Title: A Human Heart
Author: Ryoko 03
Started: March 2001
Status: Part 1/?

Disclaimers and warnings posted in Part Prologue.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A Human Heart
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If there was a god, Gene Starwind was *quite* certain that the deity hated him.

Over a year--a freakin' *year*!--had passed by since everything had gone down at
the Galactic Leyline, without any fallout from either the pirates or Ron
MacDougall. Then, five months ago, all hell broke loose.

First of all, Ron MacDougall had, quite literally, appeared out of the woodwork
and wanted to settle the score with Gene. Then the Kei pirates had reappeared,
causing excessive damage to various spaceports and the like, which, of course,
annoyed the hell out of Fred Luo (who, it seemed, owned a majority of the ports
attacked).

And to round everything off nicely, MacDougall had somehow uploaded a virus into
the Outlaw Star that effectively off-lined Gilliam. Permanently.

//Why does everything have to crash down on us at one damned time?// Gene griped
mentally, knowing full well that Jim and Melfina were tired of listening to his
complaining. Besides, even if he *had* spoken aloud, it would have been drowned
out by his *other* problem.

"Aw, c'mon, Suzu! You really need to lighten up a little bit, have fun!"

"I told you *not* to call me that. And you could stand to be a bit more
serious."

"Phhhht!"

"--and more lady-like."

Gene barely suppressed a sigh. Ever since Suzuka and Aisha had started 'dating'
(for lack of a better word), they argued even more than they had *before*. And,
of course, each woman expected Gene to side with her. Melfina was sympathetic
at best, but she couldn't do any more to stop the couple's bickering than the
redhead could.

Choosing to ignore them (and hope that they would take the hint and go to their
room to finish the 'discussion'), he turned to Jim and asked, "So what are our
options?"

"We really don't have a whole lot, Gene," the teen replied, shooting a glare at
Suzuka and Aisha for good measure; he, too, was fed up with their squabbling.
"Our only options are to have the entire mainframe reconstructed, possibly
losing everything we've got on file for the past year and a half, or we can
install the mainframe from a similar ship and hope that the systems are
compatible." [1]

"That might be the only real option we have," Melfina added, eyes concerned.
"It would take us out of action for a long time if we were to start from
scratch."

"Well, that's settled, at least," Gene agreed. "But where are we going to find
a ghost ship with a system compatible to the Outlaw Star?"

A knock on the door interrupted anything that Jim may have said, as well as
effectively shutting up Suzuka and Aisha for the moment. The young woman who
co-owned the repair shop peered into the room and offered a small smile. "I
overheard you saying you were looking for a new mainframe," she said softly.
"Enmi may have found a system that could work, if you're interested." [2]

No further discussion was needed. Tiamar barely had the words out before Gene
was ushering her back to the hanger where the newly found ship was being stored.
The little blond didn't really mind, though; she lived with a temperamental
redhead, after all, and knew what she was getting into by informing the crew of
the Outlaw Star about this development.

"It was brought in a few hours ago," she said, running one hand through her
short tousled hair, "drifting in space about a thousand kilometers from here.
From what the towship captain could tell us, it appears that the ship was
abandoned several months ago and left running on manual."

"Manual?" Melfina repeated, confusion lighting her brown eyes. "Why would
anyone abandon a ship and leave it on manual? Wouldn't they just completely
shut down or something?"

"In most cases," the blond agreed. "Enmi-kun is still trying to re-activate the
mainframe, but it appears to be intact."

Gene was about to ask if there may have been some viral problem with the
computer, but the words froze in his throat the second he set eyes on the ship.
Melfina and Jim reacted in a similar manner, both freezing midstep and staring;
Aisha's reaction was much more vocal.

"Hey! Isn't that the Shangri-La?!"

By this time, Enmi had joined the group to see what had stunned three of the
five into silence and--of course--heard the Ctarl-Ctarl warrior's comment. [3]
He quirked an eyebrow before turning to regard the ship once more. "So this is
the Shangri-La," he mused. "People had said MacDougall abandoned it; guess I
should listen to gossip a bit more often, ne, kitten?"

Tiamar snorted slightly: "No way, partner, that's *my* job in this outfit!
Well, that and upgrading computer systems." She sighed and shook her head. "I
can't believe that anyone would abandon a magnificent ship like this one!"

"Believe it," Jim said, finally finding his voice again. "MacDougall's
apparently using another one now, although I can understand him not wanting to
keep this one anymore. After Harry died and all...."

At his friend's words, Gene felt an unexpected pang of loss and regret. It
unnerved him in a way. After all, he would be the first to admit that he and
the MacDougall Brothers were rivals from the start, but still... it was a shame
for anyone as young as Harry had been to die in the manner he had.

Tiamar sighed and got a far-away look in her eyes. "He was so young and good-
looking, too. It's a shame, really."

Suzuka nodded in agreement. "Death should not claim the young."

The blond looked at the assassin as if she was insane. "That too, but I meant
the fact that he was gay!" [4]

"You're kidding," Jim said, adding uncertainly, "right?"

Tiamar shook her head. "Nope, he was gay. I know, I can spot a gay guy a mile
away!" As she spoke, her gaze lingered on Gene for a fraction of a second
before she returned full attention to the group. "Besides, I was there when Ron
nearly beat the hell outta the kid because of some guy he had a crush on. If
not for Enmi here, I would have gotten arrested for kicking Big Brother's ass
over it!!"

Enmi shook his head and shrugged, knowing full well that the blond almost *did*
get arrested for her role in breaking up the fight. Aisha's ears perked up as
Tiamar spoke. "They actually had a fight here?!" she said, very interested in
knowing more. "Did you hear who the guy was?"

"Aisha..."

"Mrrow, I'm just being curious, Suzu! You can't tell me you aren't intrigued,
too, you have that gleam in you eyes!"

Tiamar simply smiled and leaned down to pick up her toolbox. "I sorta told
Harry that I wouldn't tell when I was patching him up," she said nonchalantly.
"At least, I wouldn't tell anyone *but* the guy he liked and only *after* his
death. Of course," she added, eyes lowered sadly, "I don't think either one of
us expected him to die so young."

"Come on! Tell us!" Aisha yelped as Suzuka suddenly grabbed her by the arm and
dragged her back in the direction of the hotel they were staying at. Apparently
the assassin was finished with the conversation and decided that her lover was,
too. Enmi chuckled at the pair and turned to head back into his office.

"Hey, Jim," he said, "I'm having a little trouble getting the mainframe computer
back online. You wanna take a shot at it?"

"Sure!" the teen exclaimed, leaping at any opportunity to both help out and
maybe to talk to Enmi's daughters Ama and Lora. [5] They were both *very* cute,
and Lora actually seemed to like him too.

"Maybe I should come along, too, and play chaperone," Melfina teased, smiling at
the faint blush she managed to get from Jim for that comment.

"Hey, the more the merrier, so long as we get this program decoded," the man
said cheerfully. "Can you handle things here alone, kitten?"

At Tiamar's absent wave--she was already starting to work on removing the
Shangri-La's mainframe--Enmi, Jim and Melfina left. Gene remained still for a
moment, then walked over to the blond-haired girl.

"Hey, Tia." The girl glanced up from what she was doing, and the redhead
decided that he should ask before he lost his nerve: "What exactly was that deal
with you looking at me a few minutes ago?"

Brown eyes sparkled. "Please, Gene, anyone can tell! When Jim mentioned Harry,
you got this _look_... the only time I've seen anyone *that* forlorn is when
they're thinking about a lost love." She smiled again as the young man's green
eyes widened: "Hey, I can keep my secrets, kiddo. I won't tell a soul."

"Well, you got it all wrong this time," Gene snapped, unwilling to acknowledge
that, in fact, she had him dead to rights. "Harry MacDougall was an opponent,
and while it's a shame he's gone now, I could have cared less about him unless
he was directly in the way of me getting what I wanted."

He turned and began to storm out of the hanger, only to freeze at Tiamar's next
words:

"Oh? Then I guess you won't be interested to know that the guy Ron beat him up
over was you."


o.w.a.r.i.p.a.r.t.o.n.e.


[1] Yes, Ryoko has a plot point. Shocking, isn't it?

[2] Well, Tiamar and Enmi make another appearance in a fanfic! For those who
don't know, Tiamar and Enmi are characters created for the gw_yaoi-rpg that
represent Enigma and myself. Here, though, they are simply my avatars.

[3] So did everyone else on the station!

[4] Yes, I love dropping bombshells. Why do you ask?

[5] Ama and Lora really are based on Eni-kun's chibis. And yet again, the names
here are a play on their real names, Amanda and Lauren.

(8:52 PM 4/3/01)