Dig Two Graves: "The Pirate Queen" - Part 1
22 Jul 2016CharlieSix
Dig Two Graves: The Pirate Queen"When seeking revenge, dig two graves... One for the man you will kill, and one for yourself." -Chinese Proverb.
It was cold. Very cold. Outside, asteroids both large and small floated by, gently bumping into one another, held in place by the massive gravity of the gigantic blue planet off in the distance. Ice crystals had formed a sheet across the glass of Six’s’ ship, and there was a low hum coming from the active sensor pulses, emanating from the vessel…
“Son of a Bitch!” he said.
“…It's so damn cold in here! This ship is trying to kill me, I’m sure of it…’’
Looking over at the sensor, his eyes scanned back and forth, searching for vessels, before settling on the internal heat indicator.
“What does that say!?” Six said to himself,
“…Six percent! Fuck! Burrr, Burr! Gotta keep the power down... Need my signal to stay low...”
Six tried to collect his thoughts… He never liked sitting still for too long. “Too much time to think,” but all he had was time. Leaning forward, he continued the log he had been recording.
“So... What can I say?” He began.
“What could anyone in my position say? I have spent the last few days sitting here, trying to collect my thoughts, trying to make sense of everything. What's your brilliant plan… You ask? Well, to be honest... I'd be lying if I said I completely knew. There are three problems, that now I have to contend with...”
He paused at the thought, a frown crossed his face, and he let out a sigh, before continuing...
“First...” he said,
“…I want revenge. I want revenge so bad that I can taste it. No one double crosses me. No one. I mean NO ONE. Second... Its name is G'Reelo... In an effort to get even with my enemies, I may have caused another problem. I reconnected with someone I hate. Someone from my past. Someone who will now be part of my present... At least for the foreseeable future. And that cannot be good. And Third...” He smiled,
“…The third,” He said confidently,
“…Is the Pirate Queen.”
Six’s mind raced back to an earlier time, a time when he was just as cold, and wet, and helpless. He could remember them pulling him from his bed. The other initiates looking on, some clutching their stuff animals, other’s whimpering…
Vera’s voice boomed as she tried to calm him.
“Child!” she shouted,
“Child, listen to me! You are going into the tank. You remember the tank? You need to stay calm!”
Six screamed, tears streamed down his face,
“I don’t wanna go in the tank!” he cried out,
“You can’t make me! Pleeassse not the tank! Anything but the tank! I’ll be good, I’ll be good I promise! Mommmy! I want my mommy!”
“You have no mother!” Vera snapped,
“Be calm! If you are calm you will be alright. It is through strife that we find peace...”
Turning to the two female attendants who were with her, she nodded...
“Take him…” She said.
Two women lifted the screaming child into the air. Six kicked violently at the attendants, swinging his legs with all his might, desperately struggling to get away...
“It is through strife that we find peace.” Vera repeated,
“It is through pain that we find strength…”
The attendants carried Six down a dark hallway, Vera led the way, and began chanting...
“It is through loss that we find self. Through self that we attain honor. Through honor, sacrifice. And through sacrifice…” She stopped walking, they had reached their destination…
“…It is through sacrifice," She said,
"That we find victory…"
She bent over to face Six, a sinister smile slowly appearing on her lips.
"Don’t you want to be victorious… Number Six?” she asked.
Suddenly he was snapped back to reality. Six coughed, shook the image from his mind, and then continued the log.
“…Where was I…” he thought,
“Oh yes… What can I say about the infamous Marra Morgan?” He said,
“Or... to be more accurate. What could I say you don't already know? Ms. Morgan is... Well... A Morgan. From all accounts she’s just like her father, and yet... I can't help but feel like there's more there. You know? Like in some ways... I'm mean I've heard the stories, I've seen the footage. But then… Hmm… Right. So now you're probably thinking, …What the hell man, are you insane...!? Yeah, I know. What could possibly be the play there? But I've got a plan. Marra's army of bandits, thieves, outlaws... are just what I need to… Hold on a second... Is that a ship?”
Over the Communication system, a strange voice came through...
“Unidentified vessel please authenticate…”
Inside the cockpit, Six fumbled to put his headset on. After fixing the microphone, he opened a channel with the stranger’s vessel...
“This is Sierra, dash, Zero-Charlie-Six… " he said,
"I’m transmitting authentication now…”
Six reached over to his communication panel and pushed in a series of buttons,
“7, 3, 5, 7, 1, 8, 9…. Authentication sent.”
He said, then waited for the response.
There was a long pause before the voice finally said,
“Your identity has been confirmed. I’m pleased to actually meet one of G’Reelo’s initiates in person… Erh, so to speak... How can I help you Zero Charlie Six?”
“G’Reelo told me you know how to find someone, is that true?” Six asked.
“I may.” Said the voice,
“But that depends on who you’re looking for? Umm… Who are you looking for anyway?”
“Marra Morgan.” Six said, dryly.
“Marra Morgan!” the voice exclaimed.
“You Sierra’s… You really are crazy! Aren’t you? She’s dangerous! What the hell do you want to find her for?”
“You know…” Six said slightly annoyed,
“…I’m getting really damn tired of everyone asking me the same fucking question. Either tell me what I want to know…”
Six activated his ship’s weapons system, and locked them onto the stranger’s vessel...
“…Either tell me what I want to know…" he said,
"Or you’ll find out, Marra and I got a lot in common…”
Silence filled the air. Then the stranger’s voice returned to the communicator.
“Okay.” He said, in a quiet tone.
“I’ll tell you where you can find her. She has a home at Clair Dock in the Tjakiri system. It’s on the edges of the Pegasi Sector.”
“I already know that …” Six said.
“If you don’t have anything better…”
“Wait!” the voice shouted,
“I do… I do have something better… Inara! You can find her at Inara. Go to Citi Gateway, there’s a bar there. Lots of smugglers, mercenaries, outlaw’s, you’d fit right in… just…”
“Just what…?” Six snapped.
“Just don’t destroy my ship! Please!” the voice squealed.
“It be entertaining.” Six said,
“But I don’t kill idiots…” adding under his breath,
“…Usually…”
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“Frame shift drive engaged…” the computer said. Then it began counting down, “4, 3, 2, 1…”. There was a “BOOM!” and Six was pushed back into his seat by the force, the hyper-jump window opened around his ship, and he watched, as the stars rushed past…
As his ship exited the jump window, Six was blinded by Inara’s main star. Light filled his cockpit, and for a moment he just stared at its glow. “…Gets me every time…” he thought. Turning to his navigation panel he located the coordinates he was looking for, and locked in the destination, “Citi gateway”. A mark immediately popped up on his cockpit glass, indicating its direction and how far away it was…
“Shit! 28,921 Ls!?” he said.
“Who the fuck puts a station all the way out there!?”
Shaking his head, he pointed his ship in the direction of the target and set the throttle to maximum. As the fighter travelled through space, Six’s let himself relax. He watched the display as the numbers counted down… 21,000… 20,000… 19,000… This was going to take a while.
After some time, Six's vessel neared the stations coordinates…
“Decreasing speed…” he said,
“Bringing main thrusters online… Oh... And note to self… Remind me to get you fixed when we get there, that last jump felt funny.”
As Six approached the station, the familiar voice of a female flight controller came in over his radio.
“DeLacy Charlie-Hotel-Alpha… This is flight control... Please submit a request if you wish to land at this station. Over…”
“This is DeLacy Charlie-Hotel-Alpha.” Six said, “…I’m requesting permission to dock at Citi Gateway. Over…”
“Permission Granted…” said the flight controller. “Vector your approach to landing pad three-four…”
“Roger…” Six said,
“…Vectoring my approach to landing pad three-four… handshake is on… you have the ball…”
“Confirmed…” said the flight controller.
“Auto-docking authorized… We have the ball… Welcome to our station Commander…”
The Mark IV Viper suddenly rolled over, violently shifting from left to right, then settled into a queue, and the soothing sounds of Johann Strauss’s, “The Blue Danube Waltz” began to play…
Six rolled his eyes, but before long found himself humming the famous tune… Without warning, the auto docking computer reengaged, and his vessel shot forward with a loud “VROOM!”. As he whooshed through the station’s “mail-slot”, just out of the corner of his eye, Six could have sworn that he saw the bright light of an explosion. If only for a second…
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