Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Shadow in the Twilight ❯ Chapter 30 ( Chapter 30 )

Chapter 30

"Yu-vee, here. What's happening?"

"Thank the gods! Listen, Yu-vee, we've got ourselves a situation," Adarath's voice was a hushed, urgent whisper in her earpiece, which did nothing to ease her fears.

"Give me the skinny, Addy."

"We tried, honestly, boss, we really tried…but they wouldn't let us in! Some trumped-up crap about a quarantine. I think that Tris, Jen, and the baby may still be stuck in there and…" The words came out in a rushed string, almost too quickly to be understood.

Lluvia cut in, "Whoa, Addy! You're talking in circles, boy-chik! Start from the beginning!"

What Adarath told her made Lluvia's blood turn glacier-cold. Not expecting any problems, Addy and Raoul had made their way to the infirmary to retrieve Tris and his family for the trip home. The two entertainers found the entrance manned by two muscle-bound Saiya-jin warriors posted in front of the infirmary doors. When they attempted to enter by moving between the Saiya-jins, they were informed in no uncertain terms by the smirking guards that a quarantine was in place and, outside of the med techs, no one would be allowed to enter or leave.

Son of a bitch! thought Lluvia heatedly. This whole set-up royally reeks of Prince Vegeta! I'd stake my reputation on it!

The pilot blanched a little when he saw the furious expression emerging on her face. Oh man, he thought. Whoever just pissed off Yu-vee is in for a world of hurt!

Her next words were spoken into her MAARCU with a frosty intensity. "Addy, give me your exact location…"

Since their debarment, Adarath and Raoul had stationed themselves in a corridor not far removed from the main infirmary's entrance and were waiting for Lluvia's arrival. When she finally joined up with the two, each took turns giving her their own animated accounts of what had transpired with the two guards. She crept up to the corner and snuck a hurried glimpse of the Saiya-jin warriors loitering outside the infirmary doors. Both were conversing in bored tones and were standing with their backs to her. She noted that they were comparable in size to the bulkier types of the Elite class, like the prince's bodyguard, Nappa. Neither of them was wearing scouters, which meant that they couldn't detect her power level and wouldn't be able to readily communicate with whoever had assigned them there.

Adarath observed his leader's body language as she visually scrutinized the guards' physical attributes, watching as her hands flexed and clenched several times by her sides. Uh oh, thought her dance partner, as his stomach began to tightly knot in recognition of that familiar gesture. She's doing that double-clutching bit with her hands again, which means that she's psyching herself up to do something...something really big.

Satisfied with her study of the two Saiya-jin impediments, Lluvia pulled her friends into a small alcove carved into the wall, sufficiently away from the guards' detection. In a no-nonsense tone, she began, "Addy, Raoul, my darling boys, this is how it's all going to go down…"

As he listened to her lay out her plan, Adarath's dark eyes widened in admiration. Brilliant in its simplicity, it only served to remind him why they had chosen her as their leader.

Lluvia would offer herself up as an irresistible piece of bait, which would lure the two guards well away from the infirmary's entrance. This tact would allow Adarath and Raoul ample time to slip inside the infirmary, and thus spirit Tris, Jen, and the baby off to the transport. Before she'd left his ship, Lluvia had promised to double Willard's fee if he would immediately begin his pre-flight check and be ready at a moment's notice to bug out once everyone was safely aboard. Using her MAARCU, she sent a discreet broadcast to the rest of their group, alerting them that, due to the current state of emergency, she was officially bumping up their time of departure from Vegeta-sei. Lluvia also instructed them to split up and go to her and Tris' quarters to retrieve their respective belongings. All of them were to hustle like crazy, but at the same time do nothing that might arouse the suspicions of any curious Saiya-jins. No simple task, but she was confident they could pull it off.

Given the way the two royals butted heads last night during dinner, her street intuition was telling her that the prince was probably working independently from the king; but she wasn't about to take any chances with the safety of her troupe, however slim the chance that he wasn't.

Before leaving on her diversionary mission, Lluvia handed off her MAARCU to Adarath, which she would retrieve from him later. She turned to stroll down the hall. He and Raoul kept surreptitiously glancing around the corner, both watching with increasing anxiety as Lluvia casually sauntered up to the two massive guards.

"Hiya, fellas!" chirped a brightly waving Lluvia, as she approached the infirmary entrance. Immediately, the two Saiya-jins fell into place in front of her, their combined bulk effectively blocking her way.

"Sorry, girlie," smirked the more imposing and most likely higher-ranking, one of the two. "But only the med techs are allowed access to the infirmary."

Wearing her most ingenuous, wide-eyed expression, Lluvia tilted her head and batted her eyes first at the speaker, then to his partner. "Oh, really? And why is that?"

"A quarantine's been issued. We're here to make sure no unauthorized personnel come in or out," confirmed the second guard, nodding his head. "It's a matter of public safety, don't you know."

"Do tell," said Lluvia, looking very thoughtful. "But if safety's the issue here, I need to tell you that it's imperative that I get inside the infirmary in order to get my next treatment."

The first guard shot an uncertain look at his partner. "What treatment? We weren't told about anybody needing any treatment!" he said gruffly.

Lluvia nervously glanced around, as if to make sure that no one else was within earshot. Then she slowly neared them, saying in a confidential tone, "Well…I really wasn't supposed to let this information get around but," she motioned them to bend down and come in closer and, after a moment's hesitation, they did. "You see, if I don't get my scheduled treatment, my condition is such that it could quickly blossom into its full-blown communicable stage and um…well, it could become pandemic!" she whispered, nodding her head solemnly.

A look of bewildered apprehension darted across both the Saiya-jins' faces as they digested this latest, and unanticipated, bit of news.

This ningen female couldn't possibly be making up such a story, could she? Why, just look at that cute, innocent face! Everybody knows that alien beings were known to carry all sorts of strange and exotic diseases. So, if she was denied this treatment for her condition, it might endanger everyone on Vegeta-sei! And no doubt the two of them would eventually catch holy hell for not letting her into the infirmary in the first place! Then it would be their heads mounted on a pike, courtesy of one very pissed-off prince! What were they to do?

After evaluating this situation for a minute or two, the larger warrior came to a decision. He turned and opened one of the doors, silently motioning Lluvia to get inside as quickly as possible.

Adarath flattened his back against the wall and bit down hard on his tongue to keep himself from breaking out into a triumphant giggle at the sight of Lluvia outwitting those two Saiya-jin bo-hunks. He forced himself not to look at his partner's face or else they'd both lose it and reveal their hiding place. Raoul was faring no better than Adarath and had to clamp both hands over his sputtering mouth. Despite his efforts, a brief nose-snort escaped as he watched her breezily stroll into the previously inaccessible entrance. Luckily, his near-gaff went undetected, and the both of them breathed twin sighs of relief.

Now, the only thing left to do was to wait for Lluvia to re-emerge and deploy her "drunken decoy" routine.