I spent the previous hour reviewing the data Vlondril and I recovered from the Vasivich residence. Now, with that knowledge in hand, I stand over the TOD table reviewing a plan. A rather simple plan. with leverage against Makorovo and Karrina Vasivich, we could coerce them into giving up their organization or acting as a figurehead. Jay Fossik, whom we met earlier when visiting the city, is our ticket in.

“Oi, wha’s all that hemmin’ n’hawin o’er lassy?” comes a familiar voice. I whirl around, tapping the display power button to shut the TOD off. “Mister Fossik, surprising to see you on my ship.” I deadpan.

“Ach, I just wan’ed ta’ talk ta’ ye!” He grins toothily. “Way I see i’ lass? My ole bones jus’ aint cut out for this place.” he rounds the TOD and puts a foot up on the top of the console. My eyebrow twitches at his audacity. Already making this place his home. “By tha’way, a rather beautiful ship ya ‘ave here! ‘Wealth designed ‘er?” he raises an inquisitive eyebrow at me. I smile at him thinly.

While yes it is designed with the Systems Commonwealth’s fleet yards it was built but never procured by their Navy. Instead, it found its way onto the market where Farsa picked the ship up for quite a small fortune. The woman had the creds to burn on a ship like this, so her resources are likely rather plentiful.

Jay blinks and takes his foot off from atop the TOD. “Sorry, lass. Force o’ habit.” he clears his throat. “I take it tha’ you ain’t too keen on talkin’ bou’ your ship? Tha’l be fine.” Jay smiles before looking around. “Still, compliments to your tastes. A fine ship for a fine woman! Ahem..”

He takes a moment, pausing to choose his words carefully. “I heard ye ‘ave a plan ta’ stick i’to th’big whigs lassy” Jay smiles sheepishly as I double-take at him. “I have no idea what you are talking about.” I smile at him thinly. All I can do is play dumb. But I did have a question about How the old man figured this out.

“Bah! Rather simple, lass! Nothin’ a bit o’ eavesdroppin’ cannae’ fix.” he smirks smugly “Look, I do not have a qualm abou’ it, the Vasivich outfit had forgo’to pay me for tha past... oh.. Five weeks?” He clears his throat “tha’ said, if ye need ta know anything abou’ the ole russkies’ operations, I’d be happy to oblige ye” I stare at Jay for a moment in thought after listening to his words. His thick accent made it hard to understand him at times.

While an unknown quantity, this bum-legged old man likely knew the Vasivich operation inside and out. Being an informant and errand boy means he knows their layout. The perks of being a smuggler also mean he will know their stockpile locations as well as how well-guarded they are. Granted, our goal is not to touch the assets of mob, but to coerce Makarovo to step down so we can replace him.

I smile coyly at the old smuggler. “Very well, tell me what you know.” I fish in my jacket for a cigarette case, an engraved one. stainless steel box about the size of two decks of playing cards. Inside I keep Artisian hand-rolled cigars and a flip-lighter. Owing to my physiology, cigarettes are not a detriment to my respiratory system thanks to my regenerative healing ability. As I thought about that, I rub my right shoulder. This action made me aware that the scar from the glass shard that sank in that part of my body during the close encounter with that other Chimera from last year was completely gone.

After flipping open the case, slipping a cig out of one of the felt loops and flipping open the lid of the lighter to light the cigarette with a puff, I take a long drag of my smoke as Jay begins. “Well, Makarovo keeps large quantities o’ money in a warehouse on the outskirts o’ the city. I dunno your thinkin’ lass, but if I were you, i’d grab the money first. Oh! Makarovo’s wife has a routine of visiting a spot downtown. I think she is double-dipping on ole Makarovo.” Jay smiles before departing. He pauses and looks back “if ye don’ mind, I will take my leave to find a spot to lay my head on ye ship, lass.”

After a slow drag of my cig, I nod to Jay, going into a trance of deep thought. If it is true that Karrina Vasivich is unfaithful, it will be useful leverage in our coercion effort. After tapping ashes off the smoldering cigarette, I take a drag slowly before I exhale a wisp of white smoke from my lips. Which forms into a wry smile as a plan starts to take shape in my mind.

***

After my discussion with Jay, I called a meeting of the entire crew. At the current moment, We are deciding on a course of action. There is a current split between two options; The first option is to dispose of the Vasivichs in a coup d’etat, which carries significantly more uncertainties and can backfire if there is an underestimation of their organizations’ loyalty.

The second option is to blackmail the Vasivichs, particularly Makarovo. His wife is unfaithful, and that can prove to serve as valuable information that Mararovo will act upon impulsively. Another part of the equation is that the same intel can be used against his wife so she is forced to do our bidding, as her husband finding out will be rather unpleasant. It may even cost Mrs. Vasivich her life.

I stop the rather heated debate with a hand raised. “I am calling for a vote.” I look around at the crew gathered around the impromptu conference room I had a few crewmen set up in the empty spaces in the aft portion of deck 1. “All in favor of disposal of the Vasivichs, raise your hand.”

Vlondril, Jay, B’Nan, and Reina raise a hand. I raise a brow at Reina, a bit surprised by her lack of hesitation in spilling blood. I clear my throat. “All in favor of blackmailing the Vasivichs, raise your hand now.”

Vlondril, Midea, Helm officer Wesley, and Jay. I look at Vlondril and Jay with an inquisitive eyebrow. “What, lass? I can’t make up me mind abou’ which one I wan’ to see more!” Vlondril shrugs “Either of the two will be interesting.” She smirks coquettishly. I pinch the bridge of my nose. “So you are both abstaining. Meaning that I am the tie-breaking vote..”

I think on the matter for a few moments, humming to myself in quiet contemplation. While yes, blackmailing the Vasivichs would be a fruitful endeavor, it does leave the risk of betrayal. Which disposing of them does not bring. On the other hand, disposal means that we may suffer a backlash from their criminal syndication.

As I hem and haw over these considerations, I also overhear the discussion at the meeting table as a muffled thrum. While yes there is a lot more risk involved with retaining the Vasivichs through blackmail, there are also many benefits to this approach.

“I’ll sleep on it.” I smile at everyone around the table. “Meeting adjourned.”

After the meeting with the entire crew, I decided to get some sleep. Not bothering with removing my clothes, simply falling into my bed. Before my head could hit the pillow I was greeted by the darkness of my eyelids, and then my senses dulled.

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***

My eyes snap open, I feel a cool, hard surface underneath me. It is then that my body is racked by a shiver and I realize that I am naked. I try to move, but I am strapped down. My arms are at my sides as the sensation of movement and a change in my view indicate I am on an elevating exam table.

I stare at a doctor who now comes into my field of view. A human with a goatee. A mGlass in a pocket of his pure-white labcoat. He speaks to me. “Are you feeling any different?” my mouth moves and I reply on my own. “I broke a coffee cup by accident by gripping it.”

He raises an eyebrow and looks at me a moment, searching my eyes with his for something. He smiles. “Good.” before stepping back, he hooks a needle in my arm. A plastic tube runs from it to a bag of clear red liquid. “Proceed with the next infusion.”

The bag empties into my arm for what feels like an eternity. A shooting pain comes up my spine to my head, and I feel an intense pain in my forehead. Screaming in agony as I squirm in my restraints.

I hear muffled voices and cries of shock. “You idiot! You miscalculated the dose!”

“I swear everything is right!”

“Go through the numbers again!”

The pain dulls and fades after a few minutes... New sensations hit me. I can feel the current of air being circulated in the room, the drop of sweat dripping from my face and hitting the floor. My nose bleeds and I pass out.

My eyes open, finding myself lying in a comfortable bed with pure-white sheets. A set of clothing nearby. Cheeks flushing on realizing that I am naked. Staring at the clothing for a moment, I go over what is on the chair: Commonwealth military-issue fatigue pants, and a gray tank top. Slowly, I will my body to sit up and drag itself to the edge of the bed, my bare feet hit the floor and I look over myself. My arms are softer than I am used to. Taking a moment, I recollect where I was. I was lying down, and then…

My body shudders as a nurse walks in the door, the pneumatic door mechanism hissing as it vents air in the cylinder under the floor to allow it to open. She takes one look at me, blinks, and steps out “Oh! I’ll let you get dressed!” Pinching the bridge of my nose a moment as a dull hammering starts in my temples, I start to re-dress. Slipping the cargo pants on, then slipping on the military boots, lacing them up before I slip on the tanktop. “I am done.”

The nurse enters again “Sorry, but this is just a routine checkup. Do you feel any pains or aches?”

“Just a pounding headache.” I see her type some notes in her mGlass.

“Any nausea or unusual fatigue?”

“I want to go back to sleep.” She writes more notes.

“Okay, no other aches or pains?”

“No.” She types again.

“Stand up, bend over, and touch your toes.”

I do so, managing to touch the tops of my boots at the tip of my toes. The woman writes more notes. “Okay, I need to take your blood pressure and vitals.”

She puts a device on my finger and peers at her mGlass. “[blood pressure]. Good. that is well within expectations even if slightly elevated.”

After a moment of scrolling through and tapping on her mGlass, she smiles at me “That is it! You’re all set.”

The nurse pauses on her way out. “And congratulations on completing the final transfusion!”

She leaves me to my thoughts. I lay down and drift off to sleep.

***

My eyes open and I turn my head to look at the clock display at my bedside in my quarters. It shows 11:30. I overslept and it is now almost noon shipboard time. “Damnit.” I slide over to the edge of the bed, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. After a moment I stand and head to my wardrobe storage to choose clothing for the day.

After a few minutes, I emerge onto the elevator lift in CIC. Much of the crew is busy with their workloads. My hands tugged at the sleeves of the blazer top I chose to wear with cargo pants and boots. I adjust the buckle of my gun belt before glancing at the TOD. Vlondril, Midea, Reina, and Jay encompass it, going over recent findings.

After a sigh and a pivot to stride back into the elevator, I take the lift down to Deck 3A. Greeted by a maintenance shaft before walking through a narrow access corridor with coolant lines and plumbing for the ship's reactors. I come to a hatch in the bulkhead to a small cargo bay. Inside are weapon lockers behind a security gate with a magnetic lock and a biometric security system. I scan my retina on a reader and the maglocks disengage as I step through the security gate.

I browse through the inventory of our armory. A few M47X1 carbines, An M440B Modular precision rifle, A few light shotguns, A pair of Mark 28 pistols, a single Valkyrie DMR, and a few Challenger submachine guns. A small stock of weapons, so I probably need to head to the bazaars in Midnight City to do some shopping. We made a bit of money when I did that job for Farsa a while ago.

After taking inventory I pick up the Valkyrie DMR and bring it to a work bench in the corner. Disassembling the rifle after unlatching a few takedown captive pins and removing the entire upper receiver assembly.

I use my thumb to push in a spring-loaded cam to remove the bolt carrier from the upper receiver, sliding the entire chunk of metal and polymer from out of the back of the upper. After examining it, A sigh leaves me as I head to the tool cabinets nearby on the wall to find cleaning rods and tools. Along with some microfiber cloth patches and a container of grease. My mind wanders to current planning. I left my crew to come up with a plan based on the intel we have so far for both options. Mostly because I was conflicted about what we were going to do.