Of Players, Aliens and SHADO Ops

dragon
© 2001

Disclaimer: As always, all things UFO belong to Century 21 productions, Gerry and/or Sylvia Anderson, and whoever else owns a piece of the action.

Tanaka Clan, Osato Hiroshi, Jonathan Raven and Ski borrowed from Raven and will be respectfully returned to point of origin just as soon as I can remember what it was.

Cheyenne Phillips gratefully absconded with from Renegade, which belongs to USA Network, Stu Segall productions and Stephen J Cannell.

Tanaka Hideoshi, Osato Makiko and Caleb Moorecock are the brainchildren of dragon. (ok, no more comments about the state of the brain) If you'd like to abuse them, please ask. Not for profit. Just for fun.

They were alone in a small, cinderblock room. A table occupied the middle of the room. He sat on one side of the table. The small Japanese woman sat on the other. He was angry, although not necessarily at the young woman.

"You understand you're in a lot of trouble."

The girl blinked at him, her almond shaped eyes unreadable. She grinned at him. "*I* am in trouble? I did nothing," she informed him, her accent charming his ears while he tried to keep his mind on what was here and now.

"You're party to a kidnapping."

"I did not kidnap anyone. I was kidnapped, held prisoner. I do not understand what you are trying to say."

Alec leaned forward across the bare table, his face inches away from hers. She could see where adolescent acne had scarred his skin. Still, it was a nice face. "You were with Caleb Moorecock when he arranged to kidnap Edward Straker and turn him over to the aliens."

"No."

Alec blinked. "You didn't know about the kidnapping."

"Yes."

"Yes, you didn't know about the kidnapping?"

"No. I knew Caleb-san would take Straker-san prisoner. I knew we would be paid well for this. But we did not know the aliens were involved."

"Kidnapping is a federal offense. In this case, a military offense. We can try, sentence and execute you without you ever leaving this installation."

This did not seem to impress her. She leaned forward, tracing the planes of his face with her eyes. She met his gaze square on. "So?"

He wanted to reach over and shake her until her teeth rattled in her head. Instead, he sat in his chair and stared at her. He shook his head. "You're both dead. You know that?"

Her laughter surprised him. "Oh, Freeman-san, you do not understand, do you?"

"I'm trying to."

"Ok. Caleb-san was commissioned to acquire Straker-san and deliver him to a point outside of London. He was hired by a man. There was no mention of aliens. There was no mention of Black Dragons. You follow?"

He nodded.

"Ok. Caleb-san, walks on the wild side. He has money, now. He has investments that pay him to live from quarter to quarter, yes? But, right now, we are short on cash." She frowned. She knew that if she had $50,000.00 to draw on for the next two months, she would not consider herself short of cash. But Caleb did. "Caleb is short on cash. He does not like for --- 'Liquid Assets'", she produced the phrase with a victorious smile and a laugh. "He doesn't like for his liquid assets to get below about $150,000.00."

Alec stared at her. The man had several million dollars in invested assets. "Why doesn't he just liquidate some of his investment?"

Shrug. "He won't. As he won't curtail his expenses."

"So kidnapping, presumably turning Straker over to be - harmed, ransomed, killed - was all right as long as the aliens weren't - involved." // Shit. That means he knows what aliens are. This isn't the first encounter. Damn it all. //

Miki watched his face as his thoughts ran behind it. "No, this was not our first encounter," she agreed softly. "There are gaps in what you know of Caleb-san, yes?"

"Damn right," he growled, glaring at her. How the hell could such a hellion as she must be to hang with this Moorecock guy, be so damn innocent sweet looking in spite of the punk haircut?

She grinned at him. "You know who I am?"

"Osato Makiko. Daughter of Osato Hiroshi. Born Tokyo 1981. Educated at select private schools. Moved to Hawaii after graduation. Disappeared and surfaced here with Caleb Moorecock."

"Do you know who my father is?"

"Japanese businessman," he shot back, with a frown. No. Not *just* businessman, his back brain was telling him. Much more.

"Yakuza. Oyabun. You know what that is?"

"Some sort of leader."

"Clan leader. He is oyabun of Tanaka clan. He inherited it because the old oyabun's son was not yakuza. His father understood. My father does not. He nearly killed the man and his daughter trying to take a profitable nightclub away from Mr. Tanaka. What has this to do with Caleb-san? His cousin, Raven, he stopped my father. He killed the Black Dragon clan ninja who came to claim his life in vengeance. This started a feud with my father. He is Yakuza, tradition, to the bone."

"So, this cousin -"

"Jonathan Raven. He is a man of many talents. He is Black Dragon. He has been covert for the US government. He has been and done many things he would not do now. He is also a complete double for Caleb-san."

Alec began to see where that could be a problem. He nodded for her to continue.

"About two and half years ago, Raven-san came to New Orleans to collect an inheritance. Caleb's father left a lock box for Jonathan. He made reservations at the hotel Caleb stays at. They made a mistake. The desk gave him the key to Caleb's penthouse. Caleb met him. They spoke. They fought each other, they fought Dragons. They came to an understanding. Raven-san went home to continue to search for his son."

And he thought life with SHADO was complicated. "Caleb went to Hawaii, where his cousin lives."

"Hai. He arrived and was mistaken for his cousin almost immediately. Jonathan-san has a reputation in certain areas. Caleb was taken prisoner. He was held with a young man named Dan. Dan is also Raven's son for whom he had been seeking for 18 years. Caleb told Dan his father still searched for him, with less and less hope of success, but never completely giving up. Caleb pretended to be Raven. The Yakuza came to make certain the woman had what she said. Someone opened fire. Caleb and Dan escaped. Caleb nearly died for the boy. Raven was captured. The Dragons came for him. Dan and Caleb returned just as two of those silver craft landed. I do not know why Caleb took an immediate dislike to them, but he did. They killed many, Caleb and Raven-san managed to destroy the aliens and their craft. I think Ski-san and Chey-san helped. Ski always has too many weapons," she ended with a chuckle.

"Maybe that wasn't the first time, either." Alec was storing names to cross reference with the reports he had already requested. Ski he didn't recognize. Chey-san might be Cheyenne Phillips. He hadn't seen anything about an attack in Hawaii two years earlier, but he might have missed something.

She frowned, thinking. She met his eyes. "You are right. From what Raven-san said, Caleb reacted before the things finished landing. I do not think he believed it more than instinctual, but you may be right. It would explain his - distaste for the aliens." She was staring directly into his dark eyes. "Caleb would never have agreed to turn anyone over to the aliens."

Alec looked grim, but he understood what she was telling him. The kidnapping had been "an ordinary, average" action to Caleb until the intervention of the Yakuza. According to Straker's debriefing, Caleb had kept the Yakuza from just killing the Commander. He had taken care to keep Straker as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. And when the aliens had caught the Commander dead to rights, he'd dived into the fray, taking a shot in the gut for his pains. No lack of courage. No lack of understanding. Alec was having a really hard time reconciling the two images of the man.

"You do not understand, do you?"

"No." Alec was firmly convinced he could never do what Caleb had done. Yet, hadn't they done similar things to survivors of alien attacks? They took them from the attack site, debriefed them, told them about the aliens to calm them, then stole their memories and returned them to their lives missing crucial information. How do you avoid the next encounter if you don't recall the first one?

Miki regarded him brightly, like some strange bird that had landed on the ledge. "You lie. A part of you understands why he reacted as he did."

"It doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it legal."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Is everything you do "right" by your society's understanding?"

He scowled at her. The grin she shot back didn't seem impressed. "My father is Yakuza. You will have to do better than that."

"Why'd you leave?"

She smiled at that. Damn, he could get used to that urchin look. Whoa. What did he just think? Miki was a scrawny, childlike figure, not his usual starlet appeal fare. Yet there was an engaging quality about her ---

"I did not want to be cement."

"What?"

She laughed. "My father wanted to marry me to the son of another oyabun. To "cement" the relations between the two clans. To enlarge his power base. I refused. He beat me. I ran away. I found Caleb. I asked him to take me with him. He did."

"That simple?"

This time she dimpled with her grin, her eyes glittering with suppressed laughter. "Well, not quite. I had to prove to Caleb that I was not my father's weapon. After I seduced him."

"You - seduced -- him???"

"Yes."

"And you were?"

"Not quite 18."

Alec looked stunned. "Yakuza," he muttered.

A trill of laughter met that. "Yes. But not the way you are thinking. I read a lot. I watched videos a friend of mine had. She was training to be geisha, but was considering the shorter training to become one of the floating world - an expensive prostitute. Such things are not - as -- awkward in Japan as they are in the West. It is - perhaps not as honorable as the geisha, but it is very - if you are good you can make a lot of money. Especially if you free lance."

Alec knew that many women, especially among the actresses he had dated, were not as shocked by such things as his upbringing made him. He was having a hard time with this discussion. He coughed.

"I shock you?"

"Yes." What the hell? Why did he say that?

She smiled at him. "I'm sorry, Freeman-san. I did not mean to do so. Such things are common knowledge in my country, in my world. I forget that Western eyes do not see these things the same way. You think I am a bad woman?" She hid her face behind her hands and peeped at him through her slender fingers. Caleb could have told him that it was one of her favorite tricks. But Caleb wasn't there.

"No," he hastened to reassure her. He wasn't certain what he thought now. He had been so certain she was the "seduced woman-child", lured in by Caleb's fascination. He still wanted to teach Caleb a lesson. He just wasn't quite as certain how he wanted to do so. The man had endangered Straker. He had deliberately taken the Commander prisoner with the intent of turning him over to unfriendly forces.

But then, he'd also done everything he could once the shit hit the fan to keep Straker alive and in one piece.

What the hell were they going to do with the two of them?

"Recruit them."

"What????" Paul and Alec shouted almost in unison.

Straker regarded the two men curiously. "I don't see what was so difficult about that order."

"Ed -"

"Commander -"

The two men exchanged looks and Paul deferred to Alec on the basis of seniority and his occasional ability to get the Commander to see sense.

"You have seen their security checks."

"Yes."

"There are gaps. They're both security risks."

Straker regarded them steadily. He knew what the reports said. He also knew his gut feeling was that Caleb would be an asset to the organization. He was beginning to have a hazy idea that would need someone of Caleb's dubious background and scruples to implement. The likelihood that Caleb had survived not two alien encounters, but three or more, argued that the man kept his head and respected his opponents.

Miki was another matter. She was amoral enough to go to a man like Caleb to get away from her father. Yet she had stayed with him for two years. Logic dictated she was staying safe, which was what Caleb could do for her. Yet his lifestyle was contrary to that idea. Safe was not a concept that seemed to trouble the man overmuch.

"I know what you're saying, Colonel. Both of you. I need a man with Moorecock's capabilities for a project I'm considering." He raised a hand to keep their questions at bay. "I haven't gotten it all planned out yet. I'll let you know as soon as I do. Find out if they'll consider joining."

Both men looked like they had major misgivings, but Straker wasn't still Commander of SHADO because he made mistakes. They nodded and went out.

Caleb looked at Alec like the man had just lost his mind. He was sitting up, most of the tubes and monitor pads had been removed, including the blasted catheter, and he was trying very hard to behave as though he was a guest rather than a prisoner. Alec's politely phrased inquiry about joining these crazy people had caught him off guard.

"You want me to what?"

Alec gave him a look that spoke volumes. "Join SHADO."

Caleb just looked at him for a moment, his face unreadable. Then he smiled. "This is a joke, right? I say "Sure." And you send me to Leavenworth for the next 50 years for kidnapping an officer?"

"Much as I might like to do so, no. This is an offer directly from Straker."

Caleb regarded him much as he might an interesting specimen of poisonous spider before he crushed it. "I thought he got shot in the shoulder," he said softly, his accent deepening, his eyes nearly opaque.

Alec bristled. "A simple 'no' will do," he growled.

The man on the bed continued to regard him with that disturbingly unreadable gaze. "I'll give it some thought."

"Don't take too long." Alec wheeled about and stalked out of the room.

Caleb watched him go. It was time to leave. As hostile as most of the SHADO personnel were bound to be, there was no way he would put himself in a position to have to deal with them every day. He cautiously checked the bandage on his side. Tender, but not nearly as painful as he had let the nurses and doctor think. He would have to find a way out of this place tonight, while most of the medical personnel were off duty.

He hadn't seen Miki in a day or so. He needed to find a way to get a private word with her. If she wanted to accept an offer of employment from these people - well, that might just solve most of her problems. The Yakuza would not tangle directly with government agencies. SHADO would keep her safe from her father and his organization. She would learn to keep herself safe from whatever other dangers might find her.

The afternoon passed quietly. Miki was apparently busy. So be it. Caleb waited until after the medication they gave him should have put him safely in slumber land. He was off the IV and the monitors. He eased out of the bed and took a look in the small wardrobe. He hadn't really expected his clothing to be there. Blood was difficult to get out of silk. And a tux would be difficult to explain. He checked the hallway. Empty. Good. He moved silently down the corridor.

He found the surgical unit and the stockpile of greens they kept on hand. It was better than nothing. And it was certainly better than the traditionally drafty hospital gown they'd kept him in. His side complained a bit as he stretched to pull on the tunic. The pants were easier. He ignored the over the shoe booties in favor of padding silently on bare feet. He'd tried a devastating power kick while in a pair of those things once. That was embarrassment enough for one lifetime.

He narrowly avoided Dr. Jackson conferring with another doctor. A pity neither had been alone. Either would have supplied more normal clothing. He slid though a double doorway into a very metallic walled corridor. He began to hope he could find an elevator, a vehicle area or a stairway very soon. There was no place to hide in these corridors.

Luck was with him for a while. He met no one. The hair on the back of his neck began to feel like it was going perpendicular to his scalp. He looked around. There were no visible cameras, but there must be some sort of security surveying devices around here. He turned a corner and found himself in a hallway with a large, imposing sign. S.H.A.D.O. Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization. Who were they kidding?

There was a door right across from the sign. It looked like an ordinary room door, but why put that spectacular sign right across from an office? The door was unlocked. He stepped in and shut the door behind him. The lights came on.

"Leaving?" Straker's tone was strident. He held a very serviceable looking gun in his left hand. His right arm was still in a sling.

"That was the idea."

"Why?"

That got a laugh. "I should think you'd have that answer. Y'all seem to know a great deal about me."

Straker regarded him steadily for a long silent moment. Then he sat down in the chair behind his desk and tossed the gun on the gleaming surface. He waited.

Caleb frowned. He became very, very still. The silence grew. "What do you want?" The question was so soft, Straker almost missed it.

Silence. What did he want? He had an idea. Henderson and the Commission would never go for it. It would take too much of SHADO out of their immediate control. It would give the organization the covert agents across the planet that they really needed. But what did he want from Caleb Moorecock?

Caleb advanced on the desk, then came around the end and stood behind Straker's chair. Straker had followed him with those glacial blue eyes until he couldn't do so without turning his head. The tension was thick between them. One swift motion spun the chair so Straker faced him. He rested his long fingered hands on the arms of the chair. Straker stared into his eyes, not a flicker of emotion on his face as Caleb slow squatted down in front of the chair.

"You're afraid of me," the soft southern drawl told him. "Just like you're afraid of them." He watched the pale gaze intently. He didn't expect a reaction on his face, but the slight dilation of the man's pupils answered him. "And you'd face them just like this if you thought it would save one more life. What do you want from me?"

"Loyalty." The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Where the hell had that come from? His people were loyal.

Caleb continued to regard him. Loyalty. To what? To some insane ideal to keep humanity from being damaged by marauding aliens? You couldn't stop all of them. That was half of what was eating this man alive, his inability to stop them. No. Loyalty to him. Someone he could depend on to do what he needed done, even if it meant going outside the established parameters of operation. Could he do it? Could he give that loyalty to this man?

He let go of the armrests of the chair and sat down on the floor with a sigh, his head tilted slightly to one side, still keeping his steady regard on Straker. "What do you need?" he asked in a whisper.

"You."

That got a laugh. "Me. What do you have in mind your people can't do for you?"

"Think you already know me that well?" The blue eyes were ice again.

Caleb got to his feet, wincing as the stitches pulled. He leaned over the arm of the chair, his face closer to Straker's than anyone's had been in a very long time. "Don't I?" He felt the tension in the other man ease, draining away. Something akin to a smile touched his thin-lipped mouth.

"Maybe you do. Foster doesn't like you. Freeman doesn't think you can be trusted."

"They're right. They can't."

"But I can. Miki can. Who else is in that select group?" He steeled himself against the hot flare of anger in Caleb's dark gaze." Who else?" he pushed.

"Not many."

Straker smiled then. He had known he wouldn't get an answer. That was part and parcel of what he needed from this man. Even knowing that he was trusted, he would not bestow trust. Excellent. "Get back to bed."

"No."

"I didn't think you were claustrophobic."

"I'm not. I hate hospitals."

That got an understanding snort. "Not fond of them myself. But you haven't been through the training yet. I can't just let you out."

"Come with me. I doubt medical is thrilled with your keeping late hours."

That got a look. Caleb just looked lazy, his eyelids at half-mast. "I didn't ask you to sign on as a nanny."

Caleb let his eyes travel down and up. He shook his head slightly, his thick black hair fanning out around his pale face. "Nanny's are for children. Children don't know better. You do."

The other man shifted in his chair, not quite certain why that look didn't make him far more uncomfortable than it did. "Freeman."

The door opened behind Caleb. He had been expecting something of the sort, but stilled anyway. "Yes, sir?"

"Moorecock and I are calling it a day. He's agreed to join us. I'm taking him back to the hotel for the night."

Alec was the great stone face. "Very good, Commander." Was there the slightest bit of emphasis on that last word?

The drive was silent after Caleb won the short argument about who would drive. Straker sat in the passenger side and seethed quietly. It occurred to him after twenty minutes or so that Caleb wasn't headed for London. "Where are we going?"

"I was hoping you'd get around to telling me. You're the one with a sore shoulder. I should drop you off and then head to the hotel."

"Considerate. This is my car."

"All right. I'll stay at your place tonight and I can retrieve clothing in the morning."

Straker frowned. No. That was not a good idea. He could imagine what his neat, pristine, barely lived in home would look like after Caleb had spent the night in it. "Six a.m."

"Eight."

"What?"

"Your first appointment is at nine. I'll be at your place at 8. Assuming I can recall how to get there."

"Seven."

"Agreed." He pulled into the drive and killed the lights. He frowned at the windows. Something was off. Something was very much not right. He reached an arm across Straker and latched the door before throwing the car into reverse. They were about half a block down the street when Straker's house turned into a fireball. "Then again, maybe you should try a hotel."

Straker's face was a mask in the firelight. He was silent as Caleb turned the car and left the scene before the fire brigade arrived. He was still silent when they got to the hotel. Caleb knew that look. The man's life, what little there was outside of his organization, had just been raped. He pulled the other man out of the car and shepherded him upstairs. It was late and most of the transients in the hotel were already locked in and tucked in for the night.

Straker took in the suite as Caleb closed the door behind him. Four bedrooms. Three baths. A sitting room strewn with Miki's belongings. Caleb left him standing there to go find something much more comfortable than his current apparel. He pulled on a pair of Japanese loose pants and a red embroidered black silk kimono. Both had were gifts from his cousin.

Straker was still standing, but he'd moved into the room. "As long as Miki's not here, the room's safe enough."

Straker nodded and took a seat on the overstuffed couch Miki had occupied while fussing at Caleb the night this began. He relaxed into the comfortable mix of firm and soft. He shook his head over the offer of a drink; accepted the coffee offered afterward. If he was surprised that it arrived sweet and light, as he liked it, he didn't show it. He looked tired.

Room service came and went. He wasn't hungry. He was still seeing the flames exploding, blowing out the windows, eating hungrily at his home, at the few things he could call his own, at the small vestiges of his life that were now gone. Wearily, he let his eyelids slide down; his head fall back against the couch cushioning. Caleb caught the coffee cup and saucer before they fell. He watched the pale man intently. Like Jonathan, Ed was a man who felt deeply and shielded those feelings. To paraphrase a line from a play: it was gonna be a bumpy night.

Time passed. Ed Straker passed into the usual repertoire of nightmares that disturbed most of his sleeping hours. The car crash engineered by the aliens. Mary screaming at him. Johnny lying broken on the roadway. Mary screaming at him. Disintegrating aliens who laughed as they turned to dust. Alec lying dead -- on the moon, on the ground, floating in the ocean amid wreckage. Ginny Lake slowing down while he raced against time to stop a strike against the base under the studios. Bodies - alien bodies, human bodies, death and destruction all around him.

He jerked awake, suddenly aware of an unfamiliar touch. Strong, lean arms were holding him, a voice muttering in what sounded like French. He was burrowed against Caleb's chest, his arms pulled tight in against him. He relaxed. The hold relaxed. He pulled away, sitting up, frowning over the twinge in his shoulder. He resolutely didn't look around to see what Caleb was thinking. Apparently he'd fallen asleep. His shoes were off and a thick, silk velvet comforter had been pulled up over him, a pillow lay on the floor beside the couch.

He finally looked around at Caleb. The man was regarding him seriously, almost curiously. "That happen often?"

"No." The answer was shot back too swiftly. How many nights did he end up sleeping too few hours because of the dreams?

"Why?"

How the hell did one answer that question? Because he'd made too many mistakes in his life that had cost others their lives? God, would this man be another one? Something of his sudden doubt must have shown in his face.

"Never shoulder the burden of another man's decision." Caleb rose with feline grace, as though he would leave the sitting room, then stopped. He looked down at Straker, troubled by what he saw there. He sat down again, not on the couch, but on the floor, his long legs folded neatly under him in a traditionally oriental manner. "Why do you let yourself be hurt like that?"

The question practically floored his listener. How could you not ---? And looking into those bottomless dark eyes, he understood more about his new employee - no, his new agent - than anyone else on the planet. *That* was how Caleb could do what he did, be who he was. Miki was protected because she came to him. He would never have considered the position if she had not asked. Once she did, he was willing. The only action that had pierced his armor was when the aliens had arrived. There was a deep, driving anger that made him destroy the aliens.

"Who did you lose?"

Caleb blinked? "When?"

"To the aliens."

"No one." The answer was even, but it wasn't quite true.

"Your cousin and his son are still alive. You knew then what you were facing. You nearly sacrificed yourself to keep the two of them alive."

"Never gave it a thought. I just acted."

"You knew what they were." Silence. "When? Where? Caleb, I need to know."

His given loyalty warred with his desire to bury those memories. Back in the bayous. Not out on Bayou LaFouche where his home lay, but back in the dark, overgrown reaches of the swamp. Back where the loup garou was rumored to live and eat human flesh. Back where the vodun still practiced ancient rites. Back where the swamp itself seemed alive, not with plants and animals, with a malignant intelligence. Back where the Witch Queen herself was held to still hold court.

He got up, poured himself a drink, poured Straker a glass of water, and returned. He handed the pale man the glass. He noted the slight hesitation. "Not this time."

Straker took the glass and drank. "What was that? And how did you deliver it?"

"Zombie juice."

"What?"

That got a grin full of mischief. "I'm not entirely certain what's in it. I do know it's effects wear off and that there are no after effects, unless you're allergic to it."

"So I'm lucky I didn't bloat up like a toad?"

"No. You're lucky you aren't still under my command."

He took another drink to shield the way that thought shook him. "How did it act so fast?"

Another grin. " It wasn't nearly as fast as you thought. The contact point was the handshake. The aftertaste in the water was just an indication it had spread through your system."

"I'll have to remember to wear gloves."

"I doubt you'll run up against anyone else who knows about it."

"Good. When did you run into them?" Damn, those eyes went opaque fast. For a moment, he was completely, bone deep aware that he was alone with this man. Oh, hell. He hadn't called Alec to tell him he was all right.

The sound of a fist hitting a door repeatedly arrived right on time. Caleb looked amused as he got to his feet and went to open the door. He timed it just as Alec went to thump the door again. "Where is - "

"Alec."

"Ed!"

"Come in."

Alec, followed by four security personnel, stalked into the room. "What the hell happened? You didn't answer your phone. -" He stopped talking at the look on Straker's face. "You were there?" he asked, his voice softer.

Straker nodded, got a grip on his psyche and asked if they had any idea what had happened. Alien or other? Who would go after Edward Straker like this?

"We haven't gotten through the debris yet. The fire's been out for about an hour. It took hours to get it under control. Your neighbors are all right. It didn't spread, but scared most of them. One said she saw what looked like your car pulling into the drive just before the place went up."

Straker nodded. "We did. Then we left."

"Why?"

Straker looked to Caleb who was finishing his drink. Alec looked at the dark clad man also. He raised his expressive eyebrows in query. "Oh, the house. Just a random thought. The Yakuza and the Dragons are fond of making examples. Explosions make good examples."

"And Straker hadn't been home for a few days. Plenty of time to plant a bomb," Alec finished nodding. Intuition. He'd been known to trust it himself a few times. "Why didn't you bring him back?"

Again the eyebrows. "I needed a change of clothes. And this," expansive hand gesture, "is far more comfortable than your - facility - is."

"Even the couch," Straker added.

"If you were going to sleep, it seemed unduly intrusive to try to move you."

"Alec."

"Yes?"

"I'm fine. Caleb's fine. I'm tired."

Was that a shocked look on Alec's face? "I'll leave a guard on the car. Good night."

"Good night, Alec." He gave his second in command a tired smile as he went out.

The door closed. Alec waited until he heard the lock and the chain fall into place. Then he shook his head. All right. If this south Louisiana smart ass could get Ed to get some sleep when he needed it, then he'd put up with the bastard, drawl, reprehensible morals and all. He nodded to the security detail he'd brought with him and posted one to keep an eye on the Commander's car. No point in inviting trouble.

Inside, Caleb yawned and stretched, offered Straker the use of one of the bedrooms and looked like he was going to wander off to his own bed without answering the question. He stopped moving when he realized Straker was just sitting there watching him.

"You're not gonna let it go, are you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I need to know. I need to know why the aliens trigger that response in you."

A laugh. "They go around kidnapping and mutilating people. That's not enough?"

"Your cousin and his son weren't taken."

That flare of anger again, the one that speeded up the heartbeat in spite of telling oneself that the man had pledged his loyalty. Silence. This time he flung himself into a chair, sprawling, on leg over the arm, refusing to look at his guest. He could still feel the fear the damn things inspired in him. He could hear Bobby's screams as the things dragged him off into the swamp. He could see the limp form of Jean Thomas, lying there in the swamp, his belly a gaping raw wound, his eyes open to the dripping Spanish moss above him. And the other one, the one in the bright suit, the one with the silver helmet, standing over JT. He could feel the shame he felt then, soiling himself and hiding, a whimpering prey animal in a swamp full of predators.

He had sworn then that he would never, ever feel that fear; that he would never again back down from any danger. He had hidden in the cypress, silent, quivering like a rabbit. The darkness must have kept them from finding him. They left, taking JT's body. He'd washed his clothes out in the swamp and waited until they dried to go home. No one knew they'd gone into the swamp. Maman had been waiting for him. She'd started in, then stopped. She could see from his face that something terrible had happened. She put him to bed. She sat with him through the nightmares. When he said he wanted to learn to shoot, to fight, to defend himself, she had agreed and found ways to send him to people who could teach him.

JT and Bobby were two more lost to the swamp. He prayed for their souls. He went to the services. He never shed a tear. He was ten.

"Back in the swamps," he said, his voice harsh with loathing. "Bobby Hebert and Jean Thomas Robiceau. We'd gone back up the bayous a ways. JT was dead before we knew they were there. Bobby - was taken."

Straker watched his profile. Chiseled in stone. He knew the tone. Something the man couldn't stop, something he wasn't ready for. Had he been hurt? Then why had they left him? Wait. Something in the file. Caleb had left the bayous just after he graduated from high school. A glimmer of light.

"You hid."

"I was small, skinny. I fit places the other two wouldn't."

"How old were you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Moorecock!" Commander bark. Caleb looked around with murder in his eyes. He met the cold ice gaze. "Could you have stopped it? Could you?"

Black misery. His two best friends. His only friends. "No." It was a whisper of pain. Damn the man, how did he do this? How could he reach into the black places and know? He saw his own pain mirrored in those pale eyes. Of course. Only he let the pain stay with him while Caleb buried it, tossed it out, bent it to his own shape and kept to himself. "Satisfied?" he hissed.

"Are you?"

That threw him. "Dead and gone, is dead and gone."

"They're still out there. The aliens. They need to be stopped."

A laugh. "And you want me to help."

" I need you to help. Not with what I already have. With a new project." Yawn.

"Bed. Sleep. Much more important than any project you could figure out right now."

"Not true. Besides, this is a couch," he pointed out as he stretched out, wincing as he tried to find a comfortable spot for his shoulder. He was half asleep when Caleb handed him a painkiller and a glass of water. This necessitated sitting up again. He took the pill, only a portion of his mind looking squiggle eyed at his trusting this stranger to give him medication. Caleb took the glass, set it aside and insisted he move to a proper bed.

"After all, if you fall off and re-damage that shoulder, Freeman and Foster will decide it's my fault and I don't think you'd appreciate my killing the two of them."

"Waste of talent," Straker agreed and sank gratefully onto one really comfortable bed. He was asleep again before his head found the pillow. Caleb pulled the comforter up over the sleeping man and went to his own bed.

* * *

Morning. Caleb vaguely wondered if it was permissible in London to eradicate small chirpy birds outside the windows with semi-automatic fire. He glared at the window. Sunshine was beginning to peep in. He rolled out of bed, wincing slightly. He was going to have to learn not to get hit in the stomach.

He padded into the bathroom, took care of his early morning routine including a shower and shave. He pulled his wet hair back into a wet tail. He looked at himself in the mirror. Scars, more scars than he liked to see. He stretched, a couple of pale stripes showing down the sides of his ribs. He ran a finger over the stripes thoughtfully. He still wondered how he'd survived that whipping. Talent Pichoff had tried to flay the skin off his back for making up to his sister Madelaine. Maddy Pichoff, now there was a fine figure of a woman, even at 15. He hadn't thought about her in years.

A smile quirked his mouth. Maddy was probably married with children and carrying twice as much weight as she needed. He hoped Talent had met a bad end at some point. Maybe one of his poached 'gators had finally taken him off. Now that would be justice.

He moved into the sitting room and frowned. He had promised himself he would not pick up Miki's belongings. Maybe tossing all of it into a corner didn't count as picking it up. He moved through the room with incredible grace and speed, neatly flinging clothing and other items into a chair in the corner. Much better. He picked a clear spot and sat down to meditate. That was one of the few things he and his repentant cousin had in common. Although Raven usually chose to wear his Japanese pants and not a damp towel when he did so.

Ed Straker came completely awake, aware of the complete foreign feel to the room he was in. He shifted under the covers, winced at the twinge in his shoulder and lay looking at the ceiling for a few moments. Moorecock. The hotel. He got up quietly and looked for the bathroom. He stopped in the doorway and took in his host sitting silently on the carpet. He was still, hardly even breathing, from the look of it. In the pale light of early morning, he could just make out faded lines of scarring criss-crossing Caleb's back. His brows drew together in a frown. That was not in the report he'd read. There were a lot of gaps in the report, gaps that would have to be filled in soon.

He made his way to the bathroom, his host apparently unaware of his movements. Not quite. He opened the door when he was through making the best of his rumpled suit and found a small, neatly folded, pile of garments waiting for him. He shot a glance at the man who was, to all intents and purposes, still meditating.

He retreated into the bedroom and closed the door. The finished look was relaxed and elegant, white raw silk trousers, a tailored white silk shirt that weighed practically nothing and a cream vest, also raw silk. Not even the sling he carried his arm in could mar the elegance. He allowed himself a smile. The fit was excellent, considering the differences in build between the two of them.

Straker walked out of the bedroom feeling much more like the confident studio head/SHADO Commander he was than the rumpled, shot in the shoulder man he had felt on awakening. Caleb got to his feet smoothly, looked his guest over critically and nodded. There was a discreet knock at the door and breakfast arrived.

Caleb left Straker with breakfast and took a few moments to dress himself. With a quirky smile, he looked in the mirror. Where Straker was pale from head to toe, Caleb was dark. Black tatami socks, black Japanese style pants, black silk turtleneck pullover, black on black kimono style tunic. He pulled the band out of his hair, letting it fluff out around his head in a riot of thick waves. He looked splendidly barbaric. All he lacked was katana and wakasashi stuck through his belt to look every inch a gaijin samurai.

He joined his guest who barely refrained from blinking in surprise. Having lifted the covers from breakfast, he contained his reaction. Bacon, eggs, biscuits and coffee were balanced with fruit, rice and sashimi (raw fish). A pot of hot green tea sat next to the coffee pot. They ate in silence. Caleb wondered just what his cousin would make of this.

Alec Freeman, coming off night shift, was surprised to meet a bright-eyed young lady in the hallway bringing him a cup of coffee. He stopped and frowned at Miki who grinned up at him. He accepted the cup. It was perfect.

"Thank you. What brought this on?"

She looked puzzled for a moment, then grinned, her eyes sparking. "You are tired and worried. You are not happy that your boss has had his house blown up, or that he went with Caleb and stayed there. I thought maybe I can make you not so unhappy."

He looked her up and down with an overdone leer. "Indeed?"

Her chuckle did not bode well for his "scare her off" technique. She slid an arm through his and smiled up at him. "If you want. But I do not think having sex with me will make you happy. I think having answers will make you happy. You ask, I answer. That is how it works, yes?"

"I hope so."

He let her walk him back to his office. Something smelled good. He opened the door. Dinner? He lifted the covers off the plates. Steak and eggs and kippers and sushi and fresh fruit.

"I didn't know what you would like. I know meat and eggs is good. I like kippered herring."

"Join me?"

They sat on opposite sides of the desk and ate for several minutes in silence. Finally, Alec looked up at his companion and frowned. Where to start? She caught him looking at her.

"You want to ask questions but you do not know what to ask?"

"Something like that. Look, are you in love with him?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "I love Caleb because he was kind to me when I needed him to be kind. He took me out of my father's plans and I will always be in his debt for that. But he does not ask that I love him. I do not think many people love Caleb," she ended a bit wistfully.

"I can understand that."

Her eyes flashed for a moment, then she looked sad. "I know," she said with a sigh. "Caleb is not at all loveable sometimes. He is strong. He is intelligent. He has knowledge. He is deadly. But he is not someone to love unless you are very, very strong."

"You're no weakling."

"No. But I am - very small."

They both laughed easily over her response. "Nicely sized. Commander Straker wants to recruit both of you."

"And you do not trust us."

He started to deny her words, then nodded. "There's too much in your backgrounds that doesn't fit with what we do."

"You kill aliens," she shot back. "Caleb kills aliens. What is the problem?"

"We don't just kill aliens, Miss Osato."

"Miki."

"Miki," he accepted with a nod. "We try to keep them from coming here at all. And Commander Straker would like to find a way to convince them that this is a bad deal here."

"Hai. Caleb is good at that kind of thing. He is always convincing people not to mess with him."

"And you?"

She blinked. "Me?"

"What could you do for SHADO?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I am uneducated. I can keep house. I can spend money. I can keep my mouth shut."

"Uneducated? I thought all Japanese children were educated."

"I graduated from Japanese technical high school. I was not good enough to go to college prep. I did not do well in classes. I passed, but not high. I was not needed to do so."

"We can run you through a battery of tests to find out what you're good at."

"Tests? Will you test Caleb?"

"No. I already know what he's good at," Alec came back darkly. He realized he'd probably insulted his companion and shot a look at her. The black eyes were filled with laughter. He found himself smiling back at her.

"You know nothing about Caleb. Maybe you make him take test, too."

"Perhaps I should."

Caleb drove Straker out to the remains of his house. There was a long silence as the pale man sat and just stared at the blackened stubs of studs and the charred roof. The fire seemed to have completed the work started by the fire. There was literally nothing left. Caleb watched the man's face become more finely chiseled stone than his own had ever been. He tried to draw on his memory. All he got was a blandly innocuous English subdivision house. Nothing extraordinary to look at. He could recall nothing intriguing about the house. Contents - he wondered about the contents. What could have been revealed about the man by the contents? Family? Connections? Certainly nothing about his work. But probably the very little he kept about his life outside his work had been in there.

"Shall we?"

There was a slight start at the sound of Caleb's voice, as though the pale man had forgotten he had company. "No. No point. My people will have gone over it thoroughly."

Caleb put the car in gear and sped away. He mulled over the comment. There was very little in the house and not the sort of thing that would survive the fire after the explosion. For Caleb, this would not have been a problem. For Straker, it was a blow at what little humanity he still allowed himself. His memories had been stolen by whoever had set the explosive. Caleb found that this displeased him.

Lost in their own thoughts, neither man noticed the black camouflage dressed man lurking in the shrubbery of the next house over. He stepped into the light. So. Both men had survived. Osato would not be pleased.

They arrived at the studio in silence. Caleb parked, shut off the engine and waited. Straker opened his door and got out. Caleb followed suit, watching his companion closely as they walked through the studio's halls. Straker was putting a good face on his loss, but Caleb could feel undercurrents. The man had himself on a tight rein.

Most of the denizens of the studio took one look at the two men and moved out of their way. Word that Straker's home had been bombed had hit the newspapers and almost everyone in the studio knew about the apparent attempt to kill the head of the studio. Those who were also SHADO operatives were worried that someone had tried to kill the Commander.

They were about halfway to Straker's office when fate intervened in the shape of a tall, West Texas accented woman. "Caleb Moorecock."

Both men stopped and looked around. The woman was tall, almost as tall as they were. She wore a pale trouser suit, her deep golden hair pulled up in a chic smooth chignon, her make-up was subdued, considering where she was. She grinned at Caleb and then let her deep gray eyes travel down and up his companion to meet his slightly frowning gaze with a bland look of her own. She smiled at Straker. Her attention returned to Caleb with an expectant look.

He looked her up and down, then met the cool gaze. "Eliza, " he acknowledged her with a nod.

She chuckled and moved forward. Her stride was firm, a bit mannish, but that could be forgiven on such a tall, lean woman. She stopped well within Caleb's personal space margin, leaned forward and kissed him. "It's been a while," she told him softly, gazing directly into his dark eyes from beneath half lowered lids. Then she grinned again and moved back. Her gaze swept over his pale companion again. "And you are?"

"Straker. Ed Straker."

"Ah, the man himself." They shook hands, Eliza retaining her hold perhaps a little longer than necessary. "Eliza St. John." She pronounced it the British way "Sinjin". He found it oddly charming in the definitively Western accented voice.

"Ms. St. John. You've known Mr. Moorecock for a while?"

That got a rich laugh. "Oh, my. Yes. Caleb and I have - known - each other for a while. We met through a mutual acquaintance." There was laughter in her eyes. Caleb looked amused.

"I'll leave you two to catch up on -"

"Polite. But unnecessary." She glanced at Caleb and back to Ed. "I know that look. Besides, I have an appointment with a Mr. Freeman in a few moments. But, now that I know you're in town, I'll look you up." She held Straker's eyes as she spoke. He knew with certainty that he would be meeting Ms. St. John again. He wasn't certain how he felt about that. Or her apparent delight in practically undressing him with her eyes.

"*That* should be interesting."

She chuckled, her glance at Caleb mischievous. "Still have Osato's kid with you?"

He frowned. "Makiko is still under my protection."

That got a slow smile that lit her eyes. "You do take a girl up, don't you? Glad to hear it. She's a sweet child. Not quite up to your weight, of course, but sweet. Gentlemen." She bid them goodbye with a slight inclination of her head and walked away.

The two men studiously avoided looking at each other for a moment, then both looked up at the same time. Caleb smiled. "Yes, she is a bit much."

"Friend?"

"Sometimes."

They started moving toward Straker's office again. He shifted his arm unconsciously, the healing hole in his shoulder starting to ache. "Dangerous?"

"Aren't they all?"

"Where you're concerned, I believe so." Caleb chuckled. That was not the reaction Straker was expecting. He frowned in response. "Could she be a problem?"

"Not for me." That got the dark man a look. He raised his eyebrows in inquiry.

"What do you mean by that?"

"If you were a pastry, she'd be licking her lips about now." He ignored the blush that colored Straker's face for a moment. "I should warn you, Liza tends to go after what she wants and generally gets it, as well. If you're not interested, tell her. She's quite capable of accepting a polite rebuff. But don't play games. She's entirely too straight forward for that."

"And she runs with you?"

"Sometimes. When it suits the two of us."

Straker controlled his urge to make a disbelieving sound. He also avoided looking too closely at his reactions to the bold Ms. St. John's obvious interest in him. There was no time for a woman in his life. And no hope of keeping one if there was, that nasty little sniping voice inside his head added. After all, if he couldn't keep Mary, couldn't save his son - what right did he have to think it could ever be different. SHADO was his life, his wife, his mistress - it would always come first in his life. No woman could understand his devotion to the organization, to the cause.

Caleb watched Straker's face become immobile, a mask. He could read the play of denial behind the mask. A pity the Commander didn't know Eliza St. John very well yet. But he would. Caleb could read it in every line of the woman's body as she walked away. He hoped the man would understand what he was getting when it fell on him like the proverbial ton of bricks. 'Liza had given her heart once before. He frowned slightly recalling 'Liza's reactions when she had found out what the man was like. There was no chance that she'd leave Ed Straker floating in the Thames the way she had left Eduardo de la Cruz in the Mississippi, Straker was not the human offal that de la Cruz had been. But the clash of strong personalities would be difficult at best.

* * *

Down inside SHADO's gleaming underground corridors, Miki Osato was finishing up the battery of tests Alec had insisted on putting her through to find out what she could do. Thieving, seduction and occasional killing had not seemed to be skills of which he approved. His somewhat stiff reactions had made Miki giggle.

"So," Miki began, tossing her pencil on the desktop and stretching like a cat, making full play of the lithe body under the catsuit. "When do I find out what I can do?"

She met Dr. Doug Jackson's frequently unnerving gaze full on. Nothing in her face or almond shaped black eyes indicated she found the Dr. in the least disturbing. He regarded her distantly, then permitted himself a smile. "Six hours. I must correlate all the information you have disgorged to make an appropriate evaluation of your skills, your potential and your possible usefulness."

She made a face and stuck her tongue out at him. "And if I'm not in the least useful, you make me forget all about you and Alec and this place?" she grumped slightly.

He smiled again, not the most reassuring of smiles. "Perhaps."

"Or just put a bullet in my brain," she translated. "As long as you don't turn me back over to my father, I guess it's ok. Besides," she added over her shoulder as she was heading out the door, "I don't think Caleb-san will allow you to hurt me."

Jackson frowned slightly. "And why would you think Mr. Moorecock has any say in your disposition?"

She met his heavy lidded gaze squarely. "Doesn't he?"

He looked slightly put out for a moment, then composed his face into its normal neutral lines. The young woman was correct. Mr. Moorecock did have to be taken into consideration where Ms. Osato was concerned. A pity, perhaps. He started putting the rest of her answers into the computer to complete his evaluation.

Seven hours later, Caleb walked out of a sparring match with Paul Foster, wiping his face off with the towel draped around his neck and looking satisfied. Foster came out a few seconds later, also wiping his face with a towel and looking disgruntled. He'd counted on being able to take the more slightly built man with all the training SHADO, the military and his personal desires had put him through. Damn the cocky bastard, but he'd bested him again. Not that he'd seemed particularly elated about the victory. Paul fumed quietly as he followed the other into the showers.

They ignored each other politely as rivals do when engaged in showering together. Paul had to admit the other was a fit specimen. He frowned and really looked at the other man as he rinsed off, eyes closed, under the jet spray from one of the widely spaced water nozzles. There were a number of scars from who knew what causes, but the most intriguing were the half dozen bullet entry wound scars between collarbone and top of hip. The man was lucky to be alive. Paul would have to check the personnel file and find out what that was all about.

He ducked under the water himself to keep from getting caught staring. He was unaware that Caleb had been watching him through not quite closed eyelids the entire time. He smiled faintly as he finished washing.

Over the next week, Dr. Jackson and security continued their research and evaluations of Caleb and Miki. Ms. Osato had some interesting gaps in her knowledge, but showed a very high level of intelligence. There were several areas in which she could be of use to the organization, with training. Alec Freeman nodded his approval as he finished reading the analysis. He set her file aside and picked up Caleb's. He frowned.

He set the file down and went over the last few days. He had expected the Commander to be extremely depressed over the loss of his home. Not that the house meant all that much to him, but the few mementos of his son Johnny that he had were in the house. Now, all that was gone. Almost everything about his life before and outside of SHADO was gone.

Alec had expected Ed to carry on, he always did. But there were glimpses his second in command usually got to know what was going on inside. He could sense that the hurt was there. But Moorecock seemed to be running some sort of counter to the damage. Alec shook his head. He wanted to hate Caleb Moorecock. The man had kidnapped Straker with every intention of turning him over to the criminals who had commissioned the kidnapping.

Only, he hadn't. He'd protected Straker as much as he could when he found out who the purchaser was. He'd saved Ed's life at risk of his own. And now, he was practically watch dogging the Commander, yet without any of the flack the rest of the staff got for doing the same thing. He shook his head. Somehow he would make sense of all this. He hoped.

Miki's review before Straker, Foster, Freeman, Lake and Dr. Jackson went well - as far as the elder SHADO personnel were concerned. She had scored high marks in logic, sciences, mathematics and, of all things, human relations. When asked if she would like to pursue a career in computers or physics or even psychology, she had been agreeable. It wasn't until they started discussing schools and sending her away that she began to worry.

None of her concern showed in her face or her voice as she agreed that MIT and Cal Tech were probably the best schools for physics and then possibly astronomy and astrophysics afterwards. She agreed that the dorms were good living quarters for the first year or so. She was not so agreeable that Dr. Jackson became suspicious. She had not grown up in a Yakuza clan and learned nothing of how to stay out of the lime light, even when it was fully focused on her.

"That's settled then. It will be a few years before you officially join SHADO, but you'll be well educated and capable of taking on just about anything within the organization." High praise from the Commander. The others looked satisfied. Miki smiled and nodded and made her own panicked plans in the back of her head.

* * *

It took a couple of hours to track her protector down. Then she had to wait for him to return to his quarters before she could confront him. He looked up as she slammed into his room and closed the door behind her. Her face was pale, her dark eyes huge in her elfin face. There were tears brimming in her eyes. She launched herself into his arms and just stood there holding onto him as though her life depended on it.

He frowned. What now? He held her until she calmed a bit. Then he leaned back and looked down into her woebegone face. "What now? They find out you're useless?" He meant it as a joke.

"Nooooooo," she wailed. "They think I am smart. They want to send me to school. They want to -" she choked on her tears. "They want to send me away," she ended in a very small voice.

"Try this again. Where do they want to send you?"

"MIT - or - maybe it was CalTech. I do not know. It is not here. It is not with you - or them. I will be alone. He will find me. Do not let them do this, Caleb-san. Please. I will be good. I will be - I will take care of you. I will ----"

"You're babbling." It was curt and callous and he knew it. It also silenced her, anger bubbling to the top to call a halt to the panic.

"I - You! "

He grinned down at her. She hit him in the chest with her fist. Not very hard. "Better?"

She nodded and leaned into him again. "They do not understand," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "He will find me. He will take me back. I will not go back. I will die."

Caleb put his hands on her shoulders and moved her back to arm's length with a shake. "No. The best revenge is to live and live well. You will not go alone - No, I don't have the clout here yet. I'll handle it. Best you change into your own clothes. I'll be back in a bit."

Caleb's long legged stride carried him to Straker's office swiftly. His remote look kept the people around him from even considering interfering with him. He entered the office, it was empty. He started to sit down to wait, thought better of it and found a piece of paper in one of the drawers of the desk to use. He swiftly wrote on the sheet, signed the results, folded it and left it square in the middle of Straker's blotter. Then he sat down and waited.

It was a short wait. Straker frowned as he entered his office. There was something about the set of the head and shoulders of his new recruit that boded ill. He looked at the single sheet of paper on his desk. He looked up at Caleb. "This is?"

"Resignation."

"What?" the word ripped out of him. He unfolded the sheet of paper. No joke. Terse. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, I must request immediate release from my employment by this organization." He hadn't named the organization, the employment capacity, or the boss.

"Why?"

The dark eyes met his penetrating gaze. They were flat, opaque, dead. Something had happened. But what? Caleb read the man's confusion and relented. "Miki."

That really confused him. "Miki? We're sending her to school."

"Exactly."

Straker frowned. How in the world would educating the girl lead to this? They were sending her to the best schools in the world to learn - wait. Sending? Alone. Abruptly he realized that they'd been telling her what they wanted and how they wanted things. Not once had they asked her how she felt about this because there had seemed to be no need. Any one of them would have jumped at the chance SHADO was offering her - at that age, they would have.

"She doesn't what the education?"

Caleb sighed. Straker knew better than that. "She doesn't want to go."

"Why?"

"Alone she is a target. If Osato does not find her, another clan will. She is useful."

Straker sat down, realizing that he had been standing during all this. "We'll send a guard with her."

"Send her to my cousin."

"Explain." He wasn't outright turning the idea down, but he wanted reasons. He might still turn the offer down.

"She knows Jon. She knows his wife and his son. Jon knows what to watch out for. He's a familiar face, if not a familiar personality. The University of Hawaii can offer first and second year undergraduate classes in a comfortable setting. Give her time to adjust. She has never been on her own."

Osato Mikako had never been on her own. Straker sighed and leaned back in his seat. For most people her age, the lure of being on their own for the first time was overpowering. But they were not the semi-sheltered daughter of a Yakuza clan lord. Miki had turned away from her clan, her life when she went to Caleb. She had lost everything that defined her existence when she ran away. After two years with Caleb, she was not yet ready to set out on her own, regardless of what Dr. Jackson's psychological profile said about her.

"Will he take her? With an unknown benefactor?"

Caleb thought about that for a moment. "I think so. Let me talk to him."

Caleb went back to his room. Miki was sitting on the bed looking sad. He grinned at her. "How'd you like to stay with Jon and Dan?"

She looked up, startled. "What?"

He came and sat down beside her. "The University of Hawaii is a good school. A little less high powered than the others, but a sound place to start. You could stay with Jon. He'd see you were safe and not alone."

"My father ----"

"I have an idea." He did. It was insane. Totally, completely, irrevocably insane. And it just might work out for Miki, for Osato, for his cousin and that gun-toting loon he worked with, for all of them. "Let me call Jon and set up a meeting with him." He slid a finger under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. "I really think that what they offer you is the best idea for your future. You will go farther and do more than any Yakuza lord, than any other member of your clan or family will ever do. You will make him proud of you because he will be able to do nothing else."

She blinked back tears. "You think so?" she asked him in a whisper. As many daughters had done before her, she still wanted her father's approval.

"I know it. It will not be easy. But it will happen."

Caleb made two phone calls to Hawaii. The first was to his look-alike cousin Jonathan Raven. The answer was cautious, but Jon was always cautious.

"Hello?" Caleb could hear the curiosity and the frown in his cousin's voice.

"Jonathan."

"Caleb?"

He could see his cousin's brows snap together in suspicion. "Yes. How's life treating you?"

"Quite well. What do you want?"

"A meeting. I have something very special to talk to you about. I need to do it face to face. How soon can you get to London?"

"London - forty-eight hours."

"Make it 36?"

"That important?"

"To me. Perhaps not so important to you. Tell Dan I said hello." Click.

Jonathan Raven frowned at his cell phone. A tall, lithe blonde woman, her skin gold touched by the Hawaiian sun, her belly just beginning to bulge with the presence of a child, slid her arms around him in a hug.

"Who was that?"

"Caleb."

"Coming to visit?"

"No."

She chuckled. "A bit vehement there, husband."

He relaxed with a laugh, rubbing a hand across her belly. "We don't need the kind of trouble that follows him around."

She chuckled again as she moved around to his front so she could kiss him. "Mmmmm. A little more of that could lead to the kind of thing that led to this." She patted her tummy and grinned at him, her chocolate brown eyes alight with her laughter.

"Hmmm?" he replied thoughtfully. "Caleb wants me to come to London."

"When?"

"He asked for 36 hours."

"Oh, great. Spoil sport. Ok."

"You're sure?"

"Jon, Bobby and Reno are here. They're not gonna let anything happen to me. Or the baby. Or Hikari."

The front door opened and closed. A light step announced the arrival of the young man she had named last. Shorter than his father, wiry muscled, blue-black hair in a sleek fall to his waist, he looked every inch a beach bum. The stack of books under his arm belied the look.

"Oops. Y'know, you guys really should put up a sign," he pointed out with an understanding grin.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Chey admonished him with a laugh.

His eyebrows raised. "Gutter? You're married. What gutter?" He looked to his father. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Uh, huh. That's why you look thoughtful."

"Caleb says hello."

"He's here?" The young man looked around, wondering how he could have missed a guest.

"No. He's in London."

"He called from London - Hold on." He dropped his books on the low dining room table with a thud that made his father wince slightly, stepped into the open kitchen to grab a bottle of orange juice and then joined his father and stepmother in the living room. He sat on the couch, kicking off his sandals and pulling his feet up under him. "So what gives."

"He wants to talk to me. In London. Immediately."

"So you're taking off. Want me to come?"

That got a thoughtful frown. Jonathan hated being separated from his family for any length of time, although his work with Herman "Ski" Jablonski sometimes took him away from them. He'd spent almost 20 years looking for the son sitting on his couch. He'd found Cheyenne, his wife of a year and a half, when he wasn't looking. Leaving them hurt, especially knowing that Osato Hiroshi would make trouble or try to hurt them at any time.

"Jon," Chey called his wandering thoughts. "Reno and Bobby are here," she reminded him of her ex-lover and brother who had relocated their business from California to Hawaii just after their wedding. "Hikari and I can take care of ourselves. And Osato hasn't made a move in six months. He's been busy with the Posse that moved into his territory."

"I know. And the doctor requested you not to do any extensive traveling."

"Well, I did wait kinda late to start having a family," she agreed with another sunny smile. "We'll be fine. I'll have Reno or Bobby sleep over. And you know Ski will be here the entire time if I don't kick him out of the house."

"I know. I just wonder what the - he's got something up his sleeve."

"Arms?" came Hikari's innocent suggestion.

Chey and Jon both laughed.

Caleb's second call was to another number in Hawaii. A softly guttural voice, male, answered in Japanese. Caleb responded in the same language. Silence.

"Moorecock."

"Osato."

"What do you want?" There was a fear in Osato that the man had called to tell him his daughter was dead, or, worse, about to marry the man who had stolen her from him.

"To talk."

"Talk."

"Not on the phone. This needs to be secure, to be between us only. Mikako is safe. She is unharmed. She has - a future offered to her that it would be foolish to deny. There is an opportunity for both her clan and her that could change destiny."

Osato's already narrow eyes narrowed further. He ran a hand through his short-cropped black hair. His thin-lipped mouth pursed slightly. This was unusual. "Where are you?"

"London. I can arrange to meet with you on neutral ground in three days."

"Neutral ground? And where would that be?"

"Choose a place."

Was the fool so confident? "I will call you when I arrive."

"Very well." He gave Osato a number that would reach him. "In three days."

"In three days."

Caleb frowned as he disconnected. Osato would be the toughest problem. He had to make the man understand what the allies of the Black Dragons were and how they could affect the Yakuza. The alliance with the Black Dragons was rocky. This would make it even more so. He smiled. It was not one of those smiles inclined to reassure the observer.

Now to tell Straker what he was doing.

"You what????"

Caleb's well-arched eyebrows rose haughtily. Straker waved his second in command to silence.

"Why?"

"The aliens were at the meeting with the Black Dragons. I suspect the clan has formed an alliance with them. If the Dragons and the Yakuza, specifically Tanaka Clan, retain their alliance, that makes a formidable power base to work from. If the alliance is broken, the base is not so powerful or reliable. The Dragons are still recovering from - my cousin."

"Why would they ally with the aliens?" Paul asked the question on everyone's mind.

Caleb answered with an eloquent shrug of his shoulders. "You know the background of the clan?"

The others exchanged looks. Alec answered for them. "Not completely."

"Very few do. The Black Dragon ninja clan was very powerful during the two hundred years preceding World War II. They retained a lot of power until shortly before the end of the war. Since then, they have remained in the shadows. They are powerful, but they understand that assassins are not well liked in the Western world. Their power base shrank with the westernization of Japan and the rest of Asia. In the early seventies, they were becoming strong again. They began to move against alliances between the US and Japanese families, joint police and political movements in the Japanese islands. My cousin was a victim of that move. His parents were murdered. He was left in Japan under the tutelage of his kendo instructor. He was recruited to the Black Dragons, trained with them, and nearly destroyed them."

"And you think Miki's going to be safe with this man?" Alec fumed.

Caleb smiled. "Oh, yes. He's spent a lot of his adult life staying alive. He found the son he was beginning to suspect the Dragons had already destroyed. He's made a life for himself in the Hawaiian Islands. The only real problem is Osato. Miki's father. Oyaban of the Tanaka Clan. If I can break the alliance and bring Osato to our side - not divulging the existence of this organization, but bring him to realize just how unhealthy an alliance the Dragons have made - he has eyes and ears everywhere. He would make an invaluable ally for information."

"A crook!"

"A criminal overlord!"

The assembled hierarchy of SHADO was outraged and voiced their outrage. Except for Straker. The pale man was listening to his people and weighing what his newest recruit had said. He let the initial reactions die down. He nodded.

"They provide us information and they leave Miki alone. Excellent."

He found himself the object of everyone's attention. He looked around at them and raised an eyebrow in inquiry. They all looked away, except Alec.

"You're authorizing this?"

Nod.

"Why?"

"There was an attack in Hawaii two years ago that we knew nothing about. We missed it. That disturbs me, as it should disturb all of you. We are still missing an alien from the encounter two weeks ago. Technically, it should be disintegrated by now, but we don't know. We'll never know. As good as our surveillance abilities are, we miss things. Our backers will not let us get much larger."

"And we need to get larger. We still don't have the funding or the ground and air capabilities we need," Col. Lake agreed with him. She let her wide blue eyes roam the room. "He's right. We need to expand and we aren't being allowed to do so under the current administration. General Henderson and the Astrophysical Commission will never let us get big enough to really do the job." She stopped for a breath and looked directly at the Commander. "The question as I see it is whether we can shield our expansion from the Commission."

Paul Foster looked dumbfounded and thoughtful by turns. He knew Lake was right. They needed to grow. But growth could bring attention, unwanted attention. He looked back at Straker with a frown. "We recruit the Yakuza?" he said doubtfully.

Alec snorted. Caleb laughed.

"In a way. Yes, we do. As information gatherers. I don't approve of the criminal organizations. I do know they hear and see things that the rest of us don't, not until too late. We need to be able to tap into that." His gaze traveled back to Caleb. "You really think you can talk to him?"

"I think he's curious, and a curious man is one who can be swayed," Caleb answered, his accent deepening.

Caleb got the go ahead to talk to both Raven and Osato.

Caleb met his cousin at the airport and took him to lunch. Jonathan looked around appreciatively at the luxurious décor of the restaurant. "Still doing well, I see."

Caleb smiled. "Not bad."

They ate in silence for a while. Then Jonathan looked up to find his cousin watching him. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "All right. What do you want?"

"A safe place for Miki to stay while she finds out what college is like. That boy of yours is going, isn't he?"

"Yes. His foster mother and I have worked it out so that he is going to school and is in touch with both of us."

"Excellent. Miki has not found her own level yet. She does not wish to be - alone."

Jonathan nodded. "Osato."

"I will deal with Osato."

"Caleb -"

"He made it my business when he attacked us two years ago. He has since made it my business because I have Miki with me. I want it stopped. I believe I have -- an offer he can't refuse," he finished with a quirky smile.

"What sort of offer?"

"You don't want know."

"If you endanger -"

Caleb reached across the table and caught his cousin's wrist in his hand. "Danger is a fact of life for this family. You know it and I know it. More importantly, those who enter our lives and stay know it. I will not bring more danger to Cheyenne and Dan than they already handle. I believe I will remove some of it. I may even manage an alliance with Osato. He will cease to trouble you, although I do not believe I can remove him from your life entirely. Miki * is * his daughter," he ended softly.

Two sets of hard dark eyes met. Jonathan knew his cousin was hard, cold, and deadly. Yet he had helped Hikari survive, had been gentle with Chey and had taken in Osato's daughter when she cried out for help. He still had very little understanding of what made Caleb tick.

"Miki is agreeable?"

"As long as she doesn't have to start out at MIT, yes."

"MIT?"

"The child's brilliant, but untutored. The tuition is taken care of already. She just needs someone she trusts to be around."

Jonathan had misgivings, but he agreed with the stipulation that Chey got the last word. He called his wife and put the situation to her.

"Osato won't be a problem?"

"Caleb says not."

"I don't see a problem."

"Uhm, Chey -"

"I'm pregnant, not dieing."

He smiled and nodded at Caleb. "All right. You have a deal. Never argue with a pregnant woman."

"Cheyenne is pregnant?"

"Yes."

"And you were planning on breaking this to me when?"

Jonathan looked surprised. "I - I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd -"

"Care?"

"Well, yes."

"You sure she wants you back?" he asked sweetly.

"Yes. I apologize. Next time - what am I saying?"

Caleb laughed. "If there is a next time, you'll remember to let me know before the baby arrives."

"Yes. I will."

Jonathan agreed to stay in London, housed in Caleb's rooms at the hotel, until the situation with Osato was resolved.

Osato met Caleb in a warehouse on the Thames. He came with back up. Caleb came alone. Osato honored the man for his courage, despised him for his foolishness.

"Talk."

"You are aware that the Dragons have new allies."

Osato's face darkened over this comment. "We all make allies where we can."

"So, you think being an organ donor is a good idea."

"What?" Osato's black gaze met Caleb's relaxed dark eyes. "Explain."

"The Dragon's have allied with those who traffic in stolen body organs. Hearts. Livers. Lungs. Kidneys. The Dragons are well paid. The donors - well, they generally do not know they are donors until it is - too late to object?"

Osato was well aware of small operations where babies were bought from poor parents, tagged for later organ donations and taken care of to make certain the donations would be healthy. Most of those operations had been broken up by governmental intervention. Killing was not offensive to Osato, but he did not see that these "organ farms" were either profitable or proper. Too much attention was bad for business. Yet this did not seem to be what Raven's offensive cousin was alleging.

"They - take - "

"They take who and what they want. If the Dragons and the Tanaka Clan were to become not so close, would the Tanaka Clan wish to become the objective of these allies?"

"We will tell the Dragons to get rid of them."

"Will you? And will they obey? Or will they decide that the money and status conferred by the money of their new allies is worth the lives of the Tanaka Clan?" Osato's face was unreadable, but Caleb knew that the wheels were turning. He remained silent for a few moments before he added fuel for thought. "Perhaps it would be better if the Tanaka Clan took no notice of the new allies."

Osato glared at the man who so resembled the enemy he hated. "Explain."

"I also have new allies. My allies are interested in the Dragon's allies. They do not care about the Tanaka Clan or the Yakuza, as long as they are left alone. But they are very much interested in those who now fund the Dragons."

He could almost hear Osato's thoughts now. The Yakuza did not shy from killing, from clan wars, but the Dragons were strong enough to make life difficult, and they were not always careful to differentiate between clans. Osato's power base in the Hawaiian Islands was very strong. He did not need a problem with clans still based in Japan.

"Your price?"

"Miki's freedom. Raven's freedom from Yakuza attacks. From Tanaka Clan attacks," he edited his request.

"And what will my rebellious daughter do with her freedom?" Osato sneered.

"Go to school."

That got him. "School? What kind of school?"

"University. There is a business that specializes in computer and space technology. They believe she will work well for them. They are willing to send her to school."

"Where?"

"A couple of years in Hawaii to get used to how things work. Then MIT or CalTech. They're not yet certain enough of where her strengths lie to make a choice."

Osato felt as though someone had hit him solidly in the solar plexus. Mikako, his daughter, was considered for one of the two premier US technology universities? His daughter who could not keep her grades up enough to qualify for university in Japan? No. In justice, Miki had not been pushed to make the grades in school. Her destiny was in the Yakuza, as a fitting wife for another clan leader, not as a businesswoman or scientist.

He had never paid much attention to his daughter. Perhaps he was too old fashioned in that attitude. "They will pay for her to go?"

"And for her room and board. I have made arrangements for her to stay with my cousin."

"With Raven!?"

Caleb gave a shrug. "There was no one else who could keep her safe, whom she knew."

"Safe? Safe from what?" Osato raged. Then he grew deadly quiet. Safe from himself, of course. He shook inwardly with anger, with red rage. Yet he knew he would accept this offer. As much as he hated Raven, he hated the sort of betrayal at which Caleb hinted even more. "Two conditions."

"Conditions? You are hardly in a position to offer conditions," came the soft response.

The man was laughing at him. For a fraction of a second, he considered ordering his men to kill this insolent gaijin. He brought his temper under control. "If I am to relay information, it will be to you and you only. I do not know these others and do not trust them. You will see that we are paid for our information."

"I believe we can arrange that."

"Second, I will see my daughter." He raised his hand to quell any objections. "I will give my word, as oyaban of the Tanaka Clan, I will not further seek to destroy Jonathan Raven, his family or his friends. I will not take my daughter from him by force. But I will see her, I will know that she is well and is not being forced into this education you talk of."

Caleb regarded him for a few moments. He frowned. Perhaps there was something within the clan lord worth saving after all. He heard an unexpected sincerity in the man's words.

"Agreed."

"What will you do, Caleb Moorecock, if we do not deliver any information?"

"If there is none to deliver, nothing."

Their eyes met directly. Osato nodded curtly, dismissing the American. Caleb returned the nod with a graceful inclination of his own head, turned and walked out.

Tanaka Hideoshi regarded his clan lord curiously. "Why?"

"You question me?"

The larger man took a moment and nodded. "We have been enemies of Raven-san for a decade. Now we stop. I do not understand."

"Times change, old friend. What lies between Raven and the Clan can wait. Raven's cousin does not tell us all there is to know, yet his people are willing to put my daughter through one of their most prestigious and well-regarded universities. They do not doubt that she will succeed."

"University? But - "

Osato nodded. "I know. Mikako showed no talent or desire when she was in school in Japan. At home she was fit only to bear more clan children, not even to raise them. Americans see things differently, they wait for their children to find what fits them instead of telling them. Even for some clan children, this might be a better way. We will see what my disobedient, without honor daughter has to say."

Hideoshi bowed to his master's will. He slipped away a few moments later to send people to remove the bombs planted on Straker and Alec Freeman's vehicles.

* * *

Alec Freeman, taking a break from his rounds, found himself ambushed by a little Japanese loon. She threw herself into his arms, hugging him fiercely. "You do not hate me after all."

"What?"

She looked at him seriously. "You do not hate me."

"No, I don't hate you." And if she didn't stop wiggling like that, he was going to have very physical proof that he didn't. He moved her back to arm's length to frown at her. "What made you think I hated you?"

"You hate Caleb. I thought you hated me. You wanted to get rid of me."

"Miki, you're not making any sense. And I don't hate Caleb."

She grinned up at him and giggled. "Yes, you do. That's ok. Lots of people hate Caleb-san," she assured him in a tone that said it didn't worry her a bit that they did so.

"You're incorrigible."

"I'm incorrir - incorribr - What you call me?" she demanded with a horrible scowl.

"Incorrigible," he told her with a laugh.

"That bad?"

"No. Just stubborn."

"Ok." She smiled again. Oh, my. What a smile. She didn't seem a bit surprised when he leaned down and kissed her. Although he did seem surprised when she wrapped herself around him and kissed him back. For a moment, he tried half heartedly to disentangle himself. He failed. Oh well. She was legal. Just.

She sighed and leaned against him when they finally came up for air. "You come visit me in Hawaii."

"You'll forget all about me in Hawaii," he assured her softly.

"You want me to?"

"No."

She gave him a triumphant grin. "Then don't tell me what to do. You take me to dinner tonight."

"All right." He watched her practically skip off down the corridor away from him. He shook his head. What was he thinking. That was the problem, think wasn't entering into it. Not in the least. Of the several people who caught him smiling to himself the rest of the day, no one asked him what he was smiling about.

Caleb Moorecock retired to bed about midnight feeling pleased with himself. He'd stopped the feud for the time being. He'd acquired a valuable information source for Straker. He'd kept Miki from running away. And he'd had a long talk with his cousin without either of them feeling particularly menaced by the other. All in all, a good day's work.

He watched the doorway as light seeped around it. His guest padded into the kitchenette, got a drink of water and went back to bed. The light went out. Caleb frowned in the darkness. Now all he had to do was make certain Liza didn't scare Straker off and find out what Straker actually had in mind for Caleb to do.

He settled in and went to sleep.

In the other bedroom, Ed Straker lay awake, thinking. Caleb Moorecock was showing himself to be exactly the strong, resilient, resourceful person that Straker had expected. Miki's future was settled. Both Raven and Osato would now be looking out for the youngest recruit SHADO had ever acquired. Osato as an information source was more questionable. If Caleb was right, and Osato ever really figured out the Black Dragons' new ally, he might just bring his entire clan into play. That could be interesting, if it occurred. All in all, things were working out very nicely.

End

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