I am VERY glad to see another chapter!
(btw, this is #3000 for the FanFic forum)
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A Freelancer Story - Complete..
Read, add and comment on excellent written stories by fans, set within the Freelancer universe
Tue Sep 28, 2004 5:01 pm
@GP, don't know about that. 
The way you fill the story, discriptions, makes it become more than words on a page. I begin to see the story in my mind, as if i were watching it unfold.
Again, very, very good.
A question if I may? Are you a young lady? It does not matter either way, just curious, give the name you use.
Edited by - Finalday on 9/28/2004 6:05:08 PM
Tanya breathed deeply, then adjusted her jumpsuit. She searched the pockets of the fallen men withdrawing several credit sticks. She calmly tied her hair back and walked over to the barman, who stepped back uncertain. He was a heavy-set man in his fifties, but in all his space-faring career had never seen anything like this.
The way you fill the story, discriptions, makes it become more than words on a page. I begin to see the story in my mind, as if i were watching it unfold.
Again, very, very good.
A question if I may? Are you a young lady? It does not matter either way, just curious, give the name you use.
Edited by - Finalday on 9/28/2004 6:05:08 PM
Wed Sep 29, 2004 5:02 am
*claps again*
Well done Athena, very good work.
Curious tho, have you got this already down on paper or are you coming up with it when it comes so to speak?
Hope you'll stay here a while, go check out the rest of the forums, you clearly love Freelancer and hope to see more of your posting
p.s I'm glad i was of inspiration, although your talent in writing is far better than mine
Well done Athena, very good work.
Curious tho, have you got this already down on paper or are you coming up with it when it comes so to speak?
Hope you'll stay here a while, go check out the rest of the forums, you clearly love Freelancer and hope to see more of your posting
p.s I'm glad i was of inspiration, although your talent in writing is far better than mine
Wed Sep 29, 2004 6:28 am
Hi Bret. I read your story and thought "wow, that looks like fun!"
I love the whole futuristic world that Freelancer is set. Sirius is so rich in detail don't you think?
In terms of the story, I don't have anything down on paper as I tend to be an 'instinctive writer'. Someone who just goes with the flow without too much planning (but I try to proof-read). I do have a general direction of how the story will end, but I haven't quite filled the gaps yet.
About to post the next chapter soon!
ttfn
I love the whole futuristic world that Freelancer is set. Sirius is so rich in detail don't you think?
In terms of the story, I don't have anything down on paper as I tend to be an 'instinctive writer'. Someone who just goes with the flow without too much planning (but I try to proof-read). I do have a general direction of how the story will end, but I haven't quite filled the gaps yet.
About to post the next chapter soon!
ttfn
Wed Sep 29, 2004 6:45 am
The diner known as 'La Isla' was located on one of the upper levels of Freeport 9 in the more affluent parts of the space station. It was a very different environment to the dark and threatening lower floors where Tanya was an hour before. Strangely, she felt less comfortable in these surroundings. There was a great deal of pretence and nothing seemed what it appeared to be. The young woman was unable to identify what was driving this train of thought, but she was uncertain and that was enough.
She walked alongside one of her wingmates from the last recon mission, a pilot from Liberty space called Travis Carter. Travis was good company, educated, funny and clearly knew a lot about Sirius. Tanya was curious how such a young man just a few years older than her could gain so much knowledge of trade lanes, jump holes and even the names of some bases she had never heard of. She decided against asking too many questions in case he thought she was prying. With Kenji missing in action and still weighing heavily on her mind, Tanya was just glad for the company.
The pair had been walking for over thirty minutes. Her earlier 'workout' with the Corsair gang had taken its toll slightly and she was looking forwards to sitting down somewhere and resting her feet.
"There it is!" said Travis moments later, pointing at the 'La Isla' restaurant. A large dark board with a light-blue neon sign lit up the front wall above the main entrance. Two men stood outside, obviously, but unofficially and probably illegally, armed under their long jackets. They looked mean and tough.
The Sirius Convention signed by the leaders of each Great House when the sector had been colonised many years ago, didn't allow the use of personal sidearms that could cause hull breaches on stations or commercial spacecraft. Tanya knew that ninety-percent of the sidearms carried these days were all capable of such damage, and more. Such a ruling was impossible to enforce.
Travis strode up to the main door, one of several in a bustling 'street-like' conduit and smiled as the automatic doors hissed open. Music piped through from within and Travis paused for a moment, listening to the soft, lilting melody accompanied by various harmonies. He was nodding his head in time with the rhythm. Tanya had heard this sort of music before when she trained at Cambridge a couple of years ago; it was known as 'jazz', a 20th century musical development that apparently took great skill to master. She relaxed a little, smiled and allowed herself to be ushered in by Travis who stepped inside after her winking at the men on the door.
___
"So tell me, what is Bretonia like?" asked Travis. He poured more Amarus Wine into Tanya's half-empty glass. She nodded her thanks. "I have been as far as Cortez but the Corsairs are an unfriendly bunch!"
Tanya winced slightly at the sound of her now most hated enemy.
"Bretonia is beautiful. If you see the auroras that border the galactic north-east of Manchester, the shimmering colours so bright, you'd fall in love with the sight very quickly," sighed the girl. Travis was staring at her, his brown eyes fixed on her own, a strange expression on her face.
"Yes. I can imagine what that sight is like," he said without taking his eyes off her. Tanya blushed and felt hot. She smiled and looked around at the restaurant's interior trying to think of a way to change the subject.
It was fairly modern, yet quite old-fashioned. The architect had clearly envisioned some ancient culture and attempted to articulate that here, with the lush overhanging drapes, inviting couches and low tables with dim lanterns atop them. Tanya was completely absorbed with the band on the stage. They were playing such beautiful music she found it hard to concentrate on dining and drinking as well as talking to Travis.
"So tell me about Texas, Travis," inquired Tanya after chewing on her food, a delightful mixture of meat and vegetables she couldn't begin to describe.
"Home of the Bounty Hunters," said her companion without looking up from his meal.
A flash of light struck Tanya behind the eyes again, the headache was powerful and intense. "Remember your training, soldier!" said a voice from the shadows. "What are you here to do?" "Who do you work for?" "Tanya? Tanya!"
"Tanya!" said Travis shaking the girl by the shoulder. "You ok? You went blank on me for a minute," he looked worried. Tanya blinked.
"I'm ok. I just get these headaches. They're hard to manage sometimes," she took a long sip from her glass, then returned to her meal. Travis sat there watching in silence for a few minutes.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked eventually. Tanya hesitated, then her shoulders slumped, as though she was infinitely tired and carrying a burden far too great for her age.
"Well, I keep hearing..voices. Orders. It's confusing. Sometimes I feel that I don't know who I am anymore," Tanya looked up, then down, then back at Travis. "I know things I shouldn't. Do things I didn't know I could do. So confusing." Tanya scolded herself for being so emotional and quickly rubbed her eyes with a napkin.
Travis looked comforting.
"What do these voices say to you about these orders? About whom? Go somewhere? Do something?" he asked.
"I don't know. I feel like I have a mission to complete, but I don't know what it is," Tanya took another sip, realised the glass was empty then refilled it herself. She looked at Travis who shook his head, then filled her glass full emptying the bottle. A passing waiter quickly swept it up and another bottle was set down soon afterwards on their table.
"You must remember something. Anything," pressed Travis, waiting impatiently for the waiter to walk away. "Assassinate? Recover something?"
Tanya shrugged, but kept her eyes on Travis. Something had changed in his speech. He seemed, anxious. Intense.
"I only fight in self-defence. I am no murderer!" she said firmly, looking straight at him.
A voice whispered in her mind; 'Murderer, Murderer, Murderer'. Tanya went very cold. Her instincts told her something wasn't right. The girl finished her glass and made to stand up. Travis stood up also, now smiling.
"I have to use the restroom. Bio. I'll be right back," she said smiling too. Travis nodded, but the movement was edgy. He took her hand and kissed it.
"Sure. You bet. I'll be right here. Don't be too long or your dessert will go missing!" he laughed. She waved and walked away towards the direction of the female restrooms. She increased her pace and noticed out the corner of her eye a couple of men at the bar watching her. She would have thought nothing of it, but noticed another pair of men sitting in a booth near the stage. They were talking, but not looking at each other.
Something was up.
Just before Tanya reached the door to the restroom, a waiter walked over to her.
"Excuse me, miss? Are you a pilot with Orbital Spa & Cruise?" he asked. He was carrying a silver tray with a note on it.
"Yes," said Tanya. "Can I help you?"
"Is your name Tanya? Tanya Williams?" Tanya looked around for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes. What's the matter?"
"I have a message for you," replied the waiter and presented the tray with the note. She took the note and the waiter walked away back to the bar.
The message read:
Tanya, I hope you are safe. You are in great danger. We were ambushed. Someone is trying to kill you. Leave Freeport 9 ASAP and head to Omega-41. I will meet you at Freeport 5. Kenji
'Kenji!' thought Tanya, almost saying his name aloud. How did he know where she was? She rushed to the restroom, splashed water on her face and thought quickly. She had to get out. And be back within eight hours. That was when the Orbital Spa group were planning to return to the Hawaii. And what to make of Travis? She would have to distract him, then make her exit quickly. Tanya looked at her watch, thirty minutes before her Eagle would be ready. It would take just as long to reach the hangar. Her mind was racing. A group of women then walked in chattering amongst themselves.
Tanya's eyes brightened.
___
Outside, unseen by Tanya, her companion Travis nodded at the two pairs of men seated elsewhere in the bar. He'd taken a long route to reach the diner, by which time his men had set themselves up at various points, preventing any possible escape. He almost balked at the idea of having to kill the girl. She was extremely attractive. Such a waste, he thought. Maybe he could 'borrow' her for a while before taking her back to LPI.
"Oh well, a job is a job," he murmured to himself. Travis reached under his jacket and primed his blaster, setting the charge to maximum. He watched several people walk in and out of the restroom corridor and was getting impatient. What was taking Tanya so long? After ten minutes, he nodded to one of the men at the bar. He got up and walked over to the restroom corridor, disappearing inside. A few moments later he ran back out into view.
"She's gone!" he shouted into his comm. Travis' eardrum nearly burst. "There's no-one in here!". Travis swore and rose to his feet, then ran to the ladies' restroom. He barged aside a few hapless diners and shoved the door open pulling his sidearm ready.
It was silent, except for the sound of a dripping tap.
Travis walked up to each cubicle kicking the door of each one open. Nothing.
"Damn! Find her! She can't have got far!" Travis cursed inwardly. He could hear his men rushing around the diner and outside searching for her. How did this happen? He cast his mind back, trying to remember the events previously and ran back out into the diner. Precious minutes were being wasted. Travis ran back into the restroom again, his eyes suddenly growing cold, then smashed a mirror with the butt of his gun. Lying bunched up on top one of the cubicle walls was an item of clothing. A jumpsuit.
___
Breathing hard, Tanya ran at full speed along the corridors towards the main hangars.
She tore off the hat she wore throwing it to the ground and let her moistened hair down. The skirt she was wearing was far too small, so she ripped it along the length of her left thigh to allow more freedom of movement. It was a nerve-wracking few minutes of her life, she asked the group if she could borrow some clothes to avoid an incredibly obnoxious date, the girls happily obliged offering various items of clothing that Tanya had gratefully put on in place of her single-piece jumpsuit. They offered to walk out together placing her in the middle. Luckily, Tanya wasn't particularly tall or short so it was a relatively smooth journey out to the street. Once around a corner, she bid her farewells and began her mad dash to her Eagle.
___
Ten minutes later, Tanya was strapped into the cockpit of her Eagle. The powerful VHF was equipped with the latest Zoner tech, Fury3 photon cannons, a Cannonball missile launcher and Advanced Debilitator completed the load-out, along with a full complement of mines and countermeasures. Tanya thanked the maintenance engineers and requested permission to leave the station.
"Freelancer, Alpha, T, Zero-Four-Five. You are cleared for take-off. Good luck out there," announced Docking Control.
Tanya checked her nav map. It was a short flight galactic west of Freeport 9, to an asteroid field. Then through a jump hole to Omega-41. It wouldn't be long before she would see Kenji again, and they could all travel back home.
___
"Has she taken off?" asked Travis. He was watching his nav map in his ship.
"Yes," was the reply.
"Good. Have our ships rendezvous at the designated co-ordinates. The girl should be almost there by now. I think our little ruse has worked. All women have soft spots. Tell our local Bounty Hunter contacts that a wanted felon is on the run and travelling through the area. I'm transmitting her picture and ID signature now." Travis pressed a number of buttons, a beep indicated his transmission had succeeded.
"Tanya Ramirez? She's an Outcast assassin? You sure about this, Carter?" asked the man on the comms incredulously. "These Outcasts are a dangerous bunch. Even if your plan succeeds in isolating her from the other Orbital Spa pilots, they are capable pilots on their own."
"I know what I'm doing. I've been tracking her group of killers for nine months now. She's the last one left. And I'm taking her down. That million credit bounty is all mine."
"She never seemed that dangerous to me. You sure we have the right person?"
Travis considered this.
"No doubt. She is the right target. Except, she may have forgotten who she is. God only knows what they did to her on Cambridge. Get moving. I'll see you space."
___
(cont'd)
Edited : Italics are great!
Edited by - Athena on 9/29/2004 7:45:37 AM
Edited by - Athena on 9/29/2004 7:54:23 AM
She walked alongside one of her wingmates from the last recon mission, a pilot from Liberty space called Travis Carter. Travis was good company, educated, funny and clearly knew a lot about Sirius. Tanya was curious how such a young man just a few years older than her could gain so much knowledge of trade lanes, jump holes and even the names of some bases she had never heard of. She decided against asking too many questions in case he thought she was prying. With Kenji missing in action and still weighing heavily on her mind, Tanya was just glad for the company.
The pair had been walking for over thirty minutes. Her earlier 'workout' with the Corsair gang had taken its toll slightly and she was looking forwards to sitting down somewhere and resting her feet.
"There it is!" said Travis moments later, pointing at the 'La Isla' restaurant. A large dark board with a light-blue neon sign lit up the front wall above the main entrance. Two men stood outside, obviously, but unofficially and probably illegally, armed under their long jackets. They looked mean and tough.
The Sirius Convention signed by the leaders of each Great House when the sector had been colonised many years ago, didn't allow the use of personal sidearms that could cause hull breaches on stations or commercial spacecraft. Tanya knew that ninety-percent of the sidearms carried these days were all capable of such damage, and more. Such a ruling was impossible to enforce.
Travis strode up to the main door, one of several in a bustling 'street-like' conduit and smiled as the automatic doors hissed open. Music piped through from within and Travis paused for a moment, listening to the soft, lilting melody accompanied by various harmonies. He was nodding his head in time with the rhythm. Tanya had heard this sort of music before when she trained at Cambridge a couple of years ago; it was known as 'jazz', a 20th century musical development that apparently took great skill to master. She relaxed a little, smiled and allowed herself to be ushered in by Travis who stepped inside after her winking at the men on the door.
___
"So tell me, what is Bretonia like?" asked Travis. He poured more Amarus Wine into Tanya's half-empty glass. She nodded her thanks. "I have been as far as Cortez but the Corsairs are an unfriendly bunch!"
Tanya winced slightly at the sound of her now most hated enemy.
"Bretonia is beautiful. If you see the auroras that border the galactic north-east of Manchester, the shimmering colours so bright, you'd fall in love with the sight very quickly," sighed the girl. Travis was staring at her, his brown eyes fixed on her own, a strange expression on her face.
"Yes. I can imagine what that sight is like," he said without taking his eyes off her. Tanya blushed and felt hot. She smiled and looked around at the restaurant's interior trying to think of a way to change the subject.
It was fairly modern, yet quite old-fashioned. The architect had clearly envisioned some ancient culture and attempted to articulate that here, with the lush overhanging drapes, inviting couches and low tables with dim lanterns atop them. Tanya was completely absorbed with the band on the stage. They were playing such beautiful music she found it hard to concentrate on dining and drinking as well as talking to Travis.
"So tell me about Texas, Travis," inquired Tanya after chewing on her food, a delightful mixture of meat and vegetables she couldn't begin to describe.
"Home of the Bounty Hunters," said her companion without looking up from his meal.
A flash of light struck Tanya behind the eyes again, the headache was powerful and intense. "Remember your training, soldier!" said a voice from the shadows. "What are you here to do?" "Who do you work for?" "Tanya? Tanya!"
"Tanya!" said Travis shaking the girl by the shoulder. "You ok? You went blank on me for a minute," he looked worried. Tanya blinked.
"I'm ok. I just get these headaches. They're hard to manage sometimes," she took a long sip from her glass, then returned to her meal. Travis sat there watching in silence for a few minutes.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked eventually. Tanya hesitated, then her shoulders slumped, as though she was infinitely tired and carrying a burden far too great for her age.
"Well, I keep hearing..voices. Orders. It's confusing. Sometimes I feel that I don't know who I am anymore," Tanya looked up, then down, then back at Travis. "I know things I shouldn't. Do things I didn't know I could do. So confusing." Tanya scolded herself for being so emotional and quickly rubbed her eyes with a napkin.
Travis looked comforting.
"What do these voices say to you about these orders? About whom? Go somewhere? Do something?" he asked.
"I don't know. I feel like I have a mission to complete, but I don't know what it is," Tanya took another sip, realised the glass was empty then refilled it herself. She looked at Travis who shook his head, then filled her glass full emptying the bottle. A passing waiter quickly swept it up and another bottle was set down soon afterwards on their table.
"You must remember something. Anything," pressed Travis, waiting impatiently for the waiter to walk away. "Assassinate? Recover something?"
Tanya shrugged, but kept her eyes on Travis. Something had changed in his speech. He seemed, anxious. Intense.
"I only fight in self-defence. I am no murderer!" she said firmly, looking straight at him.
A voice whispered in her mind; 'Murderer, Murderer, Murderer'. Tanya went very cold. Her instincts told her something wasn't right. The girl finished her glass and made to stand up. Travis stood up also, now smiling.
"I have to use the restroom. Bio. I'll be right back," she said smiling too. Travis nodded, but the movement was edgy. He took her hand and kissed it.
"Sure. You bet. I'll be right here. Don't be too long or your dessert will go missing!" he laughed. She waved and walked away towards the direction of the female restrooms. She increased her pace and noticed out the corner of her eye a couple of men at the bar watching her. She would have thought nothing of it, but noticed another pair of men sitting in a booth near the stage. They were talking, but not looking at each other.
Something was up.
Just before Tanya reached the door to the restroom, a waiter walked over to her.
"Excuse me, miss? Are you a pilot with Orbital Spa & Cruise?" he asked. He was carrying a silver tray with a note on it.
"Yes," said Tanya. "Can I help you?"
"Is your name Tanya? Tanya Williams?" Tanya looked around for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes. What's the matter?"
"I have a message for you," replied the waiter and presented the tray with the note. She took the note and the waiter walked away back to the bar.
The message read:
Tanya, I hope you are safe. You are in great danger. We were ambushed. Someone is trying to kill you. Leave Freeport 9 ASAP and head to Omega-41. I will meet you at Freeport 5. Kenji
'Kenji!' thought Tanya, almost saying his name aloud. How did he know where she was? She rushed to the restroom, splashed water on her face and thought quickly. She had to get out. And be back within eight hours. That was when the Orbital Spa group were planning to return to the Hawaii. And what to make of Travis? She would have to distract him, then make her exit quickly. Tanya looked at her watch, thirty minutes before her Eagle would be ready. It would take just as long to reach the hangar. Her mind was racing. A group of women then walked in chattering amongst themselves.
Tanya's eyes brightened.
___
Outside, unseen by Tanya, her companion Travis nodded at the two pairs of men seated elsewhere in the bar. He'd taken a long route to reach the diner, by which time his men had set themselves up at various points, preventing any possible escape. He almost balked at the idea of having to kill the girl. She was extremely attractive. Such a waste, he thought. Maybe he could 'borrow' her for a while before taking her back to LPI.
"Oh well, a job is a job," he murmured to himself. Travis reached under his jacket and primed his blaster, setting the charge to maximum. He watched several people walk in and out of the restroom corridor and was getting impatient. What was taking Tanya so long? After ten minutes, he nodded to one of the men at the bar. He got up and walked over to the restroom corridor, disappearing inside. A few moments later he ran back out into view.
"She's gone!" he shouted into his comm. Travis' eardrum nearly burst. "There's no-one in here!". Travis swore and rose to his feet, then ran to the ladies' restroom. He barged aside a few hapless diners and shoved the door open pulling his sidearm ready.
It was silent, except for the sound of a dripping tap.
Travis walked up to each cubicle kicking the door of each one open. Nothing.
"Damn! Find her! She can't have got far!" Travis cursed inwardly. He could hear his men rushing around the diner and outside searching for her. How did this happen? He cast his mind back, trying to remember the events previously and ran back out into the diner. Precious minutes were being wasted. Travis ran back into the restroom again, his eyes suddenly growing cold, then smashed a mirror with the butt of his gun. Lying bunched up on top one of the cubicle walls was an item of clothing. A jumpsuit.
___
Breathing hard, Tanya ran at full speed along the corridors towards the main hangars.
She tore off the hat she wore throwing it to the ground and let her moistened hair down. The skirt she was wearing was far too small, so she ripped it along the length of her left thigh to allow more freedom of movement. It was a nerve-wracking few minutes of her life, she asked the group if she could borrow some clothes to avoid an incredibly obnoxious date, the girls happily obliged offering various items of clothing that Tanya had gratefully put on in place of her single-piece jumpsuit. They offered to walk out together placing her in the middle. Luckily, Tanya wasn't particularly tall or short so it was a relatively smooth journey out to the street. Once around a corner, she bid her farewells and began her mad dash to her Eagle.
___
Ten minutes later, Tanya was strapped into the cockpit of her Eagle. The powerful VHF was equipped with the latest Zoner tech, Fury3 photon cannons, a Cannonball missile launcher and Advanced Debilitator completed the load-out, along with a full complement of mines and countermeasures. Tanya thanked the maintenance engineers and requested permission to leave the station.
"Freelancer, Alpha, T, Zero-Four-Five. You are cleared for take-off. Good luck out there," announced Docking Control.
Tanya checked her nav map. It was a short flight galactic west of Freeport 9, to an asteroid field. Then through a jump hole to Omega-41. It wouldn't be long before she would see Kenji again, and they could all travel back home.
___
"Has she taken off?" asked Travis. He was watching his nav map in his ship.
"Yes," was the reply.
"Good. Have our ships rendezvous at the designated co-ordinates. The girl should be almost there by now. I think our little ruse has worked. All women have soft spots. Tell our local Bounty Hunter contacts that a wanted felon is on the run and travelling through the area. I'm transmitting her picture and ID signature now." Travis pressed a number of buttons, a beep indicated his transmission had succeeded.
"Tanya Ramirez? She's an Outcast assassin? You sure about this, Carter?" asked the man on the comms incredulously. "These Outcasts are a dangerous bunch. Even if your plan succeeds in isolating her from the other Orbital Spa pilots, they are capable pilots on their own."
"I know what I'm doing. I've been tracking her group of killers for nine months now. She's the last one left. And I'm taking her down. That million credit bounty is all mine."
"She never seemed that dangerous to me. You sure we have the right person?"
Travis considered this.
"No doubt. She is the right target. Except, she may have forgotten who she is. God only knows what they did to her on Cambridge. Get moving. I'll see you space."
___
(cont'd)
Edited : Italics are great!
Edited by - Athena on 9/29/2004 7:45:37 AM
Edited by - Athena on 9/29/2004 7:54:23 AM
Wed Sep 29, 2004 6:39 pm
Good Again Athena!
You are a great writer.
I am DEFINATLY putting you in the FF Collection. This has got to be one of the finest ones I have seen yet.
Link Here
You are a great writer.
I am DEFINATLY putting you in the FF Collection. This has got to be one of the finest ones I have seen yet.
Link Here
Thu Sep 30, 2004 8:05 am
Tanya's new Eagle was a joy to fly.
Although the message from Kenji was urgent, she couldn't resist doing a few practice manoeuvres around Freeport 9 to become more familiar with her new ship. Although the Banshee was classed as a light fighter and technically more agile, Tanya concluded the Eagle's turn rate was actually superior. Satisfied she knew the limits of her recent acquisition, the young woman engaged the cruise engines and set a course for the Omega-41 jump hole.
"Nap time," she said to herself. It would be an hour before she reached the hole and Tanya decided she needed the rest. The gentle humming of her ship's engine helped sleep come, and with sleep came the dreams once again.
___
Her ship was being followed by a wing of Hammerheads, the chosen ship of ace Bounty Hunters. They tracked her at a safe seven klicks.
'It would not be long now,' thought Travis.
The jump hole to Omega-41 was close.
___
The Eagle's sensors went dead. Tanya woke up with a start and started pushing buttons trying to bring her sensors back on-line. It was no use, the ship seemed to be devoid of all power except life support.
"Damn, how long was I asleep for?" she asked herself out loud.
The jump hole was close by, yet her Eagle did not go through it on autopilot like she had programmed back on Freeport 9. A movement caught her eye and glancing around her ship to her dismay, there were at least half a dozen Very Heavy Fighters and two gunboats surrounding her. Without sensors, power and shields, she was dead.
Her comms crackled into life.
"Tanya Ramirez. You are under arrest. We are the Bounty Hunters Guild and our orders are to bring you in, dead or alive. Your ship is crippled. Do not resist or you will die. If you agree to our terms, eject your escape pod from the ship now and prepare to be tractored."
Tanya wanted to fight but she knew she had no chance. Angrily, she stabbed the button to eject with her finger and was thrust back into her seat from the rapid acceleration. Her pod sailed two hundred metres away from her Eagle, which was then vaporised by the Bounty Hunter weapons. Her pod was tractored in by a gunboat.
"I haven't done anything wrong!" she said. "What's going on? My name is Tanya Williams."
"Silence. We're going to mix tranq gas with your air supply. Good night, outlaw," said the cold voice again. It was one she recognised. Travis!
"Travis, is that you?"
There was silence. Tanya sniffed and could tell the gas was already piping through. It would not be long now before she lost consciousness, her eyes began to close.
"Yes."
She tried to speak, but slumped back in her seat.
___
Tanya opened her eyes slowly, trying to focus on her surroundings. She was in a room, the gunmetal walls clean and sharp, a single-door was situated ahead of her. The girl tried to get up but realised her wrists were bound to the bed she lay on, the simple gown around her slender frame was plain and unrecognisable. Tanya looked down over her body and saw her ankles had been tied too.
"Where am I?" she asked, fear and tension in her voice. "Help!" she shouted. "Someone help me!"
She remembered her name and tried to recall how she came to be in the room. Her memory was hazy, a blur. Voices. Williams. Her name was Williams. Why was she here?
"Hello? Anyone? Help me, please!" she pleaded. Tanya began to wrestle with the bindings, but soon realised they were made of plas-steel and would need an industrial strength cutter to free herself.
Without warning the door handle began to turn, Tanya lay back and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. She heard a trolley being wheeled in, glasses clinking, a strange smell, voices, footsteps.
"Now, doctor. You must be sure she will react properly this time. There can be no mistakes," said a cultured male voice. It was Bretonian without doubt and resonated with power, authority. A middle-aged man, thought Tanya. But not the leader here, he must be following orders too.
"Yes, yes. We have increased the dosage. The girl will tell us all we wish to know," said another man, this one a Kusari, the oriental accent clear. An older man than the first, he was frightened, detected Tanya. She relaxed, trying to give the impression of deep sleep.
"She has told us nothing of import so far, doctor. Only what we know already. Our contacts are losing patience. We have not come this far to jeopardise the whole mission. We must learn why she failed. Has she been turned? Who knows of our existence. The worst case scenario could be a very dangerous one indeed. For all of us." There was no mistaking the threat.
"Well, General. If your people had given us sufficient time with the other candidates, we would not need to exert so much pressure on this one. You realise she is the last of her kind? The experiments on the others were a magnificent failure. A huge waste of time, resources and technological effort and the better part of the last two weeks I must add!"
'What did they mean?' thought Tanya. She was curious, but quelled the emotion fiercely. There was a pause, perhaps some understanding between the two men.
"She is our last hope. We must find out more. The information this girl possesses is the last key to a gate with hundreds of locks. She can tell us where.." before the Bretonian could finish, a loud alarm klaxon reverberated throughout the room and adjacent corridor. Tanya heard a rush of movement from beyond the door.
"What the hell is going on?" demanded the Bretonian. "You! Wait here and finish the job. Use whatever it takes to get what we need. I will return shortly," the man walked to the door, opened it, Tanya heard voices again, this time agitated, then the door closed, leaving the dampened noise of the alarm throbbing inside her room. The Kusari doctor moved to the trolley. Tanya took this opportunity to open her eyes, he was in his mid-fifties, greying hair at his temples. He had a kind face and wore a mournful expression, something Tanya did not expect to see. He reminded her of someone. A teacher?
She looked at the trolley and her eyes opened in shock. A huge array of needle-guns, tubes, vials full of odd-coloured liquids, pincers, tweezers, clamps and saws were spread over the various shelves. A monitor was connected via an adjustable arm to the trolley and a series of cables now connected the monitor to her bed. She grimaced when she realised her bindings were not just bindings, they were life sign readers. Tanya was not surprised at what happened next.
"You may sit up now, my dear," said the doctor evenly. "Your heart rate and respiration levels were fairly buoyant throughout my conversation with the General. I assume you heard everything we spoke of?" The doctor turned around and looked directly at her.
Tanya raised her head up slightly. She felt extremely vulnerable in her present state, not only was her gown quite light in material, there was no way she could move to defend herself either. The girl looked at the doctor defiantly.
"Why didn't you say anything if you knew I was awake?" she asked. The doctor turned back to the trolley and continued with setting up his equipment. Tanya winced each time she heard a metallic clack or crack of pieces being joined.
"You are a special person, Miss Ramirez," said the doctor continuing with his preparations. Tanya looked confused. Ramirez? Why did he call her by that name? She bit her lip and remained silent. "You have been bred, trained and conditioned for two things, survival and the destruction of others." He looked at her again. "You are a killer, my girl. An assassin." The doctor placed a dangerous looking instrument down on the table, and knelt down to retrieve something from a lower shelf. As he kneeled, Tanya saw a set of keys attached to his belt.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered hoarsely. "I'm just a student. At Cambridge Research Station. My parents are from New London. I was a cadet at West Point," the words came out in a stream. "I was on a routine training mission to Omicron Theta."
"All a very intelligent cover, Tanya. You are not that person at all. You are..a nobody. A murderer. One of several highly-trained specialists. The last actually, given all of your colleagues are now deceased. We have our Bounty Hunters to thank for that, though. They are very thorough and consistent."
Tanya frowned. Travis. Then she blanched, an assassin? Ridiculous. To kill someone in cold-blood? The thought was completely alien. Then she remembered her deadly encounter with the Corsairs on Freeport 9. It was not so alien, after all.
"Your mind was given a synaptic overlay, an artificial projection of a fabricated life imprinted on your consciousness. It would aid you with any interviews, questioning. If you felt your memories were real, you would stand a much better chance of staying unidentified and anonymous. Ingenious really, I must admit. I didn't think such technology was possible," said the doctor. "Not that it matters. Someone has killed everyone involved with the project. Except myself, of course."
Tanya began to flex her arm muscles, testing the strength of the bindings. They wouldn't budge.
"Why were we..bred?" she asked. The doctor looked at her again.
"To kill of course. Not randomly like a psychopath. To kill on command," he stated.
"Who's command? Yours?"
"Of course not. I have no such authority. The Great Houses. The leaders of our esteemed part of the galaxy. Shall I name names? President Jacobi, Emperor of Kusari.."
"No," she whispered. The leaders of civilised humanity in Sirius would order such a thing?
"Yes," he replied matter-of-factly. "You, and others like you were designed as stealth killing machines. We could send drones or robots, but nothing has the inventiveness or creative depth a human does. Your orders were to infiltrate all of the great criminal organisations that currently plague Sirius. The Corsairs, Outcasts, Red Hessians, Gaians, Golden C, Unioners, Rogues, and many more. You were assigned to the Outcasts specifically. Your mission was to slay Don Miguel, the last surviving leader of an ancient family. The strategy was impressive. You took the place of a known Outcast raider. You adopted her name. You had surgery on your face so you would resemble her, though thankfully that has since been reversed in your time back here, your natural features are far more attractive. You caught her yourself. You tortured her for everything she knew about the Outcasts. Then you killed her and took her place."
The doctor watched Tanya's reaction. The girl hadn't moved.
"You returned to Omicron Alpha with the intent of killing Don Miguel. You discovered his family home. You killed several key Outcast leaders for us while gathering information. You did several missions to ingratiate yourself with the Outcast leaders and eventually, you were standing before the Don. Your concealed blaster should have done the job, and left the Outcasts leaderless. Yet somehow you failed. All this work, and you failed at the last hurdle. Why? What stopped you?"
Tanya blinked. Flashes of light appeared in her eyes. She saw visions of a man. A handsome man with dark hair and deep brown eyes. They had kissed. They had made love. The grey uniformed man from the Hawaii! The Don's son! He was at the meeting too. She fired the gun killing the old man, then turned it on everyone else in the room. Finally, he was left. Only him. She hesitated. She could not kill her lover. She failed. She went 'off-the-wire'. The mission was aborted. The son became the new Don and the line continued.
"You remember," whispered the doctor. "What happened? What happened afterwards? Where did you go? What did you do? New Berlin. Do you remember what you were doing in New Berlin?"
"New Berlin? What are..are you talking about?" asked Tanya confused. "I failed. Juan. I loved him. I couldn't.." The doctor looked on sadly.
"What should a killer know of love?" he asked ruefully.
Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the building she was in. The doctor held on to the trolley to steady himself. Another one soon followed. The Bretonian man burst back into the room.
"We are under attack! The station is under attack!" he said eyes wide in fear. Then he noticed Tanya was sitting up awake. "Why is she awake?" he said pointing a finger at her. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "What have you said, doctor? It's over. We're compromised. If the forces attacking us are who I think they were, the whole station is under threat!"
The Bretonian walked over to Tanya's bed, his eyes grew cold in a way that chilled her blood.
"She is a liability. If she tells anyone of her origins it could mean the end of Sirius," he rolled up his sleeves and moved even closer.
"Don't don't hurt me," pleaded Tanya. She struggled at her bonds again vainly. "I don't want to kill anymore. I just want..want.."
"To go home?" sneered the Bretonian. "You have no home. You are a no-one. You have no family, at least not anymore. No money. No future," he replied. "No life."
Tanya screamed when he placed his hands around her throat and began to squeeze. His eyes were cold pits, he looked over her body, but shook his head and snapped it back to look straight into the stricken girl's green eyes.
"No, please, stop.." she begged, as her eyes began to roll up into their sockets. The man's face was twisted into a terrifying grimace. "Please, I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm not your killer," Tanya whispered again. She was losing her energy. Flashes of light erupted behind her eyes again. Tanya arched her back up in a death throe. All she could feel were his hands around her neck. And then they were gone. She sucked in a huge gulp of air painfully.
The Bretonian staggered, then turned around slowly, pointing a finger at the doctor. As he turned, Tanya noticed a needle protruding behind his neck where the base of the skull met the spine. He tried to reach up and take it out, but sank to his knees, knocking over the trolley and falling over it. The doctor stood back and watched as the Bretonian twitched, then lay still, his eyes staring into nothing.
"May the Emperor forgive me. We have seen enough death," he said.
The old Kusari man walked over to Tanya and using the key at his belt unlocked the clasps that held her in place. Tanya rolled painfully to her side, gasping for air. She noticed the doctor had tears in his eyes.
"I am sorry, my child. You were the best of them all, the most talented, so beautiful and we turned you into a monster. Go. Flee while you can. Take this," he handed her his ID card and a second item that looked like the entry controller to a ship of some kind. "Go to the hangar. You will find a Hawk in my name. It is nothing special, but it will get you away from here. Go where you will. Live your life. Find love again. Do not dig into your past. You will find only horror and despair."
Tanya nodded and got to her feet. She grabbed the dead Bretonian's body and took his jacket from him, searching the pockets. She found some money and a datadisc. She pocketed both and walked over to a nearby wardrobe where she found slippers and what looked like a nurses outfit, then without worrying about the doctor, she pulled off her gown and, noticing the various bruises on her toned body, proceeded to put on the uniform and shoes. When Tanya was finished dressing she moved towards the door, but turned just as she reached it.
"Thank you," she said. "For everything. You are right, doctor. I am not the person I was, or what you created me to be. I am someone else now. I don't want to kill, although I am not afraid of killing if it's necessary. Good luck." Tanya opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, her instincts guiding her to her escape.
The doctor watched her walk away, then sat on the bed and wept.
___
Tanya made her way to the hangar, but found all the ships remaining were guarded. More explosions had rocked the station, she could hear the hull groaning under it's own weight, the station would collapse on itself and implode soon. The doctor's Hawk was at the far side of the hangar. There were a dozen guards, engineers and pilots between her and the ship. Tanya looked around searching for a distraction.
The girl stood up suddenly and yelled across the hangar deck.
"Hey! Guys, I need some help with a wounded man over here!" she waved across at a group of guards, two of whom came over.
She led them behind a stack of crates and supplies, checking no-one was able to see them. Tanya reached down to pick something up, bending over so the hem of her uniform rode up revealing her shapely legs.
"Where is the wounded guy?" asked one guard grinning at his companion. They couldn't take their eyes off her.
"Right here!" said Tanya crisply.
She span round holding a large spanner that crashed into the side of one guard's head. Blood spurted from the wound but Tanya knew it wasn't a killing blow. Not that it would matter soon. The other guard brought his rifle up but she lashed out her foot catching his trigger fingers, breaking several. He yelped in pain then staggered back under a fierce flurry of blows to his face. He fell back into a crate then slid to the floor out cold. Tanya stripped him as quickly as she could, swearing when she discovered both guards had even smaller feet than her. The slippers would have to go with the jumpsuit.
Minutes later, the girl strode across the deck towards the Hawk. She saluted at several guards who nodded, then looked at each other confused. Tanya was twenty feet away from the ship's cockpit ladder.
"Hey you! Stop! ID please!" shouted one of the guards. Tanya ignored him.
"Hey! Stop or I open fire!" she broke into a run, dodging left and right, praying the explosions would keep the guard off-balance. She was right, the shooter missed her constantly. An explosion ripped through the hangar, causing a gantry to collapse destroying half of the main deck. Unfortunately for the guard he was under the falling machinery.
Tanya jumped into the Hawk and kicked the ladder away. She punched the ignition buttons and pulled down on the cockpit trying to close it quicker than the hydraulic mechanism was timed for.
"Come on, come on!" she urged.
"All systems on-line. Auto-pilot engaged. Awaiting clearance for take-off,' announced the ship computer.
"Forget that!" said Tanya and turned on manual piloting. She wrestled with the controls as the hangar blew up around her, aimed her Suncannons at the hangar doors and opened fire tearing a huge hole into space. The girl set her thrusters to maximum and dumped all her countermeasures as soon as she exited the hangar, then engaged her cruise engines. Ship sensors indicated at least four Very Heavy Fighters nearby, Sabres. Outcast ships.
"Mission Accomplished, that Large Space Station is history," said a voice over the general comms. The space station blew up behind her, a huge shockwave spiralling out like a wave of flame and cloud.
She stayed silent, praying the explosion of the station would provide enough cover for her to escape undetected.
Ten klicks later, she was satisfied she had gained enough distance, cut her engines and checked her nav map. Tau-31. Very far from Omicron Theta.
She would have to make her way back. The doctor mentioned New Berlin. The enormity of what the doctor had told her was only just beginning to work its way into her mind. A House system assassin? It beggared belief.
Setting a course for New Berlin, Tanya smiled as she remembered her great Kusari friend. She still had to find Kenji.
"If you are alive, I will find you," she whispered.
Tanya loaded the datadisc she took from the dead Bretonian's jacket into her console. Detailed information about her was on it, physical measurements, behaviour patterns, movement projections. This was the information sent to the Bounty Hunter Guild to assist with her capture.
Her green eyes darkened for a moment, then returned back to their natural state, the coldness gone but replaced now with a steely resolve.
"Travis Carter. I'm coming for you."
The Hawk's engines erupted into life, her ship was swallowed up by the night and stars blinked in unison.
___
(..the end..?)
Edited by - Athena on 9/30/2004 9:10:31 AM
Edited by - Athena on 9/30/2004 12:46:49 PM
Although the message from Kenji was urgent, she couldn't resist doing a few practice manoeuvres around Freeport 9 to become more familiar with her new ship. Although the Banshee was classed as a light fighter and technically more agile, Tanya concluded the Eagle's turn rate was actually superior. Satisfied she knew the limits of her recent acquisition, the young woman engaged the cruise engines and set a course for the Omega-41 jump hole.
"Nap time," she said to herself. It would be an hour before she reached the hole and Tanya decided she needed the rest. The gentle humming of her ship's engine helped sleep come, and with sleep came the dreams once again.
___
Her ship was being followed by a wing of Hammerheads, the chosen ship of ace Bounty Hunters. They tracked her at a safe seven klicks.
'It would not be long now,' thought Travis.
The jump hole to Omega-41 was close.
___
The Eagle's sensors went dead. Tanya woke up with a start and started pushing buttons trying to bring her sensors back on-line. It was no use, the ship seemed to be devoid of all power except life support.
"Damn, how long was I asleep for?" she asked herself out loud.
The jump hole was close by, yet her Eagle did not go through it on autopilot like she had programmed back on Freeport 9. A movement caught her eye and glancing around her ship to her dismay, there were at least half a dozen Very Heavy Fighters and two gunboats surrounding her. Without sensors, power and shields, she was dead.
Her comms crackled into life.
"Tanya Ramirez. You are under arrest. We are the Bounty Hunters Guild and our orders are to bring you in, dead or alive. Your ship is crippled. Do not resist or you will die. If you agree to our terms, eject your escape pod from the ship now and prepare to be tractored."
Tanya wanted to fight but she knew she had no chance. Angrily, she stabbed the button to eject with her finger and was thrust back into her seat from the rapid acceleration. Her pod sailed two hundred metres away from her Eagle, which was then vaporised by the Bounty Hunter weapons. Her pod was tractored in by a gunboat.
"I haven't done anything wrong!" she said. "What's going on? My name is Tanya Williams."
"Silence. We're going to mix tranq gas with your air supply. Good night, outlaw," said the cold voice again. It was one she recognised. Travis!
"Travis, is that you?"
There was silence. Tanya sniffed and could tell the gas was already piping through. It would not be long now before she lost consciousness, her eyes began to close.
"Yes."
She tried to speak, but slumped back in her seat.
___
Tanya opened her eyes slowly, trying to focus on her surroundings. She was in a room, the gunmetal walls clean and sharp, a single-door was situated ahead of her. The girl tried to get up but realised her wrists were bound to the bed she lay on, the simple gown around her slender frame was plain and unrecognisable. Tanya looked down over her body and saw her ankles had been tied too.
"Where am I?" she asked, fear and tension in her voice. "Help!" she shouted. "Someone help me!"
She remembered her name and tried to recall how she came to be in the room. Her memory was hazy, a blur. Voices. Williams. Her name was Williams. Why was she here?
"Hello? Anyone? Help me, please!" she pleaded. Tanya began to wrestle with the bindings, but soon realised they were made of plas-steel and would need an industrial strength cutter to free herself.
Without warning the door handle began to turn, Tanya lay back and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. She heard a trolley being wheeled in, glasses clinking, a strange smell, voices, footsteps.
"Now, doctor. You must be sure she will react properly this time. There can be no mistakes," said a cultured male voice. It was Bretonian without doubt and resonated with power, authority. A middle-aged man, thought Tanya. But not the leader here, he must be following orders too.
"Yes, yes. We have increased the dosage. The girl will tell us all we wish to know," said another man, this one a Kusari, the oriental accent clear. An older man than the first, he was frightened, detected Tanya. She relaxed, trying to give the impression of deep sleep.
"She has told us nothing of import so far, doctor. Only what we know already. Our contacts are losing patience. We have not come this far to jeopardise the whole mission. We must learn why she failed. Has she been turned? Who knows of our existence. The worst case scenario could be a very dangerous one indeed. For all of us." There was no mistaking the threat.
"Well, General. If your people had given us sufficient time with the other candidates, we would not need to exert so much pressure on this one. You realise she is the last of her kind? The experiments on the others were a magnificent failure. A huge waste of time, resources and technological effort and the better part of the last two weeks I must add!"
'What did they mean?' thought Tanya. She was curious, but quelled the emotion fiercely. There was a pause, perhaps some understanding between the two men.
"She is our last hope. We must find out more. The information this girl possesses is the last key to a gate with hundreds of locks. She can tell us where.." before the Bretonian could finish, a loud alarm klaxon reverberated throughout the room and adjacent corridor. Tanya heard a rush of movement from beyond the door.
"What the hell is going on?" demanded the Bretonian. "You! Wait here and finish the job. Use whatever it takes to get what we need. I will return shortly," the man walked to the door, opened it, Tanya heard voices again, this time agitated, then the door closed, leaving the dampened noise of the alarm throbbing inside her room. The Kusari doctor moved to the trolley. Tanya took this opportunity to open her eyes, he was in his mid-fifties, greying hair at his temples. He had a kind face and wore a mournful expression, something Tanya did not expect to see. He reminded her of someone. A teacher?
She looked at the trolley and her eyes opened in shock. A huge array of needle-guns, tubes, vials full of odd-coloured liquids, pincers, tweezers, clamps and saws were spread over the various shelves. A monitor was connected via an adjustable arm to the trolley and a series of cables now connected the monitor to her bed. She grimaced when she realised her bindings were not just bindings, they were life sign readers. Tanya was not surprised at what happened next.
"You may sit up now, my dear," said the doctor evenly. "Your heart rate and respiration levels were fairly buoyant throughout my conversation with the General. I assume you heard everything we spoke of?" The doctor turned around and looked directly at her.
Tanya raised her head up slightly. She felt extremely vulnerable in her present state, not only was her gown quite light in material, there was no way she could move to defend herself either. The girl looked at the doctor defiantly.
"Why didn't you say anything if you knew I was awake?" she asked. The doctor turned back to the trolley and continued with setting up his equipment. Tanya winced each time she heard a metallic clack or crack of pieces being joined.
"You are a special person, Miss Ramirez," said the doctor continuing with his preparations. Tanya looked confused. Ramirez? Why did he call her by that name? She bit her lip and remained silent. "You have been bred, trained and conditioned for two things, survival and the destruction of others." He looked at her again. "You are a killer, my girl. An assassin." The doctor placed a dangerous looking instrument down on the table, and knelt down to retrieve something from a lower shelf. As he kneeled, Tanya saw a set of keys attached to his belt.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she whispered hoarsely. "I'm just a student. At Cambridge Research Station. My parents are from New London. I was a cadet at West Point," the words came out in a stream. "I was on a routine training mission to Omicron Theta."
"All a very intelligent cover, Tanya. You are not that person at all. You are..a nobody. A murderer. One of several highly-trained specialists. The last actually, given all of your colleagues are now deceased. We have our Bounty Hunters to thank for that, though. They are very thorough and consistent."
Tanya frowned. Travis. Then she blanched, an assassin? Ridiculous. To kill someone in cold-blood? The thought was completely alien. Then she remembered her deadly encounter with the Corsairs on Freeport 9. It was not so alien, after all.
"Your mind was given a synaptic overlay, an artificial projection of a fabricated life imprinted on your consciousness. It would aid you with any interviews, questioning. If you felt your memories were real, you would stand a much better chance of staying unidentified and anonymous. Ingenious really, I must admit. I didn't think such technology was possible," said the doctor. "Not that it matters. Someone has killed everyone involved with the project. Except myself, of course."
Tanya began to flex her arm muscles, testing the strength of the bindings. They wouldn't budge.
"Why were we..bred?" she asked. The doctor looked at her again.
"To kill of course. Not randomly like a psychopath. To kill on command," he stated.
"Who's command? Yours?"
"Of course not. I have no such authority. The Great Houses. The leaders of our esteemed part of the galaxy. Shall I name names? President Jacobi, Emperor of Kusari.."
"No," she whispered. The leaders of civilised humanity in Sirius would order such a thing?
"Yes," he replied matter-of-factly. "You, and others like you were designed as stealth killing machines. We could send drones or robots, but nothing has the inventiveness or creative depth a human does. Your orders were to infiltrate all of the great criminal organisations that currently plague Sirius. The Corsairs, Outcasts, Red Hessians, Gaians, Golden C, Unioners, Rogues, and many more. You were assigned to the Outcasts specifically. Your mission was to slay Don Miguel, the last surviving leader of an ancient family. The strategy was impressive. You took the place of a known Outcast raider. You adopted her name. You had surgery on your face so you would resemble her, though thankfully that has since been reversed in your time back here, your natural features are far more attractive. You caught her yourself. You tortured her for everything she knew about the Outcasts. Then you killed her and took her place."
The doctor watched Tanya's reaction. The girl hadn't moved.
"You returned to Omicron Alpha with the intent of killing Don Miguel. You discovered his family home. You killed several key Outcast leaders for us while gathering information. You did several missions to ingratiate yourself with the Outcast leaders and eventually, you were standing before the Don. Your concealed blaster should have done the job, and left the Outcasts leaderless. Yet somehow you failed. All this work, and you failed at the last hurdle. Why? What stopped you?"
Tanya blinked. Flashes of light appeared in her eyes. She saw visions of a man. A handsome man with dark hair and deep brown eyes. They had kissed. They had made love. The grey uniformed man from the Hawaii! The Don's son! He was at the meeting too. She fired the gun killing the old man, then turned it on everyone else in the room. Finally, he was left. Only him. She hesitated. She could not kill her lover. She failed. She went 'off-the-wire'. The mission was aborted. The son became the new Don and the line continued.
"You remember," whispered the doctor. "What happened? What happened afterwards? Where did you go? What did you do? New Berlin. Do you remember what you were doing in New Berlin?"
"New Berlin? What are..are you talking about?" asked Tanya confused. "I failed. Juan. I loved him. I couldn't.." The doctor looked on sadly.
"What should a killer know of love?" he asked ruefully.
Suddenly a massive explosion rocked the building she was in. The doctor held on to the trolley to steady himself. Another one soon followed. The Bretonian man burst back into the room.
"We are under attack! The station is under attack!" he said eyes wide in fear. Then he noticed Tanya was sitting up awake. "Why is she awake?" he said pointing a finger at her. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "What have you said, doctor? It's over. We're compromised. If the forces attacking us are who I think they were, the whole station is under threat!"
The Bretonian walked over to Tanya's bed, his eyes grew cold in a way that chilled her blood.
"She is a liability. If she tells anyone of her origins it could mean the end of Sirius," he rolled up his sleeves and moved even closer.
"Don't don't hurt me," pleaded Tanya. She struggled at her bonds again vainly. "I don't want to kill anymore. I just want..want.."
"To go home?" sneered the Bretonian. "You have no home. You are a no-one. You have no family, at least not anymore. No money. No future," he replied. "No life."
Tanya screamed when he placed his hands around her throat and began to squeeze. His eyes were cold pits, he looked over her body, but shook his head and snapped it back to look straight into the stricken girl's green eyes.
"No, please, stop.." she begged, as her eyes began to roll up into their sockets. The man's face was twisted into a terrifying grimace. "Please, I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm not your killer," Tanya whispered again. She was losing her energy. Flashes of light erupted behind her eyes again. Tanya arched her back up in a death throe. All she could feel were his hands around her neck. And then they were gone. She sucked in a huge gulp of air painfully.
The Bretonian staggered, then turned around slowly, pointing a finger at the doctor. As he turned, Tanya noticed a needle protruding behind his neck where the base of the skull met the spine. He tried to reach up and take it out, but sank to his knees, knocking over the trolley and falling over it. The doctor stood back and watched as the Bretonian twitched, then lay still, his eyes staring into nothing.
"May the Emperor forgive me. We have seen enough death," he said.
The old Kusari man walked over to Tanya and using the key at his belt unlocked the clasps that held her in place. Tanya rolled painfully to her side, gasping for air. She noticed the doctor had tears in his eyes.
"I am sorry, my child. You were the best of them all, the most talented, so beautiful and we turned you into a monster. Go. Flee while you can. Take this," he handed her his ID card and a second item that looked like the entry controller to a ship of some kind. "Go to the hangar. You will find a Hawk in my name. It is nothing special, but it will get you away from here. Go where you will. Live your life. Find love again. Do not dig into your past. You will find only horror and despair."
Tanya nodded and got to her feet. She grabbed the dead Bretonian's body and took his jacket from him, searching the pockets. She found some money and a datadisc. She pocketed both and walked over to a nearby wardrobe where she found slippers and what looked like a nurses outfit, then without worrying about the doctor, she pulled off her gown and, noticing the various bruises on her toned body, proceeded to put on the uniform and shoes. When Tanya was finished dressing she moved towards the door, but turned just as she reached it.
"Thank you," she said. "For everything. You are right, doctor. I am not the person I was, or what you created me to be. I am someone else now. I don't want to kill, although I am not afraid of killing if it's necessary. Good luck." Tanya opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, her instincts guiding her to her escape.
The doctor watched her walk away, then sat on the bed and wept.
___
Tanya made her way to the hangar, but found all the ships remaining were guarded. More explosions had rocked the station, she could hear the hull groaning under it's own weight, the station would collapse on itself and implode soon. The doctor's Hawk was at the far side of the hangar. There were a dozen guards, engineers and pilots between her and the ship. Tanya looked around searching for a distraction.
The girl stood up suddenly and yelled across the hangar deck.
"Hey! Guys, I need some help with a wounded man over here!" she waved across at a group of guards, two of whom came over.
She led them behind a stack of crates and supplies, checking no-one was able to see them. Tanya reached down to pick something up, bending over so the hem of her uniform rode up revealing her shapely legs.
"Where is the wounded guy?" asked one guard grinning at his companion. They couldn't take their eyes off her.
"Right here!" said Tanya crisply.
She span round holding a large spanner that crashed into the side of one guard's head. Blood spurted from the wound but Tanya knew it wasn't a killing blow. Not that it would matter soon. The other guard brought his rifle up but she lashed out her foot catching his trigger fingers, breaking several. He yelped in pain then staggered back under a fierce flurry of blows to his face. He fell back into a crate then slid to the floor out cold. Tanya stripped him as quickly as she could, swearing when she discovered both guards had even smaller feet than her. The slippers would have to go with the jumpsuit.
Minutes later, the girl strode across the deck towards the Hawk. She saluted at several guards who nodded, then looked at each other confused. Tanya was twenty feet away from the ship's cockpit ladder.
"Hey you! Stop! ID please!" shouted one of the guards. Tanya ignored him.
"Hey! Stop or I open fire!" she broke into a run, dodging left and right, praying the explosions would keep the guard off-balance. She was right, the shooter missed her constantly. An explosion ripped through the hangar, causing a gantry to collapse destroying half of the main deck. Unfortunately for the guard he was under the falling machinery.
Tanya jumped into the Hawk and kicked the ladder away. She punched the ignition buttons and pulled down on the cockpit trying to close it quicker than the hydraulic mechanism was timed for.
"Come on, come on!" she urged.
"All systems on-line. Auto-pilot engaged. Awaiting clearance for take-off,' announced the ship computer.
"Forget that!" said Tanya and turned on manual piloting. She wrestled with the controls as the hangar blew up around her, aimed her Suncannons at the hangar doors and opened fire tearing a huge hole into space. The girl set her thrusters to maximum and dumped all her countermeasures as soon as she exited the hangar, then engaged her cruise engines. Ship sensors indicated at least four Very Heavy Fighters nearby, Sabres. Outcast ships.
"Mission Accomplished, that Large Space Station is history," said a voice over the general comms. The space station blew up behind her, a huge shockwave spiralling out like a wave of flame and cloud.
She stayed silent, praying the explosion of the station would provide enough cover for her to escape undetected.
Ten klicks later, she was satisfied she had gained enough distance, cut her engines and checked her nav map. Tau-31. Very far from Omicron Theta.
She would have to make her way back. The doctor mentioned New Berlin. The enormity of what the doctor had told her was only just beginning to work its way into her mind. A House system assassin? It beggared belief.
Setting a course for New Berlin, Tanya smiled as she remembered her great Kusari friend. She still had to find Kenji.
"If you are alive, I will find you," she whispered.
Tanya loaded the datadisc she took from the dead Bretonian's jacket into her console. Detailed information about her was on it, physical measurements, behaviour patterns, movement projections. This was the information sent to the Bounty Hunter Guild to assist with her capture.
Her green eyes darkened for a moment, then returned back to their natural state, the coldness gone but replaced now with a steely resolve.
"Travis Carter. I'm coming for you."
The Hawk's engines erupted into life, her ship was swallowed up by the night and stars blinked in unison.
___
(..the end..?)
Edited by - Athena on 9/30/2004 9:10:31 AM
Edited by - Athena on 9/30/2004 12:46:49 PM
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