Time Enough for Tenchi, part 10: Mihoshi's Diary by Eaerth He hates me. I don't know why. I'd do anything to make it not that way. We took off from Earth yesterday and out of habit I flew us toward the galactic core, but really I didn't know where to go. "I don't know where to go," I told Tenchi. He said, "Yeah." He said, "Who can we trust in your damn Empire? We don't want the galaxy police to kill us, I don't think. Shinobu, what about your people?" Shinobu's nice. "I know," I said. "We can call Kiyone. She's an officer and everything." "Pardon me Mihoshi," Shinobu said, "but are you out of your mind? We call the galaxy police and we'll have every ship in the sector outside that porthole." "No no no no no," I said. "We can trust Kiyone." We can always trust Kiyone. And then they all yelled at me. "Ok, you can fly the ship, they'll never catch us drifting dead in deep space," I said. That made them shut up. I made the call and asked for the Commissioner and argued with the receptionist for a while. Then Kiyone appeared on the viewscreen. "My dear friend Mihoshi," Kiyone said and I started bawling. Kiyo always says I cry too much. Said. Cried too much. I don't cry any more. I cried when I saw Kiyone. She looked just the same as when I last saw her, when everything changed. She was so thin. Young, too. Always before, there was Kiyone and she was my friend. Now everything is bad, but when Kiyone is there, something's the way it was. I wish everything would be the way it used to be. "We need help," I said. "We?" she asked. "Jurai Commissioner Kiyone," Tenchi said, stepping forward, "she says you can be trusted. But she's Mihoshi, and we both know how much that means." "*Tenchi?*" Kiyone asked. They talked about something but I can't remember a word they spoke. They discussed the attacks on Earth and how the police didn't do evil things like that, how only the Jurai government had motive to murder Dr. Rosman and his followers, and how she would look into it. I didn't pay attention much. What I heard was, "She's Mihoshi, and we know we can't trust anything she says." Why does he hate me? Sure I'm not smart, but I'm not stupid. I don't lie. And he asked me something. "What?" I said. I had to say "I don't understand" because I didn't understand what he said. I was thinking about other things. He sighed and rolled his eyes at me. He sighs a lot now, more than he used to. "I said could you get us out of here now?" he said. "In case you're wrong, I don't want to be in the solar system when the police arrive." He doesn't trust me, I wish I wasn't here. I have to go fly the ship again in a bit. When I get back, I know everything will be the same as always, different from before. I'll cry and then I'll sleep. This is how I spend every night. I wish the world was nice again. I had to keep it quiet when Kazumi was around. He didn't like it. Those nights, I wouldn't sleep. It was better when he was with other women. I remember when it started. All the stuff that led up to the world changing began at the club. It was the biggest club in the Hoshan Orbital, always crowded, fun. One day round midnight, I went to pass on a message to my husband. "Kazumi, Ryoko--" "Chancellor Ryoko's here and wants to see me," he said. "Yes. Who told you?" "You did. Just now." "I did?" I asked. "I don't remember--" "Just bring her up," he said. "I'll see her now." "Yes, sir," I said. "I really don't remember saying anything...." In the casino, Ryoko was propping up the bar and drinking. "Hi Ryoko! Remember me?" I said. "No." She took a swig. "Wait a minute. Is that Mihoshi? Damn you look different." I took a look. I wore a shimmering gold outfit with a lot of skin. I shrugged. Ryoko wasn't looking at my clothes anyway. "I can take you to Mr. Mashua now," I said. "Good. Lead on." "Did you do any gambling?" I asked while we walked. "Not tonight. I'm here on business." "Business? For the Empress? How exciting! What is it?" "It's not for me to tell you." She saw my expression. "Mihoshi, listen. You don't want to know. It's about to get really ugly out there. I do what I can but Aeka, she's ... Aeka. It's good that you're out of the galaxy police." We reached Kazumi's door and I knocked. "Come in," I heard. Ryoko finished her drink and gave me the glass. "Bring me another of these." The door opened before I reached the doorknob. Henrik, Kazumi's man, opened it. "And take care of the guy out back," Kazumi finished. "I'll bring the car around," Henrik answered, leaving. "Lady Chancellor, enjoying your night out?" Kazumi asked, and Ryoko entered and closed the door behind her. I started to get Ryoko's drink but then I passed the back door and forgot about it. "Take care of the man out back." What was that about? I went into the garden. "Hello," I called. "Hello out there." Nothing answered me but the open space above that said how expensive this place was. I looked around but only saw flowers and orchids and stuff. The garden is the only thing I miss about the whole station. "Oh well, he must have left," I said. That's when I stumbled over the body. The dead body. He was dead. He'd been shot with a PPG at close range, sometime within the last hour. I knew his face, cause he was a regular at the club. I called the police. It wasn't my job to investigate these things any more. "We know this guy," the police said. "Toshiro Shaoran, brother of that terrorist we brought in last week." "Dead terrorist," his partner said. "Dead terrorist. You know those scumbags. They can't even trust each other. Got the body bag?" "Yeap," his partner said. "One down, 13 billion to go." After they left, I found the body's wallet. I thought I'd bring it to the station tomorrow. Kazumi had me get him a drink before we went to bed. "You know how I like it," he said. Yeah I did. Wet. In a large glass. He was angry with me for some reason. He lay on me pretty hard that night, and then rolled over and passed out. I never imagined it that way when I was young. I always thought it would have been nice. With ... I can't even say it to my diary. The next day something was bothering me and so I made a mistake and the world changed. Something bothered me about Toshiro Shaoran's death. I went to the address I found in the wallet rather than straight to the police. His apartment was on a low sub-level, close to the hull of the orbital station. His door was unlocked. Looked like it had been forced. I opened the door. It had been forced. The room had been ransacked. Everything that could be overturned or ripped open was. Toshiro had crossed his criminal buddies, probably stolen something, and they killed him to get it back. I left. A Kazan woman approached me. "Are you from the Vacuum Flower?" she bubbled. "Yes," I said. "I'm Mrs. Mashua." "He told me to give you this." The Kazan's tentacles handed me a fat brown envelope. "Did you hear anything last night?" I asked. "I'm a Kazan," she said. "I'm deaf." "Oh. Right." In the tunnelcar home I looked in the envelope. Another mistake. I'm such a screwup. If I hadn't looked, the change wouldn't have happened. The world would still be a good place. The envelope was filled with pictures. They were all black and white and taken secretly. Two men in galaxy police uniforms talked to a man on the street. A man in a cloak looked on. The man on the street gave the men in uniform a briefcase and they opened it. Full of cash. Then the uniformed men shot him and walked away. Good shots of everyone's faces. The criminals were impersonating galaxy police! There was also a paper with the pictures. It said, "Tohno, Jiro's murderers. Toshiro." Back at the club that evening I asked Simone if she knew a regular named Tohno. I like her. She's nice to me. She pointed me to a small man with hair the color of autumn leaves. I placed a photo in front of him. "What do you know about these people, Mr. Tohno?" He looked at me. "You're the owner's Mrs? Why do you care?" "A crime has been committed and I must stop the evildoers." "Okay," he said in that voice Tenchi would use with me, short 'o' and long 'kay.' "This man's Jiro Shaoran, Toshiro's brother." "The terrorist?" I asked. "Jiro wasn't no terrorist, that's just something the cops made up. He worked for the syndic. That's honest work." "Were they close?" "Nah," he said. "Toshiro hated 'im. He was always trying to get something over on his brother. Following 'im around too, I guess." "Who are these other people?" I asked. "Don't know the cops. The man in the coat's Kiteyo, owns the Lily. His Mrs. was treating Jiro like a rocking horse. Where'd you get this?" I gave him the envelope. "Toshiro left this for you. Before he died." "Wanted me to meet 'im here last night." "Enjoy your evening, Mr. Tohno," I said. It was getting more confusing. I understood most of it. Jiro was giving the two police impersonators money, probably to hire them to do some job for the syndic, but they double-crossed him. They stole the money without doing the job. I didn't know why Toshiro took the pictures. But he planned to take them to the real police as soon as they were developed, bringing justice for the murder of his brother. But why was a rich businessman like Kiteyo there, and who killed Toshiro? Only one person would know the answer to that question. I called a cab to take me to the Lily. It was all my fault. Everything changed because of me, because I forgot I wasn't a cop anymore. I destroyed the world, I made everything evil. Because of me, you can't trust anyone. Because of me, no one protects the innocent. Because I took a cab to the Lily, Tenchi doesn't trust me. You can't trust anyone. He hates me. It's my fault and I deserve it. But when I arrived at Kiteyo's club, I was all business. "Mrs. Mashua, what brings you by my place of humble entertainment?" Kiteyo invited me into his office on the third floor. Two walls were all windows and filled with the tops of trees outside. That must have cost a fortune. "May I offer you a drink? How do you like yours?" "I don't. I came to talk about uniforms." I felt so suave. "I hear you're in the business." "Huh?" he said. "I don't know what you're talking about." I added some pressure. "I need some uniforms. Police uniforms. On the hush-hush. My sources say you're the man to talk to." "Your sources are wrong," he lied. "Is that so? So you're not providing galaxy police impersonators to the syndic so you can finance your illegal narcotics business? Then what about this!" I slapped a copy of one of the pictures, the evidence, on his desk. "You double-crossed Jiro Shaoran, but his brother threatened to go to the police if you didn't turn yourself in, so you had him killed. Here's *your* men in my casino on the night Toshiro was murdered." Another picture. "You're going to jail, Mr. Kiteyo!" He rolled his eyes. Why do people always do that around me? "You're a looney," he said. He touched a button on his desk and a moment later the door behind me opened. I turned to look. His man Hattori entered, carrying a gun. "I'm sorrier to kill you than the blackmailer," Kiteyo said. I looked back and he was pointing a gun at me too. "You're a beautiful woman, but you're dangerous." I jumped across the desk at Kiteyo, surprising him. *PVZZT!* went the gun, but he missed. I pulled Kiteyo around when he shot at me again so he killed his man Hattori instead. I disarmed Kiteyo and subdued him. "Get me the galaxy police," I told the phone. They said they'd send someone right over. "Like I said, Mr. Kiteyo," I said, taking his gun, "you're going to jail." After a while, two galaxy police detectives were shown into the room. No, no, no, I thought. I called the real galaxy police. I know I did. This was impossible. I's seen the two galaxy policemen who entered the office already. I had pictures of them. Killing Jiro Shaoran. They were real police officers. I cried. I still cried, then. I don't cry any more. They tried to kill me. They shot at me and I shielded myself with the only thing I could reach. Then I threw Mr. Kiteyo's corpse at them and started shooting wildly. The police ducked. I grabbed the desk chair and swung it back, smashing a lamp to the ground behind me. I threw the chair through a window and jumped after it. Even on a space station, a three story drop could hurt me bad. On my way down through the trees I clutched out in panic. I caught something. I clambered the rest of the way down and fled the Lily. I found a phone booth. "How did you get the number of my portable, Mihoshi?" Ryoko demanded when I brought her image to the screen. "The world isn't nice any more," I wept. "So you finally caught up to reality, did you Mihoshi?" "Stop laughing at me!" I said. "They're trying to kill me!" "Who isn't? Ok, ok, who's trying to kill you?" "The galaxy police," I said. "I haven't done anything illegal. I caught some of them taking money from the syndic and killing people and I can't call anyone. But you." "That made sense. You *must* be scared," Ryoko said. "Mihoshi, listen. You can trust Kiyone. Remember that. You can always trust Kiyone." Ryoko gave me Kiyone's number and hung up. I called Kiyone. "Everything's changed," I said to her. I did it. If only I had let Toshiro Shaoran stay a terrorist, the world would be nice. The galaxy police -- my life, my youth, family, dream, love, and sacrifice -- would not be dishonest and corrupt. I took that from them. I was the worst thief who ever lived. I wish everything was the way it was. I wish it wasn't true. I wish everything was still ok. Sometimes I think I'm silly. The world was always a bad place. I didn't change anything important. After all, it was years before the change when I knew Tenchi and he never loved me. I wish it wasn't so. # I let Mihoshi's diary drop to her bed. I hadn't meant to intrude. I'd walked into her room looking for her and saw a cute little flat pad. "Oh, neat," I thought. "Electronic toy." That was always my way, a habit I learned from someone. I picked up the pad, didn't know what I was looking at until I'd started reading, and by then, I couldn't stop. That is what I read. When I dropped the diary, I felt like nothing was the same anymore. --------- Don't expect quick continuation of this series. Life is very very bad. I wrote this chapter last Autumn but didn't feel like uploading it until now. I started chapter 11 in January. So far I've typed the title. Very very very bad. The names of Tenchi, Washu, Aeka, Sasami, Ryoko, Mihoshi, 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 address at the bottom of a series one chapter and gotten a bounce, you'd understand why.