Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Aurora of Rainbow Fire ❯ Learning to Fly part C. ( Chapter 12 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The story arc Aurora of Rainbow Fire is part two of an
ongoing series called The Odd Man Out. All current parts can be
found at http://members.tripod.com/fanservicelimited/index.html




Aurora of Rainbow Fire chapter seven: Learning to Fly part
c.

A Tenchi Muyo TV series lemon comedy by Nugar.
Email the author at nugarthebarbarian@yahoo.com with any
comments.
All Tenchi Muyo characters and situations copyright their
creators, Hiroki Hayashi and Masaki Kajishima, and AiC and
Pioneer and are used without permission. All other characters
and situations are owned by a whole lot of various people. This
is a nonprofit work only.









Sungi's search for the blonde's green-haired partner was a
fruitless one. Hours had passed since he had released the two
soon-to-be-ex morons. She wasn't in any of the baths, she wasn't
in the bar, she wasn't at any of the refreshment stands, even the
one big one, she wasn't in any recreational room, she wasn't in
any hall he'd patrolled, nor the service corridors, nor, when
he'd finally stopped by to knock, was she in her room, although
he had woken up a young girl. He didn't find the boy or the
girl, either, confirming his suspicions that they had ran and
were in hiding. At least they hadn't told the ship's security
crew. Laughable as they were, they could have still been an
annoyance.

A loud bong, as if from a gong, sounded throughout the
ship. Lunch was served.

Sungi sighed, aware of the rumbling in his stomach. Oh,
well. An old philosophy sprang to mind. 'There was nothing I
could do, so I ate lunch.'


"I don't know what's going on," Kiyone admitted to Mihoshi
in between mouthfulls. "Between the bomb on Yagami, Detective-
Sergeant's doubletalk, all the suspicious people on board, those
two kids breaking into our cabin with a duffle bag... I just
don't know anymore." She shrugged helplessly.

Mihoshi nodded her head in sympathy, her mouth too full to
speak for a moment. She swallowed, then replied. "I know how it
feels. There's lots of times when I don't know what's going on."
She brightened. "Look on the bright side. Haven't you been
having fun? I know I have!"

Kiyone grimaced. "Yeah, I know you have, too. Did you
ever get the rootbeer cleaned up?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Robot bobbed his head in
laughter.

Kiyone frowned. "Eww. Don't you EVER make a rootbeer
float for me, by the way."

"Why?" Robot asked, genuinely confused. He pulled on his
funnel-shaped ears in consternation as he watched them eat.

Organic beings were so confusing sometimes. They were
seated at the long table farthest away from the animal pens,
mostly because it had been the least crowded when they came in.
One man drew his attention, and Robot nudged Mihoshi.

"Hey, it's that asshole who tried to attack you last
night."

"What?" Mihoshi and Kiyone asked together.

"Someone tried to attack Mihoshi?" Kiyone asked, suddenly
alert.

"They did?" Mihoshi asked, confused.

Robot blinked. "Don't you remember? Last night, in the
bath?"

Mihoshi sighed and started going dreamy.

"Who attacked her, and why?" Kiyone pressed.

"Him," Robot said, pointing at Sungi. "As for why, I don't
know. Ask him yourself."

Kiyone turned to stare at Sungi, who was only one table
over.

Feeling eyes on him, Sungi looked up from his plate of soup
and fish to stare directly at the three of them.

Robot and Kiyone glared back, while Mihoshi ate
obliviously.

Both Kiyone and Sungi leaped to their feet simultaneously,
never breaking eye contact. However, Sungi blinked first, right
after Kiyone pulled out her gun and leveled it at him.

Metal plates, utensils, and food flew into the air in an
instant when Sungi suddenly banged his fists on the table and
dove for cover, quickly running for the archway into the hall.

Hesitant to fire for fear of hitting someone, Kiyone had
little choice but to run after him.

"Kiyone!" Mihoshi called, brandishing a crescent roll in a
threatening manner. "I'm right behind you!" Mihoshi quickly
joined the chase, lamenting her late start.


****************


"Man, I'm hungry," Ura whined as she tucked in the sheets
and arranged the pillows on yet another bed.

"Me too, Babe," Amaraba replied. "We're about done,
though, just two more cabins and we can break for lunch."

"It'll be about time. I bet everyone else has already ate
all the good stuff. They ALWAYS eat all the good stuff,
especially the pie. I love pie."

"Everyone loves pie," Amaraba agreed as they moved on to
the next cabin, pushing the laundry cart. "Hell, I love pie."

"If there's only one piece left, you'll give it to me,
won't you?" Ura asked hopefully.

"Sure, Babe," he agreed easily, waiting for her to open the
door.

Ura entered her code and stuck her head through the grey
field, then withdrew her head and shook it. "People sleeping in
there, let's go to the last one."

They moved on, but the last cabin, too, had people in it.
One person, actually, a young man who giggled and danced about
naked. Ura seemed inclined to watch, but Amaraba soon pulled her
away.

"Awww..." she complained.

"You said you were hungry," he replied pointedly.

Giving up, she helped him push the cart back to the laundry
room, past the people running, giggling, and occasionally
screaming in the halls. That task finished, they each pressed a
button on the timekeeper box in the laundry room office and
started making their way to the banquet hall.

Their progress was momentarily interrupted by the discovery
of several people having sex in the middle of the hall, but
Amaraba solved that by stepping over them before turning to
assist Ura. "People sure are frisky today," he commented.

Ura had to agree.

When they arrived, the banquet hall was empty. Half eaten
food still sat on several plates, but most of the plates were
simply missing, having been taken away. Strangely, fresh ones
still hadn't been brought out.

It wasn't much of a problem, though, as they easily found
clean plates, napkins, and utensils. Each picked from the food
remaining, and together they settled down to eat.

A robot ran by the open archway. Amaraba and Ura paid it
no mind.

The robot quickly returned, running as fast as his metal
legs could carry him to their side.

"Excuse me, but haven't you humans noticed that everyone on
the ship is freaking out?" he asked mildly.

They exchanged glances. Ura shrugged. Amaraba shook his
head.

"WELL THEY ARE!" Robot screamed, his digital voicebox
producing well in excess of 120 decibels.

"Oww!" Ura cried, holding her hands over her ears. Amaraba
did likewise.

After they could hear again, Ura turned her full attention
to the little android. "Why? We saw people acting weird, but
hell, I've seen weirder shit than that when I was in daycare."

"I don't know, but Captain Kodachi thinks that she is a
seal! She's supposed to be flying the ship! We're on a
collision course with the Forest Ring!"

"So..."

"We're all going to die in about three hours, yes," Robot
finished. "Unless we can find someone to pilot the ship!"

"It's a Treeship, dude, only the captain can fly it,"
Amaraba replied patiently.

"Then we're all going to be rendered down into our
component parts."

"Then again, it never hurts to look," Ura replied brightly.

Sasami ran in, looking scared. "Robot? Robot!"

He looked up. "Hmm? Sasami, wasn't it?"

"Yes! You've got to come quickly, Mihoshi's acting really
strange!"

Robot looked at her levelly.

"Stranger than usual," she clarified. "And I don't know
where Kiyone is!"

"I last saw her as she was running from this room, chasing
a man who tried to attack Miss Mihoshi last night. Most likely,
they're all engaging in the kind of erratic, irrational behavior
that has suddenly became very common, except among ourselves and
a few other passengers. It seems to be linked to the food they
ingested during lunch," Robot explained.

"What?" Sasami asked.

"The food was bad," Ura said.

"Oh," she replied. "What?! What food? I made some of
that myself!"

"Really?" Ura asked. "What did you make?"

"The salmon mousse," Sasami replied. "We made a lot of
it."

The four of them slowly turned and surveyed the banquet
tables. Large platters dotted them, each with the decimated
remains of a mound of salmon mousse.

"Sasami, you didn't use canned salmon, did you?" Ura asked
accusingly.

Sasami's eyes welled with tears. "I'm sorry! I'm so
sorry! Chef Natze said he was looking for an excuse to get rid
of four hundred cans of salmon! I just wanted to help! I felt
so bad about making him cry last night... I just wanted to
help!" she insisted.

"You made Chef Natze cry? I'm impressed!" Robot replied.

"I didn't mean to!" Sasami cried. "I'm sorry I poisoned
everyone!"

Ura nodded sympathetically. "It happens. My aunt did the
same thing once, with oysters. Everyone dropped dead before they
even reached dessert."

Sasami responded with fresh tears.

Amaraba abruptly started laughing. "Bad salmon! Hah!
Man, am I relieved. I thought it was drugs in the food, you
know? Could you imagine what would happen if someone replaced
all the salt in the canisters with an unknown drug that looked a
lot like salt, and then people came along and started putting it
in the food? Man, that would be funny." His chuckles subsided
into quiet giggles.

Abruptly, Sasami turned and looked directly at Amaraba for
the first time. "You! That bag WAS full of drugs! You
exchanged them for salt!"

Amaraba blinked. "Oh, well, yeah. What else was I gonna
do with 'em?"

"The salmon mousse was the last thing cooked! I added the
salt personally! Oooh, YOU!" Sasami yelled, shortly before she
kicked him in the shin.

"Oww!"

Robot blinked. "You made it? But you're not acting
strangely. Didn't you taste it yourself?"

"Of course not. I hate salmon mousse," she replied as if
it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Really?" Ura replied incredulously. "I love salmon
mousse."

"Yeah, me too," Amaraba added.

They both slowly looked down at their plates, mentally
counting how many bites they had taken.

"Cool..." Amaraba breathed.

"Uh oh," Sasami countered.

"So, uh, we're gonna be trippin' in a few minutes?" Ura
asked.

Amaraba leaped to his feet. "Ura, stand up."

Puzzled, she did so.

Amaraba punched her hard in the stomach, causing her to
double over and throw up everything she'd eaten.

"Eww!" Sasami complained.

Robot bobbed his head, impressed. "Wow, that's the most
perfect example of linear thinking I've ever seen in an organic
being."

"Oh, just wait and see the masterpiece that is my plan,"
Amaraba assured him. He turned to his girlfriend. "Babe? Are
you alright?"

Ura coughed several times, wiping chunky bits from her
mouth with her fingers before glaring up at him through her hair.
"No, you ASSHOLE! I am not alright!" she cried, delivering an
underhand blow to his stomach with all her might as she
straightened up.

Amaraba grunted in pain, twisted to the side, and politely
threw up.

"Oooh," Robot murmured appreciatively. "Cause AND effect.
Not bad, for a human."

"Why the hell did you hit me in the gut?" Ura demanded as
Amaraba struggled to avoid choking on his own bile.

"Huurrrg," he replied in great detail.

Sasami wrinkled her nose in disgust. "While you stay here
and beat each other up, I'm going to try to find Kiyone. I've
already got Mihoshi locked in our cabin." She hurried away.

They watched her go for a moment, then Robot spoke up.
"Now, while I realize that I'm just a metal man with digital
thoughts, I still have the urge to survive. Why don't you get
off your asses and help me find a pilot so that we make continue
our quest to live and fuck forever?"

They nodded.

"Hey," Ura added. "I know where the ship intercom is. We
can broadcast a message to everyone on the ship at the same time,
asking if anyone can pilot."

"That's a great idea, Babe! You're gonna save us all!"
Amaraba cheered.

"Good idea, now go find it! I'm going to check on the
passengers." With that, Robot turned and ran out of the hall.
Together, they quickly followed.


****************


"Here it is," Ura announced as they reached a particularly
nondescript doorway at one end of the ship. "The Bridge."

"Don't look like much," Amaraba replied, clearly not
impressed. "When did you come here?"

"Yesterday. Had to polish some wood."

He gasped, turning to stare at her in shock and betrayal.

"Yeah, people kept getting splinters from a new desk they
installed, so I had to come up here while you were pushing
laundry," she continued, oblivious to his expression.

"Oh," he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head
and following as she unlocked the door and entered.

The room was moderate to small in size, with desks on each
side. Holographic displays still displayed information to anyone
who cared to look, with one large one displaying a wraparound
view of the outside of the ship. Most startling was a large
cylinder of wood floating in midair, a row of purple jewels set
into its side.

"What's that?" Amaraba asked, pointing to it.

"Ship's Log," Ura replied, "where all the records are
kept."

"Oh," he replied, feeling stupid. "So who's that?" he
asked, pointing to a pair of men laying face up on the floor
behind two floating seats.

"Secretaries? Who knows?" She walked over and prodded one
of them with her foot. "Hey, dude, who are you?"

The man said nothing, but his eyes moved rapidly, tracking
things only he could see.

"I can hear myself in the future," the other man commented
sadly.

Amaraba chuckled. "I guess they had the fish."

"A fish with no eyes swims up the yellow stream..." the
quiet one announced suddenly. "FSH! FSH! FSH!"

Amaraba suddenly got a naughty look on his face. "Hey,
Babe, y'wanna see something funny?" He stepped lightly over to
where the men were laying, mentally preparing himself. Then,
suddenly, he jumped high into the air and screamed, "RARRG!"

Both men on the floor screamed in unison, their relatively
lucid trips violently disrupted. Screaming in terror, they
rolled into each other, recoiled violently, stumbled to their
feet, and, feeling trapped, lept onto Amaraba where they begain
flailing and kicking wildly at each other and him.

"Augh! OW! Ura, help!"

"Hey, that is pretty funny," Ura agreed. She turned to one
of the workstations and plopped down into the hoverseat, already
studying the flat physical keyboard on the desk. It took a few
moments to call up the intercom system, and a few more to set it
where it would broadcast to every room on the ship.

In response to her commands, a slender wooden stalk
unfolded from the desk and positioned itself in front of her
mouth.

"...help..."

Without a glance back, Ura shifted in her seat and preened
for a moment, preparing herself for an imaginary audience. A
wave of stage fright washed over her, but she gathered her
courage and leaned forward to the microphone. "is the-ahhem,"
she garbled, her voice breaking. Ura tapped it twice, then said,
"Umm, is this thing on?"

*TAP* *TAP* "Umm, is this thing on?" boomed her voice,
coming larger than life from all around her.

Ura jumped in surprise.

*TAP* *TAP* "Umm, is this thing on?*TAP*TAP*UMM, IS THIS
THING ON?TAPTAPUMMISTHISTHINGONISTHISTHINGON-" continued the PA
system, getting faster and louder as the amplified voice fed back
into the microphone in the room, rising in pitch and getting more
painful to listen to until it became an earsplitting screech-

And Ura slammed her hand down on the disconnect.

Everyone in the room writhed in pain for a few moments, and
gradually their hearing returned, bringing with it distant cries
of fear and pain resounding throughout the ship.

Ura was uncomfortably aware of the heat rising in her
cheeks. She studied the controls for a few more minutes before
discovering an option for 'Public Address', which she had missed
earlier. She promptly selected it and turned the microphone back
on, cautiously adjusting it to the right position.

The distant screams quickly faded.

"Umm, sorry about that, everyone," she said apologetically.
"I hate to interrupt you while you're doing... Whatever you're
doing, but we've got a situation here. Someone, who shall remain
nameless," she said, turning to give the battered Amaraba a
glare, "dumped a sack full of some kinda drug in the food. So,
as I'm sure most of you have found out, after you eat it, you get
really, really messed up." She paused. "Umm, I'm not sure how
to put this, but... Don't panic now. The Captain's off in lala
land, and without her to steer the ship, we're going to be
crashing into the Forest Ring in about an hour! So, if you can
hear me, I really want you to listen closely." She paused and
swallowed, then continued in a much softer voice. "Is there
anyone on board who can fly this ship and didn't have the fish
for dinner?"

"Can they respond?" Amaraba asked, standing and backing
away from the two crewmembers now gibbering on the floor.

Ura paused, momentarily panicking as she hastily tried
commands and looked for more options for the PA system. "I don't
know!" she replied, typing madly. "I know you can set it for
two-way to a specific room, but if I don't know what room to set
it to..."

Amaraba blinked, then walked forward and tapped her on the
shoulder. "Babe, just tell them to use the comm-units in the
rooms and call the bridge."

"Great!" she exclaimed before once again grabbing the
microphone. "Everyone, listen up. If you can fly this ship,
please call us at the bridge immediately!"


****************


Alone among the ship's inhabitants, Robot was unaffected by
the harsh screeching of the PA system, and he continued his room
to room search of the ship without pause. Most of the cabins had
screaming, twitching people in them, which wasn't very much help
at all. Strangely, only about a half dozen people filled the
corridors. Even high on some unknown substance, the Juraian
people had a strong impulse to retreat to their most comfortable
nook when they sensed something wrong with themselves.

Though well aware of this, Robot still thought that it was
highly irrational, as any properly intelligent being would report
to the nearest service technician when something went wrong.

His route wasn't exactly the most efficient for the task of
searching for a potential pilot, although Robot would have
pleaded that he had a perfectly logical reason for choosing the
inferior route.

He wanted to check on Mihoshi, and this was the best path
that would allow him to continue his mission and verify the
status of his organic lover. If pressed, he would be forced to
admit a certain fondness for the blonde.

Cabin c7 was reached in due time, and it was the work of a
moment to override the door's lock and step through.

"Hi!" Mihoshi chirped brightly as he entered. She kneeled
on the floor with her knees pressed together and her feet spread
wide, allowing her butt to rest between them on the floor itself.
She was wearing a loose blouse, unbuttoned to reveal her bra, and
some translucent pink panties, most of which couldn't be seen
from Robot's angle. Mihoshi looked up at the newcomer to the
cabin with wide, bright eyes, breathing heavily and fiddling with
something in her lap.

Robot stopped before he was within reach, just as a
precaution. "Well 'Hi there!' yourself."

"Hi!" Mihoshi added.

Robot would have frowned if he'd been equipped to do so.
"Hello...? Miss Mihoshi?"

"Hi!"

"Yoohoo, Mihoshi..." Robot called, waving one hand in a
wide arc to see if she followed it.

"Hi!"

"You had the fish, didn't you?" Robot said in a slightly
amused tone.

"This is off the wall, isn't it?" Mihoshi asked suddenly,
holding out the object she'd been toying with.

Robot looked at the coathanger in her hand, then glanced
around, noticing the rough pit in the wood beside the door where
it had been up until recently. For a moment he felt fear. Here
he was, a normal, sane, properly functioning intelligent robot in
a universe full of organic beings. It was almost enough to make
one want to power off for good. Instead, he stepped forward and
gently took the hanger from Mihoshi's unresisting hand. "Yes it
is, thank you," he said soothingly.

"Hmmmummm..." Mihoshi replied, closing her eyes and rocking
slightly. "I feel..."

"Yes?" Robot asked eagerly. Perhaps she was coming down
off her high?

Unfortunately, whatever lucid thought that had come to the
forefront of her mind quickly faded, leaving her in much the same
state as before. Her eyes snapped open and she ran her hands
over her body, caressing her curves. Finding the bra and shirt
to be in her way, Mihoshi got a cutely annoyed look on her face
and pulled on them with considerable strength, ripping them away
from her and dropping the tatters on the floor without a second
thought.

"Oooh," Robot murmured, entranced by her natural bounty.

Mihoshi's nipples stood out hard and erect on her large
breasts, jiggling slightly as she ran her hands over them. One
hand found its way down her taught stomach to the waistband of
her panties, and soon she figured out how to reach beneath. Her
twisting and moving fingers made strange patterns in the thin
cloth that outlined them, and Mihoshi arched her back and sighed
as she played with herself. She soon withdrew her hand, now
sticky and pungent with her aroma, and held it up to her nose,
even flicking her tongue out and tasting it.

Noticing Robot standing stock-still nearby, she held her
hand out, offering it to him. She pouted slightly when this time
he made no move for her, and she quickly rose and leaned forward
onto all fours. Her expression changed from confused to playful
in a moment, and she turned and presented her rump to him,
offering herself in the most blatant way possible.

"Want?" she asked, wriggling her butt cutely as she spread
her knees apart so that he would have easier access. Her panties
were loose and clingy on her well toned cheeks, and there was a
line of wetness in the thin strip that was all that covered her
modesty. Mihoshi pushed backwards with her hands, stretching the
material tight as she moved, outlining her soft folds.

Robot shuddered, a rare physical display of a problem that
did not compute.

"Come on, co~me on..." Sasami coaxed as she slowly backed
in through the door.

Robot blinked at the sudden interruption. "That can't be
good," he said. A quick decision was reached, and he quickly
jumped forward, grabbed a sheet off the bed, and proceeded to
wrap Mihoshi in it.

"Oh, Robot!" Sasami exclaimed when she turned and saw him.
"I didn't expect you to be here."

He shrugged helplessly.

"Could you help me get Kiyone in here?" she asked, tugging
on an arm that disappeared into the opaque grey portal. "She's
being... difficult..." Sasami said, straining as she pulled.

With Robot's help, Kiyone was soon dragged into the room
and lain down on a bed, where she grumbled incoherently non-stop.

"Whew! I thought I'd never get her back here. I found her
sitting in a laundry cart, mumbling something about clean
sheets," Sasami said, mystified.

"Beats me, I'm just a robot."

"Oh. Well, what's this about needing someone to fly the
ship? I heard the announcement." She winced. "And the shriek."

Robot nodded. "I don't mean to alarm you, but the Captain
had some of your fish, and now she's splashing happily in one of
the furos." A note of urgency entered his artificial voice. "If
we don't find someone to fly the ship soon, we're going to go
straight through the Ring, if we don't hit something first. The
problem is, we don't know if anyone can fly the ship but its true
captain."

"Ah..." she replied, understanding. "Okay. I'll stop us."
She didn't seem very concerned.

"Excuse me?" Robot asked. "You can fly the ship? Are you
sure?"

"Ummhmm!" Sasami replied brightly. "I used to have my own,
but Ryo-Ohki destroyed it," she said somewhat sadly. "But it
wasn't really mine, I just borrowed it. I'm supposed to spend a
year in the grove to see which one wants to be the one to join
with me real soon," she added, visibly cheering up. "All members
of the royal family can control any tree they want, unless
someone more powerful is already joined with it."

Robot pulled on his ears. "Excuse me, Miss Sasami, but who
are you?"

Sasami straightened and turned to face him more fully.
"I'm so sorry, we've never really been introduced. My name is
Sasami, and I'm the second princess of Jurai. Kiyone and Mihoshi
are escorting me back to Jurai in secret, so don't tell anyone,
okay?"

"WOW!" Robot exclaimed, somewhat startled.

"Saaasaaamiiii... Saaalaaamiiii... Saaaa..."

They both turned to look at Mihoshi, then looked away.

"So I guess I'd better call the bridge and tell them that I
can fly the ship," she added.

Robot nodded.

The comm-unit was located between the two beds on a little
nightstand, and Sasami quickly activated it. "Excuse me,
Bridge?" she asked.

"Can you fly the ship?!" came back the immediate response.

"Of course," she replied. "I think I need to be on the
bridge, though. I'm in cabin c7. Where is the bridge located?"

Snatches of a quick argument quickly followed, ending with,
"We'll be right there!"

"Okay," Sasami replied slowly. "When?"

There was no answer, so she shrugged and disconnected.

"I thought you usually traveled with your sister, the first
princess," Robot asked when she turned back.

"I do." Sasami sat on the bed and patted Kiyone lightly.
"She's taking a different route because she left before I did."

"Left before you did?" Robot asked. "Where were you at?"

"On the Natural Evolution Preserve, Earth," she explained.
"We were taking a vacation." Inwardly, she smiled. The word
'vacation' was certainly much simpler than trying to explain what
had really happened.

"Why did Princess Ayeka leave before you did, and where is
she now?"

"Yes, I believe I will have some cheese," Kiyone replied
gratefully.

"Oh, it's so romantic," Sasami gushed, somewhat pleased he
asked. "She fell in love with a boy on Earth, but she wasn't
sure if Mother and Father will let them marry, especially since
my friend Ryoko is involved in it, too. They're..." She paused,
looking around.

Robot hadn't asked the question.

"So where is she at now?" the person asked again coaxingly.

"Who said that?!?" Sasami asked, her voice rising in fear
as she stood up and backed into the corner between the beds.

"Saaasami*hic*?" Kiyone mumbled sleepily, sitting up and
picking her nose.

She and Robot looked around wildly, trying to find the
source of the voice.

"Shroom'syeruncle," Mihoshi said insultingly.

"Please, I'd really like to know where Princess Ayeka is!
It would make my career!"

They both looked up in time to see a large bulge on the
ceiling change colors from a natural wood grain to solid black,
then detach and fall to the floor several feet away. The
misshapen bulge flipped in mid-air, revealing a eager, weasely
looking man who landed lightly on his feet. One of his eyes was
twice the size of a normal eye and red-irised, indicating a holo-
recorder. It zoomed in and out visibly, recording Sasami's every
move.

"You're a reporter," Robot said in surprise.

The man nodded slightly. "I work for the Imperial Spy, and
I've been following your journey for quite a while now.
Incompetent bodyguards, Galaxy Police drug smuggling, seasoning
your food with drugs, knocking out an entire ship... Probably
call it a royal-sponsored party, now that I think about it," he
rambled. "Anyway, where did you say Princess Ayeka is? And who
are these two people she's sleeping with?"

Sasami frowned. "I'm not saying anything else to you. Mom
always told me to never talk to a tabloid reporter, they always
twist what you say and use it against you."

"Got us pegged, she does," he agreed readily. "However, if
you don't tell me everything you know about princess Ayeka, I'm
going to make this whole incident with the drugs look like a
deliberate prank on your part. The scandal will rock the Royal
family to its heart, and the Imperial Spy will be the hottest
selling tabloid in the universe!" He breathed heavily, obviously
excited at the thought.

"I'll never tell you anything!" Sasami yelled, and darted
past him for the corridor.

Briefly startled but completely undeterred, the reporter
quickly followed, yelling questions as he ran. Robot trailed
behind, his short metal legs no match for the two humans.

Forgotten by all, Kiyone and Mihoshi stirred uneasily.
Kiyone stood up and stared at the door trying to remember why it
was important. Finally, she stumbled forward, directing a 'Come
on, Mihoshi...' to her partner still wrapped in a sheet.

Mihoshi somehow managed to escape her cottony prison in a
matter of seconds and they both lurched through the door into the
hallway, just in time to see Robot turn a corner. A sense of
duty stronger than any recreational chemical spurred them on.

Sasami dodged past two ambling passengers, each long gone
into their chemosensory delusions, without difficulty.
Unfortunately, the tabloid reporter right behind her wasn't
hindered either, and his longer legs made it easy for him to
match her speed.

"Princess! Wait! Is it true that Princess Ayeka is going
to bring a return of the old traditions?!" he asked loudly from a
few feet behind her.

"Go away!" she screamed back.

"Princess! Your family has always had a wonderful record
of cooperating with the press, why won't you just answer a few
questions?" he pleaded, never taking his holorecording eye off
her. Suddenly, his tone turned nasty and accusing. "Is it
because you have something to hide? Are you indulging in a
little smuggling yourself?"

"No!" she yelled, frustrated to the point of tears. "I
haven't done anything wrong, and neither has my sister! Leave us
alone!"

He put on a brief burst of speed and ran up beside her.
"You sound defensive. It makes me wonder just what the first
princess HAS been up to."

Sasami's scared and piteous screams reached both Kiyone and
Mihoshi, awakening something visceral and protective. They both
ran faster, somewhat confused, but still determined to protect
their charge.

Despite their increase in speed as they barreled down the
hallway at the back of the line, it was Robot in third place who
saw disaster approaching in the form of Sungi, weaving
erratically down the hall at a good pace of his own.

"Princess Sasami!" he called, amplifying his voice. "Stop!
The man who attacked Miss Mihoshi last night is headed right for
you!"

Blinded by her tears and unaware of the man's approach,
Sasami didn't understand what Robot yelled. Instead, she lashed
out with a weak punch at the reporter dogging her steps.

Instinctively, the tabloid reporter caught her wrist, just
as Sungi, panicked and running from the past, or future, that
only he could see, crashed into them both, sending all three to
the ground.

"Princess!" Kiyone screamed, her vision distorted but still
adequate to see what had happened.

"Sasami!" Mihoshi echoed. "I *garble* bannana!"

Quickly passing Robot, Kiyone jumped for the man she
perceived as being the most dangerous to the princess, and fell
upon him with great vengeance.

"Ouch! Hey, watch where you're going! Princess, are you
alright?" asked the tabloid reporter as he stood up, only to be
tackled seconds later by Kiyone.

"Aha! I've caught you, you sneaky little Crespuscialian
spy you! Thought we wouldn't notice the rat skin in your
pocket!" Kiyone accused, twisting the man's arm behind his back
in a particularly painful way. "With fire!" she added
triumphantly.

Mihoshi, on the other hand, tripped and sprawled out
facefirst on the floor, her forehead landing perfectly, and with
great force, between Sungi's legs. For the first time during his
drug induced high, Sungi found everything funny and began
laughing, even as he curled into a tight ball of misery, knocking
Mihoshi away.

Seeing both men taken care of, Robot ran up and assisted
Sasami, helping her to stand upright. "Are you in good
operational condition?" he asked, concerned.

"Umm, I think so," she said, wiping at a bloody scratch on
her forehead. "Just bruised, I think." She stood unsteadily,
shaken by the fall. The sight of Kiyone pounding the reporter's
face into the floor made her feel better, though.

"And bloodied," Robot replied.

"Hey! There you are, little girl!" came a call from down
the corridor.

Both Sasami and Robot turned to see Amaraba, who'd spoken,
and Ura, running to them.

"Princess, you moron!" Ura corrected, and bapped him on the
head as they came to a stop.

"Did you just call the princess a moron?" Amaraba asked,
not really hearing.

"No I didn't!" she replied defensively. Glancing around,
she noticed Sungi giggling to himself and holding his privates.
"Ahh!" she screamed, jumping back.

Amaraba grabbed and held her, preventing her from bolting.
"Whoa! Whoa, babe! I think he had the fish for dinner."

Ura calmed down long enough to take a good look. "You
think so?"

Studying the man carefully, Amaraba walked over and gave
him a good solid kick in the kidney.

"OWW! Hahahaha."

"Cool! Can I try?" The tip of her tongue protruded from
the corner of her mouth as she studied the helpless man, now
facing them. Then, having picked her target, Ura drew back her
foot and kicked him in the face, getting another yelp of pain and
series of giggles. "So this is what it's like to kick a man when
he's down..." she murmured. "Well I like it!"

"Ungg... I don't feel so well..."

They turned to see Sasami wavering unsteadily, one hand
raised to the scratch on her forehead. A single drop of blood
rolled down the bridge of her nose, but she made no move to wipe
it off.

"Princess Sasami? What's wrong?" Robot asked, reaching to
help support her.

Before he could grab her arm, however, her legs buckled and
she collapsed to the floor.

"Princess!" Ura cried, running to her side and picking her
head gently off the floor.

"What's wrong?" Amaraba asked, suddenly concerned.

"I feel hot," she said weakly, and took in a long, ragged
gasp of air.

They looked at one another in concern.

"What do we do?" Amaraba asked, kneeling beside Ura at
Sasami's side.

"She's the only one left that can fly the ship," Robot
reminded.

"She's just a little girl!" Ura snapped. "We've got to get
her to medical!"

"If we don't get her to the bridge to fly this ship, we're
all going to die when we slam into whatever gets in our way
first. That includes her," Robot added.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Amaraba said, rising and turning
around three times as he thought. Abruptly he stopped and
whirled on them. "Robot, how much do you know about medtech?"

Robot blinked. "I could build an exact duplicate of you
using a case of beer, a bottle of vitamins, a couple of rocks,
and a 'My First Methlab' children's chemistry set."

Amaraba looked at Ura, who shrugged.

"Fine," he said. "Find Rehab and Medical, get whatever you
need to fix the princess, and meet us at the bridge."

"Wait," Robot protested. "What are you going to do?"

As gently as possible, Amaraba picked Sasami's limp,
shivering body up and cradled her in his arms. "I'm going to
carry her to the bridge," he said seriously. "Ura, let's go!"

Ura nodded quickly and led the way to the bridge, shoving
the few wandering passengers they met out of their way so they
wouldn't hinder Amaraba.

"Hold on, Princess," he huffed as he ran. "Just keep it
together."

Sasami's breath came quick and shallow as her body went
into shock, and she was barely aware of the arms supporting her
as she was carried swiftly down the hall.

Amaraba tried not to think as he ran. His sense of duty
and responsibility, shrunken and cowed as it was, demanded that
he carry the sick princess to the nearest medic. His reasoning,
though, not only insisted he use her to save his own life,
asserted that Robot was right. If the princess didn't stop the
ship in time, she was going to die with everyone else on board.

Sasami spasmed in his arms, causing him to hold her
tighter. "Hurry up, Ura!" he called, rounding the final corner.

Ura, having ran unburdened, had already reached the door to
the bridge and was opening it. Together, they ran inside.

The bridge was the home of the captain. It was more than
just the control center of the ship, it was the brain, the heart,
and the eyes of the Dinu-oh. High vaulted ceilings and a loose
forest of high canopied trees, actually integral branches of the
main ship, created the illusion that it was an open air atrium,
and the flowers and tinkling stream turned the area into a
delightfully pleasant garden.

The flickering, constantly dancing beams of rainbow-hued
light shooting from leaf to leaf wasn't something found in most
gardens, however. Each leafy twig acted as a nerve cell for the
brain of the ship, and the beams of rainbow light emanating from
the leaves were the synapses between the nerves. Although
different in many fundamental ways, the little forest on the
bridge of the ship was much like a vertebrate brain, only on a
larger scale.

Though normally rather sleepy, with only occasional
flickers of light as the great ship flew through space, now the
leaves were alight with activity. Even the ship knew that
something was wrong.

"We're here, Princess," Amaraba said quickly, setting the
young girl down at the base of one of the larger trees.

"Robot is coming with some medicine," Ura assured her,
gingerly petting her clammy brow. "Just hang on, Princess." She
turned to look up at her boyfriend. "Man, I wish we knew what
was wrong with her."

"Princess?" Amaraba said gently, touching her shoulder.
"Princess? Robot is coming, but we need you to stop the ship
now. Just stop the ship and we'll get you fixed right up."

"Unngh," she replied, stirring slightly. "I feel hot..."
Sasami knew she should be scared. There was something badly
wrong with her, and her body just wasn't working. Dimly, she
even knew she was dying. Still, she just couldn't get upset
about it. It was almost like it was happening to someone else...

Ura glanced at Amaraba worriedly. They could both feel her
cold flesh.

"I'll get her some water," she announced, rising.

"Princess Sasami?" Amaraba asked.

"I'll... try..." she whispered back.

Using the power she had just recently awakened in herself,
Sasami reached out with her mind, gently touching the ship's aura
which surrounded them all.

The Dinu-oh stirred, sending a dazzling pulse of light
through the canopy. Already disturbed by the strange thoughts
and impulses from its captain and the deviation from a pattern
long since laid down into its very grain, the ship wasn't quite
sure what to make of the thought-commands from the little one.

"Please..." she whispered, getting a few startled looks
from Amaraba and Ura.

Ura spilled most of the water cupped in her hands and had
to go back for more.

At Sasami's insistent probing, the ship finally decided
that she had a nice power-aura, and it would be pleasant to do
what she asked.

A giant holoscreen appeared in midair over their heads,
displaying their course and position. Then, the screen blinked
over to a visual approximation of the view outside the ship. A
tiny neutron star sat in the middle of the screen, with a giant
green doughnut composed of fluffy plants and tufted toothpic-like
trees floating in space, obviously huge to be seen at this
magnification level. Tiny dots swarmed it from all directions,
other ships going their own ways.

Amaraba and Ura paled at the view. If they kept on their
present course, the Dinu-oh would soon skim in at a shallow angle
on nearly the same plane as the Forest Ring, slicing through two
points that comprised about a third of the ring.

"We didn't slow down like we were supposed to," Ura
whispered in horror. "We're ahead of schedule getting here."

"Oh, shit," Amaraba repeated, although much more concisely.

"Princess, drink this," Ura pleaded, dribbling water in
Sasami's mouth. "And stop us soon."

Sasami nearly choked, so weak were her coughs, but the
water did sooth her cottony throat. It also felt cool and
soothing when Ura rubbed some on her cheeks and nose, wiping away
the little bit of blood.

"Hurry, Princess," Amaraba reminded, still clinging to
hope.

Sasami hurried. "Please stop," she whispered. She had to
stop their flight. More than just her depended on it. If she
failed, a ship full of her subjects would die along side her.

The massive ship began using its power to slow its flight,
as she commanded, but the thoughts and commands it sensed flowing
from her were tainted by her body's pain and her own muddled
thoughts. The ship simply wasn't slowing fast enough.

"Stop, don't hit the Ring..." Suddenly, Sasami was aware
of what was wrong with her. A poison was coursing through her
blood, burning her from the inside. It was eating at her. Then
she was afraid. "Poison..." she gasped, struggling to raise one
hand.

Fear lent her strength, and she firmed her resolve to stop
the ship.

"Why don't you just turn us?" Amaraba asked suddenly. "We
can overshoot and come back-"

"I'm here! I'm here!" Robot cried, chugging in with an
armload of medical supplies. He tripped and spilled bags, boxes,
and at least two strange looking devices onto the lush grass that
formed the floor's carpet.

"She said that it's poison, but where she got it from..."
Ura explained.

"I think she's dying," Amaraba added.

"Dying! Well, we can't have that!" Robot replied, ripping
open one of the bags. He pulled out a large pressure injector
with all the speed he possessed, quickly selecting and loading a
cartridge of adrenaline.

Sasami gasped as he shoved the injector gun against the
side of her neck and pulled the trigger, than did it again on the
other side. The large injection of adrenaline sped up her
failing heart rate and strengthened her weak breathing, but also
sped up the circulation and uptake of the poison. Already, the
scratch on her forehead had swollen, and the tissue at the site
was dying.

Robot quickly popped out the adrenaline and put in a vial
of general purpose antidote, usually used to combat food
poisoning. He wasn't sure what effect it would have on Sasami,
but he gave her a dose of it anyway. Then he started hooking up
the machines.

Stop. Stop. Stop.

Sasami repeated the word to herself as a mantra, telling
the ship to pour all its power into stopping its headlong flight.
Finally, with the sense of urgency the adrenaline-caused flight
or fight response tinting her thoughts, the ship got the idea.

Wood creaked in protest and the canopy above them was as
bright as a rainbow sun, forcing Amaraba and Ura to shield their
eyes. The Dinu-oh's structure groaned under the strain, as all
of the fantastic power was called upon to slow its flight.

Despite her success, Sasami knew it wasn't enough. They
were simply going too fast, and the Ring was all that could be
seen in the viewscreen. She could even see the very series of
space trees they would plow through, causing untold numbers of
casualties in addition to the ones who would die on the ship
itself.

Sasami abandoned all thoughts of her body's survival,
thinking of nothing but stopping the ship.

"TURN! TURN! TURN!" shouted Amaraba, hopping up and down
and pointing at the screen while he directed his words to the
semi-comatose princess.

Robot's thought processes raced. Despite the injections
he'd given her, Sasami's vital signs continued to drop. He gave
her five minutes, tops, unless he could think of something.

Then Sasami shuddered, gasped twice, and went limp. The
machine monitoring vital signs screeched in alarm as her heart
stopped.

The Dinu-oh shuddered as it perceived what was happening to
its princess. Being unable to reason well enough to solve the
problem on its own, it sent out its own plea for help.


Deep in the Forest Ring, a huge, ancient tree heard the
call being sent out to everything that could hear. This was one
of the greatest of all the living space trees, fantastically
powerful, fast, and intelligent. Its beginnings dated back to
before the arrival of Juraians, who, once they realized its
power, occasionally worshiped it as a god. It had bonded with
many humans through the centuries, all of whom had grown old and
died in their time. Master or mistressless for a thousand years
now and left in peace, it sensed the presence of someone worthy
behind the call the distressed ship hurtling into the Ring sent
out.

Tsunami awoke and flew forth to meet its new mistress.


"Well, that's it. We're going to die," Amaraba mentioned.
"It's been nice knowing you, Babe."

"Oh, be serious. We're not dead yet," Ura snapped,
although she cast a worried eye toward the rapidly approaching
Ring.

"Umm, I wouldn't be so quick to say that," Robot corrected
with a nervous chuckle. "One of us is." He made a helpless
gesture to the sad little body.

"AHHHHHHHH!"


Deeper in the ship, Kiyone violently interrogated her
prisoner, slapping him across the face or twisting his arm when
he didn't answer like she wanted him to.

The poor tabloid reporter would readily have admitted to
anything up to and including the assassination of the princess,
if he could have figured out what Kiyone was garbling about.

"I don't understand you! ARG!"

"I am not a hippo! Repent! Repent!"

Mihoshi had wandered off into an open cabin nearby, where
she had found a friend who was very, very good at pattycake. The
person in the mirror thought so, too, and told her so.

Sungi cried for his mother, alone and unloved by all.


They all hurtled through space towards the final
destination.


"Don't die, Princess, you have to save us," Ura pleaded
quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Princess, don't fail us now," Amaraba added. "I'm too
good a lover to die."

Both Ura and Robot turned and looked at him incredulously.

"You want that to be your last words?" Robot asked, just to
make sure.

Amaraba nodded silently, then shrugged.

"I'll stick to pleading for my life, thank you," Ura
replied acidly.

"Well then," Robot replied. "Haughty. Furbelow.
Supercalifragil-"

In the middle of his last word, a giant tree, six times as
big as the Dinu-oh, appeared for a brief moment on the
holoscreen. Great white wings of pure power spread around it in
all directions, preparing to meet the Dinu-oh. Despite traveling
at a fair percentage of the speed of light, the Dinu-oh was
stopped instantaneously by the stupendous force Tsunami had
formed between them. Neither ship was even scratched.

Sasami's limp body disappeared in the moment between the
two ships' impact and the much softer, power dampened impact of
everyone on board hitting the nearest wall forward of wherever
they were.

Several moments later, Amaraba and Ura gingerly
disentangled themselves and looked around, dazed. Robot,
however, remained embedded face down in the dirt at the end of
the short furrow he'd plowed.

"We're alive..." Ura said in wonder as she dusted herself
off and gingerly massaged her rapidly forming bruises.

"Kickass," was Amaraba's only reply, lost in amazement at
it all.

They looked at the large holoscreen in amazement where it
displayed the colossal ship they'd collided with a few moments
previous. Amaraba whistled appreciatively.

"Damn, that's a big one."

Ura looked around, noticing Robot's flailing arms as he
tried to right himself, and realized something. "Hey, where's
the princess?"

"What?" he asked.

"The princess," Ura replied, her voice rising. "I don't
see the princess!"

"Oh, come on, she's got to be around here somewhere,"
Amaraba replied. "Hell, she was dead, what's she gonna do,
teleport away?"

As one, they both turned to look at the giant ship hanging
motionless in space just in front of the Dinu-Oh.

"Oh," he added lamely. "I get it. She was a princess,
after all."

Ura nodded silently.

Suddenly, the beams of rainbow light in the canopy above
them started blinking like mad, creating a furious aurora of
light as intense as a phosphorous flare. The wild activity
subsided within a few moments, leaving them stunned and blinking
spots away from their vision.

Sasami's smiling face appeared on the holoscreen, replacing
the view of the Tsunami.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked.

Amaraba and Ura stared for several moments in surprise,
during which Robot finally managed to stand back up and limp to
their side in silence.

"Umm... I guess," Ura replied.

"Bruised and unaccountable for our actions," supplied
Amaraba helpfully.

Sasami sighed, her smile widening. "I'm glad. Tsunami
showed me what happened when we hit, and told me everyone was
going to be fine, but I wanted to make sure. She teleported me
over as she stopped the Dinu-oh from crashing into the Ring."

"Tsunami?" they both said in wonder, glancing at each other
for support.

"How did you come back to life?" Robot asked suddenly, his
logic processes awaiting further information. "I wasn't able to
do anything for you, yet you seem in perfect operational
condition!"

Sasami nodded eagerly, and her smile was beautific. "The
ship Tsunami healed me." She paused. "AND, we're joined.
Princess and tree, as one. She's wonderful, isn't she?"

"Well, she did save our lives," Robot agreed.

"Oh!" Sasami said suddenly. "We're getting a call!"

Abruptly, the image on the holoscreen changed to that of a
uniformed middle-aged man with a thick, dark moustache and an
angry expression.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" he yelled, the
ends of his moustache quivering with rage. "SPEEDING IN HEAVY
TRAFFIC, COLLIDING WITH AN UNREGISTERED SHIP, FAILURE TO OBSERVE
POSTED FLYWAYS..." he trailed off, looking off camera. "Holy
shit..." he finally said quietly. "Is that the Tsunami?"

Amaraba and Ura exchanged a long and significant glance.
Ura sighed, drew a breath, started crying, and began.

"I'MSOSORRYOFFICERIT'SNOTOURFAULTTHEREWASTHISDRUGRUNNERWHOS
TOLEOURDUFFLEBAGANDTRIEDTOKILLPRINCESSSASAMIWHOBYTHEWAYISONTHATRE
ALLYREALLYBIGSHIPANDEVERYONEELSEONBOARDHEREISSTONEDOFFTHEIRASSAND
WEWEREALLGONNADIE-"

"WHOA! Whoa, there! Slow down!" the uniformed man hastily
cried, holding up his hands in an effort to placate the
blubbering girl.

Amaraba nodded his head slowly, a knowing smile forming on
his lips. Then, quickly growing bored and hungry, decided to go
back to the banquet hall.

Maybe they still had some leftover salmon.


****************


Speculation ran rampant in the tabloids and newspapers for
about a day as everyone tried to guess what had happened when the
legendary ship Tsunami had suddenly flew out of the grove it
rested in and stopped a speeding passenger ship in mid-flight.
Speculation didn't last long, however, as the shocking behavior
of the Imperial Spy's reporter was revealed in secret to the
owners and editors. Eyewitness testimony from the only two sober
humans there, plus digital footage helpfully supplied by Robot,
clearly showed that he had endangered the second princess's life
with his badgering questions.

Sasami's quiet request that everything be kept as low-
profile as possible was instantly obeyed by frightened directors,
and the reporter, having already been beaten senseless, was
fired. Still, in keeping with the long history her family had
had of cooperating with the press, she agreed to answer a few
questions and pose for a few stills for an article on her recent
joining with the Tsunami, the most famous ship in Juraian
history, as well as her assistance to three crewmembers and two
GP officers in sniffing out a drugrunner on board the ship.

No mention was made of the ship full of stoned people.

Amaraba and Ura each received a cash reward, a medal of
service to the empire, and a kiss, delivered personally by a
blushing Sasami, who had remembered being carried in strong arms
to the bridge. Amaraba blushed bright red as well, and Ura hit
him.

The passengers and crew soon recovered from the drug-
induced hallucinations, even Sungi, who was held in a cell until
Kiyone and Mihoshi recovered enough to arrest him. As his body's
immune system had destroyed all the toxin producing bacteria, no
evidence of a lethal weapon was ever discovered on him. The
assault, attempted assault, and drugrunning charges were more
than enough to sent him to an asteroid mine in a little known
system the Galaxy Police kept as a prison.

Robot never did discover why Sasami had gone into shock,
and Amaraba and Ura had quickly forgotten about it.

Kiyone and Mihoshi both received a public promotion for
their performance in catching the criminal and keeping the
princess safe from harm, a publicity stunt designed to improve
relations between the Galaxy Police and the Juraian Empire. One
hour later, the actual details of the event reached the GP
headquarters, and they both received a private call detailing
their new demotion back to Detective first class.

Kiyone immediately went out to get drunk. Sasami let her
sleep it off later in one of the wild internal gardens
generations of her ancestors had shaped in Tsunami's cavernous
trunk.

Mihoshi shrugged when she heard. "Easy come, easy go."

Sasami last saw her as she grabbed Robot by one dented arm
and dragged him off into the depths of the Dinu-oh.

Amaraba and Ura pooled their reward money and put a down
payment on a stylish new Werthby runabout. Two months later, it
was repossessed because of failure to pay the notes.


****************


"I'm going to miss you," Mihoshi said sadly as she casually
dumped her satchel on the bed and rooted through for clothes.
She had already stripped down to bra and panties, much to Robot's
lecherous delight.

Having been unaware of most of what had happened, Mihoshi
never knew that her bag had been missing.

"Yes, me too," Robot replied smoothly, watching her quickly
put on clothes.

"We've had so much fun together, haven't we?" she asked,
buttoning up her shirt.

"Well, I can't say it hasn't been an adventure," Robot said
mildly as he started gathering her strewn clothes and packing
them back neatly in her duffle bag.

"I'm sorry we have to leave," Mihoshi said sadly. "I've
really enjoyed spending time with you. But Sasami is already
late in returning to her family, and it's my duty to accompany
her the entire way."

Robot bobbed his head in a laugh as he quickly folded a
skirt and shoved it in. "Just as it's mine to stay here and
relieve other young women's, ahhh, tensions." Amused by his own
joke, he picked up a pair of pants, then did a doubletake as he
saw what lay beneath it.

It was a long, naughty, purple example of the most
sophisticated technology Earth had to offer. It reminded him
quite a bit of his own accessories.

Thoughts raced through his circuits. Mihoshi had
mentioned a previous robotic lover. Robot had never asked what
happened to him. Mihoshi was a very strange organic female.

Robot picked it up carefully, trying to show respect for
the poor android so viciously emasculated.

Mihoshi turned and noticed him handling it with obvious
trepidation. "Oh, don't worry," she said soothingly. "It's no
threat to you." She turned to wad several more sets of clothes
into the cavernous bag.

Robot dropped it and backed away.

"You know," she continued obliviously, "I'm really, really
going to miss you. I wish I had some sort of memento to carry
with me. You know, something to remind me of you while we're
apart...?" She turned around completely, looking around the
room. "Robot? Where'd you go?" Frowning, she stepped outside
to look up and down the halls, and even ran to look around
several corners, but Robot was nowhere to be seen.

Try as she might, she never found him again, either.



THE END.