Disclaimer : Tenchi Muyo! and all the characters thereof are the
property of Pioneer/AIC and such. Star Trek : The Next Generation and
all characters thereof are property of Paramount. None of the characters
in this fanfic are being paid for their appearance here, nor is the
author getting any profit from this work of fiction (as if!).

Futher, if you wish to archive this fanfic on a publicly-accessibly site
(be it Web, FTP, or whatever), I have no objections to that as long as
such does not bring any profit to anyone (if I don't make money off of
it, no one will make money off of it). All I ask is that you contact me
and let me know where the archive location is so I can check it out.

That said, on with the show...





                            THE MIHOSHI INCIDENT

                      Chapter 12 - Ryo-Ohki's Big Day

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The door slid open, admitting Picard and Riker into the shuttle bay,
where Worf and his charges were waiting. Sasami was staring at one of
the shuttles, "ooh"-ing and "ahh"-ing enthusiastically, while Mihoshi
stood solemnly in one corner.

"Everything okay, Lieutenant?" Riker asked as he and Picard approached
the group.

"Aye, sir." Worf replied, his tone a notch lighter than normal. "Nothing
unusual to report."

"What's wrong with her?" Riker enquired, motioning to Mihoshi.

"Mister Worf took her cube away." Sasami replied, holding up Mihoshi's
control cube. "He gave it to me."

Worf met Riker's gaze. "She was attempting to utilize the device,
with... predictable results."

Washuu chuckled. "She wanted tea, she got fifteen pairs of shoes and a
box of tissues."

Riker stifled a smile. "I see."

Beside him, Picard tapped his combadge. "Picard to LaForge."

"Go ahead, Captain." Geordi replied.

"What's your status?"

"We've reprogrammed the replicators in Engineering to the specifications
Washuu requested and are running the sequence now." He paused.
"Everything seems to be working fine, Captain. I estimate about three
minutes to completion."

"Very good, Lieutenant." Picard replied. "Inform me the moment you're
finished." He turned to Washuu. "Little Washuu, what needs to be done to
install the device on Mihoshi's vessel?"

"Not much, Captain." Washuu replied. "I just need to get in contact with
Yukinojo to make sure he's ready, and then your people can transport it
into place."

Picard nodded and walked to a nearby station. Issuing several commands,
he motioned to Washuu. "The connection is ready."

Washuu bowed slightly. "Thank you, Captain. Yukinojo?"

The display screen flashed to show Yukinojo's face. "Miss Washuu? What
are you doing in this dimension?"

"It would take too long to explain." Washuu replied. "I've got a
replacement hyperdrive propagator for you. They'll be transporting it
over to you shortly. Can your self-repair systems handle installing it?"

"Of course. As you well know, I am capable of repairing all but the most
serious types of damage. Unfortunately, I am incapable of repairing the
main drive system at this time."

"Don't worry," Washuu said, "Ryo-Ohki will be towing you through the
interdimensional pathway I created."

"I see." Yukinojo replied. "Very well, Miss Washuu. I'll be waiting."

Washuu turned to Picard. "All set, Captain."

Picard nodded, glancing over his shoulder to where the rest of the group
was standing. "Washuu, there's a matter of some concern that I must ask
you about." he said quietly.

"Change your mind about the hair growth solution, Captain?" Washuu asked
innocently.

Picard sighed. "No, not that. I was just wondering exactly how Ryo-Ohki
is going to tow Mihoshi's vessel."

"Simple, actually. She'll jump out of your ship, turn into her spaceship
format, and form part of her structure around Yukinojo. After that,
it'll be a snap." Washuu smiled. "Can I create some great stuff or
what?"

"I still don't..."

"Captain, I could go into great detail about how Ryo-Ohki manages to
transform between all of her forms, but - to be honest - you couldn't
even begin to understand the processes."

Picard frowned. "I'm sorry, but-"

"No need to apologize, Captain." Washuu commented idly. "It's the price
you pay for being a twenty-thousand year old genius - no one can grasp
the subtle nuances, much less the grand designs."

"Twenty thou..." Picard straightened the hem of his shirt, "Never mind.
Shall we re-join the others?"

"Gladly, Captain." Washuu answered.

They had barely gotten half-way across the bay when Geordi's voice
sounded from Picard's combadge. "LaForge to Captain Picard."

"Go ahead Lieutenant."

"Captain, the propagator's complete. We're ready to transport it and the
singularity to Mihoshi's vessel."

"Do you expect any difficulty in doing so?"

"There should be no problems, Captain." Data answered. "We have the
proper coordinates for the transport, and the propagator's internal
containment field is functioning within normal parameters."

"Energize."

There was a pause. "Transport complete, Captain. The Propagator is in
place. We are awaiting Yukinojo's signal to transport the singularity."

Washuu nodded sagely. "It's time. Captain, if you would?"

Picard keying in a command and the shuttle bay echoed with a warning
tone as the massive exterior door began sliding upwards. Turning to
Washuu, Picard nodded. "Is there anything else, Little Washuu?"

"Nope," Washuu replied absently. "I can take it from here."

She walked over to Ryo-Ohki, who was perched happily on top of Sasami's
head. "Show time, Ryo-Ohki."

Ryo-Ohki regarded her with innocent eyes. "Meow?"

"Of course it's safe." Washuu replied. "You don't think I would have you
do this if it were dangerous, do you?"

The cabbit nodded quickly. "Meow!"

"Everyone's a critic." Washuu drawled.

Sasami giggled. "I'm sure it'll be alright, Ryo-Ohki."

Washuu smiled. "Of course it will. And besides, you do want to see
Tenchi again, don't you?"

"MEOW!" Ryo-Ohki launched herself off of Sasami's head and landed a few
feet from the force field sealing the now-open shuttle bay door. She
paused, turned to glance back a Washuu with wide eyes, then began to
quiver violently. Picard backed up in alarm. "Lieutenant Worf, I w-"

"It's alright, Captain." Washuu interrupted. "Just watch."

Before Picard could reply, Ryo-Ohki uttered a piercing yowl and raced
towards the force field. She leapt high into the air and passed through
the field with a hissing crackle. She tumbled away from the shuttle bay,
unmoving.

Riker looked at Washuu, concern evident on his face. "Miss Washuu..."

"It's alright." Washuu responded. "She's just making sure there's enough
clearance before she - ah! There she goes!"

Riker turned in time to see Ryo-Ohki suddenly expand in size, large
spears of dark crystalline material erupting from her body, growing
outwards at an astounding rate, until she had transformed into a large
multi-pointed crystalline shape that reminded Riker of the Crystalline
Entity.

Ryo-Ohki drifted towards Mihoshi's ship, the lower-most spike expanding
outwards as it did so. Contact was made, and Mihoshi's ship was pulled
up into the lower spike. Riker whistled softly. "I never would have
believed it if I wouldn't have seen it with my own eyes."

Picard nodded silently.

"Engineering to Captain Picard." Geordi's voice declared.

"Go ahead."

"Captain, we've received clearance from Yukinojo. We're beaming the
singularity into place now."

"Very good." Picard glanced at Washuu. "It seems like everything has
gone according to plan."

"Of course it has." Washuu responded. "It was my plan, after all." She
paused. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, Captain."

Picard smiled. "It has been a pleasure."

Sasami ran over. "Bye, Captain."

"Goodbye." Picard replied, but she was already running towards Riker.

Washuu turned to Mihoshi. "Time to go, Mihoshi."

Mihoshi looked up, distracted. "It is? Oh... okay. But..."

"But...?" Washuu prodded.

Mihoshi glanced at Picard, eyes glimmering in the light. "I... um...
I... I need to use the toilet again."

***

In a hidden pocket of space, well-hidden from the Enterprise's sensors,
two beings watched as Ryo-Ohki pulled away from the Enterprise and
headed towards the opening of the interdimensional pathway.

"It's about time." the first one - a man - quipped. "I thought that they
would never leave. I'm surprised Jean-Luc didn't boot them off long
before now."

"It was you that told me about the legendary patience of this Picard
character that you're so fond of." his female companion retorted. "After
all, he's put up with you for so long."

"No need to get uppity about it." he sniffed. "And I'll have you know
that Jean-Luc regards me as a close confidant. A blood-brother, if you
will."

"If you say so." she replied, turning to watch as Ryo-Ohki dove into the
pathway, which winked out behind her. "And so it ends."

"Why must it end? You can always direct them into some other dimension,
as you drew them to this one." He chuckled. "The best thing about these
fragile little creatures is that they are remarkably resilient, always
bouncing back from whatever dilemnas come their way. The rubber balls of
the cosmos, if you will."

"Uh-huh." she replied distractedly.

"Go ahead and ignore me. I still think you'd find it a lot more
interesting to stick them in another predicament and see what happens.
Perhaps against those 'Shadow' beings from the First Ones' dimension."

"No. To do so would draw undue attention to my presence." She shivered.
"You can't imagine how mad Washuu would get if she discovered I was
behind this - or how dangerous she can be when she gets riled up."

He shrugged. "So be it. Far be it from me to push you into anything
dangerous. Just trying to be helpful and all. Forever your humble
assistant."

"Don't get melodramatic on me now, Q."

"Moi? Melodramatic?" He clutched his breast. "You cut me to the quick,
my dear. How unlike a Q of your fine upbringing." She said nothing, lost
in thought. Curious, he leaned closer. "What are you thinking, Q?
Something sneaky and underhanded, if I don't miss my guess."

She regarded him cooly. "You know, maybe I was too quick to dismiss your
idea. It has.... merit. With a little work, it might prove entertaining
to the both of us."

He smiled. "I knew you'd see it my way."

"I'll need to borrow a few of your 'friends,' however."

"Sounds better already."

"I thought you'd think so." She smiled back at him. "Here's what I've
got in mind..."

                                  THE END

                                 (for now)

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------


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