The bridge deck of the Ryo-Ohki was nearly entirely dark, with
only a single circle of light standing out in the shadows. Six figures
sat there cross-legged on the floor, gazing across at each other
intently in the almost complete silence.
Ryouko stared at her hand for a moment, as if she could change
the cards in it by the force of her will alone before she slapped them
down with a softly muttered curse. "I cannot believe this is
happening," she grumbled.
With an impish little smile on her face Ayeka raked in the
large pile of credits. "I warned you," she said with a casual shrug,
"I do not bluff."
"You have some interesting hidden depths," Kiyone noted with a
soft sigh. She hadn't been fully cleared out just yet, but considering
the card playing capabilities Ryouko usually showed, plus Ayeka's
newly revealed gift for gambling, she thought it was only going to be
a matter of time.
"I would have warned you," Funaho said with a laugh, "if you
had asked." She and Misaki had both decided to stay out of the game,
sensing there were sharks in the water.
"I'm out," Mihoshi sniffled. She had foolishly bet against
Ayeka twice, pretty much clearing out her available funds.
"If it helps any," Ayeka smiled, "there's a better gambler
than I am out there."
"You have got to be kidding," Washu blinked. The only reason
she was still in the game was due to her computer-like mind, and even
that wasn't saving her.
"My friend Rhione is even better at this than I am," Ayeka
chuckled.
"Then I'm glad we didn't have her on this ship too," Yume
sighed before throwing in the towel, "I'm out."
"One more hand so that I can try to get some revenge?" Ryouko
looked across at Ayeka with a dangerous twinkle in her eye.
"Lets," Ayeka nodded regally, "though you'll only be adding on
to my winnings." She looked over at Kiyone, "You in?"
"What the hell," Kiyone shrugged, "I'm in."
"Mom?" Ryouko looked over at Washu curiously. Her mother
nodded resignedly and Ryouko grinned over at Ayeka, "Deal the cards."
Over on their companion ship the Swordbreaker Galaxy Police
officer Mitsuki was having a restless night. Adjusting to another
ship's clock could be difficult, especially now with their trying to
match up with the day rotations of the Earth when they arrived. With a
sigh she got out of bed and dressed, deciding to go for a walk.
'This ship is sparsely populated, really,' Mitsuki soon noted.
With the advanced systems that Washu had installed, it could very
nearly fly itself. And looking out the viewports wasn't particularly
enjoyable, as she could only see the blackness of hyperspace.
"Hey, Nicole," Mitsuki called out, finally seeing a familiar
face.
"Ms. Mitsuki," the pink haired boy turned around to nod to her
cheerfully. "How are you doing?" he asked.
"A little bored, honestly," Mitsuki admitted. She looked over
at him curiously as they fell into step, "So what's the story with
Ruri?"
"Ruri-chan," Nicole's eyes got big, throbbing hearts in them.
"Eeep," Mitsuki took a cautious half step away.
"She, Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley were all rescued a few
years ago from a band of slavers," Nicole explained, "who were
altering their captives to sell on the black market."
"Altered?" Mitsuki repeated questioningly.
"Hmm," Nicole nodded, "Ruri was changed to be able to
interface with any ship, at will. She doesn't even need a control
panel to fly the ship."
"And Ayanami?" Mitsuki asked.
"They started the same process on her, but never fully
completed it," Nicole answered, "and Langley was lucky that they
hadn't started in on her yet. Minagi lead that rescue mission
personally, she was the one who got the captives out, and all three of
them are fiercely loyal to her."
Mitsuki nodded to herself thoughtfully, having seen how the
three of them had crisply obeyed all Minagi's commands, working
together like a team. "Didn't Manticore try to return the captives to
their families?" she asked him quietly.
"They did send most of the people the slavers took back home,
but the three of them asked to stay on with the fleet," Nicole smiled.
"When they found out that Minagi would be commanding the Swordbreaker,
all three put their transfer requests in the very same day," he added
cheerfully.
"A interesting little band on this ship," Mitsuki admitted.
"One of the best in the fleet," Nicole said proudly.
They reached the ship's galley, and Mitsuki just had to smile
at the long line-up waiting for some of Sasami's cooking. She turned
to Nicole, "You mind if I grab a midnight snack?"
Nicole laughed, "No problem. I'll see you later."
'Nice kid,' Mitsuki though as he walked away with a jaunty
step. 'If only his gender matched the name,' she grinned, 'Nicole
would have a chance.'
"Hello, Mitsuki," she heard someone call out. She turned in
surprise to see Rhione sitting at one of the dining tables, eating a
bowl of pasta.
"Rhione," Mitsuki blinked, "what are you doing here?"
The noble lady gave her a enigmatic little smile, "We couldn't
let Funaho and Misaki travel unattended, so I volunteered to come
along." Rhione shrugged slightly, "And I was curious about seeing this
planet Dirt, as well."
"Earth," Mitsuki corrected her gently.
"Dirt, Earth, whichever," Rhione shrugged, but there was a
teasing lilt to her voice.
"Just don't do that when we get to the planet," Mitsuki
chuckled. She smiled, "Would you mind if I join you?"
Rhione gestured to the chair opposite of her, "Be my guest."
Mitsuki hesitated, not quite sure how to ask what she wanted
to. She looked over at her intently, "You are aware this could be
dangerous, correct?"
"Of course I know," Rhione said to her calmly. "But it's an
manageable danger. Besides, considering the luck and skill that Ryouko
and the others have shown, I think it's an acceptable gamble," she
finished.
Mitsuki looked across the table at her, taking in her almost
unreadable poker-face. "You don't play cards, do you?" she asked.
"Oh, I dabble," Rhione said with an airy wave of her hand.
From the next table over Ruri observed their interaction
before calmly stating, "Idiots."
Asuka sighed softly, digging into her food. "You know how
unnerving that can be to people," she pointed out, "so why do you do
it?"
Ruri looked thoughtful before answering entirely deadpan,
"Because it's fun?"
"She's got you there," Rei pointed out softly.
"Don't you start," Asuka gave her a look. Both girls gave her
matching cool looks, making her groan out, "How did I get stuck with
you two?"
"Just lucky, I guess," Ruri smiled slightly.
Rhione shook her head before turning back to Mitsuki, "You
know, I think I like her."
"An interesting group of people," Mitsuki agreed. 'I wonder if
I fit in with this rag-tag bunch, too?' she wondered, 'And if so, what
does that say about me?'
Back on the Ryo-Ohki, Ryouko looked at her hand, then over to
the calmly smiling Ayeka, trying to read what was behind that gaze.
Washu had already folded, as had Kiyone, which just left her and Ayeka
trying to win it all.
"Match, raise or call," Ayeka said simply.
Ryouko looked down at her hand, knowing that it was a good
hand. Any other player, and she would have felt safe with it. But
Ayeka had already shown she was very good with the cards, and she
couldn't rest on her laurels.
"I'll match your credits," Ryouko tossed the credit chips in,
then a few more, "and I'll raise you another hundred."
Ayeka nodded thoughtfully. She dealt Ryouko then herself
another card each, and then added to the massive pile of credits. She
studied her hand, then looked up to meet Ryouko's eyes. "I call," she
said to her simply.
"Queen's court," Ryouko lay out her cards with a smile, "or
what some people like to call the empress' hand."
"Not bad," Ayeka agreed, "but not quite good enough." She lay
her own hand out with a smile, "The Kings's court beats the Queen's, I
think."
Ryouko looked at her cards, then at Ayeka's. "Well, damn," she
said mildly. She tossed Ayeka a grin, "I can't wait until you sit in
on our games on the Washu's Revenge." She smile became positively
evil, "They'll never know what hit 'em."
Ayeka grinned back, "I can hardly wait."
"M'love, you're dangerous," Ryouko added with a grin. They got
up off the floor together, leaving the other gamblers laying there to
sleep it off.
"Do you really think we should have broke out the sake?" Ayeka
looked over at Mihoshi and Kiyone, who were both out cold leaning on
each other.
"We still have at least a day before we reach Earth," Ryouko
said with a smile, "plenty of time for them to recover."
"Do you think they'll be trouble once we get to Earth?" Ayeka
asked Ryouko softly as they walked down the hallway together.
"I hope there won't be," Ryouko said as they reached their
suite, "but I'm going to be prepared for it if it comes." She keyed
their door open, and the two walked inside.
"We know those cloaked ships came from there," Ayeka said with
a sigh, "even if we don't know who, exactly, sent them."
"We'll find out," Ryouko reassured her. She looked up,
"Ryo-Ohki, any messages?"
"Myah!" the ship answered cheerfully.
"Good," Ryouko nodded, "give us a wake-up call once we hit
morning, ship's time."
"Myah, myah! Myah," Ryo-Ohki said cheerfully.
"I have got to learn how to speak Cabbit," Ayeka muttered.
"She'll wake us up come morning," Ryouko explained. "Do you
want to try to get some sleep, or..." she trailed off suggestively.
"You're insatiable," Ayeka laughed good naturedly.
"Me? I'm not the one who woke me up for a quickie," Ryouko
protested.
A wicked chuckle was all the answer she got.
To be continued...
Author's Note: the card game they crew of Ryo-Ohki are playing is
Poker, more or less. I still don't know where the idea of Ayeka being
a card-shark came from, but I kind of like it.
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