Credits: Tenchi Muyo!/No Need For Tenchi is a product of  
Pioneer/AIC. As such, I'm getting no compensation for 
writing this fiction other than my own enjoyment, because 
the thought of getting sued is rather unpleasant.

Mr. Long T. Tran for his "Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Prologue" 
His fiction can be found at GenSao's excellent Tenchi Muyo 
Fan Fiction Page: http://tmffa.com/ 

Disclaimer:  All characters *I* have created are purely a 
work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead 
is pure coincidence.  Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably 
just itching for a fight.  Also, please do not try and 
distribute this story in some lame attempt to make a buck;  
it would be bad karma to say the least.


Email appreciated!
Send comments to Michael McAvoy
The completed "No Need For Sasami" Cycle 1 can be found at: 
http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/



			No Need For Sasami
			     Cycle 2

		A Fan Fiction by Michael McAvoy




			*	*	*


	I came to this dark galaxy on a vision of Light.

	I am Light.

	I am Tsunami.

	This galaxy is mine to shape in the Light as I see fit.  It 
could have been any galaxy, but this one was far away from my 
Sisters.  Far enough away from them that I could bend events and 
life to my purpose.

	Roaming this galaxy I instantly felt the raw materials I 
would need to shape my destiny for the battle to come.  Great 
events would need to be guided by my hand if the tide of all things 
Dark were to be swept aside by the righteousness of my Light.

	Vessels of Light existed in many places in this galaxy, but 
none so strong as a planet lush with green life.  Here, my Light 
resided deep within the ancient trees that covered the planet's 
surface.  Oh, how they sang at my discovery of them!  This would 
be the place, the stronghold in the war with Dark.

	But the trees, as powerful as they were, could only be 
vessels of the Light.  Necessity dictated that I would need tools, 
agents of Light to shape the great trees and combat the agents of 
Dark, yet there were none suitable to be found on the planet of 
noble trees.  Thus, I did seek out in the galaxy for the beings that 
would serve my purpose.

	Far from other systems, another lush world did I come 
across.  It was an older world, and evolution had created the 
beginnings of a species suited for the coming struggle.  They were 
not without need of alteration, though.  As I descended onto this 
new planet, the primitive creatures instinctively fled from the 
strength and purity of my Light, but I held some large number of 
them in thrall.  Using my pure abilities, I changed them, 
strengthening their minds and giving them my wisdom.

	They bathed in my Light, and they became aware.  
However, there was still some Dark in them.  I could feel it like a 
cancer, no matter how small it was.  Confident that Light could 
ultimately drive the Dark from my chosen tools, I took some few of 
them and departed that planet and returned to the paradise of noble 
trees.

	Countless generations were spent as I bred and shaped the 
creatures, carefully selecting the best traits within them to drive out 
the Dark that tainted their souls.  My efforts were never completely 
successful, though in the process I did instill within my tools a 
reverence for my Light and my trees.  Over a hundred thousand 
years, my agents of Light rose up to create a great society, led by a 
royal family whose lines I selected and controlled.  In time, with 
the aid of the noble trees transformed into great star vessels, they 
came to control the entire galaxy.

	Their planet they named Jurai, and it was my fortress of 
Light.

	I continued with my righteous cause over the thousands of 
years to drive Dark from the galaxy, entering countless conflicts 
with the Dark's evil agents.  All the while I manipulated the Jurai 
royal family's genetics, seeking to produce a tool of tremendous 
power in the physical world where my activities were restricted by 
my Sisters.  The royal family and its offshoots grew in strength, 
only reaffirming the control of Jurai over the galaxy, but never 
with the absolute purity of Light I desired.

	Over the same time, overlooked by other inhabitants of 
the galaxy, the remote planet where I had first found my agents of 
Light had continued on at its slow evolutionary pace.  I was not 
surprised to observe from epoch to epoch that the enlightenment I 
graced upon those left behind had developed eventually into 
primitive societies, stamping out with viciousness their rival 
primate competitors in the process.  As a curiosity I manipulated 
the Jurai royal family into protecting the isolated planet, forbidding 
contact from all space faring species.  From my chosen agents on 
Jurai I did hide the true nature of the planet as well, letting them 
believe instead that it was a small, colonized world of uncertain 
origin.

	It was then at the height of my strength and Jurai's 
dominance over the galaxy that my greatest hopes for creating a 
being pure in the Light were at hand.  But the emperor, Azusa, 
defied my will and took a mate from the remote planet my 
followers had protected for so long.  I seethed in righteous fury at 
the child that was produced, for it was tainted with the Dark as 
well.

	The child was powerful, however, and stronger in 
wielding the power of Light than any before.  I took interest in this 
child and influenced him.  Despite his imperfections, I grew fond 
of him and allowed him to exist.

	It was not long before the emperor bowed to my will and 
took a Jurai mate of my choosing.  With this union was my greatest 
hope for success.  The older child was a failure, tainted again with 
the Dark and weak in her powers.  A second child from their union 
was much more powerful, but also had the taint!

	What was it that eluded my perfect creation?  Why did 
those beings over which I labored for so long fail to ascend into the 
pure Light?  This mystery distressed my purity.

	Soon after was the coming of another agent of Dark, my 
sister's evil construct, then enslaved and directed by her mad 
disciple.  My sister was foolish to entrust so much knowledge and 
power to such a creature as her student.

	In the instant of the evil construct's attack on the Jurai 
palace, the third child of Azusa was struck down, mortally 
wounded.  Life draining into the pools of power around my own 
tree, I saw the opportunity for perfection in a brilliant moment that 
had escaped me for so long!

	I could take the spirit of this powerful girl, meld and 
shape my own within hers to maintain her broken form, and 
become one with her!  And at the time when she was mature, I 
could fully assume control of her spirit and move about in a purely 
physical form for the first time in so very long.  I could infuse my 
own purity within her form and fully drive out any taint in an 
instant.  I assumed her body, her spirit, and her promised adult 
form, whispering to her throughout her childhood.

	It was fitting that Azusa's oldest child fled Jurai, taking 
his taint back to the world from which it had come and also 
subduing my sister's construct in the process.  His space tree 
damaged beyond any future space travel, I was certain he would 
never hinder my righteous purpose, and I drew my attention away 
to Jurai once again.

	It is a testament to my purity that this child, Yosho, even 
with his taint, would give rise to the perfect warrior of Light.  
Hundreds of years later, sensing the surge of Light on that remote 
world, I returned to find Yosho flourishing and with the potential 
of creating that perfect being I so desired.  Whispering to him, I 
gained his trust and convinced him to don a guise of age which 
would protect his own desire to remain away from Jurai and not 
interfere when the time came to mold his eventual progeny to my 
purpose.  I watched and waited, and in a third generation, the 
Master Key to my design was born!

	I rejoiced like none before at the birth of my perfect 
design, pure in the Light and without taint!  Oh how the trees sang 
once again in chorus!  Determined to guide every moment of this 
infant's development, I reached out from Yosho's space tree and 
whispered the soothing song of my purity to him!

	But Dark was closer... From deep within the hole that 
Yosho had vanquished my sister's construct came the evil being's 
spirit.  Closer to the infant than I could be, bound as I was by the 
limitations of my spiritual form and the confines of the space tree, 
the construct stole the attention of my Key away... years later 
corrupting him to the point where he released it from its prison!

	At any cost I would prevent contamination of my Key 
with the construct, and so guided the space tree of the elder 
daughter of Azusa to the remote world.  For centuries I had 
directed that space tree far away from the elder daughter's goal of 
finding Yosho's location, but now she could be used to dispel the 
construct's hold over my precious, pure Key...

	My precious Tenchi...

	It was my hope that the elder daughter of Azusa would 
distract the construct until such a time where the younger daughter 
I had assimilated, Sasami, would mature and surely draw Tenchi's 
attentions to my purpose.  But the power of Dark is strong, and the 
construct was able to spirit away Tenchi, forever corrupting his 
nature with taint!  Such a loss to my purpose was only heightened 
by the offspring they developed!  Vile, filthy, impure beings!

	...Obviously tainted by her exposure to my sister's 
construct, Sasami turned away from my Light as well, shutting 
away my attempts to assimilate her spirit and physical form.  My 
righteous plans were set astray by the Dark, and much time and 
energy was dispelled wastefully.

	....

	And now?

	Now, my Sisters have returned to me... one drawing 
nearer with every moment, full of Darkness... the other, her 
memory wiped clean in an attempt to escape her destiny...

	All the while, the agents of Dark work against the Light, 
work against me.  The time draws near when all will be decided... 
and I am not ready.

	I lost you, Tenchi... to her...

	I will not lose you... Sasami...

	I will find a way.


			*	*	*





	Talk me down, safe and sound, 
	Too strung up to sleep; 
	Wear me out, scream and shout, 
	Swear my time's never cheap. 

	Don't think 'cos I understand, I care 
	Don't think 'cos I'm talking, we're friends 
	Overground, watch this space, 
	I'm open to falling from Grace. 

				-- Sneaker Pimps

			Chapter 2.3


	Few in the galaxy had the technology to push space 
vehicles through space at faster than light speed without the use of 
jump gates.  Jurai, certainly, had such technology and guarded its 
secrets jealously.  The Galaxy Police had similar vessels, albeit not 
living ships like the Jurai ones.  Most everyone else in the galaxy 
was forced to rely on the jump gates, way stations where space was 
folded, bent, and distorted a million ways that gave bright minded 
physicists headaches.

	Major Kiyone Makabi hated jump gates.  Or rather, the 
Galaxy Police officer hated the space colonies that surrounded 
almost every gate in the galaxy.  Filled with the lost and leftover 
crush of beings that journeyed only so far before their credits ran 
out, unable to reach their final destinations, every jump gate colony 
was not much more than a squatter town.  Poverty, disease, 
violence... these were just the day to day realities of life in the 
average jump gate space colony.

	Not that Kiyone cared.  The Galaxy Police had long ago 
turned away from the problem of the destitute gate populations, 
seeing as how the local governments in general were unwilling to 
support any kind of control in the face of millions of beings at 
every gate.  After all, what system would take what were 
considered to be the dregs of the galaxy? 

Threading her way through crowded streets of the 
Hyperbion gate colony, rancid odors rose up from the ground and 
the people around her.  Above, crumbling buildings devoid of 
architectural grace rose into the false sky, their windows mostly 
smashed out long ago.  There was a tug at her sleeve.  A young 
boy with sores on his face was selling raw rat.  The major turned 
away without comment and continued to move through the crowd.  
Maybe it was her imagination, but under a crude, homespun cap, 
Kiyone's head seemed to be itching.

	This was not the place for a vacation, but Kiyone needed 
to get away from Galaxy Police headquarters, and the agreement 
had been this colony for a meeting place.  Dressed in smeared and 
tattered rags that blended in perfectly with the local populace, the 
GP officer hoped she was not being followed.  That was easier said 
than done with genetic tags and nano-tracers standard fare for most 
intelligence gathering entities.  Even the simplest of observation 
devices could read the fine print off the health warning bulletins 
that littered the streets, recommending that people not be on the 
streets at all.  

The squatter communities had two things going for them 
if you did not want to be found, though: the maddening crush of 
millions of people in such a small area, and the fact no one ever 
bothered to waste resources installing the awesome amount of 
tracking devices that would make it worthwhile to follow someone 
there.

	Not that someone might be trying.  Kiyone was fairly 
certain she had been followed when she left GP Headquarters on 
leave.  Just as she was fairly certain she was being monitored with 
her daily activities.  But why?  It had something to do with Jurai, 
which was probable, considering Kiyone's close connections with 
the royal family on Jurai and Earth and that she was GP liaison 
with the royal fleet as well.  Kiyone had not heard anything 
suspicious, but there was every chance many things were being 
kept from her and the GP force at large.  At any rate, one of her 
most trusted sources of shady, and probably illegal, information 
had sent her a secure communication that was not to be ignored.

	A jump gate was the only way to deceive any tracking 
devices that might be following her.  In any jump across space, 
there was an unavoidable period where tracking devices were 
useless, due to the phenomenon of the actual jump, and required 
time to reinitialize.  It was in that small window Kiyone had 
slipped away into the gate community, hopefully unnoticed.

	That is if she was being followed at all.  Paranoia had a 
funny way of creeping into life...

	Kiyone stepped on something that felt unpleasantly like a 
body, but the mass of people was so thick, she could not even look 
down.  Her head was definitely starting to itch from a parasitic 
guest.  Kiyone could only hope she would be out of this place 
before it started laying eggs in her scalp.

	Recognizing a broken down nano-fab structure, the 
officer forced her way out of the main flow of traffic towards the 
building's entrance.  The outer walls were black with soot, 
billowing from countless oil-synth fires that belched smoke from 
metal drums.  All along the sides of the building's atrium, beings 
milled about, some sleeping, some eating bits of processed nutrient 
the replicaters dutifully dolled out every day.  There was a tacky 
and sour bloodstain on the center of the floor Kiyone managed to 
avoid stepping in.  Making her way to the stairwell, she began to 
climb the crud-laden steps until she reached the fifth floor.  Sliding 
out into a narrow hallway, Kiyone stepped over people who sat on 
either side against the walls.  Each being had its own little spot 
they had carved out as their own in the universe, and by some 
unspoken law those niches were respected by all others.

	That is, unless someone liked your spot enough to gut you 
for it.  Killing someone for a choice squatter location was chancy, 
though.  First, it was very likely the offended squatter might be a 
better fighter, or his enterprising neighbor might decide to stab you 
in the back for the hell of it.  But that was just the risk of life.

	Kiyone finally reached a small spot no wider than two 
feet where no one was sitting.  On the wall above the spot were 
writings in several languages, including the hybrid gate-speak, that 
suggested in no uncertain terms sitting there would be hazardous to 
one's health.  As if to make that point, several old and shriveled 
ears were tacked onto the wall below the warnings.  Kiyone 
considered the warnings and the ears dispassionately for a few 
moments, waiting to see if images of the faces those ears belonged 
to would surface.  She decided if they were going to this time they 
would have done so by now, and she sat down.  No one objected.

	After all, Kiyone had a reputation, earned long ago before 
she ever entered the Galaxy Police, that was almost mythic on that 
particular building floor, and she took pains to keep it alive by 
visiting every now and again.  It was a reputation born of not 
wanting to be a victim, of not wanting to be used like every other 
guttersnipe in the gate community, and of not wanting to end up 
like her unfortunate and dead parents.  It was a side of her past 
Kiyone did not talk about, nor did she want anyone to know of.  
Even her GP personnel file had no mention of this part of her 
previous life, and that was just as well.  Convenient, really.

	There was nothing more to do that wait for her informant 
to arrive.  Ignoring the crawling feeling on her scalp, Kiyone 
hunkered down and pulled her cap low over her eyes.  Drawing the 
rags she was wearing around her for warmth, the officer slowed 
her breathing and entered a meditative state that allowed her body 
to rest while her eyes stayed open and her consciousness alert.  
Another benefit of GP training...

	 Hours later, Kiyone was instantly fully alert to the 
presence of a destitute squatter who collapsed almost right on top 
of her.  Shoving the featureless being away with a snarl and curse 
in gate-speak, Kiyone glowered menacingly as the squatter 
stumbled away, followed by numerous unpleasant comments from 
neighboring people.

	Kiyone breathed deeply for a while, regaining her 
composure.  In her left hand she could feel a small chip no larger 
than collar button that the clumsy squatter had passed off to her.  
Likewise, the squatter would find thousands of Galaxy Units on a 
debit strip stuffed in his tattered coat pocket.  That was the way 
information worked outside the law... no hello, no goodbye, just an 
exchange of commodity.

	Kiyone palmed the little chip for a moment more before 
reaching back and pushing her hair aside.  Using two fingers, she 
eased it back behind her left ear into a little bit of cyber-
engineering she had implanted some time back.  Feeling the data 
chip slide into place, Kiyone relaxed, closed her eyes, and 
executed a mental command.  Accessing the encryption, the officer 
waited as the information crossed the divide from the digital to the 
organic.

	The images and data flashing in Kiyone's mind were 
almost beyond belief.  Massive amounts of data regarding dozens 
of systems within the Jurai empire, reports that detailed ship 
positioning, naval battles between local fleets and Jurai royal 
battleships, and...

	Mutiny?  

	"What the... hell?" whispered Kiyone to herself, tensing 
slightly.  Her reputation preceding her, several squatters within 
earshot edged away just a bit, worried at any moment a new ear 
might be adorning the wall above the officer.

	Incident after incident in the more remote systems 
downloaded into Kiyone's thoughts; ambushes of royal freighters, 
passenger ships, transports... all variety of imperial vessels 
captured.  Most of the systems were without noble representation 
within the royal counsel, Kiyone noted critically, but she was 
shocked to see several took place in those with noble houses.

	Prominent noble houses.

	But why would noble houses conduct themselves in the 
business of sabotaging or capturing the empress's vessels, Kiyone 
thought, her brow scrunching in consternation.

	And why had these incidents gone unreported to the 
Galaxy Police?  Even if the cause were not known, the report of 
the disappearances would have been reported at some point to 
Kiyone.  It was part of her responsibility to coordinate information 
between the GP and the royal navy.  But this information had 
never seen the light of day.  Who was cutting it off?
	
	More data flew threw her brain, the most recent 
information involving the subjugation of a royal battleship by a 
local system.  It was something almost unthinkable for an 
independent system to pull off, with only standard space fairing 
vessels at their command.  A royal battleship would have more 
than enough firepower to defend itself...

	Unless they had help from someone else... Kiyone 
focused in on one of the data streams, discovering the ship had 
been taken from within.  It was mutiny, and if noble houses were 
involved, it would not be unthinkable for there to be more than a 
few members of the crew on board these ships from the nobles' 
respective systems.  In fact, if memory served Kiyone, most of the 
Jurai royal navy enlisted was not from Jurai, mainly just the 
officers...

	Kiyone cursed as the she noted the final bits of 
information in the data stream.  The most recent bit of information 
was seven months old, which meant practically anything could be 
going on in the time since that.  Pulling out the chip from behind 
her ear, Kiyone crushed it.  It would not do for the chip to be 
confiscated by anyone who might have been tailing her, and 
besides, she had a copy of the data stored in her cranial matrix that 
could be deleted with a thought if need be.  This was information 
certain people, maybe even within the GP, would tear her brain-
matter apart synapse by synapse for.

	Standing up with a grunt, Kiyone pulled a marker out of 
the folds of her ragged coat and began scrawling on the wall above 
her squatter spot.  Several of the squatters around looked up with 
dead expressions at first, but their eyes suddenly went wide.  
Finishing her writing in the hybrid gate-speak, Kiyone dropped the 
marker and left, stepping over legs and people as she walked down 
the hall.

	There was an eruption behind her as an all out brawl 
amongst a half-dozen squatters began for the space Kiyone had just 
announced on the wall as open to anyone who wanted it.  Kiyone 
never looked back as she entered the stairwell.  The fight for her 
coveted position now involved about fifteen beings, a couple of 
which were no longer breathing.

	Kiyone had already left that part of her past behind.  She 
decided if she made it through whatever was going on alive, she 
was never coming back to this place again.  She had to get back to 
headquarters and figure out what to do with the information, 
especially since it was obvious to her someone high up was 
censoring the reports she was getting.  Sending it through the 
regular channels to the Jurai royal family might just be the same as 
signing her own death warrant.

	If a coup was brewing, if it really was a civil war in the 
making, the entire galaxy could boil over into conflict.

	And as a Galaxy Police officer with well-known close 
relations to the royal family, Kiyone figured it would be a miracle 
if she lived through it.
	
			*	*	*


	Kiyone Makabi was back at Galaxy Police Headquarters 
several days later.  Deciding that her work would still be waiting 
for her back in her office no matter when she returned from leave, 
Kiyone extended her time off.  There was a dual purpose to this, of 
course; she was still convinced her movements were being 
monitored, so it was best if she appeared to be unconcerned about 
events in the galaxy.

	Kiyone's quarters were a little larger than standard 
detective rooms, as befit her rank, but nevertheless they were still 
quite functional with little in the way of color or style.  That was 
the way of the Galaxy Police, though... functional 
accommodations.  Not to say that Kiyone left her room with only 
bare walls, or some random piece of alien art hanging so people 
would think she was sophisticated.  Her stay on Earth had changed 
her in some respects, some more profound than she was probably 
willing to admit.  Whereas Kiyone before traveling to Earth would 
have never thought twice about the bare and dreary walls of her 
quarters at all, the Kiyone who had spent a tour of duty on Earth 
with Captain Mihoshi was almost something of... well, of a 
homemaker.

	At least, compared to the majority of Galaxy Police 
officers, she was.  Colleagues would ask her from time to time how 
she ever endured her stay in the technologically primitive 
surroundings on Earth, dreading even the thought of such an 
assignment.  Being on a planet where they could not control the 
weather?  Imagine!

	Kiyone never bothered to respond with more than a shrug 
and professional coolness, not wanting to share what she 
considered her little secret part of the galaxy.  Sure, Earth was not 
exactly a secret anymore, but it was still part of the Jurai restricted 
zone of space, and by and large that restriction was obeyed.  At 
any rate, the experience of Earth was only hers and a few other 
non-Earthlings, so it was special to her.  There were many times 
away from her post that Kiyone thought back with something 
resembling a dream-like fondness to her memories of the planet.

	Strolling out of her bedroom, Kiyone moved through a 
living room decorated in a tasteful mixture of Earth-style decor.  
Japanese, Western, Native American, and other bits of furniture 
and nick-knacks were arranged carefully, adding an atmosphere 
unlike any other at Galaxy Police Headquarters.  Kiyone, herself, 
was dressed in a light, homespun sweater she had purchased on a 
trip to the British Isles, complementing an otherwise unremarkable 
pair of standard issue leisure pants preferred by most members of 
the Galaxy Police.  

Kiyone took a moment to check an inconspicuous object 
tucked away on a bookshelf, having the shape of a small polished 
stone.  In reality, it was a clever devious cooked up by a certain 
genius scientist at the major's request, and insulated the apartment 
from all forms of snooping.  Or so the inventor claimed.

	Walking to her hardwood dining table (which had been 
something of a pain to pack for a trip through space, but worth it), 
Kiyone inspected the fare laid out one last time.  Looking at her 
watch, she noticed it was only seconds before her company was 
supposed to arrive.  At precisely that moment, the doorbell to her 
quarters sang out in a computerized tone.

	That would be her lieutenant, exactly on time.  Shaking 
her head just a little as she moved towards the door, Kiyone 
reflected on her attempts to loosen up the young man.  By and 
large she had been unsuccessful, but there were signs that he was 
beginning to crack just a bit.  Kiyone opened the door.

	"Lieutenant Dalyn," she smiled casually.  "Right on time, 
naturally.  Oh, wait, I believe you might have been a few seconds 
late."

	The young officer shook his head.  "No, ma'am," he 
disagreed seriously.  "I would wager your timepiece is at fault.  I 
was exactly on time."

	Kiyone sighed inwardly.  She should have known better 
to try and make a joke with him.  Dalyn might have been showing 
signs of loosening up, but he was a long way from performing 
standup comedy.

	"Please come in, Lieutenant, and make yourself at home," 
Kiyone responded, turning back into her quarters.  "Our other 
guest should be arriving sometime soon."

	Lieutenant Dalyn hesitated at the threshold of his 
commanding officer's quarters for a split second.  Major Kiyone 
was known to be incredibly private in her affairs outside of the line 
of duty, and was considered to be one of the most enigmatic and 
closed off officers you could be assigned to.  Several months of 
working around the major had shown Dalyn that Kiyone was not 
as severe as her reputation generally lead people to believe, but no 
one had ever been invited into her private quarters before, much 
less asked to have dinner there.  Dalyn was not prone to flights of 
wild imagination of why his commanding officer might have 
invited him to her home, but he was very much relieved to know 
ahead of time he would not be the sole guest of that evening's 
affair.

	As the door closed behind Dalyn, Kiyone appeared and 
passed him a delicate piece of crystal full of a dark red liquid.

	"Wine from Earth," she said, running her free hand 
through her lustrous hair, making an effort to sip from her own 
glass.  "Fermentation of a fruit.  I believe your culture has 
something similar."

	Dalyn nodded, sipping the liquid.  It was bitter to his 
taste, but then again he was not partial to much in the way of 
alcohol from any planet.  "We have something similar, as do a 
remarkable number of civilized cultures across the galaxy," he 
replied.  "Alcohol might be the one constant of the civilized 
worlds."

	Kiyone debated weather or not that was a joke on his part, 
or just an observation.  It was hard to tell.  Taking a seat on one of 
her favorite vices, a rocking chair cushioned by an afghan, she 
motion for Dalyn to take a seat on a comfortable sofa from Jurai.  
The richness of the piece of furniture was not lost on the 
lieutenant.

	"This is an expensive piece," he remarked, politely 
nursing his wine.

	"A gift," was all Kiyone replied.  "You might say I have 
some special friends across the galaxy.  At least, that's what the 
rumors I catch wind of say."

	Dalyn nodded uncertainly.  Rumors and speculation he 
had heard and even participated in before being assigned to the 
major was not a subject he felt comfortable treading into.  Kiyone, 
however, did not leave him much of a chance to avoid the subject.

	"I would imagine," she began, her chair creaking slightly 
as she rocked, "that in your position, you come into contact with a 
lot of rumors."

	He hesitated for a split second, scrambling for an 
appropriate response.  "Well, ma'am, we are in an intelligence 
gathering role, among other duties," he finally said.

	Kiyone smiled just a fraction.  "Very diplomatic, 
lieutenant."

	"Thank you, ma'am."

	"I think I have been referred to in rumor as, and I quote, 
an unreadable bitch," she went on.  "A slave driving officer, the 
kind the new cadets hope they don't get.  Of course, no one says 
this to my face."

	Dalyn looked a bit uncomfortable, since once upon a time 
he had the same preconception of the major when first assigned to 
her.

	"The major is well informed," he ventured.

	"I am in an intelligence gathering role, among others," 
she echoed with an arch of an eyebrow, noting an almost 
surrendering nod from her lieutenant.  "Moreover, I have a reliable 
source of endless gossip.  One that is seemingly able to be in all 
the rumor mills at once."

	"Ah," Dalyn interrupted with understanding.  "That would 
be Captain Mihoshi."

	"Indeed it would," Kiyone replied.  "Another glass?"

	Dalyn looked down at his empty crystal with an almost 
pained look, not wishing another round, but realizing the value of a 
rare Earth drink that her superior was sharing freely.  He did not 
want to appear rude.

	"Don't worry," Kiyone said, filling her own glass again 
and setting the decanter away on a small table.  "It's something of 
an acquired taste, I know.  Perhaps you'll have some sake before 
you go, another Earth wine, or even a shot of tequila?"

	The lieutenant had no idea what those drinks were, so he 
nodded mutely.  This was so far the strangest evening he could 
have imagined having.  Granted, his preconceptions of Major 
Kiyone had been mostly way off the mark while on duty, but to be 
sitting in her quarters talking about drinks no one else at Galaxy 
Police headquarters could even dream about tasting was well 
beyond his capacity to process.  He realized that a silence had 
draped over the room, and that Kiyone was in no hurry to keep 
talking.

	"Uh," he stumbled, looking for a safe avenue.  "So you 
know Captain Mihoshi quite well, correct?"

	Kiyone nodded with a wry twitch at one corner of her 
mouth.  "Yes, lieutenant," she answered.  "But, you knew that 
already.  That's not even rumor, really.  What do you really want to 
know?"

	"Well, I have never... met the captain," he began.  "I know 
people who have, however, and after they meet her they seem 
somewhat..."

	"Frightened?"

	"That's one way of putting it," Dalyn agreed slowly.  "I 
mean, it's widely rumored that the captain is a magnet of incredible 
disasters, and the fact she seems somewhat..."

	"Go on, lieutenant."

	"Uh... excessively, that is... very bubbly, ma'am."

	Kiyone almost laughed.  Seeing her lieutenant on the spot 
was more fun than she had experienced in quite a few weeks.

	"I prefer catastrophically befuddled, personally," she 
offered.  "So, were you planning on getting to your question 
anytime soon, Officer Dalyn?"

	Dalyn inwardly flustered with a little embarrassment.  He 
felt suddenly transparent in front of the major, but he 
acknowledged that his commanding officer had a way of doing that 
quite frequently.  Suddenly, he wished he had accepted that second 
glass of wine.  Swallowing a bit, he grasped for a bit of spine and 
asked what was really on his mind.

	"How have you survived?" he asked.

	Kiyone actually looked a bit surprised, pausing in mid-
drink.

	Dalyn tried to qualify his question quickly.  "Ma'am, I 
mean, Captain Mihoshi is... at the center of disastrous events with 
a unnerving regularity.  The damage totals associated with her 
name are nothing short of... legendary. And you've been her 
partner for much of your career."

	The major lowered her glasses and rocked back in her 
chair thoughtfully.  Dalyn was apprehensive at first, wondering if 
she would take offense, but Kiyone's reflective look did not seem 
threatening.  For several moments the only noise in the major's 
quarters was the slow and rhythmic creak of her rocking chair.  
Dalyn's culture did not have rocking chairs, so the image of a tired 
or aged woman never occurred to him.

	"I was second in my graduating class," Kiyone began 
after some reflection.  "The galaxy was mine to conquer, as far as I 
was concerned.  You can imagine my horror at being paired with 
Mihoshi, who had somehow managed to make it through the 
academy some time earlier.  Of course, there were the rumors it 
was her family connections with GP brass that had gotten her an 
officer rank."

	Dalyn folded his hands and nodded seriously, back in his 
professional analyzing frame of mind.  "Completely unfounded, of 
course," he remarked.  "Captain Mihoshi's marks were excellent.  
Her reputation for attracting disaster was already legendary at that 
point, however."

	"Very true," agreed Kiyone.  "And it was also fairly 
common knowledge she was relegated to patrolling the restricted 
zone of Jurai space, which was widely known as the place to be if 
you wanted to see your career waste away.  However, the theory 
was that she could do little damage out there."

	The major looked at her timepiece on fine table and noted 
her guest was more than an hour late, which was predictable.  
Another reason she had requested her subordinate arrive when he 
did; there was no sense in having him sit around all evening.

	"You can imagine my initial horror," she continued.  "My 
career halted before it had a chance to begin, stuck out in the 
middle of nowhere, and paired with the captain.  My attitude at the 
time, and I shall hold you to the severest confidence with this 
information, lieutenant, was one of bitter disappointment.  Being 
alone out in space, Captain Mihoshi frequently took the full brunt 
of my acid, verbal scathing."

	Dalyn nodded understandingly.  "I can't image I would 
have felt differently, ma'am."

	"Perhaps," acknowledged the major.  "My behavior by all 
accounts, however, was completely inexcusable and unfair to 
Captain Mihoshi.  The... guilt, shall we say, that accompanies my 
reflections upon my behavior is accentuated by the unfaltering 
friendship and loyalty, however disastrous a form it may have 
taken from time to time, by her.  In truth, all GP officers should 
aspire to attain her sense of spirit, if not her exact..."

	"Methods?" offered the lieutenant.

	"Fair enough," agreed Kiyone.

	She stopped her rocking and allowed a bit of regret to slip 
into her thoughts.  Mihoshi had been the recipient of almost all of 
Kiyone's verbal abuse for many years, in spite of the fact that the 
captain was in large part responsible for the later success Kiyone 
had enjoyed.  The major had never since gotten around to 
apologizing to Mihoshi, finding the pain and embarrassment of 
dragging those days up again after so many years a little too much 
to confront.  Besides, Mihoshi had blithely forgiven and forgotten 
those years, or so it appeared, so what was the point of reopening 
old memories best left buried?

	Almost in a daze, Kiyone realized she was ignoring her 
guest completely.

	"I have been in conflicts where entire divisions of the 
galaxy police have been obliterated," she went on.  "I have faced 
galaxy criminals that could kill with a thought.  I have been 
through more incidents where I have seen my comrades maimed or 
dead than you hopefully will ever have to experience.  Throughout 
all these trials, Captain Mihoshi has not only survived, but in most 
instances prevailed."

	Dalyn nodded.  "Certainly, her company has had 
something to do with that success record."

	"Flattery, lieutenant?" Kiyone queried.

	"Let's say, practicing my subversion techniques for 
civilian intelligence gathering, ma'am," he answered.
 
	"Another good answer, lieutenant," she replied.  "Yes, I 
can admit that part of the outcome of Mihoshi's adventures has had 
something to do with my actions.  Surely, it hasn't all been chance.  
We also had some incredible allies in many of those incidents that 
helped us survive where others did not.  In fact, the one time where 
I came very close to dying, trapped out in the dead of space for 
some time, was because I chose to dismiss and abandon Captain 
Mihoshi.  It is a mistake I have tried not to repeat."

	Kiyone shook her head a bit, sensing she was rambling a 
bit.  It was probably the wine, she decided.  It had been a while 
since she had had any alcohol, and her tolerance was obviously 
quite low.

	"No, lieutenant," she finished, "in answer to your 
question, the only way to survive Mihoshi is to keep yourself and 
your career as close to her as possible.  Do otherwise and there is a 
distinct probability you will end up a statistic."

	"I see," Dalyn mulled seriously.

	"Which, since you are going to be assigned to her for a 
while, is advice you would be well advised to heed.  There is a 
situation of almost urgent desperation arising, and you're going to 
need every edge I can give you to make your way through it."

	There was a long silence.

	"Sir, excuse me?" blinked the lieutenant.

	Just then the doorbell to the quarters rang.  Kiyone looked 
up from her wine with a feral gleam in her eyes.  Rising up from 
her rocking chair smoothly, she walked past Dalyn and patted him 
on the shoulder.

	"Get ready to say hello to your new partner, lieutenant," 
she said.  "The two of you are going to be taking a little trip 
together that could save the galaxy.  Cheers."

	Dalyn's entire body went completely cold.  Staring at the 
back wall of Kiyone's quarters, the lieutenant listened as a door 
was opened.

	"Kiyone!" came a slightly whiny voice, full of distress.  
"I'm sooo sorry I'm late, but I got lost, and then I couldn't get 
anyone to tell me how to get here, and then..."

	Dalyn sat frozen, listening to the endless babble as he 
tried to process the ramifications of what Kiyone had said to him, 
as well as his options.  He very seriously considered the benefits of 
a self-inflicted blaster wound to his long-term survivability.
	 
			*	*	*


	What things Thaylia had to worry about in life could have 
easily fit into a jar.  Not even a big jar, really, but one of those 
small ones that contained sample portions of gourmet sauces or 
jams.  Of course being four years of age had a way of limiting 
problems, at least for a child fortunate to be born on Jurai.  Not that 
it was Utopia, but what crime there was, while not unheard of, was 
so infrequent and rare that it always caused great shock and 
sensation within the planet's communities.

	Among the list of things Thaylia did not have to worry 
about were famine, disease, poverty, and poor education.  Nothing 
could make her world completely safe, since not even the great 
trees of Jurai could wipe evil out of the people's hearts, but by 
most worlds' standards, life was pretty nice.

	Thaylia spent the morning as she generally did every 
morning, waking up with the sun.  The little girl had grown out of 
the stage where her sleep cycle was irregular and short, much to 
the relief of her parents.  Other activities included being washed by 
her mother, having breakfast, and getting ready for school.  
Indoctrination into the philosophies and ways of life on Jurai began 
early with all children.  It was and had been from time long since 
forgotten decreed by the royal family that reverence for the great 
trees and the traditions of Jurai begin as soon as possible.  While 
many worlds might encompass a myriad of societies and cultures 
within the same species of being, Jurai was remarkably 
homogeneous, as if someone had planned it that way.

	Molded and sculptured, some off-world sociologists 
speculated, though Juraians never thought to question their near 
perfect society.  Besides, sociologists did not exist on Jurai to 
wonder about such things.

	Another thing that Thaylia did not have to worry about, 
though her young mind had not yet conceived such a possibility, 
was a future younger brother.  Her parents, like all parents on 
Jurai, were limited to one child during their lifetime.  There were 
exceptions to this royal doctrine, such as the untimely death of a 
child, or natural twins.  Almost all Juraians had a strong sense that 
without population controls, they would destroy the harmony they 
shared with their planet, despite all the power of the great trees to 
bless them.  Therefore, no sibling would ever enter Thaylia's room 
uninvited to make off with toys, books, or favorite stuffed animals.  
Her precious items were safe.

	The morning's motions completed, Thaylia scooted out 
the front entrance of her home.  Like the overwhelming majority of 
buildings on the planet, her home was a tree, sculpted and shaped 
by engineers using the powers of the great trees.  Flawlessly 
integrated were pipes for water, conduits for the endless and clean 
power Jurai technology afforded, and any other convenience that 
society considered necessary for a good life.  Residing in a living 
tree that had been created to offer shelter and protection 
strengthened the symbiotic relationship the majority of Juraians 
felt they had with their planet.  This particular house had been in 
Thaylia's family for over 200 Jurai years, and when her parents 
died, it would pass to her unless she chose as an adult to move into 
her mate's inherited home.

	The little girl was amazed to note the rather large amount 
of people that lined the garden path in-between the other 
residences.  Many of the people of all ages were looking up at the 
sky regularly with an air of excitement and avid interest.  Thaylia's 
little mind crunched the possibilities that might cause such 
unpredictable and mass hysteria amongst her fellow Juraians, but 
nothing in her short life experience provided a sufficient 
explanation.  

	Her attention was diverted by the sound of her mother's 
voice, calling from the entrance to her home.  Thaylia listened with 
concentration to her mother's explanation of why the neighbors 
were all gazing up at the sky.  Sure, thought the little girl, clouds 
were interesting, but not really THAT amazing.  She listened to her 
mother explain something about a ship and a princess flying 
overhead.  Thaylia's interest perked up immediately, for even at 
her young age she was well aware of Jurai's royal family and the 
great trust they had in overseeing the wellbeing of the entire 
galaxy.  Apparently, the sole remaining princess of Jurai was 
returning home, and Thaylia's very own home was in the flight 
path of the ship.

	Actually, the flight path to the palace from space was 
rarely direct. The royal family had for generations made it a point 
to allow their returning ships to be highly visible to the Juraians 
below.  As isolated as the royal palace grounds were from the rest 
of the planet, the likelihood of a commoner ever seeing a royal was 
next to impossible.  Seeing the great transports and battleships 
racing by overhead was the next best thing.  Areas of the planet 
selected for a fly over were always given advanced warning.

	Thaylia's eyes were as large and luminous as she saw 
Princess Sasami's royal battleship cruise silently overhead 
moments later.  Watching it disappear in the distance as it headed 
for the distant royal zone, the little girl hoped that one day she 
would see the ship again.  The imagination of a four-year-old made 
plausible meeting the princess, even if the princess turned out to be 
her favorite stuffed animal dressed a little fancier than usual.  
However, what Thaylia did not know was that it would be in her 
fate to see Tsunami overhead once again.

	It would be one of the last things she would ever see 
before she died.

			*	*	*


	Above the Jurai royal marina, the sky was a pleasing 
shade of blue, devoid of clouds or haze.  It would remain so for 
another day, until the systems that controlled the planet's 
atmosphere and weather scheduled in an afternoon of rain showers.  
But that event had already been announced for a week, so everyone 
knew to plan his or her day around it.  Every day could not always 
be sunshine as the planet's health depended on maintaining the 
seasons, though a little refinement by Jurai engineers never hurt.

	To describe the royal marina as a port would not have 
been quite accurate.  Traditionally, ports, be they ocean or space 
going, tended to be large in scale, accepting hundreds of vessels 
each standard day.  Marinas, by contrast, were smaller, often 
private, and berthed more expensive vessels.  This was quite 
evident of the royal marina, as reflected in the quality and splendor 
of the facilities.  Nothing was too good for the royal family or 
visitors of importance.  As in all things, first impressions were 
paramount, and Jurai's power and influence had to be 
communicated in the instant that a visitor stepped off a ship and 
onto the royal grounds.

	Presently, there were only royal vessels moored in the 
marina.  Pleasure craft designed for water use of varying sizes 
bobbed gently, their living wooden hulls polished and gleaming 
against sunlight reflected from the water.  Sleek and handsome, the 
watercraft relied on the power of the living trees for propulsion, 
eliminating the need for masts or sails.  From the marina, a canal 
stretched away from the royal palace, fingering out into the royal 
grounds were it intercepted natural lakes and quite rivers.  These 
waterways were private and isolated for the royal family, 
encompassing an area that was larger than the boundaries of huge 
nation-states on other planets.  The truth was the majority of the 
royal grounds had never been observed by any member of the 
royal family except by air for at least fifteen thousand years.

	Not far along the way from the water vessels, the 
atmosphere and space faring vessels of the royal family were 
berthed.  Suspended in midair, the space vessels were the small 
royal yachts and the larger cruisers, including Empress Ayeka's 
Ryo-oh.  Sitting gracefully on the ground, a compliment of the 
smaller vessels used for travel around Jurai sat patiently on a fine 
lawn of grass not far from their larger cousins.  The aircraft were 
space capable themselves, but not equipped for longer voyages in 
space or for the fantastic speeds the larger vessels could obtain.

	Observing the smaller craft in the marina, the royal 
guardian and husband to Empress Ayeka took a moment to reflect 
upon the last time that he had felt the peace and comfort of taking a 
pleasure boat out for anything resembling a relaxing time.  
Adjusting his official royal clothing, Shoji could not remember 
clearly when such a time had been.  Years, perhaps.  Certainly not 
long after his life had taken a more complex turn.

	Shoji frowned at the description he had just labeled his 
life with.  It seemed to have a negative connotation, but he could 
not be certain why.  Standing in front of easily a thousand servants, 
courtiers, nobles, and other people of note, it was probably not the 
best time to review the path his life had swerved, but Shoji could 
not help doing so.  And as he looked around at the throng of 
Juraians gathered to welcome the anticipated arrival of their 
princess, Shoji could not suppress the cynic within him that knew 
this was nothing more than a show.  Nothing more than damage 
control for the royal family.

	Shoji sighed a little louder than he realized, startling 
himself and drawing the attention of his companion.  An aging 
Juraian, the man was the head of the noble house of Dun, Yoma.  
Yoma was a shrewd politician within the noble houses and also the 
empress's head minister.  While loyalties amongst the nobles were 
split and divisive, Yoma and his house formed a vocal and 
powerful voice that allied itself consistently with the empress, at 
least publicly.

	"Are you well, guardian?" the minister asked quietly so 
no one else in the vast marina could hear.  That Yoma referred to 
Shoji as a guardian was not a measure of disrespect for the 
husband of an empress.  Indeed, there were few achievements that 
held higher regard and standing than a royal guardian.  It was a 
term used only with respect.

	Shoji shook his head gently, inwardly cursing that he had 
allowed such a display of poor concentration escape.  Certainly, 
anyone who would know better and who would be watching from 
the noble's section of the assembly might read something from it.  
But that was how it had been since his marriage to Ayeka; 
everything was a fa‡ade, a game face to be shown to enemies and 
allies alike.

	Fortunately, the arrival of the battleship, Tsunami, from 
over the massive royal treetops that surrounded the marina took all 
eyes up into the sky.  Cruising smoothly, the great vessel swung 
deftly around and into a position that was parallel to Ryo-oh.  
Several seconds later, blue coils of energy shot from the ground of 
the marina onto Tsunami's hull, connecting the ship once again to 
the planet from which it had sprung as a seedling and protecting it 
from the effects of stay wind currents.

	There was a noisy rustle of clothing as the crowd of 
observers as one dropped to one knee with their heads bowed.  
Even Shoji and the minister as well as all the members of the noble 
houses in attendance fell to a knee in anticipation of the arrival of 
their princess.

	A pulse of energy echoed through the marina as a small 
procession of people materialized beneath the great battleship.  
Rising from his knee with Minister Yoma, while the rest of the 
crowd remained kneeling, the guardian moved forward across the 
lawn towards the new arrivals.

	Shoji let his eyes scan the small group, putting faces to 
rumors and assessing their validity as well.  The Princess Sasami 
stood at the head of the procession as was her place and Shoji 
immediately took stock of her appearance.  Gone was the 
traditional royal Jurai garb, replaced with some mixture of elegant 
fashion from Earth.  Fashionable or not, the mere fact that the 
princess was wearing a style from another planet spoke volumes to 
him, as well as minister Yoma and all the other nobles present.  
Shoji doubted highly that anyone else in the marina recognized 
them as from Earth, which was fortunate.  The question of Earth 
was enough of a strained topic of much heat amongst the nobles 
without a member of the royal family inadvertently taking a 
position on the matter through a simple choice of clothing.

	It was the princess's expression and stature that also 
caught Shoji's attention.  His eyes narrowed just a bit as he and 
Yoma grew nearer to the princess.  Something had changed with 
her, he decided.  There was a definite air of command there as well 
as a stubborn confidence.  It was anyone's guess how long that 
would last in an audience with the empress, however.

	Shoji quickly let his eyes scan the rest of the princess's 
party.  There was Prince Yosho, of course, which was as the 
rumors had suggested.  That was a surprise to Shoji, knowing the 
prince's desire to never return to Jurai.  The implications of his 
arrival, though not yet revealed, did not bode well.  That he stood 
behind the princess dressed in the uniform of a royal guardian and 
not that of a prince also confirmed another rumor.

	Shoji also easily identified the scientist, Washu, and 
Tenchi's daughter, Mayuka.  Reports from the escort ships that had 
gone to Earth to collect the princess reported that two Earthlings 
had joined her for the trip as attendants, but no one in the crowd 
aside from Shoji would know their real identities, not even 
minister Yoma.  Dressed in the formal garb of royal attendants, 
they would simply be identified as Earthlings, perceived to be of 
little value to the nobles watching as pawns for a possible power 
maneuver.

	After all, the princess herself was the prize in the eyes of 
the nobles, and everyone in the hall knew it.  Shoji wondered if 
Sasami did as well.

	Finally, the guardian and the minister reached the small 
procession.  Bowing deeply before the princess, Shoji stood back 
up straight.

	"Greetings, your highness," he addressed her formally.  
"Your absence from Jurai has been too long."

	Sasami nodded at Shoji, her long hair sliding loosely 
around her shoulders.  "Thank you, guardian," she replied formally 
as well.  "It is with pleasure that I am able to return the great tree, 
Tsunami, to the fertile soils of our home world."

	"We rejoice at the return of a great space tree, and the 
safe passage it has provided for a member of the royal family," 
finished Shoji.

	It was unusual in Shoji's mind to greet the princess in 
such a manner.  During his brief time on Earth and the few times 
he remembered seeing Sasami within the privacy of the palace 
during her rare visits, their interactions had been much less formal.  
In the presence of the public, however, pleasantries were cool and 
somewhat distant as prescribed by traditions that were longer than 
the people of Jurai's history.

	Shoji graciously motioned to the aged noble who stood 
off a respectful few feet away.

	"Your, highness," he said.  "May I introduce the Lord 
Yoma Dun, the empress's minister?"

	"Your highness," greeted Yoma.  "On behalf of the 
empress and the noble houses, we are honored to receive your 
presence."

	Sasami's expression did not betray any emotion, Shoji 
observed.  Instead, the princess smiled pleasantly and thanked the 
minister, as tradition demanded.  Of course, the princess has seen 
the minister once or twice on her previous visits to Jurai in the past 
number of years, but had never been formally introduced to him.  
Yoma began a series of pleasantries with the princess, which 
allowed Shoji time to greet Yosho and Nathaniel, as their position 
required.

	"Guardians," bowed Shoji, acknowledging both of the 
men.  "We thank you for your sacrifice in the protection of the 
royal family."

	"As the royal family protects the great trees with their 
very lives, so do the guardians protect the royal family with their 
own," began Yosho, reciting an ancient greeting of guardians.

	"Through our sacrifice," finished Nathaniel, "the destiny 
of Jurai is preserved."

	Shoji kept a neutral and collected expression, though 
inwardly he was surprised at the human's recital of the ancient 
greeting.  He had fully expected Prince Yosho to educate the 
human to say the proper phrase at the proper time, but not with 
such precision or clarity in the language of Jurai.  Shoji noted that 
the human's Jurai accent was almost flawless, though with a 
peculiar lilt he could not quite pin down.

	It was an insignificant detail, however.  As Shoji turned 
around, the three men fell in step behind the princess, who was 
being escorted out of the marina by Minister Yoma.  The guardians 
made no attempt to converse, as they were still in a very public 
place with a crush of still kneeling bystanders.  Unnoticed, Mayuka 
and Washu trailed behind the guardians.

	The small party filed smoothly out of the marina, leaving 
the assembly still kneeling.  Cresting a vaulted staircase, Yoma led 
the Princess Sasami into a vast corridor that led some distance 
towards the main areas of the palace.  Guards in full dress lined the 
entire length of the corridor for as long as the eye could see.  Just 
inside the corridor from the entrance to the marina was what could 
be described as an elegant courtesy area where several courtiers 
and maids stood waiting patiently, their heads bowed.  Motioning 
to the party to take a seat, Yoma took the princess's hand and 
helped her into a tall wooden chair with a soft cushion.

	"There is a land cruiser arriving to transfer us all to the 
palace, your highness," explained the minister.  "In the meantime, 
your companions will need to receive their palace access devices."

	Sasami nodded slowly, taking an air of slight indifference 
since she knew what Yoma referred to had nothing to do with 
royalty.  Yoma clapped his hands twice, and several maids 
smoothly stepped forward with polished wooden trays, each 
inlayed with finely wrought precious metals.  On each tray was 
what appeared to be a delicate bracelet made of a warm colored 
rosewood, their tiny coils looped in a weave almost too small to 
believe.

	Yoma directed his attention to Sasami's party.  "The 
royal palace has numerous areas that are restricted for various 
reasons," he said.  "And as guests of the princess, some of these 
will be open to you while others will not.  These bracelets are from 
the great trees themselves and will serve to identify you at the 
various gates within the palace."

	The maids approached Nathaniel, Mayuka, and Washu 
with the trays.  A different courtier retireved each of the wood 
bracelets from the trays and proceeded to place them on the left 
wrist of the three guests.  Nathaniel watched with hardly veiled 
amazement as his bracelet, which had no discernable latch or 
opening, simply morphed around the bone structure of his wrist 
and solidified completely again as one unbroken circlet.  Washu 
examined hers with a critical interest.

	"Of course, Lord Yosho," continued Yoma, "You will not 
require such device as the great trees of the palace grounds will 
certainly recognize you from their limitless memory."

	Yosho nodded from where he sat, his arms folded and his 
spectacles gleaming.  Several yards from the courtesy area, a sleek 
vehicle pulled to a stop.  Like the yachts in the marina, the vehicle 
was made almost entirely of polished wood, with blue tendrils of 
energy suspending machine several inches off the ground.  A 
lengthy vehicle, it reminded Mayuka and Nathaniel of limousines 
back on Earth.

	"Your highness," suggested the minister, offering his 
hand.

	The princess accepted and rose to her feet, followed then 
by the guardians and then by Washu and Mayuka.  Everyone was 
playing their part as instructed, at least until they were all safely 
within the privacy of the royal grounds.  More maids and courtiers 
lined the walkway that led to the transportation vehicle.  Lacking a 
visible seam in the body of the transport, two molded wooden 
doors smoothly opened without command, allowing entrance to the 
long Jurai limousine.  

	The trip to the main structure of the massive royal palace 
took several minutes as the vehicle raced down the corridor 
smoothly and at high speed.  If the palace stretched out in all 
directions even half as much as the first-time guests imagined, such 
long stretches of corridor for ground transportation would be not only 
practical, but a necessity.

	Shoji sat quietly in one corner as they traveled towards 
the palace, observing the new arrivals as Yoma chatted harmlessly 
with the princess.  The guardian noted that the minister wisely 
avoided any topics of conversation that could lead them onto 
contentious ground with the princess.  There was no mention of 
Earth, no inquiry as to the smoothness of their travel to Jurai, but 
only talk about such things as the weather or the latest 
technological achievement Jurai scientists had been able to 
develop.  Shoji noted that the red headed scientist looked 
particularly unimpressed at that line of conversation.

	As Yoma continued to pour over more harmless 
conversation, Shoji's eyes carved over Nathaniel.  His stay 
on Earth many years ago had done much to alleviate the irrational 
emotionalism that seemed to plague many of the noble houses 
regarding the nature of the world and its inhabitants.  Though none 
of the current heads of the noble families were even alive when 
Azusa had taken an earthling for a bride, the sense that beings from 
Earth were somehow inferior had stuck with the long memories the 
nobles families harbored.  That, combined with the knowledge that the long 
thought lost Prince Yosho had actually been living in secret on the 
planet for over seven hundred years while producing a powerful 
royal lineage, only served to fuel wild conspiracies amongst some 
of the more troublesome noble houses.

	So it was not with a critical eye towards Nathaniel's race 
that Shoji examined the human, but rather towards the uniform that 
he wore.  To all guardians of Jurai, the honor that the position 
carried was something that transcended pride or a feeling of 
stature.  It was a sacred duty that was bestowed only upon the 
finest warriors who had spent their entire lives training and 
dedicating themselves to the protection of the royal family.  It was 
not a prize to be handed out in any circumstances to someone who 
was not fully worthy and prepared to accept its mantle of 
responsibility.  Even the most contentious nobles could find no 
fault with the legacy and strict traditions of the guardians of Jurai, 
though at times they might curse the unflappable loyalty to the 
royal family that they exhibited.  Throughout Jurai history, many a 
nobleman's son or daughter had eschewed their own family 
interests in the face of vocal opposition from the heads of their 
noble houses to lead a life of sacrifice for the royals.

	Shoji took great efforts to conceal a frown that threatened 
to surface as he continued to observe the human.  Looking away 
for a moment, his gaze was caught by a calm and piercing look 
from Prince Yosho, which instantly clarified the guardian's 
thought.  Of course, reasoned Shoji, there was no way this human 
could have any concept of what had been offered him.  The 
responsibility fell upon the princess, and it was not Shoji's position 
to judge or deal with her.  That alone was reserved for his wife, the 
empress.

	The guardian eased his observation towards the second 
human, who was taking pains to maintain some pretense at playing 
the part of a dutiful and poised royal maid, while continually 
looking through the window-like panes of the vehicle at the 
impressive scenery of the palace moving by.  Shoji noted it had 
been some time since he had last seen Mayuka in person; at least a 
few years.  The young girl he remembered had taken several 
authoritative steps into full womanhood, her trademark ponytails 
no longer present.

	Shoji considered the actual status of Mayuka, as far as the 
Jurai Empire was concerned.  After all, on Earth she was just as 
unremarkable as the next human, lacking the talents and abilities 
that blessed the other members of Tenchi Masaki's family.  
However, on Jurai her status was something altogether different, 
considering her father's lineage.  The other half of her genetic 
makeup was a dark secret to only a handful of people in the entire 
galaxy, and as far as Shoji was concerned it would remain that 
way.  It was not a hard stretch of the imagination to believe that 
Mayuka's life would be in grave danger if any of the Jurai noble 
houses were to discover who her real mother had actually been.  
Though he had yet to arrive on Earth when Mayuka first made her 
appearance at the Masaki residence, Yosho had relayed to him the 
details of the encounter.  Mayuka's genetic mother had been 
responsible for the apparent deaths of several of the prince's 
childhood noble friends, and Shoji doubted if those houses would 
be forgiving of Mayuka were they to discover her origins.

	Eventually, they arrived at a terminal close to the heart of 
the palace.  Exiting the vehicle, the party was led by Yoma through 
a seemingly never ending series of hallways and corridors, all 
made of the trunks of living trees, their canopies forming an 
impenetrable roof overhead.  Fantastic gardens met the party at 
every turn, with running streams twisting freely in several 
directions, spanned with elegant walkways and bridges to allow 
palace visitors and staff to move about unhampered.  Everything 
about the palace seemed to be in harmony with everything else, as 
if the designers had some inner sense about the biorhythms of the 
planet upon which they lived and worked.

	Coming before a massive set of wooden doors, the party 
stood in a large antechamber that served is a waiting area for those 
expecting an audience with the empress.  Stepping aside the 
princess for a moment, Yoma asked Shoji if he would be so kind as 
to inquire of the disposition of the empress in admitting Princess 
Sasami and her entourage.  Shoji bowed politely and walked to the 
doors, which were flanked by a pair of younger guardians.  The 
two guardians bowed to Shoji and allowed him to pass, the doors 
opening smoothly of their own accord.

	Yoma turned to the princess and bowed.  "Please forgive 
me your highness, but her majesty has set me upon another task to 
which I must attend," he said.

	Sasami only nodded, her eyes fixated on the doors and the 
potential futures that lay behind them.  With that, the minister took 
his leave, bustling down a side corridor in pursuit of some 
unknown chore.  

	No one spoke at all, even Washu, who was known to have 
a particular inability to refrain from poignant comments regardless 
of the situation.  The scientist was informed enough from her many 
evenings sitting with Yosho during their voyage on Tsunami to 
know that Sasami was not in for a good day.  Truthfully, she found 
the prospect of viewing a spat between Ayeka and the princess 
wholly uninteresting and hoped the empress would find a way to 
excuse them all before it started.

	Mayuka had abandoned any pretense at staying still and 
poised.  Though she did not move around a great deal, her eyes 
darted in several directions, constantly moving and absorbing the 
sights around her.  How the great trees vaulted up towards the 
ceilings, how fine metal girders spanned from limb to limb, and the 
artistic grace of the palace.  Nathaniel was more composed, keenly 
aware of the two steady stares he received from the two guardians 
standing not far away.  Their eyes betrayed no reaction or 
judgement, but the earthling knew they must be deeply offended if 
Yosho was correct about the Jurai tradition and how strong it ran in 
the minds of people.

	Yosho remained as impassive as ever, noting the slight 
fidgeting that was compromising Sasami's bravado.  This was 
intentional on Ayeka's part the aging prince assumed.  Making the 
princess wait with no explanation or idea when they would be 
admitted for an audience with the empress would serve to drain 
Sasami's inner courage, though how much would not be known 
until they entered the main hall.

	After several more minutes of silence, the doors opened 
without warning, smooth and silent.  Starting just a bit, the princess 
refocused and began to walk through the entrance, her guardians 
and maids in tow at a respectful distance.  Striding at a composed 
pace, the party crossed a wide and open lawn that was impeccably 
manicured.  Smaller trees dotted the lawn, forming geometric 
patterns through the use of clever pruning.  In the center of the 
great receiving hall, a large marble dais rose up from the lawn, its 
highly polished steps gleaming in the artificial, yet warm light that 
emanated from unknown devices high against the canopy above.

	At the first level of the dais, several important looking 
men and women stood a respectful distance away.  Though Yosho 
recognized none of them personally, their seals identified them as 
head of their respective noble houses.  No doubt they were more of 
Ayeka's council, which did not necessarily mean their allegiance 
fell solely behind the empress.  It was a wise move on Ayeka's part 
as far as the aging prince was concerned.  The nobles would be 
witness to Sasami's return and Nathaniel's change of status by 
royal decree.  Additionally, Yosho doubted Sasami would chose to 
publicly disobey or challenge Ayeka in the presence of her council.  
At least, he hoped she had the wisdom not to do something that 
would embarrass the royal family so easy.

	Beyond and above the nobles, another flight of stairs 
climbed to the top of the dais, where a massive throne was cut into 
a gigantic slab of black and green basalt.  The throne was recessed 
into the truck of a gorgeous great tree, whose leaves periodically 
pulsed with thin streams of energy.  To the left of the throne stood 
Shoji, in the position of husband and royal consort to the empress.  
His expression was neutral, devoid of his usual pleasant 
countenance when receiving close friends or relatives to the royal 
family.

	Sitting on the basalt throne was Ayeka, empress of the 
Jurai Empire and Guardian of the Great Trees of Light.  She was dressed in 
several layers of fine Jurai robes, tied together with sashes and 
colorful cord.  No crown adorned her head, but a circlet of highly 
polished living wood rested on her forehead, held there by a 
delicate chain that wrapped around the back of her hair. 

	The most obvious physical change the new arrivals 
noticed, as they bowed and showed respect to the ruler of the 
galaxy, was the small bulge at Ayeka's abdomen.  While not huge, 
as the empress had yet to reach the halfway point of her pregnancy, 
even with several layers of robes it was no longer possible to hide 
the fact that a new heir would be born before the year was done.  
Ayeka's eyes roamed over the party as they bowed to her.

	"Rise, Princess Sasami," spoke the empress finally, her 
voice light and pleasant.  "Jurai is pleased to have another member 
of the royal family return safely home after a long voyage."

	Sasami said nothing, but rose from her regal curtsey.  
Following her lead, the rest of the party rose after her.  The 
princess made no attempt to say anything, but merely looked at her 
sister, her eyes strong and willful.  Ayeka, however, did not allow 
Sasami's silence to become uncomfortably long.

	"And Lord Yosho," she said with a smile, passing her 
attention by the princess effortlessly.  "Dear brother, it is a joyous 
occasion to have your return to your home after so many long 
centuries.  Your sacrifice in pursuit of the great space pirate so 
many years ago is still sung of by the people of Jurai."

	That was not wholly inaccurate.  The details of Yosho's 
real reasons for leaving Jurai and Ryoko's subsequent escape from 
her prison had been edited a bit for the commoners of Jurai.  Even 
though the noble houses were aware of Ryoko's identity during her 
second visit to Jurai some twenty-odd years ago, it would not have 
been wise for the general populace to know that the pirate who 
once attacked the royal palace was now part of the royal family by 
marriage.

	"Thank you, you majesty," replied Yosho in his slow and 
gravelly voice.  "I am pleased to be returned to the planet of my 
birth after such a long time."

	Ayeka noticed immediately that the prince made no 
reference to Jurai as his home, and wondered if her council made 
that observation.  Moreover, what would they read into it, if 
anything?  Her features did not betray any worry, though, as she 
skipped over Washu and Mayuka.  Dressed as they were in the 
uniforms of Jurai maids, it would have been extraordinary in the 
eyes of the council or any other noble observer for Ayeka to 
address them.  Instead, she moved directly to Nathaniel.

	"Lord Yosho," the empress inquired, again not bothering 
to address Sasami as not to give the princess an opportunity to be 
publicly defiant.  "Will you please introduce the young guardian 
who stands before us?"

	"Your majesty," he said.  "May I introduce Nathaniel 
Swann, an engineer from the planet Earth in the Sol System."

	Nathaniel bowed deeply.

	"Guardian," Ayeka addressed the young man, leaving no 
doubt as to what his status was in the eyes of the royal family at 
that moment.  "It is our understanding that you have put your well-
being at risk in the service of the royal family.  For that we are 
grateful and extend our warmest courtesies."

	"Your majesty," Nathaniel bowed again, remembering 
advice from Yosho that not speaking unless asked a direct question 
was probably wise.

	Ayeka looked at the two guardians speculatively, as if 
considering them.  It was something of a show for the royal 
council's benefit, since she had known for two weeks exactly what 
she was going to do when Sasami's party arrived.

	"Guardians," the empress finally said.  "The services you 
have provided are invaluable, but the Empire wishes you to fill 
equally important roles to which you both are uniquely suited.  
Lord Yosho, we wish for you to again pick up the mantle of a royal 
prince of Jurai, and stand with the royal family."

	Yosho bowed his head, agreeing.  

	"Nathaniel Swann," continued Ayeka.  "You are the first 
visitor from your planet not in some way related to the royal 
family.  Earth is a topic of some conversation amongst the noble 
houses of the Jurai Empire, but your planet as of yet has no one to 
represent it.  We wish for your to accept the mantle of official 
emissary to the Jurai Empire from Earth.  Perhaps your presence 
will help all the houses gain a greater understanding of your home 
world."

	"It would be an honor, your majesty," answered 
Nathaniel, closing the door on his days as a royal guardian to 
Sasami.

	Ayeka's alteration of the men's status made sense to the 
aging prince, since removing both of them from the position of 
guardian at the same time would be cause for less speculation, 
though Yosho was certain the thin pretense would be easily seen 
through by the noble houses.  It was simply an effort to save face 
in light of the princess's actions, after all.

	A charming smile crossed Ayeka's face, seemingly 
pleased with the direction of the audience so far.  Again, this was 
for the benefit of the council, which still observed the goings on 
with rapt attention.  Most of their focus was on Lord Yosho, as to 
them he was fantastic legend, despite the bigotry regarding his 
mixed heritage.  Their attention also drifted towards Nathaniel, a 
combination of curiosity and carefully masked disdain.  That 
someone from a backwater solar system could be a guardian?  It 
was quite unbelievable.

	"Very well," concluded the empress.  "Arrangements 
have been made for your stay here in the palace.  We will have 
more opportunities to converse on the affairs of the empire later 
on.  For now, let us plan a celebration for the return of the Princess 
Sasami to Jurai.  Perhaps a royal ball for the nobles to attend to 
mark the end of the summer season in a few weeks?"

	Many of the council members looked up.  Celebrations 
were always an opportunity for high level politicking without the 
bothersome presence of official aides or courtiers from the various 
noble houses.  Most celebrations the royal family engaged in were 
private affairs for the nobles and their immediate families only.  
There were many nods of approval from the ranks of nobles 
standing on the dais.  Sasami remain impassive as ever.

	"Very well," finished Ayeka.  "This audience is 
concluded.  I would, however, speak with my royal brother and 
sister for a time, as it has been too long since we have all had the 
opportunity to be together like this."

	Everyone on the dais took that as his or her cue to leave.  
Filing down the stairs, Ayeka was left alone with Yosho and 
Sasami.  Watching for several moments as those who had been in 
attendance crossed the large lawn, the empress nodded to Shoji, 
who bowed and left his wife's side.  He walked past Yosho and 
Sasami, heading for the exit.  With the last of the guests, advisors, 
and attendants away, Shoji finally passed through the great hall 
doors and signaled the royal guards to close them.

	The vision of grace and calm Ayeka had maintained 
throughout the royal greeting drained away, a mask removed.  
What remained was an accusatory expression at Sasami.  The 
princess felt that gaze and returned it with a slightly wavering 
defiance.

	"Well?" asked the Ayeka finally.  The propriety of her 
pitched voice sliced the air of the great hall.

	"Well, what, Ayeka?" answered the princess.

	Ayeka's spine went a little straighter, if that were at all 
possible.  Her eyes narrowed and a cloud passed over her face.

	"I did not give permission for you to be familiar with 
me," she returned.  "You may have been allowed to grow lax on 
Earth for many years now, but that will be tolerated no longer.  I 
will have my rank from you, princess."

	Sasami bristled under the direct chastising of her sister.  
Even more, she bristled at the fact she felt guilty for having 
insulted the royal empress so.  That fact only emphasized how little 
progress Sasami had really made in distancing herself from her 
childhood royal upbringing.  Part of Sasami, staring up at her self-
righteous looking sister, wanted to be further defiant, to really 
show Ayeka what she was dealing with.

	Sensing the inevitable outburst from the princess, Yosho 
spoke up with his characteristic calm.

	"Perhaps, we might all be better served by starting anew," 
he offered.  "Surely this is a trying situation for all of us, and 
thoughtless words of disrespect will not serve any good."

	Sasami shot a look at the aged prince, while Ayeka 
relaxed a bit on her throne, her composure returning.

	"As always," said Ayeka, "I can depend on my brother for 
a wise course of action in matters that may elude others."

	The princess's eyes narrowed in suspicion.  Had that just 
been a veiled accusation that Sasami was incapable of being wise?  
Before she could open her mouth to form a retort, Ayeka had 
shifted her attention back to the princess.

	"Let me skip the formalities since we are all family and be 
direct, then," she continued.  "There are several rumors which have 
turned into facts since your arrival, Princess Sasami.  You will do 
me the favor of not responding to any of these items until I am 
finished."

	Yosho quietly folded his hands into the sleeves of his 
Jurai guardian uniform and watched the empress intently.  Sasami 
stood her ground, a little twisted up inside in apprehension, waiting 
for what her sister would bring up.

	"First, I have a Galaxy Police report from Major Kiyone," 
began Ayeka.  "Outlining an apparent assault upon both a prince 
and princess of the House of Jurai by a nobleman from the House 
of Jan.  I received this report with no explanation from you, 
Princess Sasami, and no communication whatsoever in the time 
since stating what transpired on Earth.  You had weeks aboard 
Tsunami to notify me, moreover you ordered your ship to refuse all 
transmissions from Jurai!"

	Sasami shook her head.  "I-I just didn't want to be 
disturbed for a --"

	"You had no choice in the matter, Sasami!" countered 
Ayeka with some heat in her voice.  "I have had a member of a 
noble house under arrest for nearly a month now, with nothing but 
a written report from the Galaxy Police on the apprehension of this 
Tevean Jan for apparently engaging in an unsolicited duel with 
Lord Yosho!  Your first responsibility should have been to contact 
me immediately on the matter!"

	"I don't see what my contacting has to do--" Sasami tried 
to reply.

	Ayeka's gaze went cold.  "That is quite obvious.  Those 
of the noble houses of Jurai are tried by their noble peers, not by 
the Galaxy Courts, in matters involving offenses against the royal 
family.  Many noble houses have been lodging official protests at 
my holding Jan without a detailed charge, and because of your 
need for solitude, I have had make excuses and curry favor with 
the houses to do so!  You have no idea what position that puts me 
in, especially now, Sasami."

	Yosho's eyebrow raised just a hair at Ayeka's last remark.  
There were volumes spoken there about the kinds of trouble she 
must be having with the noble houses.  It was plain to Yosho, 
however, that Sasami had no concept of the burdens her sister must 
be enduring as she tried to rule the galaxy without using the iron 
fist their father had employed so often.

	Ayeka glared over at him.  "You owe me an explanation 
as well, brother," she demanded.  "Certainly you should have been 
aware of the need to contact me as soon as possible in this matter."

	"I can not plead ignorance of my responsibilities, your 
majesty," he conceded in his slow way of speaking.  "However, as 
a guardian of Princess Sasami, I was honor bound to abide by her 
wishes that there be no communications to or from Tsunami with 
Jurai."

	Ayeka tapped one finger on the arm of her throne in 
irritation.

	"Yes, of course you are correct in your perception of your 
duties, Lord Yosho," she agreed.  "In the role of a royal guardian 
you can not be faulted for your actions."

	Yosho only bowed deeply, saying nothing further.  
Sasami looked a little stunned, hurt showing across her face as it 
sounded as if Yosho was passing off the blame to her.

	"Which brings me to the second rumor turned fact," 
continued Ayeka, staring hard at her younger sister.  "A human as 
the guardian of a royal member of the house of Jurai?  Princess 
Sasami, have you taken complete leave of your senses?"

	Sasami shook her head.  "Absolutely not," she replied 
almost loftily.  "Nathaniel Swann has proven to be a trusted friend.  
He even protected me on Earth from harm, so--"

	"And you repay this friendship and trust by endangering 
his life?" demanded Ayeka.  "Even if this human did offer a 
member of the house of Jurai some service for which we are 
indebted to him, it was on Earth!  How did you expect him to 
survive in the role of guardian on Jurai?  Do you value his 
friendship so little that you would sentence him to death the minute 
he stepped onto our world?"

	The princess looked a little surprised and shaken at 
Ayeka's words.  Clearly, there were ramifications to her decision 
that Sasami had not considered.

	"But, I don't see why--" she faltered.

	Ayeka waved a hand.  "Oh, do stop interrupting, Sasami," 
she ordered.  "It was plain to me the moment you walked into my 
throne room you didn't understand the consequences of your 
actions.  Guardians are selected for their unswerving dedication, 
lengthy training, and proven ability to serve in the position of 
protecting our house.  By handing that honor over to someone with 
no training or ability, whatsoever, you have insulted countless 
nobles who hold the traditions and legacy of the royal guardians as 
precious as life itself.  Surely, you understood this, Lord Yosho."

	Yosho nodded.  "I did," he replied.  "Which is why I 
convinced Washu to help in Nathaniel's training over the past thee 
weeks.  We have hopefully given him the tools to survive any 
combat challenge he may face."

	"Combat challenge?" blanched Sasami.  "B-but, you 
removed him as a guardian!  Why would anyone challenge him 
now?"

	Ayeka rose up slowly from her throne.  Collecting herself, 
she began walking down the dais, eyes keen on the princess.

	"I have removed the avenue for official challenges of 
honor, Sasami," she replied.  "However, there is nothing to prevent 
a flurry of private duels, except for me making this human a virtual 
prisoner in this palace, isolating him from contact with the noble 
houses."

	"Well, we can do that, can't we?  O-or can't we just send 
him back home?" asked Sasami quickly.

	"Unfortunately, I can not send him to Earth," Ayeka 
replied, reaching the same level as the princess.  Standing in front 
of Sasami, Ayeka found herself growing weary of having to 
explain every last detail to the princess.

	"You see, dear sister," she continued, "I had to remove 
your Nathaniel from the position of guardian.  At the same time to 
put him into a lesser position of distinction would have been an 
affront to your honor, confirming to the noble houses my lack of 
faith in your judgement.  Now, as an official representative of 
Earth here in my court, I can't just send him back the day after he 
gets here without reflecting poorly on the honor and courtesy of 
the royal family."

	Sasami blinked a few times, trying to figure out a way to 
get out of the corner she had painted herself in to.  Yosho looked 
on dispassionately.  He reminded himself that he had tried to warn 
Sasami as well.  If the princess had to learn these lessons, better it 
be now when no one had been hurt.

	Not yet, at least.

	"No," Ayeka said, walking away from the bewildered 
princess, her royal gowns sweeping the immaculate grass lawn of 
the dais.  "We shall wait a while, yet.  Grant this human enough 
time here to preserve the honor of the royal house.  Perhaps after 
the upcoming ball, which will coincide with Princess Sasami's birthday 
celebration."

	The empress stopped and leveled a stern look at Sasami, 
her dark eyes glinting with the hardness of diamonds.

	"After that," she finished.  "He will be sent back to Earth, 
and you will devote yourself wholly to maintaining the longevity 
of the Jurai empire."

	A sense of dread finality descended upon Sasami.  Her 
vision narrowed, with darkness closing in from all sides, but 
unmercifully not enough for her to faint away.  There would be no 
refuge from the certainty of her situation.

	"You leave first thing in the morning to visit with all the 
noble houses currently in residence on Jurai," said Ayeka coldly.  
"I suspect this introduction the realities of the station to which you 
have been born will be instructional, especially in light of the over-
generous sheltering you have had on Earth."

	Ayeka snapped her fingers.  From some distance away, 
the great doors to the hall opened rapidly, and two royal guardians 
approached at a swift trot.  Ayeka turned away from the princess 
again and addressed the approaching guards.

	"See the princess to her residence immediately," she 
commanded. 

	"Your majesty," the two guards said in unison, bowing 
deeply.

	"Go now.  You have our permission to be dismissed."
	
 	Escorting the dazed princess away from the dais, Ayeka 
watched as Yosho bowed as well and backed away.  Turning 
smoothly, the aged prince of Jurai walked behind the princess and 
royal guards at a short distance until they were all out of the great 
hall.  As the guardians turned to escort the princess away to her 
residence, Yosho stopped for a moment.

	He had not really had the opportunity to assess his own 
emotions at being in the royal palace after some seven hundred odd 
years of being away.  In truth, Ayeka had not really allowed any 
time for introspection during the entire audience.  Nevertheless, 
Yosho was back in a place he had never intended to return to ever 
again, and that realization had to be confronted and dealt with.

	'Clarity comes by hard work and sweat,' he thought to 
himself, and headed for where he had last remembered the training 
gardens to be located when he was younger.

			*	*	*


	Yoma, Lord of the House of Dun, stood quietly in a small 
stand of trees not far from the royal dais, hidden from view.  From 
his position, he had been able to hear the entire exchange between 
the empress and her sister, the princess.  The minister was old 
enough to have long since ceased to be surprised by anything, 
having lived through the near tyranny of the Emperor Azusa's 
reign to the more conciliatory policy of Ayeka.  Still, it was not 
every century that nobles got to hear royalty severely chastise one 
of their own.  A definitely entry in the generations long memoirs of 
his noble house, certainly.

	The minister was also impressed to be in the presence of 
the famed lost prince of Jurai, Yosho.  Though he had not spoken 
with the prince at their arrival, due to Yosho's position as a royal 
guardian still charged with the protection of the princess in a 
public place, the man intrigued him.  Perhaps the aged appearance 
of a royal was the attraction.  Old men tended to find more things 
in common than not, or so it seemed to the minister.

	"Well?" called out the voice of the empress.

	Yoma started slightly out of his musing and moved 
slowly around the tree he had been taking refuge behind.  Age was 
showing its mark a little more every day, though he found it hard 
to be discontent having lived some three hundred and fifty galaxy 
standard years.  While such a life span was nothing compared to 
the members of the royal family, it was several times longer than 
most bipedal races in the galaxy.

	`The benefit of a close association to the Jurai royal 
family,' mused Yuma.  `Or is it the price?'

	The minister stepped into view of the empress, his hands 
clasped in thought.  For a moment he considered his choice of 
words carefully.  After all, it was the princess, and Ayeka could 
still take offense regardless of how much she valued his honest 
opinion.  While she was not the harsh ruler her father was, Ayeka 
had a similar spark in her eyes that at times left Yoma 
uncomfortable.

	"Naive, as you suggested, your majesty," he answered 
finally.  "That she has been sheltered from the realities of the Jurai 
Empire and its court is clearly evident."

	Ayeka turned her head and considered her throne, a frown 
on her face.  "It could not be more evident, Lord Yoma," she said.  
"She has absolutely no concept of the ramifications of her simplest 
actions upon the destiny of the Jurai Empire.  Her world has 
consisted of bucolic, mountainside residence on an isolated world 
far from the realities the royal family faces."

	"Perhaps," agreed the minister.  "If I may be so bold, your 
majesty's understanding of the inner workings of the empire was 
as of yet incomplete at your ascension to the throne.  Time and 
experience quickly allowed you to overcome those initial 
difficulties."

	Ayeka nodded in curt agreement.  While she wanted 
Yoma's unadulterated opinion, the reminder of the myriad of 
mistakes she made upon taking the throne from her father were not 
memories that sat well.  All the more reason to bring Sasami 
directly into the responsibilities of the royal family with firm 
guidance, so the princess would avoid many of the pitfalls Ayeka 
had stumbled into with the contentious noble houses of the galaxy, 
to say nothing of the `independent' systems.

	"Let us hope that the princess shows better judgement in 
the next few weeks than she has recently," Ayeka finally said.  
"Your liaison to the princess has been selected?"

	"Indeed, your majesty," nodded Yoma respectfully.  "I 
have selected a royal officer near retirement, whose loyalties to the 
royal family are absolute.  A bit... rough around the edges for 
someone with such a long service record, your majesty, but I felt 
that a certain amount of abruptness might be advantageous in 
dealing with the princess."

	Ayeka dismissed any concerns Yoma might have been 
harboring at his choice of a liaison with a small wave of her hand.

	"I will rely your judgement on this matter, Lord Yoma," 
she said.  "I trust you have briefed the liaison in all relevant 
matters regarding the circumstances of the princess's return to 
Jurai."

	"I have, your majesty," replied Yoma.  "The officer 
knows enough to assess the nature of the mission, but not enough 
to answer any deeper questions the princess might have."

	"Very well," nodded the empress, turning away from 
Yoma and walking away from the dais.  The wheels were set in 
motion, and there were other matters to attend to.

	"Your majesty?" Yoma respectfully called to the 
retreating Ayeka.  The empress stopped and waited without 
turning.

	"Not to question the wisdom of the royal family in 
dealing with its own members," he began, knowing he might 
possibly be treading on unsafe grounds.  "But, is it best for the 
princess to learn of the ruse used to bring her to Jurai from a 
minister and a naval officer?"

	There was a long silence as Yoma waited for a response 
from the empress.  By and large, over the years he had learned he 
could more or less speak his opinion to the empress in private 
without fear of reprisal if they disagreed on an issue.  Empress 
Ayeka had years ago told him that they would agree to disagree 
with his counsel, so long as it was always without other audience 
in their presence.  Even so, Yoma had never breached a matter 
dealing with another member of the royal family so close to Ayeka 
before.

	"Why not refer to this as what it is, Lord Yoma," 
answered Ayeka.

	"Your majesty-"

	"It IS," she continued without interruption, "an unabashed 
lie that I used to get Princess Sasami's full attention from the 
daydream she has been living since I took the throne.  It IS a plan 
to dangle her before the noble houses to see how they will react.  
And it IS an opportunity to strengthen the ties of the royal family 
with that of another powerful noble house should that need arise."

	Yoma fell silent, having heard the rationale months before 
when the original plan had been conceived by the empress.  It was 
not without merit, considering the rumors that had come to Jurai 
from the outer reaches of the empire.  That noble houses were 
involved in activities designed to weaken the hold of Jurai on the 
galaxy was obvious.  Which houses were actually involved was 
not, however.  The use of the princess with the potential for 
alignment by marriage to the royal family to flush out the 
intentions of at least some of the noble houses was in fact a 
concept Yoma approved of, given the disturbing information he 
had gathered so far from his intelligence connections.

	That did not mean that the princess was going to take very 
well the realization she had been partially lied to.
	
	"I know Sasami well," Ayeka concluded.  "She still 
things of me as a sister, and not as an empress.  She does not 
understand yet that I can not be both at the same time.  An empress 
has the interest of the empire foremost, and must be willing to 
perform unpleasant personal duties to achieve those interests.  
Princess Sasami will not understand an explanation from me, Lord 
Yoma, not until she has seen for herself what the royal family 
faces every day in dealing with the noble houses.  Better then that 
you and this liaison you have chosen reveal the nature of my deception so 
her shock and anger will be directed towards me from afar, and not 
face to face.  The desire to hold that anger in check until she can 
have audience with me again will sustain her during her visits with 
the noble houses."

	"Your majesty," Yoma bowed, accepting the end of the 
audience.

	Yoma watched the massive doors swing open 
automatically for the empress as she exited the throne room.  
Scrunching his wrinkled forehead, he shifted in his formal robes 
and began walking out as well.  The minister did not envy his 
choice of liaison, but was certain the officer would be able to 
handle the situation effectively.

	The last thought that went through the crafty lord's mind 
as he left the throne room was rather sardonic.

	`Certainly,' he admitted, `life was simpler with Azusa.  
Offer no opinion that would anger him, and you and your house 
survived.'

	Of course, that kind of game relied on fear, and as far as 
Yoma was concerned, fear was the basest and least interesting of 
games to engage in.


			*	*	*


	The wing of the palace that held the royal quarters was 
nothing short of opulent.  Countless years of rule resulted in tribute 
from all over the galaxy, which meant every room had several 
valuable artifacts that were far beyond priceless.  The cavernous 
hallways, with their arches formed by massive limbs that reached 
from either side and intertwined overhead, held the most pieces of 
artwork or other valuable baubles.  The actual rooms themselves 
tended to vary, depending on the individual taste of the occupant.  

	Rulers of the empire over the eons, their wives, children, 
consorts, and close relatives could all be housed in the private wing 
of the palace and not even come close to filling up all the rooms.  
The wing had been relatively empty over the past several thousand 
years, as the previous emperor preferred to have only his 
immediate family within arm's length.  Empress Ayeka had 
changed that somewhat, inviting close cousins of the royal family 
to stay for periods of time if they took an active role in assisting 
her with shaping the future of the Jurai Empire.  Needless to say, 
Ayeka tolerated no freeloaders who were unwilling to work very 
hard at realizing her vision, regardless of their station or birth. 

	As far as the servants were concerned, more members and 
relatives of the royal family meant for the first time in anyone's 
memory the residence areas of the palace were more active and 
bustling.  Gone were the days when the royal residence resembled 
a cold and empty monument to a great empire.

	The trees that had been sculpted by Jurai engineers to 
form the infrastructure of the palace thousands of years beforehand 
held finely wrought girders, beams, and other support structures 
that made up the various levels of the palace.  Sustained by the 
power of Jurai, the living trees of the palace had weathered the 
eons, immune to the effects of aging, disease, or decay.  That was 
not to say they did not suffer damage from time to time.  The 
memory of the space pirate Ryoko's devastating attack on the 
palace still resonated in the minds of many, though none but the 
royal family still were alive to remember witnessing the event.

	Princess Sasami's memories were not so focused.  Awash 
with emotion, anger, resentment, and confusion, she stared out a 
window from her room at the darkening sky.

	There was a lot to be angry and confused about.  Just 
moments before, Ayeka's head minister had left Sasami's room, 
accompanied by an aging naval officer.  To Sasami's growing 
amazement and shock, Lord Yoma had without apology described 
the empress's ruse and intentions for Sasami.

	On the one hand, Sasami was relieved.  The knowledge 
that she was not going to be farmed out to the highest bidding 
noble family took a weight off her shoulders with such relief that 
she wanted to cry.  On the other hand, the feeling of being used so 
Ayeka could gauge the temperament of the noble houses made 
Sasami livid.  The princess did not want to visit all the noble 
houses currently in residence on Jurai.  She did not want to help 
Ayeka with her seemingly ridiculous plan.  What did it matter to 
Sasami what the nobles thought one way or the other about her or 
the empress?

	That thought left the princess cold.  Yoma had not been 
specific, but he had suggested in no uncertain terms that there was 
serious treachery afoot that threatened the stability of the empire.  
That notion seemed absolutely absurd to Sasami.  After all, the 
royal family ruled, and the nobles submitted themselves and their 
system to royal authority.  It had always been that way.  Why 
would anyone want to change that?  Sasami was baffled as deeply 
as she was shocked by the notion.

	All Sasami wanted to do was go home, back to Earth.  
Back to the Masaki residence where everything was calm, 
predictable, and placid.  She had, whether intentionally or not, 
carefully crafted her life there around simple and safe routines.  
Sure, it was not perfect, but at the moment it seemed like a safe 
haven compared with the uncertain future Ayeka was molding for 
Sasami.

	The last thing the princess wanted to get involved with 
was Ayeka's problems ruling the galaxy.  Period.

	The woman that Yoma had brought with him was named 
Kithow.  A naval officer near retirement, apparently she had served 
under Sasami's father directly for a number of years.  The officer 
was businesslike and totally unreadable.  Worse, she had been in 
the room to watch Sasami's reactions as Lord Yoma revealed what 
was fact and what was fiction in the transmission Ayeka had sent 
to Earth some several weeks earlier.  

	According to Yoma, Officer Kithow was going to be the 
princess's liaison in dealing with the noble houses as well as 
Sasami's guide to avoiding pitfalls or mishaps that might offend 
the noble houses or tip them off to the fact that Sasami was no 
longer the coveted prize they thought her to be.  Sasami dreaded 
the ordeal.

	As night fell over the palace, the princess continued to 
stare out her window, her thoughts jumbled.  The only thing that 
remained clear was the anger frustration she harbored towards her 
sister.  It was an anger that bordered on the edges of hatred.  
Hatred for the direct hand Ayeka was using to guide her life, hatred for 
the fact that Sasami was not strong enough to stand up to her sister, 
and hatred for feeling deep down that it was her royal duty to support the 
empress.

	No one was there to see Sasami's tears or to comfort her 
unhappiness.  There was no Tenchi, no Ryoko, nor even Ryo-ohki 
to pat her on the head and tell her everything was going to be all 
right.  For the first time in her life, she shouldered her fears and 
pain alone, struggling under their heavy load.

	The next morning, with little fanfare and contact with 
no one, the princess boarded a private vessel with the naval officer 
liaison and left the palace.

			*	*	*


	In a dark room, two men watched a series of still images 
flash on multiple screens in front of them.  Dressed in fine clothes 
baring the seals of their respective noble houses, the men 
considered the images.  The pictures were from the day before, 
secretly taken of the arrival of the Princess Sasami at the royal 
marina.

	"Hurmph," snorted one of the men, who had a short and 
neatly trimmed beard.  "I would not have imagined a member of 
the royal family looking so aged."

	"But perfectly understandable, my Lord deBanne," 
replied the other man with a silken voice.  "Lord Yosho has been 
away from the life extending properties that royal family enjoys 
here on Jurai for centuries.  I am actually amazed he has survived 
so long on that isolated world.  Truly, it is a testament to the 
powers that the royal family so preciously guards."

	Honita deBanne looked unimpressed, slurping noisily 
from a fine crystal glass.  "I would imagine his powers are still 
more than enough to do away with us, Renata.  The histories say 
he was a remarkable swordsman and held great sway over the 
power of Jurai before he disappeared after the space pirate."

	Lord Raus Renata only smiled.  "Yes, quite impressive," 
he said.  "Surprising that a half breed would be so talented, 
wouldn't you agree?"

	More images flashed by on the screens from different 
angles.  Several were of a young man standing beside Yosho.

	"That would be our talented Earthling guardian," 
indicated Honita.  "I will enjoy seeing him put under the sword for 
defiling the traditions of the guardians!"

	Renata raised an eyebrow.  "That is a peculiar sentiment 
from someone who is actively trying to bring about the overthrow 
of royal family.  I would imagine the Jurai royalty represent the 
longest held of any tradition in the galaxy."

	Honita bristled.  "My great uncle was a guardian, 
Renata," he replied threateningly.

	"Yes, and I'm certain he performed his duties well for the 
royal family," answered Renata, pretending to ignore his 
companion's reaction, though it amused him.  "The point being, 
the majority of the guardians will probably have to be destroyed.  I 
can't imagine them allowing us to walk right up and topple the 
royal family at will."

	Honita said nothing, a frown on his face mostly hidden in 
the darkness of the room.

	"These other two would appear to be human friends of the 
princess," Renata mused, looking at still images of Washu and 
Mayuka.  "They will assuredly be of no consequence when the 
time comes, though they are both quite attractive... for 
barbarians."

	"Well, maybe you can try them out," insinuated Honita 
snidely, taking another pull from his glass.  "What about our 
plans?  And what does Jan hope to accomplish in the royal 
prison?"

	Renata said nothing, instead watching more images 
appear in front of him.  After several moments, he finally spoke.

	"The empress has sent the princess on a tour of all the 
noble houses currently visiting Jurai," he said.  "Which, as fate 
would have it, tend to be the majority of them.  This will take her 
some time to complete, but a ball to celebrate her return to Jurai 
has been planned for the next lunar cycle."

	Renata executed a command on the console in front of 
him, bringing up a map of the galaxy.

	"It is then that Jan will execute his plan against that aging 
hindrance, Yoma," he continued.  "The overwhelming outrage and 
lack of confidence will put Ayeka in a position where we and the 
other noble houses that support us may make our own move."

	"It's going to be bloody," grumbled Honita.

	Renata laughed musically.  "Why my dear deBanne," he 
said.  "Did you ever have any doubt?"

			*	*	*

		   [A Fortnight Later]

			*	*	*

	Awash in a blur of mostly yellow and gold, the world 
went on in all directions for as far as imagination could extend.  
Beyond that were other worlds bound only by flights of fancy, 
horror, or wonderment.

	Standing waist deep in the blurry colors, Nathaniel 
considered the far away distances.  Wherever he was, the engineer 
decided he was as far away from another person as he was likely to 
ever be.  Of course, unless he chose differently.

	There was a tickling at Nathaniel's hands.   Objects that 
were neither hard nor soft brushed against his palms.  The 
sensation gave form to the blur, and he saw the yellow and gold 
world turn into a sea of prairie grasses.  They were no longer 
green, as if in late summer where the sun had browned them for 
many days.

	If that were so, then there should be a sun up above 
somewhere, Nathaniel reasoned to himself.

	Looking upwards, he was satisfied to see a bright orb 
form in a blue sky.  Small clouds moved overhead, very little in 
number.  However, as Nathaniel's gaze moved towards the 
horizon, the clouds moved with the curve of the Earth causing 
them to have the illusion of being thicker in the distance.  The sun 
was warm on his shoulders and neck.

	There was a little breeze over the prairie grasses.  Over 
the gently rolling landscape, Nathaniel could see small gusts 
making waves across the sea of dried plants.  Even from great 
distances, you could hear the soft noise of the breeze as it passed.  
The world looked unspoiled and perfect.  He nodded in 
satisfaction.

"Somewhere in Oklahoma, and not a single person or 
dwelling in sight," he said out load.

	The sea of grass swayed on, unconcerned with his 
observations.

	"Very 'Dances with Wolves'," Nathaniel remarked.

	There was a motion off to his left.  Moving through the 
prairie grasses were several wolves.  They had not been there 
before, and Nathaniel had not heard them approach.  Watching 
their progress, he noted without fear that most of the wolves took a 
moment to ponder him before moving on about their business at a 
leisurely lope.

	"Well, that was interesting," he mentioned.

	For the sake of having something to do, other than just 
stand in once place, Nathaniel began walking.  Pushing aside the 
grasses, he left a trail behind him that soon disappeared over a 
hilltop.  Watching at the breeze sway the top of the prairie like 
random ocean waves, a thought occurred to him.

	'I bet it'd be really cool if a plane flew really low over the 
grass and made a wake--'

	There was a sudden roar that rattled Nathaniel to the core.  
Out of nowhere, an white F-16 shot over his head from behind, 
several hundred feet up.  Cruising past the startled engineer, the 
fighter dropped down until it was skimming only yards above the 
ground.  All behind the fighter's massive jet wash, the grasses 
waved and twisted like water that had been disturbed by an ocean 
liner.

	"Wow!" he exclaimed.  "That was totally excellent!  Man, 
what a cool dream this... is..."

	Nathaniel drifted off into silence.  After a while, it seemed 
pretty obvious.  This was a dream.  Standing still once again, he 
watched the fighter fly away, until it disappeared into the far 
distance.   He considered the direction the jet had flown, 
examining the distant landscape.  It was unlike the landscapes 
Nathaniel had been dreaming of since leaving the Earth.  There 
was no otherworldly shapes or colors.  No strange trees with 
strange women...

	"Am I a strange woman?" a voice asked from behind 
Nathaniel.

	He turned around and saw a woman with short, curly 
brown hair and high cheekbones standing a short distance away.  
She was perhaps just a few years older than Nathaniel by her 
appearance.  Wearing a short-sleeved summer dress, she clasped 
her hands in front of her elegantly.

	"You never could be a stranger," Nathaniel replied 
quietly.  "Though, to have you in my dreams twice in as many 
months, when for so many years you have been absent..."

	The woman nodded, the wind picking her hair up just a 
bit.

	"You haven't needed me in those years gone by," she said. 
"You needed to explore life without being held back by my 
memory."

He wondered at that.

"You always did like planes," the woman continued.  Her 
short hair moved slowly in the breeze.

	Nathaniel looked back to where the fighter had 
disappeared.  Looking down at himself, he brought up his hands 
and inspected them.

	"I'm older this time," he said simply.

	"That happens to all mothers' sons eventually," she 
replied.  "Even though sometimes mothers might wish it not 
happen so fast."

	"You look the same, though," observed Nathaniel.  "I am 
older, but..."

	She smiled and nodded again, lilting her head to one side 
slightly.

	"I am as old as you remember me to be," she said.  "I do 
not need to be otherwise."

	Turning away from Nathaniel towards one of the 
horizons, the woman looked off into the distance.  Hanging low 
where the prairie seemed to meet the sky, the clouds were dark and 
ominous.  Nathaniel followed her gaze.

	"She's coming," he noted suddenly, not at all at ease.  
"She always comes lately."

	"Your dreams have not been your own for a while now, 
Nathaniel," the woman answered.  "Just these little moments after 
you first lay your head down to sleep."

	Nathaniel nodded, watching the dark clouds move ever 
closer at a fast clip.  "I know," he said.  "I can never seem to stop 
her from being in my dreams.  It's almost as if she... forces my real 
dreams aside."

	"She seeks a mystery within you, I think."

	The prairie wind began to pick up steadily.  There was 
now a silver tint to the dark blue clouds, as if they were glowing 
incandescently.  

	"But, there's nothing special about me," Nathaniel 
wondered.  "There is no mystery about me... I'm just a normal 
guy..."

	The woman turned back to him.  "And that's why she will 
not find what she is searching for, Nathaniel," she replied.  "That's 
is why you must be careful, my son.  She may harm you while she 
seeks to understand your influence on Sasami."

	Nathaniel actually found himself blush just a touch.  "I 
didn't realize you noticed that," he said lamely. 

	"That, and the other one, too," she said without 
disapproval.  "Boys... once they discover girls, they completely 
forget about their mothers."

	Nathaniel stopped to consider what she meant about the 
'other' one, but by then his thoughts were pulled away.

	"She's here," he said regretfully.  "I'll see you again?"

	The woman nodded, looking up at the skies that boiled 
now directly overhead.

	"I'll always be here," she said quietly.  "Be wary of this 
one, my Nathaniel."

	Nathaniel looked over in the direction of the dark and 
ominous clouds racing overhead.  The wind tugged powerfully at 
his entire body in a gust, forcing him back a couple of steps.  
Slipping just a little, Nathaniel went to one knee, and his glasses 
tumbled off his face.

	"Damn it all," he swore, feeling about the tall grass for his 
glasses.  "This is the year I get laser surgery!"

	Getting all the way down on his hands and knees, the 
engineer searched blindly for the glasses, brushing aside long 
strands of prairie.  Moving forward in the direction he thought they 
might have fallen, Nathaniel pushed aside more and more 
vegetation, which was rapidly getting thicker.

	"You'll never succeed if you keep looking like that," a 
voice said knowingly.

	Nathaniel pushed through the thickest clump of grass and 
crawled out onto a nicely groomed lawn.  Looking up, he saw a 
figure through his blurry vision.

	"Yosho?" he asked, recognizing the voice.  "Have you 
seen my glasses?  I seem to have lost them."

	The blurry figure that was Yosho shook his head.  "They 
are unimportant and only obscure your senses," he replied.  "That 
which seems clearest is often what misleads the most."

	"Did you write fortune cookies in a previous life?"

	Standing up, Nathaniel brushed the dirt off the knees of 
his training uniform.  The uniform was damp with sweat and dingy 
looking in color.  Nathaniel pointed to the wooden training weapon 
in his hand.

	"You know," he continued, "this thing isn't helping me 
much.  Are you sure it's necessary?"

	Yosho, pushing back his spectacles, only shrugged.  
Brandishing his own bokken, he motioned for Nathaniel to attack.

	"It depends," replied the aging prince.  "I'm not certain 
how responsible I really feel for your predicament.  At some point 
I would not be surprised if I simply left you to your own devices."

	Nathaniel shrugged wearily, and moved towards Yosho, 
raising his weapon to attack.

	"I'm not really shocked to hear that," he said, swinging 
his wooden blade and missing completely.  "I get the feeling your 
people don't care much about my planet at all."

	Yosho was still very blurry in his vision and kept moving 
about just out of Nathaniel's reach.  Still, the prince managed to 
smack the engineer several times on the legs and arms.

	"That they find you irrelevant would be more fitting, I 
think," replied Yosho in an even tone.  He paused and then 
casually hit Nathaniel across the arms.

	"Ouch," grumbled Nathaniel, rubbing an arm in pain.  
"Hey, isn't this bio-suit supposed to be doing something?"

	Over to the side of the lawn, a short person with an 
immense mane of red hair was sitting cross-legged on the ground.  
She was peering intently at a plate with something on it.

	"Hello?" called Nathaniel in exasperation.  "Earth to 
scientist.  Human trying here to avoid an untimely death, filled 
with much pain and gnashing of teeth."

	A blurry Washu waved a hand in irritation.  "I've done 
just about all I can.  I may be the smartest scientist in the universe, 
but even I can't work a miracle on a human!"

	Nathaniel sighed and ran his fingers through his damp 
hair.  The wind was gone, but the air seemed heavy and 
oppressive.  The skies were still dark.

	"I thought you were genius," he said, frowning as he 
plucked the bio-suit fabric.

	Washu looked up from her plate.  There was a sandwich 
on it.

	"Affirmative, but it's not my fault you can't use it," the 
scientist retorted.  "I designed the suit perfectly.  You just keep 
getting in the way of it.  Now go away!  I've got to figure out the 
secret of peanut butter and jelly!"

	Nathaniel threw up his hands and turned away from the 
prince and the scientist.  Walking away from the training area, he 
pulled off his uniform and adjusted his normal clothes, which were 
underneath.  Moving down a city sidewalk, Nathaniel paused now 
and again to avoid bumping into the crush of people.  He could not 
recognize his location due to his poor vision, but everyone was 
speaking English and sounding decidedly from the Pacific-
Northwest of America.  It looked like it was about to rain over the 
city buildings.

	Suddenly, he felt the need for coffee.

	"Moron," a voice accused from off to his right.

	Raising an eyebrow while sipping on a nice coffee, 
french-vannilla by the taste, Nathaniel turned and tried to focus on 
a young woman with short-cropped hair and familiar features.  She 
was leaning against the side of a brick building.  It was definitely 
Mayuka.

	"What are YOU doing here, anyway?" she asked 
suspiciously.

	The coffee tasted really good.  He took another sip and 
considered the woman for a few moments.

	"I'm having coffee," he replied.

	"No kidding."

	"What are YOU doing here?" Nathaniel asked back.  
"Shouldn't you be back home in Japan or Jurai or someplace like 
that?"

	Mayuka appeared to shoot him a nasty look, though 
Nathaniel could not tell for sure.  A couple of guys in flannel with 
long hair passed between them, each carrying a guitar.  Nathaniel 
felt a tapping on his shoulder.

	"Would you like to take a survey?" asked a scruffy-
looking guy with long blonde hair.

	"Oh, no thanks," replied the engineer politely.  "I was just 
talking to this grouchy female."

	The surveyor looked over at Mayuka.  "Oh, her," he 
nodded, holding his clipboard.  "Yeah, she's like that a lot."

	"Piss off," Mayuka replied aloofly, inhaling on a 
cigarette.

	"Yeah, tell me about it," agreed Nathaniel.  "She threw a 
bowl of soup on me for no reason a few weeks ago."

	"Hey, wait... I guess you've got a real complaint," the 
scruffy guy said, scratching his head absently.  "Well, still need to 
find people to takes these surveys.  Laters."

	Nathaniel watched the guy wander off.  Impulsively, he 
called out.

	"Oh, hey! Kurt!" he said, guarding his coffee from getting 
bumped by passersby.  "Sorry as hell about what happened to 
you... you know."

	The fellow waved a hand casually.  "Nah, don't worry 
about it.  The whole `spokesman' for my generation crap was 
getting to be a drag anyway."

	With that, the fellow disappeared into a throng of coffee 
drinking people.  Nathaniel took another sip of his own coffee, 
which was still amazingly excellent.  He felt a drop or two of rain 
on his head.

	"Are you still here?" demanded Mayuka.  "Why can't you 
leave me alone?"

	Nathaniel ignored that question.  Scratching his head, he 
lifted up a magnifying glass to Mayuka and peered inquisitively at 
her.

	"So why are you here again, and not in Japan or on some 
other planet?" he asked.

	"I don't belong there," she replied with some heat.  "This 
place is better."

	"You don't really belong here, either," Nathaniel replied 
with certainty.  He could not really say why he felt so sure about 
that, but he did.

	Mayuka rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.  "You're 
one to talk," she retorted.  "I mean, look around.  Are you telling 
me YOU belong in this place?"

	Nathaniel looked around at the grand surroundings of the 
Jurai royal palace.  Here and there, servants went about their 
business, ignoring the splendor of the living trees that arched so 
high to make the palace walls and cathedral ceilings.  Now that he 
thought about it, maybe coming here was something of a mistake.

	"Yeah, I thought so," snorted Mayuka

	There was a tapping on Nathaniel's shoulder.  He looked 
around to see a rather bland looking Juraian, slightly balding, with 
a brochure in his hand.

	"Excuse me, sir," the fellow said politely.  "Would you 
care to purchase a futon?"

	Nathaniel shook his head with a frown.  "Uh, no thank 
you," he replied.  "I've, uh, got a bed here."

	The fellow shuffled away down one of the palace 
corridors, stopping once in a while to talk to uninterested people 
about futons.  Nathaniel looked back to Mayuka, who was cradling 
a ball of green energy in her hands.  The young woman was 
dressed in very fine gown of Jurai cut.

	"That's pretty amazing," he said, coming closer to her.

	"Don't you have to be somewhere?" she retorted.  "After 
all, you're keeping HER waiting.  Don't want to miss your 
opportunity to suck up."

	"Hey," snapped Nathaniel.  "I don't ask for these little 
visits, anymore than I ask for bowls of hot liquid to get thrown at 
me."

	"Yeah, well you deserved it," Mayuka snorted, though the 
logic of what he had done to `deserve' it completely escaped 
Nathaniel.  "She's coming.  Go away."

	"Fine," he gave up, turning around.

	Taking a few steps, Nathaniel's entire world turning a 
shimmering blue and silver.  As all the images of the palace, 
servants, and Mayuka fell away into a haze, the engineer felt 
himself being enveloped by a strong force.  Though there was no 
pain involved, he got the distinct impression someone was once 
again pushing aside his thoughts to probe his mind.

	Exploring places he would rather no one explore.

	He resisted for a span against the intrusion, but it 
overwhelmed him in the end, just as it had every night for the past 
several weeks.  In the distance of his mind, Nathaniel could see 
her, moving about and searching for something.  A woman who 
looked exactly like Sasami, but was not.

			*	*	*


	Liquid energy dripped silver and blue from outstretched 
fingertips, slipping noiselessly into a black pool of reflections.  In 
the deep reflections stood iridescent trees with gnarled trunks and 
shimmering leaves that reached for a limitless dome of black. 

	Within the flawless hand that extended forward, a perfect 
sphere of energy perched, the residuals pouring over skin and 
falling away.  The radiant sphere of energy that was held captive 
by a beautiful figure also held captive an entity of its own.  A 
consciousness that was subjugated and held in thrall, the energy 
sphere maintained an unyielding sway over the hapless being.

	Tsunami, self-proclaimed embodiment of Light and 
benefactor of the planet Jurai, considered the being within her 
grasp with a mixture of puzzlement and growing frustration.  The 
spirit's nature was to discern mysteries until their secrets were 
revealed, hidden fruits of labor to be bestowed upon Tsunami for 
her to use as she saw fit.

	The reality was that not many Juraians knew of her 
existence.  There were billions who knew Tsunami as the great tree 
that gave Princess Sasami's ship form and presence, but very few 
indeed who knew of the spirit that lurked within its essence.  Those 
who were aware had no knowledge of Tsunami's past or where her 
spirit had resided before the birth of the great tree that was the 
origin on Sasami's battleship.  No one was certain how long 
Tsunami had been a presence in the history of Jurai.

	Certainly, no one would have guessed from the very 
beginning of Jurai's recorded time.  No one would have even 
begun to postulate that Tsunami had been the catalyst for the 
advanced evolution of entire Jurai race, to say nothing of their 
genesis on a faraway planet in the restricted zone of Jurai space.  
As Jurai theologians and historians would certainly agree, the 
advent of their society was a divine grace that set them apart from 
all other species.  Such attitudes held so prevalently had over 
countless generations bred notions of ethnic purity and superiority 
that, while generally not manifesting as hostility towards other races, 
resulted in a certain superiority complex.

	But then again, they had reason to have such a complex.  
After all, they had been carefully bred that way as part of the great 
crusade against Dark.

	It was because of the great crusade against Dark that 
Tsunami again held, as she had done every night for the past 
several weeks, the consciousness of Nathaniel Swann in thrall.  At 
first there had been some difficulty in the spirit reaching the mind 
of the human, but that had been greatly facilitated during his stay 
on Princess Sasami's ship.  What began as a tenuous touch upon 
Nathaniel's mind had rapidly become a firm grip, especially since 
his arrival on Jurai where the influence of Tsunami's manipulation 
of the power of the great trees was greatest.

	Tsunami examined the mind of the human with calm and 
critical precision, delving deeper into Nathaniel's being.  Since his 
separation from Sasami some two weeks earlier, the princess had 
exhibited no further inclination to utilize the power of Jurai.

	The spirit frowned slightly at the thought of who separated 
Sasami from the human's strange influence. The empress was very 
troublesome, and was only becoming more so with every passing 
season.  Ayeka was not as pliable to Tsunami's silent suggestion 
and unseen prodding as Azusa had been.  However, the spirit had 
cultivated her control and influence over several thousand years 
since before the former emperor had even taken the throne.  Such 
an investment in Ayeka would take time as well.

	In truth, it was a miscalculation on Tsunami's part.  The 
spirit had been so convinced that Tenchi would develop into the 
perfect warrior of Light, so completely willing to be controlled that 
in turn Tsunami had neglected cultivating her influence over the 
daughters of Azusa.  Tsunami's distracted attention from the 
former emperor had probably even contributed to the man 
becoming so unstable that by the time the spirit was aware of his 
unbalanced state, she was unable to affect any further control over 
him.

	Tsunami continued to ponder the human mind she held 
for examination.  The links that the ordinary being had to the 
development of Sasami's use of the power of Jurai was still a 
mystery.  Since leaving his presence, Sasami had ceased to 
embrace the Jurai energy and showed no signs of the power and 
strength she had demonstrated on Earth.

	To a being as great as Tsunami, it was a perplexing 
problem, and Tsunami was not used to being perplexed.

			*	*	*


	There is something about a dream that can affect me like 
little else.  More often that not, a particularly vivid dream will 
color my entire day, changing the way in which I look at things.  
For better or for worse, really.

	That night I had dreamed of a crescent moon.  It hung low 
in the west, a mere sliver passing behind high, thin clouds in a 
summer night.  I was following that moon west, though it was not 
directly in front of me, but more off to the south.  The car I was in 
was familiar, as was the country road I was driving.  It was one of 
those long, flawlessly straight desert highways that I found 
American road builders so adept at.

	It was a dream about something I had done while in 
America, that was why it was all so familiar.  I went to college in 
the state of Washington; an art college, actually.  Sure, I could 
have stayed in Japan and gone to school there, but you have to 
understand that I really wanted to get away.  Not just from Japan, 
but from my family as well.  I mean, however you want to look at 
it, right or wrong, I felt kind of trapped at home.  

	Me, Mayuka, the totally non-extraordinary member of the 
Masaki residence.

	Being around so many interesting notions and revelations 
about the world beyond Earth and not being able to talk to anyone 
about these things was kind of maddening.  I always had to check 
what I said, less my family's little secret get out.  Just how would I 
be able to explain that my daddy's arguably the most powerful 
wielder of the power of Jurai, a planet that just happens to rule 
most of the galaxy?  It is not one of those things you can chat with 
your friends about, you know?

	Anyhow, I never found it easy being normal.  It was not 
until I left Japan for America that I finally had the chance to be 
comfortable in my own skin.  Suddenly, I did not have to come 
home to an entire household of talents that far outweighed 
anything I could do.  Suddenly, I was amongst normal people my 
age and not having to worry about hiding my family's secret.  I 
mean, no one at my university was going to be able to hop a bus to 
the Masaki residence and see Ryo-ohki popping in and out of thin 
air, right?  That alone was a major weight off my shoulders.

	So what did this whole dream thing have to with that?  
Well, at the end of my last semester, I let my best friend from 
college, Cindy, talk me into traveling with her across the western 
United States.  That's where the crescent moons and desert 
highways came from.  You could chase the moon and stars all 
night long and never seen another vehicle, the deserts were so 
huge.

	Cindy was something of a goofball, but in a good way.  I 
found it good, anyway.  Cindy was also loaded, thanks to her very 
wealthy parents.  Despite that, she looked about as poor as any 
other student, shopping at thrift stores and living on a budget.  Her 
parents were quite surprising; during most of the year, they seemed 
terribly normal and dull just like any other professional couple you 
might meet.  Her father was a dentist and her mother a lawyer.  Not 
exactly what you would expect a hot bed of oddity to spring from.  
However, every weekend from spring to fall each year, Cindy's 
parents would roll out their motorcycles and hit the road.  And 
we're not talking Japanese bikes, but rather the big American 
Harleys.  Monster bikes that were more noisy than anything else, 
but looking at Cindy's folks, dressed in riding leathers and sporting 
a couple of tattoos each, you never would have thought they were 
respectable during the week.  I'm pretty sure none of their clients 
had a clue.

	I mean, what would be your first thought if the guy who 
was about to work on your teeth mentioned his favorite movie was 
Easy Rider?

	Anyhow, Cindy's parents and their other professional 
friends spent two weeks each summer riding out across the 
country.  Cindy did not have a motorcycle, mainly because they 
are too expensive, but tagging along in her Jeep Wrangler was not 
without its appeal.  Sure, I did not want to go home to Japan right 
away, and there was nothing but bad memories around campus 
during the summer.  It did not take much convincing to be Cindy's 
companion for a couple weeks of excursion.

	It all happened really fast.  The night Cindy told me of her 
family's plan, she started hauling out all kinds of gear for the trip.  
Sleeping bags, hiking gear, and other things that looked like they 
had a lot of previous use.  Cindy was basically a granola chick, but 
was not extreme about it.  She told me once she could never be a 
hippie, because she valued regular bathing and grooming too 
much.  Her enthusiasm and all the gear got me pretty excited and 
going on this trip seemed like a great escape from the rest of my 
life.

	When I asked her when she planned on heading out, she 
replied she was leaving for her folks as soon as the sun came up.

	The only irrational doubt I had about this whole scheme 
was then, because I am not always good at being spontaneous.  I 
mean, I AM my daddy's daughter all the way, despite my 
pretenses to the contrary.  No one ever accused my daddy of being 
quick on the draw about making a decision to do things when he 
was my age.  Case in point, the whole Ayeka versus Ryoko thing.  
Only my daddy could have sat on the sidelines for a couple of 
years while two attractive women fought over him.  Can you 
imagine?  Now, my sister is the real think-after-you-act member of 
my family.  Like mother like daughter and all that..

	Anyhow, despite my inherited predisposition to being 
cautious about things, I spent most of the night with Cindy getting 
packed.  After a few hours and a few creative uses of her blender, 
we crashed on her floor.  That morning, we crammed all the stuff 
in her Jeep and headed to her folk's place not far away.  The day 
after that, we were on the road.

	Cindy's parents and friends totaled up to twelve 
motorcycles in the group.  We, the oddballs, tagged along behind 
in Cindy's Jeep.  We headed out of Seattle early in the morning 
and hit I-90 east.  The scenery was nice going over the Cascades, 
especially since I had never really done much in the way of 
exploring myself while in America.  We drove behind the bikers 
all day and stopped in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in the evening.  At 
first it did not seem like we had gone very far, but the miles were a 
lot gentler in the Jeep than they were on the bikes.  Everyone 
looked a little saddle sore for their first day out, but as the days 
wore on, they got used to long drives again.

	After that, we cruised down the Bitterroot mountain 
range, passing countless little mining towns.  I had never imagined 
so much land totally unpopulated.  Sure, I had seen the Earth from 
Ryo-ohki too many times to count, but traveling with my nose at 
ground level caused me to appreciate it that much more.  I mean, 
so much of Japan is such a crush.  Even though where the Masaki 
shrine and our house is rural, it certainly was not as remote as 
much of the American west.

	We camped out at national park sites, hiked in the 
evenings, ate food over a little gas stove we had stashed in the Jeep 
or over an open fire.  During the day, we took turns at the wheel, 
still tagging along behind the motorcycles.  You could really get 
into a daze, blindly following along behind their gleaming helmets 
and the shine of all the chrome.  When I was not driving, I napped 
in the warm air, letting the smells and breezes of the mountains 
wash over me.  There would be times were Cindy and I talked 
nonstop about things like life, the future, men. the important 
stuff.  There were also the invariable lapses into the ridiculous, 
which usually degenerated into uncontrollable laughter.  Then we 
would go for hours without saying a word.  That is a real 
friendship, you know?  When you can be with someone and not 
have to say anything for long periods of time and still be satisfied.

Everything was slow and dreamy, and I could not have 
been happier.  Home and all the super-extraordinary people were 
so very far away.  Japan and fitting into the Japanese mold was so 
very far away.  I think I could have forgotten them altogether.  
Maybe.

	It was at Idaho Falls that we split company with Cindy's 
parents and the rest of the bikers.  They were heading towards 
Yellowstone National Park, but Cindy had other plans.

	"After all, I've seen those geysers more times than I want 
to count," she said, rolling her eyes.

	I was not so sure, because I had heard that Yellowstone 
was one of the natural wonders of the world.  Cindy convinced me 
that time of year it was jam packed with tourists, endless traffic 
congestion, just like a city.  Cindy, the adventurous bird that she 
was, wanted to get out into the more remote southwest.  Sitting at a 
gas station in Idaho Falls, she swore up and down that I would see 
just as many amazing things on her detour as at Yellowstone.  
Again, my conservative nature tugged at me, but in the end I was a 
pushover; I figured Cindy knew more than I did about this country, 
after all.

	Cindy's folks, for their part, blithely waved goodbye and 
wished us luck as we took off.  That was amazing to me, because 
anytime I left my home in Japan, it usually involved a big 
production from my family.  Cindy's parents acted like we were 
going down the corner for ice cream and would be right back.  We 
watched the group of motorcycles roar away.

	"They raised me to be smart and independent," Cindy 
commented.  "Don't worry, Mayuka.  What's the worst that could 
happen?"

	"We could get eaten by bears," I replied.

	Cindy thought about that for a bit, chewing her lower lip.  
"We're more likely to get converted where we're heading."

	"Converted?" I asked perplexed.

	"Utah," Cindy said, climbing behind the driver's seat.  
"Salt Lake City is the spiritual center of the Mormons.  It's also the 
home of the smelliest, deadest, most inhospitable lake in the 
United States."

	That did not sound terribly appealing, and I told her so.

	"Don't worry," Cindy smirked.  "We'll just stop for 
pictures."

	As we drove through the late afternoon, I thought some 
more about the direction we were heading.  Peering through the 
ever-present sheen of splattered bugs on the windshield, I looked 
over at Cindy.

	"Why would anyone choose to live next to a lake that is 
as bad as you describe it?" I asked.

	Cindy shrugged.  "Mormons had a pretty tough time 
living in the eastern states and got harassed a lot," she said.  "I 
guess they finally found a place to live that no one else wanted."

	We had compact discs, but Cindy and I rarely listened to 
them.  Instead, we fell in with the crackling sounds of the radio, 
listening to jockeys from faraway towns over the mountains talk 
and spin music.  Rock, jazz, country-western; it was all good.  Our 
little Jeep crossed big rivers and small streams, where cold water 
slowly washed away massive amounts of rock.  We ran on small 
roads under big sky, blue and laced with clouds that hung lazy in 
the air.  At night, satellites passed overhead, flying across the star-
laced dome above.  Shooting stars raced by, their long journey 
across the solar system cut short in a fiery burst.  We saw so many 
flashes across the night that we quickly ran out of wishes.

	What do you wish for when you run out of wishes?  
Strangely enough, I found myself hoping that everyone I knew 
back home was doing well.  Except for my ex-boyfriends, of 
course.  They deserved every ill possible.  That was just the lot of 
ex-boyfriends, though, and since they should have known better 
than to jilt me, they had no room to complain.

	We passed through Utah without being converted, much 
to Cindy's relief.  Cindy was terribly worried about strange beliefs 
or notions rubbing off on her and turning her into what she called a 
fundamentalist.  I refrained from mentioning that I was the 
daughter of the most powerful member of a royal family, which 
ruled this planet and most of the galaxy.  That strange notion might 
have pushed her to have me committed at a mental institution.  

	Cindy perked up remarkably when we reached Las Vegas.  
There were a lot of lights, and it was a spectacular sight.  There 
were also hordes of Japanese tourists there, interestingly enough.  
We stopped at the MGM Grand for a day, lost a goodly amount of 
money (at least in my eyes, but Cindy was loaded), got free drinks, 
and gave attractive young men fake room numbers when we got hit 
on.  We laughed at what their faces would look like when some 
retired couple opened the door on them.

	It was night when Cindy and I pulled out of Vegas, 
cruising up highway 95 and climbing into the desert high country.  
It was there that the moon hung low in the western sky, allowing 
us to chase it down the highway.  The air was fine crystal, its taste 
a draught I had never experienced before.  Wrapped up in a blanket 
in the passenger's seat of the jeep, sheltered from the cool of the 
desert night, I wondered how it would be to stay in this massive 
country forever.  I wondered how someone could even dream of 
exploring all the worlds in the Milky Way galaxy when an entire 
lifetime would barely be enough to explore a single continent on 
Earth.

	So, I dreamed about this trip or at least the part where I 
was driving at night in Cindy's jeep chasing the moon.  And, just 
like other vivid dreams in my past, it affected the rest of my day.  
Why was that important?  Maybe because it put me in a really 
good mood.  It might have not been obvious to the casual observer, 
but in the weeks leading up to our arrival on Jurai, I had been 
something of a grump.  The two weeks of near house arrest in the 
palace since had not helped my attitude much, either.  Had I started 
the day in my usual lovely temperament, things might have turned 
out way different than they did.  Being bored and frustrated at 
having no one to talk to for all that time probably led up to things 
going the way they did.

	I mean, up to that point, I could not even stand to be in the 
same room with the guy.

	The odd thing was, despite the pleasing memories of my 
dream from that night, there was something just slightly out of 
place in my mind as my personal maid got me up and out of bed.  
Something I just could not get out of my head.

	Why was I thinking about a man selling futons?

			*	*	*


	That the wood was alive, she was certain.  How it lived, 
she could not even begin to fathom.  Woven with intricate loops 
and weaves delicate enough to garner the admiration of the finest 
seamstress, the living wood was wholly separate from anything 
that would fit the traditional conception of a plant requiring 
traditional nourishment.  No water flowed through its fiber, for 
there were no roots attaching it to the fertile world.  No energy 
could be converted by it, for there were no leaves to harness the 
energy of the sun.  And yet, it was imbued with life, drawing from 
an unseen source of energy that was intangible to its wearer.

	She stared at the fine grains of the wood, which wrapped 
around her supple wrist.  Like a bracelet, it rested against her skin, 
polished with a warm hue.  The wooden bracelet was physically 
warm, as well, further evidence of the mysterious energy within.

	Her head was lying on silken sheets, one of her cheeks 
pressing into the softness of the bed.  Renegade wisps of hair were 
quiet across her face, motionless where they had fallen from the 
last turn of her head.  The arm that graced the living bracelet 
outstretched from her body, languid against the backdrop of the 
fine bedding.  Eyes followed the rolls and dips of its weave, 
finding no seam or lock that revealed where one strand of the wood 
began or ended.

	There was a whisper against the marble floor.  Filmy 
curtains that promised an entire world beyond caressed the marble, 
pushed gently by a summer breeze that originated from the vast 
forest surroundings outside the room.  Breezes that slipped their 
way past the translucent sentries to the room's balcony swirled in 
an invisible dance.

	She felt the breeze kiss her cheek, her neck, her other arm, 
and her thigh.  Though warm, the morning air did have the cunning 
to steal some very little of her body's heat, incensing within her the 
desire to shiver slightly.  Embracing the empty state of mind with 
which she studied the wood bracelet around her youthful wrist, she 
resisted the urge to tremble from the chill.  The silken sheets that 
had been her bed linings through the night still fell across her 
knees down to her toes.  It was a small bastion of warmth from 
which the need to shiver was pushed aside.  Moving on in silent 
protest, the currents of air drifted away.

	Was there a need to move?  At that moment, resting her 
cheek on the bed, one arm out stretched while the other hung on 
the side of her body, folded neatly over the curve of her hip, there 
was none she could devise.  She had woken some time ago, staring 
at beautiful arches that stretched up over her resting-place, 
observing them with the same sense of detachment with which she 
now observed the bracelet.  The only movement the empty room 
had witnessed was the near silent rolling of the young woman's 
body to her side.  Perception of time was absent from her, a 
comfortable bedfellow to the detachment she willingly embraced 
on the bed.

	A noise from the far direction of the room elicited no 
movement from her.  Opening smoothly, a great door made of 
living wood glided over the marble floor, followed by the footfalls 
of feet clad in soft material.  The intruder did not pass into view, 
and the young woman on the bed did not make an effort to move 
her head.  Quiet activity continued for several minutes in various 
areas of the room, full of some unseen ritual and purpose.  A scent 
reached her nose, one that strove to awaken her mind fully.  
Freshly cut flowers?  Yes, and in full bloom, certainly.

	A ripple of motion slipped across the bed upon which she 
lay.  A weight from behind her back caused the bed to depress, 
threatening to roll her over, her face to the ceiling once more.  Still, 
she did not move or allow herself the luxury of any emotion or 
response.  Within the next moment, a touch alighted on her arm.  A 
hand, smooth and warm, rested on her forearm.  Sliding up to her 
bare shoulder, a gentle voice beckoned.

	"My lady," the voice entreated unhurriedly.  "My lady, 
the morning is new."

	Responding to the touch at her shoulder, the young lady 
allowed her body to roll on its back.  The arm that had hung over 
her hip now draped across her abdomen, while her other arm lay 
still outstretched towards the edge of the bed.  Through strands of 
hair that still covered her eyes, she saw the features of a petite 
young woman looking down at her with a small smile that 
promised the start of the morning's ritual.  The new arrival to the 
bed gracefully brushed the hair from the face of the young lady.  

	"Lady Mayuka," she said, still brushing the other's face.  
"The palace stirs.  It is time to rise with it."

	Mayuka looked up at the young woman's face, not 
unfamiliar to her at all.  Honey brown hair framed the young 
woman, interwoven with flowers and a fine wooden comb that 
kept the maid's mane from falling forward over her face.  The garb 
she was adorned in was rich, yet cut simply in the manner of every 
maid in the palace.  Walnut shaped eyes, reflecting a liquid brown 
color, observed the woman lying on the bed, while attempting to 
persuade with a look.  Mayuka instead closed her own eyes, letting 
the maid stroke the curve of her face freely.  

	"Your morning bath has been drawn, my lady," the 
maid's voice said from above.

	The maid's hand left Mayuka's face, its sudden absence 
leaving almost an ache within her.  A touch was made again and 
Mayuka settled as the maid slipped a small hand into hers.  Pulling 
an unresisting Mayuka up to a sitting position, the maid then 
moved away the sheets that covered her legs.  Mayuka did not 
protest at the sudden exposure to the morning air on her bare 
calves and ankles.  Reaching across her, the maid deftly hooked 
her arm under Mayuka's knees and brought the Earthling's legs 
around and over the edge of the bed.  A sleeping gown, finer and 
lighter than the morning's currents that entered the bedroom from 
outside, hung low off her shoulders, its hem pushed up at the 
middle of her thighs from a night of turning in her sleep.

	Mayuka allowed herself to be guided off the bed and onto 
her feet.  The maid's hand still holding hers, Mayuka was led 
across the cool marble of the floor into an adjoining room.  
Crossing under a low archway, covered in a wooden motif, she felt 
the air fill with moisture as they walked.  Opening her eyes, she 
saw slowly moving billows of steam that escaped from the hot 
waters within the bath.  The bathing room had no windows, unlike 
the cavernous sleeping chamber, and only one entrance through 
which the maid easily guided Mayuka.  Heat was a luxury from the 
waiting waters, and any attempt at designing openings in the tiled 
and wooden walls would only have allowed the warmth to escape.

	Mayuka was led up to the side of a large bath, steam 
rising off its smooth surface.  With a passivity that she could not 
have even begun to imagine two weeks earlier, Mayuka allowed 
the maid to remove her sleeping garment.  Not a heavy piece of 
cloth to begin with, the maid slipped the gown first past one 
shoulder and then the other, allowing it to slip down the entire 
length of Mayuka's athletic body.  The sleeping gown tumbled in a 
soft pile at her feet.  

	That was what Mayuka had been waiting for all morning, 
the electric sensation to be standing so close to a stranger and 
bared of all clothing.

	Extending a hand, the maid helped Mayuka down to a low 
stool, beside which were several fine wash clothes, soap, and a 
flowing fountain of water.  Picking up one of the wash cloth and 
soap, the maid worked up an excessive lather and passed it to 
Mayuka.  She began to slowly wash away the previous day's wear, 
while the maid took a position behind her and began gently 
scrubbing her neck, shoulders, and back.

	The initial reaction Mayuka had the first morning after 
her arrival on Jurai to this kind of personalized luxury was one of 
near panic.  Having no idea what the maids had in store for her, she 
was surprised and unable to react fast enough before her 
nightgown was hanging at her waist, her bare torso exposed to a 
pair of palace maids.  Judging her reaction rather curiously as 
Mayuka covered her breasts with her arms defensively, the two 
maids simply assumed Mayuka's reaction to be one of a cultural 
difference, apologized, and explained their actions as 
commonplace for royalty and guests in the palace.  They then 
waited patiently for Mayuka to decide what to do next.  Her first 
reaction was to shuffle her gown back on immediately and hustle 
the two maids out of her quarters without delay.  But as her hand 
started to reach for the gown that hung low about her waist, 
Mayuka paused.

	This was something she had never done before, though 
certainly she had over the years fantasized about what it would be 
like to be cared for hand and foot in this fashion, as if she were the 
most important person in the world.  Of course, she had shared the 
onsens at the Masaki residence and number of times with Washu 
and Sasami, but this seemed different, somehow.  

	Unable to decide why it should be different, she rationalized that 
maybe there was nothing to fear at all.  It would be just like her 
numerous figure-drawing classes in college.  She could not even 
begin to count how many strangers had stripped nude in front of 
her and a classroom full of other students without causing any kind 
of sensation or reaction.  There was not even anything remotely 
sexual or erotic about it.  Why then, should what the palace maids 
were proposing be any different?  And that was how her decision 
was rationalized.  The funny thing was, as Mayuka looked back on 
it, barely a minute had passed before she was completely relaxed 
and at ease with her nude body being visible to strangers.

	Finishing the cleaning of her body, the maid picked up a 
finely crafted wooden bucket of warm water and slowly poured it 
over the young woman, washing away all the soap.  Reaching for a 
small vial of a thicker liquid, the maid proceeded to massage it into 
Mayuka's scalp, creating a foaming lather.  Mayuka had found this 
to be a delectable experience the very first morning, having 
someone else wash her hair and scalp.  Every stroke of the maid's 
fingers on her head was heavenly.

	Rinsing the young woman off again to remove any of the 
suds from her hair, the maid offered her hand again and gently led 
Mayuka step by step into the steaming pool of water.  As Mayuka 
slid her form inch by inch into the heat, the maid tidied up the area 
quietly before leaving.

	Left alone with her thoughts, Mayuka quickly drifted off 
into some faraway place, her body melting in the warm water.  She 
remained that way for some amount of time, before being 
extricated by the returning maid.  Standing by the pool, dripping, 
Mayuka allowed the maid to towel her dry, finally using the towel 
to wrap her short hair up around her head.

	A second maid arrived, just as Mayuka had come to 
expect over the past two weeks.  Leading her away from the pool, 
the two maids brought the young woman back into the main 
chamber, where a cushioned table had been set up.  The two maids 
helped the nude Mayuka onto the table, where she laid down.  
Mayuka was then subjected to an oil massage.

	It was a half-hour of bliss that Mayuka had come to rely 
on.  Aside from the sensual enjoyment of having the two women 
pamper Mayuka beyond her previous notions of contentment, the 
morning treatment was a cure for the isolation she had been 
enduring since leaving Earth.  Mayuka had been cut off from 
everyone, and the loneliness of it all was making her hunger for 
any kind of contact.  And while the maids were essentially 
strangers to her, and not necessarily even the same ones from 
morning to morning, their touch and comfort was better than 
nothing.

	As Mayuka was dressed, she admitted that it was not just 
the trip to Jurai in which she was set apart from everyone in her 
life.  In reality, she had felt this way for some time while on Earth, 
especially in her last two years of college.  With the exception of 
Cindy, Mayuka did not really have anyone she thought of as a 
close friend, and certainly no romantic interests.  All in all, it made 
her feel slightly abandoned and left out.

	The trip to Jurai had only served to highlight those 
feelings to a level of excruciating annoyance and longing.

	As the two maids were finishing up, Mayuka's escort 
arrived.  A beautiful young woman about Mayuka's age, she was a 
very distant relative of the royal family named Jira.  Her relation to 
the royal family was so remote that it served two purposes, which 
made her an ideal attachment to Mayuka.  First, Jira had no 
illusions or pretensions about being `royalty', and second, her 
removed lineage meant she was of no value to anyone seeking a 
pawn to get an improved position or standing with the empress.  
Jira had lived for five years at the palace in the service of a sub-
chamberlain and had yet to even meet Empress Ayeka, aside from 
seeing her a handful of times pass by with a royal entourage.

	Jira's job, as it had been for the past two weeks, was to 
take time off from her responsibilities and essentially baby-sit 
Mayuka.  Actually, the empress was more concerned about 
Mayuka heading off on her own or speaking to someone out of 
turn and letting loose the secret of her identity.  Jira, for her part, 
did not know Mayuka was directly related to the empress and 
simply assumed that the young woman was what she appeared to 
be: an Earthling friend of the princess.

	Jira had not met Princess Sasami, either, but in the back 
of her mind she thought this might be a once in a lifetime 
opportunity to do so through association with Mayuka.  As a result, 
Jira went out of her way to feign friendship and confidence in 
Mayuka.  Truth be told, Jira found the earthling's quiet and 
standoffish demeanor boorish.  However, Jira had decided that was 
to be expected.  After all, how interesting could someone from a 
backward little planet really be?  She wondered how the princess 
stood to be around beings like that.

	Regardless, Jira dutifully took Mayuka around again that 
day to a new part of the massive palace that they had yet to 
explore.  They had yet to leave the royal residence wing of the 
palace, but even with that there were still countless acres to see.  
The bracelet on Mayuka's arm did not allow her access to the other 
areas of the palace beyond the residence wing anyway.

	Mayuka and Jira were wandering though a section of the 
royal gardens that day.  Immense and sprawling, one could wander 
the grounds for days and not see all of it.  Though as far as Mayuka 
was concerned, once you had seen one section, you had seen them 
all.

	Mayuka was also growing equally tired of Jira's 
company.  From Mayuka's point of view, if it was not thought of 
or made by a Juraian, then it was of little interest to Jira.  The 
earthling suspected that went for her as well, though Jira never said 
so much.  Nor would she, since she did not want to offend the one 
person in the palace who might be her ticket to meeting Princess 
Sasami.  Not that Mayuka had any inclinations to do so at any 
time.

	It was during that day's excursion around the palace 
gardens that Mayuka noticed an unobtrusive archway in a massive 
hedgerow.  The arch was made of small trees and vines, their limbs 
contorting and twisting to form a kind of gate about twice as wide 
and as tall as a person. You could not look through the gate to what 
lay beyond due to a shimmering blue energy field that was 
maintained within the area encompassed by the limbs and vines.  
Mayuka asked Jira where it led.

	"Oh, that leads into the private area of the royal gardens," 
the Jurai woman replied absently.

	Mayuka blinked.  "I thought we were in a private garden," 
she said.

	Jira smiled pleasantly, resisting the urge to sigh at having 
to explain something she found so obvious.  "They are," she 
answered.  "These gardens are the private area for guests of the 
royal family, which is why you are allowed to be here."

	Mayuka thought it might have been her imagination, but 
there was a peculiar emphasis about the way Jira used the word 
allowed.

	"Beyond this gate," continued Jira, "are the garden 
grounds reserved for only direct members of the royal family.  The 
gate only recognizes those who are divinely blessed to rule the 
empire.  Only if they are invited by a member of the royal family 
can a noble or commoner be allowed to pass."

	There was a look on Jira's face that could have been 
interpreted as `this definitely should not include you.'

	Mayuka felt by that point, she had had enough of the 
company of Jira for one day.  Putting a hand to her head, Mayuka 
adopted a slightly pained expression.

	"Is there something wrong?" asked Jira.

	"Oh, no," lied Mayuka.  "I just was feeling a little tired, 
that's all.  I was thinking of returning to my residence for the day."

	Jira brightened just a bit.

	`Fine,' thought Mayuka.  `Just can't wait to get me off of 
your hands, can you?'

	Jira batted her eyelashes sympathetically.  "I can escort 
you if you like."

	Mayuka smiled inwardly.  "Oh, that is so terribly kind of 
you," she replied sweetly.  "Actually, I was thinking of just resting 
her in the gardens for a while before trying to make that long walk 
back.  Please don't think you have to wait here with me, after all, I 
am certain I am keeping you from your important duties as the 
assistant to a sub-chamberlain!"

	Well, actually, thought Jira, she was.  At least the 
barbarian girl had the good sense to realize what an important job 
Jira had.  Exchanging a few more pleasantries, and thinking that 
spending a day away from Mayuka would not hurt her chances at 
possibly meeting Princess Sasami, Jira headed off through the 
gardens, quickly disappearing.

	Mayuka watched her go.  Sitting down in the grass, 
Mayuka kicked back and stared up at the sky.  The sun was not 
quite overhead, but the air was clear and filled with little clouds.  
She lay motionless for quite some time, working up the courage to 
do what she had planned in the back of her mind.

	Finally, Mayuka shoved herself up off the lawn and 
walked up to the small gate that blocked the way to the private 
royal gardens.  Not certain what would happen, or how the gate 
would respond, Mayuka slowly approached the gate, apprehensive.

	"Halt," an ethereal voice said in the Jurai language.

	Mayuka was nearly startled out of her skin.

	"Access is restricted to the Jurai royal family," the voice 
continued.  "Your identification tag lists you as not of the royal 
family."

	She looked at the bracelet on her wrist.  There was 
something a little disconcerting about the way the bodiless voice 
referred to it as a `tag'.  Tags usually came with collars...

	"I... I am a member of the royal family," Mayuka 
hesitantly offered.  If this did not work, would sirens go off?  
Would hordes of guardians come charging with their energy 
weapons?  How in the world was she going to explain this to her 
father when she got back---

	Mayuka shook her head in annoyance, pushing those 
irrational thoughts away.

	"Please state your royal lineage for analysis," the voice 
intoned.

	"My lineage?" she blinked.  "Well, my daddy and my 
great grandfather are members of the royal family."

	There was a pause.

	"There is no record in the memory of the great trees of a 
`daddy' or `great grandfather' in the royal family," replied the 
voice of the gate.  "Please restate your royal family lineage or 
depart this portal area."

	Mayuka chewed her lip.  Obviously, this gate or portal 
would not know what she meant by `daddy.'  She chided herself 
for still sounding like a child sometimes, even though she was 
twenty-one.

	"My father," she finally said, "is Lord Tenchi Masaki, 
grandson of Prince Yosho, brother to the empress Ayeka."

	As Mayuka said her pedigree, she was not so certain that 
the gate would be impressed.  She really had no idea how far down 
the line you had to go before the great trees ceased to find you important.

	There was another pause as the gate considered.

	"Please step forward for genetic verification of lineage," 
said the portal.

	Mayuka took a couple of steps nearer the gate and was 
immediately enveloped in a soft blue energy.  She froze in a panic, 
but then calmed as she could not feel anything bad happening to 
her.

	"Verifying," droned the voice.

	The young woman raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms 
over her stomach, and waited.

	"Lineage verification, complete," the portal finally 
offered, causing Mayuka to breathe a sigh of relief.  "Confirmation 
of relationship to Lord Tenchi Masaki and Prince Yosho accepted.  
Personal identification from your tag lists you as one Mayuka 
Masaki.  Is this correct?"

	"Uh, sure," she answered.

	There was a third pause as the great trees chewed this new 
bit of information.  There was a sudden shimmer as the energy 
field protecting the gate dissipated.  Mayuka could see an inner 
garden through the hedgerow portal.

	"Identification accepted," finalized the voice.  "The Lady 
Mayuka Masaki has been accepted into the memory of the great 
trees.  Access to royal areas is now granted.  Use of an 
identification tag is now unnecessary."

	Mayuka looked at her wrist bracelet.  She had no idea 
how to get it off, as it morphed around her wrist and no attempts to 
work it back over her arm or hand had proven successful.

	"But, I can't get it off," she complained.

	"Identification tags now directed to respond to the Lady 
Mayuka Masaki's commands," said the portal simply.

	The young woman really liked the sound of her name 
with the title `Lady' in front of it.  Looking at the bracelet, she 
mentally ordered it to come off.  Without hesitation, the living 
wood morphed from around her wrist and dropped into the palm of 
her other hand.

	"Cool," smiled Mayuka happily, and walked through the 
gate.
	

			*	*	*

	Tsunami looked up from where she continued to examine 
Nathaniel's mind, an expression of displeasure on her perfect 
features.

	The great trees had just accepted Mayuka as a member of 
the royal family, without question or hesitation.  Tsunami bristled 
at the willful independence of the great trees.  Could they not sense 
the young woman's evil origins?  Could they not sense the Dark 
that riddled and coursed through her veins?

	Tsunami eased her frown, and turned back to her probe of 
Nathaniel's mind.  The spirit had examined the human for too long 
and risked wearing out the fragile mind.  It was very possible that 
too much intrusive exploration of Nathaniel's memories at one 
time could do permanent damage to his brain.  And that would 
serve no purpose until Tsunami pieced together what made this 
human such an influence on Sasami.

	As for the great trees, they had made their decision, and it 
has hard to persuade them to do otherwise.  Tsunami was consoled 
by the fact that Mayuka was insignificant and even more ordinary 
than Nathaniel, and not worth being concerned over.  

	Releasing her hold on Nathaniel's mind, Tsunami turned 
away from those mysteries and looked towards other parts of the 
galaxy.

			*	*	*


	Nathaniel awoke abruptly from his troubled sleep, 
startled.  Blinking through blurry eyes, he propped himself up and 
peered around, wondering where exactly he was.  Looking to his 
left, there was an open terrace through which he could see daylight 
streaming.  Fine, translucent curtains ran down from the vaulted 
ceiling and swayed softly in the morning breeze.  The air smelled 
of flowers from the magnificent royal garden below.

	Realizing where he was, Nathaniel collapsed backward 
onto the bed and rested, staring up at the ceiling.  He wondered 
what time it was.  He pulled his arm over his head and looked at 
the display on his wristwatch before remembering that it was 
totally useless on Jurai.  The Jurai day was a few hours longer than 
an Earth one, throwing off his timepiece completely.

	His glasses were, thankfully, where he had left them the 
night before on a finely cultured living wooden table beside the 
bed.  Actually, the bed was so huge, it took Nathaniel a few crawls 
just to get to the edge of it.  Snagging his spectacles, he then 
proceeded to look at a Jurai clock that hung gracefully on a nearby 
wall, its gold pendulum moving back in forth silently.

	Nathaniel frowned as he watched the pendulum move.  
Each swing was a bit longer than an Earth second, which bothered 
him slightly.  Looking at the face of the clock, Nathaniel peered at 
the Juraian symbols, trying to see if he had memorized them yet.  
Realizing that they were still a bit beyond his slow morning 
thought processes, he once again reached for the table and picked 
up a small piece of paper.  On the paper was a translation of the 
Juraian timekeeping system drawn up by Yosho.  

	Jurai time was not measured by seconds, minutes, and 
hours as on Earth or by some similar fashion as on many other 
worlds in the galaxy, but by somewhat obscure impressions of 
time.  Nathaniel looked at the only hand on the clock face and then 
matched the symbol on the paper.

	It was the time of morning when sunlight, streaming 
through the Holy Trees, sparkled dew on a Star of Jurai.

	Whatever that meant.

	Nathaniel also observed that his clothes from the day 
before had been silently exchanged for a new set, laid out on an 
elegantly grown wooden chair.  The human frowned just a bit at 
the realization that yet another night had passed with someone 
sneaking about his room while he slept.  In fact, Nathaniel had 
spent the better part of the past fortnight since arriving at the 
palace trying to figure out just when the mysterious royal laundry 
servants did their nocturnal duties, but to no avail.

	Not that Nathaniel was trying to stay awake, but there was 
that now familiar uneasy feeling making itself felt again as he lay 
still for a moment.  A feeling like something had shoved his 
normal dreams aside and replaced them with a strange encounter 
that left him every bit as tired as if he had been awake the entire 
time.  Maybe he would feel better if he tried to do away with sleep 
all together, but he was not terribly convinced that would work.

	What Nathaniel really needed was a break from her.

	His eyes narrowed in thought as he studied the light 
streaming through the vaulted balcony.  Which `her' was he 
referring to anyway?  Nathaniel shook his head and rubbed his face 
wearily.  The line between the two identical looking women in his 
dreams was getting more and more indistinct each night.  One 
set of dreams was more disorientating than the other, but only 
just a little more so.

	The dreams of Sasami had been there since he left Earth.  
Those left him feeling a bit odd, but not terribly so.  They were 
mostly clips of real life, scenes from everyday things, none of 
which seemed terribly important or disturbing.  And the other 
dreams?  Well, how did one explain dreams of a spiritual being, 
moonlighting as a space battleship and looking exactly like the 
mirror image of a princess?

	And to whom did one explain that to, anyway?  It was not 
exactly as if Nathaniel had a confidant anywhere, especially with 
Sasami off on who knew what side of Jurai doing her diplomatic 
and royal functions.  Certainly not anyone he had met on Jurai, and 
he did not trust Washu enough to feel certain she would not use the 
information against him somehow.  Mayuka, perhaps?  That notion 
was simply absurd.  Though they had exchanged a few comments 
over the past two weeks, those had been at dinner and only the bare 
necessities required making pleasant company with everyone else.

	There was one other option, but Nathaniel was not sure 
how it would work out.  Yosho seemed to be the kind of person 
who could offer wisdom to what might be Nathaniel's apparent 
dream time hallucinations, but then again, admitting strange and 
obsessive dreams about a guy's half-sister might not be 
appreciated at all.

	Nathaniel made the final push out of bed and let his feet 
touch the pleasantly cool marble floor.  Considering the time on 
the strange clock once again, he noted that he was due for a 
morning practice session with Yosho anyway.  The training of 
Nathaniel and his bio-suit had been a daily ritual since they had 
arrived on Jurai.  Nathaniel had wondered if it was really 
necessary since he was not a guardian any more, but wiser heads 
than his seemed to be convinced he take a more proactive view of 
keeping his skin safe.

	Hell, Yosho had gone so far as to suggest he sleep in the 
damn thing.  Not that it ever got rank or sweaty thanks to some 
miracle fabric Washu had developed as a material base for the suit, 
but wearing it all the time just felt odd.  Nevertheless, Nathaniel 
dutifully wore it to sleep each night, just incase the unthinkable 
happened, whatever that might be.

	Getting out of the bed, finally, Nathaniel splashed some 
water on his face from a beautiful wash basin and slipped into a 
fresh Jurai training outfit.  Making sure all the knots were in the 
right places, he slipped out of his room and made his way down the 
massive halls of the guest wing of the palace for the training halls.  
A pair of royal maids, who had been waiting outside his door, 
silently shadowed him at a respectful distance, just in case he 
might need something.  Nathaniel had long since stopped worrying 
about their presence.  Right then he was thinking about how he might
explain his strange dreams to his instructor.

	`I just hope Yosho's not the over-protective type with his 
sister,' he mused.

				*	*	*


	The gate to the private section of the royal gardens 
shimmered again, the barrier loosing its cohesiveness and falling 
away rapidly.  Once gone, Mayuka Masaki stepped through the 
wooden archway and looked around at her surroundings.

	No one was there to see her emerge from the private 
gardens, not even her near constant escort, Jira.  That was all well 
and good, as far as Mayuka was concerned, and she breathed a 
small sigh of relief.  After all, per her aunt's request, or command 
actually, Mayuka's identity was not to be revealed to anyone in 
any fashion.  Ayeka had not been entirely forthcoming on the 
reasoning for this, but then again she did not have to.  After all, it 
was her empire and she was the empress, thought Mayuka 
pragmatically.

	Besides, Sasami had been whisked off two weeks earlier 
with nary a word from her since at Ayeka's command, and 
Mayuka was fairly sure the empress would find a way to restrict 
her relative freedom immediately if she so chose.

	The gardens had been something of a let down.  In many 
ways they were no different from the larger surrounding acres, 
only more private.  Mayuka was not certain how many people were 
allowed access to the private gardens, as her knowledge of exactly 
how many Juraians were closely related enough to Ayeka 
to pass by the persistent gate guardian was limited.

	There was one item of interest inside the private preserve, 
and that was the discovery of yet another gate.  This one 
steadfastly refused Mayuka's request of admittance, however.  She 
left a little disappointed, but assumed it must be Ayeka and Shoji's 
personal gardens.  In all likelihood, she thought, they were 
probably no different than anything else she had seen so far.

	Mayuka stared at her bracelet for some time more, absently 
commanding it to come on it off.  She examined the sensation as 
the living wood morphed around her narrow wrist, gliding over her 
skin with the consistency of warm Jell-O.  Her eyes glazed over 
slightly, loosing focus for the umpteenth time that morning.

	The problem, Mayuka knew, was her isolation.  By nature, 
Mayuka was a social creature.  While not nearly as gregarious as 
her sister, Yui, Mayuka nevertheless needed a certain amount of 
familiar company on a regular basis to keep her from zoning out to 
the point of distraction.  There were countless things to explore in 
the massively size palace, and she had in two weeks managed to 
explore a bare fraction of its secrets, but that activity had worn 
thin.  She was surprised to find how quickly all of the splendor and 
amazement wore away the more time she spent on Jurai.  There 
were so many grand halls, so many priceless baubles, that they all 
tended to run together, all mostly going unnoticed after Mayuka's 
second week in the palace.

	Her art escape had not lasted very long, either.  Mayuka 
was used to a fair amount of distraction while she worked on her 
sketchpads and easel.  People walking by, trips to the coffee shop, 
conversations with neighboring artists, all these interruptions 
Mayuka unknowingly depended on while performing her craft were 
absent.

	Besides, there was so much royal art of excellent quality 
and talent around that it made her a little self-conscious about her 
own technique.  She wondered if she would accidently give Earth 
art a bad name should a courtier, maid, or other Juraian who 
thought her as one of Sasami's earthling pets observed some of 
her work and thought it poor.  It was irrational, she chided herself, 
but that did not lesson the nagging suspicion that she was being 
looked down upon behind the pleasant smiles and courtesies of 
those at the palace.

	Had not her great grandfather been driven away from the 
palace centuries ago by some kind of bigoted feelings regarding his 
mixed heritage?  Mayuka could not quite remember exactly, as 
it was not something Yosho had ever chosen to go into detail with 
over the years.

	She shook her head, convincing herself she was probably 
just imagining things. Though, crept a tiny vocie in her brain, 
maybe she was not if her usual escort around the palace, Jira, 
was any indication.

	There was a nagging emotion that was more palpable to 
the young woman, however.  Mayuka knew the feeling, the funk she was 
immersed in all to well. It was very familiar, akin to the way she 
felt when she had been jilted by her first boyfriend in America and
found herself suddenly with a sparse few friendships.  It 
was that lonely feeling.  Not loneliness from not being with 
someone special, but the loneliness that came from being separated 
completely from everyone she knew on Earth, as well the few she 
knew on Jurai.

	So lonely and starved for contact that she did not want to 
be by herself anymore.

	Briefly, Mayuka considered sinking into the pleasurable 
bliss of another body massage, but she pessimistically knew that 
any comfort from that would only be fleeting.  Perhaps it would 
even leave her feeling more alone that she did right then.

	Still fidgeting with her identification bracelet, Mayuka 
inquired with the gate of the private gardens as to the location of 
those who had traveled to Jurai with her.  Sasami was still nowhere 
on the massive palace grounds, as she expected.  The gate gave her 
the indistinct impression she was somewhere on Jurai, but very far 
away.  Yosho was in his private training hall, which was no 
surprise.  It was a surprise to discover that Nathaniel was with him, 
though. 

	Mayuka frowned.  For the life of her, she could not 
understand why Nathaniel was still training with that crazy suit 
Washu had conjured up.  He was not Sasami's guardian anymore, 
and there was no other good reason why he would be with Yosho 
in the training room unless he was actively working out.  Mayuka's 
great grandfather rarely tolerated observers while he trained unless 
they were participants.  She decided he was probably still pursuing 
some ridiculous notion to continue to suck up to Sasami whenever she
returned to the palace grounds.  Not that any his attempts to receive any
amount of training or title from Ayeka would give him a shot in 
hell, she snorted to herself.  

	The network or great trees were confused with the 
whereabouts of the red headed scientist, which puzzled Mayuka for 
a moment as well.  She got the notion that Washu was in the 
palace, but at the same time nowhere on the planet.  Shaking her 
head and rolling her eyes, Mayuka realized that Washu must be in 
her inter-dimensional laboratory, annoyed that had not occurred to 
her to begin with.  No wonder the trees were puzzled.  Mayuka did 
not have any reason to believe that they would have even the 
faintest notion about closet doors from Earth that led to another 
dimension.

	After all, she had been living with Washu her entire life, 
and it still did not make any sense to her.

	Without realizing it, Mayuka had started walking out of 
the gardens.  This in itself took quiet a bit of time, due to the 
immense size of the general public acres.  Though she had told no 
one else, Mayuka while wandering unescorted had gotten herself 
lost several times during the past two weeks and been forced to ask some 
palace guard, courtier, or maid how to get back to her quarters.  
That was a little daunting to Mayuka, since the bracelet around her 
wrist limited her wanderings to the royal residence wing only.  She 
did not have access to pass through any of the gates to other wings 
of the palace, but if it was that easy to get lost in just
one wing, she might disappear forever if she wandered away into
another.

	Mayuka paused for just a moment, clicking her tongue.

	If the private gardens allowed her entry, recognizing her 
as a member of the royal family, it stood to reason that the rest of 
the palace for the most part would now be open.  And if she got lost, 
she could simply ask the gates for directions on how to get back to
her residence.  She could even wear the bracelet for appearances and 
probably explore anywhere she wanted to.  That idea appealed to her 
greatly as she picked up her walk again.

	Musing to herself, purposefully ignoring where her feet 
were taking her, Mayuka eventually ended up near Yosho's 
quarters, including his private training grounds.  Stopping again, 
she wondered why she even wanted to bother entering.  All she 
would find would be Yosho and Nathaniel on the beautiful lawns of the 
area, too busy to pay attention to her.

	Not that she wanted them to notice her.  If they did she 
would be forced to show them how much she could care less about 
what they were up to.  Of course, she knew instinctively that 
Yosho would see right through her ruse.  Maybe he would even 
have her train with him for a while.  That would be almost fun, she 
decided, since her technique with the sword, while nothing special 
by Jurai standards, was excellent by comparison on Earth.  Yosho 
and Tenchi had always had to hold themselves in check with her 
training, since she had no hint of abilities like the rest of the 
family, but there were other kinds of strength than the one power 
of Jurai.

	Mayuka perked up and started walking further into the 
quarters.  She had neglected her training quite a bit while at 
college, which had shown itself apparent right before she left Earth 
during a `light' bo session with Tenchi.  Maybe getting some exercise 
and training would be a cure for the isolation she was feeling.  At 
any rate, with the images of Nathaniel twitching in a collapsed pile 
time and time again while on Tsunami flashing in her mind, she was 
certain it would be good opportunity to show him up and put him 
in his place.  Entering Yosho's training gardens with an aggressive 
and expectant smile on her face, Mayuka's pace slowed down 
immediately upon seeing the two men.

	Her smile evaporated.

	Yosho was gliding about the lawn smoothly, effortlessly.  
What immediately irked Mayuka was Nathaniel, who was doing 
exactly the same.  A calm expression on his face, almost distant it 
seemed, Nathaniel was blocking and responding to every attack 
that the aging prince delivered.  The two men moved about the 
lawn fluidly, neither breathing hard nor seeming to exert much 
effort at all despite the force behind their exchanges.

	Mayuka felt an envious stab as she watched Nathaniel 
perfectly execute a complicated parry and strike combination that 
she had always had difficulty with.  Her eyes narrowed with the 
obvious realization that he had sometime in the past two weeks 
been able to gain some control over the bio-suit Washu had made 
for him.  It allowed him to perform with a proficiency that would 
take Mayuka years of diligent practice to achieve.

	She continued to watch their exchanges, with Yosho 
always initiating an attack and Nathaniel always responding at 
seemingly the last minute by neatly diverting the prince's blow.  
Mayuka did recognize that her great grandfather was nowhere 
close to using his full abilities on the engineer, but it was obvious 
he was pushing Nathaniel harder than she had ever been 
challenged by anyone at the Masaki residence.

	Eventually, the two men stopped their exchange when 
Yosho ceased his attacks.  Stepping slowly and calmly away from 
Nathaniel, the prince turned aside his bokken.  The American also 
stepped away, though more slowly, and allowed his expression to 
become less distant than it had been during the practice.

	"Your control has improved greatly in the past several 
days," noted Yosho with his quiet approval.  "I believe you may be 
ready to continue your training with an energy weapon tomorrow."

	"Thank you, sir," Nathaniel replied respectfully, 
executing an improved bow as well.

	Mayuka's mind screamed out irrationally.  Oh, look at how he 
was sucking up even to Sasami's brother!  It was simply 
disgusting, she thought.

	"Would you care to have a turn, Mayuka?" asked Yosho 
without looking around.

	Mayuka was not surprised he had noticed her; his powers 
of perception were just a fact of her entire life.  She did feel a little 
embarrassed, thinking that for a moment she had said out loud 
what her mind was thinking.  However, she was looking to get 
some exercise, even if it did mean having to show Nathaniel how 
rusty her technique had become.  She could be proud enough to 
manage that, certainly.

	"Of course, granddaddy," she replied familiarly and a 
little lighter than she really felt.  "I'd be happy to train with you."

	Yosho scratched his chin.  "Actually, I think it would be 
more instructional for you to work some with Nathaniel," he 
replied, causing Mayuka to blink and open her jaw slightly.  "He is 
gaining better control over Washu's invention, but it still only 
responds to attacks.  This would give you an opportunity to 
practice you offensive techniques... unless you have somewhere 
pressing to be suddenly?"

	Mayuka ground her teeth, knowing that she had allowed 
herself to get cornered.  There was no way she could pretend she 
had something else to do since she had offered to train with Yosho 
right there.  With a look of distaste, she examined the Jurai 
clothing she was wearing.  It was not a training uniform by any 
means, but it was roomy enough to allow for exertion without 
restricting her movements.  

	"Fine," she said, walking over and selecting a bokken 
from a weapons rack.  The wood was polished and red in color.  
Stepping onto the training lawn, she shook her arms out, letting 
them loosen.  Stretching out the muscles in her neck, she began to 
concentrate on letting her shoulders relax.  Looking at Nathaniel 
standing there not far from her, it was not easy to do.  Just seeing 
him minding his own business irritated her.

	"All right, Swann," she said in English, slipping out of the 
Jurai language.  "Bring it on."

	Nathaniel was slightly taken aback, haven almost 
forgotten that Mayuka was quite fluent in English, though whether 
from study or another of Washu's cranial augmentations he did not 
know.  Not that it really mattered, he decided.

	"I can't initiate an attack in this suit," he 
replied back to her in his native language.  "I'm afraid the first 
move is yours."

	Mayuka did not even bother to respond.  Launching 
towards Nathaniel with a low sweeping arch, she went on the 
offensive.  Yosho watched her technique.  The rustiness of her 
movements aside, he critically noticed her execution of that 
particular movement had the same little hiccup of the wrist that he 
had tried for twenty years to break Tenchi of.  It was a fine detail, 
one that Tenchi had only recently managed to eliminate.

	Yosho then noticed the rather unceremonious disarming of his 
great granddaughter as Nathaniel's parry and counterstrike neatly 
sent Mayuka's wooden sword flying.  He had expected as much, 
especially considering the amount of brute arm strength Mayuka 
was trying to utilize.  For her part, Mayuka had a look of 
disbelieving and anger that she had lost her weapon so easily.  
Yosho could understand that, knowing that her technique, even 
rusty, was excellent for a normal human.  Mayuka would now 
either lose more concentration through her anger or settle down 
and focus on dealing more effectively with her opponent.

	"That was more vigor than I have seen from you in some 
time, Mayuka," Yosho noted dryly.  "You haven't trained with me 
at that level of enthusiasm in years."

	Mayuka made no comment, but retrieved her bokken with 
a dark expression.  Nathaniel tried to look as blank as possible, 
absently adjusting his glasses.

	"Or perhaps it has been your time at college," continued 
the prince.  "While studying you seemed to have forgotten that 
hard attacks are usually the easiest to repel."

	"Yeah," she muttered under her breath.  In fact, she *had* 
forgotten in her eagerness to show up the engineer.

	"Of course, Nathaniel's suit will greatly reduce your 
chances of disarming or subduing him," Yosho observed.  "In fact, 
as long as he keeps his concentration, there is no reason why he 
should not be able to defend himself all morning long."

	Mayuka pushed some hair out of her face.  "Then how am 
I supposed to beat him?" she asked shortly.

	"Why in the world would you want to?" answered Yosho 
with a raised eyebrow.  "I was so certain I taught Tenchi well 
enough to know that making your objective the simple beating of 
your training partner teaches you little of value.  Apparently, 
Tenchi was once again not paying attention to me that day."

	Mayuka sighed, knowing that he was goading her 
intentionally.  Yosho knew perfectly well that Tenchi had drilled 
the concept of cooperative partner training into her and Yui's 
heads more times than she could remember.  At that moment there 
were only three options open to Mayuka; either train with 
Nathaniel the way she had been taught by her father, ignore her 
lessons and get disarmed by Nathaniel the rest of the morning, or 
simply leave.

	The last two options did not appeal greatly to Mayuka's 
pride, and she knew it.

	Rolling her eyes, she forced herself to calm down, going 
to that familiar empty place her father had shown her how to find 
while engaging in the fighting arts.  It was a place without emotion 
of any kind, but it was elusive to hold onto for long.  Mayuka had 
the benefit of training since she was five years old, but there was a 
lot of baggage hanging in her head that needed to be tossed out.  
Lifting her wooden sword again, she took a few deep breaths, 
trying to find a focus before advancing on Nathaniel once more.

	Yosho spent the rest of the morning watching critically 
and instructing his grand daughter, correcting any number of bad 
habits that had cropped up during her years of inactivity at college.  
For her part, by the early afternoon, Mayuka had finally figured 
out that the only way to not be disarmed by Nathaniel's enhanced 
reflexes was restrain her own aggression and work with his 
energies, not against them.  It was an exercise she had been 
through since a small child, Yosho knew.  She only needed to be 
reminded of it now and again.  

	That was true of all beings and all things, the prince noted 
philosophically, the idea of a new hiku forming in the back of his 
mind for later that evening.

			*	*	*


	Mayuka did head back to her quarters and immerse 
herself in the pool of heated water.  She even indulged in another 
massage from her maid, but did not really enjoy it.  The activity of 
the morning left her wired and distracted, which was quite a 
change since her departure from Earth.  It was something of an 
improvement not to be slack eyed and dazed from boredom.

	Rather than watch the hand on the wall clock in her room 
pass by the rest of the afternoon, and not wanting to really head out 
into the palace again, Mayuka instead dismissed her attendant and 
crawled onto her expansive bed.  Draping a thin sheet over her 
body, due to the warm air of the day breezing through the open 
archway to her balcony, she unexpectedly dozed off quickly.

	When she finally woke up, the sun had gone down.  
Blinking in confusion for a few moments as she tried to decide 
whether it was just after sunset or before sunrise, Mayuka sat up in 
bed.  Her room was dark with the only source of faint light coming 
through her balcony.  Deciding it must be just after sunset, she 
realized that dinner had probably already come and gone.  She 
wondered why no one had bothered to come and get her, but then 
figured the palace servants must have known she was sleeping and 
probably assumed she did not want to be disturbed.  That was not far from the 
truth, actually, as Mayuka decided she was not even really hungry.  
Besides, she could request food at any time and have it there only 
minutes later.  It was by far the best room service she had ever 
experienced.

	Wrapping the sheet around her shoulders, she slipped off 
the edge of her bed and moved towards the balcony opening.  
Dragging across the floor, the large area of the sheet resembled the 
train of a fancy wedding dress in the darkness.  Pushing past the 
long, silken drapes that hung from the high ceiling, Mayuka let 
their folds hide her as she peered out into the darkness.  Her 
balcony faced one of the immense private gardens designated for 
the immediate royal family.  The gardens were dark as well, giving 
the impression that no one was occupying them.  Above, the 
moonless sky was filled with millions of brilliant stars, all of them 
unfamiliar to Mayuka.

	Protected by the drapes and her sheet, Mayuka looked 
down the entire length of her wing of the palace in both directions, 
looking for any signs of activity or light.  There were none as far as 
she could tell, though other areas of the palace beyond the 
immediate garden before her were bright.  Straining her eyes into 
the darkness, she could not see a single soul, though even if she 
could, the distances would be so great that they would appear as 
indistinct as ants.

	Pausing for several more moments, standing very still, 
Mayuka hesitated.  Finally, slowly, she let her bed sheet fall to the 
floor, exposing her nude body to the darkness.  Mayuka made no 
move to leave the protective cover of the long drapes, however.  
Willing herself to take a step several times, she instead hesitated 
nervously.  Straining her eyes and ears, she looked and listened for 
anything that might betray nearby activity.  Sensing nothing for the 
twentieth time, Mayuka took a deep breath and stepped out of the 
shelter of the drapes.

	The air was electric with her nervousness as she walked to 
the edge of the large balcony.  Treading as quietly as possible in 
the dark, she stood there with her arms crossed over her stomach 
for a moment.  Realizing how tense she felt, Mayuka willed herself 
to relax and to forget all the little voices that warned her what 
would happen if someone saw her.

	So what if someone saw her, she fired back at the little 
voices.  What did it matter, really?  Not that anyone was going to 
see her in the shadows of night.  They would have to be looking 
right in her direction, which was unlikely, and they would have to 
be very close by to see she was nude, which was not possible as far 
as she could tell.

	Mayuka tried to imagine what it felt like to be one of the 
models she had drawn her art classes.  She wondered what went 
through their minds as they disrobed in front of so many strangers 
days after day.  Did anything go through their minds?  Usually 
they were students themselves, getting a little extra cash for 
standing very still for an hour at a time.  Mayuka supposed it help 
some students pay the bills, something she had honestly never had 
to really worry about.

	Thinking about the art models, the young woman relaxed 
and slowly started to enjoy the sensation of being kind of like 
them.  She was not as exposed as they were, but standing there the 
notion began to form in her mind that maybe they did not feel 
exposed at all.  Certainly, Mayuka never felt that they looked 
uncomfortable or exposed when she drew them.

	Perhaps they felt completely at ease.

	Mayuka could understand why, standing there.  It seemed 
the more she thought of it, there were times when clothes were just 
plain irritating.  Small children seemed to think that, as Washu had 
mentioned more than a few times about the problems her daddy and 
Ryoko had keeping Mayuka in clothes when she was a toddler.  In fact,
she could remember Yui being just as difficult at that age.  Mayuka 
wondered about that.

	The longer she stood out on the balcony the more 
comfortable she became.  Eventually, she walked out to the edge 
several yards away and leaned against the wooden railings.  
Resting on her elbows with an arch to her back, Mayuka looked 
up at the stars high above.  Enjoying the feel and freedom of being 
unencumbered from her clothing, it was as if a fascade had been 
removed, allowing her to see within herself for the first time in a 
while.  And as she stood on her balcony unseen for another half-
hour, more at ease and content than she had felt since stepping on 
Tsunami some weeks earlier, a stray thought came quietly into her mind.  
The more she dwelled on it, the more she grudging began to admit 
to herself how true it rang.

	Perhaps the source of Mayuka's problems and aggravation was
really Mayuka and no one else.

	It was quite a heavy realization for her to accept.  Even 
then, she was not certain how to really go about fixing herself or 
the people she had estranged since leaving Earth.  Did she even 
want to do that?  Maybe it was better to just concentrate on having 
a better attitude for the time being, she decided.  Take one thing at 
a time and start enjoying her time here.

	Mayuka considered this as she went back into her quarters 
a little while later and drifted off to sleep quite peacefully.

			*	*	*


	The expanse of land around the royal palace was roughly 
half the size of Australia.  An unpopulated wilderness, it was a 
preserve from which life on Jurai had remained unchanged and 
untouched by civilization since time immemorial.  It was part of 
the reverence that the people of Jurai held, keeping such a large 
area of the planet perfect.  Observers from other planets would find 
that attitude somewhat perplexing especially in light of the 
harmony the rest of the planet enjoyed between the natural and the 
technological.  Compared with all other worlds, Jurai civilization 
hardly seemed to have any adverse affect on the huge planet 
at all, despite many billions of inhabitants.

	Throughout the great wilderness, a presence stole about in 
the shadows of night.  Covered by the darkness, it moved rapidly 
from one area to the next, stopping now and again in some isolated 
area where the conditions were right.  The spirit moved through the 
great forest, masking itself in the noise that the energy of life 
created.  From the biggest tree to the tiniest blade of grass, from 
the animals that walked the land to the aquatic life, the featureless 
being used the resonance of all their energies to stay hidden.

	It moved strategically, stopping only to plant small seeds 
of its own energy, which was dark and evil.  Glowing a pale red 
every time it stopped to do so, the dark energy it radiated was 
hidden, meshing with the sounds of rushing water, blowing wind, 
shadows of large trees or boulders, dark hollows, and other places 
where the natural noise of energy was greatest.  The noise would 
hide the small amounts of dark energy, masking them from notice 
of any being if all went according to plan. 

	After all, the universe was full of the background noise of 
dark energy, just as it was with light energy.  There was no reason 
anyone should notice a little infusion, even on a planet so effused 
with the Light as Jurai.

	As the sun began to rise in the morning sky, the shadowy 
form retreated, racing back to the palace at the center of the vast 
wilderness.  Slipping unseen past guardians and through cracks in 
walls and open windows, the shadow returned to its solid form, 
which resided in the royal palace prison, just as it had every night 
for the past several weeks.

	Finally reaching its body, the man sitting quietly in a 
chair in his cell opened his eyes.

	"All too easy," smiled Tevean Jan, finishing another 
evening's work.  "Tsunami, you are not as clever as your years bely."

	Fortunately, his incarceration in the palace prison allowed 
him to work within the imperial grounds that stretched out for 
several thousand miles in every direction.  Had he been forced to 
penetrate the boundaries of the royal preserve from the outside, 
where defensive measures were highly concentrated, his chances at 
being detected would have been much greater.  However, the royal 
family had reacted just as he predicted from his duel with Lord 
Yosho on Earth, allowing him to be safely within the confines of 
the royal preserve, then assumed to be completely harmless.

It would take a few more weeks to bring together enough 
dark energy to set his plan in motion.  The gate he required would 
need just enough to open once, and then it could be maintained 
from another more powerful source from another dimension.  And 
then...

	Then his vengeance against the royal family of Jurai 
would begin.

			*	*	*

Coming up in Chapter 4:

Mayuka explores her newfound freedom, Sasami gets a better idea 
of the pressures of ruling an empire, and Ayeka confronts Yosho 
about his future within the royal family.  Two guests bring 
word of an impending civil war to the ears of the royal family, and
two humans figure out (after a few tries) how to have a civil 
conversation.

Comments and Criticisms appreciated.
Michael McAvoy
http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/

Last Edited March 19, 2001