Ok, sorry for the delay, I've had medical issues that if anyone asks me
about I will go into great detail. You have all been warned. anyway,
questions/comments/flames can be sent to keri459@Yahoo.com if you would
like me to respond to them immediately.
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Anjel idly prodded through the small piles of weapons, machine parts, and just plain junk. Gerentex had been more than happy to lead them back to his shop after Beka agreed not to kill him if he did. Anjel liked Beka that way; she didn't take shit from anyone.
Gerentex was staring at the plexi Beka had placed before him. Most of the small stuff he had already placed in a pile on the rag tag counter. He scampered around the small space and then vanished momentarily into the back room, all the time muttering to him self, "interesting......hmmmm. very hard to find.....yes....rare indeed."
"Do you have it or not?" Beka snapped
Gerentex looked up from the plexi and stared at Beka, "Captain Valentine, these things take time. I cant just get a slip stream frequency drive, they are very hard to come by and very hard to keep around. Yes, it will take time, and money."
"We have the cash. But what we don't have is a lot of time." She pulled her blaster back out and set it on the counter. "Got it? Or do we have to take our business elsewhere."
"Im sure we can make some arrangement."
Something crashed behind Beka which made Gerentex jump. They both glanced at the source of the sound and Anjel standing next to one of the now collapsed piled of junk." Wow, Hey Beka, I didn't think this was possible, but he's more of a pack rat then you." She bent down to see the small metal box on the floor. "Hey, what's this?"
"Don't touch that!" Gerentex shrieked in his nasally little voice. 2 more nightsiders appeared from the back room and gently but hastily picked up the box and took it to the back room.
"Is that what I think it is?" Beka asked raising an eye brow.
"Um, NO, no, just an processor container." Gerentex explained quickly. Anjel knew when someone was pulling something out of their ass.
Evidently Beka did too, "I didn't know you could have a nova bomb just laying around, even all the way out here."
Gerentex smirked and picked up the plexi again, "Well, I don't see and law enforcement here, do you?" Well, he was smug as hell, now wasn't he. The nightsider walked back around the counter and placed the plexi back into Beka's awaiting hand. "I should be able to scrape these together in a few days."
"You don't have days, you have 1 hour." Beka said flatly. She was tired of his ramblings, and she was actually starting to get worried about Anjel, who had started using the counter for support. She knew that Gerentex couldn't see it from where he was at, but Beka was pretty sure that the endorphins were wearing off and Anjel was feeling the blaster burn full force.
"You cant be serious!," Gerentex gawked. Yes, gawked. Anjel had to glance at Beka to see if his voice was getting on her nerves too. If it was, she wasn't showing it. Always the business women.
"Oh we're serious. So serious that if we don't get everything, and I mean everything Gerentex. Not only am I going to take away 20%, not to mention the 46 thousand you still owe me and my crew, but you'll have to deal with her." Beka smiled smugly and tossed her head in Anjel's general direction.
Anjel's eyes widened, why god why? The deal was in the bag, why did she have to play that card. She made a mental note to seriously get Beka back for this.
Gerentex laughed, " Fine, you will get your things shortly. However there will be a small charge for the hastiness of this interaction. I cant allow my boys to run around this drift so quickly without a small...how would you say... compensation." He smiled coyly, seeing a new way to make some extra cash.
"Fine, just stop wasting my time and get it done." Beka turned and she and Anjel left confidently.
**********************************************
"You had to play the Domascus thing, didn't you?" Anjel whispered low as they pushed through the crowd to get back to the Drunken Wench so that Anjel could truly thank Harms for not telling her the whole situation. And not to mention his husband made the best carsilian ointment this side of Tarazed. Anjel was in much need of a skin mender, a drink, and a nice rub down.
"No, I didn't. I was talking about the Neitzschean. And did you really expect people to believe that there could be a neitzschean wayist? Doesn't that break some neitzschean genetic law?"
Anjel laughed, "Yeah, but there are also neitzschean prostitutes. Think on that one for a while why don't cha. That goes against everythi-" Her comment was cut short by a strong shove from behind.
Both Beka and Anjel turned. Anjel already knew what it was from the way she had been hit. A neitzschean female looking for a fight. Well, actually, a big, red head neitzschean female looking for a fight. Beka was willing to take her. There was one of her and 2 of them. Beka licked the odds, she also liked the way her little blaster evened those odds.
Anjel wasn't so sure. Even with her bone blades extended, she had to search the crowd for others. Hell, in a place this big, there was no way in hell that It could be just one female. Especially the way that she had been hit. It was instinct, she was protecting her territory. But from what? Anjel wasn't in heat anymore, but why the hell else would the woman had offered such a blatant challenge. Anjel glanced at the circle of watchers that were starting to form, Most of them male, and most of them boned to high heaven. Great. Just great.
The female was ovulating, that was painfully obvious. But why would she attack? It hit Anjel hard as soon as Beka clashed with Red; Beka was in heat. It had to be, it would explain why Anjel as so damn mean without really meaning too. Ok, it had just gotten to big to fast.
The circle around them was beginning to tighten. It really didn't matter who one, there were enough men to go around. The more dominant Males would fight over the winner, and the loser would be carried off by a group of Bata males. Either way, things didn't look for them, especially because Beka was winning. Anjel was pretty sure she and Beka could take the lesser males, but the big guys were a whole nother story.
Red threw a wild swing at Beka's head, which she ducked, but that had only been a distraction. Reds foot caught Beka square in the jaw and sent her flying backwards. This could end it, if Beka didn't get up soon and advance, the males would move in. Damnit.
Anjel was forced to interfere, the circle was closing so tightly that she was almost in the brawl herself. The men had evidently not forgotten bout her either. She felt a strong arm wrap dominantly around her waist. Great, now she was being claimed by some backwater pridesmen. Oh well, work with what you have, it was the neitzschean way.
Anjel placed a hand tentively on the mans arm and pulled him closer to her. He did smell good.// No, Anjel stop thinking// She turned her head up to face him and even allowed him to force his tongue into her mouth. It provided a good distraction for her other hand, which quickly grabbed his jaw and snapped his neck. He ell to the ground and twitched as his nerve endings writhed.
A new circle formed around Anjel and the now dead male. As Anjel got a look at him, she realized that he was actually a very nice specimen. Nice body, good hair, obviously good genes, and ....oh crap.... The mark of an alpha. She glanced around at a few of the men who were now advancing on her, and not in a good way. Crap, she had killed their Alpha.
Red was now distracted and the new commotion allowed Beka to regain her composure and get to her feet. Ok things had just gotten Bad. But Beka couldn't rightly call herself a Valentine unless she could get out of scrapes like this. Instead of some dazzling fighting technique, or at least some form of hand to hand contact, Beka chose the easy way. Form didn't matter right now, what did was the fact that Anjel was getting hit from all sides and being pulled farther and farther away from Beka and Red by very pissed off neitzscheans. Beka didn't really notice the fact that she had taken the blaster out of its holster, or that she aimed at the back of Reds neck and shot her dead where she stood.
It seemed almost to simple. Neitzscheans were supposed to be the ultimate survivors, but from what Beka was seeing, maybe that wasn't so true. At least maybe it wasn't true for these neitzscheans. No one really noticed that the Female had died, hell no one really noticed Beka until she started shooting her way to Anjel.
They were soon back to back. Some of the men had brought out blasters, but a tall black haired male, probably the Beta Male, commanded them to put them away. Its not the best thing to be shooting at something while your in a circle, your people somehow end up getting shot. Beka kept shooting, and was actually doing pretty good. Anjel however was not in the same condition. She was loosing stamina, and had no real weapons to speak of other then her Bone blades. She was fighting hard, but there were just to many of them for hand to hand combat in such a close space.
Bodies kept falling around them, but they were soon replaced with more, very pissed off, very big, very armed, and very strong overmen wannabes. Where the hell were all of them coming from.
Anjel had never actually fought with Beka, and that meant that not only was she worrying about the guys in front of her, but also the guys in back. They had to get out of there.
"Um, a way out would be a good thing, don't ya think?" Anjel said between punches and chops. Her skin was starting to get raw and crack, leaving trails of blood down her arms. It freely mingled with the blood of her opponents, and even though she was neitzschean, and immune to most viruses, she was getting a little worried about what these piece of trash drift neitzscheans were carrying.
"Working on it." Beka was also getting into a pinch. The blaster was loosing charge. Maybe she should carry a bigger gun. She could feel Anjel's back pressing against hers. It was actually kind of comforting to know that she was there, but Beka could also feel the muscles straining to keep fighting. Anjel wasn't in the best condition when they left the shop, she had to be dying.
The Beta Male came at her with a very big knife. Beka took aim and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Crap. Beka glanced down at the blaster, which was now totally out of juice. She momentarily forgot about the guy with the knife until the blade was slicing the useless piece of crap blaster in half. Beka dropped the gun and send a high kick into the mans face before he could swing the small sword again. It stopped him for a moment, but then he regained his senses and did an all out charge at Beka. He was a big man, and once he got going, Beka figured he wouldn't stop. She quickly reached behind her and protectively moved Anjel with her as she side stepped and let the Blade fall into Anjel's opponent.
Anjel took the moment to take the gun from the Bata Males holster and fire at one of the construction liquid oxygen supply lines. It irrupted and spread pure, freezing oxygen onto the fight. The males abandoned their attack in order to get away from the freezing liquid.
In the commotion, Anjel lacked onto Beka's arm, and whispered harshly, "Get the stuff from Gerentex, and get to the Maru. Ill meat you there." And then she was Gone.
**************************************
The law men were making their rounds. It never secede to surprise Harms how much the law was coming in to the Wench. On "official drift security business"; that was usually the excuse that the boys made when they came in looking for free drinks. Well not exactly free, but put on the Tarmac Law enforcement Official tab. In Harms 25 years on this drift he hadn't seen a penny from them, and he doubted he ever would. But they kept the street rats out of the place and things were always nice and civilized when they were around.
So he really didn't mind topping of Lt. Cruise, even though he was on "duty" and a little smashed to begin with. The kid was new so Harms actually didn't mind. Part of that new Common wealth security thing. After the Big Bang ( what the locals called the Domascus explosion.), the sombitch who owned this hell hole decided to join the common wealth merchants. He gave them access to all of the shops and dealers, and they gave him protection. Some of that protection came down to hiring new blood to work the drift. Cruise was one of those new bloods. Joined the Lancers when his planet joined the common wealth.// See the Universe and Fight for justice// Harms smiles// bet he never expected to end up in a dump like this//
The "officer " finished up his drink and placed a T.L.E. credit on the table. "See you tomorrow Hams." He slurred as he put his helmet and goggles back on.
"Sure thing. Have a good one..." Harms smiled. Ok, so the kid never got his name right. But seeing the Sombitch stumble out off into the world never got old. He smiled and whipped out the officers glass with a dirty rag and placed it back on the shelf.
The Lieutenant picked up his gun and turned to stumble toward the door to "protect the good people of this drift". What a hoot. He pushed his way to the door, where he almost collided with a hooded woman who was stumbling just about as much as he was.
"S'cuse me Ma'am." He said as soberly as possible.
"Sowby" Anjel she pushed by him.
Harms beamed from ear to ear as he watched her stumble towards a bar stool. He noted the blood dripping from her hands as she placed them on the bar counter to support herself. Well, at least she was walking, it couldn't be too bad. He picked up the lieutenants old glass and placed it in front of her. "Can I get you something, stranger?"
Her head was hung low, most of hit was covered by the hood. "Taquiba, in a queen gwass."
He bent down to grab the old bottle of home made tequila, and a clean rag. He placed the bottle infront of her and placed his hand on her chin so that she raised her face to look at him. He pulled it back quickly and it came back bloody. He got a second glance at her face and let it sink into his memory. Her face had been badly beaten. Blood ran freely from her nose and the corner of her mouth. Anjel's left cheek was swollen, causing her eye to close involuntarily.
Anjel smiled through a very fat lip. " And tan I tav stum ice too?"
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Beka lost the mob easily enough. Most of them had ran back into the shadows when Anjel hit the oxygen line. // I hope she's not dead// Beka thought sincerely. Really, in every fight that girl seemed to get hurt. Beka laughed at that, but she also understood why. As she was fighting to get to Anjel, she watched her fight for her life. Most neitzscheans fought to disable an enemy, as if it were a game. Anjel seemed to grasp the fact that if she lost then she would probably die. Most fighters never really came to that realization. Beka herself never really gave her all unless she knew that she was deafly outmatched. But Anjel fought hard, fast, with conviction. Beka knew Anjel had it hard growing up, but what on earth could cause someone to fight That fiercely against every opponent?
It took about 20 minutes to get back to Gerentex's shop. By the Time she got back she expected Gerentex to have everything. She really didn't care how much he was going to charge. Hell it was all on common wealth credit, and as far as Bake was concerned, as soon as she and Anjel got off this floating pile of trash, the better.
One of Gerentex's little goons was waiting for her at the door. His whiskers twitched as he sneered and looked about. "Where's the other one?" he hissed at her but continued to glance around and behind her.
"She's getting the ship prepped. Does your boss have everything?" Beka placed a hand on her hip and waited. If she had her gun she would have rested the other hand on it, but that was still back at the site of their little brawl. //note to self: buy new gun. In fact, buy a new big gun.//
After searching a few seconds more, the nightsider finally looked at her directly. "you see, we had a few... problems getting your order in such a short time." He said with a quick bow, well actually a just very low head bob. Beka wasn't sure why, but he didn't want her to leave his site at that moment.
Beka stepped closer. "What sort of 'problems'?"
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"I love you too. See you in a minute...'' Harms walked away from the screen and went to the freezer to grab a piece of meat. Of course it was spoiling, but meat was hard to come by around the drift.
"Here, put it right on that shiner there, it'll clear it up good as new I promise." He handed the meat to Anjel who was sitting on the large metal table that was left over from when the Wench used to serve food. Those were the good old days.
She glared at the green spots forming in the dead animal. If reeked of rancidness and poor storage. "I amb not tutting tat om my faish." She said flatly.
Harms laughed and forced Anjel's hand to her face, "AAAAhhh, you're neitzschean, you'll live."
Anjel was almost overcome by the smell of the meat being smeared into her nostrils. But the cold slab did feel good against her face. She decided that she could live thought the smell if it made the swelling go down. Harms finally let go of her hand and she supported the meat freely while he went in search for the skin mender.
The back door to the kitchen opened and Valen walked in carrying a large heavy cloth pack. He closed the door behind him and gave Harms a casual kiss before rounding the corner to see Anjel sitting on the table with a green moldy streak slapped to her face. He had expected a few bruises, maybe a cut or two. But not this.
"What in the name of the Divine happened to you?" he asked as he opened the bag and took out a skin mender, bandages, and his special ointment.
Anjel raised her other hand in the air so that her sleeve pulled itself back by gravity and let Valen see her skinless arms and bare bone blades. "Mating seashun. " She said casually.
He helped her remover the stake from her face so he could get a better look at her. "Wow, I didn't know you and Tammy were into the rough stuff?"
Harms helped her stand and helped her out of the Wayist robe. "It waddent Tammerz" she said.
Valen glanced sidewaise a Harms before popping Anjel's thong. "Are we having an Affair, sweetie?"
"OW! Dat hert! No, Ib not habbing an affer. AAAHH," Anjel growled exasperatedly. "Nebermind, id's a nieshion tang."
Valen laughed and he and Harms helped her lay on the cold metal table. They removed her tank top and gently but generously rubbed Valen's ointment on the bruises that covered her shins, stomach and chest. "Good lord! Sweetie, it better have been worth it."
"No shex. Just fight. Not worf id." Anjel said trying not to notice how cold her butt was getting. The ointment was also very cold, but she could already feel it soaking into her skin, casing the blood underneath to recede and her muscles to regenerate. She could feel the pain sweeping away and replaced with that wonderful feeling which only came after pain had subsided and one had realized how much thy had taken the absence of agony for granted. It was a good feeling.
Anjel's eyes rolled back in her head as she reveled in the ointments affects. Valen, who was working on a bruise under her left breast, noticed her breathing begin to get deeper and more relaxed. He flicked her nipple and glanced up at her ruefully, "Don't have an orgasm on us now."
Anjel raised her head and glared at him. Her tit was bruised and he flicked it. She didn't have to speak in her stupid little babbling voice to express to him that not only did that hurt, but she took it personally.
Harms joined in the harassment."Yeah try and control yer self, we don't need any other bodily fluids on this table too if ya know what I mean."
"Not fuddy." Anjel scowled as she stared up at the ceiling, which really needed to be cleaned.
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" We looked up and down Ms. Valentine, we just weren't able to find the slip stream frequency drive. We need more time." Gerentex sneered as Beka held the door guard under her foot. First he hadn't let her in the door, then he tried to frisk her for weapons. Beka really didn't have the patience.
"You know what, I really don't care. Ill take everything else. How much?" Beka said as she lifted her foot from the guards face. He hissed at her and scampered away.
Gerentex pretended to add up the costs, even though Beka knew he had a figure in mind already. "Well those are premium power cufflinks, slip stream routers, and 3 new slip core coils..." he muttered on but Beka stopped listening. She was looking at the pile of hand guns next to the counter. A good sized, black, handheld semi gauze rifle sat at the top of the pile. She picked up and checked its balance, aim, and weight. It was a good gun.
".... SO that comes too 149,000 thrones."
Beka smiled and placed the gun on the counter." Throw in this and you've got yourself a deal." Beka loved common wealth credits.
*************************************************
About an hour later, Anjel was putting her robe back on and glancing at her face in the reflection of a very old and dirty pan. Wow she needed a shower. The skin mender helped with the cuts on her face and body, and Valen gave her something for the swelling so she was almost back to normal. Well, with the exception of her arms. There was not enough skin left for the mender to work with, so Valen had bandaged them best he could considering the bone blades. She really didn't complain, as soon as they got back to the Andromeda, Anjel would get Trance to fix her up.
"Thanks guys." She said as she turned back to Valen and Harms who were looking at her like she was their masterpiece.
Valen handed her a wet clean cloth and she washed her face. The cool water still felt so good over her face. She draped the cloth over her face and opened her eyes so that the water could wash through her eyes. She scrummed for a few seconds than handed the cloth to Harms. She pulled Valen in for a hug, and then did the same for Harms.
Valen smiled, "Now, you've stay away for too long. Get that Tammy back in here."
"Ill try," Anjel smiled.
"And while yer at it, keep us up on that Andromeda gig." Harms chuckled as he opened the door for her.
***************************************************************
She placed the hood over her head and stepped out into the street. It was mid day and the crowds were actually better. She walked easily through the streets. She was lucky that she hadn't actually broken anything. In fact she felt pretty good, with the exception of her arms. But the pain wasn't unbearable, she suspected that most of her nerve endings were long dead, but hey , small price to pay.
A loud beep from above her made her look up. She raised her eyes just in time for a patrol bot to scan her face before it blared, "Anjel Domascus. Put your Hands On Your Head."
The crowed turned on her. Oh Crap.
Anjel idly prodded through the small piles of weapons, machine parts, and just plain junk. Gerentex had been more than happy to lead them back to his shop after Beka agreed not to kill him if he did. Anjel liked Beka that way; she didn't take shit from anyone.
Gerentex was staring at the plexi Beka had placed before him. Most of the small stuff he had already placed in a pile on the rag tag counter. He scampered around the small space and then vanished momentarily into the back room, all the time muttering to him self, "interesting......hmmmm. very hard to find.....yes....rare indeed."
"Do you have it or not?" Beka snapped
Gerentex looked up from the plexi and stared at Beka, "Captain Valentine, these things take time. I cant just get a slip stream frequency drive, they are very hard to come by and very hard to keep around. Yes, it will take time, and money."
"We have the cash. But what we don't have is a lot of time." She pulled her blaster back out and set it on the counter. "Got it? Or do we have to take our business elsewhere."
"Im sure we can make some arrangement."
Something crashed behind Beka which made Gerentex jump. They both glanced at the source of the sound and Anjel standing next to one of the now collapsed piled of junk." Wow, Hey Beka, I didn't think this was possible, but he's more of a pack rat then you." She bent down to see the small metal box on the floor. "Hey, what's this?"
"Don't touch that!" Gerentex shrieked in his nasally little voice. 2 more nightsiders appeared from the back room and gently but hastily picked up the box and took it to the back room.
"Is that what I think it is?" Beka asked raising an eye brow.
"Um, NO, no, just an processor container." Gerentex explained quickly. Anjel knew when someone was pulling something out of their ass.
Evidently Beka did too, "I didn't know you could have a nova bomb just laying around, even all the way out here."
Gerentex smirked and picked up the plexi again, "Well, I don't see and law enforcement here, do you?" Well, he was smug as hell, now wasn't he. The nightsider walked back around the counter and placed the plexi back into Beka's awaiting hand. "I should be able to scrape these together in a few days."
"You don't have days, you have 1 hour." Beka said flatly. She was tired of his ramblings, and she was actually starting to get worried about Anjel, who had started using the counter for support. She knew that Gerentex couldn't see it from where he was at, but Beka was pretty sure that the endorphins were wearing off and Anjel was feeling the blaster burn full force.
"You cant be serious!," Gerentex gawked. Yes, gawked. Anjel had to glance at Beka to see if his voice was getting on her nerves too. If it was, she wasn't showing it. Always the business women.
"Oh we're serious. So serious that if we don't get everything, and I mean everything Gerentex. Not only am I going to take away 20%, not to mention the 46 thousand you still owe me and my crew, but you'll have to deal with her." Beka smiled smugly and tossed her head in Anjel's general direction.
Anjel's eyes widened, why god why? The deal was in the bag, why did she have to play that card. She made a mental note to seriously get Beka back for this.
Gerentex laughed, " Fine, you will get your things shortly. However there will be a small charge for the hastiness of this interaction. I cant allow my boys to run around this drift so quickly without a small...how would you say... compensation." He smiled coyly, seeing a new way to make some extra cash.
"Fine, just stop wasting my time and get it done." Beka turned and she and Anjel left confidently.
**********************************************
"You had to play the Domascus thing, didn't you?" Anjel whispered low as they pushed through the crowd to get back to the Drunken Wench so that Anjel could truly thank Harms for not telling her the whole situation. And not to mention his husband made the best carsilian ointment this side of Tarazed. Anjel was in much need of a skin mender, a drink, and a nice rub down.
"No, I didn't. I was talking about the Neitzschean. And did you really expect people to believe that there could be a neitzschean wayist? Doesn't that break some neitzschean genetic law?"
Anjel laughed, "Yeah, but there are also neitzschean prostitutes. Think on that one for a while why don't cha. That goes against everythi-" Her comment was cut short by a strong shove from behind.
Both Beka and Anjel turned. Anjel already knew what it was from the way she had been hit. A neitzschean female looking for a fight. Well, actually, a big, red head neitzschean female looking for a fight. Beka was willing to take her. There was one of her and 2 of them. Beka licked the odds, she also liked the way her little blaster evened those odds.
Anjel wasn't so sure. Even with her bone blades extended, she had to search the crowd for others. Hell, in a place this big, there was no way in hell that It could be just one female. Especially the way that she had been hit. It was instinct, she was protecting her territory. But from what? Anjel wasn't in heat anymore, but why the hell else would the woman had offered such a blatant challenge. Anjel glanced at the circle of watchers that were starting to form, Most of them male, and most of them boned to high heaven. Great. Just great.
The female was ovulating, that was painfully obvious. But why would she attack? It hit Anjel hard as soon as Beka clashed with Red; Beka was in heat. It had to be, it would explain why Anjel as so damn mean without really meaning too. Ok, it had just gotten to big to fast.
The circle around them was beginning to tighten. It really didn't matter who one, there were enough men to go around. The more dominant Males would fight over the winner, and the loser would be carried off by a group of Bata males. Either way, things didn't look for them, especially because Beka was winning. Anjel was pretty sure she and Beka could take the lesser males, but the big guys were a whole nother story.
Red threw a wild swing at Beka's head, which she ducked, but that had only been a distraction. Reds foot caught Beka square in the jaw and sent her flying backwards. This could end it, if Beka didn't get up soon and advance, the males would move in. Damnit.
Anjel was forced to interfere, the circle was closing so tightly that she was almost in the brawl herself. The men had evidently not forgotten bout her either. She felt a strong arm wrap dominantly around her waist. Great, now she was being claimed by some backwater pridesmen. Oh well, work with what you have, it was the neitzschean way.
Anjel placed a hand tentively on the mans arm and pulled him closer to her. He did smell good.// No, Anjel stop thinking// She turned her head up to face him and even allowed him to force his tongue into her mouth. It provided a good distraction for her other hand, which quickly grabbed his jaw and snapped his neck. He ell to the ground and twitched as his nerve endings writhed.
A new circle formed around Anjel and the now dead male. As Anjel got a look at him, she realized that he was actually a very nice specimen. Nice body, good hair, obviously good genes, and ....oh crap.... The mark of an alpha. She glanced around at a few of the men who were now advancing on her, and not in a good way. Crap, she had killed their Alpha.
Red was now distracted and the new commotion allowed Beka to regain her composure and get to her feet. Ok things had just gotten Bad. But Beka couldn't rightly call herself a Valentine unless she could get out of scrapes like this. Instead of some dazzling fighting technique, or at least some form of hand to hand contact, Beka chose the easy way. Form didn't matter right now, what did was the fact that Anjel was getting hit from all sides and being pulled farther and farther away from Beka and Red by very pissed off neitzscheans. Beka didn't really notice the fact that she had taken the blaster out of its holster, or that she aimed at the back of Reds neck and shot her dead where she stood.
It seemed almost to simple. Neitzscheans were supposed to be the ultimate survivors, but from what Beka was seeing, maybe that wasn't so true. At least maybe it wasn't true for these neitzscheans. No one really noticed that the Female had died, hell no one really noticed Beka until she started shooting her way to Anjel.
They were soon back to back. Some of the men had brought out blasters, but a tall black haired male, probably the Beta Male, commanded them to put them away. Its not the best thing to be shooting at something while your in a circle, your people somehow end up getting shot. Beka kept shooting, and was actually doing pretty good. Anjel however was not in the same condition. She was loosing stamina, and had no real weapons to speak of other then her Bone blades. She was fighting hard, but there were just to many of them for hand to hand combat in such a close space.
Bodies kept falling around them, but they were soon replaced with more, very pissed off, very big, very armed, and very strong overmen wannabes. Where the hell were all of them coming from.
Anjel had never actually fought with Beka, and that meant that not only was she worrying about the guys in front of her, but also the guys in back. They had to get out of there.
"Um, a way out would be a good thing, don't ya think?" Anjel said between punches and chops. Her skin was starting to get raw and crack, leaving trails of blood down her arms. It freely mingled with the blood of her opponents, and even though she was neitzschean, and immune to most viruses, she was getting a little worried about what these piece of trash drift neitzscheans were carrying.
"Working on it." Beka was also getting into a pinch. The blaster was loosing charge. Maybe she should carry a bigger gun. She could feel Anjel's back pressing against hers. It was actually kind of comforting to know that she was there, but Beka could also feel the muscles straining to keep fighting. Anjel wasn't in the best condition when they left the shop, she had to be dying.
The Beta Male came at her with a very big knife. Beka took aim and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Crap. Beka glanced down at the blaster, which was now totally out of juice. She momentarily forgot about the guy with the knife until the blade was slicing the useless piece of crap blaster in half. Beka dropped the gun and send a high kick into the mans face before he could swing the small sword again. It stopped him for a moment, but then he regained his senses and did an all out charge at Beka. He was a big man, and once he got going, Beka figured he wouldn't stop. She quickly reached behind her and protectively moved Anjel with her as she side stepped and let the Blade fall into Anjel's opponent.
Anjel took the moment to take the gun from the Bata Males holster and fire at one of the construction liquid oxygen supply lines. It irrupted and spread pure, freezing oxygen onto the fight. The males abandoned their attack in order to get away from the freezing liquid.
In the commotion, Anjel lacked onto Beka's arm, and whispered harshly, "Get the stuff from Gerentex, and get to the Maru. Ill meat you there." And then she was Gone.
**************************************
The law men were making their rounds. It never secede to surprise Harms how much the law was coming in to the Wench. On "official drift security business"; that was usually the excuse that the boys made when they came in looking for free drinks. Well not exactly free, but put on the Tarmac Law enforcement Official tab. In Harms 25 years on this drift he hadn't seen a penny from them, and he doubted he ever would. But they kept the street rats out of the place and things were always nice and civilized when they were around.
So he really didn't mind topping of Lt. Cruise, even though he was on "duty" and a little smashed to begin with. The kid was new so Harms actually didn't mind. Part of that new Common wealth security thing. After the Big Bang ( what the locals called the Domascus explosion.), the sombitch who owned this hell hole decided to join the common wealth merchants. He gave them access to all of the shops and dealers, and they gave him protection. Some of that protection came down to hiring new blood to work the drift. Cruise was one of those new bloods. Joined the Lancers when his planet joined the common wealth.// See the Universe and Fight for justice// Harms smiles// bet he never expected to end up in a dump like this//
The "officer " finished up his drink and placed a T.L.E. credit on the table. "See you tomorrow Hams." He slurred as he put his helmet and goggles back on.
"Sure thing. Have a good one..." Harms smiled. Ok, so the kid never got his name right. But seeing the Sombitch stumble out off into the world never got old. He smiled and whipped out the officers glass with a dirty rag and placed it back on the shelf.
The Lieutenant picked up his gun and turned to stumble toward the door to "protect the good people of this drift". What a hoot. He pushed his way to the door, where he almost collided with a hooded woman who was stumbling just about as much as he was.
"S'cuse me Ma'am." He said as soberly as possible.
"Sowby" Anjel she pushed by him.
Harms beamed from ear to ear as he watched her stumble towards a bar stool. He noted the blood dripping from her hands as she placed them on the bar counter to support herself. Well, at least she was walking, it couldn't be too bad. He picked up the lieutenants old glass and placed it in front of her. "Can I get you something, stranger?"
Her head was hung low, most of hit was covered by the hood. "Taquiba, in a queen gwass."
He bent down to grab the old bottle of home made tequila, and a clean rag. He placed the bottle infront of her and placed his hand on her chin so that she raised her face to look at him. He pulled it back quickly and it came back bloody. He got a second glance at her face and let it sink into his memory. Her face had been badly beaten. Blood ran freely from her nose and the corner of her mouth. Anjel's left cheek was swollen, causing her eye to close involuntarily.
Anjel smiled through a very fat lip. " And tan I tav stum ice too?"
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Beka lost the mob easily enough. Most of them had ran back into the shadows when Anjel hit the oxygen line. // I hope she's not dead// Beka thought sincerely. Really, in every fight that girl seemed to get hurt. Beka laughed at that, but she also understood why. As she was fighting to get to Anjel, she watched her fight for her life. Most neitzscheans fought to disable an enemy, as if it were a game. Anjel seemed to grasp the fact that if she lost then she would probably die. Most fighters never really came to that realization. Beka herself never really gave her all unless she knew that she was deafly outmatched. But Anjel fought hard, fast, with conviction. Beka knew Anjel had it hard growing up, but what on earth could cause someone to fight That fiercely against every opponent?
It took about 20 minutes to get back to Gerentex's shop. By the Time she got back she expected Gerentex to have everything. She really didn't care how much he was going to charge. Hell it was all on common wealth credit, and as far as Bake was concerned, as soon as she and Anjel got off this floating pile of trash, the better.
One of Gerentex's little goons was waiting for her at the door. His whiskers twitched as he sneered and looked about. "Where's the other one?" he hissed at her but continued to glance around and behind her.
"She's getting the ship prepped. Does your boss have everything?" Beka placed a hand on her hip and waited. If she had her gun she would have rested the other hand on it, but that was still back at the site of their little brawl. //note to self: buy new gun. In fact, buy a new big gun.//
After searching a few seconds more, the nightsider finally looked at her directly. "you see, we had a few... problems getting your order in such a short time." He said with a quick bow, well actually a just very low head bob. Beka wasn't sure why, but he didn't want her to leave his site at that moment.
Beka stepped closer. "What sort of 'problems'?"
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"I love you too. See you in a minute...'' Harms walked away from the screen and went to the freezer to grab a piece of meat. Of course it was spoiling, but meat was hard to come by around the drift.
"Here, put it right on that shiner there, it'll clear it up good as new I promise." He handed the meat to Anjel who was sitting on the large metal table that was left over from when the Wench used to serve food. Those were the good old days.
She glared at the green spots forming in the dead animal. If reeked of rancidness and poor storage. "I amb not tutting tat om my faish." She said flatly.
Harms laughed and forced Anjel's hand to her face, "AAAAhhh, you're neitzschean, you'll live."
Anjel was almost overcome by the smell of the meat being smeared into her nostrils. But the cold slab did feel good against her face. She decided that she could live thought the smell if it made the swelling go down. Harms finally let go of her hand and she supported the meat freely while he went in search for the skin mender.
The back door to the kitchen opened and Valen walked in carrying a large heavy cloth pack. He closed the door behind him and gave Harms a casual kiss before rounding the corner to see Anjel sitting on the table with a green moldy streak slapped to her face. He had expected a few bruises, maybe a cut or two. But not this.
"What in the name of the Divine happened to you?" he asked as he opened the bag and took out a skin mender, bandages, and his special ointment.
Anjel raised her other hand in the air so that her sleeve pulled itself back by gravity and let Valen see her skinless arms and bare bone blades. "Mating seashun. " She said casually.
He helped her remover the stake from her face so he could get a better look at her. "Wow, I didn't know you and Tammy were into the rough stuff?"
Harms helped her stand and helped her out of the Wayist robe. "It waddent Tammerz" she said.
Valen glanced sidewaise a Harms before popping Anjel's thong. "Are we having an Affair, sweetie?"
"OW! Dat hert! No, Ib not habbing an affer. AAAHH," Anjel growled exasperatedly. "Nebermind, id's a nieshion tang."
Valen laughed and he and Harms helped her lay on the cold metal table. They removed her tank top and gently but generously rubbed Valen's ointment on the bruises that covered her shins, stomach and chest. "Good lord! Sweetie, it better have been worth it."
"No shex. Just fight. Not worf id." Anjel said trying not to notice how cold her butt was getting. The ointment was also very cold, but she could already feel it soaking into her skin, casing the blood underneath to recede and her muscles to regenerate. She could feel the pain sweeping away and replaced with that wonderful feeling which only came after pain had subsided and one had realized how much thy had taken the absence of agony for granted. It was a good feeling.
Anjel's eyes rolled back in her head as she reveled in the ointments affects. Valen, who was working on a bruise under her left breast, noticed her breathing begin to get deeper and more relaxed. He flicked her nipple and glanced up at her ruefully, "Don't have an orgasm on us now."
Anjel raised her head and glared at him. Her tit was bruised and he flicked it. She didn't have to speak in her stupid little babbling voice to express to him that not only did that hurt, but she took it personally.
Harms joined in the harassment."Yeah try and control yer self, we don't need any other bodily fluids on this table too if ya know what I mean."
"Not fuddy." Anjel scowled as she stared up at the ceiling, which really needed to be cleaned.
*****************************************************************
" We looked up and down Ms. Valentine, we just weren't able to find the slip stream frequency drive. We need more time." Gerentex sneered as Beka held the door guard under her foot. First he hadn't let her in the door, then he tried to frisk her for weapons. Beka really didn't have the patience.
"You know what, I really don't care. Ill take everything else. How much?" Beka said as she lifted her foot from the guards face. He hissed at her and scampered away.
Gerentex pretended to add up the costs, even though Beka knew he had a figure in mind already. "Well those are premium power cufflinks, slip stream routers, and 3 new slip core coils..." he muttered on but Beka stopped listening. She was looking at the pile of hand guns next to the counter. A good sized, black, handheld semi gauze rifle sat at the top of the pile. She picked up and checked its balance, aim, and weight. It was a good gun.
".... SO that comes too 149,000 thrones."
Beka smiled and placed the gun on the counter." Throw in this and you've got yourself a deal." Beka loved common wealth credits.
*************************************************
About an hour later, Anjel was putting her robe back on and glancing at her face in the reflection of a very old and dirty pan. Wow she needed a shower. The skin mender helped with the cuts on her face and body, and Valen gave her something for the swelling so she was almost back to normal. Well, with the exception of her arms. There was not enough skin left for the mender to work with, so Valen had bandaged them best he could considering the bone blades. She really didn't complain, as soon as they got back to the Andromeda, Anjel would get Trance to fix her up.
"Thanks guys." She said as she turned back to Valen and Harms who were looking at her like she was their masterpiece.
Valen handed her a wet clean cloth and she washed her face. The cool water still felt so good over her face. She draped the cloth over her face and opened her eyes so that the water could wash through her eyes. She scrummed for a few seconds than handed the cloth to Harms. She pulled Valen in for a hug, and then did the same for Harms.
Valen smiled, "Now, you've stay away for too long. Get that Tammy back in here."
"Ill try," Anjel smiled.
"And while yer at it, keep us up on that Andromeda gig." Harms chuckled as he opened the door for her.
***************************************************************
She placed the hood over her head and stepped out into the street. It was mid day and the crowds were actually better. She walked easily through the streets. She was lucky that she hadn't actually broken anything. In fact she felt pretty good, with the exception of her arms. But the pain wasn't unbearable, she suspected that most of her nerve endings were long dead, but hey , small price to pay.
A loud beep from above her made her look up. She raised her eyes just in time for a patrol bot to scan her face before it blared, "Anjel Domascus. Put your Hands On Your Head."
The crowed turned on her. Oh Crap.