She fainted.
As she came slowly to, she was aware that she'd been crying. Also-
Akane sat up swiftly.
and made a note not to do that again when her bunk had shelving directly overhead. Owie.
She was on board the Red Streak again, her ship. How had she gotten here when she'd passed out on the street with... Ranma?!
Akane snuck as best she could out of her bunk and followed the noises.
"No no no. Put THAT over there, and that over THERE!"
Akane blinked that was Ranma's Red's voice.
Akane brought out her briefing cube and scrolled through entries until she found the right file.
Analogue - a native variant of an individual that exists on more than one timeline. Often the individual will exhibit one or more "core traits" that are similar - while almost everything else can be different due to the different environment encountered while growing up. Those who are fate linked are more likely to encounter this factor than others. Transdimensional operatives are cautioned not to accept an Analogue on the basis of the last version encountered as this is an entirely different individual and wildly variant behavior can be manifested.
Akane frowned as she put the cube away. That really hadn't been much help.
"Oh frak, I broke a nail."
Akane realized that face-faulting onto a metal floor hurt and had effectively countered her attempts to be stealthy. Ranma making that statement, though, had pretty much driven home that there was indeed a difference between Red and Ranma.
"C43DT! I know you cargo loaders have the rough IQ of a pencil sharpener, but do you think you can try not to... oh hell."
Akane peeked around the corner and saw Red covering her face and pounding on a bulkhead while a droid's legs kicked in the air just off the cargo ramp.
"I can't believe this," Red finally called out to the heavens. "Why me?"
"Uhm," Akane decided to finally make her appearance known.
"Ah, Miss Tenso. Be with you in just a minute. We'll have to load the rest of your cargo manually, no point in taking chances with these third-rate droids." Red gestured to one of the other droids and started setting the overturned cargo loader droid back on its feet.
"What's all this?" Akane gestured towards the crates.
"Found out your cargo run was to Coruscant. Nasty place since the Emperor's death, well it was nasty before, but the Emperor for all his faults was at least competent," said Red idly. "As soon as word came down that the Emperor was dead, some flunkie seized power and set himself up as the Grand Imperial Administrator, Emperor Pro Tem, etcetera. I think he might have been a sanitation worker before that. Anyway, I checked with some legitimate merchants and found shipments that needed to go there and arranged for the transport. Imperial mail service is breaking down, so we've got some of those too. Don't pay much but every bit helps right?"
Akane's jaw had dropped during this dissertation as she hadn't even thought about some of these angles. Of course, she wasn't a native but still...
"Especially want some legitimate cargo if you're going to be hauling stuff like that," indicated Red with a flick of her head.
"This is the stuff the Hutt wanted carried?" Akane said, eyeing the trio of ominously nondescript refrigerator-sized crates.
"Look, if you're gonna be my boss, even if it's just this one trip," said Red, "I ain't got no place telling you what to do, but I'll say this. Hauling some contraband is OK, I mean, there's lots of silly laws and trade restrictions and if there's a market for Tattooine Taffy on Naboo and you can smuggle it in for a profit - more power to ya. THAT, on the other hand."
Akane REALLY began to feel nervous. "What's in them?"
"You don't KNOW?!" Red stopped what she was doing to stare. "Yeesh. How long have you been in this business? Since yesterday? At least do a scan for explosives and stuff when you get a shipment."
Akane decided she was the captain and she needed to act like one. "I asked you a question, Red, and you should know better than to ask questions of the Hutt. What's in the boxes?"
Red considered then nodded. "Gotta point there. What you got there is three crates of:
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(Posted Fri, 13 Dec 2002 12:40)
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