Chapter 06: Gambits
It took almost a full minute for Jei to realise that the
terrifying, wonderful dream she saw in her mind was more than just an
alcohol induced fantasy. The creative brains behind all those things
she read and watched always said that reality was stranger than
fiction. They were right.
There was only one real piece of evidence that she and Angelica
had ever done what they had. For the first time in as long as she
could remember, her voice was gone. After all the forced visits to
therapists, shrinks and psychiatric professionals she was finally
alone in her head. She knew logically it wouldn't last, but she
savoured it all the same.
If anyone had ever told her it would leave her feeling so
vulnerable she would never have wished it gone, but now that it was
she didn't mind at all. Someone else would protect her for a change.
The woman whose arms she had slept in.
<Angelica, of all people.> It was absurd, but in years upon years
of hidden fear and self recrimination for dreaming of what she wanted
to be and what she wanted to have she finally might have found it. And
it had come in the most strange of guises.
From the start she had seen the outlaw as nothing but an
annoyance, one she had used to take out her frustrations on, even if
she herself was the source of many of them to begin with. And yet that
night Angelica had loved her unconditionally, regardless of her own
fear and hesitation.
She closed her eyes and kneaded them with her palms as she lay in
the brig bed. She knew she was reading too much into what had happened
between them, and that she was just raising her hopes beyond what was
reasonable. They had both been overcome with drink and a stupid joke
had become something far far more than it had started out as. Even
given all that though, she couldn't help but hope that maybe she had
been given what she had spent her adolescence crying herself to sleep
dreaming of. No apathy, no distance, but being connected with someone
in the most intimate way possible, and the sex was only a part of that
whole.
She opened her eyes again, the faint glow of her emotion still
playing over her. She'd been asleep over fifteen hours, and her head
hurt.
She sat bolt upright as the realisation hit her: the race was
starting in under twelve hours! She'd slept through almost the entire
'hangover recuperation' day. Then she realised that sitting bolt
upright wasn't a great idea as her head exploded in pain. Her
recuperation wasn't quite finished yet.
Once the spots before her eyes had faded she slowly pulled on what
clothing she could find from the night before and headed out. They had
a lot to do, and she needed to find Angelica. She needed to know, but
what it was she needed to know she wasn't so sure about.
***
Sylvie smiled as she nursed her cup of hot chocolate, keeping the
last dregs of her phenomenal hangover at bay. Her terrible alcohol
tolerance was simply put down to the fact she never really got to go
out like that. Even though she hadn't been the most active participant
that night she had still thoroughly enjoyed herself. And so, it
seemed, had Angelica.
"So you two are, well... an item then?"
Angelica shrugged casually. "God knows. You know Jei, and I'll bet
even she doesn't know what goes on in that weird head of hers. But
yeah. I mean, when she started kissin' me back like that I didn't know
what to think, but she can be real sweet when she wants to. I liked
it. A lot."
The two blondes had spent the morning in their beds and most of
the afternoon on headache medication, but they had chipped in to make
sure the Starlight was ready for its race. Everything was ready to go
as soon as they got to the starting hub. Now all that was left was a
little supplying Crow had insisted on and letting the owner recover
from the night before.
Angelica had, in a fit of sentimentality, decided to let the over-
scruffy young woman sleep while they all prepared. It was perhaps a
little mean leaving her in bed alone, but there was work to be done
and they couldn't afford to leave it up to the others entirely.
In all her twenty years Angelica had never had much time or
interest in relationships beyond being friends with her previous crew.
There was always better - and more instant - gratification from her
gung ho lifestyle than actually working at romance. It had seemed a
lot of work for no guaranteed benefit.
Now however she had nothing but time while she crewed for Jei and
the fact was that, when she wasn't blanking her, she could be good
company. She didn't really want to admit it, but Jei did have good
taste in literature, and presumably her cartridge collection was just
as decent. Before last night she had thought it odd that such a cold
person as Jei would be into such romantic fare, but it was pretty
clear why now.
Her new lover, if she could actually think of Jei like that, was a
hopeless romantic under her hard exterior - hopeless being the
operative word. A romantic who had lost all hope. When she finally got
her into bed, Jei's self confidence and willpower had all but
disintegrated, leaving behind someone craving comfort and care.
It made Angelica feel oddly pleased in a way. She was in complete
control, and had been trusted absolutely not to abuse it. Her goal
hadn't been domination in any sense of the word, but just to make sure
they both enjoyed the night to its fullest. That she had done, and she
wasn't ready to let go of it.
"Guess what happens now ain't up to me though. If it's what she
wants that's fine, but I don't wanna see that bitchy Jei any more."
Sylvie carefully laid a hand on the outlaw's shoulder. "That may
just be the way she is. How she deals with the world, just like you
meet it head on."
"And you just stay quiet and let things work out." Angelica
snorted, but with no real malice in it. "You know, she ain't exactly
my type. Well, she ain't what I thought my type was. Maybe I've fallen
for her, but I'm not gonna take any shit from her. She didn't exactly
treat me well for a while and if she goes back to that I'm outta
here."
"I think... I think you both have to compromise a little. That's
how relationships work. You accept the bad things because you want the
good things so much." Sylvie knew her attempts to lighten the mood
weren't exactly working well, but if Angelica kept focusing on the
'what ifs', even though she was sure she didn't mean to, then she
might jeopardise what she was after. "The way you talk makes it sound
like you don't want it to work, and I think the two of you are on a
delicate bridge as it is. If you rock it without thinking, one of you
might not make it to the other side."
Angelica looked at her for a second before giving a sigh. "Pretty
words there. I don't wanna rock nothin'."
But outside the room the bridge had already begun to sway as Jei
slowly turned and walked away, listening to the laughter within her
skull.
***
"Would all participants please make their way to the starting
hubs. All spectators please board the course shuttles or assume tour
formations. Repeat: all participants please make their way to the
starting hubs."
***
Yae sat in the pilot's seat of the Starlight, Tataku snuggled
comfortably in her lap as they waited for the rest of the crew to
arrive.
While their own night had been far less indulgent it had been no
less meaningful. Tataku had woken gently with her arms around her
companion and lain there waiting for her to wake.
Somehow it didn't seem entirely real, but it was, and Yae thanked
whatever Gods there were for it. She knew she would never lose her
feelings for Sylvie, but slowly the guilt of leaving her from her
heart was dissipating. She let her fingers play idly with the ends of
Tataku's soft green hair as the taller girl dosed lightly.
For Tataku it was a dream come true, although she would never have
put it in such extravagant terms. It was just a fantasy she had had,
like those she thought most girls would. True, hers was slightly
different than most of her peers', but she had found someone whom she
had befriended, fallen for, and who had returned that feeling. So what
if she had been another girl? Under her dutiful studying and time
alone with the wildlife of her home, that was what she had dreamed of.
She stirred sleepily and had to fight a blush when she realised
where she was. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."
Yae chuckled and shook her head happily. "I'm not sorry you did.
You look cute when you sleep, and it's not like you're heavy!"
Tataku's blush deepened and she pulled herself closer into Yae's
arms. "I like it here."
"So do I."
Inside Yae's mind she was running through all the ideas she could
of what to say, but just like always she couldn't find the words she
was looking for. Sylvie would know the right thing to say. Crow
probably would too.
As if summoned by her thoughts a slow, calming piano solo started
playing throughout the ship, filling the air with an almost painfully
beautiful melody. Tataku relaxed even further into her hold, the
warmth of her breath playing against Yae's neck. The young soldier
never heard him enter or leave but she knew who had done it.
<Thanks Crow.>
As silly as she thought it would have sounded, right at that
moment Tataku was certain she didn't need anything else. She had never
had much courage before, but it was that small glimmer that had helped
her write that note, and that had given Yae that first kiss.
"Yae, I love you."
Yae wrapped her hand around her partner's body and gave her a
brief, gentle kiss. "I... feel the same."
***
Crow left the cockpit of the Maria's Summer as it sat motionless
in space, the music filling the ship and flowing across the radio to
the Starlight.
He made his way slowly down to the tiny pod now attached to the
coupling dock. The one he had bought when the others were getting
their new ship.
He double checked his gear before clambering in. There was barely
enough room to turn to the controls, but he didn't need it for
comfort.
He looked out to see the Starlight in position in the hub and was
just able to make out two figures on the bridge. "Good luck."
Very soon they were joined by a third and fourth.
<One minute.>
He disconnected the pod from his ship and let it float in the
vacuum.
<Twenty.>
The announcers were making the usual dramatic speech. He started
up the pod's generator.
<Five... Four... Three...>
The final numbers showed on the centres of the starting hubs,
illuminated for all to see. The Chaosis administrators spared no
expense on their race. There was honour and a very big image to
uphold.
<Two... One... Now.>
As one, all seventy five ships were released from the three hubs
and sped off into the distance. It was a truly spectacular sight.
And as they blazed their trail a lone breaching pod made its way
unnoticed towards the most heavily defended ship still at the start as
it sat to see its participant off.
***
"Okay, we should be up to about quarter speed when we hit the
first beacon. Then it's twelve degrees raise, 2.30."
Yae nodded as Sylvie rattled off the next set of navigation
instructions. "Right, how long?"
"Oh err..." She scanned her instruments from her large console.
"Forty six seconds."
The time slowly ticked down in Yae's head as she tightened up on
the accelerator and manoeuvred round the number 17 ship who was making
a very cautious start.
The Starlight wasn't the fastest from the takeoff, but Yae was
pretty sure it had one of the best top engine capacities in the line-
up. That meant when she could finally let rip at top thrust she'd be
one of the fastest movers there.
Unfortunately it also meant they'd be in the middle of the pack
for at least the first half of the 20 hour race and, as the rather
quarrelsome number 17 showed, that was not a fun place to be. Despite
its slow start it was trying its hardest not to let them past while
still staying within the 'no ship to ship contact' rule.
Finally with a well-timed swing Yae passed it, close enough to see
the man inside pouting into his controls.
"We're in thirty second place now," Tataku related as the update
came over the radio. Since they were all on board the tasks had been
split up between them, leaving Tataku on the radio, Sylvie navigating
and Jei manning the scanners. Angelica was curiously absent from the
room, but as she was in charge of making sure they got to eat
throughout the day it wasn't something the others wondered about.
There were more important things to do right now. Tangalo had sat
himself in Tataku's lap for the time being since there was no chance
of a meal right now.
When the course beacon came up on the scanner Yae pulled round to
make the turn, passing far closer to it than she was comfortable with,
but once clear she opened up the throttle again and tried to relax.
"The next one's in a small asteroid field," Sylvie said, her voice
ringing with professionalism. "Don't worry about the distance though,
as long as you pass through the field it's legal." She studied the
chart for the relevant details. "It's natural so there isn't a
recommended path. Slow to hazard speed on my mark, but you've got time
yet."
Yae nodded, but her eyes and mind remained glued on the ship and
the space before her. For all intents and purposes she was a part of
the ship now.
Tataku and Jei both marvelled at the change. Yae was always
emotional, even if she didn't convey those emotions so well in her
speech, but watching her now was like watching another person. Tataku
hoped her Yae would be back when this was all over. It was a little
scary, made all the worse by the dangerous nature of their venture.
Even Jei could admit that the speed they were now going at made
her uncomfortable. The stars still hung just as they always did, but
the sight on the radar was a fast and furious one; ships, beacon
guides and every other piece of space born matter flying by with
barely enough time to register it. And this was only around half of
what the ship could achieve. Thinking of the final long straight she
began to wonder whether this was as good an idea as it could have
been.
"Mark."
They all felt it, the speed dropping considerably as the forward
thrusters were fired and the brown and grey blur before them began to
separate into the dots that made it up.
"Here you are."
All but Yae looked round to see Angelica standing at the door. She
was looking over to Jei with a mix of relief and exasperation. "Where
have *you* been? I've been looking everywhere!"
Really she was pretty annoyed with herself that she hadn't checked
the cockpit sooner, but with everything going on she was allowed a
little lapse of common sense, wasn't she?
"What do you need?"
<Great!> Angelica groused to herself. "What do I need? Jei, come
on, I just wanna talk."
"This is not the time." Jei's voice was completely unemotional,
but for once she was trying to cover her discomfort rather than remain
objective. She didn't want to talk now. After what she had heard she
didn't want to talk for a long time.
<Stupid! You know how she is! Shooting her mouth off everywhere,
but she doesn't mean it! Square it away and get over it!> That was the
dreamer, so she figured that logically it must be her rational side
that was in control. It hadn't been that way for a while.
"Look, I wanna talk about this! It's important Jei. There's
nothin' you can do now anyway with those rocks comin' up. It's all
line of sight stuff."
Jei couldn't though. "I said not now. Leave."
The silence was punctuated by a muffled clang as a small asteroid
ricocheted off the Starlight's hull. Angelica couldn't believe Jei was
doing this to her. She'd been ready to give her whatever benefit of
the doubt she could, and now this. "Oh no, don't you *dare* do this
now Jei. Not after all this! You even think about shuttin' me out
again and I'm outta here! You hear me?!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Yae all but screamed from her seat, shocking
them all silent. Sylvie stared in astonishment as she watched the
sweat trickle down her friend's neck, her face etched in concentration
as she weaved the ship into the asteroids.
She turned to the others on Yae's behalf. "She needs to work, so
either stay quietly or leave. We don't need a radar operator right now
with this much debris."
Without a word Angelica nodded and yanked Jei from her seat,
leading her forcefully out of the room.
***
Crow thanked the supposedly omnipresent deity that people
generally thank when things go well as he crawled through the mass of
wires, pipes and ducting near the outer hull of the ship. The great
thing about Subsistence engines was that, if you got enough of them
going at once, it could effectively block out a radar as long as they
were close enough together. At least twelve of the racers had used those
engines, because he had managed to get into Pandora's behemoth of a
ship without alerting them. If the alarm had been tripped the entire
ship would have been lit up like a Christmas tree.
After a few more feet his mental map of the ship told him he would
be directly above the kitchen storage room. He paused for a second,
listening through the panelled wall of the technician's crawlspace he
was in, then set to work opening the access panel in front of him.
Since crawlspace access was mandatory absolutely everywhere on a ship
he had his pick of rooms to start from, and bypassing the security
alarm had been suspiciously easy.
Then again, with Pandora's reputation she didn't care who got in
as long as they proved a decent challenge. That would be the hard
part.
One inside the storage room he settled up against the door to make
sure the kitchen was clear. It had become a policy of his never to
rely on technology too much. Fancy scanners, visual aids and technical
short cuts were easily picked up by anyone who knew what to look for,
and after having a bio-signature system give him away once all he had used
were his eyes and ears and a cheap hacker pad he'd slowly been adding
to as he learned new tricks.
After swiping an orange and a lemon from one of the bowls and
stuffing them in his hip bags he moved out, cautiously covering
himself with a pistol drawn. The kitchen was huge, as was the mess
hall that connected to it, but both were empty. Making his way over to
the door he waited again for any sound. Once the footsteps had fallen
away he slipped out into the corridor and down to one of the toilets
at the far end. With only two women on the crew it was likely to be
deserted.
Unfortunately that was where his luck deserted him and he slid
silently behind the cubicle wall as the security officer unlocked her
cubicle door and started to wash her hands. One glance in the mirror
was all it took to set her off and her hands simultaneously flew for
her gun and her alarm trigger.
Crow hurled himself forward as she opened her mouth to issue the
mandatory warning and intercepted the alarm with his pistol barrel,
leaving him open to a swing across the back with her gun. Pain
exploded through him as the pistol butt struck home just as his
shoulder dug into her stomach, smashing them both into the sink like
rag dolls. Crow however was the one prepared for it and he brought the
spray he had palmed into her face before she could cry out.
Once she was out cold he took the time to cringe at the pain in his
back and neck. Still, he'd managed to give as good as he had got, and
after a few seconds of silent cursing he dragged her into the cubicle
and locked it.
"Sorry." He muttered as he propped her limp body up. That crack
against the sink would hurt when she woke up! After squeezing under
the cubicle wall he went back to his plan, keeping the spray in hand
in favour of the pistol. He couldn't use the gun without alerting
everyone on the ship with the noise, and there were no more large
rooms to cover.
The next dash was to a technician's work room, which turned out to
actually be the armoury. He smiled to himself at the rows and rows of
pulse rifles and shotguns lining the racks. Nothing illegal though.
He'd been hoping to find some incriminating schematics or something,
but he was at least able to steal some spare pistol ammunition. Those
slugs were expensive.
From here he couldn't make it to what had been described on his
blueprints as a 'chem-lab' without heading back into the crawlspace.
The interior of the ship was just too risky to try and sneak through.
He spent three hours going through the lab and the other rooms on
his 'suspect' list, carefully pocketing anything that would help him
make the bounty requirements.
He knew the necessary evidence had to be on board, but the only
place left was on his list was his final stop. If he didn't find what
he needed there he still had enough to get an official warrant, and
bring the police in to strip the ship. He would only get half the
bounty then, but two point five million was definitely enough for him.
The only problem was this: would they manage to clean out the evidence
before he could bring the police in?
A few vials and papers from the less than hygienic chem-lab was
good material, and slipping in and out past the bored looking 'medical
technicians' had been a breeze. There were also those free pistol
slugs; that stack of hollowed slug clips labelled 'caution -
biohazard'; some sensory detection badges he'd only ever seen in
chemical warfare movies; some highly unpleasant technical specs that
hadn't been put back in the 'black box' yet; a bit of low grade
narcotics store info; a few dead Oltonian crawlflies; lots of dust;
and a gun turret with an access hatch.
A gun turret with an access hatch?
It was the upper right gun on the ship, and it was manned, so
there wasn't any need to get to it from the crawlspace. He gave the
hatch a listen then cracked it open. And there was the black box.
Well, one of them at least. It was far too small to contain everything
they would need to hide until they got back to Olto, Pandora's planet,
but maybe it would be enough to fulfil the bounty.
He took out his hacker pad and set to work on the code lock. He
wasn't even close to being a master hacker, but he knew enough to get
him by, and his pad did the rest. A good hacker was as much about his
software as his skill, and Crow had managed to gather program code
from several very good sources.
The one foot cube of grey secrecy finally opened twenty minutes
later and Crow scanned everything he could before filling his hip
bags. Racketeering records, forgery plans and several papers with the
work to fix at least three galactic wide sporting events. That last
one worried him, but thankfully there was nothing to say the Chaosis
was one of them. She was most likely using it to test a new craft or
something.
Crow grinned. With the chemical work and weapon suppositions this
was enough. Now all he had to do was bag Pandora herself. The access
panel to Pandora's office was in the ceiling. Almost twenty feet up
the middle of the room. He took a moment to catch his breath and
attach the prepared device to the panel before loosening it and
kicking it down.
He landed with a heavy thump and rolled back, guns drawn at the
chair he knew would be behind the desk.
"Pandora! I'm making a Bounty Hunter's arrest for offences too
numerous to list! You can come willingly or I am authorised to subdue
you with whatever force necessary. Anything you say now can be used
against you in a judicial trial. You will be found guilty but are
guaranteed safe passage to your point of incarceration and immunity
from harm." He cocked the pistols. "Would you like me to continue or
do you know the rest?"
Pandora smiled as her chaired swivelled around. Her pictures
didn't do her justice really. She was somewhat older than Crow, and
about as tall as him too, as far as he could tell. Her long black hair
and pale complexion made her look like a phantom, but she was
definitely the kind that would bewitch before the kill. There was a
story of one bounty hunter taking her service the second he laid eyes
on her. Looking at her now it didn't seem as farfetched as it once
had. Behind the serene smile however, her grey tinted eyes were as
cold as ice.
"Thank you for sparing me that speech," she said amiably. "It
really is quite tedious. I must ask however how you are going to stop
me alerting security."
Crow kept his face and voice as neutral as he could. In the
presence of this wolf in siren's clothing it wasn't as easy as he had
hoped. "The electro-magnetic pulse grenade that detonated the second
the hatch hit the floor."
"Yes," Pandora nodded, "that would do it. Of course if the
computer isn't alerted within two minutes that it wasn't a short
circuit or power failure then it will alert security as to where the
problem lies."
"It also disabled the door, so they'll have to burn their way in,
or crawl up the way I did. By which time you will have given yourself
up and we can walk out of here, or you will be incapacitated and I
will remove you personally."
It was then that fate decided to throw in its hand.
Neither one blinked as the alarms sounded and the red lights began
to flash throughout the ship.
"Well," sighed Pandora, beginning to bore of the charade, "it
appears the game is over. You will have to take me by force I'm
afraid."
Crow's eyes narrowed. "Fine."
In an instant the slug was blasted from the barrel of his gun and
punched through the top of Pandora's shoulder as she dived over the
desk, the chair splintering behind her like matchwood.
Pandora's face twisted into a mask of unrestrained rage and a pair
of daggers appeared from the sleeves of her robe, flashing into her
fingers faster than Crow could register. She wasn't foolish enough to
walk into the rain of flying metal though, and vaulted across the
room, flinging one of the blades as she did.
The dagger just caught Crow's wrist, forcing him to drop his right
gun as he destroyed Pandora's cover with the left, punching holes in
the expensive settee and forcing Pandora back into the open.
Another slug ripped through her shirt, catching the underside of
her arm as she rolled effortlessly into view and tucked her dagger
across her forearm. She ignored the pain as she hurled the single
stand table across the line of fire. It shattered as the last bullet
in Crow's clip flew through it and she dashed forward as he made a
lunge for his other gun.
No sooner than he had the gun he felt her foot slam into his
shoulder and he was tossed away. Pandora wasted no time in kicking the
gun away and threw her dagger, pinning it into his abused shoulder and
making him gasp in pain as the limb went numb.
The second he saw her face Crow knew the fight was over. She
walked over with the same serene look back on her face as he tried to
crawl backwards to a leg of the blasted table that lay behind him. He
was stopped when his entire left side screamed in pain and Pandora's
smile widened ever so slightly, her foot on the dagger's hilt. She
gave it another tender push and watched him writhe as she brought her
hand up to her own slowly bleeding shoulder.
"Congratulations on managing to hit me, but don't worry, it's only
a scratch or two."
Crow just moaned in response.
"You should have known a poor infirm little weakling like yourself
had no chance against me, but I must say you did very well to get this
far. And with the items that you did, you must have been a very busy
boy."
"One question," Crow rasped, "before you finish. What set off the
alarm?"
"Oh, I'll check." She put a hand to the comms link on her chest.
"Raze, what's the alert?"
"Tasha didn't meet for shift change. Llantei found her in the
women's bathroom a moment ago. We've got a mouse."
"Thank you Raze. I have it here." Pandora waved her hand slightly,
"So now you know."
She pressed her heel a little more, drawing another pained moan
from Crow. "But you shouldn't be so melodramatic, I have no intention
of 'finishing' you. As enfeebled as you are you have shown a lot of
talent. Talented people are taken *very* good care of here."
The air of sexuality was thick as she finished her piece but Crow
wasn't going to be bought like that. "The same way you took care of
Zenith I assume?"
"Oh," she said, pleasantly surprised, "you knew him?"
"By bad reputation only," Crow snarled. It didn't do much but make
her laugh a little.
"Heh heh, oh yes, well, he was a fool with a great deal of luck.
He was dead within a week. I know you however would find yourself well
appreciated here whatever you want."
Crow just stared bluntly at her, wincing through the pain. "I'm
sure you could offer me a great deal, but I'm not inclined to take
it."
Pandora sighed and gave the dagger a final push before stepping
back and pulling it sharply out of him, much to his displeasure.
"Well, I have time, and patience. At least it will be cheaper this
way."
Then Crow was out cold, Pandora's boot having done its work.
"Raze, please open these doors. I have no desire to be stuck in
here the whole day."
***
Angelica had never thought that it would have been so hard to get
a straight answer out of anyone in her life. Jei seemed to have the
uncanny ability to talk her way out of their talk without actually
saying anything with any meaning. And she'd done it twice! After
eighteen hours of race time and not a single worthwhile word out of
her she was getting *very* annoyed.
She was going to be damned before she gave up though. Opposite her
sat a newly freed up Jei, Tataku taking over the radar and scanner for
now at Angelica's more than stern request.
"Now what the hell's your problem?!" Angelica asked loudly, every
ounce of anger and exasperation dripping from her words.
To her surprise Jei actually gave a straight answer this time.
"Bitchy, weird, abusive, not worth a second look." It didn't seem like
there was anything behind the words though. They were just facts,
stated as bluntly as if she were reading her washing list. "Who is your
type Angelica?"
"Huh?" The outlaw sat down heavily and rolled her eyes. "For God's
sake Jei that's the oldest one in the book. If you're gonna listen in
on somethin' then hear the whole thing!"
"I did."
Angelica's blink was practically audible. "Then... what's the
problem?"
"I find you loud, arrogant, obnoxious, thick-headed,
unsympathetic, selfish..."
"HEY!" Angelica snarled as she snapped forward over the table and
grabbed her by her collar. "Who the *hell* d'you think you're talkin'
to?!"
Jei looked back with a dispassionate lack of concern. "Why should
I take any less offence?"
"STOP TALKIN' IN BLOODY RIDDLES!" Her evasive replies were taking
Angelica very near her breaking point. She hadn't done anything to
deserve this. "You ain't exactly my first choice either but I sure as
hell didn't complain last night an' all I get for it's your marionette
routine. Well stuff that!"
<Marionette. Puppet. Hardly worth a second thought. Just a cast
off.> She could almost see the voice grin. <Welcome to your dream
world Jei-chan. Is it everything you wanted it to be?>
"SHUT UP!" Jei screamed, pounding her fists on the table so hard
the surface cracked.
"What?" Angelica asked, anger taking over, "Syl said you gotta
work at this stuff and you've done nothin' but make my side tough. You
expect me to..."
She never finished as Jei's near hysterical shouting broke in.
"Not my fault! Leave me alone! She wanted to. SHE DID!!!"
Angelica looked astonished as Jei began to chuckle, tears forming
in those wide desperate eyes. But she knew what Jei as saying. "Fine!
That's the way you want it? First dock we get to I'm outta here!" She
blinked away the water in her own eyes. She wasn't going to give her
the satisfaction of seeing her broken. "It never happened. Good
riddance you crazy freak."
Jei looked on as Angelica stormed away. <Gone. 'Good riddance'.
Well done Jei. After all what did she ever give *you*.>
Jei knew what Angelica had given her. But Angelica didn't care.
She just saw her as a freak, slowly tearing away at herself from her own
mind.
"I hate you," she whispered, though Angelica was long gone. "You
did this to me. I knew I couldn't have it. I knew. It's your fault.
Please don't."
<Please don't what Jei-Jei?> The voice she knew was her own had
never sounded so patronising. So hateful.
But Angelica had called her that. She had liked it.
"Please don't."
***
Crow lay cringing on his cell floor, the pain in his shoulder long
forgotten as another toxin-induced spasm racked his frail, naked body.
He very rarely made his work personal, but when he could think clearly
he was very tempted to this time. Pandora was going to pay for this.
"It seems she was correct," came the condescending voice from the
next cage, "that poison is very effective."
"Shut your hole amazon," Crow spat back through gritted teeth.
"It's Gladiatrix."
In something of a twist his fight with Pandora had left some
interesting effects, such as cracking a vial he had stolen from the
labs. Apparently the toxin wasn't fatal, but Pandora thought it would
be a good introduction to his 'persuasion' to join her side.
The tall, muscular woman in the cage beside his only smirked as he
began dry-heaving into the bucket he had been 'generously' provided.
She too was stark naked, since the security apparently didn't want to
leave them with anything even remotely useful, like cloth, and there
wasn't a single hair on her body. Even her crotch and eyebrows were
shaven. He guessed she stood about as tall as Tataku or Jei, but while
Tataku was thin and Jei somewhat stocky this woman was pure muscle.
She was still pretty attractive though and obviously knew it. She was,
however, enjoying his pain far too much for his liking. And in the
several hours he had been there she hadn't opened her eyes once.
"And just why exactly, *hnngh*, are you receiving this *cough*...
wonderful hospitality?"
The woman's face grew dark. "I 'offended' her 'ladyship' here."
She sat up away from the bars, knowing where he was even though she
couldn't possibly be able to see him. "I would give the speech about
revenge and a great deal of blood, but if you think you can escape
this place you are very mistaken. I am the best fighter on my world
and spent a great deal of time testing this place after my...
capture." That last word rang with her own obvious disgust at her
carelessness.
Even though he was in no position to reply he knew she was
probably right. But he had an ace up his sleeve. And even if she was
simply glad to have someone to take out her frustrations on, if she
didn't clean up her act he was going to leave her there when he got
out.
***
Sylvie gripped the edge of her console tighter than she ever had
as the Starlight rocketed along the final straight of the race. She
had never been more scared in her life, with the possible exception of
staring down an armed anti-personnel gun in the academy's guerrilla
assault training.
Yae hadn't spoken in almost half an hour, Tataku had her eyes
tightly shut as she relayed any and all radio transmissions they got,
Jei was colder than she had ever seen her and Angelica had gone
missing. She could guess what had happened there, and it upset her
that the two had fallen out so soon because she knew in her heart
neither of them wanted that.
Strangely this was the first time in many years that she couldn't
feel what Yae was feeling. But in a strange twist of fate she could
feel something fearful, and it was coming from Tataku. She could tell
because the poor girl was mentally reciting her dissertation theories
to help keep her mind off the fact that they were moving faster than
anyone should ever, *ever* move.
If anything that reassured her. Tataku was here for no other
reason that Yae. Sylvie smiled a little though her fear. She was the
third person she had ever been able to connect to. She made a mental
note not to 'eavesdrop' on the pair, but it made her heart glow that
she could feel her two closest friends like that. Perhaps it also
meant she was gaining better control over her talent.
"Counterthrust!"
At the signal Yae hit the reverse thrusters to start bringing them
down to legal speeds. If you passed through the finish over the set
limit then you were automatically disqualified.
It was then that Tataku gasped a little. "N-number fifty four has
finished. We're in fifth place."
"Tendu Jubei's ship," Jei said, looking down the list. "Angelica
won't be happy. Seventy two is coming up on our right, but we're still
outpacing him. He is moving to block our path."
"Not likely," Yae growled as she swung the controls hard, pushing
them into a vertical roll to pass above the defending ship and right
over it. It was the first thing she had said since passing seventeen's
distress beacon.
"Fourth position," Tataku said shakily, "but number t-two is about
to finish."
Jei looked back to the scanners. "The ship in third is too far for us
to pass."
Yae nodded "I can live with fourth."
The boyish pilot seemed to relax as the finish gate appeared in
the distance, a yellow speck against the huge black curtain.
The slow calm was suddenly broken when Tataku jumped almost out of
her seat. "Sixty one hit the gate! T-they say she lost control of her
thrusters circuits. The rescue crew are going out."
Yae's eyes widened in fear. "You've got to be kidding." A ship
wreck at the gate. They'd have to get through a debris burst to finish
the race. "Do I go for it?"
Jei stared out to the gate. "Yes." After all this she was going
to finish the race. The fact it could be a lethal move never mattered.
She would even have been glad of it.
Yae nodded at grit her teeth, manoeuvring to pass by the inner
edge of the massive gate ring. "Hold on!"
Sylvie and Tataku shut their eyes as the ship ploughed through, a
rain of metal dashing against the outer hull. The whole ship shook as
a shard carved through an engine coil, exploding like a firework
inside a tin can and shorting out drive circuits as it was
incinerated.
Over the radio the enthusiastic announcer's voice bellowed,
"Number twenty seven has passed the finish in spectacular style
despite the current risk. Number twenty seven, Starlight, finishes in
third place. The pilot of number sixty one has been confirmed
recovered and alive. She's alright folks."
All four of them breathed a sigh of relief as Yae brought the ship
to a final stop. At third place they were guaranteed a prize that
would easily cover the race and ship costs. Yae let out a whoop of
victory as she bounded out of her seat and hugged Tataku in pure
ecstasy. The green haired girl didn't mind one bit.
A few minutes of celebration later the radio crackled to life
again. "Hey, Starlight, told you I'd best you," came Tendu's voice.
"Nice work on that last run though. That pilot of yours is a real
piece of work."
"Thanks Jubei-san," Sylvie said, taking over the radio from
Tataku, who was still in Yae's arms. "That was scary, but well done."
"Cheers," he said. "I can do with the cash anyway, but I should
warn you guys, that Gal's Army ship is yours, right?"
Sylvie found herself suddenly concerned by the gravity of his new
tone. She set the radio for open broadcast so the others could hear
"Yes, the Gal's Army is ours."
"It's been impounded. Pandora of Olto ordered it and the race
officials obeyed. That's all I know, but I though I'd better inform
you lot. Good luck with whatever it is."
"Thanks." Sylvie closed off the radio and looked over at the
others, who were staring back in shock.
Jei balled her fists. "Shit. Sylvie, find Angelica."
"But..."
"Do it! Yae, there's some sort of breaching equipment in cargo
hold two. Get it ready then meet in the kitchen. Tataku, this isn't
your problem, but you'd better know, so you should be there too."
Without another word she ran off to the safe as best as her
scaffolded leg would allow. Her instructions would be there. "Dammit
Crow!"
***
To Be Continued...
***
Authors Notes: Thanks to Mr. Toasty for Gladiatrix.
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