My first story here. I'm a big fan of the Star Wars flics so you might see a bit of a cross over. Note: I don't own Star Wars (ohhh, but if I did...) basicly if you reconize it it's not mine if not it is mine.
"Help! Zack please! Don't let me die!"
Zack bolted upright in his bed. That voice. He shoot a quick glance towards Rachel, laying beside him. Her red hair wrapped around her face, her green eyes closed as she slept. Her gentle snoring relaxed Zack's nerves, to the point where he realized it was a dream. Running a hand through his long black hair, he climbed gently out of bed as not to wake her and grabbed the cigarettes off of the bedside table. As he leaned on the rail of the balcony looking out into the softly glowing city of Darranik. He shook the last bits of his nightmare from his mind. He ran his hand through his hair again and muttered softly to himself,
"Need to get this stuff cut soon or it'll be as long as Rachel's."
"I heard that." a soft voice said behind him, as a pair of arms slowly slid around his waist and a head full of soft hair nuzzled into his back. Zack smoked the last drag of his cigarette before flicking it off of the balcony towards the street, over 40 stories down.
"One day those things are going to kill you." Rachel said kissing the back off his neck before he spun around slowly and leaned forward to kiss her. She put up her hand and blocked his advance.
"I hate kissing you after you smoke. It tastes like ashes." she said.
"I guess I'll have to quit then." Zack said in a not too serious voice. How many times had they had this conversation?
"You say that every time I tell you that I hate kissing you after you smoke you say the same damn thing and you never do." Rachel stubbornly insisted breaking away from him and leaning forward on the rail just as he had been doing a second before.
"I'm sorry, Red," he said using the nickname he had given her when they first meet all those years ago… "I've been smoking for so long and you can't just up and quit." The words had barely left Zack's mouth before he realized how much of a cheap cop out that was. If he wanted to he could just quit. When he had been so focused on learning to fly starships that he had given up everything but studying, sleeping and eating so why not the same with smoking?
He reached over and took Rachel's hand gently in his own and pulled her tight against himself. She nuzzled her head against his chest and sighed one of those sighs that only a woman worried can. Gently they made their way back inside and climbed back into bed snuggled against one another.
"Love you Zack." Rachel murmured quietly.
"Love you too, Red"
Just before Zack feel into the deep, warm arms of sleep he resolved to quit smoking. If not for himself but at least for Rachel's sake.
The next morning dawned harshly in Zack's eyes. He looked at the clock on the nightstand. 0722, a full eight minutes before the alarm. He picked up his pack of cigarettes and felt something terribly wrong. In his years of smoking he had never felt a pack that heavy. Without thinking he stood and hurled the pack out the window with the speed that baseball pitchers dreamed off. The pack cleared the balcony and exploded, the force knocking Zack back into the bed and then clear over it displacing Rachel in the process. His ears still ringing Zack leapt to his feet and pulled his pistol out of the overturned nightstand. He glanced at Rachel and saw her laying on the floor unmoving.
"Oh no. Please God no." Zack croaked as he knelt next to her sticking the pistol into the waistband of his jeans. He felt a pulse and saw her red hair flutter from her breath and he breathed a sigh of relief. As he tried to wake her his hearing returned and it dragged with it the sounds of sirens and yelling. Rachel had yet to show the slightest sign of movement when the door to the apartment burst in and several people dressed in varying states of undress and carrying a collection of handguns and one shotgun swept in.
"Zack! Zack! Where you? It's Dawn! Please, Zack!" Dawn dashed around the corner towards the bathroom with her long blonde hair flying behind her as the rest of his crew moved into the apartment.
"In here." Zack croaked bringing the other 4 into the bedroom.
"He's in her Dawn!" hollered Hank as he slung his shotgun over his huge muscles and easily pulled Zack to his feet while Oscar "Doc" knelt next to Rachel and began gently talking to himself as he pulled the medipack off of his belt and opened it pulling the tools he needed.
"Zack are you ok? What the hell happened?" asked Dawn rushing into the room and knocking Beth and Nina aside. They both shot her angry glares but she was so single minded in checking on Zack that she didn't notice.
"I'm fine." coughed Zack. " Just need some water…" Nina shot to the kitchen and came back with a glass which Zack downed like a shot of his favorite drink. Beth was twirling her blue hair around her finger and glancing at the door then the remains of the window sill and balcony.
"What happened?" she asked, "And where the hell are the cops they should be here by-"
As if on cue several men in black bodysuits with small green letters spelling KATT rushed into the room in a similar fashion to Zack's crew. Two of the approached the bedroom their shotguns covering everyone in the room.
"Throw down your weapons!" one of the yelled while his partner radioed for backup. Slowly, Zack and his people lowered there guns to the floor while "Doc" true to his pervious battlefield medic training stayed down working on Rachel as she came around. Minutes later everyone was handcuffed and sitting in the living room as several of the Kado Anti-Terrorism Team (KATT) members stood watch. The sergeant in charge was talking into his radio obviously annoyed. The other could only listen in to his side of the conversation.
"Yes. Sir we-." a pause. "Yes sir. I understand but-" Zack could clearly hear he sergeants superior voice over the radio as he shouted something about following orders.
"Sir! Yes sir! Out." He sighed and nodded to his men who began to take the handcuffs off of Zack and the rest of his people.
"You are all free to go but I must insist that you all stay here until Lieutenant Barrn from Fleet Alpha Group-"
Nina shattered the sergeant's explanation with a fit of giggles. Everyone, including the KATT sergeant and his men stared at her until she regained enough control to explain herself to them.
"You can't be serious." She said giggling like a young girl who was flirting with the boy who had a crush on her. "You have a detective agency with the abreviation of F-A-G? I mean really. This poor guy has to walk around saying he's from fag?" she lost control of herself again and had to clutch her sides. Some of Zack's crew and a few of the KATT troopers chuckled at Nina's joke but the sergeant rolled his eyes and walked out with his radio man and second in command close behind.
After almost an hour of waiting the FAG finally showed up. Zack felt an immediate dislike of Lieutenant Barrn the moment he walked into the room. His red hair was short and his brown eyes swept the room. As he glanced around the room at each of them the sneer on his face grew and grew. When his eyes fell on Zack he strolled over to him and sat on the coffee table in front of him and looked him square in the eye, attempting to intimidate him. When Zack just glared back he cleared his throat obviously shaken that what would have most people shivering in fear didn't faze the dark haired man on front of him.
"So Mr. Bywhan…" he started, "Do you know why you are sitting here in front of me? I tell you why. You have caught my attention for quite some time since you landed on Kado. I've noticed that you and several of your… gang," he spat the word loathingly. "have been in contact with known members of the Running Devils gang in the Hayadin system. Now I have an associate over in that system who would… enjoy talking with you and your crew. So I am impounding your ship and placing you and your gang under hold until she arrives.