For the nth time in the past forty-eight hours, Captain Markus Pym's hands got the shakes again. He was trying to suppress it by keeping them along the sides of his chair and therefore out of sight but it merely added to his discomfort. Over three weeks had passed since the Znutar had left the New Avalon system and began her journey towards Lyran space. Due to the fact that the JumpShip was equipped with lithium-fusion batteries that enabled her to make two consecutive jumps without recharging and since she had priority with every recharge station she encountered, the Znutar was therefore able to clear both the Disputed Territories as well as the Federated Suns star systems in near record time as they were now journeying across the official boundaries of Free Worlds League space. Nonetheless, Pym was nervous about surreptitious timetables and secret rendezvous; the closer it got to the appointed time, the more apprehensive he became.
"Skipper, you okay?"
Pym was startled momentarily but then turned to his right, facing the ship's pilot and Executive Officer, Lieutenant Frank Carruthers. "I'm okay, Frank." He answered.
Carruthers smiled as he looked back at Pym. "You've been kinda edgy ever since we started this voyage, Skipper. You oughta rest easy now, though; we are now in Free Worlds League space." Carruthers had been Pym's crewman on the Znutar for almost eight years now, but this particular Pym was unfamiliar with that.
"Yeah, sorry Frank. I guess I haven't been the same since our break in New Avalon." Pym tried to ease his way out of it; perhaps he could still avoid suspicion.
"Got that right." Carruther's simple smile turned into a rueful grin. "That lady must be hotter than a red tamale."
The Navigator who sat at the station opposite to the Executive Officer said nothing but smiled. He was new and was therefore still quite shy. Another half-dozen voyages would get him out of that mode.
"Yes, she is quite good. Might be thinking of settling down with her."
"Watch it, Skipper!" Carruthers laughed. "Remember, I was Best Man at your wedding!"
"Oh yeah." Pym silently cursed. He should have studied the personnel files more thoroughly. "Well, you could be my Best Man again." He hoped that this little joke might get him off the hook.
"That's what I like about you, Skipper. Never missing a beat when it comes with women." Carruthers stayed amused as he monitored the solar sail's charge rating.
"How long till we're fully charged again?" Pym asked. He seemed out of the woods now.
"Another two hours, Captain." Carruthers answered. "Unless of course you want to use the lithium-fusion batteries right away?"
"No, we should only use them for emergencies." Pym unstrapped himself from his Captain's chair. "I'm going to do a check at the cargo hold."
"Should I start plotting our next jump, Captain?" The Navigator asked.
"Yes, do that." Pym said as he pushed himself towards the bridge exit. Although there was a little gravity from the ship's thrusters, one could make great strides by pushing off from their perches.
Carruthers kept his watch on the instruments as he wondered about something. It was a little tiny blip that had registered in his mind's radar but he couldn't pinpoint what it was. The Captain had been so different ever since they started this voyage that it almost seemed like he was someone else. The Znutar's Executive Officer laughed these thoughts away as he imagined the endless parties when they finally got to Tharkad.
Although the ship's batteries had finally charged up two hours later, the Znutar did not make the jump. Since the ship's internal clock had registered that it was time for night watch, it was decided by the crew to forgo the jump until morning time arose. This was due in part for the comfort of the passengers riding in the Amerigo, a Monarch Class DropShip that was attached to the Znutar's hardpoint. As the bridge crew of the Znutar retired to their respective quarters, a skeleton crew kept watch for emergencies.
The delegates in the Amerigo on the other hand, partook of a lavish dinner laid out for them by the renowned Combine Chef Fujikawa. After the sumptuous feast, quite a few remained and socialized in the ships two lounges while the older ones retired to their private rooms, unable to keep up due to their old age. The Lyran delegation, being the largest group with almost thirty staff members, took over the second passenger's lounge by squatter's rights and refused entry to any non-Lyrans. This invoked a storm of protests from the other delegates as Sanz and Dominic Durant tried their best to keep things from degenerating into chaos. Carruthers and half the crew from the Znutar were also present but then had to depart right after dinner due to the fact that they would have to prepare for the jump in the morning. Captain Pym curiously declined the invitation, for the eighth consecutive time.
While the crew of the Space Beagle was invited to go on to the Amerigo for dinner, Natasha Kerensky decided to stay behind and do some exercises in the Beagle's port cargo hold. It was important that she stay in shape due to the strenuous physical requirements of her profession. Because of the weak gravity, traveling in space for extended periods tended to atrophy muscles, only strenuous and constant calisthenics as well as intensive anaerobic workouts kept the muscle tissues from wasting away.
The Black Widow was practicing techniques that she culled from her memory. It was a variant martial art that specialized in low to null-gravity combat. The discipline was a mixture of zero-g acrobatics combined with tumbling which was then incorporated into the usual skills of punching, grappling and kicking as well as close-range elbows and knees. The kata, or form, consisted of leaping and bouncing along the walls of the cargo hold while executing flips and rapid directional changes, making sure that one lands on one's feet as well as being able to execute punches and kicks without losing one's footing. It was harder than it looked due to the fact that the low gravity tended to throw one off balance if the practitioner placed too much force on the attacks without knowing proper equilibrium, stance and control. Natasha however, executed the moves as if it was second nature, her natural agility and skills more than compensating for her current weaknesses in attitude. She moved as if she was born to it, not knowing whether this was something taught to her as a child in her past life with the Clans or was instructed by her mentor, a mysterious assassin called Meridian, after she was reincarnated.
As Natasha worked up a sweat by leaping from one cargo platform to another, using rapid blows and counterblows against imaginary enemies, she heard a whistle from the access-way. Cocking her head back, she noticed a short, mustachioed man dressed in Tech coveralls and carrying a plastic wrapped package in his arms, grinning and gesturing at her to come down.
The Black Widow instantly leapt over a lashed crate on the side of the hold as she ambled on down to where the crewman was standing. Gravity was slightly more pronounced in the access-way, as it was closer to the JumpShip's thrusters.
"Bravo, Capitan." Crewman Eladio Rodriguez said as he handed the package over to her. When Natasha first boarded the Space Beagle, it was Eladio who showed her where to go and the things that needed to be found as well as catering to her every need. Hailing from a poor family in the Periphery, Eladio was the first of his generation to successfully graduate from an engineering school and the first of his line to travel in space. The little man was the sole breadwinner of his family and he missed them so; but knowing his professional obligations, he signed up for long star voyages, earning more so that he could feed all of his relatives who were all so proud of their native son. Needless to say, Eladio's cheerful nature endeared him to Natasha, and every free time he could get was spent with her, talking about his family and asking about hers.
Natasha also grew fond of the little man, since Dominic had only paid her a visit once and since she refused all invitations to go to the Amerigo, the ever-inquisitive and consistently cheerful Eladio became her constant companion, when he wasn't needed for the ship, of course.
"What have you got here?" Natasha asked as she partly tore the package.
"Some food from the buffet of the Amerigo." Eladio giggled. "I stole a few dishes so you could try some, Senorita."
"That was very kind of you, Eladio. But you didn't have to." The Black Widow said as her taste buds were aroused from the aromatic odors of the dishes that Eladio had procured for her.
"Try that one, it is fried shrimp and vegetables." Eladio smiled as he pointed out some tasty morsels. "Or that one, chicken in sweet sauce."
"Tempura and chicken teriyaki, how nice." Natasha smiled as she sampled some. "You are one-of-a-kind, Eladio."
"Muchas gracias. It is of no problem, Senorita." Eladio said wistfully. "But I often wonder why you would prefer to be alone so much."
"Let's just say I have some serious issues that I haven't fully dealt with yet."
"Like what, Senorita Kerensky?"
"Well," Natasha explained, "let's just say that if people get too close to me, they usually end up dead."
"Ah, it is a curse then?"
"Perhaps."
Eladio laughed. "You are one-of-a-kind as well, Senorita. I have never met one such as like you."
"For your sake, you better hope you don't meet one like me again." Natasha said. "I've been meaning to ask you, there is another BattleMech stored in the cargo hold here. Who owns it?"
"Ah, that is Senor Palatine's 'Mech. The old Crusader."
"Yes, it's a vintage model." Natasha was inwardly glad that someone else had decided to bring a BattleMech along as well. "One of the old classics."
"Senorita, yours may be considered an old classic too, but it seems different than the ones I've seen before." Eladio said.
"That's cause it has been extensively modified." Natasha answered.
"How so?"
"Well, for one thing, its uses an extra-light fusion engine that enables it to have more weight for weapons and armor." Natasha explained. "It is armored to the max and carries Clan weapons like gauss cannons and medium-ranged heavy lasers."
"Very deadly." Eladio said as a matter of fact. "I also noticed it was painted entirely in black and has a red hourglass on its leg; does it have a meaning?"
"It is a symbol of the black widow spider."
"Ah, si. The spider that kills its mate."
"Yes." Natasha was taken aback by the irony of her animal namesake but she didn't show it. "I call this Warhammer variant, the Widowmaker."
A loud chime came on, followed by the syrupy voice of Captain Elijah Rothstein on the ship's PA system. "Eladio, please go to the engineering section, we need some help."
"Ah, that is my signal to leave, Senorita." Eladio said before turning to move away. "I hope we can talk again."
"We should." Natasha said. "See you later, Eladio."
Natasha waved a quick goodbye as the Beagle's crewman left via the access way. As the Black Widow picked at her food, she often wondered what it all meant to her now. She could barely hide the pain of her losses and she had nothing to look forward to, nothing to care about. She had yet to fully come to grips with the deaths of Joshua, Kieran and Ethan. It was like there was an emptiness inside of her, a void that kept engulfing her, making her feel lethargic and helpless. She was afraid to feel for others now, afraid that the pain would return should she do.
As everything began to wind down on both DropShips, Frank Carruthers decided to go back to the bridge to look at something that had been bothering him for the past forty-right hours. As he was going through the star charts several days before, he had noticed peculiar trace routes had been laid out on the ship's navigation computer. The Znutar's Executive Officer wondered who had placed those routes up there for only the Navigator and the ship's Captain had authority to change the star charts.
As he accessed the bridge's airlock door and ventured inside, Carruthers was startled to see Captain Markus Pym wearing a fully functioning space suit while inputting a number of commands on the ship's computer.
"Skipper, what the hell is going on?" Carruthers asked as the startled Pym quickly recovered from the unexpected intrusion and turned around. Carruther's jaw dropped as he saw the Captain level a needler pistol at him.
"You were supposed to be asleep." Pym spoke softly through the suit's amplified PA system as he fired several clumps of cyanide-tipped shards into his subordinate's chest. Carruthers gasped as his body convulsed and began to float downwards due to the ship's micro-gravity, crimson globules of blood floated slowly towards the metallic floor.
Quickly closing the door and sealing it using the override command on the ship's computer, Pym began to cycle the oxygen tanks through the filter that had been installed in engineering. Since he was protected by his space suit, he would not succumb to the effects of the nerve gas, unlike the rest of the crew and the SLDF security guards. Once the others were neutralized, he would commence lockdown on the Znutar and begin immediate preparations for the jump. It was hard work for one man but Pym preferred that the crew be out of the way just in case of any other unexpected surprises.
