Authors Note: Time for some serious plot movement.
Chapter Eight: Rekindling Hatred
Slowly my vision came back to me. Everything was but a haze. I had a massive headache. Apparently that Xeno alcohol left me with one killer hangover. I heard a muttering around me, and slowly it grew to audible levels.
\"Well would you look at that. \'Bout time you wake the up!\" Jackson. Definitely Jackson.
\"Hush now, Jackson. I\'m just glad he didn\'t get a major concussion.\" And there was Jeremiah. \"That would have been a much larger issue.\"
\"Well I\'m glad I got there to bust some heads!\" Jackson said. I could hear him munching on his cigar. \"And that Xeno girl gave me that bag-\"
\"Yes, I know. I looked through it already.\"
\"But you haven\'t even touched it.\"
\"No, but my machines have.\"
\"Right, the floating snakes. I hate snakes.\"
\"You hate a lot of things.\"
\"You shoot things you hate a lot better.\"
Jeremiah sighed, \"I hope you don\'t plan on shooting my creations.\"
I coughed, \"Well at least I\'m not dead.\" I forced a smile, \"Always an adventure.\"
\"Andrew,\" I heard a female voice say. Oh damn, I thought to myself, lecture time!. \"You really should try not to get into trouble like that!\"
\"Oh cmon\" I said. My vision had cleared, and it appeared I was back on board the Washington, \"I don\'t even get out for a day and you\'re already climbing up my rear, Maria. Can\'t you relax?\"
\"Well it\'s not exactly practical for you to go running around in bars and clubs and-\"
\"And what? Having some fun?\"
\"You call a barfight fun?\" She responded. I found her sitting next to my bed. Jackson was leaning up against the fish tank, munching on a cigar. Jeremiah was sitting opposite Maria, tapping away on a little touchpad.
\"Well yeah. It\'s exciting.\"
\"You could have died!\"
\"Well yeah, I could have died a lot at this point. But that\'s why we brought Jackson along. He\'s good at making sure I don\'t die.\"
Jackson let out a single hearty laugh. \"You\'re damn right I am.\"
Jeremiah shook his head, \"Either way, I have some items for you. The Xeno girl gave them to Jackson when he hauled you out of the place.\"
The three flying machine snakes came in, each one with a small claw coming out of the featureless head, bringing items from out of side and neatly laying them out on the bed. My handgun, jacket, belt, magazines, all the usual. Then they came up to me with three more items, stuff that Teila had apparently giving me.
I reached out and took the first one. It was an entire case of four massive bottles of the red drink she had given me. The second gift was a set of nice glasses, straight from the Euroclub. The last was a photo of the Euroclub. I smiled. I \"Apparently, I\'m not as bad with the ladies as I thought. Really gotta go back there sometime. Put those somewhere safe.\" The machines flew off, finding convenient places to stow my new belongings.
Maria let out an audible scoff.
\"Oh hush, you.\" I mocked her, \"I thought Tartaran\'s didn\'t get jealous.\"
\"It\'s not that.\" She responded, \"It\'s how frivolous you are with your own safety!\"
I sighed, \"Look, alright, you\'re right. But what else am I supposed to do?\" I asked. She looked at me confused. Even Jackson looked intrigued. \"Think about it. Jackson, you? You told me that the DFMC gave you retirement for joining me, but you could go back in if you wanted. And you? Jeremiah? The Lazarus Imperium is your home. You have somewhere to go. And Maria.\" I pushed myself upright against the backboard of my bed a little more, \"You\'re a Tartaran. Do you still have a mother? A father?\"
\"Well, yes, I-\"
\"That\'s fantastic. Well, my homeworld was bombarded. Whiped out. It\'s inhabitable. I can\'t go home. This ship, my crew, and my mother. That\'s all I have left, dammit! I don\'t have a plan B!\"
\"Andrew, I-\" She was stammering. In our short two months, she had never hit a cord with me. But it seems an the woman managed to strike a cord with this still ever so slightly inebriated man.
\"No, it\'s fine. I just want you to understand that I don\'t have the same conscience you do, Maria. You have plans. But me? My plans were conveniently destroyed a little over two months ago. Why do you think I push myself so hard? Every mission, every contract, it gives me direction. It occupies me. While I try to think of some direction for my life.\" I contained myself. I had never lashed at my crew like that before. I mean, I could have been a lot angrier, but it felt weird. I looked over at Jackson and Jeremiah for reassurance. Jeremiah nodded towards Jackson, who nodded at me.
\"I get it, Captain. You have a lot of shit to handle.\" He adjusted a little, \"I\'ve seen Vaygr bombings before. No one walks away from having their homeworld purged and stays the way they were before.\" He sighed. I hadn\'t seen Jackson so in thought before. \"A company I once lead reminds me of you. Part of the DFMC 117th shock troop Regiment. Foxtrot company. Wore the biggest armor, had the biggest guns, and never once retreated in their entire history. And you know what made them that way?\"
\"What?\" I asked.
\"You\'re only accepted into the 117th if you survive an extremely traumatic experience. Nine out of ten members in Foxtrot Company were survivors of planetary destruction. Vaygr, EV, all sorts of nasty things. Angriest sonsabitches you\'d ever see.\" He smiled, \"Damn good marines.\"
\"And you were in the 177th?\" Maria asked, seemingly intrigued.
\"Yup.\"
\"What did you survive to get them to take you in?\"
\"I was born on a station. Pirates came in and killed nearly everyone when I was still in highschool, including my parents. They tried to shoot up my class while they were there.\"
\"What did you do?\"
\"What did I do? I beat their whiny senseless and shot them with their own weapons. Went from being a highschool bully to a big damn hero. But when I found out they killed my parents? Boy did that piss me off. Joined up the DFN, got put into the 177th after giving a corrupt officer a concussion and beating the judge who tried to jail me senseless until he talked. Been breaking faces ever since.\"
\"But... how does violence solve anything?\" Maria responded.
\"Doesn\'t matter if it solves anything or not. Violence is what I am and what I do, and I do it damn well. And you know what? Keeping you all safe makes me feel a lot better. It gives me that purpose Captain talks about.\" He pushed himself off the wall, \"Maybe you should find that. You\'re not in Tartaran space anymore Maria.\" He walked into the elevator, and dissappeared behind it\'s doors.
Maria looked at me, eyes wide and full of confusion. I was equally surprised. Jeremiah kicked in. \"Never judge a man before you know his story. Turn your head, Andrew.\" I turned it to the right.
\"No, other way.\"
I turned it to the left. Jeremiah ran his bionic hand over where I had been smacked with a bottle. \"Bruised, you probably passed out from a mix of over exertion, minor head trauma, and minor blood loss. Primarly head trauma. The bottle was fairly thick, I would presume.\"
\"You think?\"
\"Well that\'s what these nice cuts I mended are telling me.\"
I smiled, \"Fun stuff. Oh, Maria, did you get the meeting handled?\"
\"Yes.\" She responded, her voice surprisingly moody, \"All the credits were transferred to our account. I\'m sorry, do you mind if I leave? I have a lot to think about.\"
\"Sure thing.\" I said, \"Don\'t let Jackson get to you though.\"
\"Jackson might have been right. I\'ve been tagging along all this time just because I felt like I owed you something for saving my life. At least, that\'s what I think.\" She got up and called for the elevator. \"It\'s all confusing. I just need some time in my room to think things through.\" The elevator doors opened, and she too dissappeared behind its doors.
\"Well damn.\" I said, a little awestruck at Maria\'s sudden change of heart towards Jackson, at least a little bit. I doubted the negative feelings she harbored for him were in any way deminished, but to have Jackson hit a string like that definitely had an effect on her. \"What do you think of this fine pickle?\" I asked Jeremiah.
\"What do I think?\" He laughed. \"I think it\'s a couple million credits, a couple flesh wounds, and an interesting little story.\"
I laughed, \"You\'re right, bar fights do make good stories.\"
Jeremiah laughed, but it didn\'t sound quite right. \"Not the bar fight, what was on that piece of equipment you brought back when we went to the Jaeger system.\"
\"What do you mean?\" Jeremiah pulled a little spherical holographic projector from out of his robes. He motioned for me to get out of bed. I rolled off of it and stretched. \"Something interesting?\"
\"More than just interesting, Andrew.\" He tossed the projector, and it hovered mid air. A bunch of odd Lazarus symbols filled the rooms, drowning me in charts, data, and far too much information for me to handle. Jeremiah hand\'s were moving through the air, as if orchestrating a mighty chorus, pulling and throwing these little floating pieces of cyberspace and data all over the room. \"Hard drive. Thousands of tiny pieces of information. But accessable by anyone.\" He waved his hands, frowning as a large holographic orb floated his way, \"But secrets are always hidden in the cornors.\" He touched the large orb, and instantly all the data dissappeared, leaving only a holographic sound oscilloscope. \"You sure you\'re ready for this?\"
\"Sure, hit it.\" I said.
\"Play.\" Jeremiah commanded the machine.
*Start transmission*
\"Captain Hanson, do you copy?\" A deep, calm voice spoke. He had an air of confidence about him.
\"I copy.\" Said a raspy voice. Obviously nervous.
\"What\'s your status.\"
\"Sir?\"
\"We\'ve detected you changing course from Kraken to Jaeger.\"
\"You\'ve been tracking me?\"
\"Of course we have. I always track variables. I don\'t like variables, Hanson. I am a man of constants.\"
\"Look, you sneaky bastard! I\'ve always been reliable, but asking for us to capture raw EV biomass? Straight from a DFN military base? That\'s too much!\"
\"It was your assignment. I expected you to carry it out.\"
\"No, no. I can\'t do it. Weapons, troops, even people I can understand. But you\'re playing with fire here! You cant control the EV\'s!\"
\"What made you think I wanted to control them, Captain? What makes you think you know my agenda?\"
\"Because, I-\"
\"You made assumptions based off of your own molded code of morals, given to you by a society that likes to put titles on things they do not understand. You immediately assumed I wanted EV\'s for what you would consider \'evil\' purposes.\"
\"Well why else would you want a tank of EV? They\'re a threat to everyone!\"
\"Precisely. Such a fantastic thing to have. But for your information, I simply wanted to learn more about them. I just believed that I could make more progress than the DFN was. See? I am not an evil man.\"
\"You\'re sure as hell not a good one!\"
\"Indeed, I would agree, but who are you to decide that?\"
\"Look- I\'m not bringing you the EV\'s. I\'m going to drop the payload somewhere no one will look for them!\"
\"Oh isn\'t that a shame. Let\'s take a look at your record here: Real name: Captain Harry Cornel, thirty-four years old. DFN Navy- Retired. No wife, no children. Parent\'s alive, one of six children. Alcoholic. Lived alone, before disappearing from public records. All traces of criminal activity and charges for treason against the DFN erased. A real invisible man.\"
\"Why does that even matter? I\'m dropping the EV\'s and you\'ll never see me again.\"
\"No, I won\'t. But it matters because it\'s easy to hide what people can\'t see. I can\'t just let you leave when you know so much.\"
\"Why!? I\'ve already done so much! Can\'t you just let me go?
\"I immediately saw you as a variable when your weekly psychological tests came in stating you were likely beginning to question your actions, and that you would probably defect due to a stricken conscience. Do you really think that therapist was free just for your convenience?\"
\"What!?\"
\"Do we have to mention that nice little message the Vaygr sent you, offering you all the money you could ever want? I\'ll admit, I would have never detected it if you hadn\'t managed to send your response on the ship I gave you. And all the secrets you told them? Not a smart move.\"
\"You little-\"
There\'s was a loud noise as a cannon shell ripped through the ship. Decompression set in immediately. There was lots of screaming
\"I\'m sorry Captain. But you knew what you got yourself into. You agreed to two meager years of service and espionage, and in return I promised freedom and a new life. I cleared you of everything. I got your position in the DFN returned. I gave you a new life. But you didn\'t hold up your end of the bargain. You chose greed over freedom. My conscience is clear. Goodbye, Captain.\"
*End of transmission*
I opened my mouth, but Jackson beat me to it. \"That\'s not all, Andrew.\" The first sound oscilloscope closed and gave way to another.
*Begin transmission*
A raspy voice kicked in. \"This is Vaygr Terror Fleet three. It appears that you have failed to complete your mission. Shame. We would send in a clean up crew, but reviewing your previous contractor\'s history, I doubt he was anything but thorough. If not, the EV\'s probably got you. Goodbye, Captain.\"
*End Transmission*
I was awestruck. \"Do we know who the other man was in the first message?\"
\"Yes, I do.\"
\"Who was it?\"
\"The Auditor.\"
It hit me like a brick. I sat down on my bed, awestruck. The Auditor was the leader of the Syndicate, the much darker half of the Euro Corps. They were a legend. some people believed they were nothing more than a mean face the Euro Corps put on, a myth to scare competitors. Some thought they were great masterminds behind half of the galaxies conflict. They were probably somewhere in between, but the scary part was that no-one really knew. \"How did you even manage to get his message out of there?\"
He sighed, \"The Lazarus have a strange relationship with the Syndicate, and especially the Auditor. We both know things about eachother that others do not. Any other man would have never found those messages; I only managed to recover them moments before being automatically erased. It was a struggle, even for me. The Auditor is not known for mistakes.\"
I was stunned. Jeremiah walked up to me, and put his bionic hand on his shoulder. \"There\'s one more piece of information, though.\" he said. He opened up his other hand, and up popped up a set of holographic, three-number coordinates. \"We know where the Vaygr is hiding. I did some research, Vaygr Terror Fleet three was the one that attacked Pragni.\"
I looked up at him, taken aback. \"Do you think we should-\"
\"No.\" He replied, \"But maybe you can find some answers.\"
I stood there for a moment. Jeremiah was patient. After a while I nodded. \"Do it.\"
In silence, he left the room. I layed down, deciding to get some more rest. Before I fell asleep, I heard the docking systems disengage and the engines roar to life.
I thought I had been ready for that information.
I wasn\'t.
END OF CHAPTER EIGHT
but not in a bad way (more of a steve jobs style way)
