Yes all you Tenchi fans, its a new chapter of the Princess and the Pirate.(I
really need to come up with a cooler name.)
So enjoy and C&C is always welcome. Flames, however, shall be used for target
practice.
--Komodo.
***************
"Wheels within wheels, webs within webs, and at the heart, the spider sits
and waits."
-Author Unknown
#--#
Juraian Battleship Tsunami,
in orbit around Forest Planet Esa
Tenchi Misaki, the new Emperor of Jurai, lay in his bed, staring out the
window at the planet Esa.
>From up here, the green of the forests looked so peaceful. Like the woods
surrounding his grandfather's shrine.
Still bemused by sleep, he almost didn't hear the soft footsteps as the green
haired woman entered the room and slipped back into the bed, pausing only to
let the soft silk robe she wore fall to the floor.
"So what did the little one want?"
"Just some water," She said as she snuggled into the crook of his arm.
"She's a good kid." He said as he kissed her forehead.
"She's yours after all."
"Ours." He corrected, putting a note of finality in his voice.
"Ours." She agreed. "Mayuka, first princess of Jurai."
"If we can get the Council to support the ruling."
"Hold it." She said, placing a finger on his lips. "We had a deal. No
discussing court bisnuess on the honeymoon."
"So that's what this is." Tenchi grinned. "I thought I was just lying naked
in a bed with a beautiful woman."
"Just a beautiful woman?" She growled as she straddled his chest.
"Okay," He amended. " A beautiful, smart, woman, who happens to be the one I
love." He gave her a mocking glare. "Unless there's more to you then I know."
"Plenty." She agreed as she began moving down the bed until she sat astride
his knees.
What she did next is a tale in and of itself that is perhaps best left to be
told another time.
Suffice to say, sleep and Tenchi did not meet for some time.
***************
Planet Saradin
Noa Corporate Headquarters
Boardroom.
Ryoko was not the type of person to admit she was wrong about anything. At
least not out loud and certainly not willingly.
Privately, she had to admit that this mission was forcing her to look at
Ayeka in a whole new light.
>From her seat behind and to the right of Aykea's chair, the reformed space
pirate watched as Ayeka quite calmly plucked the reins of power from the
board and made them hers before giving each board member back enough to do
their jobs while making it clear that their future was in her hands.
"Remind me never to play poker with you." Ryoko said as they walked through
the hall to Aykea's office.
"You mean the boardroom?"
"Yeah, I've never seen a con job that smooth before."
"Con job? Hardly," Aykea's tone was dismissive, but she couldn't quite keep
the glee out of her voice. "I'm barely getting started."
"So when do we start shaking down the underworld?"
"In a few weeks." Ayeka said. "Noa is crumbling under its own weight. I need
to get it back on its feet before we can start our mission."
"Why are you bothering?" Ryoko asked. "You just bought this place out."
"And where do you think I got the money?" Ayeka asked as they entered the
office. "My own fortune, Tenchi's, even Sasami's is tied into Noa's. I have a
responsibility to my family."
"I can understand that," Ryoko said as she slipped into the chair in front of
the desk. "guess I'm just impatient."
"That's your second lesson Ryoko." Ayeka said as she dropped into the
high-backed pure Rendon Leather chair behind her desk. Made for the sensitive
skin of the Gelon, the chair was merely comfortable to the hairless,
thin-skinned race. For a Juraian, it was heaven. "Patience is absolutely
essential to anything you do. Success of any kind in politics absolutely
demands patience."
"That's funny," Ryoko teased, "considering when we were searching for Tenchi,
I was the one advocating patience."
Ayeka opened her mouth to reply when the soft beep of the com system caught
her attention.
"Incoming call. Private frequency, audio only."
"From?" Ayeka asked as she traded looks with Ryoko.
"Unknown."
"Put it through." She waited a moment. "Hello."
"Hello Princess." The voice was male, pleasant and tempered with authority.
"Please, Ayeka will do nicely. Might I have your name?"
"Eventually. I'm calling to welcome you to Saradin."
"Thank you."
"You're quite welcome. There are several bisnuess opportunities that are
available to you provided you are a risk-taker."
"I might be," Ayeka said after a moment. "provided the rewards are worth the
risk."
"They are, to the right person. I will contact you soon and we can discuss
the details."
"Until then,"
"Until then."
"Transmission terminated by caller." The com system announced a moment later.
"Could you effect a trace?" Ayeka asked.
"Negative. Transmission was bounced and scrambled."
"Try working your way through the bouncing and see if you can't find where it
might have come from."
"What will that do?" Ryoko demanded.
"Two things. One, that person is part of Saradin society that we need to
contact. That call originated on Saradin, there's no doubt in my mind about
that. Two, it will establish our cover."
"Okay, I'm lost."
"Look at it from outside. Lady Ayeka, sent into semi-exile by the Emperor.
She's disgraced, revenge for the wronging she's just suffered is burning
inside her. Draw her into the underworld just enough so that she and the
Royal Family will be shamed should she be exposed."
"So?"
"In return for your silence," Ayeka continued, steeping her fingers as she
turned the chair to face the floor to ceiling windows behind her desk.
Outside, darkness was falling, and the lights of the city seemed almost as
Christmas lights. "you ask her for one or two nuggets of information.
Something minor, perhaps a inconsequential military outpost or such. Then, as
time goes by, you carefully reel her in until by the time she wakes up, she's
in far too deep to get out."
"I get the picture." Ryoko interrupted. "So where does the trace come in?"
"Again, look at it from the outside. Ayeka is naive, a little curious.
Naturally, she'll want to know who called. If she didn't trace it, it might
seem like she was expecting the call."
"Wait, you were expecting that?"
"Of course I was expecting it, just not this early."
"You've got that 'this is trouble' tone." Ryoko said as she walked around and
leaned on the desk, resting her elbow on the back of the chair."
"It is troubling." Ayeka admitted. "That was an offer that has probably been
made to every new CEO that's ever set up shop on Saradin."
"What? You think every CEO and bigwig on the planet is on the take? We knew
that."
"No, we knew the corruption was widespread, but not on the level that call
seems to indicate. To get any work done, it appears I shall have to be 'on
the take' as well."
"You don't sound happy, I thought that was the plan."
"It is." Ayeka replied in a quiet voice.
Ryoko tried to get her to say something else, but she wouldn't speak. She
only stared out into the night, her violet eyes revealing naught of what she
might be thinking.