it.
As Fera's body went sailing through the air, there was a moment of
epiphany
as she at last understood what that feeling of joining between mind
and
body, the peace that had settled over her, had been; it was the hand
of the
Great Maker allowing her a brief taste of what paradise would be
like. And
now she also understood that she was going to know that feeling
forever as
her body went skidding across the uneven rocky surface at just under
a
hundred kilometers an hour.
Mihoshi was still lamenting about how much easier it would have been
to
travel through the stone forest if it were a video game, and
mentally
tallied her score at two hundred and fifty seven thousand, when the
sound
of a small explosion from behind caught her attention. She took her
eyes
off her path for the briefest of moments and just caught the small
plume of
smoke that began to rise up in the air from somewhere behind her.
Once
Mihoshi realized she was no longer being pursued (the lack of laser
blasts
was the giveaway), she figured out what had happened and began a
circuitous
route to circle back around.
As Mihoshi approached the smoke, she finally remembered how to stop
the
hoverbike again. She waited until she drew near enough to spot a
sprawled
out form lying on the ground, near the fire, before she hit the
emergency
brake and flipped the switch all the way to the down position.
And once again dropped like a rock into the ground.
"Ouch," Mihoshi moaned as she got up off the bike, rubbing her sore
behind.
Cut the power off slowly, she reminded herself. Next time she would
remember for sure. But now she had other more important things to
do. She
was in unknown territory, far from any back up, and had been shot at
by at
least one individual. Who knew how many others might be right behind
her?
The situation was tense. The situation was dangerous. The situation
called
for one clear course of action.
Mihoshi picked the wedgie out of her bottom.
You are wicked, did I ever tell you that before?
"Ah," Mihoshi sighed. That was much better. It had ridden up even
higher
during the course of her flight and had been driving her crazy.
Once that had been taken care of, she went back to her other duties.
She
drew her sidearm and approached the sprawled out figure of Fera, who
remained motionless on the ground. As Mihoshi drew near, she managed
to get
a good look at Fera and cringed at the sight. She lowered her
pistol. She
wasn't going to be arresting the Katasan. With the numerous and
grievous
injuries the furry alien had received when she had skidded across
the
merciless, rocky ground, she would be lucky if she survived for five
more
minutes.
The image of Fera's dying form burned into Mihoshi's mind. It had
not been
the first time she had to deal with death in the line of duty. It
had not
been the first time she had watched someone die slowly. But dealing
with it
never got any easier. Never.
Fera looked up through the pain and saw Mihoshi standing over her.
In spite
of the overwhelming agony that shot through her form, she managed to
smile,
though with her muzzle covered in blood it looked more like a
grimace of
agony.
"I'm sorry," Mihoshi said, emotion filling her voice. "But you were
trying
to kill me. It was my duty to resist and try to arrest you."
An apology? That was a surprise. "No need," Fera rasped out, the
tang of
blood filling her mouth and dribbling out the side. "Could not...
ask for
better death. Make... life worth living. Touch.... paradise. Want to
go
there... now. Will now, thanks to... you. Have given me... gift...
greatest
gift. I give one in... return."
That seemed really strange to Mihoshi. No one that was in the
process of
dying after having tried to kill her had ever offered her a gift.
"What is
it?"
It took Fera a moment to summon enough strength to answer. The end
was
near; she could feel the dark tendrils of the forever night threaten
to
claim her, but she felt honor bound to assist the one who had helped
give
her the perfect ending to her life. "You've been betrayed. Three...
officers of your GP. Onita..." It was getting harder to breathe. She
coughed up some blood, and took even longer to say the second name.
"Funuyaki." She felt her strength threaten to leave her, it was
getting
dark and was nearly impossible to speak. It was just too...
Mihoshi watched as Fera gave out a powerful rasp, and her chest
stopped
moving. That always seemed to happen to her. A suspect she was
investigating would be fatally shot and dying slowly. She would get
to
their side and ask what had happened. They would be about to give
her some
crucial bit of knowledge, and then they died right before giving her
the
most important part of the information.
But this time was slightly different. The Katasan had managed to not
only
tell her that there were three officers, but actually had given out
two of
the names. Funuyaki she was not familiar with. However, she did know
two
different Onitas on the force. She had worked with one of them a
couple of
years back on an undercover assignment. Could he have been the one?
And who
was the third traitor?
Mihoshi half turned away from Fera; the idea that the Katasan might
have
been lying never crossing her mind. She tried to consider the full
ramifications of a betrayal in the Galaxy Police. As with all
organizations
the size of the Galaxy Police, there was some corruption in the
ranks,
though it was thankfully small due to good training and internal
security.
If it was just limited to three officers, that wouldn't be so bad.
And the
officers that Fera had accused where not that high up in the
organization,
or Mihoshi would have recognized them for sure. But that still left
the
problem of who the third one was. Oh well, she was probably worrying
unnecessarily. How high up could the third one be?
"Mal...gaunt," Fera's voice drifted through the air,
Mihoshi was just barely able to make it out, but it was enough. Her
reaction was instantaneous, and she was at Fera's side in a
heartbeat. "Did
you say Malgaunt? As in Marshal Malgaunt?"
Fera's unblinking gaze was the only answer she still held for
Mihoshi. This
time the Galaxy Police officer made certain the felinoid was dead,
rather
than assuming it as she had before. Unfortunately, as she had
feared, this
time it was final. And Mihoshi had made very certain of it. Perhaps
waiting
until rigor mortis set in was a bit too cautious, but she didn't
want to
take any chances. After all, some alien races, like the Hedghogans,
could
play dead for hours if they felt so inclined. Nothing but the most
rigorous
of medical scans would show that they were actually alive.
Curiously, they
had a high rate of employment at insurance companies, mostly in the
claims
departments.
LOL!
Once convinced Fera was truly gone, Mihoshi started up her
hovercycle. It
gave a groan of protest, slowly raised itself off the ground, than
began
sputtering as it began its flight back to Tenchi.
One sun had set and the second was beginning to make its way towards
the
horizon and still Mihoshi had not returned. Tenchi grew increasingly
concerned about her absence by the second. Something must have
happened to
her. Part of him feared that the furry alien woman had somehow
managed to
hurt her, but the fact that the enemy creature had not returned
implied
something might have happened to it as well.
A thousand different possible scenarios of doom ran through his
mind.
Whenever he had encountered a problem in the past, some terribly
dangerous
foe, there had always been someone else there to help give support.
But
this time he was alone. Ryouko, Aeka, Washuu, even Ryo-Ohki, none
could
help him now. It was all up to him to save the day, only he wasn't
sure how
to go about it this time. Mihoshi had flown off at a high rate of
speed and
had speeded out of sight within seconds. There was no way he could
catch up
to her on foot. Worse, if he left the big metal orb, there was a
good
chance that once Mihoshi returned, she wouldn't be able to find him
if he
wandered off. Remaining where he was would be the only way she could
find
him once again.
But he didn't have to like it.
About the only thing Tenchi had going for him was that the voice in
his
head had quieted down. Actually, that little bit of disorientation
he had
felt since the crash had seemed to have disappeared as well. He had
probably had a concussion. That was where the voice had come from.
It was
just the effect from having his head rammed into hard objects
several times
over a very brief period of time. And now that he had recovered, he
wouldn't have to hear it ever again.
As Tenchi rose to his feet, he tripped over a rock and landed face
first
into the unyielding ground.
[Yeah, right. Like you'll ever be rid of me.]
Tenchi's sobbing was all that broke the silence of the land.
Once he was over the brief period of sorrow, Tenchi forced himself
to
relax. The voice would go away in time, just as soon as he got some
medical
treatment for his head. In the meantime, since he was stuck there
alone, he
would put his time to good to use and examine the metal object
again. And
once Mihoshi got back (and she would be coming back any minute now),
he
could tell her what he had discovered, and she would be able to
identify
the object at last.
The more Tenchi thought about it, the more it seemed to him that the
sphere
was something very important, and perhaps what the furry woman had
really
been after. Anything that was made durable enough to withstand
orbital
reentry without a mark on it had to contain something valuable. The
only
two possible ships it could have belonged to were either that big
one or
that one full of criminals that Yukinojo had identified right before
the
shooting had begun. In any case, they had to keep it out of anyone
else's
hands until the authorities arrived and they could deal with the
matter.
Tenchi was still in the process of examining the large metal ball,
discovering nothing important about it, when he heard the
spluttering of an
engine. He looked in the direction the noise came from and beheld a
sight
that made his heart jump into his throat.
"Mihoshi!" Tenchi waved wildly back and forth at the approaching
hoverbike,
making certain she saw him. He watched as she waved back, almost
losing her
grip on the bike and falling off. After she awkwardly regained her
balance,
nearly wrecking the bike in the process, she continued towards him.
Soon
she was close enough that Tenchi could make out the smile that was
plastered on her features.
A wave of calm settled over him. Mihoshi was all right, thankfully.
He
doubted that even she had the ability to be so exuberant if she had
been
wounded. Her bike looked like it had been shot up and then rammed
into
something at top speed, but that was nothing. As long as Mihoshi was
okay,
that was all that really mattered. At last he was able to calm down
for the
first time since she had left, and was surprised by the depths of
emotions
he had felt about her safe return.
Mihoshi was hovering no more than twenty feet away from him when she
slowed
down. Tenchi hoped she would remember to turn the power off switch-
*WHAM*
-slowly.
Once the stars stopped floating around Mihoshi's head, she realized
her
mistake and chided herself.
No little birdies? (or cabbits?)
But that couldn't bring her down. At last she
was reunited with Tenchi, and she wanted to ask his opinion on some
of the
things she had learned from Fera. She got up off the bike,
handlebars in
hand, and headed towards Tenchi. He always had good ideas. He'd be
able
figure out what they should do concerning traitors in the Gal...
Handlebars in hand?
Mihoshi looked down at the part of the hoverbike that was currently
residing in her hands. A part that was not supposed to be
detachable.
Panicked, she rushed back to the bike and tried pushing the
handlebars back
into the slot that they belonged. They fit back in and seemed to be
secure.
She twisted them back and forth a few times just to be sure. Again,
they
held in place.
"Wow!" She wiped a hand across her brow to remove the sweat that had
formed
there. That had been close.
And then the front end of the hoverbike detached itself from the
rest of
the body, falling to the ground with a thud.
It took Tenchi nearly five minutes to calm Mihoshi down. He assured
her
repeatedly that it had not been her fault that their only mode of
transportation had broken down and that they were now stranded in
the
middle of nowhere. Eventually she seemed to accept that, and calmed
down
enough to tell him what she had learned.
Tenchi was uncertain of what to make of the information. His gut
told him
it was probably the truth; there didn't seem to be any reason as to
why the
alien would have lied about that sort of thing since it could be
disproved
easily enough. If there were traitors in the Galaxy Police, that
also meant
that any rescues from them would have to be suspect. It was hardly
impossible to consider that there might have even been more than
just those
three involved in whatever conspiracy had taken place. At least they
knew
the names of the three traitors and could contact the proper
authorities as
to their actions.
There was something else to consider as well. Tenchi had his doubts
about
the Katasan coming alone. If it had, why had it not threatened them
in the
ship she had come in instead of running them down from a hoverbike?
Most
likely she had friends, and given time, they would probably show up
before
too long. Realistically, they needed to leave the area as soon as
possible.
Aside from those considerations, one very important fact was clear
to him.
"We need to keep whatever that thing is out of their hands." He
pointed at
the adamantine container. "I just don't know how we're going to
protect it,
though. I mean, we're stationary and out in the open. I also don't
see a
lot of things that look like we could eat, and you don't have more
than a
couple of days rations on you. Too bad it's too big to move."
Mihoshi held up her hand and made "Oh, oh," sounds.
Tenchi allowed a soft sigh to escape his lips. "Mihoshi, you can
just say
what's on your mind. This isn't a classroom and I'm not Washuu."
"Right," Mihoshi answered. "I might be able to slave the hoverbike's
powercore to the antigrav web. That way we could move the big shiny
orb and
take it with us."
It sounded better than standing still. Tenchi helped Mihoshi remove
the
core and hook it up to the sled. It took a great deal of hammering
with the
small tool kit from the hoverbike, but eventually they managed to
create a
makeshift rig to support the core and the sled. It was not very
aesthetically appealing, but it functioned properly, and considering
the
way their luck had been going, that was more than satisfactory.
By the time they had finished, night had fallen. Part of Tenchi
wanted to
put some distance from where they were now, but realistically it was
too
late to try to set off in any direction, and both of them felt
exhausted
from their ordeal. In less than twenty four hours they had been shot
down,
crash-landed on an uninhabited world, lost their ship, had gone on a
wild
ride over the planet's surface, were now completely lost, and had
been shot
at by a large cat on a fast bike. Even by Tenchi's standards, it had
been a
trying day.
They set up a small camp, bereft of fire and with only a small
flashlight
to provide any illumination for them. They ate a small meal of
rations that
had been stored with the bike. Mihoshi complained the entire time of
how
flat and awful the freeze dried meals were and lamented that Sasami
wasn't
there to cook for them. Tenchi was forced at agree with her about
both the
rations and their tastelessness. But it was better than nothing.
Shortly after the second sun had fallen, the temperature dropped
quickly.
By Tenchi's estimation, it fell nearly twenty degrees in the first
two
hours, turning a pleasant day into a cold night. He was left
shivering and
silently cursing that they could not build a fire because it might
draw
attention to them. Well, that and the fact they had nothing to burn.
Tenchi did notice that Mihoshi was not reacting to the chill in the
air,
despite her very tight outfit. "How come you're not cold?"
Mihoshi stared at him in confusion. It took a moment for her to
figure out
what he meant. "Oh, all first class detective uniforms are insulated
with
very resilient materials. They can keep an officer warm in
temperatures
down to well below zero Celsius. With an independent air supply, and
some
form of airtight headgear, my outfit would allow me to survive in
outer
space for up to an hour."
Tenchi shivered some more. "I don't suppose you have a spare."
After a moment of thought, Mihoshi said, "No. Are you cold?"
What, just because he was shivering and his teeth were chattering?
"Yes."
Mihoshi considered what to do. "Well, the temperature really doesn't
bother
me. Nights on Mensa tend-"
"Mensa?" Tenchi interrupted.
"My homeworld," Mihoshi explained. "Anyway, nights there tend to be
a bit
colder than this, so I'm used to it. I know what I can do. I'll let
you
wear my uniform." Mihoshi began to unzip the front of her outfit,
lowering
the zipper enough to allow Tenchi to see all too much of the great
valley
between her bosoms, as well as part of the bosoms themselves.
"AH! Stop!" Tenchi held his hands out in a warding gesture. "Keep
your
clothes on!"
The zipper stopped halfway down. "But I thought you were cold."
[Not anymore, he ain't]
Tenchi ignored the comment. He had to come up with something. "Ah,
well,
it's a woman's outfit, and I don't crossdress."
Mihoshi giggled. "You're right. You wouldn't look very good in
women's
clothing." She zipped the uniform back up. After another brief
giggle, she
said. "Well, we could share body warmth then. That should help you
stay a
little warm."
"Share.... body.... warmth?" Tenchi felt even less cold now.
Downright
warm, in fact.
Mihoshi laid down on the ground, next to the bike. "Sure. It's one
of the
basics taught to us in survival courses. It's no big deal. I had to
do it a
couple of times with Kiyone. Like when we were stranded on one of
the moons
around Polgar 9. And another time when we were on a stakeout on Hoth
and I
forgot to bring along the heater. I could have sworn I packed it
too, but
it wasn't there. Kiyone wasn't real happy about that, but she always
seemed
a little temperamental to me. I didn't care though. She was a great
partner. I still miss her sometimes." Mihoshi sighed. "Anyway, why
don't
you lay down next to me and you can get warm?" She patted the ground
next
to her and gave a smile bereft of any duplicity.
Tenchi gave a weak smile in return. He was cold. And they were both
clothed. And it wasn't like he would be lying down with Ryouko or
anything.
He should be safe.
[She'd sure be able to keep you warm.]
Tenchi gritted his teeth. He would not shout out loud at the voice,
as was
his instinct. Instead, he whispered under his breath. "Would you be
quiet?"
[I won't complain if there's nothing to complain about, get it?]
That was pretty clear, and since he wanted to get a good night's
sleep, and
it was cold, and he hated the voice, and Mihoshi was a perfectly
safe
person to sleep with, in a non-sexual way. He would do it.
Tenchi laid down next to Mihoshi, eliciting a little squeal of
delight from
her. For the briefest of moments he began to reconsider, but then
relaxed.
He just had to quit being so uptight around the girls; all it was
doing was
making him tense and miserable. So he relaxed as much as he could on
the
hard ground, his back snuggled up to Mihoshi's back, since there was
no way
in hell he was going to face her as they lay down together. Mihoshi
seemed
content with the situation and fell into a deep, snoring slumber
within a
couple of minutes. Tenchi was so exhausted that he followed a minute
later,
despite Mihoshi's clamor.
Sa'bre Stargrave sat, brooding in the darkness of the ruins of his
bridge.
He sat in silence, as unmoving as the red point of light on the
locater
that lay in his open palm. His only companion was a shadow that
remained
behind him, one that was as unmoving as himself, though as shadows
went, it
was infinitely more useful than the one Sa'bre had been born with.
Night had fallen, and still the Shihana had remained as motionless
as
Sa'bre Stargrave. Fera had left hours ago and had responded to none
of the
communications that had been sent to her. The only thing that now
reigned
on the shattered remains of the bridge of the Rack N'Ruin was
silence.
For how long it remained that way, Sa'bre could not say. But when
enough
time had passed, he accepted Fate, and for one, brief moment, seized
control of his bridge again.
To the shadow, he said in a soft voice, "Tell the others we move out
at
first light. We're going to recover the Shihana ourselves.
Without a word, Ariana moved from her position behind Stargrave and
departed through the hole on the bridge.
And silence reigned supreme once again.
Very enjoyable. Thank you!
June