[Episode 82844] [Episode 82844]Ranma Saotome, Detective, Second Class, of the Galaxy Police, was not having a good day. Actually, that was something of an understatement, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Technically, he was a prisoner, captured by the very people he and his partner had been trying to capture. The Mag-Cuffs attested to that fact, but they had relented to allow him to wait here, in the infirmary, instead of in the brig.
"C'mon, Tomboy," he whispered to himself, "You can survive this. I know you can."
He still couldn't believe what had happened. It was supposed to be a simple sting, to catch the pirate crew of the Silver Moon. The meeting had been set up, their backup was in position... and then, fifteen minutes before the whole thing was supposed to go down, all sorts of ships converged on the area - and began firing without warning.
Their backup had been vaporized in moments. His partner, Akane Tendo, had used every piloting trick in the book, and more, to try and keep them alive... but there had been too many ships. A lucky shot disabled the engines, and then he remembered fire, and light, and noise...
And then he woke up here, rescued by the very people he'd been planning to arrest. Something in the cockpit had blown up, at that point.
He'd been knocked out. Akane...
The doctor - a small and frail-looking girl named Hotaru - rounded the corner of the infirmary, from where she'd taken Akane. She looked worn out - understandable, she seemed to be the only one here with any real medical knowledge, and she'd been working on Akane for several hours now.
Hotaru wearily sat down next to their 'prisoner.' "Well, I've done what I can. Your partner is in stable condition, and should wake up in a few hours."
"Thank Tsunami..."
Hotaru shook her head. "It's not all good news." Ranma blinked, and looked at the smaller girl in shock. Hotaru shrugged. "Whatever blew up... she was right next to it. It tore up her entire right side rather good. I was able to repair the basic muscle, bone, and skin damage easily enough..." she trailed off, not certain how to continue.
"But...?" Ranma prompted, his heart in his throat.
Hotaru sighed. "But... her right leg was torn up so much, I wasn't able to repair all the muscle damage there. Her right eye was destroyed by shrapnel, and something just sheared her right arm completely off." She frowned. "And Haruka couldn't find it to bring it back. I could have reattached the limb... but I don't have the equipment to grow a new one for her. Or a new eye, or leg."
Ranma slumped. If only he could have done something... but while he was one of the best in a melee fight, and almost as good in a fire fight, he was all thumbs when it came to piloting and dogfights. He hated the feeling of helplessness he had in those situations. "Is there anything you can do?"
Hotoru shook her head. "Not here. If I had the proper equipment... then maybe."
"Shit," Ranma swore, shaking his head. "How could this have happened?"
"You were set up," a new voice declared from the entrance to the infirmary. Ranma turned, and regarded the speaker.
She was shorter than he'd thought. Not as short as Hotaru, but still surprisingly small for one with her reputation. Her hair was a golden blond, and spilled past her shoulders in two long ponytails. Her eyes were crystalline blue, and could be as warm or as cold as the situation called for. Her clothes were simple and durable, yet she seemed to give them a degree of grace simply by being hers.
Ranma nodded. "You must be 'Killer Rabbit' Usagi."
Usagi nodded, with a half smile. "Yes. And you are Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome family, a rather prosperous noble clan in the Jurian empire. It was considered no small scandal when you, the eldest son and next heir apparent, chose to join the Galaxy Police." She gestured toward the other part of the infirmary, where Akane still lay. "Your partner is Akane Tendo, also from Jurai, but from a lesser house. She ran away and joined the GP to escape an arranged marriage her father had set up."
Usagi smirked at the surprised look on Ranma's face, and shrugged. "A... friend of mine has an interest in Jurian politics, and keeps me up to date... whether I want to be or not."
Ranma shook his head. "What did you mean, we were set up?"
Usagi frowned. "We'd stopped off at Titanna for a quick resuply before we were supposed to meet you guys. And you can't imagine our shock when we found that your names - your real names, not what you gave us before - and location were being circulated around, along with those other two from the other ship." She tilted her head to one side. "It seems you have made quite a few enemies. And that's not including those that just wanted to say they killed some GP detectives."
It actually took a moment for the implications of that to sink in. "If that's true, then that would mean..."
Usagi nodded. "There's a leak in the GP. We've suspected it for a while now, but this is the first bit of clear-cut evidence we've had to indicate it."
Ranma narrowed his eyes. "If it's true." He frowned as he regarded Usagi. "How do I know you didn't just set this all up yourself?"
Usagi sighed. "Barring the questions of 'how would we know?' and 'why would we set this up just to save you at the last minute?', you don't. But I give you my word, we are not the ones responsible for this." She said, looking Ranma right in the eyes.
Ranma searched those eyes for any trace of deception, and found none. He sighed, realizing he was exhausted. "I... I believe you."
Hotaru choose that moment to speak up. "You look like you're dead on your feet. You can sleep on one of the other tables." With that, she lead Ranma away.
Usagi shook her head, and left the infirmary. Outside, Rei and Makoto stood, waiting for her.
"How are they?" Rei asked.
Usagi sighed again. "About as we thought. Hotaru doesn't have the equipment she needs to really help the girl... and, I suspect, that she probably would rather someone with more training handling the actual operations, anyway. The guy - Ranma - is still a bit overwhelmed by what happened." She turned to Makoto. "What's the official word?"
The combat android dutifully replied, "According to Ami, the GP has already declared all operative involved as dead. And they blame us, of course." Rei and Usagi rolled their eyes at that. "So it's pretty much as we figured, I'm afraid."
Usagi nodded, and turned toward Rei. "And what do you foresee?"
Rei's eyes grew distant for a moment, as she attempted to see into the future. Then she answered, "I am not certain, but I believe that Ranma, at least, is intertwined with our own destiny. I'm not sure about his partner... she may stay or she may go." Her eyes focused on Usagi again. "That's the best I can do without a full trance."
Usagi sighed, but nodded. Rei had trained to be her soothsayer and truthteller, and Usagi trusted her visions without question... but Rei's training had revolved around going into ceremonial trances... ones that involves things that could not be safely reproduced onboard a ship - specifically the fire pit with burning special woods, plants, and incense. Even if they had all the components, Setsuna would have beaned Rei over the head with her heavy wrench if she tried to set it up on board the Silver Moon.
"So, what next?" Makoto asked at length. The whole operation to try and rescue the GP detectives had been spur-of-the-moment, and had thrown everyone off their schedules. Especially since they had not gotten the supplies that had been planning to get at Titanna.
Usagi thought about it for a few minutes. "We'll need to get somewhere that not only has supplies... but won't ask many questions. And will have access to medical facilities that would ask even less questions..." Usagi's eyes lit up as she came across the answer.
Rei was only one step behind her. "Oh, no! No! No, Usagi! That is a bad idea!"
"What do you mean, Rei? It's perfect!"
"No! Please! You are a princess! Even in exile, you shouldn't go to such a... place."
Usagi rolled her eyes. "Rei... for the foreseeable future, I'm a pirate, not a princess. Same with everyone aboard the Moon. And it's probably the only place on this side of the galaxy we can get that detective the help she needs without exposing all of us to danger."
"That is highly debatable." Rei groused in response.
Usagi just smiled and turned to Makoto. "Go inform Ami and Minako. I want them to set a course for the Nimkasi Habitat..."
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Wed, 07 Jan 2004 05:39)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.