Nova Cassidy's Chronicles: Judges, Pt 3
09 Mar 2016Nova Cassidy
I can’t goddamn believe I pulled that off.I was sitting in the command chair of my ship, holding a glass of straight liquor in a trembling hand, parked in a hangar in Bolkow terminal in the neighboring Calenerro system. My first instinct had been to run, to put at much black between myself and Gideon’s lifeless body as possible, but the rational side of me knew that I needed a place to lay low and plan out my next steps.
I had been monitoring both the civilian and emergency bands coming from Kamadhenu, and nothing had seemed out of the ordinary.
Not that the Inquisition would exactly broadcast the news that one of their own had been murdered in his own office.
By now, the serial number of mine and every ship that was docked at Shajin would be the subject of a massive search. Hell, there was probably already a bounty on my head- if the Inquisition had the balls to publicly admit their security was so shitty. I took another sip, feeling the first hints of optimism since I had seen the final countdown to jump the hell out of Kamadhenu.
No. They wouldn’t put out a public bounty. Too much lost face.
My optimism vanished as swiftly as it had arrived.
Which means that they’ll send in-house specialists. Great.
I looked around the hangar from the bridge canopy. If the Inquisition had any agents on Bolkow, then chances were good that they’d seen me land.
On the other hand, this isn’t the kind of place the Chapterhouse would exactly post their elite.
Bolkow was a hard-scratch mining outpost, where there was nothing to do except drink and deliver refined ore. People here mostly kept to themselves and stayed in their ships. Nearby was a thick asteroid ring that was almost as rich in criminals as it was in ores.
Could make a hell of a hiding place…
I shook my head. No. That’s just trading one problem for another. I just need to get some shuteye. Then I need to get the hell away from the blue dots.
Getting up, I put away the drink in my hand. I had already fueled and taken on food, so there wasn’t any reason to hang around this dump. I hit the station interface, raising the Blue- The Scuttlebug, I reminded myself- to the surface. Activating the reactor, I warmed up the engines and let the systems come online. It was time to get the hell out, and set course for-
Hell, where am I going?
I swung to my left, hunkering over the nav display. I accessed the star map and zoomed out. I was deep inside the Empire, and wouldn’t breathe easy until I was in Alliance space. That meant green dots, which-
I zoomed over the multitude of dots on the readout, a depressing amount of time passing before I hit the green dots that denoted Alliance systems. I pressed my lips together and scowled slightly. It was going to be a hell of a long trip. But first, I had to make it to the only stop I had decided on for sure.
My hand hovered over the controls. Since I pulled the trigger, there was truly no going back, but now the full weight of just what that meant was hitting me. I was probably never going to see my family again. Or my home. Or see any of the contacts that I’d built over the years. It was simply too dangerous for them to be associated with me.
I stopped, images of my parents filling my vision. A lump formed in my throat. They won’t know why. They won’t know why their little girl suddenly ceased contact. They’ll worry endlessly. Pilot’s Fed won’t tell them jack-shit, either.
My breathing became shallow and raspy. All my friends, and contacts, and everyone I’ve ever known. Cut off.
The lump in my throat grew as all the people in my life paraded past my vision. This is why a lot of pilots can’t hack it after a few years. It’s too hard. Too hard to say goodbye. It’s why they give it all up- the money, the adventure, the freedom. It’s too much.
My lips trembling, I thought again of the situation I was in. And now, here you are. You can’t go home even if you wanted to. Was putting a couple bullets into Gideon worth it? Will it still be worth it in a year? Ten?
I laughed to myself helplessly. And I can’t even hang on to my damn ship.
The Asp I was flying had served me well for years, but it was a liability at this point. Even the best hack job wasn’t going to mask her real sig forever, and I was getting tired of being Jaylin Sharwit, commander of the Scuttlebug. I frowned, looking around the canopy, letting the memories of the times I had had in the ship flash through my head. She was the first ship I had ever grown attached to. I could still remember the feeling of guilt and loss when I had been forced to abandon her with Matt, and the joy at seeing her fixed up and good as new at the end of that god-awful job with him.
And now I’m abandoning her for good.
It might have been for a good reason, but I still didn’t look forward to the moment.
It’ll be for the best. I’ve got the Snowbird. More importantly, I’ll be getting a second chance.
Sighing, I watched as the Bluebird’s systems all reported as being in the green. She’s being a good girl right to the end. Just like I knew she would.
Engaging the engines and lifting off the pad, I pointed my ship towards the nav marker and retracted the landing gear. I accelerated and hit the boosters.
Last ride of the Bluebird. Let’s make it a good one.
...
That was days ago. Jesus. You’d think I’d have calmed down by now.
I hadn't been sleeping well since I shot him. Even after a week of laying low and putting lots of distance between myself and Kamadhenu, I'd been on edge constantly, almost every single ship that got anywhere near me I wondered 'Is this the one that interdicts me?' and every single person who looked my way on the few occasions I left the relative safety of my ship I had to wonder if they knew, or if they were the one who'd finally do me in as soon as I looked away, half expecting a gun to my face as soon as I looked again.
The further I got from Imperial space the better, but how long would it be before some Reaper actually did catch up to me? It felt like it was only a matter of time. Probably was. I had to ditch this ship and go back to being Nova Cassidy as soon as I could.
I knew now, of course, that this could have all been planned out much better. The entire time I'd been concerned with how I was actually going to get in there and kill him. But, like an idiot, and driven only by my own lust for revenge I neglected to think of what happens after. My only plan was to go somewhere far away, make them jump through some hoops and then find a way to make the trail go cold before fleeing again in my Python, under my real name. Ferret seemed to have done a good job on the identity change and the scrambler, but just how good of a job he'd done remained to be seen.
Now, I was on some grimy-looking outpost hundreds of lightyears away from Kamadhenu, and a few thousand light seconds away from the star. How long would it take to reach someplace safe? A few days? A week? Ugh.
"You look like shit, Nova." I said to myself, looking in the bathroom mirror at my face with bags under my bloodshot eyes. You're probably going gray under that dye.
Worse, you just went and killed him without even thinking about what you would do after. So now what, you killed him, got justice. It's not going to bring any of them back, no one will appreciate it, and now you're going to be on the run from the fucking Inquisition for... what, forever? You've done a good job of making hard to even go home or see your family now too.
Aren't you just a big damn hero. Should have just stuck to spacing pirates. You were better at that.
I felt pretty damn ill. The stress had really been getting to me. At least there was only a few more systems between me and my Python. After that, go to Alliance space and… I'd try and start fresh, I guess?
Reassuring.
I froze. There was a slight metal tapping coming from the ship's entry way.
Did you leave the ramp down? Of course you fucking did, you haven't slept in days. You still haven't paid off that trespassing violation.
I ran for the cockpit. There was decent cover and line of sight towards the back of the ship in there.
And you've still got his blood on your goddamn jacket.
"You've come a long way to die on a ship called the Scuttlebug!" I yelled. Maybe I could just scare him off.
As soon as I caught sight of an armed figure turn the corner my eyes widened, and I fired. A loud crack echoed throughout the metal halls of the ship, but all I hit was a bulkhead.
Two shots in this tiny pistol and you missed. If you can't make this one count you're dead. Now he knows where you are, too.
The trespasser immediately dove back behind cover.
“Son of a bitch!” I heard him yell.
From my hiding spot, I gasped and spun around. I knew that voice. It had been a year, but-
No. Not him. Anyone but him.
Sliding down the bulkhead wall, I closed my eyes, heart pounding. He doesn’t know it’s me. He can’t. He’s hunting Jaylin Sharwit. It’s just another job to him. But… how loyal is he to the Empire? Really?
I didn't know.
Pursing my lips, I pulled off my helmet and tossed it aside. I took a deep breath and called out as clearly as I could:
“He deserved it, Matt!”
I closed my eyes and leaned back, committed to my decision. Let’s hope he’s still the man you thought he was…
