[Author's Note: This story is placed in the "No Need for Tenchi" manga
universe, an extension of the OAV series. It includes individuals and
references events from the first eight mangas.]

No Need for Tenchi - Minagi's Adventure
Chapter 1: A Pirate's Woe

Deep in space, the Hinase floated along a particularly unused convoy
route, awaiting the arrival of its targets. Inside, a slender figure
casually sprawled back in the command chair and sipped a small cup of
tea. Her cyan spiky hair framed a delicate face with large expressive
amber eyes and matching scars on her cheeks. The smugglers shouldn't be
passing through this sector for another hour and she had time to kill.

Leaning back, Minagi ran her fingers through her hair and sighed
reflectively as she thought of all the recent changes in her life. 

First she had arrived at Earth and tried to do battle with Tenchi, but
instead found herself fighting her double. Then she had found out she
was the clone of Ryoko, the dreaded space pirate. All this along with
losing her memory, becoming friends with Sasami, and eventually doing
battle with Master Yakage. 

She shivered, remembering her fight with Master Yakage to regain her
memories. Absentmindedly she rubbed where the artificial light hawk
sword had torn through her body, jolting her memories back into
herself. She had been so happy for him, even as she thought she was
dying. By the time she had awaked from what she was sure was her death,
Tenchi had slain Master Yakage and she was free to roam the Universe. 

Of course, things hadn't slowed down since then. Minagi frowned a
little as she remembered her brush with death on Ryuten 2. She had been
seriously injured in battle and drained of almost all her energy
powering up Asahi's ship, Minasaka, from certain destruction. Only the
intercession of Washu's medical wizardry and Ryoko's transfusions had
kept her alive. Remembering how close they had all come to death, she
smiled at Ryoko's attempt to keep her alive.

"Maybe she wasn't such a bad pirate after all," she mused. "Either way,
here I am, continuing to follow in Ryoko's footsteps by being a space
pirate. Well, a good space pirate," she amended. There were more than
enough bad smugglers and corrupt government officials to keep a girl
busy.

Just like the three ships she was waiting for. She smiled as she
reviewed their manifests, which had obviously been doctored. They were
jumping between every shady spaceport in the Galaxy; their next
destination simply had to be V1z, one of the worst ports around. "So
I'll just intercept these guys and see what they're in such a rush to
deliver."

[Minagi?] Hinase's computer called. [The three ships are now just
entering our sensor range. They won't see us in our powered down state
until it's too late for them.]

"Excellent! Hinase, please bring them up onscreen. Power up our systems
and let's get ready to greet our `victims'." She bounced slightly with
excitement. Pirating was exciting work and she just loved what she did. 

[Minagi, there's something else - ] Hinase started to say, but the
images onscreen showed what was happening all too clearly.

A shadow amidst space was gliding up purposefully behind the three
freighters. When the shadow reached optimal firing range, its cloaking
fields faded, revealing a sleek, predatory looking ship. Minagi's
breath caught as the newcomer, moving quickly, poured devastating fire
into one after another of the smuggler's ships. With another pass, all
the ships were nothing more than expanding clouds of vaporized matter.
The attacker - no, murderer, she thought angrily - disappeared again.

It happened quickly, like one of Master Yakage's attacks: fast, deadly,
and merciless.

Minagi kept her eyes riveted onscreen, but her orders snapped out
quickly and without hesitation. "Hinase, full power! Track that ship as
best you can and get me a likely vector. Can you see if there are any
emergency beacons coming from the ships?"

She was hopeful, but deep inside she knew nobody could have survived
such a brutal attack. Still, she closed her eyes for a second when the
reply came back negative. A deep anger burned within her. Not only had
somebody beaten her to her targets, they had also been unnecessarily
slaughtered. "Nobody does that and gets away with it," she growled.
"Hinase, do we have a vector yet?"

[Yes, it looks like the ship was on a least-time course to the V1z
port.]

That was natural. "V1z port; a perfect place for thieves, murderers,
and pirates. I think we'll fit right in. Let's go!"

Hinase sighed and set course in pursuit while correlating all the known
data. The mysterious ship's speed and firepower were significant for
such a small frame. Its cloaking ability was very surprising, making it
an ideal raider. But that raised the question of why it had destroyed
the ships. Was it a rival smuggler? An enforcer for rival gangs? Hinase
hummed silently to itself as it computed all the possible reasons for
such an attack.
 
Minagi pursed her lips as she reviewed Hinase's summary. She scratched
her head in puzzlement at a disturbing piece of information. "Hinase,
do you have any idea how a vessel that size can maintain so many power-
hungry systems?"

[I'm afraid I don't, Minagi. Such a compact and high-powered energy
source would be far beyond the technology for this sector.]

"Wonderful. Can we beat it?"

[I believe so. For all its speed and firepower, that ship was attacking
lightly armed and armored freighters with the element of surprise. I am
equipped to do battle with cruisers and win. That ship is no real
threat to us.]

"Still, exhibit caution, Hinase," she gently scolded. "I'd be a bit
embarrassed if we got jumped the same way."

She stared off into the distance as the Hinase tore through space. She
wasn't sure what she would find at port V1z, but she knew that whoever
had committed those murders would pay, and pay dearly. A hard smile
played across her face and her eyes were cold.






The Hinase was finally approaching Port V1z when the sensors started
screaming. Multiple gun platforms had locked onto the ship and were
powering up - exactly the reception Minagi expected.

[Minagi? We're being hailed from the port.]

"On screen."

A series of windows appeared before her, and a large toad-like face
loomed in each of them. "I don't care who the hell you are, you're
going to - grxlmp!" The toady's face turned a peculiar shade of green
as his eyes bugged out even further from his face. "The space pirate
Ryoko! P-p-please accept my most humble apologies. I never even
realized; everyone thought you were dead. Please believe me, we don't
have anything you'd be interested in."

Minagi smiled to herself. Apparently, being a dead ringer for the dread
space pirate Ryoko had its advantages. She realized that he was still
pleading for her not to obliterate the entire port, and it looked like
he was rapidly running out of breath. "Enough," she said. "I'm looking
for a ship that probably arrived a short while ago, small, possibly
cloaked."

His expression shifted from groveling to considering. "Well, Ryoko, we
get many ships in here and we try not to cause any trouble with our
clientele." His voice trailed off as Minagi leaned towards the screen
and gave a smile with her teeth bared. 

"I can make this go easy or I can make this go very hard for you and
your port." She almost giggled at Hinase's shocked look at her change
in manners. Playing Ryoko was turning out to be too much fun to pass
up.

The toady looked ready to vomit; a slimy tongue nervously flicked up
and rubbed his eyes. "Well, we did have a ship of that sort show up an
hour ago, but the captain is already inside somewhere. I beg you not to
obliterate the port! I'm sure you'll be able to find him and take care
of whatever issues you may have." His voice was slowly rising in pitch
and volume, and was starting to give Minagi a headache. 

"Fine, I won't obliterate your port. Get me a docking space and I'll
take care of business myself." The toady's look of absolute relief made
her want to burst out laughing; she barely kept from smiling until the
com screen was dropped.

"Well, Ryoko," she thought, "you certainly have quite a reputation,
even after 700 years imprisoned on Earth. I hope you don't mind me
using your `rep' to get the bad guys."

"Hinase," she said aloud, "can you see that ship from here?"

[Yes, I'll bring it up now, Minagi.]

A large screen appeared before her, showing a close up view of the ship
from the ambush. Flat black, its sleek shape was marred by dozens of
nodules across its surface - probably the cloaking generators. Other
than being an unsurprisingly dull color and a small ship to begin with,
the only other outstanding feature was a symbol by the command deck.
Zooming in on the symbol, she gave a sharp bark of laughter. Of all the
things to paint on a ship like that, the last thing she would have
chosen would have been a turtle with a dove superimposed over it.

She shrugged and decided to get to the matter at hand, namely capturing
that ship's owner. Teleporting into the main bay, she was welcomed by
the toady and several other lackeys. She wondered how he could move so
fast.

"R-Ryoko, it's such an honor to have a person of your stature visiting
our humble port. I've taken the liberty of preparing a suitable
reception for you at our bar."

Minagi flinched inwardly at the thought of the kind of reception she
would receive. "Uh, thanks, but I'm only interested in finding the
captain of that ship. Does either of them have a name?"

The toady cringed. "You will probably find him at the bar, as most of
our clientele prefer to do their -" he cleared his throat -
"transactions in a suitably private location. As for the ship's name,
it is listed as the TurtleDove and the owner as Avashar. We don't know
much about him, but his credentials all appeared to be in order."

"Very well, lead the way."

V1z's bar was the type that somehow managed to surpass the already low
standards for fringe bars. Minagi walked in and was greeted by a range
of smells that somehow combined the less pleasant aspects of a sewer,
vomitorium, brewery, and a sweatshop. Wrinkling her nose, she wondered
how anyone could stand the stench of the place, but she was beginning
to suspect that drinking - a lot - might help.

The other thing she noticed was heads swiveling to first glare at her,
then leer as they realized she was a female, then turn a funny shade
when they realize they were goggling at Ryoko the dread space pirate.
Somebody screamed in the back and suddenly there was an exceedingly
courteous and wide path straight to the bar for her and the toady. She
struggled to keep from laughing and instead managed to glare at the
crowd as she walked slowly to the bar. 

The toady was already at the bar, demanding the best drink in the house
for their honored guest. Minagi could have sworn that he had been right
behind her a second ago, but when she looked back all she saw were a
number of swarthy looking thugs stampeding out. Smiling now, she went
up to the bar and looked curiously at the three small glasses arrayed
before her.

"Only the finest for you, Mistress! We broke out our finest bottle of
Tequila for you, and your entertainment should be here shortly. If I
had only known earlier, we could have had all this arranged ahead of
time and -"

"Enough. You're doing fine." She wondered just what Tequila might be.
She stared at the funny little slices of yellow fruit and the white
powdery substance next to the drinks, then turned and looked at the
toady. He was again nervously washing his eyes with his tongue and
waiting for her to throw back the shots. She noticed that more people
were watching and realized that she would have to maintain the illusion
of Ryoko or else lose her chance of finding Avashar.

Shrugging, she took the first little glass and gulped the contents
down. Smiling confidently, she grabbed the next and threw it back. The
toady's eyes kept switching from the yellow slices of fruit and the
salt to her drinks and then back again. If anything, his expression
seemed a bit awed. "Oh well," she thought, "time for the last one." She
tossed the shot back, smiled, and then felt the equivalent of a small
sun expanding within her. 

"I can't throw up," she thought desperately. Her whole world was taking
on a very warm and fuzzy feel. Realizing the crowd was cheering, she
smiled distantly and waved back. It seemed like this bar was an all
right place. Distantly she heard the toady rambling on about how
Tequila was one of the hottest black-market items one could smuggle off
Earth. That and cows. She decided to just enjoy the warm feeling some
more.

Then she noticed that the toady was tugging at her hand and gesturing
her to a secluded corner table with plush seating. That was good, as
she felt sure she wasn't going to be standing for much longer. Wobbling
slightly on the way over, she slid into the chair and groaned silently
with relief. Luckily there was a beer waiting for her. With a sigh, she
ran the cool glass against her forehead. Gulping the beer down seemed
to settle her stomach. She refocused, with some difficulty, on what the
toady was rambling about. 

"Mistress Ryoko, we've brought what I hope you find suitable
entertainment. They're well bred and oiled the way you like them."

"Oiled? What are -" Her question froze on the tip of her tongue as she
saw two tanned, buff, and nearly naked men walking towards her table.
They were nude except for a pair of sandals and a small loincloth.
Their rippling muscles were glistening with oil. Even as her face
flushed crimson, a small sober corner of her mind was busy reflecting
that perhaps following in Ryoko's footsteps too closely would be more
excitement than she needed. 

Her eyes were wide open. Turning to the toady, she spent a few seconds
trying to get the words out, but he interrupted her.

"I know, I know, we're trying to get some more up here. Think of these
as your appetizers."

"Excuse me, appetizers?" 

She began to argue when one of the men knelt down on the floor and took
one of her feet in his large hands. "Mistress Ryoko, we understand you
love foot massages."

Foot massages? This was getting entirely too weird. She once more
started to open her mouth to protest when the servant began to rub her
foot. 

W - h - o - a.

Her eyes almost rolled up into the back of her head. Now - that - was a
foot massage.

She shook her head fiercely and snarled, "Enough is enough! I'm here to
find Avashar and I'm not going to be dissuaded by a couple of hunks
slathered in oil giving out massages." At least not yet, part of her
argued. The two young men scrambled back, their eyes downcast. Turning,
she glared at the toady.

He twitched and waved to a door. "There are a number of conference
rooms smugglers use back there. I imagine you'll find him in one of
them. Do you know what he looks like?"

Minagi flinched and awkwardly cleared her throat. "Well, not really - I
was kind of hoping you would know."

"Hey, I'm only a toady. I make it my business to never get to know our
clientele. Unless they're as beautiful as you are." He gave an oily
smile and offered her another small glass. "Another shot of Tequila,
Milady?"

As she stalked towards the conference room door, she reflected that the
kick she had delivered to the toady was perhaps the most consummately
perfect kick she had ever done. Nevertheless she had business to attend
to. Whether or not she knew what Avashar looked like, she now knew
where to find him.

She yanked open the door and stepped into total chaos. Screams and
blaster fire echoed from a room at the end of the hallway. All types of
shady characters were spilling in panic out of the other rooms lining
the hallway. Like rats on a sinking ship, they scattered to the exits,
even clawing their way past Minagi to the bar.

She floated up over the press and headed towards the source of the
disturbance. After the crowd had passed, she dropped back to the floor
and started striding purposefully towards the last door on the right. A
trickle of smoke was spilling out from beneath it.






Avashar looked steadily at the sole remaining smuggler, his gaze
calculating, judging. The smuggler's companions were already smoldering
corpses and the smell of their burnt flesh filled the room. The
smuggler didn't move, a shocked look of dismay on his face.

Ignoring him, Avashar wrinkled his nose at the smell and waved a hand
ineffectually to clear the air. Stopping in mid-wave, he turned his
head and looked over his shoulder, seemingly at nothing. Shaking his
head in disbelief, he muttered, "What the hell is she doing here?"

Turning back, he smiled and gave a shallow half bow to smuggler. "My
apologies for interrupting your drink, but I have to be going now." He
spoke casually, as if the two of them were at a comfortable bar - and
not surrounded by dead bodies. The smuggler nodded numbly, his eyes
wide.






Minagi had almost reached the door when it exploded open. A solid-
looking man scrambled out backwards and hit the opposite wall. With a
look of horror he turned and blindly slammed into her. She hauled him
up in the air and shook him.

"What's going on in there?"

"He's killed them - he's crazy, I tell you! You've got to let me go
before he kills us all!" The man was practically blubbering. 

She looked oddly at him and set him back down. "Was it someone called
Avashar?"

"Yes. He's cold. Crazy, I tell you." His eyes were wide with fear. 

She had never liked cowards, but she might need information from him
later. Fixing him with a stern glare, she snapped, "Stay put. I'll be
right back."

She turned away from the sniveling wreck and lit her sword. The tequila
buzz was gone and she felt calm and ready for battle. There was going
to be a massive ass kicking right about - "NOW!"

With a wild cry, she flew through the doorway and into the room, her
eyes scanning automatically for threats. The sight that greeted her was
not a pretty one. A round conference table sat in the center of the
small room, and around it were three charred and very dead bodies.
Sitting at the fourth seat was a stocky man, a slightly dazed
expression on his face. She leaped onto the table, pointed her sword at
him, and said very calmly, "Please tell me you're Avashar."

His clothing was of an unusual cut, more suited to moving through the
wilderness than lounging in a space bar. He paled and said, "No, I'm
August Derleth, a collector of sorts. That murderer just crashed out of
here a second ago."

"Then that must have been..." Minagi's words trailed off as she
realized that she had just run into him. She flashed instantly into the
hallway, her blade at the ready. Avashar was nowhere to be seen. "No!"
she shouted, cursing her own gullibility. There were at least five
different directions Avashar could have left by, but she knew that
there was only one final destination: his ship.

Jumping back into the room, she grabbed August and said, "Hang on,
you're coming with me."

"What are you -"

Together they appeared aboard the Hinase. August slumped to the deck,
his eyes wide at the sudden feat Minagi had pulled off so casually.

[Minagi, thank goodness you're here! The TurtleDove started up a few
seconds ago and it's already destroyed two freighters. What do you want
us to do?]

"Avashar moves fast," she thought. "There's no way he could have gotten
to the ship before I did... unless he... teleported?"

"Fire up the engines and arm weapon systems," she ordered. "We're going
to stop this here and now!"

The Hinase throbbed as its powerful engines kicked in and began
powering up its weapon systems. Minagi gritted her teeth as she watched
the TurtleDove turn and finish off the third freighter before boosting
out-system.

"Those were the ships of my companions," cried August, cradling his
head in his hands. "Do you realize their cargo? Oh my, oh my."

"Not now!" she snapped. "Alright, Hinase, let's show him the difference
between picking on unarmed freighters and a 100,000 ton warship! Open
fire!"

The TurtleDove's cloaking hadn't spun up yet, and Minagi's smile was
hard as the Hinase's first volley neatly bracketed Avashar's ship. His
only response was to further increase speed towards out-system.

"He hasn't even tried cloaking yet. Hinase, blow out his engines. He
might be a murderer, but we're not." Although she was beginning to
seriously consider it.

[Yes, Minagi.]

Another volley of fire burst from the Hinase, focused solely on the
TurtleDove's engine area. For a second the screen brightened from the
force of the explosion. When it cleared, Minagi stared slack-jawed at
the TurtleDove, still increasing speed, still uncloaked, and completely
unscathed.

"Hinase, what just happened? Please don't tell me that ship is
shielded, too!"

[Minagi, it appears the TurtleDove has multiple systems, but only the
power for one or two at a time. It appears it is currently focused
solely on shielding and speed right now.]

"Apparently," Minagi replied dryly, watching the nimble TurtleDove
("Turtle - ha," she thought) pull farther away. "I'm guessing we won't
be able to catch him at this rate."

[I'm afraid not, Minagi. We will be dropping slowly behind. In
approximately one hour, we will lose all tracking, even if he doesn't
cloak.]

Minagi smacked her fist into her hand and turned to August. "Alright,
can you explain what is going on around here?"

August had regained some of his composure. He replied politely, "I
believe I know exactly where that butcher is going, Milady. If you
wouldn't mind returning me to my ship back at V1z, I would be more than
happy to assist you."

She considered for a second. At this rate they'd lose track of the
TurtleDove and never figure out where Avashar's next target would be.
"Fine, I'll take you back. In the meantime, you can fill me in on
what's going on here."

"I'll do my best, Mil-"

"Please, call me Minagi."

"Certainly. Minagi, my former associates and I are all traders of
things rare and unique, especially books."

"Books? You've got to be kidding me. Who would need smugglers for
books?" She had heard of weird things getting smuggled, but this had to
top the list. 

Stranger yet, August looked neither the bookish type nor a smuggler. He
was a stocky man, and his clothing and bearing seemed better suited for
tracking through an uncharted wilderness than plying the smuggling
routes. His features were square cut and his expression honest. Wavy
hair was combed haphazardly back from his tanned face. All this,
combined with the keen intelligence glimmering in his eyes, made for a
quite a puzzle. 

"A common misconception. Believe me, a single rare copy of Alhazred's
Necronomicon, the Pnakotic Manuscripts, or Von Juntz's
Unaussprechlichen Kulten is worth more than an entire freighter full of
any other known material." His large hands began to tremble, as if
mentioning these tomes brought back painful memories. "You see,
collectors of these types of books are a rarified and exceptionally
wealthy group of individuals. They would do anything to complete their
collection of a single author or locate the last manuscript of some
long forgotten poet."

Her mind boggled that a single book could be worth so much. It was the
perfect cargo! The pirate portion of her mind drooled at the thought of
the kind of money she could be involved with. "Then why is Avashar
killing you guys off?"

"I fear it is because there has been a sudden change in market
conditions. There has been a growing interest in these ancient texts,
relics believed lost or destroyed by their races. These sources of
knowledge and power delve into secrets of the cosmos so advanced they
boggle the mind.

"Most people dismiss these tomes as worthless relics of a bygone age.
However, others believe they offer an insight into powers beyond our
own dimension, powers so terrible that to harness their energy could
confer immortality, even godhood." He sighed. "And somebody is buying
all the ancient texts from every race. All of them. The money being
offered could buy entire systems. All my associates see this as the
chance to make fortunes to rival the oldest families in the known
Galaxy."

Minagi frowned. "You don't sound enthusiastic about this. Why not?"

He stared off into the distance, as if he could see something else
moving out in space that Hinase's sensors couldn't detect. "Unlike my
associates, I had dabbled with these sources long before they were
worth what they are today. I barely escaped with my life, and I now
understand that there is knowledge that should never be used for any
type of personal gain. I have refused to take part in any of these
proceedings."

"So Avashar spared you."

"I don't think he was interested in me. Not in the slightest."

"But he would be interested in whoever is buying up all those books,
right?"

"Yes, and that leaves only one place where collectors like me gather
and where Avashar would go: the hidden library."

[Minagi, we've arrived back at port.]

"Thank you, Hinase. August, is there a way you can point me to this
`hidden library'?"

He cocked his head and looked at Minagi with a cautious expression.
"Why are you so interested in him?"

She drew a deep breath. "I have been a good pirate for a while now,
capturing crooked traders and bringing corrupt government officials to
justice. I personally witnessed Avashar destroy three other freighters
and their crew no more than 50,000km from here. He has to be stopped,
and I'm going to be the one who does it."

August smiled, and with an elegant flourish drew forth a slender card.
"For such a brave and lovely lady as yourself, how could I not assist
you? Use this to guide your ship to the library. I pray you will arrive
before that killer does."

Minagi found herself smiling at the incongruity of the cultured
sophistication of such a solid looking outdoorsman. She took the card
from August and curiously turned it over. "What is this, anyway?"

August gave an almost insane grin. "A library card, of course." Minagi
and Hinase stared blankly as he broke into gales of laughter. "Library
Card - get it?! Oh, I love it." He was still chuckling when Minagi
gently laid a hand on his shoulder and teleported them back to the
port. He sobered up as she turned to leave.

"Minagi, be careful. There are powers involved here that you cannot
begin to fathom. May your quest for justice succeed, and I hope to meet
you again."

August's eyes reflected a weariness that belied his warm face, as if
his contact with these powers, whatever they were, had left a mark on
his very soul. She smiled at this unusual smuggler. "I'll be careful,
August. I hope to meet up with you again."

Teleporting back to the Hinase, she stretched and wondered where the
trail would lead next. "Hinase, how long to get to the library at top
speed?"

[At least 20 hours, Minagi.]

"Great, there's time to grab a bath and get some rest." She headed off
to the bath, finally starting to realize that she smelled bad and her
head was throbbing. This was turning out to be some kind of adventure.






Minagi slowly woke up. Giving a long cat-like stretch, she snuggled
back under the covers for a second. She felt a lot better after a bath
and a good night's rest. Her thoughts drifted off to when she had run
into Avashar and hadn't even realized it. Try as she might, she
couldn't distinctly recall his features (Tequila). He was tall and
broad shouldered, but nothing distinctive. His features were sharp and
his hair cropped short, but all of it had been distorted by his acting.

Interlacing her fingers behind her head, she stared up at the ceiling.
His stunt had been clever but it seemed entirely too rushed. "I'm sure
I could have taken him out then and there if I hadn't been drinking,"
she berated herself. "But why did he bump into me, anyway? Why didn't 
he just teleport straight out from the conference room?"

Great, another piece of the puzzle that didn't seem to fit anywhere.
Avashar was turning out to be more and more trouble.

Finally sitting up, she stretched once more and got out of bed.
Yawning, she teleported onto the command deck, still clad only in her
nightshirt. She bit off a second yawn and greeted Hinase cheerfully.

"Morning, Hinase!"

[Good morning, Minagi. I hope you feel refreshed from your time at
V1z.]

"I do indeed, Hinase. Remind me if we ever find smugglers carrying
Tequila to open fire immediately. That stuff is pure evil." She felt
much better, but she shivered to think what kind of mischief she would
have gotten into with a couple more drinks under her belt. "How far are
we from the library?"

[Five hours, Minagi.]

"Five hours?! You mean to tell me I've been asleep for fourteen
hours?!" 

Hinase's main crystal nodded ruefully. [And we couldn't wake you up.
You were too deeply asleep.]

As Minagi floated away to get ready, she decided that simply blowing up
any smuggler of Tequila would be too kind a fate for them. Better to
make them drink their wares and suffer through the following day.






4 hours later

[The library and its immediate environs should be coming up onscreen
any second now, Minagi.]

Minagi nodded and kept her eyes focused on the main display window. She
felt slightly nervous and worried that she might not have reached the
library in time to save anyone. Her heart sank as the first gutted
ships came into view.

"We're too late, Hinase. We're too late." 

Smugglers or not, nobody needed to be slaughtered like that. Tears
formed in her eyes as even more shattered ships appeared around a
slowly tumbling larger ship. Dozens of trading ships, couriers, and
private vessels floated around its shattered remains. Its hull was
marred by extensive damage, and a number of decks gaped open to the
vacuum of space.

"Hinase, is there any sign of the TurtleDove?" Minagi had already
checked the sensors but didn't want to leave anything to chance.

[I'm sorry, Minagi, but we're not picking anything up. Nor are we
registering any life forms on any of the ships. Wait - there is
something deep within the library, but there is too much interference.
I can't make out what it is.]

"Hinase, stay at full alert. I'm going aboard to find out what that
source is and to see if Avashar has left any clues. If that ship
appears, do your best to destroy it. If you cannot, then escape and get
help."

[Minagi, we would never leave you!] Hinase sounded upset at the thought
of abandoning her.

"I understand." She smiled gently at the main crystal and laid her hand
on its trembling surface. "Don't worry about me, I can survive in a
vacuum until you return with help."

[Very well, but be careful.] 

The crystal leaned in close and she gave it a hug. She then
straightened up and looked at the most damaged section of the library
ship. Swallowing once, she teleported just outside the damaged area. 

Floating in the dead of space, her eyes narrowed slightly as she took
in the massive damage up close. "I never would have guessed Avashar's
ship would have been capable of such damage," she mused. "I'm glad I
told the Hinase to evacuate the area if things got too hairy." Steeling
herself for the horrors she knew she would find inside, she drifted
slowly into the shattered bulk of the library.

As the darkness wrapped around her, she brought her sword to life, its
glow imposing a harsh light upon her immediate area. Shadows cut with
razor clarity in the airless void, and shapes twisted in the light with
startling speed. Her heart raced in her chest; just because the only
possible life source was far ahead didn't mean a trap couldn't be
awaiting her. Worse yet, dead bodies would loom up suddenly, rapid
decompression having done horrible things to faces and hands exposed to
the vacuum.

Minagi was no coward. She had faced death more than once and didn't
fear it like most people. But moving through this tomb in the darkness
scared her more than she wanted to admit. 

She closed her eyes and remembered Master Yakage once telling her that
fear was only your enemy if you let it master you. Remembering him
brought back memories of Ryoko, Sasami, Washu, Tenchi, and everyone
else. The thought of her friends warmed her heart and she felt
confidence flow back into her. Her breathing settled down. She moved
forward again; no ghosts were going to stop her.

Her attention was soon drawn to what was lining the corridors of the
ship, the rooms, everywhere. Books, millions of books! In some places
where restraining fields had failed before the ship settled down, the
corridors were filled with countless books. In many places she had to
phase her way through hundreds of feet of books bumping together. She
felt a chill run through her when she accidentally phased through a
dead librarian floating amidst a particularly thick area of books.
Minagi tried not to think about how the dead body reminded her of
August.

Soon she made it into another clear area. Phasing back to solidity, she
flew down the wide corridor. There were signs of violence; bodies of
guards and librarians floated in crystal clouds of their own blood. She
slowed down as she approached a massive vault with its door blown clear
off its hinges. Power shields and other esoteric defensive measure lay
shattered and broken around it.

"Whoever designed this area sure didn't want anyone getting at it," she
thought. Scanning the area carefully, she realized there was a faint
glow coming from within the vault. Steeling herself, she raised her
sword slightly and flew straight into the chamber. Standing there was
Avashar, a glow surrounding his body and a slight smile on his face.
Minagi noticed that a small field kept breathable air in the chamber.

With a snarl, she launched a powerful strike right at him. She crowed
triumphantly as her blade carved through the air in an incandescent
streak. The fool hadn't even brought up his own weapon. Minagi's blade
carried clear through Avashar with no shock of impact, sending her
tumbling head over heels in front of him. Quick as thought, she
recovered and sent a tremendous blast of energy directly into Avashar's
chest. It, too, passed clean through his body and exploded with a
tremendous fury against the far vault wall.

"What?" She knew her attacks were enough to bring down any opponent.
How could he stand there and let those attacks pass clear through -
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Disgust was evident in her voice
as she made out a holographic projector on the floor. Squatting down,
she flicked the machine to play and straightened back up.

"The dread space pirate Ryoko, how nice of you to drop by." Avashar's
image gave a mocking bow before straightening up and continuing to talk
to Minagi in a calm yet deliberate voice.

"As you can plainly see, neither of us will be getting our hands on the
collected knowledge of a thousand races any time soon. I'm not sure why
you've decided to get involved in all this, but your interference is
not appreciated." A grim smile crossed his face.

"From the records I have, I can't imagine why you would be interested
in any printed material. Nevertheless, I must insist you stay out of
these affairs. You are meddling with powers far beyond your ken." With
a dramatic flourish, a keen blade rippled out of Avashar's hand,
sizzling with a dark aura that was almost painful to look at. "Next
time, I will not avoid you."

With his final statement the holographic projector snapped off, leaving
Minagi with only her blade for light again. She stared down at the
projector, her mind whirling with possibilities. Did he destroy this
entire place? But then, what affairs were left to be completed? More
importantly, how was she going to find Avashar and take him up on his
promise?

Minagi thought about the sword in Avashar's hand and likewise was faced
with even more questions. If there was anything Master Yakage had
taught her about, it was swords. That blade in Avashar's hand seemed -
wrong, but she couldn't place her finger on why. She reached down and
grabbed the projector; she had to review that recording again.

She turned her thoughts from Avashar's blade and looked around the
chamber. Everything in the vault had the appearance of almost being
melted, as if exposed to a tremendous amount of heat and energy.
Floating upwards, she saw that every shelf was swept clean, from the
lowest to the highest, which was 10 meters from the floor. As her spiky
hair almost brushed the ceiling, she noticed a series of small cameras
placed along the tops of the book shelves.

"I wonder where they lead," Minagi mused. 

Phasing, she stuck her head into the wall behind one camera and started
following the cabling. She had to drop her sword and instead held a
small ball of energy in her hand to light the way as she floated
through walls and floors. The cabling wound for what seemed forever
before ending up in what must have been the command chamber.
 
She phased back into solidity and looked around. With a hum, her blade
flashed back into life and cast its light across the room. More bodies
floated lifelessly, but she was only interested in finding the security
recordings. After searching, she found the crystal storage unit for the
security cameras, but it appeared to have suffered damage, maybe due to
a surge from the power released inside the vault.

Grabbing the crystal, she prepared herself to teleport back to the
Hinase. She felt grateful to be finally getting out of this floating
tomb and back to her ship.

[Minagi! I'm so glad you're back, I was getting worried about you!]
Hinase's crystal floated up to her, blinking happily.

"I'm glad to be back too, Hinase." She smiled, relieved to be somewhere
with light, warmth, air, and friends. "It was a very unpleasant place
over there."

Her voice trailed off, and Hinase's crystal beeped worriedly. She shook
herself out of her reverie and held up the library's security crystal.
"Hinase, do you think you can get any data off this?"

Flashing furiously for a second, Hinase's crystal floated nearer to the
security crystal and bathed it in a soft red light. [I'm sorry, Minagi,
it's too damaged for me to gain access to the information. I don't have
the proper equipment.] Hinase sounded guilty for letting Minagi down.

"It's not your fault, Hinase. It's just that this recording may be the
only lead we have to where Avashar went and what happened to all these
ships." She was positive Avashar's ship didn't have the firepower to
take out all those ships and the library at once. And if he didn't, who
did?

[What are we going to do?]

"There's only one person I know who might be able to help us with
this." Her spirits began to rise. "Hinase, plot a course for Earth.
It's time we enlisted help from the Greatest Genius in the Universe,
Washu!" Minagi looked forward to seeing her friends again, and if it
helped her nab Avashar in the process and solve this mystery, so much
the better!