Mr Briefs.<br />
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"Oh dear," he just said and scratched his forehead. "An accident seldom comes alone. Unfortunately, the dragonball radar is not as intact as it looked. I opened it and half of the parts are just charred metal. Some energy must have penetrated through the shell without closing it Whatever it was, of course it will take me longer to decipher the functions. Don't count on a working model five months ago. "
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..........................
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It stank. That was the first thing Bulma noticed when her mind rose again to the surface of her consciousness. It smelled like hell.
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Had her father failed one of his experiments again? But not even charred machines stank that much. "Air," she croaked. "I need air!"
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Her mouth and throat were dry as dust. She coughed. A firm, warm hand lifted her head and she felt a few drops of water on her cracked lips.Greedily she opened her mouth wider and the first sip of the warm, stale broth was heavenly. She drank sip after sip until nothing came up. "That must be enough," she heard a deep, pleasant voice say. "We don't have so many units that we can use everything up immediately."
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The voice was alien to her. Was it a doctor? Was she in the hospital? Though the thought of even more sleep was tempting, she forced her eyelids to open.
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The first thing she saw was the scarred face of someone ... no, it wasn't a person, no person had such a strange green-brown patterned skin and a band of black scales across his forehead.
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Extraterrestrials. It had fallen into the hands of aliens. Yet again. Why again? Bulma frowned and rubbed her burning eyes. She had never had anything to do with aliens in her entire life.
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"Who ... who are you?", she asked harshly and sat up carefully with his help. Why did her voice sound so dark and since when did she wear her hair so long? Fear crept up in her." Where am I? "
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"I am Bantor, of the Jennyhr people. You are on a collector ship of the Antiss," said the alien with the strong arms and the fiery red hair. He smiled and he seemed friendly. “You were probably pulled into the suction during the last foray.” He turned back. "Querl, give me the helmet, please!" A boy with matted, blond hair who apparently belonged to the same people as Bantor brought a round helmet and gave it to Bantor.
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"Do you recognize him again?" Asked Bantor.
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Bulma saw the branded company logo on the metal collar. "That is the sign of my family's company," she said haltingly and pointed to it with her finger. "But we've never made parts for space travel. Not that far ..." now she swallowed hard, "not as far as I can remember ..."<br />
Bantor screwed up his eyes. He had heard of such cases. "And what's the last thing you can remember?" He asked.
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Bulma pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around them. She shivered. For a few minutes she was silent and tried to think, but no matter how hard she tried, the same picture kept coming back.
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"I'm saying goodbye to my parents," she said in a low voice. "I built the Dragon Ball Radar and want to use it to find the legendary Dragon Balls so that I can finally get a dear friend who suits me."
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"How old are you," Bantor probed carefully.
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She put her head on her knees and whispered, barely audible, "Sixteen."
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End of the 17th part
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Now only three parts are missing until the end. I guess by the end of next week "Just a Smile" will be all the way up.
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Please comment on how you enjoyed this chapter.I'm always eagerly awaiting feedback from my readers!