Planet to Planet
Chapter Seven

Inu Taicho had seen the reluctance of the mammalian alien when he agreed to Shõgun's deal, despite the fact that he had his back turned to him. The Saiya-jin's body language and hesitation was all that Taicho needed to see, and all Taicho needed to hear was the Saiya-jin second in command's syncopated voice. This Saiya-jin cared enough for his friend that he did not want to abandon her, unlike the stereotype that he had grown up learning about in his history classes. Unfortunately, the second in command knew he had no choice; Shõgun had pulled the guilt tactic, which worked every single time he used it. delinquent

That is not to say that the other Saiya-jin didn't care for their lost friend; when the second in command agreed to the deal, the plumper Saiya-jin glared at him disgustedly, but said nothing. In fact, when Taicho and Manaloto marched past the two Saiya-jin on their way to the Butsudo-jins' "territory", Taicho caught a glimpse of a flame that was ready to burn an entire planet to ashes on that Saiya-jin's face.

It did not scare these Butsudo-jin, though any other person would have been frightened. Shõgun generally ignored them on the way out and only looked back once to remind them about the deal. It probably wasn't the best move to pull, but there was nothing that the Saiya-jin could do or say; a deal was a deal. Manaloto sneered at them and muttered something about the Saiya-jin deserving this kind of torture. However, Taicho felt sympathy for the two Saiya-jin; surely they must have been worried enough when the girl was in the tank, and now this?

In fact, when Taicho glanced at the second in command's face, he saw the true definition of remorse.

It was not unusual for Inu Taicho to sympathize with the Pairetos' victims. The only reason for him to do so was that he always looked on both point of views --or, in some cases, all point of views. His father had taught him to do that so that he would never be too prejudiced with a situation; his father also taught him: "Everybody is biased with everything. Not even robots, who have no mind of their own. Someone had to have programmed those robots with his biased opinions, right?"

In that case, Taicho had always turned to prying his feet into another's shoes to find answers. A few years back, it had saved three Roisei-jins' lives: Kia Kasukasu, Ragua Nica, and Tamu Pico. All three were now part of the Pairetos. They had been outlaws as well, but they were never successful in outsmarting the Colossal Police. Their skill, however, was their agile speed, which had gotten the Pairetos out of many problems with planets' landscapes. Kone Shõgun was grateful for that, and Taicho had gained more of his trust. Now Shõgun considered Taicho's advice with profound thought.

Taicho knew that Shõgun was prepared to listen to his opinions now; he had sent Manaloto back to the Senchuu for dinner so that the two of them could converse privately. Manaloto, with apparent indecisiveness about the situation the Butsudo-jin were in, reluctantly wandered off. He was not left assured that the two of them were going to linger behind without him, but Shõgun promised him that they would keep no secrets when they returned.

Manaloto knew that Shõgun was good with keeping promises and looked very much relieved when he finally turned the corner to the landing pad. Satisfied, Shõgun turned back to Taicho and said:

"We have to keep that girl restrained somehow. We cannot let her go wandering her way back to her friends."

Taicho did not need to ask Shõgun for the reasoning behind that statement; he knew what it was. The bargain they made with the Saiya-jin would be ruined if she escaped, and there would be nothing holding them back from the Butsudo-jins' "territory". Then, despite how much Shõgun would hate to do it and Taicho to see it, the last four Saiya-jin in the universe would be killed. However, Manaloto would be more than thrilled to take on that responsibility.

Taicho also knew better than to ask Shõgun what they should do. The only reason why he ordered Manaloto back to the Senchuu was probably to figure out how to restrain the Saiya-jin woman. Shõgun probably thought that he could not figure out a good way on his own, and as the famous saying goes: "two heads are better than one".

Yet Taicho lacked an idea of what the Butsudo-jin could do to make sure that this girl would not get away during the night. The three of them needed their sleep. They also had to finish up their scavenging before the night was over. It would not help to have one sleep, one scavenge, and one to take care of the girl! By the time they were finished with finding more treasure, the Colossal Police would have arrived for sure!

"You said that we would not harm her," Taicho said slowly to help come up with an idea. It was better to go about this way so that Shõgun would not know that Taicho had nothing in mind. Besides, he always had something to say.

"I did not say that we would not harm her, Inu," Shõgun told him. "I only said that we would not damage her. It is not like we are too limited with our options."

"Still, we can't lock her up in the Senchuu, nor can we lock her up anywhere else. Saiya-jin are Saiya-jin. They will always find a way if they put their hearts into their determination. Isn't that one of the codes of honor? "A heart that believes will become incredulous strength"?"

Shõgun shook his head with a smile. "Not only that, but they have an extraordinary power that the Butsudo-jin do not have: spirit and energy manipulation. It can cut through most anything. That girl would break the Senchuu if we locked her up in there."

"And then the Colossal Police would find us," were the words that neither of them needed to say. Taicho knew that even though he had suggested that the idea of imprisoning the Saiya-jin was absurd, he never truly meant it. He knew now, luckily, that that plan would not work, for he trusted Shõgun's information. Kone Shõgun was almost never wrong with his data or his judgment. There was never a speculation as to why he led the Pairetos and set all the rules.

"One of us would have to watch her, but wouldn't that take up a lot of our time and energy?" Taicho suggested. He did not like this mentioned plan, but since he could not come up with anything else, he might as well mention it. Shõgun would object anyway, wouldn't he?

"Explain."

Taicho glanced at him, hiding the bewilderment that was contained in his spirit. Shõgun was actually considering that ludicrous plan? "Well, the way I figure it, one person can watch the girl. The other person can continue with the search, while another eats his dinner and gets some sleep so he can have enough energy to watch her when it's his turn. The problem is that with one person looking for the treasure at a time, the job won't be finished before morning. We have to leave tomorrow, don't we?"

"You doubt your own intelligence Inu," Shõgun muttered in amusement. "You know that is very unhealthy. The only problem I see with your plan is the searching part. We can search with two people: you and me. In fact, the Roisei-jin should be back in a couple of hours. They can help with the rest of the search."

"The Roisei-jin are coming here? I thought that we were going to meet them at the planet," Taicho contemplated orally.

"They have finished with their job already, so they are going to bring the Uchuu back here instead of the Senchuu going to the Uchuu," Shõgun said. "It probably isn't the best option considering that we would have to life the Senchuu up to get the Uchuu connected, but it is best not to get those Roisei-jin bored."

Taicho frowned. The Roisei-jin were much more violent than the Butsudo-jin, so if they ever had to watch the Saiya-jin girl surely Shõgun's promise would be broken! "Should we warn them about the circumstances here? We can't let them come unprepared."

Shõgun knew what Taicho was getting at --Taicho could tell by the amusement in his facial expression-- and answered, "No, no, they will not have to take care of the Saiya-jin. Rato seems to be in the mood for a little revenge against the Planet Trade. All we have to do is give him some ground rules and he would be all set to make sure that the Saiya-jin girl is detained until the morning. The Roisei-jin will not have to know about the Saiya-jin's existence at all."

"Would that be a good idea? What if Kia, Tamu, or Ragua finds one of the Saiya-jin stepping over into our territory?"

The leader of the Pairetos hesitated with the same sinister atmosphere he always carried when he was in deep contemplation. Taicho was not frightened of it anymore; after a couple of months of being on the Paireto team both he and Manaloto grew used to it. The Roisei-jin, however, were not used to it, and tensed with irritation every time Shõgun did so. What they didn't know --and neither did Manaloto-- was that when Shõgun had that expression, someone other than himself had made a good point. It was never anything bad.

"We will not tell them much," Shõgun stated after a moment of silence. "We will only tell them that there are three other aliens upstairs. If one of them comes to the second floor, they should trap him and tell me. They should not kill him at all."

"We won't tell them the other part of the deal?" Taicho asked curiously. "About the girl?"

Shõgun didn't answer, but smiled and started heading down the staircase. "Go back to the Senchuu, Taicho, and tell Manaloto our plan. When he is finished with his dinner, you go ahead and have yours and tell him to come here. I will tell him the rules when he arrives."

Taicho knew what that meant. The Roisei-jin were not going to know that the Saiya-jin still existed. They were not going to know that the Butsudo-jin were holding one of those loot stealers hostage. They were not going to know that the reason why Manaloto was helping was because he was going to turn out to be a guard. All they were going to know was half of the deal, which wasn't even half of the truth.

Why did Shõgun have to keep this so much of a secret from them?

Panboukin felt as though he could berate Toma for the rest of his life and into Hell. Toma was normally a good sub-leader, but sometimes the crew would just be better off without him having a higher position than them. Sometimes the crew would be best if Bardock was around instead of Toma. If Bardock had been in Toma's boots during the negotiation, there would have been no negotiation; Bardock would have killed the Butsudo-jin without a problem. That Shõgun fellow was just boasting anyhow about the Butsudo-jins' power and strength.

Why had Toma suddenly become so cautious? One blow never proved anything; it was just an intimidation. It was always an intimidation! Toma should have known that. If he was a true Saiya-jin, why hadn't he fought back?

Toma had had two choices: agree to the compromise or settle the dispute in a duel. It did not make sense to Panboukin why Toma had chosen the former.

The only reason why Panboukin kept his mouth shut while he led the sub-leader to Totepo's location was a simple one: Toma showed that he regretted his decision. There was no way that he could take it back for it was far too late to do anything "honorable" to help the situation. By now the Butsudo-jin had their hands on Celipa, and they would most likely be able to know somehow if the Saiya-jin went into "their" territory or not.

But that was not what Panboukin was concluding; it was only what he thought that the sub-leader was thinking. Panboukin thought the opposite. Shõgun's promise was just a bunch of lies to make sure the Saiya-jin wouldn't "get in their way". After all, Celipa was in the healing tank. She would be safe in there, wouldn't she? Not to mention that Toma had left her scouter in the medical room, and Panboukin was willing to bet everything that the Butsudo-jin had no clue where the medical center was! They would not find her before she walked out of the tank and put on her scouter. Within four hours at the most, Celipa would be back with the crew.

It still did not mean that Panboukin was not angry with Toma. His decision was foolish and selfish. His decision was not a good representation of what the Saiya-jin were all about! Saiya-jin do not make deals; it did not matter what King Vegeta had done. In the beginning, it was for the good of the race. It was a good deal until Freeza destroyed them all.

Panboukin now stood just inches away from the opened doorway of the control room, waiting for Toma to go in first. Of course, Toma stopped walking right next to his companion and asked, to be sure, "Is this it?"

Panboukin thought of that as a rather stupid question; it was the top floor and they were at the end of the corridor. He refused to answer the question. "You tell Totepo about what just happened. It was all your doing anyhow," he accused, attempting almost hopelessly to detain his temper.

He still did not want to look at the sub-leader, but he could almost feel Toma's shock and remorse after he said those words.

"We can't-" Toma started, but shook his head and walked through the door.

After a couple seconds, Panboukin finally entered the control room as well. Everything looked the same as last time he came in here to give Totepo his scouter: room dimly lit, bitter-smelling air, dust over the blankets that covered the computers that Totepo didn't even touch, and the giant Saiya-jin himself still behind the same console. Since Toma had never been in here before, Panboukin knew that the sub-leader was too busy trying to adjust before he could tell Totepo what was going on. Panboukin doubted that it was just an excuse.

Neither one of them had to call out to Totepo to tell him that they were here and needed to tell him something. He had known right when Panboukin stepped into the control room, for he turned around and stared at the two companions expectantly. Panboukin just met his eye before shifting his gaze to Toma to tell Totepo that it was not his place to tell him what had just happened and why Celipa was not with them.

Toma still hesitated to tell even after he noticed that both of the other two Saiya-jin staring at him. The sub-leader's face hardened, and his lips pursed together to show his resistance. No words were spoken for a while; Panboukin figured that Toma would tell when he felt ready to tell Totepo without realizing all of a sudden how foolish his decision was. Toma should figure it out now. However, Panboukin also noticed that the silence was unsettling for Totepo, and it was probably best not to mess with any Saiya-jin that had just finished a strenuous day behind a computer researching.

"How is Celipa doing?" Totepo asked, still staring at Toma.

Panboukin saw the sub-leader exhaled with relief and figured that all he needed was someone to encourage him along with questions he could easily answer!

"She's doing fine. I give her about another thirty minutes and she'll be all healed," he informed both of them, since Panboukin had not known about this. However, this was not what he needed to tell Totepo. With a glance towards Panboukin, Toma cringed, and quickly reverted his gaze towards the taller Saiya-jin. "We probably won't see her for another few hours though. We," Toma paused for a second, "ran into a little trouble."

To add perhaps a little amusement and irony to the situation, Panboukin shifted his eyes towards Totepo to see his reaction. He expected for the elder Saiya-jin to have the same, indifferent expression, but was surprised to see that Totepo grew immediately concerned and solemnly showed it.

"What kind of trouble?"

Toma saw that expression as well and chuckled a little, having the feeling that he knew what Totepo feared. "Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with the tank or her. It's just that, well," he hesitated for a moment, struggling to find words to continue the carriage of information. "We ran into-" he stopped again. That wasn't how he wanted to word it, Panboukin assumed. "We're not alone on this planet. There are other aliens who are stronger than us. And, well, they've decided to --this is going to sound stupid-- detain Celipa to keep all of us out of each other's way."

"You agreed to this?"

"I had no choice."

"Like Hell you didn't!" Panboukin snapped; his temper had finally dispersed out of living existence. "That Shõgun fellow, he was just messing with your mind! I'm sure we would have no problem getting rid of him and those other ugly reptilians!"

Toma glared at him with fiery eyes, not at all in the mood to deal with Panboukin's protests or his reminder of what the plump Saiya-jin might have considered a mistake. "Would you really want to take that risk of getting ourselves killed again? Didn't the assassins back on Meatsei teach you anything at all?"

"Aren't we supposed to take risks? Aren't we warriors?! Why'd you let one hit get you all freaked out, anyhow?"

The sub-leader kept his gaze solid and his voice steady, though his fists trembled a little when he counterattacked with the words, "Why did you let one blast get you killed?"

Panboukin, taken aback, ceased his onslaughts for a moment. Toma did have a point, but Panboukin was not completely convinced. After all, just because the assassins managed to kill them did not mean that those Butsudo-jin had the same abilities. Before he could use that as his argument, Toma directed his attention back to Totepo, hoping for a response. Totepo gave not a single objection to any of the other two's opinions.

"Did you find out anything about what happened before?" Toma questioned the elder man. The only response he gave was an even solemner look than before.

"I don't think this is the right time to let you know of anything," Totepo said quietly.

"That bad?"

Totepo nodded. Panboukin turned his head to look at the tallest Saiya-jin, and despite his current feelings, managed a smirk. "It can't be worse than what we just told you, and what we just learned about Vegetasei."

"Vegetasei is gone, I know," Totepo informed them. "The computers say it was caused by a collision with another planet, but knowing the reason why we were killed could tell us otherwise."

""A collision with another planet", you say?" Toma asked, almost ready to burst out laughing. Panboukin did not blame him; what Totepo was telling them contradicted what Shõgun had told them. He was more ready and willing to believe his companion rather than someone who threatened Celipa's life! "We heard that it was destroyed by a comet, but neither makes sense. It was definitely that damned bastard Freeza."

"And I know about Meatsei, too," Totepo told them. Both of the younger Saiya-jin glanced up at him with curiosity settling into their minds. It wasn't going to be some boring, political explanation, would it? "There were no plans for settlement at all. The planet wasn't even for sale. It was an assassination mission."

It was the rage of the sub-leader's turn to go out of control. "An assassination mission?! Betraying the Saiya-jin race for all their hard work was one thing, but for us --why the Hell us? We followed orders, we carried out our missions more than successfully, we were loyal; why did we not deserve to die on our home planet? Why didn't we deserve to die on Vegetasei while those lazy bastards who weren't on purging crews and did practically nothing compared to us get to? Damned that bastard Freeza --he deserves a more painful death than what any of us can imagine!"

Panboukin, too, thought that it wasn't fair and cursed with more vulgarity than Toma had. However, he knew that Totepo was not finished; there was something more that needed to be said. Accordingly, Panboukin managed barely to quiet himself down with Toma following suit only a few moments afterwards.

"Bardock tried to stop Freeza from destroying Vegetasei," Totepo continued, his face growing noticeable uneasy, "but as we know, he failed. When someone tries to stop Freeza but fails..."

Totepo stopped himself there, for his expression noted that he could not continue that last sentence. Both Panboukin and Toma knew what that meant, and neither was happy with it. Toma was the most upset and made no attempt to hide it.

"First Celipa's life is threatened, now Bardock is-" Toma, too, could not finish the sentence, and instead stormed out of the control room with fury leaving behind only the words: "God damn it to Hell!"

Panboukin came close to yelling at Toma about whose fault it was that Celipa was in the situation she was in now, but Totepo stopped him by shaking his head visibly from the corner of Panboukin's eye. Before Panboukin could make a remonstrating move, Toma had already left the room. The sub-leader was indeed not in the right disposition to have to deal with anybody reminding him that he was put to blame for Celipa's pain; if Toma wasn't in the right mood, it was best not to test him.

[Chapter Eight] [Introduction]