As ever: For Pollywantsa - who might just have created a monster with this one. And to those of you who lurk in the shadows in anonymity - thank you for reading. You know who you are!


Waterfall 4/4

'Is it me,' Tochiro asked moodily, kicking at the inoffensive, helpless marble flagstone underfoot, 'or is this whole exercise more like hitting your head against a brick wall?'

'More painful,' Harlock replied through gritted teeth. He rubbed idly at the healing scar on his face as they walked back through the vaulted corridor of the Citadel towards the beanstalk, where the Yukikaze waited for them above in orbit, utterly oblivious to the neo-gothic architecture that soared above their heads, and equally oblivious to the stares and muttered comments from other officers and civilians they passed.

'Stop scratching it, it'll never heal,' his friend told him as they walked. 'Shit. I knew Nevich was connected, but this is ridiculous.'

'Wasn't scratching, I was rubbing. And the nerve of the bastard - threatening to sue for slander! Can he do that?'

'Apparently.' Tochiro's reply was uncharacteristically glum. 'We don't have any proof - just our word against his, and he's got more money to throw at the Council than we have.'

'A shame I didn't mark him more permanently,' Harlock growled. 'He'd have a hard job explaining my fingerprints on his throat…' He glared at the two over-dressed flunkies who startled and glared at him with disapproval over the tops of the files clutched to their chests. 'What the fuck are you two staring at? Nothing better to do with your time? Or cruising for a hard shag?'

Both men jumped as he took a step in their direction, but fled when Harlock was brought up short by Tochiro's restraining hand on his arm.

'Oi, oi… easy there. We've got few enough allies on Mars as it is without you scaring the entire population witless.' They reached the door of the orbital elevator and waited patiently for one of the cars to return. 'Fact is we didn't have a strong hand and Zone and Nevich knew it - we've not been able to prove who hired those thugs - and although it seems pretty clear those HR records for the ex-Vatican guards we killed were doctored to show those discharge dates, we both know it's a crock. We're out of our depth, my friend, and over our heads. Illegally obtained files, a few dead bodies and the word of an impoverished lieutenant and his family and crew ain't worth shit.'

'Miranda and the girls could testify…'

'Mamoru wouldn't allow it - and all they'd say is they were too traumatised to remember. Hell - they tore Justin's testimony apart in there without breaking a sweat, after that doctor did his piece about head injuries.'

Harlock kicked at the closed door of the lift. 'This is what we get for playing it their way. If I could just…'

'This is what you get for playing it your way, my boy.'

The booming voice from behind the pair caused both of their shoulders to tense before they turned round. 'Dad.' Tochiro's voice came out in a squeak.

Hiroshi Oyama, current head of Arcadia Engineering, strode towards the pair, Justin scurrying to keep up at his side, despite the older man's bulk. Oyama senior was only a little taller than his son, and decidedly stouter. However he could still set a fair pace, as Justinian was obviously finding out the hard way. Bearded, bespectacled and despite being only in his mid forties, already thinning on top, but a force to be reckoned with.

Or avoided. Harlock started to sidle towards the second set of doors a few metres away.

'And just where do you think you're going, Albrecht?'

'I thought I'd take the stairs,' Harlock muttered sullenly, his top lip curling at the use of the first of the shopping list of his despised given names. Tochiro had to cough to hide a nervous giggle.

'Into orbit? Don't be ridiculous.' Unlike his son, Oyama senior didn't have a sense of humour.

The lift arrived and the four ended up with it to themselves; between Harlock's glower from his imposing height, and Oyama's belligerent stare from lower down, the other three potential occupants found a pressing urge to be elsewhere. Tochiro found a corner and tried to make himself as unobtrusive as possible, earning a sympathetic smile from Maya's father, who looked decidedly put-upon himself.

The machine had barely begun its long ascent when Oyama's voice filled the small car. 'If the pair of you - or three I should say, since Mamoru appears to have lost whatever common sense he has - had brought this matter to me straight away, perhaps I could have brought more pressure to bear. But no… as usual, you two just had to stick your noses in…'

'It's not as if we knew there was anything that serious to look at,' Harlock interjected sulkily. 'At least until Nevich came knocking.'

'But you did your usual thing, trying to sort problems out on your own, and as a result, Mamoru and his family are lucky to be alive, you got yourself shot…' he paused, looked the tall youth up and down, frowning when he noticed the way he was holding his still not healed arm 'again. Your home got shot up, Justin's little girl was caught up in the firefight, and you almost got my son killed. Did I miss anything?'

'Oh - I don't know - maybe the part where Nevich and someone high up in the government orchestrated the whole thing and tried to make it look like a terrorist attack by Come-homers in order to further some unknown political agenda?' Tochiro spoke up, seeing that Harlock was clenching his fists so tight that if he'd been gloveless he'd have been dripping blood on the floor by now. 'Dad - you saw those blueprints-'

'No, I didn't. Not if I want to keep that lucrative contract that keeps the pair of you supplied with toys to play with and blow up, I didn't. At least that part you had enough sense to keep quiet about.' He turned his baleful glare onto the increasingly uncomfortable Harlock. 'You meant well - can never fault you there, lad. But will you for the love of Earth get some brakes fitted on both your mouth and your good intentions? You always act before you think through the consequences. It doesn't matter if you're right, if the other guy has a bigger stick than you do. And trust me, right now, Zone and Nevich have just that.

'Now the pair of you have two weeks to sort out Harlock's affairs back home, and then the Council - and the Admiralty - want the pair of you shipped out somewhere where you can't do any damage for a while. They don't want you shouting your mouths off to the press. So you'll take the Yukikaze out to Enceladus, pick up some boffins from the Exploratory Corps, and then you're heading out to a binary system out in the middle of nowhere. Some massive explosion or somesuch pinged off some expensive telescope, and they want a ship. I offered them the Yukikaze, and you pair of jokers. Oh - and you're welcome. The alternative was a long-haul surveillance mission on some old crate called the Karyu that I wouldn't trust to hold together past the first IN-SKIP jump.'

The doors opened onto the bare white corridor of the space station, and Oyama stomped out without a backwards glance. Justin gave the pair a sympathetic shrug, and followed.

Tochiro stuffed his hands in his pockets and pushed himself off the wall he'd been leaning against with a heavy sigh. He nipped through the doors as they started to close, and stood in front of the sensor to hold them open for his taller companion. Harlock joined him reluctantly, and trudged in his wake as they headed for the shuttle dock. 'Well that could have been worse…'

'Worse? He didn't even look at those blueprints,' Harlock grumbled. 'How-'

Tochiro elbowed him in the ribs. 'Shut up a bit, will ya? I'd rather talk about that lovely bit of stuff you've got waiting for you back Earthside - or rather, the delightful Annelise waiting for me, Earthside. If only her mother wasn't such a dragon…' He kept up his inane chatter right up until they entered the Yukikaze's airlock, and it hissed shut behind them.

'Finally,' Harlock drawled when silence fell. 'I thought you'd never shut up.'

'Funny. I was thinking the same, you dope. Did you stop to wonder if anyone was listening? We're in shit up to our eyeballs right now.' At the abashed look on his friend's face, he sighed theatrically. 'Stupid question, Toshiro… why do you even bother asking?'

'I just thought it was a bit much your dad wasn't interested in those blueprints,' Harlock snapped at him as they walked to the bridge.

'That's not what he said, if you actually bothered listening. He can't discuss the damn things in public. I know dad - trust me, he's interested. He's trying to protect us.'

'By shipping us out on a baby-sitting expedition for a bunch of nerds?'

'As a card-carrying nerd, you oversized jock, I take severe exception to that slur,' Tochiro growled at him. Harlock stuck his tongue out, and Tochiro laughed at him. 'You can be such a child. Look - we were going to have to do something similar in a few weeks anyway as her shakedown cruise - all it's done is move the timetable up a bit.' He nipped through the bulkhead that led to the bridge of the small destroyer-class ship. 'I'll talk to dad tonight - we're running him and Justin back with us to Earth.'

'And leave it to the grown ups, as Mamoru so quaintly puts it?' Harlock huffed. 'I'm over twenty-one. Hardly a child.'

'Barely. And yeah - why not? We're gonna be light-years away for months. Maybe they can start looking a bit harder now they know what to look for. You know Mamoru won't let this go either, so let the experts do what they do best.'

'Whilst we sit on our hands watching some techs run tests on solar emissions?' Harlock scowled at him from under a thatch of his unruly hair. 'My cup runneth over.' He frowned even harder. 'And this puts a crimp in a few other plans…'

Tochiro glanced up from where he'd been busying himself with his console. 'The lovely Maya?' he hazarded. The answering growl necessitated finding something fascinating on his console to concentrate on so his grin wasn't visible from the captain's chair. 'Yeah…' he muttered. 'What could possibly go wrong there…?'


It was partly a relief that the following week passed in a blur of official investigation, both local and planetary, and something of a disappointment. Mostly for the same reason: it kept Harlock busy, despite his injuries, dealing with the fallout from the events of that night. Maya didn't get to spend any time with the young graf, and even Tochiro and Mamoru were tied up with various related affairs. Her father had to leave to attend a committee on Mars, and that left her kicking up her heels once the police and other investigators had finished with her, with only the women of the house for company. Miranda she liked, but she was several years older and a wife and mother, with little in common with her, and Annelise was often kept busy helping to organise the clean-up, refusing Maya's well-intentioned attempts to muck-in.

It left her with only the grounds and surrounding forest and parkland to explore, and when she ran out of places to explore by bike, she switched to horseback, borrowing one of the milder mannered hacks from the stables situated just off the road, at the foot of the hill. But whilst she revelled in the freedom to go where she wished, when she wished, with no-one to bother her, the lack of bothering - at least by a certain dark-eyed, sinfully beautiful young man with questionable intentions - began to leave something of a hollow inside.

There was also the outstanding matter of his somewhat "functional" proposal, given that the deadline for the announcement of the expulsion of colonial-born citizens was looming.

Harlock and Tochiro were still on Mars, so when she had a chance, as Miranda shooed her daughters upstairs - their own home still unlivable thanks to some over-enthusiastic kidnapper turning everything over looking for no-one quite knew what, she asked a still pale but improving Mamoru for advice.

'He asked?' he shook his head. 'Honestly. Tact isn't his strong suit.'

She smiled at that. 'Maybe. But at least he was honest.'

'That,' Mamoru said archly, 'Is usually when he's at his most dangerous.' But he smiled at her warmly. 'Tough call for both of you. You like him?'

She nodded. Like wasn't in doubt. He did have a way with him, even when she felt like thumping him. He kissed like a devil, his hands had never even heard of discretion and for her own part there wasn't an inch of his tall, lean and overwhelmingly masculine form that she hadn't fantasised about running her hands over. Or kissing. Or licking. His tendency to stare at her over the kitchen table at dinner with those wicked eyes from under his long hair put her in mind of a few choice lines from Milton, and if her 'archangel ruined' licked those full, wide lips again at her across the table during dinners in that way he had, she wasn't going to be responsible for the consequences. Even his tendency to open his mouth and place both of his very large feet in it was rather endearing.

In small doses… She knew damn well that over a long period of time, amusing eccentricities could easily escalate into murderously annoying fingernails-down-blackboard habits. She did, after all, have three older brothers.

'Well,' Mamoru continued when she didn't contribute anything further after her nod. 'Lay it out and have a good think about the pluses and the minuses. Be honest with yourself - and don't mind me - I'm not partisan - I love the idiot, but I'm not sure I'd wish him on you for the rest of your life unless you truly feel you can't live without him.'

She smiled at him. In a lot of ways he was so much easier to talk to than Harlock, despite the age difference. She doodled in what was left of her soup with her spoon. 'Well, he's kind, handsome, intelligent, can be funny when he wants to be… he's brave - almost to a fault.'

'No "almost", Maya - I said honest…'

They shared a smile. 'Is it too mercenary to mention his inheritance? Because I do love this place…' she continued a little more hesitantly.

'I said be honest. All the pluses. And no, it's not. You will need somewhere to live - might as well be somewhere you love. Besides - he's not that personally well-off - though you won't want for anything.'

She took a deep breath. 'Okay then. Mercenary baggage that I am, I do rather like the idea of staying here. And then there's the family - my brothers are scattered around the galaxy, and fathers' work will take him more and more often out into the colonies, and that scares me a little. But here there's Tochiro, and you, Miranda, the girls… and the staff here are so nice - I like Annelise…'

'So is it Harlock you'd be marrying or everything he brings with him?' he asked, his slightly exotically shaped hazel eyes twinkling.

'When you put it like that...' she replied shyly, suddenly all too aware of how her list must sound.

'Don't fret - we haven't even got to the negatives yet,' he assured her. 'You might need every positive you can find.'

'Oh! That's just unfair!' She felt she had to defend his honour, given that he wasn't there to do it for himself.

'Maya - I've known him since he was a little boy. Trust me, you'd be in for stormy weather, but when he puts his mind to it, he can be worth the trouble. He's reserved, stubborn, opinionated, can drink anyone I know under the table and stand up under his own steam afterwards, has a nasty temper when he's provoked into losing it, and nurses a grudge like you wouldn't believe. He also believes in keeping any promise he makes, no matter what it costs, and he's fiercely protective and loyal to those he loves - though woe betide anyone who betrays that - he gives, but he does expect it back in equal measure.'

'Shouldn't some of those be on the plus list?' she asked.

Mamoru raised one light brown eyebrow in reply, and when she considered his description, she did see his point. 'But what I don't want to do is make him feel that it's only his offer of safety that I want,' she murmured. 'That would hurt him.'

'He offered,' Mamoru pointed out mildly. 'He's well aware of the consequences - I hope. And you're going to have to bear in mind he's also somewhat single-minded when he sees something - or someone - he wants.'

'Stubborn?' she asked with a cheeky smile.

He smiled back 'Stubborn,' he agreed. They both laughed. 'The thing is - and it might be to both your benefit - he'll be away a lot. He won't be sidelined into testing prototypes forever, and there will be war - sooner rather than later. It's likely you'd be alone here for months at a time. Which would at least give the pair of you time to grow up a little, and get to know each other without living in each other's pockets.'

'It could also drive us apart,' she muttered.

'True - but in this case… If you want my full-on honest opinion, I think you'd be good for each other - but not just yet. You're both so damn young. The problem is, you don't have the luxury of time. Once this expulsion begins, it's unlikely you'd ever be allowed back - and you'd certainly never be permitted to marry after it.' He paused, a wistful half-smile playing around the corners of his mouth. 'Miri and I were married when we were your age, but we'd known each other day in day out since we were children. If the fates are kind I hope we'll slip away in our bed together a hundred years from now surrounded by adoring great-great grandchildren.'

'Maybe the fates will be kind to both of us,' she replied, a wistful smile tugging at the corners of her own mouth at the thought. 'But if they aren't…'

'Then we take every moment of every day we have and make it count,' Mamoru told her fiercely. 'Nothing like being shot recently to make you rethink your life,' he continued, with a wink that only went part way towards taking the bitterness out of his words. She leaned over the table and gave his hand - the one not still in a sling - a squeeze to show she understood. Nothing like having your wife and children abducted at gunpoint and threatened, she added mentally.

She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up. 'Thank you, Mamoru-san.'

'You're welcome - but call me Mamoru - there's no need to be that respectful. We're family even if you don't marry the moody idiot.'

She laughed. 'Mamoru then. But what is it Harlock calls you - isn't that a term of respect?'

'Aniki. Yes and no - in his case it's kind of a cheeky way of saying "big brother" rather than the more formal "nii-san". It doesn't have to be directed at a family member.' He smiled up at her. 'Just so I know - where were you planning on going?'

He always left the "in case we're attacked again" unspoken.

'To the waterfall. I need to do some thinking.' She smiled at a memory. 'And maybe some carping of diems…'

He laughed politely at her joke. 'I guess I shouldn't send one of the Yukikaze's crew with you then this time. Be careful.'

She patted her hip, where a holstered pistol had sat ever since the attack. 'Always. Don't worry - I've been practicing.' She sauntered off with rather more spring in her step than she really felt. In truth, a lot of things about the past couple of weeks weighed on her mind.

Maybe the cold water would wash a few away…


She took a horse, partly because they still needed stable hands to replace the men killed in the attack, and the horses needed the exercise. Tochiro's little chestnut mare knew the way and was happy to amble along the path that led up the wooded hill to the waterfall, past the ruined folly. The falls, she'd learned, weren't natural - some ancestral Graf had diverted a stream and built the falls in imitation of a natural formation, creating the splash pool and the meandering stream as a gift for his new wife, about five hundred years ago.

At times, the timescales on display made her head hurt. The castle had been standing in one for or another on the same spot for maybe eighteen hundred years. And during that time, the Harlock family - through various variations of surname, title, and a decidedly meandering family tree, had - with only a few lacunae - been in residence. The direct male line had died out sometime in the mid-twentieth century - the last holder of the name had only fathered one daughter, who'd married a Japanese inventor - as it happened, the co-founder of what was now Arcadia Engineering. Her own branch was distantly related, probably because the Rosenbachs had originated in Bayreuth, and never moved too far away. And there were, she knew, a couple of distant branches still in Japan, according to the family legends, at least one dating back to the fifteenth century.

She wondered if that one owed anything to her young, sad, armoured knight in the portrait by the famous painter, even as she tethered the mare and strolled over to the edge of the pool. She knelt on the gravel at the side and trailed her fingers in the cold water, occasionally lifting them out so that she could watch the rainbow droplets twinkle in the sunlight as they fell through her fingers. The day was warm, and that finally made her mind up for her. Throwing caution to the winds, she stripped off quickly and stepped into the water.

She shivered at first and drew in a sharp breath as the cold water closed around her. But after the initial shock it was bracing, and she soon felt warmer as she swam the few yards from the edge to the falls, and then lazily back and forth, sometimes just floating on the surface, her long hair trailing behind her, weighted by the water and following her as she swam, like the golden locks on one of the nymphs of legend - Lorelei, or perhaps the Rhinemaidens they sang of in the grand, ancient opera house in Bayreuth. If there'd been a convenient rock in the middle of the pool, she might have persuaded herself to sit on it and comb through her hair with her fingers, she thought as she turned onto her back to swim from shore to waterfall this time, enjoying the warm heat of the sun on her breasts as they poked impudently above the waterline, her nipples hard and puckered from the cold water.

"What songs the Syrens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, although puzzling questions are not beyond all conjecture." Harlock's low, melodic voice broke into her reverie as she floated idly through a sunbeam.

'I wasn't singing,' she pointed out as she ducked under the water hastily, only to end up getting a mouthful as she splashed around, and rose up again, coughing and spluttering.

'Oh, I don't know - that little "eek" you let out as you went under the second time was a pretty decent high C,' he deadpanned. 'At least until you started swallowing the pool…' he added, attempting an innocent look that failed dismally, given that his dark eyes were trying to pierce the veil of the water she was churning up with her legs to vainly (and belatedly) hide her naked state. 'Do I need to administer the kiss of life?' he asked, still failing to nail the beatific look.

'I think I'll live.' She backpedalled to get a little more distance from the shore and a bit more chop. 'I thought you weren't due back for another two days?'

'If you want to hide under the water, you'll need to drop the buoyancy aides,' he smirked. She looked down, wondering what the hell he was talking about, and realised that her breasts were riding nicely on top of the waves. Treacherous little sluts

'...summarily dismissed,' he continued, seemingly unaware of her distraction. 'Got in to Bayreuth about an hour ago and flew straight here. Mamoru said you came this way, so…' He smiled at her. 'Here I am, ready for bodyguard duty.'

She snorted. 'Seriously, I think the only person my body needs guarding against around here is you…' she pointed out.

Another beaming smile. 'Guilty as charged. But I promise I won't enter the water unless you invite me.' He sat down in a tangle of long legs on the side of the pool, and trailed his fingers in the water.

'Except - I can't get out whilst you're watching,' she added thoughtfully.

His answering grin was positively wicked - although that might have been the very slight twist the scar on his face gave the corner of his mouth. The stitches had been removed just before he left for Mars, but the wound was quite obviously still painful - his hand kept drifting up as if to rub the area, and forced down by an effort of will.

She found herself smiling in response to his playfulness, although there was a sense that it wasn't totally unforced. A tightness around his eyes as he'd spoken about the dismissal? Or the way that, when he thought she wasn't looking, that smile could leave his mouth, only to be plastered straight back on when she faced him.

'Well…' she turned back onto her front and began to swim across the pool at a reasonably safe distance. From the direction of his gaze, his eyes were tracking her bottom with military precision. 'I can't stay in here all day… Maybe you could be a gentleman and look the other way?' She made the suggestion in a voice that she hoped hinted even to him that that was the last thing she either wanted or expected.

'I could… but then, I keep remembering how a certain young miss - and I can hardly call her a lady - decided not that long ago to watch me climb out of there without a stitch on. Seems to me, turnabout's fair play. You know - equality, and all that,' he drawled. Without taking his eyes off her, he removed his restricting flight jacket and dumped it unceremoniously to one side. He'd obviously taken the time to change, because instead of a flightsuit underneath, he was just wearing a light grey sweater tucked into his green uniform trousers, and the thin fabric clung to his chest like a second skin. Whilst she watched from her vantage point close to where the waterfall hit the pool, he pulled his boots off as well, and then wriggled his toes in the water with a sigh of relief.

'But not coming in?'

Not without an invitation,' he replied with what looked suspiciously like a twinkle in his eyes. 'Besides, it's cold…' His eyes were fixed on a point several inches below her chin and she blushed as she realised her breasts were once again showing off for the audience.

She refused to submit to her blushing. Holding her head high as she trod water, she gave him her best smile. 'There's a warm spot over here…' she said brightly.

He tipped his head on one side slightly to look at her. 'Is that an invitation?' His smile reminded her of a wolf that had just spotted lunch. 'Because I'd be very, very, careful that I was absolutely sure about that before this goes any further. If it is, you're not getting back to that shore with your virtue intact.'

She heaved a theatrical sigh. 'Why is it everyone around here keeps telling me you're not much of a talker? So far, that's about all I've had from you…' she pouted, and had to bite back a grin at his attempt to stop an answering smirk spreading over his own face. Really, she thought, the scar didn't detract too much from his looks. It just gave him a sort of devilishly piratical air… And then she had to take in some much needed oxygen as the air seemed to be suddenly lacking in it - probably because he chose that moment to stand up and pull the sweater over his head, so that he stood there like some ancient renaissance statue, broad shoulders and his chiselled - but not gym-ripped - chest narrowing to his slim hips which were still in the embrace of those form-fitting leathers. It took every bit of willpower she had not to run her eyes down that elegant torso to his navel, and from there follow the line to dark hairs now to where they vanished behind his waistband…

'Lollipop.'

'What?' The word brought her out of her unplanned reveries, and she had to resist the urge to check the side of her mouth for drool.

'Tochiro's right, you do look at me as though you've just sighted a lollipop.'

'Pity it still has the wrapper on,' she muttered, and at his sudden bark of laughter, blushed, realising she'd spoken out loud. But she'd promised herself she wasn't going to waste a moment… 'Are you going to stand there all day?' she called out boldly.

Judging from the speed at which he managed to remove his trousers and dive into the pool, he obviously took the hint. He reached her in less than a handful of strokes, and wrapped himself around her, pulling her close and kissing the life out of her. When they finally had to break apart for oxygen refuelling, he narrowed his eyes and gave her a mock glare. 'I thought you said the water was warmer over here?' he growled. 'It's cold enough to freeze the boll-'

'I said there was a warm spot,' she clarified, grinning up at him. 'I didn't say it was in the water…' She shrieked as he splashed her, but her half-hearted attempts to flee to the safety of the waterfall were utterly futile, She was lifted up in his long, strong arms and had to wrap her legs around his waist to keep her balance and not tumble backwards. At least, that was her story and she planned on sticking to it.

Despite his protestations, the temperature of the water wasn't having too much of an effect on some interesting parts of his anatomy. And she'd apparently thrown any sense of decorum, sanity and common sense away along with her knickers, because even with her back pressed against the cold, slick stone behind the waterfall, with the cool waters beating down on her, the only thing she could think about was that long, lean body forcing her against the stone until the imprint of the granite was embossed into her skin; the way his muscles twitched under her wandering hands; the way he tasted as his tongue and hers tangled in their own separate seductive dance between their mouths as they swapped the lead between them; the way his length nudged against her most intimate places, demanding entry, but held back by an effort of will that she wanted to curse. But in her current position she didn't exactly have any wriggle room. So to speak.

'Harlock!' She wasn't sure if she was begging, demanding or encouraging him when she called out his name.

'Last time I looked,' he murmured into her ear as he pushed her against the cold, wet stone behind the waterfall, although as soon as he realised from one pained little squeak that stone and human skin don't mix, he apologised and carried her - still buried inside her - and for that she thanked her lucky stars for his size and surprising strength - to the shore, after which there really wasn't much she could do beyond hold on for dear life and bury her face in his neck, her teeth in his shoulder, to avoid scaring off every bit of wildlife - or some startled tourists, if any made it this far - for about two miles in every direction.

At least, that's what he laughingly claimed when he rolled over after a very brief respite to get their breath back, and pulled her with him so that she was now settled on top, staring down into his eyes. 'I might need ear defenders next time,' he told her, his mouth curved into a smile so incandescent she felt it might just set fire to the damn forest.

'Really?' she leaned down to kiss those full lips, and smiled inwardly as she heard him groan when she shifted on top of him. 'Because for a self-professed atheist, there was a lot of taking the Lord's name in vain there…'

His hands were busy running through her wet hair, which in her current position covered his thighs. 'Credit where credit's due, as they say,' he murmured. 'Thank you, impersonal universe and forces of natural selection' just doesn't have the same ring to it.' He drew a strand of her water-darkened hair over her shoulder, and delicately stroked her throat with the end of it, and then followed the curve of her collar bone across and down to her breast, before drawing circles around her nipple with the wet locks. 'Please don't cut this. Promise me?'

She smiled at him. 'Not if you love it so much.'

He smiled back. 'I love the way it moves when you walk, as though it has a life of its own - it has potential… like a living veil.' He stroked her head, his fingers running through the wet curls. 'Silky soft when dry - and like this...' he drew the strand he still held down over her flat stomach to her navel, tickling her with it in her belly button. And having found a weakness, as she convulsed in giggles he proceeded to exploit it.

Thoroughly.


'I never did ask you if you'd given any thought to my suggestion, before defiling you so thoroughly,' he said softly as they nestled together - still naked - on the grass, their horses grazing only a couple of feet away. The day was warm and there didn't seem to be any great urgency in dressing.

Maya squirmed until she could look at his face, still so beautiful, in spite of the wound which cut its way brutally across his right cheek. The stitches had gone, but it still looked red and sore against the light tan he'd gained from his weeks on Earth. Once that faded after a few weeks in space, it would stand out even more, she thought sadly. She ran a finger gently down the line it took, careful to stay away from the wound itself.

'I rather thought that was your cunning plan…' she teased.

'What - to roger you into submission until you couldn't think straight?' He gave her his almost imperceptible one-sided smirk. 'Damn… why didn't I think of that?' He sat up and took her hands in his as they faced each other. More soberly he continued: 'I had a word with Mamoru - he's something of a genius with finances - he's salted away some funds in the colonial banking system, so if you prefer you won't need to starve out there, and we've arranged a few support networks for some of my crew who'll be affected as well - you'll have options, and help - never think that I want to trap you into anything you don't want.'

He was so earnest as he spoke, her heart melted. That he'd go to such lengths to set her free… She kissed him again, as deeply as she could, and when she finally came up for air, she ran her fingers through his now almost-dry hair, regretting the day he'd have to cut it back to an almost regulation length. Curling as it did over his collar, it gave him a rakish air as it fell over his face, almost covering his right eye. 'You'd set me free?' she asked. He nodded, his sherry-dark eyes fixed on hers.

Truthfully, she'd made her decision the moment she teasingly enticed him into the pool earlier. 'There's no need for that,' she told him softly, and laughed as the expression on his face changed from nervous anticipation to exultant delight. His whoop of delight startled several roosting crows from the trees surrounding the glade, as well as almost stampeding the horses. After he'd caught the latter - and the sight of him running after the pair stark naked had sent her into fits of giggles - he dropped back down beside her in a tangle of his long legs and kissed her as though his life depended on it.

'You won't regret this, I promise,' he said earnestly when they took an oxygen break. He pointed to the forbidding, hag-like face in the massive tree opposite their position. 'See - I have a witness!'

'I'm surprised she's not blushing,' Maya told him with a laugh, as she brushed his hair out of his eyes.

'Nah - she's been here so long she's seen it all before I'm sure - which would explain the disapproving looks we're getting…' He took a deep breath. 'You know, if you want a fancy ceremony, I can arrange…'

She shushed him with a finger to his lips, which he dutifully nipped before she could remove it from temptation. 'I don't mind. I'd happily ride to the town right now and stand before the notary if you wanted.'

He grinned mischievously at her. 'Well, if we went like this we'd certainly cause a sensation…' he drawled, looking ostentatiously down at their mutual state of undress. She swatted him on the arm. 'Although the Lady Godiva look might catch on…'

'If you've ever ridden in shorts, 'she told him primly, 'You'd never suggest that. Stirrup leathers and bare skin do not mix - it pinches.'

His grin widened. 'Darling - I've ridden round here totally naked plenty of times - the trick is to leave the saddle off...'

At the image that conjured up, she felt a sudden need to go and stand under the waterfall again. But he'd stood up and was bending down to pick up his pants - and heaven help her, that was the tightest, most delectable backside she'd ever set eyes onalong with a pair of lean muscled legs that just seemed to go on forever…

'… want.'

He'd been speaking and she'd missed it, distracted by watching him dress. Probably round about the time he'd pulled those skin-tight leather pants up over his ass and she'd envied the soft leather as it clung to those rock-hard glutes… 'What?'

He turned and smiled at her whilst pulling his sweater back over his head and smoothing it down over his rock-hard abs. The gesture was so precise she realised that the tease had been deliberately flaunting his considerable assets in front of her as he covered them up. 'I said, the notary will be up at the Schloss the day after tomorrow - plenty of time for Mamoru to sort out the paperwork. Tochiro finally popped the question to Annelise and the daft bint said yes, so…'

She snorted, and reached for her own clothes. 'Knowing Mamoru, I suspect he's had most of it drawn up since not long after you got here for the funeral. Probably already on a clipboard somewhere.'

Harlock smiled fondly. 'I don't think he ever goes anywhere without a checklist. I used to tease Miri about it when I was younger, but honestly - I think all that hyper-preparation was just his way of coping with some of the shit dad would throw our way. But you might be right - he likes to be prepared for all eventualities. Our Mamo-chan doesn't fly by the seat of his pants.'

'No - thankfully. Two of you would be more than the world could handle,' she replied as she tugged her boots on. 'Now - whilst I try and sort my hair out - back up a bit. Tochiro proposed? I want the details!'


'...went flying and sat right down in the puddle of half-poached eggs, and then he picks himself up, dripping egg whites, and goes down on one knee - right in the middle of the mess I'd just dropped, holds up one of the poaching rings, and asks me - just blurts it right out and how could I resist those eyes? He just has a way of looking at you that makes your stomach do flip-flops…'

A snort from Harlock interrupted Annelise's gushing description. He nodded sagely. 'I know that look, and it turns my stomach too… ow! You bastards! What was that for?' He glared in turn at Maya and his brother who'd both elbowed him in the ribs.

'Now is that any way to talk to your fiancee of - oh - two hours?' Mamoru asked him, innocence plastered over his face.

'It is when she's in league with my demonic elder sibling to try and cripple me before my wedding night,' he grumbled. That elicited a snort from Tochiro, sandwiched between Maya and his own future bride.

'Seriously? Because I thought you'd rather put the cart before that hor… Ow!' he glared in his turn at the beatifically smiling Maya and a grinning Annelise, the latter of whom jerked her head meaningfully in the direction of Maya's father, sitting at the head of the ancient oak dining table in the kitchen and looking as though he'd sat down accidentally at a chimps' tea party. He rubbed his affronted ribcage with exaggerated hurt. 'Why do we like these people, Harlock? They're so mean…'

'We're the only people who put up with your antics?' Mamoru asked innocently, with a wink at Maya, who had to hide a smile in her napkin. She sat back and let the banter wash over her. After the past few weeks, the easy-going humour and friendly sniping was both refreshing and comforting. And Harlock - to her surprise and delight, seemed so much more at ease in his skin than she remembered him ever being, happy to tease his brother, his friend and his nieces and take it himself in good humour. For a while at least, the problems of the outside world didn't reach inside the solid walls of the old castle.

She should have known it couldn't last…


The first rumblings of the oncoming storm reached them only three days after the joint ceremony that both joined her to Harlock and made her a citizen of Earth. Khalsa came running into the kitchen from the courtyard, breathing heavily as the now rather large family group sat down to breakfast.

'Captain! Tochiro - have you seen the news?'

Harlock - with a lap full of small nieces, looked up and shook his head. His hair - neatly cut back to just below his ears, which was as far as he'd bend on the regulations - only just brushed the top of his collar as he raised his head to stare at his crewman. 'I've been a little distracted the last couple of days - what is it?'

Mamoru shooed Aurora off his own lap and reached for the remote to the small warp screen on the worksurface. 'Which channel?'

'SSNN - they've been covering this since it broke in the early hours Earth time,' Khalsa replied. He sat down heavily on one of the spare chairs. 'It's not looking good.'

Maya shared a worried glance with Lisel, and turned her gaze to the small screen. A young, dark haired anchorwoman was starting her intro to the footage on screen behind her, which quickly faded to a voice-over of the footage of a large naval battle.

'...unmanned satellites surrounding the planet Marduk captured part of the engagement in orbit, before they were taken out by stray fire from the enemy ships. The vessels came out of IN-SKIP around the planet just before dawn, local time, in direct violation of the rules of navigation. Several ships came out of the warp too close and impacted on the surface, causing considerable damage to the capital before the counter-fleet could engage.

'The planet is a major staging post for the Intra-galactic fleet in colonial space, and the loss of life is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands - military personnel, support staff and their families as well as local settlers are believed to be among the dead. The fleet reports as to the number of ships lost is not yet known, but the planet is known to have the facilities for over two thousand ships of the line, and as yet, the numbers that made it into orbit to tackle this dreadful terrorist attack are a mere fraction of that number.'

Destroyer and battleship class vessels strafed the lower atmosphere as they watched, the damage hidden by boiling clouds. Maya felt Harlock's hand grope for her own under the table, and she squeezed his fingers in answer to the deathgrip he had on hers. Next to her, Annelise laid her head on Tochiro's shoulder, and across the room, a shocked Mamoru placed his arm around Miranda's waist.

'Reports are coming in that the Homecoming Movement have claimed responsibility - the group suspected of having been behind a recent attack on a major ship-building yard off the orbit of Castlemaine. Sources within the fleet have confirmed that the ships seen here match the specifications of those stolen in the raid. The government however has yet to make a public statement.' The footage switched back to the studio, and the anchorwoman tried her best to give her audience a reassuring smile, and failed by a considerable margin. Maya would have rated it "sickly" at best. 'This just in however - the Homecomers have issued an ultimatum to the Solar Federation, demanding that all the non-viable colonies begin evacuation with immediate effect, and their populations allowed to return to Earth. And…' She placed her hand to her ear. 'And I'm told that we have a live feed from the Capitol on Mars, in answer.'

Again the footage changed, to the Council Room on Mars. A group of solemn, overdressed, corpulent figures - all of them, Maya noticed idly, at least ten years older than her father - sat around the council table, whilst one of their number read out their reply.

She'd expected it to be the response they'd been hearing about for weeks - the expulsion of the colonial citizens from the Solar System.

'The new Gaia Coalition will not bow down to acts of terror on this or any other matter. In response to these outrageous demands, we have one reply. As of today, all those resident in the Solar System who do not hold valid entitlement to citizenship are hereby ordered to present themselves to their nearest government office. Those who comply without resistance will be deported to the nearest habitable worlds. Anyone defying these orders, or seeking to assist those who resist, will be subject to arrest and either deportation or execution for treason. Designated areas are being set aside on the inner planets, Ceres, and the Saturnian and Neptunian moons. In addition all out-system fleet and diplomatic facilities are to detain all colonial-born staff with immediate effect. All assets held…'

Mamoru switched the channel to the Mars feed, only for the screen to be filled with scenes of chaos on the streets of the Capitol beneath the gleaming spires, as brown uniformed soldiers tried to keep order - at least according to the captions. To Maya's eyes it looked as more like the soldiers were the aggressors, as three faceless figures clubbed a young man to the ground before practically hog-tying him and hauling him off to a waiting hover wagon. From the tight-lipped glares around her, she realised she wasn't alone in this assessment.

'Switch it off,' Harlock said bleakly. Mamoru cut the feed without argument, and for several minutes no-one made a sound except for the clearing of throats. Then Harlock met Khalsa's eyes. 'Tell me we managed to get our people out before this hit?'

'Old Man Oyama went back to Titan after your nuptials. I think we got most of our staff away, but we thought we still had a couple of weeks lead-time.' The young sikh shook his head sadly. 'Anyone still in Grape Valley might be rolled up…'

Tochiro got to his feet, his chair scraping the flagstoned floor as he pushed it back. 'I'll get onto dad right away - there's going to be a lag before anyone heads out our way - even a couple of hours might help.'

'Tell him to be careful - they're out for blood. Nevich and Zone will be watching to see if we pull anything,' Harlock warned him. 'I wouldn't put it past this lot to make that aiding and abetting retroactive.' Tochiro nodded and practically sprinted out of the kitchen on his short legs.

'I need some air,' Harlock said abruptly. He stood up and leaned over to drop a kiss on top of Maya's head. Before she could reply, he'd left, the sound of his booted steps fading all too quickly.

The rest of breakfast was conducted in an almost funereal silence.


She found him later in the long gallery, standing leaning against the wall facing the bust of that long-dead rebellious ancestor with the eyepatch, his eyes half closed as he leaned back, legs stretched out and ankles crossed, arms folded across that deceptively broad chest.

'Mamoru said I might find you in here,' she said softly, as she moved to stand at his side. She leaned back against the wall herself, not quite mirroring his stance. Close, but not touching. For a while neither of them said anything, and to her surprise it was her husband of not even seventy-two hours who spoke first.

'We don't learn, do we?' he asked. For a moment she wondered if he was addressing the bust, or her. 'All we needed to do was solve the terraforming problem - and stop building sprawling hive-cities on the green worlds we do find. But no. We had to run out to the stars and take our shit with us. Some people,' he continued bitterly, 'do not deserve nice things.'

'Father says they left the colonists hung out to dry on the marginal worlds for far too long - creating a second or even third-class tier of citizens…'

He laughed mirthlessly. 'Third would be pushing it. If you could see the state of some of those worlds… Generations of families driven below any reasonable poverty line, dying too young trying to scratch a living from soils that just can't support life. And it was done knowingly - those worlds should never have been opened up for colonisation, but those in charge argued that it was a perfect way to reduce Earth's overpopulation, seeing a way to get rid of what they saw as "useless" surplus population. Well - they sowed the harvest - now they'll reap the whirlwind…'

She laid her head on his shoulder and linked her arm through his, feeling his tension even though he didn't raise his voice. And truly, there was nothing she could say. The first shots had been fired, and barring a miracle, if her father was right, the galaxy would be in flames before long. But perhaps it would burn itself out quickly, out in the colonies…

She felt guilty for being so selfish, even before she finished the thought. But looking out of the leaded window over the wooded hills towards Heiligenstadt below, she couldn't help but pray that whatever was coming would at least spare Earth. This is our homeworld… our cradle and our refuge in the darkness… The terrors of deep space have never touched this verdant, beautiful world.

She looked up into Harlock's face to see he was looking out at the same view, and he looked down at her and smiled faintly. 'Don't worry, my love. I'll protect it for you,' he said softly, dropping a light kiss on her forehead. 'I promise.'

'How did you know what I was thinking?' she asked with a forced laugh, determined not to show her fears to him.

His next kiss brushed her lips. 'I recognised the look on your face - I see it reflected in the glass sometimes.' He placed his arm around her and held her close. 'No matter what happens, no matter what it takes, I'll always protect you and our home and family.' He stared over her head, his gaze becoming slightly vacant as though staring beyond the sunny blue sky into the darkness beyond. 'Always.'


Author's note: Maya and Harlock's story will continue in "Eye of the Storm" - detailing some of the events leading up to the final battle of the Homecoming War - and the part of the story Isora didn't know, and finish in "Dominion" - which will pick up the aftermath of the destruction of Earth and Harlock's curse...

(For those interested - this is made up of whole cloth, but does tie in to some ideas I had about how events could play out in the CGI verse. But honestly - it started as a bit of a "gag" based on a conversation with Pollywantsa, that I dashed off on hols earlier this year, which got a bit out of hand - and a lot more serious - once I started to really think through what must have been building in this civilisation in the years before this war… I'm not usually a fan of prequels, but once I started, this sort of took on a life of its own...)