Chapter 32

The door to her room opened. Hannah was afraid to look up, wanting to put off finding out whether it was Gerentex or Dylan coming to get her. A sinking feeling of guilt filled her when Dylan's voice spoke,

"I was wondering where you disappeared too,"

She closed her eyes, not wanting to face the trouble she had caused. She could sense him coming closer, further into the room. He squatted down beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not angry, you know," he said

Her eyes shot open and she looked him in the eye, her surprise overpowering her guilt for the moment.

"You're not?" she asked disbelieving.

He laughed, his eyes sincere "No. Considering the number of scrapes we've been through on this ship, I had no doubts that we could get through one more. It wasn't your fault. Whether you were here or not, he would have found a way to get in anyway, but there was one thing Gerentex didn't learn from his last encounter with us. No one steals my ship and gets away with it,"

"Wait! That's where I've heard of him before! Gerentex was the name of the person who last hired us for a job," suddenly nothing made sense.

"But why would he bother hiring us if he was just going to shoot us down? And why did he shoot us down in the first place?"

Dylan looked sombre. "I'll explain later, it's a long story. But first, you probably want to give Gerentex a piece of your mind," he stood up, and led her out of the room and to the brig.

Hannah was boiling with renewed anger at the Nightsider. Dylan hadn't been wrong when he said she'd want to give him a piece of her mind. A big one.

They reached the brig. Gerentex stayed sitting, even after he saw them approaching. A bullet-proof glass wall in the doorway to his solitary cell was all the separated them from the guilty party.

"Gerentex," said Dylan, "There's someone who wants to talk to you,"

The Nightsider didn't bother putting on his phony smile for the girl. He just gave them a look that clearly said 'haven't I suffered enough?'.

Then the ranting began. Hannah gave him the biggest piece of her mind that she had ever given anyone, which soon turned into tears as she continued. For ten minutes at least, the chastising went on, and it would take too long to write the whole speech down. It was basically a ridicule of Gerentex and 'his kind of people' as well as reprimanding him severely for taking away all of her memories, as well as the memories that she could have had. Her father was mentioned frequently, and so much that even Gerentex began to feel as though he knew him, and the other lives he had taken away. Much to his dismay, the sight of the thoroughly distraught girl brought tears to his eyes, and he began to regret his actions. This was even more powerful than the regret he had shown for Trance when he had promised to turn his life around. He tried to push it away but it wouldn't stop. He turned away from them so they wouldn't see the chink in his defences against emotions.

"Don't you turn away when I'm speaking to you!!!" Hannah said severely. Much to her surprise the Nightsider replied with a choking voice, and her anger quickly evaporated at he sight of the pitiful soul before her.

"I'm sorry! I truly am! I can't believe I ever did such a thing in my life, I'm so ashamed! But you just won't stop. You keep standing there shouting out your problems without the slightest regard for anyone else's feelings, thinking you're the only person in the Universe who has problems!! Well I hope you feel bad, because I certainly do!!!" this ended his turn at the soapbox, and he burst into tears.

All the self pity that Hannah had been feeling ever since the incident changed its course and concentrated on Gerentex instead. She gave Dylan a look that asked if she could go in with him, and he reluctantly opened the door, but only because the Nightsider looked truly sincere.

She walked in and sat down beside him. She put her arm around his shoulders and they cried together.

Dylan watched this strange development passively, staying only because he didn't want to leave Hannah in there with Gerentex unattended. Even he himself was becoming a bit misty. He let them have their time for as long as they needed, then said quietly, "Hannah, it's time to go," she regretfully got up and left the brig, giving Gerentex a look of pity once again. She followed Dylan through the halls again, wiping her sleeve over her eyes. He led her to her quarters.

"Why are we going here?" she asked him.

"You obviously need sleep, its been a big day. We'll take care of everything in the morning,"

She obeyed and went into her room. Stopping at the doorway, she turned and asked, "Dylan, he's going to prison, isn't he?"

He nodded silently.

She sighed a deep sigh filled with sadness, and turned back into the room, the door closing quietly behind her.

Dylan likewise headed to his quarters for a much needed rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~