The Ballard of Cairo
Part thirty-six: No reason to go on?

DropShip Wataru
Zenith jump-point
Ginestra system
Lyran Alliance

Cairo was asleep when the com-system woke him up. "Lt. Cairo to the med-bay, immediately!" Wearily, he dragged himself out of bed and floated down to the med-bay. The room was a hive of activity. Sally O'Day, the ship's med-tech was busy attaching sensors to O'Brien's inert body. MechWarrior Rebecca, O'Brien's new roommate, was standing against one wall.

Cairo floated over to her. "What happened?"

The bondswoman handed him a jar of sleeping pills "She took an overdose of these. She told Sally that she was having trouble sleeping, O'Day prescribed her these and she took an overdose." She looked at him, hate and fear in her eyes, "Are you happy now?"

Cairo was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

The MechWarrior looked like she wanted to slap him. "You have no idea how she feels about you, do you? I know the Clans are not known for understanding emotional attachments, but I am a freeborn and grew up in a family, so I have a better understanding than most. Sinead loves you and the thought of you being this angry with her made her want to die!"

Cairo was about to respond when Point Commander Rix pulled his way through the hatch, towing a suit of Elemental armour. He wedged the armour against one wall, then picked up O'Brien and slid her into the opening at the back. As soon as the hatch on the back of the battle armour closed, the internal med-sensors detected what was wrong with O'Brien and started to administer counter-agents and stimulants.

The sounds of O'Brien choking and starting to breathe came from inside the Elemental armour. Rix opened up the back, pulled her out and laid her down on the intensive care bed. He turned to Cairo and pinned him against the wall with one massive hand. "To lose a warrior in battle is expected...to lose one due to personal feelings is unacceptable!" He didn't let go until Rebecca laid her hand on his shoulder. The look he gave Cairo before he left the room could have melted a hole in the side of the DropShip.

Cairo looked at O'Brien's unconscious body, then kicked himself off the wall and through the hatch. When he got back to his quarters he opened the bottom draw of his dresser and pulled out a bottle of cheap whisky. He put a vacuum cap over the end and started to drink. He passed out before he reached the end of the bottle.

He found himself standing in the centre of a spotlight, with darkness all-round him. He could hear footsteps walking towards him, but could not make out which direction they came from. Suddenly Cain was standing before him. Cairo tried to grab him, but his hands would not respond. Cain shook his head "Don't worry, I'm not really here. Here is the inside of that messed up head of yours. I'm the part of you that attacks people like Lyle Jones and drives people like Sinead to try and commit suicide."

A new voice came from behind Cairo. "And I'm the part of you that knows why you hunt Cain...and why you love Sinead." Cairo turned and found himself staring at McCoy.

"And you are here to decide which of us to follow," the two figures said as one.

To Be Continued...