DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DBZ, ITS CHARACTERS,ETC. ONLY THE PLOT IS MINE.

"Crap, crap, crap, not good, not good, not good!" Trunks muttered to himself as he tried everything possible to lessen the blow he and the ship were about to take. Unfortunately, the ship wasn't as agreeable and gravity had it at its mercy.

"Oooooh shiiit!" were Trunks' last words before the ship impacted rather roughly with the ground below it. Metal screeched and whined as it skirted across the rocky plain. When the ship halted, it was on its side with scrapes and dents on nearly every side. Trunks was unconscious, having been knocked out upon the ship's solid impact. The only movement now was the steam emitting from the ship's wasted engines and hull breaches.

**************

The commotion and firey ball of ship naturally attracted the more intelligent of inhabitants on the planet.

"Check it." One muttered with a soft but commanding voice in a language that wasn't a tongue from Earth. Two other beings nodded at their commander and silently slinked toward the fallen ship.

"Doesn't look like anything from this part of the galaxy." another mentioned in their alien tongue.

"Ca--Capsule Cor--Corporation?" the other spoke as she tried to pronounce the crinkled words on the side of the ship.

"Weird looking ship, but looks to have some degree of technological advancement."

"Wonder from where?"

"Who cares. Let's see what's inside. Maybe we'll get a chance to hit something. I'm aching for a good fight."

"There better be more than one then or else I'll be fighting you for first shot."

The two females smirked then forced the damaged door open.

"Hmm, weird."

"The control center must be up there. Something had to be piloting this thing." The other said as she cautiously pried her way into the control area.

"Hey, Midori, here! There is a being here!"

"Sai? You found someone?" the other female asked as she joined her partner.

"He's not all that bad in looks eh?"

"Midori, you're always looking for weird mates."

"Not weird, exotic. I got first dibs on this one."

"He looks a bit young. Nice features though."

"He looks humanoid, not much different from us. Let's strip him down and see if he's got similar reproductive hardware."

"Midori, we have to wait for Taree. She outranks us."

"She gives us leftovers. She'll take him for herself and we'll be left with the usual."

"The usual are the last four full-blooded saiyan males known to exist Midori."

"They're rejects though. The only reason they survived the destruction of our planet is because they were sent off to a wasteland of a planet because they weren't worthy of being real warriors. Two are basically just sperm factories. Their strength and intelligence are less than that of a newborn slug. And the other two, well, they're ugly, flea-laden weaklings. And one of those is elderly and likely to die of heart stoppage after the next mating. Poor excuses for saiyans as well. "

"At least we can continue our species with them. With our own quality bloodlines, we can---"

"Can what?" Taree interrupted as she entered the control room. Her two underlings immediately hushed and backed away from their potential prize. Taree glared them into submission then stepped forward for a better look. Her tail flicked slowly from side to side as her curiousity allowed her a closer inspection of the unconscious pilot. She used her intellect as well as primal senses to try to decipher the newcomer.

"He has saiyan scent." she said, surprised at her findings. Midori and Sai's attention went from fear to intense curiousity as well.

"Saiyan? He doesn't look saiyan at all. And no tail." Sai commented.

"True, but he smells saiyan. Either he has saiyan blood within him or he's been where other saiyans are. Regardless, he's of use to us. Unstrap him and bind his feet and hands. Take him to the holding lair."

"Will do." Sai and Midori replied in unison as they went about their latest order. Carefully, they unfastened the safety harness that held Trunks to the pilot's chair then bound his legs and hands with metal shackles bound by chains.

"If he is saiyan and he regains consciousness, he'll be able to break free of his binds easily." Taree said as she lobbed the unconscious half-saiyan over her shoulder. "Take his ship to the salvage yard and impound it. We'll not tear it apart just yet. There may be some technology of use to us on it." she commanded her two warriors before leaping from the ship.

***************

Trunks slowly regained his senses and awoke. He didn't even consider an attempt at rising. His head throbbed with such intensity that it would only send him to the floor he was already on. "Nnuhhh..." was all Trunks could manage from his lips. The concussion he suffered from did little to help him think clearly. He also realized that he was bound by his feet and hands.

A guard heard his stirring and peered inside. Upon noticing that the male was awakening, she immediately ran to get her commander.

"Taree, he's awake though still suffering from whatever knocked him out."

"Thank you. You are relieved. I will attend to him personally."

"As you wish." the guard replied as she saluted and departed.

Taree strode down the long corridor from her command post to the barracks. The entire 'base' was a dug out portion of a mountain consisting of several interconnected caverns and passageways. The 'holding lair' was a small cavern that had been reinforced with a metal barrier on its opening. The floor and walls were rock and dirt with only a small rocky outcropping jutting from one wall to form a makeshift bed.

Upon reaching the holding lair, Taree halted and stared inside. Her newfound male pilot stirred and groaned slightly, but made no attempts to better his situation by getting up. Slightly worried, Taree entered the lair with a small cup of water. Trunks didn't react much to her touch as she ran some cool water over his forehead. It cooled his aching head somewhat, but he had no desire to fight. He had no idea where he was or who was now tending to him, but regaining strength for survival was a priority first. He could do some butt-kicking later once he was at full strength. Curiousity however, forced him to slowly pry open his eyes and get a look at the creature who was tending to him. He recognized the creature as a humanoid female, but when she bent over to pour more water onto a cloth, he noticed something else...a brown furred tail wrapped around her waistline. A saiyan!? He had to get up!

As Trunks attempted to lift himself, Taree grabbed his shoulders and forced him back onto the floor.

"No. You mustn't." She said softly but sternly. To Trunks, she almost sounded like his mother's nurturing voice, but she spoke in a language unfamiliar to him. Well, not totally unfamiliar. Something sounded familiar about it, but he couldn't place it. As she restrained him she noticed his alluring ice blue eyes.

"Interesting. Perhaps you are not saiyan? You bear no physical appearance of a saiyan. If not, then why do you posses the scents of one?" she asked him eventhough he was unable to answer. In fact, he probably didn't even understand her.

Trunks' head was beginning to throb evenmoreso as he tried to think. He tried to recollect. He remembered struggling with the ship to slow its decent and prevent a crash. Okay, so he apparently did crash, but he couldn't remember it. And now, some inhabitants on this planet looked suspiciously like saiyan females. He had never seen a saiyan female, but the characteristic features of a saiyan were prevelent as was the smell. That was all he could deduce. His aching head sent him back into the dark realm of unconsciousness.

"Typical male. Always trying to do more than you're able to." Taree muttered as she backed off and stood. She would get no information from him this day.

For the next few days, Taree pondered the strange paradoxes that surrounded this pilot. He smelled saiyan, but why? He didn't look saiyan. So were there other saiyans that he had contact with and it was their scent upon him? Where did he come from? Were saiyans there? These questions plagued her mind and she was growing impatient with her captive pilot's slow recovery.

Also during those few days, Trunks was indeed recovering. He head still hurt, but not so much to cause him to pass out. Two other females tended to him. One was apparently a guard and the other appeared to be some medical type. They spoke, but Trunks couldn't understand them.

A day later, Taree returned. She was intent on learning the answers to the questions that haunted her for the past several days. She ordered the others to leave then entered the lair. With her were two devices that looked like headphones with a little microphone attached to the front. She placed one upon Trunks' head and the other on her own.

"Do you understand me?" she inquired.

Trunks nodded. He came to the conclusion that the device on his head was some sort of translator. No doubt the saiyans had acquired the technology from some other conquered planet.

"Can you speak?" she asked.

"Yes." was Trunks' only reply. He wasn't sure if she was friend or foe yet, but one thing was for sure, he was kept in binds and captivity so complete friend was out of the question.

"Where are you from?"

Trunks didn't reply. There was no way he was going to tell any potential Oozaru-forming saiyan where his homeland was.

"I don't have to ask nicely you know."

"I could care less." Trunks sarcastically replied.

"Perhaps you will answer a different question. Who are you?"

"An alien to you."

"You are trying my patience, but I'm no quitter. Do you know what I am?"

"Female."

"Species?"

"Saiyan."

"So you ARE familiar with saiyans. How do you know of saiyans?"

Trunks smirked evilly. His brows narrowed his eyes into demonic slits. And, for a moment, his eyes flashed an aqua-green.

Taree backed off. There was something about that look that was utterly familiar. Recomposing herself, she pressed on with her interrogation though her caution level increased.

"What do you know of saiyans?"

"That the blood of such runs through me."

"You are NOT saiyan. You don't even look saiyan."

"I am HALF saiyan. Looks mean nothing. Power is everything."

"Spoken like a true saiyan. What other species are you?"

"Not saying."

"A smart one. You still refuse to reveal anything about where you came from. Do you know a saiyan's true power?"

"More than you'll ever know."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just wait and see."

Taree huffed. She was getting frustrated and impatient. And still, that smirk haunted her. She had seen it somewhere before on someone else.

"Do you have a name?"

"Trunks."

"Well, Trunks, are you familiar with saiyan bloodlines?"

"You might say that."

"Do you know yours?"

"Oh yes."

"And it is?"

"Not saying."

Taree growled and stood. She slapped Trunks hard across the face, knocking him back onto the floor. She grabbed the interpretive device that had fallen off his head then stormed out. Moments later, two guards appeared in front of his holding cell.

Trunks smirked to himself. He wasn't quite at full strength just yet, but it was just a matter of time. Once healed, no one would keep the son of the crowned prince of saiyans in binds any longer! These saiyan refugees would soon be put in their place. Then, as he dominated, he could repair his ship without interruption and get away from this blast from story-told past.

Back in her personal cavern, Taree fumed. She WOULD know who this half-saiyan was. At least she now knew that he did indeed carry saiyan blood within his veins. His exotic looks were actually rather appealing, but one thing still bothered her...his smirk. She'd seen it before, only forgotten upon whom. Perhaps that would give her a hint to his bloodline. With her captive hybrid regaining his strength with each passing day, she had to find a way to get him talking and fast. She now wondered if he possessed any form of strength. Without his tail, he had lost his true saiyan power, but the flash in his eyes now sent shivers down her spine. It seemed to hint at some type of power. Or was he bluffing? She vowed that next time, her visit to him would not be so nice. She'd bring a scouter and not go easy on him. She would get her answers be it voluntarily or forced.

to be continued...