She had a clear view of the planet as the ship took up stable orbit around the planet. The image of the surface she got from the view convinced her that the planet exhibited great contrasts, for she could see great bodies of water complimented by great areas of desert brown or lush green. She wondered absently if the people too bore evidence of such contrast. She smiled a small smile physically at least she saw no difference. One Saiyain looked so much like another that she sometimes wondered if any of the Saiyains were anything but tall, broad and masculine. Paragus barged in and demanded if she was ready to leave. Bulma stood up and nodded. He motioned her to step closer to him. As soon as she was reasonable close, he powered up his KI shield and began to walk towards the shuttle. All of Bulma's stuff was already in capsules and in her pocket. Heading towards the shuttle Bulma longed to wonder how she was going to function on the surface when Paragus brought up the subject. 'One the surface you will find white tiles with light underneath them form the floors and roads that you are allowed access. If the floor or road doesn't contain these white tiles or the light underneath them is off than slaves are not meant to access that area.'

'Great.' Was all that Bulma said, as they approached the shuttle-docking bay. Bulma recognised many of the warriors cramped in the shuttle, eager to get home. Home, she wondered how her home was. How her mother and father were doing. She sighed the only way she could find out how her parents were to impresses the Saiyains into allowing her to talk to them over the video communicator. But as she had found out from her time on the ship Saiyain's were not easily impressed.

As Bulma was preoccupied with such thoughts the she nearly missed the entrance of Radditz and two other warriors she was not entirely familiar with dragging behind them two figures clearly having some trouble dealing with the whole gravity thing. But they most certainly did not miss her. 'Bulma.' Called out Goku.

'Son-kun!' exclaimed Bulma. She would have ran to them if Paragus had not grabbed her and pulled her back into her seat.

'Do you want to get flattened?' he demanded. 'Feh, by the looks of you two I think you are half way flattened yourselves.' Laughter broke out of the half a dozen or so warriors present on the shuttle. 'He is not worth dying over.' Said Paragus.

'Son-kun are you alright?' asked Bulma from her seat, desperate to get to him.

Goku looked into her face and tried to smile that trademark Son smile. He did not quite manage it, 'Fine now that I know you are all well.' Bulma tried to smiled also and turned her gaze to little Gohan cringing to his father, crying tears of fear mingled with fear. She felt her heart lighten at see them as well as one could accept them to be given the circumstance and grow heavy as she though of the fate that awaited them on the planet surface. But there was no point in thinking about it now. After all they will find what fate awaited all of them soon enough.

He could not believe he was being made to do this. He the Vegeta the Prince of all Saiyain's the most powerful warrior born to the Saiyain race in the last thousand year was being made to preside over the arrival of a bunch of third class bakas who had difficulty taking down another third class baka. Well, at least Cumba's back. Which means that he didn't have to satisfy himself with battling total losers. Cumba was of course not in his league but he came very close to being an adequate match for him. More over unlike everybody else on the planet Cumba had a brain. Which meant he not only appreciated the thought Vegeta put into his battle strategies but had the capability to match them. A slow smirk curved up Vegeta's lips. No just for the return of Cumba he was willing to put up with this indignation.

The shuttle slowly descended to the ground. The ponderous doors slowly swung opened and the lower class warriors began to exit and form a double file in front of their Prince. When all of them were there save Cumba and Paragus, they bowed down in front of the him. Vegeta looked over the warriors with disinterest but his disinterest soon turned to curiosity at seeing the absence of Cumba. But his curiosity was soon apprised when Cumba came down from the shuttle followed by a fully charged up Paragus who seemed to be protecting some on hidden from the Princes view. Behind them two other figures clearly struggling with the gravity stepped out of the shuttle. Paragus walked near one of the white single g gravity tiles and said something to the figure behind him. After a moment's hesitation a female stepped onto the tile and Paragus power down and joined the other kneeling warriors in front of the Prince.

Absently the Prince gazed over to the figure of the obviously new slave and started. The woman was absolutely gorgeous. Despite having short hair when she first had the misfortune of meeting the Saiyains, her time on the Saiyain ship had grown her hair to far below her shoulder. It's aqua colour made it appear as if it was a cascading waterfall, her blue eyes shimmered in the pale light of the Vegitasei sun. A man could drink from those eyes and live without a drop of water for the rest of eternity. Her pale skin looked soft and warm. He wondered what it would be like to have it pressed against his… Vegeta forced himself to snap out of it. What the hell was he thinking? Even if she were intended for the harem by the time she would be available there she would be nothing more than cold lump of meat which his father and other noble when who had the kings favour used to give themselves pleasure. He rather slink around the palace with his tail between his legs for the rest of his life than even spend one night with those…those things. But looking at the girls beautifully featured face Vegeta could not help but feel a pang in his heart when he thought of her becoming little more than a mindless pleasure automation.

Seeking to divert his thought from the girl Vegeta turned his attention to the other two new comers and blinked. One of them was a tailed child with eyes far rounder than the eyes of any Saiyain child. Further more Vegeta's keen Saiyain eyes could also detect other subtle differences in his face and body that marked him clearly as not being a full blooded Saiyain. As startling the existence of the hybrid was the appearance of the adult was scarcely less interesting to the Prince. He looked like the mirror image of Bardock, a third class squad commander possessing much more talent as a scientist than a warrior. But the Saiyain had no tail and Ki that seemed to be flickering as he was transforming in and out of a high and low Ki state. Vegeta watched the battle power reading flickering across his scouter lens for both the strangers with heightening curiosity. At length he fixed his gaze on Cumba. Who being a member of the nobility did not have kneel in front of the Prince. 'Introductions Cumba.' Prompted the Saiyain Prince.

Cumba nodded, some how despite being several inches taller than Vegeta he also ways found himself looking up at him, 'The woman,' he began, 'is called Bulma Briefs. She is to teach us how to create these.' So saying he expanded a Capsule car, 'This is a transport that the natives of earth use. We can use the process of "Encapsulation" on our pods and fuel supplies and food supplies, thus greatly increasing the capacity and capability of our ships.' He stopped to see if his Prince was satisfied. As he expected the Prince looked bored and disinterested, a sure sign that he had done more than enough, 'The Bardock look a like is Kakarott. He is the younger son of the Squad commander. He suffered a head injury as a child and forgot his mission. He now considers himself one of the earthling and in fact fought on there behalf against us. The brat is his hybrid son.'

'I was not aware that Saiyain's could mix blood with members of other races.' Commented Vegeta as he looked once more towards Bulma with a pointedly casual glance.

'That is why we left the race largely in tact.' Said Cumba with that faint touch of something in his voice that Vegeta knew meant that he expected Vegeta to have seen that answer coming. 'The brat is strong. If hybrids produced with earth mates prove to be just as good, if not better than full blooded brats produced by third class pairs than it might be advantages to let those third class Saiyains who are not able to procure Saiyain mates to take human ones.'

A snort of disgust came from the Commander of the armed forces. The snort brought Nappa back into the recollection of the Prince. He had forgotten that Nappa had accompanied him in this little task to duty. 'That would be about right.' Said the oafish commander, 'Those third class sissy boys deserve to be only worthy enough to take mates from a weak decrepit race like her's that can only produce such snivelling brat's.' He snarled amidst the growls from many third class warriors as he gazed with contempt at the Ki less fragile creature, who had to take refuge on the single g tile before Paragus could power down even a little and glanced with growing disgust at the sniffling child hiding behind his parent's leg.

Kakarott's face hardened and the woman's colour rose at that, her eyes flashed with contempt and sparkled with anger. She looked as if she was about to reply to Nappa's ill-natured comment but held her peace as her eyes fell on Cumba and drifted over to Vegeta. It was more than clear to Vegeta that Cumba had told her to rain in what he suspected was a very short fuse temper. A faint smirk lifted up Vegeta's lips as his tail uncurled itself from his waist and began to lass behind him. A faint gleam of battle sparked in his eyes as he looked at Bulma from the corner of his eyes, he was going to have to find out exactly how much of a temper she really had.

So pre-occupied was he with his thoughts that Nappa felt the need to call his name to attract his attention. 'Prince Vegeta?'

'What?' he growled, not realising that the fault was his own.

'I was just saying,' said Nappa with remarkable aplomb, 'that the it is the King's desire that you battle Kakarott in the public arena to demonstrate to all warriors of the Saiyain tribes that it does not pay to be a traitor.'

Vegeta turned his attention to the said Kakarott. The power level displayed by the scouter was not promising. Further more Kakarott was clearly having difficulty handling the gravity. He would not last five seconds against him. He therefor saw no point in fighting Kakarott himself. But he was also aware that there would be no point in wasting his breath in pointing that out to ether his father and especially not to Nappa. As long as he was the heir he was required to follow orders, no matter how stupid they were. 'I will not fight you immediately Kakarott.' He addressed the traitor, 'There would be not sport in fighting you now. In six months time there will a great celebration in the capital to mark the date my father's coronation took place. I will fight you during the festivity. You have date space of time to get used to the gravity.' So saying Vegeta differed his gaze to Cumba, 'Have him placed at the old Western camp. Let him have use of the training facilities there. I doubt whether you will need to place more than two guards.' He instructed. He dismissed the guards with a wave of his hand and turned on his heel to leave.

'Wait.' The traitor spoke. The warrior's around Vegeta growled out warnings at Kakarott's impertinence at addressing the Prince with such lack of ceremony and directly. But Kakarott paid them little heed, 'What about Gohan?' he asked, 'Can he stay with me?' he asked.

'I could care less about one insignificant hybrid brat.' Growled Vegeta as he fixed Kakarott with a supremely annoyed look.

'Squad Commander Bardock however has already got permission from the King to take the hybrid into his care.' Nappa informed everybody. 'The brat Kakarott will stay with you father.' He declared.

Kakarott looked as if was about to protest when Cumba's voice broke in to his thoughts, 'Consider yourself lucky Kakarott at not being blasted to the next dimension on the spot by the prince. Your father is a good a man as any to raise the brat. Leave it be. The decision has been made and you can do little to alter it with your death.'

Cumba was sure he could hear the cogs in Kakarott's brain turn in there own slow pace. Cumba was not sure what Kakarott decided exactly. But the protest never made it's way out of his mouth. Instead he crouched down to the level of the little boy who clung to his legs in fear and was sniffling uncontrollably and wrapped him up in his arms. This act of affection earned looks and noises of scorn from almost all present. 'How long before he is taken from me?' he asked of no one in particular.

Snort, 'Soon enough.' Was all that Nappa said Kakarott nodded. Wondering why he had not left already Vegeta pivoted away with a nasty sound to his steps.

'Since Paragus has been in charge of you for a while I take you to your quarters.' Said Cumba to Bulma smirking. She let out a soft gasp and looked towards Paragus.

'Lord Cumba, I do not mind at all to taking her to the scientific slaves' quarters. It would not be out of my way at all.' Said Paragus knowing full well that Bulma for some reason was very, very scared of Cumba and he saw no point in distressing the beautiful earth native.

'Don't worry about it.' Said Cumba, 'Come on little one, I promise not to bit you.' Reluctantly Bulma followed.

Just before she disappeared completely from view she looked back at her long time friend and whispered, 'Good bye Son-kun.' as tears welled up in her eyes. Goku saw them and tried to smile but could not so he turned away. He did not want the last image of Bulma in his mind to be of her shedding tears of pain.

'Take him to the camp as ordered.' Nappa barked to a near by Domestic guard of some consequence, 'Find two guards who can hold their and get these two losers to the camp.'

So there were short Saiyain's was the first thought that crossed Bulma's mind when see first saw Vegeta. But that initial burst of amusement was soon over come by fear as she realised that thought short he maybe he was the Prince Cumba warned her about. Than he stared at her for what seemed like and eternity. Her eyes met his and suddenly it crossed her mind that he was rather handsome. The thought was so absurd that she scolded herself for having it. She would have dealt further on her thoughts on Prince Vegeta but Cumba interrupted her thought pattern, 'Don't cross swords with Nappa ether little one. He is far to aware of his rights.'

'Than who can I stand up too.' Demanded Bulma.

Cumba fixed her with an amused smirk but did not say anything, 'Well we are here.'

'Here? Where?' she wondered as she peeked into a large dark chamber lit in places by dim brown hued lights.

* * * * *