WASH Part 3 - VFF
POSTED BY: CaptainZero
UPDATED: Thursday, January 22, 2009 02:35
VIEWED: 68217
PAGE 7 of 11
Well I'm just relieved that Spine didn't really go crazy...ok I'm off to land this ole bird!
*tater runs to the bridge and straps down in the pilots chair. the WASH flies threw atmo making the whole ship shake, tater holds her steady until they reach the dock for landing. the landing goes smoothly, and tater lets out a heavy sigh*
Every time...landing always scares me.
Zero: You did good, Tot.
Is there anything else I can to to help?
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Myspace- http://www.myspace.com/jorjor_mcsapp
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Yes you can, Tot. You can help us get our sick folks to the hospital.
Tatertot: Just tell me what to do, Captain.
Tillie: Me too.
Tot, how about you help Doctor Alex walk to the shuttle? Luckily he doesn't need to be carried. Tillie, you're in charge of those two men in the hold. They'll help you get Spine's stretcher on board. Kate and I will get Upperson. Okay troops, let's go.
*They load the sick people onto Psyche's shuttle, and fly to the hospital that Jagger set up for the Durant's patients. The doctor strides out to the landing pad to meet them.*
Chen: I'm Doctor Chen. Where's our star patient?
She's here, but I have to tell you she's sick. She's been vomiting, sweating, shaking, and possibly hallucinating. I have the feeling she's in withdrawal from something.
Chen: Let's get her inside and I'll examine her.
We also have a merc who's been throwing up too, and I'm afraid he's been acting very unstable and violent. He may have been doped or poisoned with something, and he's very strong.
Chen: Don't worry, we'll make sure that he is no danger to himself or others, and we'll get the poison out of him. Please make yourself comfortable and refresh yourself with something to eat and drink.
Tillie: Is there a place I can clean up?
Tatertot: Is there a place I can take a nap?
Chen: Of course. I apologize, you must be exhausted. This is the residence section. Your rooms are just down the hall. Make yourselves at home. I'll be in the patients' wing, just down that hall if you need me.
*After what seems like an hour or so, the doctor returns.*
Chen: Your doctor and first mate are resting comfortably. Your passenger, while not exactly comfortable, is well on her way to recovery. She's been through an ordeal, but she's a very strong young lady and she'll be just fine. Oh, and your pilot and mechanic are both napping in their rooms.
I'm very grateful to you Doctor, these people are all extremely important to me. What's the next step?
Chen: We have to be patient and wait at least a day or two for everyone to recover fully before I can begin the process for the Durant's patients. In the meantime, there's someone special here I'd like you to meet.
*Doctor Chen leads Zero down a corridor and ushers Zero into a darkened room, where a young woman is sitting in a rocking chair holding a sleeping toddler.*
Aura?
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*wakes up upon hearing footsteps seeming to pace in front of his door* Wonder who that is... *gets up and scrambles through one of his bags and takes a painkiller from a cylinder container in it* Least he could do is fine a less scarring way to knock someone out..
*lays down again and begins to try to sleep, when someone opens his door and walks in, a syringe in their hand* Captain? *gets up* Who are you?
Man: *starts panicking and trying to stab Alex*
*grabs the man's arm and turns it so he forces the syringe into his own stomach, and he then falls unconscious* Who the hell is this guy? *shakes his head and finds the nearest comm and pushes it, hoping someone will hear him* Yeah, if anyone can get here soon, I need someone in my room... hopefully fast..
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Gorramit!
*Zero rushes out of the room and down the hall until she sees a door with a blinking light above it. Inside she sees a strange man passed out on the floor clutching a syringe, and BRG sitting up in bed.*
Alex, are you all right? What happened?!
BRG: This man attacked me. What the hell is going on?
That's exactly what I want to know.
*Doctor Chen runs in, followed by two security guards. He keys in a sequence above the comm and the light over the door stops flashing.*
Do you know this man?
Chen: Yes, he's one of my staff.
Is there any reason he should have been giving my crewman an injection?
Chen: No, of course not. Mister Fenix isn't one of the Durant's patients. He has a contusion from a blow to the head, but with no symptoms of concussion. He just had a bad knock.
*Zero and BRG look at each other and Zero rolls her eyes.*
He's my crew, I know what happened to him. What I don't know is who this other man is, and why he tried to inject Alex, and what he wanted to inject him with. Can you give me your expert opinion on the contents of that syringe?
*Chen bends down to pick up the syringe.*
Chen: I don't understand. This is an anesthetic. This is used to induce unconsciousness before surgery.
Or to knock someone out, perhaps. Why would your man want my man unconscious?
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*Tillie is jarred awake by the sound of a garbled noise over the PA followed by a short alarm buzz. She runs into the main corridor, and follows the sound to a room with a flashing light over the door, which goes out as she reaches it. A man is approaching the room pushing a gurney.*
Tillie: Wuo de ma, wuo de ma, wuo de ma -- is everybody okay? *The door opens and two men in uniforms emerge carrying a man on a stretcher.* Who's hurt? *She watches as they place the man on the gurney, and peers down at the man until she's satisfied she doesn't know him. She hears Captain Zero arguing with someone inside.*
Zero: Why would your man want my man unconscious?
Tillie: Who's unconscious? *rushing over to the bed* Alex! Are you okay? What happened?
Chen: He's not my man, he's a member of the general medical staff hired by Mr. Goosen for this project. I only have one personal assistant.
BRG: Someone tried to inject me with a tranq, wanted to knock me out. Dr. Chen here doesn't have a clue as to why, and I've got a headache.
Zero: What was he doing with a surgery anaesthetic?
Chen: I don't know how anyone could have gotten hold of it, those drugs are under lock and key. Even the room they're in is locked.
Tillie: I'm on it. Be back when I have some answers. *She sees a cold pack on the table, cracks it, and places it under BRG's head.* Feel better. Try and rest. *She runs out of the room after the men with the gurney.*
Zero: Show me the room. Now.
Chen: Of course. Right this way.
"Need a weave on that?" - Simon, in The Train Job
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Chen: This is the room with the drugs and other medical supplies. *He opens the door with a key card.* We keep most of the drugs in those cabinets there, and the restricted drugs are locked in that -- oh.
*They look at the cabinet with its door pried open, the metal bent up like the top of a can of peaches.*
Is anything else missing?
Chen: So surprising -- there are valuable drugs in here. Not a one has been taken.
So only one vial of the anesthetic is gone?
Chen: No, two are missing. But that's all. I don't understand why a thief would take two vials and leave the rest.
Because it wasn't a thief.
Chen: Shen me?
This wasn't a robbery. The room wasn't broken into. Your "thief" took only what he needed and nothing more.
Chen: Ah yes, I understand. Of course! The door, he must have had a cardkey like mine.
Who has access?
Chen: All the staff. Captain, may I ask for your help? I would like to lock the drugs away so there are no more thefts. I have another locking cabinet...
Of course. *They move all the drugs to another cabinet and Dr. Chen locks it.*
Chen: May I accompany you back to Miss Aura's room?
After you.
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*Tillie hides in the corridor, watching as the uniformed men wheel the empty gurney out of a room. She sneaks inside.*
Tillie: *softly, almost whispering* Nǐ hǎo, anybody home? *Strapped into the bed is the young man she'd seen being brought out of BRG's room. He moans softly and moves his head a little.* Nǐ hǎo, nǐ de míng zi shì shén me? You got a name? *A nameplate above his breast pocket reads Deron Lloyd.* Hey, you Lloyd?
Lloyd: Water. Please.
*Tillie gets the pitcher and a cloth from the table, and squeezes a little into Lloyd's mouth.*
Lloyd: Xiè xiè. Mouth is so dry.
Tillie: *dripping some more water* So tell me what's goin' on, Lloyd. Why'd you go after that other man? Why'd you try to shoot him with knock-out drops?
Lloyd: *becoming agitated and struggling to sit up, to discover he's strapped down* Let me outta here, I gotta get that hún dàn!
Tillie: *shushing him and putting the damp cloth on his forehead* Who're you after, Lloyd? Who's the hún dàn?
Lloyd: That's Alliance scum that is, that's Captain Fenix! He killed my family. He set fire to my village. He killed everybody!
Tillie: When was this?
Lloyd: Back in the war, back on Boros. I was still a kid, didn't even have a gun! Wasn't nothing I could do! *bursting into tears* Couldn't do nothing! Couldn't save them!
Tillie: How'd you know where to find him, Fenix I mean?
Lloyd: After Wolford boarded your transport, Kate waved us the crew list. I still wasn't sure it was him until they brought him in. I'll never forget that face. He was laughing at me, laughing! *He falls back in the bed exhausted.*
Tillie: You rest now. Be back later, you just close your eyes and rest.
*Tillie walks back to BRG's room and quietly opens his door.*
BRG: No need to tiptoe, I'm up.
Tillie: Y'ever know a kid name of Lloyd, Deron Lloyd?
BRG: Doesn't ring a bell, sorry. Where should I know him from?
Tillie: Boros. Says you killed his entire family and burned his village down.
BRG: *gravely* No wonder he tried to hurt me.
Tillie: No wonder. He was awful sure you did it, said he'd never forget your face. You made some kind of impression on him, Alex. He said you laughed at him.
BRG: Oh god. The little boy. *Alex is overcome with emotion, and Tillie waits silently until he collects himself.*
BRG: I told you about the Bad Platoons --
Tillie: -- I remember.
BRG: They were burning the houses to flush out the shock troopers. It was horrific; I'll spare you the details. Afterwards we had to go through the wreckage for survivors, and when I found this little boy alive after all that horror I was so overjoyed I started laughing and I couldn't stop. It was a miracle, this little boy's life after so much death! I hugged him again and again, and held him up high over my head so the other men could see that we had a survivor. I must have frightened him out of his wits! I didn't mean to.
Tillie: Are you recovered enough to stand? Can you walk?
BRG: Still a little dizzy, but well enough.
Tillie: Let's go then. Introduce you properly, how 'bout that?
nǐ hǎo = hello
nǐ de míng zi shì shén me = what's your name
hún dàn = bastard
"Need a weave on that?" - Simon, in The Train Job
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*wakes up to BRGs voice over the comm, gets up and tries to open the door. realizes that its locked, goes and sits on the bed mulling over the events of the past few days* Damn scotch... *jumps up as realization hits him* Damn scotch indeed! I've gotta tell the captain! *realizes for a second time that the door is locked, decides to wait for someone to come to him rather than vice versa, and goes to sleep*
"Pain is scary."
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Tillie: *stepping back towards the door* Just be leavin' you two to get reacquainted, then. Gonna check on the others, see how they're doin'. Why'm I whispering, they're a thousand worlds away...
*In the corridor, Tillie leans against the wall and closes her eyes.*
Tillie: *heaving a huge sigh* Āi yā. Ain't gonna forget that in a hurry. *taking a breath and standing up straight* Okay. Let's see if we can find our barfing boat mates.
Tillie: *looking at the charts as she passes each door.* Durant's... Durant's... Oh, this looks promising: "Huàn zhě shì ǒu tù hé xiǎn shì měng liè xíng wéi." Sounds like our boy.
*Spinebite is lying in a tangle of sheets fast asleep. Tillie sits down beside him.*
Tillie: *wiping the sweat off his brow* Hey, ya big lug; sure had us worried there. Went all supervillain on us, scared the suī out of everybody. Better lay off the booze for a while, dǒng ma? You got dosed but good.
*She rearranges his bedclothes and leaves to find Upperson.*
āi yā = damn/ah/my god
huàn zhě shì ǒu tù hé xiǎn shì měng liè xíng wéi = patient is vomiting and exhibiting violent behaviour
suī = urine
"Need a weave on that?" - Simon, in The Train Job
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*Zero return's to Aura's room. Aura is still sitting in the chair, holding her sleeping son.*
I'm sorry about before.
Aura: It's all right, he didn't wake up.
I meant before before. I'm sorry about that night on Santo when I kicked Jagger out of the house.
Aura: No need, you were right. He didn't love me. But he loves his son. When baby Leo came along I don't know what happened; he was like a different person. He was sincere, caring, concerned. When Leo first started feeling sick Wolford was right there every minute, He shuttled us back and forth to the doctors. He went to the appointments and asked all kinds of questions. He was a hundred percent involved. He went to the medacad libraries and studied up on Leo's illness, and consulted with specialists on every world that had them. You wouldn't have recognized him as the same man.
If only he had shown that side of himself to me when he boarded our ship. Everything with him was lies: he boarded us under false pretenses, and from minute one it was deception after deception, one story after another, each more fantastic than the last.
Aura: That's Wolford for you. He couldn't just ask you for help, he had to kidnap you so you wouldn't interfere with Dr. Chen.
You know I would do anything for you. Why did he make it so complicated?
Aura: Wolford knew you'd already contracted with Badger to kidnap Dr. Chen. He didn't want you to get in bad with Badger; you know what happens to folks who cross him. So he figured a way to work it so that if Dr. Chen never makes it to Jiangyin it's on him, not on you.
Why would he do that? He's always been about the double-cross, and he always covered his own pi gu. Why would he put himself in danger?
Aura: He's dying, Zero. It's only a matter of time. He doesn't even have a year. Jiangyin deal goes south and Badger comes looking for payback, it's no big thing because his time's up anyway.
I don't know how to tell you this, but... his time's already up. He never made it off the ship. I'm so sorry, mei-mei. Oh Aura, I'm so so sorry.
*Aura hugs her sleeping son tightly to her, rocking him.*
Aura: It's not for me, but for Leo I'm crying. His whole life Wolford was a bad person, he treated you bad, he treated me bad, but he was the best dad to Leo. He did everything for him. Every job, every scheme, it was all for Leo. How will I do it alone? Wolford kept us going, he paid every single bill.
You're not alone. You have me, and I'll take care of you and Leo. This job will bring in plenty of credits, enough to keep you going for a long time. Maybe we can get new patients for Dr. Chen's treatment, bring in even more.
Aura: I'm sorry I kicked you out, Zero. I missed you so much.
That's over and done. We're together now, and that's all that matters.
*Zero moves over to the chair and tentatively strokes the little boy's head.*
You named him Leo.
Aura: After daddy. You like it?
It's perfect.
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