"So," said Washu as she looked up from her holocomputer, "your grandfather believes I should give you my take on history?" Tenchi nodded, as he stared at one of the aquatic creatures who swam behind a huge panel of glass and stared right back with three huge glowing eyes. "Princess Ayeka and Sasami are helping me with my galactic history, but it has been pointed out to me that their view of history has been formed by special interests and warped by the distance of time." "I see," said the redhead, as she saved her work and turned to face the young human. "Mostly I wish to know more about the Academy," remarked Tenchi. "Well," said the tiny scientist with a smile, I don't see why not? As long as I am not late for my date tonight." ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** Location: The Planet Todain. Time: 27,073 BGU. "So you see," said King Aumer the First as he walked across the carpet to pour himself a goblet of local wine, "I am more than willing to fund your research here IF you agree to allow my own government access to your results." "You mean," stated the tiny man from behind his large wooden desk, "as long as I help your armies and fleet develop bigger and better weapons." "If you wish to state it that way Mr. Alloy," replied the King as he sniffed the wine. Alloy stroked his long green beard and smiled, "What I REALLY wish my dear King is not just a lab, but to start a school. A academy, if you would. A center of knowledge, not just a factory of death." The King of Jurai turned to face Alloy and the older man was amazed at the emotions that played across the King's face. It was not anger as much as frustration. Alloy leaned back in his chair, as if trying to add distance between himself and the King. "Mr. Alloy," stated the King, "I am upset, truly, at what you say. In the past ten years my Kingdom has grown by over twenty planets and only two had to be brought in by force. The other planets joined out of the knowledge that they would gain much in trade, technology and medical knowledge." Alloy was taken back and bowed. "My apologies." The King seemed to think a moment, while examining the wine. "I understand your fears Mr. Alloy," said the King as he glanced at some of the artwork on the walls of the room. "I can't promise my Kingdom will not fight wars for honor or to defend its interests, but my wish is to bring civilization back to this part of space. Call me selfish or self-centered, but do NOT think of me as a warlord." "And what happen to your father?" demanded the tiny old scientist. The King sipped the wine and glanced at Alloy out of the corner of his eyes. "What happens to all men who try to fight the forces of history?" Mr. Alloy thought for a few moments and then bowed again. "Then my King, let us build the Royal Space Academy." ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** "I thought it was called the Imperial Science Academy?" asked Tenchi, as he scratched his forehead. "The official title was the Royal Space Academy," remarked Washu, "but it is also called the Imperial Science Academy, as much of its courses were, and still are, science related." "You entered it when it was still the Royal Space Academy," remarked Tenchi. Washu sighed and nodded. "Oh yes..." ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** Location: The Planet Todain. Time: 19,088 BGU. Washu stepped off the ramp, a robotic gravity cart humming behind her, carrying her lagguge and following her every footstep. "I'm here," whispered the young woman, her red hair being brushed by the wind, as other ships landed nearby. The space port was a major one, a important port, as space traffic was always heavy around the planet of Todain. The Royal Space Academy was always recieving not only supplies, students and techers, but also visiting VIPS, updated equipment and even Juraian military units. Washu started towards the customs offices, the cart happily sliding behind. She couldn't help but notice the patrol ships and battle stations that had requested proper passwords and identification from the passager ship she had arrived in. Even now, among the beautiful buildings and parks she could see around the space port, her keen eyes noticed the hidden laser installations and missile launchers. Washu placed her hands on her hips, frowning as she noticed the long lines, as officers of the Royal Space Police checked and rechecked papers and bags. The cart halted behind her, beeping, as if asking for orders. She glared at it and sighed, crossing her arms over her ample chest. "Well," she said out loud, "looks like I am going to be here for a very long time." "You might be right," said a tiny voice behind her. Washu turned, looked around, seeing nothing but the cart and the far off ships. "Who was that?" she demanded. "Oops, sorry about that," said the voice, as the tiny alien stepped from behind the cart. "Greetings, my name is Ricag, from the planet Sanctus. I have been assigned to greet new students." "Well hello," said Washu. She handed the tiny alien her student card and Ricag swiped it through his hand-held computer. The alien seemed very calm and clean looking, dressed in a loose fitting robe of dark green with light green trim. Its fur was a light brown, matching its large brown eyes. "Oh Washu," said Ricag, "hello. Welcome to the Academy. I see you have passed the exams with very high marks and also have a full scholarship." The furry alien whistled and looked impressed. "You are also housed in a first class dorm with full room service. You most come from a rich family." Washu smiled, but thought, 'Yes, my family is very rich. Otherwise, my bank accounts would not be anywhere as large.' "You have not declared a major yet, I see," Ricag added. "I did not wish to pick something too quickly," commented Washu. "I have yet to get a good look of what is available on campus." The alien nodded and said, "Smart move." ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** "From the planet SANCTUS!" yelped Tenchi, jerking up, as if waking up from a nap. "Something wrong?" asked Washu, looking a tad worried as she stopped her story. "Well," remarked Tenchi, blushing, "it's just that I heard about the Feles before. From grandpa." "I see," said Washu, smiling. "Ricag was there, as a student, to study the Flower of Harmony. He was trying to find out if it had any value as a biological agent for terraforming. Or should I say Sanctusforming?" "I don't understand," said Tenchi. "Were they trying to use it as such?" "Well," continued Washu, "he believed that earlier visitors to their planet might of developed the flower to transform dead planets into ones that could be colonized." "Really?" Washu smiled, "Oh yes." ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** Location: The Planet Todain. Time: 19,088 BGU. "I see," commented Washu as she examined the holographic image of the jar. Washu's dorm room was somewhat large and the window gave her a great view of one of the many lakes of the planet. It also allowed her to see many of the floating classrooms and campus buildings. "So you see," said Ricag from where he was sitting on the bed, "we know they shipped the seeds of the flower from our world to one, and maybe even many, but we don't know why. Nor do we have the original DNA to do a comparison." "Could it be," said Washu, as she scrolled to the pages displaying the strands of Harmony DNA, "that the flower is not from your own planet, but was seeded there to transform it?" Ricag nodded and smiled at Washu. "Such a thing has been debated also. But once again, without the original DNA it is hard to say if the Flower of Harmony was adapted from a native flower or a imported flower who went native." "I see," stated Washu. "May I copy this information into my computer to study some more later? We can add it to our knowledge of the MeowMeow period. I, myself, was greatly interested in the ships found in orbit about the planet Marshcrest." "Of course." Washu smiled, as she copied the information on both the DNA and the jar into her computer's data banks. ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** "Oh. What happened to Ricag?" Washu frowned and placed a finger on her lower lip. "I believe he was called back by his family before the formation of the Union. Times were still dangerous and in some areas of space the expanding empires were starting to fight over even the smallest of resources." "Even the Kingdom of Jurai?" said Tenchi, looking somewhat sad. Washu nodded and added, "Jurai's record was not the best. It was not as war like, but there's more than one way to conqure a world and the Juraian leaders knew them all. Jurai's link to the Academy meant that many people saw it as nothing but a tool of the Royal Family." Washu typed into her computer and an image of the galaxy appeared above. Glowing, white puffy clouds spun slowly before Tenchi's eyes. It looked so calm and peaceful, but he knew that the image was of the Milkyway Galaxy, 200 to 300 billion stars strong. Parts of the western arms lite up a light blue, showing the space occupied by planets of the Galactic Union. One small section, halfway up the branch was a dark blue, cutting the main region of the Union into two parts. Tiny words flashed in this area of space; Kingdom of Jurai. Washu hit another button and Tenchi watched again and again as both colors spread from a few central dots, spreading over thousands of year lights over a period of centuries, till they showed the modern borders, the Juraian systems sandwiched within the Union itself. Washu sighed and rubbed her eyes, before continuing. "Students sometimes went back home to find that their government was fighting to protect their world, their culture and their values from being absorbed by others. Either by the Kingdom of Jurai or other interests." ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** Location: The Planet Todian Time: 19,067 BGU. The tramp freighter from Tag was one of the most well designed ships to land on the Todian's main space port. A huge white sphere, its hull dotted with sensor booms, sub-space transmiters and glowing windows, it was what a spaceship should look like. Washu turned to Ricag, whose bags were already being loaded by helpful stewards and smiled at him. "I hope the knowledge you have gained with help your people." Ricag smiled back at Washu, as she tried to keep her eyes dry. "I am sure it will. I have data cubes full of tests you and me have down on samples of the flowers. My people will surely get something out of it. It is too bad that my father has to recall me." Ricag sighed, looking at the space ship, "It is too bad that the Trade Combine has tried to force its way into our region of space. I hope my people can find a way to reach a peaceful solution." Washu nodded, commenting, "I am sure they will." Ricag looked up at the tall redhead and added, "TRY to get along with Mr. Clay." Washu snorted and grinned, "I won't promise anything." She nodded towards the ship, the stewards waiting by the open airlock, saying, "They're waiting." Ricag gave Washu a hug about her shapely legs and then quickly walked over to enter the spaceship. Washu watched the 'Festive' take ooff on humming gravity beams. Once high enough into the sky, where it appeared as nothing more then a tiny silver easter egg, it switched to main engines and ascended upwards like a lightning bolt. ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** "You used that data to make a copy of the jar, didn't you?" demanded Tenchi with a smile. "Yes." chuckled Washu, "and I sold it to Dr. Clay. He put it in his dorm room and would show it off to the other students. Some of the students figured out it was a fake and this soon made him look very much like a fool." "So you ended up becoming the Director of the Academy for a while," added Tenchi, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, yes, in the end," remarked Washu looking a tad uncomfortable. "Dr. Clay wished for wealth and power. There were rumors that he had been given a scholarship by the Royal Family of Jurai, though those rumors were unfounded to my knowledge." "And he left the academy after failing to get the Directorship?" asked Tenchi. "Well, no," said Washu. "He was kicked out after trying to steal some files from one of the labs. After he was sent away I was made Director for a short time. He ended up becoming a tool of the Lady Tokimi." "A short time?" commented Tenchi. "You had the Directorship till 5,912, when you were kidnapped. That's about fifteen thousand years!" "Yep," said Washu with a grin. "I'm the one who decided to have the Academy go independent in 11 GU, after the formation of the Galactic Union, making it the Galactic Academy." "I would think the Royal Family was somewhat unhappy about that," stated Tenchi. "Oh yes..." ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** Location: In orbit around the Planet Todain. Time: 11 GU. "What do you mean, you refuse?" growled Iou, Supreme Commander of the Royal Body Guard. Washu's image on the viewing screen smiled down at the Iou. "I mean, I refuse. The Galactic Union has agreed to help fund the school. If the Kingdom of Jurai wishes to continue to fund the school, I am sure that we, with the Union's permission, can come to some kind of agreement. A NEW charter, one which is not so one sided?" "Director, maybe you don't understand," said Iou, standing up straight, his hands gesturing towards the outer hull of his flagship. "I have a small fleet of some of the most powerful space ships in this universe. Within a few minutes they will be in position to bombard anything and everything on the surface. Within twenty minutes I can land over five thousand troops right onto your head." He glared at the redheaded child on the screen. "Yes Commander," commented the red headed child, "I know all about them, I helped design much of the equipment in them. I also designed the battle stations, hidden weapon systems and drone fighters that protect THIS planet. I am also in contact with the Galaxy Police, despite your jamming of the sub-space radios." "Huh," remarked the Juraian Commander, looking a tad pale. "I will give you time to contact your KING," stated Washu's childish voice, "and let us hope he has the sense to withdraw you from my system. I would hate to have to kill anyone while Director, even somebody as stupid as you." ****************************************************************************** ************************************************************** Tenchi looked shocked. "Would you?" "Would I have what?" asked Washu, smiling. "Killed them?" "No, no," replied Washu. "I knew all the weak points. I would have been able to knock the ships out of order without having to hole the hulls or do great damage to the life support systems. I also designed their transport beams, so I knew how to jam or block them." Washu tilted her head and said, "well, it turned out for the best anyway and the whole messy thing was kept out of the news." She grinned and leaned back on her floating cushion. "I really don't understand why the Jurai Royal Family would allow their empire to join the Galactic Union if they were so reluctant to give up power," pointed out Tenchi, shaking his head. Washu smiled, "Oh, you'll have to ask Mihoshi about that." Tenchi sighed and remarked, "the more I learn, the less I like." He blinked and stared at Washu, "Who the heck is or were the Trade Combine?" Washu chuckled, turned back to her computer and said with a toss of her red hair, "I'll let Mihoshi explain that mess also." As Tenchi said good bye to Washu and headed down the hallways and corridors that would, sooner or later, lead him back to the house and Earth, two forms broke away from the high ceiling to follow him. "That also seemed to be in conflict with my history files," pointed out Azaka as the two Guardians moved down to become almost level with the floor. Kamidake's red sensor flickered as it replied. "That is not totally correct." "Explain." Kamidake slowed, as if not wishing to be overheard by Tenchi. "My records do show a period in 11 GU when the ships of the Royal Body Guard were on deep space patrol." Azaka came to a halt as the programs and hardware within it, designed to handle even the most difficult tactical problems, become dangerously over heated. "That is insane," it commented, "and down right illogical. Faulty facts would impair our ability to protect the people placed in our care." Kamidake slowed some more, but did not come to a complete halt, continuing to follow Tenchi. "Maybe we will learn more during his social intercourse with Mihoshi." Azaka stayed silent for a few moments and then resumed its forward motion. "Maybe," it replied. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------- Tenchi Muyo! and related characters are owned by AIC and Pioneer. Who else would of declared the Academy independent????