When Heaven answers...(PART II) Disclaimer: Any Tenchi characters in this fic belong to AIC and Pioneer. If there are any characters that you have not heard of, they are mine! Any legal letters sent to claim money will be filled under "I" for important...right in the pail! "That's it?" was all Kiyone could sum up. True, the information provided wasn't much, in fact, it was not a whole lot more than what the Lieutenant had told her prior to leaving Earth. The Imperial Council, for whatever reason, decided not to disclose a lot of information regarding this felon. Much of the information Kiyone wanted to know was highly classified. The only other things that were made known to her was his extensive training in guerilla type combat and he was a skilled tactician and he had limited shape shifting abilities. Regardless, Kiyone was not about to question the validity of this case. Still, a bit more info would really help...and how does Washu know of this Vin-Roc? "It's still a few hours before I reach the Nestith Sector, maybe I should take a quick nap..." Kiyone popped off to the personal quarters and nodded off for a little while. "Tenchi, I'm so sorry about the fair...I know you worked really hard, please don't be mad at me..please I just wanted to see you...please...wait...don't go...I...I...", Kiyone suddenly woke from her sleep with a bit of sweat across her face. "Oh boy, I need to put this to the back of my mind, no matter how I may feel", Kiyone walked to the console on the bridge and found out two things. First, she had arrived at the Nestith Sector, and boy was it a dump. Second, Washus' little upgrade had worked, but in the process had burnt itself out and did a bit of damage to the engines. "Nothing serious fortunately...computer, begin automatic repairs and get into a parking dock" "Yes Ma'am", the computer responded and parked in the first available spaceport. The Nestith Sector was where you went to be forgotten about. It wasn't a place to have a family reunion. Basically, the Nestith Sector was a space station, which housed some of the vilest characters, and the occasional quick stopper who was simply looking for a five-fingered discount. "Just what you would expect from a piece of trash like the one I'm after...", Kiyone stepped off the runway and into customs, which basically was nothing more than a dingy office that made sure that everyone was armed and made clear of the risk they were taking by entering this station. One of the individuals even handed Kiyone a next of kin form, "Just in case eh?" "No thank you, really", Kiyone responded as she was cleared for entry. Using the information provided, Kiyone made her way to the complex where Vin-Roc was sighted staying for the past few months. His room was on the third floor and the landlord had been quite helpful in mentioning which room he was in. "Lousy dreg, he's late on his rent, see if you can shake it out of him......miserable piker ", was his words as she ascended up to the third floor. The door to his room was not much more than a thin sheet of Carbadium which Kiyone had no trouble kicking through, "Freeze, Galaxy Police!" was the shout as Kiyone ran in with blaster in hand expecting resistance. What she didn't expect was to find an empty room.and what a mess! "UGH, what could possibly live here?!" There were bottles of what smelled like an alcoholic substance, empty cartons of what she wanted to believe was at one time something edible, and what appeared to have been a place where a holo-screen should have been, but there was only an outline burned into the wall. There where however two things that caught Kiyone's attention. First, there was an old tattered uniform in the corner. It looked as if it hadn't been used in some time. (Must have been from his days in the military) and the other was a holo-cube. When she touched the cube, an image of a young and beautiful woman appeared along with a young girl who, by Earth standards, couldn't have been more than two years old. Kiyone was so engrossed in her search of the rest of the items looking for a clue as to the suspects' whereabouts; she had no idea that Vin-Roc was sitting right behind her. ***************************************************************************** "Grrrr......darn stuff wasn't strong enough, I'm almost sober already!" This was true, his metabolism saw to this, for just prior to returning to the complex, Vin-Roc had taken enough alcohol to stop a large army dead. As he staggered back to his room, he thought he heard something, a slight noise."Bah, must be the rats!" But then he was proved wrong when he got to his door, or rather where his door should have been. "Noi`jitat", he swore silently to himself."I've been found already......and by a woman?" He peered inside and found out he was right, yes he was found, yes it was a woman, and YES she was a looker all right! "Too bad I didn't meet this tasty specimen at the bar...ah and she's a cop too...ah man!" Vin-Roc quietly levitated himself over to the table where the holo-screen used to be and sat himself quite comfortably and watched this officer do her job. Now it's not that Kiyone wasn't paying attention to notice, it's just that he was that silent. "She was doing a rather decent job," he thought, "rather thorough.hope she doesn't hit my stash of dirty draws...it might kill her." A smile came across his face with the hopes of performing some life saving techniques on her if necessary. Well, time to get acquainted with this one. "Ahem", clearing his throat, Vin-Roc had finally made his presence known. Without thinking and on instinct, Kiyone turned quickly and fired a shot off in his direction, which Vin-Roc dodged effortlessly with a simple tilt of his head. (Rookie move) "How long have you been there!" Kiyone demanded. "Long enough to like what I see...now if you're here about those docking tickets I already paid them...so please leave" "I am not a meter maid!" "I am First Class Detective Kiyone of the Galaxy Police and..." "...didn't I just ask you to leave...damn cops, you're all the same, in one ear out the other!" Vin-Roc answered while looking out the window. "Sol- Menhadrin, or should I say Vin-Roc?" Kiyone had her blaster aimed straight at him. "I have been called both and other things as well.I should have seen this one coming.the Council set you up to this didn't they.got the GP as their gophers eh?" "I am not a gopher...and you are under arrest!" "Well, a tough cookie are we...well, if you want me...you first have to earn it!" With that Vin-Roc waved two fingers and a small beam from his fingertips scorched the carpeting starting a fire. Completely taken by surprise, Kiyone didn't notice Vin-Roc swoop past her, grab his outfit and holocube, give her a quick peck on the cheek and was out the window. "Dammit!" Kiyone plunged out the window after him. Halfway down the block, there was an explosion at the complex, the fire had spread to a line of fuel for the building and completely leveled the complex, which by then was evacuated. "Oh yeah...TOUCHDOWN CITY!!!" Vin-Roc shouted with joy as this had saved him the trouble of doing it later. "Stop, halt I said...you're under arrest!!" Kiyone fired one shot after another but missed all of them. Finally, Kiyone managed to chase Vin-Roc into a dead end. "Game over, now give yourself up!" "Oh and just when we were having fun." "I am not kidding...hands up!" "Or what, you're gun is out of juice.go away already...or maybe I can show you a good time later eh?" "You nasty pervert!" With that Kiyone took several concussion grenades and hurled them at Vin-Roc who was actually caught by surprise. "Ooops, didn't figure she would go and do that" The grenades hit their mark and Vin-Roc went down on his back, looking up he saw Kiyone over him, cuffs in hand. "Take me to your leader" he replied with a sheepish grin across his face, "nice view" he thought. Aboard the Yugami, Kiyone was relieved to see that the repairs were completed...although under regular speed it would be about two days before they reached HQ, and the long wave radio was shorted out as well. So there was no way of contacting HQ to tell them of her success in capturing one of the most dangerous criminals...yet why had it been so easy? Not that she wasn't thankful...but this guy wasn't as tough as they made him out to be, oh well. "I should go check on my 'guest' just to make sure he doesn't try anything". Vin-Roc was being held behind a security field in the prisoner's section and seemed bored among many things. "Can I be honest with you sweetheart...this decor sucks!" "I mean really, I know I'm a prisoner but sheesh, my last place was decorated better than this." "For your information pal" Kiyone spoke with authority "This isn't a vacation for you, and the name isn't sweetheart...it's Officer Makibi, got it?!" "Makibi...as in Kiyone Makibi...ah yes I have heard of you", "You have?" "Yes, you are one of the Galaxy Polices' most favored officers, I am honored that they assigned you to catch me, and to have been captured by you is another honor", with that, Vin-Roc gave a slight bow of respect. "Well, thank you, but flattery will get you nowhere, you're going to answer for your crimes". "Yes, I suppose so...but enough about me" He folded his hands together and leaned closer to the security field "Let's talk about you, we have a bit of a trip ahead of us yes?" "Me? Now wait just a minute here." She began to protest, "Oh no, I don't mind, so tell me, are you married, got a boyfriend, is the sex life treating you well?" She began to feel disgusted "UGH, this has nothing to do about me, you are a wanted criminal, and if anyone does the interrogating around here it'll be me!" Kiyone began getting hot under the collar "Pardon me on my forwardness...so?" "So what?" She demanded, "Are you involved with anyone, engaged...or dare I say...in love?" He shot her a look of boyish curiosity, which she wasn't liking at all. "Mind your business!" "So what's his name?" He continued to pry "I said mind your damn business!" She held a fist at him "I see, you're in denial aren't you, yes I can tell, you seem like the type." In a rather pondering voice he gave his opinion "Damn you, you don't know a thing about me, you're just some wretched little criminal who's going to hang, and when you do the universe will cry out 'good riddance'!" With that she took off for the bridge in a storm. "She'll be back." he thought and assumed a Zen type position for some meditation..."now if only I had some tea". "Nothing but a criminal...UGH!!!!" Kiyone slammed her fist on the console, which fortunately hit nothing of any importance. "What does he know about me...what does he know about love...arrgghhh!!" Again slamming the console Kiyone heard a clank as something hit the floor. She picked up the holocube she had taken from Vin-Roc earlier. She touched it again and saw the image of the woman and young girl. But looking closer, she noticed some inscription on the bottom of the cube. It was Alcaronian, which she was not familiar with. "Computer, please translate this text for me." The console scanned the cube and began to hum. "Processing, please wait a moment...translation complete." The translation was displayed on the screen above her and read: "In loving memory, I pray that you will forgive me. Soon, someday, somehow, someway, we will be together...I swear! I love you eternal!" Kiyone closed the screen and put the cube away, she needed some sleep. She would talk to him later. "She must have been very special to you." Kiyone stepped into the prisoner room. Vin-Roc noticed she was holding the holocube in her hands and placed it on an adjacent table. "Oh she was...more to me than any treasure to be had..." his words seemed to drift off. "She was your wife then?" He nodded agreeingly. "And the girl?" "She...was my daughter...that was some time ago...I had lost them both to a war" "I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to pry old wounds open..." The soldier looked away "...some wounds never do heal" he replied. "About before, I apologize if I was being a bit too nosy." the soldier spoke. "Well you were prying a bit much..." Kiyone agreed. "All right then Vin-Roc, tell you what, let's play Truth...you tell me something and I'll tell you something." "Oh this is interesting...who's first?" His mood suddenly changed to a bit more upbeat "You, I insist" "All right Officer Makibi, ask and I shall tell" "Please, just call me Kiyone, and my question is.the crimes.did you really do them?" Vin-Roc took a moment to think it over, drew in a deep breath and began, "Well, let's see...treason, not really, you see I was set up, my superiors got a bit concerned with the influence I was getting with the people and considered me too dangerous to let live...so sentence was soon passed on me...murder, it was self defense...either him or me, it was one of The imperial Council, he was used as part of the set- up, his blood ensured the rage of the people against me...and grand theft...well, a man's gotta eat, and no one really wants a criminal working for them..." The focus now shifted to Kiyone "Now you Kiyone...let's have it" "Well, all right...there is this someone, he's really nice, a bit young but more mature than many of the men I knew, he has a caring heart but a bit knieve at times." "How so?" the soldier inquired. "Well, he has two women who practically throw themselves at him and he doesn't know how to tell them how he feels...oh that Aeka and Ryoko, they can be such fools sometimes." "Did you say...Ryoko?" "Yes, and Princess Aeka...do you know them?" "Ku`futashia." he said while shaking his head. (Can this universe be so cruel) his thoughts were rather obvious to Kiyone. "Huh?" "Oh...I know who Aeka of Jurai is...but Ryoko...can it be...?" Vin-Roc had a look that was nothing short of empty. "Yes, I knew Ryoko.sometime ago...when I was an outlaw...I came across Ryoko and her band. I asked to join up with them and we became a feared group who stole to support each other. Life was hard, and at first, I almost couldn't make it...but she wouldn't let me lose hope. In time...we grew close to each other and cared for each other very much." His voice was trailing off "but then the bounty hunters came...one of our members ratted us out, told them where we were. He was promised a hefty reward. Oh he got it, just as they found us, they threw us his head to show what they do with traitors...served him right...little rat. In the melee that ensued, the entire base was destroyed, along with half the bounty hunters. I barely escaped...only to see the base go nova. I thought I was the only one who survived...thought I would never see Ryoko again...but now." (Ryoko, so she did have a heart after all...but I guess with so many losses like she had, it was no wonder she was cold most of the time) "Well, she's on Earth if you want to go..." He waived a hand at her and wanted to change the subject. "So, about this person, have you said anything to him?" Kiyone looked bewildered and replied, "Well of course not...I mean I don't know if I should." "One of those complicated situations eh?" "Yeah something like that.we're really good friends and I don't know if he feels the same about me" Vin-Roc stood up and looked her in the eye and said, "If you say nothing, then you will know nothing, it's as simple as such. My dear Kiyone, if you simply go through your life afraid to trust your heart rather than logic.if you never once take a chance and try going into the deep end of the pool, then yes you'll play it safe and you won't have many risks to take. But, you'll never know what you would have lost out on by holding onto your cards. Do you understand?" She took all this in "Yes...but...oh I just wish I knew...", her words were cut off when she remembered her prayer. She wanted to have the knowledge, the courage, and if not her, then someone who would give it to her. Well, her wish had just been answered, and by the most unlikely of sources. "Oh my..." she started to stare off into space. Her attention next turned to her prisoner. "I'm...I'm letting you go" His eyebrow arched slightly "Oh, why is that?" "I have my reasons.besides.I'm going to follow my heart and trust you, you don't make a most wanted in my book." Kiyone went to deactivate the filed when Vin-Roc simply shook his head. "What, you don't want to go free?" He shook his hand and answered, "No, no, no, no Kiyone my dear, it's just that you need not deactivate the field, here allow me." With a wave of his hands, the field was turned off. "You mean to tell me that..." Kiyone tried to understand the situation "That I could have left anytime I wanted to...yes" he seemed rather sure of himself with this answer. "Oh, and if you are wondering, I did let you catch me.please don't be too insulted now. I mean you are good, but..." She could tell that he was really that good, and that powerful. Her face was shocked and saddened. He walked over to her "You didn't fail, in fact you succeeded, I let you catch me because I had this feeling you needed someone to talk to...I guess you could say an angel told me...if you believe in those things. And I for my part, needed someone to talk to as well." He put a hand on her shoulder like a Father consoling a daughter for not making some scholastic club, and kissed her on the forehead to let her know that it would be all right. "Just remember what I said, and if you could drop me off at the nearest space port I would be grateful." "Okay.I guess I could tell HQ that you escaped when the engine was damaged." "Honestly Kiyone, The Imperial Council didn't expect one Galaxy Police Office to take me in...they just wanted to see if they could flush me out into the open..." "And I helped them...oh I'm so sorry" "No worries, just get me to a space port...oh and give them this too please" He reached into his pocket and handed her a disk. "There's a message on there for The Council, see that they get it." "I will, I promise." The Yugami docked at the spaceport for Tildrin and Vin-Roc beamed over holding his only two possessions. "Now don't you be a stranger Detective" His final words left her alone on the Yugami. "Good bye Vin-Roc, and thank you." She was soon within range to contact HQ "Kiyone, we are sorry to hear of Vin-Roc's escape...but good work anyway, you succeeded where countless other bounty hunters have failed...don't worry we'll catch that trash soon enough." With that, the screen faded out. "Oh if they only knew him like I did..." Kiyone realized how misled she had been, so blinded by duty, she forgot to trust her gut instincts. She put the disk into the teleport chamber and set the coordinates for Alcaron. It would be a day or so, but the disk would get to them. "I wonder what was on there...computer, set a course for Earth, maximum speed!" "Yes ma'am." The Yugami kicked into full speed and headed for home. She had a few things to think about on the way back. But, no matter what, she was more determined to speak her heart and to have the courage to say what she felt was right. "Oh Kiyone you're back!!!" Mihoshi was the first to greet Kiyone when she landed the Yugami and made her way back to the Masaki residence. "KIYONE, KIYONE, KIYONE, KIYONE!!!" the blonde officer could barely contain herself hugging Kiyone till she felt her lungs might burst. "EASY MIHOSHI!!" Kiyone screamed and Mihoshi let go. "I'm sorry about taking off without you, but it was GP orders to go solo on this mission." "So.what was this secret mission you went on eh Kiyone?" Ryoko hovered over to Kiyone and was very interested in getting the details. "I'm sorry, but that's classified information." As Kiyone responded to Ryoko, she shot a look at Washu who was watching, letting her know to keep her mouth shut about the whole thing. Unfortunately, Ryoko too noticed, (So Washu knows a bit about what happened, I'll have to ask her later she thought to herself.) "Well anyway, Kiyone it's good that you're back, you had us worried for a little while there. Sasami is in the kitchen getting dinner ready, let's all wash up before then." Tenchi suggested and excused himself first. Kiyone also made it a point to apologize for her recent behavior claiming it had been some stress from the job. (I could try talking to him after dinner I suppose.if I waited this long." the officer thought to herself.) At dinner, everyone was their usual chattering selves; Aeka and Ryoko were the same, trying to get the better of Tenchi. Mihoshi and Washu were having their usual 'intellectual conversations' which usually ended with Washu wanting to use a cerebral accelerator to help kick up Mihoshis' IQ to, in her own words "Slightly higher than a half baked gopher!" Kiyone though was so engrossed in what she was going to say to Tenchi, she was letting her food get cold. "What's the matter Kiyone?" Tenchi thoughtfully asked, and in the process everyone else had stopped what they were doing to look at the officer who was now blushing from all the attention. "Oh nothing really...heh...great food Sasami!" "Well it would be if you had eaten any of it" Aeka commented which didn't go over too well with Kiyone. After dinner, everyone excused themselves. Sasami went to the kitchen to clean up, Ryo-ohki took her usual position on top of her head. Aeka had gone to watch some soap operas with Mihoshi. Ryoko had opted to get some sake and get hammered. Washu popped off into her lab, still surprised that Kiyone was still alive. Tenchi was about to head to his room when Kiyone spoke, "Tenchi...um...can I...talk to you?" "Sure Kiyone, what's up?" "Not here, could we go for a walk?" As they were leaving, Ryoko noticed the two leaving together, "What are they up to?" Instead of going after them, Ryoko decided to see Washu and find out just what has been going on. KONCK! KNOCK! "Come in, oh it's you Ryoko...what is it this time?" "I want to know what Kiyone was up to, she's been acting odd lately." The space pirate loomed over Washu wanting some answers. "Look Ryoko, I don't know what you're talking about, you heard her, she hasn't been herself because it had been some stress from her job, that's all." "Don't lie to me, you know damn well what's up...now tell me!" "She made me promise not to tell anyone..." before she could finish, Ryoko had Washu in the air by her collar. "If you don't tell me, the universe will be short one genius, got it!?" "Well, since you put it that way...but you might not like what you hear...are you sure?" The space pirate nodded and put Washu down. "All right...sit down...this is something I didn't want to tell you." ***************************************************************************** Well true believers, it looks like the truth is finally going to be heard: What happens when Ryoko finds out Vin-Roc is still alive? Does Kiyone finally have the guts to tell Tenchi how she feels? Will Washu give Mihoshi the intelligence to win a game of Tic-Tac-Toe? And what of the fate of Vin-Roc, will this man ever get a job? Please email all questions, comments and complaints to yours truly at: despairisu@aol.com.