The story arc Aurora of Rainbow Fire is part two of an ongoing series called The Odd Man Out. All current parts can be found at https://members.tripod.com/fanservicelimited/index.html
Aurora of Rainbow Fire chapter seven: Learning to Fly part c.
A Tenchi Muyo TV series lemon comedy by Nugar. Email the author at nugarthebarbarian@yahoo.com with any comments. All Tenchi Muyo characters and situations copyright their creators, Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima, and AiC and Pioneer and are used without permission. All other characters and situations are owned by a whole lot of various people. This is a nonprofit work only.
Sungi's search for the blonde's green-haired partner was a fruitless one. Hours had passed since he had released the two soon-to-be-ex morons. She wasn't in any of the baths, she wasn't in the bar, she wasn't at any of the refreshment stands, even the one big one, she wasn't in any recreational room, she wasn't in any hall he'd patrolled, nor the service corridors, nor, when he'd finally stopped by to knock, was she in her room, although he had woken up a young girl. He didn't find the boy or the girl, either, confirming his suspicions that they had ran and were in hiding. At least they hadn't told the ship's security crew. Laughable as they were, they could have still been an annoyance.
A loud bong, as if from a gong, sounded throughout the ship. Lunch was served.
Sungi sighed, aware of the rumbling in his stomach. Oh, well. An old philosophy sprang to mind. 'There was nothing I could do, so I ate lunch.'
"I don't know what's going on," Kiyone admitted to Mihoshi in between mouthfulls. "Between the bomb on Yagami, Detective- Sergeant's doubletalk, all the suspicious people on board, those two kids breaking into our cabin with a duffle bag... I just don't know anymore." She shrugged helplessly.
Mihoshi nodded her head in sympathy, her mouth too full to speak for a moment. She swallowed, then replied. "I know how it feels. There's lots of times when I don't know what's going on." She brightened. "Look on the bright side. Haven't you been having fun? I know I have!"
Kiyone grimaced. "Yeah, I know you have, too. Did you ever get the rootbeer cleaned up?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes." Robot bobbed his head in laughter.
Kiyone frowned. "Eww. Don't you EVER make a rootbeer float for me, by the way."
"Why?" Robot asked, genuinely confused. He pulled on his funnel-shaped ears in consternation as he watched them eat.
Organic beings were so confusing sometimes. They were seated at the long table farthest away from the animal pens, mostly because it had been the least crowded when they came in. One man drew his attention, and Robot nudged Mihoshi.
"Hey, it's that asshole who tried to attack you last night."
"What?" Mihoshi and Kiyone asked together.
"Someone tried to attack Mihoshi?" Kiyone asked, suddenly alert.
"They did?" Mihoshi asked, confused.
Robot blinked. "Don't you remember? Last night, in the bath?"
Mihoshi sighed and started going dreamy.
"Who attacked her, and why?" Kiyone pressed.
"Him," Robot said, pointing at Sungi. "As for why, I don't know. Ask him yourself."
Kiyone turned to stare at Sungi, who was only one table over.
Feeling eyes on him, Sungi looked up from his plate of soup and fish to stare directly at the three of them.
Robot and Kiyone glared back, while Mihoshi ate obliviously.
Both Kiyone and Sungi leaped to their feet simultaneously, never breaking eye contact. However, Sungi blinked first, right after Kiyone pulled out her gun and leveled it at him.
Metal plates, utensils, and food flew into the air in an instant when Sungi suddenly banged his fists on the table and dove for cover, quickly running for the archway into the hall.
Hesitant to fire for fear of hitting someone, Kiyone had little choice but to run after him.
"Kiyone!" Mihoshi called, brandishing a crescent roll in a threatening manner. "I'm right behind you!" Mihoshi quickly joined the chase, lamenting her late start.
"Man, I'm hungry," Ura whined as she tucked in the sheets and arranged the pillows on yet another bed.
"Me too, Babe," Amaraba replied. "We're about done, though, just two more cabins and we can break for lunch."
"It'll be about time. I bet everyone else has already ate all the good stuff. They ALWAYS eat all the good stuff, especially the pie. I love pie."
"Everyone loves pie," Amaraba agreed as they moved on to the next cabin, pushing the laundry cart. "Hell, I love pie."
"If there's only one piece left, you'll give it to me, won't you?" Ura asked hopefully.
"Sure, Babe," he agreed easily, waiting for her to open the door.
Ura entered her code and stuck her head through the grey field, then withdrew her head and shook it. "People sleeping in there, let's go to the last one."
They moved on, but the last cabin, too, had people in it. One person, actually, a young man who giggled and danced about naked. Ura seemed inclined to watch, but Amaraba soon pulled her away.
"Awww..." she complained.
"You said you were hungry," he replied pointedly.
Giving up, she helped him push the cart back to the laundry room, past the people running, giggling, and occasionally screaming in the halls. That task finished, they each pressed a button on the timekeeper box in the laundry room office and started making their way to the banquet hall.
Their progress was momentarily interrupted by the discovery of several people having sex in the middle of the hall, but Amaraba solved that by stepping over them before turning to assist Ura. "People sure are frisky today," he commented.
Ura had to agree.
When they arrived, the banquet hall was empty. Half eaten food still sat on several plates, but most of the plates were simply missing, having been taken away. Strangely, fresh ones still hadn't been brought out.
It wasn't much of a problem, though, as they easily found clean plates, napkins, and utensils. Each picked from the food remaining, and together they settled down to eat.
A robot ran by the open archway. Amaraba and Ura paid it no mind.
The robot quickly returned, running as fast as his metal legs could carry him to their side.
"Excuse me, but haven't you humans noticed that everyone on the ship is freaking out?" he asked mildly.
They exchanged glances. Ura shrugged. Amaraba shook his head.
"WELL THEY ARE!" Robot screamed, his digital voicebox producing well in excess of 120 decibels.
"Oww!" Ura cried, holding her hands over her ears. Amaraba did likewise.
After they could hear again, Ura turned her full attention to the little android. "Why? We saw people acting weird, but hell, I've seen weirder shit than that when I was in daycare."
"I don't know, but Captain Kodachi thinks that she is a seal! She's supposed to be flying the ship! We're on a collision course with the Forest Ring!"
"So..."
"We're all going to die in about three hours, yes," Robot finished. "Unless we can find someone to pilot the ship!"
"It's a Treeship, dude, only the captain can fly it," Amaraba replied patiently.
"Then we're all going to be rendered down into our component parts."
"Then again, it never hurts to look," Ura replied brightly.
Sasami ran in, looking scared. "Robot? Robot!"
He looked up. "Hmm? Sasami, wasn't it?"
"Yes! You've got to come quickly, Mihoshi's acting really strange!"
Robot looked at her levelly.
"Stranger than usual," she clarified. "And I don't know where Kiyone is!"
"I last saw her as she was running from this room, chasing a man who tried to attack Miss Mihoshi last night. Most likely, they're all engaging in the kind of erratic, irrational behavior that has suddenly became very common, except among ourselves and a few other passengers. It seems to be linked to the food they ingested during lunch," Robot explained.
"What?" Sasami asked.
"The food was bad," Ura said.
"Oh," she replied. "What?! What food? I made some of that myself!"
"Really?" Ura asked. "What did you make?"
"The salmon mousse," Sasami replied. "We made a lot of it."
The four of them slowly turned and surveyed the banquet tables. Large platters dotted them, each with the decimated remains of a mound of salmon mousse.
"Sasami, you didn't use canned salmon, did you?" Ura asked accusingly.
Sasami's eyes welled with tears. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Chef Natze said he was looking for an excuse to get rid of four hundred cans of salmon! I just wanted to help! I felt so bad about making him cry last night... I just wanted to help!" she insisted.
"You made Chef Natze cry? I'm impressed!" Robot replied.
"I didn't mean to!" Sasami cried. "I'm sorry I poisoned everyone!"
Ura nodded sympathetically. "It happens. My aunt did the same thing once, with oysters. Everyone dropped dead before they even reached dessert."
Sasami responded with fresh tears.
Amaraba abruptly started laughing. "Bad salmon! Hah! Man, am I relieved. I thought it was drugs in the food, you know? Could you imagine what would happen if someone replaced all the salt in the canisters with an unknown drug that looked a lot like salt, and then people came along and started putting it in the food? Man, that would be funny." His chuckles subsided into quiet giggles.
Abruptly, Sasami turned and looked directly at Amaraba for the first time. "You! That bag WAS full of drugs! You exchanged them for salt!"
Amaraba blinked. "Oh, well, yeah. What else was I gonna do with 'em?"
"The salmon mousse was the last thing cooked! I added the salt personally! Oooh, YOU!" Sasami yelled, shortly before she kicked him in the shin.
"Oww!"
Robot blinked. "You made it? But you're not acting strangely. Didn't you taste it yourself?"
"Of course not. I hate salmon mousse," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Really?" Ura replied incredulously. "I love salmon mousse."
"Yeah, me too," Amaraba added.
They both slowly looked down at their plates, mentally counting how many bites they had taken.
"Cool..." Amaraba breathed.
"Uh oh," Sasami countered.
"So, uh, we're gonna be trippin' in a few minutes?" Ura asked.
Amaraba leaped to his feet. "Ura, stand up."
Puzzled, she did so.
Amaraba punched her hard in the stomach, causing her to double over and throw up everything she'd eaten.
"Eww!" Sasami complained.
Robot bobbed his head, impressed. "Wow, that's the most perfect example of linear thinking I've ever seen in an organic being."
"Oh, just wait and see the masterpiece that is my plan," Amaraba assured him. He turned to his girlfriend. "Babe? Are you alright?"
Ura coughed several times, wiping chunky bits from her mouth with her fingers before glaring up at him through her hair. "No, you ASSHOLE! I am not alright!" she cried, delivering an underhand blow to his stomach with all her might as she straightened up.
Amaraba grunted in pain, twisted to the side, and politely threw up.
"Oooh," Robot murmured appreciatively. "Cause AND effect. Not bad, for a human."
"Why the hell did you hit me in the gut?" Ura demanded as Amaraba struggled to avoid choking on his own bile.
"Huurrrg," he replied in great detail.
Sasami wrinkled her nose in disgust. "While you stay here and beat each other up, I'm going to try to find Kiyone. I've already got Mihoshi locked in our cabin." She hurried away.
They watched her go for a moment, then Robot spoke up. "Now, while I realize that I'm just a metal man with digital thoughts, I still have the urge to survive. Why don't you get off your asses and help me find a pilot so that we make continue our quest to live and fuck forever?"
They nodded.
"Hey," Ura added. "I know where the ship intercom is. We can broadcast a message to everyone on the ship at the same time, asking if anyone can pilot."
"That's a great idea, Babe! You're gonna save us all!" Amaraba cheered.
"Good idea, now go find it! I'm going to check on the passengers." With that, Robot turned and ran out of the hall. Together, they quickly followed.
"Here it is," Ura announced as they reached a particularly nondescript doorway at one end of the ship. "The Bridge."
"Don't look like much," Amaraba replied, clearly not impressed. "When did you come here?"
"Yesterday. Had to polish some wood."
He gasped, turning to stare at her in shock and betrayal.
"Yeah, people kept getting splinters from a new desk they installed, so I had to come up here while you were pushing laundry," she continued, oblivious to his expression.
"Oh," he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head and following as she unlocked the door and entered.
The room was moderate to small in size, with desks on each side. Holographic displays still displayed information to anyone who cared to look, with one large one displaying a wraparound view of the outside of the ship. Most startling was a large cylinder of wood floating in midair, a row of purple jewels set into its side.
"What's that?" Amaraba asked, pointing to it.
"Ship's Log," Ura replied, "where all the records are kept."
"Oh," he replied, feeling stupid. "So who's that?" he asked, pointing to a pair of men laying face up on the floor behind two floating seats.
"Secretaries? Who knows?" She walked over and prodded one of them with her foot. "Hey, dude, who are you?"
The man said nothing, but his eyes moved rapidly, tracking things only he could see.
"I can hear myself in the future," the other man commented sadly.
Amaraba chuckled. "I guess they had the fish."
"A fish with no eyes swims up the yellow stream..." the quiet one announced suddenly. "FSH! FSH! FSH!"
Amaraba suddenly got a naughty look on his face. "Hey, Babe, y'wanna see something funny?" He stepped lightly over to where the men were laying, mentally preparing himself. Then, suddenly, he jumped high into the air and screamed, "RARRG!"
Both men on the floor screamed in unison, their relatively lucid trips violently disrupted. Screaming in terror, they rolled into each other, recoiled violently, stumbled to their feet, and, feeling trapped, lept onto Amaraba where they begain flailing and kicking wildly at each other and him.
"Augh! OW! Ura, help!"
"Hey, that is pretty funny," Ura agreed. She turned to one of the workstations and plopped down into the hoverseat, already studying the flat physical keyboard on the desk. It took a few moments to call up the intercom system, and a few more to set it where it would broadcast to every room on the ship.
In response to her commands, a slender wooden stalk unfolded from the desk and positioned itself in front of her mouth.
"...help..."
Without a glance back, Ura shifted in her seat and preened for a moment, preparing herself for an imaginary audience. A wave of stage fright washed over her, but she gathered her courage and leaned forward to the microphone. "is the-ahhem," she garbled, her voice breaking. Ura tapped it twice, then said, "Umm, is this thing on?"
*TAP* *TAP* "Umm, is this thing on?" boomed her voice, coming larger than life from all around her.
Ura jumped in surprise.
*TAP* *TAP* "Umm, is this thing on?*TAP*TAP*UMM, IS THIS THING ON?TAPTAPUMMISTHISTHINGONISTHISTHINGON-" continued the PA system, getting faster and louder as the amplified voice fed back into the microphone in the room, rising in pitch and getting more painful to listen to until it became an earsplitting screech-
And Ura slammed her hand down on the disconnect.
Everyone in the room writhed in pain for a few moments, and gradually their hearing returned, bringing with it distant cries of fear and pain resounding throughout the ship.
Ura was uncomfortably aware of the heat rising in her cheeks. She studied the controls for a few more minutes before discovering an option for 'Public Address', which she had missed earlier. She promptly selected it and turned the microphone back on, cautiously adjusting it to the right position.
The distant screams quickly faded.
"Umm, sorry about that, everyone," she said apologetically. "I hate to interrupt you while you're doing... Whatever you're doing, but we've got a situation here. Someone, who shall remain nameless," she said, turning to give the battered Amaraba a glare, "dumped a sack full of some kinda drug in the food. So, as I'm sure most of you have found out, after you eat it, you get really, really messed up." She paused. "Umm, I'm not sure how to put this, but... Don't panic now. The Captain's off in lala land, and without her to steer the ship, we're going to be crashing into the Forest Ring in about an hour! So, if you can hear me, I really want you to listen closely." She paused and swallowed, then continued in a much softer voice. "Is there anyone on board who can fly this ship and didn't have the fish for dinner?"
"Can they respond?" Amaraba asked, standing and backing away from the two crewmembers now gibbering on the floor.
Ura paused, momentarily panicking as she hastily tried commands and looked for more options for the PA system. "I don't know!" she replied, typing madly. "I know you can set it for two-way to a specific room, but if I don't know what room to set it to..."
Amaraba blinked, then walked forward and tapped her on the shoulder. "Babe, just tell them to use the comm-units in the rooms and call the bridge."
"Great!" she exclaimed before once again grabbing the microphone. "Everyone, listen up. If you can fly this ship, please call us at the bridge immediately!"
Alone among the ship's inhabitants, Robot was unaffected by the harsh screeching of the PA system, and he continued his room to room search of the ship without pause. Most of the cabins had screaming, twitching people in them, which wasn't very much help at all. Strangely, only about a half dozen people filled the corridors. Even high on some unknown substance, the Juraian people had a strong impulse to retreat to their most comfortable nook when they sensed something wrong with themselves.
Though well aware of this, Robot still thought that it was highly irrational, as any properly intelligent being would report to the nearest service technician when something went wrong.
His route wasn't exactly the most efficient for the task of searching for a potential pilot, although Robot would have pleaded that he had a perfectly logical reason for choosing the inferior route.
He wanted to check on Mihoshi, and this was the best path that would allow him to continue his mission and verify the status of his organic lover. If pressed, he would be forced to admit a certain fondness for the blonde.
Cabin c7 was reached in due time, and it was the work of a moment to override the door's lock and step through.
"Hi!" Mihoshi chirped brightly as he entered. She kneeled on the floor with her knees pressed together and her feet spread wide, allowing her butt to rest between them on the floor itself. She was wearing a loose blouse, unbuttoned to reveal her bra, and some translucent pink panties, most of which couldn't be seen from Robot's angle. Mihoshi looked up at the newcomer to the cabin with wide, bright eyes, breathing heavily and fiddling with something in her lap.
Robot stopped before he was within reach, just as a precaution. "Well 'Hi there!' yourself."
"Hi!" Mihoshi added.
Robot would have frowned if he'd been equipped to do so. "Hello...? Miss Mihoshi?"
"Hi!"
"Yoohoo, Mihoshi..." Robot called, waving one hand in a wide arc to see if she followed it.
"Hi!"
"You had the fish, didn't you?" Robot said in a slightly amused tone.
"This is off the wall, isn't it?" Mihoshi asked suddenly, holding out the object she'd been toying with.
Robot looked at the coathanger in her hand, then glanced around, noticing the rough pit in the wood beside the door where it had been up until recently. For a moment he felt fear. Here he was, a normal, sane, properly functioning intelligent robot in a universe full of organic beings. It was almost enough to make one want to power off for good. Instead, he stepped forward and gently took the hanger from Mihoshi's unresisting hand. "Yes it is, thank you," he said soothingly.
"Hmmmummm..." Mihoshi replied, closing her eyes and rocking slightly. "I feel..."
"Yes?" Robot asked eagerly. Perhaps she was coming down off her high?
Unfortunately, whatever lucid thought that had come to the forefront of her mind quickly faded, leaving her in much the same state as before. Her eyes snapped open and she ran her hands over her body, caressing her curves. Finding the bra and shirt to be in her way, Mihoshi got a cutely annoyed look on her face and pulled on them with considerable strength, ripping them away from her and dropping the tatters on the floor without a second thought.
"Oooh," Robot murmured, entranced by her natural bounty.
Mihoshi's nipples stood out hard and erect on her large breasts, jiggling slightly as she ran her hands over them. One hand found its way down her taught stomach to the waistband of her panties, and soon she figured out how to reach beneath. Her twisting and moving fingers made strange patterns in the thin cloth that outlined them, and Mihoshi arched her back and sighed as she played with herself. She soon withdrew her hand, now sticky and pungent with her aroma, and held it up to her nose, even flicking her tongue out and tasting it.
Noticing Robot standing stock-still nearby, she held her hand out, offering it to him. She pouted slightly when this time he made no move for her, and she quickly rose and leaned forward onto all fours. Her expression changed from confused to playful in a moment, and she turned and presented her rump to him, offering herself in the most blatant way possible.
"Want?" she asked, wriggling her butt cutely as she spread her knees apart so that he would have easier access. Her panties were loose and clingy on her well toned cheeks, and there was a line of wetness in the thin strip that was all that covered her modesty. Mihoshi pushed backwards with her hands, stretching the material tight as she moved, outlining her soft folds.
Robot shuddered, a rare physical display of a problem that did not compute.
"Come on, co~me on..." Sasami coaxed as she slowly backed in through the door.
Robot blinked at the sudden interruption. "That can't be good," he said. A quick decision was reached, and he quickly jumped forward, grabbed a sheet off the bed, and proceeded to wrap Mihoshi in it.
"Oh, Robot!" Sasami exclaimed when she turned and saw him. "I didn't expect you to be here."
He shrugged helplessly.
"Could you help me get Kiyone in here?" she asked, tugging on an arm that disappeared into the opaque grey portal. "She's being... difficult..." Sasami said, straining as she pulled.
With Robot's help, Kiyone was soon dragged into the room and lain down on a bed, where she grumbled incoherently non-stop.
"Whew! I thought I'd never get her back here. I found her sitting in a laundry cart, mumbling something about clean sheets," Sasami said, mystified.
"Beats me, I'm just a robot."
"Oh. Well, what's this about needing someone to fly the ship? I heard the announcement." She winced. "And the shriek."
Robot nodded. "I don't mean to alarm you, but the Captain had some of your fish, and now she's splashing happily in one of the furos." A note of urgency entered his artificial voice. "If we don't find someone to fly the ship soon, we're going to go straight through the Ring, if we don't hit something first. The problem is, we don't know if anyone can fly the ship but its true captain."
"Ah..." she replied, understanding. "Okay. I'll stop us." She didn't seem very concerned.
"Excuse me?" Robot asked. "You can fly the ship? Are you sure?"
"Ummhmm!" Sasami replied brightly. "I used to have my own, but Ryo-Ohki destroyed it," she said somewhat sadly. "But it wasn't really mine, I just borrowed it. I'm supposed to spend a year in the grove to see which one wants to be the one to join with me real soon," she added, visibly cheering up. "All members of the royal family can control any tree they want, unless someone more powerful is already joined with it."
Robot pulled on his ears. "Excuse me, Miss Sasami, but who are you?"
Sasami straightened and turned to face him more fully. "I'm so sorry, we've never really been introduced. My name is Sasami, and I'm the second princess of Jurai. Kiyone and Mihoshi are escorting me back to Jurai in secret, so don't tell anyone, okay?"
"WOW!" Robot exclaimed, somewhat startled.
"Saaasaaamiiii... Saaalaaamiiii... Saaaa..."
They both turned to look at Mihoshi, then looked away.
"So I guess I'd better call the bridge and tell them that I can fly the ship," she added.
Robot nodded.
The comm-unit was located between the two beds on a little nightstand, and Sasami quickly activated it. "Excuse me, Bridge?" she asked.
"Can you fly the ship?!" came back the immediate response.
"Of course," she replied. "I think I need to be on the bridge, though. I'm in cabin c7. Where is the bridge located?"
Snatches of a quick argument quickly followed, ending with, "We'll be right there!"
"Okay," Sasami replied slowly. "When?"
There was no answer, so she shrugged and disconnected.
"I thought you usually traveled with your sister, the first princess," Robot asked when she turned back.
"I do." Sasami sat on the bed and patted Kiyone lightly. "She's taking a different route because she left before I did."
"Left before you did?" Robot asked. "Where were you at?"
"On the Natural Evolution Preserve, Earth," she explained. "We were taking a vacation." Inwardly, she smiled. The word 'vacation' was certainly much simpler than trying to explain what had really happened.
"Why did Princess Ayeka leave before you did, and where is she now?"
"Yes, I believe I will have some cheese," Kiyone replied gratefully.
"Oh, it's so romantic," Sasami gushed, somewhat pleased he asked. "She fell in love with a boy on Earth, but she wasn't sure if Mother and Father will let them marry, especially since my friend Ryoko is involved in it, too. They're..." She paused, looking around.
Robot hadn't asked the question.
"So where is she at now?" the person asked again coaxingly.
"Who said that?!?" Sasami asked, her voice rising in fear as she stood up and backed into the corner between the beds.
"Saaasami*hic*?" Kiyone mumbled sleepily, sitting up and picking her nose.
She and Robot looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the voice.
"Shroom'syeruncle," Mihoshi said insultingly.
"Please, I'd really like to know where Princess Ayeka is! It would make my career!"
They both looked up in time to see a large bulge on the ceiling change colors from a natural wood grain to solid black, then detach and fall to the floor several feet away. The misshapen bulge flipped in mid-air, revealing a eager, weasely looking man who landed lightly on his feet. One of his eyes was twice the size of a normal eye and red-irised, indicating a holo- recorder. It zoomed in and out visibly, recording Sasami's every move.
"You're a reporter," Robot said in surprise.
The man nodded slightly. "I work for the Imperial Spy, and I've been following your journey for quite a while now. Incompetent bodyguards, Galaxy Police drug smuggling, seasoning your food with drugs, knocking out an entire ship... Probably call it a royal-sponsored party, now that I think about it," he rambled. "Anyway, where did you say Princess Ayeka is? And who are these two people she's sleeping with?"
Sasami frowned. "I'm not saying anything else to you. Mom always told me to never talk to a tabloid reporter, they always twist what you say and use it against you."
"Got us pegged, she does," he agreed readily. "However, if you don't tell me everything you know about princess Ayeka, I'm going to make this whole incident with the drugs look like a deliberate prank on your part. The scandal will rock the Royal family to its heart, and the Imperial Spy will be the hottest selling tabloid in the universe!" He breathed heavily, obviously excited at the thought.
"I'll never tell you anything!" Sasami yelled, and darted past him for the corridor.
Briefly startled but completely undeterred, the reporter quickly followed, yelling questions as he ran. Robot trailed behind, his short metal legs no match for the two humans.
Forgotten by all, Kiyone and Mihoshi stirred uneasily. Kiyone stood up and stared at the door trying to remember why it was important. Finally, she stumbled forward, directing a 'Come on, Mihoshi...' to her partner still wrapped in a sheet.
Mihoshi somehow managed to escape her cottony prison in a matter of seconds and they both lurched through the door into the hallway, just in time to see Robot turn a corner. A sense of duty stronger than any recreational chemical spurred them on.
Sasami dodged past two ambling passengers, each long gone into their chemosensory delusions, without difficulty. Unfortunately, the tabloid reporter right behind her wasn't hindered either, and his longer legs made it easy for him to match her speed.
"Princess! Wait! Is it true that Princess Ayeka is going to bring a return of the old traditions?!" he asked loudly from a few feet behind her.
"Go away!" she screamed back.
"Princess! Your family has always had a wonderful record of cooperating with the press, why won't you just answer a few questions?" he pleaded, never taking his holorecording eye off her. Suddenly, his tone turned nasty and accusing. "Is it because you have something to hide? Are you indulging in a little smuggling yourself?"
"No!" she yelled, frustrated to the point of tears. "I haven't done anything wrong, and neither has my sister! Leave us alone!"
He put on a brief burst of speed and ran up beside her. "You sound defensive. It makes me wonder just what the first princess HAS been up to."
Sasami's scared and piteous screams reached both Kiyone and Mihoshi, awakening something visceral and protective. They both ran faster, somewhat confused, but still determined to protect their charge.
Despite their increase in speed as they barreled down the hallway at the back of the line, it was Robot in third place who saw disaster approaching in the form of Sungi, weaving erratically down the hall at a good pace of his own.
"Princess Sasami!" he called, amplifying his voice. "Stop! The man who attacked Miss Mihoshi last night is headed right for you!"
Blinded by her tears and unaware of the man's approach, Sasami didn't understand what Robot yelled. Instead, she lashed out with a weak punch at the reporter dogging her steps.
Instinctively, the tabloid reporter caught her wrist, just as Sungi, panicked and running from the past, or future, that only he could see, crashed into them both, sending all three to the ground.
"Princess!" Kiyone screamed, her vision distorted but still adequate to see what had happened.
"Sasami!" Mihoshi echoed. "I *garble* bannana!"
Quickly passing Robot, Kiyone jumped for the man she perceived as being the most dangerous to the princess, and fell upon him with great vengeance.
"Ouch! Hey, watch where you're going! Princess, are you alright?" asked the tabloid reporter as he stood up, only to be tackled seconds later by Kiyone.
"Aha! I've caught you, you sneaky little Crespuscialian spy you! Thought we wouldn't notice the rat skin in your pocket!" Kiyone accused, twisting the man's arm behind his back in a particularly painful way. "With fire!" she added triumphantly.
Mihoshi, on the other hand, tripped and sprawled out facefirst on the floor, her forehead landing perfectly, and with great force, between Sungi's legs. For the first time during his drug induced high, Sungi found everything funny and began laughing, even as he curled into a tight ball of misery, knocking Mihoshi away.
Seeing both men taken care of, Robot ran up and assisted Sasami, helping her to stand upright. "Are you in good operational condition?" he asked, concerned.
"Umm, I think so," she said, wiping at a bloody scratch on her forehead. "Just bruised, I think." She stood unsteadily, shaken by the fall. The sight of Kiyone pounding the reporter's face into the floor made her feel better, though.
"And bloodied," Robot replied.
"Hey! There you are, little girl!" came a call from down the corridor.
Both Sasami and Robot turned to see Amaraba, who'd spoken, and Ura, running to them.
"Princess, you moron!" Ura corrected, and bapped him on the head as they came to a stop.
"Did you just call the princess a moron?" Amaraba asked, not really hearing.
"No I didn't!" she replied defensively. Glancing around, she noticed Sungi giggling to himself and holding his privates. "Ahh!" she screamed, jumping back.
Amaraba grabbed and held her, preventing her from bolting. "Whoa! Whoa, babe! I think he had the fish for dinner."
Ura calmed down long enough to take a good look. "You think so?"
Studying the man carefully, Amaraba walked over and gave him a good solid kick in the kidney.
"OWW! Hahahaha."
"Cool! Can I try?" The tip of her tongue protruded from the corner of her mouth as she studied the helpless man, now facing them. Then, having picked her target, Ura drew back her foot and kicked him in the face, getting another yelp of pain and series of giggles. "So this is what it's like to kick a man when he's down..." she murmured. "Well I like it!"
"Ungg... I don't feel so well..."
They turned to see Sasami wavering unsteadily, one hand raised to the scratch on her forehead. A single drop of blood rolled down the bridge of her nose, but she made no move to wipe it off.
"Princess Sasami? What's wrong?" Robot asked, reaching to help support her.
Before he could grab her arm, however, her legs buckled and she collapsed to the floor.
"Princess!" Ura cried, running to her side and picking her head gently off the floor.
"What's wrong?" Amaraba asked, suddenly concerned.
"I feel hot," she said weakly, and took in a long, ragged gasp of air.
They looked at one another in concern.
"What do we do?" Amaraba asked, kneeling beside Ura at Sasami's side.
"She's the only one left that can fly the ship," Robot reminded.
"She's just a little girl!" Ura snapped. "We've got to get her to medical!"
"If we don't get her to the bridge to fly this ship, we're all going to die when we slam into whatever gets in our way first. That includes her," Robot added.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Amaraba said, rising and turning around three times as he thought. Abruptly he stopped and whirled on them. "Robot, how much do you know about medtech?"
Robot blinked. "I could build an exact duplicate of you using a case of beer, a bottle of vitamins, a couple of rocks, and a 'My First Methlab' children's chemistry set."
Amaraba looked at Ura, who shrugged.
"Fine," he said. "Find Rehab and Medical, get whatever you need to fix the princess, and meet us at the bridge."
"Wait," Robot protested. "What are you going to do?"
As gently as possible, Amaraba picked Sasami's limp, shivering body up and cradled her in his arms. "I'm going to carry her to the bridge," he said seriously. "Ura, let's go!"
Ura nodded quickly and led the way to the bridge, shoving the few wandering passengers they met out of their way so they wouldn't hinder Amaraba.
"Hold on, Princess," he huffed as he ran. "Just keep it together."
Sasami's breath came quick and shallow as her body went into shock, and she was barely aware of the arms supporting her as she was carried swiftly down the hall.
Amaraba tried not to think as he ran. His sense of duty and responsibility, shrunken and cowed as it was, demanded that he carry the sick princess to the nearest medic. His reasoning, though, not only insisted he use her to save his own life, asserted that Robot was right. If the princess didn't stop the ship in time, she was going to die with everyone else on board.
Sasami spasmed in his arms, causing him to hold her tighter. "Hurry up, Ura!" he called, rounding the final corner.
Ura, having ran unburdened, had already reached the door to the bridge and was opening it. Together, they ran inside.
The bridge was the home of the captain. It was more than just the control center of the ship, it was the brain, the heart, and the eyes of the Dinu-oh. High vaulted ceilings and a loose forest of high canopied trees, actually integral branches of the main ship, created the illusion that it was an open air atrium, and the flowers and tinkling stream turned the area into a delightfully pleasant garden.
The flickering, constantly dancing beams of rainbow-hued light shooting from leaf to leaf wasn't something found in most gardens, however. Each leafy twig acted as a nerve cell for the brain of the ship, and the beams of rainbow light emanating from the leaves were the synapses between the nerves. Although different in many fundamental ways, the little forest on the bridge of the ship was much like a vertebrate brain, only on a larger scale.
Though normally rather sleepy, with only occasional flickers of light as the great ship flew through space, now the leaves were alight with activity. Even the ship knew that something was wrong.
"We're here, Princess," Amaraba said quickly, setting the young girl down at the base of one of the larger trees.
"Robot is coming with some medicine," Ura assured her, gingerly petting her clammy brow. "Just hang on, Princess." She turned to look up at her boyfriend. "Man, I wish we knew what was wrong with her."
"Princess?" Amaraba said gently, touching her shoulder. "Princess? Robot is coming, but we need you to stop the ship now. Just stop the ship and we'll get you fixed right up."
"Unngh," she replied, stirring slightly. "I feel hot..." Sasami knew she should be scared. There was something badly wrong with her, and her body just wasn't working. Dimly, she even knew she was dying. Still, she just couldn't get upset about it. It was almost like it was happening to someone else...
Ura glanced at Amaraba worriedly. They could both feel her cold flesh.
"I'll get her some water," she announced, rising.
"Princess Sasami?" Amaraba asked.
"I'll... try..." she whispered back.
Using the power she had just recently awakened in herself, Sasami reached out with her mind, gently touching the ship's aura which surrounded them all.
The Dinu-oh stirred, sending a dazzling pulse of light through the canopy. Already disturbed by the strange thoughts and impulses from its captain and the deviation from a pattern long since laid down into its very grain, the ship wasn't quite sure what to make of the thought-commands from the little one.
"Please..." she whispered, getting a few startled looks from Amaraba and Ura.
Ura spilled most of the water cupped in her hands and had to go back for more.
At Sasami's insistent probing, the ship finally decided that she had a nice power-aura, and it would be pleasant to do what she asked.
A giant holoscreen appeared in midair over their heads, displaying their course and position. Then, the screen blinked over to a visual approximation of the view outside the ship. A tiny neutron star sat in the middle of the screen, with a giant green doughnut composed of fluffy plants and tufted toothpic-like trees floating in space, obviously huge to be seen at this magnification level. Tiny dots swarmed it from all directions, other ships going their own ways.
Amaraba and Ura paled at the view. If they kept on their present course, the Dinu-oh would soon skim in at a shallow angle on nearly the same plane as the Forest Ring, slicing through two points that comprised about a third of the ring.
"We didn't slow down like we were supposed to," Ura whispered in horror. "We're ahead of schedule getting here."
"Oh, shit," Amaraba repeated, although much more concisely.
"Princess, drink this," Ura pleaded, dribbling water in Sasami's mouth. "And stop us soon."
Sasami nearly choked, so weak were her coughs, but the water did sooth her cottony throat. It also felt cool and soothing when Ura rubbed some on her cheeks and nose, wiping away the little bit of blood.
"Hurry, Princess," Amaraba reminded, still clinging to hope.
Sasami hurried. "Please stop," she whispered. She had to stop their flight. More than just her depended on it. If she failed, a ship full of her subjects would die along side her.
The massive ship began using its power to slow its flight, as she commanded, but the thoughts and commands it sensed flowing from her were tainted by her body's pain and her own muddled thoughts. The ship simply wasn't slowing fast enough.
"Stop, don't hit the Ring..." Suddenly, Sasami was aware of what was wrong with her. A poison was coursing through her blood, burning her from the inside. It was eating at her. Then she was afraid. "Poison..." she gasped, struggling to raise one hand.
Fear lent her strength, and she firmed her resolve to stop the ship.
"Why don't you just turn us?" Amaraba asked suddenly. "We can overshoot and come back-"
"I'm here! I'm here!" Robot cried, chugging in with an armload of medical supplies. He tripped and spilled bags, boxes, and at least two strange looking devices onto the lush grass that formed the floor's carpet.
"She said that it's poison, but where she got it from..." Ura explained.
"I think she's dying," Amaraba added.
"Dying! Well, we can't have that!" Robot replied, ripping open one of the bags. He pulled out a large pressure injector with all the speed he possessed, quickly selecting and loading a cartridge of adrenaline.
Sasami gasped as he shoved the injector gun against the side of her neck and pulled the trigger, than did it again on the other side. The large injection of adrenaline sped up her failing heart rate and strengthened her weak breathing, but also sped up the circulation and uptake of the poison. Already, the scratch on her forehead had swollen, and the tissue at the site was dying.
Robot quickly popped out the adrenaline and put in a vial of general purpose antidote, usually used to combat food poisoning. He wasn't sure what effect it would have on Sasami, but he gave her a dose of it anyway. Then he started hooking up the machines.
Stop. Stop. Stop.
Sasami repeated the word to herself as a mantra, telling the ship to pour all its power into stopping its headlong flight. Finally, with the sense of urgency the adrenaline-caused flight or fight response tinting her thoughts, the ship got the idea.
Wood creaked in protest and the canopy above them was as bright as a rainbow sun, forcing Amaraba and Ura to shield their eyes. The Dinu-oh's structure groaned under the strain, as all of the fantastic power was called upon to slow its flight.
Despite her success, Sasami knew it wasn't enough. They were simply going too fast, and the Ring was all that could be seen in the viewscreen. She could even see the very series of space trees they would plow through, causing untold numbers of casualties in addition to the ones who would die on the ship itself.
Sasami abandoned all thoughts of her body's survival, thinking of nothing but stopping the ship.
"TURN! TURN! TURN!" shouted Amaraba, hopping up and down and pointing at the screen while he directed his words to the semi-comatose princess.
Robot's thought processes raced. Despite the injections he'd given her, Sasami's vital signs continued to drop. He gave her five minutes, tops, unless he could think of something.
Then Sasami shuddered, gasped twice, and went limp. The machine monitoring vital signs screeched in alarm as her heart stopped.
The Dinu-oh shuddered as it perceived what was happening to its princess. Being unable to reason well enough to solve the problem on its own, it sent out its own plea for help.
Deep in the Forest Ring, a huge, ancient tree heard the call being sent out to everything that could hear. This was one of the greatest of all the living space trees, fantastically powerful, fast, and intelligent. Its beginnings dated back to before the arrival of Juraians, who, once they realized its power, occasionally worshiped it as a god. It had bonded with many humans through the centuries, all of whom had grown old and died in their time. Master or mistressless for a thousand years now and left in peace, it sensed the presence of someone worthy behind the call the distressed ship hurtling into the Ring sent out.
Tsunami awoke and flew forth to meet its new mistress.
"Well, that's it. We're going to die," Amaraba mentioned. "It's been nice knowing you, Babe."
"Oh, be serious. We're not dead yet," Ura snapped, although she cast a worried eye toward the rapidly approaching Ring.
"Umm, I wouldn't be so quick to say that," Robot corrected with a nervous chuckle. "One of us is." He made a helpless gesture to the sad little body.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
Deeper in the ship, Kiyone violently interrogated her prisoner, slapping him across the face or twisting his arm when he didn't answer like she wanted him to.
The poor tabloid reporter would readily have admitted to anything up to and including the assassination of the princess, if he could have figured out what Kiyone was garbling about.
"I don't understand you! ARG!"
"I am not a hippo! Repent! Repent!"
Mihoshi had wandered off into an open cabin nearby, where she had found a friend who was very, very good at pattycake. The person in the mirror thought so, too, and told her so.
Sungi cried for his mother, alone and unloved by all.
They all hurtled through space towards the final destination.
"Don't die, Princess, you have to save us," Ura pleaded quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Princess, don't fail us now," Amaraba added. "I'm too good a lover to die."
Both Ura and Robot turned and looked at him incredulously.
"You want that to be your last words?" Robot asked, just to make sure.
Amaraba nodded silently, then shrugged.
"I'll stick to pleading for my life, thank you," Ura replied acidly.
"Well then," Robot replied. "Haughty. Furbelow. Supercalifragil-"
In the middle of his last word, a giant tree, six times as big as the Dinu-oh, appeared for a brief moment on the holoscreen. Great white wings of pure power spread around it in all directions, preparing to meet the Dinu-oh. Despite traveling at a fair percentage of the speed of light, the Dinu-oh was stopped instantaneously by the stupendous force Tsunami had formed between them. Neither ship was even scratched.
Sasami's limp body disappeared in the moment between the two ships' impact and the much softer, power dampened impact of everyone on board hitting the nearest wall forward of wherever they were.
Several moments later, Amaraba and Ura gingerly disentangled themselves and looked around, dazed. Robot, however, remained embedded face down in the dirt at the end of the short furrow he'd plowed.
"We're alive..." Ura said in wonder as she dusted herself off and gingerly massaged her rapidly forming bruises.
"Kickass," was Amaraba's only reply, lost in amazement at it all.
They looked at the large holoscreen in amazement where it displayed the colossal ship they'd collided with a few moments previous. Amaraba whistled appreciatively.
"Damn, that's a big one."
Ura looked around, noticing Robot's flailing arms as he tried to right himself, and realized something. "Hey, where's the princess?"
"What?" he asked.
"The princess," Ura replied, her voice rising. "I don't see the princess!"
"Oh, come on, she's got to be around here somewhere," Amaraba replied. "Hell, she was dead, what's she gonna do, teleport away?"
As one, they both turned to look at the giant ship hanging motionless in space just in front of the Dinu-Oh.
"Oh," he added lamely. "I get it. She was a princess, after all."
Ura nodded silently.
Suddenly, the beams of rainbow light in the canopy above them started blinking like mad, creating a furious aurora of light as intense as a phosphorous flare. The wild activity subsided within a few moments, leaving them stunned and blinking spots away from their vision.
Sasami's smiling face appeared on the holoscreen, replacing the view of the Tsunami.
"Is everyone okay?" she asked.
Amaraba and Ura stared for several moments in surprise, during which Robot finally managed to stand back up and limp to their side in silence.
"Umm... I guess," Ura replied.
"Bruised and unaccountable for our actions," supplied Amaraba helpfully.
Sasami sighed, her smile widening. "I'm glad. Tsunami showed me what happened when we hit, and told me everyone was going to be fine, but I wanted to make sure. She teleported me over as she stopped the Dinu-oh from crashing into the Ring."
"Tsunami?" they both said in wonder, glancing at each other for support.
"How did you come back to life?" Robot asked suddenly, his logic processes awaiting further information. "I wasn't able to do anything for you, yet you seem in perfect operational condition!"
Sasami nodded eagerly, and her smile was beautific. "The ship Tsunami healed me." She paused. "AND, we're joined. Princess and tree, as one. She's wonderful, isn't she?"
"Well, she did save our lives," Robot agreed.
"Oh!" Sasami said suddenly. "We're getting a call!"
Abruptly, the image on the holoscreen changed to that of a uniformed middle-aged man with a thick, dark moustache and an angry expression.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" he yelled, the ends of his moustache quivering with rage. "SPEEDING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC, COLLIDING WITH AN UNREGISTERED SHIP, FAILURE TO OBSERVE POSTED FLYWAYS..." he trailed off, looking off camera. "Holy shit..." he finally said quietly. "Is that the Tsunami?"
Amaraba and Ura exchanged a long and significant glance. Ura sighed, drew a breath, started crying, and began.
"I'MSOSORRYOFFICERIT'SNOTOURFAULTTHEREWASTHISDRUGRUNNERWHOS TOLEOURDUFFLEBAGANDTRIEDTOKILLPRINCESSSASAMIWHOBYTHEWAYISONTHATRE ALLYREALLYBIGSHIPANDEVERYONEELSEONBOARDHEREISSTONEDOFFTHEIRASSAND WEWEREALLGONNADIE-"
"WHOA! Whoa, there! Slow down!" the uniformed man hastily cried, holding up his hands in an effort to placate the blubbering girl.
Amaraba nodded his head slowly, a knowing smile forming on his lips. Then, quickly growing bored and hungry, decided to go back to the banquet hall.
Maybe they still had some leftover salmon.
Speculation ran rampant in the tabloids and newspapers for about a day as everyone tried to guess what had happened when the legendary ship Tsunami had suddenly flew out of the grove it rested in and stopped a speeding passenger ship in mid-flight. Speculation didn't last long, however, as the shocking behavior of the Imperial Spy's reporter was revealed in secret to the owners and editors. Eyewitness testimony from the only two sober humans there, plus digital footage helpfully supplied by Robot, clearly showed that he had endangered the second princess's life with his badgering questions.
Sasami's quiet request that everything be kept as low- profile as possible was instantly obeyed by frightened directors, and the reporter, having already been beaten senseless, was fired. Still, in keeping with the long history her family had had of cooperating with the press, she agreed to answer a few questions and pose for a few stills for an article on her recent joining with the Tsunami, the most famous ship in Juraian history, as well as her assistance to three crewmembers and two GP officers in sniffing out a drugrunner on board the ship.
No mention was made of the ship full of stoned people.
Amaraba and Ura each received a cash reward, a medal of service to the empire, and a kiss, delivered personally by a blushing Sasami, who had remembered being carried in strong arms to the bridge. Amaraba blushed bright red as well, and Ura hit him.
The passengers and crew soon recovered from the drug- induced hallucinations, even Sungi, who was held in a cell until Kiyone and Mihoshi recovered enough to arrest him. As his body's immune system had destroyed all the toxin producing bacteria, no evidence of a lethal weapon was ever discovered on him. The assault, attempted assault, and drugrunning charges were more than enough to sent him to an asteroid mine in a little known system the Galaxy Police kept as a prison.
Robot never did discover why Sasami had gone into shock, and Amaraba and Ura had quickly forgotten about it.
Kiyone and Mihoshi both received a public promotion for their performance in catching the criminal and keeping the princess safe from harm, a publicity stunt designed to improve relations between the Galaxy Police and the Juraian Empire. One hour later, the actual details of the event reached the GP headquarters, and they both received a private call detailing their new demotion back to Detective first class.
Kiyone immediately went out to get drunk. Sasami let her sleep it off later in one of the wild internal gardens generations of her ancestors had shaped in Tsunami's cavernous trunk.
Mihoshi shrugged when she heard. "Easy come, easy go."
Sasami last saw her as she grabbed Robot by one dented arm and dragged him off into the depths of the Dinu-oh.
Amaraba and Ura pooled their reward money and put a down payment on a stylish new Werthby runabout. Two months later, it was repossessed because of failure to pay the notes.
"I'm going to miss you," Mihoshi said sadly as she casually dumped her satchel on the bed and rooted through for clothes. She had already stripped down to bra and panties, much to Robot's lecherous delight.
Having been unaware of most of what had happened, Mihoshi never knew that her bag had been missing.
"Yes, me too," Robot replied smoothly, watching her quickly put on clothes.
"We've had so much fun together, haven't we?" she asked, buttoning up her shirt.
"Well, I can't say it hasn't been an adventure," Robot said mildly as he started gathering her strewn clothes and packing them back neatly in her duffle bag.
"I'm sorry we have to leave," Mihoshi said sadly. "I've really enjoyed spending time with you. But Sasami is already late in returning to her family, and it's my duty to accompany her the entire way."
Robot bobbed his head in a laugh as he quickly folded a skirt and shoved it in. "Just as it's mine to stay here and relieve other young women's, ahhh, tensions." Amused by his own joke, he picked up a pair of pants, then did a doubletake as he saw what lay beneath it.
It was a long, naughty, purple example of the most sophisticated technology Earth had to offer. It reminded him quite a bit of his own accessories.
Thoughts raced through his circuits. Mihoshi had mentioned a previous robotic lover. Robot had never asked what happened to him. Mihoshi was a very strange organic female.
Robot picked it up carefully, trying to show respect for the poor android so viciously emasculated.
Mihoshi turned and noticed him handling it with obvious trepidation. "Oh, don't worry," she said soothingly. "It's no threat to you." She turned to wad several more sets of clothes into the cavernous bag.
Robot dropped it and backed away.
"You know," she continued obliviously, "I'm really, really going to miss you. I wish I had some sort of memento to carry with me. You know, something to remind me of you while we're apart...?" She turned around completely, looking around the room. "Robot? Where'd you go?" Frowning, she stepped outside to look up and down the halls, and even ran to look around several corners, but Robot was nowhere to be seen.
Try as she might, she never found him again, either.
THE END.