Warhawk's Amnesty - Ch. 8 - Part of the Job - Final

The room fell around Seb as he stared at Captain Francisca’s wide eyes. It felt like minutes until she blinked. Even in the cold ambience of the room, a bead of sweat dripped down her forehead. Her gaze slowly lowered until she was staring down at the necklace in her hand. When her eyes shot back up at Seb’s, his hand squeezed tighter around his revolver’s grip. His anger was boiling over like a steam kettle ready to pop.

“Answer me!” Seb shouted. “Where did you get that necklace!”

Captain Francisca’s eyes glanced down at Seb’s hand and swallowed hard. “You know where I got this necklace.”

“I do. But I want you to tell me.” Seb caught her catching glances down at Toros. The printaghast’s body was no longer moving while Nalla frantically cut away at his charred armor. “Hey, don’t look at him, look at me.”

Captain Francisca’s eyes darted back and forth, a symptom of her mind at work. They eventually stopped, and she let out the breath she was holding. Her body shifted straight, and she puffed out her chest. The tone of her voice was cold and direct. “It’s Lieutenant Dover’s.”

“Is he dead?” The captain closed her eyes and just shook her head. “Is that a, no?”

She gritted her teeth and lashed out. “Does it feel good to toy with me, Seb? You know the answer.”

“The only thing I know is you left to meet with him and you come back with his pack and necklace. So, answer my fucking question!”

The captain’s lips pulled back, exposing her gritted teeth. Seb caught her hands creeping toward her dual laser pistols. He pulled out his revolver, pointing square at her chest. “Don’t you fucking move.”

Nalla’s distraught voice reminded Seb he had no support. “Stop it, both of you!”

Seb didn’t take his eyes off of the captain as he spoke. “This doesn’t concern you, Nalla. This is between Captain Francisca, Toros, and I.”

“Didn’t you forget I’m part of their crew too? Whatever you decide to do here affects me as well.”

“That’s all dependent on if Captain Francisca answers my questions.”

“I’m tired of this bullshit,” Captain Francisca said, crossing her arms. “But before I answer your question, YOU need to know that this was all part of the job.”

Seb furrowed his brow and tilted his head. “Explain.”

“I came to you and asked if you knew Dover. Things would have been handled differently if I’d known you would react this way. But you said you barely knew the guy.”

“I remember your argument with Toros in the hallway. No doubt deciding whether to ice me like you did him.”

“That had nothing to do with it. You and I both know Toros isn’t the smartest in the bunch. You came along, showed him up, and made him feel threatened. He didn’t want to ice you, but he didn’t want to bring you with us. While we were talking, I saw him getting frustrated and pulled him aside to calm him down.”

“Then what would you have done if I told you that we were close.”

“I would have told you the truth.”

“Bullshit.”

Captain Francisca shrugged. “Believe what you want.”

“Then tell me what’s really going on then.”

“I told you there were three phases to the job. Phase one was a bounty hit on Lieutenant Dover.”

“Why? That doesn’t make any sense.” Captain Francisca relaxed her arms and crept her hand to her wrist. Seb straightened his stance and pulled the hammer back on his revolver. “Don’t.”

“I’m just going to activate my WICI and show you the posting.” Seb watched her carefully tap onto the metal bracer on her arm, bringing up a projected hologram between them both. She swiped across the air, turning the interface around, and used her two fingers to expand the image.

“I’m not taking my eyes off you. Read it to me.”

Captain Francisca sighed before flipping around the image and started reading aloud. “I’m just going to read the important parts. If you want the full details, I’ll send it to your comm.”

“Fine. Just read it.”

“Employer: Williams Correctional Corp. Mission type: three phase mission. Summary: SOS call to any allied or mercenary parties nearby. One of our prison barges has suffered catastrophic failure due to internal sabotage. Company rescue teams have been deployed but are one week out. Requesting immediate assistance around Inoi 3. Details are as follows: priority one: kill contract for saboteur and former WCC officer, Lieutenant Benjamin Dover. Will acknowledge the code phrase, crescent moon. Subject unaware of WCC’s knowledge of their deceit, but should still be handled with caution. Visual evidence of the kill required. Priority two: obtain the ship’s memory core. Ship’s last known coordinates attached. Priority three: investigate all active lifepod distress beacons and attempt rescue of WCC personnel. Any survivors should be brought to Pyrus Station where emergency services will be waiting. Optional Bounty: Secure and apprehend any escaped convicts which survived venting procedures. All prisoners are flagged as escapees. Any prisoner kills will not be paid. They are WCC property and subject to taxation earnings. See earnings payout based on prisoner level. Full crew and prisoner list attached to this posting.”

When Francisca stopped, Seb’s mind flooded with hundreds of questions. That doesn’t make any sense, he stressed. None of it does. I heard Dover’s conversation with Major Barris. He thanked him for bringing this to him. Unless… He played the conversation over again in his head. Recalling the questions, he remembered Barris asking whether anyone else knew about the information, if Dover would testify, and if he would die for his cause. He was testing him.

The WCC never had the intention of having the truth. If Barris knew about it, then it’s likely the entire board knew what was happening. And when Dover reached out, knowing what he knew, they used it to their advantage. They found their scapegoat.

The sound of the biometric lock activation on the captain’s laser pistols brought Seb’s attention back to her. Even though he was still holding his pistol at her, his lapse in focus allowed her to draw her two weapons.

“What’s it going to be, Seb?” Captain Francisca asked. “You got your answers. It was all just part of the job that you told us about. So, are we all dying here and now, or are we going to get off this rock so we can all go home and get paid? Hell, I’ll even throw you a cut. You got our ship back up and running after all.”

“Please, Seb?” Nalla pleaded.

Seb looked over his shoulder to see Nalla looking up at him. He noticed Toros leaning up next to her, pointing one of his own weapons at Seb while he clutched his stomach. Francisca was right. He didn’t know why Lieutenant Dover’s death bothered him so much. Maybe it was that he saw a former reflection, a stupid kid wrapped up in things much larger than himself, taken advantage of and paying the consequences. Either way, they had him outgunned, and he didn’t feel like dying today.

“If I lower my gun, do I have your word that I will walk out of here?”

Captain Francisca smiled and looked over at her companion. “Toros, put your gun down.”

“But captain—”

“I said lower your gun!” Toros dropped back to the floor and broke out into a coughing fit. “Now, I’m going to lower mine and I expect you to do the same.” Seb nodded, and the two lowered their weapons. Nalla let out the breath she was holding, stood, and attempted to help Toros up to his feet. Seb took a few steps toward the man, only to be cut off by Captain Francisca.

“Here.” she said, handing him Dover’s necklace and bag. “I’ll help Toros. You can go put this with your things in the engine room. You can stay there for now.”

Seb shouldered the bag and twisted the necklace in his fingers. He felt conflicted as his mind replayed Dover’s last moments in his head. Without any context, it ran rampant, playing various scenarios like a holovid in his mind. Watching Toros being carried by the two women in front of him put a smile on Seb’s face. He went out swinging.

Rolling the necklace up and placing it in a side pouch in the bag, Seb followed along. It took some time to get Toros up the few flights of stairs. The captain’s chastising of the brute and how he should learn how to dodge, only seemed to drag things out.

Once they reached the main floor of the ship, Seb dropped the gear off at the engine room before meeting up with the rest of the crew. Captain Francisca stood outside the medical room looking in. She turned as Seb approached, and the two watched as Nalla administered Toros’s care.

“He going to make it?” Seb asked.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” Francisca said softly. “Printaghasts are tough. Anyone else wouldn’t have made the trek back to the ship.”

“I’m surprised his armor didn’t protect him better.”

“That boy was an excellent shot. He hit him in parts where the armor flexed and was weaker.” Seb nodded and crossed his arms. The two watched as Nalla connected Toros to the various machines on the table. Once she finished, she waved them off before turning, tapping on a side hologram, blacking out the metal window.

Captain Nalla took a step forward, jabbing Seb in the chest. “Let me make something perfectly clear. What happened back there in the cargo hold, will never happen again. I’m not going to keep someone on my ship that I think is going to put a hole in the back of my head.”

“Yeah, I get—”

“Let me finish,” she said, holding up her finger. “You want off this rock, and I need you to keep this ship operational so we can do the job and get out of here. We both need each other. I need to know if we’re good. That I can still rely on you, because if I can’t, then you can pack up your shit and get the fuck off my ship.” Seb nodded as Captain Francisca placed her hands on her hips. “So, are we good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“Okay then, follow me.”

The two walked down the main corridor until they reached the bridge. Captain Francisca pulled off her coat, hat, and gloves, throwing them into one of the passenger chairs mounted behind her own. She jumped into her seat, reached under a side console, and pulled out a glass bottle that Seb assumed was alcohol.

“Sit there,” she said, pointing to the copilot’s chair. Seb took a seat and watched her unscrew the cap before taking a few large gulps. She handed him the bottle, and he finished off the remainder. It burned all the way going down, but helped take off the intensity in the room. He handed the bottle back, and Francisca stowed it underneath the console.

She bent over the pilot’s console, flipped a few switches, and started the working engine. A soft rumble radiated throughout the ship as it breathed to life. Seb watched as the center hologram lit up with the same warning messages he saw from earlier, but nothing was showing as critical. A wide smile crept along Francisca’s face as she swiveled in her chair, looking over at him.

“What?” Seb asked.

“Nothing, life’s just funny.”

“What do you mean?”

“Earlier, I wanted to fuck you. Then you wanted to kill me. Now…”

“You want to fuck me?”

Francisca shrugged. “I think it might just be the way I deal with stress.”

“Not sure how good I’d be, anyway. It’s been a while.”

“Oh yeah? How long?”

“You’d probably laugh if I told you.”

“Months?” Seb shook his head. “Years?!” he nodded. “What? I mean how? I can’t even go a few days without getting myself off.”

“Lots of long flights and no opportunities.”

“Hmm… well, maybe we’ll have more time in the future. For now, I don’t want to spend another minute here even if it means fun for the both of us.” Francisca pressed a button on the console and her voice echoed throughout the ship. “Buckle up back there, we’re taking off.”

Seb placed his arms through the seat straps and clasped himself into the chair. He tapped a few commands into the ship’s computer, pulling up the general ship performance readout. As the power in the thrusters built, he watched the power readings, ensuring they weren’t exceeding normal parameters. Watching the power readout reminded him of his suit. He grabbed the retractable power cord on his wrist and plugged it into a nearby port.

“Okay, let’s see if you’re as good as we hope you are,” the captain said, sending power to the bottom thrusters. A rattle reverberated through the entire ship like a sepix’s tail, causing Francisca to turn and look at Seb.

“It’s all right, everything is still good. It’s just the flex from the change in temperature.”

“If you say so. Swapping to thermal visuals and activating scanners.” The captain pressed two buttons on the console, changing the front viewpoint into shades of blue. A green checkered outline covered the ground, giving an easier visual of the surroundings. It took a second to get used to, but this was better than seeing a white void. “Everything still good? I’m ready to give her a little juice.”

“As normal as it can be.”

“Good enough for me. I’m going to try to get us above the storm. It should hopefully be a smoother ride up there.” The ship rattled as Francisca gave the engines more power and started their flight. Seb gave her a reassuring nod everything was normal every time he could feel her sharp gaze. After a few minutes, they were high enough in the atmosphere that they cleared the cloud layer. Francisca turned off the thermal overlay, giving them a beautiful view of the star filled sky.

“Where to first?”

“We’re professionals. We take the tasks in the order they are given.”

Seb bit his tongue to prevent himself from jesting about their professionalism. “What if there’s an emergency beacon along our flight path?”

“We ignore it and focus on the memory core first. Oh, that reminds me. I need to update the job with our progress. You pull down the coordinates for the ship, while I update WCC.”

Seb leaned over the central console and pulled up their navigation. A hologram projected of Inoi 3’s surface. He paused when he looked at the file labeled manifest. Forcing himself to ignore it, he opened the navigational data, which he overlaid on the planet map. Once that was complete, he layered any emergency signals still being broadcasted. He wasn’t sure if it was fortunate or not that there were nine signals. They were completely scattered all over the planet, making Seb appreciate just how lucky he and Dover were to land so close to Erminea.

“Huh,” Captain Francisca said.

“What’s wrong?” Seb asked.

“After I updated the status, we got an update for priority two.”

“What do they want?”

“If we find the memory core and it’s functional, they want it destroyed. Someone’s definitely hiding something.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Seb muttered.

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. Navigation is in. Looks like we’ve got about three hours at our current speed. I don’t think we should push it either. Numbers are good, but we probably want to minimize the strain on the engines. We still have to make the FTL jump.”

Francisca nodded and yawned, a feeling that quickly spread to Seb. Sitting in the chair, feeling the subtle vibrations of the ship were relaxing. He shifted into his seat, attempting to maximize his comfort before rubbing his fists into his eyes. It was the first time since he left Solitude that he had a moment to just sit down and relax. He had been going on all cylinders for the majority of the day, prepped up on stims, that he just realized how exhausted he was. He stretched and yawned while he leaned into the chair.

“When’s the last time you got some sleep?” Captain Francisca asked.

“Since I awoke on the ship. I don’t even know how many hours it’s been or what day it is,” Seb chuckled.

“Like you said, we’ve got a few hours till we’re there. I can monitor the engine while we fly.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, if the numbers go red, I’ll wake you up.”

“Thanks… I appreciate it.” If felt weird being appreciative to the captain after their spat earlier. Seb bent forward to make sure his suit’s power cord was secure enough in its port. Once he was sure it would go nowhere, he leaned the chair back and rolled his head to the side. In less than a minute, he was fast asleep.

Seb was never a dreamer. He slept easily, closing his eyes and awakening refreshed. However, this time was different. The past day replayed in his mind like he was hovering over his shoulder, watching each moment of a critical decision he made. Everything from his decision to talk with the guards, to kicking one in the head, and escaping via the lifepod.

The dream quickly turned into a nightmare when everything around him shifted to darkness. He saw the people he left on the ship, their faces appearing like aberrations in the void. One-by-one their eyes opened with distorted broken jaws, speaking without moving. They each blamed him for their deaths, chanting his name.

They eventually went silent, only to be replaced by Lieutenant Dover. The man smiled and reached out to touch his shoulder. He heard the shout of his name, jerking him from his sleep. Seb looked over to see Captain Francisca grabbing his shoulder where Dover was only seconds ago.

“Are you okay?” Captain Francisca asked, her head swaying side-to-side, trying to get a look at him. “You were screaming in your sleep.”

“Yeah… just some nightmares,” he said, sitting up in his chair. He could feel the cold sweat on his forehead, which he wiped away. He looked down at his skinsleeve to see it fully charged and pulled at his cord, which retracted around his wrist.

“I’ve been flying around this area for ten minutes or so, trying to find where the hell this ship is. We should be right on top of it.” Seb looked out the front viewport and noticed they were above the cloud line. He pulled up the scanner and noted the readings he was getting were too consistent to be natural.

“Take us below the clouds and swap us back to thermal. We should see the heat signatures from the crash.”

Captain Francisca pushed forward on the flight stick and they descended back down into the snowy abyss. Once they swapped views, it was clear they were on the right path. The ground looked as though a giant plow had dropped from the heavens and carved a path through the nearby mountains. There didn’t seem to be any heat signatures, but there were some unnatural readings coming from the nearby grounds.

When they flew over another set of hills, the crash was clear as day. The ship’s unique T-shape was unrecognizable. There was no longer a barge, just twisted piles of burning metal.

“I’m going to do several passes to see if we can get a good idea on where the memory core is.”

“It’s there,” Seb said, pointing to the largest pool of metal.

“How can you be certain?”

“The signal strength is strongest right there.”

“Okay, I’m going to land her nearby.”

“Hold up, give me a second to swap the scanner.”

“What, are you looking for survivors?” Francisca smirked.

“No, I’m checking the radiation levels. The large ships have massive engines with their own reactors and FTL cores. They could be flooding the area with radiation.” Seb pressed a few buttons on the central console and let out a sigh of relief. Nothing too bad. We should be okay as long as we’re not here for too long, otherwise, we’re going to end up looking like Toros.

“No thank you,” Francisca said, chuckling. “I’m going to set us down behind the wreckage. It should give you a clear path to make your way inside.”

“Me? Why me?”

“You’re the only one of us with a suit that can withstand the cold long enough.”

“It won’t take me a few minutes to give it to you.”

“Don’t be an ass. If we don’t get this job done, none of us gets paid. You do this and I’ll give you an equal share just like everyone else.”

“So, I upgraded from mechanic to errand boy… great.”

“Congrats on your promotion,” the captain jested. “Now get your ass out there, find the core, and get rid of it.”

“With what? You have a hidden stash of explosives I don’t know about?”

“Actually, yes,” Francisca said with a giddiness that scared him. She turned in her seat and waved for him to follow.

He followed the captain until they stopped in front of a storage closet; he had not been in. Francisca tapped a few keys on her WICI and the door slid open, revealing a makeshift armory. There were several rifles, handguns, and battery packs for each. On top of the shelf was an empty bandolier. Francisca opened a black-red box, pulled out four thermal grenades, and slid them into the holster.

“Here you go,” Captain Francisca said, handing Seb the bandolier. “If this doesn’t do the job, then we’re limited on options.”

Seb wanted to ask why they had more explosives on the ship than food, but decided against it. He slid the holster over his shoulder and tightened the straps. He left for the engine room to pick up his pack, grabbing a few cutting tools he might need just in case. When he turned around, Captain Francisca was leaning in front of the door.

“Give me your comm id and I’ll sync it to the ship.” Seb pressed a few buttons on his interface and gave her the code. After a few presses on Francisca’s WICI, Seb’s voice rang over the ship’s intercom in a successful test. The two started walking to the ship’s airlock door, only to stop when Nalla exited the medical room.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Seb’s going to be heading into his crashed ship. How’s Toros doing?”

“He’s good. His wounds are healing and he’s sleeping for now. I don’t have much in the way of medical supplies right now except for basic gauze and bandages. So, I did the best I could. We really need a resupply.”

“After this job, we’ll have plenty of credits to get you fully stocked and get you some new equipment.”

“Really? I’d love a regeneration table or a healing tank.”

“Woah, slow down there, missy. Team priorities come first. I’ll let you know once we get our pay.”

“You’re right, my apologies captain.”

“Why don’t you just give him one of my stims?” Seb asked. “I’ve got a few spares.”

“That would literally kill him. Those stim pens are for humans only. If human biology were compared to a single thread, printaghast biology is like a spider web. It’s highly complex, which is why their biologists and geneticists are the best. Their serums allow them to mold their bodies in how they see fit, but it comes at a cost.”

“Makes sense.”

“Doc’s got everything under control,” Francisca said, patting Nalla on the shoulder. “Now, let’s get this show on the road. Times a tickin’.”

“Good luck!” Nalla said, waving at Seb. When he winked, it surprised him that her cheeks could get even redder. When they reached the door, Seb double checked his pockets and activated his armor. He felt the effects immediately as his body temperature equalized with the suit. The captain extended the ladder and opened the airlock door, sending a burst of air into the cabin. Seb cursed as he started down the stairs. He took his time as the metal flexed in the wind. When he reached the bottom, he heard the captain’s voice over his comm.

“Andalusian to Seb, how copy?”

“Loud and clear.”

“Good deal. Nalla’s going to be your over watch while I check in on Toros.” Seb walked forward to the nose of the ship and turned around to see Nalla waving. The accompanied sound of her voice immediately lifted his spirits.

“Hi Seb, this is Nalla, can you see and hear me?”

“Yes, I can,” Seb said, smiling and waving back.

“Stay safe, okay? Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will Nalla. I feel better already with you watching over me.”

Her giggle filled him with a smile that didn’t leave his face until he reached the burning wreckage of the ship. The twisted black metal was like the jagged thorns of a rosebush. The immense heat of the wreckage kept the snow back, revealing the black volcanic rock underneath. With no clear openings, Seb picked a path and marched into the inferno.