Carmilla, 2977

The planet circled its small dark star, a lone speck in the vast depths of the universe, as oblivious to the small battleship in orbit as the universe was to this fragment. A mostly lifeless rock, its surface a mass of black and red basaltic formations left over from its youth, it wasn't the most inviting stopover. But then, Blaze thought, staring at the screen at the front of the bridge, that was sort of the point…

'What do you mean, "they're not here?"

His brother's voice held a note of irritated frustration that Blaze entirely sympathised with. Marin paced up and down in the space behind the helmsman's seat he usually adopted as the nominal captain of their small ship. Blaze, in the comms seat, winced slightly. Poor Farah, it seemed, was in for a bad day…

'I've been authorised to send you the coordinates for the meeting place…' the oft put upon administrator for the Millenial Thieves began.

''And you couldn't have sent them earlier and saved us the extra trip?' Marin asked, somewhat pithily.

'You were in Imaginary Number space,' Farah pointed out, not unreasonably. 'From the Galactic Rim. But if you'd like to put in a request to update the comms network I'm sure Hannibal would take it under consideration…'

Blaze, despite the circumstances, had to repress a slight snigger. Hannibal - although he'd technically yielded day to day command years ago to their parents, was still notorious for making a credit beg for mercy. 'Just send them over, Farah. You'll have to forgive Mal, it's been a long journey and we've both been worried sick since we got the news.'

'I'm always convinced your mother got the two of you mixed up at some point,' Farah sniffed. Blaze didn't have to look behind him to look at his barely older by a year sibling to know his brother was rolling his eyes at that one. True, Marin - named for the sea - was marginally a little more likely to go off half-cocked than his sibling, but neither young man thought there was that much in it. And wasn't the ocean just as unpredictable and dangerous as any fire? Opinions, however, varied…

'Is Hannibal meeting us there?' he asked as the coordinates hit his system. Somewhere near Tabito by the looks of it, which wasn't too far at least.

On the projected hologramme, Farah shook his head, the movement making his long light brown hair almost fall into his eyes. 'He's taken the Miranda out again - after bringing your mother here to recover, he muttered something about needing to check up on something and headed out. Made a bee-line for Earth.'

'Risky,' Blaze muttered. 'On his own?'

'He's got a full crew,' Farah pointed out. 'And that ship might be old, but she's got moves and weaponry that I've never seen on any other vessel. The old man'll be fine. But he did want the pair of you to join this meeting. And your father sent a message telling the pair of you to, and I quote, "get your arses over there".

After passing on their assurances on behalf of an increasingly mutter-prone sibling, Blaze cut the connection and sat back in his flight seat. 'Well…'

'Just what did we miss?' Marin asked as he dropped heavily into the navigator's seat. 'Garbled messages about mom being badly hurt, something about a massive broo-ha-ha around Lar Metal that chatter on the warp radio says has left a large part of the system unnavigable - well there's an improvement - and dark dire hints that "Captain Harlock" is involved… I mean, that guy's a legend, right? A myth to scare naughty kiddies with on dark stormy nights… Though I have to say, I've never been too clear on why the Gaia Sanction wanted his head on a platter so badly.'

'I'm with you there. But sounds as though maybe some of the stories might be true? The big black skull-prowed ghost ship faster than most fighters…' Blaze called up the recent newscasts and scanned through them. 'But if this shit this guy's talking about is true, they'll have the devil's own job keeping a lid on things back in the Sol System.' He watched the recording again, swallowing hard as the sight of the blue/green jewel that had been his image of Earth his entire life dissolved to reveal the devastated world, torn apart so badly some of the twisted columns of solidified molten rock reached all the way into space. A hellish nightmare world not dissimilar now to Carmilla…

'...eien ni, itaru…'

He froze the screen on that last image of a tiny white flower. Such a small thing, to hold so much hope. 'Earth… huh. Somehow I doubt it'll be in our lifetimes.' He clicked off the viewer. 'And it seems we've got more immediate problems…'

'A lot of speculation,' Marin pointed out, 'and misinformation. So no change there from our Evil Auntie.' He snorted. 'Mom's always given her the benefit of the doubt, but not one of the other clone-sibs turned out right. Not in a thousand years. And she can blame the damn crown all she wants, there's a bad seed in that line. They cull all the rebels early - mom got lucky in escaping.'

'So where, o brother of mine,' Blaze asked not entirely cheekily, 'do we fit in?'

'Well out of it,' Marin replied dryly. 'And thankful for it.' He grinned at his brother. 'And so much for some R and R - I'd been hoping for a bit of downtime after that last trip. Aunt Yayoi has spectacularly bad timing.'

'Not Yayoi,' Blaze replied softly. 'Not anymore. Now it's just Queen Promethium.' He reached over and gave his brother a friendly punch on the top of his arm. 'Are you going to set that course, or do I have to do everything myself?'

'Shift change,' Marin pointed out, gesturing to the almost empty bridge. 'Unless you want to fly this thing yourself all the way to Tabito?'

'Wouldn't be the first time…'

'I thought we weren't going to mention that again?'

'I said we shouldn't mention it to mom…' Blaze busied himself with his console whilst the swing shift filed back onto the bridge chattering brightly. Thankfully since he'd called heads this trip, he wasn't going to be the one explaining why R&R had been cancelled with no notice… 'Oh Lar… this one's a turn up. Normally it's her worrying about us…'

'Farah said she's recovering,' Marin said reassuringly. 'And unless he has a spare body lying around I suspect Geran's not going to be around to regret his life-choices.'

'Pity,' Blaze grunted. 'He caused her enough grief during the rebellion. I'd have loved making him reflect on his poor choices.'

Somewhere in the vicinity of Tabito…

The ship came out of IN-SKIP and dumped delta-v as it slid through the void towards the coordinates supplied by the ever efficient Farah. Both men stared at the empty viewscreen in puzzlement. 'No planet…' Blaze muttered. 'So what the hell is out here?'

'Getting a mass reading,' the chthonian sitting at Nav called out. 'But it's small.'

'Charts don't show any asteroids out this far,' Marin added. 'This area of space is relatively clear of large wandering orbitals…'

'Just how big?' Blaze asked. He'd been pacing the length and breadth of the bridge from the moment they'd left IN space.

'Ovoid - maybe two klicks along the short axis five along the long. The mass isn't commensurate with the size, so it's hollow at a guess. Reading a lot of tectite, titanium… gravium concentration at one end…'

'A space station?' Blaze and Marin exchanged puzzled frowns. 'Out here?' Blaze leaned over the sensor console. 'Well, well… you don't see those every day…' He grinned. 'And I suspect that's our destination, because someone's hailing us on our coded frequency…' He gave the comms officer an apologetic shrug as he reached over and hit the connection. 'This is the Blackstar 7, at the tone please leave your name and frequency, we'll get back…'

'Blaze? Is that you fucking around up there?'

'I'm disowning you,' Marin mouthed at his younger brother. Blaze just grinned and pushed his dark auburn hair out of his eyes. Several weeks on assignment and he really needed a haircut… 'Hi dad.'

Their father's image appeared on the holoscreen, fuzzy around the edges. Blaze didn't think for one moment dodgy lighting and a low quality connection was responsible for how washed out he looked. Against his black hair, his skin looked far too pale, and he was wearing his shades, a sure fire sign he was hiding the bags under his eyes… 'You look like shit.'

'Nice to see you too,' Zero drawled. 'I'm sending over the gate codes for the water dock. Follow the landing beacon, you'll be guided in.'

'Not going to tell me who owns this little gem then?' Marin asked, leaning into the camera's range.

'And spoil the surprise?' Zero smiled at them. 'Your mother's going to be overjoyed that you seem to have come back in one piece. Oh - and both of you, try not to start any fights this time, will you? The Prometheus and the Epimetheus are docked already and I'm still remembering how much it cost to spring the pair of you after that clash with that SPG team on Destiny…'

'That wasn't us…' Marin began.

'Well, we didn't start it,' Blaze clarified. Zero held up a hand. 'Ah - not now. But try not to wind up the SDF boys. You know how stuffy they are about mercenary outfits, and I've got two over-sized, musclebound hotheads breathing down my neck already, and they're also sending over the Aquarius, so we'll have the suiseijin to wrangle as well.' He cut the connection before the brothers could reply.

'Well. "mercenary" is it they're calling us now?' Marin asked huffily. Blaze shrugged. 'I know, right? Last time I looked, mercs get paid for getting shot at, stabbed, blown up…' He frowned as his brother tapped away at a touch screen. 'What are you looking up?'

'Those ships he mentioned…' Marin bit his lip. 'Oh. Well. That explains why dad sounds as though he sat on a firethorn…'

Blaze leaned over to take a look, after pointing Ariel, the current navigator, at the codes. He laughed. 'Oh man… "Captain Dan" and Hank Douglas? No wonder he warned us off. Didn't we get into it with Douglas when he was still in that SDF stunt team?'

'We outflew him as I recall,' Marin drawled. 'Three sheets to the wind for the win, although frankly I'm not sure I'd have attempted that canyon stone cold sober. You I'm not so sure about…' Blaze smirked and shrugged. Marin continued: 'Hardly our fault his team had bet on him against our crew…'

They both grinned at the ripple of laughter that filled the bridge. Marin retook the captain's chair and gave the order to head for the opening docking gate, and Blaze, with nothing much to do at this point, sat back to take a look at the space station as they approached.

According to the database, it dated from before the Homecoming War. More recently it was logged as the property of one of the Gaia Sanction High Council. Even more recently it was listed as having been hijacked by the notorious space pirate, terrorist and enemy of All Things Gaia Sanction, Captain Harlock. 'Dad,' he asked mentally, 'you complain about who we hang out with?'

They tossed for which of them got the job of actually attending the gathering and Marin lost. However when Blaze saw the lovely young woman who greeted them after the Blackstar had slid into her berth alongside the Futatsuboshi, he was tempted to ask for a do-over. Straight, soft gold hair fell down to below her shoulders, brushing the hard-collar of a docking ring for a helmet. Her flight suit was a dark red, and long slim legs vanished into the tops of black boots which reached to mid-thigh. Her eyes were a vivid blue, and he had the feeling she could see right through his murmured greeting, as if she could see his guilty confession that he had had her wanted poster displayed on his cabin wall for at least three years…

He watched Marin's escort lead his brother down the corridor with a wistful sigh, watching an ass wrapped so tightly in leather it was practically shrink-wrapped. So that was the infamous "Kei"? In the flesh, she rather reminded him uncomfortably of his mother…

A jab in the ribs from his own escort brought his wandering mind - and eyes - back to the here and now. 'Not you as well, Blaze. I mean - do men think of anything else?'

'Not noticeably when the view's that good,' he replied bluntly. 'Nice to see you too, cousin.'

Emeraldas sniffed disdainfully, although he'd always felt that was a redundant description for his cousin. She'd always been defensive. Hardly surprising when their parents had both manifestly preferred her twin. He put an arm around her too-thin shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. 'Hey, 'he said softly when she stiffened. 'This is me, remember? We're family.'

'Oh Blaze…'

He ended up having to guide her over to a nearby stair, so that they could sit side by side once she'd finished sobbing into his grey and yellow jacket, and poured out the events of the past few months. Afterwards, he just held her, stroking her long red hair whilst he hiccuped quietly against his sweater. 'I shot her,' she whispered at the end of it. 'But she didn't stay dead. Not even one of Harlock's weapons can kill her. How do you fight that?'

'I don't know,' he confessed. He gave her another hard hug. 'Seriously Emmy, I really don't know. What she's done to herself… it scares the hell out of me and I'm hearing it second hand. I can't even begin to make sense of it yet.'

'May thinks she can get to her if she's close,' Emeraldas sniffed away a runny nose. 'But mother will try to make her just like her… She thinks she's strong enough to hold out, but mother was strong as well, and she…'

'Your mother,' Blaze said slowly, feeling his way through the minefield this could be, 'was shaped by things that happened long before you were born. There's something seriously wrong in that clone line, and Ban - your father knew it. That's why he insisted you and Maetel were naturally conceived.' He brushed a tear-dampened elf-lock away from her eyes. 'Hey. You always spent more time at mom's place anyway. If Promethium's just too fu… self-absorbed to figure out that she has two awesome daughters, my mother would officially make you one of us rebellious outcasts in a heartbeat. Hell, DNA actually makes you my half sister, so if anyone upsets you, you come to me. Big brothers are supposed to take care of baby sisters.'

'I can take care of myself,' came the muffled reply from somewhere near his left armpit. He ruffled her hair gently. 'I know you can, Red. But you gotta let me earn my keep somehow…' He lifted her chin up so he could look into her admittedly slightly bloodshot and red-rimmed eyes, and then dropped a light kiss on her forehead. 'Face it Red, we have to stick together - neither of my parents was supposed to live, Marin and I should never have been born and your mother just can't get her head wrapped around you at all. So screw 'em. The whole damned House of Andromeda and the court.'

She smiled tearfully up at him. 'I love you, Karyu.'

'Use that name again, Red, and I might rethink how I feel,' he told her jokingly. She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed. 'Better. That's the Red I know and adore. But hanging around pirates is definitely rubbing off on you.'

She sniffed, this time with her little nose in the air. 'Not so much. Harlock's actually not what I'd think of if you said "pirate".'

'Umm? Good or bad?'

She sighed theatrically. 'He's nice, I guess. But… I just thought he'd be more… piratey.' She smiled faintly. 'Actually, he reminds me a bit of you and Mal. But don't tell him I said so.' As if feeling she'd already said too much, she scrambled to her feet and ran off down the corridor, before he could point out that she'd left him stranded in the space station without a clue to his destination. He shrugged and got to his feet. Assuming she knew where she was going, the easiest way was to just take the same corridor and hope to come across someone helpful who could point him in the right direction.

His boots clanked ominously in the empty corridors as he walked, echoing slightly. Taller and wider than anything he was used to, he quickly realised they'd been built with a view to allowing vehicles to run the length and breadth of the station. Hardly surprising, he mused, and as he sauntered along, hands in pockets. It had been constructed as a military repair and resupply dock after all. By that reasoning, he figured the actual residential areas were further in, and where corridors crossed, took the ones that seemed to lead inwards. The very slight increase in the artificial gravity field tended to support his theory, but there were still no people around in this area. Either Harlock's people were spectacularly lax on security, very thin on the ground, or he was being deliberately ignored… He'd been trying to spot any security camera (and surely its previous owners had been paranoid enough to install them?) when he finally heard sounds ahead that suggested he wasn't alone after all.

'Damned stupid… brainless idiot... You got yourself into the bloody hole, can't you at least reverse out of it? Gaia… I can't believe I'm doing this again… Hey! Less of the claws you ungrateful bird!'

Blaze turned the corner of the corridor he was in to see a pair of boots sticking out of an access hatch at floor level, said boots looking rather worn and hard-used, with dark blue pants tucked into their turned-down tops. Their owner was wriggling around and uttering more than a few choice epithets in a pleasant - if exasperated - tenor. 'Will you just let me get a grip…? Damn it, Tori-san! Watch the beak! And don't drop that kitten!'

The wriggling stopped after a particularly inventive round of cursing, and a soft, heartfelt "shit" came from inside the duct.

Blaze bit back a chuckle. 'Seems it's not just whatever you went in there after that can't back out,' he said, kneeling beside the boots and pushing aside the gun belt next to them. 'Need a hand?'

'Well this is embarrassing,' Boots drawled. 'Yes please. But gently - I've finally got a grip on this darned bird and I daren't let go… stupid thing's wedged in here and I might be leaving a glove behind as it is…'

Bird? Blaze's eyebrows vanished into his hairline. This he couldn't wait to see. He grabbed hold of the leather-clad ankles and pulled, but when "gently" wasn't cutting it, he took a firmer group. 'I think it isn't just the bird that's stuck. I think you might just have to brace yourself,' he called out.

'Please tell me there's no-one out there with you who heard that,' came the pained answer. 'Or neither of us will ever hear the last of it…'

He did chuckle then. 'Relax,' he told the boots. 'I'm pretty sure you're not my type.' He leaned back and put his weight behind it this time, and with a bit of wriggling, swearing and a yelp of pain at one point, the owner of the boots slid free of the duct, landing in a heap on top of Blaze, with, indeed, a large black bird-like creature in his hands. And yes, he was missing a glove.

The foot long beak of the beast held a small bedraggled lump of fur, which took the opportunity afforded by its bemused captor's attempt to caw out its disapproval, to squirm free and try to vanish back into the hole. Blaze fielded the small thing with lightning-fast reflexes, only to regret his good deed as the rather soggy kitten hissed and sank its claws into his thumb through his gloves. The bird let out an indignant squawk right into its rescuer's face, before sticking its head under a large black wing and making muffled mutterings.

Blaze's rescuee took a couple of steadying breaths, and then grimaced as he took a firmer grip on the black-feathered body. 'Oh hell… hey you! No preening until I've gotten that gunk off you!' He grabbed the bird's beak and hauled it out from under the wing, fighting to control the creature with the other hand and looking round for something. 'Shit. Hey - sorry - didn't get your name but could you just grab my cravat and help me tie his beak closed? He's covered in whatever sump was in that ducting…'

'He isn't the only one,' Blaze pointed out as he helped to unwind the article from its owner's neck - like the jacket and pants he was wearing, looking much the worse for wear after an unplanned soaking in whatever had been lurking in that dark hole. Still holding onto the hissing bundle of attitude, he helped the young man tie the bird's beak together with it, as his gloveless hand was dripping blood onto the floor and wasn't looking too useful, but strangely that seemed to be slowing all on its own. Thankfully despite the grumbling and that footlong beak on the end of a long neck, it didn't seem disposed to do much more than sulk at them once it couldn't deal with its sodden feathers. He couldn't find a way to politely move downwind of the pair, and tried to breathe shallowly. The kitten - stinking just as much as its rescuers, growled into his armpit.

'Oh, just gag if you need to,' the bird's rescuer told him with a sigh. 'I'm sure everyone I come across on the way to the showers will be far more obvious about it.'

Blaze helped him to his feet with a grin. 'That bad?'

'Oh, you have no idea,' the man sighed. He took a firm grip on his bird. 'Thanks for the assist.' Blaze was hit with an incandescent smile as the young man continued 'I'd shake, but…'

'I know. We both have our hands full. And I was just passing.' Blaze gestured at the corridor. 'My escort kind of took off and left me to fend for myself…'

'I figured. The uniform's a bit of a giveaway that you're one of our guests. I'm heading that way once I've dropped this idiot off with someone who can get this stuff off him, and gotten cleaned up. Unless you're in a hurry and I can call someone to come and get you?' He started walking, leaving Blaze to pick up his gun belt and catch up, something Blaze got the feeling he did a lot… 'Millennial Thieves, right?'

'What gave it away,' Blaze asked with a grin, 'the haircut or the uniform?' He matched the other man's pace easily enough. They were around the same height - and age, he judged, taking a closer look at the guy. Similar build as well, though he looked as though a few good meals would help. His hair was a lighter brown than Blaze's dark auburn, and he had a short scar across his left cheek and nose, that stopped under his right eye - or rather disintegrated into a splattering of what looked to be keloid scars of a similar vintage underneath…

…underneath his right eye.

'It's going to stop being amusing one day,' Harlock drawled as they walked.

'Pardon?'

'The moment the credit chip drops. Sorry, I should have introduced myself properly but I had my hands full…'

'You're Harlock?'

'Why does everyone say it like that? No, don't answer. Rhetorical question. Yes, or so they tell me. From the descriptions I've heard you're either Kairyu or Karyu, I'm guessing? Your dad's been singing your praises for weeks…'

'Karyu, but I prefer Blaze.'

'If the disappointment's too much to bear, I still answer to "Yama" - and I think I'd struggle to have any hope of playing the Big Bad Pirate act with a guy who just had to haul me out of an air con duct by the ankles…'

Blaze had to chuckle at that, and Harlock - Yama - threw his own head back and laughed. 'Kei,' Harlock said eventually, once he'd stopped chortling, 'is going to kill me.' He shook his head. 'Not only have I managed to ruin a nice new jacket, but I'm going to be late for this meeting, and for the win, made a laughing stock of myself in front of one of what she terms "one of our important new allies"...'

'Oh - I'm not the official emissary,' Blaze reassured him. 'I managed to talk my brother into that role…'

'Hard to do?' Harlock asked. Blaze grinned. 'Not when he still hasn't figured out the coin is double-headed…' he dug his lucky coin out of his pocket and showed Harlock the double-sided image of the Thousand Year Queen. 'This way I can just sit on the sidelines…'

'...and make notes on all the little details your poor hapless brother won't be able to do because he'll have to pay attention to all the talking?' Harlock smirked. 'Zero said you could be a sneaky little bastard…'

'He should know. I come by it quite honestly.' A pause. 'You know… you don't look much like your wanted poster…' The young man walking next to him was younger for a start, his hair lighter and his scar not so dramatic, and although attractive, lacked the almost tangible arrogance and fallen archangel looks of the wanted poster found on more bedroom walls than most actors or musicians could even dream of.

'Well they did send out an update but Zero tells me you and your brother have been out near the rim for a while.'

'So the other guy…?'

'Long story. Not too sure of bits of it myself.' The sound of heavy bootsteps echoed as they approached a corner, and a large woman ambled towards them, a bright smile on her freckled face. 'Anita! Just the person!'

'Captain.' She sniffed delicately. 'I'm almost afraid to ask what that smell is…'

'Probably a century of stagnant water and various coolant chemicals lurking in one of the station's aircon ducts,' Harlock told her breezily. 'This idiot here…' he held out the bird, 'Has gotten himself all gunked up, I don't suppose…'

She laughed, and took the disgruntled avian from him. 'Oh bless you, I've got a teenaged boy remember? I've cleaned up far worse in my time. I think between us Luna and I can sort Tori-san out.' Another delicate sniff. 'Er… Captain…'

Harlock gave a rueful laugh. 'I know, I know... There's a communal shower just up the way next to the gym, but my clothes…'

'I'll send one of the lads round with something clean,' she told him cheerily. 'Might need something for your new friend there as well…'

Blaze looked down at his own coat and pants, which had indeed come into contact with the pirate's contaminated clothing when he'd landed in a heap under the other man, as well as whatever the kitten had fallen into. 'Ah…' He held out the tiny scrap by the scruff. 'I think this was the cause of all the mess? Can you..?'

She plucked it from his hand with a large hand that took no nonsense from the hissing ball of wet fluff. 'Don't worry dear. I've got this. Happens all the time, since Luna can't walk past a stray without taking it in. And I'm sure something of the captain's will fit you. You're about the same size. Give me about ten minutes!'

'Make it fifteen!' Harlock called after her. He sniffed again. 'Or maybe a couple of hours,' he muttered as the woman walked off carrying what both men, had they conferred, would have hoped to be the main source of the smell that clung to them. 'Shower?' he asked Blaze.

'Shower,' Blaze replied emphatically after taking a sniff at his sleeve. He had a feeling the stagnant water wasn't the only thing the kitten had left behind… 'I can't fool myself into thinking it's all you, your bird and your cat anymore…' He grinned. 'I'm not sure anyone would believe me if I told them the dreaded Captain Harlock almost got himself stuck in a pipe trying to rescue a bird and a small cat…'

'I could trot out some cliché about everyone and everything here being part of my crew but it's entirely self preservation. I'd never hear the last of it from Mimay and Tochiro if anything happened to that daft bird, and the kitten is my doctor's, and she's almost as scary as Promethium… Harlock quipped.

'Luna… Nogata?' When Harlock nodded and rolled his eyes, Blaze sniggered. 'I take it dad didn't warn you?'

'Not so's you'd notice…'

Under a hot, powerful water jet a few minutes later he lost all interest in following up on his host's backstory for now. Anyone who could provide this much hot water just for the purpose of washing had his vote…

'Ease up on the moans,' Harlock told him over the partition. 'Passersby might get the wrong idea…'

'I've spent more than six months on a small ship light years away from civilisation,' Blaze told him, 'with water at a premium. They won't be that far off the mark…'

'Not the time to mention the heated infinity pools then?' Harlock chucked a warm, fluffy towel at him as they exited the cubicles. 'Franz.' He greeted the tall dark haired man who held out a pile of clothing with a grin. 'Anita pressed you into service did she?'

'Well actually it was Yasu, but the dumb bastard hadn't got a clue where to find your stuff.' He grinned at Blaze from under a moustache that would have given Ichimonji's a run for its money. 'New recruit, captain? I heard you trying to bribe him with the hot tubs…' He handed Blaze a second pile of clothes. 'He'll shamelessly try and subvert anyone to our cause,' he said with a wink.

'No shit,' Blaze drawled. 'Never would have spotted that…' He pulled on the pants, which were noticeably of better quality than his own, and reached for the sweater. 'But for the record, he had me at the hot power shower…'

Franz grinned. 'Totally decadent, right? Wait till you see the beach…' He strolled off whistling. Blaze just stared at Harlock as the other man sat down to pull his boots on, still sweaterless. 'Beach?'

'Beach,' Harlock replied laconically. 'Actually a large swimming pool where one of the old wet-docks was converted into a luxury habitat for the idle parasites of the Gaia Sanction… a bit of holography and some landscaping… Really amazing what they did with the place, and it seemed such a waste to let it stay in such unworthy hands…'

'So an actual act of real piracy then?' Blaze asked him. Harlock just gave him a smug little half-smile. 'Funny - that's the reaction I had from Colonel Ichimonji - at least until he decided to strip off to his shorts and toast his toes in some hot sand…' He fastened his skull buckled cross belts and reached for the large, antique style blast pistol. 'It's not as frivolous as you might think - the station has plenty of room for the Arcadia and several smaller ships. It'll make for a decent base of operations.'

'Can't wait to hear Hannibal's reaction to this,' Blaze murmured, half to himself. 'It's a lot more hospitable than Carmilla...'

'So I hear,' Harlock said dryly. 'Which is why I offered to play host. Although the mysterious "Hannibal" declined to attend…'

'He sent us, 'Blaze pointed out. 'And besides, he's got other concerns right now.' He matched the interrogative eyebrow with a noncommittal shrug. 'I love the old man to bits, but he plays his cards close to his chest sometimes, and we've learned just to let him get on with it.' He waited as Harlock tied on a black leather patch, arranging the cord under his still damp hair. 'I think you're going to be late for that meeting…'

Harlock shrugged. 'Since I'm one of the keynote speakers and the host, I somehow doubt they'll start without me…'

Blaze pulled on a pair of gloves that had been part of the bundle. 'Given who's turned up for this, I wouldn't be betting the next five years of my life on that.'

Harlock snorted. 'Then whatever they planned for me, they can just unplan it. I like your dad - I like the rest of them - but I'm done being pushed around by anyone.'

Blaze couldn't resist. 'Apart from small animals?'

Harlock laughed ruefully. 'I haven't got a leg to stand on, have I?'

Blaze grinned. 'Well, no-one has to hear it from me…' He took a quick look at his watch. 'Dammit - Emmy left me high and dry and I was supposed to find my mother…'

Harlock slapped him on the back. 'I'll be your guide. But I warn you - Selen's still in our sick bay…'

'So?'

'So I think it'll take Anita and Luna a bit longer to sort out my feather-head and Luna's kitten…'

Filial duty warred with self preservation, but in the end…

'I'll send someone for you once we're done,' Harlock called out as he beat a hasty retreat from the infirmary, one step ahead of the still noxious smell coming from the utility room. 'Drinks are definitely on me…'

The door irised shut, closing on a heartfelt gasp of fresher air, leaving Blaze with his mother, who still looked paler than she should - but that could, he thought as he shut the connecting door firmly on the cacophonic skwarks and yowls and raised voices, have just been the still lingering eau de coolant sump…

'I'm almost afraid to ask,' Selen said with a slight smile as he perched on the edge of the bed. 'I see you met our new friend?'

Blaze stared at the now closed door, a small smile playing around his mouth. 'That's one way of putting it. You really are going to have to tell me all about this,' he told his mother, turning back to look into her eyes. He leaned forward and gave her a peck on the cheek. 'Seems we missed all hell breaking loose this end?'

'That's one way of putting it,' she replied dryly. He smiled. 'Out of interest, what are your first impressions?' she asked.

There'd been a moment, just after he'd pulled the young pirate out from that pipe, when something had flickered in those hazel eyes - both the seeing and the blind… Fleeting, and buried so quickly behind the cheery bravado, another man might have missed it… But he'd been trained by Hannibal, and his parents, and had learned a long time ago to look beneath the surface…

…a man with what wasn't far off a phobia of being trapped in tight spaces hadn't even hesitated to throw himself into one after a couple of animals…

He smiled at his mother. 'After all I'd heard and read about the infamous "Captain Harlock" growing up? Honestly? I was expecting someone taller…'

Author's note: I couldn't really put the character list up or anything in the description because: spoilers! But long time readers might have spotted that yes, "Blaze" is in fact NOT an "OC"... LOL! What only one other person knew is that it took me quite a while to realise it myself, because my subconscious was obviously rather more on the ball than the rest of my brain... Cosmo Warrior Zero was actually my first exposure to Harlock and the Worlds of the Leijiverse, and despite its animation flaws, I fell in love and begged the guy supplying my VHS tapes for more, which he duly did by sending over the Corn Pone Flicks fansub of SPCH, and created a monster. Brad luv - if you're still around and ever on ff net and see this, it's ALL YOUR FAULT! ;-) This one's for you, BK.