Chapter 19
       Tense Reunion

     "Hey Washu," Nagi said, leaning back in her pilot's chair.  "How do you 
feel about those Galaxy police guys?"
     "Well, I'd say that they were completely unprepared for our little 
attack, and I am feeling some remorse for participating in causing damage 
that will easily equal to over one million Universal Credits."
     "Oh.  I was thinking more along the lines of acting a little bit of 
revenge on the police station's Captain Tathers."
     "I suppose.  What do you have in mind."
     "Well, I got space-net access on this control panel, so I was thinking 
you might be able to look up some damaging info on him.  You seem very adept
at electronics, and I thought it would be pretty easy for you."
     "Of course!  I am a genius, after all.  But won't that end his career, 
forcing him into a deep and utter depression which will eventually lead him 
to self-deterioration and possible suicide plans?"
     "You're right.  Better put on a recommendation signed by the emperor of 
Jurai that Tathers be sent to some sort of institute to help deal with his 
eminent withdraw."
     "Emperor of Jurai?  There is none at the moment."
     "But I thought that boy, uh, what's his name."
     "Tenchi?"
     "Yeah.  I thought he was emperor now."
     "Not quite.  He went back to Earth to spend the rest of his life down 
there."
     "What?!  Why?!  I thought he was just vacationing!  What kind of idiot
is he?!"
     "The same as his grandfather.  Earthling instinct I guess."
     "Hmm.  Well, that's alright.  That's where we're headed now anyway."
     "You're not seriously going to go through with this are you?"
     "Of course.  I have to know all that happened that day."
     "I thought you were there."
     "I was, but I didn't see everything.  There's too many questions, and
she's the one to answer them."
     "So, what are you planning to do to her?  Mitsuki I mean."
     "I don't know yet, but I doubt it will be exceptionally pleasant."
     "You sure you want to do something that rash?"
     "Why wouldn't I?"
     "Well, for one thing, you'd have the entire Galaxy police on you."
     "Small threat."
     "Plus the Jurain forces."
     "I've taken them on before."
     "Plus you may never be able to get your hands on Ryoko."
     "WHAT?!  How you figure?!"
     "Well, Tenchi, seeing your homicidal tendencies, will obviously go into 
action trying to protect the pirate.  Also, you'll probably be spending most 
of your time in hiding, for the Jurain army itself has over fifty thousand 
ships in each platoon, and sixteen platoons in each brigade.  I doubt even 
Ken-oki would be able to kill that fast."
     "You have a point.  Fine.  I have another idea."
     "What is it?"
     "It's a secret, and I'm sorry, but you'll have to be locked in here 
for it to work."
     "As you wish.  Should I stay in the bathroom?  I rather liked it in 
there."
     "Fine.  But you won't be in there long."
     "Whatever.  I'll be in there when you're done."  Washu got up and 
started making her way to the bathroom."
     "You don't need to go yet!" Nagi called after her.
     "That's alright.  Takes a while to get the warm water going."

     Nobiyuki was just waking up from a nap when he heard a huge explosion 
from outside.  "WHAT IN TARNATION!!!" he screamed, falling off the couch and 
landing with a thud on the hard floor.  "What was that?!!"
     Suddenly, he heard voices outside, coming from his backyard.  "Could 
you have made it any louder?" one voice asked irritably.
     "Remember that I'm in charge here and I needed to get rid of all this 
water to find the ship," another replied.
     "This isn't your property, and if you don't watch out, we'll get the 
police out here."
     "I thought you said they didn't have police."
     "I said they didn't have landing pads!  They have police!!"
     "Oh.  Sorry."
     Nobiyuki stood up, clutching his side, which was what took most of the 
fall, and made his way to the backyard.  "Who's out there?!" he called.  
"You better watch out because I know a little ninjitsu!  I may not look it, 
but I'm a ninja warrior!  HEEYA!!"  Nobiyuki jumped up, doing a ninja kick, 
feeling something snap as he was in mid-air.  "OUCH!!" he yelped.  
"Shouldn't have done that."  He sneaked around and peaked outside.
     The coast was clear.
     "Now I wonder what made all that racket."  He looked around the yard, 
from the bushes to the shrine in the distance to the large mud-pit to the 
rose bushes to the-  "Wait a minute," he said, looking back to the pit.  "I 
don't have a mud pit.  I have a lake back here.  I wonder where that went."
     Suddenly, as he was standing there, looking at the huge, misplaced mud-
pit, he heard something inside his brain go "click," and then something 
dawned on him.
     "MY LAKE'S GONE!!!"
     "Hold it right there!" a woman yelled, leaping from behind the rose 
bushes, rolling out in front of the porch where Nobiyuki stood.  She was 
holding a gadget that looked oddly familiar to him.  "What is your business 
here?!  This is Galaxy police business!"
     "This...this is my house.  My lake's gone."
     "Put your hands in the air!"
     Nobiyuki immediately complied.
     "Mitsuki!  STOP!!" another woman yelled, standing up from behind the 
rose bushes.  "Sorry, sir.  I hate for our first meeting in so many weeks to 
be like this.  The police station will reemburse you for the damages to your 
lake."
     "KIYONE!!" Nobiyuki yeld, rushing past Mitsuki to the green haired 
detective, catching her in a warm embrace.  She returned the hug, giving him 
a warm smile.
     "So," she said gently.  "How's Tenchi and Yosho-, er, I mean Katsuhito 
been doing?"
     "Oh, dad is just fine,  working harder than ever.  Tenchi on the other 
hand has been in a little depression I think, ever since he was invited to 
this party."
     "What kind of party was it?"
     "Oh, one of those teenager parties, with lots of alcohol."
     "You let him go to a party like that?!!"
     "Why yes.  I admit that I didn't go to the parties myself when I was a 
child, but I don't want my son missing out on the finer things in life such 
as alcohol and sex.  He's been spending too much time around the house."
     "I'm sorry," Mitsuki said, "but if you're finished, we have police work 
to do.  The ship should be around here somewhere."
     "Oh, I'm sorry," Nobiyuki said, giving the officer a little bow.  
"Would you like something to eat with your investigation?"
     "That would be great!" Kiyone said, her smile brightening.  "I haven't 
eaten anything in quite awhile."
     "Well, I'll just go inside and make some sandwiches for you two."  As 
he scurried back inside, Nobiyuki couldn't help thinking that it was so nice 
to have yet another beautiful girl visit the household.  "Perhaps this new 
one will be the one to win Tenchi's heart," he mumbled when he was out of 
earshot.
     "Why are you talking with the natives of this planet?" Mitsuki grumbled 
to Kiyone.
     "He is an old friend, Lieutenant, and I would thank you to show him a 
little respect."
     "He sounded a little freakish to me, and what was that he was mumbling 
when he was going back inside?"
     "I don't know what you're talking about, but don't you think we should 
go ahead and free Mihoshi?"
     "Ok."  Mitsuki scanned the muddy area for the downed ship, but it was 
nowhere to be seen.  "It must've been buried when it hit here.  I'll use the 
tracking device to locate it."
     "What do you suppose that is?" Kiyone asked, pointing up to the sky.
     "What?  I can't see anything.  Let's just finish this up.  I don't like 
this planet."
     "It looks like a ship up there."
     "Where?!"
     "Up there, beside that large cloud."  Kiyone pointed up to the sky and 
Mitsuki, putting a hand up to shield against the sun, finally caught site of 
it.  It was a small blinking dot in the bright blue.
     "I would assume it's a satellite.  This planet does have THOSE, doesn't 
it?"
     "No.  It's too big.  It looks like a ship.  See?!  It's getting 
closer."  The dot was indeed growing in size up in the sky.
     "You want me to go up and meet with it?  That would be a fine thing to 
do, especially if there are Earthlings aboard it.  'Excuse me, Mr. 
Earthling, but I just had to make sure you weren't any intergalactic 
destroyers who wanted to destroy this planet and interfere with this 
mission'."
     "Uh, I'd duck out of the way if I were you."
     "Why?!"
     "It's pulling out its guns."
     "Wha?!" Mitsuki looked up to the sky, and saw the dot had become 
suddenly huge.  She could see clearly now that it was a ship, one with its 
guns fully displayed.  She gave out a loud "OH DAMMIT!!" as she dived back 
into the rose bushes.
     The ship's thrusters succeeded in throwing up huge amounts of dust and 
dirt as it landed.  It came to the ground, its guns still extracted, and 
Kiyone and Mitsuki could see the pilot's chamber door open, and a slender 
black figure leap out.
     "Oh my God," Kiyone whispered.  "That's Ken-oki!  Nagi must be inside."
     "Nagi?  That sounds familiar," Mitsuki whispered back.
     "Shhh!  Keep your head down."
     The black figure had disappeared for the moment, and Kiyone and Mitsuki 
waited, sweat pouring off their brows.  "Where is she?" Mitsuki whispered.
     "HEY KIYONE!!" Nobiyuki yelled, coming outside, sandwiches in hand.  "I 
SEE THERE'S ANOTHER SHIP HERE!!  DOES HE WANT A SANDWICH TOO?!"  Nobiyuki 
was cut off as his sandwiches vaporized in his hands.  He felt a strong blow 
on his back, which sent him flailing, but a rough hand caught him and pulled 
him up.
     "Go inside," he heard a woman's voice whisper in his ear.  He didn't 
need to be told twice.  He was inside and had the door locked before Nagi 
could even turn her head to see him leave.
     Immediately she leaped back in the air, escaping the view of Mitsuki 
and Kiyone.
     "Hell with this!" Mitsuki said, getting up.
     "Mitsuki, no!" Kiyone tried, but the other officer was already 
standing.
     "ALRIGHT YOU!!  I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU TIL THE COUNT OF THREE TO
SHOW YOURSELF!!"
     "You must be Mitsuki," she heard a voice whisper behind her, and she 
had no idea who had hit her when she was knocked down.  She gave out a 
small grunt as she was snatched up by the hair and dragged towards the ship.
She was still caught by surprise from the push, and didn't know exactly what
was happening.  She was too confused to struggle much, and it took little 
doing for Nagi to drag the officer all the way inside.
     "STOP!!" Kiyone yeld, leaping from the bushes.  "JAMIE, STOP!!"
     "So," Nagi said, turning around, the struggling Mitsuki still in her 
grasp.  "You finally figured it out.  I gotta go now, but I'll be in touch."
     "STOP OR I'LL SHOOT!!" Kiyone screamed, extracting her pistol and 
aiming at the bounty hunter.
     "See you around, partner," Nagi said, snatching the rest of Mitsuki in 
her arms and dashing towards the ship.  Kiyone aimed, her brow lowering as 
she concentrated on the shot.  Her finger squeezed the trigger lightly, but 
she hesitated.  What if I hit Mitsuki?! she thought.  And in that instant, 
the two were in the ship, the door clamped shut behind them.
     "DAMMIT!!" Kiyone yelled.  She ran to her ship, the Yagami, shouting 
orders to it.  "Open the doors, Yagami!!"
     The ship complied, although sluggishly.  Kiyone leaped in and started 
flipping switches and pushing buttons at a furious pace.  "LET'S GO, 
DAMMIT!!"  The ship gave out a painful whir and the power went off.  "WHAT'S 
WRONG?!!"  She suddenly noticed that the gas gauge was down to empty.  
"DAMMIT!!"  She looked out the window, and was just in time to see the ship 
Ken-oki fly  out of the stratosphere and out of sight.
     "NNNOOOOOOO!!!!!" she screamed, but it was too late.  She hit the dash
board hard and buried her head on the desk.  "Wait a minute," she said.  
"There's still a couple of officers stationed around here!  I'll just put an
APB to GP and get them to set an all-ships alert!"

	Tathers was leaning back in his chair, dreaming of ways to kill Nagi,
when the police radio beside him suddenly sputtered to life.
	"CAPTAIN!!" Kiyone's voice yeld through the radio.  "NAGI'S GOT 
MITSUKI!!  NAGI'S GOT MITSUKI!!"
	Tathers smiled.  He knew he could count on that nut-case Nagi to do
exactly how he had planned.  He turned off the radio and leaned back in his
chair.  He smiled and laughed silently to himself.  "Everything's going 
according to plan," he mused.  It wasn't long before he was asleep, happy 
dreams of murdering all who had disgraced him dancing in his head.