Prerequisite Author's note & disclaimer: Chapter 8 is up and running, while Chapter 9 is coming along rather nicely (I'll be nice & non-comittal, tho'). I also thought I'd do a little tweaking and fix some errors. Also, I don't own Outlaw Star.
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Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. (Job 10:8)
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Gene Starwind's eyes fluttered open as he became aware of a sharp, strong odor. As his vision came into focus, he saw Suzuka, Hilda, Aisha and Jim kneeling over him. He realized that he was still in the offices and the slender assassin was able to revive him with some smelling salts she had on her person.
"Aniki? What happened?" Jim asked Gene.
Aisha was sniffing the air and looking at the hole in the roof. "That arrogant bitch! She was here again, wasn't she?" the Ctarl Ctarl angrily asked nobody in particular.
Gene winced a little as he struggled to get up. A searing pain flashed across the right side of his torso. Ironically, the toxin that Takana had coated her blade with actually saved Gene's life since it slowed down all bodily functions- including blood flow. This actually served to minimalize his blood loss and prevented him from bleeding to death on the floor. He was also fortunate enough to have regained consciousness in the company of no less than three individuals who had some firsthand experience with combat medicine.
"Welcome back- though you'd left us for a moment." Hilda said.
His eyes widened. "Melfina? Where's Melfina?" he asked, doing his best to ignore the pain.
"Easy, Gene. You must take care not to over-exert yourself with these wounds." Suzuka cautioned.
"Where is she!?" the Outlaw frantically asked.
Jim solemnly shook his head. "We can't find her anywhere, Aniki. We were hoping you'd know."
"It wasn't safe....I told her to leave, but...."
"But what?" Hilda asked.
"She saw Melfina......that Ctarl Ctarl must have her."
Hilda's heart sank at the mention of 'Ctarl'. "Shit! I didn't think she'd come back here so soon and come after Mel." she said. Since arriving at Heiphong, the bounty huntress had surfaced twice and made an unsuccessful attempt to grab Hilda each time. The dark-haired Outlaw couldn't have foreseen this change of strategy from her pursuer. However, hiding out this close to Craven's headquarters was almost inviting this sort of thing to happen.
"Gillium?" Jim asked as he looked at the ruined pink can atop of the table. Takana's blade had cleanly cone through him, but the real damage to Gillium was done when she pulled the knife out. "What did they do to you?"
"I am fine." the ship's computer said, speaking to the boy over a communicator in his ear. "I suppose I should consider myself fortunate that I'm not capable of feeling physical pain."
"No foolin'" Gene said as Suzuka and Hilda tried gently lifting him upright without aggravating his wounds. "You got off easy, Gil."
**
Another workday had passed and the majority of his wage-slaves had scampered back to their modest homes and meaningless existences. Craven sat by himself in his spacious office- the lights were dimmed. He had decided to finish up his business with the Silgry delegation as soon as possible, since Takana's confirmation that Hilda was indeed alive had moved up his timetable. Yet some members of the delegation seemed reluctant to close the deal. If word got out what Hilda was in possession of, his fortune and industrial empire would be in ruins.
He buzzed his assistant through the intercom.
"Be sure to tell the Silgrys that the lunch-meeting for tomorrow has been moved ahead to eleven o'clock." he said.
"Yes, Mr. Craven."
There was a noise- not so much a noise, but a presence that Craven suddenly felt in the office with him. In the shadows, two wicked jade-green eyes slashed through the darkness and were peering at him. The CEO was startled for a moment, until he saw that it was Takana Jaci-Jaci.
"How long have you been there?" he asked the tracker killer.
"Long enough. I thought I would come by and update you of my progress in person." she said as she stepped out of the shadows. As she did so, Craven saw that there was something slung over her shoulder. It was Melfina.
"That isn't Hilda." Craven said, clearly displeased as Takana slid the unconscious bio-android into one of the seats facing his desk. Melfina was out like a light, although she looked like she was having a bad dream. Craven reasoned that if the tracker-killer was here on Heiphong, then Hilda couldn't have been very far away, either. For a moment, he was afraid that Hilda had spent her entire time in hiding without even leaving the city of Heiphong. The CEO dismissed the thought when he remembered that her last communique was from half a solar system away.
"I'm well aware of that. Hilda is now being protected by some outlaws and she's more difficult to get to now- *especially* if you still want her alive." there was a pause. "If you don't mind my asking, how exactly did she wrong you? Was she to be your mate? Did she leave you at the altar?" she pouted as she sat on top of Craven's desk.
"It was a business transaction, as if it's any of your concern." Craven said impatiently.
"Good, because I have one more fee for services rendered. Something you would be unable to consent to if you were attached to her at all, and it won't cost you a dime!"
The Ctarl Ctarl was already pushing her luck, but Craven listened when she explained that it wouldn't cost him any additional money.
"All I'm asking is that you leave Hilda for me once you get whatever it is that you need from her." Once again, the Ctarl Ctarl's fingers were unconsciously running over the missing portion of her ear. "I owe her..." She turned her attention back to Melfina. "However, this woman belongs to another outlaw. I'm sure he'll gladly hand Hilda over to you in exchange for her. I certainly wouldn't want to give her up..." Takana sighed wistfully "...she has such a unique and beautiful scent, especially when she's afraid."
"What makes you so sure of that? And why the hell did you bring her here?". Craven sat down behind his desk and his finger was hoovering over the emergency-security page button underneath the desk. He was doing his best to curb his anger with this stupid, impudent beast. He wasn't interested in ransom, games or this girl Takana had brought in. He simply wanted results that he was willing to pay handsomely for and the Ctarl Ctarl was not providing any.
She extended a slender leg. "You said you wanted Hilda alive, and that's exactly what you'll get in due time. My nightly regimen of sleeping in alleys or on rooftops and washing in fountains would present entirely too many opportunities for this one to slip away. But I discovered that this Terran is carrying another outlaw's litter. And this Outlaw who knows *exactly* where Hilda is."
Litter? Craven looked confused for a moment. "You mean that this one's pregnant?"
Takana nodded.
"Humans don't give birth in litters....." Craven pointed out. He was uncomfortably aware that it sounded like he was referring to humans in third-person.
"Is that a fact? Regardless- there is another heartbeat. It's faint, but I can hear it". Her knees were drawn together as she stretched her hands around them. Her cheek was resting against one knee as she looked at Craven. "Meaning that the father will have to choose between Hilda or this Terran carrying his unborn child. Of this I'm quite certain."
Craven realized the beast-girl might be onto something.
"Do they realize she's missing yet?"
"I'm sure they do by now. All I need to do is contact them and make one very reasonable demand. Hilda in exchange for this Terran." She softly inhaled and paused for a moment, savoring what she was about to say next. After getting a chunk of her ear shot off by Hilda and tangling with the likes of Suzuka and Aisha, Takana was more than ready to collect her hard-earned wages. "You name the time and place and I'll name you my price."
**
"Try to hold still..." Twilight Suzuka said rather sternly to the Outlaw. With the needle in one hand and some thread in the other, she looked more like a seamstress than skilled swordswoman. Gene was lying on the sofa as she was trying as best she could to patch up the wound on his chest.
"Bottoms up, Aniki." the boy-genius said as he held the flask to Gene's lips. Almost reluctantly, Gene swallowed the remaining contents of his flask- some good ol' rotgut whiskey. It was the closest thing they had to anesthesia in the building.
"I didn't know you were such a talented seamstress, Suzuka." the Outlaw said with a sideways grin. He was uncomfortably aware that it sounded like he was mocking the quiet assassin, but Gene seemed genuinely surprised.
"On more than one occasion, I've had to perform similar work on myself." she said.
"Looks like we're out of painkiller- I'll go see if I can find some more." Jim said. He held the flask aloft, peering up into it before turning back to Gene. "Relax, Aniki- I'm sure you're in good hands." the boy excused himself.
"Maybe it's just the booze talking......" Gene said to the assassin. Suzuka paused. He sounded lucid enough, so she was pretty sure it *wasn't* the booze talking.
"Yes?"
"But......" he sighed ".......I don't think I ever thanked you for saving Melfina back on Sentinel. I wasn't there to see for myself, so I had my doubts for while. She told me she was quite surprised to see you there..."
"There's absolutely no need to thank me. If I remember correctly, I made an attempt on your life a few days prior to that, so it was only natural for you to be somewhat skeptical." Suzuka said, her attention mostly focused on closing the last few stitches.
"I thought I was a goner awhile ago." Gene said "And when I was lying there, I realized that I took a lot of things for granted, including you. I think all of us have." The assassin furrowed her brow as she began closing up the last stitch. Maybe it *was* the booze talking, after all. Suzuka couldn't help but wonder why he didn't mention this until now.
"I mean, where would we be without you, y'know?" he continued. "Sometimes you put up with a lot of crap from all of us but you've never really asked for anything in return."
The assassin didn't argue with Gene. Instead, she remembered the two of them sitting together next to the campfire at the Grave of the Dragon, with the Outlaw telling her about the promise he made to Melfina. It was a side of him she never expected to see, although there had been a few odd twists of fate ever since she set foot in Fred Luo's office. The more vulnerable Gene seemed, the more Suzuka......
A loud electronic chirping suddenly caught everybody's attention. Off in the distance, the phone was ringing. It was entirely too late for a customer to be calling, and those had been pretty scarce in the weeks leading up to the Space Race. Jim didn't see any reason for them to be calling now as he answered the phone.
"Starwind and Hawking. Hello...?" he asked rather hesitantly. The screen flickered to life and he could make out the image of silhouetted Ctarl Ctarl, her face obscured by shadows with only the occasional emerald gleam from her eyes. His heart sank. His intuition told him right away that it was Melfina's captor, the elusive beast-girl sent to kill or capture Hilda. The boy was left with the feeling that he was looking at a soulless killing machine.
"I'd like to speak to the man of the house....." Takana said curtly. ".....if he's still alive, that is."
Hilda recognized the voice and stopped dead in her tracks, her face as pale as a sheet. The audio on the computer was so crisp that the Outlaw thought her pursuer was in the same room for a moment. She faltered for a moment and then recovered. "What do you want with him?" Hilda asked as she regained her composure. "You made it clear earlier that you were after me."
The tracker killer chuckled lightly- it was a joyless sound. "That's true, but you've been very hard to get ahold of lately". There was a pause. "However, since I'm talking to you now, I'm curious if you place any value on the girl's life..."
"How do I even know if Melfina is still alive?"
"You have my word that she's unharmed....." Takana paused. Even through the monitor, Hilda and the others' skepticism was apparent. Takana continued. "A hunter has no reason to lie to it's prey. Meet me in three hours at the Heiphong Narrows Bridge. I'll have the girl with me. Once you show up, Hilda, the girl is free to leave."
"But how do we know if....?" Jim started to ask. He was cut off by a glare from the Ctarl Ctarl that froze his blood, even from a distance.
"This is an exceptionally generous offer considering the damage you've already done, Hilda." Takana was once again running her finger over the damaged portion of her ear. "It's not open for negotiation. I recommend you take full advantage of it while you have the chance."
Before anybody could argue, stall for time or attempt a counter-offer, the screen went black. They had two hours and fifty-nine minutes to mull over the bounty huntress' proposal.
"I don't trust her...." Aisha said. Stealth and deceit seemed to be this woman's stock in trade, which ran contrary to her own Imperial officer's training and her preference to tackling a problem head-on..
"Me neither, Aisha." Gene said as he struggled to sit up. "But we don't have much of a choice right now."
"Even if she's true to her word, I can't say the same about her employer." Hilda said. The clock was ticking and a very unattractive decision had to be made.
**
Takana folded down the screen of the little portable computer and took in the view from the top of Craven's office complex. The time and location for the exchange was her employer's idea, and the sooner the better as far as Takana was concerned. The bounty-huntress was uncertain if Craven of any of his people would be present when Hilda showed up. On the one hand, she would be resentful of the interference if anybody did show up, but on the other hand the sooner Craven had Hilda in his custody, the sooner she could collect her pay. Standing behind her was the petite dark-haired woman- Craven's personal assistant. The bounty-huntress paid the woman no mind as she helped herself to a small pinch of root. She looked as though she were expecting something from Takana.
The Ctarl Ctarl looked at the computer for a moment. Instead of handing back the computer to the woman, Takana abruptly flung it over the side of the balcony, almost like a discus. The machine spun around and had several hundred feet to go before hitting the ground below.
"What did you do that for?" Craven's assistant angrily asked her.
The Ctarl Ctarl simply glanced over the side of the building. "My mistake....." she said calmly before she walked past the assistant and back into the office. She knew that Terrans like Craven and those that worked for him had the technology to trace the call that she just made. Even though she wasn't familiar with anything remotely high-tech, she knew that anybody interested in tracing the call was going to have a hard time doing so if the call was kept relatively short and the computer that originally made the call had shattered into a thousand little pieces. One thing both Hilda and Takana had in common was a profound distrust for the likes of Ewan Craven.
"I'm going to clean up and check on the captive. Make sure I'm not disturbed." Takana said to the woman. She could only glare at the Ctarl Ctarl as she walked away. She never questioned Mr. Craven's orders, but letting this stupid, arrogant creature have free reign over their offices- even if only for a few hours- couldn't be productive.
**
"What are we going to do, Hilda?" Jim asked the outlaw. Ordinarily he might defer to Gene with questions like this, but since Hilda was being asked for by name. Aisha looked as thought she was ready to scold Jim when the dark-haired Outlaw spoke up.
"WE aren't going to do anything." she said to Jim. The dark-haired outlaw was leaning over and examining the key-card, which was now being gently held in place by a pair of calipers. "She asked for Hilda- she'll be getting me instead." Gene looked up as Suzuka finished patching him up. He wasn't quite sure what she meant by that last statement, since he wasn't present when the former courier Sandoval explained that the Hilda that had re-appeared over the past few days was only a reasonable facsimile.
"You're not thinking of going there by yourself?" Aisha asked Hilda as she starting delicately combing through the key-cards circuitry with a pair of tweezers. "How will we know if Melfina's still......" she stopped herself from continuing the sentence, realizing she was painting a very unpleasant scenario for the bio-android.
"At no point did she instruct you to come alone." Suzuka observed. There seemed to be a calculating tone to her voice, which didn't go unnoticed by the dark-haired Outlaw.
Hilda smiled. "Is what you have planned any different than what I had planned?"
"There's no specific plan on my part, although I was considering something along the lines of safety in numbers." Suzuka said. "What exactly did you have in mind?"
"It's not much of a plan, but it's a lot better than asking that bitch to pretty-please let Melfina go once I show up. Don't let this go to your head, cherry..." she said to Gene. "....but I'm going to need you and your big gun."
"It's nice to be so popular." Gene said as he gingerly stood up without any help. There was no way in hell he was going to sit this out, stitches or not.
**
**Takana's homeworld of the 38th Ctarl Ctarl colony had a lot in common with the early colonization of a place called Australia from Old Earth. Both had started out as fairly harsh environments and the first few settlers were convicts, exiles and others deemed undesirable by the powers that be. Over time, the settlers were able to adapt and trade among themselves, becoming vibrant and fiercely independent in the process, but those first formative years were a real bitch.
Not more than four Ctarl Lunar years had gone by since Takana's father introduced her to the iaru root and even though the high that she felt was never far from her mind, it didn't dominate it like it would later on in her life, either. She had made her way up and down the mountain path many more times without incident. The older boys who admired from a distance the pretty girl who came down from the mountain forest now had their own mates selected for them, although it didn't keep them from continuing to longingly watch her. This didn't escape the notice of some of their future mates and the occasional wild and spiteful rumors about incest, dark magic and the "Hermit's daughter" surreptitiously circulated through the village whenever Takana would arrive.
However, for the past few weeks something other than Aryo's beautiful daughter was on the villagers' minds. Disturbing reports of a plague were circulating- the population of many towns and villages on the 38th Colony were already decimated. The local magistrate had the unenviable task of informing the populace that instead of sending doctors or medicine, the Imperial Ctarl Ctarl Fleet would simply quarantine the planet and destroy anybody caught trying to leave. Posters were set up in the villages graphically depicting how each phase of the Crimson Plague would affect it's victims. It wasn't pretty. What was most disturbing to Takana was when she overheard that the bodies of the plague victims were burned like so much trash. The homeworld would not send doctors or medicine, only low-ranking officers to enforce the burning of bodies in the infected villages. This concerned both Aryo and Takana greatly, since a tracker-killer from Clan Jaci-Jaci could never get to the Land of the Dead if their mortal coil was to be incinerated. If either their bodies were consumed by flame and turned to ash, their souls were doomed to forever wander outside the Land of the Dead.
"Poppa?!" Takana asked as she cautiously stepped inside the cabin. Almost immediately a sense of dread and unease came over her. A chill went up her spine. Suddenly, their cabin was the last place she wanted to be. Death was in the air. The young woman's query was answered by a series of hacking coughs from a bundled figure lying on a flimsy cot.
"Taki? Please.....leave" the gaunt, withered man that Takana barely recognized as her father wheezed. "Leave now- I don't want you to catch ill, too". The plague took away the authority in his voice as well. Takana contained herself as best she could. She had been gone for less than two full days. How could he have wasted away so quickly? It was almost as if he aged several decades overnight. The only sign of an ailment when she left was the occasional sneeze from him. She finally replied to his request.
"I have nowhere to go.....I...I won't leave you by yourself, father." she said, sounding quite timid yet almost defiant at the same time. In the back of her mind she was aware of tears streaming down her cheeks. The strong, proud, devoted man who had raised her alone on this harsh gulag planet and taught her with pride how to live off of the land in the ways of her ancestors was now wasting away before her eyes and she could do nothing but see him off to the next world. But she had to be strong for him.
"Stubborn girl." Aryo smiled wanly. "You sometimes remind me of your mother....."
The topic of her mother had not been brought up between the two for nearly a decade. Takana knew very little about the woman and her father was quite reluctant to mention her. But now, the look on the young Ctarl Ctarl's face gave every indication that she wanted to know more. He obliged.
"I knew your mother for most of my life. She was so beautiful, sly and energetic. However, she was betrothed to another- an Imperial officer- when it was learned she was carrying our litter." Aryo paused. Takana was afraid that her father would break into another fit of coughing, but he steeled himself and continued. "Before sentencing her, the officer wanted to see if there would be any males from the litter that he could groom and raise to be his heir. However, you were the only one from the litter who wasn't stillborn, and I was exiled here with you when you were only a cub."
"What happened to momma?" Takana asked. The sentence for adultery and infidelity was drowning or a dagger in the left ear. "Was she executed.....?"
"No. Once you were born, she was sentenced to be the officer's servant for the rest of her life.....as though" he turned away as he let out a series of hacking coughs. Takana noticed that he was visibly upset ".........as though she was a piece of property to be bought and sold! It would've been the same had she consented to marry him. But rather than accept the sentence, she took her own......." he trailed off. There was now a heavy, pregnant silence inside the cabin. Several moments passed before it was broken.
"Taki..." he said sternly. "Go to the cabinet. Next to my parchments, there is something I want you to have. You'll know what it is once you see it."
The younger Ctarl Ctarl did as her father asked. Even though she had no formal education and was only partially literate, she knew the parchments contents line and verse. In addition to hunting, her father had spent the past few years teaching her traditional medicine. The parchments contained a list of ingredients of different roots, leaves, berries and fungi that had curative powers when combined correctly. However, these were used to treat things like mild fevers, cuts, sprains, burns and injuries likely to occur while hunting. There was nothing in her father's parchments about curing a plague. As she was considering this, a bright gleam caught her eye. It had to have been what her father was referring to. She reached in and pulled out a golden claw-shaped pendant adorned with intricate carvings and attached to a small gold chain.
"It once belonged to your mother. She was so very beautiful, like you." Aryo said. He smiled warmly once he turned his head and saw that his daughter was holding the pendant. The Plague had already taken away so much from him physically, but it was clear that the pride in his daughter remained undiminished. "I have been meaning to give this to you once you became a young lady, but...." he paused and suddenly his body was racked by a series of coughs. He slowly recovered and continued "......I never wanted to admit that my only little girl had grown up."
The pendant was beautiful in itself, but Takana held it in front of her with wide-eyed fascination. She could do nothing but gaze upon it and wonder about it's previous owner- a woman she had never met. Her mother? What sort of woman was she like? Was she as kind and loving as her father? Did she leave this world with any regrets haunting her?
"Taki?"
"Yes poppa?" the girl snapped out her reverie.
"If you don't have any of the symptoms by now, then it's safe to say that you have an immunity." his eyes rolled and Takana was afraid that he's black out. Instead, he inhaled sharply and continued. He wasn't quite sure how to phrase his next request of her. "You've seen the posters in the village? The ones about the plague...?"
Takana nodded grimly. The girl was only semi-literate, but knew enough from the posters that the final symptoms were open, bleeding sores all over the body before the victim's lungs filled up with fluid. The Crimson Plague itself wasn't so much the killer as the infection that resulted from the open sores or the victim suffocating in their own blood and phlegm. It wasn't a pleasant death by any stretch of the imagination.
"Then you know what's next. I want you to end it for me....."
"But...."
"TAKI...." he sternly hissed before succumbing to another fit of hacking coughs. After a moment he recovered. "You're the last in the Clan Jaci-Jaci bloodline and I trained you well. Honor my request." She could see the sincerity in his eyes. "Please..."
Seventeen Ctarl lunar cycles ago, the newly exiled Aryo Jaci-Jaci arrived on this world with his infant daughter. Takana realized that even under the best of circumstances, raising a child alone was extraordinarily difficult, let alone on this harsh gulag planet. Perhaps the easiest thing for Aryo to have done at the time was to drown the small child in the nearest creek or crush her skull with a large rock upon arrival. There was no penalty for such things in this corner of the Empire. However, he lovingly and painstakingly raised the girl to take pride in herself as well as both hunting and healing in the ways of her ancestors. As the years passed, this was something that was in the back of Takana's mind every night when she went to sleep. Now, the one who had given Takana life was now asking that she take his.
"I love you, poppa." she said, tears streaming down her cheeks as she kissed his forehead. With a heavy heart, Takana realized she couldn't remember the last time she told him that. Such words weren't necessary for the elder Ctarl Ctarl- his deeds throughout Takana's lifetime spoke volumes on how much he cared for his only daughter. Now all she could do was close her eyes and carry out her father's wish. Her hands wrapped around his throat and squeezed with all of her might.
For a moment, Aryo struggled. Then the elder Ctarl Ctarl held still as he realized that he was in very capable hands and his only other option was to waste away in front of his daughter. Takana closed her eyes and would not open them until she was certain the task was done. The strength left her legs as she opened her eyes and glimpsed the still form of her father. For what seemed like an eternity, she gently stroked his still-warm hand while cupping it to her tear-stained cheek.
Aryo Jaci-Jaci departed the World of the Living, leaving behind his only child, who was now a young woman. Takana was eventually able to stand up and wrap the body of her father in a makeshift funeral shroud before gently carrying him out to a small clearing behind their cabin. Using only her bare hands she managed to dig her father a five foot grave- she wouldn't let the Imperial Ctarl Ctarl Officers responsible for the quarantine burn her father like a piece of refuse. Chances are they wouldn't travel this deep into the wilderness to enforce the burnings, but Takana wasn't willing to wager her poppa's soul. Aryo Jaci-Jaci deserved much better than to have his mortal coil serve as fuel for a mass funeral pyre.
The dig was long, arduous work and every now and then she would openly weep while clutching her father's body. Takana's hands were raw and bloody from her efforts, but she ignored the pain as best she could. At times, it looked as though her father was merely sleeping. A profound emptiness overcame her as she cautiously lowered the body into the freshly dug grave. It was time to let her ancestors in the Land of the Dead know that her father would be joining them. As she was on her knees and pouring small clumps of dirt into her father's resting place, Takana Jaci-Jaci closed her eyes and released a loud, mournful, soul-shattering howl that rolled through the crisp night air.***
The chestnut-haired Ctarl Ctarl gasped suddenly. Jets of scalding hot water coursed over her face. Takana had helped herself to the shower in Craven's executive washroom. She should have been savoring every moment of these luxuries that were unheard of on the remote gulag planet she grew up on, but whenever her attention wasn't focused on her work or her vice the Ctarl Ctarl would concentrate on her father and the lessons he taught her. For the past few years, Takana had only known the anguish of losing her only family and the futility of a high she could never sustain.
The beast-woman turned off the shower and stepped onto the marble floor while hastily drying herself with an impossibly fluffy towel. Aside from the one she had slipped into, her meager wardrobe of four dresses were drip-drying as they were slung over the shower stall after she had hand-washed each of them in the sink. She meticulously laid out her weapons, herbs, ointments, salves and precious root on the beautiful granite counter top. Takana still marveled at her surroundings- she had never seen materiel wealth like this before. Was this the life that only the Empresses and Imperial Courtesans on the homeworld knew? Soon enough, she would have money of her own. The missing portion of her ear didn't bother her quite as much anymore, either. But something else was starting to eat away at Takana as her thoughts shifted between her father and the captive, expectant Terran she was holding in the next room. She had never seen a pregnant being before. It was something she found positively intriguing. The bounty-huntress couldn't help but wonder what sort of parent she would be if given the opportunity. As far as she was concerned, her father set the bar pretty high.
Having considered that, Takana's vanity once again got the better of her as she wiped away
the fog on the mirror. She couldn't help but smile as she looked over her own reflection. In it, she
saw speed, beauty, cunning, pride and soon enough, unimaginable wealth. And it would be the last
thing that Hot Ice Hilda would ever see.
**
In some ways, the Ctarl Ctarl's ransom demand came as something of a relief for Hilda. Instead of dwelling on Sandoval's revelation that she was merely a construct, she now had a more immediate problem to face. Construct or not, she often savored challenges, even if this one had no apparent solution. After tinkering with the safety-deposit box key-card for a few minutes, the very convincing clone of Hilda had made her way up the fire-escape to the roof of the building for some fresh air. She was a little surprised to find Gene already there. It was difficult to tell that he had been torn open earlier, since he was moving around fairly well.
"What did you find out?" Gene asked, referring to her trip to Sandoval's place that morning.
"Nothing I wanted to hear, really. Turns out you were right; Hilda died at Farfallas. I'm just a knock-off of the real thing."
He looked perplexed.
"Sort of a hybrid of a clone and a construct implanted with most of her memories. I was made to throw the Kei pirates off from the original, but she died almost a month before I came out of cold sleep. And of course, by that time the pirates were focusing their search on you." she explained. She still didn't want to believe what Sandoval had told her earlier, but it was the only explanation that made sense.
"Don't worry- I have no intention of running off." Hilda said.
"Thought never crossed my mind. Didn't strike me as something you'd do."
For a few moments, there was a long and somewhat awkward pause.
"I knew things could get ugly, but I didn't think Melfina would be put in danger." Hilda said. On some level, Gene knew this, but it sounded like Hilda was trying to convince herself. "So much for a fresh start. I may not be the same person, but I get Hilda's likeness and memories, and of course all the people who want to kill me are still around. The worst part is, I don't even get the pleasure of doing whatever it was that pissed them off in the first place. If you or Melfina or Jim can't even tell the difference between me and the real thing, what makes you think that they'll know? Or care?"
"You don't think we're just going to walk away once we meet up with these people?" Gene asked.
"Not at all, although in the long run it may be the smart thing to do.it's not like they'll let you walk away once we show up."
"I'm not sure how to put this.......we're not exactly well-known for making smart decisions."
Hilda smiled. "True. But tell me, do you regret anything you've done after leaving Sentinel?"
"Not a thing." he said without hesitation.
"Maybe a 'smart' person would've played it safe and parted company with Hilda at the first opportunity." she paused. Referring to Hilda in the third person would take some getting used to.
"Or stayed the hell away from Rachel Sweet." Gene said, shaking his head. "What kind of alias was that? I can't believe we fell for that one."
"Technically, I suppose I'm still a virgin." Hilda mused. The cocky red-headed outlaw's face was flush and he was stammering, at a loss for a reply. The dark haired outlaw continued coyly "Now I know you may have a thing for constructs- especially dark-haired ones- but I doubt you'd last ten seconds with me."
**
The Broken Wing. That meant taking someone of great value to your prey and deliberately placing it in harm's way in order to get the prey out in the open that much quicker. The more Takana thought about it, the more she realized her methods to lure Hilda out of hiding resembled that of the Broken Wing. She knew *exactly* how that phrase was coined. On more than one occasion during hard times when there was very little to eat, both Takana and her father had to resort to using the broken wing. Both Aryo and Takana deplored the tactic- Tracker-Killers had far more respect for the animals in the wilderness that traditionally surrounded them than they did other Ctarl Ctarl, especially authority figures. It was the sort of thing that had earned her clan the reputation of being nothing more than a group of thieves, sadists and poachers on the Ctarl Ctarl homeworld.
In order for the Broken Wing to be effective, she needed to find the nest of an eria berra berra- the large owl-like creatures that were once in abundance on her homeworld. Assuming that the parents were searching for food themselves, she would make her way up the tree and grab one of the nestlings. If the young bird was already able to fly and could evade capture, then the huntress would have to seek out another nest. However, if the nestling was unable to escape, then she would deliberately break it's wing or leg before taking it and setting it down in a clearing. Clearly frightened and in pain, the young bird's only recourse was to call out for it's mother. The worst part for Takana was waiting for the mother to return- she had several hours to listen to the bird crying for help and contemplate what she had just done to it, all too aware that her actions couldn't be undone. Once the mother landed to check on the injured nestling, she would spring out of hiding and launch the bolo, breaking the mother's neck almost instantly. Since the young bird was already injured would be helpless against any predators if left behind, the only charitable thing left to do was to put the nestling out of it's misery. To be taken away from your nest, left to writhe on the ground crippled and in agony, then watch your mother die before having your skull crushed by your captor- all this before you could ever spread your wings and learn to fly. She had the feeling that doing this was inviting the Creator's wrath upon her. However, given the choice of starving and capturing prey by means of the Broken Wing, she would rather take the prey.
As Takana was contemplating this, she noticed her captive stirring. Melfina's eyes fluttered open. She was in a plush yet dimly-lit room. Traces of steam clung to a mirror and a framed photograph on the wall opposite her.
"Good. You're awake." Takana said.
Mel let out a startled gasp and shied away from the Ctarl Ctarl halfway across the room. She saw that the tracker-killer's auburn hair was still damp and spiky from the shower.
"Where am I?" Melfina asked. She remembered the conversation with Hilda the other night. "Is this-?"
She was cut off by her captor. "The less you know now, the better your chances are of making out of this......" the tracker-killer paused, searching for the right word ".........unharmed."
Melfina remained silent as the Tracker-Killer looked her over.
"What's it like? I want to know." Takana asked suddenly.
Mel was a little bewildered and didn't immediately know what her captor was referring to. "Wh-what do you mean?"
Takana walked over and gently placed her hand on Melfina's belly. After seeing what the tracker-killer was capable of doing with her bare hands, this made the bio-android quite nervous. Yet there wasn't any malice or hostility in her voice- only curiosity.
"I've always wondered what it was like to be with child." the Tracker-Killer mused.
"You don't have any children?" Melfina asked. She realized how stupid that sounded once she asked that out loud- chances were that working as a hired killer didn't exactly make too many allowances for maternity leave. Still, her captor seemed much more lucid and calm than before, and Mel preferred she remained that way.
Takana dejectedly shook her head. "I'm too young for such responsibility" she sighed. Of course, both of them knew there was more to it than that. After a pause, she spoke again. "How many are you carrying? Will it be a big litter?"
Judging from the confused look on Mel's face, Takana could assume that Craven was correct in his statement about humans not giving birth in litters.
"Humans can sometimes have twins or triplets, but usually it's one child at a time. This is my first, and I only found out a few days ago." Melfina explained.
"The father....?" the bounty huntress interrupted.
"I haven't even told him yet." she sighed
"Ctarl Ctarl usually give birth in litters of three or four." Takana explained rather proudly to her captive. The expression on her face changed abruptly. "But I'm the only one from my litter to have survived". Again, her voice sounded subdued and melancholy.
Takana's good ear twitched upon feeling a slight stirring as her hand was over Mel's belly. The baby was kicking and both of them could feel it. The bounty-huntress smiled a little as she gently pulled her hand away from Melfina.
"Are Terrans monogamous?" she asked rather suddenly.
Melfina actually blushed a little. It was true that Gene hadn't been screwing around since they returned from the Leiline, but the Gene she remembered from beforehand wasn't exactly the picture of monogamy. "Actually, I'm a bio-android, so I'm not really qualified to......"
"Nani? You're.....manufactured?" Takana interrupted, her now jaw slack. She had never seen a construct or bio-android before, and nothing about Melfina seemed to indicate she was synthetic.
"Umm....that's only partly true, but I guess you could say that." Melfina started to explain. "I'm flesh and blood, like most other humans, but my cerebral functions are augmented by computers and circuitry."
Takana was a little relieved to hear Melfina say that, fearing that her senses were beginning to fail her. The fear she smelled earlier certainly wasn't artificial.
"How old are you? You look as though you're not quite my age..."
"I was activated nearly two years ago."
Takana slowly clenched her fangs and closed her eyes as this sank in. Two years? How is it that she had known nothing more than scorn, solitude and pain for the past decade, yet the manufactured being in front of her already had a home, a child on the way and a mate that she was clearly willing to die for? This realization devastated her more than any weapon or assailant ever could have. Takana suddenly felt very weary. This machine's pregnancy had to be some sick joke by the Creators...
"Are....are you OK?" the bio-android asked.
The only response from Mel's captor was a soft, guttural growling. The tracker-killer's fist shot out to the wall on her right, cracking the smooth marble paneling as she finally opened her eyes. Suddenly, the bio-android felt as though she was trapped in a cage with a feral and extremely dangerous animal.
"You have no idea........" Takana almost whispered, her breath hitching. She could only glare at her captive. Again, she closed her eyes. Tears of helpless rage were barely being held back, and her vanity would not allow her to be seen reduced to tears in front of this living doll. Just as easily as the talking hoax in front of her had been given life, Takana realized that it could be taken away with so much as a gesture on her part. The tracker-killer decided she was going to snap off each of Melfina's fingers and skin her alive to see how authentic she really was before.......
**DON'T! She's of no use if she's dead** the tracker-killer admonished herself. **She didn't ask to be manufactured any more than you asked to be the sole survivor of your litter. Killing her won't undo all that's happened. It will only make matters worse. Poppa wouldn't approve....** she stopped herself. Poppa would approve very little of what she had done since he passed away. As though he were standing in front of her, she turned her head away in profound shame. Tracker-Killers were once the equivalent of game-wardens within the Empire and were supposed to take what they needed and nothing more from the land, not sell their services to the highest bidder. That scent- almost like jasmine blossoms- was in the air. Mel's captor realized it was coming from the bio-android. Takana slowly regained her composure and stroked the pendant around her neck. Perhaps another hit of root could calm her down. Takana sighed as she looked at the pendant.
"Do you even have a mother?" the bounty-huntress heard herself ask Melfina. It was a slip of
the tongue that she alone was aware of. She had no right to ask the android about a mother if she
never knew her own mother. Upon gazing at the manufactured being in front of her who was
somehow able to conceive life, she was filled with the same sense of unease as when she had climbed
up to the bird's nest on her homeworld, prepared to inflict a slow and agonizing death on the young
bird. For some reason, Takana could not shake the feeling that the time for her penance was fast
approaching.
**
"Aisha...." Jim pleaded "Let me go with you. I want Mel back as badly as anybody else". The boy had a pistol, light shield, a night-vision scope and a small computer on him.
Aisha got down on her haunches and looked Jim squarely in the eye. It was frustrating. While Gene and Hilda were outside, Suzuka was calmly sipping a cup of tea, Aisha was impatiently pacing like a caged tiger and Jim was trying to formulate some sort of plan even though none of them were sure what they were up against. The Ctarl Ctarl thought she had made clear her displeasure at Jim's plans on getting involved in the exchange. She had already explained over and over that they were heading into a trap and a bloodbath would most likely be the end result. There were so many reasons he shouldn't come along. But at that moment, it hit her why she admired the boy so much after more than a full Ctarl Ctarl Calendar year together. No matter how much the odds were against him, he was willing to fight for those closest to him- even if it meant giving up his young life. For Melfina, for Gene, for Hilda and even for her. Such loyalty and dedication was hard to come by, no matter what the species. This was the way he had always been, probably even before he met Gene. She was a little bit ashamed of herself for not recognizing this sooner. A moment ago, she wanted to scold him. Now, without saying a word, she pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him.
"Are you OK?" Jim asked, his words slightly muffled by tufts of platinum hair as he returned her embrace as best he could.
"I'm fine Jimmy..." she said as she gently kissed his cheek. "Don't you worry. We'll bring Mel back. Just you see."
Hilda was standing in the doorway, watching the boy being held in the warrior's arms. Under most circumstances, Aisha would have been quite resentful of the intrusion. But that wasn't the case as she looked up at the Outlaw.
"Are Gene and Suzu ready to go?" she asked Hilda. The Outlaw quietly nodded.
The Ctarl Ctarl turned her attention back to Jim. His face was now a deep shade of crimson as Aisha's lips moved in right next to his ear. It felt so nice to be held and cared for by somebody like her, and every time she did this, he silently hoped that she would never let him go. It never ceased to amaze him how Aisha was capable of great destruction with her bare hands, yet whenever she held him it felt so very soft and reassuring. At times, her embrace was the only thing Jim could take comfort in.
Her warm breath spilled into his ear and down his neck as she softly whispered "I'm sorry, Jim."
"What for?" the bewildered boy-genius asked just before Aisha delivered a swift, relatively gentle open-handed chop to the side of Jim's neck. Immediately he went limp in her arms. Aisha gently lifted up the unconscious boy and laid him out on the sofa, checking his breathing and pulse. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so she picked up a folded blanket on the edge of the sofa.
"I won't let you throw away your life, not tonight...." she whispered into the unconscious boy's ear. He looked so serene and peaceful- like the countless times he fell asleep in front of his computer balancing the Starwind and Hawking books or trying to find work. Aisha didn't want to hurt Jim, but she had even less desire to see him in a casket. It would be better if the boy woke up angry at her for awhile than to never wake up again. She gently draped a blanked over him and affectionately tousled his hair before turning to Hilda to indicate that she was ready.
"I couldn't talk him out of it." she explained to her.
The Outlaw remained silent, thinking back to her somewhat prophetic words to Jim at the farm on Sentinel. **Everybody needs a partner. You'll understand soon enough.**
