Chapter 6
'This has to be the most insane idea I've ever come up with,' Zaabon said to
himself as he and the Saiya-jin technicians paused at yet another intersection. 'We're going to get caught
and Lord Furiza will torture me to death.' He peeked around the corner, hoping that the coast was clear.
It was the third time they had to stop, but, luckily enough, they hadn't been caught by any of the patrolling
guards. After dinner was, in fact, the worst time to escape, but in half an hour the ship would enter Furiza's
territory.
He motioned for the other two men to move forward and the three of them crept down the hall. It was just a
little further to the hangar, and there were actually still twenty-five minutes remaining until the jump to
hyperspace. Only one last intersection remained before the three of them reached the double doors, and it just
so happened that this hallway was one of the busiest. Zaabon frowned in thought and looked left and right.
There were eight soldiers, three of which were patrolling. Three were stationed by various doors and two more
were guarding the entrance to the hangar. 'I need a diversion, something that will cause all eight of them
to go running in the opposite direction.' He turned to the two Saiya-jin behind him and motioned them
closer. "Stay here, alright? I have to go cause some havoc."
"Why should we trust you?" Yashi asked him as he exchanged a look with Kitsu.
"You don't have a choice. Is that a good enough reason for you?" Zaabon took a deep breath and went
down the hallway, towards the crew quarters. He felt as if everyone was staring, and that one little mistake
would ruin the entire plan. It was all in his head, he knew, but that didn't ease the fear.
A small niche sat in the wall, holding a lamp that helped to light the hallway. He raised his index finger and
directed a small beam of ki at the bulb, causing a miniature explosion that spread to several other
neighboring lamps before ceasing. Suddenly, the hallway was filled with people who were all wondering what
happened. He did his own share of false wonder and went back to the two Saiya-jin. 'Hope they had sense
enough to cross the hallway after everyone ran this way.'
It was cool and quiet inside the hangar, the technicians there only doing routine maintenance. He retrieved to
white lab coats from a hook for Yashi and Kitsu, and sent them to work on the four Saiya-jin ships. The locks
on the bays were dealt with quickly and Zaabon gave them a rundown on what they would have to do.
"Furiza can track your ships and you definitely don't want that to happen. You need to put something
inside of each of them so he can't find you easily."
Yashi tapped his finger against the side of his face as he consulted with Kitsu. "Do you think a Class A
cloaking device would do it?" He tossed a few questions to Zaabon. "What class is Furiza's tracking
technology? Does he already have cloaking devices on board?"
"I don't really know," He frowned as he realized he would have to get a tech to answer his question.
There weren't very many he could trust. He went off in search for someone and Kitsu began to examine the
equipment.
"Does he expect us to build something from scratch? That'll take months!"
"Yeah, we only have fifteen minutes at the most." Yashi looked up as Zaabon literally dragged
someone else over. The fourth man was protesting vehemently. What if Furiza were to find out he helped the
Saiya-jin to escape? No planet in the Universe would be able to hide him!
Kitsu put on his best stern look and poked him in the chest. "Look, either you help us or I'm going to
kill you."
"Lord Furiza can do a lot worse to me," he answered stubbornly. "He'd probably skin me for just
allowing you to escape. Imagine what would happen if I helped you!" He shuddered at the thought.
"Then don't get caught!" Zaabon shouted in frustration. "Look, I'll give you something in
return for your help."
"Such as?"
The aide pushed him in the direction of a storage room. "Do this first and then I'll tell you. We don't
have much time left."
It took a few minutes to find the supplies and then the two Saiya-jin techs were off, a cloaking device in
each hand. Zaabon watched them go about their work for a moment. 'It's amazing. I never thought a Saiya-jin
could have enough brain cells to work with technology.'
"How long do you think this will take?" Yashi asked his friend before they parted to do their jobs.
"He said before that there were only thirty minutes, tops."
"I can wire one in about five minutes, but if you keep asking me questions I'll never get anything
done!" Glaring at Zaabon for a brief moment, he then turned and went to the first ship. In truth, he
didn't know if either he or Yashi could complete their mission within the time allotted. There should have
been more people on the job, but they were the most capable of all the technicians. Prince Vegeta trusted them
to get the job done.
Going back through the hangar doors and noticing that the guards were, once again, in place, Zaabon went back
to the holding cell to wait with the others.
He just couldn't sit still and wait for the aide to return.
Vegeta wasn't a patient person by nature, but he usually could be still for short periods of time. The waiting was slowly driving him insane, he thought, and needed to be doing something other than just staring at a wall. "How much longer?" he asked Bardock whose internal clock seemed to be always correct. "Five more minutes and I'm just going to leave."
"You know we have to wait. No telling how many guards are out there in the hallway." He did a quick mental calculation. "We've got about fifteen minutes left on the clock. If Zaabon doesn't come back soon we can forget about escaping."
"Damn it!" he growled, causing the nearest Saiya-jin to him to move away slightly. Bardock only rolled his eyes and went back to counting the seconds. Vegeta could remember the day they escaped from the doomed Planet Vegeta very clearly. He might have only been six at the time, but he had observed enough to create lasting memories.
The day had dawned clear and he remembered an unfamiliar feeling of nervousness. It was as if he knew that something life-altering was going to happen that day. After eating breakfast in the royal dining room, he went off with Nappa (who had hair then) so that he could train.
Five Saibamen and all were killed with quick precision. Through the viewing window he saw the stunned look on the observing officer's face and smirked quietly to himself. Not bad for a child, eh?
"I will never get stronger here," he said to Nappa as they walked away from the training room. "I'm going to tell Furiza to send me to the next planet he wants to conquer."
The man froze in his tracks and stared at the tiny prince in mute horror. "Are you serious?!"
"Problem?" he asked with a raised eyebrow look over his shoulder. Nappa had paled and shook his head. Facing forward once more, a smile made it's way onto the prince's face. "Good."
Loud laughter floated from the open door of the soldier's mess hall as the two of them walked by. Nappa continued on, not caring the least bit about third-class soldiers, but Vegeta found himself pausing to peek inside. If nothing else, he wished to discover just what was so funny.
A man stood in the middle of the room; his armor tattered and his exposed skin covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. A violent expletive burst forth from him and he turned to find the prince staring at him with questioning eyes.
"My prince!" he said, dropping down to kneel at his feet. "I bring word that Furiza will destroy our planet and kill our people! Visions come to me, terrible visions of death and darkness." His dark eyes begged the young boy to believe him even as the other Saiya-jin continued to chuckle in the background. Vegeta stared at him for a long moment before nodding his head.
"Come," he said with a small sigh, "we have work to do."
As the two of them met up with Nappa in the hallway, Bardock's voice floated back to reach the ears of his comrades. "We will change our future!"
'If I hadn't believed him, we all would be feeling the flames of Hell.'
Seconds turned into minutes and soon there were only ten remaining. Vegeta had long since abandoned any ideas of remaining still, instead choosing to pace across what little floor space belonged to him. He froze on his journey away from the cell door and peered down at Bardock. "What the hell is going on with him?" Two Saiya-jin looked into his very still face and shrugged in unison.
It was as if the man had died or fallen into deep unconsciousness. His body was very still and he stared off into the distance, eyes unseeing. The only outward sign that Death hadn't laid cold hands to his body was the faint, nearly indiscernible, movement of his chest as he breathed. A sudden feeling of panic rose deep inside of Vegeta as he kneeled next to the man, eyes very large and dark against the stark paleness of his face.
"Bardock," he said quietly so as not to startle him. When he received no response, he reached out and roughly shook him. "Bardock, wake up!"
For one very long moment nothing happened. Then, Bardock blinked once, long and slow. "Is it time yet?" he asked.
"Where did your mind go?" Vegeta asked, almost insanely relieved that nothing was seriously wrong with his surrogate father. "For a moment, I thought you were..." He broke off, unable to say the word aloud.
"He's coming for us," Bardock said, not answering his question for a moment. "You need to get everyone ready."
Vegeta rose and grabbed his arm. "I'll do that in a moment. Now, where did you go?"
"You know that I have visions because of that Kanassa-jin, right?" he fidgeted as he spoke, somehow uncomfortable with talking about it. "I saw us on a ship, coming upon a blue planet that I've definitely seen before." He smiled. "We've done it, Vegeta. Our destinies have been altered."
"We'll celebrate later," the prince told him as explosions began to rock the ship and a klaxon went off somewhere in the distance. He then levitated above the crowd and made sure that everyone could see him. "The time has come for us to leave this place and go out into the Universe to search for another world. I will spare no words, this journey will be tough; most likely the toughest you've ever embarked upon. But we will see it through and emerge from the hardship a stronger people. No matter what happens today, we will still have the knowledge that the Saiya-jin people have changed their destiny." The muted beeps of the electronic keypad touched the silent room and then the cell door was opening.
"C'mon, you don't have very long." Zaabon urged them outside into the hallway and then took the lead. The guards were strangely absent and the red emergency lights that lined the way were blinking slowly. "I set the alarms off so everyone should be on the other side of the ship by now."
"You're risking a lot for us," Vegeta said quietly so that only the aide could hear. "Thank you."
"Just remember what I asked of you. One day, I will be there to collect my reward."
The hangar was completely deserted save for the two Saiya-jin techs who were waiting with big grins on their faces. As the large group divided into four smaller ones, Kitsu began to tell the occupants of his ship all about the trials of installation. It hadn't been quite as difficult as he was describing it, but Yashi let him get away with it.
As the Saiya-jin were boarding, Vegeta silently regarded a man who he had once despised. It was amazing; an aide to the most feared being in the Universe was now one of his greatest allies. He raised one hand into the air. "You are a true friend. I am honored to know you."
"The feeling's mutual," Zaabon said with a smile as they shook hands. "Don't go get yourself killed before you reach your new world. The coordinates are already programmed into the systems, so there's no need to search." He turned and walked towards the control room. His final job was to open the hatch and allow the ships to pass through to the cold, airless space outside. 'Here's hoping Lord Furiza's techs have enough sense to leave the hangar.'
"What planet are we heading off to?" Vegeta called the question to him before the distance grew too great. Zaabon turned his head slightly and grinned.
"The natives call it Chikyuu."