**A.N. Sorry for the delay! Hopefully, good readers, you'll think that this has been worth the wait. FYI, to
avoid any confusion later on, I married Fred off to Reiko in a previous fic called Slip of the Tongue. So
without any further ado.....**
***
Explaining exactly how a person died to that individual as they sat and listened attentively must have ranked up there with out-of-body experiences in terms of the bizarre. Gene decided to unshackle Hilda and explained to her exactly what happened at Farfallas, right down to Hilda biting down on the grenade. She could only listen in disbelief. As for the leiline, Gene figured it would be best if Hilda got the short and sweet version of what transpired there. Without going into too much detail, he told Hilda that there was no treasure to be found at the Galactic leiline. But it wasn't as though he left there empty-handed, he thought as he glanced at Melfina.
"Damn. Looks like I'm in pretty good shape, all things considered." Hilda mused.
"But what's the last thing that you remember Hilda?" Melfina asked.
She really had to think about that for a moment. What she did remember had been slowly giving way to speculation about what had happened to her and the others. Facts were becoming harder to come by as time limped along.
"I'm not sure Mel." Hilda finally spoke up after a long silence. "I don't remember actually being at Farfallas, playing chicken with the Ctarl Ctarl battleship or even leaving Blue Heaven. I just remember waking up from a cold-sleep tube on a space station with a change of clothes and that a few months ago." she pointed to a black briefcase at the back of the bridge. A change of clothes, a laptop with data on the ship, a pistol and some ammo were the most compelling items inside. "I was on my way to Blue Heaven when I saw XGP on the news." She paused and looked at Gene. "The Outlaw Star......You really named this after me?"
Gene nodded.
"I didn't know you cared." she laughed.
"Don't let it go to your head."
"What about the Ctarl Ctarl and her?" Aisha was gone, but Hilda gestured towards Suzuka.
"They've been with us for almost as long as you've been...." Melfina paused, trying to search for the right word ".....gone."
Jim looked around and was the only one to notice Aisha's absence from the bridge. He headed back towards the galley and found here there, quietly seething.
"What's wrong Aisha?" he asked. It should've been self-explanatory. He didn't realize how stupid a question that was until he heard himself blurt it out.
"That.....bitch...." Aisha said through clenched teeth. With the image of the one-eyed Outlaw on the Orta Hone-Hone's viewscreen in her mind, she was looking around for things to smash. The fact that Hilda was still alive showed a large degree of restraint on her part. "I say we get rid of her now. Even if she really is Hilda......"
"But Aisha......" Jim started to say. Saying something like 'I know how you feel' would've only made matters worse. He was cut off by an icy glare from the Ctarl Ctarl.
"You don't know what it's like.....you have NO idea what she took away from me, Jim." she seethed, trying her best to keep her composure in front of her young friend. In her right hand, her fingers were absently running over an ornately decorated Medal- the Order of Klar Klar, a coveted award for meritorious service in the Imperial Deep Space Fleet. Even after her expulsion, Aisha kept it close to her. "My chances of moving up in the Empire are ruined because of her." She wanted to tell him that she could never go home again, but she was superstitious enough to believe that telling him out loud would guarantee that it come true. The atmosphere in the galley was thick with tension. After a moment, the boy-genius steeled himself for the cat-girl's wrath as he decided to break the silence.
"You're right, Aisha. I'll never know what she took away from you." Jim said with a hint of resignation as he looked up at her. Even at just over 5 feet, she still was petite and imposing at the same time. Considering how good she had been to him over the past year or so while asking for very little in exchange, it truly bothered him to see Aisha like this. However, he still felt the need to speak his mind.
"But what I do know is that if it wasn't for Hilda, we wouldn't have gotten this ship. Not only that, you and I would've never met." Jim continued. He realized that perhaps it would be best to make himself scarce as soon as possible and left without seeing the expression on Aisha's face change. She was furious with him for a moment- what unmitigated gall the kid had. However, instead of shouting back at him, Aisha realized that he was right. Seconds blurred into minutes while she stood there tightly clutching the medal. Aisha hadn't really thought of it that way. For better or worse, this was the path the Creators had guided her down. She gritted her teeth a little before sighing and then letting out a small chuckle.
"Dammit, kiddo." she reluctantly grinned, knowing full well that Jim couldn't hear her. "You know I can't stand it when you're right all the time."
**
The cub-fighters circled quickly and menacingly around the derelict, unoccupied Space-Forces freighter. From a distance they looked like hornets. However, their sting was far more lethal than any insect's. Ewan Craven glanced at the Silgrian delegation gathered next to him. He figured he had built up the suspense long enough.
"Now." he ordered through a headset.
Steel projectiles moving nearly one-quarter the speed of light were fired from the rail-guns on two of the cub-fighters. They easily sliced through the considerable armor on the elderly ship- the Space Forces Aurora-class freighter Dnieper. Even from their enclosed viewing platform several hundred kilometers away, the Silgrian delegates could see pieces of the ship being torn away from the cub-fighters strafing it. The Dnieper had about as much of a chance of survival as a raw steak tossed in a cage with two hungry tigers. Once more, the ship was being strafed but this time with High Explosive rounds. The result was devastating and the reaction from some of the delegation was horror.
"Very impressive..." a Silgry in an ornately decorated military uniform said to the President and CEO of Craven Industries.
"I'm glad you like it." Craven replied. "It makes hardly any difference if that were a freighter or a Kei Pirate carrier. All it would take is a handful of cub-fighters equipped with our latest rail-gun to reduce them to a debris field."
"Don't misunderstand us, Mr. Craven" on of the shocked delegates spoke up. "As you may already know, we Silgrys are a relatively peaceful species. We thrive on commerce, not conflict...."
"I completely understand....." Craven nodded.
"However, commerce is our lifeblood." the Silgry in the fancy uniform spoke up "and these incursions into our territory by the Terran pirate guilds is threatening that commerce. We find this most unacceptable."
"Yes, and the treaty being drawn up right now would greatly expand trade between the Silgry homeworld's with the Earth Federation, including the possibility of the Royal Silgry Stellar Guard outfitting their fleet with Human-manufactured weapons...." he was about to say more when his assistant, a petite woman with long jet-black hair appeared, silently indicating that he had a call.
"You'll have to excuse me for a moment...." he said as he stepped out of the observation room on his privately owned ship.
"It's her." the assistant said.
Craven opened up a laptop and inserted some encryption and scrambling software. In a few seconds, they verified that nobody was eavesdropping and had obscured the image of his face.
"What is it?" he asked. This had better be good enough to have pulled him away from his most convincing sales pitch of the decade.
"I thought you might be interested in an update." Takana's voice spoke up as her image flickered into focus on the monitor.
"Do you have her?"
"Not yet. I talked to one of her old friends from Blue Heaven, he was *most* co-operative. It seems she got rid of Horus, faked her death and has been laying low since then."
"Is that a fact?" How strange. This whole mess with Hot Ice Hilda had started over Horus.
Takana nodded."It seems I underestimated how resourceful she can be...."
"You're not the only one." Craven said absently.
"Have there been any additional change of plans that I should know about?" Takana asked.
"No. I'd still like to see her brought in alive."
"Consider it done. I'll call you again and name my price when I have her." the screen went blank.
The CEO chuckled. The tracker-killer Takana Jaci Jaci was reputed to be the best at her craft, and although Ewan Craven didn't dispute that, he viewed her as nothing more than a stupid creature who was only concerned about money and getting high off of that root she carried around with her. Still, he had already gotten his money's worth from her by simply confirming that Hilda was alive. He also had to respect her to some extent because even though she was only a half-step above a common whore, she wasn't nearly as pretentious as those walking, talking emu birds in the next room. They had no idea that the demonstration of firepower on the Dnieper was only a small part of a larger demonstration. Once the Royal Silgry Stellar Guard started decimating the Kei pirates with the weapons he built, the Pirates would come to him, almost begging for the same weapons. And Craven would gladly sell them to the pirates through back channels, letting them know what a good deal they were getting while charging three times what the Silgrys had paid. It was nothing he hadn't done before with the Kei guild, the Ban pirates, the Space Forces and the Tenpa Empire's Autounmous Fleet. This would be a chance to increase his sales among other species.
Now that he thought about it, there was a small dispute between the Silgry and Ctarl Ctarl over mineral rights on a moon that was orbiting the frontier of the 29th Ctarl Ctarl colony and a fairly empty quadrant of Silgry Stellar Territory. Perhaps it could escalate into an armed conflict.
So many puppets- so little time.
**
"I'm not sure if this is the time or the place, Aniki....." Jim said ".....but were you able to get a deposit from Fred? We've only got one day left to register the ship."
"Dammit, that's right!" Gene said, completely forgetting about the matter after seeing Hilda back from the dead. "I hate to say it, but it looks like the ol' ball and chain frowns on Fred's gambling. He even offered a full-fledged sponsorship deal, but Reiko wasn't about to let him"
"Gambling?" Jim yelped. "I resent that! It's implying that there's a chance we won't finish in the money! Besides, even if you can call that gambling, that should be the least of Reiko's worries about her dream hubby! What a wet blanket she turned out to be."
Hilda looked up from the monitor and chuckled as she listened to Jim. Even when they first met on Sentinel, it was pretty clear the kid was the brains of the little outfit. She had to admire the unflagging confidence the kid had, not only in the ship, but his own abilities as well. Hot Ice Hilda had never had the honor of meeting Fred Luo herself, but as the conversation continued she supposed it was for the best. "Don't despair, partner. Fred was able to wire us a few thousand Wong under the table."
"Exactly how many?"
"Fifty thousand. I checked the account this afternoon."
"Huh? That's chump change!" Jim said, clearly insulted.
"He said it was all he could give me without the little lady getting suspicious."
"I still say we tell Reiko about his other amorous pursuits!" Jim growled.
"Jim!" Gene said in a mocking tone. "That would be blackmail. We wouldn't want to do that to good ol' Fred." He paused. "We're less than a hundred thou short of the registration fee. Something juicy like that should fetch at least into the upper six figures! We'll save it for a rainy day."
As Gene and Jim were discussing the finer points of blackmailing Fred, Hilda continued sifting through official information about the racecourse on the ship's computer. There was something on the screen that had her undivided attention- a real-time feed from one of the checkpoints. Barely visible off in the distance was an old satellite. It was in almost the exact same location she had seen it last- several weeks before she had even set foot on Sentinel.
"I'll pay the difference for the ship's registration." Hilda spoke up. She gently tapped the closed briefcase with the side of her foot and it fell on its side. Another tap and it went spinning across the floor of the bridge and came to a stop in front of the red-haired Outlaw and boy genius. "On one condition....."
Not quite sure what to make of all this, Gene cautiously picked up the case and opened it up. Aside from the pistol and portable computer, there wasn't anything of apparent interest inside. Hilda got up and walked over to the two. Taking it away from Gene, she none-too delicately tore into the interior lining of the case. Although Jim was too short to see it right away, Gene's attention was fixed by a violet gleam. Lining the interior of Hilda's attache case was pure, crushed Dragonite- more than enough to pay the registration five times over.
"That would be...?"
"I get to ride along with you, Cherry. This is something I've gotta see for myself."
Jim looked bewildered as he finally caught a glimpse of the Dragonite.
"Deal." Gene said without even thinking.
**
The only daughter of Aryo Jaci-Jaci was on another transport flight, this time to the heart of Heiphong. For awhile, she thought she'd have to call upon her employer's resources to help her search for Hilda's new partner. She didn't want that, since Craven's people could've very easily taken over if they knew exactly what she was after. If the man was to pay her five million Wong in cash as well as some real-estate on Tenrei and fifteen minutes alone with the Outlaw Hilda, she figured he should be updated on her progress, even if she was trying to be as ambiguous as possible.
As it turned out, finding a fresh lead on Captain Gene Starwind wasn't as difficult as she had anticipated. There was a hit on a net-directory search of Starwind from the planet Sentinel the little Corbonite had told her about. It was a small fix-it shop called Starwind and Hawking and located in a city called Lotus, but apparently they had moved and set up shop on Heiphong. The little unassuming advertisement was there in the directory, along with the slogan "We fix everything from tractors to relationships". Takana took that claim with a grain of salt. Next to the logo was something she didn't expect to see. Takana smiled as she saw that the updated listing in the Starwind and Hawking directory came complete with a street address. The woman had gall, if nothing else. If she was indeed with Captain Gene Starwind, that meant Hilda was hiding out right under the nose of Takana's employers.
**
For the time being, the Outlaws had increased their numbers to six. They all crowded into the Ehefau as they made their way back to the Starwind and Hawking offices. For the first time in nearly a week, Aisha, Jim and Suzuka slept in their own beds. It had been a long day at the spaceport, and each of them drifted off to a brief and somewhat restless sleep. Even if Hilda wasn't back from the dead tomorrow was still going to be a busy day. There was still the matter of paying for the registration, tending to any last minute preparations that Gillium would recommend and- perhaps most importantly- attending the pre-race luncheon. Gene and Melfina decided they had some catching up to do with Hilda, although owing to her memory loss, the conversation was a bit one-sided. Much to Gene and Melfina's surprise, Hilda didn't press the matter of the Leiline that much, although she appeared to be a little bit surprised to hear that such a place existed.
As exciting as it was to have a visitor from beyond the grave, Melfina and Gene were also starting to feel sleepy. Hilda had gone without any sleep for quite some time- at least 36 Terran hours- although the prospect of catching up with the XGP, Gene, Jim and Mel after all this time was quite motivating. The resurrected Outlaw wound up taking a catnap on the downstairs sofa. After a few hours, she was up and furtively poring over information that was scrolling across her laptop's screen. It had everything to do with the XGP's navigational programming and command override protocols. The information was clearly a duplicate copy, but she had what she needed to know. **But enough of that, there's a race to be run today** she smiled to herself as the dawn sunlight finally shone through one of the windows.
**
Within a few hours, Gene, Mel, Hilda, Aisha and Jim were on board the Outlaw Star as it headed for the pre-race assembly area. Suzuka didn't express any interest in coming along and decided to stay behind to see what the official line on the Outlaw Star was at the casinos. There were a few last minute touch-ups to be done, but Gillium advised the others that he could do the work himself in zero-gravity. This was being taken care of as the others decided to attend the pre-race ceremonies.
"Are you sure it's such a good idea to be out in public if there are people out to kill you?" Gene asked Hilda on their way off of the ship and into the satellite that housed the officials and ceremonies.
"I'll be fine- did you bother asking yourself the same question last year?"
"Good point."
Aisha could barely contain her enthusiasm. Having worked there last year, she knew that there was a big luncheon waiting for her at the banquet hall. She was also a little bit giddy knowing that their odds of finishing in the money had greatly improved this year. It felt nice to be part of a winning team, but the only setback was her deep mistrust of Hilda. Of course, if Hilda tried anything, the odds would be at least four to one.
"Hurry up! Let's grab something to eat and win this thing already!" Aisha cheered as she tousled Jim's hair and started running ahead of the others.
"Take it easy Aisha. We still have at least three hours and it looks like we'll be starting from the middle of the pack again." Jim said.
"Yeah, but at least we won't be stopping to pick up any unwanted hitchhikers this year." Gene said.
Aisha scowled at Gene and stuck out her tongue. Jim could only shake his head and chuckle slightly. **She's just like a big kid...** he mused to himself.
"Stopping to pick up Aisha wasn't nearly as costly as that missile attack that sent us off course." Melfina diplomatically pointed out.
The five of them walked into the spacious banquet hall. There was some polite applause as one of the officials wrapped up his speech the moment they walked in. Already, the buffet was set up.
"Remember, Aisha..." Jim almost whispered in a mischievous tone "This meal essentially cost us 150,000 Wong, so you might as well get your money's worth."
"Mmmm-Hmmm!" she enthusiastically nodded. "I'll be over by the buffet if you need me." It was almost like letting a bull loose in a china shop.
**
**Some of last year's favorites, including top two finishers Sunbeam 545 and Bonaparte as well as privateers Blue Continental and Outlaw Star have been confirmed as making another run for the cup. There's a grand total of forty-seven ships competing this year. Bonaparte is a heavy favorite this year while there are a number of new ships that may pull off an upset......**
Suzuka stopped looking at the TV monitor in the casino and turned her attention back to the roulette wheel. Thirteen black. The dealer placed a few hundred Wong worth of chips in front of her. This was actually getting tedious.
She collected her chips and handed them to a waiter.
"Fifty-thousand on the Outlaw Star."
**
The Outlaw Star was the next ship to start. Thirty-four ships had left prior to them, and there were twelve more in line behind them. Aisha had helped herself to a lot of everything at the buffet in the banquet hall and was now helping herself a doggie-bag that consisted almost entirely of shrimp cocktail.
"Tell me-" Hilda said, looking over Jim's shoulder. "Is this the same course as least year?"
"Not quite. They eliminated one of the alternate checkpoints past the binary planet. Other than that, it's still the same."
That was welcome news as far as Hilda was concerned. For a moment, she was afraid that she had gotten her information from an outdated map of the racecourse. The map showed no alternate checkpoints, meaning that the one checkpoint within visual range of the old satellite which she saw earlier would still be in use.
"So it's pretty straightforward, then."
Gene was fidgeting anxiously- just waiting for the green light.
"Yeah. Guess they decided to alter it after a couple of ships got caught up in an ether current."
There was a beeping and a course official appeared on the monitor.
"Ready to go, Outlaw Star?"
"You bet!" Gene replied.
"OK then- Outlaw Star, you've got the green light.:
With that, the XGP took off.
**
**Blue Continental and Vostok are almost a dead heat for first place. We've just been informed that the Sunbeam 545 has dropped out due to engine trouble. It's a little disappointing to see the Sunbeam drop out this early, since that's a ship fans could usually count on to be competitive. The last group of ships has cleared the second checkpoint.**
Suzuka watched the monitor impatiently, waiting for word on the Outlaw Star. She had yet to be informed of their progress. Almost as if on cue, the announcer spoke up again.
**...and the Outlaw Star, which started in 35th place has now cleared the third checkpoint. So it has moved up to eleventh place. So far an impressive run from last year's first place privateer winner- perhaps looking for a repeat performance....**
**
All ships passing though the third checkpoint, also known as Lione Lagrange checkpoint, had to decelerate owing to the considerable debris field that had accumulated in the area.
"Third checkpoint cleared!" Melfina announced.
"Come on Gene! Let's blow the rest of these slowpokes out of sub-ether!" Jim said.
Hilda realized that if she was going to do this, now would have to be the time. It was a damn shame, too. They all were doing much better in the race than she thought.
"Gillium- Leiline Project Override Code 5-N-2-4-P-9. Bring all engines to full stop, now!"
Except perhaps for Aisha, none of them could really believe what was going on until they felt the ship decelerating.
"Hilda? Engine output has ceased entirely." Melfina stated. She was hoping that the Outlaw would explain exactly what happened.
"What the hell are you doing, Hilda?" Jim asked.
"What does it look like? I'm taking over." she replied bluntly as she pressed her pistol to Gene's temple. With her free hand, she removed the Caster from Gene's waistband, her hand lingering perhaps a second longer than necessary along Gene's inner thigh. "Pardon my reach..." she playfully whispered in the Outlaw's ear. She turned her attention to the ship's computer. "Gillium. Open a channel to the course marshall and tell them that the Outlaw Star is withdrawing due to engine problems."
"Worthless Terran! I knew you would show your true colors soon enough!" Aisha snarled.
"Do the math, Hilda- there's four of us and no place for you to go." Gene said. Hilda was one of the few people who confronted Gene unarmed. She caught him with his pants down, so to speak.
"You're forgetting...." she wagged her finger at the red-haired Outlaw. "There's two of us. Just to let you know, Gillium will only take orders from me now." She looked past Gene and towards Aisha. Hilda could think of only one way to deal with her.
"Gillium?"
"Yes?"
"If my vital signs are terminated, I want you to blow the air-locks open."
"You're bluffing..." Aisha growled.
"Am I? Then why don't you go ahead and call my bluff." she said as she holstered the pistol.
Aisha's gaze shifted from Jim, then to the Outlaw and back. If it were just her and Gene, she would've been more than willing to take that chance, but she didn't want to gamble with Jim's life or Melfina's.
"Do you understand me?" Hilda asked the ship's computer.
There was a pause- reluctance on the computer's part. "Affirmative." Gillium said. The window of opportunity to overpower Hot Ice Hilda and take back the ship had now closed.
"Now...." She said to Gene. "Suit up, Gene. You and I are going for a walk."
**
Suzuka was still at the casino when she saw from the coverage of the race that the Outlaw Star had dropped out due to mechanical problems. She tore up her betting form for the second year in a row. Twenty thousand Wong- gone, just like that. East come, easy go. The assassin had plenty of time to mull it over on the long walk back to Starwind and Hawking. Losing the money wasn't what bothered her. After spending all those nights prior to the race in her quarters on the ship, she knew that Jim, Aisha and Gillium were working almost non-stop so that the ship would be running like clockwork. The assassin also had every bit of faith that the boy would have the ship in top working order for the race. 50,000 Wong worth of faith, as a matter of fact. She still did. Now that Hilda was on board, the Outlaw Star suddenly developed this mysterious mechanical problem that required them to withdraw from the race. Strange indeed.
The metallic door to Starwind and Hawking opened with a creak. Suzuka wanted nothing more than to fix herself a piping hot kettle of tea and draw a nice warm bath. Almost as soon as she stepped through the door, the dark-haired assassin tensed up. Somebody was already inside. Gene, Jim, Hilda, Aisha and Mel were stuck somewhere on the racecourse in a supposedly disabled spaceship. She looked up to see the silhouette of another unwelcome visitor backlit. It looked like a female Ctarl Ctarl. The intruder spoke to Suzuka with a sort of malicious glee in her voice.
"Can Hilda come out and play?"
