Allegiance - Part 6 (see part 1 for notes)


"Where's Trunks?!"  Bardock blinked in surprise as Goten surged up off
the pallet, grasping him by the shoulders and pinning him against the
wall.

"What are you talking about?"  he demanded.

"Trunks!"  Goten shouted.  "He was right next to me when I fell asleep,
and now I can't even -" He halted in mid-sentence, frowning a little in
concentration.  "We're not even on Earth anymore, are we?"  The
half-question half-statement was voiced more quietly, but the toned was
clearly strained.

"No, we're on a spaceship bound for that rock that Prince Vegeta
currently calls 'home'," Bardock informed him, also frowning.  "You
didn't think we were going to hang around and wait for all the Saiyajin
you brought with you, did you?  Those mercenaries I hired wouldn't be
able to withstand an attack by all of them..."

"Then why did you hire them?!"

"To get a chance to talk to you alone!  I knew I could convince you to
do what is right for our people!"  Bardock clenched his fists in
anticipation.  "Your friend, whoever he is, is probably still sleeping
off the effects of the gas..."

<Gas?!  I hope that Trunks is all right...  But what am I going to do
now?!  I need to get back to Earth!>

He narrowed his gaze, watching his grandfather cautiously.

"I'm not going anywhere without Trunks," he stated.  <First day in a new
dimension, and already we're separated, and possibly in big trouble. 
*Not* what I had in mind.>

Bardock scowled at him.  "He's unimportant.  What matters now is
eliminating the Prince."

Goten glared at him for a moment before pushing past him and out the
door, into a short corridor.  Light and the sound of rough conversations
drifted towards him from the partially open door at one end of the
passageway.  He pushed the door open to find himself amidst a rather
motley crew who were apparently in control of the ship.

They glared at him through the sudden silence.

"Turn the ship around," he ordered.

They glared some more.

"Turn the ship around," he repeated, "or I'll make you wish you had,
then do it myself!"

A couple of them started to grin at that, eyeing him up and down,
circling like vultures around a dying animal.

Goten clenched his teeth and fists, and slowly began to raise his ki.

One or two of his would-be assailants could apparently sense the change
in his power level, and started backing off almost immediately.  It
wasn't until the slightly more tangible effects of his power-up became
evident that the remainder of the crew were persuaded to his point of
view.

"We'll - uh - we'll just turn the ship around..."

"You do that."  Goten glowered at them, watching carefully as they
busied themselves with various dials and buttons, arms folded in front
of his chest.

One of the crew sneaked a quick glance at him from the corner of his
eye, his hand creeping furtively across the panel of buttons.  Goten's
own hand whipped out, catching the offending limb in a crushing grip.

"I - I was j-just -"

"Taking the ship back to Earth, ne?"

"R-right!"

<I'll be back there soon enough, and I'll find Trunks, kill Vegeta, and
we'll get out of this dimension...>  Goten released the crew member's
wrist, and unconsciously felt his pocket for the device which had
transported them out of their own dimension and into this one - and
froze.

It wasn't there.  The transporter was gone.

Frantically he searched his other pockets with an ever increasing sense
of dread.  <Oh shit!  I can't have lost it!  But there aren't exactly
many places I could have put it - >

"Looking for something?"  Bardock drawled from the doorway.

Goten snapped his head around, just in time to see him toss a small,
dark, cylindrical shape into the air...  He lunged for it desperately,
but the delicate instrument was held tightly in Bardock's grasp before
he could reach it.

<Oh shit.>

**********

<What's taking them so long?!>  Toronipsu eyed the indigo-black horizon
impatiently.  Most of his warriors had returned, but there were still a
few missing.  <Not that I'm worried about *them*, but if they've been
delayed because of Bardock's or King Vegeta's men...>  His gaze flicked
over to where the pale haired boy, Trunks, was curled up, fast asleep
despite the raucous noise the Saiyajins were making just a short
distance away.  <And he wanted to go after his friend in the pod.>  Toro
snorted.  <He's far too weak to oppose Bardock's men, and to want to do
it when he's *that* exhausted...>  He shook his head.  <Stupid.  Brave,
but stupid.  Only my Prince deserves such loyalty.>

He returned to staring out at the stars.  <Somewhere not too far away is
his friend, Goten.  I guess he's sort of my nephew.>  His lips twisted
at the thought.  <Now *that's* weird - a 'nephew' from another dimension
who's my age and looks exactly like me.  I think I'll have to see that
one to believe it!  But in the meantime, there's no harm in keeping
Trunks here with me.  I kind of like him; he has a good attitude, even
if he is weak - and he knows how the people here think.  He could be
very useful in the assimilation of this world.  If it ever gets
underway.>

He scowled.  Stumbling across Bardock's mercenaries had been a hindrance
he could well have done without, especially since Vegeta apparently had
great interest in how Toro was progressing.  Discovering that one of his
warriors was a traitor had necessitated a call to inform the Prince. 
Vegeta had responded by announcing his imminent arrival, just a few
hours away.  <For him to get here so quickly, he must have already been
on his way!>  Toro chewed his lip, frowning.  <Which most likely means
that he wanted to keep an eye on *me*!  Does he suspect that I am
disloyal?  Despite what Nappa said, despite what my brother did, I am my
father's son - as much as I would wish it otherwise.>

He turned his head slowly, scanning the night sky for any sign of an
approaching vessel.  <Why *did* he send me here, to this world?  Because
the weakness of the natives would make it easy to subdue?  Or because he
knew in advance of the trap that awaited me?  Was this to be a test of
my abilities?  Or of my loyalty to my Prince?>

The stars glittered on, heedless of his questions.

"Toronipsu-sama!"  He snapped his gaze in the direction of the shout. 
"We found one!"

On the other side of the makeshift camp, two of his men were flying in,
a green-skinned creature hanging between them.  They landed before Toro,
dropping the unfortunate creature in a pile at his feet.

"We found him at the top of some kind of tower," one of the warriors
reported.  "It doesn't look like he had anything to do with the others,
but he was the only alien we could find on the planet.  We thought you
might like a look at him anyway."

Toro nodded as he eyed the green alien, prodding him with one toe.

A low groan was the only response.

Toro signaled the two warriors, and they grabbed the being by the folds
of his clothing, hauling him to his feet.  He wasn't in the best of
shape, and  the flickering firelight did little to hide the marks of the
beating he had received, bruises and rusty bloodstains darkening his
wrinkled skin and clothing.  His head hung low, and he was breathing
heavily.

"Your name,"  Toro demanded briskly.

The figure raised it's head slowly, opening one eye.  The other was
swollen shut.

"Kami,"  he answered.

The Saiyajin laughed and jeered.  "You don't seem to be having a good
day for a god!"

"Silence!"  Toro snapped, glaring at them until they quieted, then
turning back to the unfortunate Kami.  "Do you know anything about the
other aliens that were here earlier today?"

The green god shook his head.  "I know nothing of any other aliens."

Toro leaned forward until his own eyes were just inches from Kami's. 
"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."  The god returned his gaze steadily with his single open
eye.

The young Saiyajin turned away, sighing.  "Then I guess we have no
further use for you."

The prisoner's Saiyajin escorts grinned as their commander walked away,
leaving them to play with their new toy.

**********

"My lord Bardock!"  One of the crew members groveled his way into the
room, bowing obsequiously.  Goten turned to glare at him.  Watching him
flinch away and try to hide behind his Saiyajin master was far more
entertaining than staring at the wall.  He was back in the room where he
had awoken, sitting on the pallet, doing his best to ignore Bardock who
alternately paced the room muttering about Vegeta and sat scowling at
the transporter device, demanding that Goten tell him what it was - and
why it was so important to him.

<Like I'm going to tell him!  It's a wonder he hasn't accidentally set
it off already!  I may agree with him about Vegeta, but there's no way
I'm going to tell him how to travel between dimensions!  Better that he
destroy it - as he's threatened to do...>  Bardock had not put down the
instrument, believing that it was the only means of ensuring that his
'son' would kill Vegeta as promised.  <Nice combination of argument and
blackmail...  I wonder what he would have done with his real son?  Would
it have worked with him, too?>

"What is it?" Bardock scowled at his hireling.

"We, uh, just received a report from one of our operatives amongst
Prince Vegeta's forces..."

Bardock grabbed the unlucky messenger by the shoulders, pulling him in
closer.  "Talk!"  he ordered.

"Vegeta's headed to that planet we picked *him* up from."  His eyes slid
across to where Goten was sitting.  Bardock followed his gaze, meeting
Goten's eyes for a long moment.

"Turn the ship around."

***********

Trunks awoke at the sound of a sickening  crack.  <Nani?  What was
that?>  The orange light of a fire danced before his eyes.  <The fire? 
No - it sounded too wet...>  He rolled over, catching sight of Toro
standing a few metres away, staring up at a sky filled with luminescent
stars.  <So beautiful...  But Tousan will be arriving here tomorrow
morning.  At least, *this* world's version of him...>

Another crack, followed by rough and unpleasant laughter caused him to
look to his left - 

<A Nameckian?  But who - Kami?!>

"NO!"  He flew across the small clearing, grabbing the arm of the
Saiyajin who had been about to hit the Namekian, lying broken and
bleeding on the ground, in a diamond-hard grip.

"AAAAHHH!"  The Saiyajin yelled in pain and surprise as the bones in his
wrist were shattered.

"What the hell!?!"

"You brat!"

"STOP!"  They all turned to stare at Toro.

"How could you let them torture him like that!" Trunks burst out.  "Is
this something you can be proud of?!"  <I thought better of him than
this!  I thought - >

Toro gave one look at the severely wounded Namekian, and fired a single
ki-blast.  "Happy?" he asked in a bored tone - then walked away.

Trunks stared helplessly at the remains of this world's god.

<I'm sorry - I'm *so* sorry... This is all my fault!>

**********
Rhionae
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3226/fanfics.htm