My dreams were filled with all of the stress and anguish I had experienced over the past weeks. I was trying to run away from some unseen evil, but failing to escape. Suddenly, I felt a gentle shake and looked up to see Larissa smiling, much improved from yesterday’s state and significantly better off than myself.

‘What do you want?’ I groaned and slapped her hand as she tried to rouse me.

‘We were worried. Ursana sent me down to check on you and force you to come eat something besides these.’ She threw the bags of snacks on the floor. I looked at her and noticed that she was wearing one of our hosts outrageous caftans and looking extremely self satisfied.

‘I don’t want to move. Leave me alone.’ I pulled the blankets over my head, but my own stench soon overwhelmed me and I had to get up. ‘Fine.’

Larissa pulled off my disgusting clothes and dragged me upright. I stared at myself in a mirror and was horrified by what I saw. My face had new lines and the stress was making me furrow my brow way too much. She ran some hot water in the bathing pool and got in. I joined her a few moments later and sighed as I lowered my aching body into the steaming water. My head was pounding and I just wanted to lay there and steam off the hangover, but Larissa turned me around, poured some water over my head and lathered my hair. It was nice to be taken care of for once and I let her clean me thoroughly. She scrubbed my skin and rubbed my shoulders and neck until I felt clean and relatively relaxed.

After I was disinfected, she replicated some juice and we sat in the warm, flowing water and chatted for a while. It was nice to talk about something other than the Oranium and the trouble I found myself in. I stared at the sea and let my mind wander aimlessly for a few moments.

‘Ursana offered to let me stay.’ Larissa almost sounded apologetic. ‘It might be a good chance for me to figure out what to do next.’ I felt a tinge of sadness, even though I barely knew her.

‘It’s a good opportunity for you. Ursana knows everyone and she can help you get situated in your new life.’ I smiled at her, letting her know it was ok.

‘Thanks for making me come with you.’ She stared at the sun as it set over the horizon.

‘Yeah- you’ll like it here.’ I shrugged and pulled myself out of the water. ‘I guess I need to figure out what to do with myself.’ I stood, dripping, while the cool air wrapped itself around my body. I inhaled the salty breeze and felt my mind clear. I knew what I had to do. ‘Can you grab one of those ridiculous outfits for me? I need to burn my clothes.’

While Larissa scampered off, I dried myself off and scoped out the room. My eyes fixated on a small dagger on a shelf near the bed. I picked it up, admiring its clean lines and light weight; I ran my finger along the edge of the expertly honed blade and it made an almost undetectable cut. As I carefully replaced the object, a plan formed in my mind.

Larissa returned with a vile caftan embellished with the design of some god awful purple flower and the three of us sat in the elevated garden looking like oversized songbirds eating pastries and drinking tea. The garden was lush and filled with plants in almost every color. It jutted out over the coastline below, offering a magnificent but precarious view.

‘So, Larissa, how do you like not eating fungus?’ She rolled her eyes at me and helped herself to a third round of dessert.

‘Not too much, dear.’ Ursana smiled at her new companion and turned her attention to me. ‘Aia, now that you’ve had time to recuperate, have you thought about my offer?’

‘Yes.’ I sipped some minty tea and stared at the waterfall in the corner of the garden. A small bird was perched on a nearby branch and as an insect flew by, it swooped down and managed to grab the tiny creature in its beak.

‘And?’ I could tell she was getting impatient.

‘I’ll meet with Colleen.’ I put down my tea. ‘I need a few days to prepare, though.’

‘Wonderful.’ Ursana looked pleased with herself, no doubt relishing the idea of easing into Colleen’s good graces. ‘I’ll send her a message and let her know you are willing to surrender the Oranium.’ Hearing those words made me cringe, but I continued to smile and chat with my host, acting as though the matter was settled.

I reacquainted myself with Ursana’s lair the day before Colleen’s arrived and decided that the cantilevered garden would be the best location to conduct our meeting. It had a beautiful view and the open air would help calm my nerves. I had also started really enjoying caftan life, they were comfortable, voluminous and perfect for hiding almost anything.

When Colleen arrived, I smiled and walked towards her, extending my hand in the traditional Earth greeting. She accepted it; we were old friends after all and I was in no position to make any surprise moves. After her guards checked me for weapons, she waved them off and Ursana led us to the garden and left us to conduct our business.

‘How are you Colleen?’ I stood across from her and declined her offer of a seat.

‘Well. You’re looking awfully calm for someone who has fucked up their once promising life so badly.’ Colleen smirked and I could feel myself losing my cool. I hated her with every molecule in my body, but wanted to see where she was at before I made a final decision.

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‘You know, when you leave piles of valuable metal just lying around, something like this will inevitably happen.’ I shrugged and turned towards the waterfall.

‘It wasn’t lying around, you imbecile.’ She scoffed and walked towards the edge of the garden. ‘If you had half a brain, you would have just killed Daden and left. That would have been doing me a favor that I would have been happy to repay.’ She turned and looked at me. ‘Instead, I will probably need to kill you just to prove a point.’

‘What point?’ I demurred.

‘That you don’t fuck with Colleen! Dammit. I’m surrounded by idiots!’ She walked towards Ursana’s bar and helped herself to a drink.

‘Great idea, I could use one of those, too.’ She grabbed another glass and I spent a few minutes sizing her up. We were around the same build, even though I obviously had a much better body. Her walk was distinct though, very authoritative, with a slight sashay. She brought me a drink and we clinked our glasses together.

‘So, dear, where is my Oranium? I was able to retrieve one bar from Manuk Kai and you gave another to Jase den Ammet that I will get after I’m done with you, but who did you find that was crazy enough to hide the rest of it?’

‘A friend.’ I made my way towards the water, then turned to pass behind her. She immediately pivoted to face me, years of paranoia had instilled in her the instinct to never turn your back on anyone. ‘You’re looking great Colleen, it’s incredible how you never seem to age.’

‘Quit stalling.’ She finished her drink and slammed it on the heavy wood table. The noise from the waterfall was fairly loud and it masked the thud of the glass.

‘I’ve always wondered, and maybe now isn’t the best time to ask, but it might be my last chance.’ I leaned closer to her. ‘What the fuck kind of name is Colleen anyway?’

‘It was my grandmother’s name, bitch. I can’t wait to kill you.’ She clenched her fists and motioned for me to sit down but I continued to pace- a move that only increased her agitation. She took a seat and I grabbed her glass, pouring us another round. I returned to where she was sitting, near the waterfall, and gave her the drink. I realized that I could stall like this all day; if she killed me, the Oranium was gone forever. It was driving her crazy and I used her agitation against her, waiting for any opportunity that might present itself.

‘It’s a lovely name for a lovely lady. So can we talk about what’s going to happen now?’

‘We talk once I get the Oranium.’

‘That makes no sense for me, Colleen. Once you know where it’s at, you can just kill me.’

‘Yeah, and? You don’t seem to get it, Aia. I’m going to kill you either way. God, you are so fucking stupid. I can’t believe I ever offered to help you.’ She leaned over to check a message on her wrist and while she was distracted I was finally able to sneak behind her. I slowly pulled out the small dagger that I had hidden on a chain between my breasts. The guard had missed it, preferring to squeeze my tits instead of doing his job.

The tip was incredibly sharp and I was able to delicately slide it into the base of her skull without her being aware of what had happened; after a few seconds she collapsed quietly on the floor. I quickly broke into her communicator before her lack of brain activity disabled it and linked her profile to my device. Now I could monitor her messages, download her contacts and ensure that I would stay one step ahead of her army.

‘Who’s the stupid one now, bitch.’ I undressed her and put my hands to her neck to find the controls of the holo hood. ‘Bingo.’ I turned it off and removed the collar from around her neck marveling at how much she had aged since our time together.

One of the benefits of fucking almost everyone you do business with is that you learn their secrets. Collen’s was that she had been wearing a hood since the beginning of her reign of terror. She realized that if she needed to escape one day, being able to use her own face would be preferable to wearing a disguise for the rest of her life.

I pulled on her clothes, dressed her in my caftan and dragged her to the edge of the garden where I pushed her over the side and watched until I saw her body splash into the rough seas below. Concealing the tiny dagger under the jacket, I pulled on her hood and made some faces to get it to sync properly. It was a much better model than mine and actually felt comfortable. I checked myself out, was satisfied with the results and walked back to Ursana.

‘It’s settled. Thank you for your assistance.’ To her credit, Ursana looked saddened by the outcome. Poor Larissa buried her head in her hands and ran off. She was so sweet. ‘If you need anything, just contact me and I’ll find a way to repay you.’ Ursana nodded and motioned towards the garage.

I strode confidently, trying to emulate Colleen’s gait as much as possible. As I passed my rustbucket, I felt a little sad to leave it there, but maybe Ursana would give it to Larissa when she inevitably sent her on her way. A guard opened the door of Colleen’s personal ship and I walked inside. It was a nice upgrade from my own and I sat comfortably in Colleen’s chair. There were a total of five personal guards and I would need to rid myself of them as soon as possible.

‘Jase den Ammet’s station. Now!’ It was fun roleplaying and I thought I was doing fairly well. I barked orders and was a general cunt to everyone, which was basically Colleen’s personality. The jump took seconds and I called Ammet, amusing myself with his dawning awareness of the amount of shit he thought he was in.

‘Colleen. It’s so good to..’

‘Ammet, I’ll be there soon. You fucked up.’ He swallowed and smiled.

‘Of course. I’ll be waiting.’ He turned off the communicator and I chuckled to myself, causing the meathead next to me to give me a quick glance.

‘What the fuck are you looking at?’ I pulled out my pistol and shot him in the head. Fortunately, that was a very Colleen move, so it provoked no reaction from the two other guards. One down. I walked towards her small private room in the back and saw another guard standing at the door. It was the pig fucker who had groped me. I put my hand on his arm and pulled him inside. ‘Want a promotion?’ He smirked and followed me into the room. Once we rounded the corner, I punched him in the dick, jumped on top of him and slowly forced the dagger into his throat, enjoying the light gurgling sounds he made as he tried to scream for help.

‘You should’ve done your job, asshole.’ I spit at him and climbed off his corpse, making my way down the hall to the dining area.

That’s two down, three more and I’m golden. One guy was standing in the galley and I grabbed a knife from the counter and stabbed him in the neck, watching him bleed out on the floor until I was sure he was dead. The ship was slowing and I made my way back to the cockpit. We pulled into Ammet’s dock and set down. As the door opened, the two remaining guards walked in front of me. I pulled out the pistol and shot them both in the back of the head. Ammet looked like he was going to shit himself and fell to his knees. I walked towards him with the pistol still in my hand.

‘Please, Colleen...I...she was an old friend.’ I put my hand to my neck and deactivated the collar.