[Spamfic] "Ryogatech"
by Henry J. Cobb
$Id: ryogatech.txt,v 1.7 1998/04/08 14:07:34 hcobb Exp hcobb $

As I pulled the BMW into the parking lot, Leona looked up from her
thoughts and asked me.  "What are we gonna do Biko?"

"I don't know yet Leona, but we'll think of something.  It looks
insolvable, but so did supersonic flight.  I'm sure we've got the right
stuff."  I held her hand for a moment and then got out of the car.

Leona reached for the handle to the office door and then turned back, her
blue eyes wide with partially mock fear.  "Uh, can you go first?"

"Don't worry dear, I'll handle this."  I pushed into the office and then
addressed our receptionist.  "Good afternoon Shiko, any messages?"

"No, nobody called.  Say Biko, would you like some salad?"

"Uh sorry Shiko, but I already had lunch.  Thanks anyway."  As I moved to
my desk I noticed that she was picking at her creation.  I'll need to keep
an eye on her today, and be prepared to call the paramedics.  It's not like
she's suicidal.  Far from it, she's always so cheerful.  It's just that she
can never accept her inability to cook.

I looked over our proposal again.  The Daitokuji Spaceworks concept just
wouldn't cut it, but I couldn't see anyway to improve it.

"You look bummed."

"Oh, it's nothing really."  I looked up at my business manager, she
was holding something.  "What's with the pig Nabiki?  I never figured you
for the sort to have a pet."

"P-chan here?  He's just a friend, with a secret.  Want to see it?"

The little black pig wearing the bandana around his neck bugged his eyes
out at this.  "Bweee! Bweee!"

"So P-chan, you understand human speech?"  I asked the pig.

P-chan stopped struggling and looked around as if trapped.

Nabiki handed P-chan to Shiko.

"Oh, what a cute little piggy wiggly!"

"What's up?"  Leona came out of her office.

"This pig has a secret."  I answered.

"What sort of secret can a pig have?"

"Here, I'll show you."  Nabiki had returned with a towel and two cups of
water, one steaming.

"Bweee!"  P-chan struggled in Shiko's grasp.

"Hey, Nabiki don't hurt my pig!"  Shiko complained as she hugged the black
piglet tightly.

"Oh, this won't hurt him, but I guess that P-chan is really a chicken, not
a pig."

P-chan puffed his little chest out and glared at Nabiki.

Nabiki poured the hot water over P-chan and suddenly Shiko was knocked to
the ground under a black-haired naked man who wore the same bandana around
his head.

"What are you playing at Nabiki!"  He complained, as he snatched the towel
away from her to wrap around his waist.

"Wh-where did my piggy wiggly go?"  Shiko asked from the ground.

"Oh, he's right here Shiko..."  Nabiki raised the other cup up but he
knocked it away.

"How did Shiko hold a pig as heavy as a man?"  Leona asked.

"Ryouga's as light as any piglet in his other form."  Nabiki explained.

"Say Ryouga, what happens if you change in midair?"  I asked.

"Uh nothing, I keep going."  He replied.  "I just hit lighter in the pig
form."

"That's a violation of Newton's laws."  Leona reasoned.  "What happens to
your momentum?"

"Hey, I got plenty of momentum."

"Yes!"  I grabbed Ryouga's hand.  "How would you like to be the first man
at Pluto?"  I asked him.

"Huh?"

"You'll be famous."  Leona explained.  "A hero around the world."

"Yes, but how do we use this?"  I asked her.

The next morning I slowly woke up and looked at the face of a woman inches
from my own.  "Eiko..."  I brushed her red hair from her face and her
blue, not copper eyes snapped open.  "Sorry."  I pulled back.

"Who was she?"  Leona grabbed my hand.

"I guess you deserve to know."  I sat up in our bed.  "We were lovers in
highschool.  We used to fight all of the time.  And then one day we asked
each other why it was so important.  That last summer after our senior year
we traveled the world together.  Each night we'd make love and afterwards
we'd lie in each arms and she'd tell me stories of her family, of gods,
heros and exploding planets.  I didn't believe a word of it.  And then one
day it happened."

"She was killed by an old enemy?"

"No, her aunt died and she had to go be queen of the amazons.  She could
never turn down a responsibility.  That's why I was so broken up when I
first met you in college."

"Well, I'm glad I met you too Biko.  You steered me away from studying law
enforcement and back into engineering."

"Yes, I have been a corruptive influence on you."  I put my arm around
her.  "Speaking of that, do you remember what we did last night?"

"Besides drinking ourselves silly?  I think we designed the ship."

"Stranger things have happened."  I pulled on a blue bathrobe.  It helped
to keep our things color coordinated.  Then I turned on the monitor and
reviewed the design.

"Wellington?"  I asked Leona.

"Sure it looks like a boot, right?"

"I'll never get your 19th century references."

"Here," Leona spun the design around on the screen, "he transforms to pig
on the backstroke and then back to man on the forwards side.  The ship gets
a double kick each cycle.  Spin gives the ship stability, artificial gravity
and reactionless thrust while the nuclear reactor on the far side balances
the living quarters in the heel."

"Yes, but we need to test the principle."

"Hmm... Doesn't the big test centrifuge at the astronaut training center
have very sensitive motion detectors?"  Leona mused.

"Yes, but it's bolted down.  Do you mean we should install an automatic
shower and look for a wobble?"

"Well, if we can time it for a full cycle each circle then we'll see if the
theoretical thrust develops."

"OK, it's worth a test.  Let me see if I can flex some connections at the
space center."

	Henry J. Cobb	hcobb@slip.net          http://www.io.com/~hcobb
    Yeah, I know too much physics abuse, back to Tenchi Magoo!