The thrumming noises of the engines didn't bother Otogi at all. After so many years of space travel, he was used to every aspect of it (except for the launch which never failed to make him nauseous, much to his colleagues' hilarity). The Time Wizard was a small ship, designed and build for speed, and didn't offer much practical comfort or room. Otogi reclined in his chair. Fortunately, the designers/builders of the Time Wizard hadn't hold back on the chairs, much to Otogi's joy; the fabric was pliant and adjusting to body weight and height, offering a relaxing comfort that made space flight so much more bearable. He'd worked on other ships, always resulting in hideous backaches and other physical discomfort. Otogi knew that Jounouchi, his team leader, had helped designing The Time Wizard. He was probably the one behind the obvious luxury of the chairs, seeing how tall he was, not to mention his friend Honda. Otogi was slightly smaller, but that didn't mean he wasn't appreciating what he was offered. He couldn't count the hours he had napped in this chair, and feeling very rested once he opened his eyes again.
The only one taking a nap now, was Honda. The weapons specialist was surprisingly enough a light sleeper, despite his loud snoring and mumbling. Both Jounouchi and Otogi ignored him. Jounouchi sat in front, piloting the ship and calculating the course back to Altana. It wasn't that unusual for Jounouchi to be silent - despite his brash behavior and his big mouth, he had his moments of intelligent contemplation - and so Otogi used the silence (ever so often distorted by Honda's snoring) to continue his work. The armrest of the chair was equipped with a fairly large vidscreen and he was tapping at it, arranging and compiling all the information he had recovered at Wremmoor. He was searching databases, going through all his networks and contacts, in his hunt for the mysterious Ishtar and his five million genz bounty.
"Any results?" Jounouchi asked, breaking the silence. An impressive control panel was in front of him, a few lights blinking. The trajectory home had already been calculated and plotted, the ship was running on autopilot. Jounouchi liked to tinker with all the buttons and handles, but he had been completely lost in thoughts. Out of sheer curiosity, Otogi liked to wonder what his team leader was thinking of in those rare moments - probably longing for Mai - but they didn't spend much time together outside of work. They were colleagues yes, friends perhaps, but not very good friends. Honda had known Jounouchi for much longer, but even he had admitted that his friend had depths and secrets to him that he didn't know about.
"Four hits, so far," Otogi answered. "Based on the description, I'd say it's not bad."
"Four hits only?" Honda yawned. He stretched in his chair, lifting his arms over his head. "From that so-called description I figured you'd have millions."
"I set the parameters for young people," Otogi said, pronouncing his words as if he was talking to a dimwitted child. "White hair is an exceptionally rare trait for a young person, and my contacts were very sure it was a young man, not an elderly one."
Honda crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Fine, fine," he grunted. He didn't like Otogi's natural-born sense of superiority. "Show us."
Otogi tapped a few commands to share the images with the others. Jounouchi and Honda pulled up their vidscreens, fingers operating the electronics with a familiar routine. Otogi waited until they were ready, and patched the images through. He called out the names matching the person in the picture, even though the name was visible in the right upper corner.
"And at last, one Bakura Ryou."
"A high school kid with a penchant for Earth studies," Jounouchi snorted. "This one scores massive points on the nerd-meter!"
"Says the one who almost failed high school," Honda said airily. Jounouchi shook his fist at him, hanging out of his chair.
"Says the one who wanted to make a career as a janitor!"
"Boys, boys," Otogi tsk-ed at them. "Keep calm, we're in the middle of space, here."
"Don't fret, dice boy, everything's set on automatic." Honda shifted in his chair, sulking.
Otogi ignored the nickname he abhorred so much and continued to study the images.
"What are you thinking, oh master strategist?" Jounouchi swiveled his chair around, so all three were facing each other. Honda seemed to sulk, but Otogi had noticed the sharp look in his eyes. Honda was paying attention, and puzzling the pieces together in his own mind. Nobody in the bounty hunting business survived for long if the only thing you could do was to follow orders. You needed all your wits and intellect, and even though Otogi was loath to admit, even Honda was more than intelligent enough to realize this.
"If anyone of these four is the victim, then we have to find out why Ishtar was interested in him. He must've had something that was important, or had some kind of leverage; I don't see Ishtar nabbing people just for fun or to ask for random. It's not his modus operandi."
"We don't know about his financial resources," Honda said. "Maybe this is the way he finances his huge ship and supplies?"
"You could be onto something." Jounouchi looked pensive. "We don't know where he gets his money from, especially when operating a cargo ship without transporting cargo."
"I know," Otogi said, "I've investigated it myself, remember? I just don't think Ishtar would go around kidnapping people at random. And if he's been around for as long as we think he is, he would've had to kidnap many people to keep the cash flowing."
"Are any of these people rich? High-profiled?"
Honda brushed at the picture of Bakura Ryou. "A high school kid certainly wouldn't be my first choice."
"His family might be rich. We have to do a background check on these people."
"I'm on it, boss," Otogi grinned. "How long before we arrive at Altana?"
"A couple of hours still. Work your magic, Otogi. I want to present a report as complete as possible to Kaiba."
Bakura remembered climbing into the bed with Marik just to spite the other, but he hadn't thought he would actually fall asleep. He opened his eyes and blinked. He stared at the ceiling and it took him a few seconds to realize what had happened. Fuck. He felt extremely vulnerable when asleep, especially around another One. Bakura rolled onto his side and immediately his hands went to his back, pulling a small, black device from his belt. He hadn't even undressed; there was no need for it. Quickly, he looked at the display and checked the stats; it was his synthfuser, an intricate piece of equipment that simply kept him in existence, keeping his body grounded in this universe, this timeline, this life. Fuck. His vitals had been low and he hadn't noticed. He had to hand it to Marik, it was the only thing he was grateful for; without the synthfuser every One would be dead a long, long time ago. Bakura grimaced at the thought of being grateful for one of Marik's inventions, but it was simply the truth.
Stumbling and fumbling, Bakura made his way over to the cockpit of the October. Not to his surprise, he saw both Marik and Malik sitting at their respective stations. The thief was annoyed that apparently he had slept even longer than the others, making him feel even more vulnerable. Damn body and its stupid needs!
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Marik said.
"Morning," Bakura mumbled in return. He had no idea of the time, but it wasn't like space had its own sunset. Even if he had been able to look outside, he would see nothing but the vast emptiness of space, with stars and nebulas; a dream for most people, a common view for Bakura. He didn't care for twinkling stars and unknown galaxies. He walked over to Marik and wrapped his arms around him. "Did you sleep well too, my love?"
"Quit it," Marik snapped back and pushed Bakura away. "Make yourself useful. Stop bothering me."
"Tsk tsk, that's no way to greet the one you love." Bakura turned around, just in time to catch Malik hiding a chuckle behind his hand. So, he found this all pretty amusing, didn't he? Stupid kid. The thief refrained from sighing in annoyance, as he was reminded on the heavy weight on his arm. The wristlock was still firmly in place, distorting his powers. He really had to get rid of it, and fast. "How are you suggesting I make myself useful?"
"Just sit down and shut the fuck up," Marik growled. "You're nothing but trouble, Bakura."
"So why did you force me to tag along?" Bakura complained. "You could've just left me on Wremmoor, you know!"
"You were attacking my Other, and still you think I would've left you alone?"
"Aw, come on! People get robbed everywhere, every time. It's his fault for wearing gold in public!"
"I was using my alterfactor," Malik said, sounding hurt. "You weren't supposed to see through it!"
"Well yeah, I am the King of Thieves, of course I see right through it!"
"Shut up the both of you!" Marik's voice was so loud that both Malik and Bakura were startled, effectively shutting up. With an angry look on his face, Malik concentrated on whatever computer program that was running on his vidscreen, and Bakura, a little bit haughty, went to sit down in one of the free chairs. The thief curled himself up, but his eyes never left Malik. He could see how the pent-up anger was eating at the boy, and he had no way of unleashing all that anger. Bakura's lips wore just a hint of a grin. Nothing ever changed, indeed. Marik still hated loud noises, and he still kept his Other on the edge of an explosion of anger. It was what sustained Marik's own presence - raw anger and hatred, build up through the years, centuries, eons.
Strangely enough, the silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable at all. It was a familiar silence, as Marik never spoke much and Malik wasn't talkative either. Bakura reclined into the chair, his mind overflowing with plans and new strategies. The maddening weight of the wristlock drifted into the background as he was sifting through his options, weighing pros and cons, until the silence was interrupted by -
"Marik, the scanners are picking up a familiar presence," Malik said. "It looks like we have found ourselves an Other."
"What? Who?" Both Marik and Bakura responded so violently that Malik was taken aback.
"I can't tell yet, I'll have to send in the bots."
"Then send them to do their work," Marik snarled. Bakura frowned. He got up from his chair and closed the distance between himself and Malik, who was frantically typing at his keyboard, his fingers so fast that even Bakura couldn't follow his movements.
"Bots?" he asked.
"Little spying programs," Malik explained. "I wrote them myself. I can send them to crawl all over the ICDR without being traced. That's how I found out that KaibaCorp. was on our ass."
The Intergalaxy Criminal Database Records was exactly what it said: a database holding every record, every file, every little scrap of information on registered criminals throughout the entire galaxy. No civilian had access to ICDR, only authorities, and their access was gradually restricted, certainly when it came to the most toughest and ruthless criminals. The levels of access to ICDR was a whole bureaucratic trap on its own, and people liked to whisper that only KaibaCorp. had been granted full view. Of course, people also liked to gossip that KaibaCorp. had designed ICDR just to keep track of everyone and everything.
"It turns out to be a registration number for a Bakura," Malik said, surprise in his voice.
"What? I'm not a registered civilian!"
"Bakura Ryou," Malik read out aloud.
"Where did he register?" Marik's voice was gruff.
"Fuck," Malik said.
"Did he register to fuck?" Bakura widened his eyes.
"No, you moron. He registered at planet Kaiba."
"Altana," Marik explained. "We don't want to be there."
The thief growled. Of course he knew what planet Kaiba was, of course he knew what kind of trouble it entailed. Bakura Ryou… so that was the name of his Other in this time, right? He almost wanted to rub his hands in sheer glee, if he hadn't been hindered by that stupid wristlock. This changed his plans considerably, but not for the worse. Oh no, he could work with this perfectly.
A shrill beeping noise interrupted his train of thoughts.
"It seems we are very lucky today," Marik grinned ruthlessly as he pulled up a vidscreen and stared at the displayed trajectory. "The LAV-9739 has docked at Vertregg 12."
"LAV what?"
"Light Air Vessel," Marik said. "Really Bakura, you should recognize the Pharaoh's ship by its tag number now."
Bakura snorted. "Typically him to dock at a planet that's known for its bureaucracy. He should feel right at home."
"Could he have found his Other?" Malik's voice held a little bit of excitement. Bakura couldn't help it; both anxiety and excitement were flowing through his body as well. If he had found his Other, and the Pharaoh was around with his Other, then they'd be all together since a very long time, and he knew what that meant, inevitably. He had to put his plans much faster into motion than he anticipated, but he had always kept margins for surprises like this.
"I don't know." Marik rested his head on his hand. "However, from the three of us, the Pharaoh has always been the most accurate in pinpointing the location of his Other, so we might as well presume he found him on Vertregg 12."
"Then we have to find Ryou," Bakura said. "You know what this means, Marik!" He didn't fail to notice the look on Malik's face. The boy didn't know about anything, didn't know about the importance of all of it. It was Marik's fault to keep everything from him, but Bakura wasn't about to shed a light and answer all the unspoken questions, hanging in the air.
"Don't be stupid." Marik showed a lopsided grin. "I'm not going to Altana, Bakura. You can travel there yourself and see how much you like captivity there. I'm not going to save you."
"Fine." Bakura huffed. "You were going to dump me at the nearest spaceport anyway. I'll find my way back to Altana… but I'm not responsible for everything that happens because you're such a lazy fucking ass!"
"An ass about what? What's going on?" Malik had finally mustered up the courage to ask out loud.
"It's none of your business," Marik cut him short. Bakura laughed out loud, a short, deep bark. Malik frowned and glared at the same time, contorting his face.
"I want to know what this is about! You can't keep telling me it's 'none of my business'!"
"I can, and I will!" Marik's pupil-less eyes fixed on Malik's, and as usual, the younger one cowered. No one was able to stay calm when being transfixed by Marik's creepy eyes. "Plot a course to the nearest spaceport and ask permission to dock. Get to it!"
As a last act of defiance, Malik muttered some curse words under his breath, and sat down slowly, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Marik focused his attention back on Bakura, and the thief held up his hands in defense.
"Before you cast me out, you're not going to forget about this little thing, are you?" He shook his arm with the wristlock for good measure.
"Fucking hell, Bakura, you're such a fucking bother." Marik took a step forward and he typed in a code at the bottom of the lock. With a soft hiss, the wristlock parted and Bakura shook it off quickly, as if being stung. The device fell with a thud on the floor, harmless. Groaning, Bakura started massaging his wrist, the blood flowing freely again. His skin tingled with prickly sensations, as if a thousand thick needles were injected all at once.
"And my coat," he said.
"And your coat," Marik repeated. "Malik has put it somewhere. Ask him." He turned around and took his seat again, dismissing both Bakura and Malik as soon as he was behind the controls. Bakura kneaded his wrist, moving his hand in every direction. He wasn't able to wipe off the smirk of his face. Marik had just given him carte blanche without realizing it. Oh, he was going to pay dearly for humiliating the Thief King. Very dearly.
"I am so glad that you came to visit me." Atemu's voice was suave, a little lower than usual. He'd truly been surprised when Yuugi had showed up at the space port; he figured that his little Other needed more time to get used to the changes in his life. Yuugi failed to see the new currents around him, but the girl he was with, Anzu, had a very sharp insight. Atemu needed to get between those two before he could slowly, but surely, pry Yuugi away from her. He didn't like it, it wasn't his intention to hurt people, to hurt Anzu, but some collateral damage was hardly evitable. The end always justified the means… in the end.
Yuugi eyed the interior of the ship. The Datura was a Light Air Vessel, which meant it was primarily build for speed and short distance travel. He had expected it to be much larger, and much more… well, filled with electronics. He was almost disappointed at the small cockpit, with barely enough room to seat two, the pilot and the co-pilot. Still, he was impressed - he had never been inside a spaceship before, he had never left Vertregg 12 in his entire life. Why would he? Everyone he knew and cared for was here, and he had his job and social obligations here. Space travel was out of his league; not that he had given it much thought. His life was the GameShop, Anzu and his grandfather.
"Wow," he said. Yuugi put his hand on the control panel and eyed the screens, all blackened out as the engine wasn't running. "You sit here, right?"
"When I am piloting the vessel, yes." Atemu was behind Yuugi in the small cockpit, there wasn't room for anyone -or anything- else. Yuugi shivered a little, though it wasn't cold. Atemu was so close he was breathing down Yuugi's neck.
"And you do this all alone?"
"I mostly travel alone, yes."
"Amazing. I would never understand all this stuff." Yuugi's fingers trailed past a few buttons.
"It is not that hard, aib.. Yuugi. It is quite simple, actually. Once you start the engine, you can go wherever you want. The only difficulty is plotting the route, that can be a hassle, yes. You do have to understand your mathematics."
"I failed mathematics all the time," Yuugi said, sullenly.
"Well, there are elaborated programs available on the software market that only need to be fed the coordinates and they will plot the route for you," Atemu said. "I never made use of them, but I have been told they work very well for people who do not have much affinity with mathematics."
"You talk so formally," Yuugi said and he wanted to giggle. Of all the things to do, laughing at another person because of a different speech pattern wouldn't be the wisest move. Besides, he heard enough rough language from the customers all day, it was nearly heaven to hear someone talking politely. "I have to ask you something, though. May I?" he quickly continued.
"You may ask," Atemu said.
"Every so often, when you're pronouncing my name… it almost sounds like you want to say something else, before you say my name. Is there something… I mean, it's not that my name is some kind of difficulty, is it?"
"You are very observant," Atemu said, closing the very small distance between them. Now there wasn't a millimeter of space left between them, and Yuugi's cheeks started to color. He didn't feel threatened, but his heart started to beat in his chest. Loudly. "I am sorry if I offended you, Yuugi. It is a habit from another culture I picked up somewhere, and I cannot seem to shake it off. I have to correct myself from time to time."
"Ah, I see." Yuugi was slightly confused, but he took Atemu's answer for the truth, seeing no reason why he should doubt the other. A little nervous, he asked: "Show me more?"
"But of course." Atemu took a step back and turned around to leave the cockpit. Yuugi followed him, releasing a gust of breath. "This is the pantry."
Yuugi took a look inside. Nothing more than a few cabinets and the smallest sink he had ever seen.
"How do you cook? I don't see any kitchen appliances."
"I usually do not eat on board of my ship," Atemu chuckled softly. "But when I do, there is a hot plate in the upper right cabinet. I simply plug it in and let it heat up."
"You have to be very practical," Yuugi nodded. "There's not much room aboard, and you have to use every inch of space wisely."
"You are correct. I have to do with the basic functions, but there is not much more I require."
"I wouldn't know what to do without all my stuff," Yuugi murmured. There wasn't even a chair or at able in the mini-pantry. He knew that most spaceports housed hotels or any other cheap accommodations for travelers, offering food, beds and a bath for reasonable prices. He simply had assumed that the majority of the spaceships disposed over their own kitchen and bathrooms; he should've known better. There was only so much junk you could take on board. Still, it fascinated him and he wanted to know more.
The machine room of the Datura was the largest room, housing the engine and the proton cell packs required to keep the ship fueled and moving once in space. Yuugi eyed the huge equipment, not understanding which device did what, but thoroughly impressed. At last, he was shown Atemu's bedroom.
"So that's why you didn't need a place to stay, you sleep on board of your ship." Yuugi patted the fairly large bed and touched the material of the bed linens. He frowned. "Isn't that illegal, though?"
"It is true that according to regulations, you are supposed to spend your night at an accommodation provided by the spaceport, not on your ship. It is tolerated, though, not truly enforced. It is a matter of economics - they rather want you to spend your money on a bed in a hotel than staying on board. They will not be able to make money off of you if you stay on your ship."
"How much do you travel around?" Yuugi was curious. The bedroom was impersonal; the G-forces would throw around any kind of picture or personal knick-knack. Everything was bolted down. The only personal touch was the scent lingering in the room; quite exotic, like cinnamon and warm sun, if that was possible.
"A lot." Atemu was getting a little fed up with this small talk. It wasn't Yuugi's fault - he didn't know what was going on, he was simply interested in his new 'friend'. Perhaps the time had come, sooner than he thought, to start divulging the truth, little by little. "I see you are very interested, Yuugi. Space travel is a lot different than serving customers in your quaint game shop. Is that how you picture your life? Why do you not come with me?"
"Wh-what?" Yuugi was sure he didn't hear it right. Was Atemu asking him to come along? Why? "I just can't drop everything and leave!"
"Why not?" Atemu sat down on the bed, his face open with a warm smile on his lips. The smile didn't reach his eyes, though. Yuugi was so shocked by his earlier question that he didn't notice the narrow, harsh lines around the crimson red eyes, framed by long, dark lashes.
"I have the game shop to attend to. I can't abandon my grandfather, I can't just leave the house, I can't…! Anzu…"
"You will see your fiancée again," Atemu said. "I am not asking you to abandon your friends and family. That is a sacrifice I would never expect from anyone. Here, take this."
He rummaged through the upper drawer of the small nightstand and pulled out a round, flat device with a small screen and a few buttons integrated in the display.
"What is it?"
"This keeps track of the ship. I can program it so it will keep track of the Datura. Anzu will be able to see where we are, all the time, everywhere."
"I'm not sure," Yuugi bit his lip. "I'm not sure she's going to like it."
I know she's not going to like it. Atemu handed the tracking device to Yuugi. "I am not asking you to leave immediately, or to leave for years. It would be a chance of a lifetime, Yuugi, to see more of the galaxy instead of this suffocating planet. I am offering you an opportunity, no strings attached, no catch, no hidden agenda."
"Why?" Yuugi said, disbelief written all over his face. "I b-barely know you.."
"You trusted me enough to take me home and offer dinner," Atemu said. "You even offered me a place to stay. You helped me recover my name. I just want to return the favor to you. I always repay my debts."
"You're not in any kind of debt." Yuugi blushed.
"You are too kind for this world." Atemu kept his smile up. He was growing fond of his Other already. "Think about it, Yuugi. It would only be for a few days. Allow me to do something in return for your kindness."
"Yes, I have to think about it," Yuugi nodded vigorously. "And I have to ask grandfather and Anzu…"
"You are strong, Yuugi. You can make your own decisions."
"I… still would like their permission," Yuugi said. "I don't want them to think I'm just running away with you."
Atemu refrained from answering and simply shifted his position on the bed, crossing his legs. But that's exactly what you're going to do, aibou.
Chapter 7 | Chapter 9