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| Undiscovered Territory | ||||||||||||||||||
| PROLOGUE:� An Exercise in Apathy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Antennae drooped in front of his eyes, almost forlornly, he stared at the cards in his hands.� Or so it would appear to any of his table mates or anyone else who happened to be walking by.� He didn't actually see the cards.� His body was present, but his mind was floating about, disinterested with its task. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Was such a thing wrong?� He could not stop himself from wondering that.� It certainly felt wrong.� After all, everyone had endured so much hardship, had overcome such a great deal, that happiness should be abound, anymore.� And for a while it had been.� He had been happy, with not a worry in the world.� At least not a serious one.� Not since . . . | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Dende?" | ||||||||||||||||||
| He jumped at the sound of his name, and jerked his head up.� On his left at the circular table, his younger brother Scargo was looking at him strangely, a wrinkle formed between his eyes.� A quick glance showed Dende that his other two table mates were giving him similar stares, and he felt an embarrassed flush creep onto his cheeks.� "I'm sorry.� What?" | ||||||||||||||||||
| "How many cards do you want?"� Scargo's voice held the air of having been repeated several times, its owner mildly annoyed by the lack of an answer. | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Oh . . ."� Dende quickly studied his hand, then plucked a pair of cards from it and slid them face down toward his brother.� "Two, please." | ||||||||||||||||||
| He swept up the cards as soon as they were dealt to him, free to once again let his mind wander, if only while his table mates took their turns.� Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, he suppressed a sigh of boredom. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The game in itself was not boring.� Dende had quite enjoyed it, in fact, when he'd first learned how to play.� It was an Earth game, something so foreign that it had fascinated him, as well as many of the other children.� They'd all been taught it during their stay on that planet.� Poker, the game was called, though nobody seemed to know why.� He had asked both Kuririn and Gohan, and neither of his Earthling friends had been able to tell him. | ||||||||||||||||||
| A frown tugged at the corners of his lips.� That was part of his unhappiness right there; he missed them, especially Gohan.� While Kuririn was certainly one of the nicest people that Dende had ever met, he was also a grownup, and Dende usually gravitated toward those around his own age.� The equivalent of his own age, anyway; the Earthlings' year was almost three times as long as that of his people, so the numbers could get a little skewed. | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Hello?� Dende?� Do you call?" | ||||||||||||||||||
| He blinked.� "Hmm?� Oh.� No, I fold," he said, laying his hand facedown on the table. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dende bowed his head in what he was quite sure was an obvious attempt to hide his boredom while his brother and other table mates completed the hand.� He idly let his eyes wander to one side, watching the adults scrubbing the outside walls of houses or cultivating the fields of Ajisa plants.� And then his gaze shifted to the other side, watching groups of older children involved in their own card games.� Not that all of them were still considered children.� Some had recently attained adulthood, but remained fascinated with this bit of Earth culture. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sighing, he looked up again as Scargo crowed in triumph and gathered up the cards (apparently, gambling was strongly associated with such games, but the elders disapproved of such a practice, so nothing was ever wagered). | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Three in a row!" Scargo chirped.� "I'm having a really good day!" | ||||||||||||||||||
| "You guys can just deal me out for the rest of the day," Dende said, turning in his seat. | ||||||||||||||||||
| "What's wrong, Dende?� You're not sore about losing are you?" one of his other table mates asked. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dende shook his head.� "No, I just feel like going for a walk." | ||||||||||||||||||
| With that, he hopped to his feet and began his trek through the village.� He passed by a table of near-adults, but stopped suddenly as he felt a pair of eyes watching him from behind.� Hesitantly, he looked over his shoulder.� The eyes slid back to focus once more on the game, slowly, as though their owner did not care that he'd been caught observing.� Dende suppressed a shudder, and continued walking. | ||||||||||||||||||
| He was quite sure that he was being silly.� The one who had been looking at him, Chiton, was a little creepy, but had never caused any trouble.� Somewhat short and rather underdeveloped-looking for a warrior class, Chiton certainly did not cut a very imposing figure.� Not until one looked at his eyes, at least.� They always seemed flat and calculating, and that feature, combined with his quiet manner, unnerved many people.� Thus most tended to avoid him, and Dende sensed that he preferred things that way. | ||||||||||||||||||
| It wasn't until Dende left the village that he realized his destination.� Unconsciously, he'd been heading toward his favourite thinking spot:� a high bluff where he could see for many miles.� He'd found that he was going there quite frequently anymore, just to escape the monotony of his village. | ||||||||||||||||||
| He stopped at the edge of the bluff, mild gusts of wind flapping his clothing and toying with his antennae, and took in the landscape around him.� The view really was quite beautiful, showing off great grass-topped pillars and deep, narrow canyons.� Even the wide plains of grass were lovely, interrupted by the occasional stream or lake.� Everything looked exactly as it had on Old Nameksei before it had been destroyed. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Dende flopped into a sitting position and rested with his chin in one palm, wondering once more why he just couldn't be happy. | ||||||||||||||||||
| * * * | ||||||||||||||||||
| � | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Preliminary orbit completed.� Atmospheric scans indicate that atmosphere consists of seventy-six percent nitrogen, twenty-two percent oxygen, and trace amounts of other gases.� Breathable to most life forms.� Surface scans show the presence of numerous large bodies of water . . ." | ||||||||||||||||||
| The voice was hollow and mechanical, quite fitting for having originated from a computer.� It continued to list off various statistics of what could be determined from space and would do so until it completed the results of the survey. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Arms crossed, the ship's commander stared out the large front window at the planet before him.� It was smaller than average, and mostly green under its swirling white clouds, and it failed entirely to impress him.� Of course he would get stuck with the worst scouting assignments. | ||||||||||||||||||
| It had been a piece of particularly rotten luck.� His ship had made a stop on planet Nenpi for refuelling on its way back to the base when the new orders had been relayed by his superiors via holographic recording.� A disturbance had been located on the fringes of sector 5487EF, and since his had been the nearest scout ship, it was to investigate the problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Despite his annoyance at this command, he had been rather surprised to find out that the source of the disturbance was actually a planet.� A planet which, by all records, did not exist a year and a half ago.� The amusement factor had worn off quickly, however.� Now it was just like any other job. | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Looks like this one might be promising, yes?" one of his underlings asked. | ||||||||||||||||||
| The commander did not deign to acknowledge the man with a glance.� "It rather seems so."� Which was the truth, however unfortunate he considered that to be.� He flicked his gaze toward the pilot.� "Scan the surface for a flat area and make landing preparations.� We might as well get this over with." | ||||||||||||||||||
| "Yes, Commander."� The pilot nodded, and put himself to task. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Forcefully, the commander suppressed an irritated sigh.� Yet another degrading assignment for a scout in the Kold Empire. | ||||||||||||||||||
| He kept his eyes fixed ahead as his ship made its final approach to the planet. | ||||||||||||||||||
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