Me, again. I won't repeat ELL's rant. :)
"Get a little closer, Ryo-Ohki. You've almost got it."
Ryouko's orders seemed to echo through the bridge as Aeka watched the
main
viewscreen,
no comma
and observed the events unfolding outside. The cables from
Ryo-Ohki's docking bay had latched on to the strut that connected the
port
side
port-side
engine to the slender main body of the dull green Galaxy Police
cruiser. Once the cabbit had a firm grip on the drifting starship, it
could
maneuver the other vehicle around and position it so that it could
connect
with the smaller starship's airlock and transfer the two detectives
over.
The moment everyone was on board, Ryo-Ohki would head to the nearby
planet
and drop the police off so that they could begin procedures to recover
their starship.
It was the third dead Galaxy Police vessel they had come across in the
last
ten hours. The first one they had stumbled upon was drifting above the
recreation planet Fantasia IX, a planet she and Ryouko had visited to
look
for Tenchi. Of course
Of course,
they were obligated to assist the helpless spaceship,
although Ryouko had to put up at least a token protest about going out
of
her way to help the Galaxy Police. To Ryouko's credit, it had taken
little
in the way of cajoling to get her to agree to the rescue.
That one had gone easily enough. When Aeka inquired as to what
happened,
Detective Second Class Psicolpe had told her that he wasn't sure. He
had
received a Priority Alpha One emergency transmission from headquarters.
Within moments after receiving it, the power began to fluctuate on the
ship. By the time he realized what was happening, the whole thing had
shut
down and he was left to drift alone in space, completely powerless. He
had
been working on trying to recover power when Ryo-Ohki stumbled on him
in
space.
After they safely delivered him to the planet's surface, they took off
once
more, only to be confronted with the exact same situation upon entering
the
next system in their search. Upon discovering yet a second Galaxy
Police
starship in a similar predicament, Aeka and Ryouko became truly
frightened.
After all, their beloved Tenchi (and Mihoshi, for that matter) was on a
Galaxy Police starship as well, and if what had happened to these two
had
happened to her ship as well...
They had hurried and deposited the second officer on the closest
civilized
planet they could find. By the time they made planetfall, transmissions
began coming in that contact had been lost with Galaxy Police
headquarters,
nor could anyone seem to contact any of their spaceships either.
Suggest dropping 'either' because of the 'nor'.
Even
ground based
ground-based
facilities' systems had lost power. It seemed as thought
though
the
entire Galaxy Police force had been rendered powerless, literally.
[snip]
The portion of the world that had seemed to be upside down was that
which
could be seen outside the hole that now dominated the port side of what
had
once been the bridge. Stargrave's face had been pointed in that
direction
when consciousness had returned. Sunlight streamed in from the hole,
which
was for the best since there was no longer any power on the bridge, not
even of a reserve to power the emergency lights.
Awkward. Suggest: ...not even enough reserve power for the emergency
lights.
And under the
circumstances, being upside down with a big hole in your forward bridge
was
preferable to hanging upside down in pitch darkness.
Fresh air, with the scent of jasmine and a hint of willow, blew in a
gust
>from the hole.
Do they have those where they are? Interesting... :)
That solved the question as to whether the planet they had
landed on had a habitable atmosphere, as the starcharts had suggested.
It
seemed to be supporting life as well, if the grass that could be seen
from
the hole was any indication. Two things were going for it. Now it was
time
for the third: to see if it had allowed them to have a landing they
could
walk away from.
[snip]
Ariana held her hands high as Stargrave loosened his restraint. Unlike
her,
he halfway fell until Ariana caught him. Only a little bit of air
escaped
>from her lungs despite the eighty pounds weight advantage
Suggest: eighty-pound weight advantage
he had on her.
She set him down as gently as a cat would a newborn kitten and looked
over
him with an equal amount of concern.
"I'm all right," Stargrave assured her as he took a moment to
accurately
assess the damage done to his crew and ship.
"Considerable," was the first word that came to his mind. "Complete,"
was
the next. There was no power. A ten foot
ten-foot
diameter hole in the bridge. All
of the equipment ruined. The smell of burned circuitry. The rear
portions
of his ship missing, if the diagnostic he had run before the crash was
accurate. Those were the mechanical resources left.
[snip]
It was only once he was outside that the damage to the Rack N' Ruin
could
truly be appreciated. Over half of the ship was missing, and what
remained
of it might as well not have been there either. Numerous holes, some
the
size of a quarter to others five feet wide, riddled the hull where
pieces
of debris from the dreadnought had struck. Scorch marks covered the
length
of the ship from the burning reentry it had just undergone. And large
strips wood
strips *of* wood
were peeled back, as though carpenter
as though *a* carpenter
had come and tried to
whittle the starship down to a toothpick.
But none of that mattered to Stargrave. The only thing he cared about
was
his Shihana,
no comma
and the special container it had been in. It took him a moment
to piece together what was left of the ship and figure out where the
cylinder should have been. He scanned the top of the upside down
vessel,
desperately trying to find the attachment.
[snip]
All eyes turned towards him. Stargrave returned to his feet and took
several slow steps towards Malgaunt, almost afraid if he approached too
fast that the man would disappear,
Suggest: ...almost afraid that if he approached too fast, the man
would...
as though he were nothing more than a
dream. "What do you mean?"
[snip]
Right. That was it. His life had flashed right before his eyes. His
mother
had been there. So had his father, and his little cat that had died a
while
back. All of the later people that had recently entered his life had
introduced themselves towards the end as well. Sasami, Aeka, Ryouko,
Mihoshi, Washuu, even Ryo-Ohki. And carrots. There were lots of
carrots. He
was starting to hate carrots. Working in the fields was hard on his
back,
and he had never been wild about the vegetables in the first place.
Anymore
now it had seemed that was all he did was hoe and till, and till hoe
and-
? maybe: ...all he did was hoe and till, and till and hoe, an-
[You're getting off track there, boy. Bring it back in.]
Right. He hadn't dwelled that long on the carrots in the flashback
anyhow.
There had been bad guys too. Dr. Clay. Kagato. That odd couple of guys
that
had wanted to lock him up on a spaceship and send him really crappy
movies.
What were their names again? Dr. Forest and Francis? Frunk? Frenk?
*FACE-FAULT!* Jeez, man. Don't scare me like that! :) (Reader hides his
Crow plushie under the computer desk.)
[Forget them. They were a couple of twits anyway. There was actually
one,
single, important thought in that mostly pointless little review you
went
though. Towards the end. Try and remember it.]
What were the last thought that had gone through his mind? Something
about
forgetting to pack extra underwear for his trip?
[No.]
Worrying about the 'B' he was getting in Home Economics?
[No.]
That time he had looked through his father's collection of films and
stumbled upon the 'special' one that had starred his mother, father,
copious amounts of whip cream, and leather? That had been a seriously
traumatizing incident. Parents weren't supposed to do THAT sort of
thing,
or at least their children weren't supposed to see it.
Heh.
[NOT THAT EITHER! THINK MAN! THINK!]
Ah, yes. It was coming back to him now. It was something about being
wishy-washy.
[Yes.]
Something about a choice.
[Yes. That's it.]
Something about being wishy-washy and making a choice.
[Yes. Keep going. You almost have it.]
It was about finally making a choice concerning one of the gir-
Nope didn't remember it no sir completely lost from the memory forever
and
wasn't ever going to come back in any way shape or form so it would be
best
just to drop the subject completely and never consider it again since
he
was never going to actually think about it and that was that about
that.
GRRR!
[Pussy.]
Shut up.
And, much to Tenchi's relief, he woke up.
*SIGH*
[snip]
"You have," Tenchi said as he made his way over and helped Mihoshi out
of
the pile. After he helping her to her feet, and she after she confirmed
I'm not sure what you meant to say in the previous line, but it needs
fixing.
that the world had stopped spinning for her benefit, they assessed the
damage to their craft even as the crew of the Rack N' Ruin were doing
at
that moment a hundred kilometers away. The assessment was finished
quickly,
since virtually nothing worked on the entire ship.
[snip]
Static overwhelmed what little Yukinojo's audio program could get out.
It
took a while for, "I don*ZKT* feel so *ZKT*ood," to come out clear
enough
for the others to understand.
"You don't look too good, either. "It
misplaced double quote
was hard for Mihoshi to rein in the
tears she felt coming to the fore. Yukinojo would want her to be
strong. It
was her duty as a Galaxy Police officer to remain stoic and calm.
[snip]
Through what higher process remained, Yukinojo managed to say. "If I go
to
sleep, will I dream of electric sheep?"
Hmmm, Phillip Dick or Thomas Disch? (I got the reference to "Blade
Runner", but I'm a little rusty on the author of the story upon which it
is based.)
Mihoshi considered that. "I don't think so. At least I've never dreamt
of
electric sheep. They've always been normal ones for me, so I'd have to
say
no, you won't." She gently ran her head along the intact portions of
the
head. Her voice was full of emotion. "Go to sleep now. And have
pleasant
dreams. You'll be awake before you know it."
It was the same thing her mother used to tell her when she was a little
girl and was being tucked into bed late at night. It had seemed
appropriate
to use now, and after the words had left her mouth, Mihoshi knew she
had
been right.
The last circuit board came out easily
easily,
and Mihoshi placed it in the box. It
took several seconds for her to properly set the unit up. Once fully
functional, she double-checked it and made certain it was operating
correctly. Satisfied that his neural net was intact, she set the case
in a
safe area of the bridge that had little else that cosmetic damage to
it.
Awkward. Suggest: ...a safe area of the bridge that had little other
than cosmetic damage.
"I think he'll be all right," Mihoshi told Tenchi. "The battery system
on
that can last up to two months. We'll be able to get him a new ship by
then."
"What do we do now?" he asked.
Mihoshi considered that. "Well, one of our professors at the Galaxy
Police
Survival Training Course, Dr. Lector,
GAH! Thomas Harris, now!
said that when you're stranded on a
planet, always preserve dead bodies in case you're starving and need to
eat
later. He said don't worry about the flavor either, since most races'
flesh
tastes like chicken anyway."
Gack!
And we always wondered what happened to the OAV Mitsuki.
A sweatdrop formed on the back of Tenchi's head. "Ah, even if there
were
some dead bodies around, I really don't think we need to resort to
cannibalism. I'm sure there's plenty of food on the ship and there's
probably food on this planet too."
"I guess you're right," Mihoshi admitted. "The next thing we're
supposed to
do is set up an emergency beacon so other starships can find us."
Tenchi looked at the main control panel where the communications
equipment
had been. The emphasis on 'had'. "I don't think it's going to work. It
looks like it's busted up pretty badly
badly,
and there's hardly any power left on
the ship."
"Not to worry. Just follow me." Mihoshi grabbed an emergency light and
went
through the broken door leading from the bridge, taking the corridor to
the
right. Tenchi followed close on her heels
heels.
The going was difficult since the
passageway was littered with broken pieces of debris from the ceiling
and
walls, leftover gifts from the crash. They had to pick their way over
piles
of debris, sometimes very carefully due to the assortment of sharp
objects
that protruded from the piles
As they made their way down the darkened passageway, the yellow beam
dancing across the floor as the light bounced in Mihoshi's hand, Tenchi
wondered what she was up to now. Sometimes it seemed she knew what she
was
doing, but other times, like the cannibalism issue, made him wonder
exactly
why he was following her lead. The truth was that sometimes being
around
her was more stressful than finding himself caught between Ryouko and
Aeka
when it was 'that time of the month' for both of them.
*************
Aeka: "Royalty do NOT menstruate; we offer our lifeblood in symbolic
recognition of Tsunami's gifts and the Water of Life!"
Ryouko: "Here's a tampon. Don't want that 'Water of Life' soakin' into
the futon, ne?"
Aeka: "...!"
*************
[snip]
The tone of his lie made Mihoshi look at him curiously. "Are you
hearing
voices? Sometimes that happens if you've taken a bump to the head, and
you've got a really big one right on the top there. Maybe you've got a
concussion. Let me check." She moved closer, taking a good look at his
eyes. "Ohh. Your pupils are all dilated. They say that's a sign of a
concussion."
"They're dilated because you're shining a bright light directly in my
eyes," Tenchi pointed out as he shielded his eyes from the glare.
DOH!
"Oh, right." Mihoshi shone the light back they way they had been
originally
heading and continued forward. "If you keep having auditory
hallucinations,
let me know. There're some tranquilizers in the first-aid kit that'll
quiet
any voices you might be hearing. Of course, they'll also pretty much
knock
out all of your higher brain functions too. And make you drool a lot,
but
at least the voices will stop. And I can wipe up the drool for you."
"Thanks for the offer. I'll be sure to let you know," Tenchi said,
promising that even if he heard the Lizard King himself begin
whispering in
his ear and explained how to taste the color yellow, he wasn't going to
say
a word. Taking heavy medication recommended by Mihoshi was a bad idea,
even
under the best of times. And the idea of being nothing more than a
walking
droolbucket appealed to him even less.
Reminds me of an old SNL episode.
Eventually, they arrived at Mihoshi's destination; a plain metal door
with
feathered
with *a* feathered
wing emblem in the middle. It took the combined efforts of both
to pry the door open, since there was still no power to the
self-opening
doors in that section of the ship either. Tenchi never thought he would
miss the 'whoosh' sound the doors made and the burst of air that
usually
accompanied them opening. It was so much easier to just let the blasted
things open on their own. And since they were supposed to be powered at
all
times, the designers had failed to take into account how much effort it
would take to manually open them. It was like trying to force something
with a rusty lock open.
Suggest: It was like trying to force open something with a rusty lock.
But the door gave under their combined strength, and they saw the
interior
of the room. Unlike most of the ship, the room was mostly intact, save
for
the large cracks along most of the walls. Still, it had fared better
than
the majority of the ship. Mihoshi began grabbing various boxes, kits,
and
other odds and ends. The most curious things she grabbed were a set of
identical staves that were about seven feet tall and had a series of
multi-colored wires dangling from several points along their length.
When
her arms were full, she began handing things to Tenchi to carry.
"What is this stuff?" Tenchi asked as she plopped a small box with a
red
cross on the top.
More boxes were placed on top of the first one he held before Mihoshi
said.
said,
"Emergency supplies. I think this is all we can carry this trip." She
fingered her messy outfit. "There's some extra clothing here. Let me
get
changed into my battle uniform, then we'll take it outside."
It didn't take long for Mihoshi to change (after Tenchi had left the
room,
still holding the multitude of boxes) into her orange and black
skin-tight
battle uniform. Now that Tenchi thought about it, he wondered if the
male
members of the Galaxy Police had to wear outfits that were as... form
fitting as Mihoshi's was. It would be sort of sexist if they didn't,
but on
the other hand, if some of the policemen he knew had to wear outfits
like
that, the sight really wouldn't be pretty.
It was only once he was outside that Tenchi was fully able to
appreciate
the abuse the ship had undergone. The original red coloring of the
vehicle
was now scorched black. It appeared the engines had been ripped off the
vessel, one of them being deposited in the mile long furrow the ship
had
left when it had made its crash landing. There were holes and rents
along
the entire length of the ship. A two meter long groove rode the length
of
the ship from bow to stern, most likely from that final shot that had
sent
the ship on its death-plunge. Armor was peeled back, warped, or melted
outright from both near misses of laser fire and from their speedy
entry
into the planet's atmosphere. It was a miracle they had walked away
from
their landing at all.
Tenchi took a good look at the planet they had landed on. The area that
had
The area they had
fallen in was verdant with plant life. The majority of it was composed
of
grasses and shrubs, with only a handful of slender tress, or what
passed
for trees on the planet, that decorated the landscape. As far as
emergency
landing strips went, Mihoshi had made a good choice. The land was level
for
kilometers around and there were no large obstructions that would have
caused additional damage to the ship, not that the amount of damage
wasn't
appalling to begin with.
Calling the plant life greenery would have been inappropriate. There
were a
handful of bright reds and exotic purples scattered here and there, but
by
far the majority of the foliage was a dull yellow that was identical to
the
coloring of the old wooden pencils Tenchi used when he was in
elementary
school. The grasses around the ship and in the distance appeared high,
much
of it coming up to Tenchi's waist and reminding him of pictures he had
seen
of the African Savanna. Wind made waves across the ocean of tall grass,
flowing from one direction and continuing unabated until the ripples
were
out of sight. Tenchi doubted there was any place on Earth, untouched by
man, that could have 1appeared
Stray numeral. Don't you hate it when that happens? :)
so beautiful. For a moment, a tear
threatened to form in his eye.
In the distance there was a loud squawk
squawk,
and a flock of birds shot out
lightning quick from out of the high grass. They took off, soaring high
in
the sky and opposite the direction of the crashed ship. That seemed to
answer any questions about there being animal life on the planet.
Tenchi
tried listening for other sounds that might have come from animals, but
aside from the ever fainter squawks, there was nothing. All seemed
peaceful
for the moment, perhaps as some form of balance due to the loud noise
the
spaceship had made when it crash landed.
Mihoshi had only given the land a cursory look before she sat her gear
down
and began planting the long poles into the ground. She had a
semi-circle of
them done before Tenchi asked what she was doing.
"This is a portable communications array. It's very powerful and can
reach
out of the system. I'm going to set it up to transmit a continuous
emergency signal with who we are and our coordinates. That way someone
can
get here quickly, I hope, and rescue us."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Tenchi asked.
"Sure. Go into that red tool box and pull out a pair of runxeterrs."
"Ah, okay." Tenchi began looking through the box Mihoshi had indicated.
He
wasn't sure what a pair of ruxeterrs looked like, but he was a man, and
if
it was a tool he could identify it. It was a basic instinct with men.
*laughter* I wonder if Norm Abram has a ruxeterr? Probably. He's got
everything else.
Locating the pair of ruxeterrs proved to be a more difficult task than
he
had anticipated. There were some tools in the box that he was easily
able
to identify: Pliers. Ratchet set. Duct tape (that was a universal
constant,
according to Washuu),
And Red Green.
Bolts. Other items weren't so easy to identify. There
were a wide assortment of both slender and wide, long and short, one
piece
and complex moving parts, items inside. His instincts seemed to be
failing
him as he randomly pulled out a device that had two long cubes attached
together by a long wire between them.
Tenchi held out the item for Mihoshi to see. "Is this it?"
Mihoshi let out a gasp and closed the distance between her and Tenchi
in a
couple of stride.
strides.
[snip]
"A Oxerat 200 Hoverbike," Mihoshi explained. "Generally we use them for
short range reconnaissance work. They move very quietly and can seat tw
o."
She patted the long seat a few times, indicating where the passenger
would
sit behind the pilot. "It even has an antigrav sled that can be hooked
up
to the back when you need to carry extra mass. They're really quite
useful.
Most patrol ships have at least one with them nowadays."
Could haul something like, say, an Adamantium container?
"Why did you bother to get it out though?" Tenchi asked as Mihoshi
began
going over the hoverbike. He was pretty sure he didn't like the
direction
conversation was heading.
The hoverbike hummed gently as Mihoshi began tweaking the engine. "I
thought we'd take a look around and get a lay of the land.
Suggest: ...get *the* lay of the land.
That way we'll
know where we are and what resources are on hand in case we're here for
a
while."
Actually, that made a great deal of sense. Tenchi nodded in approval of
the
idea.
Mihoshi finished hooking up the antigrav sled, which consisted of two
long
rods that could set up an antigravity field between the two of them, to
the
back of the bike. Once finished, she said, "Let's get going." She
hopped on
the bike and indicated that Tenchi should sit behind her.
"We're going now?" That seemed a bit abrupt. They had just crashed
several
hours earlier.
"Even if there's a starship as near as only a system away, it'll still
take
them at least a day or more to get here. We have plenty of time."
Mihoshi
twisted the handlebar and the engine began to rev higher and higher.
The resemblance to a more mundane motorcycle again crossed Tenchi's
mind.
"Well. I guess so." The reluctance in his voice matched his motions as
he
slowly got on behind Mihoshi. There didn't seem to be any handholds on
the
sides of the hoverbike, which meant he was going to have to grab onto
something else if he wanted to maintain his balance while they were
flying.
Maybe he wouldn't have to hold on too tightly. Surely Mihoshi would go
slowly, since she had a passenger.
"Hold on tight," she said as she stared at the control panel in front
of
her. How did operating the bike go? There was a switch she had to flip,
but
which one was it? She randomly chose the one in the middle. She was
rewarded with the bike lifting several meters off the ground.
"Now for a little speed," she said to Tenchi from over her shoulder as
she
gave a quick twist to the speed dial.
Twin screams of terror rang through the air as the hovercyle went from
zero
to two hundred kilometers per hour in less than two seconds.
:)
The crew of the Rack N' Ruin continued going over the remains of the
vessel. Yoost and Onita were looking for additional weapons amidst the
ruins of the ship. Angstrom was busy trying to put together a working
communication unit. Joffry was laying on the bridge in as comfortable a
position as could given the condition of the ship and his shattered
legs.
Suggest: ...in as comfortable a position as he could, given the...
Funuyaki and Ariana were scouting the area surrounding the ship.
Autolycus
had been assigned to try to scrounge some food from the debris, and
Malgaunt and Stargrave randomly shifted
sifted(?)
through piles of wreckage trying to
find anything of use and having little success.
Fera was off to the side of the ship on her own. The first thing she
had
done was to try to locate the remains of her room. Upon finding it, she
immediately began digging through the mess until she managed to pull
three
large metal cases out. Once they were free, she removed all the
contents,
spread them out in an open area next to the ship, and began putting
them
together using some tools that had been in the boxes. When Stargrave
saw
what she was building, he gave her permission to continue working on it
while the others carried on with their assigned tasks.
Malguant saw that Stargrave was beginning to pace again instead of
searching for useful items. He could have asked what was troubling the
criminal, but there was no point to it. Malgaunt already knew the
answer as
sure as he was going to take another breath. It was that damned plant.
All
Stargrave could do was fret about it since it wasn't on hand, and he
would
probably continue to do so until he either had it or Malgaunt had him
clubbed into unconsciousness and chained him to a rock.
Suggest: ...until he either had it or Malgaunt had him clubbed into
unconsciousness and chained to a rock.
The second
alternative was looking more appealing by the moment with the way
Malgaunt's own temper was stretched thin.
[big snip]
He handed his locator to Fera, who turned on her heel the moment it
touched
her hand, and exited the vessel. At last she was going to get a chance
to
fly fast and be alive for the first time since she had landed on the
miserable mudball. True, it was a testament to her skills that anyone
could
even walk away from the site of the crash, and it would add to her
already
impressive list of deeds when she reached final judgment, but already
she
found her soul wanting more. It wasn't just her skills she wanted to
show
off; it was competition she desired. All Katasans knew that tests of
skills
against the forces of nature, like Hell's Gate, were ultimately
victories
only for one's personal spirit. One could not defeat the forces of
nature;
one could only survive them.
Oh, no... and Fera was already wishing for a rematch with Mihoshi... and
Mihoshi has a hoverbike, too. *Reader smacks his palm into his face.*
[snip]
Tenchi heard and tightened his grip.
As Tenchi tightened his grip, Mihoshi moaned and briefly forgot what
she
had planned on doing. Actually, she was pretty damn happy with the way
things had suddenly turned out, and their high speed didn't seem to
matter
so much any longer.
Mihoshi is a lech. Who knew?
Tenchi buried his face in her back trying to keep the wind out of his
eyes,
and also to keep from looking down as the land had seemed to be getting
progressively closer to the bottom of their hoverbike, and they had not
been that high to begin with. "Nothing's happening!" he shouted.
"I wouldn't say that," Mihoshi said as the pleasant feelings continued
to
override her higher functions.
"What was that?!" Tenchi shouted over the roar of the wind.
"Hold tighter!" Mihoshi answered loudly enough to be heard this time.
Make that a very healthy woman with incongruously normal drives -
probably the only thing about Mihoshi that's normal. :)
Tenchi was going to do so anyway as he dared to look down once and saw
that
the land below was coming uncomfortably close now.
Again Mihoshi moaned. It was almost as pleasant as the time she had
bathed
baby Taro and he had mistaken her for his mother. As she lost herself
to
the sensation, her hand fell downward, near where she was straddling
the
bike, and hit a lever located right where the base of the seat met the
steering column. The lever turned out to be the emergency break.
The hoverbike skidded on air to a stop, slowing down enough so that
when
both Mihoshi and Tenchi slammed into the plexi-plastic windshield on
the
bike, they survived the impact. They did have a bit of difficulty
peeling
their faces off the plexi-plastic, and where
were
[snip]
"I didn't bother me at all," she finally managed to get out.
Tenchi's blush was four times that of Mihoshi's. As the full
repercussions
of what he had done set it,
in,
[snip]
"Of course there is what?" Mihoshi asked.
"Ah," Tenchi was beginning to consider asking Mihoshi for some of the
medication she had talked about earlier, when he
extra space
noticed a large pile of
upturned earth in the middle of a large field of grass on the side of
the
hill a considerable distance away. There was something odd about it,
even
at that range. "What do you make of that?"
Mihoshi looked in the direction Tenchi was pointing. "I'm not sure. I
think
it might be an impact crater. Let's take a look."
"On the bike?" Tenchi asked with a slight tremor of fear in his voice.
"Don't worry. I remember how to fly it now. We'll be safe." She hopped
onto
the bike.
Reluctantly, Tenchi followed. He made certain to grasp only her stomach
this time, although he did adjust his grip a bit high so that his arms
were
wrapped around right under the lower curve of Mihoshi's breasts. That
would
show the voice in his head. If Mihoshi minded, she gave no indication
of it
as she turned the hoverbike back on and took off once again, under
better
control this time.
In more ways than one, I'll warrant.
They didn't have to journey long, even at the decreased speed Mihoshi
was
traveling at. Tenchi's original estimation on the distance from the
hill
the crater had been on was off by a lot. Without an accurate point of
reference between where they had been and the hill, he had been off by
about thirty kilometers. It took several minutes for them to draw near
enough that Tenchi could see that Mihoshi's guess had been correct; it
did
appear to be an impact crater. The earth around it had been kicked up
in
wide circle about a hundred meters wide, showing that the ground
beneath
was much darker than the brownish topsoil in the surface. The mounds of
earth were strewn loosely about, showing that the impact had been
recent,
just as Tenchi had suspected. In the center of the carnage, both of
them
could clearly see the object that had caused the crater so recently.
"That isn't from your ship, is it?" Tenchi asked.
"Nope." Mihoshi stared at the object as well, studying it intently.
It was a simple object; a large, intact, gun-metal gray metal sphere
that
was about two and a half meters in diameter. The outer coating lacked
the
scorch marks that one associated with orbital entry, despite the fact
that
was obviously how it had arrived there. The surface was somewhat plain,
covered only with a series of tiny one inch protrusions of metal
identical
to that of the sphere, and a single red oval near the top. A simple
object,
at least from the outside.
But then, sometimes the greatest things came in the simplest of
packages.
Just whatever you do, don't let Mihoshi touch it! :)
Man, you're really taking Tenchi to task over his lack of, ah, sexual
aggressiveness. :)
Another fine installment.
Ja!
************************************
D.F. Roeder
Fanfiction - http://www.flash.net/~dfroeder/index.html