Chapter 11 - Part One

The first sensation Bulma experienced when she woke up was an unusually
light feeling. To be more precise, it seemed as if her body had somehow
become less dense. This puzzled her, so she forced her heavy eyelids to
lift so that she could better analyze her surroundings. What she saw
both frightened and amazed her. She was immersed in a tank full of
clear, blue liquid, and had what seemed to be a kind of breathing
apparatus attached to her face, as well as a few sensors attached to
her forehead.

She began feeling along the inside of her enclosure. It was smooth,
round, and metallic-feeling. She looked around some more and noticed
that she was facing a round window, like a porthole, in the tank. She
tried to lean forward to look through it, as she couldn’t see very far
ahead in the liquid, but she found herself somewhat restrained by the
sensors and breathing tubes. She sat back angrily and tried to think.
What was she doing here? Suddenly she remembered what had happened to
her. She had had the crap beaten out of her by Dodoria. But now, she
was surprised to realize, she didn’t feel any pain at all! In fact, she
had never felt so refreshed in her life!

She was still marveling at this when the liquid suddenly began draining
out of the tank. "Aha!" She thought. "I suppose now I’ll get to see who
put me in here!" She waited patiently for the water to abate, and a few
seconds after it had disappeared, all the little sensors on her face
popped off and retracted into little niches on the inside of the tank.
Her breathing mask also detached itself, and now that she was free,
Bulma leaned forward to look out the porthole again. She jumped back in
surprise, however, when the entire front half of the tank suddenly
began to move outward and up. It was opening up! Bulma sat
apprehensively where she was and waited to see what the rising door
would reveal. She was very astonished at what she saw. There was a
dark-brown alien in what resembled a lab coat standing there, holding
his hand - or appendage, at least - out toward Bulma. He seemed to be
smiling at her, though she found it hard to tell, given the unfamiliar
contours of his face.

"Come on," he said, motioning for Bulma to get out of the tank. "Here.
I’ll help you out of there." Bulma reluctantly grasped his hand and
allowed him to help her step out of the tank.

"Who are you? And where am I?" She asked him, backing away a little,
unsure of his polite demeanor. He was the first person she’d met on
this planet thus far that hadn’t threatened her safety.

"You may call me Isha," he said, bowing slightly. "I am the head doctor
of this place. You are in the ship of Emperor Freeza, and I suspect you
may have already heard of him by now. He certainly knows how to make a
name for himself."

Bulma nodded. "How did I get here?" She asked, a little more
comfortable now, but nevertheless more alert. She didn’t like the idea
of being in Freeza’s ship unaware, but at least she could teleport now
if she had to.

"You were brought here by a soldier that goes by the name of Zarbon,"
Isha said. "You were pretty banged up when he brought you in, so Freeza
had him take you to me. It was a good thing he did, too, because you
were on the verge of slipping into a coma when we put you in the
rejuvenation tank."

"Rejuvenation?" Bulma said in amazement. "You mean that huge fish tank
healed me?"

Isha laughed. "I suppose you could say that. Of course, I was here to
monitor your heart rate and breathing, but these really are remarkable
machines. Top of the line, too. I’ve not heard of any better way to
heal a wounded soldier, either. I’ve heard we have the best healing
technology in the universe. I guess that’s a good thing," he added.
"Since we have the most destructive force in the universe as well."

"Freeza?" Bulma said. Isha nodded. Bulma wondered how he would react to
seeing a Senzu bean in action.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Bulma said, suddenly amazed. "If Zarbon was the
one who brought me here, that would mean that he defeated Vegita in
their battle, right?"

"I should say so!" Isha replied. "Vegita was no better off than you
were when Zarbon brought him in. He’s over there in that tank now. He
should be done in another half-hour." Isha pointed to the rejuvenation
tank to the right of Bulma’s.

"Will he be all right?" She asked Isha, glancing at the sleeping Saiyan
inside. Seeing him like this reminded her of how he looked after Gohan
had smashed him on Earth. She felt a little sorry for him, despite her
fear of him. Freeza would probably kill him for what Zarbon had accused
him of. And he couldn’t teleport like she could. Guessing by that
enormous ki she sensed on the other side of the ship, she thought that
it would probably be the end of Vegita if he tried to take Freeza on.

"Well, he’ll be healed, if that’s what you’re wondering," Isha replied.
"As for all right, I don’t think Freeza will keep him healthy for long.
This soldier’s committed high treason, not to mention killing Dodoria.
Freeza will probably kill Vegita after he finds out where he hid that
dragonball he took from that other village of Nameks."

"Vegita has one too?" Bulma said in frustration.

"HAD," Isha said, "but I don’t think it’ll do him much good now, since
it’ll end up in Freeza’s possession, eventually."

Someone knocked on the door to the medical room. "Is she ready yet?" A
gruff voice called in.

"Yes," Isha called back. "Now listen," he said, gently pushing Bulma
toward the door. "Freeza knows you know the location of the other two
dragonballs, and he’s going to question you. Give accurate answers to
all the questions he asks, and do everything he says. I heard a rumor
from one of the guards that he’s thinking of letting you join up with
us. So if you want to stay alive, I suggest you join. Not everyone gets
the chance you’re getting."

"Lucky me," Bulma thought sarcastically as he opened the door. She
walked out in the hall and found herself between two armed guards whom
she felt she could easily take out with one blow each.

"Come with us," one that resembled a frog told her. "Freeza has
requested an audience with you. Master Freeza likes to get to know his
guests. He’s a very gracious host." He and his partner laughed, and led
Bulma down the hallway. Bulma allowed them to lead her to Freeza with
no resistance. She was curious to meet this all-powerful tyrant. She
wondered what he would look like, and what he planned to wish for with
the dragonballs. Besides, she was completely healed now, and could
teleport at any time she wanted to, so she didn’t see any harm in
allowing herself to be led to speak with him. But after she was done
with that she was definitely going to steal his dragonballs and leave
for good. No matter what he said to her she wouldn’t ever change her
mind about that!

Bulma grew more and more nervous as she approached the part of the ship
that contained an enormous source of ki within it. She was certain that
it was Freeza. She only hoped that her knees wouldn’t quake like they
had when she had first sensed his power with Gohan and Kuririn. Finally,
the two guards stopped at a large door. One of them pushed a button
next to it.

"Lord Freeza," he said. "Your ‘guest’ is ready to see you now." He
grinned at the other guard.

"Send her in," a courteous, gentlemanly voice responded, "and leave us.
I’ll call for you if I need you."

"Yessir," the soldier replied. He pressed another button and the door
slid open. Bulma walked -- as fearlessly as she could make herself
appear to be -- into the room. The door closed with a snap behind her,
and she noted mentally that she would have to force it open when she
teleported away. Then she saw him -- a rather short, armored being,
smiling politely at her from a chair on the opposite end of a table.
He had the oddest features Bulma had ever seen, and Bulma had seen some
odd creatures in the past several minutes. What caught her eye the
most, though, were his horns -- jet black, shiny, and sharply pointed.
But even they didn’t amaze her more than the intensity of his ki. It
must have been at least 500,000 degrees on a scouter. Bulma was
astounded that one person could have such a high fighting ability. This
person was truly unlike anything she’d ever met.

"Please, sit down," he said, motioning toward the chair opposite him.
"Make yourself comfortable."

Nodding, Bulma did as he asked and sat down. "So you are Freeza,"
really more to convince herself than to address him. "I’ve heard quite
a lot about you."

"All good things, I hope," he said, sipping some kind of liquid from a
wineglass and smiling smugly at her.

"Well, I suppose that depends on your definition of ‘good,’" she
replied, leaning back in her chair and smiling back at him. "But
seriously, Freeza, let’s cut through all this nonsense and get down to
why I’m here in the first place."

"If you wish," Freeza said, closing his eyes and setting down the glass
of liquid. "I trust you already know what I want."

"Yes," Bulma replied, nodding. "But if you don’t mind, may I ask you a
few questions first?"

At first, he appeared rather surprised at her taking such liberties,
but smiled again. "You don’t seem very afraid of me. I suppose I’m
unaccustomed to that. Very well. Go ahead and ask me anything you want.
I’m sure I can provide you with an accurate answer."

"All right," Bulma replied. This first one had really been bothering
her. "First of all, how did you find so many dragonballs so fast?"

"That was simple," he said, grinning at her. "You mentioned to Dodoria
that you already knew about our scouters, am I correct?" Bulma nodded.
"We simply used the scouters to track down Namek villages. Every one
had a dragonball residing in it."

"And the Nameks just handed them over to you, no questions asked?"
Bulma said in disbelief.

Freeza laughed. "Unfortunately for them, no, they didn’t. We had to
kill quite a few to make the others talk. And since they had been so
terribly rude to me, I disposed of them as well."

Bulma gasped. "Five entire villages of Nameks, all killed?" Freeza
grinned cruelly in reply. Bulma should have known. Someone who had no
reservations about destroying entire civilizations probably wouldn’t
give a damn about some innocent, peaceful Namek villages either. She
regained her composure as best as she could and continued.

"I have one more question for you," she said, glaring angrily at his
smug, self-satisfied face. "If you were to collect all seven
dragonballs, what would you wish for?"

A smile of pleasure slowly spread across Freeza’s face. "WHEN I gather
all seven dragonballs I am going to wish for eternal life," he said
gleefully. He seemed to be imagining himself immortal, even as he
spoke.

Bulma’d had a feeling that that would be his ambition. "Just like
Vegita," she muttered aloud."

"Ha!" Freeza exclaimed. "Vegita’s a fool! He thinks he can defeat me
and take my dragonballs! But," he said, glancing at the ceiling
thoughtfully. "I suppose the little monkey must have some kind of brain
in his head if he knows that he would have to be immortal to defeat me.
I’ll give him that."

"Well, correct me if I’m wrong," Bulma began, "but I fail to see why a
person like you would need to be immortal. Surely you’re the most
powerful being in the universe. Why, as soon as I concentrated for a
second on your ki I could tell that you must register at least five
hundred thousand on one of those scouters of yours. Why in the world
would someone so powerful need to be immortal?"

Freeza gaped at Bulma, dumbfounded at this statement. "How can you tell
what my fighting power is?!" He exclaimed. "Not one of my scouters can
go that high!"

Bulma had forgotten that these guys relied on the scouters to determine
an enemy’s strength. "Let’s just say that I can sense these things
about fighters," she said, waving it away. But that’s not important.
What I want to know is why you would have the need to be immortal."

"Because," Freeza said, standing up and dramatically balling his hands
into fists. "Then I would be able to rule the universe forever! No one
would ever stand in my way! I would be a god!" His mouth curled into a
grin at the thought of it.

Bulma had heard enough. This guy was definitely bad news, and it
probably wasn’t a good idea for him to have any of the dragonballs for
any longer. But once she stole his, she was going to have to get the
others together fast -- before he could catch up with her. She stood up
too. It was teleport time! But before she could even utter the first
syllable, an alarm siren went off, and Bulma heard explosions on the
other side of the ship.

"What the...?" She said, and Freeza switched on an intercom on the wall.
"Report!" He barked into it.

"Master Freeza!" A distraught-sounding soldier cried back. "It’s Vegita!
He broke out of his rejuvenation tank and has escaped with the
dragonballs! We await your orders, sir!"

"Go after him, you idiots!" Freeza exclaimed angrily. "Dammit! Listen
to me! Just tell Zarbon this: if he doesn’t bring all five of my
dragonballs and Vegita back to me within the span of one hour, then he
can expect the same treatment I have reserved for Vegita!!!" He smacked
the intercom off violently, causing a crack to form in the wall.

Freeza turned to go out the door, but suddenly remembered Bulma. "I’m
giving you one hour to think it over," he said, opening the door. "But
I’ll warn you now, if you don’t tell me where the other two dragonballs
are, I’ll let my men have whatever fun they can think of with you.
And," he added, chuckling fiendishly, "my men do so enjoy their fun!"

That was the last insult. Bulma had already decided on what she thought
of Freeza, but she’d never felt as personally angry as she did right
then. This guy was pure evil to have committed all the acts she had
heard about, but now she hated him not only for that, but also for
threatening her with such a vile, common thing. Bulma spun around to
look him straight in the face. He was about to close the door behind
him.

"Freeza!" She exclaimed angrily through gritted teeth. Her arms were
pressed against her sides, and her fists were clenched tightly at their
ends. Freeza turned back around and looked back at her in surprise.

"Freeza!" She repeated, louder this time. "I don’t need an hour to
decide. I already have an answer for you."

"Well, I must say, I’m surprised," he said smugly. "I’d never have
expected you to buckle so quickly."

"Guess again," Bulma replied coldly. "I will not now, nor will I ever
tell someone like you how or where to find the other dragonballs. Sorry
Freeza, but there is no way I am going to let a power-crazed tyrant
like you ever see the eternal dragon. I’m going to do everything in my
power to see to it that you don’t get your wish."

To say that Freeza was upset by Bulma’s words would be an
understatement. His eyes narrowed and his ki rose slightly.

"Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear.." he began, trying not to let his
rage get the better of him.

"Loud an’ clear," Bulma interjected. "See ya, Freeza," she said,
saluting him mockingly. "Rapid teleport!"

Rather than going through the veritable maze of hallways in Freeza’s
ship, Bulma simply blasted her way out through the window of the room
she was in. Once outside, she looked around. She found herself
surrounded my more unfamiliar territory. She had been unconscious when
Zarbon brought her here, so she had no idea where she was, or how to
get back to the cave. Well, she could write that idea off, for the
moment anyway. She had to go after the dragonballs. Freeza and Vegita
were getting much too close to victory. She landed on the ground
outside Freeza’s ship and sat down for a second to think. She could
either go after the five dragonballs Vegita had just stolen first, or
the two she had picked up on her scouter earlier. She knew one of the
two had to be Vegita’s anyway, but she didn’t really want to deal with
him just yet. There was something about him that just scared the life
out of her. Even Freeza didn’t scare her as much as Vegita did, which
didn’t exactly make sense to her, but couldn’t be denied. Sighing, she
decided to go after one of the two stray dragonballs and hope she didn’t
come across Vegita’s first. "Why do I have to be such a coward?" She
thought, rolling her eyes at her own fears.

Bulma got up and floated up above Freeza’s compound. Which direction
should she take? She didn’t know where to go, since she didn’t have her
dragon radar on, and she couldn’t use that until she halted her
teleport. But she knew that she would have to put some distance between
her and the ship, so she just took off in the direction she happened
to be facing, and hoped for the best. She grinned as she thought of how
surprised Freeza would be when he saw that she’d escaped him so easily.
And boy, would he be mad! She just hoped that she could avoid him until
after she’d made her wish. She certainly didn’t want to have to fight
such a powerful creature! Wondering why on Earth she had to deal with
such problems, she flew on, farther and farther away from Freeza’s ship.


On to Chapter Eleven - Part Two...