Part
Three
Ryouko smiled warmly, looking honestly pleased at Ayeka's decision to eat here
with her again. She smoothly got up out of her chair and gracefully pulled out
the seat right beside her own, "Would you care to sit down?"
"Thank you," Ayeka smiled, as Ryouko gently pushed the chair in behind
her. She uncorked a bottle, pouring some into a glass beside Ayeka, before
refilling her own.
Ryouko sat back down and activated a small device on her wrist, "Another
for dinner please, Asashi." She listened for a moment, "Thank
you." Ryouko looked up at Ayeka, "Your plate should be here in a
minute or so."
"Fast service," Ayeka noted.
"Sasami's helping out tonight, I think," then Ryouko chuckled softly,
adding, "The foods much less spicy this time." Ayeka looked rather
relieved, and Ryouko smiled.
"I was reading some of the library files," Ayeka said to her softly,
"and I found them to be quite interesting."
"Which files?" Ryouko asked her a bit nervously. She quickly tried to
remember where her private collection of lewd novels were hidden on the
data-base, and if Ayeka could have been able to access them somehow.
"Mostly on your government, and the organization of the Republic of
Manticore," Ayeka said, giving Ryouko an odd look. 'I wonder what other
files are in there?' she mused, and resolved to try and find out..
Just then the nearby door opened up, and Sasami and Asashi came out bearing the
plates carrying Ayeka's dinner. Ryouko tried not to look too relieved at the
distraction. "Here you go," Sasami said with a smile.
"Thank you," Ayeka smiled at the two young ladies. "Are you
having fun together?" she asked them curiously.
"Oh, yes," Asashi enthused. "I'm learning so much about cooking
from Sasami! She doesn't use enough spices, though," she finished with a
cute little frown.
Both girls left, and only then did Ayeka chuckle softly. "I'm glad Sasami
cooked this," she said with a smile.
"I don't mind Asashi's cooking," Ryouko admitted, "but I know I'm
in the minority about that." They shared quiet laughter. "So, you were
reading about Manticore," Ryouko said, "what do you think of it?"
"It was very educational," Ayeka answered her coolly. She took a deep
breath before saying, "My father had claimed that Manticore attacked Jurai
first." Ryouko opened her mouth to protest that, so she held up a hand to
stop her, "But my mother has confirmed what you data had told me, that we,
Jurai, had started it."
There was a moment of silence at the table, as Ryouko considered what to say.
'Well, I guess I was right in letting the ladies live,' she thought. 'But even I
didn't know that the Emperor had lied,' she thought to herself grimly.
"I'm deeply sorry," Ayeka said softly, trying to meet Ryouko's eyes,
"for the harm my people wrought on yours."
"It's not your fault," Ryouko replied softly. She got out of her chair
and walked to the viewport, looking down at Jurai. "It explains a
lot," she said softly, "I sent a diplomat to Jurai early on, to try
and negotiate for peace. She never came back."
"You went through all our databases for any sign of her?" Ayeka asked,
sounding honestly concerned about the missing diplomat.
"Nothing," Ryouko answered her quietly.
"There are some encryption's, passwords that you may not know about
yet," Ayeka said to her hesitantly, "Do you have a link to the royal
mainframe? I could try them."
Ryouko turned to Ayeka, looking a bit startled. "Why are you doing this?
I'm the enemy, remember?" she asked her pointedly.
A flush appeared on Ayeka's cheeks, and she obviously struggled to try and reign
a flare of her temper. "My father may have done a great wrong," she
answered her calmly, "and I'm honor bound to try and do something about
it."
"Thank you," Ryouko said softly. "Let's try it, then," she
said, offering Ayeka her hand and pulling her to her feet, "there's a
terminal not far from here."
Ryouko set the brisk pace down a nearby hallway, leaving their two dinners
cooling on the table behind them. 'Oh, well,' Ayeka thought wryly, 'I wasn't
that hungry, anyway.' They reached a unmarked door, and Ryouko slapped her hand
up against an identification plate. After a moment, it hissed open, and she led
Ayeka inside. It wasn't the computer room that Ayeka had expected to see, but
instead a bedroom.
Piles of clothes were scattered about the room, along with the occasional
bottle. The bed was rumbled and messy, but mostly cleared. A chair, small table,
and closet made up the rest of the furnishings. "Who's quarters are
these?" Ayeka asked.
"It's mine, actually," Ryouko admitted. She dragged a chair over to
the wall, and activated the computer terminal built into it.
"But," Ayeka said, surprised, "but it's smaller than my
quarters."
Ryouko chuckled softly at that. "You're in the guest quarters," she
shrugged. She worked the interface for a moment, then she nodded in
satisfaction. "I've patched it in to the Jurai mainframe," she said to
Ayeka.
Ayeka leaned forward and quickly punched in her password. 'Yosho,' she typed,
and a new window opened up on the screen. Ayeka watched as Ryouko quickly
navigated the system, eventually calling up a series of files.
Ryouko tried not to notice that as Ayeka bent over, her breasts were right
beside her face. She gulped, and focused on the computer terminal. Working
diligently, she searched until suddenly, she exclaimed, "Yes!"
"Did you find something?" Ayeka asked, bending closer to look at the
screen.
A cloth covered breast brushed Ryouko's cheek, and she nearly lost her train of
thought. "Nagi's alive," Ryouko said, smiling, "imprisoned, but
alive!" She quickly back tracked to her own command network, and instructed
that Nagi be released from her prison.
"I'm glad," Ayeka said softly. The relief and happiness on Ryouko's
face surprised her yet again. 'She really cares about her people,' she thought.
Ryouko got up out of the chair and took a startled Ayeka's hands in her own.
"Thank you," she said softly, "it would have been weeks, maybe
even months before we found her otherwise." She looked into Ayeka's eyes,
her own flashing with energy, then she suddenly crushed Ayeka to her body,
kissing her fiercely.
Ayeka was surprised, stunned as she was pulled into the circle of Ryouko's
strong arms. She felt her lips parting on their own, surrendering to the sweet
kiss, and a fire started to race through her slim body. 'What's happening to
me?' she thought to herself feverishly, then she suddenly pushed Ryouko away
from her.
"What in the world," Ayeka choked out, backing away from Ryouko. She
turned and fled, pushing the door open and running down the hallway.
"Please, wait," Ryouko started to call outr to her, then she stopped.
She slumped, leaning against a wall as she swore to herself softly,
"Shit."
Ayeka ran by Asashi and Sasami, right into her bedroom, and locked the door
behind her. She leaned against the door, trying to catch her breath. She was
shaking slightly, reaction racing through her body as her pulse began to slow
down.
The deeply hurt expression that had been on Ryouko's face when she fled her
appeared in Ayeka's mind's eye, and for a moment she felt a stab of pain in her
chest. "What is wrong with me?" she hissed out.
She suddenly remembered the innocent question that Sasami had asked her, just
after she told her about how Ryouko had proposed their political marriage,
"How could she have fallen in love with you so quickly?"
'Was she right about her all along?' Ayeka found herself wondering. She stood
shakily, and walked over to lay down on her bed, covering up her face with her
arm. She tried not to think about how she felt around Ryouko, the racing of her
heart and the warmth her gaze caused.
"I can't be falling in love with her," Ayeka said in a whisper,
"I just can't."
"Are you all right?" Minagi asked her softly. Ryouko had been pacing
Minagi's room silently for nearly ten minutes, eyes closed and her expression
grim.
"I may have screwed things up spectacularly," Ryouko said with a sigh.
She recounted what happened between her and Ayeka the night before, finishing
with, "I lost control, and kissed her. I thought she was enjoying it, but
she pushed me away, and ran."
"You jumped the gun a bit," Minagi noted, "that's for
certain." She shook her head, "Give her some time to calm down a bit,
first of all." She thought about it, and added, "Go to her later this
morning, and apologize."
Ryouko nodded glumly. "She'll probably be scared to be near me from now
on," she said to her with a sigh.
"Maybe, maybe not," Minagi said thoughtfully. "when I talked to
her last night, she was kind of disappointed about not being asked to dine with
you again. And then she did seek you out to eat dinner with you, right?"
"Yeah, she did," Ryouko agreed. "But it could be she's just
looking for a new friend," she said with a sigh.
"Or she could be attracted to you," Minagi smiled, "and be a bit
frightened of the idea. I know that females together aren't that unusual on
Jurai, but it's not discussed in polite society, either. She may not know what
to do."
"I hope so," Ryouko said softly. Her eyes brightened as she remembered
something else, "I just got some good news to give you, Minagi."
"Oh?" Minagi said, "And what would that be?"
"Nagi's alive," Ryouko said with a grin.
Minagi whirled around to face her, "What?" A broad smile appeared on
her face as she quickly demanded, "Where is she? Is she all right?"
"They didn't kill her, just tossed her in prison," Ryouko grinned.
"She'll be here in a few hours, tops," she added. 'It was good to see
the sparkle in Minagi's eyes,' Ryouko thought, 'a sparkle that's been absent
while her lover was missing.'
"Thank you!" Minagi exclaimed, hugging Ryouko fiercely.
"Thank Ayeka," Ryouko shrugged, "without her password it would
have taken weeks to find her, at least."
"I will," Minagi said with a firm nod. She looked at Ryouko worriedly,
"I only have a few hours to get ready?"
Ryouko laughed softly, "I'll see you later." She stopped in the
doorway and looked back to see Minagi cleaning her rooms frantically, and
chuckled again. She headed down the hallway and then took the lift down to the
bridge.
Kiyone stood behind the gunnery officer, instructing her. "You see,"
she pointed out, "when you took this shot, you left the ship vulnerable to
their return fire."
"So why didn't the simulation shoot me down?" he asked her timidly.
"The window of opportunity was very small, and the computer decided that
the shot was too difficult for your simulated opponent," Kiyone explained
to him patiently. 'Of course, I made the shot on my own simulation, but I won't
mention that,' she thought with a smile.
"I'll do better, ma'am," the pink hared young man assured her.
"Good, Nicole," Kiyone said with a nod. She noticed Ryouko on the
bridge and snapped off a salute, "Admiral on the bridge!"
Ryouko rolled her eyes at that. "I'm not an admiral," she grumbled to
her softly. She relented as Kiyone gave her puppy dog eyes, "So how's the
training going?"
Kiyone stood straight, "We've reached a 90% win ratio," she reported,
"but I feel certain we can add a few points to that."
"Good work," Ryouko admitted, knowing how difficult the simulations
that Washu had devised for them really were.
Kiyone checked her chronometer. "The Galaxy Police liaison we invited
should be arriving soon," she noted, and a little smile teased her lips.
"Can I go down to greet them?"
"You really like jerking their chains, don't you?" Ryouko asked Kiyone
with a smile.
"Just deserts," Kiyone said with a shrug. "They canned me after I
helped you save innocent lives," she said with a bit of anger in her voice,
"so it seems only fair that now they have to come to you for permission to
even exist."
A brown haired woman with a military bearing came on the bridge. "Honor
Harrington reporting to relieve you, ma'am," she said, crisply saluting.
"I am relieved," Kiyone answered her formally, returning the salute.
She and Ryouko walked over to the lift together.
"It's not quite that simple," Ryouko pointed out to Kiyone reasonably
once they were on their way up.
"Now that Manticore controls Jurai as well, the GP will need to operate in
our territory to do their job in even the most minimal way," Kiyone said
coolly. With a small smile she added, "Not to mention the budget they used
to get from Jurai's rulers. They're going to have to come to you with hands
outstretched."
"We do still need them around," Ryouko said mildly in return. Deciding
to try and change the subject, Ryouko asked Kiyone softly, "Would you mind
if I ask you a personal question?"
Kiyone looked a bit startled, "Certainly, but I won't promise to answer
it."
"That's fair enough," Ryouko admitted. "How did you and Mihoshi
become involved?" she asked her softly.
Kiyone smiled slightly, "I didn't take her too seriously at first, I just
thought she had a crush. It wasn't until she resigned from the GP in protest
over my firing that I began to take her a bit more seriously." She chuckled
softly, "Not long after we both joined your employ, she made it quite clear
that she wasn't just interested in me as a friend."
'Not much help,' Ryouko thought. "Thanks," she answered her softly.
"So are you having any luck with winning over Ayeka?" Kiyone asked
her.
Ryouko looked at her in surprise, "How did you know?"
"The look on your face whenever you used to talk about her," Kiyone
said with a shrug.
Ryouko rolled her eyes and decided not to answer that.