VFF The Book Continues Part 6
POSTED BY: Colt99
UPDATED: Friday, June 3, 2016 04:01
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PAGE 12 of 15
“Go easy little lady. Think there’s enough blood spilt on this day already” Twister said taking a step back.
Abbey kept the gun trained to the center of Twister’s chest as she stepped out of the hover. “Colt might thank me for it” She said, surprised at the venom with which she had said it. “He didn’t seem that pleased to see you. Don’t think he’ll mind if he doesn’t again.”
If Twister was afraid, it didn’t show. He moved over to a crate in the bay and sat down. “See some things never change. Colt still inspiring loyalty where ever he goes.”
“Wouldn’t go that far” Mobbex said walking into the bay. He stopped as scratched his head “Come to think of it you may be right. Sure as hell can’t be the pay that keeps me around.”
Abbey never took her eyes off Twister “How is he?”
Mobbex seeing the gun in her hand pulled his own and leveled it at Twister. “Orams looking him over, said he was bleeding good, not much else. Mind telling me why I’m pointing a gun at the guy that was helping us escape?”
“He helped?” Abbey said surprised.
“Yep Rune and I..”
“Rune?” Abbey interrupted.
Mobbex nodded his head in the direction of the infirmary “Some stray Spots picked up. Lots of new faces” He added shrugging his shoulders. “Back to what I was saying, Rune and I had set off the diversion and were surrounded a bit quicker than usual this time. I was trying to cut a path out when Slim there showed up and lent a hand.”
“And this is my thanks?” Twister said standing. He reached across his body, slowly, with his off hand and gripped the butt of his pistol, easing it from the holster and laid it on the crate. “Niska hired me to do a job with Colt. I was hired because of Colt and my…unique history together. One that Colt hasn’t seen fit to share with you. So you can keep asking me who I am and pointing ‘round them guns, but the question you should be asking is, who is Colt?”
“Tie him up and put him in one of the passenger’s rooms” Abbey said calmly despite the fact that her mind was filled with hundreds of questions. She kept him covered until Mobbex had him bound then she headed to the infirmary.
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Gunshots that made her jump rang out across the cargo bay. With that the ship took off at a sharp angle and Abbey began screaming Oram's name.
Racing down at a run to the cargo bay, she saw Mobbex and a man she didn’t know placing the captain on the infirmary bed with blood gushing from a messy shoulder wound and an angry looking head wound on the right side of his head. In no time flat she was scrubbed and ready for surgery.
As she scrubbed, she watched the new guy. He was handsome and he stirred things inside Oram that she had long given up on.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Rune,” he answered. “I came on board with Spots. I was looking for a change in scenery.”
She understood that. Getting a fresh start was something she’d done a couple of times. Now that she was all clean and ready to treat Colt, her attention shifted from the new hottie to Colt. The bullet had slipped behind the bone in the left shoulder, making the retrieval difficult but you don’t want to leave a bullet in the body if it could be helped. She stitched and cauterized what she could, cleaned the wounds, both his shoulder and head, and sewed the captain up. Looking up at the clock, she noted it’d taken three hours. It wasn’t bad. She was simply a doctor, not a brilliant surgeon who was trained in trauma wounds, though on the ship she was learning much too quickly.
Setting up a broad-spectrum course of antibiotics and painkiller in Colts IV, Oram opened the door to let Abbey in to see the father of her baby.
“Just … try and keep it quiet, no yelling or nagging him.” She said as Abbey took in Colt’s still unconscious form. “He'll be groggy, nauseated and in pain, but he should make a full recovery.”
She noticed Mobbex standing guard outside one of the passenger dorms.
“Who else is here? We have another new person?” she looked back at Abbey. “Does the Captain know this?”
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Three hours it took. During the whole time, abbey paced back and forth. Wash was good enough to come by with some food and drink for her, but she barely ate anything at all. The thought of losing him was more than she could bear.
The thought their child would be fatherless was even worse.
During those three hours, several times she almost went down to see that Twister fellow that Mobbex was guarding. She wanted to know exactly why Colt had felt the need to shoot him. That, added to the happenings in the game, was making her a little more than scared.
Finally Oram came out and abbey nearly flew to the door.
Quote:
Originally posted by Oram:
“Just … try and keep it quiet, no yelling or nagging him.” She said as Abbey took in Colt’s still unconscious form. “He'll be groggy, nauseated and in pain, but he should make a full recovery.”
"Nag him?" abbey retorted. "I'd like to-"
She halted herself. She indeed wanted to smack him up side the head for getting shot, but she was really much too happy that he'd make a full recovery.
"I'll be good," abbey promised as Oram noticed Mobbex and his prisoner guarding.
She noticed Mobbex standing guard outside one of the passenger dorms.
Quote:
Originally posted by Oram:
“Who else is here? We have another new person?” she looked back at Abbey. “Does the Captain know this?”
"Who do you think he was shooting at?" abbey answered as she left her mei-mei to go visit her... whatever he was.
The breath was sucked out of her when she saw him. He looked way more helpless than she ever remembered him to be. But they had a deeper connection now. Deeper than verbal sparring or sex.
She held his hand for a bit and talked to him about inane things. The news. The latest cinema works on the cortex. The fact that she still managed to garner a Hell of a lot of coin from the game. She was paid a percentage of the buy in at the beginning of the game. She was also well within her rights to leave, since House rules state that if a gamer was to feel unsafe, that the game would immediately be ended and the gamer could leave at once.
But none of it really seemed to matter. Even the money portion. She squeezed his hand and looked for any sign of him coming to. Nothing. She thought about Grayson and about his behavior. In a way, Grayson was right. If she needed an emergency change of scenery, things were now much, much more complicated. But she felt safe around Colt. He would protect her.
But could he do a better job if he knew the whole story? Probably. But was she still ready to tell him everything?
No.
She squeezed his hand again as a tear slid from her eye.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "Sometime I will tell you everything. I promise."
Her words stuck in her throat. It was a few moments before she could move on.
"It's worse than you could imagine and even though things are different for us now, I'm still not ready. I'm sorry."
In the next few minutes, she shed a few more tears, then leaned up and kissed him.
"Get better soon," she whispered as they parted. She looked up into his eyes to see him looking at her. She smiled at him. "About time!"
She kissed him again, this time lingering a little longer.
"abbey-" he started, his throat dry.
She put her finger on his lips signifying that he shouldn't talk. Then she got him a drink and carefully lifted his head so he could drink a bit.
Once she put away the drink, she looked at him again.
"You rest," she said. "I'll be back in a few moments to stay for a longer span. In the meantime, I am going to go visit our little prisoner. Twister is his name? I'm gonna get the truth out of him whether he likes it or not."
Then faster than he could object, she left the room and headed over to where Mobbex was guarding him. She entered and stood in front of him, eyes blaring in anger.
"Just who are you? Colt felt the need to try to shoot you when he noticed you were on board," she
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Rune watched from afar, studying his new crewmates. He was trying to figure them out. See what makes everyone tick. The doctor was pretty straight forward in her approach to people. He liked that. Plus she was kinda cute. A little on the short side, but then again, he liked that.
The captain, whose name was Colt, seemed pretty straight forward too, but then again, he really didn't get much of a read on him.
Mobbex was definitely the hired muscle. And definitely not too bright. Did his job very effectively though. Befriend him and he'd always be on your side, like a faithful puppy.
Spots was a no brainer. He came with references. Didn't know his whole story, but he didn't need to. He got the AOK from higher ups on Ezra. He didn't know his whole story, but he didn't feel the need to inquire. One of these days when he knew him better, Rune would have to tell him about the freaky girl he saw in the Slave Marketplace. If he said anything now, the man would just think him crazy.
The pilot, Wash, only came down for a moment. She brought food and drink for the Gamer, but no one else. And she seemed extra concerned about her. Strange.
The Gamer though. She was a mystery. She must have something going on with the Captain. He wondered if she was slumming, because it was obvious she was much higher up on the sophistication scale. She cared about him though. She paced back and forth for the whole 3 hours the Captain was in surgery. While she did, she kept whispering to herself and every once in a while, she would absently rub her stomach as she did.
After thinking for a moment, the reason was clear as day. The stomach, which he could now see a clear bump in it when she turned a certain way, and the food and drink?
"Captain knocked her up!" Rune whispered in surprise. He wondered if they were married or not.
Seeing that the doctor was free, he sauntered over to her.
"Is she pregnant?" he asked. "I take it that it's the captain's baby?"
Before she could even answer, he pressed on.
"Strange to see a Gamer traveling on a boat like this. What's her story?"
Then he saw her march herself over to the place where Mobbex was guarding the other guy. She was full of determination. He looked at her again, noticing something else.
"She looks kinda familiar to me," he said. Then he turned and looked at Oram. He stared at her for a moment too. "And in a way, so do you."
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Colt watched Abbey walk out with a determination he had seen many times before. “Abbey wait..” he said surprised at the weakness in his voice. He started to rise and the room spun. He fell back onto the exam table. A few deep breaths and he had struggled to the cabinets. He rummaged through the drawers until he found what he was looking for, a stim shot. He opened the package with his mouth, his right arm in the sling Oram had put on him. He drove the needle into his arm and pressed the plunger. He stumbled back to the table and sat.
Abbey stood in the doorway of Twisters cell/room. He was stalling and she was furious. “I’m going to ask you again. What are you doing here?”
Twister looked her up and down slowly and replied with an amused tone. “You are a fierce one aren’t you?”
“Yeah, she can be very persistent.” Colt said from behind her.
Abbey turned “Colt” she said surprised and relieved to see him up. She hugged him, only to hear him muffle a whelp, as she did. She jumped back. “What are you doing here?”
“That the only question she knows?” Twister interrupted.
Abbey shot him an evil look then began to push Colt back towards the infirmary. “You should be lying down. Oram said you need to rest.”
Colt stopped her. He put his good arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I know you were worried. I’m sorry.”
Tears started down Abbey’s face and she put her head on his chest. “I kept thinking about the baby, what if you had…”
“I’m ok.” Colt said kissing her forehead.
“Niska said you knew him, that you hurt people. Then he shows up and you tried to shoot him…What’s going on?” Abbey asked.
“That’s what I’m about to find out.” Colt said as left her standing in the hallway and entered Twister’s room shutting the door behind him.
The crew with the exception of Wash and Brit had gathered near the dorm rooms. Colt had been inside for over an hour. Abbey used the time to get to know the other stranger on the Book, Rune. Where Abbey had used meeting him to distract her thoughts of Colt and what was going on in the room, Oram’s interest seemed more straight forward. Was she flirting? Abbey wondered.
When the door opened everyone turned. Colt came out looking weak but determined. He hit the comm box at the dorm entrance “Wash, set a course for Shinon.”
“Shinon?” Wash questioned. “Kinda tight on fuel for that run”
“Make it work, without a fuel stop if possible, if not plot something in route, and discreet” Colt turned to Abbey “Guilds run that planet, we should be able to land with you on board right?”
“Of course but why are we…” Colt moved past her.
“Spots, strip all the ID from that hover, wipe the computers, anything that leads it back to Grayson. Shinon should have those that want this bit of pretty and the means to purchase it. Also get on the Cortex and shop us up a shuttle. Mobbex give him a hand.” For the first time Colt noticed Rune. He approached him “Niska send you to keep an eye on us?”
Before Rune could answer Spots step between them.“Captain, he’s with me. I think he might be able to help me find my sister. It’s possible that Niska knows something of her whereabouts. I managed to hack some files while I was locking down the Skyplex. It will take some time to sort through all of it but there could be some info.”
“If she’s there we’ll be back for her, you have my word, but till we do this job we won’t be welcome.” Colt turned his attention back to Rune. The extra gun could come in handy. “Not sure you twos arrangement, but you’re on my ship, you follow my orders first. Do what’s asked of you and you’ll earn a share. “
“I’ll think about that” Rune said, sizing up the Captain.
“Wouldn’t think too long, unless you have plenty of coin for passage, or a space suit to take a walk.” Colt headed back towards the infirmary. “Doc, I need something for the pain.”
Oram followed Colt and prepped a shot. “You’re not really going to charge him to stay, he helped us escape.”
“He takes the job, pays the coin or takes a walk, his choice, something I don’t have
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"You think we look familiar?" Oram asked as her heart started to pound. No one had ever thought that she looked familiar, let alone adding Abbey in the mix as well. "Do you know from where?"
The man, Rune, watched her closely as if trying really hard to place the young woman standing beside him, but gave it up as a bad job, so he came at it from another angle. “Have you ever been to a slave auction?”
Having no idea where he was going with this, and trying not to show any reason to rush away, Oram tried to play it easy. “Do I look like I'm from a family who can afford it?”
“S’pose not,” he replied simply with a shrug.
“No, I suppose not,” she said. “I have errands to run and stuff to do.” And without a backwards glance she headed for where Abbey was hiding.
“That mans going to be nothing but trouble,” she muttered to herself.
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abbey was upset when Colt blew her off. He was shutting her out. Again.
So she went in search of Oram, just to triple check that he was OK. As she came across the cargo bay, she saw Oram coming towards her, her gait just a wee bit faster than normal. Behind her was Rune, watching them from afar.
"Are you sure he is going to be OK? Colt doesn't know when to slow down, you know," abbey asked her, forcing a smile so she wouldn't cry.
"He'll be fine," Oram said shortly. "The new guy though-"
"Did I see you flirting with him?" abbey interrupted, her smile a little more genuine.
"Shut it, abbey!" Oram said a little too forcefully. It was too abrupt so she apologized. "I'm sorry, but he may be trouble."
"Trouble?" abbey asked, her brow knitting into a frown. She looked up and saw Rune emerge from the dorm area and lean up against the wall. He was far enough away to not hear them talking, but she kept an eye on him anyway. "What kind of trouble?"
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“I spent a good deal of time and money putting that in the past. You go digging it up and expect me to do your bidding?” Colt sat on the edge of pilot seat staring at the image of Niska on the screen.
“Captain, you and I are men of business. I see an opportunity and I think who could get me such an item? I too invested time and money, finding someone. Someone who knows the interworking’s of the IVA Tchotchkus.” Niska clasped his hands together and leaned closer to the screen. “Then I find Lieutenant Mar...”
“Twister” Colt cut him off.
“Yes. Twister” Niska’s mouth twisted in to what Colt assumed he considered a smile. “He was very eager to do the job, so much so that, he was very forth coming about your past together. In doing so he pointed out how you could help.”
“Still not seeing what’s in it for me and mine.” Colt leaned back in the pilot’s chair. “You threatened my crew, but it’s a big Verse. I’m thinking we won’t be seeing each other again.
“You’re so sure of that Captain?” Niska said confidently. “Have you discussed this with Abbey? Is she so willing to give up her career? If not, it will not be hard to find you. I’m sure Twister has informed you of your cut. A very generous offer. You can decide how or if you wish to split it with Twister. Let me know when you have reconsidered.”
“I’ll be in touch” Colt said flatly as he flipped off the monitor. He had planned on running. The take from the game, selling Grayson’s shuttle, it would be a hefty sum in his wallet, enough to put some distance between Niska and himself. Twister going out the airlock would take some explaining, but the man deserved worse for going back on his word. But Niska wasn’t wrong. He would find them. Abbey wouldn’t stop gaming. Hell why should she? The baby? Colt hadn’t made any commitment to her beyond supporting her decision to have it. Sure she knew he cared but he had never put it into words. Now…this job…he would have to tell her the truth of it. Best he never put it into words, seeing as how she’s likely to leave after she finds out who he really is.
Abbey was waiting at in the crew corridor when Colt left the bridge. “You should be resting?”
Colt took her hand. He held it tight. Thinking it could be the last time he ever held it. He kicked opened the ladder to his bunk and followed her down.
Abbey could tell Colt was troubled. She wanted to voice her concerns about the slavers, Grayson, Twister and the new guy Rune, but held her tongue.
Colt began “Niska’s job is risky. It involves getting onto a Tohoku-class cruiser, the Tchotchkus.”
Abbey interrupted. “One of those floating cities? They don’t even let the Guilds dock for work without weeks of advanced notice.”
“Yeah…that one of the hurdles.” Colt went on. “Seems those long range cruisers are clued in on all the local schedules in their region. Pay roll shipments, supply drops, delivery routes, all logged into their databases. Once on board, Twister will hack the mainframe and…
“Hack a database? He knows how to do that? “Abbey asked.
“Yeah he’s got a knack for it.” Colt continued. “Once he’s in he will install a program that will give Niska remote access to the data. With that info, he’ll be able to plan heists all over.”
“So let him...I mean Twister, let him do it. Why are you involved?”
“Not that easy. Any access on that level has to be initiated by an officer who has served on the ship.” Colt could feel his mouth go dry. “I can...I can get him that access.”
Abbey looked confused “Wash mentioned you were with the Alliance for a time during the war, but you changed sides. Why would you still have access?”
Colt motioned for her to sit. Abbey could tell he was troubled, and that it was deeper than just this job.
“The story I tell ain’t the truth. It’s just…just the lie that makes me feel better.” He sat beside her “I have access because I did a tour on the Tchotchkus. Fresh out of the academy, I served two years. It was before the war. I bounced for station to station after and earned a command. Small vessel, a surveyor s
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She didn’t know how to tell Abbey her findings about Rune without causing a scene he'd notice. It was all understandable after all they’d been through, what’d been said and done.
“Trouble?” Abbey asked, her brow knitting into a frown. She looked up and saw Rune emerge from the dorm area and lean up against the wall. He was far enough away to not hear them talking, but she kept an eye on him anyway. “What kind of trouble?”
“The kind that we don’t want following us.” Oram said bluntly, her own anexity getting in the way of tact. “He’s worked with slavers and … Abbs… I think he knows me.”
The colour in the gamers face drained faster than as if someone had pulled a plug, she managed to stand and her voice was surprisingly strong. “Do you know him? Tell the truth Oram.”
She racked her brain from past patients to collegues, friends and family, but no trickle of anybody like him emerged.
“No,” she said finally, “not that I know of.”
“Good,” Abbey breathed, “unless he needs medical attention, stay away from him. We shouldn't push our luck in case his memory gets clearer.”
“Or maybe it’d be better if you just told Colt everything so that if the go se hits the fan, he’ll know and not dump us out of an airlock in case someone lets it slip.” Oram said a little more bluntly than intended, before turning and leaving the gamer to ponder what to do in the cargo bay.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Oram:
“Or maybe it’d be better if you just told Colt everything so that if the go se hits the fan, he’ll know and not dump us out of an airlock in case someone lets it slip.” Oram said a little more bluntly than intended, before turning and leaving the gamer to ponder what to do in the cargo bay.
abbey's hand went up to her mouth as she contempleted what Oram had suggested. It shook just a little too much. She covered it by crossing her arms.
"Maybe..." she whispered.
abbey left the cargo bay and made her way up to the door of Colt's bunk. She thought about whether or not she should tell him. The funny thing was that she knew as soon as she took her first step away from Oram that she wouldn't be able to. She was a coward when it came to this subject.
It was a stupid thing. They were having a child together and she still couldn't tell him. She was getting ready to leave when Colt came out of the bridge.
“You should be resting?" was what came out of her mouth. Not the truth.
He took her hand into his and they went into his bunk. She hoped to God he didn't realize how bad she was shaking. He didn't. At least she didn't think so.
It was then that he laid out the details of the job as well as a whole other chunk of information. He told her about his past. All of it. Or at least a good chunk of it.
It wasn't pretty. It was War.
Then she felt a pang of guilt. This man... The father of her child... The one she... Well... He just told her about the worst times of his life and how it made him who he was today.
And she couldn't do the same.
“I…I need to think” she said lamely as she turned abruptly and left.
It wasn't that she was horrified by what Colt did during the War. It was that she was horrified by herself and what she wasn't able... or willing... to do now.
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