Chapter 37

Daiba watched from the landing field as the Arcadia passed overhead in a cloud of dark matter. The massive ship looked lower in the sky than it really was, and didn't come in for a landing. As he watched, hand raised to shield his eyes against the low afternoon sun, small craft dropped out of the cloud and headed for the field.

'Grandstanding…' he muttered. But then he looked around at the hardened standing, where several shuttlecraft sat around the bulk of the Seventh Star. Machinners, Alliance, SDF… He sighed. Or perhaps he just felt there was no room to park.

'Needs to get those emissions checked,' Zack quipped next to his left ear. 'Instant fail on some planets, that…' But the jest was half-hearted and neither of them felt like laughing. Daiba took a firmer grip on Freya's slim hand as the black and red Space Wolf belonging to Harlock circled the field once, then came in for a vertical landing about two hundred yards away. 'Why did we draw the short straw and get the job of telling him?' Zack asked plaintively. He held Nami in his arms, as the little girl had been adamant she wanted to see her parents as soon as they landed. 'And do you really think we need the reinforcements?' he smiled at Nami and then rubbed noses with the sorrowful little girl, in an attempt to raise a smile. To her credit she did try to return the smile.

'Because the rest of them chickened out, or were just too plastered from wallowing in their own guilt to form a coherent sentence,' Daiba replied, a little more frostily than he'd intended. 'Even Ben found something terribly important to do that couldn't wait.'

Zack nudged him with a sharp elbow. 'Oh shit… it's gonna be bad…' he muttered. At Daiba's blank look he pointed. 'Black pants...'

The cockpit canopy had lifted, and a tall figure in a black flightsuit exited and began walking towards them, dark hair blowing in the early evening breeze. Before he'd gone even a quarter of the way, Nami had wriggled out of Zack's arms and was running towards the new arrival as fast as her legs could carry her.

'Papa!'

Daiba watched as Harlock sank down to one knee and held out his arms for his daughter. Even from this distance he could make out the hiccuping sobs, and he watched with a lump in his throat as Harlock stood up, the little girl in his arms, and began walking towards them again.

'That's torn it,' Zack said unsteadily.

'Then you should have kept a tighter hold on her,' Daiba whispered, as Harlock reached hearing distance. 'Captain!'

Harlock nodded in acknowledgement, still holding Nami in his arms. 'Daiba. Zack. I take it the rest of them didn't dare face me?'

His voice was calm and uninflected, and nothing except concern marred his features, and that only when he dealt with an exceptionally upset hiccup. Daiba flinched. 'No matter. Hush, Nami. I know. Mama will be here shortly. It's going to be all right. We'll bring them back.'

He turned his attention back to the two youths in front of him, and then looked down. 'And this must be Freya?' He knelt again, and placed Nami on his bent knee. 'I've heard a lot about you.'

Daiba felt her hand tug impatiently against his grip, and he let her go. She walked up to Harlock, quite unafraid, and smiled at him. Then she tipped her head on one side like a little bird, frowned slightly, and then reached out and laid a pale hand on his scarred cheek.

Harlock stared down into the wide, almond shaped pale eyes and smiled. A tiny rosebud smiled back at him, outwardly serene, but he felt the thin, long fingers on his cheek tremble slightly, and the cat-like pupils - so like Mimay's - were never as unreadable as their owners would like. He held out his free arm and smiled sadly as she almost sprang into his embrace, desperate for attention and acceptance. He rested his chin on her fine, soft, ash-pale hair, as silky as her full-grown counterpart's. 'Must have been lonely, I'm guessing, stuck in that bottle all these years?' he whispered. He received a little nod in reply. 'Not any more, little one. If you want a home, you can have one with us.' He looked down at his tearful daughter. 'Nami? How do you feel about having a new sister?'

Hazel eyes that matched his own stared into his and Nami nodded, and reached out a hand to Freya, which was taken. 'We've been playing. She's nice. She even made Kanna smile, and she's been crying ever since… ever since…'

The tears started again and Harlock held her close, helplessly wishing for a way to make things right.

'How did…' Daiba began, fishing desperately for a way to find out just how much his cousin knew about the situation. 'When we spoke to Hannibal and he said you were on your way, all he'd known at the time was that we'd been out of touch for too long…'

Harlock disentangled himself from two small girls and stood up, taking one hand in each of his. 'Someone calling herself Commander Cassandra hailed us. She had the boys, and was keen on making sure I understood how much danger they were in if I dared to get in their way. Then she threatened them on screen in front of me and Mamoru ended up getting hurt trying to save his twin. After that, I've been red-lining the safety margins to get here in time to pick up their trail.' His habitually easy-going demeanour vanished, and although the breeze wasn't cold, both youths shivered.

'Hurt?' Zack asked the question a fraction of a second ahead of Daiba. Both stared at their captain, concern written on both their faces.

'There was a scuffle - he got slashed across the face and that's the last we heard. But right now since there's nothing I can do about it, I intend to concentrate on what I can deal with, and that's finding them.' His tone was quiet, very matter of fact, and he offered nothing else.

Zack exchanged a questioning frown with Daiba, but the younger youth shook his head. Don't press… Zack grimaced, his mouth pressed into a thin line, but held his tongue.

Harlock began walking towards the town, but a tug on his hand by Freya stopped him in his tracks. 'What is it?' he asked. He looked back over his shoulder at Daiba. 'She does understand me, right?'

Daiba nodded. Freya tugged Harlock's hand again for attention, a little moue of frustration on her lips as he didn't immediately respond. When she had his attention she pointed, upwards and from their perspective, to the north. 'þessa leið!'

Harlock looked to Daiba for help. 'This way… that way… something like that, I think she means.'

Freya nodded emphatically. 'Ég get fundið…'

'That I think I can follow…' Harlock said softly. 'You can sense Mamoru? The dark matter?'

She nodded. 'Myrkur!'

'Murky?' Zack asked, puzzled.

'Dark, at a guess,' Harlock replied absently. Another nod. A torrent of her native language then gushed forth, more than Daiba had heard her speak in total up to now, until Harlock had to shush her with a finger to her tiny lips. 'Whoa! We don't follow you that well… I think I need you and Mimay to meet.' He looked up at Daiba. 'Blaze gave me a quick update before I came down. I managed to head Kei off at the pass and send her off with Doc to see to Tadashi, but that won't give me much time before all hell breaks loose. I gather that moron from IntSec and his puppet master are being held in the old mine?'

Daiba nodded. 'Blaze let Hoshino take the troops - though he held out for some serious compensation. They're making those guys help with the rebuilding. Selen's in two minds whether or not to take Promethium's offer to rebuild or not though.'

'She should take it. Winter's on its way - no sense in making everyone here suffer for the bad blood between those two.'

'Funny,' Daiba replied as they walked. 'That's what Blaze told her.' He paused, almost causing Zack to walk straight into him, and both youths stumbled. 'Captain - I'm sorry. That captain - he interrogated me, before you found me, on Hakidame. He was positively gloating about how I'd coughed up some family stuff to him, before Ali started re-arranging his internal organs. And at the mine… I was too late… maybe if…'

'Tadashi - no-one blames you,' Harlock replied softly. 'Certainly not for anything you might have said given the state you were in. I saw Doc's tox work-up for you - I'd have been singing like a canary under that load. And if you had reached the mine in time to clash with the Mazone, I might be looking down at two hospital beds later, not one. Or worse.' As though something had just occurred to him, he glanced around the open field with a frown. 'Not that it's a bad day for a walk, but are all the vehicles in use right now? It's a long walk for the girls…'

Zack grinned and slapped his captain on the shoulder. 'Yep - but we did manage to grab something - we just had to park out of sight of the landing field.' He pointed to a stand of stunted trees a couple of hundred yards away. 'I'm going back to the Seventh Star until you send down a bullet for our stuff and the samples, so you can take my ride back to town…'

Two large, grey, round backsides were visible sticking out of the small copse, tails swishing against the flies that buzzed around them, occasionally punctuated by an irritated stamp of a large hoof.

'You can ride, can't you?' Daiba asked. He used a convenient tree stump to scramble onto the back of one of the two sturdy horses the town used for odd jobs when wheeled vehicles just couldn't cope, and shifted backwards in the large saddle to let Zack hand Freya up to him.

Harlock eyed the other mount from under a lock of dark hair and sighed. 'Ride, yes… Amazing the skills you end up picking up over the years. I was just hoping for something a little more streamlined than Gog and Magog here: these two are built for hauling freight, not passengers, and their trots leave a lot to be desired when it comes to in-flight comfort.' But he vaulted onto Magog's back lightly and expertly, and took Nami off Zack when she was handed up to him. His daughter slapped his attempts to hold onto her away and sat confidently in front of him, her small hands gripping a handful of the gelding's long mane, her feet drumming enthusiastically but ineffectually against his thick shoulders. Freya, in front of Daiba, looked less confident, and Daiba wrapped his left arm around her tiny waist before he nudged the grey into a slow walk. 'I didn't know you could handle a horse though,' Harlock told Daiba once they were moving.

Daiba shrugged. 'Picked it up when dad, mom and I were out in the wilds. Lot of worlds use them these days - easier to maintain than motor vehicles when your critical infrastructure's in tatters and most of your mechanics are long gone. We had to make use of camels on El Alamein - and if you think these guys are uncomfortable…'

'Isn't that planet off limits since the Machinners War?'

Daiba nodded, glad of the distraction. 'Yep. Someone had the bright idea of stuffing human minds into the weapons directly - as you might expect it went horribly wrong. That was after we left though - dad had been chasing down some old legends from the original colonists, who hailed from the old eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean back on Earth. They say that the weapons are still buried under the sands, waiting…' he shuddered. 'Bad enough being stuffed into a machine body forever - but turned into tanks and guns and then left to rust? I just don't get why anyone would agree to that.'

'Most of them probably didn't,' Harlock replied quietly, over his daughter's dark head. 'In the last few months of the war the Machinners were starting to lose. We had Promethium on the run and were so close to finishing the entire programme for good, when the former Gaia Council threw in the towel and signed a peace treaty and pulled their fleet out of the conflict. The SDF had no choice really but to follow suit, since the loose alliance of un-allied ships out here wasn't enough to hold the line against both the Machinners and the Earth Alliance.'

'Why? If they were winning…'

'Ask Hoshino when you meet him. He was part of that delegation.' His tone was bleak. 'The Gaia Fleet wouldn't have waded in at all on our side if we hadn't forced their hand at the start - in hindsight it's probably amazing they fought against Promethium for as long as they did.'

Daiba rode alongside Harlock, silent for a while. 'You don't really expect much from them in this fight, do you?' he asked eventually.

Harlock shook his head. 'Not really. I'm guessing Hoshino and Leopard are only here because Promethium's kicking up a stink about this attack. Whether either of them will bother going the distance is doubtful - and in all honesty after what I've seen in the past few weeks, a shooting war is the last thing we need - any major fleet engagement will risk the same outcome we're trying to stop - if those ships get to their destinations - or even close to them - and blow those drives, the results will be catastrophic.'

'Damned if we do and damned if we don't?' Daiba asked.

Harlock nodded. 'Welcome to the horns of the dilemma… a painful place to sit. I've got the most powerful battleship in human history at my fingertips, and right now it's about as much use as a chocolate coffee mug.'

'You have the darkness.'

Both men stared at the little nibelung sitting in front of Daiba. She stared right back at Harlock with wide, unblinking eyes.

'Freya?' Daiba tapped her shoulder to get her attention. 'You learn quickly…'

She gave him a frustrated little sigh and ignored him, keeping her gaze on Harlock, who nudged Magog closer to his brother. 'The Wild… mazone… on Niflheim. They... evolved? to subsume the darkness, but it is... anathema to them. Sacrifice… barriers… constant power…' she muttered something in her own tongue and ended in a tiny squeal that sounded frustrated. 'Poison?' she offered eventually, staring into Harlock's single visible eye.

'Sometimes,' Daiba murmured, 'I forget you're not actually a little girl…' He met Harlock's questioning gaze. 'Back on Niflheim, the city she controlled the power source for had held back the plant life for decades or longer. I guess she must have found some way to use the dark matter to do it. And didn't you use something like it to cleanse Arcadia when we were infested?'

'Huh. The cure was almost as bad as the problem - kind of like using a controlled burn to stop a forest fire spreading,' Harlock answered. 'And it's a balancing act as we found out - too little dark matter and they just absorb it. Too much and we create the same sort of catastrophic side effects that destroyed Earth.' The deep sigh that followed was more frustration than despair. 'And it's academic if I don't get my sons out of there first - anyone who tries to start a fight whilst they're still on board one of those ships will have to go through me first, and the big picture be damned.'

'That's not going to sit too well with the military bods waiting for you to turn up,' Daiba pointed out.

'I didn't expect it would,' Harlock replied bleakly. 'But it wouldn't be the first time I've put the Arcadia between Hoshino's fleet and a civilian target. He's far too quick to write off "collateral damage" in the name of "the greater good". He paused. 'For someone who claims he learned so much from Isora, he tends to conveniently overlook the fact that my brother was prepared to sacrifice himself to save what most people thought was a dead planet.'

They rode on in silence for a few minutes before Daiba plucked up enough courage to risk another question. 'So what happened the last time?'

Harlock kept his gaze fixed on a point somewhere in between Magog's ear's as though using them as a sight. 'He did an end run around me and destroyed the planet anyway. Said he couldn't risk anyone breaking quarantine, even though we had the vaccine by then.' Then he added almost inaudibly. 'And then I had to race his damn fleet here to stop him doing the same to Tabito. Zero had to push the Futatsuboshi to the limit to hold the line with the Thieves fleet - as a result he and his crew died, because they couldn't get the vaccine prepared for themselves. Twice now I've had to board that ship looking for survivors, because I asked someone to do me a favour.' The bitterness in his voice was almost tangible, and Nami looked up at her father with worried eyes. Absently, he gave her a brief hug.

Daiba felt a tiny hand gently pat his face, and looked down. Freya stared into his eyes with her odd determination, and then looked over at Harlock, who rode on without looking over, a thoughtful frown on her normally smooth features.

Harlock stared around at the devastated main street. Inadvertently his hand tightened on his daughter's waist where he held her as she sat in front of the saddle, and Nami squeaked in protest. He loosened his grip. 'Sorry, Nami.'

'It's all right, papa - it's bad, isn't it?' Large hazel eyes stared up at him and she twisted herself almost into a pretzel to look at him. 'Rei said our house is gone.'

...along with most of the street. Harlock's mouth flattened into a hard line. The buildings had been old and of mostly timber construction. Since that had been more of a nostalgic conceit than a necessary fact of life - Tabito wasn't a particularly tectonically active planet - from the look of the new foundations being cleared and laid, someone had decided to do the sensible thing and rebuild with stone from a nearby quarry. Waiting for wood to be ferried over from the unpopulated south and aged would have taken too long.

'I'm sure they'll have a new one up in no time,' he reassured her. 'I'm just thankful no-one was in it. Though I guess we'll have to find you some spare clothes from somewhere, huh?' She nodded solemnly, and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. Looking over at Daiba he asked 'Well?'

'The pub's the only building with a large enough room to get everyone in. We've been having meetings over there.' He paused. 'Erm… we might need help getting Ali out though…'

'Leave him to me,' Harlock told him. He swung down off the broad-backed carthorse and held out his arms to help Nami scramble off, placing her gently on the dusty road. 'Selen?'

'Pub. When not being pestered by annoying admirals she's been setting up the kitchen there to feed everyone. The utilities are mostly down, but the pub had its own generator and water supply, so it's pretty much the only place right now anyone can get a hot meal. Most of the effort's gone into sorting out the power and water, and clearing the damaged buildings so they don't fall on anyone. There's a lot to co-ordinate.'

Harlock handed Daiba the reins. 'Put the horses away, then meet me in there. As for the co-ordination - they've got three bloody admirals in orbit, surely at least one of them could roll his sleeves up and pitch in to help sort this out?'

Daiba snorted. 'And get their lily-white fingers dirty? Perish the thought - although Oki's sent down some engineers to sort out the water supply, which was contaminated by the flooding as well as losing pipework in the fires and explosions - his people can't stay down long though - they need suits, or the dust…'

'I know. Clogs their gill-slits. You'll have more help later - Yattaran's on it, and if someone makes sure Kei keeps a clipboard in her hands it might help redirect her energies a little.' He held out a hand to Freya, which was taken enthusiastically.

'Kei - and her clipboard?' Daiba muttered, watching his cousin and captain walk off with two little girls in tow. 'You're a fucking sadist… she'll run everyone ragged on a good day, let alone when she's in need of a serious displacement activity…'

Gog's reins were plucked out of his hand by a set of nimble, blue-skinned fingers. 'Which is why I figured they might need some help up by the dam,' Ben said brightly. 'This pair of hairy layabouts are needed urgently - Maji's co-opted the damn jeep over at the quarry, and we need to haul some tree trunks out of the way. Coming?'

Daiba looked longingly at the entrance to the local public house, through which Harlock and his charges were disappearing. But since the chances of him being allowed to sit in on whatever high-level discussions they'd be having were pretty slim, and it was far more likely he'd be press-ganged into working clear-up duty in the town if he hung around and didn't look busy enough. He sighed and eyed Magog's broad back glumly. 'It's a five mile ride out there, and these things have bugger all suspension…' he grumbled.

Ben grinned at him. 'See - I knew you'd be up for it! Fetch the haulage harness before anyone else tries to avoid the Wrath of Kei.'

After Daiba had disappeared in the direction of the stables on the outskirts, Greg sidled up to Ben from where he'd been lurking behind one of the few remaining buildings this side of the street. 'Taking one for the team, Benjy - or just getting the pretty boy alone out in the wilds for a romantic ride?' he sniggered.

Ben flicked the reins at him, forcing his crewmate to dodge. 'Wash your brain out, Greg - kid's the captain's family. He's off limits, and besides - I don't do wounded birds. But if Kei can't get her hands on the people responsible for taking the boys, I'd prefer it if he's out of her reach for a bit. He thinks he's partly to blame for coughing up some intel under the influence of that tight-arse from IntSec.'

'She wouldn't…' Greg began. Then he shivered. 'Yeah. On second thoughts… So - why aren't you dragging Ali's rum-sodden arse along as well, if you're feelin' all altruistic like?'

'Because we've only got two horses,' Ben deadpanned. 'Make yourself useful, grab that harness off the kid and help fit it, then stick the saddles back on. I refuse to roll around like a ball-bearing on a joint of beef on top of these monsters.'

Greg did as he was told, but not without some mumbling complaints about who-the-hell-put-Ben-in-charge.

Ali did, the young crewman thought to himself, listening in with half an ear, the rest of his attention focused on the public house. When he decided to drown his bloody sorrows and wallow in booze-addled self-pity instead of manning up and getting on with the job. We've all got bloody skeletons in our closets, he thought sourly. We've all done things we regret. What we don't do - and what you're going to catch seven hells for from the captain - is let it get in the way of what needs to be done...

Selen was indeed in the kitchen, supervising several of the locals and some of the older children. From the rag-tag pile of stores being plundered, it looked as though they were working their way through whatever would spoil first.

'Send for Anita,' Harlock said from his vantage point in the doorway, safely out of the way of the activity. 'We've got plenty to spare.'

'That's not what I hear,' Selen replied, calling back over the clatter of pans and sputtering of hot oil in the large woks on the stove. She made her way over to his position, the bustling helpers moving out of her way as though she were parting the tide. 'Good grief, Harlock - how long has it been since you slept? You look like hell.' She hugged him tightly, and if he hadn't had his hands full of small girls, he'd have returned the favour tenfold.

'Is it insensitive to tell a woman the same thing?'

She smiled at him somewhat bleakly. 'Since Blaze feels no hesitation in doing so, feel free.' She looked down at his charges. 'If you can bear to let go of that death-grip on Nami, I can see she gets lunch and we can keep her here for you whilst you talk next door.' She smiled down at the girls. 'Freya too, if she wants?'

Nami tried to tug her hand free, and frowned up at her father when she failed to free her small paw. 'Papa?'

He smiled ruefully and reluctantly let her hand go. She instantly dragged Freya into the fray, joining Kanna, Rei and Daisuke who were "helping" - for some loosely defined version of the word - with some bread-making.

'I'd say she's safe here,' Selen said quietly, 'But under the circumstances…'

Harlock, his hands free, gave her a quick hug. 'I don't blame you, Selen. We gambled - we lost. Now I just have to pick the pieces of my own folly up and hope like hell I'm not too late.' He pushed her back to arm's length, his hands on her shoulders, and stared into her drawn, pale face. 'Damn it, Selen - I'm the one who should be apologising… Marin…'

She reached out to lay a hand on his cheek. 'I know. We got the news. It hurts, Harlock - it hurts like hell, but there's nothing more I can do for my son - and everything I can do for yours.' She peered over his shoulder. 'Did Kei come down with you?'

'Later,' he replied. 'I wanted to try and get a few details cleared up before she comes down, but I'm not too sure I can keep her occupied for long. She took it hard.' He took a deep breath. 'The one who took them - this Cassandra - she's a mean bitch. Taunted us over the warp feed, and Mamoru got cut up, looked pretty bad, before they cut the feed. Not a peep out them since.'

'Dammit. I should have put more men on them… we should have had more in-system…'

He placed a finger to her lips. 'Enough. We've all done enough what-ifs over the past few days between us I'm sure, to fill the Arcadia's databanks three times over. None of us ever thought the threat would come from Int-Sec, with co-ordinated, military back-up. This Irita crossed a line, and he'll pay for it from his superiors as well as from us, before everyone's through with him,' he said grimly.

Selen nodded. 'Oh. You have that right - I've had Alliance High command falling over themselves to apologise and a warp-feed from Destiny with Shura promising that this will not go unpunished politically - not that this gets us any closer to getting them back, I know, but you have a lot of friends in this sector, Harlock - now would be a good time to let some of them handle the bigger picture.'

'Whilst I go chasing myths and legends?'

She took a deep breath. 'Irita's actions might actually have a silver lining, though not on a personal level. It brought the Alliance and the Machinners into the arena. Go get your boys, Harlock - let me do what I do best - get these testosterone addled idiots round a table and try to come up with a plan. You know it's what you'd ask me to do anyway.'

He smiled sadly at her. 'You're a better friend than I deserve, do you know that? If I'd been more on the ball, I could have sav-'

She cut him short then, mirroring his own earlier gesture with a finger to his lips. 'I do not for a moment suspect that you could have done anything better, faster or more appropriate, my friend. My brother. Marin knew the risks he took - he was a grown man, and from what I heard, it was just a terrible accident. His crew likewise. No-one set out to hurt my son; space is vast, and full of terrors and dangers we sometimes just cannot fight. If not for the Arcadia's equally terrifying advantages, you'd have died out there years ago. We all would. And Rei… Rei died doing what he always did - helping others. We both gambled with our own lives for years, sooner or later one or both of us was bound to lose a throw of the dice. We all know they have no favourites,' she finished sadly.

He pulled her into another hug. 'I would still have willingly exchanged my life for either of them,' he told her fiercely.

'I know,' she whispered against his shoulder. 'And they - and I, and Blaze - would do the same for you and Kei. I can't do much to help you in your coming quest - but I can have your back here. You and Kei - since we first met, you've stood by us in our fights. You became the brother I never had, and a sister I could be proud of. We're family.' She pulled out of his embrace and gave him a little shove. 'Now go, before one or both of us starts crying. I don't know about you, but I have a reputation to maintain!'

He looked over at the children, covered in flour and earnestly trying to show Freya how to knead dough, watched indulgently by three young women who all sported holstered pistols underneath their white aprons. Nami saw him and waved, before Rei flicked water at her and she squealed. 'They're so much more resilient, aren't they?' he murmured. Kanna, he noticed though, held back from the rest and looked forlorn - even more so than his daughter. But then, she was two years older… and inordinately fond of Wattaru…

'Family in truth one day, maybe?'

Selen stood at his side, and watched with him. 'If that's what they want, when they're old enough, I'd like that.'

'So would I,' he said softly. 'Now I not only have to find my sons - I have to make sure they have that safe future I want for them. I wanted them to never know the horrors and the pain we had, Selen. Was that too much to ask?'

They both watched the children play alongside their new nibelung playmate for a while, and neither could answer that question.

Having outgrown his welcome in the kitchen with lunchtime pending, Harlock found the main bar oddly empty when he walked in. But then, the locals and his crew were out trying to repair the damage, he reasoned. But the barstools were occupied by three smartly uniformed figures, and from the rear he was presented with the view of a dark head, silver hair, and blue. All of whom turned to face him as his metallic soles clunked their way across to the bar on the wooden floor.

'Vaughn.' He greeted the bartender with a smile. The dark-skinned man with tightly curled white hair slid a shot glass full of an amber liquid over to him with a grin.

'Cap'n. Just in time - I was about to call time on a certain bar-tab… I think I have something of yours over in the corner…'

Harlock looked in the direction of a sharp head-jerk, and sighed. He picked up his glass and downed the contents in one swallow. 'Cut him off, with my compliments. I'll settle up.'

'Eh. I know you're good for it. And it's not as though he's a noisy or mean drunk. But he's got a cloud of misery around him like the clouds the Arcadia always arrives in, and frankly it ain't good for custom.' But this was accompanied by a wink.

'Leave it with me. You still have that trough round the back?'

The barman nodded. 'Sure do. Need a hand?' He grinned wickedly, showing two rows of yellowed teeth.

'Oh. I think I can manage.' Harlock placed his glass down on the bar, and nodded to the other occupants. 'Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me for a few minutes, I have some personal business to attend to first?'

Hoshino's eyes narrowed, Leopard frowned, and Oki just shrugged. Taking those as a "yes", Harlock sauntered over to his sorry looking excuse for a crewman. 'Up and at 'em, Ali. Time to stop shirking in here. In case you hadn't bloody noticed, there's a town in need of rebuilding.'

Bloodshot blue eyes stared up at him, and the face they belonged to just grunted and then went back to staring into the dregs of some unspecified liquid he was swirling idly in the bottom of a shot glass.

There was a time when Harlock had been the kind of man who'd hesitate before tackling one of his crew - especially one who outweighed him and was a noted brawler. But that had been a lifetime ago, when he'd borne a different name and a far less jaundiced view of human nature. He'd wised up very quickly when it became apparent that trying to reason with some of the thicker-skulled (and skinned) individuals under his command was a waste of time, breath and effort - as well as likely to see him shivved in the back one night and quietly shoved out of the nearest airlock, because a captain who was a soft touch earned no respect.

He reached over, grabbed Ali's collar, and heaved him to his unsteady feet. Not, he had to admit to himself, without effort - his resident pain-in-the-arse was solid muscle under the sweater he wore - which stank of stale booze and sweat. 'For fuck's sake, Ali, how long since you bothered to take a damn shower?'

'Piss off.'

In private, he might have let that go with a pithy retort. In public - and in front of three professional soldiers, two of whom had a vanishingly small appreciation of his management techniques, that wasn't something he could let slide. He jabbed a fist as lightly as he could into the big idiot's side, but aimed for a spot he knew would give the maximum return for his effort without causing too much damage.

The pained grunt he got as his fist connected with the old injury in Ali's side was gratifyingly gargled and caused his drunken crewmate to double over, gripping his captain's flightsuit sleeve as he hissed in pain. 'Got your attention now?' Harlock growled into Ali's ear as the man slumped against him. 'Move your feet - I'm not dragging you outside.'

'Allow me…' Oki had left his barstool and walked over, and deftly took Ali's other arm. 'No sense dragging this idiot all the way into the backyard by yourself - and besides, I think water was mentioned? That would be my element.'

Harlock grinned ruefully at his old friend. 'Rokuro - by rights, I should refuse…'

'Why?' Leopard smirked from under his decidedly camp headgear. 'We're not going to be impressed by the macho posturing involved in sobering up your sorry excuses for crew, Harlock.' He waved his hand as though granting his dispensation for the activity. 'By all means - go throw the gin sodden old rockhound into the horse trough. Far be it for us to get in the way of a good cliche…'

'Keep that up, and you'll be joining him,' Harlock promised. 'Right now I'm spoiling for a fight, and you'll do if nothing more butch shows up…'

'Try throwing Gozo in first,' Leopard replied airily, with feigned amusement. 'I'm curious to find out if he's waterproof…'

Harlock gave the enigmatic, bearded admiral so-named a sharp glance at that, but filed the comment away for later. Instead he ignored the all-too-full of himself Leopard, and allowed Rokuro to help him drag the reluctant Ali out the back. However despite the threats, the pair didn't throw the Arcadia's crewman into the trough - tempting though it was, since it was full to the brim with icy cold water pumped from the inn's private underground holding tank. Instead a grinning Vaughn - well-used to the shenanigans involving the more colourful members of the Arcadia's crew, held a side door open for them and ushered them into one of the building's guest rooms, where he left Oki and Harlock to strip Ali of boots and sweater, and bundle him into the shower cubicle, where they propped him against the wall, turned on the cold setting, and shut the door behind them.

'Three… two…' Oki began counting. Before he reached one an enraged bellow announced the return of some semblance of sentience. A few seconds later steam began to mist up the frosted glass of the door.

'You pair of fucking bastards!' The door of the shower opened just enough for a pair of sodden pants to fly past their heads and land with an audible splat on the wooden floor.

'Towels are on the bed, Ali,' Harlock called out. 'And Zack sent your stuff over yesterday, just in case you surfaced long enough to realise the smell was driving the customers away!' He nodded at the door, indicating to Oki to follow him. 'When you feel more human, we'll talk. I'll send Vaughn over with some coffee.' He shut the door on a string of mumbled, muffled expletives and shrugged in reply to Oki's raised blue eyebrow. 'He'll be fine. Just needed to know I still love him.'

Oki spluttered. 'You guys… sometimes I wonder how you keep that ship functioning.'

'Practice,' Harlock muttered. 'And an XO who has a clipboard and isn't afraid to use it.' He loitered in the courtyard. 'We didn't get a chance to catch up, we came in so fast. I hope you didn't have anywhere near the same excitement we did.' His face lost the forced smile. 'Or the loss…'

Oki shook his head. 'Mostly we got that damn oscillator out of the way - by the way, we'll hand that over later, once Hoshino and Leopard are gone. Gozo's likely to start making noises about stolen fleet property, and Frank will just want one for himself - or to make sure you don't have it.'

'Hoshino can bite me - the statute of limitations for theft is only twenty years, if I recall correctly. And if Frank gets in my face I'll let Ben deal with him - for some reason Leopard tries to head for the hills when faced with our slumming princling.'

Oki's wry smile quickly faded as he began to speak again. 'Moving on…the group heading our way had similar problems to yours - we found the remains of three ships, all probably broke up exiting IN-SKIP. And two small transports that asked us for sanctuary. They'd been hiding in an asteroid field. No black body drives on them - and get this: not wooden like the ones you've been encountering. These were made of a nacre-like substance. Seems they'd been sold a story about taking over the water-worlds when they got there, but were starting to realise they'd been had.' He hesitated. 'Harlock - I know this is spectacularly bad timing under the circumstances, but we agreed to transport them to Tiamat. This bunch were water-dwellers, and in a pitiful condition. I know the Mazone have the twins and Taro, but I couldn't just turn my back on them.'

Harlock shook his head, remembering all too well the solidarity of the aquatics with others of their kind. 'Nor could I. The element responsible seem to be more militant - I'm not such a bastard as to blame a civilian population for the faults of its leaders and martial arm. Hell - we humans are just as bad.' He leaned against the wall and folded his arms. 'I remember when the Machinners War started - when we were faced with all those people who'd opted for immortality at the cost of their own children's lives, or their families'... there were no easy answers then, and I don't think we'll find any now either.'

Oki breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thanks. I'd hate to be at odds over this. Some of the things they told us when we found a common language were pretty horrifying. I know it's no comfort, but by kidnapping your boys, their military has actually shot themselves in the foot - before, we couldn't intervene unless specifically requested - but taking colonial citizens at gunpoint is an act of war - I can stick my nose into this without censure now, if that's what it takes.'

'I hope it won't come to that,' Harlock replied softly. 'But thank you.'

The door opened and Ali slunk into the courtyard, hands stuffed into the pockets of his trousers. His fair hair, usually either cut short or slicked back, currently curled damply almost to the collar of a blue shirt, open to reveal a dusting of light curls with his skull-and-crossbones pendant nestling in them. Belatedly realising he'd neglected to belt up his pants before stuffing his hands in his pockets, he sheepishly hauled his paws back out and tightened the skull and crossbone belt buckle as he walked. 'Captain…'

Oki lifted a hand and started for the bar. 'I'll see you in there,' he told them, and left Harlock staring at his damp crewman, who in turn seemed to be finding his booted toes fascinating.

'I thought we had this out on the Arcadia,' Harlock said in his softest tone.

'Yeah. But that was before I finally found out what the fuck that misbegotten cabbage got out of me,' Ali replied, finally meeting his captain's eye with his own bloodshot pair. 'I never thought for a moment it was the kids they were after, Harlock, if I had…'

'You'd do what? Fall on your sword? Grab a single shot flintlock? If anyone should be beating themselves up for getting caught with his pants around his ankles over this, it's me. I had them, they were my responsibility, and I let them down. I let Kei down, because I kept reassuring her they'd be safe. I assumed nobody would be bold enough or desperate enough to make a play for them. I was wrong. Right now, no matter how bad you're feeling, trust me, it's not even close to what's been going through my head for the past few days.' He balled up a fist, stepped forward and launched an uppercut that laid the older man flat on his back on the cold concrete. 'Good work on saving the town, but leaving Nami in the care of two teenagers and Zack? I don't care how competent those kids are - you dropped the ball on that one. Now pull your head out of your ass and get back in the game, Ali. Ben's been covering for you long enough. If you feel the need to stick your head in a bottle, the time for that is when we get the boys back and put a stop to this Mazone invasion. And I'll supply the bottles.' He stuck out a hand and hauled Ali back to his feet. 'I rely on you to keep your damn head and keep the rest in line when I, or Kei aren't around. I shouldn't have to have this conversation - not with you. We all got caught napping - I can't afford recriminations, Ali - I need everyone on their A game.'

Ali nodded, and rubbed his jaw. 'I did put in a few boots on that little weasel from IntSec for you,' he replied. 'I'm just sorry they pulled me off the twat before I could finish the job - but if you want…'

'Save your energy. Vaughn's getting coffee - get yourself sober and get back on the job - I can operate the Arcadia with forty men - we're currently travelling with sixty. Round everyone up - I need to ask for volunteers on this one.'

'That's Kei's job…' Ali trailed off at the sight of his captain's expression. 'Right. Gotcha.' He slapped Harlock's shoulder lightly. 'You look like shit, for the record. Never mind me - how long since you grabbed any sleep?'

'Four days, fifteen hours ship time,' Harlock replied bleakly. 'Apart from a couple of cat-naps. I have a couple of errands here, but I want to lift off in twelve hours max. Anita will handle the re-stocking - I won't deprive the colony of supplies, but Hannibal's en route with aid, so we can appropriate enough, with a smaller crew.'

'Is it wise to take the minimum?' Ali asked. Vaughn walked out of the bar, a steaming mug in one hand, and he grabbed it out of the barkeep's hand with a friendly nod. When they were alone again he continued between sips. 'If we do get into a scrap…'

'I'm pretty sure we can persuade two-thirds between us,' Harlock replied. 'But I'm serious about it being voluntary. This one's personal.'

'That's what you think,' Ali muttered. 'Fine. I think you might be in for a nice surprise mind you, but fine. Where will you be?'

'Business to sort out - and that is personal... After I've had words with our new "friends" in there, I need to go see that cold-blooded little twat from Intsec and his puppetmaster.'

'You taking Kei along for that one?'

Harlock shook his head. 'She'd just shoot them soon as look at them.'

'They'd deserve it,' Ali pointed out grimly. 'What did you have in mind?'

Harlock's smile was equally grim. 'Something that stuck-up control freak won't see coming.'

'And that woman?'

Harlock's answering smile made his crewman's blood run cold. 'Her, I might make Kei a present of. Once we've interrogated her. Him I can't use - Director Namino on the other hand, could be a useful source of information. She's coming with us.'

'We're taking one of 'em with us?' Ali felt as though he'd sobered up instantly at the thought. 'Are you daft?'

'Maybe.' Harlock shrugged. 'But she's highly placed and I want answers. Now either I'll the get ones I ask for - or she can give up some more generic ones in the lab.'

Ali stared at him, and Harlock held his ground, as cool as if he'd just announced he was planning to go for a walk. 'You'd never vivisect someone - something?'

Harlock shrugged. 'Well - maybe. Maybe not. But she won't know that. And I do have a couple of live samples left from Tokarga to set the scene…' He shared a feral grin with his crewman, who threw his head back and laughed.

'Bad pirate - worse pirate routine is it?'

'I thought we could change it up a bit - if you fancy taking a turn as psycho-whack-job pirate again?'

Ali smirked. 'Don't mind if I do - but why am I always the psycho in these plans?'

'Because no-one else can do it without giggling,' Harlock replied with aplomb.

'Oh. Good. For a minute there I thought you were going to say I just had one of those faces,' Ali replied with a sarcastic drawl.

Harlock said nothing, but his raised eyebrow was far more eloquent as he turned on his heel and strode back into the bar, back ramrod straight and shoulders braced, leaving Ali alone with a rapidly cooling cup of coffee and a thoughtful look on his face.