Time Enough for Tenchi, part 7: Time Enough for Shadows
by Eaerth

"Guess what, Tenchi!" Washu said, coming out of her secret
lab.

"What's that, Washu-chan?"

"I *said* ... *GUESS.*"

"Ok ok."  I looked up from the television.  I didn't want to
anger Washu.  Last time I did, my ears didn't stop ringing
for a week.  "You got a new high score on Tetris?  Evil
supervillains from Jupiter's distant past are invading the
Earth?  You've invented a new kind of olive loaf?"

"All wrong," the redheaded genius said triumphantly.  "I've
detected a Galaxy Police ship entering Earth atmosphere."

"New resident officers?"

"Nope," she said.  "Just the old.  Mihoshi and Kiyone are on
board."

"Mihoshi and Kiyone?   Why would Kiyone come back?  She was
working for that promotion on Jurai her whole life."

"Who knows?  Probably Mihoshi's fault."

"Probably."

"Wait wait, there's more."  She dropped onto the couch
beside me like an excited child.  "Princesses Aeka and
Sasami have turned up missing, and what I know, but no one
else knows, is that they're coming here!"

"But Aeka's supposed to be crowned Empress."

"Hey, I don't make the news, I just report it.  And science
doesn't lie, Tenchi."

"Ay.  Ryoko isn't going to like this."

I awoke hearing Washu's evil laugh.

				#

I did my best to help with the preparations for moving. 
This whole thing needed to be packed up and moved elsewhere,
somewhere safe from Aeka's forces for the time needed to
find another suitable planet.  The landing bay was humming
with activity and everyone had to help.  I did my best, but
I wasn't doing very well.

Washu was dead.  I couldn't stop thinking about it.  The
only thing that kept me going as long as I had was knowing
that somewhere, all the women were alive and safe.  Every
bad thing that happened to me, at least I knew that they
were ok.  That was all falling apart.  And now, Washu was
dead.

Washu had been dead more than half my life.  It was all
worthless.

"What's wrong, Tenchi?" Mihoshi asked.

"Thinking about Washu."

"Oh," she said.  "Yeah, that's sad."

Mihoshi climbed a ladder and started handing the contents of
a high shelf to me.

"I liked Washu," she said.  "She was fun and so smart.  Her
lab had all the colorful lights and neat sounds ... things
exploding..."

"Which was your fault."

She went on without hearing.  "That place was the best in
the world.  I wonder why she kept kicking me ou--whoah!  I
almost dropped that."  Mihoshi precariously balanced a tray
of sockets and wrenches over her head.  "Whoah," she said
again, and began handing the tray to me.  "Here yAAAIEE!" 
With that, she fell off the ladder, throwing the tray of
tools into the air.

I grunted when I caught her because she was heavy, and again
when I shielded her from the falling tools, because gravity
is a harsh mistress.

"Rosman must be really desperate for help," I said.

I lowered her feet to the ground so she could stand, and she
threw her arms around my neck to pull herself up.  And there
Mihoshi stayed, arms around my neck, just looking at me.  I
heard a ringing in my ears, I think from the quieting
vibration of the settling steel on the concrete around, or
from the socket that hit me on the head.  Still Mihoshi
looked into my eyes, and I watched her look into my eyes.

"Thank you, Tenchi," Mihoshi said, laying her face against
my chest.  She moved nothing else, yet her position changed
from standing up to a hug.

"Come, young lady, you're ok," I said, helping Mihoshi
stand.  Maybe my hands lingered at her back and waist too
long.

I remember when she used to be older than me.  Very long
ago.

"Help me pick this stuff up, Mihoshi," I said.  "We still
have a lot of work to do."

I got to work cleaning up the mess.

				#

At dinner I sat down beside Mihoshi and Sasami.  "Hi
Tenchi," Mihoshi said. 

"Hey old man."  Shinobu clapped me on the shoulder.  "Doing
ok?"

"I guess," I said.

"Good."  The raven haired rebel captain sat on the other
side of me and began setting out half-wired cable and a
soldering gun.

"Are you going to eat that?" I asked.

"Nah," she said, "but this stuff needs doing.  What was that
you were singing a moment ago?"

"I wasn't singing, just humming."

"Whatever."

"Monk.  Music from the last century.  It's a habit I picked
up somewhere."

"It was nice."

"Yeah, it was," I said. "Ah, dinner is served.  Don't move,
Shinobu, I'll get you something.  Just clear a space when I
get back."

"Thanks," she said.

"I'll get you some tea," Mihoshi said.

Mihoshi and I stood in a short line for tea, rice, and
instant pizza.

"Mihoshi, um, why did you come back?  To Earth?"

"You know, silly.  We had to save Dr. Rosman's life."

"No, I mean back then, after your promotion."

"Oh.  I don't know," she said, a cup of tea in her hand.  "I
think there was something."

That evening, while I drank sake, Mihoshi told me all about
her favorite new Earth cartoons.  Behind Rosman, Washu
rolled her eyes.

"What?  What's that?" I said, starting.

Mihoshi looked up.  "Nothing, Tenchi.  Just shadows."

				#

In the grey darkness, Mihoshi helped me to my sleeping
pallet.  I was too drunk to walk on my own.  Gently, she let
me down to the pallet and covered me.  Looking up, I watched
her dark form rest a hand on my forehead, and then get up
and quietly leave the sleeping chamber, at the last tripping
and knocking over a rolling cart, making enough noise to
wake everyone up.

"Ouch," she said.

				#

I went to answer the knock at the door.  When I opened it, I
saw Kiyone and Mihoshi there.  The tough, ambitious brunette
police officer was comforting her partner, who was in tears.

"What's wrong, Mihoshi?" I asked.  "What's the matter?"

"*Mihoshi* and I were fired from another job," Kiyone said,
"and we have only seven yen left in the bank.  We can't
afford to eat and we're *starving.*  Please, could we join
you guys for dinner for a while?"

"Sure you can.  You're always welcome."

"Thanks, Tenchi.  You know," she said slyly, "if you want,
Mihoshi and I could repay the favor, if you know what I
mean."

"Kiyone!" I said.

"I mean cleaning up around the house and such.  Don't be
such a perv."

"Oh, right," I said, laughing uncomfortably.  "That'll be
fine.  Thank you very much, Mihoshi and Kiyone.  Come,
dinner's on."

Mihoshi sniffed and smiled a little.  "I'll do anything to
help!"

Kiyone brushed the tears from Mihoshi's face.  "Are you
going to be ok?" she asked quietly.  The young woman nodded
weakly.  "Good.  I'm sorry, Mihoshi."

				#

Washu came out of her lab as we were finishing dinner.

"Good news, everybody," the childlike redhead said.  "I have
a new invention to show you."

"Oh nooo," Ryoko said.

"Is that why you missed dinner, Washu-chan?" Mihoshi asked.

"I'm going to sit this one out," Kiyone said when we got up.

"No, Kiyone, you have to come see," Mihoshi said, dragging
Kiyone behind us.

In Washu's lab, we all stood around a crazy mass of wires,
tubes, bubbling liquid, glowing crystals, and one lab-coated
mad scientist.  Mihoshi was dragging Kiyone to the front so
they'd have the best view, young Sasami was at my side, and
Aeka and Ryoko were squabbling softly in the back, while
Washu prepared her newest scientific abomination.

"Listen up, listen up," Washu said.  "I *said,* listen up,
you two!"  Washu pointed at Aeka and Ryoko, and with a loud
crackle the two women received a painful electric shock. 
"Do I have your attention?  Good.  And now I have, for you
all, the product of *hours* of brilliant research, an
invention that's sure to revolutionize the field of
entertainment:

"Three-dimensional television!"

"Huh?  What?" we gasped.

"Wow!" Mihoshi exclaimed.

"Yes, that's right, now you can see all your television
shows in holographic glory.  This is a stunning invention. 
You see, though holograms are easy to display, and every
civilized planet has the technology, recording holograms is
difficult and requires expensive equipment.  So all over the
universe, TV is still flat and boring.

"The answer, of course, is simple.   Just ask the greatest
scientist in the universe to help!"  She thrust her finger
into the air triumphantly.  "The theory behind 3D TV is also
simple, the creation of three-dimensional content through
the power of parallel dimensions."

"I don't understand," Mihoshi said.

"For once, I agree with her," Kiyone said.

"Very well, a lesson, then."  Washu pulled down a chalkboard
scrawled with complex equations.  She erased a part and drew
a straight line.  "This is our universe.  This is all the
stuff that happens to us.  Now this..." She drew a branch
leading off the chalk line.  "...is a universe where humans
never evolved on this planet.  And this..." She drew another
branch.  "...is a universe where Tenchi didn't grow up to be
such a *cute* young guinea pig.  And this is a universe
where Mihoshi wore a yellow sweater instead of a pink
sweater.

"In this alternate universe, everyone lived their lives like
normal, and just like this universe, until this point where
Mihoshi put on yellow, and then it became different.  There
are an infinite number of parallel universes, with an
infinite number of possibilities.  So there is a universe
just like ours, except the camera is one degree to the
right.  And another where it is two degrees to the right and
one degree up.  And so forth."  Washu drew a sphere of dots
around a central stick figure.  "Put them together, and you
have a three-dimensional image.  Understood."

"Yes," Aeka said.

"Uh-huh," Ryoko said.

"Aye," Sasami said.

"Interesting," Kiyone said.

"Yes," I said.

"I don't get it," Mihoshi said.  "How does my sweater change
color?"

Washu growled.  "Forget about it.  And now that you know how
it works, don't you think it's a brilliant and elegant
invention?"

"It's amazing, Washu-chan," I said.

"Thank you," she said, eyes sparkling.  "And now, the
invention!"  Washu punched a few buttons and people appeared
above the strange device.  They looked so solid I almost
thought they were miniature people.

Everyone crowded the hologram.

"Lieutenant Kyle, your agonizer please," a miniature man
said.

"W," I said.

"O," Sasami said.

"Uhhh..." Mihoshi said.  Kiyone whispered in her ear.  "W,"
she said.

"Aren't I wonderful?" Washu asked,

Ryoko sidled up and slid her arms around me.  "Now Tenchi
and I can enjoy some *romantic* movies."

"Hey, does this do 3D cartoons too?" Mihoshi asked.  She
charged by, pushing Ryoko off balance, and started pushing
buttons on the device.

"Stop that.  Don't do that!" Washu protested.

The device sparked and one of the crystal tubes broke.  When
the liquid inside reacted with the air in Washu's lab, there
was a loud thunderclap and a bright flash, followed by
smoke.  Ryoko, still off balance, began to topple over.

Mihoshi began twisting knobs and pushing sliders.  "Why
doesn't this thing work?"

Ryoko's arms spun wildly as she fell.

"Get away from there!" Washu said.

With a cry, Ryoko fell against the device.  Electricity
arced along strands of blue-green hair from one segment of
the machine to the next to the next.  The machine exploded,
filling the lab with smoke and blackening Ryoko's face.

Ryoko lay stunned on the ground.  "Fuck," she groaned.

"Ryoko, watch your language," Aeka said.

"It's nothing but drama with you, Mihoshi," Washu said.

I bent to help Ryoko up and heard another loud explosion.

"How many times is your television going to explode, Washu?"
I asked.

"That wasn't the device," she said.  A pause.  "Laboratory,
imprison the intruder!"

A glowing cylinder descended within the lab, then erupted in
a blinding flash.  In the afterimage, I saw a dark figure
fleeing the lab.

"Laboratory, remove the house from this dimension and then
seal the lab!"  A shimmer went through Everything.  Washu
brought up her portable computer.  "Well, the intruder is
still in the house, at least there's that.  She won't get
out if we can catch her in time."

"She?" I said, rubbing my eyes.  Colors still blurred my
sight.  "Just what is that?"

"A shadow," Washu said.  "A shadow of an alternate universe. 
Created by the three-dimensional television and that
*thing.*"  Meaning Mihoshi.  "And Ryoko, it seems.  The
shadow..."  She punched some more keys.  "Here."

A screen appeared, showing Ryoko blowing my dad's kitchen to
smithereens.

Mihoshi looked from the screen to Ryoko to the screen back
to Ryoko.  "Ryoko, how did you get up there so fast?"

"I didn't.  That's not me."

The sound of the fridge explosively decompressing within a
force bubble drew her attention back to the screen.

"Ryoko," Mihoshi scolded, "why are you wrecking the
kitchen?"

"*I'M NOT WRECKING THE KITCHEN!*"

Mihoshi looked at the screen.  "Oh."  She scratched her
blonde head.  "Sure looks like you.  Are you sure?"

With great effort, Kiyone dragged Ryoko away from Mihoshi. 
"Let me kill her now," Ryoko said.  "No one will ever have
to know.  We'll make it look like an accident."

"The Ryoko up there is the shadow of another universe, a
dark dimension, where Ryoko is the terror of the Galaxy,"
Washu said.

"That's this universe," I said.

"Yeah," Ryoko said.  "I'm the most feared space pirate in
the universe."

"I'm not sure you know what the word 'pirate' means," Washu
said.  "Have you ever raided a passenger liner, leaving it
drifting into a sun, all aboard doomed to die?  Sold women
and children into slavery?  How many innocents have you
killed?  How many have you burned alive?  Any?"

Ryoko looked embarrassed.  "No."

"Like all foolish girls, you misuse the word 'pirate.' 
You're a thief and a petty crook.  People fear you because
when you rob a bank, the remodeling costs are more than
whatever you steal, which makes you a vandal too.  *This*
Ryoko led a holocaust which burned Jurai to the ground. 
*This* Ryoko has more square meters of blood on her hands
than you can measure.  It doesn't take the greatest genius
in the universe to know she could eat you for lunch."

"Definitely not after your invention finished with me."

"So how do we stop her?" I asked.

"Attach this..." Washu held up a coin-shaped device with a
digital readout.  "...to the shadow Ryoko to remind her that
she doesn't exist.  And do it quickly, or she may escape
into our universe."

"We'll stop her," Mihoshi said.  "We're Galaxy Police. 
Fighting evil is our job.  Ummmm, right Kiyone?"

"Right you are, Mihoshi," Kiyone said tiredly.

"God damn it!" Washu screamed.  We all stared at her,
shocked.  "She tried to get out through the electrical
wiring and blew out all my sensors.  You guys better hurry."

				#

"You two are unarmed, so stay behind Mihoshi, Ryoko, and I,"
Kiyone said.  "Just keep a look out for the shadow Ryoko. 
She could be anywhere."

The three moved into the living room.  I saw a mess in
there, but it wasn't the shadow Ryoko's doing, just my
schoolbooks and wooden practice sword left in a messy pile.

"Kiyone, behind you!"

Kiyone turned like a duelist and snapped off three
perfectly-aimed pistol shots at the figure in the doorway. 
On each one, before the energy pulse hit shadow Ryoko, a
glowing wall appeared.  The shadow Ryoko stepped forward and
pointed at Kiyone, knocking her through the air and sending
her gun flying.  Kiyone hit the wall with a crunch,
hopefully of plaster.

"Kiyone!" cried Mihoshi, who opened fire on the invader. 
Shadow Ryoko turned under the barrage to meet Mihoshi.

Quietly, Princess Aeka picked up Kiyone's pistol and shot
shadow Ryoko in the back.  The pirate didn't say much as she
crumpled to the ground.

"I always wanted to do that," Aeka said.

"Oh, yeah, thanks, princess," the real Ryoko said.

The shadow Ryoko stood, knocked Mihoshi out of the way, and
turned.  "Princess Aeka," she said smugly.  She even sounded
exactly like Ryoko.  "This is a pleasant surprise.  I don't
know how you came back, but I'll enjoy killing you again."

She began drawing power from all around into a ball of
energy between her hands.  When she threw the ball at Aeka,
it fizzled into smoke.  For the first time, the shadow Ryoko
looked worried.

"Who are you?" she asked my Ryoko.

Without waiting for an answer, she drew a sword of light and
advanced on Aeka, who shot at her uselessly.  I dove into
the room.

Shadow Ryoko swung her sword at Aeka.  "I can't stop her,"
Ryoko said.

With my practice sword, I blocked the light sword.  Without
words, we fought.  When our weapons collided, the wood was
scorched.  It was a hard fight, but shadow Ryoko was unused
to physical combat.  At the end, I beat her arm down and
bashed the sword into her head until she was unconscious.

I put Washu's device on shadow Ryoko and she faded into the
shadows of the room.

"That was great, Tenchi!"

"Sasami," I said to the young princess, "I told you to stay
in the lab."

"I know," Sasami said.  "I'm sorry."

I heard a low growl behind me.  "Oh no, what is it now?" I
said.  I turned around.

Before me was Ryoko's pet cabbit Ryo-Okhi, growling and
hissing.  "An evil Ryo-Okhi?" I asked.

"Aw, you can't fight Ryo-Okhi," Sasami said.  "You might
hurt her."

"Why not, Tenchi beat on the alternate me hard enough,"
Ryoko said grumpily.

"But Ryo-Okhi is so cute," I said.

"Oh, Tenchi.  Tenchi."  Ryoko pouted and sulked off.

"Hey, Ryoko, I didn't mean it--"

The shadow cabbit leaped for my throat.  I swung wildly,
knocking it across the living room.  After I beat the cute
animal into unconsciousness, I gave it to Mihoshi and the
dazed Kiyone to take to Washu.

				#

I knocked on Ryoko's door.

"Ryoko, come out, I didn't mean it like that."

"Oh, let her stay away," Aeka said.  "We don't need her. 
Maybe she'll leave now, and we can have some peace.  I
should thank Washu for this miracle, finally freeing me from
the monster Ryoko.  Come away from the door."

"No, Aeka.  Aeka, she saved your life.  I don't mean only
today, either.  On Jurai she risked her life so I could save
you.  She almost died for you, Aeka.  Show some respect. 
Please."

Aeka looked intently at the floor.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't tell it to me, tell it to her.  You know she could
hear you."

Aeka knocked on the door.  "Ryoko," she said haughtily, and
then, "Ryoko, please join us.  No one wants to hurt you,
and, ah, I'm sorry about being happy about it.  Enjoying
another's pain is below me as a princess.  I'm sorry.  No
fighting tonight.  All right?"

A moment passed, and then the door opened.

"Ok," Ryoko said, wiping her eyes.  "No fighting ...
tonight."

Aeka nodded and went downstairs to check up on her little
sister.

"I don't believe it," Ryoko said.  "You're amazing.  You got
Aeka to be nice to me."  She hugged me.  "Thank you Tenchi."

I remember that as one of the best moments of my life.

				#

Late afternoon, I saw Oude, the Tuvan, bustling about
excitedly.  If I were a different man, I would have laughed
at the sight of a giant excited purple penguin.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I have a courier," his translator crystal said.  "Yes, yes,
and she's almost here now.  The best ... quite a coup."

The landing bay doors began grinding open, offering a view
of a familiar-looking stone and crystal ship.

"Yes, the best," Oude said.  "I got us a meeting with the
most infamous ... gun runner in the galaxy, the smuggler
Ryoko."

---------
Now you're caught up to where I am, since I'm still working
on part 8 (it's hard going, but I'm almost finished).  The
TMFFA backlog is dovetailing nicely with my constant writer's
block.  Hopefully I'll have started writing the season finale
by the time this gets posted.

Does anybody at all read this?

The names of Tenchi, Washu, Aeka, Sasame, Ryoko, Mihoshi,
Ryo-Okhi, and Kiyone are copyrighted and probably trademarked by 
AIC & Pioneer LDC.  I don't claim any ownership over them. Beyond
the names, this story has just about nothing to do with the
series.  I hope you don't feel cheated.

Completely unrelated stuff, such as my comic, "Kevorkian 
Won't Return My Calls," can be found at my website.
http://eaerth.isfuckingbrilliant.com/ is the redirect.

The email address on this post has been spam harvested and
at least one of the spammers has the Klez virus, so I'm
getting that mailed to me too.  If you send anything there, 
there's a good chance I won't even notice it when I check 
email (once every couple months).

If you have any comments or questions or anything, check the
website.  I used to put my real email address here at the
bottom, but the website redirector has lasted two years, 
which is longer than any email service I've signed up with 
has lasted.  Sorry for the extra step, but if you'd tried 
to send a message to the old address at the bottom of this
chapter and gotten a bounce, you'd understand why.