Chapter Two: Explanations
Young Harlock roused up when he heard the sickbay door open, and smiled when he saw his father come into view. For a few moments, there was awkward silence; just how did you open up a conversation with a man you had not seen since childhood?
"How are you feeling?" Harlock asked, quietly, after a few more uncertain moments. Young Harlock shrugged slightly.
"Fair. Ribs and leg still hurt, but they're healing, thanks to Doc Zero." Young Harlock replied, noticing when his father reclined in the chair he'd sat down in and sighed what seemed, to him, to be a sigh of relief.
"How're you holding up, Dad?" Young Harlock asked.
"I'm holding up all right...Considering we're now dealing with the undead." Harlock muttered, getting a chuckle from Young Harlock in response.
"Yeah, that isn't something that is normally handled by Space Pirates like us, is it?" Young Harlock asked, rhetorically.
"Certainly not. Give me a fleet of Illumidas or Mazone to blow away any day. Leave the zombies and the like to the onmyoji." Harlock grumbled.
"I agree with you on that. I'd rather take on some Machine Men than some possessed dead guys…..Oh, wait, that's what the Machine Men are……Scratch that thought, then." Young Harlock joked, getting a genuine laugh from his father in response. It had been a long time since Young Harlock had heard his father laugh; too long.
"And he looked about ready to collapse last night. Guess my sudden appearance didn't help matters much." Young Harlock mused, watching as his only remaining parent sobered, and looked steadily at him.
"Young Harlock, how did you come to be on that satellite to begin with?" Harlock asked, point blank. Young Harlock flinched.
"I got myself into a situation I should've avoided……I was on one of the backwater worlds near the Flame Stream Prominence when I got cornered. It was a situation I thought I could handle, so I didn't bother to call for help….The next thing I knew was that I was waking up in a cell, and that I was on my way to the prison satellite." Young Harlock said, quietly. Harlock sighed and rubbed his only remaining eye with his right hand. He could have guessed as much.
"He's a true Harlock, all right." Harlock mused, as he looked at his rather ashamed-looking son and nodded for him to continue.
"When I arrived at the satellite, it was business as usual there. Things were running normally, and there was no sign that anything weird was about to happen. When they got me into the questioning room, Dad, the questions they asked me were of things only you would know about….The attacks on the Illumidas battle groups, and so on. Since I didn't know too much about any of that, I remained silent; and they took my silence to mean I wasn't going to reveal anything at all. Then they called this big, ugly Machine Man in and, well……The rest, as they say, is history." Young Harlock stated, motioning to his bandaged chest for added emphasis. Harlock growled and nodded.
"Doc Zero had told me that you had said that you'd been there for almost a week. Why did you stay there for so long, even though they were beating you?" Harlock asked. In response, he got a sorrowful look from his son.
"I saw a member of a crew I had served with when I was still in the Earth Federation. She'd been captured and 'converted' during one of the many attacks by the Machine Men during the war, but I hadn't known her fate until I saw her on that satellite. She didn't even recognize me, Dad…..but, then again, I should have expected as much. When the Machine Men 'convert' people, they do their best not to leave anything even remotely human behind. They erase emotions, the very essence of the soul, and leave nothing. They think of themselves as immortals, but all they are…..all they can be, are the undead." Young Harlock murmured, as he gazed somberly at his hands; having lowered his gaze so his father could not see all of the anguish in his eyes. He did not realize that his only parent was giving him a look of equal pain.
"History is always repeating itself, where it is forgotten. My own son is a grim testimony to that. The Machine War….a war I have only heard mere rumors about during my solitude on the Planet of Rubbish Heaps, was as horrible a reality to him, as the Illumidas War and occupation had been to me. I should have been there." Harlock thought, as guilt placed its weighted claws on his shoulders. His son, his own flesh and blood, had suffered through almost the same thing he had, two and a half decades before….and he'd been too busy wallowing in his own self-pity and grief to come to his aid when he was needed.
"I've always been a lousy father. Young Harlock deserved so much better than what he got." Harlock mused, bitterly.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You couldn't have known what kind of pain Young Harlock was going through, and it isn't like he would have told you, anyway. He is your son, after all….Stubborn and proud to a fault. Just like you." Tochiro's ghostly voice stated, matter-of-factly. Harlock mentally sighed and nodded.
"True enough, old friend. True enough. But it still doesn't excuse the fact that I have been absent from his life for fifteen years." Harlock replied, as he placed a hand on his son's left shoulder, getting an unreadable look from Young Harlock in response.
"Stay here and rest for a little while longer. When you feel up to it, come to the bridge. We'll discuss the next course of action there." Harlock said, getting a nod from his son in answer to that.
"Will do. Besides, I need to get in contact with my ship and crew, anyway. They're likely to kill me for not letting them know that I am at least alive." Young Harlock joked, yet his tone was a bit more subdued than before.
"I know the feeling." Harlock muttered, remembering a handful of times when even Tochiro had held him at gunpoint for worrying him and the crew of the Arcadia.
………………………….
It was several hours later when Young Harlock finally arrived on the bridge. On the way there, he'd been waylaid by La Miime (who'd given him a warm hug, and something that resembled a kiss on the cheek as a welcome back), and had even been given a model to work on when he returned to the sickbay…..Though he was a little surprised that the first mate would part with one of his cherished model kits, even if he was the son of the captain.
"Okay, now I am ready to accept whatever fate my crew and friends have in store for me……Well, almost any fate….I'm sure Tochiro has some sort of punishment waiting where I would least expect it." Young Harlock mused, his expression deadpanning when he remembered some of the more humiliating and disgusting 'punishments' Tochiro (and sometimes even Emeraldas) thought up. As he entered the bridge area, he knew his father and the crew of the Arcadia has seen his expression, since some of them were snickering at his expense (his father, on the other hand, only smirked and shook his head. He knew only too well what his son was expecting, especially from someone like Tochiro).
"You ready, Young Harlock?" Kei asked, still giggling somewhat as she prepared the communications unit for use.
"Yeah…..I'm just kind of wondering how they are going to react. After all, the last place they would expect me to be is on the bridge of a ship that isn't supposed to exist anymore." Young Harlock replied, as he stood where he was and looked up as the sensors picked up on one of the distant ships' individual warp traces, getting the attention of those on board almost immediately.
"This is the Queen Emeraldas. Emeraldas speaking. What do you want?" a woman's voice asked, as the owner appeared on the screen.
"Greetings. This is Harlock, captain of the Arcadia. I believe you are searching for someone?" Harlock asked, rhetorically. At first, the woman froze where she was in shock; her eyes widening when she realized just who she was speaking to.
"Yes! Uh…..I mean…..yes sir!" Emeraldas said, in uncharacteristic excitement (after all, it wasn't everyday that one would get the chance to meet a living legend).
"I'm right here, Emeraldas." Young Harlock stated, from his position just below the ship's wheel. The female space pirate gave him a look of consternation.
"How in the whole of the Sea of Stars did you get there, of all places!" Emeraldas questioned, in utter amazement at the younger Harlock's luck. Young Harlock shrugged.
"Fate, I suppose. But Emeraldas, there's an even bigger problem that has just cropped up that you, Tochiro, and Zero need to know about…Can you contact them for me?" Young Harlock asked, with seriousness and urgency emerging in his usually carefree gaze that Emeraldas could not ignore.
"I'll do what I can. I don't think they've gone too far out of range….If anything, they've probably been listening in on the conversation." Emeraldas murmured, then added, "What about you? Aren't you going to contact your own crew?"
"I imagine I'll get the chance to talk to them later on…..and I think my father wants to have a word with Tochiro and Zero as well when they get here. In the meantime, I'm going to go find a place to sleep. There'll be little enough time for it, later." Young Harlock said, actually looking a little tired as he said that. Emeraldas noticed this, and nodded.
"Okay. But you'd better watch out. Tochiro is pretty upset with you for disappearing like that, and might take a swing or two at you with his sword when he sees you next." Emeraldas warned.
"I'll keep that in mind. See ya in a few hours, Emeraldas." Young Harlock said, before the transmission was cut, and he slumped back against the base of the wheel with a sigh.
"You all right?" Tadashi asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine…..Didn't think that just standing here would take all that much energy, though." Young Harlock replied, as he rubbed his eyes with one hand, then placed the hand to his leg, wincing slightly when it throbbed in response to the touch.
"Go back to the sickbay and rest. I'll let you know if I get in touch with your ship." Harlock ordered. Young Harlock made a move to obey, but was prevented from going anywhere when yet another transmission came in.
"This is the space battleship Karyu, formerly of the Terrestrial Military Fleet, requesting permission to speak to your captain, unidentified vessel." A man's voice stated, officially. Harlock prevented himself from smiling; he'd been out of touch with the earth for so long, that even the military had forgotten about him!
"This is Captain Harlock, of the Arcadia. What can I do for you, Karyu?" Harlock asked, as the image of a man appeared on the visual. He could see that the other man was taken aback by his appearance and name, but continued on, regardless.
"I know this may sound ridiculous to you, but have you seen a man going by the same name?" the other captain asked.
"I have, as a matter of fact. He's aboard my ship at the moment." Harlock replied, giving Young Harlock a glance that said 'Well? Explain yourself'. Young Harlock cleared his throat, then addressed the man on the other end of the transmission.
"I suppose this means I get the firing squad, doesn't it, Zero?" Young Harlock asked, as the disgruntled expression again made its' presence known on the other man's features.
"Indeed….How did you end up there?" Zero asked, noticing that his friend seemed tired and had a slightly pained expression on his face.
"Long story…..Let's just say that things got a little more explosive than I intended." Young Harlock said, getting a slight smirk and a nod from Zero in response.
"Knowing you, I wouldn't doubt it. Are you all right?" Zero asked, with some concern for his friend and comrade.
"Yeah, but the prison satellite where I was being held didn't fare so well." Young Harlock replied.
"We have received a number of distress signals from all over space, but most of them didn't make sense….It's almost as though the senders of the signals were overwhelmed by panic and fear." A woman said, as she appeared on the screen beside Zero.
"I would expect that to be the case, First Officer, since the foe we are currently dealing with is fear itself." Harlock stated, grimly. This got some disbelieving looks from both Zero and the First Officer.
"I would ask you to explain in detail, sir, but this is not the time nor the place for a discussion. Where do you suggest we meet?" Zero asked, wisely; getting a slight, approving nod from the elder Harlock as a response.
"I'm sending the coordinates for the proper meeting place now. Pass them along to the Queen Emeraldas, and Young Harlock's ship…Meet me there." Harlock ordered, looking somewhat bemused when Zero and the First Officer gave him a crisp salute.
"We'll be there." Zero replied, before he cut the transmission and the screen went blank.
"Emeraldas and Zero weren't as angry as I thought they'd be…..but Tochiro will be another story, entirely." Young Harlock muttered, as he tiredly rubbed his eyes and settled back against the wheelbase.
"True. But try not to worry about it too much until the time comes. Believe me, you'll be better able to explain yourself if you're well rested." Harlock advised, having learned that particular lesson from experience.
"I'll take your word for it. See ya in a few, then." Young Harlock said, as he started to walk back to the sickbay, limping a little as he left the bridge.
"He's beginning to worry me." Kei stated, as she and the rest of the crew watched him go.
"How so?" Tadashi asked.
"He's usually so ornery that you just about have to have eyes in the back of your head just to make sure he doesn't pull some sort of prank on you. He didn't even try it, this time." Kei murmured, worriedly.
"Time has a way of changing people, Kei. And he was pretty seriously injured as well. Don't expect too much of what was normal fifteen years ago, until he's well rested and has talked to his own crew. After that…..we'll see." Harlock said, as he also stood and walked out of the bridge.
"Is it just me, or does he seem more talkative than when I first met him?" Tadashi asked.
"It ain't just you, kid. He struck me as kinda silent when I first came aboard too. Maybe findin' his son was a good way to help him heal from some emotional wounds, as well." Sabu said.
"Maybe….." Tadashi muttered; making a mental note to have a word with Young Harlock later about that…..if there was any time to, that is.