Sorry for the delay; I've been busy! I now have my own webshow/vlog (along with my equally nerdy mother), "Stone Soup: the World According to SciFi Geeks" which can be found at and user/planettyracom!

The Ways of the Saiyans

by

NansJns

Chapter 11: Finding More Time

The air car had left the city behind an hour ago, heading east. Various other cars traveled around them, coming and going as their needs demanded. At the end of the hour, Yamcha and Krillin were satisfied they weren't being followed, and left the general traffic pattern for higher skies. Once clear of the other air cars, Yamcha hit the gas and sent them shooting across the blue sky.

"So where is the resistance's current base?" Bulma asked.

"We got lucky this time – Kami is letting us use his lookout; Frieza's goons can't seem to find it," Yamcha told her with a smile.

"Kami's Lookout? That is good news!" Bulma said.

"When you say 'Kami' . . ." Kakkarot started, his eyebrows quirking up; Vegeta was more focused on how familiar and friendly Yamcha was acting with Bulma.

"Earth's guardian, not that he does much," Krillin answered Kakkarot. "He has all kinds of wisdom and various mystic items that help, but he, himself, is apparently too old to fight."

"Roshi and Gohan must be giving him grief for that," Chi-Chi chuckled.

"Endlessly," Krillin grinned.

"Roshi and Gohan?" Kakkarot pressed gently, not liking being left out of the conversation.

"Our oldest fighters," Yamcha explained. "They're old men, but they still pack a hell of a punch. You'll meet them when we get there."

"I just hope Roshi has learned to keep his hands to himself while we've been gone," Bulma huffed with a slight grimace.

"I doubt that will happen in his lifetime," Yamcha said with a roll of his eyes.

"Are you saying one of your fighters – one of your oldest fighters – is a pervert?" Vegeta suddenly cut in.

"Completely," Krillin sighed lightly. "When I first went to train under him, he made me find him a cute girl to date to prove I was worthy."

"Seriously?" Kakkarot said, not sure whether to be offended or amused.

"Yeah. But he was a great teacher; and his KameHameHa technique is incredible," Krillin said.

"KameHameHa? What kind of technique is that?" Kakkarot asked, his interest piqued.

"It's a ki strike; maybe he'll show you if you ask," Yamcha said as he directed the car even higher. "We'll be there soon."

"How many fighters do you actually have?" Vegeta asked.

"Counting me and Krillin? Fourteen," Yamcha answered. "That's just our direct fighters, though; we have people helping us all over the world."

"Fourteen? That's all?" Vegeta frowned. "Not much of a resistance."

"Not a lot of people were willing to try and fight Frieza's men," Krillin answered with a frown of his own. "But we've done our fair share of damage."

"To what end? You can't drive Frieza's men from this world," Vegeta said sharply, and the two human men flinched.

"We can't just let them do as they please with our world and people, either," Yamcha said.

"But if you cause too much trouble, Frieza will send in purge teams, or worse – he'll destroy this planet outright, like he did Mikusubodo," Vegeta scowled at them, challenging them to deny this simple truth.

For a few moments, they were all quiet.

"He might," Krillin finally conceded. "But we don't know what else we can do; we can't just sit around and watch them destroy our homes and kill our people!"

"Maybe we don't have the right to choose for the entire world, but we'd rather die on our feet than live on our knees," Yamcha said.

Vegeta's expression smoothed out at their words, and he gave a nod. "Good," he said calmly. "To fight Frieza and have any chance of winning, you need that kind of resolve."

"Gosh, so glad we meet your approval!" Yamcha muttered sarcastically, shooting Vegeta an annoyed sideways glance.

Kakkarot chuckled in response, though he understood Vegeta's meaning better than the two human men did. Standing against Frieza most often came at a terrible price; if you weren't willing to pay it, you shouldn't try to fight him at all.

"Now then, Yamcha," Vegeta continued, an icy edge building over his words, "Would you mind telling me why you're so familiar with Bulma?"

"Huh?" Yamcha gasped, caught completely off-guard by the question.

"We dated for a while when we were teenagers," Bulma answered for the scarred man, waving the old relationship off like a wisp of smoke.

"It, uh, it didn't work out between us, but we're still friends," Yamcha added with a small shrug.

"You never struck me as the jealous sort before," Bulma remarked teasingly, making the Saiyan prince snort.

"I'm not," he said coolly. "I just wanted to know what had happened between you two. It was obvious he knew you well, and not just as a fellow fighter."

"Uh-huh," Bulma answered with a light grin. Then the grin faltered slightly as a thought occurred to her. "I admit, I've had relationships before, but never anything serious, like you."

Vegeta seemed to struggle with his reply for a few moments before he sighed and said so quietly she could barely hear him, "I haven't."

Kakkarot, Yamcha, and Krillin strove to pay attention to the world outside the car to give Vegeta and Bulma a tiny bit of privacy, though they hadn't heard what he'd said anyway.

"We'll talk later, when we're alone," Bulma whispered to him soothingly. Vegeta gave a short nod in agreement.

"There's Korin's Tower," Yamcha said suddenly, and Bulma and Vegeta turned their attention to what lay before them. An immense stone tower, nearly five feet in diameter, rose from the ground and vanished into the highest clouds. It was covered in carvings that could act as hand and foot holds, and had a slightly weathered look to it.

"What in the world. . .?" Kakkarot said in surprise as the air car angled more steeply upward.

"It ends just under the Lookout," Krillin explained cheerfully. "You're supposed to prove you're worthy of Kami's wisdom and teachings by climbing it all the way up, and getting Korin's approval. Korin is the keeper of the tower."

"You've both climbed that thing?" Kakkarot asked.

"Yes. Thankfully, you only have to do it once; and since we're using the Lookout as a hideout, Kami isn't being strict about newcomers following that rule," Krillin said.

"Feh. Kakkarot and I could climb that tower easily," Vegeta said with a small scowl.

"I don't doubt that for a second, but let's not waste valuable time, okay?" Yamcha said with a smile. Vegeta seemed to consider Yamcha's words for a moment, and then gave a small chuckle.

"Wasn't going to," he said.

They ascended through a thick cloud bank for several minutes, until the top of the tower finally came into view. Perched atop the stone tower was a small, circular building, with a line of windows all around its center. From one window, what appeared to be an unusually large, white cat, standing on his hind legs and holding a wooden walking stick, was waving at their car. Krillin waved back.

"Hi, Korin!" the bald man called to the cat.

Vegeta and Kakkarot puzzled over this for a second, and then dropped it as they saw Kami's Lookout for the first time.

The massive stone structure floated in the middle of the air against all laws of gravity and physics. It was a half-globe, decorated on the outside with stripes of white marble, green jade, and red ruby set in repeating patterns all across its surface. A single ladder scaled up one side, clearly for first time visitors to use to reach the top. The top was a flat, marbled circle, with carefully kept gardens lining the paths and a white-marble and gold palace in its center. The air car landed in the largest open area, and the six passengers disembarked.

The air, Vegeta noted, was oddly sweet and warm, with just a gentle cool breeze to stir the flowers and trees. While this looked like a place of riches and opulence, it didn't feel like such a place; it just felt peaceful and welcoming. He glanced at Kakkarot, and could see the simple-minded third-class was enjoying himself as he looked around.

"How have Frieza's people missed this place? It's not exactly subtle," Vegeta said as Yamcha and Krillin led the way to the palace.

"Kami has some kind of cloak over it; unless you know to look for it, you can't find it. He won't say how it works," Krillin explained cheerfully. He'd had the same question when the resistance first came to hide here.

They were three steps away from the doors to the palace when said doors were suddenly flung open from the inside, and a man nearly ten feet tall came barreling out. He had black hair, a thick black beard, dark eyes, and wore glasses, a white shirt, dark pants with suspenders, and a hat with ox horns on it. He looked at the group in front of him for a moment before bursting into tears and throwing himself at Chi-Chi's small form.

"Chi-Chi! You're all right! You're finally home! I've been so worried!" he cried, and before Kakkarot could do anything, Chi-Chi and the giant had caught each other in a massive hug.

"I'm so sorry, Daddy! I didn't mean to scare you! I wound up on a ship that had no long-range communications! It's a long story," Chi-Chi said.

"'Daddy'. . .?" Kakkarot said, frozen in shock. This huge man was Chi-Chi's father?

"Good luck, Kakkarot," Vegeta muttered by his ear, enjoying his friend's moment of stunned panic.

The huge man looked back over his shoulder toward the palace. "I told you I heard an air car," he said. "They're here!"

"Yes, so we gathered," said a cool voice behind him, and an old man with long white hair, a bushy white mustache, tanned skin and ice blue eyes stepped around the giant. He wore a strange outfit of puffy black pants, a yellow shirt with puffy shoulders, a black vest, and a tall hat with "RR" emblazoned on it. Small, gold, hoop earrings glinted in his ears. "Ox-King, would you mind moving aside so the rest of us can get out?" he asked.

"Oh, right, sorry, Dr. Gero," Ox-King said with an embarrassed chuckle as he let go of his daughter, and he moved to the right as the rest of the resistance stepped outside.

It was an interesting array of people, to say the least. There were two other old men, one bald with a beard and mustache, wearing shades, a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, the other dressed in Chinese clothes with a cap and a mustache. There was a young, tall, bald man with three eyes wearing green gi pants and a red belt with no shirt, and a tiny, doll-like boy creature with snow-white skin, red cheeks, and big eyes, wearing green gi pants like the three-eyed man's and a white tank top. There was a young man with black hair and ice blue eyes like Gero wearing blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and a red bandana around his neck, and a beautiful blonde girl who also had icy blue eyes, wearing a long-sleeved striped blouse, a blue-jean mini-skirt and vest, and boots; both of them wore gold hoop earrings just like Gero's. Then there was a short, seemingly plump, grumpy looking man with long, messy black hair and a sword, wearing a woven, pale yellow kimono and sandals. And last, but certainly not least, were two green-skinned aliens, one old, one young, with large, pointed ears, antennae, fangs, and strange patches – yellow on the old one, pink on the younger – on their arms. The old one wore a long, white tunic with a kanji emblazoned in its middle, and carried a tall wooden walking stick. The younger one wore a dark purple shirt and dark purple pants, with a large white mantle and cape, and a white and purple turban on his head.

"Who are these guys?" the short, grumpy man asked.

"They're what we were smuggling," Yamcha answered.

"I am Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans," Vegeta suddenly said, his head high and his shoulders squared.

"I'm Kakkarot. Nice to meet you!" Kakkarot said with a wide, friendly smile and a wave.

Their names received a murmur of surprise and puzzlement, and the old alien stepped forward.

"I am Kami. This is my Lookout. I bid you welcome, Prince Vegeta and Kakkarot," he said.

"Thank you," Vegeta said, and Kakkarot nodded.

"I'm Piccolo," the younger green alien said.

"Tenshinhan," said the tall, three-eyed man.

"I'm Chiao-Tzu. Pleased to meet you!" said the tiny, doll-like boy.

"I'm Yajirobe," grunted the grumpy-looking man.

"I am Son Gohan," said the old man in Chinese clothes.

"Muten Roshi's my name. Nice to meet you boys," said the old man in the shades.

"Just call me Junanagou," said the young, blue-eyed man.

"And I'm his sister, Juuhachigou," the blonde girl said.

"You may call me Dr. Gero," the old man with the gold earrings said.

"And I'm Chi-Chi's father, Ox-King," the giant said with a friendly smile. "So, you're the Kakkarot that my Chi-Chi keeps talking about?"

Kakkarot cleared his throat a little. "Yes. Honored to meet you, sir," he said, and offered his hand. Ox-King took it in a firm shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Ox-King said, his smile friendly, but his eyes scrutinizing.

"Now that all of the introductions are out of the way. . .mind if I ask why you're here and not on your way to Aisu-sei Prime?" Piccolo suddenly cut in, and the two Saiyans looked at him in confusion.

"Say what?" Kakkarot said.

"Why would you expect me to be heading there right now?" Vegeta asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Trust me, I'm looking forward to the day I can destroy the Kold Empire at its source, but that day isn't here yet."

The Earth warriors, except for Yamcha and Krillin, all stared at him in shock for a moment, which both aggravated the hell out of Vegeta and unnerved him slightly. Kakkarot felt a few drops of nervous sweat slide down his cheek.

"Holy shit, you haven't seen it, have you?" Juunanagou finally said.

"Seen what?" Vegeta demanded.

"We only saw it for the first time an hour ago; Frieza doesn't usually consider Earth worth sending messages to. The ship you were on didn't have long-range communications, did it?" Kami cut in, and Vegeta began to growl.

"No, it didn't – now tell me what the hell you're talking about!" the Saiyan Prince barked, and the Earth warriors flinched.

"What are you guys talking about?" Krillin asked, more gently than Vegeta.

"We picked up an interstellar transmission shortly after you guys left for the space port," Tenshinhan explained.

"It was from Frieza himself, and it was being sent to every communication device that was on the right frequency," Piccolo continued. "It was for you, 'Your Highness.' A direct challenge."

"He said that if you ever wanted to see your family, 'blood or adopted' again, you should come to Aisu-sei Prime and face him," Kami said, an apology in his eyes.

Vegeta froze to the spot. Frieza had captured the other escape pods. . .even the Moon Flare? His stomach clenched, first in horror and then in rage. He barely noticed Kakkarot's reaction at his side; Kakkarot's face had gone pale and his back grew rigid. What of his family? If Frieza had captured their pod, he had absolutely no reason to keep them alive.

"Oh no, Kakkarot-!" Chi-Chi whispered to him, taking his hand and squeezing it tightly.

"How long do I have?" Vegeta asked lowly.

"He has a countdown going. Apparently, the message has been relayed through the known galaxy for a week ‒ there's only fourteen days left," Ox-King answered sadly.

"O-on our fastest ship, you'd make it with about a day and a half to spare," Bulma said, her voice shaking and breathless with panic.

"So much for more time for training," Kakkarot said. "We'll have to be ready now. Where can we get one of those ships? And this time, you two are staying here!" he added at the end, looking directly at Chi-Chi and Bulma.

"Damn it all! I know I'm close to achieving a new level of power! If we just had more time-!" Vegeta snarled to himself, frustrated beyond words at the situation.

Kami and Piccolo exchanged a glance, then a nod. Kami cleared his throat politely. "There is a way to get more time," the elderly Namek-jin said. "An entire year, in fact."

"What?" Vegeta turned to him with a look of confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Kakkarot asked.

"There is a room here where the flow of time is altered. You can spend an entire year in there while only one day passes out here," Kami explained calmly.

"What?" Vegeta and Kakkarot both cried in surprise.

"The Room of Spirit and Time?" Krillin suddenly cut in. "You wouldn't let us near it before!"

"Because it wasn't ready," Piccolo answered. "Time isn't the only unstable thing in there. We've been working for some time to create a stable place in there where someone could rest and be safe while training for the year. We finally succeeded."

"Count me in, then!" Krillin said quickly, and the other warriors began to chatter excitedly.

Kakkarot looked thoughtful for a moment then turned to Roshi. "Master Roshi, I'd like to learn more about your KameHameHa technique, since we'll have time. If you want to test my worthiness. . ."

"Oh, no worries on that! You brought Bulma and Chi-Chi back to us safe and sound; that's more than enough to earn my training!" Roshi said with a hearty laugh as his hand began to subtly drift toward Chi-Chi's unguarded backside. Before the old fingers could connect, Kakkarot grabbed Roshi's wrist in a lightning quick movement.

"Move that hand one inch closer to her bottom and I will break it," Kakkarot snarled at the old man. He knew he had probably just lost the training, but protecting Chi-Chi was more important.

Roshi looked at him in surprise and then laughed again. "You got fire, son! I like you!" he said.

"Before you all get too excited, there's one more thing – the stable area we created can only hold so many," Kami suddenly cut in, and the chatter died away.

"How many?" Vegeta asked.

"Two would be best, but five could fit – barely," Kami answered.

"Okay, so, Vegeta, me, Roshi, Krillin, and -?" Kakkarot began counting off thoughtfully, his eyes scanning over the crowd.

"I'd like to go as well," the elderly Gohan said before anyone else could speak. "I know a few tricks you might find useful," he added with a smile.

"All right, that's our five," Kakkarot nodded.

"You'd rather have us old codgers than your lovely young ladies? I'm beginning to wonder about you, son," Roshi observed with a wry grin.

"If you do this, you'll barely make it to Aisu-sei Prime in time," Bulma pointed out, clenching her hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

"I know, but it's the only choice if we want to have a chance at succeeding," Vegeta answered, placing his hand over one of her fists. "No member of my family will die. And Kakkarot was correct – you're staying here when we leave."

"But-!" Bulma objected.

"We could help-!" Chi-Chi started.

"You'll be a distraction!" Vegeta snapped.

"Besides, Chi-Chi, you need to stay safe, and not just for you," Kakkarot said gently. Chi-Chi faltered, thinking of Kele's last words to her.

"You-you think I'm-?" she said quietly.

"I. . .I know you are. I can smell it," Kakkarot answered, blushing slightly.

"What?" Ox-King suddenly cut in.

"I. . .I may be pregnant, Daddy," Chi-Chi said.

"What?" Ox-King yelped then glared at Kakkarot accusingly.

"If it makes you feel any better, I do want to marry you," Kakkarot offered gently. By Saiyan terms, they were already mates, but Chi-Chi had told him enough about Earth customs for him to know what was expected of him. Chi-Chi blushed, smiled, and nodded at him.

"Okay, well, while you get that settled, I'll just get some senzu beans from Korin before we go in," Krillin said as he ran for the edge of the Lookout.

"Get some what?" Vegeta asked blankly as Krillin jumped over the floating building's side and flew downward. "Did he just say he was going to get some beans?"

"Those aren't ordinary beans," Roshi chuckled.

"They're one of Earth's best-kept secrets," Gohan said with a grin. "They're magic – they'll heal any injury, and restore your strength."

"What?" Vegeta and Kakkarot gaped in disbelief again. Vegeta pulled himself back together first.

"What nonsense is this? How could you have possibly kept such a secret from Frieza's soldiers?" Vegeta asked skeptically.

"They never asked, and we never eat any in front of them. Just you wait and see; they're great. Better than any healing tanks," Roshi said with a laugh.

Vegeta grunted in disbelief then turned back to Bulma. "Listen, while we're in there, you see about getting us the fastest ship you can, and make sure it has good long-range communicators. I want to send a reply to Frieza when we leave."

"All right," Bulma said sullenly. She still didn't want to be left behind, though she could see why Vegeta wanted her to. Even so, her mind was running through scenarios for stowing away or following him in a separate ship.

"We'll need supplies," Kakkarot said as he started making lists in his head of all the food they'd need.

"It's been stocked with food," said Kami calmly.

"Enough food to feed two Saiyans for a year? I doubt that," Kakkarot said with a grin and a shake of his head.

"How much can you possibly eat?" Yamcha asked.

"Enough to wipe out whatever supplies are in there in a couple of days, at most," Vegeta answered.

"Days?" Kami echoed, his eyes wide.

"They're not exaggerating," Chi-Chi put in. "We've seen them put away twice as much as all of you eat put together in one sitting. Which may be why my own appetite has been growing lately. . ." she added thoughtfully as she ran her hand over her still-flat stomach.

"So, they'll need more supplies," Bulma said with a slight chuckle.

"We'll see what we can do. . ." Kami said slowly, obviously still surprised.

"I think I can help with that," Bulma said. "Anyone have a cell phone I can borrow?"

The preparations were made as quickly as possible, and within ninety minutes the five men were ready to enter the Room of Spirit and Time.

"I've almost got the ship all arranged; it'll be waiting for you when you get out," Bulma told Vegeta as they approached the door to the chamber.

"Thank you," he said absentmindedly, his mind already focused on the training he was about to do.

"See you soon," Chi-Chi said quietly to Kakkarot. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Kakkarot said tenderly as Vegeta pushed the door open. "Bye, Chi-Chi."

"Just remember, you can get lost in there; be very careful," Kami said as the five men walked through the door.

"Lost? How do you get lost in a roo- whoa!" Krillin's voice was cut off by the door swinging shut.

It was not a room in the traditional sense – there were no visible walls or ceiling, just a vast void that appeared to be empty, and stretched toward infinity. Around the door was the living area, with beds, a large bath tub, toilets, and a kitchen. The air was hot and heavy, and the gravity seemed higher than it had been outside.

"Man, no wonder they didn't let us in here until they'd made a safe place," Krillin said as he gaped around at the emptiness. "This could drive someone insane!"

"Which is also why it's good to have company in here, I should think," Son Gohan observed. "Being alone in such a place would be even more maddening."

"This is gonna be a fun year, I can tell," Roshi muttered to himself, thinking longingly of his girlie magazine collection that he'd been forced to leave outside.

"All right then; let's get started," Vegeta said coldly, and marched into the oblivion in front of him.

Bardock didn't know exactly why they were still alive, but he had some guesses – most of them having to do with Frieza wanting to slowly torture them to death for helping to hide the prince (and possibly for killing Dodoria, but it was hard to say if Frieza actually cared about that). Bardock, Okarana, and Raditz had already received several brutal beatings since their capture, and King Vegeta and Queen Lesessu had doubtless received far worse. He shuddered to think what was being done to the Munotes, who didn't have a Saiyan's strength and resilience. He knew Frieza had already killed most of the crew of the Moon Flare. Luckily, they had somehow managed to completely wipe the ship's computers before any of Frieza's men could get on board, so the ship couldn't be tracked back to its source, which only served to enrage the tiny tyrant even more. The appearance of the ship had told the Aisu-jin prince that there must be a large group of surviving Saiyans out there, and he wanted to wipe out every last one of them for making him look like such a fool; first by hiding their prince, and secondly, by having so many survivors. He had started with the ship's crew, in front of King Vegeta, Queen Lesessu, and Bardock's family, and his fury had been a horrendous thing to witness.

All that was several weeks ago. They had been prisoners on Frieza's ship since then, staying in locked cells with energy-field doors between rounds of pain; but now, judging by the increased shuddering coming up from the deck, they were landing. Bardock wondered idly where they were; not that it really mattered anymore. He was more concerned about the whereabouts of his youngest son, his prince, and their women. Frieza had been unable to locate the final pod, which was very odd. . .where could it have gone? It had no more power than any of the others, so it shouldn't have gone much further than their own did. It was as though it had just vanished into nothingness – which gave them quiet hope that those four, at least, were safe.

The rumbling stopped with a final thud and a groan of stressed metal. After a few minutes, they heard marching steps coming up the hallway, and somewhat to the Saiyan family's surprise, a platoon of twenty guards, half of whom were Aisu-jins, came into the cell block. Within moments, they began removing the prisoners from their cells.

"I've never seen so many Aisu-jins," Raditz observed quietly as he watched the guards escort the King and Queen out of their cell.

"Nor have I. In fact, I've never seen any Aisu-jins other than Frieza, Coola, and King Kold," Okarana said thoughtfully. "I half-thought they'd killed the rest of their race."

"How strong do you think they are?" Bardock whispered. "They can't all have the kind of monstrous strength the Kold royal clan does."

"Hard to say; and I'm not sure taking on nearly a dozen of them at once in our condition is wise," Okarana answered. The three of them had only been given one stay in a healing tank, despite the numerous times they'd been beaten, and they all boasted barely half-healed wounds. Okarana suddenly hissed. "They're coming!"

She stepped back from the shield as a group of six guards came up to it, and with a few punches into the key pad on the wall next to the cell, dropped the barrier.

"Come on, you damn monkeys, out of there!" barked a tall, thin Aisu-jin with blue-purple skin. The three Saiyans glared at him with loathing, but stood and walked out. They were pushed into a group with the other prisoners, and then marched through the ship until they reached the outer hatch, where the ramp was lowered.

"Where are we?" Durama asked quietly with badly swollen lips. His entire face was badly bruised, swollen, and caked with dried blood. The entire Munote family boasted such wounds; Sasu was being supported by his sisters, his right leg at an unnatural angle. Harpena's breathing was labored and wheezing and her eyes were swollen slits. Fululy and Tammibo limped when they walked and had bloodstains on their clothes.

"Aisu-sei Prime," said a guard who looked like he'd be more comfortable underwater. "The last world any of you filth will ever see."

"Aisu-sei Prime? Frieza's home world?" Sasu gasped thinly as he took in the strangely pale sky and the sprawling space port in front of them.

"The very same; you should be honored," Frieza observed from the head of the crowd, his voice full of blades. They hadn't noticed him there before; he'd been hidden by the crowd.

As they were marched down the ramp onto the paved ground, Bardock's eyes darted around briefly to take in the terrain. They couldn't try to escape just yet, not with Frieza standing less than twenty feet away, but some idea of what was out here would be helpful when they did try. When his eyes swept to the far right, however, all thought of escape was momentarily driven from his mind. Half a mile away stood the voanium tower that had been haunting his visions for so long; its purpose was still unclear, though. There were no other structures around it, and it seemed to be surrounded by some kind of garden.

"Hey," he called to the guard walking in front of him, another Aisu-jin with pale red skin. "Why the hell do you guys have a tower made of voanium? Voanium's not fit to build with."

"It's not made of voanium, you stupid monkey," the guard grunted. "It's just decorated with the stuff. It's a monument to Queen Chill, King Kold's late wife. She loved voanium jewelry and decorations."

"That's why you wanted voanium? To make jewelry for your queen?" Okarana asked in surprise. While races across the galaxy had done far crazier things for their royalty, how much jewelry did one female need?

"Of course not! She'd just take the pieces she liked best. The rest was forged into other things and/or traded," the guard rolled his eyes at the foolish questions.

"Enough chit-chat, monkeys – this isn't a guided tour!" another guard barked from behind them, and they fell silent as they were marched toward an armored vehicle that was waiting a hundred feet away. Bardock resumed his examination of his surroundings as subtly as he could, though it looked like nearly every other space port he had ever seen. Once they were in the vehicle, they were chained to their seats, which made the injuries in Bardock's arms, chest and back flare with renewed pain. He could only hope that when an opportunity finally presented itself, they would be in good enough shape to take advantage of it. As things currently stood, any attempt at escape could only result in their deaths.

As the vehicle rolled down the road toward whatever prison they were being taken to, Bardock looked out the small window beside him and saw the voanium-covered tower fading into the distance. His guts gave an unpleasant squirm as his vision began to stir again. The battle with Frieza was coming, and soon; he only prayed his son and their prince were ready for it. He blinked for a moment as a twinge of pain hit him; the vision of battle flickered in front of his eyes just for a moment – but then it suddenly filled with a bright, golden light, and he couldn't see anything beyond it.

To Be Continued. . .