Chapter 08: The Consequences
Yae stood hesitantly in the doorway of the sleeping quarters, her
eyes fixed on the back of the beautiful young woman inside. Behind her
Sylvie gave a gentle push and whispered something she couldn't quite
hear. One step later and she was heading for the girl, her
determination set. She had once punched out her commanding officer for
picking on Syl because she was short, and she could do this too.
"Tataku-chan?"
The green haired girl barely even moved. Yae didn't know if it was
still shock, but it made her all the more concerned. Tataku hadn't
seen anyone or said anything for close to two days now. Yae cast a
glance towards the doorway, but Sylvie was already gone.
She steeled herself and took the last few steps, sitting herself
on the bed next to Tataku, but not so close as to crowd her.
"Tataku-chan, please, talk to me. We used to talk all the time,
remember? I really liked it when we did, and I think you did too."
And to her great relief Tataku nodded ever so slightly. "Yes."
Yae beamed, feeling as though her eyes would begin to moisten any
second. "You've had us all worried you know. Are you gonna be okay?"
Tataku's answer though, wasn't the one she had hoped for.
"No. I'm not going to be okay. It's all wrong." She almost seemed
to cringe into herself as each word came.
Yae shifted closer and put her arm around the despairing girl,
only to have her pull away. "Tataku-chan. It's okay. It'll be alright,
I promise."
Tataku's sad eyes, once so bright, seemed dulled as she met Yae's
gaze. "Why do you humans always make promises you can't keep?"
"What?" Of all the things Tataku could have said, this was
probably the one she could have least expected.
Tataku blinked slowly and lowered her head. She wanted to cry so
badly, but she had run out of tears a long time ago now. "I'm not a
child any more. I know there isn't a happy ending now, but you just
promised me one. Promises are special, you shouldn't waste them or
they stop meaning anything."
"Tataku-chan, we aren't a lost cause but if you give up hope then
you lose before you start. There's more to this isn't there? If it was
just that we're gonna get into trouble you would have got on the
Echohawk."
"When you're bad you should be punished."
Yae was struck dumb. Tataku knew they were bound to be caught
after all. She was waiting for her punishment. "Tataku-chan, you
haven't done anything wrong! None of us have! If you hadn't shot that
guard he could have killed one of us. Syl and Jei killed people to
help protect us. Does that make them evil?"
"But it's not *right*!" Tataku cried, folding her arms over her
head. "None of it's right."
Yae laid a hand on Tataku's arm, bringing it gently down. "Tataku-
chan, I'm a soldier. This is what I was trained to do, even though I
didn't want to join the army or navy. I'm sorry I expected you to feel
the same way I do about this. But even after everything, I still found
you, and that was worth it to me."
But to her surprise Tataku only curled into herself more. "But
it's not right!"
Yae blinked in confusion. "How can love not be right?"
"We're both girls! It's not the way it's supposed to work!"
Yae stared at her uncomprehendingly as Tataku put her head in her
hands. "I... I don't get it."
Tataku sniffled as she turned to look into Yae's face. "When I
found out I was... like that, I was so scared. I just wanted to go and
hide and never come out. When Daddy asked what was wrong, and I told
him, I thought he was going to be so angry. He just cried and hugged
me and told me he loved me like he always does but he knew not to tell
anyone. If anyone found out they'd look at me like I was contagious. I
hated myself for it, but I eventually thought maybe there's nothing
wrong with it. But I shot someone, and I can't stop thinking there was
nothing wrong with that too, because otherwise we'd all be dead! But
it *is* wrong to shoot people, so... so maybe it's *me* that's not
normal."
Yae's face fell as Tataku spoke. It was logical, but logic didn't
make it true. It's never right to shoot people unless it *is* right.
It sounded so hypocritical, but it was what a large part her life was
based around. But that wasn't what troubled her the most. Aside from
their outlooks on fighting, she and Tataku were the same. They had so
much in common while still being so different, but if Tataku, for
whatever misguided reason, now saw herself as less than normal, then
that's what she saw Yae as too. And Yae had her enthusiasm for those
antique weapons. She was prepared to kill if she had to.
Her tactical and social skills were never her strong points, but
she knew what she had to do, and leave the rest up to Tataku.
"Tataku-chan, there's nothing wrong with you. You wouldn't be
feeling like this if there was, because that would mean you didn't
care about hurting people. There is nothing wrong with loving anyone
you want as long as nobody gets hurt, and I don't know why you think
there is. You are one of the kindest, most caring people I've ever
met, and you realised on your own that there isn't anything wrong with
the way you feel. It's like you said, it's never right to hurt someone
like we had to, but if we hadn't then they would have hurt us instead,
and most likely worse than that. That means we don't need to feel
guilty about it. Are Syl and Jei monsters because they had to kill
someone? No, because they did it to save us."
She rose from the bed and looked down into Tataku's cyan eyes, her
own radiating the honesty and strength she knew she had to have to say
what needed to be said now.
"I'm sorry I've ended up hurting you like this. If you don't want
be with me because of who I am or what I'm willing to do then that's
okay, but I won't be sorry for being me, and you shouldn't be sorry
for being you. I haven't said this yet, and I don't know why, but I
love you Tataku-chan. I love who you are, and I don't want you to be
this persona you seem to think you should be. I just want you."
And with that she leant down and pressed her lips against
Tataku's.
The green haired girl sat stunned as the kiss lingered on her lips
and her mind whirled with everything Yae had just said. She had said
all those things, and Yae had still kissed her. Even though she had
been hating herself. Even though she had, by an implication she only
now saw, been hating Yae too.
Here eyes flew wide as she started to speak. She had to apologise.
She had been so horrid to them both. But Yae had gone, leaving her to
work out her thoughts without the distraction and influence she would
inevitable bring.
Slowly, Tataku lay down and buried her face in her pillow. It
didn't matter what she felt she ought to feel. She wanted to find the
feeling that would let her be with Yae. And find the strength to face
her again.
***
Special investigative unit C-581-A stepped of his shuttle and onto
the main docking floor of Kalceti Major. He gave the area brief glance
before setting off towards the police station, his first and most
likely only port of call. He had already finished going over the past
profiles of the fugitives and all were now thoroughly profiled with
regards to the case.
While he looked just as human as anyone else of that species he
was, like all artificial intelligence, only partially sentient. None
of the other races liked the idea of machines being 'people', and so
restricted the core capacities that would have marked them as a being
with rights. It wasn't oppression. Machines had no desire they weren't
programmed with, and if given any at all it would only be to do the
duty they were designed for.
Looking at him, for he was physically a him, you wouldn't have
been able to tell though. He stood at average human male height with
black hair streaked with blue and vivid green eyes. Had anyone looked
closely enough into them they might have seen the minute circuitry
lines there, but no-one ever did. In fact, besides the serial number
tattooed above his left eye and hidden by his hair those eyes were the
only things that would have pointed him out. They were cold and
analytical. Not evil by any means, but lacking any feeling one way or
the other.
His first assessment of the perpetrators was just as analytical.
Tataku was a non-threat. He surmised she had been kidnapped or
converted to the fugitive's cause through her innocence. Clean record.
Sylvie and Yae were high threat individuals, but with no major past
offences. Crow was an unknown moderate threat. Possibly unstable.
Angelica was a high threat with several past offences and was
considered a serious danger should an arrest be attempted. Jei was a
low threat and unknown quantity, though highly unstable according to
eyewitnesses and should be dealt with with caution.
By the time he reached the station the young staff officer was
waiting for him, having received his call almost half an hour ago.
"Sir, the chief is in his office," the officer said nervously. It
wasn't often the high command big guns were sent in. "I have the files
you requested."
"Good." C-581-A took the proffered papers and disk and followed
the young officer inside.
Twenty minutes later C-581-A's extraordinary mental capacity was
running through the possible hypotheses based on the time and location
of the unsolved crimes that occurred during the time the Gal's Army's
crew was there.
One connection was made very quickly indeed. The crew had left in
a hurry, Tazenten and the ship owners seeming rushed, thanks to an
event between Tazenten leaving the hospital and appearing in the
docking bay. Some small time after their departure the body of Niel
Cantav, a repeated petty offender, had been found in an alleyway near
one of the less reputable open markets. Being who and what he was he
drew no pre-emptive judgement other than the need for the stall
owners' accounts of that period to confirm the possibility.
As soon as it was confirmed that Jei Tazenten had been there, as
had Cantav, and that he had left closely behind her, C-581-A made the
comms call to the detectives. The body was a dead end that had already
been confirmed, and the weapon had not been found. Being an android
however, the concept of comms transmission tapping was a possibility
he was aware of, but it was illogical that a police radio relay would
be tapped, so high level encryption wasn't necessary.
The news media however had had to become more resourceful as
security technology improved, and what they couldn't get through
proper channels they would try to get though improper ones. Needless
to say, once he had managed to decode it, the WSNN journalist on the
other end of that tap was very exited by his report.
***
Angelica sighed in frustration as she sat opposite Jei in the
Starlight's recreation room. Yae and Tataku were doing whatever it was
they did provided the loner of a student had come back to her senses,
Sylvie was on watch duty in the cockpit and Crow was probably with
her, checking all the radio frequencies. She never thought he would be
so paranoid as he now seemed to be. And Jei, as she had done for the
last day or so, had her nose in a book.
She looked down as she felt something warm and furry press itself
into her leg. "Hi Tangalo. What's happenin' in the cat world?"
Tangalo mewled pitifully in response and padded at her feet. That
was his 'I'm soooo hungry, please feed me because otherwise I'll
starve and I'm too cute for you to let that happen' mewling.
"All right, all right, I'm comin' already. Least you'll be good
company," she griped as she got up and let the black feline lead her
into the kitchen. It was amazing how quickly he seemed to have settled
in on board.
Thankfully for the both of them she had had the presence of mind
to buy plenty of cat food before the race, so even if they all starved
Tangalo would be fine. Opening the can Angelica scrunched up her nose
and tipped out the unappetising 'food'. It smelled absolutely foul,
but by the way Tangalo dove into it he must have enjoyed it.
Angelica grabbed a random bag of something vaguely snack related
and took a seat as her pet proved that purring and eating at the same
time was entirely possible, if somewhat odd to hear. She ripped open
the bag and popped what turned out to be a chunk of salted biscuit
into her mouth. "Least you don't have too many problems, eh?"
Seemingly in reply Tangalo stopped his munching and nosed his bowl
closer to her so he could lean against her leg while he ate. The
purring started up again, just as loudly as before and Angelica smiled
down fondly at him. "Stupid animal," she chuckled.
She stuck a few more of the small biscuits in her mouth and let
out another sigh. She was getting quite good at that. "How the hell
did I get into this?" she asked no-one in particular.
"You didn't get on the other ship", Jei answered, quietly walking
past her to pour herself a drink.
"So," Angelica said in mock surprise, "she speaks after all, huh
Tangalo? And here we thought she'd gone mute like poor Tataku-chan."
Jei didn't reply. After a few moments Angelica decided to swallow
her pride and do what she supposed she ought to have done already.
"Hey Jei, you said that guy you put down had me locked, right? So
I guess I gotta say thanks."
Jei lay the kettle slowly back onto its power pad and took a small
sip of the ridiculously weak coffee. "You're welcome."
The pair stared at each other in silence for a while, Tangalo's
purring the only noise in the room.
"That's it?" Angelica asked suddenly. All that wind up for her,
and seemingly for very little at all.
"What else is there?"
Angelica would have growled, but she had better things to use her
vocal chords for. "Where's the sake in this place?"
Jei turned and headed for the door, knowing what was coming.
"There isn't any."
Angelica rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Fine, the alcohol. I don't
care as long as it gets me pissed."
"There isn't any. We decided that the race party would do for
now." Jei was so far past regretting that race she was trying to blank
it out completely. As long as they didn't get caught they would be
fine.
"Dammit!" Angelica swore, startling Tangalo's attention away from
his food.
"It's not that big a deal," Jei said as she left the room. "You
wouldn't be any less miserable- you would just be drunk as well."
Angelica just stalked up to the doorway and glared at her. "At
least I could enjoy being a fugitive if I was tanked! Remember that
concept called fun Jei?"
Jei closed her eyes trying to reign in both her own annoyance and
the voice in her head. As soon as they had begun to talk it had
started up again, sniping at her, slowly picking her resolve apart.
She should never have said anything to the outlaw.
"Shut up already," she growled, both to Angelica and herself, her
calm facade shattering in the blink of an eye.
"And now you do a one eighty, just like last time! You've got some
major issues, you know that Jei? If they do catch us they're gonna put
you in the nut house!"
"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" Jei yelled, the self-hatred filled fury
burning in her eyes. "You have got *no* idea about me or what my
life's been like, and you just trail along behind me like some sort of
*parasite* trying to leech off whatever you can, and confirm just how
worthless and *pitiful* I am, AND I DON'T NEED YOU TO MAKE ME
DEPRESSED, SO *FUCK OFF*!"
"NO YOU DON'T 'COS YOU DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB OF THAT BY YOURSELF!"
Angelica screamed back, not willing to give her an inch this time.
"YOU'RE SO DAMN WRAPPED UP IN YOURSELF AN' YOUR OWN STUPID HEAD TO
TAKE A LOOK OUTSIDE AN' ACTUALLY TRY ENJOYIN' LIFE RATHER THAN SITTIN'
BACK AN' LETTIN' IT RUN OVER YOU! AN' I'VE BEEN TRYIN' TO HELP HERE
AN' ALL I GET FOR IT IS SHIT! I MEAN, HAVE YOU EVER ACTUALLY *ENJOYED*
YOURSELF? EVER EVEN WANTED TO BE *ALIVE*?"
"YES! WHEN I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME! WHEN I THOUGHT I MIGHT BE ABLE
TO FEEL SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE AND HAVE THEM WANT ME! AND YOU TAKE
THAT AND USE IT TO RIP ME APART! AND *YOU* ASK *ME* TO BE *HAPPY*? YOU
FUCKING HYPOCRITE!"
Without another thought Jei lunged forwards, her large hands
wrapped around Angelica's throat, all concept of reason lost. She
couldn't kill herself, but she was going to kill the source of her
misery. That was the only image in her mind, and in the back of her
skull a scared little girl began to scream. Because she had never
stopped hoping, even though she knew it was futile, that Angelica
would change her mind and take back all the things she had said that
morning before the race.
Angelica, for her part, was thrown to the floor completely
unprepared as Jei began to squeeze. She could only struggle so much
through the war inside herself. Jei really had been happy when they
had been together, but was the one to reject her? That made no sense.
In one deft show of strength Angelica took Jei's wrist in her hand
and wrenched it from her neck, gulping air back into her lungs. Using
her upward force she pushed Jei back enough to get from under her and
pin her to the ground, the irrational woman's arm held painfully to
her back.
After a few moments of futile struggle Jei went limp and her
shoulders shuddered as she began to weep, her tears falling like rain
onto the metal floor. The fight was gone from her, and she would never
get it back.
"Jei, I'm gonna let you up, and we're gonna talk, 'cos I've got no
clue about what's goin' on here and we're gonna sort it out *now*.
Understand?"
Jei's sobbing had slowed, but only the smallest of nods let
Angelica know she had even heard her. Angelica let her up slowly,
still keeping hold of her wrist until she was sitting and the outlaw
took the seat opposite. "You're the one bein' hypocritical. You say
you were happy when we were together, but you blocked me out. You were
the one who called it off and started treatin' me like dirt again."
"It meant something to me, but I heard you," Jei said in a small
dead voice. "I wouldn't even have been close to your choice. A short
distraction, and you didn't care about my part in it in the least."
"Hey," Angelica retorted, "I never said nothin' like that. That
was my first time too y'know, and it damn well *did* mean somethin' to
me! Yeah, I didn't think you were exactly my type, I mean we were
always arguin' to say the least, but that's only 'cos you were
shuttin' me out! Hell yeah, I thought I was fallin' for you when you
turned out to be a decent person that night, but then you treat me
like I don't even exist just 'cos you heard me tryin' to get it all
right in my head!"
"I thought maybe I'd found someone who could love me, then I hear
you talking like that. I didn't matter."
"Are you even listenin' to me!?"
"And you never even made any pretence of affection after that. I
am listening, but it was your fault. You don't say that kind of thing
to someone you love. I wouldn't."
Angelica kneaded her forehead in frustration. "I didn't say
anythin' like that to you, I said it to Syl! As far as I knew it went
from sex to complete indifference! I wasn't goin' to take that, and I
wanted us to work! How do you think I felt about that?"
"Sex doesn't matter to me. I thought you loved me."
"*Grr*, dammit Jei you're goin' round in circles! Right now I'm
too worked up to think about it and I'm willin' to try again if you're
gonna stop with the damned self pity." She looked around for a spare
bit of paper she knew had been lying on the table. She tore it in half
before scribbling something on each piece and holding them up to Jei.
One was a smiley face, the other a sad one.
"Okay, you see?" She held the smiley one up. "Happy..," then the
unhappy one, "...sad. Happy, sad, happy, sad."
She only registered Jei's fist when it knocked her out of her
chair and under the table. She poked her head up with a resigned pout
that almost looked comical. "Okay, so maybe I deserved that," she said
as she took her seat again, secretly glad to see Jei angry. It meant
she feeling *something*. "But I'm makin' relationship rule number one,
you don't hit me again. Ever. I'm not your punchin' bag," she smiled
cheekily, "and I ain't into that S and M stuff either."
Jei however didn't seem moved. "I just tried to kill you. Why
would you want to give me any chance at all?"
"Cause like I said, and don't take this the wrong way, but you've
got issues Jei. I don't know what's up with you, but I'm willin' to
find out. Hell, I ain't exactly had a great past either y'know, I've
just tried to make the best of it. From right now, clear slate for
both of us, okay?
Jei stared at her in disbelieving wonder. "Why?"
Angelica smiled. Not her usual cocky smile, but the genuine one
she saved for special occasions, like this. "'Cos I still remember how
great I felt that night, and how much I liked the happy you." She held
out the smiley face, almost in offering.
Jei still didn't believe, but she could hope. "I don't understand
you," came her quiet, almost strangled voice.
"Well I don't get you either, so we're even," Angelica said, a
little amusement in her voice.
"So... what now?" Jei honestly didn't know. That strange
combination of hope and fear was something she had, strangely, longed
to feel again.
Angelica stood up and shucked off her cloak and jacket before
walking over to her. Jei backed into the sofa with uncertainly as
Angelica came closer and sat down, straddling her thighs. "I know you
said sex doesn't matter to you. But it means something to me."
She slowly slid her hands under Jei's T-shirt. "If you don't want
to..." She just left the sentence hanging as her fingers lingered
across Jei's breasts.
Jei didn't move. The touch against her skin was enough to take her
breath away. She nodded, a tear escaping from her eye even as she
began to smile and Angelica leaned forward until their lips made
contact.
Jei did believe, eventually.
***
C-581-A stared dispassionately as the reams of documents flashed
before his eyes, taking in every detail and slowly stringing the
chains of suspicion together. After the information that Kalceti Major
had revealed, a further investigation was inevitable, and it seemed
that Jei had more than her statistical share of close calls. Close
calls that, when put together, looked far more that they had first
seemed.
Under closer scrutiny the chemicals Jei had been hauling couldn't
have left that level of Monosylphalic-dioxium in the blast scoring of
the Crimson Scorn's wreckage. And why would anyone search for that? It
was perfectly harmless, unless its pure form was flash frozen and
released under pressure through a screen of noble gas. Elaborate, and
easily concealable as flame residue from a variety of dangerous
materials.
Before that the double unsolved homicide on the Tethis colony.
They were troublemakers of the highest order, but they were dead none
the less, one killed by repeated blows to the head, the other with a
broken neck and spine. The piping that had been used was clean of any
residue and fingerprints, but must have been wielded by a human, and
the strength required to cause the damage was roughly equal to the
force used in felling Pandora's guard with the emergency axe. The
Moonlight, Jei's former ship, had departed soon after, the business
deal having been prematurely terminated.
When finished the entirety didn't make a long list, but it was
enough to convict beyond reasonable doubt.
He sent the last report to the detectives before heading back to
the station, writing up the formal orders over the day long journey.
The reply was, as usual, simple and direct: Divert to meet the
detectives on route, they would deal official order of arrest. The
hunt was on.
And of course the intrigued journalist had it all. C-581-A would
catch hell for it when the news special was aired, but there was
nothing they could do or say that could hurt the android. He would
simply be put on standby orders until the next case, while the
detectives themselves would be let off with a mild warning for their
carelessness.
And WSNN would get the pre-emptive story on the biggest fugitive
hunt for almost a decade and a prime place to observe the entire
Pandora court case. It would make them the envy of every station in
the galaxy, send the station's profile soaring, and send his career
prospects through the roof.
C-581-A knew none of this, but that wasn't his job. That he had
already fulfilled. He reached inside his uniform jacket and removed a
gun, a specially modified descendant of Yae's own personal favourite
series. It was just as ungainly as the others of the modern era, but
it might just as well have been a detachable part of himself. He
checked the gun was in full working order before returning it to its
holster. When they found the fugitives there would be no errors. That
was certain.
***
Yae walked slowly into the cockpit to see Sylvie staring bored at
the scanner systems and Crow lost in his earphones. It had been hours
since she had last spoken to anyone at all, and her head was getting
busy again. Tataku weighed heavily on her mind, wondering and hoping
on her answer, and trying to rationalise what the girl she loved had
said. No matter how much she thought about it she couldn't seem to
understand, and in situations like this there was only one thing to
do.
"Syl, can we talk?"
Sylvie looked up, surprise in her eyes as she brushed her bangs
across her forehead. She hadn't even heard her come in. "Yae, of
course we can. Are you okay?"
Yae took a seat at the station in front of her. "I don't know.
There isn't anything wrong with me liking girls is there? Romantically
I mean."
Sylvie blinked with a complete lack of understanding, and bringing
Andy up from her lap. "Umm, no? Should there be?"
Yae smiled a little ruefully as the stuffed panda's arms wiggled.
"I don't know. Tataku seems to think so."
"But I thought you two were..." Sylvie didn't need to finish her
sentence, and Yae picked up the thread.
"I thought so too. I don't get it."
While Crow was indeed absorbed in the radio, there wasn't really
much going on right now, and his hearing was far better than some
would have given him credit for. "Kai Reithans don't have the same
value system we have concerning some things. They see love as a drive
for family and procreation as much as happiness, and lesbianism goes
against that first one. They're mostly forgiving of it I think, but
it's not common, and is often seen as unnatural. Humans were the same
once too."
The pair looked over in surprise, not having thought he would have
heard them. "Really? It doesn't seem fair," Yae said, glad to finally
have an answer even if it wasn't one she liked. "You know, I'd totally
forgotten she isn't human. How do you know all this about them?"
Crow finally looked away from his information screen to see them.
"It made sense to me to study up on other races. It helped me work up
profiles and things I could use on a hunt. I mean, I don't know for
sure, but I'm guessing it was pretty hard growing up there if she's
from a more traditional thinking place. With having to hide it, I'd
bet you're the first girlfriend she's had."
Yae nodded and dropped her gaze into her lap, fidgeting with the
cuffs of her jacket. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. It's up to her."
***
It was some time later when Crow's tired eyes flew open, the radio
finally saying something worth hearing. Unfortunately however, it
wasn't good news.
He tore the earphones from his head and shook Yae from her sleep,
the boyish pilot having dosed off after taking over from Sylvie.
"Huh?" she asked blearily, blinking the world back into focus.
"I'm up already, what's the problem?"
"Find Jei and Angelica and get to the lounge, I'll wake the
others. We're on a news feature!"
Without another word he dashed off to the sleeping quarters to
rouse the others while Yae cursed and set off to find the missing
pair. She knew this had to be bad.
What she didn't count on was walking in on the pair to see them
both stark naked lying under a sheet that was doing a fairly poor job
of covering them. She tried to suppress a blush as she coughed, waking
Angelica and consequently Jei as she stirred, their arms still wrapped
around each other.
"Err, nice to see you two back together an' all, but we've made
the news already. We'll be in the lounge when you're, err, done."
She ran back out a bit faster than she really needed to, getting a
frown from Angelica. "It's not like we're doin' anythin' to get done!
Well, not right now anyway," she added under her breath. She started
to get up, slowly leaving Jei's embrace as she looked about for all
her clothes. "I guess we don't have time for a shower."
Jei however had her mind on other matters as she lay there
watching her dress. "Angelica, thank you. For staying." Just being
able to hold her had meant a great deal to her.
Angelica smirked, "Wasn't like I wanted to leave. Come on, this'll
be important."
"Okay."
***
The sleepy pair found the others crowded around the video screen,
as they had been for the last five minutes now, growing more
despondent with each passing second. They were the biggest story of
the year, every channel leaching whatever they could off the others in
a hope to keep viewers. It was blown out of all proportion, and they
were right at the centre of it.
Crow didn't have to say anything to them as they sat down, but he
did all the same.
"We're screwed. They'll have us on the wanted board on every
station in the sector, and we've got a 22,000 credit bounty on us."
Angelica sagged as she turned to the screen, currently showing the
first source of the news, WSNN. It was listing the profiles on each of
them, their own in house psychologist currently picking Sylvie's life
apart.
"...and of course her parental issues could easily have
contributed to her slide into lawlessness. Her attachment to the
father that abandoned her after experimenting on her would logically
suggest seeking a replacement figure to hold under times of hardship,
and be it October or Tazenten, falling in with either of the probable
ringleaders of this attack would only be an act of loyalty. I can
honesty say I do not believe her a malicious figure, but she could be
very dangerous in her current state."
Sylvie just squeezed Andy harder as her life was dissected. She
had never told Yae about her 'talent'. Now it looked like she would
have to, because she would ask eventually.
Yae edged closer and put an arm around her, trying to reassure her
as much as she could. "It looks like they don't blame you for
anything, so that's good, right?"
Sylvie nodded hopelessly, but it was no consolation, and she only
felt guilty because she knew she would not be bearing the worst of it.
Tataku's turn came next, the portrait of a poor shy girl seduced
into crime sending her into tears. Apparently her affection with Yae
had not been overlooked by the guards they had taken down.
Sylvie got up, close to tears herself at seeing her like this and
sat at her other side, leaving one soldier at each arm, quietly trying
to calm her down.
"Daddy's going to be so angry," Tataku sobbed into Yae's jacket.
It was all she could think about now. Her father would be mad with
worry and disappointment, and everyone would know of her feelings now.
There was no way to hide or escape and it scared her to her core. What
would the University do now she was a criminal?
Yae didn't pay any attention at all when her own time came. Her
own thoughts were only on Tataku. She didn't care what the rest of the
universe thought, the only two that mattered were in this with her. As
it turned out her own demon remained hidden that day.
"Of course it is no surprise that a person such as the 'Lady
Angelica' would be embroiled in such a crime spree," the old man
droned. "With her own rocky past with the law it is, sad to say, only
expected that this kind of behaviour has become second nature to her."
"Get stuffed you cranky old shit!" Angelica swore at the screen.
It did however bother her much more than she would ever let on. They
knew things about her even she didn't know. The past didn't matter to
her, or at least that's what she wanted to believe but not knowing it
played on her mind. All the more reason just to live for the moment,
be spontaneous, and try not to worry about the things you can't
change.
Crow could do nothing but cringe inwardly as his own past was
revealed, drawing the pitiful looks he always despised. So what if his
father had hated him, he had hated that bastard too, just like he had
the others in the foster shelter. Finally getting his independence had
been the best thing that had happened to him, and here they were
telling the world that was his road to jail. What did they know?
Jei didn't fare any better. The angry child from a good home,
forced into therapy she knew she didn't need only to become the
biggest mass murderer of the last god knows how many decades. That
certainly got a reaction from the others. She wasn't going to
apologise for being a target who defended herself. Quite how she had
ended up going as far as she did she didn't know, but that was what
happened.
"Don't look at me like that," she said quietly as she caught
Angelica's astonished gaze. She quietly thanked the broadcasters for
not listing them all by name.
Angelica blinked. "I guess I was right about the having issues
thing, huh?"
"Shut up Angelica." Jei didn't bother waiting to see the next bit
of the report before turning the screen off.
"Well," said Sylvie quietly, "I can see why you didn't want to
wait for the police."
They sat in silence for a short moment before Sylvie spoke up
again. "So what happens now? I don't think we can go anywhere."
Crow nodded slowly, thoroughly depressed at the speed and
intensity of the whole thing. "Either we turn ourselves in now or find
somewhere to hide out. Running's useless if you can't stop anywhere
for fuel. They'll come and get us eventually."
"We can't get out of this?" Jei asked, worry in her normally
neutral voice.
Crow got up, "No, not unless we want to become career criminals."
Tataku began sobbing quietly again from the sofa. "I want to stop
now. I don't want any more of this."
To Crow's moderate surprise Jei nodded. "I guess we just wait for
them then."
Angelica was hot on her heels as she left, and Crow headed back to
the cockpit to stay updated on what was happening. Yae was about to
leave as well for a much needed cup of coffee when Tataku finally
spoke directly to her.
"Yae, why... why d-did you stay here?"
Yae smiled down at her wanly as she stood, "Well, because you
did."
Sylvie lay a reassuring hand on Tataku's shoulder as Yae left to
wait for the answer she needed.
A few moments later Tataku followed and Sylvie managed a smile as
she left: Yae wouldn't have to wait for long.
***
To Be Continued...
Back to Starlight Index - Back to Original Fiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction