Unexpected Encounter 3
06 Apr 2016Rebecca Hail
"And what are you going to do now?""Well either you cooperate or you stay on that medical table until I meet up with a explorer headed towards the bubble." answered Rebecca.
"The bubble?" Ria asked with a confused look on her face. "What the hell is the bubble?"
"The human inhabited sectors of space are the bubble." Noah answered brief. "But that's not relevant. The question was what is happening to you now. Since we are not in command it's up to Rebecca to decide it. But I would like to inform your parents about your situation as soon as possible. Could you tell me now the system and planet you're from?"
"Nope. I'm still caring for myself."
"Doesn't matter." Rebecca grabbed Ria's bag and poured the content onto the metal countertop beneath the monitor displaying Derry and Noah. A set of worn clothes and a spare set came out. An ID and a creditcard fell out of the spareset onto the plastic floor of the medical station as Rebecca put it onto the countertop. She picked it up and looked carefully over the listed informations.
"Maria Finn. Nearly 17 years old, born in 3285, lives with her family on Yimanbim A3. Derry you were there quite often, weren't you? Do you have friends in the system?"
"Ugh, don't remember me about that time. But yeah, I still have friends there who owe me a few favors."
"Could you request additional informations about her and her family?"
"I'll ask if some of them can get their hands on that information. You owe me for that."
"Damn, I already owe you a lot." Rebecca smiled towards the camera then she turned back to Ria.
"Why do you check my family? It's not like they sneaked upon your ship!"
"That's pretty simple. The last person I checked who ensured me: "There is no way someone's after me." got shot to hell by two bounty hunters. And I'm not talking about the kind of bounty hunters who care about casualties. They bombed the shop of his father with an eagle when he was in and send vultures after me when I tried to get away. I barely escaped and the repairs ate nearly the whole profit from the contract. They weren't even after him or his dad. They wanted to send a message to his shady uncle who apparently angered one of the bigger crime syndicates. Yimanbim is close to the federal-imperial border and there is a lot going on in the shadows. Especially smuggling goods, slaves and refugees. That business can easily kill you."
"Rebecca, one of my contacts answered. I'll send you the informations as soon as I get them."
"Thanks, Derry. How much did it cost you?"
"Nothing. I just had to use a few favors. It could take a while until the background check run through, we'll go and grab something to eat. Maybe you should do that, too."
As he mentioned it, Ria felt how hungry she was.
"Yeah, see you later, Derry." Rebecca answered and turned off the monitor.
"Could you tell me the date?" she asked Rebecca in a friendly tone.
"Third january 3302. 22:40 Earth Standard Time."
As Ria realized she had been stunned in that limpet for more than 48 hours, she slowly started panicking again.
"Hey, everything alright? You look pretty pale."
Ria slowly remembered how she woke up in the narrow internal of the limpet, how she waited and waited and waited, feeling the hunger growing stronger, how the interior of the container seemed to get smaller and smaller.
She turned her head to the right and focused on the pain in the right hand. The pain became more and more familiar and suddenly she was back in the limpet, ramming her hands into the limpet wall above her head until she felt a sudden jolt and a short fall. Her hope grew again when she saw a small strife of light and she kept pushing against the limpet wall with the last bit of power left in her arms and legs left. Then the cap of the limpet went off and she crawled into the bright light. Her eyes adjusted to the light and she forced herself to walk towards the bulkhead a couple of meters in front of her. The bulkhead opened automatically as she approached it and she supported herself on the console next to it leaving a bloody handprint on it. She looked at the palm of her hand and noticed her torn gloves and the dripping blood. As she walked through the bulkhead, she felt something abrasive on her cheek. She moved her hand towards her face and felt something furry and vibrating in front of it.
She closed her eyes, opened them again and looked into the warm, green eyes of a purring cat licking over the dried tears on her cheeks. Her handcuffs were opened so she wiped the rests of her tears from her eyes.
Rebecca sat on the countertop in front of the monitor, holding a injector in her hand. Besides her stood a tablet with two portions of pasta.
"Is your panic attack over?"
"I hope so."
"Before you start drooling, yes that food is for you and yes you can eat it now. That's why I brought it here."
"You don't seem to be very upset about me starting to panic randomly."
"I've seen worse panic attacks for far less than realizing how close you were to death. First eat something. I can imagine you're pretty hungry after being in there for more than 48 hours."
"Yeah ... Did you put the cat onto me?"
"No, she came and jumped up by herself. I guess she likes you somehow."