The Heart of the Bounty
A fanfiction
Chapter 17: The Mistake of Impulse
That moment with Faye last night was beautiful. It was warm, cozy, welcoming. I think I'm finally getting through to her. I've never wanted to so badly, and I'm glad I'm progressing.
I wake early the next morning, to look at what Faye has found out. Either Ed helped her out a lot or she's just getting really damn good at this job, because this was the most thorough information ever. I start perusing the information, specifically of the sites he has attacked already. He's a smart guy; he takes a hit on different planets. But he won't be hard to trace. Not with Faye's skill, and mine.
Each place had exponentially greater casualties; Faye was right. He's aiming bigger and bigger. And it's just disgusting. She even got a list of who was present at the attacks, survivors and deceased. I begin scanning faster and faster, and a million flashes of faces zoom past. I stop at the last attack site and linger on the photographs. This last attack is striking, because the next best target would be on the same planet. Lucky him. We got him.
His last attack was on Mars, at the headquarters of an environmental organization leading the protest against contamination of natural resources. Naturally, this Lenny Carver devised a weapon comprised of a necessary natural resource: water. He built a bomb that exploded water, creating a hurricane and tornado in a contained area. Of course; he flooded down the building and made it self-destruct from the inside out. He's been utilizing all the elements, but surprisingly not fire. Bingo. His next attack will use fire, in some way…
I decide to take a glance through who and what was there, directly affected by the attack. I scan through, finding over a hundred photos of faces for each floor of the headquarters. Suddenly, a face flashes by that's so familiar…
"Julia!" I gasp. I frantically search backwards, to find out what she was doing there and why. Why the hell would this environmental crap interest her? They wouldn't protect her from the syndicate, from Vicious. I shudder, hoping somewhere in the back of my mind to not know why she was involved in this. That woman can be too much trouble … I miss stopping directly on her information several times, and when I finally find it, there's nothing there. But something was behind me; I hear a stir and a faint gasp.
"You're gonna go looking for her again, aren't you?" a tear-filled, brink-of-sobbing Faye asked contemptuously.
I turn around, and my heart cringes as I stare upon her broken face. Her hands are clenched, tense with anger and disappointment. Disappointment in me. Curiosity definitely killed the cat, because I have no intentions of seeking out Julia. She's probably left Mars already, and I have what I want in front of me. But I'm helpless; I have no way of indicating what I feel inside.
My mouth opens, trying to blurt out a response. Empty air just escapes me. I get parched, not knowing what else to do, how else to function. And she just glares at me, a heart wrenching glare I never wished to bring upon her.
"I should've known," she says, crying bitterly, shaking her head to herself. "Now you have more motivation to get out there, right?"
I continue to stare blankly, fear rising from my stomach and up my throat. I can't let her think this way, feel this way…
"I guess you also figured out what's Carver's next move, right? Guess what? I did too. But since we're running on separate agendas here, it's every man for himself. And why do you even want to try? Her name screams trouble. Haven't you had enough? Aren't you done with the games, the accidents? I'm going solo, because I want to collect this damn reward and I just can't stand to see you self-destruct like that anymore!" she says, booming with a cloud of contempt, heartache, jealousy, and arrogance meshed into one.
Jet's silhouette fills the doorway now; Faye was loud enough to alert probably the next passing ship. She storms off, stopping to tell Jet her intentions and get him out of her way. "I'm going to the Martian Capitol. Alone!" She grunts in his face and he fearfully steps aside. We hear the stomping of her boots and her ship frantically take off.
"What did you do?" Jet asks, angrily.
"I stopped to look at this," I say, returning the anger. I point to the screen, and Jet instantly smacks the back of my head.
"You know that's what she feared all along!" Jet continues. "Are you going to search for her?"
"Look into my eyes, Jet!" I respond aggressively, shoving my face in front of his. I point to my surgical eye. "Look what's happened! The color is more natural. Faye has helped me start to let go of the past!"
"Goddammit, she'll be too angry and distracted to do this job right. She'll create more destruction! We got to stop her," Jet responds, worry blanketing his face.
I take his arm to stop him. "No, Jet. We have to save her."
