Chapter 26: Answers
Still exuberant from their daring raid, the Encounter and her crew returned to the base on Edolus. After they radioed in their success, they were met in space by a team of Batarians who took the Prowler to some other location.
As promised, Jack released the hostages into space when Grayson complied with her requests, and she hoped they would be okay. It was a terrible world where one had to fake distress to take advantage of another person, but she had learned to be hard and to use any advantage she could. Surviving this situation was a challenge, and the only apparent solution was more success.
The Encounter came into a docking bay, landing and preparing to debunk. When the doors opened, the crew exited the vessel first, and then gave a cheer as Captain Linn took her leave last. Both the Humans and the Batarians had her respect now, as did Lieutenant Richards. She wasn't so sure about Chebek, but he had done nothing to warrant her suspicion either.
"A round for everyone," she said, honoring a pirate tradition. One thing the base had in excess was Batarian Ale, and everyone took a mug. Clinking their glasses, she saw the belief in the eyes of her crew, and knew a few more victories like this and the crew would be hers.
The Last Subjects would have their first vessel, she would be its captain, and the Blue Suns could deal with the consequences of what was going to happen here. Jack didn't believe the Alliance would simply accept the loss of one of their vessels, and she had left enough bread crumbs to lead back home, but that was someone else's problem.
As that thought passed through her mind, the door opened and Field Commander Juxsun walked into the room flanked by two Blue Suns mercenaries.
Calling out to the crew, he said, "Very impressive, men. Vido himself took note of this, and in addition to your share, you'll receive an extra month's bonus."
A hooray went up from the men, as what they received was based upon pay directly from the Blue Suns, as opposed to the direct compensation Jack and Thane would receive from the sale of the plunder. Jack didn't know the price of a ship, but she expected very generous compensation.
"Captain Linn," he said. "Would you care to join me in my office so we can talk about your next target?" Juxsun smiled and extended a hand toward the door, indicating his wish for Jack to follow.
"Gladly," she said. Thane looked at her with uncertainty, but she projected ultimate confidence as she walked out the door. Jack and the three Batarians passed into an empty hallway as the cargo bay was some distance from the main offices, and Juxsun came up to Jack and smiled at her.
He then backhanded her so hard across her face that she went flying across the room. Not expecting it, she had no time to prepare, and had bit her lip such that she was bleeding and her head was ringing.
As she turned around to face her assailant, Jack's eyes were glowing fire. She had two weapons trained on her from the chuckling guards, and the big Batarian in the center closing on her.
"Did you think that was funny?" Juxsun said. "You stole an Alliance vessel right outside our homebase. Are you trying to get us killed?"
The Batarian spat on her and said, "I think you're a spy. I look forward to when I get the chance to gut your lying carcass and leave your men to play with your little fun parts."
As she stood up to answer him, Juxsun shoved Jack against the cold hard surface again. She placed her hands behind her to prop herself up as he continued the tirade.
"You're lucky the Hegemony feels otherwise. They took the ship to see what could be learned, but you will not be receiving a dime for it. The supplies on board were worthless, and cleaning up your mess was very costly." With an evil smile, Juxsun said, "Unless you object to those terms?"
"Fuck you," she spat.
He laughed at her in response, bringing his head low toward her own. Then, he said, "I own you."
There were many things Jack could tolerate but that was the last straw. She gathered her energy, and said, "No one owns me," and sent the heavy Batarian crashing into the ceiling. As she did, she was stunned by two shots from the surrounding guards, and her body went into spasms she couldn't resist.
Juxsun screamed from how forcefully she had struck him with her powers, and crashed into the ground in pain. Infuriated beyond control, he stood up and said, "So you like it rough, tough girl?" He stalked over her as she cradled into a fetal position. "I'll give it just how you like it."
He kicked her lower abdomen with great force, causing Jack to double over and involuntarily tear up. "I know your kind and what you like. You Human scum."
Putting his boot in her face, he said "Kiss it, or your face is next."
Jack swore then and there she would kill him, but this was not the time. She rolled over, clutching her lower body, and kissed his boot. He pushed her face away with his boot and told her, "This never happened. You're going to get a shower, a change of clothes, and go back to your team. Then, you'll wait until I'm ready for you to go out there again."
"Some of the people in command like what you have done, but I know better, Human." He said. "I'll be watching you."
With that, Juxsun left and Jack was taken into the custody of the two guards. Bleeding from the mouth and already bruising badly from the blows she had taken, Jack had to be carried to a room where she was to clean up. The two kept their eyes on her at all times, as she removed her clothing and as she went to clean up. With little smirks on their faces, Jack didn't dare show anything.
It killed her to wait, but she was a survivor. She had been in hostile places before, and she had survived them. These four eyed freaks weren't going to stop her, and in fact, she would be ready for them next time they tried something.
The cold water from the shower fell over her body. She couldn't quite stand straight, even now, but forced her legs not to bow. They could watch her, and they could make her suffer, but she was not going to give them satisfaction. Looking back at the guards, completely naked, she said, "Where are my clothes?"
They threw her a towel to dry herself, and then said, "In that locker. Get them yourself." She dried herself, taking care neither to provoke nor deny action from the two posted in the room, and then got dressed.
"I'm ready to go back to my men," she said.
The taller of the two guards said, "We'll know if a word of this gets out. We'll be watching." Both turned and left, leaving Jack alone in the showers. She wanted to cry, but before then, she wanted someone else to cry more.
She walked back to her team, perfecting her steps, and coming back with the best smile she could manage. As she looked at Thane with glassy eyes, he immediately knew something was wrong, but she tried to fake a smile and wave him off. This wasn't the place.
Taking a mug of ale, she called to the men and said, "I think we will have many victories together, if you stick with me." Each raised his glass in salute.
Richards asked, "So what are they doing with the ship we captured, Captain?"
Not fully knowing the answer, Jack said, "I understand the Blue Suns have given it to some of their partners to take a closer look at it."
Chebek said nothing, watching every word, but listened as Richards asked, "It must have been worth a fortune."
Jack looked exasperated as she said, "I wouldn't know. I guess they need to sell it first, but when I get my cut, all of you will get yours. I know the Blue Suns pay you, but on my crew, everyone gets their share."
Chebek raised his glass and said, "To the captain," using a mild tone that commanded respect.
"Lieutenant Chebek, what did you think of our raid?" she asked, as she leaned forward on a crate. The position allowed her some relief from her injury.
"It was a bold stroke, ma'am," he said. "I'm glad it succeeded, and I'm glad we didn't have to get into a shooting match with that Alliance vessel."
"Do you think we could have won that battle?" she wondered aloud.
"We were equally matched. It wouldn't have been pretty, either way."
"Had I ordered it, would you have fought?" she asked as she peered into his hazy brown eyes.
Looking back, Chebek says, "I always follow the orders I'm given. Don't we all, ma'am?"
Something about the way he said it just didn't sit right with Jack, but she said, "Yes, we do."
One of the Batarians asked Jack, "So who do we hit next?"
Looking at him, she smiled and said, "I don't know. But I feel sorry for them."
Everyone had a good laugh at that, and the crew settled into the evening together. With the ale drowning out the emotions of the day, both Jack and the men found relief. Everyone talked and came together a little bit more. Trust grew, and though nothing of consequence was said, bonds were beginning to form that could become something real in time. They were good men and they were her men.
Everyone seemed happy except for Chebek who simply watched everything Jack did, and Thane, who had disappeared somewhere. As the night went along and her crew sauntered off to sleep, heading for the adjacent bunks the Blue Suns had provided, Jack went searching for Thane.
She walked along the surface of the Encounter, running her hands along the hull, feeling the cold metal against her touch. It wasn't the fanciest ship, but she began to think of it as her own. Distracted for a moment, she was surprised when she heard a voice.
"So what really happened tonight?" asked the sound coming from above, as the Drell had somehow positioned himself atop the hull. He could watch everything and not be seen, a useful trick she thought might have saved her some trouble if she could replicate it.
"I don't want to talk about it," she said, and watched as Krios gracefully leapt down onto the surface.
"I want to tell you a story about my son," he said. "For many years, I simply did what was asked of me, taking on contracts and sending money to my family. I wanted to protect them by shielding them from my life and who I was."
Krios paused as his mind went into a flashback. In quick succession, he recounted the conversation acting out his own part and that Jack presumed belonged to his wife:
"Kolyat will be safer if I depart."
"He needs his father."
"Do I not give him everything he needs? Do you lack for anything?"
"Yes, love."
"I love how I can. I will return."
His eyes going back to their normal color, Thane looked at Jack and said, "I shut the world out because it was who I had to be. I did it for them, but I lost them for doing so. That was the last conversation I had with her."
Jack said nothing, but listened to the story. She knew from what she heard elsewhere his wife was killed and Thane's son was estranged. It was no secret he was dying from slow asphyxiation, and as he struggled to breathe from time to time, Jack wondered how he continued on.
Jack said, "Did you love her?"
Krios said, "Very much. And she loved me, but I wasted it. Don't waste your life, Captain Linn."
She wanted to respond, but seeing his sad eyes and how he simply sat himself against the wall to sleep, Jack found she had no glib or angry response. She had spent so many years alone, had seen so much mistrust, she didn't know how to care anymore.
Some days, she thought she had forgotten feelings and found a way to get through life without those needless complications. Happier for it, she did what she wanted and answered to no one. She couldn't lose what she didn't have. But she wondered if that was the biggest lie of all.
Jack didn't say anything else, but she walked over to where Thane was sitting. He looked up at her, saying nothing, and she looked back, also silent. Sitting down herself, she rest herself between his legs, so her back was against his, and he was against the wall.
"Hold me," she whispered, and his strong green arms wrapped around hers. Neither said anything, but he felt a warm tear fall onto his cool skin, and felt her body eventually give way to rest.
Thane felt terribly for the troubled girl who had seen so much, and wished for her to have a chance to simply be. As he held Jack, he wondered about his own son, Kolyat, and how he fared on this night.
A master assassin, when he laid down each night he was never troubled by those he had killed. Using his eidetic memory, he could review each moment of each strike, and there was no remorse. He offered praise and thanks to Arashu, the warrior goddess, and knew he served at her whim. Yet, holding this girl here, he found himself unable to sleep as he thought of his own wife, and how she had risked everything just for what was right.
Krios imagined a life where he owed no debts, and where he had simply been. It was almost too hard to conceive, but the assassin wondered if he could have been an artist or an actor. He didn't question what life gave him, but he wondered why he didn't care more when he could have done so. As he had built his formidable abilities based on his instincts, why did he abandon them when it mattered most?
These thoughts passed through his head as he lay there looking at the low intensity of the lights on the ceiling of the cargo bay. He looked up and all around, memorizing every nook and cranny by habit, wondering what tomorrow would bring. Jack had fallen into his arms, and she slept surprisingly peacefully. Looking upon her decorated body with all the tattoos, he thought maybe she was a Turian in another life.
As he was perched there with Jack nestled in his arms, the lights went out. There were no windows to mark day or night this deep beneath the Earth, but it seemed strange to him
He nuzzled Jack a little bit and she woke up looking into his face. Surprised, a little buzzed from the ale she had drank, and confused, she asked, "What happened?"
"Can you tell me what time it is?" he asked her.
Jack checked her own omni-tool that she kept with her and said, "23:28"
Krios had seen many things, but the lights going at a random time struck him as odd. "Get up," he said to Jack. "You need to get up."
Rousing to full consciousness, she asked him, "What's wrong? I don't see anything."
"That's the problem. Why are the lights out? I think something is happening."
"Maybe you're right," she said as she tried to look around the pitch black room. Seeing it was impossible, she hoped Thane would have a way to get her across. As she was about to suggest this, the lights returned.
Now able to see, Jack and Thane both stood to take a look around, but neither saw nor heard anything out of the ordinary at first glance.
"It was probably nothing," said Jack. "Let's go to bed." She ambled lazily toward the crew quarters, prepared to seek a space to sleep, but Thane remained on alert. In his line of business, being wrong once meant the game was over.
He made sure he had his weapon on him, prepared to strike in any direction, and remained in the shadows alone. He checked the room thoroughly, and checked the door to the bay. Looking into the hallway, he saw nothing there either.
A few more minutes passed with nothing happening, so the Drell joined Jack who had fallen asleep with the rest of the crew. Thane didn't sleep, but rather he laid in silence ready for anything. As for the others, the only noise they would have heard were occasional coughs and snores of the sleeping men, and the soft hum of the fluorescent lights overhead.
Author's Note: Thank you for the kind review. As the story progresses, some characters will shift in and out of focus depending upon a subplot, but I haven't forgotten Mordin, Samara, Zaeed, or anyone else. The next chapter is going to tie up a lot of loose ends, and create a few new strands to follow. It may even take two chapters to write.
As always, I hope you're enjoying the story, and I want to thank you as this story just passed 10,000 hits. There is no higher compliment to an author than for you to invest your time in my words. So thank you.