Whispers Of The Tempest - 7
28 Jul 2023Silvia Sharpe
Part 6 - Here
Part 7
Jules places her back against the door and slides down into a sitting position. She leans her head back and lets her arms fall to her sides. Thoughts rush through her head as to how she could complete her mission.
"I could call for back up seeing as how this is not exactly a failure. Or I could catch them both off guard and render that gloomy chick unconscious. Though that would require the much heavier tranquilizer that I have on hand. I was hoping to not have to resort to this and she did a poor job searching me. Doesn't look like I have any other choice."
Jules pulls out a single tranquilizer pen that was tucked under her chest plate containing a neurological inhibitor strong enough to drop a person regardless of augmentations. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
"I will not let this be another failed mission. I will not allow Diaz to take my life. I am sorry Silvia but this is the way it has to be."
Jules readies herself and faces the door. She knew there was no room for error in this idea. Kira had already proven herself to be more than anyone would anticipate. Jules knew that she would have the element of surprise. She reaches up with her right hand and throws the door open. She rushes out of the bathroom quickly reaching full sprint.
Kira sees Jules rushing her full speed but has little time to react before Jules slams into her. There is an innate hatred in Jules' eyes as she jams the tranquilizer into Kira's neck after slamming her into the wall. Kira throws Jules off her with a bit more effort required than her previous encounter.
'This is for your own good. Please don't try to fight. I don't want to kill you.'
Jules tone is calm. The hatred in her eyes is seemingly disconnected from her words and she sounds almost sorry for her actions. She knew the words would do little to stifle Kira's rage but she wanted her to know she had no intentions of causing her true bodily harm.
Everything was unnaturally quiet inside Kira's head. The already hushed and garbled voices of the hive, her own thoughts, even the words Jules spoke were muffled. In a last ditch effort to prevent Jules from taking Silvia and Melli, Kira draws and aims her pistol at Jules. Her hand unusually unsteady and her vision severely blurred, she struggles to keep the gun pointed at Jules. Kira attempts to pull the trigger but nothing happens, its as if her conscious mind and her body have been completely cut off, even the thargoid implant was quiet and unresponsive, due in part to the new massive dose of neural inhibitor and the previous override from the first encounter.
As her vision fades to black, Kira sees Jules shoot Melli and chase Silvia into the other room.
"I.... will.... kill.... you.... for.... this...."
The thought is labored and she struggles to maintain consciousness but succumbs to the sedative. Kira falls back and hits the floor with a solid thud. Jules looks her over and sighs. She didn't want to involve anyone else in Diaz's evil. Before Jules left the room she wrote up note and left it pinned to the wall with Kira's knife.
I am sorry it came to this. Silvia's brother Jackson knows everything you have questions about. Find him at the hospital and treat him as a traitor. I only did this because I have no option other than succeed and survive. I do not welcome death nor do I welcome the thought of being a living wall mount.
****
The guards gave Jules some strange looks as she passed by and headed to the docks with Silvia slumped over her shoulders. Jules loads Silvia and Melli onto her ship, ensuring they are secured properly and will not be jostled around too terribly. As the engines spool up Jules is greeted by June who is very direct and inquistive.
"Julia are you going to tell me what this is all about?"
Junes voice breaks up the mesmerizing drone of the engines bringing Jules back to reality, her voice is filled with curiosity as much as it is concern.
'Ya.. Diaz wants me to bring Silvia and Melli in to hand them over to Azimuth..... But'
"But you fear, if you go through with this, things will go much the same as last time? I would also like to let you know that she attempted to access the ship records for Antimatter after your last encounter. She wasn't too happy when I told her I couldn't allow her to see those transactions."
'You pretty much nailed it. The other option is to try and run away.... though I'm sure Diaz thought about that. I am trapped between a supernova and a black hole.'
"You could always just try to reason with Silvia...."
'No I can't June. Especially now that I have shot her twice with tranquilizers and this time successfully abducted her.'
There is a brief pause as Jules lifts off from the landing pad and hovers for a moment. Her mind racing. June interrupts again.
"Julia please listen to reason here. If you are thinking about running I have already deactivated the tracking beacon on the ship. Though it is only a matter of seconds before he notices. I can also shield your cybernetics from his tracking systems as well."
'No! I will not run. I'm tired of running. The best thing I can do right now is play along until I cam truly be rid of Diaz.....'
The two are interrupted by Grenshaw showing up in his challenger weapons drawn. He calls over the comms, his voice laced with anger and his words venomous.
'Don't you even think about running you worthless wench! We were alerted to your treachery as soon as your location beacon shut off! You will pay dearly for this Cavanaugh!'
"Shut your trap dog! It was not Julia who shut the beacon off. I did it of my own accord." June chimes in, hoping to prevent any possible blame and punishment befalling her friend.
'Oh good, your little pet A.I is trying to make its own decisions. We shall get that corrected. Immediately.'
Grenshaw finishes speaking and turns to leave. The thought of the pilot that gave him a decent fight lingering in his mind. Try as he might he was unable to get Kira's piloting out of his head. He desperately wanted to fight her again. He wanted to make her beg for mercy as he laid waste to her ship but instead decided he was going to wait to fight her when it was more advantageous for him. He wanted to have the odds in his favor versus hers.
Jules follows behind Grenshaw remaining eerily silent the entire time. Her mind was on the punishment she was surely going to face when she reached the Queen Anne's Revenge. She also feared what Diaz would try to do to June when he found out she was trying to get Jules to go rogue. There was also a thought that maybe June was trying to set Jules up for failure to which Jules refused to take the bait.
****
Diaz stares at the console waiting to see 2 signal sources appear on his radar. As soon as the 2 ships appear he smiles deviously. He knew not whether Jules had completed her mission but either way success or failure he was about to enjoy what came next. If she failed Diaz would get to watch as she had her limbs removed awake but completely numb to the pain thanks to his new surgeon. If she had succeeded Silvia and her little pet were going to experience hell. Azimuth was paying a very hefty sum for the 2 of them this time increasing the bounty to 250mil Cr for the 2 specimens brought in alive.
As Jules and Grenshaw land their respective ships Diaz makes his way to Jules' hangar ready to receive his new favorite pet. When the hangar doors open Diaz is greeted by Jules who is carrying Silvia and a fluffy white creature, the likes of which he had never seen before. A look of curiosity covers his face as he grabs Melli by the tail to inspect her.
'What the fuck is this thing? Did you bring us dinner?'
'That is the asset you sent me down there to collect. The same little creature you sent me to capture the first time around.'
Jules feels disgusted handing the two over to Diaz but would rather save herself any amount of torture from him. She stands there waiting for his approval. Though what she is greeted with instead is a full force punch from Diaz. The impact is so quick and forceful that Jules doesn't even have the opportunity to react accordingly. There is a loud cracking and popping sound as Diaz's fist makes full solid contact with the side of Jules face. She hits the floor so fast her body writhes around uncontrollably trying to comprehend what just happened. The yell she releases is disturbing.
'Don't think you get away scott free whore. You disabled my tracking beacon. You thought about running away. Well now you get to suffer.'
Grenshaw shows up behind Diaz as he finishes his statement a small laugh can be heard as he readies himself to deliver even more news to Diaz.
'Oh boy are you going to love this one. She was plotting this whole thing with her little A.I lover. I showed up just in time to stop them from jumping out of system.'
'Is that so? Ha! Grenshaw grab the ship techs. Have them pull the memory core from Jules Ship. Bring it to the Scientists. I want them to help me torture that construct. Make Jules beg for us to not kill her virtual lover.'
'Yes boss, I will have them here at once.'
Grenshaw disappears down the corridor towards the Tech lounge to grab some a few men. Diaz crouches down beside Jules a mechanical whirring sound can be heard from his cybernetic joints. He raises his right hand and forms a tight fist and brings it down on the middle of Jules' chest with so much force a few loud pops can be heard as a few ribs are broken from the impact. The pain is so overwhelming that Jules passes out while gasping for air.
Diaz calls for 2 men to drag Jules back to her holding cell. He picks Silvia up carefully as this go around he is not wanting to risk losing a hefty paycheck. He walks her down to a room and lays her on the bed. Not wanting to have to worry about a small creature escaping and attacking people he takes Melli and shoves her in a metal cage in the science lab. He then head back to the bridge to make contact with Azimuth to let them know of his success. During the conference call he asks how they would like to proceed, and where they would like for the assets to be dropped off at.