“I think I could name each one,” Jake chuckled. “Most gun fights are pretty short, and the ones that last a while are memorable.”
“You're something completely different. I couldn't even pretend to be you, I wouldn't know where to start.”
“Ah, you'd get it down. I'm not so hard.”
“Are you kidding? I focus on technical details, work as many tools as I can into a solution to make things go smoother. You're all about the quickest point between A and B, and man, you get there whether you have to run, crawl, or fly.”
“I just do what I have to. One thing's really buggin' me more than anything else though, what happened? I mean, I've heard Wheeler's version, that he betrayed you and you got taken by Vindyne, but what happened from your end?”
“Well, when we got back to the rendezvous point at Starfree Port Vindyne came in right after us with so much firepower the Port wasn't willing to back us up. Major Hampon, this irritating prick who had interrogated me the the first time Vindyne got their hands on me and really held a grudge got on my personal comm and told me if I turned myself in willingly they'd let the First Light and what was left of my crew go. I gave myself up and watched them take a wormhole home.”
“See, I don't know if I could do that.”
“I bet you could, but that's not the point. Vindyne was there within seconds of our arrival, I suspected Wheeler turned us in.”
“He told me straight on, he sold you out along with all the framework technology. I guess I should thank him before you kick his ass.”
Jonas laughed for the first time since they sat down, it was a huge relief. “I guess so. Speaking of which, where is he?”
“He's in the brig. You can see him if you want. There's an extra code you need to punch in to speak to him though, it's zero eight one one.”
“I think I will,” Jonas took a long look at Jake, and after a moment he looked back at him. “You going to be all right?”
“Yeah, no matter where I came from, I've come most of the way myself after Alice dropped me off on the Samson. I can't complain about the stock I'm bred from either,” he offered his hand. “I'll get you back to Ayan as soon as I can. At the same time I want you to remember; you always have a place on this ship.”
Jonas shook it firmly. “I might take you up on that. On a ship this size there might just be enough room for the two of us. What about Alice?”
The pair started for the exit but saw a small personnel lift at the end of the bar. Jake shook his head as they made their way to it around a few tables. “Strange thing about that, I owe her as much as you do. If she hadn't have broken me out of wherever they were keeping my pod I'm sure I would have been mulched or put to work in a mine somewhere. Besides, for years now I've thought of her as my daughter, my blood. I even looked for her mother for a while. Why shake that kind of love?” The word felt strange, he couldn't recall the last time he'd said it aloud, maybe he never had. There was nothing to remember before being let out of his cocoon. Somehow, when he thought of Alice and his long search for her, that word, love, felt right, and it brought a smile to his face.
“I'll be honest, the last time I knew Alice before she became human, she was busy turning that super carrier into a slaughterhouse. I'm having trouble forgetting that, especially considering the body she chose. I'll get over it though, it's just a little eerie, that's all.” Jonas said with a chuckle.
The lift lit up as they approached and they stepped inside. It was just large enough for five people comfortably. Jake selected the bridge, while Jonas selected the brig. “I have to see him.”
“He was taken by Vindyne. They double crossed him about the same time they took you. When I crossed Regent Galactic they let him out of their inventory and sent him after me with the Triton. Their mistake.”
“You can say that again.”
The lift stopped on deck fourteen and both of them stepped out of the car. Jonas started for the brig and Jake started in the other direction towards the command deck. “I'll head to the bridge when I'm done.”
“See you there,” Jake said with a nod.
Lucius Agrippa Wheeler
He woke up shivering. The headache was secondary to the sensation of freezing from the inside. I'm nude for pity's sake! The least they could do is turn up the heat! Wheeler thought to himself as he pounded on the twenty centimetre thick transparesteel panel between him and the rest of the brig.
The lights were out. It was night watch and he couldn't see anyone else in the brig aside from the Minister. With a code securing the high priority cell he knew there was no way he could get out. He had never found a way out of the special containment cell. Some of the other ones were a little less hardened and with some ingenuity and pain it was possible to escape, but they had placed him in the highest security unit.
The headache worsened and as he began to shiver he realized he had a serious fever. His thighs twitched, there was a burning starting just above the knees and it was moving up. What the hell did they do to me when I was in stasis? He thought to himself.
Wheeler's teeth chattered and he clamped them shut, laying down on the bench. Guess they flipped the switch, pulled the plug, sent the signal. Why does it have to be so God damned slow? I hate super corps, dealing with 'em always costs almost as much as you're getting paid in the end. Even when they're pulling your God damned plug they've just got to get that last shot in so you know they've got all the power and you're just another little worker getting crushed in the gears.
The lights came on and he swung his feet off the bunk onto the cold floor. His arms huddled around him. “Jonas! Or should I call you Jake. Come to see me off?” He said with his best attempt at joviality.
The other man smiled at him as he walked up to the cell and entered the four digit code that would allow the audio box to work.
Lucius looked at him again, there was something very different. “You are Jonas, aren't you? They busted you out.”
“Alice found me. One of your friends wanted to present me to her as some kind of gift, it backfired.”
“The real deal, I can't believe it. You can be the first to spit on my grave, lucky thing, it's going to be a long line,” He chattered, trying to suppress a spine wracking shiver. His feet pounded the floor, and he realized he was dripping with sweat.
“No one's planning to execute you. They might even bring you back to Freeground. Captain Valance is taking me home.”
“Ha! You really think any of you are in control, that anyone on this ship actually does anything the all mighty Gods of this universe don't see coming or even force into being? Regent Galactic's got me wired, boy. My body's getting ready to fall to pieces because I wasn't able to drag your double in. They really take themselves seriously. Bargain like bankers and foreclose with force.”
Jonas was difficult to read then as he looked Wheeler up and down. “Medical, we have an emergency in the brig.”
“We're on our way,” someone from the infirmary replied.
“Hurry, Wheeler's suffering from some kind of time released poison.”
Lucius laughed, his eyes wide. “You're really going to try and save me? I mean, come on, I betrayed you to Vindyne, got your ship all shot to hell, ended your mission early and you're going to try to save me? I almost want to speed this thing up so I can watch you cry over my corpse as they drag my soul through the gates of hell.”
“What do you mean you ended my mission early?”
“I was the one who brought you in on that last mission! It never occurred to you that it was supposed to be a stealth operation? I wanted to drag that antique hull through the ringer, hand it over to Vindyne then watch your crew, especially Ayan Rice, the sacred daughter of Admiral Rice, twist and burn while they ripped her open looking for genetic secrets. God, what I would give to see them pull her apart for everything they did right with her.”
“What?”
