Season 1: Return of the Akuneko
Episode 5: No Need for a Prisoner
Yagami bridge low Earth orbit
"How is that possible?" Tenchi asked, Ryoko
teleported to the bridge shortly before a yawning
Ryo-Ohki. "Ryoko is, what, twenty�"
"Twenty-hundred seventeen years old, I think" Ryoko
corrected. In response to his surprised expression she
shrugged. "I did say I was orphaned by the Akuneko."
She was avoiding returning Rikyu's inquiring stare.
"And you are," Tenchi gestured at Rikyu.
"Two hundred thirty one," Rikyu said. "Are you
related to Katsuhito Masaki?"
"He's my grandfather, why?"
"You look a little like him."
"But how would you know Lord Yosho?"
What followed were simultaneous answers of "Case
348502" and "The demon war."
"Which of us was there?" Rikyu asked.
"Let's deal with this later," Tenchi interrupted.
"We should get that psychopath locked up in something,
first."
"Sorry Tenchi, your right," Kiyone piloted the ship
close to the crippled Akuneko fighter. Hanging there
motionless in space it no longer looked so dangerous,
just a pathetic broken toy. "That thing's small enough
that it'll fit in the cargo bay. Tenchi could you and
Ryoko be there to make sure he behaves himself. Washu
built me a brig a month ago, check the extra
quarters."
"Right, let's go Tenchi," Ryoko agreed immediately,
she'd have to talk to Rikyu later, but she wasn't
prepared right now. She grabbed Tenchi and
half-dragged him down the corridor.
"Hey Ryoko, give me a moment," Tenchi said as he
turned about and shrugged off Ryoko's grip. Ayeka was
just standing there open mouthed, until she realized
that Ryoko and Tenchi were going off somewhere alone.
"Stop and wait for me this instant!" Ayeka snapped,
before following the other two.
"Where'd the cabbit ship go," Rikyu asked Kiyone,
he was in similar state of shock as Ryoko. Ryo-Ohki
hopped up on the counsel and meowed a greeting at
Kiyone.
"Hi, Ryo-Ohki," she answered negligently. Kiyone
was busy pulling the ship into the Yagami's cargo bay,
and watching for any sort of last card on the
assassin's part. Rikyu looked down at the cutely
smiling cabbit that just happened to have the same
name as the cabbit ship. She meowed at him happily. If
he could have sat down and discussed his thoughts with
Tenchi he would have found a rather sympathetic ear.
The Masaki residence
"What's taking them so long?" Mihoshi asked, arms
wrapped around a pained looking Washu. "You don't
suppose anything went wrong do you?" Washu's eyes
seemed to be bulging and she was biting her lip, which
Mihoshi took as a bad sign. "Oh Kiiiiyooooneee, why'd
I let you go off alone? Now you're all blown up!!
WAAAAHH!!! " At this point Washu's face began turning
blue.
"Mihoshi," Sasami began. "It's only been ten
minutes since we last talked to them." Mihoshi let go
of Washu, who immediately took a large breath and
collapsed to the floor.
"Really," Mihoshi asked, then her voice returned to
its usual hyper-cheerful tone. "Only ten minutes. Well
that's okay then. Kiyone can handle it, no problem.
Hey what's wrong with Washu?"
"She's just very relieved," Yosho answered.
Yagami cargo bay
"Two years ago I would have said that this was a
huge ship," Tenchi noted.
"What do you mean, Lord Tenchi?" Ayeka asked. "It�s
a bare hundred feet long."
"Come on out of there asshole!" Ryoko yelled,
pounding on the side of the ship. Rei Kuroi appeared
in the middle of them all. He was slumped over to the
right and his left arm was hanging limp, despite this
he still smiled triumphantly. Ayeka backed off while
Tenchi and Ryoko flanked him with energy swords
glowing.
"So what do you do with me now?" he asked.
"You're lucky Washu thinks it's important to keep
you alive." Ryoko growled. "Move."
"I misjudged your resources in our first conflict,
Lady Shinku," he bowed respectfully to her, before
limping down the corridor ahead of them. They reached
the third living quarter and found it an empty room.
There was nothing physically obvious, but Tenchi,
Ayeka and Ryoko had, like most others in the Masaki
crew, developed a sense about all things Washu. Tenchi
and the girls glanced at the room apprehensively,
trying to weigh threat of a Washu device compared to
that of Rei Kuroi.
"Are you that terrified of me alone?" Rei laughed,
his ego was deflated a little when they didn't react.
If he weren't so drained from his injuries and the
feedback of that EMP he'd take the opportunity to
break free.
"Why do you think she built it?" Ryoko asked.
"She was probably bored," Ayeka answered. "I'm more
concerned with how she built it."
"Yeah who knows what it's designed to do," Tenchi
agreed.
"What are you talking about," Rei demanded,
angrily. "It's just a bare room!" He arrogantly walked
through the doorway. No of the three cared enough to
warn him, they also thought that it was as good a test
as any. Washu's hand revealed itself as soon as the
Akuneko came under the door.
First, Rei was suddenly bombarded from all sides as
a sheet of previously invisible energy was revealed.
The warrior started producing motions that would make
half the breakdancers and contortionists across the
galaxy drool with envy. Then the assassin had the
misfortune to fall forward into the room, this
elicited the sudden appearance of several mechanical
arms which latched onto the dazed assassin's arms and
legs. These tried to pull him to the walls, discovered
that he wouldn't bend that way, dropped him and tried
again.
While Rei was discovering why all conflicts were
forgotten when faced with a Washu device, a
communication screen appeared in front of Tenchi and
the girls.
"Guys, I forgot to warn you," Kiyone said. "I think
it activates whenever it detects a stranger on board."
She noted that Ayeka and Ryoko were staring around the
sides of the screen, and Tenchi was peeking over it.
All three cringed in time to the various groans and
screams coming from off the screen.
"Thanks for the warning, Kiyone," Tenchi answered
politely. Ryoko and Ayeka were in their sister modes,
when they both forgot that they were supposed to hate
each other. They were running a commentary on the
proceedings off screen.
"I didn't think that was possible." "Ooo that one
hurt." "Do you think he's still alive." "Do you
particularly care?" "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Uh yeah, okay," Kiyone decided not to turn the
screen about and watch what was happening in the brig.
Instead she merely switched it off as the noise
finished and there was one final "that��hurt,"
emanating from off screen.
"Kiyone." The detective turned to face Rikyu. "Do
you have any experience with diplomacy?" She looked at
the screen he was pointing at and saw a rather small,
primitive, unarmed spacecraft. The computer was
picking up radio signals from it, but they were in
English.
"Well it was happening sooner or later," she
thanked her luck that Washu had installed this new
communication system though. These hologram screens
didn't need the destination to possess similar
equipment. The universal translator didn't hurt
either.
The hologram showed a very surprised looking
American floating in a cramped space with lots of
clutter.
"This is the Yagami," Kiyone announced. "If you
don't mind, this method comes with a translator and I
don't speak English."
"Uh, you're human�" the man said. Kiyone blinked.
"Well, yeah, so is almost forty percent of the
galaxy," Kiyone thought it was a bizarre statement.
"Okay, This is the US shuttle Discovery," the man
said. He was doing an admirable job of acting like
this was a normal contact. "Might I ask what your
business here is."
"I'm 1st class detective Kiyone Makibi of the
Galaxy Police," Kiyone said. "I and my partner are the
officers assigned to this system."
"Would that be the other ship we noticed?"
"No, that was just a friend," Kiyone answered.
"Excuse me if I have to cut this short, but we have a
dangerous prisoner on hand."
"Did I hear you just call that devil-woman a
friend," came another voice off the screen. Apparently
the other three were satisfied with Rei's cell and
coming back up front.
"Is that your partner?" The man asked while Kiyone
tried to ignore the chattering going on around her.
"Kiyone? Is that you?" Kiyone looked back to the
screen and realized where she knew the woman. She was
a regular at the Karaoke bar Mihoshi and her went to
all the time until a few months ago.
"Oh hey, Michelle�uh, what's up? I, uh guess you
got your transfer."
"You know her?" The statement was in stereo from
Rikyu and the other astronaut.
"She was regular at a Karaoke bar when I was in
Japan. This is the dead end assignment you were
talking about?"
"Er, I guess it is a matter of perspective isn't
it."
"You could say that."
"Just how many aliens are on Earth anyway?" the man
asked.
"Two Akuneko, four of the Jurai royal family, me,
Mihoshi and Washu. Can we continue this later? I have
a prisoner to secure, a report to make, and about
thirty minutes to pick up Mihoshi and get to our other
job."
"Already taken care of," Kiyone looked off the
screen while the two American astronauts watched
nervously. "The manager understands that you're doing
some business for me."
"Thank you, Rikyu-San," Kiyone breathed a sigh of
relief, that was one worry off her back for a moment.
"I do own the place," Rikyu noted. "And I thought
that saving me from an extragalatic assassin was
worthy of some leniency."
"Oh I see, you routed into a cell phone signal,"
Kiyone turned back to the communication screen,
embarrassed. "Uh, Yagami out." The screen blinked off.
"How do we report this?" the male astronaut asked
Michelle.
"I'm not sure, Major," she admitted. "How about
stray television signals."
"Sounds good."
Back on the Yagami
Ryo-Ohki vanished and soon reappeared in ship form
outside. Kiyone assumed that meant that Ryoko was
heading back to the Masaki house, avoiding the
situation a little longer. It would be getting close
to dawn back in Tokyo.
"Ryoko's heading home," Tenchi's voice called as he
came to the bridge. He turned and saw Ayeka
half-asleep in one of the spare seats on the bridge.
"Oh and Kiyone is there anything else you or Washu
have added we should know about?"
"I'll give you a list later," Kiyone said as she
started for the Masaki residence.
"Anything as bad as the brig?" He yawned, it was
looking to be a comatose day tomorrow.
Masaki residence
"Damn, this has not been a good day," Ryoko said as
she teleported in front of the hallway phone. She
watched to make sure nobody saw her and then picked up
the receiver and dialed a number.
"Hello yes, this is Ryoko. I'm just calling to say
that I can't come in today. Yeah I'm feeling a little
sick." She sort of mock coughed, not noticing
Nobuyuki, Washu, and Mihoshi peeking at her from
around the corner at the other end of the corridor.
Mihoshi had been asleep, but this moment wouldn't have
been embarrassing enough without her, so the fates had
arranged to wake her up.
"I wasn't on anyway? Well okay then, thank you."
She hung up the phone, grumbled and started into the
living room where she usually slept. That's when she
saw the other three people staring at her.
"I take it that the Akuneko has been captured,"
Washu said snidely.
"Oh, Ryoko, do you have a job too," Mihoshi chimed
in.
"No, what gave you that idea?"
"Faking illness, calling in, heavy caffeine intake,
getting up early in the morning," Nobuyuki ticked off
a finger with each item. "All symptoms of employment."
"Oh, just leave me alone," Ryoko shouted. "Tenchi
and Ayeka will be back soon enough to tell you what
happened, I'm tired." She teleported again, and no one
saw where she reappeared.
"I believe that Ryoko needs some time to herself,"
Yosho called from in the living room. "There's
something else here that we don't know about. Also I
don't think she's slept in the last two days."
It wasn't much longer after that that Ayeka and
Tenchi walked in the door and collapsed on the
couches. Sasami was already curled up on the third,
near a meditating Yosho.
"Thank goodness it's Friday," Tenchi muttered.
Rikyu appeared in the center of the room via teleport,
eliciting a startled reaction from Nobuyuki.
"Uh Rikyu-San," Mihoshi said. "How'd you do that?"
"I hope you don't mind me staying for a while,"
Rikyu said to Tenchi. "I hope to speak to my�to your
other friend."
"No problem," Tenchi responded.
"Ah, Rikyu Shirai," Yosho said from where he was
meditating. The red haired man stared at him and then
blinked in surprise.
"Lord Katsuhito?" he asked. "He said you were his
grandfather, but at first I thought it would be more
like great grandfather."
"Oh I have a couple of good centuries yet," Yosho
noted.
"You know each other?" Nobuyuki asked.
"We had a little run in with some bandits on the
run from the GP about a hundred years ago," Rikyu
noted.
"You knew about the Galaxy Police?" Mihoshi asked,
disbelievingly.
A communication screen appeared in the living room
filled with Kiyone's face. It popped from place to
place until it found Mihoshi and Washu.
"Oh Kiyone, I was so worried about you," Mihoshi
began lecturing. "Especially when that nasty man
attacked us here."
"Mihoshi, we need to contact HQ," Kiyone ordered.
"Washu, we've got the Akuneko in the brig if you can
help me in the interrogation." Washu smirked and
snickered.
"We're coming aboard now, Kiyone," Washu summoned a
holographic consul, typed a few keys and suddenly she
and Mihoshi vanished.
"That's going to be an interesting conversation,"
Tenchi muttered. He stood up and began to shuffle to
the stairs. He paused a moment and turned to pick up
Sasami and bring the little princess to her and
Ayeka's room.
"Yes, it is," Ayeka agreed, wearily. "I wonder if
he even remembers his name." She to began shuffling to
her room as Tenchi left it.
"You know what, they're right," Nobuyuki yawned.
"It's late. Good night everybody."
"It seems everybody is turning in," Yosho stated.
"I think the couch there is free, perhaps you can talk
to Ryoko in the morning, or more likely the
afternoon." Yosho stood up and prepared to walk up to
the shrine.
"What sort of person is Ryoko, sir?" Rikyu asked.
Yosho stopped and considered his answer.
"Very proud and very lonely." He saluted the young
Akuneko as he walked into the dying night to head for
the shrine and his own bed.
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
Signed
He of Too Many Names (Thrythlind/Thryth/Luke/Hyperbole/Pika/Pooka)
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
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