The Sirius Job, Epilogue
29 May 2017User4296
Siegel Station, Hoji System Empire Space
February 3302
I found myself sitting inside the waiting room in one of Siegel's many hospitals, this one probably a little higher class than most on the station. It paid to be the daughter of one of the controlling corporation's highest executives, I supposed.
It was hard to not replay the events of the past few days in my head. Upon landing, we had contacted the local authorities of what had transpired. Sidra and Tucker had both been taken into custody, and Cassandra had been rushed into this very hospital. Her parents were overjoyed, of course. I had completely missed that her father had posted a reward for her return, and had pressed a credit chip worth a little under a million credits into my hands almost as soon as the introductions were over. He also offered to cover the treatment of the gunshot wound in my shoulder, which was now properly bandaged and healing nicely. I would be fool to not accept. I was released a day later, but found I couldn't bring myself to leave. Not yet.
As for Tucker and Sidra, the latter was let go, on account of her acting to help free and return Cassandra as soon as she knew what the cargo was. Tucker, unfortunately, was less lucky.
The door opened just then, pulling me from my thoughts. Sidra came out, nodded once when she saw me, and made her way over, sliding into the chair next to mine.
"How is she?" I asked.
Sidra shrugged and shook her head softly. "It's hard to know for sure. Whatever the 'first round' was, it did a number on her genetic structure. If they don't figure out a way to reverse it..." Her voice trailed off, but nothing more needed to be said.
"And Tucker?"
"He'll help... He feels guilty, but it's hard to know how much of that is from his actually feeling bad or if he's just sorry he got caught." She shook her head again.
I paused. "Tucker is... well, you could almost call him the perfect scientist - he cares more about progress, but I don't think he actively wants to hurt anyone." Of course, I didn't add, tell that to the first experiment he was a part of. "I think he was more shocked to find out whoever you almost worked for was snatching people off the street."
She sighed. "It's madness, no doubt about it."
A silence fell between us, and sat for several moments. I shifted in my chair.
"What will you do now?" I asked finally.
She sighed a second time. "I want to stay and help. I'm a scientist, remember? Considering what I almost did, I need to stay and see this through."
I nodded. "That makes sense."
She looked over at me. "What about you?"
It was my turn to shrug. "I'm curious as to who these people are. I have a few leads I could follow, but I wouldn't be much help here."
We stood, and she moved closer, pulling me into a hug. "Be careful. And if you find out anything, let me know, okay?"
I nodded. "Of course."
***
The Pyrrha was empty again. The station's authorities pulled most of the equipment Takamura's group had brought with them off the ship, probably to use as evidence in whatever investigation that was now happening. Part of me also suspected that Tucker and Sidra were probably going to need some of it.
I made my way through the empty ship. It felt lonely now, though that wasn't entirely a bad thing. At least no one was trying to kill me.
The door to the cabin opened, revealing my companion, who barked once and ran around in a little circle. I knelt down to pet him. "You okay in here, pal?" He barked again and padded off, jumping back into his spot on the bed. I moved through to the cockpit. One last thing to do.
The handshake protocol took a few seconds, but Banjo's face finally appeared on the monitor.
"Holy shit, John, what happened out there?" he asked. He looked shocked. "We saw the report, but..."
"Your allies were into some deep shit, Banjo. Human trafficking, illegal experimentation..."
He shook his head. "I know. I know... Shit," he breathed. "Look, you have to know that we wouldn't support that kind of thing..."
"For what it's worth, I believe you. From what I understand, Sirius cut ties with them pretty quickly."
He nodded. "That's right. None of the jobs we had worked together on before gave us any indication..."
He was flustered. That was good - if he had been bullshitting me, he'd be playing this far cooler than he was.
"Who are they?" I asked.
"Apex Unlimited," Banjo replied. "They deal mostly in bio-medical supplies, I think. That's all we know."
"You called them a 'close business associate' and you don't even know where they're headquartered?"
"It... never came up," Banjo responded, looking down.
"Fantastic," I sighed. "Do me a favor, Banjo, if you find out any more about them, let me know, all right?"
"Of course," he nodded. "You've earned that much." The monitor switched off, and I was alone in the silent cockpit again.
There was no sense sitting here. A few taps of the controls released the Pyrrha from her moorings, and within moments the ship was hurtling out through the station's mail slot.
At least now I had a name.
END