"Tenchi Muyo and all characters there in are the property of Pioneer
LDC, Inc and Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P., as well as any company I may
have missed.  If so, my apologies to you.  The author owns only the writings
and any characters he see fit to create himself.  However, all chapters
prior to chapter twenty of this story are the property of Aubinimity only,
as
are any characters he has created.  Thank you."

Sorry, nothing fancy this time, just a disclaimer.  And one more thing: As
the title implies, there is a small hint of religion in this story.  If you
are a religious person, which I am not, please do not take offense to my
blasphomy, as that is the only word I can think to describe what I am about
to write.  Feel free to voice any opinions on the subject to me at VM
Toumbes
@AOL.com, I promise to respond to every e-mail I get from you the reader.

    Chapter 23
        Secrets Told and Bible Studies

    Nagi lost it.  Granted, Washu's plan to be rid of Tathers was fully
successful, but she been so caught up in the moment that she forgot one tiny
detail.  With Mitsuki dead as well, how was she supposed to get the truth
about her sister's death?  When she mentioned this thought to Washu, the
pint
sized professor had shrugged and laughed.
    Nagi *hated* that laugh by now.
    So, after what felt like an eternity, Nagi rid herself of Washu.  She
had wanted to save the whole universe from this evil midget, but came to her
senses at the last moment for three reasons.
    First, it would go against her character to do something so noble,
even though it was a back-handed nobel gesture.
    Two, killing somebody who had just helped you (more or less) could be
conceived as sadistic, an image she *did not* to project.  Rough, sure.  A
little ruthless at times, doubtless.  But that was the role of a bounty
hunter.  Sadism was the role of those she hunted.
    And third, she couldn't bring herself to get close enough to that
*damn laughing* to do it.
    In the end, she choose to teleport Washu from the bathroom cell where
she had endded up yet again into a second of the pods Washu provided her.
Then, just blast her into space and be done with the whole business.  Which
she did.  As she watched, the pod drifted away, farther off with each
passing
second.  Washu was gone forever, and she could get back to work on catching
Ryoko.
    She had never grinned so big in her life.

    "Let me get this straight!  You're saying that you plan to bring a
confessed murderer back from the dead, interrogate her, and possibly grant
her a full pardon to boot?  Deformed *and* stupid.  Not a very nice mix, you
know that, Vic?"
    Ayeka let another of her famous glares fly at Ryoko for her insulting
comment.  Ryoko snarled and looked as though she was about to lunge, but she
seemed to hesitate for a second when she noticed Victor's face.  He was very
visibly injured by something.  Throw in the way he acts around Ayeka, his
admitted hate over their arguements, and the way he and the princess just
stop and stare at one another, as though they were having a psychic chat,
which *was* possible.  She figured it out.  This man loved Ayeka.  She was
blind to have missed it so far.  She stood and gave a quick bow before she
turned to the door and started out.
    "I'll leave you two alone to...converse for a while.  I'll be out in
the servants quarters if you need me."
    Ayeka sighed, and called to her.  "Ryoko, wait!"  Ryoko stopped short
of the door and stood, waiting with her back turned.
    "Yes, princess?"
    "I would be, um, honored if you would..."
    "Would...?"
    "Would stay in one of the guest room, you know where they are, you've
cleaned them once I think, right down that corridor, though don't get too
comfortable because your work load won't be decressed."  Ayeka blurted out
in
a single breath.  She glanced at Victor for a second, then dropped her head,
looking somewhat depressed.
    "I mean, your work load won't be decreased *too much*."
    "I don't know what to say.  Thank you, Lady Ayeka."
    Ayeka shook her head slightly.  "The same goes for you as with Victor
here.  Just Ayeka, like back on Earth."

    Meanwhile, Kiyone had finally spotted Ken-ohki just in time to see an
escape pod drop from it's cargo bay.  A few moments later, Ken-ohki shot
into
hyper space.  With the lead she had already, Nagi was as good as gone.  <Oh
well, I was getting tired of her anyway.  Now, I just have to pick up this
pod, take it to the evidence locker, and I can get back to normal work.  No,
wait, I can't go back to regular work.  I have a desk job now.  I completely
forgot!>.
    After a quick mental celibration, Kiyone had the pod pulled into the
Yagami's carbo hold.  Setting the auto pilot for Headquarters, she went in
back to investigate the pod.
    It didn't take long to notice that this pod was similar to the one
described as carrying Mitsuki earlier.  Which meant she would have *more*
files to fill out once she got back.  Transfer to head of G.P., kidnapping
report on Mitsuki, evidence check in, littering charges against Nagi over
this escape pod (sad, but Galaxy Police was actually *that* strict) as well
as resisting arrest, not to mention...?  <That's funny, I'd swear there was
something else I'd forgot.  Eh, must not have been that important after
all>.

    The Galaxy Police were highly receptive of the princesses and their
advicer, despite the strangeness of their request.
    "Not to be rude, but could you run that by me one more time?  You
need to take Mitsuki's body why?"
    Victor stepped forward and tried the cover story they worked out one
last time.  "Certain members of her family contacted the royal family via
private transmition to ask to have the body turned over to them for burial
among her ancestors.  They would have come to you directly, but they thought
it would be a quicker, less painful process this way.  Besides," He let his
voice drop at this point.  "They didn't want to come in person because,
well,
you can understand their being ashamed to ask for the body, concidering..."
    "Of course.  Right this way, I'll take you to the morgue."
    Along the way, Ayeka thought a question over to her advicer.
    <Why do we need to tell her that?  You never really explained.>
    <Sasami's gift has to remain a secret from the public, so we can't
mention it to anyone, least of all a large organization such as the G.P.>
    <Of course.  And the coffin?  Must we drag this thing up and down
the corridors like this?  People are staring at me, and God help us if the
tabloids see me with this thing.>
    Victor laughed mentally, and let it slip into his thoughts to try and
calm Ayeka.  <The coffin is for effect, and to get her out without raising
suspicions.  After all, what would your tabloids think of a suicidal police
officer/murderer walking through the halls?>
    Once they got to the morgue, Victor began praying over the body.  It
didn't take long for the officer to get bored by this and leave, saying she
had business to take care of over in evidence check in.
    Ayeka called to her as she walked off.  "Thank you for your help,
Miss Pencer."
    Dsawn just mumbled uninteligably in response.
    Shortly after she left, Victor stopped rambling and turned to the
younger princess.  "Are you ready?"
    "I think so, but if Mitsuki killed someone, will she really be pure
enough for me to save her?"
    Victor frowned.  "I doubt it, but that's why I'm here.  True, divine
intervention only works on people of universal importance, but between the
two of us, we have a slip chance."
    "I hope your right."
    "Me too, Sasami.  Me too."

    "MAKE IT STOP!  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAKE THE LAUGHING STOP!"
    "Dswan, give me the gun."
    "NO, I HAVE TO END IT!"
    "Dsawn, I'm your superior now, so listen to me.  Just give me your
gun, it's gonna be all right."
    Dsawn broke down and started crying.  Lucky thing too, sice she was
no longer able to aim at her head anymore.  Kiyone slapped her, then tried
to
shut the pod lid once again.  Thankfully, Washu let her, so the laughing was
cut off once again.
    "Now, can I have the gun or not?"  With a whimper, Dsawn handed the
blaster to Kiyone.
    "I should have known, never open a pod dragged in as evidence, that
should be my personal mantra, that was my mistake last time and look what
happened, and now I have royalty showing up with caskits, Kagato is down in
the morgue jabbering at a dead body, shreiking dwarves are popping out of
space pods, I had to mop the floor in Tathers's office, twice even since
somebody was kind enough to vomit because they hadn't moved Tathers body
ye-"
    Kiyone smacked her a few more times.  Dsawn decided to just lie back
on the floor and rest.  She had a break right now anyway.  <Yes, rest, good
rest, or *sleep*, that would be better, sleeeep>.

    Kiyone got to her new office and found nobody had bothered to clean
Tathers's locked drawers in the desk.  Not much to see, a little cash, one
or two adult magazines ("Ayeka Look Alike photo spread, page 67", "The Babes
in Blue, our salute to G.P., page 94").  Kiyone set those aside to be burned
later.
    Lastly, in a drawer of it's own, she found a small box with a large
padlock.  <Where would Tathers hide a key in this office?>.  After a little
thought, her eyes shifted over to the magazines.  <If there is a God, he
won't be as sick as that.  *Tell me* I'm wrong on this>
    She flipped to the artical on the G.P., and there it was in a small
plastic baggie taped over one girl's face.  <Can't cover anything
*important*
I guess>.  She pulled the baggie off and saw that she recognized the model
as
one of her former partners.
<Oh yes, this will burn by the end of the night>.
    She removed the key and openned the lock on the small box.  <What in
the world could be so secretive?>.  She got the box openned and found only a
single floppy disk.  Courious, she put it in the computer and opened it.  It
scared her to see what was on the disk.  She almost fainted when the full
scale of it hit her.  She had to tell somebody about this.  <Wait, didn't
Dsawn mention royalty with caskits, and someone in the morgue?  Worth a
try>.

    She got to the morgue and was hit by another near-fainting sight.  On
one of the autopsy tables was Mitsuki, not a scratch on her, chatting with
Ayeka.  On two other tables lay Sasami looking to be dead and a man who
looked like Kagatoin the same condition.  <The new seer, judging by the
description on the radio.>
    "Ayeka, what happened here?  Why is she alive and those two aren't?"
    "Miss Kiyone, I assure you those two are quite fine.  Mitsuki here
was needed for questioning, so in a fashion I'm not at liberty to explain,
she was brought back to life.  She tells us that she was tortured by Nagi on
the Ken-ohki, and that Washu..."
    "...Read her mind with a red helmet, then hypnotised her to shoot
Tathers and get me promoted.  I got that much from the news.  If you want
any
other details, Washu is up in evidence.  Come with me please, I need to
check
something with another officer up there."
    The group went up to evidence and watched as Kiyone woke up Dsawn.
    "Huh, wha?  Oh, Kiyone, what do you want?"
    "Dsawn, when you mopped the first time in Tathers's office, did you
see a small remote in his hand?"
    "Yeah, it's on that shelf.  Why?"
    "Oh no!"
    Kiyone grabbed the remote and looked it over.  "Yes, just like the
disk described."
    "What disk, Kiyone?"
    "Ayeka, I found a disk in Tathers's desk.  It said he had a remote
that would unlock one of the cells here at headquarters and let out the
prisoner.  This is that control."
    "How bad could one criminal be?"
    "Very bad, because..."
    "Because what?"
    "Because it's Kain's brother, Abel."
    A small beeping started nearby.  Everyone looked down and saw Dsawn
checking her watch.  "Thank God, my shift is over, and what a way to end
it."

    Back on Jurai, Victor had been turning this informtion over in his
mind for sometime.  <Why couldn't I see that?  I should have been able to
know about this>.
    Sasami walked in and sat next to him in the garden where he had been
thinking long into the night.
    "Hey you, what are you doing up?  You need rest after what you did
for Mitsuki last night."
    "You do too then, Victor."
    "Hah, I guess you're right."  He sighed.
    "You were thinking about her, weren't you?"
    "What do you mean?  Who?"
    "You know who just as well as I do."
    "Why do they bother hiring me as a prophet when they have a mind
reader like you, Sasami?"
    "So, does she know yet?"
    "I haven't said anything because I don't know how she'd react."
    "Well, can't you check her mind?"
    Victor gasped.  "Oh, I'd never think of it.  Not her, ever."
    "Well, why don't you just ask?  If Abel is as bad as Kiyone's disk
said, you might not have time to tell her later."
    "That was deep, Sasami.  And you're right.  I'll tell her in the
morning."
    "Victor."
    "Yes, Sasami?"
    "Now, or you never will."
    He nodded and got up.  He walked inside and through the halls till he
got to her room.  He knocked gently and waited for and answer.
    "Yes, who is it?"
    "It's me, Victor.  Can I come in for a minute?"
    "Of course.  What can I do for you."
    "I have something to tell you, Ryoko..."

    And now, a fire-side chat with Victor Maroo Toumbes:

    Heavy chapter, no?  Two big shockers for you, which I doubt many
people saw coming.  The love intreast, maybe, but I was trying to lead the
reader to the belief that it was going to be Ayeka.  As for Abel, nobody
could have expected that.  Not much else to say, except I do plan to wrap
this all up in chapter twenty five (two more to go) before going on to works
which are completely my own.  Also, I hope you liked the idea of Dsawn as a
temporaray victim character.  A nice change of pace, I thought, after Kiyone
being the victim so long.  Thanks to all the usual people (Aubinimity,
Literary Eagle, Gensao, Jenn, Mike, Pioneer, and of course you the readers).
Until next time which may be a while, since there's a lot to be said in a
short amount of space.
    ~V.M. Toumbes

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