(Six)
A moment later, they were gathered in the galley. Joseph, Bruce and Valentin were tied to the fixed benches of the table. Maylee had another med-kit out and was putting a brace on Valentin's arm. They were all waiting for Kimble to compose himself so the meeting could begin.
Kimble was standing in front of the galley viewing screen, arms folded, watching streams of data go by. Seth was there and they were talking softly in Siskan to each other, conferring. Seth was informing him about the condition of the ship, looking worried as always. In one corner was the readout of Fallen's Ristle energy scan, the Med strip was constantly updating itself. Kimble flexed his wings and rubbed his arms absently as he read it. He wasn't sure how to say what needed to be said. He was studying her levels, concerned.
Logan was using this opportunity to clean up a little. Kimble had shut the security grids off outside of the cage, allowing Logan to grab a fresh change of clothes. He'd changed into Clan leather pants with no shirt and was using a damp towel to wipe off the blood from when he'd been stabbed. He'd been watching Kimble since he came into the galley, noting that the first thing Kimble had done was drink a large glass of water. He was a hologram but required fluids. He recalled the pilot had also drunk the last time he'd been out, when he had been dancing. Logan cataloged this knowledge in case he needed it later. Any weaknesses he knew of would be valuable.
As Logan cleaned up the blood, he couldn't help but notice how Bruce was also staring intently at Kimble. Bruce didn't seem to be as afraid now, only curious, as if he was trying to figure him out. Like maybe he recognized him somehow but couldn't place him. Logan thought he heard him whisper a name - Zander. Bruce leaned over to whisper something to Valentin, but was brushed off by the older man.
"You've got a lot of med-kits here," Beast noted as he watched Maylee skillfully set Valentin's arm and place it gently in a sling.
"Fallen gets hurt a lot," Maylee answered, giving Valentin a hard, angry look. The Clansman just smiled back at her, his eyes flinty and cold.
Seth told Kimble he was going to go back and watch over Fallen. He left and Kimble finally turned to the others, beginning this. He cleared his throat to get their attention and they quieted, anticipating what was to come.
"Okay, here's the deal. We made the jump okay. We're just on the other side of Clan air space meanin' we're in the right dimension ta git y'all back home. Problem is the engines're fried." Someone groaned and Kimble put his hand up. "Don' panic just yet. Me an' Fallen kin fix 'em - if she's able."
Logan shook his head. "What do ya mean, 'if she's able'?"
"Fallen seriously injured herself. She went and overloaded the stick. I never dreamed she wuz so powerful... Anyhow, me an' Seth sawr what she wuz gonna do, but didn't have enough time ta stop it. We wuz able ta reroute some of the overload inta the life support batteries-"
"What batteries?" Valentin snapped.
Kimble kept going, ignoring the interruption. "-and use some of it ta free up the hologram but it wuz still too much. It backwashed inta Fallen and caused some real damage."
"Maybe you should have just let her do it," Maylee said softly. She was still upset over Kimble's decision.
Kimble turned to her. "Do what, kid? Kill herself? Kill us all? Lucky would've exploded. We'd all be dead now if not fer me and Seth."
"It took her a year to get off that crap, Kimble! You didn't see it!" Maylee started to cry again. "All she did was scream. The nightmares!"
"She wuz alone then. She ain't now. It wuz my decision. Seth an me'll take care 'a her."
"What does the White Lightning do?" Henry wanted to know.
"It enhances the chemical connections in the brain that allow fer the Ristle energy ta be produced," Kimble answered. He and Henry next exchanged a medical volley so complicated no one else could understand. It was startling just how much Kimble knew in spite as coming off as uneducated and stupid. Henry knew exactly what Kimble was talking about even though he didn't pronounce the scientific terms as well.
Kimble could tell the others were left in the dust so he put his hands up to put Henry on hold and addressed them himself. "It stimulates the area of the brain that keeps her Ristle energy production active. The Ristle energy process is also tied inta the part of her brain that controls consciousness and rational thought."
He paused to organize his thoughts and reached to the table to take a cigarette from the glass jar there. He snapped to light it and took a deep drag, squinting as another stupid fan came on.
"If Fallen wuz normal, the drug would produce a kind of euphoric high. She's so far gone now, all it's doin' is keepin' her from slippin' into a coma," he said soberly, unable to hide his concern for her. He paused and smoked a little before speaking again, considering his words. "The Dognan designed the pilots so that if they wuz so injured they couldn't ever fly, they'd go in a coma and die cuz they couldn't be used."
"How could you possibly know all this?" Valentin demanded.
"Fallen told Seth. Seth told me."
"Why would she tell you and no one else? None of our other pilots are like that."
"They are, you just don't knows it. How many of them wuz ever in this kinda trouble for yous to see it? She's got a lot of Dognan memory implants, too. The Dognan never taught any of 'em how ta do stuff, they used implants - Salvage, Technology, some basic medical files 'bout herself. How do ya think she built this ship and evrathin' else she has? She knows lotsa things she don' talks about. She talks ta me an' Seth when she does cuz she trusts us. I don' think the same can be said fer you."
"You lie!" Valentin tried to rise. The ropes slipped a little, but held him. "I'll bet we're stuck like this because of something you did. How do we know you didn't screw us up doing this thing you did to yourself?"
Kimble turned to the group and raised his hand like a kid in class. "Who doesn't think Fallen tried to kill herself?" They were silent. "Anaone? Anaone? No?" He glared at Valentin. "You asshole!"
"Why would she do that? She would never put her passengers at risk!"
"Don' think she cared about too much anamore, Vally. Prob'ly figgered she wuz better off dead than married to a piece of shit like you."
Valentin roared and heaved against the ropes. They snapped and he was suddenly free, lunging for Kimble with all the violence he could muster. Gambit scrambled for him and missed as Valentin vaulted across the table. Even injured, he was formidable.
Kimble still dodged him easily and used all of his strength to slam a fist into his opponent's face, using his momentum against him. Kimble's fingers exploded with pain from the contact, but the power and the ability to act against Valentin sent a thrill right through him. Valentin's legs buckled from the power of the blow, but he didn't fall. He reeled and Beast grabbed his good arm, pulling him back.
Kimble wasn't done. He advanced towards Valentin, snarling, but before he could continue, his head was yanked brutally to one side. The pain in his scalp was enormous, horrible, and totally unexpected. He couldn't help but squeal from the shock of it, the cigarette flying from his mouth. Wolverine had twisted his ponytail tightly around one hand and then used it to fling Kimble into the wall like a child's plaything.
Kimble looked like a man, but his inorganic body was not quite as heavy, Logan had tossed him easily with more force than he had intended. Kimble hit the wall hard with a startled grunt. Instantly angry, the pilot snarled and shoved back, trying to defend himself, but Logan easily pushed him again and pinned him with his much heavier body. His fist came to Kimble's face.
Snickt!
Kimble jerked with a gasp as three shiny claws jumped from the back of Logan's fist and cut into the wall next to his left eye.
"Don't fuckin' move," the older man growled with real authority. "Don't even breathe."
Kimble did as he was told, but trembled with indignant rage at his mistreatment. Unlocked memory files threatened to open again, prompted by the suddenness of his anger. Images flashed before his eyes but he couldn't really make them out. He shoved them away, not wanting a repeat of what happened in the lav. They closed down, but he was left with an acid burning in his gut. The depth of his own anger frightened him a little, it had been a long time since he'd felt pain on this level or the anger that followed.
Kimble looked into Logan's eyes and saw only malice and unquestionable superiority. The man's arrogance galled him, but there was nothing he could do about it. Wolverine's earlier assessment of him had been quite correct, he had only a handful of fighting files, all of them useless against a warrior of this caliber. He could feel he had lost energy, too. The force he had used on Valentin had cost him, increasing his anxiety, he didn't know what he was going to do when his power was gone. He then remembered how Fallen had made his hands glow, maybe she could recharge him like the cubes did if he touched her long enough. He had to get out of here and back to Fallen to find out.
Logan kept Kimble pinned but looked back to see how Beast was making out with Valentin. Henry had wrestled the man down and now Maylee and Gambit were tying him back to the bench, using a lot more rope.
He returned to Kimble hologram, boring into him with his eyes, trying to get a bead on just what he had here. Whatever the brothers had done, it made a big difference in the hologram's appearance. This new hologram was perfect and completely convincing in its representation of Kimble's "skin". He appeared to be real and alive.
Wolverine could tell Kimble remained different from Lanlin, though, he didn't share the deadness of her eyes. Kimble's were a pale blue and blazed with the intense fire of his intelligence and obvious fury. His skin seemed almost to glow with energy, the Ristle perhaps, but it exposed him as unnatural, alien. He wasn't human at all, not even close, and yet he was beautiful like an angel might appear. Ghostly and seductive to one not able to resist the draw of something from some other place. It was hard not to look at him. Up close like this, yes he was beautiful, but also dangerous. Lovely and dangerous like a cobra just before it strikes. This was how he appeared to Logan. Sweet jeezus, Logan thought, what did Fallen bring out into the world?
"Lemmie go!" Kimble hissed, squirming helplessly in Logan's grasp. He squinted a little as if Logan's very presence was hurting him somehow.
Logan ignored him, not yet ready to let this stupid pain in the ass go. He figured Kimble for a troublemaker from the get go and so far the ersatz pilot had done little to change that opinion. Beast was still working on Valentin so Logan continued his scrutiny of his prisoner. He'd been surprised by the squeal that had come from Kimble when he'd turned his head like that. He would have thought a guy as cocky as this could take a little pain. Whatever. It would only make him easier to control.
Beast was finished now. Logan withdrew his claws and released Kimble.
Kimble slithered away from him along the wall, his hands fisted but not raised. Their eyes were still locked in silent battle. Kimble was outraged and didn't want to back down, his usual response to Valentin's bullying was to push back, but out here he had to be so much more careful. Out here he could be hurt for real.
Logan made sure Kimble knew he knew it, too. "Don't make me do that again, boy," he warned, his authority not to be questioned.
Kimble swallowed heavily and tried to regain his composure. He picked up his fallen cigarette and straightened his hair, thinking his long ponytail was now going to be a liability. He thought maybe he could cut it or something, but wasn't sure just how much control he had over his own programming. He was going to have to learn and quickly if he was going to survive in this environment. Fortunately Kimble was a quick study.
The others were uncomfortable from the obvious tension between Kimble and Logan. Beast wasn't so sure that Logan's manhandling of Kimble had been necessary, Kimble had only been defending himself after all, but the doctor kept silent about it for now. He would back his teammate as long as things didn't get out of control.
"Okay. The engines're down," Kimble continued gruffly. He had to finish this stupid meeting so he could try to recharge from Fallen. "We got enough power in the batteries fer five days of life support."
"What batteries?" Valentin repeated. "There's no such thing!"
Kimble grinned a nasty, toothy smile at the man. "Fallen's a lot smarter than you losers ever gave her credit fer. Maybe if ya spent a lot less time smackin' her around-"
"Watch yer mouth!" Wolverine warned. "That's enough of that crap!"
Kimble backed away, growling, he couldn't help himself. "Fallen's real smart," he continued, trying to sound casual, instructional, but he was still angry and it came out in his voice. "She built the Lucky Dragon and alla the machines in it. She's got technology here the Clan's got no clue about. She figgered if you bastards found out you'd all chain her up ta some kinda mass production line." He paused, smoking. "Yeah, the ship's got batteries. They hold enough Ristle energy ta keep us alive fer five days or so. Hopefully that'll be long enough fer Fallen ta recovers a little bit. We needs her ta power up the batteries ta keep us alive. If she keeps boostin' 'em we kin hang here fer quite a while."
"What about food and water?" Logan asked.
"We always carry enough food fer six months. All the water is recycled. It's pretty much unlimited. We resupplied right b'fore we left sos evrathin' should be pretty fresh. Worst case scenario, we crawl to a habitable planet an' do some scroungin'. Fallen and us've done it before, just fer kicks. But it shouldn't come ta that, hopefully."
"Hopefully," Logan repeated. "Anything else?"
"That's pretty much it," Kimble said and crushed out his butt in an ashtray on the table. "Now if you'll 'scuze me, I gots ta check on Fallen -" He started for the door, desperate to escape. He sighed angrily when Wolverine blocked him.
"Hold up there, bub. How do we know all this is on the level?"
Kimble squared up to him, daring to raise his chin. "Guess yer just gonna hafta trust me."
"I don't trust that easy. 'Specially not some stupid sex toy that thinks it's real when it ain't," Logan sneered arrogantly.
Valentin snickered at Logan's words, his eyes bright with malevolent glee.
Logan continued, ignoring it. "I'm not so sure yer up to the responsibility. You'd better step back and let the real folks handle this. Maybe you should just show me these batteries you supposedly got and the supplies."
Kimble was furious and trembling, offended beyond belief. Valentin's laughter and Logan's criticism had cut him deeply. Sex toy? Oh, this was too much! Kimble was so much more than that and he knew it. "I ain't no fuckin' sex toy, ya hairy little asshole! I'm Second in command on this fuckin' ship! I'm real enough, old man, and this is Fallen's ship, not yers! She powers it! I control it! Just what exactly do ya think you kin do without us? Huh? You ain't in no position ta take over nuthin'!"
Logan advanced, growling, and Kimble retreated a little and put up his hand, asking for patience he didn't deserve. He had to remember that out of the system, he could be retaliated against for his mouth. He had to watch what he said. "Wait. I don' wanna fightcha, man. My job is ta take care of Fallen, so's she kin take care'a yous. You wants ta see the batteries and supplies? Fine. But not 'til I check up on her."
"How about now." Logan wasn't budging.
Kimble was cornered, but tried to maintain his position. "I haves ta see her. I needs ta know she's okay."
"Look at her med-scan," Maylee offered helpfully, she knew Kimble well enough to know he was hiding something.
Kimble hesitated, feeling the red rage rise dangerously. Shit! How was he going to get out of this without a fight. He didn't have the energy to defend himself, he could already feel himself starting to discorporate a little as it was, a sensation he didn't like in the least. He was running out of time.
Wolverine wasn't that stupid. He peered into Kimble's eyes. Sniffed him. "What are you hidin', boy? What's yer problem?"
"Nuthin'. I just wants ta see her, that's all. Let me go!"
Wolverine wasn't about to wait for Kimble to tell him another lie. He impulsively stuck his hand out and pushed it against Kimble's chest, an attempt to pin him in place. He startled as his hand sank partway into Kimble's body as if Kimble was a ghost. Logan's eyes went wide and he jerked his hand back as if it had been burned. It was quite the opposite actually, it was ice cold, like he'd stuck it in a bucket of ice water. "What the fuck is this?"
"Fuck you! Get outta my way!" Kimble insisted with a twisted snarl, his frustration finally overtaking him.
Wolverine blocked him, still trying to control the situation, but Kimble shoved against him, straining from the effort. Logan grabbed his arms and refused to let him pass. Like before, his hands sank partway into Kimble's body, but still held him. The two of them locked against each other and it became another battle of wills.
Kimble wanted nothing more than to just get past this guy. He made the wish in his mind like a child wishing on a star and was startled when his desire was actually granted, just not in the way he expected. His body suddenly lost solidity completely and his pressure against Logan propelled him right through the other man's body. Both of them gasped in shock and surprise.
Logan was blasted with an ice cold shock wave as Kimble's inner core passed right through him. The Adamantuim didn't react well with the cold and Logan fell awkwardly against the wall, shivering. He couldn't be sure, but for a second he thought he caught a sense of Kimble's panic, as if he had read Kimble's mind for just that one instant. It was a panic that competed with a strong sense of responsibility for the poor shattered pilot in the next room. Logan shook his head in confusion, maybe he'd just imagined it. You didn't have to be telepathic to read what was on Kimble's mind, it was plain on his face.
Kimble looked back at him, shocked and horrified by what he'd just done, but the need to recharge was even worse now. Whatever he'd done, it had taken energy to do it, energy he didn't have to spare. Unable to wait any longer, he went for the door again. The others parted quickly, letting Kimble pass.
Kimble bolted to the cage and walked through the security grid like it wasn't there. He was shaking uncontrollably now, it was taking all of his will to remain as solid as possible. He didn't know what would happen if he discorporated completely and didn't want to find out. Seth called out to him as he entered, but Kimble didn't hear him. He fell clumsily to his knees by Fallen's sleeping body and took her hand. His fingers began instantly to glow with the exchange of energy. He closed his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief as the waves of Ristle energy washed over him. Fallen half opened her eyes and breathed his name.
Wolverine was pissed. He didn't like anything he couldn't control and this whole situation certainly applied. He stormed out of the galley and to the cage. Seeing the feral mutant was on the verge of losing it, everyone got out of his way just as they had with Kimble. Unfortunately, the door to the cage was as far as he got, the force field in the doorway still blocked him. He slammed his fists against the cage. "Hey!" he bellowed just as Valentin had earlier. "I'm talkin' ta you!"
Kimble couldn't have answered if he wanted to, he was a million miles away. He gripped Fallen's hands in a trance as her power cascaded over him. She was still weak so her power didn't come into him as a gush, more like gentle ripples of blue shimmering energy. An endless sea of warm gentle caresses. He could feel her presence in his mind. He was riding the stick. He was riding her. It was pure ecstasy. He lost control and moaned as an orgasmic shiver took him.