Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Barracks ❯ Pat 49 ( Chapter 49 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Thank you for your kind reviews :)

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.

Barracks

by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com), beta-read by quatreofdoom

Part 49

“Hey, you two!”

Goten started and opened his eyes. For a few seconds he just stared in front of him, not certain what he was seeing or what was going on.

“Hey! Wake up!”

Reyn grunted in his sleep, and Goten realized he had been staring at the flight officer’s back, at the blue jacket he was wearing. Goten raised his head to stare past the glowing field of the power wall. There was a Saiyan behind it. Goten blinked at few times to completely shake off the remnants of his dream. It was the same elite Saiyan who had just observed him and his companions fight it out in the toilets.

Yawning, Goten put his head back onto the pillow. “What do you want?”

“You’re free to go. Wake your man up and get the hell out of here.”

Goten rubbed at his face. “Ugh.” He felt tired and sleepy. The dream was already siphoning out of his mind, but he still found it hard to recreate the reality around him. “What do you mean we’re free to go?”

“Just what I said. Get up and go back to your ship. I hear Kareli is leaving in two hours.”

Goten elbowed Reyn in the back, making the other man grunt in pain. “What the hell?” he mumbled, turning to face Goten.

“He says we are free to go.”

Reyn’s sleepy eyes blinked wide open. “Who says?”

Goten stretched his arm out to point at the power wall. “Him.”

Reyn turned around and sat up. It took him a few seconds to remember where he had seen the elite Saiyan. “So we are free to go?”

The elite nodded. He turned to look behind him at the warden, who had approached him.

“This is an obvious trap,” Goten said, not even bothering to conceal from the elite that he knew. He turned on his scouter's translating device so that he could understand what the elite and the Ardarian were talking about.

“Well, of course,” Reyn mumbled. “But aren’t you interested in how big a trap it is?”

“Not the least bit. I’d rather sleep some more.”

“It’s not a trap,” the elite said. He pulled out a few documents from under his armor plate. “Here, the documents proving your release.”

“Approved and signed,” the warden confirmed, entering the key code into the electronic lock. “There are no charges against you and the other side has agreed to pay for the damage.”

“Incredible,” Goten chuckled. “We’re on a roll! Can I also ask for new boots, since you’re so generous?”

“Your brother was never so loudmouthed,” the elite said with a snort. He entered the cell when the green field surrounding it disappeared.

Goten sat up so fast that he nearly pushed Reyn out of the bunk. “What do you know about my brother?”

“Quite a lot, considering we’d been lovers for two years right until he died.” He motioned for Goten to stand up. “I don’t particularly care for your friend,” he said, pointing at Reyn, “but I think I owe it to Gohan to get you out of here.”

From his bunk, Goten stared up at the elite, utterly gobsmacked. He had not been aware of Gohan ever mentioning a lover. In fact, he had been certain that he had never had a lover.

“You and…” Goten trailed off, pointing at the elite with his finger. The man was an elite in every aspect. He couldn’t quite grasp it. At that moment, something short-circuited in his brain, the dream suddenly vividly warping all his senses. Goten tried to shake it off in an attempt to fully absorb the new information, but it didn’t work. Instead, it made it even worse, making him feel as if there was an overload in his brain.

“Yeah, me and him. Now move your ass.”

Goten’s eyes concentrated on Reyn’s when the other third-class gently shook him by his shoulders. “You okay?”

“I’m not okay!” Goten snapped at him. “This, this…” he gasped out, pointing at the elite. “This… This!”

“Draman Hedara,” the elite introduced himself. He turned to Reyn. “Can you make him move?”

The flight officer touched the side of Goten’s head, but the younger male hardly reacted to him. His unfocused eyes kept blinking in confusion. He had already seen Goten respond like this.

“I think he’s in shock.”

“Well, I can see that much.”

“Is there a reason to hurry?” Reyn asked.

“Not really, but my companions might change their minds in my absence. It was a pain in the ass to talk them into withdrawing their charges. It’s best you disappear from here as fast as possible.”

“I see.” Reyn turned to Goten. “Listen, we need to get out of here.” He stumbled when the younger male pushed him aside. He was just in time to wedge himself between Goten and Draman before the other third-class could grab the elite.

“You freakin’ liar!” Goten hissed at Draman from above Reyn’s shoulder.

The elite raised his hands and stepped back. “I don’t care what you believe. I don’t think we’ll ever see each other again. Just get the hell out of here.”

Goten growled in fury and the elite took one more step back. “You are his kind too, right?” he asked Reyn, just in case Goten itched to get his hands on him. He had seen in the toilets what the kid was capable of and the prospect of broken bones was not something he was looking forward to.

“Yeah, but I won’t be able to hold him down if this gets serious.”

The elite gave him an uncomprehending look, but Reyn didn’t feel like explaining. Goten’s body felt hot against his, and he was still growling, his tail lashing out behind him. Goten didn’t reek of violence, but rather of grief and confusion. He didn’t quite understand why Goten was reacting to Draman like this. The man was an elite and Goten had real issues with elites, but was this really such a big deal considering Draman had known that Gohan had been a part of the project? Most Saiyans tended to take partners of similar strength and power. It wasn’t normal between a third-class and an elite, but that was what had probably happened between Gohan and Draman as well.

“He was just fourteen at the time!” Goten spat.

So this was where part of the problem lay. Reyn groaned inwardly.

“Fifteen,” Draman corrected Goten. “Well, barely. Listen, you’d better not start yapping about it. He came to me willingly.”

Reyn turned his head to give the elite an incredulous look. “I think you do want him to rearrange your face…”

Draman frowned at the flight officer. “It’s not as if I want to dig all of this up again. It just happened.”

Reyn rolled his eyes. Everything just happened. Everything but a third-class and an elite. Reyn tugged at Goten’s arms and was both relieved and surprised when the younger male allowed himself to be led.

“How did he die?”

Goten’s voice now was just above a whisper, and Reyn gritted his teeth. “Oh, c’mon,” he muttered in disbelief, wiping at Goten’s suddenly wet cheeks. “What are you doing?” There was something uncanny about Goten’s tears.

“An accident during training.”

“Liar,” Goten growled. He tried to push Reyn away, but the older man just tightened his grip on him and continued to lead him out of the cell.

“Did he… Did he blow himself up?” Goten asked in a moment.

“Yeah.”

Goten was silent while they passed the rest of the cells and until they reached the corridor leading out of the detention center. The three elites were standing close to the exit. Reyn’s step faltered but Draman nudged him forward.

“It’s alright, I told them to wait here. We are leaving for Earth in a few minutes.”

“Sir,” the three elites saluted when Draman came closer.

“At ease. Follow me,” Draman said, walking past them to the door. Just before opening it, he stopped and turned back to look at a still dazed Goten. “It’s not really how I imagined our meeting. Not that I ever though we’d meet. Still, for all that it's worth – I’m sorry for failing to protect him,” he said, bowing his head.

“So someone did kill him!”

The elite raised his head. There was a twitch on his lips. “I promised him not to involve you. It’s best you just forget it.”

“Now, listen here,” Reyn snapped at Draman, “how do you…”

“You bastard! Y- Ghah!”

Goten bounced sideways when the elite nearest to him struck him in the face. The third-class’s head conked against the wall so hard that stars exploded in his vision. The next thing the elite knew, Reyn was bearing down on him, then everything went dark.

Panting in rage, Reyn stared at Draman, who had just kicked one of his companions right through the wall and into the office behind it. Reyn let the third elite fall down to the ground with both of his arms broken. Draman wasn’t a threat and the flight officer quickly bent down to check on Goten. He heard a soft beep, then Draman called for an ambulance. Soon people would start gathering.

Goten tried to sit up, but everything was spinning. Then he felt someone touching him, but the touch was careful, making him feel at ease.

“How is he?” Draman asked.

“Bleeding a little,” Reyn said, after having checked the bump on Goten’s head. “Doesn’t seem like anything serious though. It’s probably more shock than anything.”

“Yeah, Gohan did tell me about that strange fixation of his.”

Reyn raised his head to look at the elite. “Fixation?”

“I’m not certain, but from what Gohan told me, it seems that Goten here has quite a bit of a brother complex.”

“But isn’t it normal? He told me that he was mostly raised by his brother.”

The elite shrugged. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“You know, he will come after you,” Reyn said, cradling Goten’s head so that now it was on his lap. He thought about moving the other third-class to where he could lay him down. “You can’t just drop a bomb like that and leave.”

The elite sighed. “I guess not.” He tapped at the side of his scouter. “Shaii Hedara speaking. Delay our flight for two hours. Contact the Terran forces on Kalmera Base. No, nothing serious. Roland, Medrun, and Orein got into a brawl with the locals. As per usual. Out.”

“A shaii?” Reyn muttered, amazed. “Really, what were you doing with a fifteen year old third-class?”

Draman shot him a look. “The same freakin’ thing you’re doing with him,” he said, motioning with his head at Goten. “You think a few years make that much of a difference?”

Reyn laughed. “Don’t get all defensive on me. I don’t give a damn about your relationship with Gohan.”

The leather sofa creaked when Goten shifted, and Reyn turned to look at him. The other third-class was still asleep, his face was pale, but he looked somewhat better than before. An Ardarian doctor had taken a look at him but, except for saying that the wound on his head was just a scratch, couldn’t tell much. He suggested sending Goten to the medical center where he could rest, but Reyn had to refuse the offer. Instead, he chose one of the empty offices with a sofa. Oddly enough, Goten drifted to sleep as soon as his body was laid out in a horizontal position.

Reyn wished the other third-class would finally wake up. It had hardly been an hour since Goten fell asleep, but Kareli was leaving in about an hour. The flight officer took a look at Draman, who was sitting at the other end of the office and typing away on one of the terminals he had found. He was probably issuing orders to his men onboard. Reyn gave him a closer look. He hadn’t noticed before, but something about Draman indicated that the man was much older than him. Hell, he was probably twice as old as he and Goten put together. It was not really possible to tell his age from his face – he looked about thirty, with a wide forehead and big dark eyes. His thin lips and small nose looked somewhat unusual for such a broad face. Draman’s long hair reached his waist, but wasn’t as spiky and bushy as most Saiyans’. Instead, it was rather thick and wavy. The man was not someone Reyn would call handsome, but he had a certain appeal as well.

Draman sent the message he had been typing for the last five minutes and logged out. With his chair, he swiveled around to look at the two other Saiyans in the room. Reyn was sitting next to the sleeping Goten at the end of the sofa, his fingers threading through the younger man’s spiky hair absently, his brooding gaze set on the opposite wall. Draman wondered if Reyn was aware of what he was doing.

“How long have you been together?”

Reyn turned his head to face him. “Mmm? Oh. Not for long. Why?”

“Just asking.” Draman noticed that Reyn became aware that he was playing with Goten’s hair. His cheeks tinged with light color and, awkwardly, he removed his hand. Draman chuckled. “That’s sweet.”

“Fuck you,” Reyn muttered, embarrassed. “Why did you tell him about his brother? Didn’t you promise you wouldn’t?”

“That’s so, but… It’s not really fair that he doesn’t know, is it?”

“I guess. So what happened?”

“I will tell that once he comes around.”

Reyn leaned back into the sofa. He doubted Goten was going to wake up for that on his own. He would either have to wake him up or just carry him to the shuttle right before their flight. He had contacted Starcut and told them the situation right after the doctor had taken a look at Goten. The captain hadn’t said much, but Reyn could tell that he was worried.

“He’s rather different than I imagined,” Draman said after a minute of silence. “Gohan was much more… Hmm… Mature? Serious?”

Reyn nearly laughed out loud. “We are talking about a fifteen-year-old here, right?” he wondered with a snigger.

Draman rolled his eyes. “You know, when he died, he was only two years younger than Goten is now.”

The flight officer thought for a moment, then shrugged. He really didn’t care about Draman’s relationship with Goten’s brother, and he cared what Draman thought about his and Goten’s relationship even less.

“He’s got a sharp tongue, doesn’t he?”

Reyn shrugged again. “Sometimes. He’s pretty docile most of the time.”

“Is he? He didn’t look it.”

“You wouldn’t look it either if four elites threatened to beat the crap out of you and then you got locked up in a cell and then suddenly your dead brother’s lover appeared claiming your brother was killed. Did I mention that the lover is an elite?”

Draman chuckled. “And you’re pretty protective of him, aren’t you?”

“Is that so surprising? Maybe Gohan wouldn’t have died if you had been as well?”

Draman’s eyes narrowed at the flight officer, but he stayed quiet. That had been a low blow, but it showed that Reyn had lost his patience with his comments. He would never allow a mere third-class to speak to him like that, but the problem with Gohan’s kind was that the intimidation always worked the other way around. The power they possessed… Actually, until now, besides Gohan, he had only met one other third-class involved in the project. Every meeting showed that they were dangerous. And, a few hours ago, Goten proved that by beating up three elites singlehandedly. He had not even broken a sweat.

“I don’t think he will wake up,” Draman said in a few more minutes.

Reyn looked at Goten’s still form next to him. “He won’t,” he agreed. Shifting sideways, he shook Goten by his shoulders.

“It’s probably best he rested,” Draman said.

“Well, sure, but once he wakes up, he will be pissed I let him sleep.” Hoping that it wasn’t one of those long-term sleeps Goten sometimes fell into, Reyn slapped the other third-class on his face. “Hey! Goten, wake up.” He had to smack Goten a few more times before the other third-class started stirring.

Goten’s bleary eyes set on Reyn, a spark of recognition appeared in them, then they closed again. The flight officer shook the younger male a few more times to completely rouse him. Goten sat up, leaning into the back of the sofa heavily. He was still out of it, looking around the office, confusion evident in his eyes. They widened at the sight of the elite Saiyan at one of the desks. He rubbed his face with his hands, then lowered them to his lap.

“Draman, was it?” he muttered. “Was it you who taught Gohan sword fight?” he asked when the elite nodded.

Both Reyn and Draman gave him surprised looks. Was that really what Goten wanted to ask?

“Umm… No,” Draman denied. “I was never interested in swords. In fact, it was my friend who noticed the talent in your brother and took up training him; he was a lecturer at both Yasan and Liutek Schools. He constantly talked about this awesome student of his and, naturally, I went to check him out. Needless to say that I was impressed. We sparred that time and… Well, it was how it all started.”

“And how did he die?” Goten asked. He shook his head when Draman opened his mouth. “The truth, please. I can’t stomach any more lies right now.”

The elite was silent for a moment, then let out a soft sigh. “I don’t think I need to say that there were many who were against our relationship. We tried to be discreet, but people have eyes; you can’t really hide it. First, there were threats. When that didn’t work, a few of them cornered Gohan in the showers. Gohan beat the crap out of them.” He gave Goten a regretful smile. “It was calm for some time and we thought it was over. They got him during full moon training when he had a ki wristband on.”

“I see…” Goten felt somehow detached. Something in his head still wasn’t working properly. He rubbed at his eyes, trying to concentrate. The thing that was on his mind now was that he had to get to Bruminan Station. He stared at the elite thoughtfully. It suddenly came to him that he was in an identical situation to the one his brother had been in. Only that his was worse, much worse – his elite was the damn prince of the whole Saiyan nation.

“Uhh…” Draman drawled when Goten started giggling mindlessly. “Does he do that a lot?” he asked Reyn worriedly.

“Yeah,” the flight officer said with a nod, “every time someone says his brother was killed because of some selfish elite asshole.”

Instead of the expected anger, Reyn saw guilt appear on Draman’s face. “Yeah,” he said with an uneasy sigh, “I often wish I had never come to see him train that time.” He fell silent and started fidgeting with his fingers. “We…we practically broke up after that attack on him in the showers. He was very stubborn, though. I wish I had just left back then. But you see…” Draman’s voice broke and he tapped his fingers on the desk awkwardly. “You see,” he continued after clearing his throat, “I was worried to leave since I had no idea what they would think of next. I had mistakenly presumed my presence would… Oh, hell. Doesn’t really matter now.”

Goten watched him quietly, then asked the question that had been bothering him for a very long time: “Is he really dead?”

Draman looked surprised. “Why are you asking that? Of course he is. You’ve seen the body, haven’t you?”

Unconsciously, Goten tugged at the upper button of his uniform. “The problem is that I don’t remember. I remember opening the box, but… All I remember is the stench. I was never able to remember if I had seen the face. Sometimes I think it was someone else.”

Draman shook his head. Denial was perfectly familiar to him, but denying things didn’t change the facts. “He’s dead, Goten,” he said. He lifted his arms. “I held his dead body in these arms.” He lowered his hands back to his lap. “If you still weren’t certain, you can put your mind at ease.”

Goten stared at the elite for a few moments, then turned away to look out the window. It was dark already. Absently, he wondered what time it was. He was somehow devoid of emotion. In truth, he had always known that Gohan was dead. There was nothing shocking or soothing about the final fact of his death.

Maybe he should feel angry with Draman, just like he sometimes felt angry with the prince, but he didn’t feel either anger or hate. What Draman was talking about…it was so very familiar. His brother had loved this man.

“Yeah,” Goten said softly, “it doesn’t really matter now. What did you do to those who killed him?”

“I don’t really know who they were exactly. I found a few I thought were responsible that same day, but the problem was that everyone else believed Gohan had deserved it. I got as far as rearranging their faces, but it was practically me against the entire school community. I was transferred the very next morning.” He gave a bitter laugh. “I was also promoted a few weeks later.”

“Figures,” Goten muttered. “So they are still walking around, unpunished?”

Draman shook his head. “No, they are dead. All of them. Probably even those who just stood and watched him die. I think it was your father who saw to that.”

Speechless, Goten stared at him. “How… Why do you think so?”

“He found me two days after Gohan’s death. He was pissed with me, of course. I was certain he would take my head off. But, except for questioning me about the circumstances of Gohan’s death, he…” Draman shrugged. “A few more days later, the people involved started dying like flies. I really don’t know if it was him, but I’ve always believed so.”

By now, the incredulous look on Goten’s face had grown into astonishment. Were they really talking about his father? The man who… Goten’s thought trailed off. Did he really know what kind of a man his father was? He had spent most of his time with Gohan, Kakarott mostly away on various missions. Then one thing became painfully clear to Goten – if something like this happened to him, his father would doubtlessly avenge him. There was no reason to think otherwise. Even if Kakarott rarely showed his affection, he knew his father loved him, just as he had loved Gohan. They were his children.

“Are you sure your father would approve of me?” Reyn asked in a concerned voice when he saw that Goten’s eyes suddenly became watery.

Covering his eyes with his palms, Goten chuckled. “You’d better not piss me off. Or power up anywhere near him at the same time. That would certainly ruin the family reunion.”

There was not really much else to say. Draman felt awkward. He had done what he had intended to do. He didn’t want to stay here longer than necessary. Meeting Goten had brought back all the memories, all the guilt and regret. Even after all these years, he tried not to think about it. There was nothing he could change.

Goten sat quietly, staring at his hands on his lap. What he felt was far from peace, though. It was finally over, but he wished he hadn't met Draman. It all was so clear and so messed up at the same time. And then he didn’t know if what Draman had said was the truth. He could be lying, although to what purpose was difficult to come up with.

And even that didn’t matter now. Nothing of that mattered now. His brother was dead, and he had an empire to save. Goten felt like laughing again, but got a grip on himself; he had no time for hysterics.

“Thank you for telling me,” Goten said finally. “You said you were in a hurry; if there’s nothing else left to say, you should probably go.” He didn’t blame Draman for what happened, but it was hard on him to see his face.

“How much time do we have till our shuttle takes off?” Goten asked Reyn when Draman left.

“About forty minutes.”

“Ah, shit,” Goten cursed, standing up quickly. His head started spinning and he had to grab at the backrest for support.

“Hey,” Reyn grunted, steadying him. “What are you doing?”

“There’s no time for questions,” Goten muttered, massaging his right temple with his fingers. “I can’t ask you to believe me, but I’ll be saving Prince Vegeta on Bruminan Station. My father will be there too. Are you with me?”

Reyn was staring at him, his eyes wide.

“I’ve just had the same dream about the explosion,” Goten explained in more detail. “I’ve also talked to my father – he insists I come as soon as possible.”

Reyn was still looking at him incredulously, then he chuckled and his face smoothed out. “Saving the prince? Should be fun. Count me in.”

“You’re fucked up in the head,” Goten muttered, freeing himself from the flight officer. He pushed himself off the sofa and trudged towards the terminal Draman had been using. It was still on, so that would save him some time trying to get it working.

Ranvera’s phone number was just where he had put it – in the left pocket of his trousers. Goten tossed it onto the desk in front of him and got into the seat. He clicked the common phone icon and started entering the number. Once he was done, he was asked to enter the number of his credit card.

Reyn had walked over to stand by his side and was now listening to the crackling noise and static while the call was being transferred to various stations. Finally, there was one more click and a series of demanding beeps started.

“Mrrhlo?”

Ranvera sounded as if he was still asleep. Goten frowned at the computer screen. What bad luck.

“It’s me – Goten.”

“Mhmh? Goten?” Now Ranvera’s voice was much livelier. “And I thought you didn’t want to have anything to do with me!”

“Rokunda never mentioned you, so I had no idea you tried to contact me. Anyway, that’s not important. I have a request. You are the only one who can help me, too.”

There was silence on the other end for some time, then he heard Ranvera sigh. “It’s serious, isn’t it? It always is with you.”

“You can get court-martialed for this.”

Ranvera choked. “I would expect nothing less from you...” he squeaked out after he had gotten a grip on himself.

“Will you do it?”

“Tell me what you need first.”

“I need to get to Bruminan Station in five or six days at the latest. In other words, today or tomorrow, I need to board a ship heading that way.”

Ranvera caught on quickly. “And you need permission for that.”

“No. I need an order telling me and Reyn Dueri to board one of the spaceships stationed on Meia Colony and an order for it to deliver us to Bruminan Station.”

Silence settled again.

“Shit, Goten. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?”

“Nothing. Yet. But, believe me, if I don’t get to Bruminan Station, the world, as you know it, will end.”

Ranvera burst out laughing. “That serious, is it?” His laughter died out quickly though. “Okay, I can do that, but the orders must come from somewhere higher up. Do you know anyone I can use?”

Goten hadn’t thought about this. Nobody would check at this stage – they would just board a ship but, if suspecting something, the crew might make a few phone calls.

“Uhh…” Goten grunted, rubbing his forehead fervently. “As much as I don’t want to do this… Make it seem as if he gave the orders.”

“He who?”

Goten closed his eyes in defeat. “Our former shaii.”

There was a pause again, then Ranvera cleared his throat. Goten could tell that he wanted to ask whether he was out of his freaking mind, but his friend decided to skip that. “You sure?”

“Yes. I have no other option. And, if worse comes to worst, he will confirm he gave those orders.” He would probably kill me later, though, Goten thought.

Goten could only guess what thoughts were whirling in Ranvera’s head now. He cringed.

“Then why not ask him directly if you’re so certain?”

The question was perfectly logical, but the idea seemed so absurd to Goten that he shook his head vehemently. “No, no, that’s impossible.”

“Alright,” Ranvera said after a moment. “I’ll check what ship I can put you on. You should receive the orders in half an hour. Be ready.”

“Thanks.”

Ranvera chuckled. “A simple thanks won’t cut it.”

“What would, then?”

“I’ll let you know later. Mmm…”

“What?”

“You aren’t alone in this mess, are you? Is that Reyn guy with you?”

Goten grinned. “Yeah, he’s standing right next to me. And I have you, too.”

“Always a flirt. Okay, then. Stay safe.”

“Wait.”

“Mm?”
“Can you do me one more favor?”

Ranvera muttered something unintelligible under his breath, which Goten could easily guess was something similar to ‘I can’t freaking believe this’. “Yeah, sure, shoot away. It probably can’t be any worse than what I am about to do anyway.”

Goten laughed softly. “I’d like to get my hands on my brother’s profile. The copy from National Security, that is.”

“Huh. I didn't know you have a brother.”

“Had. He’s dead. Gohan Bardock.”

“Umm… Okay. Where should I send it to? As far as I remember, you don’t have any account.”

Goten thought for a moment. “To Reyn Dueri’s email. It should be listed somewhere in the database. I’ll get it from there.”

“You seem to be pretty tight with this buddy. Do you trust him?”

Grinning, Goten stole a look at Reyn. “More or less. And don’t worry, as soon as I print it out, I’ll delete it.”

Ranvera chuckled. “It will take more than that to remove all traces, but I will take care of that.”

“Thanks. Really.”

Ranvera laughed. “Oh, I will get my thanks, don’t you worry, sweetheart.”

Goten chuckled. Reyn would probably be against anything Ranvera had in mind, but he wasn’t about to say that to Ranvera – he would be much more motivated if he believed he had a chance of getting into his pants. That was just how the universe worked.

“We should use this time to get our things from Starcut,” Goten said after he had ended the call. “I don’t know when we will be leaving, but we probably won’t go back to it. Or have you changed your mind?”

Reyn shook his head. “No, I haven’t. I’ll go and get them. You wait for the call.”

“Thanks.”

The flight officer turned to go. He didn’t buy the tale about some mysterious and influential shaii, but as long as National Security existed, it would prevent either him or Goten from being punished too severely. Goten’s slippery friend, however, had better watch out.

Goten sat in the chair in front of the terminal, waiting. All of this felt surreal. He was crawling into a shithole. He was already up to his ears in it. Well, it was not as if he could do anything about it. He wasn’t certain about taking Reyn with him, but he was glad the other man had agreed – he might need some serious manpower. It was dangerous for them to power up at the same time, but if they managed to pull it off back then, they would probably manage to do it again.

Fifteen minutes later, Goten started in his seat when beeping sounds started coming from the terminal; he had nearly fallen asleep. He pressed the icon to accept the call.

“Go ahead.”

“You’re not going to like this,” Ranvera got down to the point. “There are only two ships heading in the general direction of the Earth. It’s yours and another one called Mantanko. Mantanko is leaving in about half an hour and it is flying right past Bruminan Station. It would only take them about three to four hours to change their course to drop you off.”

“That’s perfect! And what’s the problem with it?”

“The problem is that there are ten elites on board.”

Goten’s eyes crossed at the thought of himself spending at least an hour in a closed space with ten elites. “Why so many?” he groaned.

“They are being deployed to Earth to defend it from a possible attack by the Ice-jins.”

Goten was silent for a moment. “It’s bad,” he said finally. “The war is really bad, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Ranvera said softly. “Reports of defeated fleets and overtaken colonies keep coming in daily. To tell you the truth, I don’t believe we stand a chance anymore.” He sighed. “Never mind that, nothing will change with us blabbering about it. So which ship do you choose?”

Goten took a moment to think. Of course he’d prefer Starcut, but the problem was that there were too many snitches – the orders would be checked and rechecked ten times before he even managed to do anything. The prince and National Security would find everything out in no time, and he would have some serious explaining to do.

“Get us onto Mantanko, and send a message to Starcut that we are deployed elsewhere. Don’t mention where, though.”

“Under the shaii’s orders again?”

Staring at the screen with unseeing eyes, the third-class nodded resignedly. “Yeah.” He found it both amusing and uncomfortable that Ranvera avoided mentioning the prince’s name.

“The ship is at Dock 5. You need to head there right away.”

“Alright. Thanks, really. For everything.”

“Well, I hope it works, whatever you want to do.”

Goten nodded at the screen. “Yeah, it’s best it does.”

ooOoOoOoo

It took Goten and Reyn a few more minutes than planned to find Mantanko. When they had finally found it, its engines were already roaring, everything and everyone cleared out of its path. They ran up the still lowered ramp, passed the launch area, and entered the code Ranvera had provided into the door. It slid open to let them into a spacious cargo hold area. Goten wasn’t familiar with the layout, so he relied on Reyn. No words were said the entire time they walked down the lengthy corridors. Reyn was probably nervous, maybe angry, and Goten didn’t know what to say.

“Let me do the talking, alright?” Reyn muttered just before entering the code into the door separating them from the cockpit.

Goten agreed with a nod. The flight officer had much more experience with various ships and their crews than him. He took Reyn’s backpack from him.

“I’ll just be your faithful delivery boy.”

“Don’t you start.”

“I’m just kidding.”

“It’s hard to tell with you sometimes.”

“Just like with you.”

“Let’s postpone this crap for later,” Reyn whispered when the door opened to reveal the captain’s bridge. Goten had warned him about the elites, but his eyes still went wide at the sight of six of them casually chatting in a circle next to the main screen. There were a few second-class officers sitting in their workplaces, getting ready for the take off.

“Good day, sirs,” Reyn greeted in an unusually cheerful voice. “I’m Reyn Dueri. This…”

“Goten?”

“Golden boy?”

Goten blinked at both Draman and Almanda, who were staring at him in utter astonishment. But of course, he should have expected to see them here. He couldn’t help grinning at them stupidly. “Hello. And here I am again.”

“What are you doing here?” Almanda asked. “I thought you were on Starcut?”

“Weeeell,” Goten drawled. “We received orders to join Mantanko.”

“That so?” one of the other four elites muttered, leaning down to one of the terminals. “Who the hell are they?” he asked, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “Huh,” he said suddenly. “Goten Bardock and Reyn Dueri, right? They have indeed been transferred here, just a couple of minutes ago. We have additional orders to help them get safely to Bruminan Station.”

Draman stared Goten up and down, then turned back to the elite at the terminal. He had hoped to the gods he would never meet Goten again. “How long will the detour take?”

“Only about four hours, sir,” the elite answered. “We can use a spare flight officer, but….” He raised his head to give Goten a confused look. “What’s your occupation?”

“Umm…” Goten saluted him flashing an incredibly bright smile. “I’m just an errand boy. Very good at being ordered around and peeling potatoes, sir!”

Almanda started chuckling both at Goten’s overly earnest face and at the uncertain elites staring at him. What Goten had said was a complete and utter lie, and some of her crewmates had already discovered that. She turned to her present companions. “He will be a terrific addition to us, believe me. I’ve known him for over half a year.”

“He has already done a terrific job on Roland, Medrun, and Orein,” Draman grunted out with a snicker. He gave Goten and Reyn a suspicious look, then just turned away. “See them to one of the empty cabins, Almanda. We’re taking off in two minutes. Belt your asses in.”

The exchange was as good as over and Goten’s attention went to the rest of the crew. The officers were in their workplaces, but their eyes were glued to him and Reyn. There was interest and surprise in them. They were taken aback by their sudden appearance. Reyn was a flight officer, but Goten was an entirely different matter. He was way too young to even be considered an officer of any sorts. Besides, he bore no officer stripes on his blue uniform.

Once the door closed behind their backs, Almanda threw her arm over Goten’s shoulders. “You’ve got some explaining to do, golden boy.”

“Don’t you get tired of calling me that? And stop touching me all the time – you’ll get me into trouble again.”

“What trouble? You’ll just beat the crap out of them as usual. Or is it your boyfriend who is troubled?” she asked, eying Reyn. The flight officer was ignoring her completely.

Goten sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me they were your crewmates?”

“Did it matter?”

Goten thought a moment. “No, not really.”

Almanda nodded. “Yup.”

She led them to their cabin. It was intended for four people and was quite spacious. Goten only glanced at it before putting his and Reyn’s luggage into the wardrobe at the end of the cabin. Then he sat down into one of the four chairs and belted himself to it. He exhaled loudly.

“Well, that went much better than I expected,” he said.

“You can say that again,” Almanda said, belting herself to another chair.

Reyn shrugged. He looked around in the cabin, then seated himself in the chair opposite to Goten’s. “You seem to have friends in high places,” he muttered softly.

Almanda sniggered. “You’ve got no idea.”

“Shut up,” Goten mumbled. It was best Reyn knew nothing of the prince.

The elite stole a look at Reyn. “Was this Ranvera who arranged everything?” she asked.

Goten nodded. “Yeah.”

“Why did you come here?”

Goten grinned. “I will have to kill you if I tell you.”

“No, Goten dearest, it’s me who will kill you if you don’t tell me.”

Goten shook his head, chuckling. “You won’t believe me anyway.”

“So you told Ranvera but not me,” Almanda said, frowning. “That’s pissing me off beyond belief!”

“Nah, I didn’t tell him either. I just told him I’m saving the world.”

“That’s a load of crap.”

It suddenly occurred to Goten that there was no way Ranvera would not read Gohan’s profile after downloading it. He groaned softly – now Ranvera would know. Once done with Gohan's profile, Ranvera would also take a look at his and his father’s. He looked at the terminal on the desk. It was one of the newest ones on the market, with those incredibly realistic projecting screens. Luxury. He wondered if Ranvera had already sent Gohan’s profile to Reyn’s account.

Goten’s further musings were cut off by the screech of the microphones above the door and the countdown from ten began. This was it. He was really doing this.

TBC