hide?"
<br />
<br />
Vegeta dropped into the seat next to her and called up the star maps of the surrounding region on a separate screen. "There's a gas mist back there with a few chunks in it. Doesn't seem to be harmless ..."
<br />
"Then let's go." Bulma glanced briefly at the coordinates, took them over and pushed the controller forward. The little spaceship jumped.
<br />"What are the Pheleses doing? Are they after us?"
<br />
"Hmm ..." Vegeta leaned lower over the console. "Yes ... yes, they have actually changed course and are following us."
<br />
<br />
Bulma cursed and gave even more energy to the drive. They shot towards the reddish mist.
<br />
"You are catching up!" warned Vegeta.
<br />
"I can't go any faster," Bulma grunted. "This ship is built for long-haul flights, not for racing."
<br />
<br />
Fortunately, they had reached the first foothills of the red gas mist and were submerged in it. When you were in the middle of it you hardly noticed that it was a fog, because the concentration of the gases was really very low. Much clearer than the faint streaks that flitted across the screen from time to time were the asteroids, which ranged from fist-sized to mountain-sized chunks and the further they penetrated into the fog, the closer they stood.
<br />
<br />
Bulma screwed up her eyes and her hands danced over the controls.<br />
Vegeta was sweating on his forehead and he didn't dare utter a tone so as not to break her concentration. His eyes slid from Bulma's slender hands to the screen and back again. This woman was much more likely to be a pilot than this broken pilot Yamcha. All respect, it was really good that he had taken her with him.
<br />
"Where's the big ship?" Asked Bulma and let the ship dart nimbly through the asteroids.
<br />
<br />
"I can't say. The gases falsify the values. Have you noticed that you hardly ever see stars? The stuff isn't dense, but dense enough to swallow the light."
<br />
"Then we shouldn't feel too safe here. They may already be behind us ..."
<br />
"I don't think so, because your ship must have more trouble with the asteroids than ours."
<br />
"You could have a protective screen pulverizing things, right? How about we need to be able to locate these explosions?"<br />
"Not necessarily, after all, with the exception of the immediate vicinity, we are as good as blind from the instruments."
<br />
<br />
"That too!" Sighed Bulma. Nobody said anything for the next ten minutes. Slowly the number of asteroids decreased again.
<br />
"How wide is the fog anyway?" Asked Bulma, frowning.
<br />
and "I beg your pardon? Oh yes ...", Vegeta looked at the map. "Not very, we should slow down, otherwise we'll be out again in a moment ..."
<br />
"Great! Couldn't you have told me earlier?" Bulma reduced the speed, but it was already too late. They circumnavigated two large boulders and left the last of the fog behind.
<br />
<br />
"Damn it !!" Vegeta's scream made Bulma's hackles stand on end.
<br />
"What is it?"
<br />
"Do you see that black spot over there that covers the stars? You can guess what that is three times."
<br />
Bulma understood and wanted to slap herself in anger.How could she be so stupid and fly the Pheleses right in front of the cannons (or whatever weapons they had)?
<br />
The communications console beeped and a red light blinked frantically.
<br />
“Looks like they're calling us.” Bulma hesitated, then switched off the drive and switched to receive.
<br />
<br />
"This is the Capsule Corps ship from Earth. What do you want?"
<br />
"This is the Kalkararin von Pheles. We ask you to let us have your ship and everything on board without resistance. The two humanoid life forms included."
<br />
Bulma was grateful that it was only an acoustic connection, so she could keep her anger in check. A satisfied grin from that fat, disgusting old slave hunter (that's how she imagined him) she couldn't have endured without exploding.
<br />
Vegeta was boiling inside. Although he firmly believed that he could send pretty much anyone in this universe to his ancestors, he was helpless here and that only made him angrier.<br />
"We surrender," said Bulma resignedly. "Open the hatches and send us a bearing signal."
<br />
<br />
The Phelesian ship cut the connection without another word. Bulma bowed her head and her hands were shaking. She had been afraid many times in her life, especially of Namek, but never before had anything seemed so final to her as this huge ship on which a hatch was now opening. An indicator on the control panel went from yellow to green. Bulma lifted her head and took a deep breath, handing control to the autopilot. He restarted the drive and they slowly flew towards the big ship.
<br />
“What a bummer!” Vegeta cut a dent in the floor with his fist. "If only I could use my technology here ..."
<br />
<br />
"You should have learned to breathe vacuum first," replied Bulma. "It must be particularly bad for Vegeta to fall into this trap after being enslaved by Freezer and I steered him straight into it," she thought and hung her head again.Her eyes burned and there was a big lump in her throat. "It, ... I'm sorry Vegeta. If I hadn't steered us straight through the fog but in an arc, if I'd thought of staying in and going somewhere hide .... "
<br />
<br />
Vegeta forgot his own frustration. Was she crying again? He swallowed his tears of anger and took her hand. She was so small, so weak and her warmth still gave him strength enough to put a crooked grin on his face. "Not that wild, Bulma. Those over there don't breathe a vacuum either. Somehow we'll get out of there."
<br />
<br />
Bulma didn't withdraw her hand. His grip was careful, as if trying to grab a bird or a butterfly. Nevertheless his hands were cool and firm and their restrained strength gave Bulma hope again. She managed a confident smile. "Thanks, Vegeta. I'm not going to break down. I've been through a lot with Gokou and Yamcha and I'm tougher than I look."<br />
<br />
At that moment there was a jolt through the ship. The autopilot hit the brakes and the small spaceship slid into the huge cargo hold of the star cruiser. Apparently they weren't the first ship to be piloted in here. Several small spacecraft of different origins appeared on it, arranged in two neat rows.
<br />
The round spaceship landed gently between two sleek gliders.
<br />
<br />
Bulma regretfully withdrew her hand from Vegeta's grasp and checked the situation. After the hatch of the hold was closed, the huge hall was filled with breathable air and it also became warmer, so quite bearable for earthly conditions.
<br />
"They'll be waiting for us," said Bulma, getting up and straightening her overalls. "The sooner we know where we are, the better."
<br />
<br />
Vegeta nodded and Bulma opened the hatch. Immediately outside in the hold all the lights were on and it was bright as day.Bulma and Vegeta stepped out of the spaceship together, narrowed their eyes and carefully inhaled the dry, cool air.
<br />
<br />
“Welcome.” Bulma and Vegeta turned and froze. The reception committee consisted of a group of robots aiming at them with bulky sticks (they must be energy weapons, Bulma thought) and a group of humanoid beings from different worlds. There were four men, three of whom had certainly bagged one or the other bodybuilding title in their world. All three of them were apparently in good shape. Bulma didn't give them a second look, it was the fourth man who caught their full attention. He was taller than the three muscle packs, slim and obviously not a weightlifter. His skin was a delicate shade of green and left and right a strip of golden, hexagonal scales ran from his temple to his chin. His hair was long, straight and shimmering white, and his large, exotic dark purple eyes cast a spell over Bulma.She had never met such an attractive guy, especially his charisma and the elegance with which he performed every little movement, took her breath away. Vegeta, who had already met more than one Phelesen, only now remembered that he had not warned Bulma, since the Phelesen were in many ways insatiable and not just in terms of money and power. Bulma's reverent astonishment struck his heart. Annoyed, he grabbed her hand and his almost painful grip brought Bulma back to reality.
<br />
<br />
This wonderful man up there was to blame for their misery. In another situation his radiant smile and warm, smoky voice would have turned her knees to wax, but Vegeta's proximity prevented her from getting lost in those inhumanly beautiful purple eyes. Boiling hot, she remembered Blue from the Red Ribbon Army and how she had reacted to the outside without considering what a scoundrel the blond guy had been.That wouldn't happen to her with this alien.
<br />
<br />
"What's the theater doing, Phelese," Vegeta asked curtly. "What do you want from us?"
<br />
The addressed laughed. “So the sensors have not gotten into each other if that's not a Saiyan.” He came closer and stepped right in front of Vegeta, whom he towered over a head. "Well actually, a stubborn, stubborn, proud Saiyan. Well trained muscles, still in his prime and apparently none of the lower classes."
<br />
<br />
"Of course not!" Hissed Vegeta. "I am Vegeta, the prince of the Saiyans."
<br />
"Ahhh ... the son of King Vegeta, I suppose. This is really my lucky day. You don't meet such a rare species every weekend. I guess you deserve a blue stamp."
<br />
<br />
The three bodybuilders behind him didn't look particularly happy. Bulma wondered what the blue stamp that each of the three clearly bore on their left cheek was all about.<br />
Now the Phelese turned its attention to Bulma. "A new species as it seems to me. You talked to me about the communicator, didn't you? 'Earth', isn't that the name of the planet? How many of