The Living and the Damned - Part XVI
30 Jan 2018Jellicoe
The entertainment district of Claire Dock had changed little if at all in the past year, even during the stations 'morning' bright neon lights still blazed advertising every imaginable form of recreation while techno music blared from the bars and clubs mingling with the hubbub of the crowds and constant whine of overloaded air conditioning to form a continuous living soundtrack. in some windows scantily clad men and women cavorted, often with each other hinting at the pleasures awaiting within while in others they reclined suggestively on beds or couches leaving the passerby no doubt whatsoever as to the services on offer, some even had a price list. Here, away from the shiny new visitor friendly facade the old Pegasi still lived and breathed, tattooed clansmen strode, heads held high, the galaxy's last born and bred warriors looking down on all around them, there were spacers drawn here by the lure of riches or to escape justice rubbing shoulders with the ordinary inhabitants of the station, the young seeking thrills or the older seeking escape from their drudgery the air thick with Onionhead and tobacco smoke mixed with the pungent stench of stale liquor and sweat. There was tension in the air that particular morning as rumours flashed through Claire Dock that the station was about to be attacked but it was not nearly enough to get in the way of having a good time. Along the main street walked a tall dark haired man and a shorter, elegant red headed woman, both dressed in baggy ship overalls which looked rather out of place on the immaculately coiffured and perfectly manicured woman. Their destination was a large building in the near distance on which large neon letters spelt out the word 'EXOTICA'. The man checked his PDA as a bleep alerted him to an incoming message."Vik, Harry and the Chief are in position," He told his companion as he read, "If we have any trouble they'll pitch in."
"Think we'll need them?"
"Let's hope not. Are you certain of the plan?"
"Aye aye Commander," Kira replied, the old mischievous glint in her eye, "I reassure Mhera and get her to come with us, give her these overalls and this damned wig to put on then we get out as fast as possible, you lose your wig and strip your overalls so they don't think we're leaving immediately with an extra body."
"Good," Jellicoe said with a nod, "I've not seen any enforcers yet so keep your fingers cro..." He was cut off by the rumbling boom of a huge explosion, a sound that echoed and roared around the sealed, contained deck of a space station at ear splitting volume. The shock wave of the blast, even at this distance blew them several feet backwards depositing them on their backs, clothes and faces torn or bleeding from shards of glass and metal hurled outwards by the vast explosion. Jellicoe opened his eyes and gingerly climbed to his feet, his legs like rubber, his vision blurred and a high pitched ringing in his ears, other sounds reaching him as though from far away and filtered through water. He was aware of screams, warning klaxons, the low rumble of secondary explosions and intense heat from up ahead. As his vision cleared a scene of utter devastation and blind panic emerged, the pleasure house had been completely levelled, only twisted, tortured girders and rubble remaining the rest replaced by a blazing inferno raging out of control. Corpses littered the street, some whole others torn apart by the blast, their severed limbs forming garish adornments wherever the blast deposited them, the wounded moaned or screamed for help, many, their injuries well past any hope simply whimpered while the majority of those who could fled in a panicked stampede, the crush only adding to the toll of dead and wounded. Here and there groups of tattooed clansmen, heroically true to their warrior ideals scorned the danger to do what they could to help the wounded or fight the fire for the stations defences had been overwhelmed; the sprinkler systems had deployed but were hopelessly inadequate for the scale of the blaze. Jellicoe looked at Kira who had propped herself against a section of wall coughing violently, he moved to help but she waved him away.
"I'm alright," she gasped between wracks, "Go and find her." Jellicoe turned, the pall of acrid black smoke blotting out the stations lights combined with the heat and orange glow of the blaze, the moans of the dying and screams of the living to create an impression of hell that was far more vivid than any painting. He fought through the fleeing, terrified tide of humanity, their numbers lessening now as the fit and whole made good their escape leaving only the old and the wounded, several limped clutching improvised crutches while others crawled, limbs missing or mangled beyond recognition, one man holding his intestines in with one hand as he tried to drag himself away with the other. Closer to the blazing ruin that had once been Exotica only the dead and those brave enough to try and fight the fiercest part of the fire remained, save for one huge man kneeling on the floor, cradling a body against his heavily muscled torso, howling in unrestrained grief, seemingly oblivious to either the intense heat or indeed anything else around him.
"Were there any survivors?" Jellicoe yelled, grabbing a leather clad clanswoman giving first aid to the injured. "Did anyone get out of Exotica?"
"Sorry." The young warrior replied simply before returning to her work.
Mhera Bathana was dead. They eventually found her body in one of the many improvised mortuaries set up after multiple bomb attacks had rocked Claire Dock, her face wore a look of peace and serenity in marked contrast to either the violence of her end or the brutality and degradation of her last months. To come so far and be so close only to fail at the last hit the crew of the Resolution hard, theyassembled in the ships briefing room but nobody spoke, nobody even looked at each other until Claude rather awkwardly broke the silence.
"You should probably watch this," The hacker said quietly, "It was broadcast live shortly after the bombings but pulled withing hours, this might even be the only recording."
A holographic image of a savagely beautiful dark haired woman in an old, worn leather jacket appeared, on one side of her stood a huge man in black tactical armour, his face covered by a mirrored visor while on her other stood an almost ethereal looking blonde woman, her head bowed in deference. The dark haired woman began speaking, blaming the complacency of the Black Omega leadership, of whom she appeared to be one, for the success of the attack before giving the culprit a name, some apparently notorious terrorist called Katerina Von Steuban.
"She's lying." Kira said softly.
"How do you know?" Jellicoe asked.
Kira gave a tired half smile. "In my job I used to have people lie to me on a daily basis, polititions, business leaders, trades unionists. You learn to spot them, she's very good at it but she's lying about something."
"Do we go after her?" Vik asked. "Or this Von Steuban?"
Jellicoe thought for a moment, looking up the table at his closest friends. "No," He said quietly, "The Pegasi is a swamp and its feuds are like quicksand, get sucked in and you never get out, if we have the chance to bring justice to whoever killed Mhera then we take it, but I'm not getting us dragged down into this cesspit."