By Chustang Sundust
Chapter 2
"A Shade Too Black"
June 15.
Breakfast that morning was definitely last on the list of unprecedented
events, according to Jim. If there were a record for most ordinary and
unexciting mealtime, this would have rocked the history books forever.
As always, the sun flashed warmly at them, sleepily crawling into the arch
of bluish green sky. The quiet, stilled aura of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises
was only disturbed when Jim yawned, glanced tiredly around, then changed
into his usual attire and went down for breakfast. As he was slipping on
the sleeve of his dark blue coat, the eleven-year-old kid was brought to
full attention as he heard activity in the kitchen.
Curious, he stepped into the kitchen, as the rest of the crew
began to wake up. He gently pushed open the door, just to see Melfina busy
over a pot. She was humming while stirring, with writhing plumes of steaming
rising around her. "Hi Jim!" she said, spotting the blonde poking his head
in. "Good morning, isn't it? Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.
Where are Aisha, Suzuka, and Gene?"
Jim brushed a few, astray strands of blonde hair from his eyes.
Muting a yawn, he replied, "Still asleep, I guess." He quickly found his
place back in the living room, sitting in the glow of his laptop. As his
fingers slid over the keys, it snapped to life, displaying the familiar
red light around their amount of money. Still in the red. He twisted
his face in a grimace, before letting out a stressed sigh. "The same thing
over and over again. Man…"
While the mundane circle started again for Jim, working and waiting
for cash, Gene's dark version of mundane was getting drastically more tiring.
The Outlaw Star's captain groaned, as he realized he was expected to wake
up and actually move. Gene blinked his steel blue eyes, eyelids heavy
like lead weights over them, and they were welcomed with the golden blaze
rising in the window. Pain racked his back, as he slightly moved to massage
his stinging, drowsy eyes. He was sprawled out on his back, with
his newly disturbed wound reddening again on his cheek. Ignoring
the rising pain levels, he sat up, and was faced with the sun glaring warmly
through the window.
On the bedside table, the same haunting picture was faced in
his direction, and Gene locked gazes once again with the phantoms of his
lost life. With a sigh, he turned it face down.
He stood up, cracking a few sore bones, and groggily reached
for some clothes. He rarely wore anything besides his black, skin-tight
shirt and black pants, but with those still bloodstained, he had no choice.
Gene sleepily pulled out the drawer, and took out a pair of dark red, loose
fitting jeans (no pun intended ^_^) and a loose gray muscle shirt. Once
dressed, he lightly smoothed down his wild red hair, and began to sleepily
trek downstairs.
Meanwhile, Mel was totally engaged in her morning cooking. Brown
eyes sealed and humming a lively, summertime tune, she picked up the steaming
plates of food. In the morning sunlight streaming through the window above
the stove, the plumes of steam whipped in the air. Bacon, scrambled eggs,
and black coffee for Jim, toast with strawberry jam, two waffles, and orange
juice for herself, an omelet with mushrooms and orange juice for Aisha,
a batch of tea for Suzuka, and pancakes, bacon, and the last mountain dew
from the fridge for Gene. She gently nudged the swinging door open with
her hips, and walked out to the table, where a disappointed but still cheerful
Jim was awaiting her, along with Aisha and Suzuka.
"Breakfast is served!" she said happily, placing the food before
the hungry crew. Mel smiled as Jim thanked her, taking a deep sample of
his black coffee. Once she saw Aisha, who squealed in delight, and Suzuka
were enjoying her food, the bio-android brushed her hands against her apron,
and sat down to her meal. But she noticed the crew wasn't all assembled.
"Gene? Are you coming?" she called, looking up toward the top level.
"Yeah. Just a minute." The slurred, unemotional response was
typical of Gene at this time, early in the morning, and it shouldn't have
bothered the black haired teenager. But memory of the night before offset
her concern. Perhaps he wasn't felling well. It made sense to her; he'd
come in at 3 in the morning, bloodied up and nearly drunk, so she would
think it might make him sick. Melfina soon saw him walking down the stairs,
and still wasn't satisfied. Gene wasn't wearing his normal clothes, so
she assumed they had been too bloody to wear.
He staggered down in his sleepy fashion, sat down, gave a muted
yawn, and began to eat in silence. He didn't even return the hello Jim
gave him. Of course, Gene often ate in silence, if really tired, but it
worried Mel even more. With her brown eyes falling downward, the girl ate
in silence as well.
Broadway is dark tonight
A little bit weaker than you used to be
See the young man sitting
In the old man's bar
Waiting for his turn to die
Exert from Broadway by the Goo Goo Dolls
Sunlight, deflected against the steely hulls the ships bore, playfully
cascaded upon the open field, grassy spaceport. Bright and icy against
the crisp blue sky, the light was cut only at the base of the ships. Shadows
were saviors in themselves, as the thin teenager listlessly sighed, leaning
back into the black haven they provided. Gene was sagged against the steel
base of port 26, where the Outlaw Star was currently being polished and
worked on by Gilliam's little blue can-machines.
Maybe I should get back to work...
Gene had been resting, since he had slightly strained his arms
from tightening a loosened grappler arm. The muscles in his arm throbbed
slightly, resentfully protesting against the punishment they had to go
through. He glanced around, in the summer hotness of Locust, and took the
last swig of his mountain dew. As the bottle emptied, he licked his lips.
He missed Earth, and all the things and memories he'd left there.
Digger, his loyal border terrier, his best friend down the road, fishing
down at the creek, and the family he'd left there.
But, no. With a jagged-edged sigh cutting his throat, he listlessly
turned his gaze back to the empty bottle, watching the light catch it.
I can't go back… not there. He cast his dark, cadet blue eyes downward,
trying to convince his stirring emotions. Jim needs me here; they all do.
Don't they?
"They do need you, Gene."
The roguish, almost arrogantly carried voice came like a fierce
bullet, instantaneous and hard. It was a strike of anguish and content
that the words gave him, yet it was suspiciously friendly. Gene whipped
his gaze toward the voice. His hand clenched around the blaster, whipped
it out, and he leveled it. The barrel's focus was trained on a black-dressed
figure, which was also leaning against the steel base only a few feet away.
Gene took a tentative step back.
The man's entire body cloaked in a coat that seemed, well… a
shade too black. He could only see a bit of dirty, tanned skin beneath
the black cowboy hat, and a slight glint of dark blue eyes as the man gave
a hearty laugh at his fear, one that seriously ticked him off. It seemed
too cocky, like he was some lab rat he could control.
"Who the hell are you?" Gene hissed at him, locking the gun.
His cold gaze was trained on the dark figure, which faded to silence. Still
leaning against the steel, the guy causally stuck his hands into the pocket.
As the sun lighted his flesh, he caught the faint reminiscences of scars
across the man's hands. Scars? This just caused his suspicion to burn harder.
"Tell me. Else-" Gene tilted the gun's barrel in his direction, voice losing
some of its brash spark. "- I shoot you in the gut, instead of between
your eyes."
The man didn't answer. He slightly turned, just to face the angry
outlaw. Beneath the concealing rim of the cowboy hat, those fiery blue
eyes seemed ghostly familiar, with a dark flurry of thin hairs brushing
in front of them. Gene focused on the hair, which was a hauntingly familiar
dark… almost red…
"Still the same," the man said, the gruff satisfaction with a
roguish tint to it. His dark blue eyes flickered to the leveled gun, one
still icily trained on him, and an impish grin escaped him. "I guess I
really didn't realize, back then."
"Realize what?" he spat back, through gritted teeth. In the shadow
of the Outlaw Star, he couldn't make out the man's clear facial features,
as he backed away and slightly lifted his hat rim.
"Touchy, aren't we, Gene?"
The causal reply was instantly shot down by a fiery glare from
the redheaded teenager. Gene cruelly locked his fingers around the trigger,
slowly applying pressure as his rage began to build. An undeniable hunger
to kill this man became too much for him. There was just something dangerous
in those eyes; something that just seemed too familiar. It was a threat.
"Shut up."
Gene aimed, and tightened the trigger.
But his target wasn't there. In a flash of speed, he felt the
gun whipped from his grasp and the bullet he fired by reaction just struck
air, disappearing into the blue sky. The man once finished kicking the
gun away, recovered himself and quickly gave a swift punch, which despite
Gene dodging it, still grazed his jaw, sending pain like needles up his
face and throwing him to the ground. Dust fumed as he hit the ground, and
he barely blinked before he could feel another staggering blow to the jaw.
While still in the intense first few moments of pain, before
it died down, he felt the man roughly grab him by the shirt collar, as
if Gene was no more than a broken rag doll, and pin him against the steel
base of port 26.
"Now," he hissed, dark blue eyes gleaming beneath the black cowboy
hat. "If you'd cooperate, I'd like to kill you."
***********
Author's notes
Oooh… doesn't everybody just love cliffhangers! Please read and
review! If I can get 15 reviews by chapter 5, I'll get a sequel going for
this. ^_^=