The New Age Empire v2: Book 2

~Chapter 4: Space City Astra~

They emerged into a bustling room filled with people they had never seen before. There were short green ones and centipede looking red ones and even a few Lyz'da who recognized the prince from the video broadcasts on their planet. They were the only one who even took notice of them, however, and that left Goten and Vegeta looking a little lost.

The room was as large as a lobby and there were hallways going everywhere with signs beside them in languages that they couldn't read. In the middle of the marble floor there was a desk where a small, fuzzy alien sat typing. They didn't need to know the language to figure out that the sign above it read 'Information Desk'. But there was a long line in front of it and they didn't have time to wait in it.

There were some weird, blue -glowing squares on the floor in some areas and the aliens that stepped upon them disappeared completely. If you looked up you could see the various levels of the city. It looked as if the Headquarters was just a small part of a much larger city.

"Um excuse me," Goten said to one passing alien. He was as big as a bear and just as hairy with small, beady black eyes and wicked looking teeth. "Can you tell me where I can go to exchange my money?" He bared those teeth at the young man and he cringed.

"You don't need to worry," a female Lyz'da said as she stopped beside him. She was tall with short cut pale silver hair. She was dressed in a red jumpsuit with an emblem on her chest neither demi-saiyan couldn't read and was holding a black briefcase. "His kind, the Kuma-jin, they do that in greeting."

"But still, I think I'll feel safer with you." The Kuma-jin did his race's equivalent to a shrug and walked away.

"You're a baby Goten!" Vegeta laughed even though he was looking a little pale himself.

"I guess I can help you, Vegeta-ouji and Goten." She motioned for them to follow her and they all stepped onto moving sidewalks. "My name is Lizza and I'm a trader." She shot them a meaningful look. "*Nothing* illegal, you understand me? The space laws are brutal."

Vegeta nodded with a smile. "You don't have to be so guarded with your words. Papa's not in charge of the universe."

"Still, our planet is under his rule." She stepped off the 'sidewalk' into another room and they followed. "If you go down that hallway and make a right, you should be right near an exchange office. They exchange twenty different currencies into rubians and they're always adding more."

"Thanks a lot," he smiled at her. "I'll make sure you get paid for your help."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh no. You don't have to do that. I helped because I wanted to."

"At least let me buy you dinner," he insisted. "We would have been wandering this place for days!"

Lizza laughed, her silver eyes twinkling. "Alright then. Meet me at Rugaro's at," she glanced at a nearby wall clock. "eighteen."

Goten frowned and looked at his watch. "The numbers only go up to twelve!"

"Baka!" Vegeta hit him. This has become at regular routine. "Eighteen hundred hours is a military term. She means six o'clock."

"Why do you always hit me?" Goten whined. "I'm not stupid!" The other young man remained silent despite what he was thinking.

"So it's all set then!" Lizza grinned. "Well, now I have to go deliver these documents to the Trade Office. The Department will be after me if I forget again."

"So this place is like a station for everyone in this section of the universe?" Goten asked.

"Oh yes. Many people come here to take a rest between missions or trips. You can catch up on all of the news and rumors as well as upgrade your ship."

"Thanks a lot," Vegeta smiled. "See you at eighteen."

She nodded. "See ya."

The two hybrids walked on down the hallway past at least twenty different doors before the next intersection. During their trek, dozens of different aliens went in and out of these rooms so much that they were tempted to ask them what they were doing. But common sense prevailed and both realized that it wasn't wise ask too many questions. People might get suspicious for all the wrong reasons.

After turning right onto a smaller, shorted hallway, they found the exchange office pretty easily. There was a long line, around thirty-five people, in front of it.

"Danm it!" Vegeta cursed, loudly. "Why is it that everywhere we need to go, everyone else needs to do the same?" Several people turned around and he glared at them until they faced forward again.

"Be quiet, V.J.!" Goten hissed. "You're embarrassing me!"

Vegeta crossed his arms across his chest and frowned as the line moved forward one person. "I just think there should be more than one person working up there."

"Aren't there other exchange offices?" Goten asked. A pale blue female who looked remarkably human with just a different skin pigmentation snorted. She wore a uniform and carried both a gun and a sword by her side. "They're all like this on the Day of Commerce." She laughed. "I guess I should introduce myself, eh? I'm Kallen of the Rhistal Imperial Army. We travel the universe attempting to keep the peace between worlds."

"I'm Vegeta Briefs Jr. but everyone calls me V.J." Vegeta grinned. "This baka next to me is Son Goten."

"I am *not* a baka!"

The woman looked puzzled. "What is this 'baka' you speak of?"

"It's an insult," he explained. "It literally means 'idiot'."

"I see."

"What's the Day of Commerce?" Goten asked partially to get them off the subject of that word.

"Today is the day that hundreds of different merchants make their way to the Trading Floor to hawk their wares. As with all planets and stations, there are some that you should watch out for. Their items may be illegal, fake, or faulty. Since there are so many different currencies coming in, thousands of people eventually find their way to one of the seventy-five Exchange Booths. The one closest to the Trading Floor always has the longest line." She blinked as if just realizing something. "Goten, you look remarkably similar to the people who own a booth down on the Floor. They sell armor and battle training."

The two demi-saiyans exchanged glances with each other. 'Is she for real?' Goten asked his friend mentally. It was a skill he had newly acquired from his father but he had never used it until now.

'I have no idea but she doesn't have any reason to lie to us. Kallen's just met us!'

Goten nodded in agreement and turned back to their new acquaintance. They chatted about everything under the stars for about an hour when finally she was the only one before them.

"My feet are starting to ache!" Vegeta had been fidgeting for the last thirty minutes and now, fed up, he sat himself down onto the dark marble and took his boots off to rub his feet.

"Hey!" Goten held his nose. "I don't want to smell that!"

"Ha, ha." He said sarcastically while rubbing a few seconds longer. He stood back up and wrinkled his nose as he caught a whiff of Goten. "*I* took a shower this morning, Goten. When was the last time *you* were reacquainted with soap and water?"

He pretended to think. "Um, it was only yesterday evening. I had been training and you complained that I smelled like a swamp so I took a shower. This morning I couldn't wait to see something new so I..." He trailed off, blushing faintly.

"You forgot to bathe," V.J. finished dryly.

"Um, hai." He turned slightly to face front again and to his horror, both Kallen and the man behind the exchange counter were trying not to laugh. His face became brighter and he looked down at the floor.

Vegeta pushed him out of the way when at last Kallen stepped away from the counter. She smiled at them both and carefully folded the bills into a wallet.

"So, I'll see you guys around?" she asked.

"Sure!" Goten smiled. "We'll be here until probably tomorrow 'cause we have to pay a little traffic ticket but then we're on our way to Agalar."

"Agalar, huh?" she frowned, having heard that name before but not able to place it. "How about we meet somewhere before you go tomorrow? The Lobby of the docking bay should be okay. There's a cafe off the main hallway there and I have to be going tomorrow as well."

"Today we make dinner plans, tomorrow breakfast." Vegeta grinned. "I'm just so popular with the ladies."

This time it was Goten's turn to hit someone. "Conceited baka."

"Well, you know it comes with the genetics." He then proceeded to pull out his wallet and show his money to the man sitting there. "This is Japanese yen. We would like to exchange it for some rubians."

The short, large-eyed yellow alien took a magnifying glass and peered at the ten-thousand yen bill. He turned it every which way and finally shrugged and said in a deep voice:

"I have never seen anything like that before in my entire life."

"What about this?" Goten dug up a crumpled fifty dollar bill from his pocket. The short yellow guy took it and reached under the desk for the the two-hundred rubian equivalent. Vegeta stood there, eyes wide, as the man deposited the money into Goten's hand.

"Will there be any more transactions today, sirs?"

"You can exchange American dollars but you can't exchange Japanese yen?!"

He nodded. "Every week, people with that money come here all of the time. They have a few booths on the Floor. If your people would secure a booth, then we would be able to exchange your currency."

He stood there, stunned, as Goten led him back down the hallway where they came from.

"I can't believe it! If you didn't have that money, we would have been stuck here for a week or more!" He dropped to his knees in front of his friend. "I'm eternally grateful!"

The young man raised an eyebrow in shock but it became embarrassment when he began kissing his boot."

"Um, Vegeta? People are beginning to stare..."

He jumped to his feet and grabbed him around the waist in a hug. "I'm just so happy that you saved me from one of my Papa's beatings! A few days he can tolerate but not another week!"

Goten, ever affectionate, hugged him back. "It's not that big of a deal." He said after they had released each other. "Now, how about we find the Space Police's headquarters?"

"Great!"

***

Kallen soaked in relaxation in the hot spings that the Eru Health Spa were reknown for. She had saved up the money for months for this well-earned vacation and unfortunately it would all come to and end tomorrow. Then she would be once again responsible for one-hundred cadets-in-training that had no idea which end of the gun the bullets came out of. Sinking even further into the water, she contemplated her fate.

She had high hopes when she was a little girl on Alia. Well, as high as females were allowed to dream there anyway. Kallen was born into a family of six -- two parents and four older, male siblings. She watched her brothers grow older and move on, most to the universities for higher learning. But one, Cale, went straight to the Imperial Army office on their planet the day of his twenty-first birthday and signed up. Her parents were beyond stricken but she was instantly taken with their work.

To Kallen, what the Imperial Army stood for was everything that she wanted to attain: glory, honor, and discipline. But few ever made it and even fewer were women. Once she was old enough to sign up, however, she did so anyway to prove that women were just as good at everything men were.

If her parents were angry at Cale, then they were furious with her. Her father said that she should be married to a nice young man while her mother said that she didn't want to see her hurt. Despite everything, Kallen graduated from the Imperial Academy at the top of her class and moved on to become Lieutenant of her sector. Unfortunately due to lack of training officers, she had to take on cadets fresh from the Academy. The fellow officers of her rank talked about it for a straight week. Some said that she was demoted while others said that she just wasn't competent in battle. Before she left the main base, she had submitted a promotion request form to the general and hopefully he would allow it.

"Mistress Kallen, here's your drink," the polite young woman that waited on the spa members told her. She took it from her with thanks.

Just as she closed her eyes for a little more rest, she remembered just why Agalar sounded familiar to her. Sitting up quickly and almost knocking over her glass, she grabbed the towel that had been lying beside her on the tiles and took off as fast as she could for the locker rooms.

She had to stop them before they left.

***

The Trading Floor was larger than Kallen had made it seem. Both hybrids had pictured something along the lines of a convention, less than one-hundred booths but this room, and two other levels above it, held almost six-hundred different booths to cater to everyone's needs. It was a merchant bonanza.

"Ooooh!" Goten said in awe. "This is a great place! I'm glad we already paid that ticket."

"We are only going to stay here a few hours," Vegeta informed him. "Besides, how much American money do you have on you anyway?"

"Well, about twenty more dollars."

He stuck his hand out with a sigh. "Hand over your money."

"Why? I'm responsible!"

"Hand. Over. Your. Money. I won't ask again."

Goten rolled his eyes and gave him the two-hundred rubians he had received at the exchange booth. Vegeta took pocketed one-hundred fifty. Fifty for the ticket and seventy-five spending money. Goten pouted at the seventy-five he had remaining.

"What am I supposed to be able to buy with this?" he asked.

"You'll find something. If you run out of money, just go exchange it but meet me back at the entrance to the Floor in exactly TWO HOURS. Synchronize your watch."

He blinked. "Syn-chro-nize?"

"Make your watch's time exactly match mine, bakayaro."

"I'm not going to take that crap from you much longer," he glared at him as he checked his watch. "I'm telling tousan when we get home."

"Wittle baby Goten can't take a little teasing from someone three years younger than he is. How pathetic."

"You are such a bastard."

He smirked. "I know." He tapped his watch's face and nodded. "Two hours. No more."

"Fine, fine. Have fun, bastard."

"I will, baka."

***

Goten was in paradise on the second level. While the first level was for technology and the third level for consumer goods, the second was completely reserved for food of all kind. Goten's nose was constantly teased by the aromas of honey glazed buns, spicy beef dishes, and savory steaks. More than once, he had to catch himself before he drooled on the head of someone shorter than he was. Just looking at all of that food was torture seeing as he only had seventy-five rubians to his name. That wouldn't even get him an appetizer.

But thank kami for free samples.

"Mokla!" One young woman called out holding a tray with square, chocolate-like candies that were filled with something similar to caramel. "Free samples!" Before she could get the words out of her mouth, Goten was there with his hand extended. She allowed him to take one on a napkin then held the tray away when he hand moved back for another.

"Only one per person!"

"Aw, please? Can I have one more?" He made the pitiful look he and his father were famous for. The brown-haired woman sighed and lowered the tray.

"Here. *One* more."

"Thanks a lot!" He smiled at her and moved on.

"Son Goten!" Kallen called out to him as she dodged the hundreds of people on the floor. "Son Goten!" His sensitive saiyan hearing heard her first and he turned around to greet her.

"What brings you here?" he asked. "By the way, you can just call me Goten."

She panted, trying to catch her breath. She thought that she would find them here, it drew majority of the visitors to Astra after all. "Goten I have something to tell you about Agalar and it's very, very important!"

"Let's go find V.J. then," he said with concern. "He's on the lower level."

Despite herself, a smile crossed her face briefly. "That's where all of the weird stuff usually ends up. People try to sell you Smell-o-vision TVs, waffle-making VCRs, and talking toaster ovens. Is your friend dumb enough to buy something like that?"

"I don't know. He isn't usually. But if he buys a singing blender I'll kill him."

 

Next upon on the New Age Empire: The bowling tournament ends and V.J. and Goten find out what the deal is with Agalar.