Process of Elimination -- Interlude Three
Shampoo
Disclaimer: The primary colors in this story are from Takahashi, Viz
(Ranma 1/2) and Pioneer (Tenchi Muyo!).
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Sitting before a console was boring, boring work, in Shampoo's mind. It
was, however, important that someone do it, on the off chance that
something came near the ship. An asteroid, some random piece of
debris... something.
Space, in her mind, was truly far too empty. "So long," she mused aloud,
drumming her fingers against the control console. The unending
dreariness of space travel -- once the simpler tasks of navigation and
assisting her crewmates had been learned -- was unrelenting. It was
boring enough that she almost wished she could spend more time in the
habitat ring. Being at the one place on the ship with any appreciable
gravity, even if it was less than Earth's, was strenuous compared to the
constant drifting around.
The ever-present worry that her physical fitness would vanish warred with
her worry that the rations they had to eat -- as tasteless as those were
-- wouldn't provide her with enough energy to survive. But, she
realized, she was thinking too hard of trivial things. Trying to
distract herself from something.
Sighing, she turned her attention to a flashing alarm, frowning. "Oh!"
she exclaimed, squinting. "Something's coming!"
Her supervisor glanced up briefly from his own instrumentation, then hit
a few buttons. "Looks like another ship," he said, surprised. "It's not
in formation -- why didn't you report it showing up sooner?"
"It just showed up now!" she protested.
The man seemed about to contest her words, then reconsidered. "Take over
for the communications officer," he ordered, pulling a hand-held
computer from his pocket and checking it quickly. "It could be outside
help."
Shampoo stuck her tongue out at the man, and unbuckled herself, drifting
to another console. As luck would have it, she was alone with the
supervisor. She would have suspected it was a ploy on his part to be
alone with her, but he seemed far too distracted for that to be the
case. Buckling herself in again, she fiddled with the dials for a moment
before leaning towards the microphone, watching the tiny spec that was
visible of the theoretically approaching ship in the monitor. "This is
the Terran vessel 'Rickenbacker'," she said, struggling momentarily with
the foreign name before continuing in Japanese, "contacting unidentified
vessel. Please identify yourself, over."
The radio crackled to life after a moment, a voice calling out, "This is
the Galaxy Police vessel Yukinojo, responding to Terran vessel
Rickenbacker. We have your sister ship the Von Braun in convoy. Do you
need assistance, over?"
Shampoo's jaw dropped open at that, and she blinked, stunned. "Juu-rai
did send help," she whispered. Her supervisor's head snapped up at the
Galaxy Policeman's voice, and he grinned, unbuckling himself. "Tell him
to wait," he told her. "Or make small-talk -- I'm going to get the captain!"
She recomposed herself, frowning at his departing form, and shrugged.
"Can you help us?" she asked. "We have been travelling for nearly five
months already, and are very tired, over."
The voice on the other end of the link laughed, saying, "Understood.
We're going to tow you toward a Ginraii vessel. Does anyone aboard need
medical attention, over?"
Shampoo furrowed her brows, considering that, and shook her head, a
sudden, irrational hope building in her heart. "No one I know of." She
almost said 'over', but caught herself, and bit her lip, staring at the
accessway the captain would eventually return from. But before then...
she _had_ to know. Steeling herself, she asked, "Do you know... someone
named 'Saotome Ranma', over?"
There was nothing but silence for a response. Of course, she thought to
herself. What were the odds that they would know Ranma, after all? He
was only one boy, and there were millions of people on Earth when Ranma
had sent them away.
Still, when the man's voice finally sounded again, it was very somber.
"The captain of the Ginraii ship Vidarr would like to invite you
personally to dinner tonight. I think... he can explain it best, over."
Blinking away the tears she could feel forming, Shampoo nodded to
herself. "Thank you, over," she said, voice cracking as she concluded
her statement. She hung her head, silently dabbing at her eyes with the
sleeve of the shirt Akane had leant her. All of her feelings that she
would someday meet Ranma again, and... it had come to that? The answer
she was given told her far more than a simple 'no' ever could have.
***
The three girls sat uncomfortably, fidgeting while they sat at the table
in the captain's private quarters. Of course, they were unused to the
constant gravity that the Juraian ship provided. He inclined his head to
the girls, expression solemn.
"My name is Laruma Genoh, and I am the chairman of an organization called
Ginraii -- the Silver Journey," he said by way of introduction.
They stared at him silently, and he sighed, bowing his head. When he
raised it, he said, "I suppose you might be a bit nervous and confused
at what's going on. You knew a young man named Saotome Ranma, is that
correct?"
Shampoo nodded slowly, glancing to see Ukyou and Akane doing the same.
"It was... difficult to piece together accounts, given that the survivors
of the last battle of China nearly all went their separate ways, but
thanks to detectives Oe and Kuramitsu, the story was assembled." He
paused, sipping at a cup of water and making an absent gesture. At his
gesture, the floating cylinders that attended him drifted to one side,
then landed atop the table. "Now, you must understand before I tell you
this that much of what I tell you is known only to a select few -- this
information is tightly controlled."
"Why?" Ukyou asked, rubbing at her eyes and scowling.
Probably, Shampoo thought, to mask her grief.
"I'll explain that in a minute," Genoh hedged. "Regardless, while I'd
never met him myself, he is the apparent favored of Tsunami, the Goddess
of Jurai. He halted the reaver's advance across your homeworld."
"So where is he?" Akane demanded, impatiently, fiercely rubbing at a few
tears of her own.
Genoh tapped the table with a fingertip, and a display appeared over the
center, a holographic window that showed an unfamiliar planet, white and
blue, and very, very cold looking. "This is Earth as it stands today,"
Genoh said, sighing. "You have my condolences, ladies. He was a brave
warrior until the very end, and he did everything he did in the hopes
that someday this sleeping planet would be able to wake up, and life
could spring anew."
Shampoo wanted to say something, but her mouth was too dry to speak.
Banishing the image, Genoh apologized, "I wish I could do more, but all I
can offer you is my most sincere condolences."
"Why... why is this a secret?" Ukyou asked, wide eyes streaming tears as
she stared at the image. "What.... How did Ranma... how did he die?"
Genoh hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head. "I'll spare you the
political details for the moment, and tell you what I know of Higurashi
Ranma, who was once Saotome Ranma...."
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Author's Notes:
Short, pointless, and the third of three. Save, collect, trade for swell
prizes!