Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ One Good Deed ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

"One Good Deed"- Chapter 4

Khri's free hand clenched into a fist, forming a sphere of dark purple fire that arced and flickered, waiting to be released. She was dimly aware that Sai was powering up a blast of his own. "Junior, fire and then get back here!" she yelled, hoping for once the little Namek would listen.

Junior's chi blast - his second or his third, Khri wasn't sure - hit the towering Blue full in the face. It stopped for just a moment, long enough for her to see the flare of energy skid off the invisible shielding the Telkarri used. Junior had very good aim, but either he'd used up too much of his chi or he was just too young to pack a harder punch. He whirled around and ran in her direction, through her legs, and took up a stance behind her left knee. "Junior, run! Get out of here!" she shouted, raising her hand and letting her own blast fly.

Purple energy flared against the Telkarran's shield for a split second before piercing it. The shield managed to deflected the blast just enough for it to hit the Blue's side rather than its vulnerable thorax. Khri drew her arm back to gather energy for a second burst as Sai's own blast caught it on the side of the head.

Mandibles flared and the Blue roared, oozing acid. "B'tl C'mnndrr Khreeee" it ground out, barely understandable with so few vowels, "Y'h dhye t'daeeee." It began to advance slowly, thumping its heavy legs one at a time against the floor and crushing already broken tiles.

Why can't they come up with something original? Blues are supposed to be the smart ones! Khri remained silent, aware of Junior's small hand gripping her left calf. She looked past the Blue and saw no additional Telkarri behind it, but the Blue hadn't shown up on scans, either. "Junior, get behind Sai and don't use a chi blast," she said, giving her diacha a spin and appreciating the reassuring smell of burning ozone. The hand released her leg.

Khri let her next powered sphere fly at the Blue. It managed to get past the damaged shield and strike its thorax, but that wasn't her goal. As the creature shrieked in pain and anger, Khri launched herself inside the Blue's reach. She dodged between its flailing forelegs and oozing mandibles with one of the fast attacks for which she was notorious. The glowing blades bit deep and sheared off limbs before burying themselves in the Blue's thorax. Acid splattered her shoulder and back, but Khri ignored the burning smell and carried through the final stroke. The ugly head flew from the Blue's body and hit the wall, leaving a trail of acid and ooze as it slid down to the floor.

Dousing the blades, Khri let Sai help her strip off the jacket. The acid had only eaten through the rugged outer layer, damaging the thin thermal coils and insulation, and didn't penetrate the soft liner. She tossed it on the floor; another casualty for the clean-up squad. "Are you all right, Junior?" she asked, tucking her diacha into her belt.

Standing behind Sai, he merely nodded. His narrowed eyes, however, were focused on the corpse of the Blue.

Khri led the way back into the exercise room where the two scouts were still at work. "What's the status?"

The female scout looked up. "We added seventy-two marks to the timer but we won't need them, Commander. We just disabled the secondary."

For the first time in what felt like days, Khri was able to completely exhale. "Sai, what's wrong with that damned scanner of yours? Why didn't it detect the Greens earlier, and it didn't pick up that Blue at all."

Sai pulled device in question and activated it. "Its registering the bodies of the Green and the Blue, but nothing alive and moving. Obviously that doesn't mean anything." His own amber eyes stared levelly at her. "It could be an equipment malfunction."

Khri's voice dropped. "Could be. But on all the team's scanners? You obviously aren't convinced and neither am I." What he didn't say was 'suspected rival Clan sabotage.'

"I'm going to run a complete diagnostic on all the scanning gear when we get back to the ship. I'm also going to find out the last use points and who serviced it."

Nobody could ever accuse Sai of not being thorough.

Khri opened the array's broad channel and gave the teams an update, as well as alerted them to watch for any other Telkarri that might have escaped notice. She also notified the clean-up squad there was a job waiting for them. At least Eldest didn't bump me all the way down to that assignment! There were fewer jobs nastier than scraping butchered and beheaded Telkarri off floors and walls. "Sai, you'll be glad to know we've got clearance to fall back to the landing point and get ready for evac."

She sensed him grin through his mask. "Very glad, Commander."

Brushing a few bits of debris from her hair, Khri started for the door and was startled to see a small figure standing there, patiently waiting. "Junior! Why are you still here? Are you all right?"

He blinked once. "I'm fine."

"I'm not. It stinks like cooked bug in here. Let's get some fresh air."

* * * * *

The soft, white clouds had taken on hues of pink and orange as the sun drifted across the late afternoon sky. Two shadows, one tall and one very small, crested the top of a hill not too far from the still-packed stadium. Khri cocked one ear at the sudden surge of cheering; the two current combatants must be putting on quite a show.

The hill overlooked a tree-ringed hollow. From a distance she could make out several benches, waste cans and a small fountain. A nearby path was obstructed by a wide, wooden gate that read "Warning: Park Closed Due to Toxic Spill - Do Not Enter." Yes, Telkarri are toxic, especially if you blast holes in them, Khri smirked to herself. She winked at the familiar security guard that guarded the gate and walked by. In the clearing below she could make out the drop ship which sat huddled like an oversized turtle, its dark green backside barely clearing the tops of the trees. Four scouts appeared over the top of a distant hill, bearing a load of disabled chem bombs on a floating pallet. She spared one final glance back at the noisy stadium, then dropped to a crouch beside her small companion.

Junior was frowning at her, tight fisted and jaw clenched. She gave him a hint of a smile. "You may be Namekian but you were born here on Earth, weren't you?"

His reaction of surprise gave her the answer. "Very well then, Junior, I won't force you to leave, if this is where you're determined to stay. I don't know if anyone is caring for you, but you seem to be healthy and you've certainly learned how to survive. My offer still stands, though. Do you want to go to Namek...?" Junior scowled again. "I thought not. In that case, little one, this is where I must leave you."

Khri glided back to her feet and turned away. She'd taken no more than two steps when she paused, turned slightly and looked at Junior over her shoulder, suddenly curious at something he'd said earlier. "Are you still determined to beat me after you defeat Son Goku?"

"I've seen you fight," he growled. "I want to beat you, now more than ever!"

A half-smile quirked Khri's face. "Really? Then I'll tell you how to do it." She enjoyed watching the different emotions flicker through Junior's eyes and across his little face. He's going to have to master that someday. He's too easy to read.

Khri turned completely around and looked down at the Namekian who barely came up to her knees. She moved naturally into her command stance, her face stony. "Live. Push yourself. Question. Learn. Take the challenges as they come and examine them once they've been conquered. Don't let others force you into a path they think you should take." Her half-smile returned. "I'd tell you to grow up, but I have a feeling that growth won't be a problem for you." Khri started to turn away. "If you can accomplish all that and still want to face me...I'll be waiting." She raised a hand in farewell, squared her shoulders, and started the trip down the hill.

Don't look back, don't look back...just keep walking...

At the bottom of the hill Khri passed through the cool shade of the trees and shivered, suddenly regretting the loss of her jacket. The late evening was a warm one - at least by Earth standards - but not for one of the Leonid clan. She returned the welcoming salutes from the scouts assembled outside the ship and waved them back to work. One of the ranking scouts approached her, saluted, and handed her a slimpad and stylus. "Here's the total inventories and the kill lists, Battle Commander. We should have all cargo loaded and be ready for launch in forty marks."

"How's the local monitoring?"

"No signs of anything on the radio or television transmissions, but we won't know about their print media until tomorrow. Clean-up is going as planned and the crew is scheduled to return in less than twenty marks."

Khri sighed. "Well done, Captain. As to Siridan...I'll compose the missive to his family myself. He was a good man."

The captain ducked his head. "Ah, Battle Commander, can I suggest you see one of the medics?"

Small rivers of dried blood criss-crossed Khri's left wrist where Junior had bitten her. It wasn't painful and she really didn't feel like dealing with it at the moment. "Thank you for the reminder, Commander." Dismissed, he retreated up the ramp and back into the ship.

Khri took the slimpad up the ramp, grabbed a spare jacket from a supply locker, and found her seat in the main cab. The pilots were already hard at work running through pre-launch checks; she noticed they had one of the monitors tuned to the local television station broadcasting the tournament. It was on the final match, and it looked like Tenshinan would come out the victor. She was finally free to take off the heavy battle array, which she folded carefully like a delicate fan, and stretched her neck from side to side. Feeling tired but relaxed, she picked up the stylus and started to review the details of the mission. So far no other equipment failures other than the scanners had been reported...

It wasn't long before Sai arrived. Back to formalities, she sighed, returning his salute. He sat down beside her, placed a sealed cup of hot tea in her hand, then glanced to make sure the pilots were too busy to pay attention to their passengers. Khri could barely hear his voice over the warming engines. "Commander, may I ask, what became of Junior?"

"I let him go, Sai. I asked him if he was born on Earth and he didn't deny it. I did offer to send him to Namek, but it wasn't what he wanted. I feel guilty as hell about it, too. I have to hope he'll be all right on his own." She took a sip of the wonderful, comforting tea. "I can make some quiet inquiries through Eldest to Namek about him, but those go unanswered more often than not. I can't leave him out of that particular report either."

"Speaking of Junior, are you going to have that bite he gave you cleaned up?"

Khri raised an eyebrow. "Have you been talking with the captain? I'll take care of it later, I promise. Right now I just some time to think."

A handful of marks passed and the engines finally flared to life. Strapped securely into her seat, Khri watched their rise from the trees and launch into the sky through the main port. The sunset had darkened enough to allow a scattering of stars to shine through. It only took a moment longer before the rich colors faded completely and left only the stars. The mission was over with only one life lost but thousands saved, including that of a bad-tempered little Namek. A technical success.

So why, wondered Khri as she closed her eyes, does this assignment feel so...

Incomplete?