the display. Querl grabbed his dead rats with one move and threw them into the funnel.
<br />
<br />
Bantor leaned forward and tried to grab the woman. Querl put her hand on his arm. "Let me just ..." he whispered and leaned forward to brush the long hair from his pale face. "She looks like she's just sleeping," he muttered and, as if to convince himself that she was dead, he felt for her pulse. It wasn't his kind, but the place was almost the same on all humanoids. Her skin was cool and soft and then ...
<br />
"Bantor !!" Querl flinched as if something had bitten him. "Bantor, she's still alive!"
<br />
<br />
“Impossible!” Bantor also felt her pulse. There was no denying it. Your heart was beating. He leaned lower and put his mouth close to her lips.The breath was so shallow and light that it could hardly be felt. He had never bothered to attribute her rigor mortis and freshness to the fact that she had only recently been dead.
<br />
<br />
“Damn it!” Bantor knew enough creatures that wouldn’t give a damn if the flesh was still twitching or already rotten. But he felt Querl's questioning look and forced a smile. "Then from now on we have to feed one more mouth. I'll bring her to our shelter. You can put my four units in water, she'll need it."
<br />
Querl breathed a sigh of relief. The hunger gnawed in him too, but it was better that way. There was only his rats to be recycled. He pressed the appropriate key and looked after Bantor, who was walking down the stairs with the woman in his arms, he was now carrying her very carefully.
<br />
<br />
.............................
<br />
<br />
"Warning, you are approaching the target.Get ready for the braking maneuver "
<br />
Vegeta opened his eyes slowly. A tiny dot blinked on the screen. His goal.
<br />
As the point slowly grew and began to take shape, the repressed memories also returned.
<br />
<br />
How long had it been since he was called here, a young Saiyan and secretly convinced that one day he would be able to pay Freezer for his actions.
<br />
They had rounded up him and the few other young Saiyans in one of the practice rooms and to "test" them all, as they said, there were little turn-based fights between veteran followers and the Saiyans. Vegeta, Raditz and Nappa were able to prevail, the rest were injured so badly that they had to spend a long time in the regeneration tanks. Even the three victorious Saiyan were battered.
<br />
<br />
"I'll take care of you", Zarbon had said in his deceptively soft voice."You have potential, little prince. As the right hand of Freezers, I will promote you and train you."
<br />
That's how it started and thanks to Zarbon's clever isolation tactics, he hadn't seen much of the other Saiyans. The training rounds had been tough and by no means always fair. Vegeta quickly learned to use all sorts of nasty tricks just to avoid the risk of broken bones and bruises. Because despite all the training he was only a small wheel in Freezer's machine and was sent on campaigns of conquest, along with the others. He was not allowed to back off, because Freezer and his henchmen had no use for weak people in need of care. So the number of surviving Saiyans decreased with each campaign.
<br />
Vegeta saw it and took it.
<br />
<br />
He told himself that the disappeared didn't deserve it any other way. Thanks to this attitude, he was able to hide his despair and vengeful spirit deep inside.<br />
<br />
Pain made you weak.
<br />
<br />
Those who were weak died.
<br />
<br />
Somehow he had always managed to cover up the alienation from his own. His cold, arrogant demeanor had helped him a lot. Once they were alone and sure that no prying ears were listening, they let their anger and hatred of Freezer run free.
<br />
<br />
Vegeta listened to her and said nothing.
<br />
<br />
He only talked about survival. That was all that counted. As long as there was a Saiyan, their people were not forgotten, nothing was forgiven and bills could still be settled. But he never said that. He thought so. Quietly.
<br />
<br />
Each time Zarbon challenged him to fight training again. Defeated him. Humiliated him, then pretended to be the only one Vegeta could count on. Who else did he have? Who would be left if the Saiyans continued to be gradually wiped out on the missions?<br />
<br />
Zarbon showed him how to concentrate and collect your fighting strength. But every valuable lesson had its price, later that evening, in Zarbon's cabin.
<br />
<br />
The first time Vegeta had been half dead and unable to fight back. He hadn't cried, even out of anger or helplessness.
<br />
<br />
Tears were a sign of weakness.
<br />
<br />
Those who were weak died.
<br />
<br />
That was how he had endured it and fed his hatred.
<br />
<br />
"Attention, attention, we're about to land. Buckle up."
<br />
<br />
Vegeta startled with his memories and grabbed the seat belt. The gates of the land hatches were smashed, but the small dinghy fitted through the gap and landed relatively safely.
<br />
<br />
He pulled on his spacesuit, stepped on his boots and pulled the helmet over his hair. After checking the oxygen gauge, he took the prepared bag, put it on, and left the dinghy.<br />
<br />
There wasn't much left of the station. In some of the corridors lay mummified corpses whose staring eyes had not yet sunken thanks to the sterile air. The cracked skin stretched over the bones like old parchment. Vegeta recognized some of them anyway, at least he believed it, but he couldn't think of the names. He had lived by her side for years and yet he had never known her. Individual scenes flitted past in his mind's eye, he saw them playing cards and those who utter a stupid joke and was as happy as a child because someone who was even dumber laughed at it. He had paid little heed to them at the time because, as a low-level staff, they were not fighters. They were useful but replaceable. Only those who counted stronger, only those who had to be overcome, could bring him forward, closer to the goal of finally winning.
<br />
<br />
Vegeta's feet automatically carried him to Zarbon's quarters.Like all rooms of the better batches, it was in the middle of the station, in a relatively sheltered place. Vegeta pressed the switch, but since there was no more electricity, the door did not open. Vegeta raised his hand, a burst of golden-yellow energy not only pulverized the door, the entire interior of the cabin melted into indefinable lumps. Vegeta measured the smoky remains with a cold look.
<br />
<br />
Vegeta felt neither relief nor glee at the sight of the destroyed traces of Zarbon's existence. He was behind him. Back then, on Alt-Namek, Zarbon had been the weaker one.
<br />
<br />
And whoever was weak died.
<br />
<br />
With steady steps Vegeta continued to Freezer's quarters. This time his energy beam was much weaker and only melted a hole through the door so that he could enter unhindered. The cave of death, as they called this room. Those who were quoted here often did not come back alive.But now there were only four walls with cabinets full of data crystals. And that's exactly what Vegeta needed. He roughly knew where data on the Antiss had been kept, but without power he couldn't read any of the crystals in here. He opened the cabinet in question and took out the boxes in which he suspected the matching crystals. He took far more with him than he thought necessary, but he didn't want to have to come back a second time. The shadows of the past were still too vivid and he lacked the light to drive them away. But he would get back what had been snatched from him.
<br />
<br />
The Antiss would pay for it. How Zarbon had paid. And freezer.
<br />
<br />
Back in the spaceship, he stowed the data crystals and entered the course to earth.
<br />
Without even looking back, he left the ruins of the space station behind. At some point the Antiss would come by here and take what was left.An undignified ending, but a very fitting one.
<br />
<br />
Vegeta spent the two days of the journey home reading each and every one of the crystals on the on-board computer. He discarded two boxes, then finally found the right collection. There was a route here, and there too, but neither of them fitted. The more crystals he examined, the more nervous he became. What if the Antiss had taken new routes? There had to be one that passed near Alt-Namek, because the huge collector ships never deviated far from their course, not even when a planetary explosion lured prey. It was not for nothing that the Antiss had divided the known universe into sectors after long, bloody wars. So they didn't get in each other's way. There had been no escapees for thousands of years, as these were immediately identified and wiped out in the early days.
<br />
<br />
Vegeta grabbed the penultimate data crystal and inserted it into the appropriate indentation on the computer.It hummed and the crystal lit up. Data series flickered across the screen, star maps, numbers and tables. There! It had to be. Vegeta took a closer look at the values. It was the only collector's ship that got close enough to Alt-Namek to justify the little detour off the route. So if it had been here, then it could meanwhile ... he scrolled down and cursed loudly. There was a big gap in the route. Apparently it was not known which route the ship would take in this area. The next known point was a long way towards the Galactic Center. And if he read the table correctly, the collector's ship wouldn't appear there for a good five months.
<br />
<br />
"Vegeta? Can you hear me?", Mr. Brief's voice suddenly sounded through the small ship. Vegeta had opened the channel to the House of Briefs without noticing. "What's new?"
<br />
"Not much good," Vegeta growled. With brief words he explained to