Catch and Release
06 Apr 2021Kodeyne
Once again, Ophelia opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. This time, it was that of a first-class cabin aboard a starship. Her mind whirled with memories of the past few weeks.Discovering that the Charaka cells had made her sterile. No biggie. She had gone off the idea of having a family a long time ago, if only because she couldn't bear the thought of a child having to grow up with the same mental problems as her. Alison...hadn't said anything on the subject.
The official summons for them both to attend the trial of Morgan Estri as witnesses. At Olympus Village, Mars. Alison had spent a day or so trying not to freak out at the thought of going back there.
Ophelia smiled as she remembered the morning that they and Rose stood just inside the hanger lobby, hair blown about by a gust of chilly air as the landing pad dropped down. Ali had stared and spoke hesitantly.
"Uh...are you sure we've got the right hanger?"
Ophelia looked at her, puzzled. "Yes, dear. What's wrong?"
"That's a fucking Imperial Cutter!
"Our ride to Sol. Only the best for my beloved! " She winked at Rose as the three of them made their way to the foot of the boarding ramp.
"You've got some well-heeled friends, 'Lia..."
That was the first time she used that contraction; strange how it happened to be an anagram of 'Ali’…
There was a practical reason too. Although the FSS had offered transport, there was no way of knowing if the crew of any given ship could be trusted; they had already witnessed how almost anyone in the Federation could be in Estri’s pocket. And although it was unlikely they would be attacked en route, she knew that TripleRazor’s Cutter was a veritable fortress. Anything it couldn’t blow up wouldn’t be able to catch it.
Pushed her hair out of her eyes as she slowly propped herself on one elbow and gazed at the sleeping Alison. Poor thing, she was absolutely exhausted after the trial; bad enough being in the same room as him, even though the place was arranged so that the witnesses wouldn’t have to look at the accused. But it had been the defence lawyer’s cross-examination that had been the worst. Basically accusing Alison of being a money-grabbing slut, determined to make some easy money by slandering the name of a good man. Ophelia had watched her, pale and shaking, deflect those insinuations. It had taken every ounce of willpower for Ophelia not to vault out of her seat, charge down to the floor of the court and beat seven shades of shit out of the man – telling herself that, at the end of the day, he was simply doing his job. Afterwards, the moment Alison had left the witness stand, they had made a beeline for their hotel, where Ophelia had cuddled the distraught Ali for quite a while, eventually getting her to neck a few shots of bourbon until the tears flooded out and, eventually, fell asleep. The media coverage had been intense, not just for them, but for all the other abused women who had come forward. She felt a pang of guilt at the discomfort this must have brought them, but ultimately, it was their and Ali’s words that would bring the monster down.
Their part in the trial finally over, they retreated to the cabin that TripleRazor had installed specially aboard One Of These Days. It had been Alison who had had suggested their next move, much to Ophelia’s delighted surprise.
“You said, a while back, about all these amazing sights the galaxy has to offer. Well, why don’t we go and look at them? Hide amongst the stars! Until your friend Mr. Monfort had got those hitmen safely behind bars?”
The familiar click of relays, the whine of micro-servos. The sound of a RemLok suit being donned.
Alison stared at herself in the mirror for a long time, turned to Ophelia with fear and excitement on her face.
They were now aboard Devil’s Daydream...but before they left for the black, there was a side trip to make first.
Back outside the slate-grey house with its colourful garden. The door swung open to reveal Sophie and Patrick Keenan.
"Alison! Oh my God!" Mother and daughter flew into each other's arms. Pat winked and gestured Ophelia to step inside; but his eyes were moist too. She retreated to a corner and watched Ali greeting her parents, feeling more than a little awkward and intrusive.
Ali shot an arm out and grabbed her. "And here she is, saviour of the day, Ophelia Myshkin!"
She cringed but allowed Ali to pull her after them into the lounge.
Pat brought a pot of tea and cups, and he and his wife listened intently as the two women brought them up to speed on recent events.
"So. You're going to be on the run?" sighed Sophie.
"That's about the shape of it," admitted Alison.
"Bugger," Sophie said, "I get my daughter back, only to lose her again!"
"Don't worry, mother dear," said Alison, "you can be assured I will be in the company of someone exceptionally capable."
She reached over and took Ophelia's hand. "Especially as we kind of fell in love somewhere along the way..."
Sophie sat back, mock-fanning herself. "Well, you two sure know how to spring surprises on folk! Sorry. Just need some air!" She left the room abruptly.
"Er...." said Ophelia.
"It's okay," grinned Pat, "just startled, that's all." He glanced round and looked back at them.
"Actually, amazed it took this long. You've always been nutty about each other..."
Sophie returned a few minutes later. There was a smile on her face, though she had clearly shed some tears. She walked over to her daughter, took Alison's head in her hands and kissed her on the forehead. Then she did the same with Ophelia. She resumed her seat and held Patrick's hand.
"When did you realise?" she said quietly.
Alison lifted her chin. "I walked into that hospital room and saw her, lying there all battered and broken. And found out what she had done. My God, I thought, this person cares about me enough to go into a situation where they are almost certainly going to die. What kind of willpower does that need? How much love does that take? I went away and cried my eyes out as I understood just how close I had come to losing her forever. That was when."
She turned and looked tenderly at Ophelia, who had bowed her head and hidden her face behind her hair in pure embarrassment. Alison extended a finger and lifted a few locks aside. "That's a mighty fine impression of an M-class star you're doing there, dearest!"
Ophelia sniffled and looked up through the veil of hair.
"You have have always been there for me," she said softly, "ever since we were kids. When no-one else wanted to be around the skinny weird blonde, you did. You made me feel wanted. Like I was actually worth something." She hung her head again. "Even if I am undeserving of having such a amazing person in my life..."
Alison prodded her in the leg.
"Ow!"
"Will you stop that, Ophelia! How many times do I have to tell you..." She stopped when she realised her parents were looking at the two of them, smiling.
"Ah, you can tell they're in love," said Patrick dryly, "having little arguments already!"
Alison went as red as Ophelia.
"Ooh, guess that makes us a binary system!" said Ophelia, smiling suddenly and caressing Alison's flaming face.