Stardate: 1368.10

Last night, as I was getting ready to go to bed, a small spaceship appeared out of nowhere to hail the Astroboy. Through my very large viewscreen, I could clearly see that it looked like a miniature space shuttle with wingtips that swept up in an elegant curve. I could see Nana sitting in cockpit talking furiously with someone on the bridge. Clearly, the princess had slipped out of the Capital unnoticed and had stolen one of the royal shuttles to escape her homeworld. Now, she was parked in front of the shuttle bay, desperate to get inside.

Curious about what was going on, I went upstairs to the bridge. I found Zastin standing over the con in a heated argument with the princess. Zastin was beside himself. He scolding the princess through the microphone, accusing her of skipping out on her royal duties for some shameless prank. He flatly refused to let her on board, and demanded that she go back to Deviluke at once.

Nana, stubborn as ever, refused to budge an inch. She crossed her arms tightly and stewed in her seat.

Of course, that only made Zastin even angrier. He screamed at her until he went hoarse. How dare she make everyone worried about her! How could she not care? Her actions were unbefitting of a princess, and she should be ashamed of herself… and on and on and on.

Nana endured the abuse, refusing to move. Inevitably, bridge was filled with people as everyone was drawn to the standoff. Inevitably, her savior appeared to take control of the situation. Yuuki-kun walked onto the bridge, yawning. He was wearing an old T-shirt and sweatpants.

After last night’s debacle, I seriously couldn’t keep sleeping with him. Doing it with the other girls—even his own sister—he seriously betrayed my trust. I know it was the pink powder’s fault, but a girl can only forgive so much. Honestly, I can’t see the harem plan making anyone happy. There would be so much drama when everyone is fighting to have their alone time with Yuuki-kun. In short, it makes love look cheap.

I was willing to share him with Lala, but I don’t think I can handle his having relationships with so many other women. I don’t want to experience that anxiety.

Yuuki-kun has changed so much in just a week. Even now, I am just baffled by how different he has become. Even in his sleeping clothes, Yuuki-kun was without question the authority in the room. As soon as he appeared everyone went quiet. As always, Yuuki-kun played the knight in shiny armor. Overriding Zastin’s refusal, he commanded that the shields be lowered, and then he personally lead a reception party to greet Nana.

When the deviluke princess finally emerged from the shuttle bay, everyone was there to greet her. Despite how late it was, no one wanted to go to bed. Everyone was eager to learn about what had happened and why Nana had left the palace. Mikan brought out some tea and snacks and all of us gathered in the dining room to listen to her story.

It seems that she had gotten into a fight with one of the courtiers. According to her, one of her suitors had slipped into her room. When she retired for the night, the unknown assailant attacked her. He had her pinned to the floor and had nearly stripped her naked before she could stun him with lightning from her tail. Breathless and more than a little fearful, she rushed outside to alert the guards, only to find that none of the sentries were at their post. Nana, fearing for her life gathered her things and made her escape.

Clearly, the palace guards had been bought off by someone rich and powerful. At least, that’s what Yuuki-kun thought when Nana told us what happened. With Gid absent for a week, the courtiers were free to plot for control. Now with the princesses in the castle, some must have become even more ruthless. The situation was growing more dangerous every day, as the nobles played their game of thrones. While some factions worked hard to cultivate favors, others were actively plotting to use the girls to their own advantage. Some more extreme parties were even planning for a coup.

Yuuki-kun dropped this latest bomb on us when he told us of such a plot. He had only just gotten some intel from Yami who had overheard two conspirators talking. Their plan was to abduct the three princesses and hold them as hostages against the emperor.

“We don’t know whether Nana’s attacker was part of the plan,” He said. After the failed attack, the palace would be in an uproar. “The conspirators will most likely lie low for the night.”

Yet despite his assurance, it was clear that the girls were in mortal danger. Zastin elected to return to the capital at once. “If nothing else,” he said, “I could provide some extra protection.”

The rest of us agreed that Yuuki-kun would go to the palace as planned, and Yami and Mikan would accompany him on the stolen shuttle and escorted by Zastin’s men. Together, they would try to find out how bad the situation was, and if they had to get Momo and Lala from the palace. If the worst came to pass, they would have to use the D-dial network as before.

But that meant that Nana had to stay with the Astroboy.

I’m not sure if she could count on us to protect her when our ship barely has any way of defending itself. I can say as the acting Tactical Officer, that it is a miracle that we are even alive. Ever since we docked at the Deviluke spaceport, I have been looking into our defenses, and I am intimately aware of how woefully under-prepared we are to deal with any serious threat.

We were lucky to have survived our encounter with that Farengi ship. Not only was it much more well-armed than our tiny craft, it was also way more powerful. Had it shot a phaser at us directly, the enemy would have blown through our shields in an instant. Worse, the ship we were dealing with was only a cargo ship. Any real struggle with more powerful vessels would result in our obliteration.

I told as much to the rest of the crew, expressing my doubts that we could survive through a real fire fight. Unfortunately, we were well aware of our own danger. Nana told us of the palace rumors she overheard. It was clear that they knew where our little ship was and that we were very close to the princesses. With Nana on board, we were a juicy target while we parked in the spaceport.

Thus, it was agreed that we stay hidden on Deviluke for the night. With Zastin on board, we’d have clearance to land. Once on the planet surface, we would be safe from attack by much larger ships who would otherwise be crushed under their own weight. I guess this is a perk for having a small ship: we can go anywhere.

It’s morning now, and Rito is already gone. He had left as soon as we landed in a small island. He, Zastin, Mikan and Yami all piled into the stolen shuttle, and sped off to the capital.

Since then, there haven’t been much to do. We’re all just waiting on this island.

Forever.