Downfall, Part 3
09 Jun 2017User4296
Siegel Station, Hoji SystemImperial Space
June 3302
My new companion ushered me out the back - not that it mattered, as the security forces had left shortly after they loaded the body into the ambulance. They would probably just dump it in a morgue somewhere, if not out the airlock, and never even bother properly burying the poor bastard.
We wound our way down various alleyways, most of which were empty, and the few people we came across were far too busy to concern themselves with two random passersby. Finally, we came to a stop in another alley, between two footprints of urban sprawl.
"Here," she said, before backing away. "Turn around." I did so slowly, hands up and away from my body. I saw her glance over her shoulder, then down the alley beyond me. "Start talking."
I sighed and shrugged, then recounted mostly everything - from the fateful job that led me to meeting Tucker, to more recent events bringing me here. Through it all, her face was unreadable thanks to the flight helmet, and it was difficult to tell the effect the story had when I finished.
"Son of a bitch," she said finally. "You let him go?"
"Shouldn't I have? He seemed like a minor player-"
"I watched that bastard walk off with my sister," she fumed. "She turned up dead a month later. How is that a minor player?"
She was ranting now, and she thrust the pistol in her hand toward me as she spoke. I ran the events of the past few months over in my mind. If what she said was true, Tucker had sold me quite the interesting bit of fiction - and the worst part was, I had bought it.
She stood there said nothing for about a minute, evidently trying to decide what to do next.
"I'm sorry. If I had known-" I began.
"It doesn't matter now, does it?" she said, coldly. "He's dead now, and whoever offed him first screwed me out of avenging my sister. Who did you say did it? This Takamura character?"
"As far as I can tell," I said.
"Who's he?" she asked.
"One of Apex Unlimited's goons," I said. "Since that job went south, I guess he's spending his second life tying up loose ends."
She was quiet for a long moment. "And you threw him out an airlock?"
I shrugged. "He had a really fancy suit. Probably had a Remlok built into it somehow, though I'm sure all the genetic mods he was sporting probably helped."
"He took this other girl?"
I nodded. "And if I don't find her soon, she's going to end up just like your sister. Whatever Tucker's involvement, he's only one scientist - and a company like that is sure to have others."
She hesitated for a long minute. Mentioning her sister was probably a bit of a gamble, but I was gratified to see that she didn't immediately shoot me. "How many other people have they done this to?"
I shrugged again, which was rapidly becoming a theme. "I couldn't tell you."
"And you're going to stop them?"
I sighed. "I'm going to try."
After a moment, she lowered her weapon. "What's your name?"
"John Mathurin," I said, also letting out a long breath, happy that I wasn't staring down a barrel anymore.
"Talia Ashton," she said. "You don't mind if I come with you?"
"I don't even-" I started.
"Doesn't matter, I'm coming along anyway - if I can't kill the bastard who killed my sister, I may as well screw over the assholes that drove him to do it," she said.
I shrugged, realizing that I didn't really have an argument for that point, and sighed again. "Can you at least give me my gun back?"
"When we get to your ship, sure - I want to make sure you don't leave without me." She stepped back, and held her arm out in the direction we came from. "After you."
***
The Courier's cabin was spacious, and the addition of an extra person was hardly noticeable - though that did mean that Jack the dog had to give up his bunk to the newcomer. However, he didn't seem to mind, and had even taken a liking to her, something that was readily apparent as we entered the room.
"Not many dogs in space," she said, kneeling to pet him. "And the ship... A little ostentatious, no?"
"It was a... gift," I said, moving to lean against the galley table. "So was the dog, now that I think of it."
Her helmet tilted. "I see," she said next, before moving to the other bunk. "So this one is mine, then," she said, with a shrug. It wasn't hard to make that determination - I never made my bunk, while the other one had only seen a dog. "Ah, well, a little dog hair never hurt anyone." She set her small bag on the bed, and reached up to pull off her flight helmet.
She shook out her hair and looked over at me. "You're staring," she said, matter-of-factly.
I coughed and shook my head. "Sorry," I mumbled, realizing that this was an incredibly inopportune time to flirt with someone who had a weapon trained on the back of my head a mere hour earlier.
She smirked. "It's okay," she added, before she shook her head and moved to stand next to me at the table - upon which she deposited my revolver. "Here, as promised."
I picked it up, and turned it over in my hands for a moment, feeling its weight. "Thanks," I said, finally. "It's got a bit of sentimental value."
"So..." she began, watching as I tucked the revolver away inside my jacket. "Got any leads?"
"One," I said, and activated the nearby monitor, which still had the holodisk slotted into it. The press release reappeared on the screen.
She walked over to it and read the text. "You realize this is probably a trap, right?" she asked after she finished.
"The thought crossed my mind," I replied.