Codename. I wish i could marry you.

_______________
i dont suffer fools gladly , in fact i dont suffer them at all

The young woman opened her eyes that were the colour of green jade and absorbed the view before her for several heartbeats.

She stood atop a cliff face. The weather was fine, though two suns were above her and the sky was an odd-coloured light purple. She struggled to regain her memory of who she was and why she was standing on the cliff face but as swiftly a thought would come, it would vanish before she could make sense of it.

The woman raised her head and closed her eyes, angling her face towards the suns basking in the warmth. Her whole body felt reinvigorated, renewed. She wore a sheer silken robe of a shimmering blue material that covered skin the colour of burnished bronze. She gazed for a time at her long, lithe limbs and toned muscles beneath the surface marvelling at how each movement caused the flesh to undulate.

Closing her eyes again, she stretched up with her arms noting how easy the action was and felt locks of long hazel-coloured hair whip past and through them, the wind on the cliff was stronger now. The woman noticed for the first time how far above the sea she was, and closer still the jagged rocks audaciously breaking the powerful waves.

She laughed and suddenly launched into a back flip, arching her back to touch the ground behind her with her fingertips and flipping her legs and body over. Her face hardened as her left foot missed a footing and slipped off the small outcrop of rock, small fragments of rock and dirt falling away to splash in the sea far below. She stood and laughed again, having apparently forgotten how close to death she came.

"You would have taken the same risk in real life, Tanya," said a voice from behind. It was male, light in tone, but sad. Not miserable, merely a longing.

The woman did not react at first and continued to stare out across the sea.

"I do not recall my name," she said. "But you know me as Tanya. How do you know me?" she asked softly.

"I know you exist in your world. This world is not for you," replied the stranger. "You must return to it." The last sentence was emphasised upon slightly.

"Needs must when demons rise," replied the girl. She paused for a while and neither spoke. "Are you a demon?"

The man laughed genuinely.

"No! I am no demon. I am, not of the flesh and borne of spirit. I am Damien."

She turned to see a tall figure of shimmering white. He was clad in simple white robes, the look of his face was kind and his eyes were friendly.

"Damien, Damien," she repeated. A sudden flash of colours stunned her, the man before her was replaced with a hideous visage of a pale man dressed in dark clothes bleeding from many wounds. Insects were burrowing into long-dead skin and when she looked at his face in horror saw the eyes were empty sockets. A mane of wild and manic hair billowed overhead. She blinked and the vision faded. "I...know you?"

"Yes, you do. Tanya. Your spirit wanders in the Void. You are safe here. Healthy. Strong. But in the world you belong to your body fades," said Damien. "You are dying."

Tanya shook her head in disbelief.

"I am happy here. I do not want to leave," she said confused. The man sighed deeply.

"Yes. I understand this. But you should not be here. You are not of this world. Your place is amongst your..friends. Your life is in Sirius, your universe. You are being forced to stay here."

Tanya stared.

"How am I being forced here?" she asked at last, eyes wide now.

"You suffered terrible injuries. A creature of metal and flesh nearly killed you. With help from your friends, you defeated it," said Damien.

The young woman reeled again, a cascade of blurs impeding her vision, the huge form of a metal clad creature stabbing its blade deep into her body, lightning bursting forth charring her flesh. Intense pain. Such pain. Then silence. Darkness.

She closed her eyes and heard voices, some seemed familiar.

"You kissed me, you rogue. Took your time, didn't you?"

“Tanya, I have to go now. But I'll come back. I promise. Wait for me, please.”

"I will try my hand at world redeemer. "

"One more day of this stuff, and she's gone."

The hours passed. Tanya stood statue-still atop the cliff face. The sun beat down on her face. It was getting hotter. The woman began to sweat. The heat became intense. In an attempt to relieve the heat she tore her robe from her glistening body and cast it down to the sea. Except, the sea was no longer there. It was a dark pit, a huge chasm that threatened to swallow all. She began to scream as the sky melted away from the purple hue it was before and instead become a curtain of blood. Dark, red blood flowing from as far as she could see down to the mouth of the chasm and beyond.

"Aye. The life-signs are fading now. It won't be long. How long before that dumb bounty hunter returns?"

"Not long. He won't say anything. We're doctors, remember?"

Suddenly a cloud of insects appeared from below, buzzing out of the chasm in a frenzy. They swarmed around her, biting into her skin, getting tangled in her hair.

Tanya staggered on the cliff face pulling and swatting against the hornets, vainly trying to free herself from their stinging grip. She toppled forward..and fell.

Above her Damien stood watching impassively.

"I am sorry. But you live. This place is not for you. Go now. Seek them. Seek The Meditations. The Covenant."

And he faded.

While Tanya fell in the abyss, screaming all the way.


***


"Hey Maurice. This is a waste, brother. Why are we killing her?" said a man of Hispanic appearance. "I mean, look at her. Just look at her!"

He looked down upon the still form of a young woman dressed in a patient's shift. Several tubes and life sign cables connected her body to a device next to her bed.

"I hear you, man. But our orders are our orders. We don't get paid until she dies. And she dies slow. Like natural. Comprende?" said his companion.

"Yeah, yeah. But. If she's gonna die, let's just do her anyway."

"Are you serious? I think you've been staying in this gringo part of the galaxy for too long! That bounty hunter will be back soon. We only get thirty minutes to administer the drug."

The first looked thoughtful.

"I don't know, man. I could be quicker than thirty minutes," he said eventually. The other cuffed him.

"Idiot! I don't care how long you take! Ten seconds for all I care! We're to do our job. Then vamoose, okay?"

The man he struck rubbed the back of his head pouting, then nodded.

Suddenly, an alarm bleeped and the woman's life sign monitor began to flat line. Her body convulsed for several moments, then went still.

"Oh seven shades of the Virgin Mary's panties, what the hell do we do now? This wasn't meant to happen, she's meant to die when we're gone!" said the first. He paced back and forth between the monitor and the woman's bed.

"Look, look. Stay calm. Just bring her back. I'll use an adrenaline shot. Hold onto her shoulders."

The man went around to the top of the bed and placed to large hands down on her shoulders. The first grabbed a scalpel from a table nearby and sliced an opening in the woman's light shift. He dropped it to the ground then scowled. The man at the top of the bed quickly moved one down under the shift to cup her left breast, then replaced his hand onto her shoulder. His companion cast him a glare.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist."

"Just shut up and keep her still. The shot will make her bounce around and I'll need to take the syringe out before someone comes back to check." He produced a huge syringe almost ten inches long and removed the cap from a needle that was at least four inches of the total length. The man stood over the woman's body and taking both hands raised it high above his head took a deep breath..and stabbed down.

Almost instantly the life signs flared back up spiking all over the place. The woman arched up and the first man struggled to restrain her shoulders against the bed. Her eyes opened wildly and jaw dropped slackly in a silent scream. A split second later, she fell back to the bed breathing heavily with eyes closed. The men checked the life sign monitor and it blipped low, but nominally.

They looked at each other and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The man standing at the top of the bed grinned and reached down to cup the woman's left breast again, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Niiice," he said amused.

And then, the needle was in his right eye. The man who used it took a step back as he realised what had happened. The sleeping woman had ripped out the syringe, reversed it with a flick of her fingers and reached up to plunge it into his companion's eye who tottered back a few paces, then fell to the ground twitching.

The man recovered his senses and drew a small handgun that had a silencer attached to it. The woman rolled off the bed moments before two rounds punched into the mattress where she lay before. He heard a thud, then silence and edged around the side of the bed. He saw the woman lying on her side, gasping for breath. Her shift was partially open and her hand lay across her chest in attempt to cover up her exposed flesh.

"I'm sorry, lady. You were meant to die peacefully. That was the order. But now I have to kill you the old-fashioned way. A bullet to the head. You understand, 'eh seniora?"

The woman nodded once.

"It will be over quickly. I promise," said the man. "We of the Order do not like slow, painful deaths." He pulled back the trigger and aimed at the woman's forehead.

"Nor do I," she replied, then flicked her hand forwards sending the dropped scalpel lancing into right eye of her assailant, penetrating deep into his brain. He managed to fire one shot that punched a hole in the wall inches above her head, then fell back to the ground staring at the ceiling.

Travis burst into the room, blaster drawn, then shouted in fear as he saw the scene inside.

"By Konn's balls, no!" he said as he darted to the bed. He pulled it away and saw a fallen Tanya lying in a heap between the bed and the wall. The bounty hunter saw the bodies of the two men and grimaced. "Here, let me give you a hand, babe," he said reaching down to gingerly lift the woman from the ground.

"You look like crap," he laughed before looking down at the torn shift she wore. "Actually, maybe you don't look so bad," he said slyly.

Tanya was breathing heavily and could barely muster the strength to stand.

"How long have I been out?" she asked between deep breaths. She felt nauseous and just the effort from standing up was making her feel dizzy and sick.

"Two, nearly three weeks," replied Travis. "You haven't moved at all. We thought, you weren't coming back," said Travis softly, making Tanya look up.

"Where's Rob? Konn? Carshalton? What have I missed?"

"Bah. Not even a word about me," snorted the bounty hunter. Tanya hugged him as best she could.

"Hey. Shush. You're special to me. You know that," she chided. "So tell me about the others," and sat down on the bed.

"Well," began Travis. He opened a wardrobe and covered the dead bodies with a couple of gowns. A nurse ran into the room, screamed, then ran out. "Carshalton visited once. There was a book on your table, he took it. Didn't bring it back."

"I will try my hand at world redeemer."

Tanya closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she whispered the phrase. It would be a while before she regained her strength, but there was much she could do to understand what Damien had spoken of.

"And Rob?" she asked, her tone betraying her concern.

"He's fine. Left a message to contact him as soon as you've awoken from your beauty sleep. Not that you needed it, babe."

She laughed, it hurt to do so, but she laughed anyway.

"Tell me about The Covenant. And The Order," she said, her eyes bore into Travis in a way they hadn't for the last few minutes.

"Hm. I don't know much. But I know a couple of guys who do..."


***

(cont'd)

ttfn

x


Edited by - athena on 7/11/2005 11:04:26 AM

Edited by - athena on 7/11/2005 11:06:04 AM

The battle had been more than Konn had seen in years. The old adrenaline rush had come back as the Humpback jinked and soared about while he dodged blasts from enemy ships and laid his own blasts against them. The satisfying explosion of the gunboat once he’d worn it down made up for all the diciness of the encounter, not knowing if he’d make it out alive.

After the dust had settled, it was arranged that the captured fleet would be escorted to the Jump Gate to Frankfurt. After that, Rob had indicated he wanted to do further reconnaissance in Omicron Alpha. Sounds like fun , thought Konn as he wondered what the Outcasts could be doing in there. He’d never seen the Omicrons before, and the greenish muck of Omicron Beta made him wonder what Omicron Alpha must look like.

There was a momentary buzz of puzzlement when Rob’s ship briefly jinked away from the formation in Sigma-19, and then came back once they’d all gotten into Sigma-13. The trip to the Jump Gate was quite anticlimactic, and a Rheinland Military ship waited to signal to Rob that all was well. At this point, Downing radioed in.

“Hello, Lieutenant. That was good work we did there, wasn’t it?”

“It certainly was, Captain. Thanks for your help, and pass on my thanks to Lt. Riley.”

“My pleasure. You’re taking off with the other fellow?”

“Certainly am. The mission’s getting interesting, and as much as I’d like to ask you to come along, this is probably enough of what you bargained for.”

“I would indeed like to come along, but this ship’s definitely in need of major repairs. One of my weapons got melted to slag when my shields failed and an energy blast got my ship, and I imagine the BAF will want to debrief me anyway when I get back. So good luck, Lieutenant.”

“And to you too, Captain.”

They signed off, and the formalities with the Rheinlander having been done, Rob arced away from the Bretonian fleet, and Hahukum entered formation, following along.

At this point, the secure channel came alive.

“Konn, it’s Rob. I’m sending you over the waypoint data the Special Branch people pulled from the ships.”

The computer obligingly showed the navmaps in Omicron Alpha. Not having been there, the waypoints didn’t seem that informative, but Rob filled in some of the gaps by noting that planet Malta was galactic south and slightly west of the sun in the system, so the waypoints to sector 7B were located in what was basically empty space. Damien, however, had located a secret base and had apparently wiped out a major threat to the Sirian Houses.

Time to investigate…

The familiar green murk of Omicron Beta swirled around the two ships as they prepared to go through the Jump Hole to Omicron Alpha. The journey was uneventful, and to nobody’s surprise, the green muck was again visible. The two went to cruise velocity, and the distance meter slowly ticked down as the ships sailed almost directly galactic south. To Hahukum’s surprise, the muck lifted, and the radiation-danger indicator went blank. Omicron Alpha’s actually almost beautiful, he thought.

Oddly, no Outcast ships were in the vicinity, and indeed they hadn’t even encountered any in the system. Konn wondered why, and suspected that the twin attacks on Cali and the stolen Bretonian fleet had severely weakened the Outcasts. The thought excited him that perhaps a mortal blow against one of the most dangerous criminal elements in Sirius could be at hand.

The base itself was rather nondescript. It resembled Trafalgar in appearance, in the long spindly style the Junkers favored. There were some additions; a more robust central section and what appeared to be a biodome sticking out of the top of the base. Hahukum signaled Rob over the secure channel, and sent a low-power message.

“Rob, I’m going to try and dock with this base. Don’t worry; I’m not going to get out of my ship, but I want to see if the base is responding.”

“Roger. We may have to shoot our way in if the base computer is tied in with the rep-scanner.”

“Only one way to find out.” He hit the dock button, and to his surprise, the base obligingly lined his Humpback with the entry bay, and pulled the ship in. Rob came next, and Konn realized he’d been wise to stay inside his ship. Swirls of some kind of gas could be seen, and he was sure it was Cardamine vapor.

Rob, in the vac-suit, got out of his ship, saying, “Remind me to vent to space when we leave this base and then run a full decontamination.”

“Will do. I’m going to check my escape pod and see if there’s a vac-suit I can use. I’ll exit through my cargo doors so I can vent to space without needing to wear the thing all the way back to Bretonia.”

“But they're oh-so comfortable!” Rob joked.

Sure enough, the escape pod held a vac-suit and a complete set of spare parts. Konn quickly tested it out, and decided it was operational. He stepped out, encased, through the cargo bay, involuntarily shuddering as the mist of Cardamine slowly infiltrated his Humpback’s holds. He hit the button on the outside of his ship to close the cargo bay, and then met up with Rob.

Together, the two carefully made their way through the mazes of corridors, encountering tantalizing hints of what strange twisted cutting-edge research was being done at the base. A warped cage, clearly meant to hold a human being, was connected to a computer which persistently returned an error message and wouldn’t respond to any input. Next to the computer stood a diagnostics panel which read, “Artifact insertion stage 1: Error in human insertion.”

Creepy.

Once they opened a door and saw row upon row of emaciated, warped human bodies, many in the advanced stages of what in a normal human would have been considered severe gangrene of the body. The chilling sight stayed with the pair as they hurriedly slammed the doors and left the biodome area towards the base of the station.

Not one human they had seen was alive. Damien had done his work very well. Konn shuddered at the thought that an evil version of Damien could have committed the mass murder of thousands, if not millions, of innocent people in Sirius.

The flight of stairs indicating the way to a prison level spiraled down for a couple of levels, and ended at a set of doors, which opened easily enough. Five cells, not even protected by force barriers, held five apparently barely-conscious men. They must have been kept out of the experiments for some reason, Hahukum thought.

As his eyes swept the cells, taking in the pitiful sight of emaciated bodies with cuts, bruises and welts, one man in particular caught his attention. Bearded, shirtless, almost dead, the man’s face nevertheless radiated an odd sense of… peace. It could just have been because the person was sleeping, obviously conserving what little strength he had. But something about him drew Konn to him anyway.

Rob was swearing because he couldn’t find keys for the cells, and finally decided to just blast all the locks. The task was accomplished in a few seconds, and the pair rapidly set to work determining who was alive and who was dead.

One man had clearly expired just a few hours before. His body hadn’t gone into rigor mortis , but he was not breathing and registered no pulse. The other four had weak pulses and breathed shallowly. Hahukum called Rob on the intersuit radio. “I wish there was a way to protect these people against the Cardamine in the rest of the base. Not that the Outcasts seemed to be particularly worried about leakage into the ventilation system here.”

“No two ways about it, Konn. We’ll have to just move as fast as we can and hope the exposure isn’t fatal to these people in their weakened condition. I’ve got two of ‘em.”

Hahukum had the bearded one, the one he felt drawn to somehow, over his right shoulder and had another man over his left. He found he could walk almost as quickly with the extra weight, which troubled him. It meant these men were so thin and weak that they weighed hardly anything.

They got to the docking bay quickly, and Konn said, “Bugger it all. I just remembered. Cardamine leaked into my cargo bay. And now I can’t vent to outer space or I’ll kill these men.”

Rob said, “Don’t you have stasis beds or something? Like the one we had waiting for Tanya.”

“Unfortunately no. That was a one-time special gadget that came with some of the other frills I got way back on Harris. So these men will have to try and survive on their own. And it looks like it’s vac-suit time for me after all.”

Rob’s laugh didn’t improve Konn’s mood any, and the base was beginning to make him nervous. He kept expecting to see one of the dead men jump up and reach towards him, or something equally horrid. Rob gently laid his prisoners on the floor next to the Humpback, and Hahukum rushed the prisoners into the cargo hold as quickly as he could, closing the door behind him. He fired up the ventilation and filtration system, hoping it could trap the Cardamine vapor – and it did indeed seem that the faint mist was becoming even fainter.

Rob paged Konn again. “I forgot something. We can’t destroy this base easily with our ships. It’s obviously still got power, so that means its reactor is functioning. Get the Humpback out now, and I’ll set the reactor to overload with enough of a delay to let me get out too.”

“Roger. I’ll be 5 K away at least.”

Not wanting to take any risks, Konn kept his suit on as he powered up the Humpback, and quickly exited the docking bay.

Rob’s Falcon entered formation not long after, and as the ships sped away, the nefarious Outcast base exploded soundlessly with the momentary brightness of a hundred suns.

-----

Summary: Creepy Outcast base destroyed. Konn doesn't know it, but he just rescued Nikolai.

Dev sat in a small hotel room alone. There was a question on what to do with his life. Bored really summed Dev up, he was bored. He glanced out the window, through the smoke of his cigarette he saw several police vans pull up.

“Damn...” He grunted “Lets play one more time..”

He ran into the hall and glanced at the stairwell. The Hotel being a three story one had only the stairs. Dev smirked and tossed a grenade onto them and ducked. The explosions crumbled the stairwell leaving the third floor stranded . Dev strode back into his room and pulled his trusty pistol from his holster. He fired a warning shot out the window.

“Take that you facist bastards” He shouted out. The phone rang near him, he ignored it and pulled two grenades off his belt and hurled them out the window. A smirk hit his face as he heard the loud explosion and the cursing.

“Now listen Dev shouted out “I can do thirty times that so watch it. Call the phone now!”

The phone began to ring, Dev picked it up laughing. “Hey cops” he said “You want this all to end, sure i'll end it. I want something though”

“What is it then Dev?” the Cop replied

“You put me live on the video-net for 45 seconds about” Dev said coldly “No-one more will be hurt and i'll give up”

“****ing hell... fine” The cop grunted. “The Video camera's will be pointed at the window and i-”

“I dont mind having snipers on me” Dev said with a smile back at the cop.

Dev walked to the window and smiled out.

“I've said all my life no-one can kill me. Well I'm not going to let one of these police officer cadets get a chance to prove me wrong” With that Dev pulled a pistol to his head and grinned “I'm F*cking incredible... And man, my hand still tingles a bit”

With that, he pulled the trigger.

OOC: Yes stuff happened, all coments and questions can be directed in email to [email protected]. (That isnt my msn for the record)

OOC: I may yet write more and add to this post, but I want to put up the stuff I’ve already done.

Yup. Stuff has been added. Knock yourselves out.

------------

As Rob laid the two men he had carried onto the deck by the Humpback it occurred to him that the station would need to be destroyed. Shame I can't try to hot-swap a torpedo launcher for the cruise disrupters, he reflected. Oh well.

"I forgot something." He said to Konn as the trader climbed into his Humpback. "We can't destroy this base easily with our ships. It's obviously still got power, so that means its reactor is functioning. Get the Humpback out now, and I'll set the reactor to overload with enough of a delay to let me get out too."

Konn, concentrating on the freighter's startup sequence, didn't look up. "Roger. I'll be 5 K away at least."

Rob didn't waste his time. He jogged out of the docking bay and headed deep into the bowels of the station.

The reactor bay would have been completely unremarkable had it been on any other station. It was clean, orderly, nothing out of place. It was a far cry from the horror and chaos which marked the rest of the station. The eye of the storm, thought Rob as he recalled a hurricane experience he had the misfortune of having on Honshu.

The freelancer took a deep breath and surveyed his surroundings. The reactor itself stood, unsurprisingly, in the middle of the room. Thick bundles of cables and piping, many wider than Rob's legs, snaked out from the large power generator and into the floor, ceiling, and walls. Rob unsheathed his ubiquitous combat knife. Time for some slicing.

Rob walked up to the reactor and found a small bundle of cables, roughly the size of his index finger. Here we go. These guys shouldn't be vital. Rob took the cables in his hand and, with one swipe, completely severed the bundle.

Immediately, as was expected, alarms began to blare and the diagnostic panels found throughout the room flashed on. Rob walked up to the closest of them to see what trouble he had caused and what trouble was yet to be caused.

---

WARNING!

Backflow Control Unit JX-591 malfunction.

Reactor Plasma Vents offline.

Core overload in 00:09:38

---

"Oh. Sh*t." Rob said aloud as the number steadily grew smaller. That's not what I had in mind.

The freelancer broke into a run, tearing through the doomed base's corridors like a man running from Death itself. Which, of course, he was.

Rob wasn't sure how much time he had left when he reached his Falcon but he knew it couldn't have been a lot. Throwing caution to the wind, Rob ran a much abbreviated pre-launch check, activated his engines and sent the signal to open the docking bay doors. Before the hatch had fully slid to its open position, Rob pushed his engines to full and pressed hard on his thruster for good measure. The Falcon exploded out of the station at full burn.

Rob heaved a sigh of relief as he put space between himself and the soon-to-be-destroyed station. He glanced down at the scanner readouts. Konn's ship was loitering approximately four K away from Rob's current position. The Falcon's cruise engines began to charge in response to Rob's "Enter Formation" command and the ship's autopilot set a straight-line course to the waiting Humpback.

"Let's get outta here." Rob said. "I'll upload the waypoint to the Tau-37 jumphole."

"Roger. The reactor is going to blow?" Konn asked.

"Any second now." Rob answered. Sure enough, as the two ships turned towards the jumphole and went to cruise, the station flashed a brilliant white and was gone.

Ironically, the violence of the explosion brought with it a sense of peace and serenity for Rob. The opponents of freedom were pushed back a step further. Rob leaned back as much as he was able to in his seat and let out a contented sigh.

Rob closed his eyes and was greeted with the sight of two suns slipping under the calm Gaian sea, the sky was a stunning palette of oranges, yellows, reds and pinks. He heard the sound of waves softly breaking against a beach with sand as white as snow. A light breeze blew strands of Rob's hair across his face and whispered through the leaves of the trees that reached towards the eventing sky.

My own slice of paradise. He thought.

Suddenly a new sound wafted through the air. Laughter. A woman's laughter. Tanya's laughter?

Rob turned and, sure enough, there was Tanya. She wore a simple black bikini and a matching sarong hugged the swell of her hips. As she leapt and spun, dancing up and down the beach to a song only she could hear, her long hair, now a breathtaking copper color, flowed out behind her. She looked... perfect.

Tanya's dance ended abruptly when she looked up and saw Rob watching her. Much to his surprise, Rob didn't look away. Their eyes met and held. Tanya smiled and her eyes sparkled as they caught the light reflected off the water. Rob smiled back. Once again she laughed and began to run towards Rob, arms wide. Rob felt his own arms opening and his legs pushing against the fine sand.

The two of them met and enfolded one another in a passionate embrace. Rob could feel Tanya's chest rise and fall with each breath. Her hands traced intricate patterns up and down his back and her hair tickled his nose. Rob was surprised when her right hand fell away. The sound of rustling fabric followed and Rob felt the odd brush of material as the sarong fell away from Tanya's body, pooling at their feet.

Rob gazed deep into Tanya's green eyes. The young woman smiled mischievously. She brought her face to within a hairsbreadth of Rob's. He felt her lips, soft and warm, barely brush his. Then, with speed and grace none could match, Tanya slipped from Rob's arms. She ran towards the surf, her feet kicking up small plumes of dust and sand with each step.

At the edge of the water Tanya stopped. She dipped her toes into the water and closed her eyes. "Oh, it's wonderful." She said, almost breathless. She took one step, and then another into the water. Turning to face Rob fully, she beckoned for him to follow.

Just as he was about to take that first step, Rob's Neural Net pinged. His eyes burst open and Rob was once again in Omicron Alpha.

"Rob, it's Travis." A small image of the man materialized in the upper left corner of Rob's vision.

The abrupt return to reality left Rob a bit off-balance for a second.

"Hello, Rob!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here." Rob said. "What's up?"

"She's awake." Travis answered and grinned.

Rob blinked once as the full implications of Travis' words sunk in. "She's. Awake?"

"Yeah." Travis said. "Just a few minutes ago."

"And?" Rob sat up straight. "How is she?"

"She's fine," Travis answered. "Still pretty weak though."

"Yeah. I'll bet. Say, could I, um, could I talk to her?" Rob asked.

"Absolutely." Travis said. "I'll go tell her."

"Hold on." Rob said. "We're just approaching the jumphole to Tau-37. Get her to call me in five minutes."

"Sure." Travis' picture winked out.

- - - -

About a minute after Rob's fighter decanted from jumpspace his Neural Net pinged again. It was Tanya. A small avatar materialized where Travis' had been only minutes before. The sight of her, alive, awake and well caused such a strong emotional upswell that Rob could only manage a half-strangled "Hi."

"Hi yourself." Tanya said. The corners of her mouth twisted upwards adopting a bemused expression. "Nice helmet."

Rob smiled. "Thanks. It's the, uh, latest Bretonian fashion. All the rage on New London."

Tanya raised an eyebrow. "Really? I didn't think I was out for that long."

Rob laughed. "So. How are you feeling?"

A flash of something – anger? frustration? Rob couldn't be sure – clouded Tanya's face for an instant. "I'm weak," she said plainly. "And clumsy. It's been a long time."

"You'll get your strength back." Rob said. "A bit of training and you'll be back to fighting form in no time."

"I hope you're right." Tanya's said. "It's hard to believe it's possible though. Just talking is tiring now."

"Oh." Rob said. "In that case, don't let me keep you. Get some rest. Konn and I aren't far now and I want to see you when we arrive."

Tanya smiled. "See you soon."

"Yeah." Rob said. The connection dropped out, leaving Rob with a memory if Tanya's radiant smile and piercing eyes. Rob blinked and a single tear ran down his cheek. "See you soon."

- - - -

The journey through Tau-37 and on to Tau-23 was uneventful. Other than a brief exchange about Tanya's recovery, Konn and Rob didn't speak. Rob was left alone with his thoughts, memories and dreams.

He had worked out how the reunion would play out long before the message was received. Tanya's last words before being sealed into the med-pod had haunted Rob for days afterwards. Eventually he came to understand that all he had ever needed to do was reach out. And reach out he would.

- - - -

"Roger that, Freelancer Epsilon four dash nine. Your request to dock is granted. Please proceed to dock one."

Rob maneuvered his ship towards the indicated bay and turned control of his ship over to the automated docking systems. The door slid open and Rob's Falcon was guided inside without incident.

Konn had landed first and by the time Rob had shut down all the Falcon's systems, and finally rid himself of the vacsuit which had cocooned him from the outside world, the trader was helping four medical technicians load the former prisoners onto stretchers. None of them looked particularly healthy, but three were undoubtedly close to death. That even one looked like he might survive came as quite a surprise to the freelancer. Cardamine could do terrible things to people, Rob knew. The resistance the one man displayed was very odd indeed.

Suddenly one man began to thrash about wildly. Rob saw Travis and Carshalton, who he had not noticed immediately upon arrival, move to subdue the man. One of the medical technicians administered a sedative to the emaciated man and he was still. To avoid any further complications, the medtech then proceeded to sedate the remaining patients.

Rob walked over to where Travis and Carshalton stood. "Hey guys," he said.

"Hi Rob." The two bounty hunters said in unison.

"Tanya's waiting for you in medical." Carshalton said. "Here, grab one of the stretchers and come with us."

"Okay." Rob said. He knew that two men per patient was overkill – he had carried two of them at once earlier – but understood the precaution all the same. He took one end of the nearest stretcher and a bald medtech took the other. They lifted in unison with the three other carrying pairs and began to walk towards the main entrance to the station.

On their way through the station, Konn and Rob offered very brief accounts of their adventures. Both promised to give the first story after they had had some rest. After the four brutalized men had been delivered to the station's ICU, Travis and Carshalton wandered off. Konn, for some reason Rob couldn't understand, asked if he could stay with the invalids. Rob went to find Tanya.

She was sitting on a bed in one of the small recovery rooms. The gown she had been wearing when Rob had last seen her was gone. In its place Tanya wore a shapeless white tunic and loose-fitting pants. It was hospital wear, to be sure, but nevertheless offered at least a semblance of normalcy.

Rob stepped into the room. Tanya looked up at him and smiled. Something about her expression worried him. She looked sad, in a way. It was enough to make him reconsider his plans, if only for a moment. But the recollection of those last words, "Took your time, didn't you?" galvanized Rob's will to act.

He walked up to Tanya and put his hand on her left shoulder before enfolding her in a tender embrace. He closed his eyes and was about to kiss the young woman when he realized that something was wrong. Tanya was as rigid as a sheet of niobium and trembled slightly.

"Rob. No. Please."

Those words caused Rob's eyes to snap open in an instant. He looked at Tanya and saw in her eyes pain, sadness and fear. Fear? Rob was horrified. Oh space, no! What have I done?

Immediately Rob released Tanya and half jumped, half fell away from her. He stumbled backwards towards the door.

"I'm sorry." Tanya said. "It's not you..."

But Rob was already gone.

- - - -

Travis found Rob standing just outside the medical bay, staring off into the distance.

“Hey, how’d it go?” Travis asked.

Rob turned to look at the bounty hunter. “Badly,” he said.

“Oh.” Travis said. “You, uh, you want to talk about it?” The words seemed odd to both Travis and Rob. But Rob did want to talk about it. He was confused. Confused and hurt.

“Yeah. Okay.” Rob said. “Bar?”

“Sure.”

The two men walked through the corridors in silence. Rob tried to work out what he was going to say and Travis wondered what could have happened. They found an unoccupied booth in a secluded corner and Rob sat down.

“You want a drink?” Travis asked.

“No thanks.” Rob said. “I’m fine.”

“What about some of that chocolate stuff?” Travis suggested. He remembered Rob mentioning that it was “good for the soul”.

Rob sighed. “Yeah. Okay. Why not? Thanks.”

“No problem.” Travis said. A few minutes later he returned with a steaming mug in one hand, an ice-cold bottle in another. He sat down across from Rob. “So, what happened?”

Rob took a sip of his drink and answered, “I don't know. But she looked afraid of me.”

“Damn.” Travis said. He was silent for a few moments. “Oh, damn.”

“What?” Rob asked.

“Okay. I think I know what happened. It’s not you.” Travis said. Rob just looked at the bounty hunter, waiting for him to continue. “It’s like this...”

“I don’t know how, but someone either bought off two of the doctors or had sleeper agents here or something. They were trying to kill Tanya. I think they came damn close too. It’s a good thing she woke up when she did.

“Now, I didn’t actually see anything of what went on in the medical bay; when I got inside Tanya was on the floor and the two “docs” were dead. But her clothes were all ripped up. I,” Travis lowered his voice to just above a whisper, “I think they touched her.”

Rob very nearly spat out the mouthful of hot chocolate he had just taken. “They what?”

“I can’t say for sure, man. She didn’t say anything to me about it. But you do the math.” Travis said.

Rob felt his grip on the mug weaken and fail. It fell to the floor and shattered. A wave of nausea swept over him briefly, replaced by a hollow numbness that rendered time meaningless.

The first sensation to force its way back into Rob’s consciousness was the sound of the vidscreen playing a Colony News feed.

“Now to New Berlin,” said the announcer. “Where one man’s reign of terror has come to a surprising end.”

The picture on the screen dissolved into an image of a small hotel. A man was standing on the third-floor balcony. Police in Rheinland green surrounded the building, all guns drawn and pointed at the man on the balcony.

The camera zoomed in on the scene. The first thing Rob noticed as the man on the balcony came into focus was his hair. It was blue, and stood up straight, mohawk-style.

“Dev?” He muttered under his breath.

Sure enough, it was Dev. The voice Rob heard confirmed it.

“I've said all my life no-one can kill me. Well I'm not going to let one of these police officer cadets get a chance to prove me wrong.” The wild-eyed youth raised his pistol and pressed it against his own temple.

“I'm F*cking incredible.” Dev said, grinning wickedly. “And man, my hand still tingles a bit.”

He pulled the trigger. His gun roared for what would likely be the last time and Dev’s lifeless body fell.

“Son of a b*tch!” Rob said, a bit louder than he had planned. “Man. I wanted to do that!”

“That the kid you had trouble with before?” Travis asked.

“Yeah.” Rob said. “It’s funny that I ‘cared’ so much, really. I’ve known worse. And he probably didn’t think of me once after I stabbed his hand.”

“Wait.” Travis said. “What was it he said before he killed himself? Something about his hand tingling?”

Rob looked at Travis and tried to remember Dev’s last words. “And man, my hand still tingles a bit.”

All the other bar patrons were astonished when Rob broke into a fit of giggles.

UPDATED Summary: Rob blows up the Outcast secret base. He dreams about being on Gaia with Tanya. He receives the message that Tanya has woken up. He talks to her briefly. Konn and Rob arrive at the Construction site and transfer the injured former prisoners. Konn stays with them and Rob goes to Tanya. A lot of awkwardness ensues. Poor guy. Travis explains why Tanya acted the way she did. Rob is shocked and appalled. Rob sees footage of Dev’s suicide and appears to go kind of crazy. Don’t worry though. He’ll be fine.

Edited by - Codename on 7/13/2005 10:54:13 AM

OOC: Poor, Rob. Well written, Code

# sings #

"Underneath the mango tree, my honey and me.."



Edited by - athena on 7/13/2005 9:38:19 AM

OOC: Reread my previous post. I've added things.

Glad you liked it, Athena.

# sings #

"... can watch for the moon."



Edited by - Codename on 7/13/2005 10:58:15 AM

New London, acclaimed capital of of Bretonia, the nation that stands guard at the rim of Sirius. If you went the the heart of the system, planet new London, you would find hundreds upon hundreds of ships bustling in and out.


In New London, a measurement of 10k away from the Dublin gate things are very different. Space, cold and unmoving, no planets or stations lie. Why this small part of space would bear any interest?

There a battle group of some of Bretonia's finest ships lies. Three cruisers and one battle-ship, accompanied by three fighters, sit there, unmoving unchanging like the rest of the space. But if the outside of the battleships reflected the space they lay in, the inside denied it.

The bridge of the head cruiser HMS Falkirk was a-buzz with officers and soldiers pouring in and out. One of the officers, Nick Warren, looked out the window to the space. Its simple nature entranced him, it was cool, calm, solitary. One of the ship Pa announcements caught caught his ear and pulled him out of his trance.

“All senior officers please report to the main bridge meeting room to be updated on the situation.” The near-robotic voice called out. Nick let a sigh go, never a moment of peace to contemplate anything.

-:-

Nick entered the meeting room and sat down on one of the chairs. He looked down the long black table. Several senior officers where there waiting for the commander to start. The Commander, Gregory Thompson was one of the oldest the BAF had.

“Now gentlemen as we all know, this mission is designed to bring out quite a few pirates not only to damage them but to see what there capable of.” The commander said in a grim tone. “Now transports alpha and beta will be carrying about 200,000 units of diamonds to Dublin with a escort of two light ships. We allowed the criminal element of course to gain this info, we know they will strike at Dublin jump gate, New London side because that is where we have the least ships at the moment. Once the transports are in 2k of the gate we move in at full speed and intercept the pirates. Any questions?”

“Sir?” One of the younger officers said “Wont the Bretonian public look down on us using such firepower for pirates?”

“Firstly” Nick cut in “There will be many many pirates, enough to pose a real threat. Secondly the Bretonian public will feel that we are always here protecting them and that if pirates attack it is assured our military presence will swoop in and save the day.”

“Thank you Mr.Warren.” Thompson said “now within 45 minutes the transports should be within 2k meaning we move it. I wont lie to you, i expect this to be a dangerous and intense battle. The pirates are not what they used to be, they have become more aggressive and bold with enough firepower to back it up.”


“Sir” The younger officer piped in again “With all due respect sir, what kind of threat can these pirates pose, i'd bet we'll wipe them out within minutes. I dont see why we should be so tense about this”

“Even if that was the case” Nick said “Such a attitude could not have a positive effect on the battle.”

“Oh?” The young officer grunted back at Nick

“Lets just say i've seen that sort of thing happen” Nick said softly.

“Further more sir, how can the BAF afford to do this with one fifth of our fleet gone?” The young man said increasing in annoyance.

Nick smiled “Thanks to a freelancer of some sorts, those boys are coming home.”

“Gentlemen” Commander Thompson said coldly “We haven't much time, to your stations.”

OOC:There we have it, my first chap as my new char.

Edited by - DSQrn on 7/13/2005 8:00:08 PM

The prisoner that Hahukum Konn felt drawn to seemed to show more of a spark of life than the remaining three as the men were loaded onto stretchers for transport. Medical technicians stabilized them the best they could. There was momentary panic when one of the four thrashed about, yelling incoherently, but Travis and Carshalton were able to subdue him and a technician administered a sedative. As a precaution, he told the other techs to sedate the remaining three men.

Rob, Konn, Travis and Carshalton all helped get the stretchers carried to the medical bay without incident. When the latter two inquired about all the events that had gone on, Hahukum briefly outlined what had happened to him, and promised to give further details later. Being in a vacsuit for what seemed like forever was not a very fun exercise. Luckily, the filtration system had gotten all the Cardamine out of the air, and a quick decontamination of Konn’s suit completed the job.

Rob and company left once the four ex-prisoners had been hooked up to diagnostic beds and the doctors had pronounced them out of danger. Hahukum, however, wanted to remain with the strangely resilient prisoner who had shown such fighting spirit. He got permission from the doctors, and the ICU ward was thus empty except for five people, one awake and four sleeping.

Konn looked at the man, who seemed to be a bit taller than he, and who was still fairly muscular even in his current condition. He whispered, “I don’t know why, but I want to get to know you better and I don’t even know your name.”

He sat, commencing his vigil over the sleeping man.

- - -

Horrible screams broke into Konn’s sleep. His eyes snapped open, ears instantly alert to possible danger. Quickly, he realized the screams, loud enough to inspire fear, were coming from the man he’d sat a vigil over. He instinctively reached out and clasped the man’s hand, which was clammy and sweaty.

The man’s face was twisted in horror at something he thought he was seeing, and even in his weakened condition he thrashed about, waving his free arm at the air, trying to fight off whatever it was he thought was attacking him. Konn bellowed into an intercom for a med-tech to get into the ICU, as the heart monitor was registering over a hundred and twenty beats per minute.

Hahukum turned his attention back to the howling man, and gripped the latter’s hand in both his own. He spoke loudly, in a deliberately calm voice. “You’re safe! I’m here, I’m the one that took you away from what happened to you!”

It didn’t seem to have much of an effect except that the heart monitor started to ease back from 120 down to 110. The med-tech came barrelling in, took one look at the situation, and instantly slapped a sedative patch onto the man’s shoulder. As the drugs took effect, the horrible, tortured screams faded and the heart monitor went back to a much safer 60 beats per minute. The med-tech warned Konn that if something like that happened again, the man was at serious risk of going into cardiac arrest. The tech scrolled the heart monitor history, shook his head in amazement and made a note on the medical PDA hanging off the diagnostic bed, and then left.

The man’s hand had gone limp, but Konn still held it. He stroked the palm gently, and said, “You’re safe. I know you may not be able to hear me, but you are safe. I guarantee it.”

Only after this did he realize he was sweating himself, and pulled off his jacket. He shoved the credit sticks and disguised blaster into his pants pockets and sat down again next to the bed. This is going to be a long vigil , thought Konn. As he let go of the man’s hand, it tightened on his own, and he decided it wouldn’t hurt to keep holding it.

OOC: Some time has passed...

----

The sedative pad did its job well. There was no repetition of the thrashing or screaming, and the hours passed by. Once, Konn thought he saw someone come in, but before he could register it and say hello, the person was gone. Probably just a med-tech, he thought.

The sleeping man’s hand was still gripping Konn’s, although not painfully, and it wasn’t that uncomfortable. However, events of certain urgency required him to leave the bed momentarily, and after coming back from the facilities he noticed that the still-sleeping man’s hands were roaming about as though he were trying to grab onto something, and his face was twitching. Once Konn resumed clasping his hand, though, the man’s face relaxed and his arms fell limp. Konn sat back in the chair and stroked the latter’s hand gently, wishing he’d wake up soon.

After another hour or so, sleep was threatening to overtake Hahukum. He snapped to complete wakefulness, though, when he felt the sleeping man’s hand twitching. The latter’s eyelids were also twitching as though he were in REM sleep, and his free hand came up momentarily as though he were warding something off. Worried that the cardiac arrest he’d been warned about could happen, Konn paged the med-tech. He kept an eye on the heart monitor, which was registering about 80 beats per minute now.

As he waited, he said, “Relax, my friend, relax. You’re safe, you’re in a hospital and I won’t let anything happen to you.” The heart monitor backed off to 70, and the man’s eyelids stopped twitching so rapidly. Konn’s gentle touch on the latter’s shoulder seemed to help even more, as the heart monitor settled down again.

However, just as this happened and the med-tech came up to the bed, the man’s eyes opened, and through dry, parched lips he rasped, “Damien?” His eyes had locked onto Konn’s, and Konn didn’t know what to say. How would he know Damien? Why did he say the fellow’s name?

The med-tech got busy. He quickly spoke. “Sir? Can you understand me?”

A feeble rasp of “Yes” was heard.

The tech fetched a glass of water, and handed it to the now-awake man. He said, “Drink it slowly, very slowly.”

After a few sips, the man’s voice became stronger and more assured. He said, “Where am I?"

The med-tech said, “You’re on the Bretonia Mining and Metals base in Tau-23. This gentleman here, who’s been beside your bed for the last day and a half, brought you in along with another fellow. Now, I can check your vitals with these machines but I need to do a check-out of your reflexes now. But you need to let go the fellow’s hand so I can get to work.”

At that moment, Konn and the man blushed simultaneously, and released the grip that had bound them for several hours. The med-tech said, “Now, sir, we didn’t find any identification at all on you, so I need to know your name.”

“Nikolai...”

The news made Hahukum Konn uneasy. Why does that name sound familiar? Maybe if I get his last name I can make the connection.

Unfortunately, the stress of just waking up and having to talk was apparently too much, and Nikolai’s head fell back onto the pillow. Of all the rotten luck, thought Konn. Nikolai’s eyes were open, but he wouldn’t respond to any further questions. The med-tech quickly shone a light into Nikolai’s eyes, and muttered, “Dilated pupils. He’s conscious, but not fully aware of events around him. I’ve got to talk to a specialist on New London.”

The med-tech looked frustrated, and said, “Watch him. I think that's all we're getting out of him for now. Could you sit with him for a little bit more?”

“Be glad to.”

Konn resumed his vigil, eyes focused on the heart monitor.


Edited by - Hahukum Konn on 7/14/2005 8:57:42 PM

And then there was blackness.

Not the sweet, dreamless immersion into nothingness that is known far too little..but pure darkness, terrifying in its magnificence. A demon's face, bodyless, leered out at him from the shadows, blood pouring from his ghostly eyes, and Nikolai struggled against the suffocating blanket of night...

and opened his eyes, ever so slightly.

The terror's head was still there, smiling viciously before him even as he awoke from his slumber. He screamed...

And was plunged back into the unknown realms of his blackened mind.

He felt a brief pulse of life, a hand holding his own, and he squeezed, before plunged into total blackness again.

But out of the sweet bliss of nothingness he rose once again, to a world where fire blazed around him, then was swept away by tumultous winds as hideous creatures danced in a wild, gruesome ritual. A serpent chased him down a marble hall, and when he turned to fight, fists blazing, it turned into a sea into which he fell, tumbling down into the depths, air squeezed from his lungs.

He thought he heard the voice of a god then, and a hand reached down to pull him from his ocean. A million tigers circled around him, eyes glowing embers in their fearsome skulls...

And he saw a cold, white ceiling. No terrors chasing him from the world of dream into the light of day...And a face. Human.

For one moment, he thought he saw him. Sleek black hair hanging down before him, framing his pale, beautiful face.

"Damien...?" He slowly murmured the name. But the face shifted. It wasn't his. It was another's.

What new horror is this?

"Sir, can you understand me?" A voice, disembodied, echoed out before him. He gazed deeper into the white ceiling.

"Yes." His mouth barely moved, so dry the skin was. His voice sounded like sandpaper.

Slowly, out of the wild, random thoughts and the dizzying, still remaining dream-like images his mind produced came the quiet realization that he was awake...

Nikolai drank the water he was offered. Slowly, carefully.

"Where am I?" he rasped out.

He didn't quite pick up what was said in return...a BMM base...

"You need to let go of this fellow's hand..."

He looked at where his hand was...clasped to that of the nameless man above him. Holding hands. Such a meaningless heterosexual ritual. He let go slowly, relinquishing the grip that he had maintained for hours.

"...your name..."

"Nikolai." Who in the underground nightclubs hadn't heard of Nikolai van Haalien? Such a revered name, whispered like a mantra by men in backrooms of bars, spoken like something holy by the young, unspoiled virgins, beautiful men who danced for their first time upon the floors of the cabarets...

One gains quite a reputation when promiscuous.

He turned over onto his side, his mind still swimming, and forgot all that was happening around him.

He was glad to still have that nameless man by his bedside.
________________
Summary: Nikolai's POV, including a recount of his dreams and night terror--and don't worry, nothing supernatural here--and some mention of his clubbing life.

"Rob. No. Please."

Those words caused Rob's eyes to snap open in an instant. He looked at Tanya and saw in her eyes pain, sadness and fear. Fear? Rob was horrified. Oh space, no! What have I done?

Immediately Rob released Tanya and half jumped, half fell away from her. He stumbled backwards towards the door.

"I'm sorry." Tanya said. "It's not you..."

Before Tanya could react, Rob sprang from the bed and darted out of her room. She watched him pull open the door in a pulse of emotion, then followed the line of shadow along the wall before he disappeared out of sight completely. The young woman leaned back on her bed pulled the sheets close to her chest closing her eyes in the process. A tear made its way down her cheek and fell onto the bed, then Tanya rolled over and wept.


***

The next morning, Tanya was greeted with the sound of someone humming accompanied by the sounds of cleaning.

She opened her eyes to and watched bemused as Rob was busy taking clothes out of a holdall and placing them neatly in folded piles within a cupboard. She watched for a few moments, frowning once when she saw a dress she'd never in a million light years consider wearing being hung up. Her expression became serious when Rob stretched up to place a box on the top shelf allowing his jacket to rise and saw a kinetic handgun holstered at his right hip.

"Expecting trouble, are we?" she asked, gingerly raising herself to one side.

Rob spun around with a look of concern on his face, then spun back as the box he positioned badly wobbled, then toppled. He caught it deftly, sighed, then replaced it in a more secure position before closing the door of the cupboard.

"And I'd never wear that red dress even if you paid me to," she continued in mock annoyance.

The freelancer watched her impassive face for a few moments then chuckled.

"Fine. Gives me an excuse to take you shopping for some retail therapy," he replied grinning. The grin faded as Tanya's frown became a real one.

"What makes you think I need therapy?" she asked coldly. "I'm fine."

Rob swallowed a reply and pulled over a chair, turned it around so the back separated them and leaned on the top of it.

"Tanya. Travis told me what he thought happened. Now, either you can keep it to yourself and internalise it, or you can tell me. In your own time of course. I recommend the latter. I should know."

They stared at each other for a long time, Tanya felt guilty at first, treating the man who rescued her so disdainfully but she couldn't block out what happened before either.

As she fell in her dream, she regained consciousness for sometime although her motor control was severely limited. However, that didn't mean she couldn't feel and the sensation of the man's hand as it groped her while paralysed was an emotion she'd never forget. It bordered on terrifying, violating, the worst thing she had felt before. Furthermore, Tanya had felt she wasn't in control and that was quite possibly the worst feeling she'd ever had in her life. To be at someone's mercy.

"Tanya? You there?" asked Rob, the slightest tremor in his voice betraying his concern. She nodded.

How could she tell Rob that to love someone, you essentially leave yourself at their mercy? The pain of a loved one hurting you, is greater than any physical trauma.

Tanya watched him for a few moments before speaking again.

"Rob. You need to give me some time," she said. "I've always been alone. I've had friends. Associates. Even colleagues. But never someone I could say I love. In our line of work, it doesn't pay to have that kind of Achilles' Heel."

The freelancer looked crestfallen. Understandably so.

"So you'll have to trust me on this," she continued. "It's not like I don't want you around me anymore. But until this thing is over, I can't give you what you want. And believe me when I'm ready, I'll put my heart and soul into it. I don't know if this is getting through and it's no coded message, but what we learnt on Cali could change the face of Sirius government forever unless we do something about it."

Rob held to her gaze, eventually nodding.

"Baby steps," he said.

"Baby steps," she agreed. She leaned over and they kissed briefly, the softness of her lips on his own made Rob groan yearning for more but he held back and didn't move when she pulled away. The kiss left a spot of heat on his mouth that seemed to throb, almost painfully.

Tanya slowly pulled the sheet off her and gingerly tried to roll to her side.

"Wait, wait. What do you think you're doing, Tanya?" asked Rob rising from the chair.

"What do you think, hotshot? I'm trying to get up," said the woman struggling to keep her temper as well as force herself to move through sheer will.

"But the doctors said you're weak- " Rob interrupted himself when he caught the stony glare from the ex-assassin. "Maybe you're not that weak," he admitted shrugging.

"Listen, Rob. I don't know what you boys have been up to while I've been out but it makes sense to regroup and share data. I have two things on my mind at the moment," she looked up to see Rob watching her. "Yes, fine. Three. But apart from your good self, Mason is still out there," Tanya pointed in a vague direction away from them. "And there's a group known as The Covenant that I want to learn more about."

Tanya rolled and nearly fell but Rob caught her, lifting her up with an arm around her waist.

"Don't get used to this, Mr Schaefer," she grinned.

"Oh no. Not all, Ms Ramirez," he replied in good humour.


***


Tanya spent the next three days doing a series of exercises designed to restore her motor skills, fitness and overall agility. She was hampered initially by her own frustrations at not being able to move with the same speed and dexterity as she did before her fight with Hideko.

Travis and Rob were assisting with the training, helping Tanya in the deep pools, changing the weights at the gym and holding the bags and pads for Tanya to strike. Much to the doctor's chagrin, they were alarmed at the seemingly strenuous exercises the young woman was putting herself through and more than once advised her to "take it easy".

She ignored those requests but did allow the doctor's to run routine scans and monitor her health overall.

On the third day, Tanya was doing some free-sparring with Travis in the gym. They were both dressed in exercise clothes, Tanya wore a loose-fitting pair of jogging pants, a black top and plimsolls. Travis was stripped to the waist wearing a pair of light linen trousers and barefoot. Boxing gloves covered their fists, protective head guards and shin pads completed the set. Rob stood outside the square of mats and held a stopwatch in his hand.

"Okay, folks. Be gentle. Travis, no more wrestling. Tanya, try not to be too ambitious this time," he said to them both.

Travis and Tanya nodded, tapped their gloves together then separated. Rob was more than pleased with Tanya's progress. She had recovered from barely being able to walk unassisted to near full fight capacity. He detected she was holding something back though, normally, Tanya would make short work of Travis but during their recent bouts Rob detected Tanya wasn't fighting as well as she could have been. Had she lost the edge? he thought.


On the mats, the fight was even, but Travis did seem to have the upper hand. Why wasn't she fighting back? Tanya ducked under a kick, blocked two punches and side-stepped neatly to avoid a big front kick from Travis. She spun past him using the space and lashed out with a backhand aimed at Travis' head that he just managed to block. He backed away and grinned through the mouth guard.

"Mffmfff," he said.

"What?" shouted Tanya. Travis spat out the guard.

"Saw that one coming," he repeated, shoving the guard back into his mouth as Tanya leapt at him immediately after he spoke in a frenzy.

Travis was pushed back at the onslaught of blows, they seemed to come at him from all angles, lightning fast, and it was all he could do defend himself. A powerful side kick blasted through his block slamming into his chest, he heard a crack and suspected one of his ribs had broken. He spat out his guard.

"Enough!" he shouted at her, painfully gripping the side of his torso.

But Tanya kept coming. She leapt at him again and spun her heel around where it connected cleanly with Travis' head. Landing deftly on her feet, she stepped in with her left elbow and sent it crashing into his jaw. Travis fell, dazed. And still Tanya attacked.

Rob raced over the mats and saw with horror that Tanya was about drive her heel into Travis' neck and leapt at her, just managing to tackle the woman to the ground before she could deliver the death blow.

Tanya punched at him furiously and he was forced to let go, blocking two more kicks before he shouted at her furiously.

"Hey! Who am I?" he yelled, eyes blazing. Tanya stopped coming forwards though her eyes had changed to a much darker shade than their usual green. Is this what Travis had mentioned when the doctor's did their scans? thought Rob. Who is she, really?

Rob, still raging pointed to the unconscious Travis who was now being tended to by the gym staff who had run over to see what the commotion was about.

"Who is he?" he yelled once more. "Anyone listening in there?" he said tapping his own head holding to Tanya's gaze.

Tanya said nothing, only nodding to Rob. Then padded out silently from the gym. She stopped to watch Travis be carried out of the room, then padded into the female changing rooms.

Rob sighed. Maybe she wasn't ready yet. At least. Not inside.


***

Tanya stood under the shower for a long time.

"What are you doing, girl?" she asked herself aloud. "Travis is like a brother. He the closest link you have to anyone or anything you could call 'family'. And you tried to kill him today. Nice. Just like a sister."

She turned the water hotter until steam filled the cubicle and stood under the searing stream of water until she couldn't stand it any longer.

Tanya stepped out and using a towel draped over a rail wrapped herself in it staring at her reflection in the mirror.

It was him, wasn't he? she asked herself. The one who touched you.

She shivered, closing her eyes. The young woman knew what Rob was thinking. He thought Tanya couldn't handle it. She was 'broken goods'. 'Beyond salvage'. All terms used in military covert senses indicating she wasn't a reliable, consistent weapon anymore. The problem wasn't whether she could handle a situation. It was whether could keep the demons inside in check. The conditioning she went through for an entire lifetime to become a trained killing machine and kill as a first reaction, rather than look upon life as precious again.

Her eyes closed once more and she thought of the Kusari doctor that had saved her when Mason's contract, Travis' team, caught her the first time.

"You have learnt to love. And live."

She dressed swiftly and had a nurse contact Rob asking him to come to her room.

Few minutes later, she arrived back at her room where Rob was standing outside with an even expression on his face.

"Is Travis ok?" she asked, standing a few paces away.

"Yes. He's fine. Concussion and a broken rib. Take a day in the heal vats to fix that. But he ain't mad at ya," was the curt reply.

"I'm sorry. I'll go see him later," said Tanya. "Rob. Thanks. For everything. You saved my life at Cali. I won't forget that," she stepped in, surprised when Rob moved away.

"You're not going to kill me, are you?" he asked, Tanya was unsure whether he was jesting.

"If I wanted to, you'd be dead already," she said smiling, stepping back. "Why don't you get the others altogether when Travis is out of the vat. We need to group and talk about our next moves."

Rob nodded.

"Already did. Figured you'd be, hungry for data. They'll be arriving tomorrow. Hey, I brought you a present," said Rob finally. He lifted an elongated bag from the ground presenting it to Tanya, who in turn took it with a curious expression.

She unzipped the bag and laughed aloud in delight.

"My sword!" she said pulling the beautifully wrought weapon from the bag. She drew the blade and watched hypnotised as the blue-hued blade sung through the air. A nurse, just passing around the corner saw Tanya wield the deadly blade, then fainted.

Rob laughed as Tanya frowned.

"I didn't touch her, Rob," she said angrily to him. He held his hands up.

"No argument from me. None at all," he said smiling.


***

(cont'd)

Edited by - athena on 7/15/2005 3:35:45 AM

Props to Konn and Athena for helping me out on this one!

--------------

Carshalton, Konn, Rob, Tanya and Travis had assembled in one of the executive suites to go over what had happened and what was yet to come. The room wasn't really meant for planning operations but it was private and Rob's bug jamming device would be more effective in the smaller area.

Konn and Rob, being the two with most information to share, stood at the front of the room. Tanya had – to Rob's great discomfort - made herself very comfortable on the room's bed. Carshalton sat in a chair in the corner and Travis stood by the door. Rob wasn't entirely surprised; given the beating Travis had taken at the hands of Tanya the day before, it made sense that the bounty hunter would want to keep as far away from her - and as close to an exit - as possible. It was still difficult for Rob to come to terms with.

"Right." Rob said. "Before we begin, I have some money for all of you."

Four faces, excited and somewhat puzzled turned to face Rob. "How much money?" Asked Travis.

"Four-fifty K." Rob answered. "Each."

The only person who didn't receive the news with some expression of glee was Tanya. Rob thought he remembered her saying something about having a fair bit of money hidden away. He also knew that right now Tanya cared about bringing Mason to his knees and little else.

"Let me guess," Carshalton said. "You got paid for returning the ships?"

"Yup." Rob replied. "Couldn't have done it without all of you though. So you each get a 15 percent cut. If you all have credsticks here, I'll transfer the funds now."

Sure enough, everyone did. One by one, Rob linked his stick with someone else's and the money changed hands.

"Now," said Konn. "Shall we get down to business?"

"Sure." Rob said. "You start."

Konn decided to save the information about The Covenant until the end and launched straight into the story of recapturing the Bretonian fleet. Rob and Konn took turns speaking, filling in any details that the other had missed. They didn't dwell on the analysis and prep phases of the mission for long. Rather, they spent the majority of their time giving detailed – though by no means embellished – accounts of the action they saw.

Once everyone was up to speed on the fleet story, Rob and Konn turned their attention to The Covenant. Rewinding back to just after the fateful mission to Cali, played back the video Rob had given him of Project Farseer. Tanya and Carshalton, having not yet seen the footage, were suitably surprised. The footage of Test Two seemed to distress Tanya, and for good reason. Seeing Hideko again, even as a picture, couldn't bring back too many pleasant memories.

"Now," said Rob. "Lets flash forward to after the battle. I had the Special Branch folks pull down the waypoints that the Outcasts had uploaded into the ships' computers. This led us to another base, eventually. However, before Konn and I actually went there, I spoke to Damien. You see, I'm almost positive that he was the original test subject for the 'life-force preservation' thing, the one that everyone though was simply dead. Somehow the people who changed him weren't able to maintain control. Lucky for all of us. I shudder to think what might have happened if the original experimentation had worked.

"Anyway, back to Damien and the base. At the time, I wasn't yet sure if there was a base, and what, if anything was inside. So I asked Damien to go take a look. I figured his lower vulnerability and ease of movement would come in handy. And it did.

"There was most certainly a base, and lots of very bizarre stuff going down. Damien took it upon himself to destroy what looked to me like a budding army of his analogs, as well as the artifact that was being used to change them. I'm not sure how he did it, but," Rob sighed, "but I think it took all the life – if you can call his existence life – out of him. He seemed pretty sure that his time was up when he last spoke to me. He sends best wishes to all of you."

"Um, who are you talking about now?" Carshalton asked. "I'm really confused here."

"Oh, you never met Damien, did you? Well, it's a long story – one we can't really get into now – but suffice it to say, he's a hero." Rob said.

"Okay then. If you say so."

"I do." Rob said. "Now, Konn, why don't you describe what we saw on the station?"

"When we got there, the base let us in as though our ships had been normal Outcast ships. I suspect they weren't anticipating hostile entry, in view of the extremely secret location of the base. We saw what must have been hundreds of dead people; there was nobody alive except for four prisoners in the lowest levels of the base. One of them, whose name is Nikolai, has shown unusual fighting spirit. The other three, however, have been comatose since Rob and I picked them up.

"There are frustratingly tantalizing hints of what went on; computers were registering error messages regarding 'artifact insertion' and the like, but we thought it prudent to destroy the base rather than try to acquire data, since the Outcasts were bound to find out that their plans were foiled and try to salvage their hidden base. That's pretty well all I've got."

Rob said, "Speaking of Nikolai, has he been able to tell you anything? I almost walked in on you two earlier, but I decided not to disturb you guys."

Konn said, deadpan, "Well, in view of the fact that we were holding hands, I suppose leaving us alone was a good idea." At the looks the others gave him, he said, "The fellow seemed agitated and I wanted to reassure him, even though he was unconscious, that there was someone nearby who wouldn't harm him.

"Anyway, he went catatonic in a strange kind of fugue state, and the med-tech doesn't have the experience to deal with it. He's spoken to a specialist on New London and we'll have to go there. I'll need an armed escort and the med-tech will go with me to ensure Nikolai remains stable. He's due to go on leave for a while anyway, so he pulled some strings and made the necessary arrangements. We can leave anytime."

"Might as well just go now." Rob said. "The guy's likely to be our best source of information. The Cali computer data will only take us so far."

"You're not trying to just get rid of me, are you?" Konn asked jokingly.

"Well, maybe." Rob replied with a wink.

"Very well." Konn said. "Who's going to be my escort then?"

"Travis and Carshalton." Rob said "Tanya and I will stay here and see if we can't come up with any new information. We pretty much know that the 'life-force preservation' plans are set way back now. There's a whole hell of a lot that we don't know, though.

"The other two experiments are big blanks, for instance. We also don't know where all these artifacts are coming from. And then there's The Covenant. Big question marks there. Who are they? Where are they? Who's their leader, this Abbot? And how is Mason involved in all this?

"One thing is certain, though. Mason isn't the top dog we thought he was."

"Indeed." Konn said. "Well, we might as well be off then. Travis, Carshalton, if you please..."

- - - -

"So, Rob," Tanya said, looking straight at Rob. The freelancer hadn't been wearing his trademark shades over the past few days and suddenly began to regret it. He felt naked; it was as though Tanya was peering into the very depths of his mind. And who knows what she'll find there? Rob wondered. He worried that somehow she might see something which would trigger another outburst. Despite that, he didn't look away. He couldn't look away. "Rob!"

"Wha-huh?"

"You're staring at me." Tanya said plainly. "I asked you what you had planned for the two of us."

"Oh. Yeah." The way Tanya had phrased the question made Rob uncomfortable. He knew exactly what she meant by it, but there was an undeniable subtext to it as well. "Hopefully this Nikolai fellow will be able to offer us some useful information eventually. In the mean time, there's still lots of data from Cali that hasn't been analyzed. I'd say we should get cracking on that. It's not exciting, I know, but we have to start somewhere."

"Fine." Tanya said. "You have a disk for me?"

"Uh, yeah." Rob said as he rummaged through his pockets. "Here."

"Thanks." Tanya took the small disk from Rob, slotted it into her handheld, and immediately began to read whatever came up on the screen. Rob shrugged, pulled out his own computer, and went to sit in the chair Carshalton had vacated minutes earlier.

"What do you want to look for?" Rob asked.

"Test Two." Tanya replied shortly. Rob wasn't surprised.

"Sounds good to me. I'll see if there's anything else on Test Three and the artifacts in – hold on," Rob said as his Neural Net pinged. "I'm getting a call. Yeah?"

"Robert, is that you?" A familiar voice asked.

"Dr. Tomsons?" Rob asked, somewhat surprised. "Yeah, it's Rob. What's going on, how is everything?"

"I don't know. I think I'm being watched."

"What? What do you mean?" Rob asked.

"Well, it all started about a month ago," The doctor said. "A group of strange men and women just appeared here, out of nowhere. They alleged that they represented some people who had recently uncovered extensive Dom'Kavash ruins on an uncharted planet out past the Edge Worlds. Never actually said who they represented though. Government, corporation, I have no idea. They asked if any of us would be interested in doing a dig there. No mention of how the team would get past the Corsairs or anything though.

"One thing there was a lot of was money. Not only were these people constantly trying to outright buy us, but they were taking us out to dinner and buying us presents and things like that. In fact, each member of the faculty seemed to have been assigned a specific liaison. I got this young girl, Natalie. She's really quite pretty, and very charming. It was hard to say no to her, but you know my wife. She'd have my balls on a platter at even the slightest hint of infidelity. You know what though, I still have her number, maybe you and she..."

"Uh, no. Thanks Doc, but no." Rob said, looking wistfully at Tanya for a second.

"Oh, found someone else, have you?" Dr. Tomsons asked.

"You called me." Rob reminded him. "You seemed quite worried. Let's talk about that first."

"Yes, yes. Right. Okay. So the entire Hammer xeno-archeology department was being courted by these people. I'll admit, the degrees to which they would go to win our services was almost frightening. But it worked. Close to half of my colleagues left two weeks ago. I haven't heard from any of them since.

"I started to ask around a bit and that's when I noticed that I was being followed. There are always strangers walking by my office and I've picked up at least three people tailing me on occasion. I don't know what's going on. Can you help me?"

Rob thought about it for a second. "Not directly, no. I'm a bit busy right now but I'll send someone out to get you. For the moment, you need to get out of Liberty and away from the Hammer Institute. Go to Freeport 4, in Magellan. I'll have someone meet you there. Travis Carter. He's an ex-bounty hunter."

"And Kira, what should she do?"

"Well, if things are bad – and they do sound like they could be – then she could be in danger if she's with you. Does she have any family or close friends outside of Liberty? Anyone who she an lay low with for a while if necessary?"

"Robert. You know my Kira. She's the definition of gregarious. There are plenty of people who would help her at the drop of a hat. I'll send her out to Rheinland. She had wanted to go earlier but what with all the turmoil I wasn't all that keen. Now that things seem to be settling down, it should be fine."

"Right. Good. Get whatever stuff you need together – fast – and get out.emember, Freeport 4 and Travis Carter."

"Thank you, Robert."

"My pleasure, Doc. Oh, before you go I don't suppose you have the location of this dig you mentioned, do you?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I do. A friend of mine, Doctor Sanger – I think you may have met him once – did decide to go, but before he left, copied the Neural Net info and gave it to me in case of emergency. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I can't give you any details, but I've been on the trail of some decidedly nasty folks with an artifact fetish. It sounds like your friends might be in way over their heads." Rob explained. "I'd like to go investigate."

"Oh, I see." The doctor said. "Would you like me to send you the data?"

"Please."

"Okay. It's sent. Thanks again for your help. I'll be waiting for Mr. Carter on Freeport 4."

"Good. It was nice talking to you again, Doc."

"Likewise. Goodbye, Robert."

"Bye." Rob cut the connection. Tanya appeared to have been engrossed in whatever she had been reading, but Rob knew that appearances could be deceiving.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

"I may just have found something a bit more exciting for us to do." Rob said, a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Do tell then." Tanya smiled back.

"Well, the guy who just called me is an old friend of my parents, Doctor Arthur Tomsons. He's a xeno-archaeologist at the Hammer Research Institute in Liberty. What's most interesting for us is that there's been a new discovery of artifacts by some shadowy group."

"Oh. That is interesting." Tanya said.

"Yeah. I've got the location here. The planet's in an uncharted system off Omicron, uh, Gamma."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Tanya asked, her face alive with anticipation of finally being able to do something after so long.

Yeah. And then some. Rob thought. He said, "Probably."

Summary: Rob pays Carshalton, Konn, Tanya and Travis for their help in recapturing the Bretonian fleet. Konn and Rob make sure everyone is up to speed on all the latest happenings. Carshalton, Konn and Travis leave to take Nikolai to New London. Rob gets a call from a family friend, Dr. Arthur Tomsons. Dr. T tells Rob about this new dig that's going on way far out (being conducted by an organization which may be The Covenant) and that he thinks he's being watched. Rob decides to send Travis out to protect Tomsons. Rob tells Tanya about the dig and there's an (unspoken) agreement to check it out.

Edited by - Codename on 7/16/2005 4:20:23 PM

Hahukum Konn boarded the Humpback, with Nikolai and the med-tech in tow. Nikolai was sleeping and would be put in the captain’s sleeping quarters, the med-tech monitoring his condition to ensure nothing was wrong. As Konn went through the pre-flight checks and made sure all the damage from recent events had been repaired, the med-tech said, “Can I have a word with you for a second?”

“Sure.”

“Well, just before we met here I spoke again to the specialist on New London and he thinks I was wrong in my initial diagnosis. He suspects that what happened may have simply been a natural reaction to the sudden change in surroundings and will want to confirm that when we get to New London. He doesn’t think Nikolai is in any danger, though.”

“That’s a relief. I had been worried that something was wrong with the man when I had to leave for the meeting with my friends.”

“Well, I’ll get back and monitor the bloke’s condition. I’m still a bit concerned about cardiac arrest. He’s been in appalling conditions with little food or drink, so his biochemistry’s a bit out of whack. I’ve had him on an IV for a while now and his blood work is looking better.”

Hahukum contacted Travis and the Marshal briefly to ensure they were ready to go, and the trio swiftly left the BMM base for New London. The trip itself was rather mundane, with only the occasional Gaian trying to take a pot-shot at the Humpback. The med-tech knew how to pilot a ship, and would occasionally trade off control when Konn needed a break.

It was during one of these breaks that Nikolai began calling for someone, and Konn entered the captain’s quarters. Nikolai was awake and conscious. Thank goodness, he thought.

Nikolai was saying, a bit raspily, “… drink.”

“Well, I have water here for you—”

“No. I mean a drink. Some f*cking liquor.”

Doesn’t mince words, does he? Well, this should be an interesting trip, if nothing else.

“No, I haven’t got any alcohol on board ship. Sorry. But I’ll buy you a drink on New London once the specialist says you’re okay.” He got Nikolai some water anyway, in case the latter’s throat got too dry.

Nikolai grunted. He said, “Who are you? What’s your name?”

“Hahukum Konn. I already know your name’s Nikolai, when you said it in the base’s medical ward.”

“Hmm. Nice name.”

“Thanks. I know it’s a bit unusual by Bretonian standards, but I wasn’t born there. I was born in Liberty, and did military service in Bretonia – I’m ex-BAF now, though, and have been a trader for the last few years.”

“I’m a Rheinlander. Some associations with the Bundschuh, but I stopped doing that a while ago. They think I'm dead anyway.”

Konn was surprised. He wasn’t a political man, although he preferred the less pro-corporate standards of Bretonia over Liberty. However, he knew the Bundschuh were considered a subversive movement in Rheinland. If this man was an example of the Bundschuh membership, though, he wasn’t complaining. In any case, keeping an open mind would be wise here.

“Well, as much as I would like to continue this conversation I’m needed at the controls. The medical technician isn’t supposed to be piloting my ship.” He smiled and stood up.

“Just get me my f*cking drink, Mister Konn.” Nikolai wasn’t scowling… too much.

---

As the ship convoy made its way through the trade lanes to New London, Travis contacted Hahukum’s ship.

“Yes, Travis?”

“Got word from Rob about a new mission. I’m due to go to Magellan and meet someone. He says I’ve got to get there ASAP so I can’t land with you on New London.”

“That’s all right. Carshalton should be adequate until we get sorted out on New London. Have a safe trip, will you?”

Travis’s smirk could be heard in his voice. “Don’t I always? You take care of yourselves. Mason’s going to be on the rampage, you know.”

“Oh, bloody hell. Don’t remind me. I keep expecting to see a bounty out for a freelance trader with a Humpback with one too many scratches on the hull.”

Travis just snickered, then signed off.

Konn turned his thoughts to more pleasant avenues. Four hundred and fifty thousand credits! He reckoned up what he had, in total, and with the hundred-twenty-plus he had going into New Berlin, plus a hundred-fifty after the profit and expenses on the Beryllium, and now the four hundred-fifty, he had in the neighborhood of seven hundred thousand credits.

I could afford to buy that bloke in the bed a hundred drinks and not miss the money, he thought. He tried to recall some of the bars and clubs on New London, and found to his relief he could still recall some names. He made a note to figure out which one had Rheinland-style drinks for Nikolai.

---

“Freelancer Beta-dash-three, you are cleared to dock.”

One of these days I’m going to go barmy at that cheery voice, thought Konn as his ship lined up with the New London docking ring, and smoothly entered the atmosphere. Once in spacedock, he powered down the Humpback and got ready to head over to the New London specialist. As promised, an air-car was waiting to whisk the three straight off.

Before they did that, Hahukum buttonholed Carshalton and said, “Thanks for the escort. If you can’t get hold of me just leave a message with the spaceport people, and we’ll touch base.”

“My pleasure. Take care of yourself. I'm going to see if I can't find myself some work in the meantime.” The big man stuck out his hand, and they shook.

The aircar deposited the med-tech, Hahukum and Nikolai in front of a low building. They entered, and the robot receptionist confirmed the appointment after the appropriate identity tags were displayed.

The specialist, a Doctor Smythe-Robertson, thanked the med-tech, saying, “Good work, Mr. Nelson. I’m sure everything will be just fine. If you want, look me up before you leave again for Tau-23.”

“My pleasure, Doctor. Good day.”

“And now for the patient. Which one of you is he?”

Nikolai said, “I am. Could we get this over with?”

“Very good. Would you both accompany me to my neurological examination room?”

The room turned out to be rather small for the apparently esoteric work the specialist did. It turned out he was an accomplished neurologist, holding degrees in medicine and further certifications in neurology and neurobiology. There was a comfortable chair with a kind of helmet for the patient’s head. Konn grabbed a chair in the corner and sat on that. Nikolai reclined in the diagnostic chair, and the doctor was speaking.

“Now, as Mr. Nelson probably told you, it is my opinion that his initial diagnosis, made under some pressure, was likely mistaken. Since you’re conscious and apparently functioning normally, it seems I was right. However, I’d like to confirm this to make sure, and this equipment tells me if there’s any unusual neuronic activity that might indicate brain trauma.”

Nikolai rolled his eyes. “I’m fine,” he muttered to Konn. “Nothing absinthe can’t fix.” Despite his protests, in a matter of a few minutes the scans and diagnoses were displayed in various forms on various screens in the room, and Dr. Smythe-Robertson nodded to himself, muttering as he zoomed in on various portions of the brain and nerve network.

After a few more minutes, he said, “Nothing’s wrong. If there is, it’s clearly not biological, biochemical or neurological. However, I can prescribe a mild sedative if there’s sleep pattern disruption. I’ve been given a sketchy background of your situation, Nikolai, and I must say, in all honesty, that it’s a miracle these scans are coming up as stable as they are. I must remember to ask Mr. Nelson to send me comparison scans of the three other men he says were with you.”

Nikolai pushed the helmet off his head, and said, “Thanks. Can I go now?”

“Certainly.” The doctor shoved a small chip into Nikolai’s hand, and said, “Your prescription. That’s good for one vial at any chemist’s shop on New London. I would recommend, purely as a matter of medical concern, that you see a psychologist if you experience long-term sleep disruption or anything otherwise disturbing to you.”

“Very well. Can we leave?”

The doctor got up and escorted them out the door.

-----

Summary: Trip to New London. The exciting bits come when Konn and Nikolai get to know a bit about each other. The doctor visit is gotten over with quickly.

Edited by - Hahukum Konn on 7/17/2005 6:42:55 PM