After wandering through what seemed another maze of corridors, Vejiita and Nenais'u stopped in front of a door in the officers' quarters area.  Vejiita said something terse in a language Nenai didn't recognize, and the door slid open.  A little hesitant to walk into the unlit room, the girl stood at the threshold for a moment before Vejiita half-pushed her in.

    "Come on, what's the matter with you..." he said, sounding exasperated.  He hit a switch on the wall, and suddenly the room was illuminated with a soft white light.  "Take a look around.  I want to take you to a training area and put you through your paces a bit, see where your training needs to begin."  He removed the degrading leash from the collar at her neck.

    Nenai grimaced, but looked around the quarters.  The door opened into a lounge area, with a small couch and two chairs, and a table.  There was a viewscreen mounted on one wall.  The place was a bit bare, and she idly wondered whether that was by regulation, or simply because no one occupied these rooms.  As she walked into the small kitchen unit, Vejiita sank into the couch, waiting for her to finish her little tour.  Well, he would have to sit there until she was ready to go.

    The kitchen was small, but fully functional.  Satisfied with that, she looked into the bedroom.  It was also small, with the double bed taking up most of the space, but there were also a dresser and a small table in the room.  The bathroom was adjacent to that, where Nenai discovered, to her great pleasure, a full bath/shower unit.  The tub was wide enough for a long, sybaritic soak. I'll avail myself of that particular comfort tonight, she thought wryly.

    Satisfied, the Amon girl walked back out to the lounge.  "Are you done?" Vejiita asked, rising.  When Nenai nodded in reply, he said, "All right...let's go to the training deck.  I want to see what you can do..."

    Something in his tone bothered Nenai, but she said nothing.  As they walked out the door, Vejiita paused.  "Let's set up your password for the door."

    "Password?"

    "Of course.  Each door is password-protected by the resident.  Only the admirals have the ability to override those protections."

    "Oh...I see."  Nenai did not find that particularly reassuring.

    "Security system," the man said suddenly, seemingly speaking to no one.  "Install password for room 5308A, occupant Nenais'u."

    "Your clearance?"  A disembodied voice said.  Nenai jumped and looked around, then felt foolish as she realized it was only a voice-address computer system.

    "Rear Admiral Vejiita."  He then said something else in that language that was foreign to Nenai's ears.  It was rather harsh and guttural; she figured it was the ancestral Saiyajin tongue.

    "Occupant:  Nenais'u," the computer said, "please select a password and pronounce it clearly."

    The girl considered for a moment, then decided on her native word for "open"; simple enough for her to remember, but impossible for anyone to guess.  "Kuuru," she said, trying to enunciate.

    "Please repeat the password for confirmation and comparison of vocal inflection," the computer said.  She did so, and the computer played back a recording of her voice.  "Kuuru.  Password set for room 5308A, occupant Nenais'u."

    Nenai looked at Vejiita.  "What...do I do to open the door?"

    The man raised an eyebrow.  "Just step up to the door and say the password.  Try it."

    Feeling rather silly, she stood in front of the door.  "Kuuru."  The door slid open with a hiss.

    "All right, it works.  Let's go," Vejiita said, finally starting to sound a little impatient.

    Nenai stepped back, and the door slid shut.  She looked at it again, shrugged, and turned to Vejiita.  "All right."

    Vejiita nodded and clipped the cord back onto her collar, then lead her through the halls again.  Nenai tried to keep track of all of  their turns, so that she would be able to find her way back.  The base was indeed a maze, but it was set up in a systematic way, and once she identified the areas through which they passed, it wasn't that difficult to remember the path.

    Soon they came to an oddly configured set of doors, and as Vejiita pressed a button on the wall with a downward-pointing arrow, Nenai realized this must be one of those elevator machines that traveled to different floors of a large building.  After a moment's wait, the doors hissed open to reveal the small chamber of the elevator.  The Saiyajin waved for her to enter first, which she did with a little trepidation.  There were no elevators on Mar Amon, just as there were almost no electric devices of any kind.  They were not a heavily technological society, preferring to be amidst nature, but Nenai realized that may have caused their downfall.  If they had had spaceships, and a way to escape their doomed planet, they may have had a chance.

    But then, we would have been colonists, usurpers on someone else's planet, and do our peaceful ways make us any better then Freeza's army?  Our only knowledge of the galaxy around us came through the traders who came to the capital, but their visits were few and far between.  Perhaps we should have been more open, as a society...but can you preserve peace and tranquility in the midst of a flood of new ideas?

    Nenai was absorbed by these thoughts, and she was unprepared for the sudden vertical lurch of the elevator.  She gripped the handrail that ran along the wall of the little boxlike chamber, but as suddenly as the drop started, it halted.  Vejiita grinned at her alarm, then gestured for her to exit through the opening door.  She did so gladly; that thing was dangerous!

    "How far did we come down?" she asked, trying to recover her equilibrium.

    "Not far, only two floors," Vejiita replied with a shrug.  "The training areas are all under the base, except for the outdoors ones, of course.  They'd take up a lot of space otherwise."

    "Oh, I see."  The girl sighed quietly to herself as they started walking down another hallway.  It was just as featureless as the others above, but the doors here were very far apart, indicating the size of the rooms.  Her "guide" stopped at one door, seemly randomly chosen, and stated his name and rank.  The door opened on a very large room indeed.  Fully half of it was empty floor, probably used for fighting, Nenai thought, but the other half was occupied by all sorts of exercise equipment.  She wondered what exactly Vejiita wanted to see from her.

    "Hmm...I think a stationsuit would serve you better than what you have on now," the man said as he removed the leash and tossed it carelessly to the floor near the exit.  "You haven't been given any new clothes since you got here, have you..."

    "Of course not!"  A little surprised at her own vehemence, Nenai continued in a softer tone.  "I haven't yet been here a day...have I?"

    Vejiita smiled a little mysteriously.  "You and I came into the sick bay on the same day...and I was in the regeneration tank for about fifteen hours..."

    "What?" the girl exclaimed, horrified.  "And I remember seeing you being brought in...I had just woken up...!"

    "Then you were in there for at least a day, even if you spent most of it unconscious."  He took her by the elbow and led her to a small locker room adjacent to the large gymnasium.  "Here."  Reaching into a press full of folded stationsuits, he withdrew a dark violet one that he judged to be about the right size for Nenai's height and mass.  "It matches your eyes," he said with an odd half-smile.

    Nenai looked at him sharply as she took the proffered suit, but he had turned away to close the cabinet.  He looked at her over his shoulder, tossing a pair of calf-length boots out for her as well.  "Well?  Aren't you going to change?"

    "Aren't you going to leave?" the girl said, imitating his tone.  "I'll not give you the entertainment of changing in front of you..."

    Vejiita laughed.  "No?  Well, we'll see..." he turned again and slipped from the room, closing the hinged door behind him.

    Sighing, Nenai shucked her rather dirty clothes gladly and pulled on the light stationsuit.  It covered her from ankles to wrists, but it was made of a soft, stretchy material that felt nice and cool against her skin.  She turned to look into the full-length mirror, and couldn't help but smile as she saw how the suit showed off her light, strong build.  Her eyes caught the collar in her reflection, and she suddenly frowned.  Even though the thing was non-functional, it still rankled to have to wear it.  It had turned from a device of imprisonment into a symbol of it, with physical power over her changed to psychological instead.  But what were her choices?  Being studied like a little wild animal in a laboratory, or working as a mercenary.  It went completely against all of her morals, but being a member of Freeza's army at least gave her some minimal personal freedom; being an object of study would subject her to countless indignities.

    Keeping that thought close, she stepped into the white boots, which were slightly too large but not uncomfortable, and walked out into the main training room.  Vejiita was using some sort of exercise machine that involved lifting a block of weights with the arms via a system of pulleys and wheels.  Nenai stared for a minute at the pile of weights he was lifting--she knew he was strong, but he was moving many, many times his body weight.  She knew she was nowhere near that strong, not in pure physical strength, and she wondered if that kind of power was a Saiyajin trait, or if it was simply a result of continual training and fighting on behalf of Freeza.

    Vejiita finished his exercise and turned to regard the Amon girl.  "Well...!"  A rather feline smile spread across his face.  "I must say, it certainly suits you," he drawled softly.  Nenai bristled a little.  Damned male...

    "Now that you're properly attired, would you like to stretch, or warm up or something before we start...?"

    "What exactly did you have in mind, here...?"  Nenai was tired and still a little fuzzy-headed from whatever drugs she was given in the infirmary, but she didn't mention it.  She could only imagine what sort of acerbic reply she'd get.

    "I'd like to see some of your athletic ability, your strength...and your fighting skills."  The man seemed to be all business now; his expression was neutral.

    "Then perhaps I should do some stretching then..."  She looked around for a clear space of matting, and found a good spot in a corner.  Vejiita shrugged as she began to systematically stretch her limbs and returned to his exercise, this time lifting an even heavier weight with his legs.  Nenai stared in consternation for a moment, then continued her stretching.  After she felt sufficiently prepared, she went to the clear half of the room and did a few random gymnastic maneuvers.  She was in the middle of a butterfly kick when Vejiita came over, watching her curiously.

    "Well, you've certainly demonstrated some 'athletic ability'," he said, rolling his eyes a little.  "Come on, let's see if you have any stamina."  He led her to an odd contraption that had a moving ribbon that one was supposed to tread on.  "I'll keep the speed low at first to let you find your balance," the man said as Nenai stepped cautiously onto the thing.  The ribbon began moving backwards, dragging her back a step before she picked her feet up and started walking with the pace of the ribbon.  She had to admire the odd machine, which allowed someone to walk in place but with the sensation of walking forward.  Vejiita gradually increased the pace, and it was an easy thing to keep up with it, but by the time she was jogging, she realized trying to start right in at a fast pace would be disastrous.  She must have been jogging for three-quarters of an hour before the admiral started decreasing the speed again.

    "That's enough for now; you can certainly keep up," he said, sounding pleased.  "Now...let's see just how strong these thin little arms are."  With that, he led her to the machine that he had been using before and took off a significant amount of the weight.  "We'll build up and see how much you can work, all right?"

    Nenai looked dubiously at the pile of weights but seated herself and gripped the handlebars, pulling downwards as she had seen Vejiita do.  Surprisingly, the weight was quite easy to move, so Vejiita added more.  They continued in this fashion until Nenai reached a weight that was a little hard to lift.  The Saiyajin made her lift it a half-dozen times, until she was really breaking a sweat.

    "All right, stop, stop," he said with a laugh in his voice.  "Look at how much weight you're moving, little bird."

    The girl let the handlebars rise back up and stood, turning to look at the pile behind her.  With a small shock, she saw that she had been lifting more than half of what Vejiita had been.  She looked up at him to see him grinning.

    "I guess those arms aren't as thin as they look!"  He gently took her by the elbow and pressed the muscles of her upper arm, raising an eyebrow at the firmness there.  "No, they aren't...but you look like skin and bones!  You must have very thin bones..."

    "Racial trait," Nenai replied, inexplicably blushing.  "We're very light..."

    "So you can be light enough to fly," Vejiita mused.  "It makes sense.  Well, you're quite strong already, and with some work, should become even stronger.  That's fine.  Now...we come to the important part.  I'll ask you first:  have you had any combat training?"

    "Of course not."  A little disgust colored her tone.  "We are a peaceful people."

    "And look where it's landed you," Vejiita snapped.  "An entire planet of weaklings, ripe for the picking."

    "How dare you?" Nenai gasped angrily.  "Those 'weaklings' were enough to nearly kill you, Admiral Vejiita, and even a young one such as I almost escaped capture with little exertion.  It took someone sneaking up behind me like a coward to catch me..."  She trailed off at the rather frightening look on Vejiita's face, an odd combination of anger and amusement.

    "And who do you think captured you, little bird," he whispered, grinning ferally, his eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

    Nenai took a step backward, suddenly afraid.  "Y-you?  But...the others..."  It could have been true; someone had hit her from behind, and she had been instantly rendered unconscious.  But she had inadvertently made him angry, and having seen the measure of his strength, she was worried she had gone too far.

    "The others didn't know I was coming."  The man started walking in a circle around her, and she kept turning to keep her front towards him.  "I saw that the three of them had been in the same place for a long time, and since my sister is never anywhere near Zarbon if she can help it, I figured there was some sort of problem."  Abruptly, he reached out as if to strike her, and she batted his arm aside.  He grinned tightly in acknowledgment of her reflexes, and continued his narrative.  "There were the three of them, trying desperately to capture one little girl..."  He struck out again, this time with a kick, and while Nenai recognized the high speed with which he was moving, she had no trouble moving to block his attack.  "..so I stepped in and ended it before you got away completely."

    With a movement comparable to an uncoiling spring, Vejiita leaped at her and began attacking in earnest.  At first, Nenai used her speed and agility to dodge and block his attacks, but she missed once, and the man used that opening and abused it, hitting her several times before she slithered out of his range, raising her guard again and glaring at him angrily.

    "Why don't you fight back, little bird?" he said with a smirk.  "You'll never win a fight just protecting yourself."

    "I told you, we are a peaceful people!  We don't solve our problems with our fists--"  She was cut off as Vejiita sent a sharp axe kick to her head.  Dodging to the side, she tried to think of one of the many throws she knew to subdue an opponent, but she didn't have time as the man pressed his attack.

    After several long minutes, Nenai started to understand:  she was actually faster than Vejiita!  She didn't use this immediately, but the next time he moved to punch her, she slipped to the side and slapped his cheek insultingly.  As he moved to grab her arm, she grabbed his instead and pressed on the back of his elbow.  He was moving so fast himself that he fell right into her "trap" and grunted in surprise when he was forced down to his knees.

    "Clever," was all he said before he swept her feet out from under her.  She had been expecting a pause in the fighting, so she was caught by surprise and fell, releasing the Saiyajin’s arm.  Before she could rise, he pinned her down, a triumphant grin on his face.

    "You're very quick," he said softly--his face was only inches from hers--"but speed will not beat experience, and that is what you lack."

    "Well of course," Nenai replied, grinding her teeth.  Why wouldn't he let her up?  He continued to look at her intently, and she suddenly felt a little chill of fear.  Why was he looking at her like that...?  She was afraid to touch his mind, afraid that he would feel it...

    "I wonder..." Vejiita said in a musing voice.  He played with his scouter a little, still holding the girl down with one hand, and suddenly laughed.  "Oh, I see...well...that is truly fascinating..."  He looked down at her again.  "So, little bird...you don't have any fighting experience..." his smirk changed into a leer.  "What other sorts of experience do you have...?"

    Startled by the sudden change of topic, as well as the question, Nenai floundered for a moment.  "Eh, exper--, but, eh!  What are you asking?"

    He surprised her again by rolling his eyes in a rather playful manner.  "What do you think I'm asking, girl?"

    She stared at him incredulously.  "Pervert!" she muttered in her native tongue.  "How dare you ask such a question!"  She struggled to get free of him, afraid of where the conversation might be headed.

    "How do I dare, indeed..." he said, is voice almost a purr.  He tilted her chin back with his fingertips and ran his fingers lightly down her long neck.  She froze, staring at him in fear, feeling a terrible wave of new strength rushing through her.  No, not the Change, please, she thought, struggling to contain the surging power.  She began to shiver with the strain, and Vejiita looked down at her with a rather evil smirk.

    "What's the matter, little bird," he taunted her, bending down to whisper in her ear.  "Don't know how to use your claws...?"

    Nenai almost screamed as his lips brushed her earlobe.  "Stop...Don't!" she gasped, feeling her eyes grow hot.  No, it's starting!  She writhed in his grip, but his arms only tightened around her.

    Ignoring her pleas, Vejiita held her in such a way that his entire body was in contact with hers, through the thin mask of the stationsuits.  The sudden, total contact with his warm, muscular frame shattered the girl's control, and she shrieked, pushing Vejiita away violently as her body started to pulse with the ancient power that had finally been freed.

    The wings trying to emerge from her back forced her to rise to a crouch, crying out now in the powerful multi-toned voice that had proven useful against the Saiyajin.  Indeed, Vejiita was trying ineffectively to cover his ears as he stood a short distance away, watching her.  She saw his confident look suddenly turn to alarm as the wings, those horrid blue-black wings, burst free, destroying the back of her stationsuit.  Finally ceasing her cry, she stood erect, unfurling her wings to their full span before the stunned admiral, who was, nevertheless, observing her very carefully.

    #Well, Admiral Vejiita,# she said in her dreadful voice, #are you proud of yourself?#  She finally realized that he had been deliberately goading her to this point, first by trying to make her angry, then by frightening her.  The cool way he was watching her made her even angrier; how could he just stand there looking at her like that?  She flexed her wing-claws menacingly as she advanced on the Saiyajin.

    "This is amazing," Vejiita said under his breath, perhaps unaware that Nenai could hear him.  "Absorbing energy...constantly like that...!  I've never seen anything like it!"  He tuned his scouter a little, ignoring her threatening attitude.  "Nenai," he finally addressed her, "how long does this transformation last?"

    The question, so innocently asked after he had made her so angry, made the girl pause for a confused moment, but she shook her head violently, reminding herself that she was supposed to be mad.  #It lasts until I become exhausted, or until I have no reason to fight,# she said, ending the statement with a snarl.  She now stood directly in front of the Saiyajin, who looked up at her face and suddenly flinched when he saw that her violet eyes had turned a hard, brilliant green.

    "Should I continue to make you mad then?" the man said with a smirk, trying to recover.

    Nenai let out a little angry screech, and struck out at him with her wings.  Letting out a short curse, he leapt up into the air to avoid her.  "Hmm...energy absorption slowing...are you tired of trying to be angry, little bird?" he said in a mocking tone as he hovered above her.  "I suppose it's been long enough...I've got my data."

    #Your damned data,# Nenai said with a hiss, #can't be saved now.#  She pointed a finger at his scouter, and in a moment, it started to smoke.  There were a few muffled zaps, and then the little computer exploded.

    "You little bitch!" Vejiita cried, putting his hand up to his burnt ear and pulling off the defunct scouter.  "What did you do that for?  I have to have that information to send in your evaluation!"

    #Evaluation?  For what?# the girl sneered.  #I don't think I care for your...evaluation.  You wanted to see my power to see how to use it best, yes?  Well, I will not use it for you, or for your master.#

    Vejiita's eyes narrowed dangerously.  "I have no master, Nenais'u, and you had best remember that.  I work for Freeza as a matter of convenience, nothing more."  He slowly came down to the ground, pinning the girl with his gaze as he had done before in the infirmary.  She wanted to take a step back as he approached her, but she couldn't move, save for the involuntary fluttering of her wings.  "I have my own plans for my people..." his look turned sour.  His people--all five of them.  The depths to which the glorious Empire had fallen was depressing in the extreme, but that was not what mattered right now.   He continued on with his explanation.  "I have plans...and now that you are here, you will help me..."

    #Who says I have to help you?# the girl said disdainfully.  She felt her strength beginning to slip away from her as the threat of violence faded.

    "I do," Vejiita said simply.  "As your commanding officer, your guardian and your captor."

    #The three of those together still do not make you my owner,# Nenai snapped, reaching out with her hand to slap the insolent smirk off of the man's face.

    "No?"  He caught her wrist and pulled her closer, his eyes locked with hers.  "That's a shame then...I suppose I have to try something different," he said softly.

    ??!?  Nenai tried to back away in alarm, but he wouldn't let her go, and she no longer had the strength to break his grip.  He was so...mercurial!  The girl shivered.  She was more afraid of his moods then his strength.  #Vejiita...# "Vejiita..."  Her voice was faltering back into its normal sound, and she knew her eyes were starting to flicker between green and violet.  The Saiyajin continued to hold her gaze, however, as he moved even closer, his face inches from hers.  Nenai closed her eyes and turned her face away, breathing deeply.  She wondered if Vejiita could hear her rapid heartbeat; it was like a drum in her ears.

    "That's it...just calm down," he murmured, stroking her long hair with his free hand.

    Was he trying to make her relax?  He was going about it entirely wrong.  #You# "You're not helping" #very# "very much," the girl tried to say.  Her wings fluttered uncontrollably.

    "Hmm..."  He released her, reluctantly, it seemed, and she fell to her knees, breathing deeply as she tried to control the hot tide of the turu in her blood.  After several minutes, her wings began to fold inwards and shrink as she returned to her normal form, leaving her stationsuit ragged in the back.  Finally, when it was over, the girl sat on the floor, hugging her knees tightly.

    "Nenai..."  For once, Vejiita seemed at a loss for words.  "Come, I'll lead you back to your room.  You can take a nice, long, hot bath, doesn't that sound good?"

    A smile flickered across Nenai's lips.  He wasn't used to coaxing, and his tone sounded uncertain.  Slowly, she stood up and stretched a little, then walked to the locker room without a word.  Vejiita watched her, a little concerned, but when she came out of the room in her old clothes, carrying the boots and torn stationsuit, she didn't seem angry anymore.

    "I'll take the suit," he said, reaching for it.

    "No, it's all right.  If you're going to keep doing this--" there was a sudden edge in her voice, "I'm going to have to have a suit with an open back, or something.  I'll hem this up."

    "Oh...All right.  Just one more time," he said cryptically, clipping the cord onto her collar.  "Come on."  The man gestured for Nenai to walk out first, and while her back was turned, he silently bent and picked up a long, shiny blue-black feather that had fallen on the floor, and slipped it up his sleeve before following her out.