Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Variations of Fate ❯ Promise ( Chapter 7 )

Ponytail flying behind her, Savoya burst into the main slave room, "Bulma! Ava! Your mom's been in labor for a few hours! The baby's about to be born! Come on!"

Everything in the room had stopped at having the tough Saiyan guard talk in something other than her proper manner. Savoya glowered at the human, "Back to what you were doing! This does not concern you! Bulma! Ava!"

Bulma and Ava skidded to a halt in front of Savoya, gasping for air at having run so quickly. Bulma recovered first.

"Really?"

"Yes! Now follow me! I have something that needs to be discussed," she tapped in her code and placed her hand over the scanner. The trio rushed out, only to be stopped by the formidable, glowering Sukena.

"Where are you taking these slaves? You do not have permission! I have not received notification of this!"

"I am taking them to the medical deck, Sukena," Savoya stood up to her full height, several inches taller than the slighter warrior, flaunting something that neither Bulma nor Ava knew about, "As your superior officer, I command you step out of my way."

"When I am Queen --"

"'When you're Queen' my ass! The others are catching up to your 'superior' strength," with that, Savoya pushed Sukena into the paneling and flew to the lift with Bulma and Ava dangling from her arms. She dropped them softly to the floor and quickly tapped in her code; all three reacted instantly as the lift door opened. Savoya punched in her code once again, and they were off.

"Wow! That's the way to kick ass!" Bulma clapped her hands together, giggling.

Savoya grinned, "Bulma, I don't think your mom would approve of you saying that..."

As Bulma beamed innocently back at the Saiyan, Ava shifted from foot to foot, then cleared her throat, "How's mom? Is the baby gonna be a boy or a girl?"

"Your mom's fine! From some of the papers I saw...and what little I understand of science, I know what the sex of the child is. However, it is going to remain a surprise to you and Bulma."

"That sucks," Bulma muttered. Savoya glared at her.

"I have something of slightly more importance than your mother..."

"More important than my mother?" Bulma bristled, grinding her teeth.

Savoy ignored her, "We are nearing Vegetasei, and you will be going up for auction..."

"Auction?!"

"Yes auction ... now let me finish. I am trying to find a way to keep your mother with you, a sort of 'package deal.' Or I will keep you off auction and place you in a private auction for elite class only. It depends on if the package deal works or not."

Bulma frowned, "I don't like this. I'm not just something to be sold."

"By Vegetasei standards, you are," Savoya's eyebrows creased in thought as she frowned, "It is not fair, you are right, but you were captured and therefore we have the rights on you."

The lift stopped, and the trio tumbled out, the younger two off as quickly as their legs could carry them toward the slave medical ward.

"Awe, come on Savoya!"

She tapped in the codes slowly and smirked, "My, my aren't we impatient today."

The doors swished open and the two girls had little time to think about Savoya as they ran through the corridors looking for their mother. They found Mrs. Briefs, pushed the door open and rushed to her side.

"Mom!"

Sweat poured down Mrs. Brief's face as she looked at her daughters. They each took one side of the bed and offered their hands to her. She grasped their hands; Ava whimpered in pain as the grip tightened; Bulma ground her teeth, determined not to make a sound. Mrs. Briefs cried out.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Ava whispered between clenched teeth.

"Does she look fine?" Bulma hissed, jealousy dripping from her words; Ava flinched. Bulma had still not gotten over the feelings of being brushed aside.

"Bulma! I'm surprised --" Mrs. Briefs admonished before another contraction ripped through her body.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, looking down at her feet.

Ava sighed at what had become a familiar scene, and then she grimaced as Mrs. Briefs nearly crushed her hand again, "It'll be okay."

"Push mom ... come on ... push!" said Bulma. Mrs. Briefs did as she was instructed, squeezing the hands of her two young coaches. Bulma sucked in a breath of air between clenched teeth.

"I can see the head..." one of the nurses remarked.

"Get ... Bulma ... and A ...va ... out of here!" Mrs. Briefs shouted, her face contorted in pain. Ava left quickly, but Bulma stood her ground, tiny fists on her hips. Savoya lightly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't want to leave!" Bulma shouted back.

"I think it would be best if you left," the Saiyan female said cautiously. Mrs. Briefs nodded as best she could under the circumstances.

"But!"

"Bulma ..." Savoya picked up the screaming child and deposited her outside, closing the door behind them. One of the nurses drew down the blinds.

Finally the child was born...but there was one problem. Despite having light brown hair, pale blue eyes and the normal loud cry of a newborn human, his Saiyan heritage was obvious. A tail, as simian as the tails of the nurses, twitched rigidly in his agitation as he screamed for all the worth of his tiny lungs at being evicted from his home of nine long months.

"Mrs. Briefs, what do you wish for us to do with the tail..." one of the nurses asked, understanding all too well that Mrs. Briefs may not wish to be reminded of who, or rather what, the father of her child was. As a Saiyan, it was against her beliefs to remove the tail, but after all, the child was not going to be raised as a Saiyan.

"Remove it. I don't want my daughters to know what he is."

"You do realize he may show signs of Saiyan strength during his lifetime...the readouts --"

"Yes. I realize that. I realize what the readouts say," Mrs. Briefs smiled at the nurse, "...but maybe if or when he shows signs of 'Saiyan strength' I'll be able to explain to him and to his sisters the truth behind what happened ... I'm not ready for that ... as you likely know why."

"Yes, Mrs. Briefs," the nurse cleared her throat and handed the baby to one of the pediatric specialists who -- deftly -- numbed the area and removed the tail, then disposed of it down one of the medical waste chutes. The baby was wrapped in a small, standard Saiyan-issue blanket and placed in his mother's arms. Mrs. Briefs smiled down at her son: I am going to raise him as though he was my husband's son. Damn the Saiyans for doing this...I will never, never allow them to do that to Bulma. Or Ava...

She looked up at one of the nurses, "Please bring my daughters in."

The nurse opened the blinds, and motioned for the two girls to enter. The door slowly opened, with Bulma, Ava and Savoya peaking in. Mrs. Briefs beamed at them as her daughters slipped into the room, "Bulma, Ava ... meet your new baby brother..."

Bulma looked at the baby with awe and said softly, "What's his name?"

"I haven't decided on one yet. Do you want to help me?"

The girls nodded.

"What about ... what about ... George?" Ava suggested.

"Eww!" Bulma squealed, "What kind of a name is that? What about Jerkin?"

Mrs. Briefs cringed at both names.

"Maybe a Saiyan name?" one of the nurses suggested.

"No thank you."

"Why not mom?" Bulma asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

Mrs. Briefs sighed, "Well, I'd prefer to stick to family traditions."

"Um ... Garb?" asked Ava.

"Eh..."

"What about Tucker?" asked Bulma.

"Er..."

"Um ... Tailor?" suggested Ava timidly.

"Maybe..."

"Well ... um ... Cuff?" recommended Bulma with some reservations.

"I suppose."

"Well what do you want?" Ava asked.

"I don't really know... the last three were relatively nice."

"Well, Cuff Briefs or Tucker Briefs sounds better than Tailor Briefs or Garb Briefs. What kind-of-a suggestion is that?" Bulma said sullenly.

Ava crossed her arms, "Well, it sounds better than Cuff! And Tucker stinks too!"

"I like the name Cuff!"

"Well I don't!"

Bulma stuck out her tongue, "Well ... thpfft!"

"Girls, I get the final say..." Mrs. Briefs warned as the baby began to cry, "Sshh ...it's okay little one...Guess you don't like those names, do you sweetie?"

The baby gurgled happily as though in agreement with his mother's statement. Bulma and Ava giggled.

"He's cute," Ava stated.

Bulma blushed as she turned toward Ava, "Ava ... I'm sorry I was so mean to you."

Ava shrugged then gave her a hug, "No problem."

Bulma smiled, "Do you really hate the names I suggested?"

"Well ... not really. What about mine?"

"Tailor's good, but I really don't like Garb..."

Ava laughed, "Neither do I!"

Mrs. Briefs observed them with a smile on her face, waiting for the moment to die down, "Now let's think of something to name your baby brother. I liked Cuff and Tailor ... now we'll just have to decide between them!"

Savoya looked at a computer screen in one of the labs, comparing the chromosomes of Mrs. Brief's baby to that of the male Saiyan onboard the ship. She frowned.

I knew it! I knew from those power readings, that baby is the son of an Elite ... I could be ordered to take the baby away from Mrs. Briefs, Savoya bit her lip, No, I'm going to make sure they can't take that baby away from her. I have to find a way to make those power readings lay dormant, at least until we have finished presenting them for auction.

She tapped another key on the keyboard, and waited for the computer to sort through the list of possible fathers. She drummed her fingers impatiently on the countertop and paid no attention to the computer, which was taking a long time in computing results.

Savoya jumped when the screen flashed, and turned her attention to the results. She furrowed her eyebrows; the name was vaguely familiar, so she tapped another key. A picture popped up onto the screen and she snarled softly, her lips twitching as she scowled at the image.

"I should have known! Damned pervert...always harassing or assaulting someone!" she tapped in the codes that usually allowed her to view a file. The screen flashed with red, bold Saiyan lettering, "And wouldn't you know his record is bad enough that I can't get into the file with even my security codes! Access denied..."

She growled under her breath and slammed a fist into the table, roughly switching the computer off and grimacing as a gray puff of metallic smelling smoke showed she had caused a fuse overload.

"Well, if anyone asks, I wasn't in here at the time the circuitry decided to be a bitch...damn it!"

King Vegeta paced his private chambers, urgently awaiting the message from Nappa on Prince Vegeta's training. They had gone more than a month without so much as a message, and he was worried. Vegeta was his only child; the people would not accept the loss of the heir ... there would be a rebellion and he -- the rightful king -- would be overthrown. My people are still angry with me for having sent Vegeta to Freiza ... yet they know I have sent my strongest guards for him. But ... damn Freiza for killing half of them so long ago! I hate being played like that!

There was a knock on the door, and King Vegeta scowled at the interruption of his thoughts.

"ENTER!"

The doors creaked open and Salrud bowed to King Vegeta.

"Yes?"

"The message from Nappa, sire."

"Will you read it?"

"I suppose I'll have to ... his grammar is not easy to understand."

King Vegeta nodded, his beard and mustache hiding the smile that pulled at the corner of his lips, "Please, Salrud, continue."

"'To the honorable, esteemed King Vegeta -- I send news that your son, Prince Vegeta, is progressing well. Please excuse how late letter is...'" Salrud stopped, "That's poor grammar, and if he was to write this properly it should be 'Please excuse the tardiness of this --"

"I understand what he is trying to say. Continue reading WITH the mistakes."

Salrud gulped, "'We were wait for good news, and we have. Three times young Prince has beaten Zarbon in sparring matches much to hate of Zarbon and Lord Freiza. King Cold not bothered much and plans sending Prince Vegeta on purging missions. We are scheduled for first mission in week. Will be month in sending another message. Our schedule busy up until then. Nappa.'"

King Vegeta nodded, and the entire room was silent for a moment. He sighed, "Please send a message for me telling Nappa of his stupidity and poor judgement."

Salrud gulped and nodded, "Sire, if I may speak..."

"Yes."

"A shipment of human slaves is arriving today and going up for auction in approximately one week. It is the human rebels who were causing trouble. It could perhaps be ceremonious to be there when the ship arrives and when the slaves are unloaded. I'm sure you could pick palace slaves then."

King Vegeta nodded, "I think I will do that. Send them a message and tell them to land at the slave auctions nearest the palace."

Salrud nodded, bowed, and left.

As the ship landed outside of the palace, King Vegeta stood wearing a scouter and waited for the new shipment of slaves to be presented to him. He watched as several ramps were clunked to the ground and the new slaves, obviously sedated, were pushed out of each deck.

"Salrud, are they separated between males, females and children?"

"Mostly, sire. Some of them are 'package deals,' or at least that is what some of the crew are saying."

"Hmm. Well, we'll see what we can do about that ... were any children of the Elite training on this mission?"

"Yes, sire, eight males and four females. One of the females is Sukena, Okren's daughter," seeing the blank expression on King Vegeta's face, Salrud frowned, "A possible candidate for a mate for Prince Vegeta."

"Ah," he replied as he scrutinized the new slaves, smirking, "What have your studies on the Human-Saiyan hybrids shown?"

"Not enough information yet ... sire..."

"Hmm. Well tell the scientists to hurry; I want the results."

"Yes sire."

"Salrud?"

"Yes sire?"

"Have them bring only those 'package deals' to me -- in my throne room -- and request that Sukena come with them. I must talk to her."

"Yes sire."

"Oh, and Salrud?" King Vegeta turned to look at the man standing behind him, "Are you always this much of a bootlicker?"

"No sire."

"I think you are. Now go and do what I have told you to."

"Yes sire," he looked down at his feet and trudged off.

"Head up," King Vegeta smirked, "You are a Saiyan, not a Human. You understand the difference, correct Salrud?"

"Yes sire."

"Good man."

"Yes sire."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"No sire, I won't do that again."

"Good. No, do not reply to that. Go get my slaves."

"Bulma! Ava! Mrs. Briefs!" Savoya called out as she entered the corridor the three had been staying in since Mrs. Briefs had given birth. The Saiyan medical staff had wheeled in two cots and placed them along a wall.

Bulma peeked her head out of one of the doors, "Savoya? Did we land?"

Savoya nodded, wringing her hands for a moment, then digging in her pocket; she pulled out a small hypodermic syringe, "Where's your baby brother?"

"You know, he has a name--"

"Okay, okay, yeah well so do a lot of us. I've got to give him this shot so that any Saiyan illnesses he may not develop an immunity to on his own won't harm him. I didn't think we'd be landing on Vegetasei this soo--"

"Why isn't one of the nurses giving him the shot then?"

"Cause they're all busy, kay?"

"Okay."

"Well, like I was saying, I didn't think we'd land on Vegetasei this soon, and they would've given him the shot if they'd had time, but I was here and I know how to do it, and there's injured people, so they gave me the syringe. Whew," Savoya grinned, "That was a lot to say and if you hadn't interrupted me I'd've been able to explain it without getting out of breath."

"Okay...well, mom's --"

"That's great," she shoved past Bulma and looked directly at Mrs. Briefs, "Ah, Mrs. Briefs, the nurses gave me this injection to give to your son, so I need to hold him."

"Are you sure you know how?"

"I've done this a million times before. Just clean one chubby little buttock and uh, inject him."

Mrs. Briefs nodded, and looked down at her son, "Bulma, Ava, wait outside. No. No argument. Outside, now!"

"Okay, okay!" Bulma and Ava jumped out behind the door, closing it behind them.

Savoya walked over to Mrs. Brief's side.

"So what's the real reason?"

"I know how to hide his power level for about about two weeks -- long enough to get the auction underway. He has a high internal power level for even a young Elite Saiyan. If anyone is wearing a scouter, his power will be more than detectable ... and he will be taken from you," Savoya whispered, "the Saiyan leaders are in need of powerful soldiers for the military, and they're looking for Human/Saiyan crosses. He'd be experimented on."

"He'd be little more than a lab rat..." Mrs. Briefs gasped, and lifted her sleeping son so the Saiyan female could take hold of him.

Savoya shook her head, "Mrs. Briefs, I need you to hold him. Just turn him over."

She did as instructed, and Savoya used a cleanser to wipe any bacteria or other contaminants off the small backend. The needle was uncapped, and Savoya carefully tapped the syringe to knock any extra oxygen or other air to the top, then she squeezed the syringe until some of the liquid came out of the top. Then she jabbed the small needle in, making sure she drew no blood, and inserted the liquid before quickly pulling the needle from the soft baby skin. Mrs. Brief's child did little more than whimper in his sleep. Savoya cleaned the area of the puncture and covered it with a bandage.

Then she nodded to Mrs. Briefs, who wrapped the baby up again and settled him against her breast.

"Savoya..."

"Yes, Mrs. Briefs?"

"Will there be a scar from where his tail was removed?"

"There shouldn't be. The doctors treated it well. The nerves and extra vertebrae connecting to the tail were severed, and it was treated with something that should prevent terrible scarring."

Mrs. Briefs nodded, "So when will we be leaving this ship?"

"Soon -- you, Bulma, Ava and the baby will be 'sold' together. I've made sure of that."

Savoya turned to dispose of the syringe and leave, but Mrs. Briefs stopped her, "Thank you."

"I'm back in a while to take you outside. I'll bring a set of clothes for you to change into," Savoya's slight smile was coloured with disappointment as she walked out the door.

King Vegeta paced the length of the room, grumbling under his breath. He stopped suddenly as the doors were swung open and a large group of humans was escorted in by three female Saiyan guards and Sukena. Sukena bowed respectful to the King.

"My King, I would curtsy instead, but as you know I have just arrived, and I am wearing a training outfit instead of a dress," a smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Welcome, Lady Sukena," King Vegeta replied, ignoring her tone, "You wish to hear news of my son?"

She stood up straighter and bobbed her head, then managed to remember her manners and incline her head respectfully, "Yes, sire."

"He has beaten Freiza's henchman Zarbon three times and is being allowed on a purging mission."

"A purging mission, sire?" Sukena asked, "But sire, he is the Prince --"

King Vegeta cut her off, "Yes, he is most certainly the Prince, and I have told his guardian that his judgement was poor. This however means that the Prince's power has a chance of increasing greatly, thus he may be coming home later than planned. You understand what that means."

"Yes sire!" her eyes glittered mischievously.

"Present your guards to me," the King placed his scouter on and motioned for the palace guards to make sure none of the humans got any ideas.

"As you wish, sire," she jerked her head at the other female Saiyans, and pointed to the tallest one who stood in the shadows. She said, with contempt in her tone, "that is Savoya. Only in training is she my superior."

Savoya bowed, her ponytail flipping over her shoulder. She tossed the thick, dark hair back.

"Lady Savoya, I see your power level has risen significantly. Congratulations," King Vegeta commented dryly, sending Sukena into obvious jealous bristling.

"That is Kukora," she said once she had calmed, pointing to the shortest, slightest of them. She cleared her throat as King Vegeta nodded and refused to acknowledge the girl's power level. Then she pointed to the girl with the short spiky hair, "And that is Melopa."

He nodded, "Now present me with these slaves."

"As you wish, sire," Sukena bowed and motioned the first set forward. Two men, a woman and three small children were pushed forward by Kukora for inspection; one of the men coughed.

King Vegeta frowned as he looked through the scouter, "No. Remove them or remove the man. You will get little profit from him; he will die soon as it is."

Sukena nodded, "Kill him, sire?"

"Yes."

With careful aim, Sukena blasted him through the heart. In an instant he was on floor -- dead. She smirked at the terrifed humans and crying children, then turned to King Vegeta, "Now will you accept them?"

"You'll make more profit off of that group than any of the others. You keep them. They will go up for auction. Next!"

As Kukora pushed the first group aside, Melopa pushed her group forward, a group of four children.

King Vegeta nodded and walked to his throne, sat down, and looked at a piece of paper, "Yes, we could use them, lead them to the side of my throne."

Melopa nodded and Sevoya stepped forward with Mrs. Briefs, Bulma and Ava in tow; Mrs. Breifs carried her son. Sevoya bowed before the throne, motioning for them to do the same.

King Vegeta smirked, "Yes, they are well-trained Savoya. Thank you. I will keep them -- direct them where Melopa placed her charges."

"Yes, sire," Sevoya directed them to the side.

"Wait, you, with the child, bring it up here."

Mrs. Briefs froze; Savoya's heart pounded as she directed Bulma and Ava to sit down. Savoya then stiffly walked back to her next group.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I apologize, sire," Mrs. Briefs replied meekly, and -- with her head inclined -- placed her son in the King's arms.

"Hmm. That is strange, I was sure I had a power reading on him," he mumbled, then shoved the baby back into its mothers arms. Startled, it began to cry. King Vegeta glowered at the disruption, "Quiet him down! Perhaps I was mistaken. Damned device must be malfunctioning again."

In the back of the room, Savoya breathed a quiet sigh of relief.