Personal Log 52: 14th - 20th September, 3301 (Part Two)
26 Sep 2016Jemine Caesar
14th - 20th September, 3301 (Part Two) While I had been making my way towards Phra Mool, Sam had been fighting pirates. In the process he had managed to injure himself, literally, when his cybernetic arm malfunctioned and he lost control of his ship. During his subsequent hospitalisation, the Federal authorities had decided to confiscate his arm pending tests and investigations. It seemed he had even more cybernetic body parts than he knew, and now the Federation was reviewing his status as a full human! Now one-armed, Sam had decided to take refuge in non-Federal space.
As I sat in the cockpit of The Last Thing following my meeting with Barry, Sam called to tell me he was on his way to Mutj, and had booked us a room there.
"Ah. Um...Er..." I stammered. "The thing is, I've been drinking and now I'm in my ship wearing a dress and heels."
I could hear Sam laugh over the comms. "OK," he said. "I'll scratch the room at Mutj and come to Phra Mool."
I spent most of the next day wandering the malls of Darlton Orbital, while Sam made a few bounty-hunting trips. Still at risk of attracting unwanted attention from Federal authorities, Sam decided to stay away from Phra Mool in the safety of some nearby independent systems. This left me in urgent need of cheering up, so I bought myself some make-up and a yellow paint job for The Last Thing.
On September 17th I took on some delivery jobs to Burojinura, Mutj and LHS 3439. In doing so I was attacked by a Novice Viper and a Competent Cobra. I won both battles relatively easily; maybe I was getting better at space combat?
Having just dropped off a shipment of coffee to Tenn Mine station at LHS 3437, I was on my way to my room when my dataslate beeped. It was a call from Sam.
"Hey, Jem," he said. "I'm at Ross 94, about 165 ly from you. I'm still armless, and just about managing to fly. But I'm still being hunted by the Feds. It seems that someone in Hudson's administration is out to get me, and they've put out a warrant for my arrest! I have some support from Admiral Remi, but there's only so much he can do. I'll be safe in independent space, so I'm heading for Mullag. Can you meet me there, my love?"
I assured Sam that I would follow him to the end of the galaxy, and turned to head back to my ship.
Suddenly there was a frantic shout from behind me, and a dull pain shot through my right side. My handbag was ripped away from my shoulder. There was the sound of running feet, and I slumped to the deck, still clutching my dataslate.
"Sam..." I gasped. "I think I've been stabbed..."