Beneath the palace, Shael's crew sat in their makeshift dormitory, listening as he explained the basics of their new mission. An assortment of frustrated groans rose from the Roc as they learned of the return trip. It seemed a long and tedious journey just to pick up some strange female. When Shael had finished, Dolmit spoke up.

"Why exactly do we need this girl? Isn't our presence needed here?" Shael hesitated; though it had never been said, he'd gotten the impression that King Deoge's conversation with him was meant to be kept secret.

"I can't tell you. King Deoge has commanded that she be brought back, and it is therefore our duty to carry out his orders without question." The others said nothing; it was the response they'd come to expect. Shael looked them over carefully, searching for any sign of dissent. Finding none, he called the meeting to a close. His crew trudged to their cots; all except Dolmit, who stood alone, looking anxious. When the rest had left the room, he approached Shael.

"A word with you, sir, if you please."

"Go ahead."

"Well, sir, I--"

"The crew have gone to bed, Dolmit; you can stop calling me 'sir'."

"Fine. I am requesting permission to stay behind on Geo."

"Why?"

"I don't know how in-depth your interview with King Deoge was, but from what I've heard of him, the moment you leave he'll have a hundred questions about the previous mission, and you'll be too busy to deal with him."

"You want to stay as an advisor?"

"Yes."

'He knows something,' Shael thought, 'but is it the same thing I know? What is he hiding?'

"Dolmit, King Deoge won't permit me to leave anyone behind, I'm sure of it."

"Then kill me."

"What?" Dolmit smiled a little.

"Insubordination. Soon after we embark, I piss you off and you kill me. No one need know I never boarded the ship."

"Dolmit, what's going on? You realize I could have you executed for this."

"I can't tell you what's going on, because I really don't know. I have some suspicions--but I need to stay behind to investigate. I think Lord Denatu may be involved." He spoke quietly, eyes darting, even though they were alone.

"I will let you stay on one condition: anything you discover you report to me. I have my own suspicions, but I don't have the option of getting myself killed to investigate them." Dolmit nodded. He wasn't sure how he was going to get through Azher to make such reports, but he would have agreed to anything to stay behind.

"Tomorrow you die," Shael murmured. "Make good use of it." Dolmit left to join the rest of the crew. Shael was about to follow him when he heard someone calling him. It was the head mechanic, with a report on the condition of the ship.

"All in all it doesn't look too bad," he muttered, glancing at his notes. "The communication system looked fine despite your complaints, so we left it as-is. A couple wires had been severed in powerplant, that's what caused the trouble there."

"Severed? You mean someone cut them?"

"Well, we can't be certain, but that's one explanation, sure. Didn't do a whole lot, though; just slowed down your ship and accidentally released on of the escape pods. We could replace it, but I hear you're leaving tomorrow?" Shael nodded. "Well, Cap'n, you'll have to make do with the one you have left."

"I'm sure we'll manage." The mechanic snorted, grinning.

"Of course you'll manage. Not like you have a choice in the matter." With an almost-respectful nod to Shael, the mechanic lumbered away. Shael stood a while longer, trying to absorb all the information. He felt like there was something important that was barely eluding him, just out of his reach. Mordrig, Koretz, Deoge, Denatu, Dolmit--there was no telling which were connected and which were not. 'It's a damned conspiracy,' he thought, frustrated. 'The question is: where do I fit in?'

*****

"Damn it, what's taking so long?!" Chichi snapped.

"Just relax, will you?" muttered Bulma, not bothering to look up from the console. "That ship wasn't really meant to go out just yet. Normally all the systems, including this, would have been checked and brought on-line before takeoff."

"Well, if your son hadn't gone off half-cocked and rushed them off--"

"He did what he had to," Yamcha interrupted. "If he'd sat back and waited until it was convenient, the Roc would have gotten away."

"How do you know he didn't?" Chichi challenged.

"We won't know a thing until I get this up and running, and I can't concentrate with all of you shouting," Bulma pointed out. Chichi fumed silently, and Yamcha suppressed a sigh. Chichi was difficult to deal with when she thought her children were in danger. She glared at Krillin, who'd sent #18 home with Marron. He edged away toward Videl and Pan, who were watching Bulma work. Master Roshi had opted to stay behind when they'd all headed for Capsule Corp., and Tenshinhan and Chaozu had taken off to scan the surrounding area for any more intruders.

"Ha! There!" cried Bulma triumphantly. The viewing screen above them flickered, then slowly came into focus, showing a view of the empty control room of the ship.

"Well, where are they? Gohan! Goten!" yelled Chichi. After a moment, Goten came into view, looking surprised and a little guilty.

"Oh, hi, mom. Um--what's new?"

"What's new? Oh, not much, we're just worrying ourselves to death down here while you guys go shooting out into space on a whim!! Where's Gohan?"

"He's training with Trunks in the gravity room."

"Well, go get him."

"Get them both," added Bulma. Goten trotted off, and returned a few moments later with Gohan and Trunks, both looking a little sweaty.

"All right," said Chichi, "What's going on?" The three exchanged glances as though unsure of where to start.

"Did you find her ship?" asked Bulma.

"We did," said Trunks. "We're locked on and following her."

"Where's that ugly alien taking her?"

"Actually, the 'ugly alien' is dead at this point. However, he locked on the autopilot and Takira can't override it. We don't know where it's taking her."

"You talked with her?" Trunks went silent.

"We did talk with her," Gohan said.

"And? What's the plan? What did she say?"

"She told us to return to Earth. Needless to say, we have decided not to take her advice."

"What did she have to say about that?"

"Not a lot, as it turns out," Gohan said uneasily. "The truth of the matter is, she doesn't know, unless she's checked her scanner and noticed that we're still following. I doubt it, though; she would have contacted us."

"So you're just going to follow her," Bulma asked. "What good will that do?" Breaking his silence, Trunks spoke next.

"We have reason to believe that wherever she is headed, she may be in danger. Whatever awaits her out there, we can't let her face it alone." Chichi looked skeptical.

"Gohan, Goten, you agreed to this?" They nodded. Chichi covered her face with her hands. "Why me? Why couldn't I have normal, obedient children--"

"Like I do?" Bulma said wryly. Chichi shook her head with regret.

"They take after their father, I suppose--" Ignoring them, Videl looked at Gohan.

"How long will this take?"

"We honestly don't know. If we find out, of course we'll try to keep you updated, but really all any of us can do for now is wait. Have any other, ah, visitors shown up?"

"Not so far. We're keeping an eye out."

"You're sure you can't come back?" asked Bulma plaintively. "After all, it's what she wanted you to do--"

"It's decided," Trunks cut in quietly. "There's no more to discuss. Unless there are any more questions, we need to get back to our training." The earthbound contingent looked at each other and shrugged.

"Just try to stay safe, won't you?" begged Chichi. "Just once?" Goten smiled.

"We'll see what we can do. 'Bye, everyone!" They waved and the screen went blank.

*****

The screen went dark, and Goten heaved a sigh of relief.

"Something tells me we're in for it when we get back, guys."

"All the more reason to keep training," said Trunks with a smile. "Even if the Roc don't give us any trouble, we'll be hard-pressed to defend ourselves when we get home."

"You think it's the Roc we'll have to deal with?" asked Gohan.

"I'm just assuming, since the one who kidnapped Takira fit that description."

Goten nodded. "Who else could it be?"

"I've been asking myself that question," Goten murmured. "I'm sure it was a Roc who captured her, but why wasn't he with the others?"

"Maybe they sent him off separately," Goten offered. Trunks looked pensive.

"Perhaps," he said, "but he didn't know where they were, or even that they'd left. Surely if they'd been working together they would have held contact better than that."

"Koretz said he'd been having trouble with communications aboard the main ship. Maybe they couldn't contact Mehat," Goten countered.

"Maybe, but wouldn't he get a little suspicious after the first week? If they'd sent him to get Takira when they arrived at Earth, he would have come right away. For that matter, those two we met right after the battle could have taken her if they wanted her so badly."

"Perhaps they were afraid of you; you were with her, right?"

"Yes, but the one who kidnapped her sure didn't seem afraid of me, or any of us." Trunks frowned. "I see what you mean, Gohan. It seems entirely possible, if not likely, that he's working for someone else."

"Degradu."

"Whoever he is, I'm no longer sure that he's a Roc."

"What do you suppose he is?" Goten wondered aloud. Trunks shrugged.

"I'm not sure I want to think about it. It's got to be something much stronger than a Roc, or that guy wouldn't be working for him."

"You don't suppose it's another like Mordrig, do you?" Gohan asked softly.

"It could be, but then it could also be any number of other races. We can't assume this Degradu is related to Mordrig just because his agent showed up after Mordrig did."

"True," Gohan sighed. "So the conclusion is that we can draw no conclusions?"

"Basically," Trunks muttered. Goten spoke up, hesitant.

"We could ask Takira."

"She already said she didn't know," Trunks said dismissively.

"She may have the means to contact Degradu from her ship."

"How would we explain why we're still following her?"

"Tell her the truth, Trunks; what's the absolute worst she could do?"

"She could destroy her ship."

"What?! Trunks, be realistic!"

"Think of it," Trunks said. "We're bound to head home if she dies, right?" Gohan was horrified.

"Do you honestly believe she would think like that?" Trunks looked at the floor.

"I hate it, but she could. You guys never got to talk with her like I did, so of course you couldn't know. She's died once already, and without a very compelling reason otherwise, she would have little problem with dying again; especially if she thought it would do some good."

"When did you talk to her like this? Is that what you two do when you run off and disappear together?"

"We don't run off together! She's got her hiding place, I have mine, that's all there is to it!" Trunks exclaimed.

"Easy," said Gohan. "Nobody's accusing anyone here. I know you two are friends, and when you showed up to Master Roshi's together I just assumed--I know, I shouldn't assume things like that." He sighed. "The point I was trying to get to is this: you seem to know Takira better than any of us. If we contact, her, you should be the one to speak with her."

"If I know her so well, listen to me when I ask you not to contact her. I'm not saying she'll do anything rash; there's just no telling what she'll do. We can't risk it." He looked imploringly at Gohan.

'That's not the real reason he doesn't want to contact her,' Gohan thought. 'He doesn't want to face her again, and I can't force him--'

"Okay, Trunks," he said. "For now we'll wait. Just--think about it, okay?" Trunks looked a little hurt, but nodded solemnly.

"Let's go. We have a lot of training to do."