Bits and Pieces
07 Apr 2022Aurora Bael
Alioth... What the hell am I doing in Alioth?What's the last thing I remember? ...Bill. Bill Turner. He stripped down my life support module for me, put the Gambit over 70 Ly per jump without sacrifices. I paid him in Bromelite that I mined... Damn, last week? No way it's already the 7th, that's insane. I reach around the bed looking for my com pad half in a daze. My hand falls on cold metal and I freeze. There's a Karma P-15 on the pillow next to me. No way I just left my gun out. I never leave it out of the bag overnight. Sit up. The room is Immaculate. Everything sparkling clean. Where the hell is my com pad? Flight suit? Bag?
C'mon, think. After the Bromelite mining, I picked up Mammon for... Yes! for some last-minute trade. I really wanted to get some work done for (and money out of) the hands of Alioth independents after all that work on Reorte. No doubt they had a hand in it and I wanted to thank them. I was hauling anything valuable per se, but it was good to be part of something non-Federal for a moment.
Wait, why did I do this now? I should be halfway across the galaxy by now. We could have made the trip without that extra light-year easily. Why did I even mine the Bromelite? We were ready! Why would I risk my cover over one measly light-year?
Well, I wanted to take Ashteroth out before we left, just so that she didn't feel so lone —
...No. Something ain't right. I never fight my gut like this. A sudden powerful urge to vomit washes over me. I open my mouth to heave but I can't. After a moment it passes and I catch my breath. Huh... I guess everything's... fine?
A Knock on my door. Fuck. I still don't know exactly where I am. I grab the pistol off the bed and head for the door. No camera. Old fashioned peep-hole. I press the barrel against the fiberglass and try to focus through the filth on the lens. "Who is it?"
"It's Barrett. Open up Chief, or I swear to god I'll get really annoying until you do."
I snort back a laugh and open the door, pulling him inside. "Damn, Mal, you scared the shit out of me."
"Never mind that, what the f... Rory, where the hell are your pants?"
I roll my eyes, scan the room. There's my flight suit, folded neatly on a chair by the bathroom door. I pull it on and throw on my jacket and boots while we talk. "How did you find me?"
"Shit. You mean you really don't remember?"
"Do I sound like I'm joking?"
"No... Huh. You did say you might not." I was frantic, he said. Scared but not saying so. Not quite able to keep up with myself. Told him where I'd be and who to ask for to be sure.
"Anything before that?"
"Ha! You kidding? I ain't heard from you in a week! I figured you might have just been activated or something but when you told me where you were..." He trails off, eyes scanning the room, finally noticing how clean everything is. He stands, suddenly uneasy in the sterile chill of the room and turns to me. "Why are you coming up here? You're a Federal Navy pilot. This looks really bad."
"Just finishing up some engineering on the Gambit," I say without thinking. I freeze as soon as it leaves my mouth. I look at Mal. We both know it's an alibi. Only one of us thinks I know what it's covering for. "Okay..." My mind reaches back to the meeting with Bill and I try to push forward from there. I get back in the Gambit, fire up the engines, roll out of his settlement, and as soon as I break atmosphere I check what weapons I moved on board. Woozy. Light headed. I start to fall and Malcom catches me under the arm pits and holds me up a moment until the feeling passes. "Whoa..."
"What was that?!" Mal asks, hauling me back to my feet.
"I don't...know. Every time I try to rememb—" Bile catches in my throat. I gag. I slap a hand over my mouth and push Malcom back to keep it off of him. Have I been poisoned? No... No the feeling is dying again and I can breathe normally. "That's not—" before I can get out the word 'normal' I feel it start to rise again. Like there's a wall of sick standing between me and the truth. "What else did I tell you?"
"I told you already," he says. I can see steam building behind his eyes. He thinks this is a game. I don't know how I can assure him it's not.
"Humor me."
He tells me again. It's the same as before. Except there's a single additional detail. "You kept saying someone's name. Someone 'Flemmon'. I didn't catch all of it."
A lightbulb goes off in my head. Bel Calmer giving me tea at Ray Gateway the night I skipped town. A report about a rescue out near Colonia. A rumor among the other Hudson Meat Pies about a little girl who can't be killed and some bets on whether she or I would come out of a locked cage alive. I clasp my boots shut double-time and shove my gun into a pouch inside my jacket. "Come on. We have to get to Gambit. NOW."
"What? Rory, you look like absolute Hell, there's no way I'm letting you fly! You need sleep!"
I lift Barrett off the ground by his collar and pin him to the wall. "I said I'm LEAVING. You gonna try and stop ME?"
His pupils are pinpoints. He's holding his breath. Nothing short of terror painted across his face from sweaty palms to twisted grimace. I take a deep breath and let him slide down the wall. When his feet hit the floor I turn around and crouch down, head in my hands. Nothing feels right. Everything is a mess. I can't do this alone.
"I'm sorry. I don't... I don't know where that came from. I haven't lost it like that in years..." My arms wrap tight around myself and I realize I'm rocking back and forth like a scared child, but I can't stop. This isn't me. This isn't right. Something has gone terribly wrong and I can't tell what and it's killing me. "...I'm scared, Mal. I'm really scared."
"Chief," he says, "do you know when we got off the com together?"
I don't look at him. I just shake my head.
"It was three hours ago. Whatever happened? Just happened. You need to sleep..."
I nod quietly and stand back up, woozy again, but somehow not nauseous like before. It's a step up, however small, I reach backward blindly until I feel his rough hand grab hold of mine. I spin around and lean into him, letting his arms wrap around me as tears bite my eyes. I want to push away. I don't have the strength to do it. "I... Okay. I'll sleep on the fly. You wake me up in a few hours, okay?"
He shushes me quietly and holds my head on his chest. "Alright. I'll fly for now. Where we going?"
"First, 21 Draco... Then... Then I don't know. I just know we have to leave now."
There is no more argument. We are on our way. My quarters in the Gambit are messy as fuck, but the bed is like heaven and it smells like me. I'll be unconscious before long. If this is my last entry... If I did something... terrible. Please believe I didn't do it. Please believe that. And if I ever find who has done it? I'll end them myself.
But before all that? I'm probably going to need some help. And I think I know who can give it.
Be Seeing You,
- Rory Bael