Zaabon paced in the outer chamber, angry at Dodoria for bringing Bardock to Furiza and angry at himself for not doing anything to stop it. He turned inward to his thoughts, successfully muting the sounds coming from the inner chamber. The chance for escape would come soon, and he would keep Furiza occupied until they were far, far away. 'I will get away from him someday and hopefully I will have someplace to go.'

His mind brought him back to the present when the door opened and Bardock stepped through, aiding a bruised Vegeta even though the prince was pushing his hands away. The prince looked only furious, this time, instead of haunted as he did before. It reaffirmed his conclusion that rape was the most brutal form of assault.

"I will not let you attack him and get killed!" Bardock told the boy he had raised from a small child. In his eyes, Vegeta was closer to him than he had ever been to his flesh-and-blood father. "Furiza doesn't want to kill you. If you try to fight him then that will change."

The anguish was clear on his weary face. "I also can't just sit back and let him hurt me. Do you think that I'm a weak man, Bardock?"

"You know that I don't." He struggled with how to say what he felt. "The others look at you with hope in their eyes. You're the strongest of all of us and our only chance to avenge the fallen. But," he continued as the beginnings of a smug smile flickered onto Vegeta's face, "if you die then we don't have a snowball's chance in Hell. Now is not the time to fight him, there will be other opportunities."

"I will get stronger," he said as he digested the words, "and Furiza will die."

Zaabon cleared his throat and made his presence known. "Before I take you back, there is something that I need to show you."

Furiza's ship was actually split into three sections that spanned two levels. The Saiya-jin were imprisoned in the very same area that the Changeling's inner sanctum was located, so close that the prisoners always swore they could hear the screams of his victims. The crew's quarters were on the starboard side near the stern with the docking bay separating them from their lord's private rooms. Training rooms, communications, and a few other rooms took up the nearly the entire port side.

There were five cells in all, each ranging from small to gigantic in size. The one Vegeta and his group were in was the second smallest one. Zaabon stopped in front of the largest cell, one that could easily hold two hundred people, and keyed in the entry code on the door pad beside the door. "He will be angry that I've shown you but I don't care anymore."

Vegeta looked at him. "What are you talking about, Zaabon?"

"This." He pushed open the door and gestured for him go inside. The two Saiya-jin stopped immediately inside of the door and just stared. Nothing either of them could say could do the moment justice.

"Well," Vegeta said after several long seconds, "at least we know where everyone else is."

"Goddamn it!" Bardock cursed fiercely. "You guys were supposed to escape him! You were the only hope we had for the survival of our people."

The Saiya-jin in charge of the first ship that departed their planet on that fateful stepped forward with barely controlled rage. "Do you think we got captured on *purpose*?! What kind of fools do you take us for? Your group was the one we hoped would get away, we knew everyone else hadn't." He waved his hand around the room. "Look carefully, Bardock, this is what's left of our entire race."

"Hold on a minute," Vegeta said calmly as he moved into the room. He glanced around, making sure he had everyone's attention. "We cannot allow Furiza to break us as a whole and hope to survive this encounter with him. I was ready to fight him, ready to throw away my life in a battle that I can't possibly win. I tell you now that we must choose our battles wisely."

Sukatshu frowned at him. "You are completely ignorant of our ways. Obviously Bardock has done a poor job of raising you, boy."

The older man suddenly found himself on the floor. Vegeta flexed his hand. "If you say anything else about him, or to him, that I don't like, I will do more than just knock you down. I will knock you out."

"Yes, Prince Vegeta," he said with shame that such a young man could render him defenseless. "It will not happen again."

"This is all quite entertaining, but there are more important things to discuss," Zaabon pushed away from the wall he was leaning against. "I will help you all to escape."

Eyes turned to regard him, some noticing the Beibou-jin for the very first time. He was one of Furiza's assistants, supposedly dedicated to him heart and soul. Sukatshu looked him over slowly and his lip curled. "You are one of his warriors."

A brief incline of his head. "Yes, but I am also a prisoner to his empire. All that I ask in return is a place to call my home." His eyes grew distant as he remembered. "Unlike you, I am the very last person of my race. There will be no others."

"I want to believe you," Vegeta said slowly. He had known that there was something different about Zaabon the first time he had met them all those years ago. Absent in him was the innate evil that both his lord and Dodoria shared. Inside every being there was a shadow of the impenetrable darkness, a slight flaw in their design that made them capable of ugly deeds, but Furiza and Dodoria's had blossomed into vile wickedness "I *do* believe you. If we escape and make it to a planet where we can settle, you will always have a home among us." He held out his hand to him. "On my honor as prince of the Saiya-jin."

They shook on it. "I will aid your escape without deceit. I swear upon the memory of my father and mother."

The deal sealed, Zaabon settled himself comfortably on a spot on the floor. It was going to be a long day. "There are four moments each day when escape is possible," he ticked them off on his fingers. "Every morning after breakfast Furiza has audiences for at least half an hour. This provides a narrow window of opportunity between the time breakfast begins and the time he goes on his morning rounds. I don't know if such a large group can make it into the hangar within the time allotted."

"Are all of our ships still there?" Vegeta asked with slight concern. "There is no way two-hundred Saiya-jin can all fit onto one ship."

"They're there but locked into several storage bays. That's one of the things I'll have to do before you make your move." Another finger went down. "There's lunch, which lasts forty-five minutes. Furiza always dines in his chamber and takes a while to do so. The soldiers have only a limited amount of time and I'm still not sure that even forty-five minutes will be enough."

Bardock looked around for the children, the elderly, and the battle-crippled Saiya-jin, trying to figure out if they would be the ones to slow them down. There were at least thirty in all and shouldn't affect their speed if the others would help them along. There was a potential problem: getting the other Saiya-jin to help at all. As a race, they were not known for kindness or helpfulness towards each other. Most of the healthy would vote to leave the others behind, if given the chance. All of them were needed to rebuild their society and it would be idiotic to waste their skills. "None of the kids, the elders, or the lame will slow us down," he said. "We will help them to freedom."

Sukatshu opened his mouth but closed it from the scalding look he received from Vegeta. "Remember what I told you," the prince warned him.

"Right," Zaabon nodded and dropped another finger. "Dinner lasts a little longer, but it's the riskiest time of all. It begins the soldiers' free hours which means a number of them will be walking around the ship. You would have to separate into tiny groups to sneak around and it would take significantly longer if you did so."

"Sneaking around goes against our very nature," a long-haired Saiya-jin with a surprisingly gentle face told him. His name was Kyabetsu and he had been on the ship since he was younger than Vegeta. There had been no real battles to speak of, so his demeanor was not as battle-hardened as the rest. "We will be unable to take that chance."

Only one finger was raised now and this moment was probably the one they all would choose. "When the ship is empty except for the night guards and everyone is in their beds, asleep. You have several hours after either dodging or taking care of the guards."

Vegeta carefully weighed the pros and cons of each chance, even though the last one seemed to be the best. Appearances were definitely deceiving sometimes and the lives of his people were resting on this decision. "Will will make our move after dinner and hope for the best."

"Good decision," Zaabon said in a relieved voice. He prayed to the gods above that Vegeta wouldn't choose wrong and knew that he could do little to influence him. "You do have technicians, don't you?" He didn't know if any Saiya-jin had any particular skill with electronics. "I will have to bring some inside the hangar to alter a few things on your ships. My skills don't extend to things of that nature." He rose to his feet and stretched his long legs. "I will return at 1800 hours tomorrow unless something goes wrong."

With one last look to his people, Vegeta also stood and motioned for Bardock to follow. "We will succeed and Furiza will pay." A cheer rang up and pride filled his chest as he realized that their inspiration rested with him. 'I cannot fail them. I *will* not fail them.'