I wish I could say I was ready for all hell breaking loose, but I had a wooden door on me at the time. And I was trying to rip the wires out of a particularly obnoxious dial-head which had cushioned my landing, but hell - my gratitude only goes so far. And the bastard had it coming.

But damn, these things are tough to kill. Especially with your bare hands. Boss had been damaged by the blast, so I was busy ripping its innards out with one hand, whilst I flailed around with the other for the bag I knew had been placed on the floor not too far away from where I was wrestling under a nice solid piece of oak with an officer-grade military chassis.

'Ali, quit playing with that damned thing and get out here!' The captain had a shrill note in his voice, so either he was seriously pressed, or my ears were still ringing.

'Then get this bloody door off me and give me a hand!' I yelled back. At least, I tried to. It came out as a series of gurgles because cold metal fingers were trying to throttle the life out of me. I managed to kick, thump and headbutt my way clear, grab my bag, grab one of the smaller bombs, and stick it inside its guts. Then I squirmed out from under whilst it was distracted trying to fish the device out, lurched to my feet, grabbed my captain and hurled us both bodily into the now-open doorway of the entry hall.

And then I could add hot splinters and stone chippings to the list of objects Luna would be fishing out of my butt cheeks and spine with tweezers later.

'Why is it people keep trying to drop buildings on my head?' The captain yelled into my right ear. Since my head was pounding I just wanted him to shut up. Plus - more important things to worry about. Like the uniformed troops running around, weapons ready and busy rounding up the assorted dial-heads. And leading the charge, two familiar figures - hulking bastards in SDF blues - both six foot four in their socks - one fair haired and clean shaven, the other dark haired and sporting one seriously impressive lip ferret.

There was no sign of Admiral Ersatz.

'Dan! Hank!' I waved cheerily. 'Good of you to drop in…' Hank Douglas charged over and helped me to my feet, his partner in crime held out a hand and hauled the captain to his. 'Well… isn't this embarrassing?' I chirped. 'Normally we're rescuing you guys…'

'Ichimonji. Douglas.' Harlock's greeting was a little more curt. Colonel Ichimonji loomed over him and offered his support to my rather battered captain. Darker haired than the captain, and broader as well as taller, but you could tell they were related. Just something in the eyes, as well as the similarity in looks. Harlocks breed true, I'm told - but two types: one kinda mousy and quiet like the captain, the others darker and taller (and if you ask me, a wee bit nastier. Just look at the captain's brother…). From what I've been able to gather Dan's grandad and the captain's great-grandad were brothers - our old captain's boys.

'Next time, switch the damn transmitter off earlier.' Dantetsu Ichimonji scowled down at my poor captain. 'If Emeraldas hadn't overheard one of the snatch squads talking, we'd still be a couple of hours out.'

'Can we save the "I told you so's until after we've mopped this mess up?' The captain was looking more than a little ragged - scruffy, blood-soaked, bruised, cut, burned… 'I got the information I came for - now I just want the bastard behind this.'

'In that state?' Dan looked him up and down and shook his head. 'You're a mess - and how long since you got any sleep?'

'Too long,' I piped up, from where I leaned against Hank's nice, broad, comfortable shoulder. The room was spinning alarmingly when I moved. 'But he's right - we do need to get this bastard.'

'He's the key - and not just to this smuggling racket.' The captain pulled free of his cousin's helping hands, Too proud, that's his problem. Me, I'd be more than happy to lean up against the nice blond tree-trunk next to me for as long as I could, clutching my little bag of goodies in a bloody hand. 'We were right about the connection to this trafficking ring. They have a nice sideline in some very nasty habits.'

'If he's here, we'll mop him up with the rest - nothing will get past the cordon I've set up. You know,' Ichimonji glared at my captain. 'Just occasionally you could just let me do my job. Instead of running in half-cocked and shooting the place up.'

'Now where's the fun in that?' I quipped. Dan ignored me. For some reason he thinks I'm just a knuckle-headed trouble maker. 'Not this guy you won't,' I added. 'He's got some tricks up his sleeve.'

'He's a synth,' Harlock explained wearily. 'And he's operating by remote. Two bodies at least, but he can't be far away. I want him before he gets off planet.'

'Not in that state,' Dan replied. 'You're both a mess.'

'You should see the other guys,' I quipped.

'Would that be your handiwork, Jones?' he asked pithily, pointing to a couple of dismembered dial-heads. I grinned at him, enjoying the way he went a little pale. Then I caught sight of myself in one of the (still partially intact) mirrors lining the hall. Even allowing for the crazy paving look it gave my face, I was a mess - dried blood (not all mine…) matted hair, a truly awesome slasher smile and a black eye were the least of it.

I touched the bridge of my nose and winced. 'Damn. You know, Luna's gonna kill me for this - she was so proud of fixing this the last time it got broken.'

'As well as the other fifteen times...' the captain drawled. I looked him over. Cuts and bruises all over him, his face was a little the worse for wear, and the tunic top he wore was in shreds.

Dan cleared his throat. 'Get cleaned up and get something to eat. No ship's getting off this planet without the Prometheus, the Epimetheus and the Pandora spotting it. Then we can track down this mastermind you're so ready for a piece of.'

'He'll need some decent weapons as well.' This voice was female, and sauntered with exaggerated grace through the carnage with a wiggle of her hips that could make a corpse sit up and beg. Long red-gold hair fell in a shining sheet to her waist, and her red and black flightsuit hugged curves in a way that I could only dream of doing.

In my nightmares…

She was holding a double gunbelt with a shiny skull and cross bones buckle. A cosmo dragoon in one holster, a sabre rifle in the other. 'My spare,' she told the captain as she handed it over. He took it with a smile - something that looked far less scary on him than mine had.

'Where's mine?' I whined at her. She just looked me up and down and sniffed. Got a good line in derisory sniffs, that girl. 'I'm sure the SDF will sort you out.' And just like that I was dismissed.

She'd walked in with an escort - two tall young men about the captain's age: dark haired, looked as though they could take care of themselves in a fight, and wearing matching black and silver flightsuits, and as alike as two peas in a pod, although I happened to know they aren't twins - one's a year older than the other. 'Don't take it personally, Ali,' said the one on the left. 'She treats everyone who isn't mom, dad, Kei or Harlock like that.'

'Mal! Blaze!' The captain sounded happy and relieved. Huh. Never sounds that happy to see me…

'Harlock. Em thought you'd need a bit of help, and we were in the area…' Blaze, the younger - and slightly shorter of the pair stepped forward. 'I'd hug… but the pair of you look - and smell - as though you've been wading through an abattoir…' He pulled a face. 'You've… erm… got a bit of intestine in your hair.'

I realised he was looking at me. 'Funny you should mention that,' I drawled back.

'They killed the prisoners,' Harlock added coldly. All five of our friends shared a look. We all know how bad it gets out here, but to come so close only to fail… it sticks in your throat. Especially when someone's done it to mess with the captain's head.

'There's some showers round the corner,' I broke in. 'We can talk whilst someone gets us some clean togs.' I turned to the captain. 'Sir?'

Hank almost choked at that and even Dan's lip twitched under that brown ferret of his. But the captain nodded, and we traipsed off. Ichimonji might be a martinet, but he was right - we did need to get cleaned up - blood soaked clothing stiffens, and it gets chilly on this planet to boot. No good if you're on a hunt. And I figured we needed to get something stronger than a cup of tea into him as well. 'You got some of that roofing tar you guys serve up on board?' I asked Hank as we walked.

'I think we can rustle something up,' he replied with a wink and a sideways glance at Harlock. 'Running on empty again?'

I snorted. 'Fumes. And I know damn well he'll be off the moment he's got some clean pants on given half a chance. Which reminds me - there's a holding cell you need to check for me - we left a synth puppet in there trussed up like a turkey - make sure it's still there, would you? This bastard's a real piece of work.' I paused, a thought percolating through my brain more slowly than SDF coffee through a filter. 'Ever known a download who could remote operate multiple bodies?'

Hank thought for a moment, eyes narrowed. 'Apart from the bitch queen herself? It's possible, I guess - but distributed consciousness isn't that common - we suspect a handful of the court can do it, but that's it. And we've had no intel that there's a court connection here. Everything you guys and Emeraldas have turned up suggests this is strictly a black-market op based around former Gaia Sanction elites and their toadies who like the good life.'

'Selling off mothballed military tech,' Harlock chipped in. We reached the showers and he stripped off so fast I swear he should have had friction burns. I didn't blame him - I couldn't get out of my filthy kit fast enough and get under a shower. The water was tepid, but I was past caring - even when I noticed Emmy hovering nearby casting a scathing eye over our manly forms. 'We couldn't figure how the hell they were getting the operating codes though - even Hoshino was drawing a blank, since most of his command structure was accounted for.'

'You figured it out?' Dan asked. He was leaning on the wall outside the wet room, long legs out in front of him, ankles crossed, just like my captain's favourite pose.

'Had it handed to me on a plate,' Harlock replied, pulling a face as he soaped his hair and watched the water run red. 'One of their capos is a recorded memory-core of a former fleet admiral - how and why the copy was made I've no idea. I don't even know if he was aware of it.'

Since he was hedging and Dan was looking as though he wanted to choke the information out of him before we all died of old age, I chipped in. 'It's his brother.'

'A copy of my brother,' the captain shot back, rather snippily I thought. Well boohoo. Potayto, potahto. And I said so.

Dan turned his eagle eyes onto me, glaring at me down his beak. 'Admiral Isora?'

'Calls himself "Count Lazarus" these days,' I told him. I ignored the captain's filthy looks figuring that keeping quiet right about now wasn't an option. He could deal with me later. 'Got some kind of Hellfire Club going, in addition to the black market weapons gig - big money to be made feeding the sick fetishes of these mecha-aristos with too much time on their immortal hands, and apathetic emotional responses. Big Game hunting and interior decorating a speciality.'

'I'm getting the sit rep from my people.' Dan tapped his earpiece pointedly. 'I get the picture. You know - you two should really stand down and let us deal with this…'

I looked over at the captain, who'd stepped out of the shower and taken the towel Marin handed him. He was towelling his hair dry and trying to look as though he wasn't listening. Not doing a great job of either, truth be told. I took the towel Blaze was holding out to me when I followed Harlock out of the showers, feeling cleaner and a lot less sticky. 'He won't,' I said quietly, giving Dan what I hoped was a meaningful look. 'You should know better by now.'

Dan's people had kindly donated clothing, and by that, I mean that we were soon turned out in SDF uniforms. 'I think you outrank me,' I muttered, eyeing up the captain who had lieutenant's bars on his dark blue jacket lapels. I had sergeant's stripes on my sleeve.

'Nope. Seems about right to me,' Emeraldas said brightly as she handed the captain her spare gunbelt. 'I wanted to give you deckhand's overalls but I was overruled…'

Marin - her cousin as it happens, her mom and his being clone-sibs, handed me his. Or is that half-brother? Lar Metal family trees are complicated.

'Emmy, don't be a cow. Here, Ali. Borrow mine - you'll need the firepower.'

I took the weapon gratefully, glad of the familiar weight on my hip. Designed by the Arcadia's builder and our resident ghost in the machine, Tochiro, several of our mates had been issued with them. Not sure what the old captain would make of us making free with the armoury like that, but hey - he ain't the one who has to deal with this shit on a daily basis.

'You should sit this bit out,' the captain said softly. 'This isn't your fight…'

'Turn away boys and girls,' I told the rescue squad. 'This could get messy…' He looked at me in exasperation. The rest of them just looked amused. Eying up the assembled audience Harlock just sighed, grabbed my arm and hauled me off to one side.

'Don't make me turn that into an order,' he said quietly. I folded my arms across my nice, shiny, almost-new jacket.

'Don't make me tell you where to stick that order then,' I replied. 'I thought we had an agreement - you wouldn't pull that "this is something a man has to do on his own" bullshit, and we - the crew, that is - wouldn't call you out on it.'

'Ali -' The warning note was back, but I bulled on and ignored it.

'The Arcadia's all about freedom, right? So you're free to pull the manly heroic crap and go out and get yourself killed, but I'm just as free to call you a selfish prick and follow you to make sure you don't get your damned fool head off. And there ain't a damn thing you can do about it.'

I waited for a response, but none was forthcoming, unless you count him folding his arms over his chest and staring me down out of those long-lashed hazel eyes the girls go so wet for. 'And before you get dewy eyed over my self-sacrificing heroics, it's totally self-preservation. I fail to bring you back in one piece and my life won't be worth living - there won't be a rock in the galaxy - hell - in the nearest cluster of galaxies, where I could hide that Kei wouldn't find me. Which I keep pointing out and you keep ignoring, risking my most precious bodyparts in utter disregard for my welfare - very bad form for a captain, if you ask me.'

No response, so I poked him in the ribs with a finger. 'Well, say something, dammit!'

He finally smiled and shook his head slightly. 'Ali… you made your point. But I meant it when I said this was personal business. Lazarus could target you just to get to me -'

'Begging my captain's pardon, but anyone shooting at him is my business. After all these years if he hasn't figured out that we're all we've got and we stand together, then with all due respect he's overdue for a painful thumping as a reminder.' I had to stop for a deep breath. 'That prick ain't just your problem, and he sure ain't your family anymore. He ain't been family since the first time he turned on you and tore your life apart instead of protecting you like a big brother should.' I let out the last of my breath in a self-satisfied huff and waited.

And waited. Finally he smiled. 'Did I hear you place an order for coffee?'

I grinned right back. 'They might call it that, personally I beg leave to differ. Even the sludge Yattaran brews up is better than military grade roofing tar…'

'If it's caffeinated, I'll take it.'

I waited. He waited right back. 'Aren't you going to fetch me one?'

'Get your own damned coffee you lazy bugger,' I shot back. 'If you wanted to be waited on hand and foot you should have brought your cabin boy.'

'Tadashi isn't my cabin boy,' he pointed out - again. For like the thousandth time. Who's he kidding I want to know? The kid dotes on him and is always fetching him stuff.

'So you say. Now I see a sweet, doe-eyed little ensign with your name on her over there with what looks like our rations, so be a good pirate captain and take a walk in that direction.'

His look was amused this time. 'You think I'll do a runner and take off without you anyway?'

I gave him my best beatific beaming smile. 'Never crossed my mind, sir.'

He snorted. I smirked. We sauntered over.