The Bauble - Chapter 4
"The hallway of every man's life is paced with pictures; pictures gay and pictures gloomy, all useful,
for if we be wise, we can learn from them a richer and braver way to live."
Sean O'Casey
Kei Yuki and Tadashi Daiba had both been on the bridge working on various projects when the call came through from Tochiro. They had almost not recognized his voice from his obvious distress. "Captain DOWN! ... Bug Attack..." They both shivered in a visceral reaction to the words "Bug Attack" and dove for the controls, to begin to swing the Arcadia into a dive towards Titan's surface.
As they reached for the controls, Kei noticed with shock that the great wheel of the Arcadia flew as if Harlock himself had spun it in urgent response. They watched in amazement as the Arcadia started an in-atmospheric dive, the computer console alive and dancing with light and activity. They knew that the ship had a lot of automation, but they had not guessed the extent nor intelligence of the AI. Still, they checked to ensure that all was properly done.
Tadashi hit the all stations alarm button on the main console. Klaxons started ringing and calling out ship wide: "Red Signals to all hands, battle stations! Medical Alert; sickbay to docking ramp." The two bridge officers held on for dear life as the Arcadia responded with full emergency power in atmosphere. The ride was more than a little bumpy, despite powerful ship stabilizers. People scrambled to stations, not quite certain what to expect with the wild ride they were on.
Doc Zero and Thea Mallory made their way to the docking ramp with as much speed as was possible. On the way to the docking ramp, they pulled the Bug venom antidote from cold storage; Thea hoped that it was not expired. No one had come across a Bug in a very long time as they were quite rare even in their native Andromeda galaxy, mostly since their poisoned digits and highly martial nature had ensured that other races kept them in check. She shuddered. She had only heard tales about the Bugs and had never seen one up close. She really didn't want to meet one, either. If the Captain had fallen afoul of one, his survival was questionable at best. She and Bero exchanged worried looks.
OOOOO
Bob was sweeping out the remains of the construction debris that Harlock had left behind. As he swept it out of the swinging front doors of the Saloon, he happened to look up at a sight he had never thought to see. The Arcadia was coming in, hot and heavy towards the direction of the Spaceport. He realized that the ship was coming in on full military power as it blurred and trembled in its image. Dark Matter split off of its sides and caused the atmosphere to bubble and boil away near it. The ship was impressive enough without the current maneuver, and the in-atmosphere Dark Matter dive underscored the magnificence of the war ship.
No one had ever tried such a maneuver that Bob was aware of, indeed, he knew of no other ships powered and shielded by it. Dark Matter was tricky enough up in space where it properly belonged...
He looked at the fearsome sight and realized that if the Arcadia was coming in that manner, something was dreadfully wrong. And Harlock and Tochiro had left less than an hour before...
"The Kid! No..."
He dropped the broom, ran to behind the bar and belted on his blaster. He leapt out the back door to his parked flyer and jumped in. The sonic boom of the Arcadia's delayed in-atmosphere-shredding almost rocked him out of the flyer. A fierce wind blew against him and moved his flyer a good 50 yards. Several trees were uprooted and tossed. Bob hoped that no one had been out walking in that sudden gale, as he skillfully got control of his flyer. Sometimes it was very helpful to have multiple arms and hands. He headed for the spaceport.
OOOOO
Three new hopeful Arcadia crew members were completing the repairs on Harlock's Space Wolf. They grinned to each other as they snapped his canopy shut. Yasu looked up in the sky and let out a curse; reopened the canopy and yelled to the other two, "GET IN!" All three men crowded into the cockpit as Yasu keyed it to shut before they were even fully seated. He powered up without a checklist and got the smaller ship airborne and above the tarmac before the shockwave of the Arcadia's arrival hit the deck. Smaller craft all tumbled about like weeds below them, and cargo boxes were strewn about like small children's blocks. Fortunately, this was near dinner time and most beings were thinking about what to do about their meal, which meant that most were under cover. A few unfortunate ones were not, and they tumbled about like the cargo. The three men hoped that no one was badly injured.
As Yasu dealt with the bucking Space Wolf, Berger and Beldour were all treated to the rare sight of the Arcadia arriving like the vengeful wrath of God himself, riding on clouds of Dark and Anti-matter. It was a fearsome and awesome sight. The Arcadia slowed and stopped almost midair. They gaped. No ship that size could do that! But it did; the Arcadia hovered for a moment, readjusted its position almost gently and softly came to rest in the forest to the west of the Space Port. Clouds of tree debris flew up lofted by the high winds, birds and other denizens of the forest ran or flew up out of harm's way. The three men wondered what the emergency was all about...
OOOOOO
Inside of Harlock's pocket, the beautiful iridescent orb began to glow fiercely. It sent out a subspace signal along the strings of time and space to its Makers. It did not need to travel by the normal paths - it was part of the universe itself, and thus transmission was instantaneous. A feat that Tochiro would be quite interested in, were he not currently occupied with keeping his best friend alive until help could come.
OOOOO
The golden Queen of Arcadia gasped as she received the orb's signal - it stated that Harlock was dying! No! This could not be permitted! Without him, hope for the Nine Races of Man was much slimmer - nine of the Guardian Families were extinct already, and Harlock's family line was the strongest of the remaining three.
She called to her priestesses in her mind and they all instantaneously converged on the temple of Arcadia. Each of them mentally bonded with their Queen and her crown gleamed with the combined power of all of them. Its gathered energy shot a warp through space and time through the vibrating spheres of matter itself, to the small world-let known as Titan, and a town called Gun Frontier.
They reached out across space and time to the one man they were desperate to save. His mind was dark and almost cold. They could feel him slipping away from this universe and as one they reached out to hold on to the slender thread of life tying him to his body. It stretched, thinned and grew taut...
OOOOO
Ar'shenda and Al'deara were on the liner towards Antares when they felt the pull of the combined might of the temple priestesses of Arcadia. They quickly left the solar where they were and found a separate room where no one could observe them. They also combined with the mighty spiritual and telepathic bond with their sisters and Queen Mother. Ar'shenda slid out further on the thread than the rest of them. She called to him as she tightly gripped his soul thread.
Harlock! Harlock!
OOOOOO
In her quarters, Mimee, already glowing and suffering from a massive headache since Harlock had been wounded, gasped and screamed aloud as something powerful grabbed her mind and forcefully added her to the collective group of grim golden females. "No!" Her fear of the Golden Ones of early legends from Jura was a powerful thing, and she tried to shrink away from them in her mind, to no avail.
"You will help us!" The Golden Mind(s) gripped her firmly and pointed her attention away from her fear of them to the scene below the ship, played out as if from afar. Harlock! She recognized his mental signature - it was almost dark and she noted that his body was still, but for Tochiro trying to resuscitate him; she quailed. It was as she had feared! She looked into multiple Golden Minds and discovered that they wanted her help - to help him. She didn't like being with them, but she agreed for Harlock's sake.
They added her into the holding of his soul's thread. Mimee noticed one of the Goldens further out on the thread calling to him. She wondered who she was and why she seemed so desperate compared to the cold, determined competence of the others. She moved forward to help her. Anyone who was trying to help Harlock was someone whom she would help. She added her voice to the one called Ar'shenda.
Harlock! Harlock!
Harlock! Harlock!
OOOOO
Doc Zero and Thea were in motion even before the ramp fully deployed from the Arcadia's flank. They ran to where Tochiro was performing CPR on Harlock. Two medics followed with the anti-gravity stretcher. Doc Zero and Thea both had hypo syringes in hand, and as soon as they got to Harlock, both injected him with the anti-venom, reloaded and hit him again with as much anti-venom as they dared. Too little and he would have no chance, too much and the effects of the anti-venom became as bad as the venom itself. The medics loaded him carefully on the anti-gravity stretcher and Tochiro hopped astride Harlock's body, still doing CPR as the group ran back to the Arcadia.
By the time that they were back up the ramp again, two intravenous lines had been started, Harlock was given a breathing tube, and one of the Medics had replaced Tochiro as the main CPR person. Tochiro collapsed on the ramp in tears, ashen and shaky from the afternoon's events.
Some of the Arcadia's crew had gathered above to watch as Harlock was borne aboard, looking for all the world as if he was dead. Tochiro rose up, took off his glasses and wiped away his tears. He called to them and said, "Come, we have to get the Bug on board, too. Doc and Thea will need its body to make more anti-venom."
Four of the men came down the ramp, as two more got an anti-gravity sled and impervious gauntlets to handle the Bug. Bugs were heavy and with their poisoned digits, not safe to handle with bare hands.
OOOOO
Diesel Jones awakened from his enforced nap. He found himself stuck in the crook of a tree about twenty feet in the air. How he had gotten there, he had no idea. He had been chasing that short little Engineer of Harlock's, Tochiro Oyama.. . He moaned; his head hurt. In fact, it hurt in the same place that Harlock had knocked him out the day before. Damn pirates!
He worked on getting himself free from the tree. Since he had been unconscious when the Arcadia went in atmosphere, he did not see the Arcadia's descent and was quite a distance away from where he had been when Tochiro had cold-cocked him. He struggled down the tree nursing his sore head and even more sore back and side. Getting forcibly moved by the gale force winds and stuffed into a tree had not improved his bad humor. On top of that, his prey had escaped. Again. It was enough to give a bounty hunter a headache.
He wondered what had happened to Harry. He took out his Com and tried to call the Ciarriahqian's Com as he walked back towards where he remembered he had been. Somehow, according to the GPS within the unit, he had miraculously floated a good three miles away from where they had cornered the two pirates. He wondered how that was possible. Well, whatever happened, and however it had happened didn't matter just now. Getting back to the scene of the attack was far more urgent. He sprang into a painful trot.
OOOOO
Doc Zero and Thea guided the stretcher into sickbay and the medics assisted with getting Harlock's clothing and battle armor cut off of him. They quickly lifted him off of the transport stretcher and deposited his naked, bleeding, and unconscious form onto the diagnostic bed. The computer sprang into a litany of the injuries, vital signs, general condition, and progress of the both the Bug Venom, and anti-venom. Doc Zero, Thea, and the two medics sprang into action as a well-oiled team as the computer verbally gave them the information they needed to treat Harlock.
Patient: Harlock, P.F., Blood Type: O negative; twelve autologous frozen units on standby. Critical condition. Ciarriahqian blood venom poisoning, 30% of circulating volume and rising. Two entry wounds, left rectus femoris and vastus lateralis juncture, and right lateral bicep. Autolysis of red blood cells consistent with venom poisoning; current count 9.6 and falling. Cells in irreversible phase - 20%.Cells in reversible phase - 40%. Cells as yet unaffected - 40% and falling. Blood Pressure : 60 over 30 in the main arterial branches; holding. Peripheral circulating volume minimal. Pulse: 20, irregular rate, normal conformation of heart rhythm. Additional coronary pacing interpolated within main cardiac rhythm to attain rate of 50. Good response. No spontaneous respirations - full respiratory arrest; breathing assisted at 12 respirations per minute. EEG: minimal activity in frontal lobes; temporal lobes over-active. Hypertonic rigidity of the limbs. Edema of right arm at 1+, left thigh at 2+...
They feverishly raced against the effects of the Bug's venom. Unfortunately, it had quite a head start. The team worked as if demons were pursuing them all.
OOOOO
Tochiro oversaw the venom extraction process in the laboratory after the men had brought the Bug's body there. He had the computer generated program robotically remove the venom sacs; extracting the remaining venom from them and then into test tubes. Once he had completed this task, Tochiro had a medical enclosed system robot carefully take them to sickbay for more anti-venom to be made. Tochiro then flash-froze the Bug's body inside of the laboratory chamber. He did not know if anything else might be needed from its corpse, and Doc Zero might want the rare opportunity to study it, later. He had the robot move the body and stored it in a stasis freezer.
He had no idea if the Bug had relatives, or if they should even attempt to return it to them. There was little information on the species in database circulation, other than their lethal abilities and martial tendencies. They were nigh unto impossible to kill in hand-to-hand combat; hence few had ever been studied post-mortem. Since travelling to their home world was proscribed, no one was in the habit of calling on them, or even wanting to do so. He wondered how the Bug had come to be off of its home world, and why. Finishing his tasks there, he left the laboratory and headed out to sickbay.
OOOOO
The three new engineers arrived at the Arcadia with Harlock's Space Wolf. They noticed that the loading ramp was extended and no one was about. Curious, they all thought. Yasu shrugged. Well, they had completed the project and Harlock had told them to have it ready by today, so they were going to just assume that the open door was meant for them. No matter the Arcadia's rather spectacular entry and odd resting place.
Once inside the entryway, they saw the launch bay to the right of the entrance. They taxied the fighter in and parked it in one of two open spots. Once they had completed shutting it down, they got out of the fighter and disembarked.
A man stood at the entryway, with a Gravity based Glock 090 pistol in hand. "Who are you three, and why do you have the Captain's Space Wolf? Who gave you passage to enter the Arcadia?" He demanded answers of them firmly, and with a stern tone. The Glock was pointed at them in a no-nonsense manner. They took it seriously.
Wulf held out his hands to the side to show that they were open and that he was not dangerous. "We are three engineers from the Space Port and Harlock had us fix his Space Wolf canopy for him. It had gotten damaged by Diesel Jones, the bounty hunter. Harlock told us that if we fixed the canopy that he would take us on board. I am Wulf Berger, these other two are Wen Yasu, and Cagri Baldour." Each man nodded carefully as they were introduced. A sudden move now could be a very bad thing with their obviously guarded interrogator.
The man gestured them forward. He checked them briskly for armaments, and an eyebrow raised when all he found were wrenches, spanners, and screwdrivers. A few odd bolts and spare parts were also stowed in their pockets, but no actual weapons. They looked the part, but he wanted confirmation.
He herded the three men into a nicely appointed launch lounge off of the main launch bay. He gestured them to sit in the chairs with his gun. "Wait here."
Cagri lifted a hand and wet his lips, "Er, uh, is the Captain available?" He asked rather nervously. " He can vouch for us." Cagri tried to smile, but failed.
The man impassively stared at them, but somehow, Cagri got the impression that the question had unnerved the pirate. Without a word, the man left, and the door bolt clicked into place behind him.
Wen looked at the other two. "Does he actually think that that little simple lock is anything that three engineers can't figure out their way out of?"
Wulf cocked his head. "Perhaps it is a test? To see if we are what we say, or perhaps a test to see if we will do what we are told?" The three men looked at each other. Well, they were engineers. Perhaps they should figure the lock out and then just wait. They set about their tasks. It took them a combined 30 seconds. After they had the lock open they sat back down to wait. There, they thought. It should serve to show the crew that they were good engineers, and could follow orders.
OOOOO
Harley stood in the corridor outside of the room for a moment. He hit the wall Com and called up to the bridge. "Daiba, did the Captain tell anyone about three new engineers coming aboard?"
Kei and Tadashi looked at each other, shrugged to each other, and Tadashi hit the console Com button. "Not that we know of, but we haven't talked with him since yesterday. Find Tochiro and ask him. The Captain was with him when he was attacked, so he'll probably know more."
Harley grunted and tried to signal Tochiro without success. He plugged the Comp. "Where is Tochiro?" The Comp highlighted the lab area where the Bug was being processed. Ah, he thought, when Tochiro was in the lab he never answered anyone, even Harlock. He sighed and started walking in that direction. Best to get the information from the horse's mouth, he thought. And besides, the three in the launch lounge couldn't get into trouble without equipment, now could they?
OOOOO
Bob's flyer was almost to the Space Port when he noted that the Arcadia was actually billeted outside of the docking facilities. He raised an eyebrow. Even a neophyte should have been able to land on a landing pad! He wondered at the odd location. Bob veered off of the road and through the forest toward the Arcadia in the forest. The ride was a bit bumpy even with the stabilizers he had, but he was making good time, threading the flyer through the trees that he could, and avoiding those that he could not.
As he approached the Arcadia, he noted that the loading ramp was down and totally unattended. He raised another eyebrow. Very odd, that, even if someone was in trouble. He powered down and parked his flyer within walking distance. He didn't want the flyer to be too close, for if the Arcadia would leave and he was too close, the flyer would be within the gravity well of the ship and leave with it. He knew that the field extended around the Arcadia by about 500 meters. Bob had parked the flyer behind some sturdy trees and large boulders for safety's sake. No point in being careless.
OOOOO
Diesel Jones was now down to limping as he walked back to the scene of the attack. One thing was now clear to him. The Arcadia was planet side, and grounded. As he observed it from behind some trees he couldn't see anyone out and about. Nor did he see the Ciarriahqian, Harry, which did not bode well. He had not been able to raise the alien bounty hunter by Com at all; an even graver sign. He had thought that of all the alien races he knew, that Harry would have been able to withstand any attack either Harlock or Tochiro could have dreamed up. Damn! How had the pirates managed to get the drop on both of them? He sighed. Only one way to tell, and he was going to try it!
After looking around thoroughly, and seeing no one about, Diesel Jones did what no other being had ever done. He boarded the Arcadia without its Captain's permission and followed the direction of Harry's Com's GPS position inside the ship.
OOOOO
Bob grimly watched as Jones went up the Arcadia's ramp unchallenged. HE was not about to allow that bounty hunter to get at Harlock inside of his own ship, no sir!
He cautiously made his way towards the docking ramp from his angle. As he went through the trees he smelled a very acrid and distinctive odor. BUG! He smelled the ichors of Ciarriahqian venom. He went closer to the site where the odor was the strongest. He looked down beneath a large tree and noted that not only was there venom but also the smell of human blood as well. As he looked at the site, he noticed that a Cosmo Dragoon lay forgotten and alone upon the ground. Neither Tochiro nor Harlock would have ever permitted that, were they alive or conscious. He gingerly picked up the weapon and checked the serial number; it was Harlock's gun. Bob's heart sank; never would the Kid willingly permit that beloved weapon out of his sight...
He put the Dragoon in his own weapons belt and breathed a large sigh. He might as well tail the bounty hunter and keep him off of Tochiro's back, as a favor to Harlock. Bob boarded the Arcadia in a hunt for Diesel Jones with a heavy heart, for he knew that surviving Bug poison was a rare miracle, even for one as strong as Harlock. He looked around as he entered the docking bay and was surprised that no one challenged him at all. Indeed, no one was in sight. He headed down the hallway that he sensed heavy footsteps in a distance. He headed down that hallway, certain that it was Diesel Jones.
Now there were two beings aboard the Arcadia without the Master and Commander's permission, one on a mission of devious mischief, and one on an errand of determined vengeance.
OOOOO
The three Engineers had been sitting in the launch bay lounge for what seemed like quite a while to them. They looked at each other, and nervously looked at the door. No one had yet returned and they wondered if perhaps they had been forgotten.
They talked over what to do, and decided that staying in the lounge was not the right thing for them to be doing. They got up and opened the door, peering out into the corridor. They saw no one at all. Wulf, Cagri, and Wen exchanged puzzled looks. This was an odd way to be greeting new crew members, they thought. Discussing it together, they decided to head for the bridge. After all, that would be where the Captain of the Arcadia ought to be, should he not?
As they left the launch bay, Wen Yasu noticed that the loading ramp was still deployed. He went over to where the controls were surely located, studied them for a moment or two, and then punched in a sequence of codes. The ramp retracted and shut firmly. Satisfied, the three men went in search of their new Captain down a corridor that they hoped led to an elevator to get to the bridge.
OOOOO
A grey corridor surrounded him. He was alone in the hallway. The floor was soft underfoot and yet a bit indistinct. As he walked along the long corridor, he noted that the walls appeared to sway and swirl with a thousand shades of grey - all the way from pale, almost white - to the darkest shade fading into black. He wondered at its construction. He looked behind him and saw only darkness, except for a single, shining, and silvery thread trailing behind him. Forward, it appeared to be lighter and if he squinted his eye(s) he thought he could see some light coming from a distant doorway. He walked toward it with a firm step. He wondered how he had gotten here, what this place was, and where. He had never seen it's like, of that he was certain.
He looked down at himself again and noticed that he was wearing a strange, divided white robe, belted with a white belt, and a golden-hilted Damascene steel sword hung from his left hip. The robe covered his shoulders, chest and upper arms, and fell to his knees. There was a design on the chest of a very large red cross, and a Deaths-Head sigil on his left shoulder, and this sigil was repeated; making up the design of the golden buckles on the belt. He wore fine gold-washed chain mail under the robe with the cowl folded down on his back. Under the mail he wore a fine gauge white linen long shirt. He also was clad in dark, tight fitting trews, and dark leather Calvary boots with his golden spurs jangling softly as he walked along the hallway. On his back was a huge broadsword in an ancient, worn leather scabbard with the hilt and grip placed within easy reach over his right shoulder. There were beautiful jewels in the hilt guard, and in the pommel was a single, large, blood red ruby. It seemed to glint from inner light. Surmounting the setting of the large ruby was another of the golden Death's-heads. He also wore a dark black cloak lined in brilliant scarlet, off of one shoulder to permit access to the huge broadsword. It trailed down his back in inky folds.
He stopped a moment in confusion. This attire didn't seem quite right, somehow. Still puzzled, he bit his lower lip trying to remember, without success. His hands were encased in supple, yet heavy, brown leather gauntlets with a Death's-head sigil embroidered on the backs of the gloves. He took the gauntlets off and noted that on his left hand, he bore a golden wedding band on his ring finger and a signet ring bearing the same Death's-head emblem in black, gold and scarlet enamel on his forefinger. On his right hand, he bore a golden ring on his forefinger, with the embossed figure of a planet and its moon that seemed familiar, surrounded by two elliptical rings. The ring was in tones of green, gold and blue. He had no memory of why any of them should seem familiar. He put the gloves back on.
The knight also looked down at his stomach and noted that from inside the robe, a thin, glistening strand of light came from his navel and trailed behind him from where he had come. He reached down to touch it and while he could not touch it, where it was, seemed warmer and alive. This too, was a curious thing of which he knew nothing. Shrugging his shoulders, he resumed his walk. He didn't know why he knew it, but the answers to all of his questions lay ahead of him, not behind. He continued walking.
OOOOO
Author's note:
Look up the Templar Knights. According to the Harlock histories, one of the early ancestors was a Templar, who fought at Acre and was on the last ship to leave. As they left, He hoisted the first of the family's colors, the Deaths-head Flag on the mast of the ship as he went home. I am postulating that the Templar past and the Harlock clan's future have much to do with one another. Harlock is not the first of the Pirate Knights, he is one of a long, long line of them... complete with their attendant secrets...