"Get down!"

Seconds later, a huge explosion rocked the surface of the planet. It was quickly followed by a huge roar as tonnes of stone came free and flew into the air - only to came thundering across the sand before eventually coming to rest several metres away.

When everything had settled, four pairs of eyes viewed the devastation from the safety of the pyramid's corner.

"This had better work captain" Raul snapped.

Karl didn't reply. Instead he calmly pulled out a cigarette and placed in his mouth before reaching in his coat to get a lighter. He then, in an image of serenity, lit up his cigarette as his employer fumed.

"I'm talking to you, captain!" the investigator boomed. "Just remember who's paying you!"

"That I know" Karl said. "But we're pirates. And as long as you keep us in your employment, we'll just keep doing things our way."

"That's right." Valmir added. "We do things our way. Whether you like it or not."

Raul glared, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.


Hours later, the lights of the Nirvana dimmed down and the ship went into a state of silence. All the crew went into a state of sleep, leaving the ship as quiet as a tomb. Apart from the continuous hum from the ship and the occasional bleeping from the Nirvana's OS system, the ship was silent. Everyone had all retired to rest and rest they should - this day was hardly one to remember.

But, for some, sleep wouldn't come easily.

Hibiki tossed and turned on his mattress, his facial expression screwed up into a mixture of pain and rage. His body rolled from one end of the bed to the other and soft mumbles drifted from his lips.....


He could fell himself floating: He seemed to possess no concept of gravity and no sense of movement. There was up, no down or any direction from where he was.

All around him was a huge mass of green and blue. It swirled around him, blinding him to any thing within his field of vision and restricting his movements to a mere standstill.

He recognised this plain. How could he forget? He had been here before: He had first been here when the Pexis exploded and catapulted him halfway across the universe and into the hands of the malevolent Harvesters.

"What....what am I doing back here again?" Hibiki demanded. "Where..... is everyone?"

The boy could feel his voice echo across the plain.

His eyes twitched and his muscles tightened. The former engineer cast a vigilant eye to his left. But all he could see was a big empty space that was the plain. He then flicked his head over his shoulder. But even there, it was still the same sordid story: There was nothing to see for miles within this plain of green and blue.

And there was no thing or no one to reach out to......

"What's going on?" Hibiki snarled, his bore furrowing in paranoia. "What am I doing here?"

Suddenly, without warning, images began to form right in front of him. Shapes within the sea of blue and green gathered in a particular arrangement.

"W-W-What?"

The shapes gathered in such a formation, that it grew bigger and bigger and wider and wider. The amalgam literally dwarfed the astonished former engineer....

Hibiki did nothing, his astonished eyes staring in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The amalgam had taken the appearance of something he had seen before.....

"What?" Hibiki demanded. "It's the pyramid from that desert world. What's it doing here?"

As there was no one around to answer him, the former engineer didn't receive a reply.

"Answer me!" the boy growled. "What is this pyramid doing here? What am I being shown here? What am I supposed to do?"

Suddenly, the pyramid exploded! What was once a gigantic visage in the sea of blue and green, was now a thousand shards. A thousand shards that came hurtling through the sea towards the former engineer.

With a cry of alarm, Hibiki raised his arms to shield himself from the fast approaching projectiles. It was a flimsy line of defence he knew - there was no way arms could offer protection from the enormous number of projectiles that were charging this way - but he had no intention of dying just yet!

The shards bore down on him, growing drastically closer and closer with each passing second.....

But, to his surprise, the shards passed right through him. The shards continued on past heeding no attention to the presence of the former engineer. They just carried on their individual flight paths as of he wasn't there.

Slowly, as it dawned on him that , Hibiki lowered his arms and blinked in surprise as the shards continued to pass on through him and beyond.

"What the....?" He inquired. "What does this mean?"

Still no answer came - much to Hibiki's frustration.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?"

This time, however, he did receive an answer.

"Hibiki...."

The voice sounded distant - It sounded like it was without a owner but it echoed all around him.

The boy blinked. That voice.....

How could he forget it?

"Dita....?" he asked.

"Hibiki....."

"Where are you?"

"Help me....." the voice replied - now sounding distant then before"

"Huh?" Hibiki blinked. "Hey wait!"

"Help me......" the voice said again - now sounding increasingly distant

"Don't go!" the boy yelled. "I gotta know......"

But it was too late - the voice had already gone. Thus Hibiki was left all alone

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO!?!?!?!"


Hibiki then awoke with a start.

He blinked in the darkness, his breath coming out in short, rapid bursts.

That...that was all a dream....

......right?

Yes it was a dream but the meaning was all too clear.....

But was Dita really alive?

It was impossible! Hibiki saw her fall with his own eyes! This was a fact that Meia could attest to as she was there as well.

But there was very minimal chance that she could still be alive. For starters, her body was not recovered. It's still buried within that chamber in the pyramid.

However, that's not to say she could be dead. Maybe it had something to do with his Taraak blood, but Hibiki couldn't accept that fact that someone was dead when there was no body to add confirmation. Why, for all he knew, Dita could be trying to scrabble her way out of that gigantic sandstone tomb.

But she is dead! She was tampering with that device and it, somehow, knocked her off her feet!

However, Hibiki hadn't seen any device quite like that one the pyramid before. Thus, he had no idea exactly what that device did. Henceforth, he had no guarantee that the device killed her. Okay, so maybe it DID something to her, but what?

The former engineer sighed. It seems all arrows are pointing him in an direction that demands he takes action. Action that will require him to return to the planet to investigate.

But, considering that the trigger behind this action was 'Alien-girl', he must admit he was reluctant to make a move. Should he even bother? If he returned to the surface of the desert world, if Dita really WAS alive, he would end up rescuing her and instigating a result that would see a return to her irritating behaviour. If he recovered the body, she would be so happy she won't let him out of her sight - even more so than before.

But he must admit, ever since Dita has left this place, the Nirvana has certainly been a lot quieter.

Too quiet in fact.

He'd often wished that Dita would stop bothering him but now that she's finally gone, the victory seems hollow.....

Hibiki then threw up his hands. What's the use in fighting? When his belief's had risen to such a strength, there was little point arguing: Dita was still alive and she needed rescuing.

And besides, since when has Hibiki ever left anyone behind?

His mind was made up. The former engineer got off from his bed and dashed over to the door. There's no way he's leaving anyone behind. He's going to get Jura, Barnette and Meia, whether they like it or not, and persuade 'Grandma' to launch a rescue mission on that desert world.

And they will listen to him......

With determination pumping vigorously through his veins, Hibiki charged head-first to his bedroom door. Suddenly, as the former engineer was mere inches away from his destination, it suddenly opened.

Hibiki blinked in surprise as light from the hallway flooded into his darkened room. This made his eyes squint in disapproval and left him running blind. Consequently, he never saw what he was running into......

Suddenly, face ran into something. Something of a silky texture that was shielding something soft....

Despite this sudden intrusion, it didn't take him long for Hibiki to work out exactly what he had run into....

And then, also for the second time that day, the boy felt a hand strike out from out of nowhere to strike him on the cheek.

This, in turn, sent Hibiki flying though the air and into one of the wall's that made up the corridor.

"....Ow....." the former engineer managed to mumble, as he sank to the floor.

Meia however, didn't reply. She just shook her head in disbelief - Surely he would've grasped a concept about the feminine form by now?!

It didn't, however, take long for Hibiki to recover from his trip to a sudden impact. Despite the pain that was cruising through his cranium, the boy managed to raise himself up on his hands and knees and he fixed the girl with an evil glare. Meia, however, didn't look to bothered by the mask of rage that was confronting her.

"What did you do that for?!" Hibiki snapped.

"Considering the time you've spent in our company" came the icy reply, "You would already know the answer to that question."

The boy got to his feet, his face still moulded in an expression of anger - But this soon evaporated into an expression of amusement.

"What's so funny?" Meia demanded, her facial expression still stern.

"I've never seen you in that before" Hibiki chuckled.

Immediately, the girl realised she was still in her silky pink nightie. A bright blush made it's way across her face......

.....Before she quickly recovered herself and prepared a decisive comeback:

"And I haven't seen you like that before either."

Hibiki blinked at this statement....before realising he was wearing nothing - bar the piece of cloth that concealed his crotch......


Meanwhile, many miles below, the four men entered the pyramid. They advancing, slowly but surely with their torches held high and their wits about them.

"Hmph, so far so good" Redslag muttered.

"Talk about famous last words" Valmir chuckled.

"Cease your prattling!" Raul snarled. "I want you all to remain on the alert! I don't want this investigation to go through with any disturbance, whatsoever!"

"He's right there lads." Karl said. "I for one would like to know what happened here.

"Look at these scorch marks on the walls. Something exploded here and, whatever it was, it brought that entrance into a cave in. And not too long ago by the looks of it."

"What?" Raul demanded. "Are you saying that someone has arrived here before us."

"You could say that"

"Ha!" the investigator mocked. "What nonsense you talk! Why should I believe such a preposterous observation?!"

"Because you are a fool" Valmir growled.

"What did you say?!"

"I don't care what you say, I trust my captain's judgement." The grizzled pirate went on. "So I see no reason why I should listen to you. Employer or no employer!"

"Same here." Redslag added. "Besides, this pyramid HAS been visited recently."

"Rubbish!"

"Then how do you explain that?" the engineer demanded, pointing at the floor.

All eyes turned towards this discovery: There, cast in the carpet of dust that drowned the stone hallway and illuminated by the torch, were three sets of footprints. They travelled up the hallway and into the darkness.


"So you heard it too?"

"Yes"

"Do you think she's still alive?"

They were both in Hibiki's room, sitting in darkness with the only source of light coming from the hallway via the open door. They both sat back to back on opposite sides of his bed.

"Why are you so concerned?"

"Eh?"

"You do realise that if she is still alive, she would be so happy that you back for her. And she would therefore be forever in her debt"

Hibiki froze up as his head was filled images of Dita being more persistent then usual. If he thought her constant badgering and persistence in getting to know him better was bad enough, then think about how bad it would be if it increased tenfold!

No privacy whatsoever! No peace! Nothing except Dita every minute spent aboard this ship! Worse still, such a change would trigger a determination from Misty! Consequently, he would find himself beset from all sides!

Still, such a change may have advantages: Dita might make a move to increase her cookery skills..... Such motivation might make the food she prepares better than ever! Indeed, such a prospect certainly made Hibiki's mouth water even now.....

With such thoughts cruising through his head, Hibiki paused. How was he going to answer this one?

Best go with something straightforward......

"...I...I...." he said eventually. "I guess I can't live with the knowledge of losing someone like that."

"I know the feeling" Meia sighed, as she closed her eyes.

The boy raised an eyebrow. This was unexpected on Meia's part. Ever since he had met the Dread leader, he had long perceived as someone who refused to allow herself be aided by anyone else. However, in recent times, changes had been making their way through the psyche of the girl. Although minor, and with long pauses in between as one after the after, the girl had certainly made progress from what she became when they had first met. Indeed, such concern for Dita was something that that Meia wouldn't have spent such time over.

"However" Meia said firmly. "I wouldn't hang onto such high hopes just yet"

Hibiki blinked as his perception just came crashing to the floor.

"We're just moving on a hunch here. And that is hardly a useful lead."

"So?" Hibiki retorted. "I would rather live with high hopes then cynicism!"

Meia fixed the former engineer with a stern gaze. Nevertheless, she continued.

"If we both experienced the same vision at the same time, then there must be a logical explanation for this."

Hibiki snorted.


The three pirate shone their torches around the room. The room that the footprints had led them to. A room that contained an unexpected find.

Valmir looked up at Karl. "I can still feel a pulse. She's alive."

Karl nodded and turned to face Raul.

"I do believe we've found our little intruder."


Some time later, Hibiki and Meia, dressed in their usual attire, both found themselves in the medical bay of the Nirvana, each being seen to by Duero's vigilant eye. The doctor ran his medical examination device over the two pirates, looking for a logical explanation to the vision that Meia and Hibiki had experienced.

Eventually, he frowned and switched off his device. He then cleared his throat, ready to give his assessment.

"No" he stated firmly. "Both of you seem to be in good health. I can't see any side effects from that visitation to that pyramid. And even if there were, they're certainly not doing anything at this stage."

"That's reassuring" Hibiki muttered.

But nothing could escape Duero's eternal vigilance.

"You want to go back there, do you?"

The boy nodded. "You don't think Dita's dead do ya, doc?"

Duero's face adopted a grim expression.

"What you are experiencing is just shock from losing one in the line of fire. You should just relax......"

"RELAX?!" Hibiki yelled - thus causing Meia, Duero and even Paiway to stop.

"Everyone's telling me to accept the fact that she's dead!" the boy snapped as he jumped off the bench and onto the floor

"Forget Hibiki" Meia said in a reasoning tone. "I keep telling you: there's no chance"

"What if there is chance?" he retorted. "If there is, then I wanna take it"

Meia turned to Duero.

"Come on doctor" she said. "You're a man. Surely you can talk some sense into him?"

Duero stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"I still believe that Hibiki is in a state of denial" he said firmly.

"However" he added. "I find it hard to believe that it is coincidental that the two of you would have the same vision at the same time."

Upon hearing this, the Dread Leader and the Bangata pilot exchanged bewildered glances.

Meanwhile, observing this scene with an observant eye, Paiway Underberg blinked with uncertainty. Could it be possible? Could the stuff she was hearing right now could be factual?

Her eyes hardened. A spark of hope immediately lit up inside her. If there was hope available for th taking, then the least she could do was utilise it....

Utilise to continue with her job - what she does best.

Then, without a moments further hesitation, she reached over and grabbed her notebook - If Hibiki and Meia both had the same vision at the same time, then she must make note of this development.....


Meanwhile, Dita Liebely opened her eyes......

The first thing that hit her was this monstrous headache. It burned it's way through every square inch of her skull. It felt like a thousand hammers had been using her head to smash themselves against.

Slowly she sat up and she reached up her hand to nurse her head. What the hell happened?

Then she noticed her surroundings: She was lying on a bed which was situated in a room that bore obvious sings of being a medical bay.

But this medical was unfamiliar: It certainly didn't look like the one she was used to the Nirvana.

"Where am I?" she murmured.

Desperately, she tried to recall exactly how she had got here. Wherever here was.

She remembered going into that pyramid and finding that crystal. But, her inquisitive nature got the better of her and she reached out to touch it.....

But it was here, her recollections grew scrambled: She could remember seeing the faces of Mr. Alien and Meia but little else.....

So how did she get here?

Despite the pain that was throbbing through her head, she managed to get off the bed and onto the floor beneath her. Driven on her curious nature, Dita made her way to the door. She opened it to reveal:

An unfamiliar hallway.

Dita frowned. This wasn't good. Where was here?

It looked like the interior of a space ship of some kind. Normally, her fascination for all things extra-terrestrial would take over and provoke her into investigating further.

But ever since the encounters with the Harvesters, Dita's perceptions of aliens had forever changed.

Therefore she should tread with caution.....