Tenchi of Jurai
	Episode III: Busted!

	The trip to the Galaxy Police HQ was long, as they had to travel from the 
far reaches of the Dero system, and once again Ryoko fell asleep. She 
settled herself into a nice deep slumber with many dreams. Some where 
completely incoherent, others where too shortly lived to remember, but one 
stood out.

                               ==TOJ==

	Kodeki stood on the brink of the canyon. Below him, way down the slope, 
rested a small village. It pronounced itself on the drab horizon, composed 
of nothing but a dark green sand. It's lights speckled in the oncoming 
darkness, but somehow - somehow they didn't seem welcoming.
	For a moment Ryoko stood behind him in the darkness where the moon's light 
couldn't touch her. She admired his strength, his intelligence and his body. 
He was a very tall man, posessing limbs thick with muscles. His long dark 
green haired was almost the same color as the sand and it waved and flowed 
in the wind. He seemed so at home here, among the land of this foreign 
world. It must be his. This must be his home.
	Finally the sun had set, directly behind the village. Orange still streaked 
the sky where moments ago it had lingered, trying to keep the memory of the 
sun going into the night. With this he turned around, the smile that set 
upon his face was bigger than usual. His orange eyes met hers as he mouthed 
the word, "Go."
	Ryoko teleported to his side and they slid down the side of the canyon on 
their feet. Kodeki's long black cloak whirled out behind him giving him a 
gallant appearance. " This is home." he said to himself. "This is home..."

	Ryoko awoke to a sharp pain on the side of her face. Reality was tough 
coming back to her, but she gathered it together as quickly as possible. 
Throughout this whole ordeal she had maintained a care-free attitude, but 
now it positioned itself more to an angry tone from being awoken from a fond 
memory.
	Kiyone was staring straight into Ryoko's eyes. Her teeth were barred and 
her right eye was slightly twitching.
	*Whap!*
	In the span of an instant Ryoko had returned the slap. Kiyone stood 
straight up in surprise. Where anger had once been was now pure disbelief.
	" What'd I tell you Kiyone, you should have been nicer to her. See what 
happened?" Mihoshi said in that 'I told you so' voice.
	"MIHOSHI! She's a hardened criminal scumbag!"
	Mihoshi just continued to stare at Kiyone expecting her to go on. A few 
moments of silence passed with the two officers looking at eachother, Kiyone 
glaring and Mihoshi with puzzlement on her face.
	" And?"
	" That's all there is to it Mihoshi!"
	Mihoshi walked over to stand by the side of Ryoko, " Is that any reason to 
slap her awake instead just telling her to get up?"
	Again Kiyone became very frustrated, " In my opinion it is!" she mumbled 
under her breath.
	" Take your time Miss Ryoko." Mihoshi said with a smile on her face.
	Ryoko was starting back into her light-hearted mood. She had found the 
whole arguement between Mihoshi and Kiyone quite humorous. She smiled to 
herself, ' If only all Galaxy Police could be this ditzy.'
	Even though there was nothing really to be done, Ryoko took all the time 
she could to stall what waited ahead. After several minutes of stretching 
and yawning, she stood up. Mihoshi then proceeded to guide her to the main 
office.
	The Galaxy Police HQ was gigantic and awe inspiring. So many doors and 
stairways, so many people all going on about their own tasks. It was so 
overwhelming that Ryoko didn't even try to resist as Mihoshi guided her 
through the ship. She merely let herself flow on and look at the 
masterpiece. ' Hey, this is probably the best look I'll ever get of this 
place, I should use this to my advantage.'
	Eventually they arrived at a small office. Inside was no more than than a 
man sitting at a desk. There where several computers and filing cabinets in 
the room also, but nothing else. Obviously this wasn't the headmaster of 
convicts.
	The man looked up to meet the eyes of Kiyone. " Well, you must be officer 
Kiyone, the person who just recently captured the most wanted space pirate, 
Ryoko. My thanks and congratulations to you." he said in a deep toned voice.
	" Well sir," Kiyone responded," It wasn't all that much trouble. She just 
seemed to be flying through space without a care. I didn't even have to 
ambush her, I just confronted her head on."
	The two officers began to laugh and the smile on Kiyone's face was really 
annoying Ryoko. How she wished she could punch it right off her head. When 
she got out of prison the first thing she'd do was make someone pay for it.

	When things at the office had resolved, Ryoko was taken immediately to her 
cell. Space pirates, especially of her reputation hardly got any slack. The 
room she was now entrapped in was not dank and dark like rumors said, but it 
was far from cozy or comfortable. It was a lone room with a dark grey metal 
paneling. The necesities where all there, a toilet, a sink and a bed. The 
only portal in the room was the thick metal door, not even a window to look 
through.
	Meanwhile, a distance down the hall, Kiyone stood in Sergeant Gekerds 
office.
	" Sir, I would like to request permission to do a thorough search of the 
Dero region."
	Sergeant Gekerd was an old man with long gray hair and a full beard, both 
streaked with brown. In his glory days as a detective he had been 
strong-willed and adventurous, many of his stories still lingered on the 
tongues of rookie agents and had become local legends. Kiyone knew if she 
where to see anyone about pursuing her recent discovery, Sergeant Gekerd 
would be the most likely to accept.
	The sergeant chuckled to himself, " Why would that be Kiyone?" he said in a 
kindly, aging voice.
	" Well sir," she began, " Though we could determine nothing from the 
interogation of Ryoko herself, the ships log shows that she was pursuing 
some item in that region. Though it's not clear what exactly, there's strong 
evidence that it very well may be the Crystal of Jurai."
	A smile broadened the old man's face and a sparkle could be seen in his 
eyes. " Well now, that certainly is something. You going for two big 
victories now? Keep that up and you'll be sitting on the top of this 
organization in no time."
	With this Kiyone blushed and smiled. " Thank you, sir."
	" You have my permission to go ahead with the operation. You should set up 
three teams, I imagine one will be yourself and your partner Mihoshi. This 
way you can scan the three systems of the Dero region. Bring the space 
pirate Ryoko with you. She obviously knows something we don't and she's not 
going to tell us anytime soon. She may become useful along the way. You have 
one year to return results, after that I'm afraid I'm going to have to call 
it off." When he finished he raised an eyebrow to Kiyone, waiting for her 
approval of the procedure.
	She had been caught a little off guard by the idea of bringing her beffoon 
partner and the space pirate Ryoko (two people she had hoped to leave 
behind) along with her, but was quick to ok as she didn't want to argue with 
the oppurtunity she'd been given.

	Now with a bit of a hop in her step due to the anxiety of getting ready for 
her first self-planned and self-commanded mission, she set off to rouse the 
crew and prepare equipment. With the criminal Ryoko in her hands and the 
Crystal of Jurai just within reach, she knew a promotion couldn't be far 
behind.


¤Looking for any comments (good or bad), ideas or corrections. Be very 
critical, I want an honest opinion. E-mail me at lemontwist23@hotmail.com 
with any of these. I think the story is starting to pick up pace now, next 
episode should be very exciting.