Chapter 8: Convincing Argument

It only took another two days for Paulie to largely recover, Jakiikii and even Flurn visiting him several times while he waited to be well enough to leave the hospital.

He was sitting up on the side of the bed talking to one of the various nurses as he received yet another checkup when he heard the door open slowly and smiled as he saw Mack enter the room. His padded feet made little sound on the white speckled flooring as the miriam detective approached. He waved to the nurse to leave and stopped in front of Paulie with a slight smile as the sillo’an trotted out.

Paulie noted Mack’s condition had improved. Gone were the dark patches under his large grey eyes, and his clothing had been pressed and laundered. Mack spoke slowly, “The raid is going to be happening in two days. I want you back in the safehouse when it happens, are you well enough to move?”

Paulie nodded and then froze, “Wait.” Mack looked up at him sharply, a short flash of annoyance crossing his otherwise calm features. “You want me in the safehouse? Are you not taking me on the raid?”

Mack waved his hands, taking a step back at the anger in Paulie’s tone. “No, no I don’t. You are injured, you are her main target right now and I can’t have you injured again or worse in the raid. You are still my key witness in all of this, you provided the data and know key details as to its origin. If you were too..”

Mack’s explanation was bullshit, and Paulie cut him off to call him out on it with a snap of his fingers.

He stood shakily to his feet, the deep tissue damage in his thigh and side had mostly healed at this point. But the difference between mostly and completely was still apparent in the slight wobble of his legs and the sharp intake of pained breath. He pointed to Mack and asked, “What? What do you mean, you know that’s all horse manure..” He coughed lightly and hunched over slightly.

Mack breathed out and glanced towards the doorway. “Ok, you’re right. I don’t want you to get hurt anymore, Jakiikii doesn't want to see you hurt anymore.” He spoke hesitantly.

Paulie looked at the man incredulously. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. “What in the name of St. Paul?! Don’t tell me you are pulling me off this because you are afraid of hurting Jakiikii! I know you love her like a daughter..” Mack raised a hand, “No, no.. don’t try to deny it. I may have been born at night, Mack. But it wasn’t last night. I see the way you two interact, and I know there is no romantic entanglement there. You two are as good as family.”

Mack looked around as he said it frantically, his head ducking as if he were afraid. “For the love of Zalc.. watch where you say stuff like that Paulie. This entire place is likely bugged.”

Paulie smiled smugly now. “You're right, it was. Was being the operative word, Jakiikii swept the entire place on the first night. Found six, two of them were very well hidden. I have been keeping an eye on the nurses and using that special function on my multitector to look for more. We are clear to speak freely.”

Mack hunched, a sharp exhalation escaping his lips as he straightened. The long blue-grey sensory spines that ran down the back of his long neck clattered against each other as he shook himself. “Yes. She is the closest thing I have ever had to a child, I just.. never had the time to start a family of my own. And now I’m a little too late in the game to get on with it."

Mack seemed sad, and Paulie immediately reached out to the man and placed a gentle hand on his friend’s shoulder. Mack gave him a small grateful smile as he spoke, “I think you make a great adoptive father to her Mack. Truly, you do. You gave her family and purpose when hers had been taken from her, you have given her hope in a hopeless place. I admire you, truly I do. I have no family left back on Earth, nothing is familiar here and everything seems to want to kill me or turn me into cocaine.” He chuckled and Mack gave him a little wider smile. His thin blue tongue flicked lightly between sharp teeth.

Paulie patted him again and sat back into the bed, leaning on an arm. Mack nodded and muttered something to himself before turning towards the door and folding his hands behind his back. His stumpy rear legs tapping in his apparent consternation. He seemed to look up towards the low tiled ceiling and then finally spoke. His voice was low and full of emotion, but he seemed to gain strength as he continued.

“I agree with you Paulie, truly.. I do.” Mack turned with a loud sigh causing Paulie to cock his head.

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“You do?” He said dumbly.

Mack nodded slowly and stepped closer to the side of the bed. “Yes I do. And while it pains me to admit it, you are the best weapon I have against Ooounoo and her criminal forces. I don't have access to any royal guard or military decimators. So you will have to do, but you are still hurt.. are you sure you could even do it?”

Paulie stood slowly and walked to a large cart that was parked by the wall without answering. It seemed to be some manner of refrigeration unit, or at least that is what he had gathered. Glancing at a clearly curious Mack, he stooped and gripped it before lifting with contemptuous ease and tossing it across the room to impact the far wall with a tremendous crashing sound.

Mack jumped into the air in surprise, his body leaving the floor in the lower gravity of the moon as Paulie threw the heavy appliance like a softball. “What the shit was that for!?!” he yelled as the door slammed open and two Censec security personnel leapt into the room with drawn electron pistols. Their eyes scanning for threats and their collective hackles raised.

Mack waved a hand towards them to be calm and they lowered their weapons gradually. “Paulie. I stress once more, why did you feel it necessary to kill that poor innocent icemaker?”

Paulie gave it another glance, it was battered and dented, some manner of bright yellow liquid leaking from its coolant unit as it sat there on the ground, broken and making bubbling noises. He shrugged. “I was just proving a point. I am better on my worst day than Ooounoo’s people are on their best.”

Paulie puffed out his chest and looked towards the security guards, they looked at him and then each other in what he hoped was mild intimidation. Though how intimidating could he be in a hospital gown? He was wearing boxers sure, but the rest of him was still flapping out the back.

Mack waved at the security officers. “You two, I am fine. Go wait outside for me please.” They hesitated and he gave them a rather pointed look, reminding Paulie that the relatively short grey-skinned alien was actually a relatively senior member of the local planetary peacekeeping forces.

As the door closed with a subtle hiss, Mack turned back to Paulie and shook his head. He chuckled after a second and then shook his head, moving to the bed to lean against the frame. “Ahh, Paulie. That’s what I like about you the most.”

Paulie shrugged. A bit annoyed by the whole situation. “What? Me breaking shit?”

Mack laughed again. “No. Your brutal straight forwardness. You don’t mince words and you don't try to hide the truth just because it’s unpleasant. It's pretty refreshing actually after all the bureaucracy I have to deal with on a daily basis. It’s what I admire most about you, you aren't afraid to tell people what you think and hang the consequences.” Paulie shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t perfect, that was true. But he had lied before and likely would again, but Mack wasn’t finished it seemed.

The miriam gestured to the broken appliance. “Stuff like that, while I don’t condone it, it’s what this place needs. A healthy dose of anti-goorfshit to spruce the place up. That’s why I agreed to take you on as an aide. But to tell you the truth Paulie..” Mack paused, his tone changing subtly to become more serious as the man walked towards him. Paulie looked at the man’s nearly featureless face, generally so impassive but now etched with lines of deep emotional hurt and past trauma. “I am getting tired of this game. I want out, I am planning to retire soon. This is a young man’s game, and I am not really a young man anymore. I guess what I am saying.. is that I haven’t been training an aide, I have been training my replacement.”

The silence after his last statement filled the room like a palpable thing. The gentle hum of the overhead lighting and slight gurgle of the still dying ice machine seemed to fill the void left by Mack’s words.

Paulie was the first to speak. “Your.. what? What are you saying Mack? You are retiring, but aren't you only like..” He paused to do the mental math. “One-hundred galactic years old or something?”

Mack shook his head. “No, I’m one-hundred-and-nineteen give or take a bit for some FTL trips I took as a younger man. I am well through the middle years of my life. And I don’t plan on doing this forever Paulie, I want to travel the galaxy. I have always wanted to see other places. The world of Prisma Prime in the Yelowscale nebula, the seven suns of Siccra near the galactic core as they dance endlessly around the neutron binary at their heart. Their overlapping matter streams create the most spectacular view of dazzling lights I have heard. But I have only seen it over the psi-net..” He seemed to pause. “There is so much that I regret in this life, but meeting you wasn’t one of them.”

Paulie’s eyes misted up a little at the man’s heartfelt admission in spite of himself. He swallowed heavily. “I am sure that you will see them in the future. But do you really want me? What about Jakiikii? She has been your aide for far longer..”

Mack waved a hand. “No! Not her.”

Paulie ducked his head. And Mack continued. “Not her, she has suffered enough without me putting her into that unenviable position. I wanted somebody that I knew and trusted. But up until now I hadn’t found anyone else that I trusted enough but didn’t like too much to do that to.”

Mack chuckled and Paulie smiled. “I guess I fit the bill then?”

Mack patted the bed and Paulie walked over slowly to sit by the four-legged alien. “Yes. You fit it nicely. What’s more, you are smart enough to ask the right questions and not easily intimidated. Hell, you can kill defenseless ice machines with but a single toss, Ooounoo doesn't stand a chance.” he joked.

Paulie scowled, but it was for show. He was actually pleased that Mack trusted him so much. They had only known each other for a month or so by his reckoning, though it was hard to tell as time worked differently on Gike.

Paulie asked, suddenly sobering. “So, the raid.”

Mack nodded slowly, his own sharp-toothed smile fading. “What about it?”

“I am going.” It wasn’t a question this time and Mack sighed.

He shook his head, large grey eyes looking at Paulie with a mixture of mild annoyance and pride as he folded his arms. “Why do I get the feeling that even if I told you no you would find a way to be involved anyways.” Paulie smiled cutely at the man, causing him to grunt. “Okay. Fine, but if you are going to be officially involved then you are going to do what I say when I say it. None of that.. what did you call it?”

“Yee-yee cowboy shit?” Paulie offered helpfully.

Mack chuckled. “Yeah, none of that.”

Paulie shrugged. “No promises.” He paused, “Hey, I want body armour this time.”

Mack cocked his head. “Body.. armour? Like what, a tank?”

Paulie nodded. “Yes, exactly like that. You don’t have body armour? No wonder yall are always getting shot so much.”

“What do you want us to do, strap a piece of metal to your chest and give you a pat on the head?” Mack asked, clearly joking. His jovial nature slowly evaporated as he saw the serious look Paulie was giving him. “Wait, no.. hold on. You can’t possibly tell me that you zalc-brained humans are running around with metal plates strapped to you like some sort of dark age savages to block gunfire. It wouldn't even do anything against most of the weapons you are likely to encounter anyways.”

Paulie smiled again as he stood and gestured towards the crumpled ice machine. “Sure it will. If you make it thick enough. And as I have made apparent, I can carry a lot of weight.”