Big Damn Heroes - Chapter 3: Rinsing out the Dirty Rags
28 Dec 2016Nickolas Calhoun
Previous Chapter (Anna's perspective)Big Damn Heroes - Chapter 3: Rinsing Out the Dirty Rags
What can I say about Anna Reid? She’s a tough woman, but I don’t mean tough as in “break your face,” tough (although she’s more than capable of that) but tough as in she’s not easy to make friends with. Well, that might be the biggest understatement of my career. She certainly ain’t one for small talk. That’s fine, of course. We’re on this shindig for the money, not to get chummy.
Whatever. She seems like the type to get shit done, and I guess that’s all that matters in the long run.
We’re out in deep space, looking for a guy named Rags. Rags! Who the fuck calls themselves Rags? With a name like that, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he is (or was) part of a chummy boy scout outfit like the Buzzards. Though he is buddy buddy with Conrad, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Rags was also some kind of psycho himself.
That seems to be the running theme with this mission so far; psychos. The ‘verse certainly could use a few less of those, and that’s why we’re out here, flying in dead silence as we track this piece of shit down.
Well… that and the money, anyway.
Getting information on Rags was easy. All we had to do was walk up to the Buzzards’ commander, light up a cigarette, have Anna say “boo,” and he spilled his guts. Word has it he’s been hiding out in the Pegasi sector as of late. Yes, the pirate infested hell-hole on the fringes of the Bubble. I could think of better places to spend my time, but at least no one out there has it in for me. At least not that I know of. The Bratva from Qa’Wakana probably have a few connections out there, and I started questioning if it was worth informing Anna of this.
I reached for my comms to fill her in. “Hey, Anna, I think now is as good a time as any to inform you that I likely have a bounty on my head - a Bratva in Qa’Wakana. Long story. Thing is, I don’t know what kind of buddies they have out in Pegasi. Just thought I’d let you know, but hopefully they won’t be a problem.”
The comms crackled as she replied. “Yeah, you probably shouldn’t have told me that.”
Right… Potential payday for her. Well done, Calhoun.
I smirked. “I’ll be sure to give you the Rosenbergs’ comm details if you ever feel like a few extra credits.”
“Much appreciated,” she responded with a generous blend of sarcasm and seriousness.
Rags is said to be spending his time hiding out in the rings of gas giants in popular mining spots, harassing people out looking to make their fortune from the rocks. During his downtime, he likes to spend his “earnings” on booze and dock knockers at a bar on a nearby station. Our plan is to meet him during his downtime and have Anna rough him up a little before we interrogate him inside my ship.
We finally drop out into the Nuen system, and if our intel is good, Rags should be drinking his credits away aboard the Coriolis station we’re about to land on, and I am sure Anna is itching to humiliate him in front of some dock knockers.
The station is drab and run down as is expected in this region of space. Half of the fluorescent lights in my hangar are either flickering or not working at all, creating an uncomfortable ambience as I make my way to the docking bay shuttles. Anna and I make eye contact before boarding the shuttle.
“I hope the drinks are better here,” I say.
Anna sighs and stares at the doors of the vehicle, saying nothing.
The bar we’re lead to from our intel is not much better. It has the same rust coloured walls and floor as the rest of the station, the lighting is dull and depressing and most of the patrons and dancers look miserable. Over by the bar, sitting on a stool, a ragged looking man surrounded by three or four dock knockers is enjoying a drink and some attention. I pull out my slate and open up the dossier for Rags.
I nudge Anna in the shoulder, pointing toward the man. “Is that him?”
“Let’s find out.”
She strides over to him and gives him a tap on the shoulder. He whirls around in the jerky, off balanced way heavily intoxicated people tend to move.
“Who the f- Oh. Well hello beautiful. What can I do for you?” he slurs.
Anna sneers at him and wrinkles her nose. I can smell the liquor on his breath from here, so I can only imagine what it’s like for her.
“You Rags?” She asks.
“For you, baby, I’ll be anyone you want me to be,” he says with a self satisfied smile on his face.
Not bothering to respond, she wraps her mechanical fingers around his face and slams his head into the bar with enough force to dent the metal. Needless to say, he slumps unconscious without more than a whisper of escaping breath.
“Sorry ladies,” I say, “you’re going to have to find another man to jerk off tonight.”
The whole bar goes silent, every eye on the two of us. Ignoring them, Anna grabs Rags by the collar and starts dragging him toward the exit.
I smirk wryly. “Not going to rough him up a little first?”
Her face returns an intense, menacing smirk. “Oh, I’ll have my fun when we get him aboard your ship, don’t you worry.”
As Anna drags Rags out of the bar, I toss a credit chip to the bartender. “Sorry about the mess.”
Didn’t even get time to grab a drink.
I set course for a gas giant near the edge of the system. The cold ice rings are the perfect place to avoid any attention from the locals without having to travel too far out. Rags is tied down next to the main airlock at the rear of Apollo with Anna keeping watch over him. I set the ship to a stop near a large icy rock and head down to the airlock. I stroll in and Rags’ face is already bloody around the nose.
“I’m not telling you anything,” he says between breaths. “I’m not about to turn on a friend any time soon.”
Anna’s fist slams into his temple, sending his face sideways. He spits out a wad of blood on the metal floor.
“That’s okay, I’m in no rush.”
I cut in. “Started the party without me?”
She turns toward me. “And neither is he.”
I nod. “I’m also not the kind of good cop who’ll step in if the questions get a little rough, buddy. I’d suggest you start talking, or I can’t be held responsible for what my partner here does.”
Rags spits again, this time at Anna’s feet. “Fuck you. Fuck both of you.”
Anna reaches into her pocket, pulling out a small switchblade. She jabs it firmly into Rags’ thigh. He clenches his teeth as struggles to hide the pain. I flinch a little in empathy, being reminded of being tortured by Viktor Rosenberg. I swallow and return to the scene.
“I’m glad you’re a bit more resilient than your boss was. I didn’t get to have much fun with him.”
“So that’s how you found me?” Rags scoffs. “He was always a fucking pushover. I swear when I get out of here-”
Anna interrupts by removing the knife and blood starts to leak into the fabric of his pants. “What makes you think you’re getting out of here?”
“Well, if he’s polite enough, I might let him off,” I say.
“And that is supposed to convince me to cough up?”
“I’d prefer it if you did, blood is a bitch to clean up.”
He spits again. “Go to hell.”
Anna drives the knife into Rags’ thigh once again, twisting slowly. He writhes in pain and eventually yelps.
*Anna brings the knife down in a swift arc, burying the tip into the gap between his kneecap and femur. The man screams and writhes against his restraints as she twists the blade. Leaning in, she gives him a contemptuous slap.
“Hey, focus right here.” She digs the knife a little deeper into his leg, drawing out a fresh scream from Rags. “Now, you’re gonna tell me where Conrad is, or I’ll pop your goddamn knee off.”
“Fuck you, bitch,” he moans through clenched teeth.
A wolfish grin spreading over her lips, she drives her forehead into Rags’ face with a wet crack. As his head rocks back and blood begins to flow freely from his freshly broken nose, she starts pulling down with the knife, using the blade as a lever against his kneecap.
“Fuck! Okay, fine! I’ll tell you,” he whimpers between screams of pain.
Anna stops the downward motion, but keeps pressure on the man’s kneecap. “What’s that? I didn’t hear you.”
“I’ll tell you where Conrad is! Or… at least where he’s going.”
She releases the tension, and Rags visibly relaxes as the blade is drawn free of his body.
“And here I was hoping you’d last a little longer than your boss did. Shame, that.”
“Alright then,” I continue. “Start talking, buddy.”
“He’s in Pegasi… He has some woman with him.”
“We know about the woman. Where is he going?”
“He’s going to the Keiadimui system. There’s a cluster of asteroids in the main belt… He’s going to kill her there and dump her.”
“Why there?” Anna inquires with an edge of impatience, her thumb idly brushing the edge of her knife.
“Hell if I know. Do you think I know how a psycho like him chooses his kill sites? I just helped him find the bitch.”
I grimace. “So, you helped the psycho snatch up a young lady for his sick purposes? Why?”
His face widened into something between a grimace of pain and a sleezy grin. “Because the fucker’s got a lot of money, and he gives me a good cut for every one I hand over.”
Hell, Anna’s taken a lot of pleasure in this. I’d normally feel bad for this guy, but with the shit he’s pulled, I’m disappointed I didn’t join in.
“Alright,” Anna says, turning around and exiting the airlock with me. “We’re done here. Take me back to my ship and we’ll go find this son of a bitch. Hope you bought an interdictor.” Anna places her hand over the airlock’s cycle button. She turns back to Rags, grinning.
“Wait, what are you doing?” He asks, his eyes wide with panic.
“Tying up loose ends,” she says, her teeth bared.
“Wha- what? But…” his voice tremors when he realises what Anna’s intentions are. “But you still need me! What if I am lying?! You can’t fucking do this!”
Her grin only widens at his words. “Don’t worry. I believe you.”
Anna slams the button, closing the airlock doors. Within seconds, the outside door opens, venting Rags out into the field of ice with barely more than the hiss of escaping air.
Well, that’s one less psycho, I guess.