No one had said anything for the last two minutes. Everyone was looking at Annabella, who was looking at Five. Three had adjusted his gun to be pointing at Annabella's head, and Four had his hand ready to draw sword. One looked at Annabella's hands. They had clenched into fists. Six and Two were looking at the expression on Annabella's face. It was filled with a mixture of fear, guilt, and sadness.
Three spoke first. "Answer the kid, now."
"Well," Annabella started, "I've had this ship for 10 years, and that's how you've been on here, too. You're 16, and, please, vodka. Anything. I will literally drink anything right now."
Five was getting angry now and moved closer to Annabella. "How did I get on this ship?!"
Annabella got up. Three's gun followed her. "I can't do this. I need to go to the training room."
Four blocked her way. "Answer the girl. Then I'll let you pass."
"You think you can take me?" Annabella laughed.
Three stepped in. "I think this bullet can," He was getting angry now. "Tell the kid what she wants to know!"
"No!"
Two stepped forward. "You told the rest of us how we got here, it's only fair that she knows. How could she have been on here for so long if she'd so young?"
Annabella sat opposite Five and looked directly at her. "Because your name is Daniella Raza." Annabella got up and went back to the doorway leading to the training room. "Now let me pass." Four moved out of her way.
Six found Annabella in the training room four hours later, attacking a punching bag with half a bottle of Whiskey at the side of the room. He said nothing, but just walked around the mat and held the bag steady. They were like that for the next hour, by which time Five had crawled in the vents and was watching then silently. Annabella finally stopped, and sat by the Whiskey. Six sat on the other side of the room directly opposite her.
"Why didn't you want to tell her she was your sister?"
"Because I'm ashamed of some of the choices I made with her. I've not just been her sister the past 10 years. I've also had to be her parent, and then her captain. Somewhere along the way, I forgot about being her sister. And if you tell anyone this, I will break a lot of bones in your body."
"I believe you. What was she like before we lost our memories?"
"Das was a handful. She'd always try and sneak out on missions, crawling around the ventilation system, picking up bits of odd circuits. I caught her reading up on how to dismember a person without killing them until the end, and had to lock her in the quarantine chamber in the med bay, just so I knew where she was."
"So, you never once brought her out on a job?"
"Nope. I did what I did for her, so that she wouldn't have to. I tried to keep her as far away from it as possible. I kept thinking that maybe I should bring her on a job, just to watch what we did, so maybe she would see the horror of it. And I almost did about a year ago."
"What stopped you?"
"You. You reminded me that I do this so that she won't have to. You made me remember that it was my job to protect her, not just be the Captain."
"Damn. I sound awesome. I wish I could remember what I was like."
"Well, you were pretty much the same as you are now. Only we would be having this conversation whilst sparring, not whilst I was drinking alone. We can either spar, or drink. Choose."
"Let's spar. Then we can drink." Six got up and offered his hand out to Annabella. She slapped it away and got up. They stretched for about a minute and took their stances with each other.
"Okay. Your memories may be gone, but let's see if your body still knows what to do here. When I go in, just react. Don't hold back, let your body lead your mind. It's all about muscle memory." Six nodded. They began. Annabella started with a kick and from then, it was too fast for Five to process everything that was happening.
Annabella: Side kick, aiming for Six's nose.
Six: Side-steps the kick to his left and grabs Annabella's waist.
Annabella: Pushes her other foot off the ground and her left hand down on Six's shoulder simultaneously to swing up and mount his shoulders.
Six: Grabs Annabella's torso and drags her down over his head onto the ground.
Annabella: Sweeps her arm under Six's legs sending him crashing to the ground and kicking herself upright.
Six: Gets up and goes to throttle Annabella.
Annabella: Ducks under Six's arms and gut punches him. In the same breath pivots and takes out his knee. Gets him in a headlock like she's about to snap his neck.
Annabella let's go and returns to her bottle of Whiskey. Six falls flat on his face. Annabella laughs and throws him a towel, which lands on his head. Six sits up, expectantly.
"So, how'd I do?" He dries himself off and joins Annabella, taking the Whiskey that she just swigged from.
"Meh. Not too bad. If I'd have been a mark you would be dead, but not bad for your first time." Six looked confused. "You relied too much on your brute strength. That's why I was able to beat you so fast. You left yourself unguarded and moved too big. You're still fairly fast, but with a smaller opponent, that's not going to be as much of an advantage as you might think. In short, you're kinda at the point when I found you in the cage fight. That fight lasted about as long as that one did, for the very same reason. Just need to train you up again. Now though, we drink some more. Give me that Whiskey back."
"Fine, but only if you tell me more about the Raza and its crew." Six was smiling.
"Deal. But give me the booze back first. Okay, so there was one time when we were on this planet and Portia had got us on the wrong hemisphere. And the three of us were stranded…" Five listened along with Six to Annabella talk and laugh about previous jobs and other memories that the crew had shared before. She stared at the woman who claimed to be her sister, until she became tired. Five heard them say something about sharing the Whiskey with Three and then they left. She still sat there pondering about Annabella, until finally she couldn't fight off the pull of sleep and headed back out of the vent before she passed out.