Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Barracks ❯ Part 27 ( Chapter 27 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: chayron 
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Hentai / Sci-fi / Angst | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 05.14.2011 | Updated On: 05.14.2011 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.1K | Visits: 303 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Adventure / Hentai / Sci-fi / Angst | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 05.14.2011 | Updated On: 05.14.2011 | Pages: 6 | Words: 7.1K | Visits: 303 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z – it belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I am not making any money from writing it.
Warnings: Alternate Universe. Yaoi (male x male). Goten x Trunks and vice versa. Other pairings.
<b>Barracks</b>
by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com), beta-read by quatreofdoom
Part 27
Goten turned to look at the two elite bodyguards that were following him and the prince to launch pod 12. Then he concentrated back on the road. He could only imagine what they were thinking. No, in fact, he couldn’t. He didn’t even know what he himself was thinking. Mostly, he was trying not to. He was saving the thoughts for later, when he was capable of some sensible thinking. His head was a mess now.
The remaining time, until he was supposed to come to the launch pod, he and the prince had spent in an awkward atmosphere. The prince shared the information he knew about the situation in general and about how Goten’s father had gotten himself into that crash. They had talked about many things and they were important things, and the prince didn’t return to, even avoided that…thing between them. And Goten wondered what exactly had changed. What exactly could change? Could anything change at all? At some point, when the prince was about to finish telling Goten about his father’s escape from Ice-jins, Goten suddenly became very skeptical. Maybe him being sent off into space wasn’t such a bad idea. And the longer he stayed there, the better.
“Wait here,” the prince ordered.
“Yes, si-”
“Oh, for gods’ sakes, not you, Goten,” he said after noticing that Goten had reacted to his command automatically and had stopped together with his bodyguards.
Goten shifted his suitcase in his hand and laughed nervously. He followed the prince further to a massive building. In a minute, they reached a door with the numbers 1 - 15 on it. The prince opened it, and Goten nearly let go of his suitcase in order to cover his ears. The sound that assaulted him suddenly made his eyes go wide.
“Good izloshion, eh?”
“What?” Goten shouted.
“I said ‘<i>good isolation</i>’!”
“Yeah, amazing, sir!” Goten shouted back. He closed the door behind himself. The sight that opened before his eyes made him stop dead in his tracks. He found himself standing on a thin metallic grate, about two hundred meters above the ground. He flattened his back to the wall. The building was colossal inside, the biggest part of it stretching deep into the ground. Enormous lamps hung on the ceiling, making Goten squint against their light. The vast space the walls of the building offered was taken up by six large battleships and about twenty space pods. From so high above, he couldn’t even see any people down there. The white space pods looked like dandruff.
“Goten? Is everything alright?”
Carefully, Goten turned to look at the prince, who was watching him with a concerned look on his face.
“I…don’t think so! I don’t particularly like high places, sir!” he shouted.
“We are a flying species, Goten!”
“That doesn’t make it any better, sir!”
“And you seriously wanted to be a pilot?” The prince shook his head in bewilderment. He pointed randomly at the ground. “We can just fly down th-!”
“Oh, is that an elevator, sir? Lucky!” Keeping his back to the wall, Goten slithered up to a large oval metallic box at the end of the metallic grate. He exhaled loudly when he was finally inside. Shakily, he put his suitcase on the floor and massaged his hand. He had squeezed the handle so hard that there were fingerprints on it.
The prince watched Goten with a look of sheer incredulity on his face. “You really prefer this claustrophobic metallic box to just flying there?”
“Yes, sir!”
Goten was already studying the panel with buttons and the prince shrugged.
“I don’t know which button to push, sir!” the third-class shouted.
“It’s the blue one!”
The door slid shut with a hiss which was lost in the general noise of the hangar. Goten and the prince stared at each other from different corners of the elevator. Once the door had closed, it became silent inside. The elevator moved suddenly and the prince saw Goten’s eyes cross.
“Ah crap. Just don’t get sick here.”
“Then where would you prefer me to get sick, sir?”
After giving the smart ass a more careful look, the prince realized that he wasn’t about to throw up. Goten had just been startled by the sudden shift in weight.
“I wonder if it really is a good idea to send you off into space.”
“I can tell you straight away that it isn’t, sir. But I don’t think my opinion matters any, does it, sir?”
The prince shifted uneasily against the elevator’s wall. “No, in this case it doesn’t.”
Goten rolled his eyes. “Ah well, it was worth a try,” he said.
The speed started dropping and then, gently, the elevator came to a halt. The door opened and Goten’s eyes widened at the horrendous noise again. He grabbed his suitcase and followed the prince out of the elevator. Just outside it, there was a map of the hangar. They stopped to study it for a few seconds, then continued walking onwards. All they had to do was to follow the huge red numbers which were painted on the right wall of the hangar.
They were passing spaceships that were wide and tall like large buildings. People with varicolored work clothes could be spotted here and there, filling ever-hungry tanks, fixing, welding something. Goten was looking around, trying to take in all the tiny details. Excitedly, he pointed with his hand at a spaceship far ahead. “Oh, sir!” he shouted. “Isn’t that EMERIK 235, sir? Oh! And that one! MIG 7624! Amazing!”
Smiling, the prince watched Goten oohing and aahing over the chunks of metal. He himself had never been fascinated with spaceships, or any other flying objects for that matter. However, he was glad that, around spaceships, Goten had forgotten to be nervous. He had expected the third-class to react to his admission as he had, though. Goten was not to be taken lightly and neither was his mistrustful nature. Goten was being very coolheaded about this. He had known that he would have to be the pursuer – Goten would never take the initiative, not in this kind of relationship. The circumstances were also not in his favor - they were going to separate for at least a few months. Only gods knew what kinds of thoughts would take hold of Goten’s head in the meantime.
At least Goten was not going to see Kyon either.
Goten nearly bumped into the prince when he stopped. He gave the lavender-haired man a questioning look. “There!” the prince shouted, pointing at the wall in front of them.
Goten’s eyes followed his hand to a huge sign which said “12”. About ten meters from the wall, there was a battleship. “Not bad,” Goten muttered, taking it in. As far as he could tell, it was KIF 693. He wasn’t certain because it wasn’t new and a few modifications had taken place. KIF models, almost all kinds of them, were usually large, packed a lot of gun power, and were pretty fast. From where he was standing, Goten could see two men working on its front spire. In fact, using two spires, one at the front and one at the back, to generate and upkeep a power shield, was a thing of the past. The newest spaceships worked on different technology altogether.
Goten turned back to the prince. To approach the spaceship together would be a bad idea. Already, while walking, the prince had received quite a few interested looks which were followed by a quick salutation if eyes met. It seemed that the prince was of the same idea – he had moved aside so that he was out of sight of anyone who could be on board of KIF 693 or around it. Goten hid a bitter smile; if this was their future, he would rather not have anything to do with it.
The prince motioned for Goten to come closer. Goten moved forward and, at the same time, was startled by a sudden roar of a powerful engine. Instinctively, the third-class ducked behind the space pod, nearly knocking the prince off his feet. Deafened, his heart beating madly, he turned around to see that it was his ship that had joined the cacophony of engines. Goten wondered if he was late, but men were still working on the spire. Recovering from his affright, he turned to face the prince, who was giving him an amused look. Goten smiled sheepishly.
For a few moments, they were just standing in front of each other, fighting the urge to cover their ears from the deafening roar of the engines of the ships and the workers shouting instructions at each other. It was hardly possible to understand anything, but Goten didn’t think it was a problem because he didn’t know what to say anyway. This was it, he was being sent to war, and the prince was going to stay safely tucked in the capital.
The prince watched Goten fidget with his suitcase uneasily. It suddenly came to him that he and Goten might not see each other for a very, very long time. They would see each other eventually, there was no doubt about that, but a lot of things could change during that time. Goten was one of those who were most comfortable going with the tide, not swimming against it. Obviously, the third-class was very skeptical about their relationship – he wanted it, but didn’t think it was possible – thus there was a big likelihood that he might try and ignore all of what had been said and just…
It was doubtful Goten would ever initiate a relationship with anyone. He probably wouldn’t. On the other hand, accepting attention was easy and required much less effort. If someone like Kyon – caring and with a well-balanced personality – appeared and offered a lot of pressure, Goten would give in no matter the difference in their classes. The prince was almost certain of that. Goten was the faithful sort, he could tell that instinctively, but as long as Goten didn’t take <i>them</i> seriously, this was not going to work.
He had to make certain that Goten didn’t accept anyone's attention but his, to do something which would rivet Goten’s interest only on him, at least until they met again. The problem was…how?
“I’ll find you,” the prince said, leaning closer to Goten. “After all this mess is over. I’m really serious about y-”
“What?” Goten shouted at him, pointing at his ears to show he hadn’t understood anything.
The prince flushed red in embarrassment. He grabbed Goten by the front of his uniform and shoved the startled man against the space pod. “I said I’ll find you, you idiot!” he shouted before smashing their lips together.
Goten’s head thumped against the metal, but his yelp was short-lived when he felt the prince’s lips on his. They were firm and demanding and there was a wet flick of a tongue and Goten could think of nothing else except for letting it in. He was somehow stunned and not stunned at the same time, his body stiff, his eyes wide, staring over the prince’s shoulder at a worker who was staring back at them. He obviously knew who h-
“Goten, stop thinking! Just stop thinking shit!” the prince growled out, raising his head. His hand grabbed the back of the third-class’s head firmly, his fingers sliding into his hair to seize it. Forcefully, he tugged Goten’s head upwards to cover his mouth with his for a second time.
Goten opened his mouth without any hesitation, but it took him a few seconds to start answering the kiss. Then he stopped again as, in reaction to him answering, the prince had snarled into his mouth possessively, gripping at his hair even more tightly. It had been an approval, though, and Goten closed his eyes again, allowing himself to relax into the kiss and embrace. He inhaled the familiar scents that had enveloped him: a faint sheen of sweat, clothing, and something which was similar to tranquil boredom. There was something new in that mixture as well – something primal, excited, possessive.
Goten had felt the hand sliding down his waist and over his thigh, but he was still unprepared for the prince grabbing a handful of his ass. With a gasp into the prince’s mouth, he jolted forward and his eyes shot open, the suitcase dropping onto the floor as he let go of it. The clatter of the suitcase was swallowed by the sound of the roaring engines and it didn’t seem that anyone noticed it at all. The hand boldly kneading his rump became the center of Goten’s world and he moaned softly, his eyes sliding shut again.
When one of Goten’s arms wrapped around the prince’s shoulders and his palm pressed against his nape, the prince felt as if he had already won the entire war. He grew excited when he felt the second one tentatively sliding down to his waist. It perched there for a few seconds, then it got even bolder and slid around to the small of his back to press their bodies as close as possible. He could feel Goten harden against his thigh and this made him grind against the younger male.
The kiss turned searing and fierce, and was permeated with frustration from the knowledge that this was as far as they were going to get. Goten broke the kiss by shakily turning his head away, then he moaned at the way the prince’s mouth slid over the column of his neck, hot puffs of air making his skin tingle. He bucked his hips against the prince’s for friction.
The hand on the back of Goten’s head ruffled through his hair, then gripped it, and turned the third-class’s head so that now the two men were facing each other. The prince’s tongue darted out to trail along Goten’s lower lip, then he let go of Goten, leaning away. Goten held onto him for a second, then also let go.
The third-class leaned against the space pod as he felt his legs were going to buckle under him. He wiped at his saliva glistening lips absentmindedly.
The prince was watching him, then chuckled softly when Goten suddenly decided that it was time to blush and reddened up to the roots of his hair. The prince leaned in to steal another quick kiss, then moved back again.
“Don’t get killed!” he shouted.
“You t-too,” Goten stuttered out dumbly, staring at him, unable to answer anything else. The words came out in a whisper and he straightened, intending to repeat them more loudly, but the prince nodded, indicating that he had understood. He turned to go.
Silently, still leaning against the space pod, Goten watched him go until his back disappeared behind one of the spaceships. The third-class stared at the spaceship for some time, then lowered his head. He picked up his suitcase off the ground and straightened. His eyes met the intrigued gaze of the same worker who had been staring at him and the prince previously. Bravely, Goten withstood the gaze for two whole seconds, then flushed brilliant red one more time and, holding the suitcase in front of his unruly arousal, scurried off towards KIF 693.
The workers who had been working on the spaceship’s front spire had gone away. The third-class ran to the lowered trapdoor and then the whole way up along it until he was inside the ship. He found himself in a large area with a runway. Space pods lined the metallic walls while several small scouting ships, and even a few air fighters, took up most of the space.
Goten rushed onwards where he found a door connecting the runway to the rest of the spaceship. There was a card lock on the door. The door was closed and the light around the lock was burning red. The third-class stared at it for a few seconds. The only thing he had to offer to the keyhole was his credit card. Tentatively, Goten reached out for the buttons under the keyhole but, before he could touch any of them, the light around the keyhole flared green and the door opened. Instinctively, Goten saluted the officer’s uniform that floated through it.
“Sir!”
“Ugh.” Startled, the man turned to look at Goten. “Who are you?”
Goten, who meanwhile had enough time to decipher the stripes on the officer’s shoulders, gave him the most loyal look he could muster. “I’m Goten Bardock, Captain. I think I’m the newest addition to your crew.”
For a moment, the captain still seemed uncomprehending, then his face acquired a painful expression. “Ah right, that kid from Hataro Officer Training School.”
Goten realized that the man had hoped he would not show up. Oh joy.
Still saluting, the third-class turned to the second man who had just appeared in the doorway. “Sir!”
“You are five minutes late!” the man notified him angrily.
“Yes, sir, I’m sorry, sir!”
The second man had the same exact amount of stripes on his shoulders, but wore a slightly different uniform and Goten identified him as a backup captain.
“Ah, I see you are already excited at the thought of blasting off into space,” the backup captain said, indicating towards Goten’s suitcase, which was covering the slight bulge in Goten’s trousers. “First time, isn’t it?”
Goten wondered if there was a limit to how many times a day one could go as red as a boiled crayfish. There was probably none. “Err…” he stuttered out, utterly mortified. “Yes, sir. One could say that.”
Behind Goten, on the runway, the navigator and the communications specialist met each other’s eyes and grinned. This was going to be fun.
<center>ooOoOoOoo</center>
Up on the thin metallic grate, the prince watched the ceiling slide open. An alarm sounded to warn everyone about a spaceship taking off. The prince leaned on the rail separating him from the two-hundred-meter-deep abyss and looked down at Goten’s ship.
Goten was going to be fine. He had checked the destination data, the crew members, and even read a few reports from their earlier patrols. He had also spotted a familiar surname amongst the crew and made sure to call him and ask to keep an eye on Goten. Certainly, the third-class was not going to like that. If he ever figured it out.
Without doubt, Goten was able to stand up for himself. In some unfathomable way, he also compelled others to stand up for him, thus there was hardly any danger of him not getting along with the crew. He might make a few enemies, but it was not easy to intimidate the third-class. And, now, with the power Goten possessed, it was probably also impossible.
He wished Goten would feel that way about them.
Underneath, the spaceship started rising slowly. The prince’s eyes followed it up until the ceiling.
His fingers squeezed the railing. Damn. He should have just fucked Goten in that room. He should have just cornered the third-class and fucked his brains out. His bodyguards had been behind the door, right, but who cared what they thought? Anyway, they could have used the bathroom, and…
The spaceship blasted off into the sky and the prince rolled his eyes at himself. Really, to get all hot and bothered from just a kiss. Goten wasn’t even that good at kissing. The prince had to admit, though, that exact fact could be one of the things that made him hot and bothered.
The ceiling started sliding closed and the alarm was turned off. The prince let go of the railing and moved away to lean his back against the wall. He was going to have and wait a minute or two before leaving the earsplitting hangar to rejoin his bodyguards; his body was still tingling.
<center>ooOoOoOoo</center>
The soft but insistent beeping stopped and a green lamp lit up above the door. However, instead of unfastening the belts, Goten sat in his chair, waiting for his head to stop spinning and his stomach to settle down. In a few minutes, carefully, he unfastened the belts and stood up. He had had no idea that breaking through the atmosphere could be so…jolting.
He looked around his cubical cabin. It wasn’t big, about fifteen square meters, but after having shared a similar-sized room with other three people for half a year, this was a palace. And he was the king. His palace had two bunks which were obviously welded to the metallic floor. Apparently, the cabin had been designed for two, but currently there weren’t a lot of people on board, so he was allowed the luxury of living in here alone.
Goten walked over and sniffed at the bedding on the bed which was farthest from the door. It smelled of something old and musty, just like the cabin air in general. Goten pressed on the mattress with his hand a few times and then lay down. Surprisingly, it was soft and somewhat bouncy.
The third-class sat up and looked at the large wardrobe, which was actually a metallic cabinet hammered halfway into a wall. There was a lock on it, but to lock it would have required the unanimous effort of both a welder and a locksmith. It was a miracle how the doors stayed closed as they were nearly a perfect example of the repetitive “foot meets door” accidents. They were so bent out of shape that Goten could perfectly see what was inside in cabinet.
Goten walked over to the wardrobe and, using some muscle, peeled one of the doors open to inspect the dark shapes inside up close. There was an old T-shirt, a boot, a slice of pizza, and two empty beer bottles.
Some cleaning was in order.
Goten tried to close the door. After five unsuccessful attempts where the door just kept opening with a defiant creak, he tried what the former residents knew to work – kicked them. They stayed closed.
There was also a large cupboard in the cabin. When Goten opened it, he found that it was cluttered with old dirty clothing, grimy tin dishes, flatware, and magazines. Mostly it was pornography, but there were also quite a few scientific magazines about spaceships. The rest of them were filled with some mysterious codes and baffling programming languages in which Goten had absolutely no interest. There was also a varicolored ladle and a small plush in the cupboard that were probably souvenirs. Goten had no explanation as to why they would be there otherwise. The third-class looked at it the plush more closely. It was probably a penguin, if he was any judge about foreign species. Goten thought that the ladle might someday make do as a makeshift weapon, and as for the penguin…
There was a table of sorts. Some five or ten years ago, it must have stood in the middle of the cabin where Goten could still see some metal protruding from the floor. Someone must have wanted to make more space, because now the table top was welded onto the wall. There was an old terminal on one side of the table. It was secured to the table, a wide insulating tape wrapped around both objects a few times to hold them together. Wires and cables weaved out of the terminal’s back and to the ground, slithering along a wall and then scaling up to disappear into a hole above the door. The other side of the table must have served as a dinner-table as it was covered in blackened scraps.
There were also three chairs with metallic legs. All of them were firmly welded into the floor. One chair was at one end of the table, in front of the terminal, another at the “dining-part” of the table. The third chair was beside the bed Goten had picked for sleeping. All of them had seatbelts, even the one at the terminal.
A bright lamp shone from the ceiling, but there was also a small desk lamp next to the terminal. The bulb exploded when Goten switched the lamp on and he was just in time to move his hand away. Contemplatively, he looked at the glass shards on the floor for a few seconds, then shrugged and tried to turn on the terminal; if he was going to create havoc, it should be done thoroughly.
After several unsuccessful tries of pressing the red button, Goten came to the conclusion that it was either dead or he was doing something wrong. He didn’t have much time to figure out which one it was as suddenly a loud screech echoed in the room. Goten’s eyes concentrated on the electronic clock above the door which obviously had also a microphone installed.
“Is this thing on?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“This is your captain speaking. Everyone come to the briefing room. Out.”
The microphone screeched again, then silence followed. Goten wondered where the briefing room was. After he had met the captain and a few others, he had been quickly ushered into this cabin and told to belt his ass to one of the chairs. Very likely, this was the time he was going to be introduced to the rest of the crew. The third-class looked at his uniform. It was somewhat crumpled, but spotless. He looked around for a mirror, but it didn’t seem that the previous cabin’s owner had ever suffered from narcissism.
Determined to leave a good first impression, Goten headed out. His determination started wavering when, three minutes later, he was still walking a hallway and had no idea if he was heading in the right direction. Finally, he heard someone’s running feet from behind and stopped to wait for the runner to catch up with him.
“Who are you?”
This was already the third time Goten was asked that question while on board. Goten smiled politely at a bulky second-class who was wearing the standard blue uniform issued on all spaceships. Goten found him awfully young, a bit over twenty in fact.
“I’m a flight officer,” the man said when Goten’s eyes glued to his shoulder insignia but couldn't seem to figure out his rank.
“Sir!” Goten saluted with a belated realization that, here, he was probably the only newbie amongst seasoned officers. “I’m Goten Bardock, the newest addition to the crew.”
The flight officer gave him a blank look, then shrugged. “First time I heard about it. You don’t need to salute me, Goten. You will be under direct orders of our captain and master sergeant. Otherwise, we are more or less… We are late for the briefing,” he said suddenly, as if remembering that only now.
Goten followed him along the corridor. “Why is there no one walking around? I thought I’d just follow someone to the briefing room.”
“That… They must have already been in the briefing room before the announcement. News travels fast. All of them must already be waiting for you. It’s kind of… I think it’s been five years since someone new came. They are excited.”
The flight officer noticed Goten’s questioning look. “I was at a party yesterday, so I have been sleeping all day today, and the gossip hasn’t reached me,” he explained. “Ah, right,” he said before using his keycard to open the door to the briefing hall. “Try to be careful around Reyn. He’s been in a foul mood recently.”
The door slid open and Goten stepped into the briefing room. The door was at one end of the room, while a briefing screen was on the opposite side. The rows of chairs were turned towards the screen and Goten could only see the backs of his fellow crew members. At first glance, there seemed to be about twenty of them. The rows of chairs were split in the middle to make a narrow passage and Goten, with the flight officer, started walking along it towards the small stage where the captain was standing.
“Adriel, get your dirty boots off that chair or I’ll have you scrubbing the toilets for half a year.”
“Yes, Captain! Sorry, Captain!”
“Rokunda,” the captain growled. “What, in the world, do you have there?”
“Ish mishin arshin mushin.”
The captain rolled his eyes. “Just great. Where did you get it from?”
“Ish morsh crish nushn.”
“They are going to catch you one day,” the captain warned.
“Nahsh, sish.”
Goten looked over at the hunched over creature in the last row that the captain was talking to. For a moment, he wondered if it was a Saiyan. However, it was. Spiky, tangled, and matted hair stood in all directions. From behind, Goten couldn’t see his face, but he realized he couldn’t see it even when he was passing the Saiyan. What he could see was the crumpled uniform which was a size too large. Actually, the man seemed tiny. There was some kind of device in his hands.
“Rokunda, you smell again,” a large man sitting next to the tiny Saiyan complained. “Take a shower, will you?”
“Ish shimsh himsh.”
“Rokunda, seriously, my cat smells better than you. And I never wash him. You probably also have more fleas than him.”
“Faksh yush.”
Goten could not understand the man’s words, but the finger was clearly heard in that last sentence.
“That’s our programmer,” the flight officer introduced Rokunda.
“Ah. Right. I should have known.”
The flight officer grinned at him. “Now, now, not all of them are as crazy as this one gets.”
Goten chuckled. “Oh, I never said that.” Well, Ranvera was pretty normal after all. He just watched way too much porn.
The captain noticed them approaching. “Ah, you are here …errr…”
“It’s <i>Goten Bardock</i>, Captain,” Goten reminded him.
“Ah yes, Goten,” the captain brightened. He motioned for Goten. “Come up here.”
“Ah! It’s you!”
From the stage, Goten turned around to look at the man who had exclaimed and was now pointing at him with his index finger. “Oh, it’s you, Doctor,” he said, surprised, recognizing the same doctor who had tended to the tanks in the intensive care unit. “What are you doing here?”
“I think I should be the one to ask you that. What a third-” The doctor fell silent at the worried look on Goten’s face. “…a third-rate savar like you is doing on this ship?” he finished.
“You think they’d give us anything better?” someone laughed. “It’s just a patrolling ship!”
Relieved that his secret was safe, Goten shrugged. “I don’t really know, Doctor. I just received the orders.”
“I’d prefer a few packs of salami to this newbie,” someone declared.
“Yeah!”
“A hot chick!”
“Well, he’s not too bad either.”
“Yeah.”
“No way.”
“No boobs.”
“Luksh fainsh ash itch ish.”
“Idiots.”
“Quit the chitchat this instance!” the captain snapped at the audience. He turned to Goten after the silence had settled among the spectators. “Now let’s get you introduced.” He cleared his throat. “This is Goten, the newest addition to our team. This was somewhat unexpected, bu-”
“No kidding! Like a blizzard in a desert!”
“Shut it, Adriel! One more word and I’ll make sure you get latrine duty for the rest of our patrol, just like Captain said!” the man sitting in the first row threatened without even turning his head to where the said Adriel sat. Goten had already seen Adriel before and recognized him as the navigator.
“Aw, man!” Adriel said, grinning widely. He winked at Goten, who stared back at him blankly. He couldn’t be certain, but it seemed as if this Adriel was flirting with him, had been flirting with him from the very first second he had set his foot onto the spaceship. This was going to be troublesome.
“As I was saying,” the captain continued, “Goten’s arrival was a little unexpected. But he’s a young bright man whose presence is a very welcome addition.” The captain’s eyes ruffled through the audience as if daring anyone to oppose to him. “He might not have finished his training yet, but Hataro Officer Training School is known for its high standards, so I am certain that some of us will also have something to learn from Goten.” The captain stepped back, motioning to Goten that it was his turn now.
Goten cleared his throat and smiled in the friendliest way possible. “Err… I’m new to this, but I promise, I’ll try to do my best to be a quick learner. Mmm... Nice to meet you,” he nodded, taking in the crew. Obviously, they were seasoned soldiers, but there were also men who looked and acted about the same age as him. However, sometimes it was hard to tell with Saiyans. To his surprise, Goten also spotted twins in one of the rows. Twins was a very rare occurrence in Saiyan society. Triplets hardly ever happened at all.
A hand shot up in the audience. Goten carefully regarded the young man sitting near the entrance to the briefing hall. “Yes?” he asked, his smile thinning. The man’s face looked a little bit too serious for an occasion like this.
“What exactly will you be doing here, Goten?”
Goten faltered. “Umm… Err? What did you say your name was?” he asked, trying to buy more time before he could think of something to say.
“Reyn. Reyn Dueri. I’m a flight officer.”
Goten turned to the flight officer who had showed him to the briefing room. The man shrugged. Goten concentrated back on Reyn. “I…”
“I think he’ll be just like Edesha,” Adriel laughed. “With no purpose at all!”
“Can it!” Edesha snorted at him from the other side of the briefing hall. “Let me remind you that I was the one to save your sorry ass from that teranus while you were running around panicking, tearing your hair out.”
“Yes, thank you for that. But do we need one more unspecialized soldier?” Adriel wondered.
“Yeah,” Reyn agreed, “we don’t. Besides, just look at him – he’s green.”
“That’s it, Adriel,” the captain said, “you are in for latrine duty.”
“Ah shit.”
“And you, Reyn,” the captain turned away from Adriel, “if you are unhappy about something, you are welcome to write a complaint letter to the appropriate authorities. I’m certain they will be happy to read it.”
It was silent in the audience.
“Alright,” the captain nodded. “Tamahi,” he turned to the doctor, “you know Goten from earlier, so you will be responsible for showing him around. Just show him what’s where and explain the common rules.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The captain clapped his hands. “That’s it. The meeting is over.”
There were a few exultant whoops and the crew started getting up, drifting towards the door.
“Err…”
The captain, who was about to climb off the stage, turned to look at Goten. The youngster offered him a tentative smile while trying to hide the lost look in his eyes. He also looked very sheepish.
“Yes?”
“I was wondering about our destination, Captain.”
The captain’s eyebrows rose. “Our destination? You mean you don’t know where we are headed to?”
“I have no idea, Captain,” Goten said honestly.
“Oh.” The captain came closer to Goten. “It’s the Renera section. We are patrolling the border between the Terran Republic and the Saiyan Empire.”
Goten stared at him. “Terran Republic? Earth?” he repeated, dumbstruck.
“Well, yes. Why?”
Goten wanted to ask what there was to patrol. They were allies with Earth. Well, certainly, there had to be control on coming and going ships, and recently pirate attacks had become more frequent, but really, Renera section? No sane Ice-jin would come close to it. Now Goten realized what the prince had meant when he said that everything was going to be alright and he didn’t need to worry. What in the world was there to worry about when he was being sent to the Renera section? Goten glared at the captain. If he ever found out that this was the prince’s doing, him being sent to that section, he was going to strangle the bastard.
“Why, in the world, are you looking at me like that?”
Goten took a hold of himself. “Oh, I’m sorry, Captain. I got lost in my thoughts.”
“Ah, I know!” Adriel’s cheerful voice beamed from behind the captain. “Goten would make a good space cadet!”
Goten looked at him over the captain’s shoulder. It seemed that the navigator hated him. Flirted with him, but hated him to the core. Goten wasn’t certain how this was possible, but it seemed it was.
“Adriel, go and clean the toilets.”
“Yes, Captain! Right away!”
“Don’t mind him,” said the doctor, climbing onto the stage while Adriel was scurrying out of the briefing hall. “He means no harm. He’s just excited about a new face.”
“Alright, so I’ll leave the two of you,” the captain said. “Don’t hesitate to ask if there’s something you need. Rokunda will prepare a keycard for you. You can pick it up in a few hours. And get the appropriate uniform from the master sergeant.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The doctor looked at Goten. “Well, I’ll show you around. Actually, there’s not much to see. <i>Starcut</i> isn’t a very large ship.”
“Ah, so its name is <i>Starcut</i>?”
The doctor cleared his throat slightly. “Yes,” he drawled carefully, which didn’t go unnoticed by Goten. He climbed off the stage and motioned for Goten to follow him. “We get up at six. Breakfast is at seven. Lunch at twelve, and dinner at six.”
“What do you actually do during the day?” Goten wondered, following the doctor among the chairs and to the door.
“Well, I tend to patients, if there are any. But mostly I clean my operation desk three times a day and count my scalpels five times.”
“Err, yes, I figured that might be the case.”
The doctor drew his keycard over the keyhole. The light around it turned green and the door slid open. “Well, some of us have much busier schedules. Adriel spends most of his time on the captain’s bridge. The technicians always have something to fix or to clean and the cooks are constantly busy.”
“Well, yes, certainly. I bel-” Goten started as an arm wrapped around his shoulders.
“Welcome to <i>Starcunt</i>!” Adriel grinned at Goten, whose first instinct was to elbow the navigator in the stomach. However, there weren’t any signs of aggression in the other male’s scent, thus Goten managed to keep himself from doing that. Then his brain caught up with Adriel’s words. Seeing Goten’s blank face, Adriel turned to the doctor. “Haven’t you told him?”
The doctor rolled his eyes. “I didn’t want to spoil your fun.”
“<i>Starc</i>…” Goten trailed off numbly.
Adriel patted a metallic wall. “Yeah, that’s how we call her.”
TBC
Warnings: Alternate Universe. Yaoi (male x male). Goten x Trunks and vice versa. Other pairings.
<b>Barracks</b>
by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com), beta-read by quatreofdoom
Part 27
Goten turned to look at the two elite bodyguards that were following him and the prince to launch pod 12. Then he concentrated back on the road. He could only imagine what they were thinking. No, in fact, he couldn’t. He didn’t even know what he himself was thinking. Mostly, he was trying not to. He was saving the thoughts for later, when he was capable of some sensible thinking. His head was a mess now.
The remaining time, until he was supposed to come to the launch pod, he and the prince had spent in an awkward atmosphere. The prince shared the information he knew about the situation in general and about how Goten’s father had gotten himself into that crash. They had talked about many things and they were important things, and the prince didn’t return to, even avoided that…thing between them. And Goten wondered what exactly had changed. What exactly could change? Could anything change at all? At some point, when the prince was about to finish telling Goten about his father’s escape from Ice-jins, Goten suddenly became very skeptical. Maybe him being sent off into space wasn’t such a bad idea. And the longer he stayed there, the better.
“Wait here,” the prince ordered.
“Yes, si-”
“Oh, for gods’ sakes, not you, Goten,” he said after noticing that Goten had reacted to his command automatically and had stopped together with his bodyguards.
Goten shifted his suitcase in his hand and laughed nervously. He followed the prince further to a massive building. In a minute, they reached a door with the numbers 1 - 15 on it. The prince opened it, and Goten nearly let go of his suitcase in order to cover his ears. The sound that assaulted him suddenly made his eyes go wide.
“Good izloshion, eh?”
“What?” Goten shouted.
“I said ‘<i>good isolation</i>’!”
“Yeah, amazing, sir!” Goten shouted back. He closed the door behind himself. The sight that opened before his eyes made him stop dead in his tracks. He found himself standing on a thin metallic grate, about two hundred meters above the ground. He flattened his back to the wall. The building was colossal inside, the biggest part of it stretching deep into the ground. Enormous lamps hung on the ceiling, making Goten squint against their light. The vast space the walls of the building offered was taken up by six large battleships and about twenty space pods. From so high above, he couldn’t even see any people down there. The white space pods looked like dandruff.
“Goten? Is everything alright?”
Carefully, Goten turned to look at the prince, who was watching him with a concerned look on his face.
“I…don’t think so! I don’t particularly like high places, sir!” he shouted.
“We are a flying species, Goten!”
“That doesn’t make it any better, sir!”
“And you seriously wanted to be a pilot?” The prince shook his head in bewilderment. He pointed randomly at the ground. “We can just fly down th-!”
“Oh, is that an elevator, sir? Lucky!” Keeping his back to the wall, Goten slithered up to a large oval metallic box at the end of the metallic grate. He exhaled loudly when he was finally inside. Shakily, he put his suitcase on the floor and massaged his hand. He had squeezed the handle so hard that there were fingerprints on it.
The prince watched Goten with a look of sheer incredulity on his face. “You really prefer this claustrophobic metallic box to just flying there?”
“Yes, sir!”
Goten was already studying the panel with buttons and the prince shrugged.
“I don’t know which button to push, sir!” the third-class shouted.
“It’s the blue one!”
The door slid shut with a hiss which was lost in the general noise of the hangar. Goten and the prince stared at each other from different corners of the elevator. Once the door had closed, it became silent inside. The elevator moved suddenly and the prince saw Goten’s eyes cross.
“Ah crap. Just don’t get sick here.”
“Then where would you prefer me to get sick, sir?”
After giving the smart ass a more careful look, the prince realized that he wasn’t about to throw up. Goten had just been startled by the sudden shift in weight.
“I wonder if it really is a good idea to send you off into space.”
“I can tell you straight away that it isn’t, sir. But I don’t think my opinion matters any, does it, sir?”
The prince shifted uneasily against the elevator’s wall. “No, in this case it doesn’t.”
Goten rolled his eyes. “Ah well, it was worth a try,” he said.
The speed started dropping and then, gently, the elevator came to a halt. The door opened and Goten’s eyes widened at the horrendous noise again. He grabbed his suitcase and followed the prince out of the elevator. Just outside it, there was a map of the hangar. They stopped to study it for a few seconds, then continued walking onwards. All they had to do was to follow the huge red numbers which were painted on the right wall of the hangar.
They were passing spaceships that were wide and tall like large buildings. People with varicolored work clothes could be spotted here and there, filling ever-hungry tanks, fixing, welding something. Goten was looking around, trying to take in all the tiny details. Excitedly, he pointed with his hand at a spaceship far ahead. “Oh, sir!” he shouted. “Isn’t that EMERIK 235, sir? Oh! And that one! MIG 7624! Amazing!”
Smiling, the prince watched Goten oohing and aahing over the chunks of metal. He himself had never been fascinated with spaceships, or any other flying objects for that matter. However, he was glad that, around spaceships, Goten had forgotten to be nervous. He had expected the third-class to react to his admission as he had, though. Goten was not to be taken lightly and neither was his mistrustful nature. Goten was being very coolheaded about this. He had known that he would have to be the pursuer – Goten would never take the initiative, not in this kind of relationship. The circumstances were also not in his favor - they were going to separate for at least a few months. Only gods knew what kinds of thoughts would take hold of Goten’s head in the meantime.
At least Goten was not going to see Kyon either.
Goten nearly bumped into the prince when he stopped. He gave the lavender-haired man a questioning look. “There!” the prince shouted, pointing at the wall in front of them.
Goten’s eyes followed his hand to a huge sign which said “12”. About ten meters from the wall, there was a battleship. “Not bad,” Goten muttered, taking it in. As far as he could tell, it was KIF 693. He wasn’t certain because it wasn’t new and a few modifications had taken place. KIF models, almost all kinds of them, were usually large, packed a lot of gun power, and were pretty fast. From where he was standing, Goten could see two men working on its front spire. In fact, using two spires, one at the front and one at the back, to generate and upkeep a power shield, was a thing of the past. The newest spaceships worked on different technology altogether.
Goten turned back to the prince. To approach the spaceship together would be a bad idea. Already, while walking, the prince had received quite a few interested looks which were followed by a quick salutation if eyes met. It seemed that the prince was of the same idea – he had moved aside so that he was out of sight of anyone who could be on board of KIF 693 or around it. Goten hid a bitter smile; if this was their future, he would rather not have anything to do with it.
The prince motioned for Goten to come closer. Goten moved forward and, at the same time, was startled by a sudden roar of a powerful engine. Instinctively, the third-class ducked behind the space pod, nearly knocking the prince off his feet. Deafened, his heart beating madly, he turned around to see that it was his ship that had joined the cacophony of engines. Goten wondered if he was late, but men were still working on the spire. Recovering from his affright, he turned to face the prince, who was giving him an amused look. Goten smiled sheepishly.
For a few moments, they were just standing in front of each other, fighting the urge to cover their ears from the deafening roar of the engines of the ships and the workers shouting instructions at each other. It was hardly possible to understand anything, but Goten didn’t think it was a problem because he didn’t know what to say anyway. This was it, he was being sent to war, and the prince was going to stay safely tucked in the capital.
The prince watched Goten fidget with his suitcase uneasily. It suddenly came to him that he and Goten might not see each other for a very, very long time. They would see each other eventually, there was no doubt about that, but a lot of things could change during that time. Goten was one of those who were most comfortable going with the tide, not swimming against it. Obviously, the third-class was very skeptical about their relationship – he wanted it, but didn’t think it was possible – thus there was a big likelihood that he might try and ignore all of what had been said and just…
It was doubtful Goten would ever initiate a relationship with anyone. He probably wouldn’t. On the other hand, accepting attention was easy and required much less effort. If someone like Kyon – caring and with a well-balanced personality – appeared and offered a lot of pressure, Goten would give in no matter the difference in their classes. The prince was almost certain of that. Goten was the faithful sort, he could tell that instinctively, but as long as Goten didn’t take <i>them</i> seriously, this was not going to work.
He had to make certain that Goten didn’t accept anyone's attention but his, to do something which would rivet Goten’s interest only on him, at least until they met again. The problem was…how?
“I’ll find you,” the prince said, leaning closer to Goten. “After all this mess is over. I’m really serious about y-”
“What?” Goten shouted at him, pointing at his ears to show he hadn’t understood anything.
The prince flushed red in embarrassment. He grabbed Goten by the front of his uniform and shoved the startled man against the space pod. “I said I’ll find you, you idiot!” he shouted before smashing their lips together.
Goten’s head thumped against the metal, but his yelp was short-lived when he felt the prince’s lips on his. They were firm and demanding and there was a wet flick of a tongue and Goten could think of nothing else except for letting it in. He was somehow stunned and not stunned at the same time, his body stiff, his eyes wide, staring over the prince’s shoulder at a worker who was staring back at them. He obviously knew who h-
“Goten, stop thinking! Just stop thinking shit!” the prince growled out, raising his head. His hand grabbed the back of the third-class’s head firmly, his fingers sliding into his hair to seize it. Forcefully, he tugged Goten’s head upwards to cover his mouth with his for a second time.
Goten opened his mouth without any hesitation, but it took him a few seconds to start answering the kiss. Then he stopped again as, in reaction to him answering, the prince had snarled into his mouth possessively, gripping at his hair even more tightly. It had been an approval, though, and Goten closed his eyes again, allowing himself to relax into the kiss and embrace. He inhaled the familiar scents that had enveloped him: a faint sheen of sweat, clothing, and something which was similar to tranquil boredom. There was something new in that mixture as well – something primal, excited, possessive.
Goten had felt the hand sliding down his waist and over his thigh, but he was still unprepared for the prince grabbing a handful of his ass. With a gasp into the prince’s mouth, he jolted forward and his eyes shot open, the suitcase dropping onto the floor as he let go of it. The clatter of the suitcase was swallowed by the sound of the roaring engines and it didn’t seem that anyone noticed it at all. The hand boldly kneading his rump became the center of Goten’s world and he moaned softly, his eyes sliding shut again.
When one of Goten’s arms wrapped around the prince’s shoulders and his palm pressed against his nape, the prince felt as if he had already won the entire war. He grew excited when he felt the second one tentatively sliding down to his waist. It perched there for a few seconds, then it got even bolder and slid around to the small of his back to press their bodies as close as possible. He could feel Goten harden against his thigh and this made him grind against the younger male.
The kiss turned searing and fierce, and was permeated with frustration from the knowledge that this was as far as they were going to get. Goten broke the kiss by shakily turning his head away, then he moaned at the way the prince’s mouth slid over the column of his neck, hot puffs of air making his skin tingle. He bucked his hips against the prince’s for friction.
The hand on the back of Goten’s head ruffled through his hair, then gripped it, and turned the third-class’s head so that now the two men were facing each other. The prince’s tongue darted out to trail along Goten’s lower lip, then he let go of Goten, leaning away. Goten held onto him for a second, then also let go.
The third-class leaned against the space pod as he felt his legs were going to buckle under him. He wiped at his saliva glistening lips absentmindedly.
The prince was watching him, then chuckled softly when Goten suddenly decided that it was time to blush and reddened up to the roots of his hair. The prince leaned in to steal another quick kiss, then moved back again.
“Don’t get killed!” he shouted.
“You t-too,” Goten stuttered out dumbly, staring at him, unable to answer anything else. The words came out in a whisper and he straightened, intending to repeat them more loudly, but the prince nodded, indicating that he had understood. He turned to go.
Silently, still leaning against the space pod, Goten watched him go until his back disappeared behind one of the spaceships. The third-class stared at the spaceship for some time, then lowered his head. He picked up his suitcase off the ground and straightened. His eyes met the intrigued gaze of the same worker who had been staring at him and the prince previously. Bravely, Goten withstood the gaze for two whole seconds, then flushed brilliant red one more time and, holding the suitcase in front of his unruly arousal, scurried off towards KIF 693.
The workers who had been working on the spaceship’s front spire had gone away. The third-class ran to the lowered trapdoor and then the whole way up along it until he was inside the ship. He found himself in a large area with a runway. Space pods lined the metallic walls while several small scouting ships, and even a few air fighters, took up most of the space.
Goten rushed onwards where he found a door connecting the runway to the rest of the spaceship. There was a card lock on the door. The door was closed and the light around the lock was burning red. The third-class stared at it for a few seconds. The only thing he had to offer to the keyhole was his credit card. Tentatively, Goten reached out for the buttons under the keyhole but, before he could touch any of them, the light around the keyhole flared green and the door opened. Instinctively, Goten saluted the officer’s uniform that floated through it.
“Sir!”
“Ugh.” Startled, the man turned to look at Goten. “Who are you?”
Goten, who meanwhile had enough time to decipher the stripes on the officer’s shoulders, gave him the most loyal look he could muster. “I’m Goten Bardock, Captain. I think I’m the newest addition to your crew.”
For a moment, the captain still seemed uncomprehending, then his face acquired a painful expression. “Ah right, that kid from Hataro Officer Training School.”
Goten realized that the man had hoped he would not show up. Oh joy.
Still saluting, the third-class turned to the second man who had just appeared in the doorway. “Sir!”
“You are five minutes late!” the man notified him angrily.
“Yes, sir, I’m sorry, sir!”
The second man had the same exact amount of stripes on his shoulders, but wore a slightly different uniform and Goten identified him as a backup captain.
“Ah, I see you are already excited at the thought of blasting off into space,” the backup captain said, indicating towards Goten’s suitcase, which was covering the slight bulge in Goten’s trousers. “First time, isn’t it?”
Goten wondered if there was a limit to how many times a day one could go as red as a boiled crayfish. There was probably none. “Err…” he stuttered out, utterly mortified. “Yes, sir. One could say that.”
Behind Goten, on the runway, the navigator and the communications specialist met each other’s eyes and grinned. This was going to be fun.
<center>ooOoOoOoo</center>
Up on the thin metallic grate, the prince watched the ceiling slide open. An alarm sounded to warn everyone about a spaceship taking off. The prince leaned on the rail separating him from the two-hundred-meter-deep abyss and looked down at Goten’s ship.
Goten was going to be fine. He had checked the destination data, the crew members, and even read a few reports from their earlier patrols. He had also spotted a familiar surname amongst the crew and made sure to call him and ask to keep an eye on Goten. Certainly, the third-class was not going to like that. If he ever figured it out.
Without doubt, Goten was able to stand up for himself. In some unfathomable way, he also compelled others to stand up for him, thus there was hardly any danger of him not getting along with the crew. He might make a few enemies, but it was not easy to intimidate the third-class. And, now, with the power Goten possessed, it was probably also impossible.
He wished Goten would feel that way about them.
Underneath, the spaceship started rising slowly. The prince’s eyes followed it up until the ceiling.
His fingers squeezed the railing. Damn. He should have just fucked Goten in that room. He should have just cornered the third-class and fucked his brains out. His bodyguards had been behind the door, right, but who cared what they thought? Anyway, they could have used the bathroom, and…
The spaceship blasted off into the sky and the prince rolled his eyes at himself. Really, to get all hot and bothered from just a kiss. Goten wasn’t even that good at kissing. The prince had to admit, though, that exact fact could be one of the things that made him hot and bothered.
The ceiling started sliding closed and the alarm was turned off. The prince let go of the railing and moved away to lean his back against the wall. He was going to have and wait a minute or two before leaving the earsplitting hangar to rejoin his bodyguards; his body was still tingling.
<center>ooOoOoOoo</center>
The soft but insistent beeping stopped and a green lamp lit up above the door. However, instead of unfastening the belts, Goten sat in his chair, waiting for his head to stop spinning and his stomach to settle down. In a few minutes, carefully, he unfastened the belts and stood up. He had had no idea that breaking through the atmosphere could be so…jolting.
He looked around his cubical cabin. It wasn’t big, about fifteen square meters, but after having shared a similar-sized room with other three people for half a year, this was a palace. And he was the king. His palace had two bunks which were obviously welded to the metallic floor. Apparently, the cabin had been designed for two, but currently there weren’t a lot of people on board, so he was allowed the luxury of living in here alone.
Goten walked over and sniffed at the bedding on the bed which was farthest from the door. It smelled of something old and musty, just like the cabin air in general. Goten pressed on the mattress with his hand a few times and then lay down. Surprisingly, it was soft and somewhat bouncy.
The third-class sat up and looked at the large wardrobe, which was actually a metallic cabinet hammered halfway into a wall. There was a lock on it, but to lock it would have required the unanimous effort of both a welder and a locksmith. It was a miracle how the doors stayed closed as they were nearly a perfect example of the repetitive “foot meets door” accidents. They were so bent out of shape that Goten could perfectly see what was inside in cabinet.
Goten walked over to the wardrobe and, using some muscle, peeled one of the doors open to inspect the dark shapes inside up close. There was an old T-shirt, a boot, a slice of pizza, and two empty beer bottles.
Some cleaning was in order.
Goten tried to close the door. After five unsuccessful attempts where the door just kept opening with a defiant creak, he tried what the former residents knew to work – kicked them. They stayed closed.
There was also a large cupboard in the cabin. When Goten opened it, he found that it was cluttered with old dirty clothing, grimy tin dishes, flatware, and magazines. Mostly it was pornography, but there were also quite a few scientific magazines about spaceships. The rest of them were filled with some mysterious codes and baffling programming languages in which Goten had absolutely no interest. There was also a varicolored ladle and a small plush in the cupboard that were probably souvenirs. Goten had no explanation as to why they would be there otherwise. The third-class looked at it the plush more closely. It was probably a penguin, if he was any judge about foreign species. Goten thought that the ladle might someday make do as a makeshift weapon, and as for the penguin…
There was a table of sorts. Some five or ten years ago, it must have stood in the middle of the cabin where Goten could still see some metal protruding from the floor. Someone must have wanted to make more space, because now the table top was welded onto the wall. There was an old terminal on one side of the table. It was secured to the table, a wide insulating tape wrapped around both objects a few times to hold them together. Wires and cables weaved out of the terminal’s back and to the ground, slithering along a wall and then scaling up to disappear into a hole above the door. The other side of the table must have served as a dinner-table as it was covered in blackened scraps.
There were also three chairs with metallic legs. All of them were firmly welded into the floor. One chair was at one end of the table, in front of the terminal, another at the “dining-part” of the table. The third chair was beside the bed Goten had picked for sleeping. All of them had seatbelts, even the one at the terminal.
A bright lamp shone from the ceiling, but there was also a small desk lamp next to the terminal. The bulb exploded when Goten switched the lamp on and he was just in time to move his hand away. Contemplatively, he looked at the glass shards on the floor for a few seconds, then shrugged and tried to turn on the terminal; if he was going to create havoc, it should be done thoroughly.
After several unsuccessful tries of pressing the red button, Goten came to the conclusion that it was either dead or he was doing something wrong. He didn’t have much time to figure out which one it was as suddenly a loud screech echoed in the room. Goten’s eyes concentrated on the electronic clock above the door which obviously had also a microphone installed.
“Is this thing on?”
“Yes, Captain.”
“This is your captain speaking. Everyone come to the briefing room. Out.”
The microphone screeched again, then silence followed. Goten wondered where the briefing room was. After he had met the captain and a few others, he had been quickly ushered into this cabin and told to belt his ass to one of the chairs. Very likely, this was the time he was going to be introduced to the rest of the crew. The third-class looked at his uniform. It was somewhat crumpled, but spotless. He looked around for a mirror, but it didn’t seem that the previous cabin’s owner had ever suffered from narcissism.
Determined to leave a good first impression, Goten headed out. His determination started wavering when, three minutes later, he was still walking a hallway and had no idea if he was heading in the right direction. Finally, he heard someone’s running feet from behind and stopped to wait for the runner to catch up with him.
“Who are you?”
This was already the third time Goten was asked that question while on board. Goten smiled politely at a bulky second-class who was wearing the standard blue uniform issued on all spaceships. Goten found him awfully young, a bit over twenty in fact.
“I’m a flight officer,” the man said when Goten’s eyes glued to his shoulder insignia but couldn't seem to figure out his rank.
“Sir!” Goten saluted with a belated realization that, here, he was probably the only newbie amongst seasoned officers. “I’m Goten Bardock, the newest addition to the crew.”
The flight officer gave him a blank look, then shrugged. “First time I heard about it. You don’t need to salute me, Goten. You will be under direct orders of our captain and master sergeant. Otherwise, we are more or less… We are late for the briefing,” he said suddenly, as if remembering that only now.
Goten followed him along the corridor. “Why is there no one walking around? I thought I’d just follow someone to the briefing room.”
“That… They must have already been in the briefing room before the announcement. News travels fast. All of them must already be waiting for you. It’s kind of… I think it’s been five years since someone new came. They are excited.”
The flight officer noticed Goten’s questioning look. “I was at a party yesterday, so I have been sleeping all day today, and the gossip hasn’t reached me,” he explained. “Ah, right,” he said before using his keycard to open the door to the briefing hall. “Try to be careful around Reyn. He’s been in a foul mood recently.”
The door slid open and Goten stepped into the briefing room. The door was at one end of the room, while a briefing screen was on the opposite side. The rows of chairs were turned towards the screen and Goten could only see the backs of his fellow crew members. At first glance, there seemed to be about twenty of them. The rows of chairs were split in the middle to make a narrow passage and Goten, with the flight officer, started walking along it towards the small stage where the captain was standing.
“Adriel, get your dirty boots off that chair or I’ll have you scrubbing the toilets for half a year.”
“Yes, Captain! Sorry, Captain!”
“Rokunda,” the captain growled. “What, in the world, do you have there?”
“Ish mishin arshin mushin.”
The captain rolled his eyes. “Just great. Where did you get it from?”
“Ish morsh crish nushn.”
“They are going to catch you one day,” the captain warned.
“Nahsh, sish.”
Goten looked over at the hunched over creature in the last row that the captain was talking to. For a moment, he wondered if it was a Saiyan. However, it was. Spiky, tangled, and matted hair stood in all directions. From behind, Goten couldn’t see his face, but he realized he couldn’t see it even when he was passing the Saiyan. What he could see was the crumpled uniform which was a size too large. Actually, the man seemed tiny. There was some kind of device in his hands.
“Rokunda, you smell again,” a large man sitting next to the tiny Saiyan complained. “Take a shower, will you?”
“Ish shimsh himsh.”
“Rokunda, seriously, my cat smells better than you. And I never wash him. You probably also have more fleas than him.”
“Faksh yush.”
Goten could not understand the man’s words, but the finger was clearly heard in that last sentence.
“That’s our programmer,” the flight officer introduced Rokunda.
“Ah. Right. I should have known.”
The flight officer grinned at him. “Now, now, not all of them are as crazy as this one gets.”
Goten chuckled. “Oh, I never said that.” Well, Ranvera was pretty normal after all. He just watched way too much porn.
The captain noticed them approaching. “Ah, you are here …errr…”
“It’s <i>Goten Bardock</i>, Captain,” Goten reminded him.
“Ah yes, Goten,” the captain brightened. He motioned for Goten. “Come up here.”
“Ah! It’s you!”
From the stage, Goten turned around to look at the man who had exclaimed and was now pointing at him with his index finger. “Oh, it’s you, Doctor,” he said, surprised, recognizing the same doctor who had tended to the tanks in the intensive care unit. “What are you doing here?”
“I think I should be the one to ask you that. What a third-” The doctor fell silent at the worried look on Goten’s face. “…a third-rate savar like you is doing on this ship?” he finished.
“You think they’d give us anything better?” someone laughed. “It’s just a patrolling ship!”
Relieved that his secret was safe, Goten shrugged. “I don’t really know, Doctor. I just received the orders.”
“I’d prefer a few packs of salami to this newbie,” someone declared.
“Yeah!”
“A hot chick!”
“Well, he’s not too bad either.”
“Yeah.”
“No way.”
“No boobs.”
“Luksh fainsh ash itch ish.”
“Idiots.”
“Quit the chitchat this instance!” the captain snapped at the audience. He turned to Goten after the silence had settled among the spectators. “Now let’s get you introduced.” He cleared his throat. “This is Goten, the newest addition to our team. This was somewhat unexpected, bu-”
“No kidding! Like a blizzard in a desert!”
“Shut it, Adriel! One more word and I’ll make sure you get latrine duty for the rest of our patrol, just like Captain said!” the man sitting in the first row threatened without even turning his head to where the said Adriel sat. Goten had already seen Adriel before and recognized him as the navigator.
“Aw, man!” Adriel said, grinning widely. He winked at Goten, who stared back at him blankly. He couldn’t be certain, but it seemed as if this Adriel was flirting with him, had been flirting with him from the very first second he had set his foot onto the spaceship. This was going to be troublesome.
“As I was saying,” the captain continued, “Goten’s arrival was a little unexpected. But he’s a young bright man whose presence is a very welcome addition.” The captain’s eyes ruffled through the audience as if daring anyone to oppose to him. “He might not have finished his training yet, but Hataro Officer Training School is known for its high standards, so I am certain that some of us will also have something to learn from Goten.” The captain stepped back, motioning to Goten that it was his turn now.
Goten cleared his throat and smiled in the friendliest way possible. “Err… I’m new to this, but I promise, I’ll try to do my best to be a quick learner. Mmm... Nice to meet you,” he nodded, taking in the crew. Obviously, they were seasoned soldiers, but there were also men who looked and acted about the same age as him. However, sometimes it was hard to tell with Saiyans. To his surprise, Goten also spotted twins in one of the rows. Twins was a very rare occurrence in Saiyan society. Triplets hardly ever happened at all.
A hand shot up in the audience. Goten carefully regarded the young man sitting near the entrance to the briefing hall. “Yes?” he asked, his smile thinning. The man’s face looked a little bit too serious for an occasion like this.
“What exactly will you be doing here, Goten?”
Goten faltered. “Umm… Err? What did you say your name was?” he asked, trying to buy more time before he could think of something to say.
“Reyn. Reyn Dueri. I’m a flight officer.”
Goten turned to the flight officer who had showed him to the briefing room. The man shrugged. Goten concentrated back on Reyn. “I…”
“I think he’ll be just like Edesha,” Adriel laughed. “With no purpose at all!”
“Can it!” Edesha snorted at him from the other side of the briefing hall. “Let me remind you that I was the one to save your sorry ass from that teranus while you were running around panicking, tearing your hair out.”
“Yes, thank you for that. But do we need one more unspecialized soldier?” Adriel wondered.
“Yeah,” Reyn agreed, “we don’t. Besides, just look at him – he’s green.”
“That’s it, Adriel,” the captain said, “you are in for latrine duty.”
“Ah shit.”
“And you, Reyn,” the captain turned away from Adriel, “if you are unhappy about something, you are welcome to write a complaint letter to the appropriate authorities. I’m certain they will be happy to read it.”
It was silent in the audience.
“Alright,” the captain nodded. “Tamahi,” he turned to the doctor, “you know Goten from earlier, so you will be responsible for showing him around. Just show him what’s where and explain the common rules.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The captain clapped his hands. “That’s it. The meeting is over.”
There were a few exultant whoops and the crew started getting up, drifting towards the door.
“Err…”
The captain, who was about to climb off the stage, turned to look at Goten. The youngster offered him a tentative smile while trying to hide the lost look in his eyes. He also looked very sheepish.
“Yes?”
“I was wondering about our destination, Captain.”
The captain’s eyebrows rose. “Our destination? You mean you don’t know where we are headed to?”
“I have no idea, Captain,” Goten said honestly.
“Oh.” The captain came closer to Goten. “It’s the Renera section. We are patrolling the border between the Terran Republic and the Saiyan Empire.”
Goten stared at him. “Terran Republic? Earth?” he repeated, dumbstruck.
“Well, yes. Why?”
Goten wanted to ask what there was to patrol. They were allies with Earth. Well, certainly, there had to be control on coming and going ships, and recently pirate attacks had become more frequent, but really, Renera section? No sane Ice-jin would come close to it. Now Goten realized what the prince had meant when he said that everything was going to be alright and he didn’t need to worry. What in the world was there to worry about when he was being sent to the Renera section? Goten glared at the captain. If he ever found out that this was the prince’s doing, him being sent to that section, he was going to strangle the bastard.
“Why, in the world, are you looking at me like that?”
Goten took a hold of himself. “Oh, I’m sorry, Captain. I got lost in my thoughts.”
“Ah, I know!” Adriel’s cheerful voice beamed from behind the captain. “Goten would make a good space cadet!”
Goten looked at him over the captain’s shoulder. It seemed that the navigator hated him. Flirted with him, but hated him to the core. Goten wasn’t certain how this was possible, but it seemed it was.
“Adriel, go and clean the toilets.”
“Yes, Captain! Right away!”
“Don’t mind him,” said the doctor, climbing onto the stage while Adriel was scurrying out of the briefing hall. “He means no harm. He’s just excited about a new face.”
“Alright, so I’ll leave the two of you,” the captain said. “Don’t hesitate to ask if there’s something you need. Rokunda will prepare a keycard for you. You can pick it up in a few hours. And get the appropriate uniform from the master sergeant.”
“Yes, Captain.”
The doctor looked at Goten. “Well, I’ll show you around. Actually, there’s not much to see. <i>Starcut</i> isn’t a very large ship.”
“Ah, so its name is <i>Starcut</i>?”
The doctor cleared his throat slightly. “Yes,” he drawled carefully, which didn’t go unnoticed by Goten. He climbed off the stage and motioned for Goten to follow him. “We get up at six. Breakfast is at seven. Lunch at twelve, and dinner at six.”
“What do you actually do during the day?” Goten wondered, following the doctor among the chairs and to the door.
“Well, I tend to patients, if there are any. But mostly I clean my operation desk three times a day and count my scalpels five times.”
“Err, yes, I figured that might be the case.”
The doctor drew his keycard over the keyhole. The light around it turned green and the door slid open. “Well, some of us have much busier schedules. Adriel spends most of his time on the captain’s bridge. The technicians always have something to fix or to clean and the cooks are constantly busy.”
“Well, yes, certainly. I bel-” Goten started as an arm wrapped around his shoulders.
“Welcome to <i>Starcunt</i>!” Adriel grinned at Goten, whose first instinct was to elbow the navigator in the stomach. However, there weren’t any signs of aggression in the other male’s scent, thus Goten managed to keep himself from doing that. Then his brain caught up with Adriel’s words. Seeing Goten’s blank face, Adriel turned to the doctor. “Haven’t you told him?”
The doctor rolled his eyes. “I didn’t want to spoil your fun.”
“<i>Starc</i>…” Goten trailed off numbly.
Adriel patted a metallic wall. “Yeah, that’s how we call her.”
TBC