Harrigan's Heroes

by Warlord-Shirt

A trio of unlikely comrades are dispatched to find Crichton. But things don't go quite as planned. WARNING! Some chapters have higher ratings! Check chapter headings! NOW A FINISHED WORK.

26. Chapter 25 : River of tears, rapids of r...

Chapter 25 : River of tears, rapids of rage.

The first thing Jane did was projectile-vomit her dinner over the floor and wall when they entered the wormhole. Ghost looked a little queasy, but otherwise appeared unharmed – he even had a slight smile on his face, which didn't endear him to Troll and Jane one bit. They didn't do anything, as they were too busy trying to keep what remained of their food down. Jane looked over to see a couple of DRDs crawling over to clean her puke off the wall and floor, saying "At least…urrrrgh!….at least we don't have to clean it up". Troll was about to nod, but then puked his Kruldan Scorcher all over Ghost's boots. Not only did this really burn coming back up, but Ghost wasn't too happy either.

Up on the bridge, Captain Lazarus was faring a little better – partly because he was more accustomed to extreme manoeuvring in aircraft, but also because he could actually see where he was going. "Iiiiisssss iiiiitttt alwwayyyyyss thisss baaaaadd?" Lazarus asked as Harrigan slammed the Cry Havoc into another sharp turn. "I've only done this twice, Captain" Harrigan replied - he felt a little unstable, but nothing major – "but it gets easier the more you do it. Practice makes perfect. Wormhole travel isn't something we'll be making a habit of, though".

"Right-left-right!" called Talannah urgently "I'm locked on to the Ithlin homing signal – we should arrive maybe a weeken after we left!" "Got it, love!" Harrigan replied with a smile "How far to go, do you think?" Talannah laughed, replying "I don't think – urrrgh! – that you can tell with wormholes. But it shouldn't be too long noowww – not so hard, John!"

Harrigan had just thrown the Cry Havoc into a max-angle left turn combined with a 40-degree drop. "That's the way we gotta go, dear" Harrigan replied, fighting to bring the giant ship back under control "That's the way you said Ithlin was". A quick flip through a couple of more moderate turns, and the wormhole flattened out for a while.

Waving to Keyah to activate the ship wide comm, Harrigan called "Having fun down there yet, people?" "Yeah, really great!" groused Ghost "This lump of a machine-gunner just heaved that Scarran curry your big man fed him all over my boots!" "I didn't aim for you, Ghost!" Troll replied queasily "It just h-h-ha-happened!" Ghost tried to roll aside, pleading "Not again, Troll! That little robot thing still hasn't cleaned my left boot properly yet!" For once Troll actually managed to laugh, adding "There's nothing left to vomit anyway! But it was quite funny watching you move".

"That's the way!" Harrigan called back "Just relax and enjoy it! The roller coaster of the Uncharted Territories – wormholes! You don't even have to give anyone money to get on!" Two more fairly sharp turns and a faint glimmer of normal space began to appear. "Everyone…" Keyah called over the comm "You'll be glad to know that we're close to re-entering normal space. Please try not to overload the DRDs with cleaning duties by hurling the contents of your stomach all over the floor"

Happily enough, none of the humans did vomit again before re-entering normal space. Barely a momen later, the Cry Havoc re-entered the Ithlin system – to the relief and happiness of all on board.

"We're back where we belong, love" Harrigan said with a smile to his wife "Back in the Territories again". "I am sorry you weren't as well received on Earth as you'd hoped" Talannah replied, walking over to the helm station and trying to soothe him – but Harrigan just placed one finger over her mouth and said "I would rather be with you out here than on a whole planet full of humans without you – now and for ever". Talannah kissed him briefly, then told him "Let's just concentrate on closing the wormhole and getting to geostationary orbit, shall we? We can celebrate later".

Down in the galley, the three humans were just starting to find their feet again. "Well, that's over with at last" Urana said from behind the kitchen counter. "I though you people…" Troll asked her "…were all veteran space travellers! Aren't you used to this?" Urana turned to scowl at him, hands on hips, saying "No, human – we are not! Space travel we are indeed used to – but we have only been through a wormhole twice now, that's only one more time than you!"

"Children!" Moratha barked, patience lost for the moment, "Enough! Troll – relentlessly needling my daughter will get you nowhere! Urana – you should know better, and not give in to him! Now let's get ready to move – the commander will undoubtedly wish to head down to Ithlin city for a short while, to get his bearings if nothing else. You, at least, should be ready to accompany him, Troll! He would feel more at ease with those of his own species".

Calming down, still with a slight grin on his face, Troll replied "You do have a point, ma'am". Moratha smiled a bit at Troll's term of respect, saying "Just Moratha will do – I'm not YOUR mother. But I am older and wiser in some things – so I hope you will listen sometimes". Moratha then turned to address all three of them, saying "I suggest you comm Commander Harrigan or Captain Lazarus on the bridge, and find out if they have any orders for you. Even if they do not, I think you should try to get yourselves invited down to Ithlin city – it will be an educational experience for you".

While Troll grumbled about 'all work and no play', Ghost asked "You can start, Moratha, by showing us how to do that. We didn't bring our radio handsets with us, and they probably wouldn't connect to this ship's systems anyway. We don't have any of your comm gear. So how do we talk to Harrigan or Lazarus from here?"

"Good" Moratha says with approval "You're asking intelligent questions. This way". She led the three of them over to the wall where she proceeded to explain how the Cry Havoc's wall comms worked. "Since the ship's computer doesn't have your voiceprints on file, you'll have to use the keycodes for the location you wish to speak to" Urana explained, writing the code for the bridge on a piece of paper for them. Troll reached for it, but Urana waved a finger under his nose, saying "Ghost asked – so he gets. Be quicker off the mark next time". He smiled back, saying "I'll remember – if that's what it takes to get to know you better".

Urana went slightly purple at Troll's mildly flirtatious tone - grunting "Hmph!", spinning on her heels, and heading back to her mother. Ghost commed the bridge, asking "Since we now know which way is up again, Harrigan, what are we going to do now?"

"Not a bad question, that" Harrigan murmured to Talannah on the bridge. Mulling over what needed to be done, he said "Talannah, dear – you take Tovak out in the Stryker he's loaded that nuke on. He'll fire the missile into the mouth of the wormhole. AS SOON AS THE MISSILE IS LAUNCHED, head straight back to the flight deck – a 1.2 megaton warhead has a considerable blast radius even in space. Once you're back, we'll arrange a landing party to go down to the city – check out the current situation, see what's changed since we left".

"On the way, love" Talannah replied, kissing Harrigan on the cheek on her way out. Keyah then commed Tovak – who was actually snoozing in the maintenance bay now the ship was steady underfoot again. The buzz of his comm startled him awake, muttering "…whh…urrr…what's happening?" into his comm. "My wife's on the way down to you now – big nuke time, Tovak" Harrigan explained. Tovak knew very well that in the scale of things that 1.2 Earth megatons, while powerful, was not big by any means – but, knowing that Harrigan knew this as well, didn't say anything. "The Stryker will be ready to go as soon as the Sub-Commander arrives, sir" Tovak replied "I'll do the pre-flight as soon as you discomm". The only reply was Harrigan cutting the call.

Guess that means I should get started then, Tovak mused jogging into the Stryker and up the tight stairs to the bridge. At least I get to do some real flying, his thoughts continued as his hands danced over the instrument panels, bringing the Stryker to life and checking all vital systems. "All still in the green…" he muttered to himself, checking the engine diagnostics again "As well it should be, after the checkover I gave this thing when I loaded the missile on board…".

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp tap-tap-tap on the aft hatch. "Sub-Commander?" Tovak asked, force of habit putting his left hand on the butt of his Viper. "Yes, Tovak" came the familiar voice from below "I'm here". "Advance and be recognised" Tovak called. Since there was an armed nuclear weapon on board, and the War Commander hasn't set any standing orders in place for dealing with these situations, I'll stick with Scarran Army regs for now – Talannah will know what I'm doing.

Talannah was a little surprised at Tovak's precautions, but aware of why he'd probably be doing this – so she stopped at the Stryker's bridge entrance. The Stryker's on-board computer linked with the Cry Havoc's to verify her identity, coming back less than three microts later with "Confirmed, Sub-Commander".

"Can I come in, then?" Talannah asked. "Yes, yes – of course!" Tovak replied in embarrassment "Since the War Commander has not set any procedures in place for handling special weapons, I fell back to what I knew…". "Scarran Army" Talannah replied. "Er….yes, Sub-Commander" Tovak replied, head bowed a little "I am sorry if it appeared as if I don't trust you, but…"

Talannah nodded as she strapped herself into the pilot's chair. "I know" she assured Tovak "Safety and security around special weapons was your primary concern. You've preflighted this ship, have you?" "Yes, ma'am" Tovak replied, waving briefly at the instruments "Check for yourself if you like – there's no defects, and we're fully fuelled. Missile reports fully functional, as does that rather primitive warhead. If we'd had a Scarran warhead, I'm sure we could fit a warhead perhaps 30 times more powerful on this missile".

"Perhaps so" Talannah replied, easing the Stryker off the deck "But we have to do the best we can with the resources we have to hand. Right now, all we have are these Erp…sorry Earth…-manufactured warheads. I doubt these are best quality engineering even by human standards. Just get that missile armed – you'll probably have to fly it into the wormhole yourself by remote control and detonate it manually, the proximity fuses probably won't work in these circumstances". Hmmm, Tovak thought to himself as Talannah eased the Stryker under the bay doors, a challenge – if a small one. The day's not a total loss after all…

"They've cleared the flight deck" Hellbolt reported, having walked over to check the nav console "This shouldn't take long – maybe twenty momens at most, sir". Keyah placed a call through to Ithlin space command, advising them of the imminent nuclear detonation. When the watch commander heard who was back, he called "Please hold for the King, ma'am…" and connected the call to the King's bedchamber, awakening him from his slumber.

"Yes?" he asked blearily into his comm. "Senior watch officer, space command" replied the watch commander "Harrigan's just come back out of the wormhole, Your Majesty. He says he's about to fire a nuclear weapon into the mouth of the wormhole to close it, and not to be alarmed – the Hierarchy hasn't come back". "Put me through" King Torthal commanded, looking over at his queen still sleeping beside him.

"War Commander Harrigan!" the King announced jovially "Good to see you back here! Some though you may succumb to…homesickness…and stay on your own planet. I am glad to see that they were wrong. Will you be coming down to the city?" Harrigan shook his head, replying "Unless you require my presence for something, Your Majesty, I will stay up here and busy myself with learning a little about my ship – there is still a lot to figure out".

Sensing the King's slight disappointment, Harrigan added "But I will be sending down some of my other troops – especially the younger ones, and that new one who came down the wormhole after us".

"So he was known to you, then?" the King asked with surprise. "Me, Your Majesty?" Harrigan replied with a laugh "Hardly! But my wife knew him. From her…past. She believes him to be trustworthy – and he's started to prove his worth already". "Congratulations on your marriage, Commander!" King Torthal replied happily "The female Scarran you were with last time, I take it?"

"Yes, Your Majesty" Harrigan replied proudly "Talannah and I are now husband and wife. I will be sending her down to watch the others – especially Shor and Ryalla". King Torthal laughed, catching the slightly exasperated tone in Harrigan's voice, and saying "Sebacean teenagers can be like that! Aren't those from your own species as well?" "You're right there, Your Majesty" Harrigan replied "But he's formed a very close attachment to our youngest female Scarran – which may not go down well with some of your people when they are seen together in public". The King assured Harrigan that this would not be a problem – but he would alert the city police and Royal Guard anyway.

Talannah's Stryker approached the wormhole. "Missile is go for launch, Sub-Commander" Tovak reported, opening the bay doors. "Whenever you're ready, Tovak" Talannaah replied. Tovak pressed the launch button and kept his eyes on a small screen in front of him as he guided the missile with a few taps on the control stick on the console in front of him.

"…few more microts…" he muttered to himself, then looked up at Talannah. "Back to the ship! We've got just four microts before detonation!" Talannah pulled the Stryker around in as tight a turn as she could and slammed the throttles forward. By the time the nuke went off, she was well out of blast radius – but she barely managed to avoid being sucked down the collapsing wormhole.

Calling back to Harrigan on the Cry Havoc, she said "All done. Wormhole's collapsed behind us. We're coming back in – should be back with you in a few momens". "Looking forward to it" Harrigan replied "I'll make sure to give you a proper welcome back". Tovak smiled and laughed a little, which only increased the look of pride and delight on Talannah's face even more.

"Take the Stryker in yourself, Tovak" Talannah told him "I want to have a short nap before I go down to the planet with the rest of the landing party". Tovak happily took the controls, murmured "Copilot's airplane", waggled the stick to make sure his controls worked, and fed in a bit more throttle – the Stryker headed straight for the Cry Havoc's main flight deck.

Keyah called Harrigan over from the command chair. "Your wife and Tovak are heading back in, sir" she explained "ETA – maybe ten momens or so". "Very good, Keyah" Harrigan replied "You're watch officer again until Talannah or I relieve you, OK? Gotta go and pick Tal up at the flight deck when she gets back". By Harrigan's excited tone, Keyah could tell he meant that literally – which brought a slight smile to her own face.

"Go on, then" Keyah remarked with amusement, leaning back in her chair at the comm desk "I'll be fine up here. Even Hellbolt doesn't seem to be getting into any mischief right now". Hellbolt looked over, as if to say 'Who, me?' – then shrugged and commed Leasa to bring him a snack on the bridge when she had a microt.

Harrigan and Lazarus jumped in the transit car and shot off to the flight deck, with Harrigan humming a tune under his breath as they went. Lazarus smiled sadly at Harrigan, the memories of his many recent rows with his ex still fresh in his mind – I just hope Liz and I will settle in here properly. She's quite freaked out by being around so many obvious non-humans, he knew, and it's not that easy for me either – though it helps that they saved my people's butts in North Korea.

They reached the flight deck just as Tovak set the Stryker softly and carefully back on the deck, by the maintenance section. Just where, and how, I'd expect a tech to land it, Harrigan laughed to himself as he and Lazarus walked forward. While Tovak busied himself giving the Stryker a detailed post-flight inspection, Talannah walked out onto the deck – to be immediately met by a charging husband and swept up off the floor and into his arms.

Twirling round in circles, Harrigan grinned and sang a happy tune – before unexpectedly throwing Talannah up high enough for her see through the Switchblade's deck 3 windows, such as they were. "Put me DOWN!" squealed Talannah as she landed in Harrigan's arms – he just grinned and threw her up again. It took two more throws before she managed to get through to him and get him to stop.

The sound of another car pulling up outside marked the arrival of the rest of the team. "Come on, you lot" Harrigan said "This is just a brief stopover before we head into the more well-travelled parts of the Territories and look for some nice fat commissions, so I'll not be sending everyone down. Talannah will be leading this landing party. Since Shor used to live here, he can go down too – yes, Ryalla" he added quickly "you're going as well. That'll be it – though I may let one or two down later".

Dr Nrakal called Trannak over. "I've talked to the Commander about this" he said "and he agreed to my suggestion. I need you to go on a supply run for me – to the Zeldin colony. They have some specialist medical equipment and supplies there that I will need, and I don't want to deplete our funds too far by purchasing them on the black market here. Here's the list of what I need – and here's the money to pay for it all". Nrakal passed over a small datachip and a larger bag of money – Scarran crindars. Trannak just nodded, took the proffered chip and money, then bolted for his Raider – taking off as soon as he was strapped down in the pilot's chair.

Keyah opened the deck doors as soon as Trannak was airborne – Trannak ducking the Raider beneath the doors as they were rising. "…Hot dog…" Lazarus muttered, watching Trannak go. Harrigan smiled, knowing both he and Lazarus had done worse themselves, but didn't say anything.

"Right, then" Harrigan called to the others "Shor, Ryalla – you head down with Talannah to the spaceport. Stay close to her, but have a little fun as well when you can". He then passed over a small piece of gold to Shor with instructions to get a good deal for it and make the money last. "Perhaps we'll get to meet mum and dad again…" Shor said as he led Ryalla over to a nearby Stryker, Talannah following suit "I hope he's calmed down since we were here last – I'd like you to meet mother, she's really very nice when you get to know her…" "I'm looking forward to it already, Shor…" Ryalla assured him, slapping him lightly on the eema as the three of them got into their Stryker.

Talannah urged the two of them into the bridge with her – where, to their astonishment, she directed Shor to the pilot's chair. "You look like you've swallowed a stealth capsule!" she exclaimed "Why the wide eyes and surprised looks? Shor won't learn unless he practices, and it's only a short hop down to the spaceport anyway". Ryalla gave Shor a quick squeeze on the shoulder before strapping into the tailgun turret.

Down on the ground, things were starting to get back to normal after the war almost two weeken ago. People were going about their daily business, flights between the cities and offworld had resumed – at least in part, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was just a normal city – until you saw the crumbled walls on the way in, and the crippled war veterans when you landed. Fewer than there may have been if not for Harrigan's intervention, but still a saddening proportion of the population.

"Ithlin control" Talannah commed ahead "this is Sub-Commander Talannah of the 1st Deep Space Irregulars, requesting permission to land". "Sub-Commander, this is Ithlin control" replied a younger than expected air controller "Glad it's you people. Some of my superiors thought the Hierarchy had come back – the boss saw a Stryker on radar and almost called an air-defence alert". Hah, thought Talannah. Even though I'm no air ace, I could probably evade their pilots easily – and even Shor here could probably give a better showing than they'd expect.

"You're cleared to pit 28, Sub-Commander" the controller replied "Hold…King Torthal has requested an audience with your party at your earliest convenience – just got the call in from the chief of staff at the palace". "Give us a few momens to get our bearings, then we will make sure that we stop by at the palace" Talannah told him "Our pilot here wants to try and speak to his family while he's here, so we should be around for maybe a weeken or so". The controller acknowledged that and signed off.

"Pit 28, Shor" Talannah told him. "You do remember where that is, don't you dear?" Ryalla teased him , shouting back down the corridor. Shor smiled, happily muttering "…women!…" under his breath, and guided them in slowly and carefully into the proper spot. The landing was a little rough, but neither of the ladies complained – it wasn't as if Shor was a veteran at Stryker piloting yet; and if truth be told, they would probably expect less from a Sebacean, at least in their own minds.

Barely fifteen microts after they'd touched down, Ryalla was in the bridge and looking over Shor's shoulder to make sure he didn't make any mistakes. Though it annoyed him a little that she was doing that, he played along – and turned the tables a little with a joke of his own.

"Primary electrical systems…offline" he murmured, then added to Ryalla "Is this the 'on' button for the kettle, dear? I can't find it anywhere. I thought Scarran craft were the height of technical achievement…then I can't find the on switch for the kettle…that one?…". "Shor!" Ryalla snapped "That's the master arm switch for the treblin side wing cannon! Careful!" Shor made a show of being mystified, looking at the button's label and saying "Well, so it is! Didn't know that…since it was green, I though that meant it was the kettle – contala tea's green, you know…". "There's FIVE buttons like that, Shor!" Ryalla told him, grabbing his chin in her right hand and turning it so Shor was looking at the buttons, so he couldn't weasel out of it. "I didn't think we'd need that many kettles on board a Stryker?" he asked, not quite able to repress a tiny grin. Talannah just started to catch on, but Ryalla was too annoyed with Shor to notice, and shouted "THEY ARE NOT KETTLES!" before quietening down just a bit to add "They are the master arm switches for all four forward cannon and the aft tail turret! Not the stove, not the lights, not the climate control, not the refrigeration units, and certainly not the KETTLES! Haven't I managed to pound anything into that thick Sebacean skull of yours yet, trainee?"

"You're even more beautiful when you're angry, did you know that, Ryalla?" Shor replied teasingly. Just before Ryalla was about to blow her top, Shor flicked all the master arm switches to bring the guns offline, then stood up to face her, saying "I know what they are, dear – you're an excellent teacher. The best I could hope to have". "And don't you forget it, Shor" Ryalla replied, putting on a little surliness for show – but pleased with Shor's compliments nonetheless. "When you two have quite finished your sparring…" snapped Talannah "…perhaps we could actually get going TO THE PALACE! The King has requested our presence".

Shor and Ryalla looked at each other for a microt, "Oops!" clearly written all over both their faces, and double-timed out of the Stryker after Talannah, locking up on their way out. "We'll have to find someone to transport us to the palace" Talannah explained "I, for one, am in no mood to walk all the way there". "Us neither, Talannah" Shor replied "There should be some of father's employees around somewhere – perhaps we can hitch in with a cargo truck…". Ten momens searching did indeed turn up such a vehicle, the driver saying "Master Shor, what a surprise to see you here…" before looking at who Shor was with and saying "…er…Shor?…These people…they're Scarrans, Shor…".

"Don't worry about them, we're all with the good guys" Shor told him happily, putting one arms around Ryalla "You might remember Talannah here from the news reports a couple of weeken ago". Talannah growled a little bit about being singled out for attention, but the truck driver did remember, urging them into the back of his truck with his cargo.

"Call me so familiarly in public without my permission again, trainee…" Talannah whispered menacingly "…and I'll rip your mivonks out through your nose!" Seeing the terrified look on Shor's face, she added – in a more reasonable tone – "Seriously, Shor, we have rank and position for a reason. The War Commander may favour a slightly looser style of command than many, but respect for rank must be maintained. That means you address me as Sub-Commander unless given leave not to. What you address Ryalla as is up to her". Shor's "Very well, Sub-Commander" was met with a nod of approval and a "Very good, trainee".

It took longer than it did before, just over three-quarters of an arn, to make it to the palace this time – all of this taken up around what the locals were calling 'greenie street' for all the Charrid bodies they'd had to haul away for burning, as construction teams and equipment were going back and forth to do their part in rebuilding the walls. The driver muttered glumly all through that part of the trip about all this congestion about it being bad for business like this, but Talannah soon readjusted his attitude when she reminded him that he could always call the Scarran embassy and get the Hierarchy to come back and level this place properly – then there would be no traffic congestion, or indeed any traffic at all. Properly chastened, he made the rest of the trip in silence.

After dropping the three Irregulars off at the palace, the truck went around the back of the palace to the service entrance to drop off the rest of its cargo. Shor, Ryalla, and Talannah had just got through the main gates when the chief of staff came striding out to greet them. "Good, you're here at last" he said with relief "I thought for a microt you'd got so snarled up around greenie street that you'd never get in! Come – the king is waiting in the diplomatic reception room. You remember where that is?"

Shor looked over at Ryalla with a soft smile on his face. That's where I first met her, he thought to himself. Where I drove myself into such a bewildered panic over the consequences of flicking her ponytail that I'm surprised I didn't keel over and die! His musings were stopped by Ryalla reaching over, cupping his face in her hands, and giving him a soft but passionate kiss. Talannah's look softened a bit, but she barked "Come on, you two! There'll be plenty of time for that later – MOVE!"

With Talannah shouting in their ears, the two of them made it down the single flight of stairs to the lower level. "You ought to remember where the diplomatic reception room is, you two!" she roared in their ears "Move out!" Perhaps thirty microts later, they all walked into the anteroom where the fountain was. A servant reached over to tap twice on the door, which then opened to admit the king as he strode out to meet them.

"It is good to see that the saviours of my realm have returned!" King Torthal proclaimed "Even if only a few of them at this time. Your trip through the wormhole was successful then, I take it?" "We all went through and came back alive, yes" Talannah replied to the King's question "But I don't think that's what you mean. The purpose for which we went through was indeed fulfilled, yes – and we brought back more recruits as well! But I am pleased to announce that War Commander Harrigan is now my husband".

"Congratulations!" the king told a smiling Talannah "I am very happy for you both – I hope that your married life will be as richly rewarding for you as mine is for myself and my queen".

One the night side of the planet, as close as possible to see Ithlin while remaining undetected by the Cry Havoc's sensors, a ship waited – stock still. It looked fairly nondescript, at least on the outside – but inside, were any customs inspectors lucky enough to get in, their eyes would pop out of their heads, because this was a converted freighter under the command of the Scarran Imperium.

"We are ready to make the drop to the planet, Captain" a Scarran in thick black armour reported on the bridge, giving the Hierarchy standard salute. The ship's Captain, a middle-aged and very nasty-looking (even for his species) Scarran, nodded and replied "Whatever you do, make sure to remain out of range of the sensors on our former property. That ship is the first of the Fortress-class superdreadnaughts, and SHOULD STILL BE OURS! But all intelligence reports point to an escaped prisoner from one of our tech-prisons and a rag-tag bunch of Sebaceans managing to commandeer our largest ship of the line! But that problem is not ours to deal with, and will be attended to in due course by those better equipped to do so. You may make the drop, sergeant – but be careful, our target is skilled and dangerous, despite being a traitor to the Emperor".

"As you say, Captain" the Scarran sergeant replied, bowing "I shall take my squad down in one of our modified pods now, and return with our target or not at all". The Captain waved him away and turned back to face his EW officer, who shook her head again. "Not so much as a twitch, Captain" she reported "Could have a stealth capsule out there, listening to our every word – but I doubt it".

Ten momens later, the sergeant stomped in to the flight deck and got his squad into their pod. Despite the pod looking normal, it wasn't so – it had similar engines to those on a Stryker and a thicker hull, plus space for twelve troops in its cargo bay. "Our target to be retrieved today…" he briefed his troops "is one Infiltrator First Class Talannah – or at least that's who she was before leaving the Emperor's service. This is the first time any intelligence sources have been able to pinpoint her location to even one planet – so let's not frell this up! Remember, she MUST be returned alive to Serakaa IV for trial with the other traitors and insurgents – so non-lethal weapons only, that's why there's energy nets in the armoury".

The rest of the squad grumbled at that, but knew there was little way around this prohibition, not if they wanted to keep their positions of relative privilege and authority. "Take us out!" the sergeant yelled to his corporal, currently in the pilot's chair "But make sure, as per SOP, that you emulate the standard flight pattern of a transport pod – we should not give away our capabilities". The corporal didn't say a word, but lifted off smoothly as soon as the doors to their small flight deck were open.

"We will only be stopping here for a short time, Your Majesty" Talannah told the king, back down in the palace "This young man, who you may remember we recruited here on your planet, wishes to make a brief stopover to see his parents, and I will be conducting a little business on behalf of my husband". What she really was going to do was check out a few places that Deadheads usually chose to put safe houses or business fronts in – as she wanted to get word to some of those that she felt may choose to leave Hierarchy employment and sign on with the Irregulars if they knew she and some other former comrades were there.

"I am sure the people will receive you well, Sub-Commander" the king replied "Wherever you choose to go". Shor wasn't quite so sure – especially this close to the war. Oh, they'd not dare make a hostile move – but some people would not like them being there, considering the Irregulars responsible for the loss of spouses or other loved ones. I'd best look out for Ryalla as well, Shor decided, and Talannah as well – to many, any Scarran is hostile, even though I know that Talannah and Ryalla are not. Shor looked over and whispered his forebodings to Ryalla, who nodded and gave him a quick squeeze on the shoulder – silently agreeing to be careful and watch out for Talannah as best they could.

The three of them walked out of the palace again past the Royal Engineers maintenance wing. "You haven't crashed that car of yours again, 'ave ya?" called one of the techs sitting around on tea break. "It's up on the ship" Shor called back "Didn't bring it with me!" Their boss laughed at that, saying "Looks like we'll have to find something else to do today, people!"

Shor led the three of them around the back of a store owned by his father's trading house. Once they were all sure that the owner was busy inside, Talannah picked the lock to the door of his company car, and no more than fifteen microts later they had new transport without the original owner being any the wiser and were half way down the main street on the way to Shor's family house.

Perhaps a half-arn later, Shor's mother was woken from her afternoon nap to the sound of the comm bleeping at her. "What is it now?" she moaned to herself as she reached for the button to take the call on screen. Her husband looked over, saying "Who could it be – it's the middle of the afternoon! I shouldn't be getting trading reports until close of business for the day, and that's more than four arns away!"

When they put the call through, they were astonished to see the face of their son staring back at the, apparently driving a vehicle of some kind. "Hi mum, dad!" he told them with a smile "A couple of friends and I are in town for a while, so I though I'd stop by to see you for a day or two – if father won't blow his top over who I'm bringing". "Why would he do that, Shor?" his mother asked, honestly surprised "After some of the people you've brought round here, I doubt it could really get any worse!" Ryalla chose that moment to twist the screen around to have a good look at Shor's mother for herself – the sight of a Scarran in the same vehicle as her son almost made her choke.

"Son?" she asked, pale with shock "Why have you got a Scarran in the car with you? Are you…OK?" Shor laughed out loud, which got a hissed "Watch the road!" from Talannah in the back seat. "I haven't been captured, mother, if that's what you mean!" Shor laughed "The Scarran you saw is Ryalla, my…um…". "Girlfriend" finished Ryalla "You have a very brave and handsome son, ma'am. I would be happy to talk to you about him when we reach your dwelling place". "Father's seen her, and my other passenger, over a weeken ago when he came to the palace" Shor explained to his mother in an attempt to get her to calm down "Not that he liked it, of course. So if you could avoid telling him? He'll find out soon enough when we turn up – which will be in about ten momens if I can get any more speed of this Cholak-forsaken slug of a car".

A number of thoughts were racing through her mind as a result of the conversation, including what on Ithlin Shor would have been doing at the palace – except that possibly the Royal Guard could have brought him in for questioning over some matter. But what she actually said was "We'll be waiting for you, dear" and cut the call. Shor's father asked several times what was going on, to be told by his wife that their son was coming to visit. "He's bringing a couple of his friends with him" she said "He also said you'd seen them at the palace a little over a weeken ago. What Shor had done to frell with the Royal Guard I don't know…".

"It wasn't anything like that!" Shor's father replied heatedly, pulling a pulse pistol out of his desk drawer and putting a fresh chakan oil cartridge in it "Those so-called 'friends' of his are SCARRANS! And part of that War Commander's handpicked bunch of lunatics! They enticed him away from this place with a young woman and promises of combat and glory – and I, for one, don't appreciate them doing it!"

"He's our son, whatever else he may have done" his wife said, trying to get him to put the pistol away. But he was having none of it, saying "I'm not having Scarrans in my house!" before yelling out the door for household security to draw arms. "Shor may come, if he wants to" he growled as the two of them walked out to the front door "But not any scaly-skinned companions of his. – that's final!"

Shor's car pulled up to the front gate – to see one of the household staff with a pulse rifle waiting for them. "I can let you in, master Shor – but not your…friends. Your father does not permit it". "They're quite safe" Shor told the man, trying diplomacy – in case it worked against his father's edicts any better than it had before "Isn't it enough that I vouch for them personally?"

"For me, yes – even though I don't like Scarrans much myself" he replied equably "For your mother as well, it appears. But your father has authority – and he says no. So I must reluctantly refuse admission to them". "Then you're refusing it to me as well" Shor replied, getting back into the car and backing away. The gate guard shrugged and went back to his post, calling the incident through to Shor's father and master of the house as he went..

"I though we were supposed to be welcomed here?" Ryalla said as Shor drove the car along the hammond side wall of the property. "By my mother, yes" Shor replied abruptly "But not, it appears, by my father – or indeed anyone else in the family! Never mind, we'll get in – we just won't use the front door".

"Breaking into your own family's residence?" Talannah asked curiously. "We won't have to break anything" Shor replied, parking the car and reaching for a suspiciously heavy loadout bag from the boot once Talannah wasn't looking. "What's in there?" Ryalla whispered in his ear. Shor just grinned and tapped the side of the bag, which made a satisfyingly metallic noise. Ryalla clasped her head in her hands and shook it from side to side, moaning "You've brought plasma rifles, haven't you? The Sub-Commander really WILL pull your mivonks out through your nose if she finds them". "Who's going to tell her, though?" Shor grinned, leading the two Scarran women to a gate in the wall.

"Service entrance" Shor explained "Many a time, when I'd come back from one of my weekly forays to the Starburst club – and yes, Ryalla, I was underage – I'd get back in this way. We should make enough headway so that when father figures it out, there's nothing he can do. Follow me". Once inside the grounds, they avoided the two staff on guard duty easily enough and made their way inside the house. Several members of the kitchen staff recognised Shor and waved to him, although they were very careful to stay well away from Ryalla and Talannah – Shor waved back and kissed Ryalla in full view of them before they moved on.

"Father's office" Shor said, once they'd moved to the second floor and had a pair of wooden doors in front of them "I doubt he'll be inside, but let's just have a look…" Peeking inside, Shor saw the major-domo, armed with a pulse pistol, walking through the office, and turned back to tell the other two. "Just one?" Talannah said scornfully. "This is a house, not an armed camp, Sub-Commander" Shor replied "We can't afford to keep a private army on hand here – such troops as we have under contract go out with our trading caravans and orbital shuttles".

"May I?" Talannah asked Shor. "Be my guest" Shor replied, waving towards the office "Just don't kill him – he's no use to my family dead". Talannah slipped through the door, cracking her knuckles, and snuck up behind the major domo just as he reached the desk again. To give him his credit, he wasn't slow – but he wasn't as fast as Talannah, or as well trained. Just as he turned to face her, she knocked the pistol out of his right hand, kneed him in the groin, and bashed his head against the desk – before dropping his comatose and slightly bleeding body on the floor.

"Well…" Shor said, surveying her handiwork after she waved him and Ryalla in afterwards "You broke his nose, made him bleed on father's office carpet, and certainly made sure he'll have to find something else to do with his evenings for a weeken or so – but you did subdue him, and I don't THINK he's dead. Leave him where he is – just put his gun somewhere safe". Ryalla picked it up and put it in her pocket, which caused Shor to shake his head a little.

"Since we're here" Shor told the two of them. "Make yourself at home. There's a drinks cabinet over there and…" he added, reaching for a cup and the pot "…a pot of contala tea over here – and it's nice and hot as well". The ladies nodded at Shor to pour for them as well, and soon all three of them were relaxing in some of the office chairs.

Once they'd got half way through their tea and were feeling quite relaxed, Shor got on the deck comm and called through to his mother, who was still one floor up in the master bedroom. "So you decided to come anyway?" his mother asked. "I'm here, mother" Shor replied, fighting to keep himself from laughing "In the office. If father's stopped shouting at the staff yet, perhaps you could get him to come down and say hello as well. I'll be waiting". His mother said she'd do that and cut the call.

"You didn't tell her we were here, Shor" Talannah asked, the unasked 'Why?' hanging clearly in the air. "That's right" Shor replied "Man's gotta have some fun when he comes back to see the folks, doesn't he? I know father will just love seeing you two here! To make it even MORE special, why don't the pair of you station yourselves either side of those doors, yes – the ones we came in through, that's right…".

Five momens later, Shor's parents and two of the household staff (still carrying rifles) walked in, Shor's father stiff-arming the doors open (barely missing the two ladies hiding behind them) to see Shor on his father's chair, feet propped up on the desk, and a wide grin on his face. "So you decided to turn up anyway?" Shor's father asked harshly "And you can get your feet off my desk and your eema off my office chair!"

When the two household staff showed a reluctance to move to remove his son, Shor's father looked down – to see a very worse-for-wear major-domo on the floor. Shor's father really blew his top, and despite the warnings from his wife (who was starting to think that something was happening that she hadn't been told about) moved to haul Shor out of the chair himself. "I wouldn't do that, father, if I were you" Shor cautioned him "Talannah and Ryalla will take exception to any move in that direction – and if Corporal Klutz and Major Problem here try to do anything, perhaps they ought to take notice of the plasma rifle in Ryalla's hands – which is by now being pointed at them".

The aptly-named Corporal Klutz turned to see a Scarran female step out from behind one of the doors with, as described, a large weapon that he assumed to be a plasma rifle – and it was indeed pointed at him. "The Major there can take his comrade and go – they were never my favourites among the staff and I didn't come here to see them in any case" Shor told him, moving his own hands out from under the desk. The brain of the man in question still hadn't caught up to current events well, and directed him around the desk to Shor – and the other plasma rifle Shor held pointed right at his kneecap, finger on the secondary trigger. He almost tried to grab the gun – but Talannah swiftly stepped up, tripped him, and tapped him smartly on the back of the skull, rendering him unconscious.

Once the two house guards had left (assisted in one case), Shor's father asked "So what are you going to do now? Take control of our family's trading business by force – with Scarran backing?" Shor just laughed at that, replying with "I never had a head for business, father – and you're about the only person who hasn't seen that! I like getting out there, doing things – especially if those things involve the opportunity to do stuff somebody else doesn't want us to do".

As he spoke, his neck turned – to reveal a long scar to his mother that wasn't there the last time she saw him. "What's that, Shor?" she asked, just a little fearfully "On your neck? Looks like you've been hurt". "It hurt, alright" Shor replied, wincing at the memory of it "Took a bullet in the neck on my Commander's home planet – rescuing some of his friends, who are now our newest recruits. Very good they are, too". Ryalla stepped up, placing her arm around Shor's shoulders and saying proudly "You have a very brave son, ma'am. He was the last to leave a particular place on that mission – he stayed back to make sure I got out unharmed. He has much potential as a soldier, and his putting himself in harm's way for me is just one more reason why I love him", before pulling Shor's head around to hers for a long, passionate, kiss – in full view of his parents.

Shor's mother looked a little surprised her son loved a non-Sebacean, but his father didn't like it at all. "I know you have a strong counterculture streak, son, and I know I saw you with that woman before" he said, to Ryalla's slight anger at his tone "But shacking up with a SCARRAN? I mean, come on – they're the enemy of our race right now, what with the war starting. Frell, son – even a Vorcarian would have been better than that…". Ryalla really boiled over then, though she did look to Shor for approval – he growled softly and whispered "Go for it, dear – right where it hurts the most".

What resulted was Ryalla's left boot whistling up as fast as she could make it move and kicking Shor's father right in the mivonks at full force – he groaned, squealed, and keeled over on the floor, moaning for his wife to help him. "You deserved everything you got for that one, dear" she said without much compassion, before turning to Shor and saying "While I would have preferred it if your lady hadn't done that, I can't really blame her much. You can go and see your brothers and sister if you like – they've probably found out you're here by now".

Talannah stepped up to Shor once his parents had left the office, a slight growl on her face. "WHAT have I told you before about carrying heavy weapons into places without orders!" she shouted in his ear "You should know by now that it could get us all into trouble! The local police might have turned a blind eye to G8Cs – but they'll get very annoyed if they find us with these if we haven't warned their commissioner first!" She gave him a slight slap around the face – enough to make his head ring but not enough to knock any teeth out – though her face did turn to grudging admiration that he'd managed to do it.

"Despite the fact that you did this without orders, trainee" Talannah told him "You did quite well in getting them down here. We'll just have to see that your talent is directed in the proper way". "Well, at least I'm still alive" Shor muttered to Ryalla as he led the three of them out of the office and over to the family's bedrooms. "Hah!" Ryalla laughed "Talannah barely tapped you sweetly on the skull, dear!" Then she saw a Sebacean teenager walking towards them and raised her gun, snapping out "Halt!" in her best Sebacean.

Shor's younger brother, for that's who it was, was walking down the corridor to find his father, musing over the latest trading reports from the other cities that he'd just been let in on now that Shor had left the business. Nothing too out of the ordinary… he mused, though perhaps father will need to send someone to negotiate with the new King in Rathlaas in person rather than do it over the comm net… and was rather rudely returned to the real world on hearing Ryalla bark at him – though having his first sight be the muzzle of a large weapon certainly didn't help matters.

"…what the fr…Aaargh!" he exclaimed, and was just about to call for a guard when Shor laughed and called out "Gordin! Little brother! Don't you worry about the gun – we won't shoot you!" Gordin looked up to see his older brother, a little grimmer (and worse for wear) than he remembered, which he was rather pleased about – and two Scarrans (which he was not). "Gordin…" Shor told him, leading him over by the shoulder "I'd like you to meet Talannah, the second in command of the unit I'm in; and Ryalla, my girlfriend". That last revelation almost made him bring up his breakfast when he saw his older brother with his arm around a Scarran female – but he just managed to avoid that, instead saying "Well, could be lots worse – she looks better than quite a few Sebacean women I've seen. That pale grey skin looks quite nice actually". "Don't push it too far…" Shor told him carefully in return.

"Since I have some business to attend to" Talannah asked "Perhaps your brother can show me the right way out of this house. I may need to travel a little way before I get to where I need to go". She saw the look of nervous apprehension on Gordin's face, sighed, and said "I'm not going to hurt you or eat you, Gordin – just show me where the front door is and how to get out of the property boundaries". Gordin's face eased a little after that, and he muttered "Father might actually commend me for getting rid of you so quickly…" under his breath before he realised that the objects of the conversation was standing right next to him – whereupon he went "Aargh!" again and marched swiftly ahead, Talannah following him, face fixed firmly forward and mind trying not to think of the fact that there was a Scarran in the family home and within ten paces of him.

Shor and Ryalla had made it as far as the games room on the second floor before they met any more guards – though their eyes bugged out at seeing a Scarran in the house, they stepped smartly aside to let the two young people past, seeing as Shor wasn't under duress. "That's better…" Ryalla muttered to herself "Guards actually letting us be about our business unhindered for a change…". "Orders from master Shor's mother, miss" one said "Let you and the young master go where you need to, and be ready to assist if needed".

More like keep tabs on us and make sure I don't go anywhere Shor's father doesn't want me to, Ryalla though in the privacy of her own head – though she didn't say anything out loud as she and Shor walked in.

Shor's sister was inside, chattering to one of her friends on the phone at the time, when she heard Ryalla stiff-arm the doors open and saw the two of them walk in. "Got to go – my brother's just barged in like he owns the place. Again" she said wearily to whoever was on the other end, before her eyes saw Ryalla walking in. As soon as she'd worked out that Ryalla was a Scarran she fumbled with the phone, which resulted her dropping it into her cup of tea in a shower of sparks as the electronics short-circuited.

"What the frell are you doing bringing a Scarran in here, big brother?" she snapped "Father will disembowel you if he finds out!" "He knows" Ryalla replied bluntly "He came, he saw, he put us in the 'too-hard' basket. He probably didn't like the fact that our Sub-Commander gave the major-domo a richly-deserved kicking – nor the fact that he himself got one from me. I wonder if he can walk yet?" Shor's sister almost collapsed in shock on hearing that, but instead – after seeing the look of amusement on her brother's face got up and walked over to Ryalla. "At least you've got a good fashion sense…" she grudgingly admitted, walking around Ryalla "That leather looks good on you. Not something I'd want to wear to a formal function, but good for street wear…it'll get you into that club my brother used to go to…". "And able to conceal my Viper as well" Ryalla added happily, holding the edge of her jacket open so the young lady could see the gun in its shoulder holster. She jumped a little on seeing the gun, but rationalised it by deciding that Ryalla was a Scarran after all – they didn't follow the same rules as regular people.

By this time, Talannah had hitched a lift back to one of the lower-class commercial districts outside the spaceport. The police would rarely venture in to this place, Talannah assumed, looking out at the general run down nature of the buildings – warehouses and a few low-class apartment buildings by the looks of things, transient cargo storage for things going to and from the spaceport. Just the sort of place the Deadheads would have a presence – even if only a small one.

So she started making a few discreet inquiries amongst the locals. While not a lot of them wanted to talk to a Scarran, she did eventually learn enough to turn up some promising leads for contact – and headed in the direction suggested to her. Sticking to the shadows and pavements as she hadn't had to do in some time now, she worked her way slowly into the outer edge of the warehousing district on the edge of the spaceport.

Perhaps twenty momens travel time behind her, the unmarked pod had just touched down just inside the perimeter fencing of a medium-sized warehouse. Their orders were clear – do not reveal yourselves to the local Scarrans unless absolutely necessary – so they could not use the spaceport blast pits. The pilot stayed with the pod, while the others grabbed stunpistols and shocksticks to accompany their usual sidearms.

"After all…" one of them muttered with some satisfaction "while we may have to return our target unharmed, it doesn't say anywhere in our orders that we can't shoot anyone else who gets in our way". "It may not" the sergeant snaps "But I don't expect you to hold us up because you want to stop to blow someone's head off. This is the Territories, not Scarran space – we're a little more restricted here".

"You're sounding more like ol' Rulok every day, sergeant" one of the team quipped as they walked out through the warehouse gate. The sergeant was not pleased to hear that name, snapping out with "Enough of that! Lieutenant Rulok and his squad may wear the same uniform as us, and have received the genetic alterations first in our company – but his bunch of oddballs are entirely too soft for Praetorians. Soon that will be their undoing". The grunt that asked the question wasn't quite so sure – he knew a couple of that squad, and one thing they weren't was soft. Our sergeant must have personal or political issues with them, he decided – but enough of that for now, we all have work to do.

The Praetorian squad threw cloaks over their head and bodies to obscure the distinctive black armour and the weapons they were carrying before they encountered any locals – then the sergeant whispered out their orders and sent them out searching in pairs. They conducted themselves in an unusually restrained manner – much like bounty hunters or private investigators seeking a missing person rather than the Emperor's troops seeking a political enemy in home space, which was probably what contributed to them catching onto Talannah's trail maybe an arn later.

By then, Ryalla was starting to get a bit fidgety that Talannah hadn't made contact yet. "What's up, dear?" Shor asked, looking at her with concern. "The Sub-Commander hasn't reported in" she muttered "not even to check up on and make sure we haven't killed everyone and burnt down half the street". "Surely Talannah will be OK?" Shor replied, not quite sure what was going on in Ryalla's head "She's good enough to look after herself – she doesn't need us trailing her everywhere".

"She is the First Officer of the unit, Shor!" Ryalla snapped, patience fraying rapidly "We have a duty to watch over her, keep her safe! Come on – we'll track her down. Just observation, we won't interfere – but she should not be going around this city without proper escort". While Shor thought that the city he grew up in was safe enough, he decided that Ryalla did have a point – it may not be that safe for a solitary Scarran. Walking over to the wall-comm, he asked Ryalla to wait – then tapped out the comm code for the house of one of his old friends.

"Hello…yeah, it's me…" Shor said over the comm "No time for that…me and my girl need a lift into town…not to the club, we got some work to do – need to check out a few places not on the tourist route…ten momens? It'll do…great…bye". After he cut the call, Ryalla walked right over to him and started berating him for his tone. "Girl?" she asked quietly "I'm your 'girl', am I?"

Shor raised his hands in supplication, backed away from the comm (much to his sister's amusement) and Ryalla, then said "You're a lot more than that, Ry" in his most endearing voice while trying to look for a way out. Unfortunately he found the wall first – which Ryalla pinned him to and said "I had better be, Shor – and don't you forget it!" Once Shor managed to stop thinking about how good it felt to have Ryalla's body pressed up against him like this, he replied (a little unsteadily) "I won't, love. You're a fine trainer and an excellent soldier – as well as being more beautiful and loving than I have any right to expect".

Ryalla's stern expression slowly turned to a happier smile at that, her arms unpinning Shor's and instead winding around his neck while his wrapped around her waist, holding each other close for a long, passionate kiss. Shor's sister cringed a bit in distaste at seeing her brother being that close to a Scarran – especially when his hands slipped under her shirt to wander over her back and below her belt, which drove a short growl of delight from her throat. They only pulled apart from each other slight after the promised ten momens later when Shor's friend called up from the front gate to say that he'd arrived.

Shor and Ryalla quickly made sure they hadn't dropped their plasma rifles, then ran down to the front gate, where Shor's friend had his car idling while he waited. As soon as he saw the two of them running over, he popped the back door open on their side and watched them hurriedly jump in. As soon as Ryalla had the door shut again, she barked "Punch it!" in Scarran – once Shor's friend had got over the surprise at hearing that language, he spun his car around and headed back towards town again, showering the gate guard with dust.

"I see you're still the same, Crallan" Shor laughed "You always did like doing that – cops, my parents, the house staff…". Crallan laughed back, adding "Pretty much everyone, actually – except for you and my other friends". Crallan's girlfriend, in the front passenger seat, turned to look at Ryalla, asking "I see he still hasn't changed in his choice of girlfriends, either – always choosing ones that will make his father throw a fit. Has that changed this time?" "Nope!" replied Shor with a grin "He threw a fit alright – possibly a world-class performance, wasn't it, Ryalla?" Ryalla frowned a little, but replied "Apart from him insulting my ancestry by comparing me to a VORCARIAN, it was quite amusing, yes – especially when Shor let me kick him right in the…". "Whoa!" Crallan said in surprise, cutting off the end of her little speech "I really did miss out – would have loved to see that!" Shor just reminded him to watch the road.

I'm being followed, Talannah thought to herself. Either I'm more paranoid than usual, or someone out there is following me – don't know how I know, but they're there. They're not bad at it, but not quite as good as me. Which means there's probably a group of them. So let's see what happens when I…

Talannah ducked into a smaller warehouse, ran straight through it, then out of the other side. This caused some confusion amongst the two Praetorians who'd only just stumbled across her trail, but they gave chase anyway, their more sensitive noses picking out the smell of female Scarran from the background muck of the industrial area.

The senior of the two clicked five times on his comm – the signal for requesting voice transmission. The sergeant knew, despite their problems, that none of his squad would do that without good reason – so picked up, asking "Yes?" "We've found her, the caller said gruffly "But she's made us. Don't know if she knows it's Praetorians following her, but she's smart – she'll figure it out before long". The sergeant noted down the location of the transmission, then called in the rest of the squad. "We got a confirmed fix on the traitor's location, you lot" he growled, giving the co-ordinates of the pair who found Talannah "So I want everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – to get their eemas over to the location I gave you now. No dawdling for anything – I don't care if you see the local proconsul being disembowelled on someone's doorstep. This has unconditional priority!"

Crallan drove around with Shor and Ryalla as the asked their questions for a while as the Starburst club wasn't opening for a while yet – but after half an arn, he said regretfully "Shor, I'm gonna have to drop you and your lady here off now – club's opening in half an arn and I've got to pick up a couple of the others from the other side of town. Sorry about that, mate". "Thanks for sticking with us this far" Shor replied, slapping him lightly on the shoulder "Didn't bring my car down with me from the Cry Havoc – the guy who owns the ship we did that with last time's off on an errand of his own right now".

Crallan pulled over beside the pavement – the few locals who saw who stepped out (and how well they were armed) stepped smartly back into the best cover they could find. Crallan's car spun round again and took off in a squeal of tyres and cloud of smoke, heading towards Lord Lorshul's territory. Right now, Shor and Ryalla were on the edge of the King's lands and Lord Raja's territory – which meant that it would be a while before any assistance would be forthcoming as there'd be jurisdictional arguments to sort out first (even though Shor knew that the Royal Guard could technically go anywhere they liked).

Shor did manage to get a few locals to talk to him – when other saw that Ryalla wasn't going to kill any of them, their luck started improving. It took perhaps fifteen momens of running and asking questions before Shor and Ryalla come down the street that Talannah used coming out of the warehouse – they arrived just in time to see two large, hooded figures disappear down a narrow alley.

"This way!" Shor told Ryalla quickly, leading her down an adjoining alley. Ryalla wondered how he'd know, but reasoned that he may have been in this neighbourhood before as part of his family's business dealings.

Talannah ducked into an alley that happened to be full of rotting garbage, overflowing from a large recycler bin. Keeping her distaste for her surroundings well in check, she ducked down by the metal container and kept watch until those on her trail came by. It didn't take long, either – maybe five more momens before four of the Praetorian squad turned up, one of who was the sergeant.

"This place really reeks!" moaned one of the troopers, holding his nose. "Button it!" thee sergeant snapped cuffing the offender around the back of the head and signalling for quiet. When Talannah saw that signal, she knew without a shadow of a doubt who it was that were after her – a Praetorian retrieval unit. So they've finally sent someone out to get me, have they? Talannah thought to herself. They will have their hands full if they try! Even if they manage to capture me, my John will follow and free me, I know it – he will not leave me! But I'll do my best to evade them and whittle their numbers down a bit, may as well have a little fun of my own…

Ryalla growled softly on seeing the same signals. "Calm down, Ry…" Shor cautioned her quietly "Without knowing where Talannah is, of if they have any hidden reinforcements, we can't make a move". "They are PRAETORIANS, Shor!" Ryalla snapped, as angry as Shor had ever seen her "The goons of the Hierarchy – may they all rot in whatever hells exist out there. Their forebears were the ones who led the rebellion in the assault on the last King – Captain Kran was very clear about it! Now we have some in front of us, and guns in our hands – we will not be found wanting…". Shor kneaded Ryalla's shoulders a little, which calmed her just enough, then said "We'll have our chance – but we need to know where Talannah is first. Then we move".

The sergeant, unaware of Shor and Talannah's presence, split his squad into three-man teams – one taking each side of the street, and the other coming with him the way they were going now. Talannah slipped out while they were talking, but one caught just a tiny whiff and barked "CONTACT!", then pointed in the direction she ran. The sergeant immediately called her direction of travel over to the other two teams, took his own team, and gave chase.

When Ryalla heard the tunning of the Praetorians as they left, she grabbed Shor and got the pair of them moving smartish. They had to run hard to keep even close to the Praetorians, but they managed - though Shor was getting closer to exhaustion every momen. "Not bad for a Sebacean, Shor" Ryalla said, just a trace of pride in her voice. Shor smiled weakly, but didn't say anything – he needed all his energy for running.

This didn't go unnoticed by the Praetorians, either – the rear-guard signalled the sergeant and said "We've picked up a trail, sergeant – probably sympathisers to the traitor trying to prevent her capture". Stuff planning – we'll have to move now! He commed the pod pilot, who was just having a nice rest – when he realised what was happening, he threw his cup of tea out through the pod's door, locked it down, and lifted off, keeping below building level, and threading through the streets to his sergeant's location.

Frell! Talannah raged, seeing a quick flicker in a side street. Teams either side – I'm boxed in! She spun, drawing her Viper as she did so – and before the lead Praetorian knew what was happening, a burst of flechettes went in through his right eye and shredded his brain, killing him instantly. Pleased with her shot, she knew it couldn't last long – either they'd stun her from range or close in to grapple her down – so she holstered her Viper and drew both swords. The left flank team chose that moment to attack – but met Talannah's whirling blades coming the other way. Though she sustained minor injuries, all three of the Praetorians were cut to pieces.

Lumps of dren! raged the sergeant. I'm working with lumps of dren! Can't anyone in this squad understand tactics and coordination except me! Dumb as a box of foodcubes and half as useful, this lot! "Team 2!" he barked over the comm "We WILL work this together – or if the traitor doesn't kill you, I WILL. We are going to do this one BY THE NUMBERS, PEOPLE!"

Unfortunately for the sergeant's careful planning, Shor and Ryalla had just got close enough to see what was happening. Talannah could see them too – and smiled at Shor's not backing down, despite his obvious tiredness. There's a good soldier in there somewhere – John will find it and let it out with proper training.

Ryalla tapped Shor on the shoulder and yelled "GRAK TA'HAA! DEATH TO THE BLACK-SHELLS!" as the pair of them opened fire with their plasma guns at fifty metras range, vapourising two members of the sergeant's team who had the misfortune to be visible first to them. Talannah took her chance, stabbing two members of team two in their stomachs, right on the armour join, with a sword each. It took all her strength to manage that, but she did – and they dropped to the street, bleeding to death.

By now, Shor and Ryalla had accounted for one more each – leaving only the sergeant and one other. But the roar of the pod coming over the roof gave them all the incentive they needed – the sergeant's second threw an energy net over Talannah before she could turn back around to them, and the two of them quickly bundled her unconscious body into the side entrance of the pod, the pilot lifting off again as soon as the door had shut.

"Frell!" roared the corporal piloting the pod, as it shook and rattled with the impact of multiple plasma blasts from Shor and Ryalla's rifles. "Dren! Frelling dren! We've got a fire in the hammond side engine – shutting it down and hitting the extinguishers!" He barely managed to get it back to level flight again – the sergeant picked himself off the floor while the sole remaining trooper secured Talannah in the transport cage, locking her wrists and ankles securely so she couldn't run or reach her weapons. What the sergeant was thinking to let her keep them, I don't know, he thought to himself – evidence, maybe? – but mine is not to reason why, not if I want to keep my post and my life.

"Ry, how do I call out on the police frequencies on this thing?" Shor asked , perplexed. Ryalla fumed, almost slapping him a couple of times, but showed him anyway. Shor called in the sighting of the Praetorians' bodies, urging speed in collecting them before the Scarran embassy got there first. Though the duty officer didn't recognise Shor's voice, he assumed that he was from a different precinct, or a new transfer from elsewhere in the city and ordered several units to the scene immediately.

The first few officers arrived no more than five momens later. Shor and Ryalla ducked into the same side alley the Praetorians came out of, waiting for the police to do their business and leave. Shor pointed to the rearmost vehicle, a large motorcycle of a kind he wasn't familiar with, the signalled that they should take it now. The two of them ran over to it while the police were looking at the bodies – Ryalla taking the controls while Shor rode aft. A high-pitched whine, though quite a loud one, was all they heard as Ryalla skidded the bike around and shot off down the street, the police not noticing until too late that someone had absconded with one of their vehicles.

"Space command first!" Shor shouted as Ryalla dodged the mid-afternoon traffic, causing much annoyance and anger amongst the landcar and truck drivers abut at this time. None of them had the time or patience for a comeback, being too intent on reaching space command before the Praetorian transport pod reached its mothership.

Pulling up in a screech of rubber and cloud of dust, Shor leapt off the back of the motorcycle as soon as it had stopped moving, kicking open the door to the main control tower and taking the stairs two at a time. Copying his father's most commanding tone, he yelled "AIR DEFENCE ALERT!" before calming down to a more reasonable tone and saying "Go back over the records – a pod lifted off from the industrial area no more than ten momens ago. It's quite heavily damaged, and I need to know which ship it docked with and where it's going".

The tower erupted into a hive of activity as the emergency lighting came on and the staff scurried about to check the archives as ordered. "Docked with…a commercial freighter, Scarran registry" one controller replied "IFF says it's the 'Pot luck', and it's heading back to Scarran territory via Tal IV". "Dump its course track onto a chip and give it to me – I'll track it down!" The controller, operating on automatic because of the authoritative tone in Shor's voice, had already passed the chip over before he saw who was ordering them all about. "Hey!" he called out, reaching for Shor "It's just a teenager on a prank!" Shor ducked the controller's grasp and slid down the stair rail all the way to the bottom, running out to where Ryalla was waiting on the bike, motor idling.

"Got what I came for!" he replied, swinging his leg over the saddle and grabbing hold of Ryalla's waist "Back to the Stryker – we've got to get back and warn the others!" Ryalla gave the bike as much throttle as she felt comfortable doing, and maybe five more momens later they were back at their Stryker

Ryalla made a perfunctory walkround check after dumping the motorcycle at the edge of the blast pit, while Shor opened up the aft hatch. "Open!" he called out "Let's go – we don't have time to waste!" The two of them locked the aft hatch behind them and ran full-pelt up the staircase to the upper deck and then to the bridge, strapping in quickly.

While Ryalla watched, Shor's hands ran flawlessly over the panels, entering a full startup sequence and weapons arming sequence. She would have commended him, but neither of them had the time to spare or breath to waste. "Take us up!" Ryalla ordered – with Shor going to vertical flight and showing the throttle forward to half-power just as a pair of police cars came up at full speed with sirens blaring. Once clear of the pit, Shor made the transition to forward flight (a little unsteadily, Ryalla had to admit – but these weren't exactly the best of circumstances either) and headed for orbit at maximum safe speed.

Keyah was up on the bridge, as she usually was most of the time, dozing by the comm desk – when her equipment lit up and Ryalla's very stressed voice came over the speakers. "Get the deck doors hammond side opened right away!" Ryalla ordered, a little flustered and stressed "We're on a priority tasking here, Keyah!" "What the fr…" Keyah started to ask, but Shor cut in and cut her off, saying "No time for talking now – you'll find out when we land, and so will everyone else!" Keyah was quite annoyed at the peremptory tone shown by the two youngest members of the unit, but let it slide. After all, she thought, either it really is a priority flight they're on – or Harrigan or Kran will thrash them. Either way, I need to be on my toes here.

Ten more momens later Shor and Ryalla's Stryker broke atmosphere and headed over towards the Cry Havoc. "Doors are open hammond side, you two" Keyah told them, walking over to check their speed on the nav desk. Running back to her own desk, she called "You'd better slow down – or you'll be splattered all over the back wall!" Shor slowed down to the bare minimum he felt comfortable with just before he ducked under the flight deck doors, dropped the landing pads – then went to vertical flight and dropped to the deck as soon as he slowed down enough. The landing was a rough one, rattling both of them in their seats, but neither of them appeared unharmed. Shor quickly powered down the ship – then he and Ryalla ran out onto the deck floor, where she found an emergency klaxon activator and slammed her fist down on it – hard.

The loud hooting roused the rest of the Irregulars from the galley and their quarters swiftly. "What the FRELL's going on!" asked Harrigan blearily as he and Captain Lazarus met up at the transit stop outside crew quarters. "Haven't a clue" answered Captain Lazarus "But even those two young ones wouldn't declare an emergency without good reason. Let's just hope it's not too bad".

Shor and Ryalla waited at the transit stop for the rest of the unit to arrive – Shor shifting from one foot to the other in impatience. "I'm the one who's supposed to be impatient, Shor" Ryalla said, trying to calm him down – but Shor just yelled down the track "COME ON , YOU LOT – DID YOU THINK I CALLED AN ALL-HANDS EMERGENCY FOR FUN!"

A very loud Scarran voice, drowning out the transit car it's owner was in, bawled back immediately in a very familiar voice with "THAT'S CAPTAIN TO YOU, TRAINEE – AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!" before calming just a little to add "If you've done this to inflate your own importance, it's ten…no, better make it five, you're Sebacean…lashes for insubordination!"

"Frell!" Ryalla moaned "Of all the people you picked to yell at, it just had to be Captain Kran, didn't it?" Another car came in just after a slightly steaming Captain Kran and most of his old team - scrambling out of this car were Harrigan, Captain Lazarus, Ghost, Troll, and Jane.

"OK, Shor" Lazarus replied firmly "You'd better have a good reason for this – we don't like this kind of joke". Shor got his temper under control, while Ryalla said "We're declaring a General Alert Level One. Ship should be made ready for war immediately". Shocked look appeared on everyone's faces – including Hellbolt's and Keyah's, who had both arrived just as Ryalla gave the alert. Tovak reached over to the panel and turned the klaxon off so everyone could hear without being shouted at, then Kran asked "So what's the cause of all this, then?" gruffly, stepping right up in front of Shor and staring right into his eyes "Scarran battlegroup sighted insystem, perhaps? An entire Nebari infantry division appeared out of thin air, maybe?"

"Worse than that" Shor replied, avoiding Kran's gaze. "Black-shells" Ryalla continued "Full squad – ten plus NCO. That means…". "Retrieval team" Kran finished, turning back to Shor, who nodded and said "I'm afraid to report that the Sub-Commander has been bagged".

"Where are they taking her?" Koronna asked Shor next. He held up the chip he'd managed to con out of the control tower staff at the spaceport, explaining "Course track and IFF data for the mothership. You wouldn't have seen it, Keyah – it's just below planetary horizon from here". "So what are we going to do?" asked Urana, from beside her mother.

The full force of the revelation hit Harrigan like a dreadnaught on the head – he had failed again. Even more so than last time, he told himself as he walked back to the transit car and just stood there staring vacantly at the floor. She needed me, needed my strength, and I was not there! My failure is complete – how can I ever be trusted by any woman, or these soldiers, ever again?

"Harrigan?" Lazarus asked worriedly, familiar with what was going on inside Harrigan's head. Harrigan just shook his head slowly, and turned back to where he was, head in his hands, tears pouring out over the transit car floor.

"What the frell are we going to do!" Kran whispered to Lazarus "I'm not familiar with stressed-out humans! I don't know how they react! If he was a Scarran, I'd be pretty sure what to do – but no matter what he looks like, that's a human in there! WHAT DO WE DO!"

Over the next three arns, almost every member of the unit tried to talk Harrigan out of his black depression – with no success. I need you, my Talannah, my love, Harrigan lamented inside his own mind. What must you think of me when I failed at your darkest hour? If you even live through this, how will you ever trust or love me again? How can I even manage to look you in the eye?

His cast his mind back over their short time together – on the commerce planet, on the Leviathan Sheral, here on Ithlin, on Earth. There will be no more times like this now, he told himself. I have failed so badly in keeping her safe, I have forfeited my authority to command – I have no credibility to give orders here any more. They should just pop me out of an airlock and use this ship for their own purposes – it would save them a lot of trouble caring for a man with no purpose or anchor in life that they no longer respect.

His attention locked deep in his own mind, he wasn't aware of his feet carrying him back out of the transit car and over to the Harbringer – and neither were the rest of the unit, as they were involved in a multi-way argument on the best way to go about bringing Harrigan back into the real world.

Stepping briefly away from the verbal melee, Shor collared Hellbolt for a few brief momens and started to explain what was on the chip to him and his ideas for setting things in motion. "I was only able to get the initial course" he told the Nebari with embarrassment, handing the chip over "So we may not have much time". "Not a lot, true" Hellbolt remarked grimly, waving his hand at where Harrigan had one of his swords out and was just sitting by one of the Harbringer's landing pads "But what can I do about…well…this?"

"Get this ship in motion, if you can" Ryalla replied, giving Shor the fright of his life when she came up behind him and squeezed him on the shoulder "Slowly, mind you – take it too quick and you'll be found out, and so will we. Hopefully we'll have gained sufficient ground to be able to track the Praetorian transport by the time the War Commander is himself again". Hellbolt tapped Keyah on the shoulder and nodded towards the transit stop – she followed quickly, being alternately mystified and angry at the current turn of events on the flight deck, as did Shor. The three of them were barely capable of operating the minimum number of bridge stations for stable flight, but each of them knew, just by looking at their leader, that what they could do now may help bring him back to a positive frame of mind – and get his wife and their Sub-Commander back.

The three of them slipped out by the transit stop, but jogged briskly a couple of stops further up the line before calling a car, so even Harrigan's hearing wouldn't hear it coming. Shor was quite puffed out at the punishing pace Keyah set, though Hellbolt thought it challenging exercise, grinning at Shor and giving him a quick push into the car, where he folded up on the floor at the front – though he managed to send it on its way to the bridge in between puffs and wheezes.

Kran sidled over to where Captain Lazarus was standing, looking at his old ex-Lieutenant and shaking his head from side to side. "Any ideas, Captain?" Kran asked hopefully "We're running out of time to catch the enemy, you know". Captain Lazarus looked up and saw the look of concern – and some incomprehension – in Kran's face and smiled weakly, saying "This has only happened once before with Harrigan. Last time he sat very much like this for about eight of your arns in my office – then, at the sight of nothing in particular that any of us could figure out, he just stomped off into town, got blind drunk on beer and whisky, then took on all comers until the MPs found out and came to take him away. Beat one guy almost to death, one more crippled – the other two never surfaced again near us so we don't know what happened to them".

Kran growled with understanding at Lazarus' account of Harrigan's past life. "I have seen several Scarrans react much the same way to bad times in there lives" he told Captain Lazarus "Drink as much raslak or fellip nectar as they can get inside them and start hitting people until they run out of targets or someone stops them". "I myself have done it more than once…" he explained, adding with some pride "though I always ran out of conscious targets before security troops arrived".

The transit car had just pulled up at the bridge transit stop, just a few metras from the elevators. Shor had, by now, regained much of his strength and didn't even stagger once as he followed Keyah up the side staircase onto the bridge, Hellbolt following close behind. "Shor, you've got the most important job, young man" Hellbolt told him, passing the chip back "YOU are on the nav desk for this ride. Lay that course into the nav comp for me and come up with a list of the most likely places you reckon the enemy will need to stop off". He took a deep breath and added "I've tangled with these black-shells before…" while running one finger over a scar down one cheek, just missing his eye "..and I know that those covert-ops ships they use don't have as good a range as a decent warship – ESPECIALLY this one. So get to it".

Shor slipped the chip into a slot and got to work as directed. "Quite a lot of comm traffic groundside, Hellbolt" Keyah called from the comm desk "Mostly ground control staff wanting to know what's going on, and a representative from the King's chief of staff trying to mediate it all". "Ignore it unless we're being specifically hailed" Hellbolt decided "We're on a General Alert level 1 here – planetary considerations are unimportant. Unless the King wants to talk to us in person, nothing gets through".

Hellbolt busied himself studying the helm controls. Being a skilled pilot himself, it didn't take him long to figure out what the basics were, even though all the labels were written in Scarran (which Hellbolt couldn't read beyond basic conversational level). Shor saw this, and put in a call to Ryalla – who had by now retreated to the door to the flight deck, as the sight of the others arguing about what to do to rouse Harrigan from his lethargy and sorrow was more than she could deal with.

"Ry, love…" Shor's whisper came over her comm "We need a little help up here! Could you run on up here – Hellbolt can't read all the control labels. They're in Scarran". "Can't be any worse than being stuck here" she rumbled unhappily, slipping away while she thought no one was looking. "On the way – it'll take a quarter-arn, maybe more, since I have to go on foot". "It'll take me that long to get an intelligible result out of the nav comp as to where the black-shells are going. You'll get here just in time for the news". Ryalla saved her breath for running, double-clicking an affirmative response to let Shor know she was on her way.

The Scarrans were all clustered around Captain Lazarus and the humans, trying to get some advice from him on what might rouse their War Commander from his current state of mind – and also trying to figure out how they fitted in to the chain of command, since as Harrigan was using Earth ranks on board, none of those not human (which was almost everyone) knew even remotely how they fitted in or who they could give orders to and expect to be obeyed.

Captain Kran was pleased to hear that his rank was much the same as it had always been – and even more so when he realised that he was one of only two current Captains on board at this stage. Once Tovak had had the rank of tech sergeant explained to him, he seemed well enough pleased with his place and its limitations as well. The recon specialist didn't say anything – he just sat on the floor, leaning back against the wall and getting some rest.

An alarm beeped on the main control panel on Trannak's Raider, startling him from a sound sleep and a dream about a lady he'd met while away that he found he'd become quite attracted to. "Rrrrrhh…" he growled unhappily, looking at the sensor display beside him – then realising the Cry Havoc was changing course slowly in preparation for heading outsystem. He immediately fed in more power, coming in closer – and triggering an automatic lock-on from the bridge gunnery desk.

Shor looked at his displays to try and figure out what had caused all the excitement. Seeing the Raider on-screen, he notified Keyah, who called out "Unknown Raider, this ship is on wartime alert. Do not approach, or you risk being shot down". "Keyah, it's me – Trannak!" Trannak replied with relief "Back from Zeldin with those supplies the doctor sent me after. I'd have been here earlier but got delayed for a day because a Command Carrier, the Dacon, was in my way. Got the supplies back with me, though – no greedy Peacekeeper has been stealing anything from me".

Keyah ran over to flick a couple of buttons on the security desk, raising the flight deck doors again for Trannak to come in. He didn't see Harrigan's morose state, as Keyah had let him in further down the deck – and Harrigan was still sunk far enough in gloom that he didn't take any notice of what was happening.

Trannak, however, immediately saw something amiss – but decided to stay well away from the group for now, instead heading up to the bridge as well, running at his best speed. He'd just managed to catch up to Ryalla as she reached the bridge transit stop (as he'd caught a transit car as soon as he dared risk one), so the two of them both arrived equally mystified – although Trannak was better rested.

"Could somebody please explain…" Trannak asked in exasperation "Why I nearly got shot at by my own comrades! This is my home and base as well as yours now, you know!" Shor waved him and Ryalla over – though Ryalla detoured to help Hellbolt with the helm controls – and told Trannak the full and unedited story behind what had happened while he'd been away. "BLACK-SHELL RETRIEVAL UNIT!" he bellowed "Why are we sitting on our eemas twiddling our thumbs and sneaking outsystem then? We should be heading out full flank speed with the guns armed and ready!" Shor told him the rest of the story, which Trannak connected in his mind with what he saw on the way in from the flight deck.

"So that's what's going on…" Trannak thought aloud "While the others try to make our leader see reason, you three put the ship on an intercept course with the black-shells and move out with as much speed as you dare use without anyone noticing. You'll be thrashed if it goes wrong – it could be considered mutiny, after all – but if it goes right, you'll be commended and praised". "It's the RIGHT thing to do, Trannak!" Shor snapped "We're not doing this for reward, we're doing this because it needs to be done!" "You hold back there, young man…" Trannak replied, dangerously quiet "I know what duty is – I know what doing things that need doing is all about…and I DON'T need you reminding me. Though it is to your credit…" he added, when he saw all the colour drain from Shor's face in fright "…that you know even a little of what it's about as well. It gives one hope for the future".

"Right, I'm going to get my supplies stowed with the good doctor in the sick bay freezers" Trannak told them, heading for the staircase "I'll be back later if I can get away, just to check up on you all, make sure you don't press the wrong buttons or lead us off-course. Just keep cool heads while I'm gone, all of you". Trannak walked off down the stairs, grumping and grumbling about not being able to just work alone again.

"He's a bit fahrbotz, isn't he?" asked Shor, once Trannak had left. "Whatever personality issues he has" Hellbolt replied abruptly "He's right about one thing – we need to keep cool and think straight. Shor – what's the enemy's heading?"

"We've got a choice of six commerce and trading planets along their projected course track that they could stop at" Shor replied "But best bet is that they'll head straight to Barter Moon".

"What is that place?" Ryalla asked, completely lost "I have not heard of it". "The name on all the maps is Talzenadar IV" Keyah explained "But locals call it Barter Moon – because anything that can be bought or sold IS bought and sold there. There's also a wide cross-section of species both passing through and resident, so it would be the most logical place for the enemy to resupply and refuel before heading into Scarran space – if that's where they're going". Now that Shor had had a few more microts to think about it, he was even more sure that this was where the Praetorian ship would be heading, and said so – then locked the most direct route into the nav comp and sent it across to Hellbolt's helm desk.

Hellbolt, with Ryalla's help, pressed five buttons in sequence. "Right – ship's computer's locked on – we're on our way" he reported to everyone else "Keyah – since you're usually up here anyway, I'd suggest you stay. Shor, Ryalla…well, I don't think it'll matter where you go right now – just don't get into trouble, either of you". Shor whispered for a few microts in Ryalla's ear – she giggled a bit, then led Shor over to the other side of the bridge where Keyah couldn't see them. Hellbolt just grinned, saying "Those two narls – they've got it almost as bad as I did at that age!" and headed out of the bridge and back down to the flight deck again. Keyah just shook her head in mild exasperation and leant back in her chair.

Back down in the flight deck, several more of the unit had tried to talk to Harrigan – including some of the humans. But he just seemed not to notice that they were even there, which mystified Troll. "He's known me for a few Earth months before he left" Troll said in bewilderment "Why isn't he listening?" "You know the same as the rest of us, Troll" Lazarus replied as Troll sat down on the deck beside him "None of us have got through to him yet".

"What am I?" Koronna asked next, sitting next to Captain Lazarus "What is my rank, and what does it mean?" "Harrigan called you a sergeant-major" Lazarus replied, resting one hand on her shoulder without thinking about it "That means you're the senior enlisted troop on the ship". "Pretty much means chief ass-kicker" Jane added with a laugh "XO helps out with the thinking, sar-major helps out with the shouting!" Koronna smiled a bit at that, and at Lazarus' touch, and wheels began to turn in her mind, mulling over an idea that had began to take hold.

"Jane's not too far from the truth" Lazarus continued "A higher-ranking officer would usually have a senior enlisted man, often someone experienced who he'd gone through his uniformed service with or had a good combat record, around him to be his personal hatchet man and reality check – his pipeline to the men on the front line. That way he can find out how the men feel and think – without the pressure of them seeing an officer around".

That IS interesting… Koronna thought to herself, mulling over the implications of this news, I would not have thought that Harrigan would have given a post like that to me – a Scarran. But I will do well at this for his sake, I must show I can do this without frelling it up.

Down in sick bay, Nrakal was checking out what he had to work with in equipment, and showing Moratha, Urana, and Leasa how he liked things arranged, when Trannak turned up outside in a transit car loaded almost to the ceiling with medical supplies. Nrakal immediately got the ladies and Trannak putting it all in the right cupboards and drawers over the course of the next arn or so, with Trannak making a couple more trips back to the flight deck to get the rest of the load.

"I don't mean to interfere" Tovak said uneasily "But this is getting a bit ridiculous! I would have thought that he'd listen to one of you humans - especially you, Captain – if you talked to, or even shouted at, him a bit. If we don't move soon…", Tovak looked around as he felt the tiniest of rumbles come up through the floor, "…we'll lose track of these escritas for good". Despite what I've just said, Tovak knew, we're moving already. Not quickly – but someone else has had the right idea, and is trying to get us going in the right direction without anyone else finding out. Except me, it appears.

Chief ass-kicker… Koronna thought, smiling at the human woman's turn of phrase, then remembered Tovak bemoaning the fact that no one had shaken Harrigan up by bellowing in his ear a bit, and also that Lazarus said that the sergeant-major was often the officer's 'reality check', as he put it. Harrigan will need the perspective of another Scarran female as well, Koronna realised – and Ryalla doesn't have the experience in the military or in outside life for this. So it's going to be up to me to deal with it, I think…

Harrigan's ears picked up the sound of another pair of boots coming towards him across the flight deck. "I don't need anyone else to try and cheer me up…" Harrigan murmured morosely "…or make me see the good side in life…". He was about to say something else as well, but Koronna blew her top right then and yelled "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET THAT, SIR – YOU'RE GETTING A SWIFT REALITY CHECK, COURTESY OF SERGEANT-MAJOR KORONNA!"

Over the next half arn, Koronna stalked around Harrigan, yelling all manner of Scarran swearwords and curses at him and telling him in no uncertain terms to get his act together. "The man in charge…" Koronna screamed in his right ear "…does not have the luxury of sitting around on his eema, acting like a puddle of plok, and generally being a disgrace to his profession and the uniform he's wearing – well, WOULD be wearing, if we had one big enough!"

When the Scarran sergeant staggered onto the bridge of the Praetorian ship, his Captain turned to look at him, saying irritably "Where the hezmana have you been! And where's the rest of the squad?" Then he saw the wild-eyed look in the sergeant's eyes, and asked "What the FRELL went on down there!" "What went on, Captain…" the sergeant growled, as their ship flew onward to their first navigation waypoint "was a frelling meat grinder! You want to know where the rest of the squad is? Except for me, my corporal, and one private – they're all dead! There wasn't enough left of four of them to identify – our target had two accomplices with plasma rifles close by! Only the fact that the private managed to use his energy net made sure that any of us got back alive, sir!"

"Did you bring the target with you?" he asked, staring into his subordinate's eyes. "Down in the holding cells" the sergeant replied, staring back and refusing to be intimidated. "Good, good…" the Captain muttered "At least we've managed to salvage something out of this sorry frelling mess. That pod took enough damage that it'll need one engine totally replaced, and we can't do that ourselves – it's just as well we only had one to pick up this time out. Let's get out of here before something else goes wrong". He turned and yelled "Pilot, set course for Talzenadar IV – all ahead three-quarters!" before gesturing irritably at his sergeant and saying "Go get yourself cleaned up and squared away – you look like dren". The sergeant turned away without acknowledging his Captain's order, muttering "Well, of course I do…I've just been in combat…what do you expect me to look like, a frelling Sebacean fashion model!" and stomping off to his quarters.

Back on the Cry Havoc, Koronna yelled "You're a SOLDIER, sir – a fighting man, a man of war! Those black-shells have declared WAR on us by kidnapping our Sub-Commander and your wife! What are you going to do about that!" "What can I d-" Harrigan started to say despondently, before cutting him off and shouting "What you SHOULD be doing, sir, is preparing to fight back – getting ready to take back what's yours and ours!"

"But what about Talannah?" Harrigan cried aloud, raising his hands "What will she think of me for letting her get kidnapped like this?" "I've actually managed to get a useful question out of you – will wonders never cease…" Koronna replied, before replying "Let me educate you about how Scarrans think, sir – especially Scarran wives. We think that if anything is worth something, it's worth fighting for. If it's worth a lot, you fight a lot to keep it – or to get it back. Talannah's your WIFE – she will expect you to come after her and get her back, not sit around here moping like a fretful child".

Wheels started to turn in Harrigan's mind as he started to see a way out. "So what you're telling me, Koronna" Harrigan whispered, with a little more vigour "Is that not only can I get my Talannah back with me – but I'm also allowed, and even encouraged, to kill those responsible, and those close by, and probably – oooh…lets say…the rest of the town they happen to be in!"

Koronna was quite impressed – Harrigan had gone from depressed to homicidal in the space of barely a few momens. "That's pretty much it, yes" she said back, thinking that Talannah must really mean something to him if he'd flatten a whole town in retribution "The details can be worked out as we go along". "That's humans in a nutshell, Koronna – playing it by ear, winging it, making it up as we go along. It sounds like a plan…sounds like a GOOD plan…".

Harrigan looked at the word he still had out on his lap, and started to smile nastily. "You got me these, my Talannah, so that I would stay safe. Now I get to use them to return you to safety". Then he started laughing softly, sheathing the sword and standing up. The others hadn't yet noticed that – but when Harrigan let out a blood-curdling "SSSSSKKKKKRRRRREEEEEEE!" they knew something was up. Then Harrigan yelled "Get off your eemas, people – we got a war to fight! First item on the agenda – find the enemy! Captain Kran – we need to get a full bridge crew assembled and find out where that black-shell ship went! Get on it!"

Before Kran could move, Trannak interrupted and whispered for a few microts in Harrigan's ear. "Have they now?" Harrigan asked in surprise We're moving ALREADY! Who's up there?" Trannak whispered some more, then Harrigan replied "So someone on board actually knows where the enemy went and is doing something about it? That's a start! Captain Kran, Captain Lazarus – you're with me. Tovak – there's a small chip in my quarters with the blueprints of a weapon in it; if this ship has any kind of machine shop or manufacturing capabilities, get them working full-pelt producing that weapon and its ammo. The rest of you may as well get back to quarters – I'll call you if I need you!"

"Well, Cap…" Troll said jovially to Captain Lazarus as everyone left the flight deck "That woman of yours certainly put some life back into Harrigan, didn't she?" Lazarus sighed, saying "She's not 'my woman', Troll – whatever you might think". "Yeah, yeah…" Troll replied happily "And I'm the king of England, sir. But at least we're actually doing something now, and not just flapping around like a bunch of flappers". Lazarus slapped Troll lightly on the shoulder, saying "Get Koronna to give everyone a good run-down on how to fly those Strykers – I want everyone cramming as much theory on that into their heads as they can manage. If there's simulators on this boat, use them. We need as much of a fighting force as we can muster! Go!"

Once Kran and Lazarus had joined Harrigan in the transit car and were heading towards the bridge, Lazarus asked "Feeling better, Harrigan?" "No, Captain – I'm feeling angry. I'm angry and I'm mad and I'm going to get my wife back if it means piling every planet between here and her place of incarceration neck-deep in bodies – but I'll settle for just getting those responsible. And anyone who gets in our way and doesn't move, of course"

A few momens later, Shor and Ryalla were rather rudely awakened from their fooling around by the sight of Harrigan with a mad grin on his face stomping up the stairs. "Up, up, up!" he yelled, hoisting the pair of them up by their collars "No time to waste! Since you took it upon yourselves to break the first rule of military life and actually volunteer yourself for something, you're stuck with it! Back to your stations!"

Hellbolt stood up, a little uneasy about what might be going to happen – but Harrigan waved him back down. "No, Hellbolt – stay on the helm" Harrigan insisted "I'll take the command chair and watch from there. Captain Kran, you're on the gunnery desk, Captain Lazarus, you're on security – and since Ryalla here has nothing to do and is still here, she can watch engineering! Hellbolt – all ahead flank, I want to get as close to the enemy as possible! I doubt we'll catch them now, but we may get close enough to force a change of plan, which should give us an advantage".

"Harrigan…" Lazarus reminded him "One slight problem – we do only have 13 troops, plus you. If Talannah's been taken to a military base of any size, we'll need more might on our side". "Got a point there, Captain…" Harrigan murmured, before asking Kran "Can we depend on the Blood Hand to provide troops for us, Captain? Will they come to our aid?"

Kran grinned, and said "Technically sir, as the War Commander you can call on any of the king's troops and they have to obey. The tricky part is convincing the Hand that you are actually the War Commander spoken about in the old writings. But if you can persuade Keyah to let me onto her precious comm desk for a short while without her peeking over my shoulder, I can get as many of the Councillors and senior officers as will listen to meet us at Talzenadar IV for a briefing". "Do it" Harrigan ordered instantly "Keyah – over here for a microt, Kran's got to contact his friends and get us more troops!"

Keyah looked at Kran a little oddly, but he said "I've used hyperwave comm units before, Keyah – I may be Scarran but I'm not stupid. Your gear will still work after I've used it. Just as well I get to call now, War Commander – I'm overdue to report in in any case…". Keyah scuttled up onto the ceiling and crawled over to a position over Harrigan's command chair while Kran hooked up his scrambler and put his call through.

Just under forty microts later, a slightly grainy picture appeared on the main viewscreen – a slightly wore for wear Scarran tech. "Get this picture cleared up and get me the first Councillor you can find!" Kran barked at him. The tech fiddled with a few controls at his end, which cleared up the picture enough for him to recognise who he was talking to.

"Captain Kran!" the tech stuttered "Councillor Shuljek has been trying to find out where you've been for the past weeken or so – you've missed your scheduled check-in, sir". "Just get him here and go push some buttons somewhere else!" Kran yelled at him "I've got urgent business to attend to!"

Fifteen momens later, and Councillor Shuljek's face appeared on the screen. Captain Kran" he drawled "How good of you to grace us with your presence again. When you missed your last check-in, quite a few people around here had wondered where you had got to". Kran himself was slightly doubtful of that, but managed to keep most of it off his face while the Councillor received his regular report. "So why are you calling now?" Shuljek asked pointedly.

Kran grinned widely and announced "The War Commander has issued a call to arms, Councillor! For the first time in millennia, the call has come again! We should assemble our forces now!" Shuljek smiled a bit, then said "I know you wouldn't make such claims without good reason, Captain – you are directly descended from the Lord Chamberlain himself on your father's side and Sub-Commander Neddek on your mother's side in addition to being our most accomplished infantry Captain. But I cannot order a full mobilisation on my own – the Council will need to meet this man you believe to be the War Commander and decide for themselves".

"We are heading directly to Talzenadar IV at this very moment, in pursuit of our enemy – who we believe to be making a brief stopover there" Kran growled "If you can drag the rest of the Councillors and senior officers along, they can meet us, and him, there in five solar days – which is how long it'll take for us to get there". "Some will have to take part by hyperwave conference" Shuljek cautioned Kran "But they will take part, I believe". "Good enough for me" Kran growled, and cut the call.

"Good news, I hope?" Harrigan called from the command chair. "At least in part, yes" Kran replied "My contact inn the Council said that he can't order a full mobilisation on his own, and that not all of the other councillors yet believe that you are the new War Commander – but that he'll bring as many councillors and senior officers to Talzenadar IV as will come. I've given him five solar days to get them there – so we should all arrive at roughly the same time".

"Not the best" Harrigan replied, before grinning just a bit for the first time in quite a few arns "But not too bad for all that. The tables may have turned at last – in our favour".