CHAPTER 3
SPACE – UNKNOWNLOCATION – Yondu's Mothership
Kraglin was the one who guided her back out the bridge and around the ship to find her a decent accommodation that was secure enough from other Ravagers, and at the same time, impossible to escape from unseen. Because, to him, it was clear as day that Eyien was already working on running away before they could reach Stakar.
"Well, you certainly thought of everything, didn't you?" Eyien commented once they'd reach the room she would be staying in. She gave a look of disdain at the three sentinel cameras that overlooked the entrance of the room, scoffing at the effort.
"You know I can disable them in under a minute, right?" she scowled, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yes, I'm aware of that. Like I'm also aware that you are going to try to escape, which is why I gave you this room. You'll be seen before you can even think of reaching the docking bay" Kraglin explained, his pose mirroring hers.
They were friends once, the kind of friends who meet up once in a while to get the occasional drink and catch up; he had admired her skills since day one, and Eyien had told him how she'd pick them up through the years, before and during her stay with the Ravagers. He had been saddened when the news of her disappearance had come through, he even though she was dead.
Which was apparently not the case.
"Should we bet on it, then? If I can escape from this ship and reach my destination at the first try, I'm free to go, if I get caught then I'll accept to work for your Captain until we find Stakar. Deal?" she asked, her confidence painted clear on every feature of her violet skin.
Kraglin hesitated for a moment; Eyien was good at what she did, she was probably one of the best at her job, and their systems weren't exactly state of the art, which meant she had all the tools she needed to send their cameras black for as long as she wished, and they would never know. But the ship was filled at the brim with people, it was almost impossible to walk around without crossing somebody else, and the room was the farthest they had from any of the docking bays…he probably had an insurance in place, because if he took the bet and Eyien disappeared, it would be on his head.
"Fine, deal" he conceded at last, shaking her hand like his Captain had done.
"You will regret this" she said, smirking, as she let go of his hand and retreaded back in the room, the door swishing close behind her.
Kraglin sighed before he, too, turned back and disappeared through the corridors.
Maybe he would camp out in the control room, just to be sure nothing happened.
Eyien let herself fall into the bed, her head hitting the pillow with a dull thud, and she immediately regretted all the choices she had made in the past two days. The small and sparse room could not compare at all with the spacious and luxurious suites she had got accustomed to…
And the smell!
She grimaced as she took in a deep breath, the smell of metal, rust, dust, oil, unwashed bodies…it was everywhere, it clang to every particle of air in the ship and it was already driving her crazy.
She gave herself five minutes to relax, free her mind for a moment, and elaborate an escape plan.
First thing she needed to do, was to call Fay.
Her equipment had been momentarily confiscated, and she doubted anyone would return it any time soon, sadly, but she did have other methods to work with. Namely, her visor.
No one ad had bothered to search her for any devices or weapons, and so she still had her own communicator and access to the net.
She activated the visor with her right forefinger, and the yellow screen appeared in front of her eye. A minute later she had placed a call through a secure channel.
"This is Fay, how can I –" xir voice replied as the call was accepted.
Eyien cut him off almost immediately.
"Hey Fay, it's Eyien" she said, waiting for a second as she heard her friend push some buttons on the other side of the line. Two seconds later xir yellow face appeared on the visor's screen.
"Hey Yin, is everything alright? Are you back to base yet?" xe asked, xir eyes scanning her background curiously.
She sighed.
"Sadly, no. I had a run in with some friends along the way…it turned out I accidentally stole one of their ships, and the Captain was adamant about getting it back. So, for the time being, I'm their guest" she explained, emphasizing the last word for effect.
Fay's orange eyes were wide in shock.
"You mean you got yourself captured by the Ravagers? Yin, you are in so much shit right now!" xe yelled over the line, making her grimace at the shrill sound in her ear.
"I know, which is why I called you. I'm on board Yondu Udonta's ship, and I need you to lock on my position and tell me how far I am from Knowhere. I will think about the rest. The last time this guys upgraded their security system I was still a babe, and I'm getting close to a hundred" she scoffed at the last part, managing to steal a chuckle from her friend.
"Fine, fine. Give me five minutes and I should be able to pin point your location. Also, if you could use your magic finger, I can give you a scan of the ship" xe said, once more enjoying the little double entendre.
"I'm on it" Eyien replied, raising to a seated position. She brought her left hand in front of her face, and then methodically proceeded to unscrew her little finger. The faux finger came off easily, and she proceeded to plant the little device on the floor of her room.
"Done, it's all yours my friend" Eyien confirmed, laying back down on the bed.
"Perfect, signal received. I'll call you back when I have everything" xe announced, and the call ended.
Ten minutes later, Eyien was looking at an holo of the ship's blueprints while cursing under her breath. The way to the closest hangar was way longer than she had anticipated, and if that wasn't enough, Fay had notified her that the ship was currently forty clicks away from her destination. Which was perfect, really.
She scowled some more while she tried to come up with a definite plan.
It was kind of simple: she would deactivate the cameras by feeding them a faux stream of images already prerecorded, so that she could move under their eyes unnoticed and make her way to the nearest docking bay. There she would take one of the ships, override the commands of the bay doors, and then take off. But not before installing a covering program on the ship, to avoid a repeat of the first time.
There was just a small detail hindering her: the ship was crawling with people everywhere at every given moment. She had forgotten just how large a clan could get if left unchecked, and Yondu's was a prime example of that. Too many people, too little chance to be sure of everyone's loyalty.
I was loyal to Stakar once, look how that turned out.. she thought bitterly, turning the holo projection off.
Normally, after a bet like the one she had made with Kraglin, she'd prepare a most grand exit just too show off that she could, but her current situation required a hundred percent rate of success, no less. Which meant she'd have to do it the old fashioned way: during the night cycle, and as quietly as possible.
Eyien spent the time until the beginning of the night cycle by studying up the blueprints, just to make extra sure not to get lost on her way out and avoid turning the wrong corner.
When the lights went out to mark the start of the night, Eyien still waited a couple of hours before she set her plan to start.
The first thing to go were the cameras, which network she had managed to infiltrate in less than thirty seconds (Kraglin should really offer her a drink, she was just too awesome). Someone would have to look really hard to notice the half second of static before the recording went on, and she didn't count on it. Not many tech specialists on board, she guessed.
That done, it was time for the difficult part.
Her door opened on an empty corridor, and Eyien took a step outside carefully, minding her steps not to make too much noise.
Turning her visor on, she set it to show the quickest way to the docking bay, and then she was off. The first turn revealed another empty hallway, the only noises she could hear were those of the engines, humming away somewhere below.
She thought it a bit odd that she had yet to run into anyone, but took her luck where she could find it.
When the stairs appeared, she recognized her halfway checkpoint and felt relief wash over her; now all that was left was go down, pass the baths – which she was sure would be empty, if she had to judge by the smell that still hovered in her nose – and then sneak in the bay. She would be out in space before anyone could be the wiser.
Eyien took a good look around to make sure she was alone, and then she was off, walking down the stairs trying to be as silent as her boots on hard metal could be. When she touched the ground of the lower floor, silence still reigned in the air. It was getting even more weird, but she pushed her suspects to the back of her mind, focusing on the last stretch of corridor; she could already see the doors of the bay from where she was standing.
Freedom was afoot.
A victorious smirk was already painting itself on her lips when a high-pitched whistle rang in the air. Suddenly, Eyien was standing unmoving, frozen, feeling the tip of an arrow poke at the nape of her neck, just below the cut of her hair.
Oh boy.
"Fancy seeing you here, lassie. Going somewhere?"
At the sound of Yondu's voice coming from behind, Eyien felt herself go stiff first, and then completely lax. A chuckle left her lips, and for a second she just laughed at how fucking cruel her fate was.
"Nowhere in particular, just exploring. Also, I'm fucking hungry" she replied cheekily, taking a step forward before she turned around. The yaka arrow was still floating in front of her, and she admired the weapon for a second before her eyes swiped up to its owner.
Yondu had clearly just got out of the bathroom, a towel (that looked more like a rag than anything) hanging around his neck, and Eyien caught herself staring at his bare torso, his blue skin still damp from the shower.
"Kitchen's up that way" he said casually, but his weapon remained put. He was waiting for her to make a move.
Eyien shrugged.
"Ah, I see. I'll be on my way then" she excused herself, sidestepping the arrow and making a move for the stairs.
Fucking hell.
She'd been so close!
Why had she run into the only fucking Ravager that knew how to use a shower, of all people?!
"Not so fast, lassie" he interjected her, holding out a hand.
Eyien stopped, her feet responding to his command even without the threat of the arrow in her face.
Not good.
"Yes?" she asked, smiling naively.
"I wanna know what happened with you and Stakar. I've never heard of anyone leaving his command willingly, you're the first" he said, and his voice made it clear he was not about to receive a no for an answer. He wanted his curiosity fulfilled, understandably so, but Eyien was not about to relive any of the events that had led to leave the Ravagers. Not then, not ever. It was old news, water under the bridge. She was done with it.
"And I'd like to know how come you're the only mercenary that likes water; but, alas, certain mysteries are meant to remain so" she droned, her eyes lazily running up and down his body, blatantly checking him out. He wasn't exactly a youngster, he was probably closer to her in age that she would likely care to admit, but a life of strain and work had made his body toned and muscled, and he filled his clothes nicely.
When her gaze returned on his face, she could see that he was almost uncomfortable, and Eyien wondered just how unused to attention and flirting he actually was.
"I wasn't askin' lassie" he said, his voice dropping menacingly as he stepped closer.
Eyien arched her eyebrows at him, cocked her head to one side, like she was thinking about something, and then shrugged.
"And I wasn't answering" she replied, hands nestling in the pockets of her bomber as she started to walk away.
When she was about to pass him, he reached out with one hand and yanked her back by the neck of her jacket. Eyien's body jerked forward and then backwards, her bomber falling from her shoulders, revealing the tank top she was wearing underneath, and the holster strapped over it.
"I don't have the patience for your games, lassie! We made a deal, and you will-" his words died in his throat as he saw just exactly what was strapped to her back.
Shining silver and red under the dim lights of the corridor, an arrow not unlike his own rested in its holster on her back.
Suddenly, the atmosphere around them changed, and the air became heavy and charged with something she couldn't quite place.
"Where'd you get this?" he asked, clearly taken aback from what he just saw. It wasn't an everyday occasion that he incurred in someone else who was able to use to yaka arrows like he did, and deep down he was torn between being annoyed at her and being somewhat reassured about her.
"It's a family heirloom…it belonged to my mother, and my sister before me" Eyien told him quietly, every trace of defiance or cockiness gone from her voice; even her whole demeanor had changed, she was slumping, her head bowed forward, with her bangs covering her red eyes.
"And you know how to use it?" Yondu asked, observing with mild confusion as her ears changed color, getting a few shades darker than her natural violet skin tone.
"I uh- …not really" Eyien confessed. She couldn't remember how many decades it had been since the last time she'd felt this ashamed for something she had no power over.
In the last ten years or so she had spent countless hours trying to attune her melodies to the arrow, but it seemed the weapon was still weeping its former owner, and had no intentions to take on to her. She'd been angry at first because of it, then sad, then simply resigned. The arrow reacted to her only in deeply stressful situations, and even then, it didn't do a whole lot.
"Didn't they teach you?" he asked her, and Eyien was surprised to hear an edge of something in his voice.
"They…weren't around by the time I got this. I kind of had to improvise, so…" she trailed off, fixing her bomber back up, hiding the holster from sight.
Eyien sighed, long and hard, pushing the thoughts of her mother and sister away where they couldn't hurt her anymore. She knew she couldn't run forever, especially if she really was going to see Stakar eventually, but she'd ignore it for as long as she could.
"May I?"
Eyien turned her head to see him reach out is right hand, and she found herself frowning. Handing over her arrow seemed too personal of an action, and she remembered how Yondu had retracted his when she had tried to touch it.
"Sorry, I don't think it's a good idea" she replied, a small polite smile making its way on her lips.
There was a small pause before Eyien was back to her usual snarky self, and her body naturally assumed its casual poise.
"Now, can you point me in the direction of the kitchen again? You guys gotta feed me if I am to stay on your ship" she remarked, smirking smugly when Yondu had to blink twice at her change of attitude.
It was always a good tactic to throw people off, and it did nicely for a mask to hide behind.
"Up the stairs, take the first right" he answered, a bit dumbfounded.
"Thanks Cap" she mockingly saluted before hurrying off.
Her smile immediately dropped once she was out of sight, replaced by a sour scowl.
She had failed, and now she had to wait and change her plans.
If she couldn't run unnoticed, then she just had to make them trust her, and then get the fuck away at the first opportunity she found herself planet-side.
The next morning, when she stepped inside the bridge, Kraglin welcomed her with a sigh of relief and a smug grin.
She was still there, meaning her escape plan had failed.
"Don't smile at me, I almost had it and you didn't even notice" she said as a greeting when she came up to him, her hands buried in her jacket's pockets.
"So you say, but here you are" he replied cheekily, earning a good natured shove from the woman.
"Yeah, so here I am" she mused out loud, a touch of sourness coloring her voice.
"We should see to your clothes later, if you are to stay" Kraglin commented after giving her a once over, his eyes examining critically her black bomber, which sported a red stripe along her right arm and a red logo over her heart that read N7.
"Fuck you Kraglin, I'm not wearing that shit you call clothes" Eyien grunted, arms crossing over her chest.
She loathed leather, it didn't go well with her curves and it made her sweaty. She would go and hug Thanos before anyone would force her to wear any piece of clothing made of leather.
"And why the hell do y'all need to wear red? What do you think you are, a massive boy band?" she snorted, laughter building up in her throat as she thought of Yondu and Kraglin singing a duet wearing they're ridiculous uniforms.
"We are a 'boy band'" Yondu's voice interjected from behind them, and Eyien couldn't avoid the over the top laugh that escaped her.
She was crying by the time the man came up to them, her stomach was also hurting.
"Why she laughing?" Yondu asked Kraglin, who just face-palmed himself.
"Because, apparently, we are a boy band, Captain."