Return to Kill Furlow Index
“A penny for ‘em”
Aeryn jumped slightly at the sound and then smiled. She’d known he was awake for awhile, heard the change in his breathing even though he hadn’t said anything.
“Probably drinking in the sight of my naked butt” she thought sardonically. But then, she figured after all they had been through he was probably entitled. Life was short and often unfair. You take your pleasures where you can.
She turned around and looked across the room at him. He lay, just as she’d thought on his side with the covers pooled around his waist and his right hand supporting his head. He was looking at her with a mixture of confusion and awe.
“I don’t know that they’re worth that much John,” she said wryly.
“If they’re yours, then they’re priceless.”
Aeryn got up off of the bench she had been sitting on, crossed the room and knelt by the side of the bed. She reached out and tickled his chest lightly.
“Sweet talk will get you nowhere, you should know that by now.”
He graced her with a smile and then his face turned serious. “I thought I’d lost you.”
Now it was her turn to be silly. “Lost me? No you just had me I think.”
He chortled, “I prefer to say we had each other, but if you wanna get technical, yeah I guess I did.”
She shivered a bit; she’d left him the covers when she’d slipped out of bed to go sit by herself. If she’d taken them he would have awakened sooner and she’d really needed the time to think.
“Here” John flipped the covers back and slid to his right, “you look cold.”
She climbed in beside him and pillowed her head on his chest. He bundled them back up and began rhythmically running his free hand through her hair.
“Again. Penny for ‘em.”
She sighed, but there was no help for it. She’d stalled as long as she could.
“I have to go away John.” She said softly.
His hand froze in her hair and his body stiffened.
“Go?” He said his voice carefully neutral.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
He fell silent for a few microts and she could feel his breath quickening under her cheek.
“For how long?” His voice was hard now, devoid of emotion.
Aeryn raised her head up so she could look into his face. “I don’t know.”
John released her abruptly and rolled away from her. “Is that what this was?” he asked his voice full of anger. “Goodbye, here’s one for the road? You could have had the decency to tell me first Aeryn.”
Aeryn bit her lip and then sat up and scooted closer to him cursing her intractable nature. She should have known he’d react like this. And she couldn’t really blame him. She hadn’t come to his quarters with the intention of ending up in his bed; she’d only wanted to talk. To thank him for giving the time and space she’d needed when she got back from Talyn. To let him know that she had this one last thing to do, this one bit of business unfinished. But when he’d opened the door and looked at her with that heartbreaking mixture of trepidation and hope all her carefully planned words had fled and she’d kissed him instead.
It had been too much, they had been apart to long and the body remembered what the mind strove to forget and so now here they were and she was hurting him again.
“No,” she said firmly reaching out for his hand. She flinched when he batted it away but continued anyway, “That’s not what this was.”
“Then what was it?”
She sighed, struggling for the words. “First, you have to understand. My leaving, it has nothing to do with you, or with ...us.”
John shifted to his side, blue eyes regarding her intently. After a few microts his face fell. “Him.” He said in the odd voice he reverted to using whenever the subject of his dead doppelganger came up.
“Yes, but not in the way you think.”
“In what way then?”
“There’s something ..... Unfinished, that I have to take care of.”
“What?”
She looked away from him; “It’s personal.”
“We just made love, you’ll have to do better than that.”
She looked back at him again. “Alright, two reasons. First you’ll try to talk me out of it, and second you’ll try to follow me. I can’t allow either. I have to do this myself.”
John flipped onto his back and dug the palms of his hands into his eyes. After awhile Aeryn saw his shoulders slump in defeat.
“But you are coming back?” he said his voice small.
She reached over and took his hands in hers. “Yes, as soon as I’m done.”
Confusion and doubt still clouded his face but he nodded. “O.K.”
She settled back by his side again and they lay there quietly for awhile.
“Aeryn?” His voice was hesitant.
“Yes, John.”
“If this wasn’t good-bye then what was it?”
She rolled over on top of him and straddled his waist.
“When I got here, I don’t know.... I just wanted you. But now that I’ve had time to think, I think I also needed something to remember, to hold with me while I’m gone. A reason to come back.”
“And I’m enough of a reason?”
“You’re the only reason.”
“Aeryn why...?”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore John” she interrupted.
“Then can’t you at least tell me....?”
“I don’t want to talk about that anymore either.”
He stared at her in complete frustration for a microt and then gave up and burst out laughing. “Well what DO you want to talk about?”
Aeryn closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of him running his hands up and down her upper thighs. She reached down and entwined them with her own, then stretched out over him and pinned them to the pillow on either side of his head.
“Who said I want to talk at all?” She whispered and let him roll her beneath him again.
“Pilot?”
“Yes officer Sun?”
“Have you fed the coordinates into the transport pod?”
“Yes I have, it’s ready and waiting for you in docking bay 8.”
“Thank you Pilot.” Aeryn finished zipping up her bag and put on her coat. She started down the hall towards the maintenance bay area resisting the urge to turn and look one last time at the man sleeping in the room behind her. She knew if she did, she might not go.
It was late in the sleep cycle and everyone else was asleep. She’d planned it this way. No questions, no good-byes, no arguments. A clean simple departure devoid of all entanglements. If she was successful, they could gripe at her to their hearts content, if she failed? Well then it wouldn’t matter.
But despite her resolve, she hesitated on her way up the transport pod’s steps. She looked around. This was Moya, and Moya was home. She didn’t know when it had become home, when the change in her mind had actually been made, she only knew that even in the dark days, when she’d come back off Talyn after John’s death and all the pain that had followed, she’d never considered going anywhere else. Not seriously anyway. Or maybe not seriously enough was closer to the truth. She’d come close a couple of times, picking a planet, even packing her bags. But in the end she always stayed. Tied somehow to the ship and its people in ways she still didn’t completely understand.
She shook her head, “No more deep thoughts Aeryn” the oft-said words of her dead lover echoed in her brain. She smiled. For the first time the remembering didn’t bring her pain. She continued up the stairs and settled in, finding comfort in the pre-flight routine. Check this, set that. It allowed her to push back the doubts crowding her mind.
“Pilot?” She called out.
“Yes Officer Sun?”
“I’m ready.”
“I’m opening the docking bay doors now.”
“Thank you.” Aeryn powered up and nudged the Transport pod into the air. It slowly traveled through the bay and with a sudden burst of speed flew out into open space.
“Aeryn?”
“Yes Pilot?”
“I’ve... set the coordinate for Endavate II, it shouldn’t take you more than an ahrn or two to get there.”
Aeryn smiled. Pilot was fishing. “Yes I know you already told me that.”
The com was silent a few microts and then. “Won’t you tell us anything else? Moya and I are very worried. We promise not to tell the others if that’s your concern.”
“I’m sorry Pilot but no. What you don’t know you can’t tell them. I trust you but I can’t take any chances that anyone will follow me. I have to do this on my own.”
“But what if you get into trouble? We won’t be able to help you.”
Aeryn laughed mirthlessly, “If I run into trouble, I’ll be dead before you could get help to me Pilot. But don’t worry. I don’t plan on failing this time.”
“This time?”
“Never mind. Look, I’m leaving the Transport pod at the Space Station on Endavate II. I don’t expect what I’m doing will take long... But I’ve paid for storage for 10 solar days. If I don’t come back after that, then you can leave the area, because I’ve either had to travel further than I’ve anticipated or...” she let the sentence hang.
“Or?”
“Or I’m not there to find. But as I said. I don’t plan on failing.”
“But Aeryn.....”
“Let it rest Pilot. I’m going to be out of range soon and I don’t want to spend the rest of the time we have left arguing.”
Pilot sighed. “O.K. but what do you want me to tell the others.”
“Tell them.... I’m coming back soon.”
“How could you just let her go like that?" Chiana's voice was reaching near panic proportions.
“It's not like I could have stopped her Pip." John's voice sounded tired and strained. He'd gathered everyone in the center chamber when he'd awakened to find Aeryn gone. He figured they could all ream him at once that way, and so far they'd been true to form.
“Oh, and I'm sure you really tried," snapped Jool.
John chose to ignore her. "For the 1 millionth time, he chanted, "She said she had something personal to take care of and that she'd be back when she was done. Now I don't like it any more than any of you do but I think we have to try to respect her wishes."
"Well I don't like it." Said Rygel. "What personal business could she have? Everyone she knows is here on this ship. Pilot, can't you tell us anything further?"
Pilot let out a sigh; “It's like Crichten said. Officer Sun told me she had some personal business to attend to. She had me program a transport pod for Endavate II and told me she would leave it in docking at the Spaceport for 10 solar days. She didn't want anyone to worry and she was adamant that no one follow her."
"She didn't give you any idea what she was going to do when she got there?" D’Argo's voice was wreathed with concern. "Stay there? Catch a transport somewhere else? Anything?"
"No."
"Well what did she take? Piped up Jool, "You can always tell what a lady has planned by what she packs when she travels."
"But we're not talking about a lady," grouched Rygel, "We're talking about Aeryn."
"Shut up Sparky," John said more out of habit than any real sense of anger. "Not much as far as I could tell. A few clothes, a fair amount of currency and....." He trailed off.
“And?" prodded D’Argo and Chi simultaneously.
"Wynona” he said reluctantly, “She took Wynona."
"Wynona?" said Chi. What the frell would she want with your pulse pistol? In fact how did she GET your pulse pistol? You sleep with that thing under your....Oh." Chiana stopped abruptly as the import of her own words hit her.
"Well I think we should go after her," D’Argo said in a voice that didn't invite any further discussion. "Sneaking off in the middle of the night, not saying where she's going. Taking other people's weapons. I don't know John. It's been a rough cycle for all of us, but especially for Aeryn. She lost the other Crichten around about this time and although she’s.....” D’Argo paused as he searched for the right word. "Better, now. I'd hate for her to do anything... drastic."
"She is NOT going to do anything drastic D’Argo." John said between clenched teeth. "You don't know, things were.... different between us when she left. I asked her outright and she swore she'd be back."
D’Argo took his friend by the arm and looked at him intently. "And you believe her?" he asked.
“I have to,” said John.
________________________________________________
Aeryn walked into the bar and made her way up to the counter.
"What's your pleasure sweetheart?" Asked the bartender
She smacked a few credits down on the bar. "Raslac, neat, and a quiet place to drink it."
The bartender laughed and looked her up and down lustfully. “If you wanted quiet love, you should have gone to the library across the street."
Aeryn cut off both his laughter and his look by snatching him by the collar and putting her pulse pistol against his fat neck.
"And if I'd have wanted a jester I'd have gone to a circus" she said, in a calm low voice. But since I didn't and you presumably aren't a jester, I'll say it again. Slowly so there won't be any more mistakes. I want a Raslac, neat, and a quiet place to drink it."
“Easy there dar... easy there” The bartender amended himself when Aeryn shoved her pulse pistol further into the folds of his neck. "No need to be tetchy. Here's your drink, and there's a booth with a privacy screen just back there" He pointed to the back of the room. “Any thing else?"
"Yes," said Aeryn and placed a few more credits on the bar. "An Andovian is going to come looking for me. Give him whatever he wants to drink, send him back and see that we aren't disturbed."
The bartender took one look at Aeryn's stony expression, probed at his sore neck gingerly and correctly assessed that further questioning was not in his best interest. He nodded at her and turned to the next patron.
Aeryn made her way to the back booth and sat down with a sigh. She hated places like this and the long day she'd had was making her already ascerbic mood worse. She took a sip of Raslac and tried to relax.
She'd been very careful after landing the transport pod. She'd gone to ticket window of the Spaceport and purchased a one way ticket to Venari Prime. She'd then paid the ticket seller a little extra to remember her and her supposed destination if a Luxan, Hynerian or Nebari came looking for her. She thought she could trust John. Even if he didn't understand, he was used to backing her with no explanation. And she'd promised she'd come back. That if nothing else, should hold him for a few days. But the other's? Aeryn smiled slightly; well they weren't so controlled. Having Pilot to tell them not to follow her was a sure fire way to see them all planetside in less than three ahrns after they discovered she was gone, and she knew it. At least this way they'd be out of her way, and the wild goose chase would make them feel like they were doing something useful.
After purchasing the bogus ticket, Aeryn had returned to the transport pod and changed clothes. She'd traded the usual vest and leather pants for a long sleeved tunic that fell almost to her knees and a pair of loose fitting cloth pants. She'd purchased a deeply cowled cloak from a local vendor and loosed her hair so that it obscured what little of her face was visible beneath the hood. She'd then sat down at a food table a few metra's from the ticket window and waited. Sure enough about two ahrns later, D’Argo, Chiana and Jool had arrived and approached the ticket seller who gave them the false information and got them on the next transport to Venari Prime.
"Oh well," Aeryn thought ruefully as she watched them go. The seller had said that Venari Prime had a pretty sophisticated commerce center. "At least Chiana and Jool won't find it a total waste of time."
After making sure that Rygel and John weren't lurking around anywhere, she'd checked into a rather seedy hotel and then made arrangements to meet her contact here at the bar. She reached down and checked her timepiece. 21:00, he was late.
As if in response to her mental query, a form slid onto the bench across from her. He was tall, slight, and could have passed for Sebecean if it weren’t or the deep ridges in his nose and his long pointed ears.
“Are you Brandath?" She asked.
Would I be here if I weren't"?" He snapped.
Aeryn merely shrugged.
“And what's your name?" He asked
" Let's just say I'm a person who needs things." Aeryn replied deftly. "Since I hear you are a person who gets things, I thought we could do business."
Brandath stared at her speculatively. "I don't like not knowing who I'm dealing with."
"Do you work better when you know someone's name?" Aeryn countered.
“Er, no not really."
"Then don't worry about it. My credit's are good that's all you should care about."
The Andovian broke into a smile. “I like your style," he said. "What is it I can get for you?"
Aeryn outlined her plan and the things she would need. "Can you do it?" she asked when she'd finished.
Brandath, stroked at his chin for a bit before answering. "Surveillance like that's going to take time, possibly even require a plant INSIDE the operation. Not to mention those specialty items you stated. Those things are highly illegal, and dangerous to transport. It's going to cost you, and I mean quite a bit."
Aeryn leaned in close to feel Brandath’s foul breath wash over her face.
"Have I at any time during this conversation mentioned money?"
"No."
"Then you can assume it is no obstacle. Now again, can you do it?"
Brandath leaned back, let out a belch and nodded. “I can do it,” he said. "I'll need 15 solar days and at least half the price down."
Aeryn set a small bag on credits down on the table in front of Branath and got up. "Here's a third down and you've got seven solar days. Contact me here," she handed him an indent chip from the hotel, when you've got what I need."
Brandath snatched up the bag and stood up himself. On his feet he towered a good metra over Aeryn. "You drive a hard bargain girl, but we do have a deal." He reached out and ran one long finger along the side of Aeryn's jaw. "You sure there isn't anything else I can do for you? I mean since we are both here and everything?"
Aeryn stole a move from Jool and put on her prettiest smirk. "Well yes there is just one more thing,” she said in a vapid breathy tone.
"What's that darlin?"
She reached out lightning quick and grabbed him by the mivonks. Twisting until his tall frame doubled over with pain and brought his head down to her eye level.
"You can promise me that you aren't going to frell me over on this. As you can see I get very... cranky, when I'm insulted."
Brandath let out a high pitched groan.
“I can't hear you" Aeryn said calmly twisting his genitals another half turn to the right.
“Aaaahhhhhhh"
Aeryn released him abruptly and stepped over his body when he fell to the floor. “I'll take that as a yes" she said and walked out of the door.
Aeryn stood at the back of the hanger, her fingers lightly tracing the butt of her pulse pistol. Just like they had every day for the last nine. Just like they had two Moens ago when she’d first seen her in the market- place on Altheus Minor.
She remembered the feeling, like someone had punched her in the stomach and squeezed the air out of her brain at the same time. She’d actually gotten light headed and stumbled, nearly knocking the wears of a Tovian jewelry seller into the street.
It had been purely an accident. Chiana and Jool had forced her to go down to the commerce planet with them for some “quality” time. “You don’t bond with us enough,” they’d whined, and for some strange reason felt that dragging her through the hot streets of the Altheus Bazaar would repair this evidently serious breach in their relationship.
She hadn’t really minded. It was nice to get off Moya and wander around in the open for a bit. And for all they got on her nerves Chiana and Jool really were amusing to watch. They had been in their element, bartering with traders, fighting over choice items, and flitting from one stall to the next with an ease and professionalism that never ceased to amaze her.
They’d decided to stop for lunch when Aeryn had caught sight of some Tetral Cable in a nearby shop. She’d sent the two girls along to pick out a restaurant and gone in to purchase it, remembering that D’Argo had need of it for a repair on his ship. She’d just finished paying and gone out into the street when she’d looked up and stopped dead. There she was, standing in the market square for all the world as though she had a right to be breathing. She was remarkably unchanged. Same greasy hair, same rotund body sweating in the midday heat. Even though she was several metras away Aeryn swore she could smell her. Grease, body secretions and greed. The aroma burned her senses, befuddling her brain and blurring her vision.
She’d taken a step forward her hand on her weapon; the Tetral Cable dropped forgotten in the street. “Let it end quickly. Let it end NOW.” Her fractured brain had thought, “If they do me for murder, I’ll go happily to the void, safe in the knowledge that at least she preceded me.” And then for some reason she’d slowed, stopped dead in her tracks. “Was this what she wanted, what he would have wanted, Really?”
“Yes”, she’d concluded. “But not like this. This was to easy, this wasn’t the point.” Aeryn had forced herself to back up against a nearby wall and shut her eyes tight until her breathing calmed down. She’d taken everything from her. She’d taken HIM. And if she killed her now and was arrested for murder, it would be tantamount to letting her do it again. And she couldn’t have that. And he wouldn’t have wanted it. So she would calm herself and..... wait. Plot, plan, connive. Patience and time, when used correctly could be as great a weapon as any gun. She would do this in a way she could live with. And then, when she was dead, when she was gone, she’d never think about her again. And that would be the final victory. She would condemn the breathing abomination to obscurity.
The sudden sound of footsteps pulled Aeryn from her reverie. She nodded at Brandath to take his place and melded herself deeper into the shadows created by the large crates that surrounded her. She watched, face expressionless as Furlow walked into the room.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
“Hey ya there Brandath!” The huge mechanic waddled into the large part of the hanger and leaned up against a crate.
“Didn’t think I’d see you again. Thought they klanked you for that mining accident on Petrovak”
Brandath shrugged. “They did. But you know as well as I do that anything’s negotiable for the right price Furlow. Even the hangman’s noose. And speaking of noose’s, why hasn’t your neck been stretched by one yet?”
Furlow sighed and pushed her fat thumbs into the belt loops on her coverall. “Well you know I’m just not a gallows kinda girl. And as much as I love catchin up with you Brandath, I’m not a real talkative one either. Word on the street is you need a Pentath converter for a particle shield variance generator. Now that’s a rare kind of item for a rare kind of part.”
“That’s why I came to you Furlow, rarity’s your specialty isn’t it?”
“Well yes, I’ve been known in certain circles to get a hold of a scarce item or two, but this is beyond rare Brandath, what your asking for is obscure and only used for two things.”
“I don’t care what it’s used for Furlow, my client wants it and I want to get paid. Now assuming you want the same, have you got it or not?”
Furlow beady eyes narrowed. She took a couple of steps forward and stared up at Brandath speculatively.
“What’s your share in this?” She asked
“None of your business.”
“Oh but it is OUR business my friend. As I said, particle shield variance generators are only used for two things. Wormhole drive technology and Displacement engines. Whoever is funding research like that must be richer than God. Whatever they’re paying you it isn’t enough.”
Brandath sighed and began to pace back and forth a bit. “You’re beginning to bore me Furlow. God doesn’t have money, my client does. Now, I’ve been given the authority to negotiate an.... equitable solution. Name your price.”
Furlow contemplated that for a microt. “a million.”
Brandath frowned. “That’s cheap Furlow, especially for you.”
“I wasn’t done yet. I want a million and to meet your client. Only two people I know of had the brainpower to make what they’re planning. You’re looking at one of them, and the other bought it on DamBada about a cycle ago. There’s a lot further profit to be gained here and I want in on it.”
Brandath nodded and one of his men came forward and began stacking five small crates on the floor in front of Furlow.
“Here’s 500,000” he said. “Check it if you like. The rest will be given to you when you come up with the part. There’s a bonus of another 500,000 if you can come up with it in two solar days.”
Furlow opened one of the crates. “Borillium?” She asked frowning a bit.
Brandath shrugged. “It’s easily convertible and practically untraceable. What were you expecting? Depository notes?”
Furlow picked up one of the heavy gold bars and sniffed it. She then scratched it with a fingernail. Finally she took a small vial of liquid from her pocket and let a few drops fall on the smooth metal. It smoked like an acid burn but the bar didn’t melt. “98.6% pure” She said with satisfaction. “Not bad at all.”
She repeated the process with four of the other crates, varying the number and depth of the bars she was testing.
“Bit paranoid aren’t you Furlow?” Brandath said with amusement.
“That’s why I’m still alive” She replied. She reached for the last crate.
“Just so you know.” Brandath said absently, “My client did come to this meeting. They’re waiting outside. I can see if a meeting is agreeable, .... if you still want one.”
Furlow froze, and straightened. Her fat fingers reaching for a pulse pistol holstered at her side. “Why’re you being so accommodating Brandath?” She asked.
The Andovian held his hands up in mock surrender. “Relax, you mentioned further profit. I scratch your back, you scratch mine. That’s all.”
The mechanic relaxed. “Alright” she said. She motioned to her left and a man came out of the shadows. “Start puttin these in the transport,” she directed, pointing at the crates.
Brandath walked back into the depths of the hangar and sidled up to Aeryn.
“You’re up” he whispered.
Aeryn nodded, made sure her face was well hidden by the hood of her cloak and walked into the light.
“You’re Furlow?” She said making no attempt to disguise her voice.
“I am indeed. And you are?”
Aeryn reached up pulled her hood back and Wynona from her holster in one smooth motion.
“A pesky little piece of your past.”
Furlow’s eyes widened but she showed no other outward sign of emotion.
“You don’t seem surprised” Said Aeryn
Furlow shrugged. “Why should I be? In a universe this vast you’re running into old friends all the time.”
“We’re not friends Furlow” replied Aeryn tonelessly.
Furlow waved a hand dismissively. “Details,” she said and then decided to cut to the chase. “ I ah..... don’t suppose I can convince you not to kill me?”
“No I don’t suppose you can.” Aeryn walked a bit closer putting Wynona’s barrel about 6 denches from Furlow’s nose.
The Mechanic sighed, “I was afraid you’d say that. Oh guuuyyys!” She called out in a singsong voice.
About 12 men swarmed out of the shadows, some on the ground, others on top of crates, and a few lowering themselves from repelling equipment from the ceiling. They were all had weapons pointed directly at Aeryn and Brandath.
“Look, I know why you’re mad. And believe me I totally understand.” Said Furlow as she began to back a slow retreat towards the door. “He was a smart guy with a nice backside. It was a great loss that he died, a great waste too. But it wasn’t my fault. He had no vision, no drive. He couldn’t see the LARGER picture. And I told him, I TOLD him not to be a hero. That hero’s always died. But he didn’t listen. And now he’s gone. And you my friend need to get over it. Take the rest of that money and go get yourself laid, you’ll feel better I promise.”
Aeryn lowered Wynona and just stood there shoulders slumped in defeat.
“You know,” she said softly. “That this is not over. I found you once, I can find you again.”
The two women stared at each other for a few microts. And then Furlow walked back towards Aeryn and picked up the one remaining case of Borillium at her feet.
“On second thought,” she said. “It ain’t good not to throw out the trash. You never know when it might come back to stink up your life again.” She looked over at one of her men.
“Kill them” she said coldly, turned her back on them and left.
Furlow trotted towards her transport pod, listening to the sound of pulse fire coming from behind her in the hanger. The Peacekeeper had only Brandath and his 2 guards that she could see and odds of 3-1, if it didn’t shut them down completely, would at the very least slow them down a bit. Still, she decided to hurry.
She began to huff as she pulled her immense body into a kind of slow jog. Soon she reached the pod and climbed in dropping the last crate on the floor beside her. She started to strap herself in and then paused. “Better to be safe than sorry” she told herself and opened it up. It was the same as the others. Layer after layer of Borillium bars. She dropped the top back and began to power up. When she looked up she gave a small scream of shock. The Peacekeeper had exited the hanger and was running as hard as she could in her direction. “How HAD she gotten out of there so fast?” Oh well it didn’t matter really. She couldn’t outrun a flying pod. She hit a few switches and felt the pod rise up into the air. She opened the outside com as she flew over the Peacekeeper. “Payback’s a bitch” she said cheerfully.
Aeryn grunted as she threw herself up in the air and landed on her back. “ Yes it is,” she replied softly, “and today, so am I” then she drew Wynona and fired one shot into the escaping pod’s underbelly.
A soft clacking sound roused Furlow from her sleep. She’d been out about 3 ahrns. After leaving Endavate II she’d plotted a course for the Pentath system. The Nabari weren’t currently hunting her, and they hated Peacekeepers and Scarens. It might be worth the risk of getting mind cleansed to be free of them for awhile. Besides, she thought ruefully, right now she had money, and like Brandath said, “anything can be avoided for a price.”
She stretched and looked around her bunk. She couldn’t see anything, maybe she’d been dreaming. But no, there it was again. A definite clacking and scratching noise coming from, it sounded like, inside the hull. She got up and headed for the control’s not bothering to turn on the lights, her pod wasn’t that big. On her way down the hall she thought it got louder. Yes, it sounded more like swarming now, a buzz saw or insects. She reached the control area and turned on the light.
And screamed.
The box on the floor that contained the last of the Borillium was open. And the ingots seemed to be ... moving, crawling. Furlow took a step backwards. “But that wasn’t possible” her shocked brain told her. “Metal can’t move. Unless, Unless..?”
“OH FRELL!!!!!!”
She shrieked and fled towards the back of the transport pod. “Not ingots at all. Karack Metalites!!” She’d heard of the parasites, but thought they were myth. “How the frell had the Peacekeeper known about them. How the Frell had she GOTTEN a hold of them? And HOW, in the FRELL had she managed to DUPE her with them??!!”
Furlow reached the escape hatch of her pod, fired up the eject chamber and stuffed herself inside. She had to get out of here. The Parasites would eat through the electrical systems of the ship first, cutting off life support and power. Then they would commence to eating the metal of the ship itself. Devouring it until the damage caused it to explode. The Metalites would be killed then but they were mindless creatures heedless of their own demise or the fact they would take Furlow with them.
She hit the controls and braced herself as the eject chamber began to rumble and shake. She waited for the forceful jerk that meant that she had been propelled into open space, but it never came. The pod, made a high pitched whining sound and went quiet again.
“Frelling piece of junk” Furlow grumbled and tried to fire it up again. And again the same thing happened. The pod rumbled and shook for a few microts and then went silent again.
Furlow began to get nervous. “What could be wrong? She ran a quick diagnostic. The outside door of the ejection chamber seemed to be jammed. No, not jammed, fused shut, as if from a pulse blast. “How had that happened?” She thought desperately. And then she remembered. The Peacekeeper’s determined face on the monitor. Flat on her back as she flew by over head. That last desperate shot that barely shook the pod. Causing ... so little damage that the warning lights hadn’t even come on.
Furlow went into full panic mode. She began to bang at the controls and stomp on the floor. But nothing happened, nothing moved, and the clacking was louder. Above her, below her, around her. They must be everywhere now. What could she do? Call for help? No, communications was the first thing they’d eat through and there had been no ships on the scanner before she’d gone to sleep. She’d purposely keyed in a little known route to avoid as much traffic as possible.
Kill them? There were to many, even if she got a flame-thrower she’d only be able to get the ones on the surface, not the ones already burrowed in.
Suddenly, something in Furlow’s brain snapped. She stopped struggling. Everything was O.K. there was no need to panic. She knew what she’d do.
And as the lights went out and the engine started to misfire, she smiled.
And began to scream.
Aeryn dispassionately watched the transport pod explode on a small hand held monitor. The tracking device she’d hired one of Furlow’s men to place on the hull of her ship giving her a full color extra surround sound view. She could hear the woman screaming a few microts before the monitor turned to static, but the sound hadn’t given her the satisfaction she'd thought it would. Perhaps she had changed after all.
When she was certain that the monitor wasn’t malfunctioning and the pod and its inhabitant really were destroyed she flung it into a wall breaking it. She sat down on the bed and looked around the seedy hotel as though seeing it for the first time. “What the frell was she doing here?” She stood up slowly and began to pack her things. All of a sudden she felt empty, drained, as though something had been sucked out of her.
“The love of money is the root of all evil.” She whispered. Crichten had told her that once, now she knew what he meant.
It was time to go home.
End part VI
John woke up when he felt the mattress bounce. He blinked in the half-light coming in from the hall and was able to make out Aeryn’s form as she sat on the edge of the bed by his feet. He sat up and looked at her rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“You’re back” he said and then cursed himself for stating the obvious.
“Umm humm” she replied in a monotone.
John took a quick look around his quarters. Her duffel bag and coat were in a heap on the floor by the door, along with her shirt and one boot. It was as though she’d come straight here after disembarking from the transport pod, not stopping to shower or change.
He looked back at Aeryn again. She sat half-dressed and stock still, cradling Wynona in both hands. Tears were running down her face but she seemed to be oblivious to them. Staring at the weapon as though it was the most important thing in the world.
“Baby what’s wrong?” He asked gently.
She didn’t answer him. She just sat there and cried silently.
John got out of bed and knelt down to take her other boot off. When he touched her she finally looked at him.
“What is it you say?” She asked softly, “To your dead loved ones when you finally lay them to rest? He told me once, when we thought Crais had killed my mother that first time. But I’ve forgotten the words.”
John stared at her. At first he couldn’t think what she meant. Then from the recesses of his brain the Latin came back to him.
“In Nomini Patri et Filii et Spiritu Sancti. Amen”
Aeryn nodded. “Amen” she echoed. She gave the pulse pistol one last stroke reversed it and handed it grip first to John.
She wiped at her face with her hands. “I’m so tired.” She said weakly.
John put Wynona down and helped Aeryn out of the rest of her clothes. He got her some water and then slid back into bed pulling her as close to him as he possibly could. He began to run his hands over her lightly. Her hair, her arm, her face, every bit of skin he could reach.
“Are you going to tell me about this?” He asked hesitantly.
She shook her head.
“But someday?” He pressed.
She nodded this time. “Yes someday... I promise.”
“O.K.”
John had almost drifted off again when he heard her voice. Low and thick with impending sleep.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For.... being who you are.”
He smiled. It wasn’t much, but tonight he would take it.
“No more deep thoughts, Aeryn” he whispered. And drifted off to sleep.
