Samantha was sitting in Neirdith's chair, sure, Neirdith was still in the infirmary and had given her command as she had the most experience on the ship of any of the non injured crew that could fit on the bridge, but it still felt wrong to her.
Creesh, who was wearing a cast to keep her still healing broken bones immobile, turned and looked at her and said "It looks like we are getting within hailing range… do we just wait for them to talk to us?"
Samantha shrugged and replied "I wouldn't know, I have no frame of reference for a station of this size." She looked at the image up on the full sized viewscreen, it still blew her mind even after watching it get closer for the better part of two hours.
Highland Station was just one of many mega stations operated by the SCU, it was originally built as a mass storage depot to help with infrastructure building in the sector, but as time went by and it expanded, people began to make it their home, and brought new purpose to the massive cargo station. The structure had once been eloquent and tidy, planned out and meticulously maintained, over the centuries it had existed it had grown like a tumorous growth, bulging out in odd angles and snaking arms till it resembled a sort of metallic organism, spreading out over a vast area with its many sub habitats and branching connecting tunnels. There were even the remnants of capital ships and smaller stations amalgamated into the mass like foreign inclusions, but integral parts of the station nevertheless.
The station had everything you would have come to expect from a major city including schools, stores, entertainment venues, and housing for every species known to the SCU. Mega stations were like someone took the entire dispersed culture of the SCU and condensed it down to a structure only eleven kilometers in diameter. The station had been retrofitted so many times, and was now so massive that it produced its own tiny gravitational field that drew in micrometeorites by the millions every year, to protect itself from these potentially devastating bullets, it made use of countless point defense laser arrays that bristled from almost every available portion of its surface. It was powered by innumerable superheavy variant industrial scale tritium fusion reactors and even made use of more archaic thorium fission reactors. As it was situated in deep space it was unable to make use of solar energy to any great degree.
Samamtha couldn't wait to explore the station, it was like someone took a thousand smaller stations and sauntered them onto a large ring. The engineering that had gone into such a creation was staggering enough to make her mind fizz just thinking about it, and she loved the sensation. But before she could find a station engineer to pester to death, she had work to do, namely, docking this ship without blowing up.
An automated message scrolled across the screen in front of her requesting ship class and specifications as well as licensing and purpose of their visit. All of the data was ready to transmit and she completed the query with the press of a single button. After a few seconds the message told her they were cleared to dock on the main interspecies hub, section 35 G docking arm 89.
She relayed the permission and location to Jessie and he nodded as he began to maneuver the ship into the proper location. As they got even closer to the station it quickly grew from a large blot, to an all encompassing sprawl that stretched away towards both horizons. Samantha felt her mouth open in awe in spite of her prior knowledge of the station's immensity, it was one thing to be told about this floating space city, and quite another to observe it in person.
Samantha felt like a tiny jinkk in comparison to the monstrous conglomeration. She continued to stare at the sight right up to the point she felt The Shining Knight dock to the station.
As the thud reverberated through the ship the silence was broken by Jessie "Okay, this station is big, I didn't think it would be so, big." Creesh let out a trill of agreement and Samantha gave a short chuckle.
Samantha stood and stretched her tense muscles while saying "I don't know about you two, but I'm not letting Seth out of my sight on that mess."
Creesh nodded but was scolded by Jessie as he said "No you won't Creesh, you're still recovering from that nasty crash, you are staying on the ship and resting. No no, I'm not going to let you go gallivanting off and hurting yourself even more." Jessie said as Creesh tried to cut in.
The diminutive raptor fluffed her feathers in indignation before retorting "I would like to see you try and stop me, just because you are bigger than me you think you can push me around?" She squawked.
Jessie's features softened from worried to amused as he replied "I would never dream of it, but you know I'm right." Creesh remained fluffed up for another moment before she let out a breath and hung her head.
"I just wanted to help." She said dejectedly, all signs of her previous fire gone.
Samantha said "We know Creesh, but imagine you get hurt somehow. That wouldn't be helping." She growled affectionately as Creesh looked at her with tears forming in her gold eyes.
Jessie stood and knelt next to Creesh wrapping her in a hug with his cybernetic forearms. "It's gonna be okay, me and Samantha won't let anything happen to him. And when he wakes up, we will call you so you can say hi. Okay?"
Creesh sniffed and nodded "Okay, but you owe me one." Jessie just laughed and stood.
Looking at Jessie, Samantha asked, "You ready? We need to go meet Tahj in the infirmary and then escort him to the Hospital on board."
"Sounds like a plan, hey Creesh, we will keep you up to date on what happens. You should go get some rest though, you have been up for a while." Creesh looked at him silently and then nodded her head. Satisfied that she would be okay, Jessie looked at Samantha and they made their way off the bridge.
They walked towards the medical room quickly, not wanting to delay any more than was strictly necessary. Samantha and Jessie reached the infirmary just as Tahj was fiddling with some sort of wheeled device. She watched as he grunted in minor frustration before finally getting it unstuck, as he unfolded the device she realized it was a wheelchair. They were quite antiquated and not generally used anymore in most medical facilities but nevertheless had their uses, such as right now.
"There we are, this is the only way I will allow you to accompany him Neirdith, I will not have you risking severe injury over this, Seth will be fine. I am taking him there personally and will oversee the operation to make sure nothing untoward happens, not that I am expecting there to be problems." Tahj said to the figure of Neirdith, who was scowling at the large doctor with a quite venomous expression.
"This is so undignified!" She snapped "I am a ship's captain, not some invalid off the street!"
Tahj frowned at her and said "And I am your doctor, there is no higher authority on medical matters, I outrank you and as such, I order you to use the wheelchair or remain behind, these are your only options and are nonnegotiable." He scolded her sternly in a parental way.
Samantha watched Neirdith huff and cross her arms, her tail flicking angrily behind her. "Fine. But I want Samantha to push me, at least that way people might think that these are combat injuries and not that I tripped down a flight of stairs." Jessie stifled a laugh and Samantha grinned.
"I can put on my armour for you Neirdith, that ought to make an impression right?" Samantha offered snickering.
Neirdith fixed her with a glare and said "Yes, do that." Before turning away and gingerly sliding to the edge of her bed. She was wearing a hospital gown over the top of a pair of shorts and a sports bra. Sliding off the bed and into the chair with a thump and slight gasp of discomfort, Neirdith waved her arm at Tahj. "Okay, let's go then."
Tahj gave a snort and said "Jessie, give me a hand with Seth's gurney please. As Jessie and Tahj set about getting Seth ready to move, Samantha walked over to Neirdith and grabbed onto the handles of the chair.
Tilting it back a little she giggled as she heard Neirdith gasp in surprise and flail her arms slightly. "NOT FUNNY!" Neirdith growled at her over her shoulder.
"I don't know, I thought it was pretty funny." Samantha replied, smiling.
Before Neirdith could heckle her further Tahj spoke "Alright, lets move out. We should only have a short walk to a transfer zone, then we can enter the station proper and make our way to the main medical district on the transit rails." Tahj and Jessie started towards the exit as Samantha followed behind with her charge.
Samantha listened to him say all these strange words, transfer zone? Transit rails? What did they mean, and more importantly, how were they engineered? She was excited, all these new experiences, she would have things to look at for an eternity here. Before her mind wandered too far, she felt a tap on her arm and noticed they were next to the armoury. The others were looking at her and she realised they were waiting for her to gear up.
"Oops, sorry." She apologized as she made her way into the armoury. She padded over to her locker and opened it quickly. She liked her armour, it made her feel tough, although it wasn't strong enough to stop a point blank railgun shot it seemed. She winced at the memory of the searing pain tearing through her guts.
She began to armour herself up, pulling out the padded mesh undercoat, she slipped it on and the breathable material fell past her waist to cover the tops of her hips. She then started on her legs, strapping on the cushioned leg plates. There were two per leg that connected via a flexible fabric joint covered in an armoured kneecap. This allowed for full frontal coverage without any loss of flexibility. Next she clipped on her waist guard, it was like an armoured skirt with armoured flaps that hung to cover her hips and groin as well as acting as an anchor for her chest plate. Her chest plate was large and heavy, it covered her full chest in a series of plates that allowed for limited impairment of her mobility, but covered her chest, gut, and lower sides in thick plates of durable material. Finally she fitted on her arm guards, they were two padded plates that covered her upper and lower arms and had small screens on the underside to interface with her assistant.
Fully geared up and feeling like some sort of ancient warrior in her armour, she strode out of the armoury and returned to Neirdith who looked her over and said "Yup, I'm glad we got you that armour, it makes you look like a complete savage." Samantha grinned hugely at the compliment. If only there were a handsome young man for her to try and intimidate with this on. She shook her head slightly, she could look for trouble some other time, for now she focused on the small figure in the chair she was pushing. She would protect her, she would keep her safe.
**********
Neirdith felt very conspicuous as she was wheeled off the ship by Samantha. Sure, the furred woman wasn't that much taller than her, but she had to outmass her by at least forty kilograms. All that extra muscle filled out her already imposing figure giving the Yeown wide shoulders and hips, powerful legs and bulky arms. Top it off with the obvious predatory features of her face and the heavy armour she was wearing, it made Neirdith look powerless next to her, and that was before she had gotten stuck in this hel cursed wheelchair.
Neirdith brooded silently as they made their way down a long passage that was lined with other docking ports. The floor was made up of interlocking metal plates coated in some sort of rubber like coating, the walls were lined with exposed pipes and cables. The lights on the ceiling were industrial and bright, their harsh white light seeming to banish shadow and creating a washed look across everything.
The passage continued on its way till it reached a large opened portal, the thick doors locked open. The twin doors could be closed in an emergency to seal the area off from the rest of the station. There were yellow and black hazard chevrons on everything in the next room, it seemed to be some sort of loading deck, with overhead cranes and rails in the floor for large carts. Samantha followed Tahj as they continued through into another hall. This one was less harshly lit, the floor looked to be textured metal instead of the heavy industrial coating of the previous rooms. Along the middle of the room was a sunken rail that seemed to continue off into a darkened tunnel. This must be the transfer station Tahj had mentioned.
As if hearing her thoughts, Tahj spoke "This is the transfer station, I will call us a transport that will take us deeper in the station."
Samantha seemed to mutter to herself excitedly as Tahj walked to a nearby terminal and pressed a series of glyphs on its grimy digital screen. After just a few minutes of terse silence the sound of squeaking metal could be heard faintly from the darkened tunnel.
Jessie whistled appreciatively as a worn silver vehicle whisked into the terminal. It was small and made of two segments connected via a flexible sort of material. Neirdith gave the rickety looking device a snort as she was wheeled aboard. Inside the small transport her opinion did not change, the seats were worn and dingy, the paint faded to gray tones, and the windows grimy. But as the car began to pick up speed she felt a small part of her bubble in excitement, she was on a megastation. If only her mother could see her now.
They sped through the dark tunnel for what felt like minutes, before bursting out into an enclosed space of such vast magnitude she cried out in shock. The rail car was hurtling along over a vast urban sprawl, it seemed to go on forever, curving upwards gently as it followed the giant toroidal shape of the station's immense core until it was lost from sight beyond the ceiling. Then it was time for her eyes to bug out again as she realized the 'ceiling' was just as urbanized as the 'ground' she looked to the walls to see they were covered in buildings of every size and shape as well.
The amount of power required for that use of artificial gravity in the station must be gargantuan, she knew from reading that the core of the station was almost entirely given over to life support and power generation, but it had been hard to grasp the true scale of the structure until she was immersed deep inside it. Everywhere she looked she could see strange pillars that she at first took to be some sort of support structures, but she soon realized they were in fact huge elevators that allowed people to transfer from the ground to the ceiling, they had padded seats and were designed to flip over in the middle of their travel to allow the passengers to walk out upside down from the perspective they had entered them from.
This was almost too incredible. She reminded herself that these stations were hundreds of years old, built using the combined economic might of the SCU as a whole. A single highly developed planet or homeworld was capable of incredible feats of industry, but combined, they could produce wonders.
She noticed that they were slowing, they reached a larger pillar that was situated in the middle of the city station, as they departed the small rail car, she saw that this pillar was connected to other larger pillars every five hundred meters or so and formed a sort of chain that continued out of sight. These must be the transit rails that Tahj had mentioned, used to traverse great portions of the titanic station with great speed.
They waited with a small crowd of other people as a transit car sped over to their pillar, as it slowed Neirdith smiled at its appearance. It was shaped like a bullet on both sides and had five segments between the tapered ends, it looked much more maintained than the tiny car that had used to get here. As the transit came to a stop, a flood of people of various races, sizes, and cultures flooded out. Samantha followed Tahj as they moved into a handicap area of the car set aside for bulkier passengers, they received a few funny looks from other patrons, but she ignored them, they were not important here.
Neirdith was sitting in her wheelchair, waiting for them to reach their destination when she felt a slight tug on her tail. She flicked it closer and looked beside her but saw nothing, frowning she went back to watching out the window. Again she felt a small tug on her tail and this time she coiled it around the offender's grasper and pulled her tail up, she smiled as she heard a surprised squeal and saw a very young Yeown with its small fuzzy arm imprisoned by her dexterous pink tail.
She let the youngster go with a smile and laughed as they took a small swipe at her tail with their tiny claws. "Why hello there little one. What are you doing here by yourself?" Neirdith asked the little fuzzball in a soft tone.
The small kid looked at her in seeming confusion and then tried to speak, forming a series of broken unintelligible sounds as it attempted to tell its side of the story. "Oh really? Very nice." She said as the toddler stopped and stood proudly, its tiny furry tail lashing behind it.
Samantha finally noticed the brave interloper and said "Aww look at her, she was probably trying to hunt your tail like a Vreeinth." Neirdith didn't know what a Vreeinth was but nodded in mock understanding.
Samantha looked down at the tiny predator and asked "Hey there little gal, are you alone?" The small fuzzy kid seemed to think this over for a moment before turning around in a circle, they seemed to become distressed as they realized they were alone. The kid began to whimper in a heartbreaking way and Neirdith scooped the toddler into her arms before she knew what she was doing.
The kid quieted as she held her in her lap, they reached their tiny fuzzy hands towards her head and Neirdith lowered her head closer. She laughed as the kid latched onto her horns and tried to climb onto her head "Okay, that's enough of that, you might hurt me you tough little hunter." The young kid beamed at the supposed praise and made another unintelligible declaration of triumph.
Samantha craned her head around and said "I wonder where her parents are, maybe we should call station security."
Neirdith nodded while simultaneously fending off the kid's tiny clawed hands. "They sure are lively." She grunted as the kid got a fistfull of her hair and tugged.
The situation was solved as Neirdith heard a gasp of relief and heard rushing footsteps. She looked up through her hair that was currently under attack and saw a Yeown male rushing towards them.
The man stepped closer and opened his mouth angrily "What are you doing with my kid?" He accused.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Samantha stepped forwards and loomed over the smaller male, growling deep in her throat she replied "We are making sure she doesn't get hurt, what kind of denkeeper are you, letting a kid wander off alone like that in such a crowded place?" The man noticed her and seemed to shrink submissively as she berated him.
His tone changed instantly at Samantha's intervention "Ah, my apologies ma'am, I wasn't meaning to cause any distress, it's just. You know how little girls are, always wandering off and causing trouble." He said quickly. Samantha didn't seem impressed and just adjusted her armour slightly while she stood silently.
Neirdith managed to free herself from her tiny aggressor and held the squirming kid out to the man "Hey, no harm done. She sure is a wily one."
The man acepted the wriggling charge gratefully and ducked his head in deference to Samantha before scurrying away. Samantha gave a satisfied huff and said "Glad to see that my feminine charm works, got to say, that male would probably have done anything I asked." She mused to herself. "Cute kid too."
Neirdith chuckled and went back to observing the passing scenery. Just a trio of stops later and Tahj motioned for them to follow, they exited the transit and followed him towards one of the elevator shafts. When they reached it, Tahj pressed a series of buttons and they waited. Shortly afterwards a simple spherical car rose into position without the use of cables or pulleys. Samantha pushed Neirdith into the car and waited by one of chairs as Tahj and Jessie wheeled Seth's gurney in.
The lift began to rise towards the ceiling, but Neirdith was quickly disoriented as the spherical elevator car rotated upside down as they fell towards what was now the floor. Neirdith didn't know if that was something she could ever get used to doing.
Tahj said "Okay, there might be crowds here, so make sure you stick close, the medical district is only a short walk from here." Neirdith saw Samantha give a stiff nod and grip the wheeled chair harder.
"Alright, we made it over two hundred light years, we are not going to fail now." Neirdith said to him determinedly.
As the lift door cycled open, they entered out onto a bustling city street. If they hadn't just been in space, Neirdith wouldn't have been able to differentiate it from any other colony or city she had seen. The illusion was only broken if she looked straight up past the tall buildings and saw the other wall of the station far above her. They walked down the brightly lit streets and it occurred to her that she saw no street lights, no method of internal lighting. Looking up again she saw a thin grid of girder like structures webbed between the pillars, on the intersections of these distant girders were large glowing lights, they seemed to be some sort of plasma, but she couldn't be sure from this distance. She made a mental note to ask Samantha, if she didn't know, she would quickly find out, her appetite for knowledge was insatiable.
Neirdith lost sight of Tahj a few times in the crowds and felt a tinge of panic, but every time they would appear moments later, still directly in front of them. Neirdith figured that Samantha, being tall even for a Yeown, would have had no problems keeping tabs on the even taller Gre'vahn.
The first thing she noticed as they passed into the medical district was how clean everything looked, the buildings were all painted calming pastel colors, the sidewalk was well maintained and there were actual trees planted every dozen meters or so. The atmosphere was still the same, slightly too warm and noisy, but the overall effect was somewhat calmer, more subdued.
Tahj led them to a large sprawling complex with a large interspecies red medical asterix above the door. As they entered, it was immediately obvious that this was a medical building, everything was sterile white and the air was cool and dry. A welcome relief from the somewhat heavy atmosphere outside. Samantha pushed her after Tahj as he wheeled Seth over to the main desk.
There was a Swanith sitting behind the desk, his brilliant white plumage matching perfectly with the general aesthetic. "Hello there, you seem to have a patient already, what is the nature of your visit today may I ask?” he said in perfectly accented common.
Tahj gestured at Seth and said "My patient has suffered severe cranial trauma, they are stable but in need of neurosurgery. I know that you have the facilities at this location, so I brought them here, I would have called ahead, but we only just arrived in the system." The feathered man seemed to bob his head a few times in understanding.
"Walk-ins of this nature are highly uncommon, but not unheard of. Allow me to contact my supervisor, they may be able to send someone to help you. Please wait over there for now, thank you." He said pointing his wingtip graspers at the nearby waiting area.
Samantha wheeled her over as Tahj and Jessie moved Seth to the side. She gazed at him sadly, he was so peaceful looking, she hated seeing him like that. She missed his smile, the way he would joke about everything. She missed the passion in his eyes as he talked about things he enjoyed, and she wished he was better now. But she could wait, for a little longer.
After what felt like hours, but must have only been a few minutes, a tall figure wearing a white lab coat walked out of the side hall and over towards the main desk. The figure stooped to listen to Swanith and then turned towards them.
As the doctor made their way over, Neirdith noted that they were a Human, but they were one of the tallest Humans that she had ever seen, they must have been well over two hundred centimeters tall, taller even than Samantha. The man walked over to them and introduced himself as Dr. Houwsse.
"Now, I have been informed of your unique situation, and I am in a position to help. Please follow me." The man said.
Tahj smiled widely and said "Thank you for seeing us on such short notice Doctor." The tall man just waved in a nonchalant way.
"Its nothing, I was looking for a reason to stay today anyways, It's not everyday that my talents are required. Not even on a station of this size." Dr. Houwsse remarked.
Neirdith was curious "What do you specialize in?" She asked curiously.
Dr. Houwsse glanced at her and then replied "I specialize in repairing battle damage and bionic replacement, that is why you are here is it not?" Looking over at Jessie he remarked "Oh my, and you may have cause to visit me too, young man. Those arms of yours are truly dreadful, absolutely atrocious, why if I knew the butcher who did that to you I would revoke their medical license immediately."
Jessie looked embarrassed and said sheepishly "I'm not sure that he had one of those." Dr. Houwsse tutted to himself and said "Well son, if you are in the market to upgrade, give me a call, I would be happy to give you a new set, ones that you wouldn't even know weren't real." He proclaimed.
Jessie just nodded mutely and the strange procession continued on down the hall for a minute longer in silence before Dr. Houwsse motioned them towards an empty room. Entering into the small room, Tahj wheeled Seth over towards the middle of the far wall and Samantha deposited Neirdith nearby.
Dr. Houwsse turned to her and said “I would ask that you remain here for the moment, it will take a few moments to prepare an operating theatre for him. I will be back shortly.” He then exited the room in a flutter of white cloth.
Samantha sighed and sat down on a nearby waiting chair, it groaned alarmingly under her armoured bulk, but held. “I really hope this works, I miss him.” Samantha said quietly.
Neirdith sniffed as the emotions tried to wash over her again and said “I do too. But everything is going to be fine, we got this far, nothing is going to stop us now.”
Tahj nodded at her statement and she saw Jessie shuffle awkwardly at the sentiment as he hadn't known Seth. “It's fine Jessie, Seth is going to get along great with you, you have the same misguided sense of humour after all.” Jessie seemed to perk up a bit at her words before settling himself against the far wall with his arms crossed.
Dr. Houwsse was indeed correct, as shortly after he had left, he returned. As he entered the room everyone sat up, alert, but the tall man just looked at Tahj and said “The theatre is ready, please help me with him, the rest of you must remain here however, we will return him to you when we have finished his procedure. I promise, we will do everything necessary to help him.” He added as he saw Neirdith’s concerned features.
Neirdith watched as the man she loved was wheeled out of her sight, hopefully to be returned to her. But a small part of her was worried nevertheless.
**********
Seth groaned, he hurt, his eyes hurt, his head hurt, everything seemed to hurt. He tried to rub his head but found his arms would not respond, he tried to open his eyes but saw naught but darkness. He began to panic as he tried to remember the last thing that he had done, had he gotten blackout drunk and was just suffering from a major hangover? Suddenly he felt something on his chest, it was moving. His panic increased for a moment before he heard a soft sound, was that crying?
His ears at least seemed to be functioning and he bagan to make out more of the surrounding noise. He tried to speak but was only able to issue a hoarse croak, as the strangled sound left his lips however, the crying ceased and he felt someone wrap long arms around his body in a frantic embrace. Trying again to speak he managed “What… What happened?” his voice barely a scratchy whisper.
His heart swelled as he recognised Neirdith’s voice “Seth, oh Seth! I was afraid I would never get to talk to you again.” He heard her begin to sob again and tried to raise his arms to hold her, but found to his frustration that they seemed numb.
“Why can't I move?” he whispered.
“Oh, the doctor said that the anesthetics may not be entirely worn off before you woke up. Give it another few minutes and you will be fine. Oh Seth, I'm so happy you are okay.” she said to him.
Okay, that answered one question, but he was still completely unsure of why he was here, or why he had needed a doctor in the first place? “Do you have anything to drink?” he asked her.
“Oh yes, I'm so sorry Seth, here, but drink slowly.” He felt her place something to his parched lips, it was a straw.
As he slowly sipped from the straw, the cool water seemed to revive the tissue in his mouth and throat. He drank for a moment longer before saying more strongly now “That's good for now, ahhh. Now Neirdith, please tell me why I'm here. The last thing I remember is… well I remember we were on our way after the Hungaro bounty, but I don't remember anything after we left New Dundas.”
His vision seemed to be slowly coming back to him, he was now able to discern a vague lightness. Neirdith answered him slowly “We left New Dundas and arrived at a mining station called The End of The Line. The Overseer there told us about Hungaro and we devised a strategy to get him to board The Knight.” she paused for a moment.
Seth asked her “What happened then, did the ship get shot?” he asked her earnestly, his eyes seemed to be making out distinct fuzzy colors now, he could see a general whiteness with a more pinkish blotch in the lower part that he assumed was Neirdith.
The pink blotch moved a little and he heard her say “No, the boarding action went perfectly, we cut the pirates down and were ready to clear their ship with Skorr, but when we reached the bridge…” she seemed to choke on her words at the memory. Before he knew he was doing it he had lifted one of his arms and placed it on her horned head. She made a noise of surprise followed quickly by a sigh as he brushed her hair with his fingers. With this support she continued “We reached the bridge, you and Smantha were in front with Skorr, and Skorr got shot by a railgun. It did nothing of course but then the gunman shot Samantha in the stomach, you stepped out of cover to help her and… and, you took a railgun shot to your head.” She finished quietly.
Seth was amazed, he had taken a shot to the head? How was he even alive, his helmet had been rated for plasma weapons and medium caliber kinetics, not railguns.
As if to answer his question he heard a different voice, he turned his head towards the speaker and observed a much larger dark blur say “Your helmet protected you, the shot glanced off the side instead of going through, though the damage it did was rather… disfiguring. Don't worry, I think it makes you look rather dangerous Seth.” he heard Samantha exclaim.
Neirdith agreed “Yes, if you haven't been wearing that helmet you would, you wouldn't be here. Though it did some damage to you when the visor shattered.” she added mournfully.
Seth was a little warry, he wanted to know, but he didn't want to know. Finally, his curiosity won out and he asked in the most nonchalant way he could “Oh yeah? What kind of scars we talkin here, the kind the chicks dig?” his vision had returned enough by this point he could just make out Neirdiths features as she gave him an exasperated look.
She shook her head slightly and smiled “Seth, leave it to you to make light of the situation. They aren't as bad as you might be thinking, although…” she hesitated and looked him in the eyes. “You did lose your right eye.” This made him jerk. He raised his arms to his face but was stopped by Neirdith grabbing them, normally this contest would have been easily won by his denser, high gravity muscles. But in his weakened state she was able to hold him in place. “Seth, don't worry, we got you the best replacement available, the doctor said it would be indistinguishable from your original eye.” as he looked at her earnest expression he gave a small nod and she released him.
He closed his ‘eyes’ and felt his face. Besides the thin scars he could feel on his face, he could feel no difference with his right and left eyes. It was as she had said, if it weren't for the hardness of the right eye he would never have known the difference, he couldn't feel anything different at least. He opened his eyes and looked over to Samantha and then exclaimed “Woah, were you always that tough looking Samantha?”
She giggled and said “Flatterer, and no, I have been doing some exercises lately, I think you are the first person to mention it.” she said while twisting her body and showing off her muscles that were not covered in armour.
“Damn, I knew you were tall for your people, but now you look like a freaking monster. I feel bad for anyone that pisses you off.” he said with a laugh.
He heard Neirdith sigh and looked over to her, he frowned as he noticed she was sitting in what looked like a wheelchair. “Neirdith, why are you in a wheelchair, did you get hurt too?” he asked her, suddenly concerned.
She smiled and shook her head, making her straight black hair swish around. “No, well, yes. But I got hurt in a different place, some little crime town called Geodrome. There is a whole story I could tell you about theat, and Smantha is probably the best one to tell it as I was unconscious for a large portion of the action. But I'll tell you about it later, for now I just want to be here, with you.” she said, laying her head on his chest.
He brushed the hair off of her face and said “Me too.”
**********
Samantha was happy, Seth was okay and seemed to be generally okay now. He and Neirdith were in the room alone for the moment, she had stepped out to give them some privacy as they hadn't seen each other for some time. She looked over at Jessie and smiled saying “So, Neirdith gave us all five days of shore leave you know.” He smiled back at her.
“Yes I got the alert on my assistant as well, as well as Creesh saying to get back to the ship and pick her up immediately.” he laughed.
Samantha breathed in and then let out a large woof of air before saying “Tahj asked her if he could stick around too. I'm not sure if he means permanently or just until they are both better, but it would be nice having a sawbones around. For the next time I get all shot up you know.” she added with an elbow jab.
Jessie smiled and said “Hey, I know that Creesh can't really drink, but maybe we could go get a few drinks. Would be nice to relax a bit.” Samantha nodded enthusiastically.
“A couple drinks, maybe a fight or two, I'm dying to mess somebody up you know.” she added with a predatory grin. “Maybe meet a nice fellow and teach him what it means to lose a fight for real.” she added with a sly smile.
Jessie just gave her a look of horror and said “I don't want to know, but the drink sounds good to me, c’mon, let's go. They are going to be fine here.” Samantha followed the smaller man as they made their way back towards the ship.
**********
Grunhort blinked rapidly as the darkness was suddenly lit by brilliant light, her arms were bound and her legs were manacled to the stool she was occupying. Her omnidirectional vision immediately picked up the entirety of her surroundings and part of her noted with grim resolution that she was in some sort of interrogation room. Another of her parts started to panic as it came to the same conclusion and thoughts of torture filled its lobe, she silenced it by assuming control.
She focussed her discordant quarters together as they tried to panic and focused the entirety of her mind on the situation. This was no time for consensus, this was the time for brutal control. Her most independent part resided for a few more moments before she exerted control over them and they joined their lobe with hers making her whole for the first time in a while. It was generally much easier to let her parts do their own things as long as they were working together, but when she was forced into dire situations, their relative independence could be a hindrance.
She heard the door to the room open and focussed on it using the part facing the doorway, she felt anger as she recognised the whelp Yquillan, or whatever it was that he called himself, walk into the room with another suited figure.
Yquillan and the other agent walked around her a few times as if trying to gauge her parts reactions, but they were firmly under her control and she let nothing slip. Finally the other agent seemed to nod his head slightly and Yquillan spoke “Grunhort, you have by now realised that your situation is utterly hopeless. I give you but two options, either you tell us what we want to know, or you don't. I can assure you that option two is very unpleasant indeed.”
She made a gurgle of annoyance at this pitiful attempt at interrogation, she was not afraid of these weaklings, not after meeting…Him. She shuddered involuntarily as she thought of the monster whom she would not name, and Yquillan seemed to take her shudder as her picking option one and he nodded.
“Good choice. I understand what you might be feeling, hatred, anger, loyalty perhaps. But I assure you, we are far more powerful than your employer, we can protect you if you help us, maybe even allow you to continue living a mostly free existence somewhere else. We have that power and more. So tell me Grunhort, who is your employer, where do they reside?” he asked her sternly.
She kept herself silent, not daring to betray Him and not wanting to let her fear show. Yquillan looked at the other agent who whispered something into his hand before cocking his head as if listening to a voice only he could hear. They then nodded to Yquillan who walked up to her and said more harshly “Grunhort, I have absolutely no reservations about beating you to death with your own severed limbs, or letting you rot for an eternity in some luck forsaken prison where they have a taste for your kind. I will not hesitate to do any of these things and more, because the information you hold is too important to let slide by. The fact that you were captured already renders your life irrelevant to your employer, we both know that.” He finished.
Grunhort felt one of her parts struggle to gain control, but pushed it down savagely. The manner of her internal struggle seemed to be lost on the two in front of her and she gurgled “You won't break me, there is nothing you can threaten me with that will break me.”
Yquillan seemed to be more annoyed with her display of resistance than upset and turned to the other agent again before looking back to her and continuing in a deathly calm manner that made her multispine tingle in fear “Nothing we could do huh? So you're telling me that if we severed you and left you a prisoner in your own flesh you would prefer that to just giving us what we ask? It is an option I am ready to explore, though even I shudder at the horror you would experience.” as she remained silent he continued “Alright then.” He raised a small device to his lips and turned his back to her as he said “She is uncooperative, yes sir, I know sir. The information IS important sir, I don't, sir is that really necessary?” he paused for a moment and turned to her ashen faced. “I didn't want to do this.” he said weakly “But you leave us no choice.”
She again felt part of her mind struggling with her to break free and suppressed it, though it was difficult as it was being supported by another part. As they waited there she slowly reasserted control and watched mutely as the door opened again and two masked attendants walked in with a medical gurney covered in restraints. Another man came in, cruel faced and carrying a bag. She felt the cold fingers of despair clutch her hearts as the cruel man opened the bag and withdrew a vial of some anonymous green fluid, sticking a needle into the fluid, he withdrew a small measure.
As the man got closer she felt the other parts rise once more to throw her off, and gasped out loud as she lost control, a stream of unintelligible drivel spilled from her lipless mouth as multiple parts tried to talk at the same time. The man stopped and looked at Yquillan as she seemed to lose control, he waved his hand and said “One at a time please, I promise you we will protect you if you cooperate.”
Grunhort felt shocked as she was forced under the control of another part, she had been in control for so long that she scarcely remembered the feeling. A voice that was hers but not her issued from her mouth “Please, spare us, Grunhort has been a most vile part and kept me and the others suppressed, punishing her parts when they dared to voice complaint. I will tell you anything you wish to know.”
She observed from behind the scenes as Yquillan smiled and asked “What is the name of your employer?”
She began to scream internally as she felt herself answer “Grunhort’s employer is known as Dean Morgan.” She continued to scream silently as the interrogation continued, knowing that no matter what happened, she would never again be allowed control. She was trapped, forevermore.
End of The Shining Knight Saga Book 1: The Saga Begins