Can't Outrun The Past. (A Short story #2)
12 Aug 2021Isabella Adair-Levine
[August 10th, 3307][System: HIP 16813]
[Location: Abandoned Tourist Settlement]
Isabella sat on the cool metal floor, her legs stretched out in front of her and her arms still strapped to the steel pipe behind her. Sitting in this position was as comfortable as it could get for her. It had been nearly 17 hours since she was first captured and interrogated by the man she still didn't know the name of and it was really starting to suck once the reality of being a hostage kicked in. She smiled remembering the last time she'd been restrained and interrogated. The difference was that her fellow Imps that did it weren't terrorists that knocked out an entire settlement. Isabella looked over at the lady sitting at the bar. Luna was her name. Dark eyes, short hair. A nice scar across her cheek. Isabella guessed this guy's crew were maybe pirates or hardcore mercenaries. Either way, Isabella noticed Luna had a slight limp in her left leg when she walked.
"Hey! Lana! I need to pee."
Isabella blurted out. The woman sighed heavily and placed her head down into her arms.
"Heellooo? Lana? I said I need to-"
"MY NAME IS LUNA! Shit! Why are you so dense? Can you not understand my name? It's four damn letters."
Isabella raised her eyebrows at the outburst. She'd been getting under her skin successfully and playing dumb was becoming fun. Made them underestimate her.
"Oh my! Excuse me. Luna. I'm really bad with names. I'm just not used to hearing a name like-"
"Shut up! Please. It's not a difficult name. And go in your suit dumbass. It filters it as a liquid that helps with suit temperature regulation."
She lowered her head back into her arms and everything became quiet once again. Nothing but the slight creaking of metal and the sound of the building's air being recycled and pumped back through the vents could be heard. It had been like that for hours and hours and boredom began to mount. Isabella sighed lightly and blew a piece of loose hair hanging in her face away. She looked at Luna again, still sitting at the bar with her head down. The silence was driving her crazy and talking was driving Luna crazy. So Isabella decided she'd talk.
"Hey...Lan- I mean Luna, sorry. What happened to your leg? Looks messed up when you walk. I've noticed it."
Her head came back up like a dragon waking from its slumber. Her head then slowly turned Isabella's way giving a deathly glare.
"You best remember you're the one strapped to a pipe and I'm the one with the gun that can shoot you in the face."
"Jeez, I'm sorry if I offended you. I was asking an honest question."
Luna suddenly stood up and began walking towards her. She placed her hand on the handle of her pistol but didn't unholster it from its magnetic hold. She looked down on Isabella with tired and annoyed eyes.
"You. You keep pushing my buttons and you're doing it on purpose! I know you are! You've been like this for hours and I've tried not to kill you but I'm really really thinking on putting one between your eyes for your incessant pestering! Unfortunately, the boss wants you alive. Otherwise, you'd have been dead hours ago."
Isabella eyed where her hand laid on her gun then looked up at her and continued playing dumb.
"Whoa, just relax. I don't know what you're even talking about so I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings and or offended you. I'm just trying to-"
Luna pulled her pistol from its magnetic hold and squatted down to her level. She got close and brought the gun to Isabella's face. Isabella eyed the positioning of where her bad leg was. With the right timing and right move, she could swipe her leg and cause her to lose balance. A perfect moment-
"Hey! Drop that shit now, Luna! Are you kidding me!?"
The man from before had entered through the pressured doors energy barrier with his group of men flanking his sides. With them was an older man with short reddish-brown hair and some light facial hair. His hands were being held behind his back as they escorted him in. His helmet came off once they all stepped fully inside and Isabella's eyes widened.
"Dad?!"
Shock and worry consumed her. He actually came, she thought. She didn't know if she should feel angry that he'd just given this guy what he wanted or if she was happy that her father came to his distressed daughter's needs.
"Bella. Are you alright? These animals harm you?"
The man turned around and faced her father giving a stern look at first but then a smile broke out and he began to chuckle lightly.
"Ouch, Mr. Levine. I know you were trying to insult me and my men but you need to understand that...we're all animals. We've all done drastic things out of necessity. Look, I'm glad the two of you could have this heartfelt reunion but I need information, answers from you and you're going to give them."
Karl, Isabella's father, scowled at the unknown man before him.
"You harmed my daughter. Why should I tell you anything?"
The man tilted his head back and sighed heavily.
"Really? You willing came here putting up no fight and now...now you want to put on the tough guy act?"
Her father didn't say a word but instead held his scowl at him. The man smiled and shook his head slowly.
"Really old man? This is the way you want to do it? We can't be diplomatic about it? Can't sit all together and have a conversation."
Nothing. He didn't utter a word. Just looked with disdain. The man's smile faded and he leveled his pistol to her father's face. Isabella, with worry spilled over her face, went to stand up but was pushed down by the Luna.
"He didn't even flinch. You see that gentlemen? This man's been through some shit. He's been under pressure. Combat pressure. Haha. Back in the old days when humans only colonized Earth, there were the Soviets as they were called. The USSR if I remember correctly. You know what they did to people who wouldn't comply, Mr. Levine? Take a guess?"
Karl clenched his jaws holding his scowl. Still, he said nothing.
"No? Not gonna guess? Well...here's a hint."
He brought his pistol Isabella's way and now it was pointed at her. Her father's face turned into instant worry.
"There! Right there! That's how you break man! You threaten the people closest to them, Karl. That's the answer. So, you will cooperate with me or your daughter won't live through this. It's really fucking simple, Karl. Very simple. You're understanding now, right?"
Her father attempted to lunge out but was grabbed and hit in the back sending him into the ground. The unknown man shook his head slowly looking down at Karl.
"I really need you to work with me right now, Karl. I'm asking for simple information and all you have to do is point me in the right direction. I want this to go smoothly and without bloodshed. Look at your daughter, Karl. Look at her. She's a beautiful-looking woman and it'd be a god damn shame if that were to change in some way. So again, information. I want to know where Rosemary Levine, your ex-wife, is. Understand?"
He slowly stood back up and turned to look at Isabella. She sat on the ground with worry still washed over her face. He looked back at the man.
"How the hell do you know her? Why the hell are you doing this to my family? Do you know who I am? How illegal this is. I could have you rot in a penal colony, working the rest of your life away. Maybe have you stowed away on some prison ship in deep space. That's the best thing that can happen to you."
Isabella interjected before the man could retort.
"My father doesn't know where she is because she left him without saying where she was going. The only information we ever got was that she might have been in Alliance territory. And dad."
Isabella looked towards her father. Seeing him distressed and in pain enraged her more than anything.
"Asshole here is after her because of something she did or ordered that got a few people killed. People including his family or whatever."
The man pointed a finger at Isabella.
"That's the gist of it. She had sent armed thugs into our building complex at dusk. Into my very home where my father was shot protecting his family. My mother too for running to protect me."
"It was a mistake."
Her father said bluntly. The man looked at him waiting for something more to be added. Rage was building and Isabella could see it in his body language. She was about to say something to diffuse the situation but her father continued.
"Wrong building and they had the shoot to kill orders. Yes, the overall call for the raid was hers. It was a terrorist cell headquarters they were after. It was supposed to be quick and quiet. Not a bump in the night. Unfortunately, it didn't go that way. Civilians panicked, horrible communication and everything became chaos really quick. Mistakes happen."
The man snarled at that and snapped back.
"Mistakes got my family killed that night! She's responsible for the death of civilians! Mistakes. What a piss poor excuse."
Karl shrugged his shoulders.
"I remember all this because she told me one night. It was eating her up and she couldn't keep it in. She felt horrible about what-"
"They covered it up as a terrorist attack! They buried it! The truth! I don't care about remembering the past, Karl! I want to know exactly where she is and I don't believe that you don't know where she's run off to."
He raised his arm with the pistol in it and pointed it at Isabella once again.
"Where is she? Where is she hiding? I'm not playing games anymore, Karl. I've had enough of this shit. You have one chance to give me an answer I like."
Karl tensed up and began balling his fist. The men holding him noticed and held him tighter.
"You bastard. You lose people so this is what you do? You take their kid and threaten them? Have you ever taken a look in the mirror and asked yourself if you're the monster?"
There was a moment of silence as everything froze for a second. The man looked at Karl and lowered his gun a tad.
"I have. And sometimes in order to do the right thing, we have to get our hands dirty."
He raised the gun again and fired.