The next morning Sally met up with Jack in the merchant's bay. She had gone to have breakfast and pick up their armor. She was finishing her meal when she saw him come in. He intrigued her. Hawk wasn't done anyway so she lingered at the table and simply enjoyed watching him as he went about his business. He was very good. The way he moved made her feel warm inside. Well, he was here so she may as well book their room.
"Hey, Captain Jack, taking passengers?" Jack turned at the familiar voice. Sally was standing behind him, her grey eyes sparkling.
"Hey, Sally,", he greeted her, flashing her a warm smile. "Always room for you. Are you alone?", he asked, looking around for the missing partner.
"Oh, no, Hawk's still over there at breakfast.", she said, waving toward the end of the room where a small dining area was located. "We're headed for the Super Duper Mart. The usual price?", she asked.
"As always.", he agreed.
"Okay, I'll see you aboard then." She flashed him a quick smile and headed toward the clothing merchant to pay for their armor repairs.
They went on board with full packs but since the ship was so close they didn't bother to don armor. Sally was wearing a vault uniform and Hawk was dressed in the loose sea man's garb. They liked to be comfortable on board the ship. Sally smiled at the crew and greeted them as friends.
"Hey, Sally. Want to have dinner with me tonight?", Bill asked. Sally laughed.
"Now, Bill, what would your wife say?", she teased.
"She'd say I was being nice to a guest. How about it?"
"Why don't you join me and Hawk at the café?", she countered. "We could use some company."
"Sure, why not?" He grinned as the other men guffawed.
The trip was going well until they pulled in to Fisherman's Wharf. A group of raiders came out of nowhere and attacked. The old lady and her sons were holding their own but the raiders were gaining ground, determined to get to the Tradewind. The crewmen swarmed from the ship, assault rifles firing. Sally grabbed her shotgun, Hawk his mini gun, and rushed from their cabin. Sally quickly took in the situation and motioned Hawk to hold his ground. The men of the Tradewind had everything under control and might not appreciate her interfering.
Jack was bending over checking a raider when he caught a glimpse of the pair on the ship. He looked up and stared. She stood tall and alert on the deck, the river breeze rustling her red hair about the scar on her expressionless face and smoothing the uniform about her tight figure. The shotgun she held in her hands with complete authority looked like it belonged there as did the big mutant standing behind her. This must be the way her enemies saw them, he thought with awe. Strong and dangerous and totally in command. Then she shouldered her shotgun, gave him a short wave, and was gone.
Sally greatly enjoyed the voyage. The altercation with the raiders was nothing to her and quickly became just an incident. The men were happy to regale her with their part as each tried to outdo the other to impress her with their strength and prowess. Sally thought them all fine men and told them so to their delight. Sally shared some of her adventures. They were amused by her version of the encounter with Dukov and his girls.
Bill did get his dinner with Sally. Hawk begged off as he had a card game going with Mike and Dawson. The restful break came to an end when they left the Tradewind at the Super Duper Mart post. After a quick stop at Megaton to check on their home, visit with friends, and restock, they took off into the wasteland.
The vibration on Sally's arm caught her attention. Lowering her rifle she opened the Pip-boy to check the alert. It was a distress beacon from Vault 101. That vault had remained firmly closed since her escape several years ago. Slipping her rifle into its scabbard she abandoned her vantage point and slipped off to a safer area, motioning to Hawk to follow.
"What is it?", he asked, watching her activate the beacon. A lost voice issued from the device on her arm. Her old friend Amata was issuing a call for her help. She was asking Sally to return to the vault. They were in trouble. Her father, the Overseer, had gone mad with power in his desperation to keep the vault closed. Amata wanted Sally to stop looking for her father and return to the vault to help stop the Overseer.
"If you're still out there, and you remember me, then the password to get in is my name." The message was on a continuous loop. Sally turned it off as it began to repeat and noted her location on the map. They were only a few miles from the junkyard.
After checking her pack and weapons she adjusted the weight and headed off.
"Shouldn't we go home first and prepare?", Hawk asked.
"No. If the vault's in trouble I need to get there. The Overseer could be planning another purge. It would end the vault for sure." Hawk didn't argue. If she was right there was no time to waste. They headed toward the vault at a good pace.
The big gear like door hissed and groaned, steam issuing from it as it pulled back and aside. Sally watched it with trepidation. They were bristling with arms and armaments by this vaults standards. She hoped they didn't take that as offense. They strode through an empty room and up into the security hall. Suddenly they were confronted by a security officer.
"Stop right there. You shouldn't be here. How did you get in?", he demanded. Then he did a double take. "Oh, it's you Sally. I hardly recognized you. Oh my God, what's that with you? Is that a super mutant? Egads, what's that stench?", he added, steeping back.
"Hey, Officer Gomez. I was called here by Amata. This is my partner, Hawk, and yes he's a super mutant. Comes in handy sometimes.", Sally said, raising an arm to take an experimental sniff. "I guess we're used to the smell. Sorry about that. We didn't have time to bathe." The officer stared nervously at Hawk for a moment.
"I wouldn't tell people Amata sent out a message for you. It could get her in trouble. But if you're here to see her, come on, I'll show you where she's at. That explains how you opened the vault door, anyway. If anyone could it would be you.", he said nervously.
They followed Officer Gomez up stairs, down hallways and finally to the clinic. Sally remembered the way. She thanked the officer who took off in a hurry so he wouldn't be seen with the rebels. He also wanted to spread the word that Sally had returned and had a tame super mutant with her! Sally and Hawk went in to the clinic. After assuring the residents Hawk was her partner and no threat to them she got Amata aside to talk to her.
"Some of us want to open the vault, Sally.", Amata said, striving to her hide her revulsion at the uncleanliness of her one time friend. "The vault's dying. If we stay locked up we aren't going to last much longer. There's not many of us left. After you and your Dad left things got really bad. The officer's have already killed some of us and I'm afraid they have more plans. You've got to help us! Please, Sally, maybe you can talk to my Dad and get him to see reason."
Sally considered. "I don't remember him being especially reasonable. How many people want the vault opened?"
"Mostly it's the younger ones. I know he's not easy but won't you try? He won't listen to me.", she begged.
"I'll see what I can do, but Amata, I have to evaluate the situation first. ", Sally said.
"That's fair. Just get back with me as soon as you can, okay?", Amata asked.
The vault seemed very empty to Sally as she moved about the halls and rooms talking to residents. Amata was right. There were so few of them left. There was no way they were going to survive much longer. She made her way up to the Overseers office.
The Overseer turned as she came in. "So,", he said. "You've come crawling back have you? And brought a beast with you? The outside's too rough for you is it? Do you really think I'm going to let you back in? Especially after what your Dad did to us. He didn't know the meaning of dedication. He just thought of himself. He caused all this. His leaving put these ideas in these people's heads that they could make it on the outside."
"I'm sorry.", Sally said quietly. "Dad would have been very upset to hear that if he were still alive."
"So he didn't make it out there, then? I would have thought he would if anyone could.", the Overseer responded. Sally smiled sadly.
"He did. He chose to sacrifice himself for the welfare of the wasteland. I just hope it will be worth it. But that's not why I've come back, Overseer. I came back to help. Can't you see that the vault is dying? You don't have enough people left here to keep the vault alive for even another hundred years. If you don't open this vault, and exchange with the outside, the vault's mission will have failed. You will have failed to save your people."
The Overseer looked so old. "I'm tired, Sally. I'm afraid you might be right. This is the last bastion of pure humanity left, and I can't save it. If I try to keep them pure, we won't last another generation. But I can't open it up to the wasteland and allow that pollution in. I'm not the person to lead the people into a new era. Tell Amata I'm done. I'm stepping down as Overseer. It will fall on her now to decide what's best. She'll be the new Overseer."
"Listen, Overseer.", Sally said compassionately. "Look at me. I'm sure to you I'm unclean and uncouth. I'm not pure. But this is what it takes to survive in the wasteland. We need to change and adapt to a world that's no longer able to support pure humans. You haven't failed. You've kept these people alive to start humanity over again."
"Thank you, Sally.", he said quietly. "But I'm having a hard time thinking that way. Maybe with a little time I'll adjust too." He turned his back on Sally and left the room, a defeated old man.
Sally left the room also and started down the hall when she saw an officer escorting a prisoner into the cell hall. She waited for him to leave then slipped into the security wing. A quick search netted her the key to the cells. It was what she found on the computer that chilled her. One of the officers was planning a midnight raid on the rebels to kill them without the Overseers knowledge. She shut down the computer and opened the cell doors. Her old teacher turned to look at her.
"Sally.", he said. "You came back. Thank god you're here. Do you know what these guys are planning?"
"Yeah, I do. I hacked the computer. Now come on, I have news for Amata. You can pass the word that she's your new Overseer. I have to let her know what's going on here, too."
"Yes, I'll do that. Thanks, Sally. I knew you were going to do okay out there."
As they made their way through the vault to meet with Amata Sally couldn't help but notice how low on supplies the vault was. It had little to offer besides its well educated residents and a safe and clean haven. Amata was going to have a difficult job ahead of her.
Amata was happy that Sally had managed to get her father to agree without any violence. "There is an issue, though, and I don't think you're going to like it.", Amata said. "I'm going to have to keep the vault closed for awhile until I can organize the residents and make an orderly transition. But that means you aren't going to be able to come back in once you leave. I think you should leave. There are too many people here who blame you and your Dad for the problems in the first place."
Sally agreed. "You're right, of course. I didn't have any intention of staying. I have a life out there now. When you come out look me up. I have a house in Megaton, but I get around a lot, and spend a lot of time on the Tradewind. It's a trader's sailboat."
"You have a house?", Amata asked, studying her friend's face. "How did you get that scar? It looks pretty painful. Tell me all about it. What's a sailboat like?" Hawk pulled out a book and sat down to read. This was going to take awhile.
The vault door rolled shut behind them with a loud hiss and clang as it sealed. Sally didn't look back at it as she walked down the short tunnel and out the wooden door. She took a deep breath of the dusty wasteland air. It seemed so much fresher than the recycled vault air. The sun was warming the landscape, spread out below them.
"Let's go home,", she said. Megaton was only an hour away over the mountain. She still had two days before the Tradewind would be at the Super Duper Mart.
A flash of green light and a zzztt sound caused her to whip to the right. A group of Brotherhood outcasts was being attacked by a Deathclaw! With a swift glance at each other the partners whipped out their weapons and ran toward the battle. There was always work to do in the wasteland.
