DISCLAIMER: Blah blah blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda (C'mon, you guys know the drill already)

Author's note: Well, thanks to my three constant reviewers: Renwar, DJ Madcat, and of course, Seravy. I'm beginning to think you guys are also the only readers… Again, fairy tale lovers beware; this will not have a very happy ending. Well, at least from the Nirvana crew's viewpoint.

Chapter 8

"What do you mean you've found nothing?" Jura demanded incredulously. Renard shrugged in response.

"Nothing. No one. Maybe she already left."

The blond pilot blinked, as if she hadn't considered the idea before. "Maybe. Did your gunners hit her?"

"As far as they could tell, yes. It could have only been a glancing hit at best, though, as we found no wreckage."

Jura huffed a relieved sigh.

"That's good. Did you tell Meia?"

"She's resting in the sickbay right now." The captain nodded to the Old Man. "What's next?"

"We go on as planned, then. We find the Nirvana, drop them off, and go settle our scores."

"Hold on a minute!" Jura looked between the two of them. "This is our fight, not yours. They're our ships!"

Renard shrugged, then turned and strode back out. She glared daggers at his back. A chuckle caused her to turn and direct her glower at the other man.

"What's so funny?" She hadn't quite forgotten her earlier humiliation yet either. Jura absolutely hated it when people didn't take her seriously.

Kurtz didn't reply, simply continued laughing before taking up a fighting stance again.

"Come on. You've got a few things to work on." He raised an eyebrow as she stared at him.

"Do you have anything better to do?"

Gascogne was sitting in the infirmary, watching Kroeger patching Hibiki's injuries. The grizzled medic was also teaching Paiway a thing or two, and the young nurse watched wide-eyed, especially when he started talking about various other situations when he'd made a few 'ingenious' adaptations to treat injuries. Gascogne found it oddly charming the way the nurse took things in with a rapt stare. She'd matured over the past two years, and grown out of the bratty, snide girl who'd been put out so much over Duero's arrival on the ship. It also helped that Kroeger had a good sense of humor and an unpredictable nature that their own medic certainly lacked, which kept Paiway on her toes.

The young nurse broke into Kroeger's monologue long enough to ask a question.

"When did you get to do all that?"

He frowned thoughtfully, squinting up at the ceiling.

"Well…it could be the twenty-odd years I've spent in the military." His tone dripped with sarcasm. "I'm pretty sure I've patched up just about any combat injury you can name, from gunshot wounds to injuries from chemical attacks." He shook his head.

"Let me tell you, it's incredible the way people keep coming up with new ways to maim and kill each other- couple hundred years ago, you'd never have seen the kind of injuries I've had to deal with in a war zone. But then, I guess they didn't have the equipment I did a few hundred years ago either. Tit for tat, eh?"

He finished bandaging the last of the small stab wounds Hibiki had taken from the guards.

"There. That ought to tide you over till the next time you get yourself mauled."

The young pilot scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kroeger simply grinned. "Kid like you- hot-blooded, thinks he's something… you don't last long without getting an attitude adjustment in a place like this. These are fighting men, and they've all been blooded, too- you don't strut around them if you can't back it up."

"Hey! Don't underestimate me! I'm not just some kid. I'm a Vanguard pilot, you know. I've fought enemies before."

The medic looked him over. "A what?"

"A Vanguard pilot! I fly a combat suit."

"Bah. What's that worth without your little machine, boy? Not much. You may be hot stuff in one of those things, but while you're on the ground, you better account for yourself as you are. A lot of airs aren't much if you can't back it up- best to keep your mouth shut."

Hibiki said nothing more, but he glowered at the man. Kroeger simply chuckled and turned away. When he moved, Hibiki saw Kyra sitting on the next bed, quite obviously laughing at him. He wanted to say something, but Kroeger's advice came back into his mind and he turned away sulkily.

Gascogne glanced at Dita, who sat swinging her feet on an examination table, looking at the floor. She glanced back at the smoldering Hibiki, then shrugged, drawing out a pack of cards.

"Anyone want to play?"

She, Paiway, Kroeger, Kyra and Dita were halfway into their first round when the door hissed open again and Renard came in. He looked at them expressionlessly.

"You had better not have been gambling for money, you two."

Kyra smiled sweetly at him.

"Of course not! We'd never break the rules, Captain. We were just settling in for a friendly game of poker." Meanwhile, Gascogne carefully swept the chips off the table, out of Renard's line of sight.

"Poker without bets? That sounds like a fun game."

She grinned back at him.

"Noooo… not quite without bets, but nothing against the rules either. We were playing strip poker." Gascogne choked, and even Dita had to try hide a giggle. Kroeger looked bemused, but Renard quite obviously was not taken in.

"Bullshit. No one wants to see Kroeger naked." The medic burst into laugher, and Kyra joined in. The captain turned to Gascogne.

"We need you to contact your ship and set up a meeting point."

Meia blinked groggily, then groaned as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. She was lying on a bed behind a curtain, with voices emanating from beyond. She sat up all the way, then slid off the bed. She didn't want to admit it, but her vision was clear and the headache was mostly gone. Mostly. There was still a dull pounding somewhere behind her thoughts, but she pushed it aside and glanced at her chronometer. She'd been asleep for four hours now. Blinking, she walked up to the curtain and pushed it aside, revealing the rest of the mercenaries' sickbay. She blinked again and held up a hand to ward off the bright lights as her eyes adjusted. When she brought it down, she saw Gascogne, Dita, Paiway, Hibiki, Kroeger and Kyra seated around a table, playing cards.

Gascogne looked up.

"Oh, so you've finally woken up. That's good. We're getting near the Nirvana; it should be around two hours until we reach them. Nobody's heard from Barnette, though."

Meia hid her relief at the pronouncement, glad that this disaster would finally be over, and that she'd finally be able to put her feet on the Nirvana again, although she felt a sense of trepidation over what had happened to Barnette. To cover it, she looked around the room.

"Where's Jura?"

"Out somewhere. I don't know. Want to join?"

Meia waved a hand dismissively.

"I'm going out to look for her."

Kroeger glanced up from his hand.

"Take it easy, you're not fully healed yet."

She didn't reply or even look back as she walked out. He breathed out an annoyed sound.

"Some attitude problem she's got."

Jura stared down at the board, planning her next move. There- that would be it. She reached out, wincing as her aching muscles protested. The practice session had been unforgiving, but the mercenary commander had told her she was improving. Pushing the thought aside, she moved the piece.

"Check!" She was delighted. She didn't play Chess much, but she was confident she was winning.

Her mood deflated as he captured the offending piece with a bishop she'd failed to notice.

"Look everywhere. Don't just plant a spotlight on something- keep an eye on everything." His voice, stern and unforgiving, had been a constant so far too, scolding her without pity whenever she made a mistake. Jura growled.

"Stop that! Don't talk to me like I'm a child! I know what I'm doing!"

He laughed.

"You complain endlessly when you should be listening, and learning. There are a lot of things you can pick up if you keep your mind and your ears open. Do you think you get better by crabbing? Complain when you're better than me at what we're doing. Complacency in someone so young is not a good trait."

Jura sighed. She hated the fact that his chiding was always correct; he'd picked apart the way she did things, exposing the mistakes and errors in thinking and attitude she normally made. It was humbling, though, and Jura was not used to being corrected or even countered.

She moved another piece, and the game continued in silence for a while. She frowned at him when he made an overly obvious gambit, then studied the board. There had to be a second angle she hadn't seen. After a while, she gave up trying to find it, but moved defensively anyway. He chuckled as he moved in the piece she'd been hesitant to take.

"Checkmate."

"What!" She glared furiously at the board while he leaned back, chortling at her expression.

"Sometimes, the most obvious things are what you overlook. You're too easy to read."

She glared at him as she slammed her king down on the table.

"I want a rematch!"

He shook his head. "My, but you're spoiled. Get used to losing. You can learn something from your defeats."

"I'd rather I never lost at all."

Conrad laughed outright. "Wouldn't we all- but that never happens. Get rid of your attitude. No one will be interested in pampering a woman as old as you are already."

"I am not spoiled!" She spluttered angrily.

He simply smiled.

Meia walked through the ship, well aware of the stares she was receiving. It was a bit disconcerting to go through halls filled with men instead of women; it was her first experience in a situation like this. The Dread leader pushed the thought out of her mind. She was only interested in finding Jura right now, just to make sure she didn't misplace another of those under her command, like Barnette. When they got back onto the Nirvana, she would have to see if she could get Magno to start a search. She paused in front of an unmarked door, foolishly realizing that she had not only no idea where to look for Jura, but that she wasn't quite sure which way to take to go back to the sickbay. Cursing herself for not marking the turns more carefully, she looked around her. A pair of soldiers passed by, talking and laughing. She was well aware of the odd stares both gave her, a mixture of surprise, curiosity, and wariness. She certainly had no intentions of asking them for help, and turned back to go the way she'd come. She would find something familiar eventually.

Magno glanced down at her bridge operators.

"How much longer until we get there?"

"Not long." Celtic grinned back at the old woman. "Another hour or two."

She nodded, sitting back in her chair. She'd been extremely worried when they had lost contact with Meia's party, and was glad that they'd be coming back safely, except for Barnette. A part of her was still worried, though- both the Pexis and Pyoro had been acting strangely after that last incident, and up until now the robot was still spluttering unintelligible gibberish. She hoped nothing bad had happened to them, because she'd need the Pexis at full operational capabilities when they went to reclaim the three Dreads, the Vanguard, and Barnette.

BC, standing next to her, seemed to sense her mood.

"What do you think happened to Barnette?"

"I don't know. We can only hope for now that it was nothing bad…"

Meia finally admitted defeat. She'd been wandering for close to an hour now. The corridors were marked, but it was all in some kind of code. Aside from that, they were visually indistinguishable. Wondering if she could find some kind of intercom system, she entered the first unlocked door she could find. She stepped through, and the door hissed shut behind her. She continued on through another door, stepping into space. She stared around her, awestruck. It seemed as though she was standing in the middle of the universe, a mass of spiraling stars stretching on into eternity. Front and sides, light shone from the reaches of the galaxy, and she could clearly see details such as nearby planets, debris, floating asteroids, trails of ice and dust that reflected the light of stars. It took her a long moment to realize that she seemed to be moving; the positions of various objects seemed to be changing. She was snapped out of it by the sound of a voice.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

She spun to see a tall figure she hadn't noticed, seemingly invisible against the rear wall, where she'd entered. A glowing red light lit up Renard's face, the effect of his bionic eye's scanner playing across his features and giving him an almost demonic look, crimson light seeming to show dark creases and scars invisible in normal light.

"Wh-what is this place?"

"The main observation deck onboard the ship. The most advanced visual screening technology available to Valkoris before its downfall is in this room."

"Valkoris?"

He grimaced, as if her saying the name conjured up a bad memory.

"Never mind. What are you doing here?"

"I got lost." She was still frazzled by the amazing view, and the words seemed to fall out of her mouth before she realized what was happening.

"So where were you planning to go?"

"I was looking for Jura." No point hiding anything now.

"She's with the Colonel. The last time I saw them, they were having a sword fight."

Meia hesitated, not wanting to ask for any guidance, but knowing she would need to. As if reading her mind, he pushed himself off the wall.

"I'll take you there. The rendezvous will be soon anyway, we're almost there."

The blue-haired woman blinked at him, and he wordlessly pointed behind her. She turned again, and saw a small dot in the distance that seemed to be growing larger.

"Is that…the Nirvana?"

"Yes. Computer, track target vessel and magnify."

"Please specify."

He frowned briefly.

"Computer, target count."

"There are two artificial bodies approaching. One is identified from data files as the Mejele pirate ship, Nirvana. The other is unknown."

"Locate unknown and magnify."

Meia watched as yellow crosshairs seemed to appear and focus on a point in space behind the Nirvana. The space rapidly magnified, revealing a red and black machine rapidly gaining on the ship. The Dread pilot felt her heart lurch into her throat.

"What is that?!"